05-16 Digest

22 April 2005
Federalist Patriot No. 05-16
Friday Digest
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THE PATRIOT
PERSPECTIVE

Top of the fold -- The Earth Day
Before Yesterday

Today marks the 35th anniversary of the founding of "Earth Day" by
former Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson. It's also V.I. Lenin's birthday
-- which is no coincidence. Nelson modeled his anti-capitalist protests
after anti-Vietnam War demonstrations of that era. Today, the so-called
"environmental movement" he helped spawn has devolved from a gaggle of
unwashed adolescent peaceniks into a slick cadre of leftists, lobbyists
and lawyers. The result of this devolution has been an enormous hidden
tax on American products and services -- more than a trillion
dollars last year -- in the form of runaway environmental regulation.

The populist wing of the environmental movement now operates
under the aegis of the Left's cult of Latter Day Eco-theologists, or
earth-worshippers. Their current titular head is Albert Arnold Gore,
he of the unfortunately timed "global warming" speech delivered in
January, 2004, during the coldest day in New York City in decades.

The objective of the earth-worshippers is to create a central
authority over industrial production in the West through mechanisms
like the Orwellian Kyoto Treaty. Their method is to portray industrial
atmospheric emissions as a primary determinant of global climate. Their
goal, consistent with both Nelson and Lenin, is to crush or at least
bridle free-enterprise capitalism. The Kyoto Protocol, for example,
hamstrings Western industrialized nations but exempts socialist
states like India and China. (It should be noted that the U.S. Senate
resoundingly rejected Al Gore's beloved Kyoto Protocol in 1997 by way
of the Byrd-Hagel Resolution. The vote count? An eye-popping 95-0.)

Commenting on the misuse of science to support political agendas,
Harvard's Dr. Malcolm Ross concludes of such folly, "Freeze or fry,
the problem is always industrial capitalism, and the solution is always
international socialism." Colorado Environmental Studies Professor Roger
Pielke adds, "It is clear that there is an ample supply of people willing
to use concern over the politicization of science as a political bludgeon
to score points on the Bush Administration [but] where are the analysts
(including reporters) who care about the politicization of science?"

Of course, most reporters are not journalists, but Leftmedia lemmings
leading the charge to politicize science, particularly environmental
science.

As with other Leftist cadres, Eco-theologists have learned well the
value of co-opting media outlets to influence public opinion. Their most
recent big-screen entry, "The Day After Tomorrow," was strategically
released just prior to last year's presidential election. The movie,
a ridiculously overblown fantasy about global warming, suggests that
the consequences of such warming might be the rapid development of an
Ice Age, and that all the Chicken Littles should take note.

The movie was marketed as "fact-based fiction," but it played so
loose with the facts that it could have passed for a Michael Moore
crockumentary. National Geographic asked Tom Prugh, senior editor at
the Worldwatch Institute, for comment, and he noted, "Like some other
Hollywood movies that claim to be based on true stories, there's a
kernel of truth that is then pumped full of steroids and given cosmetic
surgery. ... It has been 'Hollywoodized'."

Daniel Schrag, Professor of Geochemistry at Harvard University,
agrees: "It's really science fiction." But Dr. Schrag adds, "Global
warming is definitely a real thing."

Indeed, most climate scientists agree that there has been roughly
a one-degree rise in the earth's surface temperature in the last
century. (Detractors argue that the rise is because many sensing stations
are in urban areas (which tend to be hotter) or from geothermal or
solar changes.)

If one accepts that the earth is warming, the question them becomes,
why? Many scientists believe that the burning of fossil fuels (coal,
oil and gas) may be a contributing factor, although that opinion is far
from unanimous. Of the 930 major papers and studies on global warming in
the last ten years, approximately 75 percent conclude that the so-called
"greenhouse emissions" from those fuels act like a thermal blanket
trapping heat in the atmosphere and warming the planet.

