5th Amendment -- nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation.
14th Amendment -- nor shall any State deprive and person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law;
Link http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data/constitution/amendment05/14.html
Friday, August 19, 2005
And thus it began, Gaza and the Gaza Strip
The oldest sources on Gaza tell that it was the residence of the Egyptian governor to Canaan.
13th century BCE: Arrival of the Philistines, making Gaza (City) into an important coastal city.
7th century CE: The Gaza territory comes under Muslim rule.
1947: By the partition plan of the UN the territory of Gaza is projected to become part of an independent Arab state.
1948 May: Egyptian forces move up along the Palestinian coastline in an attempt to reach Tel Aviv. Being pushed back by Jewish forces, a British cease fire agreement stops the Jewish troops while the Egyptians still hold the Gaza territory. Soon after, large groups of Palestinian refugees are coming in to Gaza.
— During the Egyptian occupation little was done to improve the conditions on the Gaza Strip and the borders between Egypt and the occupied strip are virtually closed. The Gazan population does not receive any citizenship, and large parts of the population survive on UN relief schemes.
1956: As part of the Suez-Sinai War, Gaza Strip is occupied by Israel, but Israel leaves as a result of international pressure.
1967 Israel captures the Gaza Strip, in addition to the Sinai peninsula near Egypt and the Golan Heights in Syria in the Six Day War. Since then, Israel has been building, funding and supporting disputed Jewish settlements on occupied lands.
Israel’s population is growing but the neighborhood trend helps to understand why Israel's leaders have concluded that they have no choice but to trade land for peace.
The fertility rate among Palestinians in Israel is 4.5 children per woman; on the West Bank, 5.5 children per woman; in Gaza, 6.6 children per woman. If demography is destiny, Israel is in an existential crisis that can only be exacerbated by continued military occupation and expansion of settlements. Consider the projections.
In the year 2000 there were 6.2 million Israelis and estimates are by the year 2025 there will be 8.3 million. In the year 2000 in the rest of the Middle East, Jordan, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia there were 116.2 million growing to 178.4 million by the year 2025. In the next twenty-five years, Israels population (Jewish and Arab) will grow by 2.1 million, while her Arab neighbors will increase by 62.2 million.
Now consider Israel’s “Palestinian Problem.”
In the year 2025 projections indicate there will be 6 million Jewish Israelis and 16 million Palestinians with 2 million within Israel. By the year 2050 there will be 7 million Jewish Israelis and 3 million Palestinians inside of Israel.
In 2025 Palestinians in Israel, West Bank, Gaza and Jordon will number 16 million and in 2050 , 25 million.
13th century BCE: Arrival of the Philistines, making Gaza (City) into an important coastal city.
7th century CE: The Gaza territory comes under Muslim rule.
1947: By the partition plan of the UN the territory of Gaza is projected to become part of an independent Arab state.
1948 May: Egyptian forces move up along the Palestinian coastline in an attempt to reach Tel Aviv. Being pushed back by Jewish forces, a British cease fire agreement stops the Jewish troops while the Egyptians still hold the Gaza territory. Soon after, large groups of Palestinian refugees are coming in to Gaza.
— During the Egyptian occupation little was done to improve the conditions on the Gaza Strip and the borders between Egypt and the occupied strip are virtually closed. The Gazan population does not receive any citizenship, and large parts of the population survive on UN relief schemes.
1956: As part of the Suez-Sinai War, Gaza Strip is occupied by Israel, but Israel leaves as a result of international pressure.
1967 Israel captures the Gaza Strip, in addition to the Sinai peninsula near Egypt and the Golan Heights in Syria in the Six Day War. Since then, Israel has been building, funding and supporting disputed Jewish settlements on occupied lands.
Israel’s population is growing but the neighborhood trend helps to understand why Israel's leaders have concluded that they have no choice but to trade land for peace.
The fertility rate among Palestinians in Israel is 4.5 children per woman; on the West Bank, 5.5 children per woman; in Gaza, 6.6 children per woman. If demography is destiny, Israel is in an existential crisis that can only be exacerbated by continued military occupation and expansion of settlements. Consider the projections.
In the year 2000 there were 6.2 million Israelis and estimates are by the year 2025 there will be 8.3 million. In the year 2000 in the rest of the Middle East, Jordan, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia there were 116.2 million growing to 178.4 million by the year 2025. In the next twenty-five years, Israels population (Jewish and Arab) will grow by 2.1 million, while her Arab neighbors will increase by 62.2 million.
Now consider Israel’s “Palestinian Problem.”
In the year 2025 projections indicate there will be 6 million Jewish Israelis and 16 million Palestinians with 2 million within Israel. By the year 2050 there will be 7 million Jewish Israelis and 3 million Palestinians inside of Israel.
In 2025 Palestinians in Israel, West Bank, Gaza and Jordon will number 16 million and in 2050 , 25 million.
Thursday, August 18, 2005
World Population Christian Muslim
At the beginning of the seventh century, the Mediterranean world was Christian. But, within fifty years of Muhammad’s flight to Medina in 622, the armies of Islam had swept over the southern coast of the Inland Sea. Early in the eighth century, Arabs and Berbers brushed aside weak Visigoth resistance, overran Spain, and crossed the Pyrenees into France, where on of the decisive battles of history was fought. At Tours, the “Hammer of the Franks,” Charles Martel defeated the Muslims, who withdrew back over the mountains. Except for the tiny kingdom of the Asturias, which would be the base camp of the Spanish Reconquista, Islam dominated the Iberian peninsula for centuries. Not until 1492 did Ferdinand and Isabella finally drive the Moors out of Spain.
Indicators everywhere suggest Islam is rising again. An Islamic secessionist movement is active in the Philippines. Muslim troops battle Christian secessionists in Indonesia. From Palestine to Pakistan, street mobs cheered the slaughter at the Pentagon and World Trade Center. For years, the Afghani Taliban gave sanctuary to Osama bin Laden and his terrorist cells and dispatched holy warriors into the old Soviet republics of Central Asia and to assist Chechen rebels fighting in Russia. In March 2001, Taliban ruler Mullah Muhammad Omar ordered all religious statues smashed, including the seventh-century Great Buddhas of Bamiyan, declaring, “These idols have been gods of the infidels.”
In Turkey and Algeria, elections in the 1990s brought to power Islamic regimes, which were removed by methods other than democratic. In Egypt, Muslim militants have renewed the persecution of Christian Copts. Islamic law has now been imposed on ten northern states in Nigeria.
In Europe, Christian congregations are dying, churches are emptying out, and mosques are filling up. There are five million Muslims in France, and between twelve and fifteen million in the European Union. There are fifteen hundred mosques in German. Islam has replaced Judaism as the second religion of Europe. As the Christian tide goes out in Europe, and Islamic tide comes in. In 2000, for the first time there were more Muslims in the world than Catholics.
While the ideology of “Islamism” has failed in Afghanistan, Iran, and Sudan to create a modern state that can command the loyalty of its people and serve as a model for other Islamic nations, the religion of Islam has not failed. In science, technology, economics, industry, agriculture, armaments, and democratic rule, America, Europe, and Japan are generations ahead. But the Islamic world retains something the West has lost: a desire to have children and the will to carry on their civilization, cultures, families, and faith. Today, it is difficult to find a Western nation where the native population is not dying as it is to find an Islamic nation where the native population is not exploding. The West may have learned what Islam knows not, but Islam remembers what the West has forgotten: “There is no vision but by faith.”
How does one sever a people’s roots? Answer: Destroy its memory. Deny a people the knowledge of who they are and where they came from.
In the Middle Ages, Ottoman Turks imposed on Balkan Christians a blood tax—one boy out of every five. Taken from their parents, the boys were raised as strict Muslims to become the fanatic elite soldiers of the Sultan, the Janissaries, who were then sent back to occupy and oppress the peoples who had borne them. George Orwell in the party slogan of Big Brother gave the formula for erasing memory, “Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.”
As Christianity began to die in the West, something else occurred: Western peoples began to stop having children. The correlation between religious faith and large families is absolute. The more devout a people, whether Christian, Muslim, or Jewish, the higher its birth rate. In New Square, New York, in the first wholly Orthodox Jewish community in the United States, the average family has ten children. In Kostroma, Russia, Vladimir Alexseyev, father of a poster family of sixteen children, and his pregnant wife have a home full of icons. In the Baptist state of Texas, the birthrate among whites is higher than among white folks in sybarite California. Wherever secularism triumphs, populations begin to shrink and die.
