Global Warming as Mass Neurosis - WSJ.com

re: Brett Stephens: "Last week marked the 20th anniversary of the mass hysteria phenomenon known as global warming. Much of the science has since been discredited. Now it's time for political scientists, theologians and psychiatrists to weigh in..."...

Obama's Dry Hole - WSJ.com

re: "I want you to think about this," Barack Obama said in Las Vegas last week. "The oil companies have already been given 68 million acres of federal land, both onshore and offshore, to drill. They're allowed to drill it, and yet they haven't touched it – 68 million acres that have the potential to nearly double America's total oil production." /Wow, how come the oil companies didn't think of that? /Perhaps because the notion is obviously false – at least to anyone who knows how oil and gas exploration actually works. Predictably, however, Mr. Obama's claim is also the mantra of Nancy Pelosi, Barbara Boxer, John Kerry, Nick Rahall and others writing Congressional energy policy. As a public service, here's a remedial education. / ...[snip]... / To deflect the GOP effort to relax the offshore-drilling ban – and thus boost supply while demand will remain strong – Democrats also say that most of the current leases are "nonproducing." The idea comes from a "special report" prepared by the Democratic staff of the House Resources Committee, chaired by Mr. Rahall. "If we extrapolate from today's production rates on federal lands and waters," the authors write, the oil companies could "nearly double total U.S. oil production" (their emphasis). /In other words, these whiz kids assume that every acre of every lease holds the same amount of oil and gas. Yet the existence of a lease does not guarantee that the geology holds recoverable resources..."...

Yellow Science - WSJ.com

re: James Kerian: "...The long-term results of yellow journalism have probably been more devastating than the war it started. Journalists have lost the respectability of their profession, and the public has lost real journalism. We are in very real danger, as scientists and as a nation, of losing the respectability of a professional community that has done so much to make this country great in the past hundred years. If yellow science overcomes real science it will not only be on account of the greed, ambition, and cowardice of our scientists but also the sloth and cowardice of a public that is unwilling to stand up and demand professionalism. This is why, as the editors of the New York Press said in 1897, I "called them yellow because they are yellow."

Last Call by Kathleen Parker on National Review / Digital

re: "...Some have prophesied that Hillary’s defeat means the death of old feminism (peace be upon her). What it really means is that many women are as sensible as many men, enough of whom apparently were in no mood to let Hill and Bill resume their residency in the White House..."...

Main Street - WSJ.com: NARAL Catholics Line Up for Obama

re: William McGurn: "You are the Democratic candidate for president. You want to reach out to Catholics. So what do you do when the majority of the elected officials on your National Catholic Advisory Council have the seal of approval from NARAL Pro-Choice America? / ...[snip].../ The other line of argument is the They're-Just-As-Bad-As-We-Are defense. Thus the Web sites that go on and on about Catholic social teaching on war and poverty and greed and the death penalty, etc. The implication being, of course, that Republicans are on the wrong side of all these issues – and that simply by enumerating all these concerns, you can somehow balance out the Democratic Party's singular commitment to abortion on demand. /These issues are all legitimate subjects for debate, and each can and should be argued. The problem is that abortion is not just any issue. In the language of the church, abortion is an "intrinsic evil," always and everywhere wrong. /That is what Catholics for Obama have to get around. Given this awkward fact, the political reality is that a National Catholic Advisory Council may do less to advance Mr. Obama than to alert the public about how extreme his votes and policies are – not to mention the similar votes and policies of the Catholic politicians supporting him. Already Kathleen Sebelius – governor of Kansas and one of the Catholic co-chairs – has been asked by her bishop to refrain from Communion because of what he says is her support for abortion. As for Sen. Casey, well, let's just say it's hard to imagine his sainted father – who bucked his party's president and refused to support his old friend Sen. Harris Wofford's 1994 re-election bid over the life issue – lending his imprimatur to such a NARAL-friendly enterprise..."...

Trigeminal neuralgia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

re: info and links on TN...

'Baby Borrowers': Shame on NBC adults - USATODAY.com

re: Robert Bianco: "When Shakespeare said "neither a borrower nor a lender be," little did he know what we'd end up exchanging. /And that's the mind-boggling question at the center of NBC's The Baby Borrowers, TV's latest life's-a-joke assault on the boundaries of bad taste: Who in heaven's name would lend their infant out as a reality-show challenge? Yet there they are, five babies given to five teenage couples in a "groundbreaking experiment" that, as the show progresses, will find the same couples caring for toddlers, pre-teens, teens and, in the end, senior citizens. /... Baby Borrowers wants to have things both ways, teasing you with the quickly dismissed possibility that the babies might be at risk while ignoring the cold, hard fact that they are at risk, no matter what safeguards exist. If the borrowers drop those babies, how could the show's "shadow nannies" catch them before they hit the floor? And even if the babies aren't in danger, what is the upside for them in this arrangement? They certainly don't seem very happy about it. /On the heels of the now-disputed story about a New England teenage pregnancy pact, NBC is selling the show as if it were electronic birth control. Even if societal improvement were the goal, and it's not, Baby wouldn't do much to achieve it. Any teenager who has watched a reality show knows these kids were chosen to fail, and to be ill-behaved brats while doing so..."...

