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New: Update on Ford Boycott
Loses sales ... begins supporting another homosexual magazine ... refuses to stay neutral ... sponsors 'Two and a Half Men' ... urges support of homosexual marriage, stem cell research, and abortion
The boycott of Ford Motor Company is beginning to take effect. In November, Ford sales were down 9.7%. General Motors showed a 6.1% increase during the same month while Chrysler sales were up 4.7%. In seven of the nine months since AFA began the boycott, because of the motor company's support for the homosexual agenda - including homosexual marriage, Ford's sales have gone down compared to a year ago.
Ford has long supported the homosexual magazine, The Advocate. Now, Ford has expanded their promotion of homosexual publications by supporting the homosexual publication Out through advertising.
Wal-Mart recently announced they would no longer support or oppose controversial issues. Ford originally made a similar pledge to AFA but reneged when a small group of homosexual leaders demanded retraction, despite the fact that not a single homosexual group has publicly supported Ford.
Ford was a sponsor of a recent episode of CBS's program "Two and a Half Men" in which actor Charlie Sheen's character mocked Christ, Christmas and Christians by singing a sordid sex song to the tune of "Joy To The World."
During the recent elections, Ford pointed their employees to a radical left wing online voter guide for information on how to vote. The website that contained the guide urged votes against constitutional amendments banning homosexual marriage, for stem cell research in Missouri and against an amendment banning abortion in South Dakota.
Take Action
1. If you have not already done so, click here to sign the Boycott Ford Pledge. More than 625,000 have already signed the pledge. For a history of the boycott, visit www.BoycottFord.com.
2. Click here to send an email to new Ford CEO Alan R. Mulally letting him know you are participating in the boycott.
3. Forward this email to your friends and family who may not be aware of Ford's support for the homosexual agenda.
4. Click here to print and distribute the Boycott Ford Petition.
Sincerely,
Donald E. Wildmon, Founder and Chairman
American Family Association
P.S. Please forward this e-mail message to your family and friends!
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Muslim sensitivity training for 45,000 airport workers
Muslim sensitivity training for 45,000 airport workers
Security officials told 'to be aware that they may also be praying'
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: December 28, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
The Transportation Security Administration – created after 9/11 to safeguard America's airports – is providing Islamic sensitivity training to 45,000 airport security officers so they'll know what to expect when Muslims fly from the U.S. to Saudi Arabia to participate in the annual "hajj," or pilgrimage to Mecca.
"We put out information telling everyone that hajj is coming; this is the time frame; individuals are going to be traveling with these types of items," TSA spokesman Darrin Kayser told the State Department's USINFO Web site Tuesday. Calling it "cultural sensitivity training," Kayser added that airport security officials need "just to be aware that they may also be praying."
Ironically, just last month six Muslim imams were ejected by federal authorities from a US Airways flight in Minneapolis because they were deemed a potential security threat. Among the various behaviors that unnerved fellow passengers was the group's prayers in the airport prior to their flight.
Welcoming TSA's Islamic sensitivity training is the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, which describes itself as "America's largest Islamic civil liberties group." In a press release praising the program yesterday, CAIR noted that it distributes a pocket guide titled "Your Rights and Responsibilities as an American Muslim."
"As an airline passenger," the CAIR guide states, "you are entitled to courteous, respectful and non-stigmatizing treatment by airline and security personnel. You have the right to complain about treatment that you believe is discriminatory."
The press release also quoted the group's communications director, Ibrahim Hooper, as saying CAIR representatives nationwide have met with not only the TSA, but also from Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection officials on "issues related to cultural sensitivity and national security."
Indeed, CAIR has developed a wide-ranging advisory and teaching relationship with government on the subject of protecting Muslim interests.
As WND reported previously, last June a senior Department of Homeland Security official from Washington personally guided CAIR officials on a behind-the-scenes tour of Customs screening operations at O'Hare International Airport in response to CAIR complaints that Muslim travelers were being unfairly delayed as they entered the U.S. from abroad.
However, CAIR itself is a controversial organization. It is a spin-off of the Islamic Association for Palestine, identified by two former FBI counterterrorism chiefs as a "front group" for the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas. Moreover, several CAIR leaders have been convicted on terror-related charges.
During the June airport tour, CAIR was taken on a walk through the point-of-entry, Customs stations, secondary screening and interview rooms. In addition, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents were asked to describe for CAIR representatives various features of the high-risk passenger lookout system. Brian Humphrey, Customs and Border Patrol's executive director of field operations, assured CAIR officials that agents do not single out Muslim passengers for special screening and that they must undergo a mandatory course in Muslim sensitivity training. The course teaches agents that Muslims believe jihad is an "internal struggle against sin" and not holy warfare.
Customs agents involved in the CAIR tour at O'Hare told WorldNetDaily they were outraged that headquarters would reveal sensitive counterterrorism procedures to an organization that has seen several of its own officials convicted of terror-related charges since 9-11.
CAIR says the June tour allayed its concerns about profiling and that it "looks forward to continuing the relationship with U.S. Customs and Border Protection offices in the region, and to furthering understanding between the organizations as well as facilitating future communication in order to eliminate problems for Muslim travelers before they even arise."
As WND reported, the Department of Homeland Security invites CAIR itself to conduct sensitivity training for Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and supervisors (CBP's counterparts) in Chicago. The course is taught by local CAIR officials Christina Abraham and Mariyam Hussain. More than 30 ICE staffers have gone through the CAIR awareness program so far.
CAIR – which is bankrolled by the Saudis and the United Arab Emirates, two countries that formally recognized the Taliban – also offers religious and cultural sensitivity training about Islam and Muslims to the military. In June, for example, CAIR trained more than 300 military personnel at the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, Ariz.
Also in June, CAIR was invited by the Pentagon to a ceremony dedicating the first Islamic center in Marine Corps history at Quantico headquarters outside of Washington.
Washington-based CAIR also has regular meetings with the FBI and Justice Department. In fact, FBI case agents complain the bureau rarely can make a move in the Muslim community without first consulting with CAIR, which sits on its advisory board. CAIR in the past has cried racism and bigotry when the bureau has moved unilaterally with investigations and raids in the community.
CAIR has also been dogged by the statements of Omar Ahmad, as reported by a California newspaper, that "Islam isn't in America to be equal to any other faith, but to become dominant," and, "The Koran, the Muslim book of scripture, should be the highest authority in America, and Islam the only accepted religion on Earth." Although the newspaper's publisher and the reporter stand by the quotes, Ahmad and CAIR dispute their accuracy.
The pilgrimage to Mecca is a religious duty for Muslims, which attracts about 2.5 million Muslim pilgrims very year, according to Saudi officials.
The Saudi Embassy in Washington, D.C., reports that about 15,000 American Muslims made the pilgrimage in 2005.
Security officials told 'to be aware that they may also be praying'
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: December 28, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
The Transportation Security Administration – created after 9/11 to safeguard America's airports – is providing Islamic sensitivity training to 45,000 airport security officers so they'll know what to expect when Muslims fly from the U.S. to Saudi Arabia to participate in the annual "hajj," or pilgrimage to Mecca.
"We put out information telling everyone that hajj is coming; this is the time frame; individuals are going to be traveling with these types of items," TSA spokesman Darrin Kayser told the State Department's USINFO Web site Tuesday. Calling it "cultural sensitivity training," Kayser added that airport security officials need "just to be aware that they may also be praying."
Ironically, just last month six Muslim imams were ejected by federal authorities from a US Airways flight in Minneapolis because they were deemed a potential security threat. Among the various behaviors that unnerved fellow passengers was the group's prayers in the airport prior to their flight.
Welcoming TSA's Islamic sensitivity training is the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, which describes itself as "America's largest Islamic civil liberties group." In a press release praising the program yesterday, CAIR noted that it distributes a pocket guide titled "Your Rights and Responsibilities as an American Muslim."
"As an airline passenger," the CAIR guide states, "you are entitled to courteous, respectful and non-stigmatizing treatment by airline and security personnel. You have the right to complain about treatment that you believe is discriminatory."
The press release also quoted the group's communications director, Ibrahim Hooper, as saying CAIR representatives nationwide have met with not only the TSA, but also from Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection officials on "issues related to cultural sensitivity and national security."
Indeed, CAIR has developed a wide-ranging advisory and teaching relationship with government on the subject of protecting Muslim interests.
As WND reported previously, last June a senior Department of Homeland Security official from Washington personally guided CAIR officials on a behind-the-scenes tour of Customs screening operations at O'Hare International Airport in response to CAIR complaints that Muslim travelers were being unfairly delayed as they entered the U.S. from abroad.
However, CAIR itself is a controversial organization. It is a spin-off of the Islamic Association for Palestine, identified by two former FBI counterterrorism chiefs as a "front group" for the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas. Moreover, several CAIR leaders have been convicted on terror-related charges.
During the June airport tour, CAIR was taken on a walk through the point-of-entry, Customs stations, secondary screening and interview rooms. In addition, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents were asked to describe for CAIR representatives various features of the high-risk passenger lookout system. Brian Humphrey, Customs and Border Patrol's executive director of field operations, assured CAIR officials that agents do not single out Muslim passengers for special screening and that they must undergo a mandatory course in Muslim sensitivity training. The course teaches agents that Muslims believe jihad is an "internal struggle against sin" and not holy warfare.
Customs agents involved in the CAIR tour at O'Hare told WorldNetDaily they were outraged that headquarters would reveal sensitive counterterrorism procedures to an organization that has seen several of its own officials convicted of terror-related charges since 9-11.
CAIR says the June tour allayed its concerns about profiling and that it "looks forward to continuing the relationship with U.S. Customs and Border Protection offices in the region, and to furthering understanding between the organizations as well as facilitating future communication in order to eliminate problems for Muslim travelers before they even arise."
As WND reported, the Department of Homeland Security invites CAIR itself to conduct sensitivity training for Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and supervisors (CBP's counterparts) in Chicago. The course is taught by local CAIR officials Christina Abraham and Mariyam Hussain. More than 30 ICE staffers have gone through the CAIR awareness program so far.
CAIR – which is bankrolled by the Saudis and the United Arab Emirates, two countries that formally recognized the Taliban – also offers religious and cultural sensitivity training about Islam and Muslims to the military. In June, for example, CAIR trained more than 300 military personnel at the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, Ariz.
Also in June, CAIR was invited by the Pentagon to a ceremony dedicating the first Islamic center in Marine Corps history at Quantico headquarters outside of Washington.
Washington-based CAIR also has regular meetings with the FBI and Justice Department. In fact, FBI case agents complain the bureau rarely can make a move in the Muslim community without first consulting with CAIR, which sits on its advisory board. CAIR in the past has cried racism and bigotry when the bureau has moved unilaterally with investigations and raids in the community.
CAIR has also been dogged by the statements of Omar Ahmad, as reported by a California newspaper, that "Islam isn't in America to be equal to any other faith, but to become dominant," and, "The Koran, the Muslim book of scripture, should be the highest authority in America, and Islam the only accepted religion on Earth." Although the newspaper's publisher and the reporter stand by the quotes, Ahmad and CAIR dispute their accuracy.
The pilgrimage to Mecca is a religious duty for Muslims, which attracts about 2.5 million Muslim pilgrims very year, according to Saudi officials.
The Saudi Embassy in Washington, D.C., reports that about 15,000 American Muslims made the pilgrimage in 2005.
Reprobation – Proof that God’s Judgment is Near
Reprobation – Proof that God’s Judgment is Near
By Rev Michael Bresciani
-- WDC Media News --
All people Christian or not are becoming aware of the changing patterns of weather and an increase in tsunamis, volcanic activity, hurricanes and natural disasters. World unrest and terrorism and the threat of world war are also on every mind. Many are asking if these are the signs of Christ’s return and the coming judgments of God.
The most avowed atheist it is said has a moment in time when doubt assails their conscience. That split second of doubt is what separates hope from the dismal condition described in the bible as being given over to a reprobate mind. Reprobation is several notches below hopelessness because for anyone whose conscience has sunk to this level, there is no chance of recovery. Reprobation of the mind comes by the edict and pronouncement of God and nothing on earth can reverse it. Let’s see what this is.
