I'll Have the Chicken Testicle Soup - Hold the Deadly Virus

Commentary from Ann Coulter on Townhall.com (April 8):

It’s probably a coincidence, but I notice that as businesses go under, jobs are lost, careers are ended and trillions of dollars are drained from the economy, the people most avidly pushing the coronavirus panic are doing quite well.

No politician or government official has taken a salary cut. To the contrary, dusty bureaucrats now find the entire country transfixed by their every utterance. Cable news hosts still make millions of dollars -- and now they get to work from home!

Annoyingly, though, journalists can’t seem to relay the basic elements of a news story: who, what, where and why.

First, who’s dying? It appears to be mostly the old, people with specific medical conditions and vapers.

To be sure, that’s not as important as daily updates on Chris Cuomo’s personal battle with the coronavirus, but it might be kind of important to the 17 million Americans who’ve been thrown out of work, many of whom are not elderly, immunocompromised or vapers.

Second, the “what.” What exactly constitutes a “coronavirus death”?

It turns out a person with Stage 4 lung cancer and a bullet through the heart will be counted as a “coronavirus death” if he also tested positive for the disease, OR merely exhibited symptoms associated with it (symptoms that are coextensive with the flu and pneumonia).

We’re told that, if anything, coronavirus deaths are being undercounted because the numbers don’t include those who die of it at home.

If so, then the death count also excludes those who die at home of other things, like heart attacks and poisonings. Many of these people might have survived -- except they were too scared to go to a hospital or couldn't find an EMT to take them there, per current edicts.

The “where” is: Where did the virus originate, and where did it first land in this country?

Despite the media’s best efforts -- DON’T CALL IT THE “CHINESE VIRUS”! -- people know that the virus began at a wet market in China. [read more]

Coronavirus Commission Offers 5-Phase Plan for Getting America Back to Normal

From The Daily Signal.com (April 9):

The National Coronavirus Recovery Commission announced a five-phase plan to get the American economy and public health “back to normal” after the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 17-member commission established by The Heritage Foundation had its first formal and virtual meeting Thursday.

“Americans want to ensure their families are kept safe and healthy,” said commission Chairwoman Kay C. James, president of The Heritage Foundation.

The five phases outlined by the commission are:

—Return to a more normal level of business activity at the regional level based on scientific data.

—Slow the spread of the coronavirus while expanding testing, reporting, and contact tracing.

—Continue to build the science.

—Establish U.S. leadership in leading the free world in economic recovery.

—Reduce future risks of pandemics. [read more]

Permanent Repeal of the Jones Act Would Be a Winning Response to COVID-19

From The Daily Signal.com (April 7):

A waiver of the century-old Merchant Marine Act, also known as the Jones Act, was said to be on the table at Friday’s White House meeting between President Donald Trump and U.S. oil producers.

If legislation was passed to make such a waiver permanent, applying it to all shipments, not just oil, that would be a long overdue shot in the arm to the U.S. economy and relieve some of the financial strain households and businesses now face because of the coronavirus pandemic.

A permanent repeal of the Jones Act would provide relief especially to the people of Puerto Rico who have long had added costs tacked onto the prices they pay for food, energy, staples, and other goods shipped from the U.S. mainland. In fact, shipping imports from U.S. ports cost better than 150% more than shipping imports from non-U.S. ports to Puerto Rico.

The Jones Act long has hindered maritime trade between ports within the United States and U.S. territories because its requirements that any shipments of goods between such ports must be done by ships that are U.S.-built, U.S.-flagged, and at least 75% U.S.-crewed make domestically connected shipments prohibitively expensive in comparison to international shipments.

Jones Act-compliant ships are expensive to build and operate, which adds to the price of the goods transported on them when those goods are brought to market.

Americans pay higher prices because goods that otherwise would be transported between states most cost-effectively by sea arrive instead by road or by rail, or by ship from foreign ports. [read more]

Sounds like a good idea to me.

Team USA: 50 companies join Trump's war on coronavirus

From Washington Examiner.com (Mar. 31):

Some 50 major American firms have joined the national war on the coronavirus, many volunteering to shift their focus and even assembly lines to deliver needed supplies to doctors, hospitals, first responders and others on the front lines.

