associate Fellow Column
How Did A Long Island Boy Join the Jihad?
by Robert Spencer (more by this author)
 Bryant Neal “Ibrahim” Vinas, a convert to Islam from Long Island, has been charged with participating in an attack on an American military base in Afghanistan and giving information about the New York City subway system to Al-Qaeda operatives. On Sunday, the Los Angeles Times reported that his “unlikely odyssey from Long Island, N.Y., to Al Qaeda’s innermost circle of commanders in Pakistan was achieved without any help in the U.S. from the well-oiled ‘jihadist pipeline’ that has guided so many militants from Europe and other countries.” So how, then, did Vinas get to Pakistan and Al-Qaeda? The Times quoted an unnamed intelligence official: “From what we can tell,” he explained, “the contacts he made were his own. He was self-recruited; he was yearning to become a Muslim jihad fighter. He made his own path.” But why was “yearning to become a Muslim jihad fighter” in the first place? The Times doesn’t show any curiosity about that at all. Christopher Holton of the Center for Security Policy asks: “How did he get to the point at which he was willing to go to Southwest Asia to join the ranks of the terrorist organization which attacked America within earshot of his middle class home? It is very important to determine how he became attracted to Islam in the first place -- where he found Islam and who took part in his conversion. But the media has no curiosity about these aspects of this terrorist at all.” (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
 Seven Charged with Terrorism Violations in North Carolina-USDOJ
Seven individuals have been charged with conspiring to provide material support to terrorists and conspiring to murder, kidnap, maim and injure persons abroad. On Wednesday, July 22, 2009, a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of North Carolina returned a sealed seven-count indictment against the following defendants:
* Daniel Patrick Boyd, 39, a U.S. citizen and resident of North Carolina
* Hysen Sherifi, 24, a native of Kosovo and a U.S. legal permanent resident located in North Carolina
* Anes Subasic, 33, a naturalized U.S. citizen and resident of North Carolina
* Zakariya Boyd, 20, a U.S. citizen and resident of North Carolina
* Dylan Boyd, 22, a U.S. citizen and resident of North Carolina
* Mohammad Omar Aly Hassan, 22, a U.S. citizen and resident of North Carolina
* Ziyad Yaghi, 21, a U.S. citizen and resident of North Carolina
All the defendants are charged with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, as well as conspiracy to murder, kidnap, maim and injure persons abroad. In addition, Daniel Boyd, Hysen Sherifi and Zakariya Boyd are each charged with possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. Daniel Boyd and Dylan Boyd are also each charged with selling a firearm to a convicted felon. Finally, Daniel Boyd is also charged with receiving a firearm through interstate commerce and two counts of making false statements in a terrorism investigation. The defendants were arrested at various locations this morning by the FBI and other law enforcement agencies. (USDOJ)
'Honour killings' of females on rise in Canada: Expert-SHANNON PROUDFOOT, CANWEST NEWS SERVICE
As many as 5,000 women and girls lose their lives — most at the hands of family members — in "honour killings" around the world each year, according to the United Nations. Up to a dozen have died for the same reason in Canada in the last decade, and it's happening more often, says Amin Muhammad, a psychiatrist who studies honour killings at Memorial University in Newfoundland. "There are a number of organizations which don't accept the idea of honour killing; they say it's a Western-propagated myth by the media, but it's not true," he says. "Honour killing is there, and we should acknowledge it, and Canada should take it seriously." Kingston, Ont., police are now investigating that as a motive in the deaths of three teenage sisters and an older female relative who were found in a car submerged in the Rideau Canal in Kingston on June 30. The girls' mother, father and brother were arrested on Wednesday and charged with first-degree murder. "In our Canadian society, we value the cultural values of everyone that makes up this great country, and some of us have different core beliefs, different family values, different sets of rules," Kingston Police Chief Stephen Tanner said at a news conference on Thursday. "Certainly, these individuals — in particular, the three teenagers — were Canadian teenagers who have all the freedom and rights of expression of all Canadians." (Canada.com)
Muslims in Brno want new mosque
Brn, July 23 (CTK) - Muslims want to build a new mosque in Brno because the existing house shrine no longer meets their needs, Muneeb Hasan, chairman of the Brno-based Islamic foundation, told CTK Thursday, but the town is not much happy about the idea. Hasan said the existing mosque does not have study and lecture rooms. "It is our vision for the future," Hasan said about the considered project. He said the Brno mosque was opened in Brno 11 years ago as the first Muslim place of prayer in the Czech Republic. Some 120 Islam followers meet in it and their number is growing. Hasan said he believes that a new mosque can be built in Brno without provoking the public's resistance. He said Muslims have coexisted with the other Brno inhabitants without any problem to date. To mark the 10th anniversary of the mosque opening last year, the Muslims handed out 3653 roses as a sign of friendship. One rose was for one day in the ten years. (Praguemonitor)
