Miss Kelly

Why isn't Muhammed Masood Being Deported Too?

Compared to this Pakistani couple, Muhamed Masood appears to be getting off easy, with his recommended sentence of only three years probation for his immigration fraud, his repeated lying throughout his years here in the U.S.  Why is Masood being treated differently? This Pakistani couple had no criminal activities and they weren't accused of repeatedly lying.  The couple also had children born here who are now American citizens. 

So why on earth has the federal government recommended  probation for Muhammed Masood and immediate deportation  for Mr. and Mrs. Waheed Hashmi (in their 60's)?    Perhaps we'll learn more on May 22nd, when Masood has his sentencing hearing. I'd really like to know why the federal government has lowered the bar for Masood.

"A West Toledo couple were released yesterday from federal detention and allowed to return home - temporarily - more than a week after immigration authorities picked them up so they could be deported to their native Pakistan."

" 'As unbelievable and crazy as this past week has been, I feel nothing but relieved and incredibly lucky that they're coming home,' their daughter, Anita Severance, said last night. Her parents, Waheed Hashmi, 69, and his wife, Nusrat Hashmi, 63, were taken from their home April 29 by agents of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and until yesterday, were in a suburban Cleveland jail."

"Greg Palmore, an immigration and customs spokesman, said Mr. Hashmi came to the United States on a valid student visa in June, 1973. An extension allowed him to stay until September, 1977."

"`'At some point, they'll be removed from the United States,' Mr. Palmore said. "They did not abide by the judge's ruling, and now [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] will have to remove them at the government's expense.'  But Mrs. Severance said the couple worked on gaining legal status for years."

"Mr. Hashmi, who received his doctorate from Bowling Green State University, directed animal research facilities for more than a decade at the University of Toledo. He retired last year, his daughter said.  He had proper employment authorization for much of that time and the couple had been fighting through appeals in order to stay, she said."

Sounds like Mr. Hashmi was an upstanding citizen who contributed to his community.  That our immigration laws are so convoluted and difficult that model citizens can't stay here is shameful. 

Masood, on the other hand, is a different story.  His continued presence in the U.S. beyond his initial two years on an exchange visitor visa was predicated on lie after lie, about his education, work experience, going back to Pakistan (didn't), missing his son's birth (didn't!), about "the men in suits who did not have badges" who smuggled him back into the U.S.  Please read the federal agent's affadavit for the criminal case, the litany of fasehoods is jaw-dropping. 

Masood should never have been allowed to stay here as long as he did.  Now that he has pleaded guilty to making five counts of making false statements to federal agents, he and his family should be deported immediately as well.  We are a society based on the rule of law, and our laws should apply equally to everybody.

Muhammed Masood and his family have got to go back to Pakistan too. 

Support Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld and First Amendment Rights

Passing on this request for funding for Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld's organization, The American Center for Democracy.  I made a donation, as freedom of speech is the very cornerstone of our open society, and that's what Dr. Ehrenfeld is defending.

"Dear Journalists, Blogers, Writers and Readers: Please help preserve our First Amendment rights - the cornerstone of American democracy!"

"Is preserving Freedom of Speech worth $10, $15, or $20.00 to you? Please consider making a small donation to the efforts of Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld, the force behind the recently enacted Rachel’s Law, New York’s Libel Terrorism Protection Act which was signed by New York Governor David Patterson on May 1, 2008. Dr. Ehrenfeld has struggled on behalf of all of us for the past four years to pass a bill protecting the First Amendment from foreign libel lawsuits. According to R. James Woolsey, former Director of the CIA:  'Rachel Ehrenfeld has done all serious students of this long war in which we are engaged a great service…' ”

"Simply click here: http://www.acdemocracy.org/support.php#donate to contribute. If everybody will make a small contribution, it will allow Dr. Ehrenfeld to continue her critically important work. This law is only the start of what is required to ensure that American authors and publishers can write and distribute works that deal with funding terrorism and publish work vital to our national security without fear of being driven to bankruptcy."

"Background -Following the publication of her book Funding Evil: How Terrorism is Financed - and How to Stop It, published in the U.S. in 2003, Dr. Ehrenfeld identified Khalid bin Mahfouz, a billionaire banker to the Saudi royal family as a leading terrorism financier.  In 2004, Bin Mahfouz responded by suing Ehrenfeld — not in the U.S., but in England, which is friendlier to libel claims because 23 copies of Funding Evil had entered England through on-line sales."

