AN ANTI-SEMITIC AND RACIST COMIC BOOK IN KOREA

One Free Korea reports about the Simon Wiesenthal Center's research on a Judeophobic and racist comic book called "Monnara Iunnara". The North end of Korea may be where this kind of prejudice mainly stems from, but even the South end has problems with racism too. The blogmaster for OFK, who's familiar with some of the Wiesenthal staff, presents the press release rightfully slamming the abominable book right here:

We were shocked to recently learn that a book from your very successful series, Monnara lunnara by Professor Lee Won-Bak is replete with classic hateful and dangerous antisemitic caricatures and themes. For your information I am inclosing a few of the most notorious, for they echo Nazi canards like those found in Der Sturmer and the Protocols of the Elders of Zion by recycling various Jewish conspiracies like Jewish control of the media and money, Jews profiting from war, and even the alleged reason for the 9/11 attacks was that, “Jews use money and the media as weapons in America to do as they want.”

In addition, the author even alleges that the “Final obstacle to success” is a so-called “Wall of the Jews.”

Ms Park, we urge Gimm-Young Publishers to review for itself the slanders in this book that historically have led to antisemitism, violence, hatred and even genocide. We respectfully suggest that you take steps to replace the litany of hate and instead provide young Korean readers with the facts about the Jewish people and our religion and values.

Here's a page featuring a translation of the panels from the horrific book. I should hope that the publishers will have a respectable response, and that Korean society will have something to think about, and do their best to reshape their values and education so that crap like this can be prevented in the future.

The following blog, Reading Monnara, which keeps track of whatever turns up in the book, features more disturbing items from inside the book, and it's not just the Jewish race that's been targeted, but even white and black people too. If you've got the stomach for the following:
WHITE TRASH?!?!? That's what they call us? Sick, sick, sick.

This shows that Korea, sadly, may not be all that different from what imperial Japan was like a century ago, and that considerable educational reform is needed there too.

PRESIDENT OF CZECH REPUBLIC CALLS MAN-MADE GLOBAL WARMING A MYTH

Wow! I think I've found a new political hero. I wonder if he could run for President of the United States.

From the Drudge Report:

Czech president Vaclav Klaus has criticized the UN panel on global warming, claiming that it was a political authority without any scientific basis.

In an interview with "Hospodárské noviny", a Czech economics daily, Klaus answered a few questions:

Q: IPCC has released its report and you say that the global warming is a false myth. How did you get this idea, Mr President?•

A: It's not my idea. Global warming is a false myth and every serious person and scientist says so. It is not fair to refer to the U.N. panel. IPCC is not a scientific institution: it's a political body, a sort of non-government organization of green flavor. It's neither a forum of neutral scientists nor a balanced group of scientists. These people are politicized scientists who arrive there with a one-sided opinion and a one-sided assignment. Also, it's an undignified slapstick that people don't wait for the full report in May 2007 but instead respond, in such a serious way, to the summary for policymakers where all the "but's" are scratched, removed, and replaced by oversimplified theses.• This is clearly such an incredible failure of so many people, from journalists to politicians. If the European Commission is instantly going to buy such a trick, we have another very good reason to think that the countries themselves, not the Commission, should be deciding about similar issues.•

[...]

Q: If you look at all these things, even if you were right ...•

A: ...I am right...•

Q: Isn't there enough empirical evidence and facts we can see with our eyes that imply that Man is demolishing the planet and himself?•

