IRIS Blog

Here is a humorous look at the latest instance of media bias, in which CBS News and others claimed a fivefold spike in the intensity of earthquakes due to Global Warming.

The opening lines of one piece describing the incident is classic:

THERE IS A SURE-FIRE WAY to make the news these days: Just issue a press release beginning with the words, "New scientific study shows," and have it assert a conclusion that the MSM fervently want to believe--especially if the resulting story would serve to debunk or refute a Bush administration policy. Slam-dunk! Your press release will become news!

Here is proof: despite the decade-long trend of falling global temperatures over the past decade, one Web site has collected 600 items that the media have claimed to be due to Global Warming.

In this case, the source of the earthquakes-Global Warming "study":

runs a website for followers of the Thiaoouba Prophecy, which preaches that advanced beings from the planet Thiaoouba abduct one Earthling every century and impart unto the chosen-one the true meaning of life.

Read the whole thing for a laugh.

How could this happen when the good terrorists of Fatah are in control in Samaria, and the bad terrorists in Hamas have promised a truce?

Arab terrorists shot and wounded three people who were hiking between the Jewish communities of Nevei Tzuf and Nachliel in Samaria, northwest of Ramallah, Friday afternoon. Two of the victims are in moderate and very serious condition from bullet wounds in the back and stomach, and a third person suffered lighter wounds. Two other hikers hid from the attackers for several minutes, escaped injury and notified authorities.

Rescue teams administered first aid at the scene and an army helicopter flew the victims to Sheba Hospital at Tel HaShomer Medical Center in Tel Aviv. Medics encountered delays because the wounded were in a hard to access location. IDF soldiers are searching for the terrorists.

Area residents and leaders have warned that that the recent "good will measures" implemented by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak to ease travel restrictions and remove roadblocks in Judea and Samaria would lead to an increase in terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians.

As Israelis ponder how long the cease-fire with Hamas will last, almost no one remembers this fact:

Hamas gunmen, taking advantage of an earlier cease-fire, infiltrated into Israel, killed two soldiers, and captured Cpl. Gilad Shalit.

Caroline Glick is calling this Israel's Darkest Week:

The Olmert-Livni-Barak-Yishai government's liquidation sale of Israel's strategic assets opened officially this week. Iran's proxies have pounced on the merchandise.

The first asset sold was the security of southern Israel. The Olmert-Livni-Barak-Yishai government's "cease-fire" with Hamas transferred all power to determine the fate of the residents of southern Israel to Iran's Palestinian proxy.

Under the "agreement," Hamas will refrain from attacking Sderot, Ashkelon, Netivot and surrounding kibbutzim for as long as it serves its interests. Since temporarily halting its attacks on southern Israel is the only thing that Hamas has agreed to do, it will use the lull in fighting to build up its arsenal and its military infrastructures in Gaza. When it has built up its forces sufficiently, or when its Iranian overlords give it the order, Hamas will again attack southern Israel. And when it reengages, it can be assumed that it will do so with a vastly expanded missile range. So under the guise of the "cease-fire," Hamas will place hundreds of thousands more Israelis at its mercy.

The Olmert-Livni-Barak-Yishai government's agreement with Hamas does more than sell out the security of the South. The agreement also divests Israel of its former ability to isolate Hamas diplomatically. Fatah's renewal of negotiations toward reconciling with Hamas is a direct consequence of Israel's actions. As these talks unfold, it is clear to all concerned that they will not lead to any sort of power sharing agreement between the two parties. Hamas today holds all the power in Palestinian society. Israel's acceptance of Hamas's power over the safety of Israeli citizens only amplified this fact. Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas - who cannot even travel to Nablus without IDF protection - is not approaching Hamas as an equal, but as a supplicant.

Moreover, Israel's willingness to allow Gazans to enter Israel, and its acceptance of Hamas's control over the Rafah international terminal that separates Gaza from Egypt, constitutes de facto Israeli recognition of the Hamas regime in Gaza. And the direct consequence of Israel's diplomatic and strategic capitulation to Hamas is that no one in either the Arab world or the West today will agree to isolate or boycott Hamas.

But the Olmert-Livni-Barak-Yishai government apparently doesn't care. Israel's leaders actually don't want anyone to isolate or boycott Hamas anymore. The government's reported negotiations regarding the deployment of an all-Arab "peacekeeping" force in Gaza in a later phase of the "cease-fire" make clear that Israel is pushing for Hamas's international legitimization.