Australian Islamist admits football terror plot -Irish Sun
An Australian Islamic man has told a court in Melbourne he is guilty of being part of a terror cell that plotted to kill thousands of people at major sports events. Only moments before his retrial, Muslim convert Shane Kent, 33, pleaded guilty to being a member of a terror cell led by radical cleric Abdul Nacer Benbrika. Kent admitted involvement in the cell's plans to place bombs at a major football event in Melbourne: the Australian Grand Final in 2005, which attracted nearly 100,000 fans and a TV audience of millions. Kent has been tried once before and was about to face a retrial on charges he had previously denied. Six other members of the cell, as well as the cleric Benbrika, were last year found guilty on related charges. Benbrika was jailed for 15 years, but not before he nominated women and children as fair game for terrorists. He referred to himself as a holy warrior, and said he considered violent jihad to be an important part of his religious obligations. Material seized from Benbrika and his group included bomb-making instructions and video tapes with messages from al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. The plot on the football match was discovered after a series of intelligence operations by police and Australia’s secret service. (Irishsun)
Denmark: Proposal to register crimes against converts as hate crimes
Violence and threats against converts in Denmark should from now on be registered as hate-crimes, several parliamentary parties announced. The parties want to ensure that criminal acts against converts will bring about a harsher punishment, as is now the case for crimes against homosexuals. Kristeligt Dagblad recently reported how several Christian converts with refugee or immigrant background were baptized in secret for fear of threats and violence against themselves and their family, both in Denmark and abroad. The publication caused the parliament's Ecclesiastical Affairs Committee to ask the Minister for Ecclesiastical Affairs, Birthe Rønn Hornbech (Liberals) for an account of the extent of the problem. The minister answered that she didn't know of concrete cases of secret baptisms, but that she requested both the Justice ministry and the Interior and Social Affairs ministry for a report. Today the law already allows for the possibility of helping converts who feel threatened, according to Karen Klint, Church matters spokesperson for the Social-Democrats, who cites article 81 of the penal code which says hate-crimes based on ethnic origin, faith and sexual orientation can be punished more harshly. (Islamineurope)
MAS, TIZA and the Congressman-IPT News
congressmanCongressman Keith Ellison (D-MN), a Muslim, traveled to Saudi Arabia to visit Mecca late last year to make the hajj pilgrimage as required under the tenets of Islam. This was a personal and private trip, Ellison claimed in a July 23rd letter to the Minnesota Star-Tribune. He reported to the House Ethics Committee that his trip to Mecca was funded by the Minnesota chapter of the Muslim American Society (MAS-MN), a non-profit organization. Ellison's letter responded to a Star-Tribune report about the MAS-funding of his trip. The story also identified concern about how MAS-MN received "grants" totaling almost $900,000 from the MAS-MN Property Holding Corporation, a subordinate entity of MAS-MN. The holding corporation collected state rent money for the Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy (TIZA), a public charter school run by MAS-MN. (Investigativeproject)
ACADEMIC FREEDOM
 TERROR TRAINING GROUNDS- Caroline B. Glick
For ten years Bernardine Dohrn was a terrorist fugitive on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List. Now she's a law professor at Northwestern University Law School where she teaches a course on law and the Palestinian conflict with Israel. During her time as co-commander of the Weather Underground terrorist organization with her husband, education professor William Ayres, the group committed some sixteen bombings. Among its targets were the State Department, the New York Queens Courthouse, military recruiting offices in Brooklyn and the home of New York Supreme Court Justice John Murtagh while Murtagh was asleep at home with his wife and children. Dohrn, her husband and their colleagues emerged from hiding in 1980 when terror charges against them were dropped due to a technicality. None of them ever served hard time for their crimes. Neither Dohrn - whom FBI director J. Edgar Hoover once referred to as "the most dangerous woman in America" - nor Ayres ever expressed the slightest remorse for their actions. (Jewishpress)
Hide and Seek [on Islamic Saudi Academy]-Nina Shea and Ali al-Ahmed
A Virginia school scrubbed jihad from its textbooks, but may still preach violence.
