When New Year’s Meant Freedom

Some white Americans still try to dismiss the evils of slavery, pretending that many slaves were happy serving their white masters. But the morning of Jan. 1, 1863, showed a different reality when President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation and blacks celebrated, as William Loren Katz recalls. By William Loren Katz When the Emancipation Proclamation…

Probing Bernie Sanders’s Identity

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders may be a strong voice on income inequality but his positions on military spending and foreign policy are muddled and his criticism of ex-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s neocon-oriented world view is muted, as anti-war activist David Swanson notes in this book review. By David Swanson Every time I write about a…

Mideast’s Expected and Unexpected

At year’s end, it’s often worthy to think back on how you thought the year would go and compare it to what actually happened. For writers who have made predictions, it represents a more public challenge, as ex-CIA official Graham E. Fuller explains. By Graham E. Fuller Having rashly ventured last year into making predictions…

Dangerous Punditry on Syria

Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen has built a long record of getting nearly every major issue wrong over many decades but still eagerly dispenses the latest conventional wisdom emerging from Official Washington’s misguided “group thinks,” as ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar noticed regarding Syria. By Paul R. Pillar Ill-fated U.S. military adventures abroad have had various…

Is WP’s Cohen Dumbest Columnist?

From the Archive: Official Washington operates with a reverse “meritocracy,” the more clueless the pundits are the more esteem they seem to get – as long as they conform to the latest “group think.” Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen is a prime example, Robert Parry noted in 2007. By Robert Parry (Originally published on June 19, 2007) Granted it would be…

One County’s Global Warming Failure

Exclusive: Even communities where many citizens agree that global warming is a threat to humankind – and have the money to take action – find that the politics of doing something can be complicated and seemingly insurmountable, like the case of Arlington, Virginia, reports Robert Parry. By Robert Parry The difficulty of the United States and thus…

A Shaky Promise on Global Warming

The Paris climate conference produced an international agreement for curtailing global warming, but resistance from some leaders, particularly Republicans in the U.S., makes the prospect for its implementation doubtful and thus dangerous, writes Lawrence Davidson. By Lawrence Davidson Paris was certainly 2015’s center for ticking bombs. The year was bracketed by major terrorist attacks in…

The Misinformation Mess

Exclusive: As Americans approach Election Year 2016, the crisis of misinformation is growing more and more dangerous. On issues from foreign policy to the economy, almost none of the candidates in the race appears to be addressing the real world, writes Robert Parry. By Robert Parry New York Times columnist Paul Krugman marvels at the right-wing…

The Obsessive Putin-Bashing

Official Washington says it welcomes freedom of thought, but there is a startling absence of diverse opinions especially on key foreign-policy topics, such as Russia’s President Putin. In those cases, shallow “group think” prevails and belligerent “information warfare” rules, as Gilbert Doctorow observes. By Gilbert Doctorow The U.S. establishment writers on Russia are one and all…

Congress’ Off-Point Iran-Bashing

The U.S. Congress, still in thrall to Israeli leaders and the neocons, cited Islamic State terrorism as an excuse to clamp down on travel to Iran even though Iran has nothing to with ISIS or other Sunni jihadists, unlike Saudi Arabia and Persian Gulf states that were left off the list, notes ex-CIA analyst Paul R.…

The Grimmer Story Behind ‘Trumbo’

Exclusive: After World War II, the Red Scare built the careers of redbaiters like Joe McCarthy and Richard Nixon while undermining the legacy of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal and stifling prospects for progressive politics in America, a tale touched on by the movie, “Trumbo,” writes James DiEugenio. By James DiEugenio The post-World War II years could have shaped…

A Christmas Message of Peace

Despite the commercialism of Christmas, some positive messages break through, often in movie classics, such as Frank Capra’s “It’s a Wonderful Life” and Charles Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol.” But another entry should be “Joyeux Noel,” a movie about the soldiers’ Christmas truce in 1914, writes Gary G. Kohls. By Gary G. Kohls On Christmas Eve,…

A Brief Moment of Christmas Peace

The impromptu Christmas truce of 1914 was a rare moment when human solidarity overrode the demands of hatred and war, when the guns fell silent over the Western Front of World War I and enemies became briefly friends, as Michael Winship recalls. By Michael Winship Last Friday night, I went to a small off-Broadway theater…

America’s Dying Democracy

Democracy, as a noble principle of self-governance, is fading away in big ways and small, with special interests seizing control of both media and politicians and with the people increasingly manipulated and misinformed. In this impassioned appeal, Bill Moyers calls it “the fight of our lives.” By Bill Moyers In the fall of 2001, in…

The Coming Saudi Crack-up?

Exclusive: President Obama, like generations of Western leaders, has coddled the oil-rich Saudi monarchy by tolerating its reactionary politics, its financing of radical Islam and its military support for Sunni jihadist terrorism. But the spoiled Saudi leaders may finally be going too far, as Daniel Lazare describes. By Daniel Lazare Is the Saudi monarchy coming apart at…

The Myth of ‘Taking Out’ ISIS

“Tough-guy-gal-ism” remains the dominant rhetoric of Official Washington as politicians and pundits compete to outdo each other in advocating bloody remedies for “taking out” the Islamic State. But the armchair warriors misunderstand the problem and offer no solution, writes ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar. By Paul R. Pillar The perceptions and the politics in the United States regarding…

A Call for Proof on Syria-Sarin Attack

One reason why Official Washington continues to insist that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad “must go” is that he supposedly “gassed his own people” with sarin on Aug. 21, 2013, but the truth of that allegation has never been established and is in growing doubt, U.S. intelligence veterans point out. MEMORANDUM FOR: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, and Foreign…

Trump Schools ABC-TV Host on Reality

Exclusive: The spectacle of clueless U.S. media personalities, like George Stephanopoulos, chastising Donald Trump for getting facts wrong would be funny if it weren’t indicative of a political-media system failing the American people and what’s left of the democratic Republic, writes Robert Parry. By Robert Parry Mainstream media and politicians are fond of denouncing Republican presidential…

The Murder of Yitzhak Rabin

Israel’s decisive turn to the dark side of Jewish terrorism and religious-based repression of the Palestinians can be marked by the murder of Prime Minister Rabin by a right-wing Jewish extremist in 1995, a moment that also inflicted a fatal wound on the peace process, as ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar describes. By Paul R.…

Seeing ‘Evil’ Everywhere

Today’s American politics sees demons everywhere – from “evil” foreign leaders to excessive fears about “terrorism” – while more mundane threats like crumbling roads, loss of good-paying jobs and inadequate health care get short-shrift, misplaced priorities addressed by ex-CIA official Graham E. Fuller. By Graham E. Fuller It is depressing to witness the ongoing vitriolic…

In Case You Missed…

Some of our special stories in November focused on the realities behind the Syrian crisis, Turkey’s dangerous provocations toward Russia, the many failings of the mainstream U.S. media, and disclosures about Ukraine Finance Minister’s self-enrichment at U.S. taxpayers’ expense. “Syria at a Crossroads” by Nicolas J S Davies, Nov. 1, 2015 “Rubio Follows the Big…

Get Two Books for the Price of One

From Editor Robert Parry: Another way to help Consortiumnews reach its end-of-year fundraising goal is to buy one of my books – Fooling America, Lost History, Secrecy & Privilege or America’s Stolen Narrative – through the Web site and we’ll also send you a copy of Neck Deep: The Disastrous Presidency of George W. Bush for…

Neocons Object to Syrian Democracy

Exclusive: President Obama has infuriated Official Washington’s neocons by accepting the Russian stance that the Syrian people should select their own future leaders through free elections, rather than the neocon insistence on a foreign-imposed “regime change,” reports Robert Parry. By Robert Parry The Washington Post’s editorial board is livid that President Barack Obama appears to have accepted…

The Real Obstacle to Syrian Peace

Despite Russia and the U.S. coming together on Friday to back a U.N.-approved peace plan for Syria, major obstacles remain, including the on-the-ground reality that U.S. “allies,” such as Saudi Arabia and Turkey, have armed and financed powerful jihadist forces that won’t compromise, as Gareth Porter explains. By Gareth Porter The anti-Assad coalition led by the…