And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; Romans 1:28
Reprobation is a state of mind that at first simply ignores the truth. As it progresses it begins to suppress the truth. When in full bloom the resistance to truth becomes active, militant and even violent. (2Tim 3:8) It becomes a state that not only will not do anything good but those who have sunken to this condition no longer know what good is. Remember Germany didn’t start killing Jews when Nazism came in, they were glad to kill them when their brand of fascism was about to go out. It’s much like the analogy of the ships captain who announces that everything in the ships store is free and it’s OK to play football or basketball in the grand ballroom. Why, because he has just discovered the ship is sinking and will be under in less than fifteen minutes.
Are there people in the world today that have come to this most hopeless state of affairs? You can bet the farm on it. Let’s look at just a few of these developments. No mere article could cover the emerging world wide insanity that now sweeps the globe and is reported along with every new twist and nuance daily in newscasts, blogs and papers throughout the earth.
Recently Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran met with others in that country including Louisiana ’s own former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke to reinforce their assertion that the entire holocaust was a myth. Eye witnesses, written records and film files notwithstanding, this group does not care what their eyes behold but only what their little darkened hearts have devised.
The New York Times published a piece on December 12, 2006 about Mr. Justin Lee who provides a website for gay Christians. Of course most Christians see Mr. Lee as walking contradiction. In reality Lee is actually living a life that contradicts the bible he says he believes in. Did God change his mind about homosexuality or did Mr. Lee change his mind about God’s truth? That answer is understood by even children who know their bibles.
In this country a year or so of debating on whether there really were any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq finished up with a whopping sock in the eye to the republican majority in both houses of congress. Yet not one moment of time was spent on debating on Hollywood ’s new offering of everything rotten, raunchy and reprobate. All of media from games to children’s shows has dropped below the decency line so far as to make rock bottom look like a high rise by comparison. But who has eyes to see or the mouth to speak against Hollywood ’s millions of hours of “weapons of mass distraction” being hurled at America at every minute of the day and night.
Gone is the time when presidents, world leaders and dignitaries checked with Billy Graham to see if God really wants us to be saved. Now is a time when we have Time magazine and Barbara Walters checking with Pastor Joel Osteen about whether God wants us to be rich. The three R-s have changed to raunchy, rich and reprobate.
How far will these trends go? Although it may seem hard to believe they will go all the way to mass murder. Jesus said there will come a day shortly before he returns when unbelievers held in the sway of the Antichrist will kill Christians and Jews and think they are doing God a service. (John 16:2)
The apostle Paul said that near the end of time the darkness that men suffer by Satan’s design will become pervasive and they will not be able to see the truth if it bounced off their heads like a brick. (Eph 4:18) This in itself is one of the signs of the approaching judgment and the second coming of Christ. Wholesale blindness will sweep the earth and men and women won’t be able to discern any truth at all. Has it begun? There are at least two ways to answer that question.
First, turn on the television and watch the news for a week or more, second, pick up the bible and read the New Testament from cover to cover. If you haven’t become reprobate you will end up on your knees and thank God that you haven’t fallen that far yet. If you still think its all bunk, beware, you may have already passed the point of no return.
By Rev Michael Bresciani
-- WDC Media News --
All people Christian or not are becoming aware of the changing patterns of weather and an increase in tsunamis, volcanic activity, hurricanes and natural disasters. World unrest and terrorism and the threat of world war are also on every mind. Many are asking if these are the signs of Christ’s return and the coming judgments of God.
The most avowed atheist it is said has a moment in time when doubt assails their conscience. That split second of doubt is what separates hope from the dismal condition described in the bible as being given over to a reprobate mind. Reprobation is several notches below hopelessness because for anyone whose conscience has sunk to this level, there is no chance of recovery. Reprobation of the mind comes by the edict and pronouncement of God and nothing on earth can reverse it. Let’s see what this is.
And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; Romans 1:28
Reprobation is a state of mind that at first simply ignores the truth. As it progresses it begins to suppress the truth. When in full bloom the resistance to truth becomes active, militant and even violent. (2Tim 3:8) It becomes a state that not only will not do anything good but those who have sunken to this condition no longer know what good is. Remember Germany didn’t start killing Jews when Nazism came in, they were glad to kill them when their brand of fascism was about to go out. It’s much like the analogy of the ships captain who announces that everything in the ships store is free and it’s OK to play football or basketball in the grand ballroom. Why, because he has just discovered the ship is sinking and will be under in less than fifteen minutes.
Are there people in the world today that have come to this most hopeless state of affairs? You can bet the farm on it. Let’s look at just a few of these developments. No mere article could cover the emerging world wide insanity that now sweeps the globe and is reported along with every new twist and nuance daily in newscasts, blogs and papers throughout the earth.
Recently Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran met with others in that country including Louisiana ’s own former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke to reinforce their assertion that the entire holocaust was a myth. Eye witnesses, written records and film files notwithstanding, this group does not care what their eyes behold but only what their little darkened hearts have devised.
The New York Times published a piece on December 12, 2006 about Mr. Justin Lee who provides a website for gay Christians. Of course most Christians see Mr. Lee as walking contradiction. In reality Lee is actually living a life that contradicts the bible he says he believes in. Did God change his mind about homosexuality or did Mr. Lee change his mind about God’s truth? That answer is understood by even children who know their bibles.
In this country a year or so of debating on whether there really were any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq finished up with a whopping sock in the eye to the republican majority in both houses of congress. Yet not one moment of time was spent on debating on Hollywood ’s new offering of everything rotten, raunchy and reprobate. All of media from games to children’s shows has dropped below the decency line so far as to make rock bottom look like a high rise by comparison. But who has eyes to see or the mouth to speak against Hollywood ’s millions of hours of “weapons of mass distraction” being hurled at America at every minute of the day and night.
Gone is the time when presidents, world leaders and dignitaries checked with Billy Graham to see if God really wants us to be saved. Now is a time when we have Time magazine and Barbara Walters checking with Pastor Joel Osteen about whether God wants us to be rich. The three R-s have changed to raunchy, rich and reprobate.
How far will these trends go? Although it may seem hard to believe they will go all the way to mass murder. Jesus said there will come a day shortly before he returns when unbelievers held in the sway of the Antichrist will kill Christians and Jews and think they are doing God a service. (John 16:2)
The apostle Paul said that near the end of time the darkness that men suffer by Satan’s design will become pervasive and they will not be able to see the truth if it bounced off their heads like a brick. (Eph 4:18) This in itself is one of the signs of the approaching judgment and the second coming of Christ. Wholesale blindness will sweep the earth and men and women won’t be able to discern any truth at all. Has it begun? There are at least two ways to answer that question.
First, turn on the television and watch the news for a week or more, second, pick up the bible and read the New Testament from cover to cover. If you haven’t become reprobate you will end up on your knees and thank God that you haven’t fallen that far yet. If you still think its all bunk, beware, you may have already passed the point of no return.
Saddam 'Offers Soul to God as Sacrifice'
Saddam 'Offers Soul to God as Sacrifice'
Associated Press
December 28, 2006
CBNNews.com - BAGHDAD, Iraq -- In a farewell letter to the Iraqi people, Saddam Hussein urged his countrymen not to hate the people of the nations that toppled his regime nearly four years ago and said he was offering "my soul to God as a sacrifice."
The letter was posted on a Web site Wednesday, a day after Iraq's highest court upheld his death sentence and ordered him hanged within 30 days.
A top government official, meanwhile, said Saddam's execution could proceed without the approval of Iraq's president, meaning there were no more legal obstacles to sending the deposed dictator to the gallows.
One of Saddam's attorneys, Issam Ghazzawi, confirmed to "The Associated Press" in Jordan that the Internet letter was authentic, saying it was written by Saddam on Nov. 5 - the day he was convicted by an Iraqi tribunal for ordering the 1982 killings of 148 Shiite Muslims in Dujail.
"I call on you not to hate because hate does not leave space for a person to be fair and it makes you blind and closes all doors of thinking," said the letter, which was written in Arabic and translated by the AP.
"I also call on you not to hate the people of the other countries that attacked us," it added, referring to the invasion that toppled his regime.
Despite his calls for conciliation among Iraqis, Saddam's legacy is brutal. He put suspected foes to death without trial, oppressed Kurds and Shiites, waged war on Iran and twice fought U.S.-led armies. He left an impoverished nation now gripped by sectarian bloodshed and an insurgency against the U.S. presence.
On Thursday, three bombs killed 23 Iraqis in Baghdad, and the U.S. military announced the deaths of three American soldiers.
Against the backdrop of sectarian killings that have dragged Sunni Arabs and Shiite Muslims into civil warfare over the past year, Saddam urged his countrymen to "remember that God has enabled you to become an example of love, forgiveness, and brotherly coexistence."
But he also voiced support for the Sunni Arab-dominated insurgency, saying: "Long live jihad and the mujahedeen." He urged Iraqis to be patient and rely on God's help in fighting "against the unjust nations."
Saddam said he was giving his life for his country as part of that struggle. "Here, I offer my soul to God as a sacrifice, and if he wants, he will send it to heaven with the martyrs," he said.
An official from Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Dawa Party, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media, said that "the government wants Saddam executed as soon as possible."
Another official close to al-Maliki, who also refused to be quoted by name, said the execution would take place before the end of the 30-day period.
Ghazzawi, the defense lawyer, said the letter by Saddam was released Tuesday and published Wednesday on the Web site of Saddam's former Baath Party.
Some Saddam loyalists threatened to retaliate if he is executed, warning in a posting on the same Web site that they would target U.S. interests.
"The Baath and the resistance are determined to retaliate, with all means and everywhere, to harm America and its interests if it commits this crime," the statement said, referring to Baath fighters as "the resistance."
The Baath Party was disbanded after U.S.-led forces overthrew Saddam in 2003. The Web site is believed to be run from Yemen, where a number of exiled members of the party are based.
Some Iraqis said Saddam should be hanged immediately, but others feared Iraq's bloodletting could escalate if the former dictator is executed at a time when sectarian attacks are already on the rise.
"Executing him now is dangerous. The situation is very bad. Things need to be calmer," said Saadia Mohamed Majed, a 60-year-old Shiite in Baghdad who wants the penalty to be postponed for at least three years.
Saddam is in the midst of another trial, charged with genocide and other crimes during a 1987-88 military crackdown on Kurds in northern Iraq. An estimated 180,000 Kurds died during the operation. That trial was adjourned until Jan. 8, but experts have said the trial of Saddam's co-defendants is likely to continue even if he is executed.
© 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
The Christian Broadcasting Network, Inc. © 2006
Associated Press
December 28, 2006
CBNNews.com - BAGHDAD, Iraq -- In a farewell letter to the Iraqi people, Saddam Hussein urged his countrymen not to hate the people of the nations that toppled his regime nearly four years ago and said he was offering "my soul to God as a sacrifice."
The letter was posted on a Web site Wednesday, a day after Iraq's highest court upheld his death sentence and ordered him hanged within 30 days.
A top government official, meanwhile, said Saddam's execution could proceed without the approval of Iraq's president, meaning there were no more legal obstacles to sending the deposed dictator to the gallows.
One of Saddam's attorneys, Issam Ghazzawi, confirmed to "The Associated Press" in Jordan that the Internet letter was authentic, saying it was written by Saddam on Nov. 5 - the day he was convicted by an Iraqi tribunal for ordering the 1982 killings of 148 Shiite Muslims in Dujail.
"I call on you not to hate because hate does not leave space for a person to be fair and it makes you blind and closes all doors of thinking," said the letter, which was written in Arabic and translated by the AP.
"I also call on you not to hate the people of the other countries that attacked us," it added, referring to the invasion that toppled his regime.
Despite his calls for conciliation among Iraqis, Saddam's legacy is brutal. He put suspected foes to death without trial, oppressed Kurds and Shiites, waged war on Iran and twice fought U.S.-led armies. He left an impoverished nation now gripped by sectarian bloodshed and an insurgency against the U.S. presence.
On Thursday, three bombs killed 23 Iraqis in Baghdad, and the U.S. military announced the deaths of three American soldiers.
Against the backdrop of sectarian killings that have dragged Sunni Arabs and Shiite Muslims into civil warfare over the past year, Saddam urged his countrymen to "remember that God has enabled you to become an example of love, forgiveness, and brotherly coexistence."
But he also voiced support for the Sunni Arab-dominated insurgency, saying: "Long live jihad and the mujahedeen." He urged Iraqis to be patient and rely on God's help in fighting "against the unjust nations."
Saddam said he was giving his life for his country as part of that struggle. "Here, I offer my soul to God as a sacrifice, and if he wants, he will send it to heaven with the martyrs," he said.
