Colleagues

The video speaks for itself: observe the semiauto pistol, the tone and the attitude of trhe UN security guard and the admin assistants, in dealing with a Journalist who asked prof Schneider of Stanford an inconvenient question on the ongoing Climategate scandal.

I also give a short summary on the Climategate scandal [you won't get a good, two sided summary from BBC, CNN et al I assure you], and give links on where to go for more. [If the video does not come up, go to the linked blog post.]

All the best

G

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http://kairosfocus.blogspot.com/2009/12/matt-24-watch-93-prof-schneider-of.html

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Matt 24 Watch, 93: Prof Schneider of Stanford and "inconvenient" Climategate questions

Over the past few weeks I have been offline, visiting with relatives in a remote area.

However, while I was away, a scandal now known as Climategate has brewed up, in which it seems most likely a Whistleblower and/or hackers have pulled up thousands of emails and documents from the University of East Anglia University's Climate Research Unit [a main global centre for climate research and a champion of the man-made global warming school of thought], through raiding a server.

Those emails and associated documents -- now more or less validated by the university and several leading news organisations such as BBC and New York Times -- raise troubling questions on data timeline distortion, suppression of conflicts among data sources, manipulation of the peer review process to suppress publication of articles by scientists who are not of climate alarmist bent, attempts to discredit such, and general cherry-picking of evidence presented to policy makers and the media. Examination of some of the leaked computer code that processes the climate data to generate global temperature timelines raises troubling issues on injection of bias and on general poor processing. This, in addition to longstanding questions on the quality of the data from too many weather stations worldwide, and on key proxies such as tree ring width.

Wikipedia has a helpful first look summary page, with onward links; but stresses the "stolen emails being investigated" angle rather than the issues at stake exposed by the apparent whistleblower and his or her hacker colleagues. It also gives main and perhaps undue emphasis to the rebuttals being issued, only giving sketchy notes on what the skeptics are saying, without detailing the whys and wherefores behind their objections. So, it is appropriate to link to Lord Christopher Monckton of the UK, who has a blistering summary from his "I have been vindicated" climate skeptic perspective. Also, the discussion on the ethics and issues of whistleblowing here will give some balance on the "stolen emails" issue. Christopher Booker's Nov 28 review in the UK Daily Telegraph on the exposed science scandal will also bear perusal. The Climate-gate.org site has a search-able compilation of the leaked documents, and the original zip -- which cannot easily be accessed from Wikipedia -- is here. Pajamas media TV has significant video coverage etc here.

In short, on the eve of the Copenhagen summit on climate trends and responses, some serious questions are now on the table about he core scientific "consensus." [NB: From various sources, it seems the leakers had communicated the 61 MB clutch of information to major news organisations a month before it was placed on a Server in Russia and announced to the Internet. But, no major news organisation acted on the information, and it took weeks for many news houses to do news stories, too many of which were of the "nothing to see here, move along," genre.)

While I have followed the net news and have compiled a collection of files for future reference, I have been too busy to directly comment.

But now, we can see an even more troubling incident, where a prof Schneider of Stanford has his staff call armed UN security to threaten and expel a legitimate journalist from a news conference; having just asserted [without evidence] that the leaked emails -- in which he prominently featured --were "redacted":



We need to reflect on what is happening to public dialogue on serious issues that affect our whole world.

And, we need to think about what is happening to the public mind when major media houses and institutions as well as a wide cross section of the public support or are tolerant of such strong arm censorship tactics in the cause of agendas they favour. END posted by Gordon @ 5:52 AM

Colleagues:

Greetings at Advent!

It seems increasingly likely that we now have an organised rebuttal effort by members of the Buckland secularism advocacy group that announced itself through a letter to the Gleaner on November 5 2009.

I haver had to address a follow up anonymous remark in the Kairosfocus blog, and that appears below. (Of course, if one has to take up a defense in one's own base, s/he will be held back from dealing with other matters elsewhere; so let us not underestimate the potential or significance of an organised holding attack. Indeed, I have just had to spend a fair amount of time on this; which would otherwise have gone to more useful (and urgent) matters elsewhere. But, I trust our Daddy will only permit their boss in such if He has a way to turn evils to good.)

DV, within a few days, I will be posting my Christmas present post.

G

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http://kairosfocus.blogspot.com/2009/12/matt-24-watch-94-developing-exchange.html

Monday, December 21, 2009

Matt 24 watch, 94: A developing exchange over the Alfred Buckland accusations in the Gleaner of Jamaica

Some weeks ago, an anonymous commenter posted to the comments in this blog a copy of the now notorious new Atheism-influenced November 5, 2009 Alfred Buckland letter to the Gleaner, on "A time to fight religious dogma."

I responded to the letter, as appears below, as an appendix to this post. (NB: Blogger has a new "feature"/bug that truncates comments at a rather short length. So, to be sure this comment gets through, I have "promoted" it.)

Now, a follow-up anonymous comment has been submitted [evidently from a supporter of Mr Buckland], which appears just below:

__________________

Anonymous comment submitted Sun, 20 December, 2009 17:08:33

>>Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "A comment in response to remarks at Barbados Under...":

Much is to be said for the systematic manner in which you took apart Buckland's latter, though the spirit of it, I can definitely embrace.

Perhaps after all's been written here about the evils of secular humanism, you need to take a look at some of the most secular countries in the world and see where they fall regarding quality and standard of living as well as the levels oc crime. Sweden for example, is 85% atheist. Take a look at the kind of society the citizens are forced to endure. Conversely, the most religious nations on the planet are usually the most corrupt with criminal activity going off the charts.

Superstition and religion go hand in hand, two sides of the same coin. And with Jamaica's reputation of one of the most churched nations in the world, one has to wonder what good it has done for the citizens, many of whom believe their troubles are caused by demons. And at the beginning of each year, one of the major daily papers prints the year ahead at a glance as seen by several self-styled prophets and apostles. The Gleaner publishes these prognostications as though they were news items, and makes no attempt at the end of each year to publish its success or failure rate.

The prognosticators have, since last year, posted a disclaimer on God's behalf, to cover their righteous behinds when their prophecies fall flat. Shame on the Gleaner. >>

___________________

I will respond on points:


++++++++++++

Much is to be said for the systematic manner in which you took apart Buckland's latter, though the spirit of it, I can definitely embrace.

a --> In short, we are here evidently dealing with a supporter of or a spokesman for Mr Buckland's group or its ideas and agendas.

Perhaps after all's been written here about the evils of secular humanism, you need to take a look at some of the most secular countries in the world and see where they fall regarding quality and standard of living as well as the levels o[f] crime. Sweden for example, is 85% atheist. Take a look at the kind of society the citizens are forced to endure.

b --> Neatly omitted: Sweden is an historic Christian country, which still benefits from the deep benefits of the Judaeo-Christian tradition; fading though they be. And, fading precisely because of the inherent amorality of evolutionary materialist secular humanism and its horrendous long-term implications for the moral order of our civilisation [e.g. cf. the 50 millions dead in the ongoing abortion holocaust in the USA, a holocaust that is directly attributable to the dominance of such secularism among the intellectual elites of that nation]. So, it is worth the while to excerpt the just linked analysis and warning by Hawthorne:

Assume (per impossibile) that atheistic naturalism [= evolutionary materialism] is true. Assume, furthermore, that one can't infer an 'ought' from an 'is' [the 'is' being in this context physicalist: matter-energy, space- time, chance and mechanical forces]. (Richard Dawkins and many other atheists should grant both of these assumptions.) Given our second assumption, there is no description of anything in the natural world from which we can infer an 'ought'. And given our first assumption, there is nothing that exists over and above the natural world; the natural world is all that there is. It follows logically that, for any action you care to pick, there's no description of anything in the natural world from which we can infer that one ought to refrain from performing that action. Add a further uncontroversial assumption: an action is permissible if and only if it's not the case that one ought to refrain from performing that action. (This is just the standard inferential scheme for formal deontic logic.) We've conformed to standard principles and inference rules of logic and we've started out with assumptions that atheists have conceded in print. And yet we reach the absurd conclusion: therefore, for any action you care to pick, it's permissible to perform that action. If you'd like, you can take this as the meat behind the slogan 'if atheism is true, all things are permitted'. For example if atheism is true, every action Hitler performed was permissible. Many atheists don't like this consequence of their worldview. But they cannot escape it and insist that they are being logical at the same time.

Now, we all know that at least some actions are really not permissible (for example, racist actions). Since the conclusion of the argument denies this, there must be a problem somewhere in the argument. Could the argument be invalid? No. The argument has not violated a single rule of logic and all inferences were made explicit. Thus we are forced to deny the truth of one of the assumptions we started out with. That means we either deny atheistic naturalism or (the more intuitively appealing) principle that one can't infer 'ought' from 'is' [except in the case where the IS is the Creator-God who grounds the moral order of the cosmos in his character.] . [Emphases and bracketed comments added.]

c --> Such benefits include that Sweden was able to participate in the rise of modern liberty and democracy [as was mentioned in my response to Mr Buckland], which grew in reformation soil; thus also from the massive cultural ethical renewal that was one of he long-term consequences of the Reformation of 500 years ago.

d --> If we were to contrast the past century's history of Sweden's neighbour [and actually historic daughter country, as Russia was founded by the Rus, the eastern vikings] and its current consequences from more radical de-Christianisation efforts taht particularly sought to root out Judaeo-Christian ethics, we see the result: chaos, crime and corruption.

Conversely, the most religious nations on the planet . . .

e --> Anonymous here falls into the exact error that Mr Buckand did by using the blanket label "religion", so I excerpt my earlier remarks under point 1:

Strictly, the generic term "religion" is far too broad to make any such confident broad-brush assertions; i.e. -- ironically -- this immediately reveals a deep hostility and prejudice driven by a lack of critical awareness and precision of thought. However, since Jamaica's history was as a matter of fact deeply shaped by especially Protestant, dissenter, Bible-citing Christians, this seems the primary target for Mr Buckland's ire.

Secondly, since the author in question is presumably not "religious" the fallacies in his opening paragraph as just pointed out immediately entail that "religion" cannot be THE "source of the lack of critical thinking and the inability to analyse situations and formulate viable solutions to the nation's problems."

(Lack of critical thinking capacity IS a problem, but it is a general one; and, it appears even on the part of evolutionary materialistic secular humanists. So, perhaps, it traces not to "religion" but to the enormous capacity of humans for self-deception and blindness, once our prejudices and sentiments are in play on a matter. Indeed, that seems to be why Aristotle in his The Rhetoric warned us that our judgements when we are pleased and friendly are very different from those we make when we are pained and hostile. And "pained and hostile" precisely describes the tone of the letter in question.)

In fact, Jamaica's problems -- which are legion -- have very little to do with the Christian beliefs and general moral sentiments of most of that nation's population. Indeed, most of the major criminal and moral challenges in the nation arise from the minority who by their actions reject and flout the key principle of neighbour love that drives Judaeo-Christian morality.

Further, as Mr Buckland has just demonstrated, lack of critical thinking ability has more to do with a lack of balanced education and habituation in fair-minded critical thinking skills -- a widespread problem in our region and well beyond it -- rather than specifically being "religious."

f --> Further to this, within the Judaeo-Christian tradition, the well known anecdotal evidence, strongly backed up by serious social science studies, is that there is a sharp difference between religious identification and the results of religious commitment, manifested in serious, consistent, long-term involvement in discipleship related activities.

g --> As classic story by Jesse Jackson more or less puts it, if you were in a rough part of town and suddenly saw four stropping young men headed your way, you would be greatly relieved to learn that they were coming out of a Bible Study rather than a gang meeting or a bar.

. . . the most religious nations on the planet are usually the most corrupt with criminal activity going off the charts.

h --> religious of course is being used far too genraically, and in the defiance of the obvious evidence as just pointed out ont eh difference between nominal religious identity and actual discipleship.

i --> So, the essence of the assertion is that Jamaica in particular is in urgent need of repentance, renewal, revival and reformation; which is not news.

Superstition and religion go hand in hand, two sides of the same coin.

j --> A patent falsehood and a bigoted, irresponsible blanket rhetorical declaration of the assumption that religiously based worldviews are all ill-founded prejudices.

k --> As I pointed out in replying to Mr Buckland [as appended], the commenter has no epistemic right to such an assertion without taking time to examine the live option worldview alternatives and especially their key warranting arguments on comparative difficultties across factual adequacy, coherence and explanatory power.

l --> I suggest that on the Christian worldview, s/ he should take time to consult the implications of the AD 55 eyewitness lifetime primary source record here (and the associated life-transforming experience of the millions across 2,000 years who have encountered God in the face of the crucified and risen Christ through the gospel; including many thousands of his/her neighbours all across the Caribbean), as well as discussions by men like professor Yamauchi here and professor Evans here. The 2006 Craig - Ehrman debate (transcript here) between two men at the top of their game, should give a balanced view. This debate (mp3) between professors Craig and Ludemann is also illuminating. [The DVD of the follow-up debate is here.]

And with Jamaica's reputation of one of the most churched nations in the world, one has to wonder what good it has done for the citizens,

m --> Plainly, the commenter has simply not bothered to listen to the stories of many, many thousands of our fellow citizens who will testify in abundant details on just what good their Christian faith has done for them

many of whom believe their troubles are caused by demons.

n --> Maybe, because they have had a bit more experience of dimensions of reality that a skeptical commenter who has not had to explicitly grapple with the reality of demonisation [cf. the remarks of THE expert on the subject in the Gospels!] simply dismisses without serious examination.

And at the beginning of each year, one of the major daily papers prints the year ahead at a glance as seen by several self-styled prophets and apostles.

o --> Which is of course something that is wrong and foolish.

The Gleaner publishes these prognostications as though they were news items, and makes no attempt at the end of each year to publish its success or failure rate.

p --> That is, the Gleaner plainly publishes them as entertainment.

The prognosticators have, since last year, posted a disclaimer on God's behalf, to cover their righteous behinds when their prophecies fall flat. Shame on the Gleaner.

q --> It is worth the while to cite the advice of the apostle Paul on the specific subject:

1 Thess 5 ¹⁹Do not put out the Spirit's fire; ²⁰do not treat prophecies with contempt. ²¹Test everything. Hold on to the good. ²²Avoid every kind of evil.

r --> And, that of Moshe:

Deut 18:⁹ When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. ¹⁰ Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in ^[a] the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, ¹¹ or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. ¹² Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD, and because of these detestable practices the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you. ¹³ You must be blameless before the LORD your God.

The Prophet

¹⁴ The nations you will dispossess listen to those who practice sorcery or divination. But as for you, the LORD your God has not permitted you to do so. ¹⁵ The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him. ¹⁶ For this is what you asked of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, "Let us not hear the voice of the LORD our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die."

¹⁷ The LORD said to me: "What they say is good. ¹⁸ I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. ¹⁹ If anyone does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name, I myself will call him to account. ²⁰ But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded him to say, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, must be put to death."

²¹ You may say to yourselves, "How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the LORD ?" ²² If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the LORD does not take place or come true, that is a message the LORD has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him.

s --> By sharp contrast, the commenter and onlookers are invited to reflect on the following key case of a Biblical prophecy, from Isaiah 52 - 53, made c. 700+ BC, and fulfilled in the life, death and resurrection of our Lord; and which is ever so relevant at Christmas time, hiterto the season of goodwill and celebration:

Isaiah 52:13-53:12 (New International Version)

The Suffering and Glory of the Servant

¹³ See, my servant will act wisely ^a]">[a] ;
he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.

¹⁴ Just as there were many who were appalled at him ^b]">[b]—
his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man
and his form marred beyond human likeness—

¹⁵ so will he sprinkle many nations, ^c]">[c]
and kings will shut their mouths because of him.
For what they were not told, they will see,
and what they have not heard, they will understand.

Isaiah 53

¹ Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

² He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

³ He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
Like one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

⁴ Surely he took up our infirmities
and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted.

⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.

⁶ We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

⁷ He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before her shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.

⁸ By oppression ^d]">[d] and judgment he was taken away.
And who can speak of his descendants?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was stricken. ^e]">[e]

⁹ He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.

¹⁰ Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the LORD makes ^f]">[f] his life a guilt offering,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.

¹¹ After the suffering of his soul,
he will see the light of life ^g]">[g] and be satisfied ^h]">[h] ;
by his knowledge ^i]">[i] my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities.

¹² Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, ^j]">[j]
and he will divide the spoils with the strong, ^k]">[k]
because he poured out his life unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.

t --> Have we not instead noticed how in recent years, it has now become routine that at Christmas time [and other major Christian festivals], we see a strident attack on the Christian faith in our region as well as in the wider civilisation?

u --> Does this not speak volumes on a deep-rooted hostility, and how deeply those who adhere to it are embedded in our media culture?

v --> And, does that not then suggest that he complaints on how Christianity is being promoted in the media are actually meant to push for the exclusion of the Christian perspective from the public eye and education system; as we now see with the routine lawsuits to prevent the public inthe United States -- where Mr Buckland is based -- from seeing signs, monuments and reminders that reflect their Christian heritage?

w --> Is that what we want in our region? [I rather doubt it.]

+++++++++++

In short, we again see a very familiar skeptic's rhetorical pattern, the trifecta combination fallacy that brings together distraction, distortion and polarising demonisation.

But, red herrings dragged across the track of responsible and civil addressing of issues and led away to caricatured strawmern soaked in ad hominem demonisaitons and ignited to cloud, confuse, poison and polarise the atmosphere do very little to promote either truth or a positive community.

Surely, Mr Buckland and friends can do better than this! END

_____________

APPENDIX:

Rebuttal of the Alfred Buckand letter (emphases added):

++++++++++++

The Anonymous commenter above has given us access to a letter by a Mr Buckland in the Jamaica Gleaner. Thus s/he has provided us an important service.

That letter from Atlanta, which was published in Jamaica's leading newspaper, the Gleaner, is deeply troubling and revealing on how the new atheism and radical evolutionary materialist secular humanism that pervade western culture are now invading our region.

