Biblical News

Thursday, July 5, 2007

BBC reporter's freedom 'really staged for movie'

BBC reporter's freedom 'really staged for movie'
Palestinian official claims terror group in cahoots with abductors of Johnston
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By Aaron Klein
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

JERUSALEM – Hamas' purported rescue operation today in which kidnapped BBC reporter Alan Johnston was freed from captivity really was a "movie" staged by Hamas to endear itself to the international community and demonstrate it is capable of imposing order in Gaza, a senior Palestinian Authority official charged.

"We're watching a movie where the thieves in Gaza fall out and one of them claims to be honest and brave, and the other is the bad guy. This Hamas game fools no one," said Yasser Abed Rabbo, chief aid to PA President and Hamas rival Mahmoud Abbas.

Rabbo charged Hamas was in "cahoots" with Johnston's kidnappers, the Gaza-based Army of Islam, which together with Hamas kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit last June. Johnston was held in Gaza for nearly four months.

Hamas leaders denied the rescue operation was staged.

Israeli troops kill 8 Hamas militants

Jul 5, 10:42 AM (ET)

By IBRAHIM BARZAK

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - Israeli troops clashed with Hamas militants inside the Gaza Strip on Thursday, killing eight in fierce fighting that drew in Israeli aircraft, tanks and bulldozers.

It was the second-deadliest day of fighting between the two sides since the Islamic militant group wrested control of Gaza in mid-June. In all, more than 30 Palestinians - nearly all of them militants but including a 12-year-old boy - have been killed in at least five separate Israeli military operations in Gaza since the Hamas takeover.

Troops had ventured about a half-mile inside central Gaza on a routine foray against rocket squads when airmen backing their patrol identified a group of approaching militants, the army said.

The airmen opened fire on the Hamas fighters, sparking a shootout on the ground between the militants and the patrol, the army said.

Hamas spokesman Abu Obeida said its fighters started the battle by opening fire on an Israeli undercover unit.

Stoning advocate to address Connecticut crowd

Stoning advocate to address Connecticut crowd
Imam who forecast 'crumbling' democracy to address 'Islamophobia' event

© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

Christian pastors often will speak of the sin in the world, or in their nation, and call for repentance, but an expert on terrorism says when imam Siraj Wahhaj, one of the unindicted co-conspirators of the 1993 bombing at the World Trade Center, preaches in his mosque, he goes one step further.

"Christian pastors will say the [nation] has taken the wrong course, but they don't say the U.S. is going to be destroyed unless everyone converts to Christianity right now," Steven Emerson, one of the nation's leading experts on terrorism, told WND.

But Wahhaj, who is speaking this coming weekend in Hartford, Conn., at the 32nd annual Islamic Circle of North America conference, an event shared with the Muslim American Society, blends into his sermons the "evil" of the United States and the need for an Islamic state.

That, Emerson said, is adding the political to the religious and is when the sermons "become a problem."

Church, City of Detroit fight atheist suit over funds

Church, City of Detroit fight atheist suit over funds

Ed Thomas
OneNewsNow.com
July 5, 2007

A church that was denied reimbursement through a Detroit city program for its building renovations because of a legal challenge by atheists, has appeared before a judge asking for summary judgment in the case filed by the atheists against the city.

St. John's Episcopal Church, the church denied the reimbursement, was allowed entrance by the court as an intervenor in the case in December, becoming a defendant. Church legal counsel Dale Schowengerdt of Alliance Defense Fund says St. John's made $180,000 in renovations to its exterior after contracting for 50 percent reimbursement through a Detroit Development Authority program designed to help enhance the appearance of city buildings and lots ahead of the 2006 Super Bowl. Nine of the 91 properties which were eligible participants were churches or church-owned properties.

Schowengerdt explains that "because of that, a group called American Atheists sued to have this plan declared unconstitutional." After American Atheists v. City of Detroit was filed, the city withheld reimbursement funds to St. John's and other church participants.

Schowengerdt and the church are out to prove the discrimination against religious organizations contradicts the Establishment Clause found in the First Amendment to the Constitution.

"The counterpart to that is the free exercise clause," he explains, "and the [U.S.] Supreme Court has held numerous times that if you exclude religious organizations, [if] you exclude churches from a neutral program, that [is] evidence [of] hostility to religion, not neutrality."

2008 Olympics prep causes Christians to fear

2008 Olympics prep causes Christians to fear
Image concerns may be fueling China's crackdown on believers
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© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

China's concern over its international image, which will be in a global spotlight when the 2008 Olympics are held there, may be fueling a crackdown on Christians, according to which is reporting a new round of persecution there.

Earlier, that a Christian was jailed in China for no more than walking near the construction site of a hotel being prepared for the 2008 games.

Now officials are reporting that in just the past few weeks, the increasing attacks have included the arrests of several house-church leaders who were accused of being "suspects using evil cults to obstruct the enforcement of the law."

'Hush Rush bill' – gone, not forgotten

'Hush Rush bill' – gone, not forgotten
Fairness Doctrine viewed as major issue in 2008, law of land with Dem president
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Posted: July 5, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern

© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

WASHINGTON – When the House of Representatives voted 309-115 to deny federal funds to implement the Fairness Doctrine, it was seen by some as a stake through the heart of efforts to revive rules requiring broadcasters to provide balance in all views expressed on the air.

However, the enthusiasm expressed for reviving the discarded regulation by Democratic Party leadership, and even some Republicans in the wake of the Senate battle over immigration, almost assure the issue will be resurrected as a campaign issue next year and as a legislative certainty in 2009 should Democrats remain in control of Congress and capture the White House.
Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., a former radio talk-show host, led the charge last week to stop the Federal Communications Commission from reinstating the Fairness Doctrine for broadcasters – sometimes referred to as "the Hush Rush bill," because of its preoccupation with conservative talk radio as epitomized by nationally syndicated stars Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Michael Savage and Laura Ingraham.

The House voted overwhelmingly to prohibit federal funds from being used by the FCC to impose the Fairness Doctrine, which requires broadcasters to balance comment on controversial issues.

"The House affirmed that freedom will continue to reign on the airwaves," said Pence, who filed the amendment stopping federal funding and introduced another bill to prevent permanently the doctrine from being imposed. "This was a resounding victory for free speech."

But the measure only prohibits funds from being used for this purpose through 2008. Since it was unlikely President Bush would sign such a bill into law, the threat of implementation prior to 2008 was minimal at best.

The road to implementation in 2009 and beyond, however, remains wide open. Some observers see it as virtually inevitable.

We are in a spiritual warfare, and throughout the vast majority of liberal media of lies, the few truthful talk radio shows that remain in our Country are being threatened by the enemy who try to cover it up with a word that sounds nice, "the fairness doctrine". When in reality, it robs us of our freedom, and is a major step towards getting rid of Christian programming, and conservative / truthful talk radio shows and more.

Ministry spearheads campaign to provide Bibles for U.S. troops overseas

Ministry spearheads campaign to provide Bibles for U.S. troops overseas

Allie Martin
OneNewsNow.com
July 5, 2007

The president of Revival Fires Ministries is encouraging Christians to mark the nation's birthday by sending Bibles to troops fighting the war on terror.

For several years now, evangelist Tim Todd has spearheaded a campaign to get Bibles to U.S. troops. So far, Revival Fires Ministries has provided more than 140,000 Bibles for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Todd says all Christians can help in the effort.

"Whether people agree with the war or not, that's not the issue," Todd said. "We all agree that all of our soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan should have Bibles."

And the only way those soldiers will get Bibles, he says, is through the efforts of Christians. "I believe that as long as the troops are willing to go on foreign soil and stand up for the freedoms we have here in America, that we ought to do everything that we can to see to it that every one of them gets a copy of the Word of God," he says emphatically.

Youths say book rescued them from sex-and-drug culture

Youths say book rescued them from sex-and-drug culture
'It was like blinders came off my eyes after I read this'
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© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

"The Marketing of Evil" – the controversial bestseller that caused a national uproar after "gay" college professors accused a librarian of "sexual harassment" just for recommending the book to freshmen – turns out to be having a surprising effect on young people, some of whom claim it has rescued them from a life of corruption and degradation.

Ellie French, a freshman at Lee University in Cleveland, Tenn., writes:

If you're a mom or dad and you are worried that your child is deceived and is being unduly influenced by things you know are wrong, if your teenager will read this book, it will change how he sees life.

In January of 2004, I was a junior in high school. My mother gave me David Kupelian's articles entitled, "Selling Sex and Corruption to Your Kids," and "Why Today's Youth Culture Has Gone Insane." (Editor's note: These two articles comprise an early version of what ultimately became Chapter 3 of "The Marketing of Evil.")

