Very good words from Herman Cain (remember him?)

Dana Mathewson

"Trump's critics can't make 'racism' claim stick"
You can't fool Herman!

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/08/16/herman-cain-trumps-critics-cant-make-racism-claim-stick.html

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at 09:49 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 22 words, total size 1 kb.

The President goes after Amazon

Dana Mathewson

The business -- not a woman. And frankly, he has a good point.

http://goppresidential.com/2017/08/16/trump-goes-after-shadowy-liberal-billionaire/

I think it's safe to say that Amazon has clobbered businesses such as Barnes & Noble (who in turn drove many local bookstores out of business), as well as Office Max / Office Depot / Staples.

FROM JACK KEMP:

Yes, break up the Amazon monopoly! This, and defending Robert E. Lee statues, will have Trump sweep the Northern Rust Belt, small towns in places like Utica, NY and the entire South in 2020.

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at 09:48 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 94 words, total size 1 kb.

Unrevised Liberal History: Start Spreading the News...

Jack Kemp

Reading an article on the statue controversy by Courtney O'Brien at Townhall.com, I found this gem of a line, best read while listening to Frank Sinatra's rendition of "New York, New York." Here it is.

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/cortneyobrien/2017/08/18/it-begins-green-party-vp-candidate-wants-washington-jefferson-statues-removed-n2369877?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&newsletterad=

Cities like New York were named after slave traders. Does the state have to change its name? What's off limits?

END QUOTE

So I went looking for verification of this and found the following:

http://www.biographybase.com/biography/James_II_of_England.html

As Duke of York he was heavily involved in the slave trade, the British end of it being monopolised by the Royal African Company, of which he was head, and which the Stuart family set up when they retook the throne in 1660. Thousands of his slaves were branded on the forehead with the letters 'DY'. As Lord High Admiral he commanded the navy, and a little-known fact is that the city of New York was named after him following its capture by English forces in 1664. The following year, he commanded the defeat of Dutch forces at the Battle of Lowestoft.

END OF QUOTE

Wikipedia states that this Duke of York eventually became King James II of England who reigned from 1685 to 1688.

So, I guess we will have to change the name of New York City back to New Amsterdam and the state name back to New Holland. Yeah, right. As they say in Brooklyn (Breuckelen, in the original Dutch), Fahgettaboutit.

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at 06:36 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 244 words, total size 2 kb.

Thoughts on Charlottesville; Rumblings of Civil War

Timothy Birdnow

One of the basic conditions for the victory of socialism is the arming of the workers and the disarming of the bourgeoisie

Vladimir Ilyich Lenin

Here are some takeaway points on the riots in Charlottseville:

1.The problem started when the very left wing town decided to remove a civil war monument because some malcontents didn't like honoring the Confederacy. The Confederacy is part of our history and it transcended slavery; it was founded primarily on the idea of states' rights as opposed to protecting slavery, and the people who volunteered to aid their fellow countrymen (and at that time America was not a monolithic empire as it is today but a federated system, a coalition of semi-independent republics with a limited central government) did so to protect their homeland, which was being invaded by what they saw as an oppresive alien regime. You would be hard pressed to find anyone saying they were fighting to preserve slavery (and especially that would be true of the black people who volunteered to fight for their homes, or for the native Americans who allied themselves with the Confederacy over the Union.)

One of the long-standing tricks of the Left is to erase history and replace it with something more pleasing to itself. George Orwell stated in 1984 Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.' and Orwell (once a socialist himself) understood that history had to be scrubbed in order to achieve absolute power. This trick - gleaned from Islam - tries to scrub history by suppressing books, suppressing the teaching of "counterrevolutionary" ideas aka political correctness, and by destroying monuments. Monuments are important because they remind people of where we have been. Even monuments to people who are not so nice still serve as a warning to not repeat the mistakes of history. The Left seeks to remove those monuments and install their own.

Take, for example, what happened on the campus of sT. Louis University a couple of years ago. SLU's new president allowed, nay, invited Occupy SLU, a radical leftist group, to invade the campus and make demands on the school. Eventually the "clocktower accord" was reached. Shortly thereafter Fred Pistello, SLU's used car salesman president, removed the statue of Fr. DeSmet because it was deemed "racist" since DeSmet was seen anointing a native American who was on his knees (as all catholics used to be when receiving Communion.) Pistello sought to replace this with the agreed upon statue to commenorate the Occupy SLU invasion. While he never succeeded in doing that I have little doubt he isn't still trying. Why? Pistello is a former Sociology professor and knows the importance of erasing history and replacing it with his own.

So, when an event entitled "uniting the Right" was announced to protest the removal of the civil war statue the Left went mad - because counterrevolution is the gravest sin to radicals and this was counterrevolution. They plotted a violent response from the get-go.

2. There were the same people who have been rioting and looting and shooting at police officers for the last few years. Funded by George Soros (an immigrant who seeks world revolution) these "counterprotesters" were not simply people who thought the Klan and the Nazis were bad but rather the black power groups like The New Black Panthers. It included the Occupy Wall Street types, the radicals shooting at cops and whatnot. Why, one must ask, is it the fault of the original protesters who had a permit when in recent years there have been no, zero, zilch, nada violence from the "right wing" as the Leftists try to tar the right with Nazism and racism - both solidly out of the left wing camp. There has been no violenc on "the right" contrary to what Mark Potunk at the Southern Poverty Law Center tries to claim. It was a leftist who tried to assassinate the GOP in Congress. It is leftists who shoot cops. It is leftist who rioted in Ferguson and Baltimore. All of the violence has been on the side of the liberals, not the Right or the "Alt-Right".

Oh, and if you want to claim Naziism is a right wing movement than ponder this:

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2017/08/trump_vs_the_neonazis.html

This is Andrew Anglian writing in 2013 in his other website Total Fascism (which is also now defunct):

"We will initiate massive state-subsidized work programs in order to fulfill our goal of full employment at fair and just wage… the capitalist system has created a war between the classes. The losers of this war have been the working class… the modern class structure being based largely on one’s economic prowess… The spoils of this parasitical elite class will be seized and redistributed to the people.”

And here's the words of the guy who inspired Anglin's own words, Adolf Hitler:

"We are socialists, we are enemies of today’s capitalistic economic system for the exploitation of the economically weak, with its unfair salaries, with its unseemly evaluation of a human being according to wealth and property instead of responsibility and performance, and we are all determined to destroy this system under all conditions.” -- May 1, 1927


End excerpt.