An official from Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Dawa Party, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media, said that "the government wants Saddam executed as soon as possible."
Another official close to al-Maliki, who also refused to be quoted by name, said the execution would take place before the end of the 30-day period.
Ghazzawi, the defense lawyer, said the letter by Saddam was released Tuesday and published Wednesday on the Web site of Saddam's former Baath Party.
Some Saddam loyalists threatened to retaliate if he is executed, warning in a posting on the same Web site that they would target U.S. interests.
"The Baath and the resistance are determined to retaliate, with all means and everywhere, to harm America and its interests if it commits this crime," the statement said, referring to Baath fighters as "the resistance."
The Baath Party was disbanded after U.S.-led forces overthrew Saddam in 2003. The Web site is believed to be run from Yemen, where a number of exiled members of the party are based.
Some Iraqis said Saddam should be hanged immediately, but others feared Iraq's bloodletting could escalate if the former dictator is executed at a time when sectarian attacks are already on the rise.
"Executing him now is dangerous. The situation is very bad. Things need to be calmer," said Saadia Mohamed Majed, a 60-year-old Shiite in Baghdad who wants the penalty to be postponed for at least three years.
Saddam is in the midst of another trial, charged with genocide and other crimes during a 1987-88 military crackdown on Kurds in northern Iraq. An estimated 180,000 Kurds died during the operation. That trial was adjourned until Jan. 8, but experts have said the trial of Saddam's co-defendants is likely to continue even if he is executed.
© 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
The Christian Broadcasting Network, Inc. © 2006
Librarian guides underground worship movement in Africa
Librarian guides underground worship movement in Africa
By Emily Peters
Baptist Press
WEST AFRICA (BP)--It’s the stuff superheroes are made of.
Clark Kent wasn’t just a reporter. Peter Parker didn’t just deliver pizzas. Mary Malone* isn’t just a librarian.
For more than 20 years, Malone has been sorting books and helping the students at a seminary in West Africa research their assignments. But her after-hours gig involves a bit more risk.
That’s when Fulani believers come to her house seeking guidance for their underground worship communities, which are popping up everywhere despite harsh new Muslim laws assigning the death penalty to Christian converts.
The Fulani people are traditionally quiet, nomadic cattle herders known for producing beef and milk and for spreading Islam throughout the region. Most live in isolated cattle camps deep in the bush. Few attend school. Even fewer are Christians.
“Most churches here have little interest in ministering to the Fulani because they see them as just too resistant to the Gospel,” Malone explained. She invited the Fulani pastors-in-training to her home for an informal support group.
The Fulani have no word for “librarian” in their native language of Fulfulde, but Malone quickly earned a more fitting title. She became their “madujo,” which means mother.
“In the whole nation I don’t think we could find a mother like her,” said Abdul*, one of the first Fulani pastors Malone mentored. “She prays for us seriously. She can joke and play with us. She can advise us spiritually with family. She knows how to settle us. She always wants our ministries progressing.”
With Malone’s guidance, those few Fulani started taking the Gospel to their own people. A few converts became a few more.
Then the region erupted in riots. People of different religions and ethnic groups clashed over the government's installation of Islamic regulations, called Shari’ah law. Many were slain. Rioters burned the pastor school to the ground, along with churches and many homes of the Fulani converts.
Malone remembers her thoughts as she returned to her library to find all the books still smoldering, charred beyond use.
“I used to feel guilty about doing this ministry when my job was to be a librarian,” she said. “After that, I changed my way of thinking. I realized books are temporary. It’s the people that last.”
But the new religious tension forced some changes in the Fulani ministry.
“We’ve had to go more undercover,” Malone said.
She can’t visit the new Fulani believers at their homes anymore. Some of them lost children when their grass and stick homes were torched. Others have been detained without reason.
“If she visits them, they are going to have more problems with their neighbors and the Muslim brothers,” Abdul said.
So Abdul and his Fulani brothers launched their own evangelism plan, forming a structure for their worship communities. Small groups gather in homes for worship and Bible study. Sometimes larger groups assemble, but spontaneously, and not in the same place twice.
Two hundred believers before the riots multiplied to 3,000, and now the network has swelled so large Malone can’t keep count.
“It’s very rare that a Fulani becomes a Christian and then within a week or two doesn’t bring someone else,” she said.
These days, Malone focuses her ministry on about 10 core leaders. Nearly every day when she finishes at the library, she counsels them and trains them in new ways to minister to their worship groups -- not officially called churches to avoid persecution.
Each of the leaders then imparts that training to fellowship leaders, who pass it on to their sub-leaders.
“We now have worship communities spread over 70,000 square miles,” Malone said.
She admits that sometimes she asks God why He brought all this to a librarian, but she has realized God can use any job for His glory.
“God has gifted each of us with interests, skills and abilities that He expects us to use creatively for His purposes,” she said.
--30--
*Names changed for security reasons. To learn more about missions in West Africa, visit GoWestAfrica.org.
Copyright © 2001 - 2006 Southern Baptist Convention, Baptist Press
By Emily Peters
Baptist Press
WEST AFRICA (BP)--It’s the stuff superheroes are made of.
Clark Kent wasn’t just a reporter. Peter Parker didn’t just deliver pizzas. Mary Malone* isn’t just a librarian.
For more than 20 years, Malone has been sorting books and helping the students at a seminary in West Africa research their assignments. But her after-hours gig involves a bit more risk.
That’s when Fulani believers come to her house seeking guidance for their underground worship communities, which are popping up everywhere despite harsh new Muslim laws assigning the death penalty to Christian converts.
The Fulani people are traditionally quiet, nomadic cattle herders known for producing beef and milk and for spreading Islam throughout the region. Most live in isolated cattle camps deep in the bush. Few attend school. Even fewer are Christians.
“Most churches here have little interest in ministering to the Fulani because they see them as just too resistant to the Gospel,” Malone explained. She invited the Fulani pastors-in-training to her home for an informal support group.
The Fulani have no word for “librarian” in their native language of Fulfulde, but Malone quickly earned a more fitting title. She became their “madujo,” which means mother.
“In the whole nation I don’t think we could find a mother like her,” said Abdul*, one of the first Fulani pastors Malone mentored. “She prays for us seriously. She can joke and play with us. She can advise us spiritually with family. She knows how to settle us. She always wants our ministries progressing.”
With Malone’s guidance, those few Fulani started taking the Gospel to their own people. A few converts became a few more.
Then the region erupted in riots. People of different religions and ethnic groups clashed over the government's installation of Islamic regulations, called Shari’ah law. Many were slain. Rioters burned the pastor school to the ground, along with churches and many homes of the Fulani converts.
Malone remembers her thoughts as she returned to her library to find all the books still smoldering, charred beyond use.
“I used to feel guilty about doing this ministry when my job was to be a librarian,” she said. “After that, I changed my way of thinking. I realized books are temporary. It’s the people that last.”
But the new religious tension forced some changes in the Fulani ministry.
“We’ve had to go more undercover,” Malone said.
She can’t visit the new Fulani believers at their homes anymore. Some of them lost children when their grass and stick homes were torched. Others have been detained without reason.
“If she visits them, they are going to have more problems with their neighbors and the Muslim brothers,” Abdul said.
So Abdul and his Fulani brothers launched their own evangelism plan, forming a structure for their worship communities. Small groups gather in homes for worship and Bible study. Sometimes larger groups assemble, but spontaneously, and not in the same place twice.
Two hundred believers before the riots multiplied to 3,000, and now the network has swelled so large Malone can’t keep count.
“It’s very rare that a Fulani becomes a Christian and then within a week or two doesn’t bring someone else,” she said.
These days, Malone focuses her ministry on about 10 core leaders. Nearly every day when she finishes at the library, she counsels them and trains them in new ways to minister to their worship groups -- not officially called churches to avoid persecution.
Each of the leaders then imparts that training to fellowship leaders, who pass it on to their sub-leaders.
“We now have worship communities spread over 70,000 square miles,” Malone said.
She admits that sometimes she asks God why He brought all this to a librarian, but she has realized God can use any job for His glory.
“God has gifted each of us with interests, skills and abilities that He expects us to use creatively for His purposes,” she said.
--30--
*Names changed for security reasons. To learn more about missions in West Africa, visit GoWestAfrica.org.
Copyright © 2001 - 2006 Southern Baptist Convention, Baptist Press
CULTURE DIGEST: Congressional investigation finds Smithsonian guilty of discrimination in ID incident; ...
CULTURE DIGEST: Congressional investigation finds Smithsonian guilty of discrimination in ID incident; ...
By Erin Roach
Baptist Press
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--A Congressional investigation has revealed that the Smithsonian’s top officials permitted the demotion and harassment of a research associate at the National Museum of Natural History for allowing an article supporting Intelligent Design to appear in the institution's peer-reviewed scientific journal.
The article by Stephen Meyer, a fellow at the Seattle-based Discovery Institute, laid out the evidential case for Intelligent Design by citing mainstream scientists from schools like the University of Chicago, Yale, Cambridge and Oxford. A rift over the article first surfaced in national media reports in January 2005.
The House committee on government reform released a report on the investigation Dec. 11, concluding that “Congress should consider statutory language that would protect the free speech rights regarding evolution of scientists in the Smithsonian and other federally-funded institutions.”
Among the findings of the committee is that officials at the Smithsonian created a hostile work environment intended to force Richard Sternberg to resign his position as a research associate in violation of his free speech and civil rights.
“Clearly, the NMNH management was trying to make Dr. Sternberg’s life at the Museum as difficult as possible and encourage him to leave, since they knew they had no legal grounds to dismiss him,” the report said.
Also, the committee analyzed e-mail exchanges among Smithsonian officials to determine that “scientists who are known to be skeptical of Darwinian theory, whatever their qualifications or research record, cannot expect to receive equal treatment or consideration by NMNH officials.”
The committee further concluded there was a strong religious and political component to the actions taken by officials, including questioning whether Sternberg “was religious,” “was a Republican,” “was a fundamentalist,” and whether “he was a conservative.”
“Would similar expressions of disparagement have been tolerated by Smithsonian officials if directed at a racial minority?” the committee asked.
NMNH officials “conspired with a special interest group on government time and using government emails to publicly smear Dr. Sternberg,” the committee said, referring to collaboration with the National Center for Science Education, a pro-evolution group.
“Since the treatment of Dr. Sternberg came to light in early 2005, evidence has accumulated of widespread discrimination against other qualified scientists who dissent from Darwinian theory, making further violations by federal agencies likely,” the report said. “While the majority of scientists embrace Darwinian theory, it is important that neither federal funds nor federal power be used to punish or retaliate against otherwise qualified scientists merely because they dissent from the majority view.”
‘LEFT BEHIND’ VIDEO GAME CAUSES STIR -- It has been endorsed by Focus on the Family and other conservative groups, but liberal Christian organizations are calling “Left Behind: Eternal Forces” a video game that is too violent, intolerant and divisive to be called Christian, the Los Angeles Times reported Dec. 17.
“It’s essentially a training video for faith-based killing, marketed to children,” Tim Simpson, a Presbyterian pastor in Florida and interim president of Christian Alliance for Progress, told the Times.
An offshoot of the popular novel series dealing with the end times, the video game released in November challenges players to evangelize and care for the people of New York City while the enemy attempts to gain control.
“You start out with a few people (units) in your control, send them out to gather resources (money and real estate) and train them up to become musicians, builders, nurses, pastors, disciples and soldiers, each with his or her own function for the community and impact on the world,” Bob Hoose explains in a review for Focus on the Family’s Plugged In Online.
“I can’t think of anything more antithetical to the Gospel of Christ,” Simpson said. “The message is that God intends for everyone who doesn’t share your faith to be whacked.”
Hoose, though, said players are offered sniper rifles, gun turrets, tanks and helicopters to destroy the enemy, but there is no gore because people who are killed simply fade away. The player soon learns violence isn’t the way to win.
“It quickly becomes clear that the strongest weapons in your arsenal are your top-level missionaries and worship leaders,” Hoose wrote. “It's easier to convert a group of enemies than it is to shoot them.”
Eternal Forces is a game parents can play with their kids, Hoose said, and the production company behind it is pushing it as an evangelism tool for teens. The game raises questions about the end of the world that can lead to theological discussions, but its approach doesn’t require a seminary education, he added.
“I want to show that thinking about what may happen when you die can be as fun as being in an Indiana Jones film,” Troy Lyndon, the game’s creator, told the Times. “It’s an adventure.”
