November 19, 2019
Scientists have discovered sugars in meteorites. This includes ribose, a fundamental building block of RNA.
RNA is a complex molecule necessary for life and is considered a precursor to DNA.
From the article:
An international team has found sugars essential to life in meteorites. The new discovery adds to the growing list of biologically important compounds that have been found in meteorites, supporting the hypothesis that chemical reactions in asteroids—the parent bodies of many meteorites—can make some of life's ingredients. If correct, meteorite bombardment on ancient Earth may have assisted the origin of life with a supply of life's building blocks.
The team discovered ribose and other bio-essential sugars including arabinose and xylose in two different meteorites that are rich in carbon, NWA 801 (type CR2) and Murchison (type CM2). Ribose is a crucial component of RNA (ribonucleic acid). In much of modern life, RNA serves as a messenger molecule, copying genetic instructions from the DNA molecule (deoxyribonucleic acid) and delivering them to molecular factories within the cell called ribosomes that read the RNA to build specific proteins needed to carry out life processes.
"Other important building blocks of life have been found in meteorites previously, including amino acids (components of proteins) and nucleobases (components of DNA and RNA), but sugars have been a missing piece among the major building blocks of life," said Yoshihiro Furukawa of Tohoku University, Japan, lead author of the study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences November 18. "The research provides the first direct evidence of ribose in space and the delivery of the sugarto Earth. The extraterrestrial sugar might have contributed to the formation of RNA on the prebiotic Earth which possibly led to the origin of life."
Sooooo...Life on Earth may have it's genesis in space rocks!
The theory of Panspermia says life came from space. There are two different versions of this theory - directed and non-directed. Directed panspermia says aliens actually seeded the Earth. Non-directed says it drifted here from elsewhere. Intelligent Design Theory is often accused of being Creationism in disguise, but it can represent directed panspermia as well.
This would suggest non-directed panspermia. Actually it wouldn't even be that; it shows there are building blocks in place in space, but not life itself.
So, what does this mean? Does it mean Darwinian style evolution is true? No. It means the building blocks are present. Go into a forest and you'll find plenty of wood, but that doesn't mean you are going to find a rocking chair.
But this certainly does give tantalizing clues to abiogenesis (the beginnings of life).
Question: now that we know sugar is in meteors, will Michael Bloomberg try to ban their arrival on Earth?
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In today's must read, Dr. Roy Spencer discusses how the Gang Green has gotten away with it and how people have accepted all manner of fake news as truth.
I'm not going to excerpt this, or even chime in; Spencer touches on numerous things in this essay and it's best if you read his words - and his views.
Suffice it to say the young people in our society have swallowed the lie of Global Warming hook, line, and sinker. Despite having proof this is a lie in their own words, the liars have managed to convince so many young people that there is nothing to see here, move along. I can't count how many times I've been told "the e-mails were taken out of context" when I've argued with these people. I always tell the to read the damned things, but they can't be bothered.
At any rate, read this essay; it's excellent.
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Mayor Pete Buttigiege says he'll dispatch the military to Mexico if the need arises.
According to this article:
South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg said at a Latino forum in Los Angeles on Sunday that he’d be willing to send U.S. troops into Mexico to combat gang and drug violence.
"There is a scenario where we could have security cooperation,†Buttigieg said.
Even so, he added a caveat: "I’d only order American troops into conflict if American lives were on the line and if it was necessary to meet treaty obligations.â€
Mayor Pete walked this back quite a bit after he received pushback.So why did he say this? Buttigiege is triangulating. Remember Bill Clinton's policy? Set yourself as the moderate voice in a sea of radicals. It doesn't matter if you are actually a radical or not, just make yourself appear to be the moderate. Mayor Pete is doing that here. trying to sound tough.
The Democratic Party is rightly perceived as unwilling to do anything to protect our southern border. The good mayor wants to appear to be the one man willing to protect America.
It's a lie, but he knows a lot of people will believe what he says.
This was in response to a question at an event hosted by ABC 7 Eyewitness News about his views on the Trump proposal to use the military to stop the drug cartels. They have been killing Americans, and it is becoming obvious that something must be done about the border.
