HillaryXFiles.com Leads Efforts to Release Clinton Secret Files
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion06804.shtml
MANASSAS, VA -- A new website, HillaryXFiles.com, will lead the charge for the release of the Clinton Secret Files--the files about Hillary Clinton's involvement in White House affairs that President Bill Clinton has refused to let the public see.
The site features a petition demanding that the files be released "so that voters will have the information they need to make critical decisions about this country's future." The petition is addressed to the National Archives, the White House, both Clintons, and the Democratic National Committee.
Other features on HillaryXFiles.com include a poll of visitors, links to dozens of news articles and commentaries on the Clinton files, and an opportunity to sign up for updates on possible legal action.
It also includes information on related issues, including the Clintons' Arkansas files, the secret donations to the Clinton Library, Hillary's formerly secret college thesis, the case of former National Security Advisor Sandy Berger (sometimes called "Sandy Burglar"), and the Clintons' history of scandal and cover-up.
The website is a project of Richard A. Viguerie, author of Conservatives Betrayed: How George W. Bush and Other Big Government Republicans Hijacked the Conservative Cause (Bonus Books, 2006).
"For too long, the Clintons have been able to keep the public in the dark about the most important aspects of their presidency," Viguerie said. "If they're running based on Hillary's record in the White House, the people have a right to know what that record is. HillaryXFiles.com will help make sure that those files are opened before it's too late."
Last week, another Viguerie website, www.UltimateRonPaul.com, opened with 10,000 visitors in just the first 24 hours.
Richard A. Viguerie pioneered ideological and political direct mail and has been called "the funding father of the conservative movement" for his role in helping build dozens of conservative organizations. He is the author of Conservatives Betrayed--How George W. Bush and Other Big-Government Republicans Hijacked the Conservative Cause (Bonus Books, 2006).
U.S.-China Military 'Hotline' Elusive, Pacific Commander Says
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,326088,00.html
The top U.S. military commander in the Pacific used his visit to China this month to press again for a telephone hotline between the two countries, but he reported little progress Monday.
Three months after Defense Secretary Robert Gates and his Chinese counterpart suggested some movement toward establishing a phone link, the U.S. still doesn't have a number to call when problems arise, said Navy Adm. Timothy Keating, commander of U.S. Pacific Command.
"I really am anxious to be able to get ahold of somebody," said Keating, who recently returned from his second trip to China to speak with top military leaders there.
He said he told Chinese officials that "if something comes up I'd like to call you and say what are you guys doing." But so far, he said, they "just haven't given us the phone numbers yet."
Keating described his meetings in Beijing as less confrontational and less tense than those in the past. And he spoke more optimistically about the prospects for China to become more open about its ongoing military buildup.
Yet he could point to little movement by the Chinese to address a host of U.S. concerns. He said the Chinese provided no explanation or apology for their refusal to allow an aircraft carrier group and two minesweepers to dock in Hong Kong in two separate incidents last November.
And he said Chinese officials gave him no explanation for last year's anti-satellite test, when China shot down one of its defunct weather satellites, drawing immediate criticism from the U.S. and other countries.
A phone link, Keating said, might have helped in the standoff last November when two U.S. Navy minesweepers seeking refuge from a storm were denied entry to Hong Kong harbor. Two days later, China refused to allow the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk make a planned port visit to Hong Kong.
"They've got phones, I know they do, I saw them," said Keating, with a touch of humor. He said officials are working on the matter, "as a measure of this developing trust and confidence." And he said there will be a meeting in February on the issue.
Keating said his overall message to the Chinese was that the U.S. is looking for not only a clearer picture of Beijing's increased development of weapons systems, but a better idea of the communist giant's intentions.
China increased its military budget by nearly 18 percent to about $45 billion last year, the largest annual hike in more than a decade. But U.S. officials believe the spending is even greater than that, and have repeatedly called for greater transparency by the Chinese.
FBI Director in China for Talks on Cooperation
http://www.newsmax.com/international/mueller_fbi_china/2008/01/28/68158.html
Robert Mueller, director of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, was scheduled to arrive in China Monday for talks with China's law enforcement officials, the US embassy said.
Mueller will "discuss cooperation between the FBI and the Ministry of Public Security and the function of the FBI overseas programme," the embassy said in a short statement.
No details were provided about the agenda of his talks, but the FBI has traditionally cooperated with China in fighting international crime, including fraud, smuggling, drug trafficking and anti-terrorism.
In July last year, Mueller expressed concern over Chinese espionage operations in the United States.