About that pregnancy pact . . . » GetReligion

re: "When Time magazine broke the story about the alleged Gloucester High School pregnancy pact, the entire media world erupted.... /...[snip]... / So it’s interesting that TIME’s follow-up more or less completely backtracks on the story. Not that you’d know it from the headline: // Gloucester Pregnancy Plot Thickens //If by “thickens” they mean “gets watered down” then I’m with them. Reporter Kathleen Kingsbury, whose first story blamed lack of access to contraceptives and the movie Juno for the pregnancy boom, admits the pact allegation came from one source and that the one source isn’t so sure anymore... / ...[snip]... / The schools superintendent says that rather than a pact, some girls who were already pregnant decided to band together to stay in school and raise their children together. The follow-up story does a much better job than the first story of talking about the role that family values or the lack thereof might have played in the situation. Not that anyone will be reading this follow-up story but if they did, they’d hear classmates say the pregnant teens had little parental supervision, were permitted to stay out all night if they wanted and were afflicted by peer pressure. But the reporter reiterates that the school official who used the word pact now says he’s not sure who told him about the pact or when. /Still a very dramatic story, sure, but not quite as dramatic as first reported. Also, the phrase “decided to get pregnant” is a bit odd considering that Time hasn’t confirmed that with any of the girls in question...

Pew views: Questions about Oprah America » GetReligion

re: "...Question No. 2: Is the American press now officially defining “tolerance” in doctrinal terms instead of in social or public terms? In other words, to be “tolerant” now, does one have to hold a certain doctrine of salvation? Do you have to be a “universalist” on that issue and believe that all religious paths lead to the top of the same eternal mountain? /What happened to the old definition — at the heart of American church-state separation — that citizens were supposed to be tolerant of other people’s religious beliefs and allow them full rights of free speech and association? In other words, is it now “tolerant” to be intolerant of people that you do not believe to be adequately tolerant on issues of salvation? There was a time, early in American history, when one of the main points of religious toleration was to provide freedom for people to proclaim their beliefs, even if that meant evangelism by, let’s say, Baptists in a state that was led by, let’s say, intolerant Anglicans (think Virginia). This point of view influenced the freethinkers of that day, including a deist or universalist like Thomas Jefferson..."...

hat tip: The Point

Coming to a Mall Near You -- Planned Parenthood's New Strategy

re: ""It is indeed a new look...a new branding, if you will." That's the explanation offered by Leslie Durgin, a senior vice president at Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains. She was speaking of Planned Parenthood's new "upscale" approach to marketing abortions and other "services" to wealthier suburban women. /This new strategy and marketing plan was described in chilling detail by reporter Stephanie Simon of The Wall Street Journal [article available by subscription only]. "Flush with cash, Planned Parenthood affiliates nationwide are aggressively expanding their reach," she explains, "seeking to woo more affluent patients with a network of suburban clinics and huge new health centers that project a decidedly upscale image."/ ...[snip]... / Planned Parenthood may be legally defined as a nonprofit organization, but it is flush with money. The organization took in over $1 billion last year, and reported $112 million in "excess of revenue over expenses." The group also received $70 million in federal funds -- your tax dollars at work..."...

ADF Alliance Alert » San Diego reverses course after too many employees choose to opt-out of same-sex ceremonies

re: from June 20, 2008: "The San Diego Union Tribune reports: //At least 14 employees in the San Diego County Clerk’s Office raised religious objections to performing gay wedding ceremonies but were told by their boss they couldn’t pick and choose between marriage applicants. /
Clerk Greg Smith said last month that he would allow employees with religious objections to avoid performing the ceremonies, but the response was apparently more than his office could accommodate . . "...

The Writing Life - washingtonpost.com

re: Alex de Waal: "...When I arrived in Darfur, I expected to find mass starvation apart from the few places aid had reached. But that wasn't the reality. The Darfurians were hardier and more resourceful than 'disaster tourists' (mostly well-meaning volunteers) could imagine. The nutritional arithmetic -- the failed harvests, the late relief efforts -- said they should all be dead. They weren't. /I set myself the task of explaining why. I spoke to a young mother, Amina, in a village called Furawiya at the edge of the desert, who told me how she had survived. She had harvested just a few grains of millet from her withered crop and buried them to prevent her hungry children from eating them. Then she set off on an arduous trek, gathering wild grasses and berries, selling a sheep to buy bread, working as a day laborer for small amounts of money. Upon her return, she dug up her seeds and planted them, enduring four more months of hunger while she tended her field. Amina's story told me why the aid agencies' prediction of a million deaths from hunger in that famine was too high by a factor of 10." /It's hard doing research on extreme deprivation. I worried that dissecting the details of hunger might harden my heart, leave me immune to distress. I feared that describing the "coping strategies" of the poorest of the poor might cause humanitarians to stand aside, leaving the afflicted on their own. But I also hoped that understanding how people survive -- and why at times they don't -- might save lives. Aid agencies are learning, and the science of disaster relief has advanced. I'm happy to say that today's humanitarianism is more professional than it was 20 years ago..."...

MercatorNet - Not spilling the beans is a healthy choice

re: "...Seery: Trauma-related research has mostly focused on understanding negative reactions, like predictors of PTSD. However, resilience in the face of negative events is a topic that has gotten more attention recently. There is much work to be done to understand it. Certainly individual differences play a role, but also aspects of the situation. As researchers come to understand these processes better, it should be possible to help foster resilience in people..."...

ADF Alliance Alert » Provision Giving Planned Parenthood More Funding Stripped from U.S. War Supplemental Bill

re: "LifeSiteNews.com reports: “Pro-life groups across the U.S. are celebrating a victory with the removal of an amendment to the 2008 War Supplemental Bill (H.R. 2642) that would have given Planned Parenthood facilities discounted drugs at taxpayer expense.”

Tasha Tudor: August 28, 1915 - June 18, 2008 at Semicolon

re: "...Tasha Tudor died yesterday at her home in Marlboro, Vermont..."...

Picasa Web Albums - Barbara - March for Lif...

re: photos from this year's March for Life in Washington D.C.

2008 March for Life Photos - Page 1

re: the first of eight pages of photos from this year's Canadian March for Life...

