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Avi Davis hosted his annual KohelethFest celebration at his home on Saturday, October 3rd. This celebration , which he founded and takes place each year during the Jewish festival of Sukkoth, is based on the book of Ecclesiastes which is read in synagogue by Jewish congregations at this time of year. Most of us are familiar with the section that says there is a time to be born and a time to die….a time for every purpose under heaven. Most are not familiar with the theme of Ecclesiastes which is the futility of life. It talks about all the work you might do to improve your life and your family’s lives only to have the next generation come along and tear it all down.
It is interesting to note that only half of the people Avi had invited to join him in the Sukkah this year were Jewish. Avi has said that the themes of Koheleth are universal - and that anyone can relate and respond to them and that he likes obtaining a variety off views.
We met in Avi's sukkah - a temporary structure that consists of a frame, the sides covered in a cloth or tarp and the roof covered with palm fronds. People are supposed to have gatherings, eat and sleep in the structure for the eight days of the festival of Sukkoth. Avi had just returned from Israel where he had worked feverishly to complete a sukkah in his home there in the north of israel, in time for the beginning of the Festival on September 27th. He continued the celebration when he returned.
We began with the ritual hand washing, followed by a prayer and then ate challah dipped in honey. We had a lovely lunch Avi had prepared for us
Each year Avi selects a theme addressed by the Book of Ecclesiastes and this year the theme was happiness. Avi read quotes about happiness from sources that ranged from the Declaration of Independence to Aristotle, to Thomas Aquinas, to Dennis Prager.
He then went around the table and asked each of us to spoke about what happiness means to us. The sources of happiness ranged from the freedom to pursue it, achieving goals, being surrounded by friends and family, having a purpose, giving to others. A long discussion ensued as to whether or not it’s a choice.
Avi always brings together interesting people for lively, intelligent discussions in his home. It was a beautiful day, a lovely lunch and fascinating conversation.
By Michael Greer
On Thursday night, September 17, Constitution Day, American Freedom Alliance inaugurated its new Center for the Study of the United States Constitution with a dinner and a talk with Douglas Gibbs the author of, "The Basic Constitution" and the "25 Myths of the United States Constitution".
American Freedom Alliance has launched it's first independent institute to facilitate the study and appreciation of our Constitution. The institute will be operated under the direction of Douglas V. Gibbs.
Doug is a radio host on KCAA 1050AM on Saturdays with his Constitution radio program, as well as a long time podcaster, conservative political activist, writer and commentator. He has been featured on "Hannity" and "Fox and Friends". He is also the founder of the award winning website, "Political Pistachio" as well as winning numerous awards for his patriotic commentary.
Dinner on the patio was accompanied by spirited discussions of recent events, the Republican debate, the dangers we face as a nation and the solutions. There were as many disagreements as agreements among those in attendance.
AFA President Avi Davis began the presentation and introduction to the Constitution by asking Mr. Gibbs how the Constitution came about. The Colonists had fought the Revolution and won. The U.S. had thereafter a Confederation of States. Why did it then need a Constitution?
Mr. Gibbs explained that the soldiers during the Revolution were paid with scrip that following the Revolution was worthless. They rioted and tried to take over the U.S. Armory in Springfield. Merchants put together a private militia and put down the riot. This led to our Founders believing that we needed a stronger central government to prevent such uprisings in the future. Many of the founders Feared a bigger central government although they also understood the need for one.
The Constitutional Convention ran from May to September, 1787 during the hottest weather. Being held in secret the windows and doors were closed and patience was short. Most of the delegates to the Convention, like Madison, were for big government and resisted some of the limits suggested.
Finally, Benjamin Franklin, an agnostic, remembering that the pilgrims fled England for religious freedom, suggested they spend time in reflection and prayer. He suggested they begin every meeting with a prayer. This turned the tide. Not wanting to bring a member of clergy into their secret meetings, they went to a church nearby and prayed there each morning. The result was a Constitution that limited government and was based on religious moral values.
Avi asked what issue was the most contentious? Gibbs answered that the issue was slavery. Most wanted to end slavery but understood the South would never sign a Constitution that banned slavery outright. One of the most important points of the Constitution was to ensure the sovereignty of the states. Abolishing slavery would be akin to taking away the sovereignty of the Southern states. There was already a movement against slavery in the South and the Founders believed, in time, they would agree to abolish it. They did, however, ban the international slave trade.
Gibbs pointed out one of the most misrepresented points was the "Three/ fifths" clause. It wasn't inserted in reference to individuals. Due to slavery there were more people living in the South than the North, which would result in the South winning every issue. In order to balance the two regions, in the South they counted each free person as a whole and then only 3/5ths of the rest of the population. In the North, free Blacks were counted individually as any free person.
Avi asked what state didn't ratify the Constitution or even have delegates at the Convention?. That state was Rhode Island. They feared big government.
A Rhode Island resident, George Mason, demanded a Bill of Rights before Rhode Island would consider the Constitution. James Madison didn't think it was necessary as the Constitution limited what the government could do anyway. Wisely, the James'-, one for and one against - were tasked with drafting the Bill of Rights. The Bill wasn't designed so much to tell us what our rights are, as much as it was to instruct government to keep their hands off them. It explains our rights are Divinely given and belong to us as individuals. It is up to us, not the Government, to protect them.
The Bill of Rights contains the first ten amendments and they are listed in importance. As free Englishmen the Founders they understood that our rights come from God. As the Bill states, they are natural rights based on the "laws of nature and God".
The first amendment protects five rights. Most people can name only three, the right of free speech, free expression of religion and free press. They forget the right to assemble and the right to redress our grievances to our representatives.
The second amendment protected our right to bare arms. We had a standing army. The amendment doesn't refer to a standing Army, it refers to a "militia" which was formed by armed citizens and the amendment was intended to protect the citizens' right to be armed.
Third was to protect citizens from having to house soldiers. Fourth was to protect our privacy from search and seizures. Fifth was to protect us from having to testify against ourselves and to ensure a fair trial. Sixth was to ensure a speedy trial. Seventh was to protect us against excessive bail or fines. Eighth was to protect us from cruel and unusual punishment. Ninth was to point out there were rights not listed that were also protected. And the tenth was to protect states rights.
Although there are 27 Amendments we actually only have 25. One amendment was to enact prohibition and another was to repeal it.
Mr. Gibbs also discussed the amendment process and talked about a controversy over the 16th (taxation) and 17th (how Senators are elected) amendments. It is believed they didn't actually have the votes to ratify either amendment but were simply declared ratified. It is interesting that the same year federal taxation was ratified, the Federal Reserve was formed.
America's Constitution is the shortest Constitution of any country in the world and has survived the longest. It is important to understand that the founders listed what they believed was most important rights first. Article One is about the formation of the Legislative Branch because they considered that the MOST important branch. Article Two is the Executive Branch and Article Three is the Judicial Branch because they considered it the least important branch of government.
The public is painfully ignorant of our Constitution and the reasons why it is worth saving. It is up to those of us who recognize it's importance to educate those who don't.
American Freedom Alliance, the David Horowitz Freedom Center and Freedom X sponsored this installment in the lecture series. It was held at the Luxe Hotel with a nice buffet dinner first.
Dr. Laurie Cardoza-Moore, founder and President of Proclaiming Justice to the Nations (PJTN) and special envoy to the UN for the World Council of Independent Christian Churches (WCICC) spoke first. She is an award winning producer with over 500 film and video productions.
