http://www.drudge.com/user/Diablo New links and comments. en-us http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification Wordzilla/0.58 10 http://www.drudge.com/news/153454/master-race-update-wrongful-life-suits http://www.lifenews.com/2012/02/13/wrongful-birth-and-wrongful-life-lawsuits-just-plain-wrong/ Now if Brad or Buffy are not perfect at birth you can sue the doctor for not aborting. Amazing. We are getting as bad as the Nazis who killed off or sterilized deformed people. Wrongful birth and wrongful life lawsuits are just plain wrong. <p> The wrongful birth suit is brought by the parents of a sick or disabled child against a physician that, the parents say, was negligent. The wrongful birth lawsuit does not say that the doctor caused the disease or disability, which would be a valid reason to sue. Instead the wrongful birth lawsuit claims the that doctor failed to inform the parents of the illness or disability of the child and that had they known, they would have aborted their child. In other words, the parents are saying we wish our child was dead. Because he or she is not, the doctor has to pay. <p>(More at link) Mon, 13 Feb 2012 10:51:37 -0500 diablo http://www.drudge.com/news/153454/master-race-update-wrongful-life-suits#discuss tag:drudge.com,2005:weblog.153454 discussion, 0.5 daily 153454 http://www.drudge.com/news/153420/bin-laden-told-kids-reject-jihad http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2100037/Osama-Bin-Laden-told-children-to-West.html Osama Bin Laden urged his younger children to reject jihad and live in the West, his brother-in-law Zakaria Al-Sadah claimed in an interview with Britain's <i>Sunday Times</i>. "He told his own children and grandchildren, 'Go to Europe and America and get a good education,'" Al-Sadah told the newspaper. He said Bin Laden told them, "You have to study, live in peace and don't do what I am doing or what I have done." Al-Sadah's sister, Bin Laden's fifth wife Amal, was shot in the knee during the Navy SEALs raid that killed the Al Qaeda terrorist leader. Sun, 12 Feb 2012 15:30:33 -0500 Diablo http://www.drudge.com/news/153420/bin-laden-told-kids-reject-jihad#discuss tag:drudge.com,2005:weblog.153420 news, 0.5 daily 153420 http://www.drudge.com/news/153419/perv-teacher-gets-cush-retirement http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/perv_teach_for_sick_days_xjtTc26pTCd2kElIVFNgIN 85-G's a year plus more than $50,000 in unused sick time? Don't look for a front page NY Times story on this guy. He was not Christian clergy. The city will give retired rubber-room king Alan Rosenfeld, who was paid not to teach for 11 years, a parting gift: $55,000 for unused sick days. The former typing teacher -- banned from the classroom since 2001 but still on the payroll at top salary -- had accumulated well over 200 unused sick days in his 43 years. Rosenfeld, 66, will be paid for 100 unused sick days, the maximum. He was accused of making lewd comments to girls at IS 347 in Queens and leering at their rear ends. He was cleared of all but one charge but deemed unfit for the classroom and sent to a rubber room. Rosenfeld can now start collecting his estimated $85,400-a-year teacher's pension -- and may accumulate more than $1 million in taxpayer-guaranteed investments through the teacher-retirement system. <p> Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/perv_teach_for_sick_days_xjtTc26pTCd2kElIVFNgIN#ixzz1mBUdiH2p Sun, 12 Feb 2012 11:08:49 -0500 diablo http://www.drudge.com/news/153419/perv-teacher-gets-cush-retirement#discuss tag:drudge.com,2005:weblog.153419 discussion, 0.5 daily 153419 http://www.drudge.com/news/153358/secular-mag-admits-pope-right http://www.businessinsider.com/time-to-admit-it-the-church-has-always-been-right-on-birth-control-2012-2 As I've said, this encyclical was prophetic:<p><p>"Today's injunctions against birth control were re-affirmed in a 1968 document by Pope Paul VI called Humanae Vitae. He warned of four results if the widespread use of contraceptives was accepted:<p>"General lowering of moral standards<p>"A rise in infidelity, and illegitimacy<p>"The reduction of women to objects used to satisfy men.