It was like blinders came off my eyes after I read this. I began to go to school and each day I'd see more and more how my generation had bought the lie and swallowed it. I realized that I and so many kids in my high school had been hoodwinked by MTV. There's a force out there that wants evil in my life and my generation's life. It's not just the fact that they want our money. They are purveyors of evil.

It disgusted me to see so many of the so-called "coolest" and looked-up-to kids being revered when in fact they were suffering from a hideous identity crisis. Any white senior wearing a Malcolm X hat backwards and intentionally altering his voice so as to sound like an uneducated black male raised in the ghetto is nothing but a joke to me now. The strange thing is, this is what my peers like and respect.

Before I read the article, I was a prisoner of thinking I had to be a certain way. But reading this confirmed what I knew deep down, which was that that was the last way I needed to be. I was very image-conscious before I read this article and it completely dispelled my desire to conform. I was completely exhausted from trying to conform to the way everybody else was. I realized that I no longer wanted my actions to be the result of believing a lie.

'ISLAMOPHOBIA' IDIOCY

'ISLAMOPHOBIA' IDIOCY

THE car-bomb/suicide-terror operations in London and Glasgow should have provided a fresh opportunity for reminding everyone, especially Muslims in Britain, that terrorism in the name of Islam still poses a major threat to public peace and safety. Yet this is not what is happening.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown keeps repeating that the attacks have nothing to do with Islam - but, at the same time, keeps inviting "Muslim community leaders" to Downing Street to discuss how to prevent attacks. If the attacks have nothing to do with Islam, why invite Muslim "leaders" rather than Buddhist monks?

Brown hasn't deemed fit to tell it like it is: that Muslims in Britain, indeed all over the world, must come out and condemn terrorism in unambiguous terms.

Instead, we are hearing that the attacks may have been prompted by "Muslim bitterness" about Salman Rushdie's knighting, the latest addition to the Islamist litany of woes. Some "moderate community leaders," like a certain Baroness Uddin, drop hints that Muslims have "foreign-policy issues" that might make them unhappy. The barely coded message: Unless Britain reshapes its foreign policy to please al Qaeda, it must expect to be attacked.

Sunday, July 1, 2007

U.S. fears summer terror 'spectacular'

Secret Document: U.S. Fears Terror 'Spectacular' Planned
Official Cites Resemblance to Warnings and Intelligence Before 9/11

By BRIAN ROSS, RHONDA SCHWARTZ and RICHARD ESPOSITO
July 1, 2007

A secret U.S. law enforcement report, prepared for the Department of Homeland Security, warns that al Qaeda is planning a terror "spectacular" this summer, according to a senior official with access to the document.

"This is reminiscent of the warnings and intelligence we were getting in the summer of 2001," the official told ABCNews.com.

U.S. officials have kept the information secret, and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said today on ABC News' "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" that the United States did not have "have any specific credible evidence that there's an attack focused on the United States at this point."

As ABCNews.com reported, U.S. law enforcement officials received intelligence reports two weeks ago warning of terror attacks in Glasgow and Prague, the Czech Republic, against "airport infrastructure and aircraft."

The warnings apparently never reached officials in Scotland, who said this weekend they had received "no advance intelligence" that Glasgow might be a target.

Homeland Security Secretary Chertoff declined to comment specifically on on the report today, but said "everything that we get is shared virtually instantaneously with our counterparts in Britain and vice versa."

Unlike the United States, officials in Germany have publicly warned that the country could face a major attack this summer, also comparing the situation to the pre-9/11 summer of 2001.

U.S. Adds Marshals to Overseas Flights

U.S. Adds Marshals to Overseas Flights

Jul 1 11:20 AM US/Eastern
By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - The U.S. is adding air marshals to overseas flights because of concerns about potential terrorism threats originating in Britain and Europe, the homeland security chief said Sunday.

The Bush administration said it was satisfied with its current terrorism alert level following an attack at a Scottish airport and two foiled car bombs in London.

"I think given what we know now, we're comfortable that we're at the right posture," Michael Chertoff said during a round of talk show appearances.

U.S. airports and mass transit systems are tightening security ahead of the Fourth of July holiday and more air marshals will travel on overseas flights.

"We will be doing operations at various rail locations and other mass transit locations in cooperation with local authorities. Again, not because of a specific piece of credible threat information, but because we are going into a holiday season. There will be a larger number of people traveling," Chertoff said.

Airports are at the second of five security threat levels—orange—indicating a high risk of terrorist attacks. The current national threat level is yellow, or the third highest, indicating an elevated threat.

Chertoff said he does not plan to change those levels. "At this moment we don't have a specific credible threat against the United States," he said.

Britain has raised its security alert level to the highest possible level, indicating terror attacks may be imminent.

5th arrest in Glasgow airport attack

NBC: U.K. terror suspects include 2 doctors
Officials say most, if not all, of 5 people now in custody are from Mideast

LONDON - British security sources tell NBC News that two of the five suspects in custody in connection with three recent terror incidents in Scotland and London are medical doctors and one may have assembled the bombs. Authorities also said they believe that most, if not all, of the suspects come from Middle Eastern countries, including one from Iraq.

On Sunday, British police appealed for help in tracing movements of a green Jeep Cherokee in the days before it rammed an airport terminal in Glasgow on Saturday. The driver of the vehicle, who set himself on fire, remained in critical condition.

The attack came 36 hours after police found two Mercedes car bombs packed with fuel canisters, propane tanks and nails parked near a crowded nightclub in London’s teeming theatre district.

Glasgow police perform controlled explosion on car

Glasgow police perform controlled explosion on car
Sun Jul 1, 2007 4:25PM BST

GLASGOW (Reuters) - The bomb squad blew up a suspicious vehicle at a hospital near Glasgow on Sunday in a controlled explosion and police said the vehicle was linked to an attack on Glasgow airport on Saturday.

One of two suspects detained after the attack on Glasgow's airport was being treated at the hospital.

The police said there was no indication the vehicle contained any explosives, but said it had been destroyed as a precautionary measure. "It is believed that this car is connected to yesterday's incident at Glasgow international airport," the police said.

Al-Qaida's car-bomb guide

Al-Qaeda's car bomb guide

London terror analysis: Online manual on car bombs instructs terrorists 'not to park illegally'

Yaakov Lappin Published: 07.01.07, 16:18 / Israel News

The three botched terror attacks launched in Britain in the past 72 hours bear all the hallmarks of first-time British-born jihadis attempting to emulate al-Qaeda in Iraq.

Multiple car bombs designed to slaughter hundreds of civilians and strikes against critical infrastructure are daily events in Baghdad, and al-Qaeda in Iraq has decided to put its experience in mass murder on the internet for the benefit of its members around the world, in the form of an online training course on bomb attacks.

The bombing manual, available in Arabic on a jihadi website, contains a number of key pieces of advice for car bombers. It instructs terrorists not to park their vehicles illegally, and advises the car bomber to leave the scene quietly, if he plans to detonate the vehicle from a distance, in what al-Qaeda terms "non-martyrdom operations."

Fortunately, these guidelines were not adhered to by the two London car bombers, one of whom crashed his vehicle and fled the scene, arousing suspicion, while the other parked his vehicle illegally, resulting in the car being towed away from its intended target.

The manual details precise locations inside the vehicle where explosives should be placed, and recommends various targerts such as "cinemas" and "stadiums."

Other forms of explosives, the guide says, should be aimed at "groupings demonstrations, celebrations or festivals."

The guide calls on terrorists to "monitor and identify the route of the enemy, how they leave a cinema or a stadium at the end of a game," and also gives instructions on how to carry out suicide car bombings.

Terror at Airport Terminal 1: Fireball causes thousands to flee!

Terror at Terminal 1: Fireball causes thousands to flee
MURDO MACLEOD, RICHARD ELIAS AND JEREMY WATSON

SUSPECTED suicide car bombers struck at Glasgow Airport yesterday, causing a massive fire, widespread panic and pushing the UK's terror threat level to "critical" - the highest level possible.

Witnesses said two Asian men deliberately rammed a four-wheel-drive vehicle into doors at Terminal 1, resulting in a fireball and causing thousands of passengers to flee for their lives.

Last night, police said the attack was linked to last week's failed car bombings in London. It also emerged that one of the alleged attackers had a "suspect device" removed from his body after he was taken to hospital to be treated for life-threatening burns. Prime Minister Gordon Brown chaired a meeting of Cobra - joined on a videolink by First Minister Alex Salmond - after which it was announced the security threat level was being increased to "critical", an indication that further terror attacks are considered imminent.

