The Days of Awe in 2014 were filled with Anything but Redemption

The ten days from the start of the Month of Tishrei in the Jewish Calendar are referred to as the Days of Awe. The First of Tishrei is the holy day of Rosh Hashanah while the tenth Day culminates in Yom Kippur (The Day of Atonement), perhaps one of the holiest days in the Jewish calendar.  As this is being written Jews in Israel and in Europe have already heard the Cantor (Chazzan) intone the Kol Nidrei prayer absolving professing co-religionists from sins of omission or commission among Jews and others during the New Year.

Thus begins an obligatory 26 hour fast atoning for sins against Ha Shem. During Yom Kippur, Jews engage in a public confessionals, reciting the prayer of Veedooi (confession/ reaffirmation in Hebrew).  Each repetition of Veedooi contains a list of sins for atonement, called “al-Cheyts”, observant Jews beat their breast with each recitation. Yoram Ettinger wrote in his “Guide for the Perplexed, 2014” in The Jewish Press:

Yom Kippur is a day of forgiveness only for sins committed against God. It is customary to dedicate the eve of Yom Kippur to apologies for sins committed against fellow human beings. However, an apology or compensation are not sufficient if they do not elicit an expressed forgiveness by the injured person. One is commanded to be community-sensitive and invite everyone, including transgressors, to participate in Yom Kippur services. Thus, Yom Kippur underlines unity, as synagogues become a platform for the righteous and the sinner.

Yom Kippur’s focus on seeking forgiveness highlights humility, fallibility, faith, soul-searching, compassion, thoughtfulness, being considerate, accepting responsibility and magnanimity. Speaking ill of other people (“evil tongue,” Le’shon Ha’Ra, in Hebrew) may not be forgiven.

Yom Kippur is a happy Jewish Holiday, replacing vindictiveness and rage with peace-of-mind and peaceful co-existence between God and human beings and, primarily, between human beings.

There is one exception to the sin of Le’shon Ha’Ra, the evil tongue or speaking ill of other people, it has to do with what Rabbi Jonathan  Hausman ascribed as “al tifros min haTzibbur “in Hebrew, “Do not separate yourself from the Jewish people as a fellow Jew”.

During the Days of Awe in the first Ten Days of Tishrei 2014 there was a surfeit of opprobrium heaped on Israel from its enemies, allies and fellow Jews.

Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas went to the podium before the UN General Assembly (UNGA) on Rosh Hashanah, September 25th. He accused Israel of ‘genocide’ in the recent Gaza war, calling an end to Peace negotiations with Israel. Instead he promoted  a UN Security Council Resolution declaring a Palestinian State “under occupation” based on the pre-1967 War armistice line and claiming East Jerusalem as its capital. Abbas, despite providing information to Israel leading to the capture of the Hamas killers of three Jewish yeshiva students, no longer sees the Netanyahu government  as a peace partner. He remains opposed to recognizing Israel as a Jewish state.

Polls of Arabs in the West Bank indicate that in trial elections  that Hamas would win. Other polls indicate that 80% of Palestinian respondents would favor a return to the rocket war that triggered 50 days of war in Gaza. Stefan Lofven, the Prime Minister of the new center left government in Sweden announced  it was the first Western nation to recognize the proposed Palestinian State. This despite a veto threat by the Obama Administration to overturn the proposed UN Security Council Resolution supported by members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. A report on the Swedish announcement in USA Today, noted this comment from veteran US Middle East negotiator, Aaron David Miller:

The Swedish move would have the same practical impact as the United Nations General Assembly’s recognition of a Palestinian state in 2012. The Swedes would be recognizing a “state” with no set borders, territory under control of competing factions and no real capital.

In the end, it’s a joke, actually. It confers nothing. It could create a wave of support for growing international recognition of a Palestinian state, but what does it really mean?

On September 29th it was Israeli PM Netanyahu’s turn to speak from the podium to a sparse audience at the UNGA, as most of the OIC members and their Third World allies vacated the Assembly hall.  Netanyahu    said that Hamas and the Islamic State “were branches of the same poisonous tree” both bent on terrorism “like the Nazis”.  He said, “When it comes to its ultimate goals, Hamas is ISIS, and ISIS is Hamas.” Referring to Al Qaeda, Al Shabaab, ISIS as contemporary versions of  totalitarianism  he emphasized that “we must remove this cancer before it’s too late.”  He rebutted PA President Abbas accusing Israel of ‘genocide’, when Hamas was committing “real war crimes against the Palestinians by “using them as human shields” in the recent 50 day rocket and terror tunnel war in Gaza.

Netanyahu emphasized that Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Operation Protective Edge was the same as the US Strategy against the Islamic State – “defeat of Islamic extremism”. He condemned those UN GA members criticizing both Israel’s Gaza war against Hamas and the US-led coalition air war against ISIS in Iraq and Syria.  But he saved scorn for Iran’s role in the global Islamist terror war and nuclear development program, saying:, “It’s one thing to confront militant Islamists on pickup trucks, armed with Kalashnikov rifles. It’s another thing to confront militant Islamists armed with weapons of mass destruction.”  He considered Iranian President Rouhani’s condemnation of terrorism by ISIS as “one of history’s greatest   displays of doubletalk.”

Netanyahu warned the P5+1, including the Obama Administration, that “To defeat ISIS and leave Iran as a threshold nuclear power is to win the battle and lose the war.” Finally, he tied the rise of anti-Semitism to the criticism of Israel by UN Human Rights Council, declaring it to be an “oxymoron” and “terrorist rights council”. He noted,  “It’s called anti-Semitism. It is now spreading in polite society, where it masquerades as legitimate criticism of Israel.”

Two days later on October 1st, there was a Oval Office meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Obama. A hoped for coalescence between the two didn’t materialize.  Obama praised the courage of Israelis against the onslaught of rockets from Hamas and terrorist partners in Gaza noting US support of the Iron Dome system, while at the same time drawing attention to the collapse of peace discussions with Palestinians:

I think we also recognize that we have to find ways to change the status quo so that both Israeli citizens are safe in their own homes and schoolchildren in their schools from the possibility of rocket fire, but also that we don’t have the tragedy of Palestinian children being killed as well. And so we’ll discuss extensively both the situation of rebuilding Gaza but also how we can find a more sustainable peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

But then the President and State Department condemned  Netanyahu’s announcement of 2,610 apartments in Givat Hamatos completing the Jewish areas of the municipality and separation from Bethlehem. The Administration said the move would “poison relations” among Israel’s allies. Nir Barkat , Mayor of Jerusalem, took exception to the  Administration’s criticism of the building program noting that it was anti-discriminatory and had been approved over two years ago. A majority of those apartments were allocated for Arabs.  There were death threats against Arab property brokers for sales of apartments to Jews in the Silwan section of Jerusalem, that prior to the War for Independence had been occupied by Jews. The Iranian threat and looming November deadline for a P5+1 final agreement with Iran also drew sharp differences between the two leaders. The failure  by the US to press  Iran to dismantle nuclear enrichment and  stop ballistic missile developments was a flash point. The only common area of support was the undeclared war on ISIS. The US led air campaign appears to receive intelligence feed from Israel’s spies in the sky satellites.

