Saturday, May 22, 2010

Foreign 'terrorists' breach U.S. border

Foreign 'terrorists' breach U.S. border
Illegals coming from Afghanistan, Iran, Egypt, Pakistan, Sudan, Syria, Yemen

By Chelsea Schilling
© 2010 WorldNetDaily

Almost nine years after terrorists murdered 2,751 people on Sept. 11, 2001, the U.S. is still facing a major threat as hundreds of illegal aliens from countries known to support and sponsor terrorism sneak across the U.S.-Mexico border.

Thousands of illegal aliens apprehended along the 2,000 mile border stretching through California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas aren't even from Mexico. The U.S. Border Patrol calls them "Other Than Mexicans," or OTMs, and many are citizens of countries that are sponsors of terrorism.

A 2006 congressional report on border threats, titled "A Line in the Sand: Confronting the Threat at the Southwest Border" and prepared by the House Committee on Homeland Security Subcommittee on Investigations, indicated that 1.2 million illegal aliens were apprehended in 2005 alone, and 165,000 of those were from countries other than Mexico. Approximately 650 were from "special interest countries," or nations the Border Patrol defines as "designated by the intelligence community as countries that could export individuals that could bring harm to our country in the way of terrorism."

Atlanta's WSB-TV2 aired a segment on U.S. border security after it obtained records from a federal detention center near Phoenix, Ariz., and found current listings for illegal aliens from Afghanistan, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Sudan and Yemen.

"We have left the back door to the United States open," former Rep. J.D. Hayworth told the station. "We have to understand that there are definitely people who mean to do us harm who have crossed that border."

WSB-TV 2 published a population breakdown from an Immigration and Customs Enforcement staging facility in Florence, Ariz., dated April 15, 2010, which includes detainees from as far away as Afghanistan, Armenia, Bosnia, Egypt, Ghana, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Kenya, Morocco, Pakistan, Sudan, Uzbekistan, Yemen, Botswana, Turkey and many other countries.

Based on U.S. Border Patrol statistics, there were 30,147 OTMs apprehended in fiscal year 2003; 44, 614 in fiscal year 2004; 165,178 in fiscal year 2005; and 108,025 in fiscal year 2006. Most were caught along the U.S. Southwest border.

According to the Department of Homeland Security's 2008 Yearbook of Immigration Studies, from the Office of Immigration Statistics, federal law enforcement agencies detained 791,568 deportable aliens in fiscal year 2008 – and 5,506 of them were from 14 "special-interest countries."

The State Department lists the following as "special-interest countries": Afghanistan, Algeria, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Yemen.

The following "special-interest countries" are listed as sponsors of terror: Cuba, Sudan, Syria and Iran.

The aliens were apprehended "at the borders of the United States, in the interior of the country and at designated sites outside of the United States." The 2008 yearbook lists 791,568 deportable aliens by country (Page 97). Some include:

Afghanistan: 29
Algeria: 41
Cuba: 3,896
Iran: 98
Iraq: 118
Lebanon: 188
Libya: 11
Nigeria: 299
Pakistan: 494
Saudi Arabia: 71
Somalia: 66
Sudan: 46
Syria: 71
Yemen: 78

According to the Government Accountability Office, "The Border Patrol reported that in fiscal year 2008, checkpoints encountered 530 aliens from special-interest countries."

'Ever-present threat of terrorist infiltration'

Warning of an "ever-present threat of terrorist infiltration over the Southwest border," the congressional report notes:

* U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigations have revealed that aliens were smuggled from the Middle East to staging areas in Central and South America, before being smuggled illegally into the United States.

* Members of Hezbollah have already entered the United States across the Southwest border.

* U.S. military and intelligence officials believe that Venezuela is emerging as a potential hub of terrorism in the Western Hemisphere. The Venezuelan government is issuing identity documents that could subsequently be used to obtain a U.S. visa and enter the country.

The Texas border – specifically the McAllen area – outpaces the rest of the nation in OTMs and aliens from "special-interest countries."

From Sept. 11, 2001, to 2006, the Department of Homeland Security reported a 41 percent increase in arrests along the Texas/Mexico border of "special-interest aliens" – including aliens from Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Pakistan, Cuba, Brazil, Ecuador, China, Russia, Yemen, Albania, Yugoslavia and Afghanistan – all apprehended in the South Texas region alone.

U.S. immigration authorities have discovered items along the banks of the Rio Grande River that suggest ties to terrorist organizations. In 2006, Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez of Zapata County, Texas, reported that officials found Iranian currency in the same area.

Also, a jacket found in Jim Hogg County, Texas, was covered in patches from countries where al-Qaida is known to operate. The patches include an Arabic military badge and one that illustrates an airplane flying into a tower. Another one features a depiction of a lion's head with wings and a parachute. The Arab insignia reads "martyr," "way to eternal life" or "way to immortality."

'One way or another, they're all connected'

"Islamic radical groups that support Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamiya Al Gamat are all active in Latin America," the 2006 congressional report states. "These groups generate funds through money laundering, drug trafficking and arms deals, making millions of dollars every year via their multiple illicit activities. These cells reach back to the Middle East and extend to this hemisphere the sophisticates global support structure of international terrorism."

In May 2001, just months before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, a former Mexican national security adviser and U.N. ambassador, Adolfo Aguilar Zinser, warned, "Spanish and Islamic terrorist groups are using Mexico as a refuge."

The 39-page report notes members of Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based terrorist organization, have already entered the U.S. by way of the Southwest border.

'Download abortion' coming soon?

'Download abortion' coming soon?
Planned Parenthood services by computer link may be spreading

Posted: May 22, 2010
12:45 am Eastern

By Bob Unruh
© 2010 WorldNetDaily

The pro-life ministry Operation Rescue has confirmed Planned Parenthood's program of dispensing abortion pills through tele-conferencing is scheduled to go nationwide within a few years.

The "tele-med" program already is operating in Iowa, where Operation Rescue has prompted authorities to launch an investigation.

The pro-life group has documented Planned Parenthood admission that it dispenses abortion pills via a tele-conference in which the mother-to-be never meets a physician.

Operation Rescue has reported "an abortionist sits in front of a webcam and pushes a button to electronically open a draw in the faraway clinic containing the drugs."

"A licensed physician never physically examines the woman at any time," the report says.

Sarah Palin Takes Stand on Immigration

Sarah Palin Takes Stand on Immigration
Palin Enters Immigration Debate, After Endorsing Arizona Illegal Immigration Law

By KRISTINA WONG
WASHINGTON, May 21, 2010

Sarah Palin had been heretofore fairly silent on the issue of immigration. This week for the first time, however, she has been outspoken, making at least five recent public statements on the issue and coming out in full support of Arizona's controversial new immigration law.

She even encouraged other states to adopt similar laws.

"I think every other state on the border should emulate what Arizona has done," she said on FOX News Wednesday night. "Jan Brewer, the governor of Arizona, has taken upon herself, her state government, to do what the feds should have been doing all along and say, 'No, we're going to secure this border.'

"From there, then, once that is taken care of, we can deal with those who are here illegally and we can figure out all that immigration reform that needs to take place. Yes, other states should do what Arizona is doing," she said.

She posted on her Facebook page Tuesday about immigration for the second time in a week.

"Arizonans have the courage to do what the Obama administration has failed to do in its first year and a half in office, namely secure our border and enforce our federal laws," she wrote. "And as a result, Arizonans have been subjected to a campaign of baseless accusations by the same people who freely admit they haven't a clue about what they're actually campaigning against."

INVASION USA: 17 more states planning Ariz. 'illegal' crackdown

17 more states planning Ariz. 'illegal' crackdown
But ICE chief says feds might not 'process' illegals arrested by state

Posted: May 21, 2010
9:00 pm Eastern

By Bob Unruh
© 2010 WorldNetDaily

In what is developing into a standoff between states and the federal government that could be bigger than gun control or even health care, 17 states have launched versions of Arizona's immigration law, even as federal officials say they may not bother to process illegal aliens caught by the states.

William Gheen, president of Americans for Legal Immigration PAC, which has been trying to get officials to address the open southern border for years, warned the consequences could be dire.

"Over the last couple days, Obama and the chief of ICE have refused to honor their oaths of office," he said. "Their constitutional requirement is to enforce existing laws.

"They've told the American public to go eat cake," he said.

Tell Washington what you think about immigration by sending every member of the Senate "The No Amnesty Pledge."

His organization is assembling the list of state efforts to emulate the Arizona law, which makes it illegal under state as well as federal law to be in the state without documentation.

"Seventeen states are now filing versions of Arizona's SB 1070, which is designed to help local police enforce America's existing immigration laws," ALIPAC said in a report today.

The report said numerous national and local polls indicate 60 to 81 percent of Americans support local police enforcing immigration laws.

"Our national network of activists have been working overtime trying to help the state of Arizona and the brave Arizonans who have passed this bill," he said. "Arizona no longer stands alone and we have now documented state lawmakers filing, or announcing they will file, versions of the Arizona bill in seventeen states! We will not stop until all states are protected from invasion as required by the U.S. Constitution."

