Category: Culture

The Real America

Published on by Candidly SpeakingLeave a comment

The election is already over.

I am glad. It will take that amount of time between now and November for progressives and lefty-Democrats to get over themselves.

Anyone who still thinks there is a chance Trump will lose is not living in reality. Look around. Do you see that Trump performed outstandingly in both Iowa and New Hampshire? Ask yourself this question if you hate Trump and think everyone else does, too. If people really hate Trump as much as MSNBC, CNN, ABC, and CBS indicates, then why are voters showing up to support Trump overwhelmingly? Why are the stadiums filled?

The answer is simple. Most of the United States, what I call the silent majority, are not concerned about racism, homophobia, climate change and, as Joaquin Phoenix stated, “Queer rights.” Though, the major media would have you believe these are burning issues for all of us and are what is causing the uptick in anxiety, but not really, at least for the majority of us who live our own lives and are concerned with our own real world problems, like raising a family, or starting one, or being in love, or being into whatever it is we Americans are into that have nothing to do with being a victim of injustice.

You see, in the real world, the adult world, people don’t see themselves as victims of some class warfare, they don’t worry that CO2 levels are going to destroy the planet. Most people are not overtly wrought about social or environmental justice because those are terms created by people who simply want to tell you how to live your life, people like movie stars and singers, people who are so bloody rich that they can’t wait to tell us from their perch how we should do what they say because they are simply smarter than us because they are filthy rich. The Bourgeoisie are always the first to tell us we need to feel guilty for having such a good life, that we must suffer just a little for repentance, and we must make sacrifices in order to receive social atonement. 

But the real people, not the people that AOC talks about, but the salt-of-the-earth people who believe in traditional ideals and family values, in things like having faith in God and the Lord Jesus Christ, showing respect to your elders and, as Thomas Jefferson once said, “behave as if the whole world is watching,” are what makes up America; hard working people who oftentimes get up before the rest of us and go to work, all while the elite busy themselves with theories and strategies about controlling society to make we the people more like them. No, the people who make up the country we call the United States of America, those we see behind Trump at the rallies are the parents, the teachers, coaches and clergy; the small business owners, the truck drivers, the plumbers, construction workers, farmers, food preparers, medical health professionals, air condition repair persons, store clerk, fast food food preparer, they the real face of Americans who are grounded in realville. They are Black, White, Asian, Men, Women, young and old. Skin colors doesn’t matter, gender matters less. You are pro-American or you are not. America isn’t perfect, but it is our home, and we have all built her with our hands, or at least the hands of our ancestors who wanted us to have a good life, a better life, a happier one.

The real people, not the snowflakes, or hard-left social justice warriors like ANTIFA, are the backbone of this country. And if Trump did anything, he made us realize there are more of us than there are of them. Thanks to a saturated and agenda-driven media, we have been hoodwinked into believing that everything relevant in our culture is what comes out of New York and LA, but as Johnny Carson once quipped, and then there is the in-between, the rest of America, all three thousand miles of it

Trump showed us we count more than they, we always have, and especially always will as long as we push back against the media and the hard-Left progressives who want to turn this country in one vast romper-room of uneducated children-adults/man-boys/girl-men who only care about themselves in the glorious age of narcissism, thanks to the media giving spotlight to groups and movements like #MeToo, Antifa, SJW, BLM and LGBTQ; these are the forces that seek to divide the family, the home and the community, the very underpinnings of civilization.

What they all have in common is they hate the patriarch, they disdain tradition, and if it weren’t for White Male Europeans, the world would be equal and peaceful. Many of the new resistance groups (who all hate Trump and/.or conservative values) truly believe “white equals oppression.”

What a horrible world view. White guilt is being pandered to our young through our media and it works in concert with the progressive worldview “where everyone is equal, though some are less equal than others because of their ancestral sins.”

The Left, in my opinion, is like a small child who says, “geez, if only my parents wasn’t here, I could do whatever I want, wouldn’t that be fun?” This is the ideology of the neo-Left, no rules, no boundaries, all about the self. But this is NOT the typical U.S. citizen. We are better than that. We are the end result of thousands of years of social trial-and error. Our forefathers (and mothers) struggled, persevered and persisted until they found freedom, self-determination and a love for real Liberty – and then they codified it into the Bill of Rights and lastly, the U.S. Constitution, which declares we are endowed by our Creator to enjoy the fruits of our labors and to the inherent rights to a Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Now that is powerful.

So prepare for a Trump re-election, not because America loves Trump so much (though his policies are freakin fantastic), but because they hate progressivism and what it has done to this country for 40 years, and especially what it has attempted to do with our children (which is get them to turn against the establishment as social justice warriors).

It is time for this hate-filled and destructive ideology to exit America on November 3, 2020, and when it does, freedom-loving people everywhere in the world will breathe a big sigh of relief.

The only people who will be depressed will be those brainwashed by the media to hate.

Leftism: The True Enemy of the People

Published on by Candidly SpeakingLeave a comment

Here is a short list of commonly held beliefs that have been invented by progressive Leftists who seek to undermine democracy in the United States by dividing its citizens into classes and subgroups, and then to build dissent between them:

  • that white people are inherently racist, and therefore privileged
  • that the U.S. is built upon slavery and therefore, is an oppressive country that must make reparations
  • that women have always been oppressed and this is why the patriarchy must be dismantled
  • that sexual identity is a choice any person can make, that the archetype male and female no longer applies
  • that people of color have always been oppressed and they must receive compensation for ancestral suffering
  • that Conservatives want to make to control women’s bodies and must be marginalized
  • that Christians hate gay people and are mostly intolerant bigots because Christianity is itself inherently xenophobic and oppressive
  • that wealth is mostly derived from unprincipled means; wealthy people are greedy and destructive

If you hold these statements to be true, you are probably a person who leans towards the politically Left, which asserts outcome-based principles, meaning they believe everyone is entitled to equal portions because some people are simply at a disadvantage, and it’s not fair that these people should suffer while others succeed. Such class differences can be minimized through regulation and enforcement by a central authority. This what Karl Marx believed and is at the basis of Leftism.

One wonders if it is called Leftism because much of their philosophy is also left-brained thinking driven by pure emotion. Think about that the next time you watch AOC speak; it’s all emotion-based, which sounds more appealing because it touches one’s compassionate side). Leftism does not take into account the personal decisions that each individual makes in their life and how these decisions produce different outcomes – which is why some people succeed and others don’t. 

The latter concept is right-brained thinking, which takes into account the whole picture and is based on facts and not merely emotion.

No one wants suffering. In a perfect world, everyone should be safe, happy and healthy. But in a world where the prosperous are being told they are the problem this only makes society weaker. Industrious people create opportunity for others. A rising tide lifts all boats. In a strong and transparent society where merit is rewarded, this is the incentive for living. Liberty, free-market trading and limited government regulation improve quality of life for more people, not less. More people succeed than fail. People are happier when they have more control over their life.

As one example. Many people who receive Medicare or Medical are being subsidized by taxpayers. In a good economy more Mental Health professionals are employed to treat growing demand; there are more tax dollars available, so social services improve and grow to accommodate growing demand. In another example, in a strong economy loans for lower income people are easier to get because banks have more confidence – and more capital – for risk. In a bad economy its much tougher to get a home loan. A third example for young people going to college. Education costs are lower at community colleges when unemployment is low, more workers more local an State tax coffers are filled to fund colleges and higher institutions of learning.

Free Market vs. Big Government

Failure comes when you have a decentralized bureaucracy determining outcome-based results that are enforced. We saw this in China in the 1950’s when the government took over agriculture, taking land from landowners and didn’t know how to produce enough crop for the billion people who live in China. Tens of millions starved during the decade immediately following the rise of Communism in China.

We saw the same thing in Cuba when Castro brought communism and took people’s land and prosperity away. Cuba was once a thriving (though somewhat corrupt) island nation. Witness Venezuela at the present time, another example of a government controlled, outcome-based society that has disintegrated.

If equality is all that matters, we will someday all be equally impoverished, except of course the people managing things at the top who told us get rid of the oppressors, the barons who stole from the poor, the men who oppressed the women, the white people who oppressed people of color, the Christians who have oppressed women and the gays. It when you have people telling you that America is evil that you begin to see where it is headed if it continues. 

