Volcano Forces Thousands of Filipinos to Mark Christmas as Evacuees
Tens of thousands of Filipinos celebrated Christmas in temporary evacuations centers Friday after having fled their homes in fear of a major volcanic eruption.
With the alert level for the Philippines’ Mayon volcano at the second-highest stage, more than 40,000 evacuees had to stay away from their homes and settle for a Christmas in crowded gymnasiums and schools, where they shared rations of noodles, fried fish and fruit, and where children opened donated presents.
According to the National Disaster Coordinating Council, at least 9,754 families, or 46,655 people, are staying in 26 evacuation centers all over the Philippines’ Albay province as of 8 a.m. Thursday.
Though the weeklong eruption of the 8,070-foot (2,460-meter) Mayon has been moderate to date, volcanologists say it could escalate within days....
Picture Left:(AP Photo/ Aaron Favila)Members of the Philippine Armed Forces hold a dance contest with victims of a recent fire in suburban Pasay city, south of Manila, Philippines on Christmas day Friday Dec. 25, 2009. Many residents celebrated the day inside tents and evacuation sites as fire gutted hundreds of shanties two days before Christmas leaving thousands homeless.
With the alert level for the Philippines’ Mayon volcano at the second-highest stage, more than 40,000 evacuees had to stay away from their homes and settle for a Christmas in crowded gymnasiums and schools, where they shared rations of noodles, fried fish and fruit, and where children opened donated presents.
According to the National Disaster Coordinating Council, at least 9,754 families, or 46,655 people, are staying in 26 evacuation centers all over the Philippines’ Albay province as of 8 a.m. Thursday.
Though the weeklong eruption of the 8,070-foot (2,460-meter) Mayon has been moderate to date, volcanologists say it could escalate within days....
Picture Left:(AP Photo/ Aaron Favila)Members of the Philippine Armed Forces hold a dance contest with victims of a recent fire in suburban Pasay city, south of Manila, Philippines on Christmas day Friday Dec. 25, 2009. Many residents celebrated the day inside tents and evacuation sites as fire gutted hundreds of shanties two days before Christmas leaving thousands homeless.
Not again! Giant Swedish Christmas goat statue gets torched
STOCKHOLM-Arsonists set fire early on Wednesday to a giant straw statue of the Swedish Yule goat, a forerunner to Santa Claus in Sweden, defying security measures for a third year in a row.
Police in Gavle, north of Stockholm, said an unknown number of attackers had torched the goat in the early morning hours, leaving a blackened skeleton standing in the town square.
"It's a tradition to burn it down," Lofberg said. "It's happened an untold number of times since the 1960s ... it's been burned down more years than it's survived."
Burning the goat has been a popular, and illegal, tradition in Gavle since the 1960s when an advertising executive first came up with the idea to endow the city with a giant replica of the goat, a Christmas decoration common in many Swedish homes....
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Picture Left:The charred remains of a Christmas straw goat stands in the town center of Gavle, Northern Sweden, on Wednesday Dec. 23, 2009. Torching the goat has become a yuletide tradition, in spite of surveillance cameras and security guards the 43-foot-high (13-meter-high) goat has burned 24 times since it was first set up in 1966 to mark the holiday season.
(AP Photo/Pernilla Wahlman)
Police in Gavle, north of Stockholm, said an unknown number of attackers had torched the goat in the early morning hours, leaving a blackened skeleton standing in the town square.
"It's a tradition to burn it down," Lofberg said. "It's happened an untold number of times since the 1960s ... it's been burned down more years than it's survived."
Burning the goat has been a popular, and illegal, tradition in Gavle since the 1960s when an advertising executive first came up with the idea to endow the city with a giant replica of the goat, a Christmas decoration common in many Swedish homes....
READ MORE
Picture Left:The charred remains of a Christmas straw goat stands in the town center of Gavle, Northern Sweden, on Wednesday Dec. 23, 2009. Torching the goat has become a yuletide tradition, in spite of surveillance cameras and security guards the 43-foot-high (13-meter-high) goat has burned 24 times since it was first set up in 1966 to mark the holiday season.
(AP Photo/Pernilla Wahlman)
Location of U.S. Christian Missionary In North Korea Unknown
SEOUL, South Korea — An American Christian missionary slipped into isolated North Korea on Christmas Day, shouting that he brought God's love and carrying a letter urging leader Kim Jong Il to step down and free all political prisoners, an activist said Saturday.
Robert Park, 28, crossed a poorly guarded stretch of the frozen Tumen River that separates North Korea from China, according to a member of the Seoul-based group Pax Koreana, which promotes human rights in the North. Two other activists apparently watched and filmed the entry.
"I am an American citizen. I brought God's love. God loves you and God bless you," Park reportedly said in fluent Korean as he crossed over Friday near the northeastern city of Hoeryong, according to the activist, citing the two who witnessed the scene. Pax Koreana planned to release the footage Sunday in Seoul, he said. He spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation.
No information has emerged about what happened next to Park, who is of Korean descent. The communist country's state-run media was silent. The State Department and the U.S. Embassy in Beijing said they were aware of the incident but had no details...
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Robert Park, 28, crossed a poorly guarded stretch of the frozen Tumen River that separates North Korea from China, according to a member of the Seoul-based group Pax Koreana, which promotes human rights in the North. Two other activists apparently watched and filmed the entry.
"I am an American citizen. I brought God's love. God loves you and God bless you," Park reportedly said in fluent Korean as he crossed over Friday near the northeastern city of Hoeryong, according to the activist, citing the two who witnessed the scene. Pax Koreana planned to release the footage Sunday in Seoul, he said. He spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation.
No information has emerged about what happened next to Park, who is of Korean descent. The communist country's state-run media was silent. The State Department and the U.S. Embassy in Beijing said they were aware of the incident but had no details...
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Poll: Fewer Americans May Be Celebrating Christmas This Year
A new poll by Gallup confirms earlier reports that fewer Americans are identifying with Christianity and more are claiming no religious affiliation.
Survey results, released Thursday, show that 56 percent of Americans say they are Protestant or some non-Catholic Christian, down from 69 percent in 1948. And 22 percent identify as Catholic.
Meanwhile the percentage of American adults who don't identify with any specific religion has risen from only 2 percent 60 years ago to 13 percent today.
Notably, more Americans identify with a religion that is not specifically classified as Christian. Currently, 9 percent of adults place themselves in this non-Christian religion category, up from 4 percent six decades ago.
The Gallup findings parallel with results from the widely cited and publicized American Religious Identification Survey, which was released in March. ARIS revealed that Americans claiming no religion, or "Nones," grew from 8.2 percent in 1990 to 15 percent in 2008. It also showed that Christianity was declining with 76 percent saying they are Christian, down from 86.2 percent in the 1990s. ARIS results were based on over 54,000 interviews in 2008.
With the decrease in religious identity in America, Gallup also found a drop in the percentage of those who say they are a member of a church or synagogue. Only 63 percent say they are a member, down from 73 percent in 1937....
Survey results, released Thursday, show that 56 percent of Americans say they are Protestant or some non-Catholic Christian, down from 69 percent in 1948. And 22 percent identify as Catholic.
