McCain in the Middle?
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,351474,00.html
Just where does John McCain fit in the political spectrum?
While conservative talk radio shows such as Rush Limbaugh's paint McCain as a moderate, some in the mainstream media have begun arguing that McCain is a strong conservative. This debate could well determine who votes for him in November.
Libby Quaid, with the Associated Press, claims that people are misled in believing McCain is a political independent. His article on Monday argued that despite how McCain "antagonizes fellow Republicans and likes to work with Democrats. ... a different label applies to his actual record: conservative."
But Quaid’s analysis faces several significant problems. While focusing on McCain’s votes on abortion, gay rights and gun control, no explanation is offered for why certain votes are examined and others are not, and he fails to compare how McCain ranks relative to other senators.
There are a number of organizations on the left and right that evaluate congressmen and senators on how they vote each year. These conservative and liberal groups pick the votes that their fellow liberals or conservatives most care about and figure out what position best supports their own views.
Two well-known organizations that rank congressional voting are the American Conservative Union on the right and the Americans for Democratic Action on the left. There also is the League of Conservation Voters, which ranks politicians from a liberal environmentalist position.
These three rankings from 2001 to 2006 paint a fairly similar picture, putting McCain to the left of most Republicans and to the right of most Democrats in the Senate, though usually much closer to the average Republican.
— The American Conservative Union finds that the average Republican senator voted conservatively 86 percent of the time, and that the average Democrat voted conservatively 14 percent of the time. McCain voted conservatively 73 percent of the time.
— Despite being at the opposite end of the political spectrum, Americans for Democratic Action put McCain in the same place. The average Republican senator voted liberally 13 percent of the time, the average Democrat 89 percent of the time. McCain voted liberally twice as frequently as the average Republican, voting liberally 26 percent of the time.
According to the League of Conservation Voters, John McCain is the ultimate centrist. While the average Republican supported liberal environmentalist positions 13 percent of the time and the average Democrat supported them 76 percent of the time, McCain’s 44 percent put him right in the middle.
Another way to look at these numbers is to see how many of the other 99 senators voted more conservatively than McCain has. In 2006, the American Conservative Union ranked McCain as the 47th most conservative member of the Senate.
Similarly, the Americans for Democratic Action had McCain tied for being the 44th most conservative member of the Senate. The League of Conservation Voters had him tied for 51st.
What issues put McCain well to the left of the average Senate Republican? The American Conservative Union lists a number of specific votes on which he voted differently than most other Republicans:
— Taxes: opposed elimination of the marriage penalty, opposed lower capital gains tax rates, opposed eliminating the inheritance tax, opposed lower personal income tax rates.
— Environment: opposed drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, or ANWR, in Alaska, supported compliance with the Kyoto global warming treaty, supported requiring that U.S. businesses reduce "greenhouse gas" emissions to levels produced in 2000, favored stricter mercury emission rules for existing electricity-generating plants, supported stricter miles-per-gallon standards for cars.
— Consistently supported stricter campaign finance regulations.
— Health care: opposed medical savings account demonstration program, opposed letting health insurance participants agree not to sue insurers in exchange for lower premium rates.
— Immigration reform: supported letting illegal aliens claim Social Security benefits for the years they worked before being granted a valid Social Security card, supported granting amnesty to illegal aliens.
— Other regulations: supported penalizing states that did not get over 90 percent of drivers to use their seat belts, voted to mandate that handguns could be sold only with locks.
A number of these votes were very closely contested. In some, McCain’s vote lead to a 50-50 tie in the Senate that required Vice President Cheney to break it.
Surely, McCain is not anywhere near as liberal as the typical Democratic senator, but interest group rankings from both the left and right find that McCain is to the left of the vast majority of the rest of the Republicans in the Senate.
All three rankings examined here find that there are about as many senators to McCain's right as there are to his left.
What's Wrong With Barack Obama Speaking His Mind?
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,351338,00.html
So maybe he's not so perfect, after all.
No, I'm not referring to Guillermo, my pool boy. Of course — he's perfect, even with the hare lip.
I'm referring to Senator Barack Obama, who in reference to people living in small towns said, "They get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment... as a way to explain away their frustrations."
Obama has since said he is sorry, confessing that he "didn't say it as well as I should have." Meaning: He spoke his mind, which he regrets.
And I congratulate him, for he said what everyone on the left has always believed: That if you don't live on the coasts, you're a bible-toting, gun-wielding nutcase who speaks in tongues on Sunday and tongues his daughter on Monday. Worse, you probably don't own "The West Wing" on DVD! Inbred.
See, Obama simply blurted out what the Democratic Party always believed. But it [hurts] him more: Obama accuses people of clinging to religion out of desperation — but then what is Jeremiah Wright, if not a leech that feeds off hopelessness and gloom of those around him?
Hillary cannot gloat, for she, like Obama, also sees most of America as a flat land full of fools — people incapable of taking care of themselves or making decisions for their families. Both Hillary and Obama think government can do that far better than we ever could. And that's elitism and idiocy at its best.
So maybe they are ideal running mates.
O’Reilly Credits Newsmax’s Kessler for Wright Story
http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/OReilly_Credits_Newsmax/2008/04/16/88418.html
Bill O’Reilly devoted a portion of his Tuesday night Fox News Channel television show to a story about Barack Obama’s pastor Jeremiah Wright that was broken by Newsmax’s chief Washington correspondent Ronald Kessler.
Referring to Kessler’s Sunday article headlined “Obama’s Rev. Wright Mythology,” O’Reilly told viewers:
“Newsmax.com correspondent Ron Kessler reports that Reverend Jeremiah Wright may not be what he appears to be. The reverend often slams America for lack of opportunity and spins tales of plots to harm African-Americans, but Wright himself is living rather large.
“He was brought up in a comfortable home, attended good schools, and soon will move into a — ready? — 10,000-square-foot house that abuts a golf course. No ghetto in sight.”
O’Reilly’s guest, Amanda Carpenter of Townhall.com, said: “Ron Kessler’s story is correct. Reverend Wright did grow up in the suburbs of Philadelphia, went on to a great elite education, gained acceptance into a competitive high school, went on to become a Navy Corpsman.”
Carpenter noted, as Kessler had disclosed, that Wright’s new home is in a nearly all-white Chicago suburb and features an elevator and four bedrooms.
Kessler wrote: “Rather than being a victim of the oppression of blacks, as Obama has claimed, Wright is a symbol of the American dream.”
Huckabee Starts PAC
http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/Huckabee_Starts_PAC/2008/04/16/88420.html
Former Arkansas governor and presidential candidate Mike Huckabee has announced the creation of a political action committee to help other Republican candidates, including presumptive presidential nominee John McCain.
"Huck PAC will support Republican candidates who are passionate advocates for tax reform, a strong national defense, real border security, life, the family, less government and individual liberty," a posting on Huckabee's Web site said.
Huckabee won the leadoff caucuses in Iowa and contests in seven other states -- Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee, West Virginia, Louisiana and Kansas. He dropped out of the race March 4 after McCain won the delegates needed to clinch the GOP's nomination.