Passengers join police to subdue airport terrorists

'His whole body seemed to be on fire… I knocked him down'
JEREMY WATSON AND MURDO MACLEOD

IT WAS a routine afternoon at Glasgow Airport with hundreds of families and other passengers preparing to fly off to the sun at the start of the summer holidays. Others were returning to Scotland from abroad, bemoaning the torrential rain that greeted their arrival.

But at 3.15pm yesterday, shockwaves spread through the main terminal as a Cherokee Jeep crashed in through the main doors and burst into flames.

Dramatic mobile phone footage captured the moment of horror as a fireball erupted onto the pavement outside the building.

To many of the hundreds of passengers queuing for check-in, it appeared that the airport was under terrorist attack.

There were astonishing stories of members of the public and taxi marshals grappling the driver, whose clothes were on fire, to the ground. There were reports of the two men in the vehicle punching police officers, throwing petrol bombs around and spilling more petrol around the car and setting light to it.

MI5 fear bombers were 'off the radar'

MI5 fear bombers were 'off the radar'
By JASON LEWIS - More by this author »

Last updated at 08:46am on 1st July 2007

MI5 fear the gang behind the attempt to set off car bombs in London's West End are an "off-the-radar" cell with no previous links to terrorism.

They are concerned that the gang, now at the centre of a massive international manhunt, have evaded the anti-terror net which has foiled every plot in Britain since the July 7 London bombings in 2005.

On Friday, two cars laden with petrol and gas were discovered in adjacent streets, apparently primed to cause mass devastation.

British girl banned from wearing chastity ring

British girl banned from wearing chastity ring

Associated Press Staff Reports
OneNewsNow.com
July 1, 2007

LONDON - A teenage girl banned from wearing a chastity ring in class has taken her case to Britain's High Court, arguing that her school had violated her religious freedom.

Lydia Playfoot, 16, a pupil at the Millais School in Horsham, about 40 miles south of London, wears a ring as a sign of her commitment to abstinence from sex until marriage. The school said the ring fell outside its uniform policy, which makes exceptions for Muslims wearing head scarves and Sikhs wearing steel bracelets.

The chastity rings do not form an integral part of the Christian faith, Headmaster Leon Nettley said. That violated Playfoot's freedom of religion, her lawyer Paul Diamond argued before the court.

"Secular authorities and institutions cannot be arbiters of religious faith," he said.

In a written submission to the hearing, Playfoot said her school did not afford equal rights to Christians as it did to other faiths.

"At my school, Muslims are allowed to wear headscarves and other faiths can wear bangles and other types of jewelry and it feels like Christians are being discriminated against," she said.

Chicago homosexual culture has 'ground zero,' says culture monitor

Ed Thomas
OneNewsNow.com

Twenty-million dollars in state-assisted and private funds has helped to create space for a theater, gym, a supermarket, and more inside the Center on Halsted, a 65,000-square-foot community center on Chicago's North Side that opened this month. But the president of a cultural watchdog group says the facility is designed to be ground zero for dangerous homosexual activism in the city, despite how it's being publicized.

London mayor defends Muslims as bomb plot foiled

London mayor defends Muslims as bomb plot foiled

AFP - Saturday, June 30 11:32 amLONDON (AFP) - London Mayor Ken Livingstone called on Britons Saturday not to demonize Muslims after a double car bomb plot was foiled in the capital, amid fears of a Islamist terror threat.

At the same time he criticized Britain over its ties with Saudi Arabia, which he said had fuelled intolerance in the past through its Wahhabist form of Islam, creating a "major problem."

"In this city, Muslims are more likely to be law-abiding than non-Muslims and less likely to support the use of violence to achieve political ends than non-Muslims," he told BBC Radio.

"They have played a good and active and growing role in creating a multi-cultural society," he added.

Um, hmmm....right, sure! It's the most violent religion of peace in the world!

Let me ask what group of people come to your mind when I say... Suicide Bombers? (who by the way do it to kill as many as they can, and they don't care if the dead are women and children!)

Point made.

Bush envoy to affirm Islam is religion of 'peace, tolerance, compassion'

Bush envoy to affirm Islam is religion of 'peace, tolerance, compassion'

Jim Brown
OneNewsNow.com

A State Department spokesman says President Bush's plan to appoint an envoy to a group of Islamic states reaffirms the U.S. government's outreach to Muslim communities "based on mutual respect and understanding" and the belief that Islam is a "peaceful, tolerant, and compassionate" faith.

President Bush has announced he will name a special envoy to the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), which represents 57 Muslim countries. Bush would be the first president to make such an appointment. The president made the announcement at a ceremony honoring the 50th anniversary of the Islamic Center of Washington. It was Bush's third visit to the mosque.

State Department spokesman Gonzo Gallegos says President Bush wants Muslims to know they can live and worship as they choose without intimidation.

"The important thing is that we all know and understand that belief is central," says Gallegos. "Belief in God is central to our existence on earth, and ... the president is working to ensure that Muslims know and understand that our faith and their faith coincide and that we live together in harmony."

WHAT?!

Pope OKs opening of St. Paul's tomb

Pope OKs opening of St. Paul's tomb
Investigators to remove plug from stone coffin, insert probe
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© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

Eighteen months after the sarcophagus believed to have once contained the remains of St. Paul the apostle was positively identified by Vatican archaeologists, Pope Benedict XVI has given his approval to plans by investigators to examine the interior of the ancient stone coffin with an optical probe, according to a German Catholic paper.

As WND reported in 2005, the sarcophagus was discovered during excavations in 2002 and 2003 around the basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls in south Rome.

"The tomb that we discovered is the one that the popes and the Emperor Theodosius [A.D. 379-395] saved and presented to the whole world as being the tomb of the apostle," said Giorgio Filippi, a specialist with the Vatican Museums.

The excavation was conducted after the administrator of St. Paul's basilica, Archbishop Francesco Gioia, received inquiries about the location of the apostle's tomb from thousands of pilgrims visiting during the Jubilee Year of 2000.

Fake Colgate found in 6 states, Canada

Sunday, July 01, 2007

WASHINGTON — Counterfeit Colgate toothpaste has now turned up in Canada, where testing has found dangerous bacteria but not the poisonous chemical previously detected in four U.S. states, a health official said Saturday.

In addition, store owners and police say they have discovered that the bogus Colgate was sold in Michigan and Virginia.

The FDA warned earlier in June that fake Colgate distributed in Maryland, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania may contain a poisonous chemical called diethylene glycol, or DEG, that typically is used in antifreeze. That toothpaste was the subject of a June 13 recall by a New Jersey distributor.

It was not immediately clear if the counterfeit products in Pinconning, Mich., and Arlington, Va., had been tested for DEG.

In Canada, testing did not find the chemical but did show high levels of harmful bacteria, said Paul Duchesne, a spokesman for Health Canada.

A Food and Drug Administration spokeswoman said Saturday she was checking into reports of the wider distribution beyond the first four states.

The bacteria pose a significant health risk, especially to children and anyone with a weakened immune system, Health Canada said. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is investigating.

In all cases, the toothpaste was labeled as made in South Africa. Both the FDA and New York-based Colgate-Palmolive Co. have said the products are fake, citing in part misspellings — "SOUTH AFRLCA" is one — on the packaging. Its true origin is unknown, according to the FDA.

Hundreds flee major flooding in Texas

WICHITA FALLS, Texas (AP) - Hundreds of residents near the overflowing Wichita and Brazos rivers remained evacuated from their homes in north Texas on Sunday, uncertain of when they could return.

At least 200 people were still displaced from their homes near the Brazos River in Parker County. Some homes sustained minor damages while up to four feet of water had seeped into others, said Shawn Scott, Parker County emergency management coordinator.

Some residents had been allowed to return Saturday, but hours later authorities encouraged them to seek higher ground as the lake runoff moved downstream, Scott said.

Floodwaters weren't expected to go down until later Sunday. But the threat of more rain loomed, he said.

"It's a continuous up and down situation," Scott said. "This could be ongoing for the next few days."

Water rose overnight by 4 feet in one Wichita Falls neighborhood where 175 people left, although water had started gradually receding in another neighborhood of the city in north Texas, city spokesman Barry Levy said.

City officials had urged residents to leave Friday and weren't sure when they could return because of concerns about contaminants in the water, he said.

Storms on the southern Plains have claimed 11 lives in Texas since more than a week ago, and two Texans were missing. Forecasters expected rain to continue dumping on already sopped parts of north Texas up through Missouri as part of a lingering storm system. The National Weather Service measured more than 11 inches of rain in June at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, about a half-inch shy of the 1928 record, and the town of Marble Falls collected about 18 inches in one night last week.

Pro-Israel ministry concerned about potential Syrian-Israeli conflict

Pro-Israel ministry concerned about potential Syrian-Israeli conflict

Chad Groening
OneNewsNow.com

The head of a pro-Israel ministry is concerned about recent reports that Syria may be gearing up for a war against Israel.

