Congressional Candidate Lieutenant Colonel Allen West
RIGHT ON, Lt. Col.!
Is the European police state going global?
From The Viscount Monckton of Brenchley in Copenhagen:
Today the gloves came off and the true purpose of the “global warming” scare became nakedly visible. Ugo Chavez, the Socialist president of Venezuela, blamed “global warming” on capitalism – and received a standing ovation from very nearly all of the delegates, lamentably including those from those of the capitalist nations of the West that are on the far Left – and that means too many of them.
Previously Robert Mugabe, dictator of Rhodesia, who had refused to leave office when he had been soundly defeated in a recent election, had also won plaudits at the conference for saying that the West ought to pay him plenty of money in reparation of our supposed “climate debt”.
Inside the conference center, “world leader” after “world leader” got up and postured about the need to Save The Planet, the imperative to do a deal, the necessity to save the small island nations from drowning, etc., etc., etc.
[...]
Once again, conscious that a police helicopter with a high-resolution camera was hovering overhead, I thrust my hands into my pockets in accordance with the St. John Ambulance crowd-control training, looked my assailant in the eye and told him, quietly but firmly, to take his hands off me.
He complied, but then decided to have another go. I told him a second time, and he let go a second time. I turned to go and, after I had turned my back, he gave me a mighty shove that flung me to the ground and knocked me out.
I came to some time later (not sure exactly how long), to find my head being cradled by my friends, some of whom were doing their best to keep the police thugs at bay while the volunteer ambulance-men attended to me.
[...]
Christians in the Muslim World
Posted by Ulf Gartzke, Weekly Standard:
A recent referendum banning the construction of new minarets in Switzerland triggered outrage in the Muslim world. Government leaders from countries such as Iran, Turkey, and Pakistan strongly condemned the move, arguing that the measure was discriminatory in nature and violated the right of Muslims to freely exercise their religion. Turkish President Abdullah Gul called the ban “shameful” and his State Minister for EU Affairs, Egemen Bagis, urged wealthy Muslims around the world to pull their financial assets out of Switzerland and transfer them to Turkey instead. “Switzerland should not be an open-air museum for intolerance in the middle of Europe,” Bagis added.
The controversial Swiss referendum should prompt a closer look at the situation of Christians living in the Muslim world. The record there is truly shocking.
[...]
Czech President Klaus: Global Warming Not Science, but a ‘New Religion’
By Gene Koprowski, FOXNews.com:
As the Copenhagen climate conference drew to a close Friday, Czech President Vaclav Klaus, long a global warming skeptic, had a message for the world: do not dictate to humanity how to live based on an “irrational ideology,” which he sees as the product of political correctness.
Global warming is a “new religion,” not a science, he said in an interview with FoxNews.com.
“I’m convinced that after years of studying the phenomenon, global warming is not the real issue of temperature,” said Klaus, an economist by training. “That is the issue of a new ideology or a new religion. A religion of climate change or a religion of global warming. This is a religion which tells us that the people are responsible for the current, very small increase in temperatures. And they should be punished.”
Klaus, the second president of the Czech Republic since the fall of communism, is often called the Margaret Thatcher of Central Europe. In the interview, he sounded more like Winston Churchill, vowing to defend liberty and freedom from those who would restrain global economic growth.
[...]
A politician of integrity and principle – wish we had one.
Darwinists’ Continued Yelping About Signature In The Cell Reveals Their Desperation
Posted by Robert Crowther, ENV:
The continued success of Signature In The Cell has driven Darwinists crazy. They’re desperately making louder and ever more ridiculous denunciations of the book and anyone who might have the temerity to suggest people read it for themselves.
An interesting and informative back and forth has been taking place on the pages of the Times Literary Supplement, where last month noted atheist philosopher Thomas Nagel recommended SITC as one of the best books of the year. Not surprisingly, he was attacked (he responded, and he was attacked again) by a Darwinist who told people forgo reading SITC and instead just read Wikipedia. Is this what passes for civil discourse on important topics now? Just ignore the arguments you don’t like? A pretty pathetic state of affairs if true.