Huckabee told supporters in a conference call last week that he hoped to campaign for McCain and said he hoped to help the Arizona senator's presidential bid with the committee. Huckabee said he doesn't know if McCain is considering him as a running mate.
One of the candidates to be backed by Huckabee's PAC is state Sen. Gilbert Baker, the former chairman of the Arkansas GOP who faces a re-election challenge from Democrat Joe White.
Huckabee's PAC also asks donors to support New Hampshire state Sen. Bob Clegg, who is running for Congress, and Georgia Congressman John Linder, who is seeking re-election.
Risk of Nuclear Attack on U.S. Rises
http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/Risk_of_Nuclear_Attack_/2008/04/16/88469.html
Witnesses told a Senate committee on Tuesday that the risk of a nuclear attack on U.S. cities has grown in the past five years due to the spread of nuclear technology and the growth of a global terrorist movement.
The Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs looked at the horrific consequences of a nuclear strike by terrorists, and experts said more could be done to save lives, the Washington Post reported.
"I definitely conclude the threat is greater and is increasing every year with the march of technology," said Cham E. Dallas, director of the Institute for Health Management and Mass Destruction Defense at the University of Georgia.
Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, the panel’s chairman, said: "The scenarios we discuss today are so hard for us to contemplate and so emotionally traumatic that it is tempting to push them aside. However, now is the time to have this difficult conversation, to ask the tough questions, then to get answers."
Dallas gave the panel a report on the effects of a small nuclear device exploding near the White House. A 1-kiloton device that could fit into a suitcase could kill about 25,000 people, Dallas said. A 10-kiloton explosive, which could be hidden in a van, could kill about 100,000.
The 10-kiloton blast would destroy almost all buildings within a half-mile radius, and the intense heat would burn people for many blocks and spark fires, according to Dallas.
In addition, a radioactive plume would begin drifting from the blast point, subjecting those in its path to lethal levels of radiation, Dallas said.
"With proper communication, people can flee from the plume area," Dallas said. But, he added, authorities need to "put more effort" into testing their ability to swiftly alert those in danger, according to the Post.
Ashton B. Carter, co-director of the Preventive Defense Project at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, agreed, telling the committee that "much could be done to save lives" if the government made the right preparations in advance.
Dallas suggested training medical professionals such as pharmacists and veterinarians to provide burn care, and organizing community volunteers to clean wounds and help in other ways.
"Burn care is a nightmare, and we’re completely unprepared," he said. "Ninety-five percent of burn victims will not receive care. And most of them will die."
FBI Director Robert S. Mueller told Newsmax in an exclusive interview last May that Osama bin Laden and his terrorist group desperately want to obtain nuclear devices and explode them in American cities, especially New York and Washington, D.C.
Ohio Teacher Refuses to Remove Bible From Students' View
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,351529,00.html
MOUNT VERNON, Ohio — An Ohio middle school teacher says he won't obey an order to remove a Bible from view of students.
John Freshwater said Wednesday he agreed to remove a collage from his classroom that included the Ten Commandments, but that asking him to remove the Bible on his desk goes too far.
Officials with the Mount Vernon School District say they don't oppose religion but are required by the U.S. Constitution not to promote or favor any set of religious beliefs.
Freshwater says being forced to keep the Bible out of sight would infringe on his rights.
Mount Vernon is about 40 miles northeast of Columbus.
Praying Coach Fights for His Rights
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/358571.aspx
Marcus Borden has been coaching at a New Jersey high school for more than 20 years.
His football team has won division championships, and his work off the field earned him USA Today's "Caring Coach of the Year" award in 2003.
But, that all changed two years ago when he was sued for praying before the game.
At first, Borden resigned. Then he decided to come back and coach, agreeing that he would not lead prayers.
Now, a court ruled he also can't kneel and bow his head while members of his team lead prayer.
CBN News spoke with Borden's lawyer about the case, and why he's taking the fight to the Supreme Court.
Crime Ridden City Called to Prayer
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/358224.aspx
There have been an alarming 22 murders so far in 2008. It's a record no city wants. But it's the reality for Birmingham, Ala.
City leaders are trying to do all they can to keep residents safe.
CBN News told you recently about Mayor Larry Langford's unique approach to fighting crime - with the sword of the Spirit - God's Word. Now, there is an update on the Bible distribution and the mayor's call for city-wide repentance.
Sack Cloth and Ashes
Langford's call to prayer is the latest in his efforts to see Birmingham residents turn to God - and seek peace for the city.
"We are gonna be calling about 2,000 ministers and people in this community together and we're are going to put on some sackcloth and ash and get together and humble ourselves and pray and I guarantee you God will hear the prayers of this city," Langford said.
Recently, more than a thousand people turned out for the mayor's family summit in Birmingham, despite severe storms.
Attendees received Bibles in English and Spanish provided by CBN and the American Bible Society. It was the third in a series of meetings designed to turn Alabama's largest city from crime to God.
Children and adults pledged to support the mayor's plan and take God's Word into their community.
"The Bible says without a vision the people will perish, and the vision starts with the family. And you can't change the fruit without changing the root," said one resident.
The mayor says Birmingham needs a miracle.
The majority of crimes here are committed by African Americans between the ages of 10 and 30 - and the victims of crime are also young African Americans.
Just a few clicks through local news Web sites show the problem: Night after night there are crimes from robbery to rape and murder.
Police have zero tolerance for crime, conducting raids and making arrests in known criminal hot spots across the city.
The Mayor Answers His Critics
Langford says the crime problem will be solved through prayer and repentance.
He says he's got the council's support and that of many residents, but admits he has a few critics.
"If you don't want to pray, fine. Just keep your evil self away from me," the may said candidly. "If you've got a problem with God take it up with Him. The destruction of all of us will come when we think we know so much that we've got all the answers."
Seven from Christian School Killed
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/358449.aspx
A flash flood struck a high school hiking group at a wilderness gorge in New Zealand, sweeping six teenagers and a teacher to their deaths in a tragedy that shocked the country.
Five other students were plucked to safety from the torrent Tuesday in the Mangatepopo River in the Tongariro National Park on New Zealand's North Island.
"It is a tragedy which defies belief," school principal Murray Burton told reporters. Students clutched each other in tears as Burton read out a roll call of those who died during a special assembly Wednesday at the Elim Christian High School in Auckland, New Zealand's largest city.
Prime Minister Helen Clark expressed "profound sympathy and shock" and moved a condolence motion in Parliament.
"This is every family and school's worst nightmare," said Clark, a mountaineer and wilderness lover. "To have this happen when young people are out doing a healthy and normally very enjoyable activity, and it turns into a terrible tragedy."
The six students who died were all aged 16 and the teacher was 29.
Officials said there was no apparent warning to the group when the river rose to about four times its normal water level in the narrow gorge within half an hour.
The teenagers were part of a group of 40 students attending a weeklong course at the Sir Edmund Hillary Outdoor Pursuits Center in the small town of Turangi. The course involved navigating the gorge by swimming, clambering over rocks and hiking.
Burton said the hiking group was well equipped with wet suits, life jackets and harnesses and that the students were in the care of an experienced guide. Those swept away were in a group of 12 that had separated from the main party.
District Police Inspector Dave White said the students were doing a team-building exercise traversing the river when they were overcome by the rapidly rising water levels late on Tuesday.
