McDonald's Corp. has warned federal regulators that it could drop its health insurance plan for nearly 30,000 hourly restaurant workers unless regulators waive a new requirement of the U.S. health overhaul.
A Blog Smith is analogous to Hephaestus (as a blacksmith) in that they create from writing by "forging" the basic materials: ideas. This blog analyzes topics that interest me: ideas, IT, politics, technology, history, education, music, and the history of religions.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Stuxnet worm deemed 'best malware ever'
If the government, business community, law enforcement, intelligence community and military, can not figure out on their own to address a critical deficiency, then they should not be in business in the first place. You do not need stimulus money to do the critical thinking necessary to defend essential services.
Stuxnet Update
Stuxnet Update
Muslim Terrorist Attacks 'Surpassed the Number and Pace of Attacks During any Year Since 9/11'
Chairman Lieberman, Senator Collins as you have already noted, the past year has noted the most significant developments in terrorism since 9/11. The three attempted homeland attacks during the past year from overseas based groups, and the two lone-wolf attacks here in the United States, Carlos Bledsoe in Arkansas and Nidal Hassan have surpassed the number and pace of attacks during any year since 9/11.The range of al Qaeda core, affiliated and allies plotting against the homeland during the past year suggest the threat has in fact grown far more complex and underscores the challenges of identifying and countering a more diverse array of threats to the homeland.Al Qaeda's affiliates and allies increasing ability to provide training, guidance, and support for attacks against the U.S. makes it very difficult to anticipate the precise nature of the next attack and from where it might come. The regional affiliates that have grown and allies have been able to compensate to some extent for the decreased willingness of al Qaeda in Pakistan to accept and train new recruits and additional attempts by al Qaeda affiliates and allies to attack the U.S., particularly attempts in the homeland, could attract the attention of even more western recruits, thereby increasing those groups' threat to the homeland.
And even failed attacks such as AQAP's and TTP's attempts this past year due to some extent further al Qaeda's goal of fomenting terrorist attacks against the West and demonstrate that some affiliates and allies and homegrown terrorists are embracing their vision. Today, al Qaeda in Pakistan is at one of its weakest points organizationally, but I would stress a significant ‘however,’ that the group has time and time again proven its resilience and remains a very capable and determined enemy. The threat as you have noted is compounded significantly by operationally distinct plotting against the U.S. by its allies, affiliates and sympathizers.
REALITY REPORT #62 - Homeland Security Targets Activists
In this edition of the Reality Report, Gary Franchi blows the lid off the Pennsylvania DHS list targeting activists. He also sits down with Arizona State Senate Libertarian Candidate Andrea Garcia to talk about her race for the Senate seat. Obama gets schooled during his own Town Hall meeting on CNBC, and we have the video. Nina breaks down the headlines including who is funding the Ground Zero Mosque and how the U.S. is in bigger debt than the Government is letting on. She also plays the controversial video of the middle school students praying at a Mosque during a field trip and reports on a new tax concept being proposed in the UK. The viewers brand a new "Enemy of the State" and the mailbag is sifted.Andrea Garcia: Arizona State Senate Candidate.
REALITY REPORT #63 - Constitutionalists Under Siege
In this edition of the Reality Report, Gary dissects a recent article by a writer at the Economist slamming Constitutionalists. He takes an in-depth look at genetically modified foods with the help of "Common Sense Revisited" author Clyde Cleveland and Jeffrey Smith, author of "Genetic Roulette." Nina has the run down in this week's headlines. She discusses how S. 3804, the 'Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act' could affect your internet surfing, how the Pentagon is trying to ban books, and why the Patriot Act doesn't just apply to terrorism. All of this plus a dip into the Mailbag to reveal the shocking answers to the previous Question of the Week, and a new Enemy of the State.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Supreme Court Justice: Koran Burning Not Free Speech
Justice Breyer Suggests That Burning a Quran Could be Like Shouting 'Fire' in a Crowded Theatre--Thus Not Protected by 1st Amendment. Still fine and dandy to burn the flag though: priorities.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Imam Rauf sings a different tune when he speaks in Arabic
from the NY Post:
"In fact, the proposed structure is known in Islamic history as a rabat -- literally a connector. The first rabat appeared at the time of the Prophet.
The Prophet imposed his rule on parts of Arabia through a series of ghazvas, or razzias (the origin of the English word "raid"). The ghazva was designed to terrorize the infidels, convince them that their civilization was doomed and force them to submit to Islamic rule. Those who participated in the ghazva were known as the ghazis, or raiders.
After each ghazva, the Prophet ordered the creation of a rabat -- or a point of contact at the heart of the infidel territory raided. The rabat consisted of an area for prayer, a section for the raiders to eat and rest and facilities to train and prepare for future razzias. Later Muslim rulers used the tactic of ghazva to conquer territory in the Persian and Byzantine empires. After each raid, they built a rabat to prepare for the next razzia.
It is no coincidence that Islamists routinely use the term ghazva to describe the 9/11 attacks against New York and Washington. The terrorists who carried out the attack are referred to as ghazis or shahids (martyrs).
Thus, building a rabat close to Ground Zero would be in accordance with a tradition started by the Prophet. To all those who believe and hope that the 9/11 ghazva would lead to the destruction of the American "Great Satan," this would be of great symbolic value.
Faced with the anger of New Yorkers, the promoters of the project have started calling it the Cordoba House, echoing President Obama's assertion that it would be used to propagate "moderate" Islam.
The argument is that Cordoba, in southern Spain, was a city where followers of Islam, Christianity and Judaism lived together in peace and produced literature and philosophy.
In fact, Cordoba's history is full of stories of oppression and massacre, prompted by religious fanaticism. It is true that the Muslim rulers of Cordoba didn't force their Christian and Jewish subjects to accept Islam. However, non-Muslims could keep their faith and enjoy state protection only as dhimmis (bonded ones) by paying a poll tax in a system of religious apartheid.