She spoke about her fight against teaching Islam in the public schools in her state of Tennessee. When a friend showed her the lessons her son was being taught in his school she mobilized parents and met with the principal. The principal informed them this was curriculum from approved textbooks and Common Core. She then mobilized more parents and went to the school board. They met great resistance from the school board so, through her grass roots organization, they put spots on the radio to inform the public and they were able to replace the entire school board during the next election and get the textbooks edited. Pearson Publishers were the publishers of the textbooks and, interestingly, the religions editor was a Muslim. She suggested we use some of their tactics in our cities. She suggested we go to www.FreedomXLaw.com and www.pjtn.org for information.
From my own experience of going to the Manhattan Beach School Board meetings, I found them completely unmoved by the parents concerns about the way Islam was being taught to our children.
Bill Becker spoke next. He is the president, CEO and general council for Freedom X, a non-profit public interest legal organization dedicated o protecting conservative and religious freedom of expression. Freedom X is partnering with PJTN to develop legal initiatives aimed at countering Islamic indoctrination in public schools.
Becker has been successfully litigating cases that involve claims of defamation of Islam, the rights of Christians to evangelize Muslims in public spaces, the right use public school spaces to address the threat of sharia and Islamic hegemony. Becker also helped American Freedom Alliance regain it’s non-profit status.
Becker spoke of how conservative values are being restricted more and more (no nativity scenes on public land, kids can’t wear patriotic t-shirts to school, freedom of speech and religion) while Islam is being accommodated more and more.
He spoke of schools having children dress as Muslims, take Muslim names and recite the shahada, the oath of allegiance to Islam. I wonder if our schools don’t see a problem with that, would they have a problem with the kids dressing like Jesus and accepting Jesus as their savior?
Too many parents are unaware of the way Islam is being taught to our children. It is up to those of us who do know to inform them.
During the Q&A, I said, coincidentally, that afternoon my 13 year old twin grandsons showed me the chapter on Islam in their World History textbook. I read it with them and pointed out how it misrepresented Mohammad, the Qur’an and Islam. I also pointed out how the text promoted socialism by saying numerous times that Mohammad said the wealthy should share their wealth with the poor.
I told them I had a friend that taught high school in San Diego and his school allows an Imam to come into the school and lead Muslim prayers. I asked when the ACLU is working to prevent high school football teams from praying in their locker rooms, how is this legal? Becker said it wasn’t.
We need to ask why the ACLU isn’t going after Imam’s leading prayers in school………..….but I think we know the answer.
American Freedom Alliance’s International Conference this year, held at the Luxe Hotel in Bel Air, was in celebration of the 800th Anniversary of the Magna Carta or the Great Charter.
One has to wonder why, after 800 years of proof that individual liberty and limited government results in prosperity and a higher standard of living for all, while collectivism (socialism/communism) results in poverty and death, it is still being challenged.
The event on Sunday evening began with a message from the former Prime Minister of Australia, the Honorable John Howard. He spoke of the Magna Carta being the basis of the constitutions of the English speaking countries of the world.
This was followed by Daniel Hannan, member of the British Parliament, speaking from Runnymede during the celebration of the historic signing of the Magna Carta. Hannan spoke of the events that lead to the elites in England writing the Magna Carta to limit what King John could do and give themselves more autonomy.
The first panel discussion, moderated by Avi Davis, was, “How the Magna Carta Gave Birth to Representative Government, a Parliamentary System and the Liberty of the Individual”. The panelists were John L. Hancock, author of “Liberty Inherited”, he is a leading expert on the foundational infrastructure of English-speaking societies, Timothy Sandefur, Principal Attorney at the Pacific Legal Foundation and author of several books on the Constitutional right to economic freedom and personal liberty, and Byron Stier, Professor of Law at Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles. They pointed out, though flawed, it only applied to freemen not all individuals, it was the blueprint for future founders of English speaking countries. It limited what the King could do and guaranteed the right to a trial. Sandefur reminded us rights granted by man are easily made, easily broken. The laws of nature are not. Stier pointed out that the jury trial is uniquely American. It was included in our Bill of Rights, which says our rights come from God. Since man is not God, he has no authority to take rights from other men.
The English Constitution is a spoken “living document”, changeable at the whim of the reigning King. This is why our founders wrote the American Constitution and signed it. Our rights are natural rights. “Privileges” are awarded by man.
Another panel addressed, “The Link Between the Magna Carta, the English Constitution and the U.S. Declaration of Independence” with panelists, James C, Bennett, author of “America 3.0:Rebooting American Prosperity in the 21st Century, Guy Milliere, Professor at the University of Paris VIII and former President of the Turgot Institute, and Trevor Loudon, New Zealand author of, “The Enemies Within: Communists, Socialists and Progressives in the U.S. Congress”.
One of the most valuable benefits of the American Freedom Alliance Events is the ability of the attendees to speak to the speakers one on one. Speakers sit with the attendees when not speaking and are available to comment or take questions. Often these exchanges are as valuable as the speeches they give.
James C. Bennett was the Keynote speaker on, “The Danger of Forgetting the 800 Year Struggle for Human Liberty”. Bennett reminded us that the Magna Carta, our Constitution, and the concept of individual liberty, were based on the laws of nature and nature’s God. Our children aren’t being taught this.
“The Anglosphere as the Backbone of Western Civilization” panelists were Timothy Sandefur and Guy Milliere again with the addition of Amy Peikoff, visiting Professor of Law and Research Fellow for the Study of Objectivism at Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles.
The panel pointed out that English speaking countries are the wealthiest, happiest, and most innovative. That capitalism is the reason for that wealth and that it requires an unrestricted free exchange between people. That is what individual liberty guarantees.
Dr. Duke Pesta joined us via Skipe. Dr. Pesta is currently a professor at the University of Wisconsin and academic director of Freedom Project Education. He is one of the leading authorities on the dangers of Common Core. He said Universities see our founding documents as being pernicious. He said the primary repository of liberty is the people. If they lose understanding of the values of the documents, it is the responsibility of those who do understand to educate the people in it’s value.
He spoke of the Magna Carta being the first such document in English and that English is the language of Liberty. Language carries culture. In foreign countries as citizens learn to speak English they take on English customs.
Pesta said our college graduates aren’t able to speak well, therefore, they don’t think well, therefore, they don’t think. Higher education isn’t teaching higher issues, because it requires judgment. There is no open debate on college campuses. There are speech codes and banned subjects and speakers. Without the ability to have free and open debate, there is no ability for our children to make informed decisions.
At the end of every American Freedom Alliance Conferences there is a round table discussion to draft a declaration of principals people can take away from what they learned at the Conference. The subject of this roundtable was, “How to Stop Historical Revisionism Destroying Our Connection to the Past”. Several of the lawyers on the panel were reluctant to sign anything that strayed from the theme of the Conference. After quite a spirited debate we decided on the following:
We, the participants at the Magna Carta Conference, in Los Angeles, CA, do declare THAT:
1 We celebrate the legacy of the Magna Carta as one of the foundational documents of the rule of law in the Western World.
2 We believe that individual rights and the guarantees of the rule of law remain crucial to a healthy and flourishing society, and ought to be regarded as the birthright of all human beings. We fear that these principles are being poorly taught or not given appropriate emphasis in our schools today.
3 We encourage the world to learn from the Magna Carta and its legacy, and to embrace the protections of life, liberty, property and the pursuit of happiness promised by the rule of law.
4 We believe the legacy of Magna Carta is a central element of the prosperity and happiness of English-speaking peoples and should be emphasized in high schools and college curricula. Without these principles, freedom will not survive.
Signed this 15th day of June, 2015 in Los Angeles, California by the participating speakers in the Magna Carta Conference.
