Monday AM ~ TheFrontPageCover

The Front Page Cover
 The Events of the Week -- Featuring: 
 
The Madness Must Stop
by Minister Michael Brown
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 Sea Level Rise: A Reason to Drown in Fear? 
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By Jordan Candler: The quibbling over how much warming the world has actually seen is back in the news thanks to new allegations from Dr. John Bates, a former NOAA scientist who says the agency used bogus techniques to discredit the recent global warming pause. Given the long history of accusations against the agency — including longstanding charges of rewriting logbook data — these assertions should be investigated, regardless of what may or may not turn up. Perhaps the agency is guilty, or perhaps not.
          But let's set aside for a moment the wrangling over the magnitude of warming and lay out what everyone can agree on. We know unequivocally that global temperatures have gradually warmed for more than a century now. (This acknowledgement, by the way, reveals the Left's slandering of conservatives as "climate deniers" to be all the more vindictive). We also know that periods of cooling or static measurements have occasionally interrupted this gradual warming, but it hasn't been enough to reduce the overall upward trend. And finally, we know that global carbon dioxide emissions have risen to slightly more than 400 parts per million (ppm), an increase from 340 ppm in the early 1980s.
          It's what to extract from this information that results in harsh disagreement and even indignation. How much of the warming is natural? How much is cyclical? How much (if any) is driven by CO2? If it's a mix of man-made and cyclical effects, which one is disproportionately to blame for meteorological changes? The Left, in addition to blaming climate change for what it says are worsening droughts and burgeoning heat waves, worries that sea levels, aided by the acceleration in ice loss, will wreak havoc on coastlines and nearby lowlands.
          In truth, it's admittedly a bad time for sea ice concentration. A few years ago, Antarctica was almost routinely, it seemed, breaking records in ice coverage. So it might come as a surprise today to learn that it's now at a record low. In fact, both the North and South Poles are measuring historically low percentages. According to a large number of scientists, the continuation of global warming means coastal areas are in for a nightmare scenario. What does the data say?
          Last June, NOAA reported, "Sea level has been rising over the past century, and the rate has increased in recent decades. In 2014, global sea level was 2.6 inches (67 mm) above the 1993 average — the highest annual average in the satellite record (1993-present). Sea level continues to rise at a rate of about one-eighth of an inch (3.2 mm) per year, due to a combination of melting glaciers and ice sheets, and thermal expansion of seawater as it warms." And according to a February 2016 USA Today report, ocean levels overall increased by 5.5 inches during the 20th century.
          Think about that. The rate at last check was one-eighth of an inch per year and mere inches when all added up. Assuming this is true — not to mention even accurate, considering these are such minuscule measurements for a vast swath of geography — that's hardly what we would call a crisis, and it's worth noting too that the way this stuff is measured has been revolutionized over time. That said, both poles are experiencing higher-than-average ice melt today, which presumably will affect this rate. But just how much?
          In the same report, NOAA went on to estimate "that there is very high confidence (greater than 90% chance) that global mean sea level will rise at least 8 inches (0.2 meter) but no more than 6.6 feet (2.0 meters) by 2100." And that's taking into account rather extreme scenarios. Some people, particularly those along the coast, understandably worry about this (though a significant number of Americans actually enjoy the more pleasant effects of global warming, like milder winters). The question isn't so much that global temperatures — and to a smaller degree the oceans — are rising, but why. Furthermore, how do we respond?
          This is where policy disagreements come in. The bottom line is that this debate could come down to whether we want to adapt to climate change or instead attempt to mitigate its effects. NOAA says the rate at which seas are expected to rise "depends mostly on the rate of future carbon dioxide emissions and future global warming." We contend there are very legitimate reasons to embrace CO2. Though for the most part temperatures and carbon dioxide emissions have risen in tandem, emissions alone can't explain the periodic temperature drops and stagnations. And completely eliminating those emissions would be futile — and immensely expensive. But economic control, after all, is the real climate agenda.
          As The Daily Signal's Katie Tubb observes, "[C]limate sensitivity modeling used by the EPA shows that totally eliminating all carbon dioxide emissions in the U.S. would reduce warming by only 0.137 degree Celsius by the end of the century, and only 0.278 degree Celsius if the entire industrialized world totally eliminated all carbon dioxide emissions." Moreover, the greening of deserts and an abundance of food for trees and vegetation are surely welcome benefits.
          Whether the globe is warming or cooling, there are benefits and setbacks to both, as history demonstrates. And humans who expect to have the ability to balance the climate are significantly less realistic than those who advocate adapting, like we always have, to what comes next. Americans didn't abandon certain areas altogether because of earthquakes; they figured out how to create stronger and more flexible structures. The same goes for places prone to tornadoes and hurricanes. Remember, temperatures have not risen at the rate at which they were projected, and the future of sea levels are equally uncertain.
          Game-changing global cooling didn't happen like the CIA and Time magazine and others warned in 1974, nor will an ice age happen by 2021, as The Washington Post forecast in 1971. On the flip side, the New York Times' 1969 warning "that the ocean at the North Pole may become an open sea within a decade or two" didn't happen either. So take predictions with a grain of salt.
          In any case, even if the threat is real, adaption creates far more economic opportunities than forcing hundreds of millions into destitution through costly taxation and regulation. So go ahead and build your beachfront home. We'll figure out, through innovation, how to protect it if we ever reach that point. Or maybe we could just get Barack liar-nObama to finally cash in on his 2008 promise about the "moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow..."  ~The Patriot Post