[...]
Hurricane Expert Rips Climate Fears
NEWSMAX:
The following commentary is from Atmospheric Scientist and Hurricane forecasting specialist Dr. William Gray. Gray is the renowned hurricane forecaster and Emeritus Professor of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University (CSU) and originally published this artiucle on ClimateDepot.com.By: Dr. William Gray:
Had I not devoted my entire career of more than half a century to the study and forecasting of meteorological and climate events, I would have likely been concerned over the possibility of humans causing serious global climate degradation.
There has been an unrelenting quarter century of one-sided indoctrination of the Western world by the media and by various scientists and governments concerning a coming carbon dioxide (CO2) induced global warming disaster. These warming scenarios have been orchestrated by a combination of environmentalists, vested interest scientists wanting larger federal grants and publicity, the media which profits from doomsday scenario reporting, governmental bureaucrats who want more power over our lives, and socialists who want to level-out global living standards. These many alarmist groups appear to have little concern over whether their global warming prognostications are accurate, however. And they most certainly are not. The alarmists believe they will be able to scare enough of our citizens into believing their propaganda that the public will be willing to follow their advice on future energy usage and agree to a lowering of their standard of living in the name of climate salvation.
[...]
Glenn Beck Show – December 18, 2009 – Pt 1 of 8
Glenn Beck Show – December 18, 2009 – Pt 2 of 7
Glenn Beck Show – December 18, 2009 – Pt 3 of 7
Glenn Beck Show – December 18, 2009 – Pt 4 of 7
Glenn Beck Show – December 18, 2009 – Pt 5 of 7
The Palin Wonder
by Jamie Glazov, FrontPage:
FP: Can you expand a bit on what is it that the liberal-Left hates so much about Palin?
Hanson: Well, well, let us count the ways:
1) Feminists resent her stance on abortion, not just her pro-life views, but the fact she delivered a challenged child in her 40s and her teen-daughter delivered an out of wedlock boy; for many professional women on the up and up, those decisions are not just absurd but scary.
2) The elite Left was furious over her populist appeal, particularly her charm, good looks, accent, and appearance. In sum, their view was “don’t hoi polloi know, as we do, that this glitzy thing is a moose-hunting mom with an Idaho BA? To a Maureen Dowd or Sally Qunin, a Christian mom, who hunts, lives in Alaska, and is married to Todd is OK—but not OK if she thinks she can come east and run their US.
3) She’s an interloper outside the normal cursus honorum. Almost all our female columnists, many of our politicians, and several of our TV personalities either married into, or were born into, influence and can trace some of their careers to the wealth or influence of powerful husbands, fathers, and mentors. Not Palin—she had no family or marital connections, no money, no powerful fixer, she’s a genuine up-from-the-bootstraps sort of feminist that, oddly, feminists don’t define as feminist.
4) Conservative, attractive women, with traditional marriages and child-raising, for a variety of reasons, earn media scorn;
4) She scares the Left by her star power; few in America can fill stadia like she can—and that worries the powers that be. Populism is supposed to be a leftist phenomenon, but when a conservative resonates with the folks, that raises concern.
5) Finally, her accent, her demeanor, her poorly prepared interviews with Couric and Gibson all cemented for many intellectuals and cultural grandeess, both left and right, the idea that she was hickish. Many tsk-tsked her in snobbish disdain.
[...]
Munir Hussain case shows we should lock up the guilty – not the innocent
By Simon Heffer, Telegraph [UK]:
A situation none of us would relish would be to find an intruder – or, worse, intruders – in our house. Many of us wonder what we would do if we did, but until it happens I suspect none can properly compute the psychological effect. Munir Hussain, a businessman from High Wycombe, suffered this horror. He was overpowered at knifepoint by burglars and tied up while they ransacked his house and put his family in danger.
