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Ceasefires in Islam: Not Always What They Seem to Be

NewMediaJournal — Thu, 08 May 2008 10:43:05 GMT

By Frank Salvato It seems as though every other day we hear there is another “ceasefire” in the Middle East. This is chiefly because there is so much violent Islamofascist aggression throughout the Middle East but it is also because of something more. Just as there is no exact translation between the Arabic and English languages, we in the West would be wise to realize that this “inexactness” exists as a constant in the relationship between the cultures of Islam and Western Civilization. This convolution of conceptual understanding is aptly illustrated where the subject of military ceasefires is concerned. In the West, a ceasefire is commonly understood to mean a temporary cessation of violence or hostilities for an agreed time period or within a defined geographical area. In many cases, ceasefires have been instituted to facilitate negotiations that produced an armistice , peace treaty or unconditional surrender. Regardless of the goal – achieved or sought – in most every ceasefire agreement the terms and conditions are clearly defined so that each side has a clear understanding of what is required and what is to be considered a breach of contract, as it were. To say that we in the West ...

America's New Manifest Destiny: Rule of Law or Cheap Tomatoes?

lawandorderzealot — Tue, 06 May 2008 11:08:28 GMT

by John W. Lillpop As America's war on terror president, George W. Bush is perfectly right to be obsessed with homeland security as a means for combating terrorism. Unfortunately, the president's concern applies only to borders in Iraq and Afghanistan, but not here at home. Although the president has ordered more than one hundred fifty thousand (and counting) American men and women to serve in harm's way 10,000 miles from home, and has spent nearly one half trillion dollars of taxpayer money on the war, he refuses to secure America's borders and to enforce U.S. immigration laws. The Bush position on illegal aliens seems to be based on the following dangerously naive assumptions: * Only "good hearted, hard working" people cross U.S. borders illegally, and they come only to do work that Americans will not do; * Illegal aliens share values observed by most Americans: Family values do not stop at the Rio Grande; and * U.S. borders cannot be secured until a guest-worker program is adopted to relieve "pressure" at the border. But how can the president, or anyone concerned with the health and welfare of the American public, advocate on behalf of millions of unknown illegal aliens without ...

Why Environmentalists are to Blame for Global Warming

mcenulty — Tue, 06 May 2008 11:06:54 GMT

Environmentalists are to Blame for Global Warming By listening to Al Gore, other environmentalists and the media you start to get the impression that the United States is almost solely responsible for Global Warming through it's production of greenhouse gases. Nothing could be farther from the truth. We do, as a nation produce more greenhouse gas on a per capita basis than any other country, but that very fact can be directly attributed to the workings of those same environmentalists who for years have blocked every attempt to generate nuclear power - the only efficient way to generate power on a large enough scale to meet the needs of the world that does not create greenhouse gases. Let me be clear, "Environmentalists" are the main reason we, as a country, produce so much greenhouse gas on a per capita basis. Because of their 30-year stance (and the lack of political will to go against that stance) against the development of nuclear power in this country we produce almost double the greenhouse gases that we would be producing with a strong nuclear generating capacity. Approximately 50% of the greenhouse gases produced in the United States are the result of ...

Barack Obama: It's More About His Choices

NewMediaJournal — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 18:54:42 GMT

By Frank Salvato Many of the more conservative talking heads – and even some on the Left side of the aisle who support Hillary Clinton – are espousing their concern about Barack Obama’s “associations.” They point to Obama’s spiritual advisor, Jeremiah Write, and note his “friendly” relationship with unrepentant domestic terrorists William Ayers and his partner Bernadine Dorhn and wax alarmingly about his willingness to associate with such people. Certainly, Wright, Ayers and Dorhn are interesting if not contemptible people but a person’s associations concern me less than a person’s choice to defend those associations. The moment the Jeremiah Wright issue was brought into the public eye the taboo of aggressively examining the background of the first Black man with a real chance to capture the presidency was lifted. Begrudgingly, the star-struck mainstream media – so in awe of Barack Obama’s “rockstar” political presentation – has begun, ever so apathetically, to cover the issues of his candidacy that the new media has exposed. When the racism and bigotry of Obama’s spiritual leader, Jeremiah Wright , was first exposed in February of 2007 by The New Media Journal’s Erik Rush in a column titled Obamination , all those critical thundered that ...