Years ago, when the film The Prophet came out, in which the face of Muhammad was shown, an act of blasphemy to Islam, theaters refused to run it for fear of violent retaliation. When Salman Rushdie published Satanic Verses, a novel judged an obscene insult by Islam; he spent years hiding from the fatwa (Islamic religious decree)., a death sentence imposed by the Ayatollah Khomeini. While fatwas and fire bombings are not the American way, Americans must be prepared to live with them.
In 1900 world population was made up of 26.9% Christian and 12.4% Muslim. By 1980 Christians were 30.0% and Muslims 16.5%. When the year 2000 rolled around Christians had dropped to 29.9% while Muslims had increased to 19.2%. Projections are that by the year 2025 Christians will number 25% of the world population and the Muslims, 30%.
Estimates of the total number of Muslims in the world vary greatly:
Indicators everywhere suggest Islam is rising again. An Islamic secessionist movement is active in the Philippines. Muslim troops battle Christian secessionists in Indonesia. From Palestine to Pakistan, street mobs cheered the slaughter at the Pentagon and World Trade Center. For years, the Afghani Taliban gave sanctuary to Osama bin Laden and his terrorist cells and dispatched holy warriors into the old Soviet republics of Central Asia and to assist Chechen rebels fighting in Russia. In March 2001, Taliban ruler Mullah Muhammad Omar ordered all religious statues smashed, including the seventh-century Great Buddhas of Bamiyan, declaring, “These idols have been gods of the infidels.”
In Turkey and Algeria, elections in the 1990s brought to power Islamic regimes, which were removed by methods other than democratic. In Egypt, Muslim militants have renewed the persecution of Christian Copts. Islamic law has now been imposed on ten northern states in Nigeria.
In Europe, Christian congregations are dying, churches are emptying out, and mosques are filling up. There are five million Muslims in France, and between twelve and fifteen million in the European Union. There are fifteen hundred mosques in German. Islam has replaced Judaism as the second religion of Europe. As the Christian tide goes out in Europe, and Islamic tide comes in. In 2000, for the first time there were more Muslims in the world than Catholics.
While the ideology of “Islamism” has failed in Afghanistan, Iran, and Sudan to create a modern state that can command the loyalty of its people and serve as a model for other Islamic nations, the religion of Islam has not failed. In science, technology, economics, industry, agriculture, armaments, and democratic rule, America, Europe, and Japan are generations ahead. But the Islamic world retains something the West has lost: a desire to have children and the will to carry on their civilization, cultures, families, and faith. Today, it is difficult to find a Western nation where the native population is not dying as it is to find an Islamic nation where the native population is not exploding. The West may have learned what Islam knows not, but Islam remembers what the West has forgotten: “There is no vision but by faith.”
How does one sever a people’s roots? Answer: Destroy its memory. Deny a people the knowledge of who they are and where they came from.
In the Middle Ages, Ottoman Turks imposed on Balkan Christians a blood tax—one boy out of every five. Taken from their parents, the boys were raised as strict Muslims to become the fanatic elite soldiers of the Sultan, the Janissaries, who were then sent back to occupy and oppress the peoples who had borne them. George Orwell in the party slogan of Big Brother gave the formula for erasing memory, “Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.”
As Christianity began to die in the West, something else occurred: Western peoples began to stop having children. The correlation between religious faith and large families is absolute. The more devout a people, whether Christian, Muslim, or Jewish, the higher its birth rate. In New Square, New York, in the first wholly Orthodox Jewish community in the United States, the average family has ten children. In Kostroma, Russia, Vladimir Alexseyev, father of a poster family of sixteen children, and his pregnant wife have a home full of icons. In the Baptist state of Texas, the birthrate among whites is higher than among white folks in sybarite California. Wherever secularism triumphs, populations begin to shrink and die.
Years ago, when the film The Prophet came out, in which the face of Muhammad was shown, an act of blasphemy to Islam, theaters refused to run it for fear of violent retaliation. When Salman Rushdie published Satanic Verses, a novel judged an obscene insult by Islam; he spent years hiding from the fatwa (Islamic religious decree)., a death sentence imposed by the Ayatollah Khomeini. While fatwas and fire bombings are not the American way, Americans must be prepared to live with them.
In 1900 world population was made up of 26.9% Christian and 12.4% Muslim. By 1980 Christians were 30.0% and Muslims 16.5%. When the year 2000 rolled around Christians had dropped to 29.9% while Muslims had increased to 19.2%. Projections are that by the year 2025 Christians will number 25% of the world population and the Muslims, 30%.
Estimates of the total number of Muslims in the world vary greatly:
- 0.700 billion or more, Barnes & Noble Encyclopedia 1993
- 0.817 billion, The Universal Almanac (1996)
- 0.951 billion, The Cambridge Factfinder (1993)
- 1.100 billion, The World Almanac (1997)
- 1.200 billion, CAIR (Council on American-Islamic relations) (1999)
At a level of 1.2 billion, [in1999] Muslims represent between 19.2% and 22% of the world's population. It has become the second largest religion in the world. Christianity has slightly less than 30%.
Islam is growing about 2.9% per year which is faster than the total world population which increases at about 2.3% annually. It is thus attracting a progressively larger percentage of the world's population.
The number of Muslims in North America is in dispute: estimates range from under 3 million to over 6 million. The main cause of the disagreement appears to be over how many Muslim immigrants have converted to Christianity since they arrived in the US.
Statistics Canada reports that 253,260 Canadians identified themselves as Muslims (0.9% of the total population) during the 1991 census. Some estimated that there were as many as 500,000 Muslims in Canada. Today (.2001) there are an estimated 650,000 Muslims in Canada.
Demographics
In the Northwestern Africa between 1965 and 1990, the population rose from 29.8 million to 59 million. During the same period, the number of Egyptians increased from 29.4 million to 52.4 million. In Central Asia, between 1970 and 1993, populations grew at an annual rate of 2.9 percent in Tajikistan, 2.6 percent in Uzbekistan, 2.5 percent in Turkmenistan, and 1.9 percent in Kyrgyzia. In the 1970s, the demographic balance in the Soviet Union shifted drastically, with Muslims increasing by 24 percent while Russians increased by only 6.5 percent.
In countries, such as Tanzania and Macedonia, the Muslims will become a majority within twenty years.
Largely through immigration, the Muslim population of the United States grew sixfold between 1972 and 1990.
Last year, seven percent of babies born in European Union countries were Muslims. In Brussels, the figure was 57 percent. Islam is the second religion of almost every European state - the only exceptions being those European countries such as Azerbaijan and Albania where it is the majority religion.
If current trends continue, then an overall ten percent of European nationals will be Muslim by the year 2020.
Conclusion
If the west's population is top-heavy, (i.e., the ratio of youth to elderly is low) that of Muslim populations is the opposite. For example, today more than half the population of Algeria is under the age of twenty and this situation is similar elsewhere. These young populations will reproduce and perpetuate the increase of Muslims on a percentage basis well into the next millennium.
North America and Europe have increasingly aging populations and one of the most disturbing social issues of the new millennium will concern a more efficient means of disposing of the elderly. (For example, witness the new euthanasia laws in the Netherlands, and the ongoing debate in many countries about this issue.) Medical advances can assure an average life span in the high seventies, although active life spans have not grown as fast. In the early 1900s, a westerner could expect to spend an average of the last two years of life as an invalid. Today, that figure is seven years. Studies have shown medicine prolongs life, but can not prolong mobility nearly as well. Aging populations with their increased healthcare costs are considered a more extensive socio- economic burden to society. The UK Department of Health recently announced that a new prescription drug for Alzheimer's Disease was available on the National Health Service - but its cost meant that it was only available to a small minority of patients. An aging population tends to be introspective and sluggish, whereas a young population is more likely to be vibrant and energetic. This may or may not bode well for many countries depending on whether their political structure is fragile or not.
Where Secularism Triumphs Populations Begin to Shrink and Die
At the beginning of the seventh century, the Mediterranean world was Christian. But, within fifty years of Muhammad’s flight to Medina in 622, the armies of Islam had swept over the southern coast of the Inland Sea. Early in the eighth century, Arabs and Berbers brushed aside weak Visigoth resistance, overran Spain, and crossed the Pyrenees into France, where one of the decisive battles of history was fought. At Tours, the “Hammer of the Franks,” Charles Martel defeated the Muslims, who withdrew back over the mountains. Except for the tiny kingdom of the Asturias, which would be the base camp of the Spanish Reconquista, Islam dominated the Iberian Peninsula for centuries. Not until 1492 did Ferdinand and Isabella finally drive the Moors out of Spain.
