News, Prophecy and other

[Shammu]

ID Please!
Developing a Plan For an RFID-Enabled Technology

Author(s)
Jennifer Rittner, The New York Times Learning Network
Bridget Anderson, The Bank Street College of Education in New York City

Grades: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Civics, Language Arts, Social Studies, Technology
Interdisciplinary Connections

Overview of Lesson Plan:In this lesson, students share opinions about the technologies used to identify them and monitor their activities. They then develop plans for new uses of RFID-enabled technologies to share with the class, and write essays persuading readers to use their proposed technologies.

Suggested Time Allowance:1 hour

Objectives:
Students will:
1. Share opinions about technologies used to identify and monitor people.
2. Learn about radio frequency identification (RFID) technology by reading and discussing the article "Study Says Chips in ID Tags Are Vulnerable to Viruses."
3. Develop a plan for a new use for RFID-enabled technology and present it as a poster.
4. Write a persuasive essay that addresses the issues raised in class work.

Resources / Materials:
-pens/pencils
-five large poster boards prepared as directed in the Warm-Up
-classroom board
-copies of the article "Study Says Chips in ID Tags Are Vulnerable to Viruses," found online at http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/featured_articles/20060316thursday.html (one per student)
-resources for investigating technologies and their uses such as special interest publications, science journals, library resources and computers with Internet access

Activities / Procedures:
1. WARM-UP/DO-NOW: Before class, prepare five posters with the following headings: "School," "Airport," "Online Retailer," "Government Building," and "Bank." In class, arrange desks in small groups and place a poster at each grouping. As students enter the class, have them work together to respond to the following prompt on their posters (written on the board): "What technologies do you depend on to identify yourself as you enter or conduct business in this location? How might these institutions use identification technologies to monitor your activities within their facilities and beyond?" After a few minutes, have students share their responses with the class. Ask them if they believe that technologies designed to monitor the activities and/or movements of people and/or goods should be considered an essential area for further development and application, and why.

2. As a class, read and discuss the article "Study Says Chips in ID Tags Are Vulnerable to Viruses" http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/featured_articles/20060316thursday.html, focusing on the following questions:
a. How are radio frequency identification tags, or RFIDs, currently used?
b. What development have researchers discovered about them?
c. Why did researchers think this was not possible?
d. How are RFID tags an improvement over bar codes?
e. What debate has the chip innovation started and why?
f. Why is the new development a cause for additional concern?
g. If the researchers have not identified specific flaws, why do they continue to express concern?
h. How might the researchers' knowledge of computer viruses and worms inform their study?
i. How might those wishing to use a chip for malicious purposes use a common software error to their advantage?
j. Why might money be in factor in determining the ability of others to use chips for malicious purposes?
k. What other security problems has Peter Neumann identified?
l. What are industry professionals doing to address the problem?
m.How might attackers use encryption techniques to subvert a chip's intended purpose?
n. What example do the researchers offer to support their proposal for additional protections and why might that be particularly relevant today?
o. Why might a person wish to subvert pricing or misidentify a pet?

3. Explain to students that they will work in groups to develop a plan for a new RFID-enabled technology that they think will become essential for individuals and/or society as a whole. Begin by presenting a broader definition of RFID, as provided on the Vrije Universiteit researchers' As a class, brainstorm the various areas of human interaction that might benefit from RFID technology, and note student responses on the board. The list below offers some ideas for consideration and may be used to prompt students. Have each group choose an idea from the list they brainstormed to investigate further. Students will develop their plan as a poster and oral presentation to the class, responding to the questions listed below (provided as a handout for easier student access). They should include any visuals such as illustrations, photographs, graphs, and charts that might illuminate their plan.

AREAS FOR RFID DEVELOPMENT
Human populations (Alzheimer's patients, senior citizens, disabled people, prisoners or former prisoners, children, mental patients, general population)
Animals (pets, livestock, wild animals, zoo animals)
Commerce (store check-out counters, online shopping, credit cards)
Communications (regular mail, packages, e-mail)
Transportation/Navigation (global positioning systems, public transportation cards, toll taking machines)
Sensitive goods (prescription drug packages, arms and arms-making materials, gems and jewelry)
Miscellaneous (automobiles, luggage, movement of other goods)

QUESTIONS FOR CONSIDERATION

THE TECHNOLOGY
-What would you monitor and why?
-Where would the RFID chip be located?
-What technology would be used to track the chip?
-What back-up might be in place in case the technology were to break down?
-What security concerns might arise with the use of this technology?

cont'd next post

[Shammu]

SOCIAL CONCERNS
-Why would this be a useful technology?
-What are the potential benefits to the individual? What are the potential benefits to society?
-How would the information be used and by whom?
-Who would be responsible for monitoring (i.e., an individual, a commercial entity, a governmental agency)?
-Would the person being monitored be aware?
-How might you protect the device from malicious use?
Toward the end of class, have students present their posters to the class.

