Links
AFRICA
Capitalism is the Cure for Africa’s Problems – Dr. Andrew Bernstein
“For God’s Sake, Please Stop the Aid!” – James Shikwati of Kenya
Freedom, Not Foreign Aid, for Africa – Walter Williams
The Post-Colonialist Famine – Robert Tracinski. ÂTrade, Not Aid: What Africa Needs by Thompson Ayodele of the Institute of Public Policy Analysis, Nigeria
by Thompson Ayodele of theThe Tragedy of Africa Part I – Thomas Sowell
The Tragedy of Africa Part II – Thomas Sowell
And here’s a link to the Live 8 website, for comparison and contrast with the above views.
This is Zimbabwe A blog about life in Zimbabwe, by SOKWANELE Civic Action Support Group. Contributors to the blog are asked to tell their own stories and the stories of people they know regarding life under the present Mugabe regime.
The Daily Ablution I’ve only read a bit of this blog, recommended to me by a friend. It belongs to an amusing fellow named Scott Burgess, who has tagged the blog “Washing brains since 2003″, and from what I’ve read so far is quite capable of applying rational principles of liberty to news article, with an entertaining flair.
Prodos Project Blog There is no commentary on this blog, but if you’re interested in knowing what Prodos is doing behind the scenes, this is the place to go. This past year Prodos has kept a comparatively low profile, but he’s been working hard to re-create his campaign for liberty, creativity, and capitalism. Here, you can find out what he has in the works.
Rantings of a Sandmonkey In the Sandmonkey’s own words ” Be forewarned: The writer of this blog is an extremely cynical, snarky, pro-US, secular, libertarian, disgruntled sandmonkey. If this is your cup of tea, please enjoy your stay here. If not, please sod off.” If you want to find out what freethinking, pro-Western Arab bloggers have to say about current events, you’ll find plenty of such blog links on this entertaining website.
Prodos.com An Internet interview show hosted by the irrepressible Prodos. Listen to interviews on a wide variety of topics from the history of musical theater to a controversial new theory in physics. Prodos, founder and chief coordinator of international Celebrate Capitalism(TM), Discover Capitalism(TM), and many other projects championing liberty, creativity, and reason, hosts “the biggest, brainiest blockbuster show on the planet!”
Celebrate Capitalism The homepage of the worldwide campaign to celebrate life, liberty, creativity, discovery, invention, prosperity – all those values that makes capitalism possible and that capitalism makes possible.
iLoveprodos.com This is the shop where you can buy everything from Celebrate Capitalism (TM) tee shirts to flowers, web animations (with some free samples from Animation Factory), webhosting for just US $3.95 per month, domain names for $7.85 per year, travel services, books, posters, and much more. You can even buy Swarovski crystal.
If you want to help support the many Prodos projects, including the upkeep of the free ThinkerToThinker blog system, go over to iLoveprodos.com and see if there’s something there for you.
Or you can always make a donation. *8 : )
ÂAccess Card, No Way!ÂThis website is run by Tim Warner, whose aim is to inform us of the dangers of the “smart card” identity card, which is close to being accepted into law here in Australia.ÂÂAt the moment, Tim’s site is under construction, but does contain related links, and by the time you read this it may well be a completed project.
Please don’t think that if you don’t live in Australia you needn’t learn about this proposedÂnewÂtechno-intrusion into our privacy and liberty. The U.K. is further down this road than Australia, and it’s just a matter of time before the rest of the world’s governments try to join the trend.
If you think the government is good at butting into our lives now, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet. Oh, the possibilities!
Committee to Protect Bloggers Yes, in some countries government censors blogs and some bloggers go to prison for expressing themselves online. This website is dedicated to making sure we know about it.
Prodos Internet Radio Interview:
5TH Anniversary of the Iranian Student Uprising Prodos talks with Aryo B Pirouznia, Coordinator of SMCCDI – Student Movement Coordination Committee for Democracy in Iran
The following links are to websites of Iranians who oppose theocracy.
