associate Fellow Column
Persecution of Christians Increasing in Iraq
by Robert Spencer (more by this author)
 On Sunday, July 12, Aziz Rozko Hanna, an Iraqi Christian who was serving as director of the Department of Financial Control of the city of Kirkuk, was driving with his daughter in Dumiz, a Christian neighborhood in Kirkuk, when he was stopped, pulled from his car, and shot dead in front of his daughter. On the same day, five churches in Baghdad were bombed, wounding eight civilians. And all this has come after persecution and harassment that has led over half of the Christians in Iraq to leave the country in the last few years. The situation has gotten so bad that the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Baghdad, Jean Benjamin Sleiman, said in May: “I fear the extinction of Christianity in Iraq and the Middle East.” Sleiman has good reason to fear. In 1909, the Middle East was 20 percent Christian; one hundred years later, that percentage has fallen to five percent. This decline is directly related to the resurgence of the Islamic jihad and Islamic supremacism around the world in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. As Muslimsreassert traditional Islamic legal stipulations mandating and institutionalizing discrimination against and harassment of Christians, Christians all over the Islamic world are feeling the heat. (Humanevents)
Watch Robert spencer at Pajamas TV : Global Headlines & Defining Dhimmitude
Watch Robert Spencer on YouTube More jihad news, Home and aboard
NEWS: EUROPE AND AMERICA
 Police force suspends stop and search under Terrorism Act
A police force suspended stop and search procedures under the Terrorism Act after figures showed it had completed more than 3,400 but arrested no-one connected with terrorist activity.
Hampshire Police used section 44 of the Act on 3,481 occasions in 2007/8 and made 36 arrests. The numbers were a massive increase on the previous year's 580 stop and searches. Similar-sized forces, including Thames Valley and Surrey, also used the powers a total of thousands of times with no arrests for terrorism recorded. Hampshire's Assistant Chief Constable David Pryde said: "We now have suspended Section 44 Stop and Search until such time as the perceived threat is raised to the highest level." Mr Pryde said the figures reflected several factors including the car bomb at Glasgow Airport on June 30, 2007, when the terrorism threat level was raised to critical nationally. Ministry of Defence Police Section 44 Stop and Search incidents are also recorded under Hampshire's figures and there are a large number of military installations in Hampshire. (Telegraph.co.uk)
An Islamic Hate Speaker Comes to Town Patrick Poole
When Dominic Grieve — the Tory U.K. shadow home secretary and attorney general — took to the podium at the grotesquely misnamed 2008 Global Peace and Unity event, he pulled no punches. While thanking his hosts for the opportunity to speak, he became highly unpopular with the audience when he [1] attacked other event speakers who espouse conspiracy theories and extremist interpretations of Islam and who reflect a “deranged or deeply-warped mindset.” One of those he mentioned by name was Yasir Qadhi. Yasir Qadhi, a Houston-based cleric, is quite popular in Islamic circles, speaking around the world and appearing regularly on Middle East television networks. Qadhi also serves as an instructor for the Al Maghrib Institute, aka “[2] Jihad U.” It is in that capacity that he is coming to my hometown of Columbus, Ohio, this week to conduct a three-day [3] seminar for [4] Qabeelat Hayl, the Columbus Al Maghrib chapter. What specifically troubled Dominic Grieve about his joint appearance with Qadhi was the Islamic preacher’s recorded statements denying the Holocaust and claiming that Hitler never intended to kill the Jews, amongst other anti-Jewish statements. Grieve was referring to a sermon Qadhi delivered in 2001 where he directed his listeners to a book entitled The Hoax of the Holocaust: (Pajamasmedia)
Ahmadinejad: Iran will "bring down" Western foes
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Newly re-elected President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Thursday his next government "would bring down the global arrogance," signaling a tougher approach by Tehran toward the West after last month's disputed election. Ahmadinejad, in his first provincial trip after the June 12 presidential vote, said Iran's enemies had tried to interfere and foment aggression in the country, referring to mass opposition protests against the official election result. The hardline president, who often rails against the West, said the Islamic Republic wanted "logic and negotiations" but that Western powers had insulted the Iranian nation and should apologize. Iranian leaders often refer to the United States and its allies as the "global arrogance." "As soon as the new government is established, with power and authority, ten times more than before, it will enter the global scene and will bring down the global arrogance," he told a big crowd in the northeastern city of Mashhad. (Reuters)
Don’t Shoot Back at Taliban Terrorists! Obama’s First Military Order.-Paul L. Williams, Ph.D.