It was particularly poignant that in celebration of Flag Day and the 4th of July, Avi Davis, President of American Freedom Alliance, spoke to the Santa Monica Republican Woman’s Federation at Amici’s Restaurant, in Santa Monica, about how our constitutionally protected freedom of speech is being taken from us.
Avi asked how many of those in attendance were aware of “speech codes” on our college campuses. Many were not aware that college campuses ban certain words, phrases and descriptions on their campuses. They have “free speech” area’s that are the only place students are allowed to speak freely. They have “safe rooms” where student’s traumatized by what someone said can go. Most of us believe colleges should be a place for the free expression of ideas and where all sides of an issue are examined. Liberal professors, openly teach their political viewpoint and mock, demonize and punish students who have the courage to disagree. Sadly, they have moved from free expression to indoctrination.
We have a compliant Liberal media that protects this administration’s agenda. They repeat what is told them and don’t question or investigate. Information that doesn’t support the Liberal narrative is ignored or suppressed. If someone on the Left says something ignorant or untrue, the media doesn’t question it or point it out, they simply ignore it, however, if someone on the Right says anything they can twist into a negative, they will never let it go. Romney saying he had a binder full of women’s resume’s he wanted to hire or appoint to positions in the government was twisted into being anti-woman.
Avi also spoke about how the Left is using the courts to intimidate and punish people and companies that stand for their deeply held conservative or religious beliefs. When a couple is fined $135,000 for not wanting to make a wedding cake or a florist loses their business for not wanting to provide flowers for a gay wedding, and the CEO of Firefox is fired for donating to Proposition 8, people are afraid to say what they believe.
The Santa Monica Republican Woman’s Federation is a very enthusiastic and active group. They had many questions and comments. There is great concern about our first amendment rights being taken from us. Many felt Avi’s talk was one of the most valuable they’ve had.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali is an incredibly brave woman. I've never seen the level of security I saw surrounding Hirsi Ali's appearance in the sleepy, low crime city of Santa Barbara. Santa Barbara was described, as I was growing up there, as being for the "newly wed and nearly dead" and that certainly still holds true. It's about as non- threatening a city as there is.
When we entered the parking structure an attendant told us our purses would be searched. They do that at sports events and government buildings, so I thought nothing of it, but as we walked out of the parking structure, we were met by a police officer who said any bags bigger than his clip board would not be allowed inside the theater, period. I had to go back and lock my purse in my car. When we got to the theater there were at least 30 officers outside and inside the theater.
One has to reflect on why this level of security has not been necessary in this country before. What has changed? Why are people who would carry out death threats against American citizens allowed in this country?
Hirsi Ali has every reason to take death threats seriously. She made a short film, "Submission" with film maker Theo Van Gogh in the Netherlands. It criticized the treatment of women in Islamic societies. A fatwa was issued against her and Van Gogh. Van Gogh was gunned down in the streets of Amsterdam. His assailant was subdued while trying to behead his dead body.
Hirsi Ali was born in Somalia and raised Muslim. She said she lived and breathed the Qur'an and wore a hijab until she was a teenager. She said she agreed with the fatwa issued against Salman Rushdie for writing. "The Satanic Verses". Death to those who spoke against Islam seemed perfectly reasonable to her at the time.
Hirsi Magan Isse, Ayaan's father was a leading figure in the Somalian Revolution and was imprisoned shortly after she was born. He was against female genital mutilation, but while he was in prison, when Ayaan was five years old, her grandmother had the procedure performed on her.
Hirsi Ali's father escaped from prison and took his family to Saudi Arabia and then to Ethiopia, before finally settling in Kenya. In 1992, while visiting a relative in the Netherlands, Hirsi Ali requested political asylum. She became an activist against the treatment of Islamic women and against female genital mutilation. She was ultimately elected to the Dutch parliament.
After 9/11 Hirsi Ali listened to videotapes of Osama bin Laden citing "words of justification" from the Qur'an for the attacks. She said she was almost afraid to look in the Qur'an because she was afraid she would find the quotations. She found the passages bin Laden quoted and came to regard the Qur'an as just another historical book. She is now an atheist.
In 2006 Hirsi Ali came to America to work with the American Enterprise Institute. She founded the AHA Foundation to fight for women's rights. In 2013, when she became an American citizen, she was made a fellow at the Kennedy Government School at Harvard University. In 2005. Time magazine named her as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
She said American's willingness to accept other religions and cultures is working against the country particularly when it comes to Islam. We don't understand it is not just a religion. She said accepting Islam means accepting Sharia law and a 7th century political ideology. It is not compatible with our culture or form of government. She said what we are seeing is not "radical" Islam, it's orthodox Islam.
During a Q&A, Hirsi Ali was asked what can be done about a growing Islamic threat to the United States. She said the only way to stop it is Islamic reformation. The religion must be separated from Sharia and the political ideology. She said there are those who would like to see that happen and are working toward that end, however, unless or until that happens Islam will continue to move toward a caliphate and world domination.
Last night the American Freedom Alliance held their 9th Annual Heroes of Conscience Dinner at the beautiful Riviera Country Club. It was a wonderfully successful evening, as evidenced by the club having to blink the lights an hour after the end of the event to get us to leave.
During cocktails I was so happy to learn of “The Enemies Within” author, Trevor Loudon’s recent marriage and meet his delightful new wife, Victoria. She is as witty and clever as Trevor.
The event began with Cantor Rachel Goldman beautifully singing the national anthem. AFA President, Avi Davis spoke about coming to America from Australia thirty years ago. He used the analogy of the various ingredients in a Jelly Bean coming from multiple countries to join to make a delicious treat, to demonstrate how exceptional America truly is. He then introduced, The Sage of South Central, Larry Elder, as master of ceremonies. Larry received a standing ovation even before Avi could finish his introduction. After the dinner, I asked Larry why he wasn’t running for the Senate seat Barbara Boxer is leaving. He said his last experience with the RNC (they endorsed Carly Fiorina after telling him he’d be a great candidate) soured him on the idea. I asked him to reconsider.
Jesse Lee Peterson, last year’s Heroes of Conscience honoree, gave the invocation. This was followed by a video about American Freedom Alliance. AFA Conference participants such as President Klaus of the Czech Republic, Geert Wilders of the Netherlands, Ambassador Bolton, among others, spoke about the importance of the work American Freedom Alliance is doing.
A video tribute to Honorees James and Marta Enstrom was shown. Jim had been a highly respected researcher and instructor at UCLA for more than thirty years. When he uncovered a fraudulent study used to ban diesel engines from California, rather than being praised by UCLA for exposing the fraud, they fired him. Undaunted, Jim waged a seven year battle for wrongful dismissal and was vindicated this year.
Marta, immigrating from Cuba, was educated here. Earning numerous degrees she became a judge. Marta stood by Jim in his battle to restore his work and reputation.
Next, a video tribute to Ann McElhinney and Phelim McAleer showed clips from their documentaries, “Mine Your Own Business”, “Not Evil, Just Wrong” and “Fracknation”. It also covered Phelim’s verbatim play, “Ferguson” that used the actual testimony from the Grand Jury. The play caused a great deal of controversy when most of the actors quit because it vindicated Officer Wilson. The video also covered Ann and Phelim’s current project, a feature film, “Gosnell” about Dr. Kermit Gosnell, who ran an abortion clinic that aborted hundreds, if not thousands, of full term babies. Ann and Phelim are fearless in confronting the lies used to cover the evil that is harming this great country.
Both couples honored this night received numerous, well deserved, standing ovations.
The speaker for the evening was George Gilder, an economic thought leader, technology pundit and best selling author of, “The Israel Test”, and “Knowledge and Power”. He spoke about California’s man-made draught. He pointed out that Israel has a similar climate and that although their population has grown faster than expected, they have no such problem. He spoke about unleashing the free market and reminded us that Capitalism is the most successful system in the world.