I must therefore comment on the above, snipping out some pivotal excerpts:

1] Buckland: We are all aware that religion has established a firm footing in the Jamaican public space, is embedded in the Jamaican psyche, and is the source of the lack of critical thinking and the inability to analyse situations and formulate viable solutions to the nation's problems.

Strictly, the generic term "religion" is far too broad to make any such confident broad-brush assertions; i.e. -- ironically -- this immediately reveals a deep hostility and prejudice driven by a lack of critical awareness and precision of thought. However, since Jamaica's history was as a matter of fact deeply shaped by especially Protestant, dissenter, Bible-citing Christians, this seems the primary target for Mr Buckland's ire.

Secondly, since the author in question is presumably not "religious" the fallacies in his opening paragraph as just pointed out immediately entail that "religion" cannot be THE "source of the lack of critical thinking and the inability to analyse situations and formulate viable solutions to the nation's problems."

(Lack of critical thinking capacity IS a problem, but it is a general one; and, it appears even on the part of evolutionary materialistic secular humanists. So, perhaps, it traces not to "religion" but to the enormous capacity of humans for self-deception and blindness, once our prejudices and sentiments are in play on a matter. Indeed, that seems to be why Aristotle in his The Rhetoric warned us that our judgements when we are pleased and friendly are very different from those we make when we are pained and hostile. And "pained and hostile" precisely describes the tone of the letter in question.)

In fact, Jamaica's problems -- which are legion -- have very little to do with the Christian beliefs and general moral sentiments of most of that nation's population. Indeed, most of the major criminal and moral challenges in the nation arise from the minority who by their actions reject and flout the key principle of neighbour love that drives Judaeo-Christian morality.

Further, as Mr Buckland has just demonstrated, lack of critical thinking ability has more to do with a lack of balanced education and habituation in fair-minded critical thinking skills -- a widespread problem in our region and well beyond it -- rather than specifically being "religious."

So, the confident assertion "We are all aware that . . . " is simply a bold but fallacious declaration

2] for too long the media, unopposed, have aided and abetted the cause of religion by shoving primitive ideas and concepts as if they are incontrovertible facts down the throats of the ignorant, the illiterate and the gullible, controlling the populace and keeping them cowering in a state of fear of the wrath from an angry God.

Here Mr Buckland tries to tell the truth by the clock, revealing the underlying baneful influence of the modernist-secularist myth of progress. In fact, as Aristotle pointed out long ago in Metaphysics 1011b, the truth says of what is, that it is; and of what is not, that it is not.

Truth, proper, is therefore not progressive -- it is what it is, just as the reality that that which is true accurately describes is what it is. But we may at times approach closer, or at other times drift further away from that safe harbour.

Mr Buckland further labours under the mis-impression that "religion" is necessarily a matter of ignorance; revealing his prejudices.

Laying the point that Christian morality and ethics premised on the virtue of love under God is at least as good and as relevant a basis for practical affairs as any other moral principle, one wonders if he has say paused to analyse the force of the written testimony c. 55 AD in 1 Cor 15:1 - 11, on the foundational facts of the Christian Gospel as attested mid-30's AD by 500+ witnesses [none of whom is on record as recanting; not even in the face of lion, fire and sword], and whether he has for instance taken under notice summaries such as this one by Professor Edwin Yamauchi on the typical skeptical attempts to overturn that testimony and the underlying foundational fact of Jesus' resurrection from the dead as attested by 500+ witnesses; and as has led to 2,000 years of supernatural, blessing-working transforming power in millions of lives, and thousands of families and communities.

But, so far, that only addresses his claimed premises. Mr Buckland's main point here is to assert that the media of Jamaica [etc] are working to create a false sense of credibility for the "religion" he so despises, and to manipulate the public through fear of the -- one presumes, "mythical" -- God.

But, that God and the day of judgement in righteousness by the man God revealed by the resurrection from the dead are not matters to be so easily brushed aside by mere assertion or implication or pain-wracked angry rhetoric. And, it is far from true that the media in Jamaica or in most other places force-feed the public on a diet of blind adherence to religious myths. Instead, the evidence plainly supports a reasonable access to a free media environment, and the bookshops, magazine stands and Internet provide just a s free access to other views. In Jamaica, it so happens that the balance of that free play favours the predominantly Christian sentiments and views of the population, but that should not be surprising if the media are truly free in a community!

If there is any ideological force-feeding in our time and civlisation, on Mr Lewontin's notorious confession it traces to the increasing secular humanist, evolutionary materialist domination of institutional science and science education.

For, in our time, a time where science is often seen as the fountain-head of truth, a priori materialism is too often imposed on scientific work and conclusions; distorting the ability of science to find the truth about our world. (In short, Mr Buckland has here indulged in a turnabout false accusation.)

3] The dogmas of local church denominations need to be challenged, as the Church should hold no position as a moral authority in the land.

It is interesting to immediately contrast such sentiments with say the teaching of Anglican theologian Richard Hooker, in his Ecclesiastical Polity [1594 - ], as cited by John Locke in Ch 2 Sec 5 of his epochal Second Treatise on Civil Government, when he set out to ground the principles of natural liberty:
rooted in and expressing prejudice and hostility, not a sound insight.

. . . if I cannot but wish to receive good, even as much at every man's hands, as any man can wish unto his own soul, how should I look to have any part of my desire herein satisfied, unless myself be careful to satisfy the like desire which is undoubtedly in other men . . . my desire, therefore, to be loved of my equals in Nature, as much as possible may be, imposeth upon me a natural duty of bearing to themward fully the like affection. From which relation of equality between ourselves and them that are as ourselves, what several rules and canons natural reason hath drawn for direction of life no man is ignorant.

In short, here is direct evidence on how the teachings of the Bible and the church on our equality of nature as being made in God's image and our resulting mutual duty of neighbour love grounds equal rights, justice and the civil peace that sets a context fro the rise of modern Democratic self-government by a free people.

By sharpest contrast, the major secular humanist evolutionary materialist alternative being championed by Mr Buckland is inherently amoral cannot ground either a credible mind or provide a solid foundation for binding moral principle. For, as the author of this blog has long had occasion to teach:

. . . [evolutionary] materialism [a worldview that often likes to wear the mantle of "science"] . . . argues that the cosmos is the product of chance interactions of matter and energy, within the constraint of the laws of nature. Therefore, all phenomena in the universe, without residue, are determined by the working of purposeless laws acting on material objects, under the direct or indirect control of chance.

But human thought, clearly a phenomenon in the universe, must now fit into this picture. Thus, what we subjectively experience as "thoughts" and "conclusions" can only be understood materialistically as unintended by-products of the natural forces which cause and control the electro-chemical events going on in neural networks in our brains. (These forces are viewed as ultimately physical, but are taken to be partly mediated through a complex pattern of genetic inheritance ["nature"] and psycho-social conditioning ["nurture"], within the framework of human culture [i.e. socio-cultural conditioning and resulting/associated relativism].)

Therefore, if materialism is true, the "thoughts" we have and the "conclusions" we reach, without residue, are produced and controlled by forces that are irrelevant to purpose, truth, or validity. Of course, the conclusions of such arguments may still happen to be true, by lucky coincidence — but we have no rational grounds for relying on the “reasoning” that has led us to feel that we have “proved” them. And, if our materialist friends then say: “But, we can always apply scientific tests, through observation, experiment and measurement,” then we must note that to demonstrate that such tests provide empirical support to their theories requires the use of the very process of reasoning which they have discredited!

Thus, evolutionary materialism reduces reason itself to the status of illusion. But, immediately, that includes “Materialism.” For instance, Marxists commonly deride opponents for their “bourgeois class conditioning” — but what of the effect of their own class origins? Freudians frequently dismiss qualms about their loosening of moral restraints by alluding to the impact of strict potty training on their “up-tight” critics — but doesn’t this cut both ways? And, should we not simply ask a Behaviourist whether s/he is simply another operantly conditioned rat trapped in the cosmic maze?

In the end, materialism is based on self-defeating logic . . . .

In Law, Government, and Public Policy, the same bitter seed has shot up the idea that "Right" and "Wrong" are simply arbitrary social conventions. This has often led to the adoption of hypocritical, inconsistent, futile and self-destructive public policies.

"Truth is dead," so Education has become a power struggle; the victors have the right to propagandise the next generation as they please. Media power games simply extend this cynical manipulation from the school and the campus to the street, the office, the factory, the church and the home.

Further, since family structures and rules of sexual morality are "simply accidents of history," one is free to force society to redefine family values and principles of sexual morality to suit one's preferences.

Finally, life itself is meaningless and valueless, so the weak, sick, defenceless and undesirable — for whatever reason — can simply be slaughtered, whether in the womb, in the hospital, or in the death camp.

In short, ideas sprout roots, shoot up into all aspects of life, and have consequences in the real world . . .

4] An organised effort could provide formidable resistance to the continued efforts by the Church to enslave the minds of the majority of the populace . . . . Our group, The Emancipation From Mental Slavery (EFMS), intends to initiate a massive pushback to debunk the myths of religion in our midst. We will oppose any intention of the Church or other religious organisations to hijack the seat of authority in the land and impose any further their destructive judgements and pronouncements upon an ignorant and unsuspecting public.

In short, this is the announced launch of an evolutionary materialist secular humanist campaign to radically secularise the worldview and moral sentiments of the Jamaican public.

Given the headlines of recent years, this is in all likelihood probably connected to the current push to stigmatise Jamaica for the steadfastness of the national sentiments against homosexualism and homosexualist agendas to create a perversion-friendly, Biblical Christianity-hostile civil space in our civlisation.

In this case, it is probably best to let the Apostle Paul, c. 57 AD, writing in the face of the moral chaos that was increasingly spreading chaos across Roman society, speak for himself:

Rom 1:18 . . . the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth by their unrighteousness, 1:19 because what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 1:20 For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, because they are understood through what has been made. So people are without excuse. 1:21 For although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or give him thanks, but they became futile in their thoughts and their senseless hearts44 were darkened. 1:22 Although they claimed45 to be wise, they became fools 1:23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for an image resembling mortal human beings46 or birds or four-footed animals or reptiles. [In the old days in temples, nowadays on TV or computer screens, in museums and in textbooks and magazines, announced as "science" = "knowledge of our world."]

1:24 Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity, to dishonor their bodies among themselves. 1:25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creation rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

1:26 For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged the natural sexual relations for unnatural ones, 1:27 and likewise the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed in their passions for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.

1:28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what should not be done. 1:29 They are filled with every kind of unrighteousness, wickedness, covetousness, malice. They are rife with envy, murder, strife, deceit, hostility. They are gossips, 1:30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, contrivers of all sorts of evil, disobedient to parents, 1:31 senseless, covenant-breakers, heartless, ruthless. 1:32 Although they fully know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but also approve of those who practice them.

Game, set, match to the Apostle to the nations.

GEM of TKI posted by Gordon @ 3:55 AM

Chrismas Gift (with a second gift attached):

http://kairosfocus.blogspot.com/2009/12/at-christmas-2009.html

Thursday, December 24, 2009

At Christmas, 2009

First and foremost, Advent Season greetings to one and all!

May we all have a happy and prosperous 2010.

As a Christmas present, I give the below, a response to some apologetics challenges recently encountered at a Caribbean Blog.

Grace to all!

________________

On the alleged narrow-mindedness and hatefulness of the gospel's claim to unique truth and a unique path to God

The Christian gospel is pretty direct, even blunt, on the uniqueness of Jesus the crucified, risen Lord and Saviour:

John 14:6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me . . . "

In a pluralistic, radically relativistic postmodern age such as ours, this easily comes across as narrow-minded, closed-minded, intolerant, bigoted and hateful; sharply polarising hearts and minds against the Christian gospel, church and Christians. Indeed, in the rhetoric of anti-gospel, anti-Christian indoctrination, this objection is now a common, and often effective, tactic.

Now, at first level, the real issue is not narrow-mindedness, but truth. For, saying "2 + 3 = 5" is not a matter of being "narrow" or "bigoted," but of being accurate.

(And before rushing off and dismissing the gospel without further considerations as "obviously" inaccurate to history, one should consult the implications of the AD 55 eyewitness lifetime primary source record here (and the associated life-transforming experience of the millions across 2,000 years who have encountered God in the face of the crucified and risen Christ through the gospel; including many thousands of your neighbours all across the Caribbean), as well as discussions by men like professor Yamauchi here and professor Evans here. The 2006 Craig - Ehrman debate (transcript here) between two men at the top of their game, should give a balanced view. This debate (mp3) between professors Craig and Ludemann is also illuminating. [The DVD of the follow-up debate is here.])

But, too, we must also recognise the force of Aristotle's warning in Bk I, Ch 2 of his The Rhetoric:

persuasion may come through the hearers, when the speech stirs their emotions. Our judgements when we are pleased and friendly are not the same as when we are pained and hostile . . .

How, then, can we respond, being faithful to the core truths of the gospel message but also able to effectively and winsomely communicate the core message of God's love and rescue of lost humanity -- a message that is so eloquently portrayed in John 3:14 - 17?

Namely:

Jn 3:14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.[a]

16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,[b] that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him . . .

Having recently (Dec. 2009) had to address a case in point in the Blog Barbados Underground, I offer the below (a slightly updated version of a blog comment) as a suggestion:

____________________

RE [objections raised in the thread]: (a) “Am I the only one that thinks God must have a real cruel and sadistic streak for creating a system that says if you don’t believe the right way, you are going to burn alive in hell for eternity” and (b) “Why should a GOD want me to be forever damned with Lucifer simply because I refused to believe.”

RESPONSE:

Whenever we start pushing God into the dock, that is a point where our reasoning has gone off the rails!

And, that is what is happening here, for there is a lot more to the story than the sort of unfortunately strawmanised, demonising and deeply polarised remarks just excerpted suggest.

Perhaps we need to read Paul in Rom 1 – 2 a bit more carefully (and this, on all sides):

Rom 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth by their unrighteousness, 1:19 because what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 1:20 For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, because they are understood through what has been made. So people are without excuse. 1:21 For although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or give him thanks, but they became futile in their thoughts and their senseless hearts were darkened . . . .

2:5 But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourselves in the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed!

2:6 He will reward each one according to his works: 2:7 eternal life to those who by perseverance in good works seek glory and honor and immortality, 2:8 but wrath and anger to those who live in selfish ambition and do not obey the truth but follow unrighteousness . . . .

2:14 For whenever the Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature the things required by the law, these who do not have the law are a law to themselves. 2:15 They show that the work of the law [i.e core morality, expressed in the principles of neighbour love] is written in their hearts, as their conscience bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or else defend them, 2:16 on the day when God will judge the secrets of human hearts, according to my gospel through Christ Jesus. [NET Bible.]

a –> Paul is pretty explicit that our big problem is resenting and rebelling against the truth we do or should know then substituting what we do or should know is a lie, and that God frowns on this.

b –> So the issue, first, cannot be that one is merely IGNORANT of relevant truth (especially as it is innate: e.g. "You unfair me!" we protest, testifying to the acknowledged binding nature of moral truth; which raises the sobering question that since we are under moral government, we are under a Moral Governor. [For there is no other adequate ground for such moral government.])

c –> Instead, it is that of rebelling against the truth we know and where it points, e.g. the fact of consciousness and mindedness points to the Source of mind. (And likewise the orderly organised complex information-rich balance of the world and of life in it point to the author thereof.)

d –> Likewise, our consciences crying out for justice — including when we would put God in the Dock and cry out against real or apparent evils — testify to the fact that we find ourselves morally obligated. This can only be grounded in a cosmos in which the ultimate reality is a Morally Just Creator so that good is reasonable and morally compelling as reasonable and fair, not arbitrary. Otherwise the is-ought gap swallows up the ought in the is.

e –> But things get hotter. For in Rom Ch 2 Paul takes in the man who does not know enough to know Jesus and the gospel, or who misunderstands it, contrasting him to the one who rejects truth he knows or should know and lives by evil in darkness:

Rom 2:6 He [God] will reward each one according to his works: 2:7 eternal life to those who by perseverance in good works seek glory and honor and immortality, 2:8 but wrath and anger to those who live in selfish ambition and do not obey the truth but follow unrighteousness

f –> Here, we first see the ordinary man who by light of conscience — and inevitably stumblingly so — penitently perseveres in the path of good and truth, based on what he knows of good and God, by dint of nature, prophets, wise teachers, philosophers, scripture or even the manifest presence and power of the gospel. (The attitude is instantly recognisable, and so is its opposite.)

g –> The scripture we are discussing is explicit and plain that to such God gives eternal life:

Rom 2:6 He [God] will reward each one according to his works: 2:7 eternal life to those who by perseverance in good works seek glory and honor and immortality . . .

h –> Very simple, but so very easy to lose sight of: God is fair and loving, so he will save anyone he can. So, it is unsurprising that the Biblical teaching is that if you walk in the truth, the light and the right you know or should — important caveat! — know, penitently and persistently getting up when you err or stumble, God [our loving Father] will receive you with open arms.

(And, BTW, one of God's yardsticks of judgement is the standard we use when we judge other people, especially if we then turn a found and fail to live up to such expectations. [Hence the vital importance of penitence and persistence in the way of the right when we find ourselves -- inevitably -- stumbling like that!])

i –> Such salvation is based on his lovingly and freely offered self-sacrifice by which he took the fatal venom of our self-destroying sin into his own self and expiated its consequences and penalty; so that we may have "life for a look." (NB: The exchange is explicit in many cases, implicit in others [e.g Abraham, Melchizedek, Job, Moshe, David . . . many others down to today who may not have a clear access to a higher -- much less, the highest -- degree of truth or light ], but it is the basis for salvation and eternal life.)

j –> But, not all turn to the good and walk in the path of the right and the truth, however stumblingly.

k --> Some — sadly — rebel even against the undeniable voice of mind and conscience.

l --> Others are willing to follow any rhetoric that excuses them in sin and in untruth, some even going so far as to actively suppress the truth they know or should know; up to and including in the case of those who have heard the gospel and have effective access to the compelling evidence of its truth.