"It's too early to say exactly what happened as the matter is under investigation," White said.
Another officer, Inspector Steve Mastrovich said it appeared heavy rainfall from a surprise storm had caused a sudden flood of water in the river "and they've just been caught in the wrong place at the wrong time."
New Zealand's spectacular and rugged wilderness is world famous, and many of the country's inhabitants pride themselves on their close connection to it. Mountaineering, hiking and sailing are common pursuits among the nation's 4.2 million people.
Grant Davidson, chief executive of the center that organized the trip, said the conditions appeared safe and there had been no warning of the heavy rain that quickly developed in the area.
"I am comfortable this was a normal activity we had with this age group in these sort of conditions," he told reporters. "Obviously if we had known or predicted about the pulse of water we would not have been there."
He said that in 25 years of operating in the region, he had never seen the river rise and fall as quickly as it did on Tuesday. Clark praised the center's strong reputation for working with young people in New Zealand's wilderness.
Police and the adventure company said they would further investigate whether there had been any safety breaches.
House Church Leaders Detained in China
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07083.shtml
At approximately 3:00 p.m. on March 29, authorities disrupted a house church worship service in Qu county, Sichuan province and detained seven house church leaders, according to an April 7 report from China Aid Association. Two of the leaders have since been released.
The following day, authorities detained 10 female leaders and four children who were attending a Sunday school class in Qu. All of the children and five of the leaders have since been released. Two believers are currently serving a sentence of 15 days administrative detention.
Six female leaders remain detained on accusations of belonging to an "evil cult." If convicted, the leaders could face sentences of up to three years "re-education through labour."
Pray that the detained leaders will be released. Pray that God will open doors of opportunity for them to clearly share the gospel for which they suffer (Colossians 4:2-3).
For more information on the persecution of Christians in China, go to www.persecution.net/country/china.htm.
Wilberforce Descendant Endorses Colorado Human Life Amendment
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07082.shtml
DENVER -- Colorado for Equal Rights campaign has picked up the endorsement of the great great grandson of William Wilberforce, Father Gerard Wilberforce.
The Colorado For Equal Rights Campaign Director, Keith Mason, spoke with Fr. Gerard Wilberforce last week, explaining that "We are going to keep fighting until we protect all of these little ones."
In answer to Mason's comments, Fr. Wilberforce replied "Yes, that is just the way William Wilberforce would have done it."
Wilberforce has told campaign officials that he would be willing to help out the campaign, and he sent this statement to all of the volunteers working on the campaign:
"Two hundred years ago William Wilberforce campaigned on behalf of slaves who were not treated as human beings. Today society does not treat the beginnings of human life as persons who demand our respect. Abortion is widespread because people do not consider the unborn to be worthy of legal protection."
He continued, "Those who are working for the rights of the unborn could therefore look to the example of the abolitionists and take heart. It may not come immediately but good people will eventually change the law. People will then look back and ask how it was that abortions were ever committed. in the same way we look back in horror at the evils of slavery. God bless all of you who work for no reward only to see justice prevail for those last able to defend themselves." -Gerard Wilberforce, great great grandson of William Wilberforce.
William Wilberforce was an evangelical Christian who headed the British Parliamentary campaign against the British slave trade, and was largely responsible for abolishing the British slave trade.
"As we are in our final weeks of getting signatures, Fr. Wilberforce's encouragement is an exciting jolt that will encourage our volunteers as they work to put personhood on the ballot," said Kristi Burton, Spokesperson for Colorado For Equal Rights.
She continued "I am so thankful for Father Gerard Wilberforce's support. He serves as an inspiration to all of us, just as his great great grandfather did."
Pregnancy Centers Defeat Hostile Legislation in Maryland
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07080.shtml
LANSDOWNE, Va. -- Care Net President Melinda Delahoyde applauded the defeat of legislation in Maryland that sought to disparage the work of pregnancy centers and deter women from going to pregnancy centers for help. "We are glad to see that legislators in Maryland truly understand the good work of pregnancy centers and the tremendous service they provide to communities throughout the state," said Delahoyde. "What was perhaps intended to hurt our work actually turned out to be a great educational opportunity for legislators."
HB 1146 and SB 690 were initiated by NARAL Pro- Choice Maryland and would have forced pregnancy centers to provide a disclaimer to all clients upon first contact. The disclaimer would have said, among other things, that "we are not required to provide medically accurate information." If approved, the disclaimer would defy the very purpose of pregnancy centers -- to empower women with accurate information about abortion risks and abortion alternatives so they can make an informed choice.
Both bills received hearings in the Senate Finance and the House Health and Government Operations committees. Care Net led a coalition of pregnancy centers, former clients, medical professionals, research experts, attorneys, organization leaders and local officials -- 48 in all -- who testified against the bills in both chambers.
As of April 7, the legislature has adjourned and the legislation was defeated, having never received a vote.
Despite attempts by some abortion advocacy groups to promote a negative view of pregnancy centers, these centers continue to grow in impact and increase in number across the country. Pregnancy centers are opened and supported by local communities seeking to provide a safety net of support to people who feel that abortion is their only option. Most clients find pregnancy centers by word-of-mouth, and exit surveys show that clients are highly satisfied with pregnancy center services. Care Net Pregnancy Center of Frederick, Maryland reports that 99% of their clients provide overwhelmingly positive feedback.
Care Net is a faith-based, non-profit organization that supports a network of 1,100 pregnancy centers that provide practical help and emotional support to people facing unplanned pregnancies and related sexual issues.
Kansas Supreme Court Grills Attorneys During Oral Arguments Tiller Abortion Records Case
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07079.shtml
TOPEKA, Kansas -- All seven Kansas Supreme Court Justices engaged attorneys in lively questioning during oral arguments in a case brought by late-term abortionist George R. Tiller, who is attempting to block a grand jury's subpoenas for abortion records. The central question posed by the Court was whether privacy concerns of patients override criminal investigations.
"If this case involved any other subject than abortion, that question would be considered ludicrous," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. Newman and OR's policy advisor Cheryl Sullenger were present for the hearing. "Since when do criminals get to hide behind the skirts of their victims?"
Eleven attorneys appeared in support of Tiller's motion to quash the subpoenas, of which three were allowed to make arguments before the court. Only two attorneys appeared on behalf of the grand jury and the judges involved in the grand jury process.
The most disturbing arguments came from a representative of Attorney General Stephen Six's office. He argued for restrictions on document subpoenas that, if implemented, would prevent any investigator from ever obtaining names from a subpoenaed document. He urged that witnesses be permanently muzzled by having them sworn to the same confidentiality oath as the grand jury.
"The A.G.'s office was asking for more security on abortion records than currently exists in nuclear power plants. It was absurd," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. "General Six showed his true colors. He is nothing more than another abortion crony will cover for abortionists rather than discharge his duty to properly enforce the law."
Tiller's lead attorney, Lee Thompson, argued that he believed the grand jury system was being used to harass his client, even though, as one justice pointed out, the first Tiller grand jury investigated the wrongful death of Christin Gilbert, while the current grand jury is investigating violations of the Kansas late-term abortion ban over the past five years, two completely different allegations.