Mr Hussain managed to get free, pursued the robbers, and hit one of them, Walid Salem, so hard with a cricket bat that he gave him brain damage. In one of those inevitable comic reversals that so distinguish the justice system of our country, Mr Hussain and the brother who assisted him are now in prison. The wanton criminal (50 previous convictions) whom he attacked is not.
The judge in the case, John Reddihough, said, as judges do, that people must not take the law into their own hands. I entirely agree. But I also put myself in the position of Mr Hussain. His home is violated; his possessions, the fruits of hard and enterprising work, are being stolen; he is trussed up like a turkey; worst of all, he knows he cannot protect his family. In what state of mind would any of us be in those circumstances? How would any of us feel if we managed to get free, and could engage in hot pursuit of our attacker? I think we can agree that, at the moment of liberation, the phrase “I must not take the law into my own hands” would not be foremost in our considerations.
Sending the Hussains to prison was a disgrace.
[...]
It is equally absurd here too. A man’s home is his castle and he has a moral responsibility to defend it and his family. How dare these cretins emasculate us and worse, how dare we let them?
One Climategate Email Trumps All the Denials
By Dr. Tim Ball, CFP
Despite clear evidence of corruption in the leaked emails from the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) of the University of East Anglia denial is underway. But they cannot deny the contents of one email.
It was from Tom Wigley, CRU, to Michael Mann on June 25, 2009. Mann was worried about a call to testify at a Congressional hearing organized by the Chairs of the Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations about Steve McIntyre and Ross McKitrick’s (M&M) challenge to the hockey stick science.
My editorial comments are inserted in the original text in red italics. Other quotations are in black italics.
[...]
Media bias: WaPo photo caption editorializing edition
by Ed Morrissey, HOT AIR
Conservatives have long argued that the media biases its reporting, and not just its editorializing or commentary, through omission and commission in its news sections. Media defenders usually scoff at this, claiming that conservatives just don’t like objective reporting and want to pressure media outlets into more sympathetic coverage. In today’s Washington Post, though, we see almost literally the picture of media bias in reporting. I say almost literally, because as Jim Geraghty and Newsbusters notices, it’s actually what’s below the picture that’s the problem.
In its story today on a Democratic Congressman who voted against ObamaCare, the Washington Post supplies an interesting caption for a picture of the Representative:
[...]
What an utter disgrace.
Canadians who hate Canada
Adrian MacNair, NP:
From a self-hating post in the Tyee, Murray Dobbin laments how we [Canada] have lost our once enviable position in the world to become a mean-spirited, disingenuous, and reactionary force against the rest of the planet. Well, that’s not entirely accurate. It’s more of a Harper-hating post, bursting with angst about our big ole’ “carbon footprint” and the various occupations we’re engaged in around the world.
To sum up Mr.Dobbin’s points:
[...]
I read the source article referred to in this post and all I can say is that The Tyee is a disgrace for printing this bilge.
He Who Sees No Inflation
Keith R. McCullough, FORBES:
Since Bush, Greenspan, Obama and Bernanke have embarked on this cut-rates-to-zero campaign of socializing Wall Street losses and privatizing levered-up gains, the percentage of participants in the USDA’s Food Stamp Program has almost doubled.
No, that’s not a typo. The percentage of people in this country needing food stamps to eat has gone from 6% during the Greenspan easy-money tech bubble in 1999 to over 11% today. One in four American children now participate in some form of food assistance program. This is the result of what Goldman Sachs ( GS – news – people ) CEO Lloyd Blankfein said was “the Lord’s work.”
This is plain sad. President Obama, these are your fat cats. Those who subscribe to starving their population’s fixed income by cutting the rate of return on their savings accounts to zero and reflating the cost of everything they have to pay for in their daily lives.
[...]
Why I am a Conservative
Ezra Levant:
It is sometimes difficult to support the federal Conservatives, usually when they are not being very conservative. But stories like this one remind me why I like this government. I enjoyed the article so much, I must confess that I read it three times.
