Daily Archives: July 13, 2017

AstroFest to present four nights of stargazing, space exploration – The Daily Collegian Online

Posted: July 13, 2017 at 7:23 am

From simulated gooey alien planet surfaces to open telescope viewings on the Davey Lab roof, Penn State's Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics will offer an interactive perspective on the science of astronomy when it hosts the 18th Annual AstroFest.

AstroFest came to life 18 years ago when Nahks Tr'Ehnl was still a Penn State student double majoring in art and astronomy. Tr'Ehnl said he and a few other classmates were in town for the summer and decided to incorporate a festival of astronomy at the same time as the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts.

"Several members of the astronomy club just happened to be here in town for the summer and thought it would be nice to have an open house," Tr'Ehnl said. "I wanted to tie in both art and astronomy. Then, things just started to pick up from there."

Between Wednesday, July 12 and Saturday, July 15, the fifth floor of Davey Lab will be open from 8:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. to the community for free. Participants will have the opportunity to stargaze the night sky after 10 p.m. on the roof of Davey Lab and, if the weather permits, viewers should get the opportunity to see Jupiter, Saturn, the Ring Nebula and Globular Cluster M13, among others.

Festivalgoers can also watch cosmic rays pass through a cloud chamber, participate in their own bottle rocket launchings, and play an astronomy video game featured in Penn State's Astro 001 course.

Tr'Ehnl, who was also the co-creator of the video game, said the video game could help people understand astronomy better.

"As a subject, astronomy is mainly visual, as far as observational astronomy goes," Tr'Ehnl said. "Videogames are produced in a 3-dimensional format which helps demonstrate spatial relations between stars and planets to offer viewers a different perspective."

According to AstroFest co-founder Jane Charlton, who is also a professor in the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, the festival will host 14 different astronomy-related presentations which will each last 30 minutes long. Presentation topics will vary from the solar eclipse, expected on Aug. 21, to black holes.

"People come all four nights and don't repeat a single thing," Charlton said. "We always have new demonstrations every year because of new volunteers, and that's what keeps me going."

Other activities featured during the four-night activities will include astronomy origami, also known as "astrogami, planetarium shows, finding habitable zone planets and an astronomy idol competition.

"I want it to be a mini Disney world of astronomy," Charlton said. "Showing people outside of the Penn State community about astronomy is important, and most of them always seem to be have a good time."

Tr'Ehnl said that people go to AstroFest during the busy week because they are curious as to what's going on in the science community.

"[AstroFest] is a very important way for people to see what astronomers do and feel a connection to it, TrEhnl said. That this is what funding for science comes from, what results come from NASA and why we as taxpayers are impacted by it. All these things that you may hear on the news and TV are a chance to get hands-on with it and get to ask direct questions to the people who do the science."

Chris Palma, another professor in the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, said the department hosts AstroFest every year because they want people to get excited about astronomy.

"Astronomy is a popular science, Palma said. Its all on TV, which is why we all feel an obligation to help run programs like AstroFest. If I want people to get anything out of AstroFest, I just want them to have a good time."

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Special event gives insight into space exploration – LoughboroughEcho.net

Posted: at 7:23 am

JOIN the National Space Centre in Leicester for an evening dedicated to the amazing spacecraft, telescopes, and engineering that allow us to explore the universe.

The centre will be joined by special guests who will share their experiences of building things that go into space at the special event, on Friday, July 14.

Discover how space has made a difference to your everyday life, make Soyuz or Saturn V rocket, learn about how robotic technology is helping us explore our Solar System, find out more telescopes and get hands on with some artefacts from its vaults.

Choose to finish your evening with some live stargazing (weather dependent) or add a film screening to your package and sit back in the Sir Patrick Moore Planetarium for a night of Contact, with Jodi Foster.

