Every year since 1999, the U.N. has voted in support of a resolution which is misleadingly named “Combating the Defamation of Religion.”
This resolution is sponsored by the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), a powerful group of Islamic nation states which dominates the U.N. General Assembly.
This resolution “stresses the need to effectively combat defamation of all religions and incitement to religious hatred, against Islam and Muslims in particular.” In other words, this resolution combats the freedom of speech which free people all over the world hold so dear.
Former U.S. Ambassador John Bolton speaks very clearly to this issue when he says “It’s obviously intended to have an intimidating effect on people expressing criticism of radical Islam, and the idea that you can have a defamation of a religion like this, I think, is a concept fundamentally foreign to our system of free expression in the United States.”
The entire purpose of free speech in our society is to protect those who would criticize ideas and beliefs held by the rich and powerful. Ideas and beliefs are never above review. This resolution is a slap in the face to the founding fathers of this great nation, men who fought and died to give the gift of freedom to their children.
This resolution is sponsored by totalitarian states who give no protection to freedom of speech or religion to the powerless minorities in their countries. Clearly, this is not the sort of behavior which the people of any free nation should be encouraging.
We must act now to protect and defend our values, before they are overrun with the values of a seventh century death cult.
Professor Sir David King is President of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. He is on a mission to prevent luddite environmentalists from causing the deaths of millions of Africans.
These well-meaning but hopelessly confused environmentalists are trying to prevent Africa from adopting modern scientific farming methods.
These same methods have achieved never before seen levels of prosperity in the West, but the environmentalists feel that Africans should stick with their traditional manual farming methods which use weaker plant varieties and do not protect crops with modern pesticides.
In effect, these people are attempting to turn Africa into a museum — denying the people of Africa membership in the modern world. They are sentencing Africans to the periodic starvation periods which are endemic to the farming methods of the middle ages.
This would all be silly except for the fact that these racist environmentalist groups are wield significant political power. They hold important positions in government bureaucracies and non-governmental organizations which enable them to prevent the people of Africa from obtaining access to the information and tools necessary to implement modern scientific farming methods.
Frankly, these people are committing genocide and they should be held accountable for their actions.
As I am a devout Atheist myself, this post should more rightly be titled “My fellow Atheists, grow up!”
The angry folks from the Freedom From Religion Foundation are suing President Bush and Governor Jim Doyle of Wisconsin in response to a federal law designating a National Day of Prayer.
Their frivolous lawsuit claims that the law creates a “hostile environment for nonbelievers, who are made to feel as if they are political outsiders.”
I’ll tell you who is being hostile — it’s Atheists like these who can’t let other people live in peace. That is hostility right there.
As an Atheist, I am not harmed by people who wish to pray. I can pray myself, even if only I can listen to my own prayers. It doesn’t harm me at all, and it certainly doesn’t harm me to allow other people to take comfort in their own religious beliefs.
The yahoo’s from the Freedom From Religion Foundation want their freedom, but they are unwilling to grant the same freedom to others. It’s a double standard and one that should embarrass every right-thinking Atheist.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation folks are clogging up our legal system with meaningless lawsuits, including one that was rejected by the Supreme Court last year. They are wasting the hard-earned tax dollars of Americans of all faiths.
And so, to the Freedom From Religion Foundation I say — Grow up!
Thanks to a college student, scientists now know that in years past, the earth was a much warmer place than previously believed. Fossils collected from East Antarctica show that polar cap was once much hotter. At least, 14 million years ago.
The fossil, an ostracod, couldn’t survive in as cold of a climate as is present today. So this leads us to the next logical reason: the earth was much warmer back in the day. Tests show that the Arctic was at least thirty degrees warmer than it is today. Then suddenly 14 million years ago there was a major cool down and here we are.
Scientists haven’t yet determined what caused the major cooling period. Then again they also slacked while a college student found the new evidence in fossil form. That’s either one really smart kid or we have a bunch of really dumb and/or lazy scientists.
With global warming at the forefront of today’s news topics, maybe we should send all of our college students out into the field. No doubt they would unearth some of the world’s great mysteries. Where’s the ambition these days anyway? Where were the “professional” scientists when this kid got the fossils? Actually, where they were when the student was growing up is probably a better question.
I’m sure we all do the best we can, especially at work. But these stories (and many others like it) show just how complacent we get in certain situations when we’re there for a while. Then suddenly someone comes in and shows us up while we sit back and watch. I say good for the college student. I wonder if this means a scholarship.
Israel might have taken a step forward but with recent events the country has also taken two steps back. Two years ago, two Israeli soldiers were kidnapped on the Lebanese border by terrorist group Hezbollah. The group had kept the soldiers’ well-being from anyone though evidence found at the scene indicated the soldiers suffered major injuries. Shlomo Goldwasser is the father of one of the kidnapped soldiers, Ehud Goldwasser; he continued to have hope that his son was still alive.