"China is stealing our secrets in an effort to leap ahead in terms of its military technology but also the economic capability of China," Mueller told a congressional hearing then. "I can say that it is a substantial concern."
The FBI set up a branch office in Beijing in 2002 that is run out of the US embassy, US officials said.
Microchips Everywhere Could Mean Total Loss of Privacy
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,326002,00.html
Here's a vision of the not-so-distant future:
— Microchips with antennas will be embedded in virtually everything you buy, wear, drive and read, allowing retailers and law enforcement to track consumer items — and, by extension, consumers — wherever they go, from a distance.
— A seamless, global network of electronic "sniffers" will scan radio tags in myriad public settings, identifying people and their tastes instantly so that customized ads, "live spam," may be beamed at them.
— In "Smart Homes," sensors built into walls, floors and appliances will inventory possessions, record eating habits, monitor medicine cabinets — all the while, silently reporting data to marketers eager for a peek into the occupants' private lives.
Science fiction?
In truth, much of the radio frequency identification technology that enables objects and people to be tagged and tracked wirelessly already exists — and new and potentially intrusive uses of it are being patented, perfected and deployed.
Some of the world's largest corporations are vested in the success of RFID technology, which couples highly miniaturized computers with radio antennas to broadcast information about sales and buyers to company databases.
Already, microchips are turning up in some computer printers, car keys and tires, on shampoo bottles and department store clothing tags. They're also in library books and "contactless" payment cards (such as American Express' "Blue" and ExxonMobil's "Speedpass.")
Companies say the RFID tags improve supply-chain efficiency, cut theft, and guarantee that brand-name products are authentic, not counterfeit. At a store, RFID doorways could scan your purchases automatically as you leave, eliminating tedious checkouts.
At home, convenience is a selling point: RFID-enabled refrigerators could warn about expired milk, generate weekly shopping lists, even send signals to your interactive TV, so that you see "personalized" commercials for foods you have a history of buying. Sniffers in your microwave might read a chip-equipped TV dinner and cook it without instruction.
"We've seen so many different uses of the technology," says Dan Mullen, president of AIM Global, a national association of data collection businesses, including RFID, "and we're probably still just scratching the surface in terms of places RFID can be used."
The problem, critics say, is that microchipped products might very well do a whole lot more.
With tags in so many objects, relaying information to databases that can be linked to credit and bank cards, almost no aspect of life may soon be safe from the prying eyes of corporations and governments, says Mark Rasch, former head of the computer-crime unit of the U.S. Justice Department.
By placing sniffers in strategic areas, companies can invisibly "rifle through people's pockets, purses, suitcases, briefcases, luggage — and possibly their kitchens and bedrooms — anytime of the day or night," says Rasch, now managing director of technology at FTI Consulting Inc., a Baltimore-based company.
In an RFID world, "You've got the possibility of unauthorized people learning stuff about who you are, what you've bought, how and where you've bought it ... It's like saying, 'Well, who wants to look through my medicine cabinet?'"
He imagines a time when anyone from police to identity thieves to stalkers might scan locked car trunks, garages or home offices from a distance.
"Think of it as a high-tech form of Dumpster diving," says Rasch, who's also concerned about data gathered by "spy" appliances in the home.
"It's going to be used in unintended ways by third parties — not just the government, but private investigators, marketers, lawyers building a case against you ..."
___
Presently, the radio tag most commercialized in America is the so-called "passive" emitter, meaning it has no internal power supply.
Only when a reader powers these tags with a squirt of electrons do they broadcast their signal, indiscriminately, within a range of a few inches to 20 feet.
Not as common, but increasing in use, are "active" tags, which have internal batteries and can transmit signals, continuously, as far as low-orbiting satellites.
Active tags pay tolls as motorists to zip through tollgates; they also track wildlife, such as sea lions.
Retailers and manufacturers want to use passive tags to replace the bar code, for tracking inventory.
These radio tags transmit Electronic Product Codes, number strings that allow trillons of objects to be uniquely identified. Some transmit specifics about the item, such as price, though not the name of the buyer.
However, "once a tagged item is associated with a particular individual, personally identifiable information can be obtained and then aggregated to develop a profile," the U.S. Government Accountability Office concluded in a 2005 report on RFID.
Federal agencies and law enforcement already buy information about individuals from commercial data brokers, companies that compile computer dossiers on millions of individuals from public records, credit applications and many other sources, then offer summaries for sale.
These brokers, unlike credit bureaus, aren't subject to provisions of the Fair Credit Reporting Act of 1970, which gives consumers the right to correct errors and block access to their personal records.
