America's Investigate-Gate.

While the Democratic and the Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee play out a Kramer vs. Kramer battle for the title of the King of Morality, and while Trump was working on a new NAFTA agreement, another battle ensued among the American people. Should the FBI investigate the claims made by both Dr. Ford and Justice Kavanaugh?

The side that claims to have a monopoly on morality said 'NO!' Justice Kavanaugh had suffered enough injustices from the "fake" allegations being made according to them. Thus, they saw, and still see, no need for the FBI to look into the matter.

Of course there was another reason why conservatives didn't want the FBI involved. It is because their leader, President Trump, has convinced them that, like the Fake News media, the FBI cannot be trusted in this matter. But then again, outside of Trump and his lackeys, who can be trusted?

Certainly, there were other reasons why conservative supporters of Kavanaugh didn't want the FBI to investigate. The reasons center on Ford's inadequate credentials. She's a liberal, she has a go fund me page, she can't remember everything and she didn't present any corroborating evidence--with the exception of passing a polygraph. But most of their objections have nothing to do with the facts and logic that were in her allegations.

In the reality, Republican opponents of Dr Ford object to any further investigation because for a long time, they have felt besieged and persecuted by their nonconservative counterparts. By blocking Trump's nominee, these Republicans feel like they have become the Rodney Dangerfield of political parties--oh how they so quickly forget how they treated President Obama. 

They hear the persecution in the late night monologues. They hear the persecution in the federal court decisions that strike down Trump's executive orders. And then there is the fake new media whenever they report something negative on their orange knight in tarnished armor.

With all of the bad press, they feel alienated. And yet, they don't recognize that the worst of the treatment they receive now is simply a partial payback for how their media darlings, like Rush, Sean Hannity, and Mark Levin, have been talking about nonconservatives for decades. 

In other words, before Trump came to power, he had a more than ready audience who would follow him even, according to Trump, if he was to shoot someone on the streets of NYC. Trump bragged about that loyalty and his followers never seemed to have bat an eye. The election of Trump was to be paybacks for all of the infringement that nonconservatives had forced on them while Obama was President.

On the other hand, we have the liberal elite. Their comedians make a living off of the foibles of President Trump and the alienation of conservatives in their audiences. We have other liberals and leftists who can only see the Anti-Christ when they look at conservatives. And we have a Democratic Party that rightly complains about Republican authoritarianism but employs its own authoritarianism in order to keep their own flock in line so that the "right" nominee is coronated the Party's nominee for President. Thus the election came down to the only person Trump could defeat vs the only person Hillary could defeat and it didn't end in a tie.

And the current divide we have in our nation is even more magnified in the blogs. For there are blog participants from all ideologies who want a real discussion vs those from all ideologies who say anything to either persuade people or piss them off. And that just doesn't exist in the debate regarding whether the FBI should investigate Ford and Kavanaugh, it is present in many other discussions.

In the end, why should the nation's parent figures, the elected officials, want to stay together when their kids can't stand each other? And the reason why the kids are so angrily pointing fingers at each other is because they have forgotten what they look like in a non-magic mirror.

In the end, we are hurting, with 'hurting' not being my first choice of words, ourselves by blindly following our two-party system. This political and ideological tribalism is causing us to devour each other and ourselves. And then there is the authoritarianism from all sides. While trying to convince their followers that they, our two major political parties, are vanguards for all that is good and honorable, they are merely acting as proxies for those with wealth and power. And we don't have enough independence of thought to even see what they are doing let alone to leave both political parties. 

Our democratic ship has struck too many icebergs of our own making and is sinking. So it isn't our ship that has failed us, we have failed it; we have failed democracy. But we have always failed it, it is that more of the chickens are coming home to roost. And our past and present treatment of the marginalized, such as people of color, the LGBT community, the poor, and others should have been our first and convincing clue that we are the ones who have failed ourselves. We are sinking and because of our disregard for outsiders, there is no one there to listen to our cries for help.

ONIM For February 5, 2018

10 Best Fact Checking Sites Found Here.

If you are not sure about the validity of a news story linked to below, you can use  mediabiasfactcheck.com to check out the credibility of the source of most of the stories linked to here.

