And today — wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles — both are singing from the same hymnal.

Marshall and Klein have portrayed all the scandals as faux scandals. Ezra Klein notoriously predicted — wishcast, actually — last week that the wheels were coming off the scandal wagon and that everyone would see how silly all of this is.

But today, they sing a different tune:

Josh Marshall (10:15a.m.): Lerner Must Go talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2013/… Ezra Klein (9:45a.m.): Heads should roll at IRS washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog…

— John McCormack (@McCormackJohn) May 22, 2013

Both of those tweets argue that Lerner should be fired.

I imagine they’re arguing for this because Obama has already decided to fire her.

Thus, they put out a Possible Solution Which Will Completely Solve This Whole Scandal-Business, Obama implements this Solution, and then there’s no more scandal!

What I glean from this is that the previous White House position — nothing more needs be done, this is all a “partisan fishing expedition” — is now inoperative, and a new defense — fire Lois Lerner and then claim that nothing more needs be done, this is all now just a partisan fishing expedition, again — is now in effect.

Even more startling, other hacks journalists suddenly have the very same opinion! It’s like ESP, only with Leftists! Take Joan Walsh at Salon (please!) who notes, “Why Lerner still has a job is the biggest mystery in this entirely mysterious story.”

Amazing: the White House summons its media toadies — the very same Leftists who used to coordinate media talking points on the infamous Journolist, in fact — and *voila!* like magic the Washington Post and other DNC press release outlets are magically in synch with the Obama administration.

Somewhere, Julius Streicher is smiling.

Doug Ross @ Journal

After nearly seven minutes, an exasperated Gowdy finally got to the bottom of it with this exchange:

Gowdy: Did you lift a finger to investigate the facts?

Shulman: Uh, I felt quite comfortable the Inspector General would run down the facts and…

And once he had it it would be recorded out.

Gowdy: Let the record reflect that’s a ‘no’.

So the record shows that Shulman said “no”, he instigated no internal investigation of these criminal actions.

And I believe Trey Gowdy just trapped Mr. Shulman.

Because… it was revealed today that, indeed, the IRS did conduct an internal investigation and its results were withheld until after the election.

[More] evidence [has] emerge[d] that IRS’s own internal probe ended in May 2012, six months before election, but was hidden from legislators. This is turning into a purely political manipulation of government malfeasance, if not illegality and unconstitutionality. To date, flunkies have most gotten passes with early retirements. Wrong doers are rewarded that way to keep them from talking. This thing may just go on for a long, long time and get incredibly serious.

Don’t pay attention to the media claiming the Right will hurt itself by pursuing this. That’s just their usual nonsense. We need to pursue it until we find out the truth. That’s what the larger American public will want in the end, no matter what said truth is.

When the history books are written, Richard Nixon will look like a guy who stole a few boxes of Girl Scout cookies compared to Barack Obama.

Doug Ross @ Journal

But most Americans are only focused on the short-term because the mainstream media is only focused on the short-term.  Things are good this week and things were good last week, so there is nothing to worry about, right?

Unfortunately, economic reality is not going to change even if all of us try to ignore it.  Those that are willing to take an honest look at what is coming down the road are very troubled.  For example, Bill Gross of PIMCO says that his firm sees “bubbles everywhere”…

We see bubbles everywhere, and that is not to be dramatic and not to suggest they will pop immediately. I just suggested in the bond market with a bubble in treasuries and bubble in narrow credit spreads and high-yield prices, that perhaps there is a significant distortion there. Having said that, it suggests that as long as the FED and Bank of Japan and other Central Banks keep writing checks and do not withdraw, then the bubble can be supported as in blowing bubbles. They are blowing bubbles. When that stops there will be repercussions.

And unfortunately, it is not just the United States that has a bubble economy.  In fact, the gigantic financial bubble over in Japan may burst before our own financial bubble does.  The following is from a recent article by Graham Summers…

First and foremost, Japan is the second largest bond market in the world. If Japan’s sovereign bonds continue to fall, pushing rates higher, then there has been a tectonic shift in the global financial system. Remember the impact that Greece had on asset prices? Greece’s bond market is less than 3% of Japan’s in size.

For multiple decades, Japanese bonds have been considered “risk free.” As a result of this, investors have been willing to lend money to Japan at extremely low rates. This has allowed Japan’s economy, the second largest in the world, to putter along marginally.

So if Japanese bonds begin to implode, this means that:

1)   The second largest bond market in the world is entering a bear market (along with commensurate liquidations and redemptions by institutional investors around the globe).

2)   The second largest economy in the world will collapse (along with the impact on global exports).

Both of these are truly epic problems for the financial system.

And of course the entire global financial system is a giant bundle of debt, risk and leverage at this point.  We have never seen anything like this in world history.  When you step back and take a good, hard look at the numbers, they truly are staggering.  The following statistics are from one of my previous articles entitled “Why Is The World Economy Doomed? The Global Financial Pyramid Scheme By The Numbers“…

-$ 70,000,000,000,000 - The approximate size of total world GDP.

-$ 190,000,000,000,000 - The approximate size of the total amount of debt in the entire world.  It has nearly doubled in size over the past decade.

-$ 212,525,587,000,000 - According to the U.S. government, this is the notional value of the derivatives that are being held by the top 25 banks in the United States.  But those banks only have total assets of about 8.9 trillion dollars combined.  In other words, the exposure of our largest banks to derivatives outweighs their total assets by a ratio of about 24 to 1.

-$ 600,000,000,000,000 to $ 1,500,000,000,000,000 - The estimates of the total notional value of all global derivatives generally fall within this range.  At the high end of the range, the ratio of derivatives to global GDP is more than 21 to 1.

The financial meltdown that happened back in 2008 should have been a wake up call for the nations of the world.  They should have corrected the mistakes that happened so that nothing like that would ever happen again.  Unfortunately, nothing was fixed.  Instead, our politicians and the central bankers became obsessed with reinflating the system.  They piled up even more debt, recklessly printed tons of money and kicked the can down the road for a few years.  In the process, they made our long-term problems even worse.  The following is a recent quote from John Williams of shadowstats.com…

The economic and systemic solvency crises of the last eight years continue. There never was an actual recovery following the economic downturn that began in 2006 and collapsed into 2008 and 2009. What followed was a protracted period of business stagnation that began to turn down anew in second- and third-quarter 2012. The official recovery seen in GDP has been a statistical illusion generated by the use of understated inflation in calculating key economic series (see Public Comment on Inflation). Nonetheless, given the nature of official reporting, the renewed downturn likely will gain recognition as the second-dip in a double- or multiple-dip recession.

What continues to unfold in the systemic and economic crises is just an ongoing part of the 2008 turmoil. All the extraordinary actions and interventions bought a little time, but they did not resolve the various crises. That the crises continue can be seen in deteriorating economic activity and in the panicked actions by the Federal Reserve, where it proactively is monetizing U.S. Treasury debt at a pace suggestive of a Treasury that is unable to borrow otherwise.

And there are already lots of signs that the next economic downturn is rapidly approaching.

For example, corporate revenues are falling at Wal-Mart, Proctor and Gamble, Starbucks, AT&T, Safeway, American Express and IBM.

Would revenues at Wal-Mart be falling if the economy was getting better?

U.S. jobless claims hit a six week high last week.  We aren’t in the danger zone yet, but once they hit 400,000 that will be a major red flag.

And even though we are still in the “good times” relatively speaking, the federal government is already talking about tightening welfare programs.  In fact, there are proposals in Congress right now to make significant cuts to the food stamp program.

