Daily Meditation

Seeking a Reformation of Worship

Ligonier Ministries

When Israel’s prophets denounced the corruption of Israelite worship, they sought reform, not revolution. Though they vehemently criticized liturgicalism, they never attacked the liturgy. Though they railed against externalism and formalism, they never sought to remove the externals and forms God had instituted.

For the forms of worship to communicate the content they are designed to convey, there must be constant instruction so that people understand their meaning. The sacraments are not naked symbols. They must be clothed with the Word. Word and sacrament must go together. Sacrament without Word inevitably yields formalism. Word without sacrament inevitably yields a sterility of worship.

We need a reformation of worship, a new discovery of the meaning of classical forms. I cannot be casual about worshiping God. God stripped of transcendence is no God at all. There is such a thing as the Holy. The Holy is sacred. It is uncommon. It is other. It is transcendent. It is not always user-friendly. But it is relevant. It provokes adoration, which is the essence of godly worship.

Coram Deo

Think about the sacraments and liturgy of the church you attend. Are they truly meaningful to you or have they become mere forms of ritual?

Passages for Further Study

Psalm 119:171
Psalm 108:1
Revelation 4:11

Secularist Hate-Religion

Modern Wars of Religion

In the UK, the government, run by increasingly militant secular humanists, is insisting that everybody support and participate in the promotion of homosexuality and trans-sexuality.  The front line of this ideological and political war is the school.

The same conflict is already playing out in Australia.  It can be expected to unfold in New Zealand as well.

Here is a UK orthodox Jewish perspective:

Doomsters Hysteria Deconstructured

Actually, 2018 Was a Pretty Good Year

By Victor Davis Hanson
National Review Online


Aside from the Washington hysterias, 2018 was a most successful year for Americans.
The year 2018 will be deplored by pundits as a bad year of more unpredictable Donald Trump, headlined by wild stock-market gyrations, the melodramas of the Robert Mueller investigation, and the musical-chair tenures of officials in the Trump administration.

A quarter of the government is still shut down. Talk of impeachment by the newly Democratic-controlled House of Representatives is in the air. Seemingly every day there are sensational breakthroughs, scandals, and bombshells that race through social media and the Internet — only to be forgotten by the next day.

In truth, aside from the Washington hysterias, 2018 was a most successful year for Americans.

Daily Meditation

Emulating the Model of Worship

Ligonier Ministries

God instituted the model of worship found in the Old Testament.

The worship of Israel was formal and liturgical. Solemn rites were central to the experience. The setting of temple worship was anything but casual. The meeting place had an ambiance of the solemn and the holy. The ritual was designed for drama. The literature and music were high and majestic. God inspired the content of songs (the Psalms). The finest craftsmen, who were filled by the Holy Spirit, fashioned the articles of art. God designed the vestments of the priests “for glory and for beauty” (Ex. 28:2).

Everything in Israelite worship, from the music to the building to the liturgy, focused attention on the majesty of God. God, in His holiness and in His redemptive work, was the content of the form. It was solemn, because to enter the presence of God is a solemn matter.

But even God-ordained patterns of worship can be corrupted. Liturgy can degenerate into liturgicalism, or even worse, sacerdotalism, by which the rites and sacraments themselves are seen as the instruments of salvation. The forms of worship can devolve into formalism and the externals into externalism.

Coram Deo

In your devotional time today, try some of the forms of praise and worship described in Psalm 150.

Passages for Further Study

John 4:22-23
Revelation 22:9
Psalm 99:5

Too Close to Home

Socialism And the Hollywood Elites



 

Chinese Persecution of Early Rain Covenant Church Continues

Officials Continue Abuse of Early Rain Covenant Church Members

China Aid

(Chengdu, Sichuan—Jan. 4, 2018) Since officials rounded up around 160 members of Early Rain Covenant Church in December, the church’s congregants have undergone abuse at the hands of the authorities.

