Global Warming, or Global Fraud?

Thanks go to my father, James G. Osborn, for bringing this video to my attention, and finally to yours.

First, some background information. Professor Robert M. Carter is a research professor in the Marine Geophysical Laboratory at James Cook University, Australia, and a founding member of the Australian Environment Foundation. He is considered an experienced marine geologist, environmental scientist, paleontologist, and stratigrapher. Here's his personal website.

Biologist Dr. Jennifer Marohasy is a senior fellow and director of the environment unit at the conservative Australian think tank, the Institute of Public Affairs. Check out her Sourcewatch profile here.

Here it is, thank goodness for YouTube. This is the first of four videos. I won't post the rest, but you can see the others on YouTube itself here in the related videos section. Just to give you a little warning, he's an Australian Scientists, so because of his accent and the terminology he's sometimes hard to understand. However, at least in the first video, I think you'll get it pretty easily. The last video is also pretty easy to understand.



See also: List of scientists opposing global warming consensus.

On a different topic, I also recommend checking out the YouChoose'08 section of YouTube. It's really a great place to check out all the candidates. Within this section, I especially like the CNN/YouTube Debate Section.

Candidates I like the best, in order, are John McCain, Ron Paul, Barack Obama, and Christopher Dodd. In case you don't now John McCain and Ron Paul are Republicans, while Barack Obama and Christopher Dodd are Democrats.

Wildfires and such.

Well, I've been hearing a lot about wildfires lately and wanted to share a bit with you. The first I heard about was actually not California, but Canada. Apparently, the Mountain Pine Beetle has killed and dried up more than 50% of the mature pine trees in British Columbia, and experts say that there is likely to be a huge forest fire their in the near future because of the problem. Apparently, these dead trees are so dry it would only take one lightning strike to burn down the whole 20 million acres of forest(twice the size of West Virginia). Also, though the Canadian government is allowing loggers to chop them down, not many are doing it, because there's not much used for beetle-kill trees. The wood is much too brittle to build a house from or anything, all there is for their use is a small market for specially designed firniture that's supposed to look cool when made from beetle-kill.

Well, there is a solution. Have you ever heard of wood pellets? Apparently they're a new alternative fuel, basically would dried and compressed into tiny little pellets (looking like rabbit food). It's cleaner and cheaper than coal, electricity, gas or oil. Lost of people are starting to use it to heat their homes, and the Chinese government wants a large supply of it to make their coal electric plants cleaner and more efficient. Beetle kill is a perfect natural resource for make wood pellets. It's already dried up and so much easier to make into saw-dust than healthy trees.

The first I heard of it was from DailyWealth, a free financial newsletter I get via email just for fun. The first article I got on November 14th called Why Chinese Power Plants Need Rabbit Food, and the other I got on the 16th was The Alternative Fuel Industry You've Never Heard Of. Finally, I also heard more about it from this blog called Storybook, in the blogpost Anatomy of Wildfire.


In other news: I am going home to The United States of America for 3 months! See here for details.

Also, today is the 1st anniversary of Lisa and I being legally wed. We'll be going out to eat and that's about it. We're not fully decided on where we want to go, but I'll post about it in a comment tomorrow or something.

8 Appendiged Girl in Myanmar, assisted by South Korean defense min. Kim Jang-soo, discovers weight beinifts, nicotine vaccine, and new Earth via PK

Girl Born With 4 Arms, 4 Legs Has Successful Surgery

Myanmar Junta's Hold on Power Must End, UN Envoy Says (Update1)

North Korea Still a Threat, South Korean Tells Gates

Extra Weight May Have Health Benefits

Nicotine Vaccine May Help Smokers Quit

A Planetary System That Looks Familiar

Bush speaks to Musharraf

In other news, yesterday Bergen saw its first snow of the season. The tips of the mountains were white, and all way beautiful. Then, as the day warmed, is began to rain and hail, with a bit of snow/hail/rain mix at the end of the day as it got colder again. I feared that Bergain was going to be covered in a thick layer of ice the next day (today) but no, it warmed and we had rain, lots and lots of rain and hail. Once it was hailing so hard that I could hardly see out the windows (wich are out our slanted ceiling rather than the wall)! Now it's just raining and Lisa said there's supposed to be some kind of big storm comming either tonight or tomorrow, let's take a look..... can't seem to find much about, just an alert for stormy weather, no actual named storm.

US navy helps injured North Korean sailors after pirate attack

Hey, would you look at this? Pretty sweat eh? Those North Korean sailors won't forget the kindness the the American sailors who addressed their injuries. It's a bright, beautiful touch adding to the warming that's been going on.

US navy helps injured North Korean sailors after pirate attack

Jonathan Watts, East Asia correspondent
Saturday November 3, 2007

Guardian

It has taken half a century, but North Korea and the United States have finally found a common enemy: the pirates prowling the waters off the coast of east Africa.

In one of the world's most unlikely rescues, a US naval vessel cruised to the support of a North Korean cargo ship this week after it repulsed a boarding by Somali pirates. The mission - which would have been almost unthinkable a year ago - was described by US diplomats as a goodwill gesture that underscored the thaw in ties between two of the cold war's oldest and, until recently, most bitter enemies.

US sailors were invited aboard the North Korean ship to provide medical assistance to wounded crewmen after a deadly fight with the pirates. The North Korean seamen had already won the battle, killing one Somali, wounding three and overpowering the others. The US medics helped to treat the injured, including three North Koreans.

"I think we were pleased to be able to help in this regard and I hope the North understands that we did this out of the sense of goodwill that we have on this," said the US assistant secretary of state Christopher Hill. "You'll always find our navy prepared to help any ship in distress and certainly any ship that is confronting pirates."

The cooperation came as US experts arrived in Pyongyang to start disabling the reclusive state's nuclear plants. Little more than a year ago the US was calling for inspections of North Korean ships in protest at the latter's nuclear bomb test.

