New Movie Gives Clinton and Obama the Answer to 'When Life Begins'
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07102.shtml
COME WHAT MAY, a new movie from Advent Film Group (AFG), resolves Clinton and Obama's uncertainty about when life begins. At a "Compassion Forum" at Messiah College in the political battleground state of Pennsylvania, Barack Obama confessed his confusion about the fact that human life begins at conception. His political rival, Hillary Clinton, simply restated her pro-abortion views.
"This is something that I have not, I think, come to a firm resolution on," Obama said in the forum. "I think it's very hard to know what that means, when life begins."
Clinton was more elusive in her response, couching her answer in terms of "potential" life - a pro- abortionist term invented to soften the idea that abortion is taking a human life. "I believe the potential for life begins at conception," Clinton said.
AFG has recently posted on GoogleVideo and GodTube a "rough-cut" clip from its upcoming movie, COME WHAT MAY, which gives a simple and profound answer to the moral question of our time: When does life begin?
"When life begins is a 'politicized' moral issue. Presidential candidates from both parties recognize this and are waffling," explains George Escobar, founder of AFG. "We hope this clip encourages them (and voters) to take a clear stand for life."
Advent is training a new generation of Christian filmmakers, drawn from the homeschooling community nationwide, to go beyond the film industry's "fuzzy faith-based" movies by tackling tough moral and social issues head-on. AFG also seeks to address the distressing lack of qualified Christian filmmakers needed to fill key positions as directors of big-budget movies. Case in point: "Amazing Grace" and "The Chronicles of Narnia," two successful Christian-themed movies, were both directed by secular filmmakers. "Though legions of Christians work in the industry, apparently none could be entrusted to direct major motion pictures," Escobar observes.
A born-again believer and homeschooling dad, Escobar is a former American Film Institute Producing Fellow and recent VP of Product Development for Discovery and Executive Director for AOL Video.
We are providing a fresh alternative to Hollywood fare. "Homeschoolers have already successfully turned the public education monopoly upside down; we will now do the same in cinema."
About AFGAdvent Film Group was founded by Christian filmmakers to champion the mission and vision of Patrick Henry College and other like-minded conservative Christian organizations to shape our culture through media. See the movie trailer at www.adventfilmgroup.com.
How Gay Activism Shapes U.S. Politics
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/361991.aspx
He's considered to be America's biggest gay donor. And his out-of-the-box political strategies are reshaping public policy in the areas of marriage, family and gay rights.
Gay Activism Goes Undercover
You probably haven't heard the name Tim Gill. And that's just the way he wants it.
Carrie Earll, Senior Director of Issues Analysis for Focus on the Family explains, "Tim Gill is stealth. He's under the radar. When he goes after a candidate he doesn't make homosexuality the issue. He picks something else because he knows the issue of homosexuality is still risky among the electorate."
A Colorado native, Gill still calls Denver home. He made his millions in the 80s and 90s as the founder of the publishing software giant Quark.
But in 2000, he moved to full-time philanthropy.
Gill favors giving to main-stream charities like the Denver Aquarium. He ties the money to so-called "non-discrimination" policies and establishes himself as a community pillar.
But it's in the area of politics where his giving is starting to get the most attention.
Earll says, "His strategy is to go after the young, up-and-coming conservative, to knock them out early and to send a message of intimidation and fear to other conservatives."
Gill's giving to candidates and causes began in 2000. According to Atlantic Monthly, it started with $300,000, then $800,000 in '02 -- and a whopping $5 million in '04.
But unlike so many other big-time political donors, Gill focuses on state and local races--believing public policy starts from the ground up.
The 'Gill Factor' in Action
One of Gill's 2004 targets was Ray Martinez of Fort Collins, Colorado.
As the three-time Republican mayor of this Republican leaning area, Martinez thought he had a great shot at winning a state senate seat. Martinez told CBN News "the odds looked very good. The polling we saw was very favorable."
But in the last few weeks of the campaign, Martinez got hit with an avalanche of media attacking his personal character and pro-life stance.
"We didn't know who was funding it," Martinez said. "We heard rumors of their names, but we could never find their names and we couldn't expose those because they were buried in a barrage of paperwork."
Martinez had raised over $300,000 - more than enough he thought to win Fort Collins. But several published reports show Gill and various associates had poured close to $1 million into the race through '527' political organizations.
By taking out Martinez and other Republicans, Gill helped Democrats seize control of Colorado's statehouse for the first time in 30 years.
