15.3.08

Watchman Report 3/15/08

McCain Tells Obama and Clinton to Return Pork Money
http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/McCain_Obama_Hillary_pork/2008/03/14/80494.html


While speaking to more than 500 people at the Springfield Country Club in Springfield, PA, Sen. John McCain slammed his fellow senators for keeping their pork-barrel money intact, saying "the senate is disconnected from the American people," MSNBC reports.

McCain said, "Americans want this process stopped; they want waste and mismanagement of their tax dollars stopped, and it indicates the absolute requirement for the next President of the Unites States [to stop it]."

McCain also challenged his Democratic opponents to go further: "Well, the first thing they can do if they’re against the earmarks is ask that the money that they’ve gotten, hundreds of millions that they’ve gotten in pork barrel projects, not be spent."

McCain wants both Obama and Clinton to take retroactive steps to stop earmarks, MSNBC reports. "A lot of that money’s not spent ... if you’re against it, say it shouldn’t be spent, and I’m sure we could get it through ... that that money wouldn’t have to be spent."

Today at a rally, McCain used one of his favorite Ronald Reagan lines while railing against earmarks, telling the crowd, "You've heard the phrase 'Spends money like a drunken sailor?' Well I've never met a sailor, drunk or sober, with the imagination of the U.S. Congress."



Obama's Earmarks: $1 Million for Wife's Hospital
http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/obama_earmark_wife/2008/03/14/80393.html


Presidential hopeful Barack Obama has released a list of $740 million in earmark requests he made in the past three years, and it includes $1 million for the hospital where his wife Michelle is a vice president.

The request for $1 million for the University of Chicago Medical Center was to help pay for construction of a new pavilion.

“I can tell you with 100 percent certainty that Michelle Obama was not part of our lobbying over the request, not in any way,” Kelly Sullivan, another vice president at the medical center, told the New York Times.

In any case, the 2006 request for the hospital was not approved by the Senate, as was about $7 out of every $10 the Illinois senator asked for in earmarks.

Bud he did manage to secure $1.3 million for a high-explosive technology program for the Army’s Bradley Fighting Vehicle. The program was overseen by General Dynamics, and one of Obama’s top supporters, James Crown — a member of Obama’s national finance committee — serves on the board of General Dynamics.

Obama also secured a $750,000 earmark for renovation of a space center named for Crown’s grandfather, Henry Crown, at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago.

And Obama secured several million dollars for a project at Chicago State University. Illinois State Senate President Emil Jones Jr., a close personal friend of Obama and one of his benefactors, has been a strong supporter of Chicago State, according to the Times.

Other earmarks sought and secured by Obama include more than $10 million for a military arsenal in Rock Island, several million dollars for research on soybean disease and livestock genes, and $100,000 for after-school programs at the Chicago Jesuit Academy.

Michelle Obama is on leave from her job while her husband campaigns for president, but after Barack was elected to congress, she received a big raise.

USA Today reports that officials at the University of Chicago Hospitals told the Chicago Tribune that Michelle is "worth her weight in gold."

"She's terrific," added Michael Riordan, who was president of the hospital in March 2005, when Michelle Obama was promoted to vice president for external affairs and had her annual salary increased from $121,910 to $316,962.

Hospitals spokesman John Easton told the Tribune that Michelle Obama's salary is in line with those of the 16 other vice presidents at the not-for-profit medical center.



McCain Worries Terrorists Will Try to Tip Election Against Him
http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/03/14/campaign-wire-obama-camp-says-clinton-outlook-divorced-from-reality


John McCain said Friday that he worries terrorists will try to tilt the election against him in November.

McCain was asked by an audience member during a town hall meeting in Springfield, Pa., if he thought Al Qaeda in Iraq or another terrorist group would “ratchet up” attacks to increase U.S. casualties right before the election, to encourage voters to elect a president “more willing to withdraw.”

“Yes, I worry about it,” McCain answered. “I know that they pay attention because (of) the intercepts that we have of their communications.”

McCain, who is embarking on his eighth trip to Iraq this weekend, vigorously defended his effort to stop Democrats from imposing a troop withdrawal deadline there during an interview with FOX News Thursday.

He stressed that “this war will be won if we stay with it,” but addressed the challenges Friday.

“The hardest thing to counter in warfare is someone or a group of individuals who are willing to take their own lives in order to take others,” he continued. “But I also believe that they may be able to carry out some spectacular suicide attacks, but we do have them on the run.”



Obama’s Pastor’s Sermon: ‘God Damn America’
http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/03/14/obamas-spiritual-adviser-questioned-us-role-in-spread-of-hiv-sept-11-attacks


In a fiery sermon taped and available on DVD, Barack Obama’s longtime pastor and spiritual adviser can be seen and heard saying three times: “God damn America.”

The Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr., in his taped sermons, also questioned America’s role in the spread of the AIDS virus and suggested that the United States bore some responsibility for the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

Confronting the content of some of Wright’s sermons, parts of which have been aired this week on FOX News, Obama on Friday moved to condemn the remarks in his firmest statement on the matter to date, after initially stopping short of a full repudiation.

“Let me say at the outset that I vehemently disagree and strongly condemn the statements that have been the subject of this controversy,” he said in the statement. “I categorically denounce any statement that disparages our great country or serves to divide us from our allies. I also believe that words that degrade individuals have no place in our public dialogue, whether it’s on the campaign stump or in the pulpit. In sum, I reject outright the statements by Rev. Wright that are at issue.”

Obama said he never personally heard Wright preach the statements at the center of the controversy, but that he first learned of them when he launched his presidential campaign.

Wright’s supporters say his Afro-centric sermons accurately portray black America, and they contend his sermons are widely studied by theologians. But critics are now calling attention to his more incendiary words from the pulpit.

The pastor delivered his final sermon last month and retired as leader of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. Obama has attended the church for 20 years and calls Wright his spiritual adviser.

In a fiery sermon in April 2003, Wright said: “The government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes three-strike laws and wants them to sing God Bless America.

“No! No No!

“God damn America … for killing innocent people.

“God damn America for threatening citizens as less than humans.

“God damn America as long as she tries to act like she is God and supreme.”

In DVD copies of his sermons available for purchase, Wright can also be seen questioning America’s role in the spreading of the HIV virus that leads to AIDS. In another speech, made in the days after 9/11, he suggested that American foreign policy invited the terror attacks.

“We bombed Hiroshima. We bombed Nagasaki. And we nuked far more than the thousands in New York and the Pentagon and we never batted an eye,” Wright said.

“We have supported state terrorism against the Palestinians and black South Africans, and now we are indignant because of stuff we have done overseas is now brought back into our own backyard. America is chickens coming home to roost.”

The pastor also said: “The government lied about inventing the HIV virus as a means of genocide against people of color. The government lied.”

Amid calls to fully repudiate Wright, the Obama campaign said late Thursday it has distanced itself from certain Wright comments.

“Senator Obama has said before that he profoundly disagrees with some of the statements and positions of Reverend Wright, who has preached his last sermon as pastor at the church,” Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton said. “Senator Obama deplores divisive statements whether they come from his supporters, the supporters of his opponent, talk radio, or anywhere else.”

That preceded the lengthy campaign statement issued Friday.

Last year, Obama rescinded an invitation to Wright to deliver the invocation at his announcement that he was running for president. He also issued a statement saying personal attacks have no place in politics after Wright delivered an attack on Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton.