4. WRAP-UP/HOMEWORK: Individually, students write a one to two page paper that persuades readers to use the technology they proposed in class. Have them consider the following questions (provided as a handout for easier student access):
-If the technology you developed were to be implemented tomorrow, how might it become an essential part of daily life?
-How will it improve the way people live?
-What are the potential benefits to individuals and society?
-How might you address the concerns of citizens?
-How might you consider potential disadvantages?
-What potential privacy issues might you consider?
-What kind of protections would you try to develop to prevent malicious use?
Present papers in a later class.

Further Questions for Discussion:
-To what degree, if at all, do you want to know about the people or organizations that are monitoring your movements or activities?
-How might the widespread use of technologies to monitor human activities affect the way people behave in public and/or in private?
-To what degree should official agencies, such as federal or local governments, banks or financial institutions, or companies and retailers be permitted to monitor your activities either with or without your knowledge?

Evaluation / Assessment:
Students will be evaluated based on participation in the opening exercise, thorough completion and presentation of their plans, and effectual persuasive papers.

Vocabulary:
microchip, surveillance, vulnerability, replicate, exploited, malicious, buffer, allocated, constraints, counterfeiting, disabling, encryption, subvert, contamination, smuggler

Extension Activities:
1. Produce a How-It-Works poster on the computer technologies mentioned in the article, such as microchips, RFID, viruses, worms, open-source operating systems and buffer overflow. Share posters with the class.

2. Create an illustrated timeline on the history of technological developments that might have been or currently are considered controversial (such as gun powder, nuclear fission, cloning, surveillance technologies or RFID). Investigate once development further to discover the essential questions surrounding its invention. Address who, what, where, when, why and how. Why was it considered controversial? Present a short report of your findings.

3. Write a story in which a character is monitored by or is monitoring others using a surveillance technology such as RFID. Investigate different ways of exploring the theme using humor, suspense and/or drama. Submit stories to the school literary journal for publication.

4. Investigate one example of a court case or legislation concerning an RFID technology. How might the rights of citizens be affected by the development and/or use of these technologies? What questions arose in the debates surrounding the technology? What was the outcome? What changes, if any, were made to the way the technology was developed, implemented or regulated as a result of the debate? Present the main points of the argument along with your reflection on the issues in an oral presentation to the class.

Interdisciplinary Connections:
Economics - In the article, Peter Neumann states that cost is a factor in the adequacy of security. To what degree, if at all, should cost be allowed to affect quality? What role might cost play in the manufacturer's decisions about quality? What role might cost play in the consumer's decision to purchase the item? Should there be a standard of minimum quality for the production of RFID technologies (like the "Energy Star" standard for appliances regulated by the EPA)? Is there a difference between a regulation and a standard? Write a two to three page paper that responds to these questions.

Journalism - How might your technology proposals be received by the general public? Further develop your plans and present them in a public setting, like a technology expo, to the school. Develop a set of questions for a survey designed to gauge viewers' reactions to the plans. Which do they think are most feasible? Which might be most essential or have the greatest benefit to individuals and/or society? Conduct the survey during the expo and write an article based on your findings. Submit articles to the school newspaper for publication.

Media Studies - Develop a marketing strategy for the technology you developed in class.

Teaching with The Times - Read the Circuits section of The Times every week for one month and clip one article about a new and noteworthy technology for everyday life. If this technology were to be commonly-used among the population at large, how might life be different? Write a reflection that responds to this question. At the end of the month, write a reflection that summarizes the main issues that arise.

I can't post the link because of advertisment.

[Shammu]

Al-Qaida offshoot threatens PA heads
Khaled Abu Toameh, THE JERUSALEM POST    Apr. 30, 2006

Palestinian Authority officials here expressed deep concern over the weekend about reports that al-Qaida was planning to assassinate top PA leaders.

The threats have prompted PA security forces to take strict measures to guarantee the safety of the leaders, including PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, whose villa in Ramallah has been completely cordoned off.

The latest measures were taken after a hitherto unknown group calling itself al-Tawhid and Jihad [Unification and Holy War] distributed leaflets in the Gaza Strip threatening to kill a number of senior officials belonging to Abbas's Fatah party.

This is the first time that the group, which is believed to be headed by Jordanian arch-terrorist Abu Musab Zarqawi, has issued a leaflet in Gaza, indicating that al-Qaida elements had begun operating in the area.

Radical Palestinian groups have generally avoided issuing direct death threats against PA leaders, but PA leaders say that with the recent disclosure that al-Qaida has managed to establish cells in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, they feared that its members would target Abbas and other Fatah leaders.