Thus did the ten Days of Awe draw to a close as Jews gathered in synagogues and temples across the West to engage in reflection and be inspired to face daunting prospects in the New Year.  We  trust that fellow Jews had “ an easy and meaningful fast”   and that they and their loved ones  were sealed  in b’sefer  chayim  (the book of life ) by Ha Shem for another year of good health, happiness and achievements in  all pursuits.

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

Identity Politics: Fool Us Twice, Shame on Us

The root cause of the major issues that are devastating America is Obama; an out growth of who he is as a human being, his lack of character and what he believes.

Listing all of America’s woes that are directly caused by Obama would take up far too much of this article; the flood of infected and unskilled illegals, the spread of ISIS, the devastating fatal consequences of Obamacare, Ebola in the U.S., over 90 million unemployed, the disappearance of the 40 hours a week job, our failing economy and more.

Yes, I am going to be a bit tacky and say, I tried to tell y’all back in 2008, my black family, white friends and associates, but none of you would listen. I kept thinking, am I the one who is crazy? Will anyone even consider looking beyond his race and taking a good look at Obama, the man?

Instead, you verbally beat me up and called me an Uncle Tom for not going brain-dead with you and making an immoral racist decision to pull the level for Obama solely because he is black.

Well now look at cha. We have an insidious liar who hates America as founded and a blame-everyone-but-himself narcissist running our country. As our nation crumbles, everyone is running around asking like the Marvin Gaye song, “what’s goin’ on?”

Folks, Obama is what you get when you sell your soul to identity politics, placing surface appearances above character, substance and not properly vetting candidates.

And doggone it, it looks like many Americans are about to be manipulated into making the same stupid mistake again when Hillary Clinton throws her bonnet into the ring, running as the first female presidential candidate. The MSM will ignore all her scandals and disastrous policy failures. Hillary’s gender will be the major qualifier for her to become leader of the free world. Sadly, millions of Americans will go brain-dead and vote for her, suckered again by identity politics.

The same way O.J.’s defense team worked black Americans into a frenzy against white America, causing millions of blacks to rally around Simpson while ignoring the fact that he practically beheaded the mother of his children, Democrats and the MSM will play America’s women against America’s men.

Come election day, the Democrats and MSM will have low-info voters believing that any man not voting Hillary Clinton for president is obviously a Neanderthal, a wife beater, an abortion clinic bomber or a Christian throwback chauvinist who desires to keep women barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen (without a dishwasher).

Rest assured there will be dudes guilt-ridden for being born with testicles who will become metro-sexual brain-dead zombies and vote for Hillary to prove they are not who the MSM and Dems say they are; the same way a lot of whites voted for Obama to prove they were not racist. Think my gender guilt prediction is over the top? The Left has successfully brain-washed many white kids into feeling guilty for being white.

My fervent prayer is that the number of us “thinking” Americans who will honestly access who Hillary is as a person, her character and the direction she plans to take our country will outnumber the knuckleheads and low-info voters.

Could anyone have imagined the crazy political times in which we now live in America? To look beyond surface appearances such as gender and skin color and select our leaders based on who they are inside and their vision for our nation is now considered extreme, racist, sexist and hateful. And yet, this is where the Left’s political correctness has taken us in America today.

Despite six years of Democratic Party and MSM slander, lies and spin, at the heart of the Tea Party is decent patriotic Americans who seek to elect honest character driven candidates who will place the best interest of our country and the American people above personal gain and secret agendas.

I have been screaming this for years, folks. Character does matter!

My favorite teller at my bank is a middle-aged Hispanic immigrant. She and her husband came to America over 20 years ago and love this country. The other day, she expressed her sadness and frustration with the direction our country is going, low-info voters and political corruption.

The bank teller said her son was doing very well in a local school for special needs kids. For political agenda reasons, the state closed down the affordable school. Her options for educating her special needs son are priced through the roof.

I told her that the most disturbing and eye opening reality I have learned since getting involved; traveling the country working to elect conservatives (Chairman of the Conservative Campaign Committee) is that far too many politicians have agendas other than the best interest of We the People.

Call me corny. Call me naïve for expecting otherwise.

I would be remiss in not mentioning that during my travels, campaigning across America, I have been blessed to have crossed paths with real deal honorable conservative candidates; Joe Carr, Chris McDaniel, Ken Cuccinelli and Joe Miller to name a few. These are the good guys folks.

Patriots, we must do everything in our power to educate low-info voters so they will not be played again by political correctness; conned by Democrats and the MSM into voting identity politics over character and substance.

I have faith that America is strong enough to recover after enduring eight years of a far left radical empty black suit in the Oval Office. I am less confident in our ability to restore our great nation back to the vision of our Founding Fathers after several years of a Leftist empty dress at the helm.

RELATED VIDEO: Obama statement, “The country is better off, people just don’t feel it.” made on 60 Minutes, September 28, 2014.

Political Correctness: Offended vs Inspired

Several decades ago, on a radio program in Chicago, I interviewed a man who described a growing phenomenon that would have a profound impact on American business. I didn’t believe this new trend would ever occur. He called it “political correctness.” I had never heard the term PC. As the years passed his predictions about changing conditions and business pressures have proven to be accurate.

As a result of PC, developing clear policies is essential for the effective operation of any business, and the specific wording requires care and caution in order to be “correct” and avoid unintended consequences. But recently that caution seems to have resulted in a trend wherein the opinions and beliefs of some people overpower those of others.

Sometimes that might be only one person, but without consistent policies, a single individual can negate what countless others have valued for many years.

The pressing question is. “What makes that person’s belief or position take precedence over those of others with differing perspectives?” Can we accept the notion that one point of view is more important and more powerful than an alternative point of view?

groucho-marx

For a larger view click on the image.

In the old television program, “You Bet Your Life,” Groucho Marx said, “Say the magic word, and a duck will come down and give you fifty dollars.” In today’s world the “magic word” seems to be “offended.”

It doesn’t produce a fifty-dollar bill, but it’s changing the names of holidays, removing decorations or symbols from work areas, censoring the names of mascots, and prohibiting wearing certain clothing or accessories in the workplace.

We’ve seen the workplace and classrooms become devoid of the touches and the symbols that define the people inhabiting them.

Not long ago it was possible to learn about a person just by entering his or her workspace – be it a small cubicle or a large private office. The pictures, plaques, trophies, and other items on display provided insight into family status, religious affiliation, and military service. Today those clues have largely disappeared because someone found them “offensive.” People working in the locations were expected to remove the items because of the sensitivities of others.

Many schools and businesses have come to the point where displaying certain personal items or wearing certain clothes or accessories are grounds for discipline.