But Obama’s longtime relationship with Wright is continuing to spark controversy.

“This is not just someone that Barack Obama has a casual relationship with,” said Tom Bevan, executive editor of RealClearPolitics.com. He noted that Wright married Barack and Michelle Obama, and Wright’s words were the inspiration for the title of Obama’s book, “The Audacity of Hope.”

“Barack Obama has not out and out distanced himself from all of these comments … ,” Patricia Murphy, editor of CitizenJanePolitics.com, said before the campaign responded Friday. “It’s unclear if he rejects all of these statements. I would assume that he does, but I think he is going to be pushed where he needs to come out and fully explain his relationship with his pastor.”

Some of Wright’s statements have raised eyebrows at a time the Internal Revenue Service is scrutinizing tax-exempt religious organizations for alleged violations of rules barring them from participating in political campaigns.

Prior to his retirement last month, Wright delivered commentary from the pulpit in which he praised Obama, as well as remarks focusing on the racial divide between Obama and Clinton.

“There is a man here who can take this country in a new direction,” Wright said during his Jan. 13 sermon.

During a Christmas sermon, Wright tried to compare Obama’s upbringing to Jesus at the hands of the Romans.

“Barack knows what it means living in a country and a culture that is controlled by rich white people,” Wright said. “Hillary would never know that.

“Hillary ain’t never been called a nigger. Hillary has never had a people defined as a non-person.”

In a Jan. 13 sermon, Wright said:

“Hillary is married to Bill, and Bill has been good to us. No he ain’t! Bill did us, just like he did Monica Lewinsky. He was riding dirty.”

So far the Clinton campaign has been quiet over Wright’s comments.

Wright has declined interview requests from FOX News.



Chavez Dares U.S. Over Terror List
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/339469.aspx


CARACAS, Venezuela - President Hugo Chavez dared the U.S. on Friday to put Venezuela on a list of countries accused of supporting terrorism, calling it one more attempt by Washington to undermine him for political reasons.

Chavez said the "threat to include us on the terrorist list" is Washington's response to his own successes in the region.

U.S. lawmakers including Rep. Connie Mack and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, both Florida Republicans, have called for the State Department to add Venezuela to its list of terror sponsors, which currently includes North Korea, Iran, Syria, Sudan and Cuba. They have expressed concerns about what they call Chavez's close ties to Colombia's leftist rebels.

"Let them make that list and shove it in their pocket," Chavez said in a televised speech.

"We shouldn't forget for an instant that we're in a battle against North American imperialism and that they have classified us as enemies - at least in this continent they have us as enemy No. 1," Chavez said.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday during a visit to Brazil that all U.N. nations, including Venezuela, have an obligation to go after terrorists and keep them from operating within their borders.

The comment was largely a warning for Chavez, who U.S. officials suspect has lent support to Colombian rebels. In recent days, Rice and President Bush have sharpened their rhetoric against Chavez while at the same time praising Colombia and other Latin American allies in a bid to isolate the Venezuelan leader.

Asked whether Washington was seriously considering designating Venezuela as a state sponsor of terrorism, Rice said the U.S. was ready to respond if necessary.

"There is after all a U.N. obligation that all states have undertaken to do everything that they can to prevent terrorists from actively using their territory, from being engaged in terrorist financing," Rice told reporters after a meeting with Brazilian leaders Thursday.

Chavez said Rice's visit to Brazil and Chile this week is aimed at mounting "pressures" against "our government and against me in particular."

Chavez also responded to earlier critical comments by Bush, saying "you've seen the imperial chief himself attack us again."

"The chief of the empire is going around desperate," Chavez said.

"The imperial plan is to overthrow this government and knock down the Bolivarian Revolution," he said, referring to his socialist movement. "They're afraid of the impact of this revolution in the rest of the countries ... of Latin America. That permanent aggression is because of that."

Bush on Wednesday accused the Venezuelan government of destabilizing, provocative behavior, saying "it has squandered its oil wealth in an effort to promote its hostile, anti-American vision."



Global Warming Claims Unsupported by Facts
http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/global_warming/2008/03/14/80438.html


Reports by the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that the earth is experiencing unprecedented global warming are flawed and cannot be supported, investigators now report.

In a study reported in the Washington Times, a panel of statisticians, chaired by Edward J. Wegman of George Mason University, found significant problems with the methods of analysis used by the researchers and with the IPCC's peer review process.

According to the Times, "IPCC reports have predicted average world temperatures will increase dramatically, leading to the spread of tropical diseases, severe drought, the rapid melting of the world's glaciers and ice caps, and rising sea levels." The Times notes, however that "several assessments of the IPCC's work have shown the techniques and methods used to derive its climate predictions are fundamentally flawed."

In a 2001 report, the IPCC published an image commonly referred to as the "hockey stick," the Times explained, adding that it showed relatively stable temperatures from A.D. 1000 to 1900, with temperatures rising steeply from 1900 to 2000. "The IPCC and public figures, such as former Vice President Al Gore, have used the hockey stick to support the conclusion that human energy use over the last 100 years has caused an unprecedented rise in global warming," according to the Times.

Since those claims have been discounted by several studies which the newspaper notes cast doubt on the accuracy of the hockey stick, Congress in 2006 requested an independent analysis by Wegman and his panel.

The Times reports that the researchers who created the hockey stick used the wrong time scale to establish the mean temperature to compare with recorded temperatures of the last century. Because the mean temperature was low, the recent temperature rise seemed unusual and dramatic. This error, the Times explained, was not discovered in part because statisticians were never consulted.

Moreover, the community of specialists in ancient climates from which the peer reviewers were drawn was small and many of them had ties to the original authors — no less than 43 paleoclimatologists had previously co-authored papers with the lead researcher who constructed the hockey stick.

Even using accurate temperature data, sound forecasting methods are required to predict climate change. Over time, forecasting researchers have compiled 140 principles that can be applied to a broad range of disciplines, including science, sociology, economics, and politics.

The Times recalled that in a recent National Center for Policy Analysis study, Kesten Green and J. Scott Armstrong used these principles to audit the climate forecasts in the Fourth Assessment Report. Green and Armstrong found that the IPCC clearly violated 60 of the 127 principles relevant in assessing the IPCC predictions.

Indeed, it could only be clearly established that the IPCC followed 17 of the more than 127 forecasting principles critical to making sound predictions.

Writes H. Sterling Burnett the author of the Times story, "A good example of a principle clearly violated is 'Make sure forecasts are independent of politics.' Politics shapes the IPCC from beginning to end. Legislators, policy-makers and/or diplomatic appointees select (or approve) the scientists — at least the lead scientists — who make up the IPCC. In addition, the summary and the final draft of the IPCC's Fourth Assessment Report was written in collaboration with political appointees and subject to their approval."

Burnett writes, "Sadly, Mr. Green and Mr. Armstrong found no evidence that the IPCC was even aware of the vast literature on scientific forecasting methods, much less applied the principles."

As a result of such problems Mr. Wegman's team concluded that the idea that the planet is experiencing unprecedented global warming "cannot be supported."

According to the author of the Times story, H. Sterling Burnett, a senior fellow with the National Center for Policy Analysis, a nonpartisan, nonprofit research institute in Dallas, says the IPCC's policy recommendations are based on flawed statistical analyses and procedures that violate general forecasting principles.

