Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Advent for Our Local Church
HOMILY1st Sunday of Advent - A – 28 November 2010
Readings: Is 2:1-5; Ps 122: 1-2, 3-4, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9; Rom 13:11-14; Mt 24:37-44
Preparing for Christmas. The season of Advent is a time of preparation. We prepare for the season of Christmas, the birth of our Lord. Because of the secular influences and commercialism that pervade the season nowadays, we need to be reminded that it
BBC Panorama - British Schools, Islamic Rules
95% of all Muslim children in the UK attend non-faith state schools, however small but rapidly growing number are now being educated in new state Muslim schools. Due to the gaps in school inspection system, the schools easily turn into a center of fundamentalism. John Ware investigates this case and exposes the disturbing evidence such as Saudi text books for children that show how thieves' hands and feet are choped off. (The Quran says "As for the thief, both male and female, cut off their hands." 5:38)
Broadcasted November 22, 2010 on BBC One
Related to: Richard Dawkins' Faith School Menace?
File Name ..........: Panorama - British Schools, Islamic Rules.WnA.avi
Total Size (MB) ....: 250,02 MB
Video Length .......: 00:29:02
Audio Bitrate ......: 134 KB/s (VBR)
http://www.fileserve.com/file/fBueEuW
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=ZSM71M9B
Evolution: A Scientific American Reader
Divided into four sections that consider the evolution of the universe, cells, dinosaurs, and humans, Evolution brings together more than thirty articles written by some of the world’s most respected evolutionary scientists. As tour guides through the genesis of the universe and complex cells, P. James E. Peebles examines the evidence in support of an expanding cosmos, while Christian de Duve discusses the birth of eukaryotes. In an article that anticipated his book Full House, Stephen Jay Gould argues that chance and contingency are as important as natural selection for evolutionary change. And Ian Tatersall makes two fascinating contributions, submitting his view that the schematic of human evolution looks less like a ladder and more like a bush. Amazon
File size: 7 MB
http://www.fileserve.com/file/UBT9PG5
http://hotfile.com/dl/85529359/20a4c43/Evolution-A.Scientific.American.Reader.rar.html
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=VUUW358U
[Buy the book]
Saturday, November 27, 2010
The Extraordinary Travails of the Man who Sent a DVD to Court
A MAN IS NOW IMPRISONED IN LONDON FOR REVEALING INCONVENIENT TRUTHS THAT THE COURT REFUSED TO EVEN REVIEW
| The so-called "bombers" could not have reached King's Cross because the train connection to get them there at the correct time had been canceled. |
Interviews by Dr. JAMES FETZER:
Wed, June 24, 2009Interview with Muad'Dib:
7/7 Ripple Effect
Exposing the "false flag" London attack
Friday, July 17, 2009
Muad'Dib / Declan & Lola Heavey
"7/7 Ripple Effect" / religionandmorality.netFriday, December 4, 2009Nicholas Kollerstrom9/11, 7/7, and more
Authorities refuse to look at the DVD...
Friday, December 25, 2009
Rory Ridley-Duff
7/7 London Attacks: Fact or Fiction?
 |
| One small voice ...with great knowledge....Alia in Dune |
Friday, January 22, 2010
Nicholas Kollerstrom
1994 False Flag Attacks in London
 |
| No home-made backpack bomb could cause the undercarriage to be forced UP through the floor--a characteristic of a bomb planted under the train's floor. This placement provided force needed to overturn the car--which occurred. |
Friday, November 5, 2010
Nickolas Kollerstrom
Formal inquiry into 7/7
 |
| "Bus bomber" identified though photo (left) July 7, show he wore blue pants and a blue shirt, not the colors described by the "witness" who identified him....Maud'Dib's DVD should be watched by everyone to understand how government "false flag" operations bring the public into control, through fear, to support their policies. "This combination photo shows two handout images released by the Metropolitan Police on July 14, 2005. On the right is a CCTV image of Hasib Hussain seen at Luton station on July 7, 2005 and on the left is a headshot of Hasib Hussain from his driving licence. Hussain was on the No 30 bus in London which exploded on July 7, 2005 killing at least 13 people. Police found his driving licence and cash cards after searching the wrecked bus. At least 53 people were killed and 700 injured during morning rush hour terrorist attacks which were targeted at London's transport links with 3 bombs exploding on underground trains and one on a bus on July 7..." -- from Life Magazine, July 2005. |
Litany for Life
Lord, have mercy - Lord, have mercy
Christ, have mercy - Christ, have mercy
Lord, have mercy - Lord, have mercy
Christ hear us - Christ, graciously hear us
God the Father, Creator of the world, have mercy on us
God the Son, through whom all things were made,
God the Holy Spirit, Lord and Giver of Life,
Lord Jesus, the Beginning and the End,
Lord Jesus, the
Friday, November 26, 2010
MUAD'DIB EXTRADITION APPROVED BY IRELAND'S HIGHEST COURT
MUAD'DIB EXTRADITION APPROVED BY IRELAND'S HIGHEST COURTCould the Court be Complicit in a 7/7 Coverup?
