2019’s Joker is 2020’s Reality

From American Thinker.com (July 29):

The year 2020 in America feels like the end scene in 2019’s Joker where Gotham burns as the citizenry embraces the chaos spurred on by chaos-messiah, Arthur Fleck, the Joker. For the last four years, an audience of Americans watch America embrace the chaos-messiahship of the left as their saints questioned the legitimacy of the 2016 election, immediately sought impeachment, flip-flops on COVID-19, and now stands idly by as long-reigning progressive governments in Minneapolis, Seattle, and Portland descend into Jokeresque chaos.

When the movie debuted last October, opinion pieces from left to right decried the movie. Claims from leftists wanted the movie pulled simply because of the portrayal of potentially harsh realities of mental illness. Conservative Christians wrote blogs on the nihilistic, postmodernism threatening the worldview of our children.

The harsh realities of mental illness in America and how we take care of our mentally ill deserve exploration and extrapolation. Progressives should not be afraid of important thinking on critical issues. The movie does not impose nihilism or postmodernism onto the audience to prove Arthur Fleck’s epiphany “there is no meaning.” The movie is not indoctrination. It is indictment.

Instead, the movie communicates that mental illness is a real issue. Nihilism is the sign of a crazy person. Postmodernism fulfills “ideas have consequences; bad ideas have victims.” All of this is crazy. It leads us to more crazy.

Who realizes that it’s crazy to not address mental health issues and buy into worldviews of nihilism and postmodernism?

The audience. The audience knows this is all crazy.

Specifically, the audience knows Arthur Fleck is the Joker or has the prescience that he will become the Joker at some point. It’s just a question of how and when. When the audience generally watches a movie, it usually has an inside-track the characters seem to not be able to pick up on. The audience sees backstory. Parallel storylines. Emphases on key moments.

The point of Joker is that he’s mentally ill. To be non-pc, he’s crazy. Everyone can see or sense Arthur Fleck is crazy. That he’s dangerous. Does the system care? No, it’s a bureaucracy, so cutting budgets for necessary mental health programs only cuts funds for faceless human beings. Who you don’t directly interact with cannot hurt you… [read more]

I’ve seen the movie Joker. The ending is like what is happening today by mobs in the streets.

Could Face Masks Be Spreading the Coronavirus?

Commentary from J.H. Capron on American Thinker.com (July 29):

I used to wonder how the Salem Witch Trials could have happened.  I don't anymore.

With the "Karens" (male and female) going hysterical in this viral panic, I clearly understand now why it's said, "if you think education is expensive, try ignorance."  Ignorance, or maybe better put, a lack of knowledge, sets up the American people to be exploited by their own politicians and government officials.  But, relative to a pathogen, it also sets them up to become disease transport agents via a mandated fomite: the face mask.

For those not familiar with the term "fomite," it's a non-biological object contaminated with a pathogen, making the article a source for spreading the pathogen.  For me, this viral panic has made it evident that most people have no understanding of viruses, their life cycles, and how they propagate.  The fear of the unknown is the outgrowth of this lack of knowledge.  It leads people to take irrational actions that will spread a pathogen.

Here we are in the 21st century, and the general public is no smarter than the general public was in the 17th century when it comes to dealing with the unknown.  So let's look at a pathogenic event in the early 20th century.

In 1918, we had the Spanish Flu (also known as the Spanish Fever).  The medical world was in the initial discovery phase of viruses...as a theory.  The ability to actually see a virus would not come about until the invention of the electron microscope in the late 1930s.  Viruses are at least 100 times smaller than bacteria.  I suspect that the medical profession believed that this outbreak was the result of an unknown, tiny bacterium that could not be seen with a microscope.  After all, the Bubonic Plague was bacterial.

So what were people asked to do?  Wear cloth face masks with five to six layers of gauze.

Let's think about that period in our history.  A large number of children died before the age of five.  The average age of death for adults was much lower than it is today.  The education of the general population was minimal.  Sanitation and personal hygiene also left a lot to be desired.  With face mask hygiene not defined, I have a deep suspicion that contaminated face masks helped spread the virus. [read more]

Something to think about. I suggest removing a face mask by the straps that go around the ears—not the mask itself. Now Dr. Fauci is telling people to wear goggles. Then again he was against face masks before he was for them. Scientists shouldn’t be inconsistent with their advice. If they don’t what the answer is then say that. It’s okay to be humble. Even for scientists.

COVID-19 Has Led to an Increase in Human Trafficking, Experts Say

From The Daily Signal.com (July 28):

The sexual exploitation of women and children has likely increased amid the COVID-19 pandemic, experts say.

Groups such as Polaris and International Justice Mission work to fight human trafficking and to free the estimated 40 million victims of modern-day slavery. Their work has not slowed down during the global pandemic.

Sadly, experts say, the virus is leading to an increase in violence against women and children.

“Buyers are getting more violent, more aggressive, trying to pay less,” Robert Beiser, strategic initiatives director at Polaris, told the Daily Signal in a phone interview.

Polaris operates the National Human Trafficking Hotline, which exists to connect victims of sex or labor trafficking with resources to help them find a way out of the abuse. The hotline also serves as a tip line to prevent future trafficking cases.

The hotline has received more than 48,000 calls or texts from individuals asking for help this year alone. Polaris has documented more than 63,000 cases of human trafficking within the U.S. since 2007.

Beiser said the coronavirus actually has created a climate for human traffickers to exploit the most vulnerable. A recent study, conducted by his group, found that crisis trafficking situations rose by 40% in April of this year compared with the numbers for April 2019. [read more]

Yale epidemiologist says hydroxychloroquine is 'the key to defeating COVID-19'

From Just the News.com (July 25):

In Ivy League epidemiology professor is claiming that hydroxychloroquine — the drug that has been at the center of a politicized medical debate for the last several months — is "the key to defeating COVID-19," and that medical officials should be widely prescribing it to save the lives of thousands of coronavirus patients.

Harvey Risch, a professor of epidemiology at Yale as well as the director of that school's Molecular Cancer Epidemiology Laboratory, argues in a Newsweek op-ed this week that "the data fully support" the wide use of hydroxychloroquine as an effective treatment of COVID-19.

"When this inexpensive oral medication is given very early in the course of illness, before the virus has had time to multiply beyond control, it has shown to be highly effective," Risch argues in the column.

……………….

Risch, at Newsweek, argues that multiple studies over the past several months have demonstrated that the drug is a safe and efficacious treatment method for COVID-19. [read more]

The Great American Story Course Notes Part 8

John F. Kennedy called his campaign platform the new frontier.

According to Professor McClay, Martin Luther King, Jr. drew inspiration from Christianity, the
Constitution, and Gandhi.

The Southern states had voted solidly Democrat until the election of Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964.

President Nixon’s approach to the Vietnam War was to achieve peace with honor.

According to Professor McClay, one of Nixon’s most surprising diplomatic achievements was improving relations with the Chinese.

Following Richard Nixon’s presidency, some political scientists feared that the presidency had
become autocratic and imperialistic.

Under Nixon, the economy underwent a period of high inflation and economic stagnation.

According to Professor McClay, although many within the conservative movement of the 1970s
disagreed on specific policy proposals, they were in general agreement on certain principles
such as limited government, free market economy, and anti-communism.

Although a conservative Republican by the time he was elected president, Ronald Reagan was a
liberal Democrat in his youth.

