2013년 12월 31일 화요일

Why do Christian apologists argue


Why do Christian apologists argue



Argumentativeness is a work of the flesh. v('Ga 5.19-21') Christians, especially Christian apologists, will defend getting into arguments, debates, or quarrels, as “defending the truth.” Theyll claim its spiritual warfare. Theyll insist we need to defend Christendom against those who want to destroy it, or slander it, or otherwise lie about it. And theyre right; we do. But is argument an appropriate or acceptable tactic for Christians? No.So why do we do it? Because were arguing for Jesus, and that must magically make it all right. Its like when teenagers date inappropriate people, and claim theyre trying to entice them to church. Or when a nation leaps into a war for a “just cause,” but its really out of bloodlust, cause all peace overtures are dismissed as insufficient scams. Or when a society executes repentant criminals because “they did the crime and deserve their punishment,” but really to avenge the victims and society. We do such things cause were evil, and we think weve found a loophole which makes our evil okay.When Christian apologists “defend the truth,” and resort to arguments to do so, what were really doing is defending ourselves. We identify very closely with the things we believe. Theyre our opinions. Our choices to embrace such ideas. Our decisions to make them part of our lifestyles. Our faith. And so were not defending Jesus or truth so much as were trying to justify ourselves. The average Christian apologist is selfishly defending their ego and self-esteem—but hypocritically disguising it as spiritual warfare.
Arguments versus forensics.Forensics [fə•REN•ziks, noun] Art or study of formal debate or argumentation.Let me be clear Im not talking about forensics. When people engage in scholarly or academic debates, there are rules to it, meant to keep things from getting personal, rude, harsh, or illogical. Personal feelings arent meant to enter into the discussion—although itll happen, cause humans are biased. But the point of forensic debates is to pursue truth, and anything which might get in truths way is ruled inappropriate.From time to time, someone will set up a formal debate between Christian apologists and skeptical apologists. Usually, these debates are meant to follow forensic rules: Stick to the facts, and leave personalities out of it. And sometimes they will. But sometimes they wont. It all depends on whether they have a moderator, and whether the moderator can make the participants stick to the rules. (If youve seen political debates, youve seen exactly what it looks like when participants freely ignore the rules, and moderators never do their job—for when they do, people criticize them for “stifling debate.”) A lot of times, people attend these apologetics debates cause they want to see the opponents take personal potshots at one another. But in a formal debate, thats not meant to happen.Can Christians engage in formal debate? Sure. Should we? Not always. Some of us cant control ourselves. For too many people, debates arent about truth; theyre about winning. And in order to win, the truth will get bent. Half-truths will be offered. Lies will be told. Attempts will be made to steer the debate away from the real subject, and get into the participants motives. I cant tell you how many debates Ive seen between Christians and skeptics, where the Christians tried to change the subject to how the skeptics have inconsistent views on ethics and morals, and for this reason we cant trust a word they say. Yep, Christians engage in such tactics. Clearly Christians who would do such things have no business debating.But your average Christian apologist is way more likely to get into an argument—not a scholarly debate, but a simple verbal smackdown. Not against an opponent who agrees to ground rules, but a friend, acquaintance, stranger, family member, or even a fellow Christian, who puts no rules on the table. It can get rude, and personal, and offensive, and sarcastic, and ridiculous. It nearly always will: Christians might remember we need to be kind to our opponents (and I really wish more of them would), but our opponents rarely feel any such compunction, and can be as obnoxious as they wish. This is why so many skeptics are jerks: Its fun, and why not treat Christians like the fools they think we are? And sad to say, Christians take the bait, and act like jerks right back.
But we gotta defend the truth!Every Christian will, from time to time, come across someone who starts mouthing off about Christians, or Christianity, or Jesus, or God, or some odd point of theology they dont understand. And way too much of the time, the Christian will foolhardily try to correct them… and next thing you know its an argument.Before you dive into these discussions, there are two proverbs to keep in mind.
Dont answer the foolish arguments of fools,
or you will become as foolish as they are.
Be sure to answer the foolish arguments of fools,
or they will become wise in their own estimation.
—Proverbs 26.4-5 NLTWait, dont those proverbs contradict one another? Yes they do. Each proverb applies to a different circumstance. You have to figure out which circumstance is yours. Are you dealing with a fool whos searching for truth and open to correction, or a fool whos trying to bait Christians into a fight?Half the time—and on the Internet, more like 99 percent of the time—youre dealing with a troll. Someone wants to rip a Christian a new one, and youre the dummy whos about to get ripped. In these situations, youre utterly wasting your time. As Jesus put it, “Dont waste what is holy on people who are unholy. Dont throw your pearls to pigs! They will trample the pearls, then turn and attack you.” vW('matt 7.6','Mt 7.6 NLT','NLT') But too many Christian apologists dont know the difference, and dive right into these battles, figuring theyll righteously fight the good fight. But its a stupid fight. The trolls have no intention of listening. Theyll just mock, blaspheme, stomp on the Christians balls, and see how long it takes before the Christian loses all sense of propriety and starts acting like a lowlife—exposing the Christian as the hypocrite which the trolls always suspected they were.I have infuriated fellow Christians by refusing to take the bait. Once, in seminary, I stopped a “friendly debate” with a pagan at a coffeehouse because I knew it was going absolutely nowhere; the other fellow just wanted to be contrary. “Can we talk about another subject?” I asked, and he was amenable—and a Christian friend, observing this, was outraged. “You gave up an opportunity,” he fumed. “There was no opportunity,” I pointed out.But sometimes there is an opportunity. And you can usually tell these cases by how open-minded the other person appears to be. A person might ask “Why is it Christians always act that way?” purely as a rhetorical question, but at the same time such people might actually be open to an answer. So feel em out. Suggest an answer. See whether they want to fight, or whether theyre truly looking for a better understanding.Look for fruit of the Spirit. When the Holy Spirit is provoking people to ask the right questions, hes usually primed them with the right attitude. Theyre gonna be patient with you. Theyre gonna be peaceful, not violent. No, theyre not gonna be as patient or peaceful or kind as a Christian (or as a Christian should be, anyway) but theyre gonna show some evidence that the Holy Spirit has been nudging them in Jesuss direction, and heres a chance for us to nudge them a little further. Keep your ears open.And pay attention to the fruit, or lack of fruit, in yourself. When someone pitches a question, how do you respond to it? Do you immediately feel a burst of adrenalin, get into a fighting attitude, and want to tackle this skeptic and wrestle em to the ground? (Intellectually, of course; or “spiritually,” or however you want to put it.) Are you trying to come up with clever answers as fast as possible, or do you have the patience to listen to them, see where theyre coming from, figure out their real concerns, and then try to help? Are you kind, or do you have trouble keeping the snide remarks to yourself? If you lack self-control, you personally need to stay out of it. Step back, and go find another Christian.If youre the argumentative sort, stay away from argumentative apologetics. Go right ahead and study truth, history, philosophy, logic, and all the appropriate subjects. But when theres a fight to fight, you shut up. Stick to prayer. Intercede for people. Work on your self-control. Practice with fellow Christians. Wait till they deem you ready. And then… dont argue. Inform. Share. Point stuff out. But leave the battle to the Lord.


