Abortion Rates in the U.S. Have Significantly Decreased

Abortion rates are the lowest they’ve been in a decade, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Abortions that were reported from 2006 to 2015 in participating areas fell 24 percent, from 842,855 to 638,169. . .

Rachel Jones, the principal research scientist for the Guttmacher Institute, told The Washington Post, that she believes the decline can be attributed to more widespread contraceptive use as well as less access to abortion.

“Analyses have suggested that improved contraceptive use played a role in the long-term declines. In some states, decreased access to abortion services contributed, as well,” she commented.

Chuck Donovan, president of the Charlotte Lozier Institute, the research arm of the pro-life Susan B. Anthony List, argued that the decline may be due to an increase in women deciding to carry unintended pregnancies to term as well as more prevalent pro-life views.

“A higher percentage of women today decide to carry an unexpected pregnancy to term,” he said, “teenagers are less sexually active and with fewer partners, pro-life views are more prevalent among the rising generation than they were 40 years ago.” (Read more from “Abortion Rates in the U.S. Have Significantly Decreased” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Student Groups Claim Thanksgiving Is ‘Celebration’ of ‘Ongoing Genocide.’ History Says LOL

The progressive war against American traditions continues on America’s college campuses. The Thanksgiving holiday is under attack for being associated with “genocide.”

The University of Oregon’s Native American Law Students Association and the Native American Student Union are hosting an event titled, “Thanks But No Thanks-giving: Decolonizing an American Holiday,” Kenneth Nelson reports for Campus Reform. The event seeks to teach students how they can be grateful “while raising our critical consciousness and identifying ways to decolonize the holiday.”

From the event description:

Millions of families gather together every year to celebrate Thanksgiving in the United States. Many Americans do not grow up thinking much of the history behind the holiday. The main messages are that of gratitude, food, and family; however, Thanksgiving is, foundationally speaking, a celebration of the ongoing genocide against native peoples and cultures across the globe. In collaboration with the Native American Student Association (NASU), we will focus on ways in which we can continue to show gratitude while raising our critical consciousness and identifying ways to decolonize the holiday.

Thanksgiving,”foundationally speaking,” is not a celebration of genocide. The first Thanksgiving meal was shared between Plymouth, Mass., colonists and Wampanoag Indians, giving thanks for God’s provision and the Indians’ help in teaching the struggling colonists how to survive.

Here’s a short history, courtesy of the History Channel:

In September 1620, a small ship called the Mayflower left Plymouth, England, carrying 102 passengers—an assortment of religious separatists seeking a new home where they could freely practice their faith and other individuals lured by the promise of prosperity and land ownership in the New World. After a treacherous and uncomfortable crossing that lasted 66 days, they dropped anchor near the tip of Cape Cod, far north of their intended destination at the mouth of the Hudson River. One month later, the Mayflower crossed Massachusetts Bay, where the Pilgrims, as they are now commonly known, began the work of establishing a village at Plymouth.

Throughout that first brutal winter, most of the colonists remained on board the ship, where they suffered from exposure, scurvy and outbreaks of contagious disease. Only half of the Mayflower’s original passengers and crew lived to see their first New England spring. In March, the remaining settlers moved ashore, where they received an astonishing visit from an Abenaki Indian who greeted them in English. Several days later, he returned with another Native American, Squanto, a member of the Pawtuxet tribe who had been kidnapped by an English sea captain and sold into slavery before escaping to London and returning to his homeland on an exploratory expedition. Squanto taught the Pilgrims, weakened by malnutrition and illness, how to cultivate corn, extract sap from maple trees, catch fish in the rivers and avoid poisonous plants. He also helped the settlers forge an alliance with the Wampanoag, a local tribe, which would endure for more than 50 years and tragically remains one of the sole examples of harmony between European colonists and Native Americans.

