Lessons Learned in Science

1. Choose an objective apparently ahead of its time.
2. Work on problems only when you feel tangible success may come in several years.
3. Never be the brightest person in a room. Nothing can replace the company of others who have the background to catch errors in your reasoning or provide facts that may either prove or disprove your argument of the moment. And the sharper those around you, the sharper you will become.
4. Stay in close contact with your intellectual competition. The presence of worthy competitors is an assurance that the prize ahead is worth winning. The smaller the field, the better you can size it up, and the better the chance you will run an intelligent race.
5. Work with a teammate who is your intellectual equal. Two scientists acting together usually accomplish more than two loners each going their own way. The best scientific pairings are marriages of convenience in that they bring together the complementary talents of those involved.
6. Always have someone to save you. In trying to be ahead of your time, you are bound to annoy some people inclined to see you as too big for your britches. So it always pays to know someone of consequence—other than your parents—who is on your side.

Source: Avoid Boring People.

Lessons Learned as an Undergraduate

These lessons are from James D. Watson:

1. College is for learning how to think.
2. Knowing “why” (an idea) is more important than learning “what” (a fact).
3. New ideas usually need new facts.
4. Think like your teachers.
5. Pursue courses where you get top grades. After you’ve satisfied requirements, choose courses that naturally interest you, not ones someone else thinks you should care about. Then give these courses your all.
6. Seek out bright as opposed to popular friends.
7. Have teachers who like you intellectually.
8. Narrow down your intellectual (career) objectives while still in college.

Source: Avoid Boring People (Lessons from a Life in Science) (2007) by James D. Watson.

Great advice especially #1 and #2. It seems in todays universities campus life is more about propaganda and shutting down “questionable” speech that might offend students than about critical thinking skills and listening to opposing view points. If you can’t listen to another viewpoint you never will learn. Yes, the truth can shock and sometimes turn your world around but eventually you will be okay. The key here is how to think and not what to think. I am not talking about facts—that’s okay. What I am talking about here is the professors opinions, biases and prejudices. Professors are authority figures. Even role models. They are responsible for what they teach their students. So, if professors are teaching students their biases and prejudices—that’s the very definition of brain washing.  Students are not learning what they need to learn. 

The “why” in lesson two reminds of learning how to document programming code in college. The instructor said when you document a subroutine you put why you wrote it instead of what it does. The code itself takes care of the what. Maybe that’s what congress should do when it makes a law—explain why they wrote the law. Then again that might too much of their time and they don’t consider that important.

Thoughts of Marx, Lenin and Hillary Clinton

First the thoughts of Karl Marx:

• There are, besides, eternal truths, such as Freedom, Justice, etc., that are common to all states of society. But Communism abolishes eternal truths, it abolishes all religion, and all morality, instead of constituting them on a new basis; it therefore acts in contradiction to all past historical experience.
• The theory of Communism may be summed up in one sentence: Abolish all private property.
• From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs.
• The education of all children, from the moment that they can get along without a mother's care, shall be in state institutions at state expense.
• The meaning of peace is the absence of opposition to Socialism.¹
• Machines were, it may be said, the weapon employed by the capitalists to quell the revolt of specialized labor.
• Capital is dead labor, which, vampire-like, lives only by sucking living labor, and lives the more, the more labor it sucks.

Now the thoughts of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin:

• We do not have time to play at “oppositions” at “conferences.” We will keep our political opponents... whether open or disguised as “nonparty,” in prison.
• No amount of political freedom will satisfy the hungry masses.
• The aim of socialism is not only to abolish the present division of mankind into small states and all-national isolation, not only to bring the nations closer to each other, but also to merge them.¹
• The surest way to destroy a nation is to debauch its currency.²
• Destroy the family, you destroy the country.
• A system of licensing and registration is the perfect device to deny gun ownership to the bourgeoisie.
• Only an armed people can be the real bulwark of popular liberty.³
• The way to crush the bourgeoisie is to grind them between the millstones of taxation and inflation.²
• Give me four years to teach the children and the seed I have sown will never be uprooted.
• The Capitalists will sell us the rope with which we will hang them.
• We can and must write in a language which sows among the masses hate, revulsion, and scorn toward those who disagree with us.
• While the State exists, there can be no freedom. When there is freedom there will be no State.
• All our lives we fought against exalting the individual, against the elevation of the single person, and long ago we were over and done with the business of a hero, and here it comes up again: the glorification of one personality. This is not good at all.
• One of the basic conditions for the victory of socialism is the arming of the workers (Communist) and the disarming of the bourgeoisie (the middle class).

How many of you Leftists believe this crap? Please raise your hands. Wow, that’s quite a few people. Okay, Hillary and Obama you don’t need to jump and down with excitement. I get it. You are Marxists. And now Hillary Clinton wants to say something:

• Many of you are well enough off that ... the tax cuts may have helped you. We're saying that for America to get back on track, we're probably going to cut that short and not give it to you. We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good.
• We must stop thinking of the individual and start thinking about what is best for society.
• I'm undaunted in my quest to amuse myself by constantly changing my hair.⁴
• The American people are tired of liars and people who pretend to be something they're not.⁵
• Marriage has got historic, religious and moral content that goes back to the beginning of time, and I think a marriage is as a marriage always has been, between a man and a woman. ⁶
• I think we sort of have lost track of the fact this is a government that has to be accountable to the people of our country. ⁷
• Where's the goddamn f***ing flag? I want the goddamn f***ing flag up every f***ing morning at f***ing sunrise.

¹ I wonder if Bernie Sanders believes this.

² Congress is already doing this.

³ I believe the Founders would have agreed with this. “To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them.”  - George Mason.

⁴ Do you amuse yourself by changing your pants suits?

⁵ Does this include Bubba and yourself? Or does that fall into “at this point what difference does it make?”

⁶ Unless I am running for president.

⁷ Unless I am destroying classified emails.

Can a Christian Be a Communist?

This excerpt is from Martin Luther King in September 30, 1962:

Now, let us begin by answering the question which our sermon topic raises: Can a Christian be a communist? I answer that question with an emphatic “no.” These two philosophies are diametrically opposed. The basic philosophy of Christianity is unalterably opposed to the basic philosophy of communism, and all of the dialectics of the logician cannot make them lie down together. They are contrary philosophies.

How, then, is communism irreconcilable with Christianity? In the first place, it leaves out God and Jesus Christ. Communism is avowedly secularistic and materialist. The great philosopher of communism, Karl Marx, based his total philosophy on what he called dialectical materialism. There was a philosopher by the name of Hegel who had used what he called the dialectical system to analyze concepts, and Karl Marx was willing to take Hegel’s dialectic. And then he studied another man by the name of Feuerbach, a German philosopher. This man was a materialist. And so he took the materialism of this man and added it to the dialectic that he got from Hegel, and this is why his system is called dialectic materialism.

Now, what is materialism? It says in substance that the whole of reality can be explained in terms of matter in motion. In other words, it says that the basic stuff of reality is the material stuff. Materialism says, in substance, that idealism is wrong when it talks about the ultimate reality of mind and spirit and all of that. Karl Marx was a materialist, and he believed that the whole of human history moved on, driven by economic forces. This was his idea. There was no place in that system for God, and so from that moment on, communism became an atheistic system. And to this very day it is atheistic. It denies the existence of God. And if one goes to Russia, even today, he will find many of the churches fill on Sunday morning, but we know that in spite of that, the Russian government has had a campaign against religion, and against God and belief in God, ever since the revolution in 1917.  [read more]

Interesting essay. He got it exactly right. Communism cannot coexist with Christianity (or for that matter any religion) because Communism is a religion itself.  That’s why Christianity isn’t allowed in China or N. Korea today. It wants to remake man in its own image.

Here is what Karl Marx said about religion in general: “Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people". He also said: “My object in life is to dethrone God and destroy capitalism.” Get the point?

I wonder what his thoughts are on socialism. Because I don’t think you can be socialist either and be a Christian. Socialism according to Marxism is the economic system right before Communism. The stages go like this: Feudalism –> Capitalism –> Socialism –> Communism.