[This includes the millions all around us and over the years who have met and come to know the real God in the face of Jesus and have had their lives transformed by the resulting release of resurrection power through the "great and precious promises" of the scriptures. (Advice: a little humble listening to people who however ill-educated and lacking in eloquence actually know God, would save many of us the highly educated a lot of grief here and in eternity.)]

m –> For good reason, then, rebels against the truth and the right they know or should know face a very different fate.

n –> And, it is such who need to heed the stern warnings Paul also gives:

Rom 2:8 but wrath and anger to those who live in selfish ambition and do not obey the truth but follow unrighteousness . . .

__________

So, commentators and onlookers:

1: what is the truth and the right that you know or should know?

2: Are you seeking to turn to it and live by it, however much you stumble and must regret it and get up and try again?

3: Or, are you resisting the truth and following evil, in rage against what you know you should do?

That is the issue we must all face.

_________________

I trust that this will prove helpful in seeing the importance of living by the light of truth and right that one knows or should know; because one has reasonable access to it, and why it is the rejection and rebellion against the truth and right one knows or should know that is the real issue, not the alleged narrow-mindedness of truth.

For, 2 + 3 = 5 is not a matter of narrow-mindedness or bigotry, but of accuracy.
_______________

God's richest for 2010, END

posted by Gordon @ 5:08 AM

Colleagues

We do need to keep in touch with Mr 24 events, even at Christmas, sorry.

G

+++++++++++++++ 

http://kairosfocus.blogspot.com/2009/12/matt-24-watch-95-another-shoe-seemingly.html

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Matt 24 Watch, 95: Another shoe seemingly drops on the Iran nuclear bomb programme

In recent days, this blog drew attention to the Guardian article on IAEA interest in Iranian nuclear programme documents that discussed the testing of a two-point detonation, linear implosion mini-nuke trigger.

In even more recent days, Iranian authorities have defiantly declared intent to create a network of ten Uranium enrichment plants, claiming they need fifteen nuclear power stations (never mind Iran's oil and gas-rich land).

This, in a context where a previously secret enrichment site was recently discovered at Qom.

Now -- mixing metaphors -- another shoe has dropped with a December 14, 2009 London Times article.

For, it seems that in 2007 (four years after it reportedly stopped weapons related developments) Iran has embarked on a four-year programme to develop Uraniun Deuteride neutron initiators. UD3 initiators are specifically military (as opposed to dual) use, and this is the material used in the Pakistani weapons programme, from which Iran is credibly reported to have nuclear bomb blueprints. [This is unsurprising, as Mr Khan ran a black market nuclear bomb supermarket.] Reportedly, Iran is planning to use Titanium Deuteride in tests, as this will prove the concept without releasing Uranium into the atmosphere; which would be easily detected by monitoring stations.

The Times has made a cross-checked translation available. Excerpting:

Outlook for special neutron-related activities over the next 4 years . . . .

The general document that refers to the special duties of the neutron group mentions four main topics that cover special neutron-related activities, namely:

1. Calculation and simulation

2. Production of source materials

3. Source assembly

4. Design and performance of experiments to test the source

The fourth item is dependent upon the ease of finding methods for detecting pulsed neutrons obtained from hot and cold sources at various stages. In this introduction we will describe below the programme for special neutron-related activities. We have also endeavoured to prioritise each subject in the light of the current political climate and our existing capabilities . . . .

The studies already performed, on which a report will be issued in the very near future, indicate that there should be no adverse or destructive consequences in using the existing NGs [i.e. Neutron Generators]. As a result, provided that the necessary security and protective measures are adopted, we should be able to use the existing NGs to conduct the pulsed-neutron detection experiments and to complete some of the previous experiments. Performing these experiments would enable our personnel to gain more knowledge of the subject. In spite of this and considering the country’s present situation and considering the Centre's policy is to develop co-operation with research and univsersity centres in order to carry out the projects outside of the Centre and play a steering and leading role of the projects, it is better to carry out the work PF and NG systems at other research centres . . . .

Continuing the work of replacement materials such as TiD2 in order to avoid U contamination in the production of UD3 . . . .

While of course Iran has blandly declared the document a CIA forgery, it is known that such declarations are untrustworthy. As Reuters reports:

Intelligence suggests Iran worked on testing a key atomic bomb component as recently as 2007, diplomats have said, a finding which if proven would clash with Iran's assertion its nuclear work is for civilian use.

The diplomats commented on a "Times" of London report about what it called a confidential Iranian technical document describing a four-year plan to test a neutron initiator, the part of a nuclear warhead that sets off an explosion.

"The Times," diplomats, and analysts reached by Reuters said such a device had no conventional military or civilian use.

In Tehran, Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told the semiofficial Fars news agency the report was "baseless... Such statements are not worthy of attention. These reports...are intended to put political and psychological pressure on Iran."

Iran, the world's No. 5 crude-oil exporter, says its uranium enrichment program is aimed at generating electricity so that it can export more gas and oil. The West believes Iran wants bombs from enrichment because of its record of nuclear secrecy.

A senior diplomat familiar with the gist of the "Times" report said the document, obtained by intelligence services, had been passed on to the UN nuclear watchdog, which has been probing intelligence allegations of Iranian attempts to "weaponize" enrichment for five years.

A senior International Atomic Energy Agency official declined comment "at this stage."

But the information would fall into the category of what senior IAEA officials have told Reuters are regular intelligence updates on Iran they receive from certain member states, mainly the United States, Britain, France, Germany, and Israel.

The intelligence has not been authenticated but the IAEA has judged it consistent and compelling. Iran has dismissed the material as fabrications but the IAEA says Tehran must provide evidence to back up its position. Iran has ignored the appeals.

The IAEA maintains a running internal analysis of the intelligence, which indicates Iran has coordinated efforts to process uranium, test explosives at high altitude and revamp a ballistic missile cone in a way suitable for a nuclear warhead.

Neutron initiator development has been part of such activity, according to some of the intelligence leaked earlier to news media, but covering a previous period up to 2003.

"This latest document [about neutron initiators] is in the Farsi language and appears to have been written in 2007," the senior diplomat said. "It is in IAEA hands for further study."

So, on balance, we should take seriously the statements that the work in question is already reasonably advanced, and that the responsible centre is looking for skilled physicists to carry it forward in the Institute of Physics and in the Universities.

At this point, given the knee-jerk anti-western response of many educated people in our region (largely due to our own painful colonial experience) we may hear the sort of ill-informed moral equivalency thinking that led a Mr Hendricks to remark as follows at one of the Times article pages:

" . . . Iran's having nuclear capability will introduce mutual assured destruction into an area which for too long has been dominated by Israeli nuclear blackmail."

Of course, Israeli "nuclear blackmail" has kept the peace in the region, so that instead of attempts to destroy Israel and massacre its citizens through large scale invasions, as we saw openly declared in 1948 and 1967 [and which was probably implicit in 1973, had Israel lost], we instead have had a backing away from such openly declared intent of genocide.

And of course we could compare the situation to the French and British "blackmail" through the Versailles treaty whereby Germany was given a sharply restricted self-defence army and navy and was forbidden to develop or deploy submarines, tanks and military aircraft. (Of course, the French, British, Belgians etc faced no such restrictions.)

How unfair!

NOT . . .

For, had the Versailles limits been respected by German governments, starting from the 1920's -- the problem most emphatically did not start with Hitler -- there would have been no second world war, with ~ 40 millions dead in the European theatres. And, had the French and British had the gumption to stand up to Hitler in the early stages, by 1934 - 37, war would have been on a much lower scale, and Hitler would have certainly lost. (Indeed, on testimony of surviving generals, there was a good change the army would have overthrown him. )

But, that was not to be.

In our day, Iran has had a thirty year record of sponsoring terrorism and exporting radical Islamist revolution, effectively converting Syria, Lebanon and Sudan into client states and/or colonies, with a dangerous influence in the Gaza which Israel so unwisely abandoned in 2005. It is credibly developing mini-nukes suitable for suicide "suitcase" nuclear bomb attacks. It is credibly developing more conventional sized nuclear bombs. Just last week, it launched a fast Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile.

All, in open defiance of an international community and treaty obligations going all the way back to the UN charter.

All, met by hesitancy, second guessing and delay.

If this continues, the outcome, sadly, will be all too predictable; and probably devastating.

For, nukes are credibly in play this time around.

Sorry to have a bit of a Christmas spoiler, but we need to face the truth about our times and trends, even at Christmas time. END

posted by Gordon @ 8:09 AM

Hi Bro Gordon,

 

Please see the attached. The images can be enlarged if some are too small.

 

Bro Julian

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks a million. great ideas!

Colleagues

Some furter Christmas time thoughts . . .


God be with us all as we approach the new year!

G


+++++++++++

http://kairosfocus.blogspot.com/2009/12/matt-24-watch-96-two-revealing.html

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Matt 24 Watch, 96: Two revealing Christmas incidents

On Christmas day, there was an attempted airline bombing by a radicalised Nigerian Islamist terrorist, on a 300-passenger airline flight from Lagos to Detroit.

The good news is that the fuze did not work; thank God.

In one sense, it is good news that his Father, a prominent banker, had reported his son to the relevant authorities; unfortunately, they did not seem to have done enough with this vital information. As Cal Thomas observed (and asks), however:

. . . the detonator was not the only malfunction in this near-catastrophe. Government also broke down. The suspect, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, has been on a watch list for the last two years. That list contains names of people known to have extremist links.

British press reports say Abdulmutallab has been on MI5's radar but was deemed insufficiently threatening to warrant surveillance. Still, he was barred from returning to Britain earlier this year, according to the London Times . . . .

How did Abdulmutallab, whose father had recently warned State Department officials about his son's radical beliefs and extremist connections, get on a plane bound for Detroit? What good is it to report suspicious behavior, as the Department of Homeland Security repeatedly urges us to do, if those reports are not taken more seriously?

Did America's reluctance to profile contribute to this latest near-disaster? That question should be among many asked at a congressional hearing.

In short, something has gone specifically wrong with security in Lagos -- where he was apparently not properly searched (and this morning BBC News suggested that the issue may be preferential treatment of the wealthy there).

But also, that the USA did not act with the firmness the UK did came near to triggering a catastrophic terrorism incident on Christmas Day.

And, that that day on which we celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace was chosen is no coincidence.

In short, the global Islamist Terrorist organisation, Al Qaeda has made plain just what they intend for the Christian Faith and its adherents by choosing that day for an attack.

But, this is just the first tidal wave that threatens our civilisation; the more obvious and obviously violently hostile, distinctly external one.

The second incident is in major respects more troubling, precisely because it is telling us about what is happening subtly, deep inside the gates of our civilisation. For, it reveals the second tidal wave in action: the radical secularist and/or neo-pagan and/or apostasy-driven de-christianisation predicted as a sign of the end times in 2 Peter 3.

That passage is important enough that we should pause to refresh our memory on it:

2 Peter 3: 3First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4They will say, "Where is this 'coming' he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation." 5But they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 6By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 7By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

8But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

10But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.[a]

11Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.[b]That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.

14So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. (Cf an interesting exposition -- long but worth the read -- by a regional blog commenter here, at the Barbados Underground Blog.)

As our Lord in patience delays his return, men will come, mocking in order to feed their lusts driven by their lusts and by a vision of the world that looks no further than what the eye can see; practical or philosophical materialism.

To sustain that en-darkened view, they will reconstruct the past of our world on lines of projections into the distant past of the trends, patterns and speculative materialistic theories and philosophies of the present; willfully ignoring or dismissing the testimony of Scripture and the evidence of catastrophic judgement. Thus, in the words of Job 38, they darken counsel with words without knowledge, even daring to call such words, Knowledge [for that is what "Science" means.]

In such an age, men willfully exclude God from knowledge, and create a public pressure to censor God out.

So, since Christmas is a specifically Christian festive season, they are hostile to Christmas.

A measure of how far this has reached can be seen from a recent visit by the current president of the USA, Mr Obama, to the Boys and Girls Club in Washington DC.

For, as Chuck Norris' augmented transcript reveals:

THE PRESIDENT: I think one thing that's important to remember is that, you know, even though there's a lot of fun at Christmas ... especially when it's snowy like this, so it's pretty outside. You got the Christmas tree; you got the Christmas cookies; you've got presents. You know, I think that the most important thing is just to remember why we celebrate Christmas.

(CN: So far so good, Mr. President, but there's a child with his hand up right in front of you!)

CHILD: I know!

THE PRESIDENT: Do you know?

CHILD: The birth of baby Jesus.

(CN: Not exactly the response the president was looking for. If you can't see him in your mind's eye getting a little hot around the collar, check out the video version here.)

THE PRESIDENT: The birth of baby Jesus and what he symbolizes for people all around the world is the possibility of peace and people treating each other with respect. And so I just hope that spirit of giving that's so important at Christmas -- I hope all of you guys remember that, as well. ...

(CN: Where is Rep. Joe Wilson when you need him? Wrong, Mr. President! You didn't speak for the majority of Americans when you declared in Turkey last April that "we are not a Christian nation," and you don't speak for "people all around the world" about the birth of the baby Jesus, especially when you define him merely as a community coordinator and social reconciler. His main mission and message was as the Redeemer of mankind -- the savior with a self-confessed mission to "give his life as a ransom for many" to forgive all our sins and reconcile God and humans' relationship.)

THE PRESIDENT: ... You know, it's not just about getting gifts but it's also doing something for other people. So being nice to your mom and dad, grandma, aunties, showing respect to people -- that's really important, too; that's part of the Christmas spirit, don't you think? Do you agree with me?

(CN: Nothing like a little presidential social pressure to prompt an affirmative answer from children.)

CHILDREN: Yes.

THE PRESIDENT: You do? . . .

(CN: Then another child raises his hand, so the president leans over and asks him a question.)

. . . Do you have an interesting observation?

CHILD: I know why we give gifts to other people.

THE PRESIDENT: Why is that?

CHILD: Because the three wise men gave gifts to baby Jesus.

(CN: Could this get any better? Out of the mouths of babes! But you know there's some presidential spin coming, don't you?)

THE PRESIDENT: That's exactly right. But the three wise men -- the reason . . .

(CN: A sign literally falls off the wall. Sign from God? What timing!)

. . . -- uh-oh, I thought that was the cookies going down. We couldn't have that. You know, the three wise men -- if you think about it, here are these guys. They have all this money; they've got all this wealth and power, and yet they took a long trip to a manger just to see a little baby. And it just shows you that just because you're powerful or you're wealthy, that's not what's important. What's important is what's -- the kind of spirit you have.

(CN: The wise men traveled across the desert "just to see a little baby"? Let me quote from the Gospel according to Matthew 2:11: "And they bowed down and worshipped him" as the savior of the world. Why is it -- any chance Obama has to dive deeper into Christianity's creed? -- he rises to the surface and neuters the subject?)

THE PRESIDENT: So I hope everybody has a spirit of kindness and thoughtfulness and everybody is really thinking about how can they do for other people -- treating them well, because that's really the spirit of Christmas. Does everybody agree with that?

CHILDREN: Yes!

THE PRESIDENT: I agree with that. Well, you guys all seem like really sharp, sharp young people. And I'm very proud of you. And let me just ask you one last question. Is everybody here working pretty hard in school?

CHILDREN: Yes!

THE PRESIDENT: OK, because the thing that I want everybody to remember, the most important message I can leave is, is that you guys have so much potential; one of you could end up being president someday. But it's only going to happen if you stay focused and you work hard in school. And, you guys, there's nothing wrong with having fun and fooling around and playing sports and listening to rap music and all that stuff. But I want you guys to read and hit the books and do your math, because that's really what's going to determine how you do in the future. All right? That's the most important thing you can do.

(CN: "Most important message"? "Most important thing you can do"?)

Of course, the spontaneous actions of the children reflect the deeply Christian character of black American culture.

By deep contrast, the secularising words and attempted "corrective" actions of the president are troubling. And, it almost does not matter whether the President was reflecting his own seculasised views, or was being cautiously politically correct in light of the rolling video cameras and the sort of backlash he feared from the voices of influence in the American nation's media culture.

Twenty or thirty years ago, a sad scene like this would have been inconceivable.

But today, we can see the impact of that tidal wave of de-Christianisation, all too plainly manifestly constraining and/or shaping the views, actions and words the leader of the most powerful Western nation.

And that, in light of 2 Peter 3 and Matt 24, is a powerful sign of our times.

(Who would have thought that Christmas would become all but an unmentionable word? That the concept that our civilisation pauses at year-end to reflect on the Light who has enlightened the nations -- pausing to give gifts especially to children as once Wise men had given gifts to the Christ Child whom they took a two-year expedition in order that they might come to WORSHIP him -- would be an object of controversy; with a subtext of deep-seated hostility? And yet, that is exactly the prediction of Matt 24:1 - 14, that the gospel and its adherents would become the targets of hostility and eventually persecution as the world's chaos rushes to a climax at the Second Coming.)

So, as 2010 dawns, let us be about the true sign of the end:

. . . And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. [Matt 24:14]

By God's grace, let's roll! END posted by Gordon @ 6:49 AM

Colleagues

In the midst of prayer, compassion and reaching out with immediate relief, can we begin to reflect on some possibilities for moving forward with our sister Caribbean island nation Haiti?

G

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http://kairosfocus.blogspot.com/2010/01/matt-24-wach-97-haiti-tragedy-challenge.html

Monday, January 18, 2010

Matt 24 Wach, 97: Haiti -- Tragedy, Challenge and opportunity

As we all know by now, on Tuesday last, a major earthquake on the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden strike-slip fault struck Haiti, shattering its capital city, Port-au-Prince.

