Gabbard Rules The World (The Ephrom Josine Show Ep. 172)

Ben Shapiro DESTROYS Baby Hitler with FACTS and/or LOGIC (The Ephrom Jos...

2018 Roundup

Well, 2018 has come to an end. And with the government shutdown, Democrats taking the House, and much more, I say this year has been . . . something.

The government shutdown has been going on for 10 days. Luckily, Donald's government shutdown is so unpopular, he has to blame everyone but himself. A recent poll found that only half of all Americans surveyed blamed the man who was given a spending bill that could have stopped the shutdown and didn't sign it. Or, only half of all Americans blamed the person who caused the shutdown.

Of course, the shutdown was over Donald Trump wanting taxpayers to fund his wall. I would give Trump credit for following through on his campaign promises if he didn't also promise us that Mexico would pay for the wall. What happened to that? Oh, and if the promise wasn't really stupid. 

Going into 2020, things are only getting worse for Democrats. Elizebeth Warren announced her run unofficially today. I think she would be a positive influence on the race, even if she's only one-half correct that's still better than who else I'm seeing.

CNN did a segment today on how Bernie can't win because he's an old white man. Despite the fact that our current president is an old white man (the spray tan makes it hard to tell, I know). They also tried to call him a pervert, although when he's running against the grouper in chief, I don't really think that matters all that much. 

Seriously though, let's just all take a minute and be happy Beto O'Rourke won't be president. All the polls seem to say it will either be Joe Biden or Bernie Sanders. I like Biden, I think he was a very good Vice President under Obama and a pretty decent Senator, even if he came in just at the time when Democrats couldn't figure out how they should feel about race. Rather either of them will run is still up in the air, but important news is where the polls line up.

Of course, CNN is trying to make Kamla Harris 2020 a thing. It's not going to be a thing, but CNN really doesn't seem to care. They've put her as there most likely to be the nomination for two months in a row, despite no poll done by anyone that isn't CNN saying this. 

Of course, the only candidate who has has a snowball's chance in hell is Richard Ojeda. He's a good center-left candidate, but he's not bad. He believes in healthcare for all, universal education, and increased taxes on the rich.

So what will happen in 2019? Let's find out together.

Ben's Fear of Trans People (The Ephrom Josine Show Ep. 130)

Huge Win For The Left: What The Media Isn't Telling You

So after the past week, the media has been obsessed with Alexandra Ocasio Cortez. And by that, I mean trying to destroy her. Their latest tactic is obvious, claim no one likes her anyway.

Because if no one likes her, why even care what she has to say? She's clearly wrong, that's why no one likes her. And no one likes her because she's wrong. Wait?

CNN, CNN, I'm sorry, I just really don't like CNN. Although they aren't alone. Many news outlets talked about how progressives lost this week, despite the fact they won bigger than ever.

Meanwhile, what they didn't tell you is that 5 Justice Democrats won primaries that same night. So if progressives are losing, we're doing a really bad job at it.

The Daily Wire Meltdown

On Friday it was announced that CNN contributor Anthony Bourdian killed himself at the age of 61 years old. A man who CNN has called "a gifted chef and storyteller" and who many have felt sad for. Combine this the recent death of Kate Spade, also from suicide, and the nation is currently trying to figure out what's going on. 
Now I didn't know much about either of these people until this week. I don't follow famous chiefs or fashion so I would have no reason to know about either of these people. Basically, I don't have a dog in this fight. However, and this is a big, however, this doesn't mean that I can't call out the awful reactions I have seen from the right in response to this.
Take, for example, the founder and editor in chief of The Daily Wire, Ben Shapiro. In a recent episode of The Ben Shapiro Show, he spends some time talking about the new "epidemic" (I'll explain why it's in quotes in a bit) and how his website is going to talk about it in the future. But let's hear why he thinks this is happening:

First of all, clinical depression is obviously linked to suicide  

Okay, Ben figured out a basic psychological fact, I'll give him that. I take it he makes sure of that with his wife (who is a doctor, in case you haven't heard) but still.

I would suggest there is a societal lack of meaning. That young people have basically been taught  . . . there emotional state is key. . . we've treated each other as objects. Some of that has to do with . . . social media.

Slow down. Ben already talks fast as it is and now he's giving one nonsense reason after the other.

And some of that has to do with decline of religion 

What? 

There are good studies that suggest

This will be fun

 As religion declines . . . rates of depression go up

Which studies? Yeah, remember the rule of thumb I gave a few posts ago. Whenever someone says that studies show something, they haven't read those studies. 
However, while Shapiro talks about the changes that are going to be made, it seems like another columnist jumped the shark a little. Yes, it's time to talk about Matt Walsh. In a recent post, Matt thinks he found the reason the whole suicide thing is taking place, atheism. 

