IMHO VBG

IMHO=In My Humble Opinion VBG=Very Big Grin

This blog is devoted to topics that interest me and perhaps I'll post information that "the mainstream media" chooses to ignore or deemphasize. The point here is not to debate what I post, just consider it another point of view if you disagree with it, you know, be "open minded" and "tolerant."

Proverbs 3:5 "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding."

Friday, May 25, 2007

25 May 2007

“Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waiver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him, but if Baal is god, follow him.” But the people said nothing… 1 King 18:21

The Peaceful Muslim

May 22, 2007

A man whose family was part of the German aristocracy prior to World War Two owned a number of large industries and estates. When asked how many German people were true Nazis, the answer he gave should guide our attitude toward Islamic fanaticism.

“Very few people were true Nazis "he said," but many enjoyed the return of German pride, and many more were too busy to care. I was one of those who just thought the Nazis were a bunch of fools. So, the majority just sat back and let it all happen. Then, before we knew it, they owned us, and we had lost control, and the end of the world had come. My family lost everything. I ended up in a concentration camp and the Allies destroyed my factories."

We are told again and again by "experts" and "talking heads" that Islam is the religion of peace, and that the vast majority of Muslims just want to live in peace. Although this unqualified assertion may be true, it is entirely irrelevant. It is meaningless fluff, meant to make us feel better, and meant to somehow diminish the specter of Islamic fanaticm rampaging across the globe. The fact of the matter is that the fanatics rule Islam at this moment in history.

It is the fanatics who march. It is the fanatics who wage any one of 50 shooting wars worldwide.

It is the fanatics who systematically slaughter Christian or tribal groups throughout Africa and are gradually taking over the entire continent of Africa, in an Islamic wave. It is the fanatics who bomb, behead, murder, or honor kill.. It is the fanatics who take over mosque after mosque after mosque. It is the fanatics who zealously stone, behead and shoot homosexuals and rape victims.

The hard quantifiable fact is that the "peaceful majority" the "silent majority" of Muslims is cowed and extraneous.

Communist Russia was comprised of a peaceful majority of Russians who just wanted to live in peace. Yet the Russian Communists were responsible for the murder of about 20 million people. China's huge population was peaceful as well, but the Chinese Communists managed to kill a staggering 70 million people.

The average Japanese individual prior to World War 2 was not a warmongering sadist. Yet, Japan murdered and slaughtered its way across South East Asia in an orgy of killing that included the systematic murder of 12 million Chinese civilians; most killed by sword, shovel and bayonet.

And, who can forget Rwanda, which collapsed into butchery. Could it not be said that the majority of Rwandans were "peace loving"? Of course!

… Peace-loving Germans, Japanese, Chinese, Russians, Rwandans,

Serbs Afghans, Iraqis, Palestinians, Somalis, Nigerians,

Algerians, and many others have died because the peaceful

majority did not speak up until it was too late.

As for us who watch it all unfold; we must pay attention…

more at http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/015029.php

WHAT WARMING? Both Hemispheres Report Unusual Cold and Snow

May 23, 2007

The media loves to seize on every warm winter day or summer heat wave as some kind of “proof” of man-made catastrophic global warming. But what the establishment media likes to conveniently ignore is periods of unusual cold or snow. (See Newsbusters.org post: “Hysterical Global Warming Hypocrisy From ABC Regarding Heat Waves and Cold Snaps” http://newsbusters.org/node/9135 ) Several nations on Earth are currently experiencing rather cold and snowy weather at the moment...

...The below articles detail some of the unusual cold and snow occurring at the moment. One article below chronicles the Memorial Day snow advisory for the Colorado Mountains where up to 8 inches is expected. (and this after the Denver area received “one of the snowiest winters on record” in 2007.)

Parts of Wyoming are also being buried under a snowstorm while winter weather is persisting in Oregon and parts of Canada. A huge snowstorm in China has closed highways and stranded motorists. In addition, South Africa just set 54 new cold weather records with some parts seeing snow for the first time in 33 years as snow and ice continue to fall. Finally, winter has arrived early in Australia as the snow season is off to a promising start for the winter recreation industry.

Now the question is, will the same media that sensationalizes every warm weather event to promote climate alarmism, highlight the current icy grip of winter for many areas?

more at http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Minority.Blogs&ContentRecord_id=bb2807f0-802a-23ad-45b3-6f25e4365be1

South Africa Weather breaks record

May 23, 2007

THE icy weather of snow, hail and heavy rain that has swept across South Africa over the past few days has set 54 weather records.

The South African Weather Service said 34 new records were set on Monday and another 20 yesterday. Almost all records were for the lowest maximum and minimum daily temperatures in towns across the country.

http://www.capetimes.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=3844594

Climbers get the cold shoulder

Awash in snow, path to Pikes Peak summit proving dangerous

May 24, 2007

This is the snowiest spring on Pikes Peak in more than a decade. Barr Camp recorded 231 inches of snow this winter. (It only saw 50 inches in 2006.)

Hikers venturing above treeline will find that the peak is more wintry this May than it usually is in January, and they should be prepared.

“The snow is still waist-deep in places, and we just got more today,” Taylor, the caretaker at Barr Camp, said Wednesday. Every day, she warns people that the trail is buried...