It is official Democratic policy to maintain absolute open borders. This is an issue that has seriously hurt the Democrats and was largely responsible for the election of Donald Trump. But they can't give this issue up, as it is the key to their long-term political fortunes. The Democrats are shrinking, and without bringing in new voters they will eventually become a minority party. So Mayor Pete may talk a good game here, but in the end he'll refuse to do anything that even hints at border control.
Sending the U.S. military to Mexico would discourage border crossers.
Beware Greeks bearing gifts.
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Devin Nunes
attorney is representing two of his aids, who are suing Politico over fake news they presented as fact.
From the Belleville News Democrat:
Kashyap "Kash†Patel, a lawyer who worked for Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee when Nunes was the committee’s chairman, is suing Politico over an Oct. 23 story with the headline "Nunes Protege Fed Ukraine Info to Trump.†Fox was the first news organization to report on Patel’s lawsuit.
Patel is represented by Virginia attorney Steven Biss, who has filed five lawsuits on behalf of Nunes this year alleging that news organizations, Twitter, anonymous social media users and political consultants conspired against the California congressman. Four of the cases are active.
The news story at the center of Patel’s lawsuit reported that Patel tried to involve himself in the Trump administration’s Ukraine policy. Patel now works for the Trump administration in the National Security Council.
"Trump believed at the time that Kashyap Patel, a longtime Nunes staffer who joined the White House in February and had no discernible Ukraine experience or expertise, was actually the NSC’s top Ukraine expert,†Bertrand wrote.
Patel’s lawsuit in a Virginia court says he is seeking $25 million from Politico and Bertrand, alleging the two defamed him by writing the story and in tweets by Bertrand.
Patel in the complaint says he "never supplied any Ukraine ‘materials’ to the president. Kash is proud of his record as a dedicated national security professional who is entrusted to handle our nation’s most sensitive matters.â€
Sadly, to win such a lawsuit the plaintiffs have to show malice aforethought - something almost impossible to prove in a court of law. But so what? The Left does this all the time; files nuisance lawsuits to tie conservatives up in court. It's good to see our side fighting back in like fashion.It's especially good to see them go after Politico.
Do read the entire article.
The story by Politico reporter Natasha Bertrand was based on sources who described diplomats’ testimony at closed-door House Intelligence Committee hearings in its impeachment inquiry. Bertrand is also named as a defendant in Patel’s lawsuit.
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Americans have way too much time on their hands - and too little in the way of real problems. Too often we go looking for something to give offense.
Take this as a prime example.
Schnucks is a local grocery chain that dominates the St. Louis area. (Interestingly enough, my father worked at the original when he was a teenager - it was just one little store the size of a Seven Eleven.) Apparently one of the Schnucks stores - this one in St. Louis' choicest neighborhood - is carrying a Chinese manufactured doll called "Lazy Baby". The ddolls come in both black and white, but the Schucks store was out fof the white version when a black "pastor" found a row of black baby dolls entitled "lazy baby".
You know what happened next.
From Fox2 News:
Traci Blackmon about her reaction when she saw black dolls named 'Lazy Baby.’
Traci saw the dolls at the Ladue Crossing Schnucks at Interstate 170 and Ladue Road.
"Historically, in the effort to denigrate black people, words like ‘lazy,’ ‘shuffling,’ words that refer to a lack of intelligence of black people, have been used,†Blackmon said.
Blackmon, who is the Pastor at Christ the King United Church of Christ in Blackjack, posted a Facebook Live about the dolls.
She says a store worker brought her a white 'Lazy Baby' doll as well.
Blackjack is a community that is nowhere near Ladue, I might add. It appears to me Traci Blackmon went out of her way to find these dolls. In fact, I doubt she found them at all; somebody probably mentioned it to her and she is the "point man" making the fuss.Either that or she is way overpaid by her congregation; you don't live in Ladue if you don't have a lot of money.
The article continues
Fox 2/News 11 found both black and white ‘Lazy Baby’ dolls at different Schnucks stores.
Blackmon says the fact that there are black and white ‘Lazy Baby’ dolls does not take away her concern.
