One of the least covered stories in the media is that the US now has a government policy to help Africa fight both Malaria and HIV. Mr Bush – whose $1.2bn (£500m) programme aims to halve the disease’s mortality rates in target nations within five years – said the disease was both preventable and curable. [...]

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The “We’re all gonna die” hype this year is global warming. Guess I’ve been through too many similar scares in the past to hyperventillate. But the irony is that a lot of the “How to save energy” hype is just ordinary frugality, like your mother told you to do. HERE are green tips. Much of [...]

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I certainly don’t mind violent video games (just beat Resident Evil 4 today, in fact), but this Sony-hosted event is way over the top: Electronics giant Sony has sparked a major row over animal cruelty and the ethics of the computer industry by using a freshly slaughtered goat to promote a violent video game. The [...]

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A federal prosecutor in Germany has refused to investigate a criminal complaint filed against former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other top US officials accusing them of war crimes and torture in Iraq. It appears as if the accusations filed last November do not apply to a way special and thoroughly important German law that [...]

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I had braces in Junior High. My mouth was too small for all of my teeth and so Dr. Weir had to pull four of my incisors to make room for a healthy smile. I was shot full of local and he got to work yanking those young teeth out. He told me to be [...]

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Retired General William Odom delivered the Democrats response to President Bush’s Saturday radio address. Normally, the Democratic response isn’t very interesting, but this one was.

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Starring Lucy Liu and Michael Chiklis RISE: Blood Hunter opens in theaters on June 1st. I have a feeling that this movie is going to be a big hit. It seems to contain all of the ingredients of a fine, and somewhat dark themed movie. The undertones of vampirism should appeal to the horror flick [...]

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Sometime around the middle of next week, President Bush will veto the $124 billion war spending bill and its timetable for withdrawing American troops from Iraq. Bush has made clear that he will continue to veto future bills that contain a withdrawal date. Buried in the middle of this dispute is the issue of how [...]

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By Jefferson Flanders With full credit to New York newspaper legend Jimmy Cannon for the phrase: Nobody asked me, but… WILL 9/11 CONSPIRACY THEORISTS LOOK AT THE CURT SCHILLING “BLOODY SOCK” CONTROVERSY and see the “evil hand” of the Bush Administration in this “false flag,” uh, “false sock” operation? Here are the particulars: Baltimore Orioles [...]

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This week, the subject of the president’s radio address was immigration reform.

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Last night’s debate at South Carolina State University showed the lock-step approach the Democratic candidates take toward abortion. While a majority of Americans believe that it is right to ban partial-birth abortions, the current crop of Democratic candidates for the highest office in the land “uniformly criticized” the Court’s ruling according to the Washington Post. [...]

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From The Gathering Storm Blog More of the tolerance of Islam – NOT!! Hat tip to Sugiero. Pakistani police bulldozers have demolished the perimeter wall of a cemetery belonging to the “blasphemous” Armadiya community, despite the fact that it had been built according to laws regulating privately bought property. Local Ahmadis believe the operation was [...]

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Beowulf While reading Gareth Hinds’ adaptation of Beowulf you are overwhelmed by the powerful art therein and drawn into the legend that is the mighty warrior. It is a stunning rendition of the age-old epic saga that clearly demonstrates the Viking ethos and beliefs. As a fan of the tale since reading it as a [...]

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As you might know from reading my columns, or rather my alter ego Marty’s, I have a wee bit of penchant for female-fronted/vocals metal. After hearing several fairly rubbish attempts over the years there seems to be a huge outbreak of pretty amazing stuff. Here are a few of my favourites concentrating on female-fronted bands [...]

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Invasion The first point of reference for this novel is Fatherland by Robert Harris. Whereas Fatherland examined how people would cope in the UK under German occupation, this book examines what would happen if Islam became united under a charismatic leader and then took jihad to its logical extreme. Students of the history of Islam [...]

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News Item: Shrek seen as poor role model The Department of Health and Human Services has chosen the cartoon character Shrek to be its spokesman for an anti-obesity campaign aimed at children. In the ads, Shrek will urge children to go outside and play, get some excerise, get away from the tv and video games, [...]

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Now that I am nearing the completion of my formal occupation and great love — teaching students social/political/legal philosophy — I am enjoying returning to previous areas which I explored for a time before settling on philosophy — journalism, foreign affairs, theology, politics, etc.  Happily the internet came along just in time for me to [...]

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[I am posting this report from the Washington Post on an article in the Armed Forces Journal by an experienced officer who has served with credit in Iraq and which is also available at the website below where it reports what has been so obvious for the past 4 years in Iraq. Our war there [...]

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As one who lives in Asia, and one who is old enough to remember the terrorism of the 1970′s, both communist and Islamic, I am bemused over the “Iraq is the problem” cliches of the US Press. Even talk of “a war of civilizations” that posit an angry Arab street (who of course only have [...]

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Since the VT shootings in Blacksburg, Virginia, we have seen all manner of wild-eyed, anti-gunners come out of the woodwork to cynically use this crime as a chance to beat their gun grabbing drums. But, proposing that we send government Stormtroopers to smash down the doors of every home with a gun in it to [...]

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A day after the body of slain Peace Corps volunteer Judith Campbelll were flown back to the US, Philippine police caught and arrested her murderer who was hiding near Baguio City. The local man,  Juan Duntugan, admits to hitting her after she bumped into him on the trail, but says it was an accident, since [...]

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