He warned that policy-makers should take this into account before enacting laws to counter global warming — which economists point out would have severe economic consequences.



A Texas-Sized Battle: Evolution vs. ID
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/338668.aspx


No state in the country has remained untouched by the controversy over the teaching of evolution in public schools.

Most states have squelched criticism of the theory and the alternative theory of Intelligent Design. But the issue just will not go away -- in places like Texas.

When Texas chooses a textbook, the rest of the nation listens and other states often follow their lead. Even California, a traditional textbook bellwether, has lost influence because their education funds are depleted because of misspent tax funds.

This means national attention in the looming state battle over science and health textbooks that teach evolution. Attorney Cynthia Dunbar is serves on the Texas State Board of Education.

"What we want is for our students to be taught critical thinking skills, to be taught the scientific method," Dunbar explained to CBN News. "And what rises to the level of being deemed a theory -- teach the strengths and weaknesses of any and every theory."

However, most scientists say evolution has no weaknesses.

"Evolution is probably the most successful and impressive scientific theory of all time," said Dr. Lawrence Krauss, a physicist at Case Western Reserve. "It has been tested over and over and over again."

New Movie Challenges Darwinian Theory

A new motion picture will be released in April that challenges that idea. The movie is titled Expelled. It stars actor Ben Stein.

In one scene from the movie, Dr. David Berlinski talks about Darwin's theory. "One of my prevailing doctrines about Darwinian theory is: 'Man, that thing is just a mess. It's like looking into a room full of smoke," he says.

Berlinski is a mathematician and philosopher. He has taught at Stanford, Rutgers, and the University of Paris.

"Nothing in the theory is precisely, clearly, carefully defined and delineated," he said. "It lacks all of the rigor one expects from mathematical physics. And mathematical physics lacks all the rigor one expects from mathematics. So we're talking about a gradual descent down the level of intelligibility until we reach evolutionary biology."

According to polls, most parents want those criticisms of evolution presented. They don't want life taught exclusively as an accident and would like the theory of intelligent design to be in the curriculum.

Intelligent design or ID, is the theory that nature shows evidence of planning and forethought, unlike evolution's claim that chance and mutations can create complexity.

In the future, parents want ID taught fairly unlike current offerings.

"There are some textbooks which give maybe two paragraphs on it," said Dr. William Dembski. "And they misrepresent it. So they will characterize it as creationism and then trash it."

Evolution Bureaucracy?

Dembski is a Texas parent and an expert on ID. He says evolution maintains its power not because it's valid, but because it's an entrenched bureaucracy.

"They can't afford, as it were, to think outside the box," he explained. "Because once they allow that intelligent design is a legitimate scientific project they're sunk, because then they have to consider the evidence for and against evolutionary theory."

Dembski knows about that power. He formerly headed an ID research center at Baylor University until evolutionists got that effort kicked off campus after just a year of operation. Also a mathematician and philosopher, he now teaches at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Dunbar says evolution needs to be seen for what it largely is -- almost a religion of nature -- cloaked in science.

"What you have is a belief system that's based upon faith that's being taught and mandated to be taught without exception," she said. "And students are not allowed to even be able to think about these issues."

Dunbar is careful to explain that when she refers to the belief system aspects of evolution, she is referring to macroevolution. That's the grand scheme of man evolving from one-celled creatures. Microevolution is the variation and change about which everyone agrees.

Dunbar says that means macroevolution -- as a belief system -- should not have protected status in Texas textbooks or anywhere else. Otherwise, states face a potential accusation that they are teaching religion. Of course, she says, microevolution should continue to be taught as it has been for decades.



American Bible Society Announces Early Easter
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion06971.shtml


NEW YORK -- The American Bible Society is reminding people that the Easter holiday, the annual celebration of Jesus' Resurrection, will occur on March 23, 2008, in the Western Church tradition. This is the first year since 1913 that Easter has been celebrated as early as this date, and it will not be until 2035 that Easter is again observed this early.

Easter is a moveable feast, so to speak, because it is not fixed in relation to the civil calendar and every year when the winter thaw begins, there is uncertainty as to its exact date. Easter is observed on the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the Spring Equinox (March 20 or 21, depending on the Earth's position). Easter is calculated according to lunar and solar calendars and is on a different date each year.

For Western Christians who follow the Gregorian (or solar) calendar, the date can occur from late March to late April. Eastern Orthodox Christians, who follow the Julian (or lunar) calendar, celebrate between early April and early May. Most Christians celebrate Easter with families and friends sharing traditions that often go back several generations - attending special religious services and sharing bountiful meals.

The American Bible Society is pleased to dispel any confusion and begin a new annual custom: To announce each year when the celebration of Jesus' Resurrection occurs.

Founded in 1816 and headquartered in New York City, the mission of the American Bible Society is to make the Bible available to every person in a language and format each can understand and afford, so that all people may experience its life-changing message. The American Bible Society Web site is www.Bibles.com.



Homeschool Filmmakers Begin Distribution Drive at 2008 NRB Convention
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion06972.shtml


Advent Film Group (AFG), a new film company founded by homeschoolers will meet with distributors at the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) Convention about their first movie, "Come What May." The movie features Patrick Henry College (PHC), a national powerhouse in debate and moot court competition. Taking a page from the success of "Facing The Giants," Advent is also casting notable individuals in cameo roles. Advent's new movie has Dr. Michael Farris, the real- life founder and Chancellor of PHC playing the "coach" who helps two PHC students battle to overturn Roe v. Wade at the National Moot Court Championship.

Other high-profile homeschooling advocates are also cast as U.S. Supreme Court Justices. This is one of five films on Advent's production slate.

"This will be our first year at NRB. This convention has become an important market for independent Christian films," explains Escobar. In addition to training the next-generation of Christian filmmakers, AFG is also building a movie distribution system from within the homeschooling, pro-life/pro-family communities. Rather than sharing film revenues strictly with traditional distributors, AFG seeks to channel movie revenue into Christian and family- based organizations. Escobar remarks: "Homeschoolers have already successfully turned the public education monopoly upside down; we will now do the same in cinema production and distribution."

Film distribution is undergoing a major upheaval because of the Internet and changing viewing habits of moviegoers. Direct access to niche markets, such as homeschoolers and pro-life groups, through email marketing, social networking, and blogging has dramatically changed how producers can reach and sell to their audiences. DVD self-distribution has further enabled filmmakers to reap more of the financial reward for their labor. "It's about reaching the widest audience at the lowest cost possible while retaining control of film rights to maximize your share of revenues," Escobar clarifies. "In the past, filmmakers had NO reach or control. All of this has changed dramatically." Escobar offers insight into this new era of film distribution on his website's blog: www.adventfilmgroup.com.

With a cast/crew of homeschooled students led by film professionals, AFG will use a national network of organizations, distributors, and supporters, now several hundred homeschooling families strong (and growing) to promote "Come What May" starting late Spring 2008.

About AFG
Advent Film Group was founded by Christian filmmakers to champion the mission and vision of Patrick Henry College and other like-minded organizations to shape our culture through media. See the movie trailer at www.adventfilmgroup.com.



Israeli Town Demands Anti-Missile Laser
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,338009,00.html


Give us our anti-missile laser cannon, say residents of an embattled Israeli border town.

