Ethics Forum

Climate Change Cronies Getting Rich

2009-12-02T19:51:00.001-08:00

Climate change is a fact of life on Earth. The climate change cycle corresponds to the Earth's rotation and sidereal astronomy. The cycle appears to be about 25,000 years, but since no one has been keeping records that long, it isn't certain.

That's not going to stop climate change celebs from lining their pockets through speaking engagements and books. No. They are getting rich and building a global network. But this isn't about science, folks. This is about money.

Climate doom-saying this now a "gargantuan industry" and here's what one blogger has to say about it:

In an article entitled Climategate: Follow the Money, columnist Bret Stephens at the Wall Street Journal points out that the funding of climate skeptics is a drop in the ocean compared to the huge industry that human-driven climate change science has spawned.

“The European Commission’s most recent appropriation for climate research comes to nearly $3 billion, and that’s not counting funds from the EU’s member governments. In the U.S., the House intends to spend $1.3 billion on NASA’s climate efforts, $400 million on NOAA’s, and another $300 million for the National Science Foundation. American states also have a piece of the action, with California—apparently not feeling bankrupt enough—devoting $600 million to their own climate initiative. In Australia, alarmists have their own Department of Climate Change at their funding disposal.” Stephens writes.

“And all this is only a fraction of the $94 billion that HSBC estimates has been spent globally this year on what it calls ‘green stimulus’—largely ethanol and other alternative energy schemes—of the kind from which Al Gore and his partners at Kleiner Perkins hope to profit handsomely.”

Billions of dollars in grants for one research institute or university does not go unnoticed by the rest, and there is a valid point to be considered in the notion that this is where the “scientific consensus” has it’s roots.

“Today these groups form a kind of ecosystem of their own.” comments Stephens.

Al Gore, the first carbon billionaire, has proven that he is only interested in solutions to environmental problems that line his pockets. The industry beneath him depends on anthropological global warming like the dot com industry depended on the internet he claims to have invented.

If you follow the money it becomes clear that it is the “consensus” that is being driven by gargantuan financial backing, not the skeptics, as climate change alarmists would have everyone believe.

Read it all here.

St. Cyril of Jerusalem

2009-12-02T15:38:00.000-08:00

At Orthodox Christian Network this week, Fr. David Smith explores the last sermon by St. Cyril of Jerusalem in the series "On the Christian Sacraments."

The Liturgy at the time of St. Cyril was a little different than the Liturgy now, and Fr. David explores the ways in which those differences can speak to us today. A farewell to St. Cyril of Jerusalem that you will not want to miss!

Listen to the podcast here.

Aristotle and Poverty

2009-12-02T14:30:00.000-08:00

"Poverty is the parent of revolution and crime." - Aristotle

Poverty is relative, is it not? When the average American complains of being "poor" it is difficult to feel sympathic. Here poverty likely means that he or she can't afford the latest technological device or designer clothes. Or it may mean he or she is deeply in debt. Rarely would such a statement be taken to refer to poverty in the things of God.

Aristotle was a great observer. Surely he observed that many who are poor remain decent citizens. Most do not revolt and do not commit crimes. Indeed many who are poor in the things of this world are rich in the things of God. In our society we make too little of this fact.

Obama and Karzai Talk

2009-12-02T09:11:00.000-08:00

KABUL, Dec 1: Afghan President Hamid Karzai and President Barack Obama discussed the new US policy for Afghanistan during an hour-long videoconference call on Tuesday morning, a spokesman for the presidential palace said.

The videoconference came ahead of Obama’s planned speech on Tuesday night at the US Military Academy at West Point, New York, where he will outline a new US war plan and dispatch between 30,000 and 35,000 more US troops to Afghanistan. Karzai’s office said the two leaders discussed in detail the security, political, military and economic aspects of the strategy.

The call was one of several Obama was making to world leaders, including Asif Ali Zardari, the president of Pakistan.

Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen said he spoke with Obama over the phone on Monday and Obama informed him about his Afghanistan decisions. Loekke Rasmussen would not go into details, but said that the Obama plan should make it easier for international forces to pull out at some point.

“It will be offensive and it will send a strong signal that the international community’s commitment to take care of Afghanistan in such a way that we forward the probability that we will not have a lifelong physical presence in Afghanistan,” he said at his weekly news conference.

Obama’s war escalation includes sending more US forces into Afghanistan in a graduated deployment over the next year. They would join the 71,000 US troops already on the ground. Obama’s new war strategy also includes renewed focus on training Afghan forces to take over the fight and allow the Americans to leave.

Obama also is expected to explain why he believes the US must continue to fight more than eight years after the war was started following the Sept 11 attacks on the United States by Al Qaeda terrorists based in Afghanistan.

This has been the deadliest year of the conflict for US forces, with nearly 300 killed. Casualties started climbing soon after Obama decided to deploy an additional 21,000 US troops as part of his plan to refocus on the Afghan war.—AP

Some Europeans Support Afghan War

2009-12-01T14:00:00.000-08:00

LONDON, Nov 30: Three European countries said on Monday they were ready to send reinforcements to Afghanistan, a day before US President Barack Obama was expected to announce a massive troop surge.

