Huckabee jams on Leno show
http://www.reuters.com/article/wtMostRead/idUSN0261705020080103?pageNumber=3&virtualBrandChannel=0&sp=true
BURBANK, California - Republican Mike Huckabee played some electric bass guitar with TV host Jay Leno's band on Wednesday, grabbing a shot of national media exposure on the eve of Iowa political caucuses that launch the U.S. presidential selection process.
The former Arkansas governor and Southern Baptist minister flew from the snowy Midwest to sunny California to appear on the first new broadcast of NBC's "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" since the Hollywood writers' strike forced the program into reruns on November 5.
In a brief detour from the hurly-burly of campaign stops through Iowa's chilly community halls, the appearance with Leno gave Huckabee a chance to showcase his folksy humor, populist political message and personal story in a relaxed, casual setting on national TV.
"People are looking for a presidential candidate who reminds them more of the guy they work with rather than the guy that laid them off. I think that's part of what's going on right now," Huckabee said when Leno asked about his rapid rise from a second-tier candidate to an Iowa front-runner.
Leno joked that Huckabee's place in the "top tier" of candidates "means during the debates he no longer has to wear a name tag."
Returning from a commercial break, the camera caught Huckabee, who says he began studying guitar at age 11, playing a blues riff on electric bass as he sat in with "The Tonight Show" orchestra.
"Nice job," Leno said.
His performance borrowed a page from another former Arkansas governor from the town of Hope -- Bill Clinton, who famously played "Heartbreak Hotel" on the saxophone on "The Arsenio Hall Show" in 1992. That appearance is widely seen as a key moment in Clinton's successful bid for the White House.
Huckabee's "Tonight Show" moment was not entirely free of stress, however.
The politician found himself caught in the awkward position of crossing picket lines to come on Leno's show while expressing support for striking writers, whose contract talks with major studios collapsed in acrimony last month.
Campaign spokeswoman Kirsten Fedewa said Huckabee "would only agree to join Jay, an active member of the Writers Guild, for the taping after he was assured that no replacement writers were being used in the show's production."
She added: "Governor Huckabee believes that the writers deserve to be fairly compensated" and was glad Leno had put his production crew back to work.
Huckabee said earlier that he did not think he would be crossing picket lines because he understood the writers had agreed to allow broadcasts of the late-night TV talk shows.
Leno's CBS rival, David Letterman, whose production company produces his own show, did reach a deal with the Writers Guild of America allowing him to return with his writing team and the union's blessing. But Leno and other late-night stars have no such agreement. The WGA, which represents the strikers, issued a statement saying it was "disappointed" in Huckabee's move.
Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton also jumped into the late-night TV game, appearing via satellite from Iowa to introduce Letterman's "Late Show."
"Dave has been off the air for eight long weeks because of the writers strike," Clinton said, standing in front of campaign posters. "Tonight he's back. Oh well, all good things must come to an end."
Huckabee's detour to California was an unusual move in the final hours before the important Iowa caucuses, but some analysts thought the exposure on Leno could pay big dividends.
Polls show a close race between Huckabee and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who has pumped much effort and millions of dollars into the state.
A Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll released on Wednesday showed Huckabee's lead over Romney sliced to 2 points, 28 percent to 26 percent, within the statistical margin of error.
Against all odds
http://www.stangoodenough.com/?p=97
“O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion, get thee up on a high mountain; O thou that tellest good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, “Behold, your God!” (Isaiah 40:9 ASV)
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!” (Isaiah 52:7 NKJV)
In 2008, Israel will celebrate the 60th Anniversary of its miraculous rebirth. That it has survived to reach this year must really stick in the craw of the devil and of all those who have sought to be useful to him in trying to bring about the destruction of the Jewish state.
Some people think Israel is spelled I-S-R-A-E-L and Jew is spelled J-E-W.
They’d be wrong on both counts. Both “Israel” and “Jew” are spelled: M-I-R-A-C-L-E.
There is no getting away from it. That the Jews still exist as a nation; that Israel still exists as a state flies in the face of all probability.
They survive against all the odds.
Take the Jews:
Egypt, Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome, the Crusades, the blood libels, the expulsions, the pogroms, the Inquisition, the Holocaust – the physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob survived them all. And it’s not only that millions of Jews survived, but that they survived as a nation, intact for centuries, scattered across the face of the earth, without the physical borders of their ancient homeland to secure them and keep them together.
Two thousand years ago they were driven out of their land and chased by the sword, the plague, hatred and prejudice into a long, dark tunnel of relentless tribulation without any apparent light at the end to give them hope.
Sixty years ago they emerged, only a remnant, but a remnant clinging fiercely and resolutely to the Jewishness which gentile nation after gentile nation, preacher after preacher and pope after pope had sought to sever them from. The Jews had survived. They had their faith, their language and their homeland back again.
And take Israel:
With the resurrection of their national homeland the world’s Jews finally had a haven state to which they could return, in which they could gather, regroup, consolidate their nationhood and defend themselves.
Satan had frantically tried to foil Israel’s rebirth, using the massive might of the British Empire to prevent the Jews from returning home, while setting up Hitler to exterminate them in the gas chambers of the Third Reich.
He failed, but he did not give up.
His efforts to wipe out the Jews, now conveniently gathered together in one land, have continued around the clock from within minutes of David Ben Gurion reading out Israel’s Declaration of Independence in Tel Aviv on May 15, 1948 to the present day.
Since being born out of the ashes of Auschwitz and in the crucible of its self-defense War of Independence in which it was massively outnumbered and overwhelmingly outgunned, Israel went on to experience miracle after miracle that ensured its could see its 10th, 20th, 30th, 40th and 50th birthdays.
Israel survived the Sinai Campaign of 1956, the Six Day War of 1967, the Yom Kippur War of 1973, the Peace for Galilee (First Lebanon) War of 1982; the First Gulf War of 1991 and the Second Lebanon War of 2006. And between all these wars it endured unrelenting Arab terrorism from the PLO fedayeen out of Gaza, Jordan and Lebanon, the Iranian-created Hizb’allah in Lebanon, the homegrown and imported “Palestinians” in the first and second intifadas, Fatah, Hamas, the PFLP, Palestine Islamic Jihad – the list of enemies goes on and on. Israel has survived them all.
In 2006, a Christian Californian filmmaker produced the 13-part docudrama series, “Against All Odds.” It has been screened nationwide in the United States on the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) and according to the website at http://www.againstalloddstv.com/index2.php will soon be screened by PBS.
Bill McKay, the producer, told me why he made the series:
Since, the 6 Day War, the world’s press has taken a decidedly pro Arab position. Much of what is written in the press and the images seen on TV are positioned to influence public opinion against the right of the Jew to live in peace in the land of their fathers. Thus, I thought it was time to tell the Israeli story, not from point - counter point position, but from the heart to the heart. This is why we are bringing to life the miracles of modern Israel.
