Half-Breed Wolf Dog Hero Rescues Elderly Owners From Snowstorm
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
By Liza Porteus
NEW YORK — When Eve and Norman Fertig rescued a sick, two-week-old half wolf, half German shepherd puppy from a breeder almost seven years ago, they'd never dreamed that the animal one day would save their lives.
"God is watching; he's watching all the time," Eve Fertig told FOXNews from her home at the Enchanted Forest Wildlife Sanctuary in Alden, N.Y.
He apparently was watching on Oct. 12, when the 81-year-old Fertigs were treating injured animals in the forest sanctuary on their property. One such animal is a near-18-year-old raven, while another is a crow who was shot, blind in one eye with two broken legs.
It was routine for the couple to feed and exercise the dozen or so animals there around 7 p.m. every night.
"While we're in there, the lights go out and I realized something's wrong," Eve Fertig said. "We go outside to see what's happening and down comes one massive tree … the trees came down across us."
The massive storm that hit upstate New York that night felled trees, blocking the Fertig's path to the other sanctuary buildings — such as the school and storage building — and to their home, which was at least 200 feet away.
"We were in big trouble. … I said to my husband, 'I think we could die out here,'" Eve said.
'The Most Heroic Thing I've Ever Seen'
The Fertigs huddled in a narrow alley between the hospital building and the aviary, where they were sheltered from falling trees. They couldn't climb over the trees without injuring themselves. Neither had warm clothes on since it was a clear, crisp fall day just a few hours ago.
They hugged each other for warmth, since by 9:30 p.m., temperatures had dropped.
"I wasn't prepared for this … I thought, 'we're trapped, we're absolutely trapped,'" Eve said.
"That's when Shana began to dig beneath the fallen trees."
The 160-pound dog that habitually follows her owners around — Eve likens it to "Mary had a little lamb," when the lamb went everywhere Mary went — eventually found the Fertigs and began digging a path in the snow with her teeth and claws underneath the fallen trees, similar to a mineshaft, and barking as if to tell them to follow.
A reluctant Norm said, "I had enough in Okinawa in a foxhole," referring to his service in World War II.
"'Norman, if you do not follow me, I will get a divorce,'" Eve said to her husband of 62 years. "That did it. He said, 'a divorce? That would scandal our family.' I said, 'all of our family is dead, Norman!'"
After Shana tunneled all the way to the house — a process that took until about 11:30 p.m. — she came back, grabbed the sleeve of Eve's jacket, and threw the 86-pound woman over her back and neck, which Eve described as "as wide as our kitchen shelf."
Norman grabbed Eve's legs, and the dog pulled them through the tunnel, under the trees and through an opening in a fence to the house, at which they arrived around 2 a.m.
"It was the most heroic thing I've ever seen in my life," Eve said. "We opened the door and we just fell in and she laid on top of us and just stayed there and kept us alive … that's where we laid until the fireman found us."
There was no electricity and no heat in the house, so Shana acted as a living, breathing generator for the exhausted Fertigs until the local fire department arrived the next morning.
Concerned neighbors — many of whom had children Eve taught — who couldn't get hold of the elderly couple via telephone throughout the night had called the Town Line Fire Department.
But when the fire department urged the Fertigs to go to the firehouse to take shelter along with 100 others, they told them they would have to leave Shana behind.
"We said, 'we don't go anywhere without her.' ... I said, 'we'll stay until the people are gone and we'll take Shana,'" Eve said.
So the couple stayed at home with Shana until Sunday, when the firehouse emptied out. During the three days in a house with no power, heat or hot water, Shana slept with her owners to keep them warm.
"She kept us alive. She really did," Eve said.
Also during that time, firefighters not only helped clear trees from their grounds, but they brought food and water for both human and animal.
"They kept looking at that tunnel and said, 'we've never seen anything like it,'" she said. "I can't thank them enough — they're heroes."
When they went to the firehouse Sunday, Shana followed the Fertigs everywhere, even to the bathroom. And she was 'spoiled rotten' by the fire crews there, Eve said.
She said the fire chiefs said her story of being saved by her pet rejuvenated exhausted fire teams. "The story, they said, just gave them new hope."
A Lesson Learned
Last Thursday, Shana received the Citizens for Humane Animal Treatment's Hero's Award for bravery — an award traditionally given to humans. The plaque, complete with Shana's picture on it, hangs in the Fertigs' living room, along with other pictures of wolves the couple has worked with.
Eve, who teaches courses in Saving Endangered Species and Caring for Injured and Orphaned Wildlife at community colleges and trains animal rehabilitators in New York, said she hopes her story will help further her message of humanity toward animals and educate people about how even a wolf, if treated with care and dignity, can be a "kisser and a hugger" like Shana.
"If you're vicious to a human being, they'll become fighters," Eve said, but even wolves, "once you treat them right and raise them in your house, they're magnificent."
Eve has taught 400 adults to be wildlife rehabilitators. She and her husband are volunteers who pay for their own teaching licenses and caring for the sanctuary animals, out of their Social Security checks every year.
"I've never been on a cruise and I don't shop and I haven't seen a movie in two years," Eve said.
The only time the Fertigs go to the movies is, of course, when they are submitting to a higher calling.
"What I do to get signatures for my petitions, I go to [a] movie that's showing a wolf, horse or whale story," and she and her husband camp out outside the theater and get petitions signed to help save various animals, which they send along to wildlife organizations.
"I have a motto ... joint abilities don't create hostilities," Eve said. "I make it my business to talk to all groups, all conservationists, all hunting clubs, to let them know what they're missing out there."
Editor's Note: The Fertigs rely on food donations to help feed the injured animals they try to rehabilitate at their Enchanted Forest Wildlife Sanctuary in Alden, N.Y. They told FOXNews.com that the Oct. 12 storm completely wiped out their supply of food. The Fertigs would welcome any donations. Please contact them at 716-681-5918 if you would like to donate or volunteer.
Editor's Note II: After this story was published, Eve Fertig contacted FOXNews.com and said she received phone calls from all over the U.S. with people asking about Shana's story and how they can donate food for the Fertigs animals, toys for Shana, or money for their sanctuary. Mrs. Fertig asked that her address be published so people can send such items to them. Their address is:
Mrs. Eve Fertig
Enchanted Forest Wildlife Sanctuary
11380 Cary Road
Alden, N.Y. 14004-9547
© Associated Press. All rights reserved.
© 2006 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved.
Wednesday, December 6, 2006
Somalia Town Threatens to Behead People Who Don't Pray 5 Times Daily
Somalia Town Threatens to Behead People Who Don't Pray 5 Times Daily
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
MOGADISHU, Somalia — Residents of a southern Somalia town who do not pray five times a day will be beheaded, an official said Wednesday, adding the edict will be implemented in three days.
Shops, tea houses and other public places in Bulo Burto, about 124 miles northeast of the capital, Mogadishu, should be closed during prayer time and no one should be on the streets, said Sheik Hussein Barre Rage, the chairman of the town's Islamic court. His court is part of a network backed by armed militiamen that has taken control of much of southern Somalia in recent months, bringing a strict interpretation of Islam that is alien to many Somalis.
Those who do not follow the prayer edict after three days have elapsed, "will definitely be beheaded according to Islamic law," Rage told The Associated Press by phone. "As Muslims we should practice Islam fully, not in part, and that is what our religion enjoins us to do."
He said the edict, which covered only Bulo Burto, was being announced over loudspeakers throughout the town.
Somalia's Islamic courts have made varying interpretations of Koranic law, some applying a more strict and radical version of Islam than others. Some of the courts have introduced public executions, floggings of convicts, bans on women swimming in Mogadishu's public beaches and on the sale and chewing of khat, a leafy stimulant consumed across the Horn of Africa and in the Middle East.
After complaints about the lack of consistency from residents in the capital, Mogadishu, the umbrella Council of Islamic Courts set up an appeals court with better educated judges in October.
© Associated Press. All rights reserved.
© 2006 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved.
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
MOGADISHU, Somalia — Residents of a southern Somalia town who do not pray five times a day will be beheaded, an official said Wednesday, adding the edict will be implemented in three days.
Shops, tea houses and other public places in Bulo Burto, about 124 miles northeast of the capital, Mogadishu, should be closed during prayer time and no one should be on the streets, said Sheik Hussein Barre Rage, the chairman of the town's Islamic court. His court is part of a network backed by armed militiamen that has taken control of much of southern Somalia in recent months, bringing a strict interpretation of Islam that is alien to many Somalis.
Those who do not follow the prayer edict after three days have elapsed, "will definitely be beheaded according to Islamic law," Rage told The Associated Press by phone. "As Muslims we should practice Islam fully, not in part, and that is what our religion enjoins us to do."
He said the edict, which covered only Bulo Burto, was being announced over loudspeakers throughout the town.
Somalia's Islamic courts have made varying interpretations of Koranic law, some applying a more strict and radical version of Islam than others. Some of the courts have introduced public executions, floggings of convicts, bans on women swimming in Mogadishu's public beaches and on the sale and chewing of khat, a leafy stimulant consumed across the Horn of Africa and in the Middle East.
After complaints about the lack of consistency from residents in the capital, Mogadishu, the umbrella Council of Islamic Courts set up an appeals court with better educated judges in October.
© Associated Press. All rights reserved.
© 2006 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved.
Terrorists rejoicing over new Iraq 'plan'
Terrorists rejoicing over new Iraq 'plan'
Reaction to Study Group: 'Allah and his angels' responsible, 'era of Islam and of jihad' declared
Posted: December 6, 2006
7:40 p.m. Eastern
By Aaron Klein
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
JERUSALEM – A high level U.S. commission's recommendations for an eventual withdrawal from Iraq and for dialogue with Iran and Syria proves "Islamic resistance" works and America will ultimately be defeated, according to senior terrorist leaders interviewed by WND.
The militants, from the largest Palestinian terror groups in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, welcomed the policies outlined by the Iraq Study Group, which they claim recognizes Islam is the "new giant of the world."
The group is led by former U.S. Secretary of State James Baker.
"The report proves that this is the era of Islam and of jihad," said Abu Ayman, a senior leader of Islamic Jihad in the northern West Bank town of Jenin.
The Islamic Jihad terror group is responsible for every suicide bombing in Israel during the past two years.
"[With the Iraq Study Group report], the Americans came to the conclusion that Islam is the new giant of the world and it would be clever to reduce hostilities with this giant. In the Quran the principle of the rotation is clear and according to this principle the end of the Americans and of all non-believers is getting closer," Abu Ayman said.
According to Abu Abdullah, a senior leader of Hamas' so-called military wing, Baker's report is a victory for Islam brought about by "Allah and his angels."
"It is not just a simple victory. It is a great one. The big superpower of the world is defeated by a small group of mujahedeen (fighters). Did you see the mujahedeens' clothes and weapons in comparison with the huge individual military arsenal and supply that was carrying every American soldier?" exclaimed Abu Abdullah, who is considered one of the most important operational members of Hamas' Izzedine al-Qassam Martyrs Brigades, Hamas' declared "resistance" department.
"It is no doubt that Allah and his angels were fighting with them (insurgents) against the Americans. It is a sign to all those who keep saying that America, Israel and the West in general cannot be defeated on the ground so let us negotiate with them," Abu Abdullah said.
Abu Abdullah said following a withdrawal from Iraq, the U.S. will be defeated on its own soil.
"America must understand that with anti-American governments in Latin America and with Islam growing and reinforcing, including in the U.S. itself, the next step would be a total defeat on their (American) land, not a relative one like they are facing in Iraq," he said.
Abu Nasser, the second-in-command of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group in the West Bank, called the Iraq Study Group report a "great victory" from which other jihadist organizations can learn.
"The Iraqi victory is a great message and lesson to the revolutionary and freedom movements in the world. Just to think that this resistance is led by hundreds of Sunni fighters who defeated hundreds of thousands of Americans, British and thousands of soldiers who belong to the puppet regime in Baghdad. What would be the situation if the Shiites will decide to join the resistance?" commented Abu Nasser.
The Al Aqsa leader said his group learned from the "Iraqi resistance" that jihad will ultimately destroy Israel.
The Al Aqsa Brigades is the declared "military wing" of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party.
"If Israel will not start negotiating its withdrawal we are ready to launch the new stage of the intifada," Abu Nasser said.
Islamic Jihad's Abu Ayman said after the U.S. "defeat" in Iraq is finalized, insurgents there should move to the West Bank and Gaza to help destroy Israel.
"We hope that after chasing the occupation from Iraq, these jihad efforts and experiences will be transferred to Palestine, and yes, I mean that we expect these fighters will come to Palestine as part of a big Islamic army."
The Iraqi Study Group's report called the U.S. position in Iraq "grave and deteriorating," and recommended the withdrawal of most combat troops from Iraq by 2008.
It warned, "The ability of the United States to influence events within Iraq is diminishing."
The report stated the U.S. should engage Iran, Syria and insurgent leaders in Iraq, and said Israel should be pressured into withdrawing from the West Bank and the Golan Heights.
The West Bank runs alongside Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Israel's international airport. The Heights is strategic mountainous territory that looks down in Israeli and Syrian population centers.
President Bush received the report at the White House this morning. Flanked by Baker and other commission members, Bush pledged to treat each proposal seriously and act in a "timely fashion."
The White House said Bush will make key decisions within weeks.
Some terror leaders, though, were unsure whether the Baker report would actually be implemented. They claimed Israel controls U.S. foreign policy and would ultimately block changes in American actions in the Middle East.
"The problem is that I think the political structure of the U.S. and the role of the Zionists in the U.S. turns impossible the possibility that this report would be implemented," said Abu Ayman.
Still the terror leader said the report shows insurgent actions are working.
"It is the dawn of the real Islam what we are seeing now, young people who are leaving everything in their countries and are coming to fight in Iraq," said Abu Ayman.
Reaction to Study Group: 'Allah and his angels' responsible, 'era of Islam and of jihad' declared
Posted: December 6, 2006
7:40 p.m. Eastern
By Aaron Klein
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
JERUSALEM – A high level U.S. commission's recommendations for an eventual withdrawal from Iraq and for dialogue with Iran and Syria proves "Islamic resistance" works and America will ultimately be defeated, according to senior terrorist leaders interviewed by WND.
The militants, from the largest Palestinian terror groups in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, welcomed the policies outlined by the Iraq Study Group, which they claim recognizes Islam is the "new giant of the world."
The group is led by former U.S. Secretary of State James Baker.
"The report proves that this is the era of Islam and of jihad," said Abu Ayman, a senior leader of Islamic Jihad in the northern West Bank town of Jenin.
The Islamic Jihad terror group is responsible for every suicide bombing in Israel during the past two years.
"[With the Iraq Study Group report], the Americans came to the conclusion that Islam is the new giant of the world and it would be clever to reduce hostilities with this giant. In the Quran the principle of the rotation is clear and according to this principle the end of the Americans and of all non-believers is getting closer," Abu Ayman said.
According to Abu Abdullah, a senior leader of Hamas' so-called military wing, Baker's report is a victory for Islam brought about by "Allah and his angels."
"It is not just a simple victory. It is a great one. The big superpower of the world is defeated by a small group of mujahedeen (fighters). Did you see the mujahedeens' clothes and weapons in comparison with the huge individual military arsenal and supply that was carrying every American soldier?" exclaimed Abu Abdullah, who is considered one of the most important operational members of Hamas' Izzedine al-Qassam Martyrs Brigades, Hamas' declared "resistance" department.
"It is no doubt that Allah and his angels were fighting with them (insurgents) against the Americans. It is a sign to all those who keep saying that America, Israel and the West in general cannot be defeated on the ground so let us negotiate with them," Abu Abdullah said.
Abu Abdullah said following a withdrawal from Iraq, the U.S. will be defeated on its own soil.
"America must understand that with anti-American governments in Latin America and with Islam growing and reinforcing, including in the U.S. itself, the next step would be a total defeat on their (American) land, not a relative one like they are facing in Iraq," he said.
Abu Nasser, the second-in-command of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group in the West Bank, called the Iraq Study Group report a "great victory" from which other jihadist organizations can learn.
"The Iraqi victory is a great message and lesson to the revolutionary and freedom movements in the world. Just to think that this resistance is led by hundreds of Sunni fighters who defeated hundreds of thousands of Americans, British and thousands of soldiers who belong to the puppet regime in Baghdad. What would be the situation if the Shiites will decide to join the resistance?" commented Abu Nasser.
The Al Aqsa leader said his group learned from the "Iraqi resistance" that jihad will ultimately destroy Israel.
The Al Aqsa Brigades is the declared "military wing" of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party.
"If Israel will not start negotiating its withdrawal we are ready to launch the new stage of the intifada," Abu Nasser said.