After all, unlike Israel, Hamas would never allow any government that doesn't recognize its legitimacy to deploy forces in its territory or along its borders. So any Arab force that deployed in Gaza or along Gaza's borders would have to recognize Hamas's regime. Beyond that, of course, Israel's advocacy of such a force indicates that the government has no interest in ever confronting Hamas militarily and is ready to tie the hands of any future Israeli government to do so since the presence of Arab forces in Gaza will render it much more difficult for Israel to defend itself. For if such a force is deployed, any future counter-terror operation in Gaza is liable to cause casualties among foreign Arab soldiers and so risk escalating the conflict to the level of regional war.

Israel's decision to embrace Hamas is so outrageous that even the US State Department apparently hasn't had a chance to get its bearings. Reacting to the news on Wednesday, State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey said, "Saying you've got a loaded gun to my head but you're not going to fire today is far different from taking the gun down, locking it up, and saying you're not going to use it again." The agreement "hardly takes Hamas out of the terrorism business," Casey added.

Perfect, primarily because of the huge national security implication. Jihad is almost exclusively funded by oil revenues. It's also a good political move, because it's a perfect wedge issue. Many who believe in man-made catastrophic Global Warming should be swayed by the fact that shifting toward nuclear energy production is the single best way to lower carbon dioxide emissions in the short term.

Sen. John McCain called Wednesday for the construction of 45 new nuclear reactors by 2030 and pledged $2 billion a year in federal funds "to make clean coal a reality," measures designed to reduce dependence on foreign oil.

In a third straight day of campaigning devoted to the energy issue, the Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting also said the only time Democratic rival Barack Obama voted for a tax cut was for a "break for the oil companies."

McCain said the 104 nuclear reactors currently operating around the country produce about 20 percent of the nation's annual electricity needs.

"Every year, these reactors alone spare the atmosphere from the equivalent of nearly all auto emissions in America. Yet for all these benefits, we have not broken ground on a single nuclear plant in over thirty years," he said. "And our manufacturing base to even construct these plants is almost gone."

Apparently not everyone in the Kadima government has lost his mind:

Vice Premier Haim Ramon on Tuesday reacted harshly to reports of an imminent Gaza cease-fire, calling it a victory for radical Islam.

"I am against a truce, because it is another triumph for radical Islam. It won in Lebanon and now it is about to win in Gaza. So what is the point of being moderate? Why would Hamas be interested in a resolution?" said Ramon at a Haifa University conference.

Ramon, together with Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz and Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann, abstained from a cabinet vote last Wednesday to refrain from embarking on a large-scale military operation in Gaza and instead to give more time to Egyptian-mediated truce efforts, although none of the ministers voted against the decision.

See also: Senior IDF Officers Warn: Ceasefire Places No Restrictions on Hamas War Preparations

Honor killing, a widespread phenomenon throughout the Muslim world, is sharply on the rise in the West because of immigration:

The father of a Mississauga teen killed last year has been charged today with first-degree murder in connection with her death.

Muhammad Parvez, 57, appeared in a Brampton courtroom today where he was officially charged. The charge is an indication investigators believe the girl’s killing was pre-meditated.

Parvez was arrested in early December after his daughter Aqsa, 16, was found strangled in the family's Mississauga home.

Paramedics revived her, but she died later in hospital....

The death drew international attention after her friends said she had argued with her father over her desire to shun the hijab, a traditional Muslim scarf that covers the head and shoulders....

Still think the drivers of Muslim terrorism are political grievances? Then why are religious sites so frequently attacked by Muslim mobs throughout the world?

A mob of nearly 7000 Muslims attacked a group of Hindu pilgrims in West Bengal, a state in Eastern India that borders Bangladesh on the west. According to a Hindu blog, a sacred Hindu site frequented by Hindu pilgrims, including women and children, has experienced a sustained attack since Thursday evening. Muslims have thrown gas cylinders and Molotov cocktails at the pilgrims, burning down the camp building and trapping 180 men, women and children, along with fifteen police officers, within the confines of the compound.

The Muslims attempted to breach the wall of the compound by exploding gas cylinders against it. The fifteen police officers have not been able to disperse the mob, even afer firing several rounds....

The police have issued an arrest warrant against the Hindu leader, Sri Tapan Kumar Ghosh, and 15 other Hindus. They are charged with "Incitement and Instigation for Rioting" and "Disruption of Communal Harmony."

No arrest warrants have been issued against Muslims.