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'The ugliest anti-Semitism is rearing its head'
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{israelnationalnews.com} ~ Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely reacted to the brutal attack this week of Parisian Jews... “The winds of hate are blowing against Jews around the world, the ugliest anti-Semitism is rearing its head," she said. "We must act forcefully in order to fight Jew-hatred. The government of France created an important program for the struggle against anti-Semitism which led to a decrease in the violent attacks, but despite this we must act with a strong hand against those seeking to cause harm, and strengthen the Jewish community,” Hotovely said...  http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/225608
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Tensions rise as China defends missile
sites in South China Sea
by Joel Gehrke
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{washingtonexaminer.com} ~ China is defending the construction of surface-to-air missile sites in the South China Sea, a move opposed by the U.S. but one that could help consolidate its hold over one of the most important shipping lanes in the world... "China has the right to deploy necessary defensive facilities on its territory in accordance with security requirement," Colonel Ren Guoqiang, spokesman for the regime's Ministry of National Defense, said Thursday. "It is the legitimate right of a sovereign state." China has claimed sovereignty over approximately 90 percent of the South China Sea, a subject of hot dispute given that the waters flow between several neighboring countries carrying "half the world's annual merchant fleet tonnage," according to the National Interest. The increased military capabilities could give China an edge when negotiating with its smaller neighbors, even as they try to cut the United States out of the talks...  http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tensions-rise-as-china-defends-missile-sites-in-south-china-sea/article/2615639#.WK-n8oGcX-8.twitter/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Examiner%20Today&utm_source=StructureCMS
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How the Market Can Fix Health Care
by J. Kenneth Blackwell
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{theacru.org} ~ Republicans agree that liar-nObamacare has failed and must be repealed. But they can’t agree on the replacement “plan.”... The one thing they shouldn’t do is devise another grand scheme like the liar-nObama “plan.” The answer is not a new and better Big Government “plan.” Instead, the president and Congress should take specific actions to free the market so patients and providers can create a health care system that serves everyone. When President Barack liar-nObama proposed his federal takeover of the health care system, he was right about one thing: American medical care was a mess. While care cost more than it should for many, some people didn’t have access to the treatment they needed. But instead of seeking to empower patients by giving them greater control over their own futures and more opportunities to find the best care possible in the marketplace, the president and Democrats in Congress took medical decisions away from the public and transferred them to Washington...  http://www.theacru.org/how-the-market-can-fix-health-care/
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Another Major Democratic Email Scandal
the News Media is Ignoring
by FRED FLEITZ
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{familysecuritymatters.org} ~ In the midst of allegations of Russian ties to the Trump administration and in the aftermath of the hacking of liar-Clinton campaign and Democratic National Committee emails... there is a new scandal email involving Democratic House members that could amount to a covert effort by foreign actors to penetrate the House of Representatives computer system. According to the Daily Caller, three brothers who managed information technology (IT) for Democratic House members - Abid, Imran, and Jamal Awan - were suspended on February 2, 2017 for serious misconduct, including accessing the computer accounts of House members without their knowledge and stealing equipment from Congress. Two other House IT staff - Imran Awan's wife, Hina Alvi, and a fifth unnamed person - also reportedly are under investigation. This story suggests congressional Democrats learned nothing from last year's hacking of Democratic computers. It also raises serious questions about the security of the House computer system...  http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/detail/another-major-democratic-email-scandal-the-news-media-is-ignoring?f=must_reads
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How Pakistani Law Enshrines Extremism
and Weakens Counter-Terror Efforts
by Ammar Anwer
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{investigativeproject.org} ~ Pakistani extremists have killed nearly 50,000 people since 9/11. But government ineffectiveness has stymied efforts to contain terrorist violence. The government and military often are not on the same page... or have chosen a narrow and selective approach towards extremism, fighting one outfit and at the same time supporting the other. For instance, former President Pervez Musharraf acknowledged that Pakistan cultivated and possessed a soft spot for the Afghan Taliban. In addition, Pakistan has failed to take a firm stand against Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, a radical outfit famous for its hateful rhetoric against India. The U.S. designated the organization as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in 2001, and the United Nations designated it as a terrorist outfit in 2005. Lately, signs of hope have started to emerge. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Army Chief of Staff General Raheel Sharif seem to agree about extremism and also seem to lack the selective approach that their predecessors had often adopted...  http://www.investigativeproject.org/5804/how-pakistani-law-enshrines-extremism-and-weakens
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The Madness Must Stop
by Minister Michael Brown
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{townhall.com} ~ Have you ever watched a movie where the good guy got framed for what the bad guy did and you felt morally indignant, desperate to see justice done and the horrible wrongs made right? That’s how I feel when I see social madness in our country, wondering to myself, “How can this go on in front of our eyes? What kind of craziness is this?”