"Rather than back down, Ehrenfeld courageously chose to fight the false charges and worked to preserve the First Amendment rights that are the cornerstone of American democracy.  Rachel’s Law will protect American journalists and authors from foreign lawsuits that infringe on First Amendment rights. This law, however, is only the start of what is required to ensure that American authors and publishers can write and distribute works that deal with funding terrorism and publish work vital to our national security without fear of being driven to bankruptcy."

This is a terrific cause to support.  No joke, we are all at risk of being sued by those who want to stop us from even asking questions. Just ask the folks who were sued by the Islamic Society of Boston for asking questions about Saudi funding (true), links to Sheik Yusuf Qaradawi (true) and a questionable real estate  deal given to the ISB by the Boston Redevelopment Society (true, and a classic conflict of interest). New York has a Rachel's law.  Massachusetts and every other state needs its own Rachel's Law too.

 

Funny Headline from the BBC

Very amusing headline. 

In addition to the tee-hee factor, this info (published in the journal Science) adds to our understanding of global climate change and how species adapt.

"At least one of Britain's birds appears to be coping well as climate change alters the availability of a key food.  Researchers found that great tits are laying eggs earlier in the spring than they used to, keeping step with the earlier emergence of caterpillars."

Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth raises the specter of starving pied flycatchers who cannot feed their young, because caterpillars are now peaking two weeks before the birds hatch.  (See Error 33 here)  This BBC article demonstrates that some species are adapting and doing just fine, thank you very much.  It's a natural law as old as the universe: adapt or die. 

The Climate Project is now showing a Power Point slideshow of An Inconvenient Truth at schools around the country.  You can't show this in schools in England without pointing out the scientific inaccuracies. Will they include this new data about the Great Tits in their presentation?

Hat tip to the Environmental Republican.

Yom Huledet Sameach, Yisrael - Israel Turns 60

Israel turns 60 today, I believe. Yom Huledet Sameach, Yisrael. 

Earlier this week, Alan Dershowitz wrote an ope-d for the New York Post, Israel's Gift to the World:

"As Israel celebrates its 60th birthday, the world should recognize the enormous gifts the Jewish state has given the world. Israel has exported more lifesaving medical technology to the far-flung corners of the earth than any nation of comparable size. It has done more to protect the environment, to promote literature, music, the arts and sciences, to spread agricultural advances and to fight terrorism within the rule of law."

As Debbie Shussel writes along those same lines today:

"Despite being a tiny state, just smaller than the size of New Jersey, the Gross Domestic Product of Israel is greater than that of all of its Arab neighbors."

From the National Catholic Weekly blog, Michael Sean Winters takes note of Israel's birthday and he discusses the Catholic-Jewish relationship:

"As Catholics, our relationship with the Jewish people could hardly be more complicated or more shameful. Antisemitism had flourished within and without the Church. Pogroms in Catholic Poland betrayed this hatred. The Dreyfus Affair in France was largely the work of reactionary Catholic monarchists. And, of course, the sad history of the Spanish Inquisition showed before the Holocaust the irrational extent to which hatred of Jews could lead a people and a nation in Catholic Spain."

"The Second Vatican Council and Pope John Paul II changed all of that. The Council denounced the charge of deicide against the Jews and brought about a new appreciation for the Covenant with Israel and the Hebrew Scriptures."

"...As Americans, we have a different reason to celebrate Israel. She is our best ally in the world. Part of this is strategic: ever since Harry S. Truman, over the vigorous objections of the State Department, recognized the State of Israel 11 minutes after David Ben-Gurion proclaimed the state's existence in 1948, Israel and America have been in a strategic partnership. In an often chaotic part of the world, we had an ally that was stable and secure."

"But, there is a deeper reason than strategic necessity for the alliance. It has to do with shared values. Israel may have been born physically in what was once Palestine but it was born intellectually in the heart of the West. Its founders were European liberals and socialists, people familiar with the Enlightenment and its views on the proper role of government."

Winters tells an amazing anecdote about Ben Gurion ordering the fledgling Israeli army to sink the Altalena, an order carried out by the young captain, Yitzhak Rabin.   

A list of local activities to celebrate this vibrant country can be found here.

"Americans Are Indeed Easy-Going and Good-Natured People"

I love to read about our country through other people's eyes.  Here, Siraj Wahab (no, not Siraj Wahaj), a Saudi Arabian journalist from Arab News, comes to the U.S. for the first time.  Some excerpts:

"In the Middle East, we have often been told that the media in the US never talks about American deaths in Baghdad and Afghanistan. That turns out to a complete lie. The center spreads of leading American newspapers were filled with pictures of those who had died in action in Iraq and Afghanistan. The media was not hiding anything from the public. Having said that the general impression I got from the Americans with whom I had an opportunity to talk was that they really think they are in Iraq and Afghanistan for the good of those countries. Why they think so is very difficult to comprehend. Americans are indeed easy-going and good-natured people."

