Finders of the Lost Ark?

Here is an interesting, if improbable, story from ABC News suggesting that Noah`s Ark has been found:


June 29) - A team of Texas archaeologists believe they may have located the remains of Noah's Ark in Iran's Elburz mountain range.

I can't imagine what it could be if it is not the Ark," said Arch Bonnema of the Bible Archaeology Search and Exploration (B.A.S.E) Institute, a Christian archeology organization dedicated to looking for biblical artifacts.

Bonnema and the other B.A.S.E. Institute members hiked for seven hours in the mountains northwest of Tehran, climbing 13,000 feet before making the apparent discovery.

"We got up to this object, nestled in the side of a hill," said Robert Cornuke, a member of the B.A.S.E. Institute. "We found something that has my heart skipping a beat."

At first, they didn't dare to hope it was the biblical boat.

"It wasn't impressive at first," Cornuke said. "Certainly didn't think it to be Noah's Ark. But when we got close, we were amazed. It looked similar to wood."

In addition, some B.A.SE. members say, their discovery didn't look very distinctive.

"It looked like the deck of any boat today," Bonnema said.


Long Search for the Ark

The Bible places the Ark in the mountains of Ararat, a mountain range theologians believe spans hundreds of miles, which the team says is consistent with their find in Iran.

The Bible also describes the Ark's dimensions as being 300 cubits by 50 cubits -- about the size of a small aircraft carrier. The B.A.S.E. Institute's discovery is similar in size and scale.

"It is provocative to think that this could be the lost ark of Noah," Cornuke said

Throughout history, people have been searching for the Ark to help prove God's existence.

"There's this idea, if we can prove that the ark existed then we can prove that the story existed, and more importantly, we can prove that God existed," said Bruce Feiler, author of "Where God Was Born."

Previous scholars have searched for the Ark on Mount Ararat in Turkey.

"Czar Nicholas, actually, in 1916 sent two expeditions to photograph it on top of Mount Ararat," said Feiler.

One former U.S. president, Feiler said, looked for it in the mountains of Iran.

"There is a story that Jimmy Carter, on his way to visit the Shah of Iran in 1977, purposefully flew over it," he said.

As recently as March, researcher claimed to have satellite photos that proved the presence of Ark remains. The B.A.S.E institute hopes the physical evidence they've brought back from Iran will hold the answer to this enduring mystery.

"People will always be looking for it, always be skeptical, always be excited of the search," Cornuke said. "But I think we found something here that's very notable."

The B.A.S.E. Institute's samples are being examined at labs in Texas and Florida. B.A.S.E officials concede that there would be no way to conclusively prove that their finding is actually Noah's Ark.

So the hunt goes on. The biggest hurdle in identifying Noah's Ark comes down to "gopher wood." The Bible says the Ark was made of gopher wood but no one knows what it is.

ABC News' Chris Cuomo reported this story for "Good Morning America.

Church Takes Stand Against Fetal-Stem Cell Research

It`s about time!


The Vatican (LifeNews.com) -- The Catholic Church restated its opposition to embryonic stem cell research on Wednesday saying it plans to excommunicate scientists who conduct it because it involves the destruction of human life. Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo made the comments to an Italain Christian magazine.

Trujillo, head of the Vatican department dealing with family affairs, said the church believes embryonic stem cell research is as bad as abortion.
Cardinal Trujillo told Catholic publication Famiglia Cristiana that "destroying human embryos is equivalent to an abortion ... it's the same thing."

He said the church is worried that "certain crimes" are being treated as if they had "become rights." Trujillo also said the Catholic Church is concerned that international groups and some countries are regarding the speaking out against abortion and embryonic stem cell research as a crime or against women.

"[E]ven talking about the defense of life and family rights is being treated as a sort of crime against the state in some countries -- a form of social disobedience or discrimination against women," he explained.

Elaborating on the excommunication, he said the warning "applies to all women, doctors and researchers who eliminate embryos."

Pope Benedict XVI issued a strong condemnation of embryonic stem cell research at a mass at a local church in the Vatican in February. He said people wrongly believe that they are the master of life when life depends on God.
"Man is not the owner of life, but the custodian and caretaker," he explained, adding that there are two schools of thought on how to value human life.

"One maintains that human life is in the hands of man, and the other recognizes that it is in God's hands," he said. The other, based on Christian views, respects human life and human rights.

"When God is not present, man is not respected," the pontiff explained.

Atheism, Philosophy, and Islam

Our friend Brandon from over at Enemies Foreign and Domestic has a thought-provoking piece on philosophy and religion. Be sure to check it out!

Also, don`t miss his piece on the Arabs before Islam; a worthy read!

Burning Anger and Flagging Spirits

The flag burning amendment fell short by one vote, so this issue will again be pushed to the future. There is an endless argument (even among conservatives) about the proper course to take regarding this, and we`ll never act in any fashion without a consensus on the right. What course should we take?

On one side of this issue are the liberals, the civil libertarians, and some traditional conservatives who oppose making new laws against burning Old Glory. This side believes in the right to be offensive, and that the symbolism of the flag does not merit the real exercise of governmental authority to punish real people. America is nothing, the thinking goes, if not about the right to act as one chooses provided no-one else is injured by your behavior, and a law against flag burning is tantamount to a law against free speech or the free exercise of religion.

On the other side of the debate are the traditional conservatives, the Reagan Democrats, the working class not so Reagan Democrats, etc. who believe that flag burning is an act of utter disrespect for the Republic, and should be punished. This view says that the burning of the flag is equivalent to shouting ``fire`` in a crowded theater-it is an act of Mayhem which indeed DOES injure other Americans, and as a result should be punishable by law. We punish vandalism, don`t we? We punish people for rowdiness, driving too fast, public drunkenness, public urination, etc. According to this line of reasoning, there is no sensible argument against punishing flag-burning.

Rush Limbaugh has been arguing that the matter is an attempt to rebalance the branches of government, and that the movement for a flag-burning amendment is a matter of redress via Constitutional means. Rush thinks this is a matter for Federalism, and that the Constitution should be amended so as to put the regulation of flag burning into State, rather than Federal, hands. He may be right, but I would prefer this rebalancing to be done for something more serious-abortion, perhaps.

Also, I don`t like the precedent set here; if we start amending the Constitution to repair the damage done by liberal activist judges, where do we stop? Do we create a Bill of Wrongs, a series of amendments to circumvent judicial myopia and overreach? The Constitution will grow ponderously large, and will start to resemble that Frankenstein`s monster the E.U. put together!

I hold a middle ground view on this issue; I believe that Americans (not foreigners in this country) have a free-speech right to burn the flag (just as southern-Americans have a free speech right to wave the Confederate battle flag) but that there are some serious caveats. I believe that, if done in a large enough crowd, it should be punishable under mayhem statutes-especially if it incites violence. I further believe that it should not be permissible on public grounds (since we ALL pay for those grounds)and that fire statutes should apply. Finally, I offer you this; the United States Supreme Court has ruled that assault is permissible under certain circumstances. There are ``fighting words``, exercises of free speech designed to enrage. Racial epithets, for example, have been ruled to be fighting words. This leads to justifiable assault, and the party to be charged in such a case is the provocateur, not the enraged assaulter.

Flag burning is an example of ``fighting words`` if ever than were one. By showing such contempt for the nation which guarantees their rights to be jackasses, the flag burner has lost, in my opinion, the right to protection by the law, and should a flag burner be assaulted THEY should be the ones charged with a crime-not the justifiably infuriated bystander.

How many flags will be burned if angry mobs impose justice? I suspect the courage of the anti-American creeps will quickly evaporate. None of this requires amending the Constitution, or creating new laws-except to clear the way for the implementation of the Supreme Court`s own ruling.

Of course, the Left will fight this tooth-and-nail, and will fall back on their old glory days, comparing it to lynching and vigilantism. (What the Left has failed to mention is that lynching and vigilantism started because of repressive and corrupt government which forced the post-Civil War society to act against evil men, since Northern policy was to punish the South by giving criminals a pass. Only later did it become a tool of repression.) It would be a fine joke on those old Lefties to use their own positions against them.

I don`t expect my proposal to be advocated by anyone in a position to advance it, however, and so my middle-course will doubtlessly fade into that good night. We`re going to have this argument for a long, long time to come, I fear.

The More Things El Change`

It appears the next government of Mexico will offer more of the same regarding the policy of invading the United States.

From the Evans-Novak Report:

Mexico: Chavez's influence is felt here as well. If the center-right PAN party candidate Felipe Calderon becomes President of Mexico after the July 2 election, he can probably thank Chavez's endorsement of his opponent, as well as his own smart negative campaigning and his ally, President Vicente Fox (PAN). The idea that President Bush, by holding forth the possibility of immigration reform for so long, has helped Calderon is somewhat shaky, very complicated and, perhaps, even conspiratorial.

Mexico has exported millions of its workers to the United States through illegal immigration, and illegal aliens in the States sent home $20 billion in remittances last year. That money keeps much of rural Mexico from disappearing. Mexicans, looking for a leader who will work with Bush for an immigration amnesty, could choose Calderon over his left-wing opponent, Manuel Lopez Obrador (PRD). But there is little reason to believe that Obrador would be less zealous or less willing to work with Bush.

Obrador, who holds a narrow lead in the polls, does not exactly welcome the Chavez endorsement. Whoever wins, he is expected to clean up and modernize Mexico's petroleum industry -- a vital step to improve the nation's economy and the Western hemisphere's oil outlook.