Meanwhile the percentage of American adults who don't identify with any specific religion has risen from only 2 percent 60 years ago to 13 percent today.
Notably, more Americans identify with a religion that is not specifically classified as Christian. Currently, 9 percent of adults place themselves in this non-Christian religion category, up from 4 percent six decades ago.
The Gallup findings parallel with results from the widely cited and publicized American Religious Identification Survey, which was released in March. ARIS revealed that Americans claiming no religion, or "Nones," grew from 8.2 percent in 1990 to 15 percent in 2008. It also showed that Christianity was declining with 76 percent saying they are Christian, down from 86.2 percent in the 1990s. ARIS results were based on over 54,000 interviews in 2008.
With the decrease in religious identity in America, Gallup also found a drop in the percentage of those who say they are a member of a church or synagogue. Only 63 percent say they are a member, down from 73 percent in 1937....
N.Y. School District Reverses Ban on Christmas
A New York school district is bringing Christmas back to its schools after reversing an earlier decision to ban Christmas programs from school events.
In its latest move, the East Syracuse-Minoa School District decided to incorporate both Christian and Jewish songs into a holiday musical and permit teachers to welcome Santa into the classroom.
Prior to the reversal, even Santa Claus was allegedly not allowed on campus because he originated from the story of St. Nicholas.
"We are pleased that the spirit of Christmas has returned to the school district,” commented Mathew D. Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel, which is defending Christmas celebrations for the seventh year.“It is not only constitutional but also reasonable to acknowledge Christmas in the public schools."
Earlier this month, parents in the district received a letter notifying them that "programs that involve singular traditions" can only take place in schools if the celebrations are voluntary, occur outside of school hours and are not sponsored by the school district. The letter expressed the district's desire to honor "diverse cultural and religious traditions."
In response to the decision, parents criticized the district and requested that Christmas return to the schools....
In its latest move, the East Syracuse-Minoa School District decided to incorporate both Christian and Jewish songs into a holiday musical and permit teachers to welcome Santa into the classroom.
Prior to the reversal, even Santa Claus was allegedly not allowed on campus because he originated from the story of St. Nicholas.
"We are pleased that the spirit of Christmas has returned to the school district,” commented Mathew D. Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel, which is defending Christmas celebrations for the seventh year.“It is not only constitutional but also reasonable to acknowledge Christmas in the public schools."
Earlier this month, parents in the district received a letter notifying them that "programs that involve singular traditions" can only take place in schools if the celebrations are voluntary, occur outside of school hours and are not sponsored by the school district. The letter expressed the district's desire to honor "diverse cultural and religious traditions."
In response to the decision, parents criticized the district and requested that Christmas return to the schools....
Cowboy Pastor Fasts Thru Christmas to Feed the Poor
In a noticeable dull voice, Pastor Jason Norton said he has not eaten for the past 15 days.
Beginning at midnight on Dec. 1, Norton stopped eating altogether and has subsisted on drinking liquids such as Gatorade, V8, coconut juice, water and coffee. His plan is to fast for 25 days, including Christmas day.
“I feel good. God is keeping me strong, most definitely,” Norton told The Christian Post this week. “The weird thing is from day three to five it seems like your body is really not agreeing with what you’re doing. It’s like putting up the last fight. But around day six it literally is like the body gives up and says, ‘alright, I guess you want to do this.’”
Norton, who pastors the King’s Trail Cowboy Church in Van Alstyne, Texas, is calling his 25-day fast Project G6:2. The idea for Project G6:2 came from a fellow Texas pastor Norton knows who went on a food strike to collect 30,000 non-perishable food items. That pastor had also helped Norton plan Project G6:2.
G6:2 is a reference to Galatians 6:2, which reads, “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ”...
Beginning at midnight on Dec. 1, Norton stopped eating altogether and has subsisted on drinking liquids such as Gatorade, V8, coconut juice, water and coffee. His plan is to fast for 25 days, including Christmas day.
“I feel good. God is keeping me strong, most definitely,” Norton told The Christian Post this week. “The weird thing is from day three to five it seems like your body is really not agreeing with what you’re doing. It’s like putting up the last fight. But around day six it literally is like the body gives up and says, ‘alright, I guess you want to do this.’”
Norton, who pastors the King’s Trail Cowboy Church in Van Alstyne, Texas, is calling his 25-day fast Project G6:2. The idea for Project G6:2 came from a fellow Texas pastor Norton knows who went on a food strike to collect 30,000 non-perishable food items. That pastor had also helped Norton plan Project G6:2.
G6:2 is a reference to Galatians 6:2, which reads, “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ”...
Copenhagen climate summit: Tony Blair calls on world leaders to ‘get moving’
Following the ‘climategate scandal’, Mr Blair said the science may not be “as certain as its proponents allege”.
But he said the world should act as a precaution against floods, droughts and mass extinction caused by climate change, in fact it would be “grossly irresponsible” not to
The first week of key UN negotiations on climate change saw clashes between the rich and poor world over the failure of countries like the US to commit to strict cuts in carbon dioxide.
Later this week world leaders, including Gordon Brown and President Barack Obama, will arrive.
Mr Blair admitted that the talks are “one of the toughest negotiations that international leaders will ever have been involved in.”
But despite sceptics claiming emails stolen from the University of East Anglia question the science, he said it was urgent to act now.
“It is said that the science around climate change is not as certain as its proponents allege. It doesn’t need to be. What is beyond debate, however, is that there is a huge amount of scientific support for the view that the climate is changing and as a result of human activity,” he said.
“Therefore, even purely as a matter of precaution, given the seriousness of the consequences if such a view is correct, and the time it will take for action to take effect, we should act. Not to do so would be grossly irresponsible.”
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But he said the world should act as a precaution against floods, droughts and mass extinction caused by climate change, in fact it would be “grossly irresponsible” not to
The first week of key UN negotiations on climate change saw clashes between the rich and poor world over the failure of countries like the US to commit to strict cuts in carbon dioxide.
Later this week world leaders, including Gordon Brown and President Barack Obama, will arrive.
Mr Blair admitted that the talks are “one of the toughest negotiations that international leaders will ever have been involved in.”
But despite sceptics claiming emails stolen from the University of East Anglia question the science, he said it was urgent to act now.
“It is said that the science around climate change is not as certain as its proponents allege. It doesn’t need to be. What is beyond debate, however, is that there is a huge amount of scientific support for the view that the climate is changing and as a result of human activity,” he said.
“Therefore, even purely as a matter of precaution, given the seriousness of the consequences if such a view is correct, and the time it will take for action to take effect, we should act. Not to do so would be grossly irresponsible.”
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Inconvenient Truth for Gore as Arctic Ice Claims Don't Add Up
There are many kinds of truth. Al Gore was hit by an inconvenient one yesterday.The former vice president, who became an unlikely figurehead for the green movement after narrating the Oscar-winning documentary "An Inconvenient Truth," became entangled in a new climate change row.Gore, speaking at the Copenhagen climate change summit, stated the latest research showed that the Arctic could be completely ice-free in five years.
In his speech, Gore told the conference: "These figures are fresh. Some of the models suggest to Dr. [Wieslav] Maslowski that there is a 75 percent chance that the entire north polar ice cap, during the summer months, could be completely ice-free within five to seven years."