A GOP Split on Neocon Orthodoxy

The mainstream U.S. media remains focused on the acrimony of the GOP presidential race while less noticed is a growing split among top candidates over the neocon foreign policy prescription of regime change and more regime change. Several hopefuls are deviating from that orthodoxy, notes James W Carden. By James W Carden On Tuesday night, the…

Political Carnival Pays Off for TV

As the U.S. presidential race – especially on the Republican side – descends into the political equivalent of a rowdy reality TV show, the TV networks are thrilled by higher-than-expected ratings and loads of political ads bought by secretive groups, say Bill Moyers and Michael Winship. By Bill Moyers and Michael Winship Television news has…

Challenging US Overseas Military Bases

Though the U.S. government denies that it runs an empire, it maintains a bristling global network of military bases unprecedented in world history, including some where the population strenuously protests the presence, as retired Col. Ann Wright noted in a speech on Dec. 15 in Okinawa. By Ann Wright I am honored to speak at…

Sam Parry Receives ‘Gary Webb Award’

Sam Parry has received the “Gary Webb Freedom of the Press” award in recognition of Sam’s central role in creating Consortiumnews.com as the first investigative news magazine based on the Internet. The award was granted by the Board of Directors of the Consortium for Independent Journalism as part of the site’s 20th anniversary. In 1995, Sam…

Saudis’ Anti-Terror Window-dressing

Faced with greater public awareness of its role promoting Sunni jihadist terror, Saudi Arabia has announced a 34-nation “anti-terrorism coalition,” but it may be just window-dressing for Riyadh’s anti-Shiite agenda, not a serious move against extremism, an issue addressed by ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar. By Paul R. Pillar The leaders of Saudi Arabia in particular, but also several…

America’s Unpredictable Imbalance

A shrinking middle class and excessive fear of terrorism have combined to destabilize the American political system, opening avenues for an authoritarian demagogue like Donald Trump and but also for a democratic socialist like Bernie Sanders, writes Lawrence Davidson. By Lawrence Davidson Converging avenues of fear are eroding the political and social status quo in…

Rethinking Donald Trump

Donald Trump’s freewheeling and narcissistic presidential campaign has earned the consensus contempt of the mainstream media and establishment politicians, but that’s partly because he has dared challenge dangerous orthodoxies, like the neocon/liberal-hawk mania for “regime change,” writes Sam Husseini. By Sam Husseini The Establishment so wants everyone to unfriend Donald Trump’s supporters on Facebook, there’s even…

How the Puppets Beg

Congress may have averted a government shutdown but it has done so at the expense of making evermore concessions to its super-rich puppet-masters whose strings are both patently obvious and increasingly invisible – all the better for the puppets to beg, as Bill Moyers and Michael Winship explain. By Bill Moyers and Michael Winship There…

The Danger After Putin

Exclusive: America’s neocons are lusting for their ultimate “regime change” – destabilizing Russia and getting rid of President Putin – but they ignore the likelihood that the leader after Putin would be a much more hardline nationalist, a prospect addressed by Gilbert Doctorow. By Gilbert Doctorow As in Soviet times, Russian taxi drivers remain among…

If your church makes Christianity “cool” and comfortable, you should find a new church

This might upset some of you. Maybe that goes without saying.

I read in an article on TheBlaze about Rich Wilkerson, a reality TV star and “celebrity pastor” of a big, hip church in Miami that looks and sounds like a rock concert venue. Pastor Rich believes that his congregants “aren’t looking for religion” because they “don’t want to be told what to do,” but they are looking for a “relationship with a higher power.” Pastor Rich explains that the Gospel isn’t a message of behavior modification. Modifying behavior is totally uncool, yo.

Now, my commentary today isn’t only about him. I’m just using him as a jumping off point. He is, after all, just one of the countless Christian “pastors” who preach this comfortable, trendy, undemanding brand of Christianity. It’s a type very popular with people who want the vague feeling of “spirituality” but none of the challenges and sacrifices that go with it.

I said this might upset you because I go after a few modern Christian sacred cows here. Particularly, I think the phrase “personal relationship with Jesus” is potentially problematic (though not inaccurate, if considered the right way) because it contributes to the propagation of this heretical brand of Christianity. I explain why.

But more importantly, as Christians, our actions DO matter. Faith is not just something you think or feel. Faith is not just the mere acknowledgment of Jesus. Satan himself acknowledges Jesus, yet he’s still in hell. Clearly, there is more to this “faith” thing.

As Christians, our faith must be active, uncomfortable, sacrificial, even painful. If it is not, then it is not faith. Yes, faith is all we need, but we also need to come to a better understanding of what faith IS, exactly.

Pastor Rich (and Steven Furtick and Joel Osteen and the rest of the feel-good celebrity pastors) tell us that we can basically do whatever we want. They tell us Christianity is meant only to be fun and bring us pleasure. But that is not Christianity at all. What they are preaching is paganism, and they need to be called out:

CLICK HERE TO READ

The post If your church makes Christianity “cool” and comfortable, you should find a new church appeared first on The Matt Walsh Blog.

Twisting the Facts on Iran Nukes

Part of the credibility crisis afflicting the world’s officialdom is the tendency to issue reports that start with the politically desired conclusion and then twist words and facts accordingly, a problem apparent in a U.N. report on Iran’s alleged nuclear program, as Gareth Porter explains. By Gareth Porter Many government reports The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)…

America’s Debt to Bradley Manning

From the Archive: The U.S. mainstream media is again embracing a U.N. report critical of Iran’s alleged past work on a nuclear bomb, but leaks from Pvt. Bradley (now Chelsea) Manning exposed Yukiya Amano, the key U.N. official, as a front for U.S. and Israeli interests, as Robert Parry reported in 2011. By Robert Parry (Originally published Dec. 24,…

Seeking a Belated Agent Orange Cleanup

The U.S. war crime of spraying one-eighth of Vietnam with the defoliant Agent Orange continues to wreak havoc four decades later with severe health consequences for Vietnamese civilians, U.S. veterans and their families, prompting a new bill to address this tragedy, writes Marjorie Cohn. By Marjorie Cohn The war in Vietnam resulted in the deaths of more than…

A Blind Eye Toward Turkey’s Crimes

Exclusive: The alleged ties between Turkish President Erdogan and Islamist terrorists in Syria is an embarrassment for the Obama administration and the U.S. news media, which would prefer to look the other way rather than face up to the danger created by an out-of-control NATO “ally,” writes Robert Parry. By Robert Parry Theoretically, it would be a…

On the Trail of Turkey’s Terrorist Grey Wolves

From the Archive: Turkey, as a NATO country near Russia’s border, developed a powerful “deep state” where intelligence operatives, terrorists and gangsters crossed paths and shared political alliances, a grim reality that author Martin A. Lee explored in 1997 and a dark legacy that reaches to the present. By Martin A. Lee (Originally published in…

Closing the Wrong Visa Loopholes

After the San Bernardino terror attack, Congress rushed to address security gaps in visa-free travel but addressed the wrong ones, leaving out visitors from “allied” countries such Saudi Arabia which have actually produced terrorists who attacked the U.S., note Georgianne Nienaber and Coleen Rowley. By Georgianne Nienaber and Coleen Rowley Only a few crickets chirped…

How ‘Obscure’ Bureaucrats Cause Wars

Exclusive: Official Washington’s anti-Russian “group think” is now so dominant that no one with career aspirations dares challenge it, a victory for “obscure” government bureaucrats, like Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, as Jonathan Marshall explains. By Jonathan Marshall History isn’t just made by impersonal forces and “great men” or “great women.” Sometimes relatively obscure men and women…

A Moment of Hope on the Climate

Republican politics – especially the party’s growing separation from science-based reality – remain a major obstacle to a global consensus on climate change, but the Paris agreement shows that the world is capable of overcoming these “climate deniers,” as ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar describes. By Paul R. Pillar The principal significance of the Paris…