The only thing that can prevent this is prosperity. This is why the current progressives will lose as long as Trumps policies remain in place. If this should change with the coming election, all bets are off.

Beware the progressives, they are the true enemy of the people.

James Watkins is a media research specialists, author and host of the Speaking Out Podcasts

The Age Of Rage

Published on by Candidly SpeakingLeave a comment

When my brother recently posted on his Facebook page that he doesn’t not want to hear from any friend or family member that supports Trump or any of his policies, I decided the age of rage has gone too far. It is time for a national self-check.

It is possible that, through the help of many in the news rooms of MSNBC and CNN, that that rage is what is driving the news cycle, and this rage translates to anger among otherwise very nice people?

It is understandable to be against a politician, but the display of rage we are witnessing is more of a social study on how the media is propagandizing a position (against Trump) that offers no clear resolution short of removal or violence, or both. And at whose doorsteps do we lay the blame?

To me, it is clear the mainstream media networks are in clear alignment with the Democrats. But the intensity by which they drive news cycles by constantly pounding the drum against this president makes the Obama years look like the Kennedy years. Republicans had many issues with the former president, but no one was calling him a racist, bigot, homophobe and every other name in the book just because they didn’t like him. When re-elected, many of my Republican friends were in deep despair, but they dusted themselves off and got back to work. This president hasn’t gotten a fair break since the day he started, and not whistanding, he has survived every punch, even to the point of building up a real economy and improving the lives of millions upon millions of Americans.

The vitriol is beyond compare. People hate Trump. The have managed to project every hatred they have about anything and foist it upon one person who has become the symbol of that hate. When MSNBC’s Joy Reid allows or supports statements calling Trump a White Supremacist, or supporters as White Supremacists, that is blatantly wrong. When Chuck Todd or others clearly edit or misrepresent Trump statements, as they have for years with regard to Charlottesville’s “Very fine people” comment, it is a lie, a mistruth, a journalist deliberately misleading viewers because of a dislike of a person. When most of the anchors on MSNBC consistently portray the president as suspicious, buffoonish, criminal, sexually predatory, etc, etc, the message gets clear to those who accept it. People are displaying such rage you have to wonder if it is because these networks are pishing hate against a human being every opportunity they get, and they are not shy about it. What are the long-term pyschological effects of hearing a message of hate, and fear, and anger so often. People consume it and they become hateful at anyone disagrees, or doesn’t agree with thier position in hating Trump with the same vitriol. How many times have you heard someone say to you, how can you not hate Trump? How can you support that guy, he’s a criminal?!

For years I would notice that if I was over someone’s house and they were watching MSNBC or CNN, whether it was my father-in-law, my sister, my brother, my wife or my sister-in-law, they would all utter, “that asshole,” right after a segment on Trump.

“That Asshole.”

I used to joke that in the only difference between the press in North Korea and the press in the U.S is that in North Korea the press is forced to support the government’s propaganda,; in the U.S. our press promotes propaganda willingly.

Where is this rage going to go?

I will tell you where. It affects people’s relationships with their family, friends and co-workers. It makes people stop talking to each other for fear of offending or causing emotional harm to someone who is your friend. We know from statistics from the CDC people are taking more anti-anxiety medication and seeing their therapists more frequently because of their anger over Trump.

Is this really necessary?

Does Trump, a human being, really pose that much of a threat to humanity? Are all of those political leaders like Schumer, Sanders and Schiff really threatened by a person who, all things considered, has managed to accomplish an amazing amount of work in his first term – despite the constant haranguing?

Are people really that concerned Trump is the next Hitler? Show me the death camps. Show me the the tattoos on my arms the government is making me wear next to the Star of David on my sleeve. Show me how Trump is invading other countries and forcing large numbers of ethnics and homosexuals into forced labor camps. Show me how Trump is curtailing freedom of the press when the Press is the number one agitator in the age of rage. Show me how Trump is dragging dissenters off to the gulags.

Trump is Orwell’s Emmanuel Goldstein from 1984, and two-minutes hate is a continuous event on cable news.

The people who are enraged, progressives who clearly hate this president, are behaving in a way I have never seen. And it’s troubling for me, not because I don’t respect their views, but because I am witnessing a collective group-think rage stoked by the machinations of a very effective media machine.

Think about it. Most of the major news networks are networked in to the halls of Congress. It is not hard, as we have seen, how a leak from a political party can end up being dropped to the New York Times at exactly the precise moment a major decision is being made in court, or as in the case of Trump, when Boltons’ manuscript was leaked the day before the Presidents’ legal team were to make their opening statements in the Senate Impeachment trial. The timing was perfect. This same kind of leaked to the press is what caused the whole Trump-Russia collusion investigation.

There is not question the press and the Democratic Party are in concert with one another politically – and it should terrify every American to know news media integrity is in complete ruins. The press is supposed to be neutral, not biased, and certainly not in lock-step in its collective opposition to a single human being who had the audacity to run for president – and win!

From the New York Times to CNN, to MSNBC, which is then carried to the subsidiary networks, namely ABC, NBC and CBS, and then filtered down to the national morning shows like Today, GMA and CBS This Morning who become the echo chambers of the local affiliate news divisions who take their lead from networks put the final nails in the coffen of truth-journalism. Even Inside Edition is in on the act.

Wash, rinse, repeat.

In the end, people become affected by perception. Perception is reality. The media knows this and this is why the message of hate is being pushed. Hate, like love, is infectious and it drives ratings perhaps even more so that love, unity or progress. If it bleeds it leads.

Fortunately, most Americans see through the charade of what has happened in the news media in its attempt to overthrow Trump and conservative principles like faith, family and personal responsibility, how the news industry has become tainted with bias and agenda-driven activism. Even those who are progressive can see the imbalance that is our modern press.

But for those who don’t, and who feed into the vitriol of these misleading networks, beware. Someday you will see what you have become, the very thing you feared the most: a hateful human being.

James Watkins is a 30 years news media and national program consultant.

The Progressive Power of Magical Thinking

Published on by Candidly SpeakingLeave a comment

WE’VE GONE MAGICAL.

I LIKE TO LOOK AT SYMPTOMS. I BELIEVE SYMPTOMS ARE FAR MORE REVEALING TO REALITY THAN EFFECTS. 

WHEN YOU FIND THE CAUSE OF A DISEASE YOU LOOK AT THE SYMPTOM AND THEN INTERPRET CAUSES TO THOSE SYMPTOMS.

SO WHEN I SEE GROWN ADULTS DECLARING THEY ARE ENGAGED IN MAGICAL THINKING, I SEE THIS AS A SYMPTOM THAT SOCIETY IS ACTUALLY REGRESSING, NOT PROGRESSING.

FOR EXAMPLE. MANY PEOPLE THINK TRANSGENDERISM IS PROGRESSIVE, THE CHOOSING ONE’S SEXUALITY IS RIGHT, AND THEREFORE, PROGRESSIVE; THAT BELIEVING HUMAN BEINGS CAN CONTROL THE EARTH’S WEATHER OR ALTER ITS COURSE, IS PROGRESSIVE. 

BUT IF YOU SUBSTITUTE THE WORD PROGRESSIVE WITH MAGICAL, YOU WOULD BE MORE ACCURATE IN DESCRIBING THE SYMPTOMS OF SOCIETAL REGRESSION. IN FACT, YOU COULD VERY WELL CALL THE PROGRESSIVE PARTY THE PARTY OF MAGIC. 

PEOPLE LIKE AOC, JOY BEHAR, AND ALL OF THOSE OTHER SMART PEOPLE, MICHAEL MOORE, THE PROGRESSIVE ACTORS, ALL SUBSCRIBE TO MAGICAL THINKING, WHICH IS A REALITY THAT RUNS CONTRARY TO LONG HELD, INTELLECTUALLY RECOGNIZED UNIVERSAL TRUTHS.

