Match Day arrives for medical students at Campbell University – Fayetteville Observer

Posted on by

BUIES CREEK - Along with 66 other Campbell University medical students, Rachel Cutlip received notice Monday on where she's going to be doing her residency training in emergency medicine.

The 25-year-old student from southern Maryland will be furthering her medical education at Inspira Medical Center Vineland in Vineland, New Jersey.

"I'm from the country, and it's very rural," Cutlip said, "and I love Vineland."

She plans to pursue a career in the area of ultrasound, which, as she said, can be used for many things besides pregnancies.

Once Cutlip completes her residency at Inspira, the red-haired coed hopes to work in a hospital in a distinctly rural setting.

"This is a culmination of four years of hard work," Cutlip said. "This is where you find out what specialty you're going to be a physician in."

Match Day 2017 arrived Monday at the Jerry M. Wallace School of Osteopathic Medicine, marking a significant achievement for the university and its inaugural class of medical students.

For the celebratory social, many of the students from this first class of 156 returned to campus from the five regional clinical campuses throughout the state, where they have completed their third and fourth years of medical school in clinical rotations.

"I asked the good Lord to let me live to see this day, and I'm thankful for it," Campbell President Jerry M. Wallace told the roughly 100 students, family members and staff who had gathered. "I want to live a little longer so I can have a Campbell physician become my physician."

Dr. John Kauffman Jr., the dean of the medical school, started out with his congratulations in the upstairs lecture hall of the School of Osteopathic Medicine.

Match Day traditionally ranks among the most exciting days of the medical school experience.

"This is another really big day at the creek," Kauffman said. "Another milestone on your journey to becoming a physician. Your hard work and dedication has led you to this point. But your journey is really only about half over. You've got another three to five years ahead of you, but how exciting."

Once they graduate in May, the students become student doctors.

Once they begin residency training at their respective medical facilities across the United States, they morph into resident physicians.

"Medical school - you learn so much," 27-year-old Brooke Williams of Winston-Salem said. "Residency is your bread and butter, and that's when you really develop as a physician."

Williams learned Monday that her long and arduous journey to become a doctor in the area of internal medicine will continue at Franciscan St. James Health - Olympia Fields, just outside of Chicago.

Williams had been close with her mother's sister, Cassandra Jones, who died from sickle cell disease when Brooke was in the eighth grade.

"I promised I would go into the field of medicine," she said. "Since the eighth grade, I've always said I wanted to go to med school."

Besides the 67 medical students who were matched into residencies on Monday, 10 students learned in December where they were going through a military residency match. The military match takes place first.

As for the remaining students from this inaugural Campbell medical school class, they will find out their places of residency over the next month or so. March 17 looms as the next big Match Day.

Campbell's School of Osteopathic Medicine opened in August 2013. From the get-go, the mission of the medical school at the Baptist-affiliated university in Buies Creek has been to train its students in a Christian environment to care for rural and underserved populations in North Carolina and beyond.

During his remarks, Wallace spoke of how, four years ago, the school had become the first school of medicine in the state in more than 35 years.

"I believe the best is yet to be, for you and for the people you will serve, in bringing healthcare - C-A-R-E - not bringing commodity care, to the people of this nation," he said. "And we certainly do need it."

Go here to read the rest:

Match Day arrives for medical students at Campbell University - Fayetteville Observer

Gifts Roundup: $25 Million Donation Boosts U. of Texas Medical School – Chronicle of Philanthropy (subscription)

Posted on by

Longtime University of Texas donors Joe and Teresa Lozano Long (center) have given $25 million to the UT Health Science Center in San Antonio. They are pictured with William Henrich, the center's president, and participants in a scholarship program funded by the couple.

A roundup of notable gifts compiled by The Chronicle:

Joe and Teresa Lozano Long gave $25 million for medical programs and scholarships at the research and education campus in San Antonio.

The couple directed $20 million of the gift to the Presidents Endowment for Faculty Excellence in Medicine, $4 million to endow scholarships for medical students, and $1 million to endow the position of dean.

The Longs both earned doctorates from the University of Texas at Austin. They started their careers as high-school teachers. Mr. Long later became a lawyer and a banker. Ms. Long served as a consultant for the Texas Education Agencys State Compensatory Education program, the U.S. Education Departments Office of Migrant Education, and the federal Head Start program.

Charles and Helen Schwab donated $25 million to construct a new building for the Department of Music and the Sacred Music at Notre Dame program.

Mr. Schwab founded investment firm the Charles Schwab Corporation. The new building will be named for Ms. Schwabs brother, Joseph ONeill III, a Notre Dame alumnus and university trustee.

Jeffrey Feil and his family donated $12.5 million to the New York medical school to create a new student center with spaces for classes, collaborative projects, advanced patient-care training, and student activities.

Mr. Feil leads the Feil Organization, a New York real-estate company that was started by his father. The family has given about $90 million to Weill Cornell to date.

Margaret McDermott gave $10 million to endow undergraduate research in the Hobson Wildenthal Honors College, named, at the donors request, for the universitys chief academic officer.

Ms. McDermott is the widow of Eugene McDermott, a geophysicist who co-founded Texas Instruments and helped start the Graduate Research Center of the Southwest, which later became UT Dallas. He died in 1973.

Judith Blake pledged $8 million for scholarships for students in the business college and to support those participating in the universitys Shoals Marine Laboratory and its Northeast Passage program, which pursues barrier-free recreation opportunities for people with disabilities.

Ms. Blake is a retired marketing executive and 1977 graduate of the university. She mentors students and teaches classes on beverage management. Ten years ago she endowed a scholarship fund for business students, to which this new gift is added.

Linda La Kretz Duttenhaver and her father, Morton La Kretz, committed $6 million to establish the La Kretz Research Center at Sedgwick Reserve, a site for ecological education and study. Some of the money will endow a professorship and fellowships for graduate students conducting research at the reserve.

Ms. Duttenhaver, a public-relations executive, graduated from the university in 1977 and gave it $2 million in 2014 to renovate a ranch house on the Sedgwick Reserve that hosts visiting researchers.

Mr. La Kretz founded Crossroads Management, a property-management company.

Usha and Mahadeb Kundu gave more than $5 million for academic programs and equipment for researchers at the universitys College of Health, which will be named for the donors.

Ms. Kundu is a physician and her husband is an engineer. He earned his MBA from the university in 1992 and served as an adjunct professor there from 1984 to 1986.

To learn about other big donations, see our database of gifts of $1 million or more, which is updated throughout the week.

See the rest here:

Gifts Roundup: $25 Million Donation Boosts U. of Texas Medical School - Chronicle of Philanthropy (subscription)

UTRGV med school matches with 50 students for its second cohort … – Brownsville Herald

Posted on by

The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine has identified 50 prospective students for its second class.

Of the 50 students matched, 45 are from Texas and 11 of those are from the Rio Grande Valley. Seven are from Hidalgo County, two are from Cameron County and two are from Starr County.

The average MCAT score for matched applicants was 507, which is in the 76th percentile nationally. The average grade point average is about a 3.5 on a 4.0 scale.

We are delighted with the students who matched with us, said Dr. Steven A. Lieberman, interim dean of the UTRGV School of Medicine. Not only are they academically gifted, but they also have a passion to serve the people of the Valley. We are truly fortunate to attract students who will represent the best of what our profession stands for: both a keen mind and a big heart.

This is the first time the School of Medicine has matched with students from Starr County, said Betty Monfort, The UTRGV School of Medicines senior associate dean for Admissions and Enrollment Management.

The out-of-state prospective students are from California, Utah, North Carolina and Washington.

This is a very high-caliber class, Monfort said.

The School of Medicine received 3,950 completed applications and interviewed 320 students for 50 seats.

