NFP Columnists


The Rise & Fall of American Democracy
An Answer to the Tea Party - In the beginning it was a simple concept: majority rule. Whether it claims root in ancient Athens or some unknown tribal community, it has survived the millennia as the democratic ideal and remains today a powerful force in the governance of nations. Modern democracy emerged in the eighteenth century as an alternative to monarchy, aristocracy, dictatorship and other forms of tyranny. The founding of the American nation, with all its flaws and inequities, was civilization’s first marriage of the nation state to the demo


Our Schools, Dumb and Dumber
As the nation’s children return to elementary and secondary schools, it is increasingly essential that their parents and communities coast to coast realize how poorly served they are and how their learning environment is increasingly tainted by a socialist agenda. Our nation’s schools have long been factories of boredom, centers of academic incompetence. High school graduation rates have been in a fairly steady decline. At its peak in 1969, the rate was 77 percent. By 2007 it was 68.8 percent. In mid-August, The Wall Street Journal reported that “


The Manila Hostage Crisis: The Real Tragedy
The entire hostage situation of close to 11 hours ended in a great tragedy with 8 hostages dead August 23, 2010. The greater tragedy was not the hostage, but the complete lack of training, equipment, and correct manpower to handle the situation. The situation had 15 hostages in a bus with a furious gunman who had a demand. The negotiator for the situation has no trained experience in negotiating, other than being the vice mayor of the city, allowing the brother to go along and bring the letter while taking his gun away and arresting him only caused further panic for the


Crisis! New York Style vs the Real Thing
Our obsession with pesticide 'risks' has very different consequences for America and Africa - 'Don’t let the bedbugs bite' is no longer a fashionable good-night wish for Big Apple kids, even in the city’s high-rent districts and posh hotels. Growing infestations of the ravenous bloodsuckers have New Yorkers annoyed, anguished, angry about officialdom’s inadequate responses, and 'itching' for answers. Instead, their Bedbug Advisory Board recommends a bedbug team and educatio


You Wouldn’t Take a Dog to that Clinic
Fetuses all across the Virginia are smiling on their sonograms this week in the wake of Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s opinion that concludes the Commonwealth can legally resume oversight over “clinics” that abort the unborn. Now Missy — on the way to abort her child — will be comforted by the knowledge that she will soon enjoy service and thoughtful attention from the same type of competent, licensed professionals she encounters at the veterinary hospital when she takes Fifi in to be spayed. Curiously enough, the thought of a safer


Information Dyspepsia
Surely we’ve reached the stage of Information Dyspepsia. Thanks to that old movie Midnight Cowboy, and Harry Nilsson’s haunting lyrics, ‘Everybody’s talking at me, I don’t hear a word they’re saying …’ are turning in my brain. We’ve had information overload for a while – the term was popularised in the 1970s by Alvin Toffler in his landmark book Future Shock. More recent researchers agree: we all take in so much stuff these days that we don’t have time to think it through. We’re not digesting it!


Do Not Mistake An Independent For A Moderate
Life is funny. A year ago Barack Obama thought that he had a mandate to rule - not govern, but rule - as a totalitarian dictator. Now, it turns out the only mandate he can count on is dinner and a movie with Representative Bawney Fwank. Oh, how the mighty have fallen. In the days leading up to Scott Brown’s amazing victory in Massachusetts, Obama, Pelosi, Reid, and the rest of their misbegotten ilk were publicly stating how they would ram socialized healthcare through Congress regardless of the election’s outcome. In the immediate hours following Brown’


Perspective on the "War on Terror"
I want to rise or fall with my predictions, rather than with the amount of painful "white noise" I make on various TV channels. So here is my "prediction" as to how history will look at the "War on Terror". The "War on Terror" started with the famous (infamous) declaration by president Bush that it is a "Crusade". Later he regretted using those words but actually he was right - in a way he wished he were not. In fact, history will call it a Crusade because the "War on Terror" has all the defining characteristics of a Crusade. This is my first prediction. Let us


The Asteroid Can’t Come Any Faster: Part 1 - Religion
Will the Real ‘God’ Please Stand Up!? - Not one of mankind’s smoother moves, religion and all that goes with it has purposely messed up people’s brain cells longer than anything else that has ever existed on this planet. Whoever first muttered the word ‘god’ should’ve been beaten with a club and tossed to a sabre tooth tiger. Religion has entered into our very being in such a way that nothing else compares to its grasp on the human psyche. It goes deeper into the conscience than any other man-made brainwashing de

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Afghanistan Crisis Deepens Afghanistan Crisis Deepens
U.S., Canada and NATO Threaten to Extend War - On March 13, 2008, Canada's Parliament voted to extend the country's military “mission” in Afghanistan to July 2011. The motion by the minority Conservative government was supported by the opposition Liberals. The war-makers correctly estimated that fixing an exit date would deflect mounting opposition to the war among the Canadian public and buy...Readmore
The FrontPage
The National Free Press
Regime Closes Newspapers and Imposes Jail Sentences on Journalists
Organizations - Reporters Without Borders
Written by Reporters Without Borders   
Monday, 16 August 2010 00:00

Reporters Without Borders condemns the closure of three newspapers in the past few days and the imposition of a jail sentence on another journalist in the government’s continuing crackdown on the media.

