Hal Shurtleff

Director and Co-Founder of Camp Constitution.

Camp Constitution’s Third Quarter Report for 2023

Published October 9, 2023 | By Hal Shurtleff
 

 Camp Constitution in the News:

We continue to be mentioned in the media as local Christians petition to have the Chrisitan or Pro-Life flags fly on town or city halls. 1819 News in Alabama as Christian activists interviewed us are in the process of having Montgomery declare Christian Heritage Month and have the Christian fly in front of City Hall for a month:

https://1819news.com/news/item/montgomery-city-council-delays-american-christian-heritage-month-resolution-again

Christians in Torrington, CT raised the Christian flag on their city hall with over two hundred people including the mayor on hand:

And in Billerica, MA,  Deedee Clark Dorrington and members of her group Fly the Pro-Life Flag with the help from our friends at the Massachusetts Family Institute were able to get the town selectmen vote 4-1 in favor of flying the Pro-Life flag for two weeks in October:  MFI’s Advocacy Leads Billerica to Raise Pro-Life Flag on Town Property – MFI | Massachusetts Family Institute (mafamily.org)

The Claremont, NH Eagle Tribute did a story on our annual family camp:  https://www.eagletimes.com/news/camp-takes-on-swimming-and-the-bill-of-rights/article_e3f74b08-0d14-545d-b9a0-876343786082.html  The reporter asked us how we teach the Constitution to five year olds, we sent him a link to this video of our Junior Campers led by Mrs. Edith Craft singing a song about the Constitution

https://youtu.be/_Tw6Lz2QoOk?si=wVvNeZ2EayAtzSiX

We received some national media attention from NBC and Fox News with the appearance of presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswami at our annual family camp.

Special Projects: 

We had a float in the annual Old Home Week Parade in Alton, NH, and we presented their salute to America event held at Alton Bay. We had info tables at numerous events including the Crown of Maine Balloon Festival, the Mid-Atlantic Reformation Society’s Future of Christendom forum, the National Heritage, and the Mass HOPE homeschool convention where we also conducted a workshop on the Sam Blumenfeld Archive. We co-sponsored a Patriot Day Camp in Maine led by Mrs. Jessica Whitworth.

In April, Camp Constitution donated 1,500 pocket copies of the U.S. Constitution to the Alton-Barnstead, NH School District, and in January, we donated 1,100 copies to the Laconia Junior and High School, Laconia, NH Junior High, and High Schools. This has opened up the doors to other donations to schools in the region.

We hosted a group of homeschoolers at the Lane House for a field trip overnight to take in the Midnight Night Ride and Battle of Lexington Reenactments.

We hosted the Hillside College’s Constitutional Study Course in Alton, NH and Lebanon, ME.

Camp Constitution Media:

We videotaped all of the classes and some of the activity at our annual family camp and at our second weekend retreat the Lexington Reenactment, Alton, NH’s Memorial Day Parade, speeches as our 3rd Annual Memorial Day Weekend Barbecue in Lexington, the classes and activities at our annual family camp, and speeches of our speakers Julie Wilkinson, Pastor William Levi, and Charl van Wyk.

YouTube, Rumble Channels and Bitchute Channels

We have received 90,000 thousand views on our YouTube Channel this year with new subscribers giving us close to 8,000 subscribers overall. Our Rumble channel has received 6,388 views this year with seven likes, and our Bitchute channel has 2,3126 views this year.

The Sam Blumenfeld Archive:

552,168 hits

3,592 Marlow-Shakespeare Book

3,288 Alpha Phonics Workbooks

2,543 Alpha Phonics Manuals

Our friend Godknows Matizirofa principal of Nottingham School in Harare, Zimbabwe, is building a new school and will name it in honor of Sam Blumenfeld. We have been donating copies of Sam’s Alpha Phonics to the school.

We reached out to Mrs. Joyce Burges of National Black Home Educators and donated a case of Sam’s Alpha-Phonics, and plan to interview her on our radio show.

If you haven’t already, please visit and subscribe to the archives: https://campconstitution.net/sam-blumenfeld-archive/ 

Camp Constitution Radio on Podomatic:

We remain in the top ten for the conservative category with 7,614 downloads, and 862 plays   https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/shurtleffhal 

 Facebook Page:

We continue to average fifty likes per month. We also admin about eight groups including Friend of the Constitution in ME, NH, MA, CT, RI. PA, VT, and Stop the Constitutional Convention.