Gheen said the states where some form of immigration crackdown is under development include Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas and Utah.

President Obama several times has said he doesn't like the Arizona law. He's called it misguided and ordered a review by the Justice Department.

Park cross replaced in memorial mystery

By Michal Elseth THE WASHINGTON TIMES

A week after a cross was stolen from a Mojave Desert war memorial that played a key role in a recent Supreme Court decision, a different cross was discovered early Thursday morning at the same site.

The National Park Service said in a press release Thursday afternoon that the replica cross would be removed.

Late Thursday, Mojave National Preserve spokeswoman Linda Slater told reporters in California that the new cross is illegal and must come down.

Still no information has been found about who placed the replica on the memorial site. "We're scratching our heads over this," said Joe Davis, national spokesman for the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

Religious conviction powers Ballet Magnificat, nation's first Christian ballet company

By Sarah Kaufman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, May 23, 2010

JACKSON, MISS. -- The performance is over, but the dancers aren't finished. Now they want to come up the aisles and pray with you.

"This is why we dance," announces Erin Beaver, one of Ballet Magnificat's tour directors, speaking into a microphone while she paces the stage at the Jackson Academy's Performing Arts Center. Beaver, an energetic woman with a powerful smile, has the upbeat, insistent delivery of a televangelist, but she's not ministering alone. As she urges the audience to come to Jesus, slender young women with perfect posture and turned-out feet file into the audience, still in their knee-length costumes. They wait in the aisles for the kind of standing ovation they cherish: audience members so moved by the dancing that they want to leave their seats and worship with the cast.

"Let me get something straight," Beaver tells the crowd of nearly 500. "There's nothing magical about praying with a sweaty dancer." The audience laughs.

"But this is real," she continues. "You're real.

"Let's go to a real God."

It wasn't always this easy to find God at the ballet. Back in 1986, when Kathy Thibodeaux started Ballet Magnificat, the nation's first Christian ballet company, people told her it was a big mistake.

OH parent wants 'satanic' blue devils mascot changed

OH parent wants 'satanic' blue devils mascot changed
Posted: May 22, 2010 11:27 AM EDT Updated: May 22, 2010 11:44 AM EDT

By Dick Berry - email

Posted by Lisa Strawbridge - email

HOLLAND, OH (WTOL) - One parent in the Springfield School District is starting a petition drive to change the blue devils mascot.

Julie Elrod says the district's motto is "Exceptional Without Exception," so the school should use something more excellent like a conqueror, a knight or a crusader. She believes the blue devil has satanic overtones and could be a bad influence. "It used to be a cartoon, but it has evolved to something evil-looking," she said.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Crackdown on Christians ramping up

Crackdown on Christians ramping up
Analyst: Deportation orders reflect fear Muslims will convert
Posted: May 18, 2010
10:03 pm Eastern

By Michael Carl
© 2010 WorldNetDaily

The government of Morocco has notified another 23 mostly Christian foreigners, including one American, that they're scheduled for imminent expulsion from the North African country.

And an analyst says that those targeted by the deportation order indicate the government of Morocco, which historically has been considered a moderate Muslim nation, now is fearful that Muslims will convert if exposed to Christianity.

This is the second large deportation action taken by the Moroccan government against mostly Christian individuals in the past two months. More than 40 Christian workers were deported from Morocco in March.

Aidan Clay of International Christian Concern says the North African nation simply is alarmed about the possibility that Muslims may see an opportunity to leave Islam.

"The reason they received these notices is that they allegedly broke Morocco's anti-proselytizing laws. This is the same reason for the deportations in March," Clay told WND.

U.S. government lauds, funds 9/11 mosque

U.S. government lauds, funds 9/11 mosque
Census pays $582,000, State praises terror 'front' in video

Posted: May 18, 2010
9:40 pm Eastern

© 2010 WorldNetDaily
WASHINGTON – The federal government is financially supporting and officially embracing a radical mosque in the Washington suburbs that is directly connected to al-Qaida and the 9/11 attacks as well as other terrorism.

The Census Bureau has signed a two-year, $582,000 lease with Dar al-Hijrah Islamic Center, where top al-Qaida recruiter Anwar Awlaki ministered to the Pentagon hijackers and the Fort Hood terrorist as a mosque leader.

Meanwhile, the State Department is taking diplomatic trainees on tours of the large Falls Church, Va., mosque, while featuring it in a video as a model depiction of Islam in America – even as the Department of Homeland Security warns that it is a terrorist front.

It's the must-read book that exposes the Muslim Mafia from the inside out, autographed, from WND's Superstore!

According to recently declassified internal reports obtained by the respected Investigative Project on Terrorism, Homeland Security has warned federal agents that Dar al-Hijrah is "operating as a front for Hamas" and "has been under numerous investigations for financing and proving (sic) aid and comfort to bad orgs and members."

WND has learned authorities are also investigating the mosque for child molestation and credit card fraud, following reports of mysterious Dar al-Hijrah line-item charges appearing on the statements of local individuals not even connected to the mosque.

Republican U.S. Rep. John Carter, whose Texas district includes Fort Hood, has demanded the government sever its lease, citing the threat Dar al-Hijrah poses to homeland security.

"The purpose for creating this cabinet-level agency (Homeland Security) in 2002 was to coordinate all agencies of the federal government to prevent any more radical Islamic attacks like 9-11," Carter said. "Eight years later and they can't even tell a federal agency they're renting office space from the very mosque involved with the 9-11 attacks, and that has seeded this past year's assaults through the likes of Awlaki."

General Services Administration, which holds the keys to federal buildings and coordinates security with Homeland Security, rented off-site office space owned by the mosque for census workers. GSA did not return calls seeking comment.

Dar al-Hijrah – known as the "Row Street mosque" by local law enforcement – was home for two years to Anwar Awlaki (a.k.a. Aulaqi), the charismatic, American-born cleric now hiding in Yemen, who radicalized Fort Hood shooter Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, Christmas Day crotch-bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab and, most recently, Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad.

"Awlaki not only led prayers at Dar al-Hijrah, he lived there," listing the Row Street address as his residence, said terror expert Paul Sperry.

He says Awlaki fled the country in late 2002 after narrowly escaping arrest on a federal warrant. Citing classified intelligence reports first documented in his book, "Infiltration," Sperry says the Muslim preacher showed up on terror watchlists as the subject of multiple federal investigations.

Constitution takes hit from Supreme Court

Constitution takes hit from Supreme Court
Citing unapproved treaty is 'act of most fundamental reordering of legal system'

Posted: May 18, 2010
8:54 pm Eastern

By Bob Unruh
© 2010 WorldNetDaily

The fundamentals of the U.S. Constitution possibly have been shoved one step closer to irrelevance by the U.S. Supreme Court, which yesterday cited an international treaty that has not been adopted in the U.S. as support for its opinion.

The issue is raising alarms for those who have been fighting the trend toward adopting "international" standards for American jurisprudence rather than relying on a strict application of the Constitution.

"It is bad enough for the Supreme Court to engage in judicial activism," said Michael Farris, of the Home School Legal Defense Association. "It is far worse when the justices employ international law in support of their far-reaching edicts.

Don't underestimate the globalists. "The Beast on the East River" presents a frightening exposé of the United Nations' global power grab and its ruthless attempt to control U.S. education, law, gun ownership, taxation, and reproductive rights.

"We have not ratified the U.N. child's rights treaty – its provisions should not be finding their way into Supreme Court decisions," he said.

Roger Kiska, legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund who is based in Europe, said the Supreme Court's use of an unadopted precedent "completely overlooks the checks and balances system that is established by the U.S. Constitution."

It's not the first time the court has done it, and "It's never amounted to any good," he said in a telephone interview from his base of operations in Europe. "It leans toward social radicalism."

He said there are reasons why the U.S. never adopted the U.N. convention, citing a recent case in Sweden in which a child was taken away from his home because his parents were homeschooling him, and other issues.

The child, Domenic Johanssen, has been in the custody of social services agents for almost a year now as his parents have fought – unsuccessfully so far – for his return home.

"That is a prime example of what can happen when the Convention on the Rights of the Child is used as a sword rather than as a shield," Kiska said.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Boy, 14, beaten to brink of death for his iPod

Broken Britain: Boy, 14, beaten to the brink of death for his iPod

By Claire Ellicott
Last updated at 1:16 PM on 4th May 2010

Surrounded by tubes and medical technology, a 14-year-old boy clings to life in intensive care.

Tyler Molloy was beaten nearly to death by a gang of teenagers after they stole his iPod.

He was in a coma for two days and will not be able to return to school until September at the earliest.

Last night his mother called for action on the gang culture.

'One of the worst mistakes this Government has ever made was taking away the rights of parents to chastise their children,' said Jerry Molloy, from Clapham, south-west London.

'Maybe if there was more discipline and better parenting, these children wouldn't end up in gangs, destroying people's lives.'