Both Fascism and Communism originated in the concept of the Collective Will in Rousseau's The Social Contract. (By the way, Rousseau was a great admirer of Islam, upon which he modeled hsi vision and which has been a cornerstone of all modern leftist thought since.)

3. Violence is natural in Leftism.

Consider this Lenin quote:

"One Man with a gun can control a hundred without one."

This would be echoed by Barack Obama, Community Organizer, who would say "if they bring a knife we'll bring a gun"; he believed in the power of violence and no doubt still does. Violence is mother's milk to the Left.

4. So is control of the media. Again Lenin:

"The press should be not only a collective propagandist and a collective agitator, but also a collective organizer of the masses"

and

"A lie told often enough becomes the truth."

Which is precisely what we are seeing in play in this whole Charlottesville riot; the media chose sides immediately and condemned the President for condemning violence on both sides. See, there just aren't two sides to this because there are only angels and demons. Saul Alinsky, prophet of leftism and hero to both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, admonished his followers to create a stark dichotomy because without it they could never advance their cause. Someone who oppses them is not mistaken or has a point, rather they are evil incarnate. So the protesters here were Nazis and Klansmen and evil incarnate and so naturally are defacto at fault. It does not matter that many of the people who attended may not have been either; there were a few of them there so automatically they are evil and the counterprotesters are automatically doing the Lord's work. That they showed up to do the work of the Lord with billyclubs and tear gas is immaterial.

The media reports this as a war between light and dark, a kind of Zoarastrian vision whereby the deities are fighting for the soul of our country. They and their side are angels of light, of course. Those who oppose them are devils.

It matters little that the angels may have coldcocked the devils; what matters are the intentions, which in any case are indefensible on the "alt right" side.

And so this morality play will continue, and condemnation of Trump as a racist monster will be pushed, a lie told endlessly to hopefully change reality. It'll work, too, in the minds of the shallow and the ignorant who still believe the media simply reports the news.

5. There are reports that the police were given orders to stand down, and even if that is not the case they grossly mishandled the situation. Remember, the "Unite the Right' people had a legal permit and the counterprotesters did not. The police did not try to keep the groups seperate; in fact, people on the scene say they drove the UTR protesters into the leftists when the city declared it an illegal event (at the last moment.) The city had agreed to security measures that they then failed to enforce, and much fo the trouble is a result of that. Why, it's almost as though someone WANTED this trouble.

Terry McCauliff, governor of Virginia, certainly stood to profit by it. A former Clinton hack and union thug, McCauliff is clearly a man who understands the uses of violence for political ends, and he is unscrupulous enough to at least take advantage of it. And the Mayor of Charlottesville is a radical liberal who would also understand it.

6. Why haven't we heard anything about the heliocopter that crashed? That is an unusual thing, and it is interesting it happened this very day. Did someone shoot it down? I am quite suspicious about coincidences in cases like this.

7. In fact, I am suspicious of all coincidences where politics is concerned, and this worked out entirely too well for the left. As has been reported there is evidence the organizer of this event was formerly an Occupy Wall Street guy and Obama supporter, which suggests he may have been an agent provocateur, http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2017/08/something_stinks_about_charlottesville.html likely a guy working for Organizing for America, Obama's outfit. He seemed to have had a "come to Jesus" moment in 2016. Oh, this information comes from the Southern Poverty Law Center, the radical leftist organization, not Breitbart.

This whole event looks very much like the Ferguson riots, which were financed to the tune of 33 million dollars by George Soros and his ilk. Ferguson was a violent, bloody act of political theatre by interlopers from outside the community and so was this event.

So Donald Trump urges restraint until we know what happened and calls out violence on both sides and the media goes insane. There are now open calls to violence and revolution may well be at hand. This is not going to end well.

But the Left, the democrats, the media, and the #Nevertrump Republicans (including Marco Rubio, the Gang of Eight guy) are fantasizing this will be the key to removing Trump from office. Trump is not going to step down; they are going to have to remove him. I suppose this will be one of their articles of impeachment, but it is hardly a high crime or misdemeanor. He simply disagrees with modern political correctness. Apparently we no longer have freedom of speech in this country. In fact, we don't have freedom of thought.

8. Attempts to make this an act of terrorism are beyond ridiculous. The driver of the car may or may not have thought this out (probably not; I saw a film clip with a car driving hell bent for leather in reverse with people hanging on it - they were trying to turn it over. The driver of the killer car may have been trying to avoid a similar fate) but there was clearly no laid out strategy and it was hardly designed to engender terror.Merriam Webster defines terrorism as:

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/terrorism

the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion

There is nothing systematic about what happened at the hands of UTR, but there most certainly is where the Alt Left is concerned. We have seen riots in diverse places. These same people show up at Trump rallies and assault people waiting to get in, or they riot in Ferguson or in St. Louis or Baltimore. They shoot at cops and sometimes kill them. They have been getting away with this for some time now and THAT clearly meets the definition of terrorism.

The liberal media should be careful what they wish for.

In the end, this whole thing appears like a staged event, something that somebody went to great lengths to orchestrate. We never see Ku Klux Klan rallies, and the few that they hold may have two or three people, yet suddenlly the Klan (a Democrat organization, I might add) is out in force, resurgent. Hmmm. Trump won a lot of black votes in November, and that cannot be allowed to stand. Nazis, too, are few and far between, yet here they are in great numbers, goosestepping around. In my entire life I have NEVER met a Nazi or a Klansman, yet now we are led to believe they are epidemic.

And they are total fools, provocing such pushback. Why be so foolish as to publicly act when you have your man pushing things forward? Well, these people aren't too bright. But then, that is precisely what the Left believes, and if they were to create a false flag attack that is exactly the optics they would employ; stupid toothless hillbillies playing at racism and fascism. It fairly reeks of Barack obama's "bitter clingers" comment. Leftists believe this of middle America. It's completely untrue, but a Trump voter must be a moron or he would never have considered voting for the man. Why would anyone in their right minds want to bring back jobs to America, reduce the flood of immigrants, stop bowing and scraping to Mullahs and marxists? That is so not enlightened! Now pass me the appletini and brie...

And what other things has this done? There is a huge push to get Steve Bannon, the most conservative member of Trump's inner circle, sacked. Dr. Gorka too. This is the old trick used against Nixon, where they hounded Nixon's people and got him to remove his strongest supposrters at a time when he needed them most. Once Spiro Agnew was gone they had Nixon by the short hairs because they could happily put Gerald Ford in office knowing he would lose the next election, an impotent President. They tried this with Reagan too, going after people like James Watts.