Indicators suggest Islam is rising again. An Islamic secessionist movement is active in the Philippines. Muslim troops battle Christian secessionists in Indonesia. From Palestine to Pakistan, street mobs cheered the slaughter at the Pentagon and World Trade Center. For years, the Afghani Taliban gave sanctuary to Osama bin Laden and his terrorist cells and dispatched holy warriors into the old Soviet republics of Central Asia and assisted Chechen rebels fighting in Russia.
In Turkey and Algeria, elections in the 1990s brought to power Islamic regimes, which were removed by methods other than democratic. In Egypt, Muslim militants have renewed the persecution of Christian Copts. Islamic law has now been imposed on ten northern states in Nigeria.
In Europe, Christian congregations are dying, churches are emptying out, and mosques are filling up. There are five million Muslims in France, and between twelve and fifteen million in the European Union. There are fifteen hundred mosques in Germany. Islam has replaced Judaism as the second religion of Europe. As the Christian tide goes out in Europe the Islamic tide comes in. In 2000, for the first time there were more Muslims in the world than Catholics.
While the ideology of “Islamism” has failed in Afghanistan, Iran, and Sudan to create a modern state that can command the loyalty of its people and serve as a model for other Islamic nations, the religion of Islam has not failed. In science, technology, economics, industry, agriculture, armaments, and democratic rule, America, Europe, and Japan are generations ahead. But the Islamic world retains something the West has lost: a desire to have children and the will to carry on their civilization, cultures, families, and faith. Today, it is difficult to find a Western nation where the native population is not dying as it is to find an Islamic nation where the native population is not exploding. The West may have learned what Islam knows not, but Islam remembers what the West has forgotten: “There is no vision but by faith.”
How does one sever a people’s roots? Answer: Destroy its memory. Deny a people the knowledge of who they are and where they came from.
In the Middle Ages, Ottoman Turks imposed on Balkan Christians a blood tax—one boy out of every five. Taken from their parents, the boys were raised as strict Muslims to become the fanatic elite soldiers of the Sultan, the Janissaries, who were then sent back to occupy and oppress the peoples who had borne them. George Orwell in the party slogan of Big Brother gave the formula for erasing memory, “Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.”
As Christianity began to die in the West, something else occurred: Western peoples began to stop having children. There appears to be a correlation between religious faith and large families. The more devout a people, whether Christian, Muslim, or Jewish, the higher its birth rate. In New Square, New York, in the first wholly Orthodox Jewish community in the United States, the average family has ten children. In Kostroma, Russia, Vladimir Alexseyev, father of a poster family of sixteen children, and his pregnant wife have a home full of icons. In the Baptist state of Texas, the birthrate among whites is higher than among white folks in sybarite California. Wherever secularism triumphs, populations begin to shrink and die.
Indicators suggest Islam is rising again. An Islamic secessionist movement is active in the Philippines. Muslim troops battle Christian secessionists in Indonesia. From Palestine to Pakistan, street mobs cheered the slaughter at the Pentagon and World Trade Center. For years, the Afghani Taliban gave sanctuary to Osama bin Laden and his terrorist cells and dispatched holy warriors into the old Soviet republics of Central Asia and assisted Chechen rebels fighting in Russia.
In Turkey and Algeria, elections in the 1990s brought to power Islamic regimes, which were removed by methods other than democratic. In Egypt, Muslim militants have renewed the persecution of Christian Copts. Islamic law has now been imposed on ten northern states in Nigeria.
In Europe, Christian congregations are dying, churches are emptying out, and mosques are filling up. There are five million Muslims in France, and between twelve and fifteen million in the European Union. There are fifteen hundred mosques in Germany. Islam has replaced Judaism as the second religion of Europe. As the Christian tide goes out in Europe the Islamic tide comes in. In 2000, for the first time there were more Muslims in the world than Catholics.
While the ideology of “Islamism” has failed in Afghanistan, Iran, and Sudan to create a modern state that can command the loyalty of its people and serve as a model for other Islamic nations, the religion of Islam has not failed. In science, technology, economics, industry, agriculture, armaments, and democratic rule, America, Europe, and Japan are generations ahead. But the Islamic world retains something the West has lost: a desire to have children and the will to carry on their civilization, cultures, families, and faith. Today, it is difficult to find a Western nation where the native population is not dying as it is to find an Islamic nation where the native population is not exploding. The West may have learned what Islam knows not, but Islam remembers what the West has forgotten: “There is no vision but by faith.”
How does one sever a people’s roots? Answer: Destroy its memory. Deny a people the knowledge of who they are and where they came from.
In the Middle Ages, Ottoman Turks imposed on Balkan Christians a blood tax—one boy out of every five. Taken from their parents, the boys were raised as strict Muslims to become the fanatic elite soldiers of the Sultan, the Janissaries, who were then sent back to occupy and oppress the peoples who had borne them. George Orwell in the party slogan of Big Brother gave the formula for erasing memory, “Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.”
As Christianity began to die in the West, something else occurred: Western peoples began to stop having children. There appears to be a correlation between religious faith and large families. The more devout a people, whether Christian, Muslim, or Jewish, the higher its birth rate. In New Square, New York, in the first wholly Orthodox Jewish community in the United States, the average family has ten children. In Kostroma, Russia, Vladimir Alexseyev, father of a poster family of sixteen children, and his pregnant wife have a home full of icons. In the Baptist state of Texas, the birthrate among whites is higher than among white folks in sybarite California. Wherever secularism triumphs, populations begin to shrink and die.
Islam Remembers What the West Forgot
At the beginning of the seventh century, the Mediterranean world was Christian. But, within fifty years of Muhammad’s flight to Medina in 622, the armies of Islam had swept over the southern coast of the Inland Sea. Early in the eighth century, Arabs and Berbers brushed aside weak Visigoth resistance, overran Spain, and crossed the Pyrenees into France, where on of the decisive battles of history was fought. At Tours, the “Hammer of the Franks,” Charles Martel defeated the Muslims, who withdrew back over the mountains. Except for the tiny kingdom of the Asturias, which would be the base camp of the Spanish Reconquista, Islam dominated the Iberian peninsula for centuries. Not until 1492 did Ferdinand and Isabella finally drive the Moors out of Spain.
Indicators everywhere suggest Islam is rising again. An Islamic secessionist movement is active in the Philippines. Muslim troops battle Christian secessionists in Indonesia. From Palestine to Pakistan, street mobs cheered the slaughter at the Pentagon and World Trade Center. For years, the Afghani Taliban gave sanctuary to Osama bin Laden and his terrorist cells and dispatched holy warriors into the old Soviet republics of Central Asia and to assist Chechen rebels fighting in Russia. In March 2001, Taliban ruler Mullah Muhammad Omar ordered all religious statues smashed, including the seventh-century Great Buddhas of Bamiyan, declaring, “These idols have been gods of the infidels.”
In Turkey and Algeria, elections in the 1990s brought to power Islamic regimes, which were removed by methods other than democratic. In Egypt, Muslim militants have renewed the persecution of Christian Copts. Islamic law has now been imposed on ten northern states in Nigeria.
In Europe, Christian congregations are dying, churches are emptying out, and mosques are filling up. There are five million Muslims in France, and between twelve and fifteen million in the European Union. There are fifteen hundred mosques in German. Islam has replaced Judaism as the second religion of Europe. As the Christian tide goes out in Europe, and Islamic tide comes in. In 2000, for the first time there were more Muslims in the world than Catholics.
While the ideology of “Islamism” has failed in Afghanistan, Iran, and Sudan to create a modern state that can command the loyalty of its people and serve as a model for other Islamic nations, the religion of Islam has not failed. In science, technology, economics, industry, agriculture, armaments, and democratic rule, America, Europe, and Japan are generations ahead. But the Islamic world retains something the West has lost: a desire to have children and the will to carry on their civilization, cultures, families, and faith. Today, it is difficult to find a Western nation where the native population is not dying as it is to find an Islamic nation where the native population is not exploding. The West may have learned what Islam knows not, but Islam remembers what the West has forgotten: “There is no vision but by faith.”
How does one sever a people’s roots? Answer: Destroy its memory. Deny a people the knowledge of who they are and where they came from.
In the Middle Ages, Ottoman Turks imposed on Balkan Christians a blood tax—one boy out of every five. Taken from their parents, the boys were raised as strict Muslims to become the fanatic elite soldiers of the Sultan, the Janissaries, who were then sent back to occupy and oppress the peoples who had borne them. George Orwell in the party slogan of Big Brother gave the formula for erasing memory, “Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.”