Islamic Jihad's Abu Ayman said after the U.S. "defeat" in Iraq is finalized, insurgents there should move to the West Bank and Gaza to help destroy Israel.
"We hope that after chasing the occupation from Iraq, these jihad efforts and experiences will be transferred to Palestine, and yes, I mean that we expect these fighters will come to Palestine as part of a big Islamic army."
The Iraqi Study Group's report called the U.S. position in Iraq "grave and deteriorating," and recommended the withdrawal of most combat troops from Iraq by 2008.
It warned, "The ability of the United States to influence events within Iraq is diminishing."
The report stated the U.S. should engage Iran, Syria and insurgent leaders in Iraq, and said Israel should be pressured into withdrawing from the West Bank and the Golan Heights.
The West Bank runs alongside Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Israel's international airport. The Heights is strategic mountainous territory that looks down in Israeli and Syrian population centers.
President Bush received the report at the White House this morning. Flanked by Baker and other commission members, Bush pledged to treat each proposal seriously and act in a "timely fashion."
The White House said Bush will make key decisions within weeks.
Some terror leaders, though, were unsure whether the Baker report would actually be implemented. They claimed Israel controls U.S. foreign policy and would ultimately block changes in American actions in the Middle East.
"The problem is that I think the political structure of the U.S. and the role of the Zionists in the U.S. turns impossible the possibility that this report would be implemented," said Abu Ayman.
Still the terror leader said the report shows insurgent actions are working.
"It is the dawn of the real Islam what we are seeing now, young people who are leaving everything in their countries and are coming to fight in Iraq," said Abu Ayman.
Hubbub Continues Over Use of Koran in U.S. Rep's Oath of Office
Hubbub Continues Over Use of Koran in U.S. Rep's Oath of Office
By Jody Brown
(AgapePress) - A pro-Islam group in Washington, DC, says a Jewish columnist's "bigoted and divisive" views should warrant his removal from a panel that oversees a Holocaust museum located in the nation's capital. The controversy centers around recent comments made by the journalist in reacting to an announcement by the nation's first elected Muslim congressman that he intends to use the Koran, instead of the Bible, during his upcoming swearing-in ceremony.
Columnist and talk-radio host Dennis Prager should be removed from the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, which oversees the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum -- that's the opinion of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). Why? Because in a column last week, Prager stated his opinion that Congressman-elect Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), a Muslim, should take his oath of office on the Holy Bible -- not the Koran.
"Insofar as a member of Congress taking an oath to serve America and uphold its values is concerned, America is interested in only one book -- the Bible," wrote Prager. "If you are incapable of taking an oath on that book, don't serve in Congress."
Continuing, the columnist wrote that "in your personal life, we will fight for your right to prefer any other book. We will even fight for your right to publish cartoons mocking our Bible. But, Mr. Ellison, America -- not you -- decides on what book its public servants take their oath.
Since then, the columnist has offered up a solution he believes would satisfy most Americans: have Ellison bring a Bible with him along with his Koran.
"I have no problem with his bringing the Koran," Prager tells Associated Press, "[but] I have a problem with him denying the Bible its proper place. It's the first time since George Washington that someone has substituted a religious text for the Bible." The journalist adds that he seeks no laws to force use of the Bible in the ceremony, "but I do want public pressure on him to include the Bible."
Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for CAIR, says Prager's remarks display an intolerance toward Islam -- and that the columnist should not insist that the nation's first Muslim congressman be sworn in on a Bible. "That excludes Muslims, it excludes Buddhists, Hindus, people in the Jewish community -- and it violates the Constitution in terms of not having a religious test to hold public office," Hooper tells AP.
And such anti-Islam comments, says the CAIR spokesman, deserves appropriate consequences.
"Mr. Prager is a member of the council that governs the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington," notes Hooper, "and we believe that his continued presence on that council would be inappropriate for someone who holds such bigoted and divisive views.
"When you are appointed by the president to a council whose mission is to combat hatred and bigotry, and you hold views that promote hatred and bigotry, there's a problem there ...."
Prager, who is Jewish, dismisses CAIR as a small Saudi-funded interest group. "It's not exactly a dishonor to be vilified by CAIR," he says. "I believe that that's been a destructive organization that has hurt Muslim/non-Muslim relations in America."
And his call for the Bible to be used is not an issue of personal religious preference, he adds. "I'm a Jew -- so the New Testament is not my Bible either. But the Bible ... is what gave [America] its values, and I can recognize that even if it isn't entirely my Bible."
Congressman Ellison's campaign manager contends that Prager's premise is false. Dave Colling acknowledges that the incoming lawmaker from Minnesota would be the first to take the oath with the Koran -- "but most members do not even take an individual oath with any book," he tells the Washington Post. "Keith Ellison will be taking his oath in the chamber [en masse] with the other members of Congress." No Bible or other religious document is used for the oath at that time, says that report.
In addition, notes Colling in the Post, Mr. Ellison has not refused to take an oath on the Bible, because his refusal would imply that such a requirement exists.
When Theodore Roosevelt took his oath of office in 1901, he was the first and only president to do so without a Bible. Sixty years later, John F. Kennedy took his oath on a Catholic version of the Bible. And several Jewish members of Congress have taken their oath on the Torah.
Associated Press contributed to this article.
© 2006 AgapePress all rights reserved.
By Jody Brown
(AgapePress) - A pro-Islam group in Washington, DC, says a Jewish columnist's "bigoted and divisive" views should warrant his removal from a panel that oversees a Holocaust museum located in the nation's capital. The controversy centers around recent comments made by the journalist in reacting to an announcement by the nation's first elected Muslim congressman that he intends to use the Koran, instead of the Bible, during his upcoming swearing-in ceremony.
Columnist and talk-radio host Dennis Prager should be removed from the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, which oversees the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum -- that's the opinion of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). Why? Because in a column last week, Prager stated his opinion that Congressman-elect Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), a Muslim, should take his oath of office on the Holy Bible -- not the Koran.
"Insofar as a member of Congress taking an oath to serve America and uphold its values is concerned, America is interested in only one book -- the Bible," wrote Prager. "If you are incapable of taking an oath on that book, don't serve in Congress."
Continuing, the columnist wrote that "in your personal life, we will fight for your right to prefer any other book. We will even fight for your right to publish cartoons mocking our Bible. But, Mr. Ellison, America -- not you -- decides on what book its public servants take their oath.
Since then, the columnist has offered up a solution he believes would satisfy most Americans: have Ellison bring a Bible with him along with his Koran.
"I have no problem with his bringing the Koran," Prager tells Associated Press, "[but] I have a problem with him denying the Bible its proper place. It's the first time since George Washington that someone has substituted a religious text for the Bible." The journalist adds that he seeks no laws to force use of the Bible in the ceremony, "but I do want public pressure on him to include the Bible."
Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for CAIR, says Prager's remarks display an intolerance toward Islam -- and that the columnist should not insist that the nation's first Muslim congressman be sworn in on a Bible. "That excludes Muslims, it excludes Buddhists, Hindus, people in the Jewish community -- and it violates the Constitution in terms of not having a religious test to hold public office," Hooper tells AP.
And such anti-Islam comments, says the CAIR spokesman, deserves appropriate consequences.
"Mr. Prager is a member of the council that governs the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington," notes Hooper, "and we believe that his continued presence on that council would be inappropriate for someone who holds such bigoted and divisive views.
"When you are appointed by the president to a council whose mission is to combat hatred and bigotry, and you hold views that promote hatred and bigotry, there's a problem there ...."
Prager, who is Jewish, dismisses CAIR as a small Saudi-funded interest group. "It's not exactly a dishonor to be vilified by CAIR," he says. "I believe that that's been a destructive organization that has hurt Muslim/non-Muslim relations in America."
And his call for the Bible to be used is not an issue of personal religious preference, he adds. "I'm a Jew -- so the New Testament is not my Bible either. But the Bible ... is what gave [America] its values, and I can recognize that even if it isn't entirely my Bible."
Congressman Ellison's campaign manager contends that Prager's premise is false. Dave Colling acknowledges that the incoming lawmaker from Minnesota would be the first to take the oath with the Koran -- "but most members do not even take an individual oath with any book," he tells the Washington Post. "Keith Ellison will be taking his oath in the chamber [en masse] with the other members of Congress." No Bible or other religious document is used for the oath at that time, says that report.
In addition, notes Colling in the Post, Mr. Ellison has not refused to take an oath on the Bible, because his refusal would imply that such a requirement exists.
When Theodore Roosevelt took his oath of office in 1901, he was the first and only president to do so without a Bible. Sixty years later, John F. Kennedy took his oath on a Catholic version of the Bible. And several Jewish members of Congress have taken their oath on the Torah.
Associated Press contributed to this article.
© 2006 AgapePress all rights reserved.
Life Matters to God -- And Here's How to Live It
Life Matters to God -- And Here's How to Live It
By Tim Wildmon
December 6, 2006
(AgapePress) - Funny how life changes as you go though the years. For most people in America it goes like this.
Childhood is filled with wonder. Everything is a new experience. There is very little sense of time except that it seems like forever until Christmas arrives.
The teen years are filled with friends and fun. We look for and find excitement.
A line from a popular song in the 1980s said of the post-teenage years: "Life goes on, long after the thrill of living is gone." I don't buy that idea, although there is an element of truth there.
Youth does thrill seek.
Then most of us get married in our 20s, have children until we are 30 and then buy a mini van. I know some wait until they are in their 30s to marry and some even stay single, but generally speaking, what I have described here is how it works here in the good ol' USA.
When you reach my current age of 43, you see that your kids are about to leave the home and become young adults. Pretty soon they will be having families of their own. The thought brings both joy and melancholy.
But this stage in life also makes you think about what lies ahead. You see, 43 is half way to 86. I graduated from Mississippi State -- that's how I know these things. And 86 is nine years above the average life expectancy in America, which is 77 years of age. In other words, even at 43 -- which many of you reading this consider "young" -- actually, I am probably on the downhill side of my time here on Earth.
What I am saying is cliché, but I will say it any way. Life is short. No matter how you cut it, we are here today and we are gone tomorrow. The questions then become: What do we do with the time we do have? And does it all really matter anyway?
For most of us, this is where religious faith speaks. For me, this is where I want to know what God says about these matters -- and since God does not schedule face-to-face question-and-answer sessions in an audible voice, the best place to turn is the Holy Bible. Wait a minute, you might ask, how do you there is a God? And how do you know He is the author of the Holy Bible? And beyond that how do we know that Jesus was the son of God as Christians believe?
These are very good questions -- questions which I don't have the space to go into here. But may I refer you to a short book I have recommended before? It's titled More Than a Carpenter by Josh McDowell.
But my short answer is that I believe in God because of the order in the universe. From nature, to the stars to the human experience here on Earth, everything points to a creator and is consistent with what the Bible says about life. At least to my satisfaction. The idea that our existence is random without meaning or purpose does not make any sense to me. If you have ever studied the complexities of the human eye, for example, the thought that it could have been put together outside of something supernatural is not logical. I could go on and on, but you get the picture.
Which brings me back to the questions I posed earlier: What do we do with the time we have? And does it really matter anyway?
God says both matter.
God desires that I obey Him. He says I am to love Him with everything I am. He says the main way I can demonstrate my love for Him here is to love other people. He says my first love on Earth should be my wife. My second love on Earth should be my children. So it seems to me my time here on Earth is best used doing God's will, which is loving my wife, my kids and my fellow man.
I can demonstrate that love in many ways. I can serve. I can help. I can care. I can work for the things God stands for and work against the things God stands against.
For the Christian, the way we use our time either pleases God or displeases God. And the Bible teaches that we will be rewarded in heaven for the good that we did in His name while on Earth.
Amen.
Tim Wildmon is president of American Family Association and American Family Radio. He leads Spiritual Heritage Tours to Washington, DC, and Mount Vernon twice a year. For more information on the tours visit TimWildmon.com.
© 2006 AgapePress all rights reserved.
By Tim Wildmon
December 6, 2006
(AgapePress) - Funny how life changes as you go though the years. For most people in America it goes like this.
Childhood is filled with wonder. Everything is a new experience. There is very little sense of time except that it seems like forever until Christmas arrives.
The teen years are filled with friends and fun. We look for and find excitement.
A line from a popular song in the 1980s said of the post-teenage years: "Life goes on, long after the thrill of living is gone." I don't buy that idea, although there is an element of truth there.
Youth does thrill seek.
Then most of us get married in our 20s, have children until we are 30 and then buy a mini van. I know some wait until they are in their 30s to marry and some even stay single, but generally speaking, what I have described here is how it works here in the good ol' USA.
When you reach my current age of 43, you see that your kids are about to leave the home and become young adults. Pretty soon they will be having families of their own. The thought brings both joy and melancholy.
But this stage in life also makes you think about what lies ahead. You see, 43 is half way to 86. I graduated from Mississippi State -- that's how I know these things. And 86 is nine years above the average life expectancy in America, which is 77 years of age. In other words, even at 43 -- which many of you reading this consider "young" -- actually, I am probably on the downhill side of my time here on Earth.
What I am saying is cliché, but I will say it any way. Life is short. No matter how you cut it, we are here today and we are gone tomorrow. The questions then become: What do we do with the time we do have? And does it all really matter anyway?
For most of us, this is where religious faith speaks. For me, this is where I want to know what God says about these matters -- and since God does not schedule face-to-face question-and-answer sessions in an audible voice, the best place to turn is the Holy Bible. Wait a minute, you might ask, how do you there is a God? And how do you know He is the author of the Holy Bible? And beyond that how do we know that Jesus was the son of God as Christians believe?
These are very good questions -- questions which I don't have the space to go into here. But may I refer you to a short book I have recommended before? It's titled More Than a Carpenter by Josh McDowell.
But my short answer is that I believe in God because of the order in the universe. From nature, to the stars to the human experience here on Earth, everything points to a creator and is consistent with what the Bible says about life. At least to my satisfaction. The idea that our existence is random without meaning or purpose does not make any sense to me. If you have ever studied the complexities of the human eye, for example, the thought that it could have been put together outside of something supernatural is not logical. I could go on and on, but you get the picture.
Which brings me back to the questions I posed earlier: What do we do with the time we have? And does it really matter anyway?
God says both matter.
God desires that I obey Him. He says I am to love Him with everything I am. He says the main way I can demonstrate my love for Him here is to love other people. He says my first love on Earth should be my wife. My second love on Earth should be my children. So it seems to me my time here on Earth is best used doing God's will, which is loving my wife, my kids and my fellow man.
I can demonstrate that love in many ways. I can serve. I can help. I can care. I can work for the things God stands for and work against the things God stands against.
For the Christian, the way we use our time either pleases God or displeases God. And the Bible teaches that we will be rewarded in heaven for the good that we did in His name while on Earth.
Amen.
Tim Wildmon is president of American Family Association and American Family Radio. He leads Spiritual Heritage Tours to Washington, DC, and Mount Vernon twice a year. For more information on the tours visit TimWildmon.com.
© 2006 AgapePress all rights reserved.
PTC Applauds NBC's Airing of VeggieTales, Religious Content Intact
PTC Applauds NBC's Airing of VeggieTales, Religious Content Intact
By Jenni Parker
December 6, 2006
(AgapePress) - A pro-family media watchdog group is commending NBC for its apparent decision to put God and the Bible back into the network's Saturday morning television broadcasts of the popular animated series VeggieTales.
Some critics in the Christian community had denounced NBC for its initial insistence on editing out references to God and the Bible in the scripture-based cartoons before airing them. (See earlier article) However, VeggieTales creator Phil Vischer recently reported on his website that the last few episodes of the animated show have not been edited by the network.
Vischer says most of the last four or five VeggieTales episodes have had "at least as much 'theistic' content as the earlier ones, if not more." Nevertheless, the shows "came back from NBC standards and practices department with no requested edits," he says. "So they're going to air just the way they were originally written."
Musing over what brought about the network's seeming change of heart, the animator observes, "Rumor has it NBC received in the neighborhood of 600,000 e-mails about the Veggie Tales edits (a rumor I can't confirm or deny)." In any event, he says, "It's worth a little celebration ... don't you think?"
And, as for any viewers who may have stopped watching their "veggies" in protest over the edits, Vischer points out, their actions may well have helped to bring "a little more light to TV's 'vast wasteland.'" He urges fans of the cartoon to let NBC know they are thrilled with the network's recent choices by tuning in to watch the show.
In response to the animator's report, Parents Television Council (PTC) president L. Brent Bozell said his organization applauds NBC for apparently reversing its decision to cut the biblical and theistic content from the cartoon. He also commented that it is important for the entertainment industry to realize that "Americans are more willing to watch programming that reflects their values, with VeggieTales being one of those examples."