A: It's such a nonsense that I have probably not heard a bigger nonsense yet.•

Q: Don't you believe that we're ruining our planet?•

A: I will pretend that I haven't heard you. Perhaps only Mr Al Gore may be saying something along these lines: a sane person can't. I don't see any ruining of the planet, I have never seen it, and I don't think that a reasonable and serious person could say such a thing. Look: you represent the economic media so I expect a certain economical erudition from you. My book will answer these questions. For example, we know that there exists a huge correlation between the care we give to the environment on one side and the wealth and technological prowess on the other side. It's clear that the poorer the society is, the more brutally it behaves with respect to Nature, and vice versa.• It's also true that there exist social systems that are damaging Nature - by eliminating private ownership and similar things - much more than the freer societies. These tendencies become important in the long run. They unambiguously imply that today, on February 8th, 2007, Nature is protected uncomparably more than on February 8th ten years ago or fifty years ago or one hundred years ago.• That's why I ask: how can you pronounce the sentence you said? Perhaps if you're unconscious? Or did you mean it as a provocation only? And maybe I am just too naive and I allowed you to provoke me to give you all these answers, am I not? It is more likely that you actually believe what you say.

Man! This guy is on the money. I'm Czech myself, so he fills me with a lot of pride. The world needs a little more common sense like this.

Now what we need to watch for is when the environmentalist call for Klaus to be charged with crimes against humanity and brought up on trial at The Hague.

Students too Dumb to Get an Obvious Joke

It is an old tradition for students to write outrageous things in their student newspaper just for fun and provocation rather than out of any serious intent. But in the humorless, mollycoddled atmosphere at PC universities today, many students seem unable to tell the difference -- as a satirical article about rape in the student newspaper of Central Connecticut State University revealed:

"The article, written by opinion editor John Petroski, details several "benefits" that rape has made to civilization over the years. The article describes rape as a "magical experience" that has been a blessing to "ugly women."

"If it weren't for rape, how would they ever know the joy of intercourse with a man who isn't drunk?" the article asks.

Student editors at the paper said the article was meant to be a satirical jab at the sensationalistic nature of the modern news media. But dozens of students said the article fell well short of being funny. Instead, they said, it caused deep pain for those who have already been raped, and that it reinforced age-old, misogynistic stereotypes.....

In a statement released Thursday afternoon, Jack Miller, university president, said the article crossed the lines of journalistic freedom.

Miller said he planned to convene a panel of students and faculty in the coming weeks to discuss the issue, but he stopped short of taking any action against Petroski or the paper's editors and faculty advisers.... "We need to be sure that students understand that such hateful speech is not protected and simply is not worthy, on any ground, of publication."

Source

"Not protected" -- says who? Another university official who thinks he is the Supreme Court. Leftists can chant: "Hate-speech is not free speech" all they like but that still does not inject such a definition into the 1st Amendment. And a good thing for them that is too. With their furious hatred of America, Israel, Christians and conservatives, Leftist speech would be a big target for an anti-hate-speech law.


(For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, DISSECTING LEFTISM and EYE ON BRITAIN. My Home Page. Email me (John Ray) here.)

GERMANY TO PAROLE CONVICTED TERRORIST

As reported by the AP, a German court will parole Brigitte Mohnhaupt, a Red Army Faction (Baader-Meinhof Gang) terrorist convicted and sentenced in 1985 to 5 life terms for 9 murders, including the murder of the Chief Federal Prosecutor.

Mohnhaupt has never expressed the slightest remorse for her crimes. That isn't going to slow down the German judicial system, which has been practicing coddling terrorists for the past few years.

But at least it is reported that the planned release has sparked debate in Germany. European civilization won't disappear without at least a whimper.

OBSESSION

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.
- Edmund Burke

"This is a film about a radical worldview, and the threat it poses to us all, Muslim and non-Muslim alike." Go here for my review of the movie, Obsession.

A SONG FOR AMERICAN HEROS: OUR TROOPS

Oh beautiful for heroes proved,
In liberating strife,
Who more than self, our country loved,
And mercy more than life,

America, America may God thy gold refine,
Till all success be nobleness
And every gain divined.

FOOL-PROOF TRAITOR DETECTION TEST

GET A LEFTIE YOU KNOW - WHO CLAIMS TO BE PATRIOTIC AND TO SUPPORT THE TROOPS - TO COME BY YOUR COMPUTER AND PLAY THEM THESE TWO SONGS:

THIS, AND THEN THIS.

If they squirm, then they're traitors.