Seventy residents of Sderot, a town of 20,000 people less than a mile from the Gaza Strip, sued Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak Wednesday, demanding immediate deployment of the mothballed Nautilus missile-defense system.

The Nautilus system was jointly developed at a cost of $300 million by the U.S. and Israeli militaries to shoot down medium-range Katyusha rockets launched over the Lebanese border by Hezbollah.

But it was deemed too expensive and too inaccurate, and both countries abandoned it in 2005.

Nautilus tests "shot down Katyushas, Qassams, and bombs with 100 percent success," countered Israeli lawyer Nitsana Darshan-Leitner in her lawsuit. "Israel could bring the system to Sderot and use it to protect the people there from Qassam rockets."

Eleven Israelis, two Palestinians and one Chinese laborer have been killed since September 2000 by the roughly 6,500 Qassams launched by Islamic militants from the Gaza Strip.

The most recent fatality was on Feb. 27 in Sderot, whose residents flee to rocket shelters every time an alarm sounds.

Despite the claims made in the lawsuit, the Nautilus system needed several full-sized truck containers full of toxic chemicals to generate power, needed time to recharge for a second shot and had trouble getting its high-powered infrared beam through cloudy skies.

"Protecting the whole [northern] border of Israel would have required a few dozen of these systems," an Israeli military analyst told the New York Times in 2006. He pointed out that more than a couple of Katyushas in the air at once would have overwhelmed each unit.

The Nautilus was in fact never tested against the short-range Qassam rockets, which reach their targets within 10 seconds after launch, more quickly than most anti-missile systems can lock in on and intercept them.

Northrop Grumman claims it's improved the Nautilus system, now called SkyGuard, so that it's smaller and faster, though its press materials didn't specify a targeting-and-response time.

The Israeli military is in fact working on a different system called "Iron Dome," which essentially shoots down missiles with large bullets.

Though it will be able to shoot down the medium-range missiles Hamas began firing against the large coastal city of Ashkelon last month, it will be useless against the cheap, quick, highly inefficient Qassams.



I’d like to see what you’d do, Mr President
http://www.stangoodenough.com/?p=116


So, United States’ Middle East “peace progress monitor” General William Fraser is set to conduct a meeting Friday at which an assessment will be made of how Israel and the so-called Palestinians are implementing the first stage in the Quartet’s “Road Map.”

In this first stage, Israel is meant to halt all building or expanding of Jewish communities in Samaria and Judea, dismantle so-called illegal outposts and remove security checkpoints in those central parts of its historic homeland so as to “ease life” for the Arabs in the areas under Palestinian Authority (PA) control.

For its part, the PA is to have clamped down on terrorism and violence against Israelis by arresting terrorists and destroying their infrastructure.

Both parties agreed at the Annapolis Conference last November to start work on implementing their commitments.

More seriously Israel, under immense pressure from US President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, agreed to grant the US the right to judge Israel’s performance and coerce the Jewish state into complying with Washington’s - and the world’s - expectations.

In the months since then, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert issued instructions to his cabinet that he alone may authorize any new work on the “settlements.”

But on the “Palestinian” side the terrorism only intensified, with PA/PLO chief Mahmoud Abbas (as was always the case with his predecessor, Yasser Arafat) either powerless to stop it (which means he is no partner for any kind of agreement) or - as some suspect - himself giving the green light to the Gaza rocket squads to fire their missiles.

Last Thursday saw a “Palestinian” massacre eight students in a terrorist attack on a Jerusalem yeshiva. Abbas publicly “condemned” the act, but his official newspaper lauded the killer as an Islamic martyr.

In response to this bloodshed, members of Olmert’s coalition pressed the prime minister to make some concessions to allow for “settlement” expansion if he did not want them to leave the government and bring it down.

And now it is Israel that is likely to get a rough ride from Fraser on Friday, according to an unnamed senior Israeli official cited in Ha’aretz Thursday.

“Real tension” has developed between Israel and the USA, the official said, warning that the Olmert government will find itself in “big trouble” if there are no steps on the ground to stop building Jewish communities in the biblical heartland of Israel.

“The expectation is that [Fraser’s] report will be bad for Israel, with an emphasis on expansion of the settlements, not dismantling the outposts, and not removing roadblocks,” he added.

Meanwhile, Washington’s security envoy, James Jones, is in Israel where he is “drawing up a security plan for the day after any future Israeli withdrawal from parts of the West Bank [sic].”

As far as the United States is concerned and resolved, that withdrawal will take place, Jewish lands will be abandoned and will be made, along with Gaza, into a Muslim Arab state called Palestine.

I’d like to see what you would do, President Bush, if you were confronted with a situation comparable to the one staring Israel in the face.

I wonder what you would do, from your secure position in the capital of your enormous and powerful country, and what you would command your armed forces to do, if rockets were being fired, say from Mexico or Canada, or even Venezuela, on American civilians in any town or city in the United States.

What would you do if the Mexicans or the Canadians threatened to keep on firing rockets and carrying out other forms of terrorism unless the USA stopped expanding its urban areas, ethnically cleansed them of American citizens, and relinquished pieces of territory either of these countries claimed as their own?

What would you tell the United Nations to do, or the European Union or Russia, China, the Vatican - what would you tell them to do if they tried to pressure you into sitting and discussing things with the people responsible for terrorising, maiming and killing Americans?

What would you do if, to push forward his anti-USA cause, a terrorist attacked a seminary in your country, mowing down students as they studied the Bible?

How hypocritical can you be? How unjust? And how unrighteous??

And talking about the United Nations:

That august organization’s Special Rapporteur [shamefully, a fellow South African - Ed] has just released a report in which he draws a “distinction” between “acts of mindless terror” and “acts committed in the course of a war of national liberation” - referring “Palestinian” acts of terrror.

In the words of United Nations Watch: “A recent UN report to the Human Rights Council by UN Special Rapporteur John Dugard disregards international legal standards against terrorism and excuses the killing of innocents. … [The report] inevitability absolves Palestinian terrorists from moral responsibility for their murderous acts. It alleges they have no choice but to kill Israelis – whether blowing up men, women and children in restaurants or on buses on the way to school or at synagogue, work or play.”

In case anyone still sees a distinction between the UN Human Rights Council, its General Assembly and its Security Council: Last week the latter became as pathetically laughable as the rest of them when it failed to secure the condemnation of the cold-blooded yeshiva murder of seven Jewish boys and a man.

These headlines today have me fuming. Mad. How can Israel stand against these nations - these overwhelming numbers?

But you know what? You’re all going to lose. You cannot consistently adopt this position against Israel, against what’s just and what’s true and think you’ll get away with it. There is a day of reckoning coming, a day when the Son of David is going to go to war against all of you, and nothing you have in your arsenal, nothing, will be able to save you from defeat, destruction and damnation.

Your time is running out world. Yes, even your time, America. Keep going the way you are. Abuse and condemn and misjudge and squeeze and take risks with Israel’s security. In short, do your worst. Bring it on, and see what happens to you.

Soon all mankind is going to hear a sound; a sound like thunder. Except that it won’t be thunder. It’ll be fury; a roar. The roar of the Lion of the Tribe of Judah (yes, He is a Jew).

He is coming and you, nations of the world, you’re going to lose. You’re going to lose big time.



