Anti-aging face serum using essential oils

By Gaye Levy
Make a DIY anti-aging face
serum using essential oils 

Over the past seven or eight years, my skin has gone from less than ordinary to radiant. I do not say this lightly because not only do I have mature skin, but it has been acne-prone and blotchy throughout my entire adult life. I credit this transformation to essential oils rather than to the expensive, chemical-laden department store lotions, potions and serums I used in the 80s, 90s and beyond.

These days, I shun OTC skin care products and make my own. For years, the crowning jewel in my DIY arsenal has been my "Luminous Face Serum." That is still a fantastic concoction but to be honest, it uses five different essential oils plus a carrier oil and can be a somewhat of a chore to make.

So here is how this played out.

I was out of my face serum and short on time. I needed something quick that would not require opening a number of bottles and counting out drops. I pumped a dab of rose hip oil onto the palm of my hand and added a single drop each of frankincense and lavender essential oils. I massaged it into my face, added makeup and was out the door in no time. The next morning, my skin was smoother and more vibrant. I knew I was on to something.

Since that fateful morning, I have been reformulating many of my skin care products to include both frankincense and lavender and the results have been nothing short of remarkable. Of all of them, however, it is the face serum that gets most of the credit. The best part is that it comes together quickly with only four ingredients.How to make an anti-aging face serum

Ingredients

• 8 drops frankincense essential oil
• 7 drops lavender essential oil
• Rose hip seed oil
• Jojoba oil

Directions
Add essential oils to a 15ml dropper bottle. Top with 1/3 rose hip oil and 2/3 jojoba oil.

For a 10ml dropper bottle, use five drops of each essential oil.

Use a generous amount twice daily, morning and night. By generous, I mean 1/3 to 1/2 dropper full of serum. The carrier oils, rose hip and jojoba are very skin friendly and absorb quickly without any greasiness.

Note: This is a 5 percent dilution.

Click here to jump to a printable version of this anti-aging face serum.

Better than Botox? Really?

The first real indication that I was on to something with this serum is when my husband noticed that the fine lines around my eyes had mostly disappeared. I had already noticed that my skin appeared a lot smoother, so much so that I had stopped using a primer under makeup. And holy moly, my skin looked good even without makeup. That was a first for me.

Here is an unretouched photo of the area around my eyes. Keep in mind I am older than dirt (okay, 68 years old) so there is some sagging but the creepy fine lines are gone.

During my working years, I would get Botox injections around the eye area. It was expensive but did a lot for my self-esteem. A number of years back, I stopped the Botox injections not only because of the expense, but because I learned to become comfortable with the aging process. Still, who can deny the boost you get from looking at yourself in the mirror and seeing fewer wrinkles and fine lines instead of more?

The secret is frankincense essential oil

I have a confession to make. In the past, I have hoarded frankincense essential oil. I have a number of unopened bottles in my extensive EO inventory yet I would rarely use it due to the expense. It is not that I was ignorant of the many benefits of frankincense but more that I was being cheap. Kind of silly, really.

That is not to say I shunned it totally. I have used it to heal wounds from cuts, scrapes and burns while at the same time reducing and fading the appearance of scars. From time to time, I have added a drop or two to other formulas to help with anti-aging. Mostly, though, I have layered frankincense over other essential oils to enhance that oil’s properties and drive the oils deeper into the cells. This layering was something I would do almost in desperation, again, due to the expense.

I realize I keep mentioning cost. I do purchase my frankincense from Spark Naturals because I know their quality standards are high and because they sell direct and not through a membership or MLM program. Their product is not the cheapest but in the big picture, it is still less than those OTC products I favored in years past. Plus, for me, it works and works fast.

Which brings up another point. All essential oils, and not just frankincense, are adaptable. They interact with the unique chemistry of your body in such a way that what works for one person, may not always work quite as efficiently in another. In my case, lavender, peppermint, rosemary, oregano and melaleuca (tea tree) work for me without fail, every time. These are my go-tos for almost everything. Other EOs work better for me in blends and when they kick in, they really can carry a punch (blends are also referred to as synergies).