The medical school then ranked applicants for admission. Applicants, as well, ranked the medical schools to which they applied, in order of preference, should they be accepted to those schools. The rankings from the medical school and applicants were then sent to the Texas Medical and Dental Schools Application Service a centralized application processing service for all first-year medical students applying to public medical, dental and veterinary schools to be matched.

Because students have until the first day of orientation to decline the acceptance offer, The UTRGV School of Medicine is not yet releasing names of the top 50 students with whom they matched, Monfort said.

Orientation for the new medical students starts July 5.

Go here to see the original:

UTRGV med school matches with 50 students for its second cohort ... - Brownsville Herald

Doctors Who Trained Abroad Are Better at Their Jobs, Study Says – TIME

Posted on by

Elizabeth Renstrom for TIME

Nearly a quarter of doctors practicing in the United States did their medical training in another countrya fact many patients seem to hold against them.

Prior studies have shown that people view doctors who trained outside of their home country less favorably than the homegrown kind. But a new study published in The BMJ finds that reputation is far from warranted: Foreign-trained physicians practicing in the U.S. had slightly better patient survival rates than their American-trained colleagues.

Some patients are concerned about the quality of care from foreign-medical graduates, says Dr. Yusuke Tsugawa, research associate at the department of health policy and management at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, who led the study. That is, I think, unfair without looking exactly at whether their performance is as good as the U.S. medical graduates.

Tsugawa and his teamwho also recently found that patients cared for by female physicians had better outcomes than those of male doctorslooked at more than one million hospital admissions made by adults aged 65 on Medicare between 2011 and 2014, as well as where their physicians had trained. They adjusted for several characteristics of doctors and patients that could skew the results, like a patients race and diagnosis, and then compared the two categories of doctors within the same hospital and across different hospitals.

Either way, foreign-trained doctors had the edge. Patients who saw a foreign-trained doctor had a slightly lower rate of death (11.2%) compared to patients of U.S. medical graduates (11.6%).

That difference may sound small, but the authors point out that if the care were equal, one persons life would be saved out of every 250 patients.

The authors also found no difference in readmission rates between the two groups, and that foreign-trained doctors had a somewhat higher cost of careabout $47 per admission, suggesting a slightly higher intensity of care.

We're setting a really high bar for foreign trained doctors to come to the U.S. to practice, Tsugawa says. They have to pass three exams, which cost more than $3,000. Foreign medical school graduates have about a 50% chance of matching into a residency program in the U.S., while graduates of American medical schools match at a rate north of 90%. And in most cases, international students have to do their residency again in the U.S., meaning that the foreign-trained doctors who eventually practice in the U.S. are among the best trained and most competitive, Tsugawa says.

Foreign-trained doctors are also more likely to serve rural and under-staffed parts of the country, places not many U.S. medical graduates want to go and practice, he says. According to the findings of the study, international doctors also tend to care for patients with more chronic conditions.

What we found was that they are providing high-quality care and bringing value to the U.S. healthcare system, says Tsugawa, who hopes that medical school graduates from countries outside of the U.S. will continue to practice in America. "If we're turning away high-quality doctors from outside the U.S.," he says, "maybe we are compromising the quality of care."

Original post:

Doctors Who Trained Abroad Are Better at Their Jobs, Study Says - TIME

Who needs lectures? Vermont medical school chooses other ways … – The Boston Globe

Posted on by

Students learn through interactive and problem-solving methods at the University of Vermont medical school.

By Felice J. Freyer Globe Staff February 01, 2017

BURLINGTON, Vt. The doctors of tomorrow eight of them huddle at the conference table, puzzling over the case of a girl whose growth has mysteriously slowed. What could be wrong? A genetic syndrome? An enzyme insufficiency? A brain tumor?

The students have scrawled their hypotheses on adhesive paper stuck to the wall, with other lists of clinical data and, most important, the knowledge they must acquire.

Advertisement

To outsiders, medical school may conjure up images of a cavernous amphitheater with a white-coated, white-haired professor holding forth. But in a small classroom at the University of Vermonts medical school, the professor has little to say.

This classroom is a pioneer in a nationwide movement to ensure that medical education produces the kind of doctors todays patients need physicians who are good at listening, fact-finding, critical thinking, and collaborating.

Get Fast Forward in your inbox:

Forget yesterday's news. Get what you need today in this early-morning email.

Toward that end, the school has pledged to eliminate all lectures by 2019.

Nearly all medical schools are reducing lecture time and moving toward these interactive modes of learning. But Vermonts Robert Larner, M.D. College of Medicine, propelled by a gift from an alumnus, is going the furthest and the fastest with its 2019 goal.

Sometimes, the best approach to something isnt the most comfortable, said Dr. William B. Jeffries, senior associate dean for medical education. Students are comfortable with lectures because they provide them with a guide to material thats on the test. Faculty are comfortable with lectures because they already did it last year.

Advertisement

But Jeffries, who loves to lecture and even wrote book chapters on how to do it, said the evidence is clear that students perform better in an environment where theyre asked to do something instead of listen to something.

Much of what is taught by a professor merely talking, he said, is forgotten within weeks, and sometimes is obsolete within years.

Lisa Howley, senior director of educational affairs at the Association of American Medical Colleges, said she was unaware of any other medical school pledging to eliminate lectures.

Caleb Kenna for the Boston Globe

Major Munson, Julia Powelson, and Matthew Shear took part in a class in Vermont.

Already, less than half of the learning experiences at Vermonts medical school take the form of lectures. Its an upheaval that has variously thrilled and burdened professors and surprised and challenged students, but is one that, university officials say, promises to elevate a new generation of skilled and compassionate physicians.

Medical school has traditionally been divided into two years of classroom learning and two years of clinical clerkships, in which students rotate through health care facilities. Years ago, the University of Vermont shortened the second year, so that students start their clerkships earlier.

Now, the latest innovations focus on those not-quite-two-years of didactic learning, trying several types of teaching methods, with students working in small groups to tackle problems and applying what they know. For example, in a flipped classroom, students digest the materials such as a short video, an animated PowerPoint, or a reading before coming to class; in class, they gather in groups of six to answer assigned questions.

The eight students contemplating the growth-stunted child were taking a different approach. They were engaged in a problem-based learning course for second-year students in which they confront a real-life case with the knowledge they have.

In addition to slowed growth, the girl, who was 11, had delayed puberty, abnormally low blood pressure, loss of appetite, and headaches that awakened her at night.

After analyzing the case, each student selected a topic to research for the next class. Then, they came back and taught one other. One student, for example, outlined all the conditions that can delay puberty; another walked through the causes of headaches.

When it came time for a diagnosis, the students used a computer program that links to the childs medical records (stripped of identifying information), to reenact the investigation of her case. They can request a test, and if the childs physician had ordered that test, the results will be displayed.

After tossing around several ideas and checking several tests, they agreed the next step was an MRI of her brain. They called up the girls MRI results to display on a large screen. One of their hypotheses was unmistakably confirmed: a tumor on the pituitary gland.

The professor, Dr. Patricia A. King, better known as the faculty facilitator, said this process promotes lifelong learning and collaboration.

King trains other faculty members in how to run a problem-based learning course. Some find it difficult to give up so much control. Often, she said, the hardest part is how not to say anything, when you really want to say a lot. But the knowledge, King said, sticks better when the students discover it on their own.

Julia McGinty, one of the students who diagnosed the 11-year-old girl, said thats often true she finds she doesnt need to review topics she has learned in an interactive format.

Still, she observed, some topics do better at being adapted to the interactive format than others, and some students prefer to learn on their own, at their own pace.

Marie Kenney is one of those students. Now in her second year, Kenney didnt know about the curriculum changes Vermont was planning when she applied. She would prefer more, not fewer, lectures.

Because my learning style is more solo than group-based, I find that lectures are a lot more valuable to me, she said. Discussing in class what she has already learned on her own seems redundant.