According to Professor McClay, establishment Republicans opposed Reagan’s nomination in
1980 and wanted to run George HW Bush for the presidency instead.

The Soviet Union was dissolved in December of 1991.

According to Professor McClay, President George HW Bush was interested in establishing a new
international order that was prosperous, law-abiding, and democratic following the end of the
Cold War.

Operation Desert Storm was undertaken in response to Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait
in 1990.

Source: "The Great American Story: A Land of Hope"

Concealed Carry Law in Texas Prevented Mass Murder

From The Daily Signal.com (Jan 6):

The same weekend that Orthodox Jews in Monsey, New York, were fighting off another knife-wielding anti-Semite thug with chairs and coffee tables—they were fortunate the perpetrator hadn’t brought a firearm, like the killer who targeted a yeshiva in Jersey City only a few weeks earlier—Jack Wilson, a 71-year-old congregant and security volunteer at West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement, Texas, took mere seconds to stop a potential mass murderer.

Earlier in the year, to the dismay of the usual suspects, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott had signed a bill making it explicitly legal for Texans with concealed carry licenses to bring their weapons into places of worship.

These kinds of protections allowed Wilson to achieve something that no gun laws now being pursued nationally by Democrats has ever accomplished: He stopped a mass shooter.

My guess is that Wilson, a former deputy sheriff, is the kind of guy who probably wouldn’t have broken the law and carried a firearm into church had it been illegal to do so. The killer, on the other hand, I’m wholly certain, would have been undeterred by any laws.

Yet allowing people who pass ongoing criminal background checks and take state-mandated training courses to bring their guns to a church or a school is a move that generates tremendous hostility among gun control advocates.

We must “do something” about gun violence, but we’ve learned that, in the liberal vernacular, that’s nothing more than a euphemism for “do something to inhibit law-abiding citizens from owning guns.”

Even when Abbott signed the law that clarified the right of people to enter churches with concealed firearms unless otherwise prohibited, it was framed as something nefarious by the media. [read more]

The police can’t be everywhere when a madman with a gun (or any other weapon for that matter) starts taking innocence life. That’s why the 2nd amendment is in the Constitution. And if stupid mayors and city councilmen do away with their police or defund them then law abiding citizens will surely have to protect themselves and their property from chaos.

According to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, the second basic need people need is safety (the first is food, water, warmth, shelter, etc.). People’s needs haven’t changed, so, when it comes to needs this basic need still exists. People can’t go past this need if it isn’t satisfied. That’s why the 2nd amendment exists when gov’t can’t protect people (its primary function).

As someone said in a song “don’t let ‘em take your gun.” I’m surprised the NRA didn’t use the song as their theme song in their ads. Maybe they don’t know about it.

Senate ‘Assault Weapons’ Bill Bans 205 Guns, Magazines, and More

From Think Americana.com (April 10):

Democrats are dead set on infringing upon our God-given right to defend ourselves by any means necessary and the way that they best do this to us is through incrementalism.

What they do is take away just little things, one at a time until we don't even realize what happened and it's too late to do something about it.

One bill from Sen. Dianne Feinstein list 205 guns, magazines, and bump stocks, to be made illegal (even though bump stocks are illegal already).

Feinstein thinks that this would cut down on gun violence but based on a Department of Justice’s National Institute of Justice report, the 1994-2004 assault weapons ban had no effect on crime.

The bill would also include mandatory universal background checks.

According to Breitbart,

The Senate “assault weapons” ban outlaws 205 specific guns, magazines holding 11 rounds or more, and bump stocks, which are already illegal.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), the bill’s sponsor, cites alleged benefits from the 1994-2004 “assault weapons” ban in an effort to bolster the chances for passage of the new version. However, she ignores the Department of Justice’s National Institute of Justice report showing that the 1994-2004 ban could not take credit for any reduction in crime.

In addition to banning 205 different guns, “high capacity” magazines, and bump stocks, the Senate “assault weapons” ban includes a universal background check requirement for any future transfer of firearms covered by the ban.

Like the 1994-2004 ban, Feinstein’s bill defines “assault weapons” based on cosmetic features. Therefore, the legislation bans commonly owned semiautomatic rifles that take detachable magazines and “[have] one or more military characteristics including a pistol grip, a forward grip, a barrel shroud, a threaded barrel or a folding or telescoping stock.”

During the Democrat debate back in September of last year, Beto O’Rourke said proudly, “Hell yes, we’re going to take your AR-15.”

Obviously, that didn't work out for Beto too well because now he's at home sitting in front of the tv watching Ricky Gervais roast Hollywood on the Golden Globes. That's what you get when you threaten to go against the Constitution. [source]

Antifa Protestor Who Attacked a 56-year-old Trump Supporter Gets 18 Months in Jail

From Think Americana.com (Jan. 4):

A member of the far-left group Antifa that brutally attacked a Trump supporter in New York City will get 18 months in jail.

32-year-old David Campbell was sentenced at a Manhattan Criminal Court on Wednesday, which was two weeks after he pled guilty for his role in a vicious assault outside of the "Night for Freedom" party.

Campbell admitted the despicable act of following the 56-year-old man out of the event and punching him to the floor before choking him while he is on the ground.

……..

Is 18 months long enough? It was reported he was going to get three to five years, but with the plea deal he was able to get down to 18 months. [read more]

Good. But not long enough. Should be at least two years.

Bastille Day: The Beginning of Liberal Madness

Commentary by Ann Coulter on Town Hall.com (July 15):

This Tuesday, the French celebrated Bastille Day, the mob attack on a Parisian prison that has come to symbolize the French Revolution, a period of massive violence that produced nothing other than a lot of dead Frenchmen. Their revolution was the screech of a mob, much as we are seeing in several of our own cities and towns today. So let's review this absurdly celebrated event.

As is common with mob violence, the storming of the Bastille was set off by a rumor. People began to whisper that the impotent, indecisive king, Louis XVI, was going to attack the new legislative body, the National Assembly.

-- Hands Up! Don't Shoot! (Even Eric Holder's Justice Department found that claim was a lie -- after multiple millions in property damage and human suffering.)

-- Mass protests over police killing an innocent black man in Detroit! (Turns out, Hakim Littleton was firing a gun at them.)

-- Althea Bernstein's face was burned with lighter fluid and a match thrown at her by four "classic Wisconsin frat boys"! (After initial flood-the-zone coverage, that story sure disappeared fast.)

In need of weapons to defend themselves from the imaginary attack, on the morning of July 14, 1789, about 60,000 French citizens armed with pikes and axes assembled at Les Invalides, a barracks for aging soldiers, to demand weapons and ammunition.

……………

Eventually, the mob broke through the gate of Les Invalides and ransacked the building, seizing 10 cannon and 28,000 muskets. But no ammunition. So they headed for the Bastille, which had once been a fortress.

The rabble feared the Bastille because of false rumors of political prisoners being tortured behind its walls. In fact, the Bastille held only a half-dozen prisoners that day, most of them common forgers. They were not being tortured, and the prison was in the process of being shut down, anyway.

With legions of Parisians banging on the gates of the Bastille, the prison's commander, Marquis de Launay, invited representatives of the people inside to negotiate over breakfast.