If whatever peace and harmony that is supposed to have existed in Cordoba were the fruit of "Muslim rule," the subtext is that the United States would enjoy similar peace and harmony under Islamic rule.
A rabat in the heart of Manhattan would be of great symbolic value to those who want a high-profile, "in your face" projection of Islam in the infidel West.
This thirst for visibility is translated into increasingly provocative forms of hijab, notably the niqab (mask) and the burqa. The same quest mobilized hundreds of Muslims in Paris the other day to close a whole street so that they could have a Ramadan prayer in the middle of the rush hour.
One of those taking part in the demonstration told French radio that the aim was to "show we are here." "You used to be in our capitals for centuries," he said. "Now, it is our turn to be in the heart of your cities."
Before deciding whether to support or oppose the "Cordoba" project, New Yorkers should consider what it is that they would be buying.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Texas Board Members Six-page Resolution Against Islamization
RESOLUTION
WHEREAS pro-Islamic/anti-Christian bias has tainted some past Texas Social Studies
textbooks, such as:
• In one instance, devoting 120 student text lines to Christian beliefs, practices, and holy
writings but 248 (more than twice as many) to those of Islam; and dwelling for 27 student
text lines on Crusaders' massacre of Muslims at Jerusalem in 1099 yet censoring Muslims'
massacres of Christians there in 1244 and at Antioch in 1268, implying that Christian
brutality and Muslim loss of life are significant but Islamic cruelty and Christian deaths are
not (see documentation in Appendix I-A);
• In another instance, allotting 82 student text lines to Christian beliefs, practices, and holy
writings but 159 (almost twice as many) to those of Islam; describing Crusaders'
massacres of European Jews yet ignoring the Muslim Tamerlane's massacre of perhaps
90,000 co-religionists at Baghdad in 1401, and of perhaps 100,000 Indian POWs at Delhi
in 1398; thrice charging medieval Christians with sexism; and saying the Church "laid the
foundations for anti-Semitism" (see documentation in Appendix I-B);
• In a third instance, spending 139 student text lines on Christian beliefs, practices, and
holy writings but 176 on those of Islam; claiming Islam "brought untold wealth to
thousands and a better life to millions," while "because of [Europeans' Christian] religious
zeal ... many peoples died and many civilizations were destroyed;" and contrasting "the
Muslim concern for cleanliness" with Swedes in Russia who were "the filthiest of God's
creatures" (see documentation in Appendix I-C); and,
WHEREAS pro-Islamic/anti-Christian half-truths, selective disinformation, and false
editorial stereotypes still roil some Social Studies textbooks nationwide, evidenced by:
• Patterns of pejoratives towards Christians and superlatives toward Muslims, calling
Crusaders aggressors, "violent attackers," or "invaders" while euphemizing Muslim
conquest of Christian lands as "migrations" by "empire builders" (see documentation in
Appendix II);
• Politically-correct whitewashes of Islamic culture and stigmas on Christian civilization,
indicting Christianity for the same practices (e.g., sexism, slavery, persecution of out-
groups) that they treat non-judgmentally, minimize, sugarcoat, or censor in Islam (see
documentation in Appendix II);
• Sanitized definitions of "jihad" that exclude religious intolerance or military aggression
against non-Muslims – even though Islamic sources often include these among proper
meanings of the term – which undergirds worldwide Muslim terrorism (see documentation
in Appendix II); and,
WHEREAS more such discriminatory treatment of religion may occur as Middle
Easterners buy into the U.S. public school textbook oligopoly, as they are now doing (see
documentation in Appendix III); and
WHEREAS Texas' elected State Board of Education (SBOE) is a principal democratic
check and balance on otherwise often-unresponsive editors and -unaccountable authors,
making the SBOE the premiere venue for Texans' effective exercise of the constitutional
right of petition to redress curricular grievances; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED by the SBOE, that diverse reviewers have repeatedly documented gross
pro-Islamic/anti-Christian distortions in Social Studies texts; that Social Studies TEKS
cannot provide relief, because they tell what a course should cover, not all it should avoid;
that under Texas Education Code §28.002(h) and (i), the SBOE must enforce "the basic
democratic values of our state and national heritage;" that chronic partiality to one of the
world's great religions, and animus against another, flout democratic values and the letter
and spirit of this rule; and that Texas Administrative Code §66.66(c)(4) provides, "[N]o
instructional material may be adopted that contains content that clearly conflicts with the
stated purpose of the Texas Education Code, §28.002(h)" (emphasis added); and be it
further
RESOLVED, That the SBOE will look to reject future prejudicial Social Studies
submissions that continue to offend Texas law with respect to treatment of the world's
major religious groups by significant inequalities of coverage space-wise and/or by
demonizing or lionizing one or more of them over others, as in the above-cited instances.
WITNESS our signatures this twenty-fourth day of September, two thousand ten, in
Austin, Texas.
__________________________________
Gail Lowe
Chair
__________________________________
Terri Leo
Secretary
Appendix I-A
WORLD HISTORY: Patterns of Interaction (McDougal, 1999), approved for Texas high
schools from 1999 to 2003, devoted 120 student text lines to Christian beliefs,
practices,
and holy writings, less than half its 248 on Islamic beliefs, practices, and holy writings;
and
dwelled for 27 student text lines on Crusaders’ massacre of Muslims at Jerusalem in
1099
while censoring Muslims’ massacres of Christians there in 1244 and at Antioch in 1268.