That, and the ever-increasing volume of data collected on consumers, is worrisome, says Mike Hrabik, chief technology officer at Solutionary, a computer-security firm in Bethesda, Md.
"Are companies using that information incorrectly, and are they giving it out inappropriately? I'm sure that's happening. Should we be concerned? Yes."
Even some industry proponents recognize risks. Elliott Maxwell, a research fellow at Pennsylvania State University who serves as a policy adviser to EPCglobal, the industry's standard-setting group, says data broadcast by microchips can easily be intercepted, and misused, by high-tech thieves.
As RFID goes mainstream and the range of readers increases, it will be "difficult to know who is gathering what data, who has access to it, what is being done with it, and who should be held responsible for it," Maxwell wrote in RFID Journal, an industry publication.
The recent growth of the RFID industry has been staggering: From 1955 to 2005, cumulative sales of radio tags totaled 2.4 billion; last year alone, 2.24 billion tags were sold worldwide, and analysts project that by 2017 cumulative sales will top 1 trillion — generating more than $25 billion in annual revenues for the industry.
Heady forecasts like these energize chip proponents, who insist that RFID will result in enormous savings for businesses.
Each year, retailers lose $57 billion from administrative failures, supplier fraud and employee theft, according to a recent survey of 820 retailers by Checkpoint Systems, an RFID manufacturer that specializes in store security devices.
Privacy concerns, some RFID supporters say, are overblown. One, Mark Roberti, editor of RFID Journal, says the notion that businesses would conspire to create high-resolution portraits of people is "simply silly."
Corporations know Americans are sensitive about their privacy, he says, and are careful not to alienate consumers by violating it. Besides, "All companies keep their customer data close to the vest ... There's absolutely no value in sharing it. Zero."
Industry officials, too, insist that addressing privacy concerns is paramount. As American Express spokeswoman Judy Tenzer says, "Security and privacy are a top priority for American Express in everything we do."
But industry documents suggest a different line of thinking, privacy experts say.
A 2005 patent application by American Express itself describes how RFID-embedded objects carried by shoppers could emit "identification signals" when queried by electronic "consumer trackers."
The system could identify people, record their movements, and send them video ads that might offer "incentives" or "even the emission of a scent."
RFID readers could be placed in public venues, including "a common area of a school, shopping center, bus station or other place of public accommodation," according to the application, which is still pending — and which is not alone.
In 2006, IBM received patent approval for an invention it called, "Identification and tracking of persons using RFID-tagged items." One stated purpose: To collect information about people that could be "used to monitor the movement of the person through the store or other areas."
Once somebody enters a store, a sniffer "scans all identifiable RFID tags carried on the person," and correlates the tag information with sales records to determine the individual's "exact identity." A device known as a "person tracking unit" then assigns a tracking number to the shopper "to monitor the movement of the person through the store or other areas."
But as the patent makes clear, IBM's invention could work in other public places, "such as shopping malls, airports, train stations, bus stations, elevators, trains, airplanes, restrooms, sports arenas, libraries, theaters, museums, etc." (RFID could even help "follow a particular crime suspect through public areas.")
Another patent, obtained in 2003 by NCR Corp., details how camouflaged sensors and cameras would record customers' wanderings through a store, film their facial expressions at displays, and time — to the second — how long shoppers hold and study items.
Why? Such monitoring "allows one to draw valuable inferences about the behavior of large numbers of shoppers," the patent states.
Then there's a 2001 patent application by Procter & Gamble, "Systems and methods for tracking consumers in a store environment."
This one lays out an idea to use heat sensors to track and record "where a consumer is looking, i.e., which way she is facing, whether she is bending over or crouching down to look at a lower shelf."
The system could space sensors 8 feet apart, in ceilings, floors, shelving and displays, so they could capture signals transmitted every 1.5 seconds by microchipped shopping carts.
The documents "raise the hair on the back of your neck," says Liz McIntyre, co-author of "Spychips," a book that is critical of the industry. "The industry has long promised it would never use this technology to track people. But these patent records clearly suggest otherwise."
Corporations take issue with that, saying that patent filings shouldn't be used to predict a company's actions.
"We file thousands of patents every year, which are designed to protect concepts or ideas," Paul Fox, a spokesman for Procter & Gamble, says. "The reality is that many of those ideas and concepts never see the light of day."
And what of his company's 2001 patent application? "I'm not aware of any plans to use that," Fox says.