Obama is expected to announce between 30,000 and 35,000 reinforcements today as part of a new Afghan strategy intended in his own words to “finish the job” there.

Britain, Italy and Macedonia said they were prepared to boost their military commitment to the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) in Afghanistan.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said London will boost its regular troops in Afghanistan by 500, bringing its total deployment there over the 10,000 mark. Eight other Nato members, apart from the United States, had agreed to send more troops to Afghanistan, Brown said on Monday, citing Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen. “I believe over the coming months, even more countries will respond,” Brown told lawmakers in the House of Commons.

“As long as the Afghanistan-Pakistan border areas are the location of choice for Al Qaeda and the epicentre of global terrorism, it’s the government’s judgment that we should address the threat at its source.”

Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said Rome was ready to send more troops, without specifying how many. “Afghanistan is a test for the Atlantic alliance’s credibility. It is clear that Italy must finish the job started with Nato and make a greater contribution if it is needed,” Frattini said in comments reported by the ANSA news agency. “It is our duty as a member of the international community and not just as a partner of the United States.”

Italy currently has 3,250 soldiers in Afghanistan, the sixth largest contingent in the international alliance.

Macedonia -- not a Nato member -- has agreed to send an extra 80 soldiers to serve with Isaf from February, adding to its 160 troops already there. President George Ivanov wrote to Rasmussen on Monday to confirm the reinforcements, adding that Macedonia planned to have eight percent of its armed forces on international peace missions by 2018.—AFP

Does Obama Fear US Civil War?

2009-12-01T02:38:00.000-08:00

The Europenan Union Times has this report:

Russian Military Analysts are reporting to Prime Minister Putin that US President Barack Obama has issued orders to his Northern Command’s (USNORTHCOM) top leader, US Air Force General Gene Renuart, to “begin immediately” increasing his military forces to 1 million troops by January 30, 2010, in what these reports warn is an expected outbreak of civil war within the United States before the end of winter.

According to these reports, Obama has had over these past weeks “numerous” meetings with his war council about how best to manage the expected implosion of his Nations banking system while at the same time attempting to keep the United States military hegemony over the World in what Russian Military Analysts state is a “last ditch gambit” whose success is “far from certain”.

Read it all here.

Lindhout and Brennan Freed in Somalia

2009-11-30T15:59:00.000-08:00

SOURCE: International Press Institute
Journalists freed after 15 months as hostages

(IPI/IFEX) - VIENNA, 26 November 2009 - Somali gunmen have released two foreign freelance journalists who were taken hostage in Mogadishu over fifteen months ago.

Australian photojournalist Nigel Brennan and Canadian journalist Amanda Lindhout were kidnapped outside Mogadishu by unknown gunmen when they were traveling to research a story on the internally-displaced refugees in Somalia, Lindhout confirmed to Canadian TV. She had arrived three days earlier to report for French TV channel France 24, CBC News reported.

The kidnapping was met with an international outcry, but efforts to gain the pair's release were not successful until yesterday evening. The two were handed over to four members of Somalia's Transitional Federal Parliament at a checkpoint in the Afgoye District, according to the Mogadishu-based National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ). This morning, they were escorted to neighbouring Kenya by government soldiers and African Union peacekeepers.

Lindhout told CTV: "My day was sitting on a corner on the floor in a room 24 hours a day for the last 15 months. She added: "There were times that I was beaten, that I was tortured. It was an extremely, extremely difficult situation."

Brennan told Reuters that he had been pistol whipped and chained since the two attempted to escape 10 months ago.

"We welcome the release of Amanda Lindhout and Nigel Brennan, and our thoughts are with the journalists and their families as they are reunited after so many months of uncertainty and suffering," said IPI Director David Dadge. "Despite this happy outcome, we must remember that Somalia continues to be a deadly place for journalists both foreign and local, where the media struggle daily with the unacceptable threat of lethal violence.

"We are very happy this ordeal ended peacefully," said NUSOJ Secretary-General Omar Faruk Osman in a statement Emailed to IPI. "We are sharing our joy and relief over the release with the family and colleagues of the journalists."

In September 2008, Al-Jazeera aired video of the two along with their purported captors, the "Mujahideen of Somalia," which it said showed the pair pleading with their governments to negotiate their release. Since then, Lindhout was allowed periodic scripted phone calls with her mother and the media in hopes of convincing the Canadian government to hand over ransom money, reports said.

A ransom of $700,000 was paid for their release, according to Al-Jazeera sources, although the news outlet also reported rumors that up to $1million may have exchanged hands.

Abdifatah Mohammed Elmi, a Somali journalist who was working as an interpreter for Brennan and Lindhout, was kidnapped with the journalists but freed in January this year.

http://www.ifex.org/somalia/2009/11/30/brennan_lindhout_release/

For more information:
International Press Institute
Spiegelgasse 21010 Vienna
Austria
ipi (@) freemedia.at
Phone: +43 1 5129011
Fax: +43 1 5129014
http://www.freemedia.at/

Quote of the Week - Malcolm Muggeridge

2009-11-30T05:26:00.000-08:00

"Every happening, great and small, is a parable whereby God speaks to us, and the art of life is to get the message. " ~Malcolm Muggeridge

Spanish Bishops Stand Against Abortion

2009-11-30T03:05:00.000-08:00

MADRID, November 27, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) -- Today the Plenary Assembly of the Spanish Episcopal Conference issued a statement saying that politicians who vote for a proposed law liberalizing abortion in Spain place themselves in an "objective state of sin and, while the situation lasts, may not be admitted to Holy Communion."