Why Consortiumnews Exists

From Editor Robert Parry: America’s political crisis – from the crazy rhetoric coming from Republican presidential hopefuls to the deceptive propaganda emanating from the Obama administration – could not have happened without a corresponding crisis in the U.S. news media. Which is why Consortiumnews exists. Frankly, if the mainstream media had been doing its job…

The Complex Legend of Frank Sinatra

Frank Sinatra was a complex and flawed individual – known in his later years for alleged mob ties and angry outbursts – but he also was an extraordinary artist who spoke out against racism and bigotry at a time when such stands were controversial and risky, as Michael Winship recalls. By Michael Winship As concerts and…

Blocking Democracy as Syria’s Solution

Exclusive: The long-cherished neocon dream of “regime change” in Syria is blocking a possible route out of the crisis – a ceasefire followed by elections in which President Assad could compete. The problem is there’s no guarantee that Assad would lose and thus the dream might go unfulfilled, writes Robert Parry. By Robert Parry The solution to the crisis in…

A GOP Terror Talking Point

Republican presidential candidates have a favorite talking point – that President Obama won’t use the precise phrase “radical Islamic terrorism” even though he describes the problem in similar terms. Thus, the complaint is ridiculous and even a bit dangerous, writes ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar. By Paul R. Pillar One of the more inane memes…

Clearly, We Need More Shame And Judgment In Our Society

I want you to read and share this, but I will warn that it’s disturbing. Our culture of shamelessness and acceptance has created or exacerbated many evils, but few as nauseating as this one.

The guy in the picture below is a 52 year old “transgender” who pretends he is a 6 year old girl. He abandoned his wife and 7 children to go live with his “adopted parents.” Horrifically, there are real children in the house with this pervert. They have been forced to take part in the role play.

Obviously, the children should be removed from the home and all of the adults involved should be committed to a hospital for the criminally insane. But really, this transaged transgender is no different from any other transgender. The two things are completely comparable and it is impossible to reject one while accepting the other.

Meanwhile, as I chronicle in this piece, there have been efforts in recent weeks and months to normalize a wide variety of other perversions. We’ve heard about transabled (people who think they should be disabled), transracialed (people who think they should be a different race), and even “otherkin” (people who think they’re a different species).

And it doesn’t stop there. Movements are growing to bring about the acceptance and tolerance of incestuous couples and pedophiles, too.

Our culture is in a free fall, my friends. And there are many reasons for it, but ultimately it comes back to the removal, first, of absolute truth, and then the eradication of judgment and shame.

It’s that last point I want to concentrate on today. Shame exists for a reason. And when you have a society where everyone thinks they should never feel it, you end up with this. Please read and share:

Click here to read.

The post Clearly, We Need More Shame And Judgment In Our Society appeared first on The Matt Walsh Blog.

Cornering Russia, Risking World War III

Official Washington is awash with tough talk about Russia and the need to punish President Putin for his role in Ukraine and Syria. But this bravado ignores Russia’s genuine national interests, its “red lines,” and the risk that “tough-guy-ism” can lead to nuclear war, as Alastair Crooke explains. By Alastair Crooke We all know the…

The Courage from Whistle-blowing

Exclusive: Courage, like cowardice, can grow as an action by one person influences decisions by others, either toward bravery or fear. Thus, the gutsy whistle-blowing by some NSA officials inspired Edward Snowden to expose mass data collection on all Americans, recalls ex-CIA analyst Ray McGovern. By Ray McGovern When Edward Snowden in early June 2013 began to reveal classified…

Chicago Police Adopt Israeli Tactics

Exclusive: The Chicago police slaying of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, like other recent police killings of blacks, may resemble the actions of an occupation military, in part, because Chicago and other U.S. cities have learned from Israel’s occupation of Palestine, writes retired JAG Major Todd E. Pierce. By Todd E. Pierce After more than a year of stonewalling and…

Israel’s Moral Erosion

Amid global anger over militants citing the Koran as a defense for terrorism, less attention gets paid to Israel citing God’s will as expressed in the Bible as the moral justification for stealing Palestinian land, an ethical crisis that is eroding Israel’s world standing, writes Alon Ben-Meir. By Alon Ben-Meir I have long maintained that…

Congress Plays Santa to the Rich

As Congress rushes to wrap up business before the Christmas holidays, it traditionally dangles pricy ornaments – favors to rich donors – on an omnibus bill called a “Christmas tree,” one activity that has survived the current legislative dysfunction, writes Michael Winship. By Michael Winship I was planning to write a festive poem to Congress…

A Day When Journalism Died

Exclusive: Dec. 9 has a grim meaning for the Republic, the date in 2004 when investigative reporter Gary Webb, driven to ruin by vindictive press colleagues for reviving the Contra-cocaine scandal, took his own life, a demarcation as the U.S. press went from protecting the people to shielding the corrupt, writes Robert Parry. By Robert Parry Looking back over my four decades in the…

Putting the ISIS ‘Crisis’ in Context

The hysteria over Islamic State terrorism is driving talk of a new U.S.-led ground war in the Middle East – this time an invasion of Syria under the guise of a “safe zone” – but such rash actions would only make matters worse, writes ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar. By Paul R. Pillar Emotional and…

Cruz Threatens to Nuke ISIS Targets

Exclusive: Republican presidential campaign rhetoric is red-hot regarding Islamic terrorism, with Sen. Cruz suggesting the use of nuclear weapons to see “if sand can glow in the dark,” a threat even more troubling than Donald Trump’s call to temporarily bar Muslims from entering the U.S., writes Robert Parry. By Robert Parry As Republican presidential candidates lined up to one-up…

The Religious Element of Terrorism

The history of religions – especially monotheistic ones such as Christianity, Judaism and Islam – are rife with examples of cruelty, war and even genocide done in God’s name. So should people avoid the phrase “Islamic terrorism,” asks William Blum. By William Blum Is it terrorism or is it religion? Does the question matter? From…

The Terror from the Gun

On the campaign trail and the cable networks, it’s all ISIS all the time as Americans react with fear and fury over the San Bernardino massacre. But the U.S. crisis of gun violence goes way beyond the few cases of Islamic terrorism, says Lawrence Davidson. By Lawrence Davidson I was waiting for a doctor’s appointment…

Why Syria’s Options Are So Bad

The incoherence of Western policy toward Syria goes back decades to Cold War covert schemes that thwarted a democratic turn — and to more recent neocon insistence on “regime change,” not negotiations. Those choices have now left the West with a set of unpalatable options, says Ted Snider. By Ted Snider In Syria, the West…

Translating Obama’s Speech into Candor

President Obama’s primetime speech on terrorism sought to calm a jittery nation, but by omitting relevant details, he left many thoughtful Americans scratching their heads. To clarify the unspoken parts of Obama’s speech, Norman Solomon has translated the speech into the language of candor. By Norman Solomon Here is a condensed version of President Obama’s speech from the Oval…

The Incredible Shrinking President

Exclusive: Trying to soothe American fears about “terrorism,” President Obama glossed over the dangerous contradictions in his own policy, particularly the fact that Saudi Arabia, Turkey and other “allies” have been helping Al Qaeda and ISIS, notes Daniel Lazare. By Daniel Lazare President Barack Obama came off well in his nationwide address on the San…

Twenty Years of Truth-telling

From Editor Robert Parry: Consortiumnews is now 20 years old. We began in late November 1995 as the first investigative news magazine based on what was then a new phenomenon, the Internet. Our goal was then – and still is today – to provide a home for serious, independent investigative journalism. Over those two decades,…

The Tricky Definition of ‘Terrorism’

The classic definition of terrorism as violence against civilians to make a political point may make sense but the term’s elastic use – even applied to attacks on U.S. soldiers operating in foreign lands – has transformed the word into an epithet that depends on one’s preferred bias, writes John V. Whitbeck. By John V.…

Real Question for President Obama

Part of Official Washington’s problem is that most journalists – at least those called on at presidential news conferences – represent the same “group think” that pervades the government, meaning President Obama doesn’t get asked truly probing questions, as William Blum notes at Anti-Empire Report. By William Blum Questions to ask President Barack Obama the next time…