Sandy Hughes, P&G's global privacy executive, adds that Procter & Gamble has no intention of using any technologies — RFID or otherwise — to track individuals. The idea of the 2001 filing, she says, is to monitor how groups of people react to store displays, "not individual consumers."
NCR and American Express echoed those statements. IBM declined to comment for this story.
"Not every element in a patent filing is necessarily something we would pursue....," says Tenzer, the American Express spokeswoman. "Under no circumstances would we use this technology without a customer's permission."
McIntyre has her doubts.
In the marketing world of today, she says, "data on individual consumers is gold, and the only thing preventing these companies from abusing technologies like RFID to get at that gold is public scrutiny."
___
RFID dates to World War II, when Britain put transponders in Allied aircraft to help radar crews distinguish them from German fighters.
In the 1970s, the U.S. government tagged trucks entering and leaving secure facilities such as the Los Alamos National Laboratory, and a decade later, they were used to track livestock and railroad cars.
In 2003, the U.S. Department of Defense and Wal-Mart gave RFID a mammoth push, mandating that suppliers radio tag all crates and cartons.
To that point, the cost of tags had simply been too high to make tagging pallets — let alone individual items — viable. In 1999, passive tags cost nearly $2 apiece.
Since then, rising demand and production of microchips — along with technological advances — have driven tag prices down to a range of 7 to 15 cents.
At that price, the technology is "well-suited at a case and pallet level," says Mullen, of the industry group AIM Global.
John Simley, a spokesman for Wal-Mart, says tracking products in real-time helps ensure product freshness and lowers the chances that items will be out of stock. By reducing loss and waste in the supply chain, RFID "allows us to keep our prices that much lower."
Katherine Albrecht, founder of CASPIAN, an anti-RFID group, says, "Nobody cares about radio tags on crates and pallets. But if we don't keep RFID off of individual consumer items, our stores will one day turn into retail 'zoos' where the customer is always on exhibit."
So, how long will it be before you find an RFID tag in your underwear? The industry isn't saying, but some analysts speculate that within a decade tag costs may dip below a penny, the threshold at which nearly everything could be chipped.
To businesses slammed by counterfeiters — pharmaceuticals, for one — that's not a bad thing. Sales of fake drugs cost drug makers an estimated $46 billion a year. In 2004, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommended that RFID be incorporated throughout the supply chain as a way of making sure consumers get authentic drugs.
In the United States, Pfizer has already begun chipping all 30- and 100-count bottles of Viagra, one of the most counterfeited drugs.
Chips could be embedded in other controlled or potentially dangerous items such as firearms and explosives, to make them easier to track. This was mentioned in IBM's patent documents.
Still, the idea that tiny radio chips might be in their socks and shoes doesn't sit well with Americans. At least, that's what Fleishman-Hillard Inc., a public-relations firm in St. Louis, found in 2001 when it surveyed 317 consumers for the industry.
Seventy-eight percent of those queried reacted negatively to RFID when privacy was raised. "More than half claimed to be extremely or very concerned," the report said, noting that the term "Big Brother" was "used in 15 separate cases to describe the technology."
It also found that people bridled at the idea of having "Smart Tags" in their homes. One surveyed person remarked: "Where money is to be made the privacy of the individual will be compromised."
In 2002, Fleishman-Hillard produced another report for the industry that counseled RFID makers to "convey (the) inevitability of technology," and to develop a plan to "neutralize the opposition," by adopting friendlier names for radio tags such as "Bar Code II" and "Green Tag."
And in a 2003 report, Helen Duce, the industry's trade group director in Europe, wrote that "the lack of clear benefits to consumers could present a problem in the 'real world,'" particularly if privacy issues were stirred by "negative press coverage."
(Though the reports were marked "Confidential," they were later found archived on an industry trade group's Web site.)
The Duce report's recommendations: Tell consumers that RFID is regulated, that RFID is just a new and improved bar code, and that retailers will announce when an item is radio tagged, and deactivate the tags at check-out upon a customer's request.
Actually, in the United States, RFID is not federally regulated. And while bar codes identify product categories, radio tags carry unique serial numbers that — when purchased with a credit card, frequent shopper card or contactless card — can be linked to specific shoppers.
And, unlike bar codes, RFID tags can be read through almost anything except metal and water, without the holder's knowledge.
EPCglobal, the industry's standard-setting body, has issued public policy guidelines that call for retailers to put a thumbnail-sized logo — "EPC," for Electronic Product Code — on all radio tagged packaging.
The group also suggests that merchants notify shoppers that RFID tags can be removed, discarded or disabled.