by Jim Fetzer In a stunning development, on 13 November 2010, Ireland's highest court ruled in favor of the extradition of John Anthony Hill, who also goes by the name "Muad'Dib", who produced "7/7 Ripple Effect", to England to stand trial for attempting to corrupt the judicial system. The charge is in fact quite absurd, since Muad'Dib simply sent copies of his DVD to the court in England in an attempt to preclude the miscarriage of justice that would be involved in sentencing friends of the alleged "bombers" for their complicity in the matter, which is completely unjustified, once one becomes aware of the apparent governmental complicity in staging the 7/7 attacks.
According to the official government account, four young Islamic men came by the tube to four locations in London and blew themselves up with extraordinary synchrony, the three tube blasts being within 50 seconds of each other. The greatest mystery of the official account is probably the total lack of any interest amongst the four in chemistry or bomb-making: a formal Inquest has now reiterated the totally absurd black-pepper and peroxide bomb theory, and has cited a shop where the peroxide was purchased, which may not even sell it.
The Inquest has also specified the time for the first blast at Aldwich as being 8.49.00, precisely 11 minutes to 9, which has has fueled speculation as to whether a "numerical link" is being made to 9/11.
Nicholas Kollerstrom, an historian of science who has also published on the case-- http://terroronthetube.co.uk/reviews-2/reviews/ -- in seeking to confirm the official account, discovered that the 7.40 train from Luton had been cancelled and the other trains that morning had been greatly delayed, which had the inevitable consequence that the four could not have got onto the trains at King’s Cross in time. This seems to be a major reason why the police have not been able to release CCTV of the young men in London on that morning.
Although Kollerstrom had been skeptical about Muad'Dib's version of the events at Canary Wharf as presented in "7/7 Ripple Effect", he has now experienced a massive degree of corroboration of his story from the testimonials put onto his website:
http://terroronthetube.co.uk/2010/10/22/new-support-for-canary-wharf-story/
Kollerstrom, however, remains committed to his earlier view, which is that Mohammad Sidique Khan, the alleged ringleader, was not with the other three alleged "suicide bombers" that morning; because of his wife’s early pregnancy complications, Khan had decided to pull out!
Important corroborating evidence for "7/7 Ripple Effect" is found in this interview of Muad'dib, June 24, 2009 ("...A microcosm of exactly how false flag attacks...are planned..."):
My recent interview with Nick Kollerstrom, on November 5, 2010, provides important updates:
Were these four young men practicing "tradecraft"?
http://terroronthetube.co.uk/latest-77-articles-3/the-fate-of-khan/
What happened at Canary Wharf? Were they shot dead?
http://terroronthetube.co.uk/2010/10/22/new-support-for-canary-wharf-story/#more-1146
While Muad'Dib had presented fifty-four points to the Court, it only considered three of them while ignoring the remainder. According to a friend of Muad'Dib, Rob,* who was present at the hearing, the judges used tortured logic and distorted language to justify their otherwise grossly improper verdict. The judges did not even bother to view his "7/7 Ripple Effect" DVD, which appears on its face to be completely unreasonable, since it was alleged to be the content of that DVD that is responsible for the extradition request. For all the judges knew, the DVD could have been a Beatles' concert or completely blank.
Currently, Muad'Dib is being held in Wandsworth Prison in South London.The DVD of concern: "7/7 Ripple Effect":####*Interviews with Rob at radiofetzer:
http://radiofetzer.blogspot.comLink to announcement at Truth Jihad:Link to announcement at nolies radio:http://noliesradio.org/archives/25176
http://truthjihad.blogspot.com/2010/11/muaddib-extradition-approved-by.htmlURL for the "7/7 Ripple Effect" :http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8756795263359807776
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Symphony of Science - A Wave of Reason
The seventh installment in the Symphony of Science music video series.
Family Guy's Brian on Real Time with Bill Maher
When his book sales became a failure, Brian decides to write a kind of self-help book (something like The Secret) called "Wish it, Want it, Do it". The book hits the bestseller list and he is invited by Bill Maher. First, Brian thinks one of the other guests of the show is Christhopher Hitchens but he's wrong. At the end, the discussion turns into an ad hominem attack. Totally hilarious episode! From Season 9, Episode 6 called Brian Writes a Bestseller.
Download the full episode [subtitles included]:
http://www.fileserve.com/file/TZT4D3m
Outlook Bright for Communications Profession
Looking ahead to 2011, the outlook for the communications profession remains bright, according to a panel of thought leaders speaking Nov. 22 at the final IABC Atlanta monthly member meeting of the year.
Photo caption (photo back L to R Ken Boughrum, TUNE Communications; Debbie Curtis-Magley, UPS; front L to R: Sara Pilling, PGi and Lauren Jarrell, Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau.
