Jan 18, 2007 11:34 am US/Central
Pelosi Turns Up Heat On Global Warming
Speaker Ignoring House Traditions To Force Legislative Action On Climate Change
(AP) WASHINGTON House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, intent on putting global warming atop the Democratic agenda, is shaking up traditional committee fiefdoms dominated by some of Congress' oldest and most powerful members.
She's moving to create a special committee to recommend legislation for cutting greenhouse gases, most likely to be chaired by Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., a Democratic leadership aide said Wednesday.
Markey has advocated raising mileage standards for cars, trucks and SUVs and is one of the House's biggest critics of oil companies and U.S. automakers,
Pelosi has discussed the proposal with at least two Democratic committee chairmen: fellow Californian Henry Waxman of Oversight and Government Reform, and West Virginia Rep. Nick Rahall, who heads the Natural Resources panel. Pelosi intends to announce the move this week, said the leadership aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity because not all of the details have been worked out.
The move, to some degree, would sidestep two of the House's most powerful Democratic committee bosses, in shaping what's expected to be at least a yearlong debate on global warming:
# Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell of Michigan, a defender of the auto industry and at 80 the longest serving member of the House.
# New York Rep. Charles Rangel, who as the 76-year-old chairman of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, would have to clear any tax on carbon-based fuels like coal, oil or natural gas, which have been blamed for warming the atmosphere. A chief advocate of such a tax is former Democratic Vice President Al Gore.
Rahall said he had spoken with Pelosi about the idea of a new select committee. Rahall's panel oversees energy development on public lands, including coal, oil and natural gas as well as cleaner, non-carbon sources such as geothermal and windmills.
"I've been assured that no legislative jurisdiction would be taken away from any committee," Rahall said. "No legislative responsibility would be shifted from any committee."
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Thursday, January 18, 2007
Iraqi PM: 400 Shiite Fighters Detained
Jan 18, 8:38 AM (ET)
By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said 400 fighters from a key backer of the Shiite-led government have been arrested, and a government spokesman said Thursday the U.S. is not giving Iraqi security forces enough money for training and equipment. Al-Maliki's claim sought to address doubts about his willingness to take on the Shiite militiamen, especially the Mahdi army that is loyal to his key supporter, the radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Many of the militiamen are believed responsible for much of the sectarian violence in Baghdad in the past year.
In Baghdad on Thursday, bombers and gunmen killed at least 19 more people in a series of morning attacks as the capital faces a surge in violence ahead of a planned U.S.-Iraqi security crackdown.
The Italian daily Corriere della Sera reported that al-Maliki was deeply critical of President Bush during a briefing with a small group of reporters.
"The situation would be much better if the United States had immediately sent our security forces more adequate weapons and equipment. If they had committed themselves more and with greater speed we would have had a lot fewer deaths among Iraqi civilians and American soldiers," the newspaper quoted al-Maliki as saying.
However, the premier stopped short of openly criticizing Bush's plan to send 21,500 more troops to join the estimated 130,000 already there.
"We have to see how the situation in the field will go," he said. "We cannot rule out that the situation will drastically improve, allowing U.S. troops to leave the country in great numbers in three to six months."
The newspaper quoted the embattled Iraqi leader as saying Bush had capitulated to domestic pressure when he criticized the hanging of former leader Saddam Hussein. Al-Maliki further struck back at comments by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that suggested he was in a weak position and on borrowed time.
He said such remarks were giving aid and comfort to militants fighting to drive out U.S. troops and unseat his government.
Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said the Iraqi military budget this year is $8 billion, but it needs more for proper training, recruiting and equipment.
"We feel Iraqi needs for equipment (are) more than that money," he said, speaking in English. "We are expecting also assistance and help from the multinational forces in order to have proper training and manning as well as arming the Iraqi force."
Al-Dabbagh also said coalition troops could start withdrawing from Iraq by the end of the year as more security control is handed over to the Iraqis.
"We can say in 2007 the Iraqis will have more control on the troops, and the decision will be Iraqi, and this will entitle (us) to reduce the multinational force," he said.
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By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said 400 fighters from a key backer of the Shiite-led government have been arrested, and a government spokesman said Thursday the U.S. is not giving Iraqi security forces enough money for training and equipment. Al-Maliki's claim sought to address doubts about his willingness to take on the Shiite militiamen, especially the Mahdi army that is loyal to his key supporter, the radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Many of the militiamen are believed responsible for much of the sectarian violence in Baghdad in the past year.
In Baghdad on Thursday, bombers and gunmen killed at least 19 more people in a series of morning attacks as the capital faces a surge in violence ahead of a planned U.S.-Iraqi security crackdown.
The Italian daily Corriere della Sera reported that al-Maliki was deeply critical of President Bush during a briefing with a small group of reporters.
"The situation would be much better if the United States had immediately sent our security forces more adequate weapons and equipment. If they had committed themselves more and with greater speed we would have had a lot fewer deaths among Iraqi civilians and American soldiers," the newspaper quoted al-Maliki as saying.
However, the premier stopped short of openly criticizing Bush's plan to send 21,500 more troops to join the estimated 130,000 already there.
"We have to see how the situation in the field will go," he said. "We cannot rule out that the situation will drastically improve, allowing U.S. troops to leave the country in great numbers in three to six months."
The newspaper quoted the embattled Iraqi leader as saying Bush had capitulated to domestic pressure when he criticized the hanging of former leader Saddam Hussein. Al-Maliki further struck back at comments by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that suggested he was in a weak position and on borrowed time.
He said such remarks were giving aid and comfort to militants fighting to drive out U.S. troops and unseat his government.
Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said the Iraqi military budget this year is $8 billion, but it needs more for proper training, recruiting and equipment.
"We feel Iraqi needs for equipment (are) more than that money," he said, speaking in English. "We are expecting also assistance and help from the multinational forces in order to have proper training and manning as well as arming the Iraqi force."
Al-Dabbagh also said coalition troops could start withdrawing from Iraq by the end of the year as more security control is handed over to the Iraqis.
"We can say in 2007 the Iraqis will have more control on the troops, and the decision will be Iraqi, and this will entitle (us) to reduce the multinational force," he said.
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Democrat chairman flips on Iraq policy: Recommended troop surge, then opposed when Bush proposed it
Inside the Beltway
By John McCaslin
January 18, 2007
Tough month
On Dec. 5, Newsweek magazine touted an interview with then-incoming House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Rep. Silvestre Reyes as an "exclusive." And for good reason.
"In a surprise twist in the debate over Iraq," the story began, Mr. Reyes "said he wants to see an increase of 20,000 to 30,000 U.S. troops as part of a 'stepped up effort to dismantle the militias.' "
"We have to consider the need for additional troops to be in Iraq, to take out the militias and stabilize Iraq," the Texas Democrat said to the surprise of many, "I would say 20,000 to 30,000."
Then came President Bush's expected announcement last week, virtually matching Mr. Reyes' recommendation and argument word-for-word -- albeit the president proposed only 21,500 troops.
Wouldn't you know, hours after Mr. Bush announced his proposal, Mr. Reyes told the El Paso Times that such a troop buildup was unthinkable.
"We don't have the capability to escalate even to this minimum level," he said.
The chairman's "double-talk" did not go unnoticed. Among others, Rep. Joe Wilson, South Carolina Republican and a member of the House Armed Services Committee, says such blatant "hypocrisy" undermines both national security and the war on terrorism.
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By John McCaslin
January 18, 2007
Tough month
On Dec. 5, Newsweek magazine touted an interview with then-incoming House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Rep. Silvestre Reyes as an "exclusive." And for good reason.
"In a surprise twist in the debate over Iraq," the story began, Mr. Reyes "said he wants to see an increase of 20,000 to 30,000 U.S. troops as part of a 'stepped up effort to dismantle the militias.' "
"We have to consider the need for additional troops to be in Iraq, to take out the militias and stabilize Iraq," the Texas Democrat said to the surprise of many, "I would say 20,000 to 30,000."
Then came President Bush's expected announcement last week, virtually matching Mr. Reyes' recommendation and argument word-for-word -- albeit the president proposed only 21,500 troops.
Wouldn't you know, hours after Mr. Bush announced his proposal, Mr. Reyes told the El Paso Times that such a troop buildup was unthinkable.
"We don't have the capability to escalate even to this minimum level," he said.
The chairman's "double-talk" did not go unnoticed. Among others, Rep. Joe Wilson, South Carolina Republican and a member of the House Armed Services Committee, says such blatant "hypocrisy" undermines both national security and the war on terrorism.
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Gates, Commanders Ready Buildup in Gulf
Jan 18, 10:51 AM (ET)
By ROBERT BURNS
MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates met with senior U.S. and coalition naval commanders Thursday to plan operations in the Persian Gulf, including the arrival next month of another U.S. aircraft carrier and more Patriot missiles meant in part as a warning to Iran. This tiny state in the northern Gulf is headquarters to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet and Central Command's naval staff.
Gates also flew to nearby Qatar for a private meeting and lunch with that nation's leader, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani. Later he was visiting an air base that hosts a high-tech war room that is the nerve center of all U.S. and coalition air operations throughout the Middle East and Central Asia. Under ground rules imposed by U.S. officials, reporters traveling with Gates were prohibited from identifying the base or the country in which it is located.
In Bahrain, a British Royal Navy officer who is the No. 2 commander for coalition naval forces in the Central Command area of responsibility told reporters that the exact role and missions of the aircraft carrier USS John Stennis, which is due to arrive in the Gulf area next month, have not yet been worked out.
British Commodore Keith Winstanley said the Stennis deployment should not be seen entirely as a move aimed at Iran, but he added, "I'm sure there's a message there for Iran."
He said Iranian naval operations have not changed in any significant way since President Bush announced last week that he was sending a second carrier to the Gulf, and Winstanley said at-sea contacts with the Iranian navy have been "extremely cordial."
Earlier, Gates spoke of possibly sending more troops to Afghanistan, where there are now about 24,000 U.S. troops. But the question is how many more can be contributed at a time when Bush is ramping up U.S. firepower in Iraq and the Persian Gulf.
Gates said that he wants to ensure that gains made against extremism in Afghanistan since the U.S. invaded to topple the Taliban regime in October 2001 are not lost as the Taliban re-emerges.
"I think it is important that we not let this success here in Afghanistan slip away from us and that we keep the initiative," he told reporters at Bagram Air Base, the main U.S. military air hub in Afghanistan. "There's no reason to sit back and let the Taliban regroup."
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By ROBERT BURNS
MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates met with senior U.S. and coalition naval commanders Thursday to plan operations in the Persian Gulf, including the arrival next month of another U.S. aircraft carrier and more Patriot missiles meant in part as a warning to Iran. This tiny state in the northern Gulf is headquarters to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet and Central Command's naval staff.
Gates also flew to nearby Qatar for a private meeting and lunch with that nation's leader, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani. Later he was visiting an air base that hosts a high-tech war room that is the nerve center of all U.S. and coalition air operations throughout the Middle East and Central Asia. Under ground rules imposed by U.S. officials, reporters traveling with Gates were prohibited from identifying the base or the country in which it is located.
In Bahrain, a British Royal Navy officer who is the No. 2 commander for coalition naval forces in the Central Command area of responsibility told reporters that the exact role and missions of the aircraft carrier USS John Stennis, which is due to arrive in the Gulf area next month, have not yet been worked out.
British Commodore Keith Winstanley said the Stennis deployment should not be seen entirely as a move aimed at Iran, but he added, "I'm sure there's a message there for Iran."
He said Iranian naval operations have not changed in any significant way since President Bush announced last week that he was sending a second carrier to the Gulf, and Winstanley said at-sea contacts with the Iranian navy have been "extremely cordial."
Earlier, Gates spoke of possibly sending more troops to Afghanistan, where there are now about 24,000 U.S. troops. But the question is how many more can be contributed at a time when Bush is ramping up U.S. firepower in Iraq and the Persian Gulf.
Gates said that he wants to ensure that gains made against extremism in Afghanistan since the U.S. invaded to topple the Taliban regime in October 2001 are not lost as the Taliban re-emerges.
"I think it is important that we not let this success here in Afghanistan slip away from us and that we keep the initiative," he told reporters at Bagram Air Base, the main U.S. military air hub in Afghanistan. "There's no reason to sit back and let the Taliban regroup."
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Congress in no hurry for border fence
Congress in no hurry for border fence
The Associated Press
A law to erect hundreds of miles of fence on the U.S.-Mexico border is on the books and money to start it has been OK'd, but Republicans are nervous that now that they've lost control of Congress, they'll never see it built.
The law passed last year says Congress, now in control of Democrats who generally oppose the fence, doesn't have to release money to build it until lawmakers approve how the fence will be built.
Based on the comments of some Democrats, there's no rush to make that happen.
Rep. Bennie Thompson, House Homeland Security Committee chairman, said he wants to see a plan for securing the northern and southern borders from the Department of Homeland Security and hold a hearing on those plans instead of focusing only on fence construction and funding.
"My preference is to delay the construction of a fence until we have a plan," said Thompson, D-Ga.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said this week Democrats still want to secure the border but want "the best possible way to do it."
Hoyer voted against the fence last year, along with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Thompson and 128 other Democrats in the House. In the Senate, 26 Democrats voted for the fence law, including Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia, who chairs the Appropriations Committee. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada voted against the fence.
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The Associated Press
A law to erect hundreds of miles of fence on the U.S.-Mexico border is on the books and money to start it has been OK'd, but Republicans are nervous that now that they've lost control of Congress, they'll never see it built.
The law passed last year says Congress, now in control of Democrats who generally oppose the fence, doesn't have to release money to build it until lawmakers approve how the fence will be built.
Based on the comments of some Democrats, there's no rush to make that happen.
Rep. Bennie Thompson, House Homeland Security Committee chairman, said he wants to see a plan for securing the northern and southern borders from the Department of Homeland Security and hold a hearing on those plans instead of focusing only on fence construction and funding.
"My preference is to delay the construction of a fence until we have a plan," said Thompson, D-Ga.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said this week Democrats still want to secure the border but want "the best possible way to do it."
Hoyer voted against the fence last year, along with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Thompson and 128 other Democrats in the House. In the Senate, 26 Democrats voted for the fence law, including Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia, who chairs the Appropriations Committee. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada voted against the fence.
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7 Texas border mayors say no to fence
7 Texas border mayors' message on the wall: No
Capitol Hill policymakers told fence would harm trade and relations
By MICHELLE MITTELSTADT
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON — Texas border mayors carried a clear message Wednesday to federal policymakers: Walling off the United States from Mexico is a costly, foolish idea that will harm commerce, travel and foreign relations.
The seven mayors, representing cities that stretch from El Paso to Brownsville, raced from meeting to meeting on Capitol Hill, urging Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and lawmakers to abandon Congress' mandate to build 700 miles of fence and instead rely on other border security measures.
"It's a united front: No to the wall," said Laredo Mayor Raul Salinas. "It's just money misspent."
Call for sensors, lights
Instead of fencing off more than 300 miles of the Texas-Mexico border, the mayors recommended that Chertoff and Congress improve border security by using technology such as motion detection sensors and lighting as a "virtual" fence, or by adding more Border Patrol manpower.
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Capitol Hill policymakers told fence would harm trade and relations
By MICHELLE MITTELSTADT
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON — Texas border mayors carried a clear message Wednesday to federal policymakers: Walling off the United States from Mexico is a costly, foolish idea that will harm commerce, travel and foreign relations.
The seven mayors, representing cities that stretch from El Paso to Brownsville, raced from meeting to meeting on Capitol Hill, urging Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and lawmakers to abandon Congress' mandate to build 700 miles of fence and instead rely on other border security measures.
"It's a united front: No to the wall," said Laredo Mayor Raul Salinas. "It's just money misspent."
Call for sensors, lights
Instead of fencing off more than 300 miles of the Texas-Mexico border, the mayors recommended that Chertoff and Congress improve border security by using technology such as motion detection sensors and lighting as a "virtual" fence, or by adding more Border Patrol manpower.
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Special counsel sought for imprisoned border agents
Special counsel sought for imprisoned border agents
Head of union wants probe of case against 'innocent men doing their job'
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: January 18, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Jerome R. Corsi
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
The head of a union representing most Border Patrol agents is calling on President Bush and Congress to appoint a special counsel to investigate the case of agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean, who began prison sentences yesterday for shooting a Mexican drug smuggler.
TJ Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, which represents 60 percent of the nation's agents, called the convictions an outrage.
"This case involves two innocent men doing their job, trying to secure our borders," he told WND. "They were defending themselves against an armed drug smuggler, and yet they end up in prison. How is that possible?"