It is unknown when the Supreme Court will issue their ruling, but it needs to be soon, since the grand jury term will expire on July 8 with no possibility of further extension.
"If the Court delays this decision until it becomes impossible for the grand jury to access evidence, that will be the ultimate in obstruction of justice. In that case, you can bet there will be another grand jury, and another," said Newman. "This is not harassment. It is an attempt to procure justice."
Operation Rescue is one of the leading pro-life Christian activist organizations in the nation. Operation Rescue recently made headlines when it bought and closed an abortion clinic in Wichita, Kansas and has become the voice of the pro-life activist movement in America. Its activities are on the cutting edge of the abortion issue, taking direct action to restore legal personhood to the pre-born and stop abortion in obedience to biblical mandates.
CA Moves Forward with Anti-Spanking Bill
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/358743.aspx
Despite opposition from parents and family groups, California has moved a step closer to passing an anti-spanking bill that would ban certain types of discipline.
The state bill was passed through the Assembly Public Safety Committee, Tuesday, one of many steps for the bill to become a law.
If enforced, it would prohibit spanking with the "use of an implement," including "a stick, a rod, a switch, an electrical cord, an extension cord, a belt, a broom or a shoe," Assemblywoman Sally Lieber told the committee.
Parents could face up to a year in jail if found in violation of the law
Lieber introduced the bill last year but it was shut down. She has since resubmitted after adding some revisions.
Critics say the bill would put loving parents behind bars.
"If this law passes, good parents could be handcuffed, charged, have their children taken away, be labeled a criminal and even be convicted," said Randy Thomasson with the Campaign for Children and Families.
He showed up at the committee's hearing with handcuffs in hands, along with a group of mothers who believe in spanking.
"(The bill) tramples the cherished right of parents to raise their own children and removes children from good parents who occasionally spank their children to correct misbehavior," he added.
Teenager Abigail Berke is against the bill. She says she was spanked as child with a wooden spoon when she needed disciplining.
"I think spanking is right. I was spanked as a child and I am very grateful that I was, because I have grown up the right way, respecting others and being mindful of what I do," she told FOX's KTXL.
Abigail's mother Sarah also spoke out against the bill, which is slated AB 2943.
"As someone dead-set against the evil of child abuse, I also have a strong faith that calls on me to correct misbehavior and rebellion when it occurs," she said. "Yet my faith and moral beliefs that teach me to 'train up a child in the way he should go' would make me a suspected child abuser under AB 2943."
Thomasson says the bill will also order parents to attend "nonviolent parental education" classes.
The anti-spanking bill heads to the Assembly Appropriations Committee next, where Lieber's first proposal was denied.
If it clears on all levels, the bill could become a law by late summer.
Religious Group Slams Pregnant Hollywood 'Role Models'
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,351433,00.html
LOS ANGELES — In the wake of speculation that Ashlee Simpson may be expecting and the growing Hollywood trend of having children before marriage (Nicole Richie, Jessica Alba, Jamie Lynn Spears), at least one religious group is advising young people to turn away from Tinseltown when it comes to finding an individual to idolize.
"We encourage young people not to look up to these Hollywood starlets as role models," a spokeswoman from the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights told Pop Tarts.
"In Hollywood nowadays, we just hear so much about going in and out of rehab, having multiple babies to different fathers and their lack of responsibility. We hope that most young people can admire Hollywood stars for their talents but filter out these negative influences and turn to other people in their community as more positive role models."
Pop Tarts Talk: Kristin Cavallari's Wild Ways
But according to the organization, the pregnant women who are already rocking "the rock" are still en route to benefiting the unborn child more than those who don't take the next step. (Simpson, Richie, Alba and reportedly Jamie Lynn are all engaged.)
"In the past, pregnancy out of wedlock has had a stigma; as a society we have worked hard to filter out stigma. The Catholic Church certainly doesn't condone premarital sex, but if these girls can get married even after falling pregnant, it definitely helps," added the rep. "It certainly benefits the child to have parents that are married and stable."
Recent statistics issued by government health officials state that nearly one in four babies in the U.S. is born out of wedlock.
But others argue that the baby-before-marriage "fad" really isn't a bad thing.
"I say congratulations to the pregnant stars if that's what they want," said single mom Janet Housley, who has two tween daughters yet has never married. "I am still happy for my girls to listen to Ashlee or watch 'Fantastic Four.' I have raised two beautiful, intelligent and well-mannered girls alone — if anything they are more together than most people their age with stable parents."
Whether Simpson is pregnant is still unclear given denials from her fiance Pete Wentz; however, she did a taping for MTV's "TRL" on Tuesday in which she said she wanted to keep the issue "personal."
"I just think that's an inappropriate question to ask a woman," she said. "For me to have to answer something I didn't ever want to respond to ... and I think that when people deny [reports], it's probably because it's something they want to keep personal."
US and European NGOs Arrive in Kosovo
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07081.shtml
WASHINGTON -- A team of legal and human rights experts arrives in Pristina, Kosovo this week to meet with top government officials and religious leaders about the draft constitution. The team comes from some of the most influential non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the United States and Europe that focus on social policies related to constitutional and international law, human rights and international institutions.
The group is concerned that aspects of the draft constitution could be misinterpreted to promote special rights for "sexual orientation" leading to same- sex "marriage"; remove any ability of Kosovo to determine its own moral values relating to sexual behavior; lead to a claim of a right to abortion; violate the rights of conscience of Kosovar professionals; and limit speech, media, assembly, and association, preventing any public expression of unpopular viewpoints - the viewpoints that most need constitutional protection.
The team plans to meet with senior government officials and hold a press conference on Friday. The team will present a petition signed by 50 groups from the US and Europe that outlines many concerns about the language of the draft constitution. On Sunday the group will meet with religious leaders.
The team consists of:
Glen Lavy, Senior Vice President of the Alliance Defense Fund, one of the largest public interest law firms in the United States.
Susan Yoshihara, President of the International Organizations Research Group at Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute.
Christine Dupuis, Co-Founder of the Chretiens Democrates Federaux, Belgium, International Relations Director for Action pour la famille-Actie, and Board Member of the European Christian Political Movement.
Wendy Wright, President of Concerned Women for America, the largest public policy women's group in the United States.
Stephen Bartulica, Educational Initiative for Central and Eastern Europe, Austria, and former diplomat with the Croatian Foreign Ministry.
Antun Lisec, Director of Human Life International, Croatia, a medical doctor.
Carol Soelberg, President United Families International, which provides social science to strengthen policies on marriage, family and life. Carol is the mother of thirteen children and grandmother of thirty-six.
Other NGOs with the delegation include the Alliance of Romania's Families and Advocates Europe, which trains lawyers to promote the rule of law and ethics.
The team's purpose is to comment on the substance of the constitution, not to address the question of independence.
Concerned Women for America is the nation's largest public policy women's organization.
Messianic Jews Claim Victory in Israeli Court
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/358897.aspx
The Supreme Court of Israel ruled Wednesday that being a Messianic Jew cannot prevent Israeli citizenship if the Jewish descent is from the person's father's side.
Twelve Messianic Jewish believers brought their case to the court after being denied citizenship because of their Jewish background.