For nearly 25 years, the Islamic Saudi Academy (ISA), the Virginia school founded by royal decree of Saudi King Fahd in 1984, immersed students of its Islamic-studies curriculum in the same Wahhabi interpretation of Islam that is taught in Saudi Arabia and in Saudi-funded madrassas around the world. That curriculum includes praise for militant jihad to "spread the faith" and permission for the killing of various categories of "unbelievers," as well as other endorsements of religious intolerance. Now, as it seeks permission from Fairfax County to expand its operations, ISA claims that, over the last school year, it replaced the Saudi religious curriculum with a more moderate one. Through private channels, we were able to acquire ISA's Islamic-studies textbooks, all marked for use in the first semester of the 2008-09 school year. Compared to the original Saudi Education Ministry versions, these new Arabic-language textbooks — one slim, single volume for each grade — are indeed redacted and condensed. We wish we could celebrate the deletions we helped catalyze, but we are not persuaded that the problem is solved. The books contain no significant discussion of jihad and make few references to the religious "other." The silence is deafening. It raises the question — a question ISA has yet to answer — of what supplemental material the academy is using. (Nationalreview)
MEDIA BIAS
Robert Fulford: Western feminists mute on ravages of shariah
Lubna Ahmed al-Hussein, an angry Khartoum journalist who works for the UN in Sudan, has started a campaign against shariah law by elevating a local police matter into an international embarrassment: She’s invited the world to witness her judicial flogging, thus making her case part of the struggle between religious traditionalists and independent women — a struggle that now may encompass the quadruple murder that was revealed a world away, in Kingston, Ont., on Thursday. In Khartoum, the General Discipline Police Authority patrols the streets, charged with maintaining shariah standards of public decency. Recently it raided a restaurant and arrested 13 women, including al-Hussein, for the crime of … wearing trousers. Since 1991, that’s been a violation of the Sudanese criminal code. More precisely, it is classified as a violation of public morality. While erratically enforced, the rule is serious enough to carry a penalty of 40 lashes. Ten of the women arrested with al-Hussein pleaded guilty and received a reduced sentence of 10 lashes. But al-Hussein and two others demanded their day in court and al-Hussein decided to provoke a scandal by distributing 500 personal invitations to her trial. She expects to be found guilty (she won’t be allowed a lawyer or a chance to speak), so she informed her guests that they’ll also be expected at her flogging. (Nationalpost)
Media misleading on Jews evicting Arabs from Jerusalem
Aaron Klein: 'Painting picture that could not be further from the truth'
JERUSALEM – The U.S. and international media are rife with misleading stories of club-wielding Israeli police evicting Palestinians from homes in Jerusalem, failing to provide proper background information while painting a picture of Jewish expansionist activity that could not be further from the truth. A BBC article entitled, "Palestinians evicted from Jerusalem," tells of Israeli police who evicted nine Palestinian families living in two houses in "occupied East Jerusalem." "Jewish settlers moved into the houses almost immediately. The U.S. has urged Israel to abandon plans for a building project in the area," reported the British outlet. An AFP report, "Israel evicts Palestinians from Jerusalem homes," begins with a scene of intimidating Jews removing peaceful Arabs from their apartments. (WND)
FREEDOM OF SPEECH
Arlington library bans group, says meeting content not at issue- AMAN BATHEJA
A local chapter of a group focused on fighting "the assault of radical Islam" has been permanently barred from holding any more meetings at the Arlington Public Library. The Grand Prairie chapter of ACT! for America had its meeting privileges revoked this month because the group broke two guidelines of the library’s meeting room usage policy, Arlington Library Director Cary Siegfried said. The group, led by Dorrie O’Brien of Grand Prairie, had been meeting at the library since last year, Siegfried said. The Arlington Public Library offers its meeting room for free. In an e-mail to Siegfried, O’Brien said the library was playing "into the hands of America’s enemies" and was just citing the rule violations as an excuse. "I imagine there’s been a lot of pressure put on you to kick me out of the library by the people who want to stop me and others like me from getting the actual word out about Islam," O’Brien wrote. Siegfried insisted that the content of the meetings had nothing to do with her decision. "They didn’t follow the rules; that’s all there is to it," Siegfried said. Siegfried said she warned ACT! for America this year after the library received a complaint that the group’s meetings were not fully open to the public and that group leaders were soliciting funds at the meeting, both violations of the library’s policy. (Star-telegram)
ANTISEMITISM
 Antisemitism On Egypt's Al-Rahma TV – Children Memorize, Recite Antisemitic Slogans; Clerics Say Jews Are Offspring of Snakes and Vipers, Call For Reading 'Protocols of the Elders of Zion', And State: Our Hatred of The Jews is Purely on Religious Grounds – While Warning Against the Jewish-Zionist Starbucks, Domino's, Burger King & Others-MEMRI
The following are transcripts from programs that aired on the Egyptian television channel Al-Rahma. They include segments from children's shows, and of speeches and discussions with numerous sheikhs.