On Tuesday, federal Judge Kathleen Cardone of El Paso, Texas, denied Ramos' and Compean's contention they were not a flight risk and rejected their motion to stay out of prison on bond while they appeal their case to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.
Bonner told WND the agents' imprisonment will have a detrimental effect on the willingness of Border Patrol agents to go out and enforce immigration laws.
"The Bush administration is sending a message to all law enforcement officers," Bonner told WND, "that it is to be 'hands off the border, leave it wide open, don't you dare do your jobs or you too will end up in federal prison.' "After this travesty of justice," he continued, "why would any Border Patrol agent stick their neck out trying to apprehend a Mexican drug smuggler, especially when you realize that you could be the one who ends up behind bars?"
The Bush administration continues to argue on background that Ramos and Compean lied to Border Patrol officials and covered up evidence, asserting the Mexican drug smuggler was not armed and had attempted to surrender peacefully.
Bonner disagrees, arguing there were "only three people who saw what happened on the other side of that levee – Agent Ramos, Agent Compean, and the Mexican drug smuggler, Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila."
"The agents testified that the drug smuggler did not have his hands up, that he was running away, and that he pointed an object at them that they believed to be a gun. So, the agents opened fire," Bonner said. "Essentially, what the White House is saying is that they believe the word of a drug smuggler over the word of two sworn federal agents."
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Head of union wants probe of case against 'innocent men doing their job'
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: January 18, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Jerome R. Corsi
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
The head of a union representing most Border Patrol agents is calling on President Bush and Congress to appoint a special counsel to investigate the case of agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean, who began prison sentences yesterday for shooting a Mexican drug smuggler.
TJ Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, which represents 60 percent of the nation's agents, called the convictions an outrage.
"This case involves two innocent men doing their job, trying to secure our borders," he told WND. "They were defending themselves against an armed drug smuggler, and yet they end up in prison. How is that possible?"
On Tuesday, federal Judge Kathleen Cardone of El Paso, Texas, denied Ramos' and Compean's contention they were not a flight risk and rejected their motion to stay out of prison on bond while they appeal their case to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.
Bonner told WND the agents' imprisonment will have a detrimental effect on the willingness of Border Patrol agents to go out and enforce immigration laws.
"The Bush administration is sending a message to all law enforcement officers," Bonner told WND, "that it is to be 'hands off the border, leave it wide open, don't you dare do your jobs or you too will end up in federal prison.' "After this travesty of justice," he continued, "why would any Border Patrol agent stick their neck out trying to apprehend a Mexican drug smuggler, especially when you realize that you could be the one who ends up behind bars?"
The Bush administration continues to argue on background that Ramos and Compean lied to Border Patrol officials and covered up evidence, asserting the Mexican drug smuggler was not armed and had attempted to surrender peacefully.
Bonner disagrees, arguing there were "only three people who saw what happened on the other side of that levee – Agent Ramos, Agent Compean, and the Mexican drug smuggler, Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila."
"The agents testified that the drug smuggler did not have his hands up, that he was running away, and that he pointed an object at them that they believed to be a gun. So, the agents opened fire," Bonner said. "Essentially, what the White House is saying is that they believe the word of a drug smuggler over the word of two sworn federal agents."
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Israel urges silence on U.S. weapons to Palestinians
Israel urges silence on U.S. weapons to Palestinians
Defense officials fear American arms, equipment will be used to attack Jewish state
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Posted: January 18, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Aaron Klein
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
TEL AVIV – Israeli leaders are pressuring senior officials in the Israeli Defense Forces to put aside reservations regarding U.S. plans to train, finance and arm militias associated with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party, WND has learned.
The senior IDF officials fear some of the American aid, weapons and equipment slated to be provided to the Palestinians will be used to attack the Jewish state, according to defense sources.
The Israeli army officials have petitioned to make their objections public in conversations with American and European diplomats, defense sources said.
"We are being pressured from the (Israeli) political echelon not to interfere with American plans to provide weapons and equipment to Fatah," said a senior IDF source. "The concerns are that the weapons and equipment will be shared with elements of Fatah that regularly attack Israeli troops and plan attacks against Israeli civilians."
"We've been told this (American aid) is a decision for the prime minister and minister of Defense and that our public objections are inappropriate," the IDF source told WND.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice last week told reporters the U.S. is working with Fatah to create a unified Palestinian security force, which she said would combine Fatah factions and afford more control over the distribution of American aid and weapons.
The Bush administration reportedly will grant $86.4 million to strengthen the Fatah forces, including Force 17, Abbas' security detail, which also serves as de facto police units in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.
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Defense officials fear American arms, equipment will be used to attack Jewish state
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: January 18, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Aaron Klein
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
TEL AVIV – Israeli leaders are pressuring senior officials in the Israeli Defense Forces to put aside reservations regarding U.S. plans to train, finance and arm militias associated with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party, WND has learned.
The senior IDF officials fear some of the American aid, weapons and equipment slated to be provided to the Palestinians will be used to attack the Jewish state, according to defense sources.
The Israeli army officials have petitioned to make their objections public in conversations with American and European diplomats, defense sources said.
"We are being pressured from the (Israeli) political echelon not to interfere with American plans to provide weapons and equipment to Fatah," said a senior IDF source. "The concerns are that the weapons and equipment will be shared with elements of Fatah that regularly attack Israeli troops and plan attacks against Israeli civilians."
"We've been told this (American aid) is a decision for the prime minister and minister of Defense and that our public objections are inappropriate," the IDF source told WND.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice last week told reporters the U.S. is working with Fatah to create a unified Palestinian security force, which she said would combine Fatah factions and afford more control over the distribution of American aid and weapons.
The Bush administration reportedly will grant $86.4 million to strengthen the Fatah forces, including Force 17, Abbas' security detail, which also serves as de facto police units in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.
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Perspectives: A Christian Response to Death Penalty Issues
By Rev. Mark Creech
OneNewsNow.com
January 18, 2007
In a day when crime is largely blamed on Freudian and secularist concepts of evil, the biblical doctrine of retribution has fallen on hard times. Yet God has ordained it that when humanity chooses, for whatever reason, to violate His law, a just penalty must be exacted.
Within the next three weeks, North Carolina is scheduled to execute three death-row inmates on three successive Fridays. According to Associated Press: "Scheduling three deaths so close together irks execution opponents who plan to keep pushing during the coming legislative session for a death penalty moratorium. Perhaps three executions so close together will at least help them teach more people about the flaws in the state's judicial system, they said." [1]
Despite the fact that death-row inmates receive super due process of law that accounts for an average of 12 years of appeals, and that there exists no solid evidence of even one innocent nationwide being executed in over a hundred years, moratorium proponents, who are largely anti-death penalty advocates, have gained enough momentum in the Tar Heel State to cause Speaker Jim Black to establish a House Select Committee on Capital Punishment. That Committee held a public hearing two weeks ago; and out of 15 speakers who testified, only two -- one of which was me -- spoke against the proposed moratorium.
Certainly the most striking moment of the public hearing was when Shirley Burns spoke. Burns currently has a son on death-row scheduled for execution in North Carolina on January 26. She informed lawmakers she had lived on both sides of the issue of capital punishment. Not only did she have a son scheduled for execution within a matter of days, but eight months earlier another one of her sons had been murdered. Her situation was definitely and most unfortunately unique and garnered the sympathy of what was almost exclusively an anti-death penalty audience, except maybe for some of the lawmakers present.
Burns was also obviously very displeased with my remarks, which had preceded hers, characterizing them in this fashion: "I listen to the minister as he talked, but it seems to be an idea of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth -- How can I as a Christian ask for another person's life? I believe the Word of God when it says, 'Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.' I also believe when it says, 'Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord.'" The end of her speech was met with considerable applause.
Although Burns' circumstances warrant understanding and pity, her position on the death penalty is neither Christian nor compassionate.
The primary purpose of the death-penalty is not revenge. It is retribution. In On Capital Punishment, William H. Baker notes: "Retribution is properly a satisfaction or, according to the ancient figure of justice and her scales, a restoration of a disturbed equilibrium. As such it is a proper, legitimate and moral concept. Scripture makes a clear line of distinction between this doctrine and feelings of personal hatred by forbidding such feelings and the actions to which they would lead. Capital punishment as a form of retribution is a dictate of the moral nature, which demands that there should be a just portion between the offense and the penalty." [2]
In fact, Jesus' quote in Matthew 5:38 of the Hebrew lex talinois, which is found in Exodus 21:23-25, was a statement of proper retribution by civil authorities. Its intention was to protect offenders from excessive penalties that didn't fit the crime. Unfortunately, however, some in Christ's day were using it as a justification for personal retaliation. In other words, when Christ spoke of "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth," He wasn't repudiating government's responsibility to maintain order, but correcting an illegitimate use of the text and advocating the way His followers should personally respond to offenses.
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia properly makes this distinction when in God's Justice and Ours, he writes: "The death penalty is undoubtedly wrong unless one accords to the state a scope of moral action that goes beyond what is permitted to the individual. In my view, the major impetus behind the modern aversion to the death penalty is the equation of private morality with governmental morality." [3]
In a day when crime is largely blamed on Freudian and secularist concepts of evil, the biblical doctrine of retribution has fallen on hard times. Yet God has ordained it that when humanity chooses, for whatever reason, to violate His law, a just penalty must be exacted. A holy and just God requires that a broken order in the Universe be restored. Thus, Christ's death for the sinner was based on the need for retributive justice to satisfy the legal demands of God's law, which says: "[T]he wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). In fact, without the substitutionary death of Christ on the Cross there could be no forgiveness or compassion from God.
According to Christian thought, no one has the right for any reason to harbor malice, anger or bitterness toward someone on a personal level -- personal vengeance is denied. This is what Christ was preaching in Matthew 5:38-45 and what Paul advocated when he wrote: "Recompense to no man evil for evil -- avenge not yourselves, but rather give place to wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord" (Romans 12:17, 19). Still Christ affirmed retributive justice by His own death on the Cross and Paul said the government bears the sword as "the minister of God" for good and is an "avenger who brings wrath upon the one who practices evil" (Romans 13:4).
For compassion and its proper application on both a personal and social level to be genuinely experienced, an understanding of the biblical doctrine of retributive justice is an absolute necessity. For instance, no person can ever experience soul salvation until he or she realizes their offense to God in the violations of His law and that such actions are deserving of eternal retribution. God has demonstrated His compassion in that the requirements of retribution are met in Christ's sacrifice on the Cross. He died and suffered in one's place. Personal peace comes only through this understanding. Moreover, social peace comes only when compassion is directed toward the victims of crime and not its perpetrators. Retribution is the primary purpose of law and not the rehabilitation of the criminal or deterrence to criminal acts. Only when this is realized can the public be properly protected by the government and society's tranquility maintained.
While anti-death penalty proponents from the faith community like Shirley Burns push for abolition and a moratorium on capital punishment in North Carolina, calling for citizens to forgive, they seem to forget that the persons with the greatest reason to forgive cannot because they've been murdered. Moreover, family members like Janice Hunter, whose 27-year-old daughter, Adrien, was brutally stabbed to death by serial killer Nathaniel White, can easily identify with her statement: "I have to go to the cemetery to see my daughter. Nathaniel White' s mother goes to jail to see him and I don't think it's fair." [4] Indeed it isn't right in either the first or the latter circumstances and that's why God's Word in Genesis 9:6 declares to governments of all eras: "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man."
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OneNewsNow.com
January 18, 2007
In a day when crime is largely blamed on Freudian and secularist concepts of evil, the biblical doctrine of retribution has fallen on hard times. Yet God has ordained it that when humanity chooses, for whatever reason, to violate His law, a just penalty must be exacted.
Within the next three weeks, North Carolina is scheduled to execute three death-row inmates on three successive Fridays. According to Associated Press: "Scheduling three deaths so close together irks execution opponents who plan to keep pushing during the coming legislative session for a death penalty moratorium. Perhaps three executions so close together will at least help them teach more people about the flaws in the state's judicial system, they said." [1]
Despite the fact that death-row inmates receive super due process of law that accounts for an average of 12 years of appeals, and that there exists no solid evidence of even one innocent nationwide being executed in over a hundred years, moratorium proponents, who are largely anti-death penalty advocates, have gained enough momentum in the Tar Heel State to cause Speaker Jim Black to establish a House Select Committee on Capital Punishment. That Committee held a public hearing two weeks ago; and out of 15 speakers who testified, only two -- one of which was me -- spoke against the proposed moratorium.
Certainly the most striking moment of the public hearing was when Shirley Burns spoke. Burns currently has a son on death-row scheduled for execution in North Carolina on January 26. She informed lawmakers she had lived on both sides of the issue of capital punishment. Not only did she have a son scheduled for execution within a matter of days, but eight months earlier another one of her sons had been murdered. Her situation was definitely and most unfortunately unique and garnered the sympathy of what was almost exclusively an anti-death penalty audience, except maybe for some of the lawmakers present.
Burns was also obviously very displeased with my remarks, which had preceded hers, characterizing them in this fashion: "I listen to the minister as he talked, but it seems to be an idea of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth -- How can I as a Christian ask for another person's life? I believe the Word of God when it says, 'Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.' I also believe when it says, 'Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord.'" The end of her speech was met with considerable applause.
Although Burns' circumstances warrant understanding and pity, her position on the death penalty is neither Christian nor compassionate.
The primary purpose of the death-penalty is not revenge. It is retribution. In On Capital Punishment, William H. Baker notes: "Retribution is properly a satisfaction or, according to the ancient figure of justice and her scales, a restoration of a disturbed equilibrium. As such it is a proper, legitimate and moral concept. Scripture makes a clear line of distinction between this doctrine and feelings of personal hatred by forbidding such feelings and the actions to which they would lead. Capital punishment as a form of retribution is a dictate of the moral nature, which demands that there should be a just portion between the offense and the penalty." [2]
In fact, Jesus' quote in Matthew 5:38 of the Hebrew lex talinois, which is found in Exodus 21:23-25, was a statement of proper retribution by civil authorities. Its intention was to protect offenders from excessive penalties that didn't fit the crime. Unfortunately, however, some in Christ's day were using it as a justification for personal retaliation. In other words, when Christ spoke of "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth," He wasn't repudiating government's responsibility to maintain order, but correcting an illegitimate use of the text and advocating the way His followers should personally respond to offenses.
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia properly makes this distinction when in God's Justice and Ours, he writes: "The death penalty is undoubtedly wrong unless one accords to the state a scope of moral action that goes beyond what is permitted to the individual. In my view, the major impetus behind the modern aversion to the death penalty is the equation of private morality with governmental morality." [3]
In a day when crime is largely blamed on Freudian and secularist concepts of evil, the biblical doctrine of retribution has fallen on hard times. Yet God has ordained it that when humanity chooses, for whatever reason, to violate His law, a just penalty must be exacted. A holy and just God requires that a broken order in the Universe be restored. Thus, Christ's death for the sinner was based on the need for retributive justice to satisfy the legal demands of God's law, which says: "[T]he wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). In fact, without the substitutionary death of Christ on the Cross there could be no forgiveness or compassion from God.
According to Christian thought, no one has the right for any reason to harbor malice, anger or bitterness toward someone on a personal level -- personal vengeance is denied. This is what Christ was preaching in Matthew 5:38-45 and what Paul advocated when he wrote: "Recompense to no man evil for evil -- avenge not yourselves, but rather give place to wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord" (Romans 12:17, 19). Still Christ affirmed retributive justice by His own death on the Cross and Paul said the government bears the sword as "the minister of God" for good and is an "avenger who brings wrath upon the one who practices evil" (Romans 13:4).
For compassion and its proper application on both a personal and social level to be genuinely experienced, an understanding of the biblical doctrine of retributive justice is an absolute necessity. For instance, no person can ever experience soul salvation until he or she realizes their offense to God in the violations of His law and that such actions are deserving of eternal retribution. God has demonstrated His compassion in that the requirements of retribution are met in Christ's sacrifice on the Cross. He died and suffered in one's place. Personal peace comes only through this understanding. Moreover, social peace comes only when compassion is directed toward the victims of crime and not its perpetrators. Retribution is the primary purpose of law and not the rehabilitation of the criminal or deterrence to criminal acts. Only when this is realized can the public be properly protected by the government and society's tranquility maintained.
While anti-death penalty proponents from the faith community like Shirley Burns push for abolition and a moratorium on capital punishment in North Carolina, calling for citizens to forgive, they seem to forget that the persons with the greatest reason to forgive cannot because they've been murdered. Moreover, family members like Janice Hunter, whose 27-year-old daughter, Adrien, was brutally stabbed to death by serial killer Nathaniel White, can easily identify with her statement: "I have to go to the cemetery to see my daughter. Nathaniel White' s mother goes to jail to see him and I don't think it's fair." [4] Indeed it isn't right in either the first or the latter circumstances and that's why God's Word in Genesis 9:6 declares to governments of all eras: "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man."