……

In reaction to the storming of the Bastille, Alexander Hamilton politely warned the Marquis de Lafayette, hero of the American Revolution: "I dread the vehement character of your people, whom I fear you may find it more easy to bring on, than to keep within Proper bounds, after you have put them in motion."

Lafayette didn't listen. Three years later, he was fleeing France for his life. I hope the Democrats have a better plan. [read more]

A mob is a mob. I don’t care what century it is or what country the mob is in. Those who intently create a mob may well regret it because sooner or later the monster you create (call it the Frankenstein effect) will turn on them. A mob has its own inertia and mentality namely irrational violence.

All these mobs are part of the top-down-bottom-up-inside-out plan that Obama’s czar Van Jones talked about. The mob is the bottom-up part. The top-down part are the mayors defunding the police, enacting no-bail polices, spraying BLM graffiti on streets, etc. A person doesn’t have to directly give orders to people to commit acts. Sometimes all he/she has to do is create an environment to encourage the acts. The mob will get the hint. Meanwhile the city dwellers experiencing the inside-out part are nervous and/or scared. The rich can move or hire protection or have walls built around them, the middle/working class may or may not have those options. And as for the poor they are stuck where they are at. Then again the rioters don’t care about the poor. They only care about their evil, mad, destructive ideology.

More articles on the subject:

• BLM photojournalist beaten and doxxed by Antifa for 'snitching' to Portland police
• Oakland mayor who supports Black Lives Matter movement has house vandalized with BLM graffiti
• Federal officers in Portland may have been permanently blinded by lasers, officials say
• Mal-Educated Rioters and Spineless Politicians Wage a War Against Democracy
• EXPOSED: BLM unites with Islamists and communists to DISMANTLE the West
• Rioters Are Using Racial Discontent to Promote Marxist Agenda
• Q;A: Here’s What Is Happening on the Ground in Portland
• Why This Revolution Isn’t Like the ’60s
• 47 arrested, 59 officers injured in Seattle protests that turned violent
• Radio host mocked Trump by saying Seattle protests were peaceful, then rioters torched his apartment building
• White BLM Rioter Berates African-American Immigrant Doctor: ‘I’m More Black Than You on the Inside’
• Man knifed in back at Portland protest: ‘I was stabbed for being a conservative journalist’

Socialism Notes Part 1

Marx and Engels never tried to refute their opponents with argument. They insulted, ridiculed, derided, slandered, and traduced them, and in the use of these methods their followers are not less expert. Their polemic is directed never against the argument of the opponent, but always against his person.

Anarchism rejects all coercive social organizations, and repudiates coercion as a social technique. It wishes in fact to abolish the State and the legal order, because it believes that society could do better without them. It does not fear anarchical disorder because it believes that without compulsion men would unite for social cooperation and would behave in the manner that social life demands.

As for Socialism, as soon as it has turned fundamentally from Anarchism, it must necessarily try to extend the field controlled by the compulsory order of the State, for its explicit aim is to abolish the ‘anarchy of production.’ Far from abolishing State and compulsion it seeks to extend governmental action to a field which Liberalism would leave free. Socialistic writers, especially those who recommend Socialism for ethical reasons, like to say that in a socialistic society public welfare would be the foremost aim of the State, whereas Liberalism considers only the interests of a particular class.

Source: Socialism: An Economic and Sociological Analysis (1951) by Ludwig von Mises.

Failed Audit Raises Red Flag – Democrats Caught Trying to Steal Election in Key State

From Think America.com (Jan. 3):

Like it or not, there are some states in the U.S. that are hold more importance that others when it comes to the presidential elections.

Up until recently, Michigan was a decidedly blue state, meaning that they would always vote Democrat. That all changes when President Trump ran for office and won Michigan. The last time Michigan had voted for a Republican president was back in 1988 when they voted for George Bush over Michael Dukakis...it's obvious why though.

Now Michigan is considered to be a swing state, and because of that Democrats have to work harder to try and take it back no matter what the cost, even if they have to lie and cheat which is exactly what they did.

After a recent audit, officials learned that more than 500 municipalities had election clerks who were not accredited to run elections.

According to The Hill,

Hundreds of counties, cities and towns in Michigan do not have election clerks who are accredited to run elections, an audit released Friday has found.

Local election clerks did not meet legal training requirements in 32 counties, 83 cities and 426 townships, a report from the office of Michigan's auditor general found.

The auditor general's review also identified 12 counties, 38 cities and 290 townships in which the clerk did not meet the requirements and no other official had gotten full accreditation either.

Local clerks are required by state law to participate in accreditation courses and take continuing education courses every two years. The auditor general's report was based on a list from May of this year. [read more]

Smithsonian Museum Says Objective Thinking Is A Sign Of ‘Whiteness’

From Daily Caller.com (July 15):

A taxpayer-funded museum in Washington D.C. says on its website that objective thinking, self-reliance and planning for the future are among the signs of whiteness that have permeated throughout American culture.

Whiteness and the normalization of white racial identity in America has “created a culture where nonwhite persons are seen as inferior or abnormal,” according to an article published by the National Museum of African American History & Culture (NMAAHC).

Aspects of whiteness and white culture include an “emphasis on the scientific method,” which involves “objective, rational linear thinking,” “cause and effect relationships,” and “quantitative emphasis,” according to a graphic created by the museum. [read more]

I didn’t know if you were a scientist that means you are white. Interesting. I wonder what theoretical physicist Ronald Mallett thinks of that.

21 ways to know if you're a 'USEFUL IDIOT'

From Glenn Beck.com (July 15):

USEFUL IDIOT /ˈyo͞osfəl ˈidēət/ noun: a naive or credulous person who can be manipulated or exploited to advance a cause or political agenda.

The term "Useful Idiot" may be a concept with roots to Marxism and Vladimir Lenin from the 1800's but man, doesn't it sound like it could apply to what's going on in America today? People rioting and looting can't tell you what the issue is or what they want and people are sick and tired of it. "Black Lives Matter" the organization is not the same as the sentiment that black lives obviously do matter. If you support the political movement because of its name, instead of what it actually claims to stand for, you might be a "Useful Idiot."

Here is a list of 21 other ways you might be a "Useful Idiot" — the BLM/Antifa edition:

1. If you donate to a political organization without knowing how or where they actually use the money, you might be a useful idiot.
2. If you find yourself having to defend or explain political slogans you don't actually believe in, like "Defund The Police" doesn't actually mean defunding the police, you might be a useful idiot.
3. If you join a protest march or rally in order to feel like you're "doing something", you might be a useful idiot.
4. If you continue to rationalize and justify violence against innocent business owners, police or bronze statues, you might be a useful idiot.
5. If you support a political organization because of what they say they are against but are ignorant of what they claim they are for, you might be a useful idiot.
6. If your Facebook, Twitter or Instagram feed contains a black square in the past 60 days, you might be a useful idiot.
7. If you support COVID-19 government orders to wear a mask as legal - unless someone feels the need to scream in the face of a police officer, you might be a useful idiot.
8. If your support for police or justice reform includes a checklist of ideas like government-mandated vegetarianism, carbon-taxes on manufacturers and higher taxes on the wealthy, you might be a useful idiot.
9. If you claim to support generic ideas such as "Black Lives Matter" but then donate to organizations like Planned Parenthood, you might be a useful idiot.
10. If you are against The 2nd Amendment but also support defunding the police, you might be a useful idiot.