When police conducted a mass arrest of the Chengdu-based church, Wang Jun, one of the Christians who attends services at Early Rain Covenant Church, tried negotiating peacefully with the police. In response, the officers attacked him, injuring his head, knees, and toes. Wang was also recently detained after he organized a Sunday worship event at the side of the Funan River. Police shut the service down.

In custody, Wang has been beaten violently, and he was sentenced 14 days in prison after undergoing an investigation that lasted for more than 30 hours.  Wang’s wife, Tang Shuangfei, was also arrested, along with his one-year-old child.

Other arrested Christians reported the police hit and trampled them. One of the Christian men had his arms bound and was imprisoned at midnight. From the abuse, his legs bled, and he sustained many injuries. Another said the police refused him food and water during his 24-hour detention. Instead, they bound him to a chair, and he was only able to sleep for a few hours that night.

On Dec. 20, the police inspected the home of one of the church’s elders, Su Bingsen. Su and others detainees associated with the church have been denied their right to meet with lawyers, and there is no way for the church to know whether or not the people have been treated humanely.

Nearly 700 congregants have been monitored, tailed, and threatened by local authorities, and two people have been beaten or hurt. In addition, equipment belonging to the church has been confiscated.

Despite these hardships, the remaining church members often gather in each other’s homes to host services, but they have been severely harassed. The local government dispatched numerous personnel to monitor their apartment buildings and follow them if they go out. They also stop friends from visiting them, and the officials repeatedly tell the Christians that they risk criminal detention on a “provoking troubles” charge if they continue to meet.

Daily Meditation

Invading the Human Soul

Ligonier Ministries

Biblical worship invades the human soul. It is the soul that too often has been banished from modern worship. We are a people preoccupied with self-image, self-esteem, and self-gratification. Yet in all this we don’t even know what a “self” is.

The human soul is in exile from our thinking. No wonder, then, that it is not considered relevant to worship. Heaven is too distant to contemplate. Our lives are lived within the restricted boundaries of our terrestrial horizon. We have so despised the notion of pie in the sky that we have lost our taste for it altogether.

But when our souls are engaged in worship, our gaze is lifted heavenward, our hearts are set aflame by the divine fire, and we are ready to be done with this world. There is such a thing as mystic sweet communion with Christ in worship.

I’m speaking about something that goes beyond emotion (but includes it); that transcends passion (but doesn’t annul it); that penetrates to the deepest core of our being, where we sense—nay, we know—that we are in the presence of the living God.

Coram Deo

Spend some quiet time in worship, asking God to set your heart aflame with His divine fire.

Passages for Further Study

Psalm 7:17
Psalm 28:7
Psalm 107:8

Unexpected Consequences

That's Not What We Wanted At All

"Be careful what you wish for" is part of today's pop wisdom.  It cautions us all about unforeseen  or unexpected consequences.  The hidden costs are often the most painful to bear.  

This caution is now being offered to the whooping, celebrating, cursing, and foul-mouthing currently coursing through the veins of the Democratic Party in the US.  It has won a majority in the House of Representatives.   Now, it's time for vengeance.  Things are going to be entertaining.  However, if ever there were a bunch of folks who ought to consider long and hard the cautionary warning about the unexpected consequences of receiving what they wanted, it surely must be the House Democrats.

Matthew Continetti has poured some cold water on the triumphalism in a piece entitled, "The Coming Democratic Disillusion".  It is not likely to be well heeded--but the caution remains: "be careful what you wish for".

The history of Nancy Pelosi’s tenure as speaker is a reminder of the limitations and tenuousness of political victories (and defeats).

I suspect Pelosi is aware of this lesson. I doubt her caucus is. More than a quarter of them are freshmen, many are young, and two are self-avowed democratic socialists. They are inclined to believe history began when Barack Obama entered Mile High Stadium in Denver. It’s an impression encouraged by cable news, which spent the run-up to Pelosi’s investiture celebrating the youth, diversity, and ambition of the House Democratic freshmen. And yet, for all the talk of Allison Spanberger and the “Badass Caucus,” of how Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib “aren’t going to take no for an answer,” of grand plans for a Green New Deal and Medicare for All, there remains the inescapable reality of power. Democrats don’t really have it. Indeed, they have even less than the last time Pelosi became speaker.

