For Zion’s sake!
http://www.stangoodenough.com/?p=164
Christian Zionists in every nation: Whatever else the 2008 US presidential elections are saying - and I know they are telling American Christians a great deal of very serious things - WE should be hearing a klaxon in OUR ears.
Don’t be duped by the fact that the vast majority of American Jews - 78 percent - voted for Barack Obama.
Don’t be misled by the congratulations of Israel’s leaders who told the new president-elect they believe that he would “strengthen the special Israel-US relationship” (Ehud Olmert); that Israelis are “impressed by [Obama’s] commitment to the peace and security of Israel” (Tzipi Livni); and that Israel and the new administration “will work together for peace, security and prosperity in our region and a better future for us all” (Benjamin Netanyahu). This was purely prudent political posturing - paving the way for a positive start in relations once the White House changes hands.
The alarming truth is this: the already terrible danger to the Jewish national homeland and its people just multiplied, substantially.
And Christian lovers of Israel manifestly are not ready to confront it.
Obama’s meteoric rise found the American Church in disarray, caught flatfooted by the triumphant emergence of an extremely liberal leader surfing a giant wave of history, destiny and popularity that could not be stopped by the 62 to 73 percent of Evangelicals who voted against him.
There is little to be achieved by pointing fingers at influential Christians like Focus on the Family’s Dr. James Dobson and Charisma magazine’s Steve Strang, who took forever to give their blessing to John McCain; or Pat Robertson, who a year ago endorsed Rudy Giuliani in a move McCain said left him “speechless.”
Fact: just as the McCain campaign seemed unable to keep focus, especially towards the end of the race, battered (it is true) by a wildly wobbling Wall Street, American Bible believers, too, seemed unable to rally behind the team most likely to defend biblical Judeo-Christian values.
As a result, the man who leads America for the next four years will successfully oppose and undermine those values. And he will most certainly push hard to realize his predecessor’s “two-state-solution.”
Whereas George W. Bush entered office eight years ago eschewing excessive involvement in the Arab-Israeli conflict before 9-11 dragged him and his country into the Mideast morass, Obama is eager to engage the region from the start.
Even before the financial collapse that propelled him to the front, Obama had made it clear that, as president, he would robustly tackle the “open sore” of the Arab-Israeli conflict that infects “all of our foreign policy.” Visiting Israel in July, he vowed that he would apply sustained energy to resolve it.
And we should not ignore the ominous prophecies of Jesse Jackson - seen rejoicing at the Obama victory bash in Chicago, Illinois last night.
His words, as reported last month in The New York Post, hang in the air.
Jackson gloated over the changes an Obama presidency would bring. The most important would occur in the Middle East, where “decades of putting Israel’s interests first” would end. And although “Zionists who have controlled American policy for decades” remain strong, they’ll lose a great deal of their clout.
“Bush was,” he said, “so afraid of … upsetting Israel that he gave the whole thing [solving the conflict] a miss(!)”. He added that “Barack will change that” because, as long as the “Palestinians” haven’t seen justice, the Middle East will “remain a source of danger to us all.”
“Barack is determined to repair our relations with the world of Islam and Muslims.”
Of course, contrary to what Jackson said, Bush spent an enormous amount of political capital trying to bring resolution to Arabs and Jews. And he’s not done yet! His secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, is leaving Washington on her 24th trip to the region as I write.
How much more will Barack Obama not do. On a role before he even gets to the Oval Office, this man means business, and who will be able to withstand his efforts?
Israel’s leaders won’t. They are not people of faith, and America is the only “friend” they have left in the world. As Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni warned Wednesday: The US will push Israel into advancing the discredited land-for-peace process if the Jewish state refuses to do so.
According to Ynetnews Livni, who is contending in the newly-launched race for prime minister, noted that Israel’s general elections, scheduled for February 10, “must reflect the country’s interest in advancing the peace process, otherwise the international community, headed by the US, will try and push us in this direction.”
She needn’t worry. America will push whoever the Israelis choose to lead them. And whoever they are, those leaders won’t resist.
And we Christian Zionists, increasingly - it seems - more concerned with being politically correct than with standing on the Word of God, will do little to help.
Top leaders in our movement say things like “There are some Christian Zionists who are opposed to the peace process in the Middle East, but that does not define a movement of millions.” (David Brog of Pastor John Hagee’s Christians United for Israel (CUFI) as quoted in “Effort aims to counter Christian Zionism” - Los Angeles Times; October 24, 2008) Brog added that his group believes simply that Israel should make all decisions regarding its land use and peace effort - not the US, “Palestinians” or anyone else.
Another high-profile leader was reported in The Jerusalem Post on October 16 (”Christian Zionism with a difference” by Larry Derfner) to be taking pains to explain that Christian Zionists would NOT urge Israel to retain its land against the will of its people and government.
“We believe,” said International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ) director Malcolm Hedding, “that the people of Israel, through their elected representatives, have the right to make their own decisions on this country’s future, and we have said that we will support the State of Israel wherever it chooses, or chooses not, to extend its sovereignty.”
He continued: “We believe in biblical Zionism, which recognizes that there are lots of things playing out in Israel over which we have no influence.” While God will ultimately fulfill His promise to bestow all the promised Land of Israel on Abraham’s descendants “we will leave that to God.”
The ICEJ - which is self described as “the world’s largest Christian Zionist organization with active representation in nearly 80 nations” - may have adopted this stance under Hedding’s leadership, but it was not the founding position of the organization.
Established in 1981 in direct response to the world’s rejection of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, the ICEJ stated at one of its first meetings in the presence of Israeli dignitaries: “We pledge our support and untiring international effort for the unification of Israel’s land and Israel’s capital, Jerusalem.” (Emphasis added.)
Christian Zionism - from its earliest days in the 16th Century when it was still known as Restorationism, until the late 1990s - was always centrally concerned with the issue of the Jews return to the Land and the return of the Land to the Jews! According to the Bible this physical national reconstitution is the first step on the road to Israel’s restoration to its God.
Today there are a number of organizations and many individuals who call themselves Christian Zionist. But while a great deal of focus is on providing social and material aid to Israeli people and on educating the Christian world about the often dark history of Jewish-Christian relations - all of it vitally important work - hardly a single prominent Christian Zionist still sees the centrality of the battle for the land.
That battle - fought by people like Lord Shaftesbury, William Hechler, Arthur Balfour, Orde Wingate and, in our day, Jan Willem van der Hoeven (founder of the ICEJ and today the director of the Benjamin-based International Chritian Zionist Center - is far from over.
Israel’s ancient enemy (and ours!) knows this full well. He is not confused. He knows Israel’s return to and safe existence in this land remains paramount. Just see where he is directing his forces. The land is his primary target! We assist him by not resisting him.
Shamefully we have abandoned the field, surrendering the floor to the Condoleezza Rices and Valdimir Putins of this world who with impunity squeeze Israel into surrendering the cradle of Jewish nationhood and the heart of their ancient homeland - even though this threatens their existence.
And we insist we have no right to tell Israel what is right and wrong, what is wise or foolish!
As if worldly politicians have more authority than we who worship the God of Israel, the God hundreds of millions of Christians have praised for the way He miraculously restored the land to the Jews in 1948 and 1967!
We can continue to feed the hungry and clothe the poor and fix up their homes and encourage them with our smiles and our love and our tourism and our feasts, all this is good.
But unless we get back into the front line of this war we Christian Zionists will help Israel not at all!
On January 20 Obama will be sworn in. That’s just 77 days from now.
President of the World?
http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/11/06/nations-look-obama-president-world/
Barack Obama's election on Tuesday set off international celebrations and ignited a fervor for the United States that has been unseen since the days immediately following the September 11, 2001, terror attacks.
To some observers, the international reaction has elevated America's president-elect to an unparalleled post: president of the world.
In Kenya, where Obama's father was born, a national holiday was declared on Thursday. In Indonesia, children danced at the school Obama attended when he was a young boy, embracing him as much for what he represents abroad as for the policies he advocates at home.
"People from all over Africa, especially in Kenya, where this is a holiday, are feeling that the most powerful person in the world does not have to be a white guy. That's a huge breakthrough for the United States and for humanity," said Walter Russell Mead, the Henry A. Kissinger senior fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy at the Council on Foreign Relations.
"This is the fall of the Berlin Wall times ten," Rama Yade, France's junior minister for human rights, told French radio. "On this morning, we all want to be American, so we can take a bite of this dream unfolding before our eyes."
America's popularity abroad waned dramatically during the Bush administration, and some voters expressed hopes that in electing Obama, they could restore the country's image. The wave of good feelings since Tuesday night suggests that even before taking office, Obama has made substantial inroads.
"This may be the beginning of a new world. It marks the end of old elites and opens the door for new approaches worldwide," an Israeli man in his mid-50s said in Tel Aviv.
Foreign observers, who paid rapt attention during the long election season, are taking a personal stake in the outcome of a vote a world away. Expectations are high for the 47-year-old Obama, who will take over on January 20 amid a financial collapse and who will preside over two wars on his first day in office.
"The standing of everybody in the world is going to be affected by what President Obama does or doesn't do," said Mead, noting that all eyes will be looking to the new president for a way out of the global financial crisis.
In the Muslim world, the response has been mixed. A journalist with a pan-Arab news channel told FOX News that on election night, workers were going around the newsroom congratulating each other, as if Obama were their president-elect.
Iraqis have expressed skepticism that any rapid changes will come as a result of the election, but many see their fates ineluctably tied to Obama's foreign policy. "By God, the new American President Obama has promised to pull the troops out. This is in the best interest of the Iraqi people," said one Baghdadi.
Arab heads of state have been more circumspect, waiting to see whether Obama's Mideast policy will depart significantly from that of the Bush administration, and some newspapers in the Arab world have openly announced their distrust of the president-elect.
"There is no significant difference between Obama and McCain. They disagree only on the means to achieve America's chief goal, which is to rule for another hundred years," said an editorial in the Saudi daily Al-Watan, according to the Middle East Media Research Institute, which monitors the Arab press.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad congratulated Obama Thursday for his win -- the first time an Iranian leader has welcomed an incoming president since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. And some Iranians, speaking to FOX News, said they were excited by the prospect of the coming administration.
"I want to congratulate you on Barack Obama's victory that really turned a new chapter in the world's history -- that an African-American man, decent and intelligent, became president of the world," one Iranian said.
"This was done in America. Your nation has the credit for it."
Not all observers expect this world embrace to be long-lasting. "I think overseas, as at home, opinion over the longer term will depend on what he actually does," said John Bolton, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
Obama was issued an early challenge Wednesday, as Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ordered the deployment of short-range missiles near his country's border with Poland.
"Those who have issues with us are certainly not giving him a honeymoon," Bolton said of Russia's action, which may have been intended to send a cold word of welcome to Obama and to test his resolve.
Russian citizens, too, have been wary in their evaluation of the next president.
"I don't think he can really become the world political leader," said Tatyana Solomonova, a real estate agent in Moscow. "The fact that he's black can be an obstacle -- there's still a lot of racism in the world, in Europe and Russia too. I think he can take a leading role in the Western hemisphere, but not in this part of the world."
In Moscow Thursday, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who has a history of controversial remarks, was asked by a reporter about the prospect for U.S.-Russian relations after Berlusconi met with Medvedev.
Berlusconi responded by saying that the relative youth of Medvedev, 43, and Obama should make it easier for Moscow and Washington to work together.
Then he said, smiling: "I told the president that [Obama] has everything needed in order to reach deals with him: he's young, handsome and even tanned."
Italian news agencies said Berlusconi later defended his remark, calling the statement "a great compliment."
"Why are they taking it as something negative? ... If they have the vice of not having a sense of humor, worse for them," the ANSA news agency quoted him as saying.
But Italy's only black lawmaker, Jean-Leonard Touadi, called the comment embarrassing.
"In the United States, a joke like that wouldn't just be politically incorrect, but a great offense to this amazing example of integration, which it seems the Italian premier should take as an example," Touadi said.
For good or ill, all eyes are now on Obama.
"Not everybody is going to get what they want, but this is a moment of hope," said Mead, who added that Obama was sure to fall short of some expectations.
"If you look at Jesus Christ, he walked on water and fed the 5,000 and he ended up getting crucified, so I think it's not unlikely that President-elect Obama is gonna disappoint some people also."
Michael O'Brien Newsletter Regarding Barack Obama and the Question of the Anti-Christ
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/nov/081103a.html
Dear Friends,
From just north of the border, we Canadians, like other people throughout the world, are observing and praying for the coming federal election in the United States of America. I would prefer to keep private my counsel about political choices, because it is not my country. However, I am receiving letters from American subscribers and visitors to my studio website asking me some rather surprising questions about Barack Obama, related to one of my novels.
During the past year I have read a number of his pronouncements, and saw the smoke and mirrors beneath the rhetoric, but couldn't understand why everyone south of the border (the other south of the border, the 49th parallel) was getting so excited about him, both pro and con. Then a few weeks ago a German friend called me immediately after Obama's speech in Berlin, to say that the presidential candidate had mesmerized the crowds, and that a commentator on German television had said: "We have just heard the next President of the United States...and the future President of the World." My friend felt that Obama bore an uncanny resemblance to the fictional character of the President in my novel Father Elijah. I have received several other letters saying the same thing and asking what I thought about it.
From my own reading of Obama's declarations and stated positions, I knew he was an ultra-liberal, a social revolutionary with visionary pretensions. But the Antichrist? No, not possible, I thought. I felt that he was too shallow a man to be the Son of Perdition, the Man of Sin, the Beast of the Book of Revelation. And I still think so. Obama is a crowd-pleaser with just the right ethos of idealistic crusader. That the crusade and the banners under which it marches are evil does not automatically prove that he is the Antichrist.
But now that I have seen the video of the Berlin speech I think there is more here than meets the eye. He is indeed a powerful manipulator of crowds, even as he appears ever so humble and wholesomely charming. I doubt that he is the long-prophesied ruler of the world, but I also believe that he is a carrier of a deadly moral virus, indeed a kind of anti-apostle spreading concepts and agendas that are not only anti-Christ but anti-human as well. In this sense he is of the spirit of Antichrist (perhaps without knowing it), and probably is one of several key figures in the world who (knowingly or unknowingly) will be instrumental in ushering in the time of great trial for the Church under its last and worst persecution, amidst the numerous other tribulations prophesied in the books of Daniel and Revelation, and letters of St Paul, St. John, and St. Peter.
Of course the mystique that has grown up around him is endlessly reinforced by the liberal media, which presents him to us as a high-minded humanist, a kind of secular messiah (see the Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 675). Yet when all the rhetoric is boiled down to its substance, the man is advocating unlimited state-sanctioned murder, and compounds it by indulging in habitual falsehood. He is well accustomed to playing loose with the truth whenever it is expedient for him to do so; or else he is the victim of the largest memory lapses in recorded history; or perhaps he is just not careful about how he expresses things——a blurring or selectivity regarding facts for the purpose of aggrandizing his public image. There is a controversy currently raging in the (admittedly unreliable) forum of the internet, prompted by an African-American talk show host in Los Angeles who listed 39 significant details that Barack Obama claimed were facts about himself, but on further investigation were proved to be simply untrue. There has been some wild-fire debunking of the debunking, and then more counter-debunking, but it remains obvious that forthrightness and clarity are not major concerns in the Obama camp.
What are we to make of a man who has appeared out of semi-obscurity and become, nearly overnight, so very much an idol of the popular imagination? That he intends to become the most effective advocate of murder of the unborn ever seen in America should give us pause. Murder and lies are as old as the lands east of Eden, of course, but when they are charmingly packaged, proposed as reasonable and just policies (with a smile, a resonant voice, and an appealing flash of the eyes), one begins to wonder just what is afoot in the modern age. It brings to mind a passage from the first Act of Shakespeare's Hamlet:
"That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain..."
The line is from a scene where prince Hamlet has just encountered the ghost of his father, who informs his son that he was poisoned by his own brother Claudius (the "smiling, damned villain"), who after murdering him, seized the king's crown and his queen.
Barack Obama is an image-maker, creating his own myth as he goes along. This would be a sad defect in any human being, but it takes on ominous proportions in a person who may become, after November 4th, one of the most powerful figures in the world. How is it possible that such a tragic turn of events may come about, if indeed a majority of Americans choose to believe the smile and the myth? Why is it that so many people have come to believe that a mirage is reality, even destiny? Do pro-Obama voters hanker for a world figure who would heal old divisions between races and religions, thus heralding a new age for mankind? During this time of near intolerable tensions, does he appear to be the one who can reconcile Islam and Christianity, Africa and America, occident and orient, black and white, rich and poor? Do they see his racial origins as a symbolic victory over the history of racial oppression? Do they see in him the good-hearted "under-dog", the gutsy street fighter who agitates for the rights of the "little guy," whose meteoric rise to a position of maximum influence represents themselves enthroned at last in the high seat of power? Is this why they ignore his every grave fault and hungrily consume his vague idealist platitudes as if these were a kind of new gospel for the third millennium? Our hero. Our visionary. Our Great Friend and spokesman in the forum of the world?
Clearly, contemporary man needs heroes. But why not choose a genuine one, why not look a little deeper and work a little harder to find a man of courage and principle, and if it helps in the historical healing process, why not a very different kind of black man, say a person like Alan Keyes, a scholar, former ambassador, experienced in different levels of government, and (it might be added) an African-American married to a woman from India. Moreover, he is a devout Catholic who believes in moral absolutes and has amply proved that he will stand firm to defend them regardless of the cost to his own career. He knows that kings and presidents cannot usurp the natural law, the moral order of the universe, without bringing down judgment upon their nations. But it need not be Keyes. It might be any number of other men and women of clear thought and clear principle. Surely there are "Ten Just Men" still out there somewhere in America. So why Obama? And why does he rise and rise as his mouth smiles and smiles, exuding sincerity as he speaks lies and death?
And why, most horribly, most shamefully, are so many Christians of malformed or unformed conscience supporting him? Is it because they have never been clearly instructed in the truth, never understood the foundation upon which the moral cosmos is built? Is morality for them merely another system of abstract "values" in a crowded playing field of such systems, from which one may pick and choose? In the case of Catholics, for example, have they been blinded by a diet of theological nuances and deadly little loopholes offered to them by the committees of national episcopal conferences — committees that have absolutely no authority over Catholics, yet which are widely revered as a kind of alternative Magisterium? Have they been deadened by a habitual dismissing or dissembling of the solid teaching given to them by the universal Church under Peter? Have they grown accustomed to listening to opinion shapers who tell them that certain excellent apostolic Bishops in America who teach the truth without compromise are merely hidebound reactionaries, moralistic extremists, contemporary manifestations of those old boogymen who still haunt the American psyche — the Chillingworths and Dimmesdales and the judges in The Scarlet Letter? And so it goes, this over-reaction to Puritanism played out over centuries, an over-reaction that breeds tragedies a thousand times worse than Salem's. Lies compounding on lies, and it all floats on an ocean of spilled innocent blood. And who can gaze at that ocean (or be splashed by it) without coming to a radical choice: One either turns away into a deeper state of denial, or one turns heart and mind toward the splendor of Truth, and changes one's life accordingly.
Is this why many of our Catholic people have become impulse-driven impressionists? Of course, the blindness is not due to the failure of pastors alone. The Ministry of Disinformation (by which I mean most modern media) has played a major role. There is also the erosion of truth in the education systems, combined with the gradual confusion and weakening of conscience through our addiction to the "soma" drugs supplied by the entertainment industry. Other factors may be the war in Iraq, or Republican economics, or the Bush administration, or the structure of Capitalism itself, or any number of prudential questions in the sociopolitical order, all of which are presently tangled nests of moral dilemma. But why do they not see that these questions are secondary to the fundamental issue of life itself? Why would they replace one reigning oligarchy with another kind of oligarchy — moreover, one that would kill vast numbers of its own citizens?
"I call on heaven and earth today to witness against you: I have set before you life or death, blessing or curse. Choose life, then, so that you and your descendants may live...." (Deuteronomy 30:19)
May God bless and guide you,
in Jesus our Saviour,
with prayers and fasting,
Michael O'Brien
Here's Your Change...
http://unorthodox-christian-commentator.blogspot.com/2008/11/heres-your-change.html
McCain didn't even get half as many electoral votes as Obama by the count at 1:12am on 11/5/08 according to the Yahoo "Political Dashboard" that I was viewing on election night and McCain called Obama and conceded defeat. By the way, didn't someone that bears a striking resemblance to myself say that McCain would not win?
In "Like 'Father', Like Son?", I gave about 12 reasons why we as Christians should not vote for Obama. I didn't even mention the controversy about what country he was born in, his affiliations with Tony Rezko, Bill Ayers, ACORN, the PLO, or his Robin Hood Socialist scheme. Perhaps I should have...
I am truly dumbfounded that a majority of the people in this country would vote for a man who is associated with terrorists (the PLO no less) while we are supposed to be fighting terrorists. How ridiculous is that??
Well, I guess at this point we must chalk it up to a bad decision. And you know the only thing you can do with a bad decision is to try to make the best of it and resolve to never EVER do it again. That is assuming that we survive it.
Don't I Get Some Change With That?
I overheard a conversation that a friend of mine was having with someone right after the election results came in.
"Well, I guess they'll get the 'change' that they voted for," he said.
He was half-right: They will get the change and so will we...whether we like it or not. I have a feeling that some of the people who voted for him will be shocked to find out exactly what that “change” is. However, they really shouldn't be surprised. The information was there for them to make an informed decision, but some people were totally uninterested in educating themselves about the candidates.
You had some people who saw Barack Obama for their first time and immediately decided that he was their man—without any other thoughts of critiquing him passing through their mind. Some people made this decision because he was black (Gasp! Did I really say the "B" word???). Yes, that's right. Some people saw this as being "a long time coming" (just as Barack himself said in his victory speech) and decided that a black president was long overdue for America.
At this point, I would like to clear up any misconceptions you may have assumed about me and my opinions up to this portion of this article. Obama was elected overwhelmingly by the black (or African-American, for those of you who need political correctness in your lives. I am just an American, by the way…) vote and by a great deal of Americans of all other races. I am overjoyed that we live in a country where can look past race and elect a person regardless of their skin color to our highest office. I saw Obama too you know, and I truly wanted to be able to say that I would vote for him, but I looked at his political background, voting history, and his political/personal associations and simply could not vote for him in good conscience. One thing that Obama supports is abortion (child sacrifice). Ok, so Obama says that he is not pro-abortion, he is pro-choice—what’s the difference? You are still saying it is ok to sacrifice a child aren’t you? God is against abortion (Read Jeremiah 7:30-34; Ezekiel 16:20-21, 36-38; 20:31)!
Some (mostly African-Americans) saw this as a prime opportunity to vote a black man into the presidency—I did too! Let me just get right down to it: Obama is suave. The man is sophisticated, and an eloquent speaker. No doubt about it. He is charming and personable. Before I researched him I thought, “this might be an ok guy—somebody I can really get behind.” After my research, I was forced to conclude, “not this one.”
I personally have no problem with the USA having a black president. As a matter of fact, I used to think that Colin Powell would make a good president (until he endorsed Obama). I also think that Michael Steele (former Lieutenant Governor of Maryland) would make a good president. And why? BECAUSE I EDUCATED MYSELF ABOUT THEM!!!!!