...Temperatures at the summit have hovered around freezing for days. Snow will likely last into June or July...

http://www.gazette.com/articles/snow_22774___article.html/summit_cadets.html

Snow kidding! Weather wacky

By Rocky Mountain News

May 23, 2007

...A mostly soggy week with a bit of late-season snow should start to yield to sunny skies as Memorial Day weekend approaches.

It was no picnic, though, Wednesday when light snow fell Wednesday along Interstate 70 on both sides of the Eisenhower Tunnel and along some mountain passes...

...The southwestern mountains of Colorado were under under a snow advisory Wednesday, with up to 8 inches of accumulation possible. A freeze watch was in effect Wednesday night in the San Luis Valley region and much of southeastern Colorado was under a flash-flood watch...

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5551185,00.html

Update: Quran can be used in courtrooms

05/24/07

GREENSBORO — Muslims can now swear on the Quran when called as witnesses in North Carolina courtrooms, a Wake County judge ruled Thursday.

The decision represents a victory for the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina, which sued the state after two Guilford County judges rejected an offer from an Islamic center to provide county courthouses with free copies.

"The highest aim of every legal contest is the search for truth," Wake Superior Court Judge Paul Ridgeway wrote in an 18-page opinion. "To require pious and faithful practitioners of religions other than Christianity to swear oaths in a form other than the form most meaningful to them would thwart the search for the truth.

http://www.news-record.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070524/NEWSREC0101/70524030

...I’ve been told by a Muslim the Quran does allow them to lie to infidels (that’s you and me). Basically anything that talks about peace, kindness, justice, honesty, respect etc only applies to Muslims,it DOES NOT to infidels. Jesus’ Golden Rule doesn’t apply here ["So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you…" Matthew 7:12 NIV], as far as Muslims are concerned, though from what I read that is one of the things that wins some to Christianity. BTW, do you think the Saudis will allow me to swear on a Bible in Riyadh?

Study Finds Hurricanes Frequent in Some Cooler Periods

NY Times ^ | May 24, 2007

Over the last 5,000 years, the eastern Caribbean has experienced several periods, lasting centuries, in which strong hurricanes occurred frequently even though ocean temperatures were cooler than those measured today, according to a new study.

The authors, from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, say their findings do not necessarily conflict with recent papers asserting a link between the region’s hurricane activity and human-caused warming of the climate and seas.

But, they say, their work does imply that factors other than ocean temperature, at least for thousands of years, appear to have played a pivotal role in shaping storminess in the region...

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/24/science/earth/24storm.html?_r=1&ref=science&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin

Here’s a funny story. Read the whole thing

Edwards Gets Booty, Says "Uncomfortable" with Gays

http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_052407/content/01125116.guest.html

Ten Commandments, Two Versions

Pat Boone May 21, 2007

…One served as the inspiration and basis for the notion of "inalienable rights," as an "endowment" from a creator who made all men equal, and intended them to have "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." The other, more "progressive" set forms a blueprint for a society ruled by a legal oligarchy which dictates what citizens can say and write, where and under what conditions they can express their faith in their God, and which is determined to abolish the ridiculous concept of "one nation under God."

[The first one]

I. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

II. Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven images.

III. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.

IV. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

V. Honor thy father and thy mother.

VI. Thou shalt not kill.

VII. Thou shalt not commit adultery.

VIII. Thou shalt not steal.

IX. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. X. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house; thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife nor manservant, nor his cattle nor anything that is thy neighbor's.

This set of directives and regulations has been generally accepted for 4,000 years as the best basis for a free and healthy society ever devised....

...The other set, devised and prosecuted through our courts, sometimes even the Supreme Court — the ACLU always seeming an institutionalized part of the process — is almost the diametrical opposite of the first set:

I. Thou shalt not pray in public schools, even if students and faculty desire to.

II. Thou shalt not allow Nativity scenes on public property.

III. Thou shalt not display the Ten Commandments, in public, anywhere.

IV. Thou shalt not pray at graduation ceremonies, sport events, or in mixed company, anywhere.

V. Thou shalt not permit teachers to have even their personal Bibles in class, or students to mention a Bible verse in an essay or speech.

VI. Thou shalt not allow Boy Scouts, who promote religious and moral values, the use of public property.

VII. Thou shalt not dare to define marriage as only between one man and one woman.

VIII. Thou shalt not allow crosses in war memorials.

IX. Thou shalt not say the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance.

X. Thou shalt not teach creation or intelligent design or any understanding of human origin except evolution.

...Does a pattern begin to form, revealing a trend toward a different kind of society? And the ACLU, which actually dares to describe itself as the defender of civil liberties, has won court battles on all these issues, increasingly imposing its atheistic, humanistic, amoral views on America. And blatantly robbing the majority of their civil liberties!

...And James Madison, considered the father of the Constitution and Bill of Rights, although an opponent of theocracy, still declared "Religion is the basis and foundation of government." Marx declared and Lenin recited, "Religion is the opiate of the people." And the ACLU, now with the agreement of certain leaders in Congress, wants to pass legislation that will actually define parts of the Bible as "hate speech," because these parts condemn and forbid activities they want to condone and promote.

