Posted by John Rosenthal
Another interview and another controversy for Thilo Sarrazin, the embattled board member of the German Bundesbank. Last autumn, Sarrazin found himself embroiled in controversy and accused of racism following the publication of a wide-ranging interview in which he questioned the capacity for integration of Muslim immigrants in Germany.
Now, Sarrazin has done it again. Though out of an interview comprising nearly 3000 German words, the source of the controversy this time consists of exactly six. The six words in question? “All Jews share a certain gene.” Restored to their context, it is obvious that in using the six words, Sarrazin was merely attempting, however infelicitously, to express what is in fact a tautology. Why, then, the outraged reactions in the German media and among the German political elites?
See my new article on weeklystandard.com here.
Posted by John Rosenthal
Even news outlets and commentators that are critical of its posting of tens of thousands of U.S. military reports on the war in Afghanistan are prepared to confer upon WikiLeaks the honorific of a “whistleblower organization.” But is that what it is? On closer inspection, the “whistleblower organization” appears in fact to be little more than a front organization. Though it is not clear for whom or what, it is clear that WikiLeaks has a special relationship with Germany…
See my two-part exposé “The WikiLeaks Hoax” on Pajamas Media here and here.
Posted by John Rosenthal
Changes in the earth’s atmosphere, the additional greenhouse effect and the resultant changes in the climate . . . represent a global danger for humanity and the entire biosphere of the earth. If no effective counteracting measures are taken, dramatic consequences are to be expected for all of the earth’s regions.
This warning will undoubtedly seem familiar, perhaps even mind-numbingly so. But if the substance sounds like the same-old same-old, the date on which it was issued might seem surprising. It was not in the run-up to the Copenhagen climate summit or indeed anytime in the last decade. The above passage is nearly two decades old. It comes from a resolution adopted by the German Bundestag in September 1991.
To find out more, see my new article in The Weekly Standard here.
(Note that this article contains some overlap with my “The EU Connection in Climate Research” in Policy Review, which briefly touches upon the “secret history” that is the focus of this piece.)
Posted by John Rosenthal
The leaking of the East Anglia “Climategate” e-mails and data last November shattered the appearance of a scientific consensus on supposed “man-made global warming” and provided a disturbing insight into the corruption of the scientific process as it relates to the “man-made global warming” hypothesis. But just who or what had corrupted the science in order to produce the phantom “consensus”?
Commentators in U.S. online discussion forums and blogs wasted no time in identifying two prime suspects: the reputed prophet of green energy, Al Gore, and the right’s least favorite “leftist” billionaire, George Soros. But the real culprit is named again and again in the East Anglia e-mails and documents. The culprit is, however, named with many different names, mysterious combinations of letters and numbers and lyrical code words, names like “DGXII, DGXI, FP5, FP6, FP7, LIFE, ENRICH.” In the final analysis, it is but one and the same multinational organization that lurks behind all these designations: the European Union.
See my new study of European Union funding of “climate research” in Policy Review magazine here.
Posted by John Rosenthal
President Obama’s recess appointment of Donald Berwick to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has sparked controversy for, among other reasons, Berwick’s connections to the Massachusetts-based advocacy group Physicians for Human Rights (PHR). Critics have pointed to PHR’s harsh criticisms of Israel in connection with counter-terror operations in the West Bank and Gaza. But it is not only Israel that the group has accused of serious human rights violations. It has also leveled such accusations against the United States.
Physicians for Human Rights has indeed played a pivotal role in the campaign to prosecute American officials for acts of torture allegedly committed at the Guantánamo Bay prison camp — and it has done so while participating in an EU-financed project on “documenting” torture.
See my new article on Pajamas Media here.
Posted by John Rosenthal
If one is to judge by the disinterest of the “old” English-language news media. Nonetheless, the Neumayer polar research station on the Antarctic coast last week recorded the coldest temperature since the station was first established in 1981.
See my new post at weeklystandard.com here.
Posted by John Rosenthal
“Hamburg is always being mentioned in connection with September 11, 2001, and for this reason we feel we have a special responsibility to support the U.S.A. in this case.” This is what Kristin Breuer, a spokesperson for the Hamburg municipal government, told Germany’s ARD public television after it was announced that two Guantánamo detainees who had been slated for transfer would be coming to live in Germany — one of them in Hamburg.
Note Breuer’s exact words: it is because “Hamburg is always being mentioned in connection with September 11, 2001” that the municipal government felt it had to “support” the U.S. The formulation gives off more than just a faint whiff of denial. What, after all, would one say of a German official who commented that Germany should take some given measure because Germany is merely “always being mentioned in connection with” the Holocaust?
See my new article on Pajamas Media here.
Posted by John Rosenthal
Just a reminder that readers who would like to be notified by e-mail when new articles appear can sign-up for the newsletter using the sign-up box in the right sidebar. I’ll have two big articles coming out in the next couple of weeks: one on the “secret history” of climate alarmism and another related piece on EU-funding of “climate science.” There should also be at least a couple of smaller items. But some extended downtime is coming in August. So, the newsletter will provide a convenient way to keep apprised of new developments when they occur…
Posted by John Rosenthal
In an article in the Sunday edition of the German tabloid Bild, the head of the German police union, Rainer Wendt, slammed the German government’s decision to accept two Guantánamo detainees slated for transfer. For the details and related developments, see my new post at weeklystandard.com here.
Posted by John Rosenthal
According to a report in Thursday’s edition of the German daily Die Süddeutsche Zeitung, the American government has agreed that two Guantánamo detainees who are to be released in Germany in the coming weeks will not “in principle” be denied the possibility of traveling to the United States.
For the details, see my new article on The Daily Caller here.