The result? A slew of gay-friendly laws that redefine the family in Colorado.
The Payoff
Today, pro-family lawmakers in the Rocky Mountain state say the "Gill factor" is impossible to ignore.
State representative and Minority Whip Cory Gardner says "it puts extreme pressure on people who are trying to make a living at work and trying to raise money for a campaign who don't have deep pockets."
In 2005, Gill started the Gill Action Fund. The fund's mission is "securing equal opportunity for all people, regardless of sexual orientation or gender expression."
The next year, the fund's success rocked the political world. According to several published reports, it orchestrated donations worth $15 million to Gill's favored candidates and causes.
The payoff this time was wins in 50 of 70 targeted campaigns and power changes in the state chambers of Michigan, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Iowa.
Gill took out Iowa House Speaker Danny Carroll with one of his favorite stealth tactics: small checks from Gill and friends around the country. Carroll says he never knew what hit him until after the election when he checked campaign contributions for his opponent.
Out of the Closet
Today, Gill's no secret in the gay world. Out magazine just named him the fifth most influential gay in the country.
But Gill, his spokesperson, and big-time gay rights organizations all refused requests from CBN News to talk about Gill.
Perhaps it's because Gill fears the spotlight could hurt his current plans.
Gill did tell Atlantic Monthly that he has an even "larger target list in 2008."
CBN News found that the New York statehouse is one of those targets.
Last fall, according to the New York Attorney General's office, Gill gave $50,000 to the New York State Democratic Senate Campaign Committee.
Jason McGuire, a lobbyist with the New Yorker's Family Research Foundation, is well aware of Gill. He notes, "a few thousand dollars in a state race can make a huge difference."
Why did Gill pick New York? For starters, the Empire state teeters on the brink of legalizing same-sex marriage. The state assembly has already passed a bill and lawmakers agree: If Democrats can pick up one more Senate seat and take control of that chamber - same-sex marriage will pass.
McGuire says of Gill, "as far as his strategy, I think it's brilliant. He rightly recognizes that many of the battles are being fought at the state level and so by trying to tip just a few races at the state level he can make a huge impact."
A Little Discretion Goes a Long Way
Perhaps one of Gill's smartest strategies is staying behind the scenes. In Albany, CBN News had a hard time finding a lawmaker who knew his name, let alone anything about his influence.
Even the hard-charging Senate Majority leader Joseph Bruno who stands to lose the most knew little - at least before CBN News alerted him.
When we asked Bruno about Gill he said he was not "intimately aware" of him. But on hearing of his campaign contribution to the Senate Democrats, Bruno asserted, "we're not going to be influenced by pressure from people from out of state and especially just trying to jam and ram legislation through the legislature with dollars."
Across the country in Colorado, state Republican chair Dick Wadhams insists that pro-family issues can and should win the day. "There is," he says, "a myth in politics that the person who spends the most money always wins."
But for many pro-family advocates, Gill's multi-millions make it a David-and-Goliath fight. Matt Barber with Concerned Women for America says "we don't have an evangelical Christian Tim Gill that has stepped forward."
It's ironic that Gill himself uses spiritual language to define his detractors. In Atlantic Monthly he called his opponents "the forces of darkness."
It's a warning, say his observers.
Earll says Gill and associates "are not shy about saying that every dollar they spend is with the goal of 'punishing the wicked.' And the wicked are anyone who has a moral or biblical opposition or concern about homosexuality."
From their Denver office to Washington, D.C., Gill and his political co-horts are mapping the country, looking for the key '08 races that could flip statehouse chambers and ultimately - the way the country views sexuality and the family.
CFC Responds to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's Vow to Oppose the California Marriage Amendment
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07100.shtml
RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- During comments to a recent gathering of Log Cabin Republicans, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vowed to oppose a constitutional amendment upholding marriage as only between a man and woman, stating "...it will never happen...I think we need a constitutional amendment so that foreign-born citizens can run for president, but not about gay marriage," he added. "That's a total waste of time." The Log Cabin organization promotes the policies of its homosexual constituents.
"Governor Schwarzenegger's flip-flopping reveals his false regard for the will of the people of California," said Ron Prentice, CEO of the California Family Council. "More than 61% of California's voters defined legal marriage as only between a man and a woman with the passage of Proposition 22 in 2000. However, the Legislature's devotion to special interest groups forces citizens to pursue a constitutional amendment to protect marriage." California Family Council is a leader in the ProtectMarriage.com coalition, comprised of national, state, and local pro-family organizations. The coalition has gathered more than 1 million signatures to place the marriage initiative on the November election ballot.