A Hero May Not Be What He Seems

One never knows about the information floating around on the internet; there are so many sources, so many voices, that you can never be sure about the validity of a story, or expect to form a complete picture. As a result, we catch mere glimpses of things, and often do not see the reality behind them.

This may be the case with a story I recently posted from the Federalist Patriot; I posted a piece about a retired NYC policeman who entered a secure building using a fake Mexican Matricular card. The retired policeman has been lionized as a hero, and our security proceedures have been shown to be incompetent.

The only thing is, all may not be as it seems; I received an anonymous tip (I felt like Carl Bernstein) suggesting that this cop may not be on the up-and-up. My source warned that he is a rapid anti-Bush man who may have staged this whole affair to embarass the Administration! According to my source, Bruce DeCell was a corrupt officer and bad egg who has been pandering to the press, and who may be seeking some sort of political plum from the Democrats in return for a successful ``operation``.

Time will tell; if we see this affair demagogued, or if Officer DeCell turns up elsewhere, we will be able to decide if he is hero or villain. I hate to base my judgements of a man on the word of one individual, but sometimes one individual is the only voice of sanity. We must be wary.

Keep watching-time will tell.

Killing `Em with Kindness

The United States, by allowing the influx of poor Mexican workers, is clearly underwriting Mexican corruption and perpetuating a cycle of poverty and misgovernment. Would we accept this from the new government in Iraq? The President believes in ``the yearning of the human spirit`` and thinks that establishing a prosperous democracy in the heart of Islam will usher in a joyous era of peace and plenty, yet he seems content to enable our friendly southern neighbor to continue hopelessly corrupt practices. What of the yearning of the Mexican spirit? He seems to think the answer to that is to allow them all entry into this country. Doesn`t he see the inherent cruelty in a policy which makes vagabonds and criminals of otherwise decent, hard working people? Does the President really believe that these people WANT to wander about like the Israelites in the desert, searching for the opportunity to work for spare change? The President`s immigration policy is immoral, plain and simple; it does not improve the life of anyone in Mexico, it merely acts as a band-aid for the migrant, and it hurts the American citizens. It is international welfare, or, perhaps more accurately, an international soup line. It exacerbates the core problem, which lies in Mexico.

The Left in this country was puzzled by the growth of the Underclass, and their solution was more welfare, which of course enlarged that underclass. The only way to end this cycle was to turn the tap, shut down the flow of money to people who found it easier to live off the dole than earn their own way. We now know how destructive welfare was to the people it was intended to help; it destroyed the black family (and many other families) led to drug abuse, ignorance, and a continuing cycle of poverty. Similarly, by allowing Mexicans unfettered entry into this country to find work, we are creating similar disincentives to fixing the social and economic problems in Mexico, and are encouraging bringing Mexico here; rather than lifting the poor migrants up, we are ensuring they stay down. This, like the welfare state which gave us so many societal ills, is unacceptable.Just as we did with welfare, we have to employ tough love-we are killing them with kindness as things stand.

This from Deroy Murdoch, courtesy of the Federalist Patriot:


"South of the border, officials consider Uncle Sam responsible for nurturing Mexico's poor. Thus, they demand, America must welcome illegal Mexican immigrants. Far be it for Mexico's leaders to improve conditions below the Rio Grande so that their constituents might stay home... Registering a Mexican business takes 58 days, versus 48 in China, 27 in Chile, 22 in South Korea, and five here. During nearly two months of procedures, Mexican officials have numerous opportunities to encourage 'tips' to speed things. Mexico's Private Sector Center for Economic Studies calculates that, in 2004, 34% of businesses paid 'extra-official' sums to functionaries and parliamentarians totaling $11.2 billion... Among 159 nations Transparency International surveyed last year, Mexico is the 65th most honest place to do business, tied with Ghana. While America is 17th (a pathetic showing, incidentally, for Earth's leading economy), Chile and Japan tie for 21st, while South Korea and Italy tie for 40th. Businessmen in this poll perceive even Cuba, No. 59, as less corrupt than Mexico... While arguments rage over erecting a wall on the border, perhaps Americans can agree on this: Every few miles, Washington should install huge mirrors. They should face south, so Mexican officials can reflect on the root causes of Mexico's misfortune."

Deroy Murdock

Buffetting for Abortion

Billionaire Warren Buffett recently announced plans to donate the bulk of his fortune to charity-particularly the William and Melinda Gates Foundation. Unfortunately, the Gates Foundation is a major supporter of Planned Parenthood and abortion worldwide, so Mr. Buffett`s billions will be used to advance a pro-abortion agenda.

According to Life News:

The donation causes huge concerns for pro-life advocates as the Gates Foundation has given the Planned Parenthood Federation of America abortion business almost $12.5 million since 1998, including funds to persuade teenagers to support abortion and to lobby the United Nations to advance pro-abortion proposals.

The Gates foundation has also given nearly $21 million to the International Planned Parenthood abortion business over the last seven years. The funds have gone to promote abortions in third-world nations and to set up pro-abortion family planning centers in South America, Africa and eastern European nations.

Bill Gates and his wife have also spent millions promoting abortion closer to home.

Their foundation has given nearly $2 million to Planned Parenthood of Central Washington and Planned Parenthood of Western Washington to fund abortion centers. The Gates Foundation also gave the Planned Parenthood Federation of Canada more than $1.3 million to promote abortions there.

"The tragedy of Bill Gates' support of abortion and population control is that technology leads to development," says Steven Mosher, President of the Population Research Institute.

"Unfortunately, the developing world will grow old before it develops because of population control. Gates, in supporting population control, is out of step with other great minds who have viewed people as humanity's greatest resource," Mosher said.

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A Hero`s Prayer

I received this from my distant cousin, whom I met online via Birdblog. There were pictures which accompanied the text, but I was unable to load them into the post (I`ll figure it out yet!) This calls for a prayer for our troops at the bottom, and the piece is intended to be passed along, so feel free to do so!:


The average age of the military man is 19 years. He is a short haired, tight-muscled kid who, under normal circumstances is considered by society as half man, half boy. Not yet dry behind the ears, not old enough to buy a beer, but old enough to die for his country. He never really cared much for work and he would rather wax his own car than wash his father's; but he has never collected unemployment either.

He's a recent High School graduate;
he was probably an average student,
pursued some form of sport activities, drives a ten year old jalopy,
and has a steady girlfriend who either broke up with him when he left,
or swears to be waiting when he returns from half a world away.

He listens to rock and roll or hip-hop or rap or jazz or swing and 155mm howitzer.
He is 10 or 15 pounds lighter now than when he was at home because he is working or fighting from before dawn to well after dusk.

He has trouble spelling, thus letter writing is a pain for him,
but he can field strip a rifle in 30 seconds and reassemble it in less time in the dark.

He can recite to you the nomenclature of a machine gun or grenade launcher
and use either one effectively if he must.

He digs foxholes and latrines and can apply first aid like a professional.

He can march until he is told to stop or stop until he is told to march.



He obeys orders instantly and without hesitation,
but he is not without spirit or individual dignity. He is self-sufficient.
He has two sets of fatigues: he washes one and wears the other.

He keeps his canteens full and his feet dry. He sometimes forgets to brush his teeth, but never to clean his rifle.



He can cook his own meals, mend his own clothes, and fix his own hurts.
If you're thirsty, he'll share his water with you; if you are hungry, his food.
He'll even split his ammunition with you in the midst of battle when you run low.

He has learned to use his hands like weapons
and weapons like they were his hands.

He can save your life - or take it, because that is his job.
He will often do twice the work of a civilian , draw half the pay
and still find ironic humor in it all.

He has seen more suffering and death then he should have in his short lifetime.



He has stood atop mountains of dead bodies, and helped to create them.
He has wept in public and in private, for friends who have fallen in combat
and is unashamed.

He feels every note of the National Anthem vibrate through his body while at rigid attention, while tempering the burning desire to 'square-away' those around him who haven't bothered to stand,remove their hat, or even stop talking.

In an odd twist, day in and day out,far from home, he defends their right to be disrespectful.

Just as did his Father, Grandfather, and Great-grandfather, he is paying the price for our freedom. Beardless or not, he is not a boy.
He is the American Fighting Man

that has kept this country free

for over 200 years



He has asked nothing in return,
except our friendship and understanding.

Remember him, always,
for he has earned our respect
and admiration with his blood.

And now we even have women over there in danger,
doing their part in this tradition of going to War
when our nation calls us to do so.

As you go to bed tonight,
remember this shot..
A short lull, a little shade
and a picture of loved ones in their helmets



Prayer wheel for our military... please don't break it. Please send this on after a short prayer.

Prayer Wheel . . . .

"Lord, hold our troops in your loving hands. Protect them as they protect us.
Bless them and their families for the selfless acts they perform for us in our time of need. Amen."

Casualties

This was sent to me by Melanie, a friend of Birdblog:


A mother asked President Bush,
"Why did my son have to die in Iraq?"

Another mother asked President Kennedy,
"Why did my son have to die in Viet Nam?"

Another mother asked President Truman,
"Why did my son have to die in Korea?

Another mother asked President F.D. Roosevelt,
"Why did my son have to die at Iwo Jima?"

Another mother asked President W. Wilson,
"Why did my son have to die on the battlefield of France?"

Yet another mother asked President Lincoln,
"Why did my son have to die at Gettysburg?"

And yet another mother asked President G. Washington,
"Why did my son have to die near Valley Forge?"

Then long, long ago, a mother asked...
"Heavenly Father, why did my Son have to die
on a cross outside of Jerusalem?"

The answers to all these are similar --
"So that others may have life and dwell in peace,
happiness and freedom."