If food stamps and other welfare programs get cut, that is going to make a lot of people very, very angry.  And that anger and frustration will get even worse when the next economic downturn strikes and millions of people start losing their jobs and their homes.

What we are witnessing right now is the calm before the storm.  Let us hope that it lasts for as long as possible so that we can have more time to prepare.

Unfortunately, this bubble of false hope will not last forever.  At some point it will end, and then the pain will begin.

Michael T. Snyder is a graduate of the University of Florida law school and he worked as an attorney in the heart of Washington D.C. for a number of years. Today, Michael is best known for his work as the publisher of The Economic Collapse Blog. If you want to know what things in America are going to look like in a few years read his new book The Beginning of the End.

SHTF Plan – When It Hits The Fan, Don’t Say We Didn’t Warn You

Downtown Cincinnati, home of some of the conservative groups targeted by the IRS, saw one of the nation’s largest protests today. It began in Fountain Square, two blocks away from the federal complex that houses a large IRS office.

Several Gadsden flags were flying proudly as I approached the Square.

Facing a busy Fifth Street, protesters waved signs at cars.

One man covered his face with a bandanna; the mark of a citizen afraid of his own government.

Facing Fifth Street

All of the news networks seemed to be there.

The march to the IRS office begins.

My guess at the crowd size was between 500 and 1,000.

The crowd stretched for several blocks as the march unfolded.

The crowd approaches the federal building.

Very little sidewalk space kept the crowd somewhat dispersed.

The view from near the front.

The crowd filters across the street.

Facing the IRS offices.

Looking north as the crowd spills onto the street.

A DHS “Federal Police” vehicle was parked in front.

No one pooped on the vehicle, unlike the Occupy rallies.

Some of the crowd never appeared to make it across the street to the federal building for lack of space.

This sign incensed the crowd.  It was slapped up onto the window by an IRS employee.

“Oh, my – that was easy.”

I slid between a bunch of people to get to the building entrance.

I noticed the Skywalk bridge to the federal building and decided to make my way up.

This is the view from the federal building’s skywalk.

“We should get their I.D.s.”

I don’t think he was kidding.

Doug Ross @ Journal

Nation

IRS Scandal Reaches the White House: AIM
Lois Lerner to Plead Fifth; Evade Questions About IRS Targeting: Ace
IRS Low-level Employee Meme Falling Apart? : Riehl

Looking more and more like a DOJ war on Fox News, not just Rosen: LI
Carney: White House And IRS Talked About How To Spin Scandal: WZ
Miller: IRS didn’t have time to prepare testimony: Breitbart

Next Against the Wall: White House Counsel Kathryn Ruemmler?: NRO
IRS Official Lois Lerner Targeted Conservative Groups While Working For FEC: WZ
Who Planted the Question that Kicked off the IRS Abuse Scandal?: Tatler

Mitch McConnell Supports Schumer’s Amnesty/Immigration Deform Bill: RS
Court Upholds Ariz. Law Denying “Dreamers” Licenses: JW
Coumo to State Sheriffs: Shut Up About Gun Law or Risk Termination: MenRec

Economy

The Fed can’t save the stock market again: AEI
What Is California Attempting to Hide?: Mish
Former IRS Chief Refuses to Apologize: AmSpec

Scandal Central

IRS Is Asking Christian Churches for Membership Lists: GWP
Oh My: CBS News’ Sharyl Attkisson Says Her Computers Were Compromised And Under Investigation: WZ
Obama wanted DOJ To Go After Conservative orgs BEFORE He Was Elected: Riehl

Climate & Energy

Democrat Sen. Whitehouse: GOP Caused The Oklahoma Tornado By Not Believing in Global Warming: RWN
A climate milestone: Times
Hooray! Warmists Say Ocean Is Eating 90% Of The Warmth: RWN

Media

How Media Progressives Like Those At The New York Times Spin News Stories: Draw and Strike
Bombshell: Govt Official Says Hillary Spearheaded Benghazi Review, Not Independent Board: FreePost
Sensitive BuzzFeeder and ‘partnerships’ builder: ‘Ted Cruz is a Latino in name only’; Deletes tweet: Twitchy

White House-created “doctored” war on Jon Karl and Stephen Hayes falls apart: LI
Google and Democrats deny that Google is helping Democrats: RS
Sharyl Attkisson’s computers compromised: Politico

Earl W. Jackson Blows Roof Off at Virginia Convention: Western
Ezra Klein, Other JournoListers Seen Heading to White House for Private Briefing: Ace
The News Isn’t Buying What Carney’s Selling: Ace

‘Tea Party is alive and pissed’: Patriots protest at IRS offices across the country [pics]: Twitchy
Obama sends DHS armed guards to Tea Party protests: FAM
Fox’s Bret Baier Reveals That DOJ Also Seized Phone Records For James Rosen’s Parents: Mediate

World

Turkey Stakes Claim in America With $ 100 Million Mega-Mosque: Clarion Project
Steven Crowder in Morality Kombat: Scoop
Saudi Arabia beheads Yemenis, displays corpses in public: Commentator

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue.com/Tech)

Former Thief Invents Theft-Proof ATMs From His Cell: Mashable
Free, a radical story turning disruptive: InnoExc
Your Pictures: The Oklahoma Tornado: NatGeo

Cornucopia

Press Drones On: MOTUS
Obama at the Movies: Political Wrinkles
ToDaZeD Proggie Nudge[s]: Sondrakistan

Image: American Power
Today’s Larwyn’s Linx sponsored by: New TV Ad: Hold Obama Accountable for Benghazi Scandal

QOTD: “Obama didn’t know the IRS was targeting conservatives until he read it in the papers. He didn’t know about “Fast and Furious” until he read it in the papers, too. He has “complete confidence” in Holder, and didn’t know about the decision to collect the phone records of reporters. He didn’t know about the investigation into CIA director David Petraeus’s affair. He told Letterman during the election he didn’t know what the national debt was. He didn’t know about the AIG bonuses in the TARP legislation. He said he didn’t know how bad the economic crisis was when he took office.

That “empty chair” metaphor from the Republican convention was so out of line, huh?” –Jim Geraghty

Doug Ross @ Journal

From our blogging friends over at HeyJackass.com:

• 13 homicides last week now puts 2013 solidly ahead of 2011 – 123 vs 115. Plus a number of those shot in the past week were listed in “grave” condition.

  The Tiny Dancer and McGunControl surge seems to be losing steam.

  How much money has been spent in overtime, etc… ? 

No idea how much overtime has been expended, but we know it got that much harder to track the other day.  We got this e-mail from an interested party:

•  Not sure why, but all of a sudden CPD and CFD overtime payments have been removed from the City’s DataPortal.  As of March-April, this had YTD overtime for ALL City Departments and ALL personnel but it seems that City Hall has now limited it to those few Depts that they feel like releasing.  So much for open and transparent.

We’ll admit we didn’t use the site before, so we aren’t sure what was there, but our e-mailer obviously has used it and noticed right away that a significant method of tracking spending has been concealed. Anyone want to guess why?

And I love the liberal dips***s who blame neighboring cities for Chicago’s homicide rate. “The guns are all coming in from other cities where they’re easy to obtain,” they’ll whine, “that’s why the murder rate is so high!”

You mean those same cities that have only a tiny fraction of the murders that Chicago suffers?

Yeah, those.

Hat tip: BadBlue Gun News.

Doug Ross @ Journal

A stunning 50% of Americans surveyed said yes. What’s more, a full 25% of democrats polled by the firm agreed. The poll has a margin of error of 4.36%.