Bozell feels NBC should be commended for leaving recent installments of VeggieTales unedited and airing the programs as they were originally written. Now, the parents media advocacy group spokesman adds, he and the PTC hope the national network will "continue this upward trend towards including more programming that the entire family can enthusiastically watch and support."
© 2006 AgapePress all rights reserved.
By Jenni Parker
December 6, 2006
(AgapePress) - A pro-family media watchdog group is commending NBC for its apparent decision to put God and the Bible back into the network's Saturday morning television broadcasts of the popular animated series VeggieTales.
Some critics in the Christian community had denounced NBC for its initial insistence on editing out references to God and the Bible in the scripture-based cartoons before airing them. (See earlier article) However, VeggieTales creator Phil Vischer recently reported on his website that the last few episodes of the animated show have not been edited by the network.
Vischer says most of the last four or five VeggieTales episodes have had "at least as much 'theistic' content as the earlier ones, if not more." Nevertheless, the shows "came back from NBC standards and practices department with no requested edits," he says. "So they're going to air just the way they were originally written."
Musing over what brought about the network's seeming change of heart, the animator observes, "Rumor has it NBC received in the neighborhood of 600,000 e-mails about the Veggie Tales edits (a rumor I can't confirm or deny)." In any event, he says, "It's worth a little celebration ... don't you think?"
And, as for any viewers who may have stopped watching their "veggies" in protest over the edits, Vischer points out, their actions may well have helped to bring "a little more light to TV's 'vast wasteland.'" He urges fans of the cartoon to let NBC know they are thrilled with the network's recent choices by tuning in to watch the show.
In response to the animator's report, Parents Television Council (PTC) president L. Brent Bozell said his organization applauds NBC for apparently reversing its decision to cut the biblical and theistic content from the cartoon. He also commented that it is important for the entertainment industry to realize that "Americans are more willing to watch programming that reflects their values, with VeggieTales being one of those examples."
Bozell feels NBC should be commended for leaving recent installments of VeggieTales unedited and airing the programs as they were originally written. Now, the parents media advocacy group spokesman adds, he and the PTC hope the national network will "continue this upward trend towards including more programming that the entire family can enthusiastically watch and support."
© 2006 AgapePress all rights reserved.
Ministry Leader: DOJ Findings Show Need for Faith-Based Prison Programs
Ministry Leader: DOJ Findings Show Need for Faith-Based Prison Programs
By Ed Thomas
December 6, 2006
(AgapePress) - Mark Earley, president of Prison Fellowship, calls the U.S. Department of Justice's accounting of a record seven-million people either behind bars or on probation or parole at the end of 2005 "staggering" -- but he also sees it as a prime opportunity for the Church to demonstrate the gospel's advantage over the American penal system.
The DOJ's seven-million count represents one in every 32 American adults and breaks down to just over two million individuals in jail in the U.S., 4.1 million on probation, and more than 784,000 on parole, Earley notes. He says there has been a nearly tenfold increase of participants in the justice system, up to 2.3 million, since Charles W. Colson founded Prison Fellowship 30 years ago.
"People who are getting out [of prison] are coming back in at a rate of 50 percent after three years," the prison ministry's current president points out. "And yet," he says, "in many cases the courts and the more liberal elements in our nation don't want to allow faith-based rehabilitation programs that are entirely voluntary to occur behind prison walls because [those programs] are based on the teachings of Christ and might offend someone else."
But as far as Earley is concerned, the latest Justice Department annual report, with its dire statistics -- like the 50 percent recidivism (prisoner return) rate within three years of release -- only confirms the dire need for a spiritually-based approach to inmate rehabilitation.
"It's a huge opportunity for the Church to demonstrate the transforming power of the gospel," the Prison Fellowship spokesman says. "And it's really a huge testimony as well," he adds, "of the current government policies we have around the nation being a real failure -- not only to stem crime but to transform those who have run afoul of the criminal justice system."
Prison Fellowship is currently appealing an Iowa federal judge's order to shut down its InnerChange Freedom Initiative prison program and to reimburse the state for running it.
Earley feels the judge's ruling is bewildering, especially since the voluntary, faith-based program was a success, charting a three-year prisoner return rate of only eight percent.
Ed Thomas, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
© 2006 AgapePress all rights reserved.
By Ed Thomas
December 6, 2006
(AgapePress) - Mark Earley, president of Prison Fellowship, calls the U.S. Department of Justice's accounting of a record seven-million people either behind bars or on probation or parole at the end of 2005 "staggering" -- but he also sees it as a prime opportunity for the Church to demonstrate the gospel's advantage over the American penal system.
The DOJ's seven-million count represents one in every 32 American adults and breaks down to just over two million individuals in jail in the U.S., 4.1 million on probation, and more than 784,000 on parole, Earley notes. He says there has been a nearly tenfold increase of participants in the justice system, up to 2.3 million, since Charles W. Colson founded Prison Fellowship 30 years ago.
"People who are getting out [of prison] are coming back in at a rate of 50 percent after three years," the prison ministry's current president points out. "And yet," he says, "in many cases the courts and the more liberal elements in our nation don't want to allow faith-based rehabilitation programs that are entirely voluntary to occur behind prison walls because [those programs] are based on the teachings of Christ and might offend someone else."
But as far as Earley is concerned, the latest Justice Department annual report, with its dire statistics -- like the 50 percent recidivism (prisoner return) rate within three years of release -- only confirms the dire need for a spiritually-based approach to inmate rehabilitation.
"It's a huge opportunity for the Church to demonstrate the transforming power of the gospel," the Prison Fellowship spokesman says. "And it's really a huge testimony as well," he adds, "of the current government policies we have around the nation being a real failure -- not only to stem crime but to transform those who have run afoul of the criminal justice system."
Prison Fellowship is currently appealing an Iowa federal judge's order to shut down its InnerChange Freedom Initiative prison program and to reimburse the state for running it.
Earley feels the judge's ruling is bewildering, especially since the voluntary, faith-based program was a success, charting a three-year prisoner return rate of only eight percent.
Ed Thomas, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
© 2006 AgapePress all rights reserved.
House Lawmakers Plug Fetal Pain Awareness Bill Before Vote
House Lawmakers Plug Fetal Pain Awareness Bill Before Vote
By Jim Brown
December 6, 2006
WASHINGTON, DC (AgapePress) - Pro-life groups and members of the House are pressing for passage of a bill to require women considering an abortion to be informed of the pain their baby would feel during the procedure.
Today the U.S. House will vote on the Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act (H.R. 6099), which is sponsored by New Jersey Representative Chris Smith. If passed, the measure require that women considering an abortion 20 weeks or more after fertilization be informed of the pain their child would feel during the lethal procedure so they may request anesthesia in order to reduce or eliminate the child's pain. The bill would not require anesthesia; it would, however, protect a doctor's right to inform the woman of any risks to her according to the doctor's own best medical judgment.
Smith and several colleagues held a press conference earlier this week in support of the legislation. Ohio Congressman Steve Chabot, who authored the 2003 Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, said the unborn child pain act should cause both Republicans and Democrats to "step back and ask themselves who they are in the human community." Often, he said, the greatest challenge an individual has is to put himself or herself in the place of another.
"I hope that we can put ourselves in the place of these little unborn children who have no voice, no hope, no defense," said Chabot. He added that he is hopeful his fellow House members can ask themselves "who we are as a human family" and "if those men and women lying out in Arlington National Cemetery really died so that we could torturously kill 400 members' late-term babies every day without anesthetic."
One Iowa lawmaker pointed out that unborn children in America are not receiving the same level of protection that livestock are. As a member of both the House Judiciary and House Agriculture committees, Representative Steve King said he has noticed a stark and shocking contrast between the success of pro-life legislation and livestock legislation.
"We've granted authority to the Secretary of Agriculture [through something] called the Animal Welfare Act, where he can regulate the transport, sale, and handling of various animals that are used for research," noted King. "There's other legislation out there that sets up animals above people.
"And I find myself standing here [thinking that] it seems bizarre ... that we're even in this discussion about how to potentially inform the expectant mother of the pain that an unborn child is going through while that baby's being killed."
King noted the Humane Slaughter Act requires that any animal that is to be slaughtered is to be rendered unconscious first -- yet that same provision is not being afforded to unborn children."
Florida Congressman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen was among those speaking at the press conference on Tuesday. She said that informing women of the pain felt by their unborn child is "not something to be compromised."
"Medical evidence suggests that an unborn child can feel pain at 20 weeks if not earlier," she commented. "As such, it is our responsibility as legislators to see women throughout America are informed of the intense pain experienced by their unborn child during an abortion and offer them an option to ease their child's pain."
In addition, Arizona Congressman Rick Rienzi shared that during a time of year when people talk of peace on earth and civility in the nation, it is only proper to focus on the suffering felt by unborn victims of abortion. "As a father of 12 kids, seven boys and five girls, I very much love my nation; I love her," Rienzi said. "But I don't revere her when she has a law on her books that allows this kind of pain and suffering, this kind of conflict in our nation."
Rienzi thanked Rep. Smith for authoring the bill and, in doing so, educating the nation "as we inform women and husbands and partners and doctors of what [is needed] for there to be real justice in the womb." Smith believes he has garnered the support of at least 35 pro-life Democrats to back his measure. The legislation has even drawn the support of the pro-abortion group NARAL Pro-Choice America.
Jim Brown, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
© 2006 AgapePress all rights reserved.
By Jim Brown
December 6, 2006
WASHINGTON, DC (AgapePress) - Pro-life groups and members of the House are pressing for passage of a bill to require women considering an abortion to be informed of the pain their baby would feel during the procedure.
Today the U.S. House will vote on the Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act (H.R. 6099), which is sponsored by New Jersey Representative Chris Smith. If passed, the measure require that women considering an abortion 20 weeks or more after fertilization be informed of the pain their child would feel during the lethal procedure so they may request anesthesia in order to reduce or eliminate the child's pain. The bill would not require anesthesia; it would, however, protect a doctor's right to inform the woman of any risks to her according to the doctor's own best medical judgment.
Smith and several colleagues held a press conference earlier this week in support of the legislation. Ohio Congressman Steve Chabot, who authored the 2003 Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, said the unborn child pain act should cause both Republicans and Democrats to "step back and ask themselves who they are in the human community." Often, he said, the greatest challenge an individual has is to put himself or herself in the place of another.
"I hope that we can put ourselves in the place of these little unborn children who have no voice, no hope, no defense," said Chabot. He added that he is hopeful his fellow House members can ask themselves "who we are as a human family" and "if those men and women lying out in Arlington National Cemetery really died so that we could torturously kill 400 members' late-term babies every day without anesthetic."
One Iowa lawmaker pointed out that unborn children in America are not receiving the same level of protection that livestock are. As a member of both the House Judiciary and House Agriculture committees, Representative Steve King said he has noticed a stark and shocking contrast between the success of pro-life legislation and livestock legislation.
"We've granted authority to the Secretary of Agriculture [through something] called the Animal Welfare Act, where he can regulate the transport, sale, and handling of various animals that are used for research," noted King. "There's other legislation out there that sets up animals above people.
"And I find myself standing here [thinking that] it seems bizarre ... that we're even in this discussion about how to potentially inform the expectant mother of the pain that an unborn child is going through while that baby's being killed."
King noted the Humane Slaughter Act requires that any animal that is to be slaughtered is to be rendered unconscious first -- yet that same provision is not being afforded to unborn children."
Florida Congressman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen was among those speaking at the press conference on Tuesday. She said that informing women of the pain felt by their unborn child is "not something to be compromised."
"Medical evidence suggests that an unborn child can feel pain at 20 weeks if not earlier," she commented. "As such, it is our responsibility as legislators to see women throughout America are informed of the intense pain experienced by their unborn child during an abortion and offer them an option to ease their child's pain."
In addition, Arizona Congressman Rick Rienzi shared that during a time of year when people talk of peace on earth and civility in the nation, it is only proper to focus on the suffering felt by unborn victims of abortion. "As a father of 12 kids, seven boys and five girls, I very much love my nation; I love her," Rienzi said. "But I don't revere her when she has a law on her books that allows this kind of pain and suffering, this kind of conflict in our nation."
Rienzi thanked Rep. Smith for authoring the bill and, in doing so, educating the nation "as we inform women and husbands and partners and doctors of what [is needed] for there to be real justice in the womb." Smith believes he has garnered the support of at least 35 pro-life Democrats to back his measure. The legislation has even drawn the support of the pro-abortion group NARAL Pro-Choice America.
Jim Brown, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
© 2006 AgapePress all rights reserved.
Fighting Back -- Pro-Family Groups Find Ways to Combat Homosexual Agenda in Public Schools
Fighting Back -- Pro-Family Groups Find Ways to Combat Homosexual Agenda in Public Schools
Feature by Ed Vitagliano
December 6, 2006
(AgapePress) - The influence of homosexual activists within the nation's educational system continues to grow, altering the attitudes of children and teens toward the acceptance of a destructive and depraved lifestyle.
Often without parental knowledge, local schools are instituting policy changes that not only promote respect for homosexuality, but often even celebrate it. From teacher lesson plans to books in the school libraries to special speakers addressing children in school assemblies, activists are touting the "naturalness" of homosexuality.
'Risk Audit' can reveal shenanigansWith so much politically-correct pro-homosexual indoctrination going on, how do parents assess the extent of homosexual activism in their own local schools?
Linda Harvey, founder of the Ohio-based pro-family group Mission America, has developed one common-sense tool. Harvey's "Risk Audit Project" is a comprehensive survey which measures the promotion of homosexuality in a given public school district. (The survey can be downloaded for free at the organization's website.)
The Risk Audit Project measures the extent to which public school districts are collaborating with homosexual activists by determining, among other things, whether schools have adopted pro-homosexual policies or curricula, and whether the school district is sponsoring pro-homosexual clubs, events, or activities.
Harvey said the main thing that the Risk Audit Project offers parents is knowledge. "Once the extent of the homosexual agenda directed to children is discovered, local parents, grandparents and citizens can alert the community, the media and notify the schools themselves," she said. "Parents will then clearly understand their responsibility: hold schools accountable for removing pro-homosexual material; and if this is not done, then move children to a different educational environment."
The Risk Audit Project has been endorsed by a number of pro-family groups, including the American Family Association, the Family Research Council, Concerned Women for America, and the Illinois Family Institute.
Equal Access Cuts Both WaysThe leader in the public school promotion of homosexuality is the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network (GLSEN). Besides having succeeded in framing much of the debate over homosexual issues, GLSEN has also spearheaded the formation of more than 3,000 Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) clubs in schools.
These clubs are often formed without parental notification or input. Kids who consider themselves homosexual -- or straight kids who are sympathetic to the homosexual movement -- simply have to approach school administrators and obtain permission. Because most schools allow the formation of non-academic student groups, federal equal access laws often require schools to allow GSAs.
Once these groups get started, students are allowed to gather regularly at school and promote their meetings and their views using the school's public address system, bulletin boards and copy machines.
Naturally, many parents object to GSAs in school. However, it is legally risky for school officials to refuse to allow their formation simply because the group is oriented around homosexuality.
So what can parents do? David Williams, a mid-Oklahoma representative of the Christian Educators Association International, used to his advantage the very federal equal access laws that allow GSAs in the first place. Williams argued that students who believed that homosexuals can change their sexual orientation must also be allowed to start their own club.
That didn't sit well with those pushing the GSA. Rather than allow an ex-"gay" club, the GSA was voted down -- by the very students who initially wanted it.
Parental Permission Policies TriedMeanwhile, the Washington, DC-based pro-family group Family Policy Network (FPN), is promoting another approach to the problem of GSAs. In August, FPN launched a multi-state campaign to require schools to obtain parental permission before public school children can take part in non-academic clubs -- including GSAs.
The expectation is that such a policy would dampen the number of kids who participated in the homosexual clubs, thus protecting them from the dangers inherent in that lifestyle.
"We think it's going to be really hard for most [GSA] clubs to get much of a participation factor," said FPN policy analyst Alex Mason, "because not many parents are going to want to allow their children to sit in front of a homosexual activist and learn about deviant lifestyles and how they're okay."
As part of the campaign, lawmakers in five states -- North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Alabama and Texas -- will be asked to introduce measures requiring parental permission.
"Parents have a right to know that their children are going to be subjected to homosexual activism in the school," said Mason. He concluded, it is just common sense that homosexual activists should not have unfettered access to children, particularly without parent's permission.
Ed Vitagliano, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is news editor of AFA Journal, a publication of the American Family Association. This article, printed with permission, appears in the November/December 2006 issue.
© 2006 AgapePress all rights reserved.
Feature by Ed VitaglianoDecember 6, 2006
(AgapePress) - The influence of homosexual activists within the nation's educational system continues to grow, altering the attitudes of children and teens toward the acceptance of a destructive and depraved lifestyle.
