From the blog Doctor Bulldog and Ronin a piece from the Sunday Times:
8 June, 2008, The Sunday TimesSCHOOLCHILDREN as young as 13 are being “groomed” for terrorism by Islamic extremists in the heartland of the 7/7 suicide bombers, according to Britain’s most senior police officer charged with countering radicalisation.-If the “counter” doesn’t include the identifications, arrest and deportation of the facilitators, recruiters and religious scholars involved the program is worthless.
Sir Norman Bettison, chief constable of West Yorkshire, said some bright children entering secondary school were picking up extremist messages from internet chat rooms and people who wanted to turn them into terrorists. (more)

'Neurobics' and Other Brain Boosters

From the WSJ Health Journal:

Every day, it seems, a new study reports that caffeine -- or fish oil or friendships -- lowers the risk of Alzheimer's disease.
Many of these are "associations" that may or may not have a cause-and-effect relationship. There is still much that isn't known about the telltale plaques and tangles that slowly strangle the brains of Alzheimer's victims.
But what scientists do know now that they didn't just a decade ago is that people generate new brain cells, and new connections between them, throughout life. And the more mental reserves people build up, experts believe, the better they can stave off age-related cognitive decline.

(more)

Rats- I failed the tests....

The Obama We Don't Know

From the WSJ:
With Barack Obama clinching the Democratic Party nomination, it is worth noting what an extraordinary moment this is. Democrats are nominating a freshman Senator barely three years out of the Illinois legislature whom most of America still hardly knows. The polls say he is the odds-on favorite to become our next President.
Think about this in historical context. Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton were relatively unknown, but both had at least been prominent Governors. John Kerry, Walter Mondale, Al Gore and even George McGovern were all long-time Washington figures. Republican nominees tend to be even more familiar, for better or worse. In Mr. Obama, Democrats are taking a leap of faith that is daring even by their risky standards. (more)

Israel attack on Iran 'unavoidable'-Olmert deputy

JERUSALEM, June 6 (Reuters) - An Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear sites looks "unavoidable" given the apparent failure of sanctions to deny Tehran technology with bomb-making potential, one of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's deputies said on Friday."If Iran continues with its programme for developing nuclear weapons, we will attack it. The sanctions are ineffective," Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz told the mass-circulation Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper."Attacking Iran, in order to stop its nuclear plans, will be unavoidable," said the former army chief who has also been defence minister. (more)

Obama's Iraq Achilles Heel

Townhall asks the right questions...pull out and then..?
...When it comes to Iraq, Obama is most comfortable living in the past. He wants to endlessly replay the day when he castigated the war as unnecessary and cooked up by White House political types and ideologues. He's far less comfortable talking about Iraq now, and downright antsy when it comes to discussing the future.
It's a lot easier to oppose a policy than to figure out how to replace it. ... (more)

Decline in Teen Sex Levels Off, Survey Shows

Washington Post Thursday, June 5, 2008; Page A01
The nation's campaign to get more teenagers to delay sex and to use condoms is faltering, threatening to undermine the highly successful effort to reduce teen pregnancy and protect young people from sexually transmitted diseases, federal officials reported yesterday. (more)

Gates ousts Air Force leaders in historic shake-up

WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Robert Gates ousted the Air Force's top military and civilian leaders Thursday, holding them to account in a historic Pentagon shake-up after embarrassing nuclear mix-ups. (more)

Oregon Offers to Pay to Kill, but Not to Treat Cancer Patient

Ah the joys of managed care...
SALEM, Oregon, June 4, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Lung cancer patient, Barbara Wagner, was recently notified that her oncologist-prescribed medication that would slow the growth of cancer would not be covered by the Oregon Health Plan; the plan, however, she was informed, would cover doctor-assisted suicide should she wish to kill herself.
"Treatment of advanced cancer that is meant to prolong life, or change the course of this disease, is not a covered benefit of the Oregon Health Plan," read the letter notifying Wagner of the health plan's decision. (more here)

About That Global Warming Bill....

Nice analysis from the Heritage foundation over at FrontPage:
On June 2, the United States Senate will begin debate on America's Climate Security Act (S. 2191), sponsored by Senators Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) and John Warner (R-VA). The Lieberman-Warner bill (LW) would restrict energy use to combat global warming. Like global warming itself, the bill has been the subject of considerable hype and little hard-nosed analysis. For this reason, there are several myths about it that need to be dispelled.
Myth #1: LW would not be expensive.
Fact: Simply put, LW works like a massive energy tax. By restricting carbon dioxide emissions from coal, oil, and natural gas--with a freeze at 2005 levels beginning in 2012, to a 70 percent reduction in 2050--the bill forces down supply and thus boosts the price of energy. In fact, if energy prices did not go up, then the targets in the bill would not be met. As energy is the economy's lifeblood, and 85 percent of it comes from these fossil fuels, the impact will be substantial. Cumulative gross domestic product (GDP) losses could reach $4.8 trillion by 2030, according to an analysis conducted by the Heritage Foundation. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Environmental Protection Agency, Charles River Associates, and the National Association of Manufacturers have all conducted studies predicting significant economic burdens on consumers should the bill be enacted. (more here)