Speaker’s Bureau:

For the first nine months, we had over thirty speaking engagements. We recently held six engagements for Charl van Wyk author of Shooting Back in MA, NH, and ME. In September, we spoke to the Mid Atlantic Reformation Society, and we were one of the featured speakers at the Norfolk County (MA) Second Amendment Rally and Constitutional Day Celebration. We spoke at the Michigan Republican Party’s Mackinac Island event where we shared a podium with the likes of Alan Keyes and Jim Caviezel. We had speaking engagements in Maine including being the featured speaker at the Homeschoolers of Maine Annual State House Day, and presentations in New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Loudon, NH. We hosted four engagements for Juli Wilkinson who played the abortion nurse in the movie Unplanned. And we hosted Mrs. Bau Chau Kelly at the Lane House. Mrs. Kelly described life in Communist Vietnam:

 

(Rev. Craft ans Charl van Wyk at the Lane House)

Camp Constitution’s Website:

We had 27.000 views for this period, and posted 147 blogs:  https://www.campconstitution.net

Camp Constitution Book Sales:                           

We have raised close to $3.500 from donated books from our Amazon, Facebook page, and on-line bookstore. https://campconstitution.net/shop/

  Article V Convention: 

We worked with legislatures to have an Article V rescission resolution introduced in the New Hampshire House in 2024. Despite the onslaught of Article V resolutions all over the U.S. not a single one passed. We helped defeat two Article V resolutions in New Hampshire, several in Maine, and authored articles on the subject in on-line and print media and participated in a national conference call hosted by Tamara Scott who hosts a show on Frank Speech. One article we published was an expose on the leadership of the Convention of States. https://granitegrok.com/mg_lakesregion/2023/04/poisoning-the-well-is-not-working-in-new-hampshire-but-we-cant-help-ourselves  We worked with legislatures to have an Article V rescission resolution introduced in the New Hampshire House in 2024.

 Radio and Cable TV: 

We were a first time guest on several radio shows including the Chris Arn Show based in Carliyle,  and returned to the  the Duke Pesta Show:  https://www.freedomproject.com/2023/05/30/dds53023/ and earlier  in the year, we were guests on “Chattin with Janine: a popular Cable TV Show hosted by NH State Rep and long-tine friend Janine Notter. And  appeared as a guest on Tamara Scott’s show on Frank Speech, https://frankspeech.com/video/tamara-scott-show-joined-hal-shurtleff-camp-constitution and an appearance on the Ed Martin Radio Show which is nationally syndicated:  https://www.phyllisschlafly.com/constitution/wynk-back-to-basics-with-hal-shurtleff/

      Camp Constitution Ladies Group:

The Third Annual Spring Fling took place May 5-7 at the Singing Hills Christian Camp. Speakers include Valerie McDonnell, the youngest elected official in the United States and former abortion nurse turned Pro-Life activist Julie Wilkinson. Julie played a role in the movie “Unplanned.”  

                                           

Julie Wilkinson                                                       Valerie McDonnell

 

Our friend and Camp Constitution camp parent Steve Wanager has relocated to Maine and donated one of his replica cannons to Camp Constitution. We are now the proud owners of a replica Revolutionary War howitzer. Contrary to the view of Mr. Biden, the 2nd Amendment does not prevent us from owning a cannon.

Camp Constitution’s 15th Annual Family Camp

We had another successful family camp with new guest speakers’ author and documentary producer Vince Ellison. And, for the first time in our history, a presidential candidate visited us. Mr. Vivek Ramaswamy spoke to the campers and took their questions.

   

Second Annual Family Retreat:

We just completed o our 2nd Annual Weekend Family Retreat which ran from Friday September 29 to Sunday October 1. Guest instructors were Jim Perloff and former Gubernatorial candidate Karen Testerman. Returning instructors included Catherine White, and Rev. Steve Craft. Jessica Whitworth conducted the program for the junior campers.

 

How you can help Camp Constitution grow:

* Keep Camp Constitution and our nation in your prayers.

* Become a donor. Monthly and/or one-time donations can be made via our PayPal account accessed from our website https://www.campconstitution.net

* Host one of our speakers

Host a Constitutional Study Course

*  Introduce Camp Constitution to family and friends.

*Author an article for our camp blog.

Thank you for all you did in the freedom movement, and for helping to make Camp Constitution possible.

 

Hal Shurtleff, Director
Camp Constitution

 

 

The Weekly Sam: The Gospel at War With the Yellow School Bus

Published October 3, 2023 | By Hal Shurtleff

This is a short and powerful presentation not just urging parents to get their children out of government schools but the evil ideology promoted in the government schools making the acceptance of abortion, gender mutilation and the destruction of the morals of a nation.

Sam Blumenfeld’s  work is well known to the folks at the Mid Atlantic Reformation Society, the organization that hosted this event https://www.midatlanticreformation.org/

 

Second Amendment Rally Newton, MA

Published September 27, 2023 | By Hal Shurtleff

Camp Constitution is having a busy and productive September with speaking engagements in PA, MA, NH, ME and MI and in a few days, our 2nd annual family weekend retreat.  This video is from the Sunday September 17 Constitution Day and 2nd Amendment forum sponsored by the Norfolk County Republican Committee.  I was one of the speakers and we also had a information table at the event.

Norfolk County Republican Committee’s 2nd Amendment and Constitution Day Forum held of Sunday September 17, 2023 at the American Legion in Newton, MA. Hal Shurtleff of Camp Constitution, Toby Leary of Cape Cod Gun Works, Mike HARRIS Gun Owner’s Action League (GOAL) – Charlie COOK “Riding Shotgun with Charlie” – Committeewoman Lynne ROBERTS 2nd Amendment Sisters – Hal SHURTLEFF from Camp Constitution – Moderator Bob HISS – Toby LEARY of Cape Gun Works – Kerri Ann AUCLAIR from the DC Project – Jim WALLACE from GOAL

 

 

 Will You Go to Hell For Me?

