Laigle’s Forum

No science used by the elites, just consensus of academics.

by Don Hank

The report at the NPR web site tending to exonerate Palin for her gaffe about Paul Revere is typical of how arguments are presented in the media these days. You will note that there is not a shred of new data here, just a prof’s opinion. (It should be clear that NPR is only throwing a sop to conservatives here as a way of staving off the effort to defund them).

Americans have stopped asking for facts and are accepting opinions of the “educated.”

We are no more educated now than we were in 1256, when Roger Bacon enumerated, in Opus Majus, the 4 causes of error:

authority, custom, the opinion of the unskilled many, and the concealment of ignorance by a pretense of knowledge.

In the case of the mainstream media (and also in most of the careers we insist on calling “professions”), it is obvious that all of these factors are involved in our grievous mis-education and the web of unsubstantiated myths we call the truth.

Roger Bacon then outlined, in later parts of this series, an almost perfect representation of what we today call the scientific method.

However, nota bene: this method, while still generally used in the hard sciences, is all but totally ignored by academicians in other disciplines, such as psychology, journalism, economics, etc, whose practitioners nonetheless pretend to rely on science. If in fact they did so, they would use some form of the scientific method as outlined by Bacon and as refined by later philosophers in arriving at conclusions and decisions.

In fact they only rely on a consensus of academics, whom they trust implicitly for some reason that they would be hard put to articulate.

Indeed, if you ask one of these practitioners by what cognitive mechanism they arrive at their conclusions and make their decisions, they will be at a loss for words, other than to quote some “authority.”

It’s like:

[such and such an academician] said it, I believe it and that settles it.

Yet, they fail to recognize that they are in fact adherents of a religious cult. They really don’t understand the tiny world that has been presented to them by their fellows as the universe, they can’t articulate what they believe, and they are therefore increasingly isolated from everyone as they grow older.

This is why old professionals often die lonely and miserable, not knowing to what it is they have dedicated a life of service, or whether it was in fact service at all or just effort expended on behalf of an unseen soulless ruling class.

MSNBC massages poll, calls national TV show “private”

By Don Hank

Censorship has always happened in one form or another, since the beginning of time. However, the censorship in the US has usually been more or less muted, based on the assumption that a certain percentage of us are sentient.

That assumption seems to have eroded considerably lately, and precisely at a time when Americans are more awake perhaps than ever before. Never has the emperor looked more naked.

Recently, MSNBC ran a poll asking whether people thought Sara Palin’s and other political rhetoric (implication: conservative speech) may have contributed to the Tucson shootings. The poll numbers posted beneath the poll showed that only 35% thought there was no link between political “rhetoric” and massacres like that one. 60.5% fell obediently into line behind the Left and agreed there is a link. The rest weren’t sure.

On January 14 I sent the poll out to thousands of conservatives guaranteed to vote the other way.

The next day the poll results were unchanged, down to the last decimal! Incredibly, the poll is still up at this writing and there is no indication from MSNBC that the poll is closed.

A few of the recipients told me days later that the poll numbers were still unchanged. At least 3 days later, as more and more recipients notified me of the anomaly, I went to the poll and personally noted that the nos. were unchanged.

Of course, the Left, long noted for revisionism, invents its own truth. But this was so crass, it was mind boggling.

Then a few days later I sent to my short list a link to an MSNBC commentary by their own Rachel Maddow, not noted for her sympathy with the right. Incredibly, she was scathingly, blisteringly attacking Obama for a recent speech he made endorsing indefinite detention based on a “new legal regime.” She compared him favorably with GW Bush.

One of the recipients just today asked for another link. I thought “that’s strange. The link worked for me.” Sure enough, when I clicked, I got a message saying “this video is private.” Another link I found to the video said that due to “third party infringements,” they had to take it down. But yet, the video was originally put up by MSNBC for the general public to view, so that precludes any “third party” infringements. No one can infringe on a copyright if the material is intended for the public at large. Who do they think they are kidding? As for the other excuse, a video of a commentary made on national TV is “private”? Come on!

After looking on about a dozen sites, I finally found one that is a live link.