'CHURCH ATM' FOR TITHING -- In an effort to keep up with the culture, a church in Georgia has developed a type of ATM, which it calls an “automatic tithe machine,” to facilitate monetary donations each week through the use of a credit or debit card.
“We’re just trying to connect with the culture,” Marty Baker, pastor of Stevens Creek Community Church in Martinez, told the Associated Press. “And that’s how the culture does business. It’s more than an ATM for Jesus. It’s about erasing barriers.”
People can swipe a card, choose a fund in which to deposit their donation, enter an amount and get a receipt.
Baker told AP he developed the idea when he realized that so many people these days rarely carry cash in their wallets and rely on plastic cards instead. Since installing the machines in his 1,100-member church, he has seen an 18 percent increase in giving and the average gift through the machines exceeds $100, AP said.
Even so, the ATMs account for only one-fifth of the church’s income.
Amy Forrest, a 31-year-old churchgoer at Stevens Creek, said the ATMs make it much easier for her to give her $40 donation each week.
“This church gets how I live,” she told AP.
Some, though, say the machine leads people to ignore the principal of sacrificial giving from the heart as a form of worship.
Copyright © 2001 - 2006 Southern Baptist Convention, Baptist Press
By Erin Roach
Baptist Press
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--A Congressional investigation has revealed that the Smithsonian’s top officials permitted the demotion and harassment of a research associate at the National Museum of Natural History for allowing an article supporting Intelligent Design to appear in the institution's peer-reviewed scientific journal.
The article by Stephen Meyer, a fellow at the Seattle-based Discovery Institute, laid out the evidential case for Intelligent Design by citing mainstream scientists from schools like the University of Chicago, Yale, Cambridge and Oxford. A rift over the article first surfaced in national media reports in January 2005.
The House committee on government reform released a report on the investigation Dec. 11, concluding that “Congress should consider statutory language that would protect the free speech rights regarding evolution of scientists in the Smithsonian and other federally-funded institutions.”
Among the findings of the committee is that officials at the Smithsonian created a hostile work environment intended to force Richard Sternberg to resign his position as a research associate in violation of his free speech and civil rights.
“Clearly, the NMNH management was trying to make Dr. Sternberg’s life at the Museum as difficult as possible and encourage him to leave, since they knew they had no legal grounds to dismiss him,” the report said.
Also, the committee analyzed e-mail exchanges among Smithsonian officials to determine that “scientists who are known to be skeptical of Darwinian theory, whatever their qualifications or research record, cannot expect to receive equal treatment or consideration by NMNH officials.”
The committee further concluded there was a strong religious and political component to the actions taken by officials, including questioning whether Sternberg “was religious,” “was a Republican,” “was a fundamentalist,” and whether “he was a conservative.”
“Would similar expressions of disparagement have been tolerated by Smithsonian officials if directed at a racial minority?” the committee asked.
NMNH officials “conspired with a special interest group on government time and using government emails to publicly smear Dr. Sternberg,” the committee said, referring to collaboration with the National Center for Science Education, a pro-evolution group.
“Since the treatment of Dr. Sternberg came to light in early 2005, evidence has accumulated of widespread discrimination against other qualified scientists who dissent from Darwinian theory, making further violations by federal agencies likely,” the report said. “While the majority of scientists embrace Darwinian theory, it is important that neither federal funds nor federal power be used to punish or retaliate against otherwise qualified scientists merely because they dissent from the majority view.”
‘LEFT BEHIND’ VIDEO GAME CAUSES STIR -- It has been endorsed by Focus on the Family and other conservative groups, but liberal Christian organizations are calling “Left Behind: Eternal Forces” a video game that is too violent, intolerant and divisive to be called Christian, the Los Angeles Times reported Dec. 17.
“It’s essentially a training video for faith-based killing, marketed to children,” Tim Simpson, a Presbyterian pastor in Florida and interim president of Christian Alliance for Progress, told the Times.
An offshoot of the popular novel series dealing with the end times, the video game released in November challenges players to evangelize and care for the people of New York City while the enemy attempts to gain control.
“You start out with a few people (units) in your control, send them out to gather resources (money and real estate) and train them up to become musicians, builders, nurses, pastors, disciples and soldiers, each with his or her own function for the community and impact on the world,” Bob Hoose explains in a review for Focus on the Family’s Plugged In Online.
“I can’t think of anything more antithetical to the Gospel of Christ,” Simpson said. “The message is that God intends for everyone who doesn’t share your faith to be whacked.”
Hoose, though, said players are offered sniper rifles, gun turrets, tanks and helicopters to destroy the enemy, but there is no gore because people who are killed simply fade away. The player soon learns violence isn’t the way to win.
“It quickly becomes clear that the strongest weapons in your arsenal are your top-level missionaries and worship leaders,” Hoose wrote. “It's easier to convert a group of enemies than it is to shoot them.”
Eternal Forces is a game parents can play with their kids, Hoose said, and the production company behind it is pushing it as an evangelism tool for teens. The game raises questions about the end of the world that can lead to theological discussions, but its approach doesn’t require a seminary education, he added.
“I want to show that thinking about what may happen when you die can be as fun as being in an Indiana Jones film,” Troy Lyndon, the game’s creator, told the Times. “It’s an adventure.”
'CHURCH ATM' FOR TITHING -- In an effort to keep up with the culture, a church in Georgia has developed a type of ATM, which it calls an “automatic tithe machine,” to facilitate monetary donations each week through the use of a credit or debit card.
“We’re just trying to connect with the culture,” Marty Baker, pastor of Stevens Creek Community Church in Martinez, told the Associated Press. “And that’s how the culture does business. It’s more than an ATM for Jesus. It’s about erasing barriers.”
People can swipe a card, choose a fund in which to deposit their donation, enter an amount and get a receipt.
Baker told AP he developed the idea when he realized that so many people these days rarely carry cash in their wallets and rely on plastic cards instead. Since installing the machines in his 1,100-member church, he has seen an 18 percent increase in giving and the average gift through the machines exceeds $100, AP said.
Even so, the ATMs account for only one-fifth of the church’s income.
Amy Forrest, a 31-year-old churchgoer at Stevens Creek, said the ATMs make it much easier for her to give her $40 donation each week.
“This church gets how I live,” she told AP.
Some, though, say the machine leads people to ignore the principal of sacrificial giving from the heart as a form of worship.
Copyright © 2001 - 2006 Southern Baptist Convention, Baptist Press
Pastors' convictions for quoting Quran overturned
Pastors' convictions for quoting Quran overturned
Case was brought under version of 'hate crimes' legislation
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: December 28, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
.jpg)
Two Australian pastors who were convicted of "vilifying" Muslims when they quoted from the Quran during a seminar on jihad have had their appeals upheld by the Victorian Supreme Court.
And while that means they will return to a lower court for another trial, that actually is a good result, according to a new report from Voice of the Martyrs.
"In a sense we are happy with this decision… It means this case will be kept alive in the public consciousness," Pastor Danny Nalliah said in a VOM report. "There's a need to keep these vilification laws in sharp focus to reveal the problems this law is creating."
The Australian law was imposed in order to prevent the denigration of people based on their race or religion, and similar laws also have been approved in Canada, where critics of the law say they include sexual orientation and forbid pastors from condemning homosexuality as a sin.
Many of the "hate crimes" proposals in the United States are based on a similar concept: designating as "crimes" the statements people make about their own beliefs or convictions.
In a statement released through Catch the Fire Ministries, where Nalliah serves as president, he thanked his friends for their moral, prayer and financial support during the trial and appeal process to date.
"The battle for Freedom to express Truth is far from over, as a retrial at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (with a different Judge) is expected sometime next year… I believe the Lord will continue to use this case to further awaken His Church, our nation of Australia, the nations of the world, and to discredit the vilification laws in Victoria," he wrote.
Nalliah and Pastor Daniel Scot were charged following a complaint filed by The Islamic Council of Victoria, and were the first people found guilty of religious vilification under the Victorian Religious and Racial Tolerance Act of 2002. They were accused of vilifying Muslims at a seminar on jihad on March 9, 2002.
VOM said the two were lecturing on the differences between Christianity and Islam, and quoted directly from the Quran.
After his conviction, Nalliah had refused to apologize.
"Right from the inception, we have said that this law is a foul law, this law is not a law that brings unity. It causes disunity and as far as we are concerned right from the beginning we have stated that we will not apologize. We will go to prison for standing for the truth and not sacrifice our freedom and freedom to speak," he told VOM.
In a commentary in the Herald Sun, Andrew Bolt noted the travesty of the case, and that besides the death threats to the pastors and their families, they still must pay an estimated $150,000 for the court proceedings against them.
"Some victory. Some justice. These exhausted pastors have been harassed, threatened, denounced as bigots and flayed in the papers and on the ABC, and are now deep in debt. And why? Because they quoted the Quran to their congregation. Because in that congregation were Muslim activists, sent by a discrimination commissar hired from a Muslim lobby group," Bolt wrote.
He wrote that much of the evidence against the pastors was that they, in fact, quoted the Quran accurately. "Yes, the Quran did tell men they could beat their wives. Yes, it did have verses calling on Muslims to fight infidels until they submitted."
"The pastors were found guilty of vilifying Muslims even though the judge identified only one thing Scot had said that was factually wrong: he'd given the wrong birthrate for Muslims here. And, the judge, added, he'd failed to quote a verse that showed Allah was merciful," Bolt wrote.
VOM is a non-profit, interdenominational ministry working worldwide to help Christians who are persecuted for their faith, and to educate the world about that persecution. Its headquarters are in Bartlesville, Okla., and it has 30 affiliated international offices.
It was launched by the late Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand, who started smuggling Russian Gospels into Russia in 1947, just months before Richard was abducted and imprisoned in Romania where he was tortured for his refusal to recant Christianity.
He eventually was released in 1964 and the next year he testified about the persecution of Christians before the U.S. Senate's Internal Security Subcommittee, stripping to the waist to show the deep torture wound scars on his body.
The group that later was renamed The Voice of the Martyrs was organized in 1967, when his book, "Tortured for Christ," was released.
Case was brought under version of 'hate crimes' legislation
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: December 28, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
.jpg)
Two Australian pastors who were convicted of "vilifying" Muslims when they quoted from the Quran during a seminar on jihad have had their appeals upheld by the Victorian Supreme Court.And while that means they will return to a lower court for another trial, that actually is a good result, according to a new report from Voice of the Martyrs.
"In a sense we are happy with this decision… It means this case will be kept alive in the public consciousness," Pastor Danny Nalliah said in a VOM report. "There's a need to keep these vilification laws in sharp focus to reveal the problems this law is creating."
The Australian law was imposed in order to prevent the denigration of people based on their race or religion, and similar laws also have been approved in Canada, where critics of the law say they include sexual orientation and forbid pastors from condemning homosexuality as a sin.
Many of the "hate crimes" proposals in the United States are based on a similar concept: designating as "crimes" the statements people make about their own beliefs or convictions.
In a statement released through Catch the Fire Ministries, where Nalliah serves as president, he thanked his friends for their moral, prayer and financial support during the trial and appeal process to date.
"The battle for Freedom to express Truth is far from over, as a retrial at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (with a different Judge) is expected sometime next year… I believe the Lord will continue to use this case to further awaken His Church, our nation of Australia, the nations of the world, and to discredit the vilification laws in Victoria," he wrote.
Nalliah and Pastor Daniel Scot were charged following a complaint filed by The Islamic Council of Victoria, and were the first people found guilty of religious vilification under the Victorian Religious and Racial Tolerance Act of 2002. They were accused of vilifying Muslims at a seminar on jihad on March 9, 2002.
VOM said the two were lecturing on the differences between Christianity and Islam, and quoted directly from the Quran.
After his conviction, Nalliah had refused to apologize.
"Right from the inception, we have said that this law is a foul law, this law is not a law that brings unity. It causes disunity and as far as we are concerned right from the beginning we have stated that we will not apologize. We will go to prison for standing for the truth and not sacrifice our freedom and freedom to speak," he told VOM.
In a commentary in the Herald Sun, Andrew Bolt noted the travesty of the case, and that besides the death threats to the pastors and their families, they still must pay an estimated $150,000 for the court proceedings against them.
"Some victory. Some justice. These exhausted pastors have been harassed, threatened, denounced as bigots and flayed in the papers and on the ABC, and are now deep in debt. And why? Because they quoted the Quran to their congregation. Because in that congregation were Muslim activists, sent by a discrimination commissar hired from a Muslim lobby group," Bolt wrote.