"This is a very serious security problem on the African coast. These are not pirates who will remind you of [Pirates of the Caribbean actor] Johnny Depp. These are quite different kinds of pirates," said Mr Hill, who heads the US negotiating team with North Korea.

The coast off Somalia has the world's second most pirate infested waters, after Indonesia. There have been more than two dozen shipjackings already this year.

Pyongyang has yet to comment on the incident.

Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007

See also:
USA Today
Fox News
Boston Herald

Bergen Weather

Hey, just wanted to give you all a good glimpse of how the weather is in Bergen this time of year. Yes, that's hail clattering upon and sliding down the window. In case you can't view the video, here are some pictures:


















These pictures, as well as the video, were taken on October 30th, 2007 through the windows of our Løbergsveien Studentboliger appartment. We've had more rain since that day of hail, and Lisa tells me there have been some semi-serious flooding problems in the area. With all the hills around I'm surprised we don't get land-slides. To be fair, we have gotten the random bit of clear-skys, and the more common thick gray clouds without precipitation (as we have right at this moment).

Here's hoping the weather is better where you are. :)

Woohooo! I'm usin' an online word processor! Yeah!

This is so cheesy it's ridiculous (Me, not Churchill)

"Any man who is under 30, and is not a liberal, has no heart; and any man who is over 30, and is not a conservative, has no brains."

-Winston Churchill

All Hail To Massachusetts

Hi there, just wanted to post this simple thing. The official state song of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the 6th American British colony to sign to become part of the United States of America, and the 13th most populous U.S. state. You can find out about your own state song at the 50 States website.

All Hail To Massachusetts
Written by Arthur J. Marsh

All hail to Massachusetts, the land of the free and the brave!
For Bunker Hill and Charlestown, and flag we love to wave;
For Lexington and Concord, and the shot heard 'round the world;
All hail to Massachusetts, we'll keep her flag unfurled.
She stands upright for freedom's light that shines from sea to sea;
All hail to Massachusetts! Our country 'tis of thee!

All hail to grand old Bay State, the home of the bean and the cod,
Where pilgrims found a landing and gave their thanks to God.
A land of opportunity in the good old U.S.A.
Where men live long and prosper, and people come to stay.
Don't sell her short but learn to court her industry and stride;
All hail to grand old Bay State! The land of pilgrim's pride!

All hail to Massachusetts, renowned in the Hall of Fame!
How proudly wave her banners emblazoned with her name!
In unity and brotherhood, sons and daughters go hand in hand;
All hail to Massachusetts, there is no finer land!
It's M-A-S-S-A-C-H-U-S-E-T-T-S.
All hail to Massachusetts! All hail! All hail! All hail!

Posterity: you will never know how much it has cost my generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it.

- John Quincy Adams, the 6th U.S. President (1825-1829), born in Braintree, Massachusetts, in 1767. See also the city of Quincy.

U.S. Delaware Senetor Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr.'s Plan for Iraq

Alright, before I say anything else, let me be clear. This is not an endorsement of Senetor Biden for president in 2008. I don't know enough about the guy to endorse him completely. I like his opposition to the idea that money matters in an election campaign, and I like his plan for Iraq. That is all for now.

I am not a Republican, and definitely not a Democrat. I am a conservative independent and therefore usually admire Republicans more than Democrats, but the case is different here. Sen. Biden is the only one I've heard to not only have a plan, but have one that I like and think could work.

I'll post the main part of his plan here, but also give a link to his website, as well as some other related links.

A Five Point Plan for Iraq

1. Keep Iraq Together Through Federalism and Local Control

• Federalize Iraq in accordance with its constitution by establishing three or more regions - Shiite, Sunni and Kurd -- with a strong but limited central government in Baghdad
• Put the central government in charge of truly common interests: border defense, foreign policy, oil production and revenues
• Form regional and local governments that give Kurds, Sunni and Shiites control over the fabric of their daily lives: security, education, marriage, social services.

2. Secure Support from the Sunnis

• Gain agreement for the federal solution from the Sunni Arabs by guaranteeing them 20 percent of all present and future oil revenues -- an amount roughly proportional to their size -- which would make their region economically viable
• Empower the central government to set national oil policy and distribute the revenues, to attract needed foreign investment and reinforce each community's interest in keeping Iraq intact and protecting the oil infrastructure. Provide for an international oversight group to guarantee a fair distribution of oil revenues.
• Allow former Baath Party members to go back to work and reintegrate Sunnis with no blood on their hands.

3. Enlist Help from the Major Powers and Iraq’s Neighbors

• Initiate a major diplomatic offensive to secure the support of the major powers and Iraq’s neighbors for federalism in Iraq.
• Convene with the U.N. a regional security conference where Iraq's neighbors, including Iran, pledge to support Iraq's power sharing agreement and respect Iraq's borders
• Engage Iraq's neighbors directly to overcome their suspicions and focus their efforts on stabilizing Iraq, not undermining it
• Create a standing Oversight Group, to include the major powers, that would engage Iraq's neighbors and enforce their commitments

4. Responsibly Drawdown US Troops

• Direct U.S. military commanders to develop a plan to withdraw and re-deploy almost all U.S. forces from Iraq by the summer of 2008
• Maintain in or near Iraq a small residual force -- perhaps 20,000 troops -- to strike any concentration of terrorists, help keep Iraq's neighbors honest and train its security forces

5. Increase Reconstruction Assistance and Create a Jobs Program

• Provide more reconstruction assistance, conditioned on the protection of minority and women's rights and the establishment of a jobs program to give Iraqi youth an alternative to the militia and criminal gangs
• Insist that other countries take the lead in funding reconstruction by making good on old commitments and providing new ones -- especially the oil-rich Arab Gulf countries

Plan for Iraq
Biden President '08
Joe Biden wiki
Iraq's President Supports U.S. Senate's Plan to Decentralise Iraq wikinews
Bush apposes Iraq's Partition, reaffirms support of Maliki TOI
Turkey to Invade Iraq?! Fipher.net

P.S. No news on the water situation. Hopefully Lisa will be able to find out something today. God I love that woman. She brings an ecstasy to my life that just cannot be described in English any better than that- ecstasy.

