Author of Be Ready for Anything and The Blackout Book Sometimes people think that a summer power outage is easier to deal with than a winter one. After all, in the summer, you don’t have to worry about freezing to death, which is a very real threat during a long-lasting winter outage. However, a summer power outage carries its own set of problems. Foremost are heat-related illnesses and the higher potential of spoilage for your food. Even if you aren’t convinced that hardcore preparedness is for you, it would still be difficult to argue against the possibility of a disaster that takes out the power for a couple of weeks. Basic emergency preparedness is important for everyone, not just us “crazy preppers.” Just ask the people who lived through the Derecho of 2012 how unpleasant it was Severe, fast-moving thunderstorms (called derechos) swept through Indiana, Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, and Washington DC. Millions lost power, an estimated 4 million for an entire week. As if a week-long power outage wasn’t miserable enough, that part of the country was in the midst of a record-setting heatwave during the time period. Also keep in mind that summer stresses our fragile power grid to the max, as everyone increases their usage of electricity to try and keep cool with air conditioners and fans. This ups the chances of an outage even when there’s not a cloud in the sky. Back in 2003, a software bug caused an extremely widespread power outage in the middle of August. It was a very hot day, and increased energy demand overloaded the system. Because of the issue with the software, engineers were not alerted of this, and what should have been a small local outage turned into an event that took out power for over 10 million Canadians and 45 million Americans. I remember this one clearly because the little sub shop beside my workplace gave away all the perishable food that they had out at the time before it spoiled and I took home fresh sandwiches for my girls’ dinner that night. We sweated uncomfortably through the next two days until the power was restored. Beware of dehydration and heat-related illnesses On of the most serious concerns that sets apart a summer power outage from that of other times of the year is the heat. When you don’t have so much as a fan to move the air around, heat-related illnesses and serious levels of dehydration are strong possibilities. From my book, The Prepper’s Water Survival Guide, here’s an excerpt from the chapter on dehydration: Dehydration is the state that occurs when you use or lose more fluid than you take in, and your body doesn’t have enough water and other fluids to carry out its normal functions. Your electrolytes are out of balance., which can lead to increasingly serious problems. Symptoms of electrolyte imbalances include dizziness, fatigue, nausea (with or without vomiting), constipation, dry mouth, dry skin, muscle weakness, stiff or aching joints, confusion, delirium, rapid heart rate, twitching, blood pressure changes, seizures, and convulsions. Dehydration can lead to very serious side effects, including death. Following are the most common dehydration-related ailments. Heat cramps: Heat cramps are painful, brief muscle cramps. Muscles may spasm or jerk involuntarily. Heat cramps can occur during exercise or work in a hot environment or begin a few hours following such activities. Heat exhaustion: Often accompanied by dehydration, heat exhaustion is a heat-related illness that can occur after you’ve been exposed to high temperatures. There are two types of heat exhaustion: Water depletion. Signs include excessive thirst, weakness, headache, and loss of consciousness. Salt depletion. Signs include nausea and vomiting, muscle cramps, and dizziness. Heat stroke: Heat stroke is the most serious form of heat injury and is considered a medical emergency. Heat stroke results from prolonged exposure to high temperatures—usually in combination with dehydration—which leads to failure of the body’s temperature control system. The medical definition of heat stroke is a core body temperature greater than 105°F, with complications involving the central nervous system that occur after exposure to high temperatures. Other common symptoms include nausea, seizures, confusion, disorientation, and, sometimes, loss of consciousness or coma. Dehydration can lead to other potentially lethal complications. The Mayo Clinic offers the following examples: Seizures: Electrolytes—such as potassium and sodium—help carry electrical signals from cell to cell. If your electrolytes are out of balance, the normal electrical messages can become mixed up, which can lead to involuntary muscle contractions, and, sometimes, loss of consciousness. Low blood volume (hypovolemic shock): This is one of the most serious, and sometimes life-threatening, complications of dehydration. It occurs when low blood volume causes a drop in blood pressure and a drop in the amount of oxygen in your body. Swelling of the brain (cerebral edema): Sometimes, when you’re taking in fluids again after being dehydrated, the body tries to pull too much water back into your cells. This can cause some cells to swell and rupture. The consequences are especially grave when brain cells are affected. Kidney failure: This potentially life-threatening problem occurs when your kidneys are no longer able to remove excess fluids and waste from your blood. Coma and death: When not treated promptly and appropriately, severe dehydration can be fatal. How to Treat Dehydration People who are suffering from dehydration must replace fluids and electrolytes. The most common way to do this is through oral rehydration therapy (ORT). In extreme cases, fluids must be given intravenously. In a disaster situation, hospitals may not be readily available, so every effort should be made to prevent the situation from reaching that level of severity. Humans cannot survive without electrolytes, which are minerals in your blood and other bodily fluids that carry an electric charge. They are important because they