HERE ARE SOME GREAT EXAMPLES OF MAGICAL THINKING, IDEAS THAT ARE EMBRACED AS FACT, EVEN THOUGH THERE IS OVERWHELMING EVIDENCE TO SUGGEST OTHERWISE:

– SEXUAL IDENTITY IS A CHOICE, NOT BIOLOGICAL

– MANKIND HAS THE POWER TO CHANGE THE EARTHS TEMPERATURE 

– THAT FREE MARKET TRADE AND BUSINESS IS INHERENTLY UNFAIR, BUT THAT STEALING FROM THOSE WHO PRODUCE AND GIVING IT TO THOSE WHO DON’T IS “FAIR”

– THAT WEALTHY PEOPLE ARE WEALTHY BECAUSE THEY STOLE THE MONEY FROM POOR PEOPLE

– THAT IN ADDITION TO EQUAL OPPORTUNITY, EVERYONE IS ALSO ENTITLED TO EQUAL OUTCOMES

– THAT A BAY IS NOT A BABY UNTIL IT TAKES ITS FIRST BREATH, BUT THAT IT IS CRUEL TO EXECUTE A MURDERER BECAUSE EVERY LIFE IS PRECIOUS

– THAT AMERICA WAS BUILT UPON SLAVERY WHEN EVERY COUNTRY ON THE PLANET ALSO HAD SLAVERY, AND THAT AMERICA WAS ONE OF THE FIRST COUNTRIES TO WORK TOWARDS ABOLISHING SLAVERY

-THAT PEOPLE ARE NOT REALLY EVIL, JUST SUFFERING FROM A MENTAL OR EMOTIONAL DISORDER THAT CAN BE TREATED IF GIVEN ENOUGH MEDICINE

– THAT THE UNIVERSE CAME INTO EXISTENCE ON ITS OWN AND WITHOUT ANY PURPOSE, AND LIFE ITSELF IS RANDOM CAUSE AND EFFECT

– THAT EVERYONE HAS “THIER OWN TRUTH.”

ENOUGH EXAMPLES?

IN EACH OF THESE CASES, PEOPLES MINDS ARE SETTLED ON CONCEPTS BECAUSE THEY “FEEL RIGHT,” AND FEELINGS ARE EQUALLY VALID TO LOGIC.

IN MOST CASES AND WITHOUT ANY SCIENTIFIC BASIS, PEOPLE ARE MADE TO BELIEVE THEY CAN CHANGE REALITY, AS IN THE CASE OF TRANSGENDERISM AND CLIMATE CHANGE, OR REDEFINE REALITY, AS IN SAYING EVIL DOESN’T EXIST, ITS JUST A DISEASE TO DO BAD THINGS. PEOPLE WHO THINK MAGICALLY ARE ALMOST ALWAYS DRIVEN BY EMOTION, THEY FEEL BAD, AND AND IN DOING SO, CONTRIBUTE TO FIXING THE PROBLEM.

MAGIC THINKERS ARE EASILY MANIPULATED BY SMARTER MAGICAL THINKERS, BUT IN EITHER CASE, IF YOU ATTEMPT TO USE LOGICAL TO EXPLAIN THE ERROR OF THIER REASONING, YOU WILL BE ACCUSED OF BEING ANY NUMBER OF THINGS, EACH A PERCEIVED EVIL BASED ON THIER OWN EMOTION, SUCH AS YOU ARE A RACIST, YOU ARE A BIGOT, YOU ARE A DENIER, YOU HATE THE WORLD, OR YOU ARE A BULLY.

SO WHAT DOES ALL OF THIS DO TO MY ORIGINAL POINT ABOUT SOCIETAL REGRESSION?

IT SEEMS TO ME THAT THERE IS A GROWING SUBSET OF PEOPLE, MOSTLY FROM WEALTHY COUNTRIES, WHO ARE DISPLAYING SYMPTOMS OF A KIND OF “GROUP INSANITY,” ADOPTING NEW IDEAS OR BELIEF SYSTEMS THAT ARE CONTRARY TO ACCEPTED REALITY. 

SCOTT PECK CALLED THEM “THE PEOPLE OF THE LIE,” A SOCIAL REINFORCEMENT MECHANISM THAT PROMOTES GROUP-THINK ACCEPTANCE SO THAT NO SINGLE INDIVIDUAL HAS TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR BEING RIGHT, THEY JUST NEED TO AGREE TO BE ACCEPTED, AND BEING ACCEPTED IS ONE OF THE MOST INNATE DRIVES A HUMAN BEING CAN HAVE. 

ITS WHY PEOPLE BURNED WITCHES AT THE STAKE, ITS WHY WHEN OBAMA SAYS RACISM IS IN OUR DNA, EVERYONE AGREES WITH HIM, EVEN THOUGH THERE IS NO SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT THE NOTION THAT RACIAL BIGOTRY IS IN OUR GENETIC CODE…ITS WHY PEOPLE BELIEVE THE SEAS ARE RISING EVERY YEARM, EVEN THOUGH NO ONE SEEMS TO BE FLOODING AT SEA LEVEL (WHICH IS THE SAME EVERYWHERE).

ITS WHY HALF THE COUNTRY THINKS TRUMP IS A RACIST, RAPIST, HATER OF MUSLIMS AND PURE EVIL, DESPITE THE FACT THAT HIS POLICIES HAVE HELPED MOST EVERYONE WHO HATES HIM.

ITS MAGICAL THINKING, NOT THE KIND OF THINKING WHEN YOU WERE A KID AND YOU HOPED DADDY WOUD BE HOME SOON, OR THAT YOU WOULD GET A BICYCLE FOR CHRISTMAS. NO THIS KIND OF MAGICAL THINKING LULLS YOU INTO ACCEPTING AN IDEA WITHOUT PROOF, AND DRILLING THE IDEA INTO YOU HEAD SO MUCH THAT YOU SIMPLY AGREE FOR FEAR OF BEING OSTRACIZED.

More Lies About Climate Change

Published on by Candidly SpeakingLeave a comment

This week the news reported that the last decade was, “the warmest decade ever recorded.”

To the uncritical mind it sounds like we’re doomed.

But if we unpack the statement we discover that the term “Warmest decade” isn’t so bad, and certainly doesn’t mean we’re going to boil anytime soon.

Record keeping started in 1880, which means a more accurate statement would be, “of the fourteen past decades, the last decade was warmer than the 13 previous decades.” 

But what does it mean to be “the warmest.”

The Global Mean Temperature, or GMT is 50.1, which means that if you add up the several dozen globally placed thermometers, the average daily temperature at sea level over 365 days is 50.1 degrees Fahrenheit.

To put things into perspective, the last decade’s average was 50.6 degrees, or one-half of a degree warmer than the combined average over the previous 13 decades. The latest decade will also now raise the average GMT moving forward, so now the average is slightly higher, at 50.2 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Breaking it down, the average global temperature rose a half degree warmer within a ten-year period between 2011 and 2019 (which is actually only 9 years, by the way), which means one or two warmer years by one degree might increase the overall average by a little less half a degree.

Listen, folks. I don’t know about you, but half a degree over a ten year period, and even still, over a 140 year period of averages is not that significant. Statistically speaking, it’s not significant at all, especially with a margin of error above +/-1 degree variation. We should also consider that from 1880 to 1910 the measuring equipment used was only as reliable as the people who used it.

That this significance is tied to human activity means we really aren’t making that much of an impact. Last weeks volcanic activity produced 100 times more soot in the atmosphere than humans did all year. And yet, the earth always seems to find equilibrium. If you consider all of the carbon humans have produced, the impact has been minimal, which leads me to believe there is far more panic than there needs to be about climate change, and specifically, globally warming.

The scaring we see going on is counterproductive to our real efforts, which should be working towards a cleaner environment, not a more expensive energy system that does nothing to clean the environment. We need to stop wasting.

We can argue renewables and the climate, but the real discussion should be on plastics and dirty water supplies. 

Expensive energy policies hurt the poor, what helps the poor is more access to cheap energy and access to the market, being able to buy and sell goods and services. Communications has made it possible now for villagers in rural Africa and elsewhere to sell their products and make an income for their family. Taking land from them to build solar panels is not smart policy, even if it makes members of the IPOCC in Brussels sleep better at night.