[read more]

Pardons/Commutations by Clinton and Obama

From Glenn Beck.com:

Thus far in his presidency, Trump has commuted the sentence for 11 individuals while in comparison, Bill Clinton had 61. Even worse, Barack Obama commuted the sentence of 1,715 criminals!

Bill Clinton Pardons/Commuted sentences

Terrorists

• Commuted the sentences of 16 members of the FALN, a Puerto Rican paramilitary organization that set off 120 bombs in the United States, mostly in New York City and Chicago. There were convictions for conspiracy to commit robbery, bomb-making, and sedition, as well as firearms and explosives violations.
• Linda Evans and Susan Rosenberg were both commuted and both were members of Weather Underground and the May 19 Communist Movement, and were convicted on weapons and explosives charges.

Pardons/commutations that look like a response to bribes

• Carlos Vignali was convicted for cocaine trafficking. Almon Glenn Braswell was convicted for mail fraud and perjury, and was under investigation for money laundering and tax evasion. Vignali was commuted while Braswell was pardoned, but they were also both caught paying approximately $200,000 to Hillary Clinton's brother, Hugh Rodham, to represent their respective cases for clemency.
• Marc Rich fled the U.S. after he was caught owing $48 million in taxes and was charged with 51 counts for tax fraud. Everyone was surprised when Clinton pardoned him. It was later revealed that Rich's wife made substantial donations to both the Clinton library and to Hillary Clinton's senate campaign.

Case similar to Trump/Roger Stone

• Susan McDougal was sentenced to 18 months in prison on contempt charges for refusing to testify about Clinton in the Whitewater scandal only to have Clinton pardoned her.

Pardon for a member of Clinton's family

• Clinton pardoned his brother, Roger Clinton, who had been convicted on drug charges. A year after the pardon he would be charged for Drunk driving and disorderly conduct.

Obama Pardons/Commuted sentences - the most since Truman:

Terrorist

• Obama commuted the sentence of another FALN terrorist, Oscar Lopez Rivera.

Traitors

• Chelsea Manning: the former Army Intelligence analyst was convicted of leaking documents that revealed classified information on military and diplomatic activities all around the world only to have her sentence commuted.

Case similar to Michael Flynn or Roger Stone

• Obama pardoned General James Cartwright, who had been convicted for lying to the FBI (sound familiar?!). Cartwright was considered "Obama's favorite general".

[read more]

Franklin D. Roosevelt pardoned the most: 3,687. The least was James Garfield and William H. Harrison with zero pardons.

Seven Characteristics of False Leaders

1. False teachers are men-pleasers. They preach more to please the ear than to profit the heart (Is. 30:10). False teachers handle holy things rather with wit and trifling, rather than with fear and reverence.
2. False teachers are notable in casting dirt, scorn, and reproach upon the persons, names, and credits of Christ's most faithful ambassadors. You take too much state, too much power, too much honor, too much holiness upon you; for what are you more than others, that you take so much upon you?
3. False teachers are venters of the devices and visions of their own heads and hearts. Jer. 14:14: "Then the Lord said unto me—These prophets are telling lies in my name. I did not send them or tell them to speak. I did not give them any messages. They prophesy of visions and revelations they have never seen or heard. They speak foolishness made up in their own lying hearts." "This is my warning to my people," says the Lord Almighty. "Do not listen to these prophets when they prophesy to you, filling you with futile hopes. They are making up everything they say. They do not speak for the Lord!" Jeremiah 23:16.
4. False teachers easily pass over the great and weighty things both of law and gospel, and stand most upon those things that are of the least importance and concern to the souls of men.
5. False teachers cover and color their dangerous principles and soul-deceptions with very fair speeches and plausible pretenses, with high notions and golden expressions. Many in these days are bewitched and deceived by the magnificent words, lofty strains, and stately terms of deceivers. As strumpets paint their faces, and deck and perfume their beds, the better to allure and deceive simple souls; so false teachers will put a great deal of paint and garnish upon their most dangerous principles and blasphemies, that they may the better deceive and delude poor ignorant souls.
6. False teachers strive more to win over men to their opinions, than to better them in their lives. They busy themselves most about men's heads. Their work is not to better men's hearts, and mend their lives; and in this they are very much like their father the devil, who will spare no pains to gain proselytes.
7. False teachers make merchandise of their followers. "But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them--bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping." 2 Peter 2:1-3.

Source: Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices (middle of the 17th century) by Thomas Brooks.

Economic vs. Cultural Marxism: The Most Important Distinction

From American Thinker.com (Jan 1):

Many on both ends of the political spectrum are aware of the fact that social justice is simply Marxism, masquerading as a new ideological movement.  Like Marxism, social justice's goal is to make the world a more balanced and equitable place.

As Marx phrased it in Das Kapital, "[i]n order to establish equality, we must first establish inequality" (1).  By finding the inequalities of the world, the Marxist can then begin eliminating the obstacles that impede equality.  The more of these sources of inequality the Marxist eliminates, the closer we move to an equitable socialist utopia.  This is why Marx was so adamant about abolishing certain fixtures of society.

Among the ills of society perpetuating inequality that need abolition, according to Marx, were history, private property, the family, eternal truths, nations and borders, and religion (2).  By destroying these sources of inequality, the Marxist is one step closer to the equitable world the Marxist knows is possible.  Marx believed that economic issues are the driving force of conflict in the world (3).  Eliminating class structure was the central goal of Marx's Communist Manifesto.

Marx's Manifesto influenced a group of intellectuals known as "The Frankfurt School" (4), who expanded on Marx's foundational premises.  They shifted the front from class to cultural struggle.  One of these intellectuals, György Lukács, is credited as the first person to advocate for the application of Marx's economic principles to cultural struggles: "he justified culture to the Marxists by showing how to condemn it in Marxist terms. And in doing so ... he provided crucial concepts to ... the thinkers of the Frankfurt School" (5).

The Frankfurt Schoolers elaborated on and furthered Lukács's cultural Marxism.  While the foundational tenets of economic Marxism are still present in their cultural Marxist works, there is a tenet that militates more with cultural than economic Marxism.  In shifting fronts from class to culture, a different aspect of Marxism mandates emphasis.

That aspect is Marx's desire to abolish individuality.  As Marx himself wrote: "And the abolition of this state of things is called by the bourgeois, abolition of individuality and freedom!" (6).  The social justice warriors of today are using this tenet of Marxism most frequently and strongly in their quest to create an equitable society. [read more]

Cannabis-related psychosis, addiction, ER visits: For young users, marijuana can be a dangerous game

From Inquirer.com (Dec. 23, 2019):

Not long ago when Joseph Garbely, chief medical officer for the Caron Foundation, reviewed younger patients starting drug or alcohol treatment on his unit, he usually saw people shaking, sick, and seizing from alcohol or opioid withdrawal. Marijuana was seldom what put them in those medical beds.

That has changed.

“A few years ago, it was rare to see a young person enter Caron with marijuana-induced psychosis,” said Garbely. “Now we see it on a regular basis. Older teens and young adults — approximately ages 18 to 26 — are the most impacted. We see a significant misperception about the safety and efficacy of marijuana among our teen and young-adult patient population.”

…………..

While it was once doubted as an addictive substance, treatment professionals now say they are seeing more adolescents and young adults with cannabis use disorder. Often starting in their early teens, many graduate to daily use.