Yes, they can fire their subpoena cannon at the White House. They can interrogate cabinet officials, subpoena Jared and Ivanka, leak scoops to reporters, maybe force a cabinet official or two to resign, if any are left. When Mueller delivers his findings, they could begin impeachment proceedings. But impeachment, like progressive legislation, won’t get far. A decade ago, the House could pass bills and hope that Harry Reid would persuade his Democratic Senate majority to support them. All Pelosi had to worry about was President Bush’s veto. Now, Pelosi has to deal with Mitch McConnell’s Republican Senate even before her policies reach Donald Trump.

She’s in the same situation as John Boehner, who became speaker after the tea-party election in 2010. No one envied Boehner.

The main product of the tea-party Congress (2011–13) was frustration. Votes to repeal Obamacare went nowhere. Negotiations over a rise in the debt ceiling produced a fiscal sequester that hardly anyone liked. Through it all, Boehner faced sniping within his party by newcomers short on experience but long on ideological zeal. It so wore him down that he resigned his post in 2015. His replacement’s tenure was even briefer.

But the real problems will come from the wider Democratic party.  It will have to find a presidential candidate in the next year or so.  That process is likely to be painful, to say the least.

Pelosi’s not the resigning type. But don’t pretend that she will emerge from this trial unscathed. Republican control of the Senate is but the first difference between the 116th and 110th Congresses. The second is within the Democratic party itself. Not only must Pelosi balance the progressives against members from swing districts, she has to manage her comrades during a rowdy and unpredictable presidential primary. Hillary fighting Obama was nothing compared to the coming rumble. Already Bernie is leaking against Beto, Warren is downing beers on Instagram, and someone reminded the New York Times of accusations of sexual harassment within Bernie’s campaign. “We’re headed for disaster,” frets Michael Tomasky.

Very soon, news from the trail will overtake the goings-on in Congress. House Democrats won’t just have trouble changing laws. They also will have difficulty promoting their message. Especially considering the third and greatest difference between 2007 and 2019: the presence of Donald Trump. There’s no evidence that Pelosi has any better an idea of how to deal with him than her predecessors. Whenever Trump focuses his attention on reelection and sets the agenda of cable news coverage by attacking his rivals on Twitter, Pelosi will be less than powerless. She will be irrelevant.

The partial government shutdown is a prelude to an unpredictable two years of conflict, deadlock, breakdown, acrimony, dissatisfaction, and annoyance. At the end, Democrats will be reminded that, thanks to congressional delegation of authority, the House doesn’t count for much. What matters is the presidency. Ask the GOP.  Even there, Republicans will tell you, be careful what you wish for.

Regrets . . . I've Had a Few

30 Transgender Regretters Come Out Of The Closet

‘Trans Life Survivors’ is a godsend for people struggling with trans regret, no matter what stage of transition or de-transition they are in.

By Stella Morabito
The Federalist

Walt Heyer knows firsthand what it’s like to undergo sex change surgery and then regret it. After living as a woman for nearly a decade, he decided to accept his biological sex and de-transition back to male. By then, Walt had received intensive cognitive therapy that helped him recognize early childhood trauma he had experienced.

The trauma resulted in a mental condition known as dissociative identity disorder (DID). In the clarity of that realization, his gender dysphoria simply vanished. His life as a “woman” all amounted to an attempt to escape reality. Sadly, too few people consider the possibility that gender dysphoria can manifest as a byproduct or symptom of other mental conditions, and most certainly of DID. (More on that below.)

Walt suffered huge waves of regret as a result of following through with his urge to be a woman. He had eagerly taken the bait of politicized medical practitioners, who hurried him along in the transition. He not only regretted what he had done to his body, he also grieved over the estrangement from his wife and children caused by his drastic change in identity.

There was collateral damage to other personal relationships as well. He also regretted the lost decade of his life in which he lived in the persona of a woman.