Carbon is not the problem. Waste is the problem. We need to be better at reducing waste so that our natural resources go further. 

Certainly AI can help aid us in producing better ways of food distribution, and even more effective ways of producing food. Think of, instead of solar panels, we build greenhouses that produce food for people so they have a reliable source for fruits, vegetables, protein rich food supplies, improved water filtration and irrigation systems, instead of worrying about whether the weather is going to get hotter. 

We know the earth will warm, or cool, but if we tackle things at home, on the ground, those issues that affect us locally, the global aggregate effect of this will produce far better results, which will improve and preserve a higher quality of life for all.

Instead of worrying about whether the last decade was half a degree warmer than the previous 13, we should instead, learn how to better manage our resources so that we raise the standards of living for those hardest hit by climate events that may, or may not be related to human activity. 

Real concern for human activity should be directing our energies toward being more efficient, not being more expensive.

James Watkins is a climate researcher, author and host of the podcast Speaking Out.

Hollywood Was Finally Exposed – And We Have Ricky Gervais To Thank

Published on by Candidly SpeakingLeave a comment

Here is the full text of the opening speech from the Golden Globe Awards. It was a doozy, and I loved it so much I felt we needed to save it.

Here it is:

Here’s the full transcript of the opening monologue:

“Hello and welcome to the 77th annual Golden Globe Awards, live from the Beverly Hilton Hotel here in Los Angeles. I’m Ricky Gervais, thank you.

You’ll be pleased to know this is the last time I’m hosting these awards, so I don’t care anymore. I’m joking. I never did. I’m joking, I never did. NBC clearly don’t care either — fifth time. I mean, Kevin Heart was fired from the Oscars for some offensive tweets — hello?

Lucky for me, the Hollywood Foreign Press can barely speak English and they’ve no idea what Twitter is, so I got offered this gig by fax. Let’s go out with a bang, let’s have a laugh at your expense. Remember, they’re just jokes. We’re all gonna die soon and there’s no sequel, so remember that.

But you all look lovely all dolled up. You came here in your limos. I came here in a limo tonight and the license plate was made by Felicity Huffman. No, shush. It’s her daughter I feel sorry for. OK? That must be the most embarrassing thing that’s ever happened to her. And her dad was in Wild Hogs.

Lots of big celebrities here tonight. Legends. Icons. This table alone — Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro … Baby Yoda. Oh, that’s Joe Pesci, sorry. I love you man. Don’t have me whacked. But tonight isn’t just about the people in front of the camera. In this room are some of the most important TV and film executives in the world. People from every background. They all have one thing in common: They’re all terrified of Ronan Farrow. He’s coming for ya. Talking of all you perverts, it was a big year for pedophile movies. Surviving R. Kelly, Leaving Neverland, Two Popes. Shut up. Shut up. I don’t care. I don’t care.

Many talented people of color were snubbed in major categories. Unfortunately, there’s nothing we can do about that. Hollywood Foreign press are all very racist. Fifth time. So. We were going to do an In-Memoriam this year, but when I saw the list of people who died, it wasn’t diverse enough. No, it was mostly white people and I thought, nah, not on my watch. Maybe next year. Let’s see what happens.

No one cares about movies anymore. No one goes to cinema, no one really watches network TV. Everyone is watching Netflix. This show should just be me coming out, going, “Well done Netflix. You win everything. Good night.” But no, we got to drag it out for three hours. You could binge-watch the entire first season of Afterlife instead of watching this show. That’s a show about a man who wants to kill himself cause his wife dies of cancer and it’s still more fun than this. Spoiler alert, season two is on the way so in the end he obviously didn’t kill himself. Just like Jeffrey Epstein. Shut up. I know he’s your friend but I don’t care.

Seriously, most films are awful. Lazy. Remakes, sequels. I’ve heard a rumor there might be a sequel to Sophie’s Choice. I mean, that would just be Meryl just going, “Well, it’s gotta be this one then.” All the best actors have jumped to Netflix, HBO. And the actors who just do Hollywood movies now do fantasy-adventure nonsense. They wear masks and capes and really tight costumes. Their job isn’t acting anymore. It’s going to the gym twice a day and taking steroids, really. Have we got an award for most ripped junky? No point, we’d know who’d win that.

Martin Scorsese made the news for his controversial comments about the Marvel franchise. He said they’re not real cinema and they remind him about theme parks. I agree. Although I don’t know what he’s doing hanging around theme parks. He’s not big enough to go on the rides. He’s tiny. The Irishman was amazing. It was amazing. It was great. Long, but amazing. It wasn’t the only epic movie. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, nearly three hours long. Leonardo DiCaprio attended the premiere and by the end his date was too old for him. Even Prince Andrew was like, “Come on, Leo, mate.You’re nearly 50-something.”

The world got to see James Corden as a fat pussy. He was also in the movie Cats. No one saw that movie. And the reviews, shocking. I saw one that said, “This is the worst thing to happen to cats since dogs.” But Dame Judi Dench defended the film saying it was the film she was born to play because she loves nothing better than plunking herself down on the carpet, lifting her leg and licking her ass. (Coughs) Hairball. She’s old-school.

It’s the last time, who cares? Apple roared into the TV game with The Morning Show, a superb drama about the importance of dignity and doing the right thing, made by a company that runs sweatshops in China. Well, you say you’re woke but the companies you work for in China — unbelievable. Apple, Amazon, Disney. If ISIS started a streaming service you’d call your agent, wouldn’t you?

So if you do win an award tonight, don’t use it as a platform to make a political speech. You’re in no position to lecture the public about anything. You know nothing about the real world. Most of you spent less time in school than Greta Thunberg.

So if you win, come up, accept your little award, thank your agent, and your God and fuck off, OK? It’s already three hours long. Right, let’s do the first award.”

Bravo!

RIP Don Imus – The End Of An Era

Published on by Candidly SpeakingLeave a comment

by James Watkins

Long before the iPhone, there was the iMan. Don Imus wasn’t a shock jock. I hate that term. Truth and honesty isn’t shocking, it’s just that honest talking is abnormal in the radio industry. We are taught to be “announcers,” or at least it has become that way. Imus broke the mold because he was, in many ways, beholden to no one and it freed him to entertain and be thought-provoking at the same time. These are the two sides of Don Imus. He could be childish, and childlike inquisitive, and he loved to find peoples’ soft spot, because that is where people become real, like Don Imus.

Imus and Stern represent a form of talk radio that took root in the 80’s. It was talk radio that was hilariously funny and also deeply personal. CBS tried to replicate a Free FM, but it ended up being T&A Talk, which flopped miserably (accept for giving Adam Corolla a spectacular future). It is only 9/11 that made Talk Radio into a political party.

I lost my morning gig to Imus in 1995. But I was instantly hooked on his show, even as I had gone from being the morning co-host to the board op and news guy for the syndicated show on my station. Imus got me into talk radio and I have stayed there for 25 years.

Imus also taught me that to be good, you have to get work your craft. I was on his show one time (early in my career) and he ripped me, like he used to do with so many people. His sense of timing was incredible and he knew how to work his team. The laughter was real – both in studio and in my car.

Don didn’t like bullshit, he was an early force against political correctness, and what happened to him with MSNBC was a tragedy. He really was one of the first to fall to the PC crowd. The ‘nappy-headed ho’ comment wasn’t even his, it was Bernie’s, and it wasn’t even Bernie (McGuirk), it was a character of Bernie’s. Much worse and more offensive things had been said on Imus in the Morning, but this was supposedly racist when SJW needed to bring someone down. Imus never really recovered. The times were-a-changin.

After losing his gig on MSNBC (which opened the door for him to go to the much better network Fox Business Channel, now home to Maria Bartiromo, and one-time side kick Dagen McDowell), Imus became less offensive and more guarded, and it showed. His crew, while talented, was modified to become inclusive, and the political correctness killed the tenor and tone of the show. When Charles McCord left, Imus lost his right arm. Chuck and Imus had that rare kind of chemistry that comes with life experience, and it showed.

I watched Imus for five years on MSNBC and on Fox. I listened to his show on the radio and he never bored me. I give him credit for shaping my political opinion. There are few people who can interview a politician today with the same finesse and objectivity.