This was emailed to me with no author
and I thought the magnitude
and the simplicity were awesome ...

Love to All

IF YOU DON'T STAND BEHIND OUR TROOPS,
PLEASE, FEEL FREE...
TO STAND IN FRONT OF THEM !!!

Community Service is not Auschwitz

Don Goldwater, gubernatorial candidate in Arizona and nephew of the late great Barry Goldwater, has caused an uproar by advocating the establishment of work camps along the border and making illegal aliens perform manual labor. His proposal calls for putting those who have broken our laws to work cleaning up the messes that other invaders have made, and assisting in building a fence along the border to keep more of them from coming. This is an eminently sensible proposal, one which has considerable legal precedent, yet the pro-immigration lobby is having a fit; one would think he is proposing the reinstitution of Auschwitz in the Arizona desert!

Many of you may remember that I`ve been advocating this very thing for a long time now.

These people are lawbreakers, criminals who have invaded our sovereignty, thieves, and trespassers. If we are serious about enforcing border integrity, we MUST have punishment for the crime-that is, after all, how laws are enforced; punishments are meted out to the lawbreaker. If these people are willing to violate our laws in order to find work, we should give them work a-plenty (orange jumper supplied) for room and board, but no pay. If an invader loses a few weeks pay he will start believing it`s not worth the effort. How are speed limit laws enforced? Shoplifting laws? Drunken Driving laws? These are all PUNISHED by the Courts. How many people would cheat on their income taxes if they knew they could get away with it? People don`t because they fear the full weight of the United States Internal Revenue Service coming down on their heads. Our current approach to illegal immigration is to simply make the invader go back into Mexico-where he`ll walk down the border a mile or so and cross the same day. We are playing a game of hide-and-seek, with no real consequences for lawbreaking. This must stop. We have to offer unpleasant consequences for violating our laws.

This is NOT the least bit unreasonable! We punish minor criminals with workhouses and community service. We make (or at least we used to, before liberal pop-psychology came to dominate the penal system) drunk drivers, shoplifters, and the like walk along highways picking up trash, or digging holes, or what-have-you. Nobody has ever seen this as cruel or unusual; it is merely punishment fitting to the crime. The petty criminal owes a debt to society, which he pays through relatively easy manual labor. The labor has to be visible, and is a bit embarrassing to the criminal, for it to be effective. We call it community service. For that matter, does anyone remember the WPA? We made the poor engage in very similar activities (why was Roosevelt so great for proposing the poor in this country perform such labor, while Goldwater is so evil for proposing it for lawbreaking aliens?)

This proposal, much like community service for petty crimes, can only work if the illegals are visible to other would-be invaders inside of Mexico. Everyone needs to see that there are real consequences to violating our sovereignty. Why bother sneaking into America if you are going to lose your pay and end up digging holes for a couple of weeks? The current enforcement system has no teeth.

The Administration has bragged that it has caught 6 million illegals trying to cross the border. Fine. My question is, what did they do with them? They escorted them to the border and sent them across, that`s what! The 6 million were probably back in the States the same day. This is ridiculous!

Mr. Goldwater has a very reasonable proposal. We should rally to this cause!

None Dare Call Them WMD`s

Over at GOPUSA Bobby Eberle discusses the Pentagon report confirming large quantities of WMD found in Iraq, and the MSM`s determination to pretend they aren`t there.

That our ``free press`` would completely ignore something of this magnitude is hard to believe, but the media has become little more than a propaganda tool for the Left (Does anyone remember Bill Clinton hiding his brother Roger-who was a dope-dealing drug addicted embarrassment, and the press pretended he didn`t exist until after the `92 elections?) We expect this from the media; they are scorpions and will sting.

What doesn`t make sense is why the President conceded the argument early on, and these reports have remained classified for so long. Is the President trying to protect our ``allies`` who sold us out? Why are the Russians, Chinese, and French worth the trouble the Administration has faced, the embarrassment we have endured? Why allow the Democrats to demagogue this issue? (They have, after all, been privy to these documents, also-what is the threshold for treason?) Something more is at work here.

It`s time to declassify those documents.

The Long Arm of the Axis of Evil

(From the Federalist Patriot):


"Axis Of Evil: A North Korean missile that could reach the continental U.S. is reportedly fueled and ready to fire. Pyongyang needs to know before it launches that the U.S. will not take a missile test lightly. The missile is, according to an anonymous U.S. intelligence source, a long-range Taepodong-2, which has a range of as much as 9,300 miles. That puts Los Angeles, a metro area of 10 million, within North Korea's reach. Imagine the needless human carnage if such a missile were equipped with one of the nuclear weapons the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is suspected of having. The fate of 10 million Americans 18 million, if nearby metro counties are included should not rest in the hands of a madman atop a rogue regime... What [North Korean leader] Kim [Jong-Il] needs is what any child needs: clear boundaries. The developed world, starting with the U.S., must make sure he knows that a missile test will be considered an act of hostility. Kim must be told that military action is always an option for the U.S. He seems to already understand this. Pyongyang has long said it expects a U.S. attack in which American forces will be 'mercilessly wiped out.' But mark that down as propaganda. If the DPRK really feared being on the receiving end of U.S. military might, talk out of Pyongyang, if there were any at all, would be much softer. Kim also needs to know that if he continues his nuclear arms program and insists on testing missiles, the U.S. and its allies will support both Japan and South Korea should they decide they want to defend themselves with their own nuclear weapons. Yes, that would contribute to nuclear proliferation. But the alternative is nuclear proliferation sponsored and supported by North Korea. It shouldn't take the nonproliferation crowd long to decide which one of those outcomes is better than the other."

Investor's Business Daily

Blogger Tribute to 911 Victims

The ever gracious and brilliant Always on Watch has a link (via our good friend GM from GM`s Corner) to a blogger`s tribute to the victims of 911. The plan calls for various bloggers to offer some kind of tribute to each and every American who died on 911-be sure to sign up!

Missile Defense, EMP, and Coca-Cola

As many of you know, North Korea has been planning to test fire a long-range missile, and the United States is threatening to shoot it down with our spiffy new ABM system. Star Wars may have it`s first test against the Death Star.

The question arises; why is the U.S. threatening to do this? North Korea has made all sorts of crazy threats in the past, and America generally remains silent-much like an overindulgent parent treats a misbehaving child. The fact that we have activated our new system, and are threatening to use it, suggests there is more to this than meets the eye. What could that be?

EMP, that`s what that could be. North Korea`s missile systems are reaching the point where they can move beyond California, reach into the interior of the Nation. That alone is dangerous, but the danger lies not in the cities that Kim Jung Il could destroy, but in the SYSTEMS he could bring down. Every atomic detonation produces a three pronged magnetic affect, and these magnetic emanations destroy our more sensitive computers and microchips. A ground-level explosion would naturally limit this, but a high atmospheric detonation would spread the Electromagnetic Pulse literally across the country.

Everything which uses electronics would stop. The power grid would go down, our drinking water plants would stop. Gasoline would be unavailable because there would no longer be power to pump it, but that wouldn`t matter overmuch, since most cars have microcomputers which would no longer function. Planes would be unable to fly without any instrumentation, trains would no longer be running. As a result, food would stop moving through the country. That, too, wouldn`t matter because there would be no cash registers, no refrigeration, no loading dock equipment. Essentially, the United States would return to a 19th century technology in a matter of minutes after an EMP attack.

We have become too dependent on electronics in this country, and the sudden destruction of them would leave America in chaos. I doubt the National Guard would be able to do more than secure select areas; the rest of the 300 million of us would be forced to fend for ourselves-with no food, water, mobility, or protection. Everybody would be wandering in search of food and water-and those with the physical power to take would not face any restraints.

Now, this is a worse-case scenario, and the government has been working on this problem for a number of years. There are ways to shield electronics from an EMP, and I am certain that the military, at least, has done that with their systems. Unfortunately, too many civilian systems are vulnerable, and their destruction would be catastrophic. I hope there is a plan in place...

THAT is what I think the U.S. suspects North Korea is plotting, with the complicity of the Red Dragon-China. North Korea is a proxy state for the Chinese, and they could control the Il one if they wished. The sad fact is, China has been preparing for war against us for years, believing that we would inevitably fight, while America has been greedily selling them Coca-Cola and buying cheap manufactured goods. This situation illustrates that Free Trade is not the panacea that we have often been told it was; China`s tyranny EVOLVES as a result of it, but does not end. We have truly been selling our enemies the rope with which to hang us.

Are we prepared to launch our birds if North Korea attacks us with EMP? Will we fry just Korea, or will we hit China also? South Korea will try to stop us, Japan likewise (since they will have to live with the fallout.) Do we have the will to destroy a nation and kill millions because they destroyed our infrastructure? This may be the decision we will have to make.

THAT is why the development of a missile defense was so important; we can threaten to shoot down North Korea`s missiles before we are forced to such a cataclysmic decision. Had we not proceeded with Ronald Reagan`s vision of a defensive system, we would now be at the mercy of the Chinese/North Korean axis. Our only option would be tantamount to genocide.

Still, the enemy need only detonate one nuke in the upper atmosphere above our country to destroy us. We cannot stop them indefinitely; something must be done about North Korea, and about China. It`s time to wake up to the fact that, along with radical Islam, we have serious enemies. The Chinese have been preparing for war against us-it`s time we returned the favor. The fall of the Soviet Union meant the end of only one communist enemy. We are going to have to finish the job-or perish.

Dr. Moreau Revisited

Researchers at Yale are inserting human brain cells into monkeys as part of an ongoing experiment on Parkinson`s Disease.