Woman arrested for slapping foul-mouthed granddaughter

Grandmother facing battery charges after slapping granddaughter for mouthing off:

Laura Kadechka

Largo, Florida -- The arrest of a 73-year-old grandmother has some asking... where do you draw the line when it comes to punishing unruly teens?

Theresa Collier says she's never been in trouble her entire life, but this week, the grandmother found herself behind bars in the Pinellas County Jail after slapping her granddaughter for swearing at her.

"My heart's going like this. I just thought I was going to die. I wanted to crawl in a hole," Collier told 10 Connects, as she broke down in tears.

Collier says she invited her 18-year-old granddaughter, Felicia Collier, to her house so she could use her computer to do homework.

Felicia is finishing her senior year online after getting kicked out of Catholic school in Massachusetts, Collier explained.

"She said F-off to a nun! I would just crawl into a hole," said Collier.

On Tuesday, the newly turned 18-year-old did not want to obey her commands to complete her assignments.

"She kept repeating the F-word to me, about the whole family. She just went on and on and I just got so upset, I got up and slapped her across the face," she told 10 Connects, "She grabbed my wrists and I couldn't get out of it and she let one go and she punched me in the cheek here."

Felicia then called police to her grandmother's home, but even the teenager couldn't have imagined what happened next.

"The two officers came to each side of me and before I know it, they have my arms and they said, 'You're under arrest,' and they cuff me," Collier said tearfully.

Despite Felicia Collier's attempts to convince police not to arrest her grandmother, the officers took the woman into custody.

Theresa Collier describes the next 24 hours in jail as the worst hours of her life.

"I went to medical, they take my blood pressure, it was sky high and he says, my God! And I said, 'Can you blame my blood pressure?' " said Collier.

"My wife of 52 years went to Catholic Parochial school, went to church, she's a good strong Catholic and raised four kids and no one ever spoke to her like that," said her husband, Walter Collier.

While Collier's arrest seems out of line, under the law, a battery was committed.

"Legally she's 18-years-old, so while I understand the difference between corporal punishment on a child, disciplining your child for using poor language, this is an 18-year-old child," said Lt. Mike Loux, with the Largo Police Department.

Lt. Loux says his department has a mandatory arrest policy when it comes to domestic violence calls, so someone had to go to jail.

"If an officer on scene finds probable cause to arrest a person, because they've committed domestic battery, then our policy is a mandatory arrest of that person," said Lt. Loux, "The discretion does not come because the victim does not want to prosecute. It doesn't come because the victim has remorse for calling police."

Felicia Collier was in court on Wednesday for her grandmother's first appearance and signed a form to not only not prosecute, but allow contact with her grandmother.

This still does not change the pending charges against Collier, who now has to wait for her next day in court and whether prosecutors will pursue the charge against her.

"I think it's ridiculous. We're hurt so bad, I'm so scared she's going to have a heart attack or a stroke over this. She doesn't sleep, she bursts into tears and I'm almost doing it now," said Walter Collier.

They haven't spoken to their granddaughter since the incident.

Largest Lutheran group reinstating 2 gay ministers

May 4 04:19 PM US/Eastern
By KATE BRUMBACK
Associated Press Writer

ATLANTA (AP) - A gay Atlanta pastor and his partner who have been at the center of a battle over the treatment of gay clergy by the nation's largest Lutheran denomination are being reinstated to the denomination's clergy roster, church officials announced Tuesday.

The Rev. Bradley Schmeling and his partner, the Rev. Darin Easler, have been approved for reinstatement, the Chicago-based Evangelical Lutheran Church in America said in a news release. Their reinstatement comes about eight months after the denomination voted to allow gays and lesbians in committed relationships to serve as clergy, and about three weeks after the ELCA's church council officially revised the church's policy on gay ministers.

Schmeling, who serves as pastor of St. John's Lutheran Church in Atlanta, was removed from the church's clergy roster in 2007 for being in a same-sex relationship with Easler. A disciplinary committee ruled that Schmeling was violating an ELCA policy regarding the sexual conduct of pastors.

"I'm grateful that this journey has come full circle and that the church has changed its policy," Schmeling said Tuesday.

"I think the church saw the gifts and the abilities of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people and saw that the spirit was calling them into ministry and wanted to create a way for people to serve," he said.

The reinstatement will become effective "once the paperwork has been filed," which should happen in the coming days or weeks, he said.

At its biennial national convention in August, ELCA leaders called for revisions to ministry policy documents, making it possible for "eligible Lutherans in publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationships" to serve as clergy, the church said in the statement. The ELCA Church Council adopted those revisions April 10.

The candidacy committee of the ELCA Southeastern Synod in Atlanta met two weeks later and approved Schmeling's request for reinstatement.

Even though Schmeling had been removed from the ELCA clergy roster, he remained pastor at St. John's, putting the church in violation of ELCA guidelines, said the Rev. H. Julian Gordy, bishop of the ELCA Southeastern Synod.

"There are people in our church that believe that pastors in publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationships should not serve as pastors in this church," Gordy said in the church statement. "But the assembly said that while we were not in agreement on this, congregations could call persons in such relationship to serve as pastors, and St. John has chosen to do this." He added that Schmeling's reinstatement "will be very good news" for the members of St. John.

"This congregation has always been clear in its affirmation and support of our relationship," Schmeling said. "When I told them that I had met my partner for life, they threw us a party. When they heard that we were both reinstated to the clergy roster, there was a spontaneous standing ovation in church on Sunday."

Sad truth for too many churches in America. The Bible makes it clear that homosexuality, like many other sins...is a sin. But to have an active sinful lifestyle going on, living in sin, and actually be the Pastor of a so called church is almost unbelievable! Worse yet is the fact that the congregation (some anyhow) are okay with it? It shows how many churches of America are no more than a club to go for entertainment, friendship, and to have your ears tickled. They sadly no longer preach the whole Bible and speak on sin, repentance, the reality of hell, and the grace of God, found only in Jesus for those who not only trust in Him, but Obey Him! Comments welcome as long as they are clean...

Saturday, April 24, 2010

China: Authorities plan to sterilize 10,000 to curb births

Peter Sharp, China correspondent

Health authorities are planning to sterilise nearly 10,000 people in southern China over the next four days as part of a population control programme.

Some of the people in Puning City will be forced to have the procedure carried out against their will.

Amnesty International says forced sterilisation "amounts to torture".

Reports in the Chinese media say that Puning Health authorities in Guangdong Province have launched a special campaign to sterilise people who already have at least one child in order to ensure local birth control quotas are met.

Chinese newspaper reports say that those who refuse to be sterilised have seen their elderly mothers or fathers taken away and detained.

Hundreds of people in Puning are said to have been locked up.

Kate Allen, Director of Amnesty International UK, said: "It is appalling that the authorities are subjecting people to such an invasive procedure against their will.

"Reports that relatives are imprisoned as a means of pressurising couples into submitting to surgery are incredibly concerning.

"The Puning City authorities must condemn this practice immediately and ensure that others are not forcibly sterilised."

More than 1,300 people in the city have been held in local government buildings where they were given "lectures" on China's family planning regulations.

Huang Ruifeng is the father of three girls.

"Several days ago, a village official called me and asked me or my wife to return for the surgery," Huang told the local paper. "Otherwise they would take away my father."

He refused.

His father was later rounded up and detained by the authorities.

Confirmed! Global warming is 'settled' – as a scam

Confirmed! Global warming is 'settled' – as a scam
'Climategate' author unveils evidence of 'every deception imaginable'

By Bob Unruh
© 2010 WorldNetDaily

Al Gore's insistence that global warming is "settled science" has been used to defend claims humanity is on the edge of destroying the world. Now author Brian Sussman, whose book "Climategate" is being released Thursday – Earth Day – agrees it's "settled," as a scam.

Sussman unveils in his book evidence that the move to restrict carbon-dioxide emissions, tax a multitude of energy programs and create a "Big Brother" that would limit household energy use, among other programs, is a move to give government unlimited control over people.

National Public Radio reported in 2007 how Gore took his "climate-change crusade" to Congress and said the science on the issue was "settled." Then in 2009 the Environmental Protection Agency declared carbon dioxide and other emissions are endangering the future of the world.

Be the first to see the full documentation of how your life could be changed by climate-related laws, taxes and regulations, in "Climategate"

Sussman's book, the newest title by WND Books, has been charting for several weeks already among Amazon's top 10 preordered titles. It warns that believing global warming is "settled science" is a danger itself.

He writes that the now-notorious intercepted e-mails that reveal leading global-warming supporters exchanging plans to squelch critics and falsify data are just the tip of the iceberg.

Messianic Jews in Israel Seek Public Apology for Attack

Messianic Jews in Israel Seek Public Apology for Attack

Christians await court decision on assaults on services by ultra-orthodox Jews.
ISTANBUL, April 23 (CDN) — After a final court hearing in Israel last week, a church of Messianic Jews awaits a judge’s decision that could force an ultra-orthodox Jewish organization to publicly apologize to them for starting a riot and ransacking a baptismal service.