Collaborative Model Of Classical Education

Has anyone heard about this firsthand? It sounds interesting. How do we get something like this in Austin? Or would we want something like this here?
Home school organizations and private schools report they're swamped with parents considering changing schools in the fall. For the last nine years, one North Texas school has provided what's called collaborative education. While there is a full-time, on-campus option at Coram Deo Academy, the collaborative parent partnership with study at home model makes the best of family time, while providing a formal, classical education. Here are 21 reasons they say the program works.
1) Parent involvement and genuine school/family collaboration is proven to help children succeed academically.
2) The family collaborative model provides children with more family time, while allowing the child to reap the rewards of a formal school setting, including sports, music and important time with peers. ...the other 19 reasons here

Commentary - Peter Schweizer: Conservatives more honest than liberals?

From the Examiner.com not really surprising. They would have to be dishonest to hold some of the views they hold...
The headline may seem like a trick question — even a dangerous one — to ask during an election year. And notice, please, that I didn’t ask whether certain politicians are more honest than others. (Politicians are a different species altogether.) Yet there is a striking gap between the manner in which liberals and conservatives address the issue of honesty.
Consider these results:
Is it OK to cheat on your taxes? A total of 57 percent of those who described themselves as “very liberal” said yes in response to the World Values Survey, compared with only 20 percent of those who are “very conservative.” When Pew Research asked whether it was “morally wrong” to cheat Uncle Sam, 86 percent of conservatives agreed, compared with only 68 percent of liberals.
Ponder this scenario, offered by the National Cultural Values Survey: “You lose your job. Your friend’s company is looking for someone to do temporary work. They are willing to pay the person in cash to avoid taxes and allow the person to still collect unemployment. What would you do?” (read the rest here)

Was the Iraq War Worth It?

I think it was.
AmericanThinker:
They say if it bleeds, it leads on the nightly news. The recent silence from the mainstream news media on Iraq, however, is speaking volumes. While the war remains unpopular, our success there has been unmistakable. The Iraqi people, with the help of the U.S. led coalition, have succeeded in establishing the world’s first Arab democracy. Their achievement is a milestone in the war on terror and for the cause of liberty. (more)

McCain Trusted more than Obama on Economy, national security

I would certainly hope so...From American Thinker
Rasmussen reports the latest survey on voter attitudes toward the candidates and at the moment, John McCain is besting Barack Obama in several important categories.On the economy, Iraq, national security, and taxes, John McCain is trusted more than Obama:
When it comes to the economy, 47% of voters trust John McCain more than Barack Obama. Obama is trusted more by 41%. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey also found that, when it comes to the War in Iraq, McCain is trusted more by 49% of voters. Obama is preferred by 37%. McCain has an even larger edge-53% to 31%--on the broader topic of National Security. These results are little changed from a month ago. (more)

Watchdog: NASA misled on global warming studies

Not really news but nice to see someone admitting what many have been saying...and from CNN no less..
NASA's press office "marginalized or mischaracterized" studies on global warming between 2004 and 2006, the agency's own internal watchdog concluded.
In a report released Monday, NASA's inspector general office called it "inappropriate political interference" by political appointees in the press office. It said the agency's top management wasn't part of the censorship, nor were career officials.
NASA downplayed the report as old news on a problem that has since been fixed. NASA spokesman Michael Cabbage said the space agency's new policies have been hailed for openness by the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
The report found credence in allegations that National Public Radio was denied access to top global warming scientist James Hansen. It also found evidence that NASA headquarters press officials canceled a press conference on a mission monitoring ozone pollution and global warming because it was too close to the 2004 presidential election.
In addition, the report detailed more than a dozen other actions in which it said the NASA public affairs office unilaterally edited or downgraded press releases having to do with global warming or denied access to scientists. (more)

The Iraqi Upturn

The Washinton Post tell the good news..
Don't look now, but the U.S.-backed government and army may be winning the war.