This brings up a plethora of questions on scientific ethics, and one must wonder if the utilitarian benefits are worth the proceedural ruthlessness. Be that as it may, I have worse fears, as many of you may remember.

In my May of `05 post, The Island of Doctor Moreau, I warned of my fears that mixing human and animal DNA could lead to plagues as diseases which have traditionally parasited certain organisms find themselves in intimate contact with human DNA. The Hemmoragic Fevers-the Ebolas and Marburg-may well be a crossover species, as well as AIDS; they appear to be evolved to prey on simians, and humans are not very far genetically from simians. But these crossovers appear to have occured naturally, possibly through eating monkey meat; what will happen when we inject human genetic material in direct contact with simian (or other) genes?

Cannibals in the South Sea Islands used to develope something called Kuru, or Laughing Sickness (pseudobulbar paralysis). This disease was the result of consuming infected brain-stems of a human entre`, and resulted in paralysis, madness, and death. You see, there was a disease which had learned to parasite the brain, and which had settled into a comfortable niche whereby it was transmitted via cannibalism. Now, if THAT can happen, why should we doubt the ability of animal diseases to mutate, and break out into the population in general?

Thinking about the possibilities gives me the willies.

The Nafta Road and Road to Darkness

There are a couple of great posts at Ultima Thule (actually, every post is a great post at UT) which deserve your attention. First, read about the Nafta Superhighway which the Bush Administration is quietly proceeding with. (President Bush seems determined to have an aunschluss with Mexico.) Aussiegirl has posted a number of articles which are suggestive of such a thing-try reading through her recent archives.

She also has a terrific piece on multiculturalism and the death of American freedom in which she makes a running commentary on a piece from The Gates of Vienna blog. It is a masterful piece-don`t miss it!

Everything at Ultima Thule has been outstanding of late (and always); Aussiegirl has some terrific posts on science and philosophy, as well as current events. Be sure not to miss anything!

Floodgates

Over at Neo-Con Command Center, Brooke discusses a horrible story about a school defending the rape of a mentally handicapped girl.

This is where the sexual revolution (and the excusing of Bill Clinton) has taken us; we can dismiss such moral evil with ``she wanted it``. Where will this all end? Perhaps we can use the mentally challenged as prostitutes to earn money for the school district? Kill two birds with one stone! After all, just because someone sufferes from retardation doesn`t mean they don`t have sexual needs! We can satisfy their needs, the needs of the men who will make use of them, and the state can reap a huge profit! I`m sure Bill Clinton would happily patronize such an institution-he wouldn`t need to rape a Juanita Broderick or grope a Kathleen Willy if he could ease his mind via uncomprehending women.

The Left has removed one foundation block after another from the artifact that is civilization. If one undermines a building`s foundation enough, the whole structure collapses. That is what is currently happening to Western Civilization, and we are all surprised at the barbarization of our populace. OF COURSE we are returning to a violent, depraved state; we created (largely throught Judaism and Christianity) a series of mechanisms to prevent a return to the ancient order of barbarism. Restriction of sexual promiscuity was one of those mechanisms. It was (rightly) understood that the sex drive, like fire, grows if fed, and thus such concepts as modesty, morality, and propriety were instituted to avoid inflaming passions best held in check. The Left came along,with their love of rebellion and with their pseudo-scientists (like Freud)to defend their corruption and dismantled the work of centuries. Now everyone is surprised at the horrendous acts perpetrated by seemingly normal individuals; rape, cannibalism, sadism, murder. How about the North American Man-Boy Love Association? By what right can these be restricted, if everyone has their own reality and there is no objective standard to weigh any action against? How can we find it objectionable to reap the whirlwind when we have sewn the seeds?

Expect to see more cases like this in future, as the efforts to ``end sexual repression`` breaks down all inhibitions-and morals.

Global Warming, Objectivism, and Comrads in Arms

I received a great e-mail from Objectivist Philosopher Peter Brown from the Land Down Under this week, directing my attention to two articles posted by the Cato Institute which give a laymen`s rundown of the follies of the Global Warming scare. Go here and here to check them out.


Peter Brown is an objectivist, that is to say, a devotee of Ayn Rand. As my more Libertarian friends are aware, Randian philosophy is at the heart of Libertarianism, and is a natural ally to Conservativism (as we both oppose repressive governmental intrusion.) To learn more about Objectivism, go here and here.

Peter had this to say about Objectivism, America, and the War:

Objectivism is a closed Philosophy by Ayn Rand. Objectivists are
Radicals for Capitalism & staunch advocates of the American Republic,
which today is now a mob rule (majority voting away the rights of the
minority -- the smallest minority being the individual) democratic
experiment heading for disaster. I personally think the Declaration of
Independence is the greatest document of all time, and that's coming
from an Australian.

In the second paragraph of the declaration Jefferson says that each
individual has inalienable rights, and that these rights consist of the
right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness -- and that to
secure these rights Governments are instituted among men. What this
means is that a government should only consist of courts, police and a
military, funded voluntarily like your car insurance policy, just on
your life, you pay less, you get a bad military, etc -- we advocate this
under a free market capitalist system, where the state is separated from
the economy for the same reasons the state is separated from the
church, we oppose Anti-Trust laws, support private property, insider
trading, the womans right over her body and life (abortion). The purpose
of Government is to respond to the initiation of physical force with
retaliatory physical force and only against those who initiate its use,
this way the government acts only in the victims interests, that is, for
individual rights, the courts are within every individuals
self-interest, for disputes, the police, life, military, life, etc.

"What makes the initiation of physical force Evil makes the retaliatory
use of Physical Force a moral imperative."

we want America to be its former greatness, acting in self-interest, not
self-sacrifice, to respond to pearl harbors with the unblinkingly
slaughtering of Iraqi terrorists, without sacrificing American lives (a
higher value) for a lesser value for their 'freedom'. Such
self-sacrifice makes War about Love, and thus we supported Carpet
bombing the f*** out of Iran, North Korea, Iraq, Syria, etc after 9/11,
and not to stand around for Just War Theory to validate the US the right
to invade afghanistan because the world respects war to be a last
resort, whilst we say that objectively, if i punched you, would you wait
until you were nearly dead to fight back, or would you unblinkingly
slaughter your enemies, leaving no room for self-sacrifice -- you would
assert your right to life and liberty, etc. From the first drop of
blood, you can start looking at the criteria, as to whether physical
force in return is just.

Now, I have some reservations about a number of issues here-abortion, for one (I think this disregards the right to life of the baby), but we share much common ground. I have always followed the arab maxim ``the enemy of my enemy is my friend`` and Objectivists/Libertarians are certainly my friends in the real war against Modernism and her proxies (such as Islamic Fascism). We share many common aspirations and goals. We are, and should be, friends.

Let`s face it; most on the Left are not disturbed a bit about Islamism. Why? Because they think, much like the Left believed prior to the ascension to power of the Nazis, that they can use Jihad as a tool to destroy the ``capitalist`` system, then they will be able to rid the world of these kook Moslems rather easily. They are employing the ``enemy of my enemy`` maxim in their own way, and, in their arrogance, believe they can use Jihad then discard it. They may be in for a terrible surprise.

THEY are the ultimate enemy-of ourselves, of Objectivists, of Christians, Hindus, Jews, and even Moslems. Modern Liberalism is a philosophy of destruction and death; it is the moral equivelent of a cancerous growth which, if allowed to metastasize, will bring ruin down upon Humanity.

We have to fight them-together.

That Lesbian Mother Nature

I just don`t understand what homosexuality has to do with the environment:


An internal memo recently circulated at the Environmental Protection Agency informs employees that "Pride, Not Prejudice" is the theme of this year's gender-disorientation pride month, an event that the EPA intends to celebrate in high style, courtesy of federal tax dollars. The EPA's own Diversity Program for Sexual Orientation and the "EPA-approved Chapter of Gay, Lesbian, Or Bisexual Employees (GLOBE)," have planned events that include an opening ceremony at the Ronald Reagan Building and speakers such as Equality Canada's executive director, Gilles Marchildon.

As a result of the EPA's efforts, organizations such as the American Family Association are organizing its members to call for the cessation of such programs at taxpayer expense. The Patriot has also published The Homosexual Agenda and The Christian Response (http://PatriotPost.us/alexander/edition.asp?id=482) that provides context for understanding sexual deviancy and addresses the familial origins and pathology of such deviance, the political, cultural and social normalization agenda of homosexual practitioners, the conflict this agenda has created within the Christian Church, and an appropriate Christian response.

I suppose Gaia must be a lesbian!


This illustrates the connectedness of liberal ideology; the EPA promoting ``gay pride`` at taxpayer expense is the equivelent of the Pentagon promoting celibacy among teens-they are completely unrelated, except for a certain philosophical amicus. The left has always used whatever means, foul or fair, to advance their agenda, and the EPA has liberal roots. That is one of the things which so offends non-libs; they will cram their beliefs down everybody`s throats, and make the cramee PAY FOR IT! Neither Jerry Falwell nor Pat Robertson has ever done anything comparable.

...And Liberals wonder why middle America can`t stand them!

(Thanks to the Federalist)

Mexican Documentation

If anyone doubts that the flood of illegal invaders (courtesy of the Mexican government) threatens our national security, this piece in the Federalist should dispel any disbelief:


How safe is our homeland? If the headquarters of the Department of Homeland Security is any indication, not as safe as it should be. Bruce DeCell, a retired New York City policeman, used a Mexican-issued "matricula consular" card to enter the building despite the fact that the U.S. government does not recognize the card as legitimate identification. The policeman had arranged to meet with DHS officials to discuss inadequate document security, and used the ruse to prove the point. He obtained the card from a friend in California who had it made using a passport photo. Mexican consulates issue the matricula cards to nationals living here illegally, and they can be used at banks and other institutions, though not in federal buildings. We only hope this raises sufficient flags for those charged with defending our homeland.