Significantly, of course, 25 percent of those papers did not
draw any such conclusion. To that end, the Oregon Institute of Science
and Medicine obtained more than 17,100 signatures from basic and applied
American scientists on a petition noting, "There is no convincing
scientific evidence that human release of carbon dioxide, methane or
other greenhouse gasses is causing or will, in the foreseeable future,
cause catastrophic heating of the Earth's atmosphere and disruption of
the Earth's climate."

For real insights into ice ages and global warming, one should
disregard "The Day After Tomorrow" and consider the earth, day before
yesterday, a far better predictor of future meteorological trends.

There is evidence of dramatic climate changes in the last 13,000
years, with severe cooling occurring 8,200 and 12,700 years ago, followed
by re-warming. Some scientists suggest that these changes are related to
the changing distance and position between Earth and the sun. To wit,
even a 2001 National Academy of Sciences report on global warming
suggests that increased radiation from the sun may be responsible
for much of the climate change in the last century. In other words,
our planet's sole source of heat -- an enormous thermonuclear fireball
around which our earth orbits -- may actually have something to do with
modest temperature variation. Imagine that!

Regarding human impact on global temperature, William Ruddiman,
professor emeritus of environmental sciences at the University of
Virginia, notes in the March edition of Scientific American that the
earliest humans may have influenced the global climate: "New evidence
suggests that concentrations of CO2 started rising about 8,000 years
ago, [and] some 3,000 years later the same thing happened to methane,
another heat-trapping gas. ... Without them, current temperatures in
northern parts of North America and Europe would be cooler by three
to four degrees Celsius -- enough to make agriculture difficult. In
addition, an incipient ice age -- marked by the appearance of small
ice caps -- would probably have begun several thousand years ago in
parts of northeastern Canada. Instead the earth's climate has remained
relatively warm and stable in recent millennia."

According to Ruddiman's theory, early human cultivation may be why
we are not in the midst of an ice age.

This weekend, eco-wackos will be saturating the media outlets with
apocalyptic warnings about global warming, mostly rolling out Hollywonk
elitists like Daryl Hannah, whose press release claims she "uses solar
power, adopts animals, drives a clean burning vehicle that runs on
biodiesel, and lives a sustainable lifestyle." Isn't that special!

Indeed, global temperature has been a hot topic since
the first Earth Day, but earth-worshipers forgot what they
said the day before yesterday. The warning then concerned
global cooling. (Check out this Earth Day article from 1975 -- href="http://FederalistPatriot.US/news/EarthDay1975.pdf">http://FederalistPatriot.US/news/EarthDay1975.pdf)

Complex environmental concerns are serious -- and, accordingly,
should be taken seriously, but mindless Eco-theological rhetoric serves
only to keep us from getting at the truth. As environmental analyst
Rich Trzupek notes, "The golden rule among environmental groups is
'never, ever admit that progress has been achieved -- especially when
Republicans are in power.' It's awfully tough for those organizations
to raise money if donors aren't kept in a constant state of panic."

This Earth Day, we encourage Patriots to plant a seed of truth that
it may bear fruit in the coming debate.

Quote of the week...

"Too often environmental-policy discussions assume that the only way
to advance environmental values is to create a government program or
adopt new regulations. The potential for private initiative to conserve
environmental treasures is overlooked. Yet where private action is
viable, it is often superior to government efforts." --Case Western
Law Professor Jonathan H. Adler

Restore the foundations!

Support the 2005 Patriot Fund:

href="http://FederalistPatriot.US/support/">http://FederalistPatriot.US/support/

On cross-examination...

"Environmental groups have spent the last 40 years defining themselves
against conservative values like cost-benefit accounting, smaller
government, fewer regulations and free trade without ever articulating
a coherent morality we can call our own. Most of the intellectuals
who staff environmental groups are so repelled by the right's values
that we have assiduously avoided examining our own in a serious
way..." --Environmentalists Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus

The BIG lie...