However, the climatologist whose work Gore was relying upon dropped the former vice president in the water with an icy blast.
"It's unclear to me how this figure was arrived at," Dr. Maslowski said. "I would never try to estimate likelihood at anything as exact as this."
Gore's office later admitted that the 75 percent figure was one used by Dr. Maslowski as a "ballpark figure" several years ago in a conversation with Gore....
In his speech, Gore told the conference: "These figures are fresh. Some of the models suggest to Dr. [Wieslav] Maslowski that there is a 75 percent chance that the entire north polar ice cap, during the summer months, could be completely ice-free within five to seven years."
However, the climatologist whose work Gore was relying upon dropped the former vice president in the water with an icy blast.
"It's unclear to me how this figure was arrived at," Dr. Maslowski said. "I would never try to estimate likelihood at anything as exact as this."
Gore's office later admitted that the 75 percent figure was one used by Dr. Maslowski as a "ballpark figure" several years ago in a conversation with Gore....
British, German, French leaders to discuss climate change by phone
French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Tuesday he will discuss issues related to climate change with his counterparts in the United States, Britain and Germany over the telephone ahead of Friday's summit-level talks at the ongoing U.N. climate change conference in Copenhagen.
According to the French president, the telephone talks will be held later in the day...
According to the French president, the telephone talks will be held later in the day...
White House Hanukkah Party Spawns Anger
At the White House, as the Obama administration is learning all too well, a party is never a simple affair. (Just ask the Salahi-stricken Secret Service.)
The latest kerfuffle, the New York Times reports, involves the Obama administration's first Hanukkah party, to be held Wednesday.One bone of contention has been the guest list: Administration officials told the Times they are inviting 550 people, just 50 less than President Bush invited to his White House Hanukkah parties. But the Israeli press reported that the Obama White House was only inviting 400 people (they may have expanded the guest list since those reports) – and Bush White House officials told reporters they had actually invited twice that number. It was, some suggested, a snub – and one that critics said should not come as a surprise...
The latest kerfuffle, the New York Times reports, involves the Obama administration's first Hanukkah party, to be held Wednesday.One bone of contention has been the guest list: Administration officials told the Times they are inviting 550 people, just 50 less than President Bush invited to his White House Hanukkah parties. But the Israeli press reported that the Obama White House was only inviting 400 people (they may have expanded the guest list since those reports) – and Bush White House officials told reporters they had actually invited twice that number. It was, some suggested, a snub – and one that critics said should not come as a surprise...
Druids,pagans mark shortest day of year
LONDON-Hundreds of people have celebrated the winter solstice at Stonehenge, braving snowy travel conditions and a morning fog. About 700 people - including pagans and druids - saw the sun rise at the ancient rocks near Salisbury, England.Peter Carson, Stonehenge's director, said it "was really looking picture-postcard perfect".Carson said winter solstice can fall between Dec. 20 and 23. He said this year, winter solstice came after the sun set on Dec. 21, making Tuesday the shortest day of the year.
Summer solstice is also observed at the site, but Carson said the winter celebrations are increasingly popular....
Summer solstice is also observed at the site, but Carson said the winter celebrations are increasingly popular....
Prince William to share Queen's duties: Treasury document reveals secret plan to make him the 'Shadow King'
The Queen is to hand over a substantial part of her public duties to Prince William to help him prepare for the day when he becomes King, according to a confidential document obtained by The Mail on Sunday.
Secret papers reveal that plans to ease the strain on the 83-year-old monarch and her 88-year-old husband, Prince Philip, are at an advanced stage.The disclosures come despite months of denials from the Palace that the Queen was planning to step back from her official work in favour of her 27-year-old grandson.The information is contained in a briefing note written by Chancellor Alistair Darling’s Treasury officials about new financial arrangements for Prince Charles and his sons.Key paragraphs, disclosing the reason for the changes, are blacked out.
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Secret papers reveal that plans to ease the strain on the 83-year-old monarch and her 88-year-old husband, Prince Philip, are at an advanced stage.The disclosures come despite months of denials from the Palace that the Queen was planning to step back from her official work in favour of her 27-year-old grandson.The information is contained in a briefing note written by Chancellor Alistair Darling’s Treasury officials about new financial arrangements for Prince Charles and his sons.Key paragraphs, disclosing the reason for the changes, are blacked out.
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Report: UN-backed Congo troops killing civilians
JOHANNESBURG-A U.N.-backed Congolese military operation to oust rebels from eastern Congo has caused more civilian casualties than damage to rebels, with more than 1,400 people deliberately killed over a nine-month period, human rights groups said Monday.
Human Rights Watch said it had documented "vicious and widespread" attacks against civilians by soldiers and rebels between January and September. Soldiers being fed and supplied with ammunition by the United Nations have killed civilians, gang-raped girls and cut the heads off some young men they accuse of being rebels or supporting the enemy, groups said.
"For every rebel combatant disarmed, one civilian has been killed, seven women and girls have been raped, six houses have been burned and destroyed and 900 people have been forced to flee their homes," British-based organization Oxfam said.
Human Rights Watch said it documented the killings of 732 civilians between January and September by the Congolese army and troops from neighboring Rwanda fighting alongside it. In the same period, it counted 701 civilians killed by the rebels they are fighting.
"Some victims were tied together before their throats were, according to one witness, 'slit like chickens.' The majority of the victims were women, children, and the elderly," the group said....
Human Rights Watch said it had documented "vicious and widespread" attacks against civilians by soldiers and rebels between January and September. Soldiers being fed and supplied with ammunition by the United Nations have killed civilians, gang-raped girls and cut the heads off some young men they accuse of being rebels or supporting the enemy, groups said.
"For every rebel combatant disarmed, one civilian has been killed, seven women and girls have been raped, six houses have been burned and destroyed and 900 people have been forced to flee their homes," British-based organization Oxfam said.
Human Rights Watch said it documented the killings of 732 civilians between January and September by the Congolese army and troops from neighboring Rwanda fighting alongside it. In the same period, it counted 701 civilians killed by the rebels they are fighting.
"Some victims were tied together before their throats were, according to one witness, 'slit like chickens.' The majority of the victims were women, children, and the elderly," the group said....
Santa Claus banned from visiting locked-up children in UK asylum detention centre
Santa Claus was prevented from giving presents to the imprisoned children of asylum seekers at the notorious Yarl's Wood detention centre by private security guards. Yarl's Wood is a privately run prison whose inmates are UK immigrants who arrived seeking asylum, but whose claims have been denied. They are dragged out of bed in the dead of night and stuck in mesh-windowed vans without their belongings and without the chance to say goodbye to their loved ones, and then detained in terrible conditions that have been decried by human rights advocates, doctors, psychiatrists and other experts. Their "crime" is trying to escape torture, privation, and disaster. The rent-a-cops at Yarl's Wood told the Anglican church's leading expert on Father Christmas (dressed in a Santa costume) that he couldn't enter the centre to give the children presents. They also blocked the canon theologian at Westminster Abbey. Then they cancelled a later scheduled visit with detained families at the centre.
And the whole mess is on video...
And the whole mess is on video...