SE 40, bottom right par., lines 1-3 and 6-9 7 lines on Christian beliefs and practices
SE 138, lower left, "Religious and Ethical Systems," lines 9-12 4 lines on Christian beliefs
SE 153, par. 5, lines 2-8 7 lines on Jesus Christ’s work and teachings
SE 154, par. 1, lines 3-10 8 lines on Jesus Christ’s teachings, including a 5-line quote from Luke’s Gospel
SE 154, par. 3 6 lines on Christian beliefs
SE 155, par. 3, lines 6-10 5 lines on Christian beliefs, including a 2-line quote by Paul
SE 156, par. 1, lines 2-7 6 lines on Christian beliefs and practices
SE 157, par. 3, line 5 – par. 4 10 lines on Christian beliefs
SE 201, par. 1, lines 3-4 2 lines on Christian beliefs
SE 230, top left, "Religious and Ethical Systems," line 1 1 line on Islamic beliefs
SE 234, par. 4, line 4 – par. 5 11 lines on Islamic beliefs, including a 3-line quote from the Koran
SE 235, "SPOTLIGHT ON," par. 2, lines 1-6 6 lines on Islamic beliefs
SE 236 – SE 237, par. 4, line 6 87 lines on Islamic beliefs and practices, including a 3-line quote from the
Koran
SE 236, left margin, picture caption 13 lines on Islamic beliefs and practices
SE 236, right margin, picture caption 9 lines on Islamic beliefs and practices
SE 237, right box, "Daily Life" 23 lines on Islamic beliefs and practices
SE 243, par. 1 12 lines on Islamic beliefs and practices, including 3 lines of quotes from the Koran
SE 243, par. 3, lines 8-11 4-line quote from Mohammed
SE 246, "A VOICE FROM THE PAST" 8-line quote from Islamic religious literature
SE 246, par. 6, lines 3-5 3 lines on Islamic beliefs
SE 248, bottom right box, "Religion," lines 1-7 7 lines on Islamic beliefs
SE 254, top par., lines 4-7 4 lines on Christian beliefs
SE 254, right par., "Ritual" 8 lines on Christian beliefs and practices
SE 254, bottom, "The Cross" 3 lines on Christian beliefs
SE 255, top and middle par. 26 lines on Christian beliefs and practices
SE 255, bottom right, "A Cross of Palms" 5 lines on Christian beliefs and practices
SE 258, top par., lines 4-9 6 lines on Islamic beliefs and practices
SE 258, right par., "Celebration" 14 lines on Islamic beliefs and practices
SE 258, bottom right, "Crescent Moon" 5 lines on Islamic beliefs
SE 259, par. 1-2 17 lines on Islamic beliefs and practices
SE 259, bottom left, "Prayer Rug" 5 lines on Islamic beliefs
SE 264, chart, col. 2, "Christianity," lines 2 and 7-24 19 lines on Christian beliefs and practices
SE 264, chart, col. 4, "Islam," lines 2 and 6-21 17 lines on Islamic beliefs and practices
SE 347, center col., "William of Tyre" 27 lines on Crusaders’ massacre of Muslims at Jerusalem in 1099,
nothing on Muslim
massacres of Christians there in 1244 and at Antioch in 1268
Appendix I-B
In WORLD HISTORY: Connections to Today (Prentice, 1999), approved for Texas high
schools
from 1999 to 2003, Christian beliefs, practices, and holy writings received 82 student
text lines
of coverage, just over half of Islam’s 159. Three passages charged medieval
Christianity with
sexism; one said the Church "laid the foundations for anti-Semitism." It described
Crusaders’
massacres of European Jews but not the Muslim Tamerlane’s massacre of perhaps
90,000
fellow Muslims at Baghdad in 1401, and of perhaps 100,000 Indian POWs at Delhi in
1398.
SE 144, col. 2, par. 5, line 4 – SE 145, col. 1, par. 5
SE 145, picture caption, lines 1-6
SE 145, col. 1, par. 6, lines 2-7
66 lines on Christian beliefs and teachings, including 7 lines from the Sermon
on the Mount; reference to Jesus’ miracles, resurrection, and ascension;
indirect reference to incarnation; eternal life to believers in Jesus
SE 146, col. 1, par. 1, lines 6-17 12 lines on Christian beliefs, including a 6-line quote from St. Paul
SE 255, picture caption, lines 2-3 2 lines on Muslim beliefs
SE 256, col. 1, par. 1, lines 6-13 8-line quote from Mohammed
SE 256, col. 2, par. 2, lines 2-4 3 lines on Muslim beliefs
SE 256, col. 2, par. 4, line 4 – SE 257, col. 1, par. 1 22 lines on Muslim beliefs, including a 7-line quote
from the Koran
SE 257, col. 1, par. 3, lines 2-4 3 lines on Muslim beliefs
SE 257, picture caption, lines 6-8 3 lines on Muslim practices
SE 257, col. 2, par. 1 – SE 258, col. 2, par. 2, line 10 76 lines on Muslim beliefs and practices
SE 258, col. 2, par. 4 – SE 260, col. 1, line 3 21 lines on Muslim beliefs and practices
SE 259, chart, row 5, "Christianity" 4 lines on Christian beliefs
SE 259, chart, row 6, "Islam" 6 lines on Muslim beliefs
SE 262, col. 2, par. 1, lines 4-7 4 lines on Muslim beliefs and practices
SE 268, col. 1, lines 1-11 11 lines on Muslim beliefs
SE 197, col. 1, par. 3 Medieval church entertained a dualistic stereotype of women as especially weak and
sinprone,
yet purer and higher in spirit.
SE 197, col. 1, par. 4, lines 3-6 Medieval church followed "a double standard" of justice, punishing women
more severely.
SE 199, col. 1, par. 4 Late medieval church increasingly restricted women’s’ rise to prominence.
SE 200, col. 2, par. 1, lines 5-8 Medieval church "laid the foundations for anti-Semitism" by blaming Jews
for Jesus’ death.
SE 222, col. 1, par. 2, lines 6-8 Crusaders massacred some European Jews.