We risk becoming homogenized rather than “diverse”– evolving into a one-size-fits-all society where a small group of individuals determines acceptable behavior for all. The grandson of an acquaintance of mine was removed from his classroom because he was wearing (proudly) the division patch his grandfather had worn in combat during World War II because a teacher’s-aide was offended by the military symbol.

By coincidence, on the same day his father was told to remove an American flag pin from his suit jacket prior to joining a meeting at his office because it might offend another participant.

How did displaying an American flag become offensive? As a side note, when I tried to purchase a few small American flags for an event, a clerk at the store told me, “We don’t stock those things any more.” Those things!

In businesses and schools, we now have Winter and Spring breaks. Professional athletic teams are being pressured to accept names that won’t offend anyone.

If such a trend continues, we might see the passing of occupational names like Vikings, Packers, and Cowboys before too long.

And if other rights activists enter the forum, we might evev see the end of the Bears, Broncos, Dolphins, Bengals, Jaguars, Cardinals, Panthers, and Lions to name just a few.

It’s probably safe to point out that almost everything and anything can offend somebody. So here’s something to consider when developing policies and monitoring behaviors.

When you hear anyone say, “I’m offended by _____” try this. Revise that sentence by saying, “I’m inspired by ______.”

You won’t be starting an argument; you’ll be stating an equally valid opinion.

Then reflect on the reaction you get, and ask yourself, “Did I just make a difference?”

President Ebola

What does it tell you when Britain and France have stopped flights to and from the nations in Africa where Ebola has become a threat and the United States has not taken a similar measure?

What does it tell you when the President sends 3,000 U.S. troops on a “humanitarian” mission to West Africa? It tells me he has put the U.S. at risk if any or a portion of these troops return after having been infected.

As always history has lessons that cannot be ignored. In 1918 and 1919, there was a pandemic of the Spanish influenza that caught nations by surprise, infecting an estimated 500 million people and killing between 50 and a 100 million of them in three waves. It began in the U.S. in March 1918 at a crowded army camp, Fort Riley, Kansas.

As these troops, living in close proximity to one another, were transported between camps, the disease spread quickly even before they were assembled on East Coast ports on route to France. They in turn bought it to the trenches of war in Europe.

The second wave struck in 1918 at a naval facility in Boston and at the Camp Devens military base in Massachusetts. October 1918 was the most deadly month in which 195,000 Americans died. The Harvard University Open Library notes that the supply of health care workers, morticians, and grave diggers dwindled and mass graves were often dug to bury the dead. There were subsequent outbreaks in 1957 and 1968.

And, at some point, 3,000 U.S. troops will be returning from West Africa to military facilities here at home.

Thus far we have been fortunate to have identified the case of the Ebola victim who had entered the nation from Liberia, but there are few guarantees that more will not be found or deterred. The Oct 4th Washington Post reports that “Since July, hospitals around the country have reported more than 100 cases involving Ebola-like symptoms to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”

Largely unknown is that 90,000 Americans die annually from preventable infections they acquire while in hospitals!

The concern about illnesses entering the U.S. is particularly true of our southern border which remains porous. Thank goodness Texas has taken measures to tighten its border security, but I am reminded that the Obama administration sued Arizona when it attempted to increase its security against the influx of illegal aliens.

Obama is the President who engineered an invasion of thousands of children and others from Latin America and then distributed them to various states without informing their governors or other authorities of who and where they were. Not surprisingly, in recent months cases of an enterovirus respiratory disease affecting school-age children have been reported around the nation.

Obama has no regard for the sovereignty of the nation or its immigration laws.

This is the same President who has made it clear that he intends to extend amnesty by executive order to an estimated eleven million illegal aliens, but not until after the midterm elections in November. I doubt that he has the constitutional power to do this. I hope the U.S. Congress has the means and the will to negate this.

The U.S. has a healthcare system that is the envy of the world, but the introduction of ObamaCare is already having negative effects on its administration and the former system of privately purchased healthcare insurance. Hundreds of thousands of Americans who had such insurance have lost it and those who signed up for ObamaCare are discovering it is far more expensive.

Perhaps the most under-reported story thus far regarding Ebola is the fact that in 2010, according to The Daily Caller, “the administration of President Barack Obama moved with virtually no fanfare to abandon a comprehensive set of regulations which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had called essential to preventing international travelers from spreading deadly diseases inside the United States.” Among the viral diseases of concern was Ebola.

I want to have confidence in the Centers for Disease Control, but after witnessing the failures of one government agency after another including the Secret Service, I wish I felt better about them.

I have no doubt its staff are seriously concerned and doing what they can to respond to the threat, but I also think they and the rest of us are at risk from a regime led by a man whose incompetence has written a new chapter in the history of the presidency.

I wish that I felt confident that the Obama administration will take such steps as are necessary to keep the Ebola threat from harming the health of the nation such as not issuing visas to those from the affected nations in Africa, but the record to date limits that confidence.

© Alan Caruba, 2014

RELATED ARTICLE: Obama administration scraps quarantine regulations – USA Today

Obama’s Climate Legacy DOA?

We are told that Barack Obama hopes to leave a legacy of stopping global warming/climate change/climate disruption as his major accomplishment in his last term. If so, even Obama must be discouraged by his latest failure, along with the many others that have occupied the media in the last two weeks. The People’s Climate March (September 21st, 2014) was a dismal failure, the Climate Summit at the United Nations (September 23, 2014) was even worse.

The fiasco began with a lengthy article in Saturday’s Wall Street Journal by Dr. Steven Koonin, a former Undersecretary for Science in Obama’s Energy Department, titled “Climate Science is Not Settled.”

In the article Dr. Koonin was refreshingly honest in admitting that decades of computer modeling (and $150 billion) have brought us no further in understanding or predicting the climate. Climate models simply don’t match actual climate data. There has been no global warming – measured by ground thermometers and by satellites and balloons – for 18 years. Antarctic sea ice is at a record high; Arctic sea ice is coming back to normal levels (in spite of official forecasts of an ice-free Arctic in 2013). Major hurricanes hitting the US are at a record low (since 2005’s Wilma); tornadoes are far below average for three years in a row. Increasing CO2 demonstrably doesn’t cause warmer temperatures.

Below is a plot of atmospheric temperature differences from average as a function of CO2 content. Temperature goes up, goes down, and, on the whole, stays the same as CO2 increases. Do you see a correlation here? The correlation (R2) coefficient is 0.002; this is laughably irrelevant. Thursday’s WSJ contains a rebuttal letter from Ben Santer of Lawrence Livermore Labs, insisting that terrible climatic events are obvious. Dr. Santer’s insistence is not a substitute for data.

CO2tempcorr

For a larger view click on the chart.

end-capitalism-2a

The People’s Climate March in New York City. For a larger view click on the image.

On Sunday 100,000 socialists showed up for the People’s Climate March in New York City. The picture on the right demonstrates their understanding of climate science:

“Capitalism is the Disease; Climate Change is the Symptom; Socialism is the Cure.”