Regardless of the oil, however, adding some frankincense seems to make every oil I use more effective sooner.

Rose hip seed oil is also a star ingredient

I would be remiss if I did not include a word about rosehip seed oil. This gentle oil is not at all greasy and absorbs quickly into the skin. Rich in fatty acids, vitamin, and antioxidants, for me it is almost too rich which is why I combine it with jojoba oil. I found that using it straight resulted in little bumps on the surface of my skin. That is the reason why I blend it with jojoba oil, a fantastic carrier oil that mimics the sebum in our skin and has a long shelf-life.

Rosehip seed oil has a reputation for correcting dark spots and reducing scars and fine lines which, in addition to the frankincense, may be why this serum is so darn effective.

The combination of rose hip seed oil and jojoba oil makes a wonderful synergy. That being said, your experience may be different from mine so feel free to skip the jojoba oil and use 100 percent rose hip seed oil or even 100 percent jojoba oil.

Luminous face serum — still a fantastic choice

For those of you interested in making up a batch of my tried and true Luminous Face Serum, here is the recipe. Note that this serum uses only two drops of frankincense versus the eight that are used in my anti-aging serum.

Ingredients (2 drops each of the following essential oils)

• Lavender Essential Oil
• Frankincense Essential Oil
• Geranium Essential Oil
• Lemon Essential Oil
• Basil Essential Oil

Directions
Add the essential oils to a 15 ml glass dropper bottle (1/2 ounce) and top with jojoba oil (or another carrier). Alternately, double the oils and create a salve by adding the oils to a 1-ounce jar of Base Salve (recipe here). Use twice daily, morning and night.

Note: This is a 3.5 percent dilution

A word about essential oils

I prefer essential oils from Spark Naturals, an online company based in Utah. They are not the cheapest nor are they the most expensive, but they have a quality product I trust and some fantastic sales.

You can purchase them directly from their website and also on Amazon.com where they have their own branded store.

Wherever you decide to purchase your oils, let your nose guide you. If your essential oil smells like paint thinner, return it. Good oils smell nice.

Summing it all up

In the back of my mind, a little voice is suggesting that the phenomenal results from using this anti-aging serum may be the result of my skin becoming used to the Luminous Face Serum I have been using for years. I hold out that could be true but I don’t think so. After just a month, the change in my skin tone is so remarkable that I have to believe that it is the magical combination of oils in this serum that is producing such a dramatic result.

I also want to remind you that you don’t have to be a woman, nor do you have to possess mature skin to reap the benefits of this serum. My husband, Shelly, has started using it and so have a number of my younger friends. They are seeing similar results which can only get better over time.

Hot topics in Will County District 7 race include opioids and taxes

Steve Balich (from left), Kyle Killacky and Mike Fricilone. (Steve Balich/Kyle Killacky/Mike Fricilone)

Susan DeMar LaffertyDaily Southtown

Battling the opioid epidemic, high taxes, and spending are at the forefront of Will County’s District 7 board race, where a 23-year-old student, Kyle Killacky, is challenging the two Republican incumbents, Steve Balich and Mike Fricilone in the Nov. 6 election.

District 7, which includes most of Homer Township, parts of Lockport Township and one precinct in New Lenox Township, has two open seats for four-year terms.

Killacky, a Homer Glen Democrat, said he would bring a youthful perspective to the board and “fresh, new, and exciting ideas” that are “very vital in leading the county into the future.”

Balich and Fricilone have both served on the county board since 2012, and said they are seeking re-election to keep property taxes down.

Killacky’s biggest priority is the opioid crisis which is “getting worse,” he said.

The county needs to invest more in its health department to address the issue, he said. “Our health department is underfunded at a time when we have a health epidemic raging in the county. It was insane to think that in 2016 there were people on the board who wanted to defund the health department.”

Killacky also wants to make sure the sheriff's department has enough resources to continue its efforts in fighting this problem.