To download a PDF of the report, visit http://www.memri.org/downloads/2466_Al-Rahma_SD.pdf
To view MEMRI TV's page for Al-Rahma TV, visit http://www.memritv.org/content/en/tv_channel_indiv.htm?id=197.
*Egyptian Cleric Teaches a Child to Memorize Antisemitic Messages on Al-Rahma TV and Explains: The Understanding of What He Said Will Come
Following are excerpts from an Islamist children's program, which aired on Al-Rahma TV on March 6, 2009.
To view this MEMRI TV clip, visit http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/2093.htm :
"Oh Allah, Completely Destroy and Shatter the Jews" Child:
"Oh Allah, completely destroy and shatter the Jews. Oh Allah, torment them with a disease that has no cure or remedy. Send a thunderbolt down upon them from Heaven. Oh Allah, torment them with every kind of torment. Oh Allah, send upon them flocks of ababil birds [1] that will pelt them with stones of baked clay, and turn them into straw that has been eaten. Oh Allah, turn their women into widows - just like Muslim women were widowed. Allah, turn their children into orphans - just like Muslim children were orphaned. Oh Allah, bless the efforts of the mujahideen. Oh Allah, bring victory upon us soon. Amen, amen. Peace and blessings upon you."
"The Understanding Will Come... This Is One Stage in Becoming a Future Preacher" (MEMRI)
Vicious Jew-Hatred Wins Center Stage at UC Irvine- Aaron Elias
To see a firsthand example of Islamic fundamentalist anti-Semitism, you need look no further than the University of California, Irvine. The campus’ Muslim Student Union is nationally infamous for their annual anti-Israel week (which they unsuccessfully christen “Palestine Awareness” week) and for the vitriolic anti-Semitic language of some of their speakers. The MSU is the type of organization proud to invite the soft-core porn-drawing, scholar-wannabe Norman Finkelstein, which it did in 2008. This past May, the MSU’s anti-Israel week was perhaps more gorged with controversy than ever before. A number of campus groups organized in order to petition the co-sponsors of the week-long carnival of misinformation of the nature of the event they had agreed to co-sponsor. As it turned out, many of these campus groups were unaware of the controversial nature of anti-Israel week, as the MSU delegates who pitched it to them failed to objectively and accurately describe it. (Pajamasmedia)
 Why Israel Is Nervous
Tension is escalating between the U.S and Israel. The problem: The administration views the Israeli-Palestinian issue as the root of all problems, while Israel is focused on Iran’s nuclear threat, says Elliott Abrams.