On the flight over from Jedah to D.C., Wahab talks with Syed Sajid Rahmani, a 60-year-old American national of Indian origin.  In the early 70's, Rahmani's father in Hyderabad (India) decided that he would send his two sons abroad. Syed came to the U.S., got an MBA and settled in the D.C. area, his brother went to Saudi Arabia, got an engineering degree and settled in Jeddah.  The differences, some 35 years later?

"Now, more than three decades later, Rahmani says he is a full-fledged and completely integrated American citizen. 'My kids are grown. They have graduated from some of the best universities in the United States. They are on their own and are completely independent.' The same, however, cannot be said of his brother in Jeddah. 'Yes, he has the money but no citizenship. His kids, like all other children of expatriates, were not allowed in local universities. They had to go to Malaysia and Dubai for higher studies. Every two years, he still has to beg his employers to renew his residency permit or iqama. There is no difference between him and a newly hired foreign worker in Saudi Arabia. His kids have separate iqamas, but they have to keep coming to Saudi Arabia to renew them. Do you see the difference?' he asks."

Politically, I disagree with some of Wahab's opinions.  He writes that "it is important to talk to Hamas and how it should be seen as a national liberation movement just as the IRA is seen now."  As an American of Irish background, believe  me, the modern IRA - with their famous Christmas bombing campaigns, blowing up cars, murdering "informants" - was and is seen by many as being "thugs and murderers," not a "liberation movement."  Hamas quite openly doesn't just seek an independence from Israel, Hamas seeks the utter destruction of Israel.

Wahab is surprised by the open atmosphere in a college classroom:

"One of them (a student) asks me about Arab News' stand on Iraq, and I give him an honest opinion. Unbeknown to me was the fact that he was checking our online edition at arabnews.com on his laptop even as I was answering his question. I found that very interesting and alarming as well. It is not like in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East where whatever the professor or expert says is the last word. 'Here in America, students are taught to think critically. This is a questioning society. It keeps asking questions of itself,' says (Professor Akbar S.) Ahmed.

Next week, Wahab reports on his visit to San Francisco.  Will link to that when it's up.

Drudge Report for Catholics/ May, Month of Mary

I came across this website, Pew Sitter, while Pope Benedict was visiting. It's sort of a Drudge Report for Catholics, with dozens of links to news stories.  The headlines are a bit on the sensationalist side, same as Drudge.  Great smattering of news stories of interest to Catholics.

Since the 13th century, May has traditionally been considered the month of Mary, a time of special prayer and devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary (BVM), the Mother of God. My husband, raised a Presbyterian, doesn't understand the Catholics' Marian devotion.  But I don't get why all Christians aren't more devoted to Mary!  She completely accepted the will of God, she bore and raised the Christ child, she supported Christ's mission on earth.  She's the model of grace, modesty and womanliness.  What's not to love? 

We do not worship Mary, we worship God.  But we do revere her.  So take some time this month to say a few rosaries and pray some of the beautiful Marian prayers, such as the Magnificat, the Hail Holy Queen, the Memorare and the Litanies of Our Lady.  Beautiful hymns at Mass in May too: Salve Regina and Ave Maria. Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis! 

Ayn Rand Institute Lecture - May 6 - Pipes, Spencer, Brooks

Wowee, there's a lineup: Daniel Pipes, Robert Spencer and Yaron Brook.  The Lyndon Larouchies are sure to be out in force.  Pretty good singers they are, but we don't need their interruptions. Here's the scoop for tonight, Tuesday, May 6:

The Threat of Totalitarian Islam
A panel discussion at Harvard University

What: A panel discussion on the nature and threat of totalitarian Islam, followed by a Q&A

Who: Yaron Brook, executive director of the Ayn Rand Institute; Daniel Pipes, director of the Middle East Forum; and Robert Spencer, director of Jihad Watch

Where: Harvard University, Emerson Hall, Room 105, Cambridge, MA

When: Tuesday, May 6, 2008, at 7:30 pm

Admission is FREE and open to the public.

More info here.

Sam Harris Telling It Like It Is...

