National health survey uses political science, not medical science, to blame ‘LGBT’ health problems on discrimination By Deborah C. Tyler

“I knew I was different before I knew what different meant,” Mike said with a slight smile. “When I was just four, I would talk to God. I would ask God if He made me different because I was being punished.” Mike said that he came from a loving family and a very protective mother and a happy childhood. “I loved going to church. Nobody treated me differently. I didn’t think about sex. I didn’t know anything about being gay – just that I was different, and I kept asking God why.”

Mike said that when he was eight years old, God gave him an answer that somehow satisfied him. God told him, “I don’t make any mistakes. To Me you are perfect. But Mother Nature makes mistakes – some big mistakes and some little mistakes. She just made a little mistake; don’t worry about it.” Mike smiled broadly at the idea that God made him perfect, even though Nature is not perfect. It relieved his mind, and he stopped asking for an answer. He was bullied in school, but the consciousness of being different predated by years any bullying or mistreatment.

The idea that homosexuality may be an “oops” of nature is considered intolerable bigotry by the LGBT hegemony. The truth is that consciousness of being different in an unchosen way, especially regarding the profound and pervasive mental dimension of sexuality, is a source of distress, fear, and anger independent of social conditioning or prejudice. The belief that sex minority problems do not arise primarily from discrimination, but rather from internal psychological processes, is heretical. A recent article in the online Journal of the American Medical Association underscores this prejudice.

Mike was a participant in the survey the article describes. It was conducted by Gilbert Gonzales, Ph.D. of the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. Dr. Gonzales, a homosexual, is an LGBT activist whose research interests have focused on the LGBT political agenda such as same-sex marriage.

Overall, 69,000 participants were surveyed. Sixty-seven thousand one hundred fifty were reported to be heterosexual, 525 lesbian, 624 gay, and 515 bisexual. Dr. Gonzales’s research concluded that lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults are more likely to report impaired physical and mental health, heavy alcohol consumption, and heavy cigarette use, “stressors that LGB people experience as a result of interpersonal and structural discrimination.”

Wake Up America: A Review By Elise Cooper

Wake Up America should be the rallying cry for everyone who wants the United States to be great again, considering it has gone adrift over the last seven years from what the Founding Fathers intended. It is also the name of “The Five” co-host Eric Bolling’s book. After interviewing him American Thinker decided to take points he made and compare it to world events.

The qualities Bolling writes about are grit, manliness, individualism, merit, profit and providence, dominion over our environment, thrift, and above all pride in our country. Bolling speaks of his background, raised in a struggling blue-collar family in Chicago, where he learned from his parents that hard work and firm values will enable someone to get ahead in life. Those values drove him as a young baseball player to being drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates, then success as a New York Mercantile Exchange trader, and now his daily role on Fox News Channel.

The book begins with a dedication to President Obama, “If it weren’t for your announced goal of ‘fundamentally transforming the United States of America,’ I wouldn’t have been to exceedingly motivated to write this book to stop you and your liberal pals from achieving that goal. America will survive your agenda.”

He explained, “I did the dedication because this upcoming election is extremely important. It is the last shot we have for at least eight years, maybe longer. We need to push back against President Obama’s stated goal of not making America exceptional on the world stage. The President has done everything in his power to achieve the goal of undermining American exceptionalism.”

An example is President Obama’s executive order that makes the central point of U.S. policy the limiting of civilian casualties in war zones. He spoke of having between 64 and 116 civilian casualties occurring in Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia. No one wants any civilians to be hurt or killed, but this president appears to put those in war zones ahead of other civilians. Just look at the numbers of innocents killed outise of any “war zone”: 129 in Paris, 32 in Brussels, 14 in San Bernardino, 49 in Orlando, 41 in Istanbul, and 20 in Bangladesh. Bolling is correct that Americans need to wake up and elect a president who is willing to destroy the terrorist threat, no matter the consequences, because in the end more of those in war zones will also be saved. In its own military campaigns, America often saves the few only to watch the many die horrific deaths at the hands of the Jihadists.