Please listen while you still can. Also, if you know how to make a copy, please do because this must not be lost. It is valuable evidence that even the Left cannot support Obama’s blatant violation of the Constitution:

http://dotsub.com/view/cfad3ce8-8b80-4981-ba6b-f48f184d6712

Another live link from a reader:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9Z2ac34RDI

Don Hank

There is a worldwide effort to cover up the truth about the causes of the economic crisis (one main one being bad loans made deliberately and then disguised by bundling into “derivatives” for resale).

A column by Steph Jasky at FedUpUSA shows just how completely some lending institutions ignored their own lending rules and common sense.

Here is a tip of the iceberg example.

This quote is a bombshell:

Ambac found that 97 percent of 6,533 loans it reviewed across 12 securitizations sponsored by Countrywide didn’t conform to the lender’s underwriting guidelines

 Steph Jasky is one of the few reporting this kind of information. One reason for the silence is that such analyses seem a bit technical to many of us. But the main reason is that the mainstream — and even much of the “conservative” media — are ignoring it. After all, GW Bush participated by urging banks to issue no-downpayment loans. (He didn’t do this because he was conservative. He did it because he was not conservative and because he believed in the Global Elite’s wealth redistribution program).

Recently, a conference featuring top economic experts and a few knowledgeable others (like dissident EU Parliament Member Nigel Farage) was held in Germany. Even without any publicity from the mainstream press, 700 attendees showed up. The general consensus was that the euro should never have been devised and rammed down European throats in the first place and that the chickens were about to come home to roost in the form of a collapse of that currency, despite all the futile attempts to bail it out — or rather in large part because of these attempts to tamper with natural and universally applicable economic laws and common sense.

The only mainstream media rep that showed up was Russia Today, which spent the entire day interviewing at the conference.

How is it that the media both here and in Europe refuse to talk about the causes and possible cures of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression?

The non-conspiracy theorists insist this amazing concurrence of non-coverage throughout the West — and the concurrence of abysmal banking procedures on both sides of the Atlantic — is simply a coincidence.

Whatever the case may be, it is time to educate the public and throw out ALL politicians who voted for bailouts and phony “stimulus” packages in the most gargantuan transfer of wealth from the poor and middle class to the rich in world history.

It is no wonder that the gap between rich and poor widened last year.

It widened not because capitalism failed but because capitalism is being supplanted by Public-Private Enterprises and government pressure on business and finance to sponsor wealth redistribution schemes.

Barney Frank is the new face of “capitalism.”

On the other hand, the news cover-ups are not working as well as they used to. In the US, we have talk radio and Glenn Beck pummeling the Ruling Class very hard on a nearly daily basis and gradually changing America’s mind. As for Europe, there is anger spilling out everywhere over the bailouts.

The below email I received from a European friend recently illustrates that the grassroots are about to rebel. A friend reminded me that most of the protests reported below were instigated by unions and that would make them left of center. No doubt that is true. However, whether they realize it or not, the protesters are highlighting the main point: The bailouts of the euro and the bankers with shoddy lending practices that have marked the European response to the worldwide crisis (and I need to add: the US response as well) were a sign of profound corruption and gross abuse of the trust the people had invested in their leadership. The ensuing breach between elite and grassroots is profound and quite likely irreparable. And the bottom line is that, even if this is a case of one leftist group playing against another, the group in power, the Global Elite, is now on the losing end in terms of popular support.

Whether the people will ever figure out that the loss of economic freedom and big government were the real culprits, and not, for example, the lack of care from the nanny state, remains to be seen. But the elite are taking a thrashing, and that, at the very least, is interesting to watch.

Just a few of the many protests and demonstrations across the EU state over the past few weeks……..

Spain. Some of the latest protests against the Spanish government’s planned spending cuts turned violent.

In Madrid, police said that some 40 people had been arrested since the strike began in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

In Barcelona, demonstrators hurled objects at security forces and set fire to a police vehicle.

Meanwhile, protesters in Valencia tried to storm a government building. Several were injured in the clashes.

Ministers say the austerity measures are necessary to boost an economy where 20 percent of the workforce is currently unemployed.  Unions countered that ordinary people are being made to pick up the tab for mistakes made by bankers and traders   Scuffles break out during Spanish protests 

           http://www.euronews.net/nocomment/2010/09/30/spanish-general-strike/

Brussels was the scene of one of the biggest demonstrations against government austerity measures.