Let me give you several cases in point.

In Texas, a 17-year-old girl who identifies as a boy is taking testosterone supplements as she begins to “transition” to being male. She currently identifies as a boy named “Mack” Beggs and is referred to as “he” in a relevant article about her. She is in the news because she wrestles on the girls’ team and just won a tournament when her opponent in the finals forfeited because the other girl’s parents protested the match.

And they had every reason to protest.

Beggs is taking performance enhancing drugs, and in a physically-taxing sport like wrestling, the differences are all the more tangible. That’s why the lawsuit brought by the parents’ of another female wrestler urged the governing body to suspend Beggs “because of the use of the steroid.” The suit claims that allowing the wrestler to compete while using testosterone exposes other athletes to ‘imminent threat of bodily harm.’”

This is not rocket science, and Beggs would not be allowed to compete in a college-level, Olympic, or professional match while on steroids. Is this why Beggs is undefeated this season?

Steroids and other performance enhancing drugs are banned for logical, obvious reasons, yet logic seems to stop at the door when it comes to transgender activism.

Accordingly, Beggs grandmother and guardian, rather than recognizing how unfair this all was to the other girls who worked so hard to be there, could only say, “Today was not about their students winning. Today was about bias, hatred and ignorance.”

This is absolute nonsense, and while my heart goes out to young “Mack,” and I truly want to see her find wholeness without sex-change surgery and a lifetime of hormones, I reject the notion that her struggles should now be imposed on the other female athletes.

Shame on the school system for letting this happen.

To give another example from the sports world, we are constantly reminded of the struggles experienced by gay athletes, to the point that Michael Sam, the first openly gay player drafted by the NBA, blamed the NFL’s alleged homophobia on his failure to make it at the highest level of the sport.