He wrote that much of the evidence against the pastors was that they, in fact, quoted the Quran accurately. "Yes, the Quran did tell men they could beat their wives. Yes, it did have verses calling on Muslims to fight infidels until they submitted."
"The pastors were found guilty of vilifying Muslims even though the judge identified only one thing Scot had said that was factually wrong: he'd given the wrong birthrate for Muslims here. And, the judge, added, he'd failed to quote a verse that showed Allah was merciful," Bolt wrote.
VOM is a non-profit, interdenominational ministry working worldwide to help Christians who are persecuted for their faith, and to educate the world about that persecution. Its headquarters are in Bartlesville, Okla., and it has 30 affiliated international offices.
It was launched by the late Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand, who started smuggling Russian Gospels into Russia in 1947, just months before Richard was abducted and imprisoned in Romania where he was tortured for his refusal to recant Christianity.
He eventually was released in 1964 and the next year he testified about the persecution of Christians before the U.S. Senate's Internal Security Subcommittee, stripping to the waist to show the deep torture wound scars on his body.
The group that later was renamed The Voice of the Martyrs was organized in 1967, when his book, "Tortured for Christ," was released.
Evolution's instability highlighted by new study
Evolution's instability highlighted by new study
Expert says without reliable foundation, assumptions get wacky
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: December 28, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
A new report by "Geology" magazine that a newspaper cited as linking humans to the die-off of Australia's "prehistoric" animals really doesn't advance knowledge, either in advocacy of or opposition to evolution, according to an expert in the field and president of a Christian apologetics ministry.
That's because without a firm foundation, the rafters always are always shaky, according to Ken Ham, the president of Answers in Genesis, which advocates for the truth and integrity of the Bible, starting from the first verse beginning: "In the beginning, God…"
The report comes from The Australian, which said the new article in the January 2007 edition of "Geology" says 90 percent of Australia's "megafauna – prehistoric animals such as giant goannas, three-metre tall kangaroos and rhino-sized marsupials – died out within 20,000 years of human arrival."
The newspaper report notes that while data still is lacking, a variety of animals had flourished under changing climatic conditions, but then disappeared with the advent of man.
The report said, "An analysis of fossils found in south-eastern Australia found they became extinct during environmental conditions similar to those under which they thrived," thus man was implicated.
"Although populations fluctuated locally in concert with cyclical climatic changes, with larger species favored in wetter times, most if not all of them survived even the driest times - then humans arrived.'' said Gavin Prideaux, a paleontologist from the Western Australian Museum and Flinders University.
But Ham, an Australian who is in demand as a Christian conference speaker on topics including the reliability of the Bible, said such reports never add substantively to the sum of knowledge.
"It's a good example of the fact that evolutionary ideas change all the time. They are reinterpreting their ideas as they look at the evidence," he told WND. "The result is that there's no real knowledge there."
He said such articles base their many assumptions on such concepts as the fossil layers that are discovered.
"If they find animals and plants in the fossil record together, they assume they were living together," he told WND. "That's not necessarily so. They could have been transported and dumped together."
Just because they were buried together, doesn't mean they lived together, he noted. "You didn't see them moving together," he said.
From a biblical perspective, such issues are more logical, he said. Such fossil circumstances could have happened during the worldwide flood described in Genesis at the time of Noah. And after the flood either climate changes or people could have had an impact on various species.
"This is the interpretation they've now come up with," he said. "It can change."
"When you're in the present trying to understand the past, you don't have the past, so you try to reconstruct it. You have to have certain assumptions to try to re-create it. If one assumption is that the Bible is not true, and your dating methods are absolute, (you get one result)."
"If you change those assumptions, you get a whole different interpretation of the past."
WND was unable to obtain a response from scientists who are involved in the field through the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Ham, who has written "The Lie: Evolution" as well as several children's books, is founder and president of the organization, whose introduction notes that "facts" don't speak for themselves, and must be interpreted.
"There aren't separate sets of 'evidences' for evolution and creation – we all deal with the same evidence (we all live on the same earth, have the same fossils, observe the same animals, etc.). The difference lies in how we interpret what we study.
"The Bible – the 'history book of the universe' – provides a reliable, eye-witness account of the beginning of all things, and can be trusted to tell the truth in all areas it touches. Therefore, we are able to use it to help us make sense of this present world."
Expert says without reliable foundation, assumptions get wacky
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: December 28, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
A new report by "Geology" magazine that a newspaper cited as linking humans to the die-off of Australia's "prehistoric" animals really doesn't advance knowledge, either in advocacy of or opposition to evolution, according to an expert in the field and president of a Christian apologetics ministry.That's because without a firm foundation, the rafters always are always shaky, according to Ken Ham, the president of Answers in Genesis, which advocates for the truth and integrity of the Bible, starting from the first verse beginning: "In the beginning, God…"
The report comes from The Australian, which said the new article in the January 2007 edition of "Geology" says 90 percent of Australia's "megafauna – prehistoric animals such as giant goannas, three-metre tall kangaroos and rhino-sized marsupials – died out within 20,000 years of human arrival."
The newspaper report notes that while data still is lacking, a variety of animals had flourished under changing climatic conditions, but then disappeared with the advent of man.
The report said, "An analysis of fossils found in south-eastern Australia found they became extinct during environmental conditions similar to those under which they thrived," thus man was implicated.
"Although populations fluctuated locally in concert with cyclical climatic changes, with larger species favored in wetter times, most if not all of them survived even the driest times - then humans arrived.'' said Gavin Prideaux, a paleontologist from the Western Australian Museum and Flinders University.
But Ham, an Australian who is in demand as a Christian conference speaker on topics including the reliability of the Bible, said such reports never add substantively to the sum of knowledge.
"It's a good example of the fact that evolutionary ideas change all the time. They are reinterpreting their ideas as they look at the evidence," he told WND. "The result is that there's no real knowledge there."
He said such articles base their many assumptions on such concepts as the fossil layers that are discovered.
"If they find animals and plants in the fossil record together, they assume they were living together," he told WND. "That's not necessarily so. They could have been transported and dumped together."
Just because they were buried together, doesn't mean they lived together, he noted. "You didn't see them moving together," he said.
From a biblical perspective, such issues are more logical, he said. Such fossil circumstances could have happened during the worldwide flood described in Genesis at the time of Noah. And after the flood either climate changes or people could have had an impact on various species.
"This is the interpretation they've now come up with," he said. "It can change."
"When you're in the present trying to understand the past, you don't have the past, so you try to reconstruct it. You have to have certain assumptions to try to re-create it. If one assumption is that the Bible is not true, and your dating methods are absolute, (you get one result)."
"If you change those assumptions, you get a whole different interpretation of the past."
WND was unable to obtain a response from scientists who are involved in the field through the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Ham, who has written "The Lie: Evolution" as well as several children's books, is founder and president of the organization, whose introduction notes that "facts" don't speak for themselves, and must be interpreted.
"There aren't separate sets of 'evidences' for evolution and creation – we all deal with the same evidence (we all live on the same earth, have the same fossils, observe the same animals, etc.). The difference lies in how we interpret what we study.
"The Bible – the 'history book of the universe' – provides a reliable, eye-witness account of the beginning of all things, and can be trusted to tell the truth in all areas it touches. Therefore, we are able to use it to help us make sense of this present world."
Judge: AG can't prosecute Tiller for abortions
Judge: AG can't prosecute Tiller for abortions
Kline says ruling may be appealed, and child rape cases developing
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: December 28, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Bob Unruh
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
A special prosecutor is being appointed to take over the case against an influential abortionist in Wichita, according to state Attorney General Phill Kline, who also confirmed that documentation in support of more than two dozen cases of child rape is being turned over to various local prosecutors around the state.
The announcement came just as a state judge ruled Sedgwick County District Attorney Nola Foulston refused to "acquiesce" to a case involving 30 criminal counts that was investigated and documented by Kline, so it must be dismissed.
Judge Paul W. Clark had dismissed charges against abortionist George Tiller, who specializes in late-term procedures, last week without hearing any arguments but those of Foulston, and then held a hearing yesterday on the issue of whether those counts even could be filed by the state.
He said no, after listening to Foulston's opinion that she was the only person authorized to file counts in her judicial district. That despite arguments from Assistant Attorney General Steven Maxwell that Kansas law does allow the attorney general, the state's top law enforcement officer, to file counts in any county in the state.
"I control the prosecution of cases in this jurisdiction!" Foulston said in a voice witnesses described as loud and angry. 'The district attorney is being usurped by some out-of-towner on his way out as Attorney General."
Maxwell noted that wasn't Kansas law, and in fact, the state attorney general had filed hundreds of cases in various Kansas judicial districts in recent years, including several cases with district attorneys as defendants, but never had been required to obtain permission from the DAs.
Staff member Cheryl Sullenger, of the pro-life advocacy and action organization Operation Rescue, said it appeared that Foulston was taking the case against Tiller as a personal affront to her.
"It was very clear that Nola rules the roost in Sedgwick County and even the judges are afraid to oppose her," she said.
Foulston also asserted that the statute of limitations had expired on each of the 30 counts filed last week by Attorney General Phill Kline, but Maxwell corrected her, noting the legislature had extended that limit from three to five years.
Maxwell also told the judge Kline is appointing Wichita attorney Don McKinney as special prosecutor in the Tiller case, and the office was reserving the right to appeal Clark's conclusion.
Kline, who wasn't in the hearing but came to the courthouse later, announced on his website that two independent judges had found probable cause to believe crimes had been committed in the case, and the latest review "resulted in a finding of probable cause to believe that Mr. Tiller committed those crimes."
"Furthermore, the Kansas Supreme Court reviewed this investigation for over one year and has now twice ruled that the investigation may go forward," Kline noted.
"I was stunned that the District Attorney, after meeting with me prior to the filing of charges and pledging not to stand in the way, later reversed course and without any effort to notify myself or my office went to a different judge who had not reviewed the evidence and obtained a dismissal ex parte contrary to law and contrary to the facts," Kline said.
.jpg)
He told reporters at the hearing Foulston also cited no relevant case law in support of her position.
Clark's decision was delivered immediately from the bench, and apparently was based on the "he said-she said" dispute over whether Foulston agreed to the case.
"This case is far from over," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. "We strongly believe that once an appeals court hears the arguments, the charges will be reinstated."
"KSA 22-3103 states '(i)f the testimony taken at an inquisition discloses probable cause to believe that a crime has been committed … the attorney general … may file such testimony, together with his complaint … against the person or persons alleged to have committed the crime … and a warrant shall there upon be issued for the arrest of such person…as in other criminal cases,'" said Kline. "Also, the Kansas Supreme Court has stated that once the Attorney General commences a prosecution, the Attorney General may not be removed from the case but for cause."
The case against Tiller resulted from an investigation of more than two years, as Tiller and another abortion provider in Kansas, Planned Parenthood, battled unsuccessfully all the way through the state Supreme Court against providing any medical documentation to the state's chief law enforcement officer.
The counts cite a number of abortions, such as the July 22, 2003, abortion on a 14-year-old child, patient "072203LM," where Tiller "wrongfully relied on a diagnosis of Anxiety Disorder … or Adjustment Disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood to determine that a continuation of the pregnancy will cause a substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant woman when such diagnoses do not establish that a continuation of the pregnancy will cause a substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant woman, in violation of [Kansas law.]"
The local prosecutor's earlier filing in support of dismissing the counts had cited two state laws "which require the Attorney General to initiate actions in certain circumstances," Kline said. However, they "do not contain a prohibition from filing actions."
Kline, who lost his re-election bid on the strength of strong pro-abortion support for his opponent, Democrat Paul Morrison, will be moving into a post as a district attorney in Kansas after he leaves state office, and still will have the authority to continue investigating some allegations of abortion business misconduct.
The charges include claims that Tiller provided abortions to the mothers after the statutory age limit of 22 weeks for the unborn babies. There also are allegations that the "medical reasons" listed in the abortion businesses' documents for the abortions were insufficient.
Kline said the 30 counts relate to 15 different abortions, provided to mothers ranging in age from 10-22, with the babies aged 25-31 weeks. They allege that Tiller "induced or performed an illegal late term abortion contrary to Kansas statute 30-6537-03" and that he "failed to report the reason and basis for performing that abortion on a viable child as required by that statute."