"We are all members of one human family that has inherited a planet
rich in resources. We each have an equal claim to its land, minerals
and raw materials. ... To assure equitable benefits every individual
and institution should seek to balance rights and responsibilities. The
long-term goal must be to restructure social institutions so that there
is equitable return for services, efficient balance of supply and demand,
and fair benefits from our mutual claims to Earth's natural bounty. One
possible way to equitable benefits is for those who own land, oil, gold
or other minerals to pay a 2 percent royalty each year on their income
from these resources to a fund that will then provide the homeless their
inheritance or stake in their planet. All will then join in responsible
care of Earth." --Earth Magna Charta by John McConnell, founder of the
equinox version of Earth Day

News from the Swamp...

In the Executive Branch, President Bush signed the bankruptcy reform
bill into law this week, adding another victory for the Republican
agenda. This act makes it more difficult for individuals to file for
bankruptcy and duck out of paying their creditors. Bush also continued
his tour of states on behalf of Social Security reform, taking his appeal
for personal accounts to South Carolina, the home state of Senator
Lindsey Graham. Graham has asked the President to be more specific on
benefit cuts and possible tax increases which may arise to meet the
transition costs.

In the Senate, it has now come down to who's going to blink first
over the status of President Bush's judicial nominees. The Senate
Judiciary Committee approved by party-line vote Texas judge Priscilla
Owen and California judge Janice Rogers Brown, passing them on to the
full Senate for a confirmation vote. Both nominees for the Appeals
Court, Brown and Owen were filibustered during Bush's first term,
but he re-nominated them in November after his re-election.

Demos have threatened to filibuster both nominees, calling them
too extreme (read: too respectful of the Constitution). If they do,
Majority Leader Frist is prepared to exercise the constitutional
option and change parliamentary rules to bar filibustering of judicial
confirmations. Frist stated this week that he would not attempt to
extend the ban to include filibusters on legislation. But judgeship
nominees deserve an up-or-down vote rather than the stalling tactics
that the Demos have resorted to of late, and a change in parliamentary
procedure would assure just that.

Minority Leader Harry Reid has threatened to bring Senate business
to a screeching halt if the ban on filibusters goes through. It's hard
to know what purpose such a childish move would serve, other than to
prove further how obstructionist the Democrats really are and how they
have no real agenda to lead the country.

In other Senate news, a provision to give amnesty to nearly a
million illegal aliens working in agricultural jobs, debated Tuesday,
failed to pass. The provision was attached to an $81-billion emergency
supplemental-appropriations bill to pay for fighting the wars in Iraq
and Afghanistan, which later passed in the Senate sans the immigration
provision. Debates over unlawful immigration will surely continue as
the two chambers begin the work of reconciling their respective versions
of the bill.

In the House, Democrats refuse to allow Tom DeLay to have his day
before the House Ethics Committee. Republicans instituted rule changes
recently, among them the automatic dismissal of an ethics complaint if
no action is taken within 45 days. Rep. Doc Hastings, chairman of the
committee, offered to extend that period to 90 days, but the Demos just
aren't buying. Clearly they fear that if DeLay actually gets a hearing,
he'll be exonerated. Regardless of party affiliation, it is patently
unfair to accuse someone of violating rules and then not allow him to
defend himself in the proper forum.

Of considerable note, Illinois Rep. Henry Hyde, chair of the House
International Relations Committee and longtime Reagan Republican,
announced his retirement this week. First sworn into the House of
Representatives in 1975, Hyde will complete his current congressional
term, which expires in 2006.

New and notable legislation: The House voted this week to approve
oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (HR 6) -- a measure
the Senate recently approved. An Online Freedom of Speech bill was
proposed simultaneously in the House (HR 1605 and HR 1606) and Senate
(S 678) that aims to prevent federal regulation of political speech
over the Internet. The United Nations Voting Accountability Act, which
was proposed in the House, would prohibit foreign aid to countries that
act in opposition to the United States in the UN.

This week's "Braying Jackass" awards:

"I am sick and tired of a bunch of people trying to tell me that God
wants a bunch of conservative judges on the court. I am sick and tired
of [Republicans] saying they somehow have a better understanding of
Christianity, of the Judeo-Christian ethic, of values." --John Kerry,
who is clearly sick and tired

"I cannot imagine that God -- with everything he has or she has to
worry about -- is going to take the time to debate the filibuster in
heaven." --Senator Richard Durbin **Not likely you'll ever find out,
Dick.