"This is yet another battle won in our war to establish equality in Israel for the Messianic Jewish community just like every other legitimate stream of faith within the Jewish world," said Calev Myers, Founder of the Jerusalem Institute of Justice.
His group represented the twelve men and women in court.
The applicants received letters saying they would not receive citizenship because they "commit missionary activity." One was told that because she "committed missionary activity," she was "acting against the interests of the State of Israel and against the Jewish people."
"These allegations are not only untrue, but they also do not constitute legal grounds to deny one's right to immigrate to Israel," Myers explained in a press release.
Messianic Jews in Israel began speaking out more on opposition towards them after an attack on Messianic teen, Ami Ortiz.
According to halacha, a blood line of Jews through one's father does not make he or she Jewish.
Western Wall stones in danger of crumbling
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1208179715126&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
First it was the southern wall of the Temple Mount. Then it was a section of the ancient walls of Masada that were in danger of collapse. Now, it's the turn of the stones of Jerusalem's Western Wall.
Stones at the site are in danger of crumbling, Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch, the rabbi of the Western Wall, said Monday.
The damaged stones that are beginning to disintegrate are not the ancient ones dating back to the Second Temple Period, but, ironically, the small uniform stones that make up part of the wall built in the 19th century and financed by the British philanthropist and financier Sir Moses Montefiore in an attempt to repair the site at that time.
"The original stones from the Second Temple are strong and stable," Rabinovitch said in a telephone interview. "It is the smaller [and more recent] ones that are the problem."
Rabinovitch noted that the needed repair work on the Western Wall will take place shortly after Pessah and will be completed over the summer - before the rainy winter months begin when the danger is greatest of the stones falling on worshipers below.
"This is an issue which needs to be taken care of soon," he said.
Experts were quick to stress Monday that there was no imminent danger to the worshipers at the Wall, which is Israel's top tourist attraction, with an estimated five million people, including both tourists and locals, visiting the holy site last year.
"There is no immediate danger from the stones of the wall," said Ra'anan Kislev, the director of the conservation department at the Israel Antiquities Authority.
The state-run archeological body had been carrying out ongoing surveys at the Jerusalem holy site for the last several years since several pieces of stones loosened and fell down in years past, Kislev said.
Just how to repair the damaged stones at the holy site is, however, another issue altogether, as engineering gets mixed in with religion.
Citing Biblical interdiction, Rabinovitch said that Jewish law or halacha forbids removing any of the stones of the Wall, even to repair them.
He said that - in consultation with the Israel Antiquities Authority - scaffolding will likely be erected in the area where worshipers pray, to prevent them from being harmed by falling pieces, as engineers work to fix the damaged small stones.
In the past, Israel's Sephardi Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar has said that repair work at the Western Wall should only be done by Jews after they had gone through a mikve, and that the work could only be carried out during the day.
Britain's Christians must support Holy Land believers - Archbishop
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/britains.christians.must.support.holy.land.believers.archbishop/18058.htm
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has urgently appealed to Christians in the UK to become better informed of the crisis affecting fellow believers in the Holy Land, who he says "feel ignored or forgotten" by Western Christians.
Dr Williams was commenting ahead of a conference at Lambeth Palace on Wednesday, to be joined by BibleLands, a Christian charity providing financial support to the Holy Land.
The conference is being held to address ways in which Christians in the UK can support Christians in the Middle East.
Dr Williams will address the conference alongside Archbishop Paul Sayah (Maronite Archbishop of Haifa and the Holy Land) and Bishop Angaelos (General Bishop of the Coptic Orthodox Church in the UK). Lord Steel, meanwhile, will chair a question and answer panel.
Describing the situation of Christians in the Middle East ahead of tonight's conference, Dr Williams said: “There is an urgent need for people in the UK to wake up to the fact that Christians in the Middle East are living through a time of change more dramatic and more costly than anything that has been seen for a thousand years and more."
He went on to highlight the "tragic situation" of Christian refugees from Iraq and the "quiet but numerically huge exodus of Christians", particularly educated Christians, out of the entire Middle East region.
"The remaining Christian communities are left exposed to violence or extremism in many countries, and the societies they live in are deprived of some of their most creative and resourceful citizens," said Dr Williams.
The conference will highlight a new book from the Middle East Council of Churches, 'Christianity: A History in the Middle East, which outlines the historical background to the difficulties of Christians in the region today.
"We badly need to be better informed about both the present and the past of these communities," said Dr Williams.
The conference will also announce a new scholarship to study the impact of migration among Iraqi Christians, supported by the Archbishop’s Mission to the Assyrians, the Philip Usher Fund and the Anglican and Eastern Churches Association. In addition to this, the Nikaean Ecumenical Trust is giving a Bishop Buxton Bursary to two Syrian Orthodox deacons from Lebanon to study English in the UK for two months and to learn something of the church in the UK.
He said: "These are small gestures in the overall context of anxiety and suffering for our brothers and sisters in the Middle East, but our hope is that they will do something to raise awareness on behalf of Christian communities in the ancient heartlands of faith who so often feel ignored or forgotten by us their Western fellow-Christians.”
Lawmaker Calls for Stripping of Taxpayer Funds to Carter Center
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,351440,00.html
JERUSALEM — A U.S. lawmaker introduced legislation Wednesday to strip former President Jimmy Carter's Georgia-based scholarly institution of taxpayer support because of Carter's plans to meet with the top leaders of the Palestinian terror group Hamas.
And a second lawmaker presented a non-binding resolution that would urge former presidents from "freelance diplomacy" in direct response to Carter's visit.
Carter is set to set to meet Thursday with Mahmoud Zahar, a top Hamas leader with control over militants in the Gaza Strip, and he met Tuesday with a high-ranked Hamas politician.
But the heaviest criticism for Carter is coming over a planned meeting on Friday with Hamas' exiled leader Khaled Meshal.
"America must speak with one voice against our terrorist enemies," Rep. Joe Knollenberg, R-Mich., said in a statement from his office. "It sends a fundamentally troubling message when an American dignitary is engaged in dialogue with terrorists. My legislation will make sure that taxpayer dollars are not being used to support discussions or negotiations with terrorist groups."
Knollenberg said the Carter Center has received about $19 million in taxpayer funds since 2001. He named his bill the Coordinated American Response to Extreme Radicals Act — or CARTER Act, for short. The Carter Center is housed at Emory University in Atlanta.
The non-binding legislation was forwarded by Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pa. If adopted, the bill would express the "sense of Congress" that it "disapproves of former President Jimmy Carter's freelance diplomatic efforts in the Middle East, which contradict the stated foreign policy position of the current Administration."
The new legislation is the latest embodiment of scorn directed at Carter over meetings he plans this week with leaders of Hamas, which both the United States and Israel recognize as a terror organization and with which they refuse to negotiate.
Also Wednesday, Reps. Howard Berman, D-Calif., who is chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Gary Ackerman, D-N.Y., chairman of the Foreign Affairs Mideast subcommittee, wrote Carter imploring him not to meet with any more Hamas officials.