The announcement from the Spanish bishops comes as the Spanish parliament is considering a law that would make it easier to get an abortion in Spain by allowing 16-year olds to get an abortion without parental consent, among other measures.

In their statement, the bishops endorse the June 17th declaration of the bishops' Permanent Commission, entitled: "On the Proposed Abortion Law: An Assault against the Unborn Transformed into a 'Right.'"

The document states that this transformation of abortion into a right is the "poisoned source of immorality and injustice that corrupts the entire text [of the proposed law]."

The document goes on to question the logic by which the new law would regulate abortion.

Under the new law, abortion would be permitted on demand for up to fourteen weeks after conception, but in cases of grave and incurable fetal conditions it would be permitted at any time.

Yet such regulation is artificial, the document points out: "Why not, then, [allow abortion] at the moment of birth, or a minute later?" The only reasonable moment to mark the beginning of life, they continue, is at conception: "Where there is a living human body, there is a person and therefore inviolable human dignity."

Thus, the bishops said that politicians who vote for a bill so contrary to the "requirements of right reason" publicly place themselves in a state of sin and ought not to receive Communion.

In support of this position, the Spanish bishops cite a memorandum from then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, to Cardinal McCarrick. This document states that after precautionary and private measures have been exhausted, ministers ought to refuse Communion to politicians that promote abortion because of the "person's public unworthiness to receive Holy Communion due to an objective situation of sin."

The Socialist government under Prime Minister Luis Zapatero has worked tirelessly to undermine the traditionally Catholic culture of Spain. In 2005 same-sex "marriage" and adoption by such couples was legalized by his government; the same year the government announced that homosexualist "diversity" training would be mandatory in schools.

The government's current push to liberalize abortion laws has been resisted by many of Spain's Catholic citizens. Approximately half a million citizens protested the proposed legislation in cities across Spain last March. A similar event in October attracted as many as a million participants.

Abortion in Spain is currently permitted at up to 12 weeks in cases of rape and up to 22 weeks in cases of a malformed infant. It is also permitted if the pregnancy is judged to endanger the physical or mental health of the mother. In practice a supposed threat to the mental health of the mother has allowed abortions to proceed nearly unrestricted, with some abortionists having arrangements with psychologists who sign off on their abortions.

The Spanish bishops end their statement on the law by asking people to work tirelessly for the lives of unborn babies and not to cease in their prayers.

News Sources: Many Choices

2009-11-29T08:39:00.000-08:00

The production and circulation of independent, quality news is a hallmark of democratic societies with a complex history of commercial practices, regulatory controls and technological innovation. The demise of the existing business model of the local and regional press and of broadcast news in the regions together with the struggle for survival of many national newspapers demands a critical consideration of what we want news for and how it can be delivered.

A recent study by Goldsmiths Leverhulme Media ResearchCentre provides empirical evidence that challenges utopian visions of the internet as a brave new world with everyone connected to everyone else, a non-hierarchical network of voices with equal, open and global access. This latest ‘new’ world of ‘new’ media has not greatly expanded the news that we read or hear or changed mainstream news values and traditional news formats; neither has it connected a legion of bloggers to a mass audience. Rather, as the economic model for traditional news production stumbles and falls in the digital age, professional journalism has become the first casualty, the second, if we’re not careful, and pretty close behind will be the health of our democracy.

The research draws on over 170 interviews with a range of professionals from a cross section of mainstream news media, as well as news sources and new producers online including bloggers and people operating in the realm of alternative news; we added to this, 3 newsroom ethnographies and a content analysis of online news across mainstream news media, online alternative media, social networking sites and YouTube.

Read it all here.

7 Indicted for Mumbai Attack

2009-11-29T08:34:00.000-08:00

RAWALPINDI, Nov 25: Seven men accused of being involved in the Mumbai terrorist attack pleaded not guilty on Wednesday when the trial court formally indicted them for planning and helping the execution of the bloodbath on Nov 26 last year.

Anti-terrorism court judge Malik Mohammad Akram Awan charged Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, Abdul Wajid alias Zarar Shah, Mazhar Iqbal alias Abu Al-Qama, Hammad Amin Sadiq, Shahid Jameel Riaz, Jamil Ahmed and Younas Anjum with planning, arranging weapons and providing training to the attackers.

The accused, in the presence of their lawyers, denied the charges and pleaded not guilty. They said they would contest the allegations.

The court adjourned the proceedings till Dec 5 and asked the prosecution to produce their witnesses at the next hearing.

The court decided to take up the case of Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving ‘terrorist’ being tried in India, separately under section 540-A of the criminal procedure code after a prosecution lawyer said that Kasab had neither been declared a proclaimed offender nor was the government considering to seek his extradition in the case registered with Federal Investigation Agency.