The packed meeting included a large contingent of students from the IABC student chapter at University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication.
Ken Boughrum, a 25-year communications strategist who runs TUNE Communications and spent most of the past decade at PR agency, Ketchum, noted that the communications profession is finally making a metamorphosis, moving away from being an “information distribution business to being in the business of influencing the business. That really happens by establishing a relationship with all of an organization’s stakeholders whether it’s through social media tools or using tried-and-true methods,” he said.
All the panelists stressed the impact on social media on the way they communicate externally and internally to key groups. “The cool thing about being in the communications function is we get to shape that dialogue,” Boughrum said.
More Intimate Dialogue
Lauren Jarrell, director of communications for the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau, noted that the hospitality industry has always relied on deep connections with partners and customers. Social media (check out Twitter feed) “gives a louder voice to the message shaping we’ve been working on for years.” Jarrell added that the ability to communicate so quickly and so often is also exciting because it allows her team to leverage people who are influencers and who are most passionate about her organization’s “product” -- Atlanta as a destination -- to serve as voices to key audiences.
Sara Pilling, marketing director for PGi, a global application software and services company that enables real-time, virtual meetings, says social media has allowed has given her PR team new ways to tell her company’s story well. “A lot of casual tone and the approachability of influencers now give us a great opportunity to have a much closer dialogue.”
Storytelling Still King
While digital technology’s influence is evident everywhere, audiences still need strong storytelling. Boughrum agrees: “A good story, well told, trumps technology any day. Yes, there are so many channels to tell you story, but at the core it’s still about the story.”
As communicators get better at demonstrating the impact of digital and new media tools, you can gain executive buy-in and ultimately more followers.
Measurement is a big part of Debbie Curtis-Magley’s job at UPS. As corporate public relations manager, she works closely with colleagues in Customer Communications, HR and Employee Communications on several social media efforts, including content for the UPS blog, upside. Curtis-Magley describes her role as part communicator and part “data nerd.”
“The data has been helpful for us in building the business case about the importance of our participation in these channels,” she said.
Several high-profile events affected UPS’s brand in the last year, from a plane crash to the discovery of suspicious packages originating in Yemen found on UPS and FedEx planes. Curtis-Magley also recalled following the Haiti earthquake, a rumor circulating on social media sites mentioned that UPS would ship packages under 50 pounds for free to Haiti. "People didn't check our website to see that we had suspended service to the country in the wake of the earthquake," she said.
Curtis-Magley analyzes online chatter, enabling UPS to connect data to the stories and better understand which stories caught the interest of a wider audience, and which stories had shorter or longer life cycles. UPS’s PR team also generates quarterly reports on key business topics, to see the impact of the company’s messaging and to better understand the sentiment around conversations around the brand.
“It’s allowed us to show some progress in the areas of customer service and environment," she said. "We’ve been able to provide a lot of numbers to whatever situation we encounter and it’s enabled us to provide business intelligence. Whatever group has an interest, we are able to provide some data that they now connect to the business reality (of the situation being measured)."
Trust Rising, According to Edelman
All the panelists agreed that trust in organizations is important – Boughrum noted that trust and transparency in companies are “as important as quality and service.”
Panel moderator Marilyn Mobley, senior vice president and strategic counsel for Edelman, shared results of the 2010 Edelman Trust Barometer. This annual opinion leaders study found an 18 percent uptick in trust globally in business.
Employees as Brand Ambassadors
Employee engagement in telling an organization’s story will continue to grow in prominance among forward-thinking companies. Great examples of this approach are IBM’s Smarter Planet campaign, which offers a succinct global message that resonates with audiences, unifies IBM staff and celebrates the employee, noted Boughrum. He also cited Cisco’s Human Network and Intel’s Rock Star Sponsors of Tomorrow TV commercial, featuring Intel 's co-inventor of the USB being treated as a rock star by colleagues.
Curtis-Magley said that with more than 400,000 employees, UPS has a rich source of compelling stories from drivers who make deliveries to other staff, who have stories to tell that people are “interested in hearing." “It humanizes the brand and shows we’re a company made up of people just like you,” she added.
Influencers, Blogs to Follow
Concluding the discussion, panelists offered the following resources for communicators who want to stay ahead of trends in social media and communications in 2011:
Blogs/Influencers:
Web Strategy by Jeremiah Owyang Since 1996, this blog has delivered insight on disruptive technologies and their impact on how companies communicate with their customers.
Forrestor blog, Groundswell -- This blog targets readers interested in social applications and technology empowerment inside and outside companies. Its written by two Forrestor analysts --Josh Bernoff, co-author of the BusinessWeek bestseller Groundswell, who serves as senior vice president, idea development, at Forrester Research, and Ted Schadler, vice president and principal analyst in Forrester's IT Research Group.