Perspective
I was greatly dismayed by the outcome of the election. When I saw the end result I questioned myself, "what have we done?" Never (and I do mean NEVER) have we done something so irresponsible. Do you realize that we just took an legislator who is terribly short on experience and made him the "leader of the free world"? And that's not the worst of it; we took a terrorist-admiring, communist-economy driven man and placed him into the highest office in the land? We have never done something so absent-minded in our entire history as a nation! There has never been a President of the United States whose own values contrast so much with those of our founding fathers.
You: You're a racist.
Me: Get your hand out of the race card deck, chief.
I'm not even in it about the race. I don't care that Obama is black. Let me say that again...
I DON'T CARE THAT OBAMA IS BLACK!
Did you read what I just wrote? Do you understand that? Let me ask that another way...
ARE YOU CAPABLE OF UNDERSTANDING THAT A PERSON CAN LOOK BEYOND RACE???
If you don't understand that, then obviously you are not capable.
Bottom line: I don't care if Barack is the one-eyed, one-horned, flying purple people eater. Do you realize that his relationships with terrorists would disqualify him from being a member of his own Secret Service protection team? Yet, he is our president? Anyone else see a problem here???
Then I questioned God, "what do we do now, Lord?"
Another part of me kinda figured that this is the way it would turn out. In the back of my mind, I ponder whether or not McCain was actually running interference for this guy (Obama). It didn't seem like McCain was doing all that he could do to win this election to me. Of course, I have no real solid evidence to support this, but the way his campaign was sorta laxed does raise questions with me. Whether McCain did this or not is immaterial at this point I guess.
What is important is what we as Christians do now.
Support Your President!
Yes, that’s right. I said, “support your President!” Daniel 4:25 says:
“…the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.”
God had always known that Obama would be elected as our president. God sets our rulers over us. He may not agree with everything Obama has done, but God saw it fit to establish him as our leader.
Do we have to support abortion? No.
Do we have to support same-sex marriage? No.
Do we have to support the dividing and sell-off or Israel? No.
In short, we as Christians are to oppose any sinful act committed by our leadership. Whether it be the president, our governor, our mayor, or our supervisor at work—it doesn’t matter.
From the day that we asked Jesus to save us and believed in Him, we became new creatures. We are no longer of this world. We are citizens of Heaven and we are here in the world as ambassadors of the Almighty God.
We are here to spread the good news of the grace of God through His son Jesus. More to the point, we are to tell others how to be saved and invite them to become saved also.
It is also our job to call out our leaders for their sins and to fast and pray to God to speak to their hearts and convict them of their sins. Daniel did it to King Nebuchadnezzar. John the Baptist did it to King Herod. If these two great mean of God had to do it, then who are we to think that we don’t?
When you call them out for their sins, quote the proper scripture to them so they know that they are in opposition to God on a particular matter.
When you fast and pray, declare to God the things that you think are wrong according to His Word.
And if you don’t know what to do, then pray and fast to God for His guidance. He will tell you!
Also, always remember that while your leadership will not always do the right thing in accordance to the Word of God, the end result will not change. We will still be raptured. Jesus will still return to set up his 1,000 year kingdom on earth, and we are still going to Heaven.
Gotta run!
UCC
Will the Church Grow Under Pres. Obama?
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/477608.aspx
CBNNews.com - Evangelical Christian voters have had a strong political and social force in presidential elections for years.
This year, however, showed significant voting changes.
Republican red states turned blue, as Democrats beat Republicans in the Senate. As a result, some Christians are concerned about the combination of President-Elect Obama with a Democratic majority in Congress.
"We're going to have some setbacks here," Al Mohler of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary said. "We're going to have some real days of disappointment. I think we need to be prepared for that."
Mohler's main concerns are centered on moral issues like abortion and same-sex marriage. He fears Republicans will let go of their stance against these issues to gain more common ground.
"I think there's a real threat here that the Republican Party could decide to say to Conservative Christians, 'there's the door. We're going to move in a different direction,'" he said.
Still, some conservatives believe a liberal administration could actually strengthen the church body.
"If [President Elect Obama] implements the policies that he says that he believes," Wendy Wright of Concerned Women for America explained, "Many people in America...may be shocked enough that we'll see the pendulum swing the other way."
Rebecca Hagelin of the Heritage Foundation explains that the more liberal policies are established, the more likely it is for the "Religious Right" to rally together against them.
"Nothing unites Christian conservatives more than a common enemy, and here the enemy is a radical liberal agenda," she said.
Election '08: The View from China
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/475550.aspx
CBNNews.com - The American election has also proven quite fascinating for one group of visiting international journalists: students from China.
A Unique Perspective
Like most political reporters, one group of journalism students have been working overtime this election season.
They've covered both conventions, visited key battleground states, traveled to Wall Street, and even met with several members of Congress.
But these students from China's Shantou University have a unique perspective. They are part of a political election for the first time.
Shantou University student Zhang Yan has enjoyed the energy of the process, especially at the conventions.
"I was really inspired, and got fired up by the people surrounding me. Though I'm not a citizen of this country, I can feel their passion," Yan said.
Frank Folwell, a former USA Today editor and advisor to the program, says the students have been amazed by the access they've had to prominent politicians.
"At a Biden Rally in Virginia, a couple of the students got very close to Biden and talked to him, This is another world and - for them - that's fascinating," Fowell said.
They've also been impressed by the way ordinary Americans have been involved in the political process.
"There are a lot of people involved, common people, high class people, middle class people; they are all involved in these elections. It makes these elections more colorful," student Zheng Jialing said.
According to one poll, more than a third of Chinese citizens are paying close attention to the U.S. elections, and their impact on China and the world.
"Chinese people really care about who will be the next President," student Hua Qi said. "They really care about what's happening in the U.S."
Dreams of Democracy
They're also hopeful that one day in the future, Chinese citizens will also be able to take part in their own democratic election.
"I would say it's a long way to go, but I would say China is making progress," Jialin said. "Maybe people in the future, they can participate in politics more."
University student Gao Wenhuan said, "One thing I've really learned from here, this is our government, we can elect our own government, they should be responsible for us. We don't need to listen to them, they should listen to us."
The LORD sits enthroned
http://www.stangoodenough.com/?p=163
The LORD sat enthroned at the Flood,
And the LORD sits as King forever.
(Psalm 29:10)
The following are some election eve thoughts I put down, starting Sunday morning Israel time, November 2, 2008:
I have to say that, 30-odd hours before the polls open in the United States for what has repeatedly been called America’s most critical presidential election, I am not discouraged; I am not in mourning; I am not anxious. I am not afraid.
One of two things is going to happen:
Either:
Senator Barack Obama is going to prove the overwhelming majority of pollsters right; he is going to trigger huge celebratory parties in newsrooms across the country that month after month after month systematically skewed their “reporting” to strongly favor the Democrat and sweep liberal public opinion along with them; he is going to consummate his victory in a multi-million dollar bash in Chicago, and he is going to reap the rewards of running the most expensive election campaign and putting out the most expensive political television ad in history. He will also enjoy the rotten fruit resulting from the poisonous deluge upended by his PR minions on Sarah Palin and her family. And, five-and-a-half years after Republican President George W. Bush removed the Muslim Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti from power, Democratic voters who hate Bush will have put Muslim Illinois Senator Barack HUSSEIN Obama into the White House.
Or:
Senator John McCain is going to prove the overwhelming majority of pollsters wrong; he is going to spoil the huge celebratory parties planned for Chicago and for newsrooms across the country that systematically skewed their “reporting” to strongly disfavor the Republican; the New Mexico Sun News, which late October printed a “special collector’s edition” with the front page audaciously trumpeting the news that “Obama Wins” is going to have to print a retraction and apology; and together with Sarah Palin he is going to ensure that a bitter taste is left in the mouths of those who poured 600 million dollars into enabling his opponent to run the most expensive election campaign and bankroll the most expensive political television ad in history.
To put it another way:
Either:
We will see God’s judgement meted out and America slip into what some have warned will be nothing less than an abyss.
Or: …
We will see God’s mercy in action.
I must say I have a wonderful sense of tempered exhilaration at the thought of a McCain-Palin victory against all the odds - and it WILL be against all the odds. News of that win would bring me to my knees before the Almighty for two reasons:
First and foremost, He will have demonstrated His power in a way that will flabbergast - and deeply disappoint - hundreds of millions of people - the liberal, anti-God forces in America and the liberal, anti-God world which, according to a report carried in The Economist last week, was almost universally hoping for an Obama win. God will have bared His holy arm in the site of the nations of the world, and will have laughed the pundits to scorn, exposing the deception of the Democrats, .
And secondly, He will have extended His scepter of grace and mercy yet once more to the United States - that special, mighty nation which HE founded, established and positioned to be the major player on the world stage in our day.
It is hard to hope for such an outcome in the face of the almost unbroken wall of faces and voices that continue through these last hours of the race to predict a “given” victory for Obama.
Today (Monday) as I watch the crowds applauding and encouraging John McCain and Sarah Palin at the rallies in state after state, I feel their fear and hurt for what may lie ahead for their nation.
And as I watch the masses chanting and cheering for Barack Obama and Joe Biden, and jeering at every mention of McCain and Palin, I think of the multitudes that scoffed at Noah as he built his ark - laughing off any suggestion of a flood that would come to sweep them away.
“You don’t know what you’re rooting for,” I think. And although my flesh would want to say “you deserve what you will get” my heart is burdened with compassion for them too.
Which brings me to the question: What should Christians’ responses should be to an Obama win, and to a McCain win?
These are my thoughts:
If Obama wins, we must ready ourselves for war. Not physical war, but intensive spiritual war against the forces of hell that a Democratic White House and Capitol Hill are gearing up to unleash on Judeo-Christian America. The fields of battle, which have already seen Christians retreating from and being defeated on, include the sanctity of human life in the womb, the sanctity of marriage between one man and one woman, the purity of God’s gift of sex, the innocence of our children’s minds, their right to pray in school; their belief in creation. But where we have until now paid perhaps more lip service than anything else to try and turn the tide, we should prepare to pay a probably far more painful price.
If McCain wins, we must prepare ourselves for war. From day one after the election, the last and most fateful thing we can do is heave a sigh of relief and return to life and business as usual. God will have granted an extension of His grace. We dare not take that for granted, not for a moment. The battle raging for the soul of America will only get hotter, more intense, in the coming four years. We will need to fight, to take full advantage of the breathing space we’ve been given.
And the most important fight of all will be the fight to secure the Jewish state of Israel against the massive global efforts to destroy it. This IS the most important fight because God’s curse is guaranteed on every nation that divides up His land and scatters His people. And His blessing is promised to every nation that blesses with His land and His people.
In fact, on day one after the elections Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will be returning to the Middle East yet again to push forward with her relentless effort to realize at least one, she hopes irreversible, phase in George W. Bush’s two-state-solution that aims to see a Muslim Arab state erected on the historical heartland of the Jewish people.
So - apart from your initial reaction to the final announcement of who has been chosen to be the next president of the United States, may I urge you to respond in the same way no matter what the outcome?
1. Worship and praise the One Who raises up kings and brings them down.
2. Begin immediately to pray for the next leader of your land. [Important note: The Bible commands us to pray for those in authority over us. You don’t have to pray for his success or prosperity. You can pray that his policies will succeed or fail. You can pray for him to stay in office, or be removed. You can pray for godly advisors to get to him, and for ungodly advisors to be kept away. Pray for him - and his vice president.]
3. Gird up your loins for war - determined to fight the fight of your adult lives to keep your land from sinking beneath the waves.
The final round of the pre-election Fox News Poll has been released just as I write these words. Obama for the first time wins 50 percent to McCain’s 43 percent. More than 40 percent of REPUBLICAN voters polled believe that Obama will win.
Yes, untold numbers of appeals are ascending to heaven as I prepare to post this. People are fasting, weeping, taking hold of God’s throne.
As I join my prayers with theirs the Bible verse that comes to my mind is:
Oh, clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with the voice of triumph! For the LORD Most High is awesome; He is a great King over all the earth. (Psalm 47:1-2)
And the rest of the Psalm with which I began this:
The LORD will give strength to His people;
The LORD will bless His people with peace.
(Psalm 29:11)
For many evangelicals, it will be the end of the world if Obama wins
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2008/1028/1225061111621.html?via=mr
QUIETLY SPOKEN, religiously and politically conservative, and living in the heartland of evangelical Christianity in the US, Daniel Lopez pondered the end of time that could come if Barack Obama becomes president.
"When I think of it, it brings to mind the prophecies that the Bible tells us about," said Lopez, sitting in the shade outside Focus on the Family's headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
"On the one hand, it is exciting for us as conservatives because we can actually see what God prophesied coming about; but on the other hand, it is frustrating to see somebody become president who is a blatant liar."
Lopez and his family moved three years ago from California to Colorado Springs, which has over the past couple of decades become home to thousands of evangelical Christians, and more than 100 of their churches.
The most influential religious operation in the city is not, however, a church as such, but the sprawling Focus on the Family complex established by James Dobson, one of the US's most influential figures.
Each year, he broadcasts to 200 million religious conservatives at home and abroad, and he reigns supreme in Colorado Springs since pastor Ted Haggard fell from grace after he was found to have solicited a male prostitute for sex and drugs.
The Haggard experience, and general suspicions that the press is everlastingly liberal, mean the evangelicals are not keen on journalists, even if they are polite about it. "No sir, I'm afraid there is no one you can talk to. They are attending a meeting on homosexuality and I cannot disturb them. It's quite a sensitive subject, you know," a Focus on the Family staffer gently, but firmly, told The Irish Times .
The evangelicals believe the world is swimming against a tide of filth: promiscuity; homosexuality; and the curse of relativism.
Eight years ago, and again in 2004, the evangelicals, who number up to one-quarter of the US population, were on a political roll, and were crucial to the election of George W Bush.
Today, they are still influential, as can be judged by Republican presidential candidate John McCain's selection of Alaska governor Sarah Palin as running mate.
During the battle for the Republican nomination, the evangelicals' dislike of McCain was evident, with Dobson saying he was convinced the Arizona senator was not a conservative.
"In fact, he has gone out of his way to stick his thumb in the eyes of those who are. I cannot and will not vote for senator John McCain, as a matter of conscience," he declared.
Times have changed since then, and Dobson, faced with the unacceptable prospect of a liberal in the White House, now says he is "supportive" of McCain's campaign, even though he cannot bring himself to endorse it. "It's probably obvious which of the two major party candidates' views are most palatable to those of us who embrace a pro-life, pro-family world view," Dobson wrote in a weekly e-mail to supporters.
Palin, on the other hand, the evangelicals like. Last week, the vice-presidential candidate, herself an evangelical, was interviewed by Dobson for 20 minutes on his syndicated radio show, which has 1.5 million daily listeners. Describing herself as a "hardcore pro-lifer", Palin voiced confidence that, by "putting this in God's hands, that the right thing for America will be done at the end of the day on November 4th".
The evangelicals' main complaints about McCain are that he does not support federal constitutional bans on gay marriage and abortion, and he favours embryonic stem-cell research. A ban on all three is Republican Party official policy, and Palin assured Dobson that McCain would follow it if the duo wins: "I do believe that, from the bottom of my heart."
With time slipping away, evangelicals still hope McCain can win in Colorado, particularly because a state referendum that would grant "personhood" to a fertilised egg should rally the local conservative vote. But Obama's eloquence and campaigning skills, and a sense that the political winds in the US are running against them, have disconcerted the evangelical movement.
Fearful on many fronts, they particularly fear for Israel if Obama wins. James Borja, a youth pastor, said: "Right now, we are one of the few nations giving them support. They have the rightful ownership of that land, rather than the Arabs who covet it. Once our support ends, you will see the end of Israel and the beginning of the end for America.
"Truly, the Bible says of Israel, 'I will bless those who bless you, and curse those who curse you'."
But Borja holds out hope that many Americans will act like his father-in-law in the campaign's final days.
"He has always voted Democrat, a lifelong trade unionist. But he says now that he is voting Republican. He says, 'I can't vote for my pocket. I've got to vote with my conscience'."
However, the future is already written, said James Krause, who disagrees that evangelicals have reasons to be afraid if a Democrat takes the White House. "God holds everything in his hand. There is no doubt in my mind that what happens on November 4th has been pre-ordained," he said.
Bush calls on White House staff for full cooperation in transition
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=5700
The outgoing US president George W. Bush gathered the White House staff Thursday, Nov. 6, to stress that their primary task in the 75 days left of his administration is to ensure a successful transition to Barack Obama. The incoming president received his first intelligence briefing from Central Intelligence Director Michael Hayden earlier Thursday. Bush will discuss the economy and Iraq war with him next week. Transitional team members are being given security clearances.
Flanked by the First Lady, Vice President Dick Cheney and members of his cabinet, Bush bid farewell to the more than a thousand-strong White House staff gathered for the occasion.
White House departments are already preparing extensive background materials, Bush said, so that there are no disruptions in the first presidential wartime transition in four decades. He stressed once again: “We continue the struggle to defeat the extremists abroad so that we do not have to face them at home.”
White House ‘very concerned’ about transition attack
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1108/15368.html
White House press secretary Dana Perino warned Thursday that the administration is “very concerned” about the threat of a terror attack during the transition or the early weeks of the Obama administration.
“That is something that we're very concerned about,” Perino said. “We've seen that in other countries — Spain, obviously, had that terrible bombing.”
Perino said that “we know that Al Qaeda and others try to test a new administration,” echoing Vice President-elect Joe Biden, who caught flack for a similar statement on the campaign trail.
Perino added that the Bush administration is “determined” to make sure that "we overlap in terms of our understanding and capabilities so that ... when we hand the baton over to the Obama team, that they have that full range of capabilities and also all the knowledge that they need to help continue to keep us safe.”
“I don't know of anything specific,” she added, “but we do know that this is just a heightened period of concern.”
It's NOT the economy, stupid!
http://unorthodox-christian-commentator.blogspot.com/2008/10/its-not-economy-stupid.html
Finger-pointing--it's a sport in D.C. Especially when it comes to placing blame for America's troubles. Republicans blame Democrats, Democrats blame Republicans, and sooner or later everybody points their finger at "the economy". Why not? It's easy to blame all of our troubles on "the economy"--it has no finger to point.
In case you haven't noticed, the grand ole' US is not in very good shape right now. Check this out:
1) The World Trade Center was destroyed, and the Pentagon suffered severe damage along with countless American lives lost on that deadly attack of 9/11/2001.
2) Katrina destroyed New Orleans.
3) California was set on fire by "an estimated 8,000 dry lightning strikes..." all in the course of one night.
4) Oil prices sky-rocket--there are places in the US where you cannot get gasoline.
5) More recently, Ike wiped-out Galveston.
6) The housing market got its bubble busted causing havoc in the US economy and spreading rapidly throughout the world economy.
7) World leaders are blaming America for their economic troubles.
a. and they're calling for a "global economic world order"
b. because the basing the world economy on the US dollar has become to risky of a gamble.
This is in no way a complete list of the calamities that have befallen such a great nation. There are all sorts of other troubles on the horizon for anyone that has even a small amount of foresight to see. The above is just the proverbial "tip of the iceberg" and from the looks of it, we're not having a good time, 'tater.
Why are these things happening to us??
Please...don't pretend that we're not deserving of far worse a punishment than what we've received. In case you haven't noticed, the USA is not exactly a "Christian nation" any more. Let's just go over a few items, shall we?
1) Sacrificing babies (abortion) is legal in this country.
2) The Ten Commandments are not allowed to be displayed in public domain (courts, public schools, etc.).
3) Evolution is tax-payer funded to be taught in our schools while Creationism has to fight tooth and nail to even get a mention.
4) Pornography is EVERYWHERE.
5) Mass public prayer in public domain settings is forbidden.
6) Homosexuality is presented as an "alternative lifestyle" and promoted as acceptable behavior.
7) Drug abuse (witchcraft) is rampant.
8) Occultists/mediums/spiritists seem to ooze from every crack and crevice of this country.
9) Sex, violence, and alcohol-abuse in the media ("The Sopranos", "SAW", & etc.) is revered, glorified, and re-enacted in reality.
Do I need to keep going...?
Please read the following excerpt from Rev. Rusty Lee Thomas of Elijah Ministries:
"For the last twenty years, courageous men of God have warned our nation of these days. Our nation has sowed to the wind and we are reaping the whirlwind. America stands on the verge of possible economic collapse, where the bail out cure may be worse than the financial disease. Meanwhile Russia, China, and the Islamic nations smell our vulnerabilities. Added to these dangers is the increase of natural disasters. What can our beleaguered country do in such a time as this? Repent and bring forth fruit meat for repentance.
Legalized evil has flourished under our watch and stands as God's indictment against America. We can run, but not hide. America will never escape God's accountability for shedding innocent blood through the crime of abortion and parading our sin like Sodom through the godless, homosexual agenda.
The message and mandate are clear, either abortion and the homosexual agenda ends or America as we know it will end. Until now, America has refused to connect the dots between our spiritual and moral condition and the litany of woe challenging our nation. We pretend this party with death and perversion will continue with our homes, churches, institutions, and economic security remaining intact. Thomas Jefferson stated, 'If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.'"
Of course, people will say, "Well, yes, the bible says that all of those things are wrong, but people have been doing those things for years. Why all of the sudden are we having so much trouble now?"
Well, I have a few theories:
1) God is patient and wants to give us ample time to repent. Perhaps God's patience with us has run its course...
2) Messing with God's land was the last straw.
3) All of the above.
This is what the bible says concerning Israel:
"The land shall not be sold for ever: for the land [is] mine; for ye [are] strangers and sojourners with me." (Leviticus 25:23)
God said, "And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed." (Genesis 12:3)
America has been strong-arming Israel into giving up their God-given land. This so-called "Roadmap for Peace" is a Roadmap for Destruction. This "two-state solution" is in direct defiance of God's command.
What will God do?
Look at what the bible says:
"I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and [for] my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land." (Joel 3:2)
"For [it is] the day of the LORD'S vengeance, [and] the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion." (Isaiah 34:8)
"I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people [there was] none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment. For the day of vengeance [is] in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come." (Isaiah 63:3-4)
You don't REALLY believe that...do you?
Yep, I REALLY do. Just look at a few of the facts:
Thursday, October 11, 2001: At a news conference, President George W. Bush proposed that "there ought to be a Palestinian state, the boundaries of which would be negotiated by the parties". Exactly one month later, America was severely shaken by a devastating kamikaze-style attack using a passenger jet-liner on the World Trade Center, a second jet-liner on the Pentagon, and a third plane which was presumed intended for the White House or the Capitol Building on September 11, 2001.
Sunday, March 27, 2005: The American government pushed Ariel Sharon to force Israelis out of Gaza. We got Hurricanes' Katrina (estimated $81.2 billion in damages) on August 29, 2005 and Rita (estimated $11.3 billion in damage) on September 24, 2005.
Saturday, June 21, 2008: Palm Springs conducted a "same-sex" marriage festival for homosexuals, with the city's gay mayor officiating. An estimated 8,000 dry lightning strikes started most of the state's wildfires, which totaled 2,096 at the peak. These fires alone burned more than 1 million acres, scorching an area larger than Delaware. Quickly outstripping California's firefighting abilities and draining federal firefighting coffers. The U.S. Forest Service depleted its $1.2 billion firefighting budget in August, and had to withdraw $400 million from other programs - including construction, fuels reduction, and land-acquisition projects -- to pay for firefighting through the end of the fiscal year. Prior to that on May 15, 2008, the Supreme Court of California overturned the state's ban on same-sex marriage in "In re Marriage Cases". The four-to-three decision took effect on June 16, 2008.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qureia and Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni at the U.S. State Department to "revive" peace talks. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert also announced his plans to "step-down" as Prime Minister of Israel. This very same day Southern California experienced its largest earthquake in 14 years.
