God as con artist
For some reason we don ' t hear much preaching about Genesis 15, even though it seems pretty juicy. Here it is.After this, the word of theLord came to Abram in a vision:“Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward. ”2 But Abram said, “SovereignLord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus? ”3 And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”4 Then the word of theLord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but ...
Source: Stayin' Alive - May 13, 2018 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs
Interrogations Done Right: A DESERT STORM Story
During yesterday ’s Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) confirmationhearing on Gina Haspel ’s nomination to become director of the CIA, I noted onTwitter that the Army and the CIA had literally walked away from the lessons and successes on detainee/POW interrogations learned during the 1991 Persian Gulf War. That prompted responses like this:Fair critique or missing my point?I agree with Beale that thecircumstances of the capture of Iraqi soldiers and officers in the 1991 Gulf War were different than the rendition, detention, and interrogation (RDI) program run by the CIA, and the people (actual terrorists o...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - May 10, 2018 Category: American Health Authors: Patrick G. Eddington Source Type: blogs
Kill the Iran Deal, Open Pandora's Box
This afternoon, Donald Trump made an announcement regarding the future of the Iran nuclear deal. Ahead of a self-imposed May 12th deadline, the President announced that he will not be waiving the sanctions. This decision places the United States in violation of the deal. But while it may not kill the JCPOA completely – European states and Iran could decide whether to keep some version of the deal going without the United States – it will start a period of profound uncertainty about the future of U.S-Iranian relations.In some ways, this uncertainty is the most concerning thing about the current administration ’s appro...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - May 8, 2018 Category: American Health Authors: Emma Ashford Source Type: blogs
Ukraine, Trump, and Javelin Missiles
Yesterday the New York Timesreported that in early April Ukraine ’s president, Petro Poroshenko, ordered his chief federal prosecutor to halt four anticorruption investigations involving Ukrainians connected to Paul Manafort, Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman and a central figure in Robert Mueller’s investigations here in the United States.Perhaps not coincidentally,Ukraine announced on April 30 that it had received 210 Javelin antitank missiles, purchased from the United States to bolster its fight against Russian proxies in the Donbass region of Ukraine. Though the State Department initially approved the sale...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - May 4, 2018 Category: American Health Authors: A. Trevor Thrall Source Type: blogs
Must Rising Oil Prices Compel the Fed to Tighten More?
As crude oil prices recently approached $68 a barrel, aWall Street Journal writer concluded that “inflation fears got an added jolt this week as oil prices rose to a three-year high. ”Two otherWall Street Journal writers added that “If crude continues to move higher, it could begin to stifle economic growth.” They suggest that “higher consumer prices for gasoline and other energy products act like a tax, while pushing inflation higher and increasing pressure on the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates more aggressiv ely.” Such anxieties about $70 oil are obviously overwrought. Crude prices were usually ab...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 27, 2018 Category: American Health Authors: Alan Reynolds Source Type: blogs
Stabilization Is Essential to Accomplishing the Mission
As the inevitable“what next” questions swirl around Iraq and Syria, and military gains remain fragile, military commanders have come to the forefront in pushing for a new model. They warn that total withdrawal will ensure bad things fill the vacuum. (Source: The RAND Blog)
Source: The RAND Blog - April 24, 2018 Category: Health Management Authors: Linda Robinson Source Type: blogs
U.S. Approves Far Fewer Muslim Refugees, Immigrants, & Travelers
ConclusionPresident Trump appears to be fulfilling his campaign promise.
The United States is accepting the fewest Muslim refugees in
decades, and immigration from the Muslim world has received an
unprecedented cut under his administration. On the campaign trail,
President Trump assured voters that the Muslim ban would be a “temporary ban.” In the coming months, we will find out how
temporary these policies discouraging Muslim immigration turn out
to be. (Source: Cato-at-liberty)
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 23, 2018 Category: American Health Authors: David Bier Source Type: blogs
Adapting U.S. Foreign Policy to a Changing World
The dramatic news that CIA DirectorMike Pompeo met in secret with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un over the Easter weekend has renewed hopes that one of the world ’s most dangerous stand offs might be resolved without war. PresidentDonald Trump confirmed via Twitter that details for a summit meeting were “being worked out” and predicted “Denuclearization will be a great thing for World, but also for North Korea!” The good feelings continued during the week, with Kim announcing on Saturday thatthe North no longer needs to conduct nuclear or missile tests.Americans should welcome such prospects, but South Koreans ha...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 21, 2018 Category: American Health Authors: Christopher A. Preble Source Type: blogs
Profiles of Every Terrorism Vetting Failure in the Last 30 Years
In my newpolicy analysis released today, I identify 65 vetting failures where the visa vetting system allowed a foreign-born person to enter the United States as an adult or older teenager when they had already radicalized —80 percent occurred before 9/11. Just 13 vetting failures have occurred since 9/11, and only one—the last one (Tashfeen Malik)—resulted in any deaths in the United States. That’s one vetting failure for every 29 million visa or status approvals, and one deadly failure for every 379 million visa or status approvals from 2002 to 2016.As I note, 9/11 is reasonable point of analysis because after th...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 17, 2018 Category: American Health Authors: David Bier Source Type: blogs
The Art of Medicine: Taking a Military History
This article was prepared by the authors above in his/her personal capacity. The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not reflect the view of the Department of Veterans Affairs, VA Connecticut Healthcare System or the United States government.
