The Kingdom Come

This book by Richard Harwood is an example that involved denial of some aspects of the Holocaust. It was later found to misrepresented and misquoted people and evidence on the events. (Image: Wikimedia)

A physics professor from Brooklyn College, a senior college of the City University of New York, has begun to spur debate for a series of blog posts where he compares denial of man-made climate change to genocide like that of the Holocaust.

Micha Tomkiewicz wrote his first post about the topic on his new blog Climate Change Fork on April 22 — Earth Day — stating that denial of global warming is similar to that of early denial of the Holocaust. Early in this post, he raises the question if the two can even be compared — something others have criticized him for since. As the author of a recently published book on climate change and a Holocaust survivor himself, Tomkiewicz would say yes.

Tomkiewicz goes on to define genocide, cite how deniers of the Holocaust were obviously “dead wrong,” and references the International Panel for Climate Change and scientists who say that with man-made global warming “we may be creating our next genocide ourselves.”

On May 7, Tomkiewicz followed up this blog post with “proof.” In it he shows an image of two aerial photographs of the concentration camp where he spent two years. He explains the image is a superimposition showing the two camps then and now “to try to convince the skeptics that the camp was in the same place.”

“The aerial photographs are there to ‘prove’ that all of this is real,” he wrote.

Here’s how he links this to climate change denialism:

[...]  climate change deniers like to say that using scientific “theories” to explain climate change is not really “proof.” We use scientific theories all the time to explain phenomena that we know exist but can’t readily “see” —  like gravity, for example. We know gravity exists because we can feel its effects; we can also see climate change’s effects, but the deniers continue to insist it isn’t really proof.

Most recently in response to criticism for “dragging” the Holocaust into the climate change debate and “cheapening” it in the process, Tomkiewicz writes in his defense that he is using the concept to make a point:

I make my “climate change denier” claim for one reason. It’s easy today to teach students to condemn the Holocaust, but it’s much more difficult to teach them how to try to prevent future genocides. There are different kinds of genocides and they don’t repeat themselves; they come to us in different ways. I am not suggesting that the Holocaust is just like climate change. But what I am suggesting is that even though it’s hard to see a genocide – any genocide – coming. The future is hard to predict, but we can see this one coming. This genocide is of our own making, and it will effect everyone, not just one group or country.

He goes on to write that in dragging this historical genocide into the debate, he hopes that climate change can be taught in the educational system with a purpose similar to that like the Holocaust. He poses the question: Why do we study the Holocaust? And answers it citing a U.N. resolution: “to prevent future acts of genocide.” Tomkiewicz writes that teaching the history of the Holocaust involves study of past events as well as analysis of “future situations that might to genocides – man-on-man and self-inflicted – through destruction of the physical environment.”

He ends writing that he has chosen the blogosphere as a medium to help bring awareness for the “prevention of future genocides through analysis of situations that might lead to one.”

CUNY’s Campus Reform has asked the Brooklyn College public relations office for its thoughts on Tomkiewicz’s posts. Campus Reform received a response stating the office needed “to ascertain a few things before giving you a concise answer regarding this matter.”

What are your thoughts? Was it appropriate for Tomkiewicz to compare denial of the Holocaust to denial of man-made global climate change? Is it effective at making his point?

[H/T: Oliver Darcy, CUNY Campus Reform]

Story Highlights:

• Ed Klein says Wright was “very quiet, very polite, very measured” during their interview
• Of the Obamas, Wright said, ”Church is not their thing. It was never their thing.”
• Wright claims Clinton campaign may have been paying black pastors to disparage him
• He says his words have been “misused and taken out of context”
• Reverend alleges that Obama changed dramatically once he became president

Edward Klein’s new book, “The Amateur,” an unauthorized biography of President Barack Obama, makes some startling and intriguing claims. From former President Bill Clinton calling Obama an “amateur” to Rev. Jeremiah Wright alleging that he was offered hush money, the book is full of political surprises. Earlier this week, Klein gave Fox News’ Sean Hannity the three-hour recording of his discussion with Wright. The Blaze also obtained copies of the recordings.

The audio clips showcase a man — despite his intense rhetoric — who seems genuinely saddened by his deteriorated relationship with Obama. Wright, contrary to past videos and speeches, seems calm and collected as he recounts his personal experiences over the past few years.

“It wasn’t what I expected to tell you the truth because the guy who I met did not look like the guy on the videotapes,” Klein told Hannity of his time with Wright. “He was very quiet, very polite, very measured, and talked about his academic credentials, very proud of the fact that he had a Ph.D., and answered all my questions…there was no sense that this guy could go off the deep end.”

Throughout his time with the author, Wright can be heard offering Klein his assessment on a variety of issues relating to the president and his 2008 campaign. The Blaze already told you about Wright’s claim that he was offered $150,000 by a close Obama associate in exchange for his refusal to preach until after the 2008 election.

In a separate portion of the discussion, Wright talked about a cardboard box that holds some intriguing contents. In it, there are numerous articles and elements related to the Obama campaign and the drama that accompanied it.