We were left with Morning Joe on MSNBC and Syd and Bernie, both one-time primary players on the Imus in the Morning program, taking over WABC.

It’s also worth mentioning that, like Johnny Carson, many people got their careers kicked up a notch by becoming regulars on Don’s show, which says something about the impact of show and its host. Among them, Laura Ingraham, Mike Barnicle, Dagen McDowell, Bill Giest, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Amy Robach, David Gregory, Contessa Brewer, Tucker Carlson, Bo Dietl, Maureen Dowd, Delbert McClinton, and so many, many others.

There is much more that can be said, and much of already has been said, but from a guy who was just starting his career, my two biggest influences were Imus and Rush, possible Stern if I had to pick three career influences.  I would have liked to have his take on Trump. Now that would be interesting.

Simply put, funny is what you are born with, and these days, radio could sure use alot more funny. 

The Political Prophet Speaks: Looking Ahead to 2020

Published on by Candidly SpeakingLeave a comment

The Roaring 20’s. America was a great place to live. Money was flowing, cars were being built for the first time en masse, creating antecedent industries like hotels and motels, restaurants along highways, highways that sprawled from coast to coast, all of it creating America’s first real middle class. World War 1 had ended, America was the victor and we had so much money we loaned it to Europeans to help them build up their countries after the war. Jazz and movies exploded on the streets and in major cities across the great land. Silent movies had replaced Vaudeville, and talkies were on the horizon. It was also the golden age of radio, television had not just been invented. Then there was flight. More airplanes, more distance records and another industry was booming. 

In retrospect, the 1920’s were probably the most prosperous of any American decade, possibly outperformed by the 1950’s, again, right after another great war had given America another victory. The times weren’t perfect, but people felt confident and confidence is always a precursor to success.

And this is why we should enjoy these last few months before the 2020 elections. Since Donald Trump was elected, confidence has returned, jobs have come back, less regulation has spurred new business investment, small business investment has never been higher, taxes are lower for most, and there is real optimism, despite the congressional distraction of democrats who hate Trump for showing us a non-politician can actually be president.

It doesn’t matter of Trump gets re-elected. In fact, I would argue that there will be no peace in America if Trump gets re-elected. There will probably be blood on the streets. The machinations of the world media will ensure that outcome because 1) if it bleeds it leads, and 2) 95% of the media hates Trump so all hatred will be amplified to a fever pitch. The natives will get restless.

Confidence is the key, and when confidence wains, look for a run on the stocks and what lttle cash there actually is in the banks. 90% of all transactions are conducted with credit, the notion that you have credit to use, but if you try to cash out, there simply isn’t enough cash and this will, as it did in 1929, cause panic. Insecurity in the community almost always drives panic, and since the media will be complicit in fanning the flames of that panic (especially if it makes Trump look bad), we can expect the “good times” to end, and there will be a lack of confidence spreading like a flu epidemic..

I won’t say what, but with so much vitriol against President Trump, if he loses, there will be anger. If he wins there will also be anger. 

Franklin Roosevelt, despite many of his socialist policies was well-liked. He calmed fears and it help stem the depression’s effects until American could find its equilibrium (and World War 2 helped because it revived industry and put people back to work, including women). 

But Trump can’t play that card. He isn’t likable. Even his supporters admit they love many of his policies, but find it hard to like the person.

I believe history will be kind to Trump. Historians of the future will marvel at his ability to do so much in such a little bit of time. All of this is a matter of record, not opinion. 

If Trump loses, there will be a reversal to the policies that have made our government weak. Biden, Sanders or Warren will undue prosperity, because these people believe in the socialist version of ‘no child left behind.’ Their philosophy: We all need to suffer a little more to feel better about having so many poor people. That’s the message of the Democratic Left. Taxes will go up, regulations will increase and you can bet we will go back to where Obama believed we should have stayed. After all, they say, America was never great – and never will be again if the Left gets its way.

If Trump wins, there will be riots and fires and martial law and destruction. It doesn’t bode well for confidence. and without confidence, the economy will crash. So my advice: enjoy the good times while they last, because they never do, and the reckoning is coming, as it always does.

Maybe that’s why people are holding on to their cash. They can sense in their gut there is an approaching storm, just like the one that ended the Roaring 20’s.

James Watkins is a social commentator, author and host of the weekly podcast Speaking Out

The Hallmark Controversy – Can We Have a Real Discussion?

Published on by Candidly SpeakingLeave a comment

OPINION

In its simplest terms, being attracted to someone of the same sex is a physical urge produced by an emotional response. Trust is where all of this lies, who we trust, how we attain intimacy with those we trust. Trust and Intimacy lie at the root of LGBTQ.

Are people born gay?

The genetics don’t support it. Being gay, or having a preference for a loving relationship with a member of the same sex is an emotional response.

When a person is unable (or unwilling) to engage in a relationship with a member of the opposite sex, is it because of an underlying emotional issue, or simply a preference? 

Most gay individuals will tell you they “knew”  they were gay from a young age. 

But studies suggests most likely a triggered event shut down the emotional response to a person towards the opposite sex, OR a person of the same sex caused experienced trauma that resulted in the inability to feel intimacy towards someone of the opposite sex. What is intimacy? It is the ability to trust.

Here are some common clinical examples of traumatic experiences that trigger a negative emotional response common among gay people:

  • A young child is sexually or physically victimized by a male family member or close associate
  • A young child is made to feel shame for being aroused (and thinking it was normal until they were told otherwise)
  • A young child is exposed to pornography and is unable to process his/her thoughts, other than being aroused (which, by the way, is normal since we are mammals).
  • A young child witnesses a parent, usually the mother who is abused
  • A young child witnesses a sibling being abused
  • Due to a limitations or circumstances, young children are deprived of developing a strong loving relationship with one or more of their parents at a young age

These are common examples of trauma that can trigger a negative emotional response, which in turn, prevents the child being able to form trusting relationships during the formative years of their life (usually in the first 14 years of life, but especially between the age of 1 and 7 years).

If this is all academic, let me explain my point.

People choose based on personal likings. How they developed those likings depends on a thousand different episodes which make up a person’s life that brings them to that point. But the inability to engage in a trusting relationship with a member of the opposite sex is the symptom of a social ‘trauma’ that most likely occurred during those years when they were developing relationship skills with others. Our failure to deal with the emotional damage as a result of a specific trauma has been replaced by the ideological push to accept the results of the emotional trauma. It is also true that mental health trauma is usually treated medicinally, instead of using therapy to discover the underlying root of the mental trauma.

For men it is about the sexual drive, for women it has always been about trust.

You see, emotions play a big role in our sexual identity. Emotions are almost always a reflection of prior cumulative results of a negative or positive experience.  If we deem men to be a threat, or unworthy, something inside women tells them to run. BY the same token, women can be very intimidating to men, especially in youth. I joke with my friends about the fact that for the first two years of life, most boys are introduced to the world while they are sucking on a breast, is it any wonder most men are obsessed with them?

But what happens when there is a dysfunctional or non existent relationship with a child and the parent. How does one learn to develop trust? This is so key to human development, and yet we refuse to have that conversation because we don’t want to imply there is anything wrong with being gay.

I have two neighbors who are lesbian. They are very kind and I sense that they love each other and feel quite satisfied to be in a trusting relationship. My brother is gay and I know he enjoys a sublime trusting relationship with his partner. It is also probably true that both women, and perhaps even my brother, could never achieve the same trusting love for a person of the opposite sex, or else they probably would have. But for reasons we may never know, they feel more comfortable being with someone of the same sex This is why I have no issue with same-sex marriage. Two adults are entitled to have a loving relationship as long as it is a healthy and emotionally satisfying.