H.R.1592, the "Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007," is the latest pending suitcase bomb against free speech, courtesy of ultra-liberal Representative John Conyers, D-Mich., and carried by Ted Kennedy in the Senate... complete article at:

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2007/5/21/111638.shtml

ABC News accused of treasonous report

Viewers, lawmakers scorch network for disclosing 'CIA covert operation'

May 23, 2007

ABC News is coming under heavy criticism for its exclusive report revealing a purported CIA covert operation designed to destabilize the government of Iran.

Brian Ross of ABC reported last night:

The CIA has received secret presidential approval to mount a covert "black" operation to destabilize the Iranian government, current and former officials in the intelligence community tell the Blotter on ABCNews.com.

The sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the subject, say President Bush has signed a "nonlethal presidential finding" that puts into motion a CIA plan that reportedly includes a coordinated campaign of propaganda, disinformation and manipulation of Iran's currency and international financial transactions.

"Isn't this type of reporting TREASON?!" asks Robert Lipps in an ABC thread receiving hundreds of comments. "Where's the responsibility for the good of the country? This is disgusting! What are you thinking?"

Dawn Mansfield wrote: "Why, if it is covert, are you airing it and telling the Iranians what we are doing? Do you want more war and more killings of Americans? Let them do their job's and keep your mouths shut."

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55846

Thursday, May 24, 2007

23 May 2007

Train Kills Man Trying to Kill Woman
LOS ANGELES May 21, 2007
A man trying to kill his girlfriend by stopping a car in front of an approaching train was himself killed Monday when the train hit the vehicle and launched it into him as he tried to flee, police said...

...The driver, who was seen arguing with his girlfriend, parked the car on the tracks and jumped out, leaving her behind, Lopez said.

A northbound commuter train hit the rear of the car, hurling it into the man. The girlfriend was taken to the hospital, where she was in stable condition, Lopez said...
Done with Schwarzenegger and God, Paris Hilton turns to Buddha for help
23rd May 2007
Paris Hilton is pulling out all stops to avoid going to prison.

She's already put in a plea to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and turned to God with church visits and Bible readings - now she’s making sure to cover all spiritual bases.

The 26-year-old has turned to Buddha to save her from her 23-day jail sentence.

Dressed in a blue dress, she shopped in Buddhist store Bodhi Tree in Hollywood.

A day earlier she was spotted carrying a self help book and a copy of the Bible.
She’s clearly a very fast reader, as she’s probably the only person in history to finish a copy of the Good Book overnight.

She’s still got Allah, Vishnu, the Aboriginal Rainbow Serpent and Bono (well actually, he just thinks he’s a god) to go.
As Lucy in Paris France commented regarding the photos in the article (see http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/05_02/parisPC2205_468x312.jpg for photo ) "Why does she keep holding books with their covers facing outwards? That's not how I hold a book. I usually hold it with the cover facing inwards as after having closed it, that's the direction it is naturally facing. Quite frankly, it is insulting of her to think people are so stupid they can't see what she is doing. I don't for a minute think that she actually cares less about any of these religions - all she cares about is the fact that she will lose 23 days out of her partying, boozing lifestyle."

Caprice at the pump
May 23, 2007
As the summer travel season quickly nears and consumers continue to watch as the cost of filling up gas tanks steadily increase, they may instinctively believe oil companies are getting rich at their expense. This is an understandable, but common misconception whenever prices seem to inflate beyond reason… Read rest of article at
Here's how the liberal Washington Post portrays the recent PEW poll of Muslim Americans...
Survey: U.S. Muslims Assimilated, Opposed to Extremism
There are 2.25 million Muslims in America so if 26%of those between 18 and 29 say suicide bombing of civilians is okie dokie with them that is a serious problem.

Here's what the BBC says..
Muslims 'well integrated' in US
US Muslims tend to feel positive about US but not always welcome

Muslim Americans are largely integrated in US society and moderate in their views, a nationwide survey suggests.
Maybe if they tried to assimilate like immigrants used to do they'd feel more comfy. I wonder how welcome they think Jews & Christians feel in Islamic countries? The fact is they will not feel welcome until the US is a Muslim nation...

The more conservative NY Post gets it correct...
TIME BOMBS IN OUR MIDST
26% OF YOUNG U.S. MUSLIMS BACK KILLINGS
...The most shocking responses came when those surveyed were asked whether suicide bombings and other violence against civilians can be justified "in order to defend Islam from its enemies."

The conservative Washington Times also gets it correct...
Young US Muslims back suicide attacks
May 23, 2007
The first nationwide survey of Muslim Americans revealed that more than a quarter of those younger than 30 say suicide bombings to defend Islam are justified, a fact that drowned out the poll's kinder, gentler findings suggesting that the community is mainstream and middle class...

..."But the survey also found that only 40 percent of the overall American Muslim population would even admit that Arabs were behind 9/11. They're in denial, refusing to take moral responsibility, and the radicals will feed on this," Dr. Jasser [a Muslim] said...

...The survey found that 54 percent are dissatisfied with the general state of the nation, 53 percent say life has gotten more difficult for Muslim Americans since September 11, 2001. More than half believe that their population has been singled out by the U.S. government for surveillance...
American Muslims Not Moderating
May 23, 2007
... lets run the numbers. What do we have, two and a half million Muslims in America, living here, break it down, whatever percentage of them are between 18 and 29, then take 26% of that...

"Two percent of them say it can often be justified, 13% say sometimes, and 11% say rarely." So let's add it up, 26 and 2 is 28, so 31% think to one degree or another, suicide bombing is justified. If you add to that the 5% that don't know or refuse to answer, it's even worse.

