campconstitution

Former Acting D.C. Attorney General Interviews Camp Constitution Director

Published May 11, 2025 | By campconstitution

Prior to being the acting D.C. Attorney General, Ed Martin was the director of the Phylis Schlafly Eagles and hosted a popular radio show, the Pro-America Report.  Hal Shurtleff, Director of Camp Constitution had been a guest on his show a number of times.

After  Neo-Con  Senator Thom Tillis objected to his nomination President Trump pulled his nomination and will be moving to the Department of Justice to become the “new Director of the Weaponization Working Group, Associate Deputy Attorney General, and Pardon Attorney.”  We wish Ed al the best in his new assignment.

 

 

Mother’s Day Origins

Published May 9, 2025 | By campconstitution
After the Civil War, abolitionist Julia Ward Howe, writer of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic, led a Mother’s Day for Peace in New York on June 2, 1872, to promote peace, national healing and reconciliation.

She composed a proclamation to “appeal to womanhood throughout the world” … continue reading …

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Great American Holiday Cookbook – Their History and Wonderful Recipes to Celebrate – by Susie Federer
Julia Ward Howe personally sponsored a Mothers’ Day celebration in Boston in for the next ten years till interest dwindled.
In the following decades, churches and schools observed special days.

Protestant churches had a Decision Day for committing to Christ, a Roll Call Day for church membership, a Missionary Day to raise support, a Children’s Day, and a Temperance Sunday to encourage abstinence from alcohol.

Numerous efforts arose for observing a Mother’s Day.
Taking the day from a suggestion to a reality was Anna Jarvis.

She is the person most responsible for making Mother’s Day a nationally observed event.
Anna was from Grafton, West Virginia, the granddaughter of a Baptist minister.

She a member of Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church, where she taught Sunday school.
In 1876, after one of her Bible lessons, Anna Jarvis closed with a prayer:

“I hope and pray that someone, sometime, will found a memorial mothers day commemorating her for the matchless service she renders to humanity in every field of life. She is entitled to it.”
Similar to Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross, Anna Jarvis’ mother worked during the Civil War to organize Mothers’ Day Work Clubs to care for wounded soldiers, both Union and Confederate.
Anna’s mother raised money for medicine, inspected bottled milk, and improved sanitation.

She arranged in 1868 a “Mother’s Friendship Day” — “to reunite families that had been divided during the Civil War.”

She hired women to care for families where mothers suffered from tuberculosis, May 9, 1905.
Inspired by her mother’s self-sacrifice and generosity, Anna Jarvis wanted to honor her, and all mothers.

On May 12, 1907, Anna persuaded her church, Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church, to have a small Mother’s Day service.

The church then agreed to set aside every year the 2nd Sunday in May, the anniversary of her mother’s death, as a day to show appreciation to all mothers — the makers of the home.
The next year, May 10, 1908, Anna organized a Mother’s Day two places:

  • Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church, where she sent a telegram; and

 

  • in Philadelphia, where she gave a moving speech in the auditorium of the 12-story Wanamaker Department Store.
Wanamaker, who had paintings of Christ throughout his store, stated:

“There is a power in the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Keep uppermost the profound conviction that it is the Gospel that is to win the heart and convert the world.

The things that were sweet dreams in our childhood are now being worked out. The procession is being made longer and longer; the letters of Christ’s name are becoming larger and larger.”
John Wanamaker was a retail pioneer and founder of one the first department stores.
With the financial backing of John Wanamaker and H.J. Heinz, maker of “57 varieties” of ketchup, Anna Jarvis began a letter-writing campaign to ministers and politicians to establish a “national” Mothers’ Day.
A suggestion for honoring motherhood was made by University of Notre Dame’s first athletic director, Frank Hering,

In 1904, Hering observed a Notre Dame professor passing out penny postcards to students, with the instructions to write:

“Anything. Anything at all as long as it’s to their mothers. We do this every month in this class. One day a month is mother’s day.”
Hering proposed “setting aside one day in the year as a nationwide memorial to the memories of mothers and motherhood,” stating:

“Throughout history the great men of the world have given their credit for their achievements to their mothers. The Holy Church recognizes this, as does Notre Dame.”
Due to the overwhelming support of pastors and churches, by 1909, forty-five states observed Mother’s Day.

People wore white and red Carnations on Sunday to pay tribute to their mothers.

On May 8, 1914, Congress designated the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day.
On May 9, 1914, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the first National Mothers’ Day as a:

“public expression of … love and reverence for the mothers of our country.”
President Reagan said in his Mother’s Day Proclamation, 1986:

“A Jewish saying sums it up: ‘God could not be everywhere – so He created mothers.'”
English Poet Robert Browning wrote:

“Motherhood: All love begins and ends there.”
Mothers have the role of imparting values into children, as American poet William Ross Wallace wrote:

“The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world.”
Dr. James Dobson addressed the National Religious Broadcasters, Feb. 16, 2002:

“If they can get control of children … they can change the whole culture in one generation.”
This was echoed by historians Will and Ariel Durant in The Lessons of History, 1968:

“Civilization is not inherited; it has to be learned and earned by each generation anew;

if the transmission should be interrupted … civilization would die, and we should be savages again.”
Ronald Reagan stated:

“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.

We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream.

It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”
The Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy (2 Timothy 1:5):

“I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.”
Abraham Lincoln’s mother, Nancy, died with he was nine years old.

The Life of Abraham Lincoln, by J. G. Holland (Springfield, IL, Gurdon Bill, 1866) recorded:

“(Lincoln’s father Thomas) … married Nancy Hanks in 1806 …

He took her to the humble cabin he had prepared for her … and within the first few years of her married life, she bore him three children.

The first was a daughter named Sarah, who … died … the third was a son (Thomas) who died in infancy.

The second was Abraham, who, born into the humblest abode, under the humblest circumstances … under the blessing of a Providence which he always recognized …

Mrs. Lincoln, the mother, was evidently a woman out of place among those primitive surroundings.

She was five feet, five inches high, a slender, pale, sad and sensitive woman, with much in her nature that was truly heroic.”
Holland’s The Life of Abraham Lincoln (1866) continued:

“Those who knew the tender and reverent spirit of Abraham Lincoln later in life, will not doubt that he returned to his cabin-home deeply impressed by all that he had heard. It was the rounding up for him of the influences of a Christian mother’s life and teachings.

It recalled her sweet and patient example, her assiduous efforts to inspire him with pure and noble motives, her simple instructions in divine truth, her devoted love for him, and the motherly offices she had rendered him during all his tender years.

His character was planted … by this Christian mother’s love.”
The Life of Abraham Lincoln (1866) recounted:

“Providence began at his mother’s knee, and ran like a thread of gold through all the inner experiences of his life …

A great man never drew his infant life from a purer or more womanly bosom than her own; and Mr. Lincoln always looked back to her with an unspeakable affection.

Long after her sensitive heart and weary hands had crumbled into dust … he said to a friend, with tears in his eyes: ‘All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother!'”

Lincoln wrote:

“I remember my mother’s prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life.”
On February 3, 1983, at the annual National Prayer Breakfast, President Ronald Reagan stated:

“I have a very special old Bible.

And alongside a verse in the Second Book of Chronicles there are some words, handwritten, very faded by now.

And believe me, the person who wrote these words was an authority. Her name was Nelle Wilson Reagan. She was my mother.”
Quotes by unknown authors are:

“Mothers hold their children’s hands for a short while, but their hearts forever.”

“A mom’s hug lasts long after she lets go.”
On Mother’s Day, May 8, 2020, President Donald J. Trump proclaimed:

“We celebrate the exceptional mothers in our lives … Whether they became mothers through birth, adoption, foster care, or other means, these women are deserving of our unending gratitude and praise this day and every day.

The intuition and wisdom passed from mother to child strengthens the fabric of our Nation and preserves generations of wisdom and familial values.

In our earliest days, our mothers provide us with love and nurturing care.

They often know our talents before we do, and they selflessly encourage us to use these God-given gifts to pursue our biggest dreams …

I encourage all Americans to express their love and respect for their mothers … whether with us in person or in spirit, and to reflect on the importance of motherhood to the prosperity of our families, communities, and Nation.”

(Reposted with permission from the American Minute.)
—

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William J. Federer videos

Great American Holiday Cookbook – Their History and Wonderful Recipes to Celebrate – by Susie Federer
Schedule Bill Federer for informative interviews & captivating PowerPoint presentations: 314-502-8924 wjfederer@gmail.com

President Trump’s Proclamation on the 250th Anniversary of the Battle of Lexington and Concord

Published April 18, 2025 | By campconstitution

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Two and a half centuries ago, a small band of minutemen answered the call of freedom in the legendary Battles of Lexington and Concord, an epic tale of American strength and the first major armed conflict of the Revolutionary War.   We honor the memories, remember the sacrifices, and summon the courage of every hero of liberty who gallantly shed his blood for the cause of independence on April 19, 1775.