As Christianity began to die in the West, something else occurred: Western peoples began to stop having children. The correlation between religious faith and large families is absolute. The more devout a people, whether Christian, Muslim, or Jewish, the higher its birth rate. In New Square, New York, in the first wholly Orthodox Jewish community in the United States, the average family has ten children. In Kostroma, Russia, Vladimir Alexseyev, father of a poster family of sixteen children, and his pregnant wife have a home full of icons. In the Baptist state of Texas, the birthrate among whites is higher than among white folks in sybarite California. Wherever secularism triumphs, populations begin to shrink and die.
Years ago, when the film The Prophet came out, in which the face of Muhammad was shown, an act of blasphemy to Islam, theaters refused to run it for fear of violent retaliation. When Salman Rushdie published Satanic Verses, a novel judged an obscene insult by Islam; he spent years hiding from the fatwa (Islamic religious decree)., a death sentence imposed by the Ayatollah Khomeini. While fatwas and fire bombings are not the American way, Americans must be prepared to live with them.
In 1900 world population was made up of 26.9% Christian and 12.4% Muslim. By 1980 Christians were 30.0% and Muslims 16.5%. When the year 2000 rolled around Christians had dropped to 29.9% while Muslims had increased to 19.2%. Projections are that by the year 2025 Christians will number 25% of the world population and the Muslims, 30%.
Estimates of the total number of Muslims in the world vary greatly:
Indicators everywhere suggest Islam is rising again. An Islamic secessionist movement is active in the Philippines. Muslim troops battle Christian secessionists in Indonesia. From Palestine to Pakistan, street mobs cheered the slaughter at the Pentagon and World Trade Center. For years, the Afghani Taliban gave sanctuary to Osama bin Laden and his terrorist cells and dispatched holy warriors into the old Soviet republics of Central Asia and to assist Chechen rebels fighting in Russia. In March 2001, Taliban ruler Mullah Muhammad Omar ordered all religious statues smashed, including the seventh-century Great Buddhas of Bamiyan, declaring, “These idols have been gods of the infidels.”
In Turkey and Algeria, elections in the 1990s brought to power Islamic regimes, which were removed by methods other than democratic. In Egypt, Muslim militants have renewed the persecution of Christian Copts. Islamic law has now been imposed on ten northern states in Nigeria.
In Europe, Christian congregations are dying, churches are emptying out, and mosques are filling up. There are five million Muslims in France, and between twelve and fifteen million in the European Union. There are fifteen hundred mosques in German. Islam has replaced Judaism as the second religion of Europe. As the Christian tide goes out in Europe, and Islamic tide comes in. In 2000, for the first time there were more Muslims in the world than Catholics.
While the ideology of “Islamism” has failed in Afghanistan, Iran, and Sudan to create a modern state that can command the loyalty of its people and serve as a model for other Islamic nations, the religion of Islam has not failed. In science, technology, economics, industry, agriculture, armaments, and democratic rule, America, Europe, and Japan are generations ahead. But the Islamic world retains something the West has lost: a desire to have children and the will to carry on their civilization, cultures, families, and faith. Today, it is difficult to find a Western nation where the native population is not dying as it is to find an Islamic nation where the native population is not exploding. The West may have learned what Islam knows not, but Islam remembers what the West has forgotten: “There is no vision but by faith.”
How does one sever a people’s roots? Answer: Destroy its memory. Deny a people the knowledge of who they are and where they came from.
In the Middle Ages, Ottoman Turks imposed on Balkan Christians a blood tax—one boy out of every five. Taken from their parents, the boys were raised as strict Muslims to become the fanatic elite soldiers of the Sultan, the Janissaries, who were then sent back to occupy and oppress the peoples who had borne them. George Orwell in the party slogan of Big Brother gave the formula for erasing memory, “Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.”
As Christianity began to die in the West, something else occurred: Western peoples began to stop having children. The correlation between religious faith and large families is absolute. The more devout a people, whether Christian, Muslim, or Jewish, the higher its birth rate. In New Square, New York, in the first wholly Orthodox Jewish community in the United States, the average family has ten children. In Kostroma, Russia, Vladimir Alexseyev, father of a poster family of sixteen children, and his pregnant wife have a home full of icons. In the Baptist state of Texas, the birthrate among whites is higher than among white folks in sybarite California. Wherever secularism triumphs, populations begin to shrink and die.
Years ago, when the film The Prophet came out, in which the face of Muhammad was shown, an act of blasphemy to Islam, theaters refused to run it for fear of violent retaliation. When Salman Rushdie published Satanic Verses, a novel judged an obscene insult by Islam; he spent years hiding from the fatwa (Islamic religious decree)., a death sentence imposed by the Ayatollah Khomeini. While fatwas and fire bombings are not the American way, Americans must be prepared to live with them.
In 1900 world population was made up of 26.9% Christian and 12.4% Muslim. By 1980 Christians were 30.0% and Muslims 16.5%. When the year 2000 rolled around Christians had dropped to 29.9% while Muslims had increased to 19.2%. Projections are that by the year 2025 Christians will number 25% of the world population and the Muslims, 30%.
Estimates of the total number of Muslims in the world vary greatly:
- 0.700 billion or more, Barnes & Noble Encyclopedia 1993
- 0.817 billion, The Universal Almanac (1996)
- 0.951 billion, The Cambridge Factfinder (1993)
- 1.100 billion, The World Almanac (1997)
- 1.200 billion, CAIR (Council on American-Islamic relations) (1999)
At a level of 1.2 billion, [in1999] Muslims represent between 19.2% and 22% of the world's population. It has become the second largest religion in the world. Christianity has slightly less than 30%.
Islam is growing about 2.9% per year which is faster than the total world population which increases at about 2.3% annually. It is thus attracting a progressively larger percentage of the world's population.
The number of Muslims in North America is in dispute: estimates range from under 3 million to over 6 million. The main cause of the disagreement appears to be over how many Muslim immigrants have converted to Christianity since they arrived in the US.
Statistics Canada reports that 253,260 Canadians identified themselves as Muslims (0.9% of the total population) during the 1991 census. Some estimated that there were as many as 500,000 Muslims in Canada. Today (.2001) there are an estimated 650,000 Muslims in Canada.
Demographics
In the Northwestern Africa between 1965 and 1990, the population rose from 29.8 million to 59 million. During the same period, the number of Egyptians increased from 29.4 million to 52.4 million. In Central Asia, between 1970 and 1993, populations grew at an annual rate of 2.9 percent in Tajikistan, 2.6 percent in Uzbekistan, 2.5 percent in Turkmenistan, and 1.9 percent in Kyrgyzia. In the 1970s, the demographic balance in the Soviet Union shifted drastically, with Muslims increasing by 24 percent while Russians increased by only 6.5 percent.
In countries, such as Tanzania and Macedonia, the Muslims will become a majority within twenty years.
Largely through immigration, the Muslim population of the United States grew sixfold between 1972 and 1990.
Last year, seven percent of babies born in European Union countries were Muslims. In Brussels, the figure was 57 percent. Islam is the second religion of almost every European state - the only exceptions being those European countries such as Azerbaijan and Albania where it is the majority religion.
If current trends continue, then an overall ten percent of European nationals will be Muslim by the year 2020.
Conclusion
If the west's population is top-heavy, (i.e., the ratio of youth to elderly is low) that of Muslim populations is the opposite. For example, today more than half the population of Algeria is under the age of twenty and this situation is similar elsewhere. These young populations will reproduce and perpetuate the increase of Muslims on a percentage basis well into the next millennium.
North America and Europe have increasingly aging populations and one of the most disturbing social issues of the new millennium will concern a more efficient means of disposing of the elderly. (For example, witness the new euthanasia laws in the Netherlands, and the ongoing debate in many countries about this issue.) Medical advances can assure an average life span in the high seventies, although active life spans have not grown as fast. In the early 1900s, a westerner could expect to spend an average of the last two years of life as an invalid. Today, that figure is seven years. Studies have shown medicine prolongs life, but can not prolong mobility nearly as well. Aging populations with their increased healthcare costs are considered a more extensive socio- economic burden to society. The UK Department of Health recently announced that a new prescription drug for Alzheimer's Disease was available on the National Health Service - but its cost meant that it was only available to a small minority of patients. An aging population tends to be introspective and sluggish, whereas a young population is more likely to be vibrant and energetic. This may or may not bode well for many countries depending on whether their political structure is fragile or not.