Good luck with that one, kids; socialism has never helped the world’s biggest problem – poverty. Ask the Indians, ask the Chinese. I watched the People’s March on television where several of the marchers proudly identified themselves as illegals who came from some third world country to tell you and me how to improve America.

On Tuesday (September 22, 2014) the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry lectured Foreign Ministers from 120 countries on the importance of stopping Climate Change, which is more dangerous than the Islamic State (ISIS). According to Kerry the Islamic State is only a local problem, but “climate change affects the whole world.”

unsummit_climate

United Nations climate summit.

You may rightly wonder why the diplomats came back on Wednesday to hear Barack, but there’s a good reason – money.

Remember the Climate Conference in 2009 at Copenhagen, that President Obama had to flee hurriedly to get back to the White House ahead of a blizzard? Before he left, he promised to contribute to a Green Climate Fund; wealthy countries (you know who that is, right?) promised $100 Billion. So far, the Green Climate Fund has $2.3 Billion, of which $1.3 Billion was raised last week. Did I mention that the deal is for an annual $100 Billion to help developing countries? Even with global warming, Hell will freeze first. But the UN marches on. The next meeting is in November, in Lima; the goal is to raise $10 Billion for the Climate Fund.

In the meantime, China has stated it has no intention of reducing its CO2 emissions (now 28% of the world’s total). India has made the same declaration. To quote Prime Minister Narendra Modi:

“The world had agreed on a beautiful balance of collective action – common but differentiated responsibilities. That should form the basis of continued action. This also means that the developed countries must fulfill their commitments for funding and technology transfer”.

Mr. Modi is quoting from the Kyoto Protocol, which died because of China and India’s refusal to limit their emissions. But it’s still our obligation to send money and technology. Sure!

In short, I think Mr. Obama’s “Climate Legacy” is dead, especially if the Polar Vortex returns this Winter.

But diminishing America’s technological and commercial leadership – by shutting down our fossil fuel energy advantages – fits well in the Obama ideology of trashing America. He’ll keep trying.

And speaking of the Polar Vortex, New England utility National Grid has announced that household natural gas prices will go up by 37%, about $33 per month over last year. This sounds like a cruel joke; natural gas prices are going down, because of fracking, right? Yes, but because of the low price, everyone wants all the natural gas they can get – i.e., demand is way up. But the region’s two major natural gas pipelines are already practically filled to the brim, constricting supply and sending already-elevated rates ever higher.“We’re a stranded region,” says Gilbert Metcalf, an economics professor at Tufts University. “We have a major bottleneck for getting natural gas into New England.” The EPA’s efforts to shut down coal-fired generators adds to New England’s problem.

Elsewhere, the Bardarbunga volcanic vent in Iceland continues pouring out molten lava, throwing it 130 meters into the air. Yes, that’s the report – 130 meters. For comparison, the Statue of Liberty, from ground to torch, is 93 meters; the Brooklyn Bridge is 84 meters above the water. The smell of sulfur in the air is evident as far away as Paris. How long will this continue? The Laki eruption in 1783-1784 went on for eight months, and caused extremely cold weather around the world. It also caused thousands of deaths.

And, in Japan, a volcano erupted without warning, killing a number of Summer mountain climbers. Suspicion is growing that this increased volcanic activity is caused by, yes, you guessed it, global warming. According to the National Post:

19,000 years ago the glaciers of the most recent Glacial Age (i.e., the Wisconsin Glaciation) began to melt, lifting billions of tons of ice off Earth’s crust and weakening the ability of the crust to resist the flow of magma from below. The magma from the mantle then was able to surge up and out. This is demonstrated by the numerous volcanoes in the British Isles and Scandinavia, which were heavily glaciated in…oh, wait!

However, in spite of the disappointments at the People’s Climate March and the UN Climate Conference, the Administration is bringing out the heavy guns – yes, Vice-President Joe Biden has added his voice to the scientists warning us of the dangers of anthropogenic climate disruption.

The VP recently reminded us of “the 161,000…fathers, mothers, brothers, grandparents….lost” in the tornadoes in Joplin, Missouri in 2011. Not to mention the “thousands of cars tossed around like leaves.” Incidentally, Joplin’s population is about 50,000. That, friends, is the man who’s a heartbeat away from the presidency.

Not to be outdone, the Brits have a rival to Biden. Ebola may be more dramatic, but climate change is a bigger threat to public health. That’s the conclusion of the British Medical Journal (BMJ), a weekly peer-reviewed medical journal, publishing since 1840. This week it ran an editorial calling on the UN’s World Health Organization (WHO) to declare climate change a public health emergency.

“Deaths from Ebola infection, tragic and frightening though they are, will pale into insignificance when compared with the mayhem we can expect for our children and grandchildren if the world does nothing to check its carbon emissions,” said the editorial, written by the magazine’s editor in chief, Fiona Godlee.

I don’t make this stuff up, folks, I just report it. But I figure quoting these people – occasionally – is as good as trying to argue with them.

The 3 greatest internal Islamic threats to U.S. National Security: CAIR, ISNA, MSA

For those who stay informed on the threat posed by Islamists, this interview will reinforce what many have been talking about for years.

Dr. Mark Christian, an Egyptian-born Christian convert from Islam and who is related to high-ranking leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood, is now engaged in a battle to root out the Brotherhood influence in what is called the Global Faith Institute, a project in Omaha, Nebraska.

Thanks to Front Page Magazine for passing this along to us. Dr. Mark Christian on The Rick Amato Show:

Are We Witnessing America’s Death by Political Correctness?

Please read the below article by Colonel Lawrence Sellin, Ph.D. concerning the history of the progressive political correct propaganda programs first developed by the Communist Party and promoted by progressives in the U.S. since the early 1950s.  Over the past six years the progressive movement has been implemented by the Obama administration by integrating progressive and politically correct policy in all Government Bureaus with the help of 45 czars appointed by Obama who were never confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

The progressive and political correctness indoctrination has been force fed to the captive U.S. Armed Forces negatively affecting combat effectiveness, unit cohesiveness, and moral.  While this has been on going, the left of center liberal media establishment has been promulgating progressive political correctness in their reporting, in order to indoctrinate the American people.  At the same time, the Obama appointees at the Department of Education have promoted Obama’s progressiveness and political correctness in the new anti-American Common Core teaching curriculum for secondary and college educational courses, in keeping with the progressive indoctrination of unsuspecting students by leftists college professors that has been going on since the early 1960’s.

Unsuspecting students at all levels of education are being indoctrinated with this new progressive political correct Common Core agenda approved by the Obama administration which has eliminated civics courses, information about the Founding Fathers, study of the Bill of Rights, analysis on the US Constitution, positive history about how the US abolished slavery, the impressive history about how the US Armed Forces freed millions of people in foreign lands from oppressive dictators and returned the land to the people in those countries, how the free enterprise created the most effective economic engine in the history of mankind, and cover up the Socialism has never worked in any country where it has been tried.