If they're moved the way you and I are every time we hear them, (and think of all the brave Americans who have sacrificed their lives so that we - and hundreds of MILLIONS of people around the world can be FREE), then they're OK.

Socialists Candidate In France Unveils Far-Left Platform

VILLEPINTE, France: Ségolène Royal, the presidential candidate of the Socialist Party, on Sunday unveiled a long-awaited, 100-proposal platform, veering sharply to the left on economic policy while also stressing discipline and traditional values.

Ten weeks before elections, Royal is hoping to reverse a slide in popularity that has seen her lose ground to her main challenger, Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy.

In a two-hour speech to about 10,000 supporters north of Paris, she pledged to raise pensions, increase the minimum wage to €1,500, or about $2,000, a month and guaranteed a job or further training to every youth within six months of graduating. She also said randomly selected citizens' juries would watch over government policy and that juvenile delinquents could be placed in educational camps run by the military.

As if to preempt her opponents on the right, she stressed throughout her speech that her ideas had been nourished in 6,000 debates with citizens throughout France, a method she has called "participative democracy."

It always amuses me how the Socialists love to use buzz words to disguise what they're proposing. "Participative democracy." Don't make me laugh.

She also said she would pursue a "solid partnership" with the United States, but accused Washington of sometimes being carried away by its size and power.

"Size has nothing to do with principles," she said. Being less powerful "is never a reason to be silent, we saw that with Iraq, where the voice of France was not heard."

(!?!) I'm sorry, could you speak into my good ear? I thought I just heard her say that France's voice was not heard in the Iraq War. Did the entire year of 2002 just get erased from the history books?

"She was good, much better than usual," said Marie-Pierre Grassineau, a 45- year-old social worker, who said she had feared Royal would disappoint in the face of inflated expectations. "At last the campaign can begin."

Indeed. It'll be interesting to compare her platform to that of our Democratic Socialist Party.

THE WORLD'S 10 WORST DICTATORS

Parade Magazine does an annual report on the worst dictators. Here is the list from, The World's 10 Worst Dictators by David Wallechinsky:

• 1) Omar al-Bashir, Sudan
• 2) Kim Jong-il, North Korea
• 3) Sayyid Ali KhamEnei, Iran
• 4) Hu Jintao, China
• 5) King Abdullah, Saudi Arabia
• 6) Than Shwe, Burma (Myanmar)
• 7) Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe
• 8) Islam Karimov, Uzbekistan
• 9) Muammar al-Qaddafi, Libya
• 10) Bashar al-Assad, Syria

To see #'s 11-20 go here! Wallechinsky used the U.S. Department of State, Human Rights Watch and several other organizations to compile his list.

I find it interesting when you consider some of the liberal leanings of some of these Human Rights' groups and yet they still have Bush's axis of evil guys as #2 and #3. Maybe W knew what he was talking about during that speech after all.

Also, note that Syria's dictator was on the list, the one that Rick Warren praised for having a country where Christians and Muslims were able to get along.

THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS SCOOPS MSM AND BLOGOSHPERE AGAIN: COSMIC RAYS AND GLOBAL WARMING

MEMORANDUM HAS A ROUND UP OF MSM AND BLOGOSPHERE COVERAGE ON THE FACT THAT SCIENTIFIC EXPERIMENTS PROVE THAT COSMIC RAYS HAVE MORE TO DO WITH GLOBAL WARMING THAN MAN-MADE CO2.

WELL, TAB FIRST BLOGGED THIS BEFORE ANY NEARLY EVERY OTHER BLOG (EXCEPT TIM BLAIR!), EARLY LAST MONTH - JANUARY 6TH.

AND WE FOLLOWED UP ON IT, TOO: ON JANUARY 21; AND FEBRUARY 4TH; AGAIN ON FEBRUARY 9TH; AND AGAIN - YESTERDAY, ON FEBRUARY 10TH.

WE'RE GLAD THE REST OF THE WORLD IS CATCHING ON.