are what your cells (especially those in your nerves, heart, and muscles) use to maintain voltages across cell membranes and to carry electrical impulses (nerve impulses and muscle contractions) across themselves and to other cells. Electrolytes, especially sodium, also help your body maintain its water balance. Water itself does not contain electrolytes, but dehydration can cause serious electrolyte imbalances. In most situations, avoid giving the dehydrated person salt tablets. Fresh, cool water is the best cure. In extreme temperatures or after very strenuous activities, electrolyte replacement drinks can be given. Sports drinks such as Gatorade can help replenish lost electrolytes. For children, rehydration beverages like Pedialyte can be helpful. (Source) Here’s some more thorough information on heat-related illnesses, how to prevent them, and how to treat them. The World Health Organization offers this oral rehydration solution recipe: 3/8 tsp salt (sodium chloride) ¼ tsp Morton Salt Substitute® (potassium chloride) ½ tsp baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) 2 tbsp + 2 tsp sugar Add tap water to make 1 liter. You can optionally add a sugar-free drink flavoring powder of choice to taste. Store lots of water One of the best ways to avoid the heat-related problems above is to store lots of water. You can’t always rely on the faucet in the kitchen. In the event of a disaster, the water may not run from the taps, and if it does, it might not be safe to drink, depending on the situation.  If there is a boil order in place, remember that if the power is out, boiling your water may not be as easy as turning on your stove. If you are on a well and don’t have a back-up in place, you won’t have running water. Each family should store a two week supply of water. The rule of thumb for drinking water is 1 gallon per day, per person.  Don’t forget to stock water for your pets, also. You can create your water supply very inexpensively.  Many people use clean 2 liter soda pop bottles to store tap water.  Others purchase the large 5-gallon jugs of filtered water from the grocery store and use them with a top-loading water dispenser.  Consider a gravity fed water filtration device and water purification tablets as well. Because water is kind of my thing lately, you can find lots more information on this topic HERE. How to keep cooler during the blackout This is easier said than done when it’s 105 and you can’t even run a fan. Here are some ways to keep a little bit cooler when the grid is down: Get battery-operated fans. (And lots of batteries.) A battery-operated fan can help cool you down, particularly if you get yourself wet first. They’re reasonably inexpensive and work well, although I recommend spending a bit more than for the cheap ones at the dollar store. This one is big enough to reach more than one part of your body at a time and can help you get to sleep. 6 D batteries will run it for about 40 hours. These tabletop fans are rechargeable (so you will either need an off-rid way to recharge them or you’ll need backups), these handheld fans have a misting option (also rechargeable) and these handheld fans are powered for up to 8 hours by 2 AA batteries these handheld fans are powered for up to 8 hours by 2 AA batteries. Stock up on cooling towels. I picked up some these cooling towels for use when I was working outside in the garden. I was stunned at how well they work. All you do is get them wet, wring them out, and give them a snap, then they cool you down, no power or refrigeration required. You can use them over and over again. They also come in these bands that can be worn around your head or neck. Channel your inner Southern belle.  Slowly fan yourself with a handheld fan. Mint juleps are optional. Keep hydrated.  Your body needs the extra water to help produce sweat, which cools you off. Change your schedule.  There’s a reason that people who live near the equator close down their businesses and enjoy a midday siesta.  Take a tepid shower and then, without drying off, lay down and try to take a nap. At the very least, do a quiet activity. Play in the water.  Either place a kiddie pool in a shaded part of the yard or use the bathtub indoors. Find a nearby creek or pond for wading or swimming. (Note: Playing in the water isn’t just for kids!) Soak your feet.  A foot bath full of tepid water can help cool you down. Avoid heavy meals.  Your body has to work hard to digest heavy, rich meals, and this raises your temperature.  Be gentle on your system with light, cool meals like salads and fruit. Make sure your window screens are in good condition.  You’re going to need to have your windows open, but fighting off insects when you’re trying to sleep is a miserable and frustrating endeavor. Scott Kelley from Graywolf Survival has super-easy instructions for making your own air conditioner that will help cool down one room as long as the power is still on. His design doesn’t require ice, it’s VERY budget-friendly, and he offers suggestions for alternative power, as well. It’s a must-read! Be very conscious of food safety If a power outage lasts for more than 4 hours, you need to err on the side of caution with regard to refrigerated and frozen food.  Coolers can help – you can put your most expensive perishables in a cooler and fill it with ice from the freezer to extend its lifespan. Whatever you do, don’t open the doors to the refrigerator and freezer. This will help it to maintain a cooler temperature for a longer time. According to the Red Cross, if your freezer is half-filled and is not opened the entire time that the power is out, the food in it will remain sufficiently frozen for up to 24 hours. If it is completely filled, your food should remain safe for up to 48 hours.  If the worst happens and your freezer full of meat does spoil, keep in mind that most homeowner’s and renter’s insurance policies will pay for their replacement, but unless you’ve lost a whole lot or your deductible is very small, it may not be worth making a claim. I strongly recommend the purchase of a digital refrigerator thermometer This has many kitchen uses, but in the event of a disaster is worth its weight in gold for determining food safety. I have one of these in the fridge and one in the freezer.  