Azar Nafisi’s “The Dialogue Project” From the website: “The Dialogue Project is a multi-year initiative designed to promote– in a primarily cultural context– the development of democracy and human rights in the Muslim world. In doing so, the Dialogue Project also hopes to educate those in non-Muslim communities– whether they be policy makers, scholars, development professionals, members of the media, or ordinary citizens– in the complexities and contradictions that govern both Western relationships with and life in many predominantly Muslim societies around the world.”
Blogs by Iranians This is a directory of English language blogs written by Iranians around the world.
Free Ganji A blog created by supporters of imprisoned Iranian dissident, Akbar Ganji. Includes Ganji’s writings that have been smuggled out of prison.
IRAN-VA-JAHAN A news service about Iran. You can choose to view the website in English, German, French, or Farsi. Check out their links page – it’s amazing! So many Iranian websites as well as news services such as the BBC and the AP.
National Union for Democracy in Iran This group is based in L.A., California. The website offers news articles about Iran. One of the changing mottos at the top of the page states: “Every Iranian is entitled to self expression.”
Stop Censoring Us This website is dedicated to fighting the Iranian government’s efforts to censor blogs and websites in Iran.
Student Movement Coordination Committee for Democracy in Iran The home page of the Iranian Secularist “Third Force Movement”. This is a well-known opposition group with members both inside and outside Iran. The members are united in their belief in “non-violent resistance, secularism, peace, democracy and free markets.”
Arabs for Israel I never have found in the mainstream media any mention of Arabs who actually support Israel. But here they are, with a very different perspective from the Arabs we hear about in the news.
Butterflies and Wheels is subheaded “fighting fashionable nonsense.” And that it does! Here you will find many topics not related to Islam, but there is also an excellent collection of speeches and commentaries by ex-Muslims or Muslim reformers. Several of these articles point out the connection between multiculturalism and the growing pockets of “political Islam” in the West. Butterflies and Wheels provides a calm, intellligent approach to some volatile subjects. Highly recommended, even though the editors consider themselves to be lefties.
Faith Freedom International Contributors to this website are former Muslims discussing freedom of conscience and the right to question religious traditions. A most interesting feature is that Ali Sina has posted a challenege to Muslims to answer several charges against Mohammad. If anyone can prove a charge wrong, Ali Sina will remove it. If all charges are proven wrong, he will remove the whole site and pay the successful person US $50,000. A confident promise, not to mention courageous, because for an ex-Muslim to make these charges against Mohammad is like dancing naked around an armed suicide bomber while tearing pages out of the Koran.
The site also includes other articles including an opinion piece by Australian commentator Andrew Bolt that appeared in Melbourne’s Herald Sun, “Importing Terror”.
Free Muslims Coalition “We believe that religion is a personal relationship between the individual and his or her God and is not to be forced on anyone.”
Institute for the Secularisation of Islamic Society Former Muslim Ibn Waraq heads up this organization, upholding “freedom of expression, freedom of thought and belief, freedom of intellectual and scientific inquiry, freedom of conscience and religion ! including the freedom to change one’s religion or belief – and freedom from religion: the freedom not to believe in any deity.”
Frederic Bastiat
Adam Smith
An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations
The Theory of Moral Sentiments
Ludwig von Mises
The Declaration of Independence
Prodos Internet Radio Interviews – These are not strictly about Israeli history, but there is plenty of history involved:
Myths about Israeli Occupation
DROPPING THE BOMB ON JAPAN
The Morality of Dropping the Atomic Bomb of Hiroshima and Nagasaki – Thomas Sowell
Hiroshima – WSJ.com Opinion Journal
Omid, a memorial in defense of human rights This website describes itself as “an electronic database of human rights violations in Iran. The Memorial is dedicated to the victims of the Islamic Republic since it was established in 1979. Omid’s ultimate goal however is to be an impartial historical record that includes victims of human rights violations since December 10, 1948… this virtual memorial provides an individual file for every victim, which details the human rights violations in his or her particular case.”