Operation Rescue officials, who earlier shut down one Wichita abortion business by purchasing the building it was in, said they weren't surprised much. "Foulston has come under criticism by pro-life supporters for refusing to prosecute accusations against Tiller because of her personal friendship with him. It is alleged that she adopted her only son through Tiller, who has stated publicly that he has arranged adoptions in return for political favors," a statement on the organization's website said.
Morrison had promised to begin a domestic violence unit, without any additional expense to the state. "Some of the money that's been used on misplaced priorities could easily fund" the plans, he had told the Lawrence Journal-World. He cited Kline's investigation of the abortion businesses run by Tiller in Wichita and Planned Parenthood as an example.
Morrison also got a huge boost in his campaign when a non-profit organization that the newspaper linked to Tiller mailed hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of mailings critical of Kline.
The mailings called Kline "Snoop Dog" and were mailed by Kansans for Consumer Privacy Protection, said the newspaper, which noted that group had the same office address as ProKanDo, a political action committee Tiller started and is funding to elect pro-abortion candidates.
Kline also earlier had raised the issue of state statistics that showed in 2003, for example, there were 78 abortions provided to underage girls, including some as young as 10, without a single case of child rape being reported.
He said there now are 25 cases pending, and his work on those cases is continuing.
Kline says ruling may be appealed, and child rape cases developing
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: December 28, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Bob Unruh
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
A special prosecutor is being appointed to take over the case against an influential abortionist in Wichita, according to state Attorney General Phill Kline, who also confirmed that documentation in support of more than two dozen cases of child rape is being turned over to various local prosecutors around the state.
The announcement came just as a state judge ruled Sedgwick County District Attorney Nola Foulston refused to "acquiesce" to a case involving 30 criminal counts that was investigated and documented by Kline, so it must be dismissed.
Judge Paul W. Clark had dismissed charges against abortionist George Tiller, who specializes in late-term procedures, last week without hearing any arguments but those of Foulston, and then held a hearing yesterday on the issue of whether those counts even could be filed by the state.
He said no, after listening to Foulston's opinion that she was the only person authorized to file counts in her judicial district. That despite arguments from Assistant Attorney General Steven Maxwell that Kansas law does allow the attorney general, the state's top law enforcement officer, to file counts in any county in the state.
"I control the prosecution of cases in this jurisdiction!" Foulston said in a voice witnesses described as loud and angry. 'The district attorney is being usurped by some out-of-towner on his way out as Attorney General."
Maxwell noted that wasn't Kansas law, and in fact, the state attorney general had filed hundreds of cases in various Kansas judicial districts in recent years, including several cases with district attorneys as defendants, but never had been required to obtain permission from the DAs.
Staff member Cheryl Sullenger, of the pro-life advocacy and action organization Operation Rescue, said it appeared that Foulston was taking the case against Tiller as a personal affront to her.
"It was very clear that Nola rules the roost in Sedgwick County and even the judges are afraid to oppose her," she said.
Foulston also asserted that the statute of limitations had expired on each of the 30 counts filed last week by Attorney General Phill Kline, but Maxwell corrected her, noting the legislature had extended that limit from three to five years.
Maxwell also told the judge Kline is appointing Wichita attorney Don McKinney as special prosecutor in the Tiller case, and the office was reserving the right to appeal Clark's conclusion.
Kline, who wasn't in the hearing but came to the courthouse later, announced on his website that two independent judges had found probable cause to believe crimes had been committed in the case, and the latest review "resulted in a finding of probable cause to believe that Mr. Tiller committed those crimes."
"Furthermore, the Kansas Supreme Court reviewed this investigation for over one year and has now twice ruled that the investigation may go forward," Kline noted.
"I was stunned that the District Attorney, after meeting with me prior to the filing of charges and pledging not to stand in the way, later reversed course and without any effort to notify myself or my office went to a different judge who had not reviewed the evidence and obtained a dismissal ex parte contrary to law and contrary to the facts," Kline said.
.jpg)
He told reporters at the hearing Foulston also cited no relevant case law in support of her position.Clark's decision was delivered immediately from the bench, and apparently was based on the "he said-she said" dispute over whether Foulston agreed to the case.
"This case is far from over," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. "We strongly believe that once an appeals court hears the arguments, the charges will be reinstated."
"KSA 22-3103 states '(i)f the testimony taken at an inquisition discloses probable cause to believe that a crime has been committed … the attorney general … may file such testimony, together with his complaint … against the person or persons alleged to have committed the crime … and a warrant shall there upon be issued for the arrest of such person…as in other criminal cases,'" said Kline. "Also, the Kansas Supreme Court has stated that once the Attorney General commences a prosecution, the Attorney General may not be removed from the case but for cause."
The case against Tiller resulted from an investigation of more than two years, as Tiller and another abortion provider in Kansas, Planned Parenthood, battled unsuccessfully all the way through the state Supreme Court against providing any medical documentation to the state's chief law enforcement officer.
The counts cite a number of abortions, such as the July 22, 2003, abortion on a 14-year-old child, patient "072203LM," where Tiller "wrongfully relied on a diagnosis of Anxiety Disorder … or Adjustment Disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood to determine that a continuation of the pregnancy will cause a substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant woman when such diagnoses do not establish that a continuation of the pregnancy will cause a substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant woman, in violation of [Kansas law.]"
The local prosecutor's earlier filing in support of dismissing the counts had cited two state laws "which require the Attorney General to initiate actions in certain circumstances," Kline said. However, they "do not contain a prohibition from filing actions."
Kline, who lost his re-election bid on the strength of strong pro-abortion support for his opponent, Democrat Paul Morrison, will be moving into a post as a district attorney in Kansas after he leaves state office, and still will have the authority to continue investigating some allegations of abortion business misconduct.
The charges include claims that Tiller provided abortions to the mothers after the statutory age limit of 22 weeks for the unborn babies. There also are allegations that the "medical reasons" listed in the abortion businesses' documents for the abortions were insufficient.
Kline said the 30 counts relate to 15 different abortions, provided to mothers ranging in age from 10-22, with the babies aged 25-31 weeks. They allege that Tiller "induced or performed an illegal late term abortion contrary to Kansas statute 30-6537-03" and that he "failed to report the reason and basis for performing that abortion on a viable child as required by that statute."
Operation Rescue officials, who earlier shut down one Wichita abortion business by purchasing the building it was in, said they weren't surprised much. "Foulston has come under criticism by pro-life supporters for refusing to prosecute accusations against Tiller because of her personal friendship with him. It is alleged that she adopted her only son through Tiller, who has stated publicly that he has arranged adoptions in return for political favors," a statement on the organization's website said.
Morrison had promised to begin a domestic violence unit, without any additional expense to the state. "Some of the money that's been used on misplaced priorities could easily fund" the plans, he had told the Lawrence Journal-World. He cited Kline's investigation of the abortion businesses run by Tiller in Wichita and Planned Parenthood as an example.
Morrison also got a huge boost in his campaign when a non-profit organization that the newspaper linked to Tiller mailed hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of mailings critical of Kline.
The mailings called Kline "Snoop Dog" and were mailed by Kansans for Consumer Privacy Protection, said the newspaper, which noted that group had the same office address as ProKanDo, a political action committee Tiller started and is funding to elect pro-abortion candidates.
Kline also earlier had raised the issue of state statistics that showed in 2003, for example, there were 78 abortions provided to underage girls, including some as young as 10, without a single case of child rape being reported.
He said there now are 25 cases pending, and his work on those cases is continuing.
Muslims begin the Hajj pilgrimage
Muslims begin the Hajj pilgrimage
An estimated three million Muslims are beginning the Hajj pilgrimage rituals in the Saudi Arabian city of Mecca, amid enhanced security.
The authorities say they have implemented new safety measures to prevent stampedes that have killed hundreds of people previously.
In January, almost 400 people were killed and some 300 injured in a stampede during one of the rituals.
The Hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam, is due to end on Monday.
It is an obligation for all Muslims to undertake the pilgrimage at least once in a lifetime, if they are physically and financially able.
Emotional day
A massive convoy of pilgrims, that will continue well into the evening, is making its way to the nearby tented city of Mina, the pilgrims' home over the next few days.
They are following the route of the first Hajj performed by the Prophet Muhammad some 1400 years ago.
The BBC's Aleem Maqbool says the day has been emotional, with many beginning the pilgrimage in tears.
Before the pilgrims leave Mecca, and when they complete the Hajj, they must walk seven times round the Kaaba (a cube-like building in the centre of the city's Great Mosque) in an anti-clockwise direction.
The Saudi authorities are imposing a strict quota system to try to keep the number of foreign visitors to a manageable level.
At the last Hajj, earlier this year, at least 345 pilgrims died in a crush during the stone-throwing ritual of the pilgrimage.
The stampede took place at the foot of the bridge of Jamarat, in Mina, where pilgrims hurl stones at three pillars representing the spot where the devil is said to have appeared to Abraham, and which creates a dangerous bottleneck.
Since then a major rebuilding project has been undertaken and 50,000 security personnel have been mobilised.
The ritual has seen many lethal stampedes, but the number of dead in January was the highest in 16 years.
BBC NEWS
© MMVI
An estimated three million Muslims are beginning the Hajj pilgrimage rituals in the Saudi Arabian city of Mecca, amid enhanced security.
The authorities say they have implemented new safety measures to prevent stampedes that have killed hundreds of people previously.
In January, almost 400 people were killed and some 300 injured in a stampede during one of the rituals.
The Hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam, is due to end on Monday.
It is an obligation for all Muslims to undertake the pilgrimage at least once in a lifetime, if they are physically and financially able.
Emotional day
A massive convoy of pilgrims, that will continue well into the evening, is making its way to the nearby tented city of Mina, the pilgrims' home over the next few days.
They are following the route of the first Hajj performed by the Prophet Muhammad some 1400 years ago.
The BBC's Aleem Maqbool says the day has been emotional, with many beginning the pilgrimage in tears.
Before the pilgrims leave Mecca, and when they complete the Hajj, they must walk seven times round the Kaaba (a cube-like building in the centre of the city's Great Mosque) in an anti-clockwise direction.
The Saudi authorities are imposing a strict quota system to try to keep the number of foreign visitors to a manageable level.
At the last Hajj, earlier this year, at least 345 pilgrims died in a crush during the stone-throwing ritual of the pilgrimage.
The stampede took place at the foot of the bridge of Jamarat, in Mina, where pilgrims hurl stones at three pillars representing the spot where the devil is said to have appeared to Abraham, and which creates a dangerous bottleneck.
Since then a major rebuilding project has been undertaken and 50,000 security personnel have been mobilised.
The ritual has seen many lethal stampedes, but the number of dead in January was the highest in 16 years.
BBC NEWS
© MMVI
Homeland Security apologizes for strip-search of Muslim woman stopped at Tampa airport
Homeland Security apologizes for strip-search of Muslim woman stopped at Tampa airport
By Sheela Raman
St. Petersburg Times
Posted December 28 2006, 9:02 AM EST
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has apologized to a Muslim traveler strip-searched at the Pinellas County Jail after being detained at Tampa International Airport in April.
Federal agents said they denied Spanish citizen Safana Jawad entry to the United States on April 11 because she was suspected of being associated with someone they view as suspicious.
Jawad, 45, was taken to the jail, strip-searched according to protocol and held in a maximum security cell for two days. She was never told the identity of the suspicious person.
Jawad, who was born in Iraq, had flown to the United States to visit her son, Hany Kubba, 16, who then lived in Clearwater with her ex-husband, Ahmad Maki Kubba.
Jawad was deported to England on April 13 and has since filed a complaint with the Homeland Security Department about being mistreated by customs officials as well as staff at the Pinellas County Jail. In a letter dated Dec. 8, the Homeland Security Department apologized only for the strip search.
``On behalf of the Department of Homeland Security, I offer you my sincere apology for having to undergo a strip search,'' wrote Timothy J. Keefer, deputy officer and acting chief counsel for the department's Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, which handles complaints.
The department would not release the name of the suspicious person Jawad was suspected of being associated with and would not comment on whether it believes she was rightfully detained.
Attached to the letter with no explanation was a photocopy of a notice that tells Transportation Security Administration officials about Muslim head coverings and how to treat Muslim travellers respectfully when searching them.
Everyone who files a complaint with the Homeland Security Department receives a response letter. Department spokeswoman Joanna Gonzalez said she could not say how many responses include apologies because the agency keeps no statistics on the outcomes of investigations.