THERE'S BEEN a relative lull in news coverage and debate about Iraq in recent weeks -- which is odd, because May could turn out to have been one of the most important months of the war. While Washington's attention has been fixed elsewhere, military analysts have watched with astonishment as the Iraqi government and army have gained control for the first time of the port city of Basra and the sprawling Baghdad neighborhood of Sadr City, routing the Shiite militias that have ruled them for years and sending key militants scurrying to Iran. At the same time, Iraqi and U.S. forces have pushed forward with a long-promised offensive in Mosul, the last urban refuge of al-Qaeda. So many of its leaders have now been captured or killed that U.S. Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker, renowned for his cautious assessments, said that the terrorists have "never been closer to defeat than they are now." (more)

Woman 'married' to Berlin Wall for 29 years

And so continues what Rick Pearcey calls Operation Marriage Chaos..
From the Dailey Telegraph
A woman with a bizarre fetish for inaninimate objects has revealed she has been married to the Berlin Wall for 29 years.
Eija-Riitta Berliner-Mauer, 54, whose surname means Berlin Wall in German, wed the concrete structure in 1979 after being diagnosed with a condition called Objectum-Sexuality.
Mrs Berliner-Mauer, whose fetish is said to have its roots in childhood, claimed she fell in love with the structure when she first saw it on television when she was seven.
She began collecting "his" pictures and saving up for visits. On her sixth trip in 1979 they tied the knot before a handful of guests. (more)

C. diff Epidemic: What You Must Know

From WebMD :
Why C. diff Is Spreading, Why It's More Deadly, How to Protect Your Family
While bird flu and MRSA have been making headlines, a dangerous strain of C. diff has been making people sick in 38 U.S. states.
C. diff sickens about a half million Americans every year, and every year the epidemic gets about 10% bigger, CDC medical epidemiologist L. Clifford McDonald, MD, tells WebMD.
Bigger -- and more deadly. The death rate is soaring by 35% a year. (more)

Christians Preachers Face Arrest in Britain

This will be crossing the pond before you know it...
From the Dailey Telegraph:
A police community support officer ordered two Christian preachers to stop handing out gospel leaflets in a predominantly Muslim area of Birmingham.
The evangelists say they were threatened with arrest for committing a "hate crime" and were told they risked being beaten up if they returned. The incident will fuel fears that "no-go areas" for Christians are emerging in British towns and cities, as the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, the Bishop of Rochester, claimed in The Sunday Telegraph this year. (more here)

Iraq Rising

From FrontPage:
A fascinating scene played out in Basra, Iraq, last week. Troops from the Iraqi Army stood sentinel over the once restive city as followers of rogue cleric Muqtada al-Sadr muttered dispiritedly that they had been driven from power. In this Sadrist fiefdom, the erstwhile epicenter of a Shiite insurgency that many doubted could be contained, the Iraqi army was now law.
Credit this remarkable transformation to Operation Sawlat al-Fursan, also known as operation Charge of the Knights, which began with little fanfare and much skepticism in late March. A make-or-break test for the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and the Iraqi armed forces, the operation was largely led by the Iraqi Army and Iraqi Security Forces. (more)

Nudes in Sculpture and Painting vs Nudes in Photography and Film

OTTAWA, May 27, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Peter Baklinski is a graduate of California's Thomas Aquinas College and has recently been accepted into the PhD program at the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and the Family in Melbourne, Australia. He has written an insightful essay detailing the difference in viewing nakedness in art and in pornography. In his paper Baklinski approaches the debate by asking, “Is the difference simply a matter of preference or taste, or is there something more profound that makes one entirely different from the other?” more here

IAEA: Iran may be withholding info in nuke probe

Ya think?!!
From the AP:
VIENNA, Austria — Iran may be withholding information needed to establish whether it tried to make nuclear arms, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Monday in an unusually strongly worded report.
The tone of the language suggesting Tehran continues to stonewall the U.N. nuclear monitor revealed a glimpse of the frustration felt by agency investigators stymied in their attempts to gain full answers to suspicious aspects of Iran's past nuclear activities.
A senior U.N. official familiar with the investigation into Iran's nuclear program said none of the dozens of agency reports issued in that context had ever been as plain spoken in calling Tehran to task for not being forthright. He agreed to discuss the report only if granted anonymity because he was not authorized to comment to the media. (full story)

The Detergent Church

I can dig it...
From Townhall:
...Yep, a Detergent Church is the type of church that flicks my switch. As far as I’m concerned, a “church” that does not alter culture in a weighty way isn’t worth its salt—no matter how “successful” it may be momentarily. And seeing that our culture is getting more bizarre by the flippin’ day I’d say that whatever the church is doing to be au courant just ain’t cutting it.
Here’s my laundry list (to become a book) regarding how the “called out ones” can be the holy hellfire Detergent Church they’re ‘spose to be. You might want to put on a cup . . .
1. Get men who dig being rowdy back in the pulpit.
2. Could we have some sound doctrine, por favor?
3. Preach scary sermons (at least every fourth one).
4. Get rid of 99.9% of “Christian” TV and sappy Christian music.
5. Quit trying to be relevant and instead become prophetic contrarians, I’m talking contra mundus, mama!
6. Put a 10-year moratorium on “God wants you rich” sermons (yeah, that’s what we need to hear nowadays, you morons, more sermons about money, money, money!).
7. Embrace apologetics and shun shallow faith.
8. Evangelize like it’s 1999.
9. Push lazy Christians to get a life or join a Satanic Church.
10. Demand that if a Christian gets involved in the arts that their “craft” must scream excellence and not excrement. (more here)