To find out more, or to book, please visit the National Space Centre website at http://spacecentre.co.uk/ - here is the timetable of events:

6pm - Building Opens Sungazing begins

6.30pm - It is Rocket Science! LIVE Space

6.45pm - Tour of the Night Sky Sir Patrick Moore Planetarium

7pm - Staying Alive in Space Prof Anu Ojha in LIVE Space

7pm - How to Buy a Telescope Leicester Astronomical Association in Boosters Caf

7.25pm - Tour of the Night Sky Sir Patrick Moore Planetarium

7.30pm - Why Cant We Fly into Space in A Plane? Dr Nigel Bannister, University of Leicester in LIVE Space

7.45pm - Into the Unknown film from Northrop Grumman (38 min) Shuttle Suites

8pm - How to Buy a Telescope Leicester Astronomical Association in Boosters Caf

8pm - Building Things That Go into Space Piyal Samara-Ratna, University of Leicester in LIVE Space

8.05pm - Tour of the Night Sky Sir Patrick Moore Planetarium

8.30pm - ExoMars Rover: Engineering for the Red Planet Paul Meacham, Airbus in LIVE Space

8.45pm - Into the Unknown film from Northrop Grumman (38 min) Shuttle Suites

8.45pm - FILM Contact PG (additional ticket required)

9.20pm - Sunset Stargazing begins

10pm - Building closed to non-film guests

11pm - Film ends and Building Closes

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Moon Express Unveils Plan to Help Explore Solar System on a ‘Grand Scale’ – Space.com

Posted: at 7:23 am

The quest to win a $30 million race to the moon is just the first part of Moon Express' grand plan.

The Florida-based companyis developing an entire family of spacecraft designed to help usher in a new age of low-cost space exploration, from the moon to Mars and beyond, Moon Express representatives revealed today (July 12).

"That's where my heart is solar system exploration on a grand scale that democratizes and completely accelerates our evolution into the solar system through knowledge and discovery, not just a few expensive voyages sponsored by kings and governments, like in history," Moon Express CEO and co-founder Bob Richards told Space.com. "We need to get everybody going." [In Images: How Moon Express' Space Exploration Plan Works]

Artists impression showing the single-stage MX-1E spacecraft descending toward the lunar surface carrying a suite of science and exploration instruments. The MX-1E can deliver up to 66 lbs. (30 kilograms) to the lunar surface, Moon Express representatives said.

As its name suggests, Moon Express' vision starts with Earth's nearest neighbor. The company is one of five teams left in the Google Lunar X Prize (GLXP) competition, which will award $20 million to the first privately funded group to soft-land a robot on the moon, move it at least 1,640 feet (500 meters) across the lunar surface and beam high-resolution imagery and video back to Earth. (Prizes for several other accomplishments bring the total purse up to $30 million.)

The GLXP award will expire if nobody claims it by Dec. 31, 2017. Moon Express has signed a contract to fly its lander aboard Rocket Lab's new Electron booster but has yet to announce a launch date.

The two-stage Electron lifted off for the first time in late May. The maiden voyage was apartial success; the rocket's second stage failed to reach its desired orbit, according to Rocket Lab representatives.

"I think that first test flight bodes very well for Rocket Lab, and we're still rooting for them and hoping that they'll have an operational vehicle ramped up and ready for us by the end of the year," Richards said.

The MX-1E lander sits on the lunar surface in this artists illustration. Moon Express plans to the launch the MX-1E, which uses eco-friendly fuels, toward the moon later this year.

The GLXP mission won't be the last lunar voyage for Moon Express, if all goes according to plan. Its deal with Rocket Lab covers up to five launches, and Moon Express wants at least two more to occur in the next few years, Richards revealed during a news conference today.

The first post-GLXP mission, scheduled to launch in 2019, will set up a robotic research outpost near the lunar south pole and prospect for water and other resources. Then, in 2020, Moon Express will launch the first commercial lunar sample-return mission. That effort, Richards said, should prove out the company's technologies and its business model, which is centered around creating low-cost access to the moon's surface for a variety of customers.

The core piece of hardware to make all of that happen is a single-engine lander called the MX-1, which will launch on the GLXP flight. Moon Express aims to mass-produce the MX-1, sell it as a stand-alone lunar explorer and have it serve as a building block for three larger, more capable spacecraft the MX-2, the MX-5 and the MX-9, Richards said today.