A ruling in favor of the Christian group would mark the first time an organization opposing Messianic Jews in Israel has had to apologize to its victims for religious persecution.

In 2006 Howard Bass, pastor of Yeshua’s Inheritance church, filed suit against Yehuda Deri, chief Sephardic rabbi in the city of Beer Sheva, and Yad L’Achim, an organization that fights against Messianic Jews, for allegedly inciting a riot at a December 2005 service that Bass was leading.

Bass has demanded either a public apology for the attack or 1.5 million shekels (US$401,040) from the rabbi and Yad L’Achim.

The case, Bass said, was ultimately about “defending the name of Yeshua [Jesus]” and making sure that Deri, the leadership of Yad L’Achim and those that support them know they have to obey the law and respect the right of people to worship.

“They are trying to get away from having any responsibility,” Bass said.

On Dec. 24, 2005, during a baptismal service in Beer Sheva, a group of about 200 men pushed their way into a small, covered structure being used to baptize two believers and tried to stop the service. Police were called to the scene but could not control the crowd.

Once inside the building, the assailants tossed patio chairs, damaged audiovisual equipment, threw a grill and other items into a baptismal pool, and then pushed Bass into the pool and broke his glasses.

“Their actions were violent actions without regard [for injury],” Bass said.

In the days before the riot, Yad L’Achim had issued notices to people about a “mass baptism” scheduled to take place at the facility in the sprawling city of 531,000 people 51 miles (83 kilometers) southwest of Jerusalem. In the days after the riot, Deri bragged about the incident on a radio talk show, including a boast that Bass had been “baptized” at the gathering.

The 2005 incident wasn’t the first time the church had to deal with a riotous attack after Yad L’Achim disseminated false information about their activities. On Nov. 28, 1998, a crowd of roughly 1,000 protestors broke up a Yeshua’s Inheritance service after the anti-Christian group spread a rumor that three busloads of kidnapped Jewish minors were being brought in for baptism. The assailants threw rocks, spit on parishioners and attempted to seize some of their children, Bass said.

In response to the 1998 attack and to what Bass described as a public, cavalier attitude about the 2005 attack, Bass and others in the Messianic community agreed that he needed to take legal action.

“What is happening here has happened to Jews throughout the centuries,” Bass said about persecution of Messianic Jews in Israel, adding that many in movements opposed to Messianic Jews in Israel are “arrogant.” He compared their attitudes to the attitudes that those in Hamas, a Palestinian group dedicated to the destruction of the State of Israel, have toward Israelis in general.

“They say, ‘Recognize us, but we will never recognize you,’” Bass said.

Long Battle
Bass has fought against the leadership of Yad L’Achim and Deri for four years through his attorneys, Marvin Kramer and Kevork Nalbandian. But throughout the process, Kramer said, the two defendants have refused to offer a genuine apology for the misinformation that led to the 2005 riot or for the riot itself.

Kramer said Bass’s legal team would offer language for an acceptable public apology, and attorneys for the defendants in turn would offer language that amounted to no real apology at all.

“We made several attempts to make a compromise, but we couldn’t do it,” Kramer said. “What we were really looking for was a public apology, and they weren’t ready to give a public apology. If we would have gotten the public apology, we would have dropped the lawsuit at any point.”

Despite several attempts to reach Yad L’Achim officials at both their U.S. and Israeli offices, no one would comment.

New acquittals for people who attacked Christians in India

New acquittals for people who attacked Christians in India
Fr Edward Sequeira saw anti-Christian violence firsthand and was almost burnt to death during the 2008 pogrom. He alleges that a big organisation is working against Christians.

By Asia News.

Kandhamal (AsiaNews) – A court in Orissa acquitted five Hindu extremists charged with attacking Christians in Orissa and ordered the release of 17 more for lack of evidence. Speaking to AsiaNews, Verbite priest Edward Sequeira said, “Kandhamal is still simmering with communal tension and hostilities. Many of our people have not gone back as they are afraid that they will inevitably be forced to go back to Hinduism.” However, the clergyman, who experienced firsthand the violent pogrom when he was almost burnt alive (see Nirmala Carvalho, “Fr Edward, survivor of arson in Orissa: the Hindu radicals are terrorists,” in AsiaNews, 4 September 2009), said that he was “going back to his lepers” because “they need the love of the Church.” Currently, the priest lives in a parish on the outer edge of the district.

“Thousands of people are still displaced, living in shanties outside the district,” he said. “Many people have had to go to other states. Getting back to normal appears difficult. Housing is a priority but construction is rather slow. Churches or other facilities are not being rebuilt, and security remains a big issue for Christians.”

At present, health reasons have kept Fr Sequeira away from his community. “I am here under medical advice as my lungs are not improving and my breathing problem still persists,” he said. However, “I am also living here in secret” because of “threats to my life.”

Still, “I make unannounced visits to the leper colony in Padampur,” he added, because “I am willing to risk everything for the lepers; they are the people who most need our services. They are the poorest of the poor and are ostracised by mainstream society. Therefore, I often visit in order to provide them with whatever services I can offer. With love and dignity, the Church has always helped them, all of whom are Hindu.”

Army withdraws Franklin Graham Pentagon prayer day invitation

Army withdraws Franklin Graham Pentagon prayer day invitation
By Jeff Schogol, Stars and Stripes
Online Edition, Thursday, April 22, 2010

Related story from April 16, 2003: Pentagon says it won't withdraw Franklin Graham's invitation to speak

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Army has disinvited Franklin Graham to speak at the Pentagon on National Prayer Day after a military advocacy group objected because Graham has reportedly described Islam as “evil” and “wicked.”

“I regret that the Army felt it was necessary to rescind their invitation to the National Day of Prayer Task Force to participate in the Pentagon’s special prayer service,” Graham said in a statement on Thursday.

I want to express my strong support for the United States military and all our troops. I will continue to pray that God will give them guidance, wisdom and protection as they serve this great country.”

Graham was expected to speak at the Pentagon on May 6, drawing the ire of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, a watchdog group focused on religious favoritism in the military.

The group had been prepared to seek a temporary restraining order against National Prayer Day if it were “polluted by someone as hideously Islamophobic as Franklin Graham,” said Mikey Weinstein, head of the group.

In a 2001 op-ed piece, Graham wrote that he does not believe Muslims are evil, but he objects to the treatment of women in Muslim countries and Islam’s historic “persecution or elimination” of other religions.

On Thursday, Graham told Fox News that while he loves Muslims, “I speak out for people that live under Islam, that are enslaved by Islam and I want them to know they can be free through faith in Jesus Christ and Christ alone.”Council on American Islamic Relations spokesman Ibrahim Hooper said it is “completely inappropriate” for Graham to speak in front of a military audience.

“These are individuals who are potentially going to be stationed in Muslim majority nations, and they don’t need to hear from someone spreading hatred of Islam and Muslims,” Hooper said.

“What does that say to those who are going to be asked to serve in these regions and how is that going to affect their interaction with the local population?” Graham is honorary chairman of the National Day of Prayer Task Force, a group that organizes Christian events that was invited to participate in National Day of Prayer by the Pentagon chaplain’s office.

An Army spokesman told the Associated Press the Pentagon’s relationship with the Christian group does not violate Defense Department rules.

We are an all-inclusive military,” said Col. Tim Collins. “We hold observances throughout the year. This one happens to be a Christian-themed event.”

Evangelical group challenges uninspiring sermons

Evangelical Alliance challenges uninspiring sermons

The Evangelical Alliance has released new resources to help pastors deliver inspiring sermons after recent research found that most churchgoers did not find sermons life-changing.

The organisation said the research released by CODEC and the College of Preachers earlier in the year had raised “significant questions” that needed to be discussed by the church.

In particular, the research found that although 96 per cent of churchgoers looked forward to Sunday’s sermon, less than 17 per cent found that it led to a change in their life.

The Evangelical Alliance’s new eBook, ‘Refreshing Preaching’, has been published as part of the Biblefresh initiative launched this year to restore confidence in the Bible.

Stephen Gaukroger, Director of Clarion Trust International and Biblefresh member, said: “We need to question how well we are engaging effectively with our listeners, as we seek to raise a generation of preachers who handle God’s Word faithfully and deliver sermons that change lives.”

Irish 'visionary': Volcano linked to 2nd coming of Christ

Volcano linked to second coming of Christ, claims Irish 'visionary' Joe Coleman

By
PATRICK COOPER,
IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

Irish spiritual healer Joe Coleman says the Virgin Mary has been back in touch with him and revealed that the volcanic ash cloud currently covering Europe will get worse and is directly related to the second coming of Christ.

Coleman claims that the ash cloud is part of a series of events that will occur before Mary’s next scheduled visit to Knock on May 11 at 2 p.m. local time.

Among the other things due to happen are ‘crosses in the sky’ that will be visible to thousands and “new moons that have never been seen before with the naked eye will be seen.”

“I realize that by going public like this I am opening myself up to public ridicule and scorn. Personally I have been shocked by the messages and how strong they have become lately and it pains me to have to make these revelations. However, people will accept the truth of the messages I receive because they will see the proof with their own eyes very shortly," said Coleman.

