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December 2012

S. FRED SINGER: CLIMATE SCIENCE VS. POLITICS….THE ROAD AHEAD

http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/12/climate_science_vs_politics_the_road_ahead.html There is good news and bad news about climate. The good news is that science evidence has made it quite clear that the human contribution to a possible global warming is minor; in fact it cannot even be identified in the data record. The bad news is that the media and politicians pay no […]

ZERO DARK FEINSTEIN When a Hollywood Script is More Accurate Than Senate Intelligence.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324907204578185960557987122.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop

‘Zero Dark Thirty,” the film from director Kathryn Bigelow that opened this month, is garnering rave reviews for its unblinking portrayal of what it took the United States to track and kill Osama bin Laden. But a trio of Beltway critics are all thumbs down.

They would be Democratic Senators Dianne Feinstein of California and Carl Levin of Michigan and Republican Senator John McCain of John McCain. “We write to express our deep disappointment with the movie Zero Dark Thirty,” the three wrote in a recent letter to Sony6758.TO -0.11% Pictures. “We believe the film is grossly inaccurate and misleading in its suggestion that torture resulted in information that led to the location of Usama bin Laden.”

A still from Zero Dark Thirty.You know it’s a bad day in America when Hollywood seems to have a better grip on intelligence issues than the Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee and the top two Members at Armed Services. The film depicts the “enhanced interrogation techniques,” or EITs, used on the detainees held at the CIA’s so-called black sites, and hints that the interrogations provided at least some of the information that led to bin Laden’s killing.What Ms. Bigelow intended by depicting the EITs is not for us to explain: This is an action flick, not a Ken Burns documentary. Yet the mere suggestion that such techniques paid crucial intelligence dividends—as attested by former Attorney General Michael Mukasey and former CIA Director Michael Hayden, among many others—has sent Mrs. Feinstein and her colleagues into paroxysms of indignation. They even have a 5,000-plus-page study that purports to prove her case.We say “purports” because, so far, hardly anyone outside the Senate Intelligence Committee has laid eyes on this white whale. The report began four years ago as a largely bipartisan effort to examine the CIA’s post-9/11 detention and interrogation programs.

DANIEL GREENFIELD: BLASPHEMY AS A NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT ****

http://sultanknish.blogspot.com/

Spain has begun deportation proceedings against Imran Firasat, a Christian refugee from Pakistan, for making a documentary about Mohammed and thereby threatening the national security of Spain. If Firasat is deported back to Pakistan, he will face the death penalty proving that it’s a short step from the Spanish Inquisition to the Pakistani Inquisition.

The United States has a man sitting in prison for making another blasphemous movie, which the government spent weeks blaming for worldwide attacks on American embassies. And he isn’t the first man persecuted or prosecuted for offending Islam. Offending Islam has become a national security issue involving all levels of government.

When Bubba the Love Sponge, a Tampa DJ, proposed to burn a Koran, the commander of the Afghanistan war contacted his girlfriend, who would later be stalked by Petraeus’ girlfriend, to contact the Mayor of Tampa to keep Bubba from burning a Koran. Instead of explaining how the American system works to the Lebanese temptress and her four-star general, the mayor wrote back that the city was working on it.

That month 50 percent more Americans were killed in Afghanistan in the long slow death march of the war, but a Koran was not burned in Tampa. Mission accomplished.

The Men of the Year:Glen Doherty, Tyrone Woods and Sean Smith Who Gave Their Lives in Benghazi : Daniel Greenfield

http://frontpagemag.com/2012/dgreenfield/frontpages-men-of-the-year-the-three-men-who-gave-their-lives-in-benghazi/print/ In every war there are those we leave behind; buried in graves in the green fields or falling as ashes scattered on the desert floor. When soldiers die in war, they are honored and remembered, but when they die in a war that is not a war, then there is nothing to remember. All […]

GREAT SCOTT!!! THE NEWS STAR IN THE SENATE: TIM SCOTT (R) SOUTH CAROLINA…..SEE NOTE PLEASE

http://frontpagemag.com/2012/earl-capps/tim-scott-a-warrior-for-worker-rights-in-the-senate/print/

THIS MAN GIVES THE LIBERAL HYPOCRITES AND UNIONS HIVES….A BLACK CONSERVATIVE IS THEIR WORST NIGHTMARE…..I CALLED THIS GOVERNOR NIKKI HALEY’S…”DREADED SCOTT” DECISION……RSK

Tim Scott: A Warrior for Worker Rights in the Senate

As the battle between business interests and organized labor heats up in the wake of two major political defeats for Big Labor over the last six months — the failed Wisconsin recall efforts and Michigan’s adoption of right-to-work legislation — it’s not likely that labor union interests will find the appointment of South Carolina Congressman Tim Scott to replace outgoing Senator Jim DeMint to be good news. Scott’s record on issues related to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and organized labor suggests that he won’t be any friendlier to those interests than DeMint once he crosses over from the House to the Senate in January.

As in Michigan and Wisconsin, labor issues have been the stuff of headline news in South Carolina since the 2010 elections. While the failed attempt by the NLRB to keep Boeing from opening a 787 production facility in the Charleston area was the most visible action by the Board in the state, the Board also threatened to take the state to court to keep it from enacting legislation to codify the 2010 referendum in which over eighty percent of state voters voted for an amendment to the state’s constitution which would protect the right of workers to decide workplace issues via secret ballot.

While in the House, Scott was very active on right-to-work issues. During the last session of Congress, he sponsored three bills which were intended to curtail the reach of the NLRB and union activity in workplaces:

• H.R. 1976 and 2587 were intended to block the NLRB from directing companies to close or move plants or jobs.