As Wikipedia aptly summarises:

The 2010 Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake with the epicenter near Léogane, approximately 25 kilometres (16 mi) west of Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, striking at 16:53:10 local time (21:53:10 UTC) on Tuesday, 12 January 2010.[4][5] The earthquake occurred at a depth of 13 kilometres (8.1 mi). The United States Geological Survey recorded a series of at least 33 aftershocks, fourteen of them between magnitudes 5.0 and 5.9.[6] The International Red Cross estimated that about three million people were affected by the quake,[7] and the Haitian Interior Minister believes that up to 200,000 have died as a result of the disaster,[3] exceeding earlier Red Cross estimates of 45,000–50,000.[8] Several prominent public figures are among the dead. The Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive recently announced that over 70,000 bodies have been buried in mass graves.[9]

The earthquake caused major damage to Port-au-Prince. Most major landmarks were significantly damaged or destroyed, including the Presidential PalaceRené Préval survived), the National Assembly building, the Port-au-Prince Cathedral, and the main jail.[10][11][12] To compound the tragedy, most hospitals in the area were destroyed.[13] The United Nations (UN) reported that the headquarters of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), located in the capital, had collapsed and that the Mission's Chief, Hédi Annabi, his deputy, Luiz Carlos da Costa, and the acting police commissioner were confirmed dead.[14][15] Elisabeth Byrs of the UN called it the worst disaster the United Nations has experienced because the organizational structures of the UN in Haiti and the Haitian government were destroyed.[16] (President

Amidst this awful tragedy, first responders, aid agencies, Governments and rescue and/or relief teams from across the world, the UN and other agencies, and many church missions agencies are scrambling to address overwhelming immediate needs. (They need our prayers, our understanding of the magnitude of challenges they face, and prayers.) Across the Caribbean region, an outpouring of compassion and giving has begun, and what is now the sister Caricom state that accounts for 56% of that regional association's population has moved to the focal point at centre stage.

However, even as we look at the current crisis, we must not only appreciate tragedies, historical background and challenges, but also opportunities for the churches, peoples and countries across the Caribbean region.

For, we need to seriously consider implications of Haiti's tragic but ever so important history, key spiritual factors (and related key myths or half-truths that have unfortunately helped sour the atmosphere), the current situation -- including implications of the adage that "earthquakes don't kill people, [collapsing] buildings do" -- and ways forward for the positive reformation and transformation that is so desperately needed; not only for Haiti but in the wider region. And in that context, we need to reflect on some specific potentially transforming strategies and technologies.

So, let us now consider:

1 --> The shattering of Port-au-Prince presents the Caricom region with a second nation-shattering natural disaster that requires the rebuilding of a capital city and associated key infrastructure. For, between 1995 and 1997, Plymouth Montserrat was depopulated and eventually destroyed by eruptions of Montserrat's Soufriere Hills Volcano. And, over a dozen years later, rebuilding of a new capital has only just begun; after many delays and fits and starts.

2 --> Immediately, this underscores the challenge that many territories across the Caribbean are inherently highly vulnerable to catastrophic natural disasters, hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis ("tidal waves"). Worse, much of our present key infrastructure has been built in ways that multiply that vulnerability; and that, too often in the teeth of sound but unheeded scientific counsels and advice to the contrary. (A similar pattern holds for the almost as damaging pattern of economic and socio-cultural dislocation that plagues many territories, including especially Haiti.)

3 --> In short, we are now forced to address issues of how to move from unsustainable development patterns to more sustainable paths, amidst a situation where over the next several decades, we can expect to be hit with more tragedies and challenges of the sort of magnitude that we can see manifested in Montserrat and Haiti.

4 --> The collapsed buildings issue provides a key slice of the cake that has in it all the ingredients. For, as the already linked BBC report observes:

Experts say it is no surprise that shoddy construction contributed to the level of destruction in Haiti following Tuesday’s earthquake. But the scale of the disaster has shed new light on the problem in the impoverished Caribbean nation.

Tens of thousands are feared dead after being crushed by buildings that collapsed. Scores more remain trapped under the rubble.

“It’s sub-standard construction,” says London-based architect John McAslan, who has been working on a project linked to the Clinton Global Initiative in the country.

“There aren’t any building codes as we would recognise them,” he added.

Mr McAslan says most buildings are made of masonry – bricks or [unreinforced] construction blocks – which tend to perform badly in an earthquake. . . . .

There are also significant problems with the quality of building materials used, says Peter Haas, head of the Appropriate Infrastructure Development Group, a US-based non-profit group that has been working in Haiti since 2006.

“People are skimping on cement to try to cut costs, putting a lot of water in, building too thin, and you end up with a structure that’s innately weaker,” said Mr Haas, who was on his way to Haiti to help assess the safety of damaged buildings.

“Concrete blocks are being made in people’s backyards and dried out in the sun,” . . . .

Tuesday’s quake was the worst in two centuries. The country is more used to dealing with hurricanes, which have been getting more frequent in recent years, according to Mr Musson.

“Most buildings are like a house of cards,” he said. “They can stand up to the forces of gravity, but if you have a sideways movement, it all comes tumbling down.” . . . .

5 --> In short, we need to reckon with the implications of the observable fact that not all buildings (even in the same areas, cf. photo here) tumbled down -- some stood, some collapsed. That is, outdated, inadequate -- and in some cases doubtless shoddy and/or corrupt -- construction techniques plainly played a role in the degree of vulnerability of buildings.

6 --> For instance, researcher and seismologist Roger Bilham of the University of Colorado at Boulder, observed:

“Porte-au-Prince is probably one of the worst constructed cities in the world, and even the presidential palace collapsed,” . . . “An earthquake near a major city on one of several faults bounding the edge of the Caribbean Plate is one that many of us were expecting sooner or later” . . . .

Bilham said one of the chief causes of the high destruction and fatality rates in Haiti and other developing countries is due in large part to corruption in the construction industry. One of the problems is bribery, which often takes the form of corrupt awards of construction projects, corrupt issuance of permits and approval documents and corrupt inspection practices.

“It should be appalling to the people of the world that in 2009, more than 100 years after earthquake-resistant construction began to be understood and implemented by engineers, that it is possible to forecast large numbers of future earthquake fatalities from the collapse of cities,” said Bilham in his 2009 Mallet-Milne Lecture to earthquake engineers at The Society for Earthquake and Civil Engineering Dynamics meeting in London. [Cf his major paper here, on the seismic future of cities.]

7 --> Given the breakdown of governance in Haiti [a failed state now the subject of a major UN-sponsored nation-building effort], multiplied by massive poverty and further multiplied by the observation from Transparency International that "overt corruption in the $3,200 billion/year con-struction industry exceeds any other sector of society" [p. 38, Bilham et al] , such is not altogether surprising.

8 --> In that same paper, Bilham et al note on several potentially tragic false assumptions that hamper sound construction around the world:

False Assumption #6. Politicians will act responsibly when provided with estimates of seismic hazard. [p. 36]

False Assumption #7. Tenders and sealed bids to avoid corrupt selection practices, guarantee safe construction. [p. 37]

False Assumption #8. Building codes are universally enforced in nations where they have been adopted.

False Assumption #9. Government building inspectors assure code adherence in engi-neered structures.

False Assumption #10. Licensed contractors adhere to building codes.

False Assumption #11. Homeowners build safer structures for themselves than when they employ contractors.

False Assumption #12. Urban planners with fixed budgets in earthquake prone regions prefer quality over quantity construction.

False Assumption #13. Government projects are always safer than privately-developed construction projects.

False Assumption #14. Reconstruction of a city destroyed by an earthquake eliminates future seismic risk to its survivors. [p. 38]

False Assumption #15. A new generation of young earthquake engineers will fix the prob-lems in their countries.

9 --> On the next page, Bilham et al make a telling, common-sense suggestion:

The fix here is clear—house construction should be part of everyone’s [primary] school education. An hour of how to mix cement, and the why-and-wherefore of structures would save many more lives than a sophisticated logic-tree investigation into the safety of a future civic struc-ture. A student prepared with simple structural knowledge but destined for occupations other than the construction industry will benefit his/her future society by recognizing construction problems they may encounter throughout their lives. The lives they save may be their own.
Some may become politicians or urban planners. All of them will live in a house. [pp. 39 - 40.]

10 --> Another suggestion they discuss is the need for a Builder's Nameplate Law. So, while they observe that an overly stringent law would dry up construction, it is obvious that if buildings by law had to have a permanently affixed plate or inscription that specified the builder, the passing of inspections and a reference to the relevant document file number, the enhanced transparency -- thus accountability -- would strongly tend to drive out corruption and poor quality/corrupt builders and inspectors.

11 --> Similarly, we need to move construction towards technologies that reduce costs, speed up delivery of the finished product, enhance finish quality and soundness, and inherently build-in improved survivability. This brings the Moladi type plastic mould, foamed, reinforced cast concrete low cost building system to the fore for the rapid creation of starter houses. (Moladi's estimates are that once the system is set up, it delivers one house per day per plastic mould unit. The plastic moulds have an estimated lifespan of fifty units each. [A gallery of examples is here. This is not a matter of building ugly matchboxes for the poor. And, we must reckon seriously with the massive positive impact on families of owning a stake in their community through owning their own house on their own land. So a Katrina Cottage-type initiative for the region is well worth developing.])

12 --> For more complex construction, the Hebel-type Autoclaved Aerated Concrete modular building system should be given serious consideration. For, in effect it creates a system based on foamed concrete based artificial coral limestone modular elements that integrate reinforcement, and allow for rapid building of residential, commercial and institutional space, with the potential to take advantage of the classically beautiful aesthetics of stonework, and/or to build in functional forms. [Cf. technical manual here.]

13 --> In that context, Montserrat can plainly serve as a pilot project to demonstrate possible technologies, for scaling up to the Haiti case.

14 --> However, there is an underling social, cultural and spiritual dimension at work that we must face. For instance, as a UK Guardian survey on Haitis' history observes:

Haiti, born of slavery and revolution, has struggled with centuries of crippling debt, exploitation, corruption and violence . . . .

Geography and bad luck are only partly to blame for Haiti’s tragedy. There are, plainly, more propitious places for a country and its capital city to find themselves than straddling the major fault line between the North American and Caribbean tectonic plates. [But, that is WHY the land is there to be settled in the first instance . . . ] It’s more than unfortunate to be positioned plumb on the region’s principal hurricane track, meaning you would be hit, in the 2008 season alone, by a quartet of storms as deadly and destructive as Fay, Gustav, Hannah and Ike (between them, they killed 800 people, and ­devastated more than 70% of Haiti’s agricultural land). Wretched, also, to have fallen victim to calamitous flooding in 2002, 2003 (twice), 2006 and 2007.

But what has really left Haiti in such a state today, what makes the country a constant and heart-rending site of ­recurring catastrophe, is its history. In Haiti, the last five centuries have combined to produce a people so poor, an infrastructure so nonexistent and a state so hopelessly ineffectual that whatever natural disaster chooses to strike next, its impact on the population will be magnified many, many times over. Every single factor that international experts look for when trying to measure a nation’s vulnerability to natural disasters is, in Haiti, at the very top of the scale. Countries, when it comes to dealing with disaster, do not get worse.

“Haiti has had slavery, revolution, debt, deforestation, corruption, exploitation and violence,” says Alex von Tunzelmann, a historian and writer currently working on a book about the country and its near neighbours, the Dominican Republic and Cuba. “Now it has poverty, illiteracy, overcrowding, no infrastructure, environmental disaster and large areas without the rule of law. And that was before the earthquake. It sounds a terrible cliche, but it really is a perfect storm. This is a catastrophe beyond our worst imagination.”

It needn’t, though, have been like this. In the 18th century, under French rule, Haiti – then called Saint-Domingue – was the Pearl of the Antilles, one of the richest islands in France’s empire (though 800,000-odd African slaves who produced that wealth saw precious little of it). In the 1780s, Haiti exported 60% of all the coffee and 40% of all the sugar consumed in Europe: more than all of Britain’s West Indian colonies combined. It subsequently became the first independent nation in Latin America, and remains the world’s oldest black republic and the second-oldest republic in the western hemisphere after the United States. So what went wrong? . . . .

As Stephen Keppel of the Economist Intelligence Unit puts it, Haiti’s revolution may have brought it independence but it also “ended up destroying the country’s infrastructure and most of its plantations. It wasn’t the best of starts for a fledgling republic.” Moreover, in exchange for diplomatic recognition from France, the new republic was forced [through negotiations under the guns of 17 French men of war] to pay enormous reparations: some 150m francs, in gold. It was an immense sum, and even reduced by more than half in 1830, far more than Haiti could afford.

“The long and the short of it is that Haiti was paying reparations to France from 1825 until 1947,” says Von Tunzelmann. “To come up with the money, it took out huge loans from American, German and French banks, at exorbitant rates of interest. By 1900, Haiti was spending about 80% of its national budget on loan repayments. It ­completely wrecked their economy. By the time the original reparations and interest were paid off, the place was basically destitute and trapped in a ­spiral of debt. Plus, a succession of leaders had more or less given up on trying to resolve Haiti’s problems, and started looting it instead.” . . . .

[I]n 1911 came another revolution, followed almost immediately by nearly 20 years of occu­pation by a US terrified that Haiti was about to default on its massive debts. The Great Depression devastated the country’s exports. There were revolts and coups and dictatorships, and then, in 1957, came François ­”Papa Doc” Duvalier. Papa Doc’s regime is widely seen as one of the most corrupt and ­repressive in modern history. He ­exploited Haiti’s traditional belief in voodoo to establish a personal militia, the feared and hated Tonton Macoutes, said to be zombies that he had raised from the dead.

During the 28 years in power of Papa Doc and his playboy son and heir, Jean-Claude Duvalier, or Baby Doc, the Tonton Macoutes and their henchmen killed between 30,00 and 60,000 ­Haitians, and raped, beat and tortured countless more. Until Baby Doc’s ­eventual flight into exile in 1986, Duvalier père and fils also made themselves very rich indeed. Aid agencies and ­international creditors donated and lent millions for projects that were often abandoned before completion, or never even started. Generous multi­national corporations earned lucrative contracts. According to Von Tunzelmann, the Duvaliers were at times embezzling up to 80% of Haiti’s international aid, while the debts they signed up to ­account for 45% of what the country owes today. And when Baby Doc ­finally fled, estimates of what he took with him run as high as $900m.

It is hardly surprising then that Haiti isn’t Switzerland. The Duvaliers’ departure, as Keppel puts it, “left a void, and a broken and corrupt government. Democracy got off to a ­really bad start there . . .

15 --> Thus, enter stage left, the march of sinful folly (and perhaps cynical calculation).

16 --> As one aspect of that march, it has long been commonly held, both inside Haiti and elsewhere, that in 1791, the Boukman-inspired Bois Caiman pact constituted a pact with the Devil that brought Haiti under a curse. However, we must note correctively with Jean R Gelin, that the accessible historical documents do not bear that weight:

After extensive research on Haiti and several visits to the country, American writer Robert Heinl and his wife Nancy Heinl published in 1978 a volume on the Haitian revolution that deals with several aspects of Haiti’s painful history including the Bois-Caïman meeting5. According to these authors, Bookman sought the help of the God of heaven in his prayer, and made no mention whatsoever of a spiritual agreement with Satan. Even though the text shows Bookman was talking to the creator and not the devil, some would still contend that he could not have been really talking to God because – the way they see it – Bookman did not know God as they think they know Him . . . . [But] when Bookman addressed his plea for help to the God of heaven, as the historical record seems to indicate, was it just pure theism? Was it a kind of simple theistic philosophy? You can debate that. But as for a spiritual pact with Satan, I have not yet seen the evidence.

17 --> Gelin, a Church of God minister and a Haitian himself, then adds:

The second reason for [the successful achievement of independence in] 1804 is that as many of Haiti’s first leaders were Catholic Christians11, they believed with all their heart and mind that it was the will of God for them to either live as free men and women or at least die fighting for their freedom. I invite you to read for yourself how these heroic men described their conditions and motives – in their own words:

God who fights for the innocent is our guide, He will not forsake us. To win or to die! There lies our motto that we will defend up to the last drop of our blood. We lack neither powder nor cannons. So, Death or Liberty! May God grant it to us without the shedding of blood. Then all our wishes will be fulfilled.12

This is an excerpt from a letter sent to the French Governor Blanchelande who wanted to know why the slaves had revolted, as if being a slave was not in and of itself a sufficient reason. But what is interesting about the exchange is that it took place not before but after the Bois-Caiman meeting. Now, why would they claim God was on their side and guiding them, if – as the rumor goes – they had already made an alliance with the devil?

18 --> Notwithstanding, as has often been said, Haitians, traditionally, were 99% Catholics and 100% Voodoo-ists. That is, Christian adherence -- as is common in many islands in the Caribbean -- was significantly syncretised with Animist worldview aspects and religious practices. (Many's the church in our region where as the foundations were laid, an animal was sacrificed and some rum poured out as a libation to the spirits! Similarly, death rituals such as post-mortem rearranging of furniture in the room that housed a death bead -- to confuse the Duppy/Jumbie and so "prevent" a haunting -- often show a clear element of animist survivals, in the most surprising corners.)

19 --> This reflects a key element of the Animist worldview highlighted by Don Richardson in his classic Eternity in their hearts. Animists all across the world recognise the High God of heaven, but feel themselves alienated form him and find themselves dealing from day to day with lesser spirits who are more accessible, more immediately present and active, and may be more problematic.

20 --> On one aspect, this historically has provided a tremendous opportunity for the gospel: the gospel comes across readily as the message of the High God, opening the door of reconciliation though Jesus, and thence liberation from the spirits [who are readily recognised as what Jesus, the Gospel writers and the Apostles in the New Testament explicitly calls demons].

21 --> However, it also opens up the way for various degrees of oil-and-water mix syncretism, and is in itself an invitation to find oneself not only fellowshipping with but worshipping and serving false gods and idols serving as fronts for demons.

22 --> This is also the most credible root of pagan polytheism: as Romans 1 points out, as cultures more and more forget the God of heaven, they are tempted to worship lesser spirits -- imagined or real -- as idolatrous gods:

Rom 1: 21. . . although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. [In olden times, in temples, nowadays, in museums . . . ]

24Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised . . . .

28Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God [whether ancient paganism or modern skepticism makes little difference], he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. 29They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

23 --> Thus, we see the pattern and typical phases of God's judgement of a nation:

a] We are intelligent, enconscienced creatures living in a world where there is a stable, intelligible pattern of cause-effect behaviour [the base for science and common sense alike]; so we fall under the moral government of God.

b] God, through conscience, mind, common sense intuition, and valid prophets, has given us guidance on the right way, and he regularly sends messengers with his Word to to correct us when we are being wayward.

c] If we — and the emphasis falls on power elites here, the sort who are so plainly responsible for much of what went wrong for Haiti; BOTH local and international — stubbornly insist on corrupt behaviour, the responsibility for the predictable self-induced destruction is ours. [Direct destructive acts of God are very rare, but the march of folly more than makes up for that, sadly.]

d] So, let us instead heed the counsel of wise King Jehoshaphat, given to God's often wayward and disobedient people:

2 Chron 20:20 . . . Jehoshaphat stood up and said: “Listen to me, you people of Judah32 and residents of Jerusalem! Trust in the Lord your God and you will be safe!33 Trust in the message of his prophets and you will win.”

24 --> By contrast, we may see above how Papa Doc's Duvalierism "exploited Haiti’s traditional belief in voodoo to establish a personal militia, the feared and hated Tonton Macoutes, said to be zombies that he had raised from the dead . . . the Tonton Macoutes and their henchmen killed between 30,00 and 60,000 ­Haitians, and raped, beat and tortured countless more . . . . According to Von Tunzelmann, the Duvaliers were at times embezzling up to 80% of Haiti’s international aid, while the debts they signed up to ­account for 45% of what the country owes today. And when Baby Doc ­finally fled, estimates of what he took with him run as high as $900m."

25 --> Consequently, the issue in hand is not merely one of grants and technical assistance towards capacity-building, important as these are.

26 --> Gospel-based liberation and transformation through discipleship and renewal of hearts, minds, lives and institutions are also necessary if Haiti is to finda truly sustainable breakthrough. (Just as is true for the rest of the world.)

27 --> I also believe that the harnessing of modern information and communication technologies is also a key component of such a transformation, as the bridging of the digital divide powerfully enables all of the above.

28 --> For this, I am especially impressed by the significance of the One Laptop Per Child pioneered by Nicholas Negroponte and others, and the now spun-off Sugar User Interface system. (As well as the Tutorius interactive tutoring system based on Sugar is worth monitoring.) [OLPC] initiative

29 --> For, this system creates an educational learning system based on a rugged, low cost, low power consumption, low ecological footprint interface build on Fedora Linux, and is a system that is completely open source. (Think, instead of a cut-down PC, of a rugged modification to the Blackberry or iPhone; but set up as a child's "instant-on" educational computer based on completely open source software, and with built in networking capability so that it can interact with the Internet and a neighbourhood of other users across the world. A world in which already over 1.6 million e-books books that will work with the XO series of computers are available online. The underlying hardware uses an extended X86 instruction set as well, so it is capable of working with Linux distributions such as Ubuntu, and with a suitably adapted Windows. [Indeed, through an arrangement with Microsoft, for a small additional fee [it seems ~US$3/unit] countries ordering large numbers of XO's may have XP installed.])

30 --> As just one illustration of potential beyond just education, one of the most distressing experiences of Haitians abroad has been inability to communicate with their loved ones back home, in the midst of the horrendous news reports. But, if OLPC XO-1's were on the ground, so soon as a wireless network could have been set up, families would have been able to be in instant contact through text, and if there were enough bandwidth, speech and video.

31 --> Since the OLPC Foundation is relatively small, as well, and is strongly technologically innovative, the extension of the concept from primary age children to a generally available educational device that not only is set up for primary education and as an eBook reader, but is capable of supporting education through secondary and tertiary levels. [Cf. concepts for the XO-3 "card computer" here, which the foundation is targetting for US$ 75/unit, though of course they have as yet been unable to bring the original XO below US$100/unit on truly large scale production.]

32 --> For instance, a classroom with a U-shaped set of Workstation plug-in points, and a central modular table system can fit into a 15' x 30 ' room. Put in some broadband access, multimedia, and wireless keyboard tech, mix in mentoring people as facilitators, and you have a viable micro-campus centre that could for instance be based in a church or a community centre etc.

33 --> Moodle, Wiki technologies, blog technologies, video conferencing and other open source digital techniques can then facilitate hosting a rich educational resource that can be partly localised to on-site servers, partly accessible through the web.

34 --> A network of such microcampuses can tackle the keystone bridging Secondary-to-post secondary and Associate to first degree levels, with key short courses and targetted strategic technical areas. this would serve as he backbone to support the transformation of primary and secondary education, and would provide a steady stream of people with required capacity for the redevelopment effort.

35 --> At more advanced levels, a cluster of targetted MBAs, MPAs [Masters in Public Admin], M.Eds and the like would help greatly on building strategic level governance and managerial capacity side.

36 --> A good Associate level Theology, Bible, Discipleship and technical empowerment programme designed to work with the general education system could be taken up by CETA or other groups. This last would help energise the spiritual reformation and renewal side.

37 --> Similarly, porting one or more of he open source Bible software initiatives -- Xiphos is already a Linux bases system that has been ported to other environments, but eSWORD has now gone generic with version 9 [as with office version 2007 the original Access database format has been abandoned by Microsoft] -- to the platform would create a widely accessible Bible resource that could be used for supporting the work of the church and general "equipping of God's people for works of service."

38 --> The development of renewable energy, modern agricultural technologies [e.g. drip irrigation and fertigation, modern mulching etc] and the like could help transform agriculture. So would an effort to introduce terracing and other soil conserving approaches. Reforestation (and provision of fast growth tree plantations for biofuels) would also help restore the Haitian environment.

39 --> In addition to modern technologies for the construction industry, adaptation of traditional technologies should also be explored, as a way to house the people of the remote areas through low cost appropriate technology approaches that can be used by the people of the villages.

40 --> Possibilities -- in addition to the Moladi-type approach -- include:

a] The Classic CINVA Ram-type compressed earth brick or block presses (including the soil-cement block or brick variation, for which cement stabilises the blocks against moisture), with The Liberator being a faster production development. [The original is rather labour intensive, producing 50 bricks per hour per machine, with several thousand bricks being a typical requirement for a small house. But, we are dealing with a low labour cost environment in looking at Haiti's rural villages.]

b] The Auram modern development that can make a considerable variety of bricks and blocks, including Lego-style interlocking blocks

c] Modern clay, sand, and straw asphalted bricks (going all the way back to the Babylonians!)

d] Use of bamboo canes as a reinforcement medium for adobe type construction (as in "grow your own rebars").

e] The online World Housing Encyclopedia (and other sources) has many more ideas and even training manuals, e.g. this one on proper use of reinforced concrete.

_______________

Thus, in the midst of tragedy and many challenges, there are opportunities for the churches and people of our region as we respond to the horror in Haiti.

So, again, we must ask: Why not now, why not here, why not us? END

posted by Gordon @ 1:16 AM

Colleagues

This morning, I was able to complete and post the below, on the further aspects of capacity-building for disaster and emergency management, also drawing out towards how the challenge posed by Haiti and other major disasters could challenge us to a process of rebuilding and development with transformational potential.

For instance, let us ask what would happen if we were to use our DCM Offices to pioneer key technologies and approaches that could then spread out across our region?

And, what are the implications for "the region's largest single bloc of Non-Government, Community-Based Civil Society Organisations -- its churches"?

Your thoughts are invited.  (The below is and will remain, a work in progress.)

G

PS: I cc David of Barbados Underground.

PPS: I attach a copy of Dr Horatio Morgan's corrective response to the now widely circulated Prof Hilary Beckles article, which appeared in the Gleaner of Jamaica, on Tuesday. [HT: Dr AWS.]

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http://kairosfocus.blogspot.com/2010/01/matt-24-watch-98-haiti-and-regional.html

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Matt 24 watch, 98: Haiti and regional Capacity-building for Disaster Cycle Management, thus sustainable rebuilding and redevelopment

Two weeks after the devastating quake hit Haiti, the search and rescue teams have now closed off active search for trapped survivors (havign rescued some 120+ altogether . . . ), and the focus of efforts has now shifted to stabilisation as makeshift tent cities emerge, and as aid agencies scramble to develop more organised temporary shelters.

And, in response to the wisely circulated Sir Hilary Beckles article on UWI's intents to promote redevelopment in Haiti, Dr Horatio Morgan (a Jamaican financial economist resident in Canada) has posed a different (and in part corrective) viewpoint that emphasises local aspects of Haiti's conundrum.

In so doing, he concludes:

The real and persistent challenges that Haiti faces cannot be overlooked in order simply, to rebut some clearly absurd comments by a misguided televangelist (Pat Robertson). Moreover, we also have to move beyond any conscious or unconscious appeal to the now bankrupt dependency school theories of the 20th century that conveniently attributed virtually all the blame to Western imperialist "forces", while letting small developing countries off the hook.

To be sure, Haiti's indebtedness to France is not a trivial matter; the degree of external interference in its internal affairs cannot be overlooked as well. However, to abstract from all the other blatantly notorious internal problems is really poor scholarship, at best; and at worse, plainly academic dishonesty. Furthermore, national pride is not really at stake when a people truly confront their internal problems for what they really are. In doing so, it becomes easier to isolate and address the external problems as well.

So, while there are (and will continue to be!) various views on the historical, social and spiritual significance of the Bois Caiman Boukman prayer and the vodunistic sacrifice of 1791, it is plainly also time to focus on longer term, broader issues, and to bear in mind local as well as international aspects of the problem.

For that, we note that one of the harsh realities exposed by the Haitian earthquake is just how vulnerable our buildings, infrastructure and community systems in the Caribbean are to a disaster.

Worse, in recent years, disaster after disaster has exposed consistently inadequate disaster cycle management, especially poor mitigation or adaptation measures, and a want of properly organised regional response capacity and associated pre-planned air- and/or sea- lift.

Above all, they expose the urgent regional need for a shift to truly sustainable development policies, strategies and paths.

So, (i) since disaster cycle management and related emergency/crisis management are key subsets of sustainable development, and (ii) since technical and managerial capacity are plainly critical issues, then (iii) it makes sense for us to now turn our focus to the enhancement of that capacity as the next step in responding to the long-term aspects of the Haiti crisis.

(In effect we are now looking at key aspects of disaster cycle/risk management [DCM] reformation and capacity building as a potential transformative, Nehemiah rebuilding project. [Cf. a Sierra Leone case on community rebuilding through targetted interventions, here.])

In step- by- step points (building on the previous discussion):

1 --> First, a key concept: a disaster may be viewed as a massively destructive, suddenly onset (or, gradually emergent) event or set of circumstances in a given community.

2 --> Such an event -- whether a hurricane or an explosive volcanic eruption or a tsunami or an earthquake or a flood, or a fire at a vital petroleum refinery or an explosion in a factory spewing toxic fumes across a community, or whatever -- tends to overwhelm existing (or, remaining . . . ) capacity to cope or recover without significant external assistance; triggering a crisis.

3 --> Accordingly, Disaster Cycle Management [DCM] capacity is a critical issue for sustainability of development in communities exposed to major potential disasters. We can usefully model this as requiring a four-phase cyclical management approach, across the portfolio of potential disasters that may affect a given community:

I] Preparation: Pre-disaster (a) research and hazard/ risk assessment, leading to (b) strategic and operational planning, organisation, training, “resourcing,” public awareness and education, towards (c) capacity building and (d) mitigation/risk reduction, and/or prevention (or adaptation);

II] Disaster, proper: The disaster event or situation, with associated dislocation and destruction, requiring: largely reactive crisis-style management of the chaos [based on prior preparedness, mobilisation and prompt, effective and accurate communication, command and control systems], and deployment of resources for search, rescue, evacuation and care of casualties (and recovery of victims);

III] Stabilisation: The rescue and/or recovery of casualties/victims, triage and treatment (or onward evacuation), damage assessment (thus, response), and overall stabilisation, as management moves to a more pro-active posture; and,

IV] Onward Rebuilding and Redevelopment: Long-term, strategically focussed rebuilding and redevelopment, tied to lessons learned, improved capacity and also leading to the start of the next management cycle (towards more adequate preparation for managing future disasters).

4 --> It is immediately evident that Phase I, Preparation, dominates phases II and III. So, if we are to handle a crisis reasonably well, and then rapidly stabilise the situation as a basis for onward recovery and transformation, we must have adequate capacity based on sound, scientifically informed preparations.

5 --> For the major natural hazards that have hit the Caribbean in recent years, there is no want of technical understanding of the basic dangers involved, or of such measures as help reduce their impact. For instance, as Bilham noted, it has been over 100 years since engineers have begun to understand how to build earthquake resistant structures (as opposed to 'quake-"proof" ones!).

6 --> For the all too frequent weather-related hazards such as hurricanes and floods, adequate warning systems are maintained by neighbouring great powers subject to the same hazards [and/or in support of major civil air routes passing through the region], so we have in effect free access to warnings [and to technical information on building hurricane resistant structures etc], though such warnings inherently tend to be of the order of hours or days.

7 --> Earthquakes are still effectively unpredictable, but the related tsunamis can be warned against if we continue to develop, implement and use a regional warning network. (However, warning times for tsunamis travelling across our region at jet plane speeds will be on the scale of 1/2 hr or less, to perhaps several hours. And, such a network has been under discussion and development since the mid 1990's. )

8 --> Volcanic hazards will usually give warning of a dangerous situation emerging [through a properly set up seismic network], and the geology of volcanic zones is highly characteristic, so we know that especially the "inner" arc of EC islands are subject to occasional explosive volcanic events; but it is not usually possible to predict the exact timing of a major destructive event.

9 --> All of these point in turn to the significance and value of organised disaster preparedness and emergency response organisations and networks [we will call them DCM Offices] across the region, as have emerged in recent years. Such offices have done good work, but are clearly of limited capacity, and face significant obstacles.

10 --> However, once such offices and networks exist, a further opportunity emerges that is not only relevant to the case in Haiti but to key possibilities for regional capacity-building for sustainable development and transformation.

11 --> For, by committing to the development of an open source, renewable energy focussed disaster response technical capacity, DCM Offices can help jump-start significant capacity building for transition to truly sustainable development in the region:

a] Information and communication technologies [ICTs] are a critical issue for any C21 system. Commitment to the use of open source computer hardware and software [rooted in the Linux, Ubuntu, Android and OLPC- Sugar initiatives etc.] and standard interfacing systems such as the CAN bus (tied to the automotive industry) would create a generic base for a key strategic technology that is not locked into the currently predominant Wintel bloatware, high cost, non-transparent computing model. (It also encourages built-on value added efforts that would open up market space for the region's private sector.)

b] Adoption of the Grid Beam prototyping system would allow for deploying of an extremely flexible and easy to use development prototyping system (with metal grid beams) and for standardised easy-assembly sturdy temporary/flexible furniture (with wood beams; for required joint connector bolts and nuts, cf. here).

[The system is ideal for engineering, student and do- it- yourself level design, prototyping and development; and for rapid assembly or adaptation of machinery, furniture, workstations etc. in disaster response situations. For instance, standard kits would allow for creating a system of knocked down transportable furniture, instrumentation and work station units that can equip rapidly set up first responder field bases and also could provide furnishings for temporary shelters or tents. (The gallery of examples here, and the recliner seat computer workstation here should give enough ideas to draw attention, spark interest, trigger adoption and suggest adaptations.)]

c] Adoption of key Open Source Ecology industrial technologies for heavy equipment, such as the LifeTrac and the underlying CADTrac, would allow our University Engineering Departments and development arms of DCM offices to prototype a standard heavy equipment system that would itself be transformative for not only first response and stabilisation technical capacity but also would open up a new path for our own regional capacity to develop and manufacture agriculture, construction and heavy industry machinery. (This point for possible collaboration also shows a practical case on how our universities can be integrated into regional disaster management capacity building.)

d] Similarly, and using university energy research units as a base, the targetted use of small scale solar and wind powered, modular off-grid electricity generation systems would allow for deployment of reliable emergency communication, instrumentation [scientific, IT and biomedical], refrigeration of strategic items such as drugs, and more. It would also open up a base for developing capacity for this strategic cluster of future energy technologies.

e] Also, if we can develop and deploy an effective small scale modular biomass-based biofuel production capacity -- biodiesel, biogas, ethanol and butanol [this last being a direct substitute for gasoline] -- it would create an emergency vehicle and equipment fuel system that would be independent of supply disruptions and price volatility etc.

f] It is worth looking at the emerging green car kernel proposal as a possible model for flexible fuel emergency on- and off-road vehicles.

g] The building or adapting of a number of small roll-on, roll-off [RO-RO] container-carrying ships based at designated points in the region would allow for rapid deployment of resources in response to emergencies.

(Perhaps, we can work on the development of a regional merchant marine with links to the Caribbean Maritime Institute training college at Palisadoes, Jamaica? [Would a cut-down version of he Buffalo Soldier class Ro-Ro vessel, or an update to the classic WW II era Landing Ship, Tank do? Perhaps, with the clamshell door and cargo ramp at the stern, with manouvering thrusters in the bow?])

h] Similarly, there should be reserve contracts with regional catamaran ferry services to provide for rapid sea-based transportation of first responder teams and crucial equipment.

i] Our region also needs a "Caricom" fleet of flexible, turbo-prop, short and rough field capacity aircraft with adequate range to hop across the region and equipped for search and rescue, medical evacuation and rapid deployment of first responder teams and crucial equipment or cargo.

(The famous Lockheed C-130 four-engine 2,000+ mile range, 72,000 lb/64 - 92 passenger [including 74 medevac litter] turbo prop or the related civilian versions L-100 or L-382 would be one possibility at the heavier lift end of the scale. The twin engine De Haviland Twin Otter family and the less familiar but heavier lift Polish-built PZL M-28 Skytruck version of the Antonov 28 family, or the Short C-23 Sherpa or the CASA C-212 Aviocar or the Chinese made Harbin Y-12 [one is in use with the Guyana Defence Force] or the like should be seriously considered at the lighter lift, shorter range end of the scale.)

j] As an augmentation to this, national and regional DCM Offices should have arrangements with key regional airlines (e.g. LIAT, Caribbean Airways, Air Jamaica) for emergency support charter flights.