Soros Fund Management Donates Money to John Kasich

Leftist billonaire George Soros gives $202,700 to John Kasich’s presidential campaign. Why? To try to create a contested convention. It’s what George Soros does to borrow from a commercial. Soros creates chaos and trouble with his money by funding radical groups like  Black Lives Matter among others. Soros is just implenting the top-down, bottom-up, inside-out strategy that Van Jones talked about. Kaisch’s just a pawn. Soros doesn’t care about his campaign. Kaisch should do the right thing for the country and drop out of the race. He doesn’t have a chance to win.

To be fair, Soros gave $7,037,800 to the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign. Which is to be expected. Notice monetary difference between the two donations. Soros gave a lot more money to Hillary than Kaisch which proves my point he doesn’t really care about Kasich. Then again maybe that doesn’t matter to Kaisch. Money is money.

Soros did not give money to Trump or Sanders. It’s interesting to note that a quite a few of tech companies (Apple, Microsoft, IBM, Intel, Facebook) gave money to Sanders. The amounts were only only in the 10 to 40 thousand range though. What’s really surprising is that US Navy, US Air Force, and even the US Postal Service gave money to Sanders. The arm forces and the post office shouldn’t be given money to any candidate. They are public entities. The US Army did not give money to any candidate by the way.

H/T: Glenn Beck.com.

Bush Didn’t Lie About WMDs

A Town Hall.com article by John Hawkins (Feb. 21):

Throughout the Bush years, liberals repeated “Bush lied, people died” like a mantra. That slander wasn’t true then and it’s not anymore true now that it has resurfaced. There are many legitimate criticisms of the way the Bush Administration conducted the war in Iraq and even more of the way Obama threw away all the blood and treasure we spent there for the sake of politics, but you have to be malicious or just an imbecile at this point to accuse Bush of lying about WMDs.

To begin with, numerous foreign intelligence agencies also believed that Saddam Hussein had an active WMD program. The "intelligence agencies of Germany, Israel, Russia, Britain, China and France" all believed Saddam had WMDs. CIA Director George Tenet also rather famously said that it was a “slam dunk” that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

Incidentally, it’s hard to fault the CIA for their conclusions when even, “In private conversations that were intercepted by U.S. intelligence, Iraqi officials spoke as if Saddam continued to possess WMD. Even Iraqi generals believed he did. In the fall of 2002, the Iraqi military conducted exercises in chemical protective gear – but not because they thought the U.S.-led coalition was going to use chemical weapons.”

Additionally, many prominent Democrats who had access to the same intelligence that George Bush did came to the same conclusion and said so publicly. If George W. Bush lied, then by default you have to also believe that Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Al Gore, John Kerry, John Edwards, Robert Byrd, Tom Daschle, Nancy Pelosi and Bernie Sanders also lied. Some of them, like Hillary Clinton, even alleged that Saddam was working on nuclear weapons. [read more]

I know this is past history but there are still nuts who think Bush lied about WMDs. Well, even Bernie Sanders believed Hussein had WMDs. So, what happened to the WMDs? God and Hussein only knows. One theory (I think it is credible) is that Hussein moved them to Syria before the war. 

A Sign of Socialism

Source: Glenn Beck.com.

Sums socialism up pretty well.

Cycling Pathways to Occupy Mars

From Buzz Aldrin.com:

Like during the 1960s for the Apollo Program, an inspiring and an audacious goal—a Unified Space Vision is needed for space exploration to establish a permanent human presence on Mars. The proposed architecture establishes pathways of progressive missions to cis-lunar space, asteroids, Phobos, and eventually to the surface of Mars.

Missions begin 2018 launching 1st generation inflatable exploration modules (XM1), Bigelow BA330s, which are flown to Low-Earth Orbit, and to cis-lunar space (L1, L2). Orion’s crew including several scientists supported by BA330 reaches an asteroid in 2026 simultaneously with a low thrust exploratory robot for 60 days; Earth return totals one year. Flights then test rigid XM2 exploration modules at manned lunar stations, remotely assembling and connecting the international lunar bases, and initiate tele-robotics for in-situ resources, asteroid exploration and sample extraction. Once lunar far-side and nearside bases have been assembled and vital experience gained, beginning in 2028 (before first humans to Mars) and by 2034–nine unoccupied 3rd generation exploration modules (XM3) would be launched to Mars and two habs to Phobos.

One unique innovation of the mission architecture is to use “cycler” spacecraft that would travel between Earth and Mars perpetually, every two synodic periods in S1L1 cycler orbits. The two cyclers, outbound and inbound separated by synodic periods are identical and at a first outbound Earth encounter, three landers intercept the cycler via hyperbolic rendezvous, carrying two crew members each. The outbound cycler carries three landers with six crew members total. [read more]

Interesting. Would be cool if America could go. I first heard about this when he talked about it during his CPAC speech. I didn’t go to the conference but watched the video among others on YouTube.com. He didn’t get a very big applause during the speech because not very many people understood what he was saying.

Justice Dept. Has ‘Discussed’ Civil Legal Action Against Climate Change Deniers

From The Blaze.com (March 9):

Attorney General Loretta Lynch testified Wednesday that the Justice Department has “discussed” taking civil legal action against the fossil fuel industry for “denying” the “threat of carbon emissions” when it comes to climate change.

During Lynch’s testimony at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) said that he believes there are similarities between the tobacco industry denying scientific studies showing the dangers of using tobacco and companies within the fossil fuel industry denying studies allegedly showing the threat of carbon emissions.

He went on to point out that under President Bill Clinton, the Justice Department brought and won a civil case against the tobacco industry, while the Obama administration has “done nothing” so far with regard to the fossil fuel industry.  [read more]

This is what facists gov’ts do. I don’t care if what the private companies says is wrong or not this is a violation of the first admendment. This is pure and simple a bullying tactic. Shut up anyone who doesn’t get in line. Papa gov’t knows best—at least that’s what the Left thinks. Science facts change all the time. That’s the nature of science. It doesn’t matter if its biology or meteorology. Especially with meteorology where the weather is a complex phenomena. So, Big Gov cannot know everything about weather at a particulular time.

Here’s a question: Should a gov’t official be sued if what a private citizen believes he/she says is wrong? Good luck with that one.

Thoughts on Democrat Caucuses

This explanation is directly from the Kansas Dems.org website:

Eligible caucus goers divide to form Presidential preference groups. If a preference group does not have enough people to be considered “viable”, 15% of total caucus goers, eligible attendees will have an opportunity to join another preference group or acquire people into their group to become viable. Delegates are then awarded to the preference groups based on their size. 

I believe this is how most if not all democrat caucuses run. The Left is so group obsessed they have to put the voters in groups like sheep. The republican causes don’t do it this way. You just mark on a ballet who you want to vote for and then put it in a ballot box. That’s all. I should know cause I did vote on Saturday for Ted Cruz.

To be fair, according to how stuff works.com this way of causing was started in 1796 and is more complex than what that small explanation says.

Glenn Beck’s Dream Team

From Glenn Beck.com (March 3):

Everyone wins: Cruz is president. Rubio, vice president. Mike Lee as our Supreme Court justice. Rand Paul as Treasury Secretary. And Ben Carson as the new Florida senator. Everyone wins. And we’ll stomp in November. [read more]

I like it. This is what I was kind of thinking. Three small changes though. Instead of Ben Carson as Florida senator have him as the Surgeon General. If I remember correctly this was mentioned on the radio but I did not see it on the transcript. The other change or addition to the dream team is John Bolton as Secretary of State. And the third addition is possibly Chris Christie as US Attorney General.

Questions Nobody Has Asked

A column by John P. Warren on Town Hall.com (Feb. 21):

Watching CNN’s debates and town halls makes me think of questions I’d like to ask. You, too, I’m sure. Here are a few no one seems to be asking.

About Clinton: Despite her Nevada win, it is becoming harder and harder for people to believe she and her husband went through all the trouble and expense to keep their emails on a personal server for the sake of convenience. While the inquiry thus far has focused solely on those classified emails, the better question is what was it the Clintons did NOT want to have on government servers, so easily accessible to law enforcement? Is it possible they did not want email exchanges concerning Clinton Global Initiative conflicts or foreign party payoffs to appear there?