Governor Schwarzenegger has twice vetoed legislation that attempted to legalize same- sex "marriage," acknowledging the voters' approval of Proposition 22. In fact, the 2005 veto message of Assembly Bill 849 (same-sex marriage) states "the Governor believes the matter should be determined...by court decision or another vote of the people of our state."
"We at the California Family Council are very disappointed and puzzled to learn that the Governor would take a position contrary to his own actions where he repeatedly vetoed same-sex marriage legislation," stated CFC's Legislative Director Everett Rice. "Without a constitutional amendment, this issue will continually be needlessly fought in the legislature and the courts. We are hopeful that the Governor will reconsider his stated position; nonetheless, we are resolute in our goal to preserve the institution of marriage and the passage of the initiative."
CFC is a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization whose aim is to protect and promote Judeo-Christian principles in California's culture. CFC is a family policy council in association with Focus on the Family. www.californiafamily.org (951) 354-8362.
Judge Oks God License Plates
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/362192.aspx
A judge in Indiana has ruled in favor of "In God We Trust" license plates.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) had challenged the fairness of the plates because the state doesn't charge an extra fee for them.
The group believes that is unconstitutional.
But the judge says the God plates are like other standard issue plates.
More than 1.6 million Indiana motorists have chosen the plates since last year.
Kansas will also offer license plates with the same phrase on them, starting next year.
Awana Lifeline Prison Ministry Expands Nationally
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07101.shtml
STREAMWOOD, Ill. -- In a few weeks, Awana will expand its evangelism and discipleship program to seven prisons in the United States. For nearly five years, Awana has successfully partnered with Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola, once deemed the most violent prison in America.
Awana Lifeline is a four-part initiative, the best known of which is the annual Returning Hearts Celebration, a day when hundreds of boys and girls, most of which haven't seen their inmate fathers at Angola in at least a year, are reunited with them to enjoy crafts, pony rides, inflatable games, sporting events and a meal together in a carnival atmosphere.
"Returning Hearts is an important step toward reconciliation between inmates and their children. Anyone who has witnessed the joy of this day and the way it bonds families will never forget it," said Lyndon Azcuna, director of cross-cultural ministries for Awana.
Azcuna cited statistics that indicate the child of an incarcerated parent is seven times more likely to go to prison someday than his peers. "The goal is to develop these men into dads who are passionate about breaking the cycle of crime in their families," he said.
Two of the prisons where Awana is expanding its work, Avoyelles Correctional Center in Cottonport, La., and Hunt Correctional Center in Saint Gabriel, La., will hold Returning Hearts Celebrations May 3 and May 31, respectively.
Avoyelles, a medium security prison, has about 1,550 male inmates. Hunt is a maximum security institution with about 2,100 male inmates. Volunteers are needed for both events to help with chaperoning, transportation, games, food service and other tasks. The Malachi Dads program is scheduled to begin in May at San Quentin Prison.
The other Awana Lifeline initiatives are Malachi Dads, which offers spiritual, parental, vocational and educational training for inmates; the Awana Lifeline Church Program, which provides churches in urban neighborhoods with training to start Awana programs for the children of inmates in their areas; and the year- round Lifeline Handbook Program, which enables fathers and their children to work through Awana Bible curriculum in tandem and helps create a long- distance parent/child bond.
"Word has spread about the success of Awana Lifeline at Angola and the lives that have been changed. As a result, we have been asked to bring this same message of hope and reconciliation to other prisons," Azcuna said.
Awana Lifeline began in 2003 when Warden Burl Cain of Louisiana State Penitentiary, the largest maximum- security prison in the U.S., invited Awana Co-Founder Art Rorheim and President/CEO Jack Eggar to speak to the prison's fellowship of Christian men. What Rorheim and Eggar found was surprising and inspiring: The inmates wanted to see an evangelism and discipleship program established for their children. Shortly thereafter, the Awana Lifeline program was born.
About 730 children and nearly 200 guardians participated in last year's Returning Hearts Celebration at Angola, where a distant fence, wires and guard towers, along with uniformed security scattered throughout the grounds, were the only reminders that the event was taking place at a maximum security prison.