The court did not accept an application moved by defence counsel objecting to the use of uncertified copies of confessional statement of Kasab to prosecute the accused.

The applicant maintained that the prosecution had no witnesses and documentary evidences, other than the unattested confessional statement of Kasab.

Defence counsel Khawaja Sultan Ahmed told Dawn that they would challenge the indictment based on uncertified copies and separation of Kasab’s trial in the Lahore High Court.

He said that under section 540-A, trial of only those accused could be held who could not appear before the court and were represented by a pleader. But in the case of Ajmal Kasab, the prosecution had not tried to bring the accused to the court, he added.

From here.

Obama's Bioethics Commission

2009-11-29T08:27:00.000-08:00

A political scientist and a materials engineer will lead the new Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues. President Barack Obama announced this week that Amy Gutman, president of the University of Pennsylvania, and James W. Wagner, president of Emory University, in Georgia, are to be the chair and vice-chair of the Commission.

President Obama said, "As our nation invests in science and innovation and pursues advances in biomedical research and health care, it's imperative that we do so in a responsible manner. This new Commission will develop its recommendations through practical and policy-related analyses."

As expected, these appointments suggest that the new commission will be more a policy-making body than a graduate seminar in bioethics, as its counterpart was in the Bush Administration. According to the White House press release, its goal will be "identifying and promoting policies and practices that ensure scientific research, health care delivery, and technological innovation are conducted in an ethically responsible manner".

The commission will have 13 members, 5 fewer than the previous bioethics commission. The other 11 will be announced later.

Read it all here.

Bioethics, a 'Dirty' Word?

2009-11-29T08:24:00.000-08:00

From a professional bioethicist's point of view, one of the disturbing facts to emerge from the heated debate over Obamacare is that "bioethicist" has become a dirty word for many Americans. Few had ever heard of bioethics before, but healthcare rationing is being justified by guys called "bioethicists" -- and they don't like it. Furthermore, it is being associated with atheists, and many Americans are deeply suspicious of such people.

So is it good public relations for atheist bioethicists to trumpet their atheism and call for more petrol to be thrown on the fires of religious controversy? Apparently Udo Schuklenk, the editor of the leading journal Bioethics, and Russell Blackford, an Australian bioethicist, think so.

They recently published an article in the Guardian's "Comment is free" blog, under the headline, "Stand up, stand up, against Jesus". They reject accommodationist atheism which cozies up to religious people if they are prepared to support evolution. Schuklenk and Blackford, however, call for more robust criticism:"Religion cannot be eradicated -- that is not a realistic goal -- but the many problems with religious dogma can and should be highlighted. As atheists, we should state clearly that no religion has any rational warrant, and that many churches and sects promote cruelty, ignorance, and civil rights abuses."

Last month they released a 360-page book, 50 Voices of Disbelief: Why We Are Atheists. According to Blackford, it is "an exciting and extraordinarily diverse group of people". And perhaps to confirm the worst fears of some Americans, it includes a number of well-known writers on bioethical issues: John Harris, Marc Hauser, Sheila A.M. McLean, Tamas Pataki, Julian Savulescu, Peter Singer, Michael Tooley, and, of course, Schuklenk and Blackford. They discuss the book in Schuklenk's blog.

From here.

Hate Crimes Against Religious Groups

2009-11-29T08:22:00.000-08:00

Statistics released Nov. 24 by the FBI show hate crimes against religious groups increased by 9% from 2007 to 2008.

USA Today reported that in 2008, there 1,519 incidents against people based on their religion, the statistics show.

The figures reveal that while anti-Jewish attacks made up the highest percentage of the attacks (17%), there was an increase in hate crimes against Catholics — 75, up from 61 in 2007.

Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, said the increase may be due to the Church becoming more vocal on life issues such as abortion and homosexual unions.

As the Catholic bishops take a stronger stance, he said, it filters down to the laity, and as more traditional Catholics become more vocal, they become targets for those who disagree with them.
“Unfortunately, it spills over into violence,” he said, adding that it’s just going to get worse before it gets better.

“I’ve never seen our country so culturally divided and so polarized,” he said. “These issues are not going away.”

From here.

Week 6 Discussion Topic

2009-11-29T04:08:00.000-08:00

John Majewski (1986), author of The Freeman Ideas on Liberty, paints view of life during the industrial revolution era that runs counter to what we have generally be given in history textbooks of young children forced to work long hours with little rest or food. However, according to Majewski (1986), “conditions were not near as deploring nor were morality rates as high as many of us assumed." He maintains that women and children during the industrial revolution were probable no worse off than they were before.

Although the industrial revolution meant difficult labor conditions, people were accustomed to hard work. Further, unemployment rates. Rural residents migrated to urban areas to find employment. With a greater number of adults working, child labor probable saw a decrease. The industrial revolution, according to Majewski (1986), “made it possible for western societies to banish child labor”.

One of the students in the class, Dora, has this to say: "One can assume that the pollution and sanitation conditions resulting from an increase of population in the urban areas was possible beyond today’s reader’s imagination. Lack of proper disposal of waste products creates friendly environments for disease causing magnets to inhabit and spread. However, it appears that the quality of life stabilized as society became industrialized. The industrial revolution created a mass of social problems which in turn created social groups that worked together to solve problems such as waste disposal and disease control. Social organizations such as Capitalism, Majewski (1986), “are credited for instigating improved living conditions and paving the way to shape our society, as we know it today”.

