Malaysia's top secular court on Wednesday rejected a woman's appeal to be recognized as a Christian, in a landmark case that tested the limits of religious freedom in this moderate Islamic country.
Lina Joy, who was born Azlina Jailani, had applied for a name change on her government identity card. The National Registration Department obliged but refused to drop Muslim from the religion column.
She appealed the decision to a civil court but was told she must take it to Islamic Shariah courts. But Joy, 42, argued that she should not be bound by Shariah law because she is a Christian.
A three-judge Federal Court panel ruled by a 2-1 majority Wednesday that only the Islamic Shariah Court has the power to allow her to remove the word "Islam" from the religion category on her government identity card.
Judge Richard Malanjum was the only one on the panel who sided with Joy, saying it was "unreasonable" to ask her to turn to the Shariah Court because she could face criminal prosecution there. Apostasy is a crime punishable by fines and jail sentences. Offenders are often sent to prison-like rehabilitation centers.
Joy was not present at Wednesday's hearing.
About 60 percent of Malaysia's 26 million people are Malay Muslims, whose civil, family, marriage and personal rights are decided by Shariah courts. The minorities — the ethnic Chinese, Indians and other smaller communities — are governed by civil courts.
But the constitution does not say who has the final say in cases such as Joy's when Islam confronts Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism or other religions.
The founding fathers of Malaysia left the constitution deliberately vague, unwilling to upset any of the three ethnic groups dominant at the time of independence from Britain 50 years ago, when building a peaceful multiracial nation was more important.
The situation was muddied further with the constitution describing Malaysia as a secular state but recognizing Islam as the official religion.
Joy, who began going to church in 1990 and was baptized eight years later, has been disowned by her family and has said she was forced to quit her computer sales job after clients threatened to withdraw their business.
She and her ethnic Indian Catholic boyfriend went into hiding in early 2006 amid fears they could be targeted by Muslim zealots, Joy's lawyer has said.
Joy's case sparked angry street protests by Muslim groups and led to e-mail death threats against a Muslim lawyer supporting her.
Her case is the most prominent in a string of recent religious disputes, some involving custody of children born to parents of different faiths, and one involving a deceased Hindu man who converted to Islam without his family's knowledge and whom Islamic authorities ordered to be buried as a Muslim.
DENVER, Colorado (AP) -- The president of the University of Colorado has recommended that a professor who likened some September 11 victims to a Nazi should be fired, according to the professor and the school.
Ward Churchill, a tenured professor of ethnic studies, has denied the allegations and threatened a lawsuit if he is dismissed.
CU President Hank Brown made the recommendation in a 10-page letter sent to the chair of the committee that handles tenure issues. University spokeswoman Michele McKinney confirmed published reports about the recommendation Monday but said the school would not make the letter public.
The university's governing Board of Regents would have the final say on whether Churchill is fired or disciplined. It could be several weeks before the case ends up in its hands; the tenure panel must review it first.
Churchill touched off a firestorm with an essay likening some victims in the World Trade Center to Adolf Eichmann, who helped carry out the Holocaust.
University officials concluded he could not be fired for his comments because they were protected by the First Amendment, but they launched an investigation into allegations that he fabricated or falsified his research and plagiarized.
The interim chancellor of the university's Boulder campus and another faculty committee have also recommended Churchill be fired. At Churchill's request, the Privilege and Tenure Committee also reviewed the case and recommended a one-year suspension without pay and a demotion.
Churchill said Monday the university process was biased against him and that he believes he will get a fairer hearing in the courts.
"I've got more faith in almost anything (than in the university process)," he said. "A random group of homeless people under a bridge would be far more intellectually sound and principled than anything I've encountered at the university so far."
Jeeze! He's even more sanctimonious than surrogate...
Cindy in one of a multitude of situations that had nothing, absolutely nothing, to do with her.
Perhaps now she can spend time getting the mental health treatment she needs. In what should stand as the best example of a piece written by a MalNar, Sheehan quits whatever it was she appointed herself to. Why now? Here, let me translate her Resignation Notice posted at Daily Kos: (HT Drudge). "Good Riddance Attention Whore"
1. Everyone hates me now, even the Dems ("I have endured a lot of smear and hatred since Casey was killed and especially since I became the so-called "Face" of the American anti-war movement...I have been further trashed on such "liberal blogs" as the Democratic Underground.")
2. The money has dried up. (" [W]hen I started to hold the Democratic Party to the same standards that I held the Republican Party, support for my cause started to erode...")
3. People stopped paying attention to me. ("I guess no one paid attention to me when I said that the issue of peace and people dying for no reason is not a matter of "right or left", but "right and wrong.")
4. Democrats are blind and stupid and just like Repubs because they don't agree with me, either. ("It amazes me that people who are sharp on the issues and can zero in like a laser beam on lies, misrepresentations, and political expediency when it comes to one party refuse to recognize it in their own party.")
5. America is evil. ("a fascist corporate wasteland...")
Cindy grieving the loss of her son during her work to stop all the death and destruction, for which everyone is so ungrateful.
6. I wasted all my money and ignored my family to try to prove to myself I am not the attention whore that apparently I am. ("I have also reached the conclusion that if I am doing what I am doing because I am an "attention whore" then I really need to be committed.")
7. America is an ungrateful bitch. ("I have invested everything I have into trying to bring peace with justice to a country that wants neither.")
8. I'm in debt and won't pay my bills because America is evil. ("my hospital bills from last summer (when I almost died) are in collection because I have used all my energy trying to stop this country from slaughtering innocent human beings.")
9. Americans are stupid and vapid and don't care. ("Casey died for a country which cares more about who will be the next American Idol than how many people will be killed in the next few months.")
10. Everyone is jealous of me because I get all the attention. ("This group won’t work with that group; he won’t attend an event if she is going to be there; and why does Cindy Sheehan get all the attention anyway?")
11. Everyone is doomed, so I'm getting out while I can. ("Our brave young men and women in Iraq have been abandoned there indefinitely by their cowardly leaders who move them around like pawns on a chessboard of destruction and the people of Iraq have been doomed to death and fates worse than death ...I am going to take whatever I have left and go home.")
12. I need money. ("Camp Casey has served its purpose. It’s for sale. Anyone want to buy five beautiful acres in Crawford , Texas ? I will consider any reasonable offer.")
Cindy still obviously suffering with grief, with her bud, the fascist dictator Hugo Chavez. Hey! maybe he can give her a job with his new state-run TV channel " All Hugo All the Time."
And lastly...
13. America is evil. ("Good-bye America ...you are not the country that I love and I finally realized no matter how much I sacrifice...")
But no, she's not, not an attention whore, and it's never been all about her. Which is why she uses the personal pronouns "I" and "me" no less than 59 times in her little blog post. Her one 'moment of clarity' seems to exhibit itself in her choice of title for this regurgitation.
So yes, good riddance. Don't let the door hit you on the way out. Heck, we could hope she turns to wrestling, or the Ultimate Fighter Championships. With our luck, she'll return like a bad penny on The Biggest Loser (to shed the 100 pounds she gains after losing all that attention), or, with her money problems, she could take over for Gary Coleman on those "Cash Call" commercials.
Ultimately, she could take a page from the late Dana Plato and try to hold up a dry cleaner in Vegas. If she wore a Jimmy Carter mask, she might actually get away with it.
HAMBURG, Germany (AFP) - European foreign ministers are expected to confront China over the Darfur conflict at a meeting of top diplomats from 46 EU and Asian nations that gets underway here on Monday.
The eighth Asia-Europe meeting (ASEM) of foreign ministers will also focus on the Iranian and North Korean nuclear standoffs and fraught efforts to map the way forward on fighting climate change.
Asian nations are also likely to come under pressure on their position towards Myanmar, whose hardline leadership has extended by one year the house arrest of opposition leader and Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner is set to hold one-on-one talks with his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi on Darfur amid frustration over Beijing's support for the Sudanese government.
China's close ties with Sudan -- it sells arms to the African state and buys more than half its oil output -- is bedevilling US-led attempts within the UN Security Council to use sanctions to force President Omar al-Beshir to let UN troops into Darfur.
Fighting in the western Sudanese region has claimed some 200,000 lives since 2003 when an ethnic minority rebellion met with a scorched earth response from the government and allied Arab militias.
The ASEM meeting comes just a week ahead of the Group of Eight summit in Heiligendamm in Germany.
Chancellor Angela Merkel has put Darfur on the G8 agenda, while French President Nicolas Sarkozy has warned that neither this issue nor the Iranian and North Korean nuclear crises can be resolved without China.
The EU troika will hold a special meeting with Yang just before the two-day ASEM meeting starts.
As with the G8, climate change is high on the agenda for the Hamburg meeting, and diplomats are expected to lobby China and new ASEM member India on curbing greenhouse gas emissions.
Together the two nations' output of the harmful gases will surpass that of the United States by 2015 and Merkel, who is having trouble winning Washington's support on the environment, believes that without their help efforts to fight global warming will fail.
German authorities are expecting up to 100,000 anti-globalisation protestors at the G8 summit and Hamburg police have warned that some 5,000 could target the ASEM meeting as they 'warm up' for Heiligendamm.
North Carolina Democrat David Price is leading a congressional delegation in Egypt—and meeting with representatives of one of the world’s most insidious and implacable jihad organizations, the Muslim Brotherhood: Egypt criticizes US over meeting with Muslim Brotherhood lawmaker.
Egypt criticized a meeting Sunday that included four US members of Congress and the head of the Muslim Brotherhood’s bloc in Parliament, accusing the US of having double standards for meeting with the banned Egyptian group but refusing to meet with the militant Palestinian group Hamas.
The congressional delegation, headed by North Carolina Democrat David Price, held talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak early Sunday before heading to Parliament to meet a group of lawmakers that included the Brotherhood’s Mohammed Saad el-Katatni. (AP)
Last week, NewsBusters readers were introduced to Portland, Maine’s fabulous fifteen-year-old, Kristen Byrnes, whose website “Ponder the Maunder” marvelously takes on anthropogenic global warming myths including those being advanced by soon-to-be-Dr. Al Gore. [Honorary Dr. - ed.]
As will be revealed post haste, this newest – and likely youngest – member of the growing list of folks skeptical about man’s role in climate change actually walks the walk better than she talks the talk.
Yet, despite her youth and precocious scientific acumen, it seems quite unlikely that she’ll be sitting down with Matt Lauer or Diane Sawyer any time soon to discuss her research concerning one of the most popular subjects on the media’s front-burner. Why?
Because a prediction that she made last month concerning Australia's drought has marvelously borne fruit making the scientists employed by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change look a bit foolish.
To set this up, here’s what the IPCC Summary for Policymakers report released on April 7 predicted regarding Australia (emphasis added):
As a result of reduced precipitation and increased evaporation, water security problems are projected to intensify by 2030 in southern and eastern Australia and, in New Zealand, in Northland and some eastern regions. ** D [11.4]
[…]
Production from agriculture and forestry by 2030 is projected to decline over much of southern and eastern Australia, and over parts of eastern New Zealand, due to increased drought and fire.
About two weeks later, in an Internet discussion group which I belong to that deals exclusively with anthropogenic global warming issues, Byrnes wrote the following to an Australian participant (emphasis added, released with her permission and that of her parents):
I was just looking at my ENSO 3.4 chart when I was responding to Eduardo's email. It looks like the ENSO has been positive for 95% of the last 6 years. Since Austrailia [sic] experiences warm and dry conditions during positive ENSO, six years of drought would not surprise me. But it is headed negative very quickly now, so you might want to dust off your umbrella.
Well, just last week, there were signs from Australia that the six-year-old drought might be over. As reported by News.com.au on May 18 in an article deliciously titled “Drought Could Be Ending”:
THE El Nino weather system has run its course and the weather bureau says the worst drought in a century could be coming to an end, as heavy rain soaked parched southeastern Australia.
Inland NSW and north-east Victoria enjoyed heavy rainfall today, with reports from 20-30mm falling in some areas and as high as 53mm in country Victoria, Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) senior forecaster Phil King said.
[…]
Mr King said the rainfall reflected a shift in weather patterns back to a more normal situation following an end to the drought-making El Nino and signs emerging of its opposite, a La Nina, which brings rain.
"The El Nino is over,'' he said.
"The global patterns are indicating there are more neutral and natural conditions and with the rainfalls, there are signs we have returned to more normal patterns.''