AND READ MARK STEYN - HE ARGUES THAT THE MEASURES THE AGW (ANTHROPOGENIC GLOBAL WARMING) CROWD WANTS TO IMPOSE ON ALL OF US WOULD BE WORSE THAN GW.

IF THEY READ TAB EVERY DAY - LIKE YOU - THEN THEY'D BE BETTER INFORMED BECAUSE TAB IS BEST PLACE TO FIND UNDER-REPORTED YET IMPORTANT NEWS WITH HARD-HITTING ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY. SPREAD THE WORD!

ISRAELI PARENTS SUE GOVT. FOR SDEROT SECURITY

The Bulletin reports that Israeli parents in Sderot are going to court in order to protect their children from Hamas missiles:

Jerusalem - On Thursday morning, three parents from Sderot Parents Association petitioned the Israel High Court of Justice to ask for a court order for the government of Israel to allocate funds to provide full protection for all 24 educational institutions in the city of Sderot. Joining in the suit was the legal counsel of the Western Negev "Shaar HaNegev" Regional Council. At this point in time, following 1,300 missile attacks on Sderot and the western Negev since the disengagement, the schools in the area remain only partially protected.

Olmert's government is asking for a suit, and his and Amir Peretz's continuing failure to take genuine action is part of the problem.

NIFONG REPLACEMENTS JUST AS SLIMY AS NIFONG IN THE DUKE LACROSSE-PLAYER PERSECUTION

A reader writes:

The problem is that the Duke Lacrosse Frame/Hoax is still going on. And there still exists the very real possibility that the Special Prosecutors assigned to examine the case are primarily focused on finding SOME KIND OF CHARGE to get this case to trial, and not on a search for justice. ANY KIND OF CHARGE would help save the state of North Carolina the legal and financal embarassment having to declare that this was only "a hoax and frame-up conducted by the state's agent, Michael Nifong", from the beginning.

One of the Special Prosecutors is James Coman, who insisted on proceeding with a second trial for Alan Gell, even after it was discovered that the DA in his orginal trial knew there were seventeen eyewitnesses who could prove his innocence, but had refused to divulge this information to the defense. If convicted, Gell would have again faced the death penalty, for a murder Coman knew he did not commit. Joe Cheshire and James Cooney were part of Gell's defense team (and are now part of the Duke defense team). Coman is said to harbor a considerable personal animosity towards both of them, and also against Wade Smith, another defense attorney.

Mary Winstead, the second Special Prosecutor, worked with Nifong trying to secure a conviction in the Malloy rape case. Crucial taped evidence in that case was somehow erased by Winstead (recall the erased tapes and cell phone evidence in the Duke case); she protested vigorously against bringing in out-of-state experts to try and reconstruct the tape. When the tapes were restored, Malloy was aquitted.

These are about the last two people I would assign to examining the lacrosse case. So the question becomes, why did AG Cooper select them? Can they be reliably expected to uncover all the wrongdoing by Nifong over the past two and a half decades? Or by the judges who appear to have collaborated with him on this case (Stephens, Bushfan, and Titus)? Or possible connections between members of the Durham civic administration and the prosecutor's office? And can they be expected to put a search for justice ahead of an attempt to rescue the state from liability and even a federal investigation?

That is why I am circulating the following three petitions, to end the Duke case and bring federal investigators to Durham. The lacrosse case is a political trial; and in political trials, noise counts. If you want to get involved in helping raise the noise level (and maybe saving three innocent defendants from wrongful conviction, and an entire town/county from a corrupt oligarchy) below is how:

Petition to Attorney General Cooper of North Carolina to end the hoax

Petition to the Public Integrity Section of the Justice Department to investigate corruption in the Durham city administration

Petition to Attorney General Gonzales to investigate civil rights violations and hate crimes in the Duke lacrosse case

(For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, DISSECTING LEFTISM and EYE ON BRITAIN. My Home Page. Email me (John Ray) here.)

