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By Frances Harrison
BBC News, Tehran
The Jewish presence dates back nearly 3,000 years.
Although Iran and Israel are bitter enemies, few know that Iran is home to the largest number of Jews anywhere in the Middle East outside Israel.
About 25,000 Jews live in Iran and most are determined to remain no matter what the pressures - as proud of their Iranian culture as of their Jewish roots.
It is dawn in the Yusufabad synagogue in Tehran and Iranian Jews bring out the Torah and read the ancient text before making their way to work.
It is not a sight you would expect in a revolutionary Islamic state, but there are synagogues dotted all over Iran where Jews discreetly practise their religion. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Judaism, Monotheistic Religions on September 29, 2006 - ז' תשרי תשס"ז at 4:49 pm
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By Victor Davis Hanson
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Hating Jews, on racial as well as religious grounds, is as old as the Roman destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem. Later in Europe, pogroms and the Holocaust were the natural devolution of that elemental venom.
Anti-Semitism, after World War II, often avoided the burning crosses and Nazi ranting. It often appeared as a more subtle animosity, fueled by envy of successful Jews in the West. “The good people, the nice people” often were the culprits, according to a character in the 1947 film “Gentleman’s Agreement,” which dealt with the American aristocracy’s social shunning of Jews.
A recent third type of anti-Jewish odium is something different. It is a strange mixture of violent hatred by radical Islamists and the more or less indifference to it by Westerners. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Middle East Report, Recent Posts on September 28, 2006 - ו' תשרי תשס"ז at 8:38 pm
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by aljazeera.net
Sunday 24 September 2006 4:36 AM GMTThe high price of oil is pushing more money into Islamic funds
The Islamic finance sector is prospering due to a growing demand from investors, both Muslim and non-Muslim, and the flow of oil money from the Gulf.
Analysts estimate that the Islamic finance sector - which complies with Sharia law based on the Quran - is now worth up to $500 billion, compared to $200 billion two years ago.
Islamic retail banks and investment funds now number in the hundreds and financial institutions in non-Muslim countries, including Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Lloyds TSB and UBS, are increasingly choosing to offer products that are compatible with Sharia law
Islamic finance bans the earning and payment of interest and forbids investment in businesses linked to the alcoholic drinks and gambling industries.
Japan will be the first major industrialised country to issue Islamic bonds if the Japan Bank for International Cooperation goes ahead with a plan aimed at attracting money from oil-rich Muslim countries. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Alternative Energy on September 28, 2006 - ו' תשרי תשס"ז at 7:47 pm
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Computer-aided MRI detects water distribution in the brain
TUESDAY, Sept. 26 (HealthDay News) — A new computer-aided analysis technique may help spot early signs of Alzheimer’s disease, according to new research.
As Alzheimer’s disease progresses, cells in the brain may become damaged, which allows water molecules to move throughout the brain more freely.
This process of cellular damage causes an increase in the “apparent diffusion coefficient,” or ADC, which is a measurement used to study the distribution of water in the brain.
A new study included in the October issue of Radiology looked at 13 elderly people with mild cognitive impairment — a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease — and 13 people without mild cognitive impairment.
The participants underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain and performed memory-recall tasks.
The MRIs used a new computer-aided analysis program to measure ADC values in different regions of the brain.
The University of California, Irvine researchers found that the participants with mild cognitive impairment had increased water content in certain regions of the brain, including white-matter areas, the hippocampus, temporal lobe gray matter and the corpus callosum.
The ADC values in the hippocampus were associated with worse memory-performance scores.
The new computer mapping technology may allow researchers to learn how Alzheimer’s disease develops in the brain and come up with new strategies for treating the disease.
“Our methods may enable earlier diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease, allowing earlier intervention to slow down disease progression,” said researcher Min-Ying Su.
More information
The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke has more about Alzheimer’s disease.
(SOURCE: Radiological Society of North America, news release, Sept. 26, 2006)
Copyright © 2006 ScoutNews LLC. All rights reserved.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Health Sciences, Mental Health on September 26, 2006 - ד' תשרי תשס"ז at 2:19 pm
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The following letter is part of a lengthy correspondence that the author conducted with a paleontologist. More of the correspondence will be posted at a later time.