The leaflet specifically mentioned the names of five Abbas loyalists who it said would soon be "slaughtered" as apostates: Muhammad Dahlan, Yasser Abed Rabbo, Samir Mashharawi, Nabil Amr and Abu Ali Shaheen.

"We hereby declare that we have begun operating in Palestine," the leaflet said, heaping praise on Zarqawi and al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden. "We have deiced to revive the sunnah [one of the sources of Islamic jurisprudence] of slaughter against these people to avoid dissension."

Zarqawi's followers are believed to be behind a spate of gruesome killings of foreign nationals in Iraq over the past three years. Most of the victims had their throats slashed in front of cameras.

An Hamas spokesman denied any connection to the threats, saying they did not believe that al-Qaida had set up cells in Gaza.
"Hamas does not have any links with al-Qaida," said PA cabinet spokesman Ghazi Hamad. Other Hamas leaders claimed that Fatah was planning to assassinate some of their members, pointing out that Fatah gunmen had issued threats against senior Hamas representatives in the past few weeks.

Muwafak Matar, a senior Fatah activist in the Gaza Strip, strongly condemned the threat as an attempt to spark civil war in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. "Why are the Zarqawis of Palestine focusing their efforts on issuing threats to kill Palestinians?" he asked. "Why now and what's their goal?" He added: "Doesn't the Palestinian citizen have the right to shout, 'Enough is enough' We have reached the red line of tensions and restraint."

Dahlan, who has been accused by Hamas of spearheading a US-led conspiracy to bring down the new Hamas cabinet, warned against attempts by "suspicious elements" to liquidate PA officials. "They are seeking to spread confusion," he said. "We are taking these threats very seriously and we even know the identity of those behind them."

Dahlan also attacked the Hamas cabinet for forming a new security force in the Gaza Strip consisting of "militiamen and masked gunmen."

Several Hamas-linked Web sites have been waging a merciless hate campaign against Dahlan over the past few weeks, accusing him of conspiring with Israel and the US and financial corruption. One of the sites claimed that Dahlan recently bought a tower in Dubai for $100 million, while another quoted him as having ridiculed Islam and the Koran.

Other Web sites have openly called for the execution of Dahlan for his alleged role in combating Hamas and Islamic Jihad when he served as commander of the Preventive Security Force between 1994 and 2003.

One of Dahlan's aides told The Jerusalem Post that he was seriously considering suing the Web sites that had published the inflammatory material. "They are spreading lies and rumors and this is very dangerous," he said. "We have appealed to the Ministry of Information to interfere to stop this despicable campaign."

A senior PA official revealed that tough security measures had been taken around Abbas's residence here. Scores of heavily armed officers belonging to Force 17, the PA's "presidential guard," have blocked all roads leading to the villa and those living within the vicinity are now required to present special ID cards enabling them to move around freely.

The official said the decision to beef up security around Abbas's residence was taken in the wake of threats by Hamas and other groups to assassinate PA leaders. "We are taking these threats very seriously, especially in the wake of the growing tensions between Hamas and Fatah and the ongoing incitement against President Abbas and his staff," he said.

PA security sources claimed that an underground tunnel leading to Abbas's other villa in Gaza City was recently discovered by chance.

They said a number of suspects were being questioned. One source said it was still not clear whether the underground tunnel was to be used by people who wanted to harm Abbas or Dahlan, whose office is located across the street.

Al-Qaida offshoot threatens PA heads

[Bronzesnake]

This is truely ironic...terrorists threatening terrorists!

John

[Soldier4Christ]

This is truely ironic...terrorists threatening terrorists!

John

The Muslim way.

[Shammu]

This is truely ironic...terrorists threatening terrorists!

John

I know, thats what I though when I came across it.

The Muslim way.

Yup, 100% muslim way.

[Shammu]

"666" sense: Date marked with caution
While some say June 6, 2006, is a day to fear for its biblical significance, officials see little to dread.
By Howard Pankratz
Denver Post Staff Writer
DenverPost.com

With June 6, 2006, rapidly approaching, authorities in Colorado and elsewhere are carefully watching to see if that date - 6/6/06 - spurs demonstrations or violent activity.

They are aware that 666 signifies the Mark of the Beast or the Antichrist to some organizations and believe June 6 is a date that could trigger problems.

"It's been a conscious question among some of our folks, so they've been on the lookout for something," said Lance Clem, spokesman for the Colorado Department of Public Safety. "But they haven't seen anything."

Even so, some local police are being vigilant.

"The bottom line is that our intelligence unit is familiar with 666 and its significance, but we don't have any information about anything taking place in Colorado Springs," said Lt. Rafael Cintron of the Colorado Springs Police Department. "However, we are certainly keeping our feelers out to see if anything is happening."