The MX-2 combines two MX-1s into a single package, boosting the MX-1's payload capacity in Earth-moon space and potentially enabling missions to Venus or the moons of Mars. As their names suggest, the MX-5 and MX-9 incorporate five engines and nine engines, respectively, and broaden the exploration envelope even further, Richards said.

All of these spacecraft will be available in orbiter, lander and deep-space variations, and the MX-5 and MX-9 vehicles will also come in a sample-return configuration.

Artists impression of the MX-9 return vehicle launching from the moon toward Earth carrying lunar samples.

Moon Express has not revealed how much it will charge for any of these spacecraft. However, company representatives have said that, together, the MX-1 and Electron can deliver a lunar mission for less than $10 million (that's "cost," not retail). Electron flights currently sell for about $5.5 million apiece, putting the lander's raw cost at $4.5 million or less.

Therefore, the potential exists to cut space-exploration costs significantly for example, by an order of magnitude or so on MX-9 missions, Richards said.

"That's when you get a radical price reduction a collapse, really, of the costs down to hundreds of thousands of dollars a kilogram [of payload to the lunar surface] from the millions that it is today for smaller systems," he told Space.com. "I really hope that we're able to do for lunar access whatcubesatsdid for access to low Earth orbit."

The moon is the focus in the short term, but the company hopes its reach will expand as time goes on.

"We're not The Moon Express," Richards said. "We're Moon Express, so any moon will do."

Follow Mike Wall on Twitter@michaeldwallandGoogle+.Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebookor Google+. Originally published onSpace.com.

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Nanotech Security Corp (NTS.V) Moving 0.80% in Session – Stock Rover

Posted: at 7:23 am

Nanotech Security Corp (NTS.V) shares are moving today onvolatility0.80% or $0.01 from the open.TheTSXV listed companysaw a recent bid of $1.26 and92900shares have traded hands in the session.

Many traders and investors opt to study technical analysis when approaching the stock market. Technical analysts study changes in stock price that occur over various amounts of time. Some analysts will study by the minute or hour. Others will choose to zoom out to days, weeks, months, or even longer. Studying price action over different time periods can help provide the investor with valuable information to help make the best possible investing decisions. Keeping an eye on the stock market, it can be seen that certain trends repeat over time. These trends or patterns might not be exact, but they can be noticeable. Spotting these patterns and watching for momentum shifts can be a highly useful tool for any trader or investor. Many chartists will focus on multiple indicators when doing technical analysis. Becoming familiar with indicators and learning to spot trends may take a lot of time and effort to achieve.

Digging deeping into the Nanotech Security Corp (NTS.V) s technical indicators, we note that the Williams Percent Range or 14 day Williams %R currently sits at -57.14. The Williams %R oscillates in a range from 0 to -100. A reading between 0 and -20 would point to an overbought situation. A reading from -80 to -100 would signal an oversold situation. The Williams %R was developed by Larry Williams. This is a momentum indicator that is the inverse of the Fast Stochastic Oscillator.

Nanotech Security Corp (NTS.V) currently has a 14-day Commodity Channel Index (CCI) of -15.05. Active investors may choose to use this technical indicator as a stock evaluation tool. Used as a coincident indicator, the CCI reading above +100 would reflect strong price action which may signal an uptrend. On the flip side, a reading below -100 may signal a downtrend reflecting weak price action. Using the CCI as a leading indicator, technical analysts may use a +100 reading as an overbought signal and a -100 reading as an oversold indicator, suggesting a trend reversal.

Currently, the 14-day ADX for Nanotech Security Corp (NTS.V) is sitting at 7.08. Generally speaking, an ADX value from 0-25 would indicate an absent or weak trend. A value of 25-50 would support a strong trend. A value of 50-75 would identify a very strong trend, and a value of 75-100 would lead to an extremely strong trend. ADX is used to gauge trend strength but not trend direction. Traders often add the Plus Directional Indicator (+DI) and Minus Directional Indicator (-DI) to identify the direction of a trend.