This whole thing stinks to high heaven, and any conservative who buys into any of this is a fool. We cannot back down an inch here. I heard Hugh Hewitt on his radio show condemning Trump not for what he said but for the optics; Hewitt says Trump should have gone ahead and condemned the "alt right" side alone. That is the way to doom, because the left will be emboldened and it simply won't be enough. They will demand scalps. Hewitt, I fear, reflects a lot of good conservatives who simply don't understand the nature of this fight. We are no longer in a disagreement. We are now in a cold war that is rapidly heating up. And we are not going to be able to compromise, because these people want a revolution and will settle for nothing less. They thougth Hillary would give them the final victory, and they are livid at that failure and are ready to take what they want by force.

This may well have been the first shot in America's second civil war. How ironic it should start over a civil war statue.

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at 09:43 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 2517 words, total size 15 kb.

Safely View the Solar Eclipse

Timothy Birdnow

Monday the heartland of the United States will be treated to a total solar eclipse. There hasn't been one here in my lifetime, although there was one back east (I live in Missouri) a number of decades ago. It's a big event, and people are coming to Missouri and Illinois by the plane loads to witness the event (and even a few to study it.) Carbondale Illinois is ground zero (with the University of Southern Illinois being the epicenter of all the activity as astronomers and whatnot travel to the event.) In Missouri it is just south of my hometown of St. Louis, near a little town called St. Clair. But it will be visible in many places around these areas and a partial eclipse will be visible to people well away from there. Chicago will see a partial. So too New York City.

Here is an article that tells everyone how to safely view the eclipse. This is important, people; I visited a retina specialist who told me that they were expecting a land-office business after this event, as a lot of people were going to go blind by burning their retinas. I likened it to the old school child trick of burning ants with a magnifying glass - something I always thought was wrong, by the way - and the doctor thought that an excellent analogy.

At any rate, it is very dangerous to look at the sun. Here is the article:



https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/safety

Looking directly at the sun is unsafe except during the brief total phase of a solar eclipse ("totality”), when the moon entirely blocks the sun’s bright face, which will happen only within the narrow path of totality (https://go.nasa.gov/2pC0lhe).

The only safe way to look directly at the uneclipsed or partially eclipsed sun is through special-purpose solar filters, such as "eclipse glasses” (example shown at left) or hand-held solar viewers. Homemade filters or ordinary sunglasses, even very dark ones, are not safe for looking at the sun; they transmit thousands of times too much sunlight. Refer to the American Astronomical Society (AAS) Reputable Vendors of Solar Filters & Viewerspage for a list of manufacturers and authorized dealers of eclipse glasses and handheld solar viewers verified to be compliant with the ISO 12312-2 international safety standard for such products.

• Always inspect your solar filter before use; if scratched or damaged, discard it. Read and follow any instructions printed on or packaged with the filter.
• Always supervise children using solar filters.
• Stand still and cover your eyes with your eclipse glasses or solar viewer before looking up at the bright sun. After looking at the sun, turn away and remove your filter — do not remove it while looking at the sun.
• Do not look at the uneclipsed or partially eclipsed sun through an unfiltered camera, telescope, binoculars, or other optical device.
• Similarly, do not look at the sun through a camera, a telescope, binoculars, or any other optical device while using your eclipse glasses or hand-held solar viewer — the concentrated solar rays will damage the filter and enter your eye(s), causing serious injury.
• Seek expert advice from an astronomer before using a solar filter with a camera, a telescope, binoculars, or any other optical device. Note that solar filters must be attached to thefrontof any telescope, binoculars, camera lens, or other optics.

• If you are within the path of totality (https://go.nasa.gov/2pC0lhe), remove your solar filter only when the moon completely covers the sun’s bright face and it suddenly gets quite dark. Experience totality, then, as soon as the bright sun begins to reappear, replace your solar viewer to look at the remaining partial phases.

• Outside the path of totality, you mustalwaysuse a safe solar filterto view the sun directly.

• If you normally wear eyeglasses, keep them on. Put your eclipse glasses on over them, or hold your handheld viewer in front of them.

Note:If your eclipse glasses or viewers are compliant with the ISO 12312-2 safety standard, you may look at the uneclipsed or partially eclipsed Sun through them for as long as you wish. Furthermore, if the filters aren't scratched, punctured, or torn, you may reuse themindefinitely. Some glasses/viewers are printed with warnings stating that you shouldn't look through them for more than 3 minutes at a time and that you should discard them if they are more than 3 years old. Such warnings are outdated and do not apply to eclipse viewers compliant with the ISO 12312-2 standard adopted in 2015.To make sure you get (or got) your eclipse glasses/viewers from a supplier of ISO-compliant products, see the American Astronomical Society (AAS) Reputable Vendors of Solar Filters & Viewerspage.

An alternative method for safe viewing of the partially eclipsed sun is pinhole projection. For example, cross the outstretched, slightly open fingers of one hand over the outstretched, slightly open fingers of the other, creating a waffle pattern. With your back to the sun, look at your hands’ shadow on the ground. The little spaces between your fingers will project a grid of small images on the ground, showing the sun as a crescent during the partial phases of the eclipse. Or just look at the shadow of a leafy tree during the partial eclipse; you'll see the ground dappled with crescent Suns projected by the tiny spaces between the leaves.

A solar eclipse is one of nature’s grandest spectacles. By following these simple rules, you can safely enjoy the view and be rewarded with memories to last a lifetime. More information:

 

---

This document does not constitute medical advice. Readers with questions should contact a qualified eye-care professional.

---

Additional Safety Information

An eclipse is a rare and striking phenomenon you won't want to miss, but you must carefully follow safety procedures. Don't let the requisite warnings scare you away from witnessing this singular spectacle! You can experience the eclipse safely, but it is vital that you protect your eyes at all times with the proper solar filters. No matter what recommended technique you use, do not stare continuously at the sun. Take breaks and give your eyes a rest! Do not use sunglasses: they don't offer your eyes sufficient protection. The only acceptable glasses are safe viewers designed for looking at the sun and solar eclipses. One excellent resource on how to determine if your viewers are safe can be found here:https://eclipse.aas.org/eye-safety/iso-certification

Viewing with Protection-- Experts suggests that one widely available filter for safe solar viewing is welders glass of sufficiently high number. The only ones that are safe for direct viewing of the Sun with your eyes are those of Shade 12 or higher. These are much darker than the filters used for most kinds of welding. If you have an old welder's helmet around the house and are thinking of using it to view the Sun, make sure you know the filter's shade number. If it's less than 12 (and it probably is), don't eventhinkabout using it to look at the Sun. Manypeople find the Sun too bright even in a Shade 12 filter, and some find the Sun too dim in a Shade 14 filter— but Shade 13 filters are uncommon and can be hard to find. The AASReputable Vendors of Solar Filters & Viewerspagedoesn't list any suppliers of welder's filters, only suppliers of special-purpose filters made for viewing the Sun.To find out more about eyewear and handheld viewers go to https://eclipse.aas.org/eye-safety/eyewear-viewers.