I had never heard of KAIROS until I read Colby Cosh’s analysis of their partisan politics. That led me to some further reading, and I discovered that KAIROS had issued a denunciation of Alberta’s oilsands, and then they went on their fact-finding trip to Fort McMurray. One might have thought it would have been in the reverse order.
A quick visit to KAIROS’s website shows that their most important goal now is not actually anything to do with religion, let alone with Christianity. It’s about getting back to the taxpayer trough. I say let them raise their own money through bake sales, like everybody else’s church or synagogue has to do.
Poke around their site and try to find any substantive difference between their views and the NDP’s foreign policy platform. They both have an unhealthy obsession with denigrating Israel, natch. And KAIROS has a special hate-on for, of all places, Colombia. That’s no surprise — Colombia is the Latin American country most resistant to Hugo Chavez’s malign influence. (KAIROS obviously hasn’t had a chance to add brave little Honduras to its hit list.) Between criticizing Israel and Colombia, KAIROS doesn’t have a lot of time left to criticize, say, China and its brutal treatment of Christians and other religious minorities. But then, neither does the NDP.
[...]
Pelosi’s ‘angry mobs’
Jane Jamison, AT:
Pick your hypocrisy at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.
Examples are everywhere:
–“Climate-gate” in the two weeks leading up to the conference, has shown the entire basis for the meeting, anthropogenic global warming, is fraudulent science.
–16,500 delegates and reporters, 152 world leaders, and approximately 150,000 protestors, celebrities and other climate clingers have dieseled in on jets from all over the world to ride in limousines, scarf scallops and caviar, and preach to the rest of us working stiffs about wasting energy and eating too much meat.
–U.S. taxpayers are the biggest supporters of the United Nations ($4.3B in 2005) and pay the salaries of the President, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Senator Kerry and the 20-odd members of Congress who are attending the U.N. climate conference.
So, American taxpayers (who are back home struggling to stay employed, or are still having to pay taxes even if they are unemployed) are paying for the political elite and enviro-effete to do Denmark. Every other speech at the conference is critical of capitalism and stingy Americans.
[...]
Human Sacrifice for Gaia
By Chuck Colson:
I wonder why developing nations walked out on the global climate conference. They’re no dummies.
Regular BreakPoint listeners know about the inhumane lengths some environmentalists are prepared to go to “save the planet.”
Some have proposed taxing the parents of newborns several thousand dollars to discourage child-bearing, and thereby reducing CO2 emissions. Others have spoken of “culling” the human herd.
What these proposals have in common, besides their cold-bloodedness, is that mainstream environmentalists keep insisting that they are “fringe” views. Well, recent statements from sources that couldn’t be more “respectable” put the lie to those claims. And they should remind Christians why the sanctity of human life must be our highest priority.
During the recent U.N. global warming summit in Copenhagen, China came under fire for not doing enough to reduce its CO2 emissions. However, China had at least one defender: Canada’s Financial Post.
[...]
Europe’s Religion Delusion
By LUKE GOODRICH:
From The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty
Three children walk into a European state school—a Muslim, a Sikh, and an atheist. The Muslim and the Sikh are expelled because they wear religious clothing: a headscarf for the Muslim girl, and a turban for the Sikh boy. The atheist is welcomed into the school, but feels uncomfortable because her classroom has a crucifix on the wall. Whose religious freedom has been violated?
If you said the Muslim and the Sikh, you are wrong—at least according to the European Court of Human Rights. The Court recently shocked Europe by striking down an Italian law that put a crucifix on the wall of every state classroom. (Lautsi v. Italy) According to the Court, the presence of a crucifix interfered with students’ right to choose their own religion (or nonreligion).