Tens of thousands of people marched through the Belgian capital to protest against plans unions say will slow economic recovery and punish the poor.

“They are pitting people against each other by relocating businesses to increase profit margins instead of improving conditions. It is scandalous and people have had enough,” said one CGT union member.

Similar sentiments were shared by demonstrators taking part in marches in ten other capitals across Europe.

Police in Brussels say more than 200 people were arrested for minor offences.

Copyright © 2010 euronews

Tags: Demonstration, Europe, Trade unions

Romanian workers protest over austerity measures – nocomment

About five-thousand Romanian workers protested against austerity measures taken by the government to trim the budget deficit during a deep recession. 29/09/2010

Greek truckers pursue protests as strike spreads

Greece has had several days of action since the government cut deep into workers allowances, but Wednesday saw one of the largest protests.   State hospital… 29/09/2010

Social discontent grows across Europe

Europeans are coming out onto the streets in their millions as governments consider legislation aimed at reducing their budget deficits. In France, it is… 24/09/2010

Czech civil servants storm government office

Public sector workers in the Czech Republic on Tuesday stormed the country’s interior ministry during a protest against planned pay cuts. Some 30,000… 21/09/2010

Polish unions join protests over budget cuts

Wet and windy weather did nothing to deter Poles from demonstrating against their government’s belt-tightening measures. Marching under the motto “No to… 29/09/2010

Germany;  Plans to fell 300 trees to make way for the german city’s multi-billion euro rail infrastructure project ended in clashes between police and demonstrators. “This is to teach people a lesson, namely that they have no valid comment to make. The German police have never behaved like this before.” was the reaction of one protestor. There are claims the police used excessive force to quell the protest.

“We are peaceful, what are you?” chanted the crowd. Water cannon and tear gas were used. The authorities say some protesters threw stones at the police. But their actions were in vain as the trees began to tumble as night fell. “I think the trees were felled to show us that there can be no going back. It was meant to demoralise us but I don’t think they will succeed.” said another protestor. The protests have now grown into a national issue. Latest polls suggest that, for the first time in decades, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives could lose their majority in the state’s upcoming elections as a result…………….

Thousands march over Merkel’s nuclear policy

Tens of thousands of protesters have taken to the streets of Berlin to say ‘no’ to Angela Merkel’s nuclear energy policy. They are angry at plans to extend… 18/09/2010

By Don Hank

Several blogs, including A Charging Elephant, are carrying the sensational story of how Obama is poised to sell GM to the Chinese. Now, there is legitimate speculation on this topic, covered by mainstream media and it could happen.

But the popular version of the story says the story was broken by a Russian governmental ministry, which supposedly also reported that the US military is plotting a possible coup against the Obama administration.

This is clearly a hoax.

It follows the same pattern of all hoaxes that I have seen referring to a legitimate Russian agency, be it government or media.

A link is provided, which in an authentic report would send the reader to the article in question.

Here we see the link “Russia’s Ministry of Industry and Trade.”

You didn’t click on it, did you? Hoaxters know that most readers won’t, partly because many are lazy but also because they think the site will be in Russian. Try clicking on it.

It brings up only the English language web site of that Russian Ministry.

It not only does not lead you to the article in question, supposedly stating that Obama is selling GM to China (which is nonetheless a legitimate subject of speculation discussed by Wall Street Journal and NYT, with no conclusion drawn), but a quick site search shows nothing like this.

I went to the trouble of searching the Russian language part of the site. The fact that there is a Russian language edition is useful to hoaxters because they want you to believe that that is the part of the site containing the story and they know very few will be able to search it in that language. But I searched the term “GM” at the Russian language site and in fact, it turns out there are some interesting articles on GM there, pertaining to joint ventures between Russian car makers and GM (such as the GM-Avtovaz JV). But nothing on China.

The clincher, however, is the imaginative author’s story that the Russian Ministry is talking about a possible coup in our military.

Let me be blunt: NO serious trading partner with the US would ever write such a thing, even if it were true.