Most said that they answered President Trump’s call for help and were not pushed into action by the government or threat of the Defense Production Act.

The administration has collected a list of about 35-40 major companies that have enlisted. They range from Facebook to Anheuser-Busch to Ford, Fiat Chrysler, and Toyota. “While by no means comprehensive, these are some notable examples of the private sector stepping up,” said an administration official.

Other national and local groups have also brought in corporate partners to help find masks, gowns, and other personal protective equipment.

The National Sheriffs’ Association, for example, told Secrets that its members have received tremendous help from Home Depot, Grainger, and Staples, and that a half-dozen national restaurant chains have offered to help.

Their pleas for help have been “enthusiastically welcomed” by some top corporations, said National Sheriffs’ Association Executive Director and CEO Jonathan Thompson. “What they are doing is more than impressive. It’s heartening,” he said. [read more]

That’s good to hear.

Other articles on the subject:

• How Capitalism Is Helping US Defeat COVID-19
• 3 Nonprofits Battle Coronavirus With Medical Care, Crisis Supplies, and Hope

Constitution 101 2019 Course Notes Part 6

According to contemporary defenders of the administrative state, the system of government established by the Constitution is dysfunctional.

The modern administrative state is anti-constitutional because it circumvents the separation of powers, attempts to regulate almost all aspects of people's lives, and is uninterested in performing the basic functions of a legitimate government.

According to progressive theorists like Hebert Croly, the goal of the modern administrative state is to secure social justice.

Not only is the modern administrative state anti-constitutional, but it is also pre-constitutional.

The suspension of the Affordable Care Act's employer mandate by the Obama administration is an example of royal prerogative power.

Rather than an aristocracy of experts, the modern administrative state produced an insular oligarchy who rule for their own interests and not for the interests of the governed.

The elite few ruling over the modern administrative state maintain their power by distributing benefits to various groups who support their rule.

Following 1965, the dominant view of government holds that protecting the least advantaged is the primary purpose of government.

One of the New Left’s goals was to bring about a transformation of the moral life of the country through an attack on the traditional understanding of the family.

At the heart of post-1965 politics is a conception of equality that emphasizes not only political equality, but also equality of self-esteem.

Post-1965 immigration policy privileges immigrants from non-European countries.

John Rawls’ difference principle asserts that inequality of wealth and privilege is justified if it is used to favor the disadvantaged.

Source: “Constitution 101: The Meaning and History of the Constitution”

University of Pittsburgh scientists believe they’ve found potential coronavirus vaccine

From NY Post.com (April 2):

Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine believe that they’ve found a potential vaccine for the new coronavirus.

The researchers announced their findings Thursday and believe the vaccine could be rolled out quickly enough to “significantly impact the spread of disease,” according to their study published in EBioMedicine.

The vaccine would be delivered on a fingertip-size patch. When tested on mice, the vaccine produced enough antibodies believed to successfully counteract the virus.

The scientists say they were able to act fast because they had already done research on the similar coronaviruses SARS and MERS.

“These two viruses, which are closely related to SARS-CoV-2, teach us that a particular protein, called a spike protein, is important for inducing immunity against the virus,” read a statement from co-senior author Andrea Gambotto, M.D., associate professor of surgery at the Pitt School of Medicine. [read more]

That’s is good news. Hope it is true.

More articles on medicines combating the coronavirus:

• 5 Things to Know About This Anti-Malaria Drug’s Effect on COVID-19
• A Solution to COVID-19 Is in Sight!

COVID-19 and Second Amendment: 3 Things to Know

From The Daily Signal.com (April 1):

With the COVID-19 pandemic causing serious interruptions to the daily lives of people across the country, many American are acutely aware of how certain civil liberties are being affected by the virus.

But what about the right to keep and bear arms? How is this right being affected by the sudden policy changes?

Here are three things to know about the Second Amendment and COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.

1. Americans Are Flocking to Gun Stores. That’s Not Unreasonable.

Millions of Americans have long known that civilian gun ownership plays an important role in the “security of a free state,” allowing us to protect and defend our liberties when the government cannot or will not do so on our behalf.