Telescopes with Solar Filters– Eclipses are best viewed directly when magnified, which means a telescope with a solar filter or solar telescopes. These will give you a magnified view that will clearly show the progress of an eclipse. Never look through a telescope without a solar filter on the large end of the scope. And never use small solar filters that attach to the eyepiece (as found in some older, cheaper telescopes.) https://eclipse.aas.org/eye-safety/optics-filters

Pinhole and Related Projection Methods-- Pinhole projectors and other projection techniques are a safe, indirect viewing technique for observing an image of the sun. These provide a popular way for viewing solar eclipses. One viewing technique is to project an image of the sun onto a white surface with a projecting telescope. This is explained further here:http://www.astrosociety.org/education/publications/tnl/05/stars2.html

The Exploratorium demonstrates how to view a planet in transit or an eclipse safely by projecting the image with binoculars: http://www.exploratorium.edu/transit/how.html. There are commercially available projection telescopes as well.

Besides eye protection during solar eclipse viewing, one needs to pay attention to their personal needs and surrounding. Below are some additional safety tips for eclipse observers before, during and after the August 21, 2017 solar eclipse.

Graphics-Only Solar Eclipse Safety Flyer

Car Safety
Planning to Drive the Eclipse
https://www.ready.gov/car

Camping Health and Safety
https://www.cdc.gov/family/camping/
http://www.recreation.gov/recFacilityActivitiesHomeAction.do?goto=camping.htm&activities=9

Heat and Children in Cars
http://www.safercar.gov/parents/InandAroundtheCar/heatstroke.htm
http://www.safercar.gov/parents/InandAroundtheCar/heat-involved.html

Federal Emergency Management Agency–Are You Ready
Food and Water Safety
Hazards to Outdoors Workers
Heat and Hydration
Hiking Safety
Large Crowds Safety
Personal Safety–At Home, On the Street, While Traveling
Sun Safety:Save Your Skin

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at 07:56 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 1501 words, total size 14 kb.

Chautauqua Jihad Show

Jack Kemp

ttp://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2017/08/jihad_at_chautauqua.html

Chautauqua Institution, originally a cultural center, is now a disseminator of Islamic messaging to reach out to uninformed Christians and Jews programmed to accept multiculturalism. Featured speaker Shadi Hamid, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic Center for Middle East Policy, is part of the worldwide movement financed by oil money.

In a lecture on August 9 at the Institution’s center at Chautauqua, N.Y., he spoke of American anxiety, incongruously blaming occasions such as buying jam at the grocers, where, alas, so many choices will cause regret that one hasn’t purchased the best option. He sees no beauty in the many fruits, flavors, or quality, or why, if one manufacturer makes jam and employs and pays a decent wage to improve life for himself and his neighbors, another cannot do the same in another locality.

Blind to possibilities, Hamid is instead guided by Islamic rules, allowing only one jam, or having one of his housebound wives make it. He prefers that leadership dictate one’s lifestyle by force; create one nation, the Ummah; one law, sharia; and one goal, world domination.

Where democratic nations have excelled in science and technology, medical advances, improvements in agriculture and water technology so that humanity may flourish, the Islamic culture is based on shame and honor, along with a high illiteracy rate to impede progress. Their greatness will come when all vestiges of advanced societies are destroyed.

Hamid described the universal condition as a "struggle,” but he meant "jihad,” as struggle is rarely part of the Western vernacular. Hamid is a moderate, unweaponed jihadi, hoping to conquer by message, to convince his conditioned audience that his culture is superior, and particularly to reach those who have chosen the altar of liberalism over Judaism and Christianity, from which derived those freedoms, morals, and ethics imperative to happiness and peace. Judaism and Christianity do not struggle for meaning; struggle is a proclivity of all forms of fascism, because authoritarianism provides no contentment.

The divisiveness that Hamid sees in America comes not from democracy, but from those who seek its destruction. Our laws provide respect for human rights, religious freedom, worker rights, a secure peace by combating international terrorism, stability, prosperity, open markets and economic development, improvement in the global environment and human health, and the enemy hopes to use our laws to defeat us. Arab-American author Nonie Darwish penned a warning: "America must protect its democracy, culture, and sovereignty from nations with aspirations of conquering us from within.”

Read it all at American Thinker

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at 07:47 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 430 words, total size 3 kb.

Silicon Valley Billionaires Are New Robbers

Jack Kemp

Progressives used to pressure U.S. corporations to cut back on outsourcing and on the tactic of building their products abroad to take advantage of inexpensive foreign workers.
During the 2012 election, President Obama attacked Mitt Romney as a potential illiberal "outsourcer in chief" for investing in companies that went overseas in search of cheap labor.
Yet most of the computers and smartphones sold by Silicon Valley companies are still being built abroad -- to mostly silence from progressive watchdogs.

In the case of the cobalt mining that is necessary for the production of lithium-ion batteries in electric cars, thousands of child laborers in Southern Africa are worked to exhaustion.
In the 1960s, campuses boycotted grapes to support Cesar Chavez's unionization of farm workers. Yet it is unlikely that there will be any effort to boycott tech companies that use lithium-ion batteries produced from African-mined cobalt.

Progressives demand higher taxes on the wealthy. They traditionally argue that tax gimmicks and loopholes are threats to the republic.

Yet few seem to care that West Coast conglomerates such as Amazon, Apple, Google and Starbucks filtered hundreds of billions in global profits through tax havens such as Bermuda, shorting the United States billions of dollars in income taxes.

Excellent article; read the whole thing!

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at 07:47 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 218 words, total size 2 kb.

Queens Musuem's anti-Israel move

Jack Kemp

This story is still developing...

http://nypost.com/2017/08/16/the-queens-museums-new-exhibit-its-own-disgrace/

The Queens Museum has a new piece to put on display: Its own disgrace.
The museum announced late Wednesday that it reversed its decision to renege on hosting a re-enactment of the 1947 United Nations vote recognizing Israel. But its initial move to effectively join in boycotting the Jewish state is still outrageous.