Awana is an international ministry that partners with parents and churches to raise kids to know love and serve God. Each week, more than a million kids are involved in Awana through 12,000 churches in the U.S. and in more than 110 countries. Awana is the only organization with fully integrated evangelism and discipleship programs for children from ages 2 to18 that actively involve parents, church leaders and mentors. In January, Awana launched Project Joseph, a national campaign designed to raise awareness of the moral and spiritual crisis among youth and to help kids, parents and churches work together to develop strong spiritual champions for Jesus Christ. For more information about Awana Lifeline, visit www.awana.org/lifeline.
Feds arrest ex-Picatinny worker as Israeli spy
http://www.dailyrecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080422/UPDATES01/80422026/0/ANNOUNCE
NEW YORK -- An 85-year-old former U.S. Army mechanical engineer was arrested Tuesday on charges he slipped classified documents about nuclear weapons to an employee of the Israeli Consulate who also received information from convicted Pentagon spy Jonathan Pollard, authorities announced.
Ben-ami Kadish was charged in U.S. District Court in Manhattan with four counts of conspiracy, including allegations that he disclosed U.S. national defense documents to Israel and acted as an agent of the Israeli government.
Prosecutors say Kadish, a U.S. citizen who worked at an Army base in New Jersey, took home classified documents for six years and let the Israeli photograph them in his basement. Those documents included information about nuclear weapons, a modified version of an F-15 fighter jet, and the U.S. Patriot missile air defense system.
Bruce Goldstein, a lawyer for Kadish, had no immediate comment. Calls requesting comment from the Israeli consulate in the U.S. were referred to Jerusalem, where Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Arye Mekel said: "We know nothing about it. We have nothing to say."
A criminal complaint said Kadish confessed to FBI agents on Sunday that he had given the Israeli between 50 and 100 classified documents and accepted no cash in return, only small gifts and occasional dinners for him and his family.
Kadish worked at the Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center at the Picatinny Arsenal in Dover, N.J. On numerous occasions between 1979 and 1985, the agent provided Kadish with lists of U.S. national defense classified documents he was interested in, according to the complaint. Kadish worked at the base from 1963 through 1990.
The complaint described a close relationship between the two men that continued beyond 1985, and included telephone and e-mail conversations exchanged as recently as Sunday.
The unidentified agent was described in the complaint as a one-time employee of Israeli Aircraft Industries, which since at least the late 1970s has been a defense manufacturing contractor for the Israeli government. The company is now known as Israeli Aerospace Industries.
From July 1980 through November 1985, the agent worked for the Israeli government as the consul for science affairs at the Israeli consulate in Manhattan.
The two men were introduced by Kadish's brother, who at one time worked with the agent at the manufacturing plant in Israel.
The research center where Kadish worked on the Army base housed a library of documents, including many with classified information related to U.S. national defense. From 1979 through 1985, Kadish signed out at least 35 classified documents, according to the complaint.
Kadish told the FBI that he knew that one restricted document he provided to the agent included atomic-related information and that he did not have the required clearance to borrow it, according to the complaint.
Prosecutors say the Israeli called Kadish on March 20 and told him to lie to federal law enforcement agents who were investigating possible espionage.
"Don't say anything. Let them say whatever they want. You didn't ... do anything. ... What happened 25 years ago? You didn't remember anything," the man allegedly told Kadish in Hebrew.
In addition to the spying counts, Kadish is charged with conspiring to hinder a communication with, and to make a materially false statement to, a law enforcement officer. Those charges stem from the March conversation.
The Israeli worker left the United States in November 1985 and has not returned, according to the complaint, which described him as the same Israeli to whom Pollard provided classified information.
Pollard, a former civilian intelligence analyst for the U.S. Navy, pleaded guilty to transferring military secrets to Israel while working at the Pentagon. He is serving a life sentence in a U.S. federal prison.
The United States, Israel's closest ally, provides about $2.2 billion a year in military assistance. In the last few years, the two nations have conducted tests to integrate the Israeli-made Arrow anti-ballistic missiles with the Patriot system to create a multilayered air defense system.
The U.S. deployed Patriot batteries in Israel in 1991, when Iraq fired 39 Scud missiles at Israel during the first Gulf war. The Arrow was jointly developed by Israel Aircraft Industries and Chicago-based Boeing Co. at a cost of more than $1 billion after the Patriots' failed to intercept many of the incoming Scuds. Some reports said Patriots missed them all.
Christian Killed for Practicing "Black Magic" in India
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07103.shtml
A Christian leader, Thakur Sing Bhil (55), was killed by his brother in Dhar district, Madhya Pradesh on April 3, according to an April 15 report from Compass Direct. Bhil was at home with his wife and son when his brother, Mangar Singh, entered their house in a drunken rage and shot an arrow in his chest at close range, killing him instantly.
