http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,324207,00.html
Nearly 40 years after the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., some say his legacy is being frozen in a moment in time that ignores the full complexity of the man and his message.
"Everyone knows — even the smallest kid knows about Martin Luther King — can say his most famous moment was that 'I have a dream' speech," said Henry Louis Taylor Jr., professor of urban and regional planning at the University of Buffalo. "No one can go further than one sentence. All we know is that this guy had a dream. We don't know what that dream was."
King was working on anti-poverty and anti-war issues at the time of his death. He had spoken out against the Vietnam War and was in Memphis when he was killed in April 1968 in support of striking sanitation workers.
King had come a long way from the crowds who cheered him at the 1963 March on Washington, when he was introduced as "the moral leader of our nation" — and when he pronounced "I have a dream" on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
By taking on issues outside segregation, he had lost the support of many newspapers and magazines, and his relationship with the White House had suffered, said Harvard Sitkoff, a professor of history at the University of New Hampshire who has written a recently published book on King.
"He was considered by many to be a pariah," Sitkoff said.
But he took on issues of poverty and militarism because he considered them vital "to make equality something real and not just racial brotherhood but equality in fact," Sitkoff said.
Scholarly study of King hasn't translated into the popular perception of him and the civil rights movement, said Richard Greenwald, professor of history at Drew University.
"We're living increasingly in a culture of top 10 lists, of celebrity biopics which simplify the past as entertainment or mythology," he said. "We lose a view on what real leadership is by compressing him down to one window."
That does a disservice to both King and society, said Melissa Harris-Lacewell, professor of politics and African-American studies at Princeton University.
By freezing him at that point, by putting him on a pedestal of perfection that doesn't acknowledge his complex views, "it makes it impossible both for us to find new leaders and for us to aspire to leadership," Harris-Lacewell said.
She believes it's important for Americans in 2008 to remember how disliked King was before his death in April 1968.
"If we forget that, then it seems like the only people we can get behind must be popular," Harris-Lacewell said. "Following King meant following the unpopular road, not the popular one."
In becoming an icon, King's legacy has been used by people all over the political spectrum, said Glenn McNair, associate professor of history at Kenyon College.
He's been part of the 2008 presidential race, in which Barack Obama could be the country's first black president. Obama has invoked King, and Sen. John Kerry endorsed Obama by saying "Martin Luther King said that the time is always right to do what is right."
Not all the references have been received well. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton came under fire when she was quoted as saying King's dream of racial equality was realized only when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
King has "slipped into the realm of symbol that people use and manipulate for their own purposes," McNair said.
Harris-Lacewell said that is something people need to push back against.
"It's not OK to slip into flat memory of who Dr. King was, it does no justice to us and makes him to easy to appropriate," she said. "Every time he gets appropriated, we have to come out and say that's not OK. We do have the ability to speak back."
Israel Rejects Claims of Gaza Crisis
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/307500.aspx
JERUSALEM, Israel - Spokesmen for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Defense Department refuted claims that Gazans face an imminent humanitarian crisis.
"There is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza," one IDF official told YNet news service Sunday, adding that Hamas has worked diligently to create a crisis and blame it on Israel.
While the front page of Monday's Jerusalem Post featured a large photo of a Palestinian woman cooking by lantern light, the fact is Israel provides 70 percent of Gaza's electricity so if the local generating plant really ran out of fuel, it would not leave Gaza residents in the dark.
"Even today, Israel is behind 70 percent of the power supply to Gaza and therefore any claim to the effect that there are electricity problems in Gaza is unfounded," said the IDF official.
"These are media spins by interested parties. We did not cut back on electricity and don't intend to do so at this point," he said.
"The Palestinians are, in fact, the ones who shut down power for several hours a day in a bid to create a crisis. At the moment, their fuel supply has not run out. If there is a shortage of fuel oil at the power plants, they should ask themselves what happened to the supply they received," he said.
YNet reported that a recent shipment of 10,000 cattle, along with existing poultry stock and fruit and vegetable supplies should be sufficient to feed the population for many weeks.
"This is Palestinian spin," said Miko Zarfati from the Israeli Electric Company's Ashkelon plant. "No one has stopped the supply of electricity to the Strip," he said, pointing out that workers at the plant are now subject to Kassam rocket attacks.
The power plant in Gaza produces just 30 percent of the electricity for local residents.
"The situation is totally absurd," Zarfati said. "We're continuing to supply them with electricity despite the overload [demand] for electricity in Israel and despite the fact that Israeli residents and more than one electric company worker sent to communities in the vicinity of Gaza have been injured in rocket attacks," he said.
The absurdities spun from Gaza included claims they'd run out of burial shrouds. The burial shroud "crisis" came less than a day after Thursday's order by Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak to close the border crossings.
"There are hardly any trucks allowed into Gaza on Fridays or Saturdays anyhow," a military source told YNet. "As for burial shrouds, they were never on the list of supplies Israel transferred into Gaza anyway," he said.
Meanwhile, Palestinian Authority (PA) Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas called on the UN and Arab League to demand Israel lift the siege and "allow hospitals to operate and prevent a humanitarian disaster."
"We will continue to work toward resolving the crisis and ending the occupation and establishing a Palestinian state," Abbas said.
Exiled Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal got in on the action, calling on Arab countries, among them Egypt and Saudi Arabia, to intervene.
"All Arab leaders exercise real pressure to stop this Zionist crime," he said. "Take up your role and responsibility," Mashaal said on al-Jazeera satellite television.
SaveOne Helps Those Suffering in Silence
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/307653.aspx
Tuesday marks the 35th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision known as Roe vs. Wade.
Some have estimated that 50 million babies have been aborted in America since the high court handed down the decision in 1973.
That is why one ministry is not only trying to prevent abortions, but it is also bringing comfort and healing to those who have already had one.
'Shame was Always There'
"The shame and the guilt, I guess is the way that I dealt with it," Baker told CBN News. "Don't talk about it. We don't talk about it. We don't bring it up, but the shame was always there."
Baker and his wife Judy have been married for 16 years. But before they tied the knot, Judy found out she was pregnant. Deciding that they did not want to be parents just yet, the couple agreed to end the pregnancy. When they came to the decision to have the abortion is one Judy says she will never forget.
"When I laid down on that table, I knew it was wrong," she explained. "I knew that I was making the wrong decision. I felt horrendous pain after the procedure. It was very painful. Then they put you in a room in a recliner and you sit there by yourself and you contemplate what you've just done for the next hour and a half until they allow you to go home," she continued.
When Judy wanted to talk about about the abortion, her husband just wanted to put the whole thing behind them.
"I didn't want to talk about it," Baker said. Sort of like out of sight, out of mind and if we don't talk about it, I would not have to deal with it."