Often without parental knowledge, local schools are instituting policy changes that not only promote respect for homosexuality, but often even celebrate it. From teacher lesson plans to books in the school libraries to special speakers addressing children in school assemblies, activists are touting the "naturalness" of homosexuality.
'Risk Audit' can reveal shenanigansWith so much politically-correct pro-homosexual indoctrination going on, how do parents assess the extent of homosexual activism in their own local schools?
Linda Harvey, founder of the Ohio-based pro-family group Mission America, has developed one common-sense tool. Harvey's "Risk Audit Project" is a comprehensive survey which measures the promotion of homosexuality in a given public school district. (The survey can be downloaded for free at the organization's website.)
The Risk Audit Project measures the extent to which public school districts are collaborating with homosexual activists by determining, among other things, whether schools have adopted pro-homosexual policies or curricula, and whether the school district is sponsoring pro-homosexual clubs, events, or activities.
Harvey said the main thing that the Risk Audit Project offers parents is knowledge. "Once the extent of the homosexual agenda directed to children is discovered, local parents, grandparents and citizens can alert the community, the media and notify the schools themselves," she said. "Parents will then clearly understand their responsibility: hold schools accountable for removing pro-homosexual material; and if this is not done, then move children to a different educational environment."
The Risk Audit Project has been endorsed by a number of pro-family groups, including the American Family Association, the Family Research Council, Concerned Women for America, and the Illinois Family Institute.
Equal Access Cuts Both WaysThe leader in the public school promotion of homosexuality is the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network (GLSEN). Besides having succeeded in framing much of the debate over homosexual issues, GLSEN has also spearheaded the formation of more than 3,000 Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) clubs in schools.
These clubs are often formed without parental notification or input. Kids who consider themselves homosexual -- or straight kids who are sympathetic to the homosexual movement -- simply have to approach school administrators and obtain permission. Because most schools allow the formation of non-academic student groups, federal equal access laws often require schools to allow GSAs.
Once these groups get started, students are allowed to gather regularly at school and promote their meetings and their views using the school's public address system, bulletin boards and copy machines.
Naturally, many parents object to GSAs in school. However, it is legally risky for school officials to refuse to allow their formation simply because the group is oriented around homosexuality.
So what can parents do? David Williams, a mid-Oklahoma representative of the Christian Educators Association International, used to his advantage the very federal equal access laws that allow GSAs in the first place. Williams argued that students who believed that homosexuals can change their sexual orientation must also be allowed to start their own club.
That didn't sit well with those pushing the GSA. Rather than allow an ex-"gay" club, the GSA was voted down -- by the very students who initially wanted it.
Parental Permission Policies TriedMeanwhile, the Washington, DC-based pro-family group Family Policy Network (FPN), is promoting another approach to the problem of GSAs. In August, FPN launched a multi-state campaign to require schools to obtain parental permission before public school children can take part in non-academic clubs -- including GSAs.
The expectation is that such a policy would dampen the number of kids who participated in the homosexual clubs, thus protecting them from the dangers inherent in that lifestyle.
"We think it's going to be really hard for most [GSA] clubs to get much of a participation factor," said FPN policy analyst Alex Mason, "because not many parents are going to want to allow their children to sit in front of a homosexual activist and learn about deviant lifestyles and how they're okay."
As part of the campaign, lawmakers in five states -- North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Alabama and Texas -- will be asked to introduce measures requiring parental permission.
"Parents have a right to know that their children are going to be subjected to homosexual activism in the school," said Mason. He concluded, it is just common sense that homosexual activists should not have unfettered access to children, particularly without parent's permission.
Ed Vitagliano, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is news editor of AFA Journal, a publication of the American Family Association. This article, printed with permission, appears in the November/December 2006 issue.
© 2006 AgapePress all rights reserved.
Tuesday, December 5, 2006
Maryland high court hears 'gay marriage' case
Maryland high court hears 'gay marriage' case
Dec 5, 2006
By Staff
Baptist Press
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (BP)--Lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union asked the highest court in Maryland Dec. 4 to strike down the state's marriage laws and make it the second state in the nation to legalize "gay marriage."
Oral arguments before the Court of Appeal lasted one hour. The seven justices gave no indication as to when they might rule. The ACLU filed the lawsuit on behalf of nine same-sex couples and one homosexual man whose partner is deceased."Despite the fact that plaintiffs have formed committed relationships … the state excludes them and their children from the numerous important protections that come from marriage, solely because the person whom they love is of the same sex," ACLU attorney Kenneth Choe told the justices, according to The Baltimore Sun. "The exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage violates the most fundamental guarantees of equality and liberty for all Marylanders."
But Assistant Attorney General Robert A. Zarnoch said the matter should be left to the legislature. Maryland adopted a law in 1973 defining marriage as being between one man and one woman. Earlier this year a Maryland judge ruled the law unconstitutional, but her decision was appealed."
The court doesn't have to disparage gay parenting to uphold this law, it doesn't have to assess the merits of an armload of studies and it doesn't have to find that the institution of marriage is threatened," Zarnoch said, according to The Sun. "It can uphold the statute without making any of those kinds of determinations.
"Can the court address all the plaintiffs' grievances? Clearly it can't. The General Assembly is the proper forum to deal with these issues."
The justices asked few questions.
"I didn't think the judges' questions helped a lot [in determining how they might rule]," Zarnoch said afterward, according to The Sun. "There weren't as many as you might think there would be. I don't think we can read the court one way or another."
Maryland is one of four states involved in "gay marriage" suits. The others are Iowa, California and Connecticut. The suits in the latter two states have been appealed to those states' respective Supreme Courts, although the courts have yet to decide whether they will hear the cases. Lower courts in both states ruled against "gay marriage."
Massachusetts remains the lone state to recognize "gay marriage." Supreme courts in New York, New Jersey and Washington state all ruled this year that there is no constitutional right to "gay marriage." --30--Compiled by Michael Foust. For more information about the national debate over "gay marriage,"
visit http://www.bpnews.net/samesexmarriage
Copyright © 2001 - 2006 Southern Baptist Convention, Baptist Press
Dec 5, 2006
By Staff
Baptist Press
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (BP)--Lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union asked the highest court in Maryland Dec. 4 to strike down the state's marriage laws and make it the second state in the nation to legalize "gay marriage."
Oral arguments before the Court of Appeal lasted one hour. The seven justices gave no indication as to when they might rule. The ACLU filed the lawsuit on behalf of nine same-sex couples and one homosexual man whose partner is deceased."Despite the fact that plaintiffs have formed committed relationships … the state excludes them and their children from the numerous important protections that come from marriage, solely because the person whom they love is of the same sex," ACLU attorney Kenneth Choe told the justices, according to The Baltimore Sun. "The exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage violates the most fundamental guarantees of equality and liberty for all Marylanders."
But Assistant Attorney General Robert A. Zarnoch said the matter should be left to the legislature. Maryland adopted a law in 1973 defining marriage as being between one man and one woman. Earlier this year a Maryland judge ruled the law unconstitutional, but her decision was appealed."
The court doesn't have to disparage gay parenting to uphold this law, it doesn't have to assess the merits of an armload of studies and it doesn't have to find that the institution of marriage is threatened," Zarnoch said, according to The Sun. "It can uphold the statute without making any of those kinds of determinations.
"Can the court address all the plaintiffs' grievances? Clearly it can't. The General Assembly is the proper forum to deal with these issues."
The justices asked few questions.
"I didn't think the judges' questions helped a lot [in determining how they might rule]," Zarnoch said afterward, according to The Sun. "There weren't as many as you might think there would be. I don't think we can read the court one way or another."
Maryland is one of four states involved in "gay marriage" suits. The others are Iowa, California and Connecticut. The suits in the latter two states have been appealed to those states' respective Supreme Courts, although the courts have yet to decide whether they will hear the cases. Lower courts in both states ruled against "gay marriage."
Massachusetts remains the lone state to recognize "gay marriage." Supreme courts in New York, New Jersey and Washington state all ruled this year that there is no constitutional right to "gay marriage." --30--Compiled by Michael Foust. For more information about the national debate over "gay marriage,"
visit http://www.bpnews.net/samesexmarriage
Copyright © 2001 - 2006 Southern Baptist Convention, Baptist Press
Bush ‘deeply disappointed’ with Bolton’s resignation as United Nations ambassador
Bush ‘deeply disappointed’ with Bolton’s resignation as United Nations ambassador
Dec 5, 2006
By Staff
Baptist Press
WASHINGTON (BP)--John Bolton, United States ambassador to the United Nations, has resigned in the face of a Democratic takeover of the Senate in January.
President Bush accepted the resignation “with regret” Dec. 4, 16 months after making the conservative and oft-criticized Bolton a recess appointment to the important diplomatic post. Bush made the appointment during a congressional recess after Senate Democrats blocked Bolton’s confirmation. The appointment was due to expire when the new congressional session begins in January.
“I am deeply disappointed that a handful of United States Senators prevented Ambassador Bolton from receiving the up-or-down vote he deserved in the Senate,” Bush said in a written statement upon receiving the resignation. “They chose to obstruct this confirmation, even though he enjoys majority support in the Senate and even though their tactics will disrupt our diplomatic work at a sensitive and important time. This stubborn obstructionism ill serves our country and discourages men and women of talent from serving their nation.”
In a May 2005 Senate roll call, 53 Republicans and three Democrats voted to invoke cloture but fell four votes short of the 60 needed to end the filibuster.
A liberal Republican senator, Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, undermined an effort to confirm Bolton this fall. Chafee withdrew his support for Bolton, preventing a vote in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. All eight Democrats on the 18-member panel opposed Bolton’s confirmation, meaning Chafee’s “no” vote as a committee member would have resulted in a deadlock.
Bush and others credited Bolton with helping produce some important U.N. Security Council resolutions during his time at the international body, but the ambassador was not a favorite of the U.N. bureaucracy. The president said Bolton’s work brought about resolutions on nuclear developments by North Korea and Iran, as well as a U.N. commitment to peacekeeping in Darfur, the besieged western region of Sudan.
Conservatives strongly supported Bolton, agreeing with his advocacy for the spread of democracy and for U.N. reform. Bolton, who had served four years as under secretary of arms control and international security at the State Department, has openly criticized oppressive regimes.
In 1991, Bolton helped with the successful bid to rescind the U.N.’s resolution condemning Zionism as equivalent to racism, thereby aiding Israel. He has called North Korea’s Kim Jong Il a “tyrannical dictator” and criticized China publicly for permitting its firms to sell missile technology to Iran.
Senate Democrats charged Bolton with mistreating subordinates and misusing intelligence. They also said their opposition was an effort to gain information on Bolton that the White House refused to release.
Copyright © 2001 - 2006 Southern Baptist Convention, Baptist Press
Dec 5, 2006
By Staff
Baptist Press
WASHINGTON (BP)--John Bolton, United States ambassador to the United Nations, has resigned in the face of a Democratic takeover of the Senate in January.
President Bush accepted the resignation “with regret” Dec. 4, 16 months after making the conservative and oft-criticized Bolton a recess appointment to the important diplomatic post. Bush made the appointment during a congressional recess after Senate Democrats blocked Bolton’s confirmation. The appointment was due to expire when the new congressional session begins in January.
“I am deeply disappointed that a handful of United States Senators prevented Ambassador Bolton from receiving the up-or-down vote he deserved in the Senate,” Bush said in a written statement upon receiving the resignation. “They chose to obstruct this confirmation, even though he enjoys majority support in the Senate and even though their tactics will disrupt our diplomatic work at a sensitive and important time. This stubborn obstructionism ill serves our country and discourages men and women of talent from serving their nation.”
In a May 2005 Senate roll call, 53 Republicans and three Democrats voted to invoke cloture but fell four votes short of the 60 needed to end the filibuster.
A liberal Republican senator, Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, undermined an effort to confirm Bolton this fall. Chafee withdrew his support for Bolton, preventing a vote in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. All eight Democrats on the 18-member panel opposed Bolton’s confirmation, meaning Chafee’s “no” vote as a committee member would have resulted in a deadlock.
Bush and others credited Bolton with helping produce some important U.N. Security Council resolutions during his time at the international body, but the ambassador was not a favorite of the U.N. bureaucracy. The president said Bolton’s work brought about resolutions on nuclear developments by North Korea and Iran, as well as a U.N. commitment to peacekeeping in Darfur, the besieged western region of Sudan.
Conservatives strongly supported Bolton, agreeing with his advocacy for the spread of democracy and for U.N. reform. Bolton, who had served four years as under secretary of arms control and international security at the State Department, has openly criticized oppressive regimes.
In 1991, Bolton helped with the successful bid to rescind the U.N.’s resolution condemning Zionism as equivalent to racism, thereby aiding Israel. He has called North Korea’s Kim Jong Il a “tyrannical dictator” and criticized China publicly for permitting its firms to sell missile technology to Iran.
Senate Democrats charged Bolton with mistreating subordinates and misusing intelligence. They also said their opposition was an effort to gain information on Bolton that the White House refused to release.
Copyright © 2001 - 2006 Southern Baptist Convention, Baptist Press
Liberty Counsel's 'Naughty' List Names Retailers That Censor Christmas
Liberty Counsel's 'Naughty' List Names Retailers That Censor Christmas
By Allie Martin
December 6, 2006
(AgapePress) - The Florida-based Christian law firm Liberty Counsel has developed a checklist cataloguing retailers who either censor or acknowledge Christmas. The "Naughty and Nice" lists are part of the legal group's "Friend or Foe" Christmas Campaign, a yearly effort to combat those who attempt to curb expressions honoring the true meaning of Christmas.
So far, stores on the "Naughty" list include Lowe's, where employees are not allowed to say "merry Christmas" to customers; Banana Republic, whose website refers to a "Holiday Gift Guide" with no mention of Christmas; and Best Buy, whose spokesperson says the use of "merry Christmas" is disrespectful. Meanwhile, among the stores on the "Nice" list are Dillard's, Hobby Lobby, JC Penney, Jo-Ann Fabrics, L.L. Bean, and Wal-Mart.
Read the current 'Naughty & Nice List' [PDF]
Liberty Counsel president Anita Staver says Christian consumers can play a part in fighting against retailer censorship of Christmas. "They need to be on the lookout when they go to stores," she advises, "and if they wish the people there a merry Christmas, they should expect to hear a merry Christmas in return."
Christian consumers should not have to expect to walk into a store and see "all the trees labeled 'holiday trees' and 'holiday wreaths,'" Staver contends. "They should see 'Christmas trees' and 'Christmas wreaths.'" Still, she points out, stores such as the Gap, Home Depot, K-Mart, and Bed, Bath, & Beyond have all censored the word "Christmas" this season.
"We had a report from Toys 'R' Us that a Pennsylvania guest relations coordinator had written a customer that the store aims to be neutral about Christmas," the Liberty Counsel spokeswoman notes. "But when the corporate division found out about this," she continues, "they said that Christmas is always celebrated at Toys 'R' Us and [that they] disagree with the actions of that store."
Meanwhile, Staver adds, some stores that have had a policy of censoring Christmas are backpedaling, and Liberty Counsel is glad to see the response that its "Friend or Foe" Christmas Campaign is getting. The campaign is having a definite impact, she says, and she encourages Christian consumers to be on the lookout for stores, schools, and other government or commercial entities that try to censor Christmas.
Allie Martin, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
© 2006 AgapePress all rights reserved.
By Allie Martin
December 6, 2006
(AgapePress) - The Florida-based Christian law firm Liberty Counsel has developed a checklist cataloguing retailers who either censor or acknowledge Christmas. The "Naughty and Nice" lists are part of the legal group's "Friend or Foe" Christmas Campaign, a yearly effort to combat those who attempt to curb expressions honoring the true meaning of Christmas.
So far, stores on the "Naughty" list include Lowe's, where employees are not allowed to say "merry Christmas" to customers; Banana Republic, whose website refers to a "Holiday Gift Guide" with no mention of Christmas; and Best Buy, whose spokesperson says the use of "merry Christmas" is disrespectful. Meanwhile, among the stores on the "Nice" list are Dillard's, Hobby Lobby, JC Penney, Jo-Ann Fabrics, L.L. Bean, and Wal-Mart.
Read the current 'Naughty & Nice List' [PDF]
Liberty Counsel president Anita Staver says Christian consumers can play a part in fighting against retailer censorship of Christmas. "They need to be on the lookout when they go to stores," she advises, "and if they wish the people there a merry Christmas, they should expect to hear a merry Christmas in return."
Christian consumers should not have to expect to walk into a store and see "all the trees labeled 'holiday trees' and 'holiday wreaths,'" Staver contends. "They should see 'Christmas trees' and 'Christmas wreaths.'" Still, she points out, stores such as the Gap, Home Depot, K-Mart, and Bed, Bath, & Beyond have all censored the word "Christmas" this season.