And the Homeland Security Department could not provide any information about how many complaints the Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties receives.
After being jailed, Jawad said she was subjected not only to a strip search but to a full body cavity search. Pinellas County sheriff's Sgt. Jim Bordner said only a regular strip search was performed, and there was no body cavity search. The strip search is part of normal procedure for booking and processing inmates, he said.
``We followed the same protocol with her as with any inmate,'' he said.
The jail conducted its own internal investigation after Jawad filed a complaint with the Sheriff's Office on June 9 and cleared the jail staff of any wrongdoing, Bordner said.
Ahmad Kubba, an American citizen for 27 years who now works as a real estate agent, said that the Homeland Security Department's apology means nothing to him, because the damage is already done. Hany had to move to Spain with his mother after the incident because he was so shaken by it, Kubba said.
Jawad had planned to visit her son, who was having disciplinary problems, in April as a surprise. Instead, Hany was shocked to learn that his mother was in jail. He subsequently had to be hospitalized twice for out-of-control behavior, his father said. Now in Spain, Hany has calmed down a lot, although he has taken leave from school, his father said.
``I lost my son because of what happened,'' said Kubba, who was lauded last year by Gov. Jeb Bush after organizing a trip where about a dozen friends went to Nashville to vote in the Iraqi election.
``I have been in this country for 27 years. I am American,'' said Kubba, 49, who spent 40 days in an Iraqi prison for speaking out against Saddam Hussein. He left Iraq in 1979 after being sentenced to death, and his father was beaten to death by Hussein's agents.
``My son wanted to be in the U.S. Navy, and he speaks both English and Arabic,'' Kubba said. ``He would have been just what they are looking for. What they did to (Jawad) was unfair and is hurting America.''
Kubba said he was recently profiled at Tampa International Airport when returning from Spain after visiting his son, and said his brother was detained there for two hours when he visited.
Kubba, who speaks to Jawad occasionally, said she told him she would never set foot in the United States again after what happened to her.
Ahmad Bedier, director of the Tampa branch of the Council for American-Islamic Relations, spoke with Jawad at the jail after the arrest. He has kept in touch with the family since then.
Bedier said the apology from the Homeland Security Department is a step in the right direction, but there are still a lot of unanswered questions.
In the next two weeks, Bedier said thousands of Muslims will be returning to central Florida from their annual pilgrimage to Mecca.
Bedier plans to meet at Tampa International Airport with officials from the FBI, airport, Customs and Border Protection, and the Transportation Security Administration to discuss measures to prevent unnecessary profiling of Muslim travelers as they return from Saudi Arabia.
``I am concerned about their treatment when they return,'' Bedier said.
Copyright © 2006, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
By Sheela Raman
St. Petersburg Times
Posted December 28 2006, 9:02 AM EST
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has apologized to a Muslim traveler strip-searched at the Pinellas County Jail after being detained at Tampa International Airport in April.
Federal agents said they denied Spanish citizen Safana Jawad entry to the United States on April 11 because she was suspected of being associated with someone they view as suspicious.
Jawad, 45, was taken to the jail, strip-searched according to protocol and held in a maximum security cell for two days. She was never told the identity of the suspicious person.
Jawad, who was born in Iraq, had flown to the United States to visit her son, Hany Kubba, 16, who then lived in Clearwater with her ex-husband, Ahmad Maki Kubba.
Jawad was deported to England on April 13 and has since filed a complaint with the Homeland Security Department about being mistreated by customs officials as well as staff at the Pinellas County Jail. In a letter dated Dec. 8, the Homeland Security Department apologized only for the strip search.
``On behalf of the Department of Homeland Security, I offer you my sincere apology for having to undergo a strip search,'' wrote Timothy J. Keefer, deputy officer and acting chief counsel for the department's Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, which handles complaints.
The department would not release the name of the suspicious person Jawad was suspected of being associated with and would not comment on whether it believes she was rightfully detained.
Attached to the letter with no explanation was a photocopy of a notice that tells Transportation Security Administration officials about Muslim head coverings and how to treat Muslim travellers respectfully when searching them.
Everyone who files a complaint with the Homeland Security Department receives a response letter. Department spokeswoman Joanna Gonzalez said she could not say how many responses include apologies because the agency keeps no statistics on the outcomes of investigations.
And the Homeland Security Department could not provide any information about how many complaints the Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties receives.
After being jailed, Jawad said she was subjected not only to a strip search but to a full body cavity search. Pinellas County sheriff's Sgt. Jim Bordner said only a regular strip search was performed, and there was no body cavity search. The strip search is part of normal procedure for booking and processing inmates, he said.
``We followed the same protocol with her as with any inmate,'' he said.
The jail conducted its own internal investigation after Jawad filed a complaint with the Sheriff's Office on June 9 and cleared the jail staff of any wrongdoing, Bordner said.
Ahmad Kubba, an American citizen for 27 years who now works as a real estate agent, said that the Homeland Security Department's apology means nothing to him, because the damage is already done. Hany had to move to Spain with his mother after the incident because he was so shaken by it, Kubba said.
Jawad had planned to visit her son, who was having disciplinary problems, in April as a surprise. Instead, Hany was shocked to learn that his mother was in jail. He subsequently had to be hospitalized twice for out-of-control behavior, his father said. Now in Spain, Hany has calmed down a lot, although he has taken leave from school, his father said.
``I lost my son because of what happened,'' said Kubba, who was lauded last year by Gov. Jeb Bush after organizing a trip where about a dozen friends went to Nashville to vote in the Iraqi election.
``I have been in this country for 27 years. I am American,'' said Kubba, 49, who spent 40 days in an Iraqi prison for speaking out against Saddam Hussein. He left Iraq in 1979 after being sentenced to death, and his father was beaten to death by Hussein's agents.
``My son wanted to be in the U.S. Navy, and he speaks both English and Arabic,'' Kubba said. ``He would have been just what they are looking for. What they did to (Jawad) was unfair and is hurting America.''
Kubba said he was recently profiled at Tampa International Airport when returning from Spain after visiting his son, and said his brother was detained there for two hours when he visited.
Kubba, who speaks to Jawad occasionally, said she told him she would never set foot in the United States again after what happened to her.
Ahmad Bedier, director of the Tampa branch of the Council for American-Islamic Relations, spoke with Jawad at the jail after the arrest. He has kept in touch with the family since then.
Bedier said the apology from the Homeland Security Department is a step in the right direction, but there are still a lot of unanswered questions.
In the next two weeks, Bedier said thousands of Muslims will be returning to central Florida from their annual pilgrimage to Mecca.
Bedier plans to meet at Tampa International Airport with officials from the FBI, airport, Customs and Border Protection, and the Transportation Security Administration to discuss measures to prevent unnecessary profiling of Muslim travelers as they return from Saudi Arabia.
``I am concerned about their treatment when they return,'' Bedier said.
Copyright © 2006, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
In Touch Daily Devotional by Dr. Charles Stanley: Meditation in Relationship
Meditation in Relationship
2 Samuel 7:8-22
Many people ask, “What can I do to really grow in my Christian life?” They are usually looking for a secret path to maturity— something to do, some specific type of service, gift, or talent. And yet, the true key to growing in your relationship with Christ isn’t found in any of these things. In fact, Dr. Stanley firmly believes the most important thing you can do to mature in your faith is simply to focus on your relationship with our heavenly Father.
We need to realize that genuine maturity and effectiveness are tied to our relationship with the Lord. When we take our focus off of what we can do for Him, our entire thought process will start to shift. This truth puts all believers on the same level, from the high-profile preacher to the quietest, most humble member of the church. Talents, gifts, and personalities do not matter anywhere near as much as the commitment to simply know God.
1 Samuel 13:14 tells us King David was “a man after own heart.” And yet, in 2 Samuel 7:18 , David himself asked, “Who am I... that You have brought me this far?” Why was God so gracious to him? What was it about him that God valued so highly? It was that David knew God. He spent time with the Lord. He poured his heart out to his heavenly Father. In psalm after psalm, we see him laying everything out before the Lord and seeking His perfect will. David’s strength was in his relationship with God.
Do you want to grow in the Lord? Perhaps you need to stop asking, “What can I do?” Or, “How can I serve?” Instead, say, “Here I am, Father. Let’s talk.”
2 Samuel 7:8-22
Many people ask, “What can I do to really grow in my Christian life?” They are usually looking for a secret path to maturity— something to do, some specific type of service, gift, or talent. And yet, the true key to growing in your relationship with Christ isn’t found in any of these things. In fact, Dr. Stanley firmly believes the most important thing you can do to mature in your faith is simply to focus on your relationship with our heavenly Father.
We need to realize that genuine maturity and effectiveness are tied to our relationship with the Lord. When we take our focus off of what we can do for Him, our entire thought process will start to shift. This truth puts all believers on the same level, from the high-profile preacher to the quietest, most humble member of the church. Talents, gifts, and personalities do not matter anywhere near as much as the commitment to simply know God.
1 Samuel 13:14 tells us King David was “a man after own heart.” And yet, in 2 Samuel 7:18 , David himself asked, “Who am I... that You have brought me this far?” Why was God so gracious to him? What was it about him that God valued so highly? It was that David knew God. He spent time with the Lord. He poured his heart out to his heavenly Father. In psalm after psalm, we see him laying everything out before the Lord and seeking His perfect will. David’s strength was in his relationship with God.
Do you want to grow in the Lord? Perhaps you need to stop asking, “What can I do?” Or, “How can I serve?” Instead, say, “Here I am, Father. Let’s talk.”
3 home intruders shot dead in Albuquerque
3 home intruders shot dead in Albuquerque
'Hopefully this is going to send a message,' says police spokeswoman
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: December 28, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
Three men who broke into homes in the Albuquerque, N.M., area in the last month were shot dead by homeowners, and police say they hope would-be robbers take the hint.
The latest incident involved Raymond Gabaldon, 40, a repeat offender, who, police say, stole a car and then tried to break into a home in southwest Albuquerque.
"Hopefully this is going to send a message to people who are breaking into homes," Albuquerque police spokeswoman Trish Hoffman told the Albuquerque Tribune. "They're engaging in very dangerous behavior, not only to the people they're robbing, but to themselves."
None of the three homeowners involved in the shootings have been charged, though the cases are still under review by law enforcement.
Homeowners around the country were also dealing directly with those breaking into their homes and businesses.
An armed homeowner in Charlotte, N.C., also foiled a break-in Tuesday, police there report.
A man told police he was preparing to take out the trash at his home when he realized an intruder was in his house.
The resident told police he went to get a handgun and as he turned around, the attacker struck him in the back of the head. That triggered a fight between the attacker and the resident of the house. During the scuffle, the victim said, he fired his gun once, with the bullet striking the refrigerator.
The assailant then fled on foot.
In Kingsport, Tenn., an armed convenience store clerk yesterday pulled a handgun on a knife-wielding robber, fired once and drove him off with one shot.
And, in Seattle, an armed homeowner fatally shot an intruder Tuesday, according to a police report.
The homeowner was roused from sleep by an intruder. The 31-year-old homeowner grabbed his shotgun and killed Justin Hercyk. That case is still under investigation.
'Hopefully this is going to send a message,' says police spokeswoman
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: December 28, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
Three men who broke into homes in the Albuquerque, N.M., area in the last month were shot dead by homeowners, and police say they hope would-be robbers take the hint.
The latest incident involved Raymond Gabaldon, 40, a repeat offender, who, police say, stole a car and then tried to break into a home in southwest Albuquerque.
"Hopefully this is going to send a message to people who are breaking into homes," Albuquerque police spokeswoman Trish Hoffman told the Albuquerque Tribune. "They're engaging in very dangerous behavior, not only to the people they're robbing, but to themselves."
None of the three homeowners involved in the shootings have been charged, though the cases are still under review by law enforcement.
Homeowners around the country were also dealing directly with those breaking into their homes and businesses.
An armed homeowner in Charlotte, N.C., also foiled a break-in Tuesday, police there report.
A man told police he was preparing to take out the trash at his home when he realized an intruder was in his house.
The resident told police he went to get a handgun and as he turned around, the attacker struck him in the back of the head. That triggered a fight between the attacker and the resident of the house. During the scuffle, the victim said, he fired his gun once, with the bullet striking the refrigerator.
The assailant then fled on foot.
In Kingsport, Tenn., an armed convenience store clerk yesterday pulled a handgun on a knife-wielding robber, fired once and drove him off with one shot.