Planned in June and slated for Nov. 29, the event was to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the vote in the room where it happened, which is now the museum’s main gallery.

The progressive movement took hold in the late 19th century to "trust-bust," or break up corporations that had cornered the markets in banking, oil, steel and railroads. Such supposedly foul play had inordinately enriched "robber baron" buccaneers such as John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Mellon, Andrew Carnegie and J.P. Morgan.
CARTOONS | Henry Payne
View Cartoon

Yet today, the riches of multibillionaires dwarf the wealth of their 19th-century predecessors. Most West Coast corporate wealth was accumulated by good old-fashioned American efforts to achieve monopolies and stifle competition.

Read it all at the New York Post.

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at 07:46 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 191 words, total size 1 kb.

Day of Rage Riots Planned for Nov. 4 by Left

Timothy Birdnow

The Left is planning a festival of violence in November, according to American Thinker:

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2017/08/big_plans_on_the_hard_left_for_november_4.html

From the article:

"Following a number of paragraphs of chest-beating concerning the Charlottesville confrontation, the message, which was sent out over the name of an activist claiming to be named Carl Dix, goes on to declare this:

…we must build off of this resistance to act to end the nightmare of this fascist regime bytaking to the streets on November 4thand staying in the streets to drive this regime from power. RefuseFascism.org is holding regional conferences to organize for doing this. Get connected to these regional conferences and get organized for November 4th…

…And we need to go from resistance to mobilizing to end the nightmare of the Trump/Pence regime. Right now these fascists, from Trump on down, are moving very quickly to hammer into place their fascist regime and this must be STOPPED. The organization Refuse Fascism has called for people to come into the streets and public squares and cities and towns across the country beginning on November 4 and stay in the streets day after day and night after night until the DEMAND is met: This Nightmare Must End: The Trump/Pence Regime Must GO! For this to happen, everybody needs to be at August 19 regional conferences to organize and mobilize for this.

I believe this is called revolution. It is illegal to attempt to overthrow the U.S. by force, which is what is being advocated. Jeff Sessions should have these people watched and arrested.

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at 02:37 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 265 words, total size 2 kb.

DNC Computer system "hack" last year actually a leak -- inside job

Today, 2:56 PMYou;Jack Kemp (sundialman2@aol.com); http://americanactionnews.com/articles/nsa-confirms-dnc-hacking-was-an-inside-job

NSA Confirms DNC Hacking Was An Inside Job | American Action News

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at 02:02 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 50 words, total size 2 kb.

Fox News host Jesse Watters nails Hillary

Dana Mathewson

Fox News host Jesse Wattersrebutted commentators attacking President Donald Trump for not instantly labeling Saturday’s violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, as terrorism.

Watters turned the comments and instead focused on the deception employed by Hillary Clinton when a terror attack happened on her watch.

"There’s a lot of hypocrisy going on here,” Watters said Monday on the Fox News show The Five. "Hillary Clinton waited two weeks after Benghazi to call that terrorism. If Trump had blamed Charlottesville on a (phony) video, maybe he would have gotten a free pass.”

 

 

[...]

Watters also mentioned that Clinton was not the only Democratic figure to avoid instant labeling.

"President Obama waited four days during Ferguson while that city burned, and he was (vacationing) in Martha’s Vineyard,” Watters said.

"Obama also called (Islamist) terrorism ‘workplace violence,’ so it’s hard to be lectured about word games from the left,” he said, referring to language used by the former president after a terror attack at Fort Hood in Texas.

I like Jesse!

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at 01:57 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 185 words, total size 3 kb.

Murdering Memorials; God and Man in St. Louis

Here is one from the archives that is important in the current fight over Confederate memorials:

http://canadafreepress.com/article/murdering-memorials-god-and-man-in-st.-louis

begin the demolition.’ He took up his pickaxe and walked up to Allah’s House saying, ‘O Ka’aba, do not be afraid. O Allah we intend nothing but good.’ The he demolished part of it near the two corners.”

Ishaq 85:

If I were to mention riots in 2012 in Bengladesh that ended in the destruction of numerous Buddhist temples would you be surprised? Would you be shocked to learn that the Taliban demolished the millennia-old Bamiyan Buddhas in the last decade?

Who hasn’t heard about the Mujahadeen of ISIS destroying ancient artifacts in Mosul. The destruction of priceless bits of history by Moslem Jihadists is nothing new. Starting with Muhammad, it has been common practice to destroy places of worship for other faiths or to repurpose them. Hiaga Sophia, the cathedral for the Patriarch of Constantinople, was so desecrated by the Turks, it’s magnificent statuary broken and it’s magnificent mosaics plastered over to conform with it’s new role as an Islamic mosque.

So it should surprise nobody that an outcry against an old Christian religious statue should lead to the removal and hiding of the offending object. What is surprising is that, unlike the aforementioned suppression of religious freedom in Islamic countries, this has happened in middle America. Oh, and the suppressors are not Muslims but the intellectual leaders of a major catholic university.

Since 1950, a statue of Fr. Pierre-Jean DeSmet. called "Blackrobe” by his beloved missionary charges, the Jesuit hero who traveled the West in the 19th century converting the Native Americans to Christianity, has stood vigil on the campus of St. Louis University. Father DeSmet has been removed by the new President of SLU, the first secular head of this venerable institution (the oldest university west of the Mississippi River.) Dr. Fred Pestello, unimpressed with the historical importance of Fr. DeSmet, had the statue dug up and a crane unceremoniously cart it off , where it will be hidden away in the university museum, safe from offending delicate sensibilities. It was deemed offensive and racist because the great man was standing over two native Americans, one of whom was kneeling.

Now, there are over a billion Catholics in this world, and every one of them (with the exception of those who do not have legs) kneel before priests at some point in their religious lives. But leftists find any excuse to be offended, and the vision of a crusty old white dude standing over helpless brown victims is the most egregious of insults. Campus liberals had been, according to Dr. Pestello, barraging him with demands the statue be removed, and so in the interest of comity and social justice the offensive old artwork has been removed.

But that’s just part of the story.

