Thursday, June 29, 2006
The Religion of Peace?
Go to the original item at Frontpage for numerous documentary weblinks imbedded in the text, and which cannot be duplicated here.
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The Religion of Peace?
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=23128
By Andrew G. Bostom
FrontPageMagazine.com | June 28, 2006
During the discussion period after a recent talk by the courageous secular Muslim “apostate” Wafa Sultan, Judea Pearl, father of slain Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl (who was barbarously murdered by pious Muslim terrorists), alluded to the Koran’s “verses of peace”—which certain votaries of Islam uphold as the religion's exclusive legacy. According to an observer at the event, Judea Pearl derided Ms. Sultan’s critical view of Islam by further contending that the Koran's bellicose and brutal verses were mere “cultural baggage”, akin to “similar” pronouncements in the Old Testament. The comparison was naïve, if not absurd.
Naïve because the Koran’s “verses of peace”, frequently cited by both Muslim and non-Muslim apologists, most notably verse 2:256, “There is no compulsion in religion”, were all abrogated by the so-called verses of the sword. These abrogating verses of the sword recommend beheading or otherwise murdering and mutilating non-Muslims, and Muslim apostates. According to classical Muslim Koranic commentators verse 9:5 (perhaps the most infamous verse of the sword), “Slay the idolators wherever you find them, and take them captives and besiege them and lie in wait for them in every ambush…”, for example, cancels 124 verses that promote patience and toleration.
The sacralized Islamic sources indicate that as the Muslim prophet Muhammad accrued political and military power, he evolved from a proselytizer and persuader, to a warrior (i.e., a prototype jihadist; see: The Prophet Muhammad as a Jihad Model), and dictatorial legislator. Thus the sword and other similar Koranic verses—as per the linkage between Muhammad’s biography and the Koranic narrative—capture the Muslim prophet at his most dogmatic, belligerent, and intolerant. Muslims are enjoined to fight and murder nonbelievers—woe unto those who shirk these campaigns—but those who are killed fighting for the one true religion, i.e., Islam, will be rewarded amply in the afterlife. A sampling of such verses, which established these eternal injunctions, are included below:
47:4: “Now when ye meet in battle those who disbelieve, then it is smiting of the necks until, when ye have routed them, then making fast of bonds”
9:29: “Fight those who do not believe in Allah, nor in the latter day, nor do they prohibit what Allah and His Messenger have prohibited, nor follow the religion of truth, out of those who have been given the Book, until they pay the tax in acknowledgment of superiority and they are in a state of subjection.”
4:76: “Those who believe fight in the way of Allah, and those who disbelieve fight in the way of the Shaitan. Fight therefore against the friends of the Shaitan; surely the strategy of the Shaitan is weak.”
8:12: “When your Lord revealed to the angels: I am with you, therefore make firm those who believe. I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them.”
8:38-39: “Say to the Unbelievers, if (now) they desist (from Unbelief), their past would be forgiven them; but if they persist, the punishment of those before them is already (a matter of warning for them). And fight them on until there is no more tumult or oppression, and there prevail justice and faith in Allah altogether and everywhere; but if they cease, verily Allah doth see all that they do.”
9:39: “If you do not go forth, He will chastise you with a painful chastisement and bring in your place a people other than you, and you will do Him no harm; and Allah has power over all things.”
4:74: “Therefore let those fight in the way of Allah, who sell this world's life for the hereafter; and whoever fights in the way of Allah, then be he slain or be he victorious, We shall grant him a mighty reward.”
9:111: “Surely Allah has bought of the believers their persons and their property for this, that they shall have the garden; they fight in Allah's way, so they slay and are slain; a promise which is binding on Him in the Taurat and the Injeel and the Quran; and who is more faithful to his covenant than Allah? Rejoice therefore in the pledge which you have made; and that is the mighty achievement.”
As Ibn Warraq notes, aptly (p.69):
(book: What the Koran Really Says: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/157392945X/)
…“tolerance” has been abrogated by “intolerance”
And this doctrine of abrogation, necessitated by the many contradictions which abound in the Koran, originates as putatively taught by Muhammad, himself, at verse 2:106: “Whatever communications We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, We bring one better than it or like it. Do you not know that Allah has power over all things?” . This verse, in combination with verses* 16:101, 22:52, and 87:6, was elaborated into a formal system of abrogation (naskh in Arabic) by the greatest classical Muslim Koranic scholars and jurists, which entailed (p.72),
"…the suppression of a ruling without the suppression of the wording. That is to say, the earlier ruling is still to be found in the Koran, and is still to this day recited in worship, but it no longer has any legal force" [emphasis added]
But it is only when viewed in the larger context of the uniquely Islamic institution of jihad war—which derives substantively from the abrogating Koranic sword verses—that Judea Pearl’s naïve equation to “similar” verses from the Old Testament, becomes entirely fatuous. From the bellicose verses in the Koran, expounded upon in the hadith (the words and deeds of Muhammad as recorded by pious Muslim transmitters), Muslim jurists and theologians formulated the Islamic institution of permanent jihad war against non-Muslims to bring the world under Islamic rule (Shari’a law).
Since its earliest inception, through the present, jihad has been central to the thought and writings of prominent Muslim theologians and jurists. The precepts and regulations elucidated in the 7th through 9th centuries are immutable in the Muslim theological-juridical system, and they have remained essentially unchallenged by the majority of contemporary Muslims. The jihad is intrinsic to the sacred Muslim texts, including the divine Koranic revelation—“the uncreated word of Allah”. The Old Testament sanctions the Israelites conquest of Canaan—a limited domain—it does not sanction a permanent war to submit all the nations of humanity to a uniform code of religious law. Similarly, the tactics of warfare are described in the Old Testament, unlike the Koran, in very circumscribed and specific contexts. Moreover, while the Old Testament clearly condemns certain inhumane practices of paganism, it never invoked an eternal war against all of the world’s pagan peoples.
Uninformed ecumenical zeal in search of a fantasy Islam yet to be created, does not excuse making intellectual, let alone moral equivalences, between the severely limited and contextualized war proclamations of the Old Testament, and the permanent proto-jihad war injunctions of the Koran. Staking out the presumptive “higher” moral ground by a thinly veiled (and ahistorical!) attack on a courageous secularist seeking profound, not cosmetic (and meaningless) changes in Islamdom, is unsavory and destructive, regardless of the misguided motivations.
* 16: 101: “And when We change (one) communication for (another) communication, and Allah knows best what He reveals, they say: You are only a forger. Nay, most of them do not know.”; 22:52: “And We did not send before you any messenger or prophet, but when he desired, the Shaitan made a suggestion respecting his desire; but Allah annuls that which the Shaitan casts, then does Allah establish His communications, and Allah is Knowing, Wise”; 87:6: “By degrees shall We teach thee to declare (the Message), so thou shalt not forget”
The discussion of abrogation/naskh draws heavily upon the insightful analysis, here pp. 67-75, of my courageous mentor and colleague Ibn Warraq.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/157392945X/
Andrew G. Bostom, MD, MS is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Brown University Medical School, and occasional contributor to Frontpage Magazine.
+++++++
The Religion of Peace?
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=23128
By Andrew G. Bostom
FrontPageMagazine.com | June 28, 2006
During the discussion period after a recent talk by the courageous secular Muslim “apostate” Wafa Sultan, Judea Pearl, father of slain Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl (who was barbarously murdered by pious Muslim terrorists), alluded to the Koran’s “verses of peace”—which certain votaries of Islam uphold as the religion's exclusive legacy. According to an observer at the event, Judea Pearl derided Ms. Sultan’s critical view of Islam by further contending that the Koran's bellicose and brutal verses were mere “cultural baggage”, akin to “similar” pronouncements in the Old Testament. The comparison was naïve, if not absurd.
Naïve because the Koran’s “verses of peace”, frequently cited by both Muslim and non-Muslim apologists, most notably verse 2:256, “There is no compulsion in religion”, were all abrogated by the so-called verses of the sword. These abrogating verses of the sword recommend beheading or otherwise murdering and mutilating non-Muslims, and Muslim apostates. According to classical Muslim Koranic commentators verse 9:5 (perhaps the most infamous verse of the sword), “Slay the idolators wherever you find them, and take them captives and besiege them and lie in wait for them in every ambush…”, for example, cancels 124 verses that promote patience and toleration.
The sacralized Islamic sources indicate that as the Muslim prophet Muhammad accrued political and military power, he evolved from a proselytizer and persuader, to a warrior (i.e., a prototype jihadist; see: The Prophet Muhammad as a Jihad Model), and dictatorial legislator. Thus the sword and other similar Koranic verses—as per the linkage between Muhammad’s biography and the Koranic narrative—capture the Muslim prophet at his most dogmatic, belligerent, and intolerant. Muslims are enjoined to fight and murder nonbelievers—woe unto those who shirk these campaigns—but those who are killed fighting for the one true religion, i.e., Islam, will be rewarded amply in the afterlife. A sampling of such verses, which established these eternal injunctions, are included below:
47:4: “Now when ye meet in battle those who disbelieve, then it is smiting of the necks until, when ye have routed them, then making fast of bonds”
9:29: “Fight those who do not believe in Allah, nor in the latter day, nor do they prohibit what Allah and His Messenger have prohibited, nor follow the religion of truth, out of those who have been given the Book, until they pay the tax in acknowledgment of superiority and they are in a state of subjection.”
4:76: “Those who believe fight in the way of Allah, and those who disbelieve fight in the way of the Shaitan. Fight therefore against the friends of the Shaitan; surely the strategy of the Shaitan is weak.”
8:12: “When your Lord revealed to the angels: I am with you, therefore make firm those who believe. I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them.”
8:38-39: “Say to the Unbelievers, if (now) they desist (from Unbelief), their past would be forgiven them; but if they persist, the punishment of those before them is already (a matter of warning for them). And fight them on until there is no more tumult or oppression, and there prevail justice and faith in Allah altogether and everywhere; but if they cease, verily Allah doth see all that they do.”
9:39: “If you do not go forth, He will chastise you with a painful chastisement and bring in your place a people other than you, and you will do Him no harm; and Allah has power over all things.”
4:74: “Therefore let those fight in the way of Allah, who sell this world's life for the hereafter; and whoever fights in the way of Allah, then be he slain or be he victorious, We shall grant him a mighty reward.”
9:111: “Surely Allah has bought of the believers their persons and their property for this, that they shall have the garden; they fight in Allah's way, so they slay and are slain; a promise which is binding on Him in the Taurat and the Injeel and the Quran; and who is more faithful to his covenant than Allah? Rejoice therefore in the pledge which you have made; and that is the mighty achievement.”
As Ibn Warraq notes, aptly (p.69):
(book: What the Koran Really Says: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/157392945X/)
…“tolerance” has been abrogated by “intolerance”
And this doctrine of abrogation, necessitated by the many contradictions which abound in the Koran, originates as putatively taught by Muhammad, himself, at verse 2:106: “Whatever communications We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, We bring one better than it or like it. Do you not know that Allah has power over all things?” . This verse, in combination with verses* 16:101, 22:52, and 87:6, was elaborated into a formal system of abrogation (naskh in Arabic) by the greatest classical Muslim Koranic scholars and jurists, which entailed (p.72),
"…the suppression of a ruling without the suppression of the wording. That is to say, the earlier ruling is still to be found in the Koran, and is still to this day recited in worship, but it no longer has any legal force" [emphasis added]
But it is only when viewed in the larger context of the uniquely Islamic institution of jihad war—which derives substantively from the abrogating Koranic sword verses—that Judea Pearl’s naïve equation to “similar” verses from the Old Testament, becomes entirely fatuous. From the bellicose verses in the Koran, expounded upon in the hadith (the words and deeds of Muhammad as recorded by pious Muslim transmitters), Muslim jurists and theologians formulated the Islamic institution of permanent jihad war against non-Muslims to bring the world under Islamic rule (Shari’a law).
Since its earliest inception, through the present, jihad has been central to the thought and writings of prominent Muslim theologians and jurists. The precepts and regulations elucidated in the 7th through 9th centuries are immutable in the Muslim theological-juridical system, and they have remained essentially unchallenged by the majority of contemporary Muslims. The jihad is intrinsic to the sacred Muslim texts, including the divine Koranic revelation—“the uncreated word of Allah”. The Old Testament sanctions the Israelites conquest of Canaan—a limited domain—it does not sanction a permanent war to submit all the nations of humanity to a uniform code of religious law. Similarly, the tactics of warfare are described in the Old Testament, unlike the Koran, in very circumscribed and specific contexts. Moreover, while the Old Testament clearly condemns certain inhumane practices of paganism, it never invoked an eternal war against all of the world’s pagan peoples.
Uninformed ecumenical zeal in search of a fantasy Islam yet to be created, does not excuse making intellectual, let alone moral equivalences, between the severely limited and contextualized war proclamations of the Old Testament, and the permanent proto-jihad war injunctions of the Koran. Staking out the presumptive “higher” moral ground by a thinly veiled (and ahistorical!) attack on a courageous secularist seeking profound, not cosmetic (and meaningless) changes in Islamdom, is unsavory and destructive, regardless of the misguided motivations.
* 16: 101: “And when We change (one) communication for (another) communication, and Allah knows best what He reveals, they say: You are only a forger. Nay, most of them do not know.”; 22:52: “And We did not send before you any messenger or prophet, but when he desired, the Shaitan made a suggestion respecting his desire; but Allah annuls that which the Shaitan casts, then does Allah establish His communications, and Allah is Knowing, Wise”; 87:6: “By degrees shall We teach thee to declare (the Message), so thou shalt not forget”
The discussion of abrogation/naskh draws heavily upon the insightful analysis, here pp. 67-75, of my courageous mentor and colleague Ibn Warraq.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/157392945X/
Andrew G. Bostom, MD, MS is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Brown University Medical School, and occasional contributor to Frontpage Magazine.
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
The Gulag of Saud
Another excellent article from Frontpage, on our "friends", the Saudis, a nation of totalitarian fanatics and haters of life and love, now drenched in petro-dollars and exporting their ideology of hate all around the world.
The Gulag of Saud
By Michael I. Krauss and J. Peter Pham
FrontPageMagazine.com | June 28, 2006
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=23111
Saudi women journalists attending a news conference for the UN Commission on Human Rights in October 2002.
Consider two current events.
First, on June 19, the new 47-member United Nations Human Rights Council opened its first session in Geneva. The new body replaces the discredited 53-nation Human Rights Commission (see photo above) that was viewed by many as, at the very least, ineffectual in fulfilling its mandate to promote and protect human rights on a global basis.
Many critics considered the main reasons for its ineffectiveness its extreme politicization coupled with the farcical nature of its membership—recall the commission presidency was recently held by Mu’ammar Qaddafi’s Libya.
However, despite the assurance of many—including UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who piously declared at the inaugural meeting that “the eyes of the world—especially the eyes of those whose human rights are denied, threatened or infringed—are turned towards this chamber and this Council”—that the new body would be different from its predecessor, early indications are not promising. Despite the solemn assurance by the General Assembly that “members elected to the Council shall uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights,” the Assembly then proceeded to give the lie to its own statement by electing the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia a founding leader of the new body.
Second, on March 29, 2006, Ahmed Omar Abu Ali was sentenced to 30 years in prison in federal district court in Northern Virginia for plotting to assassinate President George W. Bush. Abu Ali was valedictorian of his class at the Islamic Saudi Academy high school in Alexandria. The Saudis opened the school in 1984 to instruct children of Saudi diplomats in the Wahhabi religion of their homeland, which rejects any innovation that occurred after the 3rd Century of Islam.
Both these current events relate to what the administration has called our "good Middle East ally and friend." Yet this ally and friend has become the breeding ground for so many enemies of America (including, of course, the majority of the 9/11 mass murderers). Why are we throwing Texas barbeques for these people?
Here are a few factoids, all occurring since 9/11. Consider them in light of the president's quite proper post-9/11 warning to those states that are hostile to our fundamental rights. We think they should give us pause.
.....
Read the whole article...
The Gulag of Saud
By Michael I. Krauss and J. Peter Pham
FrontPageMagazine.com | June 28, 2006
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=23111
Saudi women journalists attending a news conference for the UN Commission on Human Rights in October 2002.
Consider two current events.