Post-Abortion Syndrome
Abortion is often trumpeted as a quick, guilt-free solution to a tough situation. However, after more than 35 years of abortion-on-demand, there is evidence to support that for millions of people abortion is a lingering, painful experience. It even has a name: post-abortion syndrome.
The symptoms include depression, grief, sexual dysfunction, drug and alcohol abuse, and even attempted suicide.
Sheila Harper is founder of SaveOne, a post-abortion counseling ministry. SaveOne is just one of many pregnancy centers across the nation offering post-abortion counseling.
"A lot of times the pro-abortion side will say, 'Oh, it's the religious people heaping all this guilt on these men and women who have experienced abortion,' but that's not true," Harper said. "The guilt just comes naturally."
Firsthand Experience
Harper has seen the aftermath of abortion firsthand, counseling the men and women who come to the SaveOne center for help.
She understands the guilt they are feeling, because of her own abortion experience back in 1985.
"I lived seven years just in total regret and shame and just in a deep pit of depression," she said. "I never felt like I could go back to God. Because in my mind, there's no way God would accept me back after taking the life of my first child."
Harper says her depression was so dark that she borrowed a room mate's gun in order to take her own life.
"I got the pistol that she kept in her night stand drawer," she recalled. "I took it out of her drawer and went and sat on the edge of the couch. I leaned over and turned the gun around and put that gun right between my eyes. I was crying and trying to just come to the fact, everything seemed so surreal," she continued. "I just tried to accept the fact that this was about to be over. All of the pain, the rejection, the shame, the guilt -- was about to be over."
Harper thanks God that she was not able to go through with the suicide. After attending a Bible study at a local church, she turned to God for healing and forgiveness.
SaveOne Birthed Out of Pain
She says the concept for SaveOne was birthed out of her own post-abortion pain.
"Our center is for anyone who has experienced abortion," she said. "And it's for both the religious and the non-believer."
SaveOne partners with pastors, churches and other pregnancy centers to help those suffering the regret and shame of abortion. The ministry offers a free 12-week course to help its clients to deal with issues like forgiveness and peace.
Natalie Glafka is SaveOne's national outreach director. Before her present position, she had been one of the center's clients, taking the course. Glafka says had three abortions, the first one when she was only 16 years old.
"When I look back when I was 16, I was taught that abortion was the answer to my problem," she said. "If you are pregnant and you don't want the child, then you abort the child."
Glafka says she had no idea her heavy drinking and drug use were connected to her abortions.
"I was an emotional wreck," she said. "But I was also the type that I never thought about my abortions. I wasn't one that thought about the date. I wasn't one that often had nightmares. I was strong and I was independent and successful," she continued. "I had my own house. No one could tell me that anything I had done in my past was not good for me."
After years of denial, Glafka cried out for help. She agreed to attend the SaveOne's classes.
For Donna Taylor the guilt of having an abortion was even greater. Taylor was a Christian and she had been taught that abortion was the taking of a life.
Finding Release and Freedom
"It played out mostly because I was sitting in churches where we had huge sanctity of life Sundays," she said. "They had huge services where women would stand up and confess their abortions and talk about their healing. I would sit there holding onto it so tight. I was hurting," she explained. I would go home and grieve over what I had done, but without the ability to find any place of release. I just was held captive to it."
However, Taylor credits SaveOne for helping her to be one that was saved.
"I know the power of Jesus Christ to say, 'you know what, that is under the blood' -- I died for that you are free, and I know that," she beamed.
Meanwhile, the Bakers, who are now born-again Christians, say while their abortion experience nearly destroyed their marriage -- God's forgiveness is greater. Forgiveness that allows them to forgive themselves and one another.
"We got married three months after the abortion," Judy Baker said. "And we fought from that point forward. Our relationship had festered into one big boil. The Lord has just healed all of that."
Many states are now considering laws to ban abortion on-demand. Counselors say even if the law does change, they will be there to offer hope and healing to those suffering in silence.
Iran Warns Netherlands Not to Air Controversial 'Anti-Muslim' Film
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,324406,00.html
A senior Iranian lawmaker warned the Netherlands on Monday not to allow the screening of what it called an anti-Islamic film produced by a Dutch politician, claiming it "reflects insulting views about the Holy Koran."
Alaeddin Boroujerdi, head of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, promised widespread protests and a review of Iran's relationship with the Netherlands if Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders' work is shown.
"If Holland will allow the broadcast of this movie, the Iranian parliament will request to reconsider our relationship with it," Boroujerdi said, according to IRNA, the official Iranian news agency. "In Iran, insulting Islam is a very sensitive matter and if the movie is broadcasted it will arouse a wave of popular hate that will be directed towards any government that insults Islam.
Wilders calls his 10-minute film "a call to shake off the creeping tyranny of Islamicization, " and said it could air as early as this week on Dutch television.
"People who watch the movie will see that the Koran is very much alive today, leading to the destruction of everything we in the Western world stand for, which is respect and tolerance," Wilders, the 41-year-old leader of the right-wing Party for Freedom, said last month in a telephone interview with FOXNews.com.
"The tsunami of Islamicization is coming to Europe. We should come to be far stronger."
Like other European countries, the Netherlands is struggling to cope with an influx of Muslim immigrants, and the newcomers are often relegated to working at low-paying jobs and living in high-crime ghettos. Though the Dutch boast of their culture of tolerance, tensions have been high, with some blaming rising unemployment and crime on newcomers from Muslim countries like Turkey, Morocco and Somalia.
In the late 1990s, political leaders like Pim Fortuyn, Somalian-born writer Ayaan Hirsi Ali and outspoken filmmaker Theo van Gogh seemed to tap into a growing well of resentment against Muslims and criticism of Islam.
In 2002, tensions broke into outright murder when Fortuyn was shot by an animal rights activist who told the judge in the case that he was acting on behalf of the country's Muslims. Two years later, van Gogh was shot, stabbed and nearly decapitated on an Amsterdam street by Mohammed Bouyeri, a Muslim and a Dutch citizen of Moroccan descent.
Van Gogh, with Hirsi Ali, had recently made the film "Submission," a 10-minute movie that the two said depicted the abuse of women in Islamic cultures. After van Gogh's murder, the Dutch government placed public figures known for their anti-Muslim stances in safehouses.
Among them was Wilders.
He hasn't been out of government protection since, a situation he said "I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy," and his views on Islam have only hardened.
Five months ago, he called for the Koran to be outlawed in the Netherlands.
"I believe our culture is much better than the retarded Islamic cultures," he told FOXNews.com. "Ninety-nine percent of the intolerance in the world comes back to the Islamic religion and the Koran."
Though he refuses to claim the mantle of van Gogh's successor, Wilders clearly sees himself as continuing the controversial filmmaker's work. He acknowledges the similarities between "Submission" and his own 10-minute work.