It’s clear that, in this uncertain and unprecedented time, many more Americans are coming to understand this reality.

Even as stay-at-home orders have devastated many businesses, retailers of guns and ammunition are reporting massive spikes in sales.

……………..

2. States Have Handled Second Amendment Rights in Very Different Ways.

Our system of federalism means that states, not the federal government, have a lot of control over their individual responses to the COVID-19 epidemic.

Many states have imposed “stay-at-home” orders to help fight the spread of the disease, sometimes with the Second Amendment rights of residents hanging in the balance.

A handful of states, among them Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan, have deemed gun stores “essential businesses” that are exempt from mandatory closures, just like pharmacies, grocery stores, and gas stations.

The Texas attorney general also issued an opinion that local governments can’t use the declared state of emergency to close down gun stores or otherwise infringe on Texans’ Second Amendment rights.

……………………..

3. First-Time Gun Owner? Invest Time in Responsible Gun Ownership.

If you are one of the many Americans now considering buying a gun for the first time, there are several very important things you should do beforehand to help ensure you are a responsible gun owner.

First, familiarize yourself with your state’s gun laws. Every state has different laws about who can purchase what types of firearms and what procedures they must follow.

Some states, such as Nebraska, require you to obtain a purchase permit for all guns. Other states, such as North Carolina, only require special permits for purchasing handguns.

Some states have a mandatory waiting period for all gun purchases, meaning that after you go to the store, pass a background check, and pay for the firearm, you must wait for a certain number of days before the gun store can actually transfer the gun. In California, for example, it will be a full 10 days before you can bring your purchased firearm home. [read more]

5 Keys to Unlocking Why the World Health Organization Bows to China on COVID-19

From The Daily Signal.com (April 1):

The World Health Organization is under increasing fire for its response to the deadly spread of the coronavirus, largely for repeating talking points by the Chinese Communist Party that played down the threat.

The situation could prompt a congressional investigation once lawmakers reconvene, or after the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic that the U.S. government says could kill more than 100,000 Americans.

LiveScience reported that the coronavirus had infected at least 211,413 Americans and killed 4,713 as of Wednesday evening.

The World Health Organization, an arm of the United Nations, found out Dec. 30 about the spread of a disease in Wuhan, China, thought to be pneumonia. More than two months later, on March 11, WHO declared the coronavirus to be a global pandemic.

……………..

Here are some things Americans should know about the World Health Organization, which the U.N. founded in 1948 with the mission of providing health assistance to countries, setting international health standards, and coordinating responses to global health emergencies.

1. How Much Do U.S. Taxpayers Give to WHO?

The World Health Organization has an annual budget of $3.8 billion.

According to WHO, contributions from the U.S. government, American citizens, and U.S.-based charities make up 76% of all voluntary contributions to the organization. That amounted to $945.6 million from 2016 to 2017.

Congress authorized about $123 million in taxpayer funding for WHO in the last fiscal year, and President Donald Trump’s fiscal 2021 budget request proposed to reduce funding to about $58 million.
……….

2. Will Congress Investigate WHO?

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., called this week for a congressional  probe of the organization, based largely on what he considers a lack of warning to the world about the new coronavirus, which causes COVID-19.

“The mission of the WHO is to get public health information to the world so every country can make the best decisions to keep their citizens safe. When it comes to coronavirus, the WHO failed,” Scott said in a prepared statement.

“They need to be held accountable for their role in promoting misinformation and helping communist China cover up a global pandemic,” he said.

…………..

3. What Has WHO Said About China?

On Jan. 14, WHO unquestioningly circulated China’s official talking points in a tweet, saying:

“Preliminary investigations conducted by the Chinese authorities have found no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission of the novel #coronavirus (2019-nCoV) identified in #Wuhan, #China.”

Of course, the virus is highly contagious, a characteristic that has prompted quarantines and self-quarantines around the globe.
On Jan. 23, WHO determined COVID-19 could be spread by humans.

After new evidence that China silenced whistleblowers and doctors in that country, and that Communist Party officials were aware of the spread well before reporting it, WHO continued to extol China’s response and transparency.

………………..

4. What Are the Political Ties Between WHO’s Chief and China?

China backed Tedros in May 2017 when he ran for World Health Organization director-general.