12 --> The integration of these technologies, arrangements and systems into a growing regional disaster management capacity would not only provide a much needed capability, but would provide a model for other regional capacity-building and transformation initiatives.

13 --> In this context, we should note the observation that church mission and relief efforts have been a long time positive contribution in Haiti. Accordingly, similar collaborative development of co-ordinated DCM capacity by church organisations and missions agencies active in the region would be a way to enhance that contribution. Such a development should also be co-ordinated to the extent possible with regional and local DCM Offices and initiatives.

14 --> Finally, in all of this, the example of Nehemiah is instructive:

___________________

Through all of this, we can see ways in which a regionally integrated, strategically focused disaster cycle management capacity- building effort can contribute significantly to not only the rebuilding of Haiti, but also to the sustainable development oriented transformation of the wider region.

An effort in which the region's largest single bloc of Non-Government, Community-Based Civil Society Organisations -- its churches -- can and should play a key role. END posted by Gordon @ 7:21 AM

Colleagues:

I have been looking at the possibilities of bahareque construction.

Notice my call to the churches to take a lead in moving our region to sustainable construction technologies, including not only in rebuilding initiatives in Haiti but in the rest of the region..

Please pray that the attempt to contact DfID -- who happen to be my next door neighbours --  makes a difference.

G'day

G

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http://kairosfocus.blogspot.com/2010/02/1-chron-1232-report-no-58-on.html

Monday, February 08, 2010

1 Chron 12:32 Report, no 58: On the possibilities of Bahareque construction technologies for Haitian reconstruction and for the wider region

An old optimist's saying is that every cloud has a silver lining, and it is now a commonplace that the Chinese character for "crisis" is built up from the components: danger PLUS opportunity. (Never mind the usual hair-splitting academic debate . . . !)

So it is no surprise that the horror of the recent Haiti Earthquake disaster opens up opportunities for a new and more sustainable approach to construction, especially for housing, agricultural buildings, and light commercial, industrial and institutional buildings in the Caribbean (and beyond).

To some extent, this blog has already remarked on this, in an earlier post of Jan 18 [at point no 40] wherein we may see that:

Possibilities -- in addition to the Moladi-type approach [cast, reinforced foamed concrete housing using prefabricated plastic moulds that can cast one house per day per mould, the mould having a working life of fifty castings] -- include:

a] The Classic CINVA Ram-type compressed earth brick or block presses (including the soil-cement block or brick variation, for which cement stabilises the blocks against moisture), with The Liberator being a faster production development. [The original is rather labour intensive, producing 50 bricks per hour per machine, with several thousand bricks being a typical requirement for a small house. But, we are dealing with a low labour cost environment in looking at Haiti's rural villages.]

b] The Auram modern development that can make a considerable variety of bricks and blocks, including Lego-style interlocking blocks

c] Modern clay, sand, and straw asphalted bricks (going all the way back to the Babylonians!)

d] Use of bamboo canes as a reinforcement medium for adobe type construction (as in "grow your own rebars").

e] The online World Housing Encyclopedia (and other sources) has many more ideas and even training manuals, e.g. this one on proper use of reinforced concrete.

But also, an updated form of the traditional Bamboo Hollow Bahareque construction technology from Columbia and Ecuador and related techniques (e.g. here and here) also offer significant potential, especially for situations where lower capital costs and use of indigenous materials and techniques accessible to ordinary relatively unskilled labour are important factors:

1 --> Traditional Bahareque construction took advantage of the fast-growing [ = "sustainable timber"], strong bamboo Guadua angustifolia (also known as "vegetable steel") and a development of wattle and daub construction, using bamboo strips as the wattles and a mud-horse dung [second use straw!] mortar as the daub.

2 --> Such buildings have proved to be surprisingly durable (lasting upwards of a century) and have also proved resilient in earthquakes; providing the structural bamboo is in good condition.

3 --> In recent years, Jorge Gutierrez, Engineer Professor and Chair, Structural Engineering Department, School of Civil Engineering, University of Costa Rica, has led an effort to develop this technology through application of engineering analysis, experiment and design techniques.

4 --> While aiming to do an ultimately all-bamboo timber design, initial housing was built using an interim timber framed version of the technique. These were at the epicentre of a Mag. 7.5 quake in Costa Rica, and survived without significant damage.

5 --> Similarly, as the modified technique creates an outer wall thickness of 5 cm [~ 2 inches] of bamboo strip reinforced concrete, it is credible that the walls will also be resistant to hurricane winds and most hurricane-carried projectiles.

6 --> Durability of bamboo is an issue in the tropics, with insect and fungus attack as significant challenges. The traditional treatment is to use borax solution to coat laths and creosote oil to coat bamboo columns and beams. Also, more modern treatment techniques now exist, for a prospective commercial trade in plantation-grown sustainable bamboo timber.

7 --> Such sustainable bamboo timber can also be made into bamboo composites such as a bamboo matting version of the traditional corrugated steel roofing sheet, into plywoods and laminated woods [which can in some cases be harder than oak].

8 --> Bamboo trusses can then support the roof, which can be of various types. (We should look at the use of stabilised compressed earth tiles, and at foamed cement tiles.)

9 --> A similar technique as tested in India is to use bamboo framing, and a network of laths, with attached chicken wire used as a basis for ferrocement construction of the same 2 inch thickness. Inthsi case, a timber ring beam was used to support the roof, and attachments were based on concrete infilling of up to 18" of the bamboo columns, then casting in rebars [to tie into a reinforced concrete foundation] or bolts that were passed through the timber ring beam serving as the base for the roof.

10 --> Plainly, the blending of bamboo lath and/or chicken wire concrete wattle and daub -- this last being a version of thin shell ferrocement construction used for sculptures, boats and buildings -- with bamboo, timber or steel framing holds many possibilities for creating an alternative, more sustainable, more affordable and yet disaster resistant construction technology for both Haiti and the wider region. (Similarly, compressed earth bricks, blocks and tiles and adobe with bamboo cane reinforcement can be blended in.)

11 --> However, resistance to novel and often perceived "inferior" technologies and materials is a challenge.

12 --> This is where churches, church-based aid and development groups, other non-government and/or community-based organisations and the like can step up to the plate and demonstrate through key pilot demonstration projects, the utility, aesthetics, sustainability, affordability and potential acceptable quality of such new approaches.

________________

So, again, let us ask: why not now, why not here, why not us? END posted by Gordon @ 7:11 AM

Colleagues

A Macedonian call from the youth of Haiti.

Let us respond.

G

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http://kairosfocus.blogspot.com/2010/02/macedonian-call-for-help-from-youth-of.html

Tuesday, February 09, 2010

A Macedonian call for help from the Youth of Haiti

Immediately below is the text of a petition from the Haitian Caricom Youth Ambassadors at a recent Caricom Heads of Government Special Summit on Youth, Paramaribo 2010. It is reproduced here by the permission of the Barbados Youth Development Council to circulate it. (HT: "David," Blog Owner Barbados Underground, Haiti reconstruction thread, February 4, 2010 at 5:48 PM.)

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RECOVERY RELIEF EFFORT TO SUPPORT YOUTH DEVELOPMENT THROUGH TERTIARY EDUCATION AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT IN HAITI AFTER JANUARY 12TH EARTHQUAKE IN PARTNERSHIP WITH CARICOM MEMBERS

________________________

A petition of CARICOM YOUTH AMBASSADORS FROM HAITI

Addressed to: CARICOM COMMISSION ON YOUTH DEVELOPMENT WE THE UNDERSIGNED WOULD LIKE TO BRING YOUR ATTENTION TO THE FOLLOWING PROBLEM, WITH RECOMMENDATIONS:

__________________________

Good afternoon,

I wish to speak on the behalf of my brothers and sisters in Haiti who are desperate for almost 3 weeks. Those youths that woke up the morning of January 12 with a bunch of energy, vibes that were sharing with others, and had hopes that tomorrow will have been better! Those same youths, the one who survived obviously, were standing in the middle of a street at 5PM without any hope!

This is an appeal that the CARICOM Youth Ambassadors of Haiti; current and former are making on behalf of our peers.

Dear Heads

The January 12 earthquake left thousands of students without schools, universities, and teachers in Port-au-Prince and around Haiti. Current efforts are focusing on providing food, water, and shelter; but in the coming months and years, the most pressing issue will become the lack of qualified human resources to rebuild Haitian society, which will result from the generations of displaced students unable to access quality education during and following the crisis. The demand for quality education is, and will continue to be, very critical. In this time of crisis, HAITI needs the support of its partners, including members of the CARICOM community, to continue providing education to its current students to avoid creating a potentially detrimental gap in qualified human resources.

Haiti has little capacity and few facilities to offer tertiary education, and this disaster has further weakened the tertiary education system. The State University of Haiti has around 23,000 students; each year 18,000 youth seek attendance at an undergraduate school, but only 3000 are admitted. For example, the School for Nursing and the School of Human Sciences collapsed, and the other buildings are cracked. Most likely, the rescued students will lose the academic year, and the country will suffer from a lack of qualified personnel during the recovery and reconstruction periods following the immediate response.

As acting CARICOM Youth Ambassadors and with the support of the former ones, we appeal to the CARICOM Community to urge the Heads of Government to offer education support to Haiti in this humanitarian crisis.

First, we request that CARICOM dedicate money for 20 scholarships per year for the next five years (starting in Fall 2010) for Haitian students to attend the University of West Indies (UWI). In addition, we hope that UWI will be more flexible in enrolling Haitian students during this special disaster relief effort.

Second, we urge CARICOM to develop a mechanism that will help youth in Haiti access funding to develop businesses, for instance, through the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), while receiving support and mentoring from the State University of Haiti and the private sector.

Thank you for your attention.

_____________________________

AGREED UPON BY THE FOLLOWING PEOPLE:

1. Isnel PIERREVAL / former CYA for HAITI /

2. Frantz SEIDE / former CYA for HAITI/

3. Gyliane Anne-Leticia CADET/ CYA for HAITI/

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This petition rightly first and foremost underscores the central importance of education to rebuilding Haiti, and also calls for assistance with business formation and development. And while twenty scholarships per year to the UWI -- and a similar number to the other national, church based and independent universities, institutes, seminaries and colleges -- would be helpful, the scope of the need and want of functional campus facilities points strongly to the need for a regional open university campus movement.

Similarly, supportive efforts will be needed at secondary and primary levels.

This leads back to the earlier suggestions on education initiatives made on January 12, in response to the crisis, from point 25:

25 --> . . . the issue in hand is not merely one of grants and technical assistance towards capacity-building, important as these are.

26 --> Gospel-based liberation and transformation through discipleship and renewal of hearts, minds, lives and institutions are also necessary if Haiti is to find a truly sustainable breakthrough. (Just as is true for the rest of the world.)

27 --> I also believe that the harnessing of modern information and communication technologies is also a key component of such a transformation, as the bridging of the digital divide powerfully enables all of the above.

28 --> For this, I am especially impressed by the significance of the One Laptop Per Child pioneered by Nicholas Negroponte and others, and the now spun-off Sugar User Interface system. (As well, the Tutorius interactive tutoring system based on Sugar is worth monitoring.) [OLPC] initiative.

29 --> For, this system creates an educational learning system based on a rugged, low cost, low power consumption, low ecological footprint computer using an open source interface built on Red Hat's Fedora Linux, and is a system that is completely open source on both hardware and software. (Think, instead of a cut-down PC, of a rugged modification to the Blackberry or iPhone; but set up as a child's "instant-on" educational computer based on completely open source software, and with built in networking capability so that it can interact with the Internet and a neighbourhood of other users across the world. A world in which already over 1.6 million e-books books that will work with the XO series of computers are available online. The underlying hardware uses an extended X86 instruction set as well, so it is capable of working with Linux distributions such as Ubuntu, and with a suitably adapted Windows. [Indeed, through an arrangement with Microsoft, for a small additional fee [it seems ~US$3/unit] countries ordering large numbers of XO's may have XP installed.])

30 --> As just one illustration of potential beyond just education, one of the most distressing experiences of Haitians abroad has been inability to communicate with their loved ones back home, in the midst of the horrendous news reports. But, if OLPC XO-1's were on the ground, so soon as a wireless network could have been set up, families would have been able to be in instant contact through text, and if there were enough bandwidth, speech and video.

31 --> Since the OLPC Foundation is relatively small, as well, and is strongly technologically innovative, the extension of the concept from primary age children to a generally available educational device that not only is set up for primary education and as an eBook reader, but is capable of supporting education through secondary and tertiary levels. [Cf. concepts for the XO-3 "card computer" here, which the foundation is targetting for US$ 75/unit, though of course they have as yet been unable to bring the original XO below US$100/unit on truly large scale production.]

32 --> For instance, a classroom with a U-shaped set of Workstation plug-in points, and a central modular table system can fit into a 15' x 30 ' room. Put in some broadband access, multimedia, and wireless keyboard tech, mix in mentoring people as facilitators, and you have a viable micro-campus centre that could for instance be based in a church or a community centre etc.

33 --> The Moodle open source education content management software system, Wiki technologies (similar to the Wikipedia encyclopedia), blog technologies, video conferencing and other open source digital techniques can then facilitate hosting a rich educational resource that can be partly localised to on-site servers, partly accessible through the web.

34 --> A network of such microcampuses can tackle the keystone bridging Secondary-to-post secondary and Associate to first degree levels, with key short courses and targetted strategic technical areas. This would serve as he backbone to support the transformation of primary and secondary education, and would provide a steady stream of people with required capacity for the redevelopment effort.

35 --> At more advanced levels, a cluster of targetted MBAs, MPAs [Masters in Public Admin], M.Eds and the like would help greatly on building strategic level governance and managerial capacity side.

36 --> A good Associate Degree level Theology, Bible, Discipleship and technical empowerment programme designed to work with the general education system could be taken up by CETA or other groups. This last would help energise the spiritual reformation and renewal side.

37 --> Similarly, porting one or more of the open source Bible software initiatives -- Xiphos is already a Linux based system that has been ported to other environments, but eSWORD has now gone generic with version 9 [as with office version 2007 the original Access database format has been abandoned by Microsoft] -- to the platform would create a widely accessible Bible resource that could be used for supporting the work of the church and general "equipping of God's people for works of service." [This would help foster godly reformation.]

On the just as vital business (and agriculture) development side, an update to the same post, of January 24th, suggested:

1 –> One of the key blights of Haiti (and Kingston, Ja etc) is the problem of urban migration of rural people, as the countryside has been long starved of opportunity and attractions.

2 –> This, due to the problem of subsidising the town at the expense of the country that Adam Smith long ago analysed. For, urban concentrations draw the eye and the effort, while rural people, being dispersed, are easily overlooked; to the predictable detriment of both -- rural stagnation, loss of ability of a nation to feed itself from its own resources, and urban blight with high unemployment, poverty and crime.

3 –> But in our time of networked multimedia communications, there is no good reason why villages should not grow into small townships with quite good enough facilities and resources; creating a nation-wide network of distributed centres that avert the denudation, idling and depopulation of the countryside and the creation of overpopulated, overstressed, explosive and unsustainable urban concentrations. (I think here of SE St Elizabeth, Ja, and the astonishing development of the township of Junction as an informal model to study and learn from.)

4 –> A key step is the de-bureaucratisation of business formation and taxing systems. For, as De Soto showed convincingly for Peru [cf Institute for Liberty and Democracy here], a lingering mercantilist pattern of regulation, monopoly and cartel easily emerges that locks out the innovative small or micro entrepreneur through creating a bureaucratic maze backed up by blocking access to capital save by the already established.

5 –> The rise of capital starved informal micro enterprises, squatting on/"capture" of lands, inability to acquire lands, etc etc are all characteristic features of such, and are already depressingly familiar from a simple glance at Haiti (and of course Jamaica etc).

6 –> Instead, regulatory and taxing systems need to be greatly simplified, more comprehensible to the uninitiated, helping-oriented and less punitive. On this De Soto’s comparison that similar businesses took an afternoon to set up in Miami [no bribes] and a year or so in Peru [with bribes], is telling.

7 –> Similarly, his contrast of two neighbouring communites in Peru, one ghetto-like, the other showing obvious pride of ownership, is telling. When people can own their own land and homes, they have ownership and access to a capital base that can give collateral for prudent business investments [and if designed right, can often house the relevant cottage industry -- think of the old fashioned tailor shop fronting the house, or shop below, residence above etc].

8 –> Multiply by strategic cash crops [including the ever-growing list of nutraceuticals, especially superfruit tree crops -- reforestation!], agricultural co-ops and competent marketing systems that turn small plots into mini cash cows.

9 –> Blend in well managed credit unions and development banking. (And, CDB is a world class effort along these lines. The Basic Needs Trust Fund should get injections from all sorts of people, as a way to energise a known centre of excellence.)

10 –> Take village churches, schools and community centres, and augment them to include micro-campus centres, supports for business formation and development, clinics and community micro-power radio.

11 –> Add to these the proved power of the business incubator.

12 –> Back all up by a long term programme of capacity development and transformation through education and renewal . . .

Thus, there is a good match between these earlier proposals and what the youth of Haiti are asking for.

The challenge -- including the implicit spiritual dimension -- is therefore now in our hands, even as once before at the hinge of our Civilisation's history, we may read:

Acts 16:9 A vision appeared to Paul during the night: A Macedonian man was standing there urging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!” 16:10 After Paul saw the vision, we attempted immediately to go over to Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.

So, again, let us ask: why not now, why not here, why not us? END

posted by Gordon @ 6:49 AM

Colleagues:

Please find below the main substance of the Discussion Draft Schools of Hope, Haiti project concept note proposal I have been working on for the past few weeks. Attached as well is the PDF version of the proposal -- after some struggles with recalcitrant software and a power cut at a most in opportune time. (Links in the PDF are live [cf esp those on the timeline chart page], but it seems that Open office 3.2 is a bt unstable; at least on my PC.)

Can we work to bring it to the attention of key players, stakeholders and potential partners across the region and beyond?

Then, let us see what we can join hands together and do for our battered and bleeding but ever so plucky sister Caricom country.