ASIAN NEWS: NORTH KOREAN TALKS STALL; US DEPLOYS STEALTH FIGHTER JETS TO OKINAWA

NYTIMES/"Reuters":

The U.S. envoy to six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear arms program said on Sunday it was time to wrap things up and reach a resolution but South Korean and Japanese delegates held out little hope.

Envoys to the talks from North and South Korea, the United States, Russia, Japan and host China have agreed on most of a plan that would oblige Pyongyang to shut down nuclear activities in return for economic and security assurances.

But North Korea is at odds with the other five countries over a single paragraph of the draft agreement, U.S. envoy Christopher Hill told reporters as he headed into a fourth day of talks.

MAYBE THESE WILL HELP CONVINCE KIM JONG IL TO DO THE RIGHT THING:

The deployment of United States Air Force (USAF) F-22 stealth fighter jets to a base on Japan's Okinawa island has prompted protests from residents. It is the first time the jets, the latest in the USAF's arsenal, have been deployed outside the US. The 12 aircraft are due to land at the island's Kadena airbase, where they will be stationed for three months.

THESE JETS SEND A MESSAGE TO BOTH NORTH KOREA AND CHINA. AND PUTIN. THEN AGAIN, ACCORDING TO MURTHA, OKINAWA ISN'T FAR FROM IRAQ... OR IRAN!

RECYCLING: IT'S BS; AND "IT'S ABOUT CONTROL"

RECYCLING IS BS - LIKE GLOBAL WARMING, IT'S ABOUT SOME PEOPLE WANTING TO CONTROL OTHER PEOPLE. IT COSTS MORE, AND SAVE NO RESOURCES. MUST SEE VIDEO. WTWT.

GOD BLESS AMERICA - and never forget 9/11

A GREAT SPEECH BY RUDY

A great speech by a man of real accomplishment and real substance:

RUDY.

OBAMA: A PROFILE IN AUDACITY

MARK STEYN ON OBAMA:

From a preview of “the coming effort to dismantle” Barack Obama :

Asked on ABC’s “Good Morning America” last month if his lack of foreign policy experience would hurt him in his White House bid, Obama replied: “My experience in foreign policy is probably more diverse than most others in the field. I mean, I'm somebody who has actually lived overseas, somebody who has studied overseas. You know, I majored in international relations.”

Excellent. That may be my favorite foreign-policy answer since Howard Dean cited his experience in driving his kids up to Quebec for school hockey games.

MORE STEYN - ( A LITTLE LATER):

A reader responds:

Funny guy. Are you really calling attention to Obama's lack of foreign-policy experience? Perhaps you'd prefer he first serve as the governor of Texas?

Er, well, no, actually. I’m less interested in his lack of foreign-policy experience (I certainly don’t want ex-Assistant Secretaries of State or ex-ambassadors to Saudi Arabia running for President) than his lack of foreign-policy interest.

But, if you want to value grade school experience in Indonesia over executive authority in one of the world’s 20 biggest economies, feel free. I once had a penpal in Norway. Can I be National Security Advisor?

OBAMA WOULD BE ONE OF THE LEAST QUALIFIED PERSONS EVER TO RUN FOR POTUS - EXCEPT FOR JOHN EDWARDS AND AL SHARPTON! BUT HE'S RUNNING ANYWAY. NOW THAT'S AUDACITY!

DON'T GET ME WRONG: OBAMA HAS TALENT. IT'S JUST THAT HIS TALENTS ARE MORE SUITED FOR A TV TALK SHOW HOST THAN LEADER OF THE FREE WORLD. BESIDES: HE'S A SOCIALIST.

MORE ON BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA JUNIOR HERE and HERE and HERE.

VIDEO REPRISE: JIHADOTERRORISTS ARE MADE, NOT BORN

EVERY ONE OF THE SUICIDE/GENOCIDE ISLAMO-TERRORISTS WAS TAUGHT THE FILTHY IDEOLOGY WHICH MOTIVATES THEM TO MURDER.