Certainly great news for Australians, wouldn't you agee? And, the Canberra Times reported Wednesday (emphasis added):
Winter has arrived early on the Snowy Mountains in spectacular fashion.
A blanket of snow has covered much of the high ranges of the Kosciuszko National Park over the past two days and hopes are running high for the coming ski season.
After spending much of the summer season enduring the drought and feeling the threat of climate change, the residents of Jindabyne are alight with anticipation of a good season. The town, at the foot of the national park, almost triples in size during the snow season and relies heavily on the tourist dollar.
"Don't you worry, this season will be a good one, this is a big one. You'll see, we can feel it," one long-time resident said.
A good wet season in northern Australia has put Queensland-based cattle producer Australian Agricultural Co Ltd (AAco) on track for an improved performance this year.
AAco managing director Don Mackay said recent rain in some parts of southern states had also boosted prospects.
And, News.com.au reported the following on Thursday as well (emphasis added):
Recent storms over the northeast Top End put the icing on the cake for the Nothern [sic] Territory's rain totals, which have been more than 5 times the May average in some areas.
Places such as Batchelor Airport in the north, and Kulgera in the Alice Springs district have had more than 500% of their average monthly rainfall.
Lajamanu has done particularly well with more than 7 times their average monthly rain. Most of that was from a heavy downpour of 44mm. 20mm of that fell within 1 hour.
On Thursday storms crossing the eastern Top End drenched Nhulunbuy, with 41mm recorded from this event. Showers will continue on Friday in moist, unstable easterly winds, with falls heaviest in the east.
Obviously, Kristen’s April 20 suggestion that folks in Australia better dust off their umbrellas was rather prescient. Just imagine if this 15-year-old’s prediction supported the Global Warmingist-in-Chief Al Gore’s position on man’s role in climate change. Think she’d be Matt, Meredith, and Diane’s guest tomorrow?
Regardless of the answer, here’s what Kristen saw in the climate data that the global warming alarmists working for the U.N. either didn’t recognize or chose to ignore as shared with me by e-mail:
There are certain rules in climate. One of them is that when there is an El Nino, there is dry weather in Australia, especially during their summer. Here is a map of what I am talking about:.
and during their winter:
Australia has been in drought for about 6 years because there have been positive ENSO conditions for most of the past 6 years.
ENSO stands for El Niño/Southern Oscillation; more information on this indicator is available here and here. Kristen continued her explanation:
This is the NOAA Oceanic Nino Index. There are many different ENSO indexes. I use this one because it is updated all the time.
NOAA also publishes ENSO forecasts. They are usually pretty good a few months in advance but not perfect. Last month the La Nina was starting much faster but it has slowed down. This means that Australia will have normal rainfall for the planting season. The forecast for ENSO can be found here.
Kristen then addressed why so much of the alarmism is based on specious science:
The reason that computer climate models do not work is because they cannot predict volcanoes, ENSO and solar variance. They also do not understand how water vapor and clouds work.
Another rule in climate is that El Nino warms the average global temperature and La Nina is the opposite. During normal conditions the trade winds at the equator blow cool water off the coast of Peru to the east and cause warm water to pile up near Indonesia, the wind pressure actually causes sea water levels to be higher there. During La Nina, the winds blow even harder and pile the water up even more. During El Nino the winds slow down and the warm water flows back to Peru.
The result is, during La Nina (cool event) the cold water coming from the bottom of the ocean near Peru is blown across the surface to Indonesia. The Earth's normal circulation that takes heat from the equator towards the poles has less heat to move to the poles.
On the other hand, when there is an El Nino, the warm water spreads across the surface back to Peru. More warm water is in contact with the air above and the Earth's circulation takes that heat toward the poles.
From about 1944 to 1976 the ENSO was mostly negative and solar increased then decreased. Temperatures during this time cooled a little. Since 1976 the ENSO has been more positive. This along with increasing solar activity has combined to warm the globe. What is expected over the next few years is for the ENSO to move back to a negative phase and for solar activity to level off then go down. That is why the weather guy said that in 5 years global warming will be a joke.
Kristen was referring to a NewsBusters' article about New Zealand's favorite weatherman, Augie Auer, who was quoted last week as saying that over-hyped fears regarding climate change are "all going to be a joke in five years."
Kristen continued:
I am already seeing signs that the climate is cooling. Since 2001 the oceans have not warmed. 2005 was supposed to be the warmest year on record but ENSO went a little negative that year. That means the base temperature (the oceans) was as warm as it is going to get because 2006 was an El Nino year and it was the 6th warmest on record. Keep in mind that for the last 70 years there has been an 11,000 year solar high. It takes time for all that heat to build up in the oceans, but it seems that the oceans are as warm as they will get from this 11,000 year solar high. This year will be cooler than last year because it will be an ENSO negative year and the solar cycle still has not started yet.
Also keep in mind that just because there is no El Nino or La Nina, there is still heating or cooling. ENSO positive that does not get to the level of El Nino will still warm the climate, just a lot less. Same with ENSO negative that does not make the level of La Nina.
So, what does all this tell us?
Well, if the drought in Australia and New Zealand is indeed ending – and, certainly, early-season rains and snowstorms do not yet prove this – one must question the models being used by the IPCC to forecast climate change in the future.
After all, if a long-range forecast issued April 7 ends up being wrong five weeks later, why on earth would we trust these folks from the U.N. to be able to accurately predict what’s going to happen next year, or fifty to a hundred years from now?
Maybe more important, should we actually enact policy changes that could negatively impact the economy on the recommendations of a group that can’t accurately predict events beyond just a month and a half?
Of course, the other likely more pivotal side of this revelation is whether the scientists involved are just incompetent, or willfully malfeasant. As Kristen wrote in her e-mail message to me, “They were probably trying to scare the people of Australia into signing Kyoto.”
Well, if this is the case, then aren’t all involved participating in a shameful scam?
Think about it. If this is indeed about getting developed nations to agree to the Kyoto Protocol, isn’t the U.N. best served by predicting calamitous climate events regardless of their merit in order to scare the public into complacent support?
If there is evidence to suggest that this is indeed the case – for example, proof of errant predictions by the IPCC – shouldn’t the veracity and integrity of the information emanating from this organization be much more thoroughly scrutinized?
Sounds like questions good journalists should be asking, wouldn’t you agree?
For five years we have been lectured that George Bush ruined the trans-Atlantic relationship. But now we see pro-American governments in both France and Germany, and a radical change in attitudes from Denmark to Holland to Italy. The truth is that the Europeans neither hated nor loved Bill Clinton, whom they on occasion privately seethed at for not exercising leadership, or George Bush who swaggered and talked tough to them during the lead-up to Iraq and seemed to them to be rudely unilateral. Instead, after getting their teen-age anger out, they are starting to see that the United States did not fabricate Islamic radicalism nor order them to let in and then not assimilate millions of now angry Muslims.
For all the cheap shots, the European public is worried about importing half their natural gas from Vladimir Putin, who now bullies Eastern Europeans, former Soviet republics, and dissidents well beyond his borders on the premise that his oil wealth and nukes ensure Europe can’t and won’t do anything.
Europeans know they won’t or can’t stop the Iranians from getting a nuke, but hope someone—that is, the United States—will. And from the Spanish flight from Iraq after the Madrid bombing, the spectacle of the British naval personnel in Iranian hands, and the continental paralysis after the Danish cartoons and other serial Islamic affronts to free expression, Europe knows that radical Islam is both dangerous and has little respect for either European moral authority or force of arms.
European Sobriety?
So it is they, not us, that are returning to sobriety in matters of the trans-Atlantic relationship, and they are doing this not because of affection for George Bush, but despite their anxiety about him. And that is good news, since it suggests the warming exists apart from personalities, and reminds us that if the so-called and much deprecated “West” were ever to act in unison (the former British commonwealth, Japan, the US, and continental Europe), then radical Islam would simply have no chance against 8-900 million of the planet’s most productive, ingenious and democratic peoples.
At some point, European statesmen are going to bump into a great truth: that they spend almost nothing on defense, but intrinsically have access to the United States military, both by shared values, or at least the memory of shared values, and the allegiance of the American people to this now ridiculed, now archaic notion known as the “West.” All they have do is to occasionally show some warmth to the United States, and we crazy American people whether in World War I, II, the Cold War, or the war on terror, give our all to them—at no cost. We sense that Merkle and Sarkozy and the majorities that elected them, finally fear that they were reaching the point of American exasperation at which the old ties were broken for good, adn Europe was truly to be on its own, and thus pulled back—in time?
The Danger is Isolationism, not Preemption
If I were a European, Taiwanese, Saudi, or almost anyone else who habitually complains about American presumptuousness, I would worry that the American public is reverting to its (natural?) 1930s sort of isolationism. Tired of cheap anti-Americanism, the burden of global defense obligations, and the continual erosion of the dollar, they wish to pull in their horns and let others in multilateral fashion pick up the slack.
Perhaps the European rapid reaction force could respond to Estonia’s plight should Putin send in a punititive brigade. Maybe the UN could provide the necessary deterrence to protect Taiwanese autonomy should the island provoke mainland China to the point of invading.
No doubt the EU3—Britain, France, Germany—could warn Iran not to nuke Israel—or else. These are not longer just parlor-game musings, but the look of the world if the exhaustion of the American people is reflected in retrenchment, best summed up by “These people are not really worth it, so let them handle their own affairs.” It would be a very dangerous attitude to adopt, but one psychologically understandable.
Brilliant. God, I wish this man would run for President.
Paris - France plans to offer incentives to more immigrants to return home, especially to Africa, new Immigration Minister Brice Hortefeux said on Wednesday.
France will provide €6 000 to a family with two children if they agree to go back to their country of origin, an incentive that was taken up by about 1 000 families in 2005 and 2 000 in 2006.
"We must increase this measure to help voluntary return. I am very clearly committed to doing that," said Hortefeux, who last week was named in the rightwing government of President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Hortefeux heads a newly-created ministry of immigration, integration, national identity and co-development that is expected toughen up immigration policy and tailor it to France's employment needs.
Sarkozy has warned of a "social explosion" if immigration is not managed in France where rioting in the immigrant-heavy suburbs in 2005 highlighted the failures of the government's integration efforts.
Amnesty International expressed concern on Wednesday that a new restrictive immigration policy would affect France's willingness to take in asylum seekers.
Language skills 'a must'
"Our concern is that asylum will be under the responsibility of Mr Hortefeux along with everything dealing with immigration control," said Patrick Delouvin, an official with Amnesty International.
"The asylum request is made in the context of a life and death situation in the country of origin and today it is extremely difficult for an asylum seeker to come to France," said Genevieve Sevrin, president of Amnesty France.
Hortefeux, who plans to travel soon to Spain and Africa to try to co-ordinate efforts to fight illegal immigration, also said he was in favour of a language test for newcomers to France.
"To be integrated, you need language skills and a professional activity," he told RFI radio.
France is home to about 1.5 million immigrants from mostly Muslim North Africa and 500 000 from sub-Saharan Africa out of a total immigrant population of about five million, according to the 2004 population census.
No mass legalisation
Hortefeux earlier this week said there would be no mass legalisation of illegals, as was done in neighbouring Spain, and that requests for legal status would be treated on a case-by-case basis.
He predicted there would be about 25 000 expulsions of illegals from France this year, which is roughly the number deported last year.
He estimated the number of illegals in France at between 200 000 and 400 000.
In a 2005 article in the Journal of the American Medical Association, epidemiologist John Ioannidis showed that among the 45 most highly cited clinical research findings of the past 15 years, 99 percent of molecular research had subsequently been refuted. Epidemiology findings had been contradicted in four-fifths of the cases he looked at, and the usually robust outcomes of clinical trials had a refutation rate of one in four.
The revelations struck a chord with the scientific community at large: A recent essay by Ioannidis simply entitled "Why most published research findings are false" has been downloaded more than 100,000 times; the Boston Globe called it "an instant cult classic." Now in a Möbius-strip-like twist, there is a growing body of research that is investigating, analyzing, and suggesting causes and solutions for faulty research.
Two papers published this spring in the open-access journal PLoS Medicine by Benjamin Djulbegovic from the University of South Florida and Ramal Moonesinghe from the CDC have delved into the issues raised by Ioannidis and suggested possible ways to mitigate this apparent failure of scientific enterprise. One of the suggestions is to ensure that experimental results are independently replicable. "More often than not, genuine replication is not done, and what we end up with in the literature is corroboration or indirect supporting evidence," says Moonesinghe.