<p> "Government coercion in reproductive matters. Does that sound familiar?" Painting the Catholic Church as "out of touch" is like shooting fish in a barrel, what with the funny hats and gilded churches. And nothing makes it easier than the Church's stance against contraception. <p> Many people, (including our editor) are wondering why the Catholic Church doesn't just ditch this requirement. They note that most Catholics ignore it, and that most everyone else finds it divisive, or "out-dated." C'mon! It's the 21st century, they say! Don't they SEE that it's STUPID, they scream. <p> Here's the thing, though: the Catholic Church is the world's biggest and oldest organization. It has buried all of the greatest empires known to man, from the Romans to the Soviets. It has establishments literally all over the world, touching every area of human endeavor. It's given us some of the world's greatest thinkers, from Saint Augustine on down to Ren&#233; Girard. When it does things, it usually has a good reason. Everyone has a right to disagree, but it's not that they're a bunch of crazy old white dudes who are stuck in the Middle Ages. So, what's going on? <p> The Church teaches that love, marriage, sex, and procreation are all things that belong together. That's it. But it's pretty important. And though the Church has been teaching this for 2,000 years, it's probably never been as salient as today. Today's injunctions against birth control were re-affirmed in a 1968 document by Pope Paul VI called Humanae Vitae. He warned of four results if the widespread use of contraceptives was accepted: <p> General lowering of moral standards <p> A rise in infidelity, and illegitimacy <p> The reduction of women to objects used to satisfy men. <p> Government coercion in reproductive matters. <p> Does that sound familiar? Because it sure sounds like what's been happening for the past 40 years. <p> As George Akerloff wrote in Slate over a decade ago, By making the birth of the child the physical choice of the mother, the sexual revolution has made marriage and child support a social choice of the father. Instead of two parents being responsible for the children they conceive, an expectation that was held up by social norms and by the law, we now take it for granted that neither parent is necessarily responsible for their children. <p> Men are now considered to be fulfilling their duties merely by paying court-ordered child-support. That's a pretty dramatic lowering of standards for "fatherhood." <p> <p> How else are we doing since this great sexual revolution? Kim Kardashian's marriage lasted 72 days. Illegitimacy: way up. In 1960, 5.3% of all births in America were to unmarried women. By 2010, it was 40.8% [PDF]. In 1960 married families made up almost three-quarters of all households; but by the census of 2010 they accounted for just 48 percent of them. Cohabitation has increased tenfold since 1960. <p> And if you don't think women are being reduced to objects to satisfy men, welcome to the internet, how long have you been here? <p>Government coercion: just look to China (or America, where a government rule on contraception coverage is the reason why we're talking about this right now). <p> (More at Link) Fri, 10 Feb 2012 11:02:21 -0500 diablo http://www.drudge.com/news/153358/secular-mag-admits-pope-right#discuss tag:drudge.com,2005:weblog.153358 discussion, 0.5 daily 153358 http://www.drudge.com/news/153325/new-green-villain-toilet-paper http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/08/10352212-toilet-paper-taking-out-tiger-elephant-habitat-wwf-says The left/socialist/greens always need someone to criminalize. This week, it's toilet paper. Wipe with your hands to save the earth! Is your toilet paper wiping out forests used by tigers, elephants, orangutans and other wildlife? In a report Wednesday, the World Wildlife Fund alleged that a major paper supplier from Indonesia is clearcutting habitat there and targeted a major U.S. distributor to stop buying from that source. <p> "We found that two brands sold in the United States &#8213; Paseo and Livi &#8213; are made with paper from Asia Pulp & Paper (APP), which is responsible for more forest destruction in Sumatra than any other single company," the World Wildlife Fund report stated. "Paseo is a retail brand of toilet paper, paper towels, napkins and facial tissue, and it is now the fastest growing brand of toilet paper in the United States, according to its marketer." <p> <p> <p> <p> The distributor, Oasis Brands, didn't responded directly to the accusation, but defended APP while saying it wants to work with grocery chains to set up a system of monitoring the sustainability of its tissue products. <p> <p>"Everyone wants the reassurance that the products they buy from Indonesia meet internationally recognized certification standards and are not damaging the precious natural resources of that country," Oasis Brands CEO Philip Rundle said in a letter to the industry. <p> "Continuous, rigorous auditing has proven APP products are made from sustainable sources and meet well-established sustainability standards," he added. "Now we would like the US grocery industry to see the results of such an audit for themselves. We are confident that APP will meet the expectations of US grocers." <p>(More at Link) Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:01:06 -0500 Diablo http://www.drudge.com/news/153325/new-green-villain-toilet-paper#discuss tag:drudge.com,2005:weblog.153325 discussion, 0.5 daily 153325 http://www.drudge.com/news/153252/constitution-passe-ny-times http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/07/us/we-the-people-loses-appeal-with-people-around-the-world.html?