So it doesn't matter if everything is equal to this activist.Civil rights have morphed from a matter of simple human decency, of allowing people to pursue happiness, to a demand for special privileges and an eternal debt that the majority will never satisfy. Now it's about the deepest, darkest parts of the human heart, wherein dwells some ancient racism. The so-called Civil Rights Establishment no longer seeks a fair shake, but rather a shakedown. They know they have power as long as they can claim America is inherently racist and inequality still exists. But America is not and never was a nation where equality was paramount; equality is possible only in Heaven, not here on Earth. America is supposed to be the place where you are not equal. In fact, the less equal the better; America is about opportunity, about taking the inequality you have and putting it to good use. If you are booksmart you can become a professor. If you are mechanically minded an engineer or a technician. We are all different; to demand equality is to demand standardization. Make everyone the same! It is not only impossible to do that but it is immoral. God made us different for a reason.
I suspect this woman knows all that. She defines her self-worth in political activism, in outrage, in finding fault. I would like to know where she stands on the salvation of souls. Shouldn't she be tending her flock in that regard rather than being outraged? And what of "judge not lest ye be judged"? Liberals love to quote that, yet they are forever judging. This woman is judging the people at Schnucks. If she doesn't like black people being pre-judged, why does she pre-judge white people?
BTW - why aren''t there Asian versions of this doll? What - there aren't lazy Asians?
And how would she have reacted had there been no black dolls, only white ones? This is a lilly-white neighborhood, and the black dolls were not likely to sell well. Schnucks couldn't win either way; she would have complained had there been no black dolls out, citing racism as the reason.
I did a little sleuthing; the woman is a social justice warrior. She heads up the United Church of Christ's Justice Ministry. And she is on a number of social justice petitions.
So this is a setup. She was looking for something to find offense and shake down Schnucks, to advance the notion that racism is rampant in America.
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November 18, 2019
Scientists have gained new insight into the epigenetic clock that controls how dogs age and have devised a new formula to pinpoint exactly how old that good boy or girl in your life is.
The researchers studied DNA methylation, or chemical modifications to certain DNA segments, within the genomes of 104 labrador retrievers, all ranging between 4 weeks and 16 years of age. It turns out we age in similar ways, the team reports in a paper published to the preprint server bioRxiv.
In humans, DNA methylation—the addition of organic compounds called methyl groups to specific segments of our DNA—can reveal the impact of disease, lifestyle, and genetics on our DNA. Using this information, scientists have been able to create an epigenetic clock, of sorts, to better understand how we age. Scientists have learned that other animals like mice and wolves experience DNA methylation. Now, they’re using this research to understand the process of aging in man’s best friend.
Ultimately, certain regions of both the labrador and human genome—areas with high rates of mutation—show similar rates of methylation. A dog’s life stages largely sync up with our own; puppies and babies start teething at roughly equivalent ages, for example.
Whether you have a pitbull, pug, or Pembroke Welsh corgi, your pup will reach puberty at around 10 months and will likely die before turning 20. (Yes, it pains us to write that, too.) Scientists have long known that dogs are susceptible to many of the same age-related diseases that we are, such as cancer, arthritis, and heart disease.
The researchers also devised a new way to calculate a dog’s age, but it's arguably more complicated than simply multiplying by seven. To calculate the age, you’ll have to multiply the natural logarithm of your pup’s age by 16 and then add 31. Here’s the equation:
16 x ln(your dog’s age in human years) + 31
Rewind! Make that your dog's actual age. We are trying to calculate his age in human years and don't at this point know them, of course.
Super simple, right? (The researchers also a included a handy conversion tool here.) If you're wondering why your 2-year-old dog clocks in at around 40 human years, it's because his epigenetic clock ticks a bit faster than yours, but slows down as he ages.
The team hopes to expand its research to include additional dog species, and there are plenty of other research teams that are diving into a dog’s genome to unlock even more secrets.
The article is here, https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/math/a29830394/dog-years-human-years/ and it does contain a calculator in case you don't have one that includes the log function.
I thought my dog was 77 years old, turns out he's only 69! But the thing that makes me doubt all this is that I have read articles, and seen with my own eyes, where big dogs do not live as long as small ones. And this article pays no attention to that.