The Nakba of Palestine (The Cataclysm)


The Nakba of Palestine (The Cataclysm)



When does it end?Written by Dr. Soleiman Abu SetaGoneIs the 20th Century and with it went many calamities. One has remained... and it is the one hanging at our neck... IsraelWhat is the Nakba?It is the separation of an entire nation from its own home coun­try, the mass deporta­tion of the inhabi­tants of 351 villages and towns from their homes in 1948 while they represented 85% of the population of the country now cal­led Israel. And those homes, those prope­rties constitute 92% of Israel. In other words, 70% of the Palestinian people became refugees and their number amou­nts today to 5.200.000 only 4.000.000 of whom are registered with the UNRWA presen­ting them with less and less means of su­rvival each year. Their land in Israel sizes 18.700 square kilometres. It has been confiscated by Israel and is being rented exclusively to Jews. Israel has indeed begun selling this land to any inte­rested party, provided they are Jews, even if they are not Israeli citizens, even if they live in Australia, while it has prohibited the mere lea­sing of property to Palestinians even when they are Israeli citizens.How did the Nakba happen?In 1917,Britain broke its promises of post­war independence after expelling the Ottomans from Arab provinces and issued, through its Secretary of State, the Balfour Declaration, pledging British support of a "Jewish national ho­me in Palestine" on September 2"" 1917. It was the promise of the usurpator to so­meone who was enti­tled to nothing and without the knowle­dge of the rightful owner.During the 28 years of colonization, the British set the laws and took all the nece­ssary steps which would enable the establishment of the state in question un­til it became a reality in 1948.The number of Jews during the British occupation period was 56.000 namely 9% of the total population and the majority were fo­reigners.In 1948, by the end of the colonization, this number amoun­ted to 605.000 Jews, pursuant to the mani­fest and surreptitious immigration allowed by the British autho­rities despite the vehement protest of the inhabitants, their resistance and their revolutions. Most important was the revolution of 1936. Hence, the year of the Nakba, the num­ber of Jews in Pales­tine constituted 30% of the total popula­tion amounting to 2.000.000 approxi­mately. What happens to the real estate pro­perties? Zionism concentrated its effo­rts and mobilized the colonization govern­ment officials to ob­tain privileged exp­loitation rights over government proper­ties. Britain establi­shed a special service to deal with matters concerning real esta­te properties. This se­rvice had the task of ascertaining owner­ship of properties in view of their acquisition. Jewish capitals started then flowing and they acquired land at fantastic prices. In the beginning, they addressed Arab land owners living abroad and subseque­ntly turned to Pales­tinian land owners living in the cities. Simultaneously, the British were keeping a tight rein on those farmers working their own lands and refusing to sell, by imposing inhuman taxes thus compe­lling the poor farmers to resort to Je­wish usurers, mortgaging the land. The re­sult was for them to lose their land since they could not pay the debt. Despite the­se activities, the Jews succeeded only in acquiring 6% of the Palestinian territory, namely 1.681 square km, 175 of which were acquired through the privile­ged exploitation ri­ghts granted by the British colonial authorities to the Jews, 57 square km as a dividend in non-allotted land and 1.449 square km di­rectly acquired by the Jews. The que­stion is since no deed of purchase was re­gistered, who sold those properties? The statistics of the Jewish Agency re­port that they bought 24,6% from Rich Pa­lestinian land owners living abroad, 13,4% from churches and foreign companies, while the part acqui­red from exhausted farmers does not ex­ceed 9,4% of the sold properties, namely 0,5% of the Palesti­nian territory. Unfair Partition Therefore, after a 28 year collaboration Between the British and the Zionists, the latter only succeeded In acquiring 6% of the Palestinian terri­tory. However, they did succeed in inc­reasing the number of the Jews in Pale­stine to reach 30% of the entire population. At such time,Zionists shifted their efforts towards the United States of America, gaining the support of President Truman against his Secretary of Foreign Affairs. At that point, Ame­rica started exerting its pressure upon small countries, threatening to cut back their support if they didn't vote in fa­vour of the partition of Palestine, dividing it between the Palestinian, its rightful occupants and some foreigners who igno­red even the name of the city they were in. And there it was, the smashing blow to all Arabs when the Par­tition resolution was voted by a slight majority, recommen­ding the establish­ment of an Israeli State upon 54% of the Palestinian terri­tory and an Arab Sta­te on the remaining part and granting independent Self-administration to Je­rusalem, (see map no. 1)This historical chara­de has ruled in favour of a minority of immigrates to domi­nate upon half of the Palestinian State, na­mely upon a territory over 9 times larger than the territory they originally owned, and to establish a Jewish State of which half the population is Arab and woke up one day to find out they had be­come citizens of an invading foreign cou­ntry. As far as the Arab State on the re­maining part of Pale­stine, the majority of its inhabitants are Arabs, with the exce­ption of a small group of Jews. From Map no. 1 the impressive number of Palestinian villages falling under foreign domination ap­pears clearly while the Jewish colonies are al­most exclusively wi­thin the Jewish State. And these ColoniesALARAB ALALAM - SUPPLEMENT - 01/06/2002 P.1ALARABALALAM - SUPPLEMENT - 01/06/2002 P.2were Merely forts in­habited by 100 or 200 armed guerrillas. The implementation of the plan started at the beginning of Ap­ril 1948, while the colonialist forces were still in Palesti­ne. They linked to­gether all Jewish te­rritories and occu­pied the neighbou­ring Arab territory expelling there from their inhabitants. The Jews perpetrated ge­nocide. They would surround the villages from three sides and leave one way of es­cape. Then, they would reunite all vi­llagers, chose among them several young men to execute, either by hanging or shooting them. Those they would find hiding in chu­rches, Mosques or caves, they used to burn to death. The survivors would then be allowed to "get away" so that they spread the news of the horrors they have witnessed to other villages. They would however keep some prisoners in order to bury the dead or tra­nsport rocks from the houses they had destructed. Nobody ever forgot the slau­ghter of Deir Yassine, one of 17 massacres perpetrated under the British Colonization and another 17 per­petrated after that pe­riod. The British Authorities did not move a finger to pro­tect the inhabitants, as provided for in the Protectorate Agreement. The Protectorate came to an end and Israel took over 13% of the Palesti­nian territory, expe­lling 400.000 per­sons from 199 villa­ges, and declaring the establishment of the State of Israel on those territories, wi­thout however defi­ning the frontiers of said State. The inva­sion had just begun! The new State occu­pied the major part of the littoral, the West Bank of the Jordan River around Lake Tiberia and the land linking it with the valley of Ibn Amer, forming an N. Important Palestinian Cities such as Yafa, Haifa, Tiberia, Safat and Bisan, fell under their rule while Akka almost fell. The ugli­ness of the facts was now clear and the news of massacres such as the infamous massacre of Deir Yassine, reached the Arab Nation in every Capital, provoking the dismay and indi­gnation of the people in from of the silence and indifference of their respective governments. The fictitious war In response to the anger and protest of their people, the Arab Governments sent small regular troops in defense of the Palestinian agai­nst this catastrophe. Those troops were isolated and uncoor­dinated. It must be noted that, had they ' wanted to send troops earlier, Britain would not have allo­wed it.The troops sent were outnumbered by the Zionist troops which are henceforth called Israeli.These troops arrived with no plan, without any knowledge of the territory or the enemy. And their nu­mber, even under a coordinated leader­ship, then did not ex­ceed 1/3 of the Israe­li troops and 'A by the end of the war. It was therefore impo­ssible to stop the Is­raeli invasion which spread to occupy Ledda, El Ramla, and a passage to Jerusa­lem, conquering lar­ge areas of JalilThis was the first sign of defeat for the Arabs. The conquest of Ledda and El Ra­mla was one of the darkest chapters of Palestine's history: the inhabitants of both cities woke up to learn the withd­rawal of Jordanian troops under the lea­dership of British Commander Globe Basha and the attack of Israeli troops both Mosques was killed and inhabitants were compelled escape by force of arms and tales of slaughter. A human caravan of 60.000 people hea­ded towards Ramauah, in the heat of summer sun that Ramadan. It was a long journey and personal baggage first fell, to be from North and East. Whoever sought the protection of churches and Fo­llowed by the elders, the sick and the chil­dren. Israeli troops kept them walking and whoever found water and stopped to drink was shot wi­thout mercy. When the second armistice was declared, the number of refugees had climbed to 630.000 persons, expelled from 378 villages and Israel was left with a territory three times larger than the Jewish land, the most fertile and the most densely populated land. At this point, the Palestine war was effectively over. However, the spirit of conquest of the Israeli was not satisfied. Their troops started with the conquest of the South, defeated the Egyptian army, the largest Arab force, while all Arabs were watching and waiting their turn, without the slightest attempt to create a diversion or to attack. By mid-October, Israel had occupied large areas of the South, up to Bir El Saba and the northern part of Jerusalem, until the