Published September 26, 2023 | By Hal Shurtleff

No, I don’t want you to go to Hell for me? But I want to introduce the readers to a powerful documentary of the same name, and the writings of the man who produced the documentary- Mr. Vince Ellison who is both a friend and a Camp Constitution instructor.

One of my duties as Camp Director is to serve as a “talent scout” by being on the lookout for potential instructors at our annual camps, and speakers’ bureau.   I find these instructors in various ways:  meeting them in person at their speaking events, recommendations, and while watching and listening to media outlets.  Since our inception, we have been blessed with an incredible list of instructors including a British Lord, Christophen Monckton, one of the world’s top atmospheric scientists Professor Willie Soon, a pioneer in the modern home school movement Sam Blumenfeld, a pioneer in the Right to Life Movement Dr. Mildred Jefferson, and now and Vince Ellison.

Vince first came to my attention in an interview he did on the Tucker Carlson Show early last year where he was discussing his book The 25 Most Damnable Lies of the Democrat Party and How to Refute Them.  He and Tucker have become good friends.   I also saw him on NewsMax and listened to him on the Grace Curley Show which airs on WRKO.  I contacted Rev. Steve Craft, Camp Constitution’s chaplain and said that we need to reach out to him.    Rev. Craft visited his website, e-mailed him and shortly thereafter, had a lengthy phone conversation with him.  Vince told Rev. Craft that he was driving and listening to the radio when he heard the news of our lawsuit Shurtleff v Boston.  He was so excited to hear the news of the victory that he pulled the car over and did “A Holy Ghost Dance” which I wished he videotaped.

Vince lives near Lynchburg, VA where one of my daughters attends Liberty University.  We had to move our daughter in for her freshman year in August of 2022 so I was able to meet with Vince.  Our breakfast meeting lasted close to four hours and ended with the creation of a friendship.  Vince had a profound knowledge of the negative side of the Civil Rights Movement.  I learned from him that it was Communist Stanley Levinson that wrote Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech and Vince learned from me that King was the first recipient of Planned Parenthood’s Margaret Sanger Award.

Rev. Steve Craft (left) and Vince Ellison holding a copy of The Boston Broadside

Who is Vince Ellison?

Vince was born on a cotton plantation in Haywood County, Tennessee, where his parents were sharecroppers.  Vince was taught a love of God and Country from his parents.   His father became successful in the insurance industry which raised him and his seven siblings from poverty to the middle-class.

His family started the   Ellison Family gospel singing group and performed in black churches and the gospel music community through Vince’s young life. Through his experiences in gospel music, Vince gained intimate knowledge of the inner workings and failings of many of black churches and their ministers.

While he received a degree from Memphis State University, he says his real-world education came from working as a correctional officer at a maximum-security prison in South Carolina. Vince later worked with many black civic organizations in the nonprofit arena. In 2000, he ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in the 6th Congressional District of South Carolina.

In 2019, Vince wrote The Iron Triangle: Inside the Liberal Democrat Plan to Use Race to Divide Christians and America in their Quest for Power and How We Can Defeat Them, and 25 Lies Exposing Democrats Most Dangerous, Seductive, Damnable, Destructive Lies and How to Refute Them which both became Amazon #1 bestsellers. Vince’s upcoming book from Posthill/Simon & Schuster Crime Inc. will be released in early October.  He has appeared numerous times on Hannity, The Laura Ingraham Show, Newsmax, OAN, Tucker Carlson Show, The Joe Pags Show, The Brian Kilmeade Show, The Howie Carr Show, and many other radio and television programs. Vince is a member of Project 21 and has written numerous articles for American Greatness magazine, Bizpacreview.com, and other publications. Vince is also the producer and writer of the recently released documentary Will You Go To Hell For Me.

Vince is a member of Project 21 and has written numerous articles for American Greatness magazine, Bizpacreview.com, and other publications.

Here is a description of his book 25 Lies which I highly recommend:

Vince Ellison is America’s most fearless truth teller. Agree or disagree with his thesis, open-minded readers must grapple with the persuasive power of his arguments, his mastery of facts, and his passionate love for mankind and our Creator.

As a young man, Ellison began his career in the belly of the beast—as a prison guard working in the worst cellblock imaginable—the one housing mass murderers, rapists, child molesters, and others who would never be released, and whose crimes would never be redeemed in this world. Vince Ellison saw the face of evil up close. He knows it like few of us ever could.

And it was to his dismay and sadness that he has seen that same evil later in life. This time, not in the faces of hardened, incarcerated criminals. But rather in the eyes of the leaders of the Democratic party. In this stunningly persuasive work, Vince marshals his own experience and couples it with a learned and original analysis to conclude that the leaders of America’s “progressive” party aren’t just wrong on their policy stances—they are deliberately and intently destructive. Ellison painstakingly dismantles the twenty-five lies underlying Democratic policies and arguments and provides readers with the tools they need to understand and refute these myths and deceptions. Finally, Ellison implores his fellow Americans and Christians to open their eyes to the damage being done to the nation’s heart and soul in the name of progressivism.

Will You Go to Hell For Me?