Critics say the guidelines are voluntary, vague and don't penalize violators. They want federal and state oversight — something the industry has vigorously opposed — particularly after two RFID manufacturers, Checkpoint Systems and Sensormatic, announced last year that they are marketing tags designed to be embedded in such items as shoes.
Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, says, "I don't think there's any basis ... for consumers to have to think that their clothing is tracking them."
Barak: Iran Nuke Program Quite Advanced
http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/Barak:_Iran_Nuke_Program_/2008/01/28/68088.html
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak says the Iranian nuclear program is “quite advanced” and could lead to terrorists obtaining nuclear weapons in the not-too-distant future.
In an interview with Newsweek’s Lally Weymouth in Davos, Switzerland, Barak took issue with the National Intelligence Estimate’s recent report claiming that Iran halted its nuclear weapons development program in 2003.
“Our interpretation is that clearly the Iranians are aiming at nuclear capability. It's probably true that … they may have slowed down the weapons group in 2003, because it was the height of American militarism,” Barak said in the interview, which was also excerpted in the Washington Post.
“We think that they are quite advanced, much beyond the level of the Manhattan Project. We suspect they are probably already working on warheads for ground-to-ground missiles…
“We don’t know if they have enough enriched uranium … but they are working on this as well. We suspect that probably they have another clandestine enrichment operation beyond the one in Natanz.”
Barak said in Israel, the “dots that we see” cannot be easily connected in a way “that does not lead to a nuclear program.”
The world’s leading intelligence communities should strive to learn if there is a clandestine enrichment operation and a weapons group working on the weapons technology, he said.
Barak refused to discuss whether Israel has the ability to conduct a military raid on Iran alone, and would say nothing when asked about Israel’s reported raid on a nuclear facility in Syrian in September.
But he did say: “It’s clear that the real risk with Iran turning nuclear is that it will be the end of the non-proliferation regime because it will open the door on active proliferation. We already had a wake-up call from the case of [Pakistani nuclear scientist] A.Q. Khan, who was ready to sell to anyone, especially if he was a good Muslim.
“It’s very dangerous that we will end up in 10 to 15 years with a nuclear device in the hands of terrorists.”
Hope on the Horizon - for 600 Orphaned Children
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion06803.shtml
DEBRE ZEYIT, Ethiopia, Africa -- The Adana Children Center was launched this month to accept 600 orphaned children over five years. With the first twenty-five children now accepted, an additional ten children will be sponsored each month.
Life is hard in the world's poorest countries like Ethiopia; the average person lives on less than a dollar a day. Everyone may be poor, but when children lose their parents, they are often alone and homeless, becoming the poorest of the poor. They are the un- loved of society, parentless and with no one to care for them.
Ethiopia is truly a land abandoned by time -- a people whose standard of living is hundreds of years behind the modern world with most people still cooking on open fires, without running water or electricity. Even farming strategies are antiquated with people still plowing with wood bottom plows or by hand. Many tribes remain unclothed and worship nature, animals, and witch doctors.
"It's a land filled with poverty everywhere you turn. When you see and experience it in person, it's simply overwhelming," says Mr. Strawn, president of Blessing the Children International. "But looking in the eyes of one of these orphans and seeing their renewed hope... it's simply priceless."
Ethiopia is one of the countries hit hardest by the AIDS pandemic. With 4 million orphans in Ethiopia (20% as a result of AIDS), it is a major problem that the government describes as, "tearing apart the social fabric" of the east African nation.
Children arrive at the orphanage malnourished, underweight, and often having never been to school. At the Adana Children Center, these children are finding a new hope for the future. Children are initially cared for in the orphanage while a foster home is found. In their new home, children are loved and cared for as they receive provision and support from their sponsor, such as clothing, healthy meals, life skills training and the opportunity to go to school.
Donations for the project go entirely for the children, 100% being sent to Ethiopia for ministry. On average, non-profit ministries spend more than 20% of their revenues on overhead expenses. Like every ministry, Blessing the Children International also has overhead expenses, but they are paid from revenues of their service ministry (printing, graphic design, consulting, and other services). All overhead is covered from service revenues, so every dollar donated for the Adana Children's Center is sent directly to Ethiopia.
Every penny given for the children... goes for the children!
Mission Trips are hosted through the year for those interested in experiencing the ministry first hand. It's a rich experience in a country where many things are done much the same as they were hundreds of years ago.