Copenhagen climate summit:"Global Warming caused by sun's radiation"
As the world gathered in the Danish capital for the UN Climate Change Conference, more than 50 scientists, businessmen and lobby groups met to discuss the arguments against man made global warming.
Although the meeting was considerably smaller than the official gathering of 15,000 people meeting down the road, the organisers claimed it could change the course of negotiations
Professor Henrik Svensmark, a physicist at the Danish National Space Center in Copenhagen, said the recent warming period was caused by solar activity.He said the last time the world experienced such high temperatures, during the medieval warming period, the Sun and the Earth were in a similar cycle.
Professor Nils-Axel Morner, a geologist from Stockholm University, said sea level rise has also been exaggerated by the “climate alarmists” using computer models.He said observational data from lake sediments, coast lines and trees show sea levels have remained stable....
Although the meeting was considerably smaller than the official gathering of 15,000 people meeting down the road, the organisers claimed it could change the course of negotiations
Professor Henrik Svensmark, a physicist at the Danish National Space Center in Copenhagen, said the recent warming period was caused by solar activity.He said the last time the world experienced such high temperatures, during the medieval warming period, the Sun and the Earth were in a similar cycle.
Professor Nils-Axel Morner, a geologist from Stockholm University, said sea level rise has also been exaggerated by the “climate alarmists” using computer models.He said observational data from lake sediments, coast lines and trees show sea levels have remained stable....
Shock Video: Skeptical Scientist Has Apparent Heart Attack During Live UN Climate Debate
AlterNet: The 41-year-old Henrik Svensmark made an awkward spasm/shudder and burst out a strange noise, sounding like a cough. The other participants in the debate looked baffled and he mumbled: "It's my heart," and fell to the ground and the pacemaker kicked in once more and you could hear him scream.
Note: Svensmark has been presenting evidence at the climate conference that recent warming cycles are caused by solar activity.
For more information see the related links below.
•AlterNet: Copendenier Henrik Svensmark collapses on Danish TV
Copenhagen climate summit: global warming 'caused by sun's radiation'
Note: Svensmark has been presenting evidence at the climate conference that recent warming cycles are caused by solar activity.
For more information see the related links below.
•AlterNet: Copendenier Henrik Svensmark collapses on Danish TV
Copenhagen climate summit: global warming 'caused by sun's radiation'
Top Economic Adviser:"Of Course Recession Isn’t Over"....
Politico: Asked by moderator David Gregory if the recession were over, [White House economic adviser Christina] Romer shot back: "Of course not. For the people on Main Street and throughout this country, they are still suffering, the unemployment rate is still 10 percent." However, on 'This Week' Sunday morning, Lawrence Summers, director of the National Economic Council, said, "Today, everybody agrees that the recession is over, and the question is what the pace of the expansion is going to be."
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Top Economic Adviser:"Recession is Over"
"Today, everybody agrees that the recession is over, and the question is what the pace of the expansion is going to be," Lawrence Summers, director of the National Economic Council, said.
Top economic advisers offer mixed message on recession
Top economic advisers offer mixed message on recession
‘Fistgate’: Massachusetts Teacher Speaks Out About Infamous GLSEN Conference
After years of silence a traumatized Massachusetts teacher spoke out in an interview about what she witnessed at GLSEN’s Fistgate Conference in 2000. She also describes Barack Obama’s Safe Schools Czar Kevin Jennings’ role at the infamous conference that discussed “fisting” and “watersports” with children.
The Massachusetts teacher in this interview attended the conference and actually took the photo of Obama’s Safe School Czar Kevin Jennings sitting and holding a conference program during a break. Jennings was the keynote speaker at the conference.
The teacher claims that there is “no way” that Obama’s Safe School Czar did not know about the pornographic and sexually explicit material that was presented and discussed at the conference. Kevin Jennings is the founder of the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN).
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The Massachusetts teacher in this interview attended the conference and actually took the photo of Obama’s Safe School Czar Kevin Jennings sitting and holding a conference program during a break. Jennings was the keynote speaker at the conference.
The teacher claims that there is “no way” that Obama’s Safe School Czar did not know about the pornographic and sexually explicit material that was presented and discussed at the conference. Kevin Jennings is the founder of the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN).
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Big Brother Can Spy on Me If I Work for Him...?
Everybody’s up in arms about the lack of online privacy these days, but it seems like if you work for the U.S. government, you ought to be more worried than most. The Supreme Court said today that it’s considering a case involving monitored text messages from a government worker that could have big implications for workers’ online rights. It comes on the heels of a suit filed against numerous government agencies over their surveillance of social networking sites....
Foreign Ministry outraged over U.K. arrest warrant against Livni
The Foreign Ministry on Tuesday called for an end to the "absurd situation" in which arrest warrants were being issued to Israeli officials over alleged war crimes in the Gaza Strip.
"Only actions can put an end to this absurd situation, which would have seemed a comedy of errors were it not so serious," said the Foreign Ministry, a day after it emerged that opposition leader Tzipi Livni had canceled her trip to Britain after a warrant was issued for her arrest...
"Only actions can put an end to this absurd situation, which would have seemed a comedy of errors were it not so serious," said the Foreign Ministry, a day after it emerged that opposition leader Tzipi Livni had canceled her trip to Britain after a warrant was issued for her arrest...
Africa’s Culture War:"The Fight Over Uganda’s Anti-Gay Bill"
ABC's Dana Hughes reports from Nairobi:
A lot of attention has been paid to the proposed anti-homosexuality legislation in Uganda. And rightfully so, the Anti-Homosexuality Bill of 2009 would sentence HIV positive homosexuals to death for having sex, and severely punish any homosexual with up to life imprisonment. Any Ugandan, gay or straight, who knows a homosexual and fails to report him or her to the authorities could face up to seven years in prison. There is intense international pressure on Uganda to withdrawal the bill, Hillary Clinton highlighted the bill today in a speech on human rights saying that “law should not become an instrument of oppression.” Even President Obama said in a statement over the weekend that the law “moves against the tide of history”...
A lot of attention has been paid to the proposed anti-homosexuality legislation in Uganda. And rightfully so, the Anti-Homosexuality Bill of 2009 would sentence HIV positive homosexuals to death for having sex, and severely punish any homosexual with up to life imprisonment. Any Ugandan, gay or straight, who knows a homosexual and fails to report him or her to the authorities could face up to seven years in prison. There is intense international pressure on Uganda to withdrawal the bill, Hillary Clinton highlighted the bill today in a speech on human rights saying that “law should not become an instrument of oppression.” Even President Obama said in a statement over the weekend that the law “moves against the tide of history”...
Speculation mounts that Gordon Brown may call an early election
Alistair Darling is preparing to deliver a pre-election Budget in the spring, despite a wave of speculation that Gordon Brown may opt for an early contest.
Treasury officials are working on the expectation that there will be a Budget in mid-March, even though David Cameron yesterday became the latest politician to suggest that the election will come on March 25. If he is right there would not be time for a Budget, which cannot come earlier than three months after the Pre-Budget Report.Labour and Conservative chiefs admitted that they were on the alert for an early election, but Mr Brown was reported to be holding to his favoured date of May 6....