Just four months ago, however, the same Court upheld a French law that forbids children from wearing any religious symbols in French government schools. (J. Singh v. France) Under that law, 14-year-old Jasvir Singh, a devout Sikh, was expelled from school for wearing a keski—a small, cloth under-turban similar to the Jewish yarmulke. He was forced to complete his schooling at a more tolerant Catholic school.
[...]
The emperor’s new carbon credits
by Mark Steyn, Macleans
Rajendra PachauriFor a small country, Denmark sure attracts a lot of attention. A Chicago Muslim, David Headley, was recently arrested at O’Hare International Airport en route to Copenhagen to kill the commissioning editor and artists of the Danish Muhammad cartoons. Alas, a far bigger group flying in to Copenhagen for a massive suicide bombing were permitted to board their flights: these were the jet-setting bigwigs of the climate-change circuit en route to Denmark to blow up the global economy and individual liberty in order to get back to paradise and enjoy their reward of 72 virgin-growth forests.
Both the radical Islam of David Headley and the Church of Settled Science of David Suzuki seem almost parodic responses to the hollowness of the modern multicultural West and the search for alternative, globalized identities. Indeed, it is hard to say which is wackier. Take Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the Prince of Wales. One’s a millenarian apocalyptic loon, and the other’s president of Iran. On balance, widening the streets of Tehran for the imminent return of the Twelfth Imam seems marginally less deranged than insisting the planet is doomed in 96 months unless humanity abandons the evils of capitalism and “the age of convenience.” (This from a man who has never drawn his own curtains.)
Ah, well. When I compare the eco-cultists to the humourless fanatics of the jihad, I get barraged by stern emails denouncing me as a “denier.” Apostate! And Mr. Suzuki wants deniers jailed. Call the Inquisition!
[...]
Our human rights culture has now become a tyranny
By Charles Moore, Telegraph [UK]:
Strange things happen in the English law, but I have seldom read a stranger opening to a judgment than the following, handed down this week by Lord Philips of Worth Matravers, the President of the Supreme Court.
“The seventh chapter of the Book of Deuteronomy records the following instructions given by Moses to the people of Israel, after delivering the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai,” Lord Philips began. Then he plunged into how God, having smitten the enemies of Israel – Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites – in a manner highly satisfactory to the Jews, now demanded that His people observe proper marriage customs in return.
How did a question which involved only God and the Jews, and which was decided roughly 3,500 years ago, come before Lord Philips and his eight fellow jurists sitting in 21st-century London?
The answer is that sacred text of modern times, the Race Relations Act of 1976. The Jewish Free School (JFS), a very successful secondary school in Brent, is run along Orthodox Jewish lines. A dispute arose about the admission of a boy known as M. M’s mother became Jewish by conversion, but only after giving birth to M. According to Orthodox rules (see that chapter of Deuteronomy), Jewishness passes through the female line. M, therefore, was not Jewish, and so did not have the right of admission to the JFS.
[...]
Copenhagen climate summit: ‘most important paper in the world’ is a glorified UN press release
By Gerald Warner, Telegraph [UK]:
When your attempt at recreating the Congress of Vienna with a third-rate cast of extras turns into a shambles, when the data with which you have tried to terrify the world is daily exposed as ever more phoney, when the blatant greed and self-interest of the participants has become obvious to all beholders, when those pesky polar bears just keep increasing and multiplying – what do you do?
No contest: stop issuing three rainforests of press releases every day, change the heading to James Bond-style “Do not distribute” and “leak” a single copy, in the knowledge that human nature is programmed to interest itself in anything it imagines it is not supposed to see, whereas it would bin the same document unread if it were distributed openly.
After that, get some unbiased, neutral observer, such as the executive director of Greenpeace, to say: “This is the single most important piece of paper in the world today.” Unfortunately, the response of all intelligent people will be to fall about laughing; but it was worth a try – everybody loves a tryer – and the climate alarmists are no longer in a position to pick and choose their tactics.
[...]
Grape Juice Can Reverse Memory Loss
NEWSMAX:
Drinking 100 percent purple grape juice can reduce or even reverse memory loss, according to research by the University of Cincinnati.