“Our Lady, the Blessed Mother of God, uses me simply as a channel. My job is not to convert. My job is to publish the messages. They are being given to the world (through me and, possibly, other visionaries) to prepare the world for the Second Coming of Christ on Earth. The period for preparation will be very short . The messages are not being given to frighten us but to give up ample warning us of the necessity to turn back to our faith in God. People have been given free will and it is up to them whether or not they want to believe in the messages or not.

Archie Comics unveils 1st 'gay' character

By Michael Cavna
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, April 23, 2010

"Betty or Veronica . . . or Kevin?"

The decades-old question that has driven more Archie Comics plot turns than a white-walled jalopy just got a new twist.

Archie Comics announced Thursday that Riverdale High will enroll its first openly gay character in September.

The character, a blond newbie named Kevin Keller, will debut in No. 202 of Veronica Comics. In the initial story line, titled "Isn't It Bromantic?," Veronica is stymied when her womanly wiles hold no sway with Kevin, who has more in common with fellow foodie Jughead.

"Everyone seems to know where Kevin is coming from except Veronica," says Victor Gorelick, editor in chief of Archie Comics. "They don't tell Veronica -- they let her stew in it for a while. But he hangs out with Jughead -- they seem to have a connection as far as food goes."

Judging by Gorelick and Archie artist-writer Dan Parent, there's nothing more to be read into that last statement. Sometimes a malted is just a malted.

Kevin's debut is part of Archie Comics' larger efforts to contemporize the characters' world.

"The introduction of Kevin is just about keeping the world of Archie Comics current and inclusive. Archie's hometown of Riverdale has always been a safe world for everyone. It just makes sense to have an openly gay character in Archie comic books," Archie Comics co-CEO Jon Goldwater said in announcing the news.

This is just the latest step toward Riverdale showing more diversity. In the new story line of Archie Comics, the redheaded star is dating neither Veronica or Betty -- but Valerie from Josie and the Pussycats.

With some comics, these collective changes would qualify as non-news. But in the less-diverse world of Riverdale -- where everything but the sundaes has often been vanilla -- this registers as a major shift.

Massive anti-Obama rally set for tomorrow in New York

Massive Anti-Obama Rally Set for Sunday in New York

Posted April 24 2010.

by Hana Levi Julian
Follow Israel news on Twitter and Facebook.

Thousands of Americans are preparing to protest in New York this Sunday against the Obama administration's increasing hostility towards Israel. The event is scheduled to take place outside the Israel Consulate on Sunday, April 25 at 1:00 p.m. EDT. A partial list of organizations who endorsed the demonstration is below.

Beth Gilinsky, head of the Jewish Action Alliance that is sponsoring the event, said, "We are outraged that President [Barack] Obama is scapegoating Israel and wants to expel Jews from their homes in Jerusalem. President Obama and Secretary Hillary Clinton show more anger about a Jewish family building a home in Jerusalem than Iran building a nuclear bomb," she added.

Gilinsky was referring to the brouhaha that ensued following a mis-timed announcement that the fourth stage of a seven-year plan for a housing project in the Ramat Shlomo neighborhood of Jerusalem had been approved by Israel's Interior Ministry.

The announcement, made during a visit to the region by Vice President Joe Biden, led to weeks of recriminations and condemnations by U.S. officials, beginning with an immediate, harsh condemnation from Biden himself. Less than 24 hours after he left the country, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to scold him for having embarrassed the vice president and the Obama administration, and delivered a list of concessions and demands Israel was expected to fulfill in response. Other Obama officials followed with statements of criticism of their own.

Not one U.S. official at the time made mention of the formal government ceremony held by the Palestinian Authority during Biden's visit -- the naming of a public square in Ramallah to honor Dalah Mughrabi, the terrorist who led an attack that came to be known as the Coastal Road Massacre. In 1978, Mughrabi and her band of terrorists hijacked a tour bus on the coastal highway, murdering 37 innocent civilians and wounding 71 others, including more than a dozen children.

On the night that PA officials gathered to honor Mughrabi, Biden was delivering a speech at Tel Aviv University in which he repeated his condemnation of Israel for proceeding with the three-year-old housing project in a part of the nation's capital restored to Jerusalem during the 1967 Six-Day War, and thus not recognized by the U.S. government. American officials followed up a day later, when Biden had left the country, with more harsh criticism of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his government.

“Vast segments of the Jewish community will not tolerate the president's continuing attacks on Israel. Grassroots Jewry will not be silent,” Gilinsky vowed. A long list of Jewish organizations as well as a number of Christian and other non-Jewish groups have signed on to the event as well.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Israel threatens to return Syria to Stone Age

Israel warns Syria over Hezbollah attack
Uzi Mahnaimi in Tel Aviv

Israel has delivered a secret warning to Syrian President Bashar Assad that it will respond to missile attacks from Hezbollah, the militant Lebanese-based Islamist group, by launching immediate retaliation against Syria itself.

In a message, sent earlier this month, Israel made it clear that it now regards Hezbollah as a division of the Syrian army and that reprisals against Syria will be fast and devastating.

It follows the discovery by Israeli intelligence that Syria has recently supplied long-range ballistic missiles and advanced anti-aircraft systems to Hezbollah.

“We’ll return Syria to the Stone Age by crippling its power stations, ports, fuel storage and every bit of strategic infrastructure if Hezbollah dare to launch ballistic missiles against us,” said an Israeli minister, who who was speaking off-the-record, last week.

The warning, which was conveyed to Damascus by a third party, was sent to reinforce an earlier signal by Avigdor Lieberman, the Israeli foreign minister. “If a war breaks out the Assad dynasty will lose its power and will cease to reign in Syria,” he said earlier this year.

The Israeli decision to hold Syria directly responsible for Hezbollah’s actions is believed to be the result of intelligence assessments that Beirut has lost control of the Shi’ite organisation, which has become an increasingly powerful force in Lebanon.

Reports that Syria has supplied Hezbollah with Russian-made Scud ballistic missiles have alarmed Israeli ministers. The missiles have the potential to reach the entire country and could carry chemical warheads. New gas masks are being supplied to Israel’s entire population, with an intensive television advertising campaign underway to stress their importance.

Justices to hear rejected Christian group's lawsuit

Supreme Court to consider case against California law school

By Robert Barnes
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, April 18, 2010

SAN FRANCISCO -- At the oldest law school in the West, law is being made this semester, not just taught.

In a case that carries great implications for how public universities and schools must accommodate religious groups, the University of California's Hastings College of the Law is defending its anti-discrimination policy against charges that it denies religious freedom.

The college, which requires officially recognized student groups to admit any Hastings student who wants to join, may be well-meaning, says the student outpost of the Christian Legal Society. But the group contends that requiring it to allow gay students and nonbelievers into its leadership would be a renunciation of its core beliefs, and that the policy violates the Constitution's guarantee of free speech, association with like-minded individuals and exercise of religion.

"Hastings' policy is a threat to every group that seeks to form and define its own voice," the group told the court in a brief. The case, Christian Legal Society v. Martinez, will be argued in the Supreme Court Monday morning.

Hastings counters that the CLS, a national organization that seeks to "proclaim, love and serve Jesus Christ through the study and practice of law," is demanding special treatment. It wants the college's official stamp of approval and the access to benefits and student activity fees that come with it, but it will not commit to following the nondiscrimination policy that every other student group follows.

Tearful pope says church will better protect young

Tearful pope says church will better protect young

Apr 18 03:59 PM US/Eastern
By VICTOR L. SIMPSON
Associated Press Writer

VALLETTA, Malta (AP) - With tears in his eyes, Pope Benedict XVI made his most personal gesture yet to respond to the clerical sex abuse scandal Sunday, telling victims the church will do everything possible to protect children and bring abusive priests to justice, the Vatican said.

The emotional moment carried no new admissions from the Vatican, which has strongly rejected accusations that efforts to cover up for abusive priests were directed by the church hierarchy for decades. But the pontiff told the men that the church would "implement effective measures" to protect children, the Vatican said, without offering details.

Benedict met for more than a half-hour with eight Maltese men who say they were abused by four priests when they were boys living at a Catholic orphanage. During the meeting in the chapel at the Vatican's embassy here, Benedict expressed his "shame and sorrow" at the pain the men and their families suffered, the Vatican said.

"Everybody was crying," one of the men, Joseph Magro, 38, told Associated Press Television News after the meeting. "I told him my name was Joseph, and he had tears in his eyes."

The visit—which came on the second day of Benedict's two-day trip to this largely Roman Catholic island—marked the first time Benedict had met with abuse victims since the worldwide clerical abuse scandal engulfed the Vatican earlier this year.

"He prayed with them and assured them that the Church is doing, and will continue to do, all in its power to investigate allegations, to bring to justice those responsible for abuse and to implement effective measures designed to safeguard young people in the future," the Vatican statement said.