From the Left...

Vermont Senator Jumpin' Jim Jeffords, the Republican turncoat
who fancies himself an Independent, announced that he will not be
seeking re-election next year. Jeffords will be stepping down after
three terms as an annoying RINO. Few were surprised in 2001 when Tom
Daschle convinced him to leave the Republican Party, ending the GOP's
razor-thin majority status.

Vermont's only representative in the House, Bernie Sanders, a
Socialist who disingenuously calls himself an Independent, will run
for Jeffords's seat, but there is a strong alternative.

Readers may recall that last fall The Patriot endorsed
Republican candidate, retired USAF officer and Friend of The
Patriot Greg Parke for the seat occupied by Jeffords. With the
announcement of Jeffords' retirement, Parke is gearing up to campaign
for the seat again, but his first battle will be to convince Republican
leaders that the contest is worth the money it will take to win. The
addition of just one conservative Republican in the Senate would be a
major step toward assuring constitutional treatment of the President's
judicial nominees, and the next three months of his campaign are
crucial. Parke is the man. We reiterate our support for Parke, and
we encourage our readers to do the same by contacting RNC Chairman Ken
Mehlman at < Chairman@gop.com >.

On the National Security front...

John Negroponte gained Senate approval Thursday to become the first
Director of National Intelligence, winning an overwhelming 98-2 vote
for final confirmation. Mr. Negroponte was sworn in at the White House
within 45 minutes of the Senate vote and is a welcome addition to the
intelligence community.

Meanwhile, President Bush's other high-level nominee, John Bolton,
has been tarred by a partisan political brush. Democrats -- true to form
-- are borking Bolton, i.e., making all manner of ugly and irrelevant
charges regarding his qualifications to be Ambassador to the UN. Assorted
former co-workers and subordinates have alleged abusive behavior,
intimidation and the like. Unfortunately, this "oldest political trick
in the book" appears to have suckered at least one Republican senator,
Ohio's George Voinovich, into withholding his "yea" vote. Blindsided
by Voinovich's mutiny, Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Richard
Lugar had little choice but to delay Bolton's committee vote, fearing
a less than positive outcome. In doing so, Lugar has unwittingly given
weight to the allegations and ensured that more will follow. Even former
Secretary of State Powell is alleged to have warned Senators Chaffee and
Hagel that Bolton may be too volatile for the job -- which, in our view,
constitutes a strong endorsement.

From the warfront with Jihadistan...

According to CIA and DIA intelligence reports, Saudi terrorist Osama
bin Laden and Jordanian al-Qa'ida terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi have
obtained, or will soon be in possession of, a fissile weapon. That is
the cautious conclusion by analysts assigned to Zarqawi earlier this
month. Reiterating what both the President and Vice President have said
previously, CIA Director Porter Goss says a nuclear terrorist strike
"may be only a matter of time," emphasizing that there is no absolute
assurance that importation of a fissile weapon can be prevented. In
other words, the best defense is a strong offense -- AKA, the Bush
Doctrine of Pre-Emption.

As The Patriot noted in October, 2002, our well-placed
sources in the Middle East and intelligence sources with the NSA and NRO
estimated that the UN Security Council's foot-dragging provided an ample
window for Saddam to export some or all of his deadliest WMD materials
and components, including one or more crude nuclear devices.

At that time we reported that Allied Forces would be unlikely
to discover Iraq's WMD stores, noting, "Our sources estimate that Iraq
has shipped some or all of its biological stockpiles and nuclear WMD
components through Syria to southern Lebanon's heavily fortified Bekaa
Valley." In December of 2002, our senior-level intelligence sources
re-confirmed estimates that some of Iraq's biological and nuclear
WMD material and components had, in fact, been moved into Syria and
Iran. That movement continued until President Bush finally pulled the
plug on the UN's ruse.