Water Unsafe to drink in Bergen and Oslo?

Tap water in Norwegian capital unsafe

Published: Oct. 17, 2007 at 6:38 PM

OSLO, Norway, Oct. 17 (UPI) -- Water and sanitation officials in the Norwegian capital of Oslo issued a warning Wednesday that the city's tap water supply was unsafe for consumption.

The Oslo Department of Water and Sanitation said in a news release that the presence of microscopic Giardia lamblia and cryptosporidium parasites had made tap water unsafe and urged citizens to boil their water before consumption or use, Aftenposten said.

The bacteria found in Oslo's water supply is identical to the microscopic parasites found in the tap water used in the city of Bergen.

Food Safety Authority district chief Kjetil Berg said the parasites, which initially come from animal or human excrement, cause numerous physical symptoms in humans when consumed.

"One can get stomach and intestinal infection. Symptoms can include stomach pain, diarrhea and pyrosis (heartburn). From Bergen we have unfortunately seen that increasing numbers are ill for an extended period and have symptoms of exhaustion," Berg said.

Aftenposten said authorities did not know how long it would take to clear Oslo's water supply of the parasitic infection.

© Copyright United Press International. All Rights Reserved.
This material may not be reproduced, redistributed, or manipulated in any form.

Ok, so this is interesting, especially that one line... "The bacteria found in Oslo's water supply is identical to the microscopic parasites found in the tap water used in the city of Bergen."

Lisa and I allways drink the tapwater here, and weæve never gotten sick from it, but maybe the case in Bergen is new too. Since I don't know that answere, I would suggest all in Bergen and Oslo to refrain from drinking unboiled tapwater until city water officials say that it's safe. I'll ask Lisa to see if she can contact the officials in Bergen about it when she gets home from school, and if she can get an adiquat answere, I'll post it here in Norwegian and English.

For those of you who don't read english very well, a summery in bad Norwegian:

Van i Bergen og Oslo ha bæsje bakterie. Du ma ikke drikke det fra vannkran. Du ma koke alle van fra vannkran før du drikke.

"How come I can’t take toothpaste on a plane but they can put poop in the water?" -Shrinking Wop

Turkey to invade Iraq?!

Apparently with Kurdish Rebels recently attacking Turkish military, Turkey is seriously considering the invasion of Kurdistan in an effort to get rid of the PKK presence there.

Now, honestly, I don't blame them for wanting to do so. The Kurds should not be attacking the Turkish government. Their reasoning is that they want a Kurdish homeland. First of all, I don't believe in any nation built upon race. If a nation is built upon race, there is always danger of harassment of minority races.

Second, even if they deem a Kurdish nation necessary to preserve their culture, there seems to be a chance of one being built already. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani supprts the federalisation of Iraq. Basically Iraq would end up similar to the U.S. or U.K. with one central government controlling big things like national defence and basic rights for all Iraqi's, otherwise there would semi-autonomous states/regions for the Shi'ites, Sunnis, and Kurds.

Honestly, dispite the Presidents good intentions (presumably to stop the violence by giving these different groups more control over themselves, as the violent ones wish), I'm not entirely sure how much I support the idea. I think it is very important in the big worldwide picture for Shi'ites, Sunnis, and Kurds to be able to get along together. The world will never be a fully peaceful place untill we alltreat eachother as one big family.

However, the point is, even if the PKK can't be convinced that a Kurdish state isn't what God wants, there is no reason for them to be violent about it. If they simply peacefully politically promote a fully federalized Iraq, they will basicallyu have their Kurdish homeland in the form of an Iraqi-protected and funded(shares of oil revenue) Kurdistan. There is no reason to demand a Kudish state within southern Turkey when there is already one being created right next door in Northern Iraq.

At the same time, I do not beleive Turkey has a right to send troops into Iraq without permission for the Iraqi government. However, the Iraqi government (as well as the U.S. wich does consider the PKK a terrorist orginisation) need to step up its efforst to stop the PKK. They have started, but I beleive they need to do more. When Iran is having to shell these terrorists who are getting to close to their borders, we know the coalition is not doing its job(not that I condone Iran's actions entirely-they should have pressed harder before taking action themselves.).

Meanwhile, I thought I'd mention that VOA News has set up a site dedicated to it's news artivcles on what's happening in Burma. It is called "Burma's Struggle for Democracy." It seems I'm gaining a liking of this particular news company, wich has been around since 1942.

Breast Cancer, 1 year here, pluss more on Burma

Ok, so this is going to be a bit of a long one.

1. The first topic I want to address today is breast cancer. In the United States, October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The idea is to dedicate the entire month to making Americans aware and knowledgeable about breast cancer, as well as raise money for breast cancer research.

They do a good job raising awareness and money. Dozens of companies mark their products with a pink ribbon (the symbol for the disease, just as a red ribbon is for Aids) for the month, donating money whenever someone buys their pink-ribbon product. It's rather like the Product Red campaign, only Product RED(wiki) goes on year-round.

The problem sited by some is the knowledge part. Accourding to a survey by the National Breast Cancer Coalition many women don't rally know as much as they think about breast cancer. For an article by the Chicago Tribune about the survey, click here.

2. The next this I felt like mentioning was something I sort of missed a few weaks ago. I mean, I knew it happened, but I didn't say anything about it here, nor did I selebrate it. On September 21st one year ago, I arrived in Oslo, Norway origionating from Vineyard Haven, Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, U.S.A. with the intention of moving in with my wife, Lisa. With the exeption of a 3 week visit back home(google maps) around Christmas and a couple day trip to Germany a bit after that for a church event, I've been in Norway for a year now.

We've got a letter from UDI recently, and we also called them, and both the contents of the letter and the phone call suggest that they probably won't make a decision untill the end of October or even possibly until some time in November.