Some dates and anniversaries can be calls to action for white supremacists, racists, and conspiracy and prophecy theorists.

April 19, for example, is the anniversary of the raid on the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas; the Oklahoma City bombing; and the raid on white separatist Randy Weaver's home at Ruby Ridge, Idaho.

The Number of the Beast, 666, is mentioned in the Bible's book of Revelation and is believed by some to be when the Antichrist will exercise power over Earth.

The Internet is full of websites that predict terrible things could happen June 6.

One website warns that the "Bible Code says 2006 A.D. is the Year of the Beast" and predicts that the Antichrist will reveal himself. It also says there may be a holy war against Israel and that the United States and Russia would be drawn into a dangerous conflict as a result.

Several major law enforcement agencies in the Denver metro area have seen no signs of trouble and aren't planning to beef up manpower.

Since 1970, there have been 60 terrorist attacks on June 6, with just one in the U.S., according to the Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism in Oklahoma City.

Chip Ellis, the institute's research and program coordinator, said he has seen nothing to indicate anything bad will happen June 6.

If something does develop, Ellis does not believe it would necessarily involve neo-Nazi, white- supremacist types. Rather it could be "anarchists and anti-globalists" who are tied into the counterculture and relish "the chance to stick their thumb in the eye of the establishment," he said.

Laird Wilcox, a Kansas-based expert on domestic extremist groups, believes dates can be overemphasized. He cites in particular the concern about the year 2000.

"What I see happening is something like the millennium controversy where everybody was talking about it and then nothing happened," he said. "I think this has occurred on every anniversary. Everybody anticipates some catastrophe, and nothing ever occurs."

But Kerry Noble, a Texas businessman whose life has changed dramatically since the days he was second in command of a paramilitary religious group known as the Covenant, the Sword and the Arm of the Lord, said June 6 carries much significance to fringe groups that may be looking to make a statement.

"Numbers are important in the movement," Noble said. "So anything you could interpret as being symbolic would be even more important. So a symbolic date like June 6 of this year, being 666, would have the equivalence of a 9/11 date or an April 19 date."

"666" sense: Date marked with caution

[Shammu]

Turkish and Iranian Troops Mass on the Border

April 24, 2006: The four month political deadlock, over who will be the new prime minister, has been resolved. A Shia Arab, Jawad al Maliki, is the man. He has 30 days to appoint ministers and get going. The delay has been expensive, as many Sunni factions that are willing to negotiate peace deals, had no one to negotiate with. Until the new government is formed, a lot of people are putting a lot of plans, including reconstruction, on hold. They have to know who they will be dealing with for the next four years.

While Iraqis wait, U.S. troops have been chasing Islamic and Sunni Arab terrorists around. The terrorists have fewer and fewer places to hide. But the constant action has doubled the death rate for American troops (from last month). Several hundred terrorists have been killed or wounded, and several senior al Qaeda and Sunni Arab terrorist leaders were caught. In many ways, the Sunni Arab terrorists are more lethal than the al Qaeda groups. Most of the Sunni Arab groups are remnants of Saddam Hussein's security forces. These fellows have lots of blood on their hands, and fear retribution, either in the form of war crimes trials, or simply revenge from the kin of the many people they killed. Vengeful Kurds and Shia Arabs know exactly who they are looking for, as Saddam's thugs never hid their identities. So the desperate thugs go on killing, in hopes of getting an amnesty deal. But to make a deal, they need someone to deal with. That won't happen until the new government is in place. In the beginning of the year, American commanders held their fire, but then it was decided to keep going with the anti-terrorist operations, as it appeared that the Iraqis were deadlocked on forming a new government. So May will be a bloody month as well.

Meanwhile, members of the pro-Iran Badr militia are showing up in the northern oil city of Kirkuk. That's odd, because Shia Arabs are a small minority up there, where the most numerous groups are Kurds and Sunni Arabs (plus Turks and Iraqi Christians.) In Kirkuk, Kurdish civilians continue to move back to the city, and, with the assistance of Kurdish militias, try to force out Sunni Arabs moved in over the last two decades by Saddam (who forced out the Kurds who are now returning.) American troops and Iraqi police will interfere with blatant attempts at ethnic cleansing, but it goes on anyway, just more slowly, quietly and sort of out of sight. The Kurds want to make Kirkuk, and all its oil (some $30 billion worth a year), part of the Kurdish controlled north. Ultimately, that has to be decided by the Iraqi parliament, and the Kurds are ready to deal on this point. The Sunni Arabs see themselves as the big losers, because the rest of Iraq's oil is in the south, where Shia Arabs are very much the majority, and in control.