Avi Davis thanked the Riviera Country Club and it’s staff, Larry Elder and the AFA staff. He thanked everyone for coming and lending their support and ended with, “May God Bless you and may God Bless America”.
Cantor Rachel Goldman then inspired us her beautiful interpretation of “God Bless America”.
When the event concluded, the guests were anxious to speak to James and Marta, Ann and Phelim, Larry and George as well as some of the many notable guests in the audience.
I must admit I knew next to nothing about the 1915 Armenian genocide, save having my parents tell me to eat my peas because there were starving Armenians. Although I would have happily sent the starving Armenians my peas, I had no idea where they lived or why they were starving. I don’t recall learning anything about it in school.
The last few weeks American Freedom Alliance has had three events commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the Armenian genocide. AFA held a radio conference, a forum and a film, “The Armenian Genocide”. Coincidentally, it was also the 70th Anniversary of the German Jewish genocide. When Hitler contemplated the extermination of Jews, he asked if no one cared about the Armenian genocide, why would they care about the Jews?
One of the speakers at the AFA Forum, Professor Levon Marasjlian told of a German newspaper, in 1924, saying what happened to the Armenians in Turkey could very well happen to the Jews in Germany in the near future.
Another speaker, Nancy Eskijian, the daughter of a genocide survivor and pastor of the Bread of Life Foursquare Gospel Church in Los Angeles, said the United Nations defined genocide as the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a race of people by killing them.
During the 16th and 17th centuries the Ottoman Empire included Turkey, a large part of the Mediterranean coast, the Red Sea coast, the Middle East and eastern Europe. During the height of it’s power, though mostly Sunni Islamic, it was a multinational, multilingual empire ruled by a Sultans. The Sultans allowed the various nationalities to self-govern, however, non-Muslim minorities had fewer rights than Muslims. By the end of the 19th century Christians started demanding equal rights. The Sultan started killing those who rebelled.
In 1908 the Young Turks forced the Sultan from office and took over. They considered the Armenian Christians a threat and in the name of nationalism, they claimed Turkey for the Turkish. Children of any nationality had to be raised as Turks. They started deporting and relocating Armenian Christians. In some cases Armenians, having been told they would be returning, bought train tickets to be packed into cattle cars to be relocated.
Nancy Eskijian explained the genocide was implemented in four stages. The first stage was to conscript men into the military and then kill them. The second phase was to cut the head off the snake and exterminate the leadership. The third phase was to deport or resettle the civilian population. This phase included forced marches into the desert. Women, children and the elderly died along the way. They were given little food or water and not allowed to rest. Mosques told their members that it was patriotic to kill Armenians and many went out and attacked the already weak, starving Armenians. The fourth phase was to deny it happened.
During this time Germany was an ally of Turkey and sent military officers to observe what Turkey was doing about their Armenian problem. Many feel the Armenian genocide was the inspiration for the Jewish genocide.
As they say, if we don’t learn from history we are bound to repeat it. Turkey became determined to not allow anyone to learn the history. It is not taught in schools and Turks who know anything about it say the Armenians were at fault.
Although there have been many books written about it, many personal accounts from survivors, and many confirming reports from American diplomats serving in the area during the genocide, America is not one of the twenty two countries that recognize the Armenian genocide.
Why do we think this is? In 1938 the New Turkish Republic was formed and tried to distance itself from the rule of the Young Turks. They modernized and westernized. America felt Turkey is an important ally in an area of the world unfriendly to America. Europe and the United States courted this new republic as an ally and remembering the genocide became unpopular.
What became apparent to me, from these three AFA events, is that the Armenian genocide wasn’t about Turks exterminating Armenians, it was about Muslims exterminating Christians and when we look at what is happening in the Middle East today, Muslims are exterminating Christians, AGAIN…….we have learned nothing from history.
Last night, American Freedom Alliance’s Literary Café hosted a dinner at the home of Robert and Leslie Hamilton with author Stephen Meyer, followed by a discussion of his book, “Signature in the Cell: DNA and the Evidence for Intelligent Design”.
Stephen Meyer has a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge in the Philosophy of Science. A former geophysicist and college professor, he now directs the Center for Science and Culture at the Discovery Institute in Seattle. His book was named one of the top books of 2009 by the Times Literary Supplement (London).
Meyer began by explaining he had always been interested in the intersection of science and philosophy. Many of the early philosophers were scientists. He believes our world view is influenced by how science is interpreted.
Meyer spoke of the study of DNA causing many scientists to consider Intelligent Design. He mentioned Dean H. Kenyon, Professor Emeritus of Biology at San Francisco State University, who had believed in biochemical evolution but, after studying DNA, now believed in Intelligent Design.
The study of DNA has revealed that the center core of the DNA molecule contains coding more sophisticated than any computer programmer could design. DNA stores information in digital form. Bill Gates said DNA is like a software program but much more complex. Where does a software program originate? It’s source is an intelligent mind. Where does the DNA coding come from?
Meyer explained that when he went to England to study the origins of life, he was given Darwin’s, “On the Origin if Species by Means of Natural Selection”. He became interested in Darwin’s forensic form of investigation of the past. Unlike present scientific research where you can examine and test a subject and repeat the outcome, studying the past requires one to compare what happened then to causes now known. Darwin used “multiple competing hypothesis” to explain his theory of evolution. Darwin admitted there was the appearance of design but that it was simply the product of natural selection.
Meyer wanted to explain ID (Intelligent Design) using the same forensic methods Darwin used. Darwin never explained where first life came from. Even present day Darwinist, Richard Dawkins admits no one knows where or how life began.
Opponents of ID argue that ID is not testable, therefore, not “science”. Meyer used the same method Darwin used so if ID is not science, neither is Darwin’s theory.
When the DNA double helix structure was discovered by James Watson and Frances Crick in 1953 until about ten years ago, scientists believed a small section of the long strand contained all the information to build protein and the rest was just junk DNA.
In the early 2000’s scientists discovered the coded information contained in the core of the DNA molecule. We now know there was no “junk” DNA. There is nested coding and auto-correct features in DNA, not likely to be the result of accident. This has opened the discussion for many of the secular scientists to the existence of ID.
Meyers was asked what ID explains. He replied that it provides a causal explanation of the origin of life. The only cause of functional information is the mind. DNA contains digital, coded information that must have originated from somewhere….an intelligence.
Dawkins argues if there is ID, who designed the designer? But that question begs counter questions, who designed the evolver? Where did matter and energy come from?
Stephen Hawking’s Ph.D. thesis was on Black Holes. He applied the dynamics of Black Holes to the origin of the universe. He thought all the universe would have been compacted into the smallest sphere. If true, where would matter have come from?
Meyer was asked why there is such intense resistance to ID? What are so many scientists and most politicians afraid of? It’s such an emotionally intense issue.
Meyer told us about an article he wrote called, “Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington” that was the first peer-reviewed article explicitly advancing the theory of intelligent design published in a mainstream scientific periodical (housed at the Smithsonian Institution in DC). After the article was published, the Smithsonian’s Museum of Natural History erupted in internal controversy, which was soon discovered by the scientific press. The Smithsonian was angry and embarrassed by the editor, Richard Sternberg (an evolutionary biologist with two Ph.D.’s), who published the article. He lost his office, his access to scientific samples and was transferred to a hostile supervisor. This, because he published a peer-reviewed article.
Meyers said ID gives a sense of human purpose. He said if you take Darwin and Dawkins theories to their conclusions, there is no purpose to life. You can’t have a purpose driven life if life has no purpose.