The RSI, or Relative Strength Index, is a widely used technical momentum indicator that compares price movement over time. The RSI was created by J. Welles Wilder who was striving to measure whether or not a stock was overbought or oversold. The RSI may be useful for spotting abnormal price activity and volatility. The RSI oscillates on a scale from 0 to 100. The normal reading of a stock will fall in the range of 30 to 70. A reading over 70 would indicate that the stock is overbought, and possibly overvalued. A reading under 30 may indicate that the stock is oversold, and possibly undervalued. After a recent check, the 14-day RSI for Nanotech Security Corpis currently at 48.17, the 7-day stands at 49.56, and the 3-day is sitting at 64.20.

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Are psychedelics the new medical marijuana? – WTSP 10 News

Posted: at 7:20 am

Lilia Luciano, KXTV , WTSP 7:21 PM. EDT July 12, 2017

When I woke up yesterday morning, I opened the door of my bedroom and walked out to a balcony overlooking the Pacific. I waited to catch a glimpse of the dolphins I had seen the day before and moved on to my meditation ritual.

That was the closest Id get to a mystical experience at the Ibogaine Institute on the coast of Rosarito, Mexico. Upstairs, on the third floor of the house, a man and a woman I had met the day before were laying in a blacked-out room, entering their seventh hour of soul-searching hallucinations. In the house next door, six people had just emerged, changed they said, from a different journey, under the influence of yet another hallucinogen.

Kim, who'd been upstairs, is a 29-year-old with the face of a teenager who has been addicted to heroin for seven years. Just like Colin, also undergoing the Ibogaine treatment in the same room, Kim suffered an accident and became dependent on prescription painkillers. When doctors wouldnt prescribe them anymore, she turned to black market pills. She received a settlement from the accident and said she spent the $90,000 on pills. Finally, she turned to the cheaper alternative, heroin.

Just like Colin, Kim said other programs would detox her on Suboxone, a drug used to treat opioid addiction, which also has a high risk for addiction and dependence. She said those programs crowd people into bunk beds and although they teach the twelve steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, she never even got past the first step. As other addicts I interviewed told me, you become dependent on the Suboxone and the Methadone and you cant really function.

Kim says the Ibogaine Institute doesnt seem like any other 30-day program because they actually work on whats wrong, on the problem of why you use in the first place. She hopes after her treatment, she can return to Connecticut to be a mother to her 6-year old son, now in custody of Kims mom.

The institute offers 7 and 30-day programs to chronic relapsers of drug addiction, PTSD patients, and other disorders. Treatments for addiction begin with Ibogaine, a natural African psychoactive drug, and end with Ayahuasca, a popular South American plant-based hallucinogen.

Scott, the founder of the Ibogaine Institute who says he owes his years of recovery to Ayahuasca, says up to 70 percent of people who have gone through his treatments have stayed sober. According to a 2014 study looking at relapse rates after other residential treatments, 29 percent of people who are opioid dependent will remain abstinent after a year.

Scott says the Ibogaine helps fight cravings and they also integrate heavy doses of therapy, meditation, exercise and a nutritional diet to help people craft a foundation for daily life.

By the end of the treatment they are no longer physically dependent on the heroin, says Scott, who has also integrated the wisdom of 12-steps programs into the treatment. Once the bell has been rung, its impossible to un-ring it. Theyre coming face to face with parts of themselves that they had been unwilling to look at, and because of the journey they are in, theres nowhere to run. We are integrating pieces of ourselves that are at war with each other and once those pieces integrate, it is a lot easier to experience and be able to keep on the path.

He said the reason he's in Mexico is to gather enough evidence to build enough of a case to show the results of the treatment and with that, push for federal agencies to regulate Ibogaine and allow its controlled use in the U.S.

I met Scott at the Psychedelic Science Conference in Oakland where scientists, patients and casual users convened to discuss the benefits of psychedelic drugs and the need for drug policy reform.

I also met Dr. James Fadiman, who is running one of the largest studies on microdosing with LSD.

The major benefit seems to be that theres an improved equilibrium of systems throughout the body, which is why it seems to affect so many different systems," he said.