Daily Meditation

Surveying the Crisis of Worship

Ligonier Ministries

There is a crisis of worship in our land. People are staying away from church in droves. One survey indicated that the two chief reasons people drop out of church are that it is boring and irrelevant.

If people find worship boring and irrelevant, it can only mean they have no sense of the presence of God in it. When we study the act of worship in Scripture and church history, we discover a variety of human responses to the sense of the presence of God. Some people tremble in terror, falling with their faces to the ground; others weep in mourning; some are exuberant in joy; still others are reduced to a pensive silence. Though the responses differ, one reaction we never find is boredom. It is impossible to be bored in the presence of God (if you know that He is there).

Neither is it possible for a sentient creature to find his or her encounter with God a matter of irrelevance. Nothing—and no one—is more relevant to human existence than the living God.

Coram Deo

Do you find worship boring and irrelevant? If so, pray for a renewed sense of God’s presence.

Passages for Further Study

Psalm 95:6
Psalm 34:1
Psalm 50:23

Why Brexit Will Happen, Regardless of Party Elites

The Divide Between "Grass Roots"and the "Party Elites"

Jack Montgomery
Breitbart London

[Brexit is shaping up to transpire, in one form or another.  And the form now most likely is that Britain will leave the EU without an agreement or arrangement or terms and/or conditions.  Prime Minister May's negotiated "terms and conditions" for leaving Europe are not supported by the Conservative Party membership, which favours a clean walk-away, with no terms and conditions negotiated or attached with the EU.  The Conservative parliamentary party is split and will not command a majority in the House accepting the deal negotiated by PM May with the EU. 

Therefore, the only option that appears feasible and increasingly looks inevitable is for the UK to walk away from the EU, without terms, conditions, or agreements.  Ed.]

Prime Minister Theresa May’s “worst deal in history” with the European Union has suffered another blow as polling reveals her party membership would prefer to leave the bloc with no deal at all.
The deal Mrs May has negotiated with the EU, which would involve a lengthy “transition” period in which Britain would essentially become a non-voting member-state, possibly followed by a “backstop” relationship in which the EU would be allowed to effectively control its customs and external trade arrangements, regulatory rulebook, and more, has found little favour in Parliament, which must ratify it for it to take effect.

She delayed a so-called “meaningful vote” on the deal before Christmas in hopes of either persuading the EU to amend it or persuading more MPs to back it — but this seems less likely than ever, with a majority of her party’s registered members saying they would prefer a clean, No Deal exit, The Telegraph reports.

YouGov found that, forced to choose between No Deal, May’s deal, or simply remaining in the EU after all — as many parliamentarians would like — an overwhelming 57 percent would opt for a clean break, with only 23 percent backing the deal and a minuscule 15 percent saying they would call Brexit off.

China's War on Christians

It's The Season To Remember

Alex Titus
Political Analyst
Daily Caller

Families across the United States and Europe celebrated Christmas this week exchanging gifts, drinking hot chocolate, and celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. Families in Langfang, China, had a much different experience. In a stunning display, officials from the city invoked a ban on Christmas and the sale of Christmas goods in order to “maintain stability.”

That’s right — a literal ban on Christmas.

This is just one of China’s many fronts in its war against not just Christmas but its Christian population. Arrests, Bible bans, and turning a blind eye to North Korea’s atrocities make up this anti-Christian agenda. The situation remains bleak. It’s time for Western Christians to demand accountability from China for its treatment of our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Since the communist revolution in 1949, the Chinese government has viewed religion as a threat to its legitimacy and absolute rule. Enforcing atheism, even through violent means, became a political necessity. Thousands of Christians were slaughtered during the Cultural Revolution orchestrated by Chairman Mao Zedong.

However, years later, religious freedom seemed to be on the move in China.