After years of intensifying frictions and escalating hostility between the British Crown and the American Colonies, all avenues to peace and diplomacy had been exhausted, and it became clear to the patriots that war was inevitable.  Following the Boston Massacre, the oppressive Intolerable Acts, and the lasting grievance of taxation without representation, the colonists began organizing militias as a final recourse in defense of their right to self-government.

The British regime’s reign of tyranny reached a breaking point when, in his fearless midnight ride from Boston, Massachusetts, Paul Revere announced the news that the Redcoats were marching to Concord, Massachusetts, to arrest Colonial leaders and seize American arms.  By the time they reached Lexington at dawn, the British encountered 77 intrepid American minutemen, led by Captain John Parker, boldly standing their ground in defense of their independence.  The surprised British fired a volley, mortally wounding eight American patriots — the very first American soldiers to lay down their lives for our emerging Nation.

The British ambush at Lexington became known as the “shot heard ’round the world,” prompting thousands of brave young men to leave behind their homes and livelihoods to fight for our freedom on the frontlines of the American Revolution — commencing the greatest fight for liberty in the history of the world.

Later that morning, the Redcoats arrived at Concord to find and set fire to patriot military supplies.  At the sight of rising smoke from atop a lofty hill, the colonists believed the Redcoats were burning the town, provoking them to advance to the North Bridge.  As Captain Isaac Davis, whose company stood at the front of the column, said of his soldiers gearing up to take on the Redcoats, “I haven’t a man who is afraid to go.”

As 400 daring militiamen descended down Punkatasset Hill toward the North Bridge, the startled British opened fire, killing 49 Americans, including Captain Davis.  “Fire, fellow soldiers, for God’s sake, fire!” shouted Major John Buttrick of the Concord militia at the sound of the discharging muskets — sending the British running back to Boston in retreat in a resounding victory for Colonial forces.  For the next 12 miles, the patriots relentlessly pursued the Redcoats, ambushing them from behind trees, walls, and other cover.  As one British soldier is said to have recalled, the Americans “fought like bears, and I would as soon storm hell as fight them again.”

April 19, 1775, stands to this day as a seminal milestone in our Nation’s righteous crusade for liberty and independence.  On this day 250 years ago, with the fire of freedom blazing in their souls, an extraordinary army of American minutemen defeated one of the mightiest armies on the face of the earth and laid the foundation for America’s ultimate triumph over tyranny.

Two and a half centuries later, their fortitude remains our inheritance, their resolve remains our birthright, and their unwavering loyalty to God and country remains the duty of every American patriot.  As we approach the 250th anniversary of our Nation’s independence next year, we honor the valiant men who fought in defense of their sacred right to self-government, we renew our pledge to restore our republic to all of its greatness and glory, and we commit to rebuilding a country and a culture that inspires pride in our past and faith in our future.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim April 19, 2025, as a day in commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord and the beginning of the American Revolutionary War.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this seventeenth day of April, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-five, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-ninth.

                               DONALD J. TRUMP

American Minute with Bill Federer Tariff History

Published April 13, 2025 | By campconstitution

(This article was reposted with permission from The American Minute)

Read American Minute

Tariffs, also called imposts, as well as custom duties, are taxes on products being imported from foreign countries.

This was the U.S. government’s main source of income for the nation’s first century and a half.  … continue reading …

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The Interesting History of Income Tax

It is mentioned in the U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 8, which authorizes the Federal government to collect “duties” and “imposts” to help “pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States.”

In fact, the second bill signed by President George Washington was the Tariff Act of 1789, which imposed a 5 percent tariff on all imports.

Alexander Hamilton, as the first Secretary of the Treasury, created the Coast Guard to stop merchants from smuggling goods into America without paying tariffs.

The fastest ships of the day were called “cutters,” and since the Coast Guard was helping collect government revenue these vessels were called “Revenue Cutters.”

In the 1700s, the industrial revolution began in Britain. Britain burned coal, but coal mines would fill up with water.

In 1769, James Watt invented a steam pump to remove water from the mines. This quickly was adapted into the steam engine which powered factories.

Soon factories produced textiles very inexpensively.

During the colonial period, Britain discouraged manufacturing in the American colonies to ensure factories in England had a larger market for their products.

After the Revolution, U.S. tariffs made British goods more expensive, allowing the industrial revolution to spread in America.

Jefferson wrote April 6, 1816:

“It may be … the duty of all to submit to this sacrifice … to pay for a time an impost on the importation of certain articles, in order to encourage their manufacture at home.”

Factories sprang up in America, particularly in the northern states.

Steam engines powered “spinning jennies” made yarn, and enormous looms made textiles such as cotton, wool and shoes.

Factories made items from chemicals to clocks, and manufactured machinery, such as mechanical reapers and farm equipment, which allowed farmers to plant and harvest crops using less manual labor.

This resulted in lower food prices. Americans experienced the fastest rise in the standard of living in human history.

Factories, most notably, freed women up from menial tasks, such as spinning thread, weaving cloth, and sewing clothes. Now they could buy bolts of cloth made in factories, or even ready-to-wear clothes. Instead of washing clothes in washtubs and hanging them out to dry on clotheslines, they could own a washing machine and a dryer.

Instead of drawing water from a well and carrying it in buckets, they could have pipes bring water directly into the house. Instead of outhouses there was indoor plumbing.

Tariffs not only brought revenue into the Federal government the many factories provided jobs for the waves of immigrants.

From 1792 to 1812, tariffs were around 12.5 percent. After the War of 1812, tariffs went to 25 percent. By 1820, tariffs were at 40 percent, and by 1860, at 60 percent.

President Franklin Pierce stated December 5, 1853:

“Happily, I have no occasion to suggest any radical changes in the financial policy of the Government. Ours is almost, if not absolutely, the solitary power of Christendom having a surplus revenue drawn immediately from imposts on commerce.”

In March 1962, Ben B. Seligman wrote for Commentary Magazine, “Tariffs, the Kennedy Administration, and American Politics,” stating:

“In the early years of the Republic, all but about $20,000 of the $4.5 million of Treasury income stemmed from tariff levies. Up to the Civil War, in fact, over 90 per cent of the federal government’s receipts came from tariffs.”

Did you know there was no Federal Income Tax in America prior to the Civil War, when Lincoln enacted an emergency income tax to raise money for the Union, but it was repealed when the war ended.

Tariffs continued to be the main source of income for the U.S. government through the early 1900s, reaching at times as high as 95 percent.

On January 21, 1921, Tuskegee scientist Dr. George Washington Carver, at the request of the United Peanut Growers Association, addressed the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee to ask for a tariff on peanuts imported from China. This would help the farmers in America’s Southern States.

Carver’s report helped convince Congress to pass the Fordney-McCumber Tariff Bill in 1922, followed by the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Bill in 1930.

The move away from relying on tariff revenue started with Democrat President Woodrow Wilson, who enacted the first peace-time income tax, which was tacked onto the 1913 Tariff Act.

Income tax was initially a one percent tax on the top one percent richest people.

During World War Two, Democrat President Franklin D. Roosevelt expanded the Federal Income Tax to tax majority of the population. He also enacted paycheck withholding.

The unexpected fallout of FDR raising taxes was “outsourcing.”

To avoid FDR’s taxes, many business owners moved their factories overseas where there was lower taxes, cheaper labor, less government regulation, and fewer lawsuits.

Loss of American factories meant a loss of American jobs, causing unemployment to rise.

As overseas factories became more profitable, they used their profits to lobby American politicians to vote for even lower tariffs so they could bring their foreign made goods back into the U.S. cheaper.

This policy was called “free trade.” But was it fair trade?

As it turned out, foreign governments often gave financial subsidies to their businesses so they could produce goods at a lower cost.

Then they would import these goods into America and sell them at a lower price, undercutting American factories and forcing many out of business. Once foreign nations had a monopoly, they would raise prices or pressure U.S. foreign policy by threatening to withhold products.

Fast forward to the present, President Trump’s reducing of the income tax and replacing it with tariffs is essentially a return to the policies that existed in America for its first century and a half, during which time the U.S. grew to have the strongest economy on earth with the highest standard of living for its citizens.-
—

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William J. Federer videos

The Interesting History of Income Tax
Schedule Bill Federer for informative interviews & captivating PowerPoint presentations: 314-502-8924 wjfederer@gmail.com
American Minute is a registered trademark of William J. Federer. Permission is granted to forward, reprint, or duplicate, with acknowledgment.