Sarah Evans, owner of Sevans Strategy, a public relations and new media consultancy, who initiated and moderates #journchat, the weekly—and first-ever—industry live chat between PR professionals, journalists and bloggers on Twitter.
James Andrews, social media strategist, founding partner of EVERYWHERE, blogger, author, speaker, DJ, occasional CNN social media expert.
Website -- Harvard Business Review – Working Knowledge – an early look at faculty research to help communicators stay ahead of the curve of what's coming in academic research.
Book -- Drive by Daniel H. Pink -- addresses the secret to high performance and satisfaction—at work, at school, and at home—namely, the deeply human need to direct our own lives, to learn and create new things, and to do better by ourselves and our world.
The packed meeting included a large contingent of students from the IABC student chapter at University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication.
Ken Boughrum, a 25-year communications strategist who runs TUNE Communications and spent most of the past decade at PR agency, Ketchum, noted that the communications profession is finally making a metamorphosis, moving away from being an “information distribution business to being in the business of influencing the business. That really happens by establishing a relationship with all of an organization’s stakeholders whether it’s through social media tools or using tried-and-true methods,” he said.
All the panelists stressed the impact on social media on the way they communicate externally and internally to key groups. “The cool thing about being in the communications function is we get to shape that dialogue,” Boughrum said.
More Intimate Dialogue
Lauren Jarrell, director of communications for the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau, noted that the hospitality industry has always relied on deep connections with partners and customers. Social media (check out Twitter feed) “gives a louder voice to the message shaping we’ve been working on for years.” Jarrell added that the ability to communicate so quickly and so often is also exciting because it allows her team to leverage people who are influencers and who are most passionate about her organization’s “product” -- Atlanta as a destination -- to serve as voices to key audiences.
Storytelling Still King
While digital technology’s influence is evident everywhere, audiences still need strong storytelling. Boughrum agrees: “A good story, well told, trumps technology any day. Yes, there are so many channels to tell you story, but at the core it’s still about the story.”
As communicators get better at demonstrating the impact of digital and new media tools, you can gain executive buy-in and ultimately more followers.
“The data has been helpful for us in building the business case about the importance of our participation in these channels,” she said.
Several high-profile events affected UPS’s brand in the last year, from a plane crash to the discovery of suspicious packages originating in Yemen found on UPS and FedEx planes. Curtis-Magley also recalled following the Haiti earthquake, a rumor circulating on social media sites mentioned that UPS would ship packages under 50 pounds for free to Haiti. "People didn't check our website to see that we had suspended service to the country in the wake of the earthquake," she said.
Curtis-Magley analyzes online chatter, enabling UPS to connect data to the stories and better understand which stories caught the interest of a wider audience, and which stories had shorter or longer life cycles. UPS’s PR team also generates quarterly reports on key business topics, to see the impact of the company’s messaging and to better understand the sentiment around conversations around the brand.
“It’s allowed us to show some progress in the areas of customer service and environment," she said. "We’ve been able to provide a lot of numbers to whatever situation we encounter and it’s enabled us to provide business intelligence. Whatever group has an interest, we are able to provide some data that they now connect to the business reality (of the situation being measured)."
Trust Rising, According to Edelman
All the panelists agreed that trust in organizations is important – Boughrum noted that trust and transparency in companies are “as important as quality and service.”
Panel moderator Marilyn Mobley, senior vice president and strategic counsel for Edelman, shared results of the 2010 Edelman Trust Barometer. This annual opinion leaders study found an 18 percent uptick in trust globally in business.
Employees as Brand Ambassadors
Employee engagement in telling an organization’s story will continue to grow in prominance among forward-thinking companies. Great examples of this approach are IBM’s Smarter Planet campaign, which offers a succinct global message that resonates with audiences, unifies IBM staff and celebrates the employee, noted Boughrum. He also cited Cisco’s Human Network and Intel’s Rock Star Sponsors of Tomorrow TV commercial, featuring Intel 's co-inventor of the USB being treated as a rock star by colleagues.
Curtis-Magley said that with more than 400,000 employees, UPS has a rich source of compelling stories from drivers who make deliveries to other staff, who have stories to tell that people are “interested in hearing." “It humanizes the brand and shows we’re a company made up of people just like you,” she added.
Influencers, Blogs to Follow
Concluding the discussion, panelists offered the following resources for communicators who want to stay ahead of trends in social media and communications in 2011:
Blogs/Influencers:
Web Strategy by Jeremiah Owyang Since 1996, this blog has delivered insight on disruptive technologies and their impact on how companies communicate with their customers.
James Andrews, social media strategist, founding partner of EVERYWHERE, blogger, author, speaker, DJ, occasional CNN social media expert.
Website -- Harvard Business Review – Working Knowledge – an early look at faculty research to help communicators stay ahead of the curve of what's coming in academic research.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Icons of Unbelief: Atheists, Agnostics, and Secularists - S. T. Joshi
A great collection of biographical essays on eminent names and intellectuals who advocate for atheism, agnosticisim or secularism, such as Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Carl Sagan, Bertrand Russell.