The culprits appear to be the proverbial suspects: lies, damn lies, and statistics. Jonathan Sterne and George Smith, a statistician and an epidemiologist from the university of Bristol in the UK, point out in a study in British Medical Journal that "the widespread misunderstanding of statistical significance is a fundamental problem" in medical research. What's more, the scientist's bias may distort statistics. Pressure to publish can lead to "selective reporting;" the implication is that attention-seeking scientists are exaggerating their results far more often than the occasional, spectacular science fraud would suggest.
Cash-for-science practices between the nutrition and drug companies and the academics that conduct their research may also be playing a role. [And Environmentalists mebbe? - ed.] A survey of published results on beverages earlier this year found that research sponsored by industry is much more likely to report favorable findings than papers with other sources of funding. Although not a direct indication of bias, findings like these feed suspicion that the cherry-picking of data, hindrance of negative results, or adjustment of research is surreptitiously corrupting accuracy. In his essay, Ioannidis wrote, "The greater the financial and other interest and prejudices in a scientific field, the less likely the research findings are to be true."
Academic bias could also be to blame. As Ioannidis puts it, "Prestigious investigators may suppress via the peer-review process the appearance and dissemination of findings that refute their findings, thus condemning their field to perpetuate false dogma." Advocates of prevailing paradigms have been observed to band together in opposition against alternative ideas with perhaps more antagonism than one might expect from objective scientific debate. And the opposition isn't limited to publication of new science; jobs and grants are also more easily allocated to those affiliated with the scientific party in power.
Ioannidis is adamant that the problem is widespread. "I have heard from scientists from many different fields who think that the problems are the same in their fields as well," he says. "This is a potentially severe crisis, unless we realize the issue and try to address it."
With the debate over the causes and solutions of high rates of falsifiable research findings ongoing, how the problem is seen in the eyes of a skeptical public may be another issue altogether. Virginia Barbour, managing editor of PLoS Medicine, puts it simply: "In terms of perception, the point is that science doesn't emerge from single new findings that become 'breakthrough' stories in the media, but rather from developments that mature over months or years, with different sources of experimental validation."
Carole Migden is one of the most powerful people in California, and she knows it. The lesbian activist (author of the state's original domestic partners act, "married" in a faux ceremony conducted by SF mayor Gavin Newsom) is chair of the majority Democrat caucus in the State Senate, and has held a series of extremely powerful posts in a state government that spends $100 billion a year with little press scrutiny.
Last Friday, while driving her state-leased (members of the legislature get ample allowances for the vehicle of their choice on the state's dime) Toyota Highlander hybrid SUV, she was involved in an astonishing series of accidents caused by her reckless driving, and behaved very, very badly. KCRA News in Sacramento reports:
State Sen. Carole Migden bounced her state-issued SUV off the concrete median on Interstate 80 and nearly ran other motorists off the freeway before slamming into the back of another vehicle last week, the California Highway Patrol and witnesses said Tuesday.
More than half a dozen motorists made emergency calls about Migden's erratic driving before the Friday accident, the CHP said. The rear-end collision in Fairfield, midway between San Francisco and Sacramento [about 25 miles from her first accident careening off the median barrier - ed.], injured a woman and her 3-year-old daughter, who were sent to the emergency room.
In a statement released by her office last week, the San Francisco Democrat said the accident happened after she took her eyes off the road while reaching for a ringing cell phone.
Migden is very lucky that a law she voted for requiring cell phone users to use a headset or hands free system for making cell phone calls while driving doesn't take effect until July.
Her driving was so egregious that two motorists followed her off the freeway following the collision to berate her (not aware, apparently, that they were addressing a Very Powerful Official).
...two drivers who followed Migden off the interstate began berating her immediately after the accident.
"One of them said she'd run him off the road. They were pretty upset that she'd been driving so badly," Jordan said.
"She kept saying, 'You can't talk to me like that, I'm a state senator,"' he said. "She was kind of wobbly. She didn't seem alert. She was not acting normally."
Still, the California Highway Patrol insists that she passed a breathalyzer test and alcohol influence is not suspected. Knowing, as I do, that the CHP budget is at the mercy of the state senate, I wonder exactly when the test was administered, since the effects of alcohol diminish over time. And I also wonder whether other drugs were tested for with a blood test. I would wager a nice dinner that no blood was drawn despite the ample grounds for suspicion, given the number of telephone calls indicating reckless driving over an extended period of time on one of the busiest freeways in America and her behavior following the accident.
Incidentally, Migden claims that she was on state business, going to Marin County, and "missed her exit." However, Fairfield, where she injured the driver and young child, is many miles from the I-80 exit for Marin County. She apparently did not notice that she went across the half-mile long Carquinez Bridge (dual spans approximately 2500 feet long) instead of the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge (a single span with two decks, 5.5 miles long). Incidentally, tolls are paid before crossing both bridges in the direction she was driving.
Her district includes San Francisco and Marin County areas, and she must be closely familiar with both bridges, since the Carquinez Bridge is on the route from San Francisco to Sacramento. I find it utterly implausible that she could "miss an exit" and drive about 20 miles across a very different bridge than her intended route without notice and be without mental impairment.
Ellen Butawan, driver of the car rear-ended by Migden, certainly has a good case for a lawsuit against Migden:
"I did not see it coming. I heard no screeching brakes," the Honda's driver, Ellen Butawan of Vallejo, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.
She said the impact smashed in the Honda's trunk about 3 feet.
"The tow-truck guy told me that I was lucky no one was seriously injured," said Butawan, 31. "I went to the ER with a head injury, and the left side of my face is black and blue."
Her daughter, Leila, was in a child seat and suffered chest abrasions from the restraining harness, Butawan said. Both will see doctors for follow-up visits this week.
The impact pushed Butawan's car into the vehicle stopped in front of her, a heating and air-conditioning van driven by Turlock resident Bob Jordan. Jordan, 57, was uninjured and his company vehicle received only minor damage, the CHP said.
But Migden's office is claiming that since she was on state business while driving, so the state of California will cover all costs associated with the accident.
Does arrogance get much worse than this?
And the Bush haters will be here spewing in: 3...2...
Migden reveals decade-long battle with leukemia Medical condition may have been factor in accident
(05-23) 15:27 PDT -- State Sen. Carole Migden, whom the CHP now says may have been involved in as many as three traffic accidents last Friday, today revealed publicly for the first time that she has been battling leukemia for the past decade and that medication she takes may have caused her to become disoriented while driving.
"My only explanation is that it is medically related in some way," Migden, 56, said in an interview with The Chronicle.
The Democratic lawmaker who represents San Francisco and Marin County said she plans to underdo neurological tests to try to determine what may have happened.
"I owe an explanation to the public and myself, and in particular the person I hurt,'' she said, referring to the driver of a Honda sedan that was slightly injured in a rear-end collision. "I don't have a recollection of what happened. I can only conclude I had a medical event I can't explain. It's not an excuse; it may be an explanation."
It's known as HR 1592 or the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007. It authorizes the US Attorney General to provide technical, forensic, prosecutorial, or other assistance in the criminal investigation or prosecution of any crime of violence under federal law or a felony under state, local, or Indian tribal law that is motivated by prejudice based on the actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability of the victim or is a violation of the state, local, or tribal hate crime laws. Phew!
In simple terms, this law, recently passed by the House of Representatives and awaiting a Senate vote, would give special consideration to crimes committed against certain classifications of people. Hence, if A slugs B during a fight in a bar, the responding police officer may have to determine not merely the level of offense of the assault if it had been committed against the average person, but the special qualifications of the victim, in order to determine the proper charge against the defendant.
A typical scenario might be as follows: The officer, after placing handcuffs on the defendant, is speaking to the victim.
"Sir, could you answer a few questions for me? When the defendant was punching you, did he at any time mention your country of origin or what religion you practice?"
Victim: "Well, no, we were arguing about the football game and he shoved me. That led to a pushing match just before he socked me in the nose."
Officer: "I see. But, how about during the argument; did he make any references to your sexual orientation?"
Victim: "Certainly not! What would make you ask such a question?"
Officer: "Because I need to know the severity of the crime. Now, have you ever been a woman?"
"What? I don't understand what you mean."
"Sir, I'm trying to establish if you've ever had a sex change operation because if you did and he referred to it during the fight, then we can nail him."
"I can't believe what I'm hearing!"
"I'm just doing my job, sir. If this guy used any language that could be interpreted as prejudicial, I can charge him with a much more serious crime."
"Officer, all he did was call me an SOB before he hit me with a left hook."
"Aha! Then he made a slur against your mother, and, since your mother is a woman, he was making disparaging remarks based on gender. I think we have enough here to throw the book at him."
The foregoing scenario may seem ludicrous, but there was a time when the use of 4-letter words in Hollywood-produced movies was thought of as unimaginable. We are living in a very strange era. People are invading our country, thumbing their noses at our laws and calling us bigots because we criticize their behavior. The correct term for them is "illegal aliens," yet, we are being instructed to call them "undocumented workers" because we don't want to hurt their feelings.
Okay, so a guy is arrested after breaking into your home and walking out with your TV. We don't want to hurt his feelings by calling him a burglar, so we charge him with being an uninvited visitor in possession of property for which he has no receipt. When an invader is caught sneaking across the border, his is usually just sent back to try again. In the home invasion example, the burglar would be caught, the property would be returned to the owner and the crook would be released. He could continue breaking into the house and stealing property until he could do so without being caught.
Burglary of residences, like invasion of countries, could become an acquired skill, continuously improved by repetition. After all, if the only penalty for a crime is to be nabbed and sent back to the starting gate, one only needs to replicate the action until adept enough to succeed. It's painfully evident that people have become incredibly proficient at breaking into our country. Why shouldn't they? They've had plenty of practice.
If the Hate Crime legislation becomes law, those of us who are not in one of the privileged classifications will simply have less protection from predators. Moreover, using the term, "illegal alien" might become an adjunct to the new law, making such an utterance a hate crime. Home owners near the border tempted to resist trespassers making their way to the nearest big city had better be on their best behavior in speaking to their uninvited visitors.
by Staff Writers Tucson AZ (SPX) May 23, 2007 Eco-friendly lighting company EcoLEDs.com has launched the brightest LED light bulb ever made available to consumers in the United States. Using just 10 watts and a single LED component made in the USA, the LED light uses just 1/10th the electricity of an incandescent light bulb and reduces CO2 emissions by 9,070 pounds over its life.
The EcoLEDs 10-watt LED light is available now. Incandescent light bulbs are now being globally recognized as extremely inefficient and outdated. Australia has already banned the energy-hungry light bulbs, and California is considering a state-wide ban. In time, all modern nations will ban incandescent lights due to their extreme inefficiency: they waste 95% of the electricity they consume as excess heat.
The mainstream push is towards compact fluorescent lights (CFLs), but consumers are not being told that CFLs contain toxic mercury. There's enough mercury in a single CFL to contaminate 7,000 gallons of fresh water, and if Americans continue to purchase CFLs -- then throw them away in local landfills -- the United States will soon be facing an unprecedented burden of toxic mercury in rivers, streams, croplands and oceans.
The solution is LED light bulbs, which contain no mercury. EcoLEDs products are also RoHS certified (Reduction of Hazardous Substances), meaning they adhere to strict European requirements for safety of materials. They last 50,000 hours before needing to be replaced, greatly reducing landfill.
In combination with their ability to greatly reduce CO2 emissions, EcoLEDs lights are the obvious choice for eco-conscious consumers wishing to light their homes and businesses without contributing to global warming or contaminating their local environment with mercury.
Although the LED lights seem expensive up front, they pay for themselves in 1-to-2 years in electricity savings (varies by region). Consumers running on solar (or considering installing solar) will see enormous cost savings almost immediately, since LED lights are 300% more energy efficient than even compact fluorescent lights. And because they produce no UV radiation or IR rays, they're perfect for use in museums, offices and homes.
"The United States could eliminate the need to build dozens of coal-fired power plants if every household in the country simply replaced a single incandescent light bulb with an EcoLEDs light," said EcoLEDs founder Mike Adams.
I'm not sure if these are made with GaAs, but I'll look into it if anyone really cares. At least NO Mercury vapor...