First, on June 19, the new 47-member United Nations Human Rights Council opened its first session in Geneva. The new body replaces the discredited 53-nation Human Rights Commission (see photo above) that was viewed by many as, at the very least, ineffectual in fulfilling its mandate to promote and protect human rights on a global basis.
Many critics considered the main reasons for its ineffectiveness its extreme politicization coupled with the farcical nature of its membership—recall the commission presidency was recently held by Mu’ammar Qaddafi’s Libya.
However, despite the assurance of many—including UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who piously declared at the inaugural meeting that “the eyes of the world—especially the eyes of those whose human rights are denied, threatened or infringed—are turned towards this chamber and this Council”—that the new body would be different from its predecessor, early indications are not promising. Despite the solemn assurance by the General Assembly that “members elected to the Council shall uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights,” the Assembly then proceeded to give the lie to its own statement by electing the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia a founding leader of the new body.
Second, on March 29, 2006, Ahmed Omar Abu Ali was sentenced to 30 years in prison in federal district court in Northern Virginia for plotting to assassinate President George W. Bush. Abu Ali was valedictorian of his class at the Islamic Saudi Academy high school in Alexandria. The Saudis opened the school in 1984 to instruct children of Saudi diplomats in the Wahhabi religion of their homeland, which rejects any innovation that occurred after the 3rd Century of Islam.
Both these current events relate to what the administration has called our "good Middle East ally and friend." Yet this ally and friend has become the breeding ground for so many enemies of America (including, of course, the majority of the 9/11 mass murderers). Why are we throwing Texas barbeques for these people?
Here are a few factoids, all occurring since 9/11. Consider them in light of the president's quite proper post-9/11 warning to those states that are hostile to our fundamental rights. We think they should give us pause.
.....
Read the whole article...
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Gore Film NOT Vetted by "100 Scientists"
An AP article recently praised the new Gore movie predicting massive climate change from industrial pollution greenhouse gases, with global warming, melting of ice caps, more hurricanes and other alarming predictions. I read the AP article, and found its claims transparently deceptive. Only a tiny number of the mentioned "100 scientists" had actually viewed the movie, so how could they be giving it high marks? It appears to have been scientists favoring the Democratic Party and Gore's candidacy in the next Presidential election who are standing behind the movie. Below is a rejoinder from the loyal opposition. But someone ought to tell them, for starters, the advertising poster for the movie shows a giant hurricane which is turning in the wrong direction -- rather than rotating counter-clockwise, which is the rotational direction of low-pressure cells and hurricanes in the Northern Hemisphere (the Southern Hemisphere has very few hurricanes) it was depicted as turning clockwise. Since the pro-movie factions appear to dominate the mainstream discussion, it seems reasonable to throw some fat into the fire. The major 6000-year problem of expanding deserts with regional outbreaks of heat-waves and droughts, and which the Kyoto Treaty does absolutely nothing against, gets "no respect" at all! J.D.
AP INCORRECTLY CLAIMS SCIENTISTS PRAISE GORE’S MOVIE
http://www.epw.senate.gov/pressitem.cfm?party=rep&id=257909
June 27, 2006
The June 27, 2006 Associated Press (AP) article titled “Scientists OK Gore’s Movie for Accuracy” by Seth Borenstein raises some serious questions about AP’s bias and methodology.
AP chose to ignore the scores of scientists who have harshly criticized the science presented in former Vice President Al Gore’s movie “An Inconvenient Truth.”
In the interest of full disclosure, the AP should release the names of the “more than 100 top climate researchers” they attempted to contact to review “An Inconvenient Truth.” AP should also name all 19 scientists who gave Gore “five stars for accuracy.” AP claims 19 scientists viewed Gore’s movie, but it only quotes five of them in its article. AP should also release the names of the so-called scientific “skeptics” they claim to have contacted.
The AP article quotes Robert Correll, the chairman of the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment group. It appears from the article that Correll has a personal relationship with Gore, having viewed the film at a private screening at the invitation of the former Vice President. In addition, Correll’s reported links as an “affiliate” of a Washington, D.C.-based consulting firm that provides “expert testimony” in trials and his reported sponsorship by the left-leaning Packard Foundation, were not disclosed by AP. See http://www.junkscience.com/feb06.htm
The AP also chose to ignore Gore’s reliance on the now-discredited “hockey stick” by Dr. Michael Mann, which claims that temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere remained relatively stable over 900 years, then spiked upward in the 20th century, and that the 1990’s were the warmest decade in at least 1000 years. Last week’s National Academy of Sciences report dispelled Mann’s often cited claims by reaffirming the existence of both the Medieval Warm Period and the Little Ice Age. See Senator Inhofe’s statement on the broken “Hockey Stick.”
Gore’s claim that global warming is causing the snows of Mt. Kilimanjaro to disappear has also been debunked by scientific reports. For example, a 2004 study in the journal Nature makes clear that Kilimanjaro is experiencing less snowfall because there’s less moisture in the air due to deforestation around Kilimanjaro.
Here is a sampling of the views of some of the scientific critics of Gore:
Professor Bob Carter, of the Marine Geophysical Laboratory at James Cook University in Australia, on Gore’s film:
"Gore's circumstantial arguments are so weak that they are pathetic. It is simply incredible that they, and his film, are commanding public attention."
"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." – Bob Carter as quoted in the Canadian Free Press, June 12, 2006
Richard S. Lindzen, the Alfred P. Sloan Professor of Atmospheric Science at MIT, wrote:
“A general characteristic of Mr. Gore's approach is to assiduously ignore the fact that the earth and its climate are dynamic; they are always changing even without any external forcing. To treat all change as something to fear is bad enough; to do so in order to exploit that fear is much worse.” - Lindzen wrote in an op-ed in the June 26, 2006 Wall Street Journal
Gore’s film also cites a review of scientific literature by the journal Science which claimed 100% consensus on global warming, but Lindzen pointed out the study was flat out incorrect.
“…A study in the journal Science by the social scientist Nancy Oreskes claimed that a search of the ISI Web of Knowledge Database for the years 1993 to 2003 under the key words "global climate change" produced 928 articles, all of whose abstracts supported what she referred to as the consensus view. A British social scientist, Benny Peiser, checked her procedure and found that only 913 of the 928 articles had abstracts at all, and that only 13 of the remaining 913 explicitly endorsed the so-called consensus view. Several actually opposed it.”- Lindzen wrote in an op-ed in the June 26, 2006 Wall Street Journal.
Roy Spencer, principal research scientist for the University of Alabama in Huntsville, wrote an open letter to Gore criticizing his presentation of climate science in the film:
“…Temperature measurements in the arctic suggest that it was just as warm there in the 1930's...before most greenhouse gas emissions. Don't you ever wonder whether sea ice concentrations back then were low, too?”- Roy Spencer wrote in a May 25, 2006 column.
Former University of Winnipeg climatology professor Dr. Tim Ball reacted to Gore’s claim that there has been a sharp drop-off in the thickness of the Arctic ice cap since 1970.
"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,” –Tim Ball said, according to the Canadian Free Press.
AP INCORRECTLY CLAIMS SCIENTISTS PRAISE GORE’S MOVIE
http://www.epw.senate.gov/pressitem.cfm?party=rep&id=257909
June 27, 2006
The June 27, 2006 Associated Press (AP) article titled “Scientists OK Gore’s Movie for Accuracy” by Seth Borenstein raises some serious questions about AP’s bias and methodology.
AP chose to ignore the scores of scientists who have harshly criticized the science presented in former Vice President Al Gore’s movie “An Inconvenient Truth.”
In the interest of full disclosure, the AP should release the names of the “more than 100 top climate researchers” they attempted to contact to review “An Inconvenient Truth.” AP should also name all 19 scientists who gave Gore “five stars for accuracy.” AP claims 19 scientists viewed Gore’s movie, but it only quotes five of them in its article. AP should also release the names of the so-called scientific “skeptics” they claim to have contacted.
The AP article quotes Robert Correll, the chairman of the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment group. It appears from the article that Correll has a personal relationship with Gore, having viewed the film at a private screening at the invitation of the former Vice President. In addition, Correll’s reported links as an “affiliate” of a Washington, D.C.-based consulting firm that provides “expert testimony” in trials and his reported sponsorship by the left-leaning Packard Foundation, were not disclosed by AP. See http://www.junkscience.com/feb06.htm
The AP also chose to ignore Gore’s reliance on the now-discredited “hockey stick” by Dr. Michael Mann, which claims that temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere remained relatively stable over 900 years, then spiked upward in the 20th century, and that the 1990’s were the warmest decade in at least 1000 years. Last week’s National Academy of Sciences report dispelled Mann’s often cited claims by reaffirming the existence of both the Medieval Warm Period and the Little Ice Age. See Senator Inhofe’s statement on the broken “Hockey Stick.”
Gore’s claim that global warming is causing the snows of Mt. Kilimanjaro to disappear has also been debunked by scientific reports. For example, a 2004 study in the journal Nature makes clear that Kilimanjaro is experiencing less snowfall because there’s less moisture in the air due to deforestation around Kilimanjaro.
Here is a sampling of the views of some of the scientific critics of Gore:
Professor Bob Carter, of the Marine Geophysical Laboratory at James Cook University in Australia, on Gore’s film:
"Gore's circumstantial arguments are so weak that they are pathetic. It is simply incredible that they, and his film, are commanding public attention."
"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." – Bob Carter as quoted in the Canadian Free Press, June 12, 2006
Richard S. Lindzen, the Alfred P. Sloan Professor of Atmospheric Science at MIT, wrote:
“A general characteristic of Mr. Gore's approach is to assiduously ignore the fact that the earth and its climate are dynamic; they are always changing even without any external forcing. To treat all change as something to fear is bad enough; to do so in order to exploit that fear is much worse.” - Lindzen wrote in an op-ed in the June 26, 2006 Wall Street Journal
Gore’s film also cites a review of scientific literature by the journal Science which claimed 100% consensus on global warming, but Lindzen pointed out the study was flat out incorrect.
“…A study in the journal Science by the social scientist Nancy Oreskes claimed that a search of the ISI Web of Knowledge Database for the years 1993 to 2003 under the key words "global climate change" produced 928 articles, all of whose abstracts supported what she referred to as the consensus view. A British social scientist, Benny Peiser, checked her procedure and found that only 913 of the 928 articles had abstracts at all, and that only 13 of the remaining 913 explicitly endorsed the so-called consensus view. Several actually opposed it.”- Lindzen wrote in an op-ed in the June 26, 2006 Wall Street Journal.
Roy Spencer, principal research scientist for the University of Alabama in Huntsville, wrote an open letter to Gore criticizing his presentation of climate science in the film:
“…Temperature measurements in the arctic suggest that it was just as warm there in the 1930's...before most greenhouse gas emissions. Don't you ever wonder whether sea ice concentrations back then were low, too?”- Roy Spencer wrote in a May 25, 2006 column.
Former University of Winnipeg climatology professor Dr. Tim Ball reacted to Gore’s claim that there has been a sharp drop-off in the thickness of the Arctic ice cap since 1970.
"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,” –Tim Ball said, according to the Canadian Free Press.
Sieg Heil Muhammed!!
Another nice photo of Hamas fanatics giving the Nazi salute. One of many in my files. Any questions as to the significance of it? What this means? The hundreds of other things within the Palestinian society which have to exist, before this also can exist? What their goals are? The value of negotiations and agreements with such groups? If you need more refreshing, see the pic below that. It shows the new bloodthirsty Muslim running the terror program in Iraq, just before he saws off the head of a Russian prisoner. Four such Russian prisoners were murdered that day, for the crime of working inside the Russian embassy within Iraq.
Did your local newspapers show these images? We may rightfully ask "why not"? Is it to reinforce the false image of Islam as a "peaceful religion"? Even when Imams running mosques in the major cities of the USA and Europe chronically preach the same hate-the-infidel jihadist propaganda?
The MSM is feeding those who make a practice of ignorance, with a daily diet of lotus and soma.
Monday, June 26, 2006
Cell Phone Signals "Excite" (Fry?) The Brain
Cell Phone Signals "Excite" (Fry?) The Brain
http://edition.cnn.com/2006/TECH/ptech/06/26/cellphones.brain.reut/index.html
Study: Cell phone signals excite brain
Nearly 2 billion people around the world use cell phones.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Cell phone emissions excite the part of the brain cortex nearest to the phone, but it is not clear if these effects are harmful, Italian researchers reported on Monday.
Their study, published in the Annals of Neurology, adds to a growing body of research about mobile phones, their possible effects on the brain, and whether there is any link to cancer.
About 730 million cell phones are expected to be sold this year, according to industry estimates, and nearly 2 billion people around the world already use them.
Of these, more than 500 million use a type that emits electromagnetic fields known as Global System for Mobile communications or GSM radio phones. Their possible effects on the brain are controversial and not well understood.
Dr. Paolo Rossini of Fatebenefratelli hospital in Milan and colleagues used Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation or TMS to check brain function while people used these phones.
They had 15 young male volunteers use a GSM 900 cell phone for 45 minutes. In 12 of the 15, the cells in the motor cortex adjacent to the cell phone showed excitability during phone use but returned to normal within an hour.
The cortex is the outside layer of the brain and the motor cortex is known as the "excitable area" because magnetic stimulation has been shown to cause a muscle twitch.
The researchers stressed that they had not shown that using a cell phone is bad for the brain in any way, but people with conditions such as epilepsy, linked with brain cell excitability, could potentially be affected.
"It should be argued that long-lasting and repeated exposure to EMFs (electromagnetic frequencies) linked with intense use of cellular phones in daily life might be harmful or beneficial in brain-diseased subjects," they wrote.
"Further studies are needed to better circumstantiate these conditions and to provide safe rules for the use of this increasingly more widespread device."
Medical studies on cell phone use have provided mixed results. Swedish researchers found last year that using cell phones over time can raise the risk of brain tumors. But a study by Japan's four mobile telephone operators found no evidence that radio waves from the phones harmed cells or DNA.
The Dutch Health Council analyzed several studies and found no evidence that radiation from mobile phones was harmful.
http://edition.cnn.com/2006/TECH/ptech/06/26/cellphones.brain.reut/index.html
Study: Cell phone signals excite brain
Nearly 2 billion people around the world use cell phones.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Cell phone emissions excite the part of the brain cortex nearest to the phone, but it is not clear if these effects are harmful, Italian researchers reported on Monday.
Their study, published in the Annals of Neurology, adds to a growing body of research about mobile phones, their possible effects on the brain, and whether there is any link to cancer.
About 730 million cell phones are expected to be sold this year, according to industry estimates, and nearly 2 billion people around the world already use them.
Of these, more than 500 million use a type that emits electromagnetic fields known as Global System for Mobile communications or GSM radio phones. Their possible effects on the brain are controversial and not well understood.
Dr. Paolo Rossini of Fatebenefratelli hospital in Milan and colleagues used Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation or TMS to check brain function while people used these phones.
They had 15 young male volunteers use a GSM 900 cell phone for 45 minutes. In 12 of the 15, the cells in the motor cortex adjacent to the cell phone showed excitability during phone use but returned to normal within an hour.
The cortex is the outside layer of the brain and the motor cortex is known as the "excitable area" because magnetic stimulation has been shown to cause a muscle twitch.
The researchers stressed that they had not shown that using a cell phone is bad for the brain in any way, but people with conditions such as epilepsy, linked with brain cell excitability, could potentially be affected.
"It should be argued that long-lasting and repeated exposure to EMFs (electromagnetic frequencies) linked with intense use of cellular phones in daily life might be harmful or beneficial in brain-diseased subjects," they wrote.
"Further studies are needed to better circumstantiate these conditions and to provide safe rules for the use of this increasingly more widespread device."
Medical studies on cell phone use have provided mixed results. Swedish researchers found last year that using cell phones over time can raise the risk of brain tumors. But a study by Japan's four mobile telephone operators found no evidence that radio waves from the phones harmed cells or DNA.
The Dutch Health Council analyzed several studies and found no evidence that radiation from mobile phones was harmful.
Sunday, June 25, 2006
Saudi Schools: Christians still 'swine' and Jews 'apes'
Now, if some part of the USA had textbooks calling black people "apes", or Asians "pigs", and treated them like slaves, or simply gave suitcases full of money to anyone who proclaimed a spiritual mission to killing blacks and Asians, you can bet there would be an international outcry, everyone pointing it out world-wide, UN debates and sanctions, etc. But since it is the dear poor humiliated desperate Muslims (sniff) we will all ignore it. So don't bother to read this article, you silly monkey.
