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November 2011

THOMAS SOWELL: THE REAL SCANDAL

http://townhall.com/columnists/thomassowell/2011/11/10/the_real_scandal

The real scandal in the accusations against Herman Cain is the corruption of the law, the media and politics.

Let’s start with the law. Some people may think the fact that the National Restaurant Association reportedly paid $45,000 to settle a claim made by one of its employees against Mr. Cain is incriminating.

Most of us are not going to part with 45 grand without some serious reason. But that is very different from the situation of an organization in the present legal climate.

The figure $45,000 struck a chord with me because, some years ago, my wife — who is an attorney — was fervently congratulated when her client had to pay “only” $45,000 in a jury award when the plaintiff was demanding a million dollars, in a case that was as frivolous a lawsuit as you could find.

MALCOLM LOWE: “PALESTINIAN THEOLOGIAN” PASTOR MITRI RAHEB AND ALL THAT DRIVEL

“Palestinian Theologian” Trashes “Palestinian Theology”by Malcolm Lowe
http://www.hudson-ny.org/2573/palestinian-theologian-theology

For over two decades, parts of the Christian world have been bemused by the writings of self-styled “Palestinian Christian theologians.” Since their brightest lights are Protestant pastors, they are minor figures among the overwhelmingly Orthodox and Catholic faithful of the Holy Land. But they are strangely popular in Liberal Protestant circles abroad and especially beloved of church bureaucrats.

Now one of them, Lutheran Pastor Mitri Raheb of Bethlehem, has trashed all the efforts of “Palestinian theology” to date as an irrelevant rehash of nineteenth century European theology. And what is his new starting point? Basically, nineteenth century race theory.

For decades, Raheb and his Anglican counterpart Naim Ateek have been touring Protestant churches in Europe and North America and conducting seminars in “Palestinian theology.” That is: purported theological underpinning for Palestinian political aims. Students in Protestant universities have been obliged to swallow down their books and regurgitate them in examinations. Those who questioned this new orthodoxy might face serious obstacles to their academic future.

Ateek in Jerusalem and Raheb in Bethlehem opened educational institutions to which theology students were sent from abroad. Recently, Raheb received authorization from the Palestinian Authority to grant BA and MA degrees. So for Raheb to denounce all that purported theologizing was to drop a big bomb.

Raheb was talking on “Contextual Palestinian Theology as It Deals with Realities on the Ground” at the March 2010 “Christ at the Checkpoint” conference in Bethlehem. He began by promising a “new way of thinking” because “we all, even as Palestinians theologians, we were dancing on the rhythm of European theology of the 19th Century, trying to react here, to react there, to change here and there, but the assumptions, the systems of thinking, was [sic] still 19th Century Europe.”

SOEREN KERN: GERMANS STUNNED BY REPORT ON FORCED MARRIAGES

http://www.hudson-ny.org/2575/german-forced-marriages

A new report shows that thousands of young women and girls in Germany are victims of forced marriages every year.

Most of the victims come from Muslim families; many have been threatened with violence and even death.

The revelations have shocked the German public and will add to the ongoing debate in Germany over the question of Muslim immigration and the establishment of a parallel Islamic society there. The revelations will intensify an ongoing debate in Germany over Muslim immigration and the role of Islam there.

The 160-page report, entitled, “Forced Marriages in Germany: Numbers and Analysis of Counseling Cases,” was commissioned by the German Federal Ministry of the Family, and made public at a news conference in Berlin on November 9.

The problem of forced marriage is evidently far more widespread than previously believed.

The study — the first and most detailed of its kind in Germany — reveals that in 2008, the most recent year for which statistics are available, 3,443 people sought help at counseling and social services centers across the country because they were being, or already had been, forced into marriage.

MICHAEL CUTLER: WHY DID THE ILLEGAL ALIEN RUN THE BORDER?

http://www.caps-blog.org/articles/2011/11/09/why-did-the-illegal-alien-run-the-border/
The question that forms the basis for my commentary addresses the fundamental aspects of the immigration issue.

The short answer to the question, “Why did the illegal alien run our border” is that there is no definitive way of knowing. In this case, what we don’t know can certainly harm us. An alien who runs our borders is violating our nation’s sovereignty and our nation’s laws- laws that are being ignored by our federal government and those municipalities and states that have “Sanctuary” policies in place.

Being concerned about the reason an alien would seek to enter the United States is not, by the way, limited to illegal aliens who are now present in the United States but is actually one of the very first questions that a U.S. consular officer asks an alien who applies for a visa for the United States and is also one of the first and most important questions that a CBP (Customs and Border Protection) Inspector asks an alien who seeks entry into the United States. It is a question I asked virtually every alien I encountered during the four years I served as an Immigration Inspector at the beginning of my 30 year career with the INS. As you may know, I began my career with the former INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service) in October 1971 as an Immigration Inspector assigned to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.