"I have so much respect for van Gogh's movie, aimed at one part of the Koran, women's bodies, one very bad part of the Koran," Wilders said. "I will use not only that theme but many others. Of course at the end it is a different movie."
Though Wilders has remained steadfastly vague about the specific contents of his movie, saying he wants to maximize the "moment of the broadcast itself," he added that it will include "images and parts of real-time movies that really happen in the Netherlands and the U.K. and the Middle East, the intolerance of the Koran that is still alive and vivid today."
Wilders, raised Catholic but long an atheist, said he's working with professors who are experts on the Koran and Islamic culture, professional filmmakers and scriptwriters to complete his film, which he hopes to broadcast this week on "Nova," a popular news program on Dutch public television. If "Nova" refuses to air the program, he said, he will broadcast the movie using the air time his political party is guaranteed by the government.
The Dutch government, which is protecting Wilders, has publicly warned him about the potential for violence at the completion of his film and has expressed concern over his personal safety. The government is also concerned about peace within the country and interests abroad. In 2005, cartoons printed in a Danish newspaper led to Danish embassies being set on fire, multi-million-dollar anti-Danish consumer boycotts in the Middle East, and hundreds of deaths in riots across the Muslim world.
"The government is taking the announcement of this movie quite seriously," said Floris van Hovell, a spokesman for the Dutch Embassy in Washington, D.C. "Obviously, because the movie hasn't been made, we cannot say anything about the movie until the movie has been shown, but the message Mr. Wilders has told us he wants to portray is disturbing."
Asked if the government plans to beef up security, Van Hovell last month said the government is making a concerted effort to reach out to the Muslim community in the Netherlands and the larger Muslim world.
"We're explaining that in the Netherlands you have freedom of expression, and that at the same time the Dutch government is very concerned about the message Mr. Wilders supposedly wants to portray in his movie," van Hovell said.
Israel Agrees to Ease Blockade on Gaza as Bakeries, Gas Stations Close
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,324188,00.html
Israel agreed Monday to move diesel fuel and medicine into Gaza on a one-time basis, easing the blockade imposed because of a surge in Palestinian rocket attacks on southern Israel. The shift came after the Israeli prime minister said Gaza's residents can "walk, without gas for their cars."
Israel and Gaza's Hamas government were locked in a public relations battle over the depth of the hardship, and the U.N. warned that international food aid could be suspended by the end of the week. An angry Hamas TV announcer shouted that "we are being killed, we are starving!" and Palestinian leaders issued emotional pleas for national unity, while Israel accused Hamas of fabricating a crisis to gain world sympathy.
Late Monday, Israel decided to allow some diesel fuel and medicine into Gaza on Tuesday.
"We think Hamas got the message. As we have seen in the past couple of days, when they want to stop the rockets, they can," said the Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman, Arye Mekel, confirming the decision.
Gaza's power plant shut down late Sunday, plunging Gaza City into darkness, and gas stations and many bakeries stopped operating. Health officials warned that hospital generators were running out of fuel.
"We have the choice to either cut electricity on babies in the maternity ward or heart surgery patients or stop operating rooms," said Health Ministry official Moaiya Hassanain.
International food aid may be suspended by the week's end if the closures continue, a U.N. aid agency spokesman said Monday, because of a shortage of fuel and plastic bags used to pack food. Most Gaza residents rely on food aid.
"We are going to have to suspend operations on Thursday or Friday," said Chris Gunness, spokesman for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, which distributes food aid to 860,000 Palestinian refugees in Gaza. The World Food Program, which gives food to another 270,000 Gaza residents, said it would also have to suspend distribution by Thursday, because they expected their fuel used to power distribution trucks to run out.
"We are all in a very vulnerable situation because of limited supplies," said John Ging, head of UNRWA.
How Greed, 'supercapitalism' And 'Richistan' Are Changing America
http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/industries/finance/article/greed-supercapitalism-richistan-changing-america_444341_9.html
ARROYO GRANDE, Calif. -- If a picture is worth a thousand words, an editorial-page cartoon is worth a million. They capture more than an entire paper about contemporary America. Yet, as with the old court jesters poking fun at a king's faults, after a nervous laugh, the message is ignored ... until historians write of the empire's demise.
Here's the scene: Board members sitting around a big table. CEO asks: "Raise your hands those in favor of saving their soul, rather than the company." That "Salt and Pepper" cartoon on the Wall Street Journal's editorial page says volumes about today's "American soul."
In recent years that scenario repeated many times in boardrooms across corporate America and Wall Street. They "sold our soul to the company store" to paraphrase a line from Tennessee Ernie Ford's 1950's song about the coal mines: "You load sixteen tons, and what do you get? Another day older and deeper in debt. Saint Peter, don't you call me, 'cause I can't go, I owe my soul to the company store."
Imagine the scene in boardrooms at companies such as Merrill, Citi, Bear, Countrywide, Moody's, even at the Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury. Imagine their bosses asking: "Raise your hand. Do you want to save your soul? Or will you bend the rules to save the market and economy, your job and your bonus?" Well today, the metastasizing credit meltdown makes clear their compromises: For them, morals are negotiable, greed is always good.
It's not just 'them'
Greedy? Yes, but not just "them," us too.
The sad truth is: We're all selling our souls to the "company store." Not just the boardroom "suits" (the greedy CEOs getting hundred million dollar severance packages, and all the greedy directors now selling equity to foreign nations to cover up their gross negligence). No, today everybody is selling their soul, everybody secretly wants to become a millionaire and retire rich. And the media panders to this darker side.
In "Supercapitalism," Robert Reich reminds us: "America is assumed to best exemplify the idea that capitalism and democracy go hand in hand." But in the past three decades America's "free-market capitalism has triumphed. Yet democracy has weakened." We have become super-materialistic robots.
"In this transformation, we in our capacities as consumers and investors have done significantly better. In our capacities as citizens seeking the common good, however, we have lost ground," Reich writes. Power has shifted "away from us in our capacities as citizens and toward us as consumers and investors." Yet even as investors we're no match against a $12 trillion fund industry. And as consumers and employees, we've given away our power to mega-retailers bargaining with suppliers.
Yes, says Reich, we do have "more choice than ever before, and can switch to better deals. Yet as supercapitalism has triumphed, its negative social consequences have also loomed larger ... widening inequality as most of the gains go to the very top, reduced job security, instability of or loss of community, environmental degradation, violation of human rights abroad, a plethora of products and services pandering to our basest desires."
Supercapitalism is killing American democracy. So we substitute MySpace, Facebook, iPods, videogames, game shows and insignificant egocentric communities for our rights as American citizens, while still working in the "coalmines." Worse yet, political rhetoric aside, we really don't expect change. Why? Because "the same competition that has fueled supercapitalism has spilled over into the political process," as Reich writes.