So almost a third of young American Muslims who support in one way or another homicide bombings according to the Pew poll.

"12% of foreign-born Arab Muslims said that 'Suicide Bombing Can be Justified Often/Sometimes.' That's more than one in ten. 10% of them don't know/refused to answer. That's a total of 22% who apparently support homicide bombings. That's more than one in five and almost one in four." Yet the headlines all last night on this story were, "Muslims assimilating in America. Muslims are moderate."

"Eight percent of all U.S. Muslims said suicide bombing is justified. Add to that the 9% that don't know/refused to answer, and you get 17%, almost 1 in 5 American Muslims," support suicide bombings.

It goes even further. We've heard for a long time that American Muslims, that Al-Qaeda doesn't represent Islam, and Al-Qaeda's hijacked the religion.

"More than one in four American Muslims, aged 18-29, support Al-Qaeda. 7% outright viewed it favorably, plus 19% don't know/refused to answer--for a total of 26%.

...more than one in four young Muslims in America supports Qaeda. One third of American Muslims age thirty or more support Al-Qaeda. 4% support the group outright, plus the 29% that refused to answer, for a total of 33%. If you can't answer an outright no to this question, you support Al-Qaeda. Of all American Muslims, only 58% have a very unfavorable view of Al-Qaeda." Well, okay, fine, but 42% do...
Debbie Schlussel: Meet Your "Moderate," "American" Muslim Neighbors: New Study Shows U.S. Muslims Are Extremists
...The title of the study is deceptive: "Muslim Americans: Middle Class and Mostly Mainstream." But while the study shows that most Muslims in America are, indeed, middle-class, they are anything but "Mainstream." That is, unless the mainstream is referring to the mainstream of Islam around the world and not the mainstream of American values.

Islamists, like Ingrid Matteson, president of the extremist Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), consulted with Pew in conducting this study. But, even with the cosmetics, the numbers and opinions should disturb you. Without the cosmetics, the real numbers are far worse.

The numbers are not news to me, because I've been warning you for years that this is exactly what the American Muslim street is thinking. Now there's statistical proof. Here are the notable results (and, remember, since people lie in polls, the real statistics are likely a lot worse):
for a break down of the numbers see...
THIS TINY LUNATIC FRINGE ADDS UP TO A BIG THREAT
Michelle Malkin May 23, 2007
Israeli ambassador condemns 'eerie silence' of Muslim leaders
May 23, 2007
Israel's ambassador to the United Nations says when Israel vacated every inch of Gaza, the Palestinians had two choices: make the land into "the Hong Kong of the Middle East" or turn it into a launching pad for missiles into Israel. He says they have chosen the latter....

...Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Dan Gillerman says in return for giving the Palestinians a chance to run their own lives in Gaza, Israel has received a daily barrage of rockets. "But as far as terror in general -- and we live in a period of probably the worst terror the world has ever seen -- what worries me the most is the eerie silence," he observes; "the silence of the world, the silence of the international community, but most of all the silence of the so-called moderate Muslim and Arab leaders."
Rising corn prices hit grocery shoppers' pocketbooks
May 22, 2007
The rising demand for corn as a source of ethanol-blended fuel is largely to blame for increasing food costs around the world, and Canada is not immune, say industry experts.

Food prices rose 10 per cent in 2006, "driven mainly by surging prices of corn, wheat and soybean oil in the second part of the year," the International Monetary Fund said in a report.

"Looking ahead, rising demand for biofuels will likely cause the prices of corn and soybean oil to rise further," the authors wrote in the report released last month.

Statistics Canada says consumers in the country paid 3.8 per cent more for food in April 2007, compared to the same month last year.

...A study released in May from Iowa State University shows increased prices for ethanol have already led to bigger grocery bills for the average American — an increase of $47 US compared to July 2006.

In the United States, as elsewhere, ethanol is made from corn. But corn is also used to feed chickens, hogs and cattle, which means a rise in prices for meat, eggs and dairy.

In Mexico last year, corn tortillas, a crucial source of calories for 50 million poor people, doubled in price. The increase forced the government to introduce price controls...
The Many Myths of Ethanol
By John Stossel May 23, 2007
…Simple question first. If ethanol's so good, why does it need government subsidies? Shouldn't producers be eager to make it, knowing that thrilled consumers will reward them with profits?

But consumers won't reward them, because without subsidies, ethanol would cost much more than gasoline.
The claim that using ethanol will save energy is another myth. Studies show that the amount of energy ethanol produces and the amount needed to make it are roughly the same. "It takes a lot of fossil fuels to make the fertilizer, to run the tractor, to build the silo, to get that corn to a processing plant, to run the processing plant," Taylor says.

And because ethanol degrades, it can't be moved in pipelines the way that gasoline is. So many more big, polluting trucks will be needed to haul it.

More bad news: The increased push for ethanol has already led to a sharp increase in corn growing -- which means much more land must be plowed. That means much more fertilizer, more water used on farms and more pesticides...

...OK, but it will cut down on air pollution, right? Wrong again. Studies indicate that the standard mixture of 90 percent ethanol and 10 percent gasoline pollutes worse than gasoline...

