David Clemens and the National Association of Scholars

Five Myths of Assessment

Intro. to Great Books

Ideological Litmus Loyalty Oath for Professors

NAS

"For many Ph.Ds, the Ed.D. represents the ticket to the administrative high life, the white flag to academic scholarship, and the tramp stamp of the compromising careerist."

OBAMA ‘98 VIDEO: JOKES ABOUT PEOPLE CALLING IDEAS HE SUPPORTS ‘SOVIET’

On June 8th, 1998 the Brookings Institution invited then-State Senator Barack Obama to speak on a panel it was holding in Chicago. The panel covered the economic revitalization of the inner cities and was moderated by NPR host Ray Suerez.

While discussing the “bold” proposals that he and some other corporate leaders support, including lifting housing restrictions in the suburbs and revenue tax-based sharing, Obama admits the ideas sound radical” for corporate America and even jokes that the speaker of the Illinois house called the proposals “Soviet.” The audience laughs, as does Obama, before noting “there is gonna be political resistance to some of these proposals.” He concludes by saying such a reaction is “a good sign” that certain proposals, even the controversial ones, are being discussed.

1995: “Strassman vs. Obama: ‘Corporate Power’ vs. ‘Common Ground’”

‘WE COLLECTIVELY CAN DECIDE ON OUR FATE’



“Technological change is gonna happen, scientific discoveries are gonna happen; I think with the collapse of communism I think we recognize that markets are gonna happen.”

“But having said all that, I insist — and in this I think I am inheriting what was probably the best part of the dream from both my father, my African father, my white American mother. I think the best legacy of theirs, my inheritance, is the notion that we collectively can decide on our fate…things like technological change, things like mass media, things like the market, are all subject to our control, that we can make decisions for better or worse and continue to move forward and progress.”


“I would challenge a reading of American history that would say the entire history of America is towards concentration of power and oppression. I think that American history moves in waves and cycles. I think that recapturing the spirit that existed not just in the civil rights movement but in the union organizing movement, in the populist movement, I think there is a running thread, one of the better angels of our nature in this country which has been the notion that you know we can sit around the table and find common ground and make democracy work in the way that it should be worked.”

“Its not popular right now to say that and to believe in a kind of a common good but I think that notions of common good are the glue that hold our society together.”

CONGRESS TO SEND BILLIONS TO EGYPT

The New Deal Was A Failure: Hoover and FDR Prolonged the Great Depression with Big Government

This mini-documentary from the Center for Freedom and Prosperity Foundation explains how the statist policies of Presidents Hoover and Roosevelt lengthened and deepened the Great Depression. The video also briefly explains how reductions in the burden of government spending helped the economy recover from a deep recession after World War I and to grow after World War II.

FARMER UNEARTHS SURPRISING POOLSIDE MOSAIC FROM ROMAN ERA

JIHAD ON THE CHAMPS ELYSÉES

On September 15th, 2012, 200 extremist Muslims demonstrated violently in the 8th district of Paris and on the Champs-Elysées.

They tried to attack the US embassy, offended France, roared "Allah u akbar!" and "Death to the Jews”! 5 times! in Arabic.

ILLINOIS CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE TAMMY DUCKWORTH, SPORTING HIJAB, DENOUNCED "RACISM" AT CHICAGO JIHAD BOMB PLOTTER'S SCHOOL THE DAY AFTER HIS ARREST

On Friday night a Muslim was arrested in Chicago after plotting to blow up a car bomb outside a crowded bar. According to ABC News, the would-be jihad murderer, Adel Daoud, 18, attended the Islamic Foundation School in Villa Park.

The very next day after the arrest, Illinois Congressional candidate Tammy Duckworth went to speak at the Islamic cultural center in Villa Park, the same place where jihad killer wannabe Adel Daoud went to school.

MUSLIM CLERIC RIPS UP BIBLE AT RIOT AT US EMBASSY IN CAIRO, "NEXT TIME I WILL URINATE ON IT" "NEXT TIME I WILL MAKE MY GRANDSON URINATE ON IT"

During the demonstration which was held in front of the American Embassy in Cairo on Tuesday, 9/11, a Muslim cleric named Abu Islam tore and burned the Holy Bible in front of thousands of Muslims. His action was met with applause and anti-Christian cheers from the demonstrators. Before leaving the demonstration and getting into his car, he told the crowds "next time I will urinate on it."

The video above shows the Muslim cleric tearing the Bible. The video says:

0.02 "the overwhelming Book, the Book of Truth and Peace. The place for these words and this book is over the heads because it is the real inspiration... (He places the Koran on his head) voices chanting Allahu Akbar.
0.30 He Says: message to the Egyptian Christians. Out of respect and politeness to the Egyptian Christians we will not do the same like what they did to our God's book , we will be generous towards you today and say we will respect you "momentarily." We will respect this book which is in the Arabic language.
0:54 Demonstrators'chants "Coming, Coming O Islam"
1.09 Abu Islam holds another bible and says: This is the book the dog Terry believes in, as well as those dogs with him the Egyptian Christians in America.
1.19 Abu Islam: Today I can only TEAR IT APART. He starts tearing the bible and throwing the leaves towards the mob, amid chants of Allahu Akbar and "Khaybar, Khaybar, O Jews, the army of Mohammad is coming."
2.06 Abu Islam saying: to all the cross worshippers around the world we will not keep quiet . Today, we tore it.
2.13 a man in blue beside him burns the bible raising it for everyone to see.
Abu Islam: Salamu Aleycom (Peace be with you) and leaves, with mob chanting "Khaybar, Khaybar, O Jews, the army of Mohammad is coming." "Governing, governing, O Koran." "Coming, Coming O Islam."