The Commission for Press Authorisation and Surveillance, the censorship arm of the ministry of culture and Islamic orientation, has suspended the business daily Asia and withdrawn the licences of the weeklies Sepidar and Parastoo, while Badrolsadat Mofidi, the secretary-general of the Association of Iranian Journalists, has been sentenced to six years in prison.
 

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Israel/Gaza: Wartime Inquiries Fall Short
Organizations - Human Rights Watch
Written by Human Rights Watch   
Saturday, 14 August 2010 00:00

Governments and UN Should Press for Justice - Israeli military investigations into the Gaza war have brought some results over the past 18 months but fall far short of addressing the widespread and serious allegations of unlawful conduct during the fighting, while Hamas has announced no serious investigations whatsoever, Human Rights Watch said today.

Human Rights Watch called on governments and the United Nations to increase their pressure on Israel and Hamas to conduct credible, independent investigations.
 

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Indian Christians Denounce Plan to Burn Holy Quran
Organizations - Miscellaneous
Written by Poor Christian Liberation Movement   
Thursday, 12 August 2010 00:00

Members of the Dove World Outreach Center, Florida, at the rally for Rifqa Bary, sponsored by Pamela Geller in November/09Indian Christian human rights activists have sent a protest letter to the United States ambassador to India in New Delhi condemning a plan by an American evangelical church to burn copies of the Quran.

The statement described the American pastor’s proposal as an activity of fringe lunatics and a violation of religious freedom and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

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US: Ratify Women’s Rights Treaty
Organizations - Human Rights Watch
Written by Human Rights Watch   
Sunday, 18 July 2010 00:00

A member of the 'Planned Parenthood' women's rights group protests against the 'Stupak Ammendment' 30 Years on, Obama Administration, Senate Leaders Should Press for Action - The United States' long delay in ratifying the global women's rights treaty undermines fulfillment of the US commitment to women's rights at home and abroad, Human Rights Watch said today.

Former President Jimmy Carter signed the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) on July 17, 1980, but the treaty has never been brought before the full Senate for a vote. The Obama administration has expressed support for ratification, but has yet to take the actions needed to secure ratification, Human Rights Watch said.

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Need for a Caste-Free Society!
Organizations - Miscellaneous
Written by Poor Christian Liberation Movement   
Monday, 12 July 2010 00:00

Prime Minister Manmohan SinghGroup of Ministers GOM will soon proclaim its decisive verdict on inclusion of caste in the census. At present census is being conducted in the country. Succumbing to the stiff pressure of many of its allies in the ruling coalition Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had announced in the upper house of parliament that cabinet will soon take positive decision on the issue. Now, it seems that government is trying to find ways and means to tackle the problems likely to arise after the caste census as it will inevitably lead to chain reactions. Setting-up of GoM is first step in the direction.

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Vietnam: Writers Honored for Commitment to Free Speech
Organizations - Human Rights Watch
Written by Human Rights Watch   
Wednesday, 11 August 2010 00:00

Six Vietnamese writers are among a diverse group of 42 writers from 20 countries who received the prestigious Hellman/Hammett award on August 4, 2010. Clockwise from upper left: writer Tran Khai Thanh Thuy, blogger Bui Thanh Hieu, poet and military veteran Tran Duc Thach, blogger Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, human rights activist Pham Van Troi, and teacher Vu Van Hung.Six Vietnamese writers are among a diverse group of 42 writers from 20 countries who have received the prestigious Hellman/Hammett award, which recognizes courage in the face of political persecution, Human Rights Watch announced today.

"Vietnamese writers are frequently harassed, or even jailed, for peacefully expressing their views," said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, which administers the annual Hellman/Hammett awards.

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India and Pakistan Must Seek End to Senseless Killings in Indian-Administered Kashmir
Organizations - Miscellaneous
Written by Kashmiri-Canadian Council   
Wednesday, 14 July 2010 00:00

India and Pakistan Must Seek End to Senseless Killings in Indian-Administered KashmirAs Indian and Pakistani foreign ministers prepare to hold their first substantive talks since the Mumbai attacks, Kashmiri-Canadian Council (KCC) welcomes resumption of dialogue between the nuclear-armed rivals – as result-oriented negotiations are the only way to bridge the divide between India and Pakistan. KCC hopes both New Delhi and Islamabad understand what is at stake – without a settlement of the Kashmir issue, peace between two long-time adversaries or for the entire region is a pipedream.

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China's Public Health Whitewash
Organizations - Human Rights Watch
Written by Human Rights Watch   
Saturday, 03 July 2010 00:00

Staff members of the local quality supervision bureau empty tainted milk power packets at a garbage dump site in Shenzhen, Guangdong province on September 19, 2008International organisations are complicit in China's efforts to hush up the milk contamination scandal during the Olympics. Pretend it didn't happen. That's apparently the strategy of the Chinese government, the World Health Organisation, and the International Olympic Committee toward China's melamine milk contamination scandal during the Beijing Olympics.

An official ban on reporting of "all food safety issues" during the games stifled domestic media coverage of revelations that at least 20 dairy firms were spiking milk products with the chemical melamine. That cover-up contributed to the deaths of six children and illness among 300,000 others.

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