It's like being in prison. That's how some detainees describe the conditions at the Willacy Detention Center.
Action 4 News has received various calls about the conditions inside the Willacy Detention Center where most 'Other-Than-Mexicans' are held before deportation.
The detention center in Raymondville is part of a Secure Border Initiative according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. They tell Action 4 News it was built to end the "Catch-and-Release&q uot; program.
"As mandated by Congress, as we're getting them in custody we're removing them as quickly as possible" said Nina Pruneda a spokesperson for I.C.E.
I.C.E. officials say on average, immigrants stay in custody between 18 to 21 days, but for a lot of these detainees, they may spend months inside these tents before they're deported.
"During all this time tough they have the opportunity and they can continue to tell the judge to acquire legal services" said Michael Watkins, I.C.E. official in south Texas.
As detainees come in, they first have a bond hearing. "If he sets a bond and they can pay the bond, and if they're eligible obviously they'll be released " said Watkins.
ICE personnel showed a prepared lunch plate saying they try to accommodate meals for up to thirty nationalities. But for some detainees, the food isn't that great.
Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, May 20, 2007; Page A01
Dried apples preserved with a cancer-causing chemical.
Frozen catfish laden with banned antibiotics.
Scallops and sardines coated with putrefying bacteria.
Mushrooms laced with illegal pesticides.
These were among the 107 food imports from China that the Food and Drug Administration detained at U.S. ports just last month, agency documents reveal, along with more than 1,000 shipments of tainted Chinese dietary supplements, toxic Chinese cosmetics and counterfeit Chinese medicines.
For years, U.S. inspection records show, China has flooded the United States with foods unfit for human consumption. And for years, FDA inspectors have simply returned to Chinese importers the small portion of those products they caught -- many of which turned up at U.S. borders again, making a second or third attempt at entry.
Now the confluence of two events -- the highly publicized contamination of U.S. chicken, pork and fish with tainted Chinese pet food ingredients and this week's resumption of high-level economic and trade talks with China -- has activists and members of Congress demanding that the United States tell China it is fed up.
Dead pets and melamine-tainted food notwithstanding, change will prove difficult, policy experts say, in large part because U.S. companies have become so dependent on the Chinese economy that tighter rules on imports stand to harm the U.S. economy, too.
"So many U.S. companies are directly or indirectly involved in China now, the commercial interest of the United States these days has become to allow imports to come in as quickly and smoothly as possible," said Robert B. Cassidy, a former assistant U.S. trade representative for China and now director of international trade and services for Kelley Drye Collier Shannon, a Washington law firm.
As a result, the United States finds itself "kowtowing to China," Cassidy said, even as that country keeps sending American consumers adulterated and mislabeled foods.
It's not just about cheap imports, added Carol Tucker Foreman, a former assistant secretary of agriculture now at the Consumer Federation of America.
"Our farmers and food processors have drooled for years to be able to sell their food to that massive market," Foreman said. "The Chinese counterfeit. They have a serious piracy problem. But we put up with it because we want to sell to them."
The latest absurdities to emerge from Jimmy Carter's big, smug mouth.
By Christopher Hitchens Posted Monday, May 21, 2007, at 11:35 AM ET
Almost always, when former President Jimmy Carter opens his big, smug mouth, he has already made the psychological mistake that is going to reduce his words to absurdity. When he told the press last week that the Bush administration had aroused antipathy around the world, he might have been uttering no more than a banality. But no, he had to try to invest it with a special signature flourish. So, he said instead:
I think as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history. The overt reversal of America's basic values as expressed by previous administrations, including [those of] George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon and others, has been the most disturbing to me.
Leave aside the sophomoric slackness that begins a broken-backed sentence with the words "as far as" and then cannot complete itself. "Worst in history," as the great statesman from Georgia has to know, has been the title for which he has himself been actively contending since 1976. I once had quite an argument with the late Sen. Eugene McCarthy, who maintained adamantly that it had been right for him to vote for Ronald Reagan in 1980 for no other reason. "Mr. Carter," he said, "quite simply abdicated the whole responsibility of the presidency while in office. He left the nation at the mercy of its enemies at home and abroad. He was the worst president we ever had."
I still think Richard Nixon has to be the prime candidate here, but you will notice that Jimmy Carter evinces nostalgia for that period, too. Apparently, the Christmas bombing of Vietnam, the invasion of Cambodia, the subversion of democracy in Chile, the raising of illegal slush funds, and the attempt to bug the Democratic National Committee offices were assertions of America's "basic values." Leave aside Carter's newfound admiration for Ronald Reagan, who is now undergoing a more general historical revision thanks to the work of professors Diggins and Brinkley, and just concentrate for a moment on what he says about George Bush Sr. What did he say at the time? Many people in retrospect think Bush did a good job in assembling a large multinational coalition, under U.N. auspices, for the emancipation of Kuwait from Iraqi occupation. But Jimmy Carter used his prestige, at that uneasy moment, to make an open appeal to all governments not to join that coalition. He went public to oppose the settled policy of Congress and the declared resolutions of the United Nations and to denounce his own country as the warmonger. And, after all, why not? It was he who had created the conditions for the Gulf crisis in the first place—initially by fawning on the shah of Iran and then, when that option collapsed, by encouraging Saddam Hussein to invade Iran and by "tilting" American policy to his side. If I had done such a thing, I would take very good care to be modest when discussions of Middle Eastern crises came up. But here's the thing about self-righteous, born-again demagogues: Nothing they ever do, or did, can be attributed to anything but the very highest motives.
A European security analyst told British lawmakers Tuesday that he believes Iran may be attempting to draw up plans to strike targets in Europe and has conducted reconnaissance of European nuclear power stations.
Claude Moniquet, president of the European Strategic Intelligence and Security Center, a private think-tank in Brussels, told a meeting of lawmakers and analysts in London's House of Commons that his organization also had evidence Tehran has increased numbers of intelligence agents across Europe.
"We have serious signals that something is under preparation in Europe," Moniquet said, though he did not present any evidence to the meeting. "Iranian intelligence is working extremely hard to prepare its people and to prepare actions."
The center, which he said deals directly with European intelligence agencies, believes Iranian operatives have carried out "reconnaissance of targets in European cities, including nuclear power stations," said Moniquet. He mentioned no other specific targets.
House Democrats rejected a Republican bid Tuesday to reprimand Rep. John Murtha, a senior lawmaker accused of threatening legislative reprisals against a GOP member who had crossed him…
Murtha, known for his bluff manner and fondness of pork barrel projects, did not dispute claims that he charged across the House floor May 17 to confront Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich. Rogers had tried unsuccessfully to strike a $23 million Murtha earmark — a targeted spending item — for a drug intelligence center in Murtha’s district…
In a House speech Monday, Rogers said Murtha threatened him by saying, “you will not get any earmarks now and forever.” Rogers, backed by House GOP leaders, said Murtha’s threat violated congressional ethics rules.
In conversations with colleagues and reporters, Democrats played down the incident. Murtha is known for blowing off steam, they said, and his comments to Rogers were too vague to constitute a genuine violation of ethics rules. “It’s time to put on your long pants and grow up,” Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., said in an interview when asked how Democrats would respond.
Still, several Democrats said some party members found it distasteful to vote to protect Murtha.
Yeah, you can tell from the roll they were all broken up about it. Total Democrats voting: 221. Total voting for Murtha: 219.
Cannes - A semi-documentary about a group of US men who had sex with horses has taken the title as the most shocking movie at the Cannes film festival.
But while Zoo has drawn big, curious crowds at its screenings, the real unsettling quality about the movie is its approach: it depicts the men in a sympathetic light, one that tries to push the viewers to understanding their sexual perversion.
The documentary - in which actors recreate non-explicit scenes under audio interviews with some of the men involved - centres on a true-life incident.
In July 2005, a 45-year-old man died of internal bleeding after being anally penetrated by an Arabian stallion during a bestiality weekend in the US state of Washington.
The victim, a Boeing engineer working on top-secret defence projects named Kenneth Pinyan, suffered a perforated colon.
The ensuing investigation led police - and eventually much of the national media - to the farm where the interaction took place, outing the other members of the group.
Independent filmmaker Robinson Devor shies away from prurient imagery, instead enveloping the story in rich photography that gives it a dreamlike beauty overwhelming the sordidness of the subject matter.
Absence of judgement
"In this film, there were things with much more importance to us than the sex aspect," he told journalists after a screening in the sidebar Directors' Fortnight section.
He said the absence of judgement was a deliberate choice, one reinforced after he watched some of the actual videos the men had taken of their horse sessions - footage that doesn't make it into the film, apart from the barest of glimpses at one point.
"They showed us the videos not to show us pornography, but to show an animal that wanted to be with them," Devor said, though he added that he kept some scepticism about the taped acts.
"We don't know what the conditioning was (for the horses)."
Many reviews have been favourable to the approach taken by Devor and his team.
"They've crafted a subdued, mysterious and intensely beautiful film that presents bestiality not for the purpose of titillation, but as a way of investigating the subjective nature of morality," the movie trade magazine Variety wrote.
'Mammal to mammal love'
The men heard in the film are remarkably honest about their motivations. One of them argues "mammal to mammal" love should not be seen as wrong.
Another firmly rejects the tag "bad person" his employer lays upon him before he is sacked. They all say the horses were willing participants.
Indeed, the only judgement seemingly expressed in the documentary is not on the matter in the stable at all. It is in fleeting radio references to US President George W Bush's "war on terror" and the presumed complicity-for-profit of big companies such as Boeing.
Even the cast ended up feeling compassion for the men depicted in Zoo.
John Paulsen, who played Pinyan, said he believed the engineer had been on a self-destructive streak linked to his defence work, a divorce and injuries from a motorcycle accident.
"Here's a man whose greatest loves in his life were so secret, so private," and who abruptly had "these great secrets in his life made so public by dying in such a public and humiliating way," he said.
But Paulsen himself acknowledged the black humour surrounding the incident, and now the film, saying that "in a way, it's a classic Western, except here it's the horse riding the man."
He added with a smile: "I call this role my 15 inches of fame."
The Al Qaeda Most Valuable Player Award Goes Too(sic)….Every single politician in Washington, Democrat and Republican who voted to grant amnesty to over 12 million criminals who have entered the United States illegally. Never am I more nervous, as I am when Democrats and Republicans agree on something. This is one of those times!
The September 11th, 2001 Islamic Terror Attacks on America were orchestrated by people who were in the country illegally! Now we’re making it easier for bin Laden and everyother anti-American putz who wants destroy America! Amnesty for illegals…Terrorist win, America loses….Big Time!
Granting amnesty is nothing more then rewarding bad behavior. Something most Democrats like Senator Ted Kennedy are quite accustomed too, but as a former Law Enforcement Officer, I am not!
The United States Senate have given a group of criminals benefits like Free Education, Free Health Care, and Free Back Tax Evasion. These are the most offensive and self destructive gestures I have ever seen happen in our nation. What’s next, the ability to burn thousands of cars with no criminal penalty?
I can guarantee you this much. A majority of Americans are against making it easier for Illegal Aliens to become United States Citizens. Most of these schmucks in Washington who votes for this Amnesty Bill, will be terminated upon their next campaign for re-election.
Senator John McCain is finished! He has single handedly squashed his campaign for President in 2008. ( I never liked him anyway) I predict that he will not get the Republican nomination and his constituents in the state of Arizona will see to it that he is terminated from his position as United States Senator with extreme predjudice!
If you want to stem the flood of illegals from Central and South America we need to take away from them the reason they are coming here for in the first place!
Islamic Terrorists, are staging themselves for entry into the United States at our southern borders. They are similar in appearance to the latin American Squatters and blend in nicely.
I used to think we needed to leave the Constitution alone.
That was before the Senate decided to extend citizenship to as many as 20 million lawbreakers whose sole purpose in breaking the law was to gain U.S. citizenship. Talk about making the punishment fit the crime! This punishment fits the crime exactly — they are identical!
Forget about the billions of dollars it will cost the taxpayers of this country to give amnesty to illegal immigrants. Forget about the fact that it will forever change the nature of our country. Forget about the fact that if 9/11 terrorist Mohammed Atta had not blown himself up in the World Trade Center, he would have been eligible for a Z visa under the Senate’s plan so that he could enjoy the fruits of American citizenship before he attacked us.