You can use your thermometer with this chart (print it out so you have it on hand in the event of a down-grid emergency) to determine the safety of your food.  (The chart is from FoodSafety.gov) Food Categories Specific Foods Held above 40 °F for over 2 hours MEAT, POULTRY, SEAFOOD Raw or leftover cooked meat, poultry, fish, or seafood; soy meat substitutes Discard Thawing meat or poultry Discard Salads: Meat, tuna, shrimp, chicken, or egg salad Discard Gravy, stuffing, broth Discard Lunchmeats, hot dogs, bacon, sausage, dried beef Discard Pizza – with any topping Discard Canned hams labeled “Keep Refrigerated” Discard Canned meats and fish, opened Discard Casseroles, soups, stews Discard CHEESE Soft Cheeses: blue/bleu, Roquefort, Brie, Camembert, cottage, cream, Edam, Monterey Jack, ricotta, mozzarella, Muenster, Neufchatel, queso blanco, queso fresco Discard Hard Cheeses: Cheddar, Colby, Swiss, Parmesan, provolone, Romano Safe Processed Cheeses Safe Shredded Cheeses Discard Low-fat Cheeses Discard Grated Parmesan, Romano, or combination (in can or jar) Safe DAIRY Milk, cream, sour cream, buttermilk, evaporated milk, yogurt, eggnog, soy milk Discard Butter, margarine Safe Baby formula, opened Discard EGGS Fresh eggs, hard-cooked in shell, egg dishes, egg products Discard Custards and puddings, quiche Discard FRUITS Fresh fruits, cut Discard Fruit juices, opened Safe Canned fruits, opened Safe Fresh fruits, coconut, raisins, dried fruits, candied fruits, dates Safe SAUCES, SPREADS, JAMS Opened mayonnaise, tartar sauce, horseradish Discard if above 50 °F for over 8 hrs. Peanut butter Safe Jelly, relish, taco sauce, mustard, catsup, olives, pickles Safe Worcestershire, soy, barbecue, hoisin sauces Safe Fish sauces, oyster sauce Discard Opened vinegar-based dressings Safe Opened creamy-based dressings Discard Spaghetti sauce, opened jar Discard BREAD, CAKES, COOKIES, PASTA, GRAINS Bread, rolls, cakes, muffins, quick breads, tortillas Safe Refrigerator biscuits, rolls, cookie dough Discard Cooked pasta, rice, potatoes Discard Pasta salads with mayonnaise or vinaigrette Discard Fresh pasta Discard Cheesecake Discard Breakfast foods –waffles, pancakes, bagels Safe PIES, PASTRY Pastries, cream filled Discard Pies – custard, cheese filled, or chiffon; quiche Discard Pies, fruit Safe VEGETABLES Fresh mushrooms, herbs, spices Safe Greens, pre-cut, pre-washed, packaged Discard Vegetables, raw Safe Vegetables, cooked; tofu Discard Vegetable juice, opened Discard Baked potatoes Discard Commercial garlic in oil Discard Potato salad Discard Casseroles, soups, stews Discard Other methods of preserving food Another way to combat the potential losses of a long-term summer power outage is to use other methods for preserving food. Canning and dehydration are not grid-dependent and can save you a whole lot of money and prevent a mess of rotting meat in your freezer. If a power-outage looks like it’s going to be lasting for quite some time, you can be proactive if you have canning supplies on hand and a propane burner, and you can pressure can your meat outdoors to preserve it. (Here’s how to pressure can roasts and chicken.)  If you decide to get one, THIS PROPANE BURNER is probably the closest one to a kitchen stove out there. It works well for keeping your product cooking at a steady temperature. Don’t cheap out on this purchase, or you will stand there in front of this burner for a long, frustrating time and still end up with food that has not been canned safely. Be very careful to supervise the canning pot: you don’t want the pressure to drop to an unsafe level and you want to keep kids and pets away from this project.  Added bonus – when you have a propane burner like this, the sky is the limit as far as cooking in a power outage. Some stuff is the same as prepping for any other power outage Many preparedness concerns are the same, no matter what time of the year your power outage occurs. Here are some of the basic things you need for any power outage: Food and a way to prepare it There are two schools of thought regarding food during a power outage.  One: you need a cooking method that does not require the grid to be functioning.  Two: you can store food that doesn’t require cooking. If you opt for a secondary cooking method, be sure that you have enough fuel for two weeks.  Store foods that do not require long cooking times – for example, dried beans would use a great deal of fuel, but canned beans could be warmed up, or even eaten cold. In the summer you don’t want to rely on a cooking method that heats up your house, so look to things like outdoor barbecues or solar cookers. Learn more about building your pantry HERE. Click HERE for a short-term food storage list Click HERE to find a list of meals that require no cooking. Sanitation needs A common cause of illness, and even death, during a down-grid situation is lack of sanitation. For cleaning, reduce your need to wash things. Stock up on paper plates, paper towels, and disposable cups and flatware. Keep some disinfecting cleaning wipes and sprays (I don’t recommend using antibacterial products on a regular basis, however in the event of an emergency they can help to keep you healthy.) Use hand sanitizer after using the bathroom and before handling food or beverages – there may be a lot more germs afoot in a disaster. Look at your options for sanitation Does your toilet still flush when the electricity is out? Many people discovered the hard way that the toilets didn’t work  when the sewage backed up in the high-rises in New York City in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. At our cabin, the toilet won’t flush without power because the pump is electric. If you are on a septic system, with no risk of the toilet backing up into the house, simply store some water for flushing in the bathroom.  (At the first sign of a storm, we always fill the bathtub for this purpose.)  Add the water to the tank so that you can flush. If this is not an option, check out THIS ARTICLE, which explains how to take care of potty needs if the toilet won’t flush and you live somewhere that you can’t just go out in the back 40 to do your business. Light Lighting is absolutely vital, especially if there are children in the house. Nothing is more frightening than being completely in the dark during a stressful situation. Fortunately, it’s one of the easiest things to plan for, as well as one of the least expensive. Some lighting solutions are: Garden stake solar lights Flashlights (don’t forget batteries) Hand crank/solar lantern Other options are long-burning candles or kerosene lamps,  but during a summer outage, they would be less desirable, since they add heat to an already overly warm situation. First Aid kit It’s important to have a basic first aid kit on hand at all times, but particularly in the event of an emergency.  Your kit should include basic wound care items like bandages, antibiotic ointments, and sprays.  As well, if you use them, keep on hand a supply of basic over-the-counter medications, like pain relief capsules, cold medicine, cough syrup, anti-nausea pills, and allergy medication. If you want to put together a more advanced medical kit, you can find a list HERE. Special needs This is something that will be unique to every family. Consider the things that are needed on a daily basis in your household. It might be prescription medications, diapers, or special foods.  If you have pets, you’ll need supplies for them too.  The best way to figure out what you need is to jot things down as you use them over the course of a week or so. Entertainment Nothing grates on a parent’s nerves more than a refrain of, “I’m boooooredddd.” Many kids are accustomed to almost-constant electronic entertainment, so the loss of that can be quite stressful. Keep a box of off-grid entertainment supplies in an easy-to-access place. Make one up for the different members of the family. Make these items things that the kids are not allowed to play with at any other time so that they are novel and interesting when the time comes to use them. Include things like stationary supplies notebooks pens and pencils sharpeners crayons or coloring pencils markers glue sticks glitter puzzles activity books games stickers Make it a treasure trove! Be sure you include all of the supplies needed for each activity because it’s hard to find things when your home is only lit by candlelight. Here are some more ideas for power outage fun. Any other suggestions for a summer power outage? Have you been through a summer power outage that lasted longer than a couple of hours? Do you have some suggestions to add? Please share them in the comments section below. About Daisy Daisy Luther is a coffee-swigging, adventure-seeking, globe-trotting blogger. She is the founder and publisher of three websites.  1) The Organic Prepper, which is about current events, preparedness, self-reliance, and the pursuit of liberty; 2)  The Frugalite, a website with thrifty tips and solutions to help people get a handle on their personal finances without feeling deprived; and 3) PreppersDailyNews.com, an aggregate site where you can find links to all the most important news for those who wish to be prepared. Her work is widely republished across alternative media and she has appeared in many interviews. Daisy is the best-selling author of 5 traditionally published books, 12 self-published books, and runs a small digital publishing company with PDF guides, printables, and courses at SelfRelianceand Survival.com You can find her on Facebook, Pinterest, Gab, MeWe, Parler, Instagram, and Twitter. The post How to Survive a Summer Power Outage appeared first on The Organic Prepper.

Top Democrats Fear Biden's Losing Campaign Strategy

The Vatican is believed to possess a vast collection of rare documents related to unexplained phenomena. The Vatican Apostolic Archive, formerly known as the Vatican Secret Archive, is the central repository in the Vatican City of all acts promulgated by the Holy See. This repository holds thousands of items, including books, manuscripts, state papers, letters, and even presidential missives. As one of the largest and most secret collections globally, these documents are stored on miles of shelving deep beneath the Vatican. Recently, UFO disclosure advocates have attempted to access the archives to uncover historical accounts of unidentified flying objects and similar phenomena. Paranormal researchers are similarly keen to explore records of supernatural occurrences, reports usccb.org. Although efforts have been made in recent years to digitize and publish some materials from the archives, much of the content these researchers seek is unlikely to be prioritized. “The historical record is filled with these kinds of [supernatural] events. The people at the Vatican don’t even know where to look; it’s in their basements,” said Diana Walsh Pasulka, an author and religious studies professor at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. “The archivists are in a mad rush to digitize what they have; they have to prioritize what they think is most important. They aren’t really prioritizing orbs that are bothering nuns in the 1800s.” The interest in the Vatican’s holdings extends beyond the realm of scholars of religion. Scientists like Garry Nolan, a professor of medicine at Stanford University, view the Vatican archives as a potential treasure trove for understanding UFOs. “The Vatican is probably the oldest library system of paranormal or supernatural knowledge still extant,” Nolan said. The archive “has an aura of both mysticism and a feeling of deep truth that if you just know how to read it, you can pull that information out.” However, exactly when the Vatican might grant access to its centuries-old X-Files remains unclear for now. The post Researchers say Vatican archives hold historical UFO secrets appeared first on Anomalien.com.