“The majority of cases we see of substance use disorder are marijuana,” said Ned Campbell, medical director of Rehab After School, an intensive out-patient program for adolescents in Southeastern Pennsylvania, including the Philadelphia area. [read more]

Another article on the subject: The Link Between Marijuana, Psychosis, and Suicide

Dark Money Groups Steal Millions From Trump Supporters and Trump Campaign

From Think Americana.com (Dec. 26, 2019):

There have been a number of groups out there disguising themselves as President Trump-related organizations, like "MAGA Coalition" and "Latinos for the President". In total, around 20 groups have been taking advantage of Trump supporters.

Overall, these "Dark Groups" as they are called have collected approximately $46.7 million in small-money contributions of $20 or less.

Most of the money is kept for themselves, with very little actually going towards supporting the President. The groups only donate enough to maintain their status pro-Trump PACs.

What makes the matter even worse is that there is nothing that can be done at all about it. The best way that you can protect yourself is to remember that the only authorized PAC to collect contributions for the Trump campaign is "America First".

America First spokeswoman Kelly Sadler told Politico:

“There’s nothing we can do to stop them. This is a problem for the campaign, as well as us, as well as for the RNC.” [read more]

Let the donator beware I guess.

Justice Department Charges 4 With Trying to Dismantle Andrew Jackson Statue Near White House

From The Daily Signal.com (June 29):

Four people have been charged following an attempt to dismantle a prominent statue of former President Andrew Jackson near the White House, the Department of Justice said Saturday.

All four of the men were purportedly caught on video allegedly either attempting to affix straps in order to bring down the monument or actively pulling the statue, according to the DOJ.

Lee Michael Cantrell, 47; Connor Matthew Judd, 20; Ryan Lane, 37; and Graham Lloyd, 37, were charged in connection with a June 22 demonstration that tried, but failed, to rip down a statue of Andrew Jackson, the 17th president of the United States, according to a DOJ press release.

“The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia will not stand idly by and allow our national monuments to be vandalized and destroyed,” acting U.S. Attorney Michael R. Sherwin said in the press release.

“This Office remains steadfast in its commitment to protect the sacred First Amendment right of individuals to peacefully protest, but these charges should serve as a warning to those who choose to desecrate the statues and monuments that adorn our nation’s capital: your violent behavior and criminal conduct will not be tolerated.”

Judd was arrested Friday and brought before a judge on Saturday. The DOJ did not specify whether the other three men had been arrested. [read more]

Good for the Justice Department.

Miscellaneous Thoughts Part 44

• If you are going to create a false memory make it a happy, exciting one.
• Innocent until proven guilty laws can only happen in a country that respects the individual. In collectivists nations (like France) where the group is more important than the individual this policy doesn’t exist.
• The socialist motto: Private property for me not for thee.
• Why not a gov’t infrastructure bond and a gov’t wall bond to fund both? Both would be separate bonds. They worked for WWII. Problem solved. No need to raise taxes.
• How the Left argue: Shut the heck up! You’re winning the argument!
• The optimist sees a glass half full of water, the pessimist sees the glass half empty, and the thirsty person says “Gimme that glass!”
• The Left’s America’s illegal immigration explanation: Just desperate people trying to get to an immoral, bigoted, sexist country. So, is Mexico worse than America? Is that what the Left is trying to say? Go figure.
• A manufactured crisis: Climate change.
• Border denier: Someone who think illegal immigration is not out-of-control.
• White privilege might be a thing of the past. But what’s replaced it is Left-wing privilege. Robert Kennedy and Bill Clinton are good examples. If these two people were republicans they have been prosecuted.

Vandals Tear Down Statue of Frederick Douglass, Drag It to River

From The Daily Signal.com (July 6):

A statue of black abolitionist and freed slave Frederick Douglass was ripped off its concrete base and dragged away in a Rochester, New York, park Sunday night.

The statue was discovered damaged 50 feet from its base and along a nearby river, The Democrat and Chronicle reported. It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the vandalism and the perpetrators didn’t leave graffiti on the statue or in the park, according to Rochester police.

“It’s really sad because here in Rochester the statue of Frederick Douglass has always been a face of good,” said Carvin Eison, who helped erect Douglass statues around Rochester, according to The Democrat and Chronicle.

The statue was located in Maplewood Park, where Douglass and Harriet Tubman shuttled slaves to safety on the Underground Railroad. The vandalism occurred on the anniversary of Douglass’ 1852 “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” speech, which he gave in downtown Rochester, according to The Democrat and Chronicle.

“I am not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary! Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us,” Douglass said, according to The Daily Caller. “The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common.” [read more]

Dumb. The mob must think he is a racist too.

Chinese and Iranian Hackers Targeting US Vaccine Research

From National Review.com (May 13):

The Trump administration has collected evidence that Chinese and Iranian hackers are targeting American healthcare firms and universities, hindering coronavirus vaccine research in the process, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

The hackers have the capability to “irreversibly harm” American healthcare facilities, according to U.S. officials. Cyber attacks by Chinese and Iranian hackers have already damaged coronavirus vaccine research, although officials are still trying to assess whether the damage was intentional or collateral.

“It is difficult, and sometimes impossible, to know what motivates such malfeasance, but any such activity carries with it the risk of triggering accidental, disruptive effects,” a senior administration official told the Journal.

Some within the Trump administration may come to view such cyber attacks as acts of war, a major change in the perception of cyber attacks. [read more]

Russia is not involved? Interesting. I know Chinese gov’t has agencies that specialize in hacking foreign nations. I guess Russia isn’t invested in hacking as China is.

COVID-19: The Security Implications

From American Thinker.com (April 7):

Assuming that the explanations coming from the Chinese government have no credibility, the true origins of COVID-19 are not yet known.  This has encouraged a great deal of online idle speculation, including conspiracy theories ranging in terms of Chinese deception from low to high: (1) tainted "wet market" bat meat; (2) tainted "wet market" bat meat originating from the Wuhan Institute of Virology; (3) a laboratory accident, (4) an intentionally concealed laboratory accident; (5) a bioterror attack by a rogue individual; and (6) intentional bioterror attack by a belligerent regime.

Not knowing whether this event is a zero-level national security threat versus a high-level national security threat is a direct function of our not having sufficient information, the blame for which can be firmly placed on the Chinese government and its failure to provide critical information at critically important times.  This lack of credibility is alarming because there is a direct inverse relationship between Chinese credibility and the conspiracy theory continuum, such that the lower the credibility of the Chinese government, the greater the likelihood that the true origin of the virus is higher on the continuum.

As tempting as it might be to join the chorus of idle speculation and conspiracies (what is the internet for, after all?), there are some things that are known about COVID-19 and potential bioterror attacks, and so far there has not been much discussion of these things, most of which have very serious national security implications.  Here are two points worth considering.

Assuming that the explanations coming from the Chinese government have no credibility, the true origins of COVID-19 are not yet known.  This has encouraged a great deal of online idle speculation, including conspiracy theories ranging in terms of Chinese deception from low to high: (1) tainted "wet market" bat meat; (2) tainted "wet market" bat meat originating from the Wuhan Institute of Virology; (3) a laboratory accident, (4) an intentionally concealed laboratory accident; (5) a bioterror attack by a rogue individual; and (6) intentional bioterror attack by a belligerent regime.