Now progressives in the Obama administration appointed to the Center for Disease Control are doing nothing to keep American citizens safe from the Ebola epidemic, and are delaying the required precautionary steps necessary to prevent the spread of the Ebola infectious disease from spreading throughout the Republic, because it would not be politically correct.  Obama administration officials have been insinuating that it would be racist to restrict the entry of travelers with passports from countries in West Africa where the Ebola epidemics are rampant.  However, in order to protect their citizens from an Ebola epidemic, the intelligent leaders of African and European countries are restricting flights from West Africa from entering their countries.  The primary function of the leader of any country is to protect the lives of their citizens.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Officials are not properly screening arriving international passengers insuring where they have traveled, asking the passenger if they have a fever, screening passengers to see if they are sick, and are not thermo-scanning passenger’s temperatures.  Yet, US Immigration and Custom Officials are quarantining dogs and cats entering the US, and demanding to examine the medical records of those animals.  Even though the citizens of West African countries have been exposed to a serious Ebola epidemic—and despite repeated calls for restricting flights from West Africa to the United States as African and European countries have restricted those flights from arriving in their countries, the Obama administration refuses to restrict flights from West Africa from entering the US – after all it would be racist and politically incorrect.

rgb on political correctnessA postscript:

When the Obama administration asked Israel to send members of its Armed Forces to provide medical assistance to Ebola infected countries in West Africa, their Defense Minister, Moshe Ya’alon, said  “The hell I’ll expose my troops to Ebola.”  It kind of makes you feel warm inside to know that Obama is exposing 3,000 U.S. military personnel to Liberia where the infectious disease is rampant. No other member of the 192 United Nations is exposing their sons and daughters to that killer disease.

However, Obama won’t deploy one member of the U.S. Armed Forces to seal the wide open southern border, in order to prevent drug smugglers, human smugglers, Islamic terrorists, 200,000 illegal youth from central America, and Ebola infected illegal immigrants from entering the United States.

Dinesh D’Souza wrote:

“Obama is the architect of American decline, and progressivism is the ideology of American suicide. Decline is a choice, but so is liberty. Let us resolve as Americans to make liberty our choice.”

Sellin

Colonel Lawrence Sellin, Ph.D. , U.S. Army (Ret.)

National suicide by political correctness

by LAWRENCE SELLIN, PH.D. October 1, 2014

Barack Obama said “ISIL is not Islamic. No religion condones the killing if innocents.”

That definition includes: al- Qa’ida, Abu Sayyaf, Gama’a al-Islamiyya, Hamas, Hizballah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e Tayyiba, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, Asbat al-Ansar, al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, Jemaah Islamiya, Ansar al-Islam, Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, al-Shabaab, al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula, Boko Haram, al-Nusrah Front, Ansar al-Shari’a in Benghazi, Ansar al-Shari’a in Darnah, Ansar al-Shari’a in Tunisia – Well, you get the idea.

As noted recently by Diana West, Americans continue to be perplexed as to how the Obama Administration and the media keep repeating the politically correct propaganda that Islam has nothing to do with jihad. Such widespread, politics- and mass-media-driven brainwashing is not new.

Just as today’s politicians, journalists and academics seek to separate Islam from its radical impact; brutal conquest, forced conversion, sex slavery and beheadings. Past opinion-makers worked equally hard to separate communism from its own brand inhuman impact; brutal conquest, forced collectivization, concentration camps and mass murder.

Few Americans realize that political correctness, a policy implicitly promoted by Democrats and established as the de facto totalitarian legal system on American universities, was designed by communists in the 1930s to undermine western civilization and democracy while disguising the nature of the threat.

After the successful 1917 communist revolution in Russia, it was widely believed that a proletarian revolt would sweep across Europe and, ultimately, North America. It did not. The only two attempts at a workers’ government in Munich and Budapest lasted only months.

As a result the Communist International began to investigate other ways to create the state of societal hopelessness and alienation necessary as a prerequisite for socialist revolution.

The single, most important organizational component of this conspiracy was a Communist think tank called the Institute for Social Research, popularly known as the Frankfurt School. The task of the Frankfurt School was first, to undermine the Judeo-Christian foundation of Western civilization that emphasized the uniqueness and sacredness of the individual and, second, to determine new cultural forms which would increase the disaffection of the population.

Political Correctness is cultural Marxism translated from economic into cultural terms. Just as in classical economic Marxism, certain groups, i.e. workers and peasants, are a priori good, and other groups, i.e., the bourgeoisie and capital owners, are evil. In the cultural Marxism of Political Correctness certain groups are good, such as feminist women, blacks, ethnic minorities and those who define themselves according to sexual orientation. These groups are deemed to be “victims,” and therefore unquestionably good. Similarly, white males and, by extension Western civilization, are determined to be automatically evil, thereby becoming the equivalent of the bourgeoisie in economic Marxism.

Perhaps the most important, if least-known, of the Frankfurt School’s successes was the shaping of the electronic media of radio and television into the powerful instruments of social control which they represent today.

With the collapse of the Soviet Union, American universities now represent the largest concentration of Marxist dogma and political correctness in the world. This is not the academy of a republic, but Hitler’s Gestapo and Stalin’s NKVD rooting out deviationists in the guise of racial, ethnic, gender and cultural sensitivity.

The policies of the Obama Administration reflect what David Horowitz described as an unholy alliance between leftists and radical Islam. They have been brought together by the traits they share – their hatred of Western civilization and their belief that the United States is the embodiment of evil on earth. While Islamic radicals seek to purge the world of heresies and of the infidels who practice them, leftist radicals seek to purge society’s collective “soul” of the vices allegedly spawned by capitalism — those being racism, sexism, imperialism, and greed.

Given the existential threat posed by such ideologies, political correctness can no longer be considered merely a peculiarity of cowardly politicians, a biased media or tenured radicals, but a dangerous subversive element of an anti-American and anti-Western strategy.

But frankly, Mr. Obama, I don’t care if ISIL is “Islamic” or not. Wanting us all dead is a sufficient reason to take the war directly and aggressively to them.

ABOUT LAWRENCE SELLIN, PH.D.

Lawrence Sellin, Ph.D. is a retired colonel with 29 years of service in the US Army Reserve and a veteran of Afghanistan and Iraq. Colonel Sellin is the author of “Restoring the Republic: Arguments for a Second American Revolution “. He receives email at lawrence.sellin@gmail.com.

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New Political Ad shows how Democrats and Charlie Crist are ‘Out of touch, out of time’ [+Video]

November 4th, Mid-Term Election day 2014, is just 31 days away. TIME Magazine’s Charlotte Alter calls a recent political advertisement produced by the College Republican National Committee the, “Most Sexist Republican Ad of the Year.”

Why would Democrats think this tongue in cheek political ad is sexist?