"We had a report from Toys 'R' Us that a Pennsylvania guest relations coordinator had written a customer that the store aims to be neutral about Christmas," the Liberty Counsel spokeswoman notes. "But when the corporate division found out about this," she continues, "they said that Christmas is always celebrated at Toys 'R' Us and [that they] disagree with the actions of that store."
Meanwhile, Staver adds, some stores that have had a policy of censoring Christmas are backpedaling, and Liberty Counsel is glad to see the response that its "Friend or Foe" Christmas Campaign is getting. The campaign is having a definite impact, she says, and she encourages Christian consumers to be on the lookout for stores, schools, and other government or commercial entities that try to censor Christmas.
Allie Martin, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
© 2006 AgapePress all rights reserved.
Ohio Citizens Reject Casino Plan Re-Packaged as Education Measure
Ohio Citizens Reject Casino Plan Re-Packaged as Education Measure
By Ed Thomas
(AgapePress) - A pro-family activist says Ohio gambling interests, despite developing a promotion campaign designed to be more successful than previous initiatives, failed to sell the state's citizens on Issue 3, a new effort to legalize casino gambling. The proposal, which included money allocated for education, was dubbed the "Earn and Learn" initiative.
David Miller of the Ohio-based group Citizens for Community Values (CCV) says pro-gambling interests thought they had designed a better approach for winning support of the gambling proposal this time around. He believes supporters thought they were improving on past strategies to win voter approval by making college scholarships for students bound for Ohio schools part of the gambling measure.
Nevertheless, the so-called "Earn and Learn" ballot initiative was defeated by a 57-to-43 percent margin. Miller says statistical information from studies about the effects of casino gambling on other U.S. communities in the past were too plentiful, and Ohio voters were not fooled.
"There are plenty of casinos around the country, plenty of states that have already done this," the pro-family advocate notes. "We have research that tells us what happens to our communities [when gambling is allowed in]."
Among the typical results of legalized gambling, Miller points out, is increased incidence of gambling addiction, bankruptcies, divorce, and other harmful fallout that results in loss of revenue and hurts local economies.
"And so voters are saying 'no' very consistently when they understand the impact of gambling," the CCV spokesman observes. "I think it says a lot that when the voters understand the facts about gambling and the impact on the individuals -- the people, the citizens of Ohio -- they continue to turn it down," he adds.
Obviously, Miller contends, the state's citizens are smart enough to keep rejecting the same repackaged offer. He says last month's failed "Earn and Learn" ballot measure was the pro-gambling interests' third attempt to legalize and expand casino gambling in Ohio.
Ed Thomas, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
© 2006 AgapePress all rights reserved.
By Ed Thomas
(AgapePress) - A pro-family activist says Ohio gambling interests, despite developing a promotion campaign designed to be more successful than previous initiatives, failed to sell the state's citizens on Issue 3, a new effort to legalize casino gambling. The proposal, which included money allocated for education, was dubbed the "Earn and Learn" initiative.
David Miller of the Ohio-based group Citizens for Community Values (CCV) says pro-gambling interests thought they had designed a better approach for winning support of the gambling proposal this time around. He believes supporters thought they were improving on past strategies to win voter approval by making college scholarships for students bound for Ohio schools part of the gambling measure.
Nevertheless, the so-called "Earn and Learn" ballot initiative was defeated by a 57-to-43 percent margin. Miller says statistical information from studies about the effects of casino gambling on other U.S. communities in the past were too plentiful, and Ohio voters were not fooled.
"There are plenty of casinos around the country, plenty of states that have already done this," the pro-family advocate notes. "We have research that tells us what happens to our communities [when gambling is allowed in]."
Among the typical results of legalized gambling, Miller points out, is increased incidence of gambling addiction, bankruptcies, divorce, and other harmful fallout that results in loss of revenue and hurts local economies.
"And so voters are saying 'no' very consistently when they understand the impact of gambling," the CCV spokesman observes. "I think it says a lot that when the voters understand the facts about gambling and the impact on the individuals -- the people, the citizens of Ohio -- they continue to turn it down," he adds.
Obviously, Miller contends, the state's citizens are smart enough to keep rejecting the same repackaged offer. He says last month's failed "Earn and Learn" ballot measure was the pro-gambling interests' third attempt to legalize and expand casino gambling in Ohio.
Ed Thomas, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
© 2006 AgapePress all rights reserved.
The Option of Adoption
December 5, 2006
The Option of Adoption
by Steve Jordahl
There are 112-thousand foster kids waiting to be adopted in the U.S. Can your family help fill the void?
Adam Pertman gets a little tired of hearing well-meaning adults commiserate with him about his family.
“Adoptive parents were told, and still sometimes are, ‘Oh, I’m sorry you couldn’t have any real children.’ Well, I’m an adoptive dad, and my kids look real.”
Pertman is head of the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute and hears hundreds of stories just like his everyday. He says adoption has been shrouded in secrecy, and for no good reason.
“Adoption for most of its modern history was a secretive process, right? I mean people couldn’t even tell their own kids they were adopted. That’s pretty secretive. And it is stigmatized.”
He advocates raising children with the knowledge that they were chosen to be a part of the family.
Janice Goldwater of Adoptions Together says there are millions of children waiting for that chance.
“Really there’s no such thing as somebody else’s child. We all need to reach out to children, and not just at the holiday time.”
For those who have a concern for the family, adoption holds special attraction.
“Children grow best in families and under no circumstances should children grow up outside of family units when it’s at all possible.”
Worldwide, there are about 125-million orphaned children in need of a home.
© 2006 Focus on the Family. CitizenLink is a registered trademark of Focus on the Family. All rights reserved. International copyright secured.
The Option of Adoption
by Steve Jordahl
There are 112-thousand foster kids waiting to be adopted in the U.S. Can your family help fill the void?
Adam Pertman gets a little tired of hearing well-meaning adults commiserate with him about his family.
“Adoptive parents were told, and still sometimes are, ‘Oh, I’m sorry you couldn’t have any real children.’ Well, I’m an adoptive dad, and my kids look real.”
Pertman is head of the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute and hears hundreds of stories just like his everyday. He says adoption has been shrouded in secrecy, and for no good reason.
“Adoption for most of its modern history was a secretive process, right? I mean people couldn’t even tell their own kids they were adopted. That’s pretty secretive. And it is stigmatized.”
He advocates raising children with the knowledge that they were chosen to be a part of the family.
Janice Goldwater of Adoptions Together says there are millions of children waiting for that chance.
“Really there’s no such thing as somebody else’s child. We all need to reach out to children, and not just at the holiday time.”
For those who have a concern for the family, adoption holds special attraction.
“Children grow best in families and under no circumstances should children grow up outside of family units when it’s at all possible.”
Worldwide, there are about 125-million orphaned children in need of a home.
© 2006 Focus on the Family. CitizenLink is a registered trademark of Focus on the Family. All rights reserved. International copyright secured.
Uncertainty Surrounds Canadian Parliament's Upcoming Vote on Same-Sex 'Marriage'
Uncertainty Surrounds Canadian Parliament's Upcoming Vote on Same-Sex 'Marriage'
By Chad Groening
December 5, 2006
(AgapePress) - The head of a Canadian pro-family organization says he believes Wednesday's vote to restore traditional marriage in Canada is going to be close -- but he hopes Parliament will ultimately follow the wishes of the vast majority of Canadians.
Same-sex "marriage" was legalized in Canada three years ago; since then, thousands of homosexuals from Canada and other countries have been legally married there. But when Stephen Harper campaigned for prime minister in the subsequent election, he promised voters that he would bring the marriage issue back before Parliament for a free vote.
Tomorrow (December 6) Harper -- who is reportedly a born-again Christian -- will fulfill that pledge, as members of Parliament (MPs) decide if they want to restore the traditional definition of marriage as only a union between a man and a woman. The question contains a provision that, if passed, the new position would not affect civil unions and would not reverse existing same-sex marriages.
Brian Rushfeldt, co-founder and executive director of the Canada Family Action Coalition (CFAC), is impressed with the way Harper has kept his campaign promise. He describes the new prime minister as "a man of integrity."
"If he promises that he will do it, he will do it," says the pro-family leader. "And I think the timing of it, in our estimation, is perhaps not the best timing, although I don't know that there's a good timing."
Rushfeldt hopes the MPs will follow the wishes of most Canadians. He expects the vote to "reasonably close" and is hearing that just a few votes either way could decide the final outcome.
"Certainly, members of Parliament clearly know what their constituents want, and that's to reopen and revisit and redefine marriage," he says. "So if they vote following the wishes of their constituents, I believe we'd win this hands down."
But if pro-family forces come up short on the vote, the CFAC spokesman says his fellow countrymen are going to have to "fire a bunch of members of Parliament and put some pro-marriage people in government [come] next election."
Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper indicates doubt over whether the measure will pass. But Dr. Charles McVety, CFAC president and one of the key proponents of restoring traditional marriage, says his group expects Parliament to study the impact on same-sex marriage on religion, regardless of the results of the free vote.
Chad Groening, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
© 2006 AgapePress all rights reserved.
By Chad Groening
December 5, 2006
(AgapePress) - The head of a Canadian pro-family organization says he believes Wednesday's vote to restore traditional marriage in Canada is going to be close -- but he hopes Parliament will ultimately follow the wishes of the vast majority of Canadians.
Same-sex "marriage" was legalized in Canada three years ago; since then, thousands of homosexuals from Canada and other countries have been legally married there. But when Stephen Harper campaigned for prime minister in the subsequent election, he promised voters that he would bring the marriage issue back before Parliament for a free vote.
Tomorrow (December 6) Harper -- who is reportedly a born-again Christian -- will fulfill that pledge, as members of Parliament (MPs) decide if they want to restore the traditional definition of marriage as only a union between a man and a woman. The question contains a provision that, if passed, the new position would not affect civil unions and would not reverse existing same-sex marriages.
Brian Rushfeldt, co-founder and executive director of the Canada Family Action Coalition (CFAC), is impressed with the way Harper has kept his campaign promise. He describes the new prime minister as "a man of integrity."
"If he promises that he will do it, he will do it," says the pro-family leader. "And I think the timing of it, in our estimation, is perhaps not the best timing, although I don't know that there's a good timing."
Rushfeldt hopes the MPs will follow the wishes of most Canadians. He expects the vote to "reasonably close" and is hearing that just a few votes either way could decide the final outcome.
"Certainly, members of Parliament clearly know what their constituents want, and that's to reopen and revisit and redefine marriage," he says. "So if they vote following the wishes of their constituents, I believe we'd win this hands down."
But if pro-family forces come up short on the vote, the CFAC spokesman says his fellow countrymen are going to have to "fire a bunch of members of Parliament and put some pro-marriage people in government [come] next election."
Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper indicates doubt over whether the measure will pass. But Dr. Charles McVety, CFAC president and one of the key proponents of restoring traditional marriage, says his group expects Parliament to study the impact on same-sex marriage on religion, regardless of the results of the free vote.
Chad Groening, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
© 2006 AgapePress all rights reserved.
Gap, Old Navy censor 'Christmas,' replace it with 'Holiday'
Gap, Old Navy censor 'Christmas,' replace it with 'Holiday'
Gap, which owns Old Navy, Banana Republic, Forth & Towne and Piperlime, has become the latest politically correct retailer, intentionally censoring the use of "Christmas" in their in-store, online and printed advertising.
Instead of referring to the season as Christmas, Gap instead uses the word "holiday." As hard as we tried, AFA could not find a single instance in which Gap-owned stores use the term "Christmas." Not a single time!
When one Old Navy store manager was asked by AFA if the word Christmas was in his store, he answered, "We have a lot of Christmas gifts in our stores, but the word Christmas is not used here. Everything is 'holiday.'"
Gap wants you to do your Christmas shopping with them, but they don't want to mention the Reason for the season. Gap doesn't want to offend non-Christians by using Christmas. The fact that their censoring the use of Christmas might offend Christians seems to be of no importance.
Take Action
Send your message of disappointment to Gap, Inc. Click here to send your email.
Forward this e-mail to your friends and family.
Send Your Email Letter to Gap Chairman Don Fisher Now!
Sincerely,
Donald E. Wildmon, Founder and Chairman
American Family Association
P.S. Please print this and share with others.
Gap, which owns Old Navy, Banana Republic, Forth & Towne and Piperlime, has become the latest politically correct retailer, intentionally censoring the use of "Christmas" in their in-store, online and printed advertising.
Instead of referring to the season as Christmas, Gap instead uses the word "holiday." As hard as we tried, AFA could not find a single instance in which Gap-owned stores use the term "Christmas." Not a single time!
When one Old Navy store manager was asked by AFA if the word Christmas was in his store, he answered, "We have a lot of Christmas gifts in our stores, but the word Christmas is not used here. Everything is 'holiday.'"
Gap wants you to do your Christmas shopping with them, but they don't want to mention the Reason for the season. Gap doesn't want to offend non-Christians by using Christmas. The fact that their censoring the use of Christmas might offend Christians seems to be of no importance.
Take Action
Send your message of disappointment to Gap, Inc. Click here to send your email.
Forward this e-mail to your friends and family.
Send Your Email Letter to Gap Chairman Don Fisher Now!
Sincerely,
Donald E. Wildmon, Founder and Chairman
American Family Association
P.S. Please print this and share with others.
'Dog' Chapman Gets Day In Mexican Court
This story is unrelated to my topic, per say, but important in my opinion for our Govt. to step in, and not let this man have to go to Mexico for these ridiculous charges! Dog should be rewarded and paid already for being a "hero" in this case! He stopped a CRIMINAL, he is not the criminal! Mexico needs to drop these ludicrous charges! He did America and Mexico a huge justice in getting that guy off the streets! To Dog and his family, my thoughts and prayers!
'Dog' Chapman Gets Day In Mexican Court
HONOLULU -- Duane "Dog'' Chapman is waiting to hear whether a Mexican federal court will set him free or order his pending extradition and criminal case to proceed.
The 53-year-old TV bounty hunter is charged under Mexican law with "deprivation of liberty'' for his June 2003 capture of fugitive convicted rapist Andrew Luster, the Max Factor heir, in Puerto Vallarta.
Last night, Chapman, his wife and his attorney appeared on CNN's "Larry King Live" program to plead his case.
Chapman said that he was approached before the extradition by a lawyer in Mexico who arranged his release and was asked for more than $250,000 as a payment. Chapman said he was told by the lawyer that things "would not go well" if the payment wasn't made.
The three were also joined by Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo is urging Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice not to extradite bounty hunter Chapman to Mexico.
Tancredo said he was told by state department officials that a letter from 29 congressman about the Chapman case "was on Rice's desk" but not yet read by Rice.
Tancredo also questioned why the administration agreed to consider Chapman's extradition on what he called a misdemeanor charge in Mexico.
"Inside, I'm dying,'' Chapman said in an interview with The Associated Press at his spacious ocean-view home last week. "On the outside, I'm a Hawaiian citizen.''
His attorney, Bill Bollard, will present arguments starting Monday. Chapman will not attend the closed hearing in Guadalajara.
"We consider this a critical hearing because it could resolve the matter,'' Bollard said. "We're putting a lot of eggs in this basket because if we can cut it off at the path, the (criminal) trial never takes place.''
Chapman was arrested Sept. 14 along with his son and another associate and is free on $300,000 bail. He has been aggressively fighting extradition.
Video: Beth Chapman Talks To NBC News
"It's been the most nervous week by far in many years,'' he told the AP. ``In Mexico, you're guilty until proven innocent. It's not like America. You must prove your innocence. That's their law. It's nothing bad or good. That's just their law.''
Chapman faces up to four years in a Mexican jail if convicted.
"It's very ironic isn't it?'' said his wife, Beth Chapman. "He may go to jail for catching a rapist. We're in trouble because we caught America's escaped prisoner.''
Chapman's capture of Luster catapulted the Honolulu-based bounty hunter to fame and led to the A&E reality series "Dog the Bounty Hunter.''
Luster jumped a $1 million bond and disappeared during his trial in California's Ventura County on charges that he drugged and raped three women. The disappearance set off a national and international manhunt by police, FBI and bounty hunters trying to recoup some of the bond money. Luster is now serving a 124-year prison term.
Chapman said he was never paid for Luster's capture.
Chapman also told King he feared for his safety in any jail since he caught more than 6,000 fugitives in his career.
Copyright 2006 by NBC10.com The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved.
'Dog' Chapman Gets Day In Mexican CourtHONOLULU -- Duane "Dog'' Chapman is waiting to hear whether a Mexican federal court will set him free or order his pending extradition and criminal case to proceed.