That sounded to me like a sort of panacea cure for all ailments and it wasnt too far from what Ayelet Waldman told me when I interviewed her at home.

Following Dr. Fadimans guidance, Waldman did a 30-day micro dosing experiment to treat a severe mood disorder and reported her experience in her book, A Really Good Day.

I just wanted to relieve the intensity of my depression and I was profoundly depressed, even suicidal when I started the experiment." she said. "I just wanted to feel better so I said to myself okay you can break the law for 30 days.

She said the treatment helped her more than any antidepressant ever did and it did so without the gnarly side effects. Microdosing doesn't make you hallucinate, as you are only taking between 5 and 10 percent of a typical dose. Ayelet says if the drug wasnt illegal, she would still be microdosing.

LSD and Ibogaine are not the only psychedelics making a comeback and seeking legitimacy in science and health. Magic mushrooms, MDMA, Ayahuasca, and psilocybin, among others, are being studied for their potential benefits to treat a number of illnesses and mental disorders. However, they are all Schedule I drugs which, according to the DEA, are drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.

The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies or MAPS, sponsors research on psychedelics and helps scientists navigate the complex pathways of regulation. They are currently conducting one of the most advanced and promising studies in psychedelics by treating PTSD patients with MDMA, also known as Molly.

We found that (MDMA) almost doubled the effectiveness of the treatment," said Allison Feduccia, a researcher at MAPS. "People who were in the MDMA group had significant reductions in their PTSD symptoms two months after completing of the sessions and then also we followed up with them 12 months later and found that 67 percent of participants at that point no longer met criteria for PTSD.

MAPS enrolled 107 subjects across six different study sites in the U.S., Canada and Israel, treating different kinds of PTSD. One study specifically enrolled veterans firefighters and police officers.

Its really a long-term durable effect that we see with this treatment is quite promising," said Feduccia. "This is a very difficult condition to treat with the current medications and therapy available."

MAPS is entering Phase III of clinical trials. If they prove the medical benefits, a cost they estimate will surround 20 million dollars, they can apply for the drug to get rescheduled by the FDA and MAPS will be able to produce it. That doesnt mean Molly will be available to anyone, it would only be part of medical treatments.

Some drug policy advocates say this kind of progress, while good, is not enough to deal with the ill consequences of the war on drugs. Representatives from the Drug Policy Alliance and other advocacy groups stand by the notion that people who want to get high will get high. They also say prohibition creates enormous profits for organized crime groups, endangers the lives of black market drug users, generates violence in the streets and the countries where drugs are produced and has resulted in the mass incarceration of millions of Americans.

Hamilton Morris is the host of Hamiltons Pharmacopeia, a show about drugs on VICELAND. He said he sees freedom of consciousness as a basic human right.

I favor a sort of cognitive liberty stance that people should be able to have the freedom to alter their consciousness with whatever they wish," he said. "Even if it is harmful, even if it is damaging, I think the damage of prohibition I think is far greater than the small number of people that are being helped using these things in a therapeutic way in a clinical trial.

Ethan Nadelmann, who just stepped down as Director of the Drug Policy Alliance says, although Jeff Sessions will make it difficult for psychedelics to reach the level of acceptance that medical marijuana has in the past few years, the overreach by the Federal agencies might push for states to fight back and defend their own progressive policies.

I think the popular consciousness is not there is yet," he said. "We just begun to do some public opinion polling on it where you now have 90 percent of Americans believing that marijuana should be legal for medical purposes, which is up from 60 percent 20 years ago. On psychedelics, there's a growing awareness. But it hasn't penetrated the mass consciousness yet.

That means lobbying and the alternative drug policies that may follow are still long ways away. But for addicts, vets, and people suffering from disorders who could find help in these drugs, the stakes are as high as their very survival.