If you’re looking for a silly social media meme, don’t look Jack Carr’s way.The former Navy SEAL turned bestselling author avoids frivolous posts and scorching hot takes. Carr respects his audience too much.'Essentially, China can launch attacks and maneuver forces before our generals are out of bed, which means we, in turn, have to do the same. So where does that lead us?'“They’re trusting me with their time,” Carr tells Align. He treats his bestselling novels like “The Terminal List” and “The Devil’s Hand” with similar reverence. Few tomes boast the research and attention to detail Carr brings to the page.His savvy blend of life experiences and muscular heroics make him the modern-day Vince Flynn or Tom Clancy.His latest, “Red Sky Mourning" (released Tuesday), brings battle-tested hero James Reece into an adventure that reads as if Carr finished the final draft yesterday. A nuclear-armed Chinese submarine threatens World War III. An AI entity has oversized ties to America’s defense protocols. Duplicitous U.S. leaders use their power and clout for their personal ambitions.Is Reece up to his greatest challenge yet?Carr says he isn’t trying to mimic the headlines scrawling across our smartphones. It just ... happens.“I don’t set out to write a timely story. It’s not part of the process,” he says.He credits being an avid news consumer as well as his rich military history. He served 20 years in Naval Special Warfare, leading special operations teams in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the southern Philippines. That demanded he stay fully abreast of all critical information.It’s all about “building trust with those below you and then above you in that chain of command so you have the freedom to maneuver on the battlefield,” he explains.Carr’s red-meat hero is conservative catnip, but the author doesn’t drop partisan bromides in conversation. Reading “Red Sky Mourning” offers clues to a right-leaning worldview. It also explains how James Reece is evolving over the course of seven novels.Call him a more cynical hero for our cynical times.How could Reece be anything but given events like the disastrous 2021 U.S. pullout of Afghanistan, which turned the country back over to the Taliban in mere weeks.“That was the best and brightest of our military,” he says of the men and women who helped secure the war-torn nation following the 9/11 attacks. “People with no military experience I am a hundred-percent sure would have done a better job than our senior-level military leaders. So there is that.”“Red Sky Mourning” is about “questions of loyalty to a country, to intelligence services, to the military, to friends to family, to yourself,” he adds.Sometimes Carr doesn’t just evoke the latest headlines. He’s ahead of the curve. He previously introduced Alice, the AI entity who plays a vital role in “Red Sky Mourning,” in past Reece adventures.His stories drip with precise geopolitical nuggets along with fastidious details tied to the tools of war. That research finds him disappearing down “rabbit holes” toward new weaponry with real-world ramifications.“Mourning” touches on “naval assets” with autonomous potential, like what he says China is exploring in recent years.“Essentially, China can launch attacks and maneuver forces before our generals are out of bed, which means we, in turn, have to do the same. So where does that lead us?” he asks.Carr’s signature hero is also the focus of “The Terminal List,” the Prime Video series starring Chris Pratt. The show proved a smash in its first season, and season two will be based on Carr’s second novel, “True Believer.”There’s also a prequel saga underway tied to Taylor Kitsch’s character, Ben Edwards.Carr, an executive producer on the shows, girded himself for the inevitable changes whenever a book makes the leap to the screen. In fact, the show’s portrayal of Ben Edwards took his fictional creation to new levels, he says.The show's guiding light? “Staying true to the foundational elements of the story, meaning the mindset of a modern-day warrior,” he says.Carr, the son of a librarian, predicted he’d be a writer when he was just a boy. Now, he’s a successful novelist with a pen name as potent as his signature hero.The reality hasn’t fully matched those youthful dreams.He imagined disappearing into a “cabin in the woods” secluded enough to get lost in his story.“Today, there are so many other distractions that you’re competing with as an author … you’re competing with every single streaming service out there … It’s led to less people reading,” he says, a notion he cleverly teases in “Red Sky Mourning.”That means he works social media carefully, shares episodes of his “Danger Close” podcast and pours everything he has into his military yarns.His mission? Adding value to people’s lives is “always my goal,” he says.

In 1951, the 25-year-old veteran and Yale alumnus William F. Buckley published his first book, “God and Man at Yale.” Buckley scandalously claimed that instead of preaching true religion and free market capitalism, Yale professors were preaching atheism and “collectivism.” If we are stuck in 2024-think, we might suppose that Yale’s defenders responded with a resounding, “So, what?”In fact, while loyal Yalies did more or less shrug off the charge of collectivism, they denied the charge of atheism. McGeorge Bundy of the class of ’41, by then teaching at Harvard, asserted in his scathing review of Buckley’s book that “Yale is more religious than the rest of Protestant America and more religious than it was a generation ago.” In 1951, “For God, for Country, and for Yale” was still that university’s lodestar.An irresolvable tension exists between education and the unfettered pursuit of truth.In his recent book, “You Can’t Teach That! The Battle over University Classrooms,” Princeton (soon to be Yale) professor Keith Whittington makes his own Alabama law professor Paul Horwitz’s claim that universities are “‘First Amendment Institutions’ because of their central role in generating, investigating and promulgating ideas.”Insofar as we know the constitutional and religious history of America, we should be suspicious of Whittington’s and Horwitz’s seemingly innocuous claim. The First Amendment comes to us from an era when universities had not yet claimed for themselves a central role in generating and investigating ideas. Universities were built to promulgate ideas, certainly, but the ideas America’s universities claimed to promulgate were the truth or light of Protestant Christianity: Harvard’s Veritas, Columbia’s Lumen, and Yale’s Lux et Veritas or Urim ve Tumim. America’s greatest scientist of its founding era was Benjamin Franklin, who never attended or taught at a university, but he did help found one: the University of Pennsylvania, alma mater of our two most recent presidents, whose motto is classical rather than Christian but still edifying: Leges sine moribus vanae — laws without morals are useless.Universities do have an important role in the original understanding of the First Amendment: not as centers for free inquiry, but as religious and educational institutions. Universities were institutions for launching young people into adulthood as credentialed “bachelors” with strong faith and solid morals, and for training clergy as credentialed “masters,” or teachers to pass down that faith and those morals.What faith and which morals? Part of the genius of the First Amendment as originally conceived was that it left that question for the peoples of the states and the state governments to answer for themselves. Congress, meanwhile, would protect those institutions by laws and even subsidize them by land grants from the lands to be wrested from the Indians. But the assumption was that whatever the pluralism of religious doctrines, men and women who sincerely sought to live and contribute to the same society would converge in their moral views on workable and justifiable principles and practices.Universities, whether public or private, are privileged by law: The most valuable