Amplify’d from www.westernjournalism.com

UN mulls internet regulation options

The United Nations is considering whether to set up an inter-governmental working group to harmonise global efforts by policy makers to regulate the internet.

Establishment of such a group has the backing of several countries, spearheaded by Brazil.

At a meeting in New York on Wednesday, representatives from Brazil called for an international body made up of Government representatives that would to attempt to create global standards for policing the internet – specifically in reaction to challenges such as WikiLeaks.

The Brazilian delegate stressed, however, that this should not be seen as a call for an “takeover” of the internet.

India, South Africa, China and Saudi Arabia appeared to favour a new possible over-arching inter-government body.

However, Australia, US, UK, Belgium and Canada and attending business and community representatives argued there were risks in forming yet another working group that might isolate itself from the industry, community users and the general public.

Read More: By John Hilvert, IT News

Engulfing the Internet Blackburn: Net neutrality is "fairness doctrine for the Internet" Tyranny vs. the Internet New Bill Gives Obama ‘Kill Switch’ To Shut Down The Internet Internet Freedom Challenged by Obama FCC Read more at www.westernjournalism.com

 

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Constitution Worshipers Hoping to Radically Change It

As you may have heard, the Republican party simply does not care for Barack Obama's health care law. And yet it's still a law! How is this fair? It's not. Time to introduce a constitutional amendment banning, uh, laws, then.

Whether you hate the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act or not, it's possible that trying to reinstate the Articles of Confederation because one bill irritates you would be an overreaction:

The same people driving the lawsuits that seek to dismantle the Obama administration's health care overhaul have set their sights on an even bigger target: a constitutional amendment that would allow a vote of the states to overturn any act of Congress. Under the proposed "repeal amendment," any federal law or regulation could be repealed if the legislatures of two-thirds of the states voted to do so.

It's a start, but a more comprehensive amendment would simply say, "This amendment here bans the Democrat party from doin' stuff."

This repeal amendment will not go anywhere of course. It would allow all the states with very tiny populations to kill everything for sport. Also: State governments should not have federal legislative powers.

Still, it will probably find its way into the next Democratic Tax Deal.

Image via Shutterstock.com

Send an email to Jim Newell, the author of this post, at newell@gawker.com. Read more at gawker.com

 

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Pedophilia Guide Author Arrested

Phillip Greaves, who infamously sold The Pedophile's Guide To Love and Pleasure through Amazon's e-book store, has been arrested on obscenity charges. He probably shouldn't have sent an autographed copy of his creepy "child lover's" guide to a Florida sheriff.

Greaves was arrested at home in Pueblo, Colorado by deputies from Polk County in Florida, to whom Greaves had sold and mailed his book. The third degree felony charges are reportedly punishable by up to 30 years in prison, which, revolting as this book is, would be a ridiculous sentence to impose for shipping some printed made-up words to a backwater sheriff who wasn't inspired to actually molest anyone (hopefully).

Send an email to Ryan Tate, the author of this post, at ryan@gawker.com. Read more at gawker.com

 

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Prince William: 'Do You Know Who I Am? I Do What I Want'

A book about Prince William claims he once yelled this at Kate: "Do you know who I am! No one tells me what to do. I do what I want." As the future King of England, he has a point. Only a few people can get away with "Do you know who I am?" at any given moment in human history. World-famous one-names are shoo-ins. (Madonna, Cleopatra, Gilgamesh.) The President of the United States of America, sometimes. (FDR, yes. Dubya, no.) And, though the British empire and royalty in general are not the phenomena they once were, anyone destined to be the King of England gets grandfathered in to the "Do you know who I am?" club. Anyway, I sort of doubt the veracity of this book, which claims to have an inside line on the fights Kate Middleton and Prince William had during their 2007 break-up (a time during which Wills supposedly hurled the "Do you know who I am" bomb as a defense for infidelity) because the monarchy in general—and the Wills-Kate relationship in particular—is good at closing ranks. Nonetheless, we should hope that this is the way Prince William dealt with the break-up: The prince and his band of bar hopping buddies show up at Mahiki. "As the Rolling Stones classic You Can't Always Get What You Want blasted over the sound system, Wills waved his arms in the air and shouted, 'I'm freeeee!'" according to the book. "'Let's drink the menu.'" ...if only because having a balding frat boy as King of England would be perhaps the final blow to taking "British monarchs" of the ol' "Do you know who I am?" list. [NYP, Observer, Official royal portrait via Getty] Send an email to Maureen O'Connor, the author of this post, at maureen@gawker.com. Read more at gawker.com

 

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'Socialist' Methodist Church in Tea Party Crosshairs

Tea Party Nation founder Judson Phillips has a dream: "No more Methodist Church."