"[T]his visit will undermine the Middle East peace process and damage the credibility of Palestinian moderates," they wrote, adding that the "legitimacy and prestige that Hamas will derive from your visit will be seen in the region as a clear demonstration that violence pays."
Rep. Artur Davis, D-Ala., told FOX News, "I don't think Israel should try to negotiate with Hamas because Hamas does not recognize Israel's right to exist." Davis added that Carter's overtures stood athwart a tradition of support for Israel in America.
On Tuesday, more than 50 House members wrote Carter urging him to not meet with Meshal, calling him the man behind the deaths of 26 Americans.
Sen. Barack Obama, who has stated his disagreement with Carter on the Hamas visit but supports an open dialogue with Iran, was pressed Wednesday on the difference between the two.
"[T]here is a distinction in terms of their status within the international community," he told a group of Jewish community leaders in Philadelphia. "Hamas is not a state. Hamas is a terrorist organization. They obviously have developed great influence within the Palestinian territories, but they do not control the apparatus of power," he said.
A Hamas spokesman, Ismail Radhwan, said in an interview that Carter's visit "reflects the recognition that the Hamas movement cannot be ignored," according to a transcript from MEMRI TV. "We will benefit from this meeting by explaining our cause, our positions, and our principles and by presenting our just cause," the spokesman said.
Carter, speaking briefly with FOX News on Wednesday, said the search for Mideast peace should include reaching out to groups such as Hamas. The former president was the broker of Israel's peace treaty with Egypt three decades ago.
"I'm going to try to get Syria to be constructive in the entire peace process, that would include Iraq and Lebanon, as well," he said.
The Islamic militant group will meet with Carter in Cairo about their demand that Israel open Gaza's crossings and stop military raids in the territory, a Hamas official told FOX News.
The meeting is expected to include Zahar, which would be significant because he controls militants in Gaza and is crucial to cease-fire negotiations with Israel. Egypt is trying to broker those talks.
Zahar is also instrumental to talks on the release of the captured Israeli soldier Cpl. Gilad Shalit, whose 2006 capture by Hamas was a catalyst to the monthlong fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah, which also captured Israeli soldiers. Hamas wants some 450 Israeli-held Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Shalit's release.
When speaking with FOX earlier Wednesday, Carter sidestepped a question about about how his talks are shaping up Friday with Meshal.
"I'd rather not tell FOX News what I want to talk to," Carter said. "I don't know yet. We haven't firmed up anything. So it's premature to talk about that yet."
Carter reportedly hugged and kissed another Hamas leader Tuesday in the West Bank town of Ramallah. Carter's embrace of Nasser Shaer, a senior Hamas politician, at a closed-door reception organized by Carter's office was reported by several news outlets.
"He gave me a hug. We hugged each other, and it was a warm reception," Shaer told The Associated Press. "Carter asked what he can do to achieve peace between the Palestinians and Israel ... and I told him the possibility for peace is high."
Shaer, who served as deputy prime minister and education minister in the Hamas-led Palestinian government that unraveled last year, is considered a leading member of the Islamic militant group's pragmatic wing. After a stint in an Israeli prison last year, he is now a professor at a West Bank university, teaching comparative religion.
Carter also laid a wreath at the grave of Yasser Arafat, whom he praised as a man who fought for "just causes" in the world. The Bush administration and many Israelis blame Arafat for the breakdown of peace talks seven years ago and the violence that followed.
President Bush did not visit Arafat's mausoleum in Ramallah when he visited earlier this year.
Israel and the West Bank were the first stops on a visit that also is to include Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and Syria — where the virulently anti-Israel Hamas movement is headquartered.
Three Israeli Soldiers Killed in Gaza
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/358274.aspx
GAZA STRIP - Three Givati Brigade soldiers were killed Wednesday morning in heavy fighting with Palestinian terrorists in central Gaza.
Around 6:00 a.m, IDF troops identified a group of Palestinian gunmen approaching the security fence near Kibbutz Be'eri in what could have been an infiltration attempt.
A Givati Brigades battalion was deployed three-tenths of a mile on the Palestinian side of the border with Gaza.
The Palestinian terror cell members ran for cover in a pre-planned area and opened fire, killing two soldiers, seriously wounding a third, and moderately wounding three more soldiers.
The wounded were evacuated by helicopter to Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba, where a third solider succumbed to his injuries.
Following the initial ambush, the troops returned fire, but the terrorists, members of Hamas' Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, managed to escape.
Hamas distributed a flier afterward.
"We will continue to conduct many operations against the occupation and continue to set ambushes of death against its cowardly soldiers," the flier read. "IDF soldiers going into Gaza have four choices: to be killed, captured, seriously wounded or become psychologically traumatized," the Islamic group threatened.
Late Tuesday evening, the IDF targeted Kassam rocket launching pads from the air, while ground troops engaged in fierce firefights with Palestinian gunmen.
Four Hamas gunmen were killed in clashes in Sajaiya, including the brother of senior Hamas operative Halil al-Haya, whose son was killed in a gun battle with IDF soldiers a few months ago.
Hamas gunmen near Khan Yunis fired on IDF troops with mortar shells and automatic rifles.
"We are thwarting attempts to carry out attacks along the border fence on a daily basis, and in most cases this involves complex, fierce fighting with high risk for the soldiers," an army officer said. "We'll investigate the incident and draw the necessary conclusions," he said.
"We must carry out these activities inside Gaza and along the fence to prevent the terrorists from reaching Israeli communities. The soldiers know that they are the only buffer between the terror organizations and the citizens of Israel," he said.
At least 10 Kassam rockets fired into southern Israel by Palestinians in Gaza landed in open areas, with no injuries or property damage reported.
Palestinians fired a barrage of mortar shells at Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha near the Gaza border, scoring a hit on one home that damaged the roof. No one was injured.
Syria arming Hezbollah despite UN resolution: Israel
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jl11VK-8VtAiCr6s4aVZvlQcNwEw
JERUSALEM — Syria is supplying the Shiite Hezbollah militia in Lebanon with rockets in violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, Israel's Defence Minister Ehud Barak charged on Tuesday.
"Resolution 1701 is not being applied. The transfer of rockets from Syria to Lebanon is continuing and Hezbollah's military build-up is continuing," Barak's office quoted him as saying during a visit to an Israeli air force base.
"I think the Security Council has to act and see how the resolution is applied and enforced," the former chief of staff said.
The resolution, which put an end to a 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah in August 2006, demanded the pullout of the Israeli army from south Lebanon and its replacement by a UN-backed Lebanese army deployment.
The resolution called for the disarming of all militias -- an allusion to Hezbollah as well as to Palestinian militant groups -- and the prevention of illegal arms sales and smuggling operations in Lebanon.
Israel launched a massive offensive after the July 12, 2006, capture of two of its soldiers in a cross-border raid by Hezbollah which had sought to impose a prisoner exchange.
Iran says it will "eliminate" Israel if it attacks
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSHAF52999620080416
TEHRAN - Iran will respond to any military attack from Israel by "eliminating" the Jewish state, a senior army commander said on Tuesday.
Deputy commander-in-chief Mohammad Reza Ashtiani was echoing Iran's late leader of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who said Israel should be wiped off the map.