SE 266, col. 1, par. 1 Brief discussion of the Muslim Tamerlane, no mention of his massacres at Delhi and
Baghdad
Appendix I-C
WORLD HISTORY: The Human Odyssey (West, 1999), approved for Texas high
schools from 1999
to 2003, devoted 176 student text lines to Islamic beliefs, practices, and holy writings
but only 139 to
Christian beliefs, practices, and holy writings. It said that Islam "brought untold wealth
to thousands
and a better life to millions," but that "because of [Europeans’ Christian] religious zeal ...
many peoples
died and many civilizations were destroyed" in the 1500s. It contrasted "the Muslim
concern with cleanliness" with the Swedish Rus, who were "the filthiest of God’s
creatures."
SE 181, col. 2, par. 3, line 5 – SE 182, bottom section,
col. 2, line 7
19 lines on Christian beliefs, including 10 lines of quotes by Jesus in the
Gospels
SE 182 – SE 183, "The Sermon on the Mount" 67 lines on Christian beliefs and practices, including a 53-
line quote from
the Sermon on the Mount
SE 183, bottom section, col. 1, lines 1-3 3 lines on Christian beliefs, including a 2-line quote by Jesus
SE183, bottom section, col. 2, lines 5-9 5 lines on Christian beliefs
SE 184, col. 1, par. 1, lines 4-13 10 lines on Christian beliefs
SE 185, col. 1, par. 1, lines 6-7 and 9-13 7 lines on Christian beliefs and practices
SE 185, col. 2, lines 2-8 7 lines on Christian beliefs
SE 185, col. 2, line 13 – par. 1, line 5 12 lines on Christian beliefs and practices
SE 185, col. 2, par. 2 9 lines on Christian beliefs and practices, including a 3-line quote from Paul
SE 224, col. 1, line 28 – col. 2, line 2 12-line quote from the Koran
SE 226, col. 2, par. 1, line 5 – SE 227, col. 1, line 4 14 lines on Islamic beliefs
SE 227, col. 2, par. 2, lines 9-14 6 lines on Islamic beliefs
SE 228 – SE 230, col. 1 49 lines on Islamic beliefs and practices
SE 228, top, picture caption 4 lines on Islamic beliefs and practices
SE 228, bottom, picture caption, lines 1-5 5 lines on Islamic practices
SE 229, top, picture caption, lines 1-2 2 lines on Islamic practices
SE 229, col. 1 23 lines on Islamic beliefs and practices
SE 230, col. 2, par. 1, lines 3-7 5 lines on Islamic beliefs
SE 239, col. 2, par. 1 9 lines on Islamic beliefs and practices
SE 244 47 lines on Islamic beliefs and practices, including a 40-line quote from the Koran
SE 249, col. 2, par. 2, lines 6-7 "... Islam also brought untold wealth to thousands and a better life to
millions."
SE 366 – SE 367, col. 1 Swedish Rus were "the filthiest of God’s creatures," versus "the Muslim concern
with cleanliness."
SE 495, "SECTION REVIEW," no. 5, lines 3-5 "Because of [Europeans’ Christian] religious zeal ... many
native peoples
died and many civilizations were destroyed" in the 1500s.
Appendix II
Gilbert Sewall's Islam in the Classroom: What the Textbooks Tell Us (American
Textbook Council, 2008)
identifies these problems in ten 2005-07 copyright middle and high school Social
Studies textbooks.
William Bennetta finds some of the same defects in the high school textbook World
Cultures: A Global
Mosaic (Prentice, 2001). Mr. Sewall chairs the American Textbook Council in New York
City. Mr.
Bennetta, a Californian, is president of The Textbook League and edits The Textbook
Letter.
Appendix III
Independent.ie reported on July 28, 2009 that the Dubai royal family, through its
investment vehicle
Istithmar World Capital, was becoming "a major shareholder" in the Education Media
and Publishing
Group (EMPG), which controls Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Istithmar's website states:
EMPG is a combination of Houghton Mifflin Riverdeep and Harcourt Education, two of the most
successful and established educational book publishers in the United States, together forming
the
largest player in the K-12 publishing segment. Istithmar World made its first investment in the
senior equity raised for the transaction that combined Houghton Mifflin and Riverdeep Group in
December 2006, followed by an equity investment one year later for acquisition of Harcourt
Education.
In 2008, Istithmar World partnered with EMPG to create EMPGI, a JV [joint venture] to pursue
education opportunities in emerging markets. EMPGI aims to leverage on Istithmar World’s
knowledge and relationships in emerging markets.
AOL's Daily Finance added on November 30, 2009, that "EMPG ... partnered in 2008
with Istithmar
World Capital, a subsidiary of investment company DubaiWorld. The resulting $125
million joint venture,
EMPG International, was intended 'to bring the education publishing group's products
to developing
markets.' Istithmar ended up a major shareholder in EMPG last July ... taking a 45%
stake in the company
in tandem with several other holding companies."