Surprising indeed to see this essay, Losing Our Spines to Save Our Necks, at the Huffington Post.  Sam Harris writes about the loss of freedom of speech when we capitulate to Islamic threats.  Bravo to HuffPo for publishing his essay, one which the Washington Post refused to print.  It was deemed too critical of Islam.   Excerpts:

"(Gert) Wilders, who lives under perpetual armed guard due to death threats, recently released a 15 minute film entitled Fitna ("strife" in Arabic) over the internet. The film has been deemed offensive because it juxtaposes images of Muslim violence with passages from the Qur'an. Given that the perpetrators of such violence regularly cite these same passages as justification for their actions, merely depicting this connection in a film would seem uncontroversial. Controversial or not, one surely would expect politicians and journalists in every free society to strenuously defend Wilders' right to make such a film. But then one would be living on another planet, a planet where people do not happily repudiate their most basic freedoms in the name of 'religious sensitivity.' "

Americans the Most Generous People

From A Nation of Givers, by Arthur C. Brooks:

Q. How much do Americans give? Is the amount we give going up?
A. In 2006, Americans gave about $295 billion to charity. This was up 4.2 percent over 2005 levels, and charitable giving has generally risen faster than the growth of the American economy for more than half a century....

Q. Are Americans more or less charitable than citizens of other countries?
A. No developed country approaches American giving. For example, in 1995 (the most recent year for which data are available), Americans gave, per capita, three and a half times as much to causes and charities as the French, seven times as much as the Germans, and 14 times as much as the Italians. Similarly, in 1998, Americans were 15 percent more likely to volunteer their time than the Dutch, 21 percent more likely than the Swiss, and 32 percent more likely than the Germans. These differences are not attributable to demographic characteristics such as education, income, age, sex, or marital status.

More in the original article about how much money Americans give, religious versus secular giving, liberals versus conservatives, and where the donations go.  On an anecdotal level, I found that I donated far more money after I returned to the Catholic Church.  While Catholics don't tithe, as many Protestants do, when you go to Church, you hear every week about the various hospitals, missions, homes for unwed mothers,  schools and soup kitchens that need your $$$.   You're simply reminded all the time that there are people in need and we are called to help those folks.  No surprise to me that religious people are more charitable than the non-religious.  Hat tip to Solomonia.

 

Liposuction Fat - Sustainable Biofuel? More on Nukes

Whew,  biofuel appears to have jumped the shark:

"I first started to think that the biofuels movement might be slipping into la-la land when I spotted a news item early this year about a 78-foot powerboat named Earthrace. ... Skipper Pete Bethune, a former oil industry engineer from New Zealand, was trying to set a round-the-world speed record running his 540-horsepower engine solely on biodiesel."

"Bethune's biodiesel came mostly from soybeans. But 'one of the great things about biodiesel,' he declared, is that "it can be made from so many different sources.' To prove it, his suppliers had concocted a dollop of the fuel for Earthrace from human fat, including some liposuctioned from the intrepid skipper's own backside."

"Given the global obesity epidemic, that probably seemed like a sustainable resource."

This came from an excellent article in the November 2005 Smithsonian about the many limitations of biofuel, or "biofool," as some critics in the financial world call it.   Author Richard Coniff warns us about the mad rush to biofuels: we're letting our "blind enthusiasm leads us into economic and environmental catastrophes."   Ample evidence of that lately.

Another excellent energy article was in last week's Weekly Standard, Food Riots Made in the U.S.A., which examines the limits of alternative energy sources such as wind, solar and biofuel.  Solar energy in these forms is dilute and massive tracts of land would be needed to generate enough energy to support an industrialized nation. Ahhh, but then there's nuclear energy:

"The nucleus of the atom is the greatest storehouse of energy in the universe....If we are ever going to access enough energy to run our industrial economy without overwhelming the environment in the process, we are going to have to find it in the nucleus of the atom."

"...a 1,000-megawatt coal plant must be fed by a 110-car train loaded with 16,000 tons of coal arriving every day. Meanwhile a nuclear reactor of the same size is fed by a single flatbed truck that arrives with a new set of fuel rods once every 18 months. The energy stored in the nucleus of the atom is almost incomprehensibly larger than the energy stored in fossil fuels or the kinetic activity of wind, wave, or water."   

Ascension of Jesus into Heaven

Today is the Feast Day of the Ascension of Jesus into Heaven:

"Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a  mountain where Jesus had appointed them. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in  the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some  doubted. And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is  given unto me in heaven and in  earth. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen." (Matthew 28:16-20)

"So then after the Lord had spoken unto  them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of  God. And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen." (Mark 16:19-20)

13th century fresco by Giotto.

May 1 - Remember the Victims of Communism Day

I read about this over at the Volokh Conspriracy, it strikes me as a an excellent way to observe May Day:

"Today is May 1, AKA May Day. May Day began as a holiday for socialists and labor union activists, not just communists. But over time, the date was taken over by the Soviet Union and other communist regimes and used as a propaganda tool to prop up their regimes. I suggest that we instead use it as a day to commemorate those regimes' millions of victims. The authoritative Black Book of Communism estimates the total at 80 to 100 million dead, greater than that caused by all other twentieth century tyrannies combined. We appropriately have a Holocaust Memorial Day. It is equally appropriate to commemorate the victims of the twentieth century's other great totalitarian tyranny. And May Day is the most fitting day to do so. I suggest that May Day be turned into Victims of Communism Day."