While the Kurds lust after Kirkuk, they are being threatened by the Turkish and Iranian armies. That's because of Kurdish support for PKK radical nationalists. The Kurdish government in the north has tolerated the presence of several thousand PKK fighters. The PKK is fighting for "Greater Kurdistan" (including southeast Turkey, northern Iraq, parts of Iran and Syria.) This sort of thing is very popular with most Kurds, thus the Kurdish leaders feel they cannot crack down on the PKK (as the U.S. and Turkey constantly demand). This year, the PKK has been very active just across the border in Turkey and Iran, attacking police and army units. The Turks and Iranians are fighting back. There are already over 2,000 Turkish troops inside Iraq. This sort of presence has been tolerated for years, as long as the Turks were just looking for PKK camps in remote areas. But the Turks have over 50,000 troops on the border, and appear ready to expand their operations in northern Iraq. Meanwhile, to the east. Iranian troops are moving to the border, and Iranian artillery is being fired into Iraq, at areas believed occupied by the PKK.

The Kurdish government in northern Iraq basically tells the PKK, "you're on your own." But if the Turks and Iranians do serious damage to the PKK (by finding and destroying many of the PKK camps, which are often disguised as civilian villages), many of the PKK fighters will just flee to Kurdish government controlled areas and blend into the civilian population (the PKK gunmen don't wear uniforms). This would tempt the Turks to just keep going. The Turkish army has been fighting, and defeating, Kurdish irregulars for centuries. No big deal. Many Turks believe that northern Iraq really belongs to Turkey (it was taken away from defeated Turkey after World War I, so that Turkey would not have access to the newly discovered oil in the area.) Iraq does not want to give up the north, but they cannot defeat Turkish troops. Only the U.S. can. For the moment, the Americans are telling the Turks to stick to hunting  PKK, and forget about lost provinces. For the moment, anyway.

[Shammu]

Head of visitor tracking program wants global ID system

By Jonathan Marino
jmarino@govexec.com
The head of the Homeland Security Department's visitor tracking program on Tuesday called for the creation of a "global ID management system" to make travel easier while enhancing security.

Jim Williams, director of the US VISIT program within DHS, told attendees of the National Business Travel Association's annual meeting he is aware of the plight of the business traveler. Even he, despite his senior position in the department, once found himself temporarily unable to board a plane because he shared the name of an individual on a terrorist watch list, he said.

Williams said he wants to join forces with several DHS agencies to develop a global identification system that would cut wait times, reduce government fees for travelers, fight illegal immigration and, perhaps paramount, better defend nations from terrorists.

The US VISIT chief, who already oversees identity inquiries for nearly every visitor who enters the United States, said a worldwide identification system will better link nations in the fight against terrorism. In his speech, he likened al Qaeda operatives and sleeper cells - including the ones that attacked on 9/11 - to "submarines" that must surface to kill.

"In order for them to do what they want to do, they have to travel," Williams said.

He did not specify when, or how, the proposed global program would be implemented.

Williams suggested that a biometrics identification system might be used to better track travelers to the United States. A similar program is being tested in Great Britain, where such physical characteristics as fingerprints or iris scans are being tied to national identification cards. Proponents say it can cut the odds of success for immigration fraud.

Any program that can successfully ease both financial burdens and wait times for travelers will be welcomed with open arms, said Hank Roeder, vice president of global operations for the National Business Travel Association.

In his speech, Williams said an American version of the global ID plan would likely require the cooperation of US VISIT, the Customs and Border Protection bureau, the Transportation Safety Administration and U.S. Customs and Immigration Services, all under the DHS umbrella.

A TSA official declined to comment, saying the agency has no knowledge of the proposed plan. CBP and CIS could not be reached for comment.

[Shammu]

Iranian envoy asks U.N. to stop U.S. threats

Monday, May 1, 2006; Posted: 7:38 p.m. EDT (23:38 GMT)

TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- Iran's ambassador to the United Nations has urged U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan and the U.N. Security Council to stop "Washington's illegal and impudent threats against Iran," the state-run Iranian news agency IRNA reported.

Later in the day, the United Nations acknowledged having received the letter.

"U.S. officials are impudently threatening Iran with use of force in blatant contravention of international law and the basic principles of United Nations Charter," Mohammad Javad Zarif said in the letter.

"U.S. threats against Iran have found new dimension to the extent that U.S. dailies are publishing stories about possibility of aggression on Iran and whether the U.S. would use nuclear arms against Iran and the U.S. officials do not reject such stories," the letter said.

The letter quoted U.S. President George W. Bush as saying in a media conference on April 18, 2006, in response to a question whether the U.S. would initiate a nuclear attack against Iran, that "all options are on the table."

Zarif said that U.S. threats to initiate a nuclear attack against Iran also had jeopardized the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

He called for immediate action by U.N. Security Council to stop U.S. threats against Iran.