A blog post on his Tea Party Nation page says that on Friday he walked by the United Methodist Building in Washington D.C., which had a sign that said, "Pass the DREAM Act." Phillips wrote: " I have a DREAM. That is, no more United Methodist Church."

Phillips explains that he was formerly a member of the church, but he left because it's "the first Church of Karl Marx," and "little more than the "religious" arm of socialism."

"The Methodist church is pro-illegal immigration," he continues. "They have been in the bag for socialist health care, going as far as sending out emails to their membership "debunking" the myths of Obamacare. Say, where are the liberal complaints on the separation of church and state?"

"In short, if you hate America, you have a great future in the Methodist church," he says.

Phillips has recently argued that it's a "wise idea" to only let property owners vote. He's also defended an email he wrote calling for supporters to help "retire" Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) because "he is the only Muslim member of congress."

See more at gawker.com

 

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Man Charged With Child Sex Attack At California Walmart

Amplify’d from www.exposereport.com

Man Charged With Child Sex Attack At California Walmart

SAN LEANDRO, CA (CBS 5/BCN) — A 29-year-old San Leandro man has been charged with sexual assaulting an 8-year-old girl inside a Walmart store, police said Monday.

Carlyle Villazon allegedly assaulted the girl after she became separated from her family during a Friday night shopping trip to the Walmart at 1919 Davis Street in San Leandro.

He was arrested after a pair of shoppers, Malcolm Mason and Dino Rinetti, chased him down and held him until police arrived.

The girl was taken to Children’s Hospital in Oakland for forensic assault evaluation.

Police said Villazon is not a registered sex offender, but has prior arrest history for traffic violations and making terrorist threats.

Police said the 8-year-old victim was shopping with her family when she told her mother that her younger brother had disappeared and that she would go find him.

A short time later, the girl walked back to her mother in tears and told her that a man had and touched her inappropriately. She stuck her hand down her pants to demonstrate what the man had done to her, police said.

The victim’s mother immediately alerted Walmart staff of the incident and both parties began searching for the man inside the store.

The girl spotted Villazon near the garden department and identified him to her mother. Police said that when Villazon caught the pair looking at him, he ran toward the main doors.

After he fled, her mother yelled, “somebody help, he touched my daughter,” prompting Mason, who was shopping at the Walmart, to chase after Villazon, police said.

“The girl’s mom was crying and the little girl was crying, and the mom pointed this guy out,” Mason said. “I started walking toward him and he looked all reddish and nervous, then he started running.”

Mason chased Villazon and pushed him to the ground just before he reached the exit doors, he said.

“He was about to get up out of there in about 10 yards,” Mason said. “But he didn’t get away, I held him right there until the police came.”

Rinetti, the second good Samaritan, helped tackle Villazon and both men detained him until officers arrived about 15 minutes later, Mason said.

Villazon was arrested on charges of engaging in lewd acts with a child, aggravated sexual assault on a child and false imprisonment, police said.

This was the second case in recent weeks of a child being sexually assaulted while shopping with family members.

SEE NEWS VIDEO HERE

SOURCE: CBS San Fransisco Read more at www.exposereport.com

 

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T.D. Jakes 6 God's Got You Covered

'Police kept me in jail even after judge said let me free'

URL:  http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=239633

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HOMELAND INSECURITY: Christmas in America could be a literal blast

URL:  http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=241737

HOMELAND INSECURITY: Ex-chief worried naughty terrorists won't be nice to New York, Washington



WorldNetDaily



There is a "real possibility" foreign Islamic terrorists already infiltrated the U.S. though the country's "sufficiently porous" borders, warned former CIA Director James Woolsey.



Commenting on a federal law-enforcement terror-bulletin warning of possible terrorist plots for this holiday season, Woolsey stated symbolic locales in New York and Washington are likely most at risk for any possible attacks.