Let’s hope the FBI and State are asking that question. Next, if Nixon’s 18 minutes of missing tape warranted a special prosecutor, wouldn’t Mrs. Clinton’s deceit about her emails—obstructing justice?—and reckless misuse of classified information warrant a special prosecutor?

About Trump: He’s won South Carolina, and that’s impressive. The most important insight is that evangelicals aren’t interested in a “Christian-in-Chief,” but someone who will fight for them. A few valid questions remain, however.

Is his campaign truly a freebie? When Nelson Rockefeller ran for president, the media bellowed he was attempting to buy the office. Quietly, the media reported that old Joe Kennedy did the same for his son. Now, when Mr. Trump repeatedly reminds us that he is self-funded, isn’t he buying the office?

People who love freebies—and who doesn’t?—often do not ask the next question. If Mr. Trump succeeds in gaining the office without anyone’s financial support—from the waitresses, schoolteachers, and garage mechanics—will he owe the voters anything?

[read more]

Good questions. Mr. Warren asks questions about Sanders too but since he probably won’t get the Dem nomination I am not really interested in those questions. Although Sanders did get Oklahoma to vote for him over Hillary. Interesting. I have questions about Hillary and Trump too:

For Hillary Clinton, your slogan is “Fighting for Us.” Did that include the Americans who were killed in Libya? And why isn’t your motto “Fighting for America?” Who is the “us”  you are mentioning? You say on your website that you want to “Never allowing Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon.” Did you tell Obama this before he made that stupid agreement with Iran?

For Donald Trump, your slogan is “Make America Great Again!” What in your opinion makes America great? Is it The Constitution? The Declaration of Independence? Liberty? The citizens? Free-market system? I guess I am asking do you believe in American Exceptualism? All you mention on your website that deals with the Constitution is the Right to Bear Arms. That’s good but I like to hear more about what you think makes America great. Since so far you are self-funded and continue to be self-funded does that mean if you become president that you are accountable to no-one? You talk about winning all the time. Does that mean winning at all costs? Or does good sportsmanship figure into winning? Because you called Ted Cruz a liar. Or is personal attacks okay?

Bill of No Rights

"We, the sensible people of the United States, in an attempt to help everyone get along, restore some semblance of justice, avoid any more riots, keep our nation safe, promote positive behavior, and secure the blessings of debt-free liberty to ourselves and our great-great-great-grandchildren, hereby try one more time to ordain and establish some common sense guidelines for the terminally whiny, guilt-ridden, deluded, and other liberal bed-wetters. We hold these truths to be self-evident: that a whole lot of people are confused by the Bill of Rights and are so dim that they require a Bill of No Rights."

ARTICLE I:
You do not have the right to a new car, big screen TV or any other form of wealth. More power to you if you can legally acquire them, but no one is guaranteeing anything.

ARTICLE II:
You do not have the right to never be offended. This country is based on freedom, and that means freedom for everyone — not just you! You may leave the room, change the channel, or express a different opinion, but the world is full of idiots, and probably always will be.

ARTICLE III:
You do not have the right to be free from harm. If you stick a screwdriver in your eye, learn to be more careful, do not expect the tool manufacturer to make you and all your relatives independently wealthy.

ARTICLE IV:
You do not have the right to free food and housing. Americans are the most charitable people to be found, and will gladly help anyone in need, but we are quickly growing weary of subsidizing generation after generation of professional couch potatoes who achieve nothing more than the creation of another generation of professional couch potatoes.

ARTICLE V:
You do not have the right to free health care That would be nice, but from the looks of public housing, we're just not interested in public health care.

ARTICLE VI:
You do not have the right to physically harm other people. If you kidnap, rape, intentionally maim, or kill someone, don't be surprised if the rest of us want to see you fry in the electric chair.

ARTICLE VII:
You do not have the right to the possessions of others. If you rob, cheat or coerce away the goods or services of other citizens, don't be surprised if the rest of us get together and lock you away in a place where you still won't have the right to a big screen color TV or a life of leisure.

ARTICLE VIII:
You don't have the right to demand that our children risk their lives in foreign wars to soothe your aching conscience. We hate oppressive governments and won't lift a finger to stop you from going to fight if you'd like. However, we do not enjoy parenting the entire world and do not want to spend so much of our time battling each and every little tyrant with a military uniform and a funny hat.

ARTICLE IX:
You don't have the right to a job. Sure, all of us want all of you to have one, and will gladly help you along in hard times, but we expect you to take advantage of the opportunities of education and vocational training laid before you to make yourself useful.

ARTICLE X:
You do not have the right to happiness. Being an American means that you have the right to pursue happiness — which, by the way, is a lot easier if you are unencumbered by an overabundance of idiotic laws created by those of you who were confused by the Bill of Rights.

If you agree, we strongly urge you to forward this to as many people as you can. No, you don't have to, and nothing tragic will befall you should you not forward it. We just think it is about time common sense is allowed to flourish — call it the age of reason revisited.

Source: Snopes.com.

The Bernie Sanders groupies should read this and commit it to memory. These articles were first circulated in 2000. According to Snopes.com these were written by Lewis Napper, a self-described amateur philosopher from Mississippi who ran for a U.S. Senate seat in 2000 as a Libertarian.

Dems in Senate passed a resolution in 1960 against election year Supreme Court appointments

From Gov Track.us:

This vote approved a nonbinding resolution proposed by the Democrats to pressure President Eisenhower to not use the recess appointment power to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court. The full title of the resolution was Expressing the Sense of the Senate That The President Should Not Make Recess Appointments to the Supreme Court, Except to Prevent or End a Breakdown in the Administration of the Court's Business.

Although the vote occurred in an election year, there is no indication that this vote was about election year appointments specifically. Eisenhower had used the special recess appointment power to make previous appointments to the Supreme Court, and Democrats objected to further use of the recess appointment power. No President has used the recess appointment power to appoint a justice of the Supreme Court since then. [read more]

Then you have Joe Biden when he was Senator saying President George H. W. Bush shouldn’t name a supreme court nominee until after the election.

If the Republicans don’t bring up this resolution the Dems sure won’t. They’ll just pretend it never happened. Or they say it was a different time then.

H/T: American Thinker.com.

Black Patriots in the American Revolution

In celebration of Black History Month I would like to give some examples of black patriots in the American Revolutionary war:

Crispus Attucks (1723-1770)

Crispus Attucks, the first martyr of the Boston Massacre in 1770, was probably born near Framingham, Massachusetts, a Christianized and multitribal town of Indians, whites, and blacks, in 1723.  Unusually tall for the era at six feet, two inches, Attucks was of mixed ancestry, the son of an African American man and an American Indian woman.  It is believed that he was the slave of William Brown since he was reported in the Boston Gazette on October 2, 1750 as having escaped from Brown; Attucks was listed as age 27 at the time. By the time of the Massacre he was 47 and working as a sailor in Boston and around the Atlantic Basin.

By 1770, the colonists of Boston had been harassed by the British soldiers known as the “Redcoats.” Tired of the harassment, on March 5, 1770, Crispus Attucks and his compatriots marched up to the King Streets Custom House with banners calling for independence from England. They allegedly threatened the British guards with clubs, chunks of ice, and rocks. What actually happened in the confrontation between the colonists and the British soldiers is debatable. What is known is that “[a] group of citizens, apparently led by a tall robust man with a dark face appeared on the scene” and confronted the eight British soldiers. The soldiers fired and Attucks and three other men, Samuel Gray, Samuel Maverick, and James Caldwell, were killed.  On November 27, 1770, the soldiers were tried in a Boston court for murder.  During the trial it was reported that Attucks fell first with one bullet lodged in his right chest. He was shot by the British soldier William Warren.