File size: 11 MB
http://www.fileserve.com/file/WZdY8ad
http://hotfile.com/dl/84594554/39888fe/Joshi-Icons.of.Unbelief.rar.html
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=SDDW7PQH
[Buy the book]
Consciousness: An Introduction - Susan J. Blackmore
This is an extraordinary book. Consciousness is a swamp, a hornet's nest, a morass of competing theories and rival projects. It takes guts to put together a book like this one that seeks to present a truly general overview of the literature, ranging from philosophy of mind, through discussions in the fast-developing field of cognitive neuroscience, to the hot and fraught issues of the paranormal, lucid dreaming, and altered states of consciousness. Sue Blackmore carries off this ambitious project! From a review
Related to: Consciousness Explained by Daniel C. Dennett
File size: 27 MB
http://www.fileserve.com/file/yJegmme
http://hotfile.com/dl/84592956/857ca56/Susan.Blackmore-Consciousness.rar.html
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=SAWPWLT7
[Buy the book]
Monday, November 22, 2010
Christopher Hitchens Interview - The Hay Sessions (2010)
Christopher Hitchens talks on his latest book, Hitch 22 and various matters at the 2010 Hay-on-Wye literary festival.
File Name ..........: Hay Sessions 2010 - Christopher Hitchens.avi
Video Size (MB) ....: 339,09 MB
Video Length .......: 00:51:56
Audio Bitrate ......: 158 KB/s (VBR)
http://www.fileserve.com/file/jyCx7nK
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=V47F3169
Prayer for a Church Renewing
PRAYER FOR THE FIRST LEGAZPI DIOCESAN PASTORAL ASSEMBLY
Loving Father, we thank you for the gift of faith
handed down by the Apostles to generations.
We thank you for the gift of the community of the faithful
that nourishes our growth in Christian life.
As we prepare for our First Diocesan Pastoral Assembly,
we beg You to grant us the grace to seek Your Son in prayer and
Sunday, November 21, 2010
The Way of the King
HOMILY
Solemnity of Christ the King – C – 21 November 2010
Readings: 2 Sam 5:1-3; Ps 122:1-2, 3-4, 4-5 ; Col 1:12-20; Lk 23:35-43
On the last Sunday of the liturgical calendar, we celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King. The timing brings to the fore the message of Rev 1,8: “He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and end.” He is the Lord of time and eternity, He is King of all.
1.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Futurama: Evolution Under Attack
A brilliant criticism of creationism from Futurama. They hilariously portay the stupidity of the controversy. From season 7, episode 9 called A Clockwork Origin.
Download the full episode [subtitles included]:
http://www.fileserve.com/file/DASk3tv
Thursday, November 18, 2010
EVIL
THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: First and foremost, I want to thank you all for the well wishes on my vacation. I had not intended to blog again until well after the holy days. However, during my flight to my warmer destination, I got to experience first hand the new TSA security guidelines. Or maybe I should say I got to experience first grope the new TSA security guidelines. After arriving to my destination, I was treated to Internet headlines and pictures that resembled my experience. One that struck me as particularly disturbing was the religious sister being groped by a female Muslim. So, as a result of all this I decided to break my intended silence for a little remote blogging.
As I stand on the warm shoreline of my winter hideaway, I am uploading via my iPhone some of the photos we've all recently been treated to on the Internet. I want to stress something to my readers. It does not bother me one bit that a female Muslim was groping a sister religious. What bothered me was that she was being groped in the first place. I wouldn't care who was doing the groping; be it a Christian, Jew, Buddhist or Hindu. However, the fact that it was a Muslim has a poetic symbolism to it. I thought, "shouldn't this be the other way around?" But then I stopped myself, "No," I thought, "Neither one of these good women should suffer such indignity." This is just wrong in every way.
The headline read across the DrudgeReport; "The Terrorists Have Won!" I believe Matt Drudge is right. You can bet these images have already been broadcast across Al Jazeera. The Islamists are laughing their socks off right now. They have won, and the United States has become the very thing we once hated. Only a government on par with the Soviet Union, Red China, and Nazi Germany would subject it's own citizens to such an invasion of personal sexual privacy. Just think of it; what the Catholic Church has been given so much grief for, because of just a tiny fraction of predator priests, the TSA now does to thousands of people (even children) EVERY DAY who go through their airport security check points. Yes, we have become our own worst enemy. We are the enemy now! Our own government, in the name of protecting us, has actually become the very thing that violates us. To make matters worse, it's completely unnecessary. Israeli airline security has successfully averted terrorist attacks for over thirty years, and they've never implemented such invasive procedures. Americans have been calling for the implementation of Israeli-style airport security for years now, and our federal government has responded with a deaf year. Instead, the TSA prefers the ever more invasive "radiation or groping" method. Stop and consider this for just a moment, the very same people who not long ago told us we couldn't even bring fingernail clippers or baby bottles on an aircraft, are now feeling up our husbands, wives and children! If that doesn't bother you than either you're closing your eyes to it, because you haven't experienced it yet, or else your conscience has been seared. There are some who have suggested that something even more sinister is behind all this. Some have suggested that this is political payback for the November 2nd election results. I don't know if that's true or not. I suppose it could be, but it is speculation. Regardless of the cause, there is only one word that can describe this federal government's new TSA "enhanced security" procedure - "EVIL."