Friday, August 12, 2005
Embryos and Stem Cell Research and Freezing
We hear a lot about stem cell research and how it requires the destruction of embryos. Some folks are convinced that "life" begins at conception which means at the embryo stage and that embryos are living human beings. Thus they believe destroying embryos is destroying "life". These same people consider it permissible to freeze these human beings and put them into limbo while they decide if they will permit them to join the ranks of the "born". Kind of a God decision isn’t it? These people believe that for embryos to be destroyed to provide raw materials for stem cell research is bad but that it is ok to freeze these same embryos even though there is a high probability some will be destroyed or is it die? Would they be willing to freeze the “born” members of their family with the possibility they would die from the experience?
When we talk about stem cell research and raw materials and embryos and “life” we need to define the type of life we are concerned about and for what reason. I am not in favor of abortion and have questions about stem cell research but there are a lot of inconsistencies in the arguments.
The same president who is unwilling to permit the sacrifice of embryos in an attempt to improve the lives of American citizens is willing to sacrifice the lives of American citizens, some against their will, in an attempt (futile as it is) to improve the lives of people who hate us and hate those being sacrificed. So far he has been willing to sacrifice over 1,800 lives of American citizens why not 1,800 embryos?
Regardless of when life begins who is willing to emotionally and financially care for the life once it is saved? We don’t hear from the “Pro Life” people when it comes to orphans and wars. Why don’t we? Isn’t a living breathing walking around life as important as life in a dish in a uterus? Why save an embryo just to sacrifice it later? Why save an embryo just to let it be sexually molested, killed by the mother’s boyfriend, left in a car during the summer heat and to be cooked to death, be starved, be passed through a school system without being educated, sent to a far away country to die for the greedy?
To discuss only killing embryos is an oversimplification of the problem and is just one of the issues to be considered.
It appears that pro-life is really just anti-abortion. And it appears pro-life people don’t want abortions to be done and they don’t want embryos destroyed unless they deem it necessary for their own purposes.
When we talk about stem cell research and raw materials and embryos and “life” we need to define the type of life we are concerned about and for what reason. I am not in favor of abortion and have questions about stem cell research but there are a lot of inconsistencies in the arguments.
The same president who is unwilling to permit the sacrifice of embryos in an attempt to improve the lives of American citizens is willing to sacrifice the lives of American citizens, some against their will, in an attempt (futile as it is) to improve the lives of people who hate us and hate those being sacrificed. So far he has been willing to sacrifice over 1,800 lives of American citizens why not 1,800 embryos?
Regardless of when life begins who is willing to emotionally and financially care for the life once it is saved? We don’t hear from the “Pro Life” people when it comes to orphans and wars. Why don’t we? Isn’t a living breathing walking around life as important as life in a dish in a uterus? Why save an embryo just to sacrifice it later? Why save an embryo just to let it be sexually molested, killed by the mother’s boyfriend, left in a car during the summer heat and to be cooked to death, be starved, be passed through a school system without being educated, sent to a far away country to die for the greedy?
To discuss only killing embryos is an oversimplification of the problem and is just one of the issues to be considered.
It appears that pro-life is really just anti-abortion. And it appears pro-life people don’t want abortions to be done and they don’t want embryos destroyed unless they deem it necessary for their own purposes.
Tuesday, August 09, 2005
Our Leaders as Well as the Iraqi People Don't Appear To Understand How to Act In a War Zone
Does it ever boggle your mind when you hear or read reports concerning insurgent attacks on the United States Military or on Iraqi citizens how many times Americans are quoted as complaining about the insurgents not fighting fairly? The insurgents wait on the side of the road until one of our military trucks go by and then they detonate a bomb or shoot from behind a bombed out truck? Like we expect the insurgents to warn us before they ambush us.
I heard one of our military explain how he lost a leg. He was the driver of the second truck in a convoy and they came upon a group of men working on the road. The soldier explained how after the first truck made it past the work area he felt better but when he drove over the area it exploded. What are our leaders thinking, sending a convoy down a road that has not been secured?
Then there was the soldier killed when he drove his vehicle under a bridge and was shot and died. Since when do you drive under a bridge in a war zone that has not been secured?
It was reported today that four Iraqi policemen were killed while they were sleeping in their car. According to the news report they had been on duty all night and were waiting on their replacements. Their weapons were in the back of the vehicle. Excuse me!!! You are in a war zone your weapons are in your hands at all times. You do not sleep unless you have someone on guard. Never! Never!
Apparently neither our military or the citizens of Iraq know what it means to be in a war and have other people looking to kill you at all times. There is no place for Rest and Relaxation in war zone.
The United States is so far superior to any other military from any other country our leaders both civilian and military appear to believe we are invulnerable. Our military leadership are careless in their thinking and sloppy in their performance and as a result more people are dying than would be expected in similar situations.
Part of the blame falls on the citizens of the United States. We permit our leaders to use our military as pawns in useless situations while we, citizens, carry on as if nothing is happening. And then complain when one of our soldiers does something that we consider unacceptable although we were not there and have never faced similar situations. We, citizens of the United States, are more than willing to send an 18 or 19 year old boy to Iraq, arm him to the teeth, put him in a situation where he does not know who is on his side and who is the enemy, and then condemn him for trying to stay alive or for losing his temper or for being scared and acting scared or for acting like an 18 or 19 year old boy. Our Constitution allows our Federal Government to govern America, not the world. It is not our responsibility to determine how other folks govern themselves. One columnist wrote " One would have to be a moron or entirely ignorant of the Muslim world to expect that you could impose that system on Iraq at gunpoint." The term system refers to our installing our form of government which is a Republic not a Democracy on Iraq and Afghanistan.
I don't know about you but deliver me from "I'm from the Federal Government and I'm here to help."
I heard one of our military explain how he lost a leg. He was the driver of the second truck in a convoy and they came upon a group of men working on the road. The soldier explained how after the first truck made it past the work area he felt better but when he drove over the area it exploded. What are our leaders thinking, sending a convoy down a road that has not been secured?
Then there was the soldier killed when he drove his vehicle under a bridge and was shot and died. Since when do you drive under a bridge in a war zone that has not been secured?
It was reported today that four Iraqi policemen were killed while they were sleeping in their car. According to the news report they had been on duty all night and were waiting on their replacements. Their weapons were in the back of the vehicle. Excuse me!!! You are in a war zone your weapons are in your hands at all times. You do not sleep unless you have someone on guard. Never! Never!
Apparently neither our military or the citizens of Iraq know what it means to be in a war and have other people looking to kill you at all times. There is no place for Rest and Relaxation in war zone.
The United States is so far superior to any other military from any other country our leaders both civilian and military appear to believe we are invulnerable. Our military leadership are careless in their thinking and sloppy in their performance and as a result more people are dying than would be expected in similar situations.
Part of the blame falls on the citizens of the United States. We permit our leaders to use our military as pawns in useless situations while we, citizens, carry on as if nothing is happening. And then complain when one of our soldiers does something that we consider unacceptable although we were not there and have never faced similar situations. We, citizens of the United States, are more than willing to send an 18 or 19 year old boy to Iraq, arm him to the teeth, put him in a situation where he does not know who is on his side and who is the enemy, and then condemn him for trying to stay alive or for losing his temper or for being scared and acting scared or for acting like an 18 or 19 year old boy. Our Constitution allows our Federal Government to govern America, not the world. It is not our responsibility to determine how other folks govern themselves. One columnist wrote " One would have to be a moron or entirely ignorant of the Muslim world to expect that you could impose that system on Iraq at gunpoint." The term system refers to our installing our form of government which is a Republic not a Democracy on Iraq and Afghanistan.
I don't know about you but deliver me from "I'm from the Federal Government and I'm here to help."
Monday, August 08, 2005
Was It Just a Coincidence or Did Our FBI and CIA Overlook the Obvious?
If letter bombs were routinely delivered in yellow envelopes one would be wise to treat a yellow envelope received in the mail cautiously.
Bring anything to mind?
1968 Bobby Kennedy was shot and killed by Muslim male extremist between the ages of 17 and 40.
At the 1972 Munich Olympics, athletes were kidnapped and massacred by Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40.
In 1979, the US embassy in Iran was taken over by Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40.
During the 1980's a number of Americans were kidnapped in Lebanon by Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40.
In 1983, the US Marine barracks in Beirut was blown up by Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40.
In 1985 the cruise ship Achille Lauro was hijacked and a 70 year old American passenger was murdered and thrown overboard in his wheelchair by Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40.
1985 TWA flight 847 was hijacked at Athens, and a US Navy diver trying to rescue passengers was murdered by Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40.
In 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 was bombed by Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40.