In November 1621, after the Pilgrims’ first corn harvest proved successful, Governor William Bradford organized a celebratory feast and invited a group of the fledgling colony’s Native American allies, including the Wampanoag chief Massasoit. Now remembered as American’s “first Thanksgiving”—although the Pilgrims themselves may not have used the term at the time—the festival lasted for three days. While no record exists of the historic banquet’s exact menu, the Pilgrim chronicler Edward Winslow wrote in his journal that Governor Bradford sent four men on a “fowling” mission in preparation for the event, and that the Wampanoag guests arrived bearing five deer. Historians have suggested that many of the dishes were likely prepared using traditional Native American spices and cooking methods. Because the Pilgrims had no oven and the Mayflower’s sugar supply had dwindled by the fall of 1621, the meal did not feature pies, cakes or other desserts, which have become a hallmark of contemporary celebrations.

The Thanksgiving holiday is literally a celebration of “one of the sole examples of harmony between European colonists and Native Americans.” But progressive iconoclasts need to rewrite the history of great American traditions to advance an ideology of oppression that demands government action to address perceived inequalities. So Thanksgiving must be rewritten to be a problematic celebration of “genocide” that Americans should feel bad about.

No thanks. (For more from “Student Groups Claim Thanksgiving Is ‘Celebration’ of ‘Ongoing Genocide.’ History Says LOL” please click HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Avenatti Won’t Face Felony Domestic Violence Charges

By ABC News. The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office has declined to file a felony case against attorney Michael Avenatti on domestic violence allegations and instead the case is being considered as a possible misdemeanor.

The DA’s office has referred Avenatti’s case to the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office to review for misdemeanor consideration.

Avenatti was arrested last week in Los Angeles and booked on suspicion of domestic partner violence.

The circumstances of the case and identity of the victim have not been released, but Los Angeles-based actress Mareli Miniutti recently filed a request for a temporary restraining order against Avenatti, claiming they had a dispute about money that became a physical altercation.

(Read more from “Avenatti Won’t Face Felony Domestic Violence Charges” HERE)

_________________________________________________________

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office Has Declined to File a Felony Case Against Attorney Michael Avenatti

By The Daily Caller. More details have emerged in the alleged domestic abuse incident between lawyer-turned-potential presidential candidate Michael Avenatti and a former girlfriend.

Mareli Miniutti, 24, an actress who most recently appeared in “Ocean’s Eight,” detailed an alleged altercation in court documents that led to Avenatti getting arrested on felony domestic abuse and released on $50,000 bail last Wednesday.

Court documents show that Avenatti allegedly called Miniutti an “ungrateful bitch,” according to The Daily Beast.

He also allegedly told her not to “disrespect” him and the situation became violent. Avenatti allegedly pulled her out of bed by her wrist and then confiscated her phone while she was trying to call for help. He also allegedly dragged her across the apartment and pulled her back into the apartment when she tried going to a neighbor for help, the Washington Examiner reported. (Read more from “The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office Has Declined to File a Felony Case Against Attorney Michael Avenatti” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

U.S. Judge Aids in the Horrifying Normalization of Female Genital Mutilation

U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman continues his complicity in the torture of young girls with his dismissal of female genital mutilation charges against multiple doctors who engaged in the barbaric practice.

Violent misogynists have found a friend in Friedman, who continues to make a mockery of the law and bends to the will of the defense attorneys in one of the ugliest ongoing battles in the country. In this historic case, two Michigan doctors stand accused of heading a conspiracy involving six other people for a dozen years to mutilate the genitals of at least nine girls. Although 27 states already have state laws completely banning FGM, the “doctors” are being charged for breaking the federal law that specifically protects minors from FGM.

Judge Friedman is ruling that transporting minors across state lines with the specific intention of soliciting the services of professional torture artists is not covered by the Commerce Clause, and thus, federal law should be stricken down. . .

FGM is slowly invading America, with the rate of girls and women subjected to FGM having tripled in the past three decades, predominately in California, New York, and Minnesota. Interestingly, Minnesota just elected a congresswoman who was one of only four state representatives to vote against a state law that made FGM a felony. Her name is Ilhan Omar.

On its face, the continued rationale of Friedman’s rulings, from removing three mothers who knowingly tricked their daughters into traveling to force them to undergo FGM from the case to now trying to strike down the 22-year-old federal law under the absurd claim that Congress lacks constitutional authority to prohibit professional torture, specifically the kind that pushed at least a handful of minors across state lines, is patently absurd. (Read more from “U.S. Judge Aids in the Horrifying Normalization of Female Genital Mutilation” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Vet Tweets He’s Going to Kill Himself. Then James Woods Launches Effort to Save Him.