“It may be early in the process for members of Congress to start planning for impeachment of Barack Obama, but the American public is building a serious appetite for it,” said Fritz Wenzel.

…

“Half or nearly half of those surveyed said they believed Obama should be impeached for the trifecta of scandals now consuming Washington.”

Actually, on the issue of the Benghazi scandal, where four Americans were killed when in what may have been a politically motivated series of moves, a surging danger to Americans at the foreign service facility there was ignored until al-Qaida-linked terrorists attacked, 50.1 percent of Americans said Obama should be impeached. That included 27.6 percent of the responding Democrats.

On the scandal of the Internal Revenue Service intentionally harassing conservative and Christian organizations? Forty-nine percent said they agree that impeachment is appropriate, including 24.4 percent of the Democrats.

And on the fishing trip the Obama administration took into AP reporters’ telephone records in search of something that may well have been done by his own administration, 48.6 percent impeachment is appropriate. That included 26.1 percent of the Democrats.

WND Poll

Is this the most corrupt administration ever?

Let’s see how I do with the list.

• Fast And Furious (guns for drug lords, resulting in murder of Americans and Mexicans)
• Robosigning (over 100,000 perjured affidavits filed in court cases)
• IRS Tea Party and other group and individual abuse in direct violation of the law (politically-based harassment and now apparently-perjured testimony before Congress)
• Money Laundering for terrorists and drug lords (by multiple large banks)
• Intentional and unlawful destruction of property rights (GM bondholders screwed for political cronies in the UAW)
• Intentional and unlawful destruction of your saved wealth (QE, QE2, QE3, QEinfinity, $ 1 trillion+ deficits, etc; Treasury and Federal Reserve actions)
• Benghazi (apparent illegal arming of terrorists, then an attempt to reverse that leading to the attack on our CIA outpost and what appears to beintentional indifference and orders to stand down during the attack that had to come from the White House despite ability to respond; this amounts to conspiracy with the terrorists to kill Chris Stevens and the others who died.)
• Swindles by the billions in countless schemes during the 2000s related to securitizations and other hinky deals (where despite black letter legal requirements for actual endorsement and delivery of documents banks simply did not comply and now argue there should be no penalty for not having done so, and that these defects are “mere procedural errors” despite intent to not comply.)  The result is that our land title system no longer has any resemblance of integrity.
• Intentional destruction of anything approaching a “free market” for health care going back 30+ years and now compounded through active conspiracy by Obama and all of the political parties to grant, protect and enforce through government monopolies and cost-shifting resulting in cost escalations of 500-1,000% or even more against market prices and now, with Obamacare, abuse of the IRS tax power to force another 100% or more increase in those expenses down your throat for the express purpose of enrichment of those in the medical industry.

Source: Karl Denninger’s Market Ticker

This administration is involved in machinations and back-office deals that have not only cost Americans trillions of dollars in economic losses, but countless lives as evidenced by Benghazi and the Fast & Furious gun running operation.

As an American citizen you live under the rule of law; it’s a law that is supposed to apply to every one of us, equally.

If you forge signatures on official documents you go to prison.

If you fail to pay your taxes you go to prison.

If you attempt to hide money within our banking system you go to prison.

If you tap someone’s phone – or even attempt to record federal or state officials in public venues with your cell phone, they send you to prison.

If you knowingly sell guns to criminals you go to prison.

If you conspire to create a story and lie about your involvement in the murder of others you go to prison.

But if you’re an Obama administration official or have political and financial ties to the President, you have immunity or “Executive Privilege”.

This is NOT how our system of justice is supposed to work.

One set of laws for us – another set of laws for them.

There is only one solution – and it involves handcuffs… for a lot of people, from the President of the United States on down.

How 50% of Americans can sit idly by while their nation and their personal liberties are supplanted at every turn is beyond words.

Remember, impeachment does not mean the President would be kicked out of office. It means that he and his administration would be extensively investigated by independent prosecutors, questioned by Congress, and judged by the American people in a public forum.

To the question of “Should President Obama be impeached,” 100% of Americans should have responded with a resounding yes.

The integrity of the highest office in our land is being called into question – and half of our countrymen don’t care.

It’s a stark reminder of where we’re headed.

SHTF Plan – When It Hits The Fan, Don’t Say We Didn’t Warn You

One of the most powerful tools in the arsenal of the grass roots food freedom fight is social media. Google, Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, and many more networks allow people to instantly connect and provide a platform for information to be passed on exponentially. Facebook and Google are the two biggest websites in the entire world, and their reach is nearly unlimited.

Last week, the Monsanto Company made it very clear that they were under the gun via social media, and they went on the defense, weakly claiming that those who object with their toxic seeds and deadly farming methods were “elitist,” thereby attempting to undermine us as snobbish people who don’t see the big picture and who don’t care about world hunger.

This week, they’ve upped their game. Mysterious things have been occurring on the social networks: posts have disappeared, some posts are hidden from the timelines of readers, and trolls abound on pages promoting this weekend’s March Against Monsanto, happening worldwide on May 25.

Like any cornered rat, the leviathan seed company can see the very large threat coming their way, and it appears that they are pulling out all the stops to fight as dirty as they can. But the movement against the company is so powerful, that despite paid-off politicians and billions of dollars in the war chest, Monsanto knows that they’ve been outmatched. What we’re seeing now are the last, desperate attempts to keep the general public from learning about the man-made global disaster that was created by Monsanto.

On my own page, I found an interesting anomaly. I posted this yesterday:

Delivered by The Daily Sheeple

Contributed by Daisy Luther of The Organic Prepper.

Daisy Luther is a freelance writer and editor. Her website, The Organic Prepper, offers information on healthy prepping, including premium nutritional choices, general wellness and non-tech solutions. You can follow Daisy on Facebook and Twitter, and you can email her atdaisy@theorganicprepper.ca

SHTF Plan – When It Hits The Fan, Don’t Say We Didn’t Warn You

The director of the Internal Revenue Service’s Exempt Organizations division, Lois Lerner, is invoking the Fifth Amendment and will not appear before Congress to answer questions about the agency’s targeting of Tea Party and other conservative groups.

Lerner was scheduled to appear before the House Oversight committee tomorrow to discuss the improper conduct of IRS employees who singled out conservative groups, and why she failed to bring that behavior to the attention of Congress.

…In testimony before the House Ways and Means Committee last week, the outgoing commissioner of the IRS, Steven Miller, revealed that Lerner initially disclosed the IRS’s targeting of conservative groups by planting a question at a conference hosted by the American Bar Association.

Not so fast, honey.

The National Journal reports that Chairman Issa has issued a subpoena to compel Lerner to appear before the committee.