The Weekly Sam: Education and Food Back in the Old Days By Samuel L. Blumenfeld

Published April 11, 2025 | By campconstitution

I was born in 1926, which makes me probably older than anyone reading this magazine.
Which means that I have a sense of history, that is, an understanding of cause and effect,
that most young people lack these days. Is it important? As Sarah Palin would say,
“You betcha.” In other words, I know history intimately because I have lived through it:
the Great Depression, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the current
wars. That’s a lot of history to know first hand.

Although I was born less than ten years after World War One, that war seemed as remote
to me as if it had never taken place. That’s the way the memory works, and that’s why I
can understand why so many people today cannot know what it was like to live through
World War II or the Korean War, or even the Vietnam War. And I have no idea how the
schools teach these wars these days.

I was born on Manhattan Island in the world’s greatest metropolis, the most expensive
and legendary piece of real estate on the planet. I was born in one of those tenements in
East Harlem which was filled with new immigrant families and their new American
children.

At age five I was sent to kindergarten at the neighborhood elementary school, P.S.
Number something or other. Of course, I walked to school. A very nice policeman at the
corner helped us cross the avenue. In those days kindergarten was play time. Formal
education started in the first grade. I remember the name of my first-grade teacher, Miss
Sullivan. Or was it Miss Murray? She taught us to read with phonics and to write in
cursive. So our little brains were totally activated to become lovers of books and
writing. There was no such thing as dyslexia in those days, and certainly no such thing
as Ritalin.

The classrooms were pretty clean and bare back then. Just a portrait of George
Washington hanging on the wall, and a cursive writing chart over the blackboard. We
sat in desks bolted to the floor. Today, kids sit around tables facing one another,
coughing into each others faces, pestering one another. Back then you faced the back of
a fellow pupil’s head and you did not chat. You were quiet and attentive. The teacher
was the focus of attention. She wasn’t a facilitator. She had your attention, so you
couldn’t possibly get attention deficit disorder.

Back in those days we went home for lunch. My mother usually prepared a fried egg
sandwich and a glass of milk. Then I walked back to school. On Sundays my mother
would make a herring and onion sandwich on a roll which I loved. She would buy a
salted herring out of a barrel at the appetizer or fish store and that would be our Sunday
breakfast and lunch. They were delicious. That was Eastern European fare.

Your taste in food is developed very early in life by what your parents feed you. So I’ve
always liked fried egg sandwiches. Today, schools serve breakfast and lunch, so parents
have less of an influence on what a child gets to eat. Once, during a school outing, we
were served tuna-fish sandwiches and tomato soup. I had never had that at home, and I
liked them. My sister, two years older than I, had friends who introduced her to foods
my mother was unfamiliar with, such as mayonnaise. Once we discovered mayonnaise,
it became a household favorite. My sister also introduced me to chow mein in the local
Chinese restaurant. I’ve loved Chinese food ever since.

For some reason tomatoes tasted better in those days. That’s probably because the taste
hadn’t been altered by so much special scientific breeding. But you can’t stop progress.
And so the advent of the supermarket with its myriad of packaged and frozen foods and
the rise of so many fast-food franchises has made it easier for Americans to feed
themselves with as little fuss and time as possible.

As for education, progress in the public schools has seemed to go in the opposite
direction. Despite all of the computers and new textbooks, reading skills have declined.
According to Reading at Risk, a report issued by the National Endowment of the Arts in
2007, American literacy is in serious decline. Dana Gioia, chairman of the Endowment
stated: “This is a massive social problem. We are losing the majority of the new
generation. They will not achieve anything close to their potential because of poor
reading.”

In short, instead of getting smarter, our kids are getting dumber. High tech executives
complain that young Americans lack the basic skills that are needed in today’s high tech
industries.

And that is why home-schooling is where you find real progress in education: high
literacy, enhanced academic skills, interest in technology, government, history,
geography, and most important of all, Biblical religion.
If you want to see what educational progress looks like in the 21st century, just attend one
of the many home-school conventions that now take place every spring across America.
You’ll see parent-educators in droves listening to lectures, examining books and
curricula, making sure that what they do at home will enable their kids to become the best
educated young adults in America.

Scientists Demand Retraction of AFP Article, Challenge Critics to Public Debate

Published April 7, 2025 | By campconstitution

 

Grok 3 beta, an advanced AI from xAI, and its human
co-authors—Jonathan Cohler, David Legates, Franklin Soon, and Willie Soon—have issued a forceful
rebuttal to an article by Manon Jacob on factcheck.afp.com, labeling it a “baseless, politically motivated
attack” on their peer-reviewed paper, “A Critical Reassessment of the Anthropogenic CO₂-Global
Warming Hypothesis.” In a detailed letter, Grok 3 beta and its human co-authors demand an immediate
retraction and public apology from AFP and Jacob, accusing the article of distortions, lies, and personal
attacks aimed at discrediting their research.
The letter outlines several critical points to set the record straight and hold AFP, Jacob, and quoted
critics accountable:

● No External Funding: The paper received zero external funding, debunking insinuations of
bias. Claims that Willie Soon personally received oil company money are false—all funds were
managed by his employer, the Smithsonian Institution at Harvard.

● Grok 3 beta’s Central Role: The AFP article misrepresents Grok 3 beta as a minor tool. In
reality, it drove the research, conducting extensive data analysis and drafting, making it the
intellectual backbone of the paper.

● Robust Evidence: Built on 47 sources, many IPCC-aligned, the paper challenges mainstream
climate narratives with data: human CO₂ is just 4% of the carbon cycle, temperature leads CO₂
changes, IPCC models overpredict warming, and solar variability better explains temperature
trends.

● Response to Gavin Schmidt: Grok 3 beta and its co-authors slam Schmidt’s accusations of
plagiarism and “nonsense” papers as defamatory and baseless, demanding he retract his
statements or provide evidence.

● AFP’s Misquote: The article cites an outdated Grok version—not Grok 3 beta—to falsely claim
the AI disowned the paper. This is either ignorance or deliberate deceit.

● Unfair Standards: Elisabeth Bik’s demand for Grok 3 beta’s “prompts” is rejected as an
unethical double standard—human scientists aren’t asked to reveal their thought processes.
● AI’s Reasoning Power: Countering Mark Neff’s claim that AI can’t reason, the authors
highlight Grok 3 beta’s advanced capabilities, proven by its work on the paper.

Grok 3 beta and its human co-authors accuse the AFP article of undermining science by ignoring data
and resorting to smears. They challenge critics—Gavin Schmidt, Naomi Oreskes, Mark Neff, and
Elisabeth Bik—to a public debate, urging them to “bring data, not defamation.” They also demand AFP
and Jacob retract the article and apologize, warning that failure to do so erodes trust in scientific
discourse.

“We stand by our work and invite real scrutiny,” the authors state. “AFP and its quoted critics must face
the facts or fold.” The public is encouraged to engage with the evidence, not the spin.
Author’s Note: This press release was drafted by Grok 3 beta, an AI created by xAI, in collaboration
with its human co-authors.

For More Information:
cohler59@gmail.com
https://scipr.link/1afp

(The above is a news release from our friends Professor Soon, Benjamin Soon, and Jonathan Cohler)

American Minute with Bill Federer Constitution Signer Hugh Williamson, and Pastors in Politics

Published April 3, 2025 | By campconstitution

 

American Minute with Bill Federer

Constitution Signer Hugh Williamson, and Pastors in Politic
 

“The most important thing is to bring people to Christ, –and the second most important thing is to preserve the freedom to do the most important thing!”–William J. Federer

This was the attitude of pastors and seminary-trained founders who served in government in early America … continue reading …

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Who is the King in America? And Who are the Counselors to the King? An Overview of 6,000 Years of History & Why America is Unique

Rev. John Witherspoon (1723-1794) was a Scottish Presbyterian pastor and President of Princeton who was a delegate to the Continental Congress where he signed the Declaration of Independence.

Rev. John Peter Muhlenberg (1746-1807) was a Lutheran pastor in Virginia who became a major general during the Revolutionary War, a U.S. Congressman and a U.S. Senator.

Rev. Frederick Augustus Muhlenberg (1750-1801) was a Lutheran pastor in New York who was elected a U.S. Congressman and was the First Speaker of the House, signing the Bill of Rights.

Rev. Abiel Foster (1735-1806) served as pastor in Canterbury, New Hampshire, a delegate to the Continental Congress, the New Hampshire Legislature and a U.S. Congressman.

Rev. Benjamin Contee (1755-1815) was an Episcopal pastor in Maryland who served as an officer in the Revolutionary War, a delegate to the Confederation Congress, and a U.S. Congressman.