In a study led by Dr. Robert Krikorian, 12 men and women between the ages of 75 and 80 were divided into two groups. All had been diagnosed with early memory loss. One group drank 100 percent Concord while the other group drank a placebo matched for calories for twelve weeks.
The participants were given memory tests, such as memorizing lists and placing items in a specific order, at regular intervals during the three months. “While there were no significant differences between the groups at baseline, following treatment, those drinking Concord grape juice demonstrated significant improvement in list learning,” Krikorian said in a statement. “In addition, trends suggested improved short-term retention and spatial (nonverbal) memory.
[...]
Enviro-Marxists discover the real scourge of the planet: human beings
By Teri O’Brien, AT:
“Climate change,” the scam formerly known as “global warming,” has been exposed as the crypto-Marxist hoax many of us suspected for years that it was. In Copenhagen, at the ridiculous charade of a “summit” on the dangers of carbon emissions producing record carbon emissions, the lofty rhetoric about saving the planet and the long-suffering polar bears has been ripped down like a sheet covering an unfinished masterpiece. Underneath, the masterpiece turns out to be an ugly reality as old as human history, a good old fashioned shakedown, in which the greediest of the greedy, those assert the right confiscate the fruits of other people’s labor, alternately threaten, whine, wheedle, and guilt their marks into coming across with the cash in the interest of “economic justice,” or in this case, “climate justice.”
[...]
Who Needs Data?
By Randall Hoven, AT:
The scientists at the University of East Anglia’s Climate Research Unit (CRU), and the people who funded them, did not know how utterly useless CRU was. All the research done at CRU made no difference whatsoever to the “science” of global warming. Just ask other scientists and global warming alarmists. Heck, ask CRU.
You think CRU was the only source of raw thermometer data going back 150 years? Nope there are two others. So who cares if CRU “lost” theirs?
You think CRU did science that showed warming trends? So what? Their conclusions were the same as everyone else’s. Phil Jones, head of CRU, said that.
“Our global temperature series tallies with those of other, completely independent, groups of scientists working for Nasa and the National Climate Data Centre in the United States, among others. Even if you were to ignore our findings, theirs show the same results.”
In fact, all that nonsense about thermometers, stations, adjustments, tree rings, ice cores, etc. – all totally useless. Just look at the polar ice caps: one of them is shrinking. Eugene Robinson, Megan McArdle and Katie Couric said that.
In fact, we don’t need any data whatsoever. If there is even the slightest chance that the world might end if the alarmists are right, then the correct policy is to spend humongous gobs of money from now on. Thomas Friedman said that. According to Mr. Friedman, it doesn’t matter at all if the science is “unequivocal”; we need only be 1% sure.
[...]
Boy finds, returns stolen purse containing $1,900
News-Record.com:
Crooks beware: There are good kids out there looking to thwart your dastardly — and dumb — deeds.
Or as Donna Myers sees it, her son returning a stolen purse with nearly $2,000 cash is good beating evil.
On Saturday morning, Myers and her three kids helped their Fisher Park neighbors plant and water 12 trees in the park near North Elm Street .
Myers and her oldest son, 11-year-old Edward , went to retrieve water from the creek and spotted a waterlogged purse on the bank.
[...]
Boy Scouts … you know, the organisation persecuted in the U.S. because they refuse to buckle to the bullying tactics of the extreme left.
Treasure Coast Dog Helps Save Baby’s Life
WPBF:
A Treasure Coast dog is being hailed as a hero for helping to save a baby’s life this week.
Reyna Zurita said she had just walked into her Port St. Lucie home when her 2-year-old hound, Hunter, suddenly ran out the door.
“I run behind my dog because that’s for my kids and I don’t want to lose my dog, and I run behind” Zurita said in broken English. “I say, ‘What happened? Stop,’ but he never listen to me.”
Hunter ran for nearly half a mile and led Zurita to an infant who was lying on the ground after nearly drowning.