Gay Marriage: Even Liberals Know It’s Bad

There are many societal implications for the redefining of marriage. That these are not addressed by the msm though not surprising is an abdiction of responsibility that will do great harm to all involved.
From CrossExamined Blog:
Why not legalize same-sex marriage? Who could it possibly hurt? Children and the rest of society. That’s the conclusion of David Blankenhorn, who is anything but an anti-gay “bigot.” He is a life-long, pro-gay, liberal democrat who disagrees with the Bible’s prohibitions against homosexual behavior. Despite this, Blankenhorn makes a powerful case against Same-Sex marriage in his book, The Future of Marriage.
He writes, “Across history and cultures . . . marriage’s single most fundamental idea is that every child needs a mother and a father. Changing marriage to accommodate same-sex couples would nullify this principle in culture and in law.”

Democrats Unaware of US Warning About Border Violence

Doesn't this just fill you with a warm fuzzy feeling...

(CNSNews.com) - Three Democratic lawmakers who spoke Wednesday about alleged anti-immigrant coverage by conservative media outlets were not aware of a recent State Department travel alert warning Americans about military-like "combat" along the southern U.S. border in Mexico, where Americans are being kidnapped and murdered. (more here)

LAT Headline Misleads On Own Gay Marriage Poll

From Newsbusters:
On the heels of last week's California Supreme Court decision to allow gay marriage, the Los Angeles Times conducted a poll. Today's paper (Fri. 5/23/08) blares the headline at the top of the front page, "Californians barely reject gay marriage" (print edition headline). "Barely"? Here are the poll's two main questions:

SUCCESS IN IRAQ: A MEDIA BLACKOUT

From the NY Post:
May 20, 2008 -- DO we still have troops in Iraq? Is there still a conflict over there?
If you rely on the so-called mainstream media, you may have difficulty answering those questions these days. As Iraqi and Coalition forces pile up one success after another, Iraq has magically vanished from the headlines.
Want a real "inconvenient truth?" Progress in Iraq is powerful and accelerating. (more here)

Subway sandwich contest: Homeschoolers not wanted

According to WND:
Subway sandwich contest: Homeschoolers not wantedSpelling-challenged promotion offers gift 'bastket' to winners
Posted: May 24, 20087:00 pm Eastern
By Jay Baggett© 2008 WorldNetDaily
Subway, the sandwich restaurant, wants to hear your child's story – unless he or she is homeschooled.
The national chain's "Every Sandwich Tells a Story Contest" offers prizes and a chance to be published on the Subway website and in Scholastic's "Parent & Child" magazine but specifically excludes homeschoolers:

PRI Celebrates the World's 6,666,666,666th Person Born on May 10th

More fear mongering, hysteria and bad science. In fact the real problem, especially for Europe is the failure to have enough babies to replace the dying. Europe is same sexing and contracepting itself into extinction. There is one exception to this demographic of course....muslims.
May 20, 2008 (Pop.org/LifeSiteNews.com) - According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the world's 6,666,666,666th person was born on May 10th. The occasion gave rise to the usual calls for more population control to stave off a demographic disaster. According to Overpopulation.net, the only thing this number shows us is that we have "passed our sustainability," and that the population crash the world is now experiencing is, in fact, the fault of recklessly breeding humans. These humans are responsible for the downfall of the species because they "have yet to recognize the alarming facts that for the last 16 years we have passed the sustainable food limits that Earth can produce relative to population."...

In fact, the fear of annihilation at the hands of unstoppable population growth is an outdated scientific parlor tale, based in racism, eugencism, mathematical incompetence and demographic ignorance. Men like Thomas Malthus and Paul Ehrlich have long since been refuted. (more here)

Apologies

My apologies for the long delay in postings. I have been away doing Army support in Idaho. Beautiful area up there around Boise. It reminds me of the area around Bagram Air base in Afghanistan. Cooler there than here in Texas. I'll get back to posting shortly.

New Energy Policy?

What ever happened to free steak knives with every fill-up?

I thought about that the other day as I shelled out 72 crisp American dollars (that’s 4 euros, for our readers across the pond) to stick a couple ounces of regular gasoline in the truck.