Don’t shoot back!
Don’t pick the poppies!
And don’t bother the women and men in burkas!
These are the new rules of engagement for leathernecks in Afghanistan.
Sound incredible?
They’re true.
Welcome to the modern Marine Corps under Commander-in-Chief Barack Hussein Obama. On July 1st, the U.S. military initiated Operation Khanjar or “Strike of the Sword,” an invasion of the Helmand Province by 4,000 Marines and 650 Afghan soldiers. “Strike of the Sword” represents the first military operation to be ordered by President Obama. The purpose of the campaign is to flush out Taliban operatives from southern Afghanistan in order to safeguard the re-election of Afghan President Hamid Karzai on August 20th. The military initiative is being conducted by the insistence of Kharzai, who fears that a strong Taliban presence will produce unfavorable results for him on election-day. To accomplish this objective, President Obama remains determined to deploy 68,000 additional U.S. troops to southern Afghanistan within the next six weeks. But the Marines, thanks to Mr. Obama, are conducting this mission with their hands tied.
The first order from America’s new commander is that the Marines must not return enemy fire for fear of killing an Afghan non-combatant. (Familysecuritymatters)
PTech Officials Indicted for Allegedly Concealing Terror Financier's Assets-IPT
The former chief operating officer of a Massachusetts software design company was arrested Wednesday on a two-year-old indictment accusing him of failing to disclose a $10 million investment in his company from a suspected terror financier. Buford George Peterson is charged with making false statements on a Small Business Administration loan application to hide the fact that a Specially Designated Global Terrorist held a substantial stake in Ptech. The Quincy, Mass.-based company made computer software for management systems. Among Ptech's customers were the FBI, IRS, Federal Aviation Administration, the departments of Education, Veterans Affairs, Energy and Agriculture, The U.S. Air Force and Naval Air Systems Command and NATO. (IPT)
ACADEMIC FREEDOM
Heated Words at Hearing on Islamic School’s Expansion-Bonnie Hobbs
Speakers defend, challenge curriculum.
Emotions ran high Monday night when the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors heard testimony regarding the Islamic Saudi Academy’s proposal to enlarge its school in Fairfax Station. Those on both sides of the issue made impassioned pleas during a nearly four-hour public hearing marked by wild cheering — mainly from opponents –—plus boos and heckling of those speaking in favor, and even threats toward any supervisors who approve the plan. "Intolerance and incorrect treatment of girls is taught in the textbooks, and allegiance to Islamic law over U.S. law," said Faith McDonnell of Annandale. "If [the expansion’s] approved, then individual supervisors open themselves up to charges of malfeasance and treason." Other speakers called the school a breeding ground for terrorists. But those defending it said it’s simply not true. "We follow the laws of the U.S., Virginia and the county," said Rahima Abdullah, IB coordinator and director of education for the Academy. "It is insulting to us, as parents, educators and U.S. citizens, to say we’d put our children in any school not teaching good citizenship and academic excellence. We’ve produced doctors, lawyers, Peace Corps representatives, and we teach the traditional values that we all value as Americans." (Connectionnewspapers)
A Safer Way to Squander- Ashley Thorne
President Obama this week announced the launch of the American Graduation Initiative (AGI), a $12 billion fund for the nation’s community colleges. In his address at Macomb Community College in Warren, Michigan, the president compared the Initiative to the original GI bill signed by Roosevelt, and he reminded the audience of his ambition to expand higher education:
at the start of my administration I set a goal for America: By 2020, this nation will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world. We used to have that. We're going to have it again. AGI will do three things: provide grants to help more students attend and graduate from college and secure a job; back $10 billion in loans to colleges to rebuild and renovate their campus buildings, and support the development of new online education systems.