...Well, then, the ethanol champs must be right when they say it will reduce greenhouse gases and reverse global warming.
Nope. "Virtually all studies show that the greenhouse gases associated with ethanol are about the same as those associated with conventional gasoline once we examine the entire life cycle of the two fuels," Taylor says...
more at
Former President Carter rebuked for calling Bush administration 'worst in history'
…In his original comment, Carter observed, "I think as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history." The White House responded with a strong rebuke, calling Carter "increasingly irrelevant."

..."In 1979, Carter undercut the Shah of Iran and allowed the Ayatollah Khomeini to come into power. In 1979, the Ayatollah's folks in Iran seized our embassy and held our diplomats for 444 days. In 1979, Saddam Hussein, ironically, became the official leader of Iraq on Carter's watch. And also in 1979, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. What did Carter do about all those things? Absolutely nothing."

The U.S. is still feeling the adverse effects of Carter's presidency, the author and military expert contends. "If you look at what transpired under his four years back in the late 1970s," he notes, "inflation was out the roof; the economy was suffering; [President Carter] devastated the military in terms of capability and morale; he gave birth to the first state-sponsored terrorist state in Iran when he didn't support our longtime ally, the Shah; and he actually propped up the Ayatollah Khomeini."
The Bush Years, In Perspective
  • Part One Bush's Real Record On The Economy
The Presidency: Years from now, pundits and academics will surely wonder why President Bush's greatest achievement — his stewardship of the economy — got so little notice during his time in office. Yet that's how it is.
  • Part Two Homeland Security: So Far, So Good
The Presidency: Addressing Congress just after 9/11, President Bush promised that "as long as the United States of America is determined and strong, this will not be an age of terror." Determination is what explains his perfect record protecting the homeland.
  • Part Three Bush's Exit Strategy In Iraq Is Victory
The Presidency: George W. Bush, obeying a U.N. mandate, set out to dethrone a mass murderer and an aggressive tyrant, expand democracy and take the war on terror to the enemy. He's done all that and more.

David Bennett <><

22 May 2007

Rare Old Testament scroll fragment to be unveiled

May. 21, 2007

...A rare Torah scroll fragment from the Book of Exodus dating back to the 7th century that includes the famous Song of the Sea will be unveiled Tuesday at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, the museum announced Monday.

The manuscript, which is a fragment of a Torah scroll from the Book of Exodus (13:19-16:1), comes from the six-hundred year period from the 3rd through 8th centuries known as the "silent era," from which almost no Hebrew manuscripts have survived...


...Persecution of the Jews and the destruction of Jewish manuscripts are the most prevalent explanation as to why very few Hebrew manuscripts survive from this period...

more at http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?c=JPArticle&cid=1178708654713&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull


'Star Trek' scanner may end need for biopsies

22/05/2007

Scientists have moved closer to developing a Star Trek-type scanner that can identify the molecular indications of cancer and other diseases without surgery.


X-ray images contain patterns that can help doctors translate the genetic "language" of tumours, researchers have found.


The discovery, which has been compared to finding the "Rosetta Stone" that enabled archaeologists to read hieroglyphics, could bring the science fiction of Star Trek to life...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/05/22/nhealth22.xml


Mysteries to Behold in the Dark Down Deep: Seadevils and Species

May 22, 2007

When, more than 70 years ago, William Beebe became the first scientist to descend into the abyss, he described a world of twinkling lights, silvery eels, throbbing jellyfish, living strings as “lovely as the finest lace” and lanky monsters with needlelike teeth...


...Beebe sketched some of the creatures, because no camera of the day was able to withstand the rigors of the deep and record the nuances of this cornucopia of astonishments.

see photos at http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/22/science/22deep.html?_r=1&ref=science&oref=slogin


Experts predict scorching summer

5/21/2007

DENVER -- As Memorial Day weekend beckons, federal climate scientists predict drought will intensify in much of the West this summer and persist in the fire-scorched Southeast despite recent rain.

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070521/NATIONWORLD/705210402/-1/LOCAL17

...That’s a pretty safe bet. You'll get wet when it rains if you go outside without an umbrella too!


It's true, Glaciers are retreating! Should we panic or worry?

According to Reid A. Bryson, PhD as the glaciers retreat we are finding evidence of civilization where those glaciers once stood! Not only that, as the glacier retreats they're finding the mine shafts and the mining tools stacked up and waiting...


"Bryson mentions the retreat of Alpine glaciers, common grist for current headlines. “What do they find when the ice sheets retreat, in the Alps?”


“We recall the two-year-old report saying a mature forest and agricultural water-management structures had been discovered emerging from the ice, seeing sunlight for the first time in thousands of years. Bryson interrupts excitedly.


“A silver mine! The guys had stacked up their tools because they were going to be back the next spring to mine more silver, only the snow never went,” he says. “There used to be less ice than now. It’s just getting back to normal.”


Regarding the Vikings in Greenland:


"When Eric the Red went to Greenland, how did he get there? It’s all written down.”

"Bryson describes the navigational instructions provided for Norse mariners making their way from Europe to their settlements in Greenland. The place was named for a reason: The Norse farmed there from the 10th century to the 13th, a somewhat longer period than the United States has existed. But around 1200 the mariners’ instructions changed in a big way. Ice became a major navigational reference. Today, old Viking farmsteads are covered by glaciers."

http://www.wecnmagazine.com/2007issues/may/may07.html


Who is Doctor Bryson?