Daily Meditation

Receiving Joy and Strength

Ligonier Ministries

There is still another vital aspect to the “why” of Jesus’ departure. He said, “If I do not go away, the Helper (Paraclete) will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.” Jesus’ departure was tied to Pentecost. There is no Pentecost without ascension. As the invested King of kings, Jesus had the authority together with the Father to send His Holy Spirit in a new and powerful way upon the church. Jesus spoke of a certain necessity of His leaving in order for the Spirit to come. Herein was another great advantage. He declared, “Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you” (Acts 1:8, KJV).

Two remarkable things happened to the disciples after Jesus departed. The first is that they “returned to Jerusalem with great joy” (Luke 24:52). They were not despondent over the departure of Jesus. Obviously they finally understood why He was leaving. They understood what, for the most part, the church since then has failed to understand. We live as if it would not have been better for Jesus to leave.

The second obvious change in the lives of the disciples was in their spiritual strength. After Pentecost, they were different people. No longer did they flee like sheep without a shepherd. Instead, they turned the world upside down. They turned the world upside down because they fully understood two simple things: the “where” and the “why” of Jesus’ departure. 

Coram Deo

Great joy and spiritual strength are two of the benefits of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Let Him release these benefits in your life today.

Passages for Further Study

Acts 4:31
Acts 4:33
Acts 4:29

Finding Another "One Ring" To Rule them All

The Significance of Trans-Genderism's Rapid Spread

Trans-genderism has spread through the West like fire through desiccated manuka.   It has always been around, of course, from earliest classical times.  But the recent transition in the West from a dabbling fringe to mainstream promotion has been startling.  Overnight, it seems, transgenderism has moved from being a freedom right (OK to change one's gender if one wishes) to a demand right (society must facilitate and encourage changing one's gender as a principle of human of fundamental human rights).

One reason for this rapid transformation from "freedom right" to "demand right" is that the effectuation of  changing one's gender requires institutional and medical support.  After all, it's hard to operate surgically upon oneself. It's difficult to effect hormonal transformation without access to some pretty powerful drugs which are far too dangerous to sell over the counter.  For these reasons society has drafted into the cause, and become the victim of an enormous guilt trip.  If transgenderism is neither supported nor sustained by the educational and medical establishments, it would amount to a cruel joke, a tease--and little more.  And that cannot be allowed.

But there is a deeper, spiritual reason as to why transgenderism has become more rabid than a Californian forest fire.

The Best and the Worst

The 10 Best Things Trump Has Done in 2018

By Marc A. Thiessen
Columnist, Washington Post

In his second year in office, the list of extraordinary things President Trump has done, for good and ill, continued to grow. Today, I offer my annual list of the 10 best things Trump has done in office. (In my next column, I will give you my list of the 10 worst.)

10. He has secured the release of 19 people, including 16 Americans, from foreign captivity. When Pastor Andrew Brunson was freed by Turkey, he became the 19th captive released thanks to Trump. Others include four held by North Korea; an aid worker and her husband held by Egypt; three UCLA basketball players and a Texas businesswoman held by China; a couple and their three children held by the Taliban; a former CIA officer held by Portugal; and a couple held by Venezuela. That’s more captives freed in two years than President Barack Obama got released in eight. And unlike Obama, Trump did it without releasing terrorist leaders or sending planeloads of cash to rogue regimes, creating incentive for more hostage taking.

9. He delivered for the “forgotten Americans.” The Trump boom is benefiting those left behind by the Obama economy. Manufacturing jobs grew at the fastest rate in 23 years and the unemployment rate for Americans without a high school diploma reached the lowest point ever recorded. The Wall Street Journal reports that wages rose 3.1 percent — the biggest jump since 2009 — and that “low-skilled workers are among the biggest beneficiaries.”

Daily Meditation

Examining Calvin’s Rules of Prayer (Part 2)

Ligonier Ministries

John Calvin’s third rule of prayer was that we must always pray with genuine feeling. Prayer is a matter of passion: “Many repeat prayers in a perfunctory manner from a set form, as if they were performing a task to God … They perform the duty from custom, because their minds are meanwhile cold, and they ponder not what they ask.”