Lerner, you may recall, was the same political hack who got her Leftist wings targeting conservative groups at the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

IRS’s Lerner Had History of Harassment, Inappropriate Religious Inquiries at FEC

Lerner’s tenure as head of the Enforcement Office at the Federal Election Commission (FEC) was marked by what appears to be politically motivated harassment of conservative groups…

In the late 1990s, the FEC launched an onerous investigation of the Christian Coalition, ultimately costing the organization hundreds of thousands of dollars and countless hours in lost work. The investigation was notable because the FEC alleged that the Christian Coalition was coordinating issue advocacy expenditures with a number of candidates for office. Aside from lacking proof this was happening, it was an open question whether the FEC had the authority to bring these charges…

…The FEC conducted [81 depositions and] a large amount of paper discovery during the administrative investigation and then served four massive discovery requests during the litigation stage that included 127 document requests, 32 interrogatories, and 1,813 requests for admission. Three of the interrogatories required the Coalition to explain each request for admission that it did not admit in full, for a total of 481 additional written answers that had to be provided. The Coalition was required to produce tens of thousands of pages of documents, many of them containing sensitive and proprietary information about finances and donor information. Each of the 49 state affiliates were asked to provide documents and many states were individually subpoenaed. In all, the Coalition searched both its offices and warehouse, where millions of pages of documents are stored, in order to produce over 100,000 pages of documents…

One of the most shocking things about the current IRS scandal is the revelation that the agency asked one religious pro-life group to detail the content of their prayers and asked clearly inappropriate questions about private religious activity. But under Lerner’s watch, inappropriate religious inquiries were a hallmark of the FEC’s interrogation of the Christian Coalition.

In short, Lerner is a Leftist apparatchik who has no business serving in government.

Jeffrey Lord sums up the ramifications of these outrages:

With the IRS assuming serious police powers of Obamacare, in effect the members of one left-wing labor union will have access to the private health care records of every single American.

Interestingly, the IRS workers themselves want no part of Zerocare:

The National Treasury Employees Union, NTEU, which represents the IRS employees who harassed and delayed tea party and conservative groups, has come out against the proposal to put federal workers into exchange-based health insurance.

Fancy that: the people in charge of deciding whether you go into an exchange, and who decided it doesn’t matter whether your state doesn’t want one, don’t want to be in one themselves.

This administration is completely out of control. It’s time to dismantle and defund it, starting with the IRS.

Weasel Lerner image: Independent Sentinel.

Doug Ross @ Journal

A Saudi court sentenced two Asian housemaids to 10 years in jail and ordered their lashed 1,000 times each after they were found guilty of indulging in sorcery at their employers’ houses… Their Saudi employers reported the two maids to the Gulf country’s feared religious police, saying they had discovered that their families had been harmed because of sorcery practiced by the maids against them.

Members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice who searched the two houses in Riyadh found talismans and other magic items in the bedrooms of the two maids… Saudi Arabia, which strictly enforces Islamic law, has beheaded many persons convicted of practicing magic over the past years.

And I’m sure they were given a fair trial with a jury of their peers.

Doug Ross @ Journal

It’s not a stretch to suggest that Americans are over medicated. In 2011 doctors across the nation wrote an astounding four billion medical prescriptions, amounting to an average of 13 prescriptions for every  man, woman and child in the United States.

In the next few weeks the American Psychiatric Associations is releasing their updated fifth version their Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5); the so-called ‘bible’ of psychiatric diagnoses. The new manual promises to take mental illness and the use of prescription drugs to a whole new level.

You may not be considered “crazy” or “mentally ill” today, but under the new guidelines experts say half of us will be diagnosed with a psychiatric condition in the future.

The odds will probably be greater than 50 percent, according to the new manual, that you’ll have a mental disorder in your lifetime.

…

The increasing number of disorders comes about because some “problems” that were not previously considered to be mental illness were reclassified as such by their inclusion in the DSM—and it is the DSM that functionally defines mental illness in the United States.

You see, in the DSM-5 the definitions for mental illness have been expanded to include a whole host of new symptoms and conditions.

For example, under the new guidelines if your 6 to 18 year-old child throws a temper tantrum from time to time or has a mood swing, a psychiatrist could diagnose the condition as a “Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder” requiring professional treatment. Keep in mind that in psychiatry “professional treatment” almost always means prescription drugs.

Are you over the age of 55 and have “senior moments” like forgetting where you put your keys? If so, then in all likelihood you have a neurocognitive disorder.

Do you stockpile food, supplies or other items in anticipation of a disaster? If so, you may have what’s called an obsessive compulsive hoarding disorder.

“The reality shows have raised awareness, but they tend to sensationalize the patients, and they rarely talk about treatment.”

“The big change,” Dr. Saxena said, “will be an official recognition of hoarding as an important neuropsychic disorder that will increase screening, increase detection and diagnosis, and refer patients in for treatment.”

While the new hoarding guidelines don’t specifically target “preparedness,” the fact is that some ‘professionals’ have already suggested that if you have any level of anxiety about the possibility of a major catastrophe, or your motivation for preparing for unforeseen events includes a distrust of the government, then you’ve got psychological problems.

Now, with the DSM-5, they can officially diagnose you as crazy.

Dr. Allen Frances, the author of Saving Normal, says that the new requirements will, ”turn everyday anxiety, eccentricity, forgetting and bad eating habits into mental disorders.”

The changes being introduced by the DSM-5 are nothing short of a sweeping overhaul of our mental health care system, and they will have effects that many experts can’t even fathom. But those behind the DSM, who work very closely with government experts, know exactly what they’re doing.

Let’s connect the dots a little bit to get an idea of how this is going to have a direct impact on your life in the very near future.

Under the new regulations set forth by the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, certain groups of Americans like school children, seniors, those on government health plans, active-duty military personnel, and veterans will be required to submit to mental health screenings.

Page 1137 of the The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act provides grants for the operation of school-based health centers required to include “mental health and substance abuse disorder assessments” for children and adolescents.

On page 1191 is found a section on Mental Health Screening that refers to a program called “Healthy Aging, Living Well”. Persons ages 55-64 are being targeted for screening activities that can include “mental health/behavioral health and substance use disorders.”

Obamacare requires mental health services for many other groups.

These include Medicaid recipients, addicts, mothers with postpartum depression, the elderly, and soldiers. There’s even has a section called “Mental Health in Small Businesses” which awards grants to small businesses willing to provide workplace wellness programs that encourage “healthy lifestyles, healthy eating, increased physical activity and improved mental health.”

Are you starting to see where this is going?

You’ll be forced by your child’s school, by the government, and even your private employer to be  involuntarily screened. And the psychiatrists who’ll be performing the diagnoses will be utilizing the criteria outlined in the DSM-5.

According to the afforementioned statistics, there’s a 50% chance that those being screened will be found to have some type of mental health condition.

But that’s just the beginning.

As we know, once diagnosed, failure to take the treatment (e.g. medication) prescribed could then be deemed unlawful behavior, especially in the case of children.

Not possible in America? Think again:

Earlier this year, administrators from the Berne-Knox-Westerlo school district called Albany County Child Protective Services, alleging child abuse when the Carrolls said they wanted to take Kyle off the drug.

As a result, the Carrolls are now on a statewide list of alleged child abusers, and they have been thrust into an Orwellian family court battle to clear their name and to ensure their child isn’t removed from their home.  “It’s beyond the point of whether he should be on it. Now it’s the point of them telling us what we’re going to do,” said Michael Carroll. “They’re telling me how to raise my child.”

…

“The schools are now using child protective services to enforce their own desires and their own policies,” said David Lansner, a New York City lawyer who has seen cases similar to the Carrolls’. “The parents’ authority is being undermined when people have to do what some public official wants,” Lansner added. “This thing is so scary,”

It’s already happening, and with nearly 4 million children every year being (mis)diagnosed with ADHD, we can expect the numbers to rise significantly under the new DSM guidelines.

It’s important to understand, however, that they’re not just targeting our children. They’re coming after all of us.

The DSM-5, coupled with Obama Care legislation, will allow the government unprecedented control over lives.

One such example is the targeting of America’s gun owners. Legislation is in the works in many states, as well as the U.S. Congress, that would require mental health screenings for firearms ownership. Should these bills pass, then about half of America’s gun owners would immediately lose their right to bear arms for any manner of “disorders” that could include stress, anxiety, depressed mood or even poor eating habits!