Ah, well...
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I generally agree with Spengler aka David Goldman. He's a brilliant man. But I think he's confused in this essay, or at least thinks too highly of the Chinese.
From the article:
In that respect Kissinger is right. We don’t want a war with China. And an all-out trade war would devastate the world economy. But that’s not the choice. Steve Bannon et al. have moved to the political fringe. We're at no danger of war with China.
He's oversimplifying the arguments, and he's overplaying China's abilities, in my view.
First, I don't know about Steve Bannon, but I think we can and should knock China down a few pegs because if wwe do not they we will have China carving us up like the Christmas goose. I mean that literally; China will eventually challenge us, and they will eventually try to dismantle America. It's what Communists do. Green seems to think China is just another nation. He's been seduced by the prosperity theory, something even New Gingrich has dismissed at this point. China does not care about the prosperity of her people. In fact, the Chinese People see little of it; most of it is in the hands of connected individuals. In fact, the Chinese worker is not gettting any of this bounty. Oh, they aren't starving anymore, but they aren't prospering, either.
It should be pointed out that the most dangerous time for any despot is when the economy is booming but the citizenry are not getting any. Modest reform is dangerous. Revolutions do not happen in societies that are dirt poor; rather, they happen when a society is on the rise. The People have rising expectations, and if those are not met - and real reform does not happen - then talk of treason is in the air.
Also, China is becoming more despotic, if anything. Consider the social credit system.
I also disagree with Mr. Green in that I believe China's great success and wealthy is in no small part a function of Western and especially American surrender to cheap goods. China builds cheap stuff. America quit making anything under the internationalist visions of Clinton, Bush, and Obama. They have lots of money because we all stopped building and bought Chinese. But therte are other rising economic powers, like India, and there is no reason we cannot return to a manufacturing economy. Oh, and then there is a rising industrial base in Latin America.
I don't think it would be easy, but I do think China is in real trouble, and it should be. The Chinese military and other insiders have set themselves the task of displacing us, not competing with us. They are planning for war with us, they steal our science and technology, they subvert our political system.
Now I don't deny they have every RIGHT to do this, but we have every RIGHT to do it righ back to them. I want to see the Communists destabilized. The more internal trouble they have the less danger they pose to us.
I'd love to restore the Nationalists in Taiwan to power, but I'm old fashioned.
At any rate, I think Spengler is wrong here. Too many Western elites seem to believe this "inevitability" argument.
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A recent paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science claims hurricanes are more intense and more frequent now, and this is caused by human-induced global warming.
Horsesh, er, horsefeathers!
I was going to debunk this myself but Vodkapundit did it for me at Pajamas Media, using the sources I would have used (Roger Pielke Jr.)
From the article:
Why? For starters, it looks like Grinsted and his crew plucked their hurricane counts out of thin air. Pielke tweeted:
In other words, they undercounted the number of hurricanes in the 1900-1958 period by 25 -- a nearly 30% error. But it gets worse. They overcounted the number of hurricanes from 1959-2017 by 64 -- a whopping 70% inflation of the real figure. How did a study this terribly flawed and so easy to disprove ever pass peer review?
Now I know I already said that the study got worse, so from here I guess it gets... worser.
The conclusion that hurricanes have gotten more severe also doesn't hold up, according to the NOAA's precise -- and easy to find -- numbers.
Category 1 landfalls declined by nearly a quarter from the 1900-1959 era to the present era, and Cat 3 landfalls are down by almost 19%. Are we supposed to believe that Grinsted & Co.'s claim of a 330% increase was some kind of rounding error? Not quite. Here's how they did it:
Part of this difference can be explained by the fact that G19 focus on economic damage, not hurricanes. If a hurricane from early in the 20th century resulted in no reported damage, then according to G19 it did not exist. That’s one reason why we don’t use economic data to make conclusions about climate. A second reason for the mismatched counts is that G19 counts many non-hurricanes as hurricanes, and disproportionately so in the second half of the dataset.