Paper to Alberta Human Rights Commission: Get Your Hands off Our Letters Page

re: "June 19, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Red Deer Advocate isn't Canada's largest or most influential newspaper. Rather, it's a local Alberta paper with a daily circulation of about 17,000, serving a city with a population of a mere 83,000. But in recent years this small-town paper has been receiving international attention, after Christian pastor Steve Boissoin was hauled before the Alberta Human Rights Commission (AHRC) for publishing a letter criticizing the homosexualist activist agenda in the Advocate. /And now the Red Deer Advocate is joining the increasingly vocal and passionate contingent of Canadians who say they have had enough of the human rights commissions. /It was widely reported in the media that several weeks ago the AHRC handed down a "remedy" ruling to Steve Boissoin, ordering the pastor to pay $7,000 in fines, to desist from ever again making "disparaging" remarks about homosexuals or homosexuality, and, lastly, to apologize to Darren Lund, the complainant in the case, in a letter, to be published in the same publication that Boissoin's original letter appeared in - the Red Deer Advocate. /
The problem with the tribunal's ruling, however, is that not only has Boissoin repeatedly stated he will not apologize, but the paper in which he is supposed to publish his letter has declared its belief that the AHRC has way overstepped its bounds in ordering the paper to print Boissoin's letter in the first place. /
In a recent op-ed, managing editor Joe McLaughlin, speaking on behalf of the Advocate, expressed his paper's disgust with the AHRC's decision in the Boissoin case, and in particular with the commission's decision to order his paper to publish a coerced apology letter..."...

The Liberals' Moment

re: Albert Mohler: "The decade of the 1970s is now a generation behind us, but the cultural and political movements of that pivotal decade set the stage for so much of what we face in our current times. In terms of national politics, two great developments stand out. On the Left, the nomination of Sen. George McGovern became the pivotal event of the decade, even as the rise of a reinvigorated conservatism became the great event on the Right. /Author Bruce Miroff of the State University of New York at Albany takes his readers into the heart of the McGovern campaign in The Liberals' Moment: The McGovern Insurgency and the Identity Crisis of the Democratic Party [University Press of Kansas, 2007]. There is no way one can make sense of the modern Democratic party without understanding this campaign. The issues of that campaign still define the Left, as do many of the individuals involved in the campaign (such as Bill Clinton)..."...

Baptist Press - Obama criticizes McCain's pro-life record

re: "NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Democrat Barack Obama June 16 criticized John McCain's pro-life record, saying female voters likely won't vote for the presumptive Republican nominee in part because of his record on abortion./ ...[snip].../ "But Obama's assumption about women's beliefs on abortion is being challenged by a new generation of women who are opposed to abortion and favor overturning Roe v. Wade. One such woman is Kristi Burton, a 20-year-old pro-life activist who was the brainchild of a proposed personhood amendment that will be on the ballot in Colorado this fall. If passed, the constitutional amendment would give legal protections to any unborn baby from the moment of conception. (More information is available at ColoradoForEqualRights.com.)..."...

Baptist Press - Prof withdraws from ethics society for its 'honoring of sin'

re: "WAKE FOREST, N.C. (BP)--Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary ethics professor Daniel Heimbach has withdrawn his membership from the Society of Christian Ethics after the group took a stand in what he calls "honoring sin over Scripture" regarding homosexuality. / Heimbach said new guidelines soon to be adopted by the society will make it impossible for any member to remain in good standing who does not affirm homosexuality. After 24 years of membership in the Society of Christian Ethics, Heimbach said the group has now gone so far in its view and defense of homosexuality as to disqualify members who defend and apply biblical morality. /The membership of the group now totals more than 1,000 people from the United States, Canada and Europe. According to its website, the group aims to "promote scholarly work in Christian ethics and in the relation of Christian ethics to other traditions of ethics … and to provide a community of discourse and debate for those engaged professionally within these general fields."..."...

Thirty Three Things (v. 66) - the evangelical outpost

re: excerpts and links on a wide variety of subjects, from humorous to serious...

The Point: The Vatican Gets It Right

re: Diane Singer: "It seems that the Vatican has moved to prevent the filming of another Dan Brown book, Angels and Demons -- or, at least, to prevent scenes from being filmed in the Vatican or in any churches in Italy. //start quote// Archbishop Velasio De Paolis, head of the Vatican's Prefecture for Economic Affairs, said that the author had "turned the Gospels upside down to poison the faith. It would be unacceptable to transform churches into film sets so that his blasphemous novels can be made into mendacious films in the name of business." //end quote// Well, Amen! However, I can only pray that the Vatican's stance will prick the conscience of Tom Hanks and Ron Howard, both professing Christians, about the professional choices they are making. I can only hope that they will feel shame about the anti-Christian venom their films are spreading throughout the world. As for the rest of us, if we buy Brown's books or see movies based on those books, we're equally guilty..."...

Spyglass Lane: Research 101

re: Elizabeth Ludwig: "...I don't know a whole lot about police procedures, so when it comes to making sure my hero gets his facts straight, I call in the experts, namely a friendly police sergeant from Beaumont. Other resources include books, articles and websites. Word of caution: TV shows like CSI don't count, because believe it or not, you really can't rely on them for accuracy. / What about you? Care to share a few of your favorite research tips? Here a few of my favorites to get you started..."...

Keep Me In Suspense: Interview with Lisa Harris!

re: "Today we welcome Lisa Harris, whose new book is just out!1. Your first cozy mystery just released. Tell us a little about Recipe for Murder..."...

The Gospel-Driven Church: God's Will For Your Life

re: "...We have this mixed up notion that if we make a choice and it blows up in our face, then it must not have been God's will. Where we get the idea that God never wants us to endure hardship or pain I don't know, but it has seriously messed with our concept of faith..."...