Soraiya Thura, a third-year medical student and the student representative on the universitys Board of Trustees, said that as professors struggled to learn the new formats, they sometimes stumbled, and the experience fell flat.

But when the classes worked well, Thura said, I walked out feeling like I had a much better grasp on the information.

Thura said she felt well-prepared for the first of her medical board exams, the notorious Step One that second-year students must pass before they can begin their clerkships.

Jeffries points to evidence that students ace exams after learning with the new methods, including a 2014 review of 225 studies of science, engineering, and mathematics instruction. An internal study at Vermonts medical school found that test scores went up when team-based learning was introduced.

These efforts have been bolstered by gifts from Dr. Robert Larner, a 1942 alumnus for whom the medical school was named last year. Larner donated $100 million over the past 30 years for medical education and curriculum development.

Last year, the 99-year-old Larner bequeathed $66 million to establish an endowment that, after his death, will provide about $4 million every year to pursue educational reform.

All four medical schools in Massachusetts are reexamining their curriculums and employing alternatives to lectures.

The Boston Globe

From Left, Jodi Hard, Tessa Lawrence, Jeff Endicott, Heather Wright, Julia Powelson, Matthew Shear, and Major Munson during a simulation laboratory exercise.

Harvard Medical School introduced a new curriculum in August 2015; now, only one-fifth of teaching hours occur as lectures.

The Tufts University School of Medicine has a mixture of small-group and lecture formats, and is planning a complete curriculum revision.

At the University of Massachusetts Medical School, students shadow doctors starting in their first year and work in teams with nurses and other professionals.

But no Massachusetts medical school is ready to abandon lectures, believing that such presentations are sometimes the best way to deliver certain material.

Dr. Douglas H. Hughes, associate dean for academic affairs at the Boston University School of Medicine, favors a mix of methodologies, to accommodate different learning and teaching styles.

Hughes said other schools are watching how the Vermont experiment goes.

Theyre pushing the envelope, and thats great, he said. It takes courage to be an early adopter. But Hughes prefers to learn from Vermonts experience before leaping into lecture-free education. If you put all your eggs in one basket and it doesnt work, its hard to retreat from that, he said.

Told of such skepticism, Jeffries, the Vermont dean, said the evidence is clear that students dont learn well from lectures. Why continue offering them when there are more effective methods?

Lectures are an efficient way to deliver knowledge, Jeffries said. But knowledge is fleeting. Knowledge is a constantly developing commodity in your brain that needs to be nurtured, developed, and overhauled routinely. Thats the skill that you need your physician to have.

View original post here:

Who needs lectures? Vermont medical school chooses other ways ... - The Boston Globe

Honoring women doctors, 170 years after medical school ‘joke … – Chicago Tribune

Posted on by

Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman to earn a medical degree in the United States, was accepted to Geneva Medical College in 1847 as a joke.

"The faculty, assuming that the all-male student body would never agree to a woman joining their ranks, allowed them to vote on her admission," according to Blackwell's biography on the National Institutes of Health website. "As a joke, they voted 'yes,' and she gained admittance."

She graduated in 1849 and practiced medicine in New York into the late 1870s. She and her sister, Emily Blackwell, and a third doctor, Marie Zakrzewska, opened the New York Infirmary for Women and Children in 1857, which also provided training for female doctors.

RELATED: TRENDING LIFE & STYLE NEWS THIS HOUR

Friday is Blackwell's birthday (she would turn 196 this year), and a group of doctors has established Feb. 3 as National Women Physicians Day to celebrate the progress made since Blackwell's era and to call attention to the challenges still in place.

"We're celebrating the female physicians who pioneered to get us here and trying to raise awareness about the bias that still exists," said Hala Sabry, a California-based doctor who founded Physician Mom Group, the organization that brainstormed National Women Physicians Day.

Sabry, 38, is a mom of three kids under 4. She established Physician Mom Group to establish a sense of community in the midst of a grueling work schedule and find answers to such questions as, "How many nannies do I need?"

Sabry is an osteopathic emergency physician, and she said it's not unusual for patients to assume she's a nurse, even after she has introduced herself.

"I have 'doctor' on my badge and all over my scrubs, and I introduce myself saying, 'I'm Dr. Sabry. I'm going to be your doctor today," she said. "I answer all their questions, answer all the family's questions and tell them a diagnosis, and when I ask if they have any questions, they'll say, 'When is the doctor going to be here?'"

The bias isn't limited to patient interactions. A study published last year in JAMA Internal Medicine reported significant wage disparity between male and female physicians. After adjusting for age, experience, specialty and faculty rank, Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital researchers found the average pay gap between men and women was $19,878 a year. Before adjusting for those factors, the gap averaged $51,315 a year.

On the positive side, almost half of all medical students are women, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. And it's safe to assume they're no longer being admitted as a practical joke.

Sabry hopes to build on that progress and chip further away at the outdated assumptions that women play second fiddle to men in medicine.

"It's important to maintain the progress, so every little girl who dreams of becoming a doctor won't hesitate because of her gender," she said.

A worthy goal, and a lovely birthday gift to Dr. Blackwell.

hstevens@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @heidistevens13

RELATED STORIES:

What we can learn from Women's March blowback

Some friendly pointers for President Trump's Women's History Month speech

Dear Women encourages us to write letters to those who inspire

View original post here:

Honoring women doctors, 170 years after medical school 'joke ... - Chicago Tribune

Tom Price’s actions inconsistent with medical school teachings – Detroit Free Press

Posted on by

Ilana Fischer, Kathryn Brown, Nithya Vijayakumar Published 6:50 p.m. ET Feb. 1, 2017 | Updated 6:56 p.m. ET Feb. 1, 2017

Health and Human Services Secretary-designate, Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., right, accompanied by Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2017, at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee.(Photo: Andrew Harnik, AP)

Today, the Senate Finance Committee advanced President Donald Trumps nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services, Tom Price (R-Ga), to a full Senate vote. Not a single Democrat was present.

We as medical students at Prices alma mater, University of Michigan Medical School, share many of the concerns that prompted the boycott, which Democrats implemented following a reportfrom the Wall Street Journal that Price had falsely denied purchasing privileged stock options during his testimony before the Senate Finance Committee. As Senator Elizabeth Warren pointed out during the hearing, Prices broader decision to actively trade in health stocks while writing policy that could affect them raises serious questions about potential conflicts of interest and about [his] judgment.

Prices failure to disclose his financial interests, along with his political record, concern us as medical students. His positions are inconsistent with what we are taught in our medical training.

Roughly a year ago at a public University of Michigan event, Price expressed concern when asked about the possibility of a Donald Trump presidency. When I hear Trump saying things like Ill just do XYZ without seemingly any regard for the legislative branch, it gives me some thought.

Just days into Trumps presidency it seems that Prices concerns were correct, and yet, he has remained silent after recent executive orders that demonstrate contempt for constitutional checks and balances.

As future physicians, we are also concerned about Prices values. Prices political record demonstrates a disregard for patient welfare, which should be absolutely disqualifying for the position of Secretary of HHS. It also stands in stark contrast to what we are taught each day in medical school.

Price opposes even modest restrictions on the sale of automatic weapons and ammunition designed to reduce gun-related deaths, despite research that the presence of a gun in the home greatly increases the risk of homicide and suicide. This evidence is strong enough that the relationship between firearms and suicide is tested on our exams.

Price voted against reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) in 2013, and he has voted against legalizing gay marriage and legislation protecting LGBTQ victims of hate crimes. As third- and fourth-year students, we are taught to ask our patients if they feel safe at home, and how to connect them with resources if they are in a dangerous situation.

Price is a member of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, a fringe group that opposes Medicare and Medicaid has raised questions about mandatoryvaccinations. Price opposes federal funding for Planned Parenthood, one of the nations leading providers of screenings for cancer and sexually transmitted infections, and has repeatedly voted to limit access to vital reproductive health services, including contraception and abortion. Just this month, first year medical students learned about the importance of pelvic exams and cervical cancer screenings, and how to perform them.