We have heard from Orthodox Jews to Bible believing Christians…who are genuinely moved by the reality that the God of the Old Testament is performing the same miracles to keep Israel alive and well.
Each gripping episode of “Against All Odds” begins with the words:
“In the year 70 AD, Roman legions sacked and burned Jerusalem. Israel would remain a nation in exile for nearly 2000 years. But in the aftermath of World War Two the People of the Book returned home. Israel’s rebirth and survival in the 20th Century has often been called a miracle. Those who were there cite their own experiences as proof… These are their stories.”
Investigative journalist Michael Greenspan describes some of the thoughts that went through his mind when McKay asked him to consider presenting the series.
“A production company in LA was doing a film about unexplainable phenomena during Israel’s wars. Some of the stories were actually being called “miracles.” They wanted to know if I was interested. … Personally I find it hard to believe in miracles. …
“Yet I couldn’t escape the possibility that this assignment might help me explain how my people managed to survive two thousand years of exile, and then build a nation out of almost nothing. If there are miracles, Israel itself has to be one.
“Born out of the ashes of the Holocaust, it was just one day old when it was attacked by 12 Arab armies that the world fully expected would annihilate it. Israel didn’t even have an army. There was one tank and five cannon with which to fight back an armada against them. And yet, Israel won. How?
“Every time Israel has been attacked, Pentagon and Kremlin leaders have declared defeat as inevitable. In 1973, the odds of surviving were so impossible Prime Minister Golda Meir considered suicide. The cabinet drew up plans for a government in exile. Complete annihilation was a certainty. … The military experts at WestPoint won’t study Israel’s wars, because the outcomes are too impossible.
“How did Hebrew become the only dead language to be revived after 2000 years? Why would millions of people from around the world leave their homes and move to a desert wasteland to build new lives for themselves. How did these people manage to turn a land [that was] more than 80 percent desert into one of the largest food and flower exporters in the world? Why have incredible achievements in science, medicine and new technologies happened here in greater concentration than anywhere else?
There are no logical answers. Some say these things can only be explained as miracles. But are they? I decided to take the assignment.”
In a powerful, moving and effective way, “Against All Odds” proclaims loudly to the people of Israel: Behold your God.
It is He who has brought them back home, and it is He who has promised to keep them in their land even if the whole world musters itself together to get them out.
In 2008, along with Israel, all those who love the God of this ancient and modern land and its modern and ancient people, will rejoice at the double miracle of their survival. And we will declare our faith in the glorious future and hope that lies ahead for them.
Am Yisrael Chai! Hallelujah!
Olmert sees 'hand of God' in 'peace' process
http://www.jnewswire.com/article/2286
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Monday he believes he can almost see "the hand of God" in the coming together of purportedly Israel-friendly countries which are working to create a Palestinian state on the historical homeland of the Jewish people.
In an exclusive interview timed to coincide with the start of 2008, Olmert told The Jerusalem Post he believed the current constellation of key international personalities who were "favorably disposed" to Israel created "comfortable conditions" for negotiations that may not exist again in the future.
The prime minister, a secular Jew, said it is "a coincidence that is almost 'the hand of God' that Bush is president of the United States, that Nicolas Sarkozy is the president of France, that Angela Merkel is the chancellor of Germany, that Gordon Brown is the prime minister of England and that the special envoy to the Middle East is Tony Blair."
"What possible combination could be more comfortable for the State of Israel?"
Olmert maintained that it was imperative that Israel make every effort towards progress in the land-for-peace process as long as this lineup of friendly faces remains in place.
It is an historical irony that Israel-friendly world leaders have been more successful in their push for the division of Eretz Yisrael (the Land of Israel)than have outspokenly antagonistic prime ministers and presidents.
Observers have noted that Israel's tendency towards dependancy on other countries - especially the United States - and the readiness of its leaders to be pressured as they pursue foreign favor has made the Jewish state exceptionally vulnerable to manipulation.
There is a saying in Israel, that after centuries of antisemitism and decades of non-stop war and terrorism, the nation is desperate enough to "sell its soul to the devil" for peace.
'Weak' Olmert, Abbas will welcome Bush
http://www.jnewswire.com/article/2287
When George W. Bush makes his first visit as president to Israel next week, the American will be hosted by politically weak Israeli and "Palestinian" leaders.
Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestine Liberation Organization/Palestinian Authority chairman, has lost any ability he may have once had to exercise control over his own people, with inter-Arab violence claiming at least eight "Palestinian" lives in Hamas-Fatah clashes in Gaza Tuesday.
This means that Abbas cannot commit himself to ensuring the maintenance of security Israel is looking for before it will be willing to make more concessions to the PA.
The unpopular Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is also believed to lack the political capital to make good on any promises he might be tempted to make to please Bush.
Analysts in Israel Tuesday were wondering just what the American president will accomplish on his January 9 to 11 visit.
Bush and his secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, are understood to have pinned a great deal of hope on achieving some tangible progress in the land-for-peace process before the end of the year.
Arab-on-Arab violence in Gaza threatens Bush visit
http://www.jnewswire.com/article/2288
At least eight Palestinian Arabs were killed in the Gaza Strip on the last day of 2007 and the first day of 2008 as tensions between the controlling Hamas terrorist organization and the ousted Fatah terrorist organization exploded once again.
The violence followed celebrations commemorating the 43rd anniversary of the founding of the PLO's Fatah wing.
Fatah, under the chairmanship of Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas, was ousted from power in Gaza in a Hamas coup last June.
Political commentators wondered Tuesday whether the internecine fighting would put US President George W. Bush's January 9 visit to Israel at risk.
Bible Controversy Reflects Grim Reality of Christian Persecution in China
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion06732.shtml
SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich., (christiansunite.com) -- As China prepares to host the 2008 Olympic Games, a recent debate of whether athletes will have personal access to Bibles during their stay in Beijing sparked international controversy.
An announcement stated that the country intended to ban Bibles for security reasons, as well as all religious symbols in the Olympic Village -- a report that came on the heels of China's official pledge to encourage religion during the 2008 Games.
The news outraged human rights groups as well as U.S. politicians, including Senator Lindsey Graham, who contacted the Chinese ambassador for an explanation of the Bible ban, and House Representative Thaddeus McCotter, who introduced a resolution condemning the attack on Christianity.
But representatives from China have dismissed the report as an unfounded rumor, claiming that the government has not imposed any such rule and will guarantee religious freedom during the Olympic Games.
While the U.S. Olympic Committee has received confirmation that visiting athletes, journalists and tourists will in fact be allowed to bring Bibles into Beijing for personal use, the mere possibility of the ban's existence has been seen as yet another attempt by the Chinese government to suppress religious freedom within its borders, despite its repeated claims to the contrary.