Monday, August 4, 2008: Israeli-Palestinian negotiations began in Israel as a follow-up to the Washington discussions. Israel agreed to aggressively negotiate the release of Palestinians prisoners due to U.S. pressure to help strengthen Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. On August 15th, Tropical Storm Fay formed at 5 p.m. ET U.S.—the sixth Atlantic storm of the season. On August 24th, President Bush declared a "major" disaster exists in the state of Florida by Tropical Storm Fay beginning on Aug. 18, 2008, and continuing to the present. Fay hit Florida four different times and produced enormous flooding.
Monday, August 25, 2008: Secretary Rice forces Israel to speed up the process of forcing the Israelis off the mountains of Israel; Judea/Samara (aka West Bank) and divide Jerusalem. We got Hurricanes' Gustav, Hannah, and Ike. Gustav formed on August 25th (the very day Rice forced Israel!!!) and resulted in 138 deaths in the U.S. and damage in the US totaled to $15 billion. Hannah formed on August 28th resulting in at least 536 deaths being reported, mostly due to flooding in the northern part of Haiti, making it the deadliest tropical cyclone in the Atlantic basin since Hurricane Stan in 2005. Ike formed on September 1st which destroyed Galveston, TX with 68 people dead, 365 still missing and damages in US coastal areas are estimated at $27 billion.
Coincidence?
Who is to blame?
The president? Yep.
The senate? Yep.
Republicans? Yep.
Democrats? Yep.
Muslims? Yep.
Hindus? Yep.
Christians? Yep. (Gasp!)
In short, every American is to blame.
You: Huh?? I didn't go to Israel and force Israel to do anything! In case you haven't noticed, I am not Bush, Rice, Olmert, or Abbas!
Me: You're right.
You: So, how am I to blame? I didn't do anything!
Me: Exactly my point. You didn't do anything.
What can we do???
Please read the rest of the article from Rev. Rusty Lee Thomas of Elijah Ministries:
"Due to the seriousness of the hour, the call is twofold. First, every Church needs to immediately form a pro- life and pro-family missions program to address and defeat the abortion industry and the homosexual agenda, while at the same time opening our hearts to those enslaved by Satan's lies to see them liberated by the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If, however, the Church continues to turn a blind eye and deaf ear to these sins that have reached heaven, our survival as a nation will continue down the primrose path to destruction. The Church's silence and inaction is partially responsible for the corruption of our nation to continue unabated.
Secondly, we call upon all branches of government to recant of calling good, evil and evil, good by codifying the abominable practices of abortion and homosexuality into law. For far too long, they have defended the indefensible. They cannot make straight what Almighty God has called crooked and expect America to thrive as a nation.
If we summon the moral will to do these necessary changes, we may avert going the way of every other nation that shook its puny fist in the face of a Holy God. Otherwise, America prepare to reap what you have sown!"
In addition, we need to send a strong, clear, and focused message to our leadership that they need to STOP MESSING WITH ISRAEL! We have no business telling Israel what to do with what God has unquestionably given to them. If anything, we need to tell Israel to do as they will with the situation, and if they want our help then we are here and ready to help. Just lead the way, Israel!
I fear, to the inner-most part of my being, what God will do to America if we continue to try to divide His land and endanger His people.
Send an email to your representatives in Congress--mail them a letter or call them! Do the same for the President! Urge them not to subject us to God's punishment by harming Israel.
Go here [https://forms.house.gov/wyr/welcome.shtml] or here [http://www.webslingerz.com/jhoffman/congress-email.html] or here [http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home/] (bottom of the webpage) to find out how to contact your Congressman/Congresswoman.
Email the President at president@whitehouse.gov
Don't wait! For the love God and your country, do it now!
U.S. Treasury teaches 'Islamic Finance 101'
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.printable&pageId=80003
The Treasury Department has announced it will teach "Islamic finance" to U.S. banking regulatory agencies, Congress and other parts of the executive branch tomorrow in Washington, D.C. – but critics say it is opening a door to American funding of Islamic extremism.
'Islamic Finance 101'
According to its announcement, the "Islamic Finance 101" forum is "designed to help inform the policy community about Islamic financial services, which are an increasingly important part of the global financial industry."
The Treasury Department has collaborated with Harvard University's Islamic Finance Project to coordinate the event. The department says it expects about 100 people will attend the seminar.
Some speakers include Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Neel Kashkari, senior adviser to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Jr.; Harvard Business School professor Samuel Hayes; Mahmoud El-Gamal, chair of Islamic economics, finance and management at Rice University and Islamic finance adviser to the Treasury Department; Sarah Bell of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York; Yusuf Talal DeLorenzo, Shariah adviser and Islamic scholar; Michael McMillan, chair of the Islamic Legal Forum at the American Bar Association and professor of Islamic finance; and Rushdi Siddiqui, global director for the Dow Jones Islamic Market Indexes and vigorous advocate for Islamic finance.
Islamic finance is a system of banking consistent with the principles of Shariah, or Islamic law. It is becoming increasingly popular, having reached $800 billion by mid-2007 and growing at more than 15 percent each year. Wall Street now features an Islamic mutual fund and an Islamic index. However, critics claim anti-American terrorists are often financially supported through U.S. investments – creating a system by which the nation funds its own enemy.
Aiding the enemy
In his essay, "Financial Jihad: What Americans Need to Know," Vice President Christopher Holden of the Center for Security Policy writes, "America is losing the financial war on terror because Wall Street is embracing a subversive enemy ideology on one hand and providing corporate life support to state sponsors of terrorism on the other hand."
Holden refers to Islamic finance, or "Shariah-Compliant Finance" as a "modern-day Trojan horse" infiltrating the U.S. He said it poses a threat to the U.S. because it seeks to legitimize Shariah – a man-made medieval doctrine that regulates every aspect of life for Muslims – and could ultimately change American life and laws.
Shariah-compliant finance is becoming a major movement, because American banks and investors are seeking wealth from oil profits in the Middle East. Some advocates claim Islamic finance is socially responsible because it bans investors from funding companies that sell or promote products such as alcohol, tobacco, pornography, gambling and even pork.
However, Islamic financial institutions also require all industry participants to adhere to tenets of Shariah law. According to Nasser Suleiman's "Corporate Governance in Islamic Banking, "First and foremost, an Islamic organization must serve God. It must develop a distinctive corporate culture, the main purpose of which is to create a collective morality and spirituality which, when combined with the production of goods and services, sustains growth and the advancement of the Islamic way of life."
Three nations that rule 100 percent by Shariah law – Iran, Saudi Arabia and Sudan – hold some of the most horrific human rights records in the world, Holden said.
"This strongly suggests that Americans should strenuously resist anything associated with Shariah."
Tenets of Shariah
In his essay, "Islamic Finance or Financing Islamism," Alex Alexiev outlined the following tenets of Shariah taken from "The Reliance of the Traveler: The Classic Manual of Sacred Law":
* A woman is eligible for only half of the inheritance of a man
* A virgin may be married against her will by her father or grandfather
* A woman may not leave the house without her husband's permission
* A Muslim man may marry four women, including Christians and Jews; a Muslim woman can only marry a Muslim
* Beating an insubordinate wife is permissible
* Female sexual mutilation is obligatory
* Adultery [or the perception of adultery] is punished by death by stoning
* Offensive, military jihad against non-Muslims is a religious obligation
* Apostasy from Islam is punishable by death without trial
* Lying to infidels in time of jihad is permissible
Alexiev writes that many Islamic financial institutions claim Shariah-Compliant Finance "derives its Islamic character from the strict observance of the ostensible Quranic prohibition of lending at interest, the imperative of almsgiving (zakat), avoidance of excessive uncertainty (gharar) and certain practices and products considered unlawful (haram) to Muslims …" However, he said, "Even a casual examination of the reality of Islamic finance today reveals it to be a bogus concept practiced by deceptive ploys and disingenuous means by practitioners that are or should be aware of that, but remain predictably silent."
Shariah finance institutions that have funded militant Islamism for more than 30 years. Alexiev cites Islamic Development Bank's hundreds of millions of dollars in contributions to Hamas in support of suicide bombing. Bank Al-Taqwa and other banks and charities run by Saudi billionaires have funded al-Qaida activities.
Additionally, Shariah law mandates that Muslims donate 2.5 percent of their annual incomes to charities – including jihadists. When 400 banks regularly contribute to such charities, potential financial sums can be virtually limitless.
If Western banks endorse Shariah, they will "end up becoming what Lenin called useful idiots or worse to the Islamists," Alexiev writes. "And it is a very thin line between that and outright complicity in the Islamist agenda."
Christians rally against ban on praying 'in Jesus' name'
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=80024
State police chaplains in Virginia who have been banned from praying "in Jesus' name" have gained the support of more than 1,000 people who gathered for a rally outside the mansion of Gov. Timothy Kaine, who has declared he can pray without mentioning Jesus.
The issue is a newly imposed rule for Virginia State Troopers who serve as chaplains for various needs. State officials, citing an appeals court ruling from ex-Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor that praying "in Jesus' name" can be censored by the government, ordered their troopers not to mention Jesus.
However, Congress has authorized military chaplains to pray as their conscience dictates, and another appeals court has found that praying "in Jesus' name" is constitutional.
U.S. Chaplain Gordon Klingenschmitt, who was removed from the military over the issue of praying "in Jesus' name," organized the Prayer Rally for Persecuted Police Chaplains over the weekend in Richmond.
Six Virginia State Police chaplains resigned their chaplain posts because of the new restrictions on their prayers, and several were in attendance.
Trooper Rex Carter said the government simply shouldn't be in the business of telling people how to pray.
Trooper Mike Honaker was the first of the six chaplains to resign when he heard of the state restriction.
"If they throw Jesus out of this program, they might as well throw me out too," he told supporters.
Plans were announced by state Sen. Steve Martin and Delegate Bill Carrico to introduce legislation in January to enforce the Virginia Constitution, which protects citizens' "Christian" expression of religion.
Mathew Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel and dean of the Liberty University School of Law, said he would ensure the chaplains were represented in court if the need arose.
"I wept with joy as the presence of God fell upon the crowd, and many others told me they wept too. Jesus promised wherever two or three are gathered in His name, he would dwell in their midst, and sure enough, He was present powerfully today, as hundreds of people took a stand for Jesus' name," Klingenschmitt told WND.
The opinion raising concerns for Virginia officials came from O'Connor in a dispute involving the city of Fredericksburg, where Hashmel Turner is a member of the town council.
Turner was part of a rotation of council members who took turns bringing a prayer at the council meetings. He ended his prayers "in Jesus' name."
Turner's prayer, however, offended a listener, who prompted the involvement of several activist groups that threatened a lawsuit if the elected Christian council member continued to be allowed to mention Jesus' name.
The city then adopted a non-sectarian prayer requirement, imposing a ban on any reference to Jesus.
"Turner was not forced to offer a prayer that violated his deeply-held religious beliefs. Instead he was given a chance to pray on behalf of the government," O'Connor wrote.
Not so, said Klingenschmitt.
"Actually he was directly forced to conform or face the punishment of exclusion," he said. "Actually he was denied the change to pray on behalf of that government."
John Whitehead, the founder and chief of the Rutherford Institute, is working on the Turner case, which has been appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. He told WND at the time the appeals court arguments were made that freedoms of speech and religion are burdened in the U.S. today with a politically correct atmosphere that endorses or at least allows any sort of religious acknowledgement, except for Christians.
O'Connor wrote: "The restriction that prayers be nonsectarian in nature is designed to make the prayers accessible to people who come from a variety of backgrounds, not to exclude or disparage a particular faith."
Klingenschmitt's statement said: "Ironically, she admitted Turner was excluded from participating solely because of the Christian content of his prayer."
As WND reported, however, another appeals court has disagreed with O'Connor's conclusions in her 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals writings.
The judges on the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals have used a case from Cobb County, Ga., to proclaim that praying "in Jesus' name" is acceptable at county board meetings when other constitutional provisions are followed.
Similar to Turner's case, the 11th Circuit ruling involved prayers offered by local leaders on a rotating basis.
"We would not know where to begin to demarcate the boundary between sectarian and nonsectarian expressions and the taxpayers [who brought the case] have been opaque in explaining that standard," the court said. "Even the individual taxpayers cannot agree on which expressions are 'sectarian.'"
The opinion said representatives of Christianity, Islam, Unitarian Universalism and Judaism have been represented.
"The prayers have included references to 'Jesus,' 'Allah,' 'God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,' 'Muhammad,' and 'Heavenly Father,'" the court said.
Those who objected, the court said, "argue that the Establishment Clause permits only nonsectarian prayers … but we disagree."
The ruling said precedent makes it clear that "the content of the prayer is not of concern to judges where … there is no indication that the prayer opportunity has been exploited to proselytize or advance any one, or to disparage any other, faith or belief."
"Whether invocations of 'Lord of Lords' or 'the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Mohammed' are 'sectarian' is best left to theologians, not courts of law," the court said.
While Klingenschmitt was discharged from the U.S. Navy in a dispute with his commander over praying in uniform "in Jesus' name," he later won a victory in Congress that now allows other chaplains to pray as their conscience dictates.
His personal case seeking reinstatement remains pending.
Christian fraternities look to make statement on U.S. college campuses
http://www.christianpost.com/article/20081107/christian-fraternities-embrace-jesus-not-keg-parties_page2.htm
It's 11 a.m. Saturday, and whiskey is flowing at the big houses on fraternity row at the University of Alabama. Guys in ties and baseball caps are laughing and dancing with sorority girls in bright dresses as a band blares away just around the corner.
Smack in the middle of that row is the Lambda Sigma Phi house, but things are a lot quieter inside. Parents are helping put out the lunch spread before a Crimson Tide football game and a few members lounge in the den watching TV.
A Bible passage decorates the door to the main room. "My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord," it begins.
Lambda Sigma Phi is part of a wave of Christian fraternities and sororities that has gained a foothold on U.S. college campuses, sometimes despite the wishes of school administrators. Members get pumped up about prayer, Bible study and service projects, passions they say campus officials should and often do embrace as fresh amid a Greek culture typically seen as centered on hazing, keg parties and little else.
Founded in 2001, Lambda Sigma Phi hopes to show other groups at the university what Jesus is all about.
"We're almost in a bubble because we're surrounded by all this. That's why we're here on Jefferson Avenue, to minister to these guys," said chapter president Daniel Weaver. "We want to be a light on this campus."
Many social fraternities and sororities have Christian tenets in their teachings, and Christian-lifestyle fraternities have existed for generations. Several began about 80 years ago to promote faith-based fellowship during the Roaring Twenties.
Greek-letter organizations that promote Christian practices have become more common in recent years with young evangelicals seeking new ways to live out their faith and parents looking for a haven from the drunken daze that often happens in college.
At least 210 exist on campuses nationwide from the West Coast to the Deep South, where they are most common. But the groups are also strong in parts of the Midwest and in Southern states along the Atlantic coast.
Rules against drinking are common in these groups, along with Bible studies and service projects that resemble church-based missions work.
Alpha Delta Chi, a Christian sorority with 14 active chapters nationwide, is straightforward about its membership requirements: Churchgoing Christians only. No smoking or illegal drugs. No premarital sex. And please, no drinking to the point that it would reflect badly on Christianity.
A small committee works with members who break the rules, said Kiran Thadhani, president of Alpha Delta Chi at Georgia Tech, where a chapter began five years ago. But the group says it isn't just about rules, it's about young women trying to live like Christ.
"All the girls are in Bible studies. We also do sisterhood retreats and outreach," she said. "Many girls work at soup kitchens, go on summer mission trips and work right here on homelessness and poverty issues in Atlanta."
Many campuses welcome the combination of old-time religion with Greek-letter social groups, but others haven't.
At the University of Florida, Beta Upsilon Chi filed a federal discrimination suit last year after administrators refused to officially recognize the fraternity because it required members to be Christians. The school considered the requirement discriminatory, and the fraternity claimed it was wrongly deprived of meeting space and the ability to recruit on campus.
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ordered the school to recognize the group as a fraternity while the lawsuit winds its way through the legal system, and Beta Upsilon Chi has asked the court to make that recognition permanent.
An attorney for the Christian Legal Society, Timothy F. Tracey, said Christian Greek-letter groups have been opening on the nation's campuses more frequently since the mid-1990s, and such court fights have been rare.
"I can think of four or five cases that have come up with fraternities like this," said Tracey, who represents the group at Florida. "You'd think that (schools) would look at this and see the benefit of having them on campus, but they don't always."
At Auburn University, members of Alpha Kappa Lambda decided in 2000 to switch the focus of their fraternity from athletics to Christianity. Drew Bonner, a junior from Birmingham, Ala., visited the group and liked what he saw.
"I didn't really look into fraternities at first because of the reputation," said Bonner. "I met a bunch of these guys through the semester and started looking into it. I really liked it. I'm active in a church here, too, but it's not the same as this."
AKL, part of a secular fraternity with more than 30 chapters, rents a house and throws parties, but without alcohol and members keep the fun pretty tame. "Animal House" it's not.
"We pride ourselves on not hazing," said Bonner. "We consider the pledges to be brothers in Christ, and we treat them that way."
Traditional, secular fraternities also have banned hazing — the physical or mental abuse of new members — as arrests and lawsuits over the practice threatened the Greek system. But it persists in places.
Bonner's group, like many Christian fraternities or sororities, is small by big-campus standards. Alpha Kappa Lambda's membership hovers between 30 and 35 — less than half the size of many Auburn fraternities — even though its semester dues of $750 are much cheaper than many.
At Alabama, Lambda Sigma Phi lost about 40 members last year in a split over whether to become more like a traditional fraternity. "We really stood up against it because we wanted to remain Christian," said Weaver, the president.
The group only has about 30 members now, which is fine with Weaver and his fraternity brothers. They often feel like they're under scrutiny for their beliefs, but they say they're not willing to sacrifice their faith for parties.
Clete Hux, a Presbyterian minister who has two sons in Lambda Sigma Phi, said he hopes the group sticks to its principles. He said he's got a peace of mind that eludes many parents who send their children off to college.
"You know there's not going to be any wild parties going on. They have accountability groups and Bible studies," he said. "It's kind of furthering what you as parents instill in your children."
FEMA And REX 84: sounds too scary to be true!
http://www.newspostonline.com/world-news/fema-and-rex-84-sounds-too-scary-to-be-true-2008102911396
Once again I was stuck when I saw REX 84 in the search trends today. It was followed by feam, fena, fima, fimaa or fema. My first idea was that they are probably talking about some dinosaur like the Bigfoot issue. However, it did not take me long to realize what was going on. To be frank, I was scared.
As per wikipedia, Rex 84, short for Readiness Exercise 1984, is a plan by the United States federal government to test their ability to detain large numbers of American citizens in case of civil unrest or national emergency.
The Texas state university defines it more elaborately. It says ” In April 1984, President Reagan signed Presidential Directorate Number 54 that allowed FEMA to engage in a secret national “readiness exercise” under the code name of REX 84. The exercise was to test FEMA’s readiness to assume military authority in the event of a “State of Domestic National Emergency” concurrent with the launching of a direct United States military operation in Central America. The plan called for the deputation of U.S. military and National Guard units so that they could legally be used for domestic law enforcement. These units would be assigned to conduct sweeps and take into custody an estimated 400,000 undocumented Central American immigrants in the United States. The immigrants would be interned at 10 detention centers to be set up at military bases throughout the country. REX 84 was so highly guarded that special metal security doors were placed on the fifth floor of the FEMA building in Washington, D.C. Even long-standing employees of the Civil Defense of the Federal Executive Department possessing the highest possible security clearances were not being allowed through the newly installed metal security doors. Only personnel wearing a special red Christian cross or crucifix lapel pin were allowed into the premises.
Rex 84 is sometimes cited as an extension of the fictional King Alfred Plan, a strategy to detain African Americans. Nonetheless, the basic facts about Rex 84 and other contingency planning readiness exercises–and the potential threat they pose to civil liberties if fully implemented in a real operation–are taken seriously by scholars and civil liberties activists.
By the way, FEMA is The Federal Emergency Management Agency and its said purpose is to coordinate the response to a disaster which has occurred in the United States and which overwhelms the resources of local and state authorities.
So, what’s the cause of concern? In 2008, for the first time an active military unit has been given a dedicated assignment stateside for civil unrest containment. It is assigned to Northcom, a joint command established in 2002 to provide command and control for federal homeland defense efforts and coordinate defense support of civil authorities.
Okay, so the idea is that the scenarios established to trigger FEMA into action are generally found in the society today: economic collapse, civil unrest, drug problems, terrorist attacks, and protests against American intervention in a foreign country. All these premises exist, it could only be a matter of time in which one of these triggers the entire emergency necessary to bring FEMA into action, and then it may be too late, because under the FEMA plan, there is no contingency by which Constitutional power is restored.
U.S. and Soviet spooks studied paranormal powers to find a Cold War advantage
http://www.sciam.com/blog/60-second-science/post.cfm?id=us-and-soviet-spooks-studied-parano-2008-10-29
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is well known for pushing the boundaries of science and technology in search of ways to give the U.S. military an edge—robotic pack animals, self-navigating vehicles and plant-based jet fuel, to name a few. Less well known is the agency's Cold War-era investigation into how paranormal phenomena like extrasensory perception might be used by the U.S. to get a leg up on the former Soviet Union and, perhaps more importantly, by the USSR against the United States.
Working with Washington, D.C., think tank RAND Corporation, DARPA determined that paranormal research by the Soviets focused on physical science, engineering and quantifiable results, whereas their U.S. counterparts tended to be psychologists looking instead to explore the human mind. The bottom line, according to a 1973 DARPA-commissioned study entitled "Paranormal Phenomena": "the U.S. has failed to significantly advance our understanding of paranormal phenomena."
As Halloween approaches, the report serves as a reminder of our fascination with paranormal forces (for more on this, visit Sciam.com's "Science of the Occult" in-depth report). The authors were worried that the Soviets might win the race to use the supernatural to its advantage much as they had threatened to win the space race decades earlier when they launched Sputnik. "If paranormal phenomena exist," RAND analysts P. T. Van Dyke and Mario L. Juncosa concluded, "the thrust of Soviet research appears more likely to lead to explanation, control and application than [does] U.S. research."
The authors acknowledge that the study was limited, because it was based on but a sampling of works available at the time. Among them: a decade of abstracts from the parapsychology section of Psychological Abstracts, a print version of the PsycINFO abstract database of psychological literature. They knew even less about Soviet efforts, they admitted, noting that their conclusions on that front were based on a "somewhat impressionistic" sample and "some not always reliable and frequently imprecise reports of Western visitors to the Soviet Union."
Soviet research on telepathy dates from the early 1920s when a program was established at the Institute for Brain Research at Leningrad State University. The Soviets appear to have been fascinated with telepathy, which they called "biological communication," as a ship-to-shore way of communicating with submarines without using electronic equipment. They also considered training their cosmonauts to develop and use precognitive abilities to "foresee and to avoid accidents in space."
It seems the Soviets also were quite taken with the possibility of psychokinesis (using mental imagery to move objects) as a way of "disrupting the electrical systems associated with an ICBM's [intercontinental ballistic missile] guidance program."
The Soviets were more inclined than American scientists to believe that paranormal phenomena might be the result of "bioenergetics," or the energy given off by the metabolic processes of living things. This theory stated that people exuded "bioplasma," (a theoretical energy field) that, under certain conditions, was capable of emitting charged coherent radiation beyond the body surface in the form of electrons and possibly protons.