Meyers was asked how ID gets the attention it deserves. The problem is access. The media is not going to report on ID objectively. But there is a network around the world of scientists trying to get the word out. He said between 30% and 40% of English scientists were sympathetic to ID. He said molecular biology is in crisis. It has hit a wall, there is nowhere to go. ID best explains life.
Meyers was then asked if the political climate didn’t have something to do with the resistance to ID. Judeo-Christian philosophy says God loves man and wants him to be free. The Left wants central planning and control over man’s activities.
Meyers believed that was possible but ultimately truth surfaces. People don’t go to a museum and think wind and erosion caused the Rosetta Stone. You either believe life originated from random material causes or a mind.
Meyers believes that the acceptance of God or Intelligent Design would lead to more fruitful and productive scientific endeavors.
Last night AFA’s Cinema Gateway hosted “The Making of American Sniper” at a lovely private home in Beverly Hills. There was a cocktail hour followed by a sumptuous dinner with the evening’s speaker Andrew McLaren.
Andrew McLaren served with and became a close friend of Chris Kyle. He was a member of the Marine Corps Security Force Company Europe. He was deployed to more than ten countries during his service and his unit had been deployed to rescue our Libyan Ambassador when they were mysteriously told to stand down.
After Andrews service in the Marines he joined BlackwaterUSA, a civilian company contracted by the State Department and the CIA to provide security for politicians and diplomats visiting war zones.
Andrew and Chris Kyle starred in NBC’s “Stars Earn Stripes”, a show where “stars” went through war games in teams with former military members. Anti-war, anti-military activists and Muslims boycotted and protested the show until, even though the ratings were good, NBC caved into the pressure and cancelled the show.
http://www.nbc.com/stars-earn-stripes
We were shown clips from “American Sniper” and “Stars Earn Stripes”. After the clips Andrew explained how “American Sniper” was made. Bradley Cooper contacted Chris Kyle saying he wanted to make a movie based on Chris’s book. Stephen Spielberg was attached as director, but he wanted a much bigger budget and he wanted the story to be about Chris and the Iraqi sniper (the one Chris shot from more than 2000 feet away). He wanted the movie to have no good guys or bad guys. He wanted the Americans to be morally equivalent to the Iraqis. Eventually, Spielberg dropped out because the studio wouldn’t increase the budget. When Chris was killed and the studio saw the public reaction, people standing along the freeway and on the over passes in the rain, that they had to use the Dallas Stadium to hold all the mourners, they changed direction. Clint Eastwood came on board and wanted to make a patriotic movie about an American hero. The rest is history. “American Sniper” broke all records. The majority of Americans are not anti-military. We respect our military and love our heroes.
Andrew spoke about our military. Contrary to John Kerry’s portrayal of our military as being savages indiscriminately killing people for fun, he said, except for a few bad apples that you’ll find in any organization, our military men just want to serve their country honorably. They want to protect our country and their brothers in combat. He said there is no moral equivalence between American soldiers and the Iraqis or ISIS. He said ISIS is as barbaric as depicted in “American Sniper”. They are perfectly willing to use women, children and disabled as suicide bombers. They are happy to use a drill on a child’s head. He said Chris Kyle was a true hero, who saved countless American soldiers. Chris was also a wonderful father and family man. Andrew gave an example from shortly before Chris was killed. He called Chris and told him he was going to do another series and he could get Chris on it. Chris told him his brother had just had a baby and he wanted to be with family during this time.
Andrew also explained how our military has been weakened by this administration. He said they are not allowed to be involved in any offensive actions. They can only be defensive. They also can’t shoot on any buildings where civilians “might” be located. Our enemy doesn’t play by the rules. They are terrorists not soldiers. They fire on our troops from public buildings knowing our troops can’t fire back. We aren’t fighting to win. Strong, fit military men like Chris and Andrew are being replaced with gays and women. The standards for combat have been seriously lowered.
Andrew has started a company, Black Globe and is trying to raise money to build a private army. There are plenty of former military men willing to fight ISIS. All this administration is willing to do against ISIS is drop a few bombs near them a few times a day. ISIS troops only need to go into a building to avoid the bombs.
ISIS is growing, recruiting more and more young people. America’s weakness is empowering them not appeasing them. They say they are at war with America. If we don’t stop them in the Middle East, they will come here.
The Luxe Hotel on Sunset Boulevard was the location for the January installment of the American Freedom Alliance Lecture and Conference Series.
Over the last few years parents across the country have become more and more concerned about the way Islam is being taught to their children. The Manhattan Beach Middle School received national attention when parents took their son out of school because the lessons appeared to be more proselytizing than history.
The first speaker was Samira Tamer. In addition to English, Samira is fluent in Arabic, Turkish, and French. She has been the chapter leader for the Los Angeles chapter of ACT for America since 2007. She also taught art and English, as a second language, in public school.
Samira brought two history books that are being used in public and private schools throughout the state and read some of the lessons on Islam from the books. She pointed out that myths and legends about Islam are stated as fact, while information about Christianity is stated as belief. She explained the word “Islam” means submission. Christianity and Judaism are taught in the 6th grade followed by Islam in the 7th grade. However, the Judeo/Christian faiths are given a few days, while Islam is given three weeks.
As Samira speaks Arabic, she explained the meaning and significance of some of the Islamic words, such as “shahada”, the declaration of faith, once said is considered, by Muslims, as conversion. “Takkiya” which is approval of deception to further Islamic goals.
Our next speaker was Keith Hardine. Keith works as a Los Angeles Unified District Campus Aide. He supervises and mentors K-12 students. In addition he teaches “Self-Defense Civics” during and after school. Keith is also a professional consultant to law enforcement in Los Angeles and Orange counties.
Keith spoke on how to engage our children and stimulate their interest in our founding. He demonstrates to students how incompatible Islam is with our Constitution. If students understand how important natural law was to our founding, they can understand how antithetical Islam is to natural law. Keith always carries with him a copy of the Constitution and gives copies to students when possible.
I observed Keith teach one of his “Self-Defense Civics” classes. While he taught the students anti-bullying defensive tactics he cleverly tied them to individual rights and asked the students questions about how the Constitution protects those rights. One young man took out his copy of the Constitution and others gathered around to read over his shoulder. It was inspiring to see such interest in the Constitution from these kids but it demonstrates the value of allowing teachers to develop methods of inspiring that kind of interest.
Next to speak was Maurey Williams. Maurey is a social studies teacher at Scripps Ranch High School in San Diego. Prior to that, in his capacity as a history teacher in middle school, he taught Islam. Maurey taught gifted and talented students, English, as a second language, as well as developmentally delayed students.
Maurey explained how important he believes it is to teach Islam and how he taught it. As a conscientious and objective teacher, Maurey reviewed the Judeo/Christian lessons with students in later grades but acknowledges that isn’t the norm. At the time Maurey taught Islam he had the flexibility to contrast the good with the bad, however, after Common Core introduces it’s history courses, that will not be the case. Maurey feels the biggest obstacle teachers have is too much government intrusion. He believes government is crushing teachers. That innovation in teaching comes from teachers being free to try new methods.
Michael Greer ( that's me) was the last speaker. I am a retired casting director with 30 years experience in the entertainment industry. Currently, I write a blog “Madder Than Hell” that is published in numerous Conservative publications. I also report on the American Freedom Alliance events on the GREER REPORT. I have 12 year old twin grandsons who will be taking Islam next year.
I believe we all understand that the teaching of Islam to our children is important. It is an important part of history and a growing influence in the world. My concern is what is being taught and in what context. I did quite a bit of research on how it is being taught across the country. While, not all schools are teaching it in the same way, what appears to be universally true is that the history and tenants of Islam are, for the most part, whitewashed.