3. Finally wqe come to Burma. Things are looking crappy for the Burmese people as a millitary officer who defected from the Junta claims that thousands of Burmese are being killed and either left in the jungle or burned. He himself defected when he was given orders to load a bunch of monks onto a truck, take them out to the jungle, and kill them and leave their bodies there.

It's good to hear that not all Junta will agree to participate in the massacre, but I would have rather had the massacre not be happening at all. many are calling for a boycott of Chinese goods and the Olympics being held in china as long as their government continues to support the Junta and refuses to denounce their actions. I think it may be a good idea.

Here are a few new articles on the subject.

The long road to freedom by David Cook of The Age.

Burma: UN envoy meets top general as regime blames foreigners for violence

I'll finish later...


Oct. 11th, 07 My goodness, this is quite annoying. I can't seem to get the text size right for this post. In addition, it's been so long since I started it that I don't remember what I was going to continue with. Oh well, maybe it was pictures of our Burma rallies in Bergen. I'll do a seperate post for that, along with pictures of John's visitng us this past weekend.

AAAS Satalite Images of Atrocities in Burma

I'll do a separate entry tomorrow to talk about how earlier tonight went, but in the meantime, I told Cho Cho (one of the organisers and a political refugee from Burma who hasn't been to his mother land since 1997) that I would post information about AAAS's satellite pictures of Burma here on my blog.

So, here's a few helpful links about the AAAS's work to reveal human rights concerns in Burma.

Satellite images show Burma's plight

NEWS ALERT: Burma Army Burns Christian Karen Villages, Satellite Images Show

Satellite Images Corroborate Eyewitness Accounts of Human Rights Abuses in Burma, AAAS Reports Note that here is where some actual images can be found. In addition to the ones on this news report page, you can find more in the full report at the bottom of the page where it says For your conveniance, you can also view a full copy of the Burma report. It is in pdf format, so your computer should be able to read it. If your computer can't open the document, you can downlowed a copy of Adobe Reader here.

I hope these are useful. God bless,

-Fipher

P.S.

Cho Cho told me there are talks of keeping the marches going every saturday untill the violence stops, the Monks and other political prisinors freed, and Burma is really on its way to democracy. However, he also said that they hadn't made any final decition. I gave him my email address so he can let me know when they've made a decision, but he seems like he's probably a busy man, so if anyone else hears news about further activities in Bergen, could you let me know by posting a comment here about it? Thanks!


Ethical axioms are found and tested not very differently from the axioms ofscience. Truth is what stands the test of experience.-- Albert Einstein

Burmese People Loose Ground, and Hope

I was hoping today that I could give only good news about our success in Bergen yesterday, but unfortunately I can't. The Washington Post has reported that the cities of Yangon and Mandalay are quiet and all the monks are locked up in their own temples in their article Myanmar Quiet As Envoy Arrives.

UN Envoy Gambari seemed hopeful, believing he'd be able to talk to all the people he needed to once he got there, but others didn't One women said how she and others have lost hope because the monks, who are now all locked up, were the ones who gave the rest of the population courage to speak up. Without them, it seems, most are afraid to go out. Especially, I suppose, with soldiers guarding all over the city.

This confirms my fears that with international telephone lines cut and internet access severely limited, the Burmese demonstrators wouldn't have enough external support to give them hope. It seems that now all we can do is encourage our own governments to impose sanctions (Not only on the Myanmar Junta government, but on nations who economically support the Junta, such as China), and pray for Gambari's safety and success.

The world must fallow President Bush's example of being harsh towards regimes such as this if we are going to get anywhere towards a world of freedom, peace, unity, and happiness.

In more pleasant news, last night at the art gallery went well I think. A few of the Burmese who had showed up earlier in the day didn't show up for it, but a lot more Norwegians showed up. I'll have to get the few pictures I have onto this PC. Perhaps I can put them onto the MacBook and then transfer them here via iPod Shuffle. (I don't know if I've mentioned it here before or not, but my MacBook can't hook up to the internet here, while the PC won't hook up to the HP Photosmart C3180, which I also use to upload photos from my camera.)

Also, Lisa will be able to come to the gathering tonight at 7 PM at the blue stone, as well as perhaps Anis, a Cameroonian-Iranian Baha'i friend of mine living in Bergen. I also might try going door to door around the building to see if I can get anyone else to come.

In other good news, there has been some progress in the U.S. in giving proof to the world about the humanitarian crisis in Burma.

According to the American Association for the Advancement of Science, they satellite images that confirm the stories of many Burmese refugees, that their villages have been burned down and that many new military bases have been built in areas to control the population more forcefully and keep opposition groups from forming strong roots.

Now that that project is done, and with what's going on now, they plan on refocusing their satellite lenses on more main Burmese cities to watch what's going on between the Junta military and protesters.

The Boston Globe has a good article on it here.

That's it for now folks. I'll update later tonight or tomorrow, hopefully with pictures from both tonight and last nights events. God bless, all.

-Fipher



P.S. Remember! 7 PM Tonight at the huge blue rectangular stone in town, Bergen. Berganites be there if you aren't seriously busy, or be selfish pigs! Oh, and wear red!

1:56 PM Edit:

Ok, I should have seen this comming. Things in Burma are a little more complicated as they might seem.The Christian Science Monitor has compiled a little mini-history of modern Burma. Apperently, if we don't talk to absolutely ALL parties, the peaceful protests lead by Buhddist monks could lead to civil war with previousely established septratist organizations.

See Monks rising: the basics on Burma Answers to some of the fundamental questions on a nation in flux.

Mind you, this does not diminish my support for the Monks idea of a peaceful transition to a better sort of government. It simply makes me a little more aware of the situation, a weary of what might happen next.

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." - Abraham Lincoln, U.S. President

Update: Local Burmese Take to the Streets!

Hey, guess what? Bergen has a small population of Burmese immigrants! I found this out today when I went into town wearing red with a bunch of posters. I ended up joining them in their march around town wich ended at the local city hall.