Although the "underground" church in China has grown by the millions in recent years, the printing and distribution of Bibles in the communist nation remains severely restricted. Reports also indicate that more than 100 foreign Christians have recently been expelled from the country in a 90-day period -- one of the government's largest assaults on Christianity since 1954.
Christian Freedom International (CFI), a Michigan- based nonprofit organization dedicated to assisting persecuted Christians, is encouraging all believers to pray for the persecuted church in China.
As the international community keeps a watchful eye on a country still defending itself against a long history of religious and human rights abuses, even as it prepares to welcome the world to the 2008 Olympic Games, CFI is challenging Christians everywhere to remember those in China who routinely suffer harassment, torture and even martyrdom for their faith.
Under the direction of CFI president Jim Jacobson, a former White House policy analyst, CFI has "smuggled" thousands of Bibles into China since 1996. But with less than half of all Chinese Christians currently owning a copy of the Bible, and as the country's "underground" church continues to grow in record numbers, the demand for Bibles remains overwhelming.
To learn more about CFI's Bible deliveries in China, or to learn more about Christian persecution worldwide, visit www.christianfreedom.com.
Yoga and Kung Fu Take On Terrorism
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,319570,00.html
Jackie Chan is in, Jack Bauer is out — at least as far as joint counterterrorism training between India and China is concerned.
The world’s two largest armies, China and India, exchanged training in kung fu and yoga last week in their first joint counterterrorism exercise, codenamed "Hand in Hand 2007."
The exercise, a major step in military cooperation between the two neighbors after 45 years of tension along the Himalayan frontier, was conducted in China’s southwestern Yunnan province, where both armies displayed their cutting-edge training.
Chinese soldiers from the People's Liberation Army presented a "Hard Qigong," a form of deep-breathing training.
It’s far more complicated than a Lamaze class. For the Chinese soldiers, it involves standing with bricks on their heads while other soldiers take a sledgehammer and smash the bricks.
Qigong also includes withstanding aggressive attacks by bricks and wooden sticks, being lifted aloft with sharpened spears and splintering wooden blocks with bare hands. The Chinese soldiers' astounding feats of strength and skill ended in a crescendo of incredible kung fu sequences.
Perhaps the exercise should have been more aptly codenamed "Hand to Hand," since the Chinese soldiers brought more than their Qigong scene stealers; they also brought some Bruce Lee-esque know-how. Martial arts are taught to the Indian army, but the Chinese place more emphasis on it.
The Indian army instructors trained the Chinese soldiers in the pranayama and asanas forms of yoga, believed to dramatically improve physical and psychological performance. The exercises are designed to relieve mental stress, build stamina and enhance immunity.
No doubt this immunity training also is effective against biological and chemical terrorism; if not, they could always challenge the terrorists to a stretch-off.
Reports indicate that the yoga was difficult at first for the Chinese soldiers, because they were not flexible. To make matters worse, some overzealous Chinese soldiers were stretching too quickly and were "gently" warned by the yoga instructors to do it gradually or risk pulling a muscle.
For the Chinese, "explosive hot potato" was much easier than stretching. As part of the expertise-sharing, the Chinese soldiers demonstrated their prowess by igniting explosives and passing them from soldier to soldier, with the last one ditching the device before it detonated.
It wasn’t all stretching and sledgehammers, though. The psychological and tactical training traditionally associated with counterterrorism also was part of the exercise. The soldiers tackled physical challenges in the extreme high altitude and cold weather of the mountains. Shooting skills, room-clearing and hostage rescue training also were conducted.
Each country dedicated a company of approximately 100 men, including officers. The Indians contributed personal weapons, light machine guns and mortars, while the Chinese provided tanks, UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) and helicopter gunships.
Indian troops were selected for their valuable experience in fighting insurgencies in northeastern India and Indian-administered Kashmir and, therefore, had relevant counter-insurgency expertise to share beyond the yoga.
On Sunday the Indian soldiers demonstrated a "room intervention" exercise that involved rescuing hostages from a building after neutralizing "terrorists." Buildings were stormed, grenades were lobbed and rooms were cleared under "terrorist" fire. Movements and positioning for operations were emphasized for the benefit of the PLA soldiers.
Contests of volleyball, basketball and tug-of-war rounded out the training each day.
The exercise concluded with a three-hour scenario in which 56 international terrorists had established a training base on the border between the two countries and taken hostages.
Chinese T-26 tanks fired on the "terrorist camp," with M17 helicopters providing air cover and further support from self-propelled artillery. Under the command of an Indian major and his Chinese counterpart, the "terrorists" were eliminated in a joint operation of soldiers.
The training is being carried out to implement the provisions of the May 29, 2006, Memorandum of Understanding for Exchanges and Cooperation in the Field of Defense between the defense ministries of China and India. The improving diplomatic relations between the two countries was critical to the exercise going live.
China is not the only country on India’s military dance card. The U.S. has been building military ties with India by running a number of joint exercises, culminating most recently in the large-scale Bay of Bengal exercise in 2007.
"Hand in Hand 2007" is the latest stage of China’s campaign to build regional military relationships. Only a few months ago, China actively cemented military ties with Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan in the joint counterterrorism military exercise involving 4,000 troops, the largest of its kind in the regional Shanghai Cooperation Organization framework. Other countries not exactly on BFF status with the U.S., such as Iran, were invited to that last show. The U.S. was not.
According to the Chinese Ministry of National Defense, the exercise was designed to deter what China refers to as the "three evil forces," separatists, extremists and terrorists. Provided the People's Liberation Army and the U.S. agree on who falls within the "three evil forces" category, building counterterrorism capability is good news.
And reducing tensions on the Indo-Chinese border, the site of many bloody skirmishes, also certainly is good news. But the question remains: Does the U.S. need to recruit Madonna for counterterrorism Ashtanga training to compete for partners in the region?
Six Christians dead, 400 houses burnt in eastern India
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/six.christians.dead.400.houses.burnt.in.eastern.india/15893.htm
The US-based human rights group, International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that state police and federal armed forces in eastern India have failed to contain anti-Christian violence that began on Christmas Eve and has killed at least six Christians in Orissa state.
A local Christian told ICC on condition of anonymity that on the night of 28 December, 600 Christians had to hide in a Baptist church in Udaigiri village in the Mallikapur area of the Kandhamal district, as they anticipated attacks on their homes.
“Extremists tried to attack them during the night, but they were not more in number than the Christians, who could scare them away,” added the source.
According to a fact-finding team led by Dr John Dayal, Secretary General of the All India Christian Council (AICC), six bodies of Christians were found, and 400 Christian homes and 60 churches were burnt down in the last six days in Baliguda Block of Kandhamal district.