southern coast. The refugees at this point had reached 664.000 people, from 418 villages Israel moved their troops north and occupied the entire Zalil as well as 12 Lebanese villages, at the beginning of November 1948. This way Israel had absolute control over North Palestine. It trespassed the Lebanese borders at the edge of Zalil At no time whatsoe­ver, during the whole duration of the Pale­stinian war, did any Arab troop assist another Arab troop. Instead, they allowed Israel to pass from one front to another, while watching and silently awaiting their fate. El Zalil, being a mountainous region, was the field of the major number of massacres. Indeed, its inhabitants had to be coerced into lea­ving their homeland, Zalil, which was within the Arab terri­tory, in accordance with the Resolution of Partition. Israel co­mmitted 24 out of 34 massacres which we­re recorded and not one village was left without mourning, without meeting with catastrophe or terrorism. Undou­btedly, all Israel's acts were part of a plan and policy aiming to terrorize the inhabitants and push them to escape away from their villages, enabling them to confiscate both their land and properties. This was the testimony of thousands of survi­vors but the West would not listen, it would not be convin­ced. These last years, several reports have appeared, written by Israeli Historians, who had access to Israeli files, wherein the truth of the ma­ssacres is revealed. These massacres are, indeed, attributed to the necessities ofALARAB ALALAM - SUPPLEMENT - 01/06/2002 P.2ALARAB ALALAM - SUPPLEMENT - 01/06/2002 P.3War. This theory ho­wever is gradually losing its credibility, given the regular re­petition of the ma­ssacres and their per­petration under all circumstances as well as the existence of explicit orders from military co­mmanders to exte­rminate the inhabi­tants. Lately, the files of the armistice ob­servers have opened, confirming this ma­tter. Indeed, it is me­ntioned that "the ma­ssacres were so nu­merous that we had neither the time nor the possibility to in­vestigate all these monstrosities". Arab countries however lost the strength to fight and could not bridge their diffe­rences in order to follow one and only leadership. That is why they rushed into armistice agreements with Israel, first Egypt, then Jordan, followed by Lebanon and Syria. After the armistice was signed, and without one gun shot, Israel occupied the entire southern part, until Oum Rasras (presently Hat Alan), and raised its flag on the Golf of Akaba. While nego­tiations for armistice were taking place, King Abdullah re­nounced all claims to the 436 square km of the fertile and den­sely populated small triangle of Egypt retired from the re­gion of Falouja wi­thout surrendering the arms. Jamla Abdul Nasser was one of the Egyptian army officers. At this point, Israel had crossed the bounda­ries as set in the Partition Resolution of Palestine towards all directions, occu­pying 87% of the Palestinian territory, namely 24% more than the territory provided for in the Resolution. It con­quered Central Jalil which was Arab, a triangle to ensure access to Jerusalem via Ledda and El Ramla, notwithstan­ding the fact that Je­rusalem was Interna­tional Territory and there were no Arabs in its surrounding regions, as provided for in the Resolution for the Partition. South, Israel exten­ded until the Dead Sea, occupied Arab city of Bir El Saba and one third of the Gaza strip. Israel conquered 6.300 square km beside the Partition Resolution, occupying twelve times more territo­ries than those occu­pied in 1948. If this is not gain! (see map no. 5). On human scale, the Nakba left approximately 900.000 refugees, from 531 towns and villages. These refu­gees fled south to the remaining strip of Gaza, west to what is know as the West Bank and North to Syria and Lebanon. And the Nakba re­mains a black spot in the history of Arabs, for which leaders and governorsHave paid with their lives and thrones have fallen. And up to date, 5.000.000 refugees are still paying, in Palestine, the neighboring countries and around the world.The repartition of spoils It is a first in history that a foreign mino­rity invades a coun­try where the inha­bitants outnumber them, with the poli­tical, financial and military support of foreign countries expels its inhabitants and wipes out all their traces, as ha­ppened in Palestine. Israel distributed the beautiful houses of Western Jerusalem, of Haifa and other cities to important government officers and absorbed hund­reds of thousands Jews from Arab countries in the re­maining houses. As far as the villages are concerned, it procee­ded to the destru­ction of three thirds of the houses. A most moving sight is to see old refugees take their children and grandchildren to visit the places where once upon the times their villages existed, introducing their homeland as they have it engraved in their memory and heart, and reconstitu­ting the image, from a tree, a wall, still erected here and there in the land­scape, to find out that it is still there, alive in their own heart and in the heart of their children. They look for the graves of their ance­stors and find them here and there, with racist inscriptions. They see with dis­may and disappro­bation their mosque transformed into some museum, re­staurant or even a ru­bbish dump. Geographical Extermination Zionism succeeded into occupying the land, it expelled the people and conde­mned them to exile all over the world in an attempt which we could characterize as geographical exter­mination. It has not however succeeded in exterminating the Palestinian people. It is still there, alive and, mostly, united. It did not tumble like other nations under much minor catastrophes. What hap­pened to the land? Israel knitted a net of laws and legislations to protect itself from international disapprobation. First of all, it set all Arab land under the "superintendence over the land for the absents". It subse­quently proceeded to the confiscation of this land as property of the Government. The refugee, exiled in Arab countries, coerced into esca­ping, by violence and monstrosity, was considered a tourist. So was the Palesti­nian living in his homeland and going to visit a relative in a neighbouring country even if said country was only distant one km from his home. Further­more, whenever Is­rael wanted to con­fiscate some place still occupied by its inhabitants, it simply declared the region under restriction for security matters and ordered the people to evacuate it, subse­quently declaring them absent. This is exactly what happe­ned to the villages of Ikrat and Biram, the population of which was ordered to eva­cuate only for 15 days and finally returned after 52 years. Most people may not know that there are Palestinian refugees in Israel, declared absents although present and Israeli citizens. Their number is 250.000 namely one fourth of the Palestinians li­ving inland. The second step for Israel was to constitute a "development committee" having the right to exploit the Palestinian territory, rent it and exclusi­vely exploit it on behalf of the Jews. The superintendence over the land of the absents transferred said land to this Committee which in its turn delivered at a third stage to the "Israeli administra­tion of the Land" which undertook the land of the refugees after adding it to the land owned by the Jewish National Fund (In 1999, a difference Emerged Between the government and the Fund. As a consequence, the properties of the Fund were separated and became independent) Israel leased The Palestinian land to the Kibbutz and the Mosaf (villages -cooperatives) for duration of 49 years, renewable, under the condition that they would never sub­lease it to any Arabs or allow any Arab to exploit or work the land. Most israelies soldiers grew up in the kibbutz, in a community that cooperated in raising the children and working. It was a factory producing loyal children of Israel, with Zionistic values and anti-Arab racist feelings. In time, the importance of those values was lost and many abandoned the Kibbutz and transferred to the cities. As a result, the Kibbutz became heavily indebted and had to resort to more lucrative activities such as light industry or tourism.ALARAB ALALAM - SUPPLEMENT - 01/06/2002 P.3ALARAB ALALAM - SUPPLEMENT - 01/06/2002 P.4Today, in the Kibbutz less than 2% of the Israeli people live. This elite which enjoys huge prestige in the army and the Knesset possesses 18.000 square km of the land which belongs to the camp refugees. The Kibbutz consumes 70% of the water in Israel, 30% of which is stolen from the Arabs, to produce merely 3% of the total national products. This blatant contradiction between the 5.000.000 refugees and the 200.000 persons living in the Kibbutz and enjoying a high standard of life thanks to the property stolen from those 5.000.000 refugees could never lead to peace, not even if this peace is imposed by force. There is another even more painful contradiction. Today, on the Strip of Gaza, there are 1.250.000 refugees, namely 4000 persons per square kilometer, watching behind the entanglement Israeli enjoying the stolen land, with a density of population which does not exceed 6 persons per square kilometer. The question that arises is the following: Where are the Jews of Israel? They are still living on the same territories they were occupying prior to 1948. Zionism could not transform them into farmers. The great majority remained in the urban centers, and works in the fields of finance, commerce and industry. From Israeli statistics, it appears that 78% of the Jews occupy 15% of Israel while the remaining 22% are distributed as follows: 19% in Palestinian cities such as Jerusalem, Yafa, Haifa, Nazareth, Ledda, El Ramla, Bir El Saba, El Majdal Askalan and the remaining few in the Kibbutz and the villages-cooperatives. This failure of the Zionism has led to the several projects of law of Sharon and Raphael Etna in order to permit the "selling" of some areas to constructors who would build houses which in turn will be sold to Jews from all over the world with a "compensation" to the kibbutz inhabitants amounting to 24% of the sale-price of land which they do not even own. From the sale of the Palestinian land, the