"I think the thing to be perhaps most worried about is single-person attacks at symbolically important places," stated Woolsey. "And that would put, I think, New York and Washington particularly perhaps maybe more on notice than other places."



Woolsey was speaking in an interview with WND's senior reporter Aaron Klein on the latter's investigative radio program on New York's WABC Radio.



Woolsey said he believes al-Qaida is most motivated to carry out terrorist acts in the U.S. against "symbols of economic prosperity and dominance."



Responding to a question about U.S. border security, Woolsey told Klein that "our borders are sufficiently porous that it is at least possible that Hezbollah or other terrorists have come across in some of the ways that people come here just who want to work."



"And we shouldn't forget the Canadian border," he added. "There are real possibilities of people having come in both ways."



Woolsey warned of the increased terrorist threat emanating from Latin American countries, where Iranian-backed militants are reported to have gained a foothold.



Stated Woolsey: "It doesn't have to just be al-Qaida. A lot of people are under the impression that because the Iranians are Shiites and Hezbollah works for Iran they would never cooperate with a Sunni group like Al -Qaida. That's nonsense."



"Iran has been supplying a lot of the improvised explosive devices and the technology for them to Sunnis in the Taliban and so forth in Afghanistan to kill Americans. And Hezbollah has a major presence in the tri-border region of South America, down by the Iguassu Falls down in southern Brazil, Argentina, etc."



Just last week, classified diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks outlined U.S. government concerns that Iran and the Hezbollah terrorist organization are gaining a foothold in Latin America.



Among the concerns is that Iranian-backed militants may attempt to infiltrate the U.S. or use Latin America as a staging ground for anti-American attacks, the documents relate.



Also, the U.S. caught Iran shipping explosives and attempting to ship unmanned aerial vehicles to Venezuela, the cables revealed.



Meanwhile, a Department of Homeland Security bulletin sent last week to law-enforcement agencies nationwide revealed authorities are worried terrorists will try carry out attacks this holiday season.



The bulletin lists possible threats including car bombs, trucks ramming crowds and Mumbai-style small-arms attack – meaning attacks against soft targets, such as hotels or shopping centers.



The bulletin did not cite any specific plot for Christmas or New Year's. It made clear the warning was based on persistent terrorist threats.



Still, the bulletin followed reports that Iraqi government interrogations of captured gunmen revealed the possibility of an increased terrorist threat to both the U.S. and Europe during the holidays.

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Galileo and the Church

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Galileo and the Church

By John Heilbron

What Galileo believed about providence, miracles, and salvation, is hard to say.  It may not matter.  Throughout his life he functioned as the good Catholic he claimed to be, and he received many benefits from the church before and after the affair that brought him to his knees before the Holy Inquisition in 1633.

First among these benefits was education.  Galileo studied for a few years at the convent of Vallombrosa (a Benedictine order) near Florence.  He loved the place and had entered his novitiate when his father removed him from the temptation.  Later the Vallombrosans gave him his first important job teaching mathematics.  He probably lived briefly at the Benedictine convent of Santa Giustina in Padua just after taking up a professorship at Venice’s university there in 1592.  He may have taught at Santa Giustina and from its ranks recruited his most faithful disciple, Dom Benedetto Castelli.

The largest and ablest collection of mathematicians in Italy belonged to the Society of Jesus.  When he started serious study of mathematics, Galileo sought and obtained the advice and approval of their leader, Father Christopher Clavius.  He had to break off relations in 1606, when the Venetian state expelled the Jesuits from its territories.  Galileo restored the connection soon after returning to Florence in 1610 as “Mathematician and Philosopher to the Grand Duke of Tuscany.”  Again he had an urgent need for Clavius’s endorsement.  The astonishing discoveries he had made in 1609/10 by turning his telescope on the heavens challenged credulity.  By the end of 1610 he had the confirmation he wanted.  Clavius’s group of mathematicians invited him to their headquarters in Rome to celebrate the “message from the stars,” as Galileo had entitled the book in which he had announced his discoveries, and to toast the messenger.

Galileo’s other benefits from the Church included the large salary he enjoyed as court mathematician and philosopher, which came from ecclesiastical revenues, and a papal pension for his son.  The son declined on discovering that its beneficiary had to wear a tonsure, and Galileo, having no such reservation, took it himself.  In the hope of relieving his chronic illnesses, he made pilgrimages to Loreto.  To relieve himself of his two illegitimate daughters, he put them in a nunnery.  When old and blind and confined to his villa, members of religious orders comforted and read to him.  And throughout his life he had many friends, disciples, and patrons among ecclesiastics.