Jan Markell is founder and director of Olive Tree Ministries in Minnesota. She says there are extremely reliable sources who are speaking out about the possibility and even the likelihood of a war between Syria and Israel by this fall, but quite possibly as early as the summer. Markell expresses concern about the outcome of such a conflict, judging by the poor performance of Israel in last summer's war with Hezbollah.

"Syria is not Hezbollah," she remarks. "Syria has sophisticated weapons, chemical weapons -- and how it plays out, we certainly don't know.”

Traffickers enslave 4-year-olds for forced labor

Traffickers enslave 4-year-olds for forced labor
Report: Campaign underway to persuade, buy or shame violators into making changes
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By Naomi Laine
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

A new report from the U.S. State Department has documented Afghan children as young as four years old being forced to work in the sun, turning over partly dried bricks, Thai men trafficked to the United States in debt bondage, children used as soldiers in Burma, and a 6-year-old from Ghana who was forced to work on a fishing boat on Lake Volta for $20 a year.

The authors said the 2007 Trafficking in Persons report was assembled to persuade governments and other groups to work together harder on the effort to eradicate such human trade, either through their altruistic sentiment, their mercenary interests, or if those don't work, shame.

Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice said it was 200 years ago that the British Parliament outlawed the trans-Atlantic slave trade, a move that was the result of William Wilberforce's decades-long effort. But the "modern-day form of slavery" is just as bad, or worse.

"Perpetrators prey on the most weak among us, primarily women and children, for profit and gain. They lure victims into involuntary servitude and sexual slavery. Today we are again called by conscience to end the debasement of our fellow men and women," Rice said in an introduction to the 240-page documentation.

"As in the 19th century, committed abolitionists around the world have come together in a global movement to confront this repulsive crime," she said.

"The power of shame has stirred many to action and sparked unprecedented reforms; and the growing awareness has prompted important progress in combating this crime and assisting its victims wherever they are found," she said.

Its reports are horrifying: Sisters ages 10 and 12 taken by their parents to a videographer who films them in sexual acts, Vietnamese children brought into the United States to be used in the drug smuggling industry, Russian students brought to the United States for forced labor, selling ice cream.

Just as bad is the machinations that go on as nations caught by the report try to save face, scrambling to take actions they believe will preserve financial aid that comes from the United States. The loss of such aid is a possibility because, according to the U.S. Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, countries in the Tier 3 category, where the most significant problems have been documented, can "face sanctions such as the withholding of humanitarian and nontrade-related assistance."

In addition, the United States also could vote to deny a nation World Bank and International Monetary Fund assistance.

U.S. companies increase testing of Chinese goods

Companies in U.S. Increase Testing of Chinese Goods
By NELSON D. SCHWARTZ

General Mills, Kellogg, Toys “R” Us and other big American companies are increasing their scrutiny of thousands of everyday products they receive from Chinese suppliers, as widening recalls of items like toys and toothpaste force them to focus on potential hazards that were overlooked in the past.

These corporations are stepping up their analysis of imported goods that they sell, making more unannounced visits to Chinese factories for inspections and, in one case, pulling merchandise from American shelves at the first hint of a problem.

General Mills, which makes food products like Pillsbury dough and Chex cereals, is testing for potential contaminants that it did not look for previously, although it would not name the substances. Kellogg has increased its use of outside services that scrutinize Chinese suppliers and has identified alternative suppliers if vital ingredients become unavailable. And Toys “R” Us recently hired two senior executives in new positions to oversee procurement and product safety, mainly for goods made in China.

“We’re thinking in new ways about this,” said Tom Forsythe, a spokesman for General Mills. “We’re looking for things we didn’t look for in the past.”

A Kellogg spokeswoman, Kris Charles, confirmed that retailers had asked whether the company used ingredients from China that were banned by the Food and Drug Administration, including wheat gluten and soy protein.

The company had not, Ms. Charles said, but Kellogg took the extra step of scrutinizing the ingredients that it does import from China, like vitamins, honey, cinnamon, water chestnuts and freeze-dried strawberries. It also screened its Chinese suppliers for links to the recent pet food recall.

The discovery over the last few months of tainted or defective products from China — including toothpaste, tires, toys and fish — has prompted United States lawmakers to fault companies for compromising quality in their quest for inexpensive imports and higher profits.

If companies do not improve their safeguards and more tainted goods are found to be entering the United States, the safety of imports could take on a bigger political dimension, the lawmakers said.

Lieberman calls for more surveillance cameras

Lieberman calls for wider use of surveillance cameras
By Klaus Marre
July 01, 2007

Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.), the chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, said Sunday he wants to “more widely” use surveillance cameras across the country.

“The Brits have got something smart going in England, and it was part of why I believe they were able to so quickly apprehend suspects in the terrorist acts over the weekend, and that is they have cameras all over London and other of their major cities,” Lieberman said.

“I think it’s just common sense to do that here much more widely,” he added. “And of course, we can do it without compromising anybody’s real privacy.”

Lieberman lamented the “petty, partisan fighting” in Congress and called on his colleagues to join together to upgrade the nation’s electronic surveillance capabilities.

Church launches magazine for teenage girls

No snogging, no celebrity gossip: church launches magazine for teenage girls
By Jonathan Owen and Sadie Gray
Published: 01 July 2007

At first glance it looks like any other teen magazine, in a glossy colour cover and in a handbag size - aimed at "girls with spirit". But don't expect to find any tips on snogging techniques. Grace, to be launched next month, is anattempt by the church to appeal to a fresh audience as attendance figures fall.

It will have its work cut out. Its launch coincides with the demise of the teen magazine CosmoGirl! and a teen spin-off fromElle.

Grace is the brainchild of Paul Handley, the editor of the Church Times, who said: "It is for girls who have got a spirit as well as a body and who think there is more to life than shopping."

One big difference, he says, is that the magazine will not contain articles about sex. "It's for 11- to 16-year-old girls, so the assumption is that they are not having sex. We say that the best place for sex is in a marriage, not in a magazine... The message of the magazine is that life at that age is about other things."

Grace is funded by a grant from the Archbishop of Canterbury and various church trusts, and 50,000 copies of the launch issue, which has a cover price of £2.50, are to be distributed free via youth groups nationally. The quarterly magazine is a mix of real-life stories, problem pages, campaigns, eco and ethical lifestyle tips, music, film and book reviews - with references to Christianity scattered throughout.

Historic Torah dedicated aboard carrier Harry S. Truman

Associated Press Staff Reports
OneNewsNow.com
July 1, 2007

NORFOLK, Va. - A Torah rescued from Lithuania has a home on the aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman.

The carrier is one of the few Navy vessels to have its own Torah. Few ships are large enough to need one, said Sam Werbel, an organizer of a dedication ceremony attended by a crowd of 500, including some Holocaust survivors.

"This is not a ceremony alone," said Mark E. Talisman, founder and president of the Project Judaica Foundation. "It's about humanity or a lack thereof. It's about all of us understanding the dignity of human life."

Several Jewish service members celebrated the event, taking photos with the heavy 26-inch high scroll bearing the words of the Hebrew Bible.

About 5 percent or less of Lithuania's Jewish population survived the Holocaust. No religious artifacts, other than this Torah, are thought to remain of that country's Jewish population, organizers said.

"I'm very proud of our servicemen who are serving, and I'm very proud that they saw fit to have a Torah on board the ship," said Julius Marcus of Portsmouth, who attended with his wife, Jeanne.

Union members can opt out of dues for religious reasons

Associated Press Staff Reports
OneNewsNow.com
July 1, 2007

COLUMBUS, Ohio - A Roman Catholic teacher whose religious beliefs conflict with the political positions of her labor union cannot be forced to pay dues, a federal judge ruled.

U.S. District Judge Gregory Frost's ruling broadens the category of employees who may opt out of unions because of religious beliefs beyond Seventh-day Adventists and Mennonites.

In his ruling last week, Frost struck down the Ohio law that held only members of religions that "historically held conscientious objections" to union membership could opt out. The judge said anyone with demonstrated religious beliefs should be exempt from paying dues to unions whose positions they find objectionable.

The law discriminated among religions by recognizing the Seventh-day Adventist and Mennonite objections to joining unions while denying the same right to others, the judge said.

The teacher, Carol Katter, refused to pay dues to the National Education Association, claiming she opposes abortion and that view is conflict with the union's position on the issue. She sued the State Employment Relations Board after the panel ruled against her claim for a religious exemption.

The National Right to Work Foundation, which opposes mandatory union membership, funded Katter's legal fight.

"I was not going to give 1 cent to those causes," said Katter, who teaches at St. Marys in western Ohio.