Cafe Hayek: The Tragedy of Elian

re: "My new book, The Price of Everything: A Parable of Possibility and Prosperity, is a novel that tries to help the reader understand a bunch of related topics--the role of prices in steering resources, the role of prices in creating innovation, the role of prices in letting us weave our own dreams of what we want to buy and how we want to spend our lives. It's also about the role prosperity plays in our lives and why the average American lives better than in past generations. / ...[snip]... / And while the story is fiction, I was inspired by the Elian Gonzalez story. What would have happened to Elian if he had stayed in America. Would he have prospered? Would he have been torn between an allegiance to his new country and his father's Cuba?..."...

Cafe Hayek: Boudreaux on energy prices

re: "In the latest episode of EconTalk, Don and I talk about energy prices and why things aren't as dire as they appear."

Finding Fatherhood

re: "Father Phillip Chavez believes masculine identity is under attack. /It’s threatened by a number of factors, and it’s leading to marital and family breakdown. /Based in Glen Rock, Pa., Father Chavez, a priest of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity, is setting up a men’s institute to address key issues of men and their concerns, as well as producing resources for their character formation and integration. His mission is to give men confidence in their true identity. /He spoke recently in Rome with Register Correspondent Edward Pentin..."...

Father Knows Business - FOXBusiness.com

re: "When Greg Bishop dreamed up the idea for a father-to-be boot camp in 1990, the fatherhood industry was uncharted territory. /"One of the fundamental problems at that point and still today is that there's no media channel directed at fathers," Bishop says. "The entire world of babies is fully directed toward mothers." /...[snip].../ That question prompted Bishop, 57, to begin conducting boot camp workshops at a local hospital. Six years later, he transformed his hobby into a nationwide organization, now known as Boot Camp for New Dads. /The goal of boot camp is to help new dads become comfortable caring for their babies, supporting their spouses and making the transition into fatherhood. So far, Boot Camp for New Dads, based in Irvine, California, has expanded into 43 states and England and Australia, graduating some 200,000 fathers in about 18 years. /To support this program, Bishop founded the nonprofit New Fathers Foundation and a for-profit company, Dads Adventure Inc., in 1995. Through Dads Adventure, Bishop, a father of four, writes and publishes books and a magazine for dads-to-be. He also maintains a website offering new dads advice and resources... /...[snip]... / "I think what you're seeing is a fatherhood movement that's mostly based in guys' hearts, who want to be closer to their kids than their own father was with them," Bishop says. /Diaper Dude founder Chris Pegula, 36, is part of that movement... /...[snip].../ "A lot of the guys I know and hang out with are participatory dads. They're all really involved in the burping process and changing diapers," Mike Barclay, 36, says. /By day, Barclay is a full-time dean of students at a private school in Providence, Rhode Island. By night, he's a husband, father of two and co-founder ofBurp Armor, a twist on the traditional burp cloth. Unlike regular burp cloths, Burp Armor has a kidney bean shape and shoulder flap design that protects a parent's shoulder and upper arm from baby's many messes.... /.../ "...

Exxon Mobil Plans to Exit the Gasoline Business - FOXBusiness.com

re: "The largest publicly-traded oil company is reportedly planning to exit the retail gas industry. Exxon Mobil will sell 820 of its company-owned retail gas stations, as well as 1,400 of its dealer-operated locations to gasoline distributors. /...[snip]... /Exxon and Mobil stations will maintain a presence nationally, since nearly 75% of the 12,000 Exxon Mobile gas stations throughout the country are owned by distributors. Exxon will continue to sell gasoline to those stations and be paid by those stations for the use of the Exxon Mobil name. /The market for retail gasoline has been dealing with lower profit margins due to the soaring price of crude oil. The sale is expected to occur over a “multi-year period,” the company said."

ExxonMobil to End Gas Stations; Rush Offers Quick Fix for Prices

re: "...RUSH: I have a fast fix for energy, a fast fix for the energy prices. There is no instant cure, as we know, for rising energy prices, but as your host, I, El Rushbo, have a plan to get on the right track sooner rather than later. As close to a quick fix as humanly possible. It all starts with our gas stations. We do have gas stations out there. And these gas stations pump regular gas, and they pump premium gas. Some of them pump diesel. On every pump, every pump that distributes regular gas, we post a picture of Harry Reid with the price appearing in his mouth. On every premium pump, we post a picture of Nancy Pelosi with the price upticking in her wonderful smile; that you could drive up to any station and ask for a tankful of Reid or you could ask for a tankful of Pelosi. We would explore, we would drill, we would refine faster than a liberal can attack a Republican. / You gas station guys, you want to turn the profit in your business? Go out and get some pictures of Reid and Pelosi, stick 'em on your pumps, put the price in there. And then when the self-serve people come up just make 'em say they want to fill up with Reid, fill up with Pelosi..."...

ADF Alliance Alert » Jennifer Roback Morse: Same-Sex ‘Marriage’ and the Persecution of Civil Society

re: "The NC Registers carries this article by Jennifer Roback Morse. She begins: // Advocates of same-sex “marriage” present the idea as a step forward for tolerance and respect. But recent developments place that interpretation very much in doubt. /Legalizing same-sex “marriage” is not a stand-alone policy, independent of all the other activities of the state. Once governments assert that same-sex unions are the equivalent of marriage, those governments must defend and enforce a whole host of other social changes. /Unfortunately, these government-enforced changes conflict with a wide array of ordinary liberties, including religious freedom and ordinary private property rights . . ."...

Nazarene Communications Network - Ohio Nazarene publishes her first children's book

re: "Emily Powers, wife of Cardington, Ohio, Church of the Nazarene associate pastor Benjamin Powers, recently published her first children’s book through Tree of Life Publishing House called Wendell Has a Cracked Shell. Emily's brother, Jason Moody, is the illustrator and also attends the Cardington church..."...

Nazarene Communications Network - Tennessee prison outreach results in deputy-escorted baptisms

re: "While the literal chains may still have been in place, the spiritual chains came off recently when five inmates of a Humphreys County, Tennessee, prison were baptized at a local Nazarene church..."...