The $12 billion initiative, if spread evenly among the1,685 two-year colleges in the United States, will provide $7.1 million to each college. We at NAS have been skeptical of President Obama’s expansion plans, which would require doubling the number of college students in the United States over the next decade. We have also addressed similar aspirations voiced by the College Board, the Carnegie Corporation, and the Lumina Foundation. Aiming to have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world sounds like a perfectly wholesome opportunity for more people to partake in higher education. But we see two problems. (NAS)
MEDIA BIAS
 Newsweek’s Embarrassing Homage to Obama-Carol Gould
The only time in my life as a broadcaster that I departed from impartial analysis was after 9/11, when I waxed lyrical about Donald Rumsfeld. He had united a fractured nation with his oft-hilarious press conferences. His wit and raw patriotism were an inspiration to many at home and to those of us suffering abroad in a fiercely anti-American world. However adoring the press was towards Rumsfeld, nothing equals in unctuousness a recent issue of Newsweek, “[1] Obama on Obama.” Journalists are supposed to be impartial in reporting on the peregrinations of leaders. Little wonder I nearly dropped my pizza slice all over my “[2] Don’t Tread on Me” t-shirt when I saw the aforementioned issue of Newsweek with the president on the cover. Apparently this is the twenty-sixth time Barack Hussein Obama has been on Newsweek and Time covers since 2007. Newsweek was renamed Obamaweek on a Fox News panel show in mid-June and this made me happy because I thought I was overreacting when the text of the O feature began to muddle my grey matter. (Pajamasmedia)
From the Ivory Tower: Newsweek Sees No Danger-Thomas Landen
In an article published in Newsweek this week, William Underhill tells the magazine’s readers that “fears of a Muslim takeover [in Europe] are all wrong.” The article was published one week after Muslim youths, during consecutive nights of rioting, torched hundreds of cars and burnt the entire business district of the French town of Firminy to the ground. Perhaps Mr. Underhill was unaware of the events in Firminy, as are many Europeans and even Frenchmen, because the media are loath to report facts like these. In the Fall of 2005, a wave of nightly rioting by young Muslim thugs suddenly disappeared from the news when the press, at the request of the French authorities, stopped reporting about it. In France, over 750 territorial enclaves have been given up by the state and are no longer controlled by the French authorities. These are the so-called “zones urbaines sensibles” (ZUS, sensitive urban areas). They have even been listed as such on an official website. The ZUS are run by Muslim gangs, while the inhabitants live under a combination of Shariah law and mafia rule. Warnings concerning the loss of Europe to Islam is referred to by Mr. Underhill as “rabble-rousing stuff” and “alarming and highly speculative projections.” While conceding that “about half of respondents in Spain and Germany [hold] negative views of Muslims,” Newsweek pretends to know better than the 50 per cent of Europeans who feel uneasy about their daily confrontations with men in djellabahs and women in hijabs (if not niqabs and burkas), and with the construction of huge mosques in their home towns. (Brusselsjournal)
FREEDOM OF SPEECH
Censorship at the ALA Convention-Ethel C. Fenig
Perhaps it is time for all the librarians to get their heads out of their books to digest, and then practice, some of the solid information therein. Many librarians are now at the American Library Association (ALA) convention where a panel informing librarians on aspects of ethnic diversity has been canceled because a speaker's views were. . .too diverse for the other panelists! According to this / report in the Washington Times , three of the four speakers scheduled to speak as part of a panel, "Perspectives on Islam: Beyond Stereotyping" canceled because they disapproved of the fourth speaker, Robert Spencer. Spencer, who oversees the websites JihadWatch.com and DhimmiWatch.com, which expose some unpleasant realities about Islam and its followers, has also written eight books about Islam, including The Truth About Muhammed: Founder of the World's Most Intolerant Religion which was on the New York Times best seller list for many weeks in 2006. Perhaps some of the drop out panelists' libraries even have his books among their collections--unless the huffy panelists haven't also hounded their schools' libraries to discard them. (Americanthinker)
 UK firm pulls T-shirts insulting UAE, Islam
Harvey Nichols apologises for T-shirts showing bulldog sitting atop UAE flag; dogs seen as impure by Muslims.