Although the Soviets did not reach a consensus on the existence of bioplasma, RAND concluded, "the very pursuit of this theory indicates that Soviet parapsychologists were attempting to explain alleged paranormal phenomena with a greater degree of specificity than their Western counterparts."
When is Judgment Day?
http://worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=79628
The United States was founded on the principal that all men were created by God with the unalienable right of freedom. The prosperity of the industrial revolution was the direct result of the Protestant work ethic, which embodied the moral virtue of hard work and thrift. A borrower was considered the servant to the lender. Those who did not work hard should not enjoy the fruits of their own poor performance. A righteous man provided an inheritance to his children's children and helped the needy. The purpose of law was to protect from plunder. Property was the result of ceaseless labor applied to natural resources. Demand came from supply. The creation of money caused inflation and not demand.
Today, the purpose of law is being used to plunder the labor of others and redistribute wealth. Karl Marx opposed the ownership of private property and believed workers would eventually revolt and take property by force. Fabian socialists are named after Roman general Fabius Maximus, who defeated Hannibal with delay tactics. Fabian socialists believe in gradual attrition rather than head-on revolution against capitalism.
Today, leaders of both political parties follow the teachings of John Keynes, a homosexual Fabian socialist. Keynes rejected the Christian virtue of savings and providing for one's heirs. Keynes focused primarily on present gratification and promoted debt and consumption. He favored taxing the rich, borrowing from the rich and printing money. Central bankers should be central planers who could prevent unemployment through creation of demand by creation of debt.
As a result of Keynesian economics, the total U.S. public and private debt is approximately $117 trillion dollars. This debt includes $52 trillion dollars of unfunded entitlements from Social Security
and Medicare. The U.S. has become a debtor nation. Our manufacturing base has been reduced through taxation, regulation and currency debasement. We have moved from a manufacturing economy based upon capital and savings to a consumer nation managed by central planning and driven by debt. Today, approximately 50 percent of U.S. citizens support Barack Hussein Obama II, who believes Jesus was a black community organizer. Sen. Bernie Sanders, as a democratic socialist, represents Vermont in the U.S. Senate. Barney Frank, an open homosexual, is chairman of the House Financial Services Committee.
Where will we be in 2030? The official estimate of the combined deficit of Social Security and Medicare will be $1.7 trillion annually. The interest on public national debt is projected to exceed government revenues. Interest will be paid by currency debasement. World population is expected to peak around 8 billion in 2030. At that time, growing shortages of fossil fuels will cause resource wars and famine, which will reduce the world population by half.
In 2030, for the first time the majority of Jews will be back in the Promised Land. Students educated in U.S. schools, with prayer banned and evolution promoted, will be in power. The church age as previewed in Revelation chapters 2 and 3 will be complete. A large number of Jews in New York, Los Angels and Miami, not returning to Israel, will be fatalities in a world war when Russia, Iran, Germany, France, Turkey, Libya and Sudan invade the Middle East and are opposed by the United States, Israel and their allies (Ezekiel 38). There will be 2 billion causalities (Revelation 6:8). Within three and a half years, China will lead an Asian invasion into the Middle East. The result will be another 2 billion causalities (Revelation 9:18).
The ultimate conclusion will be a gathering of the world armies in the Valley of Megiddo, for the purpose of gaining control of the last remaining Middle East oil recourses and the elimination of Israel. This final apocalyptic battle is refereed to as Armageddon.
Some Christians are so preoccupied with the Rapture and Armageddon they seem unconcerned about budget deficits, peak oil, or the moral decline of America. Some well-meaning people are so occupied with compassion they do not distinguish between those needy people unable to work and those who are able to work – 2 Thessalonians 3:10, "If a man will not work, he shall not eat." Some in the "name it and claim it" camp believe "God wants everyone to have a big houses and an SUV." Jesus warned that many in the last day would say they were rich, but were actually spiritually poor and naked (Revelation 3:17). We need to refocus on the Judeo-Christian work ethic, family values and vote accordingly.
Surviving The Apocalypse
http://www.forbes.com/technology/2008/10/31/rawles-blogger-survival-tech-personal-cx_bc_1031rawles.html
Burlingame, Calif. - It's easy to dismiss survivalists as lonely lunatics living in tin-foil covered caves, worrying themselves over nuclear strikes while they sit on piles of freeze-dried food and exotic armaments. Talk to James Rawles for a few minutes, though, and it becomes clear he's not the one who's living in a bubble. In fact, maybe the rest of us are.
Rawles is the very model of a modern post-millennial survivalist. Rather than mutter to himself in a bunker, the former army captain uses his blog to preach a kind of hyper-connected survivalism, swapping ideas with readers from all over the world and encouraging fat cubicle dwellers to get off their butts.
"A huge segment of the population doesn't even stop to think of where the water comes from when they turn on the tap, or where the electricity comes from when they flip a switch," Rawles says. "That's made our whole society incredibly dependent and incredibly vulnerable."
In Pictures: Tips For Surviving The Downturn
For Rawles, survivalism isn't about preparing for a post-apocalyptic future that may never arrive. It's about reconnecting with other people and embracing the skills needed to cope with the very real world that our grandparents and great-grandparents lived in. Rawles is one of a number of voices, including economist Gary North, who have long argued that the world we've built since then isn't as sturdy as we'd like to think.
And whether or not we're not on the brink of a world-wide depression, getting in touch with how grandpa did stuff could do us some good. "It's one of those things that crosses political lines," Rawles says. "Self-sufficiency is something that appeals to greenies and neo-conservatives."
Or anyone dwelling in an area prone to earthquakes, hurricanes, floods or fires. If you live in California, it's not a matter of whether a major temblor will strike, it's a matter of when. "To prepare only for a worst-case scenario is wrong thinking. It's those lesser scenarios that are far more likely, such as a wildfire," Rawles says, after a morning spent elk hunting near his rural home west of the Rockies. "By preparing for the worst-case scenario, you can take anything else in stride."
Against that backdrop, Rawles and like-minded bloggers can offer some practical--and surprising--advice. For starters: Don't do it alone. Sure, you should get basic gear like water filters and learn first aid. More important, however, is connecting with your neighbors.
Rawles, for example, doesn't hoard food so that he can have a one-year supply for himself. Rather, his goal is to have a three-month supply for four families. "As a Christian, I think it's my responsibility, my biblical responsibility, to provide for both my family and my neighbors to the best of my ability," Rawles says.
Call it Christian, communitarian or just old-fashioned.
Survival writer Joel Skousen recommends taking old-fashioned steps, like getting to know the neighbors and being ready to provide shelter to friends and family when disaster strikes their region. "Develop a network of like-minded people or relatives," Skousen says. "They can go in together on storing food supplies or having a generator."
The trend away from relying on friends and neighbors for goods and services and toward a far-flung global trading network that relies on smooth-running transportation systems and scanty inventories has created a system that's brittle and prone to break under stress.
Rawles points to Hurricane Katrina as an example of how quickly a major city can be cut off from food and water. "With modern grocery stores, literally what you see is what you get, there is no back room," Rawles says. "Every time there is a major disaster, we see the same thing over and over: People rush to the store, clean out the shelves, and people arrive the next day wondering what happened."
Clearly, it's up to families to provide a cushion for themselves, even if they're not worried about what Rawles likes to call "TEOTWAKI" or "The End Of The World As We Know It."
Start with clean water. Rawles recommends buying a good water filter, such as a compact Katadyn model that can be found in camping stores. If you own your own home, consider hooking the downspouts up to rain barrels. "Your average urbanite, or suburbanite, is not prepared to do that," Rawles says. "It's the kind of thinking that will get people killed."
But it's skills--not supplies--that will be most valuable in a crunch. Knowing how to administer first aid is just the start, Rawles argues. He also urges readers to develop traditional skills such as gardening, construction, livestock husbandry, food preservation and blacksmithing. "If people acquire them now, they will serve them tremendously in the future, regardless of what happens, even if they're just passing on these skills to future generations."
Or even if it's just a hobby that burns off enough fat to avoid that heart attack, tubbo.
Bio Terror 'Next Threat' For US
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20081031/twl-bio-terror-next-threat-for-us-3fd0ae9.html
In an exclusive interview, homeland security secretary Michael Chertoff said sources of radioactive and biological materials must be properly secured "at all costs".
He warned terrorists are actively seeking to acquire such materials.
Mr Chertoff said he did not think a weapon of mass destruction, like a biological or nuclear bomb, was a danger that could be just months away.
But he warned: "It may be years away and we can't afford to waste this time waiting for that event to happen.
"We've got to stay ahead of the issue of weapons of mass destruction, if not for our own benefit, then for the benefit of our children."
His comments echo those of the British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, who told Sky News last year that intelligence suggested terrorists were trying to get their hands on materials and know how to make a dirty bomb.
Last November, the security services in Slovakia arrested three men attempting to sell enriched uranium on the black market.
Mr Chertoff said it must be a priority to secure sites in rogue countries where dangerous materials may get into the wrong hands.
He said: "It is also important to secure our own radioactive material.
"Medical facilities, for example, have radioactive material, which they use for medical purposes. We're in the process of securing those in the United States."
Mr Chertoff also warned nuclear proliferation was a major concern.
He said: "Obviously, the more countries that get the (nuclear) bomb, the greater the likelihood that they will deliberately or inadvertently pass the bomb into the hands of dangerous people."
But the security chief said biological threats posed the most pressing and "challenging issue" to security, "because the raw material exists in nature".
He said: "The internet and the proliferation of knowledge is an increasing challenge.
"It will require the whole world to make sure people aren't setting up laboratories where they're beginning to fashion biological weapons."
Mr Chertoff told Sky News the intent of terrorists to get their hands on such weapons was clear.
He pointed to the discovery of al Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan, where experiments with biological and chemical agents had taken place, saying: "Al Qaeda would, if they could, use these types of weapons.
"It is not a lack of intent, it is a lack of capability. But I don't think that we want to wait in addressing these issues and that's why this is a very hot priority for us."
CNN experiments with Hologram reporting
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/05/AR2008110504179.html
Nearly 71 million viewers watched the United States elect its first African American president, across 14 television networks Tuesday night.
And about 13.3 million of them were treated to CNN star Anderson Cooper's historic interview with a hologram of Will.I.Am about the "Yes, We Can" video that the musician made for the Barack Obama election effort, and to Wolf Blitzer chatting with Chief Capitol Hill Hologram Jessica Yellin. She was beamed in from Chicago's Grant Park to talk about whether the crowd gathered there awaiting Obama's victory speech was excited. (They were, viewers learned while they pondered whether a CNN correspondent flickering blue around the edges was any less fair and balanced than a non-flickering CNN correspondent.)
CNN's 13.3 million viewers, garnered between the start of prime time at 8 and the end of President-elect Obama's speech at about 12:30 a.m., is not only the biggest audience in the cable net's 28-year history but also marks the first time the cable news network made a clean sweep of all the broadcast and cable networks on election night. Its closest competitor, ABC, logged 12.5 million in those same hours. NBC and CBS lagged with 12 million and 7.5 million, respectively.
Probably because the race was called so early -- 11 p.m. -- Tuesday's election night clocked about 10 million more people than watched 2000's controversial and endless matchup between George W. Bush and Al Gore. And it's about 12 million more than watched the 2004 election night face-off between President Bush and John Kerry.
More to the point, it's the biggest TV audience since February's Super Bowl, which averaged 97.5 million viewers.
During their Hologram Moment, Cooper asked Will.I.Am how he came up with the "Yes, We Can" video, which "really got an enormous play." But, again, here, it's unlikely anybody cared what Will.I.Am had to say in this, his gajillionth interview about the video -- nothing new, BTW -- being completely preoccupied as they were with the Black Eyed Pea in his new Beam-Me-Up-Scotty state.
The Post's Paul Farhi wondered whether Blitzer could have walked through Yellin, and yesterday asked CNN's senior vice president and Washington bureau chief David Bohrman, who was the guy behind the election-night bells and whistles.
Had Blitzer tried to walk through Yellin, besides being the height of rudeness, he would have blacked out, because in Hologram World, two people can't occupy the same space simultaneously, Bohrman assured Farhi.
Blitzer couldn't actually see Yellin standing a few feet in front of him, nor could Cooper see Will.I.Am. The two anchors saw their interview subjects via monitors, said Bohrman, who predicted it would be another dozen years before anchors could actually see their hologramterviews on the set. Right now, it's kind of like when your local weatherman points to clouds and low-pressure systems on the map he/she pretends to see but actually can't and is instead looking at the map on a monitor.
Had Blitzer walked behind Yellin, Bohrman noted, we could have seen a little of Blitzer through her. Try not to think about that; put it out of your mind.
And, the flickering blue edges were added to Yellin and Will.I.Am to make them look a little more like Princess Leia and a little less like Cokie Roberts in a trench coat over her evening dress pretending to be standing in front of the Capitol, Bohrman said.
The CNN exec said the hologramology technology makes sense when an anchor is trying to have a more intimate conversation with a correspondent than he can have if said correspondent is being mobbed by those annoying waving crowds. On the other hand, to make the hologram thing work, the correspondent, or Black Eyed Pea, has to be removed from the distracting crowd anyway, and put in a green-screen-ish tent in a studio, and surrounded by about 40 fixed HD cameras.
Bohrman said he had no plans to use hologramterviews again in the immediate future, calling them "an ornament on a tree" and not the centerpiece of CNN's election-night coverage.
Oops on that.
You can view the CNN Hologram report at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thOxW19vsTg
Internet Addiction? Millions of Americans Admit to Compulsive Internet Use
http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/404588571.html
To many people, constant Internet use is the "new normal," but author Jan Kern challenges this, asserting that too much Internet use is an addiction just like many others.
While affirming that "God isn't anti-Internet," Kern argues that God wants more for us, wants us to have a real life and relationships, not just virtual ones.
"The Internet can offer a really great experience, and for many people, this is not a problem. Most of us use the Internet for research, news, communication--and fun," said author Jan Kern.
"But for some, it can easily become an obsession. Without realizing it, we get sucked into activities that rob us of the amazing identity, resources, and relationships God has in mind for us," she continued.
"We can become so drawn in by the virtual satisfaction of our wants and desires that we miss the opportunity to see how God might meet those needs more fully in real life.
While experts still debate whether these behaviors constitute an addiction, an organization called the Center for Internet Addiction Recovery estimates that 5-10% of the population has internet addictions, more than half of them sexually-related.
And although stopping short of calling the behaviors an addiction, results of a survey by Stanford University's Impulse Control Disorders Clinic suggest there are clear similarities between extreme Internet use and other addictions.
In her new book for young adults, Eyes Online: Eyes On Life, Kern introduces readers to Colin, a real person whose teen years were marked by pornography use, obsessive internet gaming, and escape into chat rooms that kept his real life on hold. The book is the latest offering in Kern's "LIVE FREE" series which is designed to help young adults overcome struggles and addictions.
At times reading like a novel and at other times written directly to teens, Kern tells us Colin's story from junior high on, alternating chapters of Colin's unfolding story with chapters addressed to the teens struggling with similar issues. Heavily laced with encouraging scripture and thoughtful questions, she also includes side notes to friends and leaders who want to know how to help.
She interviewed many teenagers and shares their experiences and advice as well.
"People like Colin and others I interviewed have found that along with all the positive experiences, being online has also been a downfall for them - big time," Kern says.
"When they're really being honest, they talk about lines they've crossed. Sometimes without even realizing it, they've been consumed by being online with simple activities like e-mail and blogging. But some have also discovered games or activities they can't stop thinking about even when away from the computer. Others have ventured into X-rated sites and found themselves lured by sexual traps that turned into secret addictions."
"God isn't anti-Internet. He's just got a whole lot more in mind for our lives - freedom from the traps, but also excitement, energy and fullness beyond our online existence."
Colin agrees.
"The problem with Internet obsession is that you can look completely normal and nobody knows you are in so much pain," he said. "That was true for me. When I was obsessed by the Internet in junior high and high school, I was so depressed and nobody ever knew why. They didn't even begin to think it has anything to do with the computer.
"As I grew older and was able to look back on my life, I could see that the Internet was a big reason why I was depressed. It just continued to feed my miserable feelings, never letting me breathe for a moment."
"Colin has an honest story to tell, an honest perspective," Kern says. "Being connected online is still part of his daily world, but not in the same way it used to be. He's not afraid to admit where his Internet use took him or the depths of the battles he fought.
"It takes courage to look at the reality of anything we do that might be harmful and be open about how it impacts us on the different levels of who we are. Colin has that courage," she concluded.
Enjoy surveillance while it is still visible
http://www.heise-online.co.uk/security/Schneier-Enjoy-surveillance-while-it-is-still-visible--/news/111819
Measures such as ID cards are a temporary measure before biometric technology becomes ubiquitous; That was the warning from security guru Bruce Schneier this week who claims that surveillance technology will get more sophisticated and, more importantly, smaller and harder to detect. "We live in a very unique time in our society. The cameras are everywhere and you can still see them," said Schneier, BT's chief security technology officer. "Five years ago they weren't everywhere, five years from now you are not going to see them."
As well as camera technology becoming less obtrusive, Schneier said that ID checks would also become less obvious and may not even require the obvious cooperation of the individual being checked. "Five years ago there weren't ID checks everywhere," he said. "But five or ten years from now they will happen in the background. It will be an Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chip in your wallet, you won't even know its being checked."
Biometric technologies such as face recognition, or systems based on a particular type of mobile phone owned or even clothes, may also be used for identity checks. The increase in background ID checks means that the current debate around national ID cards in the UK is only a short-term issue, according to Schneier. "I know there are debates on ID cards everywhere but in a lot of ways, they are only very temporary. They are only a temporary solution till biometrics takes over," he said.
Eventually, even airports won't actually require people to show ID, as the checks will just happen in the background while you queue for check-in or move through the terminal. "When you walk into the airport they will know who you are. You won't have to show an ID – why bother? They can process you quicker," he said.
Schneier also amused the audience by admitting that he used an ID card that he had made himself to gain entry to the security event he was speaking at. "We all had to show an ID before we got our RSA badge. I actually showed one I made at home. They asked for a photo-ID not an ID that was endorsed by anyone. It is endorsed by me and I guarantee that it is correct," he said. "It works everywhere but airports I find."
The UK recently launched the first batch of its proposed national ID card scheme which is being mandated for foreign workers from November. The cards will slowly be applied to other groups, including eventually a voluntary national distribution but which will also include the addition of driving licences to the national ID database.
Christianity and Islam worship the same God, Muhammad & Jesus reveal same truths? Liberal scholars misrepresent their faiths
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7706977.stm
When 138 senior Muslim scholars and clergy tried to establish the common ground between Islam and Christianity last year, they said the very peace of the world hung on the outcome.
On Tuesday, a high-ranking delegation is beginning a rare visit to Rome in an effort to persuade the Pope to endorse what they say are the shared origins and values of the world's two biggest religions.
Their letter, A Common Word, cited passages from the Koran which the scholars said showed that Christianity and Islam worship the same God, and require their respective followers to show each other particular friendship.
The document examined fundamental doctrine and stressed what it said were key similarities - such as the belief in one God and the requirement for believers to "love their neighbours as themselves".
Significantly the letter acknowledged that the Prophet Muhammad was told only the same truths that had already been revealed to Jewish and Christian prophets, including Jesus himself.
After a year using the Islamic principle of seeking consensus, the letter has developed into a "manifesto" and is backed by almost 300 leaders from Sunni, Shi'ite, Sufi and other Muslim traditions.
'Out of hand'
The initiative was welcomed promptly by several Christian leaders, including the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams.
The Vatican has, however, responded more cautiously to the prospect of identifying common beliefs.
There has been renewed urgency among Muslim leaders to forge new bonds with Christians since the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001.
A lecture by Pope Benedict quoting a 14th Century Byzantine emperor's accusation that Muhammad encouraged the use of violence in spreading Islam led to a furious reaction among Muslims and contributed to the sense of a widening gap between the religions.
The high-ranking delegation going to Rome includes the Grand Mufti of Bosnia, an Iranian Ayatollah, a Jordanian prince and British converts to Islam.
The Vatican is cautious about the prospect of identifying common beliefs
They are also aiming to work out practical measures for resolving crises in Muslim-Christian relations, such as the angry controversy that followed the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in Denmark in 2006.
Dr Ibrahim Kalin, a Turkish scholar who will be among the Muslims who meet the Pope on Thursday, said the dispute about the cartoons showed how important it was to establish regular dialogue.
He said: "Things got out of hand very quickly. A line of communication is needed where we can issue a statement and mobilise resources as a pre-emptive act."
Some of those behind the Common Word initiative believe it has been too easy for radical or extremist Muslims to use the media to promote a distorted view of Islam. One of their principal aims is to create a body that can speak authoritatively for mainstream Islam.
'Agree to disagree'
Although the Pope can speak for about a billion Roman Catholics, Islam has no central authority able to represent its 1.3 billion faithful.
Apart from practical mechanisms to cope with disagreements, the Pope's Muslim visitors are hoping for a measure of agreement on matters of fundamental belief, and for an exchange of reading-lists - each side providing the names of the books that most accurately describe their values and traditions.
They also want to extend the Christian-Muslim conversation to include that other Abrahamic religion, Judaism.
The Pope is on record as seeking dialogue with Muslims, and is reported to favour a franker, more robust, approach. He is likely to have his own priorities, including a discussion of religious freedom.
Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams (left) and Grand Mufti of Egypt Dr Ali Gomaa at a conference on A Common Word
A Common Word is backed by the Archbishop of Canterbury
It is a sensitive issue, not least because some Muslim-majority countries forbid conversion, and oppress their Christian minorities.
Last month a formal meeting of Catholic bishops in Rome said the conversation should stress the need for equal rights for women. Some Islamic states - such as Saudi Arabia - limit women's rights.
Other awkward issues could include the need for democracy.
There is plenty that both sides are clear they cannot agree. Muslims regard Jesus as an important prophet, for example, but they do not believe he was crucified.
Another of the big differences between the religions centres on how God is understood.
Ibrahim Kalin says the Christian belief in Jesus as part of a divine trinity with God the Father and the Holy Spirit conflicts with Muslim doctrine.
"The Trinity is currently not accepted by Muslims as explaining the infinity and oneness of God," said Dr Kalin.
Pope to Muslims: Religious persecution is unacceptable
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/pope.to.muslims.religious.persecution.is.unacceptable/21849.htm
Religious persecution is not acceptable, Pope Benedict XVI said Friday following a historic meeting between top Catholic and Muslim leaders.
While the three days of Christian-Muslim dialogue focused on encouraging better relations between the world’s two largest religions, the head of the one billion-member Catholic Church stated Friday that individuals should have the right to practice their own faith without persecution.
“The discrimination and violence which even today religious people experience throughout the world and the often violent persecutions to which they are subject, represent unacceptable and unjustifiable acts, all the more grave and deplorable when they are carried out in the name of God,” the pontiff said, according to the BBC.
Tariq Ramadan, a senior research fellow at the University of Oxford who participated in the summit, said he thought Benedict’s points were “fair.”
“No Muslim should avoid speaking about this,” he said, according to Religion News Service.
Last week’s historic Catholic-Muslim meeting was the first of its kind and brought together 48 leading scholars and leaders of both religions. The official theme of the meeting was “Love of God, Love of Neighbour”.
During the three-day meeting, the Pope apologised to Muslims for his remarks in the 2006 speech in Germany that referenced a medieval scholar who described Islam as “evil and inhuman” and spread by violence. The comment had sparked a wave of violence in Muslim-majority countries around the world.
The speech also inspired two open letters to the Pope from an international group of Muslims scholars and leaders, which resulted in this past week’s Vatican meeting.
A final declaration was issued from the meeting, which renounces “any oppression, aggressive violence and terrorism, especially that committed in the name of religion”, and affirms respect for “choices in matters of conscience and religion”.
The document also denounces “any form of mockery or ridicule” of founding figures and symbols considered sacred by religious minorities.
"Muslims and Christians have different approaches in matters concerning God ... but must consider themselves members of one family," Pope Benedict said during the meeting.
The Pope challenged the leaders and scholars of both faiths "to overcome past prejudices and to correct the often distorted images of the other, which even today can create difficulties in our relations".
Internet black boxes to record every email and website visit
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/3384743/Internet-black-boxes-to-record-every-email-and-website-visit.html
Under Government plans to monitor internet traffic, raw data would be collected and stored by the black boxes before being transferred to a giant central database.
The vision was outlined at a meeting between officials from the Home Office and Internet Service Providers earlier this week.
It is further evidence of the Government's desire to have the capability to vet every telephone call, email and internet visit made in the UK, which has already provoked an outcry.
Richard Thomas, the Information Commissioner, has described it as a "step too far".
The proposal is expected to be put out to consultation as part of the new Communications Data Bill early next year.
At Monday's meeting in London representatives from BT, AOL Europe, O2 and BSkyB were given a presentation of the issues and the technology surrounding the Government's Interception Modernisation Programme (IMP), the name given by the Home Office to the database proposal.
They were told that the security and intelligence agencies wanted to use the stored data to help fight serious crime and terrorism.
Officials tried to reassure the industry by suggesting that many smaller ISPs would be unaffected by the "black boxes" as these would be installed upstream on the network and hinted that all costs would be met by the Government.
One delegate at the meeting told the Independent: "They said they only wanted to return to a position they were in before the emergence of internet communication, when they were able to monitor all correspondence with a police suspect. The difference here is they will be in a much better position to spy on many more people on the basis of their internet behaviour. Also there's a grey area between what is content and what is traffic. Is what is said in a chat room content or just traffic?"
Ministers have said plans for the database have not been confirmed, and that it is not their intention to introduce monitoring or storage equipment that will check or hold the content of emails or phonecalls on the traffic.
A spokesman for the Home Office said: "We are public about the IMP, but we are still working out the detail. There will a consultation on the Communications Data Bill early next year."
From Cross to Crescent in Paris - Islam spreads throughout Europe
http://www.crosswalk.com/news/religiontoday/11594589/
It's a sight that would shatter most Americans' romanticized image of Paris.
Just a 15-minute metro ride from the trendy shops and quaint cafés of the Champs-Elysees, a virtual sea of North and West African Muslims spills out the gates of a neighborhood mosque. Like waves breaking on a beach, their bodies bend in unison as hundreds of men prostrate themselves before Allah. Their prayers are guided by an imam's Arabic incantations.
The crowd's prayer rugs cover a city block's worth of sidewalk. Tourists point and take pictures. Some French pedestrians are visibly uncomfortable as they negotiate their way around the assembly.
But the scene isn't an aberration. Instead, it's evidence of a trend that's changing the way Southern Baptists view the international mission field: Islam is expanding across Europe.
From Cross to Crescent
Fueled by immigration and high birthrates, the number of Muslims on the continent has tripled in the past 30 years, making Islam Europe's fastest growing religion. While European Muslims build mosques and win converts, European Christians (excluding evangelicals) are witnessing what's been called a near free-fall decline in church attendance.
Tourists make up the overwhelming majority of those crowding Notre Dame in Paris, snapping photos during Mass as if the cathedral was more museum than place of worship. Even more alarming are statistics that only 5 percent of the French own a Bible and 80 percent have never even touched one. The shift is so dramatic that many demographers now believe more people in Europe practice Islam than Christianity.
No one knows exactly how many Muslims call Europe home since most European nations don't track ethnicity or religious affiliation in census data. Guesses put the number around 20 million.
France accounts for the highest concentration of Muslims in the European Union -- 5 to 6 million, or about 8 percent of the population. Many entered the country as immigrants in guest-worker programs following World War II, but untold numbers have flooded France and other European nations illegally.
Striving for Acceptance
While the French government has made strides to help Muslim immigrants integrate into French society, things haven't always gone smoothly.
In 2004, a law banning Muslim girls from wearing head scarves in French public schools ignited an uproar among immigrants. A year later, riots broke out in Muslim-majority areas of Paris after the deaths of two North African teenagers. The summer of 2007 saw peaceful but public protests by West African immigrants in a dispute with the French government over papers that would allow them to remain in France legally.
Such tension drives some immigrants away from their Muslim heritage while others gravitate toward it.
Osman is among the men worshipping outside the Paris mosque. Handsome and energetic, the 20-something works as a technician for the city's water department. Born in Paris, Osman's parents are Christians who came to France nearly 30 years ago from Togo, West Africa. But after years of struggling to assimilate into French society, Osman finally found acceptance among other West African immigrants by converting to Islam.
Yet as Christianity's presence in Europe wanes, there is hope.
Evangelical churches have seen slow but steady growth. In France, evangelicals numbered just 60,000 in 1940 but have climbed to nearly 500,000 today. Now about 3,000 evangelical churches worship in France -- more than a third planted in the past 20 years. Immigrants are helping to swell the ranks of these churches, sometimes composing as much as 50 percent of the congregation.
Tony Lynn, a Southern Baptist missionary serving in Paris, said that most evangelical churches inside the city average 35 to 65 people on Sunday. Lynn and his wife Jamie -- both from Michigan -- have spent the past five years in Paris working to plant churches among the city's 100-plus unreached people groups.
Lynn said one of the biggest obstacles to the Gospel is a hallowed tradition of secular humanism that the French call "laicite." Rooted in the French Revolution by philosophers like Rousseau and Voltaire, it has evolved into a cultural mindset that tolerates any religion so long as it remains hidden behind the veil of an individual's private life.
This pluralistic dynamic negates the importance of religion while simultaneously making spirituality an open topic for debate. That, Lynn said, creates a carte blanche opportunity to talk about Christ.
"Conversation and intelligent dialogues are a type of art in Paris," he said. "Once a rapport is established, people will discuss most anything."
But laicite's influence also has created a kind of identity crisis among younger generations of Muslim immigrants because they are raised in Muslim homes yet are exposed to a secular humanist environment, said Gracie Couloir,* a Southern Baptist missionary from Virginia who has served in France for the past 17 years.
Volunteers Key
Lynn believes new, innovative approaches are needed to combat these kinds of cross-cultural disconnects and effectively share Christ among both immigrants and French nationals. He said Southern Baptist volunteers are key to making that happen.
Helping meet the need are churches like Warren Baptist Church in Augusta, Ga., which sent a volunteer team to Paris to share Christ's love with Muslim women through a ministry known as the Esther Project.
"We did manicures, facials and makeup on women in a predominantly Muslim area," Claire Hill, a member of Warren's volunteer team, said. "The women seemed to thoroughly enjoy the girly things we did as well as our company. Although we didn't know them ... they were women just like us and there was much we had in common."
Couloir said, "All we have to do as Southern Baptists is give them the Gospel in a way that they can understand it, and we can change the Muslim world.
"I think we really do have fields that are ready for the harvest here. We just don't have the harvesters."
Flying car based on Ferrari 'could be reality within two years'
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/3366415/Flying-car-based-on-Ferrari-could-be-reality-within-two-years.html
The 'Autovolantor' - based on a £200,000 Ferrari 599 GTB - is being developed by "Moller International".
It will have the ability to take off vertically and hover thanks to eight powerful thrusters which direct air down for take off. Vents then tilt so the car can fly forward.
The car is expected to be able to do 100mph on the ground and 150mph in the air.
The calculated airborne range is 75 miles and ground range is 150 miles.
Designer Bruce Calkins says the car features a specially designed hybrid fuel and electric system to power the thrusters, creating as much as 800 horse power.
He believes it will be able to fly at altitudes of up to 5,000ft.
Mr Calkins said: "The Autovolantor is powered by eight fans mounted in the fuselage of the vehicle.
"On the ground these fans push the vehicle around with a firm but not-too-powerful thrust of deflected air.
"Small vanes in the exit area of the ducts can direct the air forward or back, or remain in the neutral position for vertical take off and landing.
"Once in the air the vehicle manoeuvres like a helicopter, tilting nose down to move forward, rolling right or left for changes in direction.
"While maximum altitude could be much higher, the energy to obtain altitudes above 5,000 feet would be significant so we expect it to stay below that height."
Moller chose the Ferrari to be the model for the ground-breaking machine because of its distinctive shape.
Mr Calkins, Moller's general manager, added: "The Ferrari 599 GTB has the general shape and layout we were looking for.
"Using it allowed us to quickly modify a readily available scale model and run some wind tunnel tests to establish the technical feasibility of the project.
"At first we were very sceptical that we could adapt a ground-vehicle with our technologies and make it work.
"But the model allowed us to quickly verify that it could in fact be done."
Mr Calkins said he hopes the vehicle's ability to "quick hop' out of traffic' could mean they attract the backing to fund the project.
He estimates a cost of around £500,000 per car.
Russia to deploy missiles on EU border
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/05/russia-missiles
President Dmitry Medvedev said today that Russia will deploy missiles in territory near Nato member Poland in response to US missile defense plans.
He did not say whether the short-range Iskander missiles would be fitted with nuclear warheads.
In a state of the nation speech, Medvedev also blamed the US for the war in Georgia and the global financial crisis. He said he hoped the US president-elect Barack Obama would act to improve relations with Russia but he did not offer congratulations to the president-elect.
The missiles will be deployed to the Russian Baltic Sea territory Kaliningrad, he said, but did not add how many would be used. Equipment to electronically hamper the operation of prospective US missile defense facilities in Poland and the Czech Republic will be deployed, he said.
Medvedev singled out the US for criticism, casting Russia's war with Georgia in August and the global financial turmoil as consequences of aggressive, selfish US policies.
"Mechanisms must be created to block mistaken, egoistical and sometimes simply dangerous decisions of certain members of the international community," he said shortly after starting the 85-minute speech.
Medvedev, whose criticism of Washington echoed addresses by his predecessor Vladimir Putin, made it clear he was referring to the US.
Georgia sparked the August war on its territory with what he called "barbaric aggression" against Russian-backed South Ossetia. The conflict "was, among other things, the result of the arrogant course of the American administration, which did not tolerate criticism and preferred unilateral decisions."
Medvedev painted Russia as a country threatened by growing western military might.
"From what we have seen in recent years, the creation of a missile defense system, the encirclement of Russia with military bases, the relentless expansion of Nato, we have gotten the strong impression that they are testing our strength," Medvedev said.
He announced deployment of the Iskander missiles as a military response to US plans to deploy missile-defense facilities in Poland and the Czech Republic former Soviet satellites that are now Nato members.
Speaking just hours after Obama was declared the victor in the US presidential election, Medvedev said he hoped the incoming administration will take steps to improve badly damaged US ties with Russia. He suggested it is up to the US not the Kremlin to seek to improve relations.
"I stress that we have no problem with the American people, no inborn anti-Americanism. And we hope that our partners, the US administration, will make a choice in favor of full-fledged relations with Russia," Medvedev said.
Russian-American relations have been increasingly tense and were driven to a post-cold war low by Moscow's war with US ally Georgia.
EU planning to take over Bosnia supervision
http://euobserver.com/9/27066
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Increasingly concerned over stalling progress in Bosnia and "inflammatory rhetoric" used by its politicians, EU foreign ministers are expected to adopt on Monday (10 November) a paper suggesting the bloc should be prepared to take over Bosnia's international supervision next year.
The seven-point paper drafted by EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn stresses that "a stronger engagement of the EU is today more essential than ever before."
The current "status quo is not viable and likely to remain so until and unless the international community is prepared to change the parameters of its presence and approach," reads the text seen by Reuters.
It also stresses: "The international impetus remains essential, since there are no domestic forces capable of challenging the status quo and influencing the country's leadership to replace their current disputes with a genuine consensus on EU-related reforms."
Currently, the international community and the EU have a representative in Sarajevo - Slovak diplomat Miroslav Lajcak - who bears significant powers, including the ability to impose legislation and sack officials judged to be obstructing the peace implementation process in the country torn apart by war 13 years ago.
The Office of the High Representative (OHR) was enshrined in the peace treaty ending the 1992-1995 Bosnia war - the so-called Dayton Agreements. The objective had been to close up shop last year in order to allow more "self ownership" of the country.
However, the situation in Bosnia was not judged good enough to afford closing the OHR and the move was postponed. Its current budget ends in June 2009 and a decision on its future could be taken later this month, with observers judging it unlikely that it remain open after this date.
Consequently, "the EU needs to consider its role in the transition from an OHR-led process to a reinforced EU engagement," according to the EU paper.
"The EU will need in the short- and medium-term to maximise its leverage in the country ...The EU should aim and prepare to be ready by mid 2009," it continues.
Bosnian leaders 'mired in talk of the past'
The paper drafted by Mr Solana and Mr Rehn also reiterates concerns over the deteriorating internal political situation in Bosnia, underlining that its leaders are "mired in the nationalist logic and talk of the past."
With relations between the Bosniak and Serb leaders in the country - Haris Silajdzic and Milorad Dodik - increasingly deteriorating, the EU earlier this week in its progress report on Bosnia criticised the fact that "inflammatory rhetoric has adversely affected the functioning of institutions and slowed down reform" in the country.
The EU also sent a letter to Bosnian leaders calling on them to be more reasonable, Balkan news portal Balkan Insight reported on Thursday.
"We are extremely concerned over the political climate which is being created by your officials at all levels: Boosting fears and divisions instead of associations is contrary to your European project," read the letter sent from the French EU presidency, on behalf of both Mr Rehn and Mr Solana.
The nationalistic rhetoric of Bosnian politicians is also to be criticised in the conclusions EU foreign ministers will adopt after their meeting on Monday (10 November).
Another issue that will be discussed is the possible phasing out of the EU's peacekeeping force in Bosnia, backed by France.
However, other member states are keen to continue with the mission until the closing down of the OHR, or even beyond.
"I don't think now is the time" for EU peacekeepers to withdraw from Bosnia, Bulgarian foreign minister Ivailo Kalfin told journalists on Wednesday, adding: "At this time the conditions are not met" for the international community to withdraw from the country, either.
The EU's Althea force replaced the NATO-led SFOR in December 2004 to oversee the military implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement.
French EU defence plan is not anti-NATO, minister says
http://euobserver.com/13/27039
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The US is still critical of the EU's common security and defence policy, a pet project of the bloc's French presidency, but French interior minister Michelle Alliot-Marie defended the initiative on Monday as not being aimed against NATO.
Challenged by the deputy chairman of the NATO military committee, Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberrry to explain France's view on the transatlantic link in the enhanced EU security and defence policy, Ms Alliot-Marie said "there are countries who don't have confidence in this [transatlantic] dialogue and believe a strong European security and defence policy is aimed at minimizing NATO, but I believe the opposite."
She stressed that the EU is better adapted to deal with certain conflicts, while in others "NATO power" is needed.
Both were addressing a 100-odd audience at the "Security and Defence Days" conference in Brussels on Monday evening.
Mr Eikenberry made acidic remarks about the EU's ability to plan, deploy and conduct successful missions, stressing that out of the bloc's 20 missions so far, five were short-term operations in Congo. "I'm not questioning the value of those missions, they were successful in the relief of pressing humanitarian problems, but what is the overarching strategic thinking in the EU with regard to the Congo?"
He also criticized the EU's "overwhelming preference for soft power" and lack of deployable troops despite massive spending on defence.
"European security in this century depends on peace and stability abroad. This is a paradigm shift often stated but still not evident in terms of policies and strategic choices. The current European strategy does not articulate clear regional priorities or comprehensive integrated responses to trans-national threats," he said.
The NATO deputy chairman nevertheless underlined that in the US there is openness towards a closer cooperation between his organisation and the European Union. "President's Sarkozy's notion of bringing more Europe into NATO is pushing against a door that is already wide open," he argued.
French defence minister Herve Morin told the Financial Times on Monday that the mood in Washington had changed, after president Sarkozy announced that France would become a full member of NATO.
"It took hours of conversation for the Americans to realise that France wasn't trying to set up a rival operation and that European defence could actually bolster the capabilities of the transatlantic alliance as a whole," Mr Morin had told FT.
Mr Morin also criticised British opposition to establishing a headquarters in Brussels for the EU's common security and defence policy (ESDP). "I appreciate British pragmatism but we have a situation where we have numerous headquarters - in Britain, France, Germany, Italy and now even Greece - and that costs us money," he said.
More ESDP even without Lisbon Treaty
Meanwhile, German conservative MEP Karl von Wogau, the chairman of the European Parliament's sub-committee on security and defence argued at a parliament hearing on Monday, that the failure of the Lisbon treaty, rejected in the Irish referendum, is no impediment for building up the ESDP.
The treaty would have allowed more EU power in the field of security and defense, which still remains a core competence of national governments, the MEP said. But he referred to the creation in 2004 of the European Defence Agency (EDA), an EU body aimed at helping the bloc's governments to co-ordinate and prioritise defence spending, as an example of how the ESDP can proceed without Lisbon.
Nick Witney, former EDA chief, argued the same line, while praising France's efforts to re-energize the ESDP. He also stressed the need for a common headquarters in Brussels, capable of strategic planning for the EU's different missions.
UK opposes Brussels headquarters
France's push for a common headquarter is being challenged by the UK argument that the EU can draw on NATO's planning capabilities and its 17,000-strong European headquarter in Mons, some 70 km south of Brussels.
This is enshrined in the current EU treaty of Nice, which says that "when a given crisis gives rise to an EU-led operation making use of NATO assets and capabilities, the EU and NATO will draw on the so-called "Berlin Plus arrangements."
"These arrangements cover three main elements that are directly connected to operations and which can be combined: EU access to NATO planning, NATO European command options and use of NATO assets and capabilities."
World faces growing risk of war: US intelligence chief
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=081031180559.hq1yll01&show_article=1
The world faces a growing risk of conflict over the next 20 to 30 years amid an unprecedented transfer of wealth and power from West to East, according to the US intelligence chief.
Michael McConnell, the director of national intelligence, predicted rising demand for scarce supplies of food and fuel, strategic competition over new technologies, and the spread of weapons of mass destruction.
"What I'm suggesting -- there's an increased potential for conflict," McConnell said in a speech Thursday to intelligence professionals in Nashville, Tennessee.
"During the period of this assessment, out to 2025, the probability for conflict between nations and within nation-state entities will be greater," he said.
Conditions for "large casualty terrorist attacks using chemical, biological, or less likely, nuclear materials" also will increase during that period, he said.
McConnell described a multi-polar world in 2025 shaped by the rise of China, India and Brazil, whose economies will by then match those of the western industrial states.
"In terms of size, speed, and directional flow, the transfer of global wealth and economic power, now underway, as noted from West to East is without precedent in modern history," McConnell said.
Territorial expansion and military rivalries are not likely but cannot be ruled out, he said.
"We judge these sweeping changes will not trigger a complete breakdown of the current international system, but the next 20 years of transition to a new system are fraught with risks and many, many challenges," he said.
By 2025, China is likely to have the world's second largest economy and to have emerged as a major military power, the largest importer of natural resources and the largest contributor to world pollution.
"China is poised to have more impact on the world over the next 20 years than any other country," he said.
India will have either the third or second largest economy and will press to become "one of the significant poles of this new world," he said.
Russia also will be part of that group but only if it expands and diversifies its economy and integrates it with the world global economy, he said.
"Strategic rivalries are most likely to revolve around trade, demographics, access to natural resources, investments and technological innovation. There will be a struggle to acquire technology advantage as the key enabler for dominance," he said.
Europe unveils its vision for global financial reform
http://euobserver.com/9/27074
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - EU leaders have agreed on a set of principles that should guide future talks on the reform of the global financial architecture, urging for more regulation and transparency in the sector that has delivered the world's biggest economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
"No financial institution, no market segmentation and no jurisdiction must escape proportionate and adequate regulation or at least oversight," states the document adopted at an extraordinary summit on Friday (7 November).
The list of desired measures will be presented at the G20 summit of industrialised and emerging economies on 15 November in Washington.
The measures includes a call for transparency of financial transactions through revised accounting standards, an early warning system to tackle risks and a central role for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) "in a more efficient financial architecture."
"We don't want to move from the total lack of regulation to too much regulation," said French President Nicolas Sarkozy whose country currently holds the six-month presidency of the 27-strong Union.
He admitted that the three-hour debate with his EU counterparts was "pretty intense" but it did amount to a "united message" that they will send to other world powers next week.
"We will be defending a common position, a vision for restructuring our financial system," said the French leader.
Both Sweden and Britain reportedly expressed some unease about too much pro-regulation activism on France's part. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that the EU agreed there would be no place for protectionism in the global talks next week.
The EU's scenario also included a chapter about the need to overhaul pay policy for company executives. UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown said that the issue of executive remuneration is "important and should be linked to long-term performance," although he did not endorse Belgian plans to limit executive pay-outs to a maximum of 12 months' salary.
"We are not for interventionism, we are for a good performance of the markets, we are for a social economy of the markets," commented European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.
Great expectations
Mr Sarkozy said that he had spoken to both outgoing US President George W Bush and his successor, Barack Obama, about next week's meeting in Washington.
The document endorsed by all EU leaders states that within 100 days of the top-level global talks, measures to implement the principles desired by Europe should be drawn up.
"It has to be a real historic meeting," said Mr Barroso.
The French leader argued that additional countries, such as Spain and the Netherlands, should be invited to the G20 meeting, adding that Paris, which as both a G7 member and current chair of the six-month rotating EU presidency temporarily has two seats at such meetings, will offer one of its two places to Madrid.
Meanwhile, Jean-Claude Juncker, Luxembourg's premier and finance minister as well as president of the Eurogroup, said he requested on Friday a single seat for the eurozone countries within the international financial institutions, with non-euro countries represented separately.
But he admitted that his idea was "too difficult for prime ministers to cope with", yet maintained confidence that this would happen eventually, as most of the EU countries, including the UK, will be part of the eurozone in 10 years.
He said he was "not offended" for not having been invited to the G20 meeting on 15 November - a day he would instead spend "between his bedsheets." Still, he criticised the fact that the EU has the tendency to be "over-represented" in the financial institutions, noting that the European Commission was not a G20 member, but will still take part in the global talks.
Middle East Quartet reconvenes in Moscow next spring
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=5705
The sponsors of the Israel-Palestinian peace process, the US, Russia, the EU and the UN, ended their meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh Sunday, Nov. 9, with a statement of continued support for the parties efforts and a pledge to “respect the bilateral and confidential nature of the negotiations.” While Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni and Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas promised to keep on negotiating during the run-up to Israel’s election, DEBKAfile reports that the current lull – due to political changes in the US and Israel – is likely to continue until early next year.
No agreement has been reached on the toughest issues of Jerusalem, Palestinian refugees and borders between Israel and a potential Palestinian state. The Palestinian side is holding out for a comprehensive accord at the end of the process instead of “bits and pieces,” while Israel insists on respect for its security concerns and no outside pressure. The negotiations led by outgoing prime minister Ehud Olmert and Livni have been conducted until now amid a media blackout, eliciting concerned questions in Israel about “how much they have given away in secret.”
Jungreis urges Jews to prepare for the coming of Messiah
http://www.prophecynews.co.uk/content/view/1045/1/
Jewish inspirational speaker Rebbetzin Jungreis is warning the world is now experiencing the birth pangs that are to herald the coming of the Messiah, and there is just a limited amount of time in which to avert the cataclysmic events that have been foretold to take place during the tribulation period. In a recent interview for Arutz 7, Jungreis said that God is bringing the world closer to redemption, through a process called 'chevlei Mashiach' - the labour pains of the arrival of the Messiah. Citing several ancient Jewish sages and scholars, Jungreis points to a number of signs which indicate that we are now living in the last days, including the global financial collapse, the rise of Islamic extremism, increased lawlessness and the break-up of families. Jungreis also believes that the Messiah must come before 6000 years of human history have run their course, and that the world must mend its ways in order to 'hasten' the arrival of the Messiah and usher in the Messianic era, without having to pass through the time of trouble that has been foretold in the Scriptures.
Quote: "In order to reverse negative prophecies which warn of pain, suffering, famine, and death during the end of days, Rebbetzin Jungreis says one must first understand the imminence of the arrival of the Messiah. This world, as we know it today, cannot last beyond 6,000 years. "Listen carefully, friends, to what I'm telling you. Hashem, Elokei Yisrael, created this world that we are living in today in six days. Every day was a thousand years. This world, as we know it today, cannot last beyond 6,000 years. Right now, we are in the year 5769, which means it's Erev Shabbos of the world. By the year 6,000, Mashiach has to be here. He could come much earlier. But by the year 6,000, he has to be here... the Vilna Gaon said that the last war, Milchemet Gog uMagog, is going to last only 12 minutes because they are going to have such weapons...We know that the final redemption, the final Geula, it's going to be like when you left Egypt – only one-fifth of our people left Egypt. Four-fifths perished... during the plague of darkness. "So I'm appealing to every Jew. Every negative prophecy can be changed. We can bring Mashiach today. Right now, we are living in a period called Erev Shabbat. It's Erev Shabbat, because when Mashiach will come, it will be the day that will be all Shabbat, the seventh day... Let's bring Shabbos early, and let us to bring Shabbos with menucha [ease], with shalom [peace], with simchah [happiness] – Is it possible? Absolutely?! Every negative prophecy can be changed."
Unfortunately many Orthodox Jews have this wrong concept, that the Messiah's coming is dependant on the nation of Israel reforming their ways. The Bible knows nothing of the concept of self-reformation. The Lord Jesus Christ said there was only one thing that would prevent His return. Only when the nation that rejected the King of Jews is willing to say, "Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord", would He be willing to come to them (Matthew 23:39). Sadly many Orthodox Jews are also ignorant of their own Scriptures, which prophesied that the Messiah would be born in the town of Beit Lehem (Micah 5:2). When the Jewish sages were asked where the promised Messiah was to be born, the reply was given to King Herod, "in Bethlehem of Judea", Matthew 2:5. Today the town of Bethlehem forms part of the Palestinian territories. If the messiah the Orthodox Jews are expecting arrives any time soon, he would most likely be born a Palestinian Arab. Even if Israel were to recapture Bethlehem from the Arabs, the Messiah could still not now come out of Bethlehem. For the book of Daniel foretold the exact day that the Messiah would enter into Jerusalem, and how He would ultimately be rejected by the nation of Israel (Daniel 9:25-26). As we can see, the messiah the Orthodox Jews are looking for is not the Messiah of the Bible. The Messiah of the Bible will not return until the nation of Israel is willing to look unto the One Whom they pierced (Zechariah 12:10). What about you? Have you looked unto the One Who was pierced for your sins? Jesus Christ died for you. He bore God's punishment for your sins, so that you could be forgiven, and have everlasting life in heaven. Why don't you trust in Him for salvation today.
Revelation 1:7
Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.
Time for Israel to appoint a king, scholar says
http://www.israeltoday.co.il/default.aspx?tabid=178&nid=17448
Renowned Israeli biblical scholar and historian David Solomon last week said that conditions in Israel today are ripe for replacing democracy with theocratic monarchy and appointing a king.
Speaking to Israel National Radio, Solomon said that the leadership and religious crises currently facing Israel mirror those during the time of the Prophet Samuel.
Millennia ago, the people of Israel turned to Samuel to help them replace their form of government with a monarchy in order to alleviate the nation's problems.
Just as then, many Israelis today might view a theocratic monarchy as a viable answer to Israel's "disastrous absence of genuine political and spiritual and religious leadership," said Solomon.
Israeli company creates drinking water out of thin air
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1033882.html
An Israeli company has developed a clean technology to extract water from the air while using little energy in the process.
The key to the project, launched by the Extraction of Water from Air (EWA), is in its unique water adsorption technology - which employs a solid desiccant to trap the water - and a special energy saving condenser that reuses more than 85 percent of the energy input to the system.
For Dr. Etan Bar, CEO of EWA, it was a question of priorities. His company, which focuses both on solar energy and clean water extraction from the air, had already developed a new solar energy air conditioner that was sparking interest in the industry, but Bar realized that clean water was a far more pressing need.
He put aside the air conditioner and began working on a new technology that could collect humidity naturally present in the air and turn it into clean water.
It sounds like a far-fetched idea, but it's actually thousands of years old. It was mentioned in the Bible and in ancient Jewish prayers, and archaeologists still find the stones Israelite farmers used thousands of years ago to collect dew for watering their crops.
The technology, Bar tells ISRAEL21c, works in three steps: first is the absorption of air's humidity, then the removal of water from a solid desiccant (silica based gel granules) which holds the water, and third, condensation.
The absorption of the humidity is an exothermic process (involving heat release), humidity absorption occurs spontaneously, and only minimal energy is used as the air is pumped through the unit.
Heat recovery techniques are integrated as part of the condenser, reducing the cost for producing water to a reasonable price, similar to other processes, such as desalination.
EWA, which was founded in 2006, is based on nine years of research by Bar, a former researcher at Ben Gurion University.
The company now has representatives in the U.S., India, Jordan, Cyprus, Australia and West Africa where EWA is helping farmers generate carbon credits, on top of providing them with clean water for drinking and irrigating their crops.
EWA, which employs 12, is currently operated out of Be'er Sheva. Last year was the first year the company reported its earnings, at about $100,000, while this year, it predicts sales upwards of $5 million, and $100 million for 2009, mainly due to growing demand from Africa, India and Australia. The bottleneck right now is being able to supply demand, says Bar.
As global warming heats the world, and its population continues to grow, there is less water for everyone: "Due to the effectiveness at extremely wide ranges of environmental conditions and due to its low energy consumption, huge water plants could be built and operated using the novel EWA technology," says Bar.
"The technology answers the world's desires for available, clean and safe water - without air pollution from energy production - and expensive infrastructure," he concludes.
Jerusalem sites being beamed live on-line to Christian world
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1225715328749&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/Printer
A Christian broadcast services company has launched an on-line video feed of four Jerusalem sites allowing people to bring the Holy Land live to computers screens the world over.
The website, www.IPrayTV.com, is offering viewers simultaneous footage of Calvary, Mount of Olives, the Eastern Gate, and the City of David free of charge after a one-time on-line registration.
"The constant availability of live footage from places so dear to us will be a valuable tool for pastors and ministries around the world, and for anyone seeking to strengthen their connection with the Holy Land," said Mike Peros, Founder and CEO of IPrayTV.
Rice to pin down Israeli “concessions” for Obama team
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=5706
Although the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations have yielded no agreements on core issues, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has decided that a departmental panel will “summarize” their transcripts and hand them over to the Barack Obama team.
Rice said at the Middle East Quartet meeting in Egypt Sunday, Nov. 9, that she would hand over to her successor “in private” and then "you won't hear any more from me".
DEBKAfile notes: All the parties agreed in advance that the Israel-Palestinian talks would be confidential. They were held for several months on two tracks - Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas and foreign minister Tzipi Livni and Ahmed Qureia. A news blackout was maintained although it was sharply criticized in Israel for keeping the public in the dark. The deal was that only issues agreed would be disclosed. However, no agreement was reached on any of the core issues, Jerusalem, refugees and borders.
DEBKAfile’s political sources report that assistant secretary of state David Welch will compile the report for submission to the Obama foreign policy transition team. This process means that any thought, hypothesis or suggestion floated in the confidential talks may be pinned down and presented as an Israeli concession for the next administration to pursue as such. The report may also may or may not be tilted in Palestinian favor.
Throughout the talks, Israeli intelligence leaders criticized Olmert and Livni for being too forthcoming and free with their ideas with their Palestinian interlocutors who by contrast stuck to demands. The Americans may decide to use the Israel negotiators’ words as commitments, they warned, particularly when they see their Annapolis initiative melting away before the end of 2008, the deadline the Bush administration set for a peace accord. But both Israeli leaders dismissed this, certain that Rice would play fair.
The fate of this report depends on the priorities of the new US president and the winners of Israel’s February election. However, Secretary Rice will have planted a bomb for her successors to use against Israel should they so decide when the time comes.
'Peace pact unlikely by year's end'
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1225910046353&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Thursday all but conceded that an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal by a year-end deadline is no longer possible, but said it is important for the next US and Israeli leaders to maintain momentum and support for the negotiations.
Rice spoke as she arrived for her eighth trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories since the parties set the timeline for reaching an agreement at last November's summit at Annapolis, Maryland.
"It is our expectation that the Annapolis process has laid groundwork which should make possible the establishment of a Palestinian state when the political circumstances permit," Rice said. "I think that whatever happens by the end of the year, you've got a firm foundation for quickly moving this forward to conclusion."
Although Rice refused to absolutely rule out the chance of an agreement by year's end, her remarks reflect the first time that an official of the Bush administration has publicly not held out hope that the deadline could be met.
"We'll see where they are at the end of the year," said Rice, vowing to "work on this with the parties until the day that we leave."
Fighting irrelevance and a ticking clock, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice embarked Wednesday on yet another Middle East peacemaking trip, hoping to secure fragile Israeli-Palestinian negotiations and leave a viable process for the incoming Obama administration.
With just 77 days left in office, Rice was making her eighth trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories since the parties set a year-end goal of reaching a peace deal at last November's Annapolis peace conference. She will also visit Egypt and Jordan to shore up Arab support for the talks.
Meeting the target date for an agreement is now highly unlikely, especially with political uncertainty in Israel and the lame duck Bush administration's waning influence, but Rice intends to press the two sides to carry on and, if possible, come up with an outline of how they can move ahead after January 20.
The Israeli-Palestinian situation is one of several Middle East trouble spots that the Bush administration will bequeath to President-elect Barack Obama. The war in Iraq, Iran's nuclear program and troubles with Syria are among the most troublesome.
Obama has yet to offer specifics on how will approach the peace process, but his foreign policy advisers include many former Clinton administration officials who were actively involved in the 2000 Camp David talks and may be eager to re-enter the fray.
Still, Rice has made clear she will not give up on the push for an Israeli-Palestinian deal while she is on the job.
"Until that moment when I leave office, I will leave no stone unturned to see if we can finally resolve this conflict," she told an audience at a Palestinian investment forum last month in Washington.
Those comments were her last substantive remarks on the peace process and in them, she made the same twin challenges to Israel and the Palestinians she has made on more than 20 largely fruitless journeys to the region during her tenure as secretary of state: Israel should loosen its grip on the West Bank and the Palestinians should tighten theirs on terrorists.
"The parties need to redouble their efforts," Rice said.
The talks that began in the US last year have produced few tangible results and are expected to be placed on hold for at least several months during the US transition from Bush to Obama. In addition, Israel will hold elections on February 10 and there are questions about the tenure of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas whose term technically expires in January.
Rice will see Abbas and outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert along with the chief negotiators from both sides before heading to the Red Sea resort of Sharm e-Sheikh in Egypt where top officials from the international diplomatic "quartet" on the Middle East will be briefed on the status of the talks on Sunday.
Any results officially reported to the quartet - the European Union, Russia, the United States and the United Nations - from Palestinian-Israeli talks so far could become a basis for future negotiations, even after the Israeli election.
Hamas praises Obama win as 'historic victory for world'
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=80180
JERUSALEM – The Hamas terrorist group believes the election of Sen. Barack Obama is an "historic victory" for the world and an opportunity to change U.S. foreign policy toward engagement with America's foes, Ahmed Yousef, Hamas' chief political adviser in the Gaza Strip, told WND in an exclusive interview today.
Yousef, speaking by cell phone from Gaza, said Hamas is drafting a letter of congratulation to be sent tomorrow directly to Obama. He said the current draft of the letter praises the president-elect as "another John F. Kennedy, or great Roosevelt."
"We want to be one of the first to congratulate him," Yousef said.
"This is an historic day, a turning point. I think this is the very first time in history that one country's election concerned everyone everywhere all over [the] world," said Yousef. "Everybody is looking forward to Obama's change, for a change in the U.S. policy, particularly in the Israeli-Palestinian equation, which is the mother of all conflicts."
Yousef told WND he believes an Obama administration will be more willing to engage in dialogue with Hamas.
He said Obama's job will be to "restore America's dignity in the world and put an end to the wars in the region."
Yousef took the occasion to blast the policies of President Bush, commenting he hopes "that after January the Bush administration will not be heard from again."
"We are sick of wars and conflict," the Hamas official said.
Yousef seemed aware his comments and Hamas' expected letter to Obama may generate some negative publicity for Obama, but he said he feels it important to "reach out and to express our thoughts and engage."
"I praised him six months ago, some people tried to use that against him. But I knew he would win. Like everyone else, we expected this important victory," he said.
Yousef was referring to an interview he gave to WND and WABC Radio in April in which he praised Obama and then found his comments had fueled a firestorm of accusations in the presidential campaign.
In April, Yousef stated he hoped Obama would become president and compared the Illinois senator to President John F. Kennedy.
"We like Mr. Obama, and we hope that he will win the election," Yousef told WND at the time.
"I hope Mr. Obama and the Democrats will change the political discourse. ... I do believe [Obama] is like John Kennedy, a great man with a great principle. And he has a vision to change America to make it in a position to lead the world community, but not with humiliation and arrogance," Yousef said.
Sen. John McCain repeatedly used Yousef's remarks to criticize Obama's foreign policy.
Obama has condemned Hamas as a terrorist group that should be isolated until it recognizes Israel. He claimed McCain was using the Hamas comments as a "smear."
Hamas is responsible for scores of suicide bombings, rocket attacks, shootings and cross-border raids. Its official charter calls for the murder of Jews and destruction of Israel. Just today, Hamas members took responsibility for launching dozens of rockets from Gaza aimed at Jewish civilian population centers.
Hamas turns Gaza houses into Hizballah-style camouflaged firing positions
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=5699
The 44 Grad rockets, Qassam missiles and mortar rounds which blasted Israel from Gaza Wednesday, Nov. 5, were fired from houses close to the border fence which Hamas had turned into fortified firing positions. Borrowing Hizballah’s tricks from the 2006 Lebanon war, the Hamas firing squads remove the roofs and cover the top floors with camouflage netting easily removed for attacks.
To spot these heavily-disguised launching pads, round-the-clock aerial observation is necessary.
DEBKAfile’s military analysts report: Two years after the 34-day Hizballah rocket blitz of northern Israel - and five months into an informal truce with Hamas - the IDF is not coping with this tactic.
Furthermore, Wednesday, the civilian front was again abandoned to a heavy missile bombardment. The Israeli Air Force went into action three times to halt the mortar fire on Israeli troops, wiping out two Hamas mortar squads and killing five of its members. But when the missiles began falling on Ashkelon, Sderot and the Eshkol farm region, the air force stayed on the ground.
DEBKAfile’s counter-terror sources further disclose that an anti-tank missile strike against an IDF patrol south of the Kissufim Gaza crossing last Friday, Oct. 31, was not carried out by Hamas, but an al Qaeda cell located in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younes. This cell calls itself Al Qaeda-Palestine.
Senior officers of the Southern Command are sharply critical of defense minister Ehud Barak’s soft, ceasefire-at-any-price policy, our sources report. They say he is only encouraging Hamas to initiate more violations, certain they can get away with it, and is weakening Israel’s hand for recovering its abducted soldier Gilead Shalit.
Barak hit the wrong note when he stressed that Israel wanted to preserve the truce after Hamas dug a 250-meter long tunnel from central Gaza under the Israeli border fence in order to kidnap more Israeli soldiers or civilians. That is no deterrence.
Gaza clashes escalate amid missile fire
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=5701
The Israeli air force knocked out a Palestinian missile launcher primed for attack in northern Gaza Saturday night, Nov. 7-8. The Palestinians responded with more missile fire at Ashkelon on the 4th consecutive day of their Gaza missile offensive. No one was hurt. During the day an Israeli patrol near Kissufim was targeted by Palestinian anti-tank missiles and returned the fire.
Earlier, Israeli troops entered the Strip briefly to dismantle explosives attached to the border fence. Friday night, an air strike hit a Palestinian Qassam team after10 missiles exploded in Ashkelon, Sderot, Shear Hanegev and the Eshkol farm district.
Local parents, protesting the government’s failure to deal with the Palestinian missile threat during five months of the six-month informal truce, are concerned Sunday about sending children back to schools, many of which are not properly fortified against missile attack.
Will Israel strike at Iran before Obama takes over?
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1225910057503&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
On December 8, 1988, under the cover of night, IDF warplanes, helicopters, guided-missile frigates and an elite force of Flotilla 13 naval commandos and Golani Brigade reconnaissance fighters infiltrated Lebanon.
Their target was a cave-based headquarters 20 km. south of Beirut, serving the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, headed by Ahmed Jibril.
The raid, code-named Operation Blue and Brown, involved the first known use of the IDF's secretive Oketz K9 dog unit.
Four soldiers found themselves left behind, forcing the air force to conduct a dramatic helicopter rescue. The soldiers clung to the helicopters' railings as they choppers took off, with Palestinian gunmen in pursuit.
Lt.-Col. Amir Meital, commander of Golani reconnaissance unit, was killed by enemy fire during the raid.
The operation took place one month after US President George H. Bush was voted into office, and a month before he was sworn in, replacing the popular Ronald Reagan, a leader widely viewed as a staunch ally of Israel.
Operation Blue and Brown says nothing about the likelihood of an Israeli strike on Iran today. But it does show that IDF operations have been ordered in the interim period between the election of a new American president and his inauguration.
And it is this same period in 2008/09 that provides an "attractive date" for Israel to strike Iran's nuclear program, according to historian Benny Morris.
In June, Morris wrote an op-ed for The New York Times in which he theorized that Israel would likely strike Iran between November 5 and January 19, the day before Obama is sworn in.
Speaking to The Jerusalem Post this week, Morris said he continued to believe that time period was a "reasonable" one for Israeli action.
"There is certainly a friendly president in the White House until January 20. There is no certainty over what will happen after that, in which direction the wind will blow.
The second thing is the advancement by the Iranians in creating the bomb," Morris said, speaking from his home in Li'on, southwest of Beit Shemesh. Morris said the Iranian regime was guided by messianic clerics who could not be trusted to act logically in a state of mutually assured destruction (MAD).
"These men are not rational like the men who ruled America and Russia during the Cold War. When [President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad talks about destroying Israel and denies the Holocaust, we hear no contrary voices from the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei saying that Ahmadinejad is crazy," Morris said.
"So long as Iran makes progress, we are under pressure, if we plan on doing something. Iran is supposed to purchase advanced anti-aircraft guns from Russia at the start of 2009. All of these point to the fact that if the US provides support, an Israeli strike is reasonable," he said.
Acknowledging the lame-duck nature of the Olmert administration, Morris said the difficulties posed by a weak government could be overcome by notifying the leaders of the major political parties in advance of the attack. He even raised the possibility that a date had already been chosen.
But Morris's views were challenged by a number of Israeli defense experts, such as Maj.-Gen. (res.) Giora Eiland, former national security adviser and former head of the IDF's Planning and Operation branches.
"I don't agree that Bush has given us a green light to attack in the next three months. Israel can't attack without US approval, which is vital both tactically and strategically. At the moment, we don't have that approval," he said.
Eiland provided an alternative forecast, according to which Obama will spend some months assembling an international front aimed at applying real pressure on Teheran to ends its nuclear program, something Bush had so far failed to do.
"To make the pressure on Iran effective, you have to cooperate with states like Russia. But the Russians say, 'Our main problem is that you [the Americans] are deliberately harming our interests by criticizing our internal policies, our actions in Chechnya, and with your attempts to drag neighbors like Georgia and Ukraine into NATO. So long as that's the case, don't expect us to help on Iran.'"
Noting that Russia is continuing to supply Teheran with nuclear technology and economic ties, Eiland said it would be impossible to isolate Iran without Russian assistance. This was all the more true in light of the fact that China and India had signaled that they would follow Russia's guidance over Iran, Eiland added.
"So I assume that the Obama government will correctly recognize the Iranian threat, but it will try to construct an international front," he said.
If, however, that policy failed, Obama could seriously consider using force, or support an Israeli strike several months from now, Eiland said.
Col. (res.) Ephraim Kam, formerly of Military Intelligence's Research Division and currently the deputy head of Tel Aviv University's Institute for National Security Studies, said a number of questions needed to be answered before determining whether a strike could go ahead.
"We don't know what Bush wants. In order to know whether the time is right for an attack, the government must know the stance of the Americans, and the state of our intelligence. Do we have the precise information that we need? What is the evaluation of an Iranian response? Is the Iranian threat existential?" Kam asked.
The government did not have those answers at this time, "hence the decision to attack cannot be made," he said.
Dr. Emily Landau, director of the Arms Control and Regional Security Project at the Institute for National Security Studies, said that aside from the diplomatic situation that altered with Obama's election, she could see no changes in "terms of the pros and cons of Israel taking some kind of action."
"Iran is advancing its program all the time. Where is the exact window of opportunity? I don't think the timing can be so fine-tuned as to give an exact date. It all boils down to the larger question of what you want to gain through military action. And this is the situation we've been faced with for the past few years," she said.
Landau said military action would likely not stop Iran's nuclear program, or even delay it significantly. Much of the talk of a strike formed part of an attempt to pressure Iran, and to keep it thinking that "there was a credible threat there. And the purpose of that is to get Iran to finally negotiate seriously," she said.
"Even if military action was used, it would ultimately have to lead to some kind of negotiation to get a deal," Landau said.
Iran Challenges Obama by Hiking Tensions on Israel’s Borders
http://www.debka.com/article.php?aid=1365
The strategy the Islamic regime has charted for the new US president hinges on fanning tensions on Israel’s northern and southern borders while putting a damper on the various Middle East peace initiatives. Syria was therefore discouraged from returning to its indirect peace track with Israel and Hamas ordered to boycott Egypt’s bid to patch up the quarrel between the Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah.
Tehran’s object is to show Barack Obama who holds the whip hand in the Middle East and force him to seek urgent talks to defuse rising tensions.
At his first news conference as president elect, Obama said Friday, Nov. 7, that Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons was “unacceptable” and its support for terrorist organizations “must cease.” He ducked a reporter’s question about whether he had read the letter of congratulation sent him by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and when he would answer.
But Iran had already laid out its strategy for the incoming president, jumping in the day before the US presidential election.
Foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki arrived in Damascus on Nov. 3 with a briefing for Syrian president Bashar Assad. According to our Middle East sources, Mottaki said Tehran would enter into dialogue with the new US president only from a position of political and military strength and did not propose to await Obama’s convenience until he took office in the White House on Jan. 20.
Iran’s rulers want to force the new US president to seek them out for a back-door channel of communications, in the same way as Ronald Reagan did while Jimmy Carter was still president to solve the 1980 hostage crisis in Tehran. They plan to make him come to them by raising tensions to crisis level.
While avoiding an explicit order to halt the Syrian-Israel talks, Mottaki gave Assad to understand that he must keep Tehran in the picture on their progress and goals. Better they should lead nowhere. This would fit in with Iran’s intention of putting on the table an impressive crisis package including Syria, Lebanon and the Palestinians and so force the new US administration to accept the Islamic republic as the prime power in the region.
To drive this home, they are stirring the pot wherever they can.
DEBKAfile’s Exclusive military sources disclose that Iranian agents, aided by Hizballah, are enlisting Palestinian militias in the big Lebanese Ain Hilwa refugee camp near Sidon and other camps for terrorist missions on Israel’s northern border.
The Israeli government has watched what was going on but done nothing. But US military and intelligence were concerned enough to warn Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas that he had better act fast before his Fatah faction lost Ain Hilwa. This happened shortly before US Secretary of state Condoleezza Rice departed for the Middle East Quartet’s Sharm el-Sheikh meeting Sunday, Nov. 9.
Abbas reacted by sacking Sultan Abu Al Aynayn, the veteran Fatah chief for all the refugee camps in Lebanon, and appointing the Palestinian general Kemal Midhath in his stead. But our counter-terror sources strongly doubt that the new man can stem the defections of Palestinian militias from Fatah and halt Iran’s and Hizballah’s takeover of the Ain Hilwa camp – especially since, according to the latest US intelligence information, Col. Al Aynayn had already been bought.
In Gaza, Israeli forces last week pre-empted in the nick of time a Hamas cross-border kidnap operation by means of a tunnel leading under the border fence. Hizballah’s abduction of two Israeli soldiers, the late Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev in July 2006 triggered a full-scale war with Israel. The tunnel was destroyed but Hamas and Jihad Islami have maintained a four-day missile barrage against Israel.
In the diplomatic arena, Saturday, Nov. 8, Hamas suddenly announced a boycott of the oft-postponed Egyptian bid. It had been finally scheduled to take place in Cairo Monday, Nov. 9, to bring Hamas and Fatah together in Cairo for a power-sharing deal to bury the hatchet after three years.
This event was also intended to demonstrate to the Middle East Quartet that Egypt was back at center stage in the Middle East and had succeeded in drawing Hamas out of the radical Iranian orbit to embrace Palestinian unity and give the Quartet’s peace effort a major boost.
But Tehran was ahead of Cairo. Last Tuesday, Hamas leaders, including Khaled Meshaal, were given their orders from the Iranian foreign minister to boycott the Cairo talks. Following his script, a smiling Meshaal told a Sky interviewer: “If the new US president wants a role in the Middle East, he has no choice but to talk to us because we are the real force on the ground.”
By Saturday, Nov. 8, therefore, with missiles already flying from Gaza, Tehran had managed to spoil the last Middle East journey to be undertaken by Condoleezza Rice as secretary of state, and tip over Egypt’s Palestinian mediation bid and the prospects of Syrian-Israel talks. Still to come is a Lebanese-Israeli border flare-up - for which Tehran has already enlisted Hizballah and Lebanese Palestinian militias.
Iran slams Obama’s rejection of its nuclear program
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=5703
Parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani said Saturday, Nov. 8, forcefully rejected US president-elect Barack Obama’s comment Friday that Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons was unacceptable and its support for terrorist organizations cease. “This signifies the same erroneous policy as the past, said Larijani. “If the United States wants to change its standing in the region it should send good signals."
Most of Obama’s first news conference after election was devoted to the economic crisis. The president-elect said his top priority would be to confront the “greatest economic challenge of our time” head-on. “We need a stimulus program either before or immediately after inauguration focusing on economic growth and job growth.”
He stressed there is only one president at a time and he would not be rushed into naming his team.
Asked if he was satisfied with US intelligence after his briefing, Obama replied: “Our intelligence process can always improve. It has got better. “
Inside Iran: Signs of the Apocalypse
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/474198.aspx
QOM, Iran - Whether it is his belief that Israel should be wiped off the map, denials of the Holocaust, obsession with going nuclear, or support for radical Islamic terrorist groups, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is a man on a divine mission.
To understand him and that mission, you have to travel to a small dusty village called Jamkaran that is tucked into a corner of Iran's holy city of Qom.
On a recent Tuesday afternoon, CBN News made that journey, heading south from Iran's capital of Tehran. Some 95 miles and a couple of wrong turns later, we arrived at the Jamkaran mosque on the outskirts of Qom.
Behind the Jamkaran mosque, there is a well. And according to many Shiite Muslims, out of this well will one day emerge their version of an Islamic savior.
They call him the Mahdi, or the 12th Imam. Ron Cantrell has written a book about him.
"The Mahdi is a personage that is expected to come on the scene, by Islam, as a messiah figure. He is slotted to come at the end of time, according to their writings -- very much like how we think of the return of Jesus," said Cantrell.
Cantrell said the Mahdi, a descendent of the Prophet Mohammed, vanished in the middle of the 9th century. No one knows what he really looks like.
"The 12th Imam disappeared around the age of 9," said Cantrell, "with a promise that he would return and bring Islam to its total fruition, as the world's last standing religion."
Enter Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Since becoming the president of Iran in August 2005, Ahmadinejad has emerged as the Mahdi's most influential follower.
"He has stated that his mandate is to pave the way for the coming of this Islamic messiah," Cantrell explained.
In almost all his speeches, the president begs Allah to hasten the return of the Mahdi.
During one speech, he is talking to soldiers at a military parade in Tehran, which was also attended by CBN News.
"Oh, Allah, please facilitate Imam Mahdi's early return and make us one of his supporters," said Ahmadinejad.
He said something similar last September, just before ending a speech at the United Nations in New York.
"Oh mighty lord, I pray to you to hasten the emergence of your last repository, the promised one, that perfect and pure human being, the one that will fill this world with justice and peace," Ahmadinejad prayed.
A few days later in Iran, Ahmadinejad told a group of religious leaders that, during his UN speech, he felt a bright light around him.
His reactions were captured on video and later posted on a conservative Iranian Web site. "I felt it myself. I felt that the atmosphere suddenly changed, and for those 27 or 28 minutes, all the leaders of the world did not blink. When I say they didn't move an eyelid, I'm not exaggerating. They were looking as if a hand was holding them there, and had just opened their eyes to the message of the Islamic Republic," Ahmadinejad recalled.
Ahmadinejad is reportedly tied to a radical Islamic society in Iran that believes man can hasten the appearance of the Mahdi by creating chaos in the world.
Ahmadinejad has stated that this chaos must take place before the Mahdi can come on the scene.
Some wonder if Ahmadinejad believes these are the end times. And, whether his calls for the destruction of Israel and nuclear pursuits are ways to accelerate the divine timetable.
"With him, it is a win-win situation," Cantrell said. "If we attack him, he wins because chaos happens. If we don't attack him, he gets to create the chaos, which he has said he is willing to do."
In Shiite Muslim belief, the Madhi's second coming will be marked by apocalyptic times. Wars, famines, and floods will ravage the Earth -- followed by Judgment Day and a battle between good and evil.
On this Tuesday, as the sun dips behind the mountains that surround Jamkaran, the faithful -- many of whom voted for Ahmadinejad -- arrive by the thousands from across Iran to pray for the Mahdi's return.
Ezatallah Alimoradi, a follower of the Mahdi, said, "I feel so refreshed in my spirit when I come here to Jamkaran."
"This day belongs to the Mahdi," said another follower, Akram Alsadat Emmami, "and I've come to share my heart with him."
The night begins with a visit to the sacred well. CBN News was given a rare opportunity to film people praying there. The opening of the well is covered by a green-like metal box to prevent people from jumping in.
Most of the time here is spent praying and kissing the metal box. Others scribble prayer requests to the Mahdi on pieces of paper that are then dropped into the well.
One man asks the Mahdi to forgive his sins. "If you ask in the right way, your prayers will be answered," he explained.
Another seeks healing for family members. "I don't come here just to pray for myself," he said. "I also ask the Mahdi to take care of my family and their needs."
Many, like one young boy with a flashlight, believe the Mahdi is actually hiding at the bottom of the well, reading those prayer requests.
"I was looking into the well with my flashlight," the boy said, "hoping to see the Mahdi -- but not tonight."
Shia tradition teaches that if you come to Jamkaran 40 weeks in a row, you will "see" the Mahdi.
A woman said, "I have not had the privilege to see him yet, but I've had many dreams about him. In one of my dreams, I saw a big bright light in the sky and this figure standing over me."
The next few hours are spent praying inside the Jamkaran mosque.
At the Jamkaran mosque, I've been told that, as a non-Muslim, I am not allowed to go inside. The truth is, though, every day tens of thousands of men and women come through the mosque to say their prayers -- and also to pray that one day soon the Mahdi would return.
Nadal, a follower of the Mahdi, said, "And because we believe that he is going to come back soon, we can believe in heaven and hell and we can believe in the life after death."
Ahmadinejad's government reportedly gave $20 million to help renovate the Jamkaran mosque. There are rumors that he is planning to build a railway line connecting Tehran and Jamkaran, to ferry the faithful.
And apparently, Ahmadinejad has also drawn up plans for the road that the Mahdi will take when he returns.
"That will actually serve as the red carpet rolled out in Iran for the Mahdi to appear," Cantrell said.
And if all this wasn't mystical enough, there is also the belief that when the Mahdi comes back, he will be accompanied by Jesus Christ, who is referred to as the prophet Isa.
"The Mahdi will take Jesus to Mecca," Cantrell explained. "They will circumambulate the Kabah together. The Mahdi will teach Jesus to pray, at which time Jesus will then replace the Gospel with the Koran, and then all of us -- as Christians -- wherever you are on the face of the Earth, will convert to Islam because Islam will be deemed the one lasting pure religion."
As the West drifts closer to a potential showdown over Iran's nuclear program, followers of the Mahdi are getting ready for Judgment Day.
And many of them are convinced that President Ahmadinjead, who is considered by some as Allah's shadow on Earth, will fulfill his divine mission to prepare the world for the coming of the Islamic savior.
Chemical, Biological Arms: Iran's Other WMDs
http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/10/irans-cb-warfar.html
The rest of the world may be focused on Iran's nuclear program. But U.S. intelligence agencies, think tanks, and non-governmental organizations just can't shake the suspicion that Iran may be trying to assemble other weapons of mass destruction, too: an arsenal of chemical and biological arms.
Anthony Cordesman, noted chemical-biological (CB) weapons and Middle East analyst for the Center for Strategic and International Studies, has released a few draft reports discussing the current capabilities and uncertainties of Iran's CB warfare programs. The papers offer a pretty god summary of what open-source analysis exists on "the other WMDs" that so many people tend to ignore, as the hysteria mounts about Iran's nuclear program.
Iran is not an easy case to understand, to put it mildly. You may remember that minor conflict in the 1980s where Iraq attacked Iran and started throwing chemical weapons around. The chemical casualties incurred by Iran during that conflict was a major reason why Iran initiated its own chemical weapons program. Iran was an original state signatory to the Biological Weapons Convention in 1973 and signed onto the Chemical Weapons Convention in 1993. The country ratified the CWC in 1997 and declared its past program activities. This was followed by the destruction of Iran's former production sites in the presence of international arms control inspectors. Iran has also been very active in review conferences addressing biological weapons issues.
At the same time, U.S. observers still have a nagging feeling that Iran has been up to something. Here's the thing - Iran is a country with a modern industrial infrastructure and has been increasing its technological capabilities. The global economy, enhanced by global communications and transportation options, has benefited Iran just as much as any other growing nation. Russia and China, in particular, have been selling Iran equipment and material that could be used to develop CB weapons, but is legitimately used in commercial facilities and academic laboratories. Other nations have also been actively participating in the business of selling Iran materials and equipment. Given these facts, Iran has motive and opportunity to develop CB weapons - if its government wants that capability.
And while it could be that Iran's military desires and is pursuing a CB weapons capability, there is no public evidence of active development, testing, weaponization, stockpiling, deployment, or use of CB weapons. Without (at the least) evidence of testing and weaponization, it is very difficult to claim that Iran's military has a deployable capability to use CB weapons. Iran's government officials have both condemned CB weapons use, but also have noted that there could be incentives in having such a capability. US intelligence officials have, in open testimony, backed off of earlier claims in 2003 that Iran is definitely developing and stockpiling CB weapons to more conservative statements in this year that Iran has the capability to do so, and is suspected of engaging in CB weapons research and development. That's some significant backpedaling.
Cordesman doesn't offer much details in the form of suspected CB warfare agents or delivery systems, but he does generalize as to the possible. These case studies on agents and possible employment scenarios could apply to any nation with a modern industrial infrastructure, however. He doesn't offer any analysis as to the possibility of Iran supplying CB warfare agents to terrorists, other than to say, sure, it could happen. He ends his report on Iran's biological weapons program assessment with this statement, which is very similar to his conclusions about Tehran's chemical weapons programs:
None of these problems and issues implies that Iran cannot benefit from deploying biological weapons or creating a level of ambiguity that forces any potential enemy to take these threats far more seriously than they are taken today. It is also clear that Iran has the incentive to use biological weapons under some conditions and that such use might be effective.
Biological weapons also present special problems in terms of deterrence in peacetime and controlling escalation in a conflict. This does not mean that Iranian will act on the basis of ideology or ignore risk. Extreme as some Iranian statements are, Iran tends to be pragmatic in practice. Once again, however, crises create new conditions, perceptions,misunderstandings, and levels of risk taking. Rational bargainers with perfect insight and all the necessary transparency in terms of full knowledge of the situation and risks are theoretical constructs. It is dangerous to assume that even the most prudent decision maker will not take exceptional risks, overreact, or drastically miscalculate in war.
That is to say, we really don't know what Iran has in the form of CB weapons or what they intend to do if it is given the opportunity to develop such weapons. And if that day comes when Iran's military does acknowledge that they have CB weapons, we really don't know what will happen, but they're not irrational leaders. Other than that, it's clear as day that we ought to at least consider the possibility.
Putin seeks to further build ties with Iran
http://en.rian.ru/world/20081030/118046285.html
ASTANA, October 30 (RIA Novosti) - Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia and Iran must continue to develop bilateral and multilateral projects, and welcomed Iran's contribution to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
Putin met with Iranian First Vice President Parviz Davoodi on the sidelines of a meeting in Kazakhstan between the heads of government of SCO member states, comprising Russia, China, and four Central Asian countries.
"Our relations are developing in a diversified manner in many directions," Putin said.
He noted the countries' strong political ties, growing trade, which has reached $3.5 billion, and the large number of "perspective projects in bilateral as well as multilateral formats".
On Iran's observer role in the SCO, Putin said: "we have welcomed Iran's participation in this international organization from the outset."
The SCO, widely seen as a counterweight to NATO's influence in Eurasia, comprises Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. The group primarily addresses security issues, but has recently moved to embrace economic and energy projects.
Iran and Pakistan, who have held observer status in the SCO since 2005, previously announced their desire to become permanent members of the organization, but their request was not considered at a SCO foreign ministers meeting in Tajikistan on July 25.
Russia and China have been cautious over admitting Iran, embroiled in a long-running dispute with the West and Israel over its nuclear program and alleged support for radical groups in Lebanon and other countries.
Both China and Russia have major commercial interests in Iran. China wants Iranian oil and gas, and to sell weapons and other goods to the country, while Moscow hopes to sell more weapons and nuclear energy technology to Tehran.
The Kremlin also needs Iran's endorsement for a multinational arrangement to exploit the Caspian Sea's energy resources.
The other observers in the group are India and Mongolia.
Syria’s Assad cooks up Mossad-Saudi-al Qaeda plot to discredit pro-Western Lebanese government
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=5702
Syrian president Bashar Assad has drawn encouragement to go ahead with a drive to recover his grip on Lebanon from signals coming in from Barack Obama’s team and from the peace overtures of Israeli transitional prime minister Ehud Olmert, DEBKAfile’s Beirut sources report.
To this end, the Syrian president has concocted an improbable disinformation cocktail which brings together the al Qaeda-linked Fatah al-Islam terrorist organization, Saudi intelligence and the Israeli Mossad. This mix is designed to be explosive enough to discredit the Lebanese majority leader Saad Hariri and oust the pro-western government which stands in the way of Syria’s domination of Beirut.
Thursday night, Nov. 6, Syrian state TV paraded four Fatah al-Islam terrorists who are charged with bombing Syrian security installations on the Damascus airport road on Sept. 27 at the cost of 17 lives. Shown with them were documents “proving” that a Saudi businessman had bankrolled the attack as the manager of this al Qaeda-linked organization’s bank account.
Wafaa el-Abassi, daughter of the Fatah al-Islam leader, appeared next to “reveal” that she had heard her father say he had received moneys from Saad Hariri’s Mustaqbal Movement in Beirut.
Syria has taken to using Fatah al-Islam as a multitask tool for its propaganda needs, including the pretext for its military concentrations around Lebanon’s borders.
When he met US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice in New York last month, Syrian foreign minister Walid Muallem explained that Syria was forced to encircle Lebanon after Fatah al-Islam seized control of the northern Lebanese Tripoli region on orders from al Qaeda.
DEBKAfile’s sources report that with two ingredients of Damascus’ disinformation cocktail in place, Damascus is ready to go with the third.
The alleged Lebanese Mossad spy, whose detention was first revealed on Nov. 1, is about to be identified as Ali Jarrah, who was employed jointly by the Israeli Mossad and the Lebanese Saad Hariri. Damascus earlier implicated the spy in the murder of Hizballah’s military chief Imad Mughniyeh in Damascus last February.
This “revelation” is meant to close the disinformation noose around Hariri’s neck and undermine the reputation of anti-Syrian government leaders in Beirut as the sheet anchor of stable government in Lebanon.
Assad is presenting them instead as the hub of a roaring trade in operational plans, intelligence and funds among terror groups linked to al Qaeda, Saudi intelligence and the Israeli Mossad.
Israeli intelligence sources are highly critical of Olmert’s willingness to put up with Assad’s defamations of Israeli intelligence without protest for the sake of his prospective dialogue with Syria. Foreign minister Tzipi Livni and defense minister Ehud Barak are equally faulted for their failure to fight back.
Mediterranean Union agrees on Barcelona as headquarters, Arab-Israeli role
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gzBNI6Di29bPocrAVLXgwufCAVsw
Foreign ministers from the new Mediterranean Union struck a deal Tuesday for Barcelona to host the forum's headquarters and for Israel and the Arab League to take part side-by-side.
The Union's 43 member states held two days of talks in the port of Marseille to end a four-month deadlock on the two contentious issues, which threatened to hamstring the fledgling organisation.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit, whose countries currently co-chair the forum, announced the breakthrough at a joint news conference in the southern French city.
"It wasn't supposed to work, and yet it did," said Kouchner, adding: "The essential points were accepted completely and without reservation by all 43 states" in the Union for the Mediterranean.
Ministers from the Mediterranean's mainly-Arab southern rim agreed to back the Spanish city of Barcelona's candidacy to host the Union in exchange for the post of secretary-general going to a southern member.
They also clinched a deal on granting the Arab League a full-time seat at the forum -- a key demand of Arab members, strongly opposed by Israel which feared the pan-Arab group would try to block its involvement.
"The Arabic participation will take place in every meeting with the right to speak at all levels," said Abul Gheit, although it will have no right to vote.
Israel agreed to the Arab League's role in exchange for one of five deputy secretary-general posts for an initial three-year period, possibly renewable.
The deputy posts will rotate between three European members and two southern ones, and will initially be held by the Palestinian Authority, Greece, Malta and Italy, alongside Israel, according to the final declaration.
The text -- with likely technical amendments -- still has to be formally ratified however by the two co-presidents of the Union, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarak.
Launched at a Paris summit in July, the new union brings together EU members with states from north Africa, the Balkans, the Arab world and Israel in a bid to foster cooperation in one of the world's most volatile regions.
An Israeli diplomat said it agreed to the Arab League "compromise" on the basis it would be able to play a front-seat role in setting up the fledgling Union, and hopefully build bridges around the Mediterranean.
But she warned "the Barcelona Process can never replace direct bilateral negotiations" to resolve Israel's conflicts with Arab nations.
A spokesman for the Arab League also warned that its participation would not lead to normalisation with Israel, Egyptian state news agency MENA reported.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said he was "delighted" by the accord on Barcelona, while EU external relations commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner called it a "logical choice."
The Mediterranean capital of Spain's Catalonia region, Barcelona lent its name to the 13-year-old Barcelona Process, a previous EU regional initiative that stalled in part over Arab-Israeli disputes.
In exchange for hosting its headquarters, Spain also agreed to drop the tag "Barcelona Process" from the name of the new forum.
France, which championed the Union, hoped that by basing it on modest regional projects, such as cleaning up pollution in the Mediterranean, it would be able to sidestep the trap of regional disputes.
Priorities set out in the declaration include fighting pollution in the Mediterranean, solar energy, building land and sea highways and cooperation on higher education and research.
The Marseille accord, clinched after months of tough negotiations, rescues the forum from the threat of looming deadlock, but it also amounts to formally recognising tensions over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
And the highly-political compromise to create five deputies to the secretary-general is a far cry from the slimmed-down, nimble governing structure at first envisaged for the Union.
New "Euro-Med Union" takes a step to reality
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081104/ap_on_re_eu/eu_mediterranean_summit;_ylt=Ak2Cr8.9l5Ry6CIgGESjyVp0bBAF
MARSEILLE, France – Countries bordering the Mediterranean edged closer to establishing their "Euro-Med Union" on Tuesday by finessing an Israeli-Arab dispute over the role of the Arab League.
The union — a pet project of French President Nicolas Sarkozy that is more ambitious in symbolism than content — is envisaged primarily as a forum for cooperation and dialogue. Unlike the similarly named European Union, the 43 countries from Europe, the Middle East and North Africa probably will not have open borders, common regulations or truly interlocked economies.
Still, the group is important to the participants as a bridge between Europe and its poorer neighbors.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, the host, declared the two-day meeting a success even though thorny issues, like the naming of a secretary-general, remained unresolved.
"People said this wasn't going to be a success. It has been," Kouchner said.
Under the agreement, the 22-member Arab league will participate in the new union as an observer but will not have voting rights, a condition sought by Israel. Israel and the Palestinian Authority will each hold deputy secretary general posts, giving them a stake in the success of the venture.
For a Europe that fears unchecked immigration from Africa and hostility from the Muslim world, the new organization is an important outreach program. And for some Europeans, by including Israelis and Palestinians — which both border the Mediterranean — it also offers a forum for European diplomacy.
Sarkozy, the founding force behind the organization, and his Egyptian counterpart, Hosni Mubarak, will decide on the secretary-general and the allocation of five to six deputy posts before the end of the year, Kouchner said.
The expanded union is expected to focus on mostly development-oriented projects, such as cleaning up the Mediterranean, creating new maritime and land highways and solar energy.
Kouchner's comments reflected the sense of diplomatic breakthrough, however modest and unrelated to the grander territorial disputes still unresolved.
"The Israelis finally accepted the presence of the Arab League," Kouchner said. "Israel will be accepted as deputy secretary-general of an international organization for the first time in history." 9 Barcelona was chosen as the headquarters of the fledgling union over Tunisia and the Mediterranean island nation of Malta.