2017 KXTV-TV

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Prep softball: East, CF have 2nd-team All-MVC selections – Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier

Posted: at 7:15 am

All-MVC softball team Mississippi Division

First team -- Erica Oler (C.R. Jefferson), Maria Steffen (C.R. Xavier), Christina Lincoln (Linn-Mar), Avery Guy (C.R. Jefferson), Lindsey Culver (C.R. Jefferson), Kennedy Dighton (C.R. Jefferson), Elison Ollinger (Linn-Mar), Olivia Erickson (C.R. Jefferson), Ariana Rolle (Linn-Mar), Taleah Smith (I.C. West), Emlily Oler (C.R. Jefferson), Brylee Klosterman (I.C. West).

Second team (metro only) -- Brianna Netty (Wat. East), Josie Card-Stocks (Wat. East).

Honorable mention (metro only) -- Brooke Meighan (Wat. East), Jayden Bentley (Wat. East), Sydney McFarland (Wat. West), Lauren Conrey (Wat. West).

All-academic (metro only) -- Leah Frost (Wat. East), Netty (Wat. East), Allison Trenkamps (Wat. West), Sydney McFarland (Wat. West).

Coach of year -- Brian Erbe (C.R. Jefferson).

Athlete of year -- Guy (C.R. Jefferson).

First team -- Natalie Halvorson (C.R. Prairie), Kaylin Kinney (C.R. Kennedy), Megan Weber (C.R. Kennedy), Ashley Hamilton (C.R. Kennedy), Alana Cooksley (Dub. Hempstead), Ashley Winterwod (C.R. Kennedy), Ayana Lindsey (Iowa City), Lauren Kuch (C.R. Prairie), Morgan Krug (Dub. Hempstead), Camryn Jeffords (C.R. Kennedy), Ellie Grace Dixon (Iowa City).

Second team (metro only) -- Cara Forsblom (Cedar Falls).

Honorable mention (metro only) --Breanna Speck (Cedar Falls), Lily Becker (Cedar Falls).

All-academic (metro only) -- Tehya Tournier (Cedar Falls), Megan Keough (Cedar Falls).

Coach of year -- Maddison LeClere (C.R. Kennedy).

Athlete of year --Hamilton (C.R. Kennedy).

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Today Analysts Focus on CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (CF), CenturyLink, Inc. (CTL) – StockNewsJournal

Posted: at 7:15 am


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Today Analysts Focus on CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (CF), CenturyLink, Inc. (CTL)
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CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (CF) have shown a high EPS growth of -17.80% in the last 5 years and has earnings decline of -140.10% yoy. Analysts have a mean recommendation of 2.50 on this stock (A rating of less than 2 means buy, hold within the 3 ...
Valuing 2 Stocks Using Ratios and Multiples: CenturyLink, Inc. (CTL ...AllStockNews

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The deadly art of political correctness – WND.com

Posted: at 7:14 am

Bill Leak cartoon on his opinion of Australian gay-marriage activists

Political correctness is the bane of all art. Enlisting the powers of mob psychology, its more potent and vicious than censors could ever hope to be. Traditional censorship creates a villain/victim condition, with the weakest (non-state) actor as the hero. Sympathy is reactively triggered against the Powers That Be, as the little guy struggles against some Goliath or other.

But political correctness turns all that on its ear. In PC World, the state poses as a weak and endangered victim. Miles of bureaucratic code are treated as divine and irreplaceable as scripture. Fanatics of various obsessions zealously guard against desecration by nonbelievers (such as global warming deniers). Its a true orthodoxy in every way.

Last March, the world lost a marvelous artist, political sage and cartoonist. His name was Bill Leak. We didnt hear much about him in the U.S. because he was an Aussie. He loved his country, and concerned himself with it the good, the bad, and the ludicrous. Recently he was very much overwhelmed by the latter.

From 1983 to 2017, Leak and his personal notions were not only tolerated, but widely and publicly shared. A famed and prize-winning artist, he was considered mainstream if slightly conservative. His last gig was with The Australian, where his cartoons with political and social commentary regularly lodged.