Supercapitalism rules through 'super-politics'
Wall Street, blue-chips and the Forbes 400 "have hired platoons of lobbyists, lawyers, experts, and public-relations specialists, and devoted more and more money to electoral campaigns," Reich writes. Lobbyists outnumber elected officials more than 20 to 1. "The result has been to drown out the voices and values of citizens," Reich writes. Special interests are so powerful the top 25 hedge fund managers average $560 million yet pay taxes below the rate of America's working poor. Warren Buffett even admitted his tax rate is lower than his secretary's.
In this culture of greed, all of us -- from CEOs on top, to the middle class and struggling "mineworkers" -- all of us are selling our souls to the company store. Or more accurately today, to a new country that Wall Street Journal writer Robert Frank calls "Richistan" in his book "Richistan: A Journey through the American Wealth Boom and the Lives of the New Rich."
Oh, stop denying it! The glue binding all Americans, rich or poor, is self-interested greed, pure Adam Smith economics. We all want more, we want it now, and more is never enough. Hidden just below the surface of the new supercapitalism is a dark Faustian bargain: We're all trapped by our addiction to more, as investors and consumers we've bargained away our soul: Richistan now owns us!
"Richistan" offers a hard-edged snapshot of America's historic shift from democracy to a plutocracy of elite rich. Kevin Phillips, former Nixon strategist and author of "The Politics of Rich and Poor," says that in a plutocracy, power is centralized in the rich. They control government from the shadows, quietly leveraging their wealth through lobbyists.
'Richistanis' control more than 90% of America's wealth
A few years ago, Frank noticed America was still "minting millionaires after the tech bust, recession and terrorist attack of 2001." Actually that trend began a few decades ago, paradoxically about the same time the average American's wages began flat-lining. As America becomes a more unequal society, Richistanis barricade themselves in McMansions and gated communities where "the richest 1% of Americans control more than 33% of the total wealth, and their wealth is now greater than the bottom 90%," Frank writes.
Here's what Richistan looks like:
Lower Richistan. About 7.5 million households worth between $1 million to $10 million. However, "many Richistanis say that Lower Richistanis don't even belong in their country. They refer to the Lowers as 'affluent,' the ultimate Richistani insult," Frank writes. Middle Richistan. More than two million Americans have a net worth between $10 million and $100 million. This may also include many in Thomas Stanley's "The Millionaire Mind" published in 2000. Their average net worth was $9.2 million, but inflation may protect them from that snarky "affluent" insult. Upper Richistan. Frank says there are "thousands" with $100 million to $1 billion. Sadly, the Uppers recently increased with the firings of several greedy CEOs from Citi, Bear, Merrill and Countrywide. Billionaireville. Forbes listed only 13 in 1985. By 2007, more than 400. Since 1995 their wealth has more than doubled to over a trillion. Another source says there are more than 1,000 American billionaires, many under the radar.
Although Richistan's population is less than 10 million today, they control more than 90% of America's wealth. What about the other 290 million people? Well, we all have the same mindset when it comes to matters involving greed and the "American soul," don't we? So today we're all supercapitalists, all obsessed with maximizing our positions as investors and consumers, even if it means surrendering our rights as citizens and voters to the elite Richistanis running America.
Like mortgages, Faustian bargains have due dates
In order to reap the promises of supercapitalism, we've all made Faustian bargains. But these agreements have a moral as well as economic bottom line. Eventually you must pay the "devil" his due. The first hint came in 2000-2002, with the post-90s recession. We didn't learn that lesson. Now, with the subprime-credit meltdown rapidly metastasizing, we have another chance to get it right during the 2008-2011 recession.
But don't hold your breath. Why? Because the grand drama painted in "Supercapitalism" and "Richistan" is not really as new as Reich and Frank want you to believe. It's timeless. Back in 2000, at the peak of the last insane bubble, gurus told us "this time it's different." Fortune published "Investing Wisely in an Era of Greed," a classic Jack Bogle column: "There is no 'new paradigm.' Hope, greed and fear make up the market's eternal paradigm." In short, Bogle reminds us, money always rules individuals and nations.
In "The Battle for the Soul of Capitalism" a few years later, Bogle again captured this age-old conflict in a comment made by a staunch conservative president, Herbert Hoover, who said: "The trouble with capitalism is the capitalists. They're too greedy." Hey, that'd make a great caption for a new cartoon on The Journal's editorial page: "The trouble with supercapitalism is the supercapitalists ... we're all too greedy!"
Huckabee Sets Sights on Texas
http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/Huckabee_Sets_Sights_on_T/2008/01/21/66161.html
After finishing second in the South Carolina Republican primary, White House hopeful Mike Huckabee says the GOP nomination may not be decided until the Texas primary on March 4.
“By the time we get through February 5, there still will not be a decisive winner,” Huckabee told a gathering of Texas financial supporters in Navasota, Tex., on Sunday.
“I’m having to reach down deep and swallow my Arkansas pride, and it is taking everything in me to be able to say that, but folks, Texas may just have to save this Arkansas boy and put us over the top in March of this year.”
It is becoming increasingly clear that the GOP might not have a clear nominee after the super-primaries on Feb. 5, when 1,462 delegates are selected, the Houston Chronicle reports.
The same goes for the Democrats, according to former Texas Land Commissioner Garry Mauro, a supporter of Hillary Clinton.
“It’s mathematically impossible,” he said. “Every candidate is going to have to contest Texas to squeeze every delegate out of it.”
Texas will choose 140 Republican delegates and 228 Democratic delegates.
Huckabee had been counting on a win in South Carolina on Saturday because of the state’s large population of social conservatives, the group that forms his base. But John McCain carried the state.
Social conservatives comprise an estimated 35 to 40 percent of the vote in the Texas GOP primary, according to the Chronicle.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry supports Rudy Giuliani for the Republican nomination. But Kelly Shackelford of the Liberty Legal Institute said Perry’s endorsement won’t help Giuliani because Huckabee will win the votes of social conservatives who disagree with Rudy’s support for abortion rights.
Huckabee Gains Black Support
http://www.newsmax.com/politics/huckabee_georgia/2008/01/21/66221.html
ATLANTA -- Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee paid tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. at a lengthy memorial service Monday at King's old church and was endorsed by several black religious leaders.
While his main GOP rivals campaigned in Florida, Huckabee sat quietly through a nearly four-hour King ceremony at the Ebenezer Baptist Church. He was overshadowed by fellow Arkansan Bill Clinton, who received a long ovation for his 18-minute address.
The former president acknowledged Huckabee, who did not speak. "We don't agree on much, but he is a very good man," Clinton told the audience of several hundred.
Huckabee said he was willing to put aside campaigning for a half day to attend the King event, which he called inspiring.