privileges are those that attract money in forms of donations and tuition. Universities are exempt from corporate income taxation, which enables them to receive tax-free income in the form of donations and accumulate endowments. Universities also have the privilege of accreditation — the legal recognition that their certified graduates are themselves worthy of privileges. It is accreditation that attracts students. Without that vital legally recognized diploma, those graduates cannot become dentists or pharmacists or public-school teachers or lawyers or physical therapists. Charly Triballeau/Getty ImagesPrivileges have to be justified by obligations. In a democracy, it is the role of voters and the officials they elect to monitor and, where necessary, reform those privileges and hold privileged institutions accountable for the fulfillment of those obligations.One might claim, as Whittington probably would, that among these obligations is the obligation to offer academic freedom: Every university should, and Whittington claims public universities must, allow individual faculty to seek the truth according to their own lights and teach whatever of those truths their faculties find important and useful.It is true that in the second half of the 20th century, universities became the principal centers for generating and investigating ideas, and in that role were declared core First Amendment institutions. But that is hardly the era from which one should take one’s understanding of what the Constitution requires.In the second half of the 20th century, the very notion of constitutionalism was most controversial and came under the most sustained attack, not only from judges and politicians but from professors at law schools. Never before or since have so many Americans believed that “the Constitution means what the Supreme Court says it means,” which is, of course, an evisceration of constitutionalism and the rule of law. Whittington operates elsewhere, however. He treats the First Amendment in relation to academic freedom, not according to its original intention but primarily according to what Supreme Court justices from Robert Jackson’s ascension to William Brennan’s retirement have made of it. Those judges supported their legal reasonings with dicta about how the freedoms they endorsed would benefit society. Whittington does not examine which of those dicta are true but treats them as if the authority of their pronouncers made them true enough. That might do in a legal brief but not in social science or in the kind of policy discussion that social science should subserve.Pluralism is not license. Universities have valuable privileges, and they can only justify and retain those privileges by advancing the cause of 'one nation under God.'“Academic freedom” is just the American English translation of the German Lehrfreiheit. It received its first important American articulation with the founding of the American Association of University Professors in 1915. Academic freedom was imported into Progressive Era Wilsonian America from an imperial Germany that had neither freedom of speech nor freedom of the press, and where every recognized religion was a state-regulated establishment. German universities of that era were institutions of tertiary education: They accepted only students who can presume to have been formed by the secondary education they completed in Gymnasium, and their first degree was the doctorate.American universities include bachelor's-degree-granting college programs, which complete for their undergraduates the secondary education they began in high school. Lehrfreiheit thus warranted a more skeptical reception in our free and pluralistic democracy than it has ever received.In this era when academic freedom of individual professors has come closest to being entrenched as judge-made “constitutional law,” actual progress in our understanding of ourselves and our world has slowed and, in some cases, reversed. As Steve Sailer has written of the intellectual eminence Edward Said, whose attitude and rhetoric drive this year’s campus protests, “Knowledge is power ... so he wanted Westerners to be more ignorant about his homeland in order that they would have less power over it.”In fact, an irresolvable tension exists between education and the unfettered pursuit of truth: People who educate must believe that they know what is important and true, while people who inquire must think that there are things they don’t know that are important enough to spend the time to find out. Whittington repeatedly acknowledges that what the First Amendment protects in the classroom is not unfettered classroom discussion but the right of the faculty to fetter classroom discussion as they deem wise.Wise enough to know that wisdom requires more than learning, the Christian originals of universities separated their faculties of philosophy from their faculties of theology: the presupposition-less pursuit of knowledge was confined to the faculty of philosophy, while the faculty of theology formulated and taught the dogmas — the teachings of God as revealed in the canonical Scriptures. The rulers of the university came, of course, from the graduates of the faculty of theology, whether as presidents, deans, or rectors, or as external ecclesiastical “visitors” or “overseers” ensuring that the university did not throw off the yoke of divine wisdom.In our pluralistic democracy, with no federally established church, democracy has to take the place of hierarchy. Vox populi vox Dei as proclaimed in the Latin translation of the Hebrew book of Isaiah, the voice of the people is the voice of God. The only legitimate oracles of that “divine” voice are those men and women anointed for office by popular election and officers those men and women in turn appoint or elect.But just as Americans are and always have been religious pluralists, they are and always have been higher education pluralists: they have, in their wisdom, mostly left it up to every denomination, every board of trustees, and every state board of regents to understand “God and Country” in their own way.This pluralism is not license. Universities have valuable privileges, and they can only justify and retain those privileges by advancing the cause of America, “one nation under God.” Every university in America is a settler-colonial university, granted valuable privileges by a settler-controlled legislature, executive, and judiciary. In return for those privileges, universities are obliged to advance the cause of the American people, themselves immigrants or the descendants of immigrants, some coerced and some voluntary.How should universities advance the cause of America? In our pluralistic system of higher education, that is mostly a question that university administrators and trustees have to answer. And in fact, when they are reminded of their obligation to advance the cause of America, university heads acknowledge that obligation, even if, like every other human being reminded of an obligation, they would unconscionably prefer to be judges in their own case of their success at fulfilling it.It is the job of citizens and officials to ensure that universities are run by sincere and competent men and women who accept the obligations that come with universities’ privileges. But mere acceptance is not enough: We need to demand the best of our universities, and when they repeatedly and continually fall short of the best, we must carefully and deliberately alter their privileges, alter our mechanisms for oversight of the use of those privileges, or both.Unless we can return universities to their original mission of fostering religion and morals, America will not survive. As John Adams wrote: “Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” Or to quote the motto of the first federally chartered college, Ohio University, funded in part out of the College Lands of which Ohio’s Indians were despoiled, Religio Doctrina Civilitas; Prae Omnibus Virtus — Religion, learning, civility; Above all, virtue.