Students are being required to recite the “shahada” which is the Islamic declaration of faith. In some schools students are saying the Pledge of Allegiance in Arabic and saying “one nation under Allah”. Some are taught Muslims discovered America. And in some schools Muslims are allowed to pray in school (but not Christians).
I researched what and who was behind the curriculum. I learned Saudi Arabian backed groups such as the “Council on Islamic Education” (recently changed to “Institute of Religious and Civic Values”) are funding teacher training and writing the curriculum. What isn’t being taught is Mohammad’s bloody history, the lack of women’s rights, the Three Stages of Jihad, and the goal of Islam to be the only religion and Sharia the only law.
The audience was full of questions and comments. Everyone very concerned about what is being taught and wanting to know how to stop it. Although there is no easy way, as school boards are unmoved, we all need to speak out about it as often as possible. Educate as many as we can. The best defense is knowledge.
There was a large and lively attendance at the American Freedom Alliance’s Literary Café to hear author, John Hancock speak about his book, “Liberty Inherited”.
John Hancock is an author, historian and speaker who has become one of the leading experts on American exceptionalism and it’s origins. As American’s exceptionalism started being questioned, Hancock decided write a book tracing the roots of our founding and the influence our English heritage had on it. He began by doing what I consider a very gutsy thing, he contacted English Parliamentarian, Daniel Hannan’s office and told them he was writing a book on how the elements of the American Constitution germinated in England. Surprisingly, Daniel Hannan, himself, called Hancock back and spend hours telling him where to look and what books to read.
I wonder how many of our representatives would do the same.
The defining moment in England came in 1688 when the issue of where men’s rights came from, King or God, was settled with King James II fleeing England dressed as a woman. James II was a Catholic who believed God’s authority went through Kings down to the people. The question became, was man a subject of God, born with rights and privileges or was he subject to the whims of Kings. Cromwell led a revolution against absolutism and established a government without a King, but he became even more of an absolutist.
After James II England wanted a Protestant King. William of Orange (Dutch) was married to James II’s daughter and was also his nephew. Plus, Holland being the continent’s largest, most prosperous Protestant nation, made him the best choice to replace James II.
In 1689 Parliament, wanting to prevent another James II, created the Declaration of rights, that became the basis of the American Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights and Constitution. It limited government, protected the rights of man and protected man’s right to bear arms. The right to bare arms was precisely to protect citizens from tyrants like James II.
William accepted the crown under the condition that it would be a representative government. He would rule with Parliament and not attempt to influence the election of representatives to Parliament as past Kings had.
Our founders were able to recognize from England’s history what worked and what didn’t. They took from England’s history that man’s rights came from God, that a limited, representative government made countries more prosperous and that man had a right to bear arms to defend himself from tyranny.
England’s Constitution was “understood” not written down. Over the years through changes in Kings, rights had been eroded through “Royal Prerogatives” (think Executive Orders). The founders wanted our Constitution to be in writing. They understood changes in the Constitution should be difficult to make. They understood people will trade their liberty for being allowed to indulge in their vices. As an example, England eventually took the right to bare arms from it’s citizens.
Our Constitution has survived 239 years. Longer than any other country’s Constitutions. It is responsible for making this country the freest, most prosperous country in the world. The poorest of us live better than most of the rest of the world. Millions of people are willing to risk their lives to come to this country because it is, truly, exceptional.
WARNING: The following contains frightening content, however, unless you know you are in danger you can’t fight it.
American Freedom Alliance’s Literary Café hosted a discussion with Guy Milliere, Professor at the University of Paris. Milliere is the author of forty books on France, Europe, the United States, Israel and the Middle East. He is also a Senior Fellow at Gatestone Institute and has written thousands of articles published in France, Israel and the United States. His latest book is, “The State With the Yellow Star” about anti-Semitism in Europe and he is currently working on a book on the decline and fall of Europe.
In case you weren’t aware, Europe is declining and is about to fall. After World War II European leaders believed wars were due to nationalism, democracy and militarism. They have been working since to overcome those things with multiculturalism, unlimited immigration, and redistribution of wealth through socialism and the elimination of cultural traditions. The European Union was formed to accomplish those things.
Milliere explained there is no free speech in Europe any longer. You can be fined and/or jailed for speaking against what the government doesn’t want you to speak against. He told us he was fined $10,000 for speaking against Islam. Speaking against Islam is a hate crime……speaking against Christianity, is not.
The economic growth in Europe is less than one percent a year, however what is growing is government and poverty. Countries who recognize the danger and want to reverse it, are overruled by Brussels, where the European Union is located. The European countries tell their citizens they will take care of them cradle to grave.
Professor Milliere told us his students aren’t interested in learning or planning a career. They’re only there to get a diploma (they will get no less than a B for simply showing up). Their interest is how soon they will get a government check and how soon they can retire. The Professor said socialism destroys the mind. There is no innovation coming from Europe because there are no people interested in working that hard.
Of course, as the number of people dependent on government grows, so do the taxes (France taxes 75%) and as the rich are taxed more they leave. There is nothing more portable than wealth. The wealthy can have homes in a dozen different countries and be citizens of none. The middle class can’t leave and, as the financial burden is placed on them, they give up and join the dependent class. As the dependent class grows, the middle class paying for it shrinks, the tax base shrinks, and the dependent class gets poorer. There is a saying, socialists love the poor so much, they create more.
Milliere explained while there are numerous parties in European countries, there are no true conservative parties. The parties are all, primarily, socialist. In order to gain support for forming the European Union, citizens were promised more prosperity and more liberty (sound familiar?), but the opposite happened.
However, even an even bigger threat to Europe, than socialism, is Muslim immigration. The point of unlimited immigration was to end nationalism. But it’s resulted in more nationalism as their citizens feel the consequences. Milliere said when Muslims first started immigrating to Europe they wanted to assimilate but schools and politicians told them they didn’t need to, that they should keep their culture. They are now trying to impose their culture on Europe and Europeans are angry and resentful. However, due to “hate speech” laws, they are punished for speaking out.
The Muslim population grew very fast due to family reunification. Once one Muslim became a citizen he could bring in his entire family, which could be 20 or 30 more. Muslims took over areas, then entire towns. They have become “No Go” zones for natural born citizens. They have become nations within a nation and they make more and more demands of their host country. They say Europeans were colonialists and now they have to pay for it. Europeans feel guilty and acquiesce. My question is, why don’t Europeans understand as Muslims demonize Europe for being colonialists, Muslims are colonializing Europe? Are they not aware that Islam intends to colonialize the world?
Of course, as the Muslim population grows in Europe, politicians have to pander to them to get their votes (sound familiar?). Governments know if they upset the natural born citizens, nothing will happen, but if they upset the Muslims there will be riots and burned cars. Muslims are particularly fond of burning cars. So much so, that citizens have taken to placing a Muslim symbol on their cars to protect them from being burned.
Anti-Semitism has grown in Europe due to the Islam influence. Jews are beaten and robbed on the streets. If they report it to the police, they are told it’s their fault. Crimes are not identified as being committed by Muslims. In fact, when reporting on the conflicts in Syria, Libya, Egypt and the rest of the Middle East, no mention is made of Islam. The conflicts are caused by “extremists”.
If we can’t identify the enemy and discuss the danger objectively and factually, we can’t fight it. Europe has, effectively, made a “preemptive surrender” to Islam. Are we going to do the same?
Everyone needs to see this film. Everyone. What has happened in the European Union is happening here and we need to take a clear look at the consequences.