The former Arkansas governor finished second in the South Carolina Republican primary over the weekend after campaigning in which he said the federal government should stay out of disputes over display of the Confederate battle flag in the state. He said last week, "If somebody came to Arkansas and told us what to do with our flag, we'd tell 'em what to do with the pole, that's what we'd do."
The flag is a symbol of racism to some, of Southern pride to others.
After his South Carolina loss, Huckabee needs strong showings in states such as Florida, Georgia and Alabama to keep his campaign alive. He went to Orlando for a late-afternoon rally and fundraiser Monday and planned to return to Atlanta Tuesday for an anti-abortion event.
"Winning Florida would be great," Huckabee told an Orlando airport crowd of about 100, speaking of the state's Jan. 29 GOP primary. But winning the nomination is the bigger goal, he said. "Nobody is going to have this wrapped up by Florida," he said.
"We plan on carrying Georgia," Huckabee told reporters.
After leaving the King ceremony, Huckabee was endorsed by three dozen African-Americans, most of them connected to conservative religious organizations.
Huckabee's strong opposition to abortion and gay marriage matches the "high moral values" of many black Americans, said William Owens, founder of a group called the Coalition of African American Pastors.
Estimated 25,000 Pro-Woman Pro-Life Walkers Crowd San Francisco Waterfront
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion06783.shtml
SAN FRANCISCO -- On Saturday, January 19, a woman who was aborted and survived urged a crowd of 25,000 to forgive and sent out a blessing of "mercy and grace and redemption" over the life of anyone who has had an abortion.
After the speeches, the crowd walked along San Francisco's waterfront for 2.5 miles in the 4th Annual Walk for Life West Coast, carrying banners that proclaimed "Abortion Hurts Women" and "Women Deserve Better®." About 250 pro-choice protestors chanted and jeered alongside the pro-life walkers.
"I was aborted and did not die," Gianna Jessen told the cheering crowd, but added, "I will limp my way into heaven" because she bears the mark of the saline abortion, cerebral palsy, that was meant to end her life at a Los Angeles clinic.
"The abortionist signed my birth certificate," Jessen said. However, she noted, "My life is not defined by abortion. I am not a victim, I am a victor."
Jessen was one of four speakers at the Walk for Life rally at the foot of Washington Street and the Embarcadero. Alveda King, the niece of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., BlackGenocide.org founder Rev. Clenard Childress, and radio host Jesse Romero also spoke. Eight California Catholic bishops were on hand to support the event.
Alveda King sounded the key theme of the day, as the Walk was held two days before the federal holiday commemorating her uncle's birthday. After leading the assemblage in the civil rights song, "This Little Light of Mine," King left early to catch a flight back to Atlanta for a family dinner celebration of Martin Luther King Jr.
"We care about life from the womb to the tomb," Alveda King said. "My uncle said injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere. Dr. King said that the Negro cannot win if he is willing to sacrifice the future of his children for personal comfort and safety. So here we are on behalf of the children, the future generation."
"We are pleased by the growing numbers and this is clearly a movement that is taking root in a city known for its trend-setting," said Walk Co-Chair Dolores Meehan. The first Walk in 2005 drew more than 5,000 and last year's Walk drew about 20,000 people.
For more information: www.walkforlifewc.com.
Women Deserve Better® is a trademark of Feminists for Life of America.
National Memorial for the Pre-Born and their Mothers and Fathers Removed from Capitol Buildings
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion06782.shtml
WASHINGTON -- For the first time in 13 years, the Senate leadership is uncooperative in providing room for the annual interfaith pro-life prayer service observing the anniversary of Roe v. Wade.
"In all past years, the Senate leadership has approved the prayer service in one of the larger auditoriums, but this year has been unwelcoming," said Dr. Paul Schenck, who coordinates the event. In previous years, Senators Ted Kennedy, Hillary Clinton, and John Kerry have filed complaints against the prayer gathering.
The National Memorial for the Pre-Born and their Mothers and Fathers, the only pro-life prayer service to take place within the Capitol complex each year, will convene Tuesday, January 22, 2008 in observance of the notorious decision which led to abortion on demand. Clergy from Catholic, Evangelical, Protestant, and Orthodox traditions will address the media at 8:15 AM in the US Senate Dirksen Building, Room 430, and then proceed en masse to The Church of the Reformation, 212 E. Capitol St., NE, one block from the US Supreme Court Building for a prayer service originally scheduled to be in one of the Senate buildings. The use of space at Church of the Reformation does not indicate endorsement or sponsorship by the church.
At the clergy media event and Memorial service will be: Bishop Demetrios Kantzavelos, Orthodox Bishop of Chicago; Fr. Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life; Rev. Dr. Johnny Hunter, founder of LEARN, the largest African American pro-life organization; Rev. Kenneth Barney of the New Antioch Baptist Church, one of the largest African American churches in the DC Metro area; Annapolis attorney Stephen G. Peroutka, founder of National Pro-Life Radio; and many others.
For response and interviews regarding the event, contact Day Gardner, Media Coordinator, at 202-834- 0844 or Daygardner23a@aol.com.
Newman to Testify Before Grand Jury Investigating Late-Term Abortionist Tiller
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion06781.shtml
WICHITA, Kansas -- Operation Rescue President Troy Newman is scheduled to testify today before a county grand jury that is investigating the notorious abortionist George R. Tiller on claims he committed illegal late-term abortions and other crimes. Tiller operates Women's Health Care Services in Wichita, Kansas, the largest free-standing late-term abortion clinic outside Communist China.
Tiller already faces 19 criminal counts of having performed illegal late-term abortions over a four- month period in 2003, but Operation Rescue believes that strong evidence exists that Tiller may have committed hundreds of illegal abortions since then. District Attorney Nola Foulston and disgraced Attorney General Paul Morrison, who is accused of attempting to illegally influence a previous case against Tiller, have refused to expand any investigation beyond the few abortion records obtained under subpoena by former Attorney General Phill Kline. Because of this, citizens initiated the petition process that resulted in the current grand jury.
"We believe we have a compelling case to present to the grand jury that connects the dots between the information that is available, both in the public record and from our own investigations, to make a persuasive argument that Tiller has been violating the law," said Cheryl Sullenger, Operation Rescue's Senior Policy Advisor.
Operation Rescue has expressed concerned that Deputy District Attorney Ann Swegle is directing the grand jury. She was also involved in the grand jury investigation of Tiller in 2006 surrounding the death of 19-year old Christin Gilbert from complications to a third-trimester abortion. A confidential informant associated with that grand jury told OR of several situations where Swegle discouraged or prevented them from obtaining critical information. That grand jury missed indicting Tiller on four counts by only one vote. Newman will present his testimony before a panel of 15 citizens. Twelve are required to agree before indictments can be issued.