The tension in U.S.-Israel relations was manifest this past week as an extraordinary troupe of Obama administration officials visited Jerusalem. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, National Security Advisor James Jones, special Middle East envoy George Mitchell and new White House adviser Dennis Ross all showed up in Israel’s capital in an effort to…well, to do something. It was not quite clear what. Since President Obama came to office on Jan. 20 and then Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on March 31, the main motif in relations between the two governments has been friction. While nearly 80% of American Jews voted for Mr. Obama, that friction has been visible enough to propel him to meet with American Jewish leaders recently to reassure them about his policies. But last month, despite those reassurances, both the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and the Anti-Defamation League issued statements critical of the president’s handling of Israel. Given the warm relations during the Bush years and candidate Obama’s repeated statements of commitment to the very best relations with Israel, why have we fallen into this rut? (WSJ)
The British firestorm against Israel-Melanie Phillips
(Originally published in the Jewish Chronicle)
The shocking rise in anti-Jewish attacks demonstrates that the way Israel is presented impacts directly on the safety of British Jews. According to the Community Security Trust, there were 609 anti-Jewish incidents in the first six months of this year, more than in the whole of 2008. And more than half the incidents reported in January made some reference to Operation Cast Lead in Gaza. Well, of course. People were being told day in, day out that the Israelis were wantonly killing Palestinian children. In fact, Israeli figures showed that the vast majority of those killed were Hamas operatives. Given that half of Gaza’s population are children, not to mention the use by Hamas of civilians as human shields, the relatively small number of child casualties testified to the remarkable care Israel took not to kill children. What makes the Israel-bashing so monstrous is that Israel is being vilified through falsehood and distortion for defending its citizens against attack. This is tantamount to saying it should not defend itself — and therefore should not exist at all. When a culture goes bad like this, an enormous amount rides on the attitude and behaviour of those at the top. But this vicious mood is being reflected and exacerbated by the government of that self-described Israel-lover, Gordon Brown. There has of late been a flurry of Israel-bashing by the Foreign Office. It has totally disregarded the opinion of Colonel Richard Kemp, formerly commander of British forces in Afghanistan and the intelligence co-ordinator for the British government. (Melaniephillips)
TERRORISM, security and policy
Iran is ready to build an N-bomb - it is just waiting for the Ayatollah's order-James Hider, Richard Beeston in Tel Aviv and Michael Evans, Defence Editor
Iran has perfected the technology to create and detonate a nuclear warhead and is merely awaiting the word from its Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to produce its first bomb, Western intelligence sources have told The Times. The sources said that Iran completed a research programme to create weaponised uranium in the summer of 2003 and that it could feasibly make a bomb within a year of an order from its Supreme Leader. A US National Intelligence Estimate two years ago concluded that Iran had ended its nuclear arms research programme in 2003 because of the threat from the American invasion of Iraq. But intelligence sources have told The Times that Tehran had halted the research because it had achieved its aim — to find a way of detonating a warhead that could be launched on its long-range Shehab-3 missiles. They said that, should Ayatollah Khamenei approve the building of a nuclear device, it would take six months to enrich enough uranium and another six months to assemble the warhead. (Timesonline.co.uk)
NKorea 'Tests Weapons on Children'-Knight Ridder/Tribune
SEOUL, South Korea -- When Im Chun-yong made his daring escape from North Korea, with a handful of his special forces men, there were many reasons why the North Korean government was intent on stopping them. They were, after all, part of Kim Jong-il's elite commandos -- privy to a wealth of military secrets and insights into the workings of the reclusive regime. But among the accounts they carried with them is one of the most shocking yet to emerge -- namely the use of humans, specifically mentally or physically handicapped children, to test North Korea's biological and chemical weapons. "If you are born mentally or physically deficient, says Im, the government says your best contribution to society... is as a guinea pig for biological and chemical weapons testing." Even after settling into the relative safety of South Korea, for 10 years Im held on to this secret, saying it was too horrific to recount. But with Kim's health reportedly failing, and the country appearing increasingly unpredictable, Im felt it was time he spoke out. (military.com)
Manchester United targeted by Jakarta hotel bombers-Richard Lloyd Parry, Asia Editor
The suicide bombers who attacked two luxury hotels in Indonesia this month were aiming to kill members of the Manchester United football team, according to an internet message allegedly written by the fugitive leader of an al-Qaeda faction. The message, posted on a blog in the name of Noordin Mohammed Top, self-styled leader of al-Qaeda Organisation Indonesia, has not been authenticated by police investigating the bombings two weeks ago. If it is genuine, then it represents an alarming threat to the security of sports teams across the world. Mr Noordin was immediately named as the chief suspect in the bombings, and is wanted in connection with four earlier attacks going back six years which have killed 240 people. The statement in his name celebrates the double suicide bombings which killed six foreigners and one Indonesian at the Ritz Carlton and JW Marriott hotels in Jakarta. “The [Manchester United] club consists of players who are Crusaders [Christians] and therefore they did not deserve to play in a Muslim country,” the message reads. If true, the bombers struck hopelessly early — the team was not due to check in to the Ritz Carlton until the week after the bombing for a friendly fixture against a local Indonesian team. The trip was immediately cancelled. (Timesonline.co.uk)
 Muslims burn Christians alive in Pakistani city after rumour about a defaced Koran sparked riots-Mail Foreign Service
Christians were burned alive in their homes after rumours that the Koran had been defaced spread through a city in Pakistan. Hundreds of Muslims torched and looted Christian homes in Gorja. A man, a woman and four children were burned to death in their house, and two other men were shot dead by the rioters. The rumour about the Koran was false and had been instigated by members of a banned extremist Muslim extremist group, said Pakistani security officials yesterday. Paramilitary forces were sent to Gorja to help control the situation, said interior minister Rehman Malik, following allegations the police had failed to respond quickly enough to Saturday's violence. 'Usually, Muslims and Christians live together peacefully,' he added. 'There have been some miscreants involved in this incident. We are investigating that.' Yesterday one shopkeeper in Gorja described the atmosphere in the city as 'grim and tense'. (Dailymail.co.uk)
Americans No Longer See Terrorism as a Threat-Paul Williams, Ph.D.