I am calling upon every one of my readers to do the following and spread the word. If you should be pulled aside in an airport for "enhanced security screening," than do the following...
- Refuse the x-ray machines (They are dangerous! Especially if you're pregnant, over age 60, under age 16, or suffer from any chronic illness.)
- Inform the TSA agent that you will submit to the frisking, but your religious beliefs will be violated if they touch your breasts or genitals.
- Request the badge number of the TSA agent before they get started, and try to have a friend or family member video tape the frisking (if possible).
- Do not make a scene or hold up the line anymore than it takes for you to do these basic things. Be calm, cool and collected. Make no fuss, just let them do their thing.
- If they violate you, quietly leave the area once they're finished, then call your lawyer and tell them you would like some help filing a formal complaint and a lawsuit. Then ask your lawyer to help you call the District Attorney of the city in which the violation occurred so that criminal charges can be filed against the TSA.
- Write a letter to your U.S. congressman and U.S. Senators respectfully explaining your outrage at the TSA policy that violated your privacy and religious beliefs.
- Lastly, write a letter to your airline, explaining that the TSA is hurting their business by violating your privacy and religious beliefs, and you will change airlines to the first one that offers a non-TSA screening process for boarding.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Headlines on My Mind
Today I will deliver a webinar on how to write success stories to public health people around the country. My presentation will focus on the basics of concise writing with some interactive exercises.
Headlines are the ultimate test of tight writing. It’s what people see first when they scan a newspaper or pick up a book. And, when done well, headlines grab attention, speak to their intended audience and deliver a complete message. Before we know it, we're drawn into the lead and are off to the races -- reading the story, article or book chapter.
Four out of five people will read a headline and skip the rest of the copy completely, according to Briitish advertising executive David Ogilvy. AP editors know the craft of headline writing intimately, as do editors at most major newspapers.
Preparing my presentation gave me an opportunity to scan some headlines that I feel perfectly capture what headlines are supposed to do -- inform, entertain and engage readers. Here are a few. I hope you enjoy!
On the Moon! -- this 1969 headline from the Wisconsin State Journal marking the Moon landing stands the test of time.
Dr. Seuss, man of rhyme and reason, dies at 87 -- I love this obituary headline for Theodor Seuss Geisel, who passed away on Sept. 24, 1991, after authoring and illustrating 44 children's books.
Prince picks Kate as mate -- from today's Atlanta Journal-Constitution lead feature headline observing the engagment of Britain's Prince William. The headline writer for this AP story even incorporated rhyme and alliteration in this clever heading.Tuesday, November 16, 2010
The God Virus: How Religion Infects Our Lives and Culture - Darrel W. Ray
"For those hungering for more after reading the books written by Dawkins, Harris, Hitchens and Dennett, Dr. Darrel Ray's The God Virus is a logical and thought-provoking follow-up." --Hemant Mehta, author of I Sold My Soul On Ebay
What makes religion so powerful? How does it weave its way into our political system? Why do people believe and follow obvious religious charlatans? What makes people profess deep faith even as they act in ways that betray that faith? What makes people blind to the irrationalities of their religion yet clearly see those of others? If these questions interest you, this book will give you the tools to understand religion and its power in you, your family and your culture. This book owes a great deal to Richard Dawkins concept of viruses of the mind, but it seeks to go a step further to personalize the concept of religion as a virus and show how these revolutionary ideas work in everyday life. Amazon
File size: 10 MB
http://www.fileserve.com/file/9xtAaKy
http://hotfile.com/dl/83043173/008c913/Darrel.Ray-The.God.Virus.rar.html
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=GM04G0D4
[Buy the book]
Monday, November 15, 2010
On turning 32
A friend asked recently: "So, how are you? Are you happy with being a priest?" I gave her this roundabout answer about this video on Youtube I recently watched. This one was about what motivates people and gives them self-satisfaction.