WHEREAS pro-Islamic/anti-Christian bias has tainted some past Texas Social Studies
textbooks, such as:
• In one instance, devoting 120 student text lines to Christian beliefs, practices, and holy
writings but 248 (more than twice as many) to those of Islam; and dwelling for 27 student
text lines on Crusaders' massacre of Muslims at Jerusalem in 1099 yet censoring Muslims'
massacres of Christians there in 1244 and at Antioch in 1268, implying that Christian
brutality and Muslim loss of life are significant but Islamic cruelty and Christian deaths are
not (see documentation in Appendix I-A);
• In another instance, allotting 82 student text lines to Christian beliefs, practices, and holy
writings but 159 (almost twice as many) to those of Islam; describing Crusaders'
massacres of European Jews yet ignoring the Muslim Tamerlane's massacre of perhaps
90,000 co-religionists at Baghdad in 1401, and of perhaps 100,000 Indian POWs at Delhi
in 1398; thrice charging medieval Christians with sexism; and saying the Church "laid the
foundations for anti-Semitism" (see documentation in Appendix I-B);
• In a third instance, spending 139 student text lines on Christian beliefs, practices, and
holy writings but 176 on those of Islam; claiming Islam "brought untold wealth to
thousands and a better life to millions," while "because of [Europeans' Christian] religious
zeal ... many peoples died and many civilizations were destroyed;" and contrasting "the
Muslim concern for cleanliness" with Swedes in Russia who were "the filthiest of God's
creatures" (see documentation in Appendix I-C); and,
WHEREAS pro-Islamic/anti-Christian half-truths, selective disinformation, and false
editorial stereotypes still roil some Social Studies textbooks nationwide, evidenced by:
• Patterns of pejoratives towards Christians and superlatives toward Muslims, calling
Crusaders aggressors, "violent attackers," or "invaders" while euphemizing Muslim
conquest of Christian lands as "migrations" by "empire builders" (see documentation in
Appendix II);
• Politically-correct whitewashes of Islamic culture and stigmas on Christian civilization,
indicting Christianity for the same practices (e.g., sexism, slavery, persecution of out-
groups) that they treat non-judgmentally, minimize, sugarcoat, or censor in Islam (see
documentation in Appendix II);
• Sanitized definitions of "jihad" that exclude religious intolerance or military aggression
against non-Muslims – even though Islamic sources often include these among proper
meanings of the term – which undergirds worldwide Muslim terrorism (see documentation
in Appendix II); and,
WHEREAS more such discriminatory treatment of religion may occur as Middle
Easterners buy into the U.S. public school textbook oligopoly, as they are now doing (see
documentation in Appendix III); and
WHEREAS Texas' elected State Board of Education (SBOE) is a principal democratic
check and balance on otherwise often-unresponsive editors and -unaccountable authors,
making the SBOE the premiere venue for Texans' effective exercise of the constitutional
right of petition to redress curricular grievances; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED by the SBOE, that diverse reviewers have repeatedly documented gross
pro-Islamic/anti-Christian distortions in Social Studies texts; that Social Studies TEKS
cannot provide relief, because they tell what a course should cover, not all it should avoid;
that under Texas Education Code §28.002(h) and (i), the SBOE must enforce "the basic
democratic values of our state and national heritage;" that chronic partiality to one of the
world's great religions, and animus against another, flout democratic values and the letter
and spirit of this rule; and that Texas Administrative Code §66.66(c)(4) provides, "[N]o
instructional material may be adopted that contains content that clearly conflicts with the
stated purpose of the Texas Education Code, §28.002(h)" (emphasis added); and be it
further
RESOLVED, That the SBOE will look to reject future prejudicial Social Studies
submissions that continue to offend Texas law with respect to treatment of the world's
major religious groups by significant inequalities of coverage space-wise and/or by
demonizing or lionizing one or more of them over others, as in the above-cited instances.
WITNESS our signatures this twenty-fourth day of September, two thousand ten, in
Austin, Texas.
__________________________________
Gail Lowe
Chair
__________________________________
Terri Leo
Secretary
Appendix I-A
WORLD HISTORY: Patterns of Interaction (McDougal, 1999), approved for Texas high
schools from 1999 to 2003, devoted 120 student text lines to Christian beliefs,
practices,
and holy writings, less than half its 248 on Islamic beliefs, practices, and holy writings;
and
dwelled for 27 student text lines on Crusaders’ massacre of Muslims at Jerusalem in
1099
while censoring Muslims’ massacres of Christians there in 1244 and at Antioch in 1268.
SE 40, bottom right par., lines 1-3 and 6-9 7 lines on Christian beliefs and practices
SE 138, lower left, "Religious and Ethical Systems," lines 9-12 4 lines on Christian beliefs
SE 153, par. 5, lines 2-8 7 lines on Jesus Christ’s work and teachings
SE 154, par. 1, lines 3-10 8 lines on Jesus Christ’s teachings, including a 5-line quote from Luke’s Gospel
SE 154, par. 3 6 lines on Christian beliefs
SE 155, par. 3, lines 6-10 5 lines on Christian beliefs, including a 2-line quote by Paul
SE 156, par. 1, lines 2-7 6 lines on Christian beliefs and practices
SE 157, par. 3, line 5 – par. 4 10 lines on Christian beliefs
SE 201, par. 1, lines 3-4 2 lines on Christian beliefs
SE 230, top left, "Religious and Ethical Systems," line 1 1 line on Islamic beliefs
SE 234, par. 4, line 4 – par. 5 11 lines on Islamic beliefs, including a 3-line quote from the Koran
SE 235, "SPOTLIGHT ON," par. 2, lines 1-6 6 lines on Islamic beliefs
SE 236 – SE 237, par. 4, line 6 87 lines on Islamic beliefs and practices, including a 3-line quote from the
Koran
SE 236, left margin, picture caption 13 lines on Islamic beliefs and practices
SE 236, right margin, picture caption 9 lines on Islamic beliefs and practices
SE 237, right box, "Daily Life" 23 lines on Islamic beliefs and practices
SE 243, par. 1 12 lines on Islamic beliefs and practices, including 3 lines of quotes from the Koran
SE 243, par. 3, lines 8-11 4-line quote from Mohammed
SE 246, "A VOICE FROM THE PAST" 8-line quote from Islamic religious literature
SE 246, par. 6, lines 3-5 3 lines on Islamic beliefs
SE 248, bottom right box, "Religion," lines 1-7 7 lines on Islamic beliefs
SE 254, top par., lines 4-7 4 lines on Christian beliefs
SE 254, right par., "Ritual" 8 lines on Christian beliefs and practices
SE 254, bottom, "The Cross" 3 lines on Christian beliefs
SE 255, top and middle par. 26 lines on Christian beliefs and practices
SE 255, bottom right, "A Cross of Palms" 5 lines on Christian beliefs and practices
SE 258, top par., lines 4-9 6 lines on Islamic beliefs and practices
SE 258, right par., "Celebration" 14 lines on Islamic beliefs and practices
SE 258, bottom right, "Crescent Moon" 5 lines on Islamic beliefs
SE 259, par. 1-2 17 lines on Islamic beliefs and practices
SE 259, bottom left, "Prayer Rug" 5 lines on Islamic beliefs
SE 264, chart, col. 2, "Christianity," lines 2 and 7-24 19 lines on Christian beliefs and practices
SE 264, chart, col. 4, "Islam," lines 2 and 6-21 17 lines on Islamic beliefs and practices
SE 347, center col., "William of Tyre" 27 lines on Crusaders’ massacre of Muslims at Jerusalem in 1099,
nothing on Muslim
massacres of Christians there in 1244 and at Antioch in 1268
Appendix I-B
In WORLD HISTORY: Connections to Today (Prentice, 1999), approved for Texas high
schools
from 1999 to 2003, Christian beliefs, practices, and holy writings received 82 student
text lines
of coverage, just over half of Islam’s 159. Three passages charged medieval
Christianity with
sexism; one said the Church "laid the foundations for anti-Semitism." It described
Crusaders’
massacres of European Jews but not the Muslim Tamerlane’s massacre of perhaps
90,000
fellow Muslims at Baghdad in 1401, and of perhaps 100,000 Indian POWs at Delhi in
1398.