Why do so many still romanticize Communism?  I still hear from a dear older friend of mine, "Sure, there were bad things about communism, but it just hasn't been properly implemented."  Some Muslims say the same thing about Islamic societies: "We've never seen a truly Islamic society, there hasn't been one yet."  And these same people believe that they can create one here in the U.S., with its constitutional guarantee of religious freedom.  But totalitarian societies will always fail, because they deny essential truths about human nature, including the idea of freedom and free will, the inherent dignity of the individual, and the innate competitiveness of humans.

You can review the death counts of 20th century wars here.

Educate Children, Don't Indoctrinate Them

This is a follow-up to my post yesterday about The Climate Project's (TCP) slide show which Al Gore's apostles are taking to local schools.  There's a showing on Wednesday, April 30 at 7 PM at Framingham High School in Massachusetts. It's open to the public. Please bring your critical faculties with you and ask lots of questions!  In May, TCP is showing their propaganda to 8th graders in Malden, MA.  As I've said before, I'm all for getting off fossil fuels as much as we can, for reasons of national security, reduced emissions, public health and greater energy efficiencies.  But not because of the alarmism and junk science these folks are peddling.  We should be educating our children, not indoctrinating them.

Last fall, Stewart Dimmock, a father of two in Kent, England, asked the British court system to ban the film "An Inconvenient Truth" (AIT), arguing that the film was unfit for schools because it was "politically partisan and contained serious scientific inaccuracies."  Dimmock's case was upheld by a High Court judge in October 2007, who said that the film promotes "partisan political views."

"...the judge said nine statements in the film were not supported by mainstream scientific consensus. In his final verdict, the judge said the film could be shown as long as updated guidelines were followed. These say teachers should point out controversial or disputed sections."

"Without the guidance, updated after the case was launched, the government would have been breaking the law, the judge said."

What law? The law against "unlawful contravention of an Act of Parliament prohibiting the political indoctrination of children."  Ironic that this movie can't be shown in any school in England without discussing the inaccuracies and exaggerations, but here in the U.S., we don't give such caveats to young, impressionable minds. And the CPT slide show being shown in Framingham is a distillation of the AIT movie.

You can download the teachers's 60-page guidance document here. It points out the many inaccuracies of IAP and contains lesson plans for different subjects.  The point is to teach children about scientific principles and how to evaluate scientific evidence.  It warns teachers against promoting partisan political views, or using emotional images to "teach" people about science.  "Stranded" polar bears, anyone?  Floating dead bodies from Katrina? 

I'd advise parents that if their children's school shows AIT or the TCP slideshow,  ask the schools to also present the other side.  Yes, there is another side, and no, the dissenting scientists are not kooks.  (Paradigm shift, anyone? It's bound to happen here.)   Some recommended videos your school can show to balance the TCP propaganda are "The Great Global Warming Swindle" and "Apocalypse? No!"  Another one I've heard of is American Enterprise Institute's "An Inconvenient Truth or Convenient Fiction?"  The book "The Sky's Not Falling" looks refreshing and positive, too.  Ask your school and local public library buy  these videos and books too. 

More squashing of dissent!

Funding Lashkar-e-Toiba in the U.S.

Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) in the news again in the U.S., as the conviction of a Maryland man for supporting the terrrorist group LeT was recently upheld.  Hafiz Saeed, the founder of LeT, is named in the article.  Given that Hafiz Saeed had so many family members who were (and still are) imams in Massachusetts, has the government looked into LeT financing and support in Massachusetts mosques?   It has been reported (anonymously) to Miss Kelly that an imam of the Islamic Society of Boston used to introduce Saeed's brother Muhammed Masood as a Jihadi fighter who used to fight in Kashmir before he (Masood) came to the U.S.  This was reportedly said at lectures at the Cambridge mosque in 1998 and 1999. Have we really thoroughly investigated connections to Hafiz Saeed and LeT in our country?

"A former teacher at a Muslim school in Maryland was again sentenced to 15 years in prison Friday for providing support to a Pakistani terrorist group, even though a federal appeals court had ordered the trial judge to reconsider the original sentence."

"....(Ali Asad) Chandia, who taught third grade at the al-Huda school in College Park, Md., was convicted in 2006 of providing military support to Lashkar-e-Taiba, a militant group in Pakistan that violently opposes Indian rule of the disputed Kashmir territory."