Not knowing whether this event is a zero-level national security threat versus a high-level national security threat is a direct function of our not having sufficient information, the blame for which can be firmly placed on the Chinese government and its failure to provide critical information at critically important times.  This lack of credibility is alarming because there is a direct inverse relationship between Chinese credibility and the conspiracy theory continuum, such that the lower the credibility of the Chinese government, the greater the likelihood that the true origin of the virus is higher on the continuum.

As tempting as it might be to join the chorus of idle speculation and conspiracies (what is the internet for, after all?), there are some things that are known about COVID-19 and potential bioterror attacks, and so far there has not been much discussion of these things, most of which have very serious national security implications.  Here are two points worth considering.

First, even if this pandemic was not intentional, it could have been.  In other words, China and a lot of other bad actors have the capability of unleashing a pandemic of this nature upon the earth, and it is a threat the USA is clearly unprepared for. This is an existential threat that cannot be dealt with by increasing the number of aircraft carriers or fighter jets.  As the daily pressers reveal the horrific numbers of new cases and deaths, it is very clear how unprepared government at all levels was to deal with this particular threat.

……………..

Secondly, even if the unleashing of COVID-19 was not intentional, the Chinese and other potential enemies have now seen how the U.S. government would react to a bioterror attack, and they have learned that the decision-makers will default on the side of short-term humanitarian concerns, sacrificing long-term damage to our economy and the freedoms that are the bedrock of our civilization. This means that the response will catalyze any future attack because the decision apparatus will destroy itself and wipe out the sources of its advantage as the world’s only superpower.  Enemy knowledge of this response increases the likelihood that there will be an intentional bioterror attack in the future. [read more]

Yale Has to Go!

Commentary from Ann Coulter on Town Hall.com (June 17):

I'll let others berate Republicans for doing nothing about the rioting, the arsons, the beatings, the corporate and social media canceling. This column will address the GOP's moronitude in response to attacks on the destruction of Confederate monuments. Works of art are being destroyed by Maoist vandals who have no idea what they're doing.

Literally no idea.

Quick! Who was Fort Bragg named after? What did he do? Do you even know his first name? When you have to Google the guy on a statue to figure out who he is, maybe it's not really the daily humiliation you claim it is.

At this point, the military bases are famous in their own right. No one hears "Fort Hood" and thinks of Gen. John Bell Hood. Fort Bragg, home of the 82nd Airborne, is many orders of magnitude more famous than Gen. Braxton Bragg. It would be like demanding President John F. Kennedy change his name because his namesake, John Fitzgerald, was a corrupt Boston mayor.

Most obviously, the Democratic Party is going to have to change its name. You want an institution that represents slavery? Confederate politicians were all Democrats, Democrats created Jim Crow, and the founder of the party was a slave holder. (The Republican Party was founded to end slavery.)

Speaking of repellant Democrats, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said on the Senate floor this week that the United States "didn't inherit slavery from anybody. We created it."

This is the most ignorant statement ever made on the Senate floor. (And that's saying something!)

Every society has had slavery; it existed long before America did, including by American Indians (though they preferred torturing their captives to death, inasmuch as few of the natives farmed or built things). From 1530 to 1780, at least a million Europeans were kidnapped by African Muslims and forced into slavery. The vast majority were starved or beaten to death.

In fact, unless we're counting the Democrats' wearing kente cloth last week, slavery is the only African institution ever adopted by this country. Portuguese -- not Americans -- brought the first slaves to Jamestown in 1619 (The New York Times' favorite episode of American history!). We, are, however, the only country that fought a war to end slavery.

…………..

How about a bill withholding all federal funds from Yale University until it changes its name? The school's namesake, Elihu Yale, was not only a slave owner, but a slave trader.

Quite a dilemma for the little snots who attend and teach there! It will be tremendously damaging to their brand. After all, true sublimity for a Social Justice Warrior is virtue signaling and advertising their high SAT scores at the same time.

If you refuse to fight, Republicans, don't you at least want to have some fun? [read more]

Federal funds will never be withheld from Yale University. That’s where the Ruling Class go to learn. Especially the Left. Let George Soros and other members of the elite Left support the university. Also, should universities do away with master degrees? Or maybe call them something else because after all they do sound racist don’t they? Something to think about if you’re a crazy Leftist.

The Great American Story Course Notes Part 7

According to Dr. McClay, the Spanish Civil War was a precursor to the kind of conflicts that characterized the Second World War.

The "blitzkrieg" was a form of mechanized warfare that was more rapid in its progression and more deadly in its effects than any other previous form of land warfare.

According to Dr. McClay, critics of FDR’s "Lend-Lease Bill" argued that it allowed the President to carry on undeclared wars across the world.

The Battle of Midway was the turning point in the war in the Pacific.

During a speech given at Fulton, Missouri, Winston Churchill declared that an Iron Curtain had descended across a great swath of Eastern Europe.

During the Cold War, the Soviet Union possessed an imperialist or expansionist mindset.

The strategy adopted by President Truman and the United States during the Cold War was known as containment.

President Eisenhower was fiscally conservative and did not attempt to dismantle the New Deal.

Source: "The Great American Story: A Land of Hope"

4 Things the Liberal Media Won’t Tell You About Black Lives Matter

From The Daily Signal.com (June 25):

Here are four things to know about the founders and organization behind Black Lives Matter.

1. Are BLM Leaders ‘Trained Marxists?’

The Black Lives Matter movement began after the 2013 shooting death of Trayvon Martin, 17, in Sanford, Florida, and picked up after the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown, 18, in 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri.

The group’s co-founders are Patrisse Khan-Cullors, Opal Tometi, and Alicia Garza, all of them black women.

“The first thing, I think, is that we actually do have an ideological frame,” Khan-Cullors said in a 2015 interview with Real News Network. “Myself and Alicia in particular are trained organizers. We are trained Marxists.”

…………….

2. What’s the Official Organization?

More than one Black Lives Matter appears to exist, but the one primary associated with its best-known founders and that receives the largest level of donations is the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation.

According to the group’s website, the organization has a national network of about 40 chapters.

The Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation didn’t respond directly to questions from The Daily Signal. After two days of inquiries, spokesman Jordan Jackson said in an email that the organization was “inundated” with media requests.

……………..

3. What Does the Organization Want?

Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation doesn’t hide its more out-of-the mainstream views, although many of them are stated in broad terms.

“We disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure requirement by supporting each other as extended families and ‘villages’ that collectively care for one another, especially our children, to the degree that mothers, parents, and children are comfortable,” the organization says on its website.

The website uses the word “comrades” several times, in one instance to say: “We practice empathy. We engage comrades with the intent to learn about and connect with their contexts.”

………………

4. What Is Thousand Currents?

Thousand Currents, which underwrites the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, describes itself as an organization that “envisions a world where humanity thrives as a creative force that is in reciprocal [sic] and interdependent with nature, and creates loving, equitable and just societies.”

Notably, the vice chairwoman of the board of directors for Thousand Currents is Susan Rosenberg, a convicted felon who participated in bombing buildings in the Northeast and Washington, D.C.

In an email Wednesday, The Daily Signal asked Thousand Currents about Rosenberg’s position on the board of directors. That morning, the organization’s webpage about the board included a short bio of Rosenberg. By late afternoon, that page no longer was available and a message said: “Ooops. Sorry. This page doesn’t exist.”