This is a powerful documentary that exposes the pernicious grip the Democrat Party has on the inner-city black community. The major thesis of this documentary is that one cannot be a Christian while at the same time vote for Democrat candidates and support the anti-Chrisitan programs of the Democrat Party.  Doing so will send you to Hell.  Vince contends that the Democrat Party is the evilest institution in the history of the world and makes a strong case in defense of his claim.

Vince says that the Democrat Party controls every whorehouse and crack house in the black community.  He lays the blame of this control on three groups of people:  black politicians, the black clergy that deliver the votes (with notable exceptions), and black social workers who fuel the flames of racism and the idea that blacks are victims of white oppression.  It is necessary to point out that Vince isn’t a shill for the Republican Party.  Many Republicans support the agenda and have made an unwritten treaty with the Democrats to leave the black communities alone.  This is evident by the lack of support the Republican National Committee gives to black Republicans contesting Congressional seats in black communities.

The most controversial aspect of this documentary, and why readers may be hearing about it for the first time, is Vince’s condemnation of Martin Luther King.  While most Americans have been led to believe that King was a noble man, Vince isn’t afraid to condemn him.  Vince exposes King as a pro-communist and a supporter of Planned Parenthood.  King, as Vince reveals, was the first recipient of the Margaret Sanger Award named after the racist founder of Planned parenthood who launched the infamous “Negro Project.”  Sanger considered blacks to be inferior and enlisted black clergy and black doctors to promote birth control. The Negro Project has been successful beyond Sanger’s wildest dreams.

Vince tells the story of how liberal Democrat U.S. Senator Patrick Moynihan, concerned about the high rate of single parent households, about 20% in the mid-1960s, visited King and his fellow Civil Rights activists insisting that Civil Rights bills must promote the father in the household.  This idea was so widely rejected by King and his colleagues, that Moynihan said that he was lucky to get out of that meeting alive.  Today, thanks in part to the Civil Rights and Welfare reform legislation, black single parent households are close to 80%, and few have the political courage to discuss the issue.

Vince believes that if a sizable minority of black voters stop voting for Democrats, the party will never win national elections. This explains why Democrat leaders constantly promote racial division and hatred.   He is committed to bring black and white Christians together fully realizing that both groups have much in common, and by working together, our nation can be healed.

We are making plans to bring Vince to New England for some speaking engagements. Readers who would like to help make that happen are urged to contact me.  My E-mail is campconstitution1@gmail.com Tel # (857) 498-1309

Constitution Day September 17, 2023  “A Republic If You Can Keep It.

Published September 17, 2023 | By Hal Shurtleff

 

At the conclusion of the Constitutional Convention September 17, 1787, Mrs. Elizabeth Powel, a friend of George and Martha Washington, asked Benjamin Franklin, the oldest delegate to the convention “Well Doctor what have we got a republic or a monarchy.”  Dr. Franklin replied, “A republic if you can keep it.”  How well have we done in keeping that republic.  A glance at the current occupant of the White House as well as the majority of members of Congress leads me to conclude that we have done a poor job of it.

 

 Is the U.S. Constitution an outdated relic?

  Critics and detractors of the United States Constitution believe that it is an outdate relic of our agrarian past which may have served us well 200 years ago but needs to be replaced.   Back in the mid-1990s, I was a guest on the Al Diamon Show- a talk show in Portland, Maine.  Mr. Diamon, and the vast majority of his audience did not share my worldview to say the least.  I had a very interesting conversation with one of his college age callers. This young man told me, in no uncertain terms, that the U.S. Constitution was outdated, and should be replaced.    I asked him if it was written in 1848, would it also be an outdated relic.  He replied in the affirmative and I told him that the Communist Manifesto was written in 1848 but oddly we never hear people on the Left demand that it be repudiated.   I then asked him if he believed that the 1st Amendment-the one that protects the right of free speech, the press, and the right to peaceable to assemble among other things be abolished.  He said that he wasn’t in favor of its repeal.    I followed up with asking him about the 4th Amendment that protects us against unlawful search and seizure, the 5th that protects an accused from self-incrimination the 6th that guarantees us a speedy trial judged by impartial jury and the 8th that protects us from being drawn and quartered.  He didn’t think that these amendments be repealed either.   This caller, like too many American like him are victims of a clique-potentially a dangerous one, that if enough Americans believe, could lead to the end of the liberties we take for granted.

I contend that the U.S Constitution which granted few, defined and specific powers to the United States Government is just as relevant today than when it was first ratified.   As King Solomon said, “There is nothing new under the sun.”   While we went from horse and buggy to the space age and the quill pen and the broadside to Twitter and Facebook, human nature stays the same.  Our Founders were learned men who knew history and understood man’s sin nature.  This is why they gave us a constitutional that granted limited powers to the U.S. Government.

  The U.S. Constitution has a preamble, seven articles and 27 amendments. 

Article 1 established the legislative branch, qualifications for office of members of Congress, and grants certain powers including the power to borrow money and declare war.

Article 2 concerns the executive branch which grants very few powers and duties to the president.  Being “the most powerful man in the free world” is not one of the duties granted to the president.  Nowhere in Article 2 do we read that the president is the most powerful man in the free world.