American Freedom Alliance screened part of a documentary, “Europe’s Last Stand: The Five Pillars of Islamic Conquest” at the Santa Monica Screening Room
a few nights ago. Two of the filmmakers were present to discuss the film after the screening. The filmmakers spent four years and traveled to a dozen countries to make this film. It’s been called the “most authoritative film ever produced documenting the rise of Islam in Western Europe.
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=europe's+last+stand&FORM=VIRE5#view=detail&mid=7CA788FAA7DFE4C8A6927CA788FAA7DFE4C8A692
For the last twenty years Europe has been allowing millions upon millions of Muslims to immigrate into their countries. They touted multiculturalism and diversity as noble goals. But then bad ideas are always hidden behind, seemingly, noble goals? Admitting millions of immigrants who hate your culture because of their religious and political ideology isn’t noble, it’s suicidal.
I don’t know if the European countries believed Muslims would assimilate but if you understand Islam, that isn’t possible. Islam isn’t just a religion, it’s an ideology and a rule of law. They can’t assimilate......and don’t. In Europe, Muslims take over neighborhoods and then towns. They place signs around the towns that say it’s a Muslim area and various things are not allowed. Most don’t dress in Western clothing, women wear burkas. In England female police officers must cover their heads and faces if they serve in the Muslim neighborhoods. Bands of Muslims march through retail areas with bullhorns demanding liquor stores and bars stop selling alcohol. If they find an Englishman drinking in public, bands of young Muslims beat them.
Recently, as Catholic worshipers exited a Catholic cathedral, teams of Muslims threw stones at them. Laws have been passed against anti-Muslim speech. A couple in Liverpool were recently tried for speaking against Islam. They owned a small hotel and were overheard saying something negative about Islam by a Muslim woman staying there. She reported them to the police and they were arrested. They were eventually acquitted but by the time that happened they lost their hotel. Free
speech in most European countries is an illusion. You are free to speak as long as it supports what the government approves of. Muslims are offended by the
cultural norms of most the countries and for reasons hard to understand, most of the countries try to accommodate the immigrants rather than their natural citizens.
Along with the Muslim immigrants come radical Imam’s who have large internet followings and coordinate their efforts. They reject the laws of the secular society and replace them with Sharia in Muslim dominated cities. Sharia is not at all compatible with civil law but countries are allowing it. Under Sharia woman have no rights. How is that compatible in countries where all people have the same rights? How do countries allow two diametrically opposed sets of laws to exist? Reasonably, you can only have one Rule of Law.
I remember a Conservative commentator being asked about Sharia law being allowed in America and he said it could never happen. Never. He was dismissive of someone even thinking such a thing could happen in America. However, recently a Federal judge struck down Oklahoma’s Constitutional amendment against Sharia law. http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2013/08/16/oklahoma-ban-on-sharia-law-unconstitutional-us-judge-rules/
In England natural English citizens have tried to push back against the Islamization of England. They formed a group EDL (English Defense League) and held protests. Their protests were counter protested by Muslims and surprisingly, although the Muslims were the aggressors, the English police defend the Muslims against the EDL.
Remember England had it’s subways and buses blown up by home grown Muslim terrorists and yet they still allowed more Muslim immigration. Most of us find this hard to understand. This film explains that Europe was so devastated by WWII and the people were so determined to never have another war, they adopted a “live and let live” attitude. They want to be accepting of other cultures whether or not they were compatible with theirs. This has lead to very unwise immigration policy.
The filmmakers fear it’s too late to turn around the Islamization of Europe. Even if Europe were to stop Muslim immigration right now, Muslims are having ten children to Europeans having two. Muslims will outnumber the natural European population very quickly. Unless America wants to face the same fate, we need to understand Islam, and learn from Europe’s mistakes.
The first time I heard the claim that man was causing global warming, I thought it was a joke. When I realized that not only weren’t they joking, they were deadly serious, I had to know why. They claimed CO2 was responsible for all kinds of evils, but I knew that CO2 was a nutrient necessary for life on our planet. I also knew that CO2 is emitted by every living creature in nearly everything we do. Reducing CO2 would require de-industralizing our country, destroying our economy, and reducing crop output. It would lead to deaths of living creatures. I determined to learn as much as I could about “global warming”, and find out what was behind it. For the last ten years or so, I have been reading, researching, and listening to actual scientists who study these disciplines.
This July I spent three days with hundreds of scientists at the 9th International Conference on Climate Change. These are experts in their fields, and they showed us a myriad reasons why Anthropogenic Global Warming is the greatest fraud ever perpetrated on man. You can watch videos of the Conference here: http://heartland.org. I recommend it highly.
One of the first things I discovered when I started researching global warming was a petition signed by more than 31,000 scientists in response to the Kyoto Accord. This petition said that warming and cooling cycles were normal for the planet, and that man’s activities have very little, if any, effect on climate. This demonstrated to me that there is no “consensus” of scientists on the matter. The petition was circulated only in the United States, so I would imagine the number of signatories would be even greater in the worldwide science community. You can see the petition for yourself: http://www.petitionproject.org.
I printed out the 31 pages of California scientists who signed the petition. I like to show it to people who try to tell me that “97% of scientists agree man is causing global warming”. They never fail to be shocked.
I was excited to meet the scientists who created and circulated the petition when they received awards at the conference. One of them, Dr. Willie Soon, has PhD’s in astrophysics and geoscience. He sat at my table at the conference. The group explained that when they circulated the petition, many leftist forces tried to sabotage it by sending in petitions signed by bogus people. That way, they could point out these fake signatures, and cast doubt on the petition’s validity. Too bad for the spoilers – the authors of the petition are no dummies! They caught every fraud, and vetted every signer!
Shortly before the conference the news broke that NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) had been manipulating temperature data. Here is one of the articles that I read about it: http://nypost.com/2014/06/24/global-warming- skeptic-says-government-manipulated-temperature-data/.
We tend to trust information from agencies such as these, but, remember, they are hired and funded by our government. If our government has an agenda, they would certainly not allow NOAA to deviate from it. NOAA seems to forget that other scientists across the country have been keeping data logs of their own. Several of the speakers showed us the data released by NOAA before and after 2000. It shows NOAA lowered the temperatures from the 1930s (the hottest period in US history) and raised the temperatures from the 1990s, just so they could claim 1998 as the peak hottest year. 1998 was not at all the hottest year, but since there weren’t any SUV’s to blame in the 1930s, that decade’s true data didn’t fit their narrative.
The Conference started with a reception where we met and mingled with the speakers. Lord Christopher Monckton is the rock star of climate change “skeptics”, and he was surrounded by admirers and reporters at every turn. The reception was followed by dinner with speakers such as Patrick Moore, PhD, founder and ex-member of Greenpeace, and John Coleman, former weatherman for “Good Morning, America” and former CEO of the Weather Channel.
Patrick Moore spoke about founding Greenpeace and protesting against nuclear power, whaling, and the killing of baby seals. He is still an environmentalist, as are all of us who want clean air and water (which we currently have). Dr. Moore now agrees that nuclear power is the cleanest, safest form of energy. He pointed out the tactic of scaring the public to serve a political agenda. The movie “Clear and Present Danger” scared America away from nuclear power. Dr. Moore showed us pictures of his early years in the movement. He resigned from Greenpeace when they started pushing the Global Warming meme, which he knew wasn’t true.
John Coleman spoke about starting the Weather Channel, and then resigning from it when the rest of the board voted to change data to support the Global Warming agenda. This was a theme that ran all through the Conference, and was emphasized over and over. The data we are being given has been manipulated to fit a political agenda. For us to make intelligent decisions, we have to have factual information.