In 1993 the World Trade Center was bombed the first time by Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40.
In 1998, the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed by Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40.
Not to mention what happened in New York on September 11, 2001.
Now how many 80 year old grandmothers do you suppose we will have to search before we discover a terrorist?
Bring anything to mind?
1968 Bobby Kennedy was shot and killed by Muslim male extremist between the ages of 17 and 40.
At the 1972 Munich Olympics, athletes were kidnapped and massacred by Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40.
In 1979, the US embassy in Iran was taken over by Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40.
During the 1980's a number of Americans were kidnapped in Lebanon by Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40.
In 1983, the US Marine barracks in Beirut was blown up by Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40.
In 1985 the cruise ship Achille Lauro was hijacked and a 70 year old American passenger was murdered and thrown overboard in his wheelchair by Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40.
1985 TWA flight 847 was hijacked at Athens, and a US Navy diver trying to rescue passengers was murdered by Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40.
In 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 was bombed by Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40.
In 1993 the World Trade Center was bombed the first time by Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40.
In 1998, the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed by Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40.
Not to mention what happened in New York on September 11, 2001.
Now how many 80 year old grandmothers do you suppose we will have to search before we discover a terrorist?
Friday, August 05, 2005
Government's Polices for Afghanistan and Iraq Are Doomed to Failure
The conflicts* in Afghanistan and Iraq are futile. When the United States puts troops on the ground in the Middle East we doom those troops to failure and death; wasting the lives of our Military for no good purpose. Anyone familiar with the Middle East will tell you that in the long run, the insurgents will be there and we will not and there will be a civil war and it will as if we had never been there.
We are too high-tech to win. The insurgents know that to fight a high-tech arem is with low-tech tactics and weapons. We proved that reasoning during our Revelutionary War and saw it succeed again in Viet Nam.
The United States has not experienced casualties of any meaningful numbers since WWII. Those who support the war in Iraq support the possibility of our military experiencing casualties. In Viet Nam we wasted about 200 lives a week and now people want to have diplomatic relations with the people who killed our soldiers. If 50 dead marines in a month is disturbing remember the Normandy invasion? War means casualties. Don't be concerned with dead marines but instead be concerned with the policies of our government that cannot succeed.
One of policies of our government prohibits the use of embryos in research designed to improve the lives of American citizens and at the same time sacrifices the lives of American citizens in the futile attempt to improve the lives of people who hate us? Now that is something that causes concern.
*Congress has not Declared War so according to the following article of our Constitution what is happening in the Middle East is unconstitutional.
Article I, section 8
The Congress shall have the Power...
To declare war, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;
To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than Two Years;
We are too high-tech to win. The insurgents know that to fight a high-tech arem is with low-tech tactics and weapons. We proved that reasoning during our Revelutionary War and saw it succeed again in Viet Nam.
The United States has not experienced casualties of any meaningful numbers since WWII. Those who support the war in Iraq support the possibility of our military experiencing casualties. In Viet Nam we wasted about 200 lives a week and now people want to have diplomatic relations with the people who killed our soldiers. If 50 dead marines in a month is disturbing remember the Normandy invasion? War means casualties. Don't be concerned with dead marines but instead be concerned with the policies of our government that cannot succeed.
One of policies of our government prohibits the use of embryos in research designed to improve the lives of American citizens and at the same time sacrifices the lives of American citizens in the futile attempt to improve the lives of people who hate us? Now that is something that causes concern.
*Congress has not Declared War so according to the following article of our Constitution what is happening in the Middle East is unconstitutional.
Article I, section 8
The Congress shall have the Power...
To declare war, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;
To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than Two Years;
MLB Has No Credibility
Organizations such as MLB (owners and players) develop the mind set that they have control over public opinion and that the public will accept whatever they say and everything will be alright. They appear to believe by spouting their company policy that they can make everything OK. They cannot. On occasion you can force people to do what you want them to do but you can never force people to think the way you want them to think.That said, MLB's penalties show how disingenuous the MLB owners and players are. If and that is a big IF, they are serious about eliminating criminal behavior from their league and restoring some validity to their statistics, the penalties would be much stiffer. Instead of days the offenders would be penalized games. Instead of 4 chances there would be one. No matter what MLB claims the public knows they are posturing and if the media and congress were not on their back they would allow any behavior no matter how immoral, illegal, or unethical. As with all "stars" if the public knew them on a personal basis they wouldn't like them. MLB needs to understand the public believes MLB's owners and players are a joke and the statistics, considered by MLB as holy grail are meaningless. Their "best" players cannot compete without cheating. Why should anyone care what a league does where the management, owners, and the players admit to the world they don't have the ability to play the sport without cheating. This eliminates any credibility MLB may have had in the past. They need to get past "company policy" and clean up their league. To-date their efforts are too little too late.
The "positive" effects appreciated by steroid users remain long past the time steroids can appear in tests. Players who use steroids should be suspended for however long those "positive" effects are present.
The "positive" effects appreciated by steroid users remain long past the time steroids can appear in tests. Players who use steroids should be suspended for however long those "positive" effects are present.
Thursday, August 04, 2005
Lou Holtz and South Carolina and 10 NCAA Violiations
The trend continues. As teams are willing to accept criminal and unethical behavior by their players and ESPN is no different. Lou Holtz left South Carolina to suffer because of his willingness to violate NCAA rules and ESPN hires him. ESPN tolerates unethical behavior the same as Universities and Professional teams. Great example! Congratulations. Sports and those associated with sports apparently are generally unethical, dishonest and willing to cheat and tolerate people who do.
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
Steroid Use Tolerated by MLB
MLB acts as if steroid abuse is a challenge and not illegal. Players who use steroids are telling the world they cannot make the grade. They are not as good as the other players unless they cheat. If any user of steroids is allowed into any Hall of Fame or is allowed to remain in any Hall of Fame it testifies to the meaninglessness of the respective Halls of Fame. Steroid use is not a challenge it is illegal just like murder, child abuse, DUI etc. Steroid users are criminals not stars. When MLB tolerates illegal behavior they are aiding and abetting criminals and are guilty after the fact.
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
IMMIGRANTS, NOT AMERICANS, MUST ADAPT!!
Since the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, we experienced a surge in patriotism by the majority of Americans. However, the dust from the attacks had barely settled when the "politically correct" crowd began complaining about the possibility that our patriotism was offending others. I am not against immigration, nor do I hold a grudge against anyone who is seeking a better life by coming to America. Our population is almost entirely comprised of descendants of immigrants. However, there are a few things that those who have recently come to our country, and apparently some born here, need to understand.
This idea of America, being a multi-cultural community, has served only to dilute our sovereignty and our national identity. As Americans, we have our own culture, our own society, our own language and our own lifestyle. This culture has been developed over centuries of struggles, trials, and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom.
We speak ENGLISH, not Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society, learn the language! ENGLISH. "In God We Trust" is our national motto. This is not some Christian, right wing, and political slogan. We adopted this motto because Christian men and women, of Christian principles, founded this nation, and this is clearly documented. It is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools. If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home, because God is and always will be part of our culture.
If the Stars and Stripes offend you, or you don't like Uncle Sam, then you should seriously consider a move to another part of this planet. We are happy with our culture and have no desire to change, and we really don't care how you did things where you came from. Remember, "Delta is ready when you are and they can have you there by nightfall".
This is OUR COUNTRY, our land, and our lifestyle. Our First Amendment gives every citizen the right to express his opinion and we will allow you every opportunity to do so. But, once you are done complaining, whining, and griping about our flag, our pledge, our national motto, or our way of life, I highly encourage you to take advantage of one other great American freedom, THE RIGHT TO LEAVE.
This idea of America, being a multi-cultural community, has served only to dilute our sovereignty and our national identity. As Americans, we have our own culture, our own society, our own language and our own lifestyle. This culture has been developed over centuries of struggles, trials, and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom.
We speak ENGLISH, not Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society, learn the language! ENGLISH. "In God We Trust" is our national motto. This is not some Christian, right wing, and political slogan. We adopted this motto because Christian men and women, of Christian principles, founded this nation, and this is clearly documented. It is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools. If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home, because God is and always will be part of our culture.
If the Stars and Stripes offend you, or you don't like Uncle Sam, then you should seriously consider a move to another part of this planet. We are happy with our culture and have no desire to change, and we really don't care how you did things where you came from. Remember, "Delta is ready when you are and they can have you there by nightfall".