The Best Defense is a Good Offense

Al-Quada is growing desperate in Iraq. That fact is illustrated by the safehouse letter captured by American forces after the assassination of Al-Zarqawi. If we stay the course, we will win.

The great danger lies in what will happen during der feind`s death spasms; generally when an enemy is boxed in they will launch some kind of desperate counter-strike. Sometimes the strike will work (the Tet offensive) more often it will not (the Bulge). What will Al-Quada do?

It should be obvious that Al-Quada`s ability to wage war effectively in Iraq is dwindling; basic military strategy suggests attacking elsewhere. I`ve always believed that Al-Quada has been quietly setting up operations here in the United States, but has not acted because another attack would galvanize the will of the Nation. I believe their strategy has been to fight us overseas so that America would become war-weary and, as in Vietnam, politics would drive an eventual capitulation. Bin-Laden has called America a paper tiger, and pointed out that we have retreated whenever we have been hit. Of course, he misunderstood our character in many ways; Somalia, for instance, was purely an humanitarian exercise (as opposed to an act of Imperialism, as Bin Laden believed) so we pulled out after ``Black Hawk Down`` because we saw no reason to die helping a bunch of ingrates. Bin Laden, and indeed many in the world throughout history, has never understood this about America. (The Japanese viewed America in the same manner prior to the bombing of Pearl Harbor-they learned the hard way.)

I think the top brass at Al-Quada issued their strongest interdiction against attacking America on her own soil. The idea is to put Democrats in office, who will wind down the war; the failure to win this thing politically may change matters. If Al-Quada has the means, they may well launch an attack against the homeland. I think they were counting on winning in Iraq, and failure there means they have to take the war to us here. They need a Tet Offensive.

Given the demoralized nature of that letter, I`m not sure they could mount any seriously credible offensive in Iraq; the time may have come to unleash their doomsday scenario, assuming they have one.

We had best be wary.

Linkage

The evidence mounts for a Saddam/Al-Quada link.

The End of Al-Quada

There is no longer an Al-Quada, at least not in any reasonably coherent form, argues Christopher Orlet in TAS Online this moring.

Force of Arms

The Constitution has never worked as many of the Founders envisioned; they believed that the House of Representatives would usually decide Presidential elections, they believed we would hold regular Constitutional Conventions, they believed the Judiciary would be relatively powerless, etc. A number of things have worked out in unforseen ways.

Don, over at Current Observations, notes with some amusement that Alexander Hamilton believed the State militias could easily counterbalance a standing national army.

Someone should have pointed this out to Abraham Lincoln, I suppose...

A Worse Than Useless Proposal

This, from the Center for Immigration Studies:


9.9 Million Illegals to Get Amnesty
Report: 1 in 4 Would Be Fraudulent Under Senate Bill

WASHINGTON (June 2006) — Based on the experience of the 1986 amnesty, we expect that nearly 9.9 million illegal aliens will receive amnesty under the recently passed Senate Hagel-Martinez bill. That is, they will legalize and can apply for permanent residence and citizenship. As in 1986, we also expect that one-fourth, or 2.6 million, will receive amnesty fraudulently. The bill will also allow an estimated 4.5 million family members of illegal aliens currently living abroad to join their legalized relatives for a total of 14.4 million beneficiaries.

The new report, “Amnesty Under Hagel-Martinez: An Estimate of How Many Will Legalize if S.2611 Becomes Law,” by the Center’s Director of Research, Steven A. Camarota, will be on line Thursday at: http://www.cis.org/articles/2006/back606.html

Among the findings:

* Based on the 1986 amnesty, we estimate that slightly over 70 percent, or 7.4 million, of the 10.2 million illegals eligible for the three amnesties in Hagel-Martinez will come forward and receive amnesty legitimately. That is, they will gain legal status allowing them to live and work in the United States and eventually apply for permanent residence and citizenship.

* We also estimate that, as in 1986, there will be one fraudulent amnesty for every three legitimate ones (2.6 million) for a total of 9.9 million amnesty beneficiaries.

* In addition to the amnesty beneficiaries, the bill will allow an estimated 4.5 million family members currently living abroad to join their newly legalized relatives for a total of 14.4 million people who will benefit from the bill’s amnesty provisions.

* Our assumption that 70 percent of illegals who will come forward, as in 1986, is conservative because, unlike the last legalization, illegals now know that amnesties are real and not a ruse by the government to deport them. Moreover, increased border enforcement has made illegal crossing more difficult, making legalization a more attractive option.

* Our estimate of 2.6 million fraudulent amnesties, based on 1986, is also conservative because the false document industry is now more developed. Moreover, the immigration bureaucracy already has a severe fraud problem, according to the Government Accountability Office. As its workload mushrooms with amnesty, fraud will become even more difficult to detect.

* Of the 14.4 million illegals and their family members who will receive amnesty, we estimate that 13.5 million will eventually become permanent residents, which means they can stay as long as they wish and apply for citizenship. Deaths and out-migration account for the balance of the 14. 4 million.

Among the new report’s other findings:

* The 13.5 million illegal aliens and their family members who are expected to receive permanent residence under the Senate plan is equal to all of the legal immigration that took place between 1990 and 2005, excluding those who were part of the 1986 amnesty.

* The above estimates do not include the bill’s very large increases in future legal immigration, which is expected to double or even triple the number of people who will receive permanent residence from 1 million a year under current law.

* In addition to the amnesty and the increases in future legal immigration, there is also the question of future illegal immigration. A recent Congressional Budget Office report projected that if Hagel-Martinez becomes law nearly 8 million new illegal immigrants would still enter the country by 2016.

For further information, contact Steven Camarota at (202) 466-8185 or sac@cis.org.


Note that family members will be eligible to join the gatecrashers, and that 1 in 4 will still be illegal-which means that, unless the United States makes a real change in policy, we will have the exact same problem as before.

Of course, the motivating factors for people to come here will remain in place, so nothing will change. This is merely political smoke and mirrors to quell the anger of the American People.

I was going to title this post The More Things Change... but realized it was not quite true, since MORE people will come as a result of this; it is worse than useless.

The Spiritual Madness of the Left

Vasco Kohlmayer at the American Thinker illustrated the madness of liberal thought:



Zarqawi, Schiavo and liberal madness



As more details emerge, the media have begun to ask whether Zarqawi’s life could have been saved given that he was alive for almost an hour after the bombing. They have even floated the possibility that medical aid was purposefully denied to him. The media’s concern for Zarqawi contrasts glaringly with their attitude toward Terri Schiavo when they cheered those who denied her life-sustaining nourishment.

This behavior is yet another striking illustration of the moral madness that is liberalism. Only liberals could show concern for a murderous monster while gleefully watching a disabled woman starve to death. The odious ideology to which they adhere so corrodes their moral sensibilities that they almost completely lose their sense of compassion, proportion, justice and decency. Only thus can they campaign for the killing of babies and the disabled while fretting about the possible lack of medical attention to a head-chopping beast. Terrible is indeed the moral affliction from which these people suffer.

This brings to mind the words of the Apostle Paul:


Rom 1:21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified [him] not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Rom 1:22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
Rom 1:23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
Rom 1:28 And even as they did not like to retain God in [their] knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
Rom 1:29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
Rom 1:30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
Rom 1:31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful

Globally Heated Discussion

I had an interesting, globally heated argument over Climate Change with Anonymous, who had dropped by to discuss Darwin but took umbrage with my characterization of old Blood and Gore as ``Mr. Ozone``. He makes the case for human-driven GW as settled science, while I, of course, argue the opposite. Good points were made on both sides. Read the entire discussion here.

A thousand apologies for the poor editing; I had been in a hurry when I posted my responses, and I hadn`t expected quite such a lively (or lengthy) discussion.

Gorebull Warming

Many of you had probably heard about this article refuting Al ``Blood and`` Gore`s ridiculous claims about Global Warming on the Rush Limbaugh Show the other day. I had a great deal of trouble getting into the Canada Free Press website, so I have reprinted the article in it`s entirety:



"The Inconvenient Truth" is indeed inconvenient to alarmists
By Tom Harris
Monday, June 12, 2006

"Scientists have an independent obligation to respect and present the truth as they see it," Al Gore sensibly asserts in his film "An Inconvenient Truth", showing at Cumberland 4 Cinemas in Toronto since Jun 2. With that outlook in mind, what do world climate experts actually think about the science of his movie?

Professor Bob Carter of the Marine Geophysical Laboratory at James Cook University, in Australia gives what, for many Canadians, is a surprising assessment: "Gore's circumstantial arguments are so weak that they are pathetic. It is simply incredible that they, and his film, are commanding public attention."

But surely Carter is merely part of what most people regard as a tiny cadre of "climate change skeptics" who disagree with the "vast majority of scientists" Gore cites?

No; Carter is one of hundreds of highly qualified non-governmental, non-industry, non-lobby group climate experts who contest the hypothesis that human emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) are causing significant global climate change. "Climate experts" is the operative term here. Why? Because what Gore's "majority of scientists" think is immaterial when only a very small fraction of them actually work in the climate field.

Even among that fraction, many focus their studies on the impacts of climate change; biologists, for example, who study everything from insects to polar bears to poison ivy. "While many are highly skilled researchers, they generally do not have special knowledge about the causes of global climate change," explains former University of Winnipeg climatology professor Dr. Tim Ball. "They usually can tell us only about the effects of changes in the local environment where they conduct their studies."