Article 3 concerns the judicial branch which established “one supreme Court” and gave Congress the power to regulate it.  The Supreme Court may be the highest court in the United States, but it is not the highest law of the land.

Article 4 concerns the states.  Article 4, Section 4, guarantees every state a “Republican Form of Government and shall protect them against Invasion.  Today, it is the official policy of the U.S. Government to aid and abet invasion.

Article 5 concerns the amending process which a made difficult for good reason.

Article 6 makes “This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof…. shall be the supreme Law of the Land.”

Article 7 calls for the ratification of nine state before the Constitution will be established.   New Hampshire was the 9th state to ratify the Constitution on June 2, 1788, making it the law of the land.

The Constitution has 27 amendments but one-the 21st canceled out another-the 18th.   The first ten, known as the Bill of Rights were ratified on December 1791.  The 27th Amendment, which concerns Congressional pay raises, would have been part of the original Bill of Rights but wasn’t ratified until 1992.

Keeping this republic begins with us.   As is my habit, I am offering free pocket copies.  If interested in one, Email me at campconstitution1@gmail.com

What to learn more about this incredible document?  Why not attend our weekend retreat which runs from Friday September 29 to Sunday October 1 at Camp Sentinel in Tuftonboro

The Weekly Sam: Libertarians for Life

Published September 8, 2023 | By Hal Shurtleff

This letter from 1978 and the pamphlet was in Sam Blumenfeld’s papers.

August 23, 1978

 

An Open Letter to All Libertarians,

Libertarians for Life recognizes that many libertarians have given their support to abortion for one reason or another. Because of this, some of us have thought it necessary to commit some of our time, money and effort to the pro-life cause, all of which we would rather have been able to devote directly to furthering the general cause of libertarianism and the Libertarian[1]an Party.

We deplore the destructive divisiveness and ad hominem attacks which have in the past caused many people to retire from direct participation in the fight for individual liberty. We believe in the airing of reasonable expressions of disagreement wherever an error is seen, for liberty can triumph only if the philosophical foundation of libertarianism is as well constructed as is humanly possible. To help achieve this end, we have worked to publish this pamphlet. We hope that you will give some of your valuable time to consider what we have to say. We hope you also will consider the importance of revising the Libertarian Party’s platform in order to reflect a respect for human life at all stages of development (without, or course, adding to the unjust powers of the state). At the very least, the elimination of the current pro-abortion language and the drafting of a carefully reasoned and consistent pro-life plank should be included as part of the order of business at the next convention and platform hearings. Life, Liberty and Responsibility,

Doris Gordon
Coordinator
13424 Hathaway Drive
Wheaton, Maryland 20906
(301) 460-41

A link to the pamphlet from Sam’s archives:   http://blumenfeld.campconstitution.net/Other/Libertarians%20For%20Life.pdf

U.S. Speaking Tour Dates for Charl van Wyk Author of “Shooting Back” and “Reloaded Shooting Back Again”

Published September 8, 2023 | By Hal Shurtleff

Charl van Wyk U.S. Speaking Tour begins next Saturday in Manheim, PA.  He has six engagements in New England and then several in Virginial and finishes his tour in California.  Camp Constitution is honored to sponsor his New England speaking engagements.  Here is his itinerary:

 
I’m, Lord willing, speaking at the following public meetings, in the United States:

September 15-17
Host: Future of Christendom Conference!
Theme: The Gospel at War
Venue: Spooky Nook Sports, in Manheim, PA
Details and registration at: https://futureofchristendom.org/

Monday September 18
Host: Camp Constitution Speaker’s Bureau
Venue: Lane House, 177 Waltham St., Lexington, MA.
Time: 12 Noon
Menu: Sandwiches are ordered from Bertucci’s – Cost $15 – No obligation to order from the menu. Feel free to bring your own lunch.
RSVPs required – Hal Shurtleff (857) 498-1309

Monday September 18
Host: Camp Constitution Speaker’s Bureau
Venue: The Stoppe House, 16 Gould Rd., Bedford, MA
Time: 7:00 PM

Tuesday September 19

Host:  Camp Constitution Speaker’s Bureau

Venue:  Loudon Congregational Church 7018 Church St.  Loudon, NH

Time:  11:00 AM

Tuesday September 19
Host: Camp Constitution Speaker’s Bureau
Venue: Community Church of Alton, 20 Church St., Alton, NH
Time: 7:00 PM

Wednesday September 20
Host: Camp Constitution Speaker’s Bureau
Venue: Union Baptist Church of Littleton, 1468 N Rd (Rt 10), Littleton, ME
Time: 7:00 PM (The event includes a potluck dinner.)