“Young and healthy Christians have left their villages to flee for their lives, children, women, old and sick, who could not flee for their lives, are in great danger of their lives,” Dayal said in a statement.
“Remnants are starving for the last four days, and sick are suffering without medical attention. They are being forced to convert to Hinduism if they are to get food, medical attention and shelter, and their heads are [shaved],” Dayal quoted a victim as saying.
Meanwhile, The Indian Express newspaper reported that on December 22, local Christian leaders met the District Collector (administrative in-charge) and the superintendent of police, seeking protection.
“They handed over a letter which said they felt ‘insecure and paralysed’ and requested that their ‘life and day-to-day livelihood should be ensured at least from 24th to 26th of December’,” it said.
However, the administration did not heed the cry of the Christians.
“The fundamental rights provided by the Indian Constitution to protect lives has failed to reach the minority Christians in the state of Orissa. State security forces have been at the hands of guns and fundamentalists. No complaint from victims and Christian individuals has been filed by any police station,” said Dayal.
Over 700 Indian Christians move to relief camps to avoid attacks
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/over.700.indian.christians.move.to.relief.camps.to.avoid.attacks/15934.htm
Over 700 Christians in India have taken shelter in government-run relief camps, fearing more attacks by Hindu extremist groups.
Authorities in Orissa state have been providing food, medicine and security to Christians who moved into the four relief camps on Friday in the rural district of Kandhamal in eastern Orissa state, according to Pradeep Kapoor, the inspector-general of police.
"Nearly 800 police and paramilitary forces were trying to restore calm,” Kapoor said.
”No fresh incidents of violence were reported Saturday for a second day in Kandhamal, nearly 200 kilometers (125 miles) west of Bhubaneshwar, the capital of Orissa state," he added.
Meanwhile, the state government has transferred the top district administrator, Bhabagrahi Mohapatra, for failing to stop the violence that broke out Christmas eve and carried over the several days following.
According to a national fact-finding team of six led by Dr John Dayal, secretary general of All India Christian Council, close to 60 churches have been damaged and desecrated as a result of the attacks reportedly led by Hindu activists.
”Young and healthy Christians have left their villages to flee for their lives, children, women, old and sick, who could not flee for their lives, are in great danger,” reported Dayal, who is also a member of National Integration Council and president of All India Catholic Union.
”Those who are left have been starving for last four days, and the sick are suffering without medical attention.”
A victim reportedly told the team that they were forced to convert to Hinduism in order to get food, medical attention and shelter.
”The fundamental rights provided by Indian Constitution to provide security protection has failed to reach the minority Christians in the state of Orissa,” stated Dayal.
A memorandum was submitted to Justice Shri Rajendra Babu, chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, and the Christian delegation was scheduled to meet him on New Year's Eve to set up a special enquiry into the violence.
Furthermore, Bangalore-based Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) on Sunday appealed to the Shankaracharya (Hindu monastery head) of Puri, Swami Nischalananda Saraswati, to call upon the people in Orissa to restore peace in the riot-torn Kandhamal district.
"We draw attention of his highness Shankaracharya of Govardhan peeth towards the Kandhamal incident,” GCIC stated. “The Christians are sure that Shankaracharyaji will rise up to the occasion and ask his fellowmen to shun violence."
Last Monday, the day before Christmas, a mob allegedly led by activists affiliated with the Visva Hindu Parisad (World Hindu Council) had reportedly killed at least two and damaged 12 churches in the Kandhamal district, where at least 100,000 of the 650,000 population are reportedly Christian.
All Catholic institutions in the area, including a convent and seminary, were attacked. Rioters also targeted two church-run hostels and high schools as well as a few shops managed by Christians in the small town of Bamunigam.
The violence continued through Friday, with arson attacks killing at least nine more Christians.
Tension reportedly continued to simmer in the riot-hit Kandhamal district as the world welcomed the New Year.
In Pakistan Churches are Bombed and Believers are Murdered, Tragically the State Favors the Perpetrators Over the Victims
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion06734.shtml
SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich., (christiansunite.com) -- The murder of Benazir Bhutto highlights Pakistan's position as the most dangerous nation on earth, says Jim Jacobson, head of Christian Freedom International. The country "is an unstable nuclear weapons state, infiltrated by terrorists and hostile to the West," he explains.
With Bhutto's death, the dream of a democratic Pakistan recedes even further into the future. The most America can hope for in the short term, warns Jacobson, is that "Pakistan not explode, spreading nuclear weapons and terrorists throughout South Asia and the Middle East."
Since 9/11, Washington has invested $10 billion in Islamabad, but appears to have received little in return. The country remains an economic and political wreck.
Even before Bhutto's assassination, Pakistan remained far from true democratic rule. Worse, the Pakistani military has little control over the provinces bordering Afghanistan, which shelter the Taliban and al-Qaeda forces, perhaps including Osama bin Laden.
However, the problems in Pakistan run even deeper. "Like so many Muslim states, Pakistan persecutes members of minority religious faiths," Jacobson explains.
The basic issue is not democracy, "but a tolerant culture willing to protect vulnerable groups and individual conscience," he says.
Respect for other faiths is the proverbial canary in the mine, the true test of whether a society is ready for democracy. By that standard Pakistan lags well behind.
The government routinely discriminates against Christians, Hindus, and others. Those who question Islam are imprisoned for blasphemy while Christian communities are denied essential services.
Moreover, observes Jacobson, "Violence against religious minorities is rife." Churches are bombed and believers are murdered. "Yet the state favors the perpetrators over the victims," explains Jacobson, rarely bringing anyone to justice.
Thus, it should come as no surprise that Pakistan is an inconsistent partner in the war on terrorism as well as the crusade for democracy. Explains Jacobson: "Pakistan simply does not have the basic social building blocks upon which a liberal and free society is built."
The U.S. has little choice but to deal with Pakistan, given its strategic position. However, the abominable murder of Benazir Bhutto demonstrates that policymakers must look beyond political and military considerations in dealing with Pakistan and similar states.
Jacobson concludes, "Unless Americans can encourage the development of the sort of civic institutions that we take for granted in the West, countries like Pakistan will remain violent, unstable, and dangerous."
For more information about Pakistan, visit www.christianfreedom.org
Pakistan turmoil presents growing danger for Christians - Release International
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/pakistan.turmoil.presents.growing.danger.for.christians.release.international/15908.htm
Life for Christians in Pakistan is set to become increasingly dangerous in the new year, following the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, warns Release International.
The past year has seen continuing violence against Christians as Pakistan struggled to contain Islamist extremism. The assassination of democracy campaigner Benazir Bhutto and the turmoil that has followed make it an even more dangerous place to be a Christian, the persecution watchdog warned.