Some people are lucky enough to enjoy their work, some are lucky enough to love it, and then there’s Reid Bryson. At age 86, he’s still hard at it every day, delving into the science some say he invented.


Reid A. Bryson holds the 30th PhD in Meteorology granted in the history of American education. Emeritus Professor and founding chairman of the University of Wisconsin Department of Meteorology—now the Department of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences—in the 1970s he became the first director of what’s now the UW’s Gaylord Nelson Institute of Environmental Studies. He’s a member of the United Nations Global 500 Roll of Honor—created, the U.N. says, to recognize “outstanding achievements in the protection and improvement of the environment.” He has authored five books and more than 230 other publications and was identified by the British Institute of Geographers as the most frequently cited climatologist in the world.


Long ago in the Army Air Corps, Bryson and a colleague prepared the aviation weather forecast that predicted discovery of the jet stream by a group of B-29s flying to and from Tokyo. Their warning to expect westerly winds at 168 knots earned Bryson and his friend a chewing out from a general—and the general’s apology the next day when he learned they were right. Bryson flew into a couple of typhoons in 1944, three years before the Weather Service officially did such things, and he prepared the forecast for the homeward flight of the Enola Gay. Back in Wisconsin, he built a program at the UW that’s trained some of the nation’s leading climatologists.

http://www.wecnmagazine.com/2007issues/may/may07.html


High Schooler forced to watch An Inconvenient Truth in Four Different Classes

But it’s not indoctrination is it?

May 19, 2007

First it was his world history class. Then he saw it in his economics class. And his world issues class. And his environment class. In total, 18-year-old McKenzie, a Northern Ontario high schooler, says he has had the film An Inconvenient Truth shown to him by four different teachers this year.


"I really don't understand why they keep showing it," says McKenzie (his parents asked that his last name not be used). "I've spoken to the principal about it, and he said that teachers are instructed to present it as a debate. But every time we've seen it, well, one teacher said this is basically a two-sided debate, but this movie really gives you the best idea of what's going on."


McKenzie says he has educated himself enough about both sides of the climate- change controversy to know that the Al Gore movie is too one-sided to be taught as fact. Even scientists who back Mr. Gore's message admit they're uncomfortable with liberties the politician takes with "science" in the film. But, McKenzie says most of his classmates are credulous. His teachers are not much more discerning. "They don't know there's another side to the argument," he says. McKenzie's mother was outraged to find out that Mr. Gore's film was being presented as fact in her son's classroom. "This is just being poured into kids' brains instead of letting them know there's a debate going on," she says. "An educational system falls down when they start taking one side."

more at

http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=f7806f79-bf1f-4bd1-8d33-c904feb71047


Probe Carbon Offsets, Congressmen Say

May 21, 2007

For those who support it, it offers the reward of "carbon neutrality" without having to lower one's standard of living. To critics, it allows guilt-free pollution. Either way, the burgeoning carbon offset industry needs more oversight, say two members of Congress...


…About 60 different companies sell carbon offsets to U.S. consumers but operate under virtually no standards, the congressmen said. They cited reports alleging that some organizations get money for emissions that don't exist and that others make large profits on cleanups that would have taken place anyway.

http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewPolitics.asp?Page=/Politics/archive/200705/POL20070521c.htm l


Based on the evidence Astrophysicist changes mind about Gorebal Warming

Dr. Nir Shaviv, an Astrophysicist. has recently recanted his belief that man was warming up the earth. He recently wrote: "Like many others, I was personally sure that CO2 is the bad culprit in the story of global warming. But after carefully digging into the evidence, I realized that things are far more complicated than the story sold to us by many climate scientists or the stories regurgitated by the media. In fact, there is much more than meets the eye." Shaviv adds that "Solar activity can explain a large part of the 20th-century global warming."

..."Solar activity can explain a large part of the 20th-century global warming," he states, particularly because of the evidence that has been accumulating over the past decade of the strong relationship that cosmic- ray flux has on our atmosphere. So much evidence has by now been amassed, in fact, that "it is unlikely that [the solar climate link] does not exist."


The sun's strong role indicates that greenhouse gases can't have much of an influence on the climate -- that C02 et al. don't dominate through some kind of leveraging effect that makes them especially potent drivers of climate change. The upshot of the Earth not being unduly sensitive to greenhouse gases is that neither increases nor cutbacks in future C02 emissions will matter much in terms of the climate...

http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/story.html?id=156df7e6-d490-41c9-8b1f-106fef8763c6&k=0


Another Former Believer Now Gorebal Warming Skeptic

Dr. David Evans is a mathematician and engineer. This is the man who did the carbon accounting for the government of Australia. He spent six years building models for the Australian government to estimate carbon emissions. He's now a global warming skeptic. Evans says that "By the late 1990s lots of jobs depended on the idea that carbon emissions caused global warming." He adds: "The science of global warming has become a partisan political issue, so positions become more entrenched."

http://www.pagescapes.com/news/200705/03/evans.phtml


Some US Muslims say suicide attacks OK

WASHINGTON - One in four younger U.S. Muslims say suicide bombings to defend their religion are acceptable at least in some circumstances, though most Muslim Americans overwhelmingly reject the tactic and are critical of Islamic extremism and al-Qaida, a poll says...