State budget was increased of one billion dollars a year since 1997. And the owner is still in exile! Return is possible Do the refugees have the right to return? Can they return? The answer is: The right to return is sacred, lawful and feasible. Sacred because it still lives in single Palestinian, the soul of every whether an old man or a child, even after more than half a century. The right to return is the flame that enlightens the night they live. It is feasible because most Palestinian land is still deserted or mainly occupied by Palestinians. This is the result of demographic studies based on the Israeli statistics.Based on those facts, supposing that all the refugees of Lebanon return to Jalil, there would not be any consequences as far as Jewish presence in the central region is concerned. The difference would be 1%. Should the refugees of Gaza return to their homes in the south, the difference would be 5% in the central region. It is indeed very painful to know that the number of refugees in Lebanon and Gaza is exactly the number of Russian refugees absorbed by Israel in the 90s. It is regretful that most persons in charge do not realize that the return of the refugees to their homeland is feasible, based on the results of serious demographic studies. They accept with such ingenuity the fairy tales of Israel on overpopulation and vanished property boundaries. We are talking here of lies and ulterior motives which could easily be rebutted in a serious study. Today, there are hundreds of British maps clearly defining the boundaries of Arab land and the dimensions of all villages and towns. We also have the files of the United Nations. Almost half a million files proving the property rights of each person, the area of the specific property and its locality. And with the help of modern technology, computers and satellites, it is possible to return each single square meter to its proprietor. And we do not have to prove that there is enough place for the return of the refugees or that we determine the place where the houses and the land used to be. The human right to return home and the inviolability of private ownership is an essential right, in accordance with the International Human Rights Chart, a right which cannot be lost in time or as a result of its violation by conquerors or any foreign occupation. It is not possible to impose on the landlord to establish his right against the foreign conqueror or the Jewish immigrant coming from all over the world to occupy his house. Many in the West accept the pretext that Israel should be without Arabs and should only be constituted of Jews. This is a racist conception which does not compare with anything except the one supporting that in South Africa Apartheid should remain. Such a pretext is unlawful and immoral as well as impractical since the percentage of Jewish on Palestinian ground .between the river Jordan and the Mediterranean sea is 55% while 45% are Arab,. It is only a matter of time until this percentage shifts in favor of the Arabs since the increase in the Palestinian population is higher that 3,5 % sometimes while the increase of the Jewish population is around 1,5% per year, to which the percentage of immigrant must be added, as in the 90s when this percentage was doubled. This immigration however is not regular or inexhaustible. It is hence unlawful, immoral and anti-functional to hold this repulsive racist attitude.The future is difficult but promising Let us consider the situation as reflected at the beginning of the 21st Century. Israel abandoned Sina, which it conquered twice, in exchange of the undertaking on the side of Egypt, not to interfere militarily in the Palestinian struggle to regain Palestine, reserving however the right to remain politically on the side of the Arabs.Jordan signed an agreement of peace with Israel, establishing the agreements they have had for many years, and leaving the West Bank to Israel. Furthermore, negotiations are in course between Syria and Lebanon together, after the strong political position of Syria and the strong military confrontation in Lebanon. Every country however is discussing its own interests. And there are Palestine and the Palestinians, facing the consequences of the outrageous Oslo Deal. We are talking here about stirring up ill-feelings and not about an agreement. Indeed, the Oslo Deal took away from the Palestinians their legality as per International Law and left them alone, to undergo the injustice of the strong over the weak. We do not believe that this is a deal that could ever be accepted, either by the entirety of the Palestinian people or by refugees still out of Palestine (71%). As far as the land of the Palestinians remaining on the occupied territory of 1967, in the West Bank (2 1% of Palestine) And the Gaza Strip (1% of Palestine), Israel went on biting at it day after day and has devoured more that half the West Bank and have the Gaza Stripe. As far asALARAB ALALAM - SUPPLEMENT - 01/06/2002 P.4ALARAB ALALAM - SUPPLEMENT - 01/06/2002 P.5The Palestinians remaining on the occupied land in 1948 and holding an Israeli citizenship, Israel has confiscated more that half their properties. National Feelings have now risen in their hearts. Up to 1966, Israel had considered them prisoners of war. They have now organized themselves in parties and groups ascertaining their identity and their historical and geographical heritage. Refugees are therefore in a much worse position today than they were the year of the Nakba since neither the fictitious war not the pseudo-peace gave them back their rights. And we are now asking them, in the name of peace, to abandon those rights! They have suffered 54 years of exile, they have struggled, resisted, have known the fire of five wars to declare, after all that that they do not have a homeland, nor rights or history! To admit that all those things were an illusion like the people supposedly talking of peace want them to do and that whoever screams"JERUSALE MIS ARAB" is either a lunatic or a terrorist and must be chasedBy every peace loving organization and government and now we are back to point zero as half a century before. One people, struggling under the heavy hand of the conqueror which was called Britain and then its successor, Zionism, and became Israel, the great country which never abandoned its supremacy. Here is Parak, who declared every day that we should "bodily distinguish ourselves by the Palestinians" which means "racial extermination: or to take their land and exile them far away, with another nationality or any other kind of Geographical extermination. This is Zionism. Is, was and will always be. On the other hand, in spite of the catastrophes we have a Palestinian nation still united and standing, ready to fight for his rights until the day he returns to his homeland. And there will be no real peace if we do not return to our land. There is not doubt about that. The only things to be seen remains for history to take note of the number of victims yet to fall before this right is finally achieved: The Return.The Holocaust.... A mythSuspect collaboration between Zionism and Nazism!By Arfa Abdo AliThe Holocaust... A myth. Invented by International Zionism and has become the "wall of tears" to whichEach Jew must pay its tribute of tears and mourning.This invention has also Been a burden on the world conscience for over half a century.Roger Jarody, French philosopher and intellectual, was not the first to uncover the fraud of Zionists! Neither was British historian "David Erving" who underwent trial the last! Davids story began in reality in 1992, when he became the victim of slander and persecution because he had started doubting the fictitious stories of the Holocaust. That year, he was expelled from Canada by virtue of a Court decision, under the excuse of his entering the country «illegally»!! And because he «pronounced slander against the memory of the dead»!! The subsequent year, and for the very same reason, entry to Australia was denied and a German Court of Law issued in 1994 a decision ordering him to pay 10.000 German marks for «doubting crimes against humanity »!! Erving stood trial in London based on the law Israel and the Zionists have succeeded in issuing in most of the European countries. This Law rules that any person doubting the truth of the "myth" must stand trial and be punished.!! Austrian writer "Giro Honsik" was condemned to 18 months of prison for his articles in "HULT" whereby he denied the existence of the "gas chambers" in Nazi concentration camps! Jarody faced many law suits filed by Jewish organizations after the publication of his book "the myths behind Israeli policy" in December 1995 whereby he rebuts the myth of "gas chambers" pointing out the fact that "from a technical point of view, this is an unrealizable idea, that no one up to date has explained the modality of their functioning nor is there any proof of their existence and should anyone possess such proof, I invite him to come forth and say so»! Many European and American researchers and historians were killed or morally attacked, persecuted and imprisoned for the sole reason of expressing their opinion with respect to the global extermination of the Jews by the Nazis or for keeping "an astonishing silence"! Despite the facts that this matter belongs to the field of «history» and is supposedly open to all research and supposition and not to the field of religious beliefs which must be treated with utmost respect!I shall return in detail on the case of Henry Rok, French historian and researcher at the end of this article. International Zionism endeavors in every possible way in order to maintain "the eternal memory" of the Jews so they can use it as a lever to move the national feeling and consolidate the religious traditions which has always been built on the sorrow and tribulations described in Jewish history. For the victims of the Nazis, a "day of mourning" is dedicated on the 27"" of April each year, when throughout the entire Israel the tocsin rallies for two entire minutes during which all manifestation of life stop, and thousands reunite at the "Yedfasim" in the eternal memory of the victims around the monuments they have raised.! A subject of study has become part of