Rosenberg was part of M19, short for May 19th Communist Organization. Her memoir “An American Radical,” details her 16 years in federal prison.

At her sentencing hearing in 1984, Rosenberg urged supporters to “continue to fight for the defeat of U.S. imperialism.” [read more]

Other articles on BLM:

• “Some White People May Have to Die for Black Communities to Be Made Whole” – Far Left Teaching Assistant Claim in Regard Black Lives Matter Movement
• Black Lives Matter Founder Mentored by Ex-Domestic Terrorist Who Worked with Bill Ayers 
• BLACK LIVES MATTER INVADES BEVERLY HILLS TO TERRORIZE WHITE RICH PEOPLE (VIDEO)
• WATCH: BLM-linked organization removes webpage after Glenn Beck reveals VIOLENT terrorist origins
• Black Christian UNMASKS how 'Black Lives Matter' movement uses black Americans as political PAWNS
• BLM Protester Allegedly Kills Photographer Who Supported The Movement
• Black sportscaster launches into Black Lives Matter
• D.C. sued over Black Lives Matter painted on city streets
• The matter of Marxism: Black Lives Matter is rooted in a soulless ideology
• A Deeper Look at Black Lives Matter and Its Impact
• Black Lives Matter’s Silence on a Champion of Racial Equality
• BLM leader: Whites are subhuman 'genetic defects'
• These 18 Corporations Gave Money to Radical Black Lives Matter Group
• Black Lives Matter Has Super Powers? Here's the Kryptonite.

The only blacks BLM cares for are ones who are killed by peace officers. Otherwise anyone else doesn’t matter to them because they don't fit into the narrative of the oppressed and the oppressor which is part of Marxism.

DEMOCRATIC ELECTION RIGGING: Republicans Receive Misprinted Ballots with Democratic Candidates Listed Instead

From Think America.com (June 26):

New Jersey Republicans sure got a surprise when they checked their mail recently.

When they opened up their envelopes containing their mail-in ballots for the election on July 7th, they were shocked to see what was inside.

Just like Oregon, it seems like Democrats are trying to rig the elections there as well. It's like they just took a play out of their playbook.

They received ballots that were for Democrats and not Republicans. In other words, they weren't able to vote on them because they're not voting Democrat.

The slip-up occurred amid calls—largely by Democrats—for the national elections this November to be carried out by mail-in ballots in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the Democrats extended efforts to “cancel” President Trump, this event might be viewed as a type of Freudian slip for how the election this fall could turn out.

Apparently, the issue can be traced back to a human error in the ballot printing. Supposedly, when the ballots were printed, the printing plate containing the label for Republicans was left in place when it should have been swapped for the “Democrat” plate. These mismarked ballots then we sent to approximately 500 Republican residents of Bernardsville, New Jersey.

Instead of printing the ballots themselves, Somerset County chose to contract out the printing. According to the county clerk Steve Peter, the outsourcing was necessary because of insufficient lead time. Peter said, “If we had had a greater lead time when we were sending out these ballots, we would have been able to do the ballot insertion in-house and this error would have been caught.” [read more]

Another article on the subject:

1 in 5 Ballots Rejected as Fraud Charged in New Jersey Mail-In Election

Why Owning A Gun Is A Completely Rational Insurance Policy Against Danger

Commentary from Timothy Hsiao on The Federalist.com (April 8):

The social and economic uncertainty surrounding the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic has Americans understandably concerned about their personal safety. In March 2020, the FBI reported the highest monthly number of firearms background checks ever recorded: 3,740,688. Compared to March of the previous year, Americans bought 1.1 million more guns in a single month. Ammunition is also flying off the shelves, with sales in some states increasing more than 4,000 percent.

……………..

Desperate people do desperate things. Economic goods are human goods, and while the current lockdowns are necessary to contain the pandemic, they carry real human costs. Many of these costs — joblessness, homelessness, mental health issues, and drug abuse — lend themselves easily to criminal behavior.

Always Be Prepared

Am I saying society is on the brink of collapse? No, we are far from an apocalypse. The point is simply that the world is and has always been a risky place, so it makes perfect sense to be proactive and prepared. When things are peaceful and prosperous, we often don’t pay attention to danger because things are going so well. But in times of great social and economic stress, we are more attuned to things that might go wrong.

…………………

The Odds of Violent Crime Are Higher than You Think

With that point in mind, let’s look at the odds of violent criminal victimization. In 2018, 3.3 million people ages 12 and older were victimized in 6 million violent crimes. There were 23.2 violent victimizations per 1,000 U.S. residents ages 12 and older, meaning 2.3 percent of Americans 12 and older were victims of violent crime in 2018. This is much greater than the baseline odds of injury from motor vehicle accidents, for which preparation is rational.

If you have a 1-in-50 baseline chance of being violently victimized each year, wouldn’t it be rational to take prudent measures to protect yourself? I think so. [read more]

Along the same lines:

• Preparedness guide to the Marxist revolution
• FBI: Record-shattering surge in gun checks as BLM, 2020 election, virus boost sales

Rapid COVID-19 Test Using Nanoparticle Technology Developed: Results In 10 Minutes!

From Study Finds.org (June 8):

BALTIMORE — Ever since the coronavirus pandemic took hold of the country, researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine have been trying to engineer nanoparticles that can serve as a diagnostic tool for detecting the presence of COVID-19. Not only does it appear they’ve succeed, but in the process they’ve created a test that can yield results in just ten minutes.

In recent years, bioengineers have sought ways to use nanoparticles for all sorts of medical purposes. Nanoparticles are extraordinarily tiny materials that can perform whatever function they were engineered to do. They are commonly used in medicine as a way to deliver drugs to a person or to detect specific markers in a biological sample.

Last week the researchers announced that they have developed a test that uses plasmonic gold nanoparticles and changes colors in the presence of COVID-19. The great news about this test is that it can detect the virus in as quickly as ten minutes.

“Based on our preliminary results, we believe this promising new test may detect RNA material from the virus as early as the first day of infection. Additional studies are needed, however, to confirm whether this is indeed the case,” says lead author Dipanjan Pan, PhD, a professor of diagnostic radiology and nuclear medicine and pediatrics at the school, in a university release.

All a patient needs to do is provide a nasal swab or saliva sample, and the nanoparticles do the rest of the work. The gold nanoparticles check to see if there is a specific protein present in the biological sample. The protein it looks for is unique to the coronavirus, and acts as a binding site for the nanoparticles. If the nanoparticles detect the presence of this protein then they turn the color of the liquid they are placed in from purple to blue. [read more]

Nice.

Happy Birthday, America!

I have never had a feeling politically that did not spring from the sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence.
          -- Abraham Lincoln

In its main features the Declaration of Independence is a great spiritual document. It is a declaration not of material but of spiritual conceptions. Equality, liberty, popular sovereignty, the rights of man - these are not elements which we can see and touch. They are ideals. They have their source and their roots in the religious convictions. They belong to the unseen world. Unless the faith of the American people in these religious convictions is to endure, the principles of our Declaration will perish. We can not continue to enjoy the result if we neglect and abandon the cause.
         -- Calvin Coolidge

A Prayer for America
by Dave Butts

Father of all that is, I bow before You acknowledging You as creator and king over all. As I come to pray for my country, I realize that the prophet Isaiah told us that “the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are regarded as dust on the scales” (Isaiah 40:15). No great empire or humble province lasts forever. Yet Your will brings nations into being and uses them as instruments for Your purposes. The Apostle Paul told us, “From one man he (God) made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact place where they should live.” (Acts 17:26).