On Monday night, actor James Woods went all-in to help save a suicidal veteran who had tweeted that he was going to kill himself. Although the vet deleted his tweets, a look at Woods’ tweets gives a pretty clear idea of the dialogue Woods initiated and Woods’ efforts to help keep the vet talking while Woods launched a search to find him. In the process, Woods showed his empathy by acknowledging that he, too, like most people, had experienced some depression at one time in his life, and encouraged the vet to hold on so that he could be an inspiration to other vets who experience the same feelings.

(Read more from “Vet Tweets He’s Going to Kill Himself. Then James Woods Launches Effort to Save Him.” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Here’s How Much Turkey It Takes to Feed the Heroes Who Can’t Come Home This Week

American troops stationed around the world will spend their Thanksgiving Day away from their loved ones. Turns out it takes a lot of chow to give our heroes abroad the holiday dinners they deserve.

According to a report at CNBC, the Pentagon has delivered over 300,000 pounds of traditional Thanksgiving food to personnel stationed in places like the Middle East, Africa, and Asia, as well as those currently at the southern U.S. border.

According to the report, the list of food shipped includes:

9,738 whole turkeys

51,234 pounds of roasted turkey

74,036 pounds of beef

21,758 pounds of ham

67,860 pounds of shrimp

16,284 pounds of sweet potatoes

81,360 pies

19,284 cakes

7,836 gallons of eggnog

That’s a lot of food, and the sheer volume serves to remind us just how many of our fellow Americans are currently giving up quality time and annual traditions with their famies in the course of their service.

This year, as you take inventory of all the things you have to be thankful for, don’t forget those who sacrifice to keep this country safe and secure. (For more from the author of “Here’s How Much Turkey It Takes to Feed the Heroes Who Can’t Come Home This Week” please click HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Nineteen States Ask the Supreme Court to Uphold Down Syndrome Abortion Ban

A coalition of 19 state attorneys general filed a friend of the court brief late last week asking the Supreme Court to review and uphold a 2016 Indiana law which bans abortions that are chosen solely due to a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome. The law also bars other discriminatory abortions chosen solely because of other disabilities, biological sex, or race.

Last month, Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill asked the Supreme Court to review the law after the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the measure, finding it to be “unconstitutional.”

The coalition, led by Wisconsin’s attorney general, argued in the brief that the measure “furthers the State’s compelling interest in prohibiting the discriminatory elimination of classes of human beings by race, gender, or disability.”

“The Seventh Circuit invalidated this law by purporting to find within this Court’s case law a ‘categorical’ right to pre-viability abortion,” the brief noted, “a right that a State cannot infringe no matter how powerful its interest…That conclusion is legally wrong and would perversely place the unenumerated right to pre-viability abortion above even core protections of the Bill of Rights.”

They pointed out that if laws to prohibit discrimination against the Down syndrome community in other areas are under the authority of the state then preventing abortion practices that could eliminate the community should also be within the state’s authority. (Read more from “Nineteen States Ask the Supreme Court to Uphold Down Syndrome Abortion Ban” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

NYT Gives You Advice on How to Argue With Your Liberal/Conservative Uncle at Thanksgiving Dinner. It’s Ridiculous.

On Tuesday, The New York Times published a piece designed to teach you how to most productive argue with your conservative or liberal uncle at the Thanksgiving table. Unfortuantely, the piece essentially argued that the best way to argue with your conservative uncle was to wait for him to admit that his support for President Trump was foolhardy and ignorant, and that the best way to argue with your liberal uncle was to agree with him. . .

The author of the piece, Dr. Karin Tamerius, a former psychiatrist and founder of Smart Politics, says that she has developed a “five-step method to help people have difficult conversations.” She then applies that method to arguing with one of your two politically-driven uncles. . .

You are advised not to ask about the definition of rights or who would pay for Medicare for All, because that would be offputting. Instead, ask Liberal Uncle why he’s so wonderful. And he’ll sure tell you! . . .