Christians still 'swine' and Jews 'apes' in Saudi schools
By Harry de Quetteville, Middle East Correspondent
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/06/25/wsaudi25.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/06/25/ixnews.html
Saudi Arabia has been accused of continuing to foster religious hatred in its schools, despite its repeated assurances since the September 11 attacks that it would rewrite textbooks that refer to Jews as "apes" and Christians as "swine".
The charges come after Freedom House, a non-partisan American research group which monitors civil rights worldwide, examined textbooks that it smuggled out of Saudi Arabia. The group found that despite promises of change from leading Saudi officials, including Saud al-Faisal, the foreign minister, and Turki al-Faisal, the ambassador to America, schoolbooks in the kingdom still promote hatred of those who do not practise its strict form of Wahhabi Islam.
The report also alleged that some of the textbooks are used in official Saudi schools around the world. Senior staff at the King Fahd Academy in Acton, west London, which has 750 pupils, said that it was not for the school to comment. ....
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Related item from the British Press
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,6-2240635,00.html
To allow Islamists to direct the post-7/7 debate was a disaster
Michael Gove
THE BRITISH State has come under severe criticism following the Forest Gate raid for its intelligence failures in the fight against terrorism. But the biggest failure of all in the battle against Islamist extremism has gone practically unnoticed.
Tony Blair has acknowledged that the fight against Islamist terrorism cannot be restricted to a police action against isolated individuals or small groups. Last summer he spelt out that a much broader effort is required to tackle, at root, the ideology of Islamism that has bewitched so many minds. But in the struggle against extremism the British State has failed to tackle the underlying ideological currents that favour Islamism. Organisations such as the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB) and the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), whose members have shown sympathy for extremist positions, are rarely challenged, and certainly not publicly by the Government or its agencies.
For moderate Muslims the picture is dispiriting. They see the most religiously conservative and politically provocative groupings enjoy the lion’s share of attention and they wonder how serious the British State is about countering extremism. How can they convince young men within their community that the path of moderation brings respect and a voice in the nation’s deliberations when the most influential voices are seen to belong to those with radical agendas?
In Islamist circles a complementary message is absorbed. The British State does not have the courage to face down the advocates of political Islam. Islamists in Britain scent weakness. Just as Islamists abroad believe the West does not have the stamina to resist for long, so Islamists within the UK believe the momentum is with them. Islam’s Leninists have drawn the bayonet, probed, and found mush. ...
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Go to the original weblinks for the full articles.
Christians still 'swine' and Jews 'apes' in Saudi schools
By Harry de Quetteville, Middle East Correspondent
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/06/25/wsaudi25.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/06/25/ixnews.html
Saudi Arabia has been accused of continuing to foster religious hatred in its schools, despite its repeated assurances since the September 11 attacks that it would rewrite textbooks that refer to Jews as "apes" and Christians as "swine".
The charges come after Freedom House, a non-partisan American research group which monitors civil rights worldwide, examined textbooks that it smuggled out of Saudi Arabia. The group found that despite promises of change from leading Saudi officials, including Saud al-Faisal, the foreign minister, and Turki al-Faisal, the ambassador to America, schoolbooks in the kingdom still promote hatred of those who do not practise its strict form of Wahhabi Islam.
The report also alleged that some of the textbooks are used in official Saudi schools around the world. Senior staff at the King Fahd Academy in Acton, west London, which has 750 pupils, said that it was not for the school to comment. ....
+++++
Related item from the British Press
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,6-2240635,00.html
To allow Islamists to direct the post-7/7 debate was a disaster
Michael Gove
THE BRITISH State has come under severe criticism following the Forest Gate raid for its intelligence failures in the fight against terrorism. But the biggest failure of all in the battle against Islamist extremism has gone practically unnoticed.
Tony Blair has acknowledged that the fight against Islamist terrorism cannot be restricted to a police action against isolated individuals or small groups. Last summer he spelt out that a much broader effort is required to tackle, at root, the ideology of Islamism that has bewitched so many minds. But in the struggle against extremism the British State has failed to tackle the underlying ideological currents that favour Islamism. Organisations such as the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB) and the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), whose members have shown sympathy for extremist positions, are rarely challenged, and certainly not publicly by the Government or its agencies.
For moderate Muslims the picture is dispiriting. They see the most religiously conservative and politically provocative groupings enjoy the lion’s share of attention and they wonder how serious the British State is about countering extremism. How can they convince young men within their community that the path of moderation brings respect and a voice in the nation’s deliberations when the most influential voices are seen to belong to those with radical agendas?
In Islamist circles a complementary message is absorbed. The British State does not have the courage to face down the advocates of political Islam. Islamists in Britain scent weakness. Just as Islamists abroad believe the West does not have the stamina to resist for long, so Islamists within the UK believe the momentum is with them. Islam’s Leninists have drawn the bayonet, probed, and found mush. ...
+++++
Go to the original weblinks for the full articles.
Osama Bin Ladin's Sex Slave...
Yes, the Koran allows that too!
Osama Bin Ladin's Sex Slave.. Yes, the Koran allows that too!
He was going to "honor" murder her when he found out she wrote a poetry book critical of Islam, but lucky for her, she escaped to the "evil West" and now has a job writing family drama for TV soap operas! (Heavens, I cannot understand why she would write a book critical of Islam, just because she was kidnapped at gun-point and repeatedly raped by a mass-murderer who threatened to cut her head off if she dared to protest!) If this woman relies upon personal experience for her writing, the whole network could go under a death-fatwa much like the Muhammed cartoonists. But in fact, sexual slavery and slavery in general is widespread within the Islamic world, though often disguised under the "concubine" category (doesn't that sound a whole lot better than "sex slave"?) Men are required by Muhammed's decrees to have no more than four wives, but they may have an unlimited supply of sexual slaves, as kidnapped from among the infidels.
Osama’s former sex slave writes for TV
IANS
Saturday, June 24, 2006
http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1037514
NEW YORK: Kola Boof, the former sex slave of Al Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden, is writing for the NBC soap opera Days of Our Lives.
The TV network is already trying to distance itself from the new hire, according to reports by pagesix.com. The show’s executive producer Stephen Wyman says: “Yes, Kola Boof has had writing assignments from Days of Our Lives since May. However, she does not hold a staff position with our writing team.”
In 2003, Boof had to pull her son out of school after rumours were spreading that bin Laden was his father. Boof claims that she was held prisoner and was forced to have sex with bin Laden in 1996 when she was pursuing an acting career in North Africa. She adds that he raped her and forced her to live with him for four months at a hotel in Morocco.
She escaped to Spain and in 1998 bin Laden threatened to kill her after reading her book of poetry, which was critical of Islam. She has also been marked for death by the Sudanese-based National Islamic Front in response to her writings condemning slavery in Sudan and the ill-treatment of African women.
He was going to "honor" murder her when he found out she wrote a poetry book critical of Islam, but lucky for her, she escaped to the "evil West" and now has a job writing family drama for TV soap operas! (Heavens, I cannot understand why she would write a book critical of Islam, just because she was kidnapped at gun-point and repeatedly raped by a mass-murderer who threatened to cut her head off if she dared to protest!) If this woman relies upon personal experience for her writing, the whole network could go under a death-fatwa much like the Muhammed cartoonists. But in fact, sexual slavery and slavery in general is widespread within the Islamic world, though often disguised under the "concubine" category (doesn't that sound a whole lot better than "sex slave"?) Men are required by Muhammed's decrees to have no more than four wives, but they may have an unlimited supply of sexual slaves, as kidnapped from among the infidels.
Osama’s former sex slave writes for TV
IANS
Saturday, June 24, 2006
http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1037514
NEW YORK: Kola Boof, the former sex slave of Al Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden, is writing for the NBC soap opera Days of Our Lives.
The TV network is already trying to distance itself from the new hire, according to reports by pagesix.com. The show’s executive producer Stephen Wyman says: “Yes, Kola Boof has had writing assignments from Days of Our Lives since May. However, she does not hold a staff position with our writing team.”
In 2003, Boof had to pull her son out of school after rumours were spreading that bin Laden was his father. Boof claims that she was held prisoner and was forced to have sex with bin Laden in 1996 when she was pursuing an acting career in North Africa. She adds that he raped her and forced her to live with him for four months at a hotel in Morocco.
She escaped to Spain and in 1998 bin Laden threatened to kill her after reading her book of poetry, which was critical of Islam. She has also been marked for death by the Sudanese-based National Islamic Front in response to her writings condemning slavery in Sudan and the ill-treatment of African women.
Saturday, June 24, 2006
~500 WMDs Found in Iraq... in case your newspaper failed to report
Yes, there were WMDs in Iraq, plenty of them, and this report indicated 500 specific examples are known. This is aside from the precursor WMD materials found in abundance after the liberation of Iraq, such as chemical stocks, the gigantic quantities of uranium ore, rocket motors with long-range capacities, and other WMD components. This is 500 WMD artillery shells loaded with either mustard gas or sarin nerve gas, or similar toxins, stuff which remains so toxic that even warheads left over from WW-I remain highly dangerous, requiring special handling and disposal. Saddam used such materials against Iraqi civilians who didn't fully genuflect to him, and against Iranian soldiers during the Iran-Iraq war. It would not be surprising if further materials came to light in the future.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,200499,00.html
Report: Hundreds of WMDs Found in Iraq
WASHINGTON — The United States has found 500 chemical weapons in Iraq since 2003, and more weapons of mass destruction are likely to be uncovered, two Republican lawmakers said Wednesday. ...
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=50746
Hundreds of WMDs discovered in Iraq
Bombshell report notes 500 chemical weapons including sarin, mustard gas, more to be found
The U.S. has located some 500 chemical weapons in Iraq since 2003 with more likely to be found, according to two Republican members of Congress trumpeting a newly declassified portion of a government report.
"We have found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, chemical weapons," Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., said at an afternoon news conference.
Santorum read from a declassified portion of a report by the National Ground Intelligence Center, a Defense Department intelligence unit, which noted: "Since 2003, coalition forces have recovered approximately 500 weapons munitions which contain degraded mustard or sarin nerve agent. Despite many efforts to locate and destroy Iraq's pre-Gulf War chemical munitions, filled and unfilled pre-Gulf War chemical munitions are assessed to still exist." ...
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,200499,00.html
Report: Hundreds of WMDs Found in Iraq
WASHINGTON — The United States has found 500 chemical weapons in Iraq since 2003, and more weapons of mass destruction are likely to be uncovered, two Republican lawmakers said Wednesday. ...
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=50746
Hundreds of WMDs discovered in Iraq
Bombshell report notes 500 chemical weapons including sarin, mustard gas, more to be found
The U.S. has located some 500 chemical weapons in Iraq since 2003 with more likely to be found, according to two Republican members of Congress trumpeting a newly declassified portion of a government report.
"We have found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, chemical weapons," Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., said at an afternoon news conference.
Santorum read from a declassified portion of a report by the National Ground Intelligence Center, a Defense Department intelligence unit, which noted: "Since 2003, coalition forces have recovered approximately 500 weapons munitions which contain degraded mustard or sarin nerve agent. Despite many efforts to locate and destroy Iraq's pre-Gulf War chemical munitions, filled and unfilled pre-Gulf War chemical munitions are assessed to still exist." ...
Thursday, June 22, 2006
WR Museum Update May 2006
WR Museum Update May 2006
The Wilhelm Reich Museum issued its May 2006 Update a few weeks ago, and if you haven't reviewed it, now would be a good time. It contains many points of interest for those with an appreciation for Reich's work and discoveries. Notable are the following:
* Republication of Reich's International Journal of Sex-Economy and Orgone Research
These back issues were previously available only on microfilm, but now can be purchased in quality photocopy editions. Anyone seriously interested in Reich should have these, as they catch the time and essence of his early work in the USA, and are filled with important research papers which have not lost their value over time.
* Article demystifying the forthcoming November 2007 opening of the Wilhelm Reich Archive. It will be handed seriously and responsibily, in a major university Archive.
* Notice on the WR Museum Summer 2006 program, and the WR Museum Conference in 2007.
Review the entire Update here:
http://www.wilhelmreichmuseum.org/06_05_update.html
The Wilhelm Reich Museum issued its May 2006 Update a few weeks ago, and if you haven't reviewed it, now would be a good time. It contains many points of interest for those with an appreciation for Reich's work and discoveries. Notable are the following:
* Republication of Reich's International Journal of Sex-Economy and Orgone Research
These back issues were previously available only on microfilm, but now can be purchased in quality photocopy editions. Anyone seriously interested in Reich should have these, as they catch the time and essence of his early work in the USA, and are filled with important research papers which have not lost their value over time.
* Article demystifying the forthcoming November 2007 opening of the Wilhelm Reich Archive. It will be handed seriously and responsibily, in a major university Archive.
* Notice on the WR Museum Summer 2006 program, and the WR Museum Conference in 2007.
Review the entire Update here:
http://www.wilhelmreichmuseum.org/06_05_update.html
Saharasian Schizophrenia
Saharasian Schizophrenia... the article below discusses this problem with respect only to "Arabs", as a part of their national or social character structure, but by my observations, it is typically Saharasian, and not restricted only to Arabs. And many Arabs have escaped such an emotional trap. The more fundamental common denominator is the ideological foundations of Islam, with its intensive culture-wide sex-repression, child-abuse and repression of women, minorities, reformers, etc., which is found more widely across Saharasia, beyond merely Arab society, and against which non-Mulsim cultures of Saharasia (ie, Chrisitans, Zoroastrians, Bahais, Shepardic Jews) suffer from in much lesser percentages. In other parts of Saharasia, political fascisms of left-wing and right-wing variants add to the mix, or can even replace Islam entirely as the central point around which cultural schizophrenia develops. This is seen primarily in the Red Fasicst nations of communist China, and North Korea, where the cult of Mao Tse Dung, or Kim Jung Il, took the place of the Prophet Muhammed or even Allah in the cultural constellation. J.D.
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Arab Schizophrenia
By MEMRI
Memri.org
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=23044
In an article titled "Arab Society and Schizophrenia," Iraqi reformist Dr. Abd Al-Khaleq Hussein, who writes on several reformist websites, argues that Arab society suffers from "social schizophrenia," - the symptoms of which are similar to those of individuals suffering from actual schizophrenia. He further argues that the Arab governments must immediately launch social and political reforms which will gradually lead to democracy in the Arab world. If significant reforms are not carried out, he says, disasters will continue to strike the Arab world, and democracy will ultimately be imposed upon it through violent upheavals, as occurred in Iraq. In the article, he also called upon the Arabs to accept the help offered to them by the West - and especially by the U. S. - with the aim of facilitating positive change that will permit them to integrate into the international community.
The following are excerpts from the article: [1]
"This Split Personality Disorder Characterizes Not Only Specific Sectors of Arab Society, But [Also] the Governments, the Institutions of Civil Society, and the [Political] Parties"
"'Schizophrenia' is a word in ancient Greek that means 'split personality'... but it is also used in the social sciences to describe societies afflicted by severe duality in their behavior and their [moral] standards. In fact, if we carefully compare the medical and social forms of this disorder, we will find that the symptoms are very similar...
"Iraqi social scientist Ali Al-Wardi was the first to characterize the Iraqi people as suffering from this severe social illness, which he labeled 'split personality.' According to his theory, Iraqis suffer... from a conflict between the Bedouin values that have been passed down through the generations and the cultural values that the Iraqi society has acquired...
"As an illustration, he presents the example of a young Iraqi who wishes to choose his own wife, just like an enlightened Western man, and to exchange love letters with her,... but when he hears that some other man has similar relations with his sister or cousin, he immediately turns into a 'Bedouin' and murders his beloved sister and her lover...
"This split personality disorder characterizes not only specific sectors of Arab society, but [also] the governments, the institutions of civil society, and the [political] parties, especially the Islamic ones...
"The social and medical forms of this disorder have similar symptoms. The most important of these is delusions from which the patient suffers... For example:"
"Delusions of Grandeur"
"A [schizophrenia] patient believes that he is exceptional and that others should treat him as though he is an important person. The Arabs also believe that they are more important than others in every respect. They [believe that they] are the best among nations..., and regard other nations with contempt. They acknowledge no religion [but their own] and are unwilling to coexist peacefully with other religions. [They believe] that their faith is the only faith that mankind should embrace, and that whoever fails to embrace it is an infidel.