_r=1&partner=MYWAY&ei=5065 OUR kind of people do not follow such a pedestrian document! Get a load of Justice Ginsberg's almost impeachable view:<p>In a television interview during a visit to Egypt last week, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the Supreme Court seemed to agree. "I would not look to the United States Constitution if I were drafting a constitution in the year 2012," WASHINGTON -- The Constitution has seen better days <p>Sure, it is the nation's founding document and sacred text. And it is the oldest written national constitution still in force anywhere in the world. But its influence is waning. <p> <p>In 1987, on the Constitution's bicentennial, Time magazine calculated that "of the 170 countries that exist today, more than 160 have written charters modeled directly or indirectly on the U.S. version." <p> <p>A quarter-century later, the picture looks very different. "The U.S. Constitution appears to be losing its appeal as a model for constitutional drafters elsewhere," according to a new study by David S. Law of Washington University in St. Louis and Mila Versteeg of the University of Virginia. <p> <p>The study, to be published in June in The New York University Law Review, bristles with data. Its authors coded and analyzed the provisions of 729 constitutions adopted by 188 countries from 1946 to 2006, and they considered 237 variables regarding various rights and ways to enforce them. <p> <p>"Among the world's democracies," Professors Law and Versteeg concluded, "constitutional similarity to the United States has clearly gone into free fall. Over the 1960s and 1970s, democratic constitutions as a whole became more similar to the U.S. Constitution, only to reverse course in the 1980s and 1990s." <p> <p>"The turn of the twenty-first century, however, saw the beginning of a steep plunge that continues through the most recent years for which we have data, to the point that the constitutions of the world's democracies are, on average, less similar to the U.S. Constitution now than they were at the end of World War II." <p> <p>There are lots of possible reasons. The United States Constitution is terse and old, and it guarantees relatively few rights. The commitment of some members of the Supreme Court to interpreting the Constitution according to its original meaning in the 18th century may send the signal that it is of little current use to, say, a new African nation. And the Constitution's waning influence may be part of a general decline in American power and prestige. <p> <p>In an interview, Professor Law identified a central reason for the trend: the availability of newer, sexier and more powerful operating systems in the constitutional marketplace. "Nobody wants to copy Windows 3.1," he said. <p> <p>In a television interview during a visit to Egypt last week, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the Supreme Court seemed to agree. "I would not look to the United States Constitution if I were drafting a constitution in the year 2012," she said. She recommended, instead, the South African Constitution, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms or the European Convention on Human Rights. <p> Tue, 07 Feb 2012 11:20:43 -0500 Diablo http://www.drudge.com/news/153252/constitution-passe-ny-times#discuss tag:drudge.com,2005:weblog.153252 discussion, 0.5 daily 153252 http://www.drudge.com/news/153250/heather-has-three-parents http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/scientists-want-kids-with-three-parents/story-e6freuy9-1226262783608 The Frankenstein circus continues...... SYDNEY scientists want to create designer babies with the DNA of three parents to prevent children inheriting life-threatening diseases. <p> <p>IVF specialists argue they could eradicate mitochondrial mutations - which can cause multi-organ failure and fatal heart, liver and muscle conditions - by removing defective genes and replacing them with healthy DNA from a donor. <p> <p>The procedure, described by scientific opponents as "fraught with danger", would ensure women with the severe genetic condition do not pass it on to their children. <p> <p>"This would mean we are using the genes of three parents," IVF Australia's Professor Peter Illingworth told The Sunday Telegraph. <p> <p>But Professor Illingworth defended the procedure, saying it was "not properly understood" and "would not affect