What's New Robert L. Park 22 Jul 2011

WHAT'S NEW   Robert L Park   Friday, 22 July 11   Washington, DC

1. NEWS OF THE WORLD: THE MOST POWERFUL MAN ON EARTH.
Called "Screws of the World" for its focus on celebrity sex scandals, the=
=20
British tabloid was the top selling English-language newspaper in the wor=
ld=20
when owner Rupert Murdoch permanently closed the paper two weeks ago,=20
citing its role in the British phone-hacking scandals.  Why do I not=20
believe the world=92s best selling newspaper was closed because it used=20
improper methods to get a story?  It was a tabloid for God's sake! =20
Something much bigger had to be going on here.  On 20 Nov 09, just two=20
weeks before the Copenhagen Summit on Climate Change, a server was breach=
ed=20
at the Climate Research Unit of the University of East Anglia in the UK. =
=20
Hackers posted thousands of private e-mails and computer files on the web=
=20
for the world to see.  Climate skeptics claimed the hacked emails showed=20
climate scientists manipulating data.  They showed nothing of the sort. =20
Nevertheless, the Copenhagen Summit was held in the shadow of an ongoing=20
investigation into groundless charges.  The media focused on the victim:=20
the Climate Unit at the U. of East Anglia.  "Who did the hacking," WN=20
asked?  http://bobpark.physics.umd.edu/WN09/wn120409.html .  The only cri=
me=20
was breaking into private files, but the media made scant effort to find=20
out who did it. For the next eight months neither the media nor Scotland=20
Yard made any attempt to identify the hackers. WN never let up asking.  N=
ow=20
we find it was Rupert Murdoch who was behind the climate gate hacking,=20
having added Scotland Yard to his empire.

2. CONTRACEPTION: INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE CALLS FOR FREE COVERAGE.
One bright note in the midst of all the gloomy news is that an advisory=20
committee of the Institute of Medicine, third branch of the National=20
Academies, is calling on the government to provide free contraceptive=20
coverage.  For those not bound by the shackles of religious superstition,=
=20
it is evident that there are already more people on our planet than it ca=
n=20
support.  We desperately need to reduce the world fertility rate below 2.

3.PRESIDENT OBAMA: UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND TOWNHALL MEETING. =20
The first question came from a female who described herself as an atheist=
. =20
She had been turned down for job because she had no religion.  The=20
president carefully reviewed the recent history of First Amendment court=20
decisions.  I went through a mental checklist of declared presidential=20
hopefuls, asking myself how they would have responded. Sigh!

4. EVOLUTION: TEXAS SCHOOL BOARD BACKS EVOLUTION 8-0.=20
The Friday votes of the board were a victory for science and the students=
=20
of Texas, defeating the far-right=92s two-year campaign to dumb down=20
instruction on evolution in Texas schools.  Because of the size of the=20
Texas market, the decision has implications nationwide.

THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND.
Opinions are the author's and not necessarily shared by the
University of Maryland, but they should be.
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