Iranian envoy asks U.N. to stop U.S. threats

[Shammu]

California Senate votes to support immigration boycott

By CLEA BENSON
Sacramento Bee
27-APR-06

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The state Senate on Thursday affirmed its support of a boycott of schools and jobs planned by immigration activists for Monday, even as education officials and other public figures urged California students to go to school that day.

Senators approved a resolution officially recognizing the nationwide protest, which will include rallies in cities throughout California and the United States.

Boycott organizers are speaking out against federal legislation that would make it a felony to be in the United States illegally and in favor of bills that would enable many immigrants to establish legal residency here.

The protests have sparked controversy, in part because organizers are asking students to stay out of school. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and California Schools Superintendent Jack O'Connell, both Democrats, have publicly urged parents to send their children to school Monday.

Sen. Dave Cox, R-Fair Oaks, opposed the resolution.

"It is irresponsible for this Legislature to advise that students stay out of school for any reason, especially since there are viable alternatives," he said.

Cox said students could protest during hours when they were not required to be in school.

Senate Concurrent Resolution 113, by Sen. Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles, does not specifically ask workers and students to stay home, but says the boycott "is to educate people in California and across the United States about the tremendous contribution immigrants make on a daily basis to our society and economy."

Romero said it was important for the Senate to support the boycott.

"I ask us to simply recognize the existence of new Americans," she said.

The measure passed the Senate by a party-line vote of 24-13 after about 45 minutes of impassioned debate.

Sen. Martha Escutia, D-Whittier, recalled how her grandfather came to the United States from Mexico legally in the 1940s under a guest worker program, but illegally overstayed his work permit. Though he was in the United States illegally, he was always able to find someone to hire him, she said.

"That happened in the 1940s," Escutia said. "It still happens today in the 2000s. . . . Perhaps we ought to recognize the great American secret. We all rely on the labor of someone who is here illegally, and in essence we all become co-conspirators."

Sen. Tom McClintock, R-Thousand Oaks, said he opposed policies that would make it easier for illegal immigrants to stay in the United States.

"Blurring the distinction between legal and illegal immigration is an insult to the millions of legal immigrants who right now are obeying our laws, doing everything we ask of them, who are waiting in line to become Americans helplessly as millions and millions of people cut in line in front of them," he said.

The Assembly did not vote on the resolution.

California Senate votes to support immigration boycott

[Shammu]

 Iran vows to crush any provocation at borders
Tehran, May 2, IRNA

Iran-Borders-Security
Deputy Commander of Iran's Armed Forces Joint Chief of Staff for Cultural and Defense Affairs Brigadier General Alireza Afshar said here Monday that all provocations at Iran's borders will be dealt with heavily.

The Armed Forces Joint Chief of Staff quoted Afshari as saying there had been some incidents in certain areas at the borders and some innocent Iranians had been unfairly targeted and killed.

"We cannot be indifferent to these incidents," he added.

The bandits, who have help from certain people, will not be allowed to transgress Iran's borders and carry out terrorist activities inside the country, the deputy commander added.

He further said the armed forces remains vigilant and prepared to monitor activities of criminal elements and will act decisively in cases of provocation.

Last week, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi reaffirmed the country's commitment to the international campaign against terrorism.

Asefi was speaking in reaction to news of certain terrorist groups actively operating near Iran's border with Iraq.

"Certain terrorist groups intend to cause insecurity on the borders of the two countries by taking advantage of the ineffective control over the area and possible support from foreign forces deployed in Iraq to undertake operations," he said.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran has adopted measures to fight such moves in line with efforts to defend national security and within the framework of bilateral accords already reached with Iraq," Asefi added.

"Iran will not allow any cross-border operation of any terrorist group against Iranian or Iraqi interests consistent with their commitment to the international campaign against terrorism," Asefi said.

Iran vows to crush any provocation at borders

[Shammu]

EU Urges U.S. to Press Moscow for Predictable Energy Supplies

Created: 30.04.2006 15:28 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 15:28 MSK

MosNews

The European Union urged the United States on Saturday to join it in pressing for open energy markets and more democracy in Russia when the world’s leading industrial powers meet in St Petersburg in July, Reuters reported.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told a transatlantic conference that the 25-nation EU and Washington should press Moscow to create free market conditions and legal certainty to guarantee predictable energy supplies.

Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried said Washington was ready to work with Europe to promote an open, commercially based and non-political energy regime.

“We need to enhance our external cooperation and create the necessary market conditions and legal framework in those producers or transit countries on which the world economies count for their energy supply,” Barroso told the Brussels Forum.

“We can no longer afford, nor should we accept, the unpredictability of the energy market,” he said. Moscow’s abrupt cut in supplies to and through Ukraine in January over a pricing dispute sparked alarm across Europe.