Last October a group of radicals - Ferguson protesters and leftist revolutionaries - invaded the St. Louis University campus and refused to leave. Occupy SLU set up a tent camp smack in the middle of university property, and frantic negotiations were underway between El Presidente’ Pestello and the Moochihadeen of the Progressive welfare state. Demands were made. Here is the text of the agreement:

After mutually respectful discussions, grounded in trust and with a commitment to addressing racial inequality and poverty in our community, Tribe-X, the Metro St. Louis Coalition for Inclusion and Equality (M-SLICE), Black Student Alliance (BSA) and Saint Louis University will support the following actions to help further this aim and, at the same time, permanently end the encampment on the SLU Campus on by 10:30 a.m., Saturday October 18, 2014.

Consistent with SLU’s Catholic, Jesuit values, and as articulated by President Pestello in his Inaugural address, these actions will focus on inequity and poverty in our community, and will further collaboration and dialogue to advance these efforts.

Increased budget for the African American Studies program.
Increased financial aid resources for retention of African American students at SLU.
Evaluation of SLU’s current scholarship programs to better serve African American populations.
Additional college prep workshops for students in the area’s most disadvantaged school districts.
Establishment of a K-12 bridge program, including summer programs, in the Normandy and Shaw neighborhoods to help increase number of college-bound students from neighborhoods in those areas.
Establishment of a community center.
Mutually agreed upon commissioned artwork.
Development of an academic Center for Community and Economic Development.
Creation of a race, property, and inequality steering committee.
SLU sponsorship a national conference on racial equality.
Appointment of a Special Assistant to the President for Diversity and Community Empowerment
Establishment of a diversity speaker series.
Bi-weekly meetings with an inclusive group, including the president, to continue to advance the University’s efforts to address inequality and poverty in our community.

As part of the agreement of this agreement (sic), Saint Louis University, Tribe X, M-SLICE and BSA agree to positive dialogue with each other going forward.

This agreement is predicated on the removal of the encampment and its occupants no later than 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, October 18, 2014. The University agrees to provide logistical assistance, as requested for the peaceable removal of the encampment.

Please take note of #7; this demand was going to be honored by Pestello via a statue commemorating the invasion. Pestello planned to build a statue to OSLU

In fact, Pestello was quite eager to "move forward” on these demands. He replied:

"Now, the University must come together.

We will move to more formal and institutionalized conversations about race on our campus. We also will begin to devise short- and long-term initiatives that retain and attract more students and faculty of color, promote equal opportunity, and advance focused economic development in disadvantaged neighborhoods.

These efforts are completely consistent with the mission of this University. They are just the start of what I had announced in my inaugural address: That this extraordinary University bring to bear its creative, intellectual and economic energy and help lead St. Louis to a better place”

[…]

In addition, I was disheartened by some of the harsh and ugly words hurled via social media, phone calls and emails that only fueled anxiety, misunderstandings and divisions on all sides at a time when what we needed most was to listen and learn and find common ground.”


In other words, like Neville Chamberlain, Pestello gave the lawbreakers everything they wanted and more. But his hand was not forced.

When the riots first erupted in Ferguson in August of the past year, Pestello sent out an e-mail obliquely calling for solidarity with the rioters. Read it at my website here.

The University later came out with tips for rioting. According to The College Fix:

"We understand that a group of protest organizers are working hard to ensure that planned demonstrations are civil and non-violent,” Dr. Kent Porterfield, vice president for student development, said in the email sent to students Nov.12. "But we also recognize, despite their best efforts, they may not be able to control the few who wish to cause trouble.”

"

he university is planning for various scenarios,” Porterfield adds, noting officials may restrict visitors on campus, including in residence halls, and will consider cancelling classes if protests occur near the urban campus. He did not specify how close to campus protests would have to occur for these measures to be taken.

Porterfield, in his email, also hyperlinked to a generic "protest prep” memo under the disclaimer that "this information is for reference only and does not specifically address any possible protests or demonstrations in our region.”

"We go into a protest knowing that there is a chance that we will get arrested, tear gassed, shot with rubber bullets, or billy clubbed,” stated that "protest prep” memo, which suggested "bandannas soaked in vinegar (1:15 ratio) or lemon juice in a plastic baggie helps neutralize tear gas in the event of a spraying.”

The memo also offered a list of do’s and don’ts.

Do bring: pen and paper; video cameras and tape recorders; warm clothes, extra socks, boots and sealed eye goggles; water and energy snacks; and duct tape, the memo says. But don’t bring an address book, illegal drugs, weapons or contact lenses, it adds.

The memo also includes tips on legal advice.

"If someone is being arrested, try to write down the badge # of the officer (if they have it on), and video tape it if you can,” it states. "Indy media and other organizations can use this footage, and it could potentially be used by the lawyers in suits against the cops.”

Other advice sent to students included links to "How to protest safely” and the ACLU’s "Know Your Rights: Demonstrations and Protests.”


So SLU had a hand in the troubles from the beginning. This should not surprise; Dr. Pestello has been a strong proponent of "social justice” in his lengthy career. In his previous position as President of Lemoyne University in Syracuse Pestello pushed his new "vision statement’ for the university, something that emphasized social justice. See the document here.

This document calls for such things as;

"Establish recruiting and hiring targets for diversity that are annually reviewed by senior leadership.
C. Continue to increase the mix of diversity”

[...]

"Promote Greater Diversity within the Le Moyne Community and Increased
Engagement between the College and Other Communities Regionally,
Nationally and Internationally”

[...]

"Le Moyne seeks to build a respectful, welcoming campus culture that celebrates difference and models inclusion. Uniqueness is expressed through gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, age, physical and mental attributes, and religious and political beliefs”

[...]

"Continue to strengthen the focus on the multicultural and diversity aspects of recruitment and retention of faculty (sic), administrators, staff and students.”

[...]

"Develop comprehensive assessment, awareness, training and programming in cultural competencies in order tofoster (sic) the understanding: "I need your difference.”

[...]

"Take a leadership role in solving key issues in the community: host community fora (on campus and in the community (sic) in cooperation with civic leaders) on critical topics, engage faculty expertise and contribute to demonstrable (sic) change.”

There is much more; do read the entire document.

And Dr. Pestello made his views clear in an interview he gave when he first came to St. Louis University:

What kind of sociologist are you? I assume there are flavors.

I’m a sociological social psychologist, specifically a symbolic interactionist or social constructionist. [He says it in a rush, then has the grace to laugh and repeat it.] That’s probably the first lens through which I see the world, although I try others. The way we act is based upon the way we define things. We each construct our reality.

Was sociology an early passion?

Not at all. I started as a chemistry major. I had to take some humanities and social sciences. I took a sociology course—I didn’t even know what sociology was—and I was fascinated with the subject matter. I thought the methodology was sloppy, compared to what I was used to. I took a second course on inequality and race and issues of gender—it was a turbulent time in the country—and decided to switch my major. In my junior year, I actually thought about switching to philosophy. And then my senior year, I became interested in communication.