Christian News

• The Unveiling Of Christian Nationalism -- Religion News Service
• Nancy Pearcey And Jonathan Merritt Spar On The Hottest Of Hot Topics -- Religion News Service
• An Open Letter To Andrew White -- Mortification Of Spin
• New Study Of Millennials And GenZ Points To A "Massive Religious Realignment" In America -- Religion News Service
• Are White Evangelicals Sacrificing The Future In Search Of The Past -- FiveThirtyEight
• Life Is Complicated But Evangelicals Are Simple? -- Putting The Protest In Protestant
• Same-Sex Marriage In Biblical Times -- Biblical Words & World
• Why Do Evangelicals Love Trump? Dumb Question: Why Wouldn't They -- Salon
• Why Evangelicals Stick With President Trump -- Anxious Bench
• Religious Leaders Hail, Hammer President Trumps First State Of The Union Speech -- Religion News Service
• Forgiving Trump Is Not The Same As Excusing Trump -- Felix Culpa
• Cultivating Respectability At Moody Bible Institute -- Anxious Bench

World News

• Black Lives Matters' Patrisse Khan-Cullors On Racism In America -- Yahoo News
• Why The Time-Honored White House Protest Needs Defending -- Waging Nonviolence
• Dutch Fight To Shutdown EU's Largest Gas Field After Earthquake -- Waging Nonviolence
• American Museum Of Natural History Targeted For Relationship With Right-Wing Climate Denier -- Waging Nonviolence
• Only One President Had The Guts To Say That The State Of The Union Is 'Not Good' -- Huffington Post
• Earth's Magnetic Poles Show Signs They're About To Flip--Exposing Humans To Radiation And Planet-Wide Blackouts -- Newsweek
• School Denounced For Plans To Fly Black Lives Matter Flag -- Fox News
• Black Lives Matter Flag Begins Flying Over Vermont School -- Fox News
• Why A High School That Is Only 5% Black Is Raising The Black Lives Matter Flag -- CNN
• Free Speech Does Not Mean Neo-Nazis Ought To Escape Responsibility For What They Say -- Los Angeles Times
• ACLU Sues Bakersfield Police For Arrest Of Black Passenger In Car Stopped For Dangling Air Freshner -- Los Angeles Times
• The Truth About Immigrants From Sub-Saharan Africa Is Not Rosy -- Dallas Morning News
• CIA Director Pompeo Met Top Russian Spies -- CNN
• Majorities Say Government Does Too Little For Older People, The Poor And The Middle Class -- Pew Research Center
• More Adults Now Share Their Living Space, Driven In Part By Parents Living With Their Adult Children -- Pew Research Center
• House Republicans Vote To Release Secret Memo On Russia Inquiry -- New York Times
• 'That's It?' Nunes Memo Draws Outrage And Derision -- Yahoo News
• Sen. John McCain On Nunes Memo Release: 'We Are Doing Putin's Job For Him' -- Huffington Post
• Christopher Wray, 'Low Key' FBI Director In Eye Of The Storm -- Yahoo News 
• GOP Memo: FBI Cherry-Picked Info In Trump-Russia Probe -- Dallas Morning News
• The Confederate Flag Resurged. The KKK Burned A Cross. Racial Tensions Flared In A Southern Town -- Washington Post
• 15 Pipeline Protesters Arrested At Governor's Office -- Maimi Herald
• Patriots' Bernard Reedy Will Return To $11 An Hour Job After The Super Bowl --  NBC News
• New Indication Ex-Trump Official Cooperating With Mueller -- Yahoo News
• The Largest Number Of Scientists In U.S. History Is Running For Office In 2018 -- Huffington Post
• Baltimore Police Recruits Set To Hit The Streets With Poor Understanding Of Law, Academy's Legal Instructor Says -- Baltimore Sun
• Scientists Have Discovered Two Simple Psychological Differences That Make You Liberal Or Conservative -- Business Insider 

Israel-Palestine News

• Mike Pence's Holocaust Day Message With 'Christ Imagery' Sparks Jewish Outrage -- Haaretz
• African Deportations Are Creating A Religious Controversy In Israel -- Atlantic
• Israeli Army Shoots Dead Palestinian Teen In West Bank -- Aljazeera
• Israel Vows To Retain West Bank Control In Any Peace Deal -- Fox News
• UN Compiles List Of Companies That Profit From Israeli Settlements -- NPR
• UN Roundly Condemned For Blacklist Of Companies Doing Business In Israeli Settlements -- Fox News
• Israel Corrects German Minister On Two-State Support -- Yahoo News
• How A U.S. Quaker Group That Won The Nobel Peace Prize Ended Up On Israel's BDS Blacklist -- Haaretz
• Israeli Lawmaker Tells BBC That He's Put Ahed Tamimi 'In The Hospital' By Kicking Her Face -- Mondoweiss