And while gun control proponents would applaud the victory, what they fail to understand is that by green-lighting such a government intrusion, they are setting themselves up for future legislation that may restrict their own rights for activities that may include maintaining employment or caring for their children.

Once a diagnoses is made the government will then have the ability to enforce it at the barrel of a gun.

If your child is diagnosed with ADHD or separation anxiety disorder, and you refuse to feed them their prescription cocktail, then the government will step in and take your children under the guise of protecting them… from you!

Likewise, you may one day be forced to be screened by your employer and found to be mentally ill (remember, 50/50 shot!). If you refuse the professional treatment that’s recommended, you could lose your job as a result. And because the Department of Homeland Security has been busy creating a Domestic No-Work List all prospective employers will know of your condition and your refusal to seek professional treatment.

The possibilities, now that the door has been opened, are endless.

SHTF Plan – When It Hits The Fan, Don’t Say We Didn’t Warn You

My friend Tony Perkins, president of FRC, has asked me to address the pastors on “The Church’s Call To Stand With Israel” and what The Joshua Fund is doing to bless Israel and her neighbors even as new war clouds are rising in the epicenter.

I’m not certain if the event will be webcast, but I’ll provide a link if it is.

Either way, I hope to post the notes of my talk later on Thursday after my session is completed.

In the meantime, please be praying for the pastors to be encouraged and refreshed during this conference. Pray that they would boldly preach the Gospel and carefully teach the “whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27). Pray that the Lord would use them to bring about a Third Great Awakening in this country, as well as show unconditional love and unwavering support for Israeli, Palestinians and all the people of the epicenter. Thanks so much.

>> To learn more about the work of The Joshua Fund — and/or to provide a tax-deductible contribution to this work — please visit www.joshuafund.net.

Joel C. Rosenberg’s Blog

They write the rules. One set for them. One set for us.

50 million of our fellow countrymen starve and depend on paltry government distributions to put food on the table every month. Millions have lost their homes and their jobs. And future generations are saddled with trillions of dollars in debt that can never be repaid.

All the while, those who are supposed to serve the people have only one goal: to enrich themselves and raise their elite status.

While the majority of America drinks Kool-Aid, they drink $ 500 bottles of wine. And, all of it is achieved at our expense.

47% of our Congress members are millionaires. The craziest part is, they tend to get richer in office. And, that is no coincidence.

They get richer in many unsavory ways.

One [way] is by using private information they obtain in office to make trades in the stock market. And, although they’re not supposed to do that, it’s pretty obvious that they do… Right before the stock market crashed in 2008, many of them invested in instruments that went up in value because the market went down.

…Then, there are earmarks, where Congress people secure federal money, as in your tax dollars, for projects that will benefit them directly. Take Nancy Pelosi. she owns an office building in San Francisco. She secured about $ 900 million in federal earmarks to build a light rail system that would, surprisingly, stop right by her own building. Once the project is completed, the value of her building could skyrocket 150%.

… Then there’s the revolving door, where members of Congress agree to do the bidding of lobbyists and corporations while they’re in office. In exchange, they get big fat salaries at jobs when they get out of Congress.

79% of members  of Congress who have left office since 1998 have gone to work as lobbyists.

…

The bottom line is, Americans, almost half of your Congress people are millionaires and many of them got that rich by using their powers in office.

Do you really think they’re there to represent you? Or to gain wealth for themselves?

(Video via Rense.com)

SHTF Plan – When It Hits The Fan, Don’t Say We Didn’t Warn You

Nation

Shut It Down–An Open Letter To Speaker Boehner: Ace
Tea-party group targeted by Democrats hit IRS, FBI, OSHA, and ATF: NRO
DOJ IG: Justice Leaked Documents to Smear Whistleblower: Breitbart

Obama and the IRS: The Smoking Gun?: Lord
It Can Happen Here: Hanson
Exclusive: Hillary’s Benghazi ‘Scapegoat’ Speaks Out: Daily Beast

For Barack Obama, speech isn’t free when it criticizes him: Exam
Tyranny is no longer ‘lurking’: RWN
McCaskill: Fire Everyone Involved in Obama’s IRS Scandal: RWN

Economy

White House demands colleges adopt unconstitutional speech codes: CEI
Do Our Republicans Have a Pass on this One?: RS
Tax-exempt Obama Foundation doesn’t exist at listed addresses: DC

Scandal Central

The cracks in Obama’s story on the IRS scandal are adding up: Lott
Hillary’s Benghazi ‘Scapegoat’ Speaks Out: Beast
Illegal Alien Rapes Baltimore Girl 1 Year after City Becomes Sanctuary: JW

Obama: I Fantasize About Dropping the Act and Just Telling Everyone My Truth: Ace
AP President: Government successfully intimidating people from talking to us: Scoop
Brit Hume: CHILLING that Obama admin treats ordinary news gathering of reporters as possible crime: Scoop

Obama IRS Scandal Will Go Down in Infamy: JW
Bombshell: Not just Rosen; A livid Megyn Kelly reports more at Fox News targeted by DOJ: Twitchy
Anti-Fraud Group ‘True the Vote’ Harassed NOT JUST by IRS, but FBI, OSHA… then ATF!: Reaganite

Climate & Energy

Dem Senator Uses Moore, OK Tragedy to Berate Republicans on Global Warming: GWP
Heartbreaking: 24 children dead, some drowned underneath collapsed elementary school building after tornado: Scoop
Oklahoma Tornado Kills at Least 91, Twenty of them Children: Riehl

Media

AP Chief: “Sources no longer want to talk. They fear they will be monitored by the Government.”: WZ
Internal Memo Proves That CBS’ Sharyl Attkisson Did Not Get Benghazi Emails Story Wrong: Mediate
The White House is taking a hard line on scandal talk. Can they make it stick?: WaPo

WaPo Fact Checker Blasts Obama’s IRS’ Stooge, Lois Lerner, For Lying, Gives Her Four Pinocchios: WZ
15 People Who Wrote Out Big Checks To Mitt Romney And Within 90 Days Got IRS Audited: RightPundit
Chuck Todd: This is “Absolutely Chilling”: Dossier

Reporter Deemed “Co-Conspirator” in Leak Case: FAS
The Tipping Point? Liberals Reporters Outraged Over Obama’s Targeting of Fox Reporter James Rosen: JWF
KMOV’s Larry Connors Told to Shut Up: Tatler

MSNBC ratings hit 7-Year low with Obama scandals: FAM
Why Do Bloggers Speak Out?: Blaze
An incredible discussion by Fox’s “Political Insiders” about the Impact of the Scandals: Lott

World

Muslims fly Nazi flag next to mosque near Jerusalem: JihadWatch
Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan Praised at White House as He Puts Knife In U.S.’s Back: BRubin
Israel fires back at Syria after gunshots at its troops: Reuters

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue.com/Tech)

LG to demo 5-inch unbreakable and flexible plastic OLED panel at SID: Engadget
Inside AT&T’s 83GB/hour mobile cell tower: 9to5mac
High School Student Creates Storage Device that Can Charge in 20 Seconds: DailyTech

Cornucopia

Weekend Roundup: Zoolander Meets Joey Wonka: MOTUS
Media To Add Laugh Track Audio to All Future Jay Carney Press Conferences: iOTW
Mount Everest Crowded, Littered with Corpses: OTB

Image: Tornado Titans
Sponsored by: Rein In The IRS: Nationwide Tea Party Protests Noon, Tuesday

QOTD: “Fraud flows from the top down, not the mid-level up. Mid-level officials in the White House and the State Department do not call the shots — they carry out orders. They also were not running for reelection in 2012 or positioning themselves for a campaign in 2016. The people doing that were, respectively, President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton.