Forget 9/11.
Forget the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center.
Forget the fatwahs of al Qaeda and its sister organizations.
Forget the scores of attacks that have occurred or been thwarted on American soil during the past eight years.
Americans, according to a Gallup poll, are less concerned about terrorism than at any point since August 2004 – with only 36 percent saying they are very or somewhat worried that they or a family member will become a victim of a terrorist attack.
Americans’ collective level of worry about terrorism is the lowest recorded since August 2004 (34 percent) and down sharply from the all-time high of 59 percent recorded in October 2001, just after the September 11th attacks. Thirty percent now say they are not too worried about the threat of another terrorist attack and 34 percent say they are not at all worried.
In a separate Gallup Poll, a scant 1 percent of the Americans surveyed mentioned terrorism as the most important problem facing the United States. (Familysecuritymatters)
Explosives En Route to Hizbullah Caused Deadly Iran Plane Crash-Yehudah Lev Kay
(Israelnationalnews.com) Explosives en route to the Hizbullah terrorist group caused a Russian-made plane to crash in Iran two weeks ago, claiming the lives of 168 people, according to a report in the Italian paper Corriere Della Sera on Saturday. The report quoted Middle East sources who said the plane, which took off from Tehran and was headed for Armenia, was carrying in its luggage compartment several metal cases with two kilograms of explosives and detonators destined for the Lebanese terrorist group. The shipment was meant to have continued by land from Armenia to Turkey, then to Syria, and finally to Lebanon. Only 16 minutes after takeoff, the pilot of the Tupolev jet reported an emergency. Shortly afterwards, the plane crashed near the city of Qazvin. Eyewitnesses reported hearing explosions in the plane before it crashed into the ground. (INN)
GLOBAL GOVERNANCE AND RADICAL ENVIRONMENTALISM
Exclusive: A Review of an Important New Report: ‘Climate Change Reconsidered’-Rael Jean Isaac
Climate Change Reconsidered: The Report of the Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change, Craig Ido and S. Fred Singer, lead authors (The Heartland Institute, 2009). If – and at this point the chances admittedly look slim – we avoid the economic catastrophe attendant on the Obama administration’s effort to roll back global temperatures, this country will owe a huge debt of gratitude to the Chicago-based Heartland Institute, which, through its publications and conferences has provided a forum for the many scientists who dissent from the great global warming panic of the last 20 years. This 800 page plus volume, based on the research of these many scientists, is designed to provide a “Team B,” independently examining the same climate data used by the UN sponsored Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). And while the IPCC’s most recent 2007 report concluded “most of the observed increase in global average temperatures since the mid-20th century is very likely due to the observed increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentrations [emphasis in original], “Team B” came to the opposite conclusion, namely “that natural causes are very likely to be the dominant cause.” (Familysecuritymatters)
 Waxman-Markey Exposed-Sen. James Inhofe
It’s safe to say that at 3:09 am on June 26th, most of America was asleep. While they slept, Democratic leaders in the House were creating a nightmare: in the early morning hours, Speaker Pelosi and her deputies were pushing the largest tax increase in American history. In the dead of night, with no one watching, they engaged in full-scale arm twisting, backroom dealing, and outright pork-barreling to garner support for a massive bill, which few even read or understood. When America awoke, they found Democrats talking about “green jobs” and the “new clean energy economy.” They spoke of free-markets and innovation and energy independence. All of it sounded so appealing, yet none of it was true. (Scienceandpublicpolicy)
SCIENCE, SOCIETY AND CULTURE