As reported in India Express, the LeT is "accused of operating several militant training camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and linked to Al Qaeda, was founded by Pakistan-based Islamist leader Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, who has vowed to separate Jammu and Kashmir from India."  You can read my previous postings about Hafiz Saeed here and here (the Masood/Hannan immigration arrest).   

"....Specifically, Chandia was found guilty of acting as a driver and assistant to Lashkar leader Mohammed Ajmal Khan on his visits to the U.S. in 2002 and 2003 and helping Khan ship 50,000 paintball pellets from the U.S. to Pakistan."

Question: Did Lashkar leader Mohammed Ajmal Khan visit any Massachusetts mosques in 2002 and 2003?

Mr. Khan is currently serving nine years in prison in England.  Mr. Chandia was accused of visiting LeT's  headquarters in Lahore, Pakistan in November 2001 through February 2002; picking up Khan at Reagan International Airport in February 2002; helping Khan deliver 21 boxes of paintballs and other goods from Chandia's house to be sent to Pakistan; and allowing Khan to use his computer to buy unmanned aerial vehicles, night vision equipment, wireless video cameras and $17K worth of Kevlar antiballistic material. 

Still think Chandia was being "unfairly targeted"?

"The Sky is Falling" Coming to a School Near You

I had the misfortune of sitting through a one-hour PowerPoint presentation that was a distillation of Al Gore's  movie The Inconvenient Truth.  Keith Bergman, Town Administrator of Littleton, is affiliated with The Climate Project (TCP).  He was trained by Al Gore himself!  Bergman made the presentation at an environmental engineering firm west of Boston last week, and it's being shown in Framingham, MA next week.  On May 6th, eighth graders in Malden, MA get the treatment. 

All that the show is missing in the theme music from Jaws.  It was alarmist and chock full of bad science (some examples are given below).  The presenter himself made a number of digs against Republicans, people from red states, and anybody who questions the supposed consensus about global warming, its causes and solutions.  Comrade, no questions allowed!  Mr. Bergman and TCP's show exemplified all that is so pathetic and counterproductive about environmentalism.  I fully support the development of alternative energy sources to fossil fuels, but I'm opposed to dogma masquerading as science. I'm dismayed that this blatant propaganda is being shown to middle schools and high schools around the country.  As a scientist recently said about the hysteria of so many global warming activists, "Catastrophe is not the language of science."  Hysteria just turns people off and allows us to throw our hands up in the air.  Sorry, nothing we can do about it.  We're screwed. 

There's a showing of the TCP slide show this coming Wednesday, April 30 at 7 PM at the Framingham High School in Framingham, MA.  It's free and open to the public.  I encourage people to attend the show next week, bring your critical faculties, and ask some hard questions.  Please forward this blogpost to any people - especially teachers - you know in Framingham. 

Now for just a handful of the junk science from the TCP slide show:

Shariah Imposed on Non-Muslims in Indonesia, Malaysia

Whenever shariah law (Islamic law) is implemented, it's eventually forced upon non-Muslims too.  Although Indonesia and Malaysia are frequently held up as being a model of a moderate, democratic Muslim country, these developments belie that notion:

"Jakarta (AsiaNews) - In Padang, capital of the province of West Sumatra, the atmosphere is increasingly that of an Islamic state.  Female students who do not wear the headscarf (hijab) are frequently suspended from school.  The requirement to observe Islamic customs, sanctioned by the controversial regional law of 2005, is also imposed on non-Muslim girls, and has generated an atmosphere of strong pressure on religious minorities.  The proliferation of local laws inspired by sharia (perda syariat) is a growing phenomenon in Indonesia, but the central government has chosen not to intervene for now, in spite of protests from religious minorities and human rights NGO's."

Recently in Malaysia, Islamic scholars held a seminar which included discussions about extending shariah to non-Muslims, including the "crime" of unmarried men and women being close to each other.

"Kuala Lumpur (AsiaNews) - Lawyers, minorities, but also women and religious Muslims in Malaysia are expressing their strong concerns about the proposal to apply sharia to non-Muslims as well, which has emerged in a recent seminar of Islamic scholars and jurists.  The chorus of condemnation was unleashed by the declaration of a judge of the Islamic court of appeal, Mohamed Asri Abdullah, who said that during the meeting there were discussions about applying the penalties for the crime of khalwat (excessive closeness between two persons) to non-Muslims well as well, through civil tribunals."

"In fact, in Malaysia there exist two forms of law: Islamic and constitutional, and the two often are in conflict."

Papal Postscripts

A few follow-up papal postings.  I miss having Pope Benedict here.  What an amazing week.