Chinese diplomats “worked tirelessly behind the scenes to help Tedros defeat the United Kingdom candidate for the WHO job, David Nabarro,” Washington Post columnist Frida Ghitis wrote.

“Tedros’ victory was also a victory for Beijing, whose leader Xi Jinping has made public his goal of flexing China’s muscle in the world,” the column continued.

5. Where Does Taiwan Fit In?

Taiwan health officials warned the World Health Organization that the new coronavirus could spread through human-to-human contact before WHO recognized this fact Jan. 23.

WHO initially followed the China line that the virus could not spread through human-to-human contact, according to Institut Montaigne, a think tank in France.

But political considerations were in play.

Taiwan considers itself an independent country and China considers it a province. Unlike China, however, Taiwan got an early handle on the coronavirus and was able to beat back the spread.

Taiwan would be an international success story, except WHO keeps Taiwan and China statistics together.

WHO also excluded Taiwan from its emergency meeting on COVID-19 in January.  [read more]

The WHO are Chinese gov’t apologists to put it mildly.

When Can Life Return to Normal? 4 Signs to Monitor

From The Daily Signal.com (April 1):

While a firm date for the end of this biological battle in the United States is just unknowable at this point, it’s reasonable to ask: How will we know when we’re seeing some light at the end of the social distancing tunnel?

Here are some of the things we would want to see:

1. Numbers: Any decision to loosen social distancing restrictions has to be based on data, not emotion. For instance, a locality, state or region must see its confirmed COVID-19 case numbers decrease over a two week period (to account for the disease incubation period) before considering mitigation modifications.

Similar dips in hospitalization and death rates, as well as improved recovery rates, would also be a welcome sign. In addition, experts must develop a comprehensive nationwide reporting system so that the data can be comprehensively collected, collated, analyzed, and shared.  

2. Testing: A robust diagnostic test architecture must be in place across the country. Optimally, testing should include not only testing for COVID-19—the disease derived from the SARS-CoV-2 virus— but also for the presence of possible immunity through serological antibody testing in people who may have self-resolved the illness.

Moreover, we need to have widely available testing with quick turnarounds, so that we have the data sooner to make the most efficient and effective public policy decisions in this dynamic situation. 

3. Health Care System: Our health care system is under significant stress and strain—not to mention the immeasurable pressure on our intrepid doctors, nurses and medical staff, who are on the front lines working tirelessly to protect and heal us. 

We have to get to a place where the health care system is no longer at risk of being overwhelmed, meaning it must have the necessary personal protective equipment to keep the medical staff healthy and enough ventilators for those in respiratory distress. 

Taking care of our health care system means rebuilding the Strategic National Stockpile, which can be immediately dispatched to a COVID-19 hot spot if local supplies are on the verge of being exhausted.

4. Medicine: There is not yet a vaccine for this new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, and no proven therapeutics or anti-virals.  However, the Food and Drug Administration has authorized the use of some treatments, such as hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, under an emergency use authorization.

While an effective vaccine is likely at least a year away, proven therapeutics or anti-virals could arrive sooner, reducing pain and suffering. Effective treatments will likely reduce the hospitalization and death rates, too. [read more]

Constitution 101 2019 Course Notes Part 5

The Progressives believed that government should be understood as an organic thing that evolved and developed to meet the needs of its environment.

Frank Goodnow argued that there are really only two functions of government: politics and administration.

The New Freedom, the New Nationalism, the New Deal, the Great Society, and the New Frontier are examples of presidents acting as chief legislators.

According to the Progressives, the purpose of Congress is to pass broad legislation authorizing administrative agencies to create regulations.

New Dealers believed that the Great Depression was caused primarily by overproduction.

The three characteristics of the progressive administrator are expertise, independent, and progressive.

New Dealers believed that the necessary consequence of a planned and regulated economy was the abolition of business.

According to Franklin Roosevelt, the great problem of the 20th century was economic tyranny.

The two basic tenets for building the administrative state are delegation of legislative power and judicial deference.