school program, concerning A Jewish religious Group allegedly disappeared at that time, wherein a study on the life and history of this group is taught. Propagated Lies Some of us may recall or have read about radio station "3CR" of Melbourne Australia, consisting of several organizations with diverging political views, only reunited together by the concept that poorer classes should be assisted and that fanatism and racism must be fought. During the 70s, some broadcasts touched the question of Zionists-Nazis collaboration, which induced the Jewish Counsel of Melbourne to file a suit against the Station. The most terrible issue broached by the radio station was the issue "Rodolph Kistner". president of the Jewish Counsel of Hungary, at the threshold of World War II he obtained his doctorate in Law and was a fanatic Zionist The man who uncovered the role he played in the matter isALARAB ALALAM - SUPPLEMENT - 01/06/2002 P.5ALARAB ALALAM - SUPPLEMENT - 01/06/2002 P.6D. Rodolph Farba of the British Counsel of Medical Research, one of the few survivors of Auschwitz and he reports in his memories which were published in 1961 by the "London Daily Herald: "I am a Jew and yet I accuse some of the Jewish leaders to have committed the most despicable acts during the war. This kind of traitors knew what was happening to their brethren and yet they decided to buy their life with their silence! Among them is D. Kistner, president of the Counsel as well as Adolph Ichman as confirmed in the confession of Ichman himself after his kidnapping and his trial, whereby he said: «We absolutely trusted each others. During our conversations, he would smoke maniacally his perfumed cigars, which he took from his silver case and lit with his gold lighter. His attitude was very wary and he looked like the perfect Gestapo officer! His high priority was to obtain permits for an elite of Jews of Hungary to immigrate to Israel"! It is remarkable to note that the first priority of Zionists was the "selection of the chosen ones" for the establishment of the Jewish State and not to save Jewish Refugees! Zionist philosophy was defined by Ben Gourion: "the selection of a few Jews who would have the task to synchronize the immigration operations of the Jews to Palestine among young people who know the meaning of an Independent Jewish Nation and have the strength and the capability of creating such financial conditions that will permit the continuation of the immigration»! We go on watching the way Zionist leaders succeed in manipulating the political game, especially when it is such a dirty game! The question is if the Zionist movement does indeed have as primary objective the protection of all Jews against anti-Semitism, the international facts contradict such a statement and confirm a close collaboration between Zionist leaders and the enemy of Semites, from the very first moment of their establishment. The leaders had understood that they will not be able to occupy Palestine as long as Jews all over the world refuse to leave their homes, the land where they were born, where they grew up in order to go to a country with which they had not ties whatsoever. Therefore, they saw in anti-Semitism a «useful phenomenon for the conservation of the Jewish being". For the above reasons, they did not hesitate to shake hands with the anti-Semites for organizing and implementing the extermination operations against the Jews in order to compel them to turn to the transportation means prepared by the Jewish Agency and to immigrate to the so called "promised land". The huge amounts expended in order to strengthen the anti-Semitic feeling so that more and more Jews every day become refugees and head to Palestine are of common knowledge. The alliance of the Zionists with anti-Semites reached such a point of strength that the relations with the German and Italian fascist governments became very close. Indeed, in 1923, a meeting was held between Haim Wiseman President of the International Zionist Organization and Mussolini, who ascertained him of his intention of helping with every possible means Zionists to take over Palestine and to transform it into a Jewish Countries. The latter also assured of the intention his government to help Zionists to prepare their own fleet and train their own pilots! These meetings with Mussolini continued. In one of his meetings with Goldman on the end of November 1934, the latter confirmed his attitude towards the Zionist movement and gave his consent to the establishment of the "International Jewish Conference" as proposed by Goldman. When Hitler the greatest anti-Semites to the highest rank in Germany, instead to cause the worries of Zionists, as it would have been expected, they saw this fact that the Nazi are at the head of one of the greatest capitalistic countries of Europe the golden opportunity to dominate the Jews of Europe and push them into immigrating to Palestine. It has been proven that the chiefs of Zionism were closely connected to Hitler even before he came into power and that the Nazi received huge financial support for the banks and organization of Zionists which helped them effectively to reach their goal. For example, it has been proven that the Nazi received in 1929 the amount of 10 million dollars from the Zionist bank "Mendel son and Company" in Amsterdam, and 15 million dollars in 1931. When Hitler took command in 1933, the first thing Zionists did, was to send 136 million dollars. Undoubtedly, these financial boosting were aimed at helping the Nazis by the Zionist international organizations so that they build their military force as well as their financial force for the conquest of Europe and the extermination of million of people, Jews among others. This was the content of the confession of Mahout Goldman in his book "Autobiography".Propaganda before implementation It is remarkable that before beginning the implementation of the Zionists Nazis plan against the Jews, Zionists and the Gestapo launched extensive propaganda campaigns, accusing the Nazi authorities of watching and arresting Jews. And upon the orders of Gerenuk, high officer of the Gestapo, a representation was sent to London in order to escalate the propaganda campaign around the "persecution and arrest" of the Jews in Germany. Zionist organizations obtained all possible support and aid from the Nazis. And while the works of Spinoza were being burnt, the Nazis allowed the republication of Hershel's book "The Jewish State". And while thousands of poor Jews were Headed to the Concentration camps and the gas chambers, Zionist millionaire Mendelson was granted the title "Arian citizen" as an expression of esteem on the part of the Nazis leaders. As a result of the great wave of emigrations of Jews in the 30s towards America and Australia, Zionist succeeded to obtain from the Secretary of State of the United States of America a decision prohibiting the entry to the US to all Jewish emigrants in almost all states, as well as a similar decision from the British government in order to stop the Jews from resorting to Australia and other British colonies, with the exception of Palestine of course. The Propaganda campaigns escalate, claiming that Hitler exterminated 6 million Jews, namely 1/3 of the Jewish population of the world! The question "why did America keep silent in from of this group extermination of the Jews? And what about the division among the Jews of America who were not able to form a united front to deal with this extermination of millions of Jews as they claim and merely established some Committees in view of saving the Jews and raising funds for this purpose. Such a Committee was "theALARAB ALALAM - SUPPLEMENT - 01/06/2002 P.6ALARAB ALALAM - SUPPLEMENT - 01/06/2002 P.7Emergency Committee" which published newspaper articles denouncing the extermination operations and organizing protest marches. These Committees faced many attacks from Zionist organizations, the views of which can be resumed as follows: We must let Hitler kill and Exterminate a few Jews to convince the whole world that the unique way of saving the Jews is to create a Jewish State in Palestine! Furthermore, the Zionist organization declared that saving the Jews is not their task and their first priority remains Palestine and whenever they did save some young people, they wanted in reality to save a nucleus of young persons for the Zionist state in Palestine. Consequently, they did not want to save human lives but to implement the plans of the terrible Zionist dream! This is confirmed by "Iouri Avenri", ex deputy of the Knesset and Israeli political reporter when he says: The main interest of Zionists during the holocaust was not the Jews but the establishment of a Jewish State in Palestine! And the research of the Jewish writer"Morgenstrin", published in some Israeli newspapers, at the beginning of the 70s, showed that the objective of Zionist leaders were never to save the Jews from the Nazis concentration camps. Indeed, he revealed that "Zernibur", president of the Committee for the salvation and member of the Administration of the Jewish Agency, repeatedly declared that the money from the National Jewish fund were used for the implementation of the Zionist plan in Palestine and should not be spent for the salvation of Jews from the Nazis! During the press conference organized by the Israeli newspaper "Maarif in 1966, Member of the Knesset "X. Landau" declared that the leaders of the Agency and the Jewish community of the USA knew all about the exterminations back in 1942 and not only did they not say a word, they also covered the matter and imposed silence to all who knew!Documented confessionAdolph Ihman, during his trial, confesses to the agreement between Zionists and the Gestapo, whereby the Nazis undertake to ascertain the safety of a few hundreds of rich Jews and Zionist leaders in exchange of the promise of said leaders to insure peace and order in the concentration camps.He further added that without the collaboration of the Zionists and members of Jewish counsels, with the Nazis authorities, Germany would have needed an Information service 100 times larger that the Gestapo. And even then, it is not certain that they would have been able to effectuate, without help, the extermination