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Sunday, January 14, 2007
Senate Bill 1, SB1, S.1 section 220: Tired of Your E-mails, Phone Calls; Expected to Pass Bill that Will Keep You From Getting Needed Information.
Without a doubt, this could be the most important letter I have written you.
The U.S. Senate is poised to pass Senate Bill 1 (Section 220), which would effectively keep AFA and every other pro-family organization in America from providing you information on bills in Congress. Under Senate Bill 1 (Section 220), we would only be able to provide you information on a bill at a high cost and at great danger of being penalized by Congress.
To put it bluntly, members of Congress are tired of getting your e-mails and phone calls, and Senate Bill 1(Section 220) is designed to keep information from you that might inspire you to call or write your senator.
Click Here to read AFA's review of Senate Bill 1 (Section 220).(may need to disable pop-up blocker)
The new Democratic Senate thinks that if it can keep you from getting information—which is what Senate Bill 1 (Section 220) would do—then it will not be getting e-mails and phone calls from you.
Senators favoring this bill are simply tired of hearing from you. That is the bottom line. They don’t want to hear from you. They don’t want you to be informed. They want to silence you. How? By simply keeping you from receiving information that AFA provides.
I know that language is strong, but Senate Bill 1 (Section 220) will do exactly what I’ve said.
Take Action
1. Send an e-mail to your two senators now! (may need to disable pop-up blocker)
2. Call your two senators at 202-224-3121. (Simply ask for one senator. Then call the other one at the same number. Ask your senators to vote against Senate Bill 1 (Section 220).
3. Please forward this to your friends and family. It is vitally important that they know what members of the Senate are trying to do.
4. Print this information, and share it with members in your Sunday School class and church and urge them to send an e-mail and call.
American Family Association
Copyright 2006 All Rights Reserved
Click here to visit AFA! (may need to disable pop-up blocker)
The U.S. Senate is poised to pass Senate Bill 1 (Section 220), which would effectively keep AFA and every other pro-family organization in America from providing you information on bills in Congress. Under Senate Bill 1 (Section 220), we would only be able to provide you information on a bill at a high cost and at great danger of being penalized by Congress.
To put it bluntly, members of Congress are tired of getting your e-mails and phone calls, and Senate Bill 1(Section 220) is designed to keep information from you that might inspire you to call or write your senator.
Click Here to read AFA's review of Senate Bill 1 (Section 220).(may need to disable pop-up blocker)
The new Democratic Senate thinks that if it can keep you from getting information—which is what Senate Bill 1 (Section 220) would do—then it will not be getting e-mails and phone calls from you.
Senators favoring this bill are simply tired of hearing from you. That is the bottom line. They don’t want to hear from you. They don’t want you to be informed. They want to silence you. How? By simply keeping you from receiving information that AFA provides.
I know that language is strong, but Senate Bill 1 (Section 220) will do exactly what I’ve said.
Take Action
1. Send an e-mail to your two senators now! (may need to disable pop-up blocker)
2. Call your two senators at 202-224-3121. (Simply ask for one senator. Then call the other one at the same number. Ask your senators to vote against Senate Bill 1 (Section 220).
3. Please forward this to your friends and family. It is vitally important that they know what members of the Senate are trying to do.
4. Print this information, and share it with members in your Sunday School class and church and urge them to send an e-mail and call.
American Family Association
Copyright 2006 All Rights Reserved
Click here to visit AFA! (may need to disable pop-up blocker)
Senate Bill 1, The True Story! Speaking UP for Speaking Out
Senate Bill 1, The true story! *Must Read*
Also, email/forward this article out to all your family and friends!
Also, Listen to Dr. James Dobson at the bottom of this article...
Speaking UP for Speaking Out
The U.S. Senate is about to vote on legislation aimed at curbing lobbying corruption: Senate Bill 1 aims to clean up recent lobbying scandals that have plagued the halls of our government. While most of the bill is good, it contains a provision, Section 220, that will severely limit the ability of Americans to stay abreast of the important issues facing our country.
Instead of addressing the true lobbying problems – high-paid lobbyists buying influence with members of Congress with international trips and fancy dinners – Section 220 will place the bulls-eye squarely on you.
Section 220 will require that organizations such as Focus on the Family Action that alert Americans to important legislation affecting our country be burdened by miles of new red tape. These bureaucratic restrictions are unconscionable, and failure to comply could result in $100,000 fines.
Focus on the Family Action's Dr. James Dobson is urging you to place phone calls today to your federal lawmakers urging them to prevent these travesties. Call both of your U.S. senators and urge them to oppose the unfair grassroots lobbying provisions (Sec. 220) and ensure that they are removed from S. 1.
To reach your congressman and senators, call the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121.
**********************************************************
The U.S. Senate is about to vote on legislation aimed at curbing lobbying corruption. There is a section of the bill which unfairly targets grassroots lobbying organizations and would penalize them for alerting Americans about important issues and attempting to influence government policy. If the bill passes, organizations like Focus on the Family Action, the American Family Association, FRC Action and American Values may be severely hampered from informing you in the future about significant legislation affecting the family. Representatives from each of these ministries join Dr. Dobson to tell you what you can do to prevent this ill-advised Senate measure from passing.
Click here to listen to this important message! (may need to disable pop-up blocker)
or below to visit...Then click on player type:
Click here to visit source page! (may need to disable pop-up blocker)
Also, email/forward this article out to all your family and friends!
Also, Listen to Dr. James Dobson at the bottom of this article...
Speaking UP for Speaking Out
The U.S. Senate is about to vote on legislation aimed at curbing lobbying corruption: Senate Bill 1 aims to clean up recent lobbying scandals that have plagued the halls of our government. While most of the bill is good, it contains a provision, Section 220, that will severely limit the ability of Americans to stay abreast of the important issues facing our country.
Instead of addressing the true lobbying problems – high-paid lobbyists buying influence with members of Congress with international trips and fancy dinners – Section 220 will place the bulls-eye squarely on you.
Section 220 will require that organizations such as Focus on the Family Action that alert Americans to important legislation affecting our country be burdened by miles of new red tape. These bureaucratic restrictions are unconscionable, and failure to comply could result in $100,000 fines.
Focus on the Family Action's Dr. James Dobson is urging you to place phone calls today to your federal lawmakers urging them to prevent these travesties. Call both of your U.S. senators and urge them to oppose the unfair grassroots lobbying provisions (Sec. 220) and ensure that they are removed from S. 1.
To reach your congressman and senators, call the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121.
**********************************************************
The U.S. Senate is about to vote on legislation aimed at curbing lobbying corruption. There is a section of the bill which unfairly targets grassroots lobbying organizations and would penalize them for alerting Americans about important issues and attempting to influence government policy. If the bill passes, organizations like Focus on the Family Action, the American Family Association, FRC Action and American Values may be severely hampered from informing you in the future about significant legislation affecting the family. Representatives from each of these ministries join Dr. Dobson to tell you what you can do to prevent this ill-advised Senate measure from passing.
Click here to listen to this important message! (may need to disable pop-up blocker)
or below to visit...Then click on player type:
Click here to visit source page! (may need to disable pop-up blocker)
For YouTube, read PewTube
For YouTube, read PewTube
By Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Sunday Telegraph
Last Updated: 12:30am GMT 14/01/2007
The video-sharing website most used for pop promotions, film trailers and personal "vidcasts", is set to become the next tool in the Church of England's battle to curb declining attendances.
The Archbishop of Canterbury is planning to use the site to broadcast his sermons in an attempt to make the Church more relevant to the internet generation.
A video will also be put on YouTube later this month urging other churches to advertise the contemporary style of their services and suggesting ideas introduced under the Fresh Expressions initiative, which was set up by Rowan Williams.
"The potential of YouTube is enormous," a Lambeth Palace spokesman said. "It provides limitless access to what any minister has to say. You have to preach where people are listening." ...
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By Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Sunday Telegraph
Last Updated: 12:30am GMT 14/01/2007
The video-sharing website most used for pop promotions, film trailers and personal "vidcasts", is set to become the next tool in the Church of England's battle to curb declining attendances.
The Archbishop of Canterbury is planning to use the site to broadcast his sermons in an attempt to make the Church more relevant to the internet generation.
A video will also be put on YouTube later this month urging other churches to advertise the contemporary style of their services and suggesting ideas introduced under the Fresh Expressions initiative, which was set up by Rowan Williams.
"The potential of YouTube is enormous," a Lambeth Palace spokesman said. "It provides limitless access to what any minister has to say. You have to preach where people are listening." ...
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Critics Won't Halt Iraq Surge, Bush Says
By BEN FELLER
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush, facing opposition from both parties over his plan to send more troops to Iraq, said he has the authority to act no matter what Congress wants.
"I fully understand they could try to stop me from doing it. But I've made my decision. And we're going forward," Bush told CBS' "60 Minutes" in an interview to air Sunday night.
Vice President Dick Cheney asserted that lawmakers' criticism will not influence Bush's plans and he dismissed any effort to "run a war by committee."
"The president is the commander in chief. He's the one who has to make these tough decisions," Cheney said.
The defiant White House stance comes as both the House and Senate, now controlled by Democrats, prepare to vote on resolutions that oppose additional U.S. troops in Iraq. Cheney said those nonbinding votes would not affect Bush's ability to carry out his policies.
"He's the guy who's got to decide how to use the force and where to deploy the force," Cheney said. "And Congress obviously has to support the effort through the power of the purse. So they've got a role to play, and we certainly recognize that. But you also cannot run a war by committee."
Any attempts to block Bush's efforts would undermine the troops, Cheney said. He took particular aim at Democratic lawmakers who have blasted the president for increasing troops despite opposition from Congress, military advisers and a disgruntled electorate that in November ousted the GOP as the majority party on Capitol Hill.
"They have absolutely nothing to offer in its place," Cheney said of Democratic leaders. "I have yet to hear a coherent policy from the Democratic side." ...
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Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush, facing opposition from both parties over his plan to send more troops to Iraq, said he has the authority to act no matter what Congress wants.
"I fully understand they could try to stop me from doing it. But I've made my decision. And we're going forward," Bush told CBS' "60 Minutes" in an interview to air Sunday night.
Vice President Dick Cheney asserted that lawmakers' criticism will not influence Bush's plans and he dismissed any effort to "run a war by committee."
"The president is the commander in chief. He's the one who has to make these tough decisions," Cheney said.
The defiant White House stance comes as both the House and Senate, now controlled by Democrats, prepare to vote on resolutions that oppose additional U.S. troops in Iraq. Cheney said those nonbinding votes would not affect Bush's ability to carry out his policies.
"He's the guy who's got to decide how to use the force and where to deploy the force," Cheney said. "And Congress obviously has to support the effort through the power of the purse. So they've got a role to play, and we certainly recognize that. But you also cannot run a war by committee."
Any attempts to block Bush's efforts would undermine the troops, Cheney said. He took particular aim at Democratic lawmakers who have blasted the president for increasing troops despite opposition from Congress, military advisers and a disgruntled electorate that in November ousted the GOP as the majority party on Capitol Hill.
"They have absolutely nothing to offer in its place," Cheney said of Democratic leaders. "I have yet to hear a coherent policy from the Democratic side." ...
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Iran Guard says U.S., Britain, Israel "axis of evil"
Iran Guard says U.S., Britain, Israel "axis of evil"
Sun Jan 14, 2007 1:50pm ET
TEHRAN (Reuters) - The commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Sunday the United States, Britain and Israel were an "axis of evil" trying to drive a wedge between Shi'ite and Sunni Muslims.
President Bush originally labeled Iran, North Korea and Iraq -- before U.S. troops invaded -- as part of an "axis of evil". Washington accuses Iran of backing terrorism and trying to build atomic bombs, charges Tehran denies.
"America, Britain and the Zionist regime (Israel) are an axis of evil against the Islamic world and the whole of humanity," Guards Commander-in-Chief Yahya Rahim Safavi was quoted as saying by Iran's student news agency ISNA.
"They are trying to make enmity among Islamic countries and to make divisions among Shi'ites and Sunnis," he said.
He was echoing comments by other Iranian officials who have accused Washington of stoking sectarian tensions in Iraq where the majority of Iraqis are Shi'ite Muslims, like most Iranians. Washington blames Iran for fuelling violence in Iraq. ...
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Sun Jan 14, 2007 1:50pm ET
TEHRAN (Reuters) - The commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Sunday the United States, Britain and Israel were an "axis of evil" trying to drive a wedge between Shi'ite and Sunni Muslims.
President Bush originally labeled Iran, North Korea and Iraq -- before U.S. troops invaded -- as part of an "axis of evil". Washington accuses Iran of backing terrorism and trying to build atomic bombs, charges Tehran denies.
"America, Britain and the Zionist regime (Israel) are an axis of evil against the Islamic world and the whole of humanity," Guards Commander-in-Chief Yahya Rahim Safavi was quoted as saying by Iran's student news agency ISNA.
"They are trying to make enmity among Islamic countries and to make divisions among Shi'ites and Sunnis," he said.
He was echoing comments by other Iranian officials who have accused Washington of stoking sectarian tensions in Iraq where the majority of Iraqis are Shi'ite Muslims, like most Iranians. Washington blames Iran for fuelling violence in Iraq. ...
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Iraq, Venezuela Rally to Weaken U.S.
Iraq, Venezuela Rally to Weaken U.S.
By Natalie Obiko Pearson
The Associated Press
CBNNews.com -- CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - fiery anti-American leaders whose moves to extend their influence have alarmed Washington - said Saturday they would help finance investment projects in other countries seeking to thwart U.S. domination. wires reported Friday that OPEC is discussing holding an emergency meeting later this month to reduce output by another 500,000 barrels a day.
Venezuela and Iran have been leading price hawks within OPEC.
The two countries had previously revealed plans for a joint $2 billion fund to finance investments in Venezuela and Iran, but the leaders said Saturday the money would also be used for projects in friendly countries throughout the developing world.
"It will permit us to underpin investments ... above all in those countries whose governments are making efforts to liberate themselves from the (U.S.) imperialist yoke," Chavez said.
"This fund, my brother," the Venezuelan president said, referring affectionately to Ahmadinejad, "will become a mechanism for liberation."
"Death to U.S. imperialism!" Chavez said.
Ahmadinejad, who is starting a tour of left-leaning countries in the region, called it a "very important" decision that would help promote "joint cooperation in third countries," especially in Latin America and Africa.
It was not clear if the leaders were referring to investment in infrastructure, social and energy projects - areas that the two countries have focused on until now - or other types of financing.
Iran and Venezuela are members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, and Chavez said Saturday that they had agreed to back a further oil production cut in the cartel to stem a recent fall in crude prices.
"We know today there is too much crude in the market," Chavez said. "We have agreed to join our forces within OPEC ... to support a production cut and save the price of oil."
OPEC reduced output by 1.2 million barrels a day in November, then announced an additional cut of 500,000 barrels a day, due to begin on Feb. 1. Dow Jones
Ahmadinejad's visit Saturday - his second to Venezuela in less than four months - comes as he seeks to break international isolation over his country's nuclear program and possibly line up new allies in Latin America. He is also expected to visit Nicaragua and Ecuador, which both recently elected leftist governments.
Chavez and Ahmadinejad have been increasingly united by their deep-seated antagonism toward the Bush administration. Chavez has become a leading defender of Iran's nuclear ambitions, accusing the Washington of using the issue as a pretext to attack Tehran. ...
Click here for the full story! (may need to disable pop-up blocker)
By Natalie Obiko Pearson
The Associated Press
CBNNews.com -- CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - fiery anti-American leaders whose moves to extend their influence have alarmed Washington - said Saturday they would help finance investment projects in other countries seeking to thwart U.S. domination. wires reported Friday that OPEC is discussing holding an emergency meeting later this month to reduce output by another 500,000 barrels a day.
Venezuela and Iran have been leading price hawks within OPEC.
The two countries had previously revealed plans for a joint $2 billion fund to finance investments in Venezuela and Iran, but the leaders said Saturday the money would also be used for projects in friendly countries throughout the developing world.
"It will permit us to underpin investments ... above all in those countries whose governments are making efforts to liberate themselves from the (U.S.) imperialist yoke," Chavez said.
"This fund, my brother," the Venezuelan president said, referring affectionately to Ahmadinejad, "will become a mechanism for liberation."
"Death to U.S. imperialism!" Chavez said.
Ahmadinejad, who is starting a tour of left-leaning countries in the region, called it a "very important" decision that would help promote "joint cooperation in third countries," especially in Latin America and Africa.