Protesting pastors jailed – signs wider than torsos

Protesting pastors jailed – signs wider than torsos
Police at homosex-fest use girth to enforce free-speech limitations
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By Jay Baggett
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

St. Petersburg, Fla., officials made good on their plan to limit free speech at the city's homosexual festival this weekend by arresting five Christians for carrying signs "wider than their torsos" outside the officially designated protest area.

Pastor Billy Ball, Assistant Pastor Doug Pitts, Frankie Primavera and Josh Pettigrew, all of Faith Baptist Church in Primrose, Ga., were arrested today after leaving the area set aside by city officials for protest activities. Bill Holt, of Lighthouse Baptist Church in Jefferson, Ga., was also taken into custody.

According to Lighthouse Pastor Kevin Whitman, the five men were told by police their signs were not allowed outside the protest area because they were wider than their torsos. When the men refused to put them away, they were arrested for violating a controversial city ordinance that governs permitted events.

"We had police officers tell us bigger people could carry bigger signs than smaller people – it all depended on how big your torso was," said Whitman, who, with several others, returned to the officially designated protest area rather than face arrest.

"Our signs were just standard foam-poster board," he said. "Nothing big – maybe six inches wider than our torsos. If we had just rotated them, the police would have been OK with them. But then, you couldn't read the message."

Not even baseball safe from 'gay' promotions

Not even baseball safe from 'gay' promotions
Afternoon at the park to feature 'pride' singers, free caps for kids
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Posted: July 1, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern

By Bob Unruh
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

Not even an afternoon at a baseball game apparently is going to be safe for parents who want to protect their children from advocates for homosexuality, with the San Diego Padres' confirmation their July 8 game will simultaneously offer free caps to attract children, and a formal recognition of the area's homosexual organization.

"San Diego Pride supporters and volunteers will be recognized for organizing the group event with a scoreboard welcome and the Gay Men's Chorus of San Diego will sing the National Anthem," the Major League Baseball team has announced on its website.

"This action by the San Diego Padres management has greatly tarnished their record as being a family friendly organization. They have truly offended the moral and religious sensibilities of literally thousands of fans. I will never look at the Padres the same way that I have over the past 40 plus years here in San Diego, enjoying its image as being pro family. It is really sad," said Phil Magnan, the director for Biblical Family Advocates.

Chertoff: We can't really enforce laws on illegals

Chertoff: We can't really enforce laws on illegals
Homeland Security chief rips Senate for failing to pass immigration bill
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Posted: July 1, 2007
1:59 p.m. Eastern

© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff is blasting the U.S. Senate for failing to pass an immigration bill, and claims the federal government doesn't have the ability to enforce laws when it comes to illegals working in America.

"We're going to continue to enforce the law. It's going to be tough," Michael Chertoff said. "We don't really have the ability to enforce the law with respect to illegal work in this country in a way that's truly effective."

Chertoff appeared on both "Fox News Sunday" and ABC's "This Week."

As WND reported, a procedural vote in the Senate effectively killed the controversial immigration reform bill crafted by the White House, Democrats and key Republican leaders.

Hetero woman: Feminism turned me into lesbian

Hetero woman: Feminism turned me into lesbian
'I'd had a very happy marriage and a very good relationship with men'
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Posted: July 1, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern

© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

A 53-year-old university professor and campaigner for legalized same-sex marriage in the UK said she was once a married "happy heterosexual" who had no doubts about her sexual orientation, but political activity and involvement in feminist causes "changed" her into a lesbian.

Sue Wilkinson, professor of Feminist and Health Studies at Loughborough University, told the London Times that her 17-year marriage to her husband had been a good one.

But that changed in the mid-1980s when the young professor became involved with the British Psychological Society.

"I was never unsure about my sexuality throughout my teens or 20s. I was a happy heterosexual and had no doubts," said Wilkinson.

"Then I changed, through political activity and feminism, spending time with women's organizations. It opened my mind to the possibility of a lesbian identity."

Wilkinson divorced her husband and has lived with her partner, Prof. Celia Kitzinger of York University, for the past 17 years.

Friday, June 29, 2007

Gender bias ban bill one step closer to California schools

Ed Thomas
OneNewsNow.com

A bill that would impose strict guidelines against alleged bias or elements reflecting adversely on homosexuals in California's school textbooks, teaching, or activities has moved out of the legislative Assembly's Judiciary Committee. But a spokesman for a pro-family watchdog group accuses SB 777's author of needing to deny actual language that is in the bill, and wrapping it in an offer of new disability benefits, to get its passage.

The controversial bill has proposed to ban any textbooks, teaching, or activities in schools from "'reflecting adversely' upon homosexuals, transgenders, bisexuals and those with gender issues." But Capitol Resource Institute (CRI) executive director Karen England says State Senator Sheila Keuhl, who authored the legislation, declared to the Judiciary Committee that the bill no longer contains the vague language "reflects adversely."

NOW endorses pro-homosexual military bill

NOW endorses pro-homosexual military bill

Chad Groening
OneNewsNow.com

A conservative military watchdog says she's not surprised that the National Organization for Women would endorse a bill aimed at repealing the ban on homosexuals serving in the military. The bill -- known as The Military Readiness Enhancement Act (H.R. 1246) -- now has 100 co-sponsors in the House.

The National Organization for Women (NOW) is urging Congress to support the bill which would scrap the 1993 law that bans homosexual military service. Elaine Donnelly, president of the Center for Military Readiness, questions NOW's supposed role in representing women.

"The radicalism of this organization, the National Organization for Women, has never represented the majority of women," she states, "and they certainly do not represent the majority of military women."

Donnelly says H.R. 1246 would, in fact, hurt readiness and advance NOW's radical social engineering agenda for the military. "I'm sure that they see that if the military is required by either executive order or a law to accept, and indeed promote, homosexuality in the military, that would certainly advance their agenda quite a bit," says the military watchdog.

Green Beret finds mercury in meat from commissary

Green Beret finds mercury in meat from commissary
Military officials launch investigation into source of deadly contamination
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Posted: June 29, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern

© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

The military has launched an investigation into the discovery of a liquid metal that appeared to be mercury in a package of ground beef sold to a former Green Beret by a base store at Homestead Air Force Reserve Base in Florida.

"What troops consume is very important," Judd Anstey, a spokesman for the Army Air Force Exchange Service, told WND. "Our office is investigating as well as the vendor."

"We're certainly all very concerned about what this customer believes he found," added Anstey, whose AAFES organization runs many of the military commissaries providing staples to service members.

The report comes from Pat Heminger, a former Green Beret with 23 years in the U.S. Army. Now retired, he and his wife live not far from Homestead, where during the week they take care of grandchildren ages 6 and 8, whose parents work at a hospital.

Family fears mercury may be making them sick

Family fears mercury may be making them sick

10:06 PM CDT on Thursday, June 28, 2007

Scott Satchfield / Eyewitness News Reporter

One St. Bernard Parish family says something in their house is literally making them sick, and the government says they may be right.

Wearing protective gear, contract workers with the Environmental Protection Agency test the home of Crystal and James Patty and their young children.

They’re searching for mercury, after the Patty’s say they found traces of the substance and got sick.

“Your body starts aching,” said Crystal Patty. “I haven't been able to eat; my gums have been really sore where I can't chew down on it. You get cold and dry sweats, real bad migraine headaches.”

After a sweep of the house, there is a consultation.

“We even looked in the central air closet where the central air unit is, this is behind the air filter, because really, it's the same throughout the house, we can't find the source,” an EPA contractor tells the Patty’s, who don’t know how mercury could have gotten into their home, something EPA officials echo.

“What’s the source of this mercury? That is of concern at the residence in the New Orleans area, we don’t know,” said EPA spokesman David Bary.

The Patty’s say they first discovered a silvery liquid on a television set in the house, then began feeling sick.

“It's heartbreaking. That's why I'm going to get tested right now because I've been feeling bad the last two weeks,” James Patty says.

EPA officials agree: mercury can cause problems. That is why data samples taken from the Patty’s home will be tested over the weekend for complete confirmation.

“It's an inhalation hazard, mercury is toxic and when it volatilizes it can be inhaled, and entered directly into the blood stream and that's where the health problems are usually manifested.” Bary says.

According to the EPA website, mercury can lead to a variety of problems including kidney damage, headaches, respiratory failure and even death.

For now, the Patty’s say they cannot crack the mercury mystery, and they just hope the damage isn’t already done.

FDA bans import of drugged fish from China

FDA bans import of drugged fish from China
Food and Drug Administration announced a ban on the import of five species of seafood from China due to possible contamination with medications.

June 28 2007: 4:54 PM EDT

ROCKVILLE, Md. (CNN) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday announced it is blocking the import from China of five species of seafood until their importers can prove they are not contaminated.