Butterflies and Wheels This website’s purpose is to “fight fashionable nonsense”. The articles I’ve read at Butterflies and Wheels have so far been quite reasonable and refreshing, particularly in their treatment of “Political Islam” and multiculturalism. The editors of this site consider themselves to be of the political left, but they state that their intention is to tell the truth about the world, putting aside ideological preconceptions to get down to the facts and they call on the Left to “reclaim its Enlightenment roots.” I have found a number of articles here that are well worth reading.
EXPONENTS OF THE THEORY OF MAN-MADE CLIMATE CHANGE
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) This is the UN body that has been warning the world that we must cut down our greenhouse gas emissions because we are causing what will become disastrous climate changes if we do not cut back.
Hurricane Katrina’s Real Name - by Ross Gelbspan, Boston Globe. An editorial blaming Hurricane Katrina on man-made global warming.
SKEPTICS OF THE THEORY OF MAN-MADE CLIMATE CHANGE
The Science and Environment Policy Project What’s the other side of the “climate change” debate? We read and hear so much about how the earth is being destroyed by man’s production methods and fuels. But are these claims based on sound science? Dr. Fred S. Singer and colleagues say “no”. There’s a lot to study on this site. Be prepared to take some time with it.
The Economics of Climate Change The British House of Lords’ Select Committee on Economic Affairs report not only on the economics of climate change, but on the questionable science relied upon by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
“Why the Kyoto greenhouse gases accord is full of hot air “This article was written by a physicist who is also the president and CEO of IPSCO Inc., a steel scrap recycling business that would benefit from provisions of the Kyoto Protocol.This article was written by a physicist who is also the president and CEO of IPSCO Inc., a steel scrap recycling business that would from provisions of the Kyoto Protocol.Are Global Warming and Katrina Linked? Interviews by James K. Glassman of three scientists who say that Katrina and global warming are not linked.
This article was written by a physicist who is also the president and CEO of IPSCO Inc., a steel scrap recycling business that would from provisions of the Kyoto Protocol. Interviews by James K. Glassman of three scientists who say that Katrina and global warming are not linked.POSITION UNCLEAR ON MAN-MADE CLIMATE CHANGE
The following entries on climate change are not necessarily unclear because the websites or scientists are uncertain of their positions. They are in this list because from what I’ve read of their views, I have not been able to determine where they stand on the “man-made” part of the question. If and when I know more, I’ll move them to their proper catergory.
Kerry Emmanuel’s Home Page Dr. Kerry Emmanuel is professor of Atmospheric Science at MIT, specializing in hurricanes. Dr. Emmanuel is said to be one of the world’s leading authorities on hurricanes.
A reader of my blog sent in a transcript of an interview Dr. Emmanuel gave to with NPR (National Public Radio) in regard to the increase in hurricane intensity over recent years. I did not post the transcript because I think that violates copyright, and I could not find the transcript on NPR’s website. However, they do have the audio file: Audio Interview Of Dr. Kerry Emmanuel
From the written transcript, it’s not certain in my mind whether Dr. Emmanuel is a proponent of the idea of man-made global warming.
“The Genographic Project” This is a fascinating interactive website by National Geographic showing how studies of “genetic markers” have revealed the paths that various peoples took out of Africa to populate the earth. It includes “The Atlas of the Human Journey” that you can use to learn something about the trails of people out of Africa to various places on earth. And another section “Genetics Overview” explains the basics of genetics.
And in this section: Your Genetic Journey you can purchase a kit that will enable you to find out about your ancestral “deep history” and to help fund and participateparticipate in the Genographic Project. It promises to keep your participation anonymous. I have not read or thought much on this part of the project, and have no opinion on whether anonymity is actually possible. I have a wary. political suspicion of any project that collects genetic samples from members of the population at large, but my wariness is based only on a diffuse, vague sense of unpleasant possibilities and a large dose of imagination. On the other hand, I can see how participation of a wide range of people all over the world would be a boost to the project’s scientific interests, and could yield very interesting results for the individual participants. I dunno. If you’re interested, read up on the anonymity promise and see what you think.