Of course, it makes perfect sense that other players would be uncomfortable around him once he announced he was homosexual. After all, they are strong young men in the prime of life who work out together and play together and shower and undress next to each other and who horse around in manly ways. Why should they be expected to feel perfectly at home with an openly gay player, even if they did their best to ignore it and behave as professionals?

Today, however, we’re hearing about something very different.

An article about former WNBA player Candice Wiggins states, “There is a ‘very, very harmful’ culture running throughout the WNBA,” the article states, “which saw her get bullied during her eight-year career because she is heterosexual.”

She claims that, “Me being heterosexual and straight, and being vocal in my identity as a straight woman was huge. I would say 98 percent of the women in the WNBA are gay women. It was a conformist type of place. There was a whole different set of rules they the other players could apply.”

And, she alleges, “People were deliberately trying to hurt me all of the time. I had never been called the B-word so many times in my life than I was in my rookie season. I’d never been thrown to the ground so much. The message was: ‘We want you to know we don’t like you.’”

Could this be true?

If it is, even if her estimate about the percentage of lesbian players is too high, don’t expect her story to get much traction in the news. After all, straights are never the victims, only gays are the victims, and because Wiggins is straight and therefore part of the dominant culture, she can’t be the victim. Straights are the bullies, so suck it up, lady, and stop complaining.

As this story gets more responses, we’ll see if my theory holds true.

How about one more from the sports world before I get to the most egregious example of all?

Back in Texas, the NFL and NBA have warned the state that if they pass a bill similar to North Carolina, which, among other things, forbids boys who believe they are girls from playing on girls’ sports teams or using the girls’ bathrooms, locker rooms, and showers, the state will be severely punished by the leagues.

Responding to the NFL, which was the first to threaten Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott said, “The last thing the NFL needs to do is to get into the business of telling states how to operate their own political operations.” Indeed.

And what will the NFL and NBA and NCAA and others do if state after state does the right thing and protects the privacy and rights of its citizens? Hopefully, we’ll find out in the years ahead as the pushback against radical LGBT activism continues.

Finally, in Michigan, a Christian business owner experienced an absolutely outrageous example of government overreach. As explained by Tony Perkins, “Donald Vander Boon has been operating a meatpacking center in Michigan for almost 15 years — but thanks to the federal government, it’s his freedom that’s getting butchered.”

What happened is truly shocking and should send shockwaves across the country.

When USDA officials were touring the plant for an inspection, “they noticed a handful of brochures on the breakroom table about natural marriage. As Don tells it, the article was mixed in with the stacks of newspapers celebrating the recent Supreme Court decision redefining marriage. Even so, the on-site officers took offense to the literature, walked into Don’s office, closed both doors, and told him they’d call off the inspection if the material wasn’t removed.”

So, the Christian owner of a meatpacking center employing 45 workers was given an ultimatum by USDA officials – who were there to inspect the meat operation, not the beliefs, of Vander Boon – telling him that if he didn’t remove the material on marriage, there would be no inspection, as a result of which the center would be shut down.

Yes, “According to inspectors, Don’s article was ‘offensive’ and had violated a new rule from the liar-nObama administration that gave government officials including these inspectors the right to take ‘immediate and appropriate corrective action’ when dealing with anything they considered ‘harassment.’ Vander Boon’s position on marriage, he was told, qualified.”

In his own words, “It’s made me realize how quickly we can lose our religious liberty. I never dreamed that I would have this experience, and that I would have USDA personnel telling me that I had to choose between putting an article on the breakroom table or my business.”

Today, more than 18 months after this event took place, despite ongoing legal efforts by the ADF, the Department of Agriculture has not changed its policy or responded to Vander Boon’s rightful concerns. Perhaps this is coming to your business next?

There’s a reason I and others have been sounding the alarm for years now, seeking to wake up a slumbering church and a complacent society.

If these latest examples don’t jolt readers into reality, I wonder what will.

Honestly, I hate to imagine.

So, let’s pray and act today lest tomorrow’s news makes today’s news look relatively mundane.

God have mercy on America.
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