What are your thoughts on child labor then compared to child labor today in many parts of the world?

Mexico Ignores Cases of Disappeared Journalists

2009-11-27T13:02:00.000-08:00

25 November 2009

Impunity surrounds case of journalist missing for three years

SOURCE: ARTICLE 19: Global Campaign for Free Expression, Centro Nacional de Comunicación Social

(ARTICLE 19/CENCOS/IFEX) - Mexico City, 20 November 2009 - More than 1095 days have passed since journalist José Antonio García Apac disappeared on 20 November 2006 and the government has failed to carry out a complete investigation or punish those responsible. The journalist was the editor of the "Eco de la Cuenca" newspaper in Tepalcatepec, in the coastal area of the state of Michoacán (southwestern Mexico).

In April 2007, four months after the Michoacán Prosecutor General's Office launched an investigation into the journalist's disappearance, the case was transferred to the federal authorities, under the jurisdiction of the National Attorney General's Office (PGR). Three months later, the PGR shelved the case after deciding that there was insufficient evidence to investigate the disappearance. The Federal Public Prosecutor's Office subsequently re-launched an investigation on 24 January 2008 and then again on 13 March 2008, but eventually also shelved the case due to a lack of leads.

Commenting on "archived" or shelved investigations in cases involving attacks on journalists, the reference to the failure of the authorities to follow all possible leads and fully investigate links to the victims' journalism work.

The report "Press Freedom in Mexico: In the Shadow of Impunity and Violence" ("Libertad de Prensa en México: La Sombra de la Impunidad y la Violencia") details the cases of the eight journalists who have disappeared since 2000. A common element in all the disappearances, besides the fact that the journalists' whereabouts are unknown, is that impunity reigns in all eight cases. According to ARTICLE 19 and CENCOS, the government has failed to meet its international obligations as regards the protection of the right to freedom of expression and information, personal safety and the right to justice and due process.

ARTICLE 19 and CENCOS express their support for missing journalists' relatives and colleagues and urge the Mexican government to thoroughly investigate the disappearances, identify and punish those responsible and provide compensation to the victims.

http://www.ifex.org/mexico/2009/11/25/garcia_apac_missing/

For more information:
ARTICLE 19: Global Campaign for Free Expression
Free Word Centre
60 Farringdon Road
London
EC1R 3GA
United Kingdom
info (@) article19.org
Phone: +44 20 7324 2517
Fax: +44 20 7490 0566
http://www.article19.org/

Thanksgiving Reflection from My Son-in-Law

2009-11-27T12:55:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving 2009

Tony Cassels

So, Thanksgiving is almost over. It’s 6:30 p.m. and so far I have changed the oil in my daughters car, gone to my Brother-in-law’s house for dinner, eaten until I can’t eat any more, watched a football game, gone to my Uncle’s house ( other side of the family), watched another football game, talked to tons of people I don’t know, came back home, visited with my daughter and her boyfriend who came by, and now I am getting ready to watch a third football. One thing that I feel I have not done sufficiently is to remember the reason for this day.

It is so easy isn’t it? We get so involved with the event, we forget why the event exist. Our country and it’s traditions are historically tied to God (our Creator) Jesus Christ his Son, and the Holy Spirit. Thanksgiving is thought of as “Turkey Day”, but it is so much more. The Pilgrims who celebrated what we know as the 1^st Thanksgiving were actually carrying out a Puritan tradition of giving thanks to God for his protective hand and for all that he had provided. These Pilgrims who left England in 1620 were headed to Virginia when they encountered a severe storm. A main beam of the ship cracked but was repaired, someone was thrown overboard but was saved. When they arrived at Cape Cod and eventually moved to Plimoth, they encountered the helpful Wampanoug Indians who were crucial to their survival. The Pilgrims truly were thankful to God for his blessings even through such great trials. In the autumn of 1621, the Pilgrims thanked God for his blessings and they celebrated with venison, duck, seafood ( probably lobster), and vegetables which came from their harvest. ( history does not mention turkey at this time).

As I think about the Pilgrims, I feel great humility. My trials in life have been much less severe, but I must follow their example. All of my trials have been faced with much prayer, and a definite awareness that I am a weak man incapable of correcting my problems without God. In writing this note, I remember how he has been with me in more examples than I can list. He hasn’t always answered my prayers the way I wanted, but he has always been there. My heart is truly full of gratitude, when I will simply take a moment to count my many blessings.

Don’t get me wrong! I am fully aware of my self-centered side and I don’t pretend that its not one of my struggles. I simply feel compelled to encourage you as I remind myself to give praise and thanks to our Heavenly Father.

So, as you go to the frig for that leftover piece of pie, remember that God is with you. He loves us more than we can understand and he wants to be praised and thanked. I’m convinced that this is not for his benefit, but for ours. A heart of gratitude is also a heart of compassion, understanding, honor and integrity. These characteristics have always been invaluable to man as we struggle through this life. Worldly selfishness leads us to live our lives among similar people, which always leads to disappointment and hurt. Praise God and he will honor you with so much better.

