Denialism

DDP Newsletter, July 2013, Vol. XXXI, No. 4
[published April 2014]

The current regime and its media acolytes use the term “denialists” to refer to serious scientists who deny the trumped-up apocalyptic man-made “climate change” scenario after examining it and refuting it. Meanwhile, real and profound denial of existential threats pervades our society—and those who sense the coming crisis but are not sure enough of themselves to take action are easily squashed by the professional deniers, writes Stephen Jones. “Those guardians of the gate of public safety and national defense have been bought off and paid to assure us that all is well while the enemy is climbing our walls and nearly upon us.”

“I no longer wonder what it was like to live before the buildup of WWI and WWII, or in Hitler’s Germany in the 1920s and ’30s. I understand Cassandra of Troy and am aware that no great or small catastrophe has occurred without ample and specific warnings that were ignored,” Jones writes. Speaking of rats leaving a sinking ship, “J.P. Morgan may be moving its headquarters to Salt Lake City.”

In May 2013, Edward Snowden fled the U.S. and disclosed thousands of documents to media outlets. These have dispelled any illusions that Americans live under a benign, transparent, accountable government that is bound by the rule of law.

In 1975, Sen. Frank Church wrote: “[Extensive surveillance of Americans] at any time could be turned around on the American people and no American would have any privacy left…. If a dictator ever took charge…, the technological capacity that the intelligence community has given the government could enable it to impose total tyranny, and there would be no way to fight back” (McAlvany Intelligence Advisor, April 2014).

Snowden’s revelations about National Security Agency (NSA) activities show that:

• NSA uses implants in USB cables and small circuit boards to download data from and upload data to computers that have no internet connection;
• NSA uses data from the Microsoft Windows crash reporting tool to find vulnerabilities in target computers;
• An NSA implant for iPhones enables data transfer, activation of the microphone and camera, and location of the phone;
• NSA has the ability to infect millions of computers worldwide with malware;
• NSA can covertly change the content of personal messages;
• NSA may have penetrated most internet encryption services (ibid.).

Charles Goyette comments that in “topsy-turvy America, the government feels entitled to know what websites you visit, while operating in secret itself and even criminalizing the act of someone telling you what he is doing. (Money and Markets 2/18/14). Agencies such as the EPA hide the “science” on which they base intrusive, oppressive rules (Paul Driessen, http://tinyurl.com/kclwmxn).

Judge Andrew Napolitano writes: “Since 9/11, the Bush and Obama administrations have succeeded in claiming they have congressional consent for the massive NSA spying by merely getting a consensus from the Gang of 12. There is, of course, no provision in the Constitution for the substitution of all 535 members of Congress with a select group of 12 of them, but Congress and Presidents Bush and Obama have gone along with this.

“The kicker is that all members of the Gang of 12 have been sworn to secrecy and threatened with prosecution if they reveal to anyone, including other members of Congress, what the NSA and other intelligence agencies reveal to them” (ibid.).

Snowden has been called many things, including idealist and hero. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung calls him “Putin’s best agent.”

For years, Germany had considered Russian and Chinese spies the worst threat, writes Peter Carstens (FAZ 4/5/14, http://tinyurl.com/l8lxtdx). Now, the U.S. may be portrayed as the worst threat to civilization.

It is not yet clear how Washington will eventually use all this data about people all over the world, including some 300 reports on German chancellor Angela Merkel. Could the U.S. be dumber than East Germany’s Stasi, which collected data on every use of the toilet by targeted individuals, Carstens asks. But the NSA is creating a new era of anger, fear, and mistrust of the U.S., McAlvaney writes. And what does it suggest about Washington’s view of Americans as well as of our allies?

THE DESTRUCTION OF SOCIETY

There are five ways in which socialism destroys society, writes John Hawkins (Townhall.com 2/25/14, http://tinyurl.com/mqgmftw).

1. It kills economic growth. The more that successful people are penalized, the greater the concentration of wealth in fewer hands, and the worse the standard of living.

2. It stifles free speech. Socialism cannot survive free and honest debate. Neither can the catastrophic anthropogenic climate change hypothesis. Naomi Oreskes, a professor of history of science, actually suggests prosecution of “deniers” for racketeering (http://tinyurl.com/k5hvozf, at about 1:05 in the video). UK Energy Secretary Ed Davey attacked newspapers for publishing the views of climate change skeptics (Daily Telegraph 6/3/13). The German Environment Agency parades individual journalists as incompetent if they dare to criticize leading climate scientists (Wissenschaftjournalisten 6/3/13, http://tinyurl.com/mh4cqju, cited in CCNet 6/4/13, http://tinyurl.com/lytmypv).

3. It leads to increasingly tyrannical government.

4. It creates strife and division.

5. Socialists believe that the end justifies the means. Process, rules, and regulation mean different things for different people—and are rewritten at will (Driessen, op. cit.).

Under socialism, the rule of law is eroded—as are peace and prosperity. On the Rule of Law Index published by the World Justice Project, the U.S. ranks number 19 (Townhall.com 3/8/14, http://tinyurl.com/m4jg3r7).

HEAT SHOCKING TO PRESERVE PRODUCE

Instead of washing your produce immediately after bringing it home, which seems to encourage spoilage, soak it for a few minutes in hot water, 105 °F to 140 °F. This appears to slow the respiratory rate and the rate at which still living fruit produces ethylene. It may also retard the production of enzymes that cause browning. I generally soak for a couple minutes at about 120 °F, longer for bigger fruit to allow heat to penetrate, and drain it well. It seems to help, but I have not done a controlled experiment; it might make a good science project. Guidelines have been worked out for optimum time and temperatures for various fruits and vegetables (http://tinyurl.com/kf4gl8e). Examples: asparagus, 2 to 3 min at 130 °F;  broccoli, 7 to 8 min at 114 °F; celery, 90 sec at 120 °F; grapes, 8 min at 110 °F; lettuce, 1 to 2 min at 120 °F; strawberries, 15 sec at 140 °F. Note that some produce may have been treated before sale.

DDP, 1601 N. Tucson Blvd. Suite 9, Tucson, AZ 85716, 520.325.2680, www.ddponline.org

Follow us on Twitter @d4dp.