Bug Central: inside the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine is at the forefront of research worldwide into infections both commonplace and exotic, from TB and malaria to Guinea worm disease and swine flu. Victoria Lambert encounters the people who pursue the parasites. Bugs. Millions of squirming, teeming, humming bugs. Bugs that crawl, fly and burrow; bugs that mutate, bugs big enough to squish, bugs invisible to the naked eye; bugs that pass through human flesh. Bacteria, viruses, pathogens. Germs that you can wash off with soap and water, germs that stick like superglue. Bugs with names you know – like the tsetse fly and mosquito – and many you probably haven’t heard of such as Campylobacter, or ocular Chlamydia trachomatis. Bugs that cause disease; bugs that are evolving at a rate we cannot even imagine, let alone stop. They are all held here, in vast insectaries in the vaults beneath the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. (Telegraph,co.uk)
 Joy, grief, altruism... these extraordinary mammals show 'human' feelings and could even have their own religion- PHILIP HOARE
As a testament to man's bond with the animal kingdom, it was a most enchanting story. A Chinese woman was rescued from possible drowning after she got into difficulties while taking part in a free-diving competition at a water park in the north east of her country. The identity of her saviour? Not a lifeguard, but a beluga whale, one of several kept in giant tanks at the park, which softly clamped its jaws around her leg and gently lifted her towards the surface. Now, it might well be that there is more to this 'rescue' than meets the eye. Could it just be a publicity stunt? Perhaps. But the fact that it has provoked worldwide interest shows, once again, that few animals provoke such awe and fascination as these giants of the deep.
We find whales and dolphins endlessly fascinating not only for their innate beauty, but because we know them to be intelligent creatures. And the more we learn about them, the more marvellous and intriguing they become. (Dailymail.co.uk)
Child Barbarians in Phoenix: Obama Extends Their Stay.-Phyllis Chesler
Liberian Boys Gang-Rape an Eight-Year-Old; Just Like Old Times. Most Americans have no idea how different our culture is from cultures in the Middle East, central Asia, or Africa. If differences are acknowledged, America and the West are blamed for them. The barbarism, genocide, perpetual civil and religious wars, the cruelties of Sharia law (stoning, cross-amputations, be-heading), and the utterly tragic treatment of women, children, and the poor in the Third World– all are blamed on western imperialism, colonialism, and capitalism. Not true–or so I have been arguing for years. Some barbarism is indigenous to a region. But even if it were true–what’s to be done now? Should we willingly welcome cannibals, gang-rapists, child-rapists, polygamists, (dis)honor murderers to our shores? Terrible things happen in the Third World: Children as young as five are routinely kidnapped into slavery, or forced to become suicide bombers or child-soldiers. (Pajamasmedia)
 Gilder Throws Down a Gauntlet-Mona Charen
Israelis have created prosperity wherever they have touched ground. Charles Murray, no slouch among public intellectuals, described him as the most underrated public intellectual in America today. Murray offered this assessment of George Gilder at a recent American Enterprise Institute colloquium to discuss Gilder’s newest book, The Israel Test. Murray explained: From Gilder’s national debut with Sexual Suicide (later reissued as Men and Marriage), to his seminal Wealth and Poverty, to his farsighted Microcosm, Gilder makes being ahead of his times look easy. And, Murray noted with admiration, Gilder has always been right. Is Gilder underrated? Yes, because his gifts and contributions deserve more or less full-time celebration. After the probably trillions of words that have been devoted to the Israel/Arab conflict, it is no small achievement to approach the matter from a unique vantage point. Gilder’s thesis is this: Today’s hatred of Israel is feeding off the same poison that has nourished anti-Semitism throughout history — envy, resentment, and misunderstanding of economics. Gilder asks: “Are you for civilization or barbarism, life or death, wealth or envy? Are you an exponent of excellence and accomplishment or of a leveling creed of troglodytic frenzy and hatred?” Jewish accomplishment is an undeniable fact of history. (Nationalreview)
www.americanfreedomalliance.org
|