Because Brittany, the featured character, is a young woman, smart, articulate, a recent college graduate and getting married. Brittany is white, and Tiffani, her maid-of-honor, is black. Finally, Brittany’s mother is overbearing and a Democrat. How more sexist can you get than that?

two women democrat republican

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You see Democrats do not want women to be smart, articulate, independent thinkers and married with children. They certainly don’t want blacks to be friends with whites. They don’t like to consider themselves as opinionated and overbearing like Brittany’s mother and TIME’s Alter. Democrats certainly don’t want young Brittany to get married in a Church, wearing a white dress signalling her chastity. Why I will bet you that Brittany and all of her maids-of-honor have concealed carry permits. God forbid!

Actually, Democrats don’t want women to be women. You see being gender neutral is much better. That is why, with help from their LGBT supporters, they are working to legally erase women with “gender identity laws”.

To put a thinking woman in an political advertisement using a wedding dress as the main prop is patently offensive to Democrats.

Democrats believe young women don’t need to get married! Women don’t need a man when they have the government to provide for them. Finally, Brittany does not have a single tattoo. This makes it abundantly clear that Republicans are out of touch.

Charlie Crist’s campaign has picked up on this TIME article and is using it to fund raise. The problem is Democrat Charlie Crist is out of touch and out of time.

RELATED ARTICLE: Obamacare’s War on Women

Text and Analysis of Florida Amendment 1: “The Water and Land Conservation Initiative”

Dan Peterson, Executive Director of the Coalition for Property Rights, provides the following detailed analysis of Florida Amendment 1:

BALLOT TITLE:

Water and Land Conservation – Dedicates funds to acquire and restore Florida conservation and recreation lands.

BALLOT SUMMARY:

Funds the Land Acquisition Trust Fund to acquire, restore, improve, and manage conservation lands including wetlands and forests; fish and wildlife habitat; lands protecting water resources and drinking water sources, including the Everglades, and the water quality of rivers, lakes, and streams; beaches and shores; outdoor recreational lands; working farms and ranches; and historic or geologic sites, by dedicating 33 percent of net revenues from the existing excise tax on documents for 20 years.

Amendment 1 alters SECTION 28. Land Acquisition Trust Fund to include:

a) Effective on July 1 of the year following passage of this amendment by the voters, and for a period of 20 years after that effective date, the Land Acquisition Trust Fund shall receive no less than 33 percent of net revenues derived from the existing excise tax on documents, as defined in the statutes in effect on January 1, 2012, as amended from time to time, or any successor or replacement tax, after the Department of Revenue first deducts a service charge to pay the costs of the collection and enforcement of the excise tax on documents. b) Funds in the Land Acquisition Trust Fund shall be expended only for the following purposes: 1) As provided by law, to finance or refinance: the acquisition and improvement of land, water areas, and related property interests, including conservation easements, and resources for conservation lands including wetlands, forests, and fish and wildlife habitat; wildlife management areas; lands that protect water resources and drinking water sources, including lands protecting the water quality and quantity of rivers, lakes, streams, springsheds, and lands providing recharge for groundwater and aquifer systems; lands in the Everglades Agricultural Area and the Everglades Protection Area, as defined in Article II, Section 7(b); beaches and shores; outdoor recreation lands, including recreational trails, parks, and urban open space; rural landscapes; working farms and ranches; historic or geologic sites; together with management, restoration of natural systems, and the enhancement of public access or recreational enjoyment of conservation lands. 2) To pay the debt service on bonds issued pursuant to Article VII, Section 11(e). c) The moneys deposited into the Land Acquisition Trust Fund, as defined by the statutes in effect on January 1, 2012, shall not be or become commingled with the General Revenue Fund of the state.

IMPACT ON PRIVATE PROPERTY

Amendment One departs From a Historical Philosophical Perspective of Private Property

In the first half of our nation’s history, it was the practice of the government to encourage private ownership through land grants and other such vehicles. This amendment reverses that tradition. It seems to embrace a philosophy found in this quote (a philosophy which is supported by many of the pro-conservation/sustainable development organizations):

“Land…cannot be treated as an ordinary asset, controlled by individuals and subject to the pressures and inefficiencies of the market.

Private land ownership is also a principal instrument of accumulation and concentration of wealth and therefore contributes to social injustice; if unchecked, it may become a major obstacle…

Public control of land use is therefore indispensable to its protection as an asset…”

From the Preamble, UN Conference, Vancouver, Canada, 1976

Amendment One Departs From Our Founding Fathers’ Intent For Private Property

Our Founding Fathers placed safeguards into our Constitution as a hedge or safeguard against government tyranny. As a result, America became an exceptional and unique place on earth by virtue of being founded upon the right of private citizens to own and use property.

Amendment One dangerously opens the door for government to own and control more land. That means less land is owned and control by private property owners. This amendment presents an alternative view to that intended by our founding fathers.

Today, more than 50% of the American west is owned by government. In the state of Utah, 87% of the land is owned and controlled by the federal government. Despite efforts by the state to reclaim their land, the federal government refuses to return it.

Giving government large sums of money to buy land puts Florida on a trajectory similar to Utah. The intent of this amendment is primarily land acquisition for the purpose of conservation.

IMPACT ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT BUDGETS

As the amount of government owned lands increases, two things happen fiscally:

First, the amount of private lands on the tax rolls will be decreased. Therefore, tax revenues will decrease making less funding available for things like law enforcement, first responders, local services, infrastructure maintenance, and local education. Local governments will have to raise property taxes or take the rarely seen step of cutting their budgets.

Second, more taxpayer money will need to be diverted to pay for increased maintenance costs of ever increasing amounts of conservation lands. Currently, the state lacks money to maintain the properties owned by government.

Counties with the most land in government owned conservation lands, have the highest tax rates.

IMPACT ON THE STATE BUDGET

It is the Florida Legislature’s constitutional responsibility to work with the Governor to craft an annual balanced budget to meet the needs of our state. Through the Legislature, all the needs of the state are considered, debated, and approved by elected representatives. This is designed to address in a balanced way, the comprehensive state needs.

Amendment One restricts the Legislature’s ability and flexibility to budget or allocate funding for an array of state-wide critical needs such as transportation, education, affordable housing, and economic development, etc.

The purchase of land by government is a one-time expense. But, the maintenance of government property is a growing, on-going expense to also be remembered. As government ownership of land increases, so maintenance costs increase requiring more employees (and their pensions) , more facilities, and more equipment.

IMPACT ON THE STATE ECONOMY

Nearly one-third of Florida land is used for agriculture. Agriculture, including farming and ranching, is the backbone of our state’s economy providing jobs and produce. Amendment One names both for acquisition. The majority of lands put into conservation make little to no contribution to the economy.

As private land, with its real or potential contribution to our state’s economy, is removed from production, it moves from being a producer of revenue to becoming a user of revenue. Thus, the state’s economy is weakened. Less land in production means our state is less productive and less competitive in the world.