It is not likely that these weapons have moved since, but if Zarqawi
has a nuke, it came out of Iran or Syria, and, according to our sources,
bin Laden has instructed Zarqawi to select a target inside the U.S.

On the Homeland Security front...

There is still plenty of evidence concerning al-Qa'ida sleeper cells
and support clusters in the U.S. waiting for the nation to drop its
guard. Al-Qa'ida sympathizers abound. Case in point: In early April,
FBI agents raided the Memphis home of Rafat Jamal Mawlawi, a Syrian
with dual citizenship, who is suspected of setting up marriages
between Islamists and local women in order to get the men into the
country. The FBI found a large cache of weapons, ammunition, cash,
Moroccan and Bosnian passports, and other items such as pictures of
Mawlawi shouldering a rocket launcher.

This wasn't the first time an Islamist-organized fraud scheme has
been uncovered in Memphis. Back in 2002, five Islamists from New York
were arrested in Memphis when attempting to obtain fake driver's licenses
from a state DoT examiner.

From the "Department of Military Readiness"...

A message from Chaplain, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine
Expeditionary Force, Iraq: "I want to thank Federalist Patriot
readers for their generous support of Operation Shield of Strength [href="http://FederalistPatriot.US/SoS/">http://FederalistPatriot.US/SoS/].
1st Marine Division is the recipient of more than 10,000 shields
in the last year sponsored by Patriot readers. I often use
inspirational elements from the Brief and Chronicle for sermons and
lessons. The Patriot is an excellent information/education
resource for all Americans, especially those of us in the
field. Thanks again for all you are doing!" (Welcome home Jeff! href="http://FederalistPatriot.US/news/daddy.asp">http://FederalistPatriot.US/news/daddy.asp)

Calling all Patriots! While more than 350,000 Shields of Strength
have already been sent to military forces in rotating deployment
overseas since 9/11, The Federalist Patriot is receiving new
requests from military chaplains of mostly Army and Marine units
in Iraq which have recently arrived on rotation. If you're able to
support Operation SoS and can help provide Shields of Strength to
ground forces on the frontlines with Jihadistan, please link to href="http://FederalistPatriot.US/SoS/">http://FederalistPatriot.US/SoS/

(NOTE: 100 percent of the proceeds from these donations is applied to
military requests for Shields. We at The Patriot are both honored
and humbled to donate our services and personnel to fill these orders,
and we will match your donations to military units. (If you're among
our military readers and would like us to find an OpSoS sponsor for
your battalion, please e-mail us at < SoS@Federalist.com >.)

If you are interested in purchasing a small number of
shields for your own use or to give as gifts, please link to -- href="http://FederalistPatriot.US/SoS/personal.asp">http://FederalistPatriot.US/SoS/personal.asp)

Fly your Patriot Colors!

Visit the Patriot Shop:

http://PatriotShop.US/

Judicial Benchmarks...

For the second time in three years, U.S. District Judge Leonie
Brinkema has considered a guilty plea from Zacarias Moussaoui, the
only person in the U.S. charged in connection with the September 11
terrorist attacks, and this time the plea may stick. Moussaoui recently
wrote a letter to Judge Brinkema and the U.S. government stating that
he wanted to plead guilty, and according to a courthouse spokesman on
Wednesday afternoon the judge has decided to accept Moussaoui's plea.
Additional details were unavailable, but Judge Brinkema has scheduled
a hearing for Friday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia.
Moussaoui could face the death penalty, although his sentence would be
determined at a trial after his plea was accepted.

Moussaoui, indicted on six counts related to 9/11, had tried in 2002
to plead guilty to the four charges carrying the death penalty, saying
at the time that he was a member of al-Qa'ida and had pledged allegiance
to alleged 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden. However, Moussaoui changed
his mind after Brinkema gave him a week to think about it. It's been
a difficult road for the U.S. government to get Moussaoui to trial.
In addition to his originally withdrawn guilty plea, Moussaoui's attempts
to represent himself, conflicts with his court-appointed lawyers, and
repeated appeals over his access to confidential government sources and
al-Qa'ida detainees have further delayed his trial. The Patriot
hopes that this time justice will be served.