Thanks

G

PS: David of BU, as promised

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http://kairosfocus.blogspot.com/2010/02/1-chron-1232-report-59-schools-of-hope.html

Thursday, February 25, 2010

1 Chron 12:32 Report, 59: Schools of Hope, respoonding to the Haiti Macedonian call

In response to the Macedonian call discussed in a previous post of Feb 9, 2010, below is the main framework of the Schools of Haiti discussion draft project concept paper. (PDF version here.)

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Schools of Hope, Haiti

TKI Feb 2010

SYNOPSIS: A proposal for creating a network of 25 digitally integrated community-transforming Schools of Hope in Haiti. These schools, from primary to Associate Degree level Community Colleges, would help create a digital age education system connected to business incubation, agriculture development, balanced rural-urban development, and sustainability initiatives, starting with demonstration of low-cost sustainable construction technologies.

[ . . . . ]

INTRODUCTION: After a devastating earthquake that shattered Port- au- Prince and surrounding areas, Haiti lost 230,000+ people and a large slice of its national infrastructure. As sister Caribbean nations, as people descended from slaves whose liberation was hastened by the sacrifices of the Haitian nation from 1791 on, and in response to the recent petition of request for assistance with education and business development placed before Caricom by the leaders of Haiti’s youth, we now propose a Schools of Hope Initiative for the capital city [5 schools] and for the towns and villages of Haiti [20 schools], as a long-term commitment to help in the reconstruction and transformation of Haiti; understood as a regional and global moral imperative and a down-payment on our debt of honour.

It is intended that the schools — at primary and secondary level as appropriate — should target the urban and rural poor, and that they should serve as centres of community upliftment and transformation, through partnering with or incorporating affiliated initiatives and components such as:

• attached agriculture extension/ urban allotment gardening projects,
• micro- financing and micro- business incubation projects,
• a programme for provision of annual scholarships to regional colleges and universities
• health clinics,
• trade evening schools,
• demonstration of key renewable energy technologies,
• demonstration of sustainable construction technologies,
• participation as pilots for the global One Laptop Per Child initiative,
• community upliftment micro-power radio,
• networking as an access points for secondary and tertiary level any distance education,
• etc. as further needs, challenges and opportunities are identified by our Haitian partners, and/or by other partners from across the world

We also invite participation of partners from across the world in this initiative.

1. Background and Rationale:

From even before 1791, our Caricom sister-state Haiti has had a turbulent, unstable and painful, complex history; with much blame that could be allocated to both external and internal actors. However, in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake – one that may have cost three hundred thousands their lives, and devastated perhaps half the buildings in Port au Prince; including an estimated up to seventy five percent of school buildings -- this is not the time for finger-pointing, but for rebuilding.
We the peoples of the Caribbean also have a historic debt of honour to the nation whose courageous uprising from 1791 helped to accelerate the abolition of slavery in our region by perhaps a generation. We are also ideally positioned to be bridging partners with our sister Caricom country as it sets about a rebuilding and redevelopment process; one where it will have to find a way to work with Great Powers that have historically exploited and abused the people of Haiti.

Moreover, as Haiti’s youth ambassadors made plain in a petition to the February Caricom heads of government meeting, Haiti is requesting our assistance with education and with support for economic empowerment through business formation. Thus, a Schools of Hope initiative – designed to provide education services and support for successful business formation, for a transition to sustainable construction, for sustainable agriculture, and for reforestation -- are key areas in which we can make a valuable contribution, and would be an appropriate down- payment on our debt of honour to Haiti.

The key to the proposed strategy would be to establish clustered schools in which a Community College core unit has associated High School(s) and primary school(s), with the teachers being the key links in the network. So, the Community College helps build education and technical capacity, supporting and researching on the work in the affiliated schools. All, backed up by an internet technology based network using key technologies such as Moodle educational content management system, wikis [good for writing learning resources], and blogs. EPUB format e-books and the like would provide online references constituting a reference library. OLPC family XO-1 PC’s — open hardware, open software, ruggedised, low power — would then serve as a common low cost adequate bang for the buck computing platform. (NB: Opening up hard and software is perfect for building technical skills for the C21 digital age. It is also suggested that we should approach OLPC to create a student/teacher version of the XO-1 and derivatives; for use in higher levels of education. Similarly, a Single Board Computer version set up for the CAN bus would be helpful for developing industrial and agricultural controllers.)

Networked, community based education and associated upliftment and agricultural and business formation would help to reverse urban drift, and create balanced urban and rural development In particular, given the growing digital age, there are many possibilities for using networked Internet and computer based digital resources and existing or restored or new physical infrastructure to help transform Haiti’s educational system and integrate it into widely distributed community upliftment and business and agricultural development.

Modular, rapid build low cost, sustainability oriented construction technologies also offer a capacity to put in required community based infrastructure at affordable rates. in addition, use of modular, rapid-build sustainable, quake and hurricane resistant construction technologies would demonstrate and build capacity for the urgently needed post-quake rebuilding.

Multiply such prospects by strategic cash crops, agricultural co-ops and competent marketing systems that turn small plots into mini cash cows. For, with “ethical” organic crops such as coffee, in an Internet age a farming coop can market straight to global ethical, fair trade and organic markets. (So, we ask: what if such a co-op hosts a node in a regional Internet marketing system for artistic handicrafts and for strategic cash crops?)

Blend in well managed credit unions and development banking. Take village churches, schools and community centres, and augment them to include micro-campus centres, supports for business formation and development, clinics and community micro-power radio. Add to these the proved power of the business incubator. Back all of this up by a long term, university research based programme of capacity development and transformation through education and renewal .

Nothing is going to be perfect, and nobody or nothing will have no detractors and critics, but we need to ask: what works? how can we build on strengths, address challenges and compensate for weaknesses or defects?

2. Goals and Objectives:

GOAL: Through a Caricom partnership with the Government and people of Haiti, to initially implement and support a network of community-transforming Schools of Hope in Haiti.

This may be achieved across a sixty-month period through:

a] Agreement across Caricom to initiate such an effort [D + 3 mos]

b] Agreement with Gov Haiti — a Caricom member — and selected target communities across Haiti [D + 6 months]

c] Contacts with partner development agencies and supportive governments [D + 6 months]

d] Contacts with OLPC and Sugar, etc towards production and distribution of XO-1’s for schools [D + 6 months]

e] Contact & agreement with OLPC etc on creation of a student and educator version of the OLPC XO-1 etc [D + 12 months]

f] Design, construction of pilot wave of schools at 10 – 20% of selected sites [including at least one primary, one secondary, one community college/ Associate degree level], using innovative sustainable, rapid build, relatively low cost construction technologies (e.g. Moladi would be a candidate for technology) [D + 18 months]

g] Implementation of integrated, associated community uplifting efforts in collaboration with communities and partners. [D + 30 months]

h] Initial evaluations [D + 9 - D + 33 months]

i] Wave 2: next 20 – 40 % [D + 36 months]

j] Wave 3: up to 90 % [D + 48 months]

k] Wave 4: final set of schools [D + 54 months]

l] Evaluation, scaling up and dissemination in concert with partners [D + 60 months on]

3. Proposed Implementation:

The key stakeholders and partners would be Caricom, UWI (and other regional universities . . . perhaps the ACTI group), the Government of Haiti, Haitian community leaders and members, and international partners that have already been involved in education transformation in Haiti.

An awareness and activation forum can be used to mobilise a provisional executive team and partnership based board of governors, with attached experts and partners forming a matrix type project team structure. This working group should report to Caricom, and the council of PMs, as a major regional project, indeed a Nehemiah project. In addition, the forum should meet regularly to discuss progress, and to communicate with the Haitan, regional and international publics.

The project will also require agreement with the Haitian Government on innovations in education at all three levels: primary, secondary, community college.

This initiative should be viewed as a launch project, with an onward sustained commitment from Caricom and other partners to keep the network of schools going and growing as a viable -- and in the end essentially Haitian -- concern.

4. Milestones and Deliverables:

The timelined objectives above indicate the envisioned milestones and deliverables in sufficient detail for a discussion draft concept note.

5. Inputs:

The key decision-maker, technical and financial inputs are implied in the above. Drawing them out slightly, a top level working group of educators, development specialists and other key technical people will need to put in a considerable effort to get the programme going, starting from an activation conference. This group should work in partnership with key stakeholders and especially the Haitian Government and Caricom, which should help resolve permit and regulatory obstacles.

The proposed OLPC and shift to sustainable construction technologies will require appropriate technical inputs.

Beyond that, on the initial crude budget estimate below, the envisioned launch phase project would reasonably require a financial and in-kind commitment of some US$ 4/ Caricom national across five years, other than those from disaster-struck Haiti.

The project is therefore feasible per required input resources, and onward sustained efforts should also be feasible on Caricom’s general resource base.

6. Estimated Budget

For a discussion draft like this, we will make a very simple estimate: on an average of US$ 1 mn/school to build and equip it, with primary schools expected to cost on the low side, and starter Community College mini campuses on the high side:

US$ 1 mn/school x 25 US$ 25 mn

For central and network expenses US$ 5 mn

TOTAL US$ 30 mn

Some can be in kind, but US$ 30 mn / 7.5 mn non-Haitian Caricomers is ~ US$ 4/ person, across five years.

7. Key Assumptions:

The project depends on political will and public support to make a major long term Caricom commitment to Haiti, and to its redevelopment and transformation. This will probably only be viable if the Haitian programme is a pilot for a regional transformation through education initiative. (Which is not a bad thing at all!)

Failing such a regional government level commitment, since the project is inherently modular and scalable, in a context where there is a long term commitment from churches, charitable organisations etc, a scaled down form would be viable through such agencies.

Thus, though regional political will is plainly a risky premise, the project concept is sufficiently viable that it will probably be adopted in some form by a cluster of partners.

8. Outcomes, Benefits and Impacts:

As the schools get in on the ground the direct beneficiaries would be students, families and communities, with long term beneficial outcomes for Haiti and the wider region. The associated agriculture, construction, business incubation and community health and radio outreaches would multiply community-level benefits. Modularity, the emergence of a growing network of centres of renewal and transformation, and associated digitalisation would enhance prospects for expansion that builds on success.

Beyond such direct benefits, the rise of an educated digitally productive generation in Haiti would have long term transformative effects on the Haitian economy and society. The participative partnership based approach will also help create a sounder governance culture for Haiti, fostering stability and sustainability. Also, as Haiti provides a demonstration and testbed, Caricom as a whole (and wider regions beyond) would also begin to benefit).

At secondary levels, a shift to sustainable construction would tend to reduce adverse environmental impacts of development, and the associated reforestation and sustainable farming initiatives would move us to an improved bio-physical environment in Haiti.

Finally, the stream of obvious benefits will begin rapidly, from the construction phase on. So, quick wins are built in, which will help silence critics and will build up support.
_______________________________

SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS: A Schools of Hope initiative is both credibly feasible and potentially decisively beneficial for Haiti and Caricom, a credible big win all around. Such an initiative is therefore highly desirable and urgently needed. As such, the participation of Caricom, individual Governments across the region, other key Caribbean organisations, charitable groups and institutions, as well as friendly external Governments and institutions, is respectfully invited.


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And so, we are at an Esther 4:12, Mordecai moment:

If not now, then when?

If not Haiti, then where?

If not us, then who?

So, again: why not now, why not here, why not us? END posted by Gordon @ 9:04 AM

Bros (and colleagues)

Sobering reading that's not in the usual news spin cycle.

While this may not be the whole story, it expresses a voice we need to hear.

G

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http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=126204

Haiti's children held hostage by UNICEF's agenda

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Posted: February 26, 2010
1:00 am Eastern

© 2010 

By the age of 8, Bernard had been living alone as a beggar on the streets of Haiti for more than a year. His mother abandoned him when he was 7. He has not seen her since. Two weeks ago, Dr. John Leininger, president of Harvest International and long-time veteran of Haitian orphan relief, found Bernard. The boy was begging, hungry, filthy and covered in scabies, a contagious skin disease caused by a species of mite that burrow in the skin and create rashes, sores and extreme itching. With Bernard's consent, he was taken to the orphanage for medical treatment, food and some TLC. He has not left since.

"The question is this: Is he an orphan?" Dr. Leininger asks. "When a parent has to choose between starvation and abandoning that child, is the child an orphan? Certainly! But the latest guidelines would prevent us from having Bernard adopted. ... This is just one more method UNICEF has used successfully to prevent adoptions."

This frustration is common. Within the community of Haitian orphan rescue mission organizations, it has long been known that United Nations Children's Emergency Fund, or UNICEF, frowns upon American adoptions. Since the devastating Jan. 12 catastrophe that left hundreds of thousands of Haitian children orphaned and in deplorable conditions, UNICEF has mounted an international publicity campaign and worked behind the scenes pressuring Haitian government officials to shut down international adoptions. Their message to the world has been clear: In order to preserve local cultures, out-of-country adoptions must be stopped.

No group has done more to save children's lives and give hope to Haiti's orphan population than Christian orphanages. Despite this fact, the scope of UNICEF's anti-adoption activities was officially extended last week to public opposition to orphanages. Marie de la Soudiere, the coordinator for UNICEF's separated-children fund told Time magazine: "Our answer is 'no' to orphanages."

Support WND's charity of choice for Haiti relief, the Jeremiah Denton Foundation

UNICEF's plan is now to register and take greater control of Haiti's orphans. According to UNICEF's own spokesman, they have currently registered a mere 130 of the nation's 350,000 plus orphans – not a whopping number.

To counter the overwhelming pro-adoption sentiment, and to shift the debate, UNICEF has turned to the emotionally charged claim that adoptions lead to child sex-trafficking. This cause was given a huge boost by the arrest and politicization of the story of 10 American missionaries who improperly attempted to assist some Haitian parents by bringing 33 children to safety in the Dominican Republic.

Yet, to date, there have been no documented cases of child sex-trafficking connected with American adoptions. The thought is so repugnant, however, that the mere mention of the charge is sometimes enough to shut down debate.

Dr. John Leininger told me that "UNICEF … is trying to raise the issue of child trafficking at this time because there is so much interest from American families ... desiring to adopt a child, because they've seen the devastation, and they've seen the need of these children over here. Children sleeping in the mud … uncovered in cold nights here. And it's pitiful to me."

To promote their agenda, UNICEF has teamed up with the Hollywood elite, including Hollywood leftist Sean Penn. The actor who made headlines last year for winning an Oscar for his portrayal of homosexual activist Harvey Milk announced to the world on Larry King that God is a bully to the Haitian people. A little over a week later, Angelina Jolie arrived in Haiti, urging parents not to adopt Haitian orphans at this time.

"The power of the media is amazing, and we all know it. Perception rules," Leininger commented. "And it is clear that UNICEF and other organizations are taking this moment to bring in celebrities … to try to push their point, which, again, has been totally unproven and [is] unsubstantiatable."

Dixie Bickel, a registered nurse and director of Haiti's God's Littlest Angels orphanage, explains the sentiment of many leaders in Haiti who have labored for years before the Haitian earthquake: "UNICEF appears to be the only organization that we're aware of that is currently working in Haiti that isn't working for the good of the children and the families that have suffered so much in this tragedy. ... There are people who want to provide for these children but aren't being allowed to. Why? So that UNICEF can say that they are in charge? It boggles the mind."

The crisis caused by this politicization of Haiti's orphan tragedy is compounded by UNICEF's own checkered past, which includes its activities as an international promoter of abortion and a distributor of abortifacients, as well as a disturbing record of human sterilization in other poor, predominantly black nations like Jamaica. Is this UNICEF's direction in Haiti? Will they continue to assist abortion providers? Will their answer to the Haitian orphan overpopulation problem be more sterilizations?

What is clear is this: UNICEF officials are harassing Christian orphanages. Reports from within the community of Christian orphan relief organizations indicate that UNICEF officials have been flexing their muscles and have even resorted to mild forms of unlawful harassment of relief workers promoting adoption of Haitian children by American families.

Earlier this week, unaccompanied UNICEF officials arrived at God's Littlest Angels orphanage and began making demands and giving directives to orphanage director Bickel. But as a United Nations organization independent of Haiti, UNICEF has no authority to act independently of the Haitian government when it comes to dictating policy to Christian orphanages. In fact, Haitian policy prevents official visits by UNICEF to private orphanages where they are unaccompanied by official representatives of Haitian social services.

Sadly, UNICEF's anti-adoption campaign is having a chilling effect on the rescue of Haiti's children from life-threatening danger. Private medical evacuations of critically injured Haitian children to the United States for treatment have largely stopped because aid workers, doctors and government officials are worried about being accused of kidnapping if they transport the children without first getting paperwork that is slow to arrive or is unavailable.

Elizabeth Greig, the field hospital administrator for the University of Miami medical facility, told the New York Times: "At least 10 other children have died or become worse while waiting to be airlifted out of the country. Dozens of children are in critical need of care, and there has been no shortage of American hospitals or pilots willing to take them," but without the paperwork – itself seemingly impossible to procure – pilots are afraid that they will be prosecuted for helping children.

In a world that has been turned upside down, where the government is in shambles and where hundreds of thousands of bodies remain unidentified, how do you fulfill UNICEF's policy guidelines that victims prove that their parents are dead before being brought to safety in America?

For many orphan rescue ministries in Haiti, the issue is simple: The crisis is immediate, and lawful, appropriate action must be taken to facilitate adoption so that thousands of children can be spared unimaginable hardship, and in some cases, the possibility of death.

Yet at a time where countless children like Bernard are at risk of starvation, UNICEF is using politics and improper techniques against orphanages to advance a cause that is not in the best interest of Haiti's children.

---

Doug Phillips is the founder of Rescue Haiti's Children, a project of Vision Forum Ministries. For the latest on the relief effort of Rescue's Haiti's Children, visit RHC's Facebook and Twitter pages.

Colleagues:

Building on the Schools of Hope idea, here are thoughts on transforming our region's industrial base to a more resilient, localised, more sustainable, light eco footprint open source technology base.

Your inputs will be appreciated.

Grace to all

G

PS: And if you see hints of a possible technology curriculum for our envisioned community college movement, the answer is, but of course!