Dan Pink, the speaker, proposes three factors: autonomy, mastery, and purpose. Autonomy is our desire to be self-directed. Mastery is our urge to get better at
Sunday, November 14, 2010
The JFK "Head Shot" Paradox
The JFK “Head Shot” Paradox*
As a philosopher of science with a keen interest in the nature of scientific knowledge, I have been fascinated by the recent book by G. Paul Chambers, Head Shot: The Science Behind the JFK Assassination (2010). I have found several aspects of his discussion of interest, including his conclusion—that the fatal shot to JFK’s head seen in the Zapruder film was caused by a shot from the right-front (“the grassy knoll”)—which he affirms on the basis of his competence as a physicist. He does not seem to notice that JFK’s brains and blood are blown out to the right-front in the Zapruder film, which he takes to be authentic and unaltered. But that means there is a paradox in his analysis, since, if the film is authentic, the blow-out to the right-front contradicts his conclusion that the shot that caused this effect was fired from the right-front, which is founded on elementary laws of physics. This, in turn, implies that he has not taken into account all the relevant evidence and thereby violated a basic principle of scientific reasoning, which may be appropriate for politicians, editorial writers, and used-car salesmen, but not for him.
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| Sample bullet entry defect |
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Sample bullet exit defect |
Indeed, it is precisely because the back-and-to-the-left motion of his body provides such a simple proof of a shot fired from the right-front that those who have written extensively about it, such as Robert Groden and Josiah Thompson, have been adamantly opposed to acknowledging that the film is a fabrication, which was recreated using original footage which was subjected to sophisticated techniques of optical printing and special effects. A brilliant tutorial concerning how we know this was done has been presented by John P. Costella, another Ph.D. in physics with electromagnetism, the physics of moving objects and properties of light, among his areas of specialization. Previous arguments of David Wrone and Rollie Zavada, which Chambers presents, have been refuted by the publication of Inside the ARRB (2009) by Douglas Horne, whose key arguments about the film are summarized in an article of mine for those who may not have time for all five volumes!
Chambers’ discussions of the Zapruder film, whose authenticity he endorses, and of the medical evidence, which he disregards as corrupt, are especially interesting. Perhaps if he had read Assassination Science (1998), Murder in Dealey Plaza (2000), and The Great Zapruder Film Hoax (2003), which are devoted to taking rumor and speculation out of the case and placing its study on an objective and scientific foundation, he might have a different outlook on both. Not the least puzzling aspect of this book is that, while his credentials as a physicist are advanced as the reason we should believe him (based upon his analysis of the motion of JFK’s head under the impact of the bullet), no one who has ever observed the film could have any serious doubt that it was fired from the right-front. The back-and-to-the-left motion of his body, which was accentuated in Oliver Stone’s “JFK”, makes that much obvious. You don’t have to be a Ph.D. in physics to notice.
As Horne has explained, there are five physical features that distinguish the original film, which was developed in Dallas, from the film that is available to us today. As he also remarks, the original was brought to the National Photographic Interpretation Center on Saturday, 23 November 1963, and processed by one team of experts, while a second film was brought to the NPIC the following day, Sunday, 24 November 1963, and processed by a different team of experts. We not only know that the films are different based upon their physical properties but from the occurrence of content anomalies found in the extant film. Some the most revealing content features that indicate it is a fabrication include the driver’s head turns (looking back toward JFK and then forward after he has been killed), which, as Noel Twyman, Bloody Treason (1997), has reported, occur twice as fast as humanly possible; that no witnesses reported the back-and-to-the-left motion seen in the extant film; and that Secret Service agents were nauseated to see JFK’s brains and blood across the trunk of the limousine in Washington, which has been “tidied” up in the film.
Roderick Ryan, a Hollywood expert on special effects whom Noel consulted about the blow-out to the right-front, explained to him that it and the blood spray had been painted in. A new group of Hollywood experts has now concluded that the blow-out itself was painted over in black to conceal the massive defect, as Horne explains in Volume IV of Inside the ARRB. But while there are many indications that the film is a fabrication, the most important proof is the inconsistency between the impact damage to the cranium, which is the film's most stunning feature, showing brains and gore bulging out to JFK's right-front, and the medical evidence, which shows a massive defect at the back of his head just to the right of center. Indeed, Escort Motorcycle Officer Bobby Hargis, who was riding to the left-rear, was hit so hard by the blown-out brains and debris that he though he himself had been shot. Jackie told the Warren Commission that, from the front, he looked just fine, but that she had had a hard time holding his skull and brains together at the back of his head.
The question thus becomes how a massive blow-out of brains and gore to the left-rear could be shown bulging out to the right-front in the film.
No doubt, most of us would have a difficult time mastering the use of the technique of optical densitometry, which Mantik borrowed from physics and applied to the X-rays when he studied them at the National Archives. Since David’s report of his research, which established that the X-rays are fabrications and that there was a second shot to the head, were published in Assassination Science (1998), which Chambers cites, I have a hard time understanding why he did not discuss it in this book. He does cite Mantik twice (on pages 188 and 192), but does so in relation to his article on the Zapruder film and not in relation to his work on the medical evidence. Rather than addressing Mantik’s work on the Zapruder film directly, as would be typical for disagreements between physicists, Chambers instead simply accepts the verdict of an historian on the work of a physicist—which may be another unique event. He claims the medical evidence forms an “unstable data set”, which was true before Mantik sorted out the authentic from the inauthentic, as he has done in a brilliant synthesis that was published in Murder in Dealey Plaza (2000). Indeed, there are no indications here that Chambers is familiar with the most important objective and scientific studies of the medical evidence or of the fabrication of the film, especially in The Great Zapruder Film Hoax (2003) and in Horne’s multiple volumes.