Obama and Clinton had been the architects of American foreign policy. As Election Day 2012 loomed, each of them had a powerful motive to promote the impressions (a) that al-Qaeda had been decimated; (b) that the administration’s deft handling of the Arab Spring — by empowering Islamists — had been a boon for democracy, regional stability, and American national security; and (c) that our real security problem was “Islamophobia” and the “violent extremism” it allegedly causes — which was why Obama and Clinton had worked for years with Islamists, both overseas and at home, to promote international resolutions that would make it illegal to incite hostility to Islam, the First Amendment be damned.

All of that being the case, I am puzzled why so little attention has been paid to the Obama-Clinton phone call at 10 p.m. on the night of September 11.” –Andrew McCarthy

Doug Ross @ Journal

In Eichenwald’s case, he knows that conservatives opposed not the $ 17 billion Sandy relief bill, but the additional $ 33 billion in pork that included such necessities as:

$ 500 million for weather forecasting and to help create an ocean zoning plan–the later one of Obama’s pet projects. Also included are $ 10 million for FBI salaries $ 2 billion for road construction across the country, as well as funding for the Head Start program, roof repairs at the Smithsonian, and $ 150 million for fisheries across the country.

Everything with the Left is to be twisted to some partisan advantage, no matter how awful, tragic or unlawful.

I feel like we’re living in early 1930′s Germany, a state in which faith, traditions, and morals were sacrificed at the altar of an all-powerful central government. And we know how that ended up, eh, Eichenputz? But apparently that lesson is too complicated for the “editors” at “Vanity Fair” as well as the rest of the modern Democrat Party.

Hat tip: USCFP.

Doug Ross @ Journal

NOTES FROM THE “LIVING THE INVESTED LIFE” CONFERENCE:

What Is The Cost of Discipleship?

Joel C. Rosenberg

Message #3

>> On Saturday, May 18th, I spoke at a men’s conference at McLean Bible Church in northern Virginia on discipleship. The theme of the conference was based on a book that I wrote with the pastor who discipled my wife and me in college, The Invested Life: Making Disciples of all Nations One Person at a Time. Here are the notes I used for my three talks as prepared for the delivery. Soon, I’ll post links to the videos of the messages and you can see precisely what a said.

————————————————

In the first session, we examined, “What is discipleship?”

In the second session, we considered, “How do I make disciples?”

In this last session, let us consider, “What is the cost of discipleship?”

Then, as we come to a close, we’re going to have a time of prayer, a time of worship, and we’re going to partake of the Lord’s Supper.

Introduction

The Scriptures clearly teach that eternal salvation is the free gift of God — “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)

You can’t earn it. You can’t buy it. You don’t deserve it. God gives it to you for free because of the enormous price His Son paid on the cross.

That said, becoming a true and faithful disciple is not free. Nor is the decision not to make disciples.

Both are immensely costly.

The Cost of Becoming A True Disciple

When it came to talking about the cost of becoming a true and faithful disciple, Jesus did not mince words.

• “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.” (Luke 14:26)
• “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.” (Matthew 10:37)

What did Jesus mean?

What is holding you back from giving all of yourself to Jesus?

What else did Jesus say?

• “So, then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.” (Luke 14:33)

What did Jesus mean?

What is holding you back from giving all of your earthly possessions to Jesus?

What else did Jesus say?

• “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.” (Luke 14:27)
• “You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.” (Matthew 10:22)
• “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign the members of his household….Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:24-26, 28)
• “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven.” (Matthew 5:11-12)

What did Jesus mean?

Are you fearful of ridicule, rejection, persecution and/or death?

Is this what’s holding you back from being discipled? Is this what’s holding you back from making disciples?

What about the “great reward” our Savior promises to those who love Him enough to obey Him, not matter what the cost?

The Cost of Not Making Disciples

Yes, there is a cost to becoming a true and faithful disciple.

But there is also a cost in not becoming a true disciple – and cost in not making disciples.

First, let’s consider the big picture – then we’ll get more personal.

In the big picture, I see a real tragedy unfolding around the world, but especially in the American Church.

Many Christians seem to believe that “busyness is next to godliness.” They behave as if moving fast, thinking big, and focusing on the many is a more valuable approach to life than slowing down, thinking small, and faithfully investing in a few.

As a result, many Christians – including church leaders – are living lives of speed, exhaustion, and emptiness, not lives of quietness, contentment, joy, and lasting fruit.

They are not slowing down and going deeper in their faith. Nor are they slowing down and helping others go deeper in the faith.

They’re not really becoming more like Jesus. They’re not seeing the fruit of the Spirit develop in their lives. Nor are they helping others discover the joy of becoming more like Jesus. And because the faith of many “believers” is no more than skin deep, their lives are fruitless and defeated.

How much different is the typical American Christian from the typical American unsaved person?

Generally speaking, are American Christian really winning great victories over pornography, sexual promiscuity, adultery, homosexuality, abortion, divorce, drug and alcohol addiction, dysfunctionality, and depression?

And I’m not talking about politics – I talking about winning victory over sin and temptation in our own personal lives.

Are American Christians significantly godlier and healthier from the society at large, a society that is increasing risk of moral, spiritual and fiscal implosion?

The apostle Paul warned us in 2 Timothy 3:5 (niv) of those “having a form of godliness but denying its power.”

Yet, sadly, we see evidence of this within the church the world over.

This is the cost of not making disciples.

This is the cost of little churches when they operate like little neighborhood social clubs, not as warm and welcoming light houses trying to rescue desperate people lost in the darkness and helping them become new creations in Christ.

This is the cost of big churches when they move too fast, think too big, and cut too many corners on the things that matter most; when they operate as big institutions, rather than as warm and welcoming light houses trying to rescue desperate people lost in the darkness and helping them become new creations in Christ.

Please hear my heart:

I’m not against small churches – I grew up in one; Koshy led one – but I don’t believe smaller churches are better because they are smaller.

I’m not against big churches – I’ve been a member of one for 22 years – but I don’t believe big is necessarily better. 

• The first Church in Jerusalem was healthy and pleasing Christ on the day before Pentecost when it was small, just 120 people.
• It was healthy and pleasing Christ on Pentecost when 3,000 people suddenly received Christ and needed to be baptized and disciple.
• It was healthy years later when James told Paul that more than 20,000 people had come to faith and been baptized and were being discipled. 

Why was the Church healthy in each of these different sizes? Because its leaders and its member had a Supreme Love for Christ.

Several years ago, I had the joy of preaching throughout India with Dr. Koshy. One day we spoke at a church in Chennai that I believe was the first congregation God used Brother Bakht Singh to plant. There were 4,000 people there. The service lasted nine hours. No air conditioning. No chairs (except for the most elderly). No cafeteria. There were four sermons. I preached two. With two translators. People worshipped on their knees. Every person had their Bible with them. Nine hours. They were hungry to know Christ. They were hungry to be found faithful disciples. Should the pastor have been criticized because there were too many disciples there? Of course not. 

The issue isn’t size – the issue is heart.

• the condition of the pastor’s heart
• the condition of the congregation’s heart
• the faithfulness of the people to love Jesus with all their heart, soul, mind and strength, and to love their neighbors as themselves
• the faithfulness of the people to the heart of the Great Commission
• the faithfulness of the leaders to following the model of the early church

Now, let’s take a moment to talk about the personal cost of not making disciples.

• We miss opportunity to experience the joy of Jesus Christ because we’re disobeying the Great Commission
• We miss the opportunity to make life-long friendships with those we’re investing in
• We miss the joy of seeing younger believers grow and mature and bear fruit in Christ Jesus
• We miss understanding a deep and powerful level what the Body of Christ – the Church — is really supposed to be

As we close, let’s turn to Acts chapter two.

“They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer. Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. And all who had believed were together and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.”  (Acts 2:42-47)

What a beautiful picture of the early Church!

Those first disciples in Jerusalem were gathered together:

• to study the Apostle’s teaching/doctrine – and apply it to their lives
• to have deep and rich fellowship – to encourage one other to grow strong in the faith and share their faith with others
• to break bread together – that is, to partake of the Lord’s Supper and worship Christ for His sacrificial death on the cross
• And to pray – for each other, for their leaders, for the lost, for the people they were sharing the Gospel with, for the people they were discipling

They were full of the Holy Spirit and full of joy.

They were expectant to see God move in great power, and unashamed of the Gospel of His grace. 

They were living the abundant life, and they were experiencing the invested life.

They were seeing the fruit of the Spirit grow in their own lives, and they were seeing people come to Christ day by day.

The Church was growing – in depth and in numbers.

This is a true culture of discipleship.

This is the standard.

This is what Christ tells us to aim for – and the good news is that by God’s grace it is reachable. So let’s reach it.

Conclusion

Gentlemen, I realize there is so much more to be said.

But I hope you found today helpful in beginning to discover what it means to live the invested life.

I hope the book is helpful – it just one of many resources, but my prayer is that you find it a useful guide in unpacking what the Scriptures have to say about being a disciple and making disciples.

Let us close now where we began – with two simple questions:

• Who is investing in you?
• Whom are you investing in?

Sadly, most Christians have no answers. Indeed, most Christians have never asked these questions of themselves or others.

The Church today is currently experiencing an epic failure of discipleship – and this is why so many people who say they are following Christ are so weak, so unfruitful, and so discouraged in their faith.

But that doesn’t have to be you. Maybe it is today, but the good news is that God wants to invest more in you, and help you invest in others, if only you are willing.

Jesus Christ is looking for a few good men to surrender all and follow Him.

Are you in?

Joel C. Rosenberg’s Blog

The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 was originally established to protect American citizens from the federal use of military troops to enforce and execute the laws of the land unless expressly authorized by the Constitution or  Congress. Since then, for over a century, this task has fallen upon local and federal law enforcement. But with the War on Terror taking center stage in the United States for the last decade, elements within the government have been working tirelessly to expand the mission of the US military on the domestic front.

First, they passed the Patriot Act, which gave the government sweeping new powers to categorize any individual as a terrorist, whether they are operating on foreign lands or here at home. In 2011, as America brought in the New Year, they signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act, which made it possible for American citizens who were categorized as domestic terrorists under the Patriot Act to be detained and imprisoned indefinitely without charge or trial.

Finally, last week we learned that, as President Obama came under fire for the many scandals rocking his administration, the government was quietly moving to give the Department of Defense unprecedented authority on U.S. soil, effectively nullifying Posse Comitatus.

Eric Blair of Activist Post writes:

First, the senate is debating an expansion of the already broad powers of the 2001 Authorization to Use Military Force (AUMF) so the U.S. can essentially engage any area in the world in the war on terror, including America. Which brings us to the second development: the Pentagon has recently granted itself police powers on American soil.

Assistant Secretary of Defense Michael Sheehan told Congress yesterday that the AUMF authorized the US military to operate on a worldwide battlefield from Boston to Pakistan.  Sheehan emphasized that the Administration is authorized to put boots on the ground wherever the enemy chooses to base themselves, essentially ignoring the declaration of war clause in the US Constitution.

While Americans were distracted with three developing scandals pushed by both wings of the mainstream media, sinister developments were taking place behind closed doors. In essence, the US military has granted itself the power to deploy troops on the streets of America without approval from the President or Congress, and the AUMF, which was originally designed to target the terrorists responsible for 9/11, has been expanded to give the government authority to use military assets on the domestic front without a declaration from Congress.

Charlie McGrath of Wide Awake News explains:

Thanks to the hard work of Eric Blair at Activist Post we understand that Washington D.C. has been very busy eroding your freedom.

In fact, Senator Angus King went so far as to say that the hearing he was involved in was the most astonishing and disturbing hearing he has ever seen.

Even John McCain, war hawk John McCain, came out and said the government has gone way beyond its authority.

What are they talking about? The AUMF – Authorization to Use Military Force.

This piece of legislation that was put into place way back when we started the war on terror that is now turning from foreign enemies to YOU. Don’t be shocked by that, because you are on the list if you are a freedom minded, free thinker that believes in a Constitutional Republic.

They are changing the wording of this thing so that the military can be used on the streets of this country.

It’s not a conspiracy theory. It’s not some kind of a fancy fantasy that may come true down the road.

It is happening right now, in the guise of other news events that are not news events.

Even more terrifying is the fact that West Point has come out recently and said that you – if you have a theory that the federal government is trying to take over and implement a national police force – you could fall into the category of a domestic terrorist.

A domestic terrorist that can be dealt with by military force…

The only conspiracy here is what the government is telling us.

This legislation is real. The militarization of America is in full force. We are the targets.

SHTF Plan – When It Hits The Fan, Don’t Say We Didn’t Warn You

Such is the story of the non-partisan voter integrity group True the Vote, founded by business owner Catherine Engelbrecht. For the last three years, Engelbrecht and her business have been systematically harassed and intimidated by the Obama administration.

[In] February [2012], True the Vote received a third request for information from the IRS, which also sent its first questionnaire to King Street Patriots. Catherine says the IRS had “hundreds of questions — hundreds and hundreds of questions.” The IRS requested every Facebook post and Tweet she had ever written. She received questions about her family, whether she’d ever run for political office, and which organizations she had spoken to.

“It’s no great secret that the IRS is considered to be one of the more serious [federal agencies],” Catherine says. “When you get a call from the IRS, you don’t take it lightly. So when you’re asked questions that seem to imply a sense of disapproval, it has a very chilling effect.”

On the same day they received the questions from the IRS, Catherine says, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) launched an unscheduled audit of their machine shop, forcing the Engelbrechts to drop everything planned for that day. Though the Engelbrechts have a Class 7 license, which allows them to make component parts for guns, they do not manufacture firearms. Catherine said that while the ATF had a right to conduct the audit, “it was odd that they did it completely unannounced, and they took five, six hours. . . . It was so extensive. It just felt kind of weird.”

That was in February. In July, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration paid a visit to Engelbrecht Manufacturing while Bryan, Catherine, and their children were out of town. The OSHA inspector talked with the managerial staff and employees, inspecting the premises minutely. But Bryan says the agent found only “little Mickey Mouse stuff, like, ‘You have safety glasses on, but not the right kind; the forklift has a seatbelt, but not the right kind.’” Yet Catherine and Bryan said the OSHA inspector complimented them on their tightly run shop and said she didn’t know why she had been sent to examine it.

Not long after, the tab arrived. OSHA was imposing $ 25,000 in fines on Engelbrecht Manufacturing. They eventually worked it down to $ 17,500, and Bryan says they may have tried to contest the fines to drive them even lower, but “we didn’t want to make any more waves, because we don’t know [how much further] OSHA could reach.”