The First Lady on Hunger

2009-11-27T12:20:00.000-08:00

To combat hunger this winter, we’re launching, in coordination with the Corporation for National and Community Service and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the United We Serve: Feed a Neighbor initiative -- a program that empowers you with all the resources you need to mobilize against the hunger crisis in your community. Learn how you can get started today:

Barack and I are committed to doing all we can to end hunger by making food programs more accessible to eligible families. But government can only do so much -- it will take all of us working together to put an end to hunger in America.

That’s why we’ve made it easy for you to get involved at Serve.gov. Find local volunteer opportunities like delivering meals to homebound seniors, offering your professional skills at a food pantry, or planting a community garden and sharing produce with your neighbors. You can also create your own volunteer opportunity using our anti-hunger toolkit.

This holiday season let’s recommit to serving our communities and working together to feed American families. Get started giving back today.

Thank you,

Michelle

First Lady Michelle Obama
The White House

New York Gay Activists Disappointed

2009-11-24T09:39:00.000-08:00

The New York State Catholic Conference reports that homosexual-rights activists received a setback by state Court of Appeals rulings last week.

According to the New York State Catholic Conference, the New York State Court of Appeals did rule in favor of the plaintiffs in Godfry v. Spano and Lewis v. NYS Department of Civil Service regarding the state’s recognition of same-sex “marriages” from other states.

However, the Catholic Conference’s director of communications, Dennis Poust, characterized it as a defeat for the plaintiffs. Basically, the ruling said that the state civil service could give all the rights of married (heterosexual) couples under state law to same-sex couples that were “married” in a jurisdiction where it was considered legal, such as Massachusetts, Connecticut or Canada.

“While the court affirmed the rights of civil service to provide those benefits,” said Poust, “what it didn’t do is go the step the gay-rights activists wanted, and that was to impact the state marriage recognition law, which is much broader.”

He explained the court ruling was limited to state workers. Impacting the marriage-recognition law would have applied the ruling to all employers, private and public, and would

Red it all here.

US Talks with Afghani Taliban

2009-11-24T09:32:00.000-08:00

ISLAMABAD, Nov 23: After fighting a bloody war in Afghanistan for more than eight years, the United States appears to have undertaken a re-think of its policy and has started engaging the Taliban in negotiations through Saudi and Pakistani intelligence agencies, highly-placed sources told Dawn here on Monday.

“We have started ‘engagement’ with the Afghan Taliban and are hopeful that our efforts will bear fruit,” a source involved in secret negotiations told this correspondent.

He said that four “major neutral players” were engaged with the Afghan Taliban on behalf of the Saudi leadership and the General Intelligence Directorate (GID) of Saudi Arabia and the Pakistani leadership and Inter Services Intelligence (ISI).

The GID and ISI have been doing the job on behalf of the US government and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The source said that one of the main objectives of the recent visit to Pakistan by CIA chief Leon Panetta was to assess progress in the back-channel negotiations.

The source said that four leaders were playing the role of mediators on behalf of the Saudis and the Afghan Taliban.

Among them is Abdullah Anas, a son-in-law of Osama bin Laden’s mentor Abdullah Azzam who was killed in Peshawar in 1989 along with his two sons. Anas lives in the UK, but maintains close links with the Afghan Taliban and even Al Qaeda.

Saudi national Abul Hassan Madni, once a prominent leader of Rabta-i-Alam-i-Islami, has also been in the picture. He lives in Madina.

Abu Jud Mehmood Samrai, an Iraqi who is married to a Pakistani woman, has also been contacted. He was given Pakistani nationality by former president Ziaul Haq for his role in the Afghan war.

Maulana Fazlur Rehman Khalil, a Pakistani militant leader, is also in the loop. Khalil, who co-founded the Harkatul Ansar, currently heads Hizbul Mujahideen.

He had signed the famous decree issued by Osama bin Laden and Ayman Al Zawahiri in 1998 calling for killing the Americans. Khalil commands respect among both Pakistani and Afghani Taliban and is said to have played a secret mediatory role with Pakistani authorities for peace in the country.

Reliable sources also told Dawn that Mullah Umar, the chief of Afghan Taliban, has nominated his shadow foreign minister, Agha Motasam, to negotiate with the Americans. They said that talks held so far were of a preliminary nature, but may resume on a serious note after Eid.

From here.

Christianity: The Only Revolution

2009-11-23T13:00:00.000-08:00

There is a 3-part series on Orthodoxy as Second Terrace. Here is Part 3:

Orthodoxy is a religion of memory, but conservative America (rightly reacting to statism) is dedicated to nostalgia. The past is framed with a sentimental, hallmark peachy filter, where the blemishes and moles are airbrushed away. Nothing happens in the past of nostalgia, except a succession of Norman Rockwell prints. The whole montage is narrated by the whisky voice of Thornton's Our Town narrator: birth, youth, romance and marriage, hearth and home and death. Stephen Foster sings offstage.

I love this montage: I am drawn toward it like a siren. For me, the Sirenum Scopuli are not between Scylla and Aeaeia. They are at Almanzo's farm in New York, or at Walton's Mountain with the little old ladies and those inimitable mason jars and the Big Chief Tablet (I had one of those, just as graphite-smudged).

