Daryl Hedding

One thing the UN's climate conference in Copenhagen has not suffered from is a lack of controversy. Starting from the viral video of Lord Monckton warning of plans for a one-world government to the hacked emails of British and American scientists that uncovered a global-warming cover-up , the conference was always going to struggle to find credibility. The latest revelation from the conference takes the real motives of some of these so-called "green" people to another insidious level altogether. Yesterday, a Chinese ministry official proudly declared that their one-child policy was a successful way to reduce emissions. The Chinese claim that their restrictive birth policies have resulted in an emissions saving of 1.8 billion tons of carbon dioxide. I like to call this ideology Planned Humanity and I'll explain why. Let's start with the Nazis. They relied on the theory of eugenics when implementing a strategy of purifying the German race from what they considere...

For the last 70 years, one thing has stood between tyrants and their ability to have their way in this world; American hegemony. Despised from Europe to the Middle East, it nevertheless managed to rid the world of the Third Reich, the USSR and yes, even Saddam Hussein. So, how is it that the land that afforded the West so much of the freedom it has enjoyed is not much appreciated around the globe? The only way I can explain it is to say that I do not believe the concept of "The West" even exists much in Europe anymore, let alone any other part of the world. I lived in Finland for a few years, and people there hardly knew what I was talking about when I referred to the West. This may be a result of a historical disconnect from the concept, but I think it more attributtable to a conceptual disconnect from history. Wikipedia explains the West to be: Western European or Western European-derived nations which enjoy relatively strong economies and stable governments, allow freedom...

This is a follow up to my previous blog about the mystery that is Jerusalem and the struggle that still rages over its sovereignty . As if to prove the point I made about President Obama laying a foundation upon which Israel's claim to sole sovereignty is denied, his administration has now been found to have asked Israel not to build apartments in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem. There are numerous problems with this development. The primary issue goes back to Israel's sovereignty. What's apparent is that Obama, like so many other Presidents before him, lusts after the Holy Grail of world peace; reconciliation between Israel and the Arabs. What's frightening is that he's decided Israel's natural expansion in the land is the greatest impediment to that peace being achieved. On the one hand, it's confirmation of the fact that Israel's contribution to this conflict has little to do with its military endeavors, and a lot more to do with the...

There's something mysterious about Jerusalem. I've lived there, on two separate occasions, for a total of almost seven years and I'm always excited to go back. Yet, when I finally get there, after the long climb up the road from Ben Gurion airport, it's always a little anti-climatic. On paper, Jerusalem is really nothing that special. Sure, it has the history, but there are far more beautiful cities in the world. There are certainly cleaner ones, with better planning and nicer drivers. Yet everyone wants a piece of it. And everyone has a different opinion on who it belongs to and what should be done with it. Even President Obama. In his famous speech from Cairo, Obama opined for "all of the children of Abraham to mingle peacefully as in the story of Isra, when Moses, Jesus, and Mohammed (peace be upon them) joined in prayer". This story is traditionally understood by Muslims to have occurred on the Temple Mount. Aside from the obvious problems there are with a...

This week, Obama gave another commencement speech, this time at Notre Dame University. Not afraid of a little controversy, he waded into the abortion debate right there in front of a community of Catholics. His "fair-minded" approach was to suggest that since the pro-choice and pro-life views are irreconcilable, we should all focus on reducing unwanted pregnancies and increasing adoption. Sounds good, right? Maybe in a world where we all accept abortion is not murder. However, less and less of us are buying that , despite our pay grade. Almost 90% of abortions occur in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy . Mid-way, at six weeks, the heart is already beating . You don't need special training to work out whether that little fella is alive yet or not. Even if we assume that only 25% of abortions occur after 6 weeks, that amounts to a quarter of a million lives being aborted annually in the US. None of this resonates with our President, despite his statement that it has "mor...

I decided to tune into last night's broadcast of the President's first commencement speech at Arizona State University. Having recently attended my wife's commencement at Vanderbilt University, I was interested to hear what Obama would have to say to graduates entering work life in the current economic climate. First off, there's no doubt that the President can deliver a mean speech. He could easily have the reverse career of Reagan and go into acting after politics. Not likely, but anyway, besides great delivery, there was actually some good content in the speech. I think his main take-home for the graduating class of 2009 can be summed up by the simple phrase, "substance over form". While attacking the culture of greed that has permeated American society, he successfully, I believe, inspired the next generation to take a path more righteous; to forgo the pursuit of wealth and status in favour of a life of meaning and accomplishment. Good stuff. Can't fau...

A friend of mine was very kind to point out, following my blog about Obama bowing to the Saudi King , that it is not uncommon for the President to strike this posture when meeting other heads of state. To prove this, below is a picture of Obama from his recent trip to Mexico where he met the Mexican President and his family. See, he even bows to the family dog! So, what exactly have we proved here? Seems Obama treats the Saudi King just like a dog. And the English Queen? Well, she'll just have to settle for being pawed by Michelle.