My issue is that when the sexual identity of a person is a result of abuse or trauma we as a society don’t want to address that prickly issue. Most likely because it would be an admittance that the fact that many who identify as “gay” may just be experiencing sexual dysphoria due to an actual experience which prevents them from bonding in a normal heterosexual relationship. Instead, LGBTQ advocacy becomes an umbrella for all those who might be suffering from ongoing emotional trauma, and mask it by playing sexual identity games, that skirt the underlying trust issue. For example, when a young girl thinks she identifies as a boy, the first approach is to determine IF something triggered this emotional response. To simply assume they were born in the wrong body is to ignore science. There are thousands of trigger events, the most common being emotional immaturity, that might confuse a child or young adult, but immediately adopting a new sexual identity should be the last resort – if at all.

But for the LGBTQ community to protest Hallmark Television’s decision to refrain from showing a commercial featuring two women at the altar kissing each other (under pressure, Hallmark reversed its decision, no doubt due to advocacy driven by the army of LGBTQ activism) is to miss the point. 

People protested Hallmark for airing the commercial because they don’t want to have a channel dedicated to family-friendly programming feature a scene of two women kissing. It forces a discussion that people have a right not to have to address. Period. It doesn’t matter that you might feel they have no right to feel that way, but they do. 

LGBTQ advocacy doesn’t belong on family-friendly channels for the same reason that they don’t (or shouldn’t) show racy sex scenes on the Disney channel. Just because progressives have adopted the normalcy of liberal sexuality doesn’t mean it’s established moral authority to do so. Just because Hollywood thinks it’s time to “woke” people about gayness, doesn’t mean it is. Respect must be afforded that allows people to choose their own time when to discuss controversial issues in their home – at their own choosing.

ACCEPTING SOCIAL NORMS AS RELEVANT

Children need fathers and mothers.  When society’s mores become entangled in emotionally destructive behavior SUCH AS PROMISCUITY, the family units fall apart (because there are no longer norms as touchstones we can build upon); society loses its bearing and family units no longer provide the soil of stability for good character growth and strong moral decision making. To deny this fact is to deny the entirety of the human experience. Families are far more important to society than sexual liberation.

Young men, now being told its okay to kiss other men, experiment, and then live with guilt for the rest of their lives. Young women, abused by older women, or by older men, develop long-term emotional duress because they can no longer trust adults. It is a sad fact that a majority of women who identify as lesbian or bisexual have been sexually assaulted at least once in their childhood. The same is also true for boys. Young boys who have been sexually assaulted by older men often go on to victimize other boys when they get older because they feel tainted by pedophilia. 

Gay men are far more promiscuous than gay women. The rules of social conduct didn’t change simply because people became open to have different sexual partners. Men are just naturally more sexually active than women. Two gay men are naturally going to exploit their sexual activity much more than two gay women. 

But instead of society dealing with these kinds of underlying emotional issues that probably play a major role in what is called sexual identity dysphoria, we normalize it without attempting to understand the cause of a person not being able to connect emotionally or normally with a member of the opposite sex. so they confuse this with sexuality. They can’t connect emotionally, perhaps due to fear or trust issues, so they externalize this into changing the rules of their sexual partners, thinking this will resolve the issue. They stop trying to overcome the emotional handicap, and instead, accept homosexuality as an alternative.

I love Ellen Degeneres. I have been a fan since her TV show, and even before when she was doing standup comedy. I fully respect her relation with her partner. She being gay has no bearing on my opinion of her. But if she (or anyone, really) chooses to be gay, my first question will be, “what was it that made it impossible for her to have intimacy with a man?” 

Let’s start there.

If a person told me he likes to wear high heel shoes and walk around naked, pretty good bet that person was exposed to something that triggered that emotional behavior. But is it not better to resolve the underlying issue so that the person doesn’t fetishize his/her behavior?

In the 1970’s American society obligingly understood it was no longer appropriate to discriminate against people based on their sexual orientation. It has been codified and there are clear protections afforded to people who identify with being gay. This is a good thing.

But then being gay became a trend, it became license to be promiscuous for men. In the 90’s it became deadly. Being gay was to be a protected class in the midst of a scourge that spread (AIDS), and because of this protection, tens of thousands of men died because infected partner we free to spread HIV/AIDS. I personally knew six people, 4 of them gay, two straight, that died from AIDS and none of them used needles. My point is that sexual orientation should never have been turned into a commodity. But it has and it continues to be sold as a “lifestyle choice.”

The next evolution has occurred and this is what adults were afraid of. Excess.

Now that we welcome gay people with open arms, sexuality has become “fluid‘ and now children as young as three are allowed to have body-modifying surgery based on a parents decision to turn their child into the opposite sex. Sexual identity is now a choice, and encouraged. Can you imagine how confusing this is for pre-teens? Sexual fluidity is promoted by young children’s mentors, the media and now higher education. It is as if being sexually fluid is somehow virtuous, that “coming out” is an act of extreme bravery, when it may be the result of social pressure to conform in order to gain acceptance.

It was never about two adult women deciding to consummate a life together with a kiss, it was always about the promotion of sexuality as a commodity like clothing. It was also about undermining the moral and ethical teachings of our culture to make room for the new paradigm where there are no real rules, except embrace “your truth,” which is relative to the truth. 

Sending a message to our youth that it is okay to be gay, bi, gender fluid, non-binary, trans, or whatever other of the 123 sexual flavors there are, is leading these immature minds on a destructive and confusing path to sexual dysphoria, and it will no doubt effect their ability to have healthy, normal relationships later, not just with members of the opposite sex, but with all people who may (or may not) conform to their self-appointed identity.

JR Watkins is a social commentator and behavioral analyst.

Why Climate Change Policies Are Racist

Published on by Candidly SpeakingLeave a comment

Why Climate Change policy is bad for races of color.

Using the trickle-down theory as the basis of my conjecture, let me explain to you why the push to “do something” to save the climate will ultimately do more harm to people of color than any other race.

It’s time to wake up.

If indeed the action taken to lower the earth’s temperature requires charging more for fossil fuels then let me explain why this policy is inherently racist.
First, inner city people, comprises mostly of people of color, will have to pay more for their food, for their electricity, for charging their smartphones and playing their x-boxes, since all of these things are currently powered by fossil fuels. Cheap gas means cheaper food, cheaper utility bills, longer rides in older cars, cheaper bus fares. 

All of the things that are cheaper now so that people who live near or below the poverty line in major cities, which is disproportionately Black or Hispanic, will pay more, making it harder to make ends meet, all while they are helping to ‘save the planet.’

It will harder to climb out of poverty when energy costs are higher

Poor people in general will get less social service treatment as well because of increased fuel process brought on by climate change proponents. The U.S. economy will weaken, less people working means less people paying the taxes that support social services like drug treatment programs, personel, etc.

In a good economy, everyone wins because money is flowing, people are working and when you have cheap abundant energy, everyone wins, including people of color who live near or below the poverty line.


In Africa, Southeast Asia, Southern India, these places are finally being raised up out of poverty because of cheap energy. With strict regulation, a carbon tax, a fine, or worse, a rule of law that forbids the use of fossil fuels in these developing areas of the world, people of color would be hurt the hardest. They would be hit by several forces at once, including:
1) Less access to medical healthcare due to the roll back of donations from countries who are being forced to comply with expensive energy regulation.

2) NGO who live on international support, would be hard hit, and these are the front line agencies who fight poverty and try to lift these global communities up. Bad global economies mean less money for the poorest of the poor.


3) More corruption. Leaders who run these poor countries would naturally get IMF funding for agreeing not to develop fossil fuels, but instead, would be “paid” to take on renewable projects like windmills or solar panels as a way of generating less reliable energy. But in small countries, when there is money, there is always corruption. Again, corruption always hurts the poorest of the poor, and in this case, the poorest are people of color in Africa and in South Asia who must now wonder why they can’t get electricity because it “harms the planet.”


At its core, the idea of making energy expensive (when it is cheap) is racist. It targets the people who need it the most, people who barely have electricity to begin with. Making it more expensive means people will die, but they will be told they are ‘saving the planet. ‘

I have interviewed over a dozen of experts in astrophysics, climatology, energy production and meteorology, including people from NASA, JPL and NOAA. I have study climate change the 1980’s when I first started to doing Talk Radio and researched environmental causes that at the time, focused on waste rather than fossil fuels and carbon output. .I have attended conferences where climate change was discussed long before it was a thing, back when emphasis wasn’t on punishing rich countries who use cheap energy.