SE 144, col. 2, par. 5, line 4 – SE 145, col. 1, par. 5
SE 145, picture caption, lines 1-6
SE 145, col. 1, par. 6, lines 2-7
66 lines on Christian beliefs and teachings, including 7 lines from the Sermon
on the Mount; reference to Jesus’ miracles, resurrection, and ascension;
indirect reference to incarnation; eternal life to believers in Jesus
SE 146, col. 1, par. 1, lines 6-17 12 lines on Christian beliefs, including a 6-line quote from St. Paul
SE 255, picture caption, lines 2-3 2 lines on Muslim beliefs
SE 256, col. 1, par. 1, lines 6-13 8-line quote from Mohammed
SE 256, col. 2, par. 2, lines 2-4 3 lines on Muslim beliefs
SE 256, col. 2, par. 4, line 4 – SE 257, col. 1, par. 1 22 lines on Muslim beliefs, including a 7-line quote
from the Koran
SE 257, col. 1, par. 3, lines 2-4 3 lines on Muslim beliefs
SE 257, picture caption, lines 6-8 3 lines on Muslim practices
SE 257, col. 2, par. 1 – SE 258, col. 2, par. 2, line 10 76 lines on Muslim beliefs and practices
SE 258, col. 2, par. 4 – SE 260, col. 1, line 3 21 lines on Muslim beliefs and practices
SE 259, chart, row 5, "Christianity" 4 lines on Christian beliefs
SE 259, chart, row 6, "Islam" 6 lines on Muslim beliefs
SE 262, col. 2, par. 1, lines 4-7 4 lines on Muslim beliefs and practices
SE 268, col. 1, lines 1-11 11 lines on Muslim beliefs
SE 197, col. 1, par. 3 Medieval church entertained a dualistic stereotype of women as especially weak and
sinprone,
yet purer and higher in spirit.
SE 197, col. 1, par. 4, lines 3-6 Medieval church followed "a double standard" of justice, punishing women
more severely.
SE 199, col. 1, par. 4 Late medieval church increasingly restricted women’s’ rise to prominence.
SE 200, col. 2, par. 1, lines 5-8 Medieval church "laid the foundations for anti-Semitism" by blaming Jews
for Jesus’ death.
SE 222, col. 1, par. 2, lines 6-8 Crusaders massacred some European Jews.
SE 266, col. 1, par. 1 Brief discussion of the Muslim Tamerlane, no mention of his massacres at Delhi and
Baghdad
Appendix I-C
WORLD HISTORY: The Human Odyssey (West, 1999), approved for Texas high
schools from 1999
to 2003, devoted 176 student text lines to Islamic beliefs, practices, and holy writings
but only 139 to
Christian beliefs, practices, and holy writings. It said that Islam "brought untold wealth
to thousands
and a better life to millions," but that "because of [Europeans’ Christian] religious zeal ...
many peoples
died and many civilizations were destroyed" in the 1500s. It contrasted "the Muslim
concern with cleanliness" with the Swedish Rus, who were "the filthiest of God’s
creatures."
SE 181, col. 2, par. 3, line 5 – SE 182, bottom section,
col. 2, line 7
19 lines on Christian beliefs, including 10 lines of quotes by Jesus in the
Gospels
SE 182 – SE 183, "The Sermon on the Mount" 67 lines on Christian beliefs and practices, including a 53-
line quote from
the Sermon on the Mount
SE 183, bottom section, col. 1, lines 1-3 3 lines on Christian beliefs, including a 2-line quote by Jesus
SE183, bottom section, col. 2, lines 5-9 5 lines on Christian beliefs
SE 184, col. 1, par. 1, lines 4-13 10 lines on Christian beliefs
SE 185, col. 1, par. 1, lines 6-7 and 9-13 7 lines on Christian beliefs and practices
SE 185, col. 2, lines 2-8 7 lines on Christian beliefs
SE 185, col. 2, line 13 – par. 1, line 5 12 lines on Christian beliefs and practices
SE 185, col. 2, par. 2 9 lines on Christian beliefs and practices, including a 3-line quote from Paul
SE 224, col. 1, line 28 – col. 2, line 2 12-line quote from the Koran
SE 226, col. 2, par. 1, line 5 – SE 227, col. 1, line 4 14 lines on Islamic beliefs
SE 227, col. 2, par. 2, lines 9-14 6 lines on Islamic beliefs
SE 228 – SE 230, col. 1 49 lines on Islamic beliefs and practices
SE 228, top, picture caption 4 lines on Islamic beliefs and practices
SE 228, bottom, picture caption, lines 1-5 5 lines on Islamic practices
SE 229, top, picture caption, lines 1-2 2 lines on Islamic practices
SE 229, col. 1 23 lines on Islamic beliefs and practices
SE 230, col. 2, par. 1, lines 3-7 5 lines on Islamic beliefs
SE 239, col. 2, par. 1 9 lines on Islamic beliefs and practices
SE 244 47 lines on Islamic beliefs and practices, including a 40-line quote from the Koran
SE 249, col. 2, par. 2, lines 6-7 "... Islam also brought untold wealth to thousands and a better life to
millions."