[...]
Jennifer Lynch gets human rights advice from Cuba, Kyrgyzstan
Adrian MacNair, NP:
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation has revealed the costly travel expenses of Chief Commissar Jennifer Lynch, as she went abroad to consult dignitaries from such beacons of human rights as Cuba.
In travels to Geneva, Dublin, Copenhagen, Malaysia, and Vienna, Lynch racked up a taxpayers bill for $45,056 dating back to 2007. Using Freedom of information requests, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation learned that Ms. Lynch spent $8,323 on accommodations, meals and a business flight to Geneva, Switzerland in 2007. The reason for this trip was to meet with human rights officials from Algeria and Morocco, as well as the Asia Pacific Forum. This is a group with such notable members as Palestine, Jordan, Afghanistan, and other countries from which citizens can claim political refugee status in Canada on the grounds of human rights abuses there.
The following year she made another trip to Geneva, this time to consult with the likes of countries like Bangladesh, Cameroon, Cuba, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Saudi Arabia.
[...]
The Administration opposes a bipartisan sanctions bill
WSJ
In his Inaugural address, President Obama promised the world’s dictators—with Iran plainly in mind—that he would “extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.” Here’s a status report on the mullahs’ knuckles:
• Weapons of mass destruction. On Wednesday, Iran tested a new version of its Sajjil-2 medium-range ballistic missile, a sophisticated solid-fuel model with a range of 1,200 miles—enough to target parts of Eastern Europe.
Also this week came news that Western intelligence agencies have an undated Farsi-language document titled “outlook for special neutron-related activities over the next four years.” It concerns technical aspects of a neutron initiator, which is used to set off nuclear explosions and has no other practical application. The document remains unauthenticated, and Iran denies working on a nuclear weapon. But it squares with accumulating evidence, from the International Atomic Energy Agency and other sources, that Iran continues to pursue nuclear weapons design and uranium enrichment.
[...]
Climate of tyranny
Calgary Herald:
Capitalism’s freedoms draw dictators like honey draws flies. The United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen is meant as an open forum for discussion and as the world’s movers and shakers show up for the summit’s end stages, so too do the despots, eager to take advantage of the very freedoms they deny their own citizens.
[...]
Troubling changes in Pakistan
Tarek Fatah, Pakistan, NP:
On Thursday morning as Pakistan’s Defence Minister was preparing to board a flight to China for an official visit, he was detained by Pakistani security officials and was told he had been barred from leaving the country. An altercation ensued, but the country’s top civilian defence official was told by the police and soldiers that they take orders from senior generals and judges, not government ministers.
Minister Ahmad Mukhtar was told by the security officials that they were acting on instructions from the National Accountability Bureau, an arm of Pakistan’s intelligence service created by former military ruler Pervez Musharraf to harass political opponents with corruption charges. The Defence Minister was told his name was on an ‘Exit Control List’ even though he has never been convicted of a crime. Clearly, Pakistan has entered a decisive stage. Imagine the U.S. Defence Secretary being detained by U.S. marshals at JFK airport or the RCMP telling Peter MacKay, he cannot leave the country.
What was bizarre about this development is that although it was Pakistani’s Interior Ministry that was supposed to have issued the orders, the Interior Minister himself was named as someone not allowed to travel abroad without special permission. Clearly the administration of the government in Islamabad has been taken over by plainclothes military intelligence officials.
A coup by any other name is still a coup. Or as Shakespeare would have said, What’s in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet.
[...]
Lorne Gunter, National Post:
The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life has just released a fascinating study on the state of religious freedom around the world. Two years in the making, with a third year needed to analyze and collate the data, the study finds that 64 of the 198 nations studied — about one-third of the countries in the world — have “high or very high restrictions on religion.” But because many of these are among the most populous nations on Earth, in fact 70% of the world’s people live in countries where practicing their faith can be difficult or even impossible.
[...]
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