This is OUR COUNTRY, our land, and our lifestyle. Our First Amendment gives every citizen the right to express his opinion and we will allow you every opportunity to do so. But, once you are done complaining, whining, and griping about our flag, our pledge, our national motto, or our way of life, I highly encourage you to take advantage of one other great American freedom, THE RIGHT TO LEAVE.
Friday, July 29, 2005
To Aspartame or not to Aspartame
If politicians wonder why the electorate think of them as being lower than a snake's belly maybe the history of Aspartame will help them understand...
In 1985 Monsanto purchased G.D. Searle, the chemical company that held the patent to aspartame, the active ingredient in NutraSweet. Monsanto was apparently untroubled by aspartame's clouded past, including a 1980 FDA Board of Inquiry, comprised of three independent scientists, which confirmed that it "might induce brain tumors."
The FDA had actually banned aspartame based on this finding, only to have Searle Chairman Donald Rumsfeld (currently the Secretary of Defense) vow to "call in his markers," to get it approved.
On January 21, 1981, the day after Ronald Reagan's inauguration, Searle re-applied to the FDA for approval to use aspartame in food sweetener, and Reagan's new FDA commissioner, Arthur Hayes Hull, Jr., appointed a 5-person Scientific Commission to review the board of inquiry's decision.
It soon became clear that the panel would uphold the ban by a 3-2 decision, but Hull then installed a sixth member on the commission, and the vote became deadlocked. He then personally broke the tie in aspartame's favor. Hull later left the FDA under allegations of impropriety, served briefly as Provost at New York Medical College, and then took a position with Burston-Marsteller, the chief public relations firm for both Monsanto and GD Searle. Since that time he has never spoken publicly about aspartame.
In 1985 Monsanto purchased G.D. Searle, the chemical company that held the patent to aspartame, the active ingredient in NutraSweet. Monsanto was apparently untroubled by aspartame's clouded past, including a 1980 FDA Board of Inquiry, comprised of three independent scientists, which confirmed that it "might induce brain tumors."
The FDA had actually banned aspartame based on this finding, only to have Searle Chairman Donald Rumsfeld (currently the Secretary of Defense) vow to "call in his markers," to get it approved.
On January 21, 1981, the day after Ronald Reagan's inauguration, Searle re-applied to the FDA for approval to use aspartame in food sweetener, and Reagan's new FDA commissioner, Arthur Hayes Hull, Jr., appointed a 5-person Scientific Commission to review the board of inquiry's decision.
It soon became clear that the panel would uphold the ban by a 3-2 decision, but Hull then installed a sixth member on the commission, and the vote became deadlocked. He then personally broke the tie in aspartame's favor. Hull later left the FDA under allegations of impropriety, served briefly as Provost at New York Medical College, and then took a position with Burston-Marsteller, the chief public relations firm for both Monsanto and GD Searle. Since that time he has never spoken publicly about aspartame.
Pro-LIfe? What type of life? For what purpose?
Has it occurred to you that the same president who believes destroying embryos to obtain stem cells, in an attempt to improve the lives of citizens of the United States, is immoral, believes it is moral to donate the lives of over 1,800 United States citizens, some against their will and moral beliefs, in the futile attempt to improve the lives of people who hate us. Do you suppose his desire to avenge the attempts on his father's life supercedes his thoughts on morality? Do you suppose his concern for his friends in the oil industry supercedes his thoughts on morality?
When one says one is pro-life and defines the type of life one is pro and what type of life one finds expendable, others will better understand their decisions.
When one says one is pro-life and defines the type of life one is pro and what type of life one finds expendable, others will better understand their decisions.
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
Original Intent About the Constitution
Largely overlooked is the personal sacrifices of the Founding Fathers. Those 50 Americans who, in July 1776, set their signatures to the Declaration of Independence knew full well they risked death by hanging. As John Adams, one of the signers, noted in a letter to his wife, Abigail, "The Declaration was, in fact, an act of treason, and if it were not made good, those who had signed it stood a good chance to incur the penalty meted out to traitors." In fact, John Adams, like John Hancock, another signer and revolutionary leader, already was under sentence of death if captured by the British.
The War of Independence was already underway when the signers of the Declaration of Independence gathered in Philadelphia. They were a diverse lot, those representatives from the 13 colonies who met to declare independence in a historic document that still inspires millions hungering for freedom around the world. Twenty-five were lawyers or jurists, eleven were merchants; nine were farmers or plantation owners, and there were also doctors and educators.
Although most of the signers paid a heavy price for their resolve, none wavered. Francis Lewis of New York had his home burned by the British, and his wife was seized and imprisoned for two years, dying soon after her release. Philip Livingston of New York saw his 150,000-acre estate confiscated by the British, but he continued to contribute his dwindling fortune to the war effort. The strain of the revolutionary struggle depleted his health and he died less than two years after signing. Lewis Morris' New York estate was ransacked by the British. His home was destroyed, his livestock butchered and his family forced to flee.
John Hart's New Jersey home was looted and burned, his grist mills destroyed. He eluded captured by taking refuge in caves and forests. During the ordeal, his ailing wife died and their 13 children were scattered. After signing the Declaration, Richard Stockton rushed home to Princeton, New Jersey, to rescue his family from advancing British troops. He was captured and thrown into prison, where he was repeatedly beaten and kept near starvation. He died an invalid in 1781. Robert Morris of Pennsylvania spent his entire fortune -- more than a million dollars -- to finance the war effort. Never reimbursed by his country, he served three years in debtor's prison and, in failing health, died soon after his release.
Carter Braxton of Virginia had virtually every merchant ship he owned either sunk or captured by the British. Although he lost his wealth and was forced to sell his remaining property, he continued to serve the cause of the revolution in the Virginia legislature. thomas Heyward, Jr., of South Carolina, served in the Revolutionary Army and was taken prisoner. The British raided his plantation and burned his buildings. His grief-stricken wife became ill and died before Heyward was freed at the war's end.
These were brave men who pledged their "lives their fortunes and sacred honor" in order to gain liberty for themselves and posterity.
The War of Independence was already underway when the signers of the Declaration of Independence gathered in Philadelphia. They were a diverse lot, those representatives from the 13 colonies who met to declare independence in a historic document that still inspires millions hungering for freedom around the world. Twenty-five were lawyers or jurists, eleven were merchants; nine were farmers or plantation owners, and there were also doctors and educators.
Although most of the signers paid a heavy price for their resolve, none wavered. Francis Lewis of New York had his home burned by the British, and his wife was seized and imprisoned for two years, dying soon after her release. Philip Livingston of New York saw his 150,000-acre estate confiscated by the British, but he continued to contribute his dwindling fortune to the war effort. The strain of the revolutionary struggle depleted his health and he died less than two years after signing. Lewis Morris' New York estate was ransacked by the British. His home was destroyed, his livestock butchered and his family forced to flee.
John Hart's New Jersey home was looted and burned, his grist mills destroyed. He eluded captured by taking refuge in caves and forests. During the ordeal, his ailing wife died and their 13 children were scattered. After signing the Declaration, Richard Stockton rushed home to Princeton, New Jersey, to rescue his family from advancing British troops. He was captured and thrown into prison, where he was repeatedly beaten and kept near starvation. He died an invalid in 1781. Robert Morris of Pennsylvania spent his entire fortune -- more than a million dollars -- to finance the war effort. Never reimbursed by his country, he served three years in debtor's prison and, in failing health, died soon after his release.
Carter Braxton of Virginia had virtually every merchant ship he owned either sunk or captured by the British. Although he lost his wealth and was forced to sell his remaining property, he continued to serve the cause of the revolution in the Virginia legislature. thomas Heyward, Jr., of South Carolina, served in the Revolutionary Army and was taken prisoner. The British raided his plantation and burned his buildings. His grief-stricken wife became ill and died before Heyward was freed at the war's end.
These were brave men who pledged their "lives their fortunes and sacred honor" in order to gain liberty for themselves and posterity.
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
TDOT attempts to destroy Gatlinburg via the Hwy 321 project
I can hardly wait for Jeff Foxworthy to hear about Tennessee Department of Transportation's (TDOT) plans. Where else than in Tennessee do people remove mountains, install concrete barriers to keep the mountains back and then paint the walls to look like they belong. There has got to be a joke in there somewhere. My neighbor told me a couple of years ago that our grandchildren will someday ask, "Mommy, what was a mountain?" By the looks of Sevier County he was on target.
TDOT is breaking new ground in the area of removing mountains and painting walls to look like the mountains. Gatlinburg and the TDOT can be proud of their breakthrough design strategies. The city can now do away with any building code requirements having to do with the outside of a structure. We can build a nice concrete block building and paint it to look like a nice mountain log cabin or governorsÂ’ mansion, or maybe even the Parthenon or how about a replica of the Mountain View Inn or whatever we like. That will reduce construction costs quite a bit as well as speed up development.