Some analysts have speculated that Israel might attack Iran to stop its nuclear activities, which the West fears are a front for weapons development. Iran, which does not recognize Israel, insists it wants nuclear technology only for electricity.
"If Israel wants to take any action against the Islamic Republic, we will eliminate Israel from the scene of the universe," the semi-official Mehr news agency quoted Ashtiani as saying. "Our answer to any military attack against Iran will be strong."
The U.S. State Department said the comments showed the international community was right to sanction Iran.
It is "more unbelievable rhetoric out of the leadership of the Iranian government about attacking a fellow member of the United Nations," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters. "Any civilized person finds that disturbing."
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak did not respond directly to the remarks but said Israel was pressing ahead with its efforts to counter any Iranian nuclear threat.
Barak told reporters at an air base in central Israel that there remained much to do in "intelligence, in prevention and in formulating diplomatic and practical sanctions."
"We have to prepare, and if there's a need, to take action, not just to talk idly," he said, in apparent reference to reported remarks last week by cabinet minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer that Israel would destroy Iran if attacked.
Opposition to Israel is a fundamental principle in Shi'ite Iran, which backs Palestinian militants opposed to peace with the Jewish state but says it offers only moral support.
A 2005 statement by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad saying that "Israel should be wiped off the map" outraged the international community.
Washington says it wants a diplomatic resolution to the nuclear dispute but has not ruled out military action if that fails. Tehran insists it will not bow to Western pressure.
Iran, the world's fourth-largest oil producer, says it has developed ballistic missiles able to hit Israel and U.S. bases in the region.
Israel's Defence Ministry has announced the successful test of the "Blue Sparrow," a missile that will serve as a target for tests of its Arrow anti-ballistic missile system.
Israeli media have reported that the target missile would simulate the ballistic trajectory of Iran's Shehab-3 missile, which Israel fears could carry a nuclear warhead.
Tehran's failure to convince world powers of its peaceful nuclear intentions has prompted three rounds of U.N. sanctions, and the United States is pushing for another, tougher set of penalties.
The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany are due to meet on April 16 in Shanghai to discuss whether to sweeten incentives offered to Iran in 2006 to curb its nuclear work.
Ahmadinejad Calls Sept. 11 Attacks 'Suspicious Event'
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,351428,00.html
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran's hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad cast doubt Wednesday over the U.S. version of the Sept. 11 attacks, calling it a pretext used to invade Afghanistan and Iraq.
Although Iran has condemned the 2001 al-Qaida attacks on New York and Washington in the past, this was the third time in a week that Ahmadinejad questioned the death toll, who was behind the attacks and how it happened.
"Four or five years ago, a suspicious event occurred in New York. A building collapsed and they said that 3,000 people had been killed but never published their names," Ahmadinejad told Iranians in the holy city of Qom.
Under this pretext, the U.S. "attacked Afghanistan and Iraq and since then a million people have been killed only in Iraq," Ahmadinejad said in the speech broadcast live on state-run television.
On the last anniversary of the attacks, the names of 2,750 victims killed in New York were read aloud at a memorial ceremony.
In Washington, the State Department rejected the comments out of hand, calling them "another example of misinformed misguided rhetoric" from the Iranian leader.
"I am not sure what one says about a statement like that," spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters. "It leaves one speechless. It is misguided, misinformed rhetoric. I can't tell you whether or not it is something he truly believes or if this is just a warped attempt to try to shape public opinion in Iran or elsewhere."
Last year, Ahmadinejad raised questions over the attacks, saying "what caused it, what were the conditions that led to it, who truly was involved" needed to be examined.
Ahmadinejad has said the attacks were a result of "mismanaging and inhumane managing of the world by the U.S." and should not be turned into another Holocaust "used for slaughtering people."
Although Iran has condemned the U.S. invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, the campaigns toppled the Taliban and Saddam Hussein, two regional threats to Iran.
Iran’s Web Site Warns About Newsmax
http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/Asr_Iran_Muqtada_Sadr/2008/04/16/88531.html
Iran’s pro-government Web site Asr Iran on Wednesday featured a detailed report about Kenneth R. Timmerman’s Newsmax article disclosing that Iraqi Shiite leader Muqtada Sadr had been placed under house arrest in Iran.
Timmerman’s story, posted on Newsmax Tuesday, began: “The Iranian regime has been putting the squeeze on radical Iraqi Shiite leader Muqtada Sadr over the past week, temporarily placing him under house arrest and freezing his bank accounts, sources in Tehran told Newsmax.”
Asr Iran knows Newsmax well and pointed out to its readers: “Newsmax is well known for its anti-Iran aspects.”
Sources within Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps, which has trained, equipped, and funded Sadr’s Mahdi army since 2003, told Timmerman they now have concerns that Sadr may have gone too far.
“They fear that Sadr’s support for the uprising in Basra, which was successfully put down by the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki with U.S. support, could push the United States to attack Iran,” Timmerman wrote.
Timmerman referred to a Newsmax lead story posted on Monday divulging that President Bush has upped the ante against Iran in recent weeks, giving rise to speculation that the U.S. is close to making a final decision on whether to launch military strikes against Iran.
Timmerman also disclosed that Iranian security forces on Tuesday had placed 25 members of the Mahdi army under house arrest in the Iranian border city of Ahwaz, and that the Tehran regime closed five bank accounts that were being used by Sadr largely to cover expenses of Mahdi army fighters training in Iran.
China steps forward in new bid to end Iran dispute
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/china.steps.forward.in.new.bid.to.end.iran.dispute/18050.htm
China edges nearer the centre of contention over Iran's nuclear ambitions on Wednesday by hosting talks of diplomatic powers on whether to offer stronger incentives to Iran to curb atomic work.
The gathering of the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council - the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France - plus Germany marks a first such meeting for China, which has kept away from the spotlight in the dispute.
China, which has hosted six-party talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear programme, wants to highlight its role seeking to end the impasse over Iran's efforts to enrich uranium, but also wants to avoid falling out with a key oil supplier.
"With this balance of interests, it's difficult to imagine China being a place for breakthroughs," said Shen Dingli, an expert on nuclear politics at Fudan University in Shanghai.
"The equation of interests won't change and China isn't some magical place to solve problems. But it's important to show that China is part of the international mainstream on these issues."
Tehran insists it has the right to enrich uranium, which it says is for peaceful power. But the United States, Western European powers and their supporters fear Iran's enrichment could give it the means to make nuclear weapons.
The Security Council has passed three resolutions with sanctions pressing Iran to give international inspectors more information about nuclear work and stop the enrichment.
The meeting in Shanghai will discuss whether to sweeten a 2006 offer of incentives to persuade Iran to curb its nuclear program, a Western diplomat earlier told Reuters.
The six powers offered civil nuclear cooperation and wider trade in civil aircraft, energy, technology and farming, if Iran suspended uranium enrichment and negotiated with them.
DEFIANCE
But Iran has ruled out halting or limiting its nuclear work in exchange for such incentives, and says it will only negotiate with the U.N. watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.
"As the host, China faces expectations that it will propose or broker more concrete ideas on how to persuade Iran," said Yin Gang, a Middle East expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
China has hosted talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear programme that have stalled in recent months but yielded steps towards dismantling atomic facilities.