Great WA Post article, A Lunch With Devotion, by Franco Nuchese of Cafe Milano.  Nuchese was chosen to prepare lunch for Pope Benedict and 20 cardinals and archbishops. "So I directed my energies into putting together a once-in-a-lifetime event. Creating the perfect meal in a memorable moment is my craft, much like an artist creates a painting."  Italians do know how to dine.  Hat tip to The Anchoress.

Andrew Bostum compares and contrasts Pope Benedict's attitudes and writings on Jews and Judaism with those of Muhammad Sayyid Tantawi, the current Grand Imam of Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt. Tantawi is as close as you're gonna get to an Muslim Pope.  To put it mildly, the differences are huge.   Tantawi’s Ph.D. thesis, Banu Israil fi al-Quran wa-al-Sunnah (Jews in the Koran and the Traditions), published in 1968-69, provides numerous examples of anti-Semitic writings found in the Koran.  Tantawi doesn't refute any of it, and in fact, he has continued to make rather vile utterances about Jewish people. 

"Tantawi’s case illustrates the prevalence and depth of Jew-hatred in the contemporary Muslim world. Tantawi embodies how such hatred remains firmly rooted in mainstream, orthodox Islamic teachings, not some aberrant 'radical Islam.' ”

"Indeed, the modern pronouncements and teachings of the Roman Catholic Church — personified by the words and actions of Pope Benedict XVI — stand in stark relief."

Patricia Rice wrote a very moving article about the Pope's meeting with five people from Boston who were victims of the sexual abuse by priests.

The Anchoress wrote a thoughtful piece at Pajamas Media that starts with the Pope's solemn visit to  Ground Zero, and she reflects about what this holy man showed us and did for us this past week:

"For six days we watched and listened; we came to know Benedict as a cerebral and soft-spoken man whose body language was endearingly awkward and whose pen seemingly never rested. He is warmer than we expected, and he is braver than we knew. Overwhelmingly, though, Benedict is gentle and exceedingly, edifyingly humble. He is a Supreme Shepherd' but one who allows himself to be led, and ever led, by the Divine one."

Finally, Rocco of Whispers in the Loggia wrote this a few days ago:

These have been amazing days, friends, and in that moment by the fountain it became clear that, as in a miracle, the tide had, at long last, begun to turn.

His own energy-level at an apex unequaled over his three-year reign, Papa Ratzi might be heading home tonight... but, church, our work is just beginning.

It's been said before but bears repeating: "the Holy Spirit is ready -- but the answer depends on us."

It's the call of our time, and the work of renewal is already underway in our midst. But it can only happen if each of us go "all in."

Gratefully, it's not a question of programs, budgets, committees or technologies. All it takes is just one word -- YES.

It's time, gang -- our time.

All in, all together, let's get to it.

I'm so there.

Reminder: "Think-Different Women" Film Festival

Don't forget the ongoing "Think-Different Women" film festival happening this month.  This Wednesday, Le Cerf Volant is showing at Endicott College.  Mohammed Harba, curator of the Film Festival, will speak following the screening. Harba is a 27-year-old filmmaker from Iraq now living in Massachusetts. Details:

April 23, 2008 - 7:00p.m.
Le Cerf Volant (The Kite)
Endicott College - Wax Academic Center 120
(376 Hale Street, Beverly, MA)

"Lamia must cross a checkpoint between Lebanon and Israel to marry a man she has never met. But neither she nor her betrothed are eager to consummate a marriage to a stranger - a matter further complicated by Lamia's admission that she loves an Israeli Arab soldier at the checkpoint. This drama crosses boundaries and depicts a young woman straddling many worlds. Presented as part of The Global Lens 2008 Film Series."

Wait a minute.....there are Israeli Arab soldiers in the Israeli Army operating checkpoints?  Who knew? 

I wrote more about the film series earlier here. 

Papal Mass at Yankee Stadium - Amazing and Sacred

Gregg Wayland of NECN said, "Today, there was an abundance of grace at Yankee Stadium."

I got back tonight from the Papal Mass celebrated at Yankee Stadium today, and it was an amazing and wondrous event.  This one will take a few days to process, these are just my quick impressions.

It was probably a once-in-a-lifetime event. I was one of the 57,000 very lucky people who cheered, prayed, chanted, listened intently, waved cloths, sang, and cheered some more.  The music was amazing, just beautiful music that elevated and transported one to a higher plane.  The papal choir and orchestra were top-notch, the songs were almost all classics of the church.  All around the stadium, everybody was smiling.  When the  Mass ended, most people stayed, listening to the music and waiting for another glimpse of the beloved Holy Father in his popemobile.