The 53-year-old TV bounty hunter is charged under Mexican law with "deprivation of liberty'' for his June 2003 capture of fugitive convicted rapist Andrew Luster, the Max Factor heir, in Puerto Vallarta.
Last night, Chapman, his wife and his attorney appeared on CNN's "Larry King Live" program to plead his case.
Chapman said that he was approached before the extradition by a lawyer in Mexico who arranged his release and was asked for more than $250,000 as a payment. Chapman said he was told by the lawyer that things "would not go well" if the payment wasn't made.
The three were also joined by Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo is urging Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice not to extradite bounty hunter Chapman to Mexico.
Tancredo said he was told by state department officials that a letter from 29 congressman about the Chapman case "was on Rice's desk" but not yet read by Rice.
Tancredo also questioned why the administration agreed to consider Chapman's extradition on what he called a misdemeanor charge in Mexico.
"Inside, I'm dying,'' Chapman said in an interview with The Associated Press at his spacious ocean-view home last week. "On the outside, I'm a Hawaiian citizen.''
His attorney, Bill Bollard, will present arguments starting Monday. Chapman will not attend the closed hearing in Guadalajara.
"We consider this a critical hearing because it could resolve the matter,'' Bollard said. "We're putting a lot of eggs in this basket because if we can cut it off at the path, the (criminal) trial never takes place.''
Chapman was arrested Sept. 14 along with his son and another associate and is free on $300,000 bail. He has been aggressively fighting extradition.
Video: Beth Chapman Talks To NBC News
"It's been the most nervous week by far in many years,'' he told the AP. ``In Mexico, you're guilty until proven innocent. It's not like America. You must prove your innocence. That's their law. It's nothing bad or good. That's just their law.''
Chapman faces up to four years in a Mexican jail if convicted.
"It's very ironic isn't it?'' said his wife, Beth Chapman. "He may go to jail for catching a rapist. We're in trouble because we caught America's escaped prisoner.''
Chapman's capture of Luster catapulted the Honolulu-based bounty hunter to fame and led to the A&E reality series "Dog the Bounty Hunter.''
Luster jumped a $1 million bond and disappeared during his trial in California's Ventura County on charges that he drugged and raped three women. The disappearance set off a national and international manhunt by police, FBI and bounty hunters trying to recoup some of the bond money. Luster is now serving a 124-year prison term.
Chapman said he was never paid for Luster's capture.
Chapman also told King he feared for his safety in any jail since he caught more than 6,000 fugitives in his career.
Copyright 2006 by NBC10.com The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved.
'Church of the Ark' found on West Bank
'Church of the Ark' found on West Bank'
By Harry de Quetteville in Shiloh
Archaeologists claimed yesterday to have uncovered one of the world's first churches, built on a site believed to have once housed the Ark of the Covenant.
The site, emerging from the soil in a few acres in the hills of the Israeli occupied West Bank, is richly decorated with brightly coloured mosaics and inscriptions referring to Jesus Christ.
According to the team, led by Yitzhak Magen and Yevgeny Aharonovitch, the church dates to the late 4th century, making it one of Christianity's first formal places of worship.
"I can't say for sure at the moment that it's the very first church," said Mr Aharonovitch, 38, as he oversaw a team carrying out the final excavations before winter yesterday. "But it's certainly one of the first." He said the site contained an extremely unusual inscription which referred to itself, Shiloh, by name.
"That is very rare and shows early Christians treated this as an ancient, holy place," said Mr Aharonovitch. According to the Old Testament, the Ark of the Covenant, which contained the two tablets inscribed with the Ten Commandments, was kept by the Israelites at Shiloh for several hundred years.
It was eventually moved to the Holy of Holies in the Jerusalem temple that the Bible says was built by King Solomon around 1000 BC. When the temple was sacked by the Babylonians 400 years later, the Ark was lost, sparking theories about whether it had been hidden or destroyed.
The team at Shiloh is considering whether to dig under the beautiful mosaics that they have uncovered, in order to find traces of the Ark. "We have to decide whether to fix the mosaics here or take them to a museum," said Mr Aharonovitch.
Jewish residents in the modern settlement of Shiloh, which sits on a hill amidst Palestinian villages, want the team to keep digging.
David Rubin, a former mayor of Shiloh, said: "We believe that if they continue to dig they'll reach back to the time of the Tabernacle," referring to the portable place of worship where the Israelites housed the Ark.
© Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited 2006.
By Harry de Quetteville in Shiloh
Archaeologists claimed yesterday to have uncovered one of the world's first churches, built on a site believed to have once housed the Ark of the Covenant.
The site, emerging from the soil in a few acres in the hills of the Israeli occupied West Bank, is richly decorated with brightly coloured mosaics and inscriptions referring to Jesus Christ.According to the team, led by Yitzhak Magen and Yevgeny Aharonovitch, the church dates to the late 4th century, making it one of Christianity's first formal places of worship.
"I can't say for sure at the moment that it's the very first church," said Mr Aharonovitch, 38, as he oversaw a team carrying out the final excavations before winter yesterday. "But it's certainly one of the first." He said the site contained an extremely unusual inscription which referred to itself, Shiloh, by name.
"That is very rare and shows early Christians treated this as an ancient, holy place," said Mr Aharonovitch. According to the Old Testament, the Ark of the Covenant, which contained the two tablets inscribed with the Ten Commandments, was kept by the Israelites at Shiloh for several hundred years.
It was eventually moved to the Holy of Holies in the Jerusalem temple that the Bible says was built by King Solomon around 1000 BC. When the temple was sacked by the Babylonians 400 years later, the Ark was lost, sparking theories about whether it had been hidden or destroyed.
The team at Shiloh is considering whether to dig under the beautiful mosaics that they have uncovered, in order to find traces of the Ark. "We have to decide whether to fix the mosaics here or take them to a museum," said Mr Aharonovitch.
Jewish residents in the modern settlement of Shiloh, which sits on a hill amidst Palestinian villages, want the team to keep digging.
David Rubin, a former mayor of Shiloh, said: "We believe that if they continue to dig they'll reach back to the time of the Tabernacle," referring to the portable place of worship where the Israelites housed the Ark.
© Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited 2006.
Muslim-American Group Targets Radio Host Over Koran Oath Comments
Muslim-American Group Targets Radio Host Over Koran Oath Comments
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
WASHINGTON — A Muslim-American advocacy group has called on radio talk show host Dennis Prager to be removed from the governing board of the federally funded U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum after Prager last week blasted a representative-elect for planning to use the Koran at his swearing-in next month.
Prager, who is Jewish, slammed Minnesota Democrat Keith Ellison, the first Muslim to be elected to the U.S. Congress, after Ellison announced he plans to have his oath of office photo taken with the Koran instead of the Christian Bible, which is traditional.
"Insofar as a member of Congress taking an oath to serve America and uphold its values is concerned, America is interested in only one book, the Bible," he wrote in a column titled, "America, Not Keith Ellison, Decides What Book a Congressman Takes His Oath On."
"If you are incapable of taking an oath on that book, don't serve in Congress," Prager wrote, adding that using the Koran "undermines American civilization."
The Washington, D.C.-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) issued a statement Monday calling for Prager's ouster from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council, the museum's advisory council.
"No one who holds such bigoted, intolerant and divisive views should be in a policy-making position at a taxpayer-funded institution that seeks to educate Americans about the destructive impact hatred has had, and continues to have, on every society," CAIR wrote in its letter to the museum council's president, Fred Zeidman.
"As a presidential appointee, Prager's continued presence on the council would send a negative message to Muslims worldwide about America's commitment to religious tolerance," CAIR wrote.
Prager was not immediately available for comment. Museum spokesman Andrew Hollinger told FOXNews.com that he had not yet spoken with Zeidman and could not comment on the letter.
Prager is one of 52 council members, not including 10 House and Senate members and five ex-officio members. Hollinger said each council member is appointed by the White House to serve on the museum's governing board. The federal government pays for about 60 percent of the museum's annual budget.
Last week, the Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish advocacy group, called Prager's opinions "flat-out wrong," as well as "intolerant, misinformed and downright un-American."
"If Prager were merely a blogger and radio talk-show host trying to be relevant and provocative, these views might not merit a response. But as a newly appointed member of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, Prager and his views must be held to a higher standard," the group said.
Ellison's chief of staff, Kari Moe, said Friday "the criticism is being flamed by the politics of division that were rejected in the '06 election cycle."
She also said the tradition of using the Bible relates to the photo-op ceremony for individual lawmakers that follows the official swearing-in of all members of Congress together on the House floor. At the official oath of office, newly elected members raise their right hands.
After that explanation, Prager said the ceremonial oath is no less significant than the actual swearing-in.
"Oh, that's the whole point. It's exactly because it's ceremonial that it matters to me," he said. "Ceremonies matter. Ceremonies are exceedingly important. That is the way a society states what is most significant to it."
Prager also said that he would like to see Jews swear their oaths of office on the Christian Bible — the Jewish Bible does not include the New Testament that is central to Christian beliefs.
Prager said he doesn't think Ellison should serve if he does not take the oath on the Bible but he doesn't prefer legislative action be taken to prevent him from serving.
Speaking last week with FOX News, Prager said his feelings have nothing to do with Ellison's being a Muslim.
"It has to do with the fact that it's not the Bible," he said. "If a Mormon-American decided to substitute the Book of Mormon for the Bible, I would have the same problem. If a scientologist wanted L. Ron Hubbard's 'Dyanetics' to be the book, I would have a problem," Prager said.
Prager said the Bible is the most important book in American history and that's why it should be used.
"George Washington began this movement. He was the one to bring a Bible and swear on it. Every president except one, Teddy Roosevelt, because it was right after the assassination of James McKinley and they didn't have time for a Bible. And every president has done this," Prager said, adding that congressional members have followed the tradition.
FOXNews.com's Greg Simmons and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
WASHINGTON — A Muslim-American advocacy group has called on radio talk show host Dennis Prager to be removed from the governing board of the federally funded U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum after Prager last week blasted a representative-elect for planning to use the Koran at his swearing-in next month.
Prager, who is Jewish, slammed Minnesota Democrat Keith Ellison, the first Muslim to be elected to the U.S. Congress, after Ellison announced he plans to have his oath of office photo taken with the Koran instead of the Christian Bible, which is traditional.
"Insofar as a member of Congress taking an oath to serve America and uphold its values is concerned, America is interested in only one book, the Bible," he wrote in a column titled, "America, Not Keith Ellison, Decides What Book a Congressman Takes His Oath On."
"If you are incapable of taking an oath on that book, don't serve in Congress," Prager wrote, adding that using the Koran "undermines American civilization."
The Washington, D.C.-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) issued a statement Monday calling for Prager's ouster from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council, the museum's advisory council.
"No one who holds such bigoted, intolerant and divisive views should be in a policy-making position at a taxpayer-funded institution that seeks to educate Americans about the destructive impact hatred has had, and continues to have, on every society," CAIR wrote in its letter to the museum council's president, Fred Zeidman.
"As a presidential appointee, Prager's continued presence on the council would send a negative message to Muslims worldwide about America's commitment to religious tolerance," CAIR wrote.
Prager was not immediately available for comment. Museum spokesman Andrew Hollinger told FOXNews.com that he had not yet spoken with Zeidman and could not comment on the letter.
Prager is one of 52 council members, not including 10 House and Senate members and five ex-officio members. Hollinger said each council member is appointed by the White House to serve on the museum's governing board. The federal government pays for about 60 percent of the museum's annual budget.
Last week, the Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish advocacy group, called Prager's opinions "flat-out wrong," as well as "intolerant, misinformed and downright un-American."
"If Prager were merely a blogger and radio talk-show host trying to be relevant and provocative, these views might not merit a response. But as a newly appointed member of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, Prager and his views must be held to a higher standard," the group said.
Ellison's chief of staff, Kari Moe, said Friday "the criticism is being flamed by the politics of division that were rejected in the '06 election cycle."
She also said the tradition of using the Bible relates to the photo-op ceremony for individual lawmakers that follows the official swearing-in of all members of Congress together on the House floor. At the official oath of office, newly elected members raise their right hands.
After that explanation, Prager said the ceremonial oath is no less significant than the actual swearing-in.
"Oh, that's the whole point. It's exactly because it's ceremonial that it matters to me," he said. "Ceremonies matter. Ceremonies are exceedingly important. That is the way a society states what is most significant to it."
Prager also said that he would like to see Jews swear their oaths of office on the Christian Bible — the Jewish Bible does not include the New Testament that is central to Christian beliefs.
Prager said he doesn't think Ellison should serve if he does not take the oath on the Bible but he doesn't prefer legislative action be taken to prevent him from serving.
Speaking last week with FOX News, Prager said his feelings have nothing to do with Ellison's being a Muslim.
"It has to do with the fact that it's not the Bible," he said. "If a Mormon-American decided to substitute the Book of Mormon for the Bible, I would have the same problem. If a scientologist wanted L. Ron Hubbard's 'Dyanetics' to be the book, I would have a problem," Prager said.
Prager said the Bible is the most important book in American history and that's why it should be used.
"George Washington began this movement. He was the one to bring a Bible and swear on it. Every president except one, Teddy Roosevelt, because it was right after the assassination of James McKinley and they didn't have time for a Bible. And every president has done this," Prager said, adding that congressional members have followed the tradition.
FOXNews.com's Greg Simmons and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
'ACLU Solstice Barn' substitutes for Nativity Students' display on university campus
'ACLU Solstice Barn' substitutes for Nativity Students' display on university campus featuresMarx, Lenin, Stalin as Wise Men, Pelosi angel
Posted: December 5, 2006
5:08 p.m. Eastern
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
In tongue-in-cheek deference to the American Civil Liberties Union, students at the University of Texas displayed an "ACLU Solstice Barn" on campus, featuring politically correct figures.
"We've got Gary and Joseph instead of Mary and Joseph in order to symbolize ACLU support for homosexual marriage, and of course there isn't a Jesus in the manger," said Tony McDonald, chairman of the Young Conservatives of Texas branch on the Austin campus.
The group, whose plans WND had reported earlier, installed the "crèche" on the West Mall of the campus for display yesterday and today.
McDonald told WND today the reaction by students to the display was overwhelmingly positive.
"Even some liberals got the humor in it and conceded certain positions the ACLU takes are out of touch with the mainstream of Americans," he said.
One visitor turned out to be the ACLU's top official in Texas, who, according to McDonald, "had to admit that it was humorous."
McDonald said quite a number of students aren't even aware of the ACLU, and members of his group that manned the display throughout the day had to explain the acronym.
The three Wise Men in the display were Lenin, Marx and Stalin, McDonald told WND, because ACLU founder Roger Baldwin, while director of the organization, was a backer of Soviet-style communism.
As director of the ACLU in 1934, Baldwin wrote an article entitled "Freedom in the U.S.A. and the U.S.S.R." in which he said "the Soviet Union has already created liberties far greater than exist elsewhere in the world." He later moderated his views but maintained a commitment to socialism.
The scene also featured a "terrorist shepherd" and an angel with Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi's face, using a photograph of the soon-to-be speaker of the House from San Francisco
"The ACLU and other left-wing extremist groups are working diligently to destroy Americans' rights to the free expression of religion," said the Young Conservatives' Executive Director Joseph Wyly.
Wyly pointed to the city of Chicago's decision this week to ban advertisements for "The Nativity Story" movie from a local Christmas festival, fearing they might offend non-Christians.
"It's just more evidence that there is a war on Christmas being waged by the far-left in this country," he said.
Posted: December 5, 2006
5:08 p.m. Eastern
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
In tongue-in-cheek deference to the American Civil Liberties Union, students at the University of Texas displayed an "ACLU Solstice Barn" on campus, featuring politically correct figures."We've got Gary and Joseph instead of Mary and Joseph in order to symbolize ACLU support for homosexual marriage, and of course there isn't a Jesus in the manger," said Tony McDonald, chairman of the Young Conservatives of Texas branch on the Austin campus.
The group, whose plans WND had reported earlier, installed the "crèche" on the West Mall of the campus for display yesterday and today.
McDonald told WND today the reaction by students to the display was overwhelmingly positive.
"Even some liberals got the humor in it and conceded certain positions the ACLU takes are out of touch with the mainstream of Americans," he said.
One visitor turned out to be the ACLU's top official in Texas, who, according to McDonald, "had to admit that it was humorous."
McDonald said quite a number of students aren't even aware of the ACLU, and members of his group that manned the display throughout the day had to explain the acronym.
The three Wise Men in the display were Lenin, Marx and Stalin, McDonald told WND, because ACLU founder Roger Baldwin, while director of the organization, was a backer of Soviet-style communism.
As director of the ACLU in 1934, Baldwin wrote an article entitled "Freedom in the U.S.A. and the U.S.S.R." in which he said "the Soviet Union has already created liberties far greater than exist elsewhere in the world." He later moderated his views but maintained a commitment to socialism.