Source: “Constitution 101: The Meaning and History of the Constitution”

While Democrats Pushed Impeachment, One Republican Senator Sounded Alarm On Coronavirus

From Daily Wire.com (April 1):

Despite revisionist claims that everyone but President Donald Trump knew the coronavirus was serious in January, at that time, Democrats were focused solely on impeaching the president over a phone call.

National Review’s John McCormack has an article explaining that while Democrats and the media were focused on impeachment, one Republican Senator – Tom Cotton of Arkansas – was sounding the alarm on the coronavirus.

“On January 22, one day before the Chinese government began a quarantine of Wuhan to contain the spread of the virus, the Arkansas senator sent a letter to Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar encouraging the Trump administration to consider banning travel between China and the United States and warning that the Communist regime could be covering up how dangerous the disease really was. That same day, he amplified his warnings on Twitter and in an appearance on the radio program of Fox & Friends host Brian Kilmeade,” McCormack wrote.

…………………….

In another letter, written to Azar as well as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Department of Homeland Security Acting Secretary Chad Wolf, Cotton warned that “no amount of screening [at airports] will identify a contagious-but-asymptomatic person afflicted with the coronavirus.” In that same letter, dated January 28, Cotton requested Americans in China be evacuated and that travel to and from the country be stopped. [read more]

Senator Cotton was exactly right about the Chinese government. As for the Dems, all they care about is power. America is second place in their concerns—maybe lower. God only knows.

How coronavirus cripples the New York Mafia

From NY Post.com (Mar. 29):

The coronavirus has succeeded where lawmen like Bobby Kennedy and Rudy Giuliani failed for more than a century — by putting the freeze on the mob.

The wholesale cancellation of major sports in the face of the contagion has wiped out tens of millions of dollars in illegal gambling income, a “historic” blow to the Mafia, law enforcement sources told The Post.

“There’s never been a time when they weren’t making money through gambling,” said one insider. “Since the days of Lucky Luciano, when the Five Families started.

“This is historic.”

Thanks to the internet — which replaced the cramped social-distancing nightmares of yesteryear’s wire rooms — it looked as though illegal betting would emerge unscathed during the virus’ early days, sources said.

Then came the postponements and cancellations — the NBA, MLB, March Madness, the NHL, MLS, horse racing and pro golf, to name a few.

With virtually all American sports in an indefinite timeout until the disease burns out, a few dedicated gamblers have tried their hands at wagering on African cricket and Australian soccer matches, sources said, but the underground betting scene has largely gone dry. [read more]

Well, I guess that is good news.

Turkmenistan bans use of word 'coronavirus,' threatens jail for anyone wearing a mask: watchdog group

From Fox News.com (April 1):

Don't even mention "coronavirus" by name in this former Soviet Republic, otherwise you could end up in the slammer.

The Central Asian nation of Turkmenistan has banned the media from using the word "coronavirus" and threatened harsh punishments for those caught talking about the global pandemic.

According to international media freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders, the gas-rich nation is treating COVID-19 like it does not exist.

The France-based group said Tuesday that the autocratic ex-Soviet nation made sure the word also was removed from health information brochures distributed in schools, hospitals and workplaces.

According to reports from Radio Azatlyk, authorities have also forbidden people to wear face masks under the threat of jail time.

“The Turkmen authorities have lived up to their reputation by adopting this extreme method for eradicating all information about the coronavirus,” said Jeanne Cavelier, the head of RSF’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk.

Plainclothes police officers reportedly listen to people's conversations in lines, at bus stops and on buses. [read more]

Crazy.

China sued over coronavirus in International Criminal Court

From WND.com (March 30):

China, President Xi Jinping and others have been named in a complaint filed at the International Criminal Court by Freedom Watch founder Larry Klayman over the coronavirus outbreak, alleging the communists developed the coronavirus and it escaped from their labs.

"The ruthless communist Chinese regime, which persecutes and terrorizes its own people, must be held to account," Klayman said of his latest suit. He earlier sued China in U.S. federal courts to pay for coronavirus damages.