"FDA is initiating an import alert against several species of imported Chinese farmed seafood because of numerous cases of contamination with drugs and unsafe food additives," said Dr. David Acheson, the agency's assistant commissioner for food protection, in a conference call with reporters.

The species cited are catfish, eel, shrimp, basa and dace, he said. Basa is similar to catfish; dace is similar to carp.

The medications cited include the antimicrobials nitrofuran, malachite green, gentian violet and fluoroquinolones.

Nitrofuran, malachite green, and gentian violet have been shown to cause cancer in laboratory animals.

Use of fluoroquinolones in food-producing animals can result in antibiotic resistance.

None of them is approved for use in farmed seafood in the United States and some of them have been shown to cause cancer when fed to laboratory animals for "prolonged periods of time," Acheson said.

Alerts have been issued in the past, but Thursday's announcement is the largest.

The food will not be allowed into the United States until the importer can prove it is free from harmful contaminants, Acheson said.

Explosives-packed car defused in London

Jun 29, 8:52 AM (ET)

By D'ARCY DORAN and DAVID STRINGER

LONDON (AP) - Police thwarted an apparent terror attack Friday near Piccadilly Circus, defusing an explosive car loaded with gas cylinders, nails and a detonator after an ambulance crew reported seeing smoke coming from the vehicle.

The explosives were powerful enough to have caused "significant injury or loss of life" - possibly killing hundreds in an area famed for its nightlife, British anti-terror police chief Peter Clarke said.

Police planned to examine footage from closed-circuit TV cameras in the area, Clarke said, hoping the surveillance network that extends throughout the city would help track the driver.

Officers were called to The Haymarket, near Piccadilly Circus, after an ambulance crew - responding to a call just before 1:30 a.m. about an injury at a nearby nightclub - noticed the smoke, Clarke said.

A bomb squad was called to the scene, and manually disabled the bomb.

Early photographs of the silver Mercedes showed a canister, bearing the words "patio gas," indicating it was propane gas, next to the car. The back door was open with blankets spilling out.

The area - packed with restaurants, bars, a cinema complex and theaters - was busy and buzzing at that hour. Haymarket links Piccadilly Circus to the north to the Pall Mall at its southern end.

A British security official told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information, said Britain's domestic spy agency MI5 also would examine possible connections between the bomb attempt and at least two similar foiled plots - including a planned attack on a West End nightclub in 2004 and a thwarted attempt to use limousines packed with gas canisters to attack targets in London and New York.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who took office on Wednesday, said the foiled bombing was a reminder that Britain faces a serious and continuous threat of terrorist attacks and that people should be alert.

"I will stress to the Cabinet that the vigilance must be maintained over the next few days," Brown said.

Immigration bill dead in Senate

Immigration bill dead in Senate
Procedural vote effectively kills Bush's attempt to enact reform
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© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

A procedural vote in the Senate today effectively killed the controversial immigration reform bill crafted by the White House, Democrats and key Republican leaders.

The tally fell 14 votes short of the 60 needed to invoke cloture, which would have cut off debate, leading to a final vote requiring only a simply majority.

Members of both parties on Capitol Hill have said the issue is unlikely to be addressed again until after the 2008 presidential election.

President Bush seemed to accept that fate after an appearance in Newport, R.I.

"Legal immigration is one of the top concerns of the American people, and Congress' failure to act on it is a disappointment," Bush said. "The American people understand the status quo is unacceptable when it comes to our immigration laws. A lot of us worked hard to see if we couldn't find common ground. It didn't work."

The roll call, showing how senators voted, counted 12 Republicans among the 46 who favored cloture.

In debate prior to the vote, Republican opponents of the bill noted the widespread opposition expressed by citizens, including Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina who said "our phones have been ringing off the hook."

"What part of 'no' don't we understand?" he asked. "We need to stop this process that is alienating the American people and enforce the laws on the books."

Fairness Doctrine hammered 309-115

Fairness Doctrine hammered 309-115
By Alexander Bolton
June 28, 2007

The House voted overwhelmingly Thursday to prohibit the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from using taxpayer dollars to impose the Fairness Doctrine on broadcasters who feature conservative radio hosts such as Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity.

By a vote of 309-115, lawmakers amended the Financial Services and General Government appropriations bill to bar the FCC from requiring broadcasters to balance conservative content with liberal programming such as Air America.

The vote count was partly a testament to the influence that radio hosts wield in many congressional districts.

It was also a rebuke to Democratic senators and policy experts who have voiced support this week for regulating talk radio.

Gaza: Hamas Violence Troubles Christians

Gaza: Hamas Violence Troubles Christians
By Gary Lane
CBN News

CWNews.com–---BETHLEHEM - Each day, children around the world make their way to school. Many are eager to learn how to read and write and become productive members of their societies.

In contrast, in the Palestinian territories, recent kindergarten graduates - most no more than 5 years old - were demonstrating what they had been taught.

The children, dressed in battle fatigues and carrying toy automatic rifles, chanted their replies to the instructor:

"What is your path?" They were asked. "Jihad," they answered. "What is your most lofty aspiration?" "Death for the sake of allah," they replied.

Because of the aggressive spread of extremist Islamic ideas like this, thousands of Palestinian Christians have fled Palestinian-controlled areas like Bethlehem.

Bethlehem is the birthplace of Christ and was once a Christian city. But today, Christians are only about 10 to 15 percent of the population here. Some observers say that if the mass exodus continues, within another generation it could become a city of Christian holy sites without any Christian residents.

Justice Weiner of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs believes that is happening. He has spent years investigating persecution and the exodus of Christians in Palestinian territories.

"The Christians who were once the dominant commercial and economic force in these towns have seen their numbers dwindle," Weiner said. "They've seen their land stolen and expropriated. They've been forced to sell or to close their businesses, they sense hostility walking down the street. They're afraid to wear crosses, and they sometimes are abused verbally when they go to church."

Despite this mass exodus, members of the First Baptist Church in Bethlehem have chosen to stay, to be a beacon of light in this community. And for that, some have paid a high price.

That's because not only do they share their faith with others, they embrace the Old Testament along with the New - the entire Bible as the word of God, including the promises to the Jews.

"We are born-again Christians; we believe in God's promise with Abraham," First Baptist Pastor Steve Khoury said. "It's an everlasting covenant from God, it's an everlasting covenant with Abraham. He made it with him and his offspring. That is not very well respected in our culture, in our territory that we live in, the Palestinian territory."

For that, they are persecuted not only by Muslims who see them as Zionist supporters of Israel, but by traditional Christians who embrace a belief known as "replacement theology."

Replacement theology is the idea that Christians have replaced the Jews as God's chosen people. And like the Muslim majority, many say God gave Israel and the Palestinian territories to them, not the Jews.

Churches that teach otherwise are attacked because they are viewed as Zionists, betrayers of the Palestinian cause.

First Baptist Church has been fire-bombed 14 times. Also, two young women were shot to death for inviting non-Christian children to vacation Bible school.

"Persecution has made our church stronger," Khoury said. "I've been beaten up and shoved in trash cans just for one simple reason: for discipling other young men who are from another faith. My father's been shot at three separate times for one simple reason: carrying a cross and walking every day and professing Jesus Christ and Him alone. Our church family gets persecuted every day."

BBC reporter held on behalf of al-Qaida?

BBC reporter held on behalf of al-Qaida?
Group demands release of jihad prisoners, threatens to kill Johnston
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By Aaron Klein
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

TEL AVIV – There is growing fear among Israeli and Palestinian security agencies that kidnapped BBC reporter Alan Johnston is being held in the Gaza Strip on behalf of al-Qaida.

A number of elements in a video of Johnston obtained by government officials this week indicate the broadcast was produced by al-Qaida, security sources told WND.

Johnston was abducted from a street in the Gaza Strip March 12, marking the longest detention of any foreign correspondent held captive in Gaza.

Several videos have been released taking credit for Johnston's kidnapping on behalf of a group calling itself Army of Islam. The videos and statements faxed to news agencies demanded prisoners associated with al-Qaida be freed from British and Jordanian jails.

"Johnston will be slaughtered like a sheep if our demands are not met," said the latest Army of Islam statement, released this week.

The statement demanded Abu Mohammed al-Maqdisi, held in Jordan, be released. Al-Maqdisi is known as the spiritual mentor of al-Qaida leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Veggie Booty snack food recalled in Canada, U.S.

Veggie Booty snack food recalled in Canada, U.S.
Updated Thu. Jun. 28 2007 4:41 PM ET

Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- A popular snack food is being recalled in Canada and the United States because of concerns about contamination.

All lots and sizes of Veggie Booty Snack Food are being recalled, the company said, following a report of 51 cases of salmonella poisoning that may be associated with the product.