SRDJA TRIFKOVIC: THE END OF THE BERLUSCONI ERA

http://www.chroniclesmagazine.org/2011/11/09/the-end-of-the-berlusconi-era/ The End of the Berlusconi Era by Srdja Trifkovic• November 9, 2011 Silvio Berlusconi has been around for so long that it is hard to imagine Italian politics without him occupying the center stage. The end of his era is nigh, however, to the relief of his opponents as well as many of his […]

VIN IENCO: UPDATES ON THE GLOBAL ENCROACHMENT OF ISLAMISM

Update on MA Terrorism Trial: Defense Lawyer Lashes out at Prosecutors http://vinienco.com/2011/11/09/update-on-ma-terrorism-trial-defense-lawyer-lashes-out-at-prosecutors/ Update on Trial of USS Cole Suspect http://vinienco.com/2011/11/09/update-on-trial-of-uss-cole-suspect/ Latest Update on Iranian Christian Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani http://vinienco.com/2011/11/09/latest-update-on-iranian-christian-pastor-youcef-nadarkhani/ Revolution Hijacked – Egypt– 26 Minute Video Documentary from Australia http://vinienco.com/2011/11/09/revolution-hijacked-%e2%80%93-egypt-26-minute-video-documentary-from-australia/ Al-Qassam Brigades Take Stock, Take Pride in Suicide Bombings http://vinienco.com/2011/11/09/al-qassam-brigades-take-stock-take-pride-in-suicide-bombings/ US Trains Nigerian Soldiers on […]

MEANWHILE IN ISRAEL: A VACCINE THAT CAN KILL CANCER CELLS…..AMAZING COUNTRY

http://israel21c.org/health/a-vaccine-that-can-kill-cancer
A vaccine that can kill cancer By Karin Kloosterman
Israeli company formulates a drug that ‘trains’ the immune system to seek and destroy malignant cells that have already invaded the body.

As we get older, modern medicine will help more of us live with cancer rather than die from it. That’s the assumption behind a vaccine to treat cancer, being developed by a pharmaceutical company in Israel.

Vaxil BioTherapeutics’ main product, ImMucin, is now in advanced clinical trials at Hadassah University Medical Center in Jerusalem.

CEO Julian Levy tells ISRAEL21c that this therapeutic vaccine doesn’t prevent cancer from invading, but activates and enhances the body’s natural immune system to seek and destroy cancer cells already present in the body, such as those lingering after cancer surgery.

ENDURING DEMENTIA: DIANA WEST

http://www.dianawest.net/Home/tabid/36/EntryId/1949/Update-Operation-Enduring-Dementia.aspx

Two breaking stories out of Afghanistan:

1) Big firefight in Paktika Province at COP Margah, which this blog has been keeping an eye on for a while. Sixty jihadis killed, all Americans okay.

BBC reports:

Two senior Afghan intelligence officials told the BBC the attack was “very close to Pakistan”, adding: “Sixty insurgents carrying so many weapons could have not crossed from Pakistan without the help of Pakistani security forces – it is either that or they turned a blind eye.”

Pakistan says it does all it can to halt insurgent activity.

Karzai’s big pal Pakistan.

MOSHE DANN: DEMOLISHING ZIONISM….HOME BY HOME

http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Op-EdContributors/Article.aspx?id=244889
The ruins of hundreds of once-Jewish homes throughout Judea and Samaria, and thousands more in Gush Katif and Northern Shomron serve as disgraceful memorials to Israeli injustice.
On Monday, the heads of six Knesset factions representing a majority of MKs called on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to stop the demolition of “settlement” outposts and set up a legal team with a mandate to find “creative solutions” allowing all communities and neighborhoods to remain in place.

The recent destruction of three homes in the Jewish community of Migron, like that of a dozen in Or Hatzion a few days ago, several in Bat Ayin last week, nine in Amona in 2009 and many more throughout Judea and Samaria because they were built without permits, raises serious questions about the propriety and purpose of government actions.

In response to threatened and impending destruction of more Jewish homes Netanyahu instructed Justice Minister Yaakov Neeman to form a task force to examine the possibility of legalizing homes that were built without permits on allegedly private Palestinian land.

DIANA WEST: AFGHAN GENERAL…”WE HAVE NO CLUE HOW TO OPERATE WEAPONS NATO GAVE US”

http://www.dianawest.net/Home/tabid/36/EntryId/1947/Afghan-Gen-We-Have-No-Clue-How-to-Operate-the-Weapons-NATO-Gives-Us.aspx

Dementia advances in Afghanistan, courtesy the US taxpayer, who spent about $12 billion on training Afghans between October 2010 and September 2011. Not that it stopped there: $11 billion is pledged for the year ahead through September 2012.

Just think how many perfectly gorgeous Standard Poodles you could train for $23 billion dollars. And the world would be a better place….

On a recent graduation day for over 1,000 Afghan army soldiers, Reuters reports the alarming thoughts of Amlaqullah Patyani, the Afghan general in charge of all Afghan training.

Surveying his new soldiers, Patyani said:

“We have no clue how to operate the weapons that NATO gives us. And even if we did, will the weapons keep coming after 2014?” …