Unfortunately I hadn't braught my camera, but no matter, they braught theirs. They were very grateful for my support for their cause, and requested to take several pictures of my with my posters (one of wich on my back) as well as with them.

After saying hi to Lisa at her workplace, I rejoind them in their march. While I had put up many of my poster around town already, I still had some so I passed them around to fellow marchers to hold up and show people.

Tonight at 6 PM we're meeting again at the Norwegina monument in town, where we will be led to what I beleive to be a Chinese art exibition. Apperently one of the orginisers of the exibition wanted to use it as a venue for the Bermese people, whos oppressive government gets much support from China.

In addition to tonight, we're meeting again at the big blu rectangular block in town tomorrow at 7 PM. In the meantime I'm going to print out some more posters, as well as try to get permition from the local UPF leaders to call myself an official UPF representative in support of stopping the violence against the peaceful Monk-led protests in Burma.

Also, perhaps tonight I'll start writing letters to the MA cenetors and representatives, as well as to the Department of State and the Executive office of President Bush, encuraging their stance against the Junta and for democracy in Burma.

I pray any readers I might have can do all they can in support of this movement for freedom and human rites for the people of Burma.

Myanmar (Formerly Burmian) Monks March for Freedom!

Hello everyone. I suppose many of you have heard of the monks in Myanmar leadeing their people in peaceful protests for democracy. I you guess that I am in full support of their efforts. Well, I wanted to post about it here because Lisa just got a messege on her phone the supporters of the monks are encuraged to wear red today. I am wearing a red t-shirt and red boxers under my pants.

In case you hadn't heard, the Myanmar military government have ignored calls from all over the world (The US, EU, UN, and even their friendly neighbor China) to exercise restraint, especially considering that the last peaceful uprising in Myanma resulted in 3,000 dead. While China won't explicitly condem the junta ruling government, other countries (especially the U.S. of course) are calling for the juna to give in to the monks and allow for a peaceful change to democracy.

One country that I imagine is particularly P.O.'d at the junta would be Japan. According to them, while junta forces were attecking some monks, they also killed a Japanese photographer. I'm sure they will be a strong ally with the U.S. in the U.N., which is pushing for the U.N. security counsil to act on the situation.

Below I'll list a few links about the situation.

USA Today reporter Emily Bazar reports Burmese exiles laud bravery of protesters

AP reporter CHRISTOPHER BODEEN reports China Pleads for Calm in Myanmar

EUX.TV reports Norwegian trade union leader backs call to "wear red"

Seatle Times reporter Henry Chu reports Myanmar citizens take up monks' protest

And so the fight for freedom goes on.

Update: The booklet has been pulled but the Songbook is still there.

Apperently the German government booklet encuraging fathers to touch their baby doughter's clitoris, and more, was in fact something published under the previouse administration. The current chancellor had never heard of it before and has stopped its circulation.

However, the childrens song book that encurages child mastrobation has not been pulled.
Here's lifeste's update article on the issue.

Personally, I am at ease that those two booklets are gone, but I still encurage anyone who cares to write to German authorities to discurage them from continuing to publish the songbook. It is so incredible to me that any of these books were even written, nevermind published and distributed by a government entity.

I know it's Germany, not Norway or the U.S. but I still think it matters to me. If other nations start this kind of stuff it will be looked at by Americans and Norwegians slightly less suspiciously, mand therefore the chance of these sorts of books being forced on our children and teachers will be more likely.

German Government Publication Promotes Incestuous Pedophilia as Healthy Sex Ed.

Well, what an incredible headline, eh? Well, apperently it's true. I hope this kind of stuff doesn't spread.

LifeSiteNews.com
Monday July 30, 2007

German Government Publication
Promotes Incestuous Pedophilia as Healthy
Sex Ed

Micheal O'Brien,
author on crisis of culture in West, says this "German
state intervention in
family life is a new level of auto-destruction"

By John-Henry Westen
BERLIN, July 30, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) -
Booklets from a subsidiary of the
German government's Ministry for Family
Affairs encourage parents to
sexually massage their children as young as 1 to 3
years of age. Two
40-page booklets entitled "Love, Body and Playing
Doctor" by the German
Federal Health Education Center (Bundeszentrale für
gesundheitliche
Aufklärung - BZgA) are aimed at parents - the first addressing
children from
1-3 and the other children from 4-6 years of age."

"Fathers do not
devote enough attention to the clitoris and vagina of their
daughters. Their
caresses too seldom pertain to these regions, while this is the
only way the
girls can develop a sense of pride in their sex," reads the booklet
regarding 1-3 year olds. The authors rationalize, "The child touches
all
parts of their father's body, sometimes arousing him. The father should
do the
same."

Canadian author and public speaker Michael
O'Brien who has written and
spoken extensively about the crisis of culture
in the West spoke to
LifeSiteNews.com about the shocking and extremely
disturbing phenomenon. It is,
he said, "State-encouraged incest, which in
most civilized societies is a
crime." The development is, he suggests, a
natural outcome of the rejection of
the Judeo-Christian moral
order."

"The imposed social revolution that has swept the western
world is moving
to a new stage as it works out the logical consequences of
its view of man's
value," said O'Brien. "It is merely obeying its strictly
materialist philosophy
of man. If man is no more than a creature created for
pleasure or power. If he
is no more than a cell in the social organism, then
no moral standards, no
psychological truths, no spiritual truths can refute
the 'will to power' and the
'will to pleasure'."

The pamphlet
advises parents to permit young children "unlimited
masturbation" except
where physical injury becomes apparent. It advises:
"Children should learn
that there is no such thing as shameful parts of the
body. The body is a
home, which you should be proud of." For ages 4-6, the
booklet
recommends teaching children the movements of copulation.

Another
product of the BZgA is a song book aimed at children of four and
slightly
older which includes several songs espousing masturbation. The
song-book entitled "Nose, belly and bum" includes one song with the
following
lyrics: "When I touch my body, I discover what I have. I have a
vagina, because
I am a girl. Vagina is not only for peeing. When I touch it,
I feel a pleasant
tingle."