Balich, of Orland Park, said the heroin problem can be addressed with education and “creating a positive environment where addicts can get a good job.”

Putting people in jail is “very costly” and the county is trying to find innovative ways to reduce the jail population, he said.

Fricilone, of Homer Glen, said “the earlier children are educated on the dangers of drug use the better prepared they will be to fight this battle.”

The county has received state and federal grant funding to help fight this epidemic and will continue to seek those grants, he said.

Fricilone, who chairs the board’s Finance Committee, said the board has increased funding for the Health Department, provided more drug awareness programs, built a new Public Safety Complex, started to build a new county courthouse while reducing the county’s tax rate for the past three years.

He said he wants to continue to reduce the tax burden, provide oversight on spending, and make sure taxpayers are “getting the best services.” This can be done through “efficient government and wise spending,” he said.

Balich said he will “continue to spend taxpayer money like it was my own.”

”Seniors and others on a fixed income see so much of their disposable income taken away by excessive taxes, they are forced to move or struggle to make ends meet,” he said.

Killacky said as the county grows, more jobs are needed but not necessarily more warehouse jobs.

He said he will work to bring jobs that “treat workers like human beings” and “pay a living wage.” To attract such jobs, the county must continue to “invest in its infrastructure.” While the county is doing a “good job,” he said he will do “more to fix our crumbling roads.”

Fricilone, a businessman and chairman of the Lockport Township High School Foundation, also wants to increase economic development and jobs, improve local roads and cut wasteful spending, according to his website, www.mikefricilone.tumblr.com. During his tenure on the county board, he has not supported pay raises for elected officials and voted to eliminate pensions for county board members.

Balich previously served as Homer Township trustee and clerk, and is co-founder of the Will County Tea Party Alliance. He is concerned about expanding government and wants to eliminate laws and regulations that are “not enforced, make little sense, or just a way for government to make money.” For example, he has pushed to exempt routine repair and maintenance work from requiring a building permit.

”We need to support our police who must deal with media driven disdain for police.I will stand for issues that benefit people,” Balich said.

Killacky said he wants a Will County that works for everyone, regardless of political party, religion, race, or gender.

“A county board member should represent everyone,” he said. “I believe that everyone my age should contribute to their community in some way.”

If tax reform were to be gone,people would have $26,906 less in take-home pay over next 10 years.

Rachel del Guidice

Reporter

A new report from The Heritage Foundation shows that if tax reform were to be repealed or expire, the average American would have $26,906 less in take-home pay over the subsequent 10 years.

“After 2025, most of the individual tax cuts revert to prior law. The tax cuts expire,” Adam Michel, a policy analyst at The Heritage Foundation’s Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies, told The Daily Signal in an email.

Michel is a co-author of the study, released Wednesday, that found that repealing the tax reform or letting it expire and causing taxes to revert to their former rates and structure would leave Americans “$26,906 poorer over the following 10 years.”

“To solidify the current broad-based economic expansion, Congress must make the tax cuts permanent,” Michel said. “A series of three new bills that make up ‘Tax Reform 2.0’ have passed the House.

“The package would make much of last year’s tax reform permanent, introduce new simplifications for family saving, and provide a helping hand for new small businesses,” he said.

Take-home pay for the average family of four could drop by $45,739 over 10 years, according to the study, and taxpayers could face decreasing job openings, lower incomes, and higher taxes in every congressional district.

The tax-reform package, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act—which cleared Congress Dec. 20 and went into effect Jan. 1 after President Donald Trump signed it into law—repealed the corporate alternative minimum tax and cut the corporate income-tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent, among other changes.

According to Americans for Tax Reform, a conservative-leaning taxpayer-advocacy group, 90 percent of workers in America are receiving more take-home pay due to the tax reforms.

The group has cataloged 730 examples of business expansions, job-benefit increases, utility-rate reductions, pay raises and bonuses, and 401(k)-match increases, all because of the tax reform.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has said that she would repeal the tax-reform law.