According to Bhil's wife, Singh thought that his brother's Christian faith was "black magic" that caused his teenage daughter's death three months ago from an illness. Bhil had reportedly faced opposition from his relatives since converting to Christianity two years ago.
Pray for Bhil's wife, son and daughter-in-law as they mourn for him. Pray that they will rely on the Lord's strength and not on their own. Pray that Christ will be exalted through this tragedy and that people in this area will continue to be drawn to Him (Phil. 1:20).
For more information on the persecution of Christians in India, go to www.persecution.net/country/india.htm.
Diplomatic Efforts Intensify After S.C. Pastor is Sentenced in Russia for Smuggling Bullets
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,352203,00.html
WASHINGTON — Efforts to help free an American pastor sentenced to more than three years in prison by a Russian court for smuggling in a box of hunting ammo attracted renewed attention Tuesday as Washington officials added their diplomatic heft to the cause.
The battle had been playing largely outside of the spotlight as negotiators try to get Pastor Phillip Miles, of Conway, S.C., released for time served following three months in jail for bringing ammunition into the country back in late January.
The diplomatic effort is now being waged on many fronts. FOX News has learned that South Carolina's two senators have been quietly working with the State Department, the Russian Embassy and other Russian officials to secure Miles' release.
One senior Senate GOP aide added that the diplomatic endeavor "extends to the highest levels of the State Department, all the way to the top," suggesting Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is in on the details.
As reported by FOXNews.com on Monday, Miles began his journey in January by bringing a gift to a friend, Eduard Grabovenko, a Russian minister and an avid hunter. Miles brought along a box of .300-caliber rounds for a new Winchester rifle, ammunition that is very expensive in the former Soviet Union.
According to his attorney and family spokesman, Dominic Starr, the pastor, who leads an annual missionary trip to Russia to speak at churches and visit church-backed orphanages and rehab facilities, declared the munitions to U.S. authorities when he left Myrtle Beach International Airport. He was cleared for the flight.
However, at the Moscow airport, where Starr says no signage in English exists to indicate that a separate declaration must be made to customs officials, an airport scanner picked up on the box.
According to Starr, who has been a member of the pastor's church for eight years, Miles explained why he was carrying the offending cargo, and officials appeared to understand, though they confiscated the gift, telling Miles he had broken the law.
The officials then stamped his passport and visa and sent him on his way. But upon returning to the airport on Feb. 3, Russian customs officials detained Miles, who has remained imprisoned since.
"We don't know why, and we may never know why" he was detained, Starr told FOX News.
Those who have followed the case say the expectation was that Miles would be found guilty of a misdemeanor illegal possession charge rather than the felony smuggling charge, which usually carries a penalty of three to sevens years.
Sen Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., himself a military lawyer, said he has been working very closely with Russian Duma ministers he knows well through years of meetings together at an annual defense industry conference in Munich, Germany. Amb. Nick Burns, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, the State Department's third highest-ranking official, has also been intimately involved in working with his Russian counterparts, Graham said.
Starr said he did not know of Rice's involvement, but Burns has remained in touch with Miles' wife, Lynn.
According to Graham, Burns is scheduled to meet with Miles Wednesday, and U.S. embassy officials in Moscow have met with the pastor daily. Graham has been in contact with Miles' family, as well, and said the reverend has had "some health problems," adding to concerns about his being held much longer.
The controversy has been simmering beneath the surface,, according to two congressional sources, largely because U.S. officials have not wanted to "back Russia into a corner."
In fact, a spokesman for South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint, a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, would only confirm that the Republican senator's office "has been active and working with the State Department and the Russian Embassy."
Graham said of the low-key effort: "It's clear what he did was wrong. We're trying to do this as quietly as we can. This is a time to ask for forgiveness, not to make demands. I personally think the sentence is out of line, but at the end of the day, the law was violated and there's some procedures available in the Russian judicial system and political system that can provide some relief."
Graham has a telephone call scheduled for Wednesday morning to speak to Russia's Deputy Prime Minister, Sergei Ivanov, a former defense minister whom Graham calls "a friend, though we don't agree on a lot of things." They, too, met at the Munich conference.
"I'm cautiously optimistic we'll resolve this within the next month," he said.
Starr is working closely with Miles' attorney in Russia, Vladimir Ryakhovsky, and the two will craft an appeal as soon as they receive the court transcript of the Monday trial, something Starr expects "within a couple days."