"The wiser and deeper position of
most civilizations recognized that
children need a period of innocence,"
commented O'Brien. "Now the state,
the German state, is encouraging
destruction of this state of innocence," he
added. "This is consistent
with the materialist philosophy that sees all
moral norms and all truths
about human nature as repressive. Pleasure and their
distorted concept of
freedom are their only guiding principles."

According to the Polish
daily newspaper Rzeczpospolita, the BZgA booklet is
an obligatory read in
nine German regions. It is used for training nursery,
kindergarten and
elementary school teachers. Ironically it is recommended by
many
organizations officially fighting pedophilia, such as the German
Kunderschutzbund. BZgA sends out millions of copies of the booklet every
year.

"A society such as Germany's which is already in steep
decline, indeed into
degeneration, will only inherit the whirlwind of
violence and further levels of
degradation of their own people," warned
O'Brien.

"It has happened before in Germany. It has happened in
other nations.
Different causes but the same dynamic, the rejection of the
moral order of the
created universe results in radical evil. The German
state intervention in
family life is a new level of auto-destruction," said
O'Brien.

Rzeczpospolita reports that the Eckhardt Scheffer of BZgA
claimed that
before releasing the manual the organization consulted parents,
educators and
child psychologists. 93% of whom gave a positive
evaluation.

Even for a Western nation, Germany's billboards and
television ads push the
limits of public pornography. Last year
LifeSiteNews.com reported that a
very popular teen magazine in Germany
publishes nude photos of teens in sexual
positions which would be in almost
any other nation illegal child
pornography.

With a
licentiousness as the new morality of the secular materialist
establishment
and homeschool a forbidden practice, parents in Germany may well
wonder what
will transpire in public education.

"Will those children who are
not liberated by their parents have special
classes in their schools where
they're introduced to these practices," asked
O'Brien rhetorically.
"If the state intervenes in this way, what won't it
intervene
in?"

O'Brien concluded his comments quoting G.K. Chesterton: "When
men cease to
believe in God, they do not thereafter believe in nothing, they
then become
capable of believing anything."

To express concerns
to German authorities:

In Canada:

German
Embassy
1 Waverley Street
Ottawa, ON, K2P 0T8
Tel.: 613-232-1101 Fax:
613-594-9330
Email: germanembassyottawa@on.aibn.com

In the US:

German Embassy
4645 Reservoir Road
NW
Washington, DC, 20007-1998
Tel.: (202) 298-4000
The embassy can be
e-mailed from its website: http://www.globescope.biz/germany/reg/index.cfm

In Germany:

President
of the Federal Republic of Germany
11010 Berlin
Germany
Telefon: +49 30
20 00-0
Fax: +49 030 20 00-19
E-Mail: Bundespraesident.Horst.Koehler@bpra.bund.de

Chancellor
Angela Merkel
Willy-Brandt-Straße 1
10557
Berlin
Germany
Telefon: +49 180 272-0000
Fax: +49 1888
272-2555
E-Mail: InternetPost@bundesregierung.de

To
read Michael O'Brien's essay on the Family and the New Totalitarianism
see:http://studiobrien.com/site/index.php?option=com_content&...

(with
files from the July 9 edition of the Polish daily "Rzeczpospolita" by
Aleksandra Rybinska with English translation provided by Joanna Najfeld)

For the origional article, click here.

Prime Minister Brown of the U.K. boycotts inter-union summit, and with good reason!

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/news/2007/09/brown_snub_to_mugabe.html

I would like to congradulate Prime Minister Brown for standing firm in support of E.U. law and universal concience by boycotting President Mugabe's attendence at the inter-union summit between the European Union and the African Union.

.
President Mugabe is selfish man who does not know what would be truely good for his people(the people of Zimbabwe). He should be looked upon by the world as a criminal, not a world leader worthey of attending an E.U.-A.U. summit.

Cheers to you, Prime Minister Brown!

Sincerely,
Christopher (Fipher) D. Osborn
fipher.blogspot.com

President Ahmadinejad wants to pay respects?

Here's the "Daily News" story.

President of Iran requests tour of Ground Zero on N.Y. trip

BY JAMES GORDON MEEK in
Washington
and ALISON GENDAR in New
York
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Thursday, September 20th 2007, 4:00 AM

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Discuss

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is visiting the United Nations
next week.
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Don't even think about it.

The president of Iran - an accused terrorist, Holocaust denier and proud member of the Axis of Evil - had the audacity to request an official tour of Ground Zero when he's in the city next
week.

The NYPD promptly rejected the idea, but that may not stop Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from visiting the sacred ground.

A pokesman for the Iranian mission to the United Nations said even though the request to visit "Ground Zero and the immediate area" was rejected, hmadinejad still wants to go.

"We are hopeful that we can still work something out with the Police Department" the Iranian spokesman
said.

Just the thought of Ahmadinejad standing on the same ground where the twin towers were destroyed and nearly 3,000
people were killed by terrorists
sickened many victims' relatives,
White House Aides and prominent
politicians.

"He's certainly an enemy of ours," said Jack Lynch, a retired MTA supervisor whose son, Michael Lynch, a firefighter, was killed in the 9/11 attacks.

"He's a nut. How can anyone deny the Holocaust? His presence is not welcome."

Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a Republican presidential candidate, and Democratic hopeful Sen. Hillary Clinton were among the U.S. leaders who condemned the proposed visit.

"Assisting Ahmadinejad in touring Ground Zero - hallowed ground for all Americans - is outrageous," Giuliani said.

"This is a man who has made threats
against America and Israel, is harboring Bin Laden's son and other Al Qaeda leaders, is shipping arms to Iraqi insurgents and is pursuing the
development of nuclear weapons."

Clinton said Ahmadinejad was not
welcome because he "refuses to renounce and end his own country's support of terrorism."

White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe agreed.

"It seems odd that the president of a country that is a state sponsor of terror
would visit Ground Zero," he said.