And as Pielke noted elsewhere in his piece, "anyone wanting to understand trends in U.S. mainland hurricanes should look at data on U.S. mainland hurricanes, not economic data on losses." Indeed. A Cat 3 storm hitting a barely-populated Florida coast in 1900 is going to cause far less economic damage than a smaller, weaker Cat 1 crashing today into metropolitan Miami. Damage is a silly metric for storm size, since that's really a measure of human activity, rather than Mother Nature's doings. On the other hand, doing so does push a popular political narrative -- something that the peer-review process is supposed to find and eliminate. Oops.
Read the whole thing at PJ Media.
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Serotonin & Melatonin
Researchers have found that the body’s
serotonin and melatonin levels increase upon certain pressure triggers
on the body. The release of serotonin and melatonin can help regulate
mood and provide a relaxing and calming effect. |
|
Adults and children who suffer from:
- ADD/ADHD
- Sleep Disorder/Insomnia
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
- Nervous System Disorders
- Asperger and Autism Spectrum Disorder
- Restless Leg Syndrome |
|
Serotonin & Melatonin
Researchers have found that the body’s
serotonin and melatonin levels increase upon certain pressure triggers
on the body. The release of serotonin and melatonin can help regulate
mood and provide a relaxing and calming effect. |
|
Adults and children who suffer from:
- ADD/ADHD
- Sleep Disorder/Insomnia
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
- Nervous System Disorders
- Asperger and Autism Spectrum Disorder
- Restless Leg Syndrome |
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Tammy Bruce calls for the investigation of Rex Tillerson and John Kelly.
From the Washington Times:
This action against a sitting president is not just politics nor should it be dismissed as "well-meaning†activity by patriots. Yes, it’s stupidity awash in arrogance, but it’s also much more than that.
Critically, it represents an internal plot to subvert the work of the president and demands an investigation. To what degree did this organizing and collusion against the sitting president extend? If they were reaching out to the U.N. ambassador, who else did they attempt to recruit and corrupt? What issues did they intervene in? What damage was done to U.S. interests? Are other recruited corrupt actors still operating in the White House? Did someone recruit Mr. Kelly and Mr. Tillerson, or are they the core tumor of this cancer?
Tillerson and Kelly tried to recruit Nikki Haley to a cabal that was working to undermine the Presidents' authority.Read the whole article.
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Eighty four percent of women who take the Army Combat Fitness Test fail.
[linkhttps://www.waynedupree.com/army-combat-test-women/?fbclid=IwAR01D7Kc1xODPhFlvKCGXONMrWok2S8SRTXoWbkxi8j0PRJ0ISJiRR51iJs=]According to new research from the Center for Military Readiness:
CMR report noted that women are failing in two majorly important categories – "unequal physical capabilities and sexual misconduct†The report clearly states that the Obama directive has failed.
My brother Brian used to be a PACE instructor on Navy ships back in the '90's. He saw the signs of this even then; women technicians were not strong enough to carry the hundred plus pound toolboxes, for example, so they were given grunts who had to schlep these things around so the gals could do these jobs. In other words, it took two people to do the job that one man used to do. Brian said that female aviators were given extra "downs" too. A down is a black mark against an aviator for screwups, usually on takeoff and landing. If you get enough downs you would get grounded. Male pilots (I know - AVIATORS; pilots are in the air force) had to be better than female.
That was back when there was still some sanity in the military. I can only imagine how it is right now.
The report continues:
The Israeli Defense Force used to have women in combat, but stopped doing that. This from a nation that is always at war, with her survival at stake. If the IDF won't use women in combat, why should we? They clearly know it doesn't work.
But Barack Obama was and is a revolutionary, and his goal was to make America weak. And to promote this insane notion that sex (I won't use the misused word gender here) is a social construct. It is not.
I'm glad sanity is finally starting to prevail.
At any rate, there is more; do read it all.
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Here is a nice opinion piece by Scott Jennings, former aid to W. Bush and Mitch McConnell. Jennings calls impeachment out for what it is.
From the article:
Frankly I'm surprised that Jennings said this (I've always assumed he was just a RINO.) He makes nice points like this throughout the whole piece.
For example:
I think he's right here; Pelosi was going to do this thing. It was just a matter of appearing statemenlike. Much like Caesar eschewing the crown three times, Pelosi was against impeachment before she was for it.