"It is a criminal regime, which arrogantly shrugs off its criminal responsibility by blaming the United States and the rest of the free world. I call on lawyers in nations around the world to join our effort to punish the guilty and have them thrown in prison where they belong," Klayman said. "I also call on all persons of good intentions to join or follow and support our class action suit in Dallas, Texas, and I am actively amassing a team of lawyers to make sure that China, and not the American taxpayer, pay the bill for the human suffering and death which this rogue communist 'terrorist state' has caused. I am also assisting lawyers in other nations globally to bring similar legal actions."

The criminal complaint submits a respectful request "that the prosecutors office of the International Criminal Court open an investigation to determine the origins of the COVID-19 virus including its likely release from the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the defendants' willful interference with attempts to fight the spread of the disease and develop treatments, tests, and a vaccine and once the facts alleged herein are confirmed to conduct criminal war crimes prosecutions to and try, convict and sentence to life imprisonment the defendants herein." [read more]

Not a bad idea. China should be held accountable for not telling the world sooner about the virus.

Other stories about China and the coronavirus:

• 'Cover-up': Chinese researched bat virus near Wuhan market
• Report: China Concealed Severity Of Coronavirus
• White House Can’t Verify China’s Questionable COVID-19 Numbers
• This Is Xi’s Virus. The Chinese Ought to Pay for It.
• After COVID-19, 4 Ways the US Can Put Pressure on China

Constitution 101 2019 Course Notes Part 4

In his "Address at the Cooper Institute," Abraham Lincoln argued that Republicans would have to cease to call slavery wrong in order to satisfy the South.

Southern secessionists advanced a doctrine of undivided state sovereignty to explain the relationship between the states and the federal government under the Constitution.

The purpose of personal liberty laws was to provide due process for free black citizens.

Abraham Lincoln argued that the Southern secession movement should be understood as an insurrection.

Lincoln argued that the Civil War was a fight to vindicate republican government against an attempt to impose oligarchy on the nation.

In his "Second Inaugural Address", Abraham Lincoln argued that the Civil War should be understood as a divine judgement on entire nation for the sin of slavery.

The Progressives argued that the ends of government are historically contingent.

Woodrow Wilson, John Dewey, and other leading Progressive intellectuals were educated at Johns Hopkins University, which was founded in 1876 to bring the German educational model to the United States.

Progressives believed that there had been a constant improvement in history, which made government less dangerous to the governed.

In Liberalism and Social Action, Dewey criticizes the founders' because they "lacked historic sense."

In The American Conception of Liberty, Frank Goodnow argues that European nations are better governed because social expediency determines the "sphere of individual freedom of action.

In an essay from 1887, Woodrow Wilson argues that "in fundamental theory socialism and democracy are almost if not quite one and the same."

Source: “Constitution 101: The Meaning and History of the Constitution”

DHS Chief Says Spending Bill Will Help Build ‘Significant Amount of Wall’

From The Daily Signal.com (Dec. 19):

The nation’s acting homeland security secretary said Thursday that the $1.4 trillion spending package making its way through Congress will pay for an enormous amount of new barrier along the U.S.-Mexico border.

The House passed a $1.4 trillion spending package Tuesday with days to go before the federal government would enter a shutdown. Included in the legislation is $1.375 billion for border wall construction.

The package, which allots the same amount of funds as last year’s spending bill, also allows President Donald Trump to keep his authority to tap other government funds for wall construction.

Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf said the spending bill will help pay for a “significant” amount of barrier.

The spending package “gets us about 70 miles of new border wall,” Wolf said Thursday on “Mornings with Maria” on the Fox Business Channel. “So combine that with the money we have in ’17, ’18, ’19, the money that we are using from [the Department of Defense] as well, and we’ve got significant amount of money to build significant amount of wall. So we’re anticipating by the end of 2020 that we have somewhere between 400 and 450 miles of new wall.”

The spending bill, which expires at midnight Friday, now heads to the Senate. Trump is expected to sign it when it reaches his desk. [read more]

Holy cow! One-eyed calf is worshipped as a god in India

From Daily Mail.co.uk (Jan. 7, 2019):

A newborn calf with just one eye is being worshipped as a god in eastern India.

The little cow, whose appearance is due to a birth defect, was born in the Bardhaman district of West Bengal. 

In video footage shared online, the one-eyed calf, which also does not have a muzzle, can be seen sticking out its tongue and gasping for breath.