Agrippa Hull

Agrippa Hull was one of the most remarkable and unnoticed African Americans of the revolutionary era.  He served for six years and two months in Washington’s Continental Army, which earned him a badge of honor for this extended service. But Hull’s influence on shaping the abolitionist thought of Tadeuz Kosciuszko, the Polish military engineer for whom he served as an orderly for the last 50 months of the war, is the hidden importance of the young black patriot.  

Said to be the son of an African prince, Agrippa Hull was born free in Northampton, Massachusetts on March 7, 1759.  Little is known of his father, who died when Hull was an infant; but his parents were members of the Congregational Church where Jonathan Edwards occupied the pulpit.  When economic stress overcame Bathsheba Hull, Agrippa’s mother, she sent the boy to Stockbridge in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts, to live with a free black farming family.  It was here that Agrippa grew up in the mission town largely composed of Stockbridge Indians.

Shortly after his eighteenth birthday, Agrippa enlisted in the Continental Army, where he was assigned as an orderly to General John Paterson of the Massachusetts Line, At Paterson’s side, Hull witnessed the surrender of British General John Burgoyne at Saratoga, New York, endured the winter of 1777-78 at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania and was part of the battle at Monmouth Courthouse, New Jersey in June 1778. In May 1779, Hull was reassigned to Kosciuszko, who had come in 1776 to offer his services as a military engineer to the Continental Congress and was designing the fortifications at West Point.  This launched a long comradeship. In a day without Christmas leaves and periodic furloughs, Hull was at Kosciuszko’s side for 50 months, serving as attendant and messenger. After Kosciuszko was sent south to serve as the chief military engineer of Washington’s Continental Army, Hull was thrust into the bloodiest and most intense phase of the war. Reaching North Carolina in October 1780, Kosciuszko and Hull confronted the pitiful condition of Washington’s army. General Nathanael Greene, the southern commander, peppered General Washington with pleas to clothe and boot his small army: “The miserable situation of the troops for want of clothing,” wrote Greene on one occasion, “has rendered the march the most painful imaginable, several hundreds of the soldiers tracking the ground with their bloody feet.”

James Armistead Lafayette (1760-1832)

James Armistead [Lafayette] was an African American spy during the American Revolution. Born in Virginia as a slave to William Armistead in 1760, he volunteered to join the Army in 1781. After gaining the consent of his owner, Armistead was stationed to serve under the Marquis de Lafayette, the commander of French forces allied with the American Continental Army.  Lafayette employed Armistead as a spy.  While working for Lafayette he successfully infiltrated British General Charles Cornwallis's headquarters posing as a runaway slave hired by the British to spy on the Americans.

While pretending to be a British spy, Armistead gained the confidence of General Benedict Arnold and General Cornwallis. Arnold was so convinced of Armistead's pose as a runaway slave that he used him to guide British troops through local roads. Armistead often traveled between camps, spying on British officers, who spoke openly about their strategies in front of him. Armistead documented this information in written reports, delivered them to other American spies, and then return to General Cornwallis's camp.

In the summer of 1781, General George Washington sent a message to General Lafayette, instructing him to keep his forces strong and to inform him of Cornwallis's equipment, military personnel, and future strategies.  Lafayette sent several spies to infiltrate Cornwallis's camp, yet none proved able to produce valuable information for him until he received Armistead's reports dated July 31, 1781. The information in these reports helped Lafayette trap the British at Hampton. Later that summer Armistead's reports helped the Americans win the battle at Yorktown, prompting the British to surrender.

Source: American Revolution page from Black Past.org.

There is a lot more black patriots who were in the Revolutionary War on that page.

What is Supervillian Island?

I was watching a What on Earth? episode when the show started talking about an “island” that just appeared out of nowhere. That’s the island in the picture in the upper left. The right screenshot is where the mysterious island is located taken from the show. If you go to Whats My GPS.com and type in 9.5506111 for the latitude and 112.89277777777778 for the longitude you can see the island for yourself. Or just click on the “picture” hyperlink. Be sure you are in “Satellite” mode though and you will have to enlarge the view until you see it. The actual coordinates in DMS is 9 degrees, 33’, 2.2” North and 112 degrees, 53’, 34” East.

So, what is the island? It’s definately not natural like from a volcano eruption. If you look at the screenshot below:

You can see roads, buildings and even airports. If you zoom in the view from Whats My GPS website you can even see ships or what appears to be ships.

Next question is who owns the island? No one will claim it. The major suspect is China. They would have the manpower and money to do it. Probably for military purposes. The show said that Obama did ask the Chinese leader if that island was own by them but China said it didn’t. I am not sure if I believe that. One way to find out is to send a US naval ship or even a drone to the island and see if any of the surrounding countries intercepts the ship or drone. If no country does then walk around the island to see if there is any clues who owns it. Just a thought.

The TV show says no-one claims it. But I watched a video on an news article on CNN.com about China deploying missles on a south sea island called Woody Island. On the video the newsman said Phillipians owns the island but China is refuting the claim and taking them to court.

One last note. I was able to convert the DMS to decimal degrees by going to a GPS coordinates converter website.

The Growing Threat of ISIS Unleashing a Weapon of Mass Destruction

From Daily Signal.com (Feb. 19):

The apocalyptic ideology that propels the Islamic State (also known as ISIS) is by now well known. Much less widely known are the use of chemical weapons by ISIS in Iraq and Syria and the disappearance of radioactive materials in Iraq that could be used in a “dirty bomb,” a radiological weapon of mass destruction (WMD).

Reuters reported the disappearance of 10 grams of a “highly dangerous” radioactive isotope used to test oil and gas pipelines in southern Iraq, which Iraqi authorities fear may have fallen into the hands of ISIS. The Iridium-192 material, classified as a Category 2 radioactive source, could permanently injure people exposed to it for only a few hours, or kill people exposed to it longer.

The radioactive isotope was stolen in November from a storage facility in the southern city of al-Zubair, which is more than 300 miles away from ISIS-controlled territory. But ISIS has launched attacks nearby.

Ten grams of radioactive material is not very much. But it could be added to other materials previously seized by the terrorist group. ISIS already had enough radioactive materials to arm a dirty bomb, according to Australian intelligence reports last June. [read more]

Scary. That’s why containment won’t work. America will eventually will have to send in troops. Probably with some special forces like the army rangers. Nothing against the navy SEALS but they seem to get all the press. The rangers could have taken out Bin Laden too. I digress. NATO and some of the surrounding countries around Iraq, like Saudi Arabia, Isreal, Egypt, Turkey, etc. could help out too. It’s in their interest too to defeat ISIS.

My fear is if Hillary Clinton wins the presidency ISIS or even Iran might do a massive attack on America. Why? Because radical Muslims don’t respect women especially women in positions of power. They are second class citizens. If a woman becomes the president the radicals will see America as weak and vulnerable. Benazir Bhutto the once presidence of Pakistan was probably assassinated by al-Qaeda for this reason among others.

I am not against a woman president. I think Carly Fiorina would have been a good president. Just not now. Not when there is crazy radical Muslims who want to do harm to America. Not so much ISIS (although they are dangerous too) but Iran is real concern. 

Hubble Telescope Captures Photo of Supermassive Black Hole 21 Billion Times the Size of the Sun

From The Blaze.com (Feb. 18):

A new photo of galaxy NGC 4889 reveals the biggest black hole that astronomers have ever discovered. The famous Hubble Space Telescope helped scientists capture photos of the galaxy that sits nearly 300 million lightyears away in the Coma Cluster. The photo of the supermassive black hole appears placid and ethereal at first glance, and even though the black hole is dormant, it’s broken all types of records, according to the Hubble website.

Astronomers have estimated the mass of the hole to be 21 billion times the mass of the sun, and its event horizon (a surface so dense that even light can’t escape its gravitational grip) has a diameter of approximately 130 billion kilometers, or about 15 times the diameter of Neptune’s orbit around the sun. [read more]

Wow, that’s pretty big. I didn’t show the photo because there was really nothing to see. Scientists don’t really know how supermassive black holes get created.

The Twelve Trusts

To resurrect a new chivalry in modern times (more specifically, in our personal lives), it would be helpful to have some sort of template or code to guide us, and as a reminder of what chivalry is all about.
      The following is such a template. We [The International Fellowship of Chivalry-Now (IFCN)] call it the 12 Trusts.