Here's another good point:
Frankly, if the Democrats and media don't hate you you aren't doing your job properly. That's why I have no use for guys like Mitt Romney. They hated "Walter" Mitt when he ran for President, but they love them so Mittens now! Why? Because he's turned all Benedict Arnold on us.
The purpose of conservative support for the Republicans is to serve our goals. We want to preserve the Republic, to preserve our religious faith, to preserve our liberty and way of life. If the GOP serves those goals then they get our support. If they do not they lose it. Right now Trump is getting our support because he appears to be the most zealous defender of our beliefs. NOT the best, perhaps, and he may not even agree with us but he is smart enough to understand that his success is tied to advancing the agenda he promised. The RINO GOP is serving another agenda, another people, and another god. They are more interested in working with the Democrats, with whom they share beliefs and dreams.
It is understandable that the Democrats impeach Trump; they are scorpions and they will sting. It's in their nature. But the Republicans who want to go along with this know that Trump is not guilty of the crimes with which he is being accused but want him out because they don't like him and he made an end run around them. That is poor motivation.
Trump may be a flawed man and a blowhard, but he's OUR flawed blowhard. In the end loyalty is more important than taste.
We live in an imperfect world, and politics is a messy business. I wish we could have had a man of strong character in the White House, but we have to make do. Mr. Trump is certainly better than the weak Republicans who surrendered almost everything to the Left.
If you don't show up you can't win. Trump at least is in the game all the time.
So you RINO types like Romney shut your pieholes!
And start fighting. I don't care what you think of the President, in the end this is OUR President and he must be defended. The stakes are too high. Those stakes are not just this presidency, but future Republican presidencies as well. If the Dems succeed at this they will have set a precedent, and the peaceful transition of power will be over. forever after elections won't matter.
This will change America forever if they win. So grow a pair and stand up for America!
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Warner Todd Houston forwards this:
Only 5 of the 11,224 "World Scientists" Claiming a Climate Emergency were 'Climate Scientists'
That is the claim these people always make about the Oregon Petition, yet they are happy to accept non climate scientists when it supports them.
BTW there are over thirty thousand scientists who signed the Oregon Petition, which disagrees with the catastrophic global warming theory.
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November 17, 2019
Is Former CIA Director John Brennan the Leader of the Coup Against Trump?
And of course, there's more. To find it, click this link: https://pjmedia.com/trending/john-brennan-coup-leader/Real Clear Investigations has published a report about the anti-Trump wheelings and dealings of John Brennan, former director of the CIA. The investigation makes me, and others, wonder whether Brennan is has led the anti-Trump coup from the start.
"Nearly three years later, as the public awaits answers from two Justice Department inquiries into the Trump-Russia probe’s origins, and as impeachment hearings catalyzed by a Brennan-hired anti-Trump CIA analyst unfold in Congress, it is clear that Brennan’s role in propagating the collusion narrative went far beyond his work on the ICA," Real Clear Investigations reports. "A close review of facts that have slowly come to light reveals that he was a central architect and promoter of the conspiracy theory from its inception."
Although many people believe that the FBI launched the Trump-Russia conspiracy probe, it was actually John Brennan who relentlessly pushed it on the Bureau. Note that he did this while the CIA is not supposed to intrude on domestic politics. That didn't matter to him. He was anti-Trump, and so he made sure the FBI would do something against the man who'd end up winning the 2016 presidential election.
Not only did he push it to the Bureau, Real Clear Investigations says, "[h]e also supplied suggestive but ultimately false information to counterintelligence investigators and other U.S. officials."
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I sure hope so! Look, I live in Minnesota, just a few degrees Fahrenheit north of Iowa, and I've heard all the jokes (What does "Iowa" stand for? Idiots Out Walking Around."), but their votes count just as much as anybody else's.A new Des Moines Register/CNN/Mediacom poll from Iowa shows South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg with a clear lead among potential Democratic caucus-goers. Buttigieg has the support of 25 percent of likely caucus participants while Senator Elizabeth Warren has 16 percent and Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders are tied with 15 percent.