Forget about all that. Even forget the fact that this immigration bill was hammered out in the dark of night by senators who think they can make better law without interference from everyday Americans. Forget the fact that there is every indication that this bill is being bought and paid for by multinational corporations who want a source of cheap labor, and don’t care about the future of the United States of America.
Just forget all that, and focus on the fact that for a few more short months, you still have a chance to make a difference. Think about how unresponsive your government is, and how you have no confidence that your senators or even your congressman will do what is best for this country, and then ask yourself who is going to fix it if you don’t.
Yeah you. Because I am pretty sure you scare the bejeezus out of Mr. Congressman and Mr. Senator.
If you are waiting for them to fix the problems in this country you will wait for a long time. The Senate and the House do not speak for you. They speak for the campaign contributors who financed them into office. It is time that the real rulers speak up, and that is “We the People.”
It is time for “We the People” to run our own country for a change, and not assume that someone else is doing it for us. We can do that, if we do it quickly, by seizing control of the Constitution and stopping the Congress from giving away our country to the foreigners who have invaded it.
All it would take is a simple amendment to establish that citizenship shall not be granted to anyone who entered the country illegally. It should also establish that citizenship is not granted automatically to anyone born in the United States while their parents are here illegally. And finally such an amendment should spell out that it is the duty of the commander in chief to act to secure the borders of the country against foreign intrusions of any kind. The amendment could also establish the authority of the Congress to regulate legal immigration but rule out blanket amnesty of any kind for illegal residents of this country.
The problem, of course, is that such an amendment could never pass in Congress. Congress has no interest in securing our borders, and certainly the president has proven time and again that he has absolutely no desire to protect the rights of American citizens against the costly invasion from Mexico and elsewhere.
"Quit spreading hatred. If I put up a count of the number of innocents killed by Christians (or Jews) since 9/11, it would make your head spin. The word "terrorism" is subjective. Killing innocents is wrong...that's all there is to it. Your numbers about Muslims may be correct but so would mine be about Christians. Writing them off as collateral doesn't make it the right. Not to mention throwing and torturing Muslims in prison just for belonging to a religious faith that you don't agree with. I am getting a little tired of Islamophobia."
"Sorry..that should have read "...doesn't make it right". And the numbers I'm referring to is that dubious little counter in your side-bar."
"Wow. What a nearly incomprehensible rant. You make a whole lot of inferences of my beliefs based on a ticker generated on someone else's blog.
Anyway, to ignore your specious, ad homonym attacks, OK, I accept you challenge. Please feel free to "...make my head spin." Go right ahead and post the number of innocents killed by Christians and Jews. Just to keep it apples to apples, consider 9/11/01 the start date. Be sure to include your sources. Be forewarned, if you cite Wikipedia or any other DailyKos like source, we reserve the right to point at you and laugh.
"The word "terrorism" is subjective. Killing innocents is wrong...that's all there is to it."
WTF is that supposed to mean? It may be *subjective* to a moral relativist or the media, but come on. Lemme guess. The asshats in Iraq blowing up children are just "Freedom Fighters," right?
"Not to mention throwing and torturing Muslims in prison just for belonging to a religious faith that you don't agree with."
Bullshit. Please provide me with a cite where I have ever advocated this.
"I am getting a little tired of Islamophobia."
And I tire of 19 year olds thinking that they know jack squat about anything, and constantly preaching willful ignorance. Hint: "The Daily Show" is NOT a news source.
I breathlessly await your evidence of Judeo-Christian mass murders since 2001.
Still waiting for a response, holding of breath optional.
Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio sent out a message about global warming at the Cannes Film Festival.
The heartthrob has made a film, the 11th Hour, warning that human beings face extinction as a result of the environmental crisis.
At a press conference in the South of France following the screening, The Blood Diamond actor, 32, attacked US President George Bush, saying: "It's very simple. He's done very little for the environmental movement."
The Titanic star's latest film, which he narrates, follows another environmental warming documentary by former US Presidential candidate Al Gore, shown at the Cannes Film Festival last year.
DiCaprio defended Gore from criticism over the amount of energy he has been reportedly using to jet around the world and to run his home.
"Don't shoot the messenger", he said. "This person is trying to relay a message to the public and the way that he travels should not be splayed out like that." [Exactly. Just IGNORE the hypocracy... -ed.]
DiCaprio said it should be oil companies that came under scrutiny and that the Government should make systematic change.
The US star said he took steps in his own life to reduce global warming, telling the famous film festival: "I do try to live my life in a green manner. I have installed solar panels in my house and the car that I drive is a hybrid one.
"But it's more about the day-to-day things, being conscious about being a consumer, about looking to endorse green technology. People ask, 'what can a hybrid car do?' It's not about that. [Yes it is, dickhead, see here. -ed] It's about being a consumer, the choices you make everyday."
Hey Leo? Shut the fuck up, OK? Having a job reading lines written for you does *not* make you a climatic expert any more than being a self-important, bloviating, washed up Snake-Oil Salesman. Carbon offsets my ass...
Cairo, 16 May (AKI) - Egypt has called on the international community and the United Nations to work for a document which condems the crimes of offending and defaming religions. The request was made by Egypt's foreign minsiter Ahmed Aboul Gheit, during the meeting of the foreign ministers of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference being held in Islamabad. "The document should be adopted unanimously by the countries of the international community, with the aim of preventing violence and discrimination and preserving stability and peace," he explained.
Aboul Gheit added that "religions have too often been victims in recent times of attacks under the guise of freedom of expression" and that particularly the Muslim faithful must deal with increasing 'islamophobia'. He recalled that "Egypt has been committed for years to promoting dialogue between relgiions(sic) as otulined in the Charter of Human Rights." [what a load of crap. -ed]
There have been flare ups of sectarian violence in recent says in Egypt between the majority Muslim community and the Coptic Christians. The town of Bham about 20 kilometres south of the capital Cairo has seen 59 arrested after clashes that broke out in a row over the extension of a local Copt church there.
The Coptic community in Egypt is estimated to represent some 10 percent of the population which is majority Sunni and it contests the requirement that it seek authorisation for building churches when the same is not required for mosques.
Christians in Charsadda, a town in North-West Frontier Province in Pakistan, have been warned that if they do not convert to Islam by 17 May they will face “dire consequences and bomb explosions”.
Posted: Tuesday, May 15, 2007, 10:31 (BST)
Christians in Charsadda, a town in North-West Frontier Province in Pakistan, have been warned that if they do not convert to Islam by 17 May they will face “dire consequences and bomb explosions”, Christian Today has learned.
The threats were made in a letter circulated last week to the town’s Christian population, according to the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance.
They come as Pakistan’s National Assembly overwhelmingly rejected proposed amendments to the blasphemy laws, which were tabled by a minority representative Member of Parliament, Mr Bhandara. On 8 May, the Government led the movement in the National Assembly to defeat the reforms.
Under the existing blasphemy laws, anyone convicted of blasphemy against the Prophet Mohammad faces life imprisonment or the death penalty, according to section 295C of the Pakistan Penal Code.
Mr Bhandara, a Parsi, proposed a bill which would amend the penalty for blasphemy against the Prophet Mohammad to a five year prison sentence and a fine. He also proposed applying the law to other religions, not only Islam.
His proposals were greeted with cries of “shame” from Government and opposition benches and were rejected by the Parliamentary Affairs Minister as un-Islamic. “Islam is our religion and such bills hurt our feelings. This is not a secular state but the Islamic Republic of Pakistan,” the Minister said according to Christian Solidarity Worldwide.
In a statement, APMA said: “Christians and other religious minorities are being roped into false cases under the blasphemy law. They are being murdered by zealots … This law is proving to be a sword hanging on the heads of non-Muslims and secular-minded people.
“The blasphemy law needs to be amended, if not altogether repealed, because of its great misuse. The law has created an atmosphere of bigotry and intolerance …a sense of insecurity and harassment.”
Commenting on the threats made to Christians in North-West Frontier Province, APMA said: “The Christians of Pakistan are already facing victimisation and discrimination. Many innocent Christians are incarcerated and killed.
“Attacks on churches, Christian schools and other institutions have been experienced by the Christians of Pakistan in the past few years, and now the rise of vigilante groups and threats have aggravated the situation.”
Stuart Windsor, Christian Solidarity Worldwide’s National Director, said: “We are deeply concerned about the rise of extremism in Pakistan, and the threats made to Christians in North-West Frontier Province.
“We urge the Pakistani authorities to do everything possible to create an atmosphere of religious tolerance and freedom and to protect religious minorities who are facing threats and ultimatums. We urge the Government of Pakistan to recognise the gross misuse of the blasphemy laws and the urgent need for their reform, or repeal.”
This can't be! My President told me Islam is a "Religion of PeaceTM."
Grand Island, Neb. - Nearly 100 Muslim workers have quit their jobs at a Swift & Co. meatpacking plant because their prayer times weren't accommodated.
"They kind of issued the company an ultimatum," said Dan Hoppes, president of Local 22 of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union.
"They went in before the shift started (Monday) and said that they'd go unless they could pray when they needed to," Hoppes said today.
Sean McHugh, a spokesman for Swift at its Greeley headquarters, said breaks are governed by a labor contract and that all employees are told about them during orientation for all new workers.
"The company has a history of making reasonable accommodations for legitimate religious practices," he said Monday. "Swift has experienced no issues related to religious accommodations in recent years.
Hoppes said he believes the workers, who he said were Somali immigrants, had been offered jobs at a Kansas plant that would give them time off for prayer and make other accommodations for their religion. He didn't know the name of the company.
Hoppes said the union contract contained no provisions for prayer, which for many Muslims is a minimum of five times a day.
"They had talked to a couple of our representatives," Hoppes said, "but you can't go into the middle of the contract and renegotiate those types of things. You've got a lot of different nationalities at the plant, a lot of different religious beliefs."
He said the company had tried to work with the Muslim employees, telling them: "'These are your break times. Can you fit it into that?'" But, Hoppes said, "if you take a hundred people out of that line, you gotta shut down the line. ... It's a real touchy subject."
McHugh said Swift's 15,000-member domestic workforce is "a diverse mix of ethnicities and religious faiths." He said Swift expects no significant setbacks from the resignations.
According to liberal Democrats, their loyal press and their mindless minions across the country, none of whom care about the facts, they were “elected” by Americans in 2006 for the purpose of “saving America” from those corrupt Republicans who have been busy “selling America” to lobbyists and foreign interests.
The problem with their story is, according to official Federal Election Commission reports, it isn’t supported by the hard facts. During the study years running from 1990 through 2006, here are the real facts concerning who is selling America for political contributions…
Liberals Say Republicans Are Owned By Lobbyists? Lawyers/Lobbyists topped the list of political investors in the United States giving a whopping $899,021,331, according to official Federal Election Commission reports. At odds with liberal lies on the subject, 69% of the nearly 1 billion dollars went to Democrats, with only 30% going to Republicans. Lawyers and lobbyists are clearly in Democrat pockets at a rate of 69% of total investment dollars.
Liberals Say That The Press Is Too Conservative? The Newspaper, Magazine and Book industry invested $71,255,043 during the same period and again, the facts tell us that 67% of total investment dollars from this group went to Democrats, while only 31% went to Republicans. The newspaper, magazine and book industry make up much of the industry we call “the media”. Clearly, “the media”, at least this portion, invests in Democrats at a rate of 67%.
Liberals Say That “The Media” Slants Right? We already studied Newspaper, Magazine and Book investments, which slant Democrat 67%. What about the electronic media, TV/Movies & Music? Again, we find that this is a highly politically engaged group, giving $201,603,054 during the study period and again, we find that 68% of these investment dollars went to Democrats while only 32% went to Republicans.
Liberals Never Want To Talk About Labor Union Contributions… That’s because during the study period, Labor Unions gave $586,258,242, second only to lawyers and lobbyists in total investment dollars and to no surprise, 92% went to Democrats while only 8% went to Republicans.
Liberals Run To Hollywood When In Need Of Cash… That’s because there is lots of cash in Hollywood and nearly every penny is invested in Democrats. During the study period, the Movie Production Industry gave $55,178,478 - 87% of which went to Democrats with only 13% going to Republicans.