NBC's Tim Russert dead at 58 - U.S. news- msnbc.com

re: "WASHINGTON - Tim Russert, NBC News’ Washington bureau chief and the moderator of “Meet the Press,” died Friday after being stricken at the bureau, NBC News said Friday. He was 58. /Russert was recording voiceovers for Sunday’s “Meet the Press” broadcast when he collapsed. He was rushed to Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, where resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful, said Russert’s physician, Michael Newman, who said the cause of death was not immediately known. /Russert had returned from Italy, where his family was celebrating the graduation of his son, Luke, from Boston College..."...

Catharina's blog: Fetus vs. child and a doctor that changed his mind

re: part of an episode of House, plus real-life situation that was similar...

The Belmont Club: Misdirection

re: "It's been said that the most important step in problem solving is defining what the problem is. This is even more true in politics when the terms in which a problem is originally cast often determines how it is approached in the future. Martin Kramer asks, at Middle East Strategy at Harvard, why every Middle Eastern crisis is necessarily linked to Israel. Kramer argues that Israel is placed at the center of every problem in the region not because it is true; but because things have been set up that way. The result he says, is a distortion in which otherwise tractable problems are twisted out of shape and made dependent on the resolution of its "linkage"..."...

Nazarene Communications Network - Food struggle continues for Haitian Nazarenes

re: May 14, 2008: "As the price of food continues to skyrocket, the vast majority of people in Haiti are still struggling to provide even the most basic of daily bread for their families—and this includes the 107,000 Nazarenes who live in the country. / ...[snip]... / To read more about the food crisis in Haiti, see Haitian Nazarenes suffer in the midst of food insecurity...."...

Biofuels Are Indefensible in Our Hungry World - WSJ.com

re: Peter Brabeck-Letmathe : "The world's agriculture and water crisis is only going to get worse. As China and India grow, their populations are demanding more and wider varieties of food stuffs, and competition for arable land is intensifying. Food prices are rising, in large part because agriculture suppliers can barely keep up with today's demand. So what is the world doing? Reorienting land away from food production and toward plants cultivated for energy needs. /This could be the single most destructive set of policy mistakes made in a generation... / ...[snip].../ If there's one certainty, it is this: The production of biofuels has stimulated a massive, and destructive, reorientation of the world's agriculture markets. The U.S. Department of Energy calculates that every 10,000 liters of water produces as little as five liters of ethanol, or one to two liters of biodiesel. Biofuels are economical nonsense, ecologically useless and ethically indefensible. This year, the U.S. will use around 130 million tons of corn for biofuels. This corn was not available as human food, nor as fodder to animals. Is this the right strategy, for a product that won't satisfy even a small percentage of our energy needs?..."...

Cedar Rapids hard-hit; thousands lack power, water supply critical | DesMoinesRegister.com

re: "Cedar Rapids, Ia. — A total of 3,200 homes were flooded, thousands of outages were reported, as many as 18,000 people were at risk of losing power, and dozens of flood-stranded residents were rescued by boat Thursday as Iowa's second-largest city staggered under the surging Cedar River. / Floodwater covered an area equal to 100 city blocks, said Mike Goldberg, Linn County's public information officer. / "Our rough estimate is 9,000 people are displaced because of evacuation," he said. / Much of the city's downtown was affected. The lobby of the Linn County Courthouse was flooded, as were the main police station and fire department..."...

Meals in minutes » RapidCityJournal.com

re: "...Canyon Lake United Methodist Church is offering a Build-A-Meal program./ ...[snip]... / Build-A-Meal evolved from those Wednesday night church suppers as a way to help people who didn’t like to cook, didn’t know how to cook or didn’t have time cook. It also was designed to help seniors, recently widowed elders, single parents and families ensure that they had a nutritious meal tucked away in the freezer, Schmitz said..."...

Simplot legacy feeds world

re: "...The impact of [J.R.] Simplot will continue to be felt internationally, beyond the sales and employment figures. It's appropriate to honor him, as well as mourn him, this year that the United Nations has designed as the International Year of the Potato. / This is only the second time a year has been designated for a food - the first was rice - and it's hard to separate potatoes from the legacy of Simplot..."...

Four killed by tornado at camp were Boy Scouts - CNN.com

re: "(CNN) -- Boy Scouts dived under picnic tables and were buried under a collapsed chimney when a deadly tornado hit their camp in western Iowa, survivors said Thursday morning..."...

BBC NEWS | Americas | Cuba to abandon salary equality

re: "Cuba is to abolish its system of equal pay for all and allow workers and managers to earn performance bonuses, a senior official has announced. /Vice-Minister for Labour Carlos Mateu said the current system - in place since the communist revolution in 1959 - was no longer "convenient". /He said wage differentiation should improve production and services..."...

BBC NEWS | UK | 'Scottish Islamic state plotted'

re: "Plans to set up a secret Islamist state in Scotland were discussed by two supporters of jihad, a court has heard. /The pair said it could provide a safe haven for those who felt "oppressed", London's Blackfriars Crown Court heard. /Aabid Khan, from Bradford, West Yorkshire, said the only problem was the availability of weapons, the court was told.../ ...[snip]... / Mr Khan is said to have replied: "A group of Muslims can go to a remote place and set up a mini Sharia state and they can rule according to Sharia law, like this and stay there, building them up and their children up, preparing for fitness, and then launching jihad once they strengthen themselves." /Mr Denison claimed he then added: "In the UK you can isolate with a group discreetly and train, but better in the US as they have weapons there. Over here weapons is problem."..."...