February 7, 2006
Dear XXXXX:
I’m not quite finished reading Stephen Jay Gould’s 1300-page magnum opus that was published posthumously, but so far I still see the same problems as in the literature that you gave me from Jennifer Clack and Kevin Padian. That is, none of these authors are providing an adequate genetic mechanism to account for the gross morphological changes needed for macroevolution to occur. First they make an a priori assumption that there was significant genetic variation, then they use a posteriori knowledge and reasoning to suggest evolutionary sequences. Gould even acknowledged this on page 684, where he wrote, “For this book, despite its exuberant length, largely restricts itself to the Darwinian tradition of conventional causal explanations based on selection as a central mechanism.” First he assumes that there is sufficient genetic variation, then natural selection will do the rest, and the fossils will tell the whole story. His brief discussion of “evo-devo” and Hox genes is no longer relevant because Derrick Rancourt at the University of Calgary has already demonstrated that mutations in vertebrate Hox genes will result in individuals that are dysmorphic and dysfunctional, not more adaptive. So far there is no evidence that the redundancy of the Hox complex will permit sufficient flexibility for macroevolution of the body plan. Kevin Padian also recognized this difficulty in his review of Gould’s book. Padian observed, “Selection does not place those combinations in organisms, it only selects them once they are there. So it is important to separate the question of where variations come from and the question of what happens to them in populations once they appear.” On his website, Padian noted, “One of the most pressing evolutionary problems is how new major adaptations (which often “define” major evolutionary groups) get started.” Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Evolutionary Biology, Zwick's Picks on September 25, 2006 - ג' תשרי תשס"ז at 7:58 pm
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Author’s Note: In a recent address to the UN General Assembly, Secretary-General Kofi Annan expressed sympathy for the plight of the Palestinian people who have been living under a “lengthy occupation” and have been “denied statehood.” Interestingly, he did not express any such sympathy for the thousands of distinct ethnic groups in the world that do not have their own sovereign state but still manage to live in peaceful harmony with their neighbors. Kofi Annan encourages the popular belief that the Middle East conflict could be resolved if the “Jewish settlements in the West Bank” would be removed to allow the establishment of a Judenrein Palestinian micro-state with “territorial integrity.” This 22nd Arab-Muslim state would have about 3 million inhabitants in about 6000 sq. km. As strange as this may seem, people still believe the statements made by former Secretary of State, James Baker, and former President Jimmy Carter, that the Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria are “obstacles to peace.” In truth, these pioneer Jewish communities are just attempting to reestablish a Jewish presence in areas where Jews were expelled by the Roman occupation, Christian Crusades, and Muslim conquests. So if Jews have no right to live in areas where they have strong historical, religious, and cultural connections, then it can be argued that Jews have no right to live anywhere else either. The following article explores this issue in a satirical manner.
By Israel Zwick
This is the time of year when many young Jewish families engage in an exodus from New York to settle in the sunny, warm state of Florida. These Jewish families occupy residences in a number of hotels and apartment buildings. The large influx of Jewish families to Florida puts a tremendous strain on the infrastructure and causes friction with the native residents. It is time to consider putting an end to the Jewish occupation of Florida and removing some of the temporary settlements along the coastline.
Miami Beach has long been a haven for Jewish retirees from New York. The Jewish population in Miami-Dade County has made significant contributions to the growth, development and economy of the region. However, in the last 30 years, there have been some ominous developments in the Jewish demographics of Florida. It appears that many young Jewish families have moved northward and established settlements in Broward and Palm Beach Counties. There are now hundreds of thousands of Jews living in these counties in many different settlements. These settlements with young, Jewish families are the major obstacle to the peace and stability of the region. They will promote friction and conflict with the Muslim communities. They are posing a threat to the gentle tranquility that the State of Florida is known for and they should all be dismantled. The Jews there should be compensated and relocated to Miami-Dade County. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Zwick's Picks on September 25, 2006 - ג' תשרי תשס"ז at 6:55 pm
Scientific Dissent From Darwinism Continues to Grow
By: Staff
Discovery Institute
June 20, 2006
Dissent From Darwin “Goes Global” as Over 600 Scientists From Around the World Express Their Doubts About Darwin’s Theory
The list is now located at the website, www.dissentfromdarwin.org
SEATTLE — Over 600 doctoral scientists from around the world have now signed a statement publicly expressing their skepticism about the contemporary theory of Darwinian evolution. The statement, located online at www.dissentfromdarwin.org, reads: “We are skeptical of claims for the ability of random mutation and natural selection to account for the complexity of life. Careful examination of the evidence for Darwinian theory should be encouraged.”