This is highly valuable knowledge, but doesn't make them climate change cause experts, only climate impact experts.

So we have a smaller fraction.

But it becomes smaller still. Among experts who actually examine the causes of change on a global scale, many concentrate their research on designing and enhancing computer models of hypothetical futures. "These models have been consistently wrong in all their scenarios," asserts Ball. "Since modelers concede computer outputs are not "predictions" but are in fact merely scenarios, they are negligent in letting policy-makers and the public think they are actually making forecasts."

We should listen most to scientists who use real data to try to understand what nature is actually telling us about the causes and extent of global climate change. In this relatively small community, there is no consensus, despite what Gore and others would suggest.

Here is a small sample of the side of the debate we almost never hear:

Appearing before the Commons Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development last year, Carleton University paleoclimatologist Professor Tim Patterson testified, "There is no meaningful correlation between CO2 levels and Earth's temperature over this [geologic] time frame. In fact, when CO2 levels were over ten times higher than they are now, about 450 million years ago, the planet was in the depths of the absolute coldest period in the last half billion years." Patterson asked the committee, "On the basis of this evidence, how could anyone still believe that the recent relatively small increase in CO2 levels would be the major cause of the past century's modest warming?"

Patterson concluded his testimony by explaining what his research and "hundreds of other studies" reveal: on all time scales, there is very good correlation between Earth's temperature and natural celestial phenomena such changes in the brightness of the Sun.

Dr. Boris Winterhalter, former marine researcher at the Geological Survey of Finland and professor in marine geology, University of Helsinki, takes apart Gore's dramatic display of Antarctic glaciers collapsing into the sea. "The breaking glacier wall is a normally occurring phenomenon which is due to the normal advance of a glacier," says Winterhalter. "In Antarctica the temperature is low enough to prohibit melting of the ice front, so if the ice is grounded, it has to break off in beautiful ice cascades. If the water is deep enough icebergs will form."

Dr. Wibjörn Karlén, emeritus professor, Dept. of Physical Geography and Quaternary Geology, Stockholm University, Sweden, admits, "Some small areas in the Antarctic Peninsula have broken up recently, just like it has done back in time. The temperature in this part of Antarctica has increased recently, probably because of a small change in the position of the low pressure systems."

But Karlén clarifies that the 'mass balance' of Antarctica is positive - more snow is accumulating than melting off. As a result, Ball explains, there is an increase in the 'calving' of icebergs as the ice dome of Antarctica is growing and flowing to the oceans. When Greenland and Antarctica are assessed together, "their mass balance is considered to possibly increase the sea level by 0.03 mm/year - not much of an effect," Karlén concludes.

The Antarctica has survived warm and cold events over millions of years. A meltdown is simply not a realistic scenario in the foreseeable future.

Gore tells us in the film, "Starting in 1970, there was a precipitous drop-off in the amount and extent and thickness of the Arctic ice cap." This is misleading, according to Ball: "The survey that Gore cites was a single transect across one part of the Arctic basin in the month of October during the 1960s when we were in the middle of the cooling period. The 1990 runs were done in the warmer month of September, using a wholly different technology."

Karlén explains that a paper published in 2003 by University of Alaska professor Igor Polyakov shows that, the region of the Arctic where rising temperature is supposedly endangering polar bears showed fluctuations since 1940 but no overall temperature rise. "For several published records it is a decrease for the last 50 years," says Karlén

Dr. Dick Morgan, former advisor to the World Meteorological Organization and climatology researcher at University of Exeter, U.K. gives the details, "There has been some decrease in ice thickness in the Canadian Arctic over the past 30 years but no melt down. The Canadian Ice Service records show that from 1971-1981 there was average, to above average, ice thickness. From 1981-1982 there was a sharp decrease of 15% but there was a quick recovery to average, to slightly above average, values from 1983-1995. A sharp drop of 30% occurred again 1996-1998 and since then there has been a steady increase to reach near normal conditions since 2001."

Concerning Gore's beliefs about worldwide warming, Morgan points out that, in addition to the cooling in the NW Atlantic, massive areas of cooling are found in the North and South Pacific Ocean; the whole of the Amazon Valley; the north coast of South America and the Caribbean; the eastern Mediterranean, Black Sea, Caucasus and Red Sea; New Zealand and even the Ganges Valley in India. Morgan explains, "Had the IPCC used the standard parameter for climate change (the 30 year average) and used an equal area projection, instead of the Mercator (which doubled the area of warming in Alaska, Siberia and the Antarctic Ocean) warming and cooling would have been almost in balance."

Gore's point that 200 cities and towns in the American West set all time high temperature records is also misleading according to Dr. Roy Spencer, Principal Research Scientist at The University of Alabama in Huntsville. "It is not unusual for some locations, out of the thousands of cities and towns in the U.S., to set all-time records," he says. "The actual data shows that overall, recent temperatures in the U.S. were not unusual."

Carter does not pull his punches about Gore's activism, "The man is an embarrassment to US science and its many fine practitioners, a lot of whom know (but feel unable to state publicly) that his propaganda crusade is mostly based on junk science."

In April sixty of the world's leading experts in the field asked Prime Minister Harper to order a thorough public review of the science of climate change, something that has never happened in Canada. Considering what's at stake - either the end of civilization, if you believe Gore, or a waste of billions of dollars, if you believe his opponents - it seems like a reasonable request.

END


Also, this piece by Dennis Avery (also in CFP) makes several very good points:

By Dennis T. Avery, Hudson Institute
Saturday, June 10, 2006

Al Gore says the world’s glaciers are melting because humanity has emitted too much CO2.

However, a new peer-reviewed study shows that in South America‘s Andes Mountains the glaciers’ advances and retreats have not been governed by CO2, but by small variations in the sun’s intensity.

The study, led by P.J. Polissar of the University of Massachusetts, found that Andean glaciers expanded only four times during the 600 years of the Little Ice Age, which lasted from 1250 AD to 1850. Each of those glacier advances occurred during a solar minimum, when the sun’s lowered activity apparently dropped the mountain-top temperatures by 2—4 degrees C and increased precipitation by about 20 percent.

The Polissar team’s report, "Solar Modulation of Little Ice Age Climate in the Tropical Andes," was recently published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The team studied the glaciers’ moraines–piles of rocks, soil, tree trunks and other glacial debris left behind when the glaciers retreated. Then they matched the glacial debris with the sediment layers in nearby mountain lakes. The pronounced seasonality in the Andes precipitation allows the researchers to count years in the sediments and precisely date the glacial advances.

The Andes glacier study not only links glacial advances and retreats with the sun, but emphasizes that the earth’s glaciers have often retreated–and even disappeared–during past centuries, long before humans built cars and smokestacks.

Most of the Andes glaciers must have disappeared during the Holocene Warming that ended just 5,000 years ago. Temperatures then were as much as 2 degrees C warmer than today’s. So far, the Modern Warming has produced about only 0.8 degrees C of total temperature rise in its 150 years.

The sun has been linked to earth’s climate changes for the past 400 years–by sunspot records. Early astronomers noted that the two coldest periods of the Little Ice Age occurred when there were virtually no sunspots on the sun. The Sporer Minimum lasted from 1420 to 1570, and the Maunder Minimum from 1645 to 1710.

The solar-earth linkage came to the fore again in the 1980s, when researchers brought up the first long ice cores from Greenland and the Antarctic. The 400,000 years of temperature history contained in the ice cores clearly showed a moderate, natural cycle that raised temperatures at the latitude of New York and Paris by about 2 degrees C, and then lowered them by a similar amount. The cycles averaged about 1500 years in length. Carbon 14 and beryllium 10 isotopes in the ice clearly linked this temperature cycle to the sun.

The question for Al Gore is not whether our temperatures are rising; the key question is why they’re rising. Antarctic ice cores tell us that temperatures and CO2 in the atmosphere have tracked closely together through recent Ice Ages, but the CO2 changes have lagged behind the temperature changes by about 800 years.

Higher temperatures have produced more atmospheric CO2, rather than CO2 producing higher temperatures! That’s because most of the planet’s CO2 is stored in the oceans, and as the seawater warms, it can’t hold as much CO2.

If CO2 is the driving climate force, why did the earth begin warming in 1850, while human CO2 emissions didn’t start to really expand until about 1940? Mr. Gore doesn’t tell us the answer.

Why did the earth’s temperatures decline from 1940 to 1975, even as CO2 emissions were soaring? Mr. Gore doesn’t say.

How warm will New York get in the Modern Warming? Apparently Mr. Gore can’t tell us, but a total of 2 degrees C seems likely–based on the history in the ice cores.

Ex-Pence-ive Immigration Reform

Precambrian Conservative Pat Buchanan eviscerates the immigration plan of Mike Pence at Human Events Online.

In "The Godfather," Don Corleone warns his son Michael that, after he dies, someone inside the family will come to Michael with an offer of peace from the Barzinis, who murdered Michael's brother. Whoever brings you the offer, Don Corleone warns his son, will have betrayed you. Tessio, lifetime friend and high-ranking captain of the Corleones, comes to Michael with Barzini's offer. A mistake.

Rep. Mike Pence appears to have accepted the Tessio role in the great immigration battle of 2006.

As Bush backs away from the Senate bill ("we don't have to choose between the extremes -- there's a rational middle ground"), Pence uses identical rhetoric to describe his plan, now being hailed by Newt Gingrich, Gary Bauer, David Keene of the American Conservative Union and The American Spectator. It looks like the fix is in.