To learn more, or to join them in caring for the poorest of the poor, contact:
Blessing the Children International
2267 Fraser Road
Kawkawlin, MI 48631
(888) 269-2719
www.BlessingTheChildren.org
HLI Lauds WI Bishop's Stand against 'CFFC'
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion06806.shtml
FRONT ROYAL, VA -- The Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer, STL, president of Human Life International, (HLI) today applauded Bishop Robert C. Morlino of Madison, Wisconsin, for his letter to the Wisconsin Legislature pointing out the illegitimacy of the rogue group calling itself "Catholics for a Free Choice" (CFFC).
"Perhaps CFFC should call themselves 'Catholics Against Conscience' given the maneuver they are trying to pull in Wisconsin," Father Euteneuer said. "CFFC is trying to block a conscience clause in a law regarding so-called 'emergency contraception,' which would protect health professionals in the state from being forced to dispense the abortion-causing drug, also known as 'Plan B.'
"That would bring the cynical irony of their existence full circle," Father Euteneuer said. "CFFC cites a false concept of conscience to support their claims that one can be 'pro-choice' and a Catholic in good standing. CFFC also issues a misnamed publication entitled Conscience."
Father Euteneuer said, "I salute Bishop Morlino for reiterating what Human Life International and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops have said all along: that no one can responsibly claim both to be Catholic and pro-choice."
Bishop Morlino said, "CFFC is, practically speaking, an arm of the abortion lobby in the United States and throughout the world. It is an advocacy group dedicated to supporting abortion. It is funded by a number of powerful and wealthy private foundations, mostly American, to promote abortion as a method of population control. Thus, I reaffirm, 'Catholics for a Free Choice' is not, in fact, Catholic because its members don't accept basic Catholic teaching. So, it comes as no surprise that when I teach basic Catholic doctrine, which they don't recognize as such, they call it 'political maneuvering' - a claim that is as frivolous as their claim to be Catholic is irresponsible." (Emphasis in the original.)
Father Euteneuer said, "Thank God for shepherds like Bishop Morlino. On this day when we commemorate the tragic Roe v. Wade decision-which has claimed nearly 50 million lives and damaged countless women over 35 years-his action reminds us there are still wolves in Catholic clothing ravaging God's little ones."
Remarks by the President to March for Life Rally Participants
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion06807.shtml
WASHINGTON -- The follow is the remarks by the President to March for Life Rally Participants:
East Room
9:01 A.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: Nellie, good to be with you -- we're fellow West Texans who care deeply about the value of human life. Other members of the board of directors for the March for Life, leaders of the pro-life community, and all those who are here with us for the march, it's good to have you here and welcome to the White House. (Applause.)
As I look out at you, I'll see some folks who have been traveling all night to get here -- (laughter) -- you're slightly bleary-eyed. (Laughter.) I'll see others who are getting ready for a day out in the cold. But mostly I see faces that shine with a love for life. (Applause.)
I see people with a deep conviction that even the most vulnerable member of the human family is a child of God. You're here because you know that all life deserves to be protected. And as you begin your march, I'm proud to be standing with you. (Applause.)
Thirty-five years ago today the United States Supreme Court declared and decided that under the law an unborn child is not considered a person. But we know many things about the unborn. Biology confirms that from the start each unborn child is a separate individual with his or her own genetic code. Babies can now survive outside the mother's womb at younger and younger ages. And the fingers and toes and beating hearts that we can see on an unborn child's ultrasound come with something that we cannot see: a soul. (Applause.)
Today we're heartened -- we're heartened by the news that the number of abortions is declining. But the most recent data reports that more than one in five pregnancies end in an abortion. America is better than this, so we will continue to work for a culture of life where a woman with an unplanned pregnancy knows there are caring people who will support her; where a pregnant teen can carry her child and complete her education; where the dignity of both the mother and child is honored and cherished.
We aspire to build a society where each one of us is welcomed in life and protected in law. We haven't arrived, but we are making progress. Here in Washington we passed good laws that promote adoption and extend legal protection to children who are born despite abortion attempts. We came together to ban the cruel practice of partial birth abortion. (Applause.) And in the past year we have prevented that landmark law from being rolled back.
We've seen the dramatic breakthroughs in stem cell research that it is possible to advance medical science while respecting the sanctity of life. (Applause.) Building a culture of life requires more than law; it requires changing hearts. And as we reach out to others and find common ground, we can see the glimmerings of a new America on a far shore. This America is rooted in our belief that in a civilized society, the strong protect the weak. This America is nurtured by people like you, who speak up for the weak and the innocent. This America is the destiny of a people whose founding document speaks of the right to life that is a gift of our Creator, not a grant of the state. (Applause.)