"We encourage people to pray for Troy this afternoon as he presents to the grand jury," said Sullenger. "The situation with Tiller can appear vast and complicated for anyone who has not been following the issue. Our plan is to make each point as clear and easy to understand as possible. To aid that goal, Troy will be presenting some never-before published information that we believe will help make a compelling case that Tiller is operating an illegal late-term abortion ring, and has done so for years."
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.
Pro-life Pioneer Announces New Ultrasound DVD
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion06780.shtml
MEDIA ADVISORY -- The first time Shari Richard put together a video presentation of life in the womb, called Window to the Womb, her powerful presentation brought her before the U.S. Congress. Within months, she was sharing her experience and footage with legislators on Capitol Hill. Richard's newest video continues her legacy, now utilizing the latest in medical imaging to demonstrate the life of the child in the womb.
Eyewitness 2 - The Next Generation is a sequel to another of Richard's ground-breaking videos, Eyewitness to the Earliest Days of Life. Eyewitness 2 shows 3D and 4D images from the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd trimester set to music. Fetal development is described using subtitles, making the video ready for use for any language and country.
Previous videos and footage produced by Richard has educated millions on fetal development and child birth issues, as over 500,000 copies of her videos have been distributed and translated worldwide.
Her footage has been viewed on commercial ads and numerous local and national television documentaries. Her videos have been translated into several languages including Korean, Spanish, French, German, Russian, Romanian, Portuguese, Italian, and Hebrew.
In October 2007, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) used ultrasound footage from Richard's videos during a House Committee on Foreign Affairs hearing on the Mexico City Policy.
"The visual presentation of 'George' and the other images of unborn babies provided me not only the opportunity to focus the Committee's attention on the real issue at the hearing-the sanctity of life of the unborn from conception-but also to pose hard questions of the witnesses who were denying the right to life of the unborn," said Rep. Smith.
"You are to be highly commended generally for using your professional skills and knowledge to raise public awareness about the beautiful, early stages of human life."
Richard, who has appeared on national radio and television programs, has also lectured in schools and conducted workshops for pregnancy centers, and given presentations for other organizations. She is available for speaking engagements and media interviews.
Shari Richard is an Obstetrical Ultrasound Expert and Educator whose medical experience spans 32 years. She is the founder of Sound Wave Images through which she produced the videos, Window to the Womb, Eyewitness To The Earliest Days Of Life, Eyewitness 2 -The Next Generation and the CD 9 Months... from Conception to Birth and Beyond.
For information regarding interviews, speaking engagements, or ordering DVDs, visit www.unborn.com
Christians, Conservatives Can Get Major Changes in Nightly Television says iBoycott
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion06779.shtml
LOS ANGELES -- Network television news needs to report on genocide of black Christians in Southern Sudan, according to iBoycott, an online organizing group.
Separately, in cultural identity, iBoycott asserts that Protestant and Catholic characters, including conservatives, must be included on television nightly.
iBoycott's strategy to achieve these two goals is a consumer boycott of a television advertiser. McDonald's is the first target advertiser. The boycott demands that the fast-food corporation withdraw its advertising from its first target television network, NBC Universal, a division of General Electric.
According to iBoycott, NBC News' coverage of genocide of a boycott-cited 2.85 million black Christians in Southern Sudan has been non-existent. The boycott demands make-good coverage, weekly for a year.
iBoycott notes that unhappy consumers in America demand refunds. Boycott supporters demand that NBC and four other media corporations - having failed to cover genocide of black Christians - each set aside multibillion dollar apology-remorse funds. The funds are to pay worthwhile refunds to Americans who obtain count-me-in emails from friends. The refund money is to be paid directly to individual boycott supporters at boycott-settlement.
iBoycott requires a televised boycott-settlement, with one-hundred advertiser chief executives and members of Congress as witnesses, signing on prime-time. The boycott is based on a document titled "Wall Street" at blog biggorilla.typepad.com.
The boycott demands that 50,000 black churches be awarded one-hundred-thousand dollars each in apology-remorse funds, a total of five billion dollars.
The boycott asserts that U.S. Protestants and Catholics spend actual trillions of dollars every year to buy products advertised on television, yet are excluded from portrayals - except for ridicule - on television series and movies for which they pay most of the costs.
According to iBoycott, this exclusion is cultural apartheid and segregation. Christians are denied their cultural identities on television. iBoycott requires the launch of Protestant and Catholic characters.
The boycott demands that in television series and movies, many characters be Protestant denomination, Roman Catholic, Episcopalian, and black-church, as well as Jewish. They must be autonomous, varied, often good looking, exciting, strong, and often conservatives, like the real world. Protestant and Catholic characters need sometimes to be brilliant and heroic. The boycott will not accept condescending portrayals.
iBoycott suggests that bringing Protestant and Catholic characters to nightly television will be a historic liberation, and Christians will be major players in the culture, not mere onlookers.
"Christianity is not mere lyric poetry. It includes a boots-on-the-ground civilization of strong men and women. This is a once-in-a-century, transformational, world-stunning boycott. It hugely empowers every Protestant and Catholic family. The boycott is bigger for America than the November election," said iBoycott president Terrence McCloy.
The boycott suggests that boycotting to end network news silence about genocide of black Christians in Sudan - and to include Protestant, Catholic and conservative characters nightly - means that the huge population of Christian peoples is re-entering the world stage.
European churches to commemorate Holocaust Remembrance Day
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/european.churches.to.commemorate.holocaust.remembrance.day/16371.htm
A record number of local churches in Europe are expected to commemorate the International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Sunday 27 January 2008.
The Remembrance Day, which was initiated by the European Parliament in 2000 and supported by a declaration of the United Nations in 2005, was first introduced to church communities in Europe a year ago by the European Coalition for Israel.
The coalition brings together organisations and churches seeking to foster better relations between Europe and Israel, and commemorate the Holocaust as well as inform people of new forms of anti-Semitism.
At the main event in Brussels last year European Commissioner for Culture and Youth Jan Figel spoke about the need for the younger generations in Europe to learn about the Holocaust.
This year, European Parliament President Hans-Gert Pöttering is scheduled to address parliamentarians, diplomats and church leaders at the Brussels event.
In addition, organisers hope to inspire over 1000 churches across Europe to commemorate the Holocaust day in their Sunday service on January 27.
European director of Youth with a Mission, Jeff Fountain, said, “The Holocaust was a defining phase in Europe's modern history, and its commemoration remains a crucial reminder of what can happen in Europe when we stray from our Judeo-Christian foundations.”
Over the last few months entire denominations in countries such as Finland, the UK, Germany and Ukraine have decided to support the initiative, said Tomas Sandell, who is the main coordinator of the campaign and the founding director of European Coalition for Israel.
Christian leaders behind the campaign include Colin Dye of Kensington Temple in London, the Orthodox Archbishop of Ukraine and a representative of the Roman-Catholic Cardinal of Vienna.