One example Wright shared is an article in which David Axelrod, a key figure in the Obama camp, is quoted. The article apparently discusses how Axelrod interacted with the Rev. Otis Moss, another pastor at Trinity United Church of Christ. The topic of conversation? Figuring out how the Obamas could stay at the house of worship, while trying to distance the church from Wright.

Listen to the preacher explain the article — and the cardboard box he keeps it in — below:

Wright also made some intriguing claims about the Obama family and its purported lack of interest in attending church. Since assuming office, the president has consistently faced criticism over his infrequent church attendance. According to Wright, this is par for the course.

“Church is not their thing. It was never their thing,” Wright says of Barack and Michelle Obama. “She was not the kind of black woman whose momma made her go to church, made her go to Sunday school…so the church was not an integral part of their lives before they got married — after they got married.”

After Wright made these comments, Klein said, “But the church was an integral part of his politics…because he needed that base.” Wright agreed with this statement, at one point saying “correct.”

Listen to this portion of the interview, below:

Among his many other claims, Wright told Klein that a fellow faith leader approached him in 2010 to allege that it wasn’t just Republicans who were working to exploit his fiery image. The controversial pastor claimed that another preacher told him that the Hillary Clinton campaign was paying African American reverends to openly attack Wright.

With politics being a relatively dirty game, these allegations are noteworthy. Considering the fallout from Wright’s rhetoric, it is entirely possible that the Clinton camp was looking to capitalize:

In this vein, Wright and Klein discussed some of the videos that created the greatest stir among Americans — clips showing the preacher delivering some harsh words about America. There was, of course, the famed “God damn America” video that made its rounds on media and blogs, alike. In his interview with Klein, Wright claims that his words were “misused and taken out of context.”

While he made this claim — that his clips were used in a disingenuous manner — the reverend seemed to double down on his past statements. He maintained that he was used “as a weapon of mass destruction” to disparage Obama.

“That was 2001, but they picked that one ‘chicken coming home to roost.” [In] 2005, I was talking about how you confuse God and government,” he said. “Many of us have confused our government, made government God, but government’s change…government’s lie….God doesn’t lie.”

He then told Klein he has no regrets and that he actually wishes he had said more on the subject of compassion and helping one’s fellow man (the purported issues at the heart of his well-known controversial speeches).

“God does not bless everything we do as human beings…when you oppress the widows, when you have no compassion for the poor God condemns that,” Wright proclaimed. “Why are you going to be taken back? I wish I had said more, so I had more not to take back.”

Listen to these explanations, below:

Considering the negative attention that Wright‘s sermons brought Obama as well as the pastor’s comments following the 2008 campaign (that the president him “under the bus”) the reverend made a thought-provoking claim during his discussion with Klein.

“I’m on record, a year before [Obama] ran, saying that he’d have to distance himself from me,” Wright told the author. “I knew as a politician, if he’s going to play the political game, he’s going to have to distance himself from me. If you want to get elected, if you want these votes, I’m toxic.”

Interestingly, this isn’t the first time Wright has called himself toxic. Furthermore, while he may feel as though Obama disparaged and abandoned him, the fact that he’s claimed that he knew there would be a separation a year before the election is noteworthy.

Now that Wright is distant from his former congregant, it‘s intriguing to hear how he views Obama’s leadership.

“We keep forgetting that Barack Obama was selected before he was elected. You didn’t select him. He’s accountable to the ones who selected him and who paid for him to be the president,” Wright said. “Why do you think Wall Street got a break? They selected him Why do you think the Big 3 got a buy-out? They selected him. Why do you think he stands up and says ‘I am a Zionist?’”

These institutions, Wright maintains, had the money to select Obama to be a Democratic nominee and to inevitably arrive in the White House:

After his selection — and subsequent election — Wright charged that Obama experienced some negative changes. Once his electoral prospects seemed to rise, Wright said that the president-to-be viewed him as a “deterrent.”

During the discussion, Wright told Klein that Obama said, ”You know what your problem is. You have to tell the truth.” The faith leader maintained that this isn’t a bad problem to have and that Obama, being a politician, has transformed into an individual who is not necessarily rooted in truth.

“Politicians don’t have to tell the truth. Truth is what we say it is. Well, I somehow can’t live with that,” Wright told Klein. “That’s why I could never be a politician. I think that the transformed Barack has become a politician.”

When the author asked when, exactly, Obama made this so-called evolution, Wright said he believes it happened when he assumed the presidency:

Among other subjects, Wright‘s views on Obama’s ability to help the African American community are also less-than-positive. Hannity explored these issues on his radio show on Wednesday:

These clips, of course, are only portions of the three-hour discussion that Klein had with one of America’s most controversial preachers. The highlights, while they represent only one perspective, provide intriguing issues to ponder — particularly when it comes to better understanding some of the elements that surround Obama’s worldview.

On Wednesday evening, Hannity brought Klein on his television show to further expound upon “The Amateur” and to better frame some of the audio clips that are now emerging.

Here‘s part one of Hannity’s discussion with the author:

Watch the latest video at video.insider.foxnews.com

And here’s part two:

Watch the latest video at video.insider.foxnews.com

There‘s no way of knowing whether Wright’s perspective on these issues is accurate, but years after the fiery preacher arrived on the scene, it is certainly fascinating to hear his thoughts first-hand.