Thursday September 21
Host: Camp Constitution Speaker’s Bureau
Venue: Lee Mogul Pounders Snow Mobile Club, 108 Skunk Hill Rd., Lee, ME
Time: 8:00 AM

For all the above Camp Constitution meetings – admission is free – donations accepted.
For more info call: Hal Shurtleff (857) 498-1309

Sunday September 24
Host: Cross and Crown Church
Venue: Warrenton Community Center, 430 East Shirley Avenue, Warrenton, VA 20186 – https://crosscrownchurch.com/
Time: 10 AM

Sunday October 1
Host: Providence Baptist Church,
Venue: 1441 Erickson Ave, Harrisonburg, VA 22803 – http://www.pbc1689.com/
Times: 10 AM and 11 AM

Sunday October 1
Host: Shenandoah Valley Reformed Presbyterian Church – www.svrpc.org
Venue: 1 Ruritan Road, Mount Crawford, Virginia
Time: 4:30 PM

Friday October 6
Host: Iron Sharpens Iron Men’s Group
Venue: 5734 Lonetree Blvd, Rocklin, CA 95765
Time: 6:30 PM
RSVPs required – Steve Wisniewski at spw@oefcinc.com

_______________________________________________________________________

PS. I’ll also be visiting the following towns and states, for personal visits, in case you’d like to meet over coffee: Damascus MD, Richmond, Lynchburg and Springfield VA, Wilmington NC, and Dallas/Fort Worth TX

See you soon!

We recently interviewed Charl:

 

And a link to an audio version of the interview:  https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/shurtleffhal/episodes/2023-09-08T10_36_46-07_00

 

New study suggests global warming could be mostly an urban problem

Published September 3, 2023 | By Hal Shurtleff

(Our good friend and Camp Constitution Professor Wille Soon asked us to repost this important news release)

A new study published in the scientific peer-reviewed journal, Climate, by 37 researchers from 18 countries suggests that current estimates of global warming are contaminated by urban warming biases.

The study also suggests that the solar activity estimates considered in the most recent reports by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) likely underestimated the role of the Sun in global warming since the 19th century.

It is well-known that cities are warmer than the surrounding countryside. While urban areas only account for less than 4% of the global land surface, many of the weather stations used for calculating global temperatures are located in urban areas. For this reason, some scientists have been concerned that the current global warming estimates may have been contaminated by urban heat island effects. In their latest report, the IPCC estimated that urban warming accounted for less than 10% of global warming. However, this new study suggests that urban warming might account for up to 40% of the warming since 1850.

Source: Maps taken from NOAA Climate.gov.

The study also found that the IPCC’s chosen estimate of solar activity appeared to have prematurely ruled out a substantial role for the Sun in the observed warming.

When the authors analyzed the temperature data only using the IPCC’s solar dataset, they could not explain any of the warming since the mid-20th century. That is, they replicated the IPCC’s iconic finding that global warming is mostly human caused. However, when the authors repeated the analysis using a different estimate of solar activity – one that is often used by the scientific community – they found that most of the warming and cooling trends of the rural data could actually be explained in terms of changing solar activity.

The lead author of the study, Dr. Willie Soon, of the Center for Environmental Research and Earth Sciences (CERES-Science.com) described the implications of their findings,

“For many years, the general public has been assuming that the science on climate change is settled. This new study shows that this is not the case.”

Another author of the study, Prof. Ana Elias, the Director of the Laboratorio de Ionosfera, Atmósfera Neutra y Magnetosfera (LIANM) at the Universidad Nacional de Tucumán, Argentina, explained:

“This analysis opens the door to a proper scientific investigation into the causes of climate change.”

This study finds similar conclusions to another study that was recently published in a separate scientific peer-reviewed journal, Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics. This other study involved many of the same co-authors (led by Dr. Ronan Connolly, also at the Center for Environmental Research and Earth Sciences). It took a different approach to analysing the causes of climate change – using an additional 25 estimates of solar activity and three extra temperature estimates.

For media inquiries, please contact Dr. Ronan Connolly (Center for Environmental Research and Earth Sciences) at ronan@ceres-science.com.
Links to both studies mentioned:

  • W. Soon, R. Connolly, M. Connolly, S.-I. Akasofu, S. Baliunas, J. Berglund, A. Bianchini, W.M. Briggs, C.J. Butler, R.G. Cionco, M. Crok, A.G. Elias, V.M. Fedorov, F. Gervais, H. Harde, G.W. Henry, D.V. Hoyt, O. Humlum, D.R. Legates, A.R. Lupo, S. Maruyama, P. Moore, M. Ogurtsov, C. ÓhAiseadha, M.J. Oliveira, S.-S. Park, S. Qiu, G. Quinn, N. Scafetta, J.-E. Solheim, J. Steele, L. Szarka, H.L. Tanaka, M.K. Taylor, F. Vahrenholt, V.M. Velasco Herrera and W. Zhang (2023). “The Detection and Attribution of Northern Hemisphere Land Surface Warming (1850–2018) in Terms of Human and Natural Factors: Challenges of Inadequate Data”, Climate, 11(9), 179; https://doi.org/10.3390/cli11090179. (Open access).

  • R. Connolly, W. Soon, M. Connolly, S. Baliunas, J. Berglund, C.J. Butler, R.G. Cionco, A.G. Elias, V. Fedorov, H. Harde, G.W. Henry, D.V. Hoyt, O. Humlum, D.R. Legates, N. Scafetta, J.-E. Solheim, L. Szarka, V.M. Velasco Herrera, H. Yan and W.J. Zhang (2023). “Challenges in the detection and attribution of Northern Hemisphere surface temperature trends since 1850”. Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics. https://doi.org/10.1088/1674-4527/acf18e. (preprint version).