One of the main objectives of the campaign is to explore what the consequences could be if Christians fail to speak up against “the evil of our time”, said Sandell. One particular issue which is raised in the campaign material is the need for Christians to react differently today when the Jewish nation is threatened with annihilation.
The organisers hope that the campaign will teach and inspire Christians in Europe to speak up against any form of evil or genocide.
"The atrocities of the Nazis started with the Jews but it did not stop there. The same pattern can be seen today with those forces who once again wish to eliminate the Jewish people,” said Sandell.
The campaign is non-political and includes churches and civic groups from a variety of backgrounds.
Churches interested in participating can register at www.learnfromhistory.eu, which is also updated with various educational resources.
Uzbek pastor jailed and deserted but still faithful
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/uzbek.pastor.jailed.and.deserted.but.still.faithful/16372.htm
A Christian pastor in Uzbekistan has been describing how he was arrested and jailed for eight years just for conducting Bible studies and having Christian books in his home – freedoms most people take for granted.
The police have come for him three times, his congregation has deserted him, his youngest daughter almost starved to death, yet still Pastor Salavat Serikbayev remains faithful to the Lord, reports Christian persecution watchdog Release International.
Pastor Serikbayev leads an unregistered Pentecostal church in the autonomous region of Karakalpakstan. He tells his story on video in the latest edition of World Update on the Persecuted Church, the award-winning webcast from Release International.
Under Karakalpakstan’s repressive religious policy only Muslim communities and a single Russian Orthodox parish are allowed to operate. All other religious activity is illegal.
Pastor Serikbayev, a former Muslim, was jailed in 1999 for conducting Bible studies, performing baptisms and having dozens of Bibles and Christian books in his home. But jail and several other brushes with the law have not stopped him from serving Jesus.
"I had a family including two children at that time," he says. "Still I was happy to suffer for Christ; this was something I could do for Jesus."
Undeterred he continued to lead a church. Then in February 2006, he was arrested again for his religious activities in Karakalpakstan. He was sentenced to two years of correctional labour, reduced to one year, and was made to cultivate plants in the desert.
He was in trouble again the following year when the police raided his church. Says Pastor Serikbayev: "I was at a monthly pastor’s meeting at this apartment. After half an hour, 15 of 16 policemen raided the meeting and said, why are you here? Many had no passports, so everyone was arrested and taken to the police station.
"I was charged with illegally teaching in an illegal meeting," he told Release International’s partners, The Voice of the Martyrs, Canada.
Pastor Serikbayev' wife Aitgul was confined to her home by authorities after her husband’s arrest.
Out of fear, Christians refused to help the family and relatives rejected them because of their faith in Jesus. Their oldest daughter Rachel, just two at the time, almost starved to death.
"I was not mad at God," says Aitgul. "I found in the Bible that man does not live only by bread, but the Word of God. Of course it was a hard time, but it was also a time of blessing."
Following his return home from prison, Pastor Serikbayev sent out an invitation to his now disbanded congregation for a church service, but no one came.
"So I opened the Bible and started to worship by myself. I had prepared a sermon and I spoke to the empty walls, no one came. For two days I had sermons for nobody, but it was the most powerful and spiritual time in my life."
After a month, the majority of his congregation returned. By then the church had been stripped of its official registration.
"Our church is a cell church; every cell has three to five people. There are many groups. Once a week I gather together the leaders of these groups and preach to them," he says.
"I also go to the hospital with members of our church to visit the many ill people in our city, some have tuberculosis, and we try to comfort them with food, medicine and hair cuts.
"Because we have no registration we must do all charitable work illegally. If they catch us, it would be big trouble for us."
Pastor Serikbayev and Aitgul now have five children, and in spite of the dangers they face there is no thought of stopping their ministry.
"God put me here as a shepherd to care for his flock. As long as my heart beats I will care for the flock as a shepherd."
"Please pray for Pastor Salavat Serikbayev and his wife Aitgul," says Release International’s CEO Andy Dipper. "And instead of just getting angry about persecution, let’s get down on our knees. Pray for our brothers and sisters in Uzbekistan. Ask God to guide us in how we should provide for them, and to give us the courage and determination to live lives that are worthy of them and are just as effective for the gospel.
"In Uzbekistan and around the world Christians will face – not just mild ridicule but full-blown persecution for obeying the Great Commission of Christ, for being witnesses to their faith," says Dipper. "For those of us living in freedom, this is the crux. Is our witness worthy of persecution?"
Pastor Serikbayev told his story to Release International’s partners, The Voice of the Martyrs, Canada. You can watch his story on the latest edition of World Update on the Persecuted Church, available for download on www.releaseinternational.org, or on DVD for screening in church.
The pioneering news bulletin was a world first for Release International. It is now also being screened on Revelation TV, The Omega Channel, and the web channel Premier.TV. Viewing numbers continue to climb, as through the webcast RI aims to give persecuted Christians - denied a hearing in their own nations - a truly global voice.
Through its network of partners, RI serves the persecuted church in 30 nations.
Christian Blind Mission restores sight in southern Sudan
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/christian.blind.mission.restores.sight.in.southern.sudan/16359.htm
An eye team led by Dr Sture Nyholm from Christian Blind Mission recently restored sight to nearly 300 people in Marial Bai, southern Sudan.
Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) pilot Stuart Fitch flew the eye team from Juba teaching hospital to the remote village, where they spent ten days operating on patients, using two school classrooms as a ward and an operating theatre.
The team examined a total of 596 patients, half of whom underwent surgery. The other half were patients suffering from onchocerciasis (river blindness). Unfortunately, some of these patients were blind beyond repair, but for others mectizan was given out, which has proven effective in the treatment of onchocerciasis.
Mectizan relieves the intense itching and clears larvae from the eye, thus halting the progression towards blindness except in very advanced cases. More than 200 patients received this medication.
On average, 60 patients were screened every day, with five patients operated on per hour.
Dr Nyholm said, "We hardly had any surgical complications (despite some difficult eyes) and most eyes were crystal clear the second post-operative day.
"The post-operative examination was rewarding, and patients loudly expressed their joy for being able to see again after years of darkness."
It is often difficult to perform operations on children in the bush due to complications with anaesthetic. However, four children between the ages of 12 and 15 were able to undergo surgery. Another two children with congenital cataracts were advised to come to the hospital in Juba where proper anaesthetic facilities are available.
Dr Nyholm concluded, "Thanks to the joint efforts by so many here, vision has been restored to almost 300 people. Darkness has turned into light and, in the harsh conditions of this semi-arid desert district, 300 people will have a better chance to survive and enjoy life."
This was the team’s second visit to Marial Bai within a year. In 2007, Dr Nyholm and his team operated on a total of 1,682 eye patients in southern Sudan, 1,350 of these being procedures for blinding cataracts.
MAF regularly flies eye teams to remote villages, where they transform lives by restoring sight to thousands of blind people.