"In other words, all other religions are heathen, heretical and fabricated, and their followers should abandon them and embrace the Arabs' religion - Islam. If they fail to embrace Islam, the Muslims are entitled to wage war upon them, to kill their men or convert them by force, to take their women hostage, to sell their children in the slave market and to plunder their property...
"This disparaging view applies not only to non-Muslims, but also to other schools of thought within Islam. Each Islamic school of thought is full of contempt and hostility towards the others. The Salafis and Wahhabis, for example, are convinced that the Shiites must be killed, and that whoever kills them will be rewarded in the world to come..."
"Paranoia"
"A schizophrenia patient believes that others are plotting against him with the aim of harming and killing him, even though he hasn't a shred of evidence to prove this. This is exactly what happens with the Arabs, who are addicted to conspiracy theories. Whenever a disaster befalls them, they claim that it was brought about by a 'hostile Western Crusader-Zionist' conspiracy. They [say this] without bothering to think rationally and determine the true causes for their defeat...
"A schizophrenic imagines that people have nothing better to do than to talk about him, gossip about him, and plot against him. Consequently, he lives in a constant state of intense doubt and suspicion towards others, including the people closest to him, such as his wife, whom he suspects of cheating on him... The patient believes that even broadcasts on TV or on the other media are directed personally at him.
"This is exactly what happens in the Arab society with respect to foreign ideas and books. No society places books and ideas under siege the way Arab society does. Arab airports and sea ports are known for seizing books from the passengers. The Arabs are famous for translating the fewest books and for showing the greatest hostility towards the foreign sciences, to which they refer contemptuously... as 'imported ideas.' In addition, no people burn books and persecute intellectuals with more gusto than the Arabs."
"Somatic Delusions"
"The patient imagines strange and illogical things, for instance that foreign bodies are moving inside him, even though there is no evidence to suggest this. Similarly, Arab societies and governments suffer from the illness of [constantly suspecting] espionage by foreign agents. This is why the Arab jails are full of political prisoners and oppositionists accused of spying for other [countries]. In the eyes of the Arab governments and societies, the political opposition and the liberal intellectuals are traitors and agents of foreign intelligence [apparatuses]..."
"Disorganized Speech"
"A [schizophrenic] patient's speech makes no sense. There is no connection between the sentences, and the hearer or reader cannot understand what [the patient] means to say. The Arab societies display the same symptom - [it is] even [displayed by] people who present themselves as intellectuals and writers. We read them with the hope of understanding what they mean to say, but to no avail... And when you dispute [their claims], they say that the problem lies not with the writer but with the reader, since he is shallow and insufficiently educated, and that is why he fails to understand the ideas of the important writers and intellectuals..."
"Loss of Human Feeling"
"This is another phenomenon spreading through the Arab societies. Unrestrained terrorism and cold-blooded butchering of innocent people in front of the TV cameras provide [further] indisputable proof that Arab society is afflicted with this dangerous disease. It should be noted that the famous religious scholar Sheikh Yousef Al-Qaradhawi advised to refrain from showing the killings on TV. This means that he supports these acts, but advises not showing them in this manner, since they give Islam and the Muslims a bad reputation. In the eyes of some, this makes Al-Qaradhawi a moderate cleric."
"The Patient Loses the Ability to Enjoy Activities He Enjoyed in the Past"
"This is also true of the Arab society today. During the course of their history, the Arabs used their powers of reasoning and exercised independent judgment in religious ruling [ijtihad]... in order to find rational solutions for existing problems. But a few hundred years ago... the gates of ijtihad were shut, the mind was shut down, and [clerics] began to rely exclusively on what was said by the founding fathers [of Islam] over 1,400 years ago, even if their solutions were inapplicable to contemporary problems..."
"Inactivity and Lethargy"
"Schizophrenia patients spend most of their time in idleness or slumber. Laziness,... sleepiness, fatalism and lack of productivity are also widespread in the Arab countries. A study published a number of years ago found that a Western worker is five times more productive than an Arab worker..."
"Loss of Zest for Life"
"This is a well-known tendency in Arab society. As bin Laden said in his address to the West, 'you love life, while we thirst for death.' This is an integral part of Arab heritage... This is why preachers in the mosques glorify death [in their sermons] to young people, [teach] them to hate life, and encourage them to carry out jihad terrorist operations..."
"Isolation From the World"
"Schizophrenia patients prefer to live in isolation from the rest of the world, and spend most of their time alone, detached from other people. They are uninterested in the company of friends and relatives, are unable to form friendships with other people or to maintain previous friendships, and do not care that they have no friends.
"All these symptoms are also prevalent in the Arab society, and are due to faulty education from an early age. Most textbooks for children and youth teach hatred towards others, and [encourage the reader] to avoid the company of non-Muslims. More than that, [they instruct the reader] to avoid greeting a non-Muslim, and, if greeted by a non-Muslim, to reply in an aloof and contemptuous manner. [They also teach that] if you shake hands with a non-Muslim, you must afterwards wash your hands. Directives of this sort are published by all religious schools - even by moderate clerics, and certainly by extremist ones.
"Arab culture also encourages isolation from the world. The world is divided into two camps: 'believers' and 'infidels'... Sheikh Al-Islam ibn Taymiyya encouraged [the Muslims] to hate the unbelievers, saying: 'When you spend time in the camp of the unbelievers - for purposes of medical [treatment], study or trade - harbor hostility towards them in your heart.'..."
"Denial of the Disease"
"Schizophrenia patients deny that they are ill, and believe that they are completely well. They are hostile towards anyone who tries to treat them or wishes to help them. Similarly, the Arabs are unaware of the duality in their behavior and standards, and do not realize that they are backward and require immediate treatment in order to overcome their backwardness and [to avoid] the disasters that befall them. Anyone who tries to draw their attention to their own backwardness... is accused of treason and of being a foreign agent, usually [an agent of] the 'imperialists,' 'Crusaders.' or 'Zionists.' Consequently, intellectuals have been persecuted in Arab countries throughout the ages..."
"Mental Paralysis"
"A [schizophrenia] patient is utterly convinced that his notions are correct, to the point of [mental] paralysis... The same [phenomenon] is also widespread in the Arab society, which believes that only its own culture and notions - which have been handed down from generation to generation - are valid, and tries to eliminate those who think differently... [Schizophrenia] patients are unable to understand abstract ideas according to their context, and take everything literally....
"A similar situation exists in Arab society, which cannot differentiate among various situations. Occupation of one country by another is a vile thing, but there are exceptional cases in which the occupation is necessary since it is for the good of the occupied country. This is true for Iraq, and for Europe during the Second World War. But Arab society regards the liberation of Iraq from an extremely vile, fascistic regime as an [act of] colonialism aimed at plundering [Iraq's] treasures and killing its people…"
Al-Zarqawi, bin Laden, and Al-Zawahiri Could Not Have Perpetrated Their Atrocities Without Extensive Popular Support
"Some may object [to my arguments], asking why I take the behavior of a single individual, a handful of people, or a group, [and present it] as the behavior of entire nations. Why do I ascribe the behavior of Al-Zarqawi, bin Laden or Al-Zawahiri to all Arabs? Why do I present the sin of one cleric as the sin of all clerics?
"[But] the truth is that what happened in Algeria and what is currently happening in Iraq and in other parts of the Arab world does not result from the deviant behavior of individuals, but from general behavior that is inevitably caused by [our] culture.
"Barbaric acts of mass murder were rampant in Algeria, with the number of victims reaching a quarter of a million. School girls were murdered for not wearing the veil. The murders carried out by 'jihad fighters' in Iraq have come to symbolize [the general situation there], which is condoned by Arab societies.
"Needless to say, Al-Zarqawi, bin Laden and Al-Zawahiri could not have perpetrated all these atrocities without extensive popular support, without constant recruitment [of new jihad fighters], and without the cultural and ideological support that is [ingrained] in the [Arab] heritage and education. Surveys conducted in a number of Arab countries showed that the majority supports the Al-Qaeda terrorist organization, and that bin Laden himself enjoys great popularity, especially in the Gulf countries…"
If Arab Governments Do Not Begin to Lead Their Peoples Towards Democracy, History Will Force It on Them
"Based on the above, I believe that Arab societies… suffer from duality in their standards, their views, and their behavior, and require immediate treatment if they want to heal, to overcome their backwardness, and to live in peace with the international community…
"Obviously, it is difficult to change the people's entire outlook overnight, especially when the governments constitute an obstacle to reform. The process is difficult and will take a long time, but there is nothing to prevent it from starting today… The ball is in the court of the Arab governments, who must understand the reasons for their backwardness and the backwardness of their people.
"The problem with these governments is that they have always objected, and still object, to gradual and peaceful development… [which occurs naturally] in the course of history. Democracy is the order of the day, and if the Arab governments do not begin to gradually lead their peoples towards democracy, history will force it on them through violent [upheavals], as occurred in Iraq...
"It should be noted that over 200 years ago, the Western peoples went through what the Arab peoples are experiencing now. They managed to resolve their problems, to build an advanced civilization, and to make economic, social, scientific and technological progress - but [this happened] only after reason was liberated from [the shackles of] fairytales and lies, [and after they] separated religion and state, established regimes that were secular, liberal and democratic, and gave freedom of speech and thought to [their] intellectuals."
[1] http://www.elaph.com/ElaphWeb/ElaphWriter/2006/5/148429.htm, May 14, 2006.
+++++
Arab Schizophrenia
By MEMRI
Memri.org
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=23044
In an article titled "Arab Society and Schizophrenia," Iraqi reformist Dr. Abd Al-Khaleq Hussein, who writes on several reformist websites, argues that Arab society suffers from "social schizophrenia," - the symptoms of which are similar to those of individuals suffering from actual schizophrenia. He further argues that the Arab governments must immediately launch social and political reforms which will gradually lead to democracy in the Arab world. If significant reforms are not carried out, he says, disasters will continue to strike the Arab world, and democracy will ultimately be imposed upon it through violent upheavals, as occurred in Iraq. In the article, he also called upon the Arabs to accept the help offered to them by the West - and especially by the U. S. - with the aim of facilitating positive change that will permit them to integrate into the international community.
The following are excerpts from the article: [1]
"This Split Personality Disorder Characterizes Not Only Specific Sectors of Arab Society, But [Also] the Governments, the Institutions of Civil Society, and the [Political] Parties"
"'Schizophrenia' is a word in ancient Greek that means 'split personality'... but it is also used in the social sciences to describe societies afflicted by severe duality in their behavior and their [moral] standards. In fact, if we carefully compare the medical and social forms of this disorder, we will find that the symptoms are very similar...
"Iraqi social scientist Ali Al-Wardi was the first to characterize the Iraqi people as suffering from this severe social illness, which he labeled 'split personality.' According to his theory, Iraqis suffer... from a conflict between the Bedouin values that have been passed down through the generations and the cultural values that the Iraqi society has acquired...
"As an illustration, he presents the example of a young Iraqi who wishes to choose his own wife, just like an enlightened Western man, and to exchange love letters with her,... but when he hears that some other man has similar relations with his sister or cousin, he immediately turns into a 'Bedouin' and murders his beloved sister and her lover...
"This split personality disorder characterizes not only specific sectors of Arab society, but [also] the governments, the institutions of civil society, and the [political] parties, especially the Islamic ones...
"The social and medical forms of this disorder have similar symptoms. The most important of these is delusions from which the patient suffers... For example:"
"Delusions of Grandeur"
"A [schizophrenia] patient believes that he is exceptional and that others should treat him as though he is an important person. The Arabs also believe that they are more important than others in every respect. They [believe that they] are the best among nations..., and regard other nations with contempt. They acknowledge no religion [but their own] and are unwilling to coexist peacefully with other religions. [They believe] that their faith is the only faith that mankind should embrace, and that whoever fails to embrace it is an infidel.
"In other words, all other religions are heathen, heretical and fabricated, and their followers should abandon them and embrace the Arabs' religion - Islam. If they fail to embrace Islam, the Muslims are entitled to wage war upon them, to kill their men or convert them by force, to take their women hostage, to sell their children in the slave market and to plunder their property...
"This disparaging view applies not only to non-Muslims, but also to other schools of thought within Islam. Each Islamic school of thought is full of contempt and hostility towards the others. The Salafis and Wahhabis, for example, are convinced that the Shiites must be killed, and that whoever kills them will be rewarded in the world to come..."
"Paranoia"
"A schizophrenia patient believes that others are plotting against him with the aim of harming and killing him, even though he hasn't a shred of evidence to prove this. This is exactly what happens with the Arabs, who are addicted to conspiracy theories. Whenever a disaster befalls them, they claim that it was brought about by a 'hostile Western Crusader-Zionist' conspiracy. They [say this] without bothering to think rationally and determine the true causes for their defeat...
"A schizophrenic imagines that people have nothing better to do than to talk about him, gossip about him, and plot against him. Consequently, he lives in a constant state of intense doubt and suspicion towards others, including the people closest to him, such as his wife, whom he suspects of cheating on him... The patient believes that even broadcasts on TV or on the other media are directed personally at him.
"This is exactly what happens in the Arab society with respect to foreign ideas and books. No society places books and ideas under siege the way Arab society does. Arab airports and sea ports are known for seizing books from the passengers. The Arabs are famous for translating the fewest books and for showing the greatest hostility towards the foreign sciences, to which they refer contemptuously... as 'imported ideas.' In addition, no people burn books and persecute intellectuals with more gusto than the Arabs."
"Somatic Delusions"
"The patient imagines strange and illogical things, for instance that foreign bodies are moving inside him, even though there is no evidence to suggest this. Similarly, Arab societies and governments suffer from the illness of [constantly suspecting] espionage by foreign agents. This is why the Arab jails are full of political prisoners and oppositionists accused of spying for other [countries]. In the eyes of the Arab governments and societies, the political opposition and the liberal intellectuals are traitors and agents of foreign intelligence [apparatuses]..."
"Disorganized Speech"
"A [schizophrenic] patient's speech makes no sense. There is no connection between the sentences, and the hearer or reader cannot understand what [the patient] means to say. The Arab societies display the same symptom - [it is] even [displayed by] people who present themselves as intellectuals and writers. We read them with the hope of understanding what they mean to say, but to no avail... And when you dispute [their claims], they say that the problem lies not with the writer but with the reader, since he is shallow and insufficiently educated, and that is why he fails to understand the ideas of the important writers and intellectuals..."
"Loss of Human Feeling"
"This is another phenomenon spreading through the Arab societies. Unrestrained terrorism and cold-blooded butchering of innocent people in front of the TV cameras provide [further] indisputable proof that Arab society is afflicted with this dangerous disease. It should be noted that the famous religious scholar Sheikh Yousef Al-Qaradhawi advised to refrain from showing the killings on TV. This means that he supports these acts, but advises not showing them in this manner, since they give Islam and the Muslims a bad reputation. In the eyes of some, this makes Al-Qaradhawi a moderate cleric."
"The Patient Loses the Ability to Enjoy Activities He Enjoyed in the Past"
"This is also true of the Arab society today. During the course of their history, the Arabs used their powers of reasoning and exercised independent judgment in religious ruling [ijtihad]... in order to find rational solutions for existing problems. But a few hundred years ago... the gates of ijtihad were shut, the mind was shut down, and [clerics] began to rely exclusively on what was said by the founding fathers [of Islam] over 1,400 years ago, even if their solutions were inapplicable to contemporary problems..."
"Inactivity and Lethargy"
"Schizophrenia patients spend most of their time in idleness or slumber. Laziness,... sleepiness, fatalism and lack of productivity are also widespread in the Arab countries. A study published a number of years ago found that a Western worker is five times more productive than an Arab worker..."
"Loss of Zest for Life"
"This is a well-known tendency in Arab society. As bin Laden said in his address to the West, 'you love life, while we thirst for death.' This is an integral part of Arab heritage... This is why preachers in the mosques glorify death [in their sermons] to young people, [teach] them to hate life, and encourage them to carry out jihad terrorist operations..."
"Isolation From the World"
"Schizophrenia patients prefer to live in isolation from the rest of the world, and spend most of their time alone, detached from other people. They are uninterested in the company of friends and relatives, are unable to form friendships with other people or to maintain previous friendships, and do not care that they have no friends.