Jew-hate rising world wide
http://www.jnewswire.com/article/2378


Antisemitism is increasing internationally, fomented by governments and by biased criticism of Israel in the media, according - ironically - to one of Israel's most consistent critics.

In a report tabled before the United States Congress, the State Department decried the fact that "[t]oday, more than 60 years after the Holocaust, anti-Semitism is not just a fact of history, it is a current event."

A particularly noteworthy observation in the "Contemporary Global Anti-Semitism" report was that, while traditional antisemitism is still around, "new antisemitism" is distinguished by "criticism of Zionism or Israeli policy that – whether intentionally or unintentionally – has the effect of promoting prejudice against all Jews by demonizing Israel and Israelis and attributing Israel's perceived faults to its Jewish character."

While such prejudice is prevalent in Muslim countries, it is also fueled by the behavior of the United Nations, which has passed more resolutions condemning Israel than against any other country on the globe.

Various UN agencies are asked each year to investigate what are often "sensationalized reports of alleged atrocities and other violations of human rights by Israel," the document said, according to Ynetnews.

The relentless criticism of Israel "intentionally or not encourages anti-Semitism."



Abbas, who wants Jew-free Palestine, accuses Israel of ethnic cleansing
http://www.jnewswire.com/article/2377


PLO/PA chief Mahmoud Abbas - who has, by his own proud admission, used violence for decades to generate global support for a Jew-free Palestinian state - Thursday charged Israel with "ethnic cleansing" Jerusalem by banning Arabs from building homes in the city.

The remarks, which Israel slammed as "inflammatory," were made in Senegal at a summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference.

"What is taking place on the ground today is in total violation of [the peace process]," Abbas said, according to the Israeli daily Ha'aretz.

He was not speaking about his people's firing of dozens of rockets at Israeli Negev towns.

"Our people in [Jerusalem] are facing an ethnic cleansing campaign through a set of Israeli decisions such as imposing heavy taxes, banning construction and closing Palestinian institutions in addition to separating the city from the West Bank by the racist separation wall."

Historically it is the Palestinian Arabs, and the Arab states in general, that have employed ethnic cleansing policies against the Jews.

The international community assisted in this process by demanding Israel's complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip - which took place in 2005.

An American special envoy is presently in Jerusalem drawing up security plans for how things will be after the Jews have been driven out of Samaria and Judea to make way for the creation of Palestine.



Bereaved mother - Israel like sheep without a shepherd
http://www.jnewswire.com/article/2376


The mother of one of the eight Jews killed by a "Palestinian" terrorist on March 6 Thursday bemoaned the state of the Israeli leadership.

According to the Israeli daily Ha'aretz, Rivkah Moriah, in mourning for her 16-year-old son Avraham, said:

"I feel we're now a nation of confused sheep without the level of shepherding that we need. Some of our spiritual leaders are great people. Our political leaders, I feel such pain when I see the distance between what we need and what we have."

Moriah expressed the hope that because the attack was aimed at Torah-observant Jews, the national reaction might include non-religious Jews being led to turn back to the Bible.

She supported a decision of the Israeli Foreign Ministry to use bloody photographs from the massacre scene to raise international awareness of the terrorism Israelis are suffering from.



Burmese Refugees Seek God, New Life
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/338670.aspx


RAWANG, Malaysia- It's been more than a year since En Khan Khual fled Burma, leaving behind his wife and two young children.

He had escaped the Burmese soldiers who arrested him and subjected him to forced labor.

"I was sick that day and feeling very weak," he said. "The soldiers forced me to carry very heavy equipment, but every time I stopped to rest, they hit me with their gun and kicked me. When I had the chance, I dropped the machine and ran away."

Khual is among an estimated 8,000 illegal migrants from Burma, now living in makeshift camps in the jungles of Malaysia.

There are about six Zomi camps scattered all across Malaysia. A couple of weeks ago, the Malaysian army entered one camp and burned it to the ground.

Living in the demeaning conditions is far from ideal, but for the Burmese migrants, it's a step towards fulfilling their dream of having a dignified life.

Langh Khan Sian proudly showed his registered refugee id, issued to him by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

"I prayed so hard to get registered as a refugee. This is not luck. I believe this is God's gift because he knows my suffering," he said.

In Burma, Khan had been imprisoned on charges of rebelling against the government. In 1999, he was bailed out of the prison but immediately sold to the owner of a fishing boat.

"We worked for 24 hours. No rest and no time to eat," Khan explained. "When I am sick, I get very scared because I saw very sick people who cannot recover thrown overboard."

Of the 38,000 illegal migrants in Malaysia, only a handful are granted refugee status. The country's ability to grant refugee status is limited.

Paul Maang, secretary of the Zomi Association of Malaysia, said the people have no choice but to wait.

"We come here not for a better life but for safer life," he said.

Maang spent five and a half years in prison in Burma for religious and political reasons.

"I shared Jesus to my Burmese colleagues and they accept him as their saviour," he said. "I was actively involved in 1996 demonstration, Demand Democracy for Burma. After one year they arrested me."

After his release from prison, authorities refused to return his national identity card, making him illegal in his own country. His status in Malaysia is illegal as well, but Paul said in Malaysia, he is free to pursue a higher purpose.

"Here many Zomi also suffer," he said. "I decide to help my people who are sick and for those arrested, manage their release. My purpose is to help my people and I know this is the purpose of Jesus."

Yante Ismail, external relations officer for UNHCR , said this kind of support is needed by assylum seekers waiting for assistance.

"The best hope for a refugee is if people of that country open their hearts and be compassionate and accept them and understand this is a unique group of people who are desperately in need of our help and assistance."

The Zomi Chin tribe is not losing hope. They believe that someday God will bring them and other displaced people from Burma back to their homeland, or at least to a place they can finally call home.



Native Americans: A Forgotten People?
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/337439.aspx


CROW CREEK SIOUX RESERVATION, S.D. -- In a nation known for its wealth, there are pockets of intense poverty and despair that many Americans know nothing about.

These pockets do not exist in the inner city, but on remote reservations where Native Americans struggle to survive.

CBN News traveled to the Crow Creek Sioux reservation in South Dakota for a closer look at what some call America's forgotten people.

Defending Against Invaders

A fence of rusted barbed wire cutting across the open landscape is a symbol of a people continually dealing with invaders.

In centuries past, American Indians faced the invasion of other cultures that forced their removal from the fertile lands of their ancestors.

Promises were made by the invaders, which resulted in broken treaties. As a result, many Native American tribes were moved to reservations to isolate them, control them and to make them more "civilized" in the eyes of the conquerors.

The isolation still exists today.

Tribes continue to battle against destructive forces. Forces like poverty, substance abuse and suicide to name a few, continually strike this segment of the population to a greater degree than most other Americans.

High Suicide Rate

Norm Thompson is a member of the Crow Creek Sioux tribe who lives on the reservation.

"I thought I was all alone and I tried committing suicide," he told CBN News. "And the person that found me was my oldest daughter."

Addicted to drugs and alcohol, Thompson blames life on the reservation without the proper guidance for the desperate situation in which he found himself. Tragically, his story is all too common.

According to the Indian Health Service, the suicide rate for Native Americans is 60 percent higher than the general population. On the Crow Creek Sioux reservation, the suicide rate was at one time seven times higher than the national average.

Poverty and Despair

Like Thompson, Sandy Gabe was also an alcoholic. He says substance abuse is a big problem with many Native Americans using their government assistance checks to feed their habits, instead of their families.