Little can be done to keep Ahmadinejad, who is arriving Sunday to address the United Nations' General Assembly, from
visiting Ground Zero like any other tourist. The attack site is about 5 miles from the
UN.

A Secret Service detail, provided to heads of state when they visit the U.S., is expected to accompany Ahmadinejad around the city during his visit.

Ahmadinejad - who has said Israel should be "wiped off the map" and has called the
Holocaust a "myth" - reportedly wants to go to Ground Zero at 10 a.m. Monday.

He will go to Columbia University the
same day. The radical leader will debate the university president over his stance on the Holocaust, Israel and whether Iran supports terrorism and is developing
nuclear weapons.

Ahmadinejad made an official request to tour Ground Zero and lay a wreath there through the Iranian mission about two
weeks ago, authorities said.

The NYPD denied his request, citing security and logistical concerns after meeting with the Secret Service and Port
Authority officials, authorities said.

A police spokesman said the NYPD
also would oppose Ahmadinejad visiting
the public area of Ground Zero. The
spokesman said no official request had been received.

The Iranian president is a hard-liner who has denied claims by several Americans that he was among the extremists who took them hostage during the 1979 Islamic revolution. He also has stated recently that the 9/11 attacks were an inside job, carried out with the help of intelligence agents.

"Could it be planned and executed without coordination with intelligence and security services - or their extensive infiltration?" he asked in an open letter to
President Bush in May 2006. "Of course this is just an educated guess. Why have the various aspects of the attacks been kept secret?"

Nikki Stern, whose husband was killed on Sept. 11, said Ahmadinejad visiting Ground Zero would amount to a propaganda stunt. "It would be amusing if it weren't so dangerous," she said.

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Zalmay Khalilzad, told reporters the U.S. would not support Iran's attempt to use the site for a "photo op."

"Iran can demonstrate its seriousness about concern with regard to terrorism by taking concrete actions," he said, such as dropping support for Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and suspending its uranium enrichment program.

Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Brooklyn, Queens) was more direct, declaring: "Iran is a terrorist state and its president is a danger to the world."

agendar@nydailynews.com

So... I'm not sure about this myself. My heart is rather torn. On the one hand, we've got to be the better people. Who knows, perhaps if he goes to see the site he'll have some mirraculouse change of heart. Perhaps the spiritual power surrounding the sight will get to him, and he'll end up crying on his knees.

That's what we can all hope and pray for. However, we know this man to be a terrible man. Is he had his way all Jews and Bahais would be extinguished. In fact, for all we know if he had his way all non-muslums would be extinguished. This is not the sort of man who we can expect to be very suseptable to good spititual influence.

If we let him go and he does not have a change of heart, her may pretend, and try to fool America and the world into being less stern with him and his country. The solution, I think would be to allow him to go alone, with absolutely no reporters or cameras allowed in the vacinity while he visits. If it truely effects him he will lead his country to dramatic change. If it doesn't, there will be not pictures for him to use as propaganda.

Sadly, I doubt this will happen, but I will pray for it anyhow. Myricals have happened before and they can and will happen again.

Gay Leader Goes Straight

Alright, so...

You probably easily guess that I am very straight. You might even guess by certain organisations I'm associated with that you could put me in the anti-gay crowd.

Well, you're right on both counts. In fact, I've even supported Vote On Marriage, the MA .org that was the head of the movement to put the gay marriage issue on the MA ballot. Unfortunately democracy failed there and so MA law still relies on the decision of a few court justices instead of the will of the people.

However, I am not so perfectly transparent as that. I've grown up in a fairly new Christian sect who's leader has called the acts of homosexuals the acts of "dung eating dogs". However, like many men who have walked this earth, I've had the tiniest little homosexual thoughts of my own. I've also had my clothed crotch grabbed at without my permission by a seemingly confused(he was in a relationship with woman at the time) Brazilian man who was a bit of a friend of mine. On top of it, the same many who once called gays "dung eating dogs" also preaches love for all people no matter what especially your enemies and especially sinners, because they're the ones who need it the most. Finally, I love science just as much(if not more) than I love religion. I used to be a bit of a computer geek.

So, I'm in a position where I have great interested in the feelings of gay people. I've very interested in being able to definitively answerer the question of nature or nurture. So when I head about Michael Glatze I was rather interested. Not only to hear his story, but to hear how other gays individually react to what he says.

In case you haven't heard the story, here are a couple links.

On WND (World Net Daily), Michael Glatze writes How a 'gay rights' leader became straight

Americans for Truth opinion report: Michael Glatze ‘Comes Out’ of Homosexuality: former ‘Young Gay America’ Magazine Co-founder

I know this story is a little old, but what can I say but that I guess I'm a little slow.

So my question is really posed to other gays. What do you feel about all this? Do you think that what Mr. Glatze has to say is interesting, or do you simply feel that "just because he's discovered he's not gay doesn't mean anything else he says these days is true"? I'd really like to know.

Please post what you think about it either here on my blog or here at B3DMB.

Hi Lisa!

I love you baby, and I miss you.

If Iraq Falls

Not just as an American, but as a human being, I care a lot about what happens in Iraq. In fact, I care about Iraq just about as much as I care about Washington D.C. (my place of birth), Martha's Vineyard (the island off Massachusetts where I've lived the most of my life), or even Norway (where I currently reside with my wife and hopefully where I will some day start a family.) In fact, I care more about what happens in Iraq than if the Boston RedSox (Go Sox!) win the world series.

It is this that drove me to arrive at this interesting article by German writer and American foreign policy expert Josef Joffe on the subject. The Honorable president George Walker Bush of the United States of America recently gave a speech about how we have to have patience or else our withdrawal from Iraq will be like our withdrawal from Vietnam (very bloody and chaotic). The article, "If Iraq Falls," seems to be one of many responses to that speech. I like it, but you can decide for yourself. Here it is.