Obama’s Credibility Crisis

Exclusive: Inside Official Washington’s bubble, the Important People believe their “group think” is the envy of the world, but the truth is that their credibility has collapsed to such a degree that their propaganda can’t even match up with the head-chopping videos of the Islamic State crazies, writes Robert Parry. By Robert Parry Like the old story of…

Trump’s Heresy on Israel

The appeal of Donald Trump’s bigoted comments has exposed an unpleasant truth about the Republican Party, which has been flirting with racism since Richard Nixon’s Southern Strategy, but his refusal to toe the line on Israel also highlights the groveling by other candidates, notes ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar. By Paul R. Pillar With less…

PBS Joins the MSM’s Syria-Russia Bias

Mainstream U.S. media systematically excludes points of view on world affairs that deviate from Official Washington’s “group think.” With no lessons learned from the Iraq-WMD debacle, the MSM only lets on establishment or right-wing pundits with conformist points of view on crises with Syria and Russia, notes Rick Sterling. By Rick Sterling PBS Newshour is considered high-quality journalism by many North Americans.…

Suffering from Global Warming First

Indigenous people who live close to the land are seeing the effects of global warming sooner and more alarmingly than many urban dwellers and thus are demanding a strong voice in the Paris Climate Summit, as Native and Indian leader Andrea Carmen told Dennis J Bernstein. By Dennis J Bernstein Among the world’s people already…

What to Do about the ISIS ‘Caliphate’

While the first necessity in dealing with a threat like ISIS is to finally get Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar to cut off its financial and military life lines, the terror group’s claim to a territorial caliphate presents a unique problem for the international community, as ex-CIA official Graham E. Fuller explains. By Graham E.…

A Way Forward on Israel-Palestine

Prospects for Israeli-Palestinian peace have rarely looked dimmer – with Prime Minister Netanyahu unwilling to make concessions and President Obama incapable of applying pressure, but one option would be to abandon the so-called Quartet and embrace the Arab Peace Initiative, says Alon Ben-Meir. By Alon Ben-Meir During several meetings I recently had with European Union officials in Brussels,…

Who Wants to Weaponize Outer Space?

U.S. military hardliners are pushing for military dominance of outer space – and U.S. diplomats are blocking international efforts to ban its weaponization – but the Obama administration pretends that Russia and China are the problem, as Sam Husseini explains. By Sam Husseini The recent box-office hit “The Martian” – directed by Ridley Scott and…

Learning to Love the ‘Drone War’

The mainstream U.S. news media is so in the tank on the “war on terror” that it ignores critical information that the American people should know, such as the public complaint from four former Air Force drone operators that the lethal program is killing innocents and creating terrorists, writes John Hanrahan. By John Hanrahan The…

When Mass Killings Aren’t ‘News’

The 24/7 coverage of the San Bernardino mass killing, perpetrated by a Muslim husband and wife, has alarmed and frightened Americans, but there is next to no mainstream interest in disclosures about far worse mayhem carried out by the U.S. government’s lethal drone program, writes David Swanson. By David Swanson We now know this. A…

Israel’s ‘Successful’ Defeat on Iran

Israel’s defeat in its bid to get Congress to block President Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran may have represented a loss of face, but the fight generated lots of money and set a marker for Obama and his successors on the price to pay for crossing Israel’s lobby, writes Trita Parsi. By Trita Parsi A…

Humanity’s ‘Hail Mary’ on Global Warming

The growing crisis over global warming must be addressed seriously now or require risky “geoengineering” strategies as a last resort in the not-too-distant future, a dangerous “Hail Mary” pass for humanity’s survival, as ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar explains. By Paul R. Pillar Some observers of the climate conference in Paris, and of the preparations leading…

How Republicans Shred the Republic

The anti-government ideology that drives today’s Republican Party claims to support the U.S. Constitution but is actually its antithesis. Rather than “We the People” providing for the “general Welfare,” the goal is to starve government and cede all power to the rich and ruthless, as Bill Moyers and Michael Winship explain. By Bill Moyers and Michael…

NATO Picks a New Fight with Russia

Exclusive: The Obama administration and much of Official Washington have dangerously lost touch with reality, ginning up a costly new Cold War with Russia even as expensive wars continue in Afghanistan and Iraq/Syria. The latest provocation against Russia is to invite Montenegro into NATO, writes Jonathan Marshall. By Jonathan Marshall If insanity means trying the same…

Obama Ignores Russian Terror Victims

Exclusive: President Obama has displayed a stunning lack of sympathy for the Russian civilians killed in an ISIS plane bombing in Egypt and for two Russian military men slain as victims of U.S. weapons systems in Syria, putting insults toward President Putin ahead of human decency, writes Robert Parry. By Robert Parry Normally, when a country…

Global Angst over US Secrecy Fetish

With the reach of U.S. surveillance now global – and with the U.S. military deployed all over the world – anger at President Obama’s unprecedented crackdown on whistleblowers who disclose the U.S. government’s abuses and crimes has gone international, as this Norwegian opinion piece by Victor Wallis shows. By Victor Wallis The more extreme the crimes of state, the more the…

Obama Taunts Putin over Syria

President Obama mocked Russian President Putin for not fixing Syria during the past month and chided him about Moscow’s Afghan quagmire in the 1980s, proving that Obama has either no self-awareness or no sense of irony given the U.S. misadventures in both countries, as Sam Husseini describes. By Sam Husseini President Barack Obama’s remarks about Russian President…

The West’s Deadly Mideast Fantasies

Exclusive: Madness or at least self-deception now dominates the West’s approach to the Middle East, with ostensibly rational leaders like Barack Obama and Francois Hollande fueling public hysteria about terrorism and pursuing “regime change” strategies proven to fail, as Mike Lofgren explains. By Mike Lofgren Around the time of the 2003 Iraq invasion and the silliness…

Propagandists Count On Your Ultra-Short Memory

Discrediting The Fairy Tale Of Man Made Climate Change Through Their Own Words

In honor of the climate summit in Paris, lets take a closer look at the predictions that climate hysterics have made. Propagandists succeed because they realize the masses (that means you) can’t retain the details of news stories churned out at blistering speeds in modern society.

Taking advantage,  they lie fearlessly knowing that hardly a soul will recall in 6 months time nevermind 5 years how wildly inaccurate and reckless their speech and warnings have proven to be. In this video, Paul Joseph Watson does society a valuable service by reminding us of all the discredited prophesies of doom and despair that climate alarmists have made in the recent past. The composite of their failures should teach us to never trust them again.

If climate change is not about authentic climate change and drastic situations like water covering NYC, what is it about?

As if having unenforcable emission standards weren’t bad enough, politico says this

And therein lies the sticking point on which negotiations actually center: “climate finance.” Climate finance is the term for wealth transferred from developed to developing nations based on a vague and shifting set of rationales including repayment of the “ecological debt” created by past emissions, “reparations” for natural disasters, and funding of renewable energy initiatives.

 

The issue will dominate the Paris talks. The INDCs covering actual emissions reductions are subjective, discretionary, and thus essentially unnegotiable. Not so the cash. Developing countries are expecting more than $100 billion in annual funds from this agreement or they will walk away. (For scale, that’s roughly equivalent to the entire OECD budget for foreign development assistance.)
 
Somehow, the international process for addressing climate change has become one where addressing climate change is optional and apparently beside the point. Rich countries are bidding against themselves to purchase the developing world’s signature on an agreement so they can declare victory — even though the agreement itself will be the only progress achieved.

This is a great time to listen in to the climate change chatter to try and figure out what propagandists are actually seeking with this climate change charade.

The post Propagandists Count On Your Ultra-Short Memory appeared first on PropagandaGuard.