The Heritage study says that repealing tax reform would be detrimental and contends that lawmakers instead should work to pass “Tax Reform 2.0.”

“Instead of repealing the tax cuts, or rolling parts of them back, Congress should make the [Tax Cuts and Jobs Act] permanent and reduce the deficit by reducing spending to align with projected revenues,” the report argues.

“A balanced budget and lower tax rates will lead to a larger economy by both increasing the capital stock and allowing Americans to keep more of what they earn,” it says.

Trump Continues to Move Agenda, Despite Media

Originally published at Fox News  Newt Gingrich

The media has been fully fixated on the eminent confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the United States Supreme Court, but in the meantime, President Trump has once again proven his trade strategy is paying off.

In case you missed it, President Trump has effectively replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which he has promised to do since the campaign and the institutional elites said was impossible. In the final hours leading up to a US-imposed deadline, Canada relented and agreed to join a new agreement that Trump had negotiated with Mexico, thus the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) was born. All that is left now is for Congress and the legislative bodies of Canada and Mexico to sign off on the deal.

This was a critical step in President Trump’s effort to bring fairness back into US trade policies. I discuss this in my New York Times best seller Trump’s America: The Truth About Our Nation’s Great Comeback.

This updated trade regime with Mexico and Canada will mean auto-industry jobs will return to North America from overseas. By 2020, cars sold in the US that have fewer than 75 percent of their parts made in countries other than the US, Canada, or Mexico will face tariffs. This percentage under NAFTA was 62.5 percent.

Further, the North American auto-making playing field will be leveled under the new agreement. By 2023, 40 percent of the work done on cars made in the US, Mexico, and Canada, will have to be completed by workers making at least $16 an hour. Additionally, companies, particularly those in Mexico, will have to operate under new environmental and labor regulations that are more in line with regulations faced by companies in the United States.

This is a great example of how President Trump is not a traditional conservative – but is instead extremely pro-American. Republicans are not typically associated with more stringent environmental or labor rules, but in this case, it will ensure that fair competition is maintained within the North American automotive sector – a key point that was missing from NAFTA that led to many jobs leaving America.

The new agreement also puts in place much tougher rules about protecting intellectual property. This will mean a great deal to American manufacturers and innovators. Drug companies, for example, spend billions of dollars to research, develop, and deploy new medications, only to see foreign countries effectively ignore their patent rights. That means US patients are providing a disproportionate share of the return on investment for biopharmaceuticals. In other words, foreign countries are freeloading off of US patients. Under the new agreement, biopharmaceutical propriety information will be protected for at least a full 10 years, bringing their rules closer to alignment with the United States. The result will be more dollars flowing to research and development, leading to more new cures and treatments.

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker can take some credit for one of the biggest successes of the new agreement. For years, Governor Walker has fought to pressure Canada to open up its highly-protected, unfair dairy market. In fact, Walker’s fight with the Canadian dairy trade is where much of this focus on Canada started. That tightly controlled dairy market is set to loosen up, which will be a significant boon to dairy farmers in Wisconsin and surrounding states.

Virtually everyone in the elite media is missing – or ignoring – that this updated, stronger relationship with our neighbors will help give President Trump better leverage to fight for American interests in trade negotiations with Europe and Asia.

This is of course anathema to the old guard elites who believe that American administrations should put global interests ahead of our own. At every turn, this group has criticized President Trump for his use of tariffs – or the threat of tariffs – in trade negotiations. They have consistently cried that the President’s policies on trade would lead to a worldwide economic recession. This is the narrative the elite media has happily parroted.

Yet, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that the outperformance and continual improvement of the US economy is actually lifting government bond yields. This, among other indicators, proves that the sky-is-falling, doomsday warnings of the elite globalists have simply not materialized.

The elites have not come around to the idea that trade and diplomacy are separate. Unfair trade agreements destroy US jobs. The objective of US trade policy should be job creation – not international relations.

While this may shock the conscience of globalists on network news and at institutions, like the Council on Foreign Relations, it has been understood for decades by the US working class. President Trump was simply the first to listen.