And, in Seattle, an armed homeowner fatally shot an intruder Tuesday, according to a police report.
The homeowner was roused from sleep by an intruder. The 31-year-old homeowner grabbed his shotgun and killed Justin Hercyk. That case is still under investigation.
Taiwan quake brings bank operations to halt
Internet Services in Asia May Take 2 Weeks to Return (Update7)
By Tim Culpan and Andrea Tan
Dec. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Internet and phone companies in Asia may take at least two weeks to restore services as they struggle to fix undersea cables damaged by earthquakes off Taiwan.
Chunghwa Telecom Co., the island's biggest phone company, said four ships are heading to the damage site off Taiwan's south coast for repairs starting Jan. 2 that may take two to three weeks. China Network Communications Group Corp. said two boats have started to fix the fiber-optic lines.
Companies from Kuwait Finance House, the Persian Gulf's largest Islamic investment bank, to Nippon Yusen K.K., Japan's biggest shipping line, are suffering from the loss of online services after a 7.1 magnitude quake struck southern Taiwan on Dec. 26. Cable operators are using other lines or satellites to help alleviate the bottleneck as parts of Hong Kong, China, Singapore and India remain without access.
``In terms of lost business, that amount will exceed the amount for repairs,'' Rob Enderle, an analyst with the research firm Enderle Group in San Jose, California. ``Think of the trading organizations that exist in these geographies that trade in world markets that can't trade right now.''
The cable-repair ships will cost $25,000 per boat per day, which only covers vessel rental fees, and will depart from Yokohama in Japan, Busan in South Korea as well as Manila and Singapore, according to Chunghwa. The company is working with other operators to fix four broken cables.
`Not Happened Before'
At least six undersea cables which pass through Taiwan are broken and a seventh is damaged, said Au Man-ho, director general of Hong Kong's Office of Telecommunications Authority. Six of 10 international cables connecting Korea were affected, according to KT Corp., South Korea's largest phone company.
``If only one cable is damaged, the impact will be insignificant,'' Au said. ``All seven cables are damaged. That has not happened before.''
KDDI Corp., Japan's second-biggest carrier, said cable repairs can take ``several weeks to months.''
Undersea cables which connect North Asian countries such as Japan and Korea to Southeast Asian countries such as Singapore and Malaysia pass close to Taiwan's south coast because the alternative route through the Taiwan Strait is too shallow and not suitable for cables, said Wu Chih-ming, managing director of international networking at Chunghwa.
The repair ships will drag a large grappling hook across the ocean floor to find the broken cable before pulling it to the surface for inspection, according to Chunghwa. Cables will be repaired by cutting out damaged sections and rejoining with new pieces, with the ships equipped to conduct all necessary work.
Largest in 100 Years
``It's very difficult, technical and slow work to repair these fiber-optic cables,'' said Chunghwa's Wu. The company is turning to backup cables and may use its ST-1 satellite to provide data bandwidth, he said.
The quake which shook Taiwan Dec. 26 was the largest in the area for 100 years, and was one of 11 temblors in that area over a 24-hour period, according to Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau.
Chunghwa said today it could increase services to the U.S., Japan and China by rerouting connections. Voice traffic from Taiwan to the U.S. is up to 60 percent capacity from 40 percent yesterday, while those to Japan are at 70 percent from 11 percent. Voice capacity to China rose to 55 percent from 10 percent.
``Eighty percent of our Internet bandwidth has been successfully diverted,'' said Michael Sim, spokesman for StarHub Ltd., Singapore's second-largest phone company.
Services Return
China Network, parent of China's second-largest fixed-line carrier, said international voice services were ``mostly restored,'' while its bigger rival China Telecommunications Corp. reported voice services to Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan were ``basically'' restored.
PCCW, Hong Kong's largest telephone company, said the damage cut its normal telecommunication capacity by as much as half yesterday.
KT Corp. of South Korea said it restored services on 33 of its 92 leased lines by rerouting connections. The company said it plans to redirect another 17 lines through satellites.
``We have received more enquiries from telecom operators about short-term leases for transponder capacity,'' Alvin Chong, a marketing executive at Asia Satellite Telecommunications Holdings Ltd. in Hong Kong, said today, without providing more details. ``We usually see a jump in demand following events such as earthquakes, and the tsunami two years ago.''
Traffic Redirected
PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia, the nation's biggest phone company, said it directed much of its Internet traffic through the Singtel Internet Exchange (STEX) gateway. Yesterday it began to switch part of the traffic to Dubai Malaysia Cable System.
``Impact on Telkom's earnings is likely minimal,'' said Harsya Denny Suryo, the corporate secretary at Bandung, Indonesia-based Telekomunkasi. ``The problem is with customers who don't have Internet access.''
AT&T Inc., the biggest U.S. phone company, said in a statement that it's experiencing Internet delays, most notably on traffic between Singapore and Tokyo and between Hong Kong and Tokyo. Voice traffic from the U.S. to countries including Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippines, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Brunei is also affected, the San Antonio-based company said.
Both AT&T and Verizon Communications Inc., the second- biggest U.S. phone company, said they are working with partners to restore services. Some Verizon business clients may encounter disruptions, the New York-based company said.
Phones, Faxes
``It is slowing things a bit but we have to manage,'' said Salman Younis, managing director of Kuwait Finance in Kuala Lumpur. ``I'm quite used to disaster, having worked in the Middle East for 18 years.'' The company is using phones and faxes, he said.
Nippon Yusen, which normally uses e-mail between Tokyo headquarters and its regional branch in South Korea to set shipping prices, is also using phone calls and faxes, said spokesman Atsushi Matsumoto.
Singapore Telecommunications Ltd., France Telecom SA and Pakistan Telecommunication Co. are in a group that owns the Sea- Me-We3 cables linking Europe to Asia. Operators in the APCN2 cable network that connects Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore include StarHub, China Unicom Ltd., Telekom Malaysia Bhd. and Telstra Corp.
Asia had the slowest Web connection with response time at 450 millseconds, more than double the average 200 milliseconds, according to the latest figures from Internet Traffic Report's site, which monitors the flow of global Internet data.
The tremors came on the second anniversary of the 2004 Asian tsunami, when a magnitude 9.1 earthquake off Sumatra unleashed waves that destroyed coastal villages from Indonesia to Sri Lanka, killing more than 220,000 people.
``This has really turned into a global event,'' said Enderle in San Jose. It ``showcases how much consolidation has gone on in terms of putting so much traffic through so few massive lines.''
By Tim Culpan and Andrea Tan
Dec. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Internet and phone companies in Asia may take at least two weeks to restore services as they struggle to fix undersea cables damaged by earthquakes off Taiwan.
Chunghwa Telecom Co., the island's biggest phone company, said four ships are heading to the damage site off Taiwan's south coast for repairs starting Jan. 2 that may take two to three weeks. China Network Communications Group Corp. said two boats have started to fix the fiber-optic lines.
Companies from Kuwait Finance House, the Persian Gulf's largest Islamic investment bank, to Nippon Yusen K.K., Japan's biggest shipping line, are suffering from the loss of online services after a 7.1 magnitude quake struck southern Taiwan on Dec. 26. Cable operators are using other lines or satellites to help alleviate the bottleneck as parts of Hong Kong, China, Singapore and India remain without access.
``In terms of lost business, that amount will exceed the amount for repairs,'' Rob Enderle, an analyst with the research firm Enderle Group in San Jose, California. ``Think of the trading organizations that exist in these geographies that trade in world markets that can't trade right now.''
The cable-repair ships will cost $25,000 per boat per day, which only covers vessel rental fees, and will depart from Yokohama in Japan, Busan in South Korea as well as Manila and Singapore, according to Chunghwa. The company is working with other operators to fix four broken cables.
`Not Happened Before'
At least six undersea cables which pass through Taiwan are broken and a seventh is damaged, said Au Man-ho, director general of Hong Kong's Office of Telecommunications Authority. Six of 10 international cables connecting Korea were affected, according to KT Corp., South Korea's largest phone company.
``If only one cable is damaged, the impact will be insignificant,'' Au said. ``All seven cables are damaged. That has not happened before.''
KDDI Corp., Japan's second-biggest carrier, said cable repairs can take ``several weeks to months.''
Undersea cables which connect North Asian countries such as Japan and Korea to Southeast Asian countries such as Singapore and Malaysia pass close to Taiwan's south coast because the alternative route through the Taiwan Strait is too shallow and not suitable for cables, said Wu Chih-ming, managing director of international networking at Chunghwa.
The repair ships will drag a large grappling hook across the ocean floor to find the broken cable before pulling it to the surface for inspection, according to Chunghwa. Cables will be repaired by cutting out damaged sections and rejoining with new pieces, with the ships equipped to conduct all necessary work.
Largest in 100 Years
``It's very difficult, technical and slow work to repair these fiber-optic cables,'' said Chunghwa's Wu. The company is turning to backup cables and may use its ST-1 satellite to provide data bandwidth, he said.
The quake which shook Taiwan Dec. 26 was the largest in the area for 100 years, and was one of 11 temblors in that area over a 24-hour period, according to Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau.
Chunghwa said today it could increase services to the U.S., Japan and China by rerouting connections. Voice traffic from Taiwan to the U.S. is up to 60 percent capacity from 40 percent yesterday, while those to Japan are at 70 percent from 11 percent. Voice capacity to China rose to 55 percent from 10 percent.
``Eighty percent of our Internet bandwidth has been successfully diverted,'' said Michael Sim, spokesman for StarHub Ltd., Singapore's second-largest phone company.
Services Return
China Network, parent of China's second-largest fixed-line carrier, said international voice services were ``mostly restored,'' while its bigger rival China Telecommunications Corp. reported voice services to Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan were ``basically'' restored.
PCCW, Hong Kong's largest telephone company, said the damage cut its normal telecommunication capacity by as much as half yesterday.
KT Corp. of South Korea said it restored services on 33 of its 92 leased lines by rerouting connections. The company said it plans to redirect another 17 lines through satellites.
``We have received more enquiries from telecom operators about short-term leases for transponder capacity,'' Alvin Chong, a marketing executive at Asia Satellite Telecommunications Holdings Ltd. in Hong Kong, said today, without providing more details. ``We usually see a jump in demand following events such as earthquakes, and the tsunami two years ago.''
Traffic Redirected
PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia, the nation's biggest phone company, said it directed much of its Internet traffic through the Singtel Internet Exchange (STEX) gateway. Yesterday it began to switch part of the traffic to Dubai Malaysia Cable System.
``Impact on Telkom's earnings is likely minimal,'' said Harsya Denny Suryo, the corporate secretary at Bandung, Indonesia-based Telekomunkasi. ``The problem is with customers who don't have Internet access.''
AT&T Inc., the biggest U.S. phone company, said in a statement that it's experiencing Internet delays, most notably on traffic between Singapore and Tokyo and between Hong Kong and Tokyo. Voice traffic from the U.S. to countries including Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippines, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Brunei is also affected, the San Antonio-based company said.
Both AT&T and Verizon Communications Inc., the second- biggest U.S. phone company, said they are working with partners to restore services. Some Verizon business clients may encounter disruptions, the New York-based company said.
Phones, Faxes
``It is slowing things a bit but we have to manage,'' said Salman Younis, managing director of Kuwait Finance in Kuala Lumpur. ``I'm quite used to disaster, having worked in the Middle East for 18 years.'' The company is using phones and faxes, he said.
Nippon Yusen, which normally uses e-mail between Tokyo headquarters and its regional branch in South Korea to set shipping prices, is also using phone calls and faxes, said spokesman Atsushi Matsumoto.
Singapore Telecommunications Ltd., France Telecom SA and Pakistan Telecommunication Co. are in a group that owns the Sea- Me-We3 cables linking Europe to Asia. Operators in the APCN2 cable network that connects Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore include StarHub, China Unicom Ltd., Telekom Malaysia Bhd. and Telstra Corp.
Asia had the slowest Web connection with response time at 450 millseconds, more than double the average 200 milliseconds, according to the latest figures from Internet Traffic Report's site, which monitors the flow of global Internet data.
The tremors came on the second anniversary of the 2004 Asian tsunami, when a magnitude 9.1 earthquake off Sumatra unleashed waves that destroyed coastal villages from Indonesia to Sri Lanka, killing more than 220,000 people.
``This has really turned into a global event,'' said Enderle in San Jose. It ``showcases how much consolidation has gone on in terms of putting so much traffic through so few massive lines.''
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