There were lots of young nuns and priests there, good to see.  The nuns had all sorts of different habits.  Good to see that too (instead of nuns wearing drab "normal" clothing, indistinguishable from anyone else walking down the street).

Yankee souvenirs replaced by Pope souvenirs for a day.

Yankee Stadium was an odd setting for a mass, and it lent itself to spontaneous cheers and outbursts of love for the Pope during the Mass.  One group, the Neocatechumenal Communities of Boston, was particularly jubilant, they started several chants of "Be-ne-dic-to!" and "Alleluiah!"   The Pope didn't encourage it or milk it, but he would make a modest gesture to acknowledge their expression, such as slightly raising his hands and facing the crowd.  Then he quietly returned to celebrating the Mass.  I've noticed throughout the Pope's visit that he makes small, shy gestures that are packed with meaning. You have to watch and listen carefully to this Pope.

Security around the top of Yankee Stadium.

What else?  There were a number of short chants or songs in Latin that we all sang, and they sounded great!  I'm sure most people who attended this Mass had never sung these words before, and it sounded wonderful.  OK, we had a papal choir and orchestra leading things, not to mention a great cantor, but also that's the beauty of these Palestrina and Gregorian chants.  They are musically simple, with few notes and not much difference between notes (it's not a reach going from low notes to high notes, as in some songs).  That 57,000 people who've never sung together in their lives managed to sound pretty damn good singing these short pieces.  Which should dispel the idea that Gregorian chants are too difficult for ordinary church-goers to sing. Yes, we can!!  We did it at Yankee Stadium!  Thank you, Pope Benedict and New York Archdiocese, for a wonderful selection of songs and chants.  Listening to this Mass, you'd swear you were in a cathedral.

 
The atmosphere was jubilant and reverent.  The homily was wonderful (again), "Dear bruzzers und ziz-tears in Chrisst", with the Pope reminding us of what many good things Catholics have done in this country, our schools, hospitals, and charitable organizations.  We've gone from being a religious minority viewed with distrust and suspicion to becoming a group with significant influence on the wider society.  He called on Catholics to know and live our faith, to blend our religious ideals and aspirations with the wider secular, democratic society.  Whispers in the Loggia has the full text of the homily here. Pope Benedict has sent a good many messages out in this trip to many different groups in our country. I sense a follow-up blog here on some of those messages.

My seat was way up high in the top deck between home plate and first base.  Even with binoculars, I couldn't see the stage very well.  But I did see the Pope incense the altar, and several seconds later, the fragrant smoke came wafting up to us.  Although I could barely see Pope Benedict, I feel honored and blessed to have been there today.  There truly was an abundance of grace there today.  Many hearts were touched.  Many people's faith was renewed and strengthened.

(Getty image from here)

Ken who commented below took a terrific photo of the altar. 

Deacon Gregg wrote about it here (more photos) and here.

Update: I wrote this as a comment over at Tea at Triannon, who linked here, so I may as well write it here too: "The Mass was  incredibly moving. I truly feel renewed in my faith in Christ."

Nice recap of the week in photographs here (hat tip to Tea at Triannon).

The Mass is still being broadcast on EWTN, and ComCast digital cable customers can watch the Masses (Washington DC and Yankee Stadium) for free through April 27.  Here are the details, from ComCast, posted at Michael Paulsen's papal visit blog: 

Investors Business Daily Slams Harvard for Promoting Shariah

The world goes on, even as I'm glued to EWTN. 

I'm pleased to see this editorial at the Investor's Busines Daily, on Harvard Univerity's ridiculous promotion of conservative Islam and shariah financing, something I wrote about last week, Harvard ♥’s Shariah Finance . From the IBD:

"Over the past few years, Harvard University has received millions in endowments from rich Saudi and Emirate sheiks. Now it's returning the favor by Islamizing its campus and promoting the Shariah agenda of its new Arab masters."

"....And this weekend it hosted a $400-per-person conference on Shariah finance led by officials from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The goal of the forum — sponsored by Harvard's Islamic Finance Project — is to 'integrate' Islamic finance into the mainstream economy." 

"...Shariah-compliant investments are monitored by paid Shariah law advisers who must 'purify' certain returns by donating them to Islamic charities — including some that promote jihad and support suicide bombings." 

"With $800 billion already in Shariah assets — and $1 trillion to $2 trillion in Arab petrodollars annually looking for an investment home — the potential for billions being siphoned off for terrorism is real." 

"This, of course, would be a serious criminal violation of U.S. law. Yet Western bankers, including many on Wall Street who are jumping into the Shariah finance market, don't know this."

The IBD editorial names names, including local fellow Syed Nazim Ali: