Businessman Accused of Spying on U.S. Held Until Trial
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,330857,00.html
A judge on Friday ordered a New Orleans businessman accused of giving classified military information to the Chinese government to remain in jail pending trial.
U.S. Magistrate John F. Anderson ruled that Tai Kuo, 58, would be a flight risk if released. Kuo, a citizen of Taiwan and the United States, is well known in his native Taiwan. He is the son-and-law of Xue Yue, a Chinese nationalist general who was a close associate of Chiang Kai-shek.
Anderson also cited the weight of the evidence against Kuo. According to an affidavit, federal agents caught Kuo on videotape in July giving a half-inch thick stack of folded bills, with a $100 bill on the outside, to a Defense Department analyst.
Kuo is also seen taking notes on documents supplied by the analyst, Gregg Bergersen. In a conversation caught on tape, the two reference the transfer of classified information and acknowledge that they could face jail time for their actions.
"I'd go to jail, I don't wanna go to jail," Bergersen said.
"I'd probably go to jail too," Kuo responded, chuckling, according to the affidavit.
Kuo's attorney, Alex Bourelly, argued that Kuo has extensive ties to the community in New Orleans, where he was well known as a businessman, and was not a threat to leave.
Bourelly declined to discuss the charges themselves after Friday's hearing.
Kuo faces a possible life sentence. Bergersen, 51, of Alexandria, faces up to 10 years in prison. He was ordered released Thursday on $100,000 bond.
The charges against Bergersen are less severe because is not alleged to have directly given information to a foreign government, as is alleged against Kuo.
A third defendant, Yu Xin Kang, is being transferred to Virginia to face charges.
The Chinese government has called the accusations of espionage groundless and accused the U.S. of "Cold War thinking."
Muslims March Against Reprinting of Danish Newspaper Cartoons Depicting Muhammad
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,330838,00.html
Muslims protested Friday in the Gaza Strip, Pakistan and Denmark against the reprinting of a Danish newspaper cartoon depicting the Islamic prophet Muhammad.
Thousands of residents in the conservative Gaza Strip ruled by the militant Islamic Hamas movement marched in the Jebaliya refugee camp chanting: "What Denmark said is heresy."
"It is shameful that Denmark should renew its offense against the prophet," Hamas official Mushir al-Masri told reporters at the protest.
In Pakistan, hundreds of people rallied in various parts of the country, setting fire to Danish flags and demanding the Danish ambassador's expulsion. And in Denmark, a prominent Danish imam urged rioting youth to stop setting fires and hurling rocks at police.
The protests came after Denmark's leading newspapers reproduced one of 12 cartoons of Islam's prophet Wednesday in a gesture of solidarity after police said they uncovered a plot to kill the cartoon's artist. The drawings had sparked deadly riots across the Muslim world in 2006.
About 200 students from the International Islamic University in Islamabad vowed to organize a street march next Friday if the government did not accept their demand.
"We are even ready to sacrifice our life for our beloved Prophet," said Mahmood Sadiqui, a student leader.
About 200 people held a similar rally in Multan, a main city in the eastern Punjab province, burning Danish flags and chanting "Death to the Cartoonist!" and "Boycott, boycott of European products!"
At two rallies in Pakistan's biggest city of Karachi, about 150 supporters from radical Islamic parties torched effigies of the Danish prime minister amid calls to boycott Danish products.
Mohammad Imran, a student leader from Islami Jamiat Talba, a student organization linked with Pakistan's largest Islamic political group, Jamaat-e-Islami, called the cartoon "blasphemous."
"We demand the rulers to sever diplomatic ties" with Denmark and Sweden for publishing the cartoons. "The cartoonist and publisher must be hanged."
It was the second protest in Karachi in as many days. Dozens of Islamic students set fire to a Danish flag on Thursday. In Pakistan, blasphemy of Muhammad is considered a serious crime that carries the death sentence.
In Copenhagen, about 800 people protested peacefully in a march organized by the radical Muslim group Hizb ut-Tahrir.
Meanwhile, a prominent Danish imam urged rioting youth to stop setting fires and hurling rocks at police after a fifth consecutive night of vandalism there and in other Danish cities.
"Please stop what you're doing," Imam Mostafa Chendid, the leader of the Islamic Faith Community, said in an address to young people during Friday's prayer. "The prophet has not taught you to burn down schools, or burn cars or infrastructure."
Nine youths were arrested overnight Friday in Copenhagen, six of whom faced preliminary charges for throwing rocks at police officers, police said Friday. There were no reports of injuries.
TV bunny rouses Gaza kids
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080215/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_palestinians_israel_bunny;_ylt=ArXta2BR.YThflnBWIbzbZLtiBIF
A man-sized talking rabbit appeared on television in Gaza on Friday to denounce Danish newspapers over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad that offended Muslims.
The latest in a line of cartoon-inspired characters that take the message of the Hamas Islamist movement to Palestinian children, the actor in the Bugs Bunny-style outfit also railed against "Zionist filth" and Israel's control of Jerusalem.
The Friday show "Tomorrow's Pioneers" on Hamas's al-Aqsa channel has become a weekend fixture for pre-teens since shortly before the Islamists seized control of the Gaza Strip last year.
A Mickey Mouse-type creation provoked outcry in Israel and was condemned elsewhere as inciting hatred among the young. The mouse, eventually shown being beaten to death by an Israeli, was followed by a talking bee and, now, by Assud the rabbit.
"I want the West to hear this. I want the Danes who offended the great Prophet to hear it," the rabbit said, gesturing to viewers after the show's co-presenter, a girl of about 12 named Sarra, condemned Danish newspapers for reprinting the cartoons after police accused several men of plotting to kill the artist.
"Where are you Muslims? Where are you Arabs?" said Sarra, wearing a headscarf and speaking with precocious eloquence.
"We are all a sacrifice for the Prophet. The soldiers of Tomorrow's Pioneers will redeem the Prophet with all they have."
Earlier, several thousand Hamas supporters demonstrated in Gaza over the cartoons, which were first published in 2005.
Returning to the show's favoured theme of explaining Hamas's goal of an Islamic state in all the area now divided between Israel and the Palestinians, the rabbit told viewers they would recover Jerusalem's holiest Muslim site and cities in Israel:
"We will liberate al-Aqsa mosque from the Zionists' filth," said Assud, whose name means Little Lion. "We will liberate Jaffa and Acre. Will liberate the whole homeland."
Though some parents are uneasy about the show's message it has proved popular with children, not only in Hamas-controlled Gaza but also in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. One girl called Rasha said she was phoning in from Bethlehem, near Jerusalem:
"Who has sabotaged the world if not the Zionist plans?" she sang down the line to the studio in Gaza. Dancing and singing along, Assud the rabbit chimed in: "They have bombarded us."
Former President Bush to Endorse McCain
http://www.newsmax.com/politics/Former_President_Bush_to_/2008/02/15/72950.html
WASHINGTON -- Former President George H.W. Bush will endorse John McCain in Texas on Monday, Republican officials said.
The endorsement represents another step in McCain's tightening grip on the Republican presidential nomination. The officials spoke Friday on condition of anonymity because the formal announcement is next week.
Since he took a commanding lead in the delegate count, the Arizona senator has been working to solidify his support from the Republican base. On Thursday, he picked up the endorsement of his one-time chief rival, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. The endorsement of the former president and patriarch of the Bush family also could help with party stalwarts.
His son, the current President Bush, has not yet formally endorsed McCain because former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in still in the race, but he strongly signaled his support last weekend in a cable television interview.
The president told "Fox News Sunday" that McCain is a "true conservative" but may have to work harder to convince other conservatives that he is one of their own.
McCain "is very strong on national defense," Bush said in the television interview. "He is tough fiscally. He believes the tax cuts ought to be permanent. He is pro-life. His principles are sound and solid as far as I'm concerned."
When asked about criticism of McCain by conservative commentators Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter, the president said, "I think that if John is the nominee, he has got some convincing to do to convince people that he is a solid conservative and I'll be glad to help him if he is the nominee."
Bush said some of the criticism of McCain was the result of "probably, some personal animosity toward me. You can't please all the people all the time."
US: Iran Must Confess to Nuclear Arms
http://www.newsmax.com/international/nuclear_iran/2008/02/15/73028.html
VIENNA, Austria -- The U.S. on Friday demanded that Iran confess to trying to make atomic weapons, suggesting that anything short of that would doom an International Atomic Energy Agency probe of Tehran's nuclear past.
