Titled:   Annan tours devastated south Lebanon

And to think some people blamed the Jews...

Hat-tip Opinion Journal

Titled:   The Fertility Gap

Simply put, liberals have a big baby problem: They're not having enough of them, they haven't for a long time, and their pool of potential new voters is suffering as a result. According to the 2004 General Social Survey, if you picked 100 unrelated politically liberal adults at random, you would find that they had, between them, 147 children. If you picked 100 conservatives, you would find 208 kids. That's a "fertility gap" of 41%. Given that about 80% of people with an identifiable party preference grow up to vote the same way as their parents, this gap translates into lots more little Republicans than little Democrats to vote in future elections.

I'm not sure it's fertility either - I would think that Dems and Repubs are about equal in ability to get pregnant and have children - abortion and choice to remain childless seem to be a liberal trait.

Of course the Dems have an opinion on that:

As one liberal columnist in a major paper graphically put it, "Maybe the scales are tipping to the neoconservative, homogenous right in our culture simply because they tend not to give much of a damn for the ramifications of wanton breeding and environmental destruction and pious sanctimony, whereas those on the left actually seem to give a whit for the health of the planet and the dire effects of overpopulation."

Maybe the conservatives just put a greater value in the sanctity of life, the value of families and realise that bringing up intelligent, happy kids is the only hope for the future of mankind?

Reasons aside, this will have a huge effect on future voting patterns:

A state that was split 50-50 between left and right in 2004 will tilt right by 2012, 54% to 46%. By 2020, it will be certifiably right-wing, 59% to 41%. A state that is currently 55-45 in favor of liberals (like California) will be 54-46 in favor of conservatives by 2020--and all for no other reason than babies.

Kising babies may be a little easier for one party in the future...

James Taranto of Opinion Journal even has a name for this - The Roe Effect - a good read from 2004 that looks at this effect in depth.

The man accused of barging into the offices of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle and killing one woman and wounding five others will be prosecuted on state murder and attempted-murder charges rather than federal hate-crime laws, officials said.

SEC. 280003. DIRECTION TO UNITED STATES SENTENCING COMMISSION REGARDING SENTENCING ENHANCEMENTS FOR HATE CRIMES.

(a) DEFINITION- In this section, `hate crime' means a crime in which the defendant intentionally selects a victim, or in the case of a property crime, the property that is the object of the crime, because of the actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, gender, disability, or sexual orientation of any person.
(b) SENTENCING ENHANCEMENT- Pursuant to section 994 of title 28, United States Code, the United States Sentencing Commission shall promulgate guidelines or amend existing guidelines to provide sentencing enhancements of not less than 3 offense levels for offenses that the finder of fact at trial determines beyond a reasonable doubt are hate crimes. In carrying out this section, the United States Sentencing Commission shall ensure that there is reasonable consistency with other guidelines, avoid duplicative punishments for substantially the same offense, and take into account any mitigating circumstances that might justify exceptions.

Haq, a U.S.-born Muslim, told authorities he was angered by the war in Iraq and U.S. military cooperation with Israel. According to a statement of probable cause, Haq told a 911 dispatcher: "These are Jews and I'm tired of getting pushed around and our people getting pushed around by the situation in the Middle East."

The venue:

The Jewish federation, a group covering the Jewish community around the Puget Sound region, had organized a large rally last weekend to demonstrate support for Israel in its fight against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

At a news conference on Friday, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels said, "This was a purposeful, hateful act as far as we know, by an individual acting alone."

Titled:   Terrorist links may not lead to spot on no-fly list: sources

Being a member of a terrorist organization won't necessarily land someone on Canada's no-fly list, The Canadian Press has learned.

Proposed criteria would limit inclusion on the roster to those who pose "an immediate threat to aviation security," say internal briefing notes prepared by Transport Canada.

Draft regulations, disclosed by a source familiar with details of the plan, confirm the no-fly list will be tightly focused and reviewed every 30 days to keep it up to date.

"You cannot be put on the list on the sole basis that you're a member of a 'terrorist group'," said the source. "In addition, you have to be a demonstrable threat to aviation safety." 

It seems that the best way to reduce your chances of being involved in terrorism while travelling is to avoid Canadian airlines, airports and connecting links.

Paid-up and known members of Hezbollah can still board in Toronto as long as they haven't made threats or acted against the airlines:

The source said that under the proposed regulations, people involved in a terrorist group - either now or in the past - could be added to the list only if there were reason to suspect they may "compromise civil aviation, the security of any aircraft or aerodrome, or the safety of the public, passengers or crew."