Release International’s partners, Sharing Life Ministry Pakistan (SLMP), believes Islamist extremism is likely to increase in the country in 2008, especially in northern areas. At the same time, there will be growing pressure from radicals to advance Sharia – strict Islamic law.
Those radicals include the Taliban. The impact of growing extremism in the country can be seen in Swat district. Female teachers and students at all schools in this district of north-west Pakistan have been told to wear the burqa or risk death.
Swat's Executive District Officer has issued a notice requiring even Christian women and girls to put on full-body Islamic dress, according to the regional newspaper Daily Mashriq. The official said pressure from Taliban extremists had left him with no option.
"The situation is becoming increasingly dangerous," said a spokesman for Sharing Life Ministry Pakistan (SLMP). "Christians face many forms of persecution in Pakistan - false implication in blasphemy cases, attacks against churches, land grabbing, forced conversion, maltreatment of Christian prisoners, rape and sometimes killing. They don’t have the same rights as the Muslim majority."
Release International, which serves the persecuted church in 30 nations, is working with SLMP to provide pastoral and practical care to Christian prisoners, including those falsely accused under Pakistan’s notorious blasphemy laws.
"Please pray for the protection of SLMP team members," says Release International’s CEO Andy Dipper. "In the growing turmoil it is becoming increasingly difficult to address persecution. With the election imminent, pray also that the new government will give Christians and other minorities the same rights in law as the Muslim majority."
Through its international network of missions Release International serves persecuted Christians through its support of pastors, and Christian prisoners and their families, as well as by supplying Christian literature and Bibles, and working for justice.
International Pressure Mounts on Kenya to Resolve Violent Election Crisis
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,319423,00.html
NAIROBI, Kenya —
International pressure mounted Wednesday on Kenya's leaders to bring an end to postelection violence that has shaken the country and killed more than 275 people, including dozens burned alive as they sought refuge in a church.
The killing of up to 50 ethnic Kikuyus Tuesday as they sheltered in a church in the Rift Valley city of Eldoret fueled fears that ethnic conflicts were deepening in what has been one of Africa's most stable democracies.
The U.N. cited Kenyan police as saying 70,000 people had been displaced in five days of violence. Around 5,400 people also have fled to neighboring Uganda, said Musa Ecweru, that country's disaster preparedness minister. Several hundred people also have fled to Tanzania, officials there said.
Much of Nairobi was quiet and deserted Wednesday, though clashes continued in the city's giant Mathare slum.
Livingstone Wesonga said his wife lost their fifth child on Tuesday night after complications during the delivery. Vigilante groups roaming the streets kept the family penned in their home and no ambulance or doctor was willing or able to come.
Asked why he had not fled with his family, Wesonga said: "Where can I take them? Every place is not safe because this thing is spreading."
Government spokesman Alfred Mutua downplayed the violence, saying it had only affected about 3 percent of the country's 34 million people. "Kenya is not burning and not at the throes of any division," he said.
Mutua said the security forces had arrested 500 people since skirmishes began.
President Mwai Kibaki was inaugurated for a second term Sunday, but his rival Raila Odinga says the poll was rigged.
The head of the country's electoral commission, Samuel Kivuitu, said he had been pressured by both sides to announce the results quickly — and perhaps wrongly. The country's oldest newspaper, The Standard, on Wednesday quoted Kivuitu as saying, "I do not know whether Kibaki won the election."
In a joint statement, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Britain's Foreign Secretary David Miliband also said there were "independent reports of serious irregularities in the counting process."
The pair welcomed news the African Union would send its chief, Ghanaian President John Kufuor, to mediate the conflict. The AU's spokeswoman Habiba Mejri-Cheikh said Kufuor was expected in Kenya Wednesday, but Kufuor's press office said the leader had canceled the visit. They gave no explanation.
Rice and Miliband called "on all political leaders to engage in a spirit of compromise that puts the democratic interests of Kenya first."
"The immediate priority is to combine a sustained call from Kenya's political leaders for the cessation of violence by their followers with an intensive political and legal process that can build a united and peaceful future for Kenya," the statement said.
On Tuesday, Kibaki called for a meeting with his political opponents — a significant softening of tone for a man who vowed to crack down on rioters.
But opposition candidate Raila Odinga refused, saying he would meet Kibaki only "if he announces that he was not elected." Odinga accused the government of stoking the chaos, telling The Associated Press in an interview that Kibaki's administration "is guilty, directly, of genocide."
In Nairobi's slums, which are often divided along tribal lines, rival groups have been fighting each other with machetes and sticks as police use tear gas and bullets to keep them from pouring into the city center. The capital has been a ghost town for days, with residents stocking up on food and water and staying in their homes.
In Mathare, mothers clutching wide-eyed infants and suitcases were evacuated by riot police while angry youths armed with machetes and axes heaped abuse on the police as the slum burned.
"All you do here is come to pick up bodies," shouted Boniface Shikami.
Several threw rocks toward the police vehicle, and officers fired in the air before a patrol truck skidded around a corner to try to separate battling supporters of Odinga and Kibaki.
As shopkeepers battled with flames leaping through their corrugated iron roofs, a dazed woman clutching a kitten wandered through the smoke.
"They have burned down my house and all I have now is my cat," wailed Hannah Warigui.
John Okello, a doctor, said clinics around the city were running short of basic materials like gauze because so many people have been arriving with machete wounds. He said the city's main Nairobi Hospital was trying to ferry supplies to the clinics.
The people killed in Eldoret, about 185 miles northwest of Nairobi, were members of Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe.
The Kikuyus in Eldoret had fled to the Assemblies of God Church on Monday night, seeking refuge after mobs torched homes. Video from a helicopter chartered by the Red Cross showed many homes in flames and the horizon obscured by smoke. Groups of people were seen seeking sanctuary at schools and the airport, while others moved into the forest.
On Tuesday morning, a mob of about 2,000 arrived at the church, said George Karanja, whose family had sought refuge there.
"They started burning the church," Karanja said, his voice catching with emotion as he described the scene. "The mattresses that people were sleeping on caught fire. There was a stampede, and people fell on one another."
Karanja, 37, helped pull out at least 10 people, but added, "I could not manage to pull out my sister's son. He was screaming 'Uncle, uncle!' ... He died." The boy was 11.
Up to 50 people were killed in the attack, said a Red Cross official who spoke on condition of anonymity because her name would identify her tribe, and she feared reprisal. Even first aid workers were stopped by vigilantes who demanded their identity.
Karanja said his two children raised their hands as they left the church and they were beaten with a cane, but not killed. His 90-year-old father was attacked with a machete, but survived, he said.
"The worst part is that they were hacking people and then setting them on fire," he added.