the child's genetic make-up". <p> <p> <p>He said the genes that determined behaviour and appearance came from the nucleus of the cell - not the mitochondrion. <p> <p>The illness affects the way a body converts food into energy and can cause strokes, seizures, growth problems, hearing problems and organ failure. <p> <p>"We want to remove the mother's bad mitochondria and replace it with healthy mitochondria through IVF," Professor Illingworth said. <p> <p>"We know women who have a defective mitochondria pass that on to their children. <p> <p>"About one child a week is born in Australia with a mitochondrial condition. It is rare but very debilitating." <p> <p>In Australia scientists are banned from using the DNA of more than two people in any research. <p> <p>But the federal government is reviewing the Research Involving Human Embryos Act after a report was tabled in Parliament last year. <p> <p>Professor Illingworth said scientists hoped the government would alter the law to allow research into embryo transfers. "The health implications of these diseases are so serious this research should be allowed," he said. <p> <p>Last month scientists at Newcastle University in England were given $6.5 million to research the technique. <p> <p>Professor David Thorburn off the Murdoch Children's Research Institute in Melbourne said he supported changing the laws in Australia. <p> <p>"I'm in favour of researching but I don't think we are ready for clinical trials," Professor Thorburn said. <p> <p>"For many parents the only way to prevent transmission of the mitochondrial disease is to transfer the parents' genes." Tue, 07 Feb 2012 11:01:19 -0500 diablo http://www.drudge.com/news/153250/heather-has-three-parents#discuss tag:drudge.com,2005:weblog.153250 discussion, 0.5 daily 153250 http://www.drudge.com/news/153191/joe-namath-traitor http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/joe-namath-nfl-blog-super-bowl-prediction-191250983.html He wore green: the color of envy as Manning nears his second Supe ring. Not since Beneduct Arnold has the New York area experienced such traitorous betrayal. "The Giants were helped along the way by Green Bay and San Francisco; those were two teams which gave the game to the Giants. I really believe that the Patriots' offense, even with all the talk about this two-tight end offense, still has Deion Branch and Wes Welker as big keys. That's a tough assignment for the Giants to minimize. <p>"I changed my pick mid-week, and I see the Patriots getting their fourth Super Bowl win." <p> Sun, 05 Feb 2012 11:40:10 -0500 Diablo http://www.drudge.com/news/153191/joe-namath-traitor#discuss tag:drudge.com,2005:weblog.153191 discussion, 0.5 daily 153191 http://www.drudge.com/news/153136/even-russians-get-right http://english.pravda.ru/opinion/columnists/30-01-2012/120356-obama_the_chicken-0/ From a Pravda editorial. Music to the ears:<p>"The thing known as Obama is committing one large theft after another of the American people's money, work and trust. He is the most disgusting example of human life we have ever witnessed." January 29 through the 31st, 5% of the sheriffs in America are in Las Vegas Nevada, learning how to tell the Federal government agents to pack sand and get out of town. 20% of the 50 United States of America have been presented with lawsuits and or legal filings challenging the eligibility of Barack Obama to be on the ballot for the 2012 election. <p> <p>Congressional representative Allen West summed up the American people's feelings for the Obama administration today when he told Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid to, "Get the hell out of The United States of America!". His talk can be seen here. <p>Ten people will be murdered today in Mexico with guns provided to drug cartels by Eric Holder, the United States Attorney General. Politicians are calling for him to resign. Resign?? <p> <p> <p>There is enough evidence presented to Congress to arrest him and prosecute him for an Act of War against the nation of Mexico, accessory to murder of thousands of innocent citizens in Mexico and America as well as the murder of United States Border Patrol agent Brian Terry. Resign?? Besides sending illegal guns to Mexico, Holder and his associates sold guns to criminal street gangs inside the United States where the guns will be used inside the United States. It will take years to find the thousands of guns these criminals sold to killers. <p> <p>Eric Holder and his criminal operatives in his office and the Department of Justice need to be dragged out in handcuffs, jailed with no bail and put on trial with a jury of American citizens who are not federal government employees. <p> <p>Like a dead chicken being plucked, Obama has lost his power and his