Nostalgia and sentiment are perilous reactions to Babylon and its progress: going home and trying to find the little house on the prairie, with the apple-wood smoke curling up from the chimney and crunchy leaves and a ham on a marble slab and the silence of winter chill groves, draped in silver gauze is a place you want to visit now at your peril, and can, despite the morose fact that you were never there.

Christianity is history, which is always forgettable: the imaginations of nostalgia are easier come by. Christianity is history: history is Christianity.

Sadly, Christianity is also a very urban, revolutionary thing. It is urban in that it cannot be thought of outside of fellowship. Moreover, it claims that human nature is rooted and must flourish in communion. There is no sense of rugged, Marlboro Man, Wyatt Earp individualism in Christianity: many Americans – and I'm one of them – dream dreams of riding into the sunset, but are awakened rudely by the knowledge that we couldn't cut it, we're too humane.

It is revolutionary. It is the only revolution.

Read it all here.

Week 5 Discussion Topic

2009-11-22T18:33:00.000-08:00

Kierkegaard and Nietzsche held very different outlooks on life yet they agreed that anything decided to be meaningful or important must come from within the individual. It is the human race itself that attributes meaning. In Kierkegaard’s Fear and Trembling and in Nietzsche’s On the Genealogy of Morals, each sets out to discover the importance of subjective human emotion, and the role of human freedom in the universe.

For Nietzsche the “will to power” is the secret of life and the destiny of humanity. He believes that an historical figure will arise who will bring perfection to the world. He describes this figure as a “Roman Caesar with the soul of Christ.” His methods will include predation and biological engineering (eugenics) of human populations. Nietzsche's ethical view is summarized in this statement:

The strong men, the masters, regain the pure conscience of a beast of prey; monsters filled with joy, they can return from a fearful succession of murder, arson, rape, and torture with the same joy in their hearts, the same contentment in their souls as if they had indulged in some student's rag.... When a man is capable of commanding, when he is by nature a "Master," when he is violent in act and gesture, of what importance are treaties to him?... To judge morality properly, it must be replaced by two concepts borrowed from zoology: the taming of a beast and the breeding of a specific species.

Kierkegaard takes a different approach to the question of human freedom. For him, freedom involves surrender to God-initiated events. Drawing on John Climacus’ understanding of spiritual enlightenment, Kierkegaard argues that learning involves a mysterious change that takes place in the learner at a specific moment of his existence - a moment of enlightenment. In this moment, the learner is absolutely certain that he/she has grasped eternal knowledge. Kierkegaard maintains that this is miraculous and supernatural because it can only be initiated by God through a series of historical/temporal events. This learning (or enlightenment) is highly individual and subjective, and it is unique for every learner. Kierkegaard argues further that individuals are unable to know anything that is certain except through this supernatural intervention in history.

Which of these philosophers appeals to you most and why?

Nato Needed in Afghanistan

2009-11-22T14:12:00.000-08:00

LONDON, Nov 21: Afghanistan’s government would collapse within weeks if Nato troops left the country right away, Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Miliband said in an interview published on Saturday.

Mr Miliband, who was in Afghanistan for the inauguration of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, said insurgent forces would quickly overrun Afghan troops if the international community pulled out.

“If international forces leave, you can choose a time — five minutes, 24 hours or seven days — but the insurgents would overrun those forces that are prepared to put up resistance and we would be back at square one,” he told The Guardian newspaper.

President Karzai has said he expects Afghan forces to be able to control the country within five years. Mr Miliband said the international community would stay as long as needed.

“Artificial timetables just give succour to your enemy,” Mr Miliband added.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown told lawmakers last week that Britain remained committed to the Afghanistan mission — despite some public calls for troops to be withdrawn amid a mounting death toll. Some 235 British troops have died in Afghanistan since operations began in 2001.

Taliban insurgents have grown bolder in Afghanistan recently, challenging the weak central government led by President Karzai.

Mr Karzai’s own position has been undercut by an election victory tainted by credible charges of widespread fraud. Mr Brown and other Western leaders have warned President Karzai that he could not count on continued support until he moved to stamp out corruption.—AP

Fort Hood: A Case of Evil

2009-11-22T13:00:00.000-08:00

"You think you know a person by seeing them, by how they act, but sometimes you’re wrong," Patricia Villa, neighbour of Major Nidal Malik Hasan

Although our knowledge of mental illness has come a long way since the time that we burned witches, I am humbled by our utter ignorance when faced with Satanic evil. We are no closer to understanding the darkness lurking inside the human heart than the day that Cain murdered Abel. In fact, we could be even more confused. We have lost the vocabulary to talk about evil and rely on psychological clichés. We search for the cause, not the motive. Our explanations are mechanical, not spiritual.

The news stories about the shooting at Fort Hood follows a familiar multiple shootings template. First, the perpetrator explodes in a sudden spasm of violent rage. Second, the rage is due to simmering but severe mental disturbance and stress. Finally, the tragedy could have been avoided if only we had paid attention to the warning signs of mental illness.