Voltaire Quote

"To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize." (Voltaire)

Instructor Fighting Islamist Influence in Pentagon

Lieutenant Colonel Matthew Dooley was publicly condemned by General Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and relieved of his teaching assignment because of the negative way Islam was portrayed. The Thomas More Law Center announced today that it is representing the war hero.

Moochellle and University of Florida Deny Free Speech

Matt Pesek, a student of the University, was denied entry into a political event supported with tax payer money, he even turned his shirt inside, all to no avail.

Harvard Losing Out to South Dakota in Graduate Pay: Commodities

Harvard University’s graduates are earning less than those from the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology.

'Homeland Security' Purchases 200 Million More Rounds of Ammunition, for Snipers

.223 Remington Caliber SD (62 grain)

It is the type of ammunition and not necessarily the quantity that is troubling since DHS is purchasing sniper bullets.

Papyrus Refers to Jesus' Wife

The text was probably written centuries after Jesus lived, and all other early, historically reliable Christian literature is silent on the question, she said. There was a controversy in the second century over whether Jesus was married, caught up with a debate about whether Christians should marry and have sex.

This Sept. 5, 2012 photo released by Harvard University shows a fourth century fragment of papyrus that divinity professor Karen L. King says is the only existing ancient text that quotes Jesus explicitly referring to having a wife. King, an expert in the history of Christianity, says the text contains a dialogue in which Jesus refers to "my wife," whom he identified as Mary. King says the fragment of Coptic script is a copy of a gospel, probably written in Greek in the second century.Credit: AP

Translated, the text states:


“‘… not [to] me. My mother gave to me li[fe] …’”
“The disciples said to Jesus, ‘…”
“deny. Mary is worthy of it” (Or: “deny. Mary is n[ot] worthy of it”)
“…’ Jesus said to them, ‘My wife…’”
“… she will be able to be my disciple …”
“Let wicked people swell up …”
“As for me, I dwell with her in order to …”
“an image”
“my moth[er]”
“three”
“forth which …”

Much work needs to be done; the provenance of the fragment is unknown but what is mostly likely is that it arises from a Gnostic group. If so, it may add nothing to the search for the historical Jesus in that Gnostics commonly postulated ideas consistent with the newly released fragment, but the larger, orthodox Church rejected. In addition, if more context is discovered, the fragment may be referring to a spiritual, or idealized marriage, and in that instance it not meant to be interpreted as a physical, literal marriage at all.

Finally, there are numerous passages that refer to Jesus' spiritual marriage in any case.

The Bible refers to Jesus’ wife, repeatedly. Only that wife is not Mary Magdalene or any other earthly woman. It’s the church.

Christ calls himself a bridegroom throughout the New Testament. When the Pharisees ask Jesus why his disciples don’t fast, he answers:

"How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast.In other words, Christ is the groom and his disciples are his friends—and it would be rude of them to abstain from eating while they’re in the presence of the groom."

Later, as Jesus foretells the coming of God’s kingdom, he also refers to himself as a groom: “The kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.” Again, Christ is the groom and his followers are the groom’s friends—there to celebrate the wedding with him.

The study of ancient manuscripts is fascinating but I would not jump to conclusions about this fragment until extensive scholarly research is conducted on the piece.

Stimulus Cash Buys Chinese solar panels

Feds ignore rules

Chinese General: Prepare for Combat

Gen. Xu Caihou, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, considered the most senior military political commissar, said Friday that military forces should be “prepared for any possible military combat,” state run Xinhua news agency reported.

Obama In 1998: "I Actually Believe In Redistribution"

At an October 19, 1998 conference at Loyola University, Barack Obama spoke against "propaganda" that said government doesn't work and the need to "pool resources and hence facilitate some redistribution because I actually believe in redistribution."

Uncommon Knowledge with Thomas Sowell

Hoover fellow and author Thomas Sowell discusses his essay "'Trickle Down Theory' and 'Tax Cuts for the Rich.'" Click the following link to read his essay
http://media.hoover.org/documents/Sowell_TrickleDown_FINAL.pdf
To listen to an mp3 of the interview go to:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/uncommon-knowledge-audio-edition/id384420950
http://feeds.feedburner.com/UncommonKnowledgeAudio

Sharia Adherence Mosque Survey: Correlations between Sharia Adherence and Violent Dogma in U.S. Mosques

Mordechai Kedar, David Yerushalmi, Sharia Adherence Mosque Survey: Correlations between Sharia Adherence and Violent Dogma in U.S. Mosques, December 2011, Perspectives on Terrorism, a scholarly international journal of the Terrorism Research Initiative (TRI).

Abstract

A random survey of 100 representative mosques in the U.S. was conducted to measure the correlation between Sharia adherence and dogma calling for violence against non-believers. Of the 100 mosques surveyed, 51% had texts on site rated as severely advocating violence; 30% had texts rated as moderately advocating violence; and 19% had no violent texts at all. Mosques that presented as Sharia adherent were more likely to feature violence-positive texts on site than were their non-Sharia-adherent counterparts. In 84.5% of the mosques, the imam recommended studying violence-positive texts. The leadership at Sharia-adherent mosques was more likely to recommend that a worshipper study violence-positive texts than leadership at non-Sharia-adherent mosques. Fifty-eight percent of the mosques invited guest imams known to promote violent jihad. The leadership of mosques that featured violence-positive literature was more likely to invite guest imams who were known to promote violent jihad than was the leadership of mosques that did not feature violence-positive literature on mosque premises.

MEQ granted permission to Perspectives on Terrorism to publish a more extensive analysis of the study’s conception, methodology, and results.