support. Six months or so ago, French President Sarkozy called Obama, "Insane". Other world leaders have publicly called him incompetent and other derogatory names. <p> <p>Since then, major news in America has been slowly, quietly, as if testing the waters, pointing out Obama's faults and crimes. Little by little they are feeding America, and the World, the truth about the man they fought so hard to cover up for these past four years. Feather by feather, the chicken known as Obama, is being plucked. The most hated psychopath on Earth and his administration are going to be thoroughly plucked, gutted, tossed in an oven, cooked and devoured. And like any dead carcass with no use, Obama and his faithful supporters will be thrown onto a garbage heap until they rot to nothing. <p> <p>The thing known as Obama is committing one large theft after another of the American people's money, work and trust. He is the most disgusting example of human life we have ever witnessed. <p> <p>Like all stupid people, he thinks everyone else is stupider than he is. There is, however, one thing he has done well. Every facet of American life and business has gone down considerably, except for foreclosures, unemployment, bankruptcies and business closures. <p> <p>(much more at link) Fri, 03 Feb 2012 11:35:34 -0500 Diablo http://www.drudge.com/news/153136/even-russians-get-right#discuss tag:drudge.com,2005:weblog.153136 discussion, 0.5 daily 153136 http://www.drudge.com/news/153091/un-only-socialism-can-save-world http://news.yahoo.com/un-panel-says-retool-world-economy-sustainability-164515165.html Is anyone surprised? Of course the reason given is environmentalism....but environmentalism does not admit to being socialist ever because that would sink the whole movement. The world can no longer afford to ignore the environmental cost of economic growth and must redefine the very concept of national wealth, a UN panel of heads of state and environment ministers said Monday. <p> The panel challenged leaders to recognise that "current global development is unsustainable." Thu, 02 Feb 2012 10:49:40 -0500 diablo http://www.drudge.com/news/153091/un-only-socialism-can-save-world#discuss tag:drudge.com,2005:weblog.153091 discussion, 0.5 daily 153091 http://www.drudge.com/news/153048/nobel-peace-prize-jury-investigated http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_NOBEL_PEACE_PRIZE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-02-01-10-25-11 Filed under "it's about time." STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) -- The nomination deadline for the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize has expired amid renewed criticism the award committee has drifted away from the selection criteria established by the prize's founder. <p>Stockholm's County Administrative Board, which supervises foundations and trusts in the city, is investigating claims the Nobel Foundation has widenened the scope of the prize to a point where it no longer reflects Alfred Nobel's will. <p>But Nobel secretary Geir Lundestad says jury's picks adhere to Nobel's goal of promoting "fraternity between nations." <p>Russian human rights activist Svetlana Gannushkina and Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko are among reported, but unconfirmed candidates for the 2012 prize. The nomination deadline expired Wednesday. Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:18:46 -0500 Diablo http://www.drudge.com/news/153048/nobel-peace-prize-jury-investigated#discuss tag:drudge.com,2005:weblog.153048 discussion, 0.5 daily 153048 http://www.drudge.com/news/153047/oops-birth-control-pills-recalled http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46217423/ns/health-womens_health/#.Tyljt8VrN2A This ought to up the sales of valium, however. Pfizer said on Tuesday it was recalling about a million packets of birth control pills in the United States because they may not contain enough contraceptive to prevent pregnancy. <p> <p> <p>"As a result of this packaging error, the daily regimen for these oral contraceptives may be incorrect and could leave women without adequate contraception, and at risk for unintended pregnancy," according to a Pfizer statement on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration website. <p> Pfizer found that some packets of the drugs had too many active tablets, while others had too few. <p> Oral birth control products use a series of 21 drug tablets and 7 inactive sugar tablets to regulate the menstrual period while providing contraception. The birth control pills posed no health threat to women, Pfizer said, but it urged consumers affected by the recall to "begin using a non-hormonal form of contraception immediately." <p> The drugmaker said the issue involved 14 lots of Lo/Ovral-28 tablets and 14 lots of Norgestrel and Ethinyl Estradiol tablets. <p> A company spokeswoman said the problem was caused by both mechanical and visual inspection failures on the packaging line, The Associated Press reported. She said the problem has been corrected. <p> The pills were manufactured by Pfizer and marketed by Akrimax Pharmaceuticals and shipped to warehouses, clinics and retail pharmacies nationwide, the company said. Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:13:13 -0500 diablo http://www.drudge.com/news/153047/oops-birth-control-pills-recalled#discuss tag:drudge.com,2005:weblog.153047 discussion, 0.5 daily 153047 http://www.drudge.com/news/152976/fda-spied-private-emails http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/fda-staffers-sue-agency-over-surveillance-of-personal-e-mail/2012/01/23/gIQAj34DbQ_story.html The Food and Drug Administration secretly monitored the personal email of its own scientists and doctors after they warned Congress the agency was approving medical devices posing unacceptable risks to patients, the <i>Washington Post</i> reports. The surveillance was detailed in emails and memos unearthed by six of the scientists and doctors, who filed a lawsuit against the FDA in U.S. District Court in Washington last week. "Who would have thought that they would have the nerve to be monitoring my communications to Congress?" said plaintiff Robert C. Smith, a former radiology professor who reviewed devices at the FDA until his contract was not renewed in July 2010. This is why I rarely trust government scientists: they are subject to political coercion. Just ask anyone who is afraid to lose grant money by disagreeing with man-made global warming myths. Tue, 31 Jan 2012 13:33:19 -0500 Diablo http://www.drudge.com/news/152976/fda-spied-private-emails#discuss tag:drudge.com,2005:weblog.152976 news, 0.5 daily 152976 http://www.drudge.com/news/153007/smart-bullet-prototype-developed http://news.yahoo.com/u-military-developed-self-guided-bullet-travel-over-004607520.html I want me wunna dese bad boys! Often placed under extreme conditions, soldiers must rely on unbridled discipline, a great degree of patience, and of course a skilled level of marksmanship. But thanks to new government research by Sandia National Laboratories, American troops might be getting some much appreciated help in the form of self-guided bullets. Sandia National Laboratories has long been at work with the United States military developing the ultimate "smart bullet." It announced today that a successful prototype of the bullet was created and tested at distances of over a mile (about 2,000 meters). <p> "We have a very promising technology to guide small projectiles that could be fully developed inexpensively and rapidly," said Sandia researcher Red Jones. Sandia's new technology features a dart-like "smart bullet" that allows for unprecedented movement while in flight. <p> Working in tandem with laser designators, each bullet measures around four inches in length. An optical sensor can be seen at the tip of the round, which can detect a laser beam that would be used to "paint" a target. Inside, the bullets are able to communicate with the different sensors that are gathered via sensors which also communicate with the bullet allowing it to steer and maneuver to its destination. Chief among the new "smart bullets" abilities is the way in which the guided rounds can actually "self correct" its navigational path 30 times a second and at the same time traveling at the speed of sound. <p> Given that bullets, by nature, have been engineered to travel in as straight a line as possible, the entire design of Sandia's bullets needed to be re-engineered. For example, you may notice that when you throw a football the spin achieved after the ball is properly thrown allows for it to travel farther and faster. The concept is similar here, only in order to allow the bullet to change course, the researchers needed to eliminate that spin, and instead utilized tiny fins similar to that of a dart. <p> "Most bullets shot from rifles, which have grooves, or rifling, that cause them to spin so they fly straight, like a long football pass," Jones explains. "To enable a bullet to turn in flight toward a target and to simplify the design, the spin had to go." <p> According to Sandia, which conducted computer aerodynamic modeling tests, unguided bullets under real-world conditions could miss a target more than a half mile away (1,000) meters by 9.8 yards (9 meters), but a guided bullet would get within eight inches (0.2 meters). <p> It's no secret that the desire for self-guided bullets is something the U.S. military has been pursuing for some time. In fact, back in 2008 Lockheed Martin, who