Every element of this template is wrong, not only in the case of Major Nidal Hasan but also in most of these other atrocities.

According to the New York Times, "Every man has his breaking point."

The mad gunman tale always begins with the "snap." The mass murderer comes to a point when he breaks down and explodes. The so called "rampage" alludes to an uncontrolled, frenzy of destruction. Three days after the shooting, in an article titled, "Painful Stories Take a Toll on Military Therapist", the Times transformed Hasan into one more victim of the war, a fellow traumatised soldier whose stress was manifested in a different way. The meek psychiatrist was now a confused Rambo.

But Hasan didn’t snap. All evidence indicates that he had been contemplating this attack for several months. According to the Times, security experts stated that the use of two civilian guns (bought soon after arriving at Fort Hood) and acquiring enough ammunition to shoot 43 people suggested premeditation. He told his neighbours goodbye and gave away his possessions.

His ambush also wasn’t a wild rampage. The Times also reported that during the attack he "methodically moved around the room" sparing some and shooting others. Rather than Rambo, Hasan’s cool demeanour during the attack was closer to another, fictional, killer and psychiatrist, Dr Hannibal Lector.

Nor were Hasan’s preparations and discipline unusual. In the recent shootings at the upstate New York immigration centre and the Virginia Tech massacre two years ago, both assailants concocted a scheme to trap and ambush their victims. In New York, Jiverly Voong, blocked the back door with his car and went into the front door. The Virginia Tech shooter, Seung-Hui Cho, chained the exit doors shut. Both Voong and Cho prepared messages for media. About three weeks before the assault, Voong wrote a rambling letter that was delivered to a local television station on the day of the shootings. Cho had made a video that he mailed to NBC during his attack.

Instead of being a rabid werewolf, the mad gunman is more a sly fox. The violence is not an eruption but a culmination.

The next element of the mad gunman tale is the madness, a mixture of mental illness and stress. In the case of the Fort Hood killer, the press invented a new illness, Pre-Traumatic Stress Disorder, first floated on the Larry King Show by television psychologist Dr Phil. Dr Phil stated that Hasan must have "snapped" and was far "out of touch with reality" and had suffered a "major mental event".

The media hasn’t been able to let go of the crazybone. Last Friday on the CBS Early Show, the head muppet, Harry Smith, pressed Hasan’s attorney, "Is he competent? Is he coherent?"

Surprisingly, the lawyer admitted that Hasan wasn’t babbling or checking for devices implanted by aliens.

In another article, building on the same stress/snap theme, the Times states that Major Hasan "acted out under a welter of emotional, ideological and religious pressures." Despite being born and raised in a country where men can chose their faith and politics, the Times treats his religion and politics as afflictions, no more chosen or controllable than emotions.

Since the shooting, all reports indicate that Hasan was able to work and engage with other people without any evidence of significant psychological disturbance. So far, no one has reported any history of psychiatric treatment. Rather than being a miserable, paranoid psycho, Hasan’s neighbours said that he was the "nicest guy you’d want to meet."

Even if Hasan suffered from mental illness, studies do not show any significant relationship between most mental disorders and violence. Psychosis and substance abuse are the two diagnoses that have some relationship to violent behaviour. However, psychosis contributes very little to overall violence.

The other psychological culprit in our tale is stress. People used to laughingly say, "the devil made me do it". Stress is the new demon. Twisting logic to fit the facts, we’ve been told that hearing about combat is more stressful than being in combat.

Recent evidence shows that Hasan wasn’t driven to violence but drawn. Hasan sought both glory and vengeance. He had praised suicide bombers. Investigators also found that Hasan had business cards identifying himself as Soldier of Allah.

The sad endings to our mad gunman stories are as fanciful as the rest of the story. Like meteorologists checking radars and air pressure, the media searches for warning signs as if these events were simply the hurricanes of society, accidents of nature. Any warnings signs are always clearer in retrospect. Although military life requires moving and saying goodbye, the New York Times reports that Hasan’s goodbye to his neighbours was a signal. Major Hasan did voice some opinions not consistent with serving in the military, but nothing observed in the Major’s behaviour indicated that he was planning a mass murder. Moreover, none of the signals were a sign of mental illness. People who commit premeditated murder are shockingly secretive.

Like other mass shootings, Hasan’s assault on Fort Hood was a planned massacre. Labelling these events as sudden eruptions of mental angst is more comforting than worrying about classmates, co-workers, strangers or the nice neighbour who may be harbouring murderous fantasies and waiting for the right moment. I find these half-baked psychological theories and excuses cold comfort. Thorazine and therapy won’t save us from these twisted souls.

Theron Bowers MD is a Texas psychiatrist.

From here.

The Manhattan Declaration

2009-11-22T05:36:00.000-08:00

Catholic, Orthodox and Evangelical leaders have published and signed a pro-life, pro-marriage statement, called the Manhattan Declaration: A Pro-Life Call of Christian Conscience on Abortion, Liberty.

You may read the Manhattan Declaration online, see the original signatories and sign it electronically by going to the web site: http://manhattandeclaration.org/index.php

There are currently over 4000 signatories. There should be at least 400,000! One person who signed is Albert Molher. Read why he signed The Manhattan Declaration here.