It was not clear if the leaders were referring to investment in infrastructure, social and energy projects - areas that the two countries have focused on until now - or other types of financing.
Iran and Venezuela are members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, and Chavez said Saturday that they had agreed to back a further oil production cut in the cartel to stem a recent fall in crude prices.
"We know today there is too much crude in the market," Chavez said. "We have agreed to join our forces within OPEC ... to support a production cut and save the price of oil."
OPEC reduced output by 1.2 million barrels a day in November, then announced an additional cut of 500,000 barrels a day, due to begin on Feb. 1. Dow Jones
Ahmadinejad's visit Saturday - his second to Venezuela in less than four months - comes as he seeks to break international isolation over his country's nuclear program and possibly line up new allies in Latin America. He is also expected to visit Nicaragua and Ecuador, which both recently elected leftist governments.
Chavez and Ahmadinejad have been increasingly united by their deep-seated antagonism toward the Bush administration. Chavez has become a leading defender of Iran's nuclear ambitions, accusing the Washington of using the issue as a pretext to attack Tehran. ...
Click here for the full story! (may need to disable pop-up blocker)
Police Investigate N.C. Church Fires
Police Investigate N.C. Church Fires
By Mike Baker
Associated Press Writer
January 14, 2007
CBNNews.com - GREENVILLE, N.C. - Police increased their patrols of churches Sunday after fires broke out at two Baptist churches during the night and a break-in was discovered at a third.
Watch footage of firefighters at the scene.
"We're going to be highly visible at our churches," Greenville Police Chief William Anderson said Sunday.
Authorities stopped short of saying the fires were arson, but Fire Chief Mike Burton said that, given the size of one of the blazes, investigators were treating it as a crime scene.
"Most of the accidental causes would not have that rapid of a buildup," Burton said.
There were no immediate reports of injuries, and authorities said they found no signs of fires at any other church in Greenville, which is about 75 miles east of Raleigh.
The state Bureau of Investigation, along with Greenville officials and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, were working Sunday to determine the cause and origin of the fires.
Both fires and the break-in were reported between 10:37 p.m. and 11:31 p.m. Saturday.
Firefighters sent to The Memorial Baptist Church found smoke billowing from its educational wing, and flames soon spread to the church's original structure.
Police said witnesses reported seeing a person fleeing from The Memorial in a white vehicle shortly after the fire broke out. The tires of three church vehicles were slashed.
Damage was estimated at $1 million, Burton said. The main sanctuary appeared undamaged and the steeple was standing, but firefighters were worried about its stability, authorities said. ...
Click here for the full story! (may need to disable pop-up blocker)
By Mike Baker
Associated Press Writer
January 14, 2007
CBNNews.com - GREENVILLE, N.C. - Police increased their patrols of churches Sunday after fires broke out at two Baptist churches during the night and a break-in was discovered at a third.
Watch footage of firefighters at the scene.
"We're going to be highly visible at our churches," Greenville Police Chief William Anderson said Sunday.
Authorities stopped short of saying the fires were arson, but Fire Chief Mike Burton said that, given the size of one of the blazes, investigators were treating it as a crime scene.
"Most of the accidental causes would not have that rapid of a buildup," Burton said.
There were no immediate reports of injuries, and authorities said they found no signs of fires at any other church in Greenville, which is about 75 miles east of Raleigh.
The state Bureau of Investigation, along with Greenville officials and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, were working Sunday to determine the cause and origin of the fires.
Both fires and the break-in were reported between 10:37 p.m. and 11:31 p.m. Saturday.
Firefighters sent to The Memorial Baptist Church found smoke billowing from its educational wing, and flames soon spread to the church's original structure.
Police said witnesses reported seeing a person fleeing from The Memorial in a white vehicle shortly after the fire broke out. The tires of three church vehicles were slashed.
Damage was estimated at $1 million, Burton said. The main sanctuary appeared undamaged and the steeple was standing, but firefighters were worried about its stability, authorities said. ...
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Friday, January 12, 2007
Senate Bill 1, SB1, S.1 section 220: Tired of Your E-mails, Phone Calls; Expected to Pass Bill that Will Keep You From Getting Needed Information.
Without a doubt, this could be the most important letter I have written you.
The U.S. Senate is poised to pass Senate Bill 1 (Section 220), which would effectively keep AFA and every other pro-family organization in America from providing you information on bills in Congress. Under Senate Bill 1 (Section 220), we would only be able to provide you information on a bill at a high cost and at great danger of being penalized by Congress.
To put it bluntly, members of Congress are tired of getting your e-mails and phone calls, and Senate Bill 1(Section 220) is designed to keep information from you that might inspire you to call or write your senator.
Click Here to read AFA's review of Senate Bill 1 (Section 220).
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The new Democratic Senate thinks that if it can keep you from getting information—which is what Senate Bill 1 (Section 220) would do—then it will not be getting e-mails and phone calls from you.
Senators favoring this bill are simply tired of hearing from you. That is the bottom line. They don’t want to hear from you. They don’t want you to be informed. They want to silence you. How? By simply keeping you from receiving information that AFA provides.
I know that language is strong, but Senate Bill 1 (Section 220) will do exactly what I’ve said.
Take Action
1. Send an e-mail to your two senators now! (may need to disable pop-up blocker)
2. Call your two senators at 202-224-3121. (Simply ask for one senator. Then call the other one at the same number. Ask your senators to vote against Senate Bill 1 (Section 220).
3. Please forward this to your friends and family. It is vitally important that they know what members of the Senate are trying to do.
4. Print this information, and share it with members in your Sunday School class and church and urge them to send an e-mail and call.
American Family Association
Copyright 2006 All Rights Reserved
Click here to visit AFA! (may need to disable pop-up blocker)
The U.S. Senate is poised to pass Senate Bill 1 (Section 220), which would effectively keep AFA and every other pro-family organization in America from providing you information on bills in Congress. Under Senate Bill 1 (Section 220), we would only be able to provide you information on a bill at a high cost and at great danger of being penalized by Congress.
To put it bluntly, members of Congress are tired of getting your e-mails and phone calls, and Senate Bill 1(Section 220) is designed to keep information from you that might inspire you to call or write your senator.
Click Here to read AFA's review of Senate Bill 1 (Section 220).
(may need to disable pop-up blocker)
The new Democratic Senate thinks that if it can keep you from getting information—which is what Senate Bill 1 (Section 220) would do—then it will not be getting e-mails and phone calls from you.
Senators favoring this bill are simply tired of hearing from you. That is the bottom line. They don’t want to hear from you. They don’t want you to be informed. They want to silence you. How? By simply keeping you from receiving information that AFA provides.
I know that language is strong, but Senate Bill 1 (Section 220) will do exactly what I’ve said.
Take Action
1. Send an e-mail to your two senators now! (may need to disable pop-up blocker)
2. Call your two senators at 202-224-3121. (Simply ask for one senator. Then call the other one at the same number. Ask your senators to vote against Senate Bill 1 (Section 220).
3. Please forward this to your friends and family. It is vitally important that they know what members of the Senate are trying to do.
4. Print this information, and share it with members in your Sunday School class and church and urge them to send an e-mail and call.
American Family Association
Copyright 2006 All Rights Reserved
Click here to visit AFA! (may need to disable pop-up blocker)
Senate Bill 1, The True Story! Speaking UP for Speaking Out
Senate Bill 1, The true story! *Must Read* Also, email/forward this article out to all your family and friends!
Also, Listen to Dr. James Dobson at the bottom of this article...
Speaking UP for Speaking Out
The U.S. Senate is about to vote on legislation aimed at curbing lobbying corruption: Senate Bill 1 aims to clean up recent lobbying scandals that have plagued the halls of our government. While most of the bill is good, it contains a provision, Section 220, that will severely limit the ability of Americans to stay abreast of the important issues facing our country.
Instead of addressing the true lobbying problems – high-paid lobbyists buying influence with members of Congress with international trips and fancy dinners – Section 220 will place the bulls-eye squarely on you.
Section 220 will require that organizations such as Focus on the Family Action that alert Americans to important legislation affecting our country be burdened by miles of new red tape. These bureaucratic restrictions are unconscionable, and failure to comply could result in $100,000 fines.
Focus on the Family Action's Dr. James Dobson is urging you to place phone calls today to your federal lawmakers urging them to prevent these travesties. Call both of your U.S. senators and urge them to oppose the unfair grassroots lobbying provisions (Sec. 220) and ensure that they are removed from S. 1.
To reach your congressman and senators, call the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121.
**********************************************************
The U.S. Senate is about to vote on legislation aimed at curbing lobbying corruption. There is a section of the bill which unfairly targets grassroots lobbying organizations and would penalize them for alerting Americans about important issues and attempting to influence government policy. If the bill passes, organizations like Focus on the Family Action, the American Family Association, FRC Action and American Values may be severely hampered from informing you in the future about significant legislation affecting the family. Representatives from each of these ministries join Dr. Dobson to tell you what you can do to prevent this ill-advised Senate measure from passing.
Click here to listen to this important message! (may need to disable pop-up blocker)
or below to visit...
Then click on player type: Click here to visit source page! (may need to disable pop-up blocker)
Also, Listen to Dr. James Dobson at the bottom of this article...
Speaking UP for Speaking Out
The U.S. Senate is about to vote on legislation aimed at curbing lobbying corruption: Senate Bill 1 aims to clean up recent lobbying scandals that have plagued the halls of our government. While most of the bill is good, it contains a provision, Section 220, that will severely limit the ability of Americans to stay abreast of the important issues facing our country.
Instead of addressing the true lobbying problems – high-paid lobbyists buying influence with members of Congress with international trips and fancy dinners – Section 220 will place the bulls-eye squarely on you.
Section 220 will require that organizations such as Focus on the Family Action that alert Americans to important legislation affecting our country be burdened by miles of new red tape. These bureaucratic restrictions are unconscionable, and failure to comply could result in $100,000 fines.
Focus on the Family Action's Dr. James Dobson is urging you to place phone calls today to your federal lawmakers urging them to prevent these travesties. Call both of your U.S. senators and urge them to oppose the unfair grassroots lobbying provisions (Sec. 220) and ensure that they are removed from S. 1.
To reach your congressman and senators, call the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121.
**********************************************************
The U.S. Senate is about to vote on legislation aimed at curbing lobbying corruption. There is a section of the bill which unfairly targets grassroots lobbying organizations and would penalize them for alerting Americans about important issues and attempting to influence government policy. If the bill passes, organizations like Focus on the Family Action, the American Family Association, FRC Action and American Values may be severely hampered from informing you in the future about significant legislation affecting the family. Representatives from each of these ministries join Dr. Dobson to tell you what you can do to prevent this ill-advised Senate measure from passing.
Click here to listen to this important message! (may need to disable pop-up blocker)
or below to visit...
Then click on player type: Click here to visit source page! (may need to disable pop-up blocker)
Conservatives Lament House Passage of Embryonic Stem-Cell Research Bill
Conservatives Lament House Passage of Embryonic Stem-Cell Research Bill
By Jim Brown and Jenni Parker
January 12, 2006
WASHINGTON, DC (AgapePress) - A leading conservative voice in Washington is decrying the U.S. House of Representatives' passage of legislation mandating the use of tax dollars for research that destroys human embryos.
By a 253-174 vote, the House passed H.R. 3, a bill that would expand federal funding of embryonic stem-cell research, or ESCR. President George W. Bush has vowed to veto the legislation, saying it "would use federal taxpayer dollars to support and encourage the destruction of human life for research."
The vote on the legislation fell 32 votes short of the two-thirds margin required to overturn the President's promised veto. H.R. 3 is the same as a bill that Bush vetoed July 19 of last year; a veto override attempt at that time failed by 51 votes.
American Values president and former U.S. presidential candidate Gary Bauer calls the House vote a sad one, particularly in light of an announced breakthrough from several research hospitals indicating that an abundance of stem cells can be recovered from amniotic fluid without harm to the mother or child. "To me," the conservative activist says, "it shows that this vote is all about politics more than it is about science."
On the positive side, Bauer notes, "while unfortunately this legislation passed, it did not pass with a veto-proof margin, so we will be counting on the president to veto this bill."
President Bush has been "outstanding" on the issue of life in general and specifically on the issue of embryonic stem-cell research, the American Values spokesman points out. He says Bush understands that Americans with deep moral objections to killing human embryos do not want their tax dollars paying for research that does exactly that. ...
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By Jim Brown and Jenni Parker
January 12, 2006
WASHINGTON, DC (AgapePress) - A leading conservative voice in Washington is decrying the U.S. House of Representatives' passage of legislation mandating the use of tax dollars for research that destroys human embryos.
By a 253-174 vote, the House passed H.R. 3, a bill that would expand federal funding of embryonic stem-cell research, or ESCR. President George W. Bush has vowed to veto the legislation, saying it "would use federal taxpayer dollars to support and encourage the destruction of human life for research."
The vote on the legislation fell 32 votes short of the two-thirds margin required to overturn the President's promised veto. H.R. 3 is the same as a bill that Bush vetoed July 19 of last year; a veto override attempt at that time failed by 51 votes.
American Values president and former U.S. presidential candidate Gary Bauer calls the House vote a sad one, particularly in light of an announced breakthrough from several research hospitals indicating that an abundance of stem cells can be recovered from amniotic fluid without harm to the mother or child. "To me," the conservative activist says, "it shows that this vote is all about politics more than it is about science."
On the positive side, Bauer notes, "while unfortunately this legislation passed, it did not pass with a veto-proof margin, so we will be counting on the president to veto this bill."
President Bush has been "outstanding" on the issue of life in general and specifically on the issue of embryonic stem-cell research, the American Values spokesman points out. He says Bush understands that Americans with deep moral objections to killing human embryos do not want their tax dollars paying for research that does exactly that. ...
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MARRIAGE DIGEST: Canadian lesbians & father named as legal parents of boy; survey says -- teens not so liberal
MARRIAGE DIGEST: Canadian lesbians & father named as legal parents of boy; survey says -- teens not so liberal
Jan 12, 2007
By Michael Foust
Baptist Press
TORONTO, Ontario (BP)--The highest court in Ontario expanded the legal definition of the family Jan. 2, issuing a landmark ruling that allows a 5-year-old boy legally to have three parents -- two mothers and a father.
The lawsuit involves a lesbian couple, unnamed in the lawsuit, who several years ago began examining various ways they could have a child. They declined to use anonymous sperm donation and instead asked a family friend if he would become the biological father and also play a role in the child's upbringing, according to the International Herald Tribune. The man agreed, and the boy was born.
But under provincial law, the child could have only two parents. The man, along with the biological mother, were named the legal parents. The mother's same-sex partner could have adopted the boy, but the father would have lost his parental rights -- something the lesbian couple wanted to avoid. So, they filed a lawsuit asking that all three adults be considered parents.
The Ontario Court of Appeal agreed with the couple, ruling that legislators who wrote a 1970s law concerning the rights of out-of-wedlock children could not have foreseen future fertility advancements, according to Today's Family News, a news service of Focus on the Family Canada. The court is the same one that in 2003 issued a decision legalizing "gay marriage." ...
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Jan 12, 2007
By Michael Foust
Baptist Press
TORONTO, Ontario (BP)--The highest court in Ontario expanded the legal definition of the family Jan. 2, issuing a landmark ruling that allows a 5-year-old boy legally to have three parents -- two mothers and a father.
The lawsuit involves a lesbian couple, unnamed in the lawsuit, who several years ago began examining various ways they could have a child. They declined to use anonymous sperm donation and instead asked a family friend if he would become the biological father and also play a role in the child's upbringing, according to the International Herald Tribune. The man agreed, and the boy was born.
But under provincial law, the child could have only two parents. The man, along with the biological mother, were named the legal parents. The mother's same-sex partner could have adopted the boy, but the father would have lost his parental rights -- something the lesbian couple wanted to avoid. So, they filed a lawsuit asking that all three adults be considered parents.
The Ontario Court of Appeal agreed with the couple, ruling that legislators who wrote a 1970s law concerning the rights of out-of-wedlock children could not have foreseen future fertility advancements, according to Today's Family News, a news service of Focus on the Family Canada. The court is the same one that in 2003 issued a decision legalizing "gay marriage." ...
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Britain Upholds Gay Rights Law
Britain Upholds Gay Rights Law
CBN News
January 12, 2007
CBNNews.com - Britain's parliament has upheld a gay rights law that Christians say will force them to violate their beliefs.
About 4,000 British Christians have been protesting outside Parliament this week as the House of Lords debated the measure.
The body voted 199-68 against a motion calling for the regulation to be scrapped.