From the "Non Compos Mentis" Files...

Two weeks ago, The Patriot noted that the L.A. Times
issued not one, but four corrections to a news story. In a
further correction item this week, the paper said, "At the same time
[as the previous corrections], editors began a full review of the
story.... Based on that inquiry...the paper has concluded that the
article fell far short of Times standards." No kidding! Four new
corrections were issued and the writer was dismissed. Eric Slater, the
"journalist" in question, told the Times, "Myself and my attorney
are looking over the request [for my resignation] and will get back
to the L.A. Times by morning." Friend of The Patriot,
James Taranto, responds: "With his command of grammar, ourselves wonder
how he got hired in the first place."

From the "Village Academic Curriculum" File...

In California, parent Larry Caldwell of Roseville is making a
federal case out of forcing state government schools to follow existing
state laws and policies on science education, as in the "California
State Board of Education Policy on the Teaching of Natural Sciences."
Caldwell proposes a "Quality Science Education Policy" requiring that
scientific theories (including evolution) not be taught dogmatically
and that students be acquainted with debate and rational inquiry over
questions of science. Amazing that school administrators have refused
such a reasonable -- nay, well-needed -- request, eh? The Pacific
Justice Institute will join the case as co-counsel.

Around the nation...

From the states, despite dire threats from Education Secretary
Margaret Spellings, Utah legislators this week voted overwhelmingly in
favor of a bill that would give state-education policy precedent over
President Bush's No Child Left Behind Act. Mrs. Spellings tried to stop
passage of the bill, threatening to withdraw Utah's federal funding for
education. Utah was unimpressed. "I'd just as soon they take the stinking
money and go back to Washington with it," said Rep. Steve Mascaro,
R-West Jordan. "Let us resolve our education problems by ourselves. I
will not be threatened by Washington over $76 million."

The rest of the country would do well to recognize this as a proper
example of federalism at work. Such extra-constitutional federal
mandates have power only insofar as the states choose to depend upon
federal money. When the federal government oversteps its bounds, all
the states need to do is tell Washington to "take the stinking money"
and leave. For the sake of the Constitution, and for the sake of our
children, let's hope other states follow Utah's bold lead.

In business/economic news...

In another setback for the struggling airline industry, US Airways
sold over 1,000 round-trip tickets at a hefty discount over the
weekend. Online customers were quite thrilled to fly in and out of
Asheville, N.C., Jamestown, N.Y. and Hilton Head, S.C. for only $1.86!
Even Travelocity and Orbitz couldn't match that! US Airways has
also had problems such as sending flights off without any baggage from
Philadelphia over Christmas. In August, the company filed for bankruptcy
a second time since 2001. Selling tickets for $1.86 (probably not even
enough to pay for those peanuts!) is a sure way to end up in bankruptcy
a third time.

On the culture front...

Connecticut entered the redefinition-of-marriage fight -- with the
so-called "Constitution State" weighing in on the pro-homosexuality
side. Gov. M. Jodi Rell signed into law creation of "civil unions"
with the mild disclaimer that marriage is retained as a husband-wife
relationship only. This, of course, is yet another erosion -- along
the way to complete erosion -- of the natural-law-based definition of
marriage as the foundation of natural-family formation. As the Left
presses for the normalization of homosexual "marriage," there's no
reason to think the battle will stop here.

Family and faith matters...

While we doubt that Pope Benedict XVI is a country-music fan, we
are fairly confident that his virtual iPod would include Aaron Tippin's
"You've got to stand for something or you'll fall for anything." That
simple sentiment from a country song epitomizes the core message of
Cardinal Ratzinger's eulogy of Pope John Paul II, along with his first
homilies as the pope. At 78 years of age, Pope Benedict XVI has seen
the carnage wrought by relativism. His experience within Nazi Germany
taught him that institutions devoid of the intellectual commitment of
active souls are a drain on the life of the Church. While he welcomes
home wayward parishioners who can find the Church only on Easter and
Christmas, he champions a dynamic Catholicism that promotes faith with
forethought rather than afterthought.