"All these symptoms are also prevalent in the Arab society, and are due to faulty education from an early age. Most textbooks for children and youth teach hatred towards others, and [encourage the reader] to avoid the company of non-Muslims. More than that, [they instruct the reader] to avoid greeting a non-Muslim, and, if greeted by a non-Muslim, to reply in an aloof and contemptuous manner. [They also teach that] if you shake hands with a non-Muslim, you must afterwards wash your hands. Directives of this sort are published by all religious schools - even by moderate clerics, and certainly by extremist ones.
"Arab culture also encourages isolation from the world. The world is divided into two camps: 'believers' and 'infidels'... Sheikh Al-Islam ibn Taymiyya encouraged [the Muslims] to hate the unbelievers, saying: 'When you spend time in the camp of the unbelievers - for purposes of medical [treatment], study or trade - harbor hostility towards them in your heart.'..."
"Denial of the Disease"
"Schizophrenia patients deny that they are ill, and believe that they are completely well. They are hostile towards anyone who tries to treat them or wishes to help them. Similarly, the Arabs are unaware of the duality in their behavior and standards, and do not realize that they are backward and require immediate treatment in order to overcome their backwardness and [to avoid] the disasters that befall them. Anyone who tries to draw their attention to their own backwardness... is accused of treason and of being a foreign agent, usually [an agent of] the 'imperialists,' 'Crusaders.' or 'Zionists.' Consequently, intellectuals have been persecuted in Arab countries throughout the ages..."
"Mental Paralysis"
"A [schizophrenia] patient is utterly convinced that his notions are correct, to the point of [mental] paralysis... The same [phenomenon] is also widespread in the Arab society, which believes that only its own culture and notions - which have been handed down from generation to generation - are valid, and tries to eliminate those who think differently... [Schizophrenia] patients are unable to understand abstract ideas according to their context, and take everything literally....
"A similar situation exists in Arab society, which cannot differentiate among various situations. Occupation of one country by another is a vile thing, but there are exceptional cases in which the occupation is necessary since it is for the good of the occupied country. This is true for Iraq, and for Europe during the Second World War. But Arab society regards the liberation of Iraq from an extremely vile, fascistic regime as an [act of] colonialism aimed at plundering [Iraq's] treasures and killing its people…"
Al-Zarqawi, bin Laden, and Al-Zawahiri Could Not Have Perpetrated Their Atrocities Without Extensive Popular Support
"Some may object [to my arguments], asking why I take the behavior of a single individual, a handful of people, or a group, [and present it] as the behavior of entire nations. Why do I ascribe the behavior of Al-Zarqawi, bin Laden or Al-Zawahiri to all Arabs? Why do I present the sin of one cleric as the sin of all clerics?
"[But] the truth is that what happened in Algeria and what is currently happening in Iraq and in other parts of the Arab world does not result from the deviant behavior of individuals, but from general behavior that is inevitably caused by [our] culture.
"Barbaric acts of mass murder were rampant in Algeria, with the number of victims reaching a quarter of a million. School girls were murdered for not wearing the veil. The murders carried out by 'jihad fighters' in Iraq have come to symbolize [the general situation there], which is condoned by Arab societies.
"Needless to say, Al-Zarqawi, bin Laden and Al-Zawahiri could not have perpetrated all these atrocities without extensive popular support, without constant recruitment [of new jihad fighters], and without the cultural and ideological support that is [ingrained] in the [Arab] heritage and education. Surveys conducted in a number of Arab countries showed that the majority supports the Al-Qaeda terrorist organization, and that bin Laden himself enjoys great popularity, especially in the Gulf countries…"
If Arab Governments Do Not Begin to Lead Their Peoples Towards Democracy, History Will Force It on Them
"Based on the above, I believe that Arab societies… suffer from duality in their standards, their views, and their behavior, and require immediate treatment if they want to heal, to overcome their backwardness, and to live in peace with the international community…
"Obviously, it is difficult to change the people's entire outlook overnight, especially when the governments constitute an obstacle to reform. The process is difficult and will take a long time, but there is nothing to prevent it from starting today… The ball is in the court of the Arab governments, who must understand the reasons for their backwardness and the backwardness of their people.
"The problem with these governments is that they have always objected, and still object, to gradual and peaceful development… [which occurs naturally] in the course of history. Democracy is the order of the day, and if the Arab governments do not begin to gradually lead their peoples towards democracy, history will force it on them through violent [upheavals], as occurred in Iraq...
"It should be noted that over 200 years ago, the Western peoples went through what the Arab peoples are experiencing now. They managed to resolve their problems, to build an advanced civilization, and to make economic, social, scientific and technological progress - but [this happened] only after reason was liberated from [the shackles of] fairytales and lies, [and after they] separated religion and state, established regimes that were secular, liberal and democratic, and gave freedom of speech and thought to [their] intellectuals."
[1] http://www.elaph.com/ElaphWeb/ElaphWriter/2006/5/148429.htm, May 14, 2006.
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Interview with Bat Ye'or, on Eurabia and "The Protocols of the Elders of Brussels"
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/728863.html
'The protocols of the elders of Brussels'
By Adi Schwartz
The original sin is attributed to Charles de Gaulle. Disappointed by the loss of the French colonies in Africa and the Middle East, as well as with France's waning influence in the international arena, the president of France in the 1960's decided to create a strategic alliance with the Arab and Muslim world to compete with the dominance of the United States and the Soviet Union. This alliance became the position of the European Community (pre-European Union) during the course of the 1970s, when an extensive European-Arab dialogue developed. However, this alliance, in the context of which Europe allowed the immigration of millions of Muslims to its territories and adopted an anti-Israeli and anti-American policy, will ultimately - and in fact has already - transform Europe into a continent under the thumb of the Arab and Muslim world. Europe is dead, and in its stead "Eurabia" has arisen.
This controversial thesis belongs to Bat Ye'or, the pen name of a self-taught Jewish intellectual who was born in Egypt and who currently lives in Switzerland. She refuses to reveal her real name for security reasons, she says, but her thesis is just the prologue to far-reaching conclusions and extreme statements about some European leaders who are kowtowing to Islam. While her ideas were once almost completely ignored, nowadays, because of the prevailing consternation in Europe regarding its complex relations with the Muslim world, she is receiving more attention, though she is still quite far from entering the European mainstream.
Arab allies
Last week she was invited to Jerusalem to speak at a conference of the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the study of Antisemitism at Hebrew University. "This is a matter of a total transformation of Europe, which is the result of an intentional policy," says Bat Ye'or in an interview. "We are now heading towards a total change in Europe, which will be more and more Islamicized and will become a political satellite of the Arab and Muslim world. The European leaders have decided on an alliance with the Arab world, through which they have committed to accept the Arab and Muslim approach toward the United States and Israel. This is not only with respect to foreign policy, but also on issues engaging European society from within, such as immigration, the integration of the immigrants and the idea that Islam is part of Europe."
Bat Ye'or's most recent book, "Eurabia - The Euro-Arab Axis," which was published in English in 2005, could not have been published at a better time as far as she is concerned, precisely when the question of the Muslim immigrants' integration into the continent and Europe's cultural coloration is coming up repeatedly for discussion. The terror attacks in Madrid and London, the Prophet Mohammed cartoons, the murder of the Dutch director Theo Van Gogh and the riots about six months ago in the Paris suburbs have made these questions more critical. Europe, with its pluralist and democratic ethos, has hesitated in its reaction to these phenomena, although today there is a move toward policy changes.
Europe's hesitation has helped bolster extremist attitudes toward Muslim immigration in particular. In the political realm, this is seen among the far-right movements. In intellectual circles, this is evinced inter alia by people like the provocative Italian journalist and writer Oriana Fallaci, Dutch member of parliament Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and also Bat Ye'or. Although all of these individuals are opposed to the extreme right and its violence, they are warning that Europe as a secular, enlightened civilization with a Judeo-Christian background is dying. In its stead, says Bat Ye'or, will come a civilization subjugated to Islamic forces and their jihad ideology.
A controversial figure
Bat Ye'or's opinions have made her a controversial figure, as has the fact that she is not an academic and has never taught at any university. She conducts her research independently. Since the 1970s, Bat Ye'or, who is now 71, has published about 10 books, most of which deal with the life of the Christian and Jewish minorities in Muslim countries. She bases her most recent research on the conduct of institutions in the EU, and mainly on the protocols of the European-Arab Dialogue (EAD), which she says aims to establish a strategic alliance by means of tightening political, economic, diplomatic and cultural ties. The result, Bat Ye'or says, is European suicide.
What is motivating Europe in this alliance?
"What led Europe to accept the French policy was the energy crisis after the Yom Kippur War. Another issue is a security issue, because Palestinian terrorists began to strike on European land at the end of the 1960s. This policy is aimed at protecting Europe from the threat of terror."
If so, how do you explain the terror attack at Lockerbie or the attacks in Madrid and London, which occurred despite this alliance?
"Terror is a way of pressuring Europe, which is displaying weakness, while the Arab states are interested in obtaining something from it. In Madrid there is no evidence that any particular Arab government was involved, but in general it can be said that Europe is under a constant threat of terror. Terror is a way of applying pressure on the European countries to surrender constantly to the Arab representatives' demands. The Europeans had aims of their own in this dialogue, and the Arabs had other aims. Sometimes the Arabs threaten Europe by shutting the oil faucet. They demand, for example, that Europe always speak out for the Palestinians and against Israel."
Has Europe consciously decided to take upon itself Arab politics and culture?
"The Europeans hoped to develop, by means of the EAD, a new means for control of the Arab world. Ultimately, it is Europe that created Yasser Arafat and the Hamas government."
What is the worst-case scenario? Where is Europe going?
"If it keeps on this way, Europe will become a vassal, a satellite of the Arab world, which is larger in terms of numbers. Demographically, we are already losing. The vacuum that has been created in Europe will be filled by the children of immigrants. Today we already know that in France the children of the immigrants are opposed to the French curriculum and do not want to learn about the Holocaust. They want Arab-Muslim history and are opposed to European history. This is the Islamization of the culture. ... The EAD includes a policy of eliminating and delegitimizing Israel. In Europe there is a complete alliance with the Palestinians. There are those, for example, who say that Israel is the greatest danger to world peace. Or the initiative in Britain to organize an academic boycott in order to isolate Israel. This is a way to de-legitimize Israel."
Gaining interest
"Up until the 1980s, she was not accepted at all," says Professor Robert Wistrich, head of the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism. "In academic circles they scorned her publications. Only when Bernard Lewis published the book 'Jews of Islam' with quotations from Bat Ye'or did they begin to pay any attention to her. A real change toward her emerged in the 1990s, and especially in recent years. Today there is more awareness of the fanatical aspect of Islam."
Wistrich, the organizer of the conference in Jerusalem last week, says he invited Bat Ye'or to discuss whether the phenomenon of multiculturalism was beneficial for the Jews. On the one hand, he says, the Muslims do not want to integrate into European society, while on the other hand, Europe professes an ideology of multiculturalism but does not know how to absorb them. In the past multiculturalism was perceived as beneficial to Jews, but now there are about 1 million Jews and nearly 20 million Muslims on the Continent. According to him, Bat Ye'or's session was the stormiest one at the conference and one participant, a Muslim from France, burst out at her and charged that he was offended by her remarks.
"I gained recognition earlier in the United States," says Bat Ye'or. "In Europe I was only invited to small conferences at first. They didn't even mention my name in publications. In the United States, I am certain that the September 11 attacks woke people up, including the Jewish community that had previously ignored me, because it belongs more to the left."
She says that with the exposure, the attempts to revile her also increased. "Bat Ye'or deals with the decisions that have been taken over time via the EAD," says Wistrich. "At the conference I said half-joking that it was possible to call this 'the protocols of the elders of Brussels.' However, unlike 'The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,' which is a total forgery, here we have documents and here we have a question of interpretation. It is definitely possible to argue with the interpretation that she gives to the protocols. I myself don't see it this way, but some of the processes she describes are correct, for example the double attitude toward terror and the Palestinian issue. What is interesting in the European context is the gap, and even the abyss that has emerged between the elites - officials, the media, academics and the church - and public opinion. In a survey conducted in Germany recently 83 percent gave the answer 'fanaticism' to the question 'What is Islam?' Sixty percent said there was a clash of civilizations. This is why Bat Ye'or is getting more attention these days."
Her opinions on the integration of the Muslims and Europe's bleak future are acquiring many supporters for her in Europe's extreme right-wing circles.
"Some of the ideas I have written about are very much accepted today," says Bat Ye'or, "sometimes also on the extreme right and in racist movements. I believe this is bad. Attacking Muslims, sometimes even physically, is stupid."
Nevertheless, it is easier today for a Jew in France to get a good job than it is for a French Muslim. How does this line up with your theory?
"It depends where. There is a certain boycott of Jews in the political arena. Jews can't get everywhere. The universities, for example, are controlled by the Palestinians. Though there are Jews in Parliament, they have to take the pro-Arab policy upon themselves - otherwise they will be boycotted."
Why then did Europe cooperate in the American war in Afghanistan?
"In Afghanistan Muslims toppled the Taliban. The idea was to help the Muslims. Iraq is a special case. France had very good relations with Saddam Hussein, and many French companies made money from the 'oil for food' program. Iraq was the fulcrum of the struggle, because Saddam was an anti-American and anti-Israeli hero."
If so, then it is impossible to rely on Europe to help solve the nuclear crisis with Iran.
"No. The Europeans will not do anything to protect Israel. If at all, they will do something because Iran is threatening other Muslim countries with which Europe has good relations. Europe is not interested in Israel's future at all."
'The protocols of the elders of Brussels'
By Adi Schwartz
The original sin is attributed to Charles de Gaulle. Disappointed by the loss of the French colonies in Africa and the Middle East, as well as with France's waning influence in the international arena, the president of France in the 1960's decided to create a strategic alliance with the Arab and Muslim world to compete with the dominance of the United States and the Soviet Union. This alliance became the position of the European Community (pre-European Union) during the course of the 1970s, when an extensive European-Arab dialogue developed. However, this alliance, in the context of which Europe allowed the immigration of millions of Muslims to its territories and adopted an anti-Israeli and anti-American policy, will ultimately - and in fact has already - transform Europe into a continent under the thumb of the Arab and Muslim world. Europe is dead, and in its stead "Eurabia" has arisen.
This controversial thesis belongs to Bat Ye'or, the pen name of a self-taught Jewish intellectual who was born in Egypt and who currently lives in Switzerland. She refuses to reveal her real name for security reasons, she says, but her thesis is just the prologue to far-reaching conclusions and extreme statements about some European leaders who are kowtowing to Islam. While her ideas were once almost completely ignored, nowadays, because of the prevailing consternation in Europe regarding its complex relations with the Muslim world, she is receiving more attention, though she is still quite far from entering the European mainstream.
Arab allies
Last week she was invited to Jerusalem to speak at a conference of the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the study of Antisemitism at Hebrew University. "This is a matter of a total transformation of Europe, which is the result of an intentional policy," says Bat Ye'or in an interview. "We are now heading towards a total change in Europe, which will be more and more Islamicized and will become a political satellite of the Arab and Muslim world. The European leaders have decided on an alliance with the Arab world, through which they have committed to accept the Arab and Muslim approach toward the United States and Israel. This is not only with respect to foreign policy, but also on issues engaging European society from within, such as immigration, the integration of the immigrants and the idea that Islam is part of Europe."
Bat Ye'or's most recent book, "Eurabia - The Euro-Arab Axis," which was published in English in 2005, could not have been published at a better time as far as she is concerned, precisely when the question of the Muslim immigrants' integration into the continent and Europe's cultural coloration is coming up repeatedly for discussion. The terror attacks in Madrid and London, the Prophet Mohammed cartoons, the murder of the Dutch director Theo Van Gogh and the riots about six months ago in the Paris suburbs have made these questions more critical. Europe, with its pluralist and democratic ethos, has hesitated in its reaction to these phenomena, although today there is a move toward policy changes.