High-end UK retailer Harvey Nichols has come under fire after its Dubai store offended the UAE's Muslim values by selling T-shirts portraying a bulldog standing on the country's flag. The store was closed on Tuesday morning for a short time as staff removed the offending items, but photographs of the T-shirts had already been posted on the social internet forum Facebook, UAE daily the National reported on Thursday. The bulldog is generally seen as a British icon, but a spokesman for the UK store told the National an error by the supplier had led to the wrong design being produced and delivered. The spokesman did not specify what the correct design was meant to be. "The store treats this as a serious issue and has ensured the appropriate disposal of the merchandise," a statement from the store said. "Harvey Nichols Dubai deeply regrets any offence or disrespect that may have been caused by the incorrect delivery." Muslims see dogs as impure animals, and while the flag is a secular symbol, Islam teaches that respect should be given to things that people hold dear. Arabs reacted angrily to the T-shirt blunder, saying the image was "insulting the culture and the dignity of the country". Others said they found the picture "really offensive", the newspaper reported. But Jihad Hashim Brown, who delivers the Friday sermon at the Maryam bint Sultan Mosque in Abu Dhabi, said the incident was unfortunate. He added: "These things happen." (Maktoob.com)
ANTISEMITISM
Human Rights Watch Goes to Saudi Arabia-David Bernstein
Seeking Saudi Money to Counterbalance "Pro-Israel Pressure Groups"
A delegation from Human Rights Watch was recently in Saudi Arabia. To investigate the mistreatment of women under Saudi Law? To campaign for the rights of homosexuals, subject to the death penalty in Saudi Arabia? To protest the lack of religious freedom in the Saudi Kingdom? To issue a report on Saudi political prisoners? No, no, no, and no. The delegation arrived to raise money from wealthy Saudis by highlighting HRW's demonization of Israel. An HRW spokesperson, Sarah Leah Whitson, highlighted HRW's battles with "pro-Israel pressure groups in the US, the European Union and the United Nations." (Was Ms. Whitson required to wear a burkha, or are exceptions made for visiting anti-Israel "human rights" activists"? Driving a car, no doubt, was out of the question.) Apparently, Ms. Whitson found no time to criticize Saudi Arabia's abysmal human rights record. But never fear, HRW "recently called on the Kingdom to do more to protect the human rights of domestic workers. There is nothing wrong with a human rights organization worrying about maltreatment of domestic workers. But there is something wrong when a human rights organization goes to one of the worst countries in the world for human rights to raise money to wage lawfare against Israel, and says not a word during the trip about the status of human rights in that country. In fact, it's a virtual certainty that everyone in Whitson's audience employs domestic servants, giving her a perfect, untaken opportunity to boast about HRW's work in improving the servants' status. But Whitson wasn't raising money for human rights, she was raising money for HRW's propaganda campaign against Israel. (WSJ)
 'UK watchdog bans Israeli tourism ad'-JPost.com Staff
An Israeli tourism poster has been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), a UK advertising watchdog, The Guardian reported on Wednesday. According to the article, the poster was banned after 442 public complaints were received due to a map (right), which includes the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and the Golan Heights as part of Israel proper. The Guardian added that the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and Jews for Justice for Palestinians also complained about the tourism advertisement. The Tourism Ministry was quoted in the report as responding that the map was "a general schematic tourism and travel map, rather than a political map." Nonetheless, in its ruling on the matter, the ASA was quoted as saying, "We understood that the borders and status of the occupied territories of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights were the subject of much international dispute. "And because we considered that the ad implied that those territories were part of the state of Israel, we concluded that the ad was misleading," the ruling added. ASA decided that the poster be prohibited from appearing again in the same form. (Jpost)
France Mulls Anti-Semitic Killers' Retrial-Bruce Crumley