Camp Constitution’s  2nd Annual Family Weekend Retreat  One Month Away September 29-Oct 1 Tuftonboro, NH

Published August 30, 2023 | By Hal Shurtleff
Camp Constitution’s 2nd Annual Family Weekend Retreat is one month away, and we still have availability.  It runs from Friday September 29 to Sunday October 1, 2023, at Camp Sentinel 29 Sentinel Lodge Rd Tuftonboro, New Hampshire

Speakers include James Perloff, author of Shadows of Power and Tornado Through a Junkyard, Mr. Richard Howell, historical reenactor, Rev. Steve Craft, Camp Constitution chaplain and author of Morality and Freedom:  America’s Dynamic Duo, and Mrs. Catherine White of the Constitution Decoded.  Mrs. Jessica Whitworth will host the Junior Patriot Camp for those 4-11.

Recreational Activities include canoeing, basketball, gaga and a field trip to the Wright World War II Museum and Apple Picking.  Cost is $150. Per person.   A link to the application:   https://campconstitution.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Weekend-Camp-Application-and-Release-2023.pdf

For More Information, contact Hal Shurtleff (857) 498-1309 or campconstitution1@gmail.com  Cost is $150. per person.

Hal Shurtleff, Director 
Camp Constitution
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Homeschooling is Not a Temporary Solution. It Is A Viable and Vital Solution

Published August 28, 2023 | By Hal Shurtleff

Recently, I was listening to the Jeff Kuhner Show which airs on WRKO AM 68 Monday to Friday 6:00 AM to 10:00AM. He was interviewing his wife Grace Vuoto, who calls in every Wednesday for her weekly commentary.   Grace, “who puts liberals in their place” as Jeff is fond of saying, was making an excellent case against several proposed bills in Massachusetts that would make school children little more than human pin cushions for Big Pharma ending religious exceptions to those opposing vaccinations and allowing minors to consent to receiving vaccinations without parental approval.

When Jeff referred to homeschooling, if the bills passed, as a solution, Grace emphatically said that it would a be only be a “temporary solution” and said something to the effect that we-conservatives-should not abandon the government schools.  Many conservatives like Grace think that the government schools are salvageable.  I have to respectfully disagree.

While we should attempt to influence the government schools by running for local school committees, show up at school committee meetings to voice our objections, do what we can to promote a semblance of academic excellence, and openly oppose the agenda of the Leftist change agents in the government schools, let’s not deceive ourselves.  The Left has had a near monopoly in our government schools for close to one hundred years.  From the removal of intensive phonetics and replacing it with the literacy crippling “look-say” method, to the teaching of evolution as fact, to the removal  of school prayer, to sex education, to the administering of psychotropic drugs,  to the introduction of Outcome Based Education and Common Core, to the teaching of a general hatred of the United States via Howard Zinn’s error-ridden A People’s History of the United States, to the 1619 Project and Critical Race Theory, to  the promotion of the Alphabet Mafia’s perverted agenda, children are at risk mentally,  morally, physically, and spiritually.   Sam Blumenfeld documented all of this in his book  Crimes of the Educators co-authored by Alex Newman (A link to a free PDF version:  http://blumenfeld.campconstitution.net/Books/Crimes%20of%20the%20Educators.pdf   

We went from the most highly literate nation in the world to a nation of illiterates and semi-illiterates who do not possess basic reading and math skills while harboring a seething hatred of our country, its history, and its Constitution.  I think it is safe to say that those that are rioting, looting, burning, and tearing down statues are not products of the homeschool community. With all due respect to Grace, whom I greatly admire, homeschooling is both a viable and vital option.   She isn’t alone, however, as a regular viewer of Newsmax and up until recently Fox News, I have never seen one guest representing a member of the homeschool organization.  I have to admit that we in the homeschool community don’t do the best job when it comes to promoting our mission, but that will have to end if we expect to maintain a free nation.

 

There are homeschool organizations both national and state based.  Some of them are religious like the Massachusetts Homeschool Organization of Parent Educators (MASS HOPE) https://masshope.org/, Homeschoolers of Maine, and Catholics United for Home Education NH.   Others offer support for black homeschoolers like National Black Home Educators  https://www.nbhe.net/ .

There are annual homeschool conventions including Mass HOPE’s which is held on the last weekend of April in Sturbridge, MA, and The Homeschoolers of Maine’s held in Augusta in May.  These conventions are where veteran homeschoolers and new homeschoolers alike can learn about the legal issues concerning homeschoolers, how to begin homeschooling, how to find local homeschool support groups, and where attendees can find curricula that meets their needs.

Vendors include ABEKA, Bob Jones University, and Liberty University which offer fully accredited k-12 homeschool programs while others supplemental programs like Demme Learning (Math) and New Life Fine Arts (Drama), and of course Camp Constitution.  Also included among the vendors are homeschoolers that have their own businesses.

There are homeschool support groups in communities all over the United States where homeschool parents and their children get together on a regular basis for classes, listen to guest instructors, take field trips, learn to dance, play sports, and hold graduation ceremonies.   Contrary to the myth that homeschooled children are sheltered, there is plenty of interaction with other homeschooled students as well as adults.  Indeed, it has been my experience that homeschooled children interact with adults far better than their government school counterparts.