The owner said: 'Ever since it was born, people have crowded my place to see the bizarre calf.

'They are now considering it to be a miracle of God and have started worshipping it.'

The calf has cyclopia, a rare congenital disorder that occurs in both humans and animals.

It develops in the womb when the left and right hemispheres of the brain do not separate as they are meant to early on in pregnancy. [read more]

I don’t think the calf considers itself a miracle. I think it would say it got screwed in life.

Exorcists Condemn Children’s Book on Summoning Demons

From Breitbart.com (Dec. 2019):

ROME — The International Association of Exorcists (AIE) has issued a statement warning parents of the dangers of a 2019 children’s book that gives instructions on how to summon up demons.

The statement refers to A Children’s Book of Demons, a book targeting children aged 5-10 by Aaron Leighton, an illustrator and “fan” of occult practices. The book invites children to summon demons as a way of dealing with unpleasant problems such as chores, homework, and getting rid of bullies.

“Summoning demons has never been so fun!” it proposes.

The book, published by Koyama Press, presents a number of demons, each accompanied by a sigil, to be drawn by kids as a means of conjuring the demons for their personal benefit.

“Leighton’s renderings of the multieyed, multiarmed, sharp-toothed demons are outlandish without being creepy, and the creative concept will likely inspire some readers to create demons of their own,” Publishers Weekly declares in its review of the book.

Not everyone is so sanguine in evaluating the potential impact of Leighton’s book on child readers.

The author presents the calling up of demons as something “ordinary and recommendable,” says AIE president Father Francesco Bamonte, “inviting children them to ally themselves with them, to take advantage of them.”

The priest notes that Leighton teaches children to summon demons by drawing the demonic seal, or sigil, that represents them. “Thus, the children reproduce symbols very similar to those featured in the grimoires, manuals of magic spells that teach, with meticulous detail, the procedures necessary to contact evil spirits,” he said. [read more]

Yea, I don’t think what that book is teaching is wise. Demons hate, despise, loathe, etc. people. They are also deceptive, dangerous and powerful. You don’t want to be summoning them.

Another article on the subject:

Italian exorcist says society risks collapse due to ‘aggressive Satanism’

Conservative uprising in Seoul protests unchecked ruling party

From Free Pressers.com (Dec. 2019):

South Korea’s National Assembly on Monday canceled a vote on fast-tracked legislation being pushed by leftist President Moon Jae-In after a massive protest by opposition lawmakers and their supporters in the streets outside the parliament.

“I will not open a plenary session today because it won’t be possible to smoothly operate a session,” National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-Sang said in a statement.

The Liberty Korea Party (LKP) protested the ruling Democratic Party (DP) and its legislative allies for attempting to push through bills which would revise the electoral system and weaken the powers of prosecutors in a process that excluded opposition parties.

Thousands of protesters, many waving Korean and American flags, flooded the area in front of the National Assembly to protest what they said was a power grab by President Moon and his Democratic Party.

Korea analyst Lawrence Peck, who witnessed the protest, posted his reaction online, writing: “As I Watched Live Protests In Front Of National Assembly, Police Announced They Would Arrest Not Only Protesters, But Also Arrest Media Covering The Protest! I Heard It With My Own Ears! Wow! But No Foreign Journalists Were There To Report It! The protest was against an attempt by Moon's party to ram through, in expedited manner, Moon's special political prosecution unit reform plan. Thousands of people were there to protest it. How can police threaten to arrest reporters covering it? Crazy!”

Many of the protesters were members of conservative groups who support impeached President Park Geun-Hye, Korea JoongAng Daily reported. The pro-Park protesters are known as the “Taegeukgi Troops,” for the Taegeukgi, or the Korean national flag, they always wave.

On Dec. 10, the ruling party and four smaller parties formed a bloc to pass what is known as the “Super Budget” ($432 billion), the largest budget in South Korea’s history, “while excluding the main opposition party,” East Asia Research Center reported.