Last week, however, this was found to be the furthest thing from the truth. In a deal with Israel, Hezbollah agreed to turn over the bodies of Goldwasser and fellow soldier Eldad Regev in return for murderer Samir Kantar who killed his daughter and another man in 1979. Kantar has been in Israel prison ever since. The current deal was negotiated by German intelligence and forensic experts confirmed the remains did indeed belong to the soldiers. Goldwasser had hope that he would receive his son. He lost that hope when Hezbollah turned over two black coffins in exchange for the prisoner.
A neighbor of the Regev family said through tears “It’s the saddest day for Israel. They kept us waiting until the last second to learn the fate of our sons”. The recent deal had been in negotiations for weeks with the Israel cabinet finally agreeing in full. Hezbollah celebrated the deal as a victory. A website for the terrorist group claimed the prisoners were to be dressed in military uniforms.
Hezbollah supporters and fellow terrorist group Hamas stated, “Today is a great victory for the resistance movements and for Hezbollah. It shows that the only successful way to free the prisoners is by kidnapping soldiers”. Gerhard C., a member of the German intelligence agency spent months on negotiations traveling between the U.N., New York and the middle east. Prime Minister Olmert was already under fire due to alleged corruption in his administration. He had been under pressure not to come to an agreement with Hezbollah.
In response to the continued attacks upon Israel, the Israeli’s attacked attacked Hezbollah in Lebanon in 2006 and Lebanon is still yet to fully recover. Olmert ordered an attack in order to secure the release of the two kidnapped soldiers but the move was poorly executed as the soldiers were not released. After 34 days of war, Hezbollah was still holding the soldiers. The power of the leader of Hezbollah, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, had increased power after the kidnapping and attacks that followed.
Still remaining is a classified report giving to Gerhard C. during negotiations about the fate of a future soldier, Ron Arad, who left his plane during a bombing in 1986 in Lebanon. Finding out the details and circumstances of this soldier and the events that day were a priority for the Israeli government. After reading several dozen pages, this report was deemed useless after finding out that it only stated Arad had been moved frequently and then lost.
Olmert stated “the report is completely inadequate”. It is doubtful that clarity on Arad’s death will ever be provided. Last weeks deal by Olmert was plagued by corruption investigations and the deal is attributed to Israel’s domestic weakness.
Iran told the International Atomic Energy Agency that it will no longer be cooperating with them in a move that is less than surprising for most of us. Iran has been under investigation by the IAEA for possible nuclear weapons development and as well as attempts to create and fuel nuclear missile payloads.
The Iranian Vice President made the announcement, which further leads the world to believe Iran is hiding something. Their nuclear defiance comes only five days after Tehran ignored demands from six world powers to suspend its warhead activities.
One year ago, the IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei stated that it was a huge step forward for Iran to allow investigators inside to examine their work. Of course, one year ago he also ignored comments that Iran was distracting investigators with the “work plan” to cover up six years of clandestine atomic work. However, multiple deadlines were missed because Iran seemed to be in no hurry to hold up their end of the bargain. In theory, this work plan was to have been finished in late 2007. Instead, it ended up going into 2008 and beyond.
Defiant Iran says the allegations made by the U.S. and other world powers are being fabricated, thus, the country is no longer even remotely interested in speaking to IAEA. No details were provided but Iranian Vice President Gholam Reza Aghazadeh stated that any further questions on the issue “will be dealt with another way”.
Britain’s Foreign Office commented “We are concerned by reports that Iran is refusing to cooperate with the IAEA on allegations over nuclear weapons. The IAEA has raised serious concerns over Iran’s activities with a possible military dimension. If Iran is serious about restoring international confidence in its intentions, it must address these issues,”
The IAEA has repeatedly asked Iran for explanations concerning their nuclear activities to no avail. Evidence collected by the IAEA includes draft plans of what appears to be refitting missiles with nuclear warheads, tests for nuclear detonators, civilian and military nuclear links as well as how to mold uranium into the shape of a warhead.
ElBaradei showed his frustration in the last report in May when he stated that Iran may be withholding information. It was also stated last week by the IAEA Deputy Director that Tehran’s defiance may be a result of multimedia presentations to the U.S. board members.
For the first time Saturday, the U.S. participated in talks in Geneva which had raised expectations for a compromise with Iran to stop their program. In return, the six world powers (U.S., Britain, Germany, France, Russia and China) would not make sanctions against Iran. However, Iran negotiators ignored the issue.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stated that Iran was not serious during the Geneva talks and threatened a fourth sanction against the country. The only question left to ask is: how many sanctions will it take before we realize they aren’t working?