..."It is a hair-raising number," said Radwan Masmoudi, president of the Washington-based Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy, which promotes the compatibility of Islam with democracy...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070522/ap_on_re_us/poll_muslim_americans

1 out of 4 too many...


Muslim Panel: Many Distrust US Legal System

5/22/07

Many New York Muslims are deeply distrustful of the American legal system, three local Muslim leaders said at a panel discussion yesterday in Brooklyn.


During the hour-long event, sponsored jointly by the Kings County Courts Community Outreach Program and the Interfaith Center of New York, the panelists said Muslims here, fearing government and press scrutiny, frequently fail to report domestic abuse and hate crimes.


"This is a serious issue based on a lack of trust and fear that exists in the community," a Yemen-born public schools educator, Debbie Almontaser, told several dozen judges who attended the discussion.


Ms. Almontaser, who has been named principal of the city’s planned English-Arabic secondary school (so much for assimilating into American society) , the Khalil Gibran International Academy in Brooklyn, said she participated in the panel as a Muslim American, not as a representative of the Department of Education.

http://www.nysun.com/article/53287

Basically what they are really angling for is for the US to have two systems, the other being Muslim law. Once Islamic law is in place their hope is it becomes dominant and eventually forcing out the current US system, which has been the model for the world for 200 years, completely out...


Straight from the Mullah's Mouth: Unveiled Women Are like Buses -- "Anyone Can Ride"

April 23, 2007

As Iran has just begun it's warm-weather crackdown on women's dress in the regime with the Iranian Fashion Police out in full force, it might (or it just might not) bring up the age-old theological question- What do women and mass transit have in common?


Quite a lot, according to Iranian Mullah Hojatolislam Hassani. In last Friday's sermon (Friday is the Islamic Holy day), Gateway Pundit reports that the Islamic hardliner divided women into three groups--


The first group... he said are the women who are badly veiled who are like buses who everyone and anyone can ride.


The second group... are women who are wearing scarves without the Islamic overcoats; they are like taxis who only pick up certain passengers.


And finally, in the third group... there are women like my wife who are like donkeys who let only one person ride them!

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/224017/straight_from_the_mullahs_mouth_ unveiled.html


High School Yearbook pages "crossed line"

05/22/2007 Denver Post

Conifer, CO-- ...captions from the new yearbook...includes photographs and text depicting student alcohol and drug use...


"The issue quite honestly for me is there are some things in the yearbook that I don't feel like I can defend," principal Pat Termin said.


"In looking at the overall tone and some specific pictures and some specific quotes," Termin added, "I really do believe that we have crossed the line."


Termin and yearbook adviser Amy McTague sent home letters to parents of the school's 1,000 students on Monday about the situation.


McTague, who has overseen six previous Conifer yearbooks, apologized for what she called "my poor judgment" and said that "some elements are completely inappropriate." (no kidding)


...Two pages under the heading "Health - addicted to addictions" contain photos and text about alcohol, cigarettes and prescription drugs, along with photos of students smoking pot and using a bong.


Another page shows police officers "busting our parties" and refers to law enforcement as "a necessary evil."

Under "Regrets and Mistakes," three girls are shown holding up a citation for minor in possession of alcohol...

...The yearbooks were distributed May 11, the same day two Conifer students died in a one-vehicle crash on South Elk Creek Road near Sphinx Park.


THC, the psychoactive substance found in marijuana, was found in the bloodstream of the Jeep Cherokee's driver, Justin Dorrance, 16, of Evergreen, the State Patrol said...

http://www.denverpost.com/ci_5952321


'Have sex, do drugs,' speaker tells High School students

A guest speaker at an assembly at Boulder High School in Colorado has told students as young as 14 to go have sex and use drugs, prompting school officials to say they will investigate.


The instructions came from Joel Becker, an associate clinical professor of psychology at the University of California at Los Angeles.


"I am going to encourage you to have sex and encourage you to use drugs appropriately," Becker said during his appearance at the school as part of a recent panel sponsored by the University of Colorado's Conference on World Affairs….


...WND also has reported on similar assemblies that have been used by schools to promote homosexuality, including one where parents were banned from the event, and a second where WND reported school officials ordered their 14-year-old freshman class into a "gay" indoctrination seminar after having them sign a confidentiality agreement promising not to tell their parents...

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55800


Christian college claims discrimination in state grants

Generic awards given to students attending anywhere but this school

5/22/2007

A court ruling that a generic state college grant isn't available if you go to a particular Christian college will be appealed to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the school said.


Former U.S. Sen. Bill Armstrong, R-Colo., now president of Colorado Christian University, said the decision from federal district court that the school is "pervasively sectarian" so students do not qualify for state grant programs is just wrong.


"This is blatant religious discrimination," Armstrong told WND, as well as a violation of the 1st and 14th Amendments.

U.S. District Court Judge Marcia Krieger has ruled that the state constitution forbids the use of state funds to support religious schools, declaring the ban imposed on CCU by the Colorado Commission on Higher Education "is narrowly tailored to accomplish the state's compelling interest in complying with the anti-establishment clause of its own constitution."

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55808


Phony Soldier Charged With Making Up Claims of Atrocities in Iraq

Sunday, May 20, 2007

A man who tried to position himself as a leader of the anti-war movement by claiming to have participated in war crimes [and earning a purple heart] while serving in Iraq is facing federal charges of falsifying his record.