Europe's hesitation has helped bolster extremist attitudes toward Muslim immigration in particular. In the political realm, this is seen among the far-right movements. In intellectual circles, this is evinced inter alia by people like the provocative Italian journalist and writer Oriana Fallaci, Dutch member of parliament Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and also Bat Ye'or. Although all of these individuals are opposed to the extreme right and its violence, they are warning that Europe as a secular, enlightened civilization with a Judeo-Christian background is dying. In its stead, says Bat Ye'or, will come a civilization subjugated to Islamic forces and their jihad ideology.
A controversial figure
Bat Ye'or's opinions have made her a controversial figure, as has the fact that she is not an academic and has never taught at any university. She conducts her research independently. Since the 1970s, Bat Ye'or, who is now 71, has published about 10 books, most of which deal with the life of the Christian and Jewish minorities in Muslim countries. She bases her most recent research on the conduct of institutions in the EU, and mainly on the protocols of the European-Arab Dialogue (EAD), which she says aims to establish a strategic alliance by means of tightening political, economic, diplomatic and cultural ties. The result, Bat Ye'or says, is European suicide.
What is motivating Europe in this alliance?
"What led Europe to accept the French policy was the energy crisis after the Yom Kippur War. Another issue is a security issue, because Palestinian terrorists began to strike on European land at the end of the 1960s. This policy is aimed at protecting Europe from the threat of terror."
If so, how do you explain the terror attack at Lockerbie or the attacks in Madrid and London, which occurred despite this alliance?
"Terror is a way of pressuring Europe, which is displaying weakness, while the Arab states are interested in obtaining something from it. In Madrid there is no evidence that any particular Arab government was involved, but in general it can be said that Europe is under a constant threat of terror. Terror is a way of applying pressure on the European countries to surrender constantly to the Arab representatives' demands. The Europeans had aims of their own in this dialogue, and the Arabs had other aims. Sometimes the Arabs threaten Europe by shutting the oil faucet. They demand, for example, that Europe always speak out for the Palestinians and against Israel."
Has Europe consciously decided to take upon itself Arab politics and culture?
"The Europeans hoped to develop, by means of the EAD, a new means for control of the Arab world. Ultimately, it is Europe that created Yasser Arafat and the Hamas government."
What is the worst-case scenario? Where is Europe going?
"If it keeps on this way, Europe will become a vassal, a satellite of the Arab world, which is larger in terms of numbers. Demographically, we are already losing. The vacuum that has been created in Europe will be filled by the children of immigrants. Today we already know that in France the children of the immigrants are opposed to the French curriculum and do not want to learn about the Holocaust. They want Arab-Muslim history and are opposed to European history. This is the Islamization of the culture. ... The EAD includes a policy of eliminating and delegitimizing Israel. In Europe there is a complete alliance with the Palestinians. There are those, for example, who say that Israel is the greatest danger to world peace. Or the initiative in Britain to organize an academic boycott in order to isolate Israel. This is a way to de-legitimize Israel."
Gaining interest
"Up until the 1980s, she was not accepted at all," says Professor Robert Wistrich, head of the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism. "In academic circles they scorned her publications. Only when Bernard Lewis published the book 'Jews of Islam' with quotations from Bat Ye'or did they begin to pay any attention to her. A real change toward her emerged in the 1990s, and especially in recent years. Today there is more awareness of the fanatical aspect of Islam."
Wistrich, the organizer of the conference in Jerusalem last week, says he invited Bat Ye'or to discuss whether the phenomenon of multiculturalism was beneficial for the Jews. On the one hand, he says, the Muslims do not want to integrate into European society, while on the other hand, Europe professes an ideology of multiculturalism but does not know how to absorb them. In the past multiculturalism was perceived as beneficial to Jews, but now there are about 1 million Jews and nearly 20 million Muslims on the Continent. According to him, Bat Ye'or's session was the stormiest one at the conference and one participant, a Muslim from France, burst out at her and charged that he was offended by her remarks.
"I gained recognition earlier in the United States," says Bat Ye'or. "In Europe I was only invited to small conferences at first. They didn't even mention my name in publications. In the United States, I am certain that the September 11 attacks woke people up, including the Jewish community that had previously ignored me, because it belongs more to the left."
She says that with the exposure, the attempts to revile her also increased. "Bat Ye'or deals with the decisions that have been taken over time via the EAD," says Wistrich. "At the conference I said half-joking that it was possible to call this 'the protocols of the elders of Brussels.' However, unlike 'The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,' which is a total forgery, here we have documents and here we have a question of interpretation. It is definitely possible to argue with the interpretation that she gives to the protocols. I myself don't see it this way, but some of the processes she describes are correct, for example the double attitude toward terror and the Palestinian issue. What is interesting in the European context is the gap, and even the abyss that has emerged between the elites - officials, the media, academics and the church - and public opinion. In a survey conducted in Germany recently 83 percent gave the answer 'fanaticism' to the question 'What is Islam?' Sixty percent said there was a clash of civilizations. This is why Bat Ye'or is getting more attention these days."
Her opinions on the integration of the Muslims and Europe's bleak future are acquiring many supporters for her in Europe's extreme right-wing circles.
"Some of the ideas I have written about are very much accepted today," says Bat Ye'or, "sometimes also on the extreme right and in racist movements. I believe this is bad. Attacking Muslims, sometimes even physically, is stupid."
Nevertheless, it is easier today for a Jew in France to get a good job than it is for a French Muslim. How does this line up with your theory?
"It depends where. There is a certain boycott of Jews in the political arena. Jews can't get everywhere. The universities, for example, are controlled by the Palestinians. Though there are Jews in Parliament, they have to take the pro-Arab policy upon themselves - otherwise they will be boycotted."
Why then did Europe cooperate in the American war in Afghanistan?
"In Afghanistan Muslims toppled the Taliban. The idea was to help the Muslims. Iraq is a special case. France had very good relations with Saddam Hussein, and many French companies made money from the 'oil for food' program. Iraq was the fulcrum of the struggle, because Saddam was an anti-American and anti-Israeli hero."
If so, then it is impossible to rely on Europe to help solve the nuclear crisis with Iran.
"No. The Europeans will not do anything to protect Israel. If at all, they will do something because Iran is threatening other Muslim countries with which Europe has good relations. Europe is not interested in Israel's future at all."
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Congressional Hearings on Iraqi Connection to OK City Terror Bombing
Definitely something worth to watch. Jayna Davis' investigative research has clearly shown an Iraqi connection, but the fear is, these Congressional hearings are being held only to bury the evidence. However, the German-national being mentioned is not necessarily a false lead. German nationals were helping to arm Saddam with WMD components over many years, often in violation of UN sanctions -- ie, the provision of pesticides as precursors for chemical weaponry, and also the manufacture of a "super cannon" by which atomic or chemical warheads could be shot as far as East Europe or Israel. It is remarkable, however, that hearings on this matter are being held at all. The whole thing was buried by the Clinton administration, FBI officials at the time accepting large files of information from Davis, interviews and documentation, after which it all disappeared and denials issued that any of it existed. Later, after the New York Times bought out Davis' television station, she was promptly ordered to cease investigating this story, and fired after she refused. Details are in her book "The Third Terrorist". Time will tell. J.D.
OKC BOMBING FALLOUT
Congressman defends 'foreign-link' hearing
'Third Terrorist' author calls probe 'sham' to bury Islamist-plot theory
Posted: June 20, 2006
By Art Moore
In an interview with WorldNetDaily, Republican Rep. Dana Rohrabacher rebutted sharp criticism of the integrity of an upcoming congressional hearing on an alleged foreign connection to the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, insisting evidence of involvement by Muslim terrorists posed by author Jayna Davis will be taken seriously.
The California congressman was responding to Davis' contention that the hearings will be nothing more than a "sham" designed to bury a potentially explosive political issue that could expose officials who ignored signals that might have prevented the bombing and possibly even the 9-11 attacks.
"Jayna Davis doesn't seem to know the way Washington works," Rohrabacher said by telephone from his House office. "There is a lack of knowledge and a little instability in her remarks about the way I am handling my position."
The congressman argued that until now, the issue has been only a matter of personal inquiry. With a hearing set for September by Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., chairman of the House International Relations Committee, Rohrabacher says he will pursue many of the relevant leads presented by Davis' book "The Third Terrorist: The Middle East Connection to the Oklahoma City Bombing" and other sources.
....
Go to the original item for the full article.
OKC BOMBING FALLOUT
Congressman defends 'foreign-link' hearing
'Third Terrorist' author calls probe 'sham' to bury Islamist-plot theory
Posted: June 20, 2006
By Art Moore
In an interview with WorldNetDaily, Republican Rep. Dana Rohrabacher rebutted sharp criticism of the integrity of an upcoming congressional hearing on an alleged foreign connection to the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, insisting evidence of involvement by Muslim terrorists posed by author Jayna Davis will be taken seriously.
The California congressman was responding to Davis' contention that the hearings will be nothing more than a "sham" designed to bury a potentially explosive political issue that could expose officials who ignored signals that might have prevented the bombing and possibly even the 9-11 attacks.
"Jayna Davis doesn't seem to know the way Washington works," Rohrabacher said by telephone from his House office. "There is a lack of knowledge and a little instability in her remarks about the way I am handling my position."
The congressman argued that until now, the issue has been only a matter of personal inquiry. With a hearing set for September by Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., chairman of the House International Relations Committee, Rohrabacher says he will pursue many of the relevant leads presented by Davis' book "The Third Terrorist: The Middle East Connection to the Oklahoma City Bombing" and other sources.
....
Go to the original item for the full article.
Monday, June 19, 2006
More Evidence of Global Warming... on Mars and Jupiter!
More Evidence of Global Warming... on Mars and Jupiter!
Go to the original items for the full articles.
Mars is Melting
The south polar ice cap of Mars is receding, revealing frosty mountains, rifts and curious dark spots.
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2003/07aug_southpole.htm
http://www.marsunearthed.com/Spec/SpecIndex.htm
Animation of images showing polar ice cap changes.
http://www.marsunearthed.com/Spec/Spec_11/SPFreeze_Ani.htm
(Well, we send two automobiles to Mars, driving around on the surface, and there it goes...)
+++++++
The Sun of God
by Rusty Humphries
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=50701
Who, besides Al Gore, would be surprised that Mars' ice caps are shrinking? And how about this: Jupiter is brewing up new, monster, hurricane-like storms because of measured increases in Jovian temperatures. Why is it I don't believe "greenhouse gases" are at fault?
....
++++++
"The Inconvenient Truth" is indeed inconvenient to alarmists
By Tom Harris
Monday, June 12, 2006 Canada Free Press
http://www.canadafreepress.com/2006/harris061206.htm
"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.
Read the full items at the given weblinks
Go to the original items for the full articles.
Mars is Melting
The south polar ice cap of Mars is receding, revealing frosty mountains, rifts and curious dark spots.
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2003/07aug_southpole.htm
http://www.marsunearthed.com/Spec/SpecIndex.htm
Animation of images showing polar ice cap changes.
http://www.marsunearthed.com/Spec/Spec_11/SPFreeze_Ani.htm
(Well, we send two automobiles to Mars, driving around on the surface, and there it goes...)
+++++++
The Sun of God
by Rusty Humphries
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=50701
Who, besides Al Gore, would be surprised that Mars' ice caps are shrinking? And how about this: Jupiter is brewing up new, monster, hurricane-like storms because of measured increases in Jovian temperatures. Why is it I don't believe "greenhouse gases" are at fault?
....
++++++
"The Inconvenient Truth" is indeed inconvenient to alarmists
By Tom Harris
Monday, June 12, 2006 Canada Free Press
http://www.canadafreepress.com/2006/harris061206.htm
"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.
Read the full items at the given weblinks
Sunday, June 18, 2006
More Articles on Global Desertification
More info on the deadly problem of global desert spreading... To get a real-time view of the Saharasian atmosphere, spreading its dust and dor all over the planet, take a look here:
http://www.nrlmry.navy.mil/aerosol/toms_globaer_gmt_loop.html
Everyone is so hysterical about "greenhouse gas" warming, but this satellite image shows where the real problem is found: spreading deserts, and burning of agricultural lands in the Third World. Most people are simply stunned the first time they see these images. Saharasia exports both desert atmospheres, and desert character structures...
A Sea of Sand Is Threatening China's Heart
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/08/world/asia/08desert.html?ex=1150862400&en=54db21540388320f&ei=5070
By JOSEPH KAHN
Published: June 8, 2006
MINQIN, China — China's own favorite military strategist, Sun Tzu, surely would have warned against letting two mighty enemies, the Tengger and the Badain Jaran, form a united front. Yet a desert pincer is squeezing this struggling oasis town, and China's long campaign to cultivate its vast arid northwest is in retreat.
An ever-rising tide of sand has claimed grasslands, ponds, lakes and forests, swallowed whole villages and forced tens of thousands of people to flee as it surges south and threatens to leave this ancient Silk Road greenbelt uninhabitable.
Han Chinese women here cover their heads and faces like Muslims to protect against violent sandstorms. Farmers dig wells down hundreds of feet. If they find water, it is often brackish, even poisonous.
....
+++++
Desertification Called Global Health Threat
http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/extract/295/21/2463?etoc
Bridget M. Kuehn
JAMA. 2006;295:2463-2465.
Growing populations and unsustainable land use practices are causing the world's deserts to expand, swallowing previously productive lands and placing millions of lives in jeopardy.
According to the United Nations' Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, desertification threatens dry land areas that make up 34% of the earth's total land area and are home to about 2 billion individuals. It is occurring around the globe, including the United States, China, and many countries in western Africa. In these areas, pressure from population growth, climate change, and poor agricultural practices can cause these fragile ecosystems to become degraded. This degradation can cause mass migration, famine, massive dust storms, and political instability, all of which may contribute to significant health problems in affected regions.
....
http://www.nrlmry.navy.mil/aerosol/toms_globaer_gmt_loop.html
Everyone is so hysterical about "greenhouse gas" warming, but this satellite image shows where the real problem is found: spreading deserts, and burning of agricultural lands in the Third World. Most people are simply stunned the first time they see these images. Saharasia exports both desert atmospheres, and desert character structures...
A Sea of Sand Is Threatening China's Heart
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/08/world/asia/08desert.html?ex=1150862400&en=54db21540388320f&ei=5070
By JOSEPH KAHN
Published: June 8, 2006
MINQIN, China — China's own favorite military strategist, Sun Tzu, surely would have warned against letting two mighty enemies, the Tengger and the Badain Jaran, form a united front. Yet a desert pincer is squeezing this struggling oasis town, and China's long campaign to cultivate its vast arid northwest is in retreat.
An ever-rising tide of sand has claimed grasslands, ponds, lakes and forests, swallowed whole villages and forced tens of thousands of people to flee as it surges south and threatens to leave this ancient Silk Road greenbelt uninhabitable.
Han Chinese women here cover their heads and faces like Muslims to protect against violent sandstorms. Farmers dig wells down hundreds of feet. If they find water, it is often brackish, even poisonous.
....
+++++
Desertification Called Global Health Threat
http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/extract/295/21/2463?etoc
Bridget M. Kuehn
JAMA. 2006;295:2463-2465.
Growing populations and unsustainable land use practices are causing the world's deserts to expand, swallowing previously productive lands and placing millions of lives in jeopardy.
According to the United Nations' Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, desertification threatens dry land areas that make up 34% of the earth's total land area and are home to about 2 billion individuals. It is occurring around the globe, including the United States, China, and many countries in western Africa. In these areas, pressure from population growth, climate change, and poor agricultural practices can cause these fragile ecosystems to become degraded. This degradation can cause mass migration, famine, massive dust storms, and political instability, all of which may contribute to significant health problems in affected regions.
....
Saturday, June 17, 2006
PRESS RELEASE: INVESTIGATIVE PROJECT, New Film on Terrorism to be shown in Philadelphia
Press Release, from Steve Emerson's Investigative Project
Three Ex-Terrorist Expose Three Pro-Terror "Western-Moderate" Muslims
Event at Seaport Museum, Penns Landing, Philadelphia, Tuesday June 20th, 7:30 PM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Investigative_Project
Exclusive Film Footage on Terrorism in America
to be Shown on Tuesday
Three x-terrorists will present exclusive film footage of well known terrorists and their indoctrination activities in America on Tuesday, June 20, 7:30 p.m. at the Seaport Museum at Penns Landing in Philadelphia.