It's rare for public prosecutors to appeal successful convictions in high-profile criminal cases. But that's exactly what French justice officials are now doing, arguing that sentences handed out to several members of a gang that tortured a young Jewish man to death on the outskirts of Paris were insufficient punishment for their barbarous anti-Semitic crime. Hundreds of people gathered outside France's Justice Ministry on the evening of July 13 to hail the decision by French authorities to re-try 14 of the 27 people convicted of the abduction and brutal 2006 murder of cell-phone salesman Ilan Halimi. Though the verdict announced on July 10 handed out stiff sentences to the leaders of the gang, Halimi's family, supporters and Jewish groups across the nation were outraged that 14 defendants got lighter punishments than prosecutors had requested. In response, Justice Minister Michèle Alliot-Marie announced Monday evening that she'd ordered prosecutors to appeal any sentence that was less than the state had sought. (See pictures of Nazi Germany's Kristallnacht pogrom.) No new trial will be held for the group's leader, Youssouf Fofana, 28, who received a life sentence without possibility of parole for 22 years. The other two main accomplices in the kidnapping and torture of Halimi, who was 23, received the maximum sentences of 18 and 15 years. Other members of the self-dubbed "Gang of Barbarians" received sentences ranging between six months and several years. (Time)
It's Déjà Vu All Over Again-Melanie Phillips
So now the veil is well and truly ripped off. All the warning signs have been there for months: Foreign Secretary David Miliband’s boilerplate leftist agitprop about Operation Cast Lead in Gaza; Britain’s pressure on the EU to renege on the agreements it made with Israel and boycott produce from the settlements; Miliband’s statement that Jerusalem should be the capital of ‘Palestine’ as well as of Israel. Now there has been a step-change. Ha’aretz reports that the British government has revoked a number of arms export licenses to Israel following the Gaza war. Five export licences have been revoked over spare parts for ships’ guns. The decision apparently resulted from heavy pressure by both members of Parliament and human rights organizations. The unhinged malevolence over Cast Lead can no longer be brushed off as the foamings of the far-left and its acolytes in the media, NGOs and fashionable society. This is the British government now acting to punish Israel for defending itself against relentless rocket attack by an enemy bent on its destruction. (Spectator.co.uk)
TERRORISM, security and policy
“Shaykh Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri: A Message to My Muslim Brothers and Sisters in Pakistan” Released on: July 14, 2009
[This document is a transcript of an Arabic-language audio recording obtained by NEFA investigators and made available on behalf of the NEFA TerrorWatch subscription service. This transcript is provided for
educational and informational purposes only. The As-Sahab Media Foundation is the official propaganda arm of Al-Qaida and is the exclusive source of audio and video recordings of Bin Laden, Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri, and other high-ranking Al-Qaida leaders in South Asia.]
“My Muslim brothers and sisters in Pakistan, I believe that every honest and sincere Muslim in Pakistan should seriously contemplate – at this moment – Pakistan's present state and expected future, because the blatant American Crusader interference in Pakistan's affairs, or to be precise, the American Crusader manipulation of Pakistan's destiny, has reached such an extent that it now
poses a grave danger to Pakistan's future and very existence.” ”It is evident that Pakistan is deeply involved in a fierce internal struggle between two forces.”
“The first one represents the Islamic values…and is defending the dignity and independence of the Muslim Ummah; confronting – with strength and courage – the American aggression against Pakistan and Afghanistan; and defeating the traitors who transgress against the blood, honor and dignity of the Muslims for the sake of the invading and aggressive Crusader forces. It also symbolizes the Muslim Ummah’s rejection of all forms of external aggression, occupation of its
territories, theft of its resources and interference in its affairs. (NEFA)
 Cyber attacks on South Korea and U.S. 'could have originated in Britain' - MAIL FOREIGN SERVICE
Britain was the likeliest origin of last weeks crippling cyber attacks on the US and South Korea, a Vietnamese security firm has claimed. The Korea Communications Commission said the information had come from Vietnamese firm Bach Khoa Internetwork Security. 'The (British) server appears to have controlled compromised handler servers which spread viruses,' said Park Cheol-Soon, a network protection team leader of the government-run communications commission. 'However, it needs more investigation to confirm whether this server was the final attacker server or not.' Seoul had previously laid the blame for the attacks - which briefly crippled major government and commercial websites - on its Communist neighbour.