HERE'S A VIDEO OF A "PALESTANI" CHILDREN'S CARNIVAL. AS I SAID WHEN I FIRST LINKED TO THIS IN MAY OF LAST YEAR, IT'S ENOUGH TO MAKE YOU CRY.

AS CHARLES SAYS: IT'S CHILD ABUSE. SEE FOR YOURSELF. EVEN IF YOU KNOW - IT'S A GOOD REMINDER OF THE DEPRAVED DEPTHS THE ENEMY HAS SUNK TO, AND WHY THIS WILL INDEED BE A VERY LONG WAR.

I WAS REMINDED ABOUT THIS BY THE LGF LINK TODAY TO A BBC EXPOSE OF SCHOOLS WHICH TEACH THIS SAME IDEOLOGY IN THE UK. YES; THE FREAKIN' UK!)

ABC NEWS 2000: SADDAM AND BINLADEN DEFINITELY LINKED

POWER LINE FOUND THE ABC NEWS VIDEO.

MORE HERE.

The fact is: all the islamofascists are allied when it comes to jihad against non-muslims. THAT'S A FACT BORNE OUT BY 1300 years of jihad.

London's Daily Mail Gives Credence to the Truthers

FROM LGF comes word that THE DAILY MAIL - (an MSM newspaper in London - sight of the HORRIFIC 7/7 attacks which murdered and injured HUNDREDS of innocent Londoners) - is giving credence and major "ink" to the LUNATIC LOOSE CHANGE crowd and their "theory" that 9/11 was an inside job.

Well, I know someone who was aboard the flight which hit the Pentagon. He was a husband and a father of three girls. He was murdered by the people who took credit for the attack - the jihadoterrorists. And as a friend of someone who was murdered on 9/11, am insulted, hurt, and angry that THE DAILY MAIL has participated in this lunatic Left-wing disinformation campaign.

FACT: 9/11 has been thoroughly investigated by Popular Mechanics and the physics of the WTC collapse thoroughly and completely explained. Every single solitary claim by the LOOSE CHANGE crowd has been answered. Every one.

What is more, Bin Laden took credit for the attacks and the jihadists are proud of their "accomplishment" - pone which finally did what they had wanted since 1993 when they first tried to destroy the WTC - and nearly did.

The global threat from jihadoterror is real: There have been nearly 8000 jihadoterror attacks worldwide since 9/11 - all in the name of jihad and restoring the Caliphate. Nearly three thousand people have been murdered in Thailand by the jihadoterrorists sionce 2004 - and not one of these attacks has anything to do with Bush or Halliburton or Israel or Afghanistan or Iraq. At least not according to the perpetrators of the attacks.

IS THIS SO HARD TO UNDERSTAND?! No. It is not.

But evidently it is too difficult for most of the Left to accept, so instead they create fanciful and paranoid scenarios which blame the right-wing. This idiocy borders on insanity. And THE DAILY MAIL promotes it anyway. HAVE THEY NO SHAME?

Do I have to remind then and all the other moonbats that most of the death in Iraq since 2003 has been caused by islamo-extremists and NOT the USA and its allies?!

Paranoid disinformation, like this LOOSE CHANGE crap, is one reason why we are not united and are - as a result - having such a tough time defeating the enemy. This is why I have said over and over: We need to defeat the left at home if we ever expect to defeat the enemy abroad.

THE $25 MILLION CO2 CHALLENGE: GORE, BRANSON, INSTAPUNDIT AND P. HITCHENS

Glenn Reynolds has generally been pretty good on the politics and the hypocrisy of the anthropogenic global warming (AGW) crowd.

But yesterday he posted praise of an award offered by Richard Branson and Al Gore which explicitly argues that AGW is a "real and a clear and present danger to life on Earth" - a claim which is false, or at least merely hypothesized and as yet COMPLETELY UNPROVEN.

Peter Hitchens, IMHO, had a much better "read" of Gore and Branson's PR move on a BBC-TV show yesterday - (itr's 5.5 minutes in): Hitchens argues that the award is hypocritical BS.