My friends, the time is short and your march is soon. (Laughter.) As you give voice to the voiceless I ask you to take comfort from this: The hearts of the American people are good. (Applause.) Their minds are open to persuasion. And our history shows that a cause rooted in human dignity and appealing to the best instincts of the American people cannot fail. So take heart. (Applause.)
Take heart, be strong, and go forth. May God bless you. (Applause.)
END
9:10 A.M. EST
North Korea releases Canadian Christian aid worker
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/north.korea.releases.canadian.christian.aid.worker/16529.htm
North Korea released at the weekend a Canadian reportedly held by the communist state for two months, a Canadian Embassy official in Seoul said on Monday.
The Toronto Star said Je Yell Kim, a Christian aid worker who provided dental care for North Koreans in the northeast part of the country, was taken into custody by authorities on Nov. 3 on charges of violating national security.
Kim was sent to China, where he met Canadian diplomats, said Jeff Dutton, a counsellor at the Canadian Embassy in Seoul.
"We are facilitating and have facilitated his reunion with his family," Dutton said." We have been providing counsellor assistance to Mr. Kim since this case was brought to light."
Kim, a Canadian-Korean businessman from Edmonton, seems to have run into trouble for his religious views, reports from Canada said. The United States and others have criticised North Korea for its suppression of religion.
The Toronto Star cited relatives and friends as saying he had been doing dental aid work in one of the poorest regions of the destitute North for about 10 years, with the approval of the North Korean authorities.
They also said Kim would never abuse the trust extended to him by North Korean authorities, the paper reported last week.
Aid workers said they heard Kim was arrested after North Korean officials read what appeared to be his notes for a sermon, the paper said.
Reclusive North Korea is reluctant to allow foreigners into its country. In September 2007, it said it was stepping up internal securities after it detected and smashed espionage conducted by "a foreign intelligence service."
Rick Warren: Mainline church problems need evangelical solution
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/rick.warren.mainline.church.problems.need.evangelical.solution/16535.htm
Megachurch pastor Rick Warren suggested Sunday that mainline churches need to reconcile with evangelicals to counter their mounting problem of membership decline.
“The reconciliation is that in a pluralistic world…we [Christians] need to be on the same team because we share the same Saviour,” Warren, of Purpose Driven fame, contended Sunday.
He was speaking with the dean of the Washington National Cathedral, Samuel T Lloyd III, who observed that evangelical churches are thriving and full of vitality, whilst most mainline denominations are confronting worrisome membership decline.
During the cathedral’s weekly Sunday Forum: Critical Issues in the Light of Faith, Lloyd asked Warren how mainlines should tackle the problem.
“100 years ago the phrase ‘social gospel’ first came out,” Warren responded. “Some people took that to mean only if we reform the social government and society and not personal faith in Christ Jesus – that is, if we make the world a better place – we don’t need personal redemption.”
That idea led to mainline churches going “one way” and evangelical churches another way, he said.
In general, mainline churches focused on social morality such as fighting poverty, racism and economic justice. Meanwhile, evangelical churches concentrated on personal morality such as personal salvation, fighting pornography, and upholding family values.
“Who’s right? The fact is both are right,” Warren emphasised. “Somehow we got divided like Jesus didn’t care about society or members of society didn’t need Jesus. I think we need both.”
Warren called for “reconciliation” between mainline and evangelical churches and reminded the audience that Jesus taught his followers to love their God with all their heart, mind and soul, as well as to love their neighbours as themselves.
“You can’t just love your neighbour; you [have] got to love God,” Warren said. “And you can’t just love God; you have to love your neighbours. And mainline protestant and evangelical – we need both wings.”
Earlier in the programme, Warren spoke of his 20,000-member Saddleback Church, an evangelical church that has more than 400 ministries reaching out to different parts of society including prison ministry and programmes helping people infected with HIV/Aids.
The megachurch pastor also praised small church groups that meet in people’s homes in strengthening Saddleback. The church has more than 3,600 small groups stretching 100 miles away from the main campus – or at least one in every city in southern California.
Warren said proudly that there are more people meeting in small groups each week – around 30,000 – than attending Sunday service.
“I could drop dead right now and the church would still be growing,” Warren joked half-seriously.
The community-building guru added that the church is not built around one figure and that he spends only about half the year preaching at Saddleback and the rest travelling to speak and train pastors around the world.
Warren also highlighted that the evangelical church offers around 22 different worship styles across its campus on Sunday but listens to the same sermon.