Under the law, churches could be forced to rent out halls for gay wedding receptions, and Christian innkeepers could be prosecuted for refusing to rent rooms to gay couples.
Christian activists submitted a petition to Queen Elizabeth II on Tuesday, saying such laws violate Biblical teaching.
Andrea Minichello Williams, a protest organizer, said that the petition submitted to Buckingham Palace was signed by 10,000 Christians. ...
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CBN News
January 12, 2007
CBNNews.com - Britain's parliament has upheld a gay rights law that Christians say will force them to violate their beliefs.
About 4,000 British Christians have been protesting outside Parliament this week as the House of Lords debated the measure.
The body voted 199-68 against a motion calling for the regulation to be scrapped.
Under the law, churches could be forced to rent out halls for gay wedding receptions, and Christian innkeepers could be prosecuted for refusing to rent rooms to gay couples.
Christian activists submitted a petition to Queen Elizabeth II on Tuesday, saying such laws violate Biblical teaching.
Andrea Minichello Williams, a protest organizer, said that the petition submitted to Buckingham Palace was signed by 10,000 Christians. ...
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Fighter jet signals China's military advances
Fighter jet signals China's military advances
China unveiled the locally built Jian-10 last week, saying it narrows the gap with advanced nations.
By Peter Ford Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
BEIJING – A sleek, swept-wing fighter-bomber dubbed the "Jian-10," unveiled here last week, is more than just another jet plane. It is China's calling card, announcing Beijing's arrival among the top ranks of military manufacturers.
Powered by Chinese engines and firing Chinese precision-guided missiles, the locally built Jian-10 has "allowed China to become the fourth country in the world" to have developed such a capability, "narrowing the gap with advanced nations," boasted Geng Ruguang, deputy general manager of the plane's manufacturer, Avic-I.
The latest fruit of a military modernization drive that has produced an indigenous Chinese nuclear attack submarine, early warning aircraft, frigates and destroyers, cruise missiles, and computerized command and control systems, the Jian-10 is "a decisive step by China toward becoming an aviation power," the official Xinhua news agency declared.
The plane is also a new symbol of China's role-reversal in the global arms industry. "Most technology analysts have been surprised by the speed with which China has gone from being an arms-buying country to one with real promise of being a producer of front-edge military technology," says Denny Roy, senior researcher at the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Honolulu.
Neighbors wary of China's military advances
To some of China's neighbors, though, that promise looks more like a threat. And Pentagon officials, too, have repeatedly urged Beijing to explain more clearly the purpose behind a military buildup that has seen defense spending rise by more than 10 percent a year since 1990, according to official Chinese figures. ...
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China unveiled the locally built Jian-10 last week, saying it narrows the gap with advanced nations.
By Peter Ford Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
BEIJING – A sleek, swept-wing fighter-bomber dubbed the "Jian-10," unveiled here last week, is more than just another jet plane. It is China's calling card, announcing Beijing's arrival among the top ranks of military manufacturers.
Powered by Chinese engines and firing Chinese precision-guided missiles, the locally built Jian-10 has "allowed China to become the fourth country in the world" to have developed such a capability, "narrowing the gap with advanced nations," boasted Geng Ruguang, deputy general manager of the plane's manufacturer, Avic-I.
The latest fruit of a military modernization drive that has produced an indigenous Chinese nuclear attack submarine, early warning aircraft, frigates and destroyers, cruise missiles, and computerized command and control systems, the Jian-10 is "a decisive step by China toward becoming an aviation power," the official Xinhua news agency declared.
The plane is also a new symbol of China's role-reversal in the global arms industry. "Most technology analysts have been surprised by the speed with which China has gone from being an arms-buying country to one with real promise of being a producer of front-edge military technology," says Denny Roy, senior researcher at the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Honolulu.
Neighbors wary of China's military advances
To some of China's neighbors, though, that promise looks more like a threat. And Pentagon officials, too, have repeatedly urged Beijing to explain more clearly the purpose behind a military buildup that has seen defense spending rise by more than 10 percent a year since 1990, according to official Chinese figures. ...
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Attack shows Communists still persecute Christians
Attack shows Communists still persecute Christians
Focus on Islamic outrages doesn't mean other crackdowns have ended
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
Many of the high-profile cases of Christian persecution are happening in Muslim nations these days, where converting from Islam to Christianity routinely is considered a "crime" worthy of the death penalty. But a Cuban pastor can attest to the fact that the historical persecution of Christians under Communist governments continues.
The pastor, Rev. Carlos Lamelas, was arrested early in 2006 and served about four months in a prison before judges in a secret proceeding declared him innocent of the charge of human trafficking, but guilty on a previously unannounced count of falsifying documents, according to a report from Voice of the Martyrs.
He was accused of trying to help Cubans who wished to leave the oppressive nation for freer lives elsewhere. A report cited by VOM said the judges imposed a fine of 1,000 Cuban pesos, or about $45, on the documents charge, even though the trafficking count could have netted him nine years in prison.
"Even though this (penalty) is favorable, we are not satisfied. If a crime of falsification truly had been committed, that would make me an accomplice to trafficking in humans, and I would not have been acquitted," Lamelas told Compass News. "How can it be that I am innocent of the original crime, and nevertheless guilty of the one they later invented?"
He had been arrested on Feb. 20, 2006, and taken to the Villa Marista Detention Center where he was held for months, being given only weekly 15-minute meetings with his family.
The pastor with the Church of God, based in Anderson, Ind., also lost a computer and other office equipment as well as a number of personal documents when authorities searched his Havana home.
Then came the allegations that he was helping people leave Cuba illegally. Four months later he was released without explanation, and his subsequent acquittal of the trafficking charge and conviction on the documents charge also came without explanation.
The pastor had been key to starting a number of house churches while serving his own church congregation on The Isle of Youth, and moved to Havana after being elected national president for his denomination.
Reports say his troubles began after he refused to sign a government-required loyalty pledge to the Communist regime headed by Fidel Castro, because he considered the government control of the church unconstitutional.
Leaders in Cuba's Christian community, however, have expressed their concern that the actions against Lamelas are part of a harassment campaign to silence a dynamic leader in the Christian church. ...
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Focus on Islamic outrages doesn't mean other crackdowns have ended
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
Many of the high-profile cases of Christian persecution are happening in Muslim nations these days, where converting from Islam to Christianity routinely is considered a "crime" worthy of the death penalty. But a Cuban pastor can attest to the fact that the historical persecution of Christians under Communist governments continues.
The pastor, Rev. Carlos Lamelas, was arrested early in 2006 and served about four months in a prison before judges in a secret proceeding declared him innocent of the charge of human trafficking, but guilty on a previously unannounced count of falsifying documents, according to a report from Voice of the Martyrs.
He was accused of trying to help Cubans who wished to leave the oppressive nation for freer lives elsewhere. A report cited by VOM said the judges imposed a fine of 1,000 Cuban pesos, or about $45, on the documents charge, even though the trafficking count could have netted him nine years in prison.
"Even though this (penalty) is favorable, we are not satisfied. If a crime of falsification truly had been committed, that would make me an accomplice to trafficking in humans, and I would not have been acquitted," Lamelas told Compass News. "How can it be that I am innocent of the original crime, and nevertheless guilty of the one they later invented?"
He had been arrested on Feb. 20, 2006, and taken to the Villa Marista Detention Center where he was held for months, being given only weekly 15-minute meetings with his family.
The pastor with the Church of God, based in Anderson, Ind., also lost a computer and other office equipment as well as a number of personal documents when authorities searched his Havana home.
Then came the allegations that he was helping people leave Cuba illegally. Four months later he was released without explanation, and his subsequent acquittal of the trafficking charge and conviction on the documents charge also came without explanation.
The pastor had been key to starting a number of house churches while serving his own church congregation on The Isle of Youth, and moved to Havana after being elected national president for his denomination.
Reports say his troubles began after he refused to sign a government-required loyalty pledge to the Communist regime headed by Fidel Castro, because he considered the government control of the church unconstitutional.
Leaders in Cuba's Christian community, however, have expressed their concern that the actions against Lamelas are part of a harassment campaign to silence a dynamic leader in the Christian church. ...
Click here for the full story! (may need to disable pop-up blocker)
Over 1/2 of young Norwegian women opt for abortion
Young women opt for abortion
More than half of ethnic Norwegian women under age 25 choose abortion if they get pregnant, according to a new study. The professor behind the study calls the statistic "surprising" and "worrisome."
A woman's right to choose abortion is deeply engrained in Norwegian society, but it's only most common among young women and women with little education, says Professor Anne Eskild of Akershus University Hospital.
Eskild's study marked the first time that researchers tracked the incidence of abortions and births among ethnic Norwegian women. Results showed major differences between those who chose to abort and those who chose to give birth.
More than half of pregnant women under 25 chose abortion, a rate double that for pregnant women over 40. The abortion rate for women under age 20 was nine times higher than that for women over 40.
Only 2.9 percent of women with a university education chose abortion, according to the study. ...
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More than half of ethnic Norwegian women under age 25 choose abortion if they get pregnant, according to a new study. The professor behind the study calls the statistic "surprising" and "worrisome."
A woman's right to choose abortion is deeply engrained in Norwegian society, but it's only most common among young women and women with little education, says Professor Anne Eskild of Akershus University Hospital.
Eskild's study marked the first time that researchers tracked the incidence of abortions and births among ethnic Norwegian women. Results showed major differences between those who chose to abort and those who chose to give birth.
More than half of pregnant women under 25 chose abortion, a rate double that for pregnant women over 40. The abortion rate for women under age 20 was nine times higher than that for women over 40.
Only 2.9 percent of women with a university education chose abortion, according to the study. ...
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Court to rehear case against S.D. abortion law
Court to rehear case against S.D. abortion law
Measure requires providers to inform women that procedure ends a life
PIERRE, S.D. - A federal appeals court has agreed to rehear a challenge of a 2005 South Dakota law that would require doctors to tell women seeking abortions that the procedure ends a human life.
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Tuesday that the full 11-judge court will hear arguments April 11 in St. Louis.
A three-judge panel of the court had ruled 2-1 in October to uphold a lower court's order blocking enforcement of the law until that court decides a lawsuit challenging its constitutionality.
The appeals court only grants about one in 50 requests for a full court rehearing, state Attorney General Larry Long said Wednesday. "This is a rare and unusual event, and we're just delighted."
The temporary restraining order was issued by U.S. District Judge Karen Schreier in Rapid City, who said plaintiff Planned Parenthood has a fair chance of succeeding in its claim that the law violates doctors' free-speech rights.
The 2005 measure is not a direct challenge to the constitutionality of abortion but is aimed at testing the limits of what a state can require women be told before getting abortions.
It would require doctors to tell women that abortions end human lives and may cause serious psychological problems, and that the women have legal relationship with her unborn children that are ended by abortion. ...
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Measure requires providers to inform women that procedure ends a life
PIERRE, S.D. - A federal appeals court has agreed to rehear a challenge of a 2005 South Dakota law that would require doctors to tell women seeking abortions that the procedure ends a human life.
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Tuesday that the full 11-judge court will hear arguments April 11 in St. Louis.
A three-judge panel of the court had ruled 2-1 in October to uphold a lower court's order blocking enforcement of the law until that court decides a lawsuit challenging its constitutionality.
The appeals court only grants about one in 50 requests for a full court rehearing, state Attorney General Larry Long said Wednesday. "This is a rare and unusual event, and we're just delighted."
The temporary restraining order was issued by U.S. District Judge Karen Schreier in Rapid City, who said plaintiff Planned Parenthood has a fair chance of succeeding in its claim that the law violates doctors' free-speech rights.
The 2005 measure is not a direct challenge to the constitutionality of abortion but is aimed at testing the limits of what a state can require women be told before getting abortions.
It would require doctors to tell women that abortions end human lives and may cause serious psychological problems, and that the women have legal relationship with her unborn children that are ended by abortion. ...
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Suit claims Minuteman Project censored by college
Suit claims Minuteman Project censored by college
Organization sues school after being denied access to facilities
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: January 12, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
A lawsuit has been filed against a California college by a law firm representing the Minuteman Project alleging censorship after school officials denied the group permission to use its facilities for a town hall meeting.
Lawyer Michael Sands of the Pro Family Law Center said the activist group asked to use the school's facility for a town hall meeting before the 2006 election, but was denied because the school said it didn't allow its buildings to be used by "special interest or advocacy groups, nor for the advancement of specific candidates for public office."
However, after the request had been denied by Jamillah Moore, Interim Superintendent of Compton Community College, the Minuteman Project, which wanted to address the public issue of illegal immigration and the significant impact it has on the city of Compton and the surrounding cities, discovered several other advocacy groups had been granted permission for meetings there.
"Once you open up a school to one special interest group, you have to provide equal access," Sands told WND. "They (school officials) could be putting forth some sort of agenda. They have to open up their facilities to all other groups who properly apply for permission." ...
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Organization sues school after being denied access to facilities
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: January 12, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
A lawsuit has been filed against a California college by a law firm representing the Minuteman Project alleging censorship after school officials denied the group permission to use its facilities for a town hall meeting.
Lawyer Michael Sands of the Pro Family Law Center said the activist group asked to use the school's facility for a town hall meeting before the 2006 election, but was denied because the school said it didn't allow its buildings to be used by "special interest or advocacy groups, nor for the advancement of specific candidates for public office."
However, after the request had been denied by Jamillah Moore, Interim Superintendent of Compton Community College, the Minuteman Project, which wanted to address the public issue of illegal immigration and the significant impact it has on the city of Compton and the surrounding cities, discovered several other advocacy groups had been granted permission for meetings there.
"Once you open up a school to one special interest group, you have to provide equal access," Sands told WND. "They (school officials) could be putting forth some sort of agenda. They have to open up their facilities to all other groups who properly apply for permission." ...
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McCain Defends Bush's Iraq Strategy
McCain Defends Bush's Iraq Strategy
Jan 12, 10:36 AM (ET)
By LOLITA C. BALDOR
WASHINGTON (AP) - Sen. John McCain defended President Bush's Iraq plan on Friday as a difficult but necessary move, parting company with lawmakers questioning the wisdom of the military build up.
"I believe that together these moves will give the Iraqis and Americans the best chance of success," said McCain, R-Ariz., a leading presidential contender for 2008.
McCain also took a shot at Democrats who say the United States must bring some troops home within four to six months.
"I believe these individuals have a responsibility to tell us what they believe are the consequences" of such a move would be, including civil war, he said. ...
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Jan 12, 10:36 AM (ET)
By LOLITA C. BALDOR
WASHINGTON (AP) - Sen. John McCain defended President Bush's Iraq plan on Friday as a difficult but necessary move, parting company with lawmakers questioning the wisdom of the military build up.
"I believe that together these moves will give the Iraqis and Americans the best chance of success," said McCain, R-Ariz., a leading presidential contender for 2008.
McCain also took a shot at Democrats who say the United States must bring some troops home within four to six months.
"I believe these individuals have a responsibility to tell us what they believe are the consequences" of such a move would be, including civil war, he said. ...
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Clinton, Other Lawmakers, Head to Iraq
Clinton, Other Lawmakers, Head to Iraq
Jan 12, 9:47 AM (ET)
By DEVLIN BARRETT
WASHINGTON (AP) - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and two other lawmakers are headed to Iraq this weekend as Congress engages in fierce debate over President Bush's plan to send 21,500 more troops to salvage the U.S. effort there.
Clinton, a Democrat from New York who is considering running for president, is traveling with Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., who had also eyed the 2008 race but opted out, and Rep. John McHugh, a Republican from upstate New York.
The three, all members of armed services committees, are to meet with top Iraqi officials and U.S. military commanders. The trip also takes them to Afghanistan.
"This was the first opportunity we had to be able to go because of the long weekend, and it turns out that the timing is propitious because of the president's plans," said Clinton, who opposes Bush's plan to send more U.S. troops to Iraq. ...
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Jan 12, 9:47 AM (ET)
By DEVLIN BARRETT
WASHINGTON (AP) - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and two other lawmakers are headed to Iraq this weekend as Congress engages in fierce debate over President Bush's plan to send 21,500 more troops to salvage the U.S. effort there.
Clinton, a Democrat from New York who is considering running for president, is traveling with Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., who had also eyed the 2008 race but opted out, and Rep. John McHugh, a Republican from upstate New York.
The three, all members of armed services committees, are to meet with top Iraqi officials and U.S. military commanders. The trip also takes them to Afghanistan.
"This was the first opportunity we had to be able to go because of the long weekend, and it turns out that the timing is propitious because of the president's plans," said Clinton, who opposes Bush's plan to send more U.S. troops to Iraq. ...