His comments capped a week in which Russia has threatened to divert gas supplies from Europe to Asia if EU countries shut its giant monopoly supplier Gazprom out of their retail markets.

Fried told a news conference: “We want to work with Europe to advance our common interest in an energy regime in Eurasia which is open, which is commercially based, not politically based, which is allows for multiple sources of energy, so there is no one single source in one party’s hands.”

Republican Senator John McCain, a possible presidential contender, said Washington should be tougher on what he called President Vladimir Putin’s autocratic rule and “some perverted vision of a restoration of the Soviet empire.”

“In all the days of the Soviet Union, Russia never turned off the spigot of gas. Putin did,” McCain told an International Republican Institute lunch attended by Barroso.

The EU Commission president said Moscow had been a reliable energy supplier in the past and had an interest in secure demand from the EU and also in European investment, technology and know-how to get oil and gas out of the ground.

He criticized Moscow for refusing to ratify an international energy charter treaty that would force it to open its pipeline network to third-party suppliers.

It was up to Russians to decide whether they wanted “a real democracy or a half-democracy,” the head of the EU executive said. The quality of Europe’s relations with Moscow would depend on that choice.

Barroso highlighted European concern at perceived efforts by Putin to use energy as an instrument of power politics with its neighbors and partners.

“We are seeing more frequently the use of energy resources as an instrument of political coercion,” the Commission chief said, without explicitly naming Moscow.

“Together, the EU and the United States must send a clear signal on the need for a paradigm shift on energy.”

The EU, depending on Russia for a quarter of its gas, is concerned that Moscow is keeping its pipeline network closed to competition, extending its network control westwards through Ukraine and Belarus, and trying to monopolize pipeline access to Central Asian gas supplies, notably in Turkmenistan.

The Kremlin is also resisting moves by Brussels to apply its strict competition policy to long-term Russian gas supply contracts to EU countries.

Gazprom is seeking to enter the retail sector in Western Europe, eyeing the British supplier Centrica and investments in Germany, without relinquishing its domestic grip.

EU Urges U.S. to Press Moscow for Predictable Energy Supplies

My note; I love this, first they slam us and fine America 9. something billion?. Now they want America to help them out.

[Shammu]

Putin, Bush Discuss Iran

Created: 01.05.2006 21:16 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 21:16 MSK, 17 hours 53 minutes ago

MosNews

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his U.S. counterpart George Bush have discussed Iran’s nuclear problem.

The telephone talks took place at Bush’s request, a statement made by the Kremlin was cited by AP. The two sides “discussed interaction on urgent international problems, including the Iranian nuclear issue, on which numerous consultations at various levels are to be held in the coming days,” it said.

Putin and Bush also expressed satisfaction with bilateral counter terrorist cooperation. “In light of preparation for a summit in St.Petersburg in July this year, the heads of state discussed issues on the bilateral agenda,” the statement said. “Stress was made on progress in counter terrorist cooperation.”

Putin, Bush Discuss Iran

[Shammu]

OSU librarian faced book banners before
'Marketing of Evil' advocate falsely accused by 'gays' at previous school
Posted: May 2, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern

By Walter Skold
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

The Ohio State University librarian formally accused of "sexual harassment" for recommending freshmen be required to read WND Managing Editor David Kupelian's controversial best seller "The Marketing of Evil," says his ordeal was not the first time he's been accused of discrimination by homosexual faculty members.

Scott Savage of OSU's Mansfield campus confirmed to WorldNetDaily that when he served at Lakeland Community College in Ohio the school's Diversity Committee accused him and other librarians in 2004 of creating a "hostile environment" because they allowed display of the book "A Parent's Guide to Preventing Homosexuality," by Joseph Nicolosi.

Nicolosi is a clinical psychologist who believes, based on his research, homosexuality is a disorder than can be cured.

"Thank God we had a dean who put her foot down immediately and said, 'I am standing with my librarians,'" said Savage.

He believes the issue was settled because library directors and his dean, Marilyn Jones, presented a strong front against the complaints, which they felt were baseless.

"The administration didn't dare do anything wrong that time since the Wall Street Journal had just run an opinion piece against them" for mistreatment of a Catholic professor at Lakeland, Savage said, referring to a story covered by WorldNetDaily.

Addressing the recent controversy, Savage, head of reference and instructional services at Mansfield's Bromfield library, says he decided to fight back when the university administration and faculty took the side of attacking free speech, not defending it.

He recently was cleared by the school of harassment charges made by several faculty members for recommending four conservative books to read for a freshman seminar. The Arizona-based non-profit legal group Alliance Defense Fund had threatened to sue if the university did not drop the charges.