See also this update on Shia-Sunni violence: Bomb Kills 4 Outside Pakistan Mosque, Injures 5

When these students were arrested, CAIR screamed that they were just "naive kids" playing with "fireworks" who were "victims" of Islamophobia:

Former University of South Florida engineering student Ahmed Mohamed pleaded guilty Friday to a federal charge of providing material support to terrorists.

Mohamed, an Egyptian national, was arrested on Aug. 4 with Youssef Megahed, 22, a fellow USF student, in Goose Creek., S.C., after police found low-grade explosives in the trunk of his car.

Mohamed admitted creating and posting a YouTube video that demonstrated how to turn a child's remote control toy car into a detonator.

Here is CAMERA's exposé of CAIR.

Amir Taheri makes the number one argument not to vote for Obama, who is perceived worldwide as the representative of American appeasement. Perceptions shut down Iran's nuclear program in 2003 and could accelerate it after November:

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad assumes that once George W. Bush is out of the White House, the U.S. will accept a nuclear-armed Iran as a "regional superpower" in the Middle East. He thinks the dominant mood in the U.S., and the West in general, is one of pre-emptive surrender. Ahmadinejad has castigated his predecessor Muhammad Khatami for accepting suspension of Iran's uranium program in 2003. Khatami says he did so because at the time, shortly after the fall of Saddam Hussein in Iraq, he feared that the Americans might march on Tehran as well. As soon as that fear was gone, the program was resumed at an even faster pace.

Ahmadinejad has already promised anti-American regimes in Latin America "full support and protection" against the "Great Satan" in Washington. Iran is laying the foundations for an armaments industry in Venezuela, and one day the Islamic Republic may extend its nuclear umbrella to Venezuela, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Paraguay, Ecuador and, why not, even Cuba. The Islamic Republic has been at war against the U.S. and the international system it leads for almost 30 years. As in all wars there are three ways to end this one: surrender, make a deal, or win.

See also: Ahmadinejad Was Not Mistranslated: What Iranian Leaders Really Say about Doing Away with Israel

In an age of $140 oil, John McCain is right to change positions for the sake of national security:

Sen. John McCain called yesterday for an end to the federal ban on offshore oil drilling, offering an aggressive response to high gasoline prices and immediately drawing the ire of environmental groups that the presumptive Republican presidential nominee has courted for months.

The move is aimed at easing voter anger over rising energy prices by freeing states to open vast stretches of the country's coastline to oil exploration. In a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, nearly 80 percent said soaring prices at the pump are causing them financial hardship, the highest in surveys this decade.

"We must embark on a national mission to eliminate our dependence on foreign oil," McCain told reporters yesterday. In a speech today, he plans to add that "we have untapped oil reserves of at least 21 billion barrels in the United States. But a broad federal moratorium stands in the way of energy exploration and production. . . . It is time for the federal government to lift these restrictions."

McCain's announcement is a reversal of the position he took in his 2000 presidential campaign and a break with environmental activists, even as he attempts to win the support of independents and moderate Democrats. Since becoming the presumptive GOP nominee in March, McCain has presented himself as a friend of the environment by touting his plans to combat global warming and his opposition to drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and in the Everglades.

Environmentalists should consider the potential effects of Islamists on the planet, such as when they topple skyscrapers and attempt to use nuclear weapons. Jihad is fueled by oil revenues and even the perception of future US production will decrease prices.

Additionally, consider the speculative theory that oil is a renewable resource that the earth produces naturally. While the inside of the earth is too vast and deep for science to evaluate such a hypothesis currently, one element of the proposition is the phenomenon of dry wells that later refill. This would imply that the way to channel the earth's oil wealth to surface in one's country is to extract the oil that is found rather than hoarding it there. It's a bit like Pascal's wager (which is also the basis of the Global Warming scare). We can't know for sure yet, but the implications are so huge that we need to act as though it were true.

To make the point completely clear, if oil is indeed a renewable resource, then this is the most important fact in defeating the Global Jihad, which should be exploited by encouraging as much drilling as possible. Currently, we feel that we are "saving" those reserves for the future.

Who could have imagined that Condaleeza Rice's idea of deploying US-backed Fatah anti-terror forces in Jenin would result in terror flourishing there?

On Sunday, top Israeli defense officials and IDF officers slammed two American-backed initiatives to deploy additional Palestinian forces in the West Bank, saying they are allowing terrorism to flourish. Defense officials say that since 600 PA soldiers trained by U.S. defense contractors in Jordan were allowed to deploy in Jenin last month, there has been an increase in terrorist activity in the city. On Sunday, a 20-kg. bomb detonated next to an IDF force in Jenin without causing any casualties. Terror suspects arrested by PA forces were usually released in a few days or just hours later, one defense official said. Weapons provided by the U.S. to the PA are finding their way to Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists in Jenin as well as in Nablus, a top officer in the IDF Central Command said. In addition, terrorists have infiltrated the ranks of the PA police and military.