Pence calls his plan a "middle ground" proposal, a "no amnesty immigration reform" in which "securing our border is the first step."

This is fraudulent. At the heart of the Pence plan is amnesty. Illegal aliens here return to Mexico for one week with an assurance they can come back to their jobs. Down there, they visit "Ellis Island Centers" to register as "guest workers" and return with "work permits." The illegal are made legal and put on a path to citizenship.

The only difference between the Pence plan and the Kennedy-Bush amnesty is the one-week vacation employers would happily fund, as it means blanket amnesty for them as well as their illegal hires.

The Enemy Within

According to James Lewis at the American Thinker, the State Department and New York Times continue their war against the United States, this time by leaking about a covert program in Somalia.

This is just one more example of treasonous behavior on the part of the media (and those wise diplomats at State). Can you imagine what Roosevelt would have done to the Times (and his own State Department) if they had pulled a stunt like this? How about Lincoln? Lincoln suspended the writ of Habeus Corpus, and threw newspaper editors in jail for opposing his policies.

Newsmen have the right to be critical, but not damage our national security. People will DIE because of this type of irresponsibility. Contrary to liberal belief, we are in a real shooting war, and exposing covert operations in time of war is tantamount to treason. We used to hang traitors.

It`s time to send some of these people to jail.

The Demise of Nations

Ultima Thule has a terrific piece on the coming demise of the Nation-State. Aussiegirl makes a powerful case; don`t miss it!

Also, you may want to see this reprinted article she includes about Globalism. Great stuff.

Wisdom

Words of Wisdom (thanks be to the Federalist):



"That the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant. He cannot rightfully be compelled to do or forbear because it will be better for him to do so, because it will make him happier, because, in the opinions of others, to do so would be wise, or even right. These are good reasons for remonstrating with him, or reasoning with him, or persuading him, or entreating him, but not for compelling him, or visiting him with any evil, in case he do otherwise."

John Stuart Mill



"[T]he threat to liberty in the 21st century is the same as it has been throughout mankind's history. That threat is use of the coercive powers of government, under the color of law, to take the rightful property of some people and give to others, and the forcible imposition of the will of one group of people on another group. Such acts, most often done in the name of good, explain the ugliest portions of human history. The question is whether America will degenerate into what has been mankind's standard fare throughout history. We have yet to see the kind of arbitrary control, abuse and violation of basic human rights seen elsewhere. But if we ask ourselves which way are we heading, tiny steps at a time: toward more personal liberty or toward greater government control over our lives, the answer would unambiguously be the latter. We Americans face an awesome challenge and responsibility because if liberty dies here, it's probably dead for all places and all times."

Walter Williams

The Company They Keep

I had an e-mail in my box this morning from a Global Warming advocate in England who simply sent a link to his blog. If it isn`t apparent to everyone the real purpose behind GW and the other environmentalist scares, one need only see who champions their cause. You can judge a someone by the company he keeps, after all.

Remember, Russia was a totalitarian state under Fearless Leader, and was one of the worst polluters on the planet; way to pick your friends!

Fettuccini Albedo, or Why Creamy Cloud Cover Burns the Roof of Gaia`s Mouth

The debate on Global Warming rages on, and this piece in Livescience dumps gasoline on the fire; in the last 5 years the Earth`s albedo (reflectivity) has increased, for unclear reasons. Cloud cover can either warm or cool the planet-depending on the type of clouds involved. Lower atmospheric clouds tend to reflect heat and lead to a general cooling, while higher clouds act as a blanket, holding heat in the atmosphere. What we are witnessing is an increase in the higher, heat-trapping types. What is going on?

Solar-driven Global Warming, that`s what`s going on! This fits perfectly with the theories by Sami Solanki from the Max Planck Institute, as well as Henrick Svensmark of the Danish Meteorological Institute. You see, periods of heavy sunspot activity (like now) coincide with warmer periods historically (in fact, the Sun is warmer than it has been in ove 11,000 years), and an increase in the level of Cosmic Rays which leak through the Earth`s magnetic field during higher solar activity leads to cloud formation. The Solar Wind interacts with Cosmic Rays, effecting the amount which strikes the Earth. (It`s also important to note that the solar wind would tend to strike the Earh`s atmosphere at the poles, which could explain the famous ``ozone hole`` and why it closed; we are just now leaving the cyclical peak.)

There are othere scientists who believe that increased radiation alone accounts for the rise in terrestrial temperatures we see; after all, the planet Mars is undergoing a similar rise.

The more we learn about the Earth`s atmosphere and climate, the more complex the system appears. That is the trouble with the Anthropogenic Global Warming theory; it uses computer models which oversimplify the situation. A model is, by it`s very nature, a simplification; if it were as complex as the original, there would be no value in having a model. The problem is that we simply don`t understand nearly enough about our own world to create a valid working model. Chaos theory holds that, after a certain point, complexity becomes impossible to model accurately. I suspect that is the case overall with climate; we simply have no way of knowing what is happening inside of the Sun, how the other planets effect our climate, what is going on in interstellar space which could have an effect. The Earth is constantly bombarded with debris from space. How does that matter? How do variations in the Earth`s orbit matter? In the Lunar orbit? Life has obviously changed the environment; how do changes in the biosphere effect the atmosphere? What is going on INSIDE of the Earth which will effect things?

That`s not to say we shouldn`t try to understand this, it`s just that our grasp exceeds our capabilities. The arrogance of the Climate Change crowd is shocking, when we have so many variables in play. We don`t understand the absorbtion mechanisms for many gasses, we don`t understand the overall effects of the Oceans, etc. The attempt to whip America and the World into a panic over a 1* rise in planetary temperatures in over a century is, in my opinion, irresponsible and politically motivated.

The Left loves to overcomplicate straightforward issues, yet they seem strangely content to accept the easy answers here.

Their Own Agenda

This piece in Editor and Publisher illustrates the anti-American bias of the mainstream media perfectly; the writers of this article are attempting to suggest some dark, conspiratorial cover-up in the death of Al-Zarqawi, and are outraged that he may have been beaten by soldiers. Frankly, I couldn`t care less if they beat him, considering the enormously evil acts he has purportrated, and I doubt the general public will rise in outrage either. That members of the media would try to make something out of it illustrates how far out in left field the members of ``the fourth branch of government`` have drifted. They hold absolutely no loyalty to kin or country, but will betray the nation which has given them the opportunity they so enjoy. It`s truly disgusting.

Seventy Two Devils

Our old friend GM Roper has gotten his hands on a transcript of the first interview by the Devil of Abu Al-Zarqawi. It appears that, instead of receiving 72 virgins for his troubles, poor old Zarqawi will play the virgin for 72 devils!

Gee, radical Islam is a gyp!

Western Self Jihad

The Liberal/Democratic response to the death of Abu Al-Zarqawi has been little short of amazing; they have either tossed it off as irrelevent, or have tried to spin it into a dark conspiracy by the Bush Administration to raise his poll numbers. Some of the comments by mainstream Democrats have been jaw-dropping; Richard Clark, that darling of the media, shrugged it off on Good Morning America as just one of tens of thousands of enemies; no big deal!

The fact is, it is a big deal-in fact, it`s a huge deal. Al Zarqawi was the operational head of Al-Quada, and may well have been more important than Bone-Laden himself, in that the Sheik of Death is ill, in hiding, and has limited contact with the outside world. It was Al-Zarqawi who was running the show in Iraq-and probably elsewhere as well. Also, don`t forget that we got his top brass along with him. We`ve essentially decapitated Al-Quada.

What struck me was the coverage by the media; I went online in the morning, and AOL had a headline reading ``Top Al-Quada Leader Killed``. I expected it to be the #3, since we`ve killed about four #3`s since the war began. I was shocked to learn it was Al-Zarqawi. I turned on GMA and saw the interview with Clark, where he poo-poo`ed the whole thing, so I switched to the Today show where they were droning about Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie`s new baby. It was obvious the media wished the whole thing would go away.

Andrew Cline has a piece in the American Spectator this morning, where he goes over this in detail. I particularly like his reactions from the Left-o-sphere:

Am I the only one who thinks this is one big scam on America and the world, to make it look like they "killed a main terrorist" and rid the world of an evil person?"

They said they identified the so called body with his fingerprints, where did they get Zarqawi's finger prints? I know he was supposedly jailed in Jordan for a while. Do they keep fingerprints on everyone in the world? This news comes as the marriage amendment failed....again Bush's poll numbers are slipping faster then a speeding nascar. I don't buy it."
-- "Wahoo," a poster on Democrats.com

Understandably, there is a lot of media coverage on Zarqawi today. In all the hours and hours of coverage, has anyone mentioned that the President could have killed Zarqawi before the Iraq War but chose not to?
-- "Georgia10," a poster on DailyKos

Zarqawi was quite probably a psy ops job in the first place, so what does that make his "death"?

Keep your eyes on the prize:

Gay marriage?
Haditha.

Flag burning?
Haditha!

Brangelina?
HADITHA!

Zarqawi?
HADITHA!!!"
-- Christopher Day, a poster on DailyKos

I do not believe this al Zarqwai bullsh**, because it is all too convenient. It's another wave of propaganda from the Bush cabal. He was likely killed years ago, or is still alive. Something smells rotten.
-- "Liberalmuse," a poster on Democratic Underground

Just as the American public begins to look into Haditha, this happens.

I'm going to be interested as to how Bush's approval rating changes, as well as how long we've known where this guy was.