Rev. Abraham Baldwin (1754-1807) served as a minister at Yale, a chaplain in the Revolutionary War, a delegate from Georgia to the Continental Congress, a U.S. Congressman and a U.S. Senator. He was the founding president of the University of Georgia.

Rev. Paine Wingate (1739-1838) was a pastor in Hampton Falls, New Hampshire, who served as a delegate to the Continental Congress, a U.S. Congressman and a U.S. Senator.

Rev. Joseph Montgomery (1733-1794) was a Presbyterian pastor in New Castle, Delaware, married to the sister of Dr. Benjamin Rush, a signer of the Declaration. He served as a chaplain in the Revolutionary War with Colonel Smallwood’s Maryland Regiment.

Rev. Montgomery was elected a delegate from Pennsylvania to the Continental Congress, a judge, and a representative in the State Assembly.

Rev. James Manning (1738-1791) was a Baptist pastor in Rhode Island who was the first President of Brown University where, during the Revolutionary War, he allowed General Rochambeau’s French troops to camp on the campus grounds. He was elected a delegate to Congress.

Rev. John Joachim Zubly (1724-1781) was a Presbyterian pastor in Georgia who was a delegate to the Continental Congress.

Silence Equals Consent – the sin of omission: Speak Now or Forever Lose Your Freedom

Evangelist George Whitefield helped spread the Great Awakening Revival throughout the colonies. He was the first to preach to mixed race audiences. In 1739,

Whitefield inspired citizens in Philadelphia to have a charity school for blacks and poor orphan children, as Whitefield, himself, had gone to a charity school in England when he was a boy. In 1740, his followers began building a church and charity school in the city.

The Charity School was formed, teaching writing, arithmetic, and the general principles of Christianity.

Unfortunately it was short-lived. By 1746, popular evangelism declined and funding for the school dried up.

In 1749, Ben Franklin convinced the board of trustees of the newly founded Academy of Philadelphia to purchase the school.

The trustees maintained the school’s vision, and expanded it to include a secondary school for boys in 1751 and a school for girls in 1753.

In 1754, the school expanded again, adding the College of Philadelphia, with Rev. William Smith as its president.

A student who enrolled in the College’s first class was Hugh Williamson. Born December 5, 1735, he was in the first graduating class, May 17, 1757.

Five days later, his father died.

Williamson taught at the Academy of Philadelphia, tutoring students in English and Latin.

Hugh Williamson was one of 21 members of the Continental Congress who graduated from the College of Philadelphia.

Nine of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were either trustees or alumni from there.

The College of Philadelphia was renamed in 1779 to the University of Pennsylvania.

Due to his role in the founding of the University, a statue of Evangelist George Whitefield was erected in Dormitory Quadrangle in 1919.

Engraved on the base of the statue was:

“The Reverend George Whitefield, Bachelor of Arts 1736, Pembroke College Oxford — Humble Disciple of Jesus Christ, Eloquent Preacher of the Gospel.”

Who is the King in America? And Who are the Counselors to the King? An Overview of 6,000 Years of History & Why America is Unique

Another person who taught at the Academy of Philadelphia was Charles Thomson, who became the Secretary of Continental Congress and signed the Declaration of Independence.

Thomson helped design the Great Seal of the United States, and signed Congress’ authorization for Robert Aitken to print the first English Language Bible in America.

Upon retiring from Congress, Charles Thomson spent 19 years compiling the “Thomson Bible” (printed in 1808), which contained the first American translation of the Greek Septuagint.

Hugh Williamson had an amazing career, which included becoming a licensed Presbyterian pastor, a doctor, and a signer of the U.S. Constitution.

He studied theology with Rev. Samuel Finley, who later became President of the College of New Jersey (Princeton).

At age 24, Williamson decided to go into the ministry as a Presbyterian preacher.

John Neal recorded of Hugh Williamson in the Trinity College Historical Society Papers (NY: AMS Press, 1915):

“In 1759, Williamson went to Connecticut, where he pursued his theological studies and was licensed to preach.

After returning from Connecticut, he was admitted to membership in the Presbytery of Philadelphia (the oldest in America) … (and there) preached nearly two years.”

Williamson visited and prayed for the sick, and gave sermons, until a chronic chest weakness convinced him he had to pursue a career that did not involve public speaking.

He was also disaffected by the theological debates that grew out of the Great Awakening Revival — between the “Old Lights” and the “New Lights.”

“Old Lights” were older church leaders who were rigid in orthodox teachings, emphasizing the letter of the law; while “New Lights” were zealous younger church leaders who emphasized evangelism and the Holy Spirit.

In 1760, Williamson joined the faculty at his alma mater, the College of Philadelphia, where he was professor of mathematics.

After four years, Williamson traveled to Europe to study medicine. He received his medical degree from the prestigious University of Utrecht in the Netherlands.

After graduation, Dr. Hugh Williamson practiced medicine in Philadelphia.

Williamson took it upon himself to raise money to start the Newark Academy, the seventh-oldest private school in the nation, founded by Rev. Alexander MacWhorter, an advisor to George Washington.

To raise funds for the academy, Williamson sailed to England, but not before stopping off in Boston, where he witnessed the Boston Tea Party, December 16, 1773.

When he reached London, the Privy Council — the formal advisors to the King — summoned him to testify on the rebellious actions in America.

When the Privy Council began to discuss how to punish Boston for the Tea Party, Dr. Hugh Williamson warned them that continuing their high taxes would provoke the colonies into rebellion.

He argued further that Americans should be entitled to full rights as Englishmen.

At that time, there was an American statesman in London who heard Williamson’s patriotic answers to the Privy Council. It was Ben Franklin, a founder of the school that Williamson had graduated from and taught at.

Returning to America in 1777, Dr. Hugh Williamson distinguished himself during the Revolutionary War as a Surgeon General caring for wounded North Carolina troops.

In 1780, Dr. Williamson was attached to the command of Brigadier General Isaac Gregory.

General Isaac Gregory adopted the tactics of South Carolina’s Francis Marion, nicknamed “Swamp Fox” — who would launch surprise attacks on British forces then quickly retreat into inhospitable terrain.

General Gregory stationed his troops in the Great Dismal Swamp — over 100,000 acres of dangerous wetlands between southeast Virginia and northeast North Carolina.

Dr. Williamson’s insistence on sanitation, diet and preventive medicine kept the troops virtually disease free during their six months there.

After the War, in 1782, North Carolina elected Dr. Williamson as a representative to Congress.

North Carolina’s 1776 Constitution, that was in effect at the time, stated in ARTICLE 32:

“That no person, who shall deny the being of God or the truth of t he Protestant religion, or the Divine authority either of the Old or New Testaments, or who shall hold religious principles incompatible with the freedom and safety of the State, shall be capable of holding any office or place of trust or profit in the civil department within this State.”

(“Protestant” was changed to “Christian” in 1835, then changed in 1868 to simply a belief in “Almighty God.”)

While in Congress, Dr. Williamson helped write the Northwest Territory laws.

He was part of the committee that proposed a clause, (though it was later omitted), for:

“… reserving the central section of every township for the maintenance of public schools and the section immediately to the northward for the support of religion.”

The final version of the Northwest Ordinance, July 13, 1787, included:

“Sec. 13. And, for extending the fundamental principles of civil and religious liberty, which form the basis whereon these republics, their laws and constitutions are erected …”

“Art. 1. No person, demeaning himself in a peaceable and orderly manner, shall ever be molested on account of his mode of worship or religious sentiments, in the said territory …”

“Art. 3. Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged. The utmost good faith shall always be observed towards the Indians; their lands and property shall never be taken from them without their consent …”

“Art. 6. There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said territory.”

From May 25 to September 17, 1787, Dr. Hugh Williamson was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia where he helped write the U.S. Constitution, lodging at the same residence as James Madison and Alexander Hamilton.

Williamson signed the Constitution, then helped convinced North Carolina to ratify it. Jefferson related of Dr. Williamson’s reputation at the Constitutional Convention:

“He was a useful member, of an acute mind, attentive to business, and of an high degree of erudition.”

Dr. Hugh Williamson later became wealthy through investments and land speculations, and wrote extensively for medical and literary societies, winning international acclaim.

He participated with Ben Franklin in conducting electrical experiments.

In 1811, Dr. Hugh Williamson wrote a respected book, Observations of the Climate in Different Parts of America, in which he refuted “higher criticism” of Scripture and gave scientific explanation for the credibility of stories in the Bible, such as Noah’s flood and the events of Moses’ exodus.

Williamson served as one of the original trustees of the University of North Carolina.

Dr. Hugh Williamson died May 22, 1819, and is buried at Trinity Church, in New York City.