Another scientist at my table was William M. Gray, PhD, Emeritus Professor of Atmospheric Science, and expert in tropical meteorology. His specialty is hurricanes. In his talk on “Climate Change and the Hydrosphere”, he showed us evidence that there are actually fewer hurricanes now than in the last 30 years. Here is a great video on the topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZVE8JHxRAc.
The claims Al Gore made in his “Inconvenient Truth” film about there being more hurricanes were never true. In fact, an English court ruled that the “factual inaccuracies” (aka: blatant lies!) in the Al Gore documentary must be pointed out to the audience whenever the film is shown.
Many of the speakers brought up the fact that CO2 is only a little over 3% of the “greenhouse gases”, and that man contributes about 2% of that 3%. It is beyond statistically insignificant. No one is saying man isn’t contributing any CO2, but his contribution isn’t significant enough to change either temperature or climate.
Anthony Watts, a meteorologist, is the founder of the most-viewed climate website, “Watts Up With That” (http://wattsupwiththat.com). He is also a three-time winner of the Best Science Blog award. I found his website years ago. When he founded it, he posted a list of all the temperature stations across the country, and asked people living near them to go photograph them, and see if they comply with the regulations for their locations and upkeep. What he learned is that a majority of the stations are located in areas that affect the readings. They are in the middle of parking lots, near air- conditioning or heating units, over waste treatment plants, etc. Mr. Watts even tested the type of paint used on the stations, and found that it affected the temperature readings. His point is that if we can’t trust the temperature readings to be accurate, why would we destroy our economy, and completely reorder our lives?
This graph was shown by several speakers. It shows all the climate change projections. None of them take into consideration the effects of sun or cloud cover. They all predict warming, but the actual data (in blue and green at the bottom of the graph), shows just how far off they are. They don’t even match the actual data from previous years!

There were so many interesting speakers! Astronaut Walt Cunningham and Dr. Habibullo Abdussamatov, expert in solar physics and solar terrestrial physics and head of space research at the Pulkovo Observatory in Russia, as well as head of the Selenometria Project on the International Space Station, spoke about how solar activity has the greatest influence of all on temperature and climate. Oddly enough, it isn’t included in any of the climate models.
Larry Bell is an endowed professor at the University of Houston, where he directs the Sasakawa International Center for Space Architecture. He has written nearly 300 articles for Forbes magazine, and the book “Climate of Corruption: Politics and Power behind the Global Warming Hoax”.
There were dozens of experts in the fields of atmosphere, climate, and related sciences. The entire list of speakers is on the Heartland website, for those who want to learn more.
Congressman Dana Rohrabacher of California gave a very entertaining talk on all the scary government claims of the last 30-some years, which have all been wrong. Yes, every last one. The government loves to scare us and spend billions of our tax dollars to combat some phantom threat. However, when said threat is inevitably proven false, we never get an apology or an explanation. So many people are left thinking the government actually solved something. I’ll bet some of you once believed hair spray caused holes in the ozone layer, didn’t you?
One of the highlights of the Conference was Lord Monckton, Lady Margaret Thatcher’s science advisor. He is always entertaining. He goes to all the UN Earth Summit conferences, where he is one of the few voices of reason. The press never tells the public the contents of the agreements the UN always wants all the countries to sign. Lord Monckton does his best to inform us. He travels the world, trying to educate people about the consequences of these agreements. Several videos of his speeches have gone viral, and were in great measure responsible for our Congress not signing UN agreements that would compromise our sovereignty. He showed us a recent video that had almost three million hits in two days, but the views mysteriously dropped off the day after that. He learned that someone paid over $250,000 to have searches for his name redirected to fake websites! The global warming alarmists can’t prove him wrong, so they keep trying to silence him.
Lord Monckton was kicked out of the Durban Summit, but he is not one to be deterred – he and Craig Rucker (http://www.cfact.org) parachuted in! Last year’s climate summit proposed reducing CO2 by 100%. Yes, 100%! This would require all living things to stop exhaling. What a perfect example of how insane the alarmists are! It’s worth noting that most regulations and penalties are levied against America, and not any other country. One of the agreements strove to invalidate all American patents. These things would be laughable, if they weren’t so deadly serious, and if our own representatives didn’t keep trying to sign these moronic agreements. Like Agenda 21, which Congress signed with nary a peep.
This is what Lord Monckton had to say about the conference: http://wattsupwiththat.com/2014/07/11/the-climate-consensus-is-not-97-its-100/
Many of the scientists and experts explained that temperatures haven’t risen in 17 years and 10 months. Even the IPCC, Phil Jones, and other climate alarmists have had to concede that fact. CO2 has been rising, but that is a good thing – it has made the earth more lush and green and created greater crop yields. One of the panels showed greenhouse plants injected with CO2 as compared to plants that didn’t receive injections. The CO2 plants were about five times bigger, with bigger root systems and more leaves. CO2 is the life’s blood of plants, just as oxygen is for man. CO2 is not, and never has been, a pollutant. It is a nutrient necessary for life. Reducing CO2 will lead to lower crop yields, and, eventually, widespread famine. The Jurassic period had 17 times more CO2 than we do now, and there was abundant plant life. More CO2 is better!
Not one prediction the climate alarmists have made has come true. Al Gore said we’d be flooded by the year 2000. That didn’t happen. He said polar bears were dying. There are more polar bears now than 30 years ago. They can swim for 60 miles, and live half their lives in the water. They are in no danger whatsoever. He said there would be more hurricanes and tornadoes, but there are fewer. He said the glaciers were melting, but they aren’t. He said CO2 increases cause temperature increases. Current data proves that false beyond a shadow of a doubt.
Temperature and climate are affected by solar activity, ocean currents, cloud cover, and several other factors (some of which I wasn’t previously aware of). Climate has been changing since the beginning of time, and will continue changing. Man may contribute CO2 to the atmosphere – all living things do – but that’s a good and healthy thing!
The life’s blood of our economy is energy. Cheap, abundant energy is what made this country the richest, most successful country in the world, one with the highest standard of living, and the cleanest environment. Rich countries are always the cleanest. Shipping our industries to places with fewer environmental regulations doesn’t affect the environment one iota, but it does destroy our economy by redistributing our jobs and wealth to other countries. Why are so many countries so poor? Because they don’t have access to cheap, abundant energy. This isn’t because they lack resources, it’s because they signed Earth Summit agreements that don’t allow them to use fossil fuels, and they can’t afford wind or solar power, which is ten times more expensive. The agreements force Western countries to pay for poor countries’ outrageously expensive wind and solar energy.
The good news is that we are winning the debate. Five years ago, Global Warming was one of the top concerns of American citizens. Today, it isn’t even in the top 15! As the years pass, and all the dire predictions fall flat, people stop believing the lies. When the alarmists keep claiming if it’s hot, it’s global warming, If it’s snowing, it’s global warming, rain?, global warming, drought?, global warming, impotence, car accidents, post-nasal drip, and a thousand other things, it’s laughable. It’s Chicken Little on steroids.
Do you wonder, if the actual data shows no significant warming, and human activity has little to no effect, and more CO2 is a good thing, why, then, do our president and the progressives keep pushing laws that restrict our consumption of energy? Why are they trying to force us our of our cars, and into smaller homes? If they got their way, what would our country be like? Would we still be free?
American Freedom Alliance
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American Freedom Alliance
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Los Angeles, CA 90064, USA
Phone: (310) 444 3085 | Fax: (310) 444 3086
Email: adavis@americanfreedomalliance.org
Web: www.americanfreedomalliance.org
Copyright © 2009-2012 American Freedom Alliance. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Contact Us