The three x-terrorists, Walid Shoebat, Ibrahim Abdallah and Zachariah Anani, will discuss the film (produced by The Investigative Project), the prolific activities of these terrorists today, and their own personal experiences as terrorists operating in the U.S. and abroad. Former Green Beret lieutenant colonel Gordon Cucullu, a frequent media guest and terrorism expert, will moderate the event.
A few of the many prominent terrorists featured in the film are:
Sheikh Yusuf Al Qaradawi: A leading figure in the Muslim Brotherhood, who issues fatwas supporting suicide bombing. According to Azzam Tamimi of the Institute of Islamic Political Thought in London: "If Sheik Qaradawi gives a fatwa, that fatwa will be heeded tomorrow in hundreds of places around the world.”
Sheikh Muhammad Sayyam: On March 26, 2006, Muhammad Sayyam, a senior Hamas figure, met with Sayyid Salah al-Din, leader of the Kashmiri terror organization, Hezb ul-Mujahidin, in Peshawar, Pakistan. Hezb ul-Mujahidin functioned as an al-Qaeda affiliate and had training camps in Afghanistan until the Taliban's fall from power. Sayyam now heads the Yemeni branch of the Palestine Scholars Association, which advocates uncompromising jihad against unbelievers and legally sanctioned suicide bombings against civilians. He sees the role of Muslim religious sages as spiritual guides whose task is to motivate the masses to struggle against Islam's enemies and attack them with suicide bombings.
Fayez Azzam: One of the right hand men to bin Laden and the younger brother of Abdullah Azzam, bin Laden’s mentor. "Allah's religion be praised must offer martyrs. Blood must flow. There must be widows and there must be orphans. Hands and limbs must be cut and the limbs and flood must be spread everywhere in order that Allah's religion stand on its feet," Fayez Azzam said.
For Information and Interviews Contact: Maria Sliwa,msliwa@msliwa.com
Three Ex-Terrorist Expose Three Pro-Terror "Western-Moderate" Muslims
Event at Seaport Museum, Penns Landing, Philadelphia, Tuesday June 20th, 7:30 PM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Investigative_Project
Exclusive Film Footage on Terrorism in America
to be Shown on Tuesday
Three x-terrorists will present exclusive film footage of well known terrorists and their indoctrination activities in America on Tuesday, June 20, 7:30 p.m. at the Seaport Museum at Penns Landing in Philadelphia.
The three x-terrorists, Walid Shoebat, Ibrahim Abdallah and Zachariah Anani, will discuss the film (produced by The Investigative Project), the prolific activities of these terrorists today, and their own personal experiences as terrorists operating in the U.S. and abroad. Former Green Beret lieutenant colonel Gordon Cucullu, a frequent media guest and terrorism expert, will moderate the event.
A few of the many prominent terrorists featured in the film are:
Sheikh Yusuf Al Qaradawi: A leading figure in the Muslim Brotherhood, who issues fatwas supporting suicide bombing. According to Azzam Tamimi of the Institute of Islamic Political Thought in London: "If Sheik Qaradawi gives a fatwa, that fatwa will be heeded tomorrow in hundreds of places around the world.”
Sheikh Muhammad Sayyam: On March 26, 2006, Muhammad Sayyam, a senior Hamas figure, met with Sayyid Salah al-Din, leader of the Kashmiri terror organization, Hezb ul-Mujahidin, in Peshawar, Pakistan. Hezb ul-Mujahidin functioned as an al-Qaeda affiliate and had training camps in Afghanistan until the Taliban's fall from power. Sayyam now heads the Yemeni branch of the Palestine Scholars Association, which advocates uncompromising jihad against unbelievers and legally sanctioned suicide bombings against civilians. He sees the role of Muslim religious sages as spiritual guides whose task is to motivate the masses to struggle against Islam's enemies and attack them with suicide bombings.
Fayez Azzam: One of the right hand men to bin Laden and the younger brother of Abdullah Azzam, bin Laden’s mentor. "Allah's religion be praised must offer martyrs. Blood must flow. There must be widows and there must be orphans. Hands and limbs must be cut and the limbs and flood must be spread everywhere in order that Allah's religion stand on its feet," Fayez Azzam said.
For Information and Interviews Contact: Maria Sliwa,
Friday, June 16, 2006
Several Excellent, Infuriating articles for review
Several items below are stunning revelations, and yet not one peep about them from the MSM. Muhammed Atta's trip to Baghdad and training with the notorious Palestinian terrorist Abu Nidal, for example. While that one document alone, taken only by itself, may sound "too fantastic" to believe, in fact there has been a whole string of documents translated from the old Saddam-Iraq intelligence files, released since the liberation of Iraq was launched, which speak to this very same issue. And this is in addition to the rather large pile of other evidence gathered outside of Iraq. Nearly none of it gets reported, to the extent that major political leaders can pound the podiums declaring there was "no connection between Saddam's Iraq and 9-11", and so on. Sorry, yes, there was a clear connection, and the translated documentation emerging bit by bit is merely additional evidence to what has already accumulated. Check the old OBRL-News postings at the Yahoo Group website archive and plenty of those materials will be found. J.D.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/OBRL-News-Bulletin/
The Truth about the Muslim Brotherhood
By Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld and Alyssa A. Lappen
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=22916
THIS is the big "International Muslim Conspiracy", very authentic, documented, and out for world domination. The idea of a "Jewish Conspiracy" appears to be the smoke-screen. "Don't pay attention to that Imam behind the curtain!"
Bush Did Not Lie (on Iraqi WMDs and the Iraq-Al-Qaeda Connection)
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=22958
More on an issue repeatedly detailed in past OBRL-News postings. Saddam was up to his eyeballs in financing global terrorism, including the first WTC bombing in 1993, and 9-11 (through connections with al-Qaeda operatives), and possibly also the OK City bombing for which Tim McVeigh and Terry Nichols were convicted, but about which the "third terrorist" of Middle-East background has always remained an open question. The evidence on all three of these issues is considerable, in fact, though it remains a strange social phenomenon, that so many in the pro-terror "peace" camp literally scream at you that none of this is correct, as if they have a vested emotional interest to exonnerate Saddam from his various atrocities. Scream at you, but never engage in civil discourse on the subject. Standing behind all these connections, it appears, is the same Islamist factions as noted in the first item above, on the Muslim Brotherhood. Recall that most of the Islamic world was united under common Caliphates, such as the Ottoman Caliphate, which was broken apart only after WW-I (and thank goodness it was). Conservative news sources and internet blogs are repeatedly filled with information on these issues, but trying to find anything factual about it on the MSM is like looking for a glass of ice-water in the middle of the Sahara Desert.
Documents Support Saddam-Taliban Connection
By Ray Robison
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,199757,00.html#3
Here's more on the same subject, an extended report from Fox News.
Terrorist behind September 11 strike was trained by Saddam
By Con Coughlin
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/12/14/wterr14.xml
"Iraq's coalition government claims that it has uncovered documentary proof that Mohammed Atta, the al-Qaeda mastermind of the September 11 attacks against the US, was trained in Baghdad by Abu Nidal, the notorious Palestinian terrorist.
Details of Atta's visit to the Iraqi capital in the summer of 2001, just weeks before he launched the most devastating terrorist attack in US history, are contained in a top secret memo written to Saddam Hussein, the then Iraqi president, by Tahir Jalil Habbush al-Tikriti, the former head of the Iraqi Intelligence Service. ... "
Fitzgerald: Stop accommodating and tell the truth (about Islam)
http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/011841.php#more
Where is the Monty Python movie about the "Life of Muhammed"? Why is everyone cowering with fear in the face of Islamic bullies living freely in the West?
Bali bombings God's will: Bashir
By Rob Taylor in Ngruki, Central Java
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19479723-23109,00.html
In case you forgot, Imam Bashir is the "spiritual leader" of the fanatics who set off the bombs in Bali, killing hundreds of civilians at restaurants and dance clubs. Consider him the "ringleader", the "big boss"... but since according to Islamic tradition, only some vermin-cockroaches were killed (infidels), the punishment was proportional. Only 24 months in a relaxed prison environment. And upon being released, he called the Bali massacre "god's will" and told the Australian PM John Howard he would "burn in hell" if he did not convert to Islam. Do you get the impression the Indonesian Muslim leaders are quite happy about the Bali massacre, and are laughing at the West from behind the curtain? Australians take note, to the Indonesian Muslim society, you are scum, not worthy to live. And if one of the Muslim fanatics kills your people, expect no justice whatsoever, because this hateful attitude against the non-believer exists throughout all of Islam, not just the so-called "fanatics", but into the judiciary and political leadership to the top levels, all across the Muslim world. Prepare accordingly.
And to emphasize this issue, to the left is a photo of Bashir, next to a photo of Rebekka Zakaria, one of three Christian Sunday-School teachers, who was recently sentenced to three years in an Indonesian prison for daring to "teach Jesus" to local children. Got that? 24 months for participating and organizing the bombing and massacre of several hundred infidels, but three years for teaching children about Jesus. According to the news report, Muslim radicals swarmed around the courtroom before her sentencing, declaring they were going to "shed their own blood if the women were not found guilty."
http://www.persecution.com.au/news/article.asp?artID={0AD51734-3E23-452D-B837-41B513D4F887}
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/OBRL-News-Bulletin/
The Truth about the Muslim Brotherhood
By Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld and Alyssa A. Lappen
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=22916
THIS is the big "International Muslim Conspiracy", very authentic, documented, and out for world domination. The idea of a "Jewish Conspiracy" appears to be the smoke-screen. "Don't pay attention to that Imam behind the curtain!"
Bush Did Not Lie (on Iraqi WMDs and the Iraq-Al-Qaeda Connection)
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=22958
More on an issue repeatedly detailed in past OBRL-News postings. Saddam was up to his eyeballs in financing global terrorism, including the first WTC bombing in 1993, and 9-11 (through connections with al-Qaeda operatives), and possibly also the OK City bombing for which Tim McVeigh and Terry Nichols were convicted, but about which the "third terrorist" of Middle-East background has always remained an open question. The evidence on all three of these issues is considerable, in fact, though it remains a strange social phenomenon, that so many in the pro-terror "peace" camp literally scream at you that none of this is correct, as if they have a vested emotional interest to exonnerate Saddam from his various atrocities. Scream at you, but never engage in civil discourse on the subject. Standing behind all these connections, it appears, is the same Islamist factions as noted in the first item above, on the Muslim Brotherhood. Recall that most of the Islamic world was united under common Caliphates, such as the Ottoman Caliphate, which was broken apart only after WW-I (and thank goodness it was). Conservative news sources and internet blogs are repeatedly filled with information on these issues, but trying to find anything factual about it on the MSM is like looking for a glass of ice-water in the middle of the Sahara Desert.
Documents Support Saddam-Taliban Connection
By Ray Robison
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,199757,00.html#3
Here's more on the same subject, an extended report from Fox News.
Terrorist behind September 11 strike was trained by Saddam
By Con Coughlin
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/12/14/wterr14.xml
"Iraq's coalition government claims that it has uncovered documentary proof that Mohammed Atta, the al-Qaeda mastermind of the September 11 attacks against the US, was trained in Baghdad by Abu Nidal, the notorious Palestinian terrorist.
Details of Atta's visit to the Iraqi capital in the summer of 2001, just weeks before he launched the most devastating terrorist attack in US history, are contained in a top secret memo written to Saddam Hussein, the then Iraqi president, by Tahir Jalil Habbush al-Tikriti, the former head of the Iraqi Intelligence Service. ... "
Fitzgerald: Stop accommodating and tell the truth (about Islam)
http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/011841.php#more
Where is the Monty Python movie about the "Life of Muhammed"? Why is everyone cowering with fear in the face of Islamic bullies living freely in the West?
Bali bombings God's will: Bashir
By Rob Taylor in Ngruki, Central Java
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19479723-23109,00.html
In case you forgot, Imam Bashir is the "spiritual leader" of the fanatics who set off the bombs in Bali, killing hundreds of civilians at restaurants and dance clubs. Consider him the "ringleader", the "big boss"... but since according to Islamic tradition, only some vermin-cockroaches were killed (infidels), the punishment was proportional. Only 24 months in a relaxed prison environment. And upon being released, he called the Bali massacre "god's will" and told the Australian PM John Howard he would "burn in hell" if he did not convert to Islam. Do you get the impression the Indonesian Muslim leaders are quite happy about the Bali massacre, and are laughing at the West from behind the curtain? Australians take note, to the Indonesian Muslim society, you are scum, not worthy to live. And if one of the Muslim fanatics kills your people, expect no justice whatsoever, because this hateful attitude against the non-believer exists throughout all of Islam, not just the so-called "fanatics", but into the judiciary and political leadership to the top levels, all across the Muslim world. Prepare accordingly.
And to emphasize this issue, to the left is a photo of Bashir, next to a photo of Rebekka Zakaria, one of three Christian Sunday-School teachers, who was recently sentenced to three years in an Indonesian prison for daring to "teach Jesus" to local children. Got that? 24 months for participating and organizing the bombing and massacre of several hundred infidels, but three years for teaching children about Jesus. According to the news report, Muslim radicals swarmed around the courtroom before her sentencing, declaring they were going to "shed their own blood if the women were not found guilty."
http://www.persecution.com.au/news/article.asp?artID={0AD51734-3E23-452D-B837-41B513D4F887}
More on the Leftist-Islamic Alliance
Political Correctness — The Revenge of Marxism
From the "Gates of Vienna" Blogspot. Fascinating and disturbing.
The noted blogger Fjordman is filing this report as a guest-post at Gates of Vienna.
FrontPage Magazine: You make the shrewd observation of how political correctness engenders evil because of “the violence that it does to people’s souls by forcing them to say or imply what they do not believe, but must not question.” Can you talk about this a bit?
Theodore Dalrymple: Political correctness is communist propaganda writ small. In my study of communist societies, I came to the conclusion that the purpose of communist propaganda was not to persuade or convince, nor to inform, but to humiliate; and therefore, the less it corresponded to reality the better. When people are forced to remain silent when they are being told the most obvious lies, or even worse when they are forced to repeat the lies themselves, they lose once and for all their sense of probity. To assent to obvious lies is to co-operate with evil, and in some small way to become evil oneself. One’s standing to resist anything is thus eroded, and even destroyed. A society of emasculated liars is easy to control. I think if you examine political correctness, it has the same effect and is intended to.
I have heard people who have grown up in former Communist countries say that we in the West are at least as brainwashed by Multiculturalism and Political Correctness as they ever were with Communism, perhaps more so. Even in the heyday of the East Bloc, there were active dissident groups in these countries. The scary thing is, I sometimes believe they are right.
But how is that possible? Don’t we have free speech here? And we have no Gulag?
The simple fact is that we never won the Cold War as decisively as we should have. Yes, the Berlin Wall fell, and the Soviet Union collapsed. This removed the military threat to the West, and the most hardcore, economic Marxism suffered a blow as a credible alternative. However, one of the really big mistakes we made after the Cold War ended was to declare that Socialism was now dead, and thus no longer anything to worry about. Here we are, nearly a generation later, discovering that Marxist rhetoric and thinking have penetrated every single stratum of our society, from the Universities to the media. Islamic terrorism is explained as caused by “poverty, oppression and marginalization,” a classic, Marxist interpretation.
What happened is that while the “hard” Marxism of the Soviet Union may have collapsed, at least for now, the “soft” Marxism of the Western Left has actually grown stronger, in part because we deemed it to be less threatening. The “hard” Marxists had intercontinental nuclear missiles and openly said that they would “bury” us. The soft Marxists talk about tolerance and may seem less threatening, but their goal of overthrowing the evil, capitalist West remains the same. In fact, they are more dangerous precisely because they hide their true goals under different labels. Perhaps we should call it “stealth Socialism” instead of soft Socialism.
.....
Read it all!
From the "Gates of Vienna" Blogspot. Fascinating and disturbing.
The noted blogger Fjordman is filing this report as a guest-post at Gates of Vienna.
FrontPage Magazine: You make the shrewd observation of how political correctness engenders evil because of “the violence that it does to people’s souls by forcing them to say or imply what they do not believe, but must not question.” Can you talk about this a bit?