"It's the first thing they do," he explained. "It's drugs and alcohol. Later on, maybe it's some groceries. Maybe they feed their kids. Their priorities are all wrong."

CBN News asked reservation resident Shane Crazy Bull what he had encountered and had seen among his fellow tribesmen. "Weed, chewing, drinking, meth," he replied.

So what is behind all this despair?

Experts say there are many factors, such as the historical mistreatment of Native Americans, including forced cultural changes. Living conditions on the reservations are the same as you would find in third world countries. Many of the people's homes do not have indoor plumbing and electricity.

CBN News examined the living conditions on the reservation. Many of the houses were in poor condition. When we first approached one home, you could see the broken glass in the windows, the makeshift plywood entryway, and the ground was littered with beer cans and other trash.

The U.S. Census Bureau reports about one of every four American Indians lives below the poverty level.

The Crow Creek Sioux reservation lies in Buffalo County. Its per capita income of just a little more than $5,000 a year makes it the poorest county in the country.

On some reservations, unemployment runs as high as 80 percent. Compare that statistic to less than five percent for the U.S. as a whole.

"The children and the adults all try to cope with what they have," reservation resident Gracie Pomani told CBN News. "It is hard out here, because a lot of them don't have the heat for their houses or the wood for their stoves."

A Manmade Tragedy?

So how could this happen to a people so revered in American history for their courage and self-sufficiency?

Many say this tragedy is manmade -- the result of a welfare state spiraling out of control where self-respect, hard work and hope have been replaced with handouts.

Rod Vaughn founded the Christian non-profit organization, Diamond Willow Ministries, to reach out to Native Americans on the Crow Creek Sioux reservation.

"To me it's a train wreck," he said. "When you have reliance on a federal government with a shrieking deficit for your health care, for your housing -- for everything, and you really don't have much of a political voice," he explained. "So when there's cuts, the cuts seem to be deeper here. It is a real critical situation."

Vaughn says people living on the reservation feel like the U.S. government has forgotten them.

"They do. May be not even so much forgotten, but that they just have been able to kind of push them off to the side," Vaughn said.

A Warrior Culture Continues

Still, in spite of the exclusion, American Indians are intensely loyal. Since the September 11 attacks on America, a record number have enlisted in the U.S. Army every year. They have also served at higher rates in the entire U.S. military than any other ethnic group.

"It's kind of like a warrior culture that's passed on to generations," Gabe said.

But sadly, Native Americans appear to be losing the battle at home.

Diamond Willow Ministries works to change that by helping with the physical needs like food and clothing and helping to break addictions, including the dependence on welfare, by sharing the love of Jesus Christ.

"Pray that the barriers, the generational sin, the darkness can be broken," Vaughn told CBN News. "Prayer is so powerful."

"All they have to do is reach out their hand like I did," Gabe said. "God took my hand and gave me something, and I'm glad of that."

It is the gift of a new life in Christ. A gift that can heal a shattered people and cause them to soar on eagle's wings with a new hope.



Christian's House and Farm Burned in Gebar, Ethiopia
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion06974.shtml


The house and farm properties of a Christian family in the southwestern town of Gebar were burned by Muslims on February 20, according to VOMC sources.

Asfaw Lelisa, his wife, and their five children were able to escape the house without serious injury. Local Christians suspect that Muslims targeted Asfaw, a mature and influential Christian, in an effort to intimidate other believers into fleeing the area.

Thank the Lord for keeping Asfaw and his family safe from serious injury. Pray for Christians in southwestern Ethiopia to stand strong in t heir faith by demonstrating Christ's love and grace to their persecutors (Matthew 5:43-48).

For more information on the persecution of Christians in Ethiopia, go to www.persecution.net/country/ethiopia.htm.

The April edition of The Voice of the Martyrs Newsletter features testimonies from Christians suffering for their faith in Ethiopia. Subscribe today at www.persecution.net/newsletter.htm.



American Educated Chinese Scholar Bai Cheng and His Coworker Sister Zhang Yu Released from Detention
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion06973.shtml


HENAN, China -- CAA has learned that House Church leader Bai Cheng and his coworker sister Zhang Yu were released from their detention at 10pm, March, 6 (Beijing Time). Both of them were detained on January 29th when they led a Bible study with a group of young people.

They were accused as 'suspects of Evil Cult the Shouter Group" members. Mr. Bai Cheng and sister Zhang Yu were released when prosecutors determined there was insufficient evidence to convict them of the charge of "evil cult membership".

The Chinese government designated the Shouter Group ( founded by Rev. Witness Li ) as one of the 14 national "Evil Cults". International attention brought to the case as well as legal funding by CAA played a major role in the Government's decision to release the two Christians.

Bai Cheng received his higher education in 1990s in the United States and was on the process to receive his permanent US resident status before his detention.

Both of the released Christians are safely at home and in good condition. They ask CAA to thank the international community for their help and efforts.

"We welcome the release of these two innocent house church Christian leaders," said Bob Fu, "We hope the sincere prayers for Beijing Olympics by millions of Christians in China and abroad can enable the Chinese government to realize that House Church Christians are not a threat to the stability of Chinese society but a positive force for love and justice."



26 Prominent Overseas Chinese Rights Activists Signed Open Letter for China Human Rights Improvement Before Olympics
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion06970.shtml


MIDLAND, Texas -- Responding to the dramatic declining situation in China recently, CAA today released an open letter to the international community calling upon the international community to help China improve its worsening human rights situation before the Beijing Olympics.

The letter was signed by 26 prominent overseas Chinese rights activists including CAA president Bob Fu. CAA learned that, Dr. Teng Biao(Tony), noted human rights lawyer, was kidnapped in front of his apartment 9:30pm on March 6th. He was interrogated with a bag over his head for 41 hours. He was finally released on March 8th with a stern warning not to talk about civil rights. During the same period, a state security vehicle crashed into the car of another famous human rights lawyer, Li Heping, who was driving his seven year old son to school.

Both Dr. Teng and attorney Li were strong religious freedom defenders in China. In the fall of 2005, both were invited by China Aid to visit the US as part of the religious freedom defenders delegation. They met with Senator Sam Brownback, Congressman Frank Wolf, Professor Jerome Cohen of NYU as well as other rights related government agencies and NGOs.

The open letter finally emphasized that the time has come to tell the Chinese Government that human rights are not for sale.

The letter calls on world leaders, friends of human rights, scholars, athletes, and all members of the entertainment and business communities, to follow the brave lead of movie director Steven Spielberg to urge China to improve its record on human rights.

In the word's of the beloved Martin Luther King Jr. "In the end we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."

Below is the full text of the letter.

An Open Letter to the International Community

Democracy and Human Rights Are Not For Sale

March 8, 2008

We, the undersigned, call on the international community to express its outrage at the Chinese government's continued and flagrant disregard for human rights. Its most recent actions reveal a rogue state that blatantly challenges the resolve of free nations everywhere.

We sadly learned that, Mr. Teng Biao, noted human rights lawyer, was kidnapped in front of his apartment 9:30pm on March 6th. He was interrogated with a bag over his head for 41 hours. He was finally released on March 8th with a stern warning not to talk about civil rights.

During the same period, a state security vehicle crashed into the car of another famous human rights lawyer, Li Heping, who was driving his seven year old son to school.