The call by Gregory L. Schulte, chief U.S. delegate to the Vienna-based IAEA, appeared to set the bar insurmountably high for the investigation by the U.N. agency's chief, Mohamed ElBaradei.
There is only about a week left before he reports on the probe's progress, and Iran has steadfastly denied ever working on a nuclear weapons program.
Schulte said the "measure for progress is whether Iran fully discloses its past weapons work and allows IAEA inspectors to verify it's halted."
"This," he told reporters, "includes explaining past work on weapons design and weaponization and the role of the Iranian military."
Schulte spoke a day after diplomats told The Associated Press that the U.S. had recently shared new intelligence on alleged Iranian nuclear weapons work. One of them also said that Washington also gave the IAEA permission to confront Iran with at least some of the evidence in an attempt to pry details out of the Islamic republic on the activities.
Tehran insists its program is intended only to produce energy and has refused U.N. demands that it suspend its uranium enrichment program _ technology that can produce both fuel for nuclear reactors and the fissile material for a bomb.
The U.S. is leading the push for a third set of U.N. sanctions against Iran. A recent U.S. intelligence assessment that Iran had a clandestine weapons program but stopped working on it four years ago has hurt Washington's attempts to have the U.N. Security Council impose the new sanctions.
A March 3 meeting of the 35-nation IAEA board will evaluate ElBaradei's efforts to probe Tehran's nuclear past _ including alleged attempts to make weapons. The probe was to have been completed months ago, but agency officials have privately acknowledged it could drag on even past the board meeting.
Reflecting Western dissatisfaction _ and the possibility that ElBaradei's report would fall short of expectations _ Britain, France and the United States have begun consulting on a resolution for the March meeting that would "draw a line in the sand" both for the IAEA chief and Iran, said a diplomat accredited to the agency.
The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the issue.
The last board resolution referred Iran to the U.N. Security Council in late 2006. Any new resolution would reflect frustration with Russian and Chinese opposition to tough U.N. sanctions on Iran, he said.
If ElBaradei's probe is deemed unsatisfactory, the board, through a new resolution "has to report to the Security Council that the agency has done all that it can do, and that it cannot guarantee for the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program," the diplomat said.
Iran is already under two sets of U.N. Security Council sanctions for refusing to suspend uranium enrichment, which it started developing during nearly two decades of covert nuclear activity built on illicit purchases and revealed only five years ago.
Since then, IAEA experts have uncovered activities, experiments, and blueprints and materials that point to possible efforts by Iran to create nuclear weapons, even though Tehran insists its nuclear project is peaceful.
New Draft Law Proposing Death Penalty for Apostasy in Iran
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion06877.shtml
The Iranian Parliament is reviewing a bill for Islamic penal code that legislates the death penalty for apostasy, according to a February 5 report from the Institute on Religion and Public Policy.
The draft law, which defines an apostate as "any Muslim who clearly announces that he/she has left Islam and declares blasphemy," is clearly aimed to deter conversion from Islam. The proposal contravenes Article 18 of the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights (of which Iran is a signatory) that states, "Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief."
Pray for strength, wisdom, and grace for Iranian Christians as they continue to spread the Gospe l despite sustained pressure from the Islamic government of the nation (Ephesians 6:18-20). Ask God to frustrate the attempts of those who hinder the expansion of His Kingdom. Despite tremendous oppression in Iran, many are coming to Christ. Read the stories of seven Iranians who have found true freedom. Order a copy of "Iran: Desperate for God" from VOMC today. You can order it from www.persecution.net/catalog.htm.
For more information on the persecution of Christians in Iran, go to www.persecution.net/country/iran.htm.
American Bible Society Mourns the Loss of Ruth Stafford Peale
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion06876.shtml
NEW YORK, (christiansunite.com) -- The following is a statement by the Rev. Dr. Paul Irwin, President, American Bible Society:
The American Bible Society is deeply saddened by the death of Ruth Stafford Peale, a member of the board of the Bible Society for more than 50 years. Mrs. Peale was the widow of Power of Positive Thinking author Norman Vincent Peale and co-founder of Guideposts magazine and the Peale Center for Positive Thinking. She was a renowned speaker and author in her own right and personified one of her most famous quotes: "Find a need and fill it."
I knew Mrs. Peale for many years when we were American Bible Society board members. She was a profoundly dedicated Christian leader, wife and mother. Her life greatly influenced countless people around the world and here in the United States. Ruth Peale always was interested in reaching the world for Jesus Christ and her influence was powerful in encouraging and guiding the work of the American Bible Society. One of my fondest memories is attending her 100th birthday celebration where I was captivated by her ongoing energy and enthusiasm.
During the tenure of Ruth Peale with the American Bible Society, millions upon millions of Bibles were put into the hands of people whose lives were changed as a result. I believe her fingerprints were on every one of those Bibles! Her emphasis on Bible engagement was epitomized by her passion for sharing God's Word and by her warm smile and generous spirit. Ruth was 101 years old and she lived each of her days with a vibrancy of faith that all should commend.
When I reflect on Mrs. Peale's life, the words from the Gospel of Matthew 25:23 (New King James Version) are so appropriate: "Well done, good and faithful servant...Enter into the joy of your lord."
We at the American Bible Society extend our condolences to the Peale family--Margaret Peale Everett, Elizabeth Peale Allen and John Stafford Peale as they mourn her loss and celebrate her extraordinary life.
Founded in 1816 and headquartered in New York City, the mission of the American Bible Society is to make the Bible available to every person in a language and format each can understand and afford, so that all people may experience its life-changing message. The American Bible Society Web site is www.Bibles.com.
AG Six Denies Evidence to Grand Jury, Becomes Part of Abortion Corruption Scandal
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion06875.shtml
TOPEKA, KS -- Kansas Attorney General Stephen Six is refusing to honor a subpoena issued by a Sedgwick County grand jury investigating late- term abortionist George R. Tiller. The subpoena asked for 60 abortion records obtained by former Attorney General Phil Kline that had been approved for release by the Kansas Supreme Court and have already had all information redacted from them that could identify the patients.
Six cited the fact that the Supreme Court issued a stay on the enforcement of other grand jury subpoenas for 2,000 abortion records from Tiller's clinic on Tuesday, as reason for not complying with his subpoena.
"There are no privacy considerations with the records in the custody of the Attorney General's office," said Cheryl Sullenger, Senior Policy Advisor for Operation Rescue. "If Mr. Six does not want to comply with the law, he shouldn't be the Attorney General."
The same 60 records that are the subject of the latest grand jury subpoena were examined at the request of Kline by Dr. Paul McHugh, an expert in psychiatry from Johns Hopkins University Hospital. Dr. McHugh addressed privacy concerns in an interview he recorded on June 11, 2007:
"The names, and some of the vital details in the sense of them, were not available on those records. Those were redacted out so that the point was not to identify them as a particular person. There were no privacy concerns, and in the sense that identifying the people - and by the way, there wasn't an awful lot of a private nature that was in those records, other than the state of mind and feelings that the young women were expressing."
Those records were the basis for Kline's 30 criminal charges against Tiller, which were dismissed on jurisdictional grounds. Disgraced former Attorney General Paul Morrison said that those charges had no validity, but was later accused of corruption when news broke that he had attempted to illegally influence cases against Tiller and Planned Parenthood.
"Six has failed to reestablish integrity to the Attorney General's office. His decision to withhold important evidence from the grand jury appears to be politically motivated and designed to continue the Morrison tradition of corrupt abortion politics," said Sullenger.
"Could it be if the grand jury has access to this evidence, it will reveal that Kline was right, and that Morrison was involved in a cover-up of Tiller wrongdoing? If so, that would implicate Six and even Gov. Sebelius in the continuing corruption scandal."
About Operation Rescue Operation Rescue is one of the leading pro-life Christian activist organizations in the nation. Operation Rescue recently made headlines when it bought and closed an abortion clinic in Wichita, Kansas and has become the voice of the pro-life activist movement in America. Its activities are on the cutting edge of the abortion issue, taking direct action to restore legal personhood to the pre-born and stop abortion in obedience to biblical mandates.
True Love Waits Introduces Special New Testament
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion06874.shtml
NASHVILLE -- True Love Waits and Holman Bible Outreach, both divisions of LifeWay Christian Resources, have jointly produced a special True Love Waits New Testament that includes a salvation message, an introduction to True Love Waits and a commitment page.
The TLW New Testament is being released to coincide with Valentine's Day, a time in which a large number of True Love Waits' abstinence-until-marriage commitment ceremonies are held in churches and other places around the world.
Thanks to a major donation to LifeWay's A Defining Moment philanthropic campaign, 100,000 copies of the new TLW New Testament will be distributed for free throughout Africa in places where True Love Waits International has staff in place.
Another 30,000 copies will be sold in the U.S. to churches, youth groups and individuals for $1.95 each.
"As the Baptist Bible society, we are very excited about partnering with True Love Waits in producing this New Testament, which not only will help young people keep their commitments to remain abstinent until marriage, but also will provide spiritual guidance for a variety of challenges they face each day," said Phill Burgess, executive director of Holman Bible Outreach.
"Having a New Testament available to compliment our abstinence message in Africa, a place that has been ravaged by AIDS, gives us an added dimension," noted Jimmy Hester, cofounder of True Love Waits. "For some young people in Africa, this may be the only New Testament they ever receive and may be the only opportunity to engage God's Word."
Hester said he expects youth groups to buy the TLW New Testament not only for individual and group use, but also for outreach to their friends. In some cases, he envisions U.S. students sending New Testaments to students in Africa.
True Love Waits International will be very cautious in making sure the TLW commitment is for no gain than the blessing of being obedient to God, with the New Testaments used in follow up, according to Sharon Pumpelly, lead consultant for True Love Waits International.
"In areas where we have had New Testaments donated to us, we have seen a great number of youths make commitments to Christ in the follow up of their abstinence commitment," she said.
"A New Testament may be given during counseling following a TLW presentation, based on the need of that moment," Pumpelly continued. "We also are talking about encouraging young people who are in follow-up groups to memorize scripture and then receive a New Testament."
True Love Waits®, a biblically based initiative, is one of several approaches to challenging young people to make a commitment to sexual abstinence until marriage. More than one hundred organizations and thousands of churches have adopted the use of True Love Waits throughout the world. The first True Love Waits national celebration took place in July 1994, when more than 210,000 covenant cards were displayed on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Today, an estimated 2.5 to 3 million youth have signed commitment cards pledging sexual purity until their wedding day, and that number continues to grow worldwide. For more information, visit www.lifeway.com/tlw.
Holman Bible Outreach is an entity of Nashville-based LifeWay Christian Resources and provides discounted or free Bibles and Scripture portions for evangelism, mission projects and training. For more information, visit www.HolmanBibleOutreach.org.
For more information or to purchase a TLW New Testament, call (866) 627-7796 or visit www.BaptistBibleSociety.com.
Christian Freedom International Calls for Universal Attention on Burma as Hollywood Movie Depicts Its Atrocities
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion06873.shtml
MYAWADDY, BURMA -- Christian Freedom International (CFI), a U.S.-based humanitarian organization, is urging the global community to call on Burma's government to end the ethnic cleansing violence that has caused the deaths of thousands of its own citizens, with thousands more swarming into refugee camps.
The challenge comes as one of Hollywood's latest films, Rambo IV, is being released in theaters around the world -- a movie where its writer, producer, and leading actor, Sylvester Stallone, began work on the script shortly after the devastation of the September 11, 2001 U.S. terrorist attacks. In the early stages of the script's development, Stallone consulted with Soldiers of Fortune magazine and asked one crucial question: where is the one place on earth where the worst atrocities are taking place and getting the least amount of attention?
The answer was Burma.
In the latest installment of the 20-year-old Rambo movie franchise, Stallone attempts to revive his protagonist character, John Rambo, where the Vietnam veteran is living a solitary, peaceful life in Bangkok, Thailand -- until the day he's summoned to escort a group of Christian missionaries up the Salween River to deliver relief aid to war-weary refugees in Burma. When the missionaries fail to return from their trip nearly two weeks later, the veteran is once again approached by the missionaries' pastor, who pleads for his help in locating the aid workers that have been kidnapped by the vicious Burmese army.
CFI anticipates that the movie's recent release will draw more attention to the grim reality of the world's oldest civil war, in a country where Karen and Karenni Christians have been especially suffering for decades. Since 1996, Christian Freedom International has built schools, orphanages and field hospitals, as well as provided food, medicine and Bibles for thousands of suffering Christians in Burma. The organization has also remained as an active voice in the political arena on behalf of Burma's refugees, and in recent months worked closely with the U.S. State Department to assist with the resettlement effort that is allowing many of the country's exiles to begin new lives in the United States.
Although thousands of refugees are now living safely on American soil, thousands more remain in grave danger as they continue to flee from the Burmese army. CFI president Jim Jacobson is currently on location in Burma, delivering Bibles and urgently needed medical supplies to Karen and Karenni refugees.
Jim Jacobson, a former White House policy analyst during the Reagan administration, has frequently visited Burma to personally deliver aid -- and encouragement -- to displaced Christians in the region. For more information about the humanitarian crisis in Burma, visit www.christianfreedom.com.
Rising foreclosures pressure home prices
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23129556/
WASHINGTON - A growing share of home sales are from foreclosures, especially in states hardest hit by the housing bust. In some parts of California lately, nearly 50 percent of home sales come from foreclosed houses.
The trend, which is putting additional downward pressure on home prices, is most notable there and in Nevada, Colorado, Tennessee and Michigan, but is also evident in Ohio, Georgia, Florida and Arizona, according to an Associated Press comparison of 2007 sales and foreclosure data. In Nevada, for example, 17.5 percent of home sales were from foreclosures, more than quadruple the number in 2006.
The growing proportion of foreclosure sales is both a symptom and cause of worsening conditions in the weakest housing markets, real estate experts say. Homeowners who aren’t on a deadline to sell are yanking their properties off the market, and this means the remaining inventory is increasingly held by banks eager to unload foreclosed properties at fire-sale prices rather than carry the costs on their books.
Property values and local tax revenues are suffering as a result, consumer advocates say, especially in neighborhoods with lots of minority residents for whom lending standards were weakest.
“There is a real complacency, or an under-appreciation of how bad this is,” said Ramsey Su, an investor and former real estate broker in San Diego who regularly combs through the local sales database to asses the impact of foreclosure sales.
Reacting to such concerns, the Bush Administration and lenders including Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc. unveiled a plan Tuesday to give seriously delinquent borrowers a 30-day break from foreclosure while lenders try to work out a way to make the mortgage more affordable.
The AP’s foreclosure analysis compared the annual rate of existing home sales in the third quarter of 2007 — the most recent quarter available from the National Association of Realtors — with state-by-state foreclosure sales data provided by RealtyTrac Inc. of Irvine, Calif. The analysis found:
In Colorado, foreclosure sales accounted for 15.6 percent of home sales in 2007, up from 10 percent in 2006.
In California, the number jumped to 11.3 percent from 3.7 percent.
In Tennessee, it rose to 10.6 percent from 5.2 percent, and in Michigan it climbed to 9.3 percent from 4.9 percent.
Nationwide, foreclosure sales grew to 4.7 percent of existing home sales, up from 3.3 percent in 2006.
The analysis underscores that the housing bust is having the most severe impact in areas where lending standards were the loosest, or where the economy is especially weak. In 18 states — including places as diverse as Maine, New Mexico and Kansas — foreclosure sales made up less than 2 percent of total sales.
Lax lending standards, which were especially prevalent in formerly booming housing markets in California and Nevada, allowed borrowers to buy far more expensive houses than they could afford during the boom years, and now defaults are surging. Highly discounted foreclosure sales also can make it tougher for borrowers to refinance into more affordable loans if their property value falls, which could lead to more foreclosures and lengthen the housing crisis.
Thomas Blanchard, who sells bank-owned properties in Las Vegas, said the trend has accelerated the past two months, and he estimates that 60 percent of properties on the market there are in foreclosure.
“The only people that you have in our market here in Las Vegas are the people that have to sell,” Blanchard said.
The same is true in parts of California. In December, 46 percent of homes sold in the Sacramento area and 31 percent in the San Diego area had gone through foreclosure, up dramatically from about 4 percent a year earlier, according to San Diego-based DataQuick Information Systems, a real estate information firm.
Banks, faced with the mounting costs of holding properties, are cutting prices. The average price of a foreclosure sale nationwide dropped about $1,000 last year to about $226,000, according to RealtyTrac.
While foreclosure sales are bad news for homeowners in neighborhoods with high foreclosure rates, they are a boon for well-financed buyers looking for properties at bargain prices. And in broad terms, economists view them as part of getting back to more realistic prices after years of excess.
Alejandro Diaz-Bazan, who sells foreclosed properties in Miami, said banks seeking to unload foreclosed properties are looking for buyers that can close deals quickly, and therefore need to have a hefty down payment. This month, Diaz-Bazan said a European client bought two foreclosed condominiums as an investment.
“The bank really is out to move them, to liquidate them,” Diaz-Bazan said. Despite the downward pressure on prices, he said, “property prices in Miami have not dropped enough” for the market to rebound.
More than half of houses sold in San Diego last month were either bank-owned properties or “short-sales” in which a lender agrees to accept less than the value of the mortgage to avoid a foreclosure, according to Su, the investor. That number was up dramatically from 26 percent in August, according to calculations Su made by combing through the San Diego real estate listings database.
In an effort to get a handle on the scope of the problem, the National Association of Realtors is conducting an informal survey of the issue and is planning to release findings later this month, spokesman Walter Molony said.
Experts emphasize that the available data paints an incomplete picture. That’s because the Realtors group doesn’t count all foreclosure sales because many foreclosures are sold through auctions and are not listed on the regional databases where the trade group gets its data. The Realtors group is scheduled to release its fourth-quarter state-by-state update on home sales Thursday.
RealtyTrac’s foreclosure records come from about two-thirds of U.S. counties and cities. The company says it counts foreclosure sales by matching up property sales records with its foreclosure database.
Underground Reality Challenges Teens' Faith
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/323320.aspx
Take two teens from Australia's Blue Mountains, unite them with six American teens and send them to Vietnam.
The result? Underground Reality.
Aussie Brad Konemann was the oldest member of the team sent to Vietnam by the Voice of the Martyrs USA and Australia. He says it wasn't your typical youth mission's trip.
"We were going over there to encourage Christians, we were going over there to learn from Christians whose faith is just in your face," Konemann said. "This was information and emotion soaking into us, so it's completely different, I think."
Tani Kruik was the other Australian teen appearing in a recently released two-hour DVD documenting the journey.
It's now been more than a year and a half since the trip. Truik says she'll always remember her covert meeting with tribal Christians in the central highlands - an area closed to foreigners.
But she prays regularly for a young Vietnamese girl she met who was persecuted for her faith.
"That was the changing point of the trip for me," Kruik said. "It made me want to live more like she did, no fears standing up for God and living everyday for him."
As for Brad - how has the Underground Reality trip and the video changed the life of this unassuming Christian?
he says the experience was more faith challenging than life changing.
"It's really changed what I think it is to live for Jesus, just seeing courage under fire, joy and hope in the face of hardship," he said.
Couples That Pray Together…
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/321721.aspx
For decades, the old saying, "The family that prays together stays together" was viewed as one of the foundations of a happy marriage.
Click on the video player to view an interview with Squire and Louise Duart about the power of praying with your spouse for just five minutes a day.
For Tom and Liz, their faith made the difference in their marriage.
"It was very dark. There was no love there. Alcohol had come in," Liz said.
Tom added, "I think it was bringing the Lord into our lives."
A Disturbing Statistic
But a 2004 Barna survey rocked the Christian community when it found no difference in the divorce rate among Christians and non-Christians.
However, today researchers say that's not the whole story. They found that for couples who attend church regularly, the divorce rate drops by 35 percent.
"Folks who are going to church are more likely to be praying regularly - in some kind of fellowship with people who take their marriage vows seriously. They're more likely to get the support they need - the emotional support, the social support to navigate the shoals of married life," said Dr. Brad Wilcox of the University of Virginia.
That doesn't surprise Bill Techanchuk, pastor of Wave Church. His counseling ministry helps couples from all backgrounds. And Techanchuk finds most of those seeking help are only marginally involved in church.
Recipe for Marital Success
"We've seen the best or the most success - in terms of people who have successful happy marriages - are those who are consistently involved in the full life of the church," Techanchuk said.
He believes that commitment - plus reading the Bible and praying together - is the best way to build strong marriages.
"You know, one of the old sayings that I remember growing up is that 'The couple who prays together stays together' and I really believe that," Techanchuk said.
While there's no hard information measuring the effect of prayer on marriage, Wilcox has found a connection.
"When couples pray together, when they have a sense that God is present in their marriages, it's strongly associated with having happier marriages, more fulfilling marriages among American couples," he said.
Surveys also show that couples are happier when they attend religious services regularly, showing that the best way to spend Valentine's may be to head out to church - or get down on your knees.
A Journey from Islam to Christianity
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/282531.aspx
Muslims who convert to Christianity face harsh persecution. Even those living in western countries aren't safe from retribution.
The Price of Conversion
One man paid a heavy price for rejecting Islam to follow Christ, and his suffering came from those who once loved him the most.
Adam will never walk again.
His legs bear the scars of many operations to repair devastated muscle, tendon, and bones.
He suffered these injuries when he was thrown off a fourth-floor balcony at a shopping mall.
It’s a miracle he survived.
What’s more shocking is that the person who ordered the attack was his own mother.
“I received a letter from my mom, threatening me that she was going to kill me if I do not go back to Islam,” he said.
Adam is a Christian living in Canada, but he was born and raised a Muslim in Morocco.
“I was raised in a very strict family, I was punished all the time If I failed to comply by the teachings of Islam,” Adam began. “I remember it was Ramadan and I did not pray, and for that my mom hit me on my nose, and she broke it and it is still broken until now.”
Taking a Second Look at Islam
At age 20, Adam moved to Canada and met many Arab Christians.
He also started watching Christian TV programs that challenged the teachings of Islam.
That led him to an Internet chat room, called “Pal Talk.”
“That's when I started gaining a lot of information about Islam that I felt were really strange and that's when I was convinced that this religion can not be from God,” Adam explained. “How can a religion that is based on killing and slaughter and terrorism come from God?”
He took his questions to a sheik in Canada and received a startling answer.
“I told him that this religion can not be from God and that I thought that Bin Laden and Al Zawaheri are terrorists. He replied ‘no they are not terrorists, they are the real Muslims.’ That's when I decided to leave Islam.”
Through Pal Talk and the ministry of father Zakaria Boutrous, Adam discovered the Bible and Jesus Christ.
“I finally felt like I found what I have been looking for all my life. I found a loving God, who died for me on the cross. I dedicated my time to study the Bible and pray and that's how I found my way to Jesus Christ.”
In most cases, that would be the happy ending of the story, but for this Muslim turned Christian, it was the beginning of many trials.
His wife of six years left him and his family began a campaign to force him to return to Islam.
They even had him arrested when went to Morocco for a visit.
“I was tortured everyday. Tthey used to hang me upside down and beat me up. After 21 days my mom came and asked me if I have changed my mind, I said that I would never forsake Christ even if she wanted to kill me.”
But the most vicious attack came after he returned to Canada.
A young Moroccan man, who said he was new in town, asked Adam to take him to a mall downtown so he could meet his cousin.
At the mall, Adam shared his faith with the two men.
As he was preaching the Gospel, they pushed him off a balcony and he plunged four-stories to the hard floor below.
He didn't wake up for 15 days and has spent the last seven months in hospitals.
Doctors say he'll be confined to a wheelchair for life.
Joy Amidst Trials
But Adam is not angry with the men who attacked him or his family.
“Even with all the pain, hurt and suffering I still rejoice because I know that I'm believing in the real God,” he said.
“What hurts most (is) knowing that my mom and my whole family believe in the wrong God. I always pray to God and ask him to bring them to Him and that's the only thing that will heal my wounds.”
And even from his hospital bed he's ministering to Muslims
He logs on to Pal Talk every day to tell them the truth about Islam.
He has a special message for former Muslims now following Jesus Christ.
“Jesus did not promise us virgins and he did not promise us rivers of wine. Instead he said ‘In the world you will have tribulations but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world.’ Believe me I felt the hand of God working through all the troubles I went through, I was denied by parents, friends and country, but with Christ all things are better.”
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