Price voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Every day we see patients who are afraid of reduced access to medications they need, high co-pays for life-saving procedures, and losing their health insurance entirely. Price has also remained silent on Trumps immigration ban, which has already prevented international physicians with valid visas from returning to the United States.

Individually, many of these positions are in direct conflict with our medical education, and in aggregate, they are inconsistent with physician values and best practices to assure the health and well being of the patients we serve. Prices record reveals a politician bent on reducing federal regulation in healthcare and a disregard for the interests of patients. These actions violate the ethical responsibilities of a physician, which include ensuring that all people, including the elderly, veterans, women, the LGBTQ community, immigrants, victims of violence, and all patients who are economically and socially disadvantaged can easily access high-quality, affordable health care. Prices conflicts of interest and voting record contradict our values as future physicians and students of University of Michigan Medical School. We urge the Senate to reject Prices nomination to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The authors are joined by Ann Soliman, Hannah Cottrell, Whit Froehlich, also students at the University of Michigan Medical School, in signing on to this guest column.

Read or Share this story: http://on.freep.com/2jX2dLz

Go here to see the original:

Tom Price's actions inconsistent with medical school teachings - Detroit Free Press

Ed Gillespie at Liberty University: My setbacks were part of God’s plan – Washington Post

Posted on by

LYNCHBURG, Va. Ed Gillespie grew up in a traditional Irish Catholic family, where faith was central to his life but not something he was comfortable wearing on his sleeve.

Hes over that now.

The Republican candidate for governor of Virginia stood before 15,000 Liberty University students Monday to share how his faith has helped him understand that painful disappointments from his failure to gain admission to his top choice for college to his squeaker loss to U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D) in 2014 were part of Gods plan and ultimately for the good.

The truth is, I was not raised to talk about my personal relationship with our savior, Jesus Christ, Gillespie said at a convocation at the school. Happily, over time thats become more comfortable to me. Today Im glad to be able to share with you how that relationship sustains me, and how my faith helps me through difficult times in hopes that it might somehow be helpful to you.

While the soul-baring was new to Gillespie, the pilgrimage to Liberty has become routine for politicians courting evangelical voters.

[Liberty U transforms into evangelical mega-university]

The tiny Baptist college that the Rev. Jerry Falwell founded in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in 1971 has ballooned into the worlds largest Christian university, now led by the late TV preachers son. Along the way, Liberty has become an essential campaign stop for conservative office-seekers. Its thrice-weekly convocations, mandatory gatherings for students, guarantee a polite and receptive crowd.

The last presidential cycle alone drew four Republican candidates: now-President Trump, former Florida governor Jeb Bush, Ben Carson and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), with Cruz choosing the campus to formally announce his candidacy. Sen. Bernie Sanders (V-I), who was then seeking the Democratic nomination, and Libertarian Gary Johnson also addressed students.

Now Virginias aspiring governors are beating a similar path to Liberty; Gillespie was the first 2017 statewide candidate to speak at a convocation, but others are coming.

Denver Riggleman, one of his rivals for the GOP nomination, also was at Liberty Monday, giving an interview to the student newspaper, the Champion; making his own plans to speak at a convocation; and holding a meet-and-greet with students at a restaurant nearby.

As a distillery owner, Riggleman is not the most obvious favorite for a dry campus. But Trump, who has owned casinos and been married three times, managed to win robust support from Liberty President Jerry Falwell Jr.

Riggleman bills himself more as a libertarian than a religious conservative but said that his message has appeal at Liberty. He said several students he spoke with agreed with his notion that marijuana legalization is a matter that should be left up to the states.

Im a live-and-let-live person, Riggleman said. What Ive noticed about Liberty students is theyre so liberty-minded in freedoms across the spectrum. Theyre very open-minded, almost in a libertarian-minded way.

In response to Gillespies appearance, the other two Republicans running for governor touted their own Liberty ties. State Sen. Frank W. Wagner (R-Virginia Beach) said he had worshipped just the day before at Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, where the Rev. Jonathan Falwell, another son of Libertys founder, is pastor.

Corey A. Stewart, chairman of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors and former chairman of Trumps Virginia campaign, said that he attended a campus campaign event on Trumps behalf in the fall and that he, too, planned to speak at a convocation.

Its a training ground for future conservative leaders, not just in Virginia, but around the country, Stewart said.

State Sen. Bryce E. Reeves (R-Spotsylvania), who is running for lieutenant governor, and John Adams, a former federal prosecutor who is running for attorney general, are scheduled to appear at a convocation March 27.

Gillespie had addressed Liberty students before; he and Warner were convocation speakers in 2014. But Gillespies speech then was more policy-oriented and less personal.

This time, Gillespie spoke only for about five minutes, ahead of the main convocation speaker: John Borek, a former Liberty president.

Gillepsie, a former Republican National Committee chairman and onetime counselor to President George W. Bush, described a string of personal defeats and the silver linings that only later became apparent.

My parents never went to college, but they insisted that I do, he said. So when I was a senior in high school, Id set my sights and my heart on a very elite liberal arts college in New England. In retrospect, given my grades and SAT scores, it was beyond my reach. But Id convinced myself I could get in. I didnt, and I was devastated.

Gillespie did not name the college, but campaign spokesman Matt Moran later said it was Williams College.

Gillespie wound up attending Catholic University which led him to his wife of 30 years and a career in politics. It provided a populist talking point to boot.

I didnt belong at an elitist, secular college in Massachusetts, he said. I belonged at a blue-collar, religious college in Washington, D.C.

He touched only broadly on his goals as governor, saying he knows that I can make a difference to laid-off coal miners, heroin addicts in recovery, parents of children trapped in failing schools, young people like you struggling with student loan debt. He also noted that he would stand for the protection of innocent human life and religious liberty.

Democrats saw an opening there.

During his address, Gillespie proved that hes dedicated to limiting access to womens health care and imposing anti-LGBT measures upon Virginians in the name of religious liberty, state party spokeswoman Emily Bolton said.

Students gave Gillespie a polite response, although several said afterward that they had not yet tuned into the governors race.

[Gillespie announces hes running for Va. governor]

Falwell himself appeared to be in that camp. He introduced Gillespie but said he could not stay to hear his remarks because he had to give a campus tour to an unnamed special guest.

As Falwell began, he started to describe Gillespie as a candidate for governor. Then he paused and looked over his shoulder at him.

I dont know if hes announced yet, Falwell said.

Gillespie, who threw his hat into the ring in October 2015, gave him a nod.

He has, Falwell said. Hes running for governor of Virginia.

Read the rest here:

Ed Gillespie at Liberty University: My setbacks were part of God's plan - Washington Post

Liberty Media’s $8 Billion F1 Buyout Called Into Question – Forbes

Posted on by

Forbes
Liberty Media's $8 Billion F1 Buyout Called Into Question
Forbes
A British politician has written to lawmakers demanding an investigation into Formula One after claiming it is extremely likely that Liberty Media's $8 billion takeover of the auto racing series broke European law. The concern surrounds a 1% stake in ...
Former FIA President Says Liberty Media Too Quick To Oust Bernie EcclestoneSportsBusiness Daily (subscription)

all 8 news articles »

Link:

Liberty Media's $8 Billion F1 Buyout Called Into Question - Forbes

The Statue of Liberty was originally going to be a Muslim woman – The indy100

Posted on by

Standing tall on Liberty Island, the Statue of Liberty is the manifestation of Americas deep-rooted dedication to freedom and enlightenment.

It was one of the first structures that migrants saw when they were processed on Ellis Island between 1892 and 1954.

The structure was designed by French sculptor Frdric Auguste Bartholdi, and iswidely attributed to the artists interpretation of the Roman goddess for liberty, Libertas.