operations, as in Europe. In his book "the betrayal" Jewish writer Ben Hikt says that hundreds of thousands Jews were daily reunited in Ghettos and then directed to "Auschwitz" and other camps of death to be executed, without knowing the fate waiting them. It is remarkable that when Zionists did not succeed in introducing some Jews to Palestine, they did not estate to condemn them to death in order to begin their huge propaganda campaigns, exploiting the blood of their victims. This is what happened to the "Patria" in 1942: It reached the port of Haifa with hundreds of Jewish immigrants aboard but the British authorities did not allow them to disembark in Haifa and suggested they be directed to Madagascar. When the Zionist failed in convincing the authorities to allow them to disembark, they blew the entire ship with all its human cargo and alleged that this was a "collective suicide" because these people preferred deaths to the separation form their homeland"...The same happened to the passenger of "Satrum".D. Rodolph Kistner was one of the most famous Gestapo scientists, permanent representative at the International Jewish Conference and President of the Hungarian Branch. He was the man in charge of preparing the list with the names of all Hungary Jews, with all data concerning their financial and social status. Furthermore, he assisted rich Jews to escape from Hungary against a monetary fee while he sent poor Jews to the concentration camps. After the end of the war, Kistner immigrated to Palestine changes his name into "Sook Karmel". He was recognized by one of the persons who escaped death by mere chance. Since he had been discovered, a member of the Mosad, Raif Ikstain, executed him in 1957, upon explicit orders of the headquarters. This execution of course was not caused by the crimes of Kistner against other Jews or for his cooperation with the Gestapo but by the fear that we could uncover other high Ranking Israeli leaders involved in the extermination of the Jews and serving the Nazis.Kistner was not the only Zionist leader to collaborate with the Gestapo. There also was Mendel's, the representative of the Jewish Agency in Czechoslovakia, agent of Chief of the Gestapo in Prague, Fosh. In accordance with the confessions of Karl Ntam, a very highly ranked leader of the SS, the Nazis had organized together with the Zionists, the "Jewish Police" in charge of internal peace and safety in the camp " T i r z i n " in Czechoslovakia. Karl Ntam adds: Thanks to Zionist agents, they were able to send more that 400.000 Jews from Czechoslovakia to the Ghettos and then to the concentration camps, between 1941 and 1945.German writer "Julius Mantir" declares with confidence that there is a list with the names of all Zionist leaders closely collaborating with the Nazis -16 pages- and among those, many such as Haim Wiseman, Mousa Sari, David Ben Gourion, Isask Samir and others became highly ranked Israeli officials. He also says that Kort Bihar and Adolph Ihman, chief of the W.Br of the Gestapo and responsible for the extermination of the Jews was one of the closest friends of the Zionists.In spite of the public animosity expressed, at all times, by the Zionist movement towards the Nazis, an animosity which reached the political and financial blackmail against several German government after World War II, the documents published by the newspaper "CITIZEN" reveal the secret propositions of the Zionists to Nazi Germany as well as the secret contacts of Isaak Samir, leader of the Zionist terrorist organization " ARGON » and exchief of the Israeli State, with the Nazi government through the attache maritime of the German Embassy in Turkey. In other words, the proposition stated that the purpose of terrorism coincides with the purpose of the Reich as far as the necessity for the Jews to leave Europe as a first step towards the creation of a new established order, and that this could be achieved only if the Jews of Europe go to Palestine. Consequently, the Nazi and the Zionist should collaborate in a view of continuing this collaboration even after the Jewish State is established, by virtue of a treaty between Germany and the Zionists which will insure the interests of GermanyALARAB ALALAM - SUPPLEMENT - 01/06/2002 P.7ALARAB ALALAM - SUPPLEMENT - 01/06/2002 P.8in the Middle East. The terrorist Organization also declared its willingness to contribute to the war operations side by side with Germany provided they accept this proposal. Doctoral thesis retrievalAnd now we have reached the issue of French historian Henri Rok, who submitted his doctoral thesis to the University of Nantes in 1977, whereby he attempted to refute the existence of gas chambers in the Nazis Concentration Camps destined to the torture and killing of the prisoners. Henri Rok had published a large number of articles and studies in several French newspapers, duly substantiating this opinion but was faced with a vehement campaign from the media, accusing him of Nazism and anti-Semitism as well as belonging to the ultra-right wing. Subsequently, the Secretary of Education, Alan Dufaki, issued the decision to cancel the discussion of the doctoral thesis, to withdraw the title of Doctor from the historian Rok and suspending professor Briviere.The decision was based on procedural errors at the time of filing the thesis and not only on its contents! That was not the end of it, since the French courtIssued a condemnation against the historian and the professor of university, which was executed. It also ordered the payment of 100.000 francs by all publishers of the newspaper who accepted to publish his work. These decisions were based on the doubtful law "prohibiting to any person whosoever to doubt the truth of crimes against humanity» After the end of World War II, Rasinier returned to France and his seat as a professor of modern history. He wrote several books whereby he presents the facts as he personally witnesses them. The essence of it was that life in the concentration camps was indeed very bad and excessively difficult. However, that does not mean that there were gas chambers for the collective extermination. He prepared a book with the title "the lies of Ulysses". The famous Ulysses of the Greek Mythology wandered for years before he could return to his homeland and, when he finally did, he told many tales based on the truth of his endless and full of dangers per plum but full of mythical details. In Rainier's opinion, this is exactly what happened at the end of World War ll. And because of his books and opinions, which were opposite to the dominant official version, he was expelled from the Socialist Party and the Union of War Prisoners. And because Racinier is considered to be the father of any person doubting the collective extermination of the Jews during World War II, M. Rok explained the position of the historian with respect to the gas chambers saying: Racinier supports that there are no decisive evidence of the existence of the gas chambers for the extermination of Jews or non-Jews. And he believes that such gas chambers may have existed but the evidence in favor of this theory are not based on scientific facts and therefore can be doubted. Therefore, the use of the gas chambers in concentration camps for the extermination of prisoners has not been historically proven. When M.Rok was addressed on the issue of his doctoral thesis, which was presented to the University of Paris and then Nantes, and on his theory as far as the Gas chambers are concerned, he said: there is a huge difference between gas chambers and ovens. And this creates confusion to most people. It is a fact that ovens used for the incineration of the dead existed on all Nazis camps just as they exist in every protestant country and they are used in German camps to incinerate the dead whether they are prisoners or soldiers or German officers. These ovens existed for sanitary reasons in camps where the large number of people created a danger of epidemic diseases, epidemic diseases such as typhus, typhoid fever and malaria were common epidemic diseases. And only with incineration could they be faced. No one doubts the presented of gas chambers in German camps. What is doubtful in our opinion is their use. It is well know that the reason these chambers existed was the disinfection of clothes and personal objects. It is well known that German soldiers returning from the eastern front had to pass through the gas chambers for disinfecting their clothes and personal objects in order to avoid contagious diseases. The supporters of gas chambers as extermination means say that millions of Jews were exterminated in the gas chambers every day. It is however common knowledge that a body needs two full hours to be completely incinerated. Which leads us to the question: How could it be possible to kill millions in gas chambers and incinerating them subsequently? The necessary period of time to complete such a task is much more that the duration of the whole war!? Finally, and in spite of the monstrosities and the massacres perpetrated by the Zionists to the prejudice of the Jews, in collaboration with Nazis Germany, the Zionist leaders and intellectuals insist blatantly on their allegations that the Zionist racist movement has come to protect the Jews from the dangers of anti-Semitism.Al Arab Al Alam: After reading the detailed history of al Nakba and the holocaust myth, we wish that both the Araband European citizens will realize the truth of the conspiracy hoping that it will trigger their emotions and they will be able to understand the real Zionist spirit which is based on lies, perfidy, betrayal murder and blood shedding and that Zionists are a people without any humanity. They are the Nazi of our times. We also Hope that every reader will pass this file to his friends, in the language which they can understand, so that they may understand and get the true image of the situation.In this Endeavour, we have issued the present file in three languages, hoping to succeed in transmitting the message.This file was prepared by theAl Arab Al AlamTeam Editor: Hasan RamadanManaging director: Badr Al Din BoudourEditing Secretary: Noaman AkelDTP Editor: Mazen younesTRANSLATION: Olga StefanidouALARAB ALALAM - SUPPLEMENT - 01/06/2002 P.8