In the end, the Times insists that you ought to simply agree with Liberal Uncle and assume Conservative Uncle is a dunce. After all, as Tamerius explains, every liberal change begins with your stupid Conservative Uncle:

The civil rights movement, the women’s movement, the antiwar movement, the gay rights movement, the struggle for marriage equality – all gained acceptance through difficult conversations among family members who initially disagreed vehemently with one another.

(Read more from “NYT Gives You Advice on How to Argue With Your Liberal/Conservative Uncle at Thanksgiving Dinner. It’s Ridiculous.” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Americans Disagree About What Racism Is, and It’s a Big Problem

According to a recent NBC News poll, 62 percent of Americans polled said racism is a “major problem.” Last year, Gallup found that 42 percent are “very worried about race relations.” In 2001, when Gallup began that survey, the percentage was only 28 percent, and in 2010 it was a mere 13 percent.

There are many plausible explanations for this jump, including a spate of media-highlighted, race-related police shootings and the controversial presidency of Donald Trump. What is less clear is how our society can reverse this trend. One tremendous obstacle to improving race relations is that Americans cannot even agree on what racism is.

There are two basic definitions of racism in the United States, one roughly associated with progressives and one roughly associated with conservatives. The former describes racism as the failure to acknowledge and seek to redress systemic discrimination against select disadvantaged minority groups. It is very broad and captures everything from unconscious bias to white supremacy. The latter views racism as making assumptions about, or taking action towards, an individual or group on the sole basis of their race. It is narrow and generally requires belief, intent, and animosity.

These definitions don’t simply differ; to a great extent they actually contradict each other. Much of the contradiction stems from the fact that the progressive definition of racism requires that an advantaged individual or group must be attacking the less privileged. The more conservative and narrow definition of racism requires no appeal to power structures, only to bias, and can be committed by anyone towards anyone.

A very current example of this disagreement over the term can be seen in the media’s treatment of white women after the 2016 and 2018 elections. Many progressives have argued that white women voted in a racist manner in order to uphold their privileged place in the white male patriarchy. Many conservatives balk at this and claim a double standard exists, since a white person making similar attacks on a minority group would be almost certainly be called racist. (Read more from “Americans Disagree About What Racism Is, and It’s a Big Problem” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Reporter Claims She’s Never Met Someone With an AR-15 Who Wasn’t a Killer, Gets Roasted

By Daily Wire. Over the weekend, Newsweek writer Nina Burleigh discovered that law-abiding, gun-owning Americans take offense when you claim they’re all “mass murderers.”

Responding to Rep. Eric Swalwell’s (D-CA) suggestion that gun owners who resist government authorities who might confiscate their weapons could be literally nuked from orbit, Burleigh decided to wax poetic on why, exactly, she felt the nation’s 15,000,000 or so legally owned AR-15 rifles should be immediately taken from their owners.

No AR-15 owner she’s met, Burleigh said, has been anything short of a mass murderer.

. . .

The math didn’t occur to Burleigh, however, or the fact that a vast majority of AR-15 owners are hunters, target shooters, and former members of the military who wanted to take home a small piece of military technology. The vast majority of AR-15 owners are also, of course, not homicidal maniacs.

(Read more from “Reporter Claims She’s Never Met Someone With an Ar-15 Who Wasn’t a Killer, Gets Roasted” HERE)

_________________________________________________

Newsweek Writer: Only AR-15 Owners I Know Are Mass Murderers

By The Daily Caller. Newsweek writer Nina Burleigh claimed Saturday that almost every person she has heard of who owns an AR-15 rifle “has been a mass murderer.”

And “based on Twitter sample the rest of them are scarily paranoid,” Burleigh tweeted.

“Get on the right side of history,” she urged, tagging NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch and right-wing personality Joe Biggs, who are both outspoken supporters of the Second Amendment.

AR-15 rifles were used in the Newtown school shooting, the Orlando nightclub shooting, the Aurora, Colorado shooting at a movie theater, and other mass shootings. An estimated 8 million to 15 million people own AR-15s, making it the most popular rifle in America. (Read more from “Newsweek Writer: Only AR-15 Owners I Know Are Mass Murderers” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.