When will the elite US media wake up to reality and see that the President is making good deals for Americans?

Commissioner Sean Morrison calls on State’s Attorney to launch criminal investigation into JB Pritzker’s “scheme to defraud”

Commissioner Sean Morrison calls on State’s Attorney to launch criminal investigation into JB Pritzker’s “scheme to defraud” on his property taxes   Des Plaines, IL – Cook County Commissioner Sean Morrison called on Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx today to launch an investigation into JB Pritzker’s “scheme to defraud” Cook County on his property taxes.   Information released from the Cook County Inspector General’s investigation into the property tax reduction JB Pritzker received on his Chicago Gold Coast Mansion found that Pritzker’s wife asked a contractor in 2015 to remove the toilets from the Gold Coast Mansion to portray the home as uninhabitable in an attempt to have the property reassessed at a much lower value.   It would later be found that JB Pritzker’s wife, her brother and her personal assistant made “false representations” in sworn affidavits to the Cook County Assessor regarding the mansion’s condition and when the toilets were removed, the Inspector General’s report found.   The Inspector General’s report also made reference to federal conspiracy and mail fraud statutes and state perjury law but did not state if the IGO would refer this matter to law enforcement.   “This premeditated and audacious scheme to defraud Cook County by JB Pritzker could very well be a crime and that’s why it must be investigated immediately and fully by Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx. The residents of Cook County deserve nothing less,” Morrison stated.

District 33C Receives Grant For Safety And Security

District 33C has received a $500,000 grant for measures to increase safety and security at district schools.

By Andrea Earnest, Patch Staff | Oct 4, 2018 4:22 pm ET | Updated Oct 4, 2018 4:25 pm ET

HOMER GLEN, IL — The Will County Sheriff's Office has announced a $500,000 grant for measures to increase safety and security at all of Homer Community Consolidated School District 33C. The sheriff's office said Homer 33C district staff approached the sheriff's office in early 2017 about an opportunity to receive grant funds through the US Department of Justice, 2018 COPS STOP School Violence Prevention Program.

The sheriff's office said the requirement of the grant was for the school district to approach their law enforcement agency and request collaboration for writing and submitting the grant on their behalf. Homer School contacted Sheriff Mike Kelley who accepted the undertaking.

"Over the past few years, the sheriff's office has increased their commitment to preventing school violence," Kelley said in a release. "School Resource Officers have been in our schools for several years, but with the increase in school violence nationwide, we have made it one of our priorities. We now utilize our Training Division deputies to hold Active Shooter/Rescue Task Force training and other specific training for school personnel. The $500,000 grant funds fall directly in line with our goals and amplify assurance to school personnel, students, parents and visitors."

Cory Booker admitted groping yet makes deal out of no evidence accusations by Ford

New Jersey Democratic Sen. Cory Booker is facing accusations of hypocrisy over his calls to delay the confirmation vote of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh amid sexual misconduct allegations, as he once admitted groping a friend without her consent in high school.

The senator, who urged the Senate Judiciary Committee to first let the FBI conduct an investigation after California professor Christine Blasey Ford accused the high court nominee of sexual assault over 35 years ago, once wrote an article detailing an instance where he groped a female friend. 

A portion of Cory Booker's 1992 column.  (The Stanford Daily)

“New Year's Eve 1984 I will never forget. I was 15. As the ball dropped, I leaned over to hug a friend and she met me instead with an overwhelming kiss. As we fumbled upon the bed, I remember debating my next 'move' as if it were a chess game,” Booker wrote in the student-run Stanford Daily newspaper in 1992.

“With the 'Top Gun' slogan ringing in my head, I slowly reached for her breast. After having my hand pushed away once, I reached my 'mark,’” he continued, without explaining what he meant by “mark.”

"With the 'Top Gun' slogan ringing in my head, I slowly reached for her breast. After having my hand pushed away once, I reached my 'mark.'"

- Cory Booker

“Our groping ended soon and while no 'relationship' ensued, a friendship did. You see, the next week in school she told me that she was drunk that night and didn't really know what she was doing,” he added.