However, the statues inception wasn't in the western world: Its roots are found in the east.

According to CNBC, the Statue of Liberty, one of the most potent symbols of American freedom began life as a Muslim woman and it was originally intended to represent an Egyptian peasant.

In 1855, Bartholdi visited Egypt to study its colossal statues. After a numberof years, it was his intention tocreatea statue to stand at Port Said at the northern entrance to the Suez Canal.

Encyclopaediacalled the sketch an African-style female figure and the National Park Service, a bureau of the Department of the Interior confirmed on their website that he originally designed a colossal statue of a robed woman holding a torch, which he called Egypt Bring Light to Asia.

According to Edward Berenson, author of Statue of Liberty: A Transatlantic Story, the conceptwas a gigantic female fellah, or Arab peasant which changed into a colossal goddess after Ismail Pasha, the khedive (leader at the time) refused the idea because it was too expensive.

George Adam Smith, writing in Syria and the Holy Land, said that fellahin (the plural of fellah) can denote a Muslim, Druze, Christian or Jewish peasant.

However, given that Egypt in the nineteenth century was predominately Muslim, one hypothesis is that the woman depicted in the original sketch of the statue, referred to as Egypt herself, was Muslim.

In 1865, political thinker Edouard de Laboulaye wanted to gift the US with a monument that would commemorate their mutual dedication to freedom, as well as to celebrate Abraham Lincoln.

Bartholdi was picked to design the sculpture. He altered his original sketch to reflect Libertas, the Roman goddess of liberty.

More: The brilliant answer to what the world would look like without Muslims

More: 35 breathtaking cartoons in response to Trump's 'Muslim ban'

Read more here:

The Statue of Liberty was originally going to be a Muslim woman - The indy100

International Religious Liberty Is Vital, And Trump Needs To Advocate For It – Daily Caller

Posted on by

5465599

For the longest time, the world has watched in horror as thousands across the world have suffered at the hands of despotic governments due to oppressed peoples merely exercising their naturally endowed right to freedom of conscience.

We open our scene on the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) where thousands of people from of all faiths are unjustly imprisoned for their beliefs and forcibly submitted to horrendous live organ harvesting and torture so that the Communist-controlled government can assert their dominance over thought and culture.

Last year, a colleague and I wrote, ina column forThe Blaze, on the importance of ensuring international religious freedom utilizing the faith of Falun Gong and the pain this group continuously suffers as an example, to illustrate need for Americans (especially) to lead the fight in promoting an international environment where religious freedom can flourish absent of despotic intervention.

We indicated that while many groups in China and around the world are attacked for holding strange beliefs, Falun Gong members have been claiming for more than a decade the persecution against them has taken an especially dark turn. This dark turn, obviously, is the egregious acts of the sitting Chinese government to forcibly extract organs for donation purposes from living prisoners of conscience which includes groups like Chinese Christians and the Uyghurs, of whom are a Muslim majority.

The United Nations hasinvestigated this overt violationof life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for these prisoners of conscience; but the Chinese government continues to provide organ donation services at relatively low prices and retrieval times, ergo citing some crooked practices in part of the public health officials. Thus, this only lends credibility to the already confirmed fact that the Chinese government is killing its citizens of whom disagree with the majority ideology of Maoist Communism. Simply put, the Chinese government remains unchecked.

American President Donald J. Trump is now presented with a new paradigm in conducting foreign affairs on behalf of the free world. With this, the Trump Administration needs to recognize the importance of protecting religious liberty and freedom of conscience, not just domestically but, abroad. Nevermore, the question remains: What is the proper way for Trump to help support and affirm international religious liberty?

For starters, Trump needs to put despotic governments, like the PRC, on blast for oppressing freedom of conscience amongst its citizens. One way of doing this is for the newly confirmed United States Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley to challenge the very representatives of communist and fascist dictatorships, like that of Xi Jinpings PRC, on the matters of human rights. Trump via Haley needs to leverage the UNs Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in favor of victims of despotic regime rule.

Article 18 of the UDHRdirectly states that, everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

With Americas influence over the UN, President Trump must use such influence to rout out the dissidence of oppressive governmental intervention, no matter the country, on a humans promulgated right to think and believe freely.

Trump also has the intuitive insight of the United State Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), a federal commission committed to advocating for freedom of conscience and faith across the world, at his disposal. USCIRF and its commissioners provide a level of expertise from the private and the public sector on how foreign governments should recognize and protect religious freedom for their populace that is unmatched.

In the current case on religious liberty in China, USCIRF,in their 2016 annual reportconcluded that in this past year, Chinas severe religious freedom violations continued. The report recounted for the Chinese government repressing on several precarious incidences including cases where Uyghur Muslims being prohibited from practicing Ramadan to Christians within the country facing regulations prohibiting sympathetic religious symbols in the public square. Moving away from the atrocities that people of all faiths face in countries like Communist-controlled China, USCIRF serves as the only credulous source on religious freedom across the world in place at the federal level.

Last year, though, the Republican-held House of Representatives even passed a resolution acknowledging the importance of addressing the forced organ harvesting horror for the Falun Gong and all faiths subject to such degradation.

The final argument, in the end, is simple: President Trump has the leverage and the tools to effect positive change for the international faith community. It should be in his Administrations best interest to ensure that this happens. It is well overdue.

Go here to see the original:

International Religious Liberty Is Vital, And Trump Needs To Advocate For It - Daily Caller

America, Prosperity & Liberty — Not a Nation in Crisis | National … – National Review

Posted on by

How old are you, usually, when it all hits you? Tom Wolfe, The Frisbee Ion

One of the great pageants in American life, the Super Bowl, is happening in my new hometown of Houston today. House Williamson has decided to treat this occurrence as a natural disaster, and our strategy for dealing with natural disasters is always the same: Be elsewhere. When Superstorm Sandy hit New York City, I watched it on the news in Palm Springs. Whatever transpires in the city today, Ill be keeping a wary eye on it from a good bit farther on down the Gulf Coast.

Houston can be horrifying much of the year. Summers here are unbearable, and I write that as a man who lived for a time in India without air conditioning. Sometimes it rains for days, the traffic is positively Third World, and the citys great landmarks are an empty sports arena and a shopping mall. But this time of year, Houston is glorious, warm and mellow winter sunshine on palm trees, cloudless skies. This is neither Americas prettiest city nor its most exciting nor its most refined refined here mainly refers to petroleum products. But it certainly seems to be a place that works. It has stupid municipal government, like practically every major American city, and it counts Sheila Jackson Lee as among its great political assets. But damn it all if it doesnt seem to work, from the guys out in Baytown refining oil and churning out petrochemicals to the manufacturing businesses that build the tools they use to the downtown financiers and lawyers who keep everything moving. Lots of new pickups, lots of full restaurants, lots of guys making a good living installing swimming pools for the guys who are making an even better one. Youve never seen a median household income of $61,485 look so rich.

We Texans like to sneer at Californians, but they arent doing too badly out there, either. I am a big fan of the unwritten sumptuary laws of Silicon Valley: Nobody wears a suit, but everybody wears an oh-so-casual cashmere sweater that costs about three grand, and nobody drives a Lamborghini but nobodys Tesla is more than about 18 months old, either. California has its problems, to be sure, though we Texans shouldnt laugh at them too hard: The green-eyeshades guys tell me that theres a good chance well see the public pensions in Houston and Dallas go toes-up before the ones in Los Angeles and San Francisco do. (Weirdly, New York has been relatively responsible on this front who could have seen that coming?) Everybody who reads knows the idiots in Sacramento are screwing things up like its their job, but there isnt much in California that feels like a crisis. The Bay Area is rich and slick and happy, and sprawling Los Angeles seems to be doing quite well, too, and even the drought-stricken farm country still for the most part is looking pretty prosperous.