A fourth rule of prayer from Calvin was that it be always accompanied by repentance: “God does not listen to the wicked; that their prayers, as well as their sacrifices, are an abomination to them. For it is right that those who seal up their hearts should find the ears of God closed against them.”

Calvin said a humble submission is required: “Of this submission, which casts down all haughtiness, we have numerous examples in the servants of God. The holier they are, the more humbly they prostrate themselves when they come into the presence of the Lord.”

If I can summarize Calvin’s teaching on prayer succinctly, I would say this: The chief rule of prayer is to remember who God is and to remember who you are. If we remember those two things, our prayers will always and ever be marked by adoration and confession.

Coram Deo

Do you pray with genuine feeling? Do you always accompany your prayers with repentance?

Passages for Further Study

Philippians 4:6
James 5:16
1 Peter 4:7

Extreme Caution Is Required From Now On

The Curious Case of Anne-Marie Brady's Burglaries

The tea-leaves indicate that there is, indeed, something awry with Communist China's relationships with New Zealand.  A certain NZ Professor Dr Anne-Marie Brady has suffered an unusual level of attention from "burglars".  It is implied that this was not due to the slings and arrows of outrageous randomness.  Rather, Brady has researched and testified to what may be called suspicious attention by agents of the Chinese Communist apparatchik operating in New Zealand.

An investigation into the burglary of a professor whose work exposed China's influence in New Zealand has led detectives offshore with inquiries raising questions over a possible intelligence operation.  Five police staff have worked over the past seven months investigating the February burglary of the home of University of Canterbury Professor Anne-Marie Brady, as well as other break-ins at her office on campus.

After months of silence this week police revealed progress had been made on the case, and Interpol - the international police co-operation agency - were also involved.  "This has been a complex case, but police do have positive lines of inquiry," the spokesperson said.  Police, while unwilling to comment further, said Brady had been kept "fully informed as the investigation progresses".

Brady told the Weekend Herald yesterday the long-running investigation had strengthened her belief - stated in testimony to an Australian parliamentary committee considering laws curbing foreign interference the day after the February 14 burglary of her home - that the break-ins were in direct response to her work.  [NZ Herald]

Several years ago, received wisdom believed that the Chinese Communist Government was sufficiently enlightened to the point to seeking normal relationships with the West.

The Significance of Jackson's World War I Movie

They Shall Not Grow Old Is the Movie of the Year

By Rich Lowry
National Review Online


Peter Jackson lends an astonishing cinematic intimacy to life during the First World War.
The filmmaker Peter Jackson deserves more than an Oscar; he deserves a medal.

What the director of the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies has done with his World War I documentary, They Shall Not Grow Old, is more than restore archival film; he has restored the humanity of men caught up in one of history’s great cataclysms. This is an aesthetic achievement of the highest order, and a great service to history.

World War I has always had more than its share of historiography, novels, poems and feature films. Until now what it lacked was video (at least watchable video), the single most powerful medium of the modern era.

It took Jackson and his team five years to make They Shall Not Grow Old. They had to painstakingly remove scratches and other damage from old film belonging to the Imperial War Museum, and slow down the primitive footage. Then it was colorized, with loving accuracy. Forensic lip readers recovered what soldiers were saying on the film, and actors provided the voices. Finally, it was made 3D.

The effect is to transform the men originally caught on choppy black-and-white film to relatable, individual human beings, just like anyone else we watch on a screen today.

World War I was such an industrial-scale event that it tends to become impersonal, the men who fought it reduced in our minds to cannon fodder.

Jackson’s artistic choices open up a new vista.

Daily Meditation

Examining Calvin’s Rules of Prayer (Part 1)

Ligonier Ministries

For John Calvin, prayer was like a priceless treasure that God has offered to His people.

Calvin’s first rule of prayer was to enter into it with a full awareness of the One to whom we are speaking. The key to prayer is a spirit of reverence and adoration: “Let the first rule of right prayer be, to have our heart and mind framed as becomes those who are entering into converse with God.”