When the globalists start punishing us for using cheap, efficient energy, people of color, not just in our country but elsewhere, will feel the pain more than the liberal elite who feel better because they have done something to ‘save the planet,’ while killing those who just want to have hot meal and a warm place to sleep.

https://open.spotify.com/show/7o1tIBKTP1XCc0U7Kw2WNR

Prayer Is Now Considered Hate Speech

Published on by Candidly Speaking2 Comments

COMMENTARY

by James R. Watkins, editor

If you tell someone, “I’ll pray for you,” or “I will send a prayer your way,” this is now considered by many, not just some, but many, to be a form of hate-speech, a micro aggression, an infliction meant to cause someone emotional harm.

CNN reported recently that Linda Thunström, an economist at the University of Wyoming who co-authored the study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, that sending someone prayers is considered “controversial,” adding that in some instances, atheists and agnostics would even be willing to pay you not to pray, believing that such acts can actually do more harm than good.

I’m quoting her from the Breitbart report: The study, based on interaction with some 400 residents in North Carolina following Hurricane Florence’s destruction in 2018, said that atheists and agnostics are “prayer averse” — willing to pay to avoid receiving prayers — and are especially against receiving thoughts and prayers “from Christians.” end quote.

The report goes on to say, and from CNN, “Along with the emotional aversion that atheists and agnostics may experience to prayers said for the, critics also argue “that these gestures are meaningless and can reduce material help or structural reforms aimed at mitigating natural and social disasters,” the study said.

Some have included the phrase “I’ll pray for you” in lists of micro-aggressions, suggesting that this expression can “communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative slights and insults toward people.”

The report concludes with this anecdote. “One atheist said that being told “I’ll pray for you” with the claim it was a compliment “invokes the same feeling as equating sexually lewd comments with compliments.”You are saying what I said. This is fake news right?

I mean, do you think it is possible that people, even hard atheists, would actually be offended by someone tell you they will pray?

Is CNN just trying to push an agenda to promote secularism? or maybe the people who are offended are the younger Nones, who have practically no religious upbringing, but even then, is the offense that you feel your non-belief is being trampled upon? or is it because the very notion of prayer, that there actually might be a God who can crush you like the little spoiled brat that you are, that there might be a divine being who could end your existence with a mere thought, but, for the sake of the love that he possesses, would rather let you toil in your pain over something as nice as a prayer.

I mean, if you live in that world where words like God, and Jesus actually cause anxiety, what does that say about you?

What kind of human being would be anxious about the notion of faith, or the idea that there is something larger than you  that exists? and that your puny non-life, as important as it is to you, is really meaningless, and the truth is God reminds you of that very truth.

So if instead of facing that fact, you hide yourself from having superior thoughts and ideas, and instead settle for being a snowflake, stuck in your own make-believe world where life is an accident – and so are you.

I am so sick of people attacking or marginalizing faith.

CNN is doing this by reporting this fake, fraudulent non-story and passing it off as some kind of cultural trend that we all need to embrace just because there are weak minded individuals who are making a stink, lost souls really, who can’t take the idea that they have to take responsibility for the fact that thoughts and actions do have consequences, and it is they must take accountability for what they are and what they do in this life – and the next, and that this life isn’t just a free ride for all, free to act like little children and  play by whatever rules want to play by because, well, thats what you think!!!

Listen, the faithful and the reasonable among us must push back on this kind of nonsense.

Mainstream media and secularist in general have no desire to help people of faith or to ensure faith-principles remain a part of our society. Let that be known.  If allowed to metastasize, these anti-religious, anti-Christ loving vice-masters will spread their nihilistic doctrine to the world. They have already infected our schools and our media.

I would argue there is a good cause to be found promoting spiritual virtue and moral insights that in the end, make us all a better people and better citizens.

If we don’t who will? When faith become hate-speech we are all one step away from being locked up because of our faith, and it wouldn’t be the first time in history this has happened.

James Watkins is an author and the host of the podcast Speaking Out.

Dead Christians and a Silent Media

Published on by Candidly SpeakingLeave a comment

It should alarm you that over 245 million Christians were targeted for persecution last year around the world. 80 percent of all religious persecutions were against Christians, according to a recent study commissioned by the British Government and conducted by the Catholic Church.

The Foreign Commonwealth Affairs (FCO) report was established by the Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP, HM Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, and chaired by the Bishop of Truro, Rt. Rev. Philip Mounstephen, and it focuses on several regions of the world where persecutions of Christians are most intense, including Iraq, Iran, Nigeria, China, Indonesia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

But Mountstephen says the scope of the report doesn’t include dozens of other countries where Christian persecutions occur in increasing numbers. The Bishop also affirms that the report is meant to emphasize the Human Rights abuses which face all people who are entitled to Freedom of Religion and Belief, as has been agreed to as a core human right by all nations under numerous charters agreed to by global Parliaments, Members of the U.S. Congress and members of the UN General Assembly.

And yet, these abuses continue.

ISIS and Boko Haram are probably the most vicious, but China is also a major oppressor of religious rights, as is Pakistan, and most of North African countries like Libya and Egypt. 

This report is a call to all people who believe in God. There is not A greater sin, in my opinion, than to oppress or to bring harm upon any human being simply because they want to exercise their rights to worship, or to gather in fellowship to worship.

What is happening to Christians now is happening to all faiths. As Mounstephen writes, “religious rights are fundamental to all other rights, the rights of conscience, the right to free speech, etc.”

The report says it is not a condemnation of Islam, but rather, those radical factions of Islam (like ISIS or Boko Haram, and increasingly so, the Taliban in Afghanistan), who have most certainly participated in the extermination and “racial cleansing” in many Middle East and Central African regions. The scope of persecutions extends to non-Muslim countries like China, North Korea and Cuba, where atheistic governments seek to remove thr Christian religion because of its perceived threat to State power.

To put things into perspective, right now, one third of the planets‘ population of Christian believers are being persecuted or oppressed.

If you really don’t care, you should, because oppression always starts with the others until it becomes your problem. 

The fact that Western Media doesn’t cover it is predictable.

We suffer from what Mountstephens calls “Post Colonial Guilt.”

I would also add that, thanks to constant badgering of Christians by the left in order to protect LGBTQ advocacy, many in Western Culture have no problem defending gender rights, but they seem to exhibit a real disdain against the religious rights of Christians – whom they despise.

But remember. Though Christians bear the brunt of persecution, as Mountstephen says, this is about the human right of religion and belief.

Article 18 of the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights declares:

Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. (The Universal Declaration of Human Rights 

As a Christian I find it shameful that this Genocide is occurring at a time when so many millions of us celebrate the very freedoms and liberty that derive from Christian principles, which led to the recognition of human dignity in modern times.

I find it shameful that the people who have most benefited from the charters of liberty are deaf to the sufferings of people simply because they don’t think Christian suffering matters.

Food for thought for people of faith: instead of trying so hard to find and save new souls, maybe we should, instead, focus our efforts to help rescue our brothers and sisters who fear for their lives while we lavish under the banner of liberty living in a free society.

James R. Watkins is a media consultant, author and host of the weekly Podcast Speaking Out

The Danger of Judging Yesterday with Today’s Moral Yardstick.

Published on by Candidly SpeakingLeave a comment

Slavery is a good example of how people today judge what happened a century ago by today’s moral standards, and why it is wrong to do so.

First off all, none of us were alive so we don’t know exactly how people felt, how they were treated and with the exception of writings we can look at from that period, we simply can’t comprehend with any degree of clarity, how it was that people allowed slavery to exist. We look back with the experience of not having slavery, just like we look back with the experience of not allowing heads to be removed from conquered people, which used to be a common practice. We look back today and wonder how did people drain blood to cure the flu, why did they believe the world was flat? Why did our ancestors believe evil spirits could possess horses, or why people used to be thrown into volcanoes or over cliffs as a sacrifice to the gods? 

But they did.

A hundred years from now people may wonder the following things about us:
Why did they believe there are 112 genders?

Why did they believe they were the only planet to inhabit the universe?

Why on earth did they put themselves in vehicles that move through space over 75 miles an hour?