And so it goes: Washington, D.C., is not only thriving but maybe even doing a little better than your thinking small-r republican would like to see in principle. For all the talk of carnage and the very real problem of violent crime plaguing a handful of its neighborhoods, most of Chicago is doing just fine and some of it is spectacular. South Floridas low-rent good-fun vibe has figured out a way to coexist with serious business, thanks in no small part to excellent state-level political leadership and a very forward-looking business community. New York is still New York, and Boston is still Boston, which is great if you like that sort of thing. And outside of the big cities, American farmers are prospering beyond the imagining of their forebears only a generation ago, with high-tech 21st-century agriculture having grown into something thats influenced a lot more by what theyre doing in Palo Alto than by what they used to do in Muleshoe. If you havent visited an American cotton, wheat, corn, or soybean operation, you really should the sheer vastness of the enterprise is eye-opening.

Part of my job is writing about social problems such as poverty, crime, and drug addiction, which means I drive around the country looking for the worst parts of everywhere, which are pretty easy to find if you know how to do it. Ive spent the last couple of years interviewing hookers in Charleston and heroin addicts in Birmingham and welfare cheats in Tennessee. Ive been in jails and Alcoholics Anonymous meeting rooms and halfway houses, talked to dealers on drug corners in New Orleans, and heard the story of a family living in a gas station in Kentucky. Generally speaking, when I show up in your town, it isnt good news. And we need to talk about those things, but those situations in this land of unbelievable peace and plenty are the man who bites the dog, not the other way around. The news is the news because it is not the norm.

Perhaps it is because there is not much in the way of genuinely bad American expletive-deleted with which I am not at least passingly familiar that the hysteria and negativity of our political discourse strikes me as so very expletive deleted insane.

Youd think the United States is poor, desperate, backward, and on the verge of either civil war or building concentration camps or both.

It isnt.

The idiot children in Berkeley who risibly style themselves antifascists say that they are going to war, that the United States is descending into some sort of Nazi-style nightmare state, and that allowing a daffy Anglo-Greek homosexual writer to speak about current affairs on a University of California campus is only one step away from their words genocide. Surely, if there were to be some sort of neo-Nazi regime in the United States, its poet laureate would not be Milo Yiannopoulos, who is: gay, Jewish by birth, Catholic by profession, and something of an enthusiastic race-mixer to boot. Hes the guy whod be put into a camp, if there were camps.

There arent.

Senator Bernie Sanders and Senator Elizabeth Warren want you to believe that the economy and the political system are rigged against you, that you have no real hope of prospering, rising, and thriving in what Senator Sanders insists is an oligarchy. (He pronounces it Allah-garchy, and, sharia hysteria notwithstanding, we arent getting one of those, either.) The guys on talk radio want to sell you gold coins and freeze-dried ice cream, and so they need you to believe that we are on the verge of total anarchy, that somebody the Islamic State, Black Lives Matter, Chicago gangsters, somebody is coming to get you. Politicos and angst-peddlers left and right want you terrified and anxious, and they want you to believe that these United States comprise a vast impoverished anarchic Eliotic wasteland, a kind of gigantic continental Haiti with lots of shopping malls and a surprisingly large number of Range Rovers.

But if you drive around the country, it doesnt look like that at all. It looks, for all its very real problems, amazing.

Tom Wolfe, the peerless chronicler of American life, tells a wonderful story of the 1960s, about a group of philosophers and social critics flying in through OHare to descend on an American college campus. The assembled scolds and beard-strokers and Chicken Littles describe the myriad of problems facing the United States horrifying, existential, insoluble. And then one young man stood up:

Im a senior, and for four years weve been told by people like yourself and the other gentlemen that everythings in terrible shape, and its all going to hell, and Im willing to take your word for it, because youre all experts in your fields. But around here, at this school, for the past four years, the biggest problem, as far as I can see, has been finding a parking place near the campus.

Dead silence. The panelists looked at this poor turkey to try to size him up. Was he trying to be funny? Or was this the native bray of the heartland? The ecologist struck a note of forbearance as he said:

Im sure thats true, and that illustrates one of the biggest difficulties we have in making realistic assessments. A university like this, after all, is a middle-class institution, and middle-class life is calculated precisely to create a screen

I understand all that, said the boy. What I want to know is how old are you, usually, when it all hits you?

And suddenly the situation became clear. This kid was no wiseacre! He was genuinely perplexed!...For four years he had been squinting at the horizon...looking for the grim horrors he knew on faith to be all around him....War! Fascism! Repression! Corruption!...

The Jocks & Buds & Freaks of the heartland have their all-knowing savants of OHare, who keep warning them that this is the worst of all possible worlds, and they know it must be true and yet life keeps getting easier, sunnier, happier...Frisbee!

Yes, bread and circuses and all that, but the least expensive ticket to this weekends big game is going for about $4,500, which suggests to me a society with a great deal of disposable income and leisure time on its hands. And if thats too rich for your means, theres always Frisbee, or Starbucks, or starting a business, or MIT OpenCourseware, or the Appalachian Trail, or reading Mark Twain at the New York Public Library.

How old are you, usually, when it hits you? Im 44, and it hasnt hit me yet.

Kevin D. Williamson is the roving correspondent for National Review.

Read the original post:

America, Prosperity & Liberty -- Not a Nation in Crisis | National ... - National Review

Lady Liberty has her say about The Wall: Mitch Albom – USA Today – USA TODAY

Posted on by

USA Today Network Mitch Albom, Detroit Free Press Published 6:03 a.m. ET Feb. 5, 2017 | Updated 7:20 p.m. ET Feb. 5, 2017

Sergeant Louie Tartaglia is a police officer in Arizona's Cochise County -- a US district that shares 85 miles of border with Mexico. Tartaglia, whose team of local officers work conjunctively with US Border Patrol, welcomes President Trump's promises to increase border security but is unsure what "building a wall" will actually entail. Video provided by AFP Newslook

The Statue of Liberty(Photo: Spencer Platt, Getty Images)

I went to visit the Statue of Liberty. I missed the last boat back. As I gazed at the American shoreline, I heard a voice.

So, what do you think?

I turned. Lady Liberty was talking to me.

I think Im hallucinating, I said.

Dont be shy. I dont often get to speak. Its hard to talk with people crawling up your robe.

Well ... I said. Whats on your mind?

What do you think? About the symbol?

You? I think youre amazing. Inspiring. Incred--

Not me. Thenewsymbol. The Wall.

Oh.

Lady Liberty sighed. You know, for more than a century, Ive been the image of our nations borders. You thought of coming here? You thought of me.

But now? Now when people around the world think of America, theyre going to picture a wall a really long, ugly wall.

She shook her crown. It wont even be green.

No, no, I insisted. Were much more than that. Were a huge nation. Rich. Diverse.

USA TODAY

Muslim-Mexican scapegoats in Trumps America: Voices

USA TODAY

Messing with Mexico is a dangerous idea: David Andelman

So is China, she said. But whats the first structure you think of with that country?

She had me there.

Whats the purpose of this wall? she asked.

To keep people out.

Hmm. She pointed her torch down to her base.

See those?

Your really big feet?

No. The broken chains Im stepping out of. They stand for freedom from oppression. Arent people coming here seeking freedom from oppression?

Some, I said. Some just want jobs.

So theyre poor?

Many of them, yes.

See that? She pointed down with her tablet.

Your toenails?

Lower. On the base. The sonnet. Read it.

Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tostto me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

USA TODAY

Will Trump's America be a nation of ugly self-interest and ignorance? Column

USA TODAY

Trump's refugee order delivers on Obama's broken promise: James Robbins

Pretty good, huh? she said.

Pretty good, I replied.

Ill bet The Wall doesnt have a golden door.

She had me there.

Its complicated, I tried to explain. Back when you were built, people came to follow their dreams.