In the 2004 minutes of Lakeland's Diversity Committee meetings obtained by WorldNetDaily, which did not include full names, a member named Maureen said the Nicolosi book should not be in the collection because "it could create a hostile environment."

A member named "Rich" commented the phrase "'hostile environment' is legal lingo for sexual harassment."

Another member contended display of the book violated the 14th Amendment.

"They thought that somehow civil rights laws would trump 1st Amendment rights," confirmed Savage, who sat in meetings with several Diversity Committee members who insisted the book be removed from display and the library collection.

"That is so common on the left," he remarked. "If something goes against somebody's feelings then it can even supersede the Constitution."

In response to the complaints, the Lakeland minutes show unidentified members of the library staff accused opponents of Nicolosi's book of being book burners and reminded them it would violate the Library Bill of Rights to remove books from the shelves.

Paragraph two of that document says, "Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval."

In both cases, at Lakeland and at OSU Mansfield, critics associated defenders of the "anti-gay" books with supporters of racism and violence against African-Americans.

Christopher Phelps, an OSU faculty member willing to go on record in an April 14 article for Inside Higher Ed, said "The Marketing of Evil" was a "ludicrous book to select and the idea that a chief reference librarian would be proposing a book full of homophobic nonsense was deeply disturbing to the faculty."

He added: "If the book [Savage] had proposed was a Klan title promoting the inferiority of African-Americans, would anyone be questioning the anger of the faculty?"

Similarly, the 2004 Lakeland transcripts show a committee member claiming display of the Nicolosi book created a double standard because "it is legitimate to target gays," while the library would "never display a book about killing blacks."

Savage, who charges leaders of his own profession for failing to come to his aid this time, said he was encouraged because an editorial last week in the Columbus Dispatch will "do more to embarrass school officials" than anything outsiders could do.

"College shouldn't be about walking on eggshells," the unsigned editorial said.

"Ideally, it should be a time of uninhibited intellectual exploration. It should be about reading 'bad' books and affirming or debunking them. It should be about boisterous debate."

The Dispatch called it a "shame" that Evelyn Freeman, OSU's dean of the campus, needed to remind faculty members that a university is supposed to create "an atmosphere where students, staff and faculty are free to express opinions and where different points of view are not only tolerated, but welcomed."

As for his profession's own leaders, Savage said he has come to the conclusion if the American Library Association won't stand up for anti-communist librarians in Cuba, referring to a WND story, "I'm not holding my breath anymore that they'll stand up for allegedly 'anti-gay' me."

"If it weren't for Alliance Defense Fund and similar organizations on the right, I would simply be out of a job and smeared for life as a "sexual harasser," he said.

Savage admitted, however, he has not filed a complaint or sought help from anyone at the American Library Association's Office of Intellectual Freedom, or OIF. He also said he refused to speak to a reporter who called from Library Journal magazine, because he didn't believe the publication would do a fair job covering his story.

Judith Krug, the longtime head of the OIF, told WorldNetDaily that even if Savage had called, her office probably would not have intervened in what she characterized as a faculty issue that was "not yet legally ripe" for OIF action.

Savage was being charged for something done as a member of a faculty committee, she explained, and not because of something he did while performing library duties, such as book selection. She called the controversy "an institutional selection process issue" best handled by the university and Savage's lawyers.

Krug, who asked, nevertheless, how the Savage case was turning out, said her office could never take the initiative to get involved in the huge number of faculty disputes on American campuses each year.

"Sticking my nose into [the faculty's] business would have been inappropriate," she said.

Another academic librarian, who sometimes has criticized Krug's office for a perceived "left-wing" bias, agreed, in off-the-record comments, Krug technically was correct about the distinction between academic issues and library matters.

He added, however, that because Savage's case revolves around a librarian being attacked for recommending a book, this brought the controversy to a whole new level that merits official ALA attention.

Savage told WorldNetDaily he still is "waiting and praying" about filing a lawsuit, pending the outcome of a countercharge of harassment he filed against the accusing professors.

Savage, a Quaker who also runs an organic farm, said there was a misconception that people of his faith were not permitted to use the courts to seek redress in certain situations.

Also, it still is not too late for Savage to file a formal complaint with the ALA's Office of Intellectual Freedom, which offers citizens and librarians an official form so it can document challenges against books and take action if warranted.

WorldNetDaily found that the Association of College and Research Libraries' official weblog has mentioned Savage's case, but editors said no one on ACRL staff could comment on it officially on behalf of the professional group.

When the story broke, one ACRL-blogger, Steven Bell, asked, "Shouldn't having faculty status give librarians the right to express unpopular views or to recommend controversial or conservative books for community reading programs without fear of retaliation? Or must we be deferential to teaching faculty for fear that we will offend them?"

Cont'd next post.