So a radical "social justice” advocate finds the university he has just assumed responsibility for overrun by radicals demanding "social justice” and a statue - and then he removes a venerable statue honoring a true hero because of alleged complaints of its "racist” nature. Hmm.

This is a bit craftier than ISIS or the Taliban, but it is in the same spirit; an attempt to disdain those who came before, to denigrate history and culture and tradition, an attempt to dismiss the times before the coming of the enlightened.

And this is not unique to Pestello and SLU; an argument has erupted here in St. Louis over a statue honoring Confederate soldiers on a sparsely used street in Forest Park. St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay, a liberal Democrat to the core (who demanded that city hall perform homosexual marriages in defiance of a state constitutional amendment) wants the statue removed, even though it has been there for decades.

This is nothing new; the Left has been aggressive toward anything that does not fit with their beliefs, and is in an endless war to fundamentally change our culture. New heroes are promoted, with the old ones being demonized. Men like Washington or Jefferson are systematically smeared, while people like Malcolm X or Che Guevara are venerated. Look at the way they lionized an L.A. cop turned cop killer. Look at how they lionized Mike Brown and demonized the officer forced to shoot him. Brown assaulted Officer Wilson because he was just coming from punching out and robbing a convenience store clerk.

Who a people hold as their heroes says much about who that people are, and their memorials work to reinforce the beliefs of that people. Islam attacks the monuments of the people they conquer because that is the only way to obliterate a competing culture. The same holds true of the America Left, which seeks to smite the "old white guy” culture and replace it with a kleptocratic, socialistic, post-Christian order. Dr. Pestello, a trained sociologist, knows what he is doing in this instance.

The deepest shame upon him!

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at 01:50 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 2213 words, total size 15 kb.

Charlottesville attacker was in Army but was never a soldier

Dana Mathewson

The Department of Defense Manpower Data Center may list James Alex Fields, Jr., as having served on active duty in the U.S. Army, but that sure as hell doesn’t mean he was a soldier.

The 20-year-old Kentucky native was booked and charged on Aug. 12 with one count of second-degree murder and three counts of malicious wounding, among others, after allegedly targeted protesters with his car amid violent clashes between white nationalists and counter-protesters in Charlottesville, VA that day, the Washington Post reports. The attack left one dead and 19 injured, five critically; video shows a 2010 Dodge Challenger, later identified as registered to Fields, accelerating into a crowd of bystanders on a pedestrian mall.

Shortly after the incident, as media outlets rushed to piece together whatever they could on the hit-and-run, Mediaite reported that Fields had served in the Army for less than four months, from August 18th to December 11th, 2015 (a Facebook post from his mother marks his arrival at boot camp).

"The Army can confirm that James Alex Fields reported for basic military training in August of 2015,” Army spokesman Lt. Col. Jennifer Johnson told Task & Purpose in a statement. "He was, however, released from active duty due to a failure to meet training standards in December of 2015. As a result, he was never awarded a military occupational skill nor was he assigned to a unit outside of basic training.”

A mass attacker’s military background can often fuel media stereotypes about violent veterans. Wade Michael Page, who killed four people at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin in 2012, served from 1992 to 1998. Aaron Alexis, who killed 13 people at the Washington Navy Yard in 2013, was an aviation electrician’s mate at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth from 2007 to 2011. And in 2016, Army veteran Micah Johnson shot and killed five police officers in Dallas, Texas. More than a third of the 43 worst mass killings in the U.S. since 1984 were carried out by military veterans.

But it’s worth noting that this logic doesn’t necessarily apply to the case of Fields. Though Fields may technically qualify as a veteran for lasting more than 90 days in the armed forces, he was barely even a soldier: he never received an MOS, never felt loyalty to a unit outside of basic. His Army career is worth exactly nothing.

Entire article here: http://taskandpurpose.com/james-alex-fields-army-charlottesville/

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at 01:12 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 424 words, total size 7 kb.

Fritz Perls, another liberal New Age Icon Reprobate

Jack Kemp

Today Jeffrey Ludwig wrote a fine article at American Thinker called "The Goal of the Democratic Party: Overthrow of 'The System.'"   http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2017/08/the_goal_of_the_democratic_party_overthrow_of_the_system.html

In it, Mr. Ludwig cuts to the chase and states that the Democratic Party has evolved "to being neo-Marxist, neo-fascist, and subversive of too many established social, political, and economic norms began in the 1960s.  Conceptual and practical shifts, especially in the philosophy of education, merged with other developments both in the anti-Vietnam War movement and in the burgeoning drug culture."

To back up his argument, Ludwig cites influence of the writings of 60s liberal educator Jonothan Kozol and gestalt psychiatrist Fritz Perls on American thought. The mention of Fritz Perls has the effect on me as the menition of "Niagara Falls" in the old vaudville comedy routine "Slowly I Turned." http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=slowly+i+turned+inch+by+inch&view=detail&mid=8AE890868EDF32553FA08AE890868EDF32553FA0&FORM=VIRE ; Only, in the case of Fritz Perls, my anger is much more grim and historical than was the anger in the fictional vaudville comedy routine. Let me explain with some facts that I posted as a comment to this article.

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2017/08/the_goal_of_the_democratic_party_overthrow_of_the_system_comments.html#disqus_thread

JackKemp • 7 minutes ago
Fritz Perls. Now you are getting to one of the most shocking stories I discovered decades ago. Fritz Perls, a Jew, a psychiatrist and a former WWI German Army officer, later went to go live in apartheid South Africa before and during WWII. While millions of people died, including his personal relatives, Perls did NOT offer his services to, for example, British Intelligence as young immigrant Henry Kissinger did to U.S. Army Intelligence. As a fluent German speaker and reader, and knowledgeable of German military methods and terminology, Perls could have participated in helping to defeat the Nazis. But he didn't. After WWII, he immigrated to California and became the darling of the New Age trendsetters out there and got to pontificate on how people should face reality (as he defined it) and act in this world.

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at 09:24 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 328 words, total size 2 kb.

Hypocrisy at Charlottesville

Wil Wirtanen

Probably one of the best commentaries on Charlottesville.

https://spectator.org/hypocrisy-at-charlottesville/

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at 06:43 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 14 words, total size 1 kb.