But according to Park Cheol-Soon, the apparent discovery of a master server in Britain neither exonerated nor implicated North Korea. 'It does not either bolster or undermine claims that someone has done the attacks,' he said. The attacks, which involved sending multiple requests for website access from 166,000 'zombie' computers in 74 countries, crippled 14 major U.S. sites. (Dailymail.co.uk)
Obama's failed foreign policy tests-Larry Greenfield
The 3 a.m. wake-up calls Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned about as a candidate have been ringing the Obama White House red phone off the hook. The international tests predicted by new Vice President Joe Biden have also come fast and furious. North Korea launches missiles and tests nukes. The Swat Valley in Pakistan falls to the Taliban. Iranian mullahs and the Revolutionary Guard steal an election and shoot at demonstrators. Honduran officials arrest and deport President (and dictator to be) Zelaya. Unfortunately, President Barack Obama is dropping the calls, failing the tests and blowing his chance to promote American interests, or even, on his own terms, to "re-assert America 's moral standing" and rebuild alliances he claimed had been frayed during the Bush administration. We all know about the shameful apology tours on foreign soil, from Mexico to the Middle East, the mugging with dictators, the bow to the Saudi king, the silly (and mistaken) early reset button with Russia, among other low moments of the Obama World Tour '09.
All of this pandering has not yielded much, by the way, in terms of foreign troop commitments to Afghanistan , global warming consideration from China , or Russian acquiescence to increased economic sanctions on Iran. (WND)
Why We Endorsed Warrantless Wiretaps-John Yoo
The inspectors general report ignores history and plays politics with the law.
It was instantly clear after Sept. 11, 2001, that our security agencies knew little about al Qaeda's inner workings, could not detect its operatives' entry into the country, nor predict where it might strike next. Suppose an al Qaeda cell in New York, Chicago or Los Angeles was planning a second attack using small arms, conventional explosives or even biological, chemical or nuclear weapons. Our intelligence and law enforcement agencies faced a near impossible task locating them. Now suppose the National Security Agency (NSA), which collects signals intelligence, threw up a virtual net to intercept all electronic communications leaving and entering Osama bin Laden's Afghanistan headquarters. What better way of detecting follow-up attacks? And what president -- of either political party -- wouldn't immediately order the NSA to start, so as to find and stop the attackers? Evidently, none of the inspectors general of the five leading national security agencies would approve. In a report issued last week, they suggested that President George W. Bush might have violated the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) by ordering the interception of international communications of terrorists without a judicial warrant. The report also suggests that "other" intelligence measures -- still classified only because they are yet to be reported on the front page of the New York Times -- similarly lacked approval from other branches of government. (WSJ)
GLOBAL GOVERNANCE & RADICAL
ENVIRONMENTALISM
Sotomayor and International Law-Collin Levy
If other countries have 'good ideas' it's up to Congress, not the courts, to copy them.
Sonia Sotomayor will parry a wide range of questions about her judicial philosophy during her Supreme Court confirmation hearings in the Senate this week. The most revealing line of inquiry may be about her views on the use of foreign and international law when judging cases.
Like several of the judges on the left branch of the court, Judge Sotomayor has said she favors a broader consideration of foreign and international law in U.S. judicial opinions. While she rarely had occasion to dip into foreign sources during her time on the Second Circuit, she recently went out of her way to embrace the concept and its applications by the high court. In a speech to the American Civil Liberties Union of Puerto Rico in April, Judge Sotomayor explained that "ideas have no boundaries," and that "international law and foreign law will be very important in the discussion of how to think about the unsettled issues in our own legal system." To discourage the use of foreign or international law, she added, would "be asking American judges to close their minds to good ideas." (WSJ)
Meet The Man Who Has Exposed The Great Climate Change Con Trick-JAMES DELINGPOLE
James Delingpole talks to Professor Ian Plimer, the Australian geologist, whose new book shows that ‘anthropogenic global warming’ is a dangerous, ruinously expensive fiction, a ‘first-world luxury’ with no basis in scientific fact. Shame on the publishers who rejected the book. Imagine how wonderful the world would be if man-made global warming were just a figment of Al Gore’s imagination. No more ugly wind farms to darken our sunlit uplands. No more whopping electricity bills, artificially inflated by EU-imposed carbon taxes. No longer any need to treat each warm, sunny day as though it were some terrible harbinger of ecological doom. And definitely no need for the $7.4 trillion cap and trade (carbon-trading) bill — the largest tax in American history — which President Obama and his cohorts are so assiduously trying to impose on the US economy. (Spectator.co.uk)
