Free Republic

Bicycles instead of cars? Dense apartment clusters instead of single homes? Community rituals instead of churches? "Human rights" instead of religious freedom? The UN Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II) which met June 3-14 [1996]in Istanbul, painted an alarming picture of the 21st century community. The American ways-free speech, individualism, travel, and Christianity-are out. A new set of economic, environmental, and social guidelines are in. Citizenship, democracy, and education have been redefined. Handpicked civil leaders will implement UN "laws", bypassing state and national representatives to work directly with the UN. And politically correct "tolerance"-meaning "the rejection of dogmatism and absolutism"...

Ask Umbra: Waste makes haste Grist Magazine - grist magazine 06.14.04 - For more environmental news and humor, sign up for Grist Magazine's e-mail list. Dear Umbra, What is thermal depolymerization? Ann Freehold, N.J. Dearest Ann, A polymer is a large group of linked molecules. We're made of polymers such as protein, eat polymers such as starch, and wear polymers such as leather and nylon. Thermal depolymerization is a heat-driven process that breaks down or transforms polymers into the shorter chains from whence they came: oil. Our planet's automatic transformation of dead dinosaurs and dead cavepeople and other organic matter...

A pro-family activist is concerned about some troubling demographic statistics out of France that suggest Islam is taking a firm foothold in that nation. Demographers in France are estimating that 20 to 30 percent of the French population under the age of 25 is now Muslim. Statistics also indicate that native-born French people are not having many babies, but France's large Muslim immigrant community is. Gary Bauer, president of the Campaign for Working Families, is troubled by the reported demographic trends out of France. He contends that the Muslim population explosion in France is contributing to a social climate that...