When you hear politicians speak (the president or members of Congress) and they tell you that the science or facts are settled, do you tend to believe them or treat their comments with skepticism?

Those who survey such things show that faith in government and politicians has fallen to record lows. But many other professions have also seen a decline in public trust.

The government produces a "food pyramid" and dietary guidelines telling us what is good for us to eat and what is not. But it keeps changing -- eggs and whole milk were bad, and now they are good.

Global warming alarmists keep telling us the science is settled -- but doomsday keeps being pushed back. Not one of the major global warming models predicted the recent 18-year pause in global warming. Is it any wonder most of us now ignore the constant warnings of warming by Mr. Obama?

We have an update for Is Obama Criminally Insane? from yesterday (12/03). Here’s the latest headline: Obama Thinks Gun Control Will Deter Terrorists. What more proof is needed that he’s mentally defective?

OK, here’s more: Last night on CBS – the day after the Moslem terrorist slaughter in San Bernardino celebrated by ISIS – Zero actually claimed that ISIS “is not going to pose an existential threat to us…our homeland has never been more protected…than they are now.” The headline for the interview: Obama Says US Safe from ISIS Attack. Wait, there’s still more…

Pub Senate sanity prevailed yesterday when they passed defunding Planned Parenthood and Obamacare. Your hopes, though, will be dashed when you learn how ephemeral Pub Senate sanity was…

Ted Cruz gave a fantastic speech to the Republican Jewish Coalition yesterday, declaring among other delights that “this nation needs a wartime president to defend it, instead of a president who’s an apologist for radical Islamic terrorism.”

Cruz’s full 30 minute speech is worth watching. Note he began with leading everyone in a moment of silent prayer…

Let’s take a break. Surely the funniest story of the week is the surge of sales of blow-up sex dolls in China. And here’s the Darwin Award for the Week. Plus the Jerk of the Week. We close with the Hero.

Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Why has Honduras lagged behind its neighbors and much of the rest of the world?

It is resource-rich, has deep-water ports both on the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, is very scenic and, because of its mountain terrain, has sub-climates that meet most people’s preferences.

As can be seen in this table, Honduras compares poorly with neighboring countries and some other countries of similar size. Guatemala next door has a per capita income roughly 50 percent higher, Costa Rica three times higher, Chile five times higher, and Switzerland and Hong Kong about 12 times higher than Honduras’.

Honduras lags and suffers because of the lack of the rule of law and economic freedom. Now, a highly innovative program based on free market capitalist principles is being launched to come to the rescue of Honduras.

Have you ever watched the downhill skiers in the Winter Olympics before a race, visualizing the run, moving and swaying their bodies as though they’re on the run itself? They all do this now, because the visualization is a powerfully effective strategy for bringing out their best.

But they aren’t picturing themselves with the gold medal and the national anthem playing. They’re crouched down in a skiing stance, imagining how they’ll negotiate the challenges of the run, practicing the specific skills that will get them to that gold medal.

Much is made these days of having a compelling future vision. Picturing yourself on the winner’s block, or with that book published, or that wonderful relationship; imagining a future that you can step into… The pop psychology literature is chock full of advice for seeing yourself having accomplished your goals.

But the pop psychology literature on this is wrong.

When we imagine having already achieved our goals, part of what happens is we feel like we’ve already achieved our goals; and because we feel the reward of the accomplishment already, our motivation to do the inevitable hard work required for any meaningful goal fades.

Dreams that matter are not easy; they take time and considerable effort. Here’s how to effectively turn a wish into a triumph.

Here’s the scene. The villain total jerk bad guy steps up unprovoked and without warning slaps Clint Eastwood right in the face, challenging him to do something about it. What do you think happens next?

In the movie, we’d know. But this has happened for real. In a major drama of real-life history, the toughest guy on the planet who has for years carefully cultivated his macho bulging biceps image as someone you absolutely don’t want to screw with has been challenged straight up, contemptuously and murderously so.

What is Vladimir Putin going to do about it?...

One bottom line in this Erdogan vs. Putin crisis is it’s an opportunity to render Putin’s Russia a non-enemy. As in, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” In the fight against ISIS, we need to be on Putin’s side, just as we need to be on the Kurds’.

It also means recognizing that Marco Rubio is a dangerously amateurish idiot for saying “the US should defend Turkey as a fellow NATO member if attacked by Russia.” This highlights Dave Goldman’s observation in TTP yesterday that Rubio reminds everyone of a movie tough-guy hero’s cute younger brother…

Any doubt where Zero stands was removed yesterday when, in his Presidential Thanksgiving Message to America he compared the Moslem invasion of the US he is promoting to the Mayflower Pilgrims. Here is the appropriate question to ask of him and his supporters regarding Syrian “refugees”:…

Then there’s the most heartwarming, pathetically hilarious, and most enlightening stories of the week, along with the obvious Hero of the Week and more. Here we go…