Treasury officials are working on the expectation that there will be a Budget in mid-March, even though David Cameron yesterday became the latest politician to suggest that the election will come on March 25. If he is right there would not be time for a Budget, which cannot come earlier than three months after the Pre-Budget Report.Labour and Conservative chiefs admitted that they were on the alert for an early election, but Mr Brown was reported to be holding to his favoured date of May 6....
Greek premier says country risks sinking in debt
ATHENS, Greece-Greece's prime minister announced a barrage of spending cuts Monday, promising to control a ballooning government budget deficit and warning that the country risked drowning in debt.
George Papandreou called for unity during a speech to business and union leaders in Athens. He pledged that his new Socialist government, elected in October, would take steps over the next few months that are decades overdue.
"Greece, with so much potential, is in critical condition," he said...
George Papandreou called for unity during a speech to business and union leaders in Athens. He pledged that his new Socialist government, elected in October, would take steps over the next few months that are decades overdue.
"Greece, with so much potential, is in critical condition," he said...
22 million missing Bush White House e-mails found
WASHINGTON-Computer technicians have found 22 million missing White House e-mails from the administration of President George W. Bush and the Obama administration is searching for dozens more days' worth of potentially lost e-mail from the Bush years, according to two groups that filed suit over the failure by the Bush White House to install an electronic record keeping system.
The two private groups—Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and the National Security Archive—said Monday they were settling the lawsuits they filed against the Executive Office of the President in 2007...
The two private groups—Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and the National Security Archive—said Monday they were settling the lawsuits they filed against the Executive Office of the President in 2007...
Critics Say Atheist N.C. City Councilman Unworthy of Seat
RALEIGH, N.C.-Asheville City Councilman Cecil Bothwell believes in ending the death penalty, conserving water and reforming government-but he doesn't believe in God. His political opponents say that's a sin that makes him unworthy of serving in office, and they've got the North Carolina Constitution on their side.
Bothwell's detractors are threatening to take the city to court for swearing him in, even though the state's antiquated requirement that officeholders believe in God is unenforceable because it violates the U.S. Consititution.
"The question of whether or not God exists is not particularly interesting to me and it's certainly not relevant to public office," the recently elected 59-year-old said....
Bothwell's detractors are threatening to take the city to court for swearing him in, even though the state's antiquated requirement that officeholders believe in God is unenforceable because it violates the U.S. Consititution.
"The question of whether or not God exists is not particularly interesting to me and it's certainly not relevant to public office," the recently elected 59-year-old said....
"Sunshine speeded 1940s Swiss glacier melt":scientists
A surge in sunshine more than 60 years ago helped Swiss mountain glaciers melt faster than today, even though warmer average temperatures are being recorded now, Swiss researchers said Monday. Their study into the impact of solar radiation on Alpine glaciers made the "surprising discovery" that in the 1940s, and especially summer 1947, the ice floes lost the most ice since measurements begin 95 years ago, according to Zurich's Federal Institute of Technology (ETHZ).
Yet, average temperatures have been rising in the past two decades and scientists have said glacier melt is accelerating at unprecedented levels under the impact of climate change.
"The surprising thing is that this paradox can be explained relatively easily with radiation," said one the ETHZ researchers, Matthias Huss, in the university's online review....
Yet, average temperatures have been rising in the past two decades and scientists have said glacier melt is accelerating at unprecedented levels under the impact of climate change.
"The surprising thing is that this paradox can be explained relatively easily with radiation," said one the ETHZ researchers, Matthias Huss, in the university's online review....
GAY AGENDA WATCH:Houston biggest US city to elect openly gay mayor
HOUSTON-Houston became the largest U.S. city to elect an openly gay mayor, with voters handing a solid victory to City Controller Annise Parker after a hotly contested runoff.
Parker defeated former city attorney Gene Locke with 53.6 percent of the vote Saturday in a race that had a turnout of only 16.5 percent.
"This election has changed the world for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered community. Just as it is about transforming the lives of all Houstonians for the better, and that's what my administration will be about," Parker told supporters after Locke conceded defeat.
Parker, 53, has never made a secret or an issue of her sexual orientation. But it became the focus of the race after anti-gay activists and conservative religious groups endorsed Locke and sent out mailers condemning Parker's "homosexual behavior"...
Parker defeated former city attorney Gene Locke with 53.6 percent of the vote Saturday in a race that had a turnout of only 16.5 percent.
"This election has changed the world for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered community. Just as it is about transforming the lives of all Houstonians for the better, and that's what my administration will be about," Parker told supporters after Locke conceded defeat.
Parker, 53, has never made a secret or an issue of her sexual orientation. But it became the focus of the race after anti-gay activists and conservative religious groups endorsed Locke and sent out mailers condemning Parker's "homosexual behavior"...
Obama's Safe Schools Czar Tied to Lewd Readings for 7th Graders
President Obama's "Safe Schools Czar," already a target of social conservatives for his past drug abuse and what they say is his promotion of homosexuality in schools, is under fresh attack after it was revealed that the pro-gay group he formerly headed recommends books his critics say are pornographic.
The group under fire is the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), which Kevin Jennings, now the assistant deputy secretary for safe and drug-free schools in the Department of Education, founded and ran from 1990 to 2008.GLSEN says it works to create a welcoming atmosphere for homosexual students in schools, and that effort includes recommending books for students of all ages.
But critics say many of the books, particularly some that are targeted for children between Grades 7 to 12, are inappropriately explicit. A full list is available at the blog Gateway Pundit, which has published dozens of controversial passages from the books.....
The group under fire is the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), which Kevin Jennings, now the assistant deputy secretary for safe and drug-free schools in the Department of Education, founded and ran from 1990 to 2008.GLSEN says it works to create a welcoming atmosphere for homosexual students in schools, and that effort includes recommending books for students of all ages.
But critics say many of the books, particularly some that are targeted for children between Grades 7 to 12, are inappropriately explicit. A full list is available at the blog Gateway Pundit, which has published dozens of controversial passages from the books.....
Tense atmosphere clouds climate talks
COPENHAGEN-The atmosphere at the U.N. climate conference grew more tense and divisive after talks were suspended for most of Monday's session — a sign of the developing nations' deep distrust of the promises by industrial countries to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
With only days left before the conference closes Friday, at least one world leader said he would come early to try to salvage the negotiations, and others reportedly were considering the move.
The wrangle over emission reductions froze a timetable for government ministers to negotiate a host of complex issues. Though procedural in nature, the Africa-led suspension went to the core of suspicions by poor countries that wealthier ones were trying to soften their commitments and evade penalties for missing their targets....
With only days left before the conference closes Friday, at least one world leader said he would come early to try to salvage the negotiations, and others reportedly were considering the move.
The wrangle over emission reductions froze a timetable for government ministers to negotiate a host of complex issues. Though procedural in nature, the Africa-led suspension went to the core of suspicions by poor countries that wealthier ones were trying to soften their commitments and evade penalties for missing their targets....
Famous weather scientist:Climategate 'tip of iceberg'
The Colorado scientist described by the Washington Post as "the World's Most Famous Hurricane Expert" says the "Climategate" e-mails from the United Kingdom that revealed possible data manipulation are evidence of a conspiracy among "warmists," those who believe man's actions are triggering possibly catastrophic climate change.