The fact that Fatah security forces have been responsible for producing a great deal of the violence has been documented here for years.

Much of the money, arms and training the US has provided to Fatah has found its way to Hamas. That's because Fatah officials have stated numerous times that there is little difference between the two organizations.

Captain Fares al-Ashi, a weapons expert who once received training in South Carolina, is teaching a group of Hamas-controlled policemen about explosives.

The training program is called the "martyr Aziz Massoud course." Massoud, a police trainer, was killed in February in an Israeli airstrike on a car alongside four members of Hamas' armed wing, the Ezz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades.

"Every program should carry the name of a martyr," said Major Khalil Hejjo, chief of the police training administration.

While many of us are relieved that this latest Secretary of State to pressure Israel has apparently been defanged, don't forget that one of the next two presidential candidates could bring much worse:

Government Source: Rice Criticism 'Not that Important Anymore'

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's harsh criticism of Israel's plan to continue building in east Jerusalem met with little panic and no formal response on Sunday, a sign - one government source said - that with less than five months to the US elections, "it is not that important what she says anymore."

"Comments that in the past would have set everybody abuzz, are not making much waves today," the source said. He attributed this both to the waning days of George W. Bush's administration, and a growing realization that the chances of finalizing any "shelf agreement" with the Palestinians by the end of 2008 are slim, largely because of the political instability in Israel.

The source said that if the government could not make a decision on the cease-fire agreement in the Gaza Strip because of political considerations, as Defense Minister Ehud Barak has charged, then even less so would it be able to make the even more complicated decision about signing a final-status agreement with the Palestinians.

The source said that Rice's particularly stern comments about the construction in the settlements and east Jerusalem were an indication of frustration that after 21 visits to the region as secretary of state, she was facing the prospect of leaving office in January without an agreement here.

(Hat tip: Dan Friedman)

Baloney, meet grinder. Al-Jazeera interviewer, meet an Israeli Professor of Arabic. Discuss the Israeli "Judaization" of Jerusalem.

Here it is with English subtitles.

If you know any Hebrew, see how easy it is to understand Arabic with the aid of Hebrew subtitles here.

Only one point in the video needs elucidation. The top Al-Jazeera journalist, Jamal Rayyan, begins quoting the Koranic verse he believes refers to Jerusalem, only to stop halfway through when he realizes it only refers to the "furthest mosque," not Jerusalem. Here is the whole verse:

Glory to He who took His servant by night from the Sacred Mosque to the furthest mosque.

Here is an explanation of the verse, and how later Muslims tried to refer to Jerusalem.

What are the consequences for a Virginia school teaching anti-Semitism and Islamic supremicism, which are fundamentals of mainstream Islam? Nothing, after promising to change revise their textbooks in the future.

State Department officials said Thursday they have no plans to close a Saudi-financed Islamic school in Northern Virginia that has failed to eliminate violent and intolerant language in textbooks. "They told us they would revise the textbooks by the 2008 school year," State Department spokesman Rob McInturff said. "We don't plan to take additional action apart from the discussions that have been going on with the Saudi government."

Results released Wednesday from a federal investigation into the Islamic Saudi Academy - with campuses in Alexandria and Fairfax - found textbooks at the 900-student private school had passages that blame the Jews for "discord" and say it is sometimes permissible to kill non-Muslims. The investigation by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom focused on 17 textbooks used during the last school year and obtained from independent sources.

The panel, formed by Congress, last year recommended the State Department close the school, though members had not yet reviewed the textbooks....

State Department spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos on Thursday cited the Saudi government's 2006 acknowledgement of a need to revise its textbooks and agreement to do so "in time for the start of the 2008 school year," which starts this fall....

The passages found in the review, according to the panel, include:

-- A passage in a 12th-grade Koranic interpretation textbook that states it is permissible for a Muslim to kill those who have left the faith, an adulterer or someone who has murdered a Muslim intentionally: "He (praised is He) prohibits killing the soul that God has forbidden (to kill) unless for just cause ...."

The commission said the text defines "just cause" as "unbelief after belief, adultery and killing an inviolable believer intentionally."

The valedictorian of the school was involved in a jihadi assassination plot against President Bush. I wonder where he got that idea from?