Buttigieg has gained 16 points since the September survey.
Buttigieg, the 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Indiana, told the network the news was encouraging and his campaign felt growing momentum in the farm state, but there was "still a lot of work to do†in increasing his name recognition there.Buttigieg also led Democratic presidential candidates in Iowa in a Monmouth University poll released on Tuesday.
A New York Times/Sienna poll released earlier this month also showed Buttigieg’s support surging in Iowa, but still behind Warren and Sanders. Nationally, he does not fare nearly as well, averaging around 8% in polls.
So what happened? Voters in Iowa and New Hampshire are different than voters from just about anywhere else. They take their "First in the Nation" status very seriously and make a genuine effort to weigh the qualifications and pluses and minuses of each candidate. And they take their time making up their minds.
It's still 2 1/2 months before the caucuses in Iowa, leaving a lot of time for another candidate to impress. But Buttigieg has made the most of his opportunity and has impressed Iowans with his relatively moderate approach to governing. He has made a massive investment in the state, with more than 100 staffers. It is the largest operation on the ground in Iowa among all candidates and he has coupled that with a big ad budget and well-planned events.
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Africa has just about every disease known to Man somewhere. And the water is teaming with parasites, infectious agents, and dangerous beasts. If you want to swim, try a swimming pool.
UK man, 32, nearly died after parasite crawled up penis, laid eggs as he swam in lake on Africa trip
He really can't be going!
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Does anyone remember when Bill Clinton took office and he fired all of the U.S. attorneys? When Bush fired just a couple they howled and screamed and suggested he should be impeached, So now it''s o.k. for the BHO to fire ambassadors but not Trump. The double standard is astonishing. Sadly, most people will never know this as the lying media will remain silent on this.
This male Dem Rep actually cried while interviewing Ukraine ambassador yesterday
Certainly an ambassador should be made of stern stuff and not be upset by being replaced. And this little snowflake Democrat Rep.?
The idea is to cry and wail and make the low information voters sad. I doubt either the ambassador nor Suzie Snotflake here really care much about what actually happened.
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November 16, 2019
On Facebook I chimed in on a discussion about pedophilia, particularly in regards to Catholic priests. I left the following comment:
BTW, did you know that there is more pedophilia in the public schools than in Catholic? According to this piece in Psychology Today the rate at it's peak in Catholic schools was 4% while in public schools it is 5 to 7%. https://
I attended a Catholic grade school. We did not have any pedophile priests, but we DID have a couple of nuns who used to bother the girls. The girls knew about them, and knew not to be alone with them. It is interesting we never hear about that aspect of this.
At any rate, here are four myths from the article that we should keep in mind:
1. No empirical data exists that suggests that Catholic clerics sexually abuse minors at a level higher than clerics from other religious traditions or from other groups of men who have ready access and power over children (e.g., school teachers, coaches).
2. Clerical celibacy doesn’t cause pedophilia and sexual crimes against minors.
3. Homosexual clerics aren’t the cause of pedophilia in the Church.
(From Tim - not sure about this claim insofar as it presupposes homosexuality is a "pure" sexual desire, and by that I mean simply an attraction to men. Pedophilia is rampant in the gay community. Most gay men will admit their first sexual encounter was when they were children at the hands of older men. It's how homosexuality is reproduced.)
4. The Church has used best practices to deal with this issue since 2002.
The incidents of clerical abuse in recent years (i.e., since 2002) are down to a trickle.The author (Psychiatry Professor Thomas Plante) bottom lines it:
Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at
10:39 AM
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A recent article from Science Alerts discussed civilizational collapse due to Climate Change.
I left the following response:
You know, the Mound Builder civilization in North America is a prime example of the power of climate change; Cahokia was bigger than London in 900. But the Mound Builders flourished with the Medieval Warming Period, and they collapsed at the end of the that era (and the beginning of the Little Ice Age.) They just couldn't feed a city when it got cold.
Of course climate change caused civilizational collapse in ancient times. They had less control over their environment than we do today. Where we can weather bad weather a less technologically advanced civilization cannot. If anything this argues for MORE industrial civilization, not less.
Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at
09:53 AM
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