Pakistan seems to be standing up for itself in the release of a high-ranking militant suspect. Threats from the Taliban’s commander against Pakistan’s security proved futile with the country’s refusal to release the suspect to the group. Twenty-one people were killed when militants and military forces battled while a suicide bomber injured four. According to witnesses, the suicide bomber was part of a sectarian rivalry.
The bomber was hiding on the side of a road in Hangu near a truck carrying Shiite Muslims. He came forward chanting “God is great!” before detonating the explosives. The driver of the truck, however, escaped without injury. The bomber wasn’t as fortunate. His body was found on the road, though most of the explosives were still intact.
The insurgents also seem to be getting smarter. They lured a convoy into a trap while five men acted as guides. When five other local men were sent to talk to them, they also disappeared. Sixteen troops, including a top commander, as well as five militants and one of their commanders were killed in a clash in the Hangu district. Escaping imminent death, one of the troops hid in a ravine.
In recent months, security in Pakistan has focused on the threat the Taliban poses against their country. This has also led to the arrest of one of a top aide to Pakistani Taliban. In return, this has led to Taliban fighters kidnapping security forces. This also resulted in a siege of a police station in which 19 employees became hostages. Still, Pakistan continued to stand their ground and refuse to release the Taliban’s top aide, claiming “no terrorist will be released, whatever the price we have to pay”.
A military operation in Hangu was dismissed with the promise that Pakistan would hunt down and find those responsible for the convoy attack. This clash happened while the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, was visiting the area on a one-day unannounced trip. Mullen met with several officials to discuss security problems stating that Pakistan is becoming more of a breeding-ground for Taliban militants because there is not enough pressure being applied to force them out.
Another area of focus during the visit was neighboring Afghanistan. Rehman Malik, Pakistan’s Interior Ministry Chief, stated “To save Afghanistan is to save Pakistan and to save Pakistan is to save the world”. He also remarked that in order to secure their country, their western border needed to be more secure.
This is the strangest thing ever — except that it reflects the reality in the minds of many young Democratic voters. And that my friends is stranger than any fiction.
90 billion barrels of oil represents approximately 13% of the worlds undiscovered oil reserves.
After meeting many of the local people in the Arctic Circle, it is a fairly safe generalization to say that they want to see that oil discovered and recovered. They are deeply family-oriented people and they want to turn that oil into educations and futures for their children. Through their ANC (Alaskan Native Corporation) system, they have created incredible investment vehicles to protect and nurture future generations.
Luddite “environmentalists” worry about how oil and gas recovery will hurt “the environment.” I was able to tour the Red Creek mine in the Arctic Circle — the worlds largest zinc mine. Before the mine was built, lead deposits were seeping into the water supply. The water was unsafe to drink and even fish could not live in it. Now that the mine is in operation, the water is safe to drink and the river supports a healthy fish population. The operations at the mine did not seem to bother the caribou who stopped to observe the humans at work. We humans are a part of nature. It is only the naive and arrogant “environmentalists” who see themselves as “above” nature and separate from it.
The downside is that these 90 billion barrels of oil represent only 12 years of United States oil consumption. We currently produce 8.322 million barrels of oil a day and consume 20.8 million barrels of oil a day. Even added to our current domestic production, this new oil will fuel our economy for less than two decades.
Clearly, this is a stop-gap measure. John McCain has promised that his administration will put into motion a plan to build 45 new nuclear power plants by 2030. This oil can help get us to that point.
If we don’t use our own natural resources, we are forced to buy oil from fascists regimes like Iran, Venezuela, and Saudi Arabia. We are, in effect, supporting despotism and the enslavement of our fellow human beings by these fascist governments.
Nuclear power is the only reasonable future, but oil is the only actual present. We must act now to protect the present and the future.
Rudy works the counter at the Pizza Patron in Denton Texas, but 17yr old Rudy Sandoval is a real American hero.
A couple of Friday’s ago, Ben Ramirez walked into the Pizza Patron wearing dark sunglasses and a wig and carrying what appeared to be a handgun. Ben demanded the money from the cash register and slapped Rudy in the face.
Rudy responded to the affront by fighting back. He struck his assailant several times — until Ben lost consciousness. Ben woke up a few minutes later, before the police had arrived. He immediately ran from the restaurant and got into a black pickup truck where two of his accomplices were waiting.
Another brave Texan was outside and noticed what was going on. He convinced two more Texans in an automobile to follow the black pickup truck. They identified the truck and it’s location to police and Ben Ramirez was arrested.
In total, four brave Americans helped that night to preserve all of our liberty. As John Locke wrote hundreds of years ago, “Where there is no law, there is no freedom.” These individuals acted, at risk to their own persons and property, to uphold the rule or law and to protect the freedom of Americans to enjoy pizza in peace.