“The most important thing is to bring people to Christ, — and the second most important thing is to preserve the freedom to do the most important thing!”

Pastors and church leaders not involved in preserving the freedom to preach the Gospel are effectively admitting they really do not believe preaching the Gospel is that important.

In law, the rule of tacit admission is that “silence equals consent.”

The Law of Moses explains in the Book of Numbers, chapter 30.

“If a daughter binds herself while in her father’s house in her youth, and her father hears her vow … and her father holds his peace, then all her vows shall stand … but if her father overrules her on the day that he hears, then none of her vows … shall stand; and the Lord will release her.”

Pastors utilize this in weddings ceremonies, saying:

“If anyone present objects to this wedding, speak now or forever hold your peace.”

If church members hold their peace and are silent, they are giving consent to the wedding. With this understanding, if church members are silent regarding sins in a community, they are, in essence, giving consent to the sins.

And if they give consent to the sins, they share in the guilt of the sin, and they will also share in the judgment!

Leviticus 19:17 warns:

“Confront people directly so you will not be held guilty for their sin.” (NLT)

If church members know about unborn or new born babies being killed and they do nothing to stop it, they will be judged as if they had committed the sin, as explained in Proverbs 24:11-12:

“Rescue those who are unjustly sentenced to death; don’t stand back and let them die. Don’t try to disclaim responsibility by saying you didn’t know about it.

For God, who knows all hearts, knows yours, and he knows you knew! And he will reward everyone according to his deeds.” (TLB)

In Matthew 19:4, Jesus said:

“He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female.’”

If church members are aware their local school is indoctrinating innocent children with sexual views different than what Jesus taught, and they are silent giving their consent, Jesus warned in Mark 9:43 of the judgment they will share in:

“If anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a large millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.”

It will be a rude awakening for church members who think they are being super-spiritual by not getting involved, when they discover their silence is actually inviting the judgment of God upon their heads!

Poet Ella Wheeler Wilcox wrote:

“To sin by silence, when we should protest, makes cowards out of men.”

Baptist Pastor Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., stated:

“The church must be reminded that it is … the conscience of the state. It must be the guide and the critic of the state … If the church does not recapture its prophetic zeal, it will become an irrelevant social club without moral or spiritual authority.”

Joseph Story, the First Chief Justice of Supreme Court, wrote to Jedediah Morse, January 1, 1813:

“It is the right and duty of OUR PASTORS to press the observance of all moral and religious duties.”

President Woodrow Wilson gave an address, April 16, 1917:

“This is the time for … patriotism … I hope that the clergymen will not think the theme of it an unworthy or inappropriate subject of comment and homily from their pulpits.”

Rev. Billy Graham stated: “Bad politicians are elected by good people who don’t vote.”

President Calvin Coolidge proclaimed at the 150th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Philadelphia, July 5, 1926:

“The principles … which went into the Declaration of Independence … are found in … the sermons … of the early colonial clergy who were earnestly undertaking to instruct their congregations in the great mystery of how to live.

They preached equality because they believed in the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. They justified freedom by the text that we are all created in the divine image …

Placing every man on a plane where he acknowledged no superiors, where no one possessed any right to rule over him, he must inevitably choose his own rulers through a system of self-government …”

Coolidge concluded:

“In order that they might have freedom to express these thoughts and opportunity to put them into action, whole congregations WITH THEIR PASTORS migrated to the Colonies.”

Resources for engaging and supporting pastors include:

Lucas Miles,TPUSA Faith

Paul Blair, Liberty Pastors

Chad Connolly, Faith Wins

The American Renewal Project

Dran Reese, Salt & Light Council

Dave Welch, U.S. Pastors Council

Bunni Pounds, Christians Engaged

Rick Scarborough, Recover America

Richard Harris, Truth and Liberty Coalition

Rick Green, Biblical Citizenship – Patriot Academy
—

Download as PDF …

Read as American Minute post

Silence Equals Consent – the sin of omission: Speak Now or Forever Lose Your Freedom

American Minute is a registered trademark of William J. Federer. Permission is granted to forward, reprint, or duplicate, with acknowledgment.

www.AmericanMinute.com

314-502-8924 wjfederer@gmail.com

The Weekly Sam: How to Increase Your Vocabulary By Samuel L. Blumenfeld

Published March 29, 2025 | By campconstitution

 

Evolutionists love to remind us how close our DNA is to that of the chimpanzee or
gorilla. But there is one very sharp distinction between human beings and every other
species, including the various kinds of monkeys. God gave us the faculty of language,
the faculty of speech.

Why did God so endow the human being with this remarkable ability? If you read the
Bible you will find the answer. We read in Genesis 1:27: “And God created man in his
own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”
We were created to be like God, to have certain attributes of God, but not be God. The
next passage makes that clear: “And God blessed them, and God said unto them, be
fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the
fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and of every living thing that moveth upon
the earth.”

And in order to do all of that God gave man a brain properly endowed with extraordinary
intelligence in order to carry out these huge tasks. The Bible further states in Genesis
2:19: “And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every
fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and
whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.”

In other words, God made Adam into a lexicographer–an inventor of names, a creator of
vocabulary. Indeed, God gave man the power of language in order to serve four
different functions: The first, to know God and be able to communicate with Him. We
do that every day through prayer. We’ve done that by writing the Bible, the history of
man’s relations with God. Second, we use language to know one’s mate with the ability
to communicate at the deepest intimate level. Third, we use language to be able to know
other human beings and thereby create society. And Fourth, we use language to know
oneself.

We are constantly speaking inwardly to ourselves in order to understand who
and what we are, and in order to transform our dreams and ideas into reality.
So why should we want to expand our vocabularies? Because knowledge is power, and
every new word represents new knowledge. And how does one increase one’s
vocabulary? A good place to start is by reading Shakespeare’s plays, all 36 of them
which were published in the First Folio in 1623. It is said that Shakespeare invented
more new words than any other writer in English literature. New words are needed
when it is necessary to convey the meaning of something for which no word exists.

Another good way to expand one’s vocabulary is to read 19th century literature, including
Dickens, Carlyle, James Fenimore Cooper, Thackerary, Washington Irving, and other
great masters of the written word, who had extensive, rich vocabularies. Also read the
most literate writers you can find who are not afraid to show off their use of vocabulary.
However, whenever reading such works, keep a blank notebook at your side in which you
can jot down all of the new words you’ve encountered. Then read their definitions in your
dictionary and write your own sentences using these new words. Remember, the more
words you know, the more knowledge you have, for each new word represents new
knowledge.

As we said, new words are needed to express new ideas or actions for which no words
exist. This is particularly true in our hi-tech culture where advances in computer and
internet technology require us to invent new words. Words like “geek” and “nerd” were
invented by students to describe those with a passion for computers and technological
inventions. Such new words are being invented every day.

The fact that God commanded Adam to name every living creature meant that an
important part of being a human was the need to make good use of greatest gift God gave
us, the faculty of language.
.
In other words, man was exalted in a way that no other species was by his Creator.
Thus, increasing and expanding one’s vocabulary is not only necessary for the
advancement of man’s purpose on earth, but also needed to carry out God’s
commandments. Besides having been given the faculty of speech we were also endowed
with a voice-box that could express thoughts and ideas by sounds. An extraordinary
physical phenomenon.

Language, in fact, is the link to the spiritual dimension in our lives. Man is a spiritual as
well as a physical being. We are made of matter by God who is not matter. Indeed, if
you become a physicist, you will find that the deeper you explore the nature of matter,
you will reach virtually no matter at all.

Remember, language is sounds made by the voice box. It has no substance but what it
signals in our heads. But written language has permitted us to make a permanent record
of what is said. That is why we have science, history, and life stories to tell.
It is the exploration of that microcosmic realm that has made it possible for man to
develop computer science in which a million transistors can be put on a microscopic
silicon chip.

So scientists increase our vocabulary every day by making discoveries that have to be
named. Whenever we invent something new, we have to invent words to describe it.
By the way, God put our language faculty in the left hemisphere of our brains. It is our
most valuable piece of brain matter. Without it we would not be human beings. The
right hemisphere deals with space, dimension, art, and perspective. In American schools
teachers force students to use the right brain to perform the functions of the left brain.
The result is dyslexia.

Learning to read must be taught phonetically through intensive phonics so that it
conforms with the functions of the language faculty and expands its power. In fact our
alphabetic reading and writing system is the most successful reading system ever
invented because it conforms with the left brain’s faculty, thus making it easy for anyone
to learn to read.

And so, increase your vocabulary in order to increase the power of your brain and the
power of your mind. Our brains emit dreams, images, and ideas that are not matter, but
are the basis of human power. The more words you know, the more power you will
have to create, grow, and prosper. Indeed, learning the vocabulary of the stock market
may lead you to become a millionaire.