“God likes variety,” Warren said with a laugh.
Besides membership decline, many mainline churches also report decline in financial contribution.
Warren said his church does “zero” fundraising, but instead teaches biblical stewardship and generosity. Saddleback raised $7 million for Hurricane Katrina relief efforts and $1.6 million for the tsunami with one simple announcement made from the pulpit.
Personally, Warren and his wife Kay have led the church by example. The couple tithed the standard 10 per cent during their first year of marriage, but raised it one percent each year thereafter - 12 per cent during their second year or marriage, 13 per cent in their third year of marriage, and so forth.
But after the success of Warren’s book The Purpose Driven Life, the couple started to practise 'reverse tithing' – giving 90 per cent to God’s work and living on 10 per cent.
The Purpose Driven Life is the best-selling hardback in US history and one of the best selling books in the world.
Other points in Warren’s talk on Sunday included his global P.E.A.C.E. Plan (Plant churches, Equip servant leaders, Assist the poor, Care for the sick and Educate the next generation) and his belief in the need for a second reformation - one where Christians change their behaviour to reflect what they claim to believe in.
Next week, Warren will attend the National Prayer Breakfast and hold a small meeting with DC-area pastors.
Will Olmert Survive Again?
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/311495.aspx
JERUSALEM, Israel - With the clock ticking down to Wednesday's release of the Winograd Commission Report, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is calling on his party to unite behind him, while key coalition players are positioning themselves for the fallout.
The government-appointed committee took nearly 17 months to evaluate the handling of the Second Lebanon War in the summer of 2006. On Wednesday, Israelis will learn the Commission's final conclusions.
The interim report covered the first five days of the war, which went relatively well for Israel. At the beginning of the war, Israelis across the political spectrum stood behind the government's plan to rescue the two kidnapped reservists, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, from Lebanese-based Hezbollah terrorists who'd begun firing Katyusha rockets on northern Israel.
Nonetheless, the interim report exposed poor decisionmaking on the part of the prime minister, defense minister and Israel Defense Forces (IDF) chief of general staff in the first five days of fighting.
When the report was released nine months ago, on April 30, Olmert's approval ratings fell into the low single digits and even into the negative a couple of times with the 3 percent margin of error factored in.
Livni Calls for Olmert's Resignation
Shortly after the report's release, Israeli television carried live coverage of Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni's press conference in which she called on Olmert to resign.
After about a week, Livni folded, retracting her words and announcing she'd decided to stay in the government.
Meanwhile, when Ehud Barak brought Labor into the government in June, he pledged to stay only until the final report was published, when he would resign as defense minister and pull his party out.
In the end, the report's release was rescheduled for Wednesday, January 30, and Barak is now undecided about what he'll do "for the good of the country."
Don't Create Camps
At a party faction meeting, Olmert called on Kadima members to stick together.
"I don't expect problems within Kadima following the publication of the Winograd Report," Olmert told them.
"We must not create camps within Kadima. We proved that we are able to act in situations that demand consideration and understanding," he said.
Meanwhile, Livni took some flak from Cabinet ministers Sunday, particularly fellow Kadima members, for planning to meet later in the day with bereaved parents and reserve soldiers calling for Olmert's resignation.
While Vice Premier Haim Ramon (Kadima) supported Livni, he warned her of falling into a political trap.
"Let's not fall into the trap of our adversaries who want to topple us," Ramon said. "Our opponents are trying to create a divide between the bereaved families and the reservists, and the government. We must work together to support those who participate in the process," he said.
After the meeting, Livni defended her actions.
"There is no right time for a meeting such as this," Livni said. "A meeting with combat soldiers and bereaved families is the bare minimum required, even if it's difficult," she said. "I didn't evade these meetings up to today and I won't evade them now. I intend to listen to them, and it definitely won't be easy," she said.
Families were reservedly encouraged afterward.
"Whether it is pressuring Livni or appealing to the public, we will make our voices heard until this prime minister goes home," reserve soldier Ronen Shoval said.
"If Kadima doesn't take it [upon itself] to topple Olmert, then Labor will be the party to step up and take matters into its own hands," he said.
According to Shoval, National Infrastructures Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer (Labor) said Olmert's time in office is waning.
"One way or another, Olmert would [will] go home…if Kadima doesn't do it, then Labor will," he reportedly told the soldiers.
Ehud Olmert is a political survivor who is counting on his party to stick with him while he winds his way through the path that awaits him after the publication of the Winograd Commission's final report.
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