Both these brave men are well known for their active defense of citizens' rights and their fearless reporting of the government's routine disregard for its own laws and constitution.

Both these actions took place during the so called "People's Congress." But, these actions clearly show that this government neither represents nor respects its people.

The time has come to tell the Chinese Government that human rights are not for sale. The Chinese government must hear that it cannot benefit from Olympic Gold and, at the same time, deny its citizens the benefits of human rights.

We call on world leaders, friends of human rights, scholars, athletes, and all members of the entertainment and business communities, to follow the brave lead of movie director, Steven Spielberg. Like Mr. Spielberg, we must now answer the question: "how much abuse can I tolerate before the Chinese government renders as untenable, its position of Olympic host."

If we do not make this stand now, our silence will send a loud message to Bejing. A message that will return to haunt us. In the word's of the beloved Martin Luther King Jr. "In the end we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."

Yang Jianli, Hu Ping, Sheng Xue, Wang Dan, Xu Wenli, Pan Yongzhong, Huang Heqing, Wang Juntao, Yan Jiaqi, Bob Fu, Zhang Er-ping, Chen Kuide, Zhou Fengsuo, Liu Guokai, Fei Liangyong, Lin Muchen, Feng Congde, Chen Pokong, Tang Yuanjun, Wong Min, Edmond Yiu, Zhou Jian,Xue Wei, Wang TianCheng, Pan Qing, Zhang Weiguo



Christian Leader Beaten in Madhya Pradesh, India
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion06969.shtml


On February 27, Dr. Robin Singh, a physician and Christian leader in Balaghat, Madhya Pradesh was beaten by Hindu militants for providing legal and administrative support to the Christians attacked by militants on February 22, according to a March 3 report from Compass Direct.

The militants punched him and hit him with wooden sticks. They also vandalized his clinic and destroyed all the medicines and the reception area.

As the president of the Balaghat Christian Association, Dr. Singh has been active in representing Christian concerns before the local authorities.

The attack, however, has left him shaken and caused him to reconsider his leadership position.

Pray for healing for Dr. Singh. Ask God to embolden him to remain steadfast in the face of persecution and suffering for the sake of Christ (Rev. 2:10).



First Catholic Church Opens in Qatar, Sparking Fear of Backlash Against Christians
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,338014,00.html


DOHA, Qatar — Qatar's first Christian church has no cross, no bell and no steeple.

And when 5,000 faithful flock to Our Lady of the Rosary to celebrate its historic consecration this weekend, they pray no one will notice.

Father Tom Veneracion, the parish priest, is worried about a backlash.

"The idea is to be discreet because we don't want to inflame any sensitivities," he says. "There isn't even a signboard outside the church. No signs at all."

Qatar's fledgling Catholic community considers its sprawling $15 million saucer-shaped facility a victory. A 15-minute drive into barren desert, it has been built with the blessing of the nation's emir.

But some people in this Muslim country have branded it an offense; one prominent politician has called for a national referendum to determine its fate.

And as the church lookd forward to its first Easter service, the controversy is getting considerable attention among this gas-rich country's press.

"The cross should not be raised in the sky of Qatar, nor should bells toll in Doha," wrote Lahdan bin Issa al-Muhanada, a leading columnist in Doha's Al-Arab newspaper.

But Abdul Hamid al-Ansari, the former dean of the Islamic law school at Qatar University, disagrees. He wrote that having "places of worship for various religions is a fundamental human right guaranteed by Islam."

Sitting in his sparse office in the portable building that has served as a makeshift chapel for his congregation for the last six years, Veneracion said he was bewildered by the dispute.

"It is confusing to us," said the priest, a soft-spoken man from the Philippines who seemed genuinely caught off guard by the controversy.

"We tried to be discreet, and I think there's an atmosphere generally in the Gulf that's fairly anti-Christian, but that's mainly to do with what's happening in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"It has nothing to do with us at all."

In Doha, the call to build a Catholic church has grown as waves of migrant workers from South Asia and the Philippines arrived in the Gulf, answering the call for cheap labor to fuel the region's runaway economy.

But the Christian immigrants have sometimes collided with the native Qatari population, which practices Wahhabism, a strict interpretation of Islam.

Native Qataris account for only 200,000 of the country's population of 900,000.

The Vatican estimates there are 100,000 practicing Catholics in Qatar. They attended underground services until seven years ago, when Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, the country's current ruler, granted permission to five denominations to open churches.

The Sheikh, who seized control from his father in a 1995 palace coup, is a staunch U.S. ally, and the move is part of a broader push to promote Qatar as an open and tolerant society, in order to attract tourism and business.

Veneracion says that the church, when it's completed, will serve as a place for "prayer and inter-faith dialogue." The grounds boast a catechism building and conference center. A wedding party has already booked a ceremony and reception in May.

When Our Lady of the Rosary opens its doors, it will make Saudi Arabia the only Gulf state that still bans churches.

But it remains unclear if Qataris will accept the church, or whether a backlash will force it to close its doors.

Rashed al-Subaie, a Qatari engineer, wrote in a letter to the Al-Watan newspaper that Christians should practice their faith only "in line with public morals without being given licenses to set up places of worship."

Christians should "worship their God in their homes," he wrote.

But Qatar's Catholic faithful remain resolute. A few days ago, Lourdes Carvallo and her elderly mother attended what they prayed would be one of their last morning services in the makeshift chapel.

The 38-year-old housewife from Goa, India, was born in Qatar and grew up attending underground mass in neighbors' homes.

She said: "We have been waiting for this for such a long time and we are feeling very hopeful, because finally we will have a proper place of worship."



Muslims Nations: Defame Islam, Get Sued?
http://www.newsmax.com/international/islamic_summit_islamophobia/2008/03/14/80557.html


DAKAR, Senegal -- The Muslim world has created a battle plan to defend its religion from political cartoonists and bigots.

Concerned about what they see as a rise in the defamation of Islam, leaders of the world's Muslim nations are considering taking legal action against those that slight their religion or its sacred symbols. It was a key issue during a two-day summit that ended Friday in this western Africa capital.

The Muslim leaders are attempting to demand redress from nations like Denmark, which allowed the publication of cartoons portraying the Prophet Muhammad in 2006 and again last month, to the fury of the Muslim world.

Though the legal measures being considered have not been spelled out, the idea pits many Muslims against principles of freedom of speech enshrined in the constitutions of numerous Western governments.

"I don't think freedom of expression should mean freedom from blasphemy," said Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade, the chairman of the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference. "There can be no freedom without limits."

Delegates were given a voluminous report by the OIC that recorded anti-Islamic speech and actions from around the world. The report concludes that Islam is under attack and that a defense must be mounted.

"Muslims are being targeted by a campaign of defamation, denigration, stereotyping, intolerance and discrimination," charged Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the secretary general of the group.

The report urges the creation of a "legal instrument" to crack down on defamation of Islam. Some delegates point to laws in Europe criminalizing the denial of the Holocaust and other anti-Semitic rhetoric. They also point to articles within various U.N. charters that condemn discrimination based on religion and argue that these should be ramped up.

"In our relation with the western world, we are going through a difficult time," Ihsanoglu told the summit's general assembly. "Islamophobia cannot be dealt with only through cultural activities but (through) a robust political engagement."