Calvin wrote of how easy it is for our minds to wander in prayer. We become inattentive, as if we were speaking to someone with whom we are easily bored. This insults the glory of God: “Let us know, then, that none duly prepare themselves [sic] for prayer but those who are so impressed with the majesty of God that they engage in it free from all earthly cares and affections.”

Calvin’s second rule of prayer was that we ask only for those things that God permits. Prayer can be an exercise in blasphemy if we entreat His blessing for our sinful desires: “I lately observed, men in prayer give greater license to their unlawful desires than if they were telling jocular tales among their equals.”

Coram Deo

How does your personal prayer life line up with these two rules? Is your heart and mind framed as becomes those who are entering into conversation with God? Do you ask only for those things God permits?

Passages for Further Study

Psalm 109:4
1 Corinthians 7:5
Ephesians 6:18

Lifting The Poisoned Chalice to the Lips

Democrats Have No Choice But to Pursue Trump's Impeachment

From an outsider's perspective an awful lot of time and effort has been expended to find just cause to impeach President Trump.  The mammoth effort has been going on for nigh on two years and it seems as remote a possibility as ever it was.

Doubtless a demand that Trump be impeached sounds important and weighty.  But problems abound.  One is that the process and rules surrounding an impeachment have to be followed.  There are checks and balances in place--deliberately so placed to maintain the separation of powers.

The Democrats now have a big problem on their hands--one of their own making.  Now that they are taking control of the House of Representatives they (theoretically) have the majority power to issue impeachment proceedings against the President.  Then the matter would pass to the Senate, which would then decide whether the President were guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors.

Alan Dershowitz, one of the more celebrated Harvard law professors with more than a passing knowledge of impeachment procedures and processes, was once a commentator of record when it came to discussions on impeachment.  Not so now.  He has published a book in which he has argued that if the Democrats continue attempts to impeach Trump, it is likely they will fail.

"You can't impeach on the basis of minor derelictions or even crimes," Dershowitz said at the time. "You need a high crime and misdemeanor, and you know every campaign has violated some technical election law."  Dershowitz in July released the book, "The Case Against Impeaching Trump," which landed on The New York Times best-seller list.  [The Hill]

Liberals don't like what they have been reading in Dershowitz's book.

Never, Ever Trust Greenpeace

Follow The Money 

It is usually this time on the year when Greenpeace hucksters send a ship off to the South or North Pole to "prove" that global warming is real.  But this year apparently not.  This implies that the bosses of the outfit have other fish to fry this year.  And so they do.  This year, the scam is plastic pollution of our world's oceans.

But, once again, its all a hoax.  James Delingpole explains this latest con from the faux environmentalists:

Greenpeace’s Ocean Plastic Pollution Scare – the Biggest Lie of 2018

James Delingpole
Breitbart News

The biggest environmental scare story of 2018 was plastic pollution in the oceans. (It was also, as we shall see – spoiler alert – the year’s biggest lie…)

From BBC’s Blue Planet II to a special issue of National Geographic to a crusading campaign by the Daily Mail to CNN, the story was rarely out of the media. Celebrities from Chris Hemsworth to Cara Delevinge leapt on to the virtue signalling bandwagon. So did politicians such as UK Secretary of the State for the Environment Michael Gove and the European Parliament and US Congress, all announcing new legislation to deal with this alleged scourge.

Suddenly, plastic drinking straws became public enemy number one. No enlightened member of the chatterati could sip a cocktail ever again without pangs of guilt. Nor could they even clean their ears without a shiver of horror at the thought that today’s waxy cotton bud might be tomorrow’s obstruction in the nostril of a baby sea turtle.

The scare even generated its own word of the year – ‘single-use’, which refers to plastic items (picnic cutlery, straws, ear buds, etc) designed by the heartless capitalist system to be used just once.

But the plastic pollution scare was and is a massive con trick. It’s a fabricated crisis, heavily promoted by environmental charities – most especially by Greenpeace – which depend on scare narratives to fill their coffers.