The All-Time TOP TEN Political “Blue Chip Investors”… Of the all-time biggest political investors, referred to in political circles as the “Blue Chip Investors”, 5 of the 10 are unions, giving more than 90% of their funds to Democrats. 3 of the 10 are special interest industries, giving more than 80% to Democrats and 2 of the 10 tilt towards Republicans, giving about 60% to Republicans and 40% to Democrats. Combined, Democrats pick up more than 90% of the “Blue Chip” dollars…
Liberals Say That “Single Issue” Special Interests Own Republicans… There’s no doubt that so-called “single issue voters” are very politically active, giving $855,791,187 during the study period. But are they “partisan” slanted in their political giving? They gave 55% to Democrats and 45% to Republicans. But still, Democrats win this category too.
One “single issue group” deserves special attention. The Pro-Choice lobby, who gave
$14,528,235 – 80% to Democrats seems almost three times as committed to their agenda as the Pro-Life lobby, is to theirs, giving only $5,310,015 during the same period, 94% to Republicans.
No matter how you look at the hard facts, Democrats are the clear winners when it comes to ringing the special interest cash register. But somebody must be giving the Republicans money. Who is it?
Artificial blood made up of plastic molecules has been created by researchers at Sheffield University in the UK. The artificial blood is light to carry and, unlike blood plasma, does not need to be refrigerated. It also has a longer shelf life.
The new artificial blood consists of plastic molecules with an iron atom at their core; this allows it to simulate the oxygen-carrying hemoglobin in real red blood cells. Hemoglobin is the metalloprotein in red blood cells that transports oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body - like the muscles - where it releases its oxygen load.
Dr Lance Twyman, of the university's Department of Chemistry, said:
"We are very excited about the potential for this product and about the fact that this could save lives.
"Many people die from superficial wounds when they are trapped in an accident or are injured on the battlefield and can't get blood before they get to hospital.
"This product can be stored a lot more easily than blood, meaning large quantities could be carried easily by ambulances and the armed forces."
We've all seen this phrase in block letters: "REPORT SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY," followed by a 1-800 number. But if a House Democrat manages to kill a tipster-immunity measure under consideration in Congress this month, people who report suspicious behavior could be sued in civil court if the accused are not charged with a crime. November's frightened U.S. Airways "John Doe" passengers in Minneapolis are already in the crosshairs.
T he lawmaker in question is Bennie Thompson, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. He thinks that granting tipsters immunity amounts to racial and religious profiling. Yes, that's the Democrats' "homeland security" pointman in the House speaking.
F or two months, Mr. Thompson has deployed the profiling argument against this measure, tucked into the House transportation-security bill. The good news is that a bipartisan House majority already passed it 304-121 seven weeks ago. But sadly, Mr. Thompson is expected to strip it from the bill. He is expected to be the lead House negotiator in the coming weeks when the bill reaches conference committee, and if he is, he will have considerable sway over the final product.
M r. Thompson would stand alone among key homeland-security players, all of whom support immunity, if he blocks it. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, the Connecticut Democrat who chairs the Senate committee and ranking Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, both support it. So does Rep. Peter King, New York Republican, the ranking member in the House homeland-security committee.
H ow damaging it would be to leave tipsters on the hook; there could be few better ways to staunch the flow of information. Think of last week's Fort Dix tipster and ask yourself whether you would report suspicious behavior in a similar position.
T he cutting edge of this debate, the case of the anonymous U.S. Airways passengers in Minneapolis, is not encouraging. These passengers observed six imams refuse to sit in their assigned seats, request metal-bearing seatbelt extensions and speak loud condemnations of the United States. After frightened passengers reported this behavior, the imams were removed from the flight. Troublemakers are routinely removed for less. But the "John Does" were sued along with the airline and regulatory authorities.
L istening to Mr. Thompson's March 27 floor remarks, it's clear that he thinks an absence of legal charges against the accused means that the tipsters can be penalized in court. This shifts the precarious balance between liberty and security much too far in one direction.
T hink about this Catch-22 for a moment. The government encourages ordinary citizens to pass on potential terrorism information, as it should. But those citizens can now be sued if no charges are filed. One can literally be sued for reporting provocative behavior on an airline. We're clearly a long way from September 11. What a disgrace.
No response is more predictable than the reflexive squawk of the Greenhouse fearmongers that anyone questioning their claims is in the pay of the energy companies. A second, equally predictable retort contrasts the ever-diminishing number of agnostics to the growing legions of scientists now born again to the "truth" that anthropogenic CO2 is responsible for the earth's warming trend, the melting of the icecaps, the rising of the seas, the increase in hurricanes, the decline in penguin fertility and other horrors too numerous for individual citation.
Actually the energy companies have long since adapted to prevailing fantasies, dutifully reciting the whole catechism about carbon-neutrality, sniggering jovially over Tom Friedman's rapturous endorsement of "clean coal", repositioning themselves as eager pioneers in the search for virtuous alternative fuels, settling comfortably into new homes, such as British Petroleum's "Energy Biosciences Institute" on the UC Berkeley Campus, first fruit of a $500 million deal between the oil company and a campus whose founding family the Hearsts did after all make its pile in the mining business.
In fact, when it comes to corporate sponsorship of crackpot theories about why the world is getting warmer, the best documented conspiracy of interest is between the Greenhouser fearmongers and the nuclear industry, now largely owned by oil companies, whose prospects twenty years ago looked dark, amid headlines about the fall-out from Chernobyl, aging plants and nuclear waste dumps leaking from here to eternity. The apex Greenhouse fearmongers are well aware that the only exit from the imaginary crisis they have been sponsoring is through a door marked "nuclear power", with a servant's sidedoor labeled "clean coal". James Lovelock, the Rasputin of Gaia-dom, has said that "Nuclear power has an important contribution to make." (I refer those who rear back at the words "imaginary crisis" to my last column on this topic, where I emphasize that there is still zero empirical evidence that anthropogenic production of CO2 is making any measurable contribution to the world's present warming trend. The greenhouse fearmongers rely entirely on unverified, crudely oversimplified computer models to finger mankind's sinful contribution.) The world's best known hysteric and self promoter on the topic of man's physical and moral responsibility for global warming is Al Gore, a shill for the nuclear industry and the coal barons from the first day he stepped into Congress entrusted with the sacred duty to protect the budgetary and regulatory interests of the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Oakridge National Lab. White House "task forces" on climate change in the Clinton-Gore years were always well freighted by Gore and his adviser John Holdren with nukers like John Papay of Bechtel.
As a denizen of Washington since his diaper years Gore has always understood that threat inflation is the surest tool to plump up budgets and rabblerouse the voters. By the mid Nineties he positioned himself at the head of a strategic and tactical alliance formed around "the challenge of climate change", which had now stepped forward to take Communism's place in the threatosphere essential to all political life. Indeed, it was in the New Republic, a tireless publicist of the Soviet menace in the late 70s and Reagan 80s, that Gore announced in 1989 that the war on warming couldn't be won without a renewal in spiritual values.
Wow. And this guy has written for The Village Voice and Counterpunch?
Did he wake up, or is this just a preemptive "shot across the bow" from Hilaproxies?
"Sharon Labchuk is a longtime environmental activist and part-time organic beekeeper from Prince Edward Island. She has twice run for a seat in Ottawa's House of Commons, making strong showings around 5% for Canada's fledgling Green Party. She is also leader of the provincial wing of her party. In a widely circulated email, she wrote:
I'm on an organic beekeeping list of about 1,000 people, mostly Americans, and no one in the organic beekeeping world, including commercial beekeepers, is reporting colony collapse on this list. The problem with the big commercial guys is that they put pesticides in their hives to fumigate for varroa mites, and they feed antibiotics to the bees. They also haul the hives by truck all over the place to make more money with pollination services, which stresses the colonies.
Her email recommends a visit to the Bush Bees Web site at Here, Michael Bush felt compelled to put a message to the beekeeping world right on the top page:
Most of us beekeepers are fighting with the Varroa mites. I'm happy to say my biggest problems are things like trying to get nucs through the winter and coming up with hives that won't hurt my back from lifting or better ways to feed the bees.
This change from fighting the mites is mostly because I've gone to natural sized cells. In case you weren't aware, and I wasn't for a long time, the foundation in common usage results in much larger bees than what you would find in a natural hive. I've measured sections of natural worker brood comb that are 4.6mm in diameter. What most people use for worker brood is foundation that is 5.4mm in diameter. If you translate that into three dimensions instead of one, it produces a bee that is about half as large again as is natural. By letting the bees build natural sized cells, I have virtually eliminated my Varroa and Tracheal mite problems. One cause of this is shorter capping times by one day, and shorter post-capping times by one day. This means less Varroa get into the cells, and less Varroa reproduce in the cells.
Who should be surprised that the major media reports forget to tell us that the dying bees are actually hyper-bred varieties that we coax into a larger than normal body size? It sounds just like the beef industry. And, have we here a solution to the vanishing bee problem? Is it one that the CCD Working Group, or indeed, the scientific world at large, will support? Will media coverage affect government action in dealing with this issue?
These are important questions to ask. It is not an uncommonly held opinion that, although this new pattern of bee colony collapse seems to have struck from out of the blue (which suggests a triggering agent), it is likely that some biological limit in the bees has been crossed. There is no shortage of evidence that we have been fast approaching this limit for some time.
My great-aunt, mother of my late Uncle Harvey Goodman, was once named Mother of the Year in New Hampshire. She was the mother of 13 children, and despite the family's very limited financial resources, 12 of them made it to college and went on to be productive members of society. That's the kind of story that, in the good old days, the CBS Evening News might have featured on Mothers Day.
But times have changed. A lot. So where did the Evening News send video bouqets on its Mothers Day edition? The draft Al Gore movement, and growers of eco-friendly roses.
First up was a segment focusing on members of DraftGore.com. The reporter excitedly proclaimed that "their website boasts 70,000 signatures on its draft-Gore petition." We were informed that "the L.A. group meets once a month" at an outdoor market. Impressive! My favorite member was the one pictured here, Derek Bevil, looking like a young Gerard Depardieu. CBS reporter Bill Whitaker, after running footage of George H.W. calling Gore "Ozone Man," claimed that there's been "a big change since the days when he was mocked as a boring fanatic." Guess what, Bill? In the eyes of millions of Americans, Al remains a . . . boring fanatic. Enthused Whitaker: "he's so hot, he's cheered on one of the coolest shows on TV." Cut to clip of Al on the Daily Show.
Later, in the place of a traditional Mother's Day segment, we were treated to a piece on earth-friendly rose growing. Host Russ Mitchell introduced the piece: "and of course it's Mothers Day, the day florist live for, with Americans spending $2.3 billion on flowers for the moms in their lives. But with consumers more and more conscious of the environment than ever, the big new color in the floral industry is . . . green." Cut to reporter Anthony Mason who, after showing pretty shots of flowers, somberly informed us that "there's a less romantic side to all this beauty." Cue the CEO of something called "Organic Bouquet" who warned us "whether it's chemicals and how they affect the environment, or how the farm workers are treated, or the ecology of the farms, there's just a whole lot of issues with flowers." What a Mother's Day downer!
Then it was on to footage of an enlightened guy, an Ecuadorian flower grower. "We really believe in doing good for the planet, and doing good for the people who work for us." Mason proudly informed us that the grower's got "more organic and more fair trade certifications than any grower on the continent."
Great. But on Mother's Day, rather than Al Gore and organic farming, couldn't CBS have found some time to celebrate . . . mothers?
By Nate Anderson | Published: May 07, 2007 - 01:48PM CT
Verizon is one of the phone companies currently being sued over its alleged disclosure of customer phone records to the NSA. In a response to the court last week, the company asked for the entire consolidated case against it to be thrown out—on free speech grounds.
The response also alleges that the case should be thrown out because even looking into the issue could violate state secrets, of course, but a much longer section of the response tries to make the case that Verizon has a First Amendment right to "petition" the government. "Based on plaintiffs' own allegations, defendants' right to communicate such information to the government is fully protected by the Free Speech and Petition Clauses of the First Amendment," argue Verizon's lawyers.
Essentially, the argument is that turning over truthful information to the government is free speech, and the EFF and ACLU can't do anything about it. In fact, Verizon basically argues that the entire lawsuit is a giant SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) suit, and that the case is an attempt to deter the company from exercising its First Amendment right to turn over customer calling information to government security services.
"Communicating facts to the government is protected petitioning activity," says the response, even when the communication of those facts would normally be illegal or would violate a company's owner promises to its customers. Verizon argues that, if the EFF and other groups have concerns about customer call records, the only proper remedy "is to impose restrictions on the government, not on the speaker's right to communicate."