Jesse Adam Macbeth, 23, formerly of Phoenix, garnered attention on blogs and in some alternative media after he began claiming in 2005 to have been awarded a Purple Heart for his service, which he said included slaughtering innocents in a Fallujah mosque. His story was contradicted by his discharge form, showing that he was kicked out of the Army after six weeks at Fort Benning, Ga., in 2003 because of his “entry level performance and conduct.”


A complaint unsealed Friday in U.S. District Court in Seattle charged him with one count of using or possessing a forged or altered military discharge certificate, and one count of making false statements in seeking benefits from the Veterans Administration.


...Organizations that opposed the war, including Iraq Veterans Against the War, posted videos or statements containing Macbeth’s claims on their Web sites. In one videotaped interview, a skinny, stuttering Macbeth, dressed in a camouflage jacket, described slaughtering hundreds of people in a mosque: “We would burn their bodies ... hang their bodies from the rafters in the mosque,” he said.


“He approached us in early 2006, posing as a war veteran. He seemed very emotionally distressed about his experiences,” said Amadee Braxton, a spokeswoman for Iraq Veterans Against the War..

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,274097,00.html

sounds like he merely followed Johm Kerry's template...


Carter says comments were ‘careless’

MSNBC ^ | May 21, 2007

Former President Jimmy Carter on Monday said his comments over the weekend about the Bush administration were “careless.”


Carter was quoted Saturday as saying “I think as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history.”


The Georgia Democrat said Bush had overseen an “overt reversal of America’s basic values” as expressed by previous administrations, including that of his own farther, former President George H.W. Bush.


Interviewed on the TODAY Show about the comments, Carter said, "I they were maybe careless or misinterpreted." He said he “certainly was not talking personally about any president.”

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18759682/

the worst president of all times was Jimmy Carter, bar none!

Lets see ...under Carter:

Inflation 18%.

Interest rates 21%,

Highest gas and fuel prices in history resulting odd and even days in long lines at the pump.

Iran hostage situation (over 400 days) and botched rescue attempt.

7% Unemployment.

During the Presidential campaign of 1976 campaign, Carter made frequent references to the "Misery Index". The concept simply adds together the rates of inflation and unemployment, and by the summer of 1976 the Misery Index was 13.57%. Carter stated that no man responsible for giving the country a misery index that high had a right to even ask to be President. However by 1980, the last year of Carter's presidency, the Misery Index had reached an all-time high of 21.98%.


Immigration Plan Could Be Boon for Democrats, Studies Show

May 22, 2007

- If the immigration reform bill currently under consideration becomes law, it could lead to major political realignment favoring the Democratic Party, studies suggest.

http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewNation.asp?Page=/Nation/archive/200705/NAT20070522a.html

Good way to win elections!


PETA: No live mascot for LSU (Mike VI)

The Times-Picayune

May 21, 2007 |

In a letter to be faxed to LSU Chancellor Sean O'Keefe today, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals will request the university not pursue a live replacement for Mike V, a royal Bengal tiger and school mascot that died Friday.


The move was anticipated by several LSU officials, and the letter does not appear to have much chance of swaying opinion at the school, which appears to stand solidly in favor of replacing Mike with a tiger cub.

Dr. David Baker of the LSU Veterinary School, who cared for Mike and was visibly shaken last week by the tiger's death at 17 from kidney failure, declined to go beyond the curt summary he offered then.

"The LSU mascot is part of the LSU community, part of the LSU family; a tradition for 71 years," Baker said. "And we intend to obtain another tiger."

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1837682/posts

PETA, the same morons who wanted the baby polar bear killed because his mama died at the zoo a few weeks ago.


Report: John Edwards Charges $55,000 for Speech on Poverty

John Edwards has an example to teach University of California at Davis students how to avoid poverty — charge $55,000 for a speech.


That's how much the 2008 Democratic presidential candidate negotiated for his fee to speak to 1,787 people at the taxpayer-funded school in January 2006, according to financial disclosures. According to Joe Martin, the public relations officer for UC Davis' Mondavi Center, the fee for a speech entitled, "Poverty, the Great Moral issue Facing America," was worth it to school officials.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,274513,00.html

As a Senator (and one that is in the middle of a Presidential campaign) shouldn't he be speaking for free?


Look Who's Talking

May 21, 2007

Leadership: So Jimmy Carter calls the Bush administration "the worst in history." This from the man who wrecked the world's greatest economy and made a nuclear Iran and North Korea possible.


Later, Carter called his comments "careless or misinterpreted." But given a chance to retract, he didn't. Apparently the man whose idea of leadership was to sit in front of a fireplace and blame everything on America's "malaise" does not consider Islamofascists turning passenger jets into manned cruise missiles and flying them into skyscrapers a direct threat.


Nor does he consider himself responsible for the chain of events that gave us not only 9/11, but al-Qaida, the Taliban, Hezbollah and a nuclear Iran and North Korea. more at http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=264640488332348


Ten Myths of the War in Iraq

http://www.blackfive.net/main/files/10_oif_myths.ppt

http://www.blackfive.net/main/2007/05/monday_morning_.html


Smells Like... Victory

May 21, 2007

War On Terror: In both Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S. forces are making further impressive gains against terrorists.

more at http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=264641133199130


David Bennett <><

http://www.freewill-predestination.com