Georgine Hertzwig of Robert's American Gourmet in Sea Cliff, N.Y., said the company acted after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration contacted them about the illnesses in 17 states.

Salmonella can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections, especially in young children, frail or elderly people and others with weakened immune systems. Symptoms include fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain.

Hertzwig said none of the products has tested positive for salmonella, but the company acted as a precaution after the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that many of the infected people has eaten the product.

Veggie Booty Snack Food is sold in supermarkets, health food stores, vending machines and online in the United States and Canada. It is sold in flexible plastic foil bags in 4 ounce, 1 ounce and half-ounce portions. The brand name is Robert's American Gourmet, and all codes and expiration dates of Veggie Booty are being recalled.

The company said consumers who purchased Veggie Booty and still have the product in their homes should discard the contents and contact the company at 1-800-626-7557 for reimbursement.

Guerilla Fighter Finds God

Guerilla Fighter Finds God
CBN News

CWNews.com–---Every morning, Rosario Rivera and a group of volunteers prepare food for more than 500 poor children in the Comas district of Lima, Peru. It's an unexpected twist in the turbulent life of a woman who committed herself to guns and violence in her teens.

She said, “When I arrived at the Orolla police station, I saw four workmen tied up. Who knows how many days they had gone without food, and they were being beaten with sticks on the head and arms. I felt such furious anger in my heart, and that day committed myself to armed resistance.”

Determined she would start a revolution, Rosario traveled to Cuba at the age of 18 and returned to Perú as part of the "Tupac Amaru" guerilla movement. She was preparing to enter Bolivia in 1967, alongside communist fighter Che Guevara.

“Then, right there on the border between Perú and Bolivia, I felt something strongly in my heart, and I told the commander that I thought it wasn't the right time to go into Bolivia,” she said. “Then he got so angry with me, he came up to me, spit on me and dismissed me from his army. And that's why I am alive today.”

When she returned to Lima, Rosario attended a Luis Palau evangelistic campaign and felt so challenged by the message that she planned to kill the preacher. But one morning God revealed Himself to her and she could not resist His call.

Rosario said, “And then God did a very personal work here in my house, and He cleaned out all the garbage in my mind and converted me.”

Ever since then, Rosario Rivera has given her life over to Christ. Today, she is a Christian who shows her love for God by helping her neighbors.

China seafood ban benefiting Arkansas farmers

A Seafood Ban Benefiting Arkansas Farmers

Catfish farmer Joey Lowery is wrapping up his day's work on his family farm in Jackson County.
He's been raising and selling about two million pounds of catfish every year for two decades. And for him product safety comes first.

"We feel like the only way to compete is to raise the bar and to just do a better job," says Lowery.

Thursday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration blocked seafood imports from China saying catfish, eel, shrimp, basa and dace may be contaminated with certain medications.

Some Chinese fish farmers use the drugs to cut down on disease among their fish. United States farmers can't use the medications.

David Archeson with the FDA says, "The concern is really long-term exposure from some of the drugs that are in these types of seafood. It's not a short-term exposure issue. You don't need to worry what's on your dinner table tonight."

Experts say it may be more than a year before the China problem is fixed, which means the majority of the catfish will come from U.S. producers.

Lowery explains, "It's more work, more sales and more business."

This is the break down. Right now 25 percent of all U.S. cat fish production comes from here in Arkansas generating nearly $600 million a year for the state. But Lowery says it's more than a financial boost. He wants the ban to be a teaching tool for Arkansans who are shopping for fish.

"If they're concerned about where the product comes from and if it is not properly labeled on the shelf, ask the manager where he is purchasing the product from,” says Lowery.

The banned fish from China is not marked, so if you're in the grocery store or a restaurant and you want to know, you'll have to ask the manager.

Sunday, June 24, 2007

Police storm Christian's home

Police storm Christian's home
One believer imprisoned, possessions confiscated
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Posted: June 23, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern

© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

Earlier this year WND reported on plans by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to "pave the path for the glorious reappearance of Imam Mahdi," and now confirmed reports from Voice of the Martyrs reveals that the persecution of Christians in Iran is intensifying.

WND reported that Ahmadinejad is urging Iranians to prepare for the coming of the Mahdi by turning the country into a mighty and advanced Islamic society and by avoiding the corruption and excesses of the West. Shiites believe the 12th imam disappeared as a child in the year 941, but when he returns he will reign on earth for seven years, before bringing about a final judgment and the end of the world.

Voice of the Martyrs, which makes available a newsletter providing updates on the persecution of Christians around the world, says in a new report Christians in Iran "are being detained, interrogated and in one case, imprisoned because of their faith in Jesus Christ."

Untreatable TB threat 'apocalyptic scenario'

Untreatable TB threat 'apocalyptic scenario'
30,000 infected annually now, but toll could become 8 million 'time bombs'
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Posted: June 24, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern

By Bob Unruh
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

The World Health Organization is appealing for billions of dollars in funding to avert the apocalypse en route if a virtually untreatable form of tuberculosis that already infects 30,000 people a year is left unchecked.

The TB, called XDR-TB for extensively drug resistant, is virtually immune to currently available antibiotics, turning aside the effects of both front-line and secondary drugs, officials have said.

It has been in the news of late because of an American airline passenger, Andrew Speaker, an Atlanta, Ga., lawyer, who was diagnosed, then traveled to Europe for his wedding, and returned, on commercial airliners, potentially exposing hundreds of people to the frequently fatal disease.

He now is being treated at a special center in Denver that deals with cases of tuberculosis.

"XDR-TB is a threat to the security and stability of global health. This response plan identifies costs, milestones and priorities for health services that will continue to have an impact beyond its two-year time line," said WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan.

The organization is appealing for $2.15 billion in funding to develop a battle plan – and tools – to fight the drug-resistant TB. It is expected that it would save 134,000 lives over two years, and many more in the future.

The extensively drug resistant TB has been reported in 37 countries in all parts of the world since it first was identified in 2006, the agency said.

"There is somewhere between 25,000 and 30,000, we roughly estimate, cases of extensive drug resistant TB each year," Paul Nunn, coordinator of WHO's Stop TB Department, informed a recent meeting.

The program, called "Global MDR-TB and XDR-TB Response Plan 2007-2008" sets out measures needed to prevent, treat and control those threats. MDR-TB is multiple-drug resistant, while XDR-TB is extensively drug resistant.

Senate Returning to Immigration Bill

Senate Returning to Immigration Bill

Jun 24 11:19 AM US/Eastern
By JIM ABRAMS
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - Senators pushing a new immigration policy appealed Sunday to wavering supporters ahead of renewed debate on securing the borders and dealing with 12 million undocumented immigrants.

A fragile compromise was pulled from the Senate in early June, then resurrected after bipartisan negotiations with the White House. The bill awaits a crucial test vote this week. With several senators distancing themselves from the proposal, the outcome was too close to call.

"We'll see if between the two parties we have 60 votes" needed to keep the bill moving toward a final vote, said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D- Calif.

The measure would tighten borders, require workplace verification and create a guest worker program. It also would lay out a way by which the estimated 12 million people illegally in the U.S. could gain legal status and work toward citizenship.

President Bush long has advocated an immigration overhaul. On Saturday, he urged lawmakers to "summon the courage" to support what could be the last major legislative achievement of his presidency. "The status quo is unacceptable," he said in his weekly radio address.

But he faces dissension from fellow Republicans who demand better border security and oppose any policy that suggests amnesty for undocumented immigrants.

Bush: Plan has permanent ban for illegals

Bush: Plan has permanent ban for illegals
Uses radio address to lobby for Senate's 'amnesty' idea
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Posted: June 23, 2007
5:00 p.m. Eastern

© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

President Bush today offered the promise of a future permanent ban on illegal aliens in the United States – if the U.S. Senate moves forward with a compromise "comprehensive" immigration reform package that was killed earlier.

"Right now, our laws are ineffective and insufficient. For example, crossing the border illegally carries weak penalties. In addition, participation in illegal gangs is not enough to bar admission into our country," he said on his weekly radio address.

"And when we cannot get other countries to accept the return of their citizens who are dangerous criminals, in most cases our government can only detain these aliens for six months before releasing them into society," he said.

"This is unacceptable. The bill before the Senate addresses these problems. Under this bill, those caught crossing illegally will be permanently barred from returning to the United States on a work or tourist visa.

"Under this bill, anyone known to have taken part in illegal gang activity can be denied admission to our country. And under the bill, we will be able to detain aliens who are dangerous criminals until another country accepts their return," he said.

However, it also grants legal status to the estimated 12-20 million illegal aliens already within the United States, and that has generated considerable opposition among Republicans and even some Democrats.