Donald Trump News

• What To Watch for In Trump's First State Of The Union -- Yahoo News
• State Of The Union 2018 -- CNN
• Factchecking Trump's State Of The Union -- FactCheck.org
• Trump's State Of The Union Keeps Up His Racist Fight With Black Athletes -- Huffington Post
• Trump's Speech Was Bad. The Democrats' Response To It Was Worse -- Guardian
• The Useful Idiocy Of Donald Trump -- Truthdig
• Trump Announces Decision To Overturn Obama's Decision To Close Guantanamo Bay At The State Of The Union -- Independent
• Donald Trump's Immigration Plan Would Discriminate Against Minorities And Muslims -- Salon
• Trump's Lawyers Are Saying The Mueller Interview May Not Happen, Report Says -- Newsweek
• Trump Slams FBI, DOJ Leadership Ahead Of Expected GOP Memo Release -- ABC News
• Why The GOP Has Followed Trump Off The Deep End -- Huffington Post
• Trump-Pence Administration Refuses To Sign Statement Supporting Marriage Equality And Trans Rights -- Human Rights Campaign
• Watergate Reporter Carl Bernstein Says 'Authoritarian' Trump Has Plunged The U.S. Into Its Darkest Days Since McCarthy With Memo Release -- Newsweek

Pick(s) Of The Litter

• Immigrant Children Aren't Entitled To Government-Paid Lawyers In Deportation Hearings, Court Rules -- Los Angeles Times
• A Man Was Taking His 7th-Grade Daughter To School. That's When ICE Agents Arrested Him -- Charlotte Observer
• Despite Promises To Cut Back, Fed And State Governments Press Asset Forfeitures -- Fox News
• African-American Man Fighting For His Life After Unprovoked Racist 'Rage' Attack In Auburn -- Seattle Times
• Prisoners Are Not Animals -- First Things
• Rep. Adam Schiff: GOP's FBI Memo Could Lead To 'Constitutional Crisis' -- Huffington Post
• NFL Player's Wife Details How Football 'Destroyed' Her Husband's Mind -- Yahoo News
• 53 Children Have Now Died During This Year's Flu Season--And It Could Get Even Worse -- Fortune
• Was Anne Frank Denied Refugee Status By The U.S.? -- Snopes
• Perfectionism Has Become A Hidden Epidemic Among Young People -- World Economic Forum
• No Carbon Cuts Or Ocean Protection Without Pipeline, Trudeau Says -- CBC News
• Ryan Says Republicans To Target Welfare, Medicare, Medicaid Spending In 2018 -- Washington Post

ONIM For May 18, 2015

Christian News

• Church Of Scotland Votes Yes To Ministers In Civil Partnerships -- Christian Today (UK)
• US Appeals Court Orders Release Of Nuclear-Activist Nun -- Christian Today (UK)
• One In Eight Parents Fake Religion To Get Kids In Faith School -- Christian Today (UK)
• Martin Luther's 'Great And Worthy Undertaking' -- Christianity Today
• Sister Momeka: Liberate Christian Lands From ISIS -- Christianity Today
• David Platt: Urgency For The Gospel Led To Policy Changes -- Christianity Today
• 10 Interesting Facts About Evangelicals From Pew's Religion Report -- The Christian Post
• Fourteen Key Reasons For The Breakdown In Church Unity -- The Christian Post
• God's Judgment Is Coming To America And 'It's Going To Be Ugly,' Says Billy Graham's Daughter -- The Christian Post
• The Real But Overstated Decline Of American Christianity -- New York Times