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Last Islamic Stronghold Falls In Somalia
Last Islamic Stronghold Falls In Somalia
Official Says Southern Town Falls After Peace Talks And Five Days Of Fighting
MOGADISHU, Somalia, Jan. 12, 2007
(AP) Ethiopian-backed government forces captured the last remaining stronghold of the Islamic movement in southern Somalia, the Somali defense minister said Friday — hours after warlords met with the president and promised to enlist their militiamen in the army.
The southern town of Ras Kamboni fell after five days of heavy fighting, Defense Minister Col. Barre "Hirale" Aden Shire told The Associated Press. He said government troops backed by Ethiopian forces and MiG fighter jets chased fleeing Islamic fighters into nearby forests and the fighting would continue. He did not give casualty figures.
Ras Kamboni is in a rugged coastal area a few miles from the Kenyan border. It is not far from the site of a U.S. air strike Monday that targeted suspected al Qaeda militants — the first U.S. offensive in Somalia since 18 American soldiers were killed here in 1993. ...
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Official Says Southern Town Falls After Peace Talks And Five Days Of Fighting
MOGADISHU, Somalia, Jan. 12, 2007
(AP) Ethiopian-backed government forces captured the last remaining stronghold of the Islamic movement in southern Somalia, the Somali defense minister said Friday — hours after warlords met with the president and promised to enlist their militiamen in the army.
The southern town of Ras Kamboni fell after five days of heavy fighting, Defense Minister Col. Barre "Hirale" Aden Shire told The Associated Press. He said government troops backed by Ethiopian forces and MiG fighter jets chased fleeing Islamic fighters into nearby forests and the fighting would continue. He did not give casualty figures.
Ras Kamboni is in a rugged coastal area a few miles from the Kenyan border. It is not far from the site of a U.S. air strike Monday that targeted suspected al Qaeda militants — the first U.S. offensive in Somalia since 18 American soldiers were killed here in 1993. ...
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London Mosque DVD: Jews Face Mass Extermination
London Mosque DVD: Jews Face Mass Extermination
12:26 Jan 12, '07 / 22 Tevet 5767
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
A leading mosque in London is selling DVDs that proclaim the coming mass extermination of Jews around the world on a "day of judgment." It also attacks Christian groups and the United Nations.
The London Central Mosque, also known as Regent's Park Mosque, is "the spiritual focal point for Muslims" throughout Great Britain, the European Jewish Press reported. It is also home to the Islamic Cultural Center, which educates Muslim children.
The report said that a British television station will air on Monday a documentary on Muslim extremism in Britain, and will report the selling of the DVD.
The DVDs are being sold at the London Central Mosque Shop. One excerpt shows a preacher, Sheikh Feiz, imitating the sounds of a pig and referring to the Jewish people who will be killed on the "day of judgment."...
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12:26 Jan 12, '07 / 22 Tevet 5767
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
A leading mosque in London is selling DVDs that proclaim the coming mass extermination of Jews around the world on a "day of judgment." It also attacks Christian groups and the United Nations.
The London Central Mosque, also known as Regent's Park Mosque, is "the spiritual focal point for Muslims" throughout Great Britain, the European Jewish Press reported. It is also home to the Islamic Cultural Center, which educates Muslim children.
The report said that a British television station will air on Monday a documentary on Muslim extremism in Britain, and will report the selling of the DVD.
The DVDs are being sold at the London Central Mosque Shop. One excerpt shows a preacher, Sheikh Feiz, imitating the sounds of a pig and referring to the Jewish people who will be killed on the "day of judgment."...
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U.S. Embassy Damage in Greek Blast Scant
Jan 12, 12:55 PM (ET)
By NICHOLAS PAPHITIS
ATHENS, Greece (AP) - A rocket struck the U.S. Embassy early Friday, exploding inside the modern, glass-fronted building and shattering hopes that Greece's leftist anti-American militant networks had been dismantled. Greek authorities said the attack, which caused no injuries, was probably carried out by a domestic terrorist group.
The small anti-tank missile, fired from across a six-lane boulevard, narrowly missed the large blue-and-white U.S. seal on the embassy's facade and the ambassador's office, and pierced the building above the front entrance shortly before 6 a.m. It damaged a third-floor bathroom and shattered windows in nearby buildings.
"There were no injuries and very minimal damage," U.S. Ambassador Charles Ries said outside the embassy.
The attack recalled the anti-capitalist and anti-American violence of past decades, which included the death of a CIA station chief and other American military and embassy officials, as well as a failed bomb attack against the U.S. Embassy in 1996.
New militant groups vehemently oppose the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq, amid widespread public opposition to Washington's policies which has remained strong since the United States provided support for a 1967-74 military dictatorship.
"It is very likely that this is the work of a domestic group," Public Order Minister Vyron Polydoras said. "We believe this effort to revive terrorism is deplorable and will not succeed."
He speculated that "this could be (guided) by the first generation of terrorists."
The 2.36-inch rocket, which police said was a weapon probably fired from a Russian-made launcher, struck a large marble beam on the third floor of the embassy, just above and to the left of the seal.
U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the United States was "not aware" of any indications that international terrorists had a role in the attack, but cautioned that the investigation was in its early stages. ...
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By NICHOLAS PAPHITIS
ATHENS, Greece (AP) - A rocket struck the U.S. Embassy early Friday, exploding inside the modern, glass-fronted building and shattering hopes that Greece's leftist anti-American militant networks had been dismantled. Greek authorities said the attack, which caused no injuries, was probably carried out by a domestic terrorist group.
The small anti-tank missile, fired from across a six-lane boulevard, narrowly missed the large blue-and-white U.S. seal on the embassy's facade and the ambassador's office, and pierced the building above the front entrance shortly before 6 a.m. It damaged a third-floor bathroom and shattered windows in nearby buildings.
"There were no injuries and very minimal damage," U.S. Ambassador Charles Ries said outside the embassy.
The attack recalled the anti-capitalist and anti-American violence of past decades, which included the death of a CIA station chief and other American military and embassy officials, as well as a failed bomb attack against the U.S. Embassy in 1996.
New militant groups vehemently oppose the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq, amid widespread public opposition to Washington's policies which has remained strong since the United States provided support for a 1967-74 military dictatorship.
"It is very likely that this is the work of a domestic group," Public Order Minister Vyron Polydoras said. "We believe this effort to revive terrorism is deplorable and will not succeed."
He speculated that "this could be (guided) by the first generation of terrorists."
The 2.36-inch rocket, which police said was a weapon probably fired from a Russian-made launcher, struck a large marble beam on the third floor of the embassy, just above and to the left of the seal.
U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the United States was "not aware" of any indications that international terrorists had a role in the attack, but cautioned that the investigation was in its early stages. ...
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Scientists prepare to move Doomsday Clock forward
Scientists prepare to move Doomsday Clock forward
Fri Jan 12, 2007 3:21pm ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The keepers of the "Doomsday Clock" plan to move its hands forward next Wednesday to reflect what they call worsening nuclear and climate threats to the world.
The symbolic clock, maintained by the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, currently is set at seven minutes to midnight, with midnight marking global catastrophe.
The group did not say in which direction the hands would move. But in a news release previewing an event next Wednesday, they said the change was based on "worsening nuclear, climate threats" to the world.
"The major new step reflects growing concerns about a 'Second Nuclear Age' marked by grave threats, including: nuclear ambitions in Iran and North Korea, unsecured nuclear materials in Russia and elsewhere, the continuing 'launch-ready' status of 2,000 of the 25,000 nuclear weapons held by the U.S. and Russia, escalating terrorism, and new pressure from climate change for expanded civilian nuclear power that could increase proliferation risks," the release reads.
The clock was last pushed forward by two minutes to seven minutes to midnight in 2002 amid concerns about the proliferation of nuclear, biological and other weapons and the threat of terrorism. ...
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Fri Jan 12, 2007 3:21pm ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The keepers of the "Doomsday Clock" plan to move its hands forward next Wednesday to reflect what they call worsening nuclear and climate threats to the world.
The symbolic clock, maintained by the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, currently is set at seven minutes to midnight, with midnight marking global catastrophe.
The group did not say in which direction the hands would move. But in a news release previewing an event next Wednesday, they said the change was based on "worsening nuclear, climate threats" to the world.
"The major new step reflects growing concerns about a 'Second Nuclear Age' marked by grave threats, including: nuclear ambitions in Iran and North Korea, unsecured nuclear materials in Russia and elsewhere, the continuing 'launch-ready' status of 2,000 of the 25,000 nuclear weapons held by the U.S. and Russia, escalating terrorism, and new pressure from climate change for expanded civilian nuclear power that could increase proliferation risks," the release reads.
The clock was last pushed forward by two minutes to seven minutes to midnight in 2002 amid concerns about the proliferation of nuclear, biological and other weapons and the threat of terrorism. ...
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Jesus 'gay' voyeur on NBC's Conan O'Brien
Jesus 'gay' voyeur on NBC's Conan O'Brien
'You touched my heart, but I hope that's where the touchin' ends'
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: January 12, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern
Editor's note: The lyrics cited in this story may be offensive.
By Bob Unruh
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
NBC has plummeted to the level of CBS, with a late-night skit that blatantly mocks Christianity by portraying Jesus as a homosexual voyeur, a stunt that would have been instantly condemned nationwide if it had focused on any subject other than Christianity, according to a pro-life leader.
The show, an episode of "Late Night With Conan O'Brien," was taped and aired this week, and featured a skit with a character called "the homophobic country western singer," according to Douglas R. Scott Jr., the president of Life Decisions International.
It also was Scott, as WND reported then, who alerted people to the CBS portrayal during the Christmas season of a character singing about sex to the tune of "Joy to the World."
The latest exhibition by NBC is just as bad, he said.
"The NBC and CBS television networks may be rival corporations, but they have one thing in common," he said. "Both networks have allowed programming that blatantly mocks Christianity."
He told WND in an interview that the fact that such ridicule is allowed in the U.S. reflects more on Christians than on non-Christians.
"We've been put in the back of society's bus. The bad thing is we're willing to do it. If we responded like blacks, Jews, you name the different groups, homosexuals… If we responded like they do, only in love, this kind of thing wouldn't happen. It wouldn't be tolerated here," he said.
"I think God will not be mocked," he continued. "But I don't know if Christians who [believe that] think He'll take care of it, and we don't have to do anything. If we speak up for the unborn, if we speak up for any of these issues that have a relationship to Christ, but we don't speak up for Jesus himself, what are we?...
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'You touched my heart, but I hope that's where the touchin' ends'
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: January 12, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern
Editor's note: The lyrics cited in this story may be offensive.
By Bob Unruh
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
NBC has plummeted to the level of CBS, with a late-night skit that blatantly mocks Christianity by portraying Jesus as a homosexual voyeur, a stunt that would have been instantly condemned nationwide if it had focused on any subject other than Christianity, according to a pro-life leader.
The show, an episode of "Late Night With Conan O'Brien," was taped and aired this week, and featured a skit with a character called "the homophobic country western singer," according to Douglas R. Scott Jr., the president of Life Decisions International.
It also was Scott, as WND reported then, who alerted people to the CBS portrayal during the Christmas season of a character singing about sex to the tune of "Joy to the World."
The latest exhibition by NBC is just as bad, he said.
"The NBC and CBS television networks may be rival corporations, but they have one thing in common," he said. "Both networks have allowed programming that blatantly mocks Christianity."
He told WND in an interview that the fact that such ridicule is allowed in the U.S. reflects more on Christians than on non-Christians.
"We've been put in the back of society's bus. The bad thing is we're willing to do it. If we responded like blacks, Jews, you name the different groups, homosexuals… If we responded like they do, only in love, this kind of thing wouldn't happen. It wouldn't be tolerated here," he said.
"I think God will not be mocked," he continued. "But I don't know if Christians who [believe that] think He'll take care of it, and we don't have to do anything. If we speak up for the unborn, if we speak up for any of these issues that have a relationship to Christ, but we don't speak up for Jesus himself, what are we?...
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Secret Service confiscates more Gospel tracts
Secret Service confiscates more Gospel tracts
Los Angeles agent says messages should be in black-and-white
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: January 12, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
U.S. Secret Service agents, who earlier confiscated Gospel tracts from Christians in Texas and Nevada because they carry a message of salvation and an advisory that they are not legal tender even though they look like a $1 million bill, now have taken the same tracts away from a Los Angeles man.
Jim Thomas, who with his wife Charlene had just finished an evangelism training program at their church, told WND he was handing out the tracts near an escalator at a downtown Los Angeles mall "and everything was going very well."
Then, he said, a man approached him and told him that "there's a problem here."
He introduced himself as a Secret Service agent.
"He began to ask me questions, like 'have you read the rules and regulations about bills similar to currency?'" Thomas said. "So he just kind of informed me what I could do to be in compliance."
He said the officer suggested the bills be larger or smaller than regular currency, or be printed in black-and-white. Then he took Thomas' stack of the tracts, which look like a $1 million bill but have a 160-word Gospel message and other disclaimers.
The tracts are produced by Ray Comfort, an evangelist whose Living Waters Ministry in Southern California has been inundated with requests for them since the first Secret Service confiscation happened last year.
As WND reported at the time, the controversy began June 2 when three agents visited the Great News Network office in Texas and told a staffer to hand over the tracts.
That dispute currently is pending in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a case brought by the American Family Association Center for Law and Policy.
"I think someone who is partially blind may think it's a genuine bill if it's given to them at night in the fog," Comfort told WND. "Any bank teller who tries to give change for a million dollar bill should not be a bank teller."
He said the whole point of a tract is to get a reader's attention and carry a message, and that's what this does.
"It makes people laugh. Even if it wasn't a Gospel tract, I'd give them out, because they give a good feeling," Comfort said.
WND messages left for the agent, who identified himself as Jess Martinez, weren't immediately returned. ...
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Los Angeles agent says messages should be in black-and-white
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: January 12, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
U.S. Secret Service agents, who earlier confiscated Gospel tracts from Christians in Texas and Nevada because they carry a message of salvation and an advisory that they are not legal tender even though they look like a $1 million bill, now have taken the same tracts away from a Los Angeles man.
Jim Thomas, who with his wife Charlene had just finished an evangelism training program at their church, told WND he was handing out the tracts near an escalator at a downtown Los Angeles mall "and everything was going very well."
Then, he said, a man approached him and told him that "there's a problem here."
He introduced himself as a Secret Service agent.
"He began to ask me questions, like 'have you read the rules and regulations about bills similar to currency?'" Thomas said. "So he just kind of informed me what I could do to be in compliance."
He said the officer suggested the bills be larger or smaller than regular currency, or be printed in black-and-white. Then he took Thomas' stack of the tracts, which look like a $1 million bill but have a 160-word Gospel message and other disclaimers.
The tracts are produced by Ray Comfort, an evangelist whose Living Waters Ministry in Southern California has been inundated with requests for them since the first Secret Service confiscation happened last year.
As WND reported at the time, the controversy began June 2 when three agents visited the Great News Network office in Texas and told a staffer to hand over the tracts.
That dispute currently is pending in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a case brought by the American Family Association Center for Law and Policy.
"I think someone who is partially blind may think it's a genuine bill if it's given to them at night in the fog," Comfort told WND. "Any bank teller who tries to give change for a million dollar bill should not be a bank teller."
He said the whole point of a tract is to get a reader's attention and carry a message, and that's what this does.
"It makes people laugh. Even if it wasn't a Gospel tract, I'd give them out, because they give a good feeling," Comfort said.
WND messages left for the agent, who identified himself as Jess Martinez, weren't immediately returned. ...
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Navy dismisses chaplain who prayed 'in Jesus' name'
Navy dismisses chaplain who prayed 'in Jesus' name'
'We are homeless, jobless,
and we are in God's hands'
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: January 12, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Bob Unruh
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
A U.S. Navy chaplain who prayed "in Jesus' name" as his conscience dictated is being ejected from the military service "in retaliation" for his victorious battle to change Navy policy that required religious rites be "non-sectarian."
"This fight cost me everything. My career is over, my family is now homeless, we've lost a million dollar pension, but Congress agreed with me and rescinded the Navy policy, so chaplains are free again to pray in Jesus' name," Chaplain Gordon Klingenschmitt told WND. "My sacrifice purchased their freedom. My conscience is clear, the fight was worth it, and I'd do it all again."
Klingenschmitt, as WND has reported, has fought an extended battle with the Navy over its restrictions on religious expression by its chaplains. He appeared and delivered a public prayer "in Jesus' name" at a White House rally last winter and was court-martialed for that. The Navy convicted him of failing to follow a lawful order because his superior didn't want him praying "in Jesus' name."