Consequences

Wil Wirtanen

Non-Fossil fuel Utopia

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2017/08/13/life-in-fossil-fuel-free-utopia/

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at 06:42 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 7 words, total size 1 kb.

We can't seem to slay this liberal hydra of taxes

Wil Wirtanen

http://www.investors.com/politics/commentary/six-persistent-myths-about-taxes/

And along the same lines:

http://www.investors.com/politics/commentary/tax-reform-truth-squad-facts-and-honest-answers/

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at 06:42 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 19 words, total size 1 kb.

More on the Hillary / Pastor incident

Dana Mathewson

Lots of Christians did NOT appreciate it, let's just say.

http://conservativetribune.com/christians-enraged-hillary-pastor/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=AE&utm_campaign=can&utm_content=2017-08-13

Now, liberals would say that it just shows that Christians are narrow, hidebound people. I don't think so! It shows we still have some standards left, if you ask me.

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at 04:52 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 50 words, total size 1 kb.

George Washington's Eclipse

Jack Kemp

From the Mount Vernon Ladies Society, the nonprofit organization started by women in 1831 that maintains George Washington's homesite and tours - and also teaches his history to students of all ages on the internet.
http://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/the-revolutionary-war/george-washingtons-eclipse/?utm_source=Mount+Vernon&utm_campaign=d7d9a81f78-MKTG_Content_Eclipse8_15_17&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_0a9fb91d40-d7d9a81f78-233088953&goal=0_0a9fb91d40-d7d9a81f78-233088953&mc_cid=d7d9a81f78&mc_eid=cff6c2ac93
George Washington's Eclipse

Did George Washington ever experience a solar eclipse? Twice during the Revolutionary War, solar eclipses not only captured the interest of scientists and the public, but were also considered to be of important military significance.

Eclipsing the Revolution

Even during the darkest days of the American Revolution, while war raged across the countryside, people looked skyward and documented sudden darkenings of the heavens. 18th-century almanacs, like the one depicted here, frequently charted these phenomena, and even prominently featured information about them on their covers. As George Washington discovered, information about eclipses could even be valuable to the war effort.

On January 8, 1777, just days after his stunning victories over the British at Trenton and Princeton, General Washington stopped to pen a strange letter of thanks. Instead of praising battlefield heroics, Washington acknowledged the Pennsylvania Council of Safety for notice they provided of an impending eclipse. In a letter dated January 5, 1777, Thomas Wharton warned the General that "according to Astronomical Calculations, on Thursday next between the hours of 9 and 11 in the forenoon, a great Eclipse of the Sun will be visible here, perhaps it may not be amiss on this occasion to guard against a superstitious fear in the Army which might take place should the Men be unexpectedly surprised with this appearance." In his response to the council, Washington agreed that "this event, without a previous knowledge of it, might affect the minds of the Soldiery, and be attended with some bad consequences." Indeed, a partial eclipse obscured roughly two-thirds of the sun at approximately 10 a.m. on the January 9th.

More than a year later, on June 24, 1778, a total solar eclipse was recorded as being visible by combatants from the Carolinas to New England. Thomas Jefferson noted this event in his letters from Monticello, but was "much disappointed in Virginia generally on the day of the great eclipse, which proved to be cloudy." Although George Washington does not mention this event, troops in his army took notice as preparations were made in the days leading up to the Battle of Monmouth. Revolutionary War veteran Joseph Plumb Martin remembered that "the day we were drafted the sun was eclipsed; had this happened upon such an occasion in 'olden time,' it would have been considered ominous either of good or bad fortune, but we took no notice of it." After some of war's most brutal fighting, Washington's troops were left in command of the field of battle, so perhaps it was a good omen after all.

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at 04:51 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 466 words, total size 3 kb.

This is Not a Day Care. It’s a University!

Jack Kemp

http://www.okwu.edu/blog/2015/11/this-is-not-a-day-care-its-a-university/

This is Not a Day Care. It’s a University!
Dr. Everett Piper, President
Oklahoma Wesleyan University

This past week, I actually had a student come forward after a university chapel service and complain because he felt "victimized” by a sermon on the topic of 1 Corinthians 13. It appears this young scholar felt offended because a homily on love made him feel bad for not showing love. In his mind, the speaker was wrong for making him, and his peers, feel uncomfortable.

I’m not making this up. Our culture has actually taught our kids to be this self-absorbed and narcissistic. Any time their feelings are hurt, they are the victims. Anyone who dares challenge them and, thus, makes them "feel bad” about themselves, is a "hater,” a "bigot,” an "oppressor,” and a "victimizer.”

I have a message for this young man and all others who care to listen. That feeling of discomfort you have after listening to a sermon is called a conscience. An altar call is supposed to make you feel bad. It is supposed to make you feel guilty. The goal of many a good sermon is to get you to confess your sins—not coddle you in your selfishness. The primary objective of the Church and the Christian faith is your confession, not your self-actualization.

So here’s my advice:

If you want the chaplain to tell you you’re a victim rather than tell you that you need virtue, this may not be the university you’re looking for. If you want to complain about a sermon that makes you feel less than loving for not showing love, this might be the wrong place.

If you’re more interested in playing the "hater” card than you are in confessing your own hate; if you want to arrogantly lecture, rather than humbly learn; if you don’t want to feel guilt in your soul when you are guilty of sin; if you want to be enabled rather than confronted, there are many universities across the land (in Missouri and elsewhere) that will give you exactly what you want, but Oklahoma Wesleyan isn’t one of them.

If you’re more interested in playing the "hater” card than you are in confessing your own hate; if you want to arrogantly lecture, rather than humbly learn; if you don’t want to feel guilt in your soul when you are guilty of sin; if you want to be enabled rather than confronted, there are many universities across the land (in Missouri and elsewhere) that will give you exactly what you want, but Oklahoma Wesleyan isn’t one of them.

At OKWU, we teach you to be selfless rather than self-centered. We are more interested in you practicing personal forgiveness than political revenge. We want you to model interpersonal reconciliation rather than foment personal conflict. We believe the content of your character is more important than the color of your skin. We don’t believe that you have been victimized every time you feel guilty and we don’t issue "trigger warnings” before altar calls.
Oklahoma Wesleyan is not a "safe place”, but rather, a place to learn: to learn that life isn’t about you, but about others; that the bad feeling you have while listening to a sermon is called guilt; that the way to address it is to repent of everything that’s wrong with you rather than blame others for everything that’s wrong with them. This is a place where you will quickly learn that you need to grow up.
This is not a day care. This is a university.

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at 04:50 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 602 words, total size 4 kb.