DAVID SOLWAY: THE ARGUMENT FOR GUNS

http://frontpagemag.com/2012/david-solway/the-argument-for-guns/ Following the latest shooting atrocity in the U.S., the Second Amendment has once again come under fire. Advocates of gun control claim that the easy availability of guns leads to a demonstrable increase in violence and to the kinds of murderous outbreaks we have seen in public schools, as in Columbine and Newtown. Defenders […]

P. DAVID HORNIK: WEST LONGS FOR JEW-FREE ZONES IN JERUSALEM

http://frontpagemag.com/2012/davidhornik/west-longs-for-jew-free-zones-in-jerusalem/print/ Israel plans to step up the building of residences within the settlement blocs and—drawing particular ire—in parts of Jerusalem that were under Jordanian occupation from 1949 to 1967. The Jerusalem plans include housing for both Jews and Arabs. In this holiday season, those plans should be cause for rejoicing instead of heightened rebukes. The […]

AMAZING ISRAEL: TOP STORIES OF 2012 ****NICKY BLACKBURN

http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/detail/israel21cs-top-10-stories-of-2012?f=puball

http://israel21c.org/culture/israel21cs-top-10-stories-of-2012/?utm_source=Newsletter+12%2F26%2F2012&utm_campaign=Dec%2C+26%2C+2012&utm_medium=email

2012 was a year of innovation and progress. To celebrate the New Year, ISRAEL21c looks back at the top stories of the year.

If you read the world’s newspapers, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the only things happening in Israel this year were security related: the looming threat of a conflict with Iran, missiles from Gaza and unrest on Israel’s borders. The pages of ISRAEL21c, however, tell a completely different story.Imaginative, exciting and dynamic – Israelis were at the forefront of cutting-edge developments in hundreds of different fields this year, pushing the boundaries in art and culture, biotech, medicine, the environment, science and technology.

Already famous for their technological innovations, Israeli companies brought dozens of groundbreaking new technologies to market, from inventive mobile apps to cardboard bikes, invisible keyboards and technology that can protect our runways.

Israeli physicians and researchers were just as hard at work, making significant breakthroughs in cancer, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, infertility, viruses and asthma.

From prizes in medicine and science, to awards for developments in the fields of world hunger, solar energy, desertification and water reclamation, Israeli entrepreneurs gained worldwide recognition.

Israel was also there to help in the wake of global disasters, from Haiti to Kenya, Ghana to Japan. When Hurricane Sandy devastated the US east coast, Israelis were among the few foreigners to send aid.

It was also a year when Israel itself came into the spotlight. Tourism rose to its highest level as visitors came to enjoy the country’s hugely varied landscape.

National Geographic magazine called the Israel National Trail, stretching 1,000 kilometers from the Red Sea to Israel’s northernmost point, one of the “holy grails of trails across the world.” Lonely Planet chose the Negev Desert second on its top 10 list of regions to visit in 2013.

Tel Aviv won many accolades. Lonely Planet included the beach city on its list of Ultimate Party Cities, and as one of the Top Ten Hedonistic City Breaks. The Huffington Post named it among the eight Best Beach Cities in the world. The Globe and Mail listed it as one of the world’s most creative cities, MasterCard named Tel Aviv among the world’s top destinations in 2012, Travelers Digest announced it was home to the most beautiful people in the world, and Condé Nast dubbed it one of the best cities for architecture.

To help you relive an exciting year of development and culture, ISRAEL21c brings you its top 10 most-read stories of the year, giving you a small taste of how a tiny country in the Middle East is helping to change the world.

1. Made in Israel – the Top 64 innovations developed in Israel

To celebrate Israel’s 64th birthday, ISRAEL21c put together a list of the top 64 developments that have come out of Israel since it was founded.

Most people already know that the ubiquitous Disk-on-Key was developed in Israel, but did you know that Windows NT and XP operating systems were primarily developed here? We take a look at some of the country’s best innovations, from Copaxone and Sambucol, to the emergency bandage, Krav Maga, Magshoe, desalination, instant messaging and the Powermat.

To mark the anniversary, ISRAEL21c created a special “Made in Israel” video, and went into partnership with Nu to create a Made in Israel t-shirt featuring some of the nation’s best developments.

2. New Israeli tactic makes deadly viruses commit suicide

In September we ran a story on Vecoy Nanomedicines, a biotech company that has developed a cunning new way to disarm viruses by luring them to attack microscopic, cell-like decoys. Once inside these traps, the viruses effectively commit suicide.

Today viruses are considered one of the biggest threats to humankind. In 1918, a Spanish flu outbreak killed 40 million people in two years. A new super virus could wreak even worse havoc in today’s uber-connected world, experts fear. There’s still a long road ahead, but Vecoy may have developed the solution that will keep us safe.

Discussing Islam – A losing battle? by GADI ADELMAN

http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/detail/discussing-islam-a-losing-battle?f=must_reads “Perhaps these things that seem important to me are unimportant, but they are all a part of the great human tragedy that stands before us. And if I could do something, which I can’t, to make the world better, I would try to have it more tolerant, more kindly, more understanding; could I do […]

JACK ENGELHARD: ON THE MOVIE ZERO DARK THIRTY AND KATHRYN BIGELOW

http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/novelists-view-world/2012/dec/26/whos-afraid-kathryn-bigelow-her-zero-dark-thirty-c/#.UNuG0FHBiI1.facebook “The lady’s got talent, and she has guts and valor in a world that falls pathetically too short of such virtues.Our First Amendment now comes with an asterisk.” WASHINGTON, DC, December 26, 2012 – Kathryn Bigelow’s film about the pursuit of Osama bin Laden titled Zero Dark Thirty has yet to be widely released […]