Hitchens said - and I paraphrase:

"If Branson was REALLY serious that AGW was caused by CO2, and that it is a threat to life on Earth, then he would shut down his airlines tommorow. That he doesn't, proves Branson is not serious - and shouldn't be taken seriously."

I CONCUR.

Awards like the generous one Branson offered can - and have in the past - spurred beneficial results. But maybe if instead of offering an award to find a way to sequester 1 BILLION pounds of CO2 per year, he offered an award to someone who could experimentally PROVE that man-made CO2 is causing the present general warming trend, (and that it is NOT like the many MANY ones which have occurred throughout all of geo-history), then I think he would be doing something really constructive. Proof would end the political debate and force humanity to take some action.

I remind everyone that - as Hitchens pointed out - consenus to a particular hypothesis is NOT proof. FACT: Consensus regarding The Big Bang Theory - or String Theory - does NOT prove it. These are popular working HYPOTHESES which explain a lot, but not everything. And when scientists observe data which contradict the theory, then they abandon the theory - consensus disintegrates. REPEAT: CONSENSUS IS NOT PROOF.

In fact, there is a counter-argument that flies in the face of the AGW crowd, and it comes with EXPERIMENTAL PROOF: Specifically that COSMIC RAYS (CR) - which cause water vapor formation in the atmosphere - may actually be causing the present climate change, and also (by extension) be chiefly responsible for all previous waves of global climate change throughout geo-history. (It has been PROVEN that water vapor - WV - is a much more important factor in GW than CO2, which is relatively a weak factor, especially compared to WV.)

The fact that CR cause GW is very bad news for Leftists like Gore, because if global climate change is NOT caused by humans - particularly Western, industrialist capitalist/consumerist ones - then he and his comrades don't have a big excuse to raise taxes, pick winners & losers in the marketplace, and generally boss people around "for the common good." Which is REALLY why they LOVE AGW, and have been so vociferously and hysterically demagoguing the issue of late.

BTW: if we really want to sequester more atmospheric CO2, then there are a few simple and natural ways:

• (1) we can cut down as many OLD TREES as we can - and replace them with saplings; old trees are MUCH LESS EFFICIENT at sequestering CO2 than new/young tress. We can start by harvesting old trees in the AMAZON RAIN FOREST, and use the wood to build housing for the world's poor.
• (2) We can pay HALLIBURTON - the world's largest builder of water treatment plants - to build HUMONGOUS desalinization plants on the coast of Africa and pump the water into Africa's desserts and make them bloom with CO2-binding agriculture which produces fruits and grains to feed the world's poor and hungry people.
• (3) We can plant ONE TRILLION trees a year all over the rest of the world - fruit trees of every type, and then we can harvest the fruit to feed the world's poor.

These are serious and readily achievable projects which require NO NEW TECHNOLOGY. It's happening on a small scale already: Niger is greening their desert. This can be expanded, and go global.

If Branson is really serious he can send me a check AT ONCE. I'm waiting, Richard. Just drop me a line in the comments section of this post. Heh.

SATIRIZING RAPE

From "Rape Only Hurts If You Fight It", a February 9, 2007 article which appeared in the campus newspaper at Central Connecticut State University:

The article, written by opinion editor John Petroski, details several "benefits" that rape has made to civilization over the years. The article describes rape as a "magical experience" that has been a blessing to "ugly women."

"If it weren't for rape, how would they ever know the joy of intercourse with a man who isn't drunk?" the article asks.

[...]

Sarah [a student who was raped at age 15] said she and other students who have been raped have discussed the article since it was published.

"It's just unbelievably hurtful because it again gives people the idea that rape victims are somehow asking for it," she said. "Whatever they meant to say with the article, they failed badly. They only ended up making themselves look bad and the entire university look bad."

The article was supposed to be a satire. It failed as an effective example of that genre. More than that:

Some parents of university students said they were concerned that the article would make female students more vulnerable to being attacked.

[Hat-tip to DONAL]