Arent todays immigrants doing that?

But theyre not going through proper channels.

How long do proper channels take?

Depends on the country. In some cases, 20 years.

Hmm. She looked off to Ellis Island. Did your family come through there?

Yes. Early last century.

Did they have to wait 20 years?

No.

Maybe the laws need more fixing than the borders.

She stared at me. I think she raised an eyebrow.

Some illegal immigrants commit crimes, I said.

More than citizens commit crimes?

Actually, I mumbled, most data showits less.

Hmm, she said. She had a way of saying that.

POLICING THE USA:Alook at race, justice, media

USA TODAY

Well love America, even if it doesnt love us back: #tellusatoday

And when these illegals come, do they work?

Yes. They work so cheap. They take our jobs.

Whos hiring them?

Factories. Small business. Households.

Are you punishing the employers? Are you building a wall around the factories?

Dont be silly, I said.

Hmm, she said.

She adjusted her crown, with its seven spikes to symbolize seven seas and continents. Do you know my original name? It was Liberty Enlightening the World. "

She looked south. Will they say that about a wall?

The big fight now is whos gonna pay for it.

I was paid for by foreigners.

Hey. Thats exactly what our president wants!

I was a gift.

Oh, yeah.

The sun began to rise. Well, bon voyage, Lady Liberty said, lifting her arm. I must get back to work.

Work? I said. But youre a statue.

No, she said, sternly, Im a symbol. I stand for something. And you know what? Standing for something, every day and night, is really hard work.

Hmm, I said. And I thought I saw her smile.

Mitch Albom is a columnist for theDetroit Free Press, where this column first appeared. Follow him on Twitter@MitchAlbom.

You can readdiverse opinions from ourBoard of Contributorsand other writers ontheOpinion front page,on Twitter@USATOpinionand in our dailyOpinion newsletter.To submit a letter, comment or column, check oursubmission guidelines.

Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/2k9X5nd

Go here to see the original:

Lady Liberty has her say about The Wall: Mitch Albom - USA Today - USA TODAY

Liberty man killed in Preble County accident – Palladium-Item

Posted on by

Subscribe today for full access on your desktop, tablet, and mobile device.

66

Let friends in your social network know what you are reading about

OSHP officers are trying to determine who was driving the vehicle when it left the roadway Friday night.

Try Another

Audio CAPTCHA

Image CAPTCHA

Help

CancelSend

A link has been sent to your friend's email address.

A link has been posted to your Facebook feed.

Auto accident(Photo: File)

A Liberty, Ind., man died Friday night after a one-car accident in Preble County, Ohio.

Nathan P. Smith, 34, was pronounced dead at the accident scene on Oxford-Gettysburg Road in Jackson Township, said Sgt. Chris Colbert of the Ohio State Highway Patrol's Dayton Post. Another Liberty man, Timothy S. Keller, 41, was transported by CareFlight medical helicopter to Miami Valley Hospital with serious injuries.

According to Colbert, the men were in a 2004 Chevrolet Cavalier at 10:27 p.m. Friday traveling on Oxford-Gettysburg Road when the Cavalier ran across railroad tracks. It veered out of control off the left side of the road, striking a ditch and culvert before rolling several times. Both men were ejected, Colbert said, and neither was wearing a seat belt.

Troopers from the Dayton Post continue to investigate, Colbert said. They are attempting to determine which man was driving as well as whether speed, drugs or alcohol might have factored into the accident.

Read or Share this story: http://pinews.co/2kFqiKd

0:33

1:07

2:29

3:55

2:20

2:39

1:49

0:53

1:10

1:10

0) { %>

0) { %>

Read the original:

Liberty man killed in Preble County accident - Palladium-Item

Liberty X fans gutted as group only perform two songs at New Zealand reunion gig – Digital Spy

Posted on by

Twitter Jessica Taylor

Liberty X are back! But some fans in New Zealand who have waited so long for the reunion were left wanting more, after the group could only play two songs.

Original members Michelle Heaton, Jessica Taylor, and Kelli Young got together to belt out 'Just a Little' and 'Being Nobody' on their reunion tour alongside the likes of B*Witched, Atomic Kitten, and S Club.

Brian Rasic/Getty Images

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

Despite the tour poster clearly stating that Liberty X only had two songs lined up, a few aggrieved attendees had hoped for something more substantial.

"Why not give us 'just a little' more than two songs before you leave again?" wrote one person on Twitter, who showed up at Auckland's ASB Theatre. "You came all this way. And seemed super excited to be here.

"And we've waited 15 years for this."

Another fan said: "Liberty X only played two songs, which was a bit disappointing."

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

Related: Whatever happened to Liberty X? Take a look at what the Popstars runners-up did next

It's okay, though, because there were plenty of fans out there who LOVED them.

"Thank you LIBERTY X for coming to New Zealand," one fan said. "You were all amazing. Come back soon xx"

"We used to dance around the lounge to 'Just a Little' as kids," another excited person wrote. "Never did I think I'd see you live!

"I loved it!"

Here are some more positive reactions:

Seems like Liberty X slayed to us, even if they only played two songs!

If you're wondering where Kevin Simm and Tony Lundon were, they're currently busy with their own solo projects.

Kevin won The Voice UK last year, of course, while Tony has his own production company.

Want up-to-the-minute entertainment and tech news? Just hit 'Like' on our Digital Spy Facebook page and 'Follow' on our @digitalspy Twitter account and you're all set.

Originally posted here:

Liberty X fans gutted as group only perform two songs at New Zealand reunion gig - Digital Spy

What is Libertarianism? An Examination of it and Some Resources for Further Research – The Libertarian Republic

Posted on by

by Ian Tartt

You may have heard the term libertarianism, but what does it mean? Simply put, libertarianism is the philosophy that says you have the right to do anything you like as long as you dont violate anyone elses rights or cause unjust harm to another person.

This definition comes from the fact thatwe all own ourselves, a concept which cant be logically denied because any attempt to deny self-ownership would involve using the mouth, the body, and the brain; thus, to attempt to argue against self-ownership requires the use of self-ownership, making any arguments against it self-defeating. Because we own ourselves, we have the right to do with ourselves what we like. As such, libertarians oppose laws prohibiting behavior which may hurt the individual engaging in such behavior but does not hurt anybodyelse (i.e. the War on Drugs).

Now, sincewe own ourselves and must make use of the natural world to live, we also have the right to own property. We can come to own property through homesteading (mixing our labor with un-owned resources) or by trading with the legitimate owner of a piece of property. Thus, other essential components of libertarianism include respect for both property rights and the free exchange of property between individuals.

The above are examples of conclusions drawn from deontological, or natural rights, libertarianism. The other main type of libertarianism is utilitarian, or consequentialist, in nature. Rather than focusing on rights, the utilitarian libertarian opposes overreaching laws and supports free exchange because he believes it will lead to the greatest amount of good for the greatest number of people. Because the conclusions reached by both deontological and utilitarian libertarians are generally the same, the two are normally happy to work with each other to advance freedom.

Unlike many other ideologies, libertarianism focuses more in individuals than on groups. One reason for this is the fact that groups are merely two or more individuals coming together. There can be individuals without groups, but there cant be groups without individuals. Also, respecting the rights of every individual would lead to the same type of equality before the law that most people want to achieve but go about by trying to help groups rather than individuals. For these reasons, libertarianism is a philosophy based on individuals.

While libertarians are mostly in agreement about the justifications for liberty (whether deontological or utilitarian), they often disagree about how to get to a free society. Some use political action (voting, fundraising for candidates, running for office, etc) while others oppose it. Many, whether they affirm or reject political action, will write articles or books and create videos in which they express their ideas. There are frequent clashes over the best strategy to attaina free society; these clashes usually result in setting back the liberty movement rather than advancing it, and thus making it that much harder to recover freedom.