Review Risky Surrender by Robin Bielman


Review Risky Surrender by Robin Bielman




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Robin Bielman follows up her sexy debut novella, Worth the Risk, with this scorching tale. Archeologist Lucy Davenport made a promise to her dying
father to find the 16th century gold Tlaloc statue. Lucys dad
believed the legend that the Tlaloc goddess would give life and sustenance to
them, finally changing their lives. Can Lucy find the statue, and could the
legend be true? Theres only one person standing between her and the statue:
Keats McCall. Do-gooder playboy Keats McCall is tired of women falling for
his bottomless bank account. It isnt until a sexy-as-hell mystery woman bumps
in to him that he is more than intrigued…and suspicious. McCall realizes there is
something different about his mystery woman, but could that something be
unethical and possibly illegal? What is the story behind this beautiful siren? There
is only one way to find out what Lucy is up to: watch her—day and night. But
can McCall resist the temptation Lucy is proving to be? Bielman knows the art of slowly building the sexual tension
between a couple—to the point of near combustion. What starts out as Lucy and
McCall taking each others measure turns into something neither of them were
looking for. The true test of their mettle comes when both must decide between
their jobs and their rapidly growing feelings. Is felicity is worth the risk?I would not consider myself the outdoors type. However,
after reading Worth the Risk and Risky Surrender, I may have to
reconsider; Bielman brings a whole new level of hotness to outdoor adventures. Yet, that
is not all Risky Surrender brings to
the table. Both Lucy and McCall have personal struggles to overcome before they
can find a happiness they never knew existed. Risky Surrender is a spicy, quick read full of dynamic
characters with inner and external struggles.You can watch my vlog for Worth the Risk, the first book in the Take a Risk series,HERE.FTC Disclaimer: Review copy provided by author.



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Facebook | Goodreads | Website | TwitterRead It Now!
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Naked November Week 3 Progress and Giveaway Announcements (x2!)


Naked November Week 3 Progress and Giveaway Announcements (x2!)


Alright, this will be a quick post since I'm getting to it so late! I just wanted to check in with you guys on the progress of my Naked November Challenge! So far, the results have been really very good.



I've also determined, after some experimentation, that I'm going to have to use my Lush Lemony Flutter pretty much exclusively from now on. Something in the other products is causing the skin around my nails to get tough, tear, and flake. It's been something that I've had to deal with my entire life, and it's been a constant source of annoyance for me when it comes to editing my photos. I don't edit out imperfections, so I have to make do with what I have.



After just a few days of using Lemony Flutter as my only cuticle balm, the skin around my nails have made a remarkable recovery. I, stupidly, took the photos below just after washing my hands, so the skin around my nails don't look as nice. I promise you, though, they look amazing now! I can't wait until this Sunday when we can look at the month in review! Ok, here's what I've got going on now.



As you can see, the most damaged parts have grown out completely or are almost gone. Even on my thumb, there has been remarkable improvement. The moral of the story, I guess, is that your nails do in fact need a break. I'll be incorporating a few days a month into my routine from here on out!



Ok, so now let's get down to the giveaway fun stuff! The first giveaway coincides with the Naked November Challenge. All individuals who took and posted daily photos PUBLICLY on their social media pages with tags #nopolishnovember #nakednovember @blueeyedlawyer will be entered into a random drawing to win a pretty awesome prize that includes: a glass file from Sephora, Lush Lemony Flutter, and 1 polish of the winner's choice from my Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Winter Collection! You can't just add all of your photos at the end of the month, they must have been taken AND POSTED throughout the month to qualify for entry. So far, I know of only 1 person who has been doing this challenge with me, but there may be a few others who just need to send me their links! I'll choose a winner on Sunday 12/1.



The second giveaway is going to be all about the New Year! I'll have more details next week, but I will say that my prize is going to be crazy ridiculously awesome and worth over a pretty penny. :) There are a few makers and other bloggers that will be joining me in this giveaway, so keep your eyes peeled for an announcement at the beginning of December! Oh, and here's a sneak peek at one of my prizes...



Have a happy Tuesday! Safe travels to anyone making any Thanksgiving treks this week!


Just Me and My Filing Cabinet.


Just Me and My Filing Cabinet.


For the longest I have been wanting a functional filing cabinet. But, I have not been wanting to pay full price for one. (I am a cheap motherfucker, m'kay?) I traveled the globe near and far, delving into every nook and cranny and alley way, attempting to unearth the object of my desire. (And by that I mean I went to the Goodwill a few times and checked craigslist.)

Sadly, I was not able to find a decent, free discounted filing cabinet.

I sucked it up. Went to Staples. Painfully parted with $80 or so. And came home with this modest, yet gleaming, inviting gem.



All I want out of life is to be left alone for one whole day with this small item o' luxury. So I can Type-A it up in this bitch. Oh to ORGANIZE and FILE! I dream of the day when I can place every loose paper in my apartment into this aluminum piece of magnificence. (Okay not every paper, like hell t-h-a-t is going to happen, but some of this paper and these documents, and these legal files, and the overwhelming amount of paper I've gotten from my son's kindergarten curriculum.) God, I ask you, one day! Me + Filing Cabinet = Love.

How can I describe the amorous emotion in my heart for my new filing cabinet? MY filing cabinet. (It's all mine, MINE.) Impossible.

Thus I humbly resort to borrowing the Bonnie Clyde immortal lyrics of Jay-Z and Beyonce.

All I need in this life of sin is me and my filing cabinetDown to ride 'til the very end, it's me and my filing cabinetAll I need in this life of sin is me and my filing cabinetDown to ride 'til the very end, it's me and my filing cabinet




Former NSA Chief Believes That If A Major Attack Occurs, US Likely To Seize More Surveillance Powers


Former NSA Chief Believes That If A Major Attack Occurs, US Likely To Seize More Surveillance Powers




Michael Hayden, Former NSA Chief: After A Major Attack, U.S. Likely To Seize More Surveillance Powers -- Hufffington Post

WASHINGTON -- Former National Security Agency chief Gen. Michael Hayden hinted Sunday at how the NSA's eavesdropping and data collection program is likely to evolve over time. Critics of the project have warned that by building the capacity to track the electronic communications of all American citizens, the government will inevitably be tempted to employ every tool it has at its disposal and scuttle whatever constitutional safeguards stand in the way. Not to do so eventually would in fact be more surprising, goes the argument.