The appeals process happens quickly in Russia, according to Starr. Oral arguments are scheduled within 30 days of a written appeal being received; the written appeal must be received within 10 days of the ruling being issued in writing. According to Russian court procedure, the judge rules from the bench; a court reporter takes down the ruling and transcribes it into writing. This is the official document on which the appeal is based and where the judge sets out her reasoning for the ruling).
Starr said the appeal will focus on Miles' intent, as he believes the judge did not consider this in Monday's trial. The attorney said the judge noted that Miles had traveled to Russia before and he should have known the customs laws, but Starr noted that the judge stated in her ruling that the pastor has a clean record, was only bringing a gift and that he is well-regarded in the U.S..
Numerous notorized letters were sent on Miles' behalf from the U.S., including the chief prosecutor in South Carolina.
"Ignorance of the law is no defense," Graham conceded, but Starr noted that Miles wasn't smuggling anything.
One other item on which the appeal will focus is the fact that customs officials let Miles into the country and chose to detain him only when he was leaving. "The whole issue under their smuggling law is that you arrest the person on entry into the country.
Meanwhile, Starr said Miles' family and church community is doing well, sustaining themselves on "a lot of prayer."
"His wife's spirits are up. She's confident it's going to work out in the end. It's all going to work out for something good," he said.
Uygur Christian's Trial for Appeal Set for This Week -- Labor Camp Abusive Condition Worries Family Members
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07099.shtml
XINJIANG -- CAA has learned the first trial regarding a Uygur House Church Christian, Wusiman Yiming's appeal will be held at Kashi People's Court on April 16 by Judges from Hetian city, Xinjiang. In September of 2007, Wusiman Yiming was sentenced to criminal detention "for the crime of divulging State secrets" by the State Security Bureau of Southern Xinjiang Hetian City. He was sentenced last November to two years re-education through labor by the Re-education Labor Committee of Hetian City.
Beijing attorney Zhang Kai was hired by the family to file for the appeal, which was finally approved on March 20, 2008. On March 23, 2008 Wusiman Yiming's wife, Nu Er Gu Li, traveled more than 300 miles to the Kashi detention centre from Hetian to relay the news of the reconsideration. She reported that Wusiman Yiming's situation is very bad, as he suffers from malnutrition and an obvious hand injury.
Due to the sensitivity of the case, only legal representatives will be allowed to attend the trial. Zhang Kai was originally barred from the court for not being able to speak the Uyghur language, fortunately, after several rounds of negotiations, the court allowed to let Zhang attend the trial with the accompaniment of a translator. Zhang has continually faced harassment by government officials and is now considering whether or not to continue with the case.
CAA will continue to monitor the situation, as well as that of Uygur Christian Alimujiang Yimiti, who may face execution in Xinjiang this year. Meanwhile we appeal to the Beijing government to investigate these cases, and to order the Xinjiang Government to stop the persecution and release these innocent Uygur Christians as soon as possible.
"Those who know brother Wusiman Yiming and Alimujiang all recognize they are patriotic Chinese citizens," said Bob Fu, "to accuse them as suspects of separatists or treason offenders is nothing but trumpeted up charges as a cover for pre-Olympic religious persecution against peaceful House Church believers among Chinese minorities."
To express your concern please contact:
Chinese Embassy in Washington DC
Address: 2201 Wisconsin Avenue, N.W., Washington D.C. 20007
Tel: (202) 338-6688, (202) 5889760
Fax: (202) 588-9760
Ship Carrying Weapons May Return to China
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/362174.aspx
HARARE, Zimbabwe - A shipment of weapons to Zimbabwe may be returned to China, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Tuesday, after the troubled southern African nation's neighbors prevented the cargo from being unloaded.
Cargo Could Be Used By Regime
The Chinese freighter arrived in South Africa last week, and human rights groups and others said they feared the mortar grenades and bullets onboard could be used by President Robert Mugabe's regime to clamp down on its opposition.
Zimbabwean church leaders issued a joint statement Tuesday calling for international intervention, saying people were being tortured, abducted and some murdered in a campaign against opposition supporters.
A South African group persuaded a judge to bar the weapons from transiting through the country to landlocked Zimbabwe, and the An Yue Jiang then sailed away from South Africa. Private groups and government officials in Mozambique, Angola and Namibia also objected to the weapons, though Namibia said the ship could refuel there if necessary.