fully owns Sandia National Laboratories, was awarded a lucrative contract worth $12.3 million as part of Darpa's "Exacto" program, which sought out to develop and produce sniper rifles with guided bullets. It would appear that the investment is paying off. However, Sandia's research regarding its self-guided bullet could possibly allow for a much wider application than originally intended. While the innovative smart round was initially planned for larger caliber guns the technology could also permit the company to implement it not only in sniper riflles, but small-caliber firearms as well. Additionally, Sandia's new technology could be supplied to not only the military, but law enforcement agencies and perhaps even commercially to recreational shooters such as hunters. <p> Tue, 31 Jan 2012 11:37:47 -0500 Diablo http://www.drudge.com/news/153007/smart-bullet-prototype-developed#discuss tag:drudge.com,2005:weblog.153007 discussion, 0.5 daily 153007 http://www.drudge.com/news/153006/most-american-moslems-reject-separate-sharia http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/interviews-american-muslims-reject-separate-sharia-law-system-194357992.html Interesting, and it reflects the views of Islamics I know. A new study based on interviews with more than 200 North American Muslims over four years concludes that a recent spate of state laws banning "sharia law" from the court system may be an overreaction to a non-existent threat. <p> Oklahoma, Tennessee and Louisiana each passed laws or referendums to ban state judges from considering sharia and other foreign laws last year, and more than 20 other states have debated similar legislation. Newt Gingrich has called for a federal law to ban sharia, while his fellow Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum has said sharia law is an "existential threat" to America. <p> The qualitative study, by University of Windsor law professor Julie MacFarlane and published by the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding think tank, is the first to ask American Muslims what they think of sharia, or Islamic religious law. MacFarlane interviewed 101 Muslim men and women, 41 imams and 70 community leaders and specialists about their uses of Islamic law in everyday life. (About a quarter of the respondents live in Canada, but MacFarlane found no significant difference between the Canadian and American responses.) <p> MacFarlane asked the respondents whether they thought American courts should apply Islamic law to non-Muslims in the legal system. All of them said no. <p> Three imams out of the 41 interviewed said they wanted a parallel Islamic family tribunal where Muslims could go to sort out their legal problems. But this idea was unpopular with every other respondent, who were content with the separate and secular civil court system. The study's sample was not random, and MacFarlane's findings are not generalizable to the American Muslim community as a whole. But the research still offers a rare look into Muslim attitudes about sharia. <p> MacFarlane began her research after a small group of Muslims in Toronto petitioned the government in 2003 to set up a separate Islamic family tribunal where Muslims could get binding legal decisions on family law issues. (The city already had such a tribunal for Catholic and Jewish Canadians.) The request--which ultimately was denied--sparked protests in Canada as well as in far-off London, Vienna and Paris. Protesters said the tribunal would violate the separation of church and state. In America, a well-organized network of experts warn of the threat of "creeping sharia," whereby American Muslims--who make up less than 1 percent of the population--attempt to infiltrate courts with Islamic law. <p> Most of the Muslims MacFarlane interviewed use religious law for family issues such as divorce, marriages, and inheritances in tandem with the regular court system, not instead of it. She focused her research on Muslims who are divorced, interviewing 101 people in that situation. Ninety-five percent of those 101 people said they signed both a nikah, or religious marriage contract, as well as a civil marriage license. Those who had a legal marriage also all formally divorced in courts, after receiving religious permission to do so from an imam. Some imams would not grant a religious divorce until the couple first brought in the civil divorce decree. <p> "For most American Muslims, sharia represents a private system of morality and identity, primarily focused on marriage and divorce rituals," MacFarlane writes. Tue, 31 Jan 2012 11:30:45 -0500 Diablo http://www.drudge.com/news/153006/most-american-moslems-reject-separate-sharia#discuss tag:drudge.com,2005:weblog.153006 discussion, 0.5 daily 153006