If Iraq Falls By JOSEF JOFFE August 27, 2007; Page A11

In contrast to President Bush's dark comparison between Iraq and the bloody aftermath of the Vietnam War last week, there is another, comforting version of the Vietnam analogy that's gained currency among policy makers and pundits. It goes something like this:

After that last helicopter took off from the U.S. embassy in Saigon 32 years ago, the nasty strategic consequences then predicted did not in fact materialize. The "dominoes" did not fall, the Russians and Chinese did not take over, and America remained No. 1 in Southeast Asia and in the world.

But alas, cut-and-run from Iraq will not have the same serendipitous aftermath, because Iraq is not at all like Vietnam.

Unlike Iraq, Vietnam was a peripheral arena of the Cold War. Strategic resources like oil were not at stake, and neither were bases (OK, Moscow obtained access to Da Nang and Cam Ranh Bay for a while). In the global hierarchy of power, Vietnam was a pawn, not a pillar, and the decisive battle lines at the time were drawn in Europe, not in Southeast Asia.

The Middle East, by contrast, was always the "elephant path of history," as Israel's fabled defense minister, Moshe Dayan, put it. Legions of conquerors have marched up and down the Levant, and from Alexander's Macedonia all the way to India. Other prominent visitors were Julius Caesar, Napoleon and the German Wehrmacht.

This is not just ancient history. Today, the Greater Middle East is a cauldron even Macbeth's witches would be terrified to touch. The world's worst political and religious pathologies combine with oil and gas, terrorism and nuclear ambitions.

In short, unlike yesterday's Vietnam, the Greater Middle East (including Turkey) is the central strategic arena of the 21st century, as Europe was in the 20th. This is where three continents -- Europe, Asia, and Africa -- are joined. So let's take a moment to think about what would happen once that last Blackhawk took off from Baghdad International.

Here is a short list. Iran advances to No. 1, completing its nuclear-arms program undeterred and unhindered. America's cowed Sunni allies -- Saudi-Arabia, Jordan, the oil-rich "Gulfies" -- are drawn into the Khomeinist orbit.

You might ask: Wouldn't they converge in a mighty anti-Tehran alliance instead? Think again. The local players have never managed to establish a regional balance of power; it was always outsiders -- first Britain, then the U.S. -- who chastened the malfeasants and blocked anti-Western intruders like Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia.

With the U.S. gone from Iraq, emboldened jihadi forces shift to Afghanistan and turn it again into a bastion of Terror International. Syria reclaims Lebanon, which it has always labeled as a part of "Great Syria." Hezbollah and Hamas, both funded and equipped by Tehran, resume their war against Israel. Russia, extruded from the Middle East by adroit Kissingerian diplomacy in the 1970s, rebuilds its anti-Western alliances. In Iraq, the war escalates, unleashing even more torrents of refugees and provoking outside intervention, if not partition.

Now, let's look beyond the region. The Europeans will be the first to revise their romantic notions of multipolarity, or world governance by committee. For worse than an overbearing, in-your-face America is a weakened and demoralized one. Shall Vladimir Putin's Russia acquire a controlling stake? This ruthlessly revisionist power wants revenge for its post-Gorbachev humiliation, not responsibility.

China with its fabulous riches? The Middle Kingdom is still happily counting its currency surpluses as it pretties up its act for the 2008 Olympics, but watch its next play if the U.S. quits the highest stakes game in Iraq. The message from Beijing might well read: "Move over America, the Western Pacific, as you call it, is our lake."

Europe? It is wealthy, populous and well-ordered. But strategic players those 27 member-states of the E.U. are not. They cannot pacify the Middle East, stop the Iranian bomb or keep Mr. Putin from wielding gas pipelines as tools of "persuasion." When the Europeans did wade into the fray, as in the Balkan wars of the 1990s, they let the U.S. Air Force go first.

Now to the upside. The U.S. may have spent piles of chips foolishly, but it is still the richest player at the global gaming table. In the Bush years, the U.S. may have squandered tons of political capital, but then the rest of the world is not exactly making up for the shortfall.

Nor has the U.S. become a "dispensable nation." That is the most remarkable truth in these trying times. Its enemies from al Qaeda to Iran -- and its rivals from Russia to China -- can disrupt and defy, but they cannot build and lead.

For all the damage to Washington's reputation, nothing of great import can be achieved without, let alone against, the U.S. Can Moscow and Beijing bring peace to Palestine? Or mend a global financial system battered by the subprime crisis? Where are the central banks of Russia and China?

The Bush presidency will soon be on the way out, but America is not. This truth has recently begun to sink in among the major Democratic contenders. Listen to Hillary Clinton, who would leave "residual forces" to fight terrorism. Or to Barack Obama, who would stay in Iraq with an as-yet-unspecified force. Even the most leftish of them all, John Edwards, would keep troops around to stop genocide in Iraq or to prevent violence from spilling over into the neighborhood. And no wonder, for it might be one of them who will have to deal with the bitter aftermath if the U.S. slinks out of Iraq.

These realists have it right. Withdrawal cannot serve America's interests on the day after tomorrow. Friends and foes will ask: If this superpower doesn't care about the world's central and most dangerous stage -- what will it care about?

America's allies will look for insurance elsewhere. And the others will muse: If the police won't stay in this most critical of neighborhoods, why not break a few windows, or just take over? The U.S. as "Gulliver Unbound" may have stumbled during its "unipolar" moment. But as giant with feet of clay, it will do worse: and so will the rest of the world.

Mr. Joffe is publisher-editor of Die Zeit, the German weekly and will be teaching foreign policy at Stanford University this fall. His latest book is "Überpower: The Imperial Temptation of America." (Norton, 2006).

If you want to discuss the article and related subjects further other than here, another good spot is at bones3dmb.com. Here's a direct link to the discussion thread where I've posted this article.

Science and Religion, two aspects of truth of equal importance.

Ethical axioms are found and tested not very differently from the axioms of
science. Truth is what stands the test of experience.
-- Albert Einstein

Start

End.

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."
- Abraham Lincoln, U.S. President