With all of the phone company cases consolidated into one master case, Verizon is hoping to have the case thrown out on free-speech grounds, putting an end to its legal troubles over the issue. Should it fail, the Bush administration is already preparing to ask Congress for retroactive immunity for all telecommunications companies that assisted the government after September 11, 2001. The government is also fighting hard in court on behalf of the phone companies, filing repeated briefs which claim that "state secrets" trump even the legality of the alleged security programs.
The ban was approved by a vote of 68 percent to 32 percent in final, unofficial returns.
The balloting marked the first public vote on a local government measure to crack down on illegal immigration.
"It says especially to Congress that we're tired of the out-of-control illegal immigration problem. That if Congress doesn't do something about it, cities will," said Tim O'Hare, a City Council member who was the ordinance's lead proponent.
The ordinance requires apartment managers to verify that renters are U.S. citizens or legal immigrants before leasing to them, with some exceptions.
Property managers or owners who break the rule face a misdemeanor charge punishable by a fine of up to $500.
Council members approved the ordinance in November, then revised it in January to include exemptions for minors, seniors and some families with a mix of legal residents and illegal immigrants.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. investigators found shuttered factories when they arrived at the Chinese food processors blamed for putting the chemical melamine into vegetable proteins shipped to America, officials said on Thursday.
The proteins were used in feed for pets, hogs, poultry and fish. All the suspect products have been traced to two makers in China, U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials said during a news conference.
"We visited the two facilities and there is essentially nothing to be found because they are closed down," said Walter Batts, head of FDA's office of international investigations. An FDA team has been in China since April 30.
"Nothing is available to be seen at the facilities. They were closed down, machinery dismantled," said Batts.
Chinese officials did obtain samples at the facilities in April and sent them to an independent laboratory for testing, he said. "We assume we will have access to those when the results are ready."
FDA said it received "extensive cooperation" from China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine but also noted the agency had "limited authority" over the processors. Officials said they were satisfied the agency shared its information with FDA.
The FDA investigators are scheduled to return to the United States next week.
Separately, two senior Democrats in Congress asked U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab in a letter whether the United States can challenge the food rules of other nations "based on evidence they are not meeting international standards and may be endangering public health in the United States.
China shipped $2.3 billion in agricultural products to the United States in 2006.
Skretting Co., based in Vancouver, Canada, announced a recall of fish feed that may contain the industrial chemical. The feed was shipped to at least seven fish hatcheries in the U.S. Northwest. A sample taken from a hatchery in Oregon tested positive for melamine.
Two commercial fish farms will be checked to see if they got fish feed containing melamine, said FDA. The agency was tracing how much of the feed was distributed and how widely.
"Humans who may have eaten fish containing the melamine-contaminated fish feed have a very low health risk," said Dr. David Acheson, assistant FDA commissioner for food protection.
Another FDA official, Stephen Sundlof, said melamine is "very water soluble" and is flushed from animals quickly. As a result, it was unlikely to accumulate in muscle meat, he said.
Scientists are conducting an exposure assessment as part of deciding what to do with hogs and chickens that are being held on a number of farms.
The FDA has restricted imports of all vegetable proteins from China and is not releasing the material until shippers provide documentation of tests showing the protein to be free of melamine, Acheson said.
The agency also is testing all imports of pet food from China for melamine contamination, and plans to begin sampling imports of fish feed from China soon, he said.
In the United States, the FDA is visiting manufacturers and processors who use vegetable protein concentrates to sample for melamine contamination. It also is doing some targeted sampling of domestically made human food, he said.
The FDA also confirmed that a second U.S. company, which it said was based in Illinois, was found to be distributing the same contaminated material as ChemNutra.
Lovely. Anyone surprised?
I'm sure CNN, CNBC, DailyKos, and Democratic Underground will be ALL over this.
Hector Velazquez-Nava, the driver accused of causing the crash that killed movie director Bob Clark and his son, pleaded not guilty today to a pair of counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.
He remains in custody at Van Nuys Jail with bail set at $200,000, said Jane Robison, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office.
Velazquez-Nava, 24, had a blood alcohol level three times the legal limit when the crash occurred early Wednesday on Pacific Coast Highway, police said. He is a native of Mexico who federal authorities said was in the U.S. illegally.
The crash killed Clark, the director of "A Christmas Story" and the "Porky's" movies, and his son Ariel, 22.
Velazquez-Nava suffered minor injuries in the accident.
The high-speed collision left the mangled vehicles about 100 feet apart amid a long trail of debris, including parts of wheels, undercarriages and axles.
The passenger sides of both vehicles sustained the heaviest damage, indicating that Velazquez-Nava may have swerved toward the ocean and Clark the opposite way as they collided at high speed.
Velazquez-Nava had a blood alcohol level of 0.24 percent, three times the 0.08 legal limit for driving. There was no evidence the Clarks had been drinking, police said.
Velazquez-Nava does not have documentation of legal U.S. residency, nor does he appear to have ever had a U.S. driver's license, authorities said.
Velazquez-Nava lives in Los Angeles, but little other information was available. He told authorities that he was on his way from Hollywood to West Covina when he crashed, although he was traveling in the opposite direction.
Law enforcement sources said Velazquez-Nava pleaded guilty in 2005 in Los Angeles to a prostitution-related charge and was sentenced to two years' probation. He could face at least four to 10 years imprisonment if convicted of vehicular manslaughter.
NUECES COUNTY - A Nueces County jury reached a guilty verdict at about 5 p.m. in the trial of an illegal immigrant who's accused of raping an elderly woman in her Annaville home. Testimony wrapped up with emotional appeals to the jury from the prosecution and defense.
The jury deliberated for about two hours after hearing emotional closing arguments from the prosecution, who described the agonizing ordeal the victim lived through - so painful, she thought she thought she was dying.
"Terrible, brutal, vicious, inhuman, you could say these were acts committed by an animal," Prosecutor Bill Ainsworth said.
Ainsworth described how 22-year-old Eugenio Sandoval brutally raped a 64-year-old woman. The victim sat behind her alleged attacker as Ainsworth tried to convince the jury to find him guilty.
"I don't think your going to have any doubt or any problem coming to the conclusion, to the poor victim in this case," he said.
Ainsworth reminded the jury that Sandoval's skin cells were found on a bra that was used to tie the woman to her bed during the horrific ordeal.
"She was punched in the face; she was urinated on, and was brutally raped," Ainsworth said. "Every way that someone could be raped."
Sandoval's attorney said Sandoval admitted to breaking into the woman's home, but denied raping the woman, and burglarizing her home. He told the jury that there isn't enough evidence for a guilty verdict.
Sandoval's attorney said another man who was with him that night committed the rape.
"I use the word to describe my client as a sacrificial lamb," Defense attorney Jim Lawrence said. "That's what we have here."
But the jury felt Sandoval was guilty on all charges. The punishment phase of the trial begins Thursday. He now faces as much as life in prison.
STOCKHOLM, Sweden - A soccer game between Muslim imams and Christian priests at the end of a conference to promote interfaith dialogue was canceled Saturday because the teams could not agree on whether women priests should take part.
Church of Norway spokesman Olav Fykse Tveit said the imams refused to play against a mixed-gender team of priests because it would have gone against their beliefs in avoiding close physical contact with strange women.
The church decided to drop its female players and the priests’ team captain walked out in protest.
Hours before the game was to end the day long “Shoulder to Shoulder” conference in Oslo, the church released a statement saying it had called off the match because it was sending the wrong signal.
Palestinian militants opened fire at a sports day at a United Nations-operated elementary school in the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday, killing a bodyguard of a local Fatah leader and wounding seven other people, medical officials said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility. But Muslim extremists had earlier visited the al-Amareya primary school in Rafah, warning authorities not to hold the event, UN and security officials said.
Local residents said the gunmen, whom they described as Muslim extremists, arrived at the school and warned through loudspeakers against letting boys and girls participate in the sports day.
The gunmen said the event “taught children immoral values.”
Violence and murder, on the other hand, are perfectly acceptable.
(Hat tip: LGF readers.)
UPDATE at 5/6/07 9:33:35 am:
Associated Press Palestinian propagandist Ibrahim Barzak covers up the reason for the shooting:
It was not clear why the extremists objected to the event at the school in the town of Rafah, or whether they were behind the shooting, the officials said. The gunmen were masked, making identification difficult, security officials said.
They warned the school through loudspeakers that allowing boys and girls to mix was “immoral,” but the Associated (with terrorists) Press still does their best to hide it.
Lately, I have no interest in turning on the television.
Not because of the fact that I couldn't care less about Anna Nicole Smith or to see which new celebrity has checked into rehab or shaved her head. It's not even the ongoing war between the Democrats and Republicans or the double-sided free speech issues.
What nauseates me even more than all of that is to turn on the TV or open a newspaper to read or hear people criticizing the men and women who volunteer in the military and defending radical Islamic terrorists. I'm not in the group that believes if you're antiwar then you're anti-American or less patriotic. I also fully believe in the ultimate right to free speech. But let's have a little accountability for what we're hearing from many mainstream media outlets.
You've got Bill Arkin, who's employed by NBC (the same company that fired Don Imus for his racial remarks), calling the troops stupid pawns of the government and mercenaries who serve only because of the obscene amenities we're sending. I guess he's referring to the baby wipes we send or the packs of chewing gum that make for a satisfying meal.
For weeks, we've had the constitutional scholar Rosie O'Donnell insinuating 9/11 was an inside job while defending Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who is proudly claiming to be the mastermind behind those attacks. He also says he decapitated Daniel Pearl with his own hands. Thankfully, this poor man has Rosie there to offer excuses for Islamic fanatics who blow up innocent people in pizza parlors. She claims he was coerced by the U.S. government while she continually misquotes the Patriot Act and the Geneva Convention.
You've got John Murtha, whose plan to cut funding is cleverly drawn as a measure to protect the troops. According to the Congressional Research Service, this would be the first time Congress has ever voted to cut funding during actual war operations. In the cases of Vietnam and Somalia, cuts were voted after U.S. forces already had resumed home to prevent them from going back. This is the same man who accepted the "Pink Badge of Courage" award from the war protest group "Code Pink" that last year raised over $600,000 to send aid to terrorists in Fallujah. Not to mention his "cold blooded" judgment involving a Marine unit at Haditha that was spoken prior to investigation, charges or trial - unleashing uproar both in and out of the military.
I've heard far more outrage from those on the left regarding naked prisoners standing in front of female soldiers than I have heard about videotaped beheadings of innocent civilians. Any civilized human should be offended by what happened at Abu Ghraib but many in the mainstream media saw it as another opportunity to reveal America as depraved and dishonorable rather than as a tragedy.
If you think Abu Ghraib was worse than Nicholas Berg, Daniel Pearl or the American contractors burned, mutilated and drug through the street to the chanting of anti-U.S. slogans then you need to get your head checked. In the words of Dennis Miller, "After seeing people begging for their lives before getting their heads cut off, the guys at Abu Ghraib look like nothing more than a "Boys Gone Wild" video."
I had a great-great-great-grandfa ther who served in the Civil War, a cousin who was shot down and killed in a B-17 bomber over Germany in World War II, two grandfathers, uncles and cousins who have served in Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm and Iraq. On Oct. 23, 1983, my cousin, Lance Cpl. Russell E. Cyzick, was killed when the Marine barracks in Beirut were bombed by Hezbollah group that's still spreading terrorism throughout the Middle East. My relatives served with dignity and honor, as so many do today.
Yes, there are a few in our military who committed unthinkable atrocities and they should be exposed and punished accordingly. But these instances are an exception, not the rule, and they should not be used as tools to spread propaganda that misrepresents the millions who have served and are still serving their country with good and noble intentions. Thankfully, this is not the majority, just the most vocal that we're hearing.
I'm not claiming to know what the answer is for Iraq. I am, however, not so feebleminded that I would think that giving comfort and aid to the enemy is the solution. Regardless of our opinion of the war and the president, it's our responsibility to express our gratitude and respect for all who are serving or have served to protect our freedom. If Rosie, Bill Arkin and Murtha don't want to stand behind our troops, they should do America a favor and stand in front of them.
The construction of minarets in Switzerland looks sets to go to a nationwide vote after a group of rightwing politicians launched a campaign calling for a ban.