How many people have been frustrated with political correctness? Bolling shows his exasperation calling it “defeatist crap… a huge number of Americans think trying to make everyone equal is the right thing to do. For example, a school board’s decision in North Carolina to stop naming valedictorians over the ‘unhealthy competition’ is an example of liberalism run amok. What they are saying, ‘it is not ok to work hard and succeed.’ It is a ‘everyone gets a trophy culture.’ We need to emphasize winning, being in first place or the Asian countries like China will eat us for lunch. The top ten countries in math, science, and reading are the Asian countries. We’re becoming a nation of wussies. Let’s stop America’s slide into the liberal abyss. People are fed up with political correctness and are tired of being told what to say, how to say it, and who to say it to.”

Germany’s New “No Means No” Rape Law by Soeren Kern

The reforms are unlikely to end Germany’s migrant rape epidemic.

When it comes to immigration, political correctness often overrides the rule of law in Germany, where many migrants who commit sexual crimes are never brought to justice, and those who do stand trial receive lenient sentences from sympathetic judges.

“Every police officer knows he has to meet a particular political expectation. It is better to keep quiet [about migrant crime] to avoid problems.” — Rainer Wendt, head of the German police union.

“It is unacceptable that asylum seekers are trampling on our society at the same time that they are here seeking our protection.” — Prosecutor Bastian Blaut.

The German parliament has approved changes to the criminal code that expand the definition of rape and make it easier to deport migrants who commit sex crimes.

Under the bill, also known as the “No Means No” (“Nein heißt Nein”) law, any form of non-consensual sex will now be punishable as a crime. Previously, only cases in which victims could show that they physically resisted their attackers were punishable under German law.

The changes, which were prompted by the sex attacks in Cologne, where hundreds of women were assaulted by mobs of mostly Muslim migrants on New Year’s Eve, is being hailed as a “paradigm shift” in German jurisprudence.

ISIS IN IRAQ

http://www.wsj.com/articles/baghdad-bombing-death-toll-nears-300-1467896428
Death Toll From Sunday Baghdad Bombing Nears 300
Attack by Islamic State, targeting Shiite Muslims, wounded more than 200 others

The death toll from the deadliest single car bombing in Baghdad since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 has reached at least 292 people, Iraq’s health ministry said Thursday.

The attack by Islamic State, which also wounded more than 200 others, struck the Iraqi capital’s busiest commercial areas early Sunday as shoppers and diners crowded the streets following the daily dawn-to-dusk fasting that marks the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. On Monday, authorities said 151 people had been killed in the blast.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/dozens-killed-in-shia-shrine-suicide-attack-in-iraq-1467966263
Dozens Killed in Shia Shrine Suicide Attack in Iraq
Islamic State claims they carried out the attack on the shrine north of Baghdad

Islamic State suicide bombers and gunmen stormed a Shiite Muslim shrine north of Baghdad overnight, killing 36 people, military and hospital officials said on Friday.

The shrine in the Balad district of Salahaddin province, some 80 miles north of Baghdad, is typically visited by Shiite pilgrims and worshipers.

The Legend of Jim Comey His political actions spared Clinton and protected his own job.

Three days after James Comey’s soliloquy absolving Hillary Clinton of criminal misuse of classified information, the big winner is—James Comey. Washington’s elite are hailing the FBI director as a modern King Solomon for avoiding a political crisis while telling the truth.

Forgive us if we don’t join the beatification. Now that we’ve had more time to digest Mr. Comey’s legal reasoning, and after his appearance on Capitol Hill Thursday, his actions are all the more troubling and set a dangerous precedent. He often poses as the deliverer of “hard truths,” and the hard truth is that he has helped himself politically but not the cause of equal treatment under the law.

Mr. Comey criticized Mrs. Clinton’s “extremely careless” handling of classified materials and found “evidence of potential violations” of the law but then recommended no charges. He conceded that his job is not to decide on criminal prosecutions, but he then contradicted himself by declaring that “no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case.”

Mr. Comey’s public pronouncement that he would not recommend charges is highly unusual, and not a credit to the FBI. The bureau and its director are not the last word in the U.S. justice system. Their time-honored role is to uncover the facts, build a case, and leave the decision on prosecution to Main Justice.

Law-enforcement officials are also not supposed to talk beyond the “four corners” of an indictment, much less about an ongoing investigations except when disclosing information necessary to protect public safety. Their evidence and theories are meant to be adjudicated in adversarial courts, which is in part why Mr. Comey ought to have presented his findings and recommendation privately.