World News

• Governor Said Nuclear Plant Fire Produced Hudson Oil Slick -- Yahoo News
• Elizabeth Warren Fires Back At Obama: Here's What They're Really Fighting About -- Washington Post
• FBI Violated Its Own Rules While Spying On Keystone XL Opponents-- The Guardian
• Activists Blocked Part Of Shell Fuel Transfer Station -- The Stranger
• The Divorce Surge Is Over, But The Myth Lives On -- New York Times
• Is Assad On The Brink Of Defeat? -- The Real News
• FBI's Warning Of White Supremacists Infiltrating Law Enforcement Nearly Forgotten -- The Grio
• The New York Times Claims BDS Is The Reason For "A Wedge Between Jews And Minorities" On Campus -- Salon
• U.S. Will Allow Drilling For Oil In Arctic Ocean -- New York Times
• Israeli Extremism Will Encourage Global Boycott -- New York Times
• A Black Freedom Rider's Assessment Of Whites -- Huffington Post
• Illinois Has No Business Boycotting Those Who Boycott Israel -- Chicago Sun Times
• Worry Over Shariah Law In Idaho Jeopardizes Child Support -- Yahoo News
• Harvard Faces Admissions Bias Complaint From Asia-Americans -- Bloomberg News
• A Nation Of Snitches -- Truthdigg
• College Student Tells Jeb Bush: 'Your Brother Created ISIS' -- Truthdig
• Mitchell: Stop Ignoring Black-On-Black Violence -- Chicago Sun Times
• Beverly Hills Becomes First In California To Ban Fracking -- Reuters
• Kayaktivists Face Down Shell In Seattle -- MSNBC (Video)
• Seattle Activists Throw 'Unwelcome Party' For Arctic-Bound Shell Oil Rig -- Waging NonViolence
• Two Students Killed Amidst Chilean Nationwide Protest For Free Education -- Waging Nonviolence
• It's Time For A New Political And Economic System--A Conversation With Gar Alperovitz -- Waging NonViolence
• While We Focus On Shootings, We Ignore Victims Of Police Sexual Assault -- ZNet
• The More Israel Represses The Nabka, The Stronger The Memories -- ZNet
• UN Issues Scathing Assessment Of U.S. Human Rights Record -- Huffington Post
• Man Indicted In Ferguson Rally Shooting That Injured Police -- Yahoo News
• Israeli Court Says Arab Village Must Make Way For Jewish Town -- Middle East Eye
• Wyoming Makes It A Crime To Collect Evidence Of Pollution On Public Land -- Addicting Info
• The Right-Wing Political Record Of Bernie Sanders -- World Socialist Web Site
• Chris Hedges Makes His Case For Revolt -- Truthdig
• Members Of A Canadian Indigenous Tribe Turn Down $267,000 Per Person To Allow A Pipeline To Be Built Through Their Land -- The Fusion
• Video: Texas Soldier Dies After Telling Jail Guards He Couldn't Breathe 20 Times -- Democracy Now
• City Shuts Off Water To Delinquent Residents; Hits Baltimore County Homes Hardest -- Baltimore Sun
• Battle Over Black Freedom In Columbia -- ZCommentaries
• The Awful Truth About Climate Change No One Wants To Admit -- ZNet

Pick(s) Of The Litter

• CIA Whistleblower Jeff Sterling Speaks Out Upon Sentencing To 3.5 Years In Prison -- Democracy Now
• Noam Chomsky: Western Media Is Still Manufacturing Consent -- Sputnik News
• Many Of The NSA's Loudest Defenders Have Financial Ties To NSA Contractors -- The Intercept
• Justice Dept Knows Scores Of Prisoners Are Innocent, But Says "It Is Not Their Job" To Set Them Free -- The Free Thought Project
• Noam Chomsky Explains How Islamic State Grew Out Of The Iraq War -- Truthdig
• Vatican To Recognize Palestinian State In New Treaty -- New York Times
• Israeli Soldiers, Palestinians Clash On 'Nabka' Day -- Al -Arabiya News
• Permafrost Thaw Would Have Runaway Effect On Carbon Release -- Truthdig

ONIM For May 19, 2014

Christian News

• Christians Should Be Outraged By Uganda's LGBT Trials -- Christ And Pop Culture
• Orthodox Jews Protest Upcoming Papal Visit To Last Supper Site In Jerusalem -- Huffington Post
• If It Weren't For Jesus, I Might Be Pro-Death Too -- Huffington Post
• Boycott Launched Against Openly Gay St Louis Rams Player Michael Sam, By Christian Lobbyist Jack Burkman -- FreeNewsPos.com
• India's Christians Fear Rise In Persecution Under BJP -- Christian Today (UK)
• God's Anger Over Gay Marriage May Be Behind Floods, Says Politician -- Christian Today (UK)
• Pregnant Christian Woman Will Be Allowed To Give Birth Before Being Hanged -- Christian Today (UK)
• NRB Forces Out Walterbrook Multnomah Publisher Over Sister's 'Gay Christian' Book -- Christianity Today
• Brotherly Love: Christians And Male-Female Friendships -- Christianity Today
• Churches Not Doing Enough To fight Pornography -- The Christian Post
• Millennials And The Demise Of Print: Five Implications For Churches- The Christian Post
• Inside The Latest Drive Of Faith-Driven Movies - The Christian Post
• India's Elections And The "Doniger Affair" -- Religion Dispatches
• Does Secularism Have A Role In Egyptian Struggle? -- Religion Dispatches