In an appearance on CBS' "Face The Nation," Hayden -- also the former head of the CIA -- unintentionally opened a window into just how that evolution will likely unfold.

Read more ....

Update: Obama Seeks More Public Support for NSA Policy, Hayden Says -- Bloomberg Businessweek

My Comment: Not surprising .... former NSA Director Michael Hayden is not sympathetic to the idea of having even more oversight on the NSA.And he is right that if another 9/11 should ever occur, there is a very good chance that even more surveillance powers will be authorized.


Court of Appeal upholds High Court decision in SAS v WPL


Court of Appeal upholds High Court decision in SAS v WPL


SAS v WPL is an on-going saga which has been to the High Court, the CJEU, back to the High Court and now to the Court of Appeal. The facts of the case are not simple. They are set out in detail in Arnold J's first High Court decision, but by way of reminder:


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SAS Institute Inc. (SAS) developed the SAS system, which enables data processing and analysis tasks. A key aspect of the SAS system is that users can write and run their own applications to use the system to manipulate data. These programs had to be written in the SAS language, a programming language developed by SAS meaning that users were then tied to the SAS system to run their own applications.
The defendants are World Programing Limited (WPL), creators of World Programming System, a system which replicated the functions of the SAS components. Crucially, World Programming System was compatible with the SAS language meaning that users were no longer tied to SAS and could use their own applications with World Programming System instead of the SAS system.
WPL created World Programming System by studying a Learning Edition of the SAS system (supplied under licence) and by consulting SAS's manual. There was no allegation that WPL had access to, or copied, SAS's source code.
A summary of the CJEU's answers and the High Court's subsequent decision can be found here.
Court of Appeal - appeal dismissed
Last week the Court of Appeal dismissed SAS's appeal. Lord Justice Lewison said:
"Although I disagree with some of the judge's reasoning, those disagreements do not affect the ultimate result. Since the appeal is an appeal against the judge's order rather than against his reasons, I would dismiss the appeal."
Without going through each point in the Court of Appeal's decision as to why they agreed with the outcome if not the reasoning of the High Court, it is interesting to consider Lord Justice Lewison's observations on the intellectual creation test.
The intellectual creation test
Readers may recall that one of the more interesting aspects of Arnold J's decision was his use of the "intellectual creation" test rather than the "skill, labour and judgment" test when considering the originality of a programming language. Assuming a computer language is not a computer program, this implied that the test for originality is harmonised for all works rather than just for computer programs, databases and photographs.
More interesting still, Arnold J said that even if he had found that a programming language could be an intellectual creation, it did not follow that it had to be a work, clarifying that the 8 categories of protected works set out at s.1(1) CDPA were still relevant: the CJEU's broader definition of a copyright protected work still did not apply in the UK.
The concept of an intellectual creation was discussed in the Court of Appeal's decision at great length. At paragraph 30 Lord Justice Lewison confirms that the CJEU has taken an expression used in one directive ("intellectual creation" which is used in the Software Directive) and applying it to another (the Information Society Directive). It does so, he says, in order to establish "a harmonised legal framework for copyright".
He then goes on to consider what constitutes an intellectual creation. The essence of the term, he says, is that "the person in question has exercised expressive and creative choices in producing the work. The more restricted the choices the less likely it is that the product will be the intellectual creation (or the expression of the intellectual creation) of the person who produced it."
Lord Justice Lewison then says that the test, "intellectual creation" may not be quite the same as the traditional test under English law. He compares the fact that in the UK databases were by copyright as they contain "labour, skills or effort" before the Database Directive harmonised protection. In most European countries databases were not intellectual creations therefore were not protected. Therefore, he says:
"If the Information Society Directive has changed the traditional domestic test, it seems to me that it has raised rather than lowered the hurdle to obtaining copyright protection."
This is an interesting conclusion as many see the "intellectual creation" test generally being broader than the "labour, skill and judgment" test. I would be interested to know which test readers think is broader?
We then go on to application of this test, and to this blogger this is where the judgment has missed a step: we are never told whether the "intellectual creation" test, as it is to be applied in the UK, is the test for originality or the test for a protected work.
By comparing "intellectual creation" with "skill, labour and judgment" it seems that Lord Justice Lewison was referring to the test for originality. This is confirmed by his view that "intellectual creation" is now the test for determining whether a restricted act has been done in relation to a substantial part of a work (i.e. does the part which has been copied contain the author's own intellectual creation?)
Arnold J said at para 34 of his judgment:
"Counsel for SAS Institute argued that the SAS Language was an intellectual creation, and therefore it was a work. In my view that is a non sequitur. As counsel for WPL pointed out, there are many intellectual creations which are not works…"
The Court of Appeal does not address this point therefore the question of whether in the UK all intellectual creations constitute works protected by copyright remains unanswered.
Idea v expression
A short post-script on another copyright dilemma which is considered in the Court of Appeal's judgment: where is the line between an idea and the expression of an idea? Lord Justice Lewison says at para 60 of his decision that "what is critical is not the intellectual creation but the expression of the intellectual creation". He clarifies later that the functionality of a computer program (in the sense of what it does and how it responds to particular inputs) falls on the ideas side of the line.
He also reiterates the lovely reasoning of Pumfrey J in Navitaire Inc v easyJet Airline Co Ltd:


"Take the example of a chef who invents a new pudding. After a lot of work he gets a satisfactory result, and thereafter his puddings are always made using his written recipe, undoubtedly a literary work. Along comes a competitor who likes the pudding and resolves to make it himself. Ultimately, after much culinary labour, he succeeds in emulating the earlier result, and he records his recipe. Is the later recipe an infringement of the earlier, as the end result, the plot and purpose of both (the pudding) is the same? I believe the answer is no."
Conclusion

All that to say that the Court of Appeal agreed with the High Court, and dismissed the appeal, confirming that copyright cannot protect the look and feel of computer programs.


Antibiotics Get Us Well Right When Is The Right Time To Use Antibiotics


Antibiotics Get Us Well Right When Is The Right Time To Use Antibiotics


There are many misconceptions and questions revolving antibiotics that warrant some further exploration. The other posts have clearly shown the historic misuse of antibiotics and its negative potential. The misuse in the meat industry as well as the medical industry has brought us to a delicate place where Superbugs are growing that affect everyone. So if antibiotics were made to help us where did they go wrong?



The first thing to understand is that antibiotics are not the magic cure for all types of illnesses. Antibiotics are made to work against bacteria but not viruses. Viruses and Bacteria are not the same thing and function in differing ways, for a deeper understanding of the differences form a medical expert lookhere.

So if I'm sick do antibiotics help? Yes and no, they can help you if you are dealing with a bacterial infection. Common bacterial infections are Tetanus, Typhoid Fever, Cholera, and many sexual transmitted infections. These are instances where it is appropriate to use antibiotics. Differing antibiotics were designed to combat these infections and as always your physician is the best available aid to such things.


What if I do not feel well and have left over antibiotics from another illness will these work? The complexitylies in the fact that each of the antibiotics is created to combat a specific bacteria. In this way one that is prescribed to combat the bacterium clostridium tetani or tetanus will not work for the bacterium mycobacteruim tuberculosis or tuberculosis. The best way to understand this is if you picture each drug prescribed as a key and the infection as the lock. To be efficient the key must match the lock. Since each drug is made for a specific infection then the keys or prescriptions are not interchangeable.

So what if I have an viral infection and not a bacterial infection? If it turns out that the source of the infection is viral and not bacterial than antibiotics can not help. Of the common viral infections like the common flu antibiotics cannot do anything. In this instance other means are needed to find wellness like rest and fluids.


From the continual misunderstanding of how to care for ourselves people often take antibiotics when they are not needed. This in turn helps to add to the larger problems of misuse of antibiotics in the meat industry as well as the medical field. For a very concise article from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) on this issue answering many more questions seehere.This is a very concise source to help to clear up all of the misconceptions regarding antibiotics and when they are effective and when they are not.