Near Boiling Point on Global Warming

Rising global temperatures – if they exceed 2 degrees above pre-industrial levels – threaten to unleash havoc across the planet, including mass dislocations of desperate people that will make the current flood of Syrian refugees look like a tiny warm-up, writes Nat Parry. By Nat Parry With more than 40,000 negotiators from 196 governments descending…

Fretting the Wrong Entry Program

Politicians are scoring points with a frightened U.S. population by hyping the supposed danger of letting in up to 10,000 Syrian refugees, but a much greater or actual risk exists in the current gaps in a visa-waiver program, write Coleen Rowley and Georgianne Nienaber. By Coleen Rowley and Georgianne Nienaber All the hyped political angst regarding the…

The Issue of Anti-Abortion Terrorism

There have long been double standards when using the word “terrorism,” with acts by political or ideological allies spared the label while it is ladled over the actions of an adversary, a dilemma that has reappeared in the attack on a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado, writes ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar. By Paul R.…

The US-Russia Proxy War in Syria

Exclusive: The risk of Syria becoming a proxy war between the U.S. and Russia became real last week when Turkey and Syrian jihadists used U.S.-supplied weaponry to shoot down a Russian warplane and rescue helicopter, killing two Russians, a danger that ex-CIA analyst Ray McGovern explores. By  Ray McGovern Belatedly, at a sidebar meeting with Russian…

Help Truth-telling on ‘Giving Tuesday’

From Editor Robert Parry: The idea of giving to an investigative news site on “Giving Tuesday” may seem a bit odd – after all, there are many worthy charities that address immediate human needs – but the truth is that nothing good can come if the people don’t have a reliable source for truth. And,…

Facts Back Russia on Turkish Attack

Turkey claims its Nov. 24 shoot-down of a Russian warplane along the Syrian border was justified — and the Obama administration is publicly siding with its NATO ally — but a review of the evidence supports Russian accusations of an “ambush,” writes Gareth Porter for Middle East Eye. By Gareth Porter The United States and its NATO allies offered…

Abortionists and Planned Parenthood Shooter Are Just Two Sides Of The Same Coin

I’ve said this before, but if you only ever read and share one thing I write, make it this one. I got into blogging specifically for situations like this. I got into it to say difficult truths when seemingly nobody else is willing to say them.

As I’m sure you heard, a mentally insane man shot several people — mostly cops, a few civilians — in and around a Planned Parenthood clinic on Friday. One can presume that a number of precious unborn children were also murdered in separate incidents at the clinic that day, but they will never be named, mourned, or memorialized.

Now, even though the shooter is a rambling reclusive lunatic with no coherent motivations, left wingers have used this incident to smear the pro-life movement and position themselves, and the abortion industry, as victims. Frustratingly, many on the right have made a show of condemning the attacks, but they haven’t forcefully pushed back against these hypocrites who condone the murder of children and then act SHOCKED and OUTRAGED when some violence spills back in their direction.

I’m not having it. Obviously we condemn the murder of the innocent, but we are not the ones who have to come out and prove it. We have proved it, over and over again. The abortion industry heinously murders a million babies a year, and yet we are so committed to peace that the child killers can go about their business safely and securely. We battle them with ideas, and prayer, and love. They are the violent ones, not us, and everyone knows it.

Beyond that, there are four very important points that need to be made, and I ask you to read this to understand them. One of the biggest overarching points is that, as I say in the title, the Planned Parenthood shooter is a murderer of the innocent, and so is Planned Parenthood. In that way, they are really just two sides of the same coin. Pro-lifers oppose both because we oppose murder itself. Pro-aborts celebrate one and then think they have the standing to condemn the other, but they don’t.

We are the peaceful ones. We the ones who love people and strive to defend the sanctity of human life. We are the good guys here, and none of that has changed:

Click here to read.

The post Abortionists and Planned Parenthood Shooter Are Just Two Sides Of The Same Coin appeared first on The Matt Walsh Blog.

How Gaddafi’s Ouster Unleashed Terror

Exclusive: Hillary Clinton still sees the 2011 Libyan “regime change” as a feather in her cap as Secretary of State, but the violent ouster of Muammar Gaddafi turned Libya into a badlands for Islamic terrorists who have spread their killing sprees far and wide, just as Gaddafi warned, says Jonathan Marshall. By Jonathan Marshall The…

Ben Carson and the ‘War on Christmas’

An absurd but popular complaint on America’s Christian Right is that Christmas is under attack – despite the nation’s extraordinary month-long birthday party for Jesus. But, ironically, one Christian Right favorite, Ben Carson, may oppose this celebration of Christmas, as Nat Parry notes. By Nat Parry Ben Carson, the neurosurgeon turned Republican presidential contender, may…

Avoiding the Trap of Retaliation

The Paris terror attacks brought demands for retaliation against the Islamic State, which claimed responsibility, but by lashing out against the group in Syria and Iraq the West may be falling into a trap that will only strengthen the terrorists, writes John V. Whitbeck. By John V. Whitbeck For French President François Hollande, the attacks…

Is Assad Part of a Solution?

A favorite talking point of Official Washington is that Syrian President Assad is “a magnet for terrorism” who thus must be removed, but that’s a line not stuck on other leaders who are attacked by terrorists. A more sober assessment would see Assad as a necessary part of a solution, says Lawrence Davidson. By Lawrence Davidson Here…

The Collision Course in Syria

Exclusive: President Obama’s continued insistence on “regime change” in Syria and his support for Sunni jihadists not called ISIS have escalated tensions with Moscow, especially after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane along the Syrian border. This division may help only the extremists, writes Daniel Lazare. By Daniel Lazare With Turkey downing a Russian Su-24…

Corporate Climate Change Propaganda

Pathetic Climate Change Propaganda

Ben & Jerry’s and Unilever are two corporations among many engaged in climate change propaganda; it isn’t enough to sell ice cream now that the ice cream is…oh my gosh… melting. Unless a corporation has a leftist customer base they have little or no financial incentive to engage in these types of campaigns, which can only serve to piss off the “climate denier”.  Backing a “cause” is always a risky behavior for a money making operation. It makes you wonder when so many businesses feel the need to play Russion Roulette backing a highly controversal issue?

The Unilever propaganda video relies upon  “The science is settled” mantra for its main argument. It’s as obvious as the thermostat on the wall or so the analogy goes. Of course, everyone knows that the climate is always changing and the science is never settled because there is no such thing as universal agreement on an idea as controversial as CO2, as a pollutant. Unilever has an entire subdomain set up for diseminating climate change propaganda, called bright Future.

When Global Warming Propaganda Is So Lame It Hurts | The Daily Sheeple

 And the saddest part is, you can tell they actually think they are being clever here…
Sorry if this climate change propaganda makes your forehead ache like you inhaled too many Slurpees.
At least you were warned.

Watch this social experiment w/@Upworthy to see how office workers dealt with rising heat… https://t.co/XBoa07sLVY https://t.co/rJkWm4Zodm

— Unilever UK & IRE (@UnileverUKI) November 10, 2015

 

TA DA: Our last event of the year is a big one to get ready for People’s Climate March!https://t.co/hVv6NLV1eg http://pic.twitter.com/ra7lmuoK3Q — CraftivistCollective (@Craftivists) November 6, 2015

Failed Climate Change Prophesies

You won’t hear these epic failed attempts to predict climate catastrophe in the news. (H/T to Newsobserveronline)

* In 1989, the United Nations predicted that “entire nations would be wiped off the face of the earth by rising sea levels by the year 2000” as a result of “climate change.”

San Jose Mercury News (CA) — June 30, 1989 — 3F General News

GRIM FORECAST

A senior environmental official at the United Nations, Noel Brown, says entire nations could be wiped off the face of the earth by rising sea levels if global warming is not reversed by the year 2000. Coastal flooding and crop failures would create an exodus of “eco-refugees,” threatening political chaos, said Brown, director of the New York office of the UN Environment Program. He said governments have a 10-year window of opportunity to solve the greenhouse effect.

* In 2007, the chief of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Rajendra Kumar Pachauri, said, “If there’s no action before 2012, that’s too late. What we do in the next two to three years will determine our future. This is the defining moment.”

* On Jan. 19, 2009, James Hansen, ‘climate expert’ who was formerly head of NASA’s Goddard Institute of Space Studies, firmly declared that President Obama “has only four years to save the Earth.”