He's also launched a legal battle that he said he hopes eventually will result in his reinstatement, alleging the Navy assembled a "civic religion" by ordering its chaplains to pray in a certain way.
"There's a Unitarian system of religion that's aimed at Christians," John Whitehead, founder of the The Rutherford Institute, told WND. "It boils down to that. We're seeing it all across the country, with council prayers, kids wanting to mention Jesus. What's going on here is it's generally a move in our government and military to set up a civic religion."
"I think the Supreme Court's going to have to look at the idea of can the government in any of its forms tell people how to pray, set up a basic religion and say you can only do it this way," he said.
Klingenschmitt told WND he'd been delivered a formal letter of reprimand for his appearance at a White House function in March 2006 at which he wore his uniform and prayed "in Jesus' name." For that he was convicted at a special court-martial of violating a lawful order from his commanding officer not to do that.
His appearance was with former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice and WND columnist Judge Roy Moore, who was removed from his office when he refused to follow a federal court order he considered unlawful: to remove a Ten Commandments monument from public property.
Klingenschmitt's $3,000 fine was suspended and because of the issues, Congress got involved and ordered the Navy to rescind that particular policy, and allow chaplains to pray as their "conscience dictates." ...
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'We are homeless, jobless,
and we are in God's hands'
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: January 12, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Bob Unruh
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
A U.S. Navy chaplain who prayed "in Jesus' name" as his conscience dictated is being ejected from the military service "in retaliation" for his victorious battle to change Navy policy that required religious rites be "non-sectarian."
"This fight cost me everything. My career is over, my family is now homeless, we've lost a million dollar pension, but Congress agreed with me and rescinded the Navy policy, so chaplains are free again to pray in Jesus' name," Chaplain Gordon Klingenschmitt told WND. "My sacrifice purchased their freedom. My conscience is clear, the fight was worth it, and I'd do it all again."
Klingenschmitt, as WND has reported, has fought an extended battle with the Navy over its restrictions on religious expression by its chaplains. He appeared and delivered a public prayer "in Jesus' name" at a White House rally last winter and was court-martialed for that. The Navy convicted him of failing to follow a lawful order because his superior didn't want him praying "in Jesus' name."
He's also launched a legal battle that he said he hopes eventually will result in his reinstatement, alleging the Navy assembled a "civic religion" by ordering its chaplains to pray in a certain way.
"There's a Unitarian system of religion that's aimed at Christians," John Whitehead, founder of the The Rutherford Institute, told WND. "It boils down to that. We're seeing it all across the country, with council prayers, kids wanting to mention Jesus. What's going on here is it's generally a move in our government and military to set up a civic religion."
"I think the Supreme Court's going to have to look at the idea of can the government in any of its forms tell people how to pray, set up a basic religion and say you can only do it this way," he said.
Klingenschmitt told WND he'd been delivered a formal letter of reprimand for his appearance at a White House function in March 2006 at which he wore his uniform and prayed "in Jesus' name." For that he was convicted at a special court-martial of violating a lawful order from his commanding officer not to do that.
His appearance was with former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice and WND columnist Judge Roy Moore, who was removed from his office when he refused to follow a federal court order he considered unlawful: to remove a Ten Commandments monument from public property.
Klingenschmitt's $3,000 fine was suspended and because of the issues, Congress got involved and ordered the Navy to rescind that particular policy, and allow chaplains to pray as their "conscience dictates." ...
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Carter, Clinton Join to Reshape Baptist Image
Carter, Clinton Join to Reshape Baptist Image
By Lillian Kwon
Christian Post Reporter
Former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton are part of an initiative to create a new Baptist voice and improve the negative image of Baptists in North America.
An annual North American Baptist Fellowship meeting in Atlanta, Ga., was scheduled to conclude Tuesday morning at the Carter Center with the announcement of a historic 2008 convocation.
The convocation, part of Carter's new Baptist voice initiative, is expected to draw more than 20,000 Baptist participants from throughout the United States and Canada in an effort to counter the negative and judgmental image of Baptists, according to the Associated Baptist Press.
"North America desperately needs a true Baptist witness," Bill Underwood, president of Mercer University in Atlanta, told Baptist leaders at an April summit last year...
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By Lillian Kwon
Christian Post Reporter
Former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton are part of an initiative to create a new Baptist voice and improve the negative image of Baptists in North America.
An annual North American Baptist Fellowship meeting in Atlanta, Ga., was scheduled to conclude Tuesday morning at the Carter Center with the announcement of a historic 2008 convocation.
The convocation, part of Carter's new Baptist voice initiative, is expected to draw more than 20,000 Baptist participants from throughout the United States and Canada in an effort to counter the negative and judgmental image of Baptists, according to the Associated Baptist Press.
"North America desperately needs a true Baptist witness," Bill Underwood, president of Mercer University in Atlanta, told Baptist leaders at an April summit last year...
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Preacher to hang for sin burnings
Preacher to hang for sin burnings
A Nigerian high court has sentenced a Lagos preacher to death by hanging for setting fire to members of his congregation, killing one woman.
Emeka Ezeuko, better known as Reverend King, was found guilty on one count of murder and five of attempted murder.
In July last year, he accused six members of his Christian Praying Assembly church of sinning by having extra-marital sex.
He poured petrol over them before setting them alight.
Ann Uzor died in hospital from her burns.
Rev King allegedly told members of his congregation that he was Jesus Christ, a claim that gave him the powers to punish sin. ...
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A Nigerian high court has sentenced a Lagos preacher to death by hanging for setting fire to members of his congregation, killing one woman.
Emeka Ezeuko, better known as Reverend King, was found guilty on one count of murder and five of attempted murder.
In July last year, he accused six members of his Christian Praying Assembly church of sinning by having extra-marital sex.
He poured petrol over them before setting them alight.
Ann Uzor died in hospital from her burns.
Rev King allegedly told members of his congregation that he was Jesus Christ, a claim that gave him the powers to punish sin. ...
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France Is "No Longer a Catholic Country"
France Is "No Longer a Catholic Country"
By Michael F. Haverluck
CBNNews.com
January 12, 2007
CBNNews.com -- WASHINGTON -- France is "no longer a Catholic country." This declaration was published in France's Le Monde des Religions on January 9, reflecting the results of a recent poll taken in the nation.
It was disclosed that 51 percent of France's population considers themselves Catholic -- a drastic drop from the 80 percent reported in the early 1990s and the 67 percent tallied in 2000 -- according to a Wednesday report from The Daily Telegraph.
Le Monde des Religions' editor in chief Frederic Lenoir credits the waning numbers to several major factors. Among them are youth's disinterest in Catholicism, along with an increasing sense of individualism sweeping across the nation.
Also explaining the waning numbers, it was noted by The Telegraph that only half of the French who proclaim themselves to be Catholics said they actually believe in God.
Currently, 31 percent of the French population declares themselves as atheists, which has risen from 23 percent in 1994. ...
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By Michael F. Haverluck
CBNNews.com
January 12, 2007
CBNNews.com -- WASHINGTON -- France is "no longer a Catholic country." This declaration was published in France's Le Monde des Religions on January 9, reflecting the results of a recent poll taken in the nation.
It was disclosed that 51 percent of France's population considers themselves Catholic -- a drastic drop from the 80 percent reported in the early 1990s and the 67 percent tallied in 2000 -- according to a Wednesday report from The Daily Telegraph.
Le Monde des Religions' editor in chief Frederic Lenoir credits the waning numbers to several major factors. Among them are youth's disinterest in Catholicism, along with an increasing sense of individualism sweeping across the nation.
Also explaining the waning numbers, it was noted by The Telegraph that only half of the French who proclaim themselves to be Catholics said they actually believe in God.
Currently, 31 percent of the French population declares themselves as atheists, which has risen from 23 percent in 1994. ...
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Tuesday, January 9, 2007
Senate Bill 1, The True Story! Speaking UP for Speaking Out
Senate Bill 1, The true story! *Must Read* Also, email/forward this article out to all your family and friends! Also, Listen to Dr. James Dobson at the bottom of this article...
Speaking UP for Speaking Out
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
The U.S. Senate is about to vote on legislation aimed at curbing lobbying corruption: Senate Bill 1 aims to clean up recent lobbying scandals that have plagued the halls of our government. While most of the bill is good, it contains a provision, Section 220, that will severely limit the ability of Americans to stay abreast of the important issues facing our country.
Instead of addressing the true lobbying problems – high-paid lobbyists buying influence with members of Congress with international trips and fancy dinners – Section 220 will place the bulls-eye squarely on you.
Section 220 will require that organizations such as Focus on the Family Action that alert Americans to important legislation affecting our country be burdened by miles of new red tape. These bureaucratic restrictions are unconscionable, and failure to comply could result in $100,000 fines.
Focus on the Family Action's Dr. James Dobson is urging you to place phone calls today to your federal lawmakers urging them to prevent these travesties. Call both of your U.S. senators and urge them to oppose the unfair grassroots lobbying provisions (Sec. 220) and ensure that they are removed from S. 1. Then call your representative and ask him or her to vote against HR 3 -- because there is no need to destroy life to save life.
To reach your congressman and senators, call the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121.
**********************************************************
The U.S. Senate is about to vote on legislation aimed at curbing lobbying corruption. There is a section of the bill which unfairly targets grassroots lobbying organizations and would penalize them for alerting Americans about important issues and attempting to influence government policy. If the bill passes, organizations like Focus on the Family Action, the American Family Association, FRC Action and American Values may be severely hampered from informing you in the future about significant legislation affecting the family. Representatives from each of these ministries join Dr. Dobson to tell you what you can do to prevent this ill-advised Senate measure from passing.
Click here to listen to this important message! (may need to disable pop-up blocker)
or below to visit... Then click on player type:
http://www.oneplace.com/Ministries/Focus_on_the_Family/Default.asp
Speaking UP for Speaking Out
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
The U.S. Senate is about to vote on legislation aimed at curbing lobbying corruption: Senate Bill 1 aims to clean up recent lobbying scandals that have plagued the halls of our government. While most of the bill is good, it contains a provision, Section 220, that will severely limit the ability of Americans to stay abreast of the important issues facing our country.
Instead of addressing the true lobbying problems – high-paid lobbyists buying influence with members of Congress with international trips and fancy dinners – Section 220 will place the bulls-eye squarely on you.
Section 220 will require that organizations such as Focus on the Family Action that alert Americans to important legislation affecting our country be burdened by miles of new red tape. These bureaucratic restrictions are unconscionable, and failure to comply could result in $100,000 fines.
Focus on the Family Action's Dr. James Dobson is urging you to place phone calls today to your federal lawmakers urging them to prevent these travesties. Call both of your U.S. senators and urge them to oppose the unfair grassroots lobbying provisions (Sec. 220) and ensure that they are removed from S. 1. Then call your representative and ask him or her to vote against HR 3 -- because there is no need to destroy life to save life.
To reach your congressman and senators, call the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121.
**********************************************************
The U.S. Senate is about to vote on legislation aimed at curbing lobbying corruption. There is a section of the bill which unfairly targets grassroots lobbying organizations and would penalize them for alerting Americans about important issues and attempting to influence government policy. If the bill passes, organizations like Focus on the Family Action, the American Family Association, FRC Action and American Values may be severely hampered from informing you in the future about significant legislation affecting the family. Representatives from each of these ministries join Dr. Dobson to tell you what you can do to prevent this ill-advised Senate measure from passing.
Click here to listen to this important message! (may need to disable pop-up blocker)
or below to visit... Then click on player type:
http://www.oneplace.com/Ministries/Focus_on_the_Family/Default.asp
'Catastrophic': Now thousands of birds fall from sky
'Catastrophic': Now thousands of birds fall from sky
Wildlife officers baffled, autopsies shed no light on mystery
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: January 9, 2007
9:07 p.m. Eastern
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
Thousands of birds inexplicably dropped like rocks from the sky over Australia.
The mysterious catastrophe has taken place over a period of three weeks in Esperance, about 450 miles southeast of Perth. The area was declared a disaster zone by government officials.
So far, authorities are clueless as to the cause. Autopsies on the birds have shed no light.
The main casualties, according to Australian news sources, are wattle birds, yellow-throated miners, new holland honeyeaters and singing honeyeaters. Some dead crows, hawks and pigeons have also been found.
Some birds were seen convulsing when they died.
Wildlife officers are baffled by what they characterize as a "catastrophic" event. It does not appear to be weather-related.
District nature conservation coordinator Mike Fitzgerald said: "It's very substantial. We estimate several thousand birds are dead, although we don't have a clear number because of the large areas of bushland."
Birds Australia, the nation's main bird conservation group, said it had not heard of a similar occurrence. "Not on that scale, and all at the same time, and also the fact that it's several different species," chief executive Graeme Hamilton said. "You'd have to call that a most unusual event and one that we'd all have to be concerned about."
Just yesterday, some 60 birds fell out of the sky in Austin, Texas, without explanation.
http://biblicalnews.blogspot.com/2007/01/bird-deaths-shut-down-austin-texas.html
The incident prompted street closings for several hours.
Officials said they had tested the air for dangerous substances but found nothing, and they declared the area safe.
The dead birds – grackles, sparrows and pigeons – were being checked for avian flu, but officials said they saw no symptoms of the illness and believed it more likely they had been poisoned, possibly deliberately, or affected by near-freezing weather.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53708
Wildlife officers baffled, autopsies shed no light on mystery
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: January 9, 2007
9:07 p.m. Eastern
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
Thousands of birds inexplicably dropped like rocks from the sky over Australia.
The mysterious catastrophe has taken place over a period of three weeks in Esperance, about 450 miles southeast of Perth. The area was declared a disaster zone by government officials.
So far, authorities are clueless as to the cause. Autopsies on the birds have shed no light.
The main casualties, according to Australian news sources, are wattle birds, yellow-throated miners, new holland honeyeaters and singing honeyeaters. Some dead crows, hawks and pigeons have also been found.
Some birds were seen convulsing when they died.
Wildlife officers are baffled by what they characterize as a "catastrophic" event. It does not appear to be weather-related.
District nature conservation coordinator Mike Fitzgerald said: "It's very substantial. We estimate several thousand birds are dead, although we don't have a clear number because of the large areas of bushland."
Birds Australia, the nation's main bird conservation group, said it had not heard of a similar occurrence. "Not on that scale, and all at the same time, and also the fact that it's several different species," chief executive Graeme Hamilton said. "You'd have to call that a most unusual event and one that we'd all have to be concerned about."
Just yesterday, some 60 birds fell out of the sky in Austin, Texas, without explanation.
http://biblicalnews.blogspot.com/2007/01/bird-deaths-shut-down-austin-texas.html
The incident prompted street closings for several hours.
Officials said they had tested the air for dangerous substances but found nothing, and they declared the area safe.
The dead birds – grackles, sparrows and pigeons – were being checked for avian flu, but officials said they saw no symptoms of the illness and believed it more likely they had been poisoned, possibly deliberately, or affected by near-freezing weather.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53708
News of Ethical Amniotic Stem Cells Won't Slow ESCR Push, Expert Says
News of Ethical Amniotic Stem Cells Won't Slow ESCR Push, Expert Says
By Jim Brown
January 9, 2007
(AgapePress) - A pro-life biochemist and international expert on stem-cell research and cloning is hailing a new report that says powerful and potentially medically beneficial stem cells can be found in the amniotic fluid that cushions babies in the womb. However, he doubts the finding will have much impact on proponents of embryonic stem-cell research, or ESCR.
Harvard and Wake Forest University researchers have recently reported that they were able to extract stem cells from human amniotic fluid without harm to the mother or to the unborn child; and the extracted cells were able to become several different tissue cell types, including brain, liver, and bone.
Dr. David Prentice is senior fellow for life sciences at the Family Research Council and former professor of life sciences at Indiana State University. He says the report from Harvard and Wake Forest validates what the pro-life community has been saying all along.
"You don't need to go to the unethical and unsuccessful embryonic stem-cell research that requires destroying a human life," Prentice explains. "We have cells in amniotic fluid, placenta, umbilical cord blood, bone marrow, and lots of other tissues that can actually help patients," he says.
The Family Research Council's life sciences expert says news agencies are finally starting to recognize that ethical sources of stem cells for successful stem-cell research do exist. Many are beginning to acknowledge that "there are sources of stem cells ... that don't require destruction of human life," he says, "and we're seeing this more and more."...
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By Jim Brown
January 9, 2007
(AgapePress) - A pro-life biochemist and international expert on stem-cell research and cloning is hailing a new report that says powerful and potentially medically beneficial stem cells can be found in the amniotic fluid that cushions babies in the womb. However, he doubts the finding will have much impact on proponents of embryonic stem-cell research, or ESCR.
