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GLOBAL NEWS FEAR, INC. THE ROOTS OF THE ISLAMOPHOBIA NETWORK IN AMERICA by Jim Lobe small group of interconnected foundations, think-tanks, pundits Az: bloggers is behind the 10-year-old campaign to promote fear of Islam and Muslims in the USA, according to a major investigative report released in August by the Center for American Progress (CAP). The 130-page report, "Fear, Inc.: The Roots of the Islamophobia Network in America", identifies seven foundations that have quietly provided a total of more than US$42 million to key individuals and organisations that, between 2001 and 2009, spearheaded the nationwide effort. These foundations include funders that have long been associated with he extreme right in the United States, as well as several Jewish family oundations that have supported right-wing and settler groups in Israel. The network also includes what the report calls "misinformation experts"—including Frank Gaffney of the Center for Security Policy (CSP), Daniel Pipes of the Philadelphia-based Middle East Forum (MEF), Steven Emerson of the Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT), David Yerushalmi of the Society of Americans for National Existence (SANE) and Robert Spencer of Stop Islamization of America (SIOA)—who are often tapped by elevision news networks and right-wing radio talk shows to comment on slam and the threat it allegedly poses to US national security. "Together, this core group of deeply intertwined individuals and organisations manufacture[s] and exaggerate|s] threats of ‘creeping Sharia’, Islamic domination of the West, and purported obligatory calls to violence against all non-Muslims by the Quran," according to the report. Nonetheless, the group's messages receive wide dissemination by what he report calls an "Islamophobia echo chamber" consisting of leaders of he Christian Right, such as Franklin Graham and Pat Robertson, and some Republican politicians, such as presidential candidates Representative Michele Bachmann and former Speaker of the House of Representatives ewt Gingrich. Other key disseminators include media figures, especially prominent osts on the Fox News Channel and columnists in the Washington Times and he National Review, as well as grassroots groups such as ACT! For America, ocal "Tea Party" movements and the American Family Association, which are behind current efforts by Republican-dominated state legislatures to ban Sharia in their jurisdictions. The report also cites the Middle East Media and Research Institute MEMRI), a press-monitoring agency created in 1998 by former officers in he Israel Defense Forces, which translates selected items from Middle Eastern print and broadcast media as a key part of the broader network, providing it with material to bolster its claims regarding the threat posed by Islam. MEMRI, which has just been awarded a State Department contract to monitor anti-Semitism in the Arab media, has often been accused of selectively spotlighting media voices that show anti-western bias and promote extremism. Judging by recent polls, the network has proved remarkably successful. A 2010 Washington Post poll showed that 49 per cent of US citizens held an unfavourable view of Islam, an increase of 10 per cent from 2002. The report was funded by the financier George Soros's Open Society Institute (OSI). (Source: Inter Press Service, 26 August 2011, http://tinyurl.com/3smhzbx) Led by Professor John A. Rogers, the Lee J. Flory Founder Chair in Engineering Innovation at the University of Illinois, the researchers demonstrated their concept through a diverse array of electronic components mounted on a thin, rubbery substrate, including sensors, LEDs, transistors, radio-frequency capacitors, wireless antennas, conductive coils and solar cells for power. The patches are initially mounted on a thin sheet of water-soluble plastic, then laminated to the skin with water—just like applying a emporary tattoo. Alternatively, the electronic components can be applied directly to a temporary attoo itself, providing concealment or the electronics. Next, the researchers are working o integrate the various devices mounted on the platform so that hey work together as a system, rather than as_ individually unctioning devices, and to add Wi- Fi capability. (Source: ScienceDaily.com, 1 August 2011, http://tinyurl.com/3doh3b6) MANIPULATING CIRCADIAN CLOCK FOR ALL-SEASON CROPS yur University researchers have identified a key genetic gear tha eeps the circadian clock of plants icking—a finding that could have broad implications for globa agriculture. The circadian clock is the interna imekeeper found in almost al organisms. It helps synchronise biological processes with day and night. In plants, this clock is crucia or adjusting growth to both time and day and to the seasons. The Yale researchers solved one o he last remaining mysteries in this process when they identified the gene DETI as crucial in helping to suppress expression of the evening genes in the circadian cycle. (Source: ScienceDaily.com, 3 September 20, http://tinyurl.com/3vochgb) NEXUS ¢ 9 OCTOBER - NOVEMBER 2011 www.nexusmagazine.com