His late-in-life comforters were not Jesuits.  Obliged to teach the physics of Aristotle, in which the earth stands still at the center of the world, they could not endorse the Copernican system, which Galileo believed his discoveries proved.  That did not stop them from becoming experts in telescopic astronomy.  Galileo did not like the competition and attacked the Jesuits unfairly.  That was a mistake.  They did not help him when he ran into an order of priests who did not like mathematics.  These were the Dominicans, who ran the machinery of the Inquisition.

Some of their firebrands preached that since Copernican notions conflicted with Joshua’s order to the sun to stand still, they might be heretical.  Galileo hurried to Rome in 1615 to clear himself and Copernicanism.  Early in 1616 the Inquisition found that Copernicanism was contrary to scripture and philosophically absurd; the Congregation of the Index thereupon banned Copernicus’s masterpiece pending correction and other works altogether; but it did not mention Galileo.  Instead, on papal orders, the chief theologian of the Inquisition, the Jesuit Cardinal (now Saint) Robert Bellarmine, summoned Galileo to hear the decree of the Index and to receive, in private, a personal injunction not to teach or hold the Copernican theory in any way whatsoever.

Galileo obeyed this instruction until the election in 1623 of his old friend Maffeo Barberini as Pope Urban VIII.  As a member of the Congregation of the Index in 1616, Barberini had opposed the condemnation of sun-centered astronomy, not because he believed it, but because he held that no astronomical system could be known to be true.  An omniscent omnipotent God could contrive to produce astronomical appearances in ways different from the one preferred by astronomers.  Condemning any astronomical system would give all of them a status they did not deserve.

Galileo now argued that to counter the sneers of Protestants, Catholics should make clear that they had understood the astronomical arguments at stake in 1616.  Urban liked the idea.  Apparently he agreed that Galileo could develop the strongest arguments he could for a moving earth and stationary sun, provided that he flanked them with a preface containing the motivation (we reopen the question to show we are not ignorant) and a postscript containing Urban’s epistemology (nonetheless, we cannot affirm the truth of any astronomical system).

Galileo’s Dialogue on the two chief world systems (1632) takes place between two of his dead friends and a genial Aristotelian blockhead named Simplicio.  It begins with the stipulated preface, continues with the knockdown arguments, but stops without the postscript. It ends with Simplicio declaring Urban’s epistemology.  Instead of securing his prize—the endorsement by Italy’s greatest mathematician and philosopher of his prophylaxis against all assaults on scripture mounted from natural knowledge—Urban had the mortification of having his philosophy of science expressed by a fool.

Galileo was charged with “vehement suspicion of heresy” for defending a theory he knew contravened scripture and had been ordered not to teach.  He confessed, ascribed his error to excessive pride in his cleverness, and underwent, candle in hand, the prescribed procedure for abjuration ex vehementi.  Reading the prepared text, he said that he detested his Copernican ideas and “all other errors and heresies.”  (This seems to be the first official public indication that Copernicanism might be a heresy; if so, it became one by poor editing, not by official proclamation.)  Continuing with his text, Galileo gave himself over to the Inquisition to do with as it pleased.  Urban pleased to place his former friend under perpetual house arrest.  Customarily people who abjured ex vehementi obtained their freedom after a year or two.  Galileo and his friends petitioned for his release, but to no avail.  Urban continued to believe that Galileo needed quarantine, not because he taught that the earth moves, but because he thought that the human mind unaided by revelation could attain to truth.

In 1979, Urban’s successor several times removed, Pope John Paul II, appointed a committee to re-examine the merits of the case against Galileo.  Their report, issued a decade later, blamed and exonerated both parties:  the Inquisition had understood the scientific issues at stake, but not the principles of exegesis; Galileo had employed a sound hermeneutics, but not an acceptable standard of scientific proof.  Their no-fault collision arose from a “tragic mutual misunderstanding.”  People restricted to ordinary modes of thought may have trouble accepting this resolution and the associated assurance that there is no essential opposition between science and religion. Read more at www.hnn.us

 

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