IMPACT ON THE ENVIRONMENT

Today, more than 27% of Florida is already in conservation according to The Florida Natural Areas Inventory. Add lands for government facilities and the amount of land owned by government is more than 30%.

Florida has more land per square mile under government ownership than any other state east of the Mississippi River. The amount of government owned land will be greatly increased if a projected $18 B were to become available for additional land purchases.

Environmentalist groups have plans to purchase millions of additional acres for additional parks, wildlife refuges, wildlife corridors, forests and conservation areas, just to name a few. Amendment One supplies the cash to do so.

SUMMARY

Amendment One would be bad for Florida because it is an unneeded and harmful addition to the Florida Constitution. It will reduce the amount of privately owned property and negatively impact local revenues. It also intrudes on the legislature’s fiduciary responsibility to allocate our state’s revenues in the interests of our entire state.

Nearly one-third of our state is owned by government. Approximately another third is in agriculture. Documentary transaction stamps are already used to fund a number or environmental programs. The Florida Forever program continues to receive millions of dollars annually through the legislature to acquire conservation land. A growing economy already allows for more money to be allocated for government land purchases.

A more radical option should be considered. Doc stamps are expensive, adding significantly to the transaction costs of real estate. Why not reduce or eliminate the Doc Stamp tax altogether to help, in no small way, all Floridians to exercise their rights of property ownership?

POLL: Americans reject “sugarcoating” of the threat from Islamic extremism

National Security now a top concern in America! We talk with Kellyanne Conway of  The Polling Company about her amazing recent national poll on national security issues. Conway finds the return of the “Security Mom”.

You will be shocked to see that public opinion has dramatically changed and NOW, liberals and independents have joined with conservatives in recognizing and calling for a national security doctrine that is NOT built around President Obama’s, “winning hearts and minds, “ but more so around Ronald Reagan’s, PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH!

A new poll released by Kellyanne Conway’s The Polling Company finds that Islamic extremism is viewed as a threat to peace in the Middle East and home in the United States. There is near consensus that “the religious and ideological teachings of fundamental Islam extremists (not all) are the root cause of terror.”

Other key findings include:

  • “Security” is the dominant theme. Whether preceded by the words “financial,” “border,” or “national,” Americans have elevated safety and survival to top-of-list concerns
  • Familiarity with both “Jihad” and “Sharia law” fell short of actual knowledge, but Americans know enough to cause concern. With Americans paying renewed attention, the time is ripe for an information and education campaign
  • “Security Mom” has returned – if in fact she’d ever receded. Female focus on national security (and border security) is increasing and crystallizing
  • The power grid is seen as a vulnerable piece of the national infrastructure (83%), while a 44% plurality say that securing the grid is a top-three issue

See the embedded top line information or click on the link below it to download a PDF version:

CSP Nationwide Survey – TOPLINE DATA – 9.27.2014

See the embedded slide presentation or click on the link below it to download a PDF version:

Nationwide_Survey_and Focus_Group_Findings_Conway_Sept201 [PDF]

Ladies and gentlemen I offer you some good ‘Gun Sense’

With more and more women and men arming themselves with the latest tricked out versions of the AR-15 (the AR stands for Armalite, the company that originally manufactured this rifle), it is time to make sure you are using “good gun sense” when selecting a self defense weapon to defend your home and family.

Ladies and gentlemen I ask you: Will your home invasion self defense plan protect you from a Democrat prosecutor?

I have some tips.

EDITORS NOTE: The featured image is courtesy of VolkStudio Blog.

ACT for America Defeats CAIR and Government Bureaucrats in Court

In February an ACT! For America chapter in Knoxville, Tennessee, was wrongfully denied the use of public facilities for a counter-sharia event due to the improper actions of CAIR and local school district bureaucrats. Our ACT! Chapter pursued litigation aggressively and this week won a settlement in its suit against the school district. Below are the details from Freedom X, the fine legal team who successfully litigated the case.

This should serve as a warning to government officials everywhere not to take legal advice from, or ally with, CAIR, an organization that openly promotes sharia and was named an unindicted co-conspirator in the largest successful terrorism financing prosecution in US history, the U.S. vs. the Holy Land Foundation.

Lawsuit forces Tennessee school district to allow after-school speech critical of Sharia

KNOXVILLE – After canceling a town hall meeting at the request of Muslim activists, a Tennessee school district and two school officials have settled a lawsuit over the public’s right to voice concerns about the growing acceptance of Islamic law, known as Sharia law, spreading through American communities. The settlement was finalized Wednesday evening when the district approved a policy barring school officials from selectively determining which subjects can be discussed by members of the public using school facilities.

In February, the Knoxville chapter of ACT! for America, an organization opposed to Sharia, planned an after-hours town hall meeting at a local area high school.

John Peach, president of the Knoxville chapter of ACT! for America, and Bill French sued the school district in U.S. District Court on August 4, 2014, for violating their First Amendment right of free speech and their Fourteenth Amendment rights of equal protection and due process. The county agreed to settle the lawsuit [Peach vs. Knox County Schools] just 21 days after it was filed. In addition to revising its facility use policy, the county will pay attorney’s fees and costs.

The new facility use policy states in part that “[a]pproval for use of school buildings and property will not be withheld based upon the content of the message or viewpoint of the applicant.”

“This is a victory for free speech,” said Bill Becker, president of Freedom X, a non-profit legal organization fighting discrimination against conservatives and Christians. “Sharia is incompatible with our constitutional and legal protections. That was the message Knox County school officials tried to censor. It is unfortunate we have to educate the educators about our freedoms, but we are thankful that Knox county attorneys recognized litigation would have been futile for the district.”

Knox County Schools superintendent James P. McIntyre, Jr., agreed to cancellation of ACT’s event after receiving letters from Ibrahim Hooper, communications director for the Council for American-Islamic Relations (“CAIR”) and Abdul Raman Murphy, a Muslim youth chaplain at the University of Tennessee. The activists falsely labeled ACT! a “hate group” and falsely characterized French as a bigot. They speculated the town hall meeting would encourage violence at the school and would disrupt the school environment.

After receiving the letters, Farragut High School’s principal at the time, Michael F. Reynolds, contacted McIntyre fearing that allowing the town hall meeting to take place would convert the school into “a public forum for harassment and bullying practices that contradict the open-minded, academic discussion we seek to teach and foster.”

In 1969, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Tinker v. Des Moines Sch. Dist. that “in our system, undifferentiated fear or apprehension of disturbance is not enough to overcome the right to freedom of expression. Any departure from absolute regimentation may cause trouble. Any variation from the majority’s opinion may inspire fear. Any word spoken, in class, in the lunchroom, or on the campus, that deviates from the views of another person may start an argument or cause a disturbance. But our Constitution says we must take this risk and our history says that it is this sort of hazardous freedom — this kind of openness — that is the basis of our national strength and of the independence and vigor of Americans who grow up and live in this relatively permissive, often disputatious, society.”

Beheading in the U.S.: Will we see more ‘work place Islam’?