Another point of disagreement, common to libertarians, is over the proper amount of government, or whether there should be a government at all. There are many different types of libertarians, each with their own thoughts on the subject. Some libertarians want the government to return to its Constitutional limits; others want to see it provide nothing more than courts, police, and national defense; and still others want to see all of the useful functions of government handled insteadby private enterprise. Regardless of their ultimate views on government, all libertarians want to see much more freedom than currently exists, and thus would benefit from working together instead of fighting over their differences.

This has been a basic introduction to libertarianism. While the philosophy is simple to explain and understand, one article is wholly insufficient to cover all the views, arguments, subjects, and people that have been part of the liberty movement over its hundreds of years in existence. For those interested in learning about some of the different types of libertarians, heres an article and a video that explain the major differences between them. Julie Borowski has a lot of funny YouTube videos that cover economics, foreign policy, current events, and numerous other subjects. A few prominent libertarian institutions include the Mises Institute, the Cato Institute, and the Reason Foundation. An article containing many links to books, TV ads, speeches, and radio shows from the amazing Harry Browne can be found here.For the bookworms, some great reads include the works of Ron Paul, Harry Browne, Ayn Rand, and Murray Rothbard. These are a few of the many great resources available for learning more about libertarianism and should be more than sufficient to give anyone interested a better understanding of the philosophy of liberty.

libertarianismLibertynatural rightsphilosophyutilitarianism

Read the original:

What is Libertarianism? An Examination of it and Some Resources for Further Research - The Libertarian Republic

A Donald Trump Presidency Indicates The Necessity Of Alt-Right Libertarianism – The Liberty Conservative

Posted on by

The Liberty Conservative
A Donald Trump Presidency Indicates The Necessity Of Alt-Right Libertarianism
The Liberty Conservative
The exit of the TPP should be seen as a welcome sign for libertarians who see the danger in entangling alliances and how the TPP would erode national sovereignty. This bizarre alliance of Neoconservatives, Obama supporters, and Beltway libertarians for ...

Originally posted here:

A Donald Trump Presidency Indicates The Necessity Of Alt-Right Libertarianism - The Liberty Conservative

*Of Course* Libertarians Are Leading the Charge Against Trump’s Authoritarianism – Reason (blog)

Posted on by

GuardianThe Guardian has pulled together five pieces from conservatives and libertarians who are critical of President Donald Trump's authoritarian tendencies and policies. I'm happy to be represented in the mix (for my commentary about Trump's awful, inhumane, and idiotic ban on refugees and travelers from seven countries tied to terrorism). It's a good mix of people, including some conservative critics (The New York Time's Ross Douthat, National Review's David French, Commentary's Noah Rothman) and Steve Horwitz of Bleeding Heart Libertarians along with yours truly. Here's a snippet from my piece:

That's certainly the case with Trump and his orders on sanctuary cities and on immigration and refugee policy. The laws were not just poorly phrased and timed, they clearly will not work to address the basic issues they ostensibly are meant to ameliorate. As Anthony Fisher noted here earlier today, the US embassy in Iraq has said that Trump's action is a recruitment tool for jihadists, as pro-American Middle Easterners realize they're being hung out to dry. As for keeping America safe from terrorists entering the country as refugees, the fact is the country has an incredibly safe record.

Read the whole collection of pieces here.

Because no good deed or kind word can go unpunished, I'd like to add a bit of nuance to the way the writer, Jason Wilson, encapsulates his piece. Here's the headline and subhed:

Burst your bubble: five conservative articles to read as Trump riles libertarians

Some libertarians are reacting with alarm to Donald Trump's discriminatory executive orders, his authoritarian tendencies and international sabre-rattling

I think it's accurate to call Douthat, French, and Rothman conservatives, but it's clear that neither Horwitz or I have nothing to do with conservatism.

Yet the confusion is right there in headline: The "conservative articles" are the product of Trump "ril[ing] libertarians"? Wuh?

I just don't get the slowness with which people are fully grokking that libertarianism is as distinct from conservativism as it is from progressivism or leftism. I'm not trying to be pedantic or coy here, but there's a reason why libertarians (certainly those at Reason) were intensely critical of George W. Bush's executive branch overreach and Barack Obama's too, while conservatives and liberals generally stayed silent when their guy was doing the power grabbing. And so it makes total sense that libertarians are leading the attacks on Trump's attempts to be a one-man (or at least one-branch) government. Libertarianism is nothing if not the antithesis of authoritarianism. Always has been, always will be. Be sure to check out Reason's attitude toward whoever eventually replaces Trump. The minute he (or she) starts down an authoritarian road, we'll be on the case.

Read more:

*Of Course* Libertarians Are Leading the Charge Against Trump's Authoritarianism - Reason (blog)

Sharon DuBois: Libertarians offer a choice of freedom – Kansas City Star

Posted on by

Kansas City Star
Sharon DuBois: Libertarians offer a choice of freedom
Kansas City Star
Fiscally responsible and socially accepting, the Libertarian Party believes that all people have the right to live their lives as they see fit, as long as they do not interfere with or take that same right away from others. We also believe that when ...

See the original post:

Sharon DuBois: Libertarians offer a choice of freedom - Kansas City Star

Libertarian Party Chairman Repeats Lie About MILO Outing Illegals At Berkeley – Breitbart News

Posted on by

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER

George Ciccariellowas the first person to claim that MILO was planning this:

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER

MILO responded to Ciccariellos tweet on his Facebook shortly afterwards. This is a total fabrication. A complete lie. I had no intention of doing so. Watch out for the old reliable sources very often a sign youre being lied to, he wrote. However, this did not stop Sarwark from repeating it on his page.

Sarwark did not mention MILO by name, referring to him only as a gentleman who was scheduled to speak at a University of California campus. He decried MILOs fabricated potential actions as despicable behaviour, and even argued that it helped why others made the choice to use violence to try to stop or disrupt his speech.

Sarwark went on to say that the only thing more despicable is that we have a government that will forcibly remove peaceful people from our country because they were born on the wrong side of an imaginary line.He then went on to claim in the comments that the point holds whether the rumors are correct or not.

Unfortunately for Sarwark, not every libertarian agrees with him, and he faced significant backlash in the comments. Shane Trejo thanked God that Milo is not a coward like so many Libertarians clearly are because of smug full-of-shit pussies like Nicholas Sarwark, no self-respecting person can call even publicly themselves a libertarian these days without feeling embarrassed.

Another user agreed: It seems like libertarian, for many, is just a code word for social justice warrior.

Prominent libertarians also have contradicting views to Sarwark on the concept of open borders itself. Ron Paul, beloved by libertarians in both the LP and Republican party, has argued for the abolishing of birthright citizenship.Hans Herman Hoppe, Murray Rothbards protege, noted that open borders are an infringement on private property rights, and that people should be physically removed from a society if they provide a threat to the libertarian way of life.

Otherlibertarians raise the issue of the social ramifications of permitting mass immigration from cultures that are not friendly to libertarian ideals. Would we have allowed thousands of Bolsheviks to emigrate during the Cold War? asks libertarian commentator Lauren Southern. I dont think we would, because we knew they didnt believe in a free society. In her video, Southern applies the analogy to argue against Muslim immigrationfrom a libertarian perspective.

MILOs provided a short response to Sarwarks post: this idiot should stick to what libertarians actually know about weed, Bitcoin and hacking and leave slanderous rumor where it belongs. On CNN.

DANGEROUS is available to pre-order now via Amazon, in hardcover and Kindle editions. And yes, MILO is reading the audiobook version himself!

Jack Hadfield is a student at the University of Warwick and a regular contributor to Breitbart Tech. You can follow him on Twitter @ToryBastard_, on Gab @JH or email him at jack@yiannopoulos.net.

Read more:

Libertarian Party Chairman Repeats Lie About MILO Outing Illegals At Berkeley - Breitbart News