The country's Muslim community says it is stunned by what it sees as an "Islamophobic" move, which it warns will undermine already fragile relations.
Those behind a people's initiative, who include members of the county's biggest political party, the Swiss People's Party, have until November 2008 to raise the 100,000 signatures required to force a ballot.
Opponents are angling their attack on article 72 of the Swiss constitution, which allows the authorities to take appropriate measures to maintain the peace among different religious communities.
People's Party parliamentarian Ulrich Schlüer, who is co-president of the campaign committee, argues that the construction of minarets will create problems in communities and threaten the peace.
This has already happened in cantons Solothurn and Bern where plans to build minarets have run into local opposition.
"The minaret has nothing to do with religion: it is not mentioned in the Koran or other important Islamic texts. It just symbolises a place where Islamic law is established," Schlüer told swissinfo.
Islamic law
And it is this issue of Islamic law, and its so-called "incompatibility&quo t; with Swiss law, that lies at the root of rightwingers' complaints about minarets.
"No one in the [People's Party] is anti-Muslim. I think all Muslims in Switzerland are free to live here, but they have to respect that we have western-oriented liberal laws and that these laws are valid for everyone who wants to live here," said Schlüer.
He added that he had yet to receive the official backing of his party, but believes this will be forthcoming at its general assembly at the end of June when strategy will be fine-tuned ahead of October's parliamentary elections.
The rightwing drive to force a nationwide vote on minarets is being seen as a major setback by the League of Swiss Muslims. Adel Méjri, the organisation's president, says the construction of minarets is not even a priority for Swiss Muslims.
"As an organisation that is helping Muslims to integrate and become model citizens, we are shocked by this initiative," he said.
"In our opinion, there are other far more important issues to address but the launching of this initiative blocks the possibility of dialogue."
What particularly galls Méjri is the fact that at the end of March the Swiss justice minister and strongman of the People's Party, Christoph Blocher, invited around 20 members of the Muslim community for talks on integration and security.
Jeeze. How bad is it that the SWISS are pissed off?
After reading about the melamine contaminated wheat gluten, and ChemNutra’s deflecting responses on your web site, I found the remarks to be disingenuous, self-serving, and misleading at best. I felt that I had to respond and address several of these (mis)statements directly.
On this point from the FAQ: “Less than 25% of the United States’ wheat gluten needs can be supplied domestically”
The simple reason for this is that cheap imports from China and other countries have driven most US manufacturers of wheat gluten out of business. The same thing has happened to Vitamin C. All Vitamin C used in the United States is imported, due to the cheap imports (including China) running all US manufacturers out of the business.
How about: “…ChemNutra was a victim in this situation.”
ChemNutra is not a victim, and claiming something does not make it so. The whole victimhood cry is a charade designed to shield you from responsibility and garner sympathy. The people at ChemNutra are far from stupid, and seem to have a good understanding of how business is conducted in China, and that includes the routine and systematic adulteration of food and food ingredients. I would think an Attorney and a Chinese Food Engineer have heard of this happening before in China.
This is a nice dodge here: “Ingredient testing isn’t like on CSI, where you pop in one sample and it tells you every chemical in it.”
Whether it is Urea, Melamine, or Plutonium, it falls to ChemNutra and any other food ingredient importer to “do a CSI” and find out what, exactly, is in a bag marked “Wheat Gluten”. In the US, and many other countries, traceability standards are the rule, not the exception. The rule of law in the US will make sure any transgressors face justice. While ChemNutra cannot control what a particular Chinese supplier does, ChemNutra, as a customer, does have influence in how things are done. ChemNutra could have insisted certain standards be followed, to provide this traceability, and ultimately the quality that our food deserves.
These two deserve a response: “Wheat gluten was the only product we purchased from XuZhou Anying.” and “We currently sell only nine eight ingredients.”
Your stampede to shove your Chinese supplier under the bus only displays your desperation in this matter. The buck stops at the shoreline, and that means it stops with ChemNutra. You have demonstrated blatant disregard for not only what is legal, but what is right. I am sure that an Attorney (even one running this company) can see that ChemNutra has a significant liability here.
The tainted products that ChemNutra and only ChemNutra imported have found their way into hogs and chickens, one small step away from the human food chain. Those hog and chicken farmers are going to want someone to compensate them for their significant losses. I doubt that XuZhou Anying will be cracking open their wallet you. I pray for your sake that no Humans ingested livestock tainted with adulterated food. That would give the word “Prison” a much more personal meaning.
In the end, it is all about the money.
While profit is important to every company and ChemNutra is no exception, quality always sufferers when profits are squeezed.
Let’s face it; profit is the sole reason that the melamine was introduced in the first place. The wheat gluten had to pass a test in order to be sold for a high enough price to make the margins for XuZhou Anying.
As anyone who has been there knows. when your neck is on the line, you will be willing to take risks that you would normally shy away from. Besides, the Wheat gluten will be exported anyway, right?
Perhaps if ChemNutra had been willing to pay a couple of dollars’ more for each bag of wheat gluten, to help ensure that your supplier makes his spread, and ships you a clean product. Perhaps you failed to consider that if the price is too good to be true, then perhaps it is junk?
Since you are located in Las Vegas, I would recommend that the Principals take their money earned by selling poison masquerading as food to the strip, and place a huge bet whether ChemNutra can survive as an on-going concern.
The proper place to put the money is the “Don’t Pass” line.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- American soldiers discovered a girls school being built north of Baghdad had become an explosives-rigged "death trap," the U.S. military said Thursday.
The plot at the Huda Girls' school in Tarmiya was a "sophisticated and premeditated attempt to inflict massive casualties on our most innocent victims," military spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said.
The military suspects the plot was the work of al Qaeda, because of its nature and sophistication, Caldwell said in an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer.
The plot was uncovered Saturday, when troopers in the Salaheddin province found detonating wire across the street from the school. They picked up the wire and followed its trail, which led to the school. Once inside, they found an explosive-filled propane tank buried beneath the floor. There were artillery shells built into the ceiling and floor, and another propane tank was found, the military said.
The wire was concealed with mortar and concrete, and the propane tanks had been covered with brick and hidden underneath the floor, according to a military statement. Soldiers were able to clear the building.
"It was truly just an incredibly ugly, dirty kind of vicious killing that would have gone on here," Caldwell said.
Iraqi contractors were responsible for building the school, which was intended to bring in hundreds of girls.
"Given the care and work put into emplacing this IED, it is likely it had been planned for a long time" and it is thought that "the IED was not intended to be set off until the building was occupied," the military said.
Authorities intend to question the Iraqis involved in the school's construction.
3 May 2007: In the HQ INTEL-ALERT Private Intelligence Report issued on February 4, 2007, we reported extensively about Muslim men inside the U.S., adhering to the Islamist ideology of jihad, preparing for war on the streets of America. The “insider” reports are very troubling and are purposely being downplayed by official sources and go largely unreported in the media. One case, however, can serve as an example of what is taking place all across the U.S. involving the procurement and disbursement of weapons to Muslim "jihadists." On Tuesday, May 2, 2007, a federal indictment was unsealed in the U.S. federal court in St. Louis naming eight Islamic men as defendants in a case involving the buying, selling or hiding of automatic weapons, an anti-personnel mine and other explosives.
The case originated with the arrest of Mousa M. ABUELAWI, 22, of Creve Coeur, MO on December 29, 2006. He was charged with three counts of illegal possession or distribution of a machine gun and conspiracy to violate machine gun statutes. A superseding indictment unsealed yesterday, charges ABUELAWI and seven others with machine gun charges and charges of conspiracy, lying to the FBI and other firearms violations. The other seven defendants identified in the indictment are identified as: Thaer Abde SUMAD, 23, of Florissant, MO, Abdikarin WARSAME, 28, Charley M. HUNT Jr., 45, Darnell T. THORNTON, 25, and Hussein Ali NURE, 29, all from Jennings, MO, Mohamed JUDEH, 20, of Maryland Heights and Otha L. BAKER, 20, of St. Louis. If found guilty of the charges, the men face 5-10 years in prison.
As we reported last February, the more important aspect of this matter involves the stockpiling of weapons, including significant explosives, by core groups of Islamic terror cells inside the U.S. According to our investigation, these types of incidents are on the rise, but are being downplayed by federal officials and the media. A law enforcement source interviewed for our newsletter report stated: "Public information officers or spokesmen for law enforcement agencies are purposely downplaying and in some cases, lying outright to the public about arrests of Muslims in the U.S.," stated one federal law enforcement official during our discussion last week. "We have been told what to say and just as important, what not to say, and warned not to deviate from that ‘template.'"
"We are discovering more and more trafficking in arms and even explosives, the stuff you see in the Middle East. These are the kind of things I saw after my stint in Desert Storm, when I was coming back and would see actual open-air markets where you could buy just about anything."
This source agreed that the men involved in what has become known as the "paintball jihad" case are good examples of activities by Muslim men in the U.S. that is on the rise. In addition to buying weapons and whatever else they can get their hands on, they are practicing urban combat. Since it has become more difficult for them to leave the country or train with actual weapons, they will get together and train using paintball guns. They will engage in paramilitary-style training right under our noses, and lie about it to our faces. They are protected, in some cases, by the religious Imams, some who even encourage or schedule such outings.
"We’re talking about professional Muslim men, mosque leaders, leaders within our communities who are actually helping young men train for the eventuality of urban combat. They know what they are doing, yet they lie right to our faces about these activities… and we’re told by our supervisors that we have to accept what they tell us at face value when they know damn well they are lying." This federal official also added that they have to be cautious about what they write (in terms of reports, investigative files), and are told to write them as if they would be given to the local mosque. "In some cases, I think they are [showing Muslim leaders sensitive files]."
In the case of ABUELAWI and the other seven defendants, the men met at gas stations located in north St. Louis between August 2006 and January 2007 to buy or transfer automatic weapons and explosives. In the original documents charging Abuelawi, Sumad is quoted in a meeting with ABUELAWI and a government informer as saying that "he wants to buy as many explosives as possible because, 'we're going to war.'"
(IsraelNN.com) In a televised address to a packed mosque, the Acting Speaker of the Palestinian Authority's Legislative Council called for the killing of every last Jew and American. His speech and murderous prayer were delivered in an unidentified packed mosque and broadcast on an official PA-controlled television station.
According to a recording and transcript of the April 20th broadcast, translated and provided by Palestinian Media Watch, PLC Acting Speaker Ahmed Bahr called the Jews "the cancerous lump... in the heart of the Arab nation." He predicted that "America is on its way to disappear. America is wallowing [in blood] today in Iraq and Afghanistan. America is defeated and Israel is defeated, and was defeated, in Lebanon and Palestine." Adopting the open-palmed gesture of Islamic prayer, as did his audience, the PA official intoned: "Allah, take hold of the Jews and their allies, Allah, take hold of the Americans and their allies.... Allah, count them and kill them to the last one and don't leave even one."
sZones+=",17";sIDs+=",InC ontentAd" This is not Bahr's first appeal for genocide of the Jews and Americans. Just one week earlier, on April 13th, Sudan television broadcast a fiery sermon delivered by the PA legislator in a Sudanese mosque. At the conclusion of his remarks, the Sudanese worshipers opened their palms in supplication and Bahr prayed:
"Oh Allah, vanquish the Jews and their supporters. Oh Allah, vanquish the Americans and their supporters. Oh Allah, count their numbers, and kill them all, down to the very last one. Oh Allah, show them a day of darkness. Oh Allah, who sent down His Book, the mover of the clouds, who defeated the enemies of the Prophet – defeat the Jews and the Americans, and bring us victory over them."
According to the translated transcript and video of the Sudan speech, provided by the Middle East Media Research Institute, Bahr called Muslims "the masters of the world" and predicted, as he did in the PA mosque the following week, that "America and Israel will be annihilated, Allah willing."
Jews and Americans, the PA official declared, citing "the Book of Allah," are "cowards, who are eager for life, while we are eager for death for the sake of Allah."
Firmly swearing that terrorism against Israelis will continue, Bahr said, "Our Jihad-fighting Palestinian people salutes its brother, Sudan." The PA official appeared on the Sudanese television even as Muslim fundamentalists and Arab nationalists in Sudan are engaged in a war of extreme violence against Black Africans of all religions in the Darfur region.
Yep. Folks just like us. Be sure to watch the video at the link.