Title: The Forgotten Question: Taking a Military History
Authors:
Meredith Bertrand, NP1
Eugenia Betz, MD1,2
Alice Grant, NP1
Leila Haghighat, MD1,2
Janet Ku, NP1
Sumit R. Kumar, MD1,2
Mona Lalehzari, MD1,2
Benjamin Y. Lu, MD1,2
J. Nicholas Pumilia, MD1,2
Jonathan Stock, MD1,2
Anna Reisman, MD1,2,3
1. VA Centers of Excellence in Primary Care Ed...
Source: The Health Care Blog - April 15, 2018 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: John Irvine Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: blogs
I experienced trauma working in Iraq. I see it now among America ’s doctors.
I was on my honeymoon in Colombia when I first became aware of the true extent of my post-traumatic stress disorder. My husband and I were walking across a smooth, granite platform to take a closer look at a fountain in downtown Cartagena. As we neared the structure, mist from the fountain’s jets dampened the ground at my feet.
I froze, paralyzed with fear by a flashback — my first — triggered by something as ordinary as wet pavement on a warm day.
Two years earlier, I was working in civic engagement efforts in Baghdad. One morning, as I walked across a smooth, granite platform toward my apartment, gunfire erupted. I...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - April 9, 2018 Category: General Medicine Authors: < a href="https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/elizabeth-metraux" rel="tag" > Elizabeth M étraux < /a > Tags: Physician Hospital-Based Medicine Primary Care Public Health & Policy Source Type: blogs
Increased Civilian Casualties and a Disturbing Question from President Trump
Back in 2015, candidate Donald Trump caused a stir when hepublicly advocated murdering the families of terrorists. At the time, this was widely condemned for its immoral cruelty and as a violation of the laws of war. Richard D. Rosen, director of the Center for Military Law and Policy at the Texas Tech University School of Law,described “a policy of intentionally and directly targeting the families of terrorists” as “a war crime.” To the relief of many, theNew York Times reported in March 2016 that Trump had “reversed course on his vow to kill the families of terrorists…saying he now recognized that such...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 6, 2018 Category: American Health Authors: John Glaser Source Type: blogs
Explaining the Bolton Appointment, and Why It's Dangerous
Ever since President Trump appointed John Bolton to be the new national security advisor last week, a torrent of commentary has poured forth about the hawkish Fox News pundit and American Enterprise Institute senior fellow, who once served as United Nations Ambassador for 18 months in the George W. Bush administration. Two pieces published today, however, stand out for their precision and insight. The first is byThe Atlantic’s Peter Beinart, whosecentral argument is that Bolton is not the learned foreign policy scholar many believe him to be. While Bolton certainly has years of experience, it hasn ’t been of the righ...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - March 29, 2018 Category: American Health Authors: John Glaser Source Type: blogs
Emulating Our Adversaries, Betraying Our National Values
President Trump ’s appointment of Gina Haspel as the new director of the Central Intelligence Agency has revived memories of the abuses the CIA committed during George W. Bush’s administration. The appointment is indeed deeply troubling, since Haspel ran one of the Agency’s infamous overseas “black sites” that featured “enhanced interrogation” techniques (a cynical euphemism for torture). But as I point out in a newNational Interest Onlinearticle, Haspel ’s conduct is the symptom of a much deeper problem. Both during the Cold War and the war on terror, too many U.S. officials have succumbed to the temptatio...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - March 26, 2018 Category: American Health Authors: Ted Galen Carpenter Source Type: blogs
Mar 23, Philip Zimbardo: Today in the History of Psychology (23rd March 1933)
Philip Zimbardo was born. A world-renowned educator, researcher, speaker and author with over 50 books and more than 400 published articles to his name, Philip Zimbardo has been informing our understanding of human behavior for over fifty years. His landmark Stanford Prison Experiment in 1971 showed how situations and systems can make good people do bad things by creating the conditions in which those in positions of power dehumanize those in less powerful positions. These controversial findings continue to resonate today in what they tell us about contemporary events such as the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuses in Iraq; the res...
Source: Forensic Psychology Blog - March 23, 2018 Category: Forensic Medicine Source Type: blogs