"The recent 'ClimateGate' revelations coming out of the UK University of East Anglia are but the tip of a giant iceberg of a well-organized international climate-warming conspiracy that has been gathering momentum for the last 25 years," said Colorado State University's William Gray.
His annual hurricane forecasts are the standard for weather prognostications. His work pioneered the science of forecasting hurricanes, and he has served as weather forecaster for the U.S. Air Force. He is emeritus professor of atmospheric science at CSU and heads the school's Department of Atmospheric Sciences Tropical Meteorology Project.
Gray was referring to e-mails and other information obtained by a hacker and posted on a Russian web server that included interactions among the world's most influential climate-change scientists.
One e-mail said: "I've just completed Mike's Nature trick of adding in the real temps to each series for the last 20 years (ie from 1981 onwards) amd (sic) from 1961 for Keith's to hide the decline"...
"The recent 'ClimateGate' revelations coming out of the UK University of East Anglia are but the tip of a giant iceberg of a well-organized international climate-warming conspiracy that has been gathering momentum for the last 25 years," said Colorado State University's William Gray.
His annual hurricane forecasts are the standard for weather prognostications. His work pioneered the science of forecasting hurricanes, and he has served as weather forecaster for the U.S. Air Force. He is emeritus professor of atmospheric science at CSU and heads the school's Department of Atmospheric Sciences Tropical Meteorology Project.
Gray was referring to e-mails and other information obtained by a hacker and posted on a Russian web server that included interactions among the world's most influential climate-change scientists.
One e-mail said: "I've just completed Mike's Nature trick of adding in the real temps to each series for the last 20 years (ie from 1981 onwards) amd (sic) from 1961 for Keith's to hide the decline"...
The climate denial industry is out to dupe the public.And it's working...
When you survey the trail of wreckage left by the climate emails crisis, three things become clear. The first is the tendency of those who claim to be the champions of climate science to minimise their importance. Those who have most to lose if the science is wrong have perversely sought to justify the secretive and chummy ethos that some of the emails reveal. If science is not transparent and accountable, it's not science.
I believe that all supporting data, codes and programmes should be made available as soon as an article is published in a peer-reviewed journal. That anyone should have to lodge a freedom of information request to obtain them is wrong. That the request should be turned down is worse. That a scientist suggests deleting material that might be covered by that request is unjustifiable. Everyone who values the scientific process should demand complete transparency, across all branches of science....
I believe that all supporting data, codes and programmes should be made available as soon as an article is published in a peer-reviewed journal. That anyone should have to lodge a freedom of information request to obtain them is wrong. That the request should be turned down is worse. That a scientist suggests deleting material that might be covered by that request is unjustifiable. Everyone who values the scientific process should demand complete transparency, across all branches of science....
Will Missouri Nullify Federal Gun Laws...?
Missouri State Representative Cynthia Davis has introduced the “Firearms Freedom Act” (HB1230) – prefiled for the 2010 legislative session. The bill “Asserts the right of the State of Missouri to regulate the intrastate use and acquisition of certain firearms pursuant to the reserved powers of the state over intrastate commerce and the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.”
While the bill’s title focuses solely federal gun regulations, it has far more to do with the 10th Amendment’s mandate that powers not delegated to the federal government are “reserved to the states, respectively, or to the people"...
While the bill’s title focuses solely federal gun regulations, it has far more to do with the 10th Amendment’s mandate that powers not delegated to the federal government are “reserved to the states, respectively, or to the people"...
Is slavery the new green energy...?
How many cyclists does it take to make a cup of tea? About 100, if you run your home on pedal power. This is the premise behind The Human Power Station, tonight's episode of the BBC1 series Bang Goes the Theory, in which an army of cyclists provides the energy used by a typical family. What's interesting is not so much the amount we use, as the implication that the only way to have an eco–friendly future is to bring back slavery.
This is the conclusion of Tim Siddall of Electric Pedals, the company hired to supply the bicycles and cyclists. For 11 hours, 100 volunteers rode furiously, getting no more than lunch and the chance to be on TV. "They were dead excited at first," says Siddall. "But after five hours they had had enough of the boredom and the pain."
One of the biggest problems was feeding the cyclists. "You would use more energy feeding them than the energy they produced," says Siddall...
READ MORE
Picture Left:Pedal power: the cycling volunteers on the BBC's Bang Goes the Theory. (Photograph: Andrew Hayes-Watkins/Dragonfly TV)
This is the conclusion of Tim Siddall of Electric Pedals, the company hired to supply the bicycles and cyclists. For 11 hours, 100 volunteers rode furiously, getting no more than lunch and the chance to be on TV. "They were dead excited at first," says Siddall. "But after five hours they had had enough of the boredom and the pain."
One of the biggest problems was feeding the cyclists. "You would use more energy feeding them than the energy they produced," says Siddall...
READ MORE
Picture Left:Pedal power: the cycling volunteers on the BBC's Bang Goes the Theory. (Photograph: Andrew Hayes-Watkins/Dragonfly TV)
Indonesia to Erect Statue of President Obama as a Boy
A six-and-a-half foot statue of President Obama as a 10-year-old boy has been commissioned in Jakarta, Xinhua reports.
The president spent some of his formative years there as a boy, where he was educated at a school that was decidedly not a madrassa, despite some false reports pushed by conservative news outlets two years ago.
A group called "Friends of Obama" made the announcement today, saying the statue will be inaugurated on December 10 in a playground in the Jakarta suburb Menteng Dalam, where Obama lived from 1967 until 1971 with his mother and stepfather.
"The statue is designed to inspire Indonesian children that they can be anyone they want to be," said Friends of Obama chairman Ron Muller.
The president spent some of his formative years there as a boy, where he was educated at a school that was decidedly not a madrassa, despite some false reports pushed by conservative news outlets two years ago.
A group called "Friends of Obama" made the announcement today, saying the statue will be inaugurated on December 10 in a playground in the Jakarta suburb Menteng Dalam, where Obama lived from 1967 until 1971 with his mother and stepfather.
"The statue is designed to inspire Indonesian children that they can be anyone they want to be," said Friends of Obama chairman Ron Muller.
PS:Pleaseeeee....give me a break...!!!They're gonna erect a BHO's statue to "inspire indonesian kids that they can be anyone they want to be"...???
Does that mean that they can leave Islam --if they want to--without suffering persecution or being tried by treason and migrate to the West and end up dooping a lot of people into believing that he or she is an american,a christian and that he or she actually cares for people....and without ever accomplishing absolutely nothing,and lie after lie some years later,he or she can actually become the president of the US and be handed a Nobel Peace Prize and become the President of the World,among other "titles"...?????
Is that "inspiration the indonesian way"....?
I DON'T THINK SO....
As in the days of Noah...
After Arriving in 140 Private Planes and 1200 Limos,Delegates Use CO-Neutral Bicycles To Travel Around Copenhagen
Photo clipped directly from the Copenhagen Conference website...
Following the Conference the bikes will be re-fitted with trailers and shipped to Tanzania to transport patients to Health Care Centers...
en.cop15.dk/blogs
The temperature in Copenhagen is just above freezing point, yet most of the 200 free bicycles parked outside the Bella Center are already rented out.