WondercideCategory: Pest control Founder: Stephanie BooneFounded: 2009Location: Austin, TexasRepresentative products: Peppermint Insect Repellant, Fruit Fly Trap, Flea & Tick Collar for DogsAt a glance:Boone was inspired to found the company after her dog Luna became ill from chemicals in conventional flea and tick repellent. Boone quit her job as a real estate tax consultant and started the business on a $6,000 credit card. She has said that she learned everything about the business as she went: "I had no experience with chemistry, product development, regulatory compliance or strategic business planning."Boone got the call to be on "Shark Tank" the same day Luna died. Although appearing on the show led to greater exposure for Wondercide, Boone ultimately decided to turn down the deal offered her by panelist Lori Greiner.The story:In 2008, Stephanie Boone’s beloved dog Luna began losing her hair in patches to reveal open sores. Luna’s teeth chattered, and this, combined with her lethargy and blood testing, indicated that her internal organs were failing. Boone, a native of Austin, Texas, was heartbroken, and like any devoted custodian of a precious animal, disappeared down every rabbit hole she could find in search of an answer. A holistic vet revealed to Boone that the products she was putting on and around Luna included ingredients that can cause systemic neurological side effects in some pets and people. Like millions of Americans, Stephanie thought she was keeping her family safe by using the most commonly recommended solutions. Living in Austin, where the only thing more oppressive than the heat is the pests, Boone resolved to find a new way to manage bugs in and around her lawn, her home, and her beloved Luna. Deep in the annals of the EPA’s guidance for pest control, she discovered that the FIFRA 25b list, a small list of ingredients that are considered to pose the most minimal risk to health and environment, was where cedarwood oil was mentioned. Boone had an “aha!” moment. A long time beforehand, Boone’s grandmother had given her a cedar chest to protect her treasured family history. She thought, “If cedar has been used for centuries to protect the things we love from bugs, could another form of cedarwood be used to protect the living things we love?” Wondercide was born, and Stephanie says she found her life's purpose: to innovate pest protection so that, when used as directed, it is actually as safe as it is effective. In the summertime, I keep fresh fruit within reach as much as I can for my family. In the North Carolina heat, and with our kids frequently opening and shutting the porch door, we can start to see develop a bug problem quickly. Wondercide is an excellent product that I use on all my counters after I clean them at night. We even spray it on the floor and in the corners of the room before Swiffering. It smells incredibly fresh and is safe for kids and kittens alike. Boone ended up taking her business to Shark Tank, where three of the "sharks" made her an offer. Her thriving business is an example of classic American ingenuity and loving devotion to plants and animals. Offering flea and tick spray, mosquito yard spray, and an indoor flying insect trap in addition to the original indoor pest control, Boone offers everything a homeowner needs to live in peace with their critters this summer — made in America with an incredibly reliable standard of care and customer service.