The fastest growing segment of the list is scientists from outside the United States. International scientists now represent just over 12% of all signers, and as a group has seen nearly 40% growth in the past four months.
“I signed the Scientific Dissent From Darwinism statement, because I am absolutely convinced of the lack of true scientific evidence in favour of Darwinian dogma,” said Raul Leguizamon, M. D., Pathologist, and a professor of medicine at the Autonomous University of Guadalajara, Mexico. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Evolutionary Biology on September 21, 2006 - כ"ח אלול תשס"ו at 8:54 am
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Friday, September 15
This article comes from Impact Lab
http://www.impactlab.com
The URL for this story is:
http://www.impactlab.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=9258
Honda on Thursday announced a major breakthrough in ethanol production, saying it and a research institute had developed a practical way to use discarded plant material to make abundant quantities of the fuel.
The process, it said in a statement, “holds enormous potential as a major step forward toward the realization of an energy sustainability society.”
Ethanol is a major source of motor fuel in Brazil and is gaining popularity in the United States, but the renewable fuel is produced mainly from sugar cane and corn, raising the issue of balancing supply against the use of the crops as food. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Alternative Energy, Biomass fuels on September 20, 2006 - כ"ז אלול תשס"ו at 12:36 pm
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Author’s Note: This article was originally published before the holiday of Purim when Ariel Sharon was Prime Minister of the State of Israel. The article was inspired by events from the Book of Esther. In view of the recent demographic statistics released by the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, the ideas discussed here should be revisited and reconsidered.
King Arik was the ruler of a country that was only a tiny sliver of land, barely 21,000 sq. km. It was so small that it was hardly visible on a map of the region. Though small in size, the Land of Israel was great in accomplishments. It was a recognized leader in science research, health care, military technology, agricultural science, and water conservation. It was often described as a “land flowing with milk and honey.” The Bible in Deuteronomy also referred to the Land of Israel as “A land of wheat, barley, vines, figs, pomegranates, olives, and honey.” For seven months of the year, the land was blessed with warm weather and clear, blue skies. The five cooler, rainy months enabled the land to bring forth an abundance of crops. So much was harvested that the Land of Israel was able to export produce to much larger countries far away. The lush grapes and fruit that were grown were used to make fine wines and liqueurs that were known the world over.
Unfortunately, all was not well with the Land of Israel. It was surrounded by vicious enemies: twenty Arab-Muslim countries with 600 times the land mass and 50 times the population of the tiny Land of Israel. These Arab countries made repeated efforts to destroy and conquer little Israel, but failed each time. Yet, they were still determined to destroy Israel no matter how long it would take and by whatever means available. They would employ a combination of military, economic, demographic, and diplomatic methods to weaken the fortitude of the people of Israel and force them to flee the country. The turbulent conflict had been going on for 60 years and showed no signs of abating. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Zwick's Picks on September 19, 2006 - כ"ו אלול תשס"ו at 8:35 pm
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Israeli researcher: Forget gas, fill your tanks with water
By Nicky Blackburn September 17, 2006
With fears for the environment growing and the price of fossil fuels rising, a team of Israeli researchers working in Israel and the US is working on a new emission-free method to run your car - with water.
Water may seem like an unlikely source of fuel, but in fact it is full of hydrogen - a gas that many experts believe can be used in future to power internal combustion engines and generate electricity. The only problem with hydrogen, however, is that production of the flammable gas is inefficient, expensive and environmentally unfriendly, as well as being extremely difficult to store and transport.
Dr. Tareq Abu-Hamed, an Israeli scientist currently at the University of Minnesota, and colleagues, Professor Jacob Karni, and Michael Epstein, head of the Solar Facility at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, have developed a new method to produce hydrogen fuel cheaply, efficiently and safely while at the same time addressing current onboard storage or transportation problems.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Air & Water, Alternative Energy, Middle East Report, Science and Technology on September 19, 2006 - כ"ו אלול תשס"ו at 10:18 am
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