Reclaiming Our Inheritance, Part II

Joe Oliva — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 20:22:08 GMT

Frank Salavto's article entitled 'Change Doesn't Come by Electing a President' is a thoughtful and well written piece accurately defining a large part of the problem facing our nation, i.e., that the legislative branch of our government is failing the nation and is need of change. Additionally, he points to "we the people" as having not been careful in our selection of these politicians who craft the legislation that runs the nation. His admonishments recall this quote from President James Garfield: "The people are responsible for the character of their Congress. If that body be ignorant, reckless, and corrupt, it is because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness, and corruption. If it be intelligent, brave, and pure, it is because the people demand these high qualities..." He and the former President are of course correct and I heartily agree with their assessment. However, in his discourse, Mr. Salvato derides the value of the Presidency in effecting change in the country. Mr. Salvato makes the two following statements: "The fact of the matter is this: the office of the presidency is quite limited in its power to affect any change at all." & "This factuality accepted, it is next ...

Cultural Marxism

Linda Kimball — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 16:45:27 GMT

There are two misconceptions held by many Americans. The first is that communism ceased to be a threat when the Soviet Union imploded. The second is that the New Left of the Sixties collapsed and disappeared as well. “ The Sixties are dead ,” wrote columnist George Will ( Slamming the Doors , Newsweek, Mar. 25, 1991) Because the New Left lacked cohesion it fell apart as a political movement. However, its revolutionaries reorganized themselves into a multitude of single issue groups. Thus we now have for example, radical feminists, black extremists, anti-war ‘peace’ activists, animal rights groups, radical environmentalists, and ‘gay’ rights groups. All of these groups pursue their piece of the radical agenda through a complex network of subversive organizations such as the Gay Straight Lesbian Educators Network (GSLEN), the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), People for the American Way, United for Peace and Justice, Planned Parenthood, Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS), and Code Pink for Peace. Both communism and the New Left are alive and thriving here in America. Code words by which they can be recognized are: tolerance, social justice, economic justice, peace, reproductive rights, sex education and safe ...

This Prominent Democrat Called Illegal Aliens 'Free Loaders and Scam Artists'

lawandorderzealot — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 16:35:08 GMT

By John W. Lillpop Most liberals regard illegal aliens as “Undocumented Democrats” and a veritable gold mine of opportunity for holding on to political power by coddling to those here unlawfully and Hispanics in general. For that reason, most Democrat politicians have abandoned patriotic concern about homeland security, stability of the American economy and social order, and preservation of American language and culture in order to pander to Hispanics. In fact, one can search high and low for a liberal with a patriotic, pro-America stance on illegal immigration, and that search will usually be futile. But there is a notable exception: A U.S. Senator who has shown remarkable wisdom, foresight, and clarity, especially for a Democrat. His office released the following statements (in bold) concerning illegal immigration: “In response to increased terrorism and abuse of social programs by aliens, (I) today introduced the first and only comprehensive immigration reform bill in Congress. Currently, an alien living illegally in the United States often pays no taxes but receives unemployment, welfare, free medical care, and other federal benefits. Recent terrorist acts, including the World Trade Center bombing, have underscored the need to keep violent criminals out of the country.” The senator’s bill, ...

An Inconvenient Truth about Energy

Lowther — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 16:26:11 GMT

Inconvenient Truth about Energy For those not familiar with how the energy systems work and are easily persuaded to blame oil companies or certain politicians or both for the high price of energy these days, please read the following. The basic energy blocks for the world are oil, coal, natural gas, nuclear and hydro. In the United States , oil, coal, and natural gas are the only forms of major energy that don’t require a subsidy. Oil, coal and natural gas are all taxed making them more expensive to the consumer yet still they remain cheaper than all other forms. Nuclear and Hydro electric require massive up-front expenditures to establish and must be amortized over many years to be economical. Exotic forms of energy production such as wind, solar, bio-mass, geo-thermal and ethanol require subsidies because they are less efficient and in each case require more energy to equal the same unit of energy than does oil, natural gas or coal. What that means is that alternatives energy costs more. The knock against oil, natural gas and coal is that it produces carbon emissions when burned as a fuel. These emissions are classified ...