A Utah high school is learning the hard way that the government is serious about nudging students away from food it doesn’t want them to consume. Davis High School in the Salt Lake City area is having to fork over a whopping $15,000 in fines to the Feds because it accidentally sold soda through a vending machine during lunch.

Federal law requires the school to turn off its soda machines during the lunch period, which is 47 minutes a day. And Davis High school did turn off the machines in the lunch room. However, the school didn‘t realize that there was another machine in the school bookstore that wasn’t being turned off. And when the food police realized it, the school was hit with a $0.75 fine per student for the duration of the offense.

Now the school is going to have to cut money to fine arts programs to make up the cost.

KTVX-TV has the report:

But here’s where things really get nutty, so to speak. Davis High School Principal Dee Burton said that the law is disingenuous. For example, while students can’t buy soda, they can buy sugar-loaded sports drinks and even Snickers bars because they contain, you guessed it, nuts. In addition, students can buy soda earlier in the day before the machines get turned off and drink it during lunch.

And simple economics is at play, too. The ban isn’t forcing students to stop drinking or eating the sugar-laced food and drink. It’s just driving them to places where they can get it.

“The misconception is if we don’t let kids buy candy and pop, we drive them to the cafeteria, it doesn’t drive them to the cafeteria it drives them off campus,” Burton told KUTV.

One commenter on the KUTV website picked up on that.

“The principal is right, the kids will leave campus. What are you going to do? Close Walmart and Quick Trip for 47 minutes every day?” the commenter wrote.

Don’t give them any ideas.

If there’s any question the left and the radicals are becoming disillusioned with President Obama, take a listen to Noam Chomsky below. In a recent interview with the leftist outlet Democracy Now!, Chomsky unloaded on Obama’s use of drones and his approach to trials for terrorists. In fact, he accused Obama of “murder” and then went on to defend a convicted terrorist who, as Chomsky put it, was just “defending his village” when he opened fire on American troops:

The young terrorist Chomsky is referring to, by the way, is Omar Khadr. But despite what Chomsky would have you think, Khadr isn’t an innocent child solider. While he is young, he is a Canadian native who actively sought out terror. He went over to Afghanistan and was captured in 2002 after a firefight with American troops. He was found to have killed at least one American soldier, threw a grenade during a battle, and also planted roadside bombs.

He was given eight years in prison after pleading guilty to the charges, as the New York Times explains:

Mr. Khadr, who was born in Toronto and comes from a Qaeda-linked family, was 15 years old when he was captured in Afghanistan in 2002 after a firefight with American troops. He was accused of throwing a grenade in that battle that killed an American, Sgt. First Class Christopher J. Speer, and of planting roadside bombs.

After pleading guilty to all five charges against him, including murder in violation of the laws of war and providing support to terrorism, Mr. Khadr was formally sentenced to 40 years in prison. But under the terms of the deal, his prison time was capped at eight years, and after one year he became eligible to apply to transfer to Canada to serve the remainder of that sentence — and possibly be released on parole.

By the way, maybe it’s just a coincidence that Chomsky sounds a little like Louis Farrakhan — you know, like when Farrakhan called Obama a “murderer” and an “assassin.”

Annular solar eclipse captured in 2005. (Photo: Wikimedia)

The world recently experienced a fascinating lunar event — the largest supermoon of 2012. Following up on that, there will soon be an interesting solar occurrence. Skywatchers in the western United States and eastern Asia should gear up to catch the solar eclipse this Sunday.

(Related: Here are some of the best snapshots of Saturday‘s ’supermoon’…including pics from Blaze readers)

Space.com reports that the May 20 event will block out nearly all of the sun in some areas, creating a “ring of fire” in the sky. In areas most affected by the annular eclipse, 94 percent of the sun will be blocked. The western U.S. and Canada will mostly be exposed to a partial eclipse and the East Coast is missing out completely because the sun will have already set.

This map shows who in the United States will see the eclipse. (Image: NASA/JPL, Jane Houston Jones via Space.com)

Watch this video to learn more about the annular eclipse:

If you are going to view the eclipse, it is recommended you not look directly at the sun. Space.com reports that your everyday sun glasses are not strong enough to protect your eyes from the rays, but welders glasses and safe solar telescopes are. It also suggests this method:

The safest and simplest technique is perhaps to watch the eclipse indirectly with the solar projection method. Use your telescope, or one side of your binoculars, to project a magnified image of the sun’s disk onto a shaded white piece of cardboard.

The image on the cardboard will be safe to view and photograph. Be sure to cover the telescope’s finder scope or the unused half of the binoculars, however, and don’t let anybody look through them.

The Blaze received a great response from readers when it asked for your images of the supermoon in earlier this month. If you happen to take any photographs — safely — of the solar eclipse, send them our way.

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Really. That's what really happened.

As ...

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On “Real News” Wednesday Will Cain illustrated the domino effect that could play-out in Europe should Greek exit the Eurozone. Veronique de Rugy of George Mason University joined the panel to discuss whether the Eurozone would be able to hold on with the exit of struggling EU members.

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