The Church is at a crossroads, and the mainstream media here and
in Europe would direct the Church down a path of relativism and an
embracing of the diversity and equality of all religions. To be sure,
the new Pope is committed to an "openness to the whole" of history
and of the human race. He seeks a growing vibrant church, but it will
remain a church that stands for serious ideas, one faithful to Scripture,
even if Scripture is unpopular within enlightened circles.

The media of Europe and the United States have been brutally open
in their contempt for the new Pope -- dubbing him "God's Rottweiler"
for his conservative stance and incessantly revisiting his forced
association with the Hitler Youth -- and have consistently misrepresented
both his positions and his likely leadership style. Of course, it's a
good bet that no matter who the College of Cardinals elected via the
intercession of the Almighty, the choice would not make the reporters
happy. Unless, of course, you can imagine a Hugh Hefner papacy.

This week's "Alpha Jackass" award:

"The selection of Cardinal Ratzinger as pope has many Catholics in
the U.S. wondering whether a divider can become a uniter." --David Von
Drehle, The Washington Post

On the frontiers of science...

Michael Fumento, author of the groundbreaking work The Myth of
Heterosexual AIDS, recently wrote about some interesting developments
out of Africa. A trio of research scientists has worked for years
to dispel the World Health Organization's claim that 99 percent of
AIDS cases in Africa are the result of normal heterosexual relations.
On the contrary, these researchers assert that no more than one-third
of all AIDS cases are contracted through heterosexual intercourse -- and
that believing otherwise is jeopardizing the lives of millions. In the
U.S., only 12 percent of AIDS cases are "attributed to" heterosexual
transmission, meaning the victims claimed to have gotten it that way,
and even those figures (based on other research) seem to be exaggerated.

Contrary to mounting evidence, the WHO asserts that homosexuality is
quite rare in Africa. Unfortunately, it is difficult to challenge the
currently rooted paradigm of heterosexual AIDS spread -- particularly
when the paradigm is sex. "Sex is sexy," says one of the scientists,
who also notes that very few scientists are even looking to other
possibilities. Another of the trio seems to nail the problem on the
head, pointing out that for scientists to concede they're wrong would be
"to admit they're complicit in mass death. That's hard to admit that
to yourself, much less to other people."

On the frontiers of junk science...

The New York Times reports, "[P]eople who are overweight
but not obese have a lower risk of death than those of normal
weight...." implying that fat folks' risk of death is below 100
percent. That error notwithstanding, there is a story here.

According to the latest reports from the CDC, the "obesity
epidemic" isn't. The CDC now ranks obesity No. 7 instead of No. 2
among the nation's leading causes of preventable death. Last year,
the National Center for Health Statistics reported to the CDC that
their mortality figures for obesity were overstated by at least 200
percent. CDC researchers now say that obesity deaths are 14 times lower
than previously estimated. 14 times! In fact, the new CDC report
suggests that being modestly overweight may extend life expectancy.

Who's to say which reports are correct? There's only one sensible
conclusion: The physique-worshipers' play-book is about as accurate as
the one used by the earth worshipers -- and other idolaters.

Oh, and that business about whether red wine is good for your
heart. That one got debunked as well -- researchers now say the
relationship between wine consumption and health is incidental.

And last...

Just in time for Earth Day festivities, California's Supreme Court
told People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals to give it a rest.
The Golden State high court declined to review the now-dismissed 2002
lawsuit PETA brought against the California Milk Advisory Board's
ad series revolving around the tag line, "Great cheese comes from
happy cows. Happy cows come from California." A state appeals court
ruled in January that the board, like all state agencies, is immune to
false-advertising suits. Talk about PETA milking a claim....

Lex et Libertas -- Semper Vigilo, Paratus, et Fidelis! Mark
Alexander, Publisher, for the editors and staff. (Please pray for our
Patriot Armed Forces standing in harm's way around the world in defense
of our liberty, and for the families awaiting their safe return.)

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