France and Egypt will continue as co-chairs of the union for its first two years, with the Czech Republic joining during its six-month EU presidency beginning in January.
Iraqi Christians Search for New Homeland
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/474988.aspx
NINEVEH PLAINS, Iraq - Christians and non-Muslims in Iraq are being targeted in a brutal campaign by Islamic militants.
Since October, some 13,000 Christians and other minorities have been driven from their homes in the northern city of Mosul. More than a dozen Christians were assassinated.
Now some Iraqi Christians want to create a separate, autonomous region for their community.
War Weary
Layla Behnam, and Iraqi Christian, says she's tired of being persecuted by radical Muslims. Since 2004, this Iraqi Christian from Mosul has endured relentless threats from extremists in her neighborhood.
"I've received letters demanding that I convert or die," Layla said. "My family and children are constantly harassed and told that we don't belong in this country."
So now she's thinking about moving out.
"I hate to leave my city of birth, my culture, and my friends," Layla said. "But I'm forced to consider it especially after what I and others have gone through."
Since 2004:
- Priests have been beheaded
- Christian leaders kidnapped
- Churches bombed
- Unveiled women burned with acid
- Men killed for owning a music store or beaten for selling alcohol for communion.
The list goes on.
George Mayah is documenting these and other atrocities committed against minorities.
"This is ethnic cleansing and nobody seems to care," Mayah said.
The Nineveh Plains
But the hills around northern Iraq give Layla and countless Christians a glimmer of hope for a place to call their own.
The Nineveh Plain is home to Assyrian Christians, who trace their roots to the time of Noah.
In the last couple of years, wealthy Christian businessmen have poured millions of dollars into the region to build churches, schools and homes for displaced Christians.
It's all part of a plan to turn the Nineveh Plains into an autonomous region for the Christians of Iraq.
Among those leading the effort for a Christian enclave is Paulus Mangeshi, a leader in the Chaldean community.
"The idea is that we would have a place run by Christians, have our own flag, our own government, our own security forces," Mangeshi explained. "Right now, we don't have any political representation in the government, we have no voice. It's like we don't even exist in this country."
The region includes more than 300 towns and villages with a majority Christian population.
As the violence here in Mosul increased, Christians have become more open to this idea of an autonomous region - an area where they can not only practice their faith, but live in freedom.
Layla said, "It would be great to live in a place where I'm not forced to wear the veil or follow strict Muslim codes of conduct."
Sticky Road Ahead
But the idea is fraught with political controversy. The Nineveh Plain borders the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan.
Several main towns are under their influence. And Kurdish leaders would like nothing more than to see that influence extend across the Plains.
The Iraqi government on the other hand balks at the thought of Kurds gaining more territory. Baghdad would rather the Plains come under their direct control.
The dispute continues.
Adding to the controversy, the Iraqi government last month decided to abolish guaranteed seats in the parliament for minorities. This sparked protests by Christians.
All this has left Layla and other minorities wondering again if they have a future in their own homeland.
France pushes for more EU engagement in Iraq
http://euobserver.com/9/27067
France, currently chairing the six-month rotating European Union presidency, is pushing for the bloc to engage more and "without delay" in Iraq, a working paper seen by Financial Times Deutschland reads.
"Our common goal is to contribute to Iraq's success. The EU is therefore ready to engage without delay in this country," says the confidential paper on transatlantic relations discussed on Monday at an informal foreign ministers meeting in Marseille, the German daily reports.
According to diplomats close to the issue, the EU's help is unlikely to be military, but rather in terms of training the Iraqi police and judiciary, with countries such as Germany and Italy already involved in similar programmes.
The eight-page-long "reflection paper" on transatlantic partnership is still subject to discussions and no decisions have been taken yet.
The timing of such a move serves the interests of the new US president, as he is set to shift the US focus in its War on Terror from Iraq to Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Aides to Mr Obama told the Wall Street Journal that the new administration is likely to deploy tens of thousands of additional US troops to Afghanistan, where security conditions have worsened in recent months. They said Mr Obama would also devote more attention to neighbouring Pakistan, whose support is seen as crucial against neo-Taliban insurgents and al Qaeda.
Alongside the 151,000 US troops, the UK and several eastern European countries still have soldiers in Iraq, mostly set to reduce their contingents or withdraw completely by next year.
Afghanistan meanwhile is a NATO operation. Its 50,700-strong International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), contains 34,000 American troops. The German contingent makes up 3,220 soldiers, but has faced criticism from the Canadian and UK side for its non-involvement in dangerous zones as a result of the Bundestag's mandate, which does not permit German soldiers to take part in combat operations.
Army General Bucks Silence on Mental Health
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/477934.aspx
CBNNews.com - WASHINGTON -- It takes a brave soldier to do what Army Maj. Gen. David Blackledge did in Iraq. It takes as much bravery to do what he did when he got home.
Blackledge got psychiatric counseling to deal with wartime trauma, and now he is defying the military's culture of silence on the subject of mental health problems and treatment.
"It's part of our profession ... nobody wants to admit that they've got a weakness in this area," Blackledge said of mental health problems among troops returning from America's two wars.
"I have dealt with it. I'm dealing with it now," said Blackledge, who came home with post-traumatic stress. "We need to be able to talk about it."
Troops Returning from War with Mental Heath Issues
As the nation marks another Veterans Day, thousands of troops are returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with anxiety, depression and other emotional problems.
Up to 20 percent of the more than 1.7 million who've served in the wars are estimated to have symptoms. In a sign of how tough it may be to change attitudes, roughly half of those who need help aren't seeking it, studies have found.
Despite efforts to reduce the stigma of getting treatment, officials say they fear generals and other senior leaders remain unwilling to go for help, much less talk about it, partly because they fear it will hurt chances for promotion.
That reluctance is also worrisome because it sends the wrong signal to younger officers and perpetuates the problem leaders are working to reverse.
"Stigma is a challenge," Army Secretary Pete Geren said Friday at a Pentagon news conference on troop health care. "It's a challenge in society in general. It's certainly a challenge in the culture of the Army, where we have a premium on strength, physically, mentally, emotionally."
Officers Asked to Set An Example
Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, asked leaders earlier this year to set an example for all soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines: "You can't expect a private or a specialist to be willing to seek counseling when his or her captain or colonel or general won't do it."
Brig. Gen. Loree Sutton, an Army psychiatrist heading the defense center for psychological health and traumatic brain injury, is developing a campaign in which people will tell their personal stories. Troops, their families and others also will share concerns and ideas through Web links and other programs. Blackledge volunteered to help, and next week he and his wife, Iwona, an Air Force nurse, will speak on the subject at a medical conference.
A two-star Army Reserve general, 54-year-old Blackledge commanded a civil affairs unit on two tours to Iraq, and now works in the Pentagon as Army assistant deputy chief of staff for mobilization and reserve issues.
His convoy was ambushed in February 2004, during his first deployment. In the event that he's since relived in flashbacks and recurring nightmares, Blackledge's interpreter was shot through the head, his vehicle rolled over several times and Blackledge crawled out of it with a crushed vertebrae and broken ribs. He found himself in the middle of a firefight, and he and other survivors took cover in a ditch.
He said he was visited by a psychiatrist within days after arriving at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington. He had several sessions with the doctor over his 11 months of recovery and physical therapy for his injuries.
"He really helped me," Blackledge said. And that's his message to troops.
"I tell them that I've learned to deal with it," he said. "It's become part of who I am."
Bad Dreams
He still has bad dreams about once a week but no longer wakes from them in a sweat, and they are no longer as unsettling.
On his second tour to Iraq, Blackledge traveled to neighboring Jordan to work with local officials on Iraq border issues, and he was in an Amman hotel in November 2005 when suicide bombers attacked, killing some 60 and wounding hundreds.
Blackledge got a whiplash injury that took months to heal. The experience, including a harrowing escape from the chaotic scene, rekindled his post-traumatic stress symptoms, though they weren't as strong as those he'd suffered after the 2004 ambush.
Officials across the service branches have taken steps over the last year to make getting help easier and more discreet, such as embedding mental health teams into units.
They see signs that stigma has been slowly easing. But it's likely a change that will take generations.
Last year, 29 percent of troops with symptoms said they feared seeking help would hurt their careers, down from 34 percent the previous year, according to an Army survey. Nearly half feared they'd be seen as weak, down from 53 percent.
The majority of troops who get help are able to get better and to remain on the job.
Russia determined to broaden interaction with Islamic world - Medvedev
http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=5340
President Dmitry Medvedev has sent greetings to the fourth meeting of the Russia - Islamic World strategic vision group in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the Kremlin reported on Tuesday.
"Russia's developing cooperation with the Islamic states remains highly dynamic. Your Group is playing no small part in this," Medvedev writes.
"Russia, a country with observer status in the Organization of the Islamic Conference, intends to abide firmly to its course to expand active interaction with the Islamic world. I think in connection with this, that a broad discussion of the initiative to further develop interregional dialogue, proposed by King Abdallah bin Abd al-Aziz Al Saudi of Saudi Arabia, is of crucial importance, taking into account a significant role the religious factor is playing in international affairs," he said.
"I am also convinced, that the implementation of the Russia-proposed idea of forming a consultative council of religions under UN aegis, will help strengthen the moral principles of world politics, facilitate deeper inter-confessional communication and, in a broader context, promote the dialogue of civilizations," the Russian president writes.
"The illusion of the uni-polar world is becoming a thing of the past in front of our eyes. Forums like yours can contribute significantly to the search for ways to make the situation in the world healthier and to attain a new level of global partnership," Medvedev said.
"I am convinced that Russia's active interaction with the Islamic world will help build a fairer system of international relations, where the factor of force will finally stop playing the role of universal instrument of settling all emerging problems," he said.
The message of greetings was read out at the meeting by Tatarstan President Mintimer Shaimiyev on behalf of the Russian president.
Putin may return to Kremlin in 2009, extend rule to 2021
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081106/wl_nm/us_russia_medvedev_putin
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev could resign from his post in 2009 to pave the way for Vladimir Putin to return to the Kremlin, Vedomosti newspaper reported on Thursday, citing an unidentified source close to the Kremlin.
Medvedev Wednesday proposed increasing the presidential term to six years from four years, a step the newspaper said was part of a plan drawn up by Vladislav Surkov, who serves as Medvedev's first deputy chief of staff.
Under the plan, Medvedev could implement changes to the constitution and unpopular social reforms "so that Putin could return to the Kremlin for a longer period," the newspaper said.
"Under this scenario Medvedev could resign early citing changes to the constitution and then presidential elections could take place in 2009," the newspaper said, citing the unidentified source close to the Kremlinl.
The paper said Putin, who is currently prime minister, could then rule for two six year terms, so from 2009 to 2021. The paper cited Putin's spokesman as saying he saw no reason for Putin to return to power in 2009.
Investors, already jittery over the impact of the financial crisis on Russia's economic boom, are trying to work out who is really in charge of Russia, the biggest question for those seeking to ascertain political risk.
They are seeking any details on how the current set up -- with Medvedev as president and Putin as prime minister -- could change. During Medvedev's speech Wednesday the Russian stock market erased most of the gains it made earlier in the day.
Russian Muslims to ask for Obama’s support of the UN Religious Council
http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=5340
Head of the Central Muslim Religious Board in Russia Talgat Tajuddin stated the necessity to send the newly elected USA President Barak Obama a request to support a project of establishing a religious council at the UN.
Speaking at the Round Table in Moscow, the Mufti explained that the Council’s chief task would be to maintain international security and contribute in protection from terrorism and nuclear threat on a global scale. Russian Muslims suggest that the headquarters should be located in the Holy Land, as according to Tajuddin, Jerusalem is an “abode of peace, a shrine for Christians, Muslims and Jews.”
The Board’s Chair also noted that the new President had already shown himself as a believer and a member of the United Church of Christ. Thus, Russian Muslims hope for cooperation with him.
Frozen mice cloned - are woolly mammoths next?
http://www.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUSTRE4A26NV20081103?feedType=RSS&feedName=scienceNews&rpc=22&sp=true
Japanese scientists have cloned mice whose bodies were frozen for as long 16 years and said it may be possible to use the technique to resurrect mammoths and other extinct species.
Mouse cloning expert Teruhiko Wakayama and colleagues at the Center for Developmental Biology, at Japan's RIKEN research institute in Yokohama, managed to clone the mice even though their cells had burst.
"Thus, nuclear transfer techniques could be used to 'resurrect' animals or maintain valuable genomic stocks from tissues frozen for prolonged periods without any cryopreservation," they wrote in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Wakayama's team used the classic nuclear transfer technique to make their mouse clones. This involves taking the nucleus out of an egg cell and replacing it with the nucleus of an ordinary cell from the animal to be cloned.
When done with the right chemical or electric trigger, this starts the egg dividing as if it had been fertilized by a sperm.
"Cloning animals by nuclear transfer provides an opportunity to preserve endangered mammalian species," they wrote.
"However, it has been suggested that the 'resurrection' of frozen extinct species (such as the woolly mammoth) is impracticable, as no live cells are available, and the genomic material that remains is inevitably degraded," they said.
DIGGING INTO FREEZERS
Wakayama's team dug out some mice that had been kept frozen for years and whose cells were indisputably damaged. Freezing causes cells to burst and can damage the DNA inside. Chemicals called cryoprotectants can prevent this but they must be used before the cells are frozen.
They tried using cells from several places and discovered that the brains worked best. This is a bit of a mystery, as no one has yet cloned any living mouse from a brain cell.
Many animals have been cloned, starting with sheep, and including pigs, cattle, mice and dogs. Livestock breeders want to use cloning to start elite herds of desirable animals, and doctors want to use cloning technology in human medicine.
"There is hope in bringing Ted Williams back, after all," cloning and stem cell expert John Gearhart of the University of Pennsylvania said in an e-mail. The family of Williams, the Boston Red Sox hitter, had his body frozen by cryogenics firm Alcor after he died in 2002.
Gearhart was only half-joking and said the study "may now stimulate the small industry of freezing parts of us before we die to bring us back in the future."
Mammoths may be the extinct animals that scientists would be most likely to try to clone, as many of the animals have been found preserved in ice.
In July 2007 Russian scientists discovered the body of a baby mammoth frozen in the Arctic Yamalo-Nenetsk region for as long as 40,000 years.
"It remains to be shown whether nuclei can be collected from whole bodies frozen without cryoprotectants and whether they will be viable for use in generating offspring following nuclear transfer," Wakayama's team wrote.
Financial crisis shifts power to Asia, experts say
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1225910045885&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's whirlwind fundraising tour this week in the Gulf States demonstrates the increasing power of sovereign wealth funds and the shift of economic power to Asia, experts said Wednesday.
However they warned that it will take much more than a fund-raising trip to the oil-rich Gulf States to help countries like Britain and America cope with the worst global financial crisis since the Great Depression.
Brown said he was in search of "hundreds of billions of dollars" to alleviate the crisis that has hit his country, along with America, particularly hard.
"I think there will be more and more reliance and more of a shift of power toward Asian countries, not only for the oil rich countries, for the Gulf States, it's also true for Singapore, China, Kazakhstan and other countries," said Dan Galai, Professor of Finance at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. "Many countries in Asia will continue to accumulate money in sovereign funds and they will buy ownership in financial institutions that are located in England, Germany, France and the United States."
Sovereign wealth funds are state-owned investment funds. They have become increasingly important to troubled financial institutions in the United States and Western Europe, where some banks have lost up to 80 percent or more of their value due to the financial crisis.
While these financial institutions will continue to operate in Europe or in the United States, their ownership will increasingly be in the hands of sovereign funds in Asia, Galai said.
While the Gulf States are "awash with cash" earned from high oil prices and have reserves that Western countries can draw on, the solution to the crisis does not lie with any one region and will require a fundamental reform of the financial system, said Robin Shepherd, senior fellow and head of the Europe Programme at the London-based Chatham House. For example, the newly elected US President, Barack Obama, and other leaders will have to examine the regulatory environment surrounding the banking system, the way central banks and finance ministries keep track of developments in the financial sector, and reckless lending policies that have contributed to the crisis.
"The essential point is that the United States, Britain and Europe are in a dreadful financial mess at the moment; they will look anywhere they can to seek respite, whether in the Gulf States or elsewhere," said Shepherd. "In a globalized economy, all of the players become relevant."
English Dethroned as World Language?
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/476350.aspx
CBNNews.com - English is the most spoken language worldwide, but it might not be for long.
Millions are calling Mandarin Chinese the language of the future.
One group of pre-kindergarten students in Washington, D.C. take the same classes as thousands of other students nationwide.
The big difference? When the boys and girls at the at the Yu Ying Public Charter School finish eighth grade, they will be fluent in Mandarin Chinese as well as English.
"One day they're learning everything through English," Sarah Harris, the school's principal said. "One day they're learning everything in Chinese, so it's a very compelling model for a lot of parents."
Learning Early
Harris said there are many advantages to learning Chinese at an early age.
"Children really do soak up languages when they're young," she explained. "They don't have a lot of preconceived ideas about language, so they really come to it in an open way. We've seen children just soaking up the language and applying it in more and more contexts."
According to school founder Mary Shaffner, it's not just the students who want to learn Chinese.
"We are going to start Chinese classes for our parents, which many, many parents have been chomping at the bit for," she said.
With China's expanding global influence, millions are eager to learn the language. In 2004, only about five thousand U.S. students between kindergarten and twelfth grade took Chinese. Last year that number had grown to nearly 50,000.
Mandarin Worldwide
It's not just happening in the nation's capital. By 2010, it's estimated more than 100 million people worldwide will be studying Chinese as a second language.
Many are learning at one of the more than 200 Confucius Institutes established by the Chinese government. The Insitutes are now in 66 countries advancing the goal of spreading the Chinese language and culture.
In Manila at the Ateneo de Manila University, Director Dr. Ellen Palanca said she believes the popularity of these institutes is a sign of China's development.
"Once a country becomes more developed then it tries to promote its culture and language through such an arm," Palanca explained.
More than 2,000 students have gone through the program since it started two years ago.
Former student Pia Lim Castillo uses Chinese in her job as a food and travel writer. She said the learning experience helped her connect with her Chinese heritage.
"It's my identity. I have to find my identity, not only as a person, but the culture I belong to," he said.
Career Advancer
Many believe the ability to speak Chinese will advance their careers.
"I see value in being able to converse in Mandarin with Chinese clients," Attorney Kenneth Chua said. "Since more and more Chinese have been coming to the Philippines, I see more of a market for a lawyer who can speak Chinese."
Paula Leal, a reporter for Spanish News Agency in Manila attributes the growth of Chinese language learning to China's growing economic opportunities and global significance.
"It is the country of the future," she said. "Because of that it is so important to learn Chinese, because a lot of people are talking' Chinese right now."
Thirteen-year-old Pearl Parel started learning the language when she was just eight years old while on a business trip with her father in Taiwan.
"He didn't have an interpreter so he asked me if I could study so I could be his interpreter," she said.
She and many of her classmates at the Quezon City Christian Academy in Manila say that knowing Chinese will be essential after they graduate.
"Learning Chinese will help me in my future career, because my father wants me to be an interpreter and I want to learn more about Chinese culture," Parel said.
Fifteen-year old Ardenne Chuat agrees.
"Learning Chinese right now would be a good opportunity for applying for jobs here in the Philippines," Chuat explained.:China is now expanding and people would want to have employees who know how to speak the main language of China.
Teaching Mandarin
Half way around the world in Panama, one legislator even proposed mandating Mandarin Chinese in public schools. But Fermin Tomas Chan, head of theSun Yat-Sen School where all students study Chinese, doesn't think the legislation will pass.
"It's so hard to get teachers to teach Chinese outside of China," Chan said. "If you want to make it nationwide, it's going to be almost impossible to teach. We have problems with English in Panama. What about Chinese?"
Despite the difficulty finding qualified teachers, the school has a long wait list because so many Panamanians want to learn Chinese.
Chan and many of his colleagues say that "in 10 years, Mandarin will be as important worldwide as English."
Others doubt that Chinese speakers will outnumber English speakers any time soon.
Dr. Palanca said she believes Chinese could possibly replace English "in the far future, maybe 50 years from now."
But she admitted that it's more likely that Chinese "will most likely not replace English, but there's a possibility that it can be on par with the English language as an international language."
Whether or not Chinese does become the main international language, people worldwide are excited to learn.
Sharia brings public execution to Somalia
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7706977.stm
A young woman recently stoned to death in Somalia first pleaded for her life, a witness has told the BBC.
"Don't kill me, don't kill me," she said, according to the man who wanted to remain anonymous. A few minutes later, more than 50 men threw stones.
Human rights group Amnesty International says the victim was a 13-year-old girl who had been raped.
Initial reports had said she was a 23-year-old woman who had confessed to adultery before a Sharia court.
Numerous eye-witnesses say she was forced into a hole, buried up to her neck then pelted with stones until she died in front of more than 1,000 people last week.
Meanwhile, Islamists in the capital, Mogadishu have carried out a public flogging.
Mogadishu is nominally under the control of government forces and their Ethiopian allies, who face frequent attacks by Islamist and nationalist insurgents.
The BBC's Mohammed Olad Hassan in the city says the flogging was a show of strength.
He says two men accused of helping to kill a man and torture his mother, who they accused of theft, were each given 39 lashes in the north-eastern suburb of Suqa-hola.
The man who actually killed the alleged thief was released, after agreeing to pay his family 100 camels in compensation.
Before the flogging, hundreds of Islamist fighters performed a military parade, our reporter says.
Death threats
Cameras were banned from the stoning in Kismayo, but print and radio journalists who were allowed to attend estimated that the woman, Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow, was 23 years old.
However, Amnesty said it had learned she was 13, and that her father had said she was raped by three men.
When the family tried to report the rape, the girl was accused of adultery and detained, Amnesty said.
Convicting a girl of 13 for adultery would be illegal under Islamic law.
A human rights activist in the town told the BBC on condition of anonymity that he had received death threats from the Islamic militia, who accuse him of spreading false information about the incident.
He denies having anything to with Amnesty's report.
'Crying'
Court authorities have said the woman came to them admitting her guilt.
She was asked several times to review her confession but she stressed that she wanted Sharia law and the deserved punishment to apply, they said.
But a witness who spoke to the BBC's Today programme said she had been crying and had to be forced into a hole before the stoning, reported to have taken place in a football stadium.
"More than 1,000 people arrived there," he said.
"After two hours, the Islamic administration in Kismayo brought the lady to the place and when she came out she said: 'What do you want from me?'"
"They said: 'We will do what Allah has instructed us'. She said: 'I'm not going, I'm not going. Don't kill me, don't kill me.'
"A few minutes later more than 50 men tried to stone her."
'Checked by nurses'
The witness said people crowding round to see the execution said it was "awful".
"People were saying this was not good for Sharia law, this was not good for human rights, this was not good for anything."
But no-one tried to stop the Islamist officials, who were armed, the witness said. He said one boy was shot in the confusion.
According to Amnesty International, nurses were sent to check during the stoning whether the victim was still alive. They removed her from the ground and declared that she was, before she was replaced so the stoning could continue.
The port of Kismayo was seized in August by a coalition of forces loyal to rebel leader Hassan Turki, and al-Shabab, the country's main radical Islamist insurgent organisation.
Mr Turki is on the US list of "financers of terrorism".
It was the first reported execution by stoning in the southern port city since Islamist insurgents captured it.
The BBC had a reporter in the area, but he was shot dead in Kismayo in June.
No comments:
Post a Comment