Harvard and Wake Forest University researchers have recently reported that they were able to extract stem cells from human amniotic fluid without harm to the mother or to the unborn child; and the extracted cells were able to become several different tissue cell types, including brain, liver, and bone.
Dr. David Prentice is senior fellow for life sciences at the Family Research Council and former professor of life sciences at Indiana State University. He says the report from Harvard and Wake Forest validates what the pro-life community has been saying all along.
"You don't need to go to the unethical and unsuccessful embryonic stem-cell research that requires destroying a human life," Prentice explains. "We have cells in amniotic fluid, placenta, umbilical cord blood, bone marrow, and lots of other tissues that can actually help patients," he says.
The Family Research Council's life sciences expert says news agencies are finally starting to recognize that ethical sources of stem cells for successful stem-cell research do exist. Many are beginning to acknowledge that "there are sources of stem cells ... that don't require destruction of human life," he says, "and we're seeing this more and more."...
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Pastor's Biblical Argument Expunged from CNN Feature on Intolerance
Pastor's Biblical Argument Expunged from CNN Feature on Intolerance
By Ed Thomas
January 9, 2007
(AgapePress) - A south Florida pastor whose views on Islam were critiqued on a CNN program examining racism and intolerance in America says several crucial points were left out of the airing of interview segments with him for the program.
Worldwide Christian Center pastor Dr. O'Neal Dozier was featured on a segment of Paula Zahn's nightly show last week because of his highly publicized grassroots efforts to keep a mosque out of a Northwest Pompano Beach neighborhood. A news story about him featured his opposition to the Islamic religion as a cult, and the city's approval of a mosque in an urban neighborhood that he says city leaders originally targeted for low-income housing. Included also was the pastor's concern that the mosque would be a potential recruiting location for possible future terrorists.
But according to Dr. Dozier, there was much left out of the interview. "I thought there were more crucial things that I said in [the interview] that were not aired," he says. For example, he explains, comments that specifically outlined biblical reasons for his opposition to Islam.
"I said that Jesus Christ is the only Way," says the pastor. "I quoted the verse there [John 14:6] ... Therefore one cannot be saved outside of Jesus Christ. I said that Islam cannot get one to heaven." And inclusion of that statement, he says, would have explained another unaired statement -- that President Bush and his administration need to stop referring to the "war with terrorists" and, instead, call it what it is: a war with Islamic fascism...
Click here for the full story! (may need to disable pop-up blocker)
By Ed Thomas
January 9, 2007
(AgapePress) - A south Florida pastor whose views on Islam were critiqued on a CNN program examining racism and intolerance in America says several crucial points were left out of the airing of interview segments with him for the program.
Worldwide Christian Center pastor Dr. O'Neal Dozier was featured on a segment of Paula Zahn's nightly show last week because of his highly publicized grassroots efforts to keep a mosque out of a Northwest Pompano Beach neighborhood. A news story about him featured his opposition to the Islamic religion as a cult, and the city's approval of a mosque in an urban neighborhood that he says city leaders originally targeted for low-income housing. Included also was the pastor's concern that the mosque would be a potential recruiting location for possible future terrorists.
But according to Dr. Dozier, there was much left out of the interview. "I thought there were more crucial things that I said in [the interview] that were not aired," he says. For example, he explains, comments that specifically outlined biblical reasons for his opposition to Islam.
"I said that Jesus Christ is the only Way," says the pastor. "I quoted the verse there [John 14:6] ... Therefore one cannot be saved outside of Jesus Christ. I said that Islam cannot get one to heaven." And inclusion of that statement, he says, would have explained another unaired statement -- that President Bush and his administration need to stop referring to the "war with terrorists" and, instead, call it what it is: a war with Islamic fascism...
Click here for the full story! (may need to disable pop-up blocker)
Indiana House Opened 2007 Session With a Carefully Crafted Prayer:
Commentary & News Briefs
January 9, 2007
Compiled by Jody Brown
...The Indiana House has opened its 2007 session with an official prayer that was carefully crafted so as not to violate a federal judge's ban on sectarian invocations. The brief prayer by new House Speaker Patrick Bauer was directed to "almighty God" but contained no specific references to Christianity. Judge David Hamilton ruled in November 2005 that official House prayers that mentioned Jesus Christ or used terms such as "Savior" amounted to state endorsement of a religion. That case is now on appeal before the Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago. State Representative Brian Bosma, who was speaker at the time of the ruling, has argued that Hamilton's ruling is unconstitutional because it blocks the free exercise of religion. [AP]
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/1/afa/92007h.asp
January 9, 2007
Compiled by Jody Brown
...The Indiana House has opened its 2007 session with an official prayer that was carefully crafted so as not to violate a federal judge's ban on sectarian invocations. The brief prayer by new House Speaker Patrick Bauer was directed to "almighty God" but contained no specific references to Christianity. Judge David Hamilton ruled in November 2005 that official House prayers that mentioned Jesus Christ or used terms such as "Savior" amounted to state endorsement of a religion. That case is now on appeal before the Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago. State Representative Brian Bosma, who was speaker at the time of the ruling, has argued that Hamilton's ruling is unconstitutional because it blocks the free exercise of religion. [AP]
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/1/afa/92007h.asp
CHRISTIAN WORLD NEWS: Religion Roundup
Religion Roundup:
Christians Hail Report of New Stem Cell Source...
Indiana House Opens with Carefully Crafted Prayer...
New Church Conducting Bible-Reading Marathon...
Rev. Mohler Released from Intensive Care...
Church Members Send Bad Habits Up in Smoke...
City to Celebrate Religious Freedom Anniversary...
Pope Reviews World Trouble Spots...
Another Polish Cleric Resigns over Communist Police Links...
Hindu Holy Men Protest Pollution in River...
Click here for the full stories! (may need to disable pop-up blocker)
Christians Hail Report of New Stem Cell Source...
Indiana House Opens with Carefully Crafted Prayer...
New Church Conducting Bible-Reading Marathon...
Rev. Mohler Released from Intensive Care...
Church Members Send Bad Habits Up in Smoke...
City to Celebrate Religious Freedom Anniversary...
Pope Reviews World Trouble Spots...
Another Polish Cleric Resigns over Communist Police Links...
Hindu Holy Men Protest Pollution in River...
Click here for the full stories! (may need to disable pop-up blocker)
50 Militants Said Killed in Iraq Battle
Jan 9, 9:13 AM (ET)
By LAUREN FRAYER
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - U.S. and Iraqi soldiers, backed by American warplanes, battled suspected insurgents for hours Tuesday in central Baghdad, and 50 militant fighters were killed, the Defense Ministry said.
Elsewhere, a cargo plane carrying Turkish construction workers crashed during landing at an airport near Baghdad, killing 30 people and injuring two, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said. Initial reports indicated the plane crashed due to bad weather and heavy fog, a Foreign Ministry official said on condition of anonymity because an official announcement had not yet been authorized.
U.S. helicopters circled above the Haifa Street area where the battle took place, and witnesses said they had seen the aircraft firing into the combat zone. Explosions rang out across the area, just north of the heavily fortified Green Zone.
Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Shaker, a ministry spokesman, said 21 militants were captured, including seven foreign Arabs - including three Syrians - and one Sudanese.
Police said the clashes began when gunmen attacked Iraqi army checkpoints, and that Iraqi soldiers called for U.S. military help.
Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said Iraqi forces had decided to wipe out "terrorist hide-outs" in the area once and for all. "God willing, Haifa Street will never threaten the Iraqi people again," he said.
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By LAUREN FRAYER
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - U.S. and Iraqi soldiers, backed by American warplanes, battled suspected insurgents for hours Tuesday in central Baghdad, and 50 militant fighters were killed, the Defense Ministry said.
Elsewhere, a cargo plane carrying Turkish construction workers crashed during landing at an airport near Baghdad, killing 30 people and injuring two, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said. Initial reports indicated the plane crashed due to bad weather and heavy fog, a Foreign Ministry official said on condition of anonymity because an official announcement had not yet been authorized.
U.S. helicopters circled above the Haifa Street area where the battle took place, and witnesses said they had seen the aircraft firing into the combat zone. Explosions rang out across the area, just north of the heavily fortified Green Zone.
Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Shaker, a ministry spokesman, said 21 militants were captured, including seven foreign Arabs - including three Syrians - and one Sudanese.
Police said the clashes began when gunmen attacked Iraqi army checkpoints, and that Iraqi soldiers called for U.S. military help.
Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said Iraqi forces had decided to wipe out "terrorist hide-outs" in the area once and for all. "God willing, Haifa Street will never threaten the Iraqi people again," he said.
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U.S. Launches New Attacks in Somalia
Jan 9, 10:03 AM (ET)
By MOHAMED OLAD HASSAN
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) - U.S. helicopter gunships launched new attacks Tuesday against suspected al-Qaida members, a Somali official said, a day after forces launched airstrikes in the first offensive in the African country since 18 U.S. troops were killed there in 1993.
Monday's attack was the first overt military action by the U.S. in Somalia since it led a U.N. force in the 1990s that intervened in Somalia in an effort to fight famine. The mission led to clashes between U.N. forces and Somali warlords, including the "Black Hawk Down" battle that left 18 U.S. servicemen dead.
Helicopter gunships launched new attacks Tuesday near the scene of a U.S. airstrike in the village of Hayi, although it was not clear if they were American or Ethiopian aircraft, and it was not known if there were any casualties.
Two helicopters "fired several rockets toward the road that leads to the Kenyan border," said Ali Seed Yusuf, a resident of the town of Afmadow in southern Somalia.
The aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower arrived off Somalia's coast and launched intelligence-gathering missions over Somalia, the military said. Three other U.S. warships are conducting anti-terror operations off the Somali coast.
U.S. warships have been seeking to capture al-Qaida members thought to be fleeing Somalia after Ethiopia invaded Dec. 24 in support of the government and drove the Islamic militia out of the capital and toward the Kenyan border.
The White House would not confirm the attack, nor would the Pentagon.
But a U.S. government official said at least one AC-130 gunship was used. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the operation's sensitivity.
AC-130 gunships have elaborate sensors that can go after targets day or night. They are operated by the Special Operations Command and have been used heavily against the Taliban in Afghanistan...
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By MOHAMED OLAD HASSAN
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) - U.S. helicopter gunships launched new attacks Tuesday against suspected al-Qaida members, a Somali official said, a day after forces launched airstrikes in the first offensive in the African country since 18 U.S. troops were killed there in 1993.
Monday's attack was the first overt military action by the U.S. in Somalia since it led a U.N. force in the 1990s that intervened in Somalia in an effort to fight famine. The mission led to clashes between U.N. forces and Somali warlords, including the "Black Hawk Down" battle that left 18 U.S. servicemen dead.
Helicopter gunships launched new attacks Tuesday near the scene of a U.S. airstrike in the village of Hayi, although it was not clear if they were American or Ethiopian aircraft, and it was not known if there were any casualties.
Two helicopters "fired several rockets toward the road that leads to the Kenyan border," said Ali Seed Yusuf, a resident of the town of Afmadow in southern Somalia.
The aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower arrived off Somalia's coast and launched intelligence-gathering missions over Somalia, the military said. Three other U.S. warships are conducting anti-terror operations off the Somali coast.
U.S. warships have been seeking to capture al-Qaida members thought to be fleeing Somalia after Ethiopia invaded Dec. 24 in support of the government and drove the Islamic militia out of the capital and toward the Kenyan border.
The White House would not confirm the attack, nor would the Pentagon.
But a U.S. government official said at least one AC-130 gunship was used. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the operation's sensitivity.
AC-130 gunships have elaborate sensors that can go after targets day or night. They are operated by the Special Operations Command and have been used heavily against the Taliban in Afghanistan...
Click here for the full story! (may need to disable pop-up blocker)
Another North Korea nuclear test likely: U.S. general
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea is likely to test another nuclear device, the commander of U.S. military in South Korea said on Tuesday, but he declined to comment on reports that an explosion was imminent.
South Korean officials have said activity had been spotted near a suspected nuclear test site in North Korea but there was no evidence to suggest Pyongyang was about to test again. The North conducted its first test in October.
"There is no reason to believe that at some time in the future, when it serves their purposes, that they won't test another one," General B.B. Bell told a news conference.
"So I suspect some day they will," Bell said.
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South Korean officials have said activity had been spotted near a suspected nuclear test site in North Korea but there was no evidence to suggest Pyongyang was about to test again. The North conducted its first test in October.
"There is no reason to believe that at some time in the future, when it serves their purposes, that they won't test another one," General B.B. Bell told a news conference.
"So I suspect some day they will," Bell said.
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U.S. nuclear sub collides with ship
U.S. nuclear sub collides with ship
American vessel reportedly strikes Japanese commercial fishing craft
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
USS Newport News (file photo)
A U.S. nuclear-powered submarine has collided with a Japanese commercial fishing vessel in the Arabian Sea, according to reports.
Tokyo's Foreign Ministry received the report from U.S. officials, and the Pentagon has confirmed the incident.
The fast-attack USS Newport News was surfacing in the Arabian Sea south of the Straits of Hormuz when it hit the Japanese ship, a Navy official told CNN...
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American vessel reportedly strikes Japanese commercial fishing craft
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
USS Newport News (file photo)
A U.S. nuclear-powered submarine has collided with a Japanese commercial fishing vessel in the Arabian Sea, according to reports.
Tokyo's Foreign Ministry received the report from U.S. officials, and the Pentagon has confirmed the incident.
The fast-attack USS Newport News was surfacing in the Arabian Sea south of the Straits of Hormuz when it hit the Japanese ship, a Navy official told CNN...
Click here for the full story! (may need to disable pop-up blocker)
Hamas: We'll obtain U.S. money transfer
Hamas: We'll obtain U.S. money transfer
Washington providing $86.4 million to bolster Abbas security forces
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Aaron Klein
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
JERUSALEM – A portion of $86.4 million in aid the United States pledged last week to bolster security forces affiliated with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party will fall into the hands of the Hamas terror group, Hamas officials told WND.
Also, a leader of the Popular Resistance Committees, a terror group allied with Hamas, told WND his organization is planning attacks against Israel using weapons recently transferred to Fatah by the U.S. and Egypt.
The Popular Resistance Committees leader said attacks using the foreign weapons are meant "to prove the Zionist-American conspiracy to bolster forces against us won't work."
"We will obtain the U.S. weapons," the Committees leader said.
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Washington providing $86.4 million to bolster Abbas security forces
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Aaron Klein
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
JERUSALEM – A portion of $86.4 million in aid the United States pledged last week to bolster security forces affiliated with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party will fall into the hands of the Hamas terror group, Hamas officials told WND.
Also, a leader of the Popular Resistance Committees, a terror group allied with Hamas, told WND his organization is planning attacks against Israel using weapons recently transferred to Fatah by the U.S. and Egypt.
The Popular Resistance Committees leader said attacks using the foreign weapons are meant "to prove the Zionist-American conspiracy to bolster forces against us won't work."
"We will obtain the U.S. weapons," the Committees leader said.
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Muslim seminar pushes for Islamic state
Local push for Islamic state
Barney Zwartz
January 9, 2007
AN ULTRA-radical Muslim group banned in many countries will promote support for an Islamic superstate in a seminar in Australia this month.
Christian critics claim that the seminar, to be conducted by the group Hizb ut-Tahrir, will be a recruiting ground for extremists.
Hizb ut-Tahrir believes that the caliphate — a part of the world under Muslim rule that, at its peak, ran from Spain to Iran and beyond — is about to be re-established.
Hizb ut-Tahrir is banned in Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, Russia and most Muslim countries in the Middle East because of alleged links to terrorism, including the bombers behind the 2005 London attacks.
It is not banned in Australia but is controversial because it opposes democracy and Muslim integration, has tried to recruit young Muslims and ran a lecture last year titled "Israel is an illegal state that Muslims will never accept"...
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Barney Zwartz
January 9, 2007
AN ULTRA-radical Muslim group banned in many countries will promote support for an Islamic superstate in a seminar in Australia this month.
Christian critics claim that the seminar, to be conducted by the group Hizb ut-Tahrir, will be a recruiting ground for extremists.
Hizb ut-Tahrir believes that the caliphate — a part of the world under Muslim rule that, at its peak, ran from Spain to Iran and beyond — is about to be re-established.
Hizb ut-Tahrir is banned in Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, Russia and most Muslim countries in the Middle East because of alleged links to terrorism, including the bombers behind the 2005 London attacks.
It is not banned in Australia but is controversial because it opposes democracy and Muslim integration, has tried to recruit young Muslims and ran a lecture last year titled "Israel is an illegal state that Muslims will never accept"...
Click here for the full story! (may need to disable pop-up blocker)
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