People will say that suicide is on the rise because we are not doing enough to fight the "mental health crisis" but . . . the rate was a fraction of what it is today back when nobody had ever heard of "mental health".-Matt Walsh

This [the story of Adam and Eve] was before doctors, so cancer and that kind of stuff didn't exist yet-Stan Smith

Figured I'd keep it in Matt's ballpark with what I compare him to. In fact, let me burst Matt's (and the entire media's) bubble real quick, there is no depression epidemic. The rate of diagnosis has gone up, however, the rate of depression has stated the same and we are just getting better at finding it.
Ignoring this fact has led to all sorts of weird conspiracies popping up that we need to ignore. Remember, when we made this same mistake before we honestly thought vaccines caused autism. The housewife who hid her drinking problem in the mid-1950's didn't have depression by the standards of those days, now she would because we know more about depression. Or, no one use to die of AIDS, they died of GRID.

There is an emptiness at the core of our culture . . . [because] We have fled from God . . . and embraced a soft kind of nihilism

And where is Matt's proof that either of the two people that caused him to write this article, Anthony Bourdian and Kate Spade, were nihilists? Seriously, I'm asking you because I can't find it. 

We stop at the brain . . . but we never pause to ask why all our brains have apparently gone haywire . . . If this is all just a matter of mental disorders, why in the hell are these "mental disorders" so common now?

This is one of the main mistakes Matt and his types have made with how they address issues. They always assume that we have always had the exact same knowledge and as such whenever something ticks up or down, it's because of humans. Also, Matt doesn't understand anatomy very well.  

I think it's because [depression] is not purely psychological. It goes beyond our brains and into our souls

Matt, where is my soul? Point to my soul right now. Also for it to not be psychological it would have to be at least somewhat physical. 

What everyone craves deep in their bones

Your bones do not have cravings. Fine, I'm nitpicking.

What everyone craves deep in their bones is truth and meaning. . . that is objective and inherent and beyond our ability to remove or change.But our culture tells us that nothing of the sort exists . . . And if we make nothing of it, and find nothing of it, then . . . there is no reason to carry on living anymore.

 For the record, Matt did not cite one study or article during that entire rant. Nor does he during this entire column. Not the claim that we need "meaning . . . that is objective and inherent" (whatever that means), or the claim that nihilism is on the rise, or that "our culture" is promoting it.

If someone is feeling [depressed], yes, it is good to give them a number to call, and tell them they are not alone and people care for them . . . But it's not enough . . . People need more than . . . therapy and phone numbers. They even need more than the knowledge that other people love them. They need meaning. They need hope. They need there to be a point to all of this, a reason.

Quick question to Matt, what does that even mean? I guess you could ask what the meaning of what you just said was, or was the point of all of that, the reason. Oh, by the way, guess what he thinks the solution is.

Well, praise God because . . . there is a meaning. God is our founation . . . We are not mere accidents. We are not clumps of dust that grew randomly from the Earth and somehow devoloped consciousness and a moral code and the capacity for love. 

Random question: Does Matt have a deadly fear of lists with commas? 

That doesn't make sense, and we all know it doesn't make sense, and we will literally kill ourselves trying to make sense of it.

Can I have the list of famous, well known, and vocal atheists who have killed themselves? Hitchens didn't, Harris hasn't, Dawkins hasn't, TJ Kirk hasn't, Cult of Dusty hasn't, George Carlin didn't, and I could go on. Also, notice my use of commas and learn Matt. 
One more thing, I showed this to fellow Ephrom Report blogger J.P Savard, and his words exactly:

Walsh: I think it is because the disorder is not purely psychological.

J.P,: Dude, you're still not answering the question

Walsh: something about God

J.P.: Matt no

Walsh: That doesn't make sense, and we all know it doesn't make sense, and we will literally kill ourselves trying to make sense of it. 

J.P.: Nothing does, Walsh. Nothing does.  

Walsh also talked about this on twitter, and did a little better:

You can’t go on about “the right to die” and describe suicide as “death with dignity” and then expect that your words of solace to suicidal people will mean anything. You just explicitly promoted suicide as a dignified and rightful death. What did you think was going to happen? 

So Matt doesn't think there's a difference between letting someone who is going to die very soon and in horrible pain (physical pain by the way, not emotional ones) and allowing people with a long life ahead of them. Interesting to know he's that simple in his worldview.  

We treat “doctor assisted suicide” as not only morally acceptable but even courageous and inspirational. And then we scratch our heads and wonder why so many people are killing themselves. We are fools.

Who's inspired by doctor-assisted suicide? 

Here’s a crazy thought: if we don’t want people to commit suicide, maybe we should stop celebrating suicide. 

I do agree with Matt that we shouldn't celebrate suicide. Good thing no one is doing that. 
Back to Ben:

You see this in regard to opioid addiction as well 

Ugh 
Let's see if he's at least more tolerable in article form.

Surely rising rates of opioid abuse have contributed to the suicide increase 

Citation needed. 