I'd like to think that it was just a coincidence, but it would be valuable to know all the facts.
-- "Imagine1989," a poster on Democratic Underground


This illustrates just how far the left has driven over the edge of sanity; they can`t be pleased that a mass murderer and absolute monster is dead. Al-Zarqawi would have killed all of THEM if he had the power to do so, and they would have found his rule most unplesant to their worldview. It is amazing how people can hate
America and the conservatives to the point that they would side with a 7th century oppressor. Radical Islam would eliminate people with their views faster than you can say ``Allah Akhbar``, yet these morons see US as the great enemy! Their hatred and anger has completely blinded them to reality-they have gone stark-raving mad.

I fear for this Nation, and our civilization, when I realize this kind of madness permeats our culture. Perhaps we ARE completely decadent. How long can a civilization survive when a sizable percentage of it`s populace cheer for it`s destruction?

Medical Endgame

I knew it was coming; the whole Terri Schiavo/assisted suicide debate would inevitably produce a call for involuntary assisted suicide. An Ethicist in Britain has crossed the Rubicon, and is advocating giving Doctors the power to legally terminate the lives they judge unworthy.

Humanism has always been about usurping the Godhead, and the power to grant death is their feeble substitute for the authority of the Creator. Man is the final authority, in the view of the Left, and exercising control over death grants Man Godlike power.

It`s all well and good, until you, the fallen anointed, have outlived your usefulness and they come to exercise their power over YOU.

A world governed purely by Man would be a horrifying place.

Zarqawi-He Rests in Pieces

The crown prince of Al-quada, the prince of terror Al Zarqawi is dead.
May God have mercy on his evil soul.

A point for all Christians to remember-ours is not a struggle against flesh and blood, but against powers and principalities. We should hope that Al Zarqawi found one last instant to repent of his evil (doubtful he did) because eternal damnation is not something we should wish on anyone-no matter how evil. The pain and suffering caused by such a monster was tremendous, but it will eventually end. Hell has no end. One should hope for repentence and adequate punishment.

Here is where the doctrine of Purgatory held by the Catholics seems fair; Al Zarqawi does not deserve immediate Heaven, even though he may be penitent. I know; Purgatory is found nowhere in the Bible, but is merely infered to exist by the Papacy. Still, there are cases where justice must be met, while mercy is granted. I hope that there is a purgatory for the very evil who plead for mercy at the end. (I dearly hope I don`t have to go there-or the REALLY bad place, either!)

At any rate, today is a day of judgement on the wicked! We should be glad that such evil has been taken from us.

This will go a long way towards stabilizing Iraq, and weakening an already poorly led Al-Quada.

Benefits for Aliens

This is from our good friend The Southern Agrarian:



This came to me from GA State & Region 1 Coordinator, National League of Families for POW/MIAs
President, GA Committee for POW/MIAs Inc.




THESE ARE THE SENATORS WHO VOTED TO GIVE ILLEGAL ALIENS SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS. REGARDLESS OF POLITICAL PARTY, THESE POLITICIANS NEED TO BE DEFEATED IN 2006, 2008 OR 2010 WHENEVER THEY COME UP FOR OFFICE. SEND THIS TO ANYONE YOU KNOW IN ANY OF THE STATES LISTED. THE ENTIRE POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES NEED TO KNOW THIS INFORMATION. THAT IS UNLESS THEY DO NOT MIND SHARING THEIR SOCIAL SECURITY WITH FOREIGN WORKERS WHEN AMERICAN CITIZENS ARE BEING LEFT OUT.


Grouped by Home State
Alabama:


Alaska:
Stevens (R-AK), Yea
Arizona:
McCain (R-AZ), Yea
Arkansas: Lincoln! (D-AR), Yea Pryor (D-AR), Yea
California: Boxer (D-CA), Yea Feinstein (D-CA), Yea
Colorado:
! Salazar (D-CO), Yea
Connecticut: Dodd (D-CT), Yea Lieberman (D-CT), Yea
Delaware: Biden (D-DE), Yea Carper (D-DE), Yea
Florida: Martinez (R-FL), Yea

Georgia:


Hawaii: Akaka (D-HI), Yea Inouye (D-HI), Yea
Idaho:


Illinois: Durbin (D-IL), Yea Obama (D-IL), Yea
Indiana: Bayh (D-IN), Yea Lugar (R-IN), Yea
Iowa:
Harkin (D-IA), Yea
Kansas: Brownback (R-KS), Yea

Kentucky:


Louisiana: Landrieu (D-LA), Yea

Maine:


Maryland: Mikulski (D-MD), Yea Sarbanes (D-MD), Yea
Massachusetts: Kennedy (D-MA), Yea Kerry (D-MA), Yea
Michigan: Levin (D-MI), Yea Stabenow (D-MI), Yea
Minnesota:


Mississippi:


Missouri:


Montana: Baucus (D-MT), Yea

Nebraska: Hagel (R-NE), Yea

Nevada:
Reid (D-NV), Yea
New Hampshire:


New Jersey: Lautenberg (D-NJ), Yea Menendez (D-NJ), Yea
New Mexico: Bingaman (D-NM), Yea

New York: Clinton (D-NY), Yea Schumer (D-NY), Yea
North Carolina:


North Dakota:
Dorgan (D-ND), Yea
Ohio: DeWine (R-OH), Yea Voinovich (R-OH), Yea
Oklahoma:
! < TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 1px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; WIDTH: 172px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; rem_rem_PADDING-LEFT: 1px" vAlign=center>



Oregon:
Wyden (D-OR), Yea
Pennsylvania:
Specter (R-PA), Yea
Rhode Island: Chafee (R-RI), Yea Reed (D-RI), Yea
South Carolina:
Graham (R-SC), Yea
South Dakota: Johnson (D-SD), Yea

Tennessee:


Texas:


Utah:


Vermont: Jeffords (I-VT), Yea Leahy (D-VT), Yea
Virginia:


Washington: Cantwell (D-WA), Yea Murray (D-WA), Yea
West Virginia:
Rockefeller (D-WV), Not Voting
Wisconsin: Feingold (D-WI), Yea Kohl (D-WI), Yea
Wyoming:

Indian Nationalism

I`ve expressed reservations about the U.S. policy of supporting the emergence of India as a new superpower. Granted, I`m no expert on India and Hinduism, but I know that India was never friendly to us during the Cold War, and I know how easily this sort of thing can backfire. India will soon be the largest nation on Earth, a nation armed with nuclear weapons. It will probably be better than Chinese or Islamic hegemony in the region. India came out of the British Empire, after all, so has Western roots, but it also has a strong Islamic element, and has historical reasons for resenting the West (Alexander`s invasion, for example.)

Here is a disturbing piece detailing the raping of women who convert from Hinduism to Christianity. This may well be simply a radical group (a Jim Jones type), but it may represent a sizable-or growing-minority of Hindus. At the very least, it may illustrate a growing nationalism and resentment.

The Chinese believe the 21st century will be the Chinese century; I think the latter half will belong to India. We need to be very careful-when playing with fire it`s easy to get burned.

Tricks or Treason

J.R. Dunn elaborates on the Haditha strategy whereby our friendly neighborhood terrorists stage false accusations of atrocities for a happy American media.

This whole Haditha business wearies me; I knew it was going to come eventually, since the Left has been unable to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in Iraq. This is a dirty war, and there are going to be instances where the lines between civilian and Der Feind (the Enemy) are blurred. We didn`t set the terms of the war-the enemy did. We are forced to fight an enemy who hides behind women and children, and we are forced to take casualties to avoid hurting non-combatants. Sooner or later we were bound to hit some civilians, and the Media would have the ``Mai Lai`` they have been hoping would come. Frankly, the whole business disgusts me.

I`m not sure how we can win a war where we have to fight the American press and Democrat Party as well as the enemy.

Not With a Bang...

Don Feder discusses the fertility decline in Europe:


For years, Western governments have created financial disincentives to child-rearing, so it's encouraging to see some leveling of the playing field. Still, the question remains: Can families be paid to have children?

Pope Benedict XVI doesn't think so. At a recent meeting of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, the pope blamed the "eclipse of love" and "materialistic visions of the universe, of life and human fulfillment" for falling birthrates.

Bluntly put, for decades, Western society -- under the sway of feminists, environmentalists, Zero Population Growth-types and other assorted utopians -- has inculcated an anti-family ethos.

Selfishness was celebrated. Marriage and children were downgraded to lifestyle options. Women who stayed at home to raise and nurture a family were derided. The importance of fathers was downplayed. Abortion was enshrined as a "human right." And contraception was ubiquitous.

Exacerbating the trend, in the postwar period, most industrialized nations rapidly secularized. In Western Europe, weekly church attendance has fallen to 5%, compared with 30-40% in the United States (which has a replacement-level birthrate of 2.1).

Faith is the strongest incentive for family formation and procreation. Mormon Utah has the highest birthrate in America. Worldwide, it's traditional Catholics, Orthodox Jews and evangelical Christians who are having large families.


He goes on to discuss the European Union`s response to the crisis, and the attempts by some to resurrect the family. A worthy read!

Ivy League Hamas

Always on Watch has a piece about cells of Hamas in the United States-and about their members attending school here in our own Universities.

It brought to mind this quote;

A capitalist will sell you the rope to hang him with --
Vladimir Lenin

Clearly, we can`t seem to stop ourselves from weaving rope for our executioners!

Fortunately, if they pick up anything from our esteemed institutions of higher learning, they may become granola eating, birkenstock wearing, Yugo driving nancy boys like the rest of academia. Then Jihad will consist of chants of ``hey, hey, yah, yah, kill the heathen for Allah!`` and a strongly worded protest.