The attackers saw Karanja saving people and began stoning him, he said. Karanja said he ran and hid — submerging himself in a pit latrine outside the church property. He stayed there about 30 minutes until he heard people speaking Kikuyu, he added.
The Kikuyu, Kenya's largest ethnic group, are accused of using their dominance of politics and business to the detriment of others. Odinga is from the Luo tribe, a smaller but still major tribe that says it has been marginalized.
There are more than 40 tribes in Kenya, and political leaders have often used unemployed and uneducated young men to intimidate opponents. While Kibaki and Odinga have support from across the tribal spectrum, the youth responsible for the violence tend to see politics in strictly ethnic terms.
The prospect of even more violence is ahead. Odinga insisted he would go ahead with plans to lead a protest march in the capital Thursday. The government banned the demonstration, but Odinga said: "It doesn't matter what they say."
Kibaki, 76, won by a landslide in 2002, ending 24 years of rule by Daniel arap Moi. Kibaki is praised for turning the country into an east African economic powerhouse with an average growth rate of 5 percent, but his anti-graft campaign has been seen as a failure, and the country still struggles with tribalism and poverty.
Odinga, 62, cast himself as a champion of the poor. His main constituency is the Kibera slum, where some 700,000 people live in poverty, but he has been accused of failing to do enough to help them in 15 years as a member of parliament.
Huckabee: Romney Okayed $50 Abortions
http://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/Huckabee:_Romney_Okayed_$/2007/12/31/60734.html
Mike Huckabee attacked Republican presidential rival Mitt Romney for his past support of abortion, his antigun policies and his false claims about Huckabee’s record as Arkansas governor.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Romney “comes on and says he's pro-life and yet he signed a bill that gives a $50 co-pay for an elective abortion in his state's health care plan,” Huckabee told host Tim Russert on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday.
On the issue of gun rights, Huckabee asserted that Romney falsely claimed he had an endorsement from the National Rifle Association, and said that while Romney "claims that he's really for the Second Amendment," he has "talked about how he supported limitations and restrictions on lawful, law-abiding citizens having gun ownership rights.
"Those are not the marks of a person who's pro-life and pro-Second Amendment."
Asked if Romney had made untrue charges about him, Huckabee answered: "How long do we have on the program today? He's said many things that are untrue.
“He said that I reduced methamphetamine sentences in Arkansas. Truth is I signed a bill in 1999 that doubled those sentences. We did not reduce them. Our sentences were four times harsher than they were in Massachusetts.
“He said that I supported special breaks for illegal aliens. That's not true, Tim…
“He made allegations that [we] increased spending by ridiculous amounts, and The New York Times came back and defended that, and said that's simply not true. And they took him apart and showed that the increases in spending were, frankly, the same if not a little better than his if you took into consideration the accounting methods we changed in Arkansas. [We had] very modest gains in spending.
"He made claims about things like tax increases, but he failed to mention that some of those were either court ordered or they were voted on by the people and approved by the people for things [such] as roads. And I left my roads in great shape, took them from the worst in the country to what Truckers magazine said were the most improved. He left his roads in a mess in Massachusetts, with huge problems in the infrastructure.
“He claimed that he didn't raise taxes, but in fact he did raise taxes by half a billion dollars."
Huckabee’s conclusion about Gov. Romney: “You know, Tim, what I've said, and I've been pretty blunt about it, if you aren't being honest in obtaining a job, can we trust you to be honest if you get the job?"
Huckabee Supporters Get Warning Letters
http://www.newsmax.com/politics/huckabee_letters/2008/01/02/61273.html
DES MOINES, Iowa -- Iowa pastors who support Republican Mike Huckabee for president have received letters warning them that getting involved in politics could endanger the tax-exempt status of their churches.
Several pastors who have publicly backed Huckabee, a Southern Baptist minister who has support from many evangelicals, said they have received the letters, which have no return address. They have arrived in the weeks leading to Thursday's precinct caucuses.
Two letters were sent to the Rev. Brad Sherman, of Solid Rock Christian Church in Coralville. The first arrived a couple weeks ago and warned that he could be prosecuted for his support of Huckabee.
"I just laughed. No one lands in jail for this," Sherman said. "Somebody is trying to intimidate Christians from getting involved."
A second letter came Wednesday. It alleged that the Internal Revenue Service is looking for churches that back candidates in violation of tax rules and mentioned Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley, a Republican who has sought information about spending by high-profile ministries.
The Rev. Kevin Hollinger, of First Baptist Church in Algona, has received three similar letters. Although Hollinger has endorsed Huckabee, he hasn't urged his congregation to support a particular candidate.
"I just encourage people to get out and vote and use their biblical principles," Hollinger said. "I don't tell people who to vote for."
Hollinger said he doubted the letters would intimidate anyone.
The Rev. Rex Deckard has received nine letters, including three on Wednesday.
Deckard, of Calvary Apostolic Church in Des Moines, said he wondered about the motive of the letter writers and assumed they must think pastors are ignorant of the rules regarding church involvement in politics. Regardless, he said the letters won't change his intention of caucusing for Huckabee.
"I'm very impressed with him as a person and I think he's a tremendous individual," Deckard said.
Jim Harris, a Huckabee spokesman in Little Rock, Ark., said the campaign was aware of the letters but did not know how many pastors have received them or whether they were just being sent in Iowa.
"We are gathering more information even as we speak," Harris said. "I would not rule out that we would ask for a criminal investigation, and people who would send such threatening letters to ministers for purely political purposes are cowardly and reek of desperation."
Huck Will Win
http://www.newsmax.com/politics/republican_nominee/2008/01/02/61203.html
More than a year ago, a minority of political observers, including this author and Dick Morris, were predicting that the Republican nominee would come from the so called second-tier candidates.
It didn’t take rocket science to calculate that with 42 percent of the nation claiming to be born again Christians, and Iowa being the buckle in the Bible Belt, either born again candidates, Gov. Mike Huckabee or Rep. Duncan Hunter, would eventually emerge. But it certainly defied the conventional wisdom of the time.
More than a year ago, national pundits assured us that either Rudolph Giuliani, John McCain, or Mitt Romney had a lock on the nomination with maybe the possibility of an outside, dark horse, challenge from Newt Gingrich or Fred Thompson. There was a problem to this reasoning, a socio-cultural-religious problem.
Giuliani, Gingrich, and Thompson would all be splitting the minority conservative Catholic vote in the GOP, Romney was Mormon, and McCain had already publicly attacked evangelical leaders during his run in 2000, making him the darling of the media but virtually killing any hope of winning a Republican nomination. That left the born againers, Huckabee or Hunter, a simple choice.
There was always a problem for Gingrich and Thompson.