* In 2014, satellite images showed that the Arctic ice cap was thicker than ever, and covered 1.7 million square kilometers more than two years previously, in spite of infamous alarmist Al Gore’s 2007 prediction it would be ice-free by that year.

While there is some evidence for environmental damage as a result of industrialization, it is clear that the hysteria over “climate change” has taken on a distinctly political tinge—and an anti-Western one at that.

Quotes From Noted Scientists

“Warming fears are the “worst scientific scandal in the history…When people come to know what the truth is, they will feel deceived by science and scientists.” – UN IPCC Japanese Scientist Dr. Kiminori Itoh, an award-winning PhD environmental physical chemist.

“Creating an ideology pegged to carbon dioxide is a dangerous nonsense…The present alarm on climate change is an instrument of social control, a pretext for major businesses and political battle. It became an ideology, which is concerning.” – Environmental Scientist Professor Delgado Domingos of Portugal, the founder of the Numerical Weather Forecast group, has more than 150 published articles.

“Since I am no longer affiliated with any organization nor receiving any funding, I can speak quite frankly….As a scientist I remain skeptical.” – Atmospheric Scientist Dr. Joanne Simpson, the first woman in the world to receive a PhD in meteorology and formerly of NASA who has authored more than 190 studies and has been called “among the most preeminent scientists of the last 100 years.

“Climate change is pure political propaganda that has nothing to do with science,” and that in reality, the world’s “deserts are greening from rising CO₂.”–One of the original founders of Greenpeace, Dr. Patrick Moore.

“I urge you when looking at a graph, check the scales! The uncertainty here is tenths of a degree,” he noted. “When someone points to this and says this is the warmest temperature on record, what are they talking about? It’s just nonsense. This is a very tiny change period. And they are arguing over hundredths of a degree when it is uncertain in tenths of a degree,” —Dr. Richard Lindzen, former Professor of Meteorology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences.

“Policies to reduce CO₂  are “based on nonsense” and on “computer models that do not work. We are being led down a false path. Our breath is not that different from a power plant”.–Will Happer, Professor of Physics at Princeton University and former director of the US Department of Energy’s Office of Science.

 

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In the Dark on the ‘Dark Side’

The “War on Terror” – now more than 14 years long – has trapped the U.S. and other nations in the “dark side” of human behavior, a dilemma that is both moral and practical because the continued use of brutal methods has only made the crisis worse, as Nicolas J S Davies explains. By Nicolas…

The Real Thanksgiving Day

From the Archive: On Thanksgiving Day, the United States celebrates the tradition of Pilgrims and Native Americans sitting down together in Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1621 to celebrate each other as friendly neighbors. But the reality was not so pleasant, as historian William Loren Katz recalled. By William Loren Katz (Originally published on Nov. 12, 2009)…

In Case You Missed…

Some of our special stories in October focused on the deepening crisis in Syria, continued corruption in Ukraine, the frustrating presidential campaign, and the enduring mystery over the MH-17 shoot-down. “Should US Ally with Al Qaeda in Syria” by Robert Parry, Oct. 1, 2015 “Obama Tolerates the Warmongers” by Daniel Lazare, Oct. 2, 2015 “US…

Dear Christians, Now Is The Time For Intolerance

Christians say we are a “Christian nation,” but I see no evidence to support that claim. If we are, why is our entertainment and our pop culture often so gleefully sacrilegious and anti-Christian?

There are obviously many, many, many examples of this, but a few recent ones include the prime time ABC show last week that depicted a woman getting an abortion while “Silent Night,” a song about the birth of Christ, played in the background.

It wasn’t out of the ordinary for ABC. After all, this is the same network that produced a sitcom called “Good Christian Bitches” a while back, and it’s the same network whose sister channel, ABC Family, features a drama about biracial lesbian foster parents.

Meanwhile, Fox will soon debut a comedy called “Lucifer,” in which the protagonist is a charming, well-intentioned, attractive Satan who comes to Earth to fight crime and flirt with women. Also, AMC will be premiering “Preacher,” about a Christian minister possessed by the lovechild of a demon and an angel. The show follows his adventures as he searches for God, who has cowardly abandoned His creation.

Now, obviously, no media company would ever in a million years consider turning blasphemy against Islam into comedy like they do with Christianity. And none would ever attack progressive dogmas like they attack Christian teachings. Only our beliefs are mocked as entertainment. Only Our Lord is spit upon just for fun.
And why? Simple: because we tolerate it. We accept it. We PARTICIPATE IN IT by continuing to support the companies that produce this garbage. We lack the courage of our convictions. We are weak.

Jesus flipped tables when the temple was desecrated. Well, Christ IS the temple, so should we not do the same when He is defiled? Nobody respects us in this society because they know they can slap God Himself in the face and we will stand by and just continue handing them our money.

I say enough of this. Nobody else in the world tolerates sacrilege like we do. And not long ago, Christians wouldn’t have tolerated it either. I think it’s time to be intolerant again:

Click here to read.

The post Dear Christians, Now Is The Time For Intolerance appeared first on The Matt Walsh Blog.

Turkey Provokes Russia with Shoot-down

Exclusive: Turkey appears to have deliberately shot down a Russian warplane as a provocation designed to escalate tensions between NATO and Russia, a ploy that seems to have sucked in President Obama as he tries to look tough against Russia to appease his neocon critics, writes Robert Parry. By Robert Parry President Barack Obama – always sensitive to…

Delinking Terrorism and Islam

Exclusive: President Obama has faced sharp criticism from the Right for refusing to link Islam to acts of terrorism. He argues that to do so plays into the hands of violent criminals who wrap their brutality in the cloak of a great religion. But who has the better side of this argument, asks Jonathan Marshall.…

The Bitter Fruit of ‘Bibi-ism’

A constant irritant exacerbating the anger in the Middle East is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with Israeli Prime Minister “Bibi” Netanyahu privately believing that no solution is really possible though he may pretend otherwise in public, what some call “Bibi-ism,” writes Michael Winship. By Michael Winship Maybe I didn’t get the memo, but I hadn’t heard…

Going Nativist on Syrian Refugees

The political opportunism over Syrian refugees – from Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and other GOP presidential candidates – is one of the uglier features of the growing hysteria over terrorism. It also reflects a recurring strain of nativism that has infected the U.S. public at times of stress, as ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar recalls.…

Hitting Saudi Arabia Where It Hurts

Exclusive: Though faced with a global terrorism crisis, Official Washington can’t get beyond its neocon-led “tough-guy-gal” rhetoric. But another option – financial sanctions on Saudi Arabia – might help finally shut down the covert supply of money and arms to Al Qaeda and the Islamic State, writes Robert Parry. By Robert Parry As the Islamic State…

A ‘See-No-Evil’ Drone War

The mainstream U.S. news media has failed miserably in holding the U.S. government to account for the killing of civilians in its drone strikes during the 14-year-old “war on terror,” rarely supplying such unpleasant facts even when they become available, writes John Hanrahan. By John Hanrahan By now you know the drill: The CIA or…

Ducking the Issue of ‘Perpetual War’

During last week’s Democratic presidential debate, Sen. Bernie Sanders had an opening to reshape the campaign by offering a thoughtful critique of “perpetual war” and its consequences, but – like the other major candidates of both parties – ducked this crucial issue, writes Sam Husseini. By Sam Husseini In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks,…

Rethinking ‘Assad Must Go’ Slogan

Official Washington’s “Assad must go!” slogan is threatening to destroy hopes for a political settlement of the horrific Syrian conflict and for an end to the chaos cascading from it – finally prompting some U.S. officials to rethink the “group think,” as Gareth Porter reported for Middle East Eye. By Gareth Porter In the wake of…

The Brutal Paris Terror Attack

As horrific as the Paris terror attack was, it was not a sophisticated operation engineered by some diabolical mastermind. It was a low-tech, brutal assault that has distracted from a more important debate – how to give young, disaffected Muslim men more reason to live – writes ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar. By Paul R.…

The Saudi Connection to Terror

Exclusive: While Official Washington devotes much sound and fury to demands for a wider war in Syria and the need to turn away Syrian refugees, Democrats and Republicans dodge the tougher question: how to confront Saudi Arabia about its covert funding for Islamic State and Al Qaeda terrorists, writes Daniel Lazare. By Daniel Lazare How does ISIS pay…