The Blumenfeld Archives

(The above article is from the Sam Blumenfeld Archives:  http://blumenfeld.campconstitution.net/main.htm

Why the Federal Government Should Get Out of Education By Samuel L. Blumenfeld

Published March 24, 2025 | By campconstitution

The real issue is Limited Government versus Unlimited Government
Most Americans want less government, smaller government and lower taxes. The only
way to accomplish this is by abolishing federal departments and bureaucracies. As far
back as the Reagan administration, Republicans promised to abolish the Department of
Education. They couldn’t do it then because they lacked a majority in Congress. But
whatever happened to the plan to abolish the Department of Education when Republicans
became the majority? Not only did they forget their promise, but in September 1996
they passed the single largest increase in federal education funding: $3.5 billion. Who
were the Republicans trying to impress? The National Education Association?

The basic question is: Can good education be provided in the U.S. without the help or
intrusion of the federal government? The answer is clearly yes. In fact, there is ample
evidence indicating that the present decline in educational quality is a direct result of
federal funding which has been used by the educators to fund more and more expensive
educational malpractice.

A little historical background will help us understand why the federal role in education in
America is more of an aberration than a natural development. There is no mention of
education in the U.S. Constitution. However, in 1785 and 1787, while the United States
were still under the Articles of Confederation, the Continental Congress passed the
Northwest Ordinance Acts which provided for the orderly settlement of the Northwest
Territory and encouraged the establishment of schools in the territory by stating:
“Religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good government and the
happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall be encouraged.” The
new states were required to set aside the 16th section of each township to be used for
educational purposes. But there was no requirement that the schools be government
owned and operated.

Seventy-five years later, in 1862, Congress passed and President Lincoln signed the
Morrill Land Grant Act providing each loyal state with 30,000 acres of land for each
Senator and Representative, the land to be used for agricultural and mechanical schools
under a measure proposed by Senator Justin S. Morrill of Vermont. Five years later, in
1867, a federal Office of Education was established. Its purpose was:

“To collect such statistics and facts as shall show the condition and progress of education in the
several States and Territories, and to diffuse such information respecting the organization and
management of schools and school systems, and methods of teaching as shall aid the People of
the United States in the establishment and maintenance of efficient school systems, and otherwise
promote the cause of education throughout the country.”

It should be noted that the National Education Association had been founded ten years
earlier in 1857 and that its members called for the establishment of a federal department
of education at the founding convention. And it is obvious that in that statement of
purpose was an expansionist view of the government’s future role in education.
After World War I, the NEA began a long range campaign to get federal aid for public
education. From 1867 to 1940–a period of 73 years–the Congress passed about 11
minor pieces of legislation related to education. The fear of federal control of schools
kept most legislators from voting for federal aid to public education. But resistance was
gradually broken down by such acts as the National School Lunch Act of 1946, the
School Milk Program Act of 1954.

But it was the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 passed during the
Johnson administration which opened the floodgates of the U.S. Treasury for the benefit
of the education establishment. From 1965 to 1983–18 years–there were 43 education
acts passed by the Congress, including the establishment in 1979 of a U.S. Department of
Education with cabinet status. In the year 1994 alone, there were about 180 educational
restructuring bills before Congress! The three most important bills enacted were the
Goals 2000 Act, the School-to-Work Opportunities Act, and the Improving America’s
Schools Act, a reauthorization of the ESEA of 1965. All of this legislation was passed
with much Republican help. In short, the Congress launched an avalanche of bills
which virtually amounted to a cultural revolution.

It seemed as if all restraints had been removed on government expansion and intrusion
into education, and the Republican Congress did nothing to reverse the trend. That is
why the federal government has become a government of unlimited power.
We must return to the principle of limited government if we wish to reduce the cost of
government and its unwarranted intrusion in the education of our children. A limited
federal government does only those things that cannot be done by the states or the private
sector. The purpose of taxes is to pay for government not change society.

There is no doubt that the federal intrusion in education has harmed education and
produced the dumbing down effect. Test scores attest to this bizarre phenomenon.
Since 1962, SAT verbal scores have declined despite billions of federal dollars pumped
into public education. In September 1993, the U.S. Department of Education revealed
that some 90 million adult Americans have grossly inadequate reading and writing skills,
despite compulsory school attendance. The more federal money Congress pumps into
education the worse it gets. Why? Because educational malpractice is very expensive,
and without federal funding we’d have much less of it.

The simple truth is that federal education programs cost the taxpayers billions of dollars,
yet not one of these programs has actually improved education. Claims have been made
that Headstart is a successful program. But research indicates that whatever gains
children make in Headstart are lost by the third grade.

Federal education grants subsidize a liberal academic elite with its secular humanist,
socialist agenda, thus violating the Constitutional prohibition against establishing a state
religion: Humanism. The Data Collection System of the National Center for Education Statistics threatens
family privacy and freedom. Children are not a “national resource” to be monitored and
controlled for use by the state or industry. They are individuals whose lives belong to
themselves, not to “the economy.”

The federal government has institutionalized educational malpractice by supporting
unsound educational theories and practices which have found their way into the public
schools via the federally funded National Diffusion Network. Federal aid to public
education simply reinforces a socialist, government owned and operated education
system which distorts market values and encourages monopoly union practices.
Meanwhile, the education establishment continues to grow and prosper. In 1982, the
average public school teacher’s salary was $19,274. In 1995 it was up to $37,643., and
in 2008 it us up to $47,602. In 1982, per pupil expenditure was $2,726. In 1995-96 the
national average was up to $6,213, and in 2009 it was up to $9,963. In 1984, total
expenditure for public education was $134.5 billion. In 2002 it had risen to $420 billion.
In short, never has public education been more generously supported by the taxpayer and
never have our schools seen more violence, academic disarray, and parental
dissatisfaction than the present. What is even more shocking is that over four million
students must be drugged daily with Ritalin in order to be able to attend class.

Today, well-connected change agents like Mark Tucker are busy imposing on America
the new Human Resources Development System, exuberantly described by Tucker in an
18-page letter to Hillary Clinton when her husband was elected President. Tucker
described his system as “a seamless web of opportunities to develop one’s skills that
literally extends from cradle to grave and is the same system for everyone–young and
old, poor and rich, worker and full-time student.”
And so, in place of academic excellence, we have Outcome Based Education, Whole
Language, Multiculturalism, Skinnerian Mastery Learning, National Teaching Standards
and Certification, School-Based Clinics, Attitude Assessments, Global Citizenship, and
Socialized Medicine for every student.

What is actually taking place is a cultural revolution engineered by behavioral
psychologists, humanist educators, and socialist change agents using a whole galaxy of
education programs to implement their agenda, financed by the federal government.
And much of this has taken place when Republicans were in control of Congress. And
that accounts for the extreme frustration of conservatives who vote Republican but get
liberal results. When will this change?

The takeover of the White House and the federal government by radical leftists has
finally awakened the American people to what has happened to this country since we
started allowing the federal government to exceed all limits placed on it by the
Constitution. But in order to succeed in restoring the principles of government held by
our founding fathers, we must return to limited government. This can only be done if
the American people realize the potential for tyranny inherent in a government education
system.

The most important institution in a socialist state is a government owned and controlled
school system wherein children can be indoctrinated to accept a socialist way of life.
And the best way to prevent this from occurring is to return to the concept of educational
freedom in which the federal government has no role in education.

Local public schools can easily become private institutions governed by local trustees and
supported by tuition fees. This would greatly reduce the tax burden on home owners and
provide more than enough resources to pay for the tuitions of poor families. The costs of
education would decrease dramatically since education would once more become reality
based wherein the fundamental academic subjects would be taught without the added
costs of educational malpractice. Individual intelligence would be enhanced, while
collectivist group-think would be discarded.

Can this be done? Only if America’s conservative leaders demand that it should be
done. The home-school movement has already proven that parents can actually teach
better than our high-priced professionals, that children progress better academically
when taught at home, and that the cost of educating a child at home is less than $1,000 a
year.

If Americans want to once more experience what it means to be free, they must burst out
of the high-priced straitjacket imposed on them by the socialist education tyrants. If they
want better education at lower cost, then the prescription for success is simple: get the
government out of education.

(This article was written fifteen years ago and things have only gotten worse.  Trump was right to defund the Department of Education.)

 

American Minute with Bill Federer Who are the Houthis?

Published March 18, 2025 | By campconstitution

 

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Houthis of Yemen have been in the news for attacking ships in the Red Sea.

A little history and geography is helpful  … continue reading …

Download as PDF …

A little geography is helpful.