Victims' advocacy groups have demanded that the Vatican take concrete steps to protect children and remove abusive priests and the bishops who protected them, saying the pope's expressions to date of solidarity and shame were meaningless unless actual action is taken.

The main U.S. victims group, Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, said it was easy for Benedict to make promises about taking action to protect children.

"Not a single adult should feel relieved until strong steps are actually taken, not promised, that will prevent future child sex crimes and cover-ups," said Peter Isely, the group's Midwest director.

Preying on the National Day of Prayer

Preying on the National Day of Prayer
Posted: April 19, 2010
1:00 am Eastern

© 2010

Proof that progressivism is alive and well on planet Earth came again last week via the Wisconsin federal judge's ruling that the National Day of Prayer, or NDP, is unconstitutional.

Appointed to the bench by Jimmy Carter, U.S. District Judge Barbara B. Crabb wrote that the government can no more enact laws supporting a day of prayer than it can encourage citizens to fast during Ramadan, attend a synagogue or practice magic. She further gave the rationale, "The same law that prohibits the government from declaring a National Day of Prayer also prohibits it from declaring a National Day of Blasphemy."

Even more preposterous logic is found in her words: "In fact, it is because the nature of prayer is so personal and can have such a powerful effect on a community that the government may not use its authority to try to influence an individual's decision whether and when to pray."

As most know, the first Thursday in May has been honored as a National Day of Prayer since 1952, when its approval flew through the Congress as a way to help separate America as a country with a Godly heritage and to aid her success against atheistic communism. Ever since, presidents have commemorated the NDP. Even President Obama issued a proclamation in 2009 about the NDP, though he did not hold ecumenical and public events with religious leaders as former President George W. Bush had done.

Regarding Judge Crabb's ruling on the NDP being unconstitutional, Chief Counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice Jay Sekulow hit the judicial nail on the head when he said, "It is unfortunate that this court failed to understand that a day set aside for prayer for the country represents a time-honored tradition that embraces the First Amendment, not violates it."

Though this ruling is only one, these skewed judgments permeate nearly every stratum of our society. And they often hinge upon erroneous and ignorant views of America's Judeo-Christian heritage, and especially the First Amendment and the so-called separation of church and state.

Liberals would have you believe that the First Amendment establishes an impenetrable and impassable "separation of church and state." But that phrase appears nowhere in the First Amendment, which actually reads: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."

The phrase "the separation of Church and State" actually comes from a letter Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1802 to the Danbury Baptists. He told them that no particular Christian denomination was going to have a monopoly in government. His words, "a wall of separation between Church and State," were not written to remove all religious practice from government or civic settings, but to prohibit the domination and even legislation of religious sectarianism.

The Danbury Baptists had written to Thomas Jefferson seeking reassurance that their religious liberty would be guaranteed, not that religious expression on public grounds would be banned. Proof that Jefferson was not trying to rid government of religious (specifically Christian) influence comes from the fact he endorsed using government buildings for church meetings, signed a treaty with the Kaskaskia Indians that allotted federal money to support the building of a Catholic church and to pay the salary of the church's priests, and repeatedly renewed legislation that gave land to the United Brethren to help their missionary activities among the Indians.

Is 2nd Coming of Jesus etched in night sky?

Is 2nd Coming of Jesus etched in night sky?
'The devil perverts everything God has. There's nothing wrong with biblical astronomy'

Posted: April 18, 2010
7:27 pm Eastern

By Joe Kovacs
© 2010 WorldNetDaily

Is it possible the return of Jesus Christ to Earth has been foretold not only in the Bible, but also in the night sky since the creation of the universe?

A Christian minister who uses NASA tracking of solar and lunar eclipses in his teaching of the great event is now explaining how at least one constellation is an outright declaration of the "Second Coming."

In a new DVD series called "Studies in Our Hebrew Roots," Mark Biltz, pastor of El Shaddai Ministries in Bonney Lake, Wash., revisits what he and some others believe is the biblical plan of God on display in the physical heavens.

Probe the heavens like you never have before with this fascinating 8-DVD set that also explores more of Christianity's Hebrew roots!

In his videotaped lectures, Biltz focuses on a star called Arcturus, which is mentioned in the Old Testament Book of Job: "Which maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south." (Job 9:9)

If one were to consult a map of the night sky, Arcturus could be found in the "left knee" of a constellation called Bo-otes (often spelled Bootes), meaning "the Coming One," depicted as a warrior coming to harvest, according to Biltz, citing previous research by noted 19th century Bible scholar E.W. Bullinger who wrote "The Witness of the Stars."

Biltz explains the Hebrew word translated as "Arcturus" in Job comes from the same root word found in the Book of Joel discussing the return of Jesus, but is rendered in Joel 3:11 as "assemble."

"The word 'assemble' is the same word that is translated as 'Arcturus' in Job," he said. "So it means the same thing, to assemble, to come. And if you'll notice the word 'come' is 'bo,' which is the name of this constellation: 'Bo-otes.' So this constellation .... He's got a sickle in one hand and a spear in the other. This is a sign of the Messiah who says 'I'm coming.' That's what this constellation is all about, the Coming One. In Revelation it talks about He has a sickle in His hand."

Biometrics a worry? They're already here ...

Biometrics a worry? They're already here ...
Schools use ID technology for lunches, access

Posted: April 19, 2010
10:00 pm Eastern

By Bob Unruh
© 2010 WorldNetDaily

A new wave of controversy is developing in Washington over ways to deal with illegal immigration as senators consider using biometrics, the unchangeable physical attributes of fingerprints or other identifying marks.

President Reagan likened a 1981 biometric plan to the biblical "mark of the beast," and even President Clinton said the idea evoked "Big Brother," according to a key opponent.

But biometrics already is in use in schools nationwide, with one company boasting that some 1 million students use its fingerprint-based technology for student lunches.

The issue arose over the last week in the Summit School District in New Jersey, where officials confirmed their schools are being set up with biometrics on a building-by-building basis.

Parents at Washington Elementary recently received a notice that the school was "implementing a biometric finger scanning identification program in an effort to provide our elementary students with a safe and easy way to identify themselves when entering the school and using the cafeteria."

One parent contacted WND and expressed concern that parents were given virtually no notice before the announcement that the plans already were being instituted.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Government calls preaching 'clear and present danger'

1ST AMENDMENT UNDER FIRE
Government calls preaching 'clear and present danger'
Appeals court deciding fate of free speech at Liberty Bell

Posted: April 13, 2010
10:36 pm Eastern

By Bob Unruh
© 2010 WorldNetDaily

A panel of judges at the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals today heard arguments that free speech should be allowed on public property at the site of the famous Liberty Bell, which itself quotes from the Bible in stating, "Proclaim liberty throughout the land unto all the inhabitants thereof."

The arguments came in a case involving Michael Marcavage, a minister whose work includes street preaching. He was fined and put on probation for preaching to the public on a sidewalk outside the Liberty Bell center after a trial in which government prosecutors described his message and actions as a "clear and present danger."

The case began in October 2007 when Marcavage, director of the Repent America ministry, was arrested by supervising U.S. Park Ranger Alan Saperstein.

Marcavage ultimately was charged with violating a so-called "verbal permit" and "interfering with agency functions."

A video of the arrest has been posted: MUST SEE...CLICK ON FULL STORY LINK AT BOTTOM OF ARTICLE!

Evangelist Arrested for Preaching Near Liberty Bell from Repent America on Vimeo.

It was Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Goldberg during the June 2008 trial who argued Marcavage's peaceful preaching presented a "clear and present danger." Goldberg asked the judge to send a message not only to Marcavage but to anyone who would stand on public property and share their beliefs without government permission.

According to Marcavage, Independence National Historical Park Law Enforcement Specialist Donald Reed recently reaffirmed that free speech activities are banned on any of the public sidewalks surrounding the park that align city streets without first obtaining government permission. Even with a permit, the activities must be confined to a designated "free speech zone."

Friday, April 9, 2010

Obama spies boost monitoring of Jews

WND Exclusive FROM WND'S JERUSALEM BUREAU
Obama spies boost monitoring of Jews

Protesting even home improvements to highest levels of Israeli government
Posted: April 08, 2010
11:30 pm Eastern

By Aaron Klein
© 2010 WorldNetDaily

JERUSALEM – The Obama administration in recent weeks has stepped up its monitoring of Jewish construction projects in eastern Jerusalem and is protesting to the highest levels of the Israeli government even small building or improvement projects, WND has learned.

Obama is calling for Israel to halt all Jewish construction in eastern Jerusalem for four months as a confidence-building gesture to start talks with the Palestinian Authority.

Already, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu placed a freeze on building projects in the strategic West Bank, purportedly as a confidence-building gesture as well.

WND previously reported Obama's Middle East envoy, George Mitchell, oversaw the establishment of an enhanced apparatus based in the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem that closely monitors Judea and Samaria – and also known as the West Bank – and eastern Jerusalem neighborhoods, incorporating regular tours of the areas.