Booker’s intent of the column was to detail his transformation from a 15-year-old who was “trotting around the bases and stealing second” to someone who was called a “man-hater” over his pro-women views.

“In retrospect, my soliloquy titled ‘The Oppressive Nature of Male Dominated Society and Its Violent Manifestations Rape, Anorexia, Battered Wives’ may have been a surreptitious attempt to convince her that I was a sensitive man, but more likely I was trying to convince myself that my attitudes had changed,” he wrote.

The now-senator came back to the topic a few months later in 1992, penning another article that mentioned the controversial column, which he said was about “date rape,” and admitted that his actions were at odds with his beliefs.

“But by my second column, as I raised my noble pen to address the issue of date rape, I realized that the person holding it wasn't so noble after all,” he wrote. “With this issue as with so many others, a dash of sincere introspection has revealed to me a dangerous gap — a gap between my beliefs and my actions.”

"With this issue as with so many others, a dash of sincere introspection has revealed to me a dangerous gap — a gap between my beliefs and my actions."

- Cory Booker

The columns by Booker, a potential 2020 presidential contender, have resurfaced after he became one of the leading voices of the Democratic opposition against Kavanaugh’s confirmation.

Following allegations of sexual misconduct against Kavanaugh, which he vehemently denied, Booker said the accusations are “serious, credible, and deeply troubling.” After the committee vote was delayed and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley invited both Ford and Kavanaugh to testify on Monday, Booker called for an FBI investigation before holding a hearing.

Paul Mulshine, a columnist for the Star-Ledger, the largest newspaper in New Jersey, wrote Thursday that Booker’s columns will put him in an awkward position amid the scandal rocking the confirmation hearings.

“Based on that Stanford Daily column, Booker should be giving Kavanaugh the benefit of the doubt as well. The point of it was that the future senator had ‘a wake-up call’ and decided ‘I will never be the same.’”

Booker’s office pushed back strongly. 

“This disingenuous right-wing attack, which has circulated online and in partisan outlets for the past five years, rings hollow to anyone who reads the entirety of Senator Booker’s Stanford Daily column,” a spokesperson for the senator said in a statement to Fox News.

“The column is in fact a direct criticism of a culture that encourages young men to take advantage of women -- written at a time when so candidly discussing these issues was rare -- and speaks to the impact Senator Booker’s experience working to help rape and sexual assault survivors as a college peer counselor had on him.”

The Reckless Coverage of Kavanaugh Allegations Is Why Americans Don’t Trust the Media

The last few weeks of coverage of the accusations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh have been a perfect example of why the American people don’t trust the media.

The sheer breadth of wild and reckless reporting on the situation has been extraordinary, even by the media’s increasingly low standards.

There have been a staggering number of backtracks and incidences of simply false reporting.

NBC published a social media post by one of Ford’’s classmates, Christina King Miranda, saying: “This incident did happen. Many of us heard a buzz about it indirectly with few specific details. However Christine’s vivid recollection should be more than enough for us to truly, deeply know that the accusation is true.”

NBC’s post went viral, but very quickly thereafter, the classmate deleted her post and admitted to not knowing what took place between Kavanaugh and the accuser.

“In my [Facebook] post, I was empowered and I was sure it probably did [happen],” Miranda said, according to NPR. “I had no idea that I would now have to go to the specifics and defend it before 50 cable channels and have my face spread all over MSNBC news and Twitter.”

NBC later had to revise the story.

The New York Times made its own mess. On Monday, the Times reported that Mark Judge, the second man named in Christine Blasey Ford’s allegations against Kavanaugh, had confirmed to the Senate Judiciary Committee that he did recall the episode. But the potentially damning statement was completely incorrect.

Judge has repeatedly claimed, via his lawyer, that he has no recollection of such actions ever taking place.

“Brett Kavanaugh and I were friends in high school but I do not recall the party described in Dr. Ford’s letter. More to the point, I never saw Brett act in the manner Dr. Ford describes,” Judge said in a statement.