Upon my honor,

1. I will develop my life for the greater good.
2. I will place character above riches, and concern for others above personal wealth.
3. I will never boast, but cherish humility instead.
4. I will speak the truth at all times, and forever keep my word.
5. I will defend those who cannot defend themselves.
6. I will honor and respect women, and refute sexism in all its guises.
7. I will uphold justice by being fair to all.
8. I will be faithful in love and loyal in friendship.
9. I will abhor scandals and gossip-neither partake nor delight in them.
10. I will be generous to the poor and to those who need help.
11. I will forgive when asked, that my own mistakes will be forgiven.
12. I will live my life with courtesy and honor from this day forward.

By adhering to these 12 Trusts, I swear to partake in the living Quest in everything I do.

Source: 12 Trusts.

A pretty good list of trusts. It’s honorable that there is a fellowship like this. Who says chivalry is dead. I found this website when I was researching humility in the previous blog entry. I have two objections or qualms though about the fellowship. One is they fellowship believes in global warming. Not sure how that fits in with chivarly. Man-made global warming is a hoax. Next, they don’t understand ISIS or radical Islamic groups like them. For one thing, #6 they do not do. Women are inferior to them.

Their political manifesto is helpful. It’s not a Left or Right manifesto like the Communist manifesto but a set of commen sense guidelines. A nice attempt altogether at chivarly for IFCN.

Milton Friedman’s Epic Breakdown of Socialism vs. Capitalism

Milton Friedman and Phil Donahue On Socialism v. Capitalism 1979

Donahue just got schooled! Milton Friedman is correct. Greed is not just a capitalistic problem, it’s not just a socialistic problem—it’s a human problem. It’s affects not just corporations but unions and gov’ts alike. Gov’t can’t make people virtuous—they have to do that themselves. Talking about virtue and gov’ts, political philosopher Montesquieu thought that democratic republics rely on the principle of virtue. Montesquieu’s idea of virtue is “it is a love of the republic.” He goes on:

A love of the republic in a democracy is a love of the democracy; as the latter is that of equality.

A love of the democracy is likewise that of frugality. Since every individual ought here to enjoy the same happiness and the same advantages, they should consequently taste the same pleasures and form the same hopes, which cannot be expected but from a general frugality.

Sort of sounds like he is talking about patriotism. As for the frugal part I wish America was frugal again especially the lawmakers. But I digress.

Like it says in Timothy 6:10:

For the love of [my emphasis] money is a root of all evils, by means of which some having lusted after it were seduced from the faith, and they themselves pierced through by many pains.

I emphasized “love” because some people leave out the “the love of” part. Money is neither good nor bad. Just as power is neither good nor bad. But the love of power is bad. Which is actually worse in my opinion. But some powers-that-be in the past and present think nothing of wanting more power. Like they are entitled to it. 

Then there is Jesus saying about a rich man entering heaven in Matthew 19:24:

And again I say to you, It is easier for a heavy rope to pass through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.

Some say this means that the rich never get to heaven. No! This is an incorrect interpretation. Jesus is saying you can’t buy your way into heaven. God doesn’t care what you own but who you are. The powerful may never get to heaven either.

H/T: Glenn Beck.com.

Mass Shooters Prefer Gun-Free Zones

From The Daily Signal.com (Feb. 10):

An analysis of mass shootings in the United States since the year 2002 shows that gun-wielding mass killers are more likely to strike where the Second Amendment right to bear arms has been supplanted by “gun-free zone” ordinances, be they federal, local, or specified by the owner of the property.

The Stanford University Libraries’ dataset of mass shootings (“Stanford Mass Shootings in America, courtesy of the Stanford Geospatial Center and Stanford Libraries”) was analyzed for mass shootings over the past 14 years.

The definition of a mass shooting for the Stanford database is three or more shooting victims injured or killed, not including the shooter. Shootings that are gang- or drug-related are not included.

The dataset includes 153 incidents going back to the beginning of 2002.

[read more]

According to the Heritage Foundation research since 2002 there have been 54 mass shootings. 17 of the shootings, citizens were allowed to be armed. That’s quite a difference. Then again mass shooters can read. If they see a “no guns allowed” sign then the victims are basically sitting ducks. Otherwise the victims become surviviors and shoot back if they have a gun.  That in of itself will wake up a mass shooter out of his fantasy of being in a video game. Also, out of that 17 shootings, five were able to slow or stop the shooter. Only two was able to stop or slow the shooter in the gun free zone. Maybe instead of a “no guns allowed” sign there should be a “guns are welcome” sign. Just a thought.

Sen. Ben Sasse Defines Conservatism

Wow! Did the senator just channel President Reagan? Sounds like it to me. What he said is the essence of conservatism. Which is the way to make America great again.

Sen. Sasse is sure brave to go on pMSNBC.

H/T: Daily Signal.com.

Obama’s New Oil Tax Plan Will Hike Gas and Heating Prices

From The Blaze.com (Feb. 5):

President Barack Obama will propose a $10 per barrel tax on oil in the last annual budget he submits to Congress.

Obama reportedly hopes the tax will reduce carbon emissions and plans to use the revenue for spending on public transportation.

If such a proposal passed, then oil companies would likely pass the cost of the new tax on to consumers, meaning gas prices would increase, Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy.com, told USA Today.

“Something like this would trickle down and be a $10 per barrel tax on motorists,” DeHaan said. “This is not something oil companies are going to absorb.”

Economist Donald Marron of the Urban Institute believes the tax hike would more than the double the federal gas tax. The 18.4 cents per gallon federal gas tax is figured into the price at the pump; Marron estimates that the proposed oil tax would increase the price of a gallon of gas by 22 cents. [read more]

So, the American people have to be sacraficed to the global warming gods again. Just great. So, much about caring for the poor and middle class.  What else is knew. It’s like a reflex—I must raise taxes.

What isn’t said in the article is this stupid plan will also lead to higher prices for any business that uses trucks to deliver their goods—like food. They are going to pass on the expense too. The president like most Leftists are stupid about economics. Then again maybe they just don’t care.

Hopefully no Republican will vote for this proposal. The Dems if they know what’s good for them shouldn’t either. They just have to supress their instinct which is hard.

As for the public transportation part of the plan that should be left up to cities and town gov’s to subsize. Then again you have the private sector like Uber that’s gradually replacing public transportation (which really makes the Left nervous).

Miscellaneous Thoughts Part 37

• You want free education? Try your public library. Well, you have to pay for a library card but checking out the books is free.
• What’s the difference between a socialist and a democrat? Don’t know? Neither does the head of the DNC. Someone should ask Hillary Clinton this question. Bernie Sanders would reply “I wish.”
• The Left is for individual liberty but only for their elite.
• Illegal immigrants don’t love America. Legal immigrants do.
• A socialist is a person who want gov’t to own and control a profit making industry so there’s no more profit to be made .
• My Five (similar to the Five on Fox News): Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Glenn Beck, Mark Levin, & Michelle Malkin. Yea, I know there are no Leftists on the panel. That’s by design.
• It’s hard if not impossible to have a surprise birthday party for an omniscience being.
• Progressivism and humility are contradictory terms.
• I think Bloomberg should run as an indepedent for president so he can take votes away from Hillary Clinton. Not sure why he didn’t run on the dem side.
• The Gold Standard disciplined Washington and limited gov’t. Since Washington didn’t like either concept they had to get rid of the Gold Standard.

5 Random Earth Facts That Will Blow Your Mind

From The Blaze.com (Jan. 25):

Mother Earth never ceases to amaze.

And these five random facts are no exception.