But in a show of defiance at the international sanctions, Iran announced last week that it had expanded its nuclear work by starting to install 6,000 more uranium enrichment centrifuges at its Natanz plant, in addition to 3,000 already there.
China fears a nuclear arms race if Iran gains the ability to make nuclear weapons, said Guo Xian'gang, a former Chinese diplomat to Tehran who now works in a policy institute.
But Beijing is also wary of a rupture with Iran, which is China's third biggest source of crude oil imports, behind Saudi Arabia and Angola.
"Both the United States and Iran are always unhappy with China, but if we do any more then at least one side will be even unhappier," said Guo. "So China's stance won't change - cooperate with the U.S. but not too far."
Actor Jason Beghe: Scientology Is 'Brainwashing'
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,351426,00.html
Jason Beghe is the bravest actor in Hollywood. He’s come clean about his 14 years in Scientology, the religion that Tom Cruise reveres. He says the purpose of Scientology is to create a "brainwashed, robotic version of you."
He also says that he spent about $1 million to work his way up the Scientology ladder to become what’s known as an "OT5 auditor," or someone who listens to new members and teaches them the ropes.
He was so successful as a celebrity auditor, he says, that David Miscavige, the head of the sect, referred to him as "the poster boy for Scientology."
But now that Beghe and his wife have left the sect, the actor has concerns. They can be, he says, a vicious and vindictive group. When he asked for money back that he had banked for future study — some $60,000 to $70,000 — it was returned and he was banished.
"Once you ask for refund and repayment, that’s what it’s called, you’re not allowed to take another course or speak to another Scientologist ever again," Beghe says.
On Tuesday, I told you that Beghe had posted a three-minute "teaser" video explaining a little about his exit from Scientology. A second, longer video will be going up on YouTube Wednesday or Thursday. It’s not to make money or to get publicity for himself, Beghe says, and I believe him. "If it helps people, that’s what’s important."
And that’s because Beghe says that most Scientologists are completely insulated from the criticism that we all read or publish. All the jokes, the "South Park" stuff, anti-cult stories, real data about people who’ve suffered inside the sect largely go unnoticed by the Scientology community. "They just say, 'You don’t understand.'"
Beghe is just beginning to comprehend what an impact his announcement has made. It should rock the world of celebrity Scientologists, the people Miscavige has counted on to carry the sect’s message to the outside world and make it seem plausible.
But Beghe says not all the celebrity Scientologists are completely "in." Kirstie Alley, he says, is a friend and "could be gotten out." Tom Cruise, he says, was out for several years.
"He was brought back in around the time of his divorce from Nicole Kidman. And then they put him through something called Ethics Cycle after Penelope Cruz left. That’s when you make amends for having not been in it for a while."
Cruise’s Ethics Cycle, Beghe thinks, would account for the campaign Cruise went on while filming "War of the Worlds," through the meeting, courting and recruiting of Katie Holmes, the fight with Matt Lauer on "Today" and telling Diane Sawyer what kind of Scientologist he was on ABC — not to mention the couch-jumping on "Oprah."
Beghe, for one, says he was not a good celebrity Scientologist. "They would ask me to come to parties for Tom or John (Travolta); I would say 'yes' and not go."
Indeed, Beghe says he’s spent the last eight years trying to leave Scientology. "It was good for the first three years or so. But then I got nothing out of it."
"Scientology," Beghe says, "delivers what it promises under the guise of tearing away falsity, neuroses, psychoses. It creates a brainwashed, robotic version of you. It’s a ‘Matrix’ of you, so you’re communicating with people all the time using Scientology. So we’re seeing you ‘via’ Scientology. And it creates an addiction, so you come back for more."
He says that he initially was recruited through acting teacher Milton Katselas’ class. Katselas has been cited in many publications, including The New York Times, for exerting pressure on his students to join the sect.
"He gets kickbacks," Beghe says. Among Katselas’ students have been at least half a dozen celebrity Scientologists, including Giovanni Ribisi (who is thought to have recruited "My Name Is Earl" star Jason Lee and, in turn, Ethan Suplee) and his sister, Marisa, Leah Remini and Anne Archer.
Beghe was brought to the Scientology center in Hollywood by Bodhi Elfman, husband of actress Jenna Elfman, who was in Katselas’ class. His appointment was for 10 a.m. He wound up staying at least 12 hours, as the sect’s auditors embarked on their "brainwashing." It was just before his career was taking off with a role as Demi Moore’s love interest in "G.I. Jane."
"David Miscavige loved me. He took me to Hemet" — the Scientology fortress in the California mountains — "and he came with me to the premiere of 'G.I. Jane.' He let me do voice-overs for Scientology instructional videos, which was unheard of. And it would take a year to do a 15-minute video; he was that meticulous."
But in a short time, Beghe saw that things were not going so well. "I was unhappy and depressed. They would say it was their fault, the way they were handling my ‘case.’ And I’d flip out another $50,000 for another course."
Beghe says the biggest question at Scientology is where all the money has gone. "You never get any answers about it," he says. "And it’s all about money."
It took Beghe and his wife, Angie — whom he’d brought into the sect and who also achieved the high level of OT5 — more than a year to negotiate their way out. (Their first child even endured the Scientology "silent birth" we’ve heard so much about.)
Beghe says during that time his relations with his family and friends — like childhood pal David Duchovny — were strained. "Things are much better now with everyone," Beghe says.
Higher Food Prices Crippling Countries
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/358295.aspx
It's a problem that's plunging several countries around the world into crisis, and the United Nations says it could wipe out years of progress in the fight against poverty.
Now, increasing food prices have officials calling for emergency measures to avoid famine.
Robert Zoellick, president of The World Bank, has repeated the warning over the last few months.
"In many developing countries, the poor spend up to 75 percent of their income on food. When prices of basic foods rise, it's hard," he said.
In just a year, rice has gone up 147 percent, dairy up 80 percent and grain up 47 percent.
In the last nine months, overall world food prices have risen 45 percent.
The set back in caring for the needy of the world is enormous.
"We estimate that the effect of this food crisis on poverty reduction world-wide is in the order of seven lost years," Zoellick said.
But in many countries, even the middle class is beginning to feel the grip of high prices.
"In places where people weren't desperate before, more people are hungry, more people are cutting out vital parts of their diet including some going to one meal a day," Josette Sheeran of the United Nation's World Food Program said.
Riots have broken out in several countries around the world. People are hungry, and they feel the only option left is to take matters into their own hands.
Protesters in Haiti stormed the presidential palace, causing the fall of the country's government. And in Egypt, violent protests erupted over the high price of bread.
Several factors are contributing to the higher food prices.
The world's largest countries of India and China continue to grow in population, increasing their demand for the world's food supply.
Another key factor is the latest push for clean bio fuels like ethanol.
Many farmers around the globe now grow corn and sugar specifically for this burgeoning market.
So what once went in our stomachs is now going in our cars.
Experts say the fallout from the latest food crisis could cripple entire countries for years.
This is not just about meals forgone today, or about increasing social unrest," Zoellick said. "It is about lost learning potential for children and adults in the future, stunted intellectual and physical growth."
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