Gatlinburg will be the butt of jokes for years to come as tourists drive the concrete corridor and look in bewilderment at the concrete barrier walls painted to look like real rocks and the larger walls painted like treeless nothings and wonder why things were not left as they were since the paint is attempting to make things look like they used to be. The view should be picturesque as the tourists look out over the painted short barriers to see the mountains. As they take pictures and other people across the country view those pictures they too will be able to appreciate what Gatlinburg and the State of Tennessee have done and reputations of both should grow in leaps and bounds. Southern Living should be able to do at least a couple of stories on the subject of Tennessee landscaping techniques and maybe My South can tape a couple of episodes.
When, as expected, thousands and tens of thousands of cars use the concrete corridor has any thought been given to what they will do at light 3 in Gatlinburg? Do you suppose we can look forward to traffic backed up to City Hall or maybe even to Glades similar to the backup at the intersection of Rt 66 and Chapman/Dolly Parton highways?
As was said during the meeting, the Resource Team, made up of area citizens, has no authority. ThatÂ’s fair since no one has any responsibility for the debacle that is now attempting to be mitigated.
But that's just politics isn't it? No reason to cry over spilt milk. When the going gets tough, the tough gets going, cliche, cliche. It is too late for Gatlinburg and now is the time to just try to make things look as nice as possible, live with the jokes and the criticism, and take our experience and paintbrushes and go on to the next project.
The City of Gatlinburg had almost no input in this whole process. As a resident I resent the State of Tennessee destroying parts of the city in which I live and the City Leadership for failing to raise public awareness of what was going to be happening to our fair city. I thought at the very least the city was looking out for our welfare, wrong...........
TDOT is breaking new ground in the area of removing mountains and painting walls to look like the mountains. Gatlinburg and the TDOT can be proud of their breakthrough design strategies. The city can now do away with any building code requirements having to do with the outside of a structure. We can build a nice concrete block building and paint it to look like a nice mountain log cabin or governorsÂ’ mansion, or maybe even the Parthenon or how about a replica of the Mountain View Inn or whatever we like. That will reduce construction costs quite a bit as well as speed up development.
Gatlinburg will be the butt of jokes for years to come as tourists drive the concrete corridor and look in bewilderment at the concrete barrier walls painted to look like real rocks and the larger walls painted like treeless nothings and wonder why things were not left as they were since the paint is attempting to make things look like they used to be. The view should be picturesque as the tourists look out over the painted short barriers to see the mountains. As they take pictures and other people across the country view those pictures they too will be able to appreciate what Gatlinburg and the State of Tennessee have done and reputations of both should grow in leaps and bounds. Southern Living should be able to do at least a couple of stories on the subject of Tennessee landscaping techniques and maybe My South can tape a couple of episodes.
When, as expected, thousands and tens of thousands of cars use the concrete corridor has any thought been given to what they will do at light 3 in Gatlinburg? Do you suppose we can look forward to traffic backed up to City Hall or maybe even to Glades similar to the backup at the intersection of Rt 66 and Chapman/Dolly Parton highways?
As was said during the meeting, the Resource Team, made up of area citizens, has no authority. ThatÂ’s fair since no one has any responsibility for the debacle that is now attempting to be mitigated.
But that's just politics isn't it? No reason to cry over spilt milk. When the going gets tough, the tough gets going, cliche, cliche. It is too late for Gatlinburg and now is the time to just try to make things look as nice as possible, live with the jokes and the criticism, and take our experience and paintbrushes and go on to the next project.
The City of Gatlinburg had almost no input in this whole process. As a resident I resent the State of Tennessee destroying parts of the city in which I live and the City Leadership for failing to raise public awareness of what was going to be happening to our fair city. I thought at the very least the city was looking out for our welfare, wrong...........
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
California cannot/willnot convict celebrities!!
OJ Simpson, ?? Blaker (I forget his first name), and Michael Jackson are all free due to the inability or the unwillingness of Californians to convict celebrities. There was more evidence against each of the three than there was against Scott Peterson but of the four who was convicted and is now sitting in a cell on deathrow? Imagine two murderers and a child molestor walking the streets. Is it any wonder California is known as the land of fruits and nuts? We must recognize and make allowances for the reality that District Attorney offices are staffed with lawyers who cannot survive in private practice and that they are working under strict budget limitations that are more important than convicting criminals while celebrities have almost unlimited resources and are more than happy to show their appreciation to anyone who is willing to lie in court for them. In the Jackson trial the District Attorney is a joke and cannot be taken seriously let alone believed.
The jurors in the most recent case, that of Michael Jackson should keep their collective mouths shut because the more they talk the more we understand they voted against the mother and not on the evidence.
We all know that pretty girls/women and handsome boys/men do not commit crimes and always tell the truth while ugly or dirty appearing people will comnmit crimes of all sorts and would prefer to lie than to tell the truth. At least that is how we make judgments. The MJ case was a tossup between a conniving mother/ugly boy and a fruitcake defendant. If the mother had been pretty or the boy handsome Michael would be in prison today. Lucky for Michael he is attracted to and attracts the bottom feeders of society and prefers young but ugly boys. There is no way a jury will believe the people to whom Michael is attracted.
The big question is will Michael be able to restart his career so he can get on stage and massage his crotch, hump the air all the while gyrating among a group of young boys mostly poor, Hispanic or Black while young Hispanic or Black girls squeal at the top of their lungs and Michael shows no interest, wrong gender. Again, lucky for Michael he lives in state where he has an endless supply of Hispanic boys whose mothers will keep quiet so they will not be deported.
California leads the way as usual in degradation and is truly becoming a third-world state.
The jurors in the most recent case, that of Michael Jackson should keep their collective mouths shut because the more they talk the more we understand they voted against the mother and not on the evidence.
We all know that pretty girls/women and handsome boys/men do not commit crimes and always tell the truth while ugly or dirty appearing people will comnmit crimes of all sorts and would prefer to lie than to tell the truth. At least that is how we make judgments. The MJ case was a tossup between a conniving mother/ugly boy and a fruitcake defendant. If the mother had been pretty or the boy handsome Michael would be in prison today. Lucky for Michael he is attracted to and attracts the bottom feeders of society and prefers young but ugly boys. There is no way a jury will believe the people to whom Michael is attracted.
The big question is will Michael be able to restart his career so he can get on stage and massage his crotch, hump the air all the while gyrating among a group of young boys mostly poor, Hispanic or Black while young Hispanic or Black girls squeal at the top of their lungs and Michael shows no interest, wrong gender. Again, lucky for Michael he lives in state where he has an endless supply of Hispanic boys whose mothers will keep quiet so they will not be deported.
California leads the way as usual in degradation and is truly becoming a third-world state.
Sunday, June 05, 2005
What You Won't Learn In School by Bill Gates
Life is not fair - get used to it!
The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.
If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.
Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping -- they called it opportunity.
If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.
Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.
Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.
Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up work ing for one.
The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.
If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.
Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping -- they called it opportunity.
If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.
Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.
Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.
Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up work ing for one.
Wednesday, June 01, 2005
Pro-Life or Pro-Born or Pro Stem Cell
Researchers collect stem cells -- immature cells that can be coaxed into developing into any cell in the body -- from unused embryos remaining at fertility centers. But the Jones Institute for Reproductive Medicine at Eastern Virginia Medical School chose to create its own embryos for two reasons.
- "The consent of the donors to this process is very clear as opposed to asking someone who created IVF eggs if they would be okay with using them this way,"
- "there is also the fact that these eggs are younger. Younger eggs are more viable eggs." /em>
Sperm donors received $50 for their semen and egg donors received $2,000 as compensation. Typically, the discarded embryos from in vitro fertilization centers come from people who have been trying to conceive for a long time.
Embryonic stem cells are preferable for research because of their immaturity and lack of development. While researchers can derive stem cells from umbilical cord blood, spinal fluid and adult organs, those cells are more specialized.
Unspecialized cells are preferable because stem cell tissue lines can become any type of body cell that can be used for therapeutic purposes.
And thus the discussion continues..............Sacrificing embryonic life for the betterment of mankind.
So far the United States goverment, under the direction of one of the more influential opponents of expanding the harvesting of the raw material required by Stem Cell research, has donated the lives of over 1,800 men and women for the betterment of mankind.
Are those people who label themselves "ProLife" really "Pro" all life or just specific kinds of life?
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