How It Works has given what it calls “five random earth facts that will blow your mind.” The blast includes everything from what happens to the Eiffel Tower during the summer to the empty space space between human atoms. Take a look:

1. The Eiffel Tower is nearly six inches taller during the summer. The Eiffel Tower is 5.9 inches taller during the summer months, because of a scientific process called “thermal expansion.”
2. The Amazon Rainforest produces 20 percent of Earth’s oxygen.
3. Hawaii moves nearly three feet closer to Alaska each year. Hawaii sits on what’s known as the Pacific Plate, the tectonic plate that is slowly moving toward the North American mainland and, specifically, Alaska. Tectonic plates beneath the earth’s surface are always moving because of currents created by rising and sinking rock.
4. Remove all the empty space between atoms, and the entire human race could fit inside a sugar cube.
5. In 2.3 billion years, it will be too hot for life to exist on Earth and the sun will fully engulf the planet. Over the next 2.3 billion years, some scientists predict the sun will continue to get brighter and hotter, causing Earth’s oceans to completely evaporate.

[read more]

Let’s see the distance between Alaska to Hawaii is 3,019.05 miles. Which is ‪15,940,584‬ feet according to my Windows 10 calculator. So, it will take 5,313,528 years for Hawaii to be close if not touching Alaska. Hmmm.

As for the last fact, there’s your real global warming! Hopefully mankind will figure out a way to get off the planet by then if AI doesn’t kill us first as Stephen Hawking and others have suggested.

Planet Nine Discovered?

From The Blaze.com (Jan. 20):

Scientists at the California Institute of Technology announced Wednesday that they had uncovered evidence of a giant planet existing beyond Pluto in the outer solar system.

The planet, nicknamed Planet Nine, is estimated to have a mass approximately 10 times larger than Earth’s and an orbit 20 times farther from the sun. It is estimated that it would take Planet Nine between 10,000 to 20,000 years to orbit the sun just one time.

“This would be a real ninth planet,” researcher Mike Brown said in a press release. “There have only been two true planets discovered since ancient times, and this would be a third. It’s a pretty substantial chunk of our solar system that’s still out there to be found, which is pretty exciting.”

Brown and co-researcher Konstantin Batygin came to their conclusion after examining the bizarre orbits of of more than a dozen distant objects in the Kuiper Belt.  [read more]

For comparison, Uranus is 14.5X the mass of the earth. The orbital period is probably why it hasn’t been discovered before. The scientists really need to come up with a better name than “Planet Nine.” Sounds like a sci-fi novel. Have we ran out of Greek/Roman gods/goddesses names? Maybe scientists are waiting until they see it to name it better since the existence is an inference based on the bizarre orbits in the Kuiper Belt.

Hillary Clinton on Guns and Taxes

Hillary Clinton as First Lady in 1993:

Sen. Bill Bradley, D-N.J., picked up Mrs. Clinton's support for his idea of slapping stiff taxes on ''purveyors of violence:'' a 25 percent sales tax on guns and $2,500 license fees for gun dealers.

''Speaking personally ... I'm all for that,'' said the first lady. But she stressed she was just speaking for herself.

Source: AP News Archive.com.

On her website about gun violence prevention, Hillary Clinton says this:

If Congress refuses to act, Hillary will take administrative action [my emphasis] to require that any person attempting to sell a significant number of guns abide by the same commonsense rules that apply to gun stores—including requiring background checks on gun sales.

Hillary believes the gun industry must be held accountable for violence perpetrated with their guns. Hillary will lead the charge to repeal the so-called “Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act,” a dangerous law that prevents victims of gun violence from holding negligent manufacturers and dealers accountable for violence perpetrated with their guns.

Administrative action? That sounds like executive orders to me. Just like what Obama does.

As for the second part, if you are going to hold gun manufacturers accountable for criminals using their guns are going to make automobile manufacturers responsible for hit-and-run drivers driving their cars? Or better yet, hold knife manufacturers accountable for criminals stabbing people? It’s the same kind of logic. (Not to mention all the murders done with axes. Lizzy Borden comes to mind.)

To those who fear, loathe, and even despise guns answer me this: Would it make you feel any better if you were killed with another object? Like a knife for instance? I mean the result is the same isn’t it? You’re dead. Gun violence isn’t the problem—violence of any kind is the problem. But solving general violence is harder. That takes a respect for human life. If a person doesn’t have that then all bets are off.  I don’t think gov’t can solve that—respect for human life mainly comes from the family values. If really want to solve gun violence maybe there should be a federal law that says if you commit a crime with a gun you get extra time added on like Bill O’Reilly suggested. That would be a start. Punish the criminal not the law abiding citizen. Maybe there should be extra time added on if a criminal uses any kind of object as a weapon to commit a crime. More time for guns, but less time for knives and brass knuckles for instance.

Finally, Juan Williams once said on Hannity that he would be scared if a crazy guy would be waving a gun around. Hannity should have responded back anyone would be scared too if that crazy guy would be waving around a knife or sword. It’s not the weapon that matters—but the person holding the weapon that matters.

Isil's security advice to would-be jihadists: Shave your beard, encrypt your phones and wear western clothes

From telegraph.co.uk (Jan. 12):

Islamic State has issued an advice booklet for followers who want to carry out “lone wolf” attacks of the sort that are plaguing European countries.

The booklet, “Safety and security guidelines for lone wolf mujahideen and small cells”, tells readers how to “surprise the enemy” by evading security agencies.

“Any operation that doesn’t have a strong security and precaution base is deemed to fail, just like a big building needs strong foundations,” it says. “Security precautions are the foundations of any operation.”

………….

It says that lone wolves in particular should try and meld in with the local population, including by “not looking like a Muslim”. That means shaving your beard, wearing western clothes and not attending mosque too frequently.

However, it also realises that this advice might itself cause difficulty, so it goes as far as giving fashion advice.

“Always look like any random tourist or normal traveller,” it says. “Make the colours go with each other. Wearing a red or yellow shirt with black pants (trousers) will get you noticed as someone who is not used to this kind of clothing.

“Also, no need to put on new clothes, as that can be suspicious. Some brothers like to buy entirely new cloths, from top to bottom including shoes, but that will get too much attention.”  [read more]

Basically, blend in is the advice. This is really nothing new. During war time this happens often especially with spies. Islam doesn’t forbid deception. The Islamic State thugs are assuming that countries are not accepting Muslims. This might not be the case—Germany for instance isn’t screening Muslims out—although they could since it isn’t against their laws. Germany doesn’t have freedom of religion. America doesn’t seem to be screening anyone except possibly Christians.

IBN Live.com reports that the manual says it okay for the terrorists to wear crosses as long they don’t have a Muslim sounding name on their passports. Then the screeners could ask (if they are allowed to) what church the refugees belong to, is Jesus the son of God (Muslims don’t believe this), etc. Yes, they could lie but what you are looking for is response time.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Here are some quotes from MLK:

Never, never be afraid to do what's right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society's punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way.

I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.

All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.

Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.

Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and consciencious stupidity.

Hatred paralyses life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.

Those who are not looking for happiness are the most likely to find it, because those who are searching forget that the surest way to be happy is to seek happiness for others.

Nonviolence means avoiding not only external physical violence but also internal violence of spirit. You not only refuse to shoot a man, but you refuse to hate him.

If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.

Cowardice asks the question, 'Is it safe?' Expediency asks the question, 'Is it politic?' But conscience asks the question, 'Is it right?' And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but because conscience tells one it is right.

Andrew Napolitano Warns of Little-Known ‘Danger’ of Executive Action Versus Executive Order

From The Blaze.com (Jan. 11):

Though the terms “executive order” and “executive action” often seem to be interchangeable, in Judge Andrew Napolitano’s eyes, there is a certain “danger” that comes with executive action.

The conversation came as Napolitano, who served on New Jersey's superior court from 1987-1995 and is now Fox News’ senior judicial analyst, and Glenn Beck discussed President Barack Obama’s executive actions on gun control, which were introduced last week.

“Let me warn you about another danger. The president keeps referring to this as executive action rather than an executive order,” Napolitano told Beck on The Glenn Beck Program Monday night. ”Executive action is when he tells someone in the executive branch to do something and he either doesn't tell them in writing or he keeps the writing secret.”

According to Napolitano, issuing an executive action rather than an executive order will make it “more difficult and cumbersome” to challenge legally. The former judge defended his claim with a reference to the president's executive orders on immigration, which were ultimately defeated in court by then-Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott (R), who now serves as the state’s governor.  [read more]

Yea, that is big difference. Executive action is more sneakier.