I thank You for calling into being the United States of America. I am grateful for the godly foundation laid by men and women of faith who built into the very fabric of our country a commitment to freedom that was seen as being a gift from You. Thank You for the sacrifice of so many through the years who gave time, effort, and sometimes, their very lives to preserve and protect that freedom.

With no lessening of my appreciation for this nation, I also realize that we have fallen short of our promise. We have increasingly depended upon our own strength and wisdom rather than that which comes from above. We have often catered to the wealthy and ignored the needs of the poor and afflicted. We have failed to accept all life as a gift from You and have treated the unborn, the ill, and the elderly with increasing contempt. In spite of our stated values of equality and justice, we continue to harbor racism and injustice within our society. Most of all, we have turned our back on You and sought to live as though You were not.

We face troubling times. Our economy has been damaged and many of our citizens are hurting. Our nation is fractured and badly divided in so many ways. The issues faced by our leaders are enormous. Grant them Your grace and peace. Fill them with Your Holy Spirit and give them wisdom and discernment in this critical hour.

Lord…we repent! Please pour out upon our nation a spirit of repentance. Help us to turn from sin and turn back to You. As we seek Your face, would You revive Your people once again? Would you empower Your church in this nation to be the salt and light You have called us to be? Would You help us to love You with all of our mind, heart and soul and strength, and to love one another deeply with kindness and goodness? Make us one, Lord, as You and the Father are one. Holy Spirit, teach us how to honor and respect one another and to journey together with one heart – the heart of Jesus. Transform us into image bearers of Christ who bring glory and honor to our Father whenever we speak or act.

Father, in these days of decision, fulfill Your purposes for our nation. I stand in prayer with my brothers and sisters in Christ and re-commit the United States into Your care.

Restore to us the vision of being a city on a hill, a place from which the light of Christ can shine to the nations. May we be a nation whose God is the Lord!

Other patriotic articles:

• 3 Reasons America Is Great
• A New Declaration of Dependence—On God

The Great American Story Course Notes Part 6

The United States entered World War I due to a change in public opinion that resulted from the sinking of merchant vessels by German submarines.

According to Dr. McClay, Wilson approached America’s involvement in European affairs with a disinterested tone that was typical of Progressive politicians and academics.

The Bolshevik Revolution caused Russia to drop out of World War I.

The aftermath of World War I brought about the collapse of four empires: Imperial Germany, Austria-Hungary, Tsarist Russia, and the Ottoman Empire.

President Calvin Coolidge was a strong proponent and eloquent defender of the Declaration of Independence.

In the 1920s, the economy of the United States grew at an astounding rate.

During the 1932 election, Franklin Roosevelt promised to embark on a program of "bold, persistent experimentation" to address the economic woes of the nation.

In his first inaugural address, Franklin Roosevelt drew on the familiar Progressive language of the moral equivalent of war to describe the economic situation.

According to Dr. McClay, progressives like FDR believed that administrative expertise was necessary to help solve social ills.

The National Industrial Recovery Act attempted to regulate the economy by establishing production quotas, codes, and wages for industries, but was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

Source: “The Great American Story: A Land of Hope”

History of friction: Officer Chauvin 'bumped heads' on job with George Floyd

From WND.com (June 10):

When it was first reported that Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin and the man he's charged with killing, George Floyd, both worked security at a nightclub, it was unclear whether or not they knew each other.

Now, a man who says he worked with them at the El Nuevo Rodeo club says they not only knew each other, they had a history of friction.

David Pinney said in an interview with CBS News that the two men had "bumped heads."

"It has a lot to do with Derek being extremely aggressive within the club with some of the patrons, which was an issue," Pinney explained.

CBS News reported the Floyd family believes that the arrest May 25 that resulted in Floyd's death was in part personal.

Their lawyer wants the second-degree murder charge against Chauvin to be upgraded to first-degree murder "because we believe he knew who George Floyd was."

CBS News asked Pinney, "Is there any doubt in your mind that Derek Chauvin knew George Floyd?"

"No. He knew him," the coworker said. [read more]

I thought this was the case. More than the policeman being a racist.

More articles on the subject:

• Red Flag?: What We Know About 18 Complaints on Cop Who Put Knee to George Floyd’s Neck
• Bad Cops, Bad Unions

4 Keys to Understanding ‘Defund the Police’ Movement

From The Daily Signal.com (June 8):

Here are four things to know about the “defund the police” movement.

1. Where Is Defunding Happening?

It’s a near certainty that Minneapolis—where fired police officer Derek Chauvin has been charged with second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the death of George Floyd—will defund police. (The state upgraded an initial third-degree murder charge.)

The May 25 death of Floyd, captured in a cellphone video showing Chauvin’s knee on his neck for more than eight minutes, has prompted two weeks of civil unrest.
A veto-proof majority of nine members of the Minneapolis City Council announced that they backed getting rid of the city police force—and didn’t even have a plan for what to do next.

………………..

2. What’s Happening in Congress?

Although paying for policing is a local decision, not a federal one, some members of Congress are jumping into the movement without qualification.

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., voiced strong support for ditching the Minneapolis police over the weekend.

…………

One of Omar’s colleagues in a small group of House freshmen known as “the squad” said that all elected officials must back the “defund the police” movement.

“This is what political courage is for. Political courage. There are moments in everyone’s careers where you have to be willing to stand up and say, ‘Am I willing to sacrifice all of the privileges I have?’” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said during an online conference with supporters. “If you’re an elected official for any reason that is on this call, I’m asking you to ask yourself what are you willing to sacrifice to make sure that overfunded police departments are defunded.”

…………….

3. Where Is Public Opinion?

Although loud protesters are demanding defunding, dismantling, or abolishing police across the country, it’s a long way from a majority opinion.

Although some might think from media coverage that much of the Democratic base supports it, only 16% of Democrats in a Yahoo/YouGov poll say they support defunding the police. That’s statistically even with just 15% of Republicans who say they back the idea.

“Despite calls by activists and protesters to defund police departments, most Americans do not support reducing law enforcement budgets,” Yahoo/YouGov said of its poll. “Close to two-thirds (65%) oppose cutting police force funding. Just 16 percent of Democrats and 15 percent of Republicans support that idea.”

There is clear evidence of potential consequences from Floyd’s death two weeks ago, the Manhattan Institute’s Mangual said.

…………………

4. Is Defunding Police as Bad as It Sounds?

Defunding police forces seems to mean different things to different advocates.

Some want to reallocate big chunks of police budgets to social programs, which would be more budget cutting than defunding altogether, as in New York and Los Angeles. Others want to end police altogether—as in Minneapolis—and possibly replace police forces with something else entirely.

Even Patrisse Cullors, a co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement, told WBUR in Boston that the goal was about reallocation of funding.

“The demand of defunding law enforcement becomes a central demand in how we actually get real accountability and justice, because it means we are reducing the ability of law enforcement to have resources that harm our communities,” Cullors said [read more]

Another article on the subject:

Truck Drivers Say They Won’t Deliver To Cities with Defunded Police Departments