Leak first faced censure for having opinion, in a 2006 cartoon that portrayed the president of Indonesia as a dog mounting a Papuan native. It was a return shot after a Jakarta Daily cartoon depicted Australias Prime Minister and Foreign Minister as mating dingoes. Speech control units sanctioned Leak (only) as crude, offensive and potentially racist. Missing in this charade was reference to the original issue the ongoing genocide of Papuan natives by the Indonesian government. PC mouthpieces expressed no concern over this, but plenty over Leaks objection to it. They are very sick people.

Bill Leaks cartoon explaining his predicament with Australian speech police

But Leak didnt roll over and play dead as expected. Meanwhile, Australias anti-art forces gained power in the form of more government apparatchiks. His most recent (and possibly deadly) run-in with Australias thought-censors occurred in October 2016. Leak crossed PC orthodoxy yet again, and retribution was swift and terrible. He ventured a non-standard take on child neglect issues with Aboriginal groups there. Adding to his crimes was a cartoon comparing militant homosexuals to Nazis. Both groups had been declared Very Special Persons by the Australian government, entirely off limits to criticism or unflattering news.

Leak withstood his attackers on social media, mocking them as sanctimonious Tweety Birds having a tantrum. His employer, The Australian, responded: Bill Leaks confronting and insightful cartoons force people to examine the core issues in a way that sometimes reporting and analysis can fail to do.

But political correctness is opposed to reporting, analysis, insight and especially confrontation of core issues.

Something called the Human Rights Commission (HRC) had already tried and sentenced Leak in their minds, but was required to haul him before their tribunals for show. Tim Soutphommasane was sent to come up with an excuse to feed Leak to their lions. For this he stooped to advertising for whining citizens to complain of being offended (all under the Racial Discrimination Act). Soutphommasane called this part of the vigorous public debate of a healthy democracy. Certainly Leak and his attorneys were required to vigorously debate to avoid fines and jail time.

Jillian Triggs, who runs the speech-blocking movement (HRC), insisted Leak send her a justification for his cartoon. He refused, but continued to face the combined malicious stupidity of the Australian government. Mark Steyn wrote this up in his excellent eulogy/rant for Leak: You dont get into a debate with someone whose opening bid is You cant say that: Its not a dispute with someone who holds a different position, but with someone who denies your right to have a position at all.

Political operatives function as philosophers behind the theory of political correctness. Its an ideology made for the people but not by them. PC feigns individuality, while dictating mass obedience and enforced passivity. It draws supporters by appealing to their basest instincts of greed, fear, pride, sadism and manipulation of others.

While having no consistent code of ethics itself, political correctness dons a feigned moral superiority. This is a gift for nasty people who hate their neighbors. Charging them with the non-crimes that PC fabricates, they can easily take them down. Ratting on outsiders and infidels is what political correctness is all about delivered with sneers, and the smug self-righteousness to which we have become accustomed.

Attached at their hips are sycophants of the state, who also find oppression useful: Militant homosexuals or Muslim crusaders, Marxists, Earth worshipers, and various cults who cant withstand scrutiny or civil conversation. Political correctness covers for a multitude of sins.

Lovers of collectivism are easily sucked into political correctness, and they arent of much importance to anyone. But they take their workers parishioners, children and pupils with them into that not-so-good night. In spite of the hoopla, there is little liberty, equality or fraternity there.

Hollywood is blighted by bloodsucking political correctness, and their gifted artists are infected with the pox otherwise they are unemployed. Why would they do this? Half are likely true believers, willing to commit all to the leftist cause. The other half lives in dread of them or dont have the stomach for the bitter fight to regain their freedom.

A compilation of Bill Leaks cartoons on militant Islam

We are dealing with a new form of terrorism that strikes at the root of thought and faith. It paralyzes before a word or action takes place. It is pre-terrorism. Creative thought is harnessed to PC orthodoxy through shaming and shunning campaigns unlike anything weve seen before. Calling political correctness a new McCarthyism doesnt begin to do justice to a beast that the Senator could only have dreamt of. McCarthy battled Communism with only a few Congressmen, some FBI agents and a few friendly newspapers. This is far more entrenched and almost unopposed so far.