Mountain Lion That Has Left Wildlife Biologists Completely Stumped

From the Blaze.com (Jan. 11):

A mountain lion that was recently killed in southeast Idaho was discovered to have an unusual deformity: a second set of teeth and whiskers growing from its head.

According to the Idaho State Journal, the yearling cougar was harvested near the town of Weston on Dec. 30 by an unidentified hunter. The deformed animal has biologists stumped.

“It has all of us scratching our heads,” regional wildlife biologist Zach Lockyer told the State Journal. “It’s a bizarre situation and a bizarre photo.”

In a press release Friday, Idaho’s department of fish and game said that they could not fully explain the deformity, but offered several possible explanations.

“It is possible that the teeth could be the remnants of a conjoined twin that died in the womb and was absorbed into the other fetus,” the press release said. “It is also possible that deformity was a teratoma tumor. These kinds of tumors are composed of tissue from which teeth, hair, and even fingers and toes can develop. They are rare in humans and animals.” [read more]

I don’t know but that deformity, whatever it is, looks like a chicken head grew on his head.

Hillary Clinton asked ‘What’s the Difference Between a Democrat and a Socialist?’

From the Blaze.com (Jan. 5):

Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton was mercilessly grilled Tuesday evening by an MSNBC host over the difference between the ideology of a Democrat and socialist.

“I want to try to help you tonight…locate yourself politically,” Chris Matthews, host of “Hardball,” told Clinton before noting that her chief 2016 rival Bernie Sanders identifies as a socialist.

Matthews then asked, “What's the difference between a socialist and a Democrat? Is that a question you want to answer, or would you rather not?”

.......

“Well, I can tell you what I am,” Clinton said. “I am a progressive Democrat.”

“How's that different than a socialist?” Matthews fired back.

Clinton didn't answer, but only said she's a Democrat who “likes to get things done.”

[read more]

It's about time someone asked her that question. And just like the head of the DNC she dodged the question. "Get things done" is Leftist code for subjugate the Constitution and make everyone dependent on the gov't.

Heat-seeking anti-aircraft missiles and driverless suicide car bombs

From The Blaze.com (Jan. 6):

Islamic State technicians have been developing heat-seeking anti-aircraft missiles and driverless suicide car bombs with the aim of launching attacks in Europe, a video seized in Turkey from the laptop of a captured jihadist fighter revealed, Britain’s Sky News reported.

Sky News, which obtained the disturbing video, reported that scientists in the Islamic State’s de facto capital of Raqqa in Syria have been working tirelessly at what the British broadcaster described as the “jihadi university” to find ever more lethal and stealth ways to kill Westerners.

The most shocking revelation was footage showing how the group was converting a missile from a jet fighter into a surface-to-air missile. Sky reported that the video was designed to train foreign jihadists residing outside Syria to target their home countries. [read more]

Driverless suicide car bombs? If the Islamic State thugs aren’t driving the cars anymore does that mean they don’t believe in martyrdom anymore? I am sure the driverless cars won’t be as good as Google or Apple can make if that’s any consolation. I wonder if these Islamic thugs have brain-storming sessions about ways to kill the infidels. If the Prophet says it isn’t forbidden probably.

The article goes on to say that the driverless cars use “mannequins equipped with thermostats imitating human body temperature designed to fool scanning equipment protecting Western military and government facilities.” Nice, real nice.

FreedomWorks’ Digital Bill of Rights

As more and more of our activities move online and the internet plays an integral role in our day to day lives, it must be remembered that the rights we enjoy as American citizens do not stop at technology’s doorstep. It is important, therefore, to ensure that the protections established in the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights serve Americans in the digital world just as effectively as they do in the real world. With this in mind, we therefore propose a Digital Bill of Rights:

1. The right to due process shall be preserved in the digital realm.
2. The internet does not give government agencies the right to tax or regulate outside of their proper jurisdictions.
3. The right to freedom of expression shall be preserved online.
4. Government shall not erect barriers to prevent or control internet access.
5. The right to secure data shall not be compromised.

[read more]

Lt. Col. Oliver North’s 10 Point Plan to Defeat ISIS

1. Define the enemy: Radical Islam.
2. Define Victory: No safe havens for radical Islamic groups anywhere.
3. Deploy 2 US Carrier Strike Groups & Marines to the Med.
4. Launch heavy strikes against radical Islamic terror groups in Syria, Iraq, Libya, Yemen, and the Sinai. 
5. Put US JTACs & FACs with real anti-ISIS fighters/Pesh Merga. 
6. Provide arms directly to the Kurds - not through Baghdad.
7. Tell Putin to get out of the way.
8. Stop all GITMO transfers.
9. Support President Sisi in Egypt & King Abdullah in Amman to clear ISIS out of the Euphrates river valley.
10. Resettle and support refugees in the region - Not in the US.

Source: North Points.

More Questions about Islam from CNN

How do many Muslims feel right now?

According to the Pew Research Center (April 2013) 86% of Muslims in Malaysia, 77% in Thailand, 99% in Afghanistan, 84% in Pakistan, 82% in Bangladesh, and 91% in Iraq support sharia law as the official law of the country just to give examples.

Why is Mohammed so important to Muslims?

He is their prophet. According to alim.org: Muhammad was chosen by God to deliver His Message of Peace, namely Islam. The revelation that he received is called the Qur'an, while the message is called Islam. Muhammad is the very last Prophet of God to mankind. He is the final Messenger of God. His message was and is still to the Christians, the Jews and the rest of mankind. He was sent to those religious people to inform them about the true mission of Jesus, Moses, Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham.

Does Islam need a Reformation?

Yes, I believe it does. The Jewish and Christian faith had reformations. Why not Islam? There was a Protestant Reformation where Martin Luther nailed his 95 Thesis on a church. If a moderate or traditional Muslim nailed his “95 thesis” on a mosque he might want to go into hiding afterwards especially if he signed the thesis. There might be a fatwa on him. Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser, a moderate Muslim, wants to reform Islam. In his book, A Battle for the Soul of Islam (2012) suggested these reforms:

1. An Islamic narrative that does not constrain universal principles.
2. Muslim leaders who support the separation of mosque and state, even as they take strands on social or political issues.
3. The affirmation of an egalitarian approach to faith beyond the constraints of simple tolerance. Tolerance implies superiority, while pluralism implies equality.
4. Recognition that if government enacts the literal laws of God rather than natural or human law, then government becomes God and abrogates religion and the personal nature of the relationship of God.
5. Creation of movements and organizations that are specifically opposed to such radical or terrorism-supporting groups as Al Qaeda, Hamas, etc. by name, rather than simply being against undefined, generic  notions of terrorism.

Following these suggestions (there are ten in all) would be good start to reform Islam. But as long as the Islamists don’t respect women there probably will never be a reformation. The Jewish and Christianity religions are maternalistic by nature—that’s how they were to reform themselves.

Why have there been so many recent attacks by extremist Muslims?

It could be to bring back the Mahdi. When he comes back, according to Islamic theology, those will we be the last days. They want another world war. Add to the fact the Islamists feel emboldened by America having a weak president.

How can the extremists be stopped?

A much harder question to answer. We must destroy their bases and kill them much as possible. But this takes leadership. It would help if the NATO would go after the extremists too. I thought France invoke the “attack one, attack all” clause but they didn’t. Maybe because they are waiting for an adult to be leader of the America. Don’t know. It would also help if the moderate leaders in the Muslim community spoke out against the extremists but again that is wishful thinking.

Does Islam Encourage Violence?