I will mention a few which I recommend with info from their websites:

Freedom Project Academy:

Freedom Project Academy offers a fully accredited, Classical education for Kindergarten through High School. FPA is rooted firmly in the Judeo-Christian values as promoted in the Constitution by our Founding Fathers, who strove to guarantee the preservation of our God-given liberties. Our live classes are delivered online through interactive classrooms to students in all 50 states and a dozen foreign countries, serving missionary and military families overseas.

Freedom Project Partnership teams up with churches and private schools to stream Judeo-Christian classes into brick-and-mortar classrooms across the country. This allows for the rapid expansion of faith-based schools across the nation as Freedom Project provides all class instruction, assignments, tests, and grading needed to help schools stay on budget. What better way to restore American values than to bring the worlds of faith and education together again?

      https://fpeusa.org/

Ron Paul Academy:

A student who goes through this curriculum, kindergarten through high school, will have a mastery of the foundations of liberty. There is no other curriculum on the Web to match it.

It does not assign printed textbooks. This saves families a lot of money. Textbooks cost a great deal of money. Almost all of the materials are free: toner and paper only. Only when the materials are copyrighted and time-sensitive — modern business and modern literature — do parents pay for books.

The curriculum is mostly self-taught. If a student gets stuck, he can get help from other students in the course Communities. Students serve as tutors for each other. They learn by teaching, which is a great way to master any new field.

This curriculum teaches students how to write. The teachers in the social sciences and humanities at the high school level have Ph.D. degrees. They are both successful writers. They are both successful businessmen. They will teach your children how to write effectively and fast.

Students start writing in the fourth grade. They do not stop until they finish their final courses. I doubt that they will ever stop.

Every student is asked to set up at least one website. Their weekly papers must be posted on their sites. This is crucial for self-education: public visibility. Students can see what the competition is doing. Most students hate this aspect of the curriculum, but it forces them to do their best with their writing assignments. Parents have an obligation to see to it that their children post their weekly papers. This is the #1 educational task for parents.

The curriculum centers around the weekly essays. Parents should read them. If they want to grade them, that’s fine. If they don’t, that’s also fine. But parents had better insist that their children post URL links to their posted weekly essays. These links must be posted on the course forums.

No student who gets through this curriculum will ever need to be nagged to get through college, graduate school, or a career. This curriculum teaches self-discipline. This is a crucial personal habit. It is mostly internal. It develops after years of working in an environment that requires self-discipline.

For students who hustle, they will enter college as juniors. They will quiz out of their first two years of college for about $2,500, total (today’s money, of course). They will get into the work force as college graduates two years before their peers do.

The man who teaches the public speaking course in grade 9 and the history and literature courses for grades 6 through 8 graduated from an accredited college on his 18th birthday. He paid for his own college education by working part time in his own home business. It cost him under $12,000. It can be done. I recommend it.

If you are a parent, this should get your attention. I think students should also be motivated. (I am assuming that students want to get out of school fast.)  https://www.ronpaulcurriculum.com

Liberty University Online Academy:

Have you always dreamed of sending your child to private school but felt like you didn’t have a flexible and affordable option? At Liberty University Online Academy (LUOA), you can provide your student with the best of a homeschool, private school, and Bible-based education all rolled into one!

Our high-quality, K-12 curriculum can be completed from the comfort of your home — so you can work schooling around your life, not the other way around. Additionally, we offer a vast array of resources that are designed to help your student succeed — and to make your job as a homeschooling parent a little easier.

Partner with us and give your student the tools they need to succeed!   https://www.liberty.edu/lp/online-academy

Abeka:

You want methods and materials that work. That’s what you’ll find with Abeka—comprehensive, quality curriculum and materials written from a Christian perspective. Now more than ever, each child needs a strong foundation in both academics and character.

We’re here to help homeschooling families and Christian schools of all sizes give their students the knowledge and skills they need.

For over forty years, schools and homeschooling families have trusted Abeka to provide materials using the traditional approach proven successful throughout education’s history. Professionally illustrated textbooks and teaching aids, hands-on activities, challenging exercises, and our Spiral Learning approach with purposeful repetition and reinforcement of concepts from subject to subject give you all the tools you need to make learning interesting and memorable.

You can choose Abeka with confidence; each subject’s content comes from the work of skilled, dedicated scholars who have conducted primary research. See your students achieve the academic excellence and moral character that leave them equipped for life, just like over one million children developing into lifelong learners with Abeka.  https://www.abeka.com

 The Samuel Blumenfeld Archive:

While not an accredited entity, I  recommend the  Samuel Blumenfeld Archive hosted by Camp Constitution http://blumenfeld.campconstitution.net/main.htm   It contains the works of the late homeschool pioneer Samuel Blumenfeld, who was a dear friend and mentor of mine. It offers, among other things, a free on-line phonics reading course with all 128 lessons available in audio and video, a cursive writing course and a basic arithmetic course.  It also contains most of the books, articles, newsletters authored by Sam as well as dozens of Sam’s lectures in audio and video.

Designed by Eric Conover.