 Obama's Biggest Radical-Ben Johnson
When Barack Obama nominated John P. Holdren as his Science Adviser last December 20, the president-elect stated "promoting science isn’t just about providing resources" but "ensuring that facts and evidence are never twisted or obscured by politics or ideology." In nominating John Holdren, his words could scarcely have taken a more Orwellian ring. Some critics have noted Holdren's penchant for making apocalyptic predictions that never come to pass, and categorizing all criticism of his alarmist views as not only wrong but dangerous. What none has yet noted is that Holdren is a globalist who has endorsed "surrender of sovereignty" to "a comprehensive Planetary Regime" that would control all the world's resources, direct global redistribution of wealth, oversee the "de-development" of the West, control a World Army and taxation regime, and enforce world population limits. He has castigated the United States as "the meanest of wealthy countries," written a justification of compulsory abortion for American women, advocated drastically
lowering the U.S. standard of living, and left the door open to trying global warming "deniers" for crimes against humanity. (Scienceandpublicpolicy)
SCIENCE, SOCIETY AND CULTURE
Send in the robots - for virtual rehab - ISRAEL21c staff
By 2020, occupational, physical, psychological and behavioral rehabilitation will be carried out by robots in our own homes, according to Professor Grigore Burdea speaking at the Virtual Rehabilitation 2009 International Conference in Israel this month. And they won't just stop there, Burdea told delegates from Israel and around the world. The robots will also do the cooking, cleaning, dressing and other household chores. "The future is in low-cost, patient-based devices that will enable the patient to receive continuously tailored therapy from home," he said. Burdea, a pioneer in the field of virtual rehabilitation and director of the Rutgers Tele-Rehabilitation Institute in New Jersey in the US, was one of many speakers at the conference hosted by the University of Haifa. Multiple therapies, one robot He predicts that in the near future we will see various aspects of therapy coming together. Instead of a slew of therapists treating each patient, there will one therapist regulating the inclusive virtual application of therapies tailored to each specific patient. (Israel21c.org)
 On Hand for Space History, as Superpowers Spar- JOHN NOBLE WILFORD
In memory, after all this time, Apollo resists relegation to the past tense. It is close to midnight, and the summer air is warm and still, no heavier than usual for Florida. We are driving toward a light in the distance. Its preternatural glow suffuses the sky ahead but, strangely, leaves the land where we are in natural darkness. After the first checkpoint, miles back, where guards inspected our badges and car pass, the source of the light comes into view. The sight is magnetic, drawing us on. Strong xenon beams converge on Pad 39A, highlighting the mighty Saturn 5 rocket as it is being fueled. Our car radio tells us the countdown is proceeding on schedule. These are the wee hours of the day — July 16, 1969 — the country has waited for since 1961. The rocket fueling continues, the radio informs us. The countdown proceeds without interruption. A few more miles, another checkpoint, and Doug Dederer, a stringer for The New York Times, and I approach the Vehicle Assembly Building, a mammoth presence rising above the flat terrain of sand, palmetto and lagoons stretching to the Atlantic. We have beaten the heavy traffic that will clog the roads in the next hours. Several thousand journalists will be coming out in cars and buses, and 5,000 V.I.P.’s — diplomats, Congress members, industrialists, movie stars and former President Lyndon B. Johnson, who had championed the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and its Apollo program. (NYT)
 Harry Potter's fame-Nicolette Jones
JK Rowling's magic tales are embedded in our culture, says Nicolette Jones.
It is 12 years since the first Harry Potter book was published and eight since the first film was released. Its impact has been greater than any other children’s book series, in ways that no one could ever have predicted. Not only has the series made more money than any other children’s book ever published and turned a lot of children into readers, it has changed the way publishers and the media treat children’s books. It has put new words into the dictionaries, raised fortunes for charities, and introduced a children’s author for the first time into the top rank of celebrity despite, or perhaps because of, her unwillingness to court it. Everything associated with it has become desirable: when Barack Obama was inaugurated, Daniel Radcliffe offered to give the president’s daughters a tour of the film set. It took about four years from publication (and three books) for the series to start to pervade our culture, but it has now become common for films and television soaps and series to refer to it. And it is almost de rigueur for other children’s books to pay homage. J K Rowling’s tale has become the default story that contemporary fictional children read. Sometimes it represents a reassuring, escapist normality.
www.americanfreedomalliance.org
|