PPS: Possibilities for creating greater economic independence for suffering church communities also.

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http://kairosfocus.blogspot.com/2010/03/1-chron-1232-report-60-towards.html

Thursday, March 11, 2010

1 Chron 12:32 report, 60: Towards Industrial Civilisation 2.0 -- the post scarcity, open source, sustainable, resilient village

In recent weeks I have been keeping an eye on the initiatives of Polish Physicist Marcin Jakubowski, of the Open Source Ecology initiative Factor e Farm outside Kansas City. (Blog.)

For, his Global, resilient Community/Village ideas have much to teach us about moving beyond the age of scarcity and mass production to a new, more resilient, light eco-footprint era.

For instance, we may ponder this vimeo video from OSE:

How to Build a Post-Scarcity Village from Marcin Jakubowski on Vimeo.

You will see Jakubowski starts with the Life Trac, which has become somewhat of a symbol of what he is doing.

Namely, pioneering a new industrial era in which open source industrial technologies form a base for small communities to build localised villages that can sustain themselves in the main through internal or easily accessible resources. And, because the core technologies are open source, once a cluster that is self-replicating -- including computerised modular, flexible fabrication machines [cf. here and here] -- is developed, this becomes an alternative to the current dependence on massive manufacturing centres and debt-riddled purchases of high maintenance cost major equipment.

The Life Trac machine you see cost US$ 4,000 to build, largely from junkyard parts and standard metal tubing etc. So far, its annual maintenance cost is US$ 100; and because it is highly modular, using a power plant, hydraulic power and a simple sturdy frame, it can be built in a local community. (They have developed a mini version, are working on a version 2 prototype of the full-sized tractor/ backhoe/ loader/ bulldozer/ earth tiller. They are also developing a similar open source utility vehicle -- UniMOS, modelled on Mercedes Benz's famous UniMOG -- and are looking at the open source car movement.)

The second major machine -- the Liberator compressed, stabilised earth block press -- is an update on the CINVA RAM type compressed earth brick machine. (I think we in the Caribbean should look at marrying that with the Auroville Earth Institute of India’s Auram, which makes a wide variety of bricks, blocks and tiles, including an interlocking range.)

In short, we are seeing the early phases of a potential industrial transformation. And while we may not want to buy into the full-bore Homebrew Industrial Revolution ideology -- I do confess to some heartfelt sympathies! -- we of the Caribbean should certainly look very carefully at clusters of technologies that would transform our region from being primarily consumers of technology to producers. (And of course, on the open source software model, e.g. Linux and Open Office, commercial enterprises would be refocussed on creating real value-added to the generic products coming from open source fabs. No gewgaws and gimcracks, thank you, just honest value added. [BTW, Open office is now my primary office productivity software. I am using the Go OO fork of version 3.2 of Open office.org , and highly recommend it.)

Then there is the potential of bamboo, especially the Guadua “vegetable steel” genus [angustifolia the starring member: up to 100 ft tall, 10 inches across at base, 5 - 7 years to grow, thorns to discourage praedial larceny; I believe 20 x the productivity of a similar acreage of pine forest . . . and the timber is harder than oak when properly processed], to transform the region's timber and construction industries. (Bamboo bahareque and related construction technologies seem to be highly promising. I have also not forgotten Moladi's rapid build foamed, reinforced concrete system and the Hebel type autoclaved aerated concrete modular "tilt-up" building construction system.)

And if you hear an echo of the Celtic Monasteries of the era just past the collapse of the Roman Empire in the West, yes, it is there: we have in this historic movement a proven survivable institution that became a cluster of resilient centres for preserving civilisation and upliftment of the local community, which we can then adapt to modern circumstances.

Now, think about integrating this with the work of our region's universities and Disaster/ Emergency Management Offices. The latter need reliable, capable machines, and the former need seed-plots to do pioneering research.

While I am at it, let me plug the astonishing grid beam modular furniture and mechanical prototyping system based on square section wood or metal members with a grid of drilled holes on a pitch equal to the side of the square:, e.g. 1 and a 1/2 inch square timber [officially 2 x 2] will use a 1 1/2 inch spaced hole system.

The latter also need to have off-grid energy systems, rapid build housing solutions, easily packed modular furniture, remotely piloted or semi- autonomous reconnaissance machines. [Think here robotic aircraft -- some of which (as the recent Montserrat Craig Cabey disappearance at sea on a jet ski case reminds me . . . ) need to have long range maritime search capacity; and snaking and/or crawling robots that can go into the sort of pancake collapsed environment we saw on our TVs since January, as well.]

Then we need C21 Schooners capable of both motor and wind driven travel across our region at reasonable cost, for robust regional trade. Nor have I forgotten the need for sealift and airlift that can move containerised modular equipment and people rapidly across our region and for linking regional hub ports to the wider world.

Moreover, we all need good solid ICTs and access to life-long high quality education that can exploit Internet technology and existing infrastructure to build the capacity we will need. Thus, there is an opportunity for a network of schools of hope that use Internet technologies and create lifelong learning opportunities though not only initial primary and secondary offerings, but lifelong learning through a vibrant community college movement.

In short, the recent Haiti Schools of Hope proposal is a step towards a much wider opportunity.

How does this all fit into the Biblical worldview and its central gospel message?

1 –> Ac 17 teaches us that nationhood is the creation of God, who desires per Gal 3:14 to bless us in Christ with the same promise given to Abraham.

2 –> This fits in with the biblical plot line: Creation, fall, restoration: redemption, conversion and transformation through the gospel, blessing, consummation and eternal felicity.

3 –> In this context, God comes to nations in times of kairos — hinges on which the course of history pivots — with his spokesmen [and women!] who bring the counsels of eternal wisdom that we must choose to listen to or reject.

4 –> Here is the wise counsel of king Jehoshaphat on this, as he spoke with 20-20 prophetic vision:

2 Chron 20:20“Listen to me, you people of Judah and residents of Jerusalem! Trust in the Lord your God and you will be safe! Trust in the message of his prophets and you will win.”

5 –> Those nations and generations that instead reject the wise and loving counsel of God walk in a path of self-chosen self-destruction, as Eph 4 cautions:

Eph 4:17 So I say this, and insist in the Lord, that you no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 4:18 They are darkened in their understanding, being alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their hearts. 4:19 Because they are callous, they have given themselves over to indecency for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.

5 --> By utter contrast, those who have come to know God in the face of Christ are called to live sensibly, in ways that will bring the blessing of God into their lives and communities:

Eph 4:20 But you did not learn about Christ like this, 4:21 if indeed you heard about him and were taught in him, just as the truth is in Jesus. 4:22 You were taught with reference to your former way of life to lay aside the old man who is being corrupted in accordance with deceitful desires, 4:23 to be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 4:24 and to put on the new man who has been created in God’s image – in righteousness and holiness that comes from truth.

In short, a call to godly, wise sustainable nationhood and community life under God in the face of an era of environmental and economic challenges is a part of the overall mandate of the church to disciple, nurture and prophetically counsel the nations to seek God-blessed reformation through the Word of God.

Why not now, why not here, why not us? END posted by Gordon @ 3:41 AM

Colleagues:

Caroline Glick is the leader of the Jerusalem Post newspaper, and a seasoned commenter on international affairs.

She raises some troubling perspectives on the current debates on Israel.

Given the refusal of western elites and opinion leaders to plainly and frankly address the challenge of islamist global supremacism and the embedding of the narrative of the prophesied massacre of the Jews in Islamic theology, starting with the foundational Hadith that forms such a key part of Hamas's Clause 7 of its charter, we dare not dismiss this side of the story. (For those needing a refresher, the hadiths are the second authoritative Islamic holy book, and the key to interpreting the Quran. They are collections of traditions and sayings of Mohammed, as recalled and handed on by his companions. As M is considered the ideal man and authoritative example and teacher, in aggregate they hold just as much theological authority as the Quran.)

Whatever we may think about Israel's settlements policy, in fact, Islamist hostility to Israel is longstanding and deep rooted; settlements -- especially given what Israel did in the Sinai and Gaza -- are an excuse, not a real issue.

In the case of Iran, the threat is rapidly crossing the nuclear threshold. Historically, Israel has responded vigorously and if necessary preemptively to existential threats.

So, I communicate as a reflection piece.

And, to call for prayer for wisdom that builds the true peace of Jerusalem.

To at end, the second attached, on the visit to Israel of the fiance of the murdered young woman fromt he street protests in Iran over the stolen election of last year, is both refreshing in one aspect,a nd even more sobering in anotehr.

G'day

G

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http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Article.aspx?id=171364

Column One: Obama’s war on Israel

By CAROLINE GLICK
19/03/2010 15:56

Obama claims he's launched a political war against Israel in the interest of promoting peace. But this claim, too, does not stand up to scrutiny.

Why has President Barak Obama decided to foment a crisis in US relations with Israel?

Some commentators have claimed that it is Israel’s fault. As they tell it, the news that Israel has not banned Jewish construction in Jerusalem – after repeatedly refusing to ban such construction – drove Obama into a fit of uncontrolled rage from which he has yet to recover.

While popular, this claim makes no sense. Obama didn’t come to be called “No drama Obama” for nothing. It is not credible to argue that Jerusalem’s local planning board’s decision to approve the construction of 1,600 housing units in Ramat Shlomo drove cool Obama into a fit of wild rage at Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

Obama himself claims that he has launched a political war against Israel in the interest of promoting peace. But this claim, too, does not stand up to scrutiny.

On Friday, Obama ordered Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to present Netanyahu with a four-part ultimatum.

First, Israel must cancel the approval of the housing units in Ramat Shlomo.

Second, Israel must prohibit all construction for Jews in Jerusalem neighborhoods built since 1967.

Third, Israel must make a gesture to the Palestinians to show them we want peace. The US suggests releasing hundreds of Palestinian terrorists from Israeli prisons.

Fourth, Israel must agree to negotiate all substantive issues, including the partition of Jerusalem (including the Jewish neighborhoods constructed since 1967 that are now home to more than a half million Israelis) and the immigration of millions of hostile foreign Arabs to Israel under the rubric of the so-called “right of return,” in the course of indirect, Obama administration-mediated negotiations with the Palestinians. To date, Israel has maintained that substantive discussions can only be conducted in direct negotiations between Israeli and Palestinian officials.

If Israel does not accept all four US demands, then the Obama administration will boycott Netanyahu and his senior ministers. In the first instance, this means that if Netanyahu comes to Washington next week for the AIPAC conference, no senior administration official will meet with him.

Obama’s ultimatum makes clear that mediating peace between Israel and the Palestinians is not a goal he is interested in achieving.

Obama’s new demands follow the months of American pressure that eventually coerced Netanyahu into announcing both his support for a Palestinian state and a 10-month ban on Jewishconstruction in Judea and Samaria. No previous Israeli government had ever been asked to make the latter concession.

Netanyahu was led to believe that in return for these concessions Obama would begin behaving like the credible mediator his predecessors were. But instead of acting like his predecessors, Obama has behaved like the Palestinians. Rather than reward Netanyahu for taking a risk for peace, Obama has, in the model of Yasser Arafat and Mahmoud Abbas, pocketed Netanyahu’s concessions and escalated his demands. This is not the behavior of a mediator. This is the behavior of an adversary.

With the US president treating Israel like an enemy, the Palestinians have no reason to agree to sit down and negotiate. Indeed, they have no choice but to declare war.

And so, in the wake of Obama’s onslaught on Israel’s right to Jerusalem, Palestinian incitement against Israel and Jews has risen to levels not seen since the outbreak of the last terror war in September 2000. And just as night follows day, that incitement has led to violence. This week’s Arab riots fromJerusalem to Jaffa, and the renewed rocket offensive from Gaza are directly related to Obama’s malicious attacks on Israel.

But if his campaign against Israel wasn’t driven by a presidential temper tantrum, and it isn’t aimed at promoting peace, what explains it? What is Obama trying to accomplish?

There are five explanations for Obama’s behavior. And they are not mutually exclusive.

First, Obama’s assault on Israel is likely related to the failure of his Iran policy. Over the past week, senior administration officials including Gen. David Petraeus have made viciously defamatory attacks on Israel, insinuating that the construction of homes for Jews in Jerusalem is a primary cause for bad behavior on the part of Iran and its proxies in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Syria and Gaza. By this line of thinking, if Israel simply returned to the indefensible 1949 armistice lines, Iran’s centrifuges would stop spinning, and Syria, al-Qaida, the Taliban, Hizbullah, Hamas and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards would all beat their swords into plowshares.

Second, even more important than its usefulness as a tool to divert the public’s attention away from the failure of his Iran policy, Obama’s assault against Israel may well be aimed at maintaining that failed policy. Specifically, he may be attacking Israel in a bid to coerce Netanyahu into agreeing to give Obama veto power over any Israeli strike against Iran’s nuclear installations. That is, the anti-Israel campaign may be a means to force Israel to stand by as Obama allows Iran to build a nuclear arsenal.

For the past several months, an endless line of senior administration officials have descended on Jerusalem with the expressed aim of convincing Netanyahu to relinquish Israel’s right to independently strike Iran’s nuclear installations. All of these officials have returned to Washington empty-handed. Perhaps Obama has decided that since quiet pressure has failed to cow Netanyahu, it is time to launch a frontal attack against him.

This brings us to the third explanation for why Obama has decided to go to war with the democratically elected Israeli government. Obama’s advisers told friendly reporters that Obama wants to bring down Netanyahu’s government. By making demands Netanyahu and his coalition partners cannot accept, Obama hopes to either bring down the government and replace Netanyahu and Likud with the far-leftist Tzipi Livni and Kadima, or force Israel Beiteinu and Shas to bolt the coalition and compel Netanyahu to accept Livni as a co-prime minister. Livni, of course, won Obama’s heart when in 2008 she opted for an election rather than accept Shas’s demand that she protect the unity ofJerusalem.

The fourth explanation for Obama’s behavior is that he seeks to realign US foreign policy away from Israel. Obama’s constant attempts to cultivate relations with Iran’s unelected president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Ahmadinejad’s Arab lackey Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, and Turkey’s Islamist Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan make clear that he views developing USrelations with these anti-American regimes as a primary foreign policy goal.

Given that all of these leaders have demanded that in exchange for better relations Obama abandon Israel as a US ally, and in light of the professed anti-Israel positions of several of his senior foreign policy advisers, it is possible that Obama is seeking to downgrade USrelations with Israel. His consistent castigation of Israel as obstructionist and defiant has led some surveys to claim that over the past year US popular support for Israel has dropped from 77 to 58 percent.

The more Obama fills newspaper headlines with allegations that Israel is responsible for everything from US combat deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan to Iran’s nuclear program, the lower those numbers can be expected to fall. And the more popular American support for Israel falls, the easier it will be for Obama to engineer an open breach with the Jewish state.

The final explanation for Obama’s behavior is that he is using his manufactured crisis to justify adopting an overtly anti-Israel position vis-à-vis the Palestinians. On Thursday, The New York Times reported that administration officials are considering having Obama present his own “peace plan.” Given the administration’s denial of Israel’s right to Jerusalem, an “Obama plan,” would doubtless require Israel to withdraw to the indefensible 1949 armistice lines and expel some 700,000 Jews from their homes.

Likewise, the crisis Obama has manufactured with Israel could pave the way for him to recognize a Palestinian state if the Palestinians follow through on their threat to unilaterally declare statehood next year regardless of the status of negotiations with Israel. Such a US move could in turn lead to the deployment of US forces in Judea and Samaria to “protect” the unilaterally declared Palestinian state from Israel.

Both Obama’s behavior and the policy goals it indicates make it clear that Netanyahu’s current policy of trying to appease Obama by making concrete concessions is no longer justified. Obama is not interested in being won over. The question is, what should Netanyahu do?

One front in the war Obama has started is at home. Netanyahu must ensure that he maintains popular domestic support for his government to scuttle Obama’s plan to overthrow his government. So far, in large part due to Obama’s unprecedented nastiness, Netanyahu’s domestic support has held steady. A poll conducted for IMRA news service this week by Maagar Mohot shows that fully 75% of Israeli Jews believe Obama’s behavior toward Israel is unjustified. As for Netanyahu, 71% of Israeli Jews believe his refusal to accept Obama’s demand to ban Jewish building in Jerusalem proves he is a strong leader. Similarly, a Shvakim Panorama poll for Israel Radio shows public support for Kadima has dropped by more than 30% since last year’s election.

The other front in Obama’s war is the American public. By blaming Israel for the state of the Middle East and launching personal barbs against Netanyahu, Obama seeks to drive down popular American support for Israel. In building a strategy to counter Obama’s moves, Netanyahu has to keep two issues in mind.

First, no foreign leader can win a popularity contest against a sitting US president. Therefore, Netanyahu must continue to avoid any personal attacks on Obama. He must limit his counter-offensive to a defense of Israel’s interests and his government’s policies.

Second, Netanyahu must remember that Obama’s hostility toward Israel is not shared by the majority of Americans. Netanyahu’s goal must be to strengthen and increase the majority of Americans who support Israel. To this end, Netanyahu must go to Washington next week and speak at the annual AIPAC conference as planned, despite the administration’s threat to boycott him.

While in Washington, Netanyahu should meet with every Congressman and Senator who wishes to meet with him as well as every administration member who seeks him out. Moreover, he should give interviews to as many television networks, newspapers and major radio programs as possible in order to bring his message directly to the American people.

Obama has made clear that he is not Israel’s ally. And for the remainder of his term, he will do everything he can to downgrade US relations with Israel while maintaining his constant genuflection to the likes of Iran, Syria, the Palestinians and Turkey.

But like Israel, the US is a free country. And as long as popular support for Israel holds steady, Obama’s options will be limited. Netanyahu’s task is to maintain that support in the face of administration hostility as he implements policies toward Iran and the Arabs alike that are necessary to ensure Israel’s long-term survival and prosperity.  

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http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=171380

Neda's fiance: Iran will be free

By JPOST.COM STAFF
19/03/2010 22:25

Fiance of slain girl who became Iranian opposition's symbol visits Israel.