Why did they use radiation to kill cancer when it also kills the patient?

Why did they spend all of that time sitting in front of a screen watching shows that were so violent?

Why did women get raped?

Why was there child abuse?

Why did people take drugs and get high?

Why did people wear make up and eat sugar when they knew it was bad for them?

Why were people so obese?

Why was porn so popular?

Why did they believe in Jesus?

Why did they not believe in Jesus?

Why did they execute people, or not execute them?

You see, in each of these questions and in so many more, societies and cultures develop over time, we evolve and are subject to the conditions at hand. We are the end result of trial an error – but we are not the END, and this is why we can never properly judge the previous generations based on our own enlightenment, or lack thereof.

What we do today will be judged by our children and grandchildren, just as we judge our forefathers, and sometimes in disgust and amazement. But morality, ethics, the mores, are adjustments in time and modified by new information as we evolve and progress. So it does no good to pass judgement, or worse, to seek retribution for past sins, especially if we weren’t the ones who were on the receiving end of them.

Or else we are all guilty and can never hope to find absolution.

James R. Watkins is an author and host of the podcast Speaking Out

Goodnight America

Published on by Candidly SpeakingLeave a comment

I have asked myself how is it China is ruled by one political party? How is it that China also controls the media? How is that 1 billion people seem to live under this illusion that the Party, or the State, has their best intentions in mind when they govern?

You have to seriously ask yourself this question because all of this that I have just described about China didn’t just happen overnight. It happened because a very small, but determined, group pf Marxist believed that a very small, but powerful force could control a country. All you had to do was control the education, marginalize religion, own the media (print, television, newspapers and now the Internet), and use fear or shame to control the masses.

And all of this is happening before our very eyes in the U.S. We are slowly morphing into a one-party nation. We are slowly morphing into a nation where the media has chosen which side it wants to be on, and will support and propagate whatever that party wants in order for them to remain in power and those who serve it also stay in power.

What surprises me the most is Trump. He wasn’t supposed to happen. He wasn’t supposed to win. But he did and the Left’s attempt to take full control of America was foiled. Even after he won the “swamp” tried to take him out. When the economy, under his guidance of policy and de-regulation began to have a positive affect on people’s lives, the media was right there to perpetuate bigotry, racism and the rest, pinning it not only to one man, but to those who support him.

Today, we have at least four front-running Democrats, all of them marxists, who truly believe that they will fundamentally change America so that the State becomes so powerful that no one will ever defeat them.

Kamala Harris, Corey Booker, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are anti capitalists and they will “fight for the poor” by making sure we are all equally poor (what they call true “income equality”) and they will also make sure White America never gets control of the White House, and Congress again.

They do this because they believe America is a racists country and always has been.

They believe we must pay for our racial sins and the only way to do it is to socialize every aspect of American life. They believe the only way to get environmental justice is to control energy distribution, under the guise of climate change control (the fallacy that humans can lower the earth’s temperature by stopping the use of oil and coal); they believe that the minority is the victim and the oppressors must pay. Who are the oppressors? Those who believe in free-market capitalism, and those who believe in God. You see, the faithful are the oppressors. They are the ones who prevent women from having abortion rights, they are the ones who discriminate against Islam and/or gender liberation, they are the ones who make us feel guilty because we can’t have our rights to be whatever and whoever we want to be.

It’s over and I know it will be because the Marxists have already one. 

Even if Trump gets re-elected, which he will not because Google and the Democratic Alliance of America (a progressive socialist group funded by billionaires) have already prepared for the next 15 months. If Trump does survive the media, he won’t survive the radicalized left who will most assuredly take him out.

And those who support Trump, they will be demonized, and when enraged, will be showcased as “the problem” in America.

History will recall that Trump ended up being the last true capitalist president. And i really pray that I am wrong. But I know human nature and the problem is far too many people look to government to solve their problems. But like our current medical system, it’s not about prevention, it’s about maintenance. There is no money in curing people. If you cure them they don’t need you, and one thing government needs to survive is people giving it power to control their lives “for their own good.”

It was good while it lasted

Frank Adair is a media consultant who resides in St. Augustine, Florida

How To End Predatory Behavior

Published on by Candidly SpeakingLeave a comment

Commentary by Jeff Richards, columnist-at-large

August 14, 2019

Is there a biological reason older men like younger women?

Yes.

And you are not going to like the answer.

It has to do with species survival and being hard-wired to seek out those who stand the greatest chance of success in propagating the species.

As a male is able to produce sperm until his death, and in that younger women tend to be much more fertile, it stands to reason there would be internal mechanism built with the sexual urge that makes it more likely older men would be more naturally attracted to younger women.  Pause to consider that, for most of our existence, the typical lifespan of a human was 40 years. It was important to reproduce, to have children who could take over the farm or the field. People died quickly from disease, cold, hunger and natural disasters. Our sexual hunger insured our survival.

However, what started out as a natural urge that eventually led to the establishment of the homelife, which of course led to communities and still later, nations, has turned into a fetish; sexuality has become more about personal satisfaction than public duty. We lavish in sexuality, especially during the age of liberation of vices, and it will most likely continue for the foreseeable future.

There is however, some level of hypocrisy in the way we view sexuality.

This latest period of scarlet-lettering of every middle aged or older male with the charge of being a sexual predator drives the behavior underground, where all human fetishes go, hidden, taboo, and even more dangerous. But at the same time, our liberal culture also celebrates pride in certain kinds of sexuality, but condemns others. For example, Miley Cyrus is proud of her ability to be open with her sexuality, but if you were an older male parading about having an open relationship with a younger guy, you would be most assuredly condemned by social media. It’s okay to be a teen bi-sexual, but it is not okay to be a millionaire who is attracted to younger women.

Whether it’s seeking out pleasure in dark corners with fellow seekers (like kiddie-porn sites), or using power and influence (i.e., Charlie Rose, Harvey Weinstein and Jeffrey Epstein) to subdue younger women and teens with the approval of fellow predators, it’s the same. We have a sexual fetish problem in our culture that in some circles is celebrated but in other circles it is not. The lines of discretion and decency are sometimes vague.

One thing that could help, and it’s a shame that we have to remind ourselves, but women must be treated with respect.

Women, by the same token, should be sensitive to the fact that using one’s sexuality to gain leverage, a practice that is as old as sex itself, is also equally manipulative and wrong in today’s society. You can’t have it both ways. You can’t be offended at a male’s forward gesture, and at the same time use use your good looks to get one’s attention or favor, and then act as if that is not what you are doing.

I have always said that if women didn’t care about their sexual leverage, why the makeup, why the perfume, the short skirt or the tight dress? Sure, it’s cultural now to be somewhat risque in our dress, but in the interest of honesty, it is a fact that women and men play the game of cat and mouse all of the time, to a greater or lesser degree. Whether its getting an edge at work or getting a bus driver to stop and wait, women use their beauty as they have always done, to gain leverage. In ancient times it was about survival, today it is a social game we play to our advantage. To be shocked that men are takers is to display one’s naiveté.

It is hypocritical on the one hand, to condemn older men’s attraction to younger women, while at the same time celebrate a teenage males decision to announcing his bisexuality, or for Katy Perry to promote promiscuity while attending a #MeToo protest.

But the two great rules we can all agree on that might help us resolve the predator epidemic is:


1. Teach young boys to always respect women. Period. I was taught this from an early age. I fully realize my life has been much easier because I adhered to this rule.

2. Teach all children that acting on impulses is not a good character trait. Most men will agree they can’t help but notice when there is an attractive woman nearby (as most women would probably admit the same thing with regard to an attractive male catching their attention). As my wife says, we’re human, its normal to notice, but acting on the impulse is what separates us from mere animal. If we make the distinction early with young children to refrain from acting on one’s impulses, we will all be the better for it. As a parent, it is your societal duty to reinforce this message for the betterment of all of us.

Nature pushes us into many directions, but we can all learn to develop the right disciplines along the way to keep us out of trouble. But we have to admit first that men have natural attractions to women, and vice versa, and that we all must be tamed for our own good.

It’s nature vs. nurture folks, let’s admit it and move on from where we find ourselves today.