It would destroy their credibility and all their long hours of trade negotiations in an instant.

DIDN’T HAPPEN.

This is not to say that White House resident would not stoop to selling GM. He might. Who knows?

But that is a different aspect to this story, which is a certifiable hoax. BTW, the US military will never overthrow a president, even a Marxist like Obama. Any sitting president can buy them out or use extortion on them before it comes to that, just as the Brazilian government has bought out and extorted loyalty from their military. Our situation is very similar.

It is understandable that some people are so desperate that they would invent such a story in the hopes that it will encourage the military to action. But it is a childish, misguided action and will only serve to strengthen the Ruling Class in the long run.

Now, finally, you will want to know whether any blog article referring to a Russian news site or government site is legit.

Yes, once in a while that happens. A good example is recent coverage by Russia Today of a conference held in Berlin and featuring economics experts. 700 people showed up and the European media stayed away.

Russia Today spent the day at the conference interviewing participants. Their web site shows videos. DID HAPPEN.

So my suggestion to this conundrum posed by bloggers referring to Russian reporters:

Matthew 10:16.

Many conservatives dismally ill-informed

Don Hank

I recently got an email with a link to a presentation by Lou Dobbs on CNN quoting John Boehner referring to a bill before Congress that would have given all kinds of benefits to illegal immigrants. Boehner had called it “a piece of sh…t.”

The guy who forwarded it apparently thought it was current information and said ‘Well, folks, what do you think of Obama now?”

I took a quick look at the Youtube still and realized I had seen this at least a half-dozen times over the last few years, and that it was made during the Bush administration. (May of 2007 to be exact, as you can see here.)

It was in fact G.W. Bush who had pushed this miscreant bill. Yet the sender thought it was recent and was using it as an example of how pro-invasion the Obama administration is!

I have always said that Obama is one of the best things that ever happened to this country because now, the unconstitutional legislation that was given a pass in the Bush years is happening under a lefty, and finally it is being acknowledged for what it is: a leftist attempt to take over America and change it radically.

Too bad we needed to elect a self-proclaimed lefty to show people how bad – and far-left – our immigration policies always have been.

What worries me is that many of the same people who are outraged by this nonsense – and rightfully so – are backing Sara Palin. Yet during her last campaign Sara was silent as the Sphinx on immigration. You couldn’t get a rise out of her except for a boilerplate comment about how immigrants made America great. And she was, of course, running with – and enthusiastically endorsing – one of the biggest RINOs and pro-amnesty politicians in the Senate. Need I also mention Palin’s selection of a former Planned Parenthood board member to the Alaska Supreme Court?

The fact that she now benefits from photo-ops with Jan Brewer does not put new spots on this leopard.

America has two vital missions that can’t be put off:

1 – to kick the far left out of power

2 – to kick out RINOs, their enablers

If we only accomplish mission one, that will be worse than a total failure, because, by anesthetizing the conservative public, as was done under the Bushes, it will enable the RINOs to accomplish all the things the far left could not do. And on top of that, it will make you complacent enough again to like what you see.

But how do we tell the difference between a true conservative and a phony who will run with the Dems once elected?

Some things you can do to prevent disinformation:

1– Compare what the Left is promoting to see if your favorite “conservative” is pushing the same thing. (Example: Both Bush and Obama signed the first bailout bill),

2 – Verify everything you read in “conservative” news sources and every email you receive from conservative friends. Their hearts are in the right place. But it’s up to you to find out where their heads are.

3 – Never “follow your heart” instead of your head. Feel-good policies are the hallmark of the Left.

4 – Always be more cautious with news sources from groups, including religious and conservative groups, that are making money off of donations or are selling news or teaming up with other conservatives in speaking engagements. These groups, even the more solid ones like WorldNetDaily (they’re behind Sara Palin), usually feel they have to be more mainstream to survive. (Some, like Judicial Watch for example, seem to have avoided that pitfall).

5 – Subscribe to Laigle’s Forum (http://laiglesforum.com/mailing/?p=subscribe&id=1). We do not solicit your money, just your attention. You can make me — and yourself — more prosperous by defending the Constitution.

zoilandon@msn.com