I interview Robert Spencer on the Oklahoma beheading and all the implications for increased violent activity coming from jihad mosques here in the United States.

Do not miss this amazing analysis by Robert Spencer, one of the world’s top experts on Islamic jihad.

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LGBT Playbook: Legally erase women through gender identity laws

There has been much discussion by Democrats about a “war on women” perpetrated by the other party. Is that true? The answer lies in the LGBT movements reaction to a recent The Witherspoon Institute’s Public Discourse essay by Janna Darnelle titled “Breaking the Silence: Redefining Marriage Hurts Women Like Me – and Our Children.” Darnelle writes:

Every time a new state redefines marriage, the news is full of happy stories of gay and lesbian couples and their new families. But behind those big smiles and sunny photographs are other, more painful stories. These are left to secret, dark places. They are suppressed, and those who would tell them are silenced in the name of “marriage equality.”

But I refuse to be silent.

I represent one of those real life stories that are kept in the shadows. I have personally felt the pain and devastation wrought by the propaganda that destroys natural families. [Emphasis added]

Read more.

Rivka Edelman analyses the LGBT community’s reaction in a column titled “Ruthless Misogyny: Janna Darnelle’s Story and Extreme LGBT Activism“. Edelman writes:

Darnelle’s essay struck a nerve and went viral. It is not surprising that, within a few hours, LGBT activists had taken up arms against her. Keyboard warriors manned the ramparts. Soon, the usual thugs took up their clubs and pitchforks.

For those of you who avoid the subterranean landscape of online same-sex parenting debates, it is useful to be introduced to Scott “Rose” Rosenzweig, a virulently misogynistic LGBT activist. As soon as Darnelle’s essay was published, Rose went into action, darting from the blog Good As You to other sites in an effort to destroy her personally. (Rose’s obsessive internet commenting has attracted attention at other news outlets as well.) Darnelle’s ex-husband even weighed in. A helpful fellow, he left her personal information in the comments section of several activists’ blogs, including her full legal name.

Janna Darnelle wrote under a pen name in order to protect her family. Unfortunately, her ex-husband’s comments helped Scott Rose embark on a campaign of harassment and intimidation.

According to the National Organization for Marriage, “It reveals the deplorable and unacceptable tenor of ‘debate’ (if you can even call it that) waged by the radical activists promoting same-sex ‘marriage’ – a kind of bullying and harassment that has absolutely no place in the public square and should be condemned on all sides.”

FemaleNOM notes, “But instead of condemnation, HRC and GLAAD and others meet the problem with a deafening silence that speaks louder than words – all the while throwing around invective like “hate group” to describe NOM and others, effectively throwing fuel on the fire and serves as a provocation to further attacks like the ones we see revealed in this article.”

The author writes:

In the name of equality, groups such as GLAAD (which employs Jeremy Hooper) have pushed through gender identity laws that have legally erased women. The term “woman” now legally can refer to the way that a man chooses to identify himself. Once women have been erased legally as a group and as individuals, it is not hard to erase “mothers.” This lends support to the practice of using one woman’s eggs and another woman’s womb to supply children for gay male couples, obscuring the concept of motherhood and making it seem dispensable. [Emphasis added]

Stefano Gennarini, J.D., from the Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute, reports:

The Vatican accused a UN committee of intolerance against Christians and interfering with the free exercise of religion in a scathing reply to a UN committee released to the press last Friday.

The Vatican’s official response to explosive comments made by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child earlier this year, which told the Catholic Church to change its teaching on abortion and same-sex attraction, departs sharply from UN etiquette by confronting the committee bluntly and without mincing words.

The Vatican is especially harsh on the committee for meddling with religious freedom, as well as sowing confusion and disregard of international law. It chastised the UN committee for abusing its position to disparage the Catholic Church during the reporting process under Convention on the Rights of the Child. [Emphasis added]

Democrats have long supported same sex marriage as a “civil right.” When people vote on redefining marriage, such as in California and Florida, they overwhelmingly vote to define marriage as between one man and one woman.

The idea is for Democrats to legally erase women through gender identity laws. This is happening at the city, county, state and national levels. At some point there will no-longer be a war against women as that gender will no-longer legally exist.

RELATED ARTICLE: Vatican: UN Committee “A Sword Against Freedom of Religion”

Will Potheads Put Amendment 2 Over the Top? The Florida Chamber and Adam Putnam say NO!

The title of this column is taken from an email sent out by Dr. Jessica Spencer from the Vote No on 2 campaign. Dr. Spencer states, “‘If you’re a pothead then vote for 2’ – That’s exactly what the Yes on 2 folks want to happen. Their campaign manager said this recently at a debate… But let’s not allow his cavalier attitude about drug use win the day.”

Ana Cruz, former executive director of the Florida Democratic Party, said, “I wish that it didn’t take medical marijuana on the ballot to motivate our young voters. But listen, we’ll take it any way we can get it.”

Ben Pollara, a Democratic fundraiser and campaign manager for the United for Care group, stated:

“We want to be able to have our stereotypical, lazy pothead voters to be able to vote from their couch.”

This week the Vote No on 2 campaign launched new made for TV ad titled “Isn’t What it Seems” that pulls back the curtain and exposes one of the most dangerous loopholes in Amendment 2 – the fact that drug dealers could become caregivers and buy pot to “give” to their patients. The Florida Department of Health estimates Amendment 2 would create 250,000 of these so-called “caregivers.”

Some reefer to Amendment 2 as the “drug dealers protection act.” Pun intended.

Additionally, Vote No on 2 has placed ads in over a dozen African-American owned newspapers with a personal message from Miami’s Urban League President, T. Willard Fair.

Vote No on 2 got support from Florida’s Agricultural Commissioner Adam Putnam and the Florida Chamber of Commerce. Kevin Derby from Sunshine State News reports:

In Central Florida on Wednesday, Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam and the Florida Chamber of Commerce came out swinging at Amendment 2, a proposal to expand medical marijuana use in the Sunshine State.

“The legalization of marijuana has the potential to destroy Florida’s sterling reputation as a family-friendly and business-friendly state,” said Putnam. “Not only does this poorly written amendment give anyone with as much as a headache access to this gateway drug, the legalization of marijuana would severely impact small businesses and corporations alike. As we are making our way out of the greatest recession in decades, the last thing we need is to create a climate that will decrease productivity and increase risk for businesses.”

“Normally we focus on creating jobs, improving education and making Florida more competitive, but this is the type of business Florida can do without,” said Mark Wilson, the president and CEO of the Florida Chamber.

As American essayist and novelist Charles Dudley Warner wrote, “Politics makes strange bedfellows.” In this case Democrats and potheads make for strange bedfellows. Or have they always been in bed together? Anyone remember the 1960s?

RELATED ARTICLE: The Florida Catholic Bishops issue a statement about Amendment 2 expressing major concerns about it

RELATED VIDEO: It’s a Trick

RELATED FLYER: Courtesy of the Florida Sheriffs Association.

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