“We want to give delegates the chance to experience the Danish way of riding bikes no matter what the weather conditions are – so now delegates use the bikes to go to their hotels and to meetings in the city,” says Henrik Smedegaard Mortensen from Bicikeli.
Bicikeli is an initiative to lower CO2 emissions in Denmark and create access to healthcare in Africa. The organisation has provided 160 free bicycles to COP15. After the conference the bicycles will be re-fitted with trailers and sent to Tanzania where they can be used to transport patients to health care centers.
These people are identicle to Al Gore, preach about the horror of climate change and criticize everyone driving a SUV, yet fly around in a private jet, get picked up in limos and your house uses 20 times the energy of the average person...
READ MORE
Following the Conference the bikes will be re-fitted with trailers and shipped to Tanzania to transport patients to Health Care Centers...
en.cop15.dk/blogs
The temperature in Copenhagen is just above freezing point, yet most of the 200 free bicycles parked outside the Bella Center are already rented out.
“We want to give delegates the chance to experience the Danish way of riding bikes no matter what the weather conditions are – so now delegates use the bikes to go to their hotels and to meetings in the city,” says Henrik Smedegaard Mortensen from Bicikeli.
Bicikeli is an initiative to lower CO2 emissions in Denmark and create access to healthcare in Africa. The organisation has provided 160 free bicycles to COP15. After the conference the bicycles will be re-fitted with trailers and sent to Tanzania where they can be used to transport patients to health care centers.
These people are identicle to Al Gore, preach about the horror of climate change and criticize everyone driving a SUV, yet fly around in a private jet, get picked up in limos and your house uses 20 times the energy of the average person...
READ MORE
EU backs Jerusalem as shared capital
European Union foreign ministers agreed on Tuesday that Jerusalem should be the capital of both Israel and a future Palestinian state, as part of a negotiated settlement, EU diplomats said.The foreign ministers, meeting for a second day of talks in Brussels, adopted a text agreeing that Jerusalem should provide "the future capital of the two states", one diplomat said.
The move is bound to anger Israel which has already warned Europe against seeking to foist a solution to the Middle East problem on the parties involved.
However, an earlier proposal by the Swedish EU presidency, to explicitly support the idea of east Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state, was dropped by the foreign ministers. An Israeli diplomat said afterward that it would be "an improvement" if east Jerusalem were not mentioned in the text....
The move is bound to anger Israel which has already warned Europe against seeking to foist a solution to the Middle East problem on the parties involved.
However, an earlier proposal by the Swedish EU presidency, to explicitly support the idea of east Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state, was dropped by the foreign ministers. An Israeli diplomat said afterward that it would be "an improvement" if east Jerusalem were not mentioned in the text....
Copenhagen climate summit in disarray after 'Danish text' leak
The UN Copenhagen climate talks are in disarray today after developing countries reacted furiously to leaked documents that show world leaders will next week be asked to sign an agreement that hands more power to rich countries and sidelines the UN's role in all future climate change negotiations.
The document is also being interpreted by developing countries as setting unequal limits on per capita carbon emissions for developed and developing countries in 2050; meaning that people in rich countries would be permitted to emit nearly twice as much under the proposals.
The so-called Danish text, a secret draft agreement worked on by a group of individuals known as "the circle of commitment" – but understood to include the UK, US and Denmark – has only been shown to a handful of countries since it was finalised this week....
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Picture LEft:A Haitian delegation rests before the second-day session begins in Copenhagen.(Photograph: Attila Kisbenedek/AFP/Getty Images)
The document is also being interpreted by developing countries as setting unequal limits on per capita carbon emissions for developed and developing countries in 2050; meaning that people in rich countries would be permitted to emit nearly twice as much under the proposals.
The so-called Danish text, a secret draft agreement worked on by a group of individuals known as "the circle of commitment" – but understood to include the UK, US and Denmark – has only been shown to a handful of countries since it was finalised this week....
READ MORE
Picture LEft:A Haitian delegation rests before the second-day session begins in Copenhagen.(Photograph: Attila Kisbenedek/AFP/Getty Images)
Clashes in Philippine martial law province
Rebel forces loyal to a powerful Muslim clan whose stronghold is under martial law in the southern Philippines have engaged troops in clashes, a senior government official said Monday.
"There have been shooting incidents between these groups and the Philippine National Police," Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno told reporters.
"They have engaged in actual firefights with some of the uniformed services," he said.
Philippine troops had earlier been hunting down 3,000 armed followers of a powerful Muslim clan after its leaders were accused of a brutal massacre...
"There have been shooting incidents between these groups and the Philippine National Police," Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno told reporters.
"They have engaged in actual firefights with some of the uniformed services," he said.
Philippine troops had earlier been hunting down 3,000 armed followers of a powerful Muslim clan after its leaders were accused of a brutal massacre...
EPA says greenhouse gases endanger human health
WASHINGTON-The Environmental Protection Agency took a major step Monday toward regulating greenhouses gases, concluding that climate changing pollution threatens the public health and the environment.
The announcement came as the Obama administration looked to boost its arguments at an international climate conference that the United States is aggressively taking actions to combat global warming, even though Congress has yet to act on climate legislation. The conference opened Monday in Copenhagen.
The EPA said that the scientific evidence surrounding climate change clearly shows that greenhouse gases "threaten the public health and welfare of the American people" and that the pollutants — mainly carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels — should be regulated under the Clean Air Act.
"These long-overdue findings cement 2009's place in history as the year when the United States government began addressing the challenge of greenhouse-gas pollution," said EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson at news conference....
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Picture Left:Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson makes announcement on climate during a news conference in Washington.(AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
The announcement came as the Obama administration looked to boost its arguments at an international climate conference that the United States is aggressively taking actions to combat global warming, even though Congress has yet to act on climate legislation. The conference opened Monday in Copenhagen.
The EPA said that the scientific evidence surrounding climate change clearly shows that greenhouse gases "threaten the public health and welfare of the American people" and that the pollutants — mainly carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels — should be regulated under the Clean Air Act.
"These long-overdue findings cement 2009's place in history as the year when the United States government began addressing the challenge of greenhouse-gas pollution," said EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson at news conference....
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Picture Left:Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson makes announcement on climate during a news conference in Washington.(AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
DECEPTION WATCH:"Pressure Mounts After Episcopal Church Elects Second Gay Bishop"
LOS ANGELES-The Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles has elected a lesbian as assistant bishop, underscoring Episcopal commitment to accepting same-sex relationships despite enormous pressure from other Anglicans to change that stand.
Saturday's election of the Rev. Mary Glasspool of Baltimore as the second openly gay bishop in the global Anglican fellowship still needs approval from a majority of dioceses across the church before she can be consecrated....
Saturday's election of the Rev. Mary Glasspool of Baltimore as the second openly gay bishop in the global Anglican fellowship still needs approval from a majority of dioceses across the church before she can be consecrated....