World News

• Pesticides, Not Mites, Cause Honeybee Colony Collapse -- Discover
• 400 US Mercenaries 'Deployed On Ground' In Ukraine Military Op -- RT
• US Contractor Greystone Denies Its 'Mercenaries' In Ukraine -- ABC News
• Protecting Islam By Telling The Truth -- Huffington Post
• "Devastating" Impacts Of Climate Change Increasing -- Truthout
• Elizabeth Warren Reveals Inside Secrets Of Trade Talks -- The Nation
• Sudanese Woman Sentenced To Death For Apostasy -- Yahoo News
• Pipeline Rupture Spews 50,000 Gallons Of Crude Oil In Atwater Village -- LA Times
• 3 Ways America Should Be More Like Canada -- Yahoo Finance
• Break The Silence: A World War Is Beckoning -- Z Commentaries
• Eyewitness Greece: 'They're Stealing Everything, Even Our Homes' -- ZNet
• The Democratic Party's Future Is Awash In Dark Money -- Vice
• B.C. Has More Unsolved Cases Of Missing And Murdered Aboriginal Women Than Any Other Province -- British Columbia's New Democrat
• Workers In Walmart Get $21 Million Wage Theft Settlement -- The Daily Kos
• Russian Oppositional Artists Petition For Lenient Sentence For OWS Cecily McMillan -- Broadway World
• G.M. Is Fined Over Safety And Called A Lawbreaker -- New York Times
• An Attack On Dissent (Video From Real News)-- Z Video
• Lifta Residents Return In Friday Action -- Alternative News
• Soma Death Toll Tops 300 As Tensions Rise With Arrests -- The Hurriyet Daily News
• How The FBI Goes After Activists -- Vice
• Depletion Of Central Valley's Groundwater May Be Causing Earthquakes -- Extinction Protocol

Pick(s) Of The Litter

• "This Is Not A Ransom, It's Your Contribution Into Our War" --  Novaya Gazeta 
• The U.S. Military's New Normal In Africa -- ZNet
• Donald Sterling's Illiberal Zionism Part Of Racism Controversy With Magic Johnson -- ZNet

ONIM For March 31, 2014

Christian News

• UK Churches Pray For Peace In Ukraine -- Christian Today (UK)
• Southampton Churches Working Together On Homelessness -- Christian Today (UK)
• The Effects Of Conscious Uncoupling -- Christian Today (UK)
• Churches To Honor Washington Mudslide Victims As Death Toll Climbs -- Huffington Post
• Bishop Christopher Senyojo, Ugandan Cleric, Ministers To Gays Despite Nation's Laws -- Huffington Post
• Evangelicals Back Peace Pact With Islamic Rebels In Philippines -- Christianity Today
• A Review Of Noah -- Christianity Today
• World Vision's Reversal Is The Right Decision -- The Christian Post
• Thousands Of Youth Gather For 'Reverse' Evangelism Event In DC Area -- The Christian Post
• Hobby Lobby Case Isn't About Contraceptive -- Religion Dispatches
• Milquetoast Liberal Religion Won't Challenge Conservative Values: A History Lesson -- Religion Dispatches

World News

• Sunoco Oil Pipeline Leaks In Ohio Nature Preserve -- Reuters
• Pressure Mounts For National Inquiry Into Missing And Murdered Aboriginal Women -- The Hill Times Online
• NASA-Funded Study: Industrial Civilisation Headed For 'Irreversible Collapse'? -- The Guardian
• Ukraine Severs Ties With Russia -- Sky News
• NYC Inmate Baked To Death In Cell -- Washington Post
• Liberals Hit Cuomo's Plan To Cut Bank Tax -- Crain's New York Business 
• Cops Or Soldiers -- The Economist
• Right Sector Coordinator Muzychko Killed in Ukraine's Rivne -- Kyiv Post
• The Case That Could Rock The Occupy Movement -- Vice News
• Judge Orders FBI To Explain Withholding Records Of Alleged Occupy Houston Assassination Plot -- Houston Chronicle
• An A- Paper From A UNC Athlete -- Yahoo Sports
• BP More Than Doubles Estimate Of Oil Spill In Lake Michigan -- Los Angelas Times
• There Are 6 Vacant Houses To Every Single Homeless Person -- The Mind Unleashed 
• New G.O.P. Bid To Limit Voting In Swing States -- New York Times

Pick(s) Of The Litter

• The Dark Side Of Globalization: Why Seattle's 1999 Protesters Were Right -- The Atlantic
• Walmart Admits: 'Our Profits' Depend On 'Their Poverty' -- ZCommentary