The International Humanist and Ethical Union in Geneva released a statement accusing the Islamic states of attempting to limit freedom of expression and of attempting to misuse the U.N.

Human Rights Watch said in a statement that objectionable depictions of the Prophet Muhammad do not "give them the right under international human rights law to insist that others abide by their views."

Hemayet Uddin, the lead author of the OIC report and head of cultural affairs for the group said legal action is needed because "this Islamophobia that we see in the world has gone far beyond a phobia. It is now at the level of hatred, of xenophobia, and we need to act."

A new charter drafted by the OIC commits the Muslim body "to protect and defend the true image of Islam" and "to combat the defamation of Islam."

To protect the faith, Muslim nations have created an "observatory" that meets regularly to monitor Islamophobia. It examines lectures and workshops taking place around the world and prints a monthly record of offensive content.

But some of the summit's delegates said a legal approach would be over the top.

"My general view would be that the confrontational approach is one my country would avoid," said Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Iftekhar Chowdhruy. Bangladesh is 90 percent Muslim.

While the Muslim world worries about the image of Islam in the West, the U.S. envoy to the OIC attended the summit to try to tackle the thorny question of America's image among Muslim states.

Sada Cumber calls his campaign the "soft power" of the U.S. _ an effort to find common ground with Muslim nations by championing universal values the U.S. holds dear like religious tolerance and freedom of speech.

"America has a deep respect for the religion of Islam," Cumber told The Associated Press. "The freedom of faith that we exercise, that we enjoy in America, that is also a very important aspect of the American core values. Anyone who wants to practice any faith is never stopped or discouraged."

Also during the summit, Chad and Sudan signed a peace agreement to stop incursions of rebels across each other's borders, and the summit delegates committed themselves to addressing the spiraling violence between Israelis and Palestinians.



Abortion debate finds common cause
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/962/story/117296.html


A bill making its way through Congress brings a rare chance for both sides of the abortion debate to come together in a humane way.

The bill, backed by Sens. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., and Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., would create a national registry for families willing to adopt babies born with Down syndrome, spina bifida, cystic fibrosis or dwarfism. It would cost about $5 million.

It's easy to point to the flaws in Congress. They are so many and so visible.

But this is an effort well worth the time and money it will take to set it up.

And Congress is the place for it to start.

A McClatchy news service report quoted Brownback as saying that 90 percent of pregnancies are aborted when genetic tests show a fetus will develop any of the medical conditions or syndromes that would be included in the registry.

That Brownback and Kennedy are teamed up on this bill -- which the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee passed unanimously -- is itself remarkable and understandable.

Brownback is a leading pro-life member of the Senate; Kennedy, who is generally pro-choice, had a sister Rosemary, now deceased, who was mentally retarded.

Rosemary was also, as evidenced by occasional news stories over the years of her life, much beloved by her family.

This idea of a national registry would give pregnant women who might not carry their babies to term another option: A warm and accepting home with parents who are willing to accept the extra responsibilities such children represent.

Caregivers to such children get something special in return too. Love without qualification. The special love of special people who often, somehow are blessed with loving hearts to help make up for their physical conditions.

And they pass that love of life around freely -- starting at home.



Okla. Pol's Screed Vs. Gays Sparks Furor
http://www.newsmax.com/us/oklahoma_gay_rant/2008/03/14/80552.html


OKLAHOMA CITY -- A YouTube audio clip of a state lawmaker's screed against homosexuality, which she called a bigger threat than terrorism, has outraged gay activists and brought death threats rolling in.

"The homosexual agenda is destroying this nation, OK, it's just a fact," Rep. Sally Kern said recently to a gathering of fellow Republicans outside the Capitol.

"Studies show no society that has totally embraced homosexuality has lasted, you know, more than a few decades. So it's the death knell in this country.

"I honestly think it's the biggest threat that our nation has, even more so than terrorism or Islam, which I think is a big threat," she said.

The former school teacher has been a magnet for coast-to-coast condemnation, including a jab from comedian Ellen Degeneres, ever since someone posted her comments on the Internet last week. State police said they are investigating death threats against her.

Back home in the Bible Belt, though, the response has been mixed. Kern has gotten support from her fellow Republicans.

"I would submit to you that the vast majority of the folks in our caucus, particularly those who consider themselves conservative, stand with and support Sally," said state Rep. Randy Terrill.

Democratic Gov. Brad Henry, however, said Kern's views are not representative of most Oklahomans. He said politicians should "think before you speak."

"To have equated the gay community with terrorism ... and to have called us the biggest threat to America is to dehumanize gay people in the worst possible way," Denis Dison, spokesman for the Washington-based Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, said Friday.

That group's leaders fear remarks such as Kern's coming from an elected official could lead to violence against gays.

Kern, who is finishing her second term, has tried unsuccessfully to pass bills to rid libraries' children's sections of books that have homosexual themes. She told the group that school children are being indoctrinated by gay activists.

"We're not teaching facts and knowledge any more, folks," she said. "We're teaching indoctrination, OK, and they are going after our young children, as young as 2 years of age, to try to teach them a homosexual lifestyle is an acceptable lifestyle."

In the same speech, she said gays are "infiltrating city councils" across the country.

"It spreads, OK, and this stuff is deadly and it's spreading and it will destroy our young people," she said. "It will destroy this nation."

Kern said she made these comments on about four different occasions to small groups of Republicans, and she thinks the recording was made at one of these meetings in January. Various recordings of it have generated more than a million hits on YouTube.

Kern's office received more than 23,000 e-mails in less than a week, mostly condemning her views, and thousands more to her home computer, many of them "vulgar, vile and profane," she said.

Kern said she has no regrets for her statements and denies she was gay-bashing. Her Christian faith teachers her to be loving to individuals, but not their lifestyle, she said.

Some people, including Degeneres, did not take her remarks that way.

"Hi, it's Ellen Degeneres, the gay one," the comedian said when she left a message in a call to Kern's office during her TV show this week.

Degeneres said she wanted to talk to Kern about some "misinformation."

"I'm trying to figure out which society has disappeared that I didn't know of," she said.

Kern said she had no interest in talking to the entertainer. "That would be like throwing myself into the lion's den and I'm not going to do that," she said Thursday.

Kern, the wife of a Baptist minister, said "everything is being played out of proportion."

Most of Kern's colleagues have steered clear of commenting on her statements, but some say the state's image is taking a beating.

"I think it is a shame those type of things tend to show that we are a people who seem not willing to look at the big picture of the world and recognize there are other people out there with other religions, other viewpoints. I think we are somewhat intolerant of that," said Rep. David Braddock, a Democrat.

Last summer, more than two dozen Oklahoma House members refused complimentary copies of the Quran from an ethnic advisory council, offending Muslims. Republican Rex Duncan led the boycott, condemning Islam as a religion and saying most Oklahomans do not endorse "the idea of killing innocent women and children in the name of ideology."

Like Kern, Duncan stood by his comments.

Rabbi Russell Fox of Oklahoma City's Emanuel Synagogue said Oklahoma is becoming more exposed to different religions and cultures and some citizens and leaders "are having a hard time making an adjustment."

Fox said he did not believe Oklahomans were necessarily less tolerant than people in other areas of the country, "but I think we have a political culture that plays upon and uses intolerance in some very unhealthy ways."

"It's demagoguery, that's the old word for it," he said.

No comments:

Post a Comment