Anglican Church of Canada to debate whether to bless same-sex unions

Anglican Church of Canada to debate whether to bless same-sex unions

Jun 23 12:59 PM US/Eastern

WINNIPEG (CP) - Leaders of Canada's third-largest denomination are preparing to vote on an issue that has already divided the country's two million congregants.
The Anglican Church of Canada is holding its General Synod in Winnipeg and is deciding whether to bless the unions of same-sex couples.

The decision could ultimately lead to a split from the worldwide church.

Some of the more conservative Anglican churches have already threatened the U.S. church with expulsion over its blessings of same- sex couples.

A blessing is intended for a couple who have united in a civil ceremony or some other union and is not the same as a marriage.

The debate comes the day after delegates voted in Fred Hiltz from Atlantic Canada as the new head of Canada's Anglicans.

Bill paves way for Canada's 'disappearance'

Bill paves way for Canada's 'disappearance'
Critics say country moving toward 'deep integration' with U.S.
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Posted: June 23, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern

© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

Lawmakers in Canada appear to be paving the way for "deep integration" with the U.S. and Mexico with a proposed measure that advances the controversial Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America promoted by the Bush administration, notes WND columnist Jerome Corsi.

It's an issue Corsi has fully investigated for his newest book, "The Late Great USA."

The conservative minority government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper is pressing for "The Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement", which would enable a Canadian company to challenge laws in provinces that block the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Murray Dobbin, a Vancouver author and journalist critical of SPP, argued in an article titled, "The Plan to Disappear Canada – 'Deep Integration' comes out of the shadows," the secretive trilateral bureaucratic working groups organized under the auspices of SPP are "harmonizing" virtually every important area of public policy with the U.S., including "defense, foreign policy, energy (they get security, we get greenhouse gases), culture, social policy, tax policy, drug testing and safety and much more."

The proposed legislation would allow companies that believe provincial laws and regulations harm their NAFTA rights to demand up to $5 million in compensatory damages for each violation.

Finally! The full exposé of North American agenda

Finally! The full exposé of North American agenda
Book documents plans for merger of U.S., Mexico, Canada

© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

WASHINGTON – Resistance to enforcing immigration laws and border security by political elites in the nation's capital is, at least in part, a result of plans to promote political, social and economic integration of the U.S., Mexico and Canada, charges a new book, "The Late Great USA."

"It's the only context in which the current immigration travesty makes sense," says Jerome Corsi, co-author of the best-selling "Unfit for Command," "and it must be stopped."

Millions of Americans, shocked by the Senate "grand bargain" on immigration that gives the precious gift of legalization to millions of illegal aliens and felons, have taken to the phones to demand no amnesty. But, claims Corsi, there's far more to the current Senate bill – a story documented in shocking detail in "The Late Great USA: The Coming Merger with Mexico and Canada," published by WND Books.

"Prior to this 'grand bargain' cooked up in a backroom by our so-called representatives, many people had never heard of the Security and Prosperity Partnership, yet several amendments in the Senate bill are designed specifically to further the SPP's agenda," explains Corsi.

In "The Late Great USA," Corsi shows how the SPP, an agreement signed in 2005 by Bush, Paul Martin of Canada and Vicente Fox of Mexico, is nothing less than a full-frontal assault on American sovereignty.

This aim to create a North American Union between the United States, Mexico and Canada is the real reason behind "comprehensive immigration reform."

Says Corsi, "Bush's goal to create a North American Union – with no borders, a shared currency, and utterly no voice for average Americans in their own futures – is the real reason he won't enforce immigration laws."

Democrats hope to hush Rush

Democrats hope to hush Rush
Feinstein looking at Fairness Doctrine, says talk radio 'overwhelmingly 1 way'
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Posted: June 24, 2007
7:30 p.m. Eastern

© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., is "looking at" bringing back the Fairness Doctrine, a controversial policy designed to ensure equal time for all political viewpoints on radio, but criticized by many as resulting in the opposite result.

When asked by Chris Wallace on "Fox News Sunday" if she would revive the measure, said, "Well, I'm looking at it, as a matter of fact, Chris, because I think there ought to be an opportunity to present the other side. And unfortunately, talk radio is overwhelmingly one way."

Wallace pointed out, "But the argument would be it's the marketplace, and if liberals want to put on their own talk radio, they can put it on. At this point, they don't seem to be able to find much of a market."

Feinstein responded: "Well, apparently, there have been problems. It is growing. But I do believe in fairness. I remember when there was a fairness doctrine, and I think there was much more serious correct reporting to people."

The Democrat said talk radio tends to be one-sided.

"It also tends to be dwelling in hyperbole. It's explosive. It pushes people to, I think, extreme views without a lot of information."

Among the targets of leftist Democrats is conservative champion Rush Limbaugh, the most-listened to host in the history of talk radio, who has railed against in the Fairness Doctrine for years.

I have an idea...maybe we can attempt to aim this at TV News Media? Oh wait, that would not work in the liberal's favor, considering that almost all TV News Media is not fair or balanced, and is currently Left/Liberal/Democrat. Talk about not being fair? With conservative's pretty much only having their view point expressed on talk radio and blogs, the liberals now even want to take that away, because it's a threat to them! Why is it a threat? Because like it or not, the majority of Americans lean towards the conservative side, and agree with conservative radio. Unfortunately, not enough speak up nearly as much as the liberals do.

Your doctor could put you on no-gun list

Your doctor could put you on no-gun list
Congress fast-tracks plan to let physicians ban weapons ownership
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By Naomi Laine
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

The House of Representatives has fast-tracked new legislation to "improve" the National Instant Criminal Background Check System by allowing doctors to now decide who can own firearms.

The proposal, H.R. 2640, was sponsored by U.S. Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y., in the wake of the April tragedy at Virginia Tech, when a gunman shot and killed more than 30 people, then killed himself.

McCarthy, whose own husband was killed in a random shooting on a commuter train in New York City in 1993, introduced the "NICS Improvement Act," which sailed through the House in three days.

The plan is the first congressional effort to curtail gun ownership rights in a decade, but by being put on the fast track was exempted from the ordinary committee hearings and public scrutiny most proposals are sent through.

"Millions of criminal records are not accessible by NICS and millions others are missing critical data," said McCarthy. "Each year, tens of thousands of barred individuals slip through the cracks of the system and gain access to firearms. Simply put, the NICS system must be updated on both the state and federal level."

If the Act passes in the Senate, it would provide grants so states can add the names of criminals to the NICS system, which would label them as unable to own firearms, but it also flags those with medical or psychological issues as unfit to possess a gun.

The plan allows names to be entered into the NICS system based solely on a physician's diagnosis or prescription of a medication: adults who have taken Ritalin and soldiers with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder would be classified as mentally ill and given the same opportunity to own firearms as convicted felons: None.

Ignacio Ramos reported in 'emaciated' condition

Ignacio Ramos reported in 'emaciated' condition
Congressional aide says Border Patrol agent 'languishing in solitary'
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© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

A congressional aide who visited Ignacio Ramos in prison said the convicted Border Patrol agent appeared emaciated, losing more than 30 pounds in solitary confinement.

Ramos, who is appealing his 11-year sentence for the non-lethal shooting of a Mexican drug smuggler, has been in a "special housing unit" since he was beaten by inmates in February at the medium-security Federal Correctional Complex in Yazoo City, Miss., said Tara Setmayer, spokeswoman for Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif.

"He was very happy to see me, but, overall, he was very emotional," Setmayer told WND. "He is demoralized. Languishing in solitary for 135 days takes its toll on anyone."

The men who bloodied Ramos with kicks from steel-toed boots are in the same unit, Setmayer said.

Although the prison tries to make a distinction, she noted, "the protective measures are punitive, so he suffers all of the same restrictions as those there for disciplinary reasons."

A lockdown had been implemented prior to Setmayer's visit June 11, and Ramos had not received a hot meal in two days, Setmayer said.

Judge bans word 'rape' at rape trial

Judge bans word 'rape' at rape trial
Defense lawyers say witnesses 'can't reach legal conclusions'

© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

A California appeals court recently ruled "family values" could be considered "hate speech," but now a judge in Nebraska has gone even further, banning the use of the words "rape" and "sexual assault" during a trial for a man accused of sexual assault.

The new order comes from Jeffre Cheuvront, a district judge in Lancaster County, who granted a defense motion to ban such words. A defense lawyer, Clarence Mock, told the Lincoln Star-Journal those references should be restricted to keep the trial fair.

"Rape" is not even a legal term, he noted. And while "sexual assault" is, that references something only the jury can determine, he said.

"Under the rules of evidence, witnesses can't reach legal conclusions," he told the newspaper.

Thursday, July 5, 2007

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