BBC NEWS | UK | Scotland | Lancastria dead gain recognition

re: "In a ceremony at Holyrood later, the Scottish Government will issue its first ever medal to commemorate the thousands of service men and women who died with the sinking of the Lancastria almost exactly 68 years ago. / The loss of the converted Cunard liner was Britain's worst maritime disaster and the country's biggest single loss of life in World War II. /But it was hushed up and, for half a century, relatives and survivors have felt the sacrifice was forgotten. /The ship was lending support to the war effort, evacuating British Expeditionary Forces from France, when it was attacked by German bombers on 17 June, 1940. / ...[snip]... / At least 4,000 died - 400 of them Scots. So soon after Dunkirk, then Prime Minister Winston Churchill ordered the event to be hushed up to protect national morale. /
It remained a secret long after the war, but this led the bereaved to feel their sacrifice was ignored..."...

BBC NEWS | Americas | Peruvians seek relatives in mass grave

re: "...The victims - all peasant farmers from the area - had been tricked by the military, who had set up a base in Putis, into digging their own grave. /In 1983 the region, Huanta, was controlled by the Shining Path - a brutal Maoist guerrilla group who had declared war on the state. They had killed all the local officials and the people had fled to the mountain peaks. /In November 1984, the army set up its base in Putis and invited the local population to live there under their protection. They asked them to dig a fish pond; then on 13 December they killed everyone and buried them there. /After the massacre, the soldiers sold off the villagers' livestock, according the 2003 commission report."..."...

Culver outlines 'unprecedented' scope, destruction of floods | DesMoinesRegister.com | The Des Moines Register

re: "Johnston, Ia. - The Iowa floods of 2008 are on track to surpass the destruction of the historic flooding that struck the state in 1993, Gov. Chet Culver said Wednesday night. / “Absolutely,” Culver told reporters at a Camp Dodge flood briefing. “This is unprecedented in terms of its power and destruction and scope.” /Nine rivers throughout Iowa are out of their banks, damaging homes and businesses and causing destruction that will undoubtedly total in the hundreds of millions of dollars, the governor said. / Fifty-three counties have been declared state disaster areas, and more could be added because of forecasts for additional rainfall, Culver said. Some places in Iowa could experience 500-year flood levels, he cautioned..."...

Tornado kills four at Iowa boy scout camp | U.S. | Reuters

re: "DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) - Four people were killed and at least 20 injured when a tornado tore through an Iowa boy scout camp on Wednesday, where dozens of scouts were gathered for a summer retreat, state officials said. /The deadly twister was one of more than 30 that roared through four U.S. Midwestern states on Wednesday. It hit the Little Sioux Scout Ranch in western Iowa about 6:35 p.m. CDT (2135 GMT). More tornadoes were feared for the region Wednesday night. / Ninety-three campers and 25 adults were attending the Little Sioux camp when the tornado struck, said Tina Potthoff, spokeswoman for the Iowa Emergency Operations Center. Potthoff said in addition to the four dead, at least 20 and possibly up to 40 people were injured. /Injured campers were taken to five area hospitals as parents of campers gathered Wednesday night in a nearby church awaiting news and search and rescue teams continued to sift through debris at the camp. /Iowa officials said the state National Guard had been mobilized to assist in search and rescue operations, work that was complicated by the heavily treed area where the camp was located and continued lightning strikes and heavy rain..."...

Official: 4 dead after twister tears through Scout camp - CNN.com

re: "(CNN) -- At least four people were killed and another 40 injured Wednesday when a tornado struck a Boy Scout camp in western Iowa, a state safety official said. / Iowa Public Safety Commissioner Gene Meyer said the four were killed by a storm that slammed into the Little Sioux Scout Ranch near the Nebraska state line. /Meyer said about 120 people, including 93 campers, were believed to be at the camp at the time of the storm. /About 40 people were injured, said Sheri Bauwens, a nurse with the American Red Cross..."...

The Paragraph Farmer: Warnings worth heeding

re: "You got the Anchoress, you got G.K. Chesterton, and you got C.S. Lewis. They're all singing from the same hymnal. Any questions?..."...

Baptist Press - Colts coach Dungy challenges pastors

re: "...Dungy told the crowd that winning the Super Bowl and writing his book, 'Quiet Strength,' not only helped him affect the lives of athletes and fostered conversations with many people across the country, it also made him 'realize how vital you all are, how vital our mission is to reach our world.' /He also said he has grown more attuned to the search that engages many of America's young people: 'They are looking, and they want to find it in all that the things our society calls exciting.' Yet, 'they're still searching for what we know is fulfilling, and that's the relationship with Christ. And I think that's the message that we have to continue to deliver in a lot of different ways.' /Dungy compared the Pastors' Conference to the Colts' training camp, saying he was 'excited that you're getting those batteries charged and getting ready' for the mission ahead. /'We're all on the same team,' Dungy said. 'We're going to work for the Lord, and Christ is going to honor what you do.' /Dungy thanked Southern Baptists for coming to Indianapolis, 'but more than anything I want to thank you for what you're going to do, going back to your homes and being on that mission field for the Lord.'"..."...

Baptist Press - 'Give It Away,' Gaither tells Baptists

re: "INDIANAPOLIS (BP)--Bill Gaither of gospel music's Gaither Vocal Band told Southern Baptists the answer to the nation's economic pressures is not a political solution but a spiritual solution based on God's people learning to "give it away." /"I think it starts with us, and I think when the church of Jesus Christ gets organized, we've got the resources to do it, and we can do it when we put our heads together," Gaither told messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention's annual meeting in Indianapolis June 10. / As part of the Executive Committee's morning report, the Gaither Vocal Band emphasized stewardship by singing their hit song "Give It Away," and then Gaither spoke briefly about the importance of giving..."...

Considerettes - Universal "Health Care"

re: "Don Surber notes that the health care system run by the state of Oregon won’t pay for cancer drugs, but they’ll cover assisted suicide. Socialized medicine is about the money just as much as "capitalized" medicine is. /One example cited is that of a woman who’s oncologist prescribed a drug to slow the cancer growth, but Oregon Heath Care wouldn’t cover it, though she could take the Permanant Exit Door(tm) with their blessing. Instead, the drug company gave her the medicine for free. Surber notes the moral of the story..."...