Running for president is a little like building a shopping mall. If you are well connected and have all the money in the world and can get the zoning and building permits that others can’t and can have your workers busy around the clock with big lights allowing work at night, it still takes a certain amount of time to build a shopping mall. And running for president, with trillions of dollars at stake, even with a TV network behind you, takes time.
There are little things that have to be done. Not since the days of Dwight Eisenhower has someone come in late and won and today, even an Eisenhower, may not be able to finesse the arcane party and state rules.
Newt Gingrich wisely tested the waters and backed off. Thompson dove right in and was stunned to find his “Reagan act” going nowhere. Stories of his personal life were running rampant along the word of mouth network among the evangelicals now controlling the levers of power in the local GOP political machines.
Now, some pundits are telling us that Romney will actually win tomorrow night because he has a paid organization and indeed that should close the gap and make a big difference, paid beats volunteer every time. And all the other pundits are saying that even if Huckabee wins it doesn’t do anything but hurt Romney, Huckabee’s win cannot translate into anything more.
This reasoning is based on three arguments. One, that Huckabee has no money and thus cannot compete with television advertising in the big primaries that will quickly follow. Two, Huckabee is not even on the radar screen in New Hampshire, showing that Iowa is a fluke. And three, there are a lot of Baptists in Iowa and Huckabee is a Baptist, which explains his win.
That last point is so ignorant and irritating to Americans with some religious sense about them I’m going to address it first. Huckabee is not a Baptist, he is a Southern Baptist. Only 2 percent of Iowans identify themselves as Southern Baptists. Yes, there are approximately 16 million Southern Baptists in the country; it is the largest Protestant denomination in America; but 95 percent of them live in 13 Southern states.
Less than 2 percent of Iowa is Southern Baptist and the Northern American Baptists who do live in Iowa are half evangelical and half liberal Protestants. When I worked the Bush campaign in 1988, very few North American Baptists were involved in the Republican process.
Huckabee’s evangelical support in Iowa, like ours and Bob Dole’s and Pat Roberson’s comes from Pentecostals and charismatics. They, more than any other religious block, control the state GOP.
And all of this explains why Huckabee can’t win in New Hampshire. This is one region of the country where there aren’t many Southern Baptist or Pentecostals or charismatics. It is also a region of the country where Republicans have done poorly in recent general elections, notwithstanding New Hampshire’s long Republican tradition.
Well, the pundits are saying, Pat Robertson did well in Iowa, coming in second in the Iowa caucuses of 1988 but later did nothing in the South. Huckabee should follow that pattern. This too shows the media ignorance of religion.
Robertson was not a viable candidate. It was just as absurd to most evangelicals that a religious broadcaster was running for president as it was to non evangelicals. And Robertson was a Pentecostal-charismatic who won with Pentecostal-charismatic voters in Iowa but was rejected by Southern Baptists in South Carolina who despised his religious doctrines.
Now, this gets complicated and may be hard for outsiders to understand. But if Southern Baptists are hostile to Pentecostal-charismatic doctrines, it does not work the other way around. So unlike Robertson, Huckabee will have it working for him both ways. Like Jimmy Carter, he will have both groups sympathetic to him. And like Carter, Huckabee is not a religious broadcaster but a Southern governor.
If Pentecostals and charismatics control the GOP in many MidWestern and Western States, the Southern Baptists own it lock, stock and barrel in the South. So if Huckabee wins tomorrow, as I expect him to, he will be very hard to beat in South Carolina and the rest of the South, advertising dollars or no. For Huckabee will have what no other candidate in the GOP has, the hearts and minds of the Party activists who are overwhelmingly evangelical Christian. It is a built in political machine that money can’t buy.
So what does it mean? Won’t Huck still lose in New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Illinois and California, where television advertising will dominate? And won’t Romney beat him in many mountain states?
Without money, yes, Huckabee will theoretically lose them all. But with wins in Iowa and in the South an alarmed, knee jerk, reactive, anti-religious media will likely go on the attack, blasting Huckabee’s faith and a backlash of Internet dollars could make him viable in those state too.
* * *
Doug Wead is a presidential historian and the author of the New York Times best seller "All the Presidents’ Children and the Raising of a President." He was a special assistant to the president in the Bush, senior White House and a religious adviser to two presidents. He has donated to the Mitt Romney campaign.
Defeating Rudy Giuliani: 40 Days of Action, Prayer and Fasting Until Super Tuesday
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion06735.shtml
MEDIA ADVISORY, (christiansunite.com) -- "Rudy Giuliani is a Benedict Arnold. He wears the GOP uniform, while warring against its' most sacred principles and most revered heroes - like Ronald Reagan. He must be exposed, opposed, and soundly defeated in the next 40 days." Randall Terry
"Awake, and strengthen what remains as is on the point of death..." (Rev. 3:2)
Full Statement of Randall Terry Follows.
"From today - December 28, until February 5 - the staff and associates of The Society for Truth and Justice begin 40 days of activism, prayer, and fasting aimed at the demise of Rudy Giuliani's Presidential campaign.
"Our goal and prayer is to celebrate the 'funeral' of Giuliani's campaign on Super Tuesday, February 5. We are urging all faithful Republicans nationwide to reject Giuliani and his 'culture of death' agenda at the voting booth from now until then.
"Our actions have begun in earnest in New Hampshire and will continue there until the election on January 5.) We will then spend the rest of January traveling throughout Florida, holding protests, literature drops at churches, sign holding at busy intersections, and dogging Giuliani at every campaign stop we possibly can until the January 29 primary.
"We are working with leaders and activists in Super Tuesday 5 (Feb 5) states to follow this template of activism to expose and oppose Giuliani in every peaceful way possible.
"We are frequently asked: Why are we - who are mostly Republicans - focusing so intently on Giuliani who is also a Republican, when Democrats like Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama are in the race?
"Answer: Rudy Giuliani is a wolf in sheep's clothing; a closet Democrat.
"Giuliani unashamedly supports the killing of unborn babies by abortion; he has been a brazen supporter of special rights for homosexuals, including civil unions and 'homosexual marriage' in Massachusetts; he is a proven enemy of our God given right to self-defense, delineated in the Second Amendment.
"Giuliani is a faithful practicing enemy of the Church. While he was Mayor of NYC, he revoked the Church's St. Patrick Day parade permit because the Church would not allow homosexual floats in a Christian parade. The Church had to go to federal court to get her permit back; Rudy in turn marched in successive 'gay pride' parades which are so lewd they cannot be shown on the evening news.
"Ethically, socially, and politically Giuliani is the mirror image of the most debauched elements of the Democrat Party.
"We are Christians first, Republicans second. To remain faithful to our Creator, His Laws, and the Culture of Life, we must expose and oppose an enemy like Giuliani.