The ‘War on Terror’ Has Been Lost

After 14 years, trillions of dollars spent and hundreds of thousands of people dead – with violence expanding, not abating – perhaps it’s finally time to admit that the Bush-Obama “War on Terror” has been lost and that a new strategy addressing root causes is required, as Nat Parry describes. By Nat Parry Last week’s…

Hard Lessons from Paris Attack

In Official Washington, the talk is all about expanded wars and how tough to be on Syrian refugees. But elsewhere there is some serious reflection on how the West went wrong in its approach toward the Middle East, as reflected in Dennis J Bernstein’s interview with Indian historian Vijay Prashad. By Dennis J Bernstein After…

Tangled Threads of US False Narratives

Exclusive: Official Washington’s many false narratives about Russia and Syria have gotten so tangled that they have become a danger to the struggle against Sunni terrorism and conceivably a threat to the future of the planet, a risk that Robert Parry explores. By Robert Parry One way to view Official Washington is to envision a giant…

You’re Not A Bad Christian Just Because You Want To Be Cautious About Syrian Refugees

I want to finally tell you in detail what I think about the Syrian refugee crisis, and what I think America should do in response to it. I haven’t said much on the subject until now because I’ve been researching the facts and reading other analyses on both sides of the debate. I’ve read a lot of really stupid arguments, and a lot of really compelling ones. Through that process, I still have not become an expert, I still could be wrong, and I still have a very limited knowledge about the history of American refugee policy and other related issues. Unlike everyone else on the internet, apparently, I actually am not a scholar on this subject. I’m just a guy with a few opinions.

My opinions do not fit neatly into the “yea” or “nay” paradigm. If you assume you know my position based on the title of this piece, you’re probably assuming incorrectly. To very briefly summarize, I understand the hesitations about taking in the refugees, I believe it would be reckless to admit thousands without thorough background checks ahead of time, I do think we should be discriminatory in who we accept and who we don’t, I do think 10,000 is probably too many at this precise moment in time, and I am extremely concerned about importing radical Islamic ideology into our communities.

On the other side of it, I don’t think these refugees are terrorists, I don’t think there’s any evidence to support the more panicked reactions to them, I sincerely doubt that we have to worry about orphans and widows being ISIS double agents, and I do believe we have a moral obligation to help.

There’s more to it. You really just have to read this one to understand what I’m saying. Because I’m staking out, perhaps, more of a third option on this issue, I’m likely to disappoint virtually all of my readers on both sides. But I think sometimes I need to disappoint my readers. If I never did, that’s probably a sign that I’m not being honest about my opinions. If you do agree with everything I’m saying here, please give it a share so that another side of this debate can be represented:

Click here to read the post.

The post You’re Not A Bad Christian Just Because You Want To Be Cautious About Syrian Refugees appeared first on The Matt Walsh Blog.

How Russians See the West and Russia

The U.S. mainstream media’s recent depictions of Russia amount to little more than crass propaganda, including the inside-out insistence that it is the Russian people who are the ones brainwashed by their government’s propaganda. Author Natylie Baldwin found a different reality in a tour of Russian cities. By Natylie Baldwin After a year and a half…

Reform Judaism’s Israeli Critique

Israel’s nearly seven decades of repressing Palestinians has soured many ethical Jews on the idea that the Jewish state should get unqualified support for its behavior, including now Rabbi Rick Jacobs, the leader of U.S. Reform Judaism, as Lawrence Davidson describes. By Lawrence Davidson Something significant recently happened in the ongoing political-ethical drama that grips Israel…

Baiting Obama to ‘Shock and Awe’

Official Washington’s armchair warriors are pounding their drums again, demanding a larger U.S. invasion of Syria and decrying President Obama as “feckless” for showing some restraint. But these hawks offer little thinking about the consequences of another long-term occupation, says ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar. By Paul R. Pillar President Barack Obama has repeatedly made adjustments…

Neocons Make Rubio Their Favorite

With Sen. Marco Rubio surging in the polls – closing the gap on Donald Trump and easily besting Hillary Clinton in some general-election match-ups – the neocons have found their favorite candidate, a fresh face who would put them firmly back in the driver’s seat of U.S. foreign policy, as JP Sottile explains. By JP…

CIA Whistleblower Kiriakou Honored

CIA officer John Kiriakou, the first U.S. official to confirm that waterboarding was used to torture “war on terror” detainees, then faced a retaliatory prosecution and 30 months in prison. Recognizing his sacrifice, the literary group PEN gave Kiriakou its First Amendment Award, observed ex-CIA analyst Ray McGovern. By Ray McGovern  Editor’s Note: On Nov. 16, PEN Center USA, the West…

Lost on the ‘Dark Side’ in Syria

The full story of how the U.S. ended up allied with some Sunni extremists in Syria – while at war with others – is a convoluted tale dating back to President George W. Bush’s neocons venturing off into Vice President Cheney’s “dark side” to work with violent jihadists, writes British diplomat Alastair Crooke. By Alastair Crooke When, in…

Falling into the ISIS Trap

Special Report: The Islamic State has entered into “phase two” of its plan. After establishing a rudimentary “caliphate” in Syria and Iraq (phase one), it is now seeking to provoke the West into a self-defeating overreaction, a trap that “tough” politicians are falling into, as historian William R. Polk describes. By William R. Polk The…

The Need for a Syrian Deal

In the wake of the Paris terror attacks – and other mass killings in Beirut and aboard a Russian airliner – there are new demands for military action. But the one step that might help matters is a more pragmatic approach to resolving the political crisis in Syria, as ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar explains. By Paul…

Grasping the Motives for Terror

The Paris terror attacks – particularly the methodical shooting of unarmed civilians – have shocked the world and generated new tough talk from policymakers. But the West cannot ignore how some of its violent policy prescriptions over the past 35 years have contributed to the crisis, writes James Paul. By James Paul As we mourn…

Obama’s Gitmo Failure

As President Obama approaches his final year in office, he has yet to fulfill one of his earliest promises, closing the Guantanamo Bay prison. It remains a grievance used by terror groups as a recruiting tool, but the prison has other legal and political problems, writes Marjorie Cohn at TeleSUR. By Marjorie Cohn President Barack Obama has…

Cosmopolitan-A Tool for Propagandists?

A Story Of Insight and Redemption

Sue Ellen Browder, age 70 writes in Subverted, her behind the scenes tell-all novel about her work as a writer for Cosmopolitan, “What I would like for women to recognize is how propaganda works so they don’t get deceived by it. Propaganda is half truth, selected truth, and truth out of context,”  As a young naive woman from Missouri she went off to NYC in search of her first writing job and landed at Cosmopolitan. She reveals that many of the stories in the magazine were in fact as real as the Wizard of Oz.

She regretfully acknowledges that she too “massaged” stories to soft sell unrestricted sex as liberating for women. She asserts that the imposition of the sexual revolution onto a legitimate woman’s movement, came as a result of a simple majority vote (57/100) and that the addition of abortion rights to the platform of the woman’s movement subverted it. She is writing now to set the record straight and no doubt to appease her conscience.

Half Truths

While Browder is correct that propaganda is half truth, selected truth, and truth out of context, don’t miss the larger questions of who the modern propagandists are and the purpose behind the sexual revolution. A strong family is the bedrock of a strong society. Destroy the family, destroy the culture and country.  Today note how the big six media groups work together in unity to promote transgenderism despite its low prevalence in society. Why? The destruction of gender, male and female, puts the nail in the coffin of the family unit.

Anyone who listens to the mainstream media realizes that they are constantly”selling” transgenderism, softening attitudes and mutting any and every legitimate concern about the wholesale acceptance of this lifestyle. Average people have all kinds of objections  as witnessed by multiple and ongoing conflicts over bathrooms, showers, goverment documents and education. Ultimately nothing less than the wholesale embrace of this issue will be tolerated.