Here is what several passages from the Quran says:

You will find other hypocrites who wish to be safe from you as well as from their own people; but who would plunge into mischief whenever they get an opportunity. Therefore if they do not keep distance from you and neither offer you peace, nor cease their hostilities against you, you may seize them and kill them wherever you find them, against such people We give you absolute authority. (4.19)

Male or female, whoever is guilty of theft, cut off the hand (that was used in theft) of either of them as a punishment for their crime. This is exemplary punishment ordained by Allah. Allah is Mighty, Wise. (5.38)

The Jews say: "Uzair (Azra) is the son of Allah," and the Christians say: " Messiah (Christ) is the son of Allah." That is what they say with their mouths, imitating the sayings of the former unbelievers. May Allah destroy them! How perverted they are! (9.30)

The woman and the man guilty of adultery or fornication—flog each of them with hundred stripes: Let no compassion move you in their case, in a matter prescribed by God, if ye believe in God and the last day. (24.2)

Those who accuse a chaste woman of fornication and do not produce four witnesses to support their allegation, shall be flogged with eighty lashes and their testimony shall not be accepted ever after, for they are the ones who are wicked transgressors   - except those who repent thereafter and mend their conduct; for Allah is surely Forgiving, Merciful. (24.4)

Therefore, when you meet the unbelievers in the battlefield smite their necks and, when you have thoroughly subdued them, then take prisoners of war and bind them firmly. After the war lay down her burdens, then you have the choice whether you show them favor or accept ransom. Thus are you commanded. If Allah wanted, He Himself could have punished them; but He adopted this way so that He may test some of you by means of others. As for those who are slain in the cause of Allah, He will never let their deeds be lost. (47.4)

This was a question that CNN asked.

Does Islam really ban all images of the Prophet Mohammed?

Another question from CNN. Let’s take a look at the Hadith this time:

We were with Masruq at the house of Yasar bin Numair. Masruq saw pictures on his terrace and said, "I heard 'Abdullah saying that he heard the Prophet saying, "The people who will receive the severest punishment from Allah will be the picture makers.' " (7.834)

Allah's Apostle returned from a journey when I had placed a curtain of mine having pictures over (the door of) a chamber of mine. When Allah's Apostle saw it, he tore it and said, "The people who will receive the severest punishment on the Day of Resurrection will be those who try to make the like of Allah's creations." So we turned it (i.e., the curtain) into one or two cushions. (7.838)

I purchased a cushion with pictures on it. The Prophet (came and) stood at the door but did not enter. I said (to him), "I repent to Allah for what (the guilt) I have done." He said, "What is this cushion?" I said, "It is for you to sit on and recline on." He said, "The makers of these pictures will be punished on the Day of Resurrection and it will be said to them, 'Make alive what you have created.' Moreover, the angels do not enter a house where there are pictures.'" (7.840)

According to a Wikipedia article, the Quran doesn’t strictly forbid pictures of Mohammed. Most Sunni Muslims believe that visual depictions of all the prophets of Islam should be prohibited. In Shia religion the depictions are common now. The only reference in the Quran that could be possible talk about images of Mohammed is the one about idolatry:

They set up equals with Allah to mislead people from His Way. Tell them: "Well, you may enjoy yourself for a while, but your final destination is going to be hellfire." (Quran 14:30)

Former Al Qaeda Terrorist Offers Chilling Warning: Another Attack Coming ‘Within the Next Two Weeks’

From the Blaze.com (Nov. 17):

A former member of Al Qaeda in Yemen warned Tuesday that a terror attack is likely within the next two weeks.

Morten Storm, an ex-terrorist who later became a double agent for the CIA, told Fox News host Megyn Kelly that he believes an attack is imminent.

“I believe that within the next two weeks, we will have an attack,” he said.

Storm added, “The people who are on the run at the moment from ISIS in Europe are very desperate, and they know their time’s up, and they will need to do as much damage as possible.”

The ex-terrorist said an attack on American soil could happen, but would be a “bit different” because of the security precautions currently in place.

“And I also believe that copycats in America will do their best to do what their brothers have done in Europe,” Storm said.

Storm’s warning comes just days after terrorists killed at least 129 in France in the deadliest violence the country had seen since World War II. [source]

God forbid this from happening. If it does happen I am blaming Obama for not taking the terrorists seriously—although he probably won’t accept the blame—just pass it on to someone else.

If America takes Syrian refugees without any kind of filtering to keep out the dangerous element then an attack becomes more probable. The Islamic State thugs will infiltrate the refugees population. The simplest way is just to filter out the Muslims in the refugee population. Some will say well Islamic State thugs will just pretend to be Christian or some other non-Muslim religion. I guess it is possible, but I don’t think so. The IS thugs believe Christians and Jews as inferior. If a refugee says he is a Christian ask that person if he believes Jesus is divine or the son of God. Then watch the reaction. Muslims believe Jesus is just a man not divine. So, a true Christian will answer yes without hesitation that He is divine.

You can also check to see what the refugees are carrying. If they are carrying a prayer rug and a Quran they are Muslim. They might also being carrying a Hadith.

If America feels it has to let Muslims in then filter out the fundamentalists. That’s going to be trickier. First, you need to filter out the 15-30 year olds single Muslims. The age range doesn’t have to that exact. I would have said 15-30 year old single male Muslims but woman are being radicalized too. One of the terrorists in France was a woman. Second, of those you filtered out, you could ask a Muslim what a country should do with homosexuals. Or what is their opinion about honor killings, Sharia law, drawings of Allah, dancing, etc. If they give extreme views then they are fundamentalist. Maybe a moderate or traditional Muslim could help in filtering process. If it is possible these questions would be asked in private so other refugees can’t prepare an answer.

Obviously, the best course of action is to have refugees put in a camp or safe zone somewhere in Syria or Egypt or somewhere not in America.

The lone wolf problem or sleeper cells in America are a different animal. America needs to put Muslim informants in Mosques in most major cities like Washington, New York, Wichita, KS, Los Angeles, etc to see what the Imams are preaching.  That would be a good start.

I agree with the cartoon. The Islamic State is a world problem. But until the world does something NATO can and should do something. France is a part of NATO and since an attack on a NATO country is an attack on all NATO countries—that’s in the by-laws—NATO has to start doing some butt-kicking. But that takes leadership from America which America doesn’t seem to have at the moment. I hope it doesn’t take another attack in this country before Obama starts caring. Hitler was taking over countries left and right before the world decided to do something. It seems history is repeating itself again. Is this the Fourth Turning that William Strauss and Neil Howe talked about in their book? The American Revolution, Civil War, The Great Depression and WWII were fourth turnings.

Attacking Our Founders

An article by Walter E. Williams on Townhall.com (Nov. 11):

Many of my columns speak highly of the wisdom of our nation's founders. Every once in a while, I receive an ugly letter sarcastically asking what do I think of their wisdom declaring blacks "three-fifths of a human." It's difficult to tell whether such a question is prompted by ignorance or is the fruit of an ongoing agenda to undermine American greatness. Let's examine some facts about our founders and slavery.

At the time of the 1787 Constitutional Convention, slaves were 40 percent of the population of southern colonies. Apportionment in the House of Representatives and the number of electoral votes each state would have in presidential elections would be based upon population. Southern colonies wanted slaves to be counted as one person. Northern delegates to the convention, and those opposed to slavery, wanted to count only free persons of each state for the purposes of apportionment in the House of Representatives and the Electoral College. The compromise reached was that each slave would be counted as only three-fifths of a person.

If the convention delegates had not reached this compromise, the Constitution would have not been ratified and there would not have been a Union. My questions to those who criticize the three-fifths clause are twofold. Would it have been preferable for the southern states to be able to count slaves as whole persons, thereby giving southern states more political power? Would blacks have been better off without constitutional ratification and a Union made possible by the three-fifths compromise? In other words, would blacks have been better off with northern states having gone their way and southern states having gone theirs and, as a consequence, no U.S. Constitution and no Union? Abolitionist Frederick Douglass understood the compromise, saying that the three-fifths clause was "a downright disability laid upon the slaveholding states" that deprived them of "two-fifths of their natural basis of representation." [read more]

Mr. Williams goes on to say George Washington, John Adams, James Madison, and Benjamin Franklin to name a few were against slavery. It seemed to these Founders black lives matter. For example, Benjamin Franklin (my favorite Founder) said "Slavery is ... an atrocious debasement of human nature."

For those of you who don’t know, Mr. Williams is a black economist at George Mason University.