"As well as being a traitor to Eternal Laws, Giuliani is a turncoat to the Republican Party. He wears our uniform, while warring against our most sacred principles and most revered heroes - like Ronald Reagan. Rudy Giuliani is a Benedict Arnold - a traitor - to the core principles or the GOP, and therefore must be stopped.
"Some ask: What about Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama?
"We must not let our preoccupation with enemies outside the camp blind us to the enemies within. An enemy in the camp can cut our throats, poison our food, or engineer a 'palace coup' - a coup which could be far worse in the long run than the temporary victory of an enemy from without. We must cast out our own demons, then focus on the Democrats.
"If devout Christians within the Republican Party sit silently by and Rudy ends up getting the nomination, they will soon find themselves begging for scraps from a tyrants table - or maybe worse. They may find themselves politically homeless, driven into exile by the treacherous they chose to ignore or embrace.
"Besides acting decisively, we are praying and fasting for 40 days - beginning today, the Feast of the Holy Innocents when the Church remembers the children slain by Herod . We are asking God to wake the faithful from their stupor, and 'strengthen what remains and is on the point of death...' within the GOP and the religious right. We invite all who recognize our peril to join us.
"Those interested in joining our efforts to expose and oppose Giuliani from the New Hampshire primary to Super Tuesday and beyond are invited to call our office at 904-461-0834 for a template of actions that can be easily done in any community in America. All you need is heart!"
Randall Terry
President, Society for Truth and Justice; Founder, Operation Rescue.
Operation Rescue Demands Board of Healing Arts Reform in Wake of Overdose Deaths and Abortion Charges
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion06733.shtml
TOPEKA, Kans., (christiansunite.com) -- Operation Rescue is calling for radical reform of the Kansas State Board of Healing Arts amid scandals involving Board ineptitude in the handling of complaints against a doctor indicted on Federal charges of unlawfully prescribing medication that may have led to 56 overdose deaths and an abortionist charged with multiple counts of violating state laws.
Thursday, the KSBHA recommended that the medical license of Stephen Schneider be suspended since his "continuation in practice constitutes an imminent danger to the public health and safety." However that recommendation has no timetable for implementation. The Schneider complaint languished at the KSBHA since 2004. The recommendation was issued only after headlines revealed the Federal charges, spurring outrage from legislators over the KSBHA's glacial pace of operation.
Complaints against abortionist George Tiller, filed in October, 2006, have yet to see action even though Operation Rescue was notified in September that the case was scheduled to go before a "review board." Tiller was charged with 30 criminal counts related to illegal late-term abortions last December, which were dismissed without being considered on their merits. Two judges ruled there was probable cause to believe Tiller committed those crimes. In June, Tiller was charged with an additional 19 counts of illegal late- term abortions and faces a grand jury investigation slated to begin on January 8. Meanwhile, Tiller continues to operate without restriction.
"Late-term babies continue to die at Tiller's abortion clinic in spite of laws that should protect them. The charges in both cases should have prompted suspension of licenses long ago," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. "The system is broken. It seems only public embarrassment can prompt any action out of them. The only way to insure public safety is for a massive overhaul of the Board. We pledge to work with legislators to get this done."
Operation Rescue calls on the Kansas Legislature to implement the following reforms:
1. The immediate firing of KSBHA Executive Director Larry Burning and Chief Counsel Mark Stafford, who have made endless excuses for Board ineptitude but done nothing but perpetuate the problems.
2. Removal of the appointment process from the governor and mandate that future appointments to the KSBHA to be made by a joint legislative committee to avoid cronyism, which has characterized past appointments and created an unsafe medical environment in Kansas.
3. Overhaul the complaint process to include deadlines for various stages of the process, more frequent meetings, more interconnectedness between the KSBHA and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, and a broadening of the Board's ability to independently investigate suspected problems in the medical community.
About Operation Rescue
Operation Rescue is one of the leading pro-life Christian activist organizations in the nation. Operation Rescue recently made headlines when it bought and closed an abortion clinic in Wichita, Kansas and has become the voice of the pro-life activist movement in America. Its activities are on the cutting edge of the abortion issue, taking direct action to restore legal personhood to the pre-born and stop abortion in obedience to biblical mandates.
Study suggests women who leave church more likely to suffer mental illness
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/study.suggests.women.who.leave.church.more.likely.to.suffer.mental.illness/15910.htm
A new study has suggested that women who stop attending church are three times more likely to suffer from anxiety or alcohol dependency than women who keep their faith continually.
By contrast the study suggested that men who became less religious did not suffer from mental illness more than those who kept their faith.
The lead study author, Dr Joanna Maselko, of Temple University, Philadelphia said that women experienced problems as a result of losing interest in religion because it was more likely to mean they lose friends and social contacts as well.
According to the Telegraph, Dr Maselko said, "Women are more integrated into the social networks of their religious communities.
"When they stop attending religious services, they lose access to that network and all its potential benefits. Men may not be as integrated into the religious community and so may not suffer the negative consequences of leaving."
The study questioned 718 adults and was published in Social Psychiatry and Epidemiology.
The results of the study found that seven per cent of women who were constantly involved in their religion had symptoms of anxiety disorder. However, among women who were less active in religion than when they were a child, 21 per cent had symptoms of anxiety, reports the Telegraph.
Women who had become less involved in religion were also found to be three times more likely to have alcohol problems than those who kept interest in their faith.
Dr Maselko said: "A person's current level of spirituality is only part of the story. We can only get a better understanding of the relationship between health and spirituality by knowing a person's religious history," reports the Telegraph.
US near bottom of global privacy index
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080102/ap_on_hi_te/techbit_global_privacy&printer=1;_ylt=AtWNULg4rcgcHjHaaQ6rqf9k24cA
Individual privacy is under threat around the world as governments continue introducing surveillance and information-gathering measures, according to an international rights group.
"The general trend is that privacy is being extinguished in country after country," said Simon Davies, director of London-based Privacy International, which released a study on the issue Saturday. "Even those countries where we expected ongoing strong privacy protection, like Germany and Canada, are sinking into the mire.
Although privacy was improving in the former communist states of eastern Europe, it is worsening across Western Europe, the report said. Concerns about terrorism, immigration and border security were driving the spread of identity and fingerprinting systems, according to the report.
Greece, Romania and Canada had the best records of 47 countries Privacy International surveyed.
Malaysia, Russia and China ranked worst, but Great Britain and the United States also fell into the lowest-performing group of "endemic surveillance societies."
The survey considered such factors as legal protections, enforcement, data sharing, the use of biometrics and prevalence of closed-circuit cameras.
U.S. President George W. Bush's administration has come under fire for monitoring — without warrants — international phone calls and e-mails involving people suspected of having terrorist links.
Davies said little had changed since Democrats took control of Congress a year ago.
Britain was criticized for its plans for national identity cards, a lack of government accountability and the world's largest network of surveillance cameras.
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