The Deobureo Minjoo Party (Democratic Party of Korea), together with Bareun Mirae Party, Justice Party, Democratic Peace Party, and New Alternative Party pushed forward in passing the bill, despite LKP’s protest. The bill passed only one minute after it was introduced, the report said. [read more]

Other articles about S. Korea:

• Unreported: Seoul government invited nation's virus outbreak
• South Korea Provides Lessons, Good and Bad, on Coronavirus Response

Constitution 101 2019 Course Notes Part 3

In Notes on the State of Virginia, Jefferson writes that slavery teaches slave owners how to become tyrants.

The slave trade was legally abolished in the United States in 1807.

The three-fifths clause in the Constitution was a compromise to secure the ratification of the Constitution.

Progress toward emancipation stopped, and then reversed, due to the invention of the cotton gin and more adaptable strains of cotton, the growing attachment to an aristocratic society, and an overt rejection of the principles of the founding.

John C. Calhoun articulated a new ideology which held that slavery was a positive good.

According to the political theory of John C. Calhoun, liberty is a reward for moral and intellectual development.

John C. Calhoun argued that human beings receive their rights as members of a group, and not as individuals.

Dr. Portteus asserts that the pro-slavery critiques of Northern working conditions resemble the arguments of Karl Marx.

Source: “Constitution 101: The Meaning and History of the Constitution”

Dr. Portteus is right. The slave owners back then were early progressives. They didn’t like the Constitution and were elitists with a superiority-complex (which is kind of redundant.)

House Funds Key Programs but Adds to Government Bloat, Waste

From Daily Signal.com (Dec. 17):

The House passed two spending bills totaling $1.4 trillion Tuesday to fund the federal government through the remainder of fiscal year 2020, which began Oct. 1.

Although the first bill would provide much-needed funding and budget certainty to core constitutional responsibilities, such as national defense, the second “minibus” is a Christmas tree of bloated spending and add-ons that have no place being voted on through an appropriations bill.

The House passed the two bills, introduced late Monday afternoon, in less than 24 hours. The Senate is expected to consider the two measures later this week.

The fact that the House voted on more than 2,000 combined pages of text within 24 hours of introducing the two bills is a troubling symptom of Washington’s budget dysfunction. This is not the way that the budget process is supposed to work, and it leads to wasteful spending and other negative impacts for American taxpayers.

Lawmakers must work together to implement reforms that create a better functioning and more responsible budget process.

The first spending bill, dubbed the “national security” minibus, provides a total of $860.3 billion in fiscal 2020. This includes $92.6 billion in funding adjustments that fall outside the Budget Control Act spending caps. The funding is divided among the Defense; Commerce, Justice, and Science; Homeland Security; and Financial Services appropriations bills.

Providing national security is one of the key responsibilities of the federal government. This package will ensure that the Department of Defense and other security agencies are properly trained and equipped so that they can continue to ensure the safety of all Americans. Passing full-year appropriations now also will enable these agencies to proceed with long-term projects.

However, the national security “minibus” is not without flaws. The bill includes $17.4 billion in disaster funding that is not constrained by the budget caps and is not paid for. This funding goes directly to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Disaster Relief Fund and is intended to be used to respond to disasters that have a cost of less than $500 million per event. [read more]

Turtle Power: Study Finds Giant Tortoises Have Strong Memories, High Intelligence

From Study Finds.org (Dec. 16):

OKINAWA, Japan — Move over elephants, giant land tortoises may just be the kings of the animal kingdom when it comes to memory. Historically, these large reptiles haven’t been considered especially intelligent, but a new study conducted at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology is suggesting both their overall brain power and memory skills have been greatly underestimated.

“When first discovered, giant land tortoises were viewed as stupid because explorers could simply collect and store them on ships as a supply of fresh meat,” explains study author and postdoctoral scholar Dr. Tamar Gutnick in a statement.

Despite this unfair stereotype, the research team say there have been signs of these turtles’ high intelligence and superior memory for a long time. In fact, Charles Darwin himself noted that Galapagos tortoises tended to travel great distances between the locations they typically ate, slept, and bathed, which would require sufficient memory skills in order to remember their routes back and forth. Additionally, other explorers around this time period had noted that tortoises were capable of being trained to stay in one location aboard ships.

“We also observed firsthand that tortoises recognized their keepers, so we knew they were capable of learning,” Dr. Gutnick adds. “This research shows the rest of the world just how smart they are.” [read more]