SE 366 – SE 367, col. 1 Swedish Rus were "the filthiest of God’s creatures," versus "the Muslim concern
with cleanliness."
SE 495, "SECTION REVIEW," no. 5, lines 3-5 "Because of [Europeans’ Christian] religious zeal ... many
native peoples
died and many civilizations were destroyed" in the 1500s.
Appendix II
Gilbert Sewall's Islam in the Classroom: What the Textbooks Tell Us (American
Textbook Council, 2008)
identifies these problems in ten 2005-07 copyright middle and high school Social
Studies textbooks.
William Bennetta finds some of the same defects in the high school textbook World
Cultures: A Global
Mosaic (Prentice, 2001). Mr. Sewall chairs the American Textbook Council in New York
City. Mr.
Bennetta, a Californian, is president of The Textbook League and edits The Textbook
Letter.
Appendix III
Independent.ie reported on July 28, 2009 that the Dubai royal family, through its
investment vehicle
Istithmar World Capital, was becoming "a major shareholder" in the Education Media
and Publishing
Group (EMPG), which controls Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Istithmar's website states:
EMPG is a combination of Houghton Mifflin Riverdeep and Harcourt Education, two of the most
successful and established educational book publishers in the United States, together forming
the
largest player in the K-12 publishing segment. Istithmar World made its first investment in the
senior equity raised for the transaction that combined Houghton Mifflin and Riverdeep Group in
December 2006, followed by an equity investment one year later for acquisition of Harcourt
Education.
In 2008, Istithmar World partnered with EMPG to create EMPGI, a JV [joint venture] to pursue
education opportunities in emerging markets. EMPGI aims to leverage on Istithmar World’s
knowledge and relationships in emerging markets.
AOL's Daily Finance added on November 30, 2009, that "EMPG ... partnered in 2008
with Istithmar
World Capital, a subsidiary of investment company DubaiWorld. The resulting $125
million joint venture,
EMPG International, was intended 'to bring the education publishing group's products
to developing
markets.' Istithmar ended up a major shareholder in EMPG last July ... taking a 45%
stake in the company
in tandem with several other holding companies."
Expanding the Manufactured Threat of Domestic Terrorism Beyond Islamism
FBI and ATF agents raid the home of activist Nick Kelly in Minneapolis.
FBI spokesman Steve Warfield told the Associated Press that six warrants in Minneapolis and two in Chicago were served about 7 a.m. Friday. Warfield said the FBI is seeking “evidence relating to activities concerning the material support of terrorism.”
“The search warrant for 1823 Riverside, the residence of activist Mick Kelly, sought information ‘regarding ability to pay for his own travel’ to Palestine and Columbia from 2000 to today. The warrant hyped potential documents indicating any contacts/facilitation with FARC, PFLP, and Hezbollah — what it called ‘FTOs’ or ‘foreign terrorist organizations’. It mentioned seeking information on the alleged ‘facilitation of other individuals in the US to travel to Colombia, Palestine and any other foreign location ins support of foreign terrorist organizations including but not limited to FARC, PFLP and Hezbollah,” reports IndyMedia in the Twin Cities.
Individuals targeted by the FBI appear to be members of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, a Marxist-Leninist group that continues to uphold Joseph Stalin as one of the “principal theorists” of Marxism-Leninism, along with Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Vladimir Lenin, and Mao Zedong. Stalin liquidated around 50 million people while Mao killed off more than 70 million.
The Freedom Road Socialist Organization was formed in 1985. It consolidated the remnants of the New Communist Movement of the 1970s. The New Communist Movement was part of the “New Left” that emerged from the Students for a Democratic Society in the 1960s. SDS was not only infiltrated and taken over by Marxist-Leninist groups, but also the FBI (see Max Elbaum, Roxanne Dunbar Ortiz, & Elizabeth Martinez, Rebels with a Cause).
Krauthammer on the `state of nature' in Iran
Charles Krauthammer, on Obama's response to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's speech to the U.N. General Assembly (hat tip - NRO):
So: After that speech, the U.S. delegation at the U.N. says that what the president of Iran had said was abhorrent and delusional. And then [the] State Department issues a statement, and it accuses him of being outrageous.
And yet an hour earlier, our president, on the same stage, same podium, reaches out his hand, opens the door to new negotiations with a man who apparently is abhorrent, delusional, and outrageous.
Now there's a real disconnect here.
Obama operates under the assumption that all Iran has to do is to show its sincerity, that it's meeting its obligations under the NPT. This is the way a law professor speaks about the duties and obligations of a citizen in a cozy civil society where all of us agree on the norms.
The international arena is a state of nature where there are no norms, especially for a regime like Iran's, a rogue regime. And it acts in its own interest to acquire its own -- and to augment its own -- power. To pretend, as Obama does, that this is only a question of obligations and duties, and to again stretch out a hand that's been spat on for 20 months is simply unbelievable. It betrays a misunderstanding of the nature of the international community that is not even a law professor's -- it's an adolescent's.