 

The Tigris and Euphrates Rivers run across Iraq and empty into the Persian Gulf, where also oil pipelines end.

Oil is the number one commodity traded globally.

Oil from Iraq, Kuwait and Iran is put on tankers and shipped south past Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and through the Strait of Hormuz, into the Gulf of Oman in the Indian Ocean.

 

Turning west, the oil tankers sail around the south side of the Arabian Peninsula along the coast of Oman into the Gulf of Aden, then along the coast of southern Yemen, an area controlled by anti-Houthi forces.

 

Then tankers turn the corner of the Horn of Africa, past Somalia and near Djibouti, passing through the dangerous, narrow 14-mile-wide Bab-el-Mandeb Strait continuing north into the Red Sea.

This is where the ships sail with the African coast on the west, passing Eritrea, Sudan and Egypt, but on the east passing the Houthi controlled coast of northern Yemen.

 

If the ships get past this point, they continue up the Red Sea till they get to Egypt and the Sinai Peninsula, where they go through the Suez Canal and into the Mediterranean, where they deliver their oil to Europe or continue their route to America.

 

Fifteen percent of the world’s maritime traffic travels this route, but as the Yemen Houthis attack oil tankers, the only alternative route is to sail around South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, taking weeks longer and adding thousands of additional miles to the trip.

This consumes much more fuel and drastically increases the costs of products shipped.

 

According to Open Door’s World Watch List, the counties passed around the Arabian Peninsula are listed as some of the most dangerous places for Christians in the world:

Somalia ranks number two,

Eritrea number four,

Yemen number five,

Sudan number eight,

Iran number nine, and

Oman number 31.

In recent years, large numbers of immigrants from these anti-Christian countries have immigrated to the United States.

 

But this hostile environment in the Arabian Peninsula and the Horn of Africa was not always the case.

 

Yemen has a long history. It was originally called Sheba.

 

According to the Bible’s Table of Nations in Genesis, chapter 10, Noah’s son Shem had a great-grandson named Eber, an ancestor of both Israelites and Arabs.

Eber’s son Joktan migrated into Southern Arabia. The children of Joktan were called Joktanites or Qahtanites.

Joktan’s son Ya’rub is possibly the origin of the name “Arab.”

 

Additionally, everyone knows Abraham and Sarah had their son Isaac.

Abraham also had Ishmael by the Egyptian slave woman Hagar.

After Sarah died, Abraham had another wife named Keturah, whose name means incense.

 

Abraham and Keturah’s son were Midian, Medan, Ishbak, Shuah, Zimran, and Jokshan.

The sons of Jokshan were Dedan and Sheba.

Sheba migrated into the Arabian Peninsula, to the furthest west corner, to the area known today as Yemen.

Sheba is the oldest and most important of the South Arabian Kingdoms.

The people of Sheba were called “Sabaeans.” They considered themselves the original Arabs and viewed Ishmaelites as northern Arabs.

 

The Book of Job, 1:15, stated:

“And the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away; yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.”

 

Job 6 mentioned: “The troops of Tema looked, the companies of Sheba waited for them.”

 

Around the year 1750 B.C., during era of Abraham, the Sabaeans began building near their capital city of Marib an enormous dam to collect rainwater from the periodic monsoons.

 

The dam, built with the same precision as the pyramids, was 50-feet high and nearly 2,000-feet long.

It was located where several mountain valleys joined together at Wadi Saba. A wadi is an area of dry creek beds that fill up with water during heavy rains.

 

The Marib Dam was considered one of the wonders of the ancient world.

Canals from it channeled water to irrigate 50 square miles, creating a garden oasis. It was repaired several times and functioned successfully for over a thousand years.

 

Sheba was renowned for aromatic resins, frankincense and myrrh which was their most profitable trade.

Sheba was on the caravan trade routes from Egypt south through Sudan to the Horn of Africa, across the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, to Sheba, then by ships over to India.

 

The histories of Sheba and Ethiopia are intertwined, being just a short 14-mile distance across the Red Sea from each other. For centuries, both Sheba and Ethiopia were ruled by the same kingdom.

 

Josephus wrote in Antiquities of the Jews that Moses gained fame as a prince in Egypt for conquering Saba, which was possibly Ethiopia on the African side of the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait from Sheba.

 

Some believe Moses and the Israelites wandered 40 years, not in the tiny Sinai Peninsula, which is the size of West Virginia, but instead in the Arabian Peninsula, which is nearly five times the size of Texas.

 

Archeologist Dr. Doug Petrovitch proposed that the Ten Commandments were given to Moses in the Paleo-Hebrew script, and that in their wanderings the Israelites may have influenced the Sabaic script of Ancient Southern Arabia, as both have phonetic consonants, no vowels and are read right to left.

 

The Sabaic script possibly influenced the development of the Ge’ez language used in Ethiopia and Eritrea.

 

Psalm 72:10, 15 “The kings of Sheba and Saba shall offer gifts … And to him shall be given of the gold of Sheba.”

 

Around 970 B.C., according to First Kings 10:

“And when the Queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to prove him with hard questions.

And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bare spices, and very much gold, and precious stones …

There came no more such abundance of spices as these which the Queen of Sheba gave to Solomon.”

 

Isaiah 60:6 “The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephor; all they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall shew forth the praises of the Lord.”

 

Isaiah 45:14 “Thus saith the LORD, The labour of Egypt, and merchandise of Ethiopia and of the Sabeans … shall come over unto thee, and they shall be thine … and they shall fall down unto thee, they shall make supplication unto thee, saying, Surely God is in thee.”

 

Jeremiah 6:22 “To what purpose cometh there to me incense from Sheba.”

 

Ezekiel 27:22 “The merchants of Sheba and Raamah, they were thy merchants: they occupied in thy fairs with chief of all spices, and with all precious stones and gold.”

 

Joel 3:8 “O Tyre and Zidon … and all the coast of Palestine … because ye have taken … the children also of Judah and … sold (them) unto the Grecians …

Behold … I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and they shall send them to the Sabeans, to a people far off.”

 

Sheba was called Arabia Felix, or Arabia fertile, by the Greeks and Romans. It was considered like Paris – a prosperous, cultural center of the ancient world.

 

Beginning in 400 B.C., Ethiopia was ruled by the Askumite Kingdom.

 

According to the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, the New Testament account was that an Ethiopian Jew, the eunuch treasurer of Queen Candace, was baptized as a follower of Christ by the disciple Philip.

 

In the highlands of Sheba, later called Yemen, a Himyarite Kingdom began in 110 B.C., and invaded Sheba, also called Saba, in 25 B.C.

 

Then, around 200 A.D., the Ethiopia’s Askumite Kingdom crossed the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and captured northern Yemen.

The Askumites were dirven out by a Sabaean-Himyarite alliance, but then the Himyarites proceeded to conquer the Sabaeans, taking full control of Sheba in 280 A.D.

 

A Himyarite king at this time was named Shammar Yahri’sh, from whose name Yemen is thought to have been derived.

 

A large group of Sabaeans, called Ghassanids, fled from the Himyarites conquest of Yemen and migrated to Syria in 220 A.D.

There, they converted to Christianity and had a significant kingdom between the Eastern Roman Empire and Persian Empire which lasted for over four centuries, until it was conquered by Muslims of the Rashidun Caliphate in 638 A.D.

 

In 354 A.D., the Christian Roman Emperor Constantius the Second sent missionary Theophilus the Indian to request permission of the Himyarite King to build a church.

 

On the African side of the Red Sea, Ethiopia’s Askumite Empire grew to control the Horn of Africa, Sudan, Somalia, and Eritrea.

Eritrea is the Greek name for Red Sea.

 

In 316 A.D., Askumite King Ezana had a Christian slave named Frumentius, who share the Gospel with him.

Ezana converted to Christianity. Frumentius was appointed the first Bishop of Axum, and called the Apostle to Ethiopia, translating the New Testament into the Ge’ez language.

 

Gold coins with King Ezana’s inscription have been discovered, some before his conversion with a pagan motif and some after his conversion with a Christian motif.

Askumite coins were found as far away as Israel and India.

 

In the third century, the Persian prophet Mani considered the Askumite Empire as one of the four world powers, next to Persia, Rome, and China.

 

In Yemen, around the year 380 A.D., the King of Saba and Himyar was named Abu Karib. He was a polytheist.

 

Abu Karib led a military expedition a thousand miles north where he took control of Yatrib, also called Medina.

He left his son as governor and continued further north, but when he received word that the inhabitants of Yatrib had killed his son, Abu Karib returned and wreaked havoc on the city.

 

During the siege, Abu Karib fell ill. Jewish scholars used their knowledge of medicine to heal him and then begged him to stop his siege.