American Thinker: Global Whining vs. the Truth

re: Brian Sussman: "...Like most TV Meteorologists, I loathed the heat wave live-remotes. I would much rather work in a controlled environment, complete with air conditioning and a green Chroma-key screen. And during extreme weather events, the studio lent itself to professionalism rather than playing on emotion. /"Let me guess, the bank in Walnut Creek?" I said sarcastically. I had been through this drill many times. /"Perfect location. Plus, a lot of viewers with ratings meters out there." /Walnut Creek is an upscale town 30 miles east of San Francisco. It is sheltered from the cooling influences of the coast and the Bay by a modest mountain range. As a result, in the summer that region can bake. The bank not only referenced the name of the town, but had a thermometer that was several degrees off, thanks to the heat absorbing black asphalt on the adjacent multi-lane street and the pavement of the nearby parking lot. The producer knew 105° would easily read 110°. On air, I always quickly explained the reason for the soaring temperature reading for our audience, but it was not enough. The misleading visual message was absolutely clear: 110° in Walnut Creek-another sign of climate doom! No doubt about it, the climate was under assault. It had to be global warming. / No, it's global whining..."...

American Thinker Blog: What kind of war crimes trials does Obama plan? (updated)

re: Thomas Lifson: "Barack Obama's plan for imposing unity on the nation after he takes office apparently entails a close look at war crimes trials for Bush administration officials. He has even said so in an interview with Will Bunch of the Philadelphia Daily News. /This kind of change -- putting your predecessors on trial for their conduct of policy -- may not be what most Americans really want or expect from someone with Obama's gauzy rhetoric of unity. But unity has a dark side in the hands of people who regard their opponents as criminals. America has two centuries-plus of history lacking the totalitarian practice of jailing the predecessors when a new president takes office..."...

The Book Den: The Book Den Caption Game: Volume 3

re: numerous quotes about journalism...

Seraphic Secret: Oil Prices

re: "...The Democrats self-righteously lecture that we have to exploit alternative sources of energy. /I'm all for it. /Problem is, like almost all Democratic policies, it's delusional... / ...[snip]... / Big government: History teaches that unlimited government always yields economic ruin and personal misery. And these states inevitably evolve, by internal design, into a Big Brother rule. /As the clever cartoon points out, it's Democratic policies that enable and encourage such high oil prices. Remember that next time you fill up your tank, confront massive heating bills, pay higher prices on your airline ticket. In fact, high oil prices permeate almost every nook and cranny of our economic lives. /Alternate sources of energy will be exploited. Not by massive government programs, wasteful and inefficient, but by private entrepreneurs spurred on by the spirit of innovation and capitalism. /This Israeli company is making fine headway—with seaweed. /In the meantime, we should be exploiting the oil resources that are readily available to us. New methods of drilling now exist that do not harm the environment..."...

Kathryn Jean Lopez on Catholics & Barack Obama on National Review Online

re: some issues are not negotiable...

ADF Alliance Alert » Alaska Supreme Court issues order to keep patient alive

re: "ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The Alaska Supreme Court granted an Alliance Defense Fund allied attorney’s motion for stay and signed an order Friday that will keep Providence Hospital from removing Mari Chamberlain’s life-support tubes. Ending her life support could result in her death within minutes or days. /“No one should be allowed to decide that an innocent life is worthless. A man is caring for the wife he loves; it’s not the hospital’s job to end her life,” said ADF Senior Counsel Joe Infranco. “We are pleased with the court’s decision to allow Mari to continue receiving her treatment, respecting the wishes of the patient and her husband over those of hospital bureaucrats.” /Providence Hospital asserts that Chamberlain’s medical treatment does her no good and that keeping her alive violates its “ethical” standards. Chamberlain’s husband, Peter, filed suit against Dr. Javed Kamali and the hospital on May 16 to keep medical staff from removing his wife’s life support..."...

Considerettes » A Stinging Rebuke

re: "Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) slaps his party on the back of the head and tells them to wake up..."...

AMW.com | Tyrom Theis - Fugitive

re: "It was early in the morning of January 17, 1993, when a masked gunman entered the Leather's Oil Company gas station in Gresham, Ore. The three women working that day were well-known in the small community: 25-year-old Mary Beth Garey and her mother-in-law, Rosalie Girtz, as well as Kay Endicott, were all victims of a robbery gone wrong -- a robbery, cops believe, committed by a young man that Kay knew all too well: former Leather's employee Tyrom Theis..."...

MIND/FIND

re: "Interpol is offering countries the opportunity to give their front-line officers instant access to its many databases. These databases contain millions of records of criminal information on individuals and property submitted by member countries, constituting a unique and vast collection of data that does not exist at the regional or national levels. /There are millions of stolen or lost travel documents in circulation today. How can an immigration officer at an airport, sea port or land border crossing know if a passport is stolen or not? What are the consequences for national security if a terrorist or criminal enters a country using a stolen travel document and false identity? / At field level, most countries rely on their own national sources of information. Yet crime is increasingly globalized. Real-time access to up-to-date international information is vital to prevent criminals from travelling freely to escape from the law or commit further crimes. /Interpol manages a database of passports, identity cards and visas reported as stolen or lost by countries all over the world known as the stolen and lost travel documents (SLTD) database. It enables front-line officers to check instantly whether a travel document is stolen or lost. Interpol also has databases on stolen motor vehicles and wanted persons. /To help countries connect easily, Interpol has developed two integrated solutions using either fixed or mobile integrated network databases, known as FIND and MIND. Both can integrate into the existing computer-assisted verification system in a country. In addition, MIND can be used in a country without an existing system..."...