At 61 years of age, Leak died of an unexpected heart attack, five months into a grueling political-based inquisition. His chief tormentor and anti-speech activist, Gillian Triggs, was recently honored on her way out of her position in the HRC. Australia awarded her the 2017 Voltaire award for her courageous stand on peoples rights which is hilarious.

As Madam Defarge sat in her well-appointed office, issuing directives against the likes of Leak, he required 24/7 protection from ISIS, because he was saying something relevant. In what must be a grievous insult to Leaks family, Triggs claimed the rights to freedom of speech [and] ideas underpinning a democratic society were under threat from federal and state governments.

She should know.

Sources

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The deadly art of political correctness - WND.com

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FAGAN: Mitch Landrieu’s Political Correctness A Reason For Extreme NOLA Violence – The Hayride

Posted: at 7:14 am

U.S. Sen. John Kennedy on Wednesday submitted an editorial to NOLA.com calling for NOPD to begin using stop-and-frisk tactics. Other than defending abortion rights and demonizing Israel there are few things that rile up leftists obsessed with political correctness more than talk of stop-and-frisk.

At first glance I can understand why some may have reservations about the tactic. Nothing riles me up more than these road blocks set up to catch drunk drivers. But there is a huge difference between roadblocks and stop-and-frisk.

Before cops can employ stop-and-frisk they must first have probable cause. With DUI checkpoints everyone is stopped without any justification. This comes just a little too close to a police state for my taste.

But what is similar between the two is they without dispute work. Stop-and-frisk is one of the strategies that helped bring about an 85% reduction in crime in New York City between 1994 and 2013.

Think of how many lives would be saved if New Orleans saw an 85% reduction in crime. To argue the policy is ineffective is just silly. The politically correct look foolish trying.

The PC cabal, of which Mayor Mitch Landrieu is a card-carrying member, argue against stop-and-frisk claiming it discriminates against blacks. They say it opens the door for racist white cops to harass blacks. But what they dont mention is within NOPD, the potential administrators of stop-and-frisk, blacks outnumber white cops almost two to one.

The New Orleans Police Department is one of the most diverse police forces in the country, and I dont believe every NOPD cop is a racist. The politicians should let the NOPD do its job. Sen. Kennedy writes in NOLA.com.

Mr. Kennedy also argues for the mayor and city council to hire more cops. When Mr. Landrieu was first elected NOPD was a third bigger than it is today. The mayors multi-year hiring freeze has devastated NOPDs ability to fight crime in New Orleans.

For three years now the mayor has been vowing to hire 150 new cops a year. He hasnt even come close. Kennedy says.

Mr. Landrieu has also gutted the DAs office by $600,000 to which Mr. Kennedy writes,

We should listen to District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro, who has warned that our city has crafted a criminal justice policy that has repeatedly placed politics above public safety. Maybe the DAs candor is why city leadership cut his budget $600,000 this year, eliminating more than 10 positions and withdrawing investigators from murder scenes. Talk about doubling down on stupid!

Sen.Kennedy is correct. Mayor Landrieu has doubled down on stupid political correctness and seems focused on anything and everything other making his city a safer place. Something employing stop-and-frisk is certain to do.

But in New Orleans with Mitch Landrieu in charge, political correctness is king, not public safety.

Dan Fagan is a former television news reporter, journalism professor, newspaper columnist, and radio talk show host. He grew up in New Orleans and currently lives there. He is a regular contributor for The Hayride. If you have a news tip for Mr. Fagan you [emailprotected] or 504-458-2542.

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FAGAN: Mitch Landrieu's Political Correctness A Reason For Extreme NOLA Violence - The Hayride

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Issa participates in DC eugenics event – Escondido Grapevine (registration) (blog)

Posted: at 7:13 am


Escondido Grapevine (registration) (blog)
Issa participates in DC eugenics event
Escondido Grapevine (registration) (blog)
Embattled Congressman Darryl Issa (R-49th District) on June 28 participated in the eugenics founded and funded Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) annual Hold Their Feet to the Fire event at Phoenix Park Hotel in Washington, D.C..

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Issa participates in DC eugenics event - Escondido Grapevine (registration) (blog)

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