The scene also featured a "terrorist shepherd" and an angel with Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi's face, using a photograph of the soon-to-be speaker of the House from San Francisco
"The ACLU and other left-wing extremist groups are working diligently to destroy Americans' rights to the free expression of religion," said the Young Conservatives' Executive Director Joseph Wyly.
Wyly pointed to the city of Chicago's decision this week to ban advertisements for "The Nativity Story" movie from a local Christmas festival, fearing they might offend non-Christians.
"It's just more evidence that there is a war on Christmas being waged by the far-left in this country," he said.
Monday, December 4, 2006
UNFPA Convenes Meeting of Parliamentarians That Endorses Abortion
UNFPA Convenes Meeting of Parliamentarians That Endorses Abortion
by Samantha Singson
LifeNews.com Note: Samantha Singson writes for the Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute, a pro-life organization that lobbies at the United Nations. This article originally appeared in their Friday Fax publication.
The United Nations Population Fund (UNPFA) sponsored a gathering of 180 parliamentarians in Bangkok last week in an effort to get the lawmakers to pledge to promote “reproductive rights.”
During the meeting, organized by UNFPA and the Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (AFPPD), the parliamentarians signed a statement pledging to prioritize: “the promotion and protection of sexual and reproductive health and rights”, “gender equality,” “unsafe abortion” and “safe motherhood,” all words, phrases and programs used to support abortion on demand.
Claiming the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Program of Action as the guide for their work, the relatively small number of Parliamentarians also pledged to lead national efforts to “ensure that the new target on universal access to reproductive health is immediately and fully integrated into national development strategies and is given highest priority in the plans, implementation and monitoring of relevant government ministries.”
Pro-life observers of the UN are concerned that UNFPA is trying to influence nations to liberalize abortion laws by promoting the contested ICPD document. They point out that the UN General Assembly has never defined the term “reproductive health” as including abortion, nor did the Cairo Conference.
Even so, UN agencies like UNFPA, and intergovernmental organizations like the World Health Organization (WHO), and UN treaty compliance committees continue to misinterpret the controversial ICPD document in order to pressure nations to liberalize abortion laws.
Experts remain concerned about some of the other terminology that appears in the recent Bangkok document and note that some terms, such as “gender equality,” “safe motherhood” and “sexual and reproductive health and rights,” also remain sources of confusion, misuse and misinterpretation.
Regarding the term “safe motherhood,” Dr. Robert Walley, executive director of Matercare International, told the Friday Fax, “The international safe motherhood initiative, which was launched to reduce maternal mortality, now includes the provision of what is called safe abortion. To reduce maternal mortality it supports the killing of the unborn children. Thus, maternal mortality is being replaced by fetal mortality in ever increasing numbers. Most abortions in the world are performed for social and economic reasons. The awful reality is that once the mother has had her baby destroyed she is returned to the poverty and ignorance from whence she came.”
The Bangkok meeting was the third global parliamentarians’ conference on population and development to review the 2015 goal of universal access to reproductive health care which was adopted at the International Conference for Population and Development (ICPD) in 1994.
Previous conferences took place in Ottawa in 2002 and Strasbourg in 2004. Participants agreed to hold another review session in 2009.
Copyright © 2003-2006 LifeNews.com. All rights reserved.
by Samantha Singson
LifeNews.com Note: Samantha Singson writes for the Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute, a pro-life organization that lobbies at the United Nations. This article originally appeared in their Friday Fax publication.
The United Nations Population Fund (UNPFA) sponsored a gathering of 180 parliamentarians in Bangkok last week in an effort to get the lawmakers to pledge to promote “reproductive rights.”
During the meeting, organized by UNFPA and the Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (AFPPD), the parliamentarians signed a statement pledging to prioritize: “the promotion and protection of sexual and reproductive health and rights”, “gender equality,” “unsafe abortion” and “safe motherhood,” all words, phrases and programs used to support abortion on demand.
Claiming the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Program of Action as the guide for their work, the relatively small number of Parliamentarians also pledged to lead national efforts to “ensure that the new target on universal access to reproductive health is immediately and fully integrated into national development strategies and is given highest priority in the plans, implementation and monitoring of relevant government ministries.”
Pro-life observers of the UN are concerned that UNFPA is trying to influence nations to liberalize abortion laws by promoting the contested ICPD document. They point out that the UN General Assembly has never defined the term “reproductive health” as including abortion, nor did the Cairo Conference.
Even so, UN agencies like UNFPA, and intergovernmental organizations like the World Health Organization (WHO), and UN treaty compliance committees continue to misinterpret the controversial ICPD document in order to pressure nations to liberalize abortion laws.
Experts remain concerned about some of the other terminology that appears in the recent Bangkok document and note that some terms, such as “gender equality,” “safe motherhood” and “sexual and reproductive health and rights,” also remain sources of confusion, misuse and misinterpretation.
Regarding the term “safe motherhood,” Dr. Robert Walley, executive director of Matercare International, told the Friday Fax, “The international safe motherhood initiative, which was launched to reduce maternal mortality, now includes the provision of what is called safe abortion. To reduce maternal mortality it supports the killing of the unborn children. Thus, maternal mortality is being replaced by fetal mortality in ever increasing numbers. Most abortions in the world are performed for social and economic reasons. The awful reality is that once the mother has had her baby destroyed she is returned to the poverty and ignorance from whence she came.”
The Bangkok meeting was the third global parliamentarians’ conference on population and development to review the 2015 goal of universal access to reproductive health care which was adopted at the International Conference for Population and Development (ICPD) in 1994.
Previous conferences took place in Ottawa in 2002 and Strasbourg in 2004. Participants agreed to hold another review session in 2009.
Copyright © 2003-2006 LifeNews.com. All rights reserved.
North Korea wants Russia support, offers uranium:
North Korea wants Russia support, offers uranium: paper
TOKYO (Reuters) - North Korea has offered Russia exclusive rights to its natural uranium deposits in exchange for open support at the six-way talks on Pyongyang's nuclear weapons, a Japanese daily said on Sunday.
Citing Russian government sources, the Tokyo Shimbun report said Moscow and Pyongyang had been in secret talks since 2002 over a plan for Russia to import the uranium and enrich it before selling it on as nuclear fuel to China and Vietnam, in what the sources said would be a highly profitable venture.
The North Korean government has recently shown a positive attitude toward the idea, but introduced a requirement for back-up at the stalled nuclear talks, which may resume in the next few weeks.
The United States, Japan, South Korea and China are also involved in the six-way discussions aimed at persuading the North to scrap its nuclear weapons program.
After North Korea shocked the region by conducting a nuclear test in October, the United Nations passed a resolution barring trade with Pyongyang in dangerous weapons.
Russia would therefore need to guarantee any uranium it imported from North Korea would be used for peaceful purposes, the paper said.
Russia is already a major exporter of oil and natural gas and is also seeking to position itself as an exporter of nuclear fuel, the paper said.
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.
TOKYO (Reuters) - North Korea has offered Russia exclusive rights to its natural uranium deposits in exchange for open support at the six-way talks on Pyongyang's nuclear weapons, a Japanese daily said on Sunday.
Citing Russian government sources, the Tokyo Shimbun report said Moscow and Pyongyang had been in secret talks since 2002 over a plan for Russia to import the uranium and enrich it before selling it on as nuclear fuel to China and Vietnam, in what the sources said would be a highly profitable venture.
The North Korean government has recently shown a positive attitude toward the idea, but introduced a requirement for back-up at the stalled nuclear talks, which may resume in the next few weeks.
The United States, Japan, South Korea and China are also involved in the six-way discussions aimed at persuading the North to scrap its nuclear weapons program.
After North Korea shocked the region by conducting a nuclear test in October, the United Nations passed a resolution barring trade with Pyongyang in dangerous weapons.
Russia would therefore need to guarantee any uranium it imported from North Korea would be used for peaceful purposes, the paper said.
Russia is already a major exporter of oil and natural gas and is also seeking to position itself as an exporter of nuclear fuel, the paper said.
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.
Chavez claims victory in Venezuela
Chavez claims victory in Venezuela
President, close Castro supporter, secures another six-year term
CARACAS, Venezuela - President Hugo Chavez won re-election by a wide margin Sunday, giving the firebrand leftist six more years to redistribute Venezuela’s vast oil wealth to the poor and press his campaign to counter U.S. influence in Latin America and beyond.
Challenger Manuel Rosales conceded defeat but vowed to remain in opposition. During the campaign, Rosales accused Chavez of edging Venezuela toward authoritarian rule and warned the president could undertake even more radical policies if re-elected.
Minutes after the results were announced, Chavez appeared on the balcony of the presidential palace singing the national anthem. He pledged to deepen his effort to transform Venezuela into a socialist society.
“Long live the socialist revolution! Destiny has been written,” Chavez shouted to thousands of flag-waving supporters wearing red shirts and braving a pouring rain.
“That new era has begun,” he said, raising a hand in the air. “We have shown that Venezuela is red!... No one should fear socialism... Socialism is human. Socialism is love,” Chavez said. “Down with imperialism! We need a new world!”
Since he first won office in 1998, Chavez has increasingly dominated all branches of government and his allies now control congress, state offices and the judiciary. He has called President Bush the devil, allied himself with Iran and influenced elections across the region.
Oil advantageChavez also has used Venezuela’s oil wealth to his political advantage. He has channeled oil profits toward multibillion-dollar programs for the poor including subsidized food, free university education and cash benefits for single mothers. He has also helped allies from Cuba to Bolivia with oil and petrodollars.
He now promises to solidify his social program.
With 78 percent of voting stations reporting, Chavez had 61 percent to 38 percent for challenger Rosales, said Tibisay Lucena, head of the country’s elections council. Chavez had nearly 6 million votes versus 3.7 million for Rosales, according to the partial tally.
Turnout among the 15.9 million eligible voters was 62 percent, according to an official bulletin of results, making Chavez’s lead insurmountable.
“We will continue in this struggle,” Rosales told cheering supporters as he conceded defeat.
Some supporters at his campaign headquarters wept, while others were clearly angry.
“We have to do something,” said Dona Bavaro, a 36-year-old Rosales supporter. “My country is being stolen. This is the last chance we have. Communism is coming here.”
Rosales, a cattle rancher and governor of western Zulia state who stepped down temporarily to run against Chavez, focused his campaign on issues such as rampant crime and corruption, widely seen as Chavez’s main vulnerabilities.
A top Rosales adviser, Teodoro Petkoff, said the voting was carried out in a “satisfactory manner.” He said some irregularities had occurred but most were resolved. Another member of the Rosales camp had accused pro-Chavez soldiers of reopening closed polling stations and busing voters to them.
Even before polls closed, Chavez supporters celebrated in the streets, setting off fireworks and cruising Caracas honking horns and shouting “Chavez isn’t going anywhere!”
Earlier, Chavez loyalists jarred voters awake hours before dawn in Caracas with recordings of reveille blaring from truck-mounted loudspeakers.
“We’re here to support our president, who has helped us so much,” said Jose Domingo Izaguirre, a factory worker who waited hours to vote. His family recently moved into new government housing.
Rosales supporters accused Chavez of deepening class divisions with searing rhetoric demonizing his opponents.
A hostile campaignAlicia Primera, a 54-year-old housewife, was among voters so passionate about the choice that they camped out overnight in voting queues.
“I voted for Chavez previously. I cried for him,” Primera said. “Now I’m crying for him to leave. He’s sown a lot of hate with his verbiage.”
The campaign has been hostile, with Chavez calling Rosales a pawn of Washington and Rosales saying he was on the alert for fraud. Rosales’ campaign had endorsed the electronic voting system as trustworthy — as long as no attempts were made to thwart it.
More than 125,000 soldiers and reservists were deployed to safeguard the balloting.
In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Janelle Hironimus stressed “the importance of a free, fair and transparent process.”
Conflict and ambition have marked the rise of Chavez, 52, from a boy selling homemade sweets in a dusty backwater to a failed coup commander in 1992 and now a leader who could set the tone of Latin American politics for years to come.
Constitutional reforms he oversaw in 1999 triggered new elections the following year that he easily won. Loyalists helped him survive a 2002 coup, a subsequent general strike and a 2004 recall referendum.
Chavez says he would convene a commission upon re-election to propose constitutional reforms, likely including an end to presidential term limits. Current law prevents him from running again in 2012.
The president insists he is a democrat and will continue to respect private property — though he has boosted state control over the oil industry and has said he might nationalize utilities. Venezuela is the world’s fifth largest oil exporter and soaring oil prices have made it the continent’s fastest growing economy.
Chavez has pledged at least $1.1 billion in loans and financial aid to Latin American countries in the past two years, and billions more in bond bailouts for friendly governments as well as generously financed oil deals. But the largesse has proved a weakness at home, with polls suggesting many Venezuelans believe the aid impedes efforts to address the country’s own problems.
Chavez, who says Fidel Castro is like a father to him, has built increasingly close ties with Cuba, sending the island oil while thousands of Cuban doctors treat Venezuela’s poor for free.
© 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
President, close Castro supporter, secures another six-year term
CARACAS, Venezuela - President Hugo Chavez won re-election by a wide margin Sunday, giving the firebrand leftist six more years to redistribute Venezuela’s vast oil wealth to the poor and press his campaign to counter U.S. influence in Latin America and beyond.
Challenger Manuel Rosales conceded defeat but vowed to remain in opposition. During the campaign, Rosales accused Chavez of edging Venezuela toward authoritarian rule and warned the president could undertake even more radical policies if re-elected.
Minutes after the results were announced, Chavez appeared on the balcony of the presidential palace singing the national anthem. He pledged to deepen his effort to transform Venezuela into a socialist society.
“Long live the socialist revolution! Destiny has been written,” Chavez shouted to thousands of flag-waving supporters wearing red shirts and braving a pouring rain.
“That new era has begun,” he said, raising a hand in the air. “We have shown that Venezuela is red!... No one should fear socialism... Socialism is human. Socialism is love,” Chavez said. “Down with imperialism! We need a new world!”
Since he first won office in 1998, Chavez has increasingly dominated all branches of government and his allies now control congress, state offices and the judiciary. He has called President Bush the devil, allied himself with Iran and influenced elections across the region.
Oil advantageChavez also has used Venezuela’s oil wealth to his political advantage. He has channeled oil profits toward multibillion-dollar programs for the poor including subsidized food, free university education and cash benefits for single mothers. He has also helped allies from Cuba to Bolivia with oil and petrodollars.
He now promises to solidify his social program.
With 78 percent of voting stations reporting, Chavez had 61 percent to 38 percent for challenger Rosales, said Tibisay Lucena, head of the country’s elections council. Chavez had nearly 6 million votes versus 3.7 million for Rosales, according to the partial tally.
Turnout among the 15.9 million eligible voters was 62 percent, according to an official bulletin of results, making Chavez’s lead insurmountable.
“We will continue in this struggle,” Rosales told cheering supporters as he conceded defeat.
Some supporters at his campaign headquarters wept, while others were clearly angry.
“We have to do something,” said Dona Bavaro, a 36-year-old Rosales supporter. “My country is being stolen. This is the last chance we have. Communism is coming here.”
Rosales, a cattle rancher and governor of western Zulia state who stepped down temporarily to run against Chavez, focused his campaign on issues such as rampant crime and corruption, widely seen as Chavez’s main vulnerabilities.
A top Rosales adviser, Teodoro Petkoff, said the voting was carried out in a “satisfactory manner.” He said some irregularities had occurred but most were resolved. Another member of the Rosales camp had accused pro-Chavez soldiers of reopening closed polling stations and busing voters to them.
Even before polls closed, Chavez supporters celebrated in the streets, setting off fireworks and cruising Caracas honking horns and shouting “Chavez isn’t going anywhere!”
Earlier, Chavez loyalists jarred voters awake hours before dawn in Caracas with recordings of reveille blaring from truck-mounted loudspeakers.
“We’re here to support our president, who has helped us so much,” said Jose Domingo Izaguirre, a factory worker who waited hours to vote. His family recently moved into new government housing.
Rosales supporters accused Chavez of deepening class divisions with searing rhetoric demonizing his opponents.
A hostile campaignAlicia Primera, a 54-year-old housewife, was among voters so passionate about the choice that they camped out overnight in voting queues.
“I voted for Chavez previously. I cried for him,” Primera said. “Now I’m crying for him to leave. He’s sown a lot of hate with his verbiage.”
The campaign has been hostile, with Chavez calling Rosales a pawn of Washington and Rosales saying he was on the alert for fraud. Rosales’ campaign had endorsed the electronic voting system as trustworthy — as long as no attempts were made to thwart it.
More than 125,000 soldiers and reservists were deployed to safeguard the balloting.