INTERPOL media release - 20/05/2008: Iran regional meeting to champion INTERPOL’s Central Asian anti-terror 'Shield'

re: "TEHRAN, Iran – The need to harness a pro-active, multi-disciplinary approach in terrorism-related investigations is the focus of the fourth working group meeting opening today in Tehran on Project Kalkan, INTERPOL’s on-going anti-terrorism initiative in Central Asia. /The two-day meeting draws together countries from the Central Asia region as well as from Africa, Asia and Europe and will review progress on the collaborative regional project amongst its 19 core countries. Specific issues under discussion include counter terrorism initiatives and operational cases, terrorism financing and the recruitment methods of terrorist groups. /Project Kalkan – meaning Shield in Central Asian countries – is one of several key regional components of INTERPOL’s multi-region Fusion Task Force (FTF) which was created in 2002 to identify active terrorist groups, and to collect, share and analyze information and intelligence on their activities. From just five initial member countries at the launch of Project Kalkan in 2004, following terrorist attacks in Tashkent, a total of 60 INTERPOL member countries are now sharing terrorism-related information as part of the initiative..."...

The More Things Change, the More Things Change

re: Irwin M. Stelzer, ""IN TIMES LIKE THESE, it helps to recall that there have always been times like these," says Paul Harvey, the legendary radio commentator. A "great transformation [is] taking place around the world...a tectonic power shift...the world is very different," writes Fareed Zakaria in his Post-American World. /They're both right. We have indeed seen economic downturns many times in the past, some severe, some shallow and short. We have gone through periods of rising oil and commodity prices, of a falling dollar, and of rapid technological change. So Paul Harvey is right. /But so is Zakaria. We are finally seeing the impact on the world economy of the emergence of China, India and other once-poor countries. The good news is that we have brought billions of people into the world trading system, enriching them so they can afford to eat regularly, and trade their bicycles for cars. The less good news is that the process of adjusting to this increased demand on the world resources is proving painful, especially here in America. /Previous increases took the price of oil, and most especially of gasoline, to levels that were merely annoying. And anyhow proved to be temporary, as modest adjustments in fuel use and advances in technology combined with new supplies to ease price pressures. The current price spurt, which has taken gasoline prices to over $4 per gallon--half the level in the UK and other parts of the world, but previously unheard of in the United States--is different..."...

Cafe Hayek: Suggestions for Lowering Energy Prices

re: "The Cato Institute's Jerry Taylor speaks much good sense, in today's New York Post, about energy prices..."...

The Associated Press: Obama, Clinton woo American Indian voters

re: "CROW AGENCY, Mont. (AP) — The purification ceremony isn't an everyday ritual of U.S. presidential politics. /The newly named Awe Kooda Bilaxpak Kuuxshish — better known as Barack Obama — faced east, the symbolic source of new life. His adopted Crow father, Hartford Black Eagle, prayed over him. /Afterward, they walked arm-in-arm with Black Eagle's wife, Mary, to a podium, where Obama promised to live up to the meaning of his new name: "One Who Helps People Throughout the Land." /"I want you to know that I will never forget you," Obama told the crowd, who had not seen a visitor of such political importance since Lady Bird Johnson came to the Montana reservation in the 1960s. "You will be on my mind every day that I am in the White House." /In a tight Democratic race, American Indians living in poor conditions on isolated prairie reservations could have a pivotal voice in the selection of a presidential candidate. As a result, they're hearing a lot of promises from politicians: better health care, improved housing and stepped-up law enforcement in Indian country. /Their votes could be decisive in the last two Democratic primaries, the June 3 votes in Montana and South Dakota, that Obama would very much like to win to bring him closer to the Democratic nomination. He and Hillary Rodham Clinton, who'd like victories just as much, are wooing the oft-ignored Indian vote — which is small, but big enough to matter this year..."...

The Weekly Standard: The Blog: Al Qaeda in Iraq's Totalitarian Governance

re: "In mid-May, Iraqi security forces began to crack down on Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) in a Sunni area of Mosul that the U.S. military had described as AQI's last major urban stronghold. As AQI melted away in response to these operations, we gained a glimpse of the brutal and bizarre governance that the terrorist group had imposed..."...

Nazarene Communications Network - Missouri church gives away $1,300 in free gas

re: "A local church gave away more than 350 gallons of gasoline Thursday, May 22, and plans on doing it again throughout the summer." / We are doing what a church is supposed to do," Mark Hager of the Church of the Nazarene said outside the Pick-A-Dilly convenience store where the giveaway occurred. / "We are supposed to help the community, and that is what this is doing." / With local gas prices climbing, the give-away was welcome news to local residents." / I think it's a blessing what the Church of Nazarene is doing," Cindy Morton said. "It shows they actually care about the community." / According to organizers, 130 motorists received the free $10 gas vouchers. / Morton was the first in line, and estimated she arrived about 45 minutes early. / Cars were initially parked in an adjoining lot and out onto the street. The lines grew. / Kirksville police were dispatched to the scene at 4:45 P.M., and Chief Jim Hughes said officers closed one intersection before relocating all the waiting cars to another street..."...

John McCain 2008: Win a Trip to the 2008 Republican National Convention

re: "You could be in Minneapolis-Saint Paul when Senator McCain receives the Repubican nomination for President of the United States and here's how -- submit a video to the 2008 Republican National Convention's American Neighbor contest by clicking here. Simply film a profile somone in your community who serves "a cause greater than their own self-interest." This could be a solider, a teacher, a firefighter, a volunteer or anything in between. The winner and the subject of the video will win a free trip to the Convention this September..."...

The Common Room: FLDS

re: posts on the state-run mass kidnappings in Texas...

The Trial of Mark Steyn

re: Hugh Hewitt: "Canada's descent into self-mockery opened today with the start of trial of Mark Steyn on allegations of human rights violations by the British Columbia Human Rights Commission. /It is being live-blogged by Maclean's Andrew Coyne..."