Judeo-Christian culture has an intelligence problem. Not to put too fine a point on it, there’s a special propensity to make an idol of the intellect.Look at the origins of the biggest hype phrase of the millennium: smart power. Two intellectuals share credit for its coinage: Joseph Nye, legendary political scientist of international relations and a Unitarian Universalist, and Suzanne Nossel, a veteran of the corporate, NGO, and federal government elite whose grandparents escaped Nazi Germany and who feels at home during her frequent stays with family in Israel. For high-performing Americans of Christian and Jewish heritage with a limited connection to the strictures and practices of their ancestral religions, the temptation to transition into effective smarts-worshipers can often be too sweet to resist. Intelligence holds out to the ambitious and well-meaning universe a possibility that’s too good to be true: the power to simulate or imitate all virtues, reorganizing ethics, justice, and order on the basis of ever-more-perfect analysis. Intoxicated by this heady brew, intellectuals trying to prove they don’t “need” religion to be pure, healthy, and authoritative end up a lot easier to fool and manipulate than they might pride themselves on. Ironically, there’s nothing quite like the allure of smarts to make a dummy of the smart. In a still greater irony, that’s why so many intelligent elites have pivoted so hard of late to worshiping intelligence more overtly and self-consciously. You see, they’ve gotten so smart that they’ve taken human intelligence to a cosmically transcendent point — building a machine intelligence that will soon outstrip everyone’s ability to rub brain cells together. Soon, we’re told, machine intelligence will become self-replicating, self-improving, positively god-tier. Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, the corporation that’s propping up the whole U.S. economy, hails this process as a new industrial revolution, with the factories of the onrushing future mass-producing not widgets or bullets but manufactured intelligence. As some technologists are noticing, however, the current trajectory of AI is already far enough below the hype-set expectations to surmise that we “probably” won’t have gods-in-a-box anytime soon. In fact, judging by the recent past of our breakneck technological development, there’s not much to stop AI from falling into the same disappointing patterns as the rest of our “mind-blowing” mechanical inventions. Think of spam. How long was it in years between the elite’s fawning over the “information superhighway” and the public’s spam-clogged experience of the daily email grind? How long between the explosion of freewheeling speech and association on social media and the convergence of content rewarded by the algorithm on disposable “viral” fast food? Even in the online media, the tendency of news to become mere filler is almost inexorable. The dilemma for elites is clear. They’ve already caught on that being smart isn’t enough to rule machines made to be smarter than the smartest, recasting themselves as the priests of a new smart religion who alone can be trusted to manage relations with the gods-in-a-box. But to get there, they have to spam the “smarts” button as never before — flooding every inch of our lives with so much automated “smart power” that, inevitably, the per-unit value of smarts drops, like that of all overproduced commodities. In other words, no sooner do they pivot to making a religion of intelligence than they have to face the farcical fact that they’re turning intelligence itself into the ultimate spam. That’s why the next step is, as close watchers of tech have known for a long time, a pivot from spam to sorcery. As Jash Dholani recently noted, “Issac Newton was an alchemist. Alan Turing thought telepathy is real. It's undeniable at this point that people at the upper bounds of intelligence are quasi-mystics,” from William James to Jack Parsons to John Dee, Queen Elizabeth’s court (deep breath) alchemist, astronomer, astrologer, and occultist. It was Dee who advised the creation of a global “British Empire” — one hardly composed of merely material forms of domination. Having blocked themselves off from the world of holy spiritual power and authority receivable through God Almighty, exceptional humans throughout the ages have turned to the darker arts of immaterial influence, technologists not at all excepted. The archetypal story of the Christian convert St. Cyprian the Sorcerer illustrates the happy ending to the travails of the high achiever trying to rise above his peers by descending to spiritual depths. The not-so-happy ending, of course, waits at the end of the wider path — one strewn with history’s cult leaders, “faith-based” flimflam artists, and spiritualist con men. In the Faustian fable of the "Sorcerer’s Apprentice," the titular wizard saves the day by intoning the incantation that undoes his underling’s out-of-control broom-spamming. In real life, no occultish magic is required to save us from such a fate. The truth is much more heavenly — and more humble — than that.

Newsom Crows About Rise in CA Retail Theft Arrests—Gets Roasted for Creating Lawlessness in First Place

With Apple releasing its own Passwords app with iOS 18, 1Password wants to ensure it's still the go-to option for everyone's passwords, two-step verification codes, and other sensitive information stored with end-to-end cryptography. This is why the company is unveiling two new features today: A new sign-in experience (now in beta) and recovery codes feature. With the new sign-in experience, 1Password wants to simplify the user experience when logging in to a new device or browser for the first time. By choosing the "Scan QR Code" option from the top left account menu in their signed-in phone, they can quickly add their 1Password account to a new device or browser. To finish enrollment, confirm the new device or browser when prompted on your phone, and that's it. The company says this new sign-in experience "isn't just convenient, but incredibly secure," as it creates an encrypted channel between the two devices. In addition, 1Password's latest update brings the long-awaited recovery codes feature. With that, you can still log back into the app even if you forget your account password or lose your Secret Key. Image source: 1Password According to the company, a recovery code is a unique and secure code generated by an app or website as a backup to help you regain access to your account. While the app's family organizers can already help other family members recover their accounts, if Family Organizers and customers using the individual plan forgot their password or lost their Secret Key, even with 1Passowrd Support, they wouldn't be able to regain access to their data. Thankfully, now you can create a recovery code by following the steps below: Open and unlock the 1 Password app Select your account or collection at the top of the sidebar and choose Manage Accounts Choose your account and then select Sign-in & Recovery Select Set up recovery code and follow the onscreen instructions. Wrap up To try 1Password's new sign-in experience, you need to join its beta community through the desktop app, TestFlight for iOS, or the "Join the Beta" option in the app management settings on Android. For the new recovery codes feature, make sure to download the latest stable version of the app. Don't Miss: 1Password pulls further ahead of LastPass with this new industry-first feature The post 1Password unveils new sign-in experience and recovery codes feature appeared first on BGR. Today's Top Deals Best Ring Video Doorbell deals in June 2024 Today’s deals: $19 Roku streamer, $79 Beats Studio Buds, $199 Bose TV Soundbar, $399 Lenovo laptop, more Father’s Day deals: $20 Amazon credit, ASUS gaming laptops, Braun shavers, $160 off DJI Mini 3 drone, more 44 best cheap Apple deals under $100

Scientists studying a family plagued by early-in-life Alzheimer's found some carry a genetic oddity that delays their initial symptoms by five years. The finding points to novel ways of fighting the mind-robbing disease - if researchers can unravel how a single copy of that...