In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Janelle Hironimus stressed “the importance of a free, fair and transparent process.”
Conflict and ambition have marked the rise of Chavez, 52, from a boy selling homemade sweets in a dusty backwater to a failed coup commander in 1992 and now a leader who could set the tone of Latin American politics for years to come.
Constitutional reforms he oversaw in 1999 triggered new elections the following year that he easily won. Loyalists helped him survive a 2002 coup, a subsequent general strike and a 2004 recall referendum.
Chavez says he would convene a commission upon re-election to propose constitutional reforms, likely including an end to presidential term limits. Current law prevents him from running again in 2012.
The president insists he is a democrat and will continue to respect private property — though he has boosted state control over the oil industry and has said he might nationalize utilities. Venezuela is the world’s fifth largest oil exporter and soaring oil prices have made it the continent’s fastest growing economy.
Chavez has pledged at least $1.1 billion in loans and financial aid to Latin American countries in the past two years, and billions more in bond bailouts for friendly governments as well as generously financed oil deals. But the largesse has proved a weakness at home, with polls suggesting many Venezuelans believe the aid impedes efforts to address the country’s own problems.
Chavez, who says Fidel Castro is like a father to him, has built increasingly close ties with Cuba, sending the island oil while thousands of Cuban doctors treat Venezuela’s poor for free.
© 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Hillary preps to jump in
Hillary preps to jump in
Once voted 6th 'most evil of millennium,'
Democrat senator begins process for run
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, who has previously been ranked as the most corrupt person in America, the sixth most evil person of the last millennium, as well as the most admired woman in America, has reportedly begun active consideration of a 2008 run for president.
Howard Wolfson, a top Clinton advisor, told the Associated Press the senator has personally asked some fellow top New York Democrats for their support in the event she goes ahead with a White House run.
"That process has begun," said Wolfson, who added he did not know when the former first lady would make any decision.
Among those Clinton has talked to is state Democratic Chairman Herman Farrell, an assemblyman from Manhattan, who told the New York Times he received a telephone call directly from her.
"I had a discussion with her about her decision to run for president. I'm not telling you what the decision was, only that we had the discussion," Farrell said. "And I'm positive that if she runs, the people of the United States will elect her as our next president."
Other names on the Democratic side eyeing the White House include Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana and Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware. Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack already began campaigning for president last week.
Mrs. Clinton was easily re-elected last month to the New York Senate seat she has held since her election in 2000, and national polls consistently list her as the front-runner for the 2008 Democratic nomination.
But the senator has been dogged by allegations of campaign wrongdoing from six years ago.
As WND reported in October, business mogul Peter Franklin Paul, who claims he was Hillary Clinton's largest contributor to her 2000 campaign, had a demand-letter hand-delivered to the New York Democrat's Senate chambers, insisting she admit to voters acceptance of an illegal contribution of more than $1 million and the falsifying of statements to the Federal Election Commission.
Paul says he contributed to the senator's campaign in exchange for former President Clinton's personal promotion of a media company after leaving office. The businessman claims he was directed by the Clintons and Democratic operatives to foot the bill for a lavish Hollywood gala and fund-raiser prior to the 2000 election that eventually cost about $2 million.
Just recently, years after alternative media pointed out the virtual impossibility, Mrs. Clinton finally has admitted she was not named for the famous conqueror of Mount Everest, Sir Edmund Hillary.
In November 1999, the New York Post asked readers to identify the most evil people of the millennium.
Though her name was not on the original list, Hillary finished in sixth place due to write-in ballots. Her husband, then-President Bill Clinton came in second place, also as a write-in, behind Adolf Hitler in first.
Once voted 6th 'most evil of millennium,'
Democrat senator begins process for run
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, who has previously been ranked as the most corrupt person in America, the sixth most evil person of the last millennium, as well as the most admired woman in America, has reportedly begun active consideration of a 2008 run for president.
Howard Wolfson, a top Clinton advisor, told the Associated Press the senator has personally asked some fellow top New York Democrats for their support in the event she goes ahead with a White House run.
"That process has begun," said Wolfson, who added he did not know when the former first lady would make any decision.
Among those Clinton has talked to is state Democratic Chairman Herman Farrell, an assemblyman from Manhattan, who told the New York Times he received a telephone call directly from her.
"I had a discussion with her about her decision to run for president. I'm not telling you what the decision was, only that we had the discussion," Farrell said. "And I'm positive that if she runs, the people of the United States will elect her as our next president."
Other names on the Democratic side eyeing the White House include Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana and Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware. Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack already began campaigning for president last week.
Mrs. Clinton was easily re-elected last month to the New York Senate seat she has held since her election in 2000, and national polls consistently list her as the front-runner for the 2008 Democratic nomination.
But the senator has been dogged by allegations of campaign wrongdoing from six years ago.
As WND reported in October, business mogul Peter Franklin Paul, who claims he was Hillary Clinton's largest contributor to her 2000 campaign, had a demand-letter hand-delivered to the New York Democrat's Senate chambers, insisting she admit to voters acceptance of an illegal contribution of more than $1 million and the falsifying of statements to the Federal Election Commission.
Paul says he contributed to the senator's campaign in exchange for former President Clinton's personal promotion of a media company after leaving office. The businessman claims he was directed by the Clintons and Democratic operatives to foot the bill for a lavish Hollywood gala and fund-raiser prior to the 2000 election that eventually cost about $2 million.
Just recently, years after alternative media pointed out the virtual impossibility, Mrs. Clinton finally has admitted she was not named for the famous conqueror of Mount Everest, Sir Edmund Hillary.
In November 1999, the New York Post asked readers to identify the most evil people of the millennium.
Though her name was not on the original list, Hillary finished in sixth place due to write-in ballots. Her husband, then-President Bill Clinton came in second place, also as a write-in, behind Adolf Hitler in first.
Democrats pick evangelical to deliver weekly radio talk
Democrats pick evangelical to deliver weekly radio talk
'Non-partisan' pastor selected for address
signed letter blasting Rick Warren critics
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
When incoming Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid wanted to "set a new tone" by having a "non-partisan religious leader" deliver yesterday's Democrat radio address, he chose a left-leaning evangelical pastor whose non-partisanship included being a signatory to a letter sent this week from a group called Faithful Democrats.
As WND reported, Faithful Democrats issued an open letter to U.S. pastors blasting Christian leaders of several "right-wing religious organizations" who had expressed their opposition to the recent decision by Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church to invite Senator Barack Obama to speak on World AIDS Day because of his position on abortion.
"It's unfortunate that these groups would exploit the Christian faith to advance their divisive agenda – an agenda that gives almost exclusive attention to a few wedge issues while ignoring the diversity of problems plaguing American communities," the letter read.
Faithful Democrats signatories included Jim Wallis of Sojourners and Call to Renewal, Tony Campolo of Eastern University, Ron Sider of Evangelicals for Social Action, Randall Balmer of Columbia University, Paul de Vries of New York Divinity School and C. Welton Gaddy of Northminster Baptist Church in Louisiana.
Reid selected Jim Wallis to give the address, usually reserved for politicians, "in the spirit of bipartisanship." Reid referred to Wallis as "non-partisan."
In the address, Wallis, who is widely viewed as a leading voice of the religious left, called for Americans to take "the road of compassionate priorities and social justice."
"In the Hebrew Scriptures, the health of a society was measured by how it cared for its weakest and most vulnerable, and prosperity was to be shared by all," he said. "Jesus proclaimed a gospel that was 'good news to the poor.'
"It is time to lift up practical policies and effective practices that 'make work work' for low-income families and challenge the increasing wealth gap between rich and poor."
Wallis called for "the renewal of our lifestyles" and "the moral redemption of our foreign policies" in order to conserve energy and be good stewards of a creation threatened by global warming and pollution.
He also called for withdrawal from Iraq.
"The only moral and practical course is to dramatically change the direction of U.S. policy, starting with an honest national debate about how to extricate U.S. forces from Iraq with the least possible damage to everyone involved," he said.
Wallis, who has rejected the "religious left" label given him, instead insisting that he wants to bring the nation to "a moral center," told listeners that he was speaking as a "person of faith," and not on behalf of the Democrat Party.
'Non-partisan' pastor selected for address
signed letter blasting Rick Warren critics
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
When incoming Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid wanted to "set a new tone" by having a "non-partisan religious leader" deliver yesterday's Democrat radio address, he chose a left-leaning evangelical pastor whose non-partisanship included being a signatory to a letter sent this week from a group called Faithful Democrats.
As WND reported, Faithful Democrats issued an open letter to U.S. pastors blasting Christian leaders of several "right-wing religious organizations" who had expressed their opposition to the recent decision by Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church to invite Senator Barack Obama to speak on World AIDS Day because of his position on abortion.
"It's unfortunate that these groups would exploit the Christian faith to advance their divisive agenda – an agenda that gives almost exclusive attention to a few wedge issues while ignoring the diversity of problems plaguing American communities," the letter read.
Faithful Democrats signatories included Jim Wallis of Sojourners and Call to Renewal, Tony Campolo of Eastern University, Ron Sider of Evangelicals for Social Action, Randall Balmer of Columbia University, Paul de Vries of New York Divinity School and C. Welton Gaddy of Northminster Baptist Church in Louisiana.
Reid selected Jim Wallis to give the address, usually reserved for politicians, "in the spirit of bipartisanship." Reid referred to Wallis as "non-partisan."
In the address, Wallis, who is widely viewed as a leading voice of the religious left, called for Americans to take "the road of compassionate priorities and social justice."
"In the Hebrew Scriptures, the health of a society was measured by how it cared for its weakest and most vulnerable, and prosperity was to be shared by all," he said. "Jesus proclaimed a gospel that was 'good news to the poor.'
"It is time to lift up practical policies and effective practices that 'make work work' for low-income families and challenge the increasing wealth gap between rich and poor."
Wallis called for "the renewal of our lifestyles" and "the moral redemption of our foreign policies" in order to conserve energy and be good stewards of a creation threatened by global warming and pollution.
He also called for withdrawal from Iraq.
"The only moral and practical course is to dramatically change the direction of U.S. policy, starting with an honest national debate about how to extricate U.S. forces from Iraq with the least possible damage to everyone involved," he said.
Wallis, who has rejected the "religious left" label given him, instead insisting that he wants to bring the nation to "a moral center," told listeners that he was speaking as a "person of faith," and not on behalf of the Democrat Party.
Radioactive spy Islamic convert?
Radioactive spy Islamic convert?
Fears raised Litvinenko helped al-Qaida with 'dirty bomb' plot
Editor's note: The following report is excerpted from Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin, the premium, online intelligence newsletter published by the founder of WND. Annual subscriptions are $99 and include a free copy of Farah's latest book, "Taking America Back." Monthly trial subscriptions are just $9.95 for credit card users.
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
LONDON – Reports that KGB defector Alexander Litvinenko converted to Islam before his mysterious poisoning with radioactive polonium 210 is raising suspicions that he may have been involved in a plot to smuggle the deadly substance to terrorist groups willing to pay millions even for a gram, Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin is reporting today.
Scotland Yard detectives are now trying to discover if Litvinenko had any secret links with Islamic extremist terror groups, the London Sunday Express is reporting.
Their biggest fear, the paper reports, is that Litvinenko, who died of polonium-210 poisoning in a London hospital, may have been helping al-Qaida or other extremist groups get hold of radioactive material to be used in a devastating "dirty" atom bomb.
Britain's secret intelligence service MI6 had earlier learned that al-Qaida was prepared to pay $3 million a gram for polonium 210, G2 Bulletin reported last week.
Litvinenko's friend Mario Scaramella now says the late spy helped smuggle radioactive material from Russia to Switzerland in 2000. Litvinenko was also known to have sympathies with Chechen rebels, seeking to break away from Moscow and create an independent Muslim state.
Litvinenko's conversion to Islam was announced by his next-door neighbor, moderate Muslim and Chechen dissident Akhmed Zakayev, who revealed: "He was read to from the Koran the day before he died and told his wife that he wanted to be buried in accordance with Muslim tradition."
Litvinenko's body is still so "radiologically hot" that an autopsy cannot yet be conducted. It is stored in a lead-lined vault in a London morgue.
Polonium 210 has been identified in five separate locations around London.
One is the luxury Millennium Hotel, near the U.S. Embassy. Another is a building in Mayfair that houses the office of Boris Berezovsky, a close friend of Litvinenko, and now an avowed enemy of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
While the government has insisted there is no cause for panic, MI6 and Britain's internal security service, MI5, have jointly launched a top-priority hunt on how further quantities of Polonium 210 could be smuggled by al-Qaida.
The hunt began a week ago in Peshawar. The ancient Pakistan city hosts a joint MI6/CIA surveillance operation supported by America's National Security Agency satellite surveillance.
Using the latest cyber-technology, the intelligence officers in Peshawar picked up a short-burst transmission from somewhere in Peshawar's Old Town. It was in response to a call that appeared to have come from beyond the towering Khyber Pass, possibly from Afghanistan.
The call was automatically recorded on one of the computers in the offices the MI6/CIA team share.
Just as automatically, it was dispatched down the line through cyberspace to GCHQ, the British Government Headquarters in the Cotswold town of Cheltenham. Simultaneously it reached America's NSA at Fort Meade, Md.
The words from Peshawar were part of the trillions of words in 500 languages that the GCHQ/NSA super computers are programmed to listen to, shift, reject or retain so they can be analyzed by the thousands of experts both GCHQ and NSA employ.
By late last week, MI6 knew of al-Qaida's offer to purchase Polonium 210.
For more details on how polonium 210 could be smuggled into Great Britain and America, see the complete report in Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin.
Fears raised Litvinenko helped al-Qaida with 'dirty bomb' plot
Editor's note: The following report is excerpted from Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin, the premium, online intelligence newsletter published by the founder of WND. Annual subscriptions are $99 and include a free copy of Farah's latest book, "Taking America Back." Monthly trial subscriptions are just $9.95 for credit card users.
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
LONDON – Reports that KGB defector Alexander Litvinenko converted to Islam before his mysterious poisoning with radioactive polonium 210 is raising suspicions that he may have been involved in a plot to smuggle the deadly substance to terrorist groups willing to pay millions even for a gram, Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin is reporting today.
Scotland Yard detectives are now trying to discover if Litvinenko had any secret links with Islamic extremist terror groups, the London Sunday Express is reporting.
Their biggest fear, the paper reports, is that Litvinenko, who died of polonium-210 poisoning in a London hospital, may have been helping al-Qaida or other extremist groups get hold of radioactive material to be used in a devastating "dirty" atom bomb.
Britain's secret intelligence service MI6 had earlier learned that al-Qaida was prepared to pay $3 million a gram for polonium 210, G2 Bulletin reported last week.
Litvinenko's friend Mario Scaramella now says the late spy helped smuggle radioactive material from Russia to Switzerland in 2000. Litvinenko was also known to have sympathies with Chechen rebels, seeking to break away from Moscow and create an independent Muslim state.
Litvinenko's conversion to Islam was announced by his next-door neighbor, moderate Muslim and Chechen dissident Akhmed Zakayev, who revealed: "He was read to from the Koran the day before he died and told his wife that he wanted to be buried in accordance with Muslim tradition."
Litvinenko's body is still so "radiologically hot" that an autopsy cannot yet be conducted. It is stored in a lead-lined vault in a London morgue.
Polonium 210 has been identified in five separate locations around London.
One is the luxury Millennium Hotel, near the U.S. Embassy. Another is a building in Mayfair that houses the office of Boris Berezovsky, a close friend of Litvinenko, and now an avowed enemy of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
While the government has insisted there is no cause for panic, MI6 and Britain's internal security service, MI5, have jointly launched a top-priority hunt on how further quantities of Polonium 210 could be smuggled by al-Qaida.
The hunt began a week ago in Peshawar. The ancient Pakistan city hosts a joint MI6/CIA surveillance operation supported by America's National Security Agency satellite surveillance.
Using the latest cyber-technology, the intelligence officers in Peshawar picked up a short-burst transmission from somewhere in Peshawar's Old Town. It was in response to a call that appeared to have come from beyond the towering Khyber Pass, possibly from Afghanistan.
The call was automatically recorded on one of the computers in the offices the MI6/CIA team share.
Just as automatically, it was dispatched down the line through cyberspace to GCHQ, the British Government Headquarters in the Cotswold town of Cheltenham. Simultaneously it reached America's NSA at Fort Meade, Md.
The words from Peshawar were part of the trillions of words in 500 languages that the GCHQ/NSA super computers are programmed to listen to, shift, reject or retain so they can be analyzed by the thousands of experts both GCHQ and NSA employ.
By late last week, MI6 knew of al-Qaida's offer to purchase Polonium 210.
For more details on how polonium 210 could be smuggled into Great Britain and America, see the complete report in Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin.
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