Is Israel already done for? Find out in "The Late Great State of Israel"

According to both Israeli and PA sources, the consulate apparatus has stepped up its monitoring of Jewish housing in eastern Jerusalem. The Israeli sources said the U.S. government is protesting to Netanyahu's office any sign of Jewish building, such as the sight of a bulldozer in Maale Adumim, an eastern Jerusalem Jewish neighborhood.

Previously, under the Bush administration, the consulate kept a general eye on Jewish Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria construction, receiving much of its information from nongovernmental organizations.

"Mitchell's apparatus takes things to a whole new level. They are watching very closely," an Israeli official who is aware of the U.S. government's construction-monitoring activities previously told WND.

Jewish leaders in Judea and Samaria previously told WND the consulate makes no effort to hide its activities.

"They come out. They tour our communities. They try to interact with our leadership," David Ha'ivri, spokesmen for the Shomron Regional Council in Judea and Samaria, told WND in August.

Rumors to Antichrist behavior??? What do you think?

BREAKING: Obama Administration Denies Visas to Israeli Nuclear Scientists

The Obama administration is now denying U.S. visas to Israeli scientists who work at that nation’s Dimona nuclear reactor. This startling reversal of traditional policy was reported April 7, 2010, in the Israeli website/newspaper NRG/Maariv (link to the original Hebrew here and to an exclusive Pajamas Media translation here).

This could be yet another flashpoint in the increasingly sensitive relations between the administration, the American Jewish community, and Israel. The revelation in Maariv came only a day before the arrival in New York of Tariq Ramadan — controversial grandson of Muslim Brotherhood founder Hassan al Banna — whose visa was reportedly championed by Secretary of State Clinton. Yesterday as well, new rules disavowing the term “Islamic radicalism” were announced by Secretary of Defense Gates.

According to Maariv: “…. workers at the Dimona reactor who submitted VISA requests to visit the United States for ongoing university education in Physics, Chemistry and Nuclear Engineering — have all been rejected, specifically because of their association with the Dimona reactor. This is a new policy decision of the Obama administration, since there never used to be an issue with the reactor’s workers from study in the USA, and till recently, they received VISAs and studied in the USA.”

Israeli defense officials are stating these workers have no criminal records in the U.S. or Israel and have been singled out purely because of their place of employment. Moreover, nuclear materials for the Dimona reactor apparently do not come from the U.S. Zeev Alfasi — head of nuclear engineering at Israel’s Ben Gurion University — states that “the United States doesn’t sell anything nuclear-related to the Dimona reactor, and that means absolutely nothing. Radiation detectors, for example, have to be purchased now in France because the USA refuses to sell these to Israel.”

Obama seeming very Pro-Arabs, while being Anti-Jews? More so than any other American President by far! (Signs of the end?) We need to pray for the people and nation of Israel and America! This needs to be a wake up call to us.

Good News! Teens making a 'change' through grocery handouts

Teens stage revolution

By Amy Hamilton
Friday, March 26, 2010

“Hi, how are you? We have some food for you,” said Sonja Alvarez-Barker of Clifton, passing along bags of food to a new neighbor who answered her front door.

“We have food in the park every Sunday. We have ravioli,” Alvarez-Barker continued to the teenage girl who looked surprised at first. Then the girl’s face softened.

“Ohh, ravioli,” she exclaimed, and called out thank-yous as Alvarez-Barker and a small group of teens moved on to the next door.

Neighbors in the heart of Clifton used to peer suspiciously upon opening their doors, wondering about the cadre of young, smiling strangers who appeared each Sunday on their doorsteps bearing bags of food. But after seven months, the effort by a group of Central High School students, organized by the Canyon View Vineyard Church, is forging friendships in a community of folks accustomed to keeping to themselves.

“It’s amazing how a simple bag of groceries can change somebody’s life,” Central High School senior Alyssa Workman said, a sack of food in each hand, off to knock on another door. “At first people were scared; now they welcome us into their homes.”

The student group, called The Revolution, is doing more than filling tummies. Students are learning about the realities of not having enough, while making inroads with people they might not otherwise meet.

Besides, if not for the Sunday distributions, what else would students be doing?

“Homework and TV,” junior Nikki Keeling said. “It’s cool what people can do when everything comes together. It makes a difference.”

Many in the area dense with duplexes and apartment homes around 32 Road know that Kimwood Park at 2 p.m. Sundays is the place to get a hot meal. It’s also where neighbors catch up with one another. Some say those simple connections are helping to reduce crime in an area where drug deals used to be common in the daytime and parents kept their children from playing in the park.

“People are stopping, waving, talking,” said Alvarez-Barker, a neighbor who is now a church member and helps distribute food. “I’m not the only one watching out for our kids. There’s still crime, but it’s in smaller amounts.”

No birth certificate? No Obamacare!

BORN IN THE USA?
No birth certificate? No Obamacare!
Attorney files motion to link eligibility, health-care lawsuits

Posted: April 08, 2010
11:30 pm Eastern

By Chelsea Schilling
© 2010 WorldNetDaily

A California lawyer who has led several of the high-profile legal challenges to Barack Obama's eligibility to be president has filed a motion to intervene in a case by 13 attorneys general contesting the constitutionality of the Democrats' massive health-care plan.

Attorney Orly Taitz – now a candidate for secretary of state in California – is seeking to link her case and the case against the health-care law, Florida et al vs. United States Department of Health and Human Services.

In legal documents filed April 6 in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, Taitz requests an oral argument on the motion to take place April 14 at 9 a.m.

As WND recently reported, Taitz argues, "H.R. 3590 was signed into law by Mr. Barack Hussein Obama, who … never proved his legitimacy to the presidency. Therefore the act is invalid, as it was not signed by one legally entitled to sign it."

Plaintiffs for the case include attorneys general representing the following states: Florida, South Carolina, Nebraska, Texas, Utah, Louisiana, Alabama, Michigan, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Washington, Idaho and South Carolina. Virginia has filed an independent suit in a separate action. The complaint lists Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis as defendants.

The plaintiffs are asking the court to:

A. Declare the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to be in violation of Article I of and the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States;

B. Declare defendants to have violated the plaintiffs' rights as sovereigns and protectors of the freedom, health, and welfare of their citizens and residents, as aforesaid;

C. Enjoin defendants and any other agency or employee acting on behalf of the United States from enforcing the act against the plaintiffs, their citizens and residents, and any of their agencies or officials or employees, and to take such actions as are necessary and proper to remedy their violations deriving from any such actual or attempted enforcement

"Movant unlike the Attorneys General is a medical provider directly affected by the Act suing Quo Warranto," Taitz' motion states. "Accordingly, there can be no genuine dispute that Dr. Taitz claims a valid interest in the subject matter of the instant action – i.e. whether the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act violates the Commerce Clause."

It continues, "It is likewise irrefutable that Dr. Taitz is presently 'so situated' that a disposition of the instant declaratory judgment action will significantly, if not completely, impair her legal interests."

Taitz' complaint notes that she is a California-licensed doctor of dental surgery and claims the health-care law "imposes an unreasonable infringement upon her gainful employment in dental surgery as overburdening interstate commerce in clear violation of the Commerce Clause."

"However," it states, "unlike the attorneys general, Dr. Taitz raises a more fundamental issue, the underlying legitimacy of Barack Obama to sign the act."

Atheists: Ban Pledge of Allegiance from schools

FAITH UNDER FIRE
Atheists: Ban Pledge of Allegiance from schools
Effort to strike 'under God' dubbed 'futile attempt to rewrite history'

Posted: April 08, 2010
11:30 pm Eastern

By Chelsea Schilling
© 2010 WorldNetDaily

At least 40 members of Congress and more than 80,000 Americans are urging a federal appeals court to uphold the constitutionality of the Pledge of Allegiance, including the phrase "under God," according to a constitutional law group.

The American Center for Law and Justice, or ACLJ, filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit today. According to the group, the Freedom From Religion Foundation is appealing a lower-court decision that the pledge shouldn't be removed from New Hampshire schools because it embraces patriotism, not religion.

"There is absolutely no legal reason to strike the words 'under God' from the pledge and reject this time-honored tradition," said Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the ACLJ, which filed an amicus brief in the initial case in federal district court. "Once again this is nothing more than another futile attempt to rewrite history – a legal challenge that has no merit and should be rejected by the appeals court."

The ACLJ filed the amicus brief on behalf of 42 members of Congress: Sens. Sam Brownback and James Inhofe and 40 members of the U.S. House of Representatives: Reps. Robert Aderholt, Todd Akin, Rodney Alexander, Gresham Barrett, Roscoe Bartlett, Rob Bishop, Marsha Blackburn, Roy Blunt, Ken Calvert, Tom Cole, John Abney Culberson, Mario Diaz-Balart, Jeff Flake, Randy Forbes, Trent Franks, Scott Garrett, Phil Gingrey, Jeb Hensarling, Wally Herger, Peter Hoekstra, Walter Jones, Steve King, Jack Kingston, John Kline, Frank Lucas, John McHugh, Donald Manzullo, Jim Marshall, Gary Miller, Jeff Miller, Sue Wilkins Myrick, Mike Pence, Joseph Pitts, Pete Sessions, John Shadegg, John Shimkus, Mark Souder, John Sullivan, Lee Terry and Joe Wilson.