There's one measure that we . . . can take more immediately: thinking about how we cover suicide. 

Now up until now, you may be thinking "isn't this the same reaction these people had after the last shooting?". 

In the age of mass media, the . . . Werther Effect . . . is the temporary uptick in suicide rate that often follows heavy media coverage of suicide.

Conservatism: The philosophy that society is best when people are ignorant. 

when Netflix released the suicide-glorying 13 Reasons Why

13 Reasons Why didn't glorify suicide. It told a story about suicide.
So what's the moral here? If you don't want people to kill themselves, pretend that never happens. Just like they pretend boom-bust cycles don't, or really most things.   

  

  

  

   

Trump Appeases Religious Fanatics By Backing One Of The Worst Countries In The World

So it seems like Donald Trump really wants to be friends with Israel. On Monday Donald Trump declared that it was a "Big day for Israel" because Trump officially opened the US embassy in Jerusalem. Less than a week after he canceled the Iran Deal because Israel told him to. 
Trump has also invited some people to the opening of the embassy. The most notable of which are pastors John Hagge and Robert Jeffress. In case you're wondering, this is John Hagge:

God says in Jeremiah 16 — "Behold I will bring them the Jewish people again unto their land that I gave unto their fathers" — that would be Abraham, Isaac and Jacob - "Behold I will send for many fishers and after will I send for many hunters. And they the hunters shall hunt them" — that will be the Jews — "from every mountain and from every hill and from out of the holes of the rocks." If that doesn't describe what Hitler did in the Holocaust — you can't see that. So think about this — I will send fishers and I will send hunters. A fisher is someone who entices you with a bait. How many of you know who Theodore Herzl was? How many of you don't have a clue who he was? Woo, sweet God! Theodore Herzl is the father of Zionism. He was a Jew that at the turn of the 19th century said, "this land is our land, God wants us to live there". So he went to the Jews of Europe and said, "I want you to come and join me in the land of Israel". So few went, Herzl went into depression. Those who came founded Israel; those who did not went through the hell of the Holocaust. Then God sent a hunter. A hunter is someone who comes with a gun and he forces you. Hitler was a hunter. And the Bible says — Jeremiah righty? — "they shall hunt them from every mountain and from every hill and out of the holes of the rocks", meaning: there's no place to hide. And that will be offensive to some people. Well, dear heart, be offended: I didn't write it. Jeremiah wrote it. It was the truth and it is the truth. How did it happen? Because God allowed it to happen. Why did it happen? Because God said, "my top priority for the Jewish people is to get them to come back to the land of Israel". Today Israel is back in the land and they are at Ezekiel 37 and 8. They are physically alive but they're not spiritually alive. Now how is God going to cause the Jewish people to come spiritually alive and say, "the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, He is God"?

Sorry that the quotes kind of long, it's just I couldn't find any way to cut it down without watering down how much of an anti-Semitic nut John Hagge is. Jeffress just says Jews are going to hell, but it's still odd that Donald let this man into Israel. Mind you pro-Israel people are the same group that got angry when Jimmy Carter wrote a book that was critical of Israel, but that's beside the point.
Mind you, I don't know what to expect when you consider that Israel has one of the most Warhawk foreign policies in the world. While I did cover Israel's foreign policy with Iran on the 5/8/18 edition of The Ephrom Josine Show, I neglected there much more controversial foreign policy with Palestine. Or as they know it as in Israel, the place that Israel politicians talk about committing genocide against and putting into concentration camps. 
Israel's treatment of Palestine has always been something that no other nation could get away with. It was basically just created one day by the UN in 1947 with no input from Palestine. Then they continued to expand their presence in the area through settlements.
It doesn't help that Israel hasn't exactly been nice to the people whose land they took. Not only are the Palestinians under constant occupation but they are also under constant blockade. And let's not even get into the many attacks that Israel has done on peaceful protesters. Including this Monday, I guess Donald was right, it really was a big day for Israel. 
So all of this leads to one very important question, why are we still supporting them? That's just something that I can't figure out for the life of me. Even when the Palestinians come up with a perfect peace deal Israel, with the help of the US and the UN, strike it down.
And it's hilarious that people honestly believe that the UN is to harsh on Israel after they let it run around unchecked. Every US Senator signed a letter saying the UN needs to stop being as harsh on Israel, I don't even know how we be less harsh on them but I guess we'll have to try. Jake Tapper said this on CNN while using whataboutism in order to make Israel look better. Meanwhile, the UN hasn't even condemned Israel in a way that matters since 2002. 

The segment ends with vague innuendo suggesting the only reason these countries are “singling out” Israel was antisemitism. “You have to ask, is Israel truly deserving of 86 percent of the world’s condemnation,” Tapper pontificated in his best Glenn Beck “just asking questions” mode, “or possibly is something else afoot at the United Nations?”

This is the country that Donald Trump wants us to be even friendlier with. If you ask me we're far to close to them as it is.