Video Shows Taliban Stoning Woman To Death In Pakistan (Warning: Graphic)
According to available info on this video, it was shot recently in Upper Orakzai in Northwest Pakistan by the Taliban. Yet, the account and the video are mercilessly edited and downplayed for the U.S. audience. The original video is much more graphic than the sanitized ABC version.
ABC's version of the stoning video was irresponsibly edited, and because the accompanying narrative was so wrong, so patently false and deliberately misleading -- the commentary from Gayle Lemmon, an apologist from the Council of Foreign Relations (a tool for the stealth jihad), makes these pathetic excuses to ABC's Brian Ross, who nods cluelessly:
"It's difficult to know where and when it was shot," says Gayle Lemmon, deputy director of the Women and Foreign Policy Program at the Council of Foreign Relations, in an interview with Ross, "It is consistent with videos that have been coming from Taliban-controlled areas since the '90s."
Lemmon says that when women "stray outside the line" in Taliban-controlled areas, they may "face severe punishment."
"Women are respected as carriers of the family honor," says Lemmon, "but they also pay the price."...
Friday, September 24, 2010
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Leonardo's Da Vinci's drawing of a Human-Powered Ornithopter from 1485 has inspired many: one team accomplished the impossible.
HPO The Snowbird from U of T Engineering on Vimeo.
Human-powered aircraft makes aviation history by becoming the first to fly using flapping wings.
Obama Heckled on AIDS at NY Event
Obama got heckled at a fundraiser Wednesday night by protesters pushing for more funding for AIDS programs.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
White House won't provide witnesses for Fort Hood hearing
White House won't provide witnesses for Fort Hood hearing; no eye witnesses to the shooting will be present.
Witnesses
Panel 1
* General John M. Keane, USA, Retired
Former Vice Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army
* Mitchell D. Silber
Director of Intelligence Analysis
New York City Police Department
* Frances Fragos Townsend
Former Assistant to President George W. Bush for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism
* The Honorable Juan Carlos Zarate
Senior Advisor, Center for Strategic and International Studies
Former Deputy National Security Advisor for Combating Terrorism
Juan Carlos Zarate, who was President George W. Bush's Deputy National Security Adviser for combating terrorism: "Given the cover [Hasan] used, as someone researching the effects on Muslim soldiers of operating in Muslim countries [his approaching al-Awlaki] was not wholly illegitimate. It doesn't raise the specter of dangerous or criminal activity." In those circumstances, the officials monitoring the communications between the psychiatrist and the imam might reasonably assume that Hasan was doing "legitimate research, on behalf of the U.S. military," he adds.
* Brian Michael Jenkins
Senior Advisor
RAND Corporation
The list does not include anyone actively involved in investigating the Fort Hood attack, or anyone who might have been responsible for decisions made by various government agencies before the attack about whether to investigate the shooting suspect, Nidal Hasan. The Senate committee source said HSGAC Chairman Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) had hoped to have witnesses from the FBI and the U.S. Army, but was rebuffed in his requests.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
"THE GOVERNMENT IS LYING ABOUT THE AMOUNT OF DEBT" 9-19-2010
We are heading in the direction of Argentina (an example of what happened in Argentina on YouTube).
Cf. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgfnNVoorms
The problem in very recent history traces back to the September and October months of 2008, when Wall Street investment banks and the US banking system died. These banks have not and will not recover, since they died.
Some deaths were obvious, but others remain well hidden. The big banks do not lend money since they are dead, the dirty little secret. Their insolvency is easy to prove, but obscured by altered accounting rules put in place on April 1st 2009.
They include generous rules that permit a dead entity to declare itself alive by filing a false accounting report, valuing their own assets at whatever suits their needs. Generally, insolvency plus illiquidity will force bankruptcy.
But Wall Street and the Big US Banks use naked shorting of USGovt-backed bonds to produce urgently needed liquidity. All the extreme efforts to revive the US banks are futile. Imagine numerous transfusions of a dead man in the Emergency Room of a hospital, as more blood does not guarantee a resuscitation. More wires and tubes don't mean squat, since the guy has croaked and his corpse is rotting with a stench spreading into the corridors.
The dirty secret, protected from the US public, is that the man died. So Wall Street and the Big US Banks are dead. By withholding the reality, a storm of funding programs has been approved by the USGovt, mostly directed at Wall
Street and the Big US Banks. They urgently need liquidity, and are creative how they obtain it.
US Government 'hiding true amount of debt.'
CBO
IMF
Monday, September 20, 2010
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Jihad vs. Hecklers
Muslims stage noisy protest before Pope's arrival at Hyde Park Corner calling for Jihad against the West.
Obama Drops ‘Creator’ While Quoting Declaration
Towards the end of a speech on September 15 to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, Obama began quoting the famous “rights” line from the founding document. But partway through, he omitted where those rights come from: a Creator.
The line is supposed to read: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
But Obama’s recitation left out an important part: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are crated equal. [Long Pause] Endowed with certain inalienable [sic] rights: life and liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
As the American Thinker points out, it could well be that Obama intentionally ignored his teleprompter:
After President Obama says “created equal..”, there is a long pause during which he scowls and blinks several times. For once, he may actually have opted to not read something that was on the teleprompter. It looks like he is disgusted and decided it would be better not to read what the [Declaration] actually says.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Walk From Victory Mosque to Ground Zero
In the second video, you'll see the smoke and lack of visibility just one block east of the site. If you have not viewed the History Channel's 102 Minutes of September 11th, 2001 it is worth a watch, and contains no news commentary. 102 Minutes is all filmed by people in the area of the World Trade Towers, who lived through it.