The study of the assassination has drawn the attention of physicists at least since David S. Lifton’s Best Evidence (1980). As Lifton explains, he showed photos of Zapruder frames to Richard Feynman at CalTech in 1965, where the Nobel Prize laureate pointed out that there is forward movement from frames 312 to 313, which, when the back-and-to-the-left motion observed in the film is taken as proof of a shot from in front, implies that JFK was hit at least twice in the head—once from behind and once from in front—a double-hit that was meticulously diagrammed in Josiah Thompson’s Six Seconds in Dallas (1967). Chambers dismisses JFK’s forward movement as an effect of William Greer, the driver, slowing the vehicle. More than 60 witnesses have reported that Greer slowed the vehicle dramatically or actually brought it to a halt, which is not seen in the film, but only he moves slightly forward at that point in time. The vehicle is shown as accelerating immediately thereafter, making it anomalous that the occupants’ bodies—Governor and Nellie Connally and the Secret Service agents—are thrown forward following frame 313.
Since we know that, if the shot was fired from the right-front, then his brains should have been blown-out to the left-rear and not to the right-front, which is what we observe in the film, the conclusion that the film has been faked clearly follows.
Chambers cites work by Wrone and Zavada that has been refuted in books with which he should be familiar, but does not report that proof of something wrong with the film is present in the film itself. It occurred to me that those who were falsifying the film might have paid so much time and attention to the head shot and its effects—as we see them now in frames 313-316—that they might have overlooked the head wound in later frames. And, indeed, I found that it is visible in frame 374, among others, where its cashew-nut-like shape corresponds very closely to “Area P” (for “patched”) in Mantik’s analysis of the lateral cranial X-ray, as I have explained and demonstrated in “Dealey Plaza Revisited: What Happened to JFK?”
Perhaps if he had read more of Assassination Science (1998), which he cites, Chambers might have learned that Robert B. Livingston, M.D.—a world authority on the human brain and also an expert on wound ballistics, having supervised an emergency medical hospital for injured Okinawans and for Japanese prisoners of war during the Battle of Okinawa—had concluded that the diagrams and photographs of the brain stored at the National Archives cannot be authentic photographs and diagrams of the brain of John F. Kennedy. He compared the multiple reports from experienced physicians at Parkland Hospital of cerebellar as well as cerebral tissue extruding from the blow-out at the back of the head with the photographs and diagrams at the National Archives—the brain itself is mysteriously missing—which show a wholly intact cerebellum. Since Chambers does not know the medical evidence any better than he knows the photographic, he precluded drawing inferences about those who were involved in the cover-up and the crime itself.
The Mafia, for example, could not have extended its reach into Bethesda Naval Hospital to falsify X-rays that were under the control of medical officers of the US Navy, agents of the Secret Service, or the president’s personal physician. Neither pro- nor anti-Castro Cubans could have substituted another brain for that of JFK. And the KGB, which may have had an ability to fabricate films comparable to that of the CIA and of Hollywood, would have had no opportunity to gain access to the original Zapruder film. Once we know the breadth and depth of the cover-up, which was implemented in great detail to effect mutually-reinforcing forms of deception, we begin to appreciate that those who had the motive, the means and the opportunity to bring them about were at the highest levels of our own government, as James Douglass, JFK and the Unspeakable (2008), explains.
It not only troubles me profoundly that Chambers violates a basic principle of scientific reasoning and that evidence internal to the extant film refutes his presumption that the film is authentic but that Jefferson Morley endorses the book with the following claim: “He dismantles the bad science at the core of Vincent Bugliosi’s flabby Reclaiming History [2007] and politely punts the fantasy that the Zapruder film was altered.” While I agree that Bugliosi’s work is indefensible, to the best of my knowledge, Morley has never studied the film and is not in a position to know whether it is authentic or not. This is not the first time Morley has proven to be unequal to the demands of serious research about the assassination of one of the Kennedys. Science, as we have seen, can enable us to sort out authentic from inauthentic evidence, but we have to think things through and not let ourselves be misled by pseudo-science masquerading as genuine in the search for truth.
* Thanks to David W. Mantik, John Costella, and Morgan Reynolds for their feedback.
Jim Fetzer, a former Marine Corps officer who earned his Ph.D. in the history and the philosophy of science, is McKnight Professor Emeritus at the Duluth campus of the University of Minnesota. He co-edits assassinationresearch.com with John Costella.
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