More than 80,000 Americans have signed on to the ACLJ's Committee to Protect "Under God" – including parents of children who attend public schools and wish to recite the Pledge of Allegiance in its entirety.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Unprecedented: U.S. bargaining on behalf of Palestinians

Unprecedented: U.S. bargaining on behalf of Palestinians
Instead of acting as intermediary, Obama administration 'assuming all PA positions'

Posted: April 08, 2010
12:35 am Eastern

By Aaron Klein
© 2010 WorldNetDaily

JERUSALEM – In an unprecedented move, the U.S. has been conducting negotiations with Israel on behalf of the Palestinian Authority, according to a senior PA negotiator and sources in the Israeli government.

The U.S. has been calling for the resumption of indirect talks, with Obama administration officials publicly proposing to serve as a go-between to facilitate dialogue between Israel and the PA.

Sources in both the PA and Israeli government told WND talks are underway on a number of issues, including future borders and security controls for a Palestinian state.

A senior PA negotiator, speaking on condition of anonymity, said rather than act as an intermediary, the U.S. has been negotiating with Israel on behalf of the PA, assuming all Palestinian positions and bargaining with Israel from the Palestinian side.

The account was confirmed with sources in the Israeli government, who said such behavior by the U.S. government is unprecedented.

Rebuild the Temple? Israel bus company removes 3rd Temple poster

Egged removes 3rd Temple poster
By RON FRIEDMAN
06/04/2010 15:12

Picture of Temple Mt. with Al-Aksa Mosque omitted removed for fear of vandalism

A Pessah advertising campaign calling for the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem has been removed from Egged buses in the capital following complaints and threats of vandalism.

The Our Land of Israel group, which ordered the campaign, said it would sue Egged and Cnaan Advertising, the company that handles Egged’s advertising services, for breach of contract.

Posters featuring an artist’s rendition of the Temple alongside the quote “May the Temple be rebuilt swiftly in our lifetime” were placed on 200 Egged buses, on routes that travel through Jerusalem, including the eastern neighborhoods of the city.

According to Our Land of Israel’s Rabbi Shay Geffen, the posters went up before the holiday, but were removed eight days before the campaign was scheduled to end.

“To our sorrow, Egged backed down to pressures from left-wing and Arab organizations. They didn’t even notify us that they were taking down the posters,” said Geffen. He added that his organization planned to sue both Egged and Cnaan Advertising for NIS 1 million in damages over the canceled campaign.

“We might as well also remove all the Jewish holy books that call for the rebuilding of the Temple,” said Geffen sarcastically. “These are words that every Jew utters three times a day in their prayers. I’m surprised that an established company like Egged would react in this way.”

Our Land of Israel was founded by far-right activists Baruch Marzel and Rabbi Shalom Dov Wolpe in 2008. One of the group’s most controversial goals is the construction of a third Temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem, on the site where the first and second Temples once stood. The aim is controversial since the site currently houses the Aksa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock and is regarded by Muslims as the third holiest site in Islam.

Geffen rejected voices that called the campaign a provocation, saying it was merely a holiday blessing to the residents of the city. “If that’s the case, then the State of Israel itself is a provocation. Everything is a provocation except for what the Arabs do. They are angels who can do no wrong,” he said.

Egged spokesman Ron Ratner said that Egged had no say in the matter and referred requests for comment to the company in charge of renting out advertising space on the co-op’s buses.

Iran: If Israel attacks, nothing will remain of it

Iran: If Israel attacks, nothing will remain of it

Tehran's defense minister warns against bombing of nuclear facilities, says Iranian intelligence 'prevents Zionist regime from engaging in any type of adventure'

Dudi Cohen
Published: 04.07.10, 19:12 / Israel News

Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi on Wednesday toured the northwestern provinces of the Islamic Republic with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and said that "if the Zionist regime attacks Iran, there may not be much left of it."

In reply to a reporter's question, Vahidi said Israel itself had said it wa too weak to take on Iran. According to the IRNA news agency, the defense minister added that Iranian intelligence was preventing Israel from "engaging in any type of adventure" and was sure it was unable to attack Iran.

Vahidi also addressed the possibility that the nuclear crisis would not be solved, and would drag Iran into a war. Iran sees the US as a country that behaves rationally, he said, and it would not make such a "big mistake" or take such a "dangerous step."

Regarding Russia's contract with Iran for purchasing an advanced S-300 air defense system, Vahidi said that contact with Russia is being maintained, and that Moscow is committed to delivering the system on time.

Iran also warned on Tuesday that an Israeli attack on Iran nuclear facilities would backfire onto Israel. Mojtaba Zolnour, representative of Iran's spiritual leader Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei in the Revolutionary Guard, threatened, "The enemies know if they fire a missile toward Iran, Iranian missiles will be flying towards Tel Aviv even before the dust has settled."

Officer to Obama: Burden of proof must rest with you

Officer to Obama: Burden of proof must rest with you
Flight surgeon refusing orders releases text of challenge to president

Posted: April 08, 2010
9:55 am Eastern

By Bob Unruh
© 2010 WorldNetDaily

An Army flight surgeon who is refusing further orders unless President Obama documents his eligibility to be commander in chief today released a copy of the letter he dispatched to the president in which he states "the burden of proof must rest with you."

WND has reported the case of Lt. Col. Terry Lakin, including when he revealed Army threats to punish him for his stance.

Lakin had announced his position with a video stating he would not follow orders because he was not sure of their legality under Obama, who has concealed personal information that could confirm he meets the constitutional requirement that a president be a "natural born citizen."

The letter, posted at the Safeguard Our Constitution website, which is assembling support for the officer, describes how Lakin tried through his chain of command and his congressional office to get answers to questions about Obama's eligibility.

New strategy unveiled on answering Obama's eligibility questions. See how you can help.

"You serve as my commander-in-chief. Given the fact that the certification that your campaign posted online was not a document that the Hawaiian Department of Homelands regarded as a sufficient substitute for the original birth certificate and given that it has been your personal decision that has prevented the Hawaiian Department of Health from releasing your original birth certificate or any Hawaiian hospital from releasing your records, the burden of proof must rest with you," he wrote.

Is the President Legit (Born in the USA)? Or, was he born elsewhere? What do you think? Could this lead to the Antichrist coming to power?

Monday, March 29, 2010

Closer to the Mark of the Beast? Milwaukee Police use Biometric Fingerprint

VIDEO CLICK HERE...POLICE STATE - Milwaukee Cops Using Biometric Fingerprint Scanners on Drivers

Seven arrested in FBI raids linked to Christian militia group

Seven arrested in FBI raids linked to Christian militia group
Jennifer Chambers / The Detroit News

At least seven people, including some from Michigan, have been arrested in raids by a FBI-led Joint Terrorism Task Force in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana as part of an investigation into an Adrian-based Christian militia group, a person familiar with the matter said.

The suspects are expected to make an initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Detroit on Monday.

On Sunday, a source close to the investigation in Washington, D.C. confirmed that FBI agents were conducting activities in Washtenaw and Lenawee counties over the weekend in connection to Hutaree, a Christian militia group. Detroit FBI Special Agent Sandra Berchtold told The Detroit News the federal warrants in the case are under court seal and declined further comment.

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Sources have said the FBI was in the second day of raids around the southeastern Michigan city of Adrian that are connected to a militia group, known as the Hutaree, an Adrian-based group whose members describe themselves as Christian soldiers preparing for the arrival and battle with the anti-Christ.

WXYZ-TV reports that helicopters were spotted in the sky for much of Saturday night, and agents set up checkpoints throughout the area. Witnesses told the station that it was like a small army had descended on the area. The Department of Homeland Security and the Joint Terrorism Task Force are also involved in the raids.

Mike Lackomar, of Michiganmilitia.com, said both The Southeast Michigan Volunteer Militia and the Michiganmilitia.com were not a part of the raid.

Lackomar said he heard from other militia members that the FBI targeted the Hutaree after its members made threats of violence against Islamic organizations.

"Last night and into today the FBI conducted a raid against homes belonging to the Hutaree. They are a religious cult. They are not part of our militia community," he said.

Lackomar said he was told there were five arrests Saturday and another five early Sunday. The FBI declined to comment.

One of the Hutaree members called a Michigan militia leader for assistance Saturday after federal agents had already began their raid, Lackomar said, but the militia member -- who is of Islamic decent and had heard about the threats -- declined to offer help. That Michigan militia leader is now working with federal officials to provide information on the Hutaree member for the investigation, Lackomar said Sunday.

"They are more of survivalist group and in an emergency they withdraw and stand their ground. They are actively training to be alongside Jesus," he said.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Monday, April 19, 2010

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Friday, April 9, 2010

BREAKING: Obama Administration Denies Visas to Israeli Nuclear Scientists

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Monday, March 29, 2010

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