Picture Left:Rev. Mary Glasspool of Baltimore reacts during her election in Los Angeles.(AP)
UK should open borders to climate refugees, says Bangladeshi minister
Up to 20 million Bangladeshis may be forced to leave the country in the next 40 years because of climate change, one of the country's most senior politicians has said. Abul Maal Abdul Muhith, Bangladesh's finance minister,(picture left) called on Britain and other wealthy countries to accept millions of displaced people.
In a clear signal to the US and Europe that developing countries are not prepared to accept a weak deal at next week's Copenhagen climate summit, Abdul Muhith said Bangladesh wanted hosts for managed migration as people began to abandon flooded and storm-damaged coastal areas.
"Twenty million people could be displaced [in Bangladesh] by the middle of the century," Abdul Muhith told the Guardian. "We are asking all our development partners to honour the natural right of persons to migrate. We can't accommodate all these people – this is already the densest [populated] country in the world," he said....
In a clear signal to the US and Europe that developing countries are not prepared to accept a weak deal at next week's Copenhagen climate summit, Abdul Muhith said Bangladesh wanted hosts for managed migration as people began to abandon flooded and storm-damaged coastal areas.
"Twenty million people could be displaced [in Bangladesh] by the middle of the century," Abdul Muhith told the Guardian. "We are asking all our development partners to honour the natural right of persons to migrate. We can't accommodate all these people – this is already the densest [populated] country in the world," he said....
Climate skeptics claim leaked emails are evidence of collusion among scientists
Hundreds of private emails and documents allegedly exchanged between some of the world’s leading climate scientists over the past 13 years have been stolen by hackers and leaked online. The computer files were apparently accessed earlier this week from servers at the University of East Anglia’s Climate Research Unit, a world-renowned centre focused on the study of natural and anthropogenic climate change.
Climate change sceptics who have studied the emails allege that they provide “smoking gun” evidence that some of the climatologists colluded in manipulating data to support the widely held view among the world’s climatologists that climate change is real and is being largely caused by the actions of mankind. So far the veracity of the emails has not been confirmed and the scientists involved have declined to comment on the story which broke on a blog called The Air Vent.
The files, which in total amount to 61Mb of data, were first uploaded onto a Russian server, before being widely mirrored across the internet. The emails were accompanied by the anonymous statement, “We feel that climate science is, in the current situation, too important to be kept under wraps. We hereby release a random selection of correspondence, code, and documents. Hopefully it will give some insight into the science and the people behind it"...
READ MORE
Picture Left:A researcher collects data from an electronic device to monitor climate change.(Photograph: Vo Trung Dung/Corbis)
Climate change sceptics who have studied the emails allege that they provide “smoking gun” evidence that some of the climatologists colluded in manipulating data to support the widely held view among the world’s climatologists that climate change is real and is being largely caused by the actions of mankind. So far the veracity of the emails has not been confirmed and the scientists involved have declined to comment on the story which broke on a blog called The Air Vent.
The files, which in total amount to 61Mb of data, were first uploaded onto a Russian server, before being widely mirrored across the internet. The emails were accompanied by the anonymous statement, “We feel that climate science is, in the current situation, too important to be kept under wraps. We hereby release a random selection of correspondence, code, and documents. Hopefully it will give some insight into the science and the people behind it"...
READ MORE
Picture Left:A researcher collects data from an electronic device to monitor climate change.(Photograph: Vo Trung Dung/Corbis)
Connecticut School Official Defends Ban on Religious Symbols in Class
"Happy Winter" just doesn't have the same ring as Merry Christmas or Happy Hanukkah, but in one Connecticut elementary school, that's about all you'll see and hear this holiday season.
Erik Brown, principal of Walsh Elementary School in Waterbury, Conn., has reportedly banned all religious festivities and many decorations from the classroom since arriving at the school five years ago. Brown, who declined comment through a spokeswoman to FoxNews.com on Friday, explained to The Republican-American newspaper that state law mandates that a public school cannot knowingly exclude children.
"This is not a church," Brown told the paper. "It's a school and it's a public school. I have to do things that include every child. So what we do is celebrate winter"....
Erik Brown, principal of Walsh Elementary School in Waterbury, Conn., has reportedly banned all religious festivities and many decorations from the classroom since arriving at the school five years ago. Brown, who declined comment through a spokeswoman to FoxNews.com on Friday, explained to The Republican-American newspaper that state law mandates that a public school cannot knowingly exclude children.
"This is not a church," Brown told the paper. "It's a school and it's a public school. I have to do things that include every child. So what we do is celebrate winter"....
PS:So in Public Schools they cannot celebrate so called "religious festivities"like Christmas and Hanukkah and they go ahead and celebrate "solstice"...???They celebrate a pagan festivity...?Are you kidding me...?Double Standard anyone...?
Contrary to BHO desires this country is still for the most part christian.
We can differ in what we think about Christmas being taken from a pagan celebration way way in the past,or not,BUT isn't that true that everything is fine and dandy in Public Schools till somebody mentions Jesus or something related with HIM and then all hell breaks loose....???
My advice:PULL YOUR KIDS OUT OF PUBLIC SCHOOL...
By the time they graduate they won't even be able to read properly...believe me...
Why would you want to send your precious children to spend 8 hrs or more daily to be indoctrinated and flooded with all kinds of garbage that don't really help with their EDUCATION anyway...?
And then you wonder why your teen ager is "changing"and is not the same kid he/she used to be...?
Wait till they call the police on you for disciplining them,following the advice of their"loving teacher"--of course--who gave him/her that 1-800 number to call....
We ARE in the LAST of the LAST DAYS folks...
As in the days of Noah
Now Scientists Say Earth May Experience “Sudden Ice Age”....
In the film, “The Day After Tomorrow,” the world gets gripped in ice within the span of just a few weeks. Now research now suggests an eerily similar event might indeed have occurred in the past.
Looking ahead to the future, there is no reason why such a freeze shouldn’t happen again — and in ironic fashion it could be precipitated if ongoing changes in climate force the Greenland ice sheet to suddenly melt, scientists say.
Starting roughly 12,800 years ago, the Northern Hemisphere was gripped by a chill that lasted some 1,300 years. Known by scientists as the Younger Dryas and nicknamed the“Big Freeze,” geological evidence suggests it was brought on when a vast pulse of fresh water — a greater volume than all of North America’s Great Lakes combined — poured into the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans...
Looking ahead to the future, there is no reason why such a freeze shouldn’t happen again — and in ironic fashion it could be precipitated if ongoing changes in climate force the Greenland ice sheet to suddenly melt, scientists say.
Starting roughly 12,800 years ago, the Northern Hemisphere was gripped by a chill that lasted some 1,300 years. Known by scientists as the Younger Dryas and nicknamed the“Big Freeze,” geological evidence suggests it was brought on when a vast pulse of fresh water — a greater volume than all of North America’s Great Lakes combined — poured into the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans...
Flashback:"Greenpeace Leader Admits Arctic Ice Exaggeration..."
Gerd Leipold, the outgoing leader of Greenpeace, admitted that his organization’s recent claim that the Arctic Ice will disappear by 2030 was “a mistake.” Greenpeace said in a July 15 press release that there will be an ice-free Arctic by 2030 because of global warming. BBC reporter Stephen Sackur on the “Hardtalk” program pressed Leipold until he admitted the claim was wrong.
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