Putin-Medvedev duo 'could run Russia until 2033'
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/putinmedvedev.duo.could.run.russia.until.2033/16369.htm
MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin and his favoured successor Dmitry Medvedev could take turns to run Russia for another quarter of a century, a senior Kremlin ally said in an interview published on Monday.
Sergei Mironov, a Kremlin loyalist and the speaker of the Russian parliament's upper house, said Putin could become president again after a Medvedev term, serve two terms himself and then hand over once more to Medvedev.
Neither Putin nor Medvedev have indicated they plan to be in government so far in the future, but the fact Mironov is floating the idea suggests Russia's ruling elite feels firmly entrenched in power and expects to remain there for many years.
"I will gaze a long way into the future," the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper quoted Mironov as saying. "There could be a variety of scenarios. Vladimir Vladimirovich (Putin) could come back in 2012 (as president)."
"I think that by that time we will increase the head of state's term to five or seven years. If it is seven years and Vladimir Putin is elected to two consecutive terms, he will run the country for 14 years, that is from 2012 to 2026."
"And in 2026, it could be that Dmitry Anatolyevich (Medvedev) will once again return to the post of president," Mironov said. If Medvedev serves a single seven-year term from 2026, he would be in office until 2033.
Russia's constitution bars a president from serving more than two consecutive terms in office but there is no limit on returning to the job after a break.
Putin, 55, is to step down at the end of his second term in May. He has backed Medvedev, a 42-year-old first deputy prime minister who has worked alongside him since the 1990s, to win a presidential election set for March 2.
Most commentators say a Medvedev victory is a foregone conclusion. The endorsement from the popular Putin is expected to win over voters, and Medvedev's opponents in the election are trailing far behind in the opinion polls.
Putin has said he is ready to serve as prime minister in a Medvedev administration and that he does not rule out returning to the presidency in 2012.
The Kremlin's strength is based largely on a booming economy fuelled by high prices for Russia's main exports, oil and gas. In an indication of the Putin team's confidence in its own longevity, the government is drafting a strategy for social and economic development up to 2020.
The Kremlin's critics say it has entrenched power by rigging elections and using its control of the bureaucracy and the biggest media outlets to sideline its opponents.
Some analysts and opposition politicians say the ruling elite could lose its grip on power half way into the next presidential term if, as many observers predict, the economy stops delivering the rising spending power voters expect.
Young People Less Supportive of Abortion
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/307630.aspx
New data shows young people are less supportive of abortion rights than the middle-aged. This news comes alongside a report that the number of abortions has dropped.
In the new movie Juno, a pregnant teen considers abortion -- and then decides against it.
Professor John Seery studies abortion politics and says the movie reflects a shift in attitudes.
That "something" can be seen in a new study showing young people are less supportive of abortion rights than the middle-aged. Consider this: 33 percent of those 28 and younger support abortion, compared to 40 percent of those aged 29 to 43.
Perhaps equally surprising: the number of abortions is down.
The latest figures come from the Guttmacher Institute, an affiliate of Planned Parenthood -- the nation's largest abortion promoter.
Guttmacher reports the abortion rate in the U.S. has dropped by one-third from its peak in '81. That's 19 abortions for every 1,000 women, compared to 29 in '81.
So who gets the credit?
Abortion right advocates say it's a result of sex education, easier access to contraception -- and fewer abortion clinics.
"Eighty-seven percent of counties in the United States don't have an abortion provider -- 35 percent of women live in those counties," said, Rachel Jones of the Guttmacher Institute.
Pro-lifers say crisis pregnancy centers have made a difference. And they believe that ultrasounds showing women their developing babies are especially effective.
"The amazing thing is it more than doubles the number of women who change their minds when they're able to see their baby and see how developed it is and they actually bond to that baby," a counselor said.
Women's thoughts on abortion are clearly changing.
But "why?" and "what's next?" remain great questions as the 35th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade is observed.
Israel launches advanced spy satellite
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080121/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_spy_satellite;_ylt=An93trsyETV48N66GH8bRpGs0NUE
Israel launched an advanced spy satellite Monday that will be able to track events in Iran, the country it considers its top foe, even at night and in cloudy weather, defense officials said.
The TECSAR satellite is of particular importance for Israel because it can be used to keep tabs on Iran's nuclear program, which the U.S. and Israel fear is a cover for pursuing nuclear weapons, they said.
The satellite, developed by Israel Aerospace Industries, operates with a special radar system, allowing it to view much more than existing Ofek satellites that use cameras, the officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the press.
Israel has backed U.S. efforts to get the international community to intensify sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear program. Iran insists its program is for power generation.
The company confirmed the satellite launching in a statement.
"The TECSAR is the first satellite of its kind developed in Israel, and ranks among the world's most advanced space systems," the statement said.
The satellite includes an advanced imaging system based on synthetic aperture radar, or SAR, technology, the statement said.
The development and launching cost tens of millions of dollars, the officials said. Within two weeks it will be possible to view pictures from the device, the officials said.
Israeli and Indian experts cooperated to launch the satellite with an Indian rocket from southeastern India, IAI said.
The satellite weighs some 660 pounds, the Israeli Haaretz newspaper reported, citing unnamed company officials.
Israel currently operates a number of reconnaissance satellites, including Ofek 5 and Ofek 7, as well as several commercial satellites such as the Amos and EROS series, Haaretz said.
Study Shows Stronger MRSA Strain Spreading Among Homosexual Men
http://www.wcsh6.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=78949
SAN FRANCISCO (NBC) -- A study released by the University of California San Francisco last week reported a new strain of MRSA has been identified and is primarily found among homosexual men.
The study caused a stir in pro and anti-gay communities.
Now the university is responding.
The UC San Francisco study came out last Monday, alerting the public about the increasing infection rate of MRSA, a drug resistant form of the staphylococcus bacteria.
The study found that San Francisco's Castro neighborhood had disproportionately high levels of infection and that gay men were 13 times more likely to be infected than the general population.
Anti-gay groups, including Americans For Truth About Homosexuality, cited the study as evidence that homosexual behavior is unhealthy.
Another group, Concerned Women For America, cited the study as well, saying that homosexual contact, especially among males, creates a breeding ground for often deadly diseases.
The university which released the report in the first place has come out saying their initial report contained information that could be interpreted as misleading.
UCSF says it deplores the negative targeting of specific populations in association with MRSA.
People living in San Francisco's Castro district say the groups which have been using the studies were already anti-gay to begin with.
Others saw parallels to initial reports about HIV and AIDS infections, right down to the way the media presented that information.
The Centers for Disease Control says that staph infections, including MRSA, most frequently occur with in health care environments among patients and hospital staff, regardless of their sexual orientation.
The best way to protect yourself against he disease is with good hygiene practices like washing your hands.
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