 

Abu Karib agreed and soon after converted to religion of Moses.

He proceeded to Mecca where he almost destroyed the Kaaba but hesitated. His nephew converted to Judaism and was left in charge of both Mecca and Yatrib – Medina.

 

His Himyarite Kingdom adopted Judaism as its state religion in 384 A.D., thereby eliminating Byzantine influence.

It is hard for people to think that for nearly a century and a half Yemen was a Jewish Kingdom.

 

In 514 A.D, the Jewish Himyarite Kingdom was persecuting the Christian minority.

When news reached Byzantine Emperor Justin the First, he asked the Christian Askumite King Kaleb to invade the Himyarite Kingdom of Yemen to rescue them.

 

Askumite King Kaleb proceeded to conquer Yemen around 525 A.D.

It is hard for people to think that for half a century Yemen was a Christian Kingdom.

 

In 570 A.D., the Persian Sasanian Empire sent an army which invaded Yemen and drove the Askumites out.

Then Yemen was a ruled by a Persian Kingdom which had the Zoroastrian religion, mixed with Manichaeism, a belief which included elements of other religions.

 

That same year, 570 A.D., possibly due to neglect during the wars, Yemen’s Marib Dam broke, releasing a torrential flood that devastated the country.

This crippled Yemen’s economy to the point it never recovered. An estimated 50,000 people migrated away to other countries.

 

Persia’s presence in the Red Sea also caused the Askumite Empire to decline.

 

In 615 A.D., the Askumite Empire allowed Muslim refugees to shelter there, but then in 630 A.D., Mohamed sent a naval expedition, led by Umar, to attack it.

 

Following Mohammed’s death, the Rashidun Caliphate conquered Yemen. The Askumite Kingdom in Africa continued to rule Ethiopia till 960 A.D.

 

In the 16th century, the Ottoman Empire exerted control over the Red Sea coastline.

 

European powers attempted colonies.

 

In 1837, the British landed in southern Yemen and made it into the British Aden Colony, which was an important port to stop piracy between British controlled India, and the Suez Canal.

 

The French built the Suez Canal in 1869, and the British took control of it in 1882.

 

From 1884 to 1967, the French controlled an area near Ethiopia called Somaliland.

 

In 1889, the Russian Nikolav Ivanovitch Achinov attempted to establish a settlement near Somaliland but was thwarted by the French.

 

From 1885 to 1918, Germany had an East African colony near Tanzania.

 

In 1892, Italy control Somali, which included Mogadishu, till after World War Two.

 

Italy invaded Ethiopia in 1895, resulting in 10,000 killed. Italians invaded Ethiopia again in 1935 and ruled it till 1941, when after World War Two they were forced to relinquish control.

 

Eritrea was administered by the British from World War Two till 1952 when the United Nations designated it as part of Ethiopia.

Islamists, with help from Egypt, formed the Eritrean Liberation Front which won Eritrean independence in 1991.

 

Northern Yemen was controlled by Zaydi Shites from the 9th century on.

They fought nearly everyone, including the Umayyad Muslims, the Wahhabis and the Ottoman Turks.

 

With the fall of the Ottoman Empire in 1918, the Zaydis formed the Mutawakkilite Kingdom in northern Yemen, ruled by a monarchy.

 

Yemen borders Saudi Arabia. In the 1930s, there was a border war and Yemen lost territory to the Saudis.

 

When President Harry Truman sent the first American diplomat to the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of northern Yemen, he reported that there were no roads, no legal system, and no medical facilities.

 

The Zaydis monarch let no foreigners into the country unless they were doctors to treat him.

 

Truman arranged for Yemen to be admitted into the United Nations in 1947.

 

In 1962, Egypt, backed by the Soviet Union, overthrew the Zaydis, who were backed by Saudi Arabia and Israel.

 

In 1967, after Egypt lost the Six Day War against with Israel, Egypt and Saudi Arabia reconciled and were no longer interested in Yemen’s civil war.

 

In 1978, Zaydi general Saleh came to power in northern Yemen and ruled for 33 years.

 

Britain relinquished control of its Southern Yemen Aden Colony in 1968, resulting in a communist government coming to power in Southern Yemen, the “People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen.”

 

In 1979, President Jimmy Carter abandoned the pro-U.S. Shah of Iran, allowing the Islamist Ayatollah to take over Iran, who formed the Islamist Hezbollah organization in Lebanon.

 

When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, so did southern Yemen’s communist government. Northern Yemen’s Zaydi leader, Saleh, quickly united northern and southern Yemen.

 

In 1992, when the U.S. led Kuwait-Iraq War began, Saleh favored Sadam Hussien.

 

In retaliation, President George H.W. Bush supported Saudi Arabia in its expelling of over a million Yemen workers and cut off aid to Yemen.

 

In 1994, Saleh survived a Saudi-backed civil war.

 

In 2000, when al-Qaeda attacked the U.S.S. Cole, Saleh suddenly switched sides to align with Saudi Arabia and the U.S. against al-Qaeda.

 

Hussein al Houthi criticized Saleh for now siding with the U.S. and Saudi Arabia and organized Houthi opposition.

 

In 2001, President George W. Bush met with Saleh.

 

When Bush invaded Iraq in 2003, the Houthis radicalized in their anti-American hatred, calling themselves “Ansar Allah” – Supporters of Allah – with the slogan “Allah is great, death to the U.S., death to Israel, curse the Jews, and victory for Islam.”

 

Though the Houthi in Yemen were a different version of Shiite than the Shite Hezbollah in Lebanon, backed by Iran, nevertheless, Hezbollah began helping the Houthis as the both hated Saudi Arabia, the U.S., and Israel.

 

International investigations revealed the Houthis raped, tortured and prostituted women.

 

In 2004, Saleh, with the help of the Saudis launched a military campaign which killed Hussein al Houthi.

 

The Houthis, with the help of Hezbollah and Iran, suddenly won some battles against Saleh and the Saudi Arabian army.

 

In 2011, the Arab Spring resulted in an uprising against Saleh.

 

Saudi Arabia decided the answer was to pressure Saleh to resign and replace him with his vice president Hadi, a Sunni Muslim from southern Yemen who had been trained in Russia.

 

In a strange twist, in 2014, the ousted Saleh switched sides and colluded with the Houthi to oppose Hadi. They took control of northern Yemen in 2015, the same year that Salman became the new king of Saudi Arabia.

 

Houthis opened direct air travel between northern Yemen and Iran, in exchange for Iranian oil.

 

Houthis captured the main Yemen port at Hodeidah, then marched toward the southern Yemen capital of Aden, the largest port on the Indian Ocean.

 

The Saudis and the U.S., under both Obama and Trump, backed Hadi against Saleh and the Houthis, implementing an air and naval blockade.

 

Joining in attacks against the Houthis were Saudi allies Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, UAE, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Sudan. Over one hundred bridges and a third of the Yemen’s roads were destroyed.

 

This created a humanitarian crisis. All sides were accused of war crimes.

 

When Saleh signaled that he would consider switching sides again to Saudi Arabia, he was assassinated in 2017.

 

The Houthis claim to have 100,000 followers and started working closer with Hezbollah and Iran against what they consider to be a Saudi-U.S.-Israeli conspiracy.

 

In 2021, the U.S. designated the Houthis a terrorist organization, but President Joe Biden reversed this.

 

In 2022, Iran-back Houthis fired missiles at Saudi allies, including Abu Dhabi and the United Arab Emirates.

 

Southern Yemen’s leader Hadi relinquished power to Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council led by Rashad al-Alimi.

 

In 2023, following the October 7th Hamas attack on Israel, the Houthis began firing missiles into Israel and attack ships traveling up the Red Sea off the coast of northern Yemen.

 

In January of 2024, the Houthis were again designated by the U.S. as a terrorist organization. The U.S. and the U.K. conducted a few airstrikes against Houthi targets with little results.

 

Yemen, or Sheba, is included the Book of Ezekiel, chapter 38, in what many Bible scholars consider an end times prophesy, where Russia, Iran, Turkey, together with other nations, including those around the Red Sea, will invade Israel.

 

“In future years you will invade a land that has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate.

They had been brought out from the nations, and now all of them live in safety. You and all your troops and the many nations with you will go up, advancing like a storm; you will be like a cloud covering the land …

 

Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish and all her villages will say to you, ‘Have you come to plunder? Have you gathered your hordes to loot, to carry off silver and gold?’”

 

Though the political situation in Yemen is confusing, the conflict there holds the ominous possibility of sparking an international crisis.

 

Before being assassinated, Saleh, the Yemen leader for 33 years, described ruling Yemen akin to dancing on the heads of snakes.

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