And those on the list were almost warned in advance too, a gift for a terrorist to know he is under surveillance, except that resources are limited:

Under Ottawa's plan, people will not be notified in advance that they are on the Canadian no-fly list. The source said informing individuals was considered impractical because it would be difficult to locate some people, and it would severely limit the willingness of police and intelligence agencies to provide names for the list.

Aparently some known members of terrorist organizations are "difficult to locate" and the police would be unwilling to assist!

Still, it is CANADA we are talking about. At least the American public understands the threat we face... doesn't it?

Titled:   Nation remembers 7 July victims

As the people of the UK pause to remember the slaughter of innocents by Islamic terrorists on this morning a year ago, another group meets for a different purpose.

Yes folks, its Islam Expo! An event of family fun and forgiveness organised to coincide on the first anniversary of the tube and bus bombings. This tactful group have lined up a great program for the morning, including the sell-out session "Jihad: Holy War?" in the Great Hall at 11am.

"Islam is not just part of the East anymore," said Mr Hibatullah. "It began there, but is now very much part of Europe, part of Britain.

"Look at these pictures. Here is one of the Union Jack in the style of Islamic calligraphy. I don't think the flag is the trade mark of the British National Party anymore, is it?

To me, the once proud Union Flag looks like the shredded remains from a bomb blast. They can't even take the time to make sure the colors are in the right place.

"We are trying to give people a sense off Islamic history, of identity but, crucially, we are trying to provide means through which British Muslims can show how they have contributed to our society."

On the 7th, most of the UK can remember very clearly how the British Muslims have contributed to society.

Titled:   Iranian Law: Non Muslims Must Wear Colored Badges

Wizbang brings us news of an Iranian law that requires non-muslims to wear colored badges. It's obviously not enough to deny the Holocaust - they're starting to re-enact it:

Human rights groups are raising alarms over a new law passed by the Iranian parliament that would require the country's Jews and Christians to wear coloured badges to identify them and other religious minorities as non-Muslims.

"This is reminiscent of the Holocaust," said Rabbi Marvin Hier, the dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles. "Iran is moving closer and closer to the ideology of the Nazis."

Iran's roughly 25,000 Jews would have to sew a yellow strip of cloth on the front of their clothes, while Christians would wear red badges and Zoroastrians would be forced to wear blue cloth.

Of course, all such rumors should be treated with a cynical eye at least until they have been corroborated.

The more amazing fact is that there are still 25,000 Jews in Iran, though again this may not be all it seems:

Jews who apply for a passport to travel abroad must do so in a special bureau and are immediately put under surveillance. The government does not generally allow all members of a family to travel abroad at the same time to prevent Jewish emigration. Again, the Jews live under the status of dhimmi, with the restrictions im posed on religious minorities. Jewish leaders fear government reprisals if they draw attention to official mistreatment of their community.

Titled:   Multi-Culti Madness Goes Extraterrestrial

Malaysia (a country that has declared attending Friday prayer sessions mandatory) is getting ready to send a Muslim astronaut into space as part of an International Space Station mission in 2007. This poses quite the religious quandary.

Muslims are required to pray five times daily, turning toward Mecca during prayer. But as Zainal Abidin Abdul Rashid of Malaysia National University pointed out ..., the space station circles the Earth 16 times in 24 hours, with a sunrise and sunset occurring about every 90 minutes. "Does this mean we have to perform 80 prayers a day?" he said. ... On the issue of "qiblat" or the direction of Mecca, suggestions range from installing a special rotating seat so that the Muslim astronaut could turn easily toward Mecca, to using a calculator that can determine qiblat direction and the prayer schedule. Then there is also the question of how to perform ablution, a ritual cleansing of the body, with water-rationing in space. Also, how does one do the prayer ritual of kneeling and prostrating under zero gravity?

The physicist in me ponders the maths involved in calculating the position of Mecca on a rotating globe while in orbit, and the tracking of it during prayer. The rotating chair would have to revolve in 3 axes to avoid ending up facing away from it by the end of prayer time. Assuming that an orbit directly over Mecca is unlikely, there will quite a bot of spinning involved. Quite an image - a whirling dervish of prayer, flailing arms and legs...

The realist in me asks why anyone would think to do this at all, selecting instead an astronaut whose religious duties do not involve the re-engineering of the shuttle.

Hat-tip to Nobody's Business