Regular order was even more important given President Obama’s multiple media interviews in which he effectively exonerated Mrs. Clinton, and Bill Clinton’s meeting with Attorney General Loretta Lynch on an airport tarmac last week. Mr. Comey justified violating Justice Department norms because of “intense public interest.” But if he really believed that such a politically charged case required a public presentation of the facts, then he should have simply presented the facts and not editorialized about the merits. CONTINUE AT SITE

Veterans Affairs Is Off Its Leash Again The department has bungled a study to determine the efficacy of service dogs in easing post-traumatic stress disorder. By Luis Carlos Montalván

In 2009 Congress passed the Service Dogs for Veterans Act, or SDVA, with bipartisan sponsorship as part of the National Defense Authorization Act.

SDVA included a $5 million appropriation for the Department of Veterans Affairs to conduct a comprehensive study to determine the efficacy of dogs in easing post-traumatic stress disorder among veterans.

Seven years after the Service Dogs for Veterans Act was passed, where do things stand? You may not be surprised to learn that the VA bungled its task.

“The implementation of the study,” Richard Weinmeyer wrote in the American Medical Association’s Journal of Ethics last year, “has been hampered by numerous setbacks.” Three service-dog providers were recruited, but two had dropped out by 2012, the journal reported, and “the entire project was suspended from January to June 2012 after a child was bitten by one of the study dogs.” Then the study was halted again amid the VA’s worries that a hospital in the study was endangering the dogs’ health. A revamped project was launched in 2014, but progress appears scant.

I wondered how such a well-intentioned effort could have gone so wrong for so long. For instance, how were the service-dog providers selected? I filed a Freedom of Information Act request late last year—and have yet to receive anything other than promises that information would be forthcoming. CONTINUE AT SITE

Comey Ran True to Form The FBI director let Hillary Clinton off, making the safe call—no big surprise there. Kimberley Strassel

When President Obama in 2013 named James Comey to head the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the president must have sensed that he had picked someone who could be trusted to have his back, even if Mr. Comey had served in the George W. Bush administration. This week, Mr. Obama’s bet paid off when the G-man let Hillary Clinton skate.

Not that Mr. Comey had an explicit understanding with the White House. It’s just that Mr. Obama and his savvy political team must have known from the start that Mr. Comey was no John Adams.

Not the Adams of Founding Father fame, but John Adams when he was a younger man, who in 1770 agreed to defend British soldiers accused of massacring Boston colonists. The legal task was so unpopular, so dangerous, that nobody else would do it. Yet Adams believed that the law trumped politics, and that the men deserved a fair trial. In taking the case, he risked both his economic and political future. He took it anyway.
Mr. Obama announced Mr. Comey’s appointment by praising his “fierce independence and deep integrity.” And the press drooled over several episodes in his history that had given the former Justice Department official a reputation as tough and impartial. What this missed was that Mr. Comey had risen through the ranks precisely by being the opposite of tough. Washington rewards officials who are best at currying public favor, best at surviving, best at creating unfounded legends. And Mr. Comey had been steadily rising in Washington a long time. CONTINUE AT SITE

Five Police Officers Dead, Several Hurt at Dallas Protest Two snipers opened fire amid rally over police shootings of two black men, Alton Sterling and Philando CastileBy Dan Molinski, Dan Frosch , Alejandro Lazo

DALLAS—Eleven police officers were shot by at least two snipers here Thursday night during a protest over police brutality, leaving five officers dead and wounding six, throwing the city into chaos and turning parts of downtown into a massive crime scene by Friday morning.

Dallas Police Chief David Brown said the snipers had opened fire on officers from “elevated positions” during the protests. A civilian was also wounded.

By early morning Friday, three suspects were in custody, including a woman. A fourth was hunkered down in a city garage, exchanging gunfire with police.

The suspect told police negotiators that “the end is coming,” and that bombs have been placed around the garage and downtown with the aim of killing more law-enforcement personnel, Chief Brown said, adding that he had asked his staff for a plan to end the standoff.

Police are working on the assumption that all four may have been involved in the attack. It appeared the suspects had knowledge of the protest route, allowing them to take up “triangulated” positions above the march and target officers.

Police were still searching for other suspects over night, just hours before thousand of workers would fill offices, restaurants and shops in the downtown.

“We still don’t have a complete comfort level that we have all the suspects,” Chief Brown said, adding a search of the area was continuing.

Police and city officials said that large areas of downtown would be closed Friday as police continued their investigation.

Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings told Dallas residents to check with a city website and their employers to see if they would have access to their workplaces. Parts of the city are “an active crime scene,” Mayor Rawlings said, “and we are asking you to stay away from that area.” CONTINUE AT SITE

ANDREW HARROD: ANALYST ATTEMPTS TO DISARM ISLAMIC HISTORY

Hudson Institute scholar Nibras Kazimi, a native-born Iraqi, gave an illuminating talk at the Westminster Institute on strategies to disarm Islamic history’s ideologically dangers. I critique.

“If the jihadists have weaponized history, we can counter by weaponizing historiography.”

Although Iraqi-born Hudson Institute jihadism expert Nibras Kazimi’s remarks at a Westminster Institute lecture in McLean, Va. (available in written form online) offered an intriguing thesis to undermine canonical Islamic historical narratives guiding various jihadists, the extent of the critical inquiry Islam can withstand still remains questionable.

Kazimi discussed the secular nationalist movements and regimes among Turks, Arabs, and Iranians under the Shah that had historically sought legitimacy. Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, for example, rebuilt the ruins of Babylon south of Baghdad and, like the Babylonian emperor Nebuchadnezzar, had his name inscribed on the bricks. Hussein dubbed his 1980-1988 war with Iran the “Second Qadisiya,” an nod to the 636 Battle of Qadisiya in which Muslim Arab armies defeated the Persians, opening what is now Iran to Islamic conquest.

Yet, for jihadists, the “past is not a tool of mere inspiration or for marking enemies,” Kazimi said, arguing that “history books are recipe books” giving instructions on how to “reclaim that greatness of Islam.” Since its origins in 2006 Iraq, the Islamic State in particular saw itself emulating Islam’s founding followers from seventh-century Arabia under the prophet Muhammad, a community that ultimately conquered empires. The 2014 caliphate declaration of ISIS, a group perhaps even stronger than the initial followers of Islam’s prophet, reflected how Muhammad’s “calling compelled him to strike out boldly, against incredible odds.”

According to Kazimi, both Sunni and Shiite extremists often manage to exude an “aura of certainty” by wrapping themselves in the cloak of history, allowing them to withstand defeats like the 2007-2008 American surge campaign. He explained that these jihadists “can explain away setbacks. They can tell themselves that they got the recipe wrong somewhere, and all they need to do it to go back to the basics to try and try again until it gets going.” This cycle makes Islamic history the “springboard – the solid ground – used by the extremists to leap forward into their ambitious doctrinal ventures.”

Sanctuary Cities Threaten American Lives Senate Democrats vote to protect bastions of crime, violence and danger from the law: Michael Cutler

This administration has consistently acted in ways that show utter contempt for the Constitution and the Rule of Law as well as the separation of powers. In so doing, this administration has created an environment of mistrust by the citizens of the United States that go to the very heart of our Democratic Republic.

Our nation’s immigration laws are among its most fundamental because they were enacted to protect national security and the lives and livelihoods of Americans. Politicians from both political parties have found every excuse imaginable, and indeed, some excuses that defy logic and reason to explain why our immigration laws cannot, will not or must not be enforced.

The Obama administration has done the most damage to the immigration system, making a mockery of our immigration laws and sending a clear and dangerous message to people from around the world- in the United States violations of our laws will not only be tolerated but rewarded. The sheer statistics are staggering and provide irrefutable evidence of the level of anarchy created by this administration.

The consequences of the failures of our immigration laws have repeatedly enabled terrorists to enter the United States and embed themselves as they went about their deadly preparations to launch deadly terror attacks inside the United States.

Criminal aliens ply their “trades” with impunity in towns and cities across our nation that cost thousands of innocent people their lives.

Those who advocate for the effective enforcement of our immigration laws are not “Anti-Immigrant” but are “Pro-Enforcement.” To be “Pro-Enforcement” is taking a “Pro-Immigrant” position because under our current immigration laws our nation admits more lawful immigrants than all of the other countries on this planet. Our current immigration laws are utterly blind as to race, religion and ethnicity and must finally be effectively enforced!

Tactics of intimidation and deceptive use of language are the stock and trade of the open borders anarchists. Anyone who would dare suggest that our government must exercise caution in admitting aliens into the United States to protect the safety and security of America and Americans are quickly branded “racist” and “nativist.” Their objective is to shut down debate and discourse- the hallmarks of true democracies.