Theodore Dalrymple: Political correctness is communist propaganda writ small. In my study of communist societies, I came to the conclusion that the purpose of communist propaganda was not to persuade or convince, nor to inform, but to humiliate; and therefore, the less it corresponded to reality the better. When people are forced to remain silent when they are being told the most obvious lies, or even worse when they are forced to repeat the lies themselves, they lose once and for all their sense of probity. To assent to obvious lies is to co-operate with evil, and in some small way to become evil oneself. One’s standing to resist anything is thus eroded, and even destroyed. A society of emasculated liars is easy to control. I think if you examine political correctness, it has the same effect and is intended to.
I have heard people who have grown up in former Communist countries say that we in the West are at least as brainwashed by Multiculturalism and Political Correctness as they ever were with Communism, perhaps more so. Even in the heyday of the East Bloc, there were active dissident groups in these countries. The scary thing is, I sometimes believe they are right.
But how is that possible? Don’t we have free speech here? And we have no Gulag?
The simple fact is that we never won the Cold War as decisively as we should have. Yes, the Berlin Wall fell, and the Soviet Union collapsed. This removed the military threat to the West, and the most hardcore, economic Marxism suffered a blow as a credible alternative. However, one of the really big mistakes we made after the Cold War ended was to declare that Socialism was now dead, and thus no longer anything to worry about. Here we are, nearly a generation later, discovering that Marxist rhetoric and thinking have penetrated every single stratum of our society, from the Universities to the media. Islamic terrorism is explained as caused by “poverty, oppression and marginalization,” a classic, Marxist interpretation.What happened is that while the “hard” Marxism of the Soviet Union may have collapsed, at least for now, the “soft” Marxism of the Western Left has actually grown stronger, in part because we deemed it to be less threatening. The “hard” Marxists had intercontinental nuclear missiles and openly said that they would “bury” us. The soft Marxists talk about tolerance and may seem less threatening, but their goal of overthrowing the evil, capitalist West remains the same. In fact, they are more dangerous precisely because they hide their true goals under different labels. Perhaps we should call it “stealth Socialism” instead of soft Socialism.
.....
Read it all!
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Back from the SSE in Utah
Back from the SSE in Utah
I've recently returned to the Greensprings laboratory in Ashland Oregon, from the 25th International Meeting of the Society for Scientific Exploration, held in Orem, Utah. It was a lively affair, with all sorts of research papers on a wide variety of subjects on scientific anomalies, parapsychological research, new physics theories, and so on. All the materials which compose the "Index Expurgatorius" of modern academic science.
My own presentation was on positive results from ether-drift experiments, mostly as carried out on Mt. Wilson by Dayton Miller (photo of the Miller interferometer, the largest ever constructed, is shown), but also including the Michelson-Pease-Pearson experiment, the Dewitte experiment and that of Yuri Galaev in the Ukraine. These experiments cover a time period from c.1920 through 2002, and all showed very positive results for the existence of a tangible and dynamic ether in space, as well as a specific identifiable axis-of-drift. The interesting thing is, all of it is fully in agreement with the Cosmic Superimposition theory of Wilhelm Reich, and also integrates nicely with modern research on "Dark Matter Wind". A earlier paper of mine is available on this subject: A Dynamic and Substantive Cosmological Ether.
The SSE is one of three scientific organizations in the USA I know about, and belong to, which are devoted to open-minded but scientifically-critical engagement of controversial materials in the natural sciences. The three organizations are:
SSE: Society for Scientific Exploration
NPA: Natural Philosophy Alliance
ISSSEEM: Int. Society for Study of Subtle Energy and Energy Medicine
All three of these organizations have allowed, even encouraged, presentation of materials either directly or indirectly related to the life-energetic work of Wilhelm Reich. However, they do require one to organize one's work and presentations in a manner such that non-specialists can understand it. It must be put into the language of science, with an emphasis upon experimental proofs, and not merely theory or claim-making without scientific substance standing behind one's words. Also, most importantly, all three organizations publish either a scientific Journal, or a Proceedings volume from their major meetings. The SSE also has a European branch which meets every so often.
I have personally presented research papers to both the SSE and NPA on several occasions, on the subjects of the orgone energy accumulator, cloudbusting experiments, the ether-drift experiments, and so on, and both Societies have given an open-minded and constructively-critical reception to these ideas. Others in the field of experimental orgonomy have also occasionally presented at the SSE (at least), such as Dr. Richard Blasband, whose work on the reactions of REGs (Random Event Generators) to human emotion helps to integrate the findings from the PEAR group at Princeton University (whose principles are major organizers for the SSE) with Reich's discoveries on emotions and life-energy. The NPA is unique also, in that it holds at least one meeting per year in association with the American Association for the Advancement of Science -- the AAAS -- which publishes Science magazine, and is the largest scientific organization in the world.
One could correctly quibble, that these groups barely have a toe-hold in the mainstream, but through the hard work of the scientists who present at their meetings, and publish in their journals, over time they are having an important influence. In particular, younger scientifically-inclined university students are attracted. Scientists interested in the work of Reich, or in the subject of life-energy or parapsychology, would be well served to join these groups, and both attend and present their papers to them from time to time, even to submit better-constructed papers for publication. This is not only to educate others about the nature of orgonomic research, but also to learn what others are doing in fascinating parallel research areas, to gain the benefits of constructive critique and social interaction with those who are already sympathetic to the subject, and to do so in an atmosphere free from the oftentimes destructive politics of "orgonomic groups". Reich's discoveries were first and foremost an extension of the clinical and natural science of his day, and they constitute a lost chapter in the history of science which the mainstream hardly knows about, but nevertheless keeps stumbling over in the dark, time after time. This incoherent situation can be overcome with work and focused effort, by repeatedly pointing out the obvious to the mainstreamers, and taking some risks. By my view, it would be a mistake to think Reich's work and contemporary orgonomy will come out from under the shadows by only focusing one's efforts within any one or another "orgonomy group". Too often, these groups are simply too insular and isolated from the mainstream, small lakes only, as compared to the larger ocean of scientific discourse. Every scientist must learn to swim in that larger ocean, to master navigation in heavy surf, and even through shark-infested waters occasionally. This cannot be done without some risks, though these three organizations offer a relatively safe approach towards such a goal. There is no alternative, except to see orgonomy remain isolated with only a cultish following, of the already-convinced, in forums where one only preaches to the choir.
New Projects Underway
Two new research projects were born from this recent contact and work with the SSE and NPA:
1. It has been proposed that I write a new book, to gather together all the ether-drift research findings which are so badly ignored or bungled in the physics textbooks, along with all the related work of Wilhelm Reich, Giorgio Piccardi, and others in the field of life-energy research. This book would thereby provide an important integration and validation of Reich's orgone-energy discoveries, and his larger Cosmic Superimposition theory, within the context of contemporary astronomy and physics.
2. In communication with Yuri Galaev in the Ukraine, who made a most remarkable validation study of the Miller ether-drift experiments only a few years ago, it has been proposed that an apparatus similar to his own unique interferometer be constructed at my OBRL Greensprings Center, for a reproduction of the ether-drift experiments. Standing at 4200' elevation, with clear views off to all compass directions, and with an astronomical observatory standing at four stories high above the surrounding terrain, the Greensprings Center would be an ideal place to undertake such work.
We now wish to raise funds for these two projects, to publish the book and to build the necessary apparatus, with travel expenses to bring Dr. Galaev to the USA for participation and consultations. Any readers who might be able to help out on these expenses, with a tax-deductible donation to the OBRL, please contact me for details.
James DeMeo, Ph.D.
Director
Orgone Biophysical Research Lab
Greensprings Center
Ashland, Oregon, USA
16 June 2006
I've recently returned to the Greensprings laboratory in Ashland Oregon, from the 25th International Meeting of the Society for Scientific Exploration, held in Orem, Utah. It was a lively affair, with all sorts of research papers on a wide variety of subjects on scientific anomalies, parapsychological research, new physics theories, and so on. All the materials which compose the "Index Expurgatorius" of modern academic science. 
My own presentation was on positive results from ether-drift experiments, mostly as carried out on Mt. Wilson by Dayton Miller (photo of the Miller interferometer, the largest ever constructed, is shown), but also including the Michelson-Pease-Pearson experiment, the Dewitte experiment and that of Yuri Galaev in the Ukraine. These experiments cover a time period from c.1920 through 2002, and all showed very positive results for the existence of a tangible and dynamic ether in space, as well as a specific identifiable axis-of-drift. The interesting thing is, all of it is fully in agreement with the Cosmic Superimposition theory of Wilhelm Reich, and also integrates nicely with modern research on "Dark Matter Wind". A earlier paper of mine is available on this subject: A Dynamic and Substantive Cosmological Ether.The SSE is one of three scientific organizations in the USA I know about, and belong to, which are devoted to open-minded but scientifically-critical engagement of controversial materials in the natural sciences. The three organizations are:
SSE: Society for Scientific Exploration
NPA: Natural Philosophy Alliance
ISSSEEM: Int. Society for Study of Subtle Energy and Energy Medicine
All three of these organizations have allowed, even encouraged, presentation of materials either directly or indirectly related to the life-energetic work of Wilhelm Reich. However, they do require one to organize one's work and presentations in a manner such that non-specialists can understand it. It must be put into the language of science, with an emphasis upon experimental proofs, and not merely theory or claim-making without scientific substance standing behind one's words. Also, most importantly, all three organizations publish either a scientific Journal, or a Proceedings volume from their major meetings. The SSE also has a European branch which meets every so often.
I have personally presented research papers to both the SSE and NPA on several occasions, on the subjects of the orgone energy accumulator, cloudbusting experiments, the ether-drift experiments, and so on, and both Societies have given an open-minded and constructively-critical reception to these ideas. Others in the field of experimental orgonomy have also occasionally presented at the SSE (at least), such as Dr. Richard Blasband, whose work on the reactions of REGs (Random Event Generators) to human emotion helps to integrate the findings from the PEAR group at Princeton University (whose principles are major organizers for the SSE) with Reich's discoveries on emotions and life-energy. The NPA is unique also, in that it holds at least one meeting per year in association with the American Association for the Advancement of Science -- the AAAS -- which publishes Science magazine, and is the largest scientific organization in the world.
One could correctly quibble, that these groups barely have a toe-hold in the mainstream, but through the hard work of the scientists who present at their meetings, and publish in their journals, over time they are having an important influence. In particular, younger scientifically-inclined university students are attracted. Scientists interested in the work of Reich, or in the subject of life-energy or parapsychology, would be well served to join these groups, and both attend and present their papers to them from time to time, even to submit better-constructed papers for publication. This is not only to educate others about the nature of orgonomic research, but also to learn what others are doing in fascinating parallel research areas, to gain the benefits of constructive critique and social interaction with those who are already sympathetic to the subject, and to do so in an atmosphere free from the oftentimes destructive politics of "orgonomic groups". Reich's discoveries were first and foremost an extension of the clinical and natural science of his day, and they constitute a lost chapter in the history of science which the mainstream hardly knows about, but nevertheless keeps stumbling over in the dark, time after time. This incoherent situation can be overcome with work and focused effort, by repeatedly pointing out the obvious to the mainstreamers, and taking some risks. By my view, it would be a mistake to think Reich's work and contemporary orgonomy will come out from under the shadows by only focusing one's efforts within any one or another "orgonomy group". Too often, these groups are simply too insular and isolated from the mainstream, small lakes only, as compared to the larger ocean of scientific discourse. Every scientist must learn to swim in that larger ocean, to master navigation in heavy surf, and even through shark-infested waters occasionally. This cannot be done without some risks, though these three organizations offer a relatively safe approach towards such a goal. There is no alternative, except to see orgonomy remain isolated with only a cultish following, of the already-convinced, in forums where one only preaches to the choir.
New Projects Underway
Two new research projects were born from this recent contact and work with the SSE and NPA:
1. It has been proposed that I write a new book, to gather together all the ether-drift research findings which are so badly ignored or bungled in the physics textbooks, along with all the related work of Wilhelm Reich, Giorgio Piccardi, and others in the field of life-energy research. This book would thereby provide an important integration and validation of Reich's orgone-energy discoveries, and his larger Cosmic Superimposition theory, within the context of contemporary astronomy and physics.
2. In communication with Yuri Galaev in the Ukraine, who made a most remarkable validation study of the Miller ether-drift experiments only a few years ago, it has been proposed that an apparatus similar to his own unique interferometer be constructed at my OBRL Greensprings Center, for a reproduction of the ether-drift experiments. Standing at 4200' elevation, with clear views off to all compass directions, and with an astronomical observatory standing at four stories high above the surrounding terrain, the Greensprings Center would be an ideal place to undertake such work.
We now wish to raise funds for these two projects, to publish the book and to build the necessary apparatus, with travel expenses to bring Dr. Galaev to the USA for participation and consultations. Any readers who might be able to help out on these expenses, with a tax-deductible donation to the OBRL, please contact me for details.
James DeMeo, Ph.D.
Director
Orgone Biophysical Research Lab
Greensprings Center
Ashland, Oregon, USA
16 June 2006
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Squashed Orgone, Only $450,000
Well, here is a real mind-blower, a bit of squashed aluminum all polished up, with the name of Reich and "orgone" tagged on to it, and it sells for nearly a half-mil on ebay. Crazy world.
Monday, June 12, 2006
Palestinians Murder Their Own Children, Blame Israel
It seems the deaths of a Palestinian family on a beach in Gaza, blamed on the Israeli military, was the result of a qassam rocket attack accident, by the Palestinians themselves. I post this out because, while the initial accusations was broadcast around the world most loudly, the subsequent investigation and evidence of this being a Palestinian rocket-attack accident has got far less publicity within the appeasement-oriented MSM.
http://www.israelnewsagency.com/hamasterrorgazaisrael48770611.html
Palestinian Media Watch recently posted videoclips from Palestinian Authority TV, wherein one sees, for example, dead bodies laying in different positions on a beach, claimed to be the consequence of an Israeli artillery round, but there is no crater, no damages to the ground or surrounding scenery as would be the case with such an artillery explosion.
http://www.pmw.org.il/LatestBulletins.htm#b120606
Like the phoney "Jenin Massacre" videos, wherein "dead people" being carried on litters accidentally fell off and then scrambled up and back onto the litter, or where old corpses from natural deaths months earlier were burried in the rubble of a hard military battle, one can only remain stunned at the overt lying on the part of the Muslim media.
As I write this, CNN and other mainstream media continue to report the event purely as an Israeli "crime", without significant reference to the ongoing qassam rocket attacks (what's the big news about Muslims trying to kill Jews in Israel, after all) and without even mentioning the revelations below.
Hamas Murders Children in Palestine, Blames Israel
Hamas terrorists teach the art of suicide bombing to a 5-year-old.
Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah are veterans of using children as human shields,
human bombs and for propaganda posters to incite further terrorism.
By Joel Leyden
Israel News Agency
Jerusalem-----June 11.......An Israel Defense Forces intelligence officer has confirmed that the explosion that killed eight Palestinians on Friday, was caused by a stockpile of Hamas explosives.....
Go to the original item for the details. And here's an item giving background, before the above revelations were made:
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=22876
http://www.israelnewsagency.com/hamasterrorgazaisrael48770611.html
Palestinian Media Watch recently posted videoclips from Palestinian Authority TV, wherein one sees, for example, dead bodies laying in different positions on a beach, claimed to be the consequence of an Israeli artillery round, but there is no crater, no damages to the ground or surrounding scenery as would be the case with such an artillery explosion.
http://www.pmw.org.il/LatestBulletins.htm#b120606
Like the phoney "Jenin Massacre" videos, wherein "dead people" being carried on litters accidentally fell off and then scrambled up and back onto the litter, or where old corpses from natural deaths months earlier were burried in the rubble of a hard military battle, one can only remain stunned at the overt lying on the part of the Muslim media.
As I write this, CNN and other mainstream media continue to report the event purely as an Israeli "crime", without significant reference to the ongoing qassam rocket attacks (what's the big news about Muslims trying to kill Jews in Israel, after all) and without even mentioning the revelations below.
Hamas Murders Children in Palestine, Blames Israel
Hamas terrorists teach the art of suicide bombing to a 5-year-old.
Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah are veterans of using children as human shields,
human bombs and for propaganda posters to incite further terrorism.
By Joel Leyden
Israel News Agency
Jerusalem-----June 11.......An Israel Defense Forces intelligence officer has confirmed that the explosion that killed eight Palestinians on Friday, was caused by a stockpile of Hamas explosives.....
Go to the original item for the details. And here's an item giving background, before the above revelations were made:
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=22876
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