There’s also a word for the coordinated targeting of a political opposition group by four different arms of the government: conspiracy.

I can assure you that when the entire history of this administration is written, we will discover that Barack Obama, Valerie Jarrett and/or David Axelrod instigated these illegal and un-American attacks.

It’s time for a special prosecutor and, if the president won’t begin a legitimate inquiry, one can assume he’s guilty of coordinating the conspiracy.

Hat tip: BadBlue News.

Doug Ross @ Journal

NOTES FROM THE “LIVING THE INVESTED LIFE” CONFERENCE

How Do I Make Disciples?

Joel C. Rosenberg

Message #2

>> On Saturday, May 18th, I spoke at a men’s conference at McLean Bible Church in northern Virginia on discipleship. The theme of the conference was based on a book that I wrote with the pastor who discipled my wife and me in college, The Invested Life: Making Disciples of all Nations One Person at a Time. Here are the notes I used for my three talks as prepared for the delivery. Soon, I’ll post links to the videos of the messages and you can see precisely what a said.

——————————————–

In the first session, we began examining, “What is discipleship?”

In this session, we will consider, “How do I make disciples?”

Introduction

As we begin, we need to clarify what discipleship is not: 

• Discipleship is not a program.
• It’s not a class.
• It’s not a spiritual gift that some people have and some do not.
• It’s not something that some Christians do (i.e., the “professional” Christians), while others (“regular” Christians) are exempt.

Put simply: If you’re a follower of Jesus Christ, your Commander-in-Chief has given you an order: “Go and make disciples.”

This means:

• Any sincere believer can do it.
• Every sincere believer should do it – including you and me.

The question, then, is, “How?”

This is why Dr. Koshy and I wrote The Invested Life:

• to help every believer to be able to ask and answer two simple questions – “Who is investing in me?” and “Whom am I investing in?”
• to help pastors and individuals discover the centrality of discipleship to God’s plan and purpose for your life and ministry
• to show how Jesus is the ultimate model of disciple-making
• to show how older, wiser men of God actually invested in our lives, and how we have invested in the lives of younger men
• to help churches develop a “culture of discipleship.”

In a one day conference we can’t, of course, unpack everything in the Scriptures and everything in The Invested Life book.

Our objective today is far more modest – to give you sense of how important the Great Commission is to our Savior, and give you a sense of how the Great Commission can play out in the lives of real, ordinary men like you and me.

Jesus is the Model

At the end of the last session, I promised to define what a “disciple-maker” is. Let me be a man of my word.

The simplest way to put it is this: A “disciple-maker” is a man who helps a younger believer become a true and healthy and fruitful disciple.

“How?” you ask.

By following Jesus. Jesus is the model.

“Follow Me,” Jesus said, and He meant it – if we truly study His life, and pattern ours after His, and point the men we’re discipling towards Him, we cannot go wrong.

Let’s look at Mark 3:13-15 – “And He went up on the mountain and summoned those whom He Himself wanted, and they came to Him. And He appointed twelve, so that they would be with Him, and that He could send them out to preach, and to have authority to cast out demons.”

Why did Jesus choose the twelve? The text gives us three reasons:

• To be with Him
• To preach the Gospel
• To have authority in spiritual warfare

This is a very simple way to explain our mission as disciple-makers.

• We’re helping people walk closely with Christ.
• We’re helping people share the Gospel, lead people to Christ, and become spiritual reproducers
• And we’re helping people battle spiritual warfare and temptation to stay on track with Christ and liberate lost people from the enemy.

That’s one simple way to explain our mission.

Here’s another – the Great Commandments and the Great Commission.

• We’re helping people love the Lord their God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength.
• We’re helping people to love their neighbors as themselves.
• And we’re helping people love God and people enough to share the Gospel, lead people to Christ, and make disciples.

Some of My Story

Okay, let me share some of my story of trying to make disciples in the Washington, D.C. area:

[share anecdotes.....

• Seven years of marriage and ministry – feel unsettled and dissatisfied
• A pastor (Ron) who encouraged me to start making disciples.
• Went back to S.U. to visit the Koshys and the DeColas (Campus Crusade for Christ staff members who had also invested in us).
• “Are you making disciples?” they asked.
• The honest answer was, “no, we’re not.”
• Dr. Koshy suggested, “Go back and each of you pray for the Lord to give you each one person to disciple.”
• He reminded us of something he used to say all the time, “Our God is a prayer-hearing, prayer-answering God, a wonder-working God”
• Our lives were extremely busy – I was senior advisor on a presidential campaign and Lynn was immersed in raising our two sons – but in faith we tried to obey.

Answers to our prayers: 

• “John Black John Black”
• Susan

More answers to prayer:

• Kailea
• Edward – never pictured him becoming a pastor, but God did something extraordinary in him
• two discipleship groups 

But in time we realized that we weren’t teaching them to share their faith 

• So we led a Global Impact trip to reach Muslims with the Gospel
• Terrifying for all of us to be sharing the Gospel on the streets of Europe – but it was life-changing for all of us, too.
• Eventually invited another married couple to help us lead future trips
• Then they began making disciples

Great joy 

• As much as we invested in these young adults, they invested so much in us as well
• Became cherished members of our family
• Became dear and life-long friends
• Such a joy to see them grow in the faith and spiritually reproduce

 Casualties:

• We saw success – but we also saw failures
• Not everyone we invested in continued walking with Jesus and becoming spiritual parents
• Even Jesus had a Judas
• We are working with men, not machines
• I made mistakes – there are things I would go back and change if I could.
• But in the end, these are not “my disciples” – they are Jesus’ disciples
• And He is gracious with them, and with us]

Some Lessons I’ve Learned

Along the way, I’ve learned a number of lessons about making disciples.

Here are five:

1. Integrate your marriage, family and ministry.
2. Listen and pray.
3. Create a warm, safe place.
4. Focus on the Great Commandments.
5. Focus on the Great Commission.

Let me briefly explain.

Integrate your family and ministry.

• If you’re married, serve with your spouse as much as possible.
• If you have kids, disciple them, and include them in disciple-making.
• Eat meals as a family with the people you’re investing in.
• Go on missions trips as a family.
• Don’t let the invested life divide and conquer you.

Listen and pray.

• People need someone to listen to their troubles and pray with and for them.
• Don’t just try to teach them or “get through” some curriculum.
• Don’t be goal-oriented – be people-oriented.
• Listen to them.
• Love them.
• And keep loving them even when you discover how troubled and broken they really are.

Create a warm, safe place.

• Invite people to your home for discipleship – not to the church or a coffee shop or restaurant.
• Practice Biblical hospitality.
• Cook them a special meal – don’t just serve order pizza.

Focus on the Great Commandments.

• Build a team that truly loves each other.
• Remember what Jesus said: they will know we are His disciples by our love.

Focus on the Great Commission.

• Don’t build a social club.
• Build a team committed to changing the world.
• Teach them to preach the Gospel.
• Teach them to teach the Word.
• Take them on mission trips.
• Encourage them to lead people to Christ and start making disciples.
• Then set them loose!

Conclusion

In the next session, we will look at the cost of discipleship.

But for now, let me close with the second of the two questions we began with:

• Whom are you investing in?

Do you have a “Timothy” in your life?

If not, write down some names of some young men that God may be prompting you to invest in.

Start praying over those names.

Ask the Lord to give you someone to invest in – and trust Him to provide.

“Ask, and it will be given to you.” (Matthew 7:7)

Let’s pray.

Joel C. Rosenberg’s Blog