The New York Times was forced to backtrack: “An earlier version of this article misstated what Mark Judge told the Senate Judiciary Committee. He said that he does not remember the episode, not that he does.”

Adding to injury, three different outlets framed a joke that Kavanaugh made three years ago as being a subtle admittance to Ford’s allegations.

Speaking to a public forum at Columbus Law School, he said, “what happens at Georgetown Prep, stays at Georgetown Prep.” When watched in its entirety, it is abundantly clear that Kavanagh is completely joking. It was the dean of the school that reminded him of the phrase.

But that didn’t matter. MSNBC, CNN, and Politico presented the clip as somehow evidence that Kavanaugh is guilty or hiding something egregious. That’s three networks who chose to ignore a critical statement made by Kavanaugh to a laughing crowd—that the dean “reminded him to say that.” It was a blatant joke.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., then referenced the clip in a tweet that currently has nearly 50,000 “likes” on Twitter.

“I can’t imagine any parent accepting this view. Is this really what America wants in its next Supreme Court Justice?”

Elizabeth Warren

✔@SenWarren

Brett Kavanaugh talking about his high school in 2015: “What happens at Georgetown Prep, stays at Georgetown Prep.”

I can't imagine any parent accepting this view. Is this really what America wants in its next Supreme Court Justice?

3:23 PM - Sep 18, 2018

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These are just a few examples of the bad reporting in the last week.

Also see: here, here, and here.

Conversely, prominent members of the media lashed out at those who wanted to find the truth about the claims of the accuser, despite the fact that her claims are incredibly vague.

Chris Cillizza

✔@CillizzaCNN

Walking a VERY dangerous line here.....

Robert Costa

✔@costareports

NEWS: Top Senate Republican raises sharp questions about the account of Judge Kavanaugh's accuser.

“The problem is, Dr. Ford can’t remember when it was, where it was, or how it came to be,” Sen. John Cornyn (Texas) says. “There are some gaps there that need to be filled.”

10:21 AM - Sep 18, 2018

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It’s all been a ridiculous fiasco, but this should be a lesson to those who worry that President Donald Trump’s rhetoric about the media is undermining the free press.

It’s the press that’s undermining itself by being so one-sided, so quick to publish damaging stories about conservatives—while holding fire on progressives—and bypassing the due diligence required for accurate and honest reporting that Americans should expect.

The Founding Fathers understood that a free press was vital to preserving liberty and keeping the powerful in check. They also acknowledged that the press itself was a powerful tool and that it could be used to disseminate lies and falsehoods.

The Founders, thankfully, protected press freedom through the First Amendment, as lies by the media would only be made worse by allowing the government to control the flow of information in society.

But the Founders didn’t protect the media because they wanted to empower falsehoods. They did so in order to preserve truth.

Many Americans have judged that modern media have not exactly been truthful with them, and that perception is wrecking the press’ credibility.

Some in the media, such as NBC’s Chuck Todd, have blamed conservatives, Republicans, and Trump for the poor reputation of their industry, claiming that the climate of distrust regarding the press is merely the result of their ferocious critics. “The conservative echo chamber created that environment,” Todd said on “Meet the Press.”

Polls also show that trust in media is catastrophically bad, a trend that predates the Trump administration, but is worse now. They also show that a majority of American people believe that the media intentionally publishes fake news, and a plurality think they create false stories about the Trump administration.

With the way the Kavanaugh allegations have been treated, no wonder huge segments of Americans are angry and frustrated.

The legacy media’s failure to acknowledge that the fault is not in their stars but themselves means that trust in the fourth estate will continue to erode, and they will get blistered with criticism that sticks.

In America, we have a free press, but the American people have free minds to judge truth and distortion.

The media’s role in the Kavanaugh controversy further erodes any chance the press has to regain the people’s trust. If anything, it should make us grateful for an alternative media that continues to call them out.

This story has been corrected to reflect that the NBC report was on a classmate of Ford’s.