Pick up Browders book, learn how they sold the sexual revolution back in the seventies and recognize that american propagandists are still co-opting magazines and media as effectively today for very similar purposes.

Former Cosmopolitan Reporter Exposes the Propaganda Behind the Sexual … Sue Ellen Browder – an award-winning journalist and author – tells Breitbart News that Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton wouldn’t be defending Planned Parenthood and abortion if she really understood that issue was part of the sexual revolution …

 

The post Cosmopolitan-A Tool for Propagandists? appeared first on PropagandaGuard.

How Saudi/Gulf Money Fuels Terror

Exclusive: With the death toll in the Paris terror attacks still rising, French President Hollande is condemning an “act of war” by the Islamic State, but the underlying reality is that France’s rich friends in the Persian Gulf are key accomplices in the mayhem, writes Daniel Lazare. By Daniel Lazare In the wake of the…

Can Obama Level with the People?

Exclusive: Another terrorist outrage – this one in Paris – is spreading fear and fury across Europe. Which makes this a key moment for President Obama to finally level with the American people about how U.S. “allies” — such as Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar — have been aiding and abetting extremists, reports Robert Parry. By Robert…

The Enduring Crime of ‘Agent Orange’

A half century ago, the U.S. government began a campaign of spraying Agent Orange herbicides on the forests of Southeast Asia, thinking that by defoliating vast areas, the military could more effectively bomb the “enemy” but instead created an ecological and health catastrophe, as Gary G. Kohls recalls. By Gary G. Kohls Fifty years ago…

Carpetbagging ‘Crony Capitalism’ in Ukraine

Exclusive: Ukraine’s Finance Minister Natalie Jaresko and other key officials were given overnight Ukrainian citizenship — with the law requiring them to renounce their old allegiances — but the American-born Jaresko has balked at that mandate, raising questions about her true motives, reports Robert Parry. By Robert Parry Last December, before being named Ukraine’s Finance…

Is Israeli-Palestinian Peace Impossible?

Israel’s long-running persecution of the Palestinians continues to stir up hatreds and violence across the Middle East, but Prime Minister Netanyahu remains intent on shifting the collective blame to the people under Israeli occupation, a dilemma that Michael Winship examines. By Michael Winship The Israeli journalist and TV producer Avi Issacharoff looked around our Tel…

Gulf States Slip Out of War on ISIS

Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states went through the motions of joining the U.S.-led fight against the Islamic State and other Sunni terrorists, who received substantial help from the same Gulf states, but those U.S. “allies” have now slipped out of the conflict almost entirely, says ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar. By Paul R. Pillar With little notice and no fanfare,…

Netanyahu Ups the US Ante

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu continues to play the tune to which U.S. politicians, including presidents and presidential candidates, dance. Now, his price for a future swirl around the dance floor is being raised to $4.5 billion a year, as retired Army Col. Ann Wright explains. By Ann Wright President Barack Obama, having met with Israeli Prime Minister…

Dear Walmart, Someone Insulted Me In One of Your Stores. Your CEO Must Now Resign.

I’ve learned a few things from liberalism, especially the sort of liberalism you find on college campuses. The situation at the University of Missouri only solidifies these two lessons: 1) We all have a right to never encounter offensive opinions or words of any kind, especially if we are members of any racial or sexual minority group. 2) If anyone ever insults us or shares uncomfortable opinions with us, someone should be immediately fired. And the person who gets fired doesn’t have to be the person who said it, necessarily (although they should be fired too, of course).

At the University of Missouri, administrators and professors are losing their livelihoods over a few reports of insulting words being said to a few people. I find this incredibly inspiring. And for that reason, I am now officially demanding the resignation of the CEO of Walmart. You see, another customer recently said mean words to me at a Walmart, which infringed on my rights as a human being, and must result in the resignation of the CEO and many other top ranking Walmart employees. I’ve learned that whoever is in charge of a particular institution should be the first to go whenever someone stands on the premises of that institution and says mean things.

I have other demands. I really need you guys to read this, and I need you to share it, and I need you to join in my campaign for accountability and social justice. You will not believe the victimization I endured. This story will shock you, hurt you, and I’m warning you now: it just might trigger you. But please read it and spread the word. It is the most important thing I’ve ever written. I mean it.

This is my story of heroism in the face of Walmart-endorsed persecution. I’ve had enough. I’m standing up. I call on my fellow social justice warriors to stand beside me. The time is now.‪#‎DougMcMillonMustGo‬:

Click here to read the post.

The post Dear Walmart, Someone Insulted Me In One of Your Stores. Your CEO Must Now Resign. appeared first on The Matt Walsh Blog.

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Why Do The Ranks of the Pissed Off And Offended Seem To Be Swelling Uncontrollably?

Indoctrination Lies Ruining The Moral Fiber Of The Country

The intercultural affairs council at Yale University circulated an email encouraging students to avoid culturally insensitive Halloween costumes. In response, Associate Master of Silliman College Erika Christakis and her husband created a firestorm by suggesting that there should be room for a young person to be “a little bit obnoxious, a little bit inappropriate or provocative or, yes, offensive.”

Christakis’ husband who willing waded out into the crowd of protestors was met with the following.

Here is PropagandaGuard’s response:

To the pissed off and offended undergraduate at Yale University, we are officially tired of you and your kind. You probably failed to notice but many people would be offended by your behavior; shouting down and cussing out a professor, obnoxious yelling instead of debate, in short having a public temper tantrum based solely on the demand to be insulated from ideology you find disagreeable or even more absurd-Halloween costumes.

The main casualty of uber-sensitivity is the loss of all sense of humor and any sense of perspective.

Mascots, costumes, statures, and flags are similarly indicted by the hordes of marginalized, victimized citizenry being stoked and inflamed by the joyless indoctrination lies of structural racism; the false ideology that turns the mind into a honing device for offenses. Once the quest is begun,  offenses can be found everywhere and the task unending.

Having a hard time at a college? This is not a new phenomenon. All types of people get picked on by roommates, ignored, called names, made to feel like outsiders etc.

The annals of history show generation after generation praying for strength to surmount tragedy, challenges, injustice and real hardship. But the young today have been duped into a Pollyannaish and naïve quest to rid the word of slights and verbal offenses that no previous generation would have seriously undertaken …because they were grown ups and the task trivial.

A serious and immediate infusion of perspective is needed.

Nobody can explain “perspective” quite like Roy H. Williams.

Decide today to stop being generation “Whiner”.

“Whiners piss me off.

I’m not trying to be shocking or crude, I’m just trying to make a point.

The reason whiners piss me off, I think, is because they seem to believe that injustice and hardship have somehow singled them out for a special beating.

Listen, whiner, everyone is ambushed by catastrophe occasionally.
 Quit acting like you’re someone special.

The other people who piss me off are the ones who pretend like they’ve got their life so together that they live each day with their chins held fearlessly high and their hair blowing carefree in the wind.

Those people are posers who want to be admired.

Everyone gets tackled from behind occasionally.
 Bad things happen to good people.
 Bad things happen to bad people.
 Bad things happen to everyone.

So yes, you’re going to get clobbered.
 You’re going to occasionally find yourself on your hands and knees asking, “What just happened and how can I stop it?”

Getting clobbered doesn’t make you exceptional.

Getting back up, dusting yourself off, finding something to smile about and continuing on your journey, those are the things that make you special.

In the 24th chapter of the ancient book of Proverbs, we read, 
“A good man will fall seven times and get back up again.”

It does not say, “A good man never falls.”

So get back up.
 Dust yourself off.
 Find something to smile about. 
And continue on your journey.”

Roy H. Williams

Come on Generation Whiner, Wake up! Like people rearranging chairs on the deck of the Titanic, you fail to realize that the fight of the century is taking place, not race against race, or tiny marginalized group against society but all little guys against the global elite. Stop being so thin-skinned. Grow up and get in the game.

And to the adults fostering this kind of pathetic disenabling of our most prized possession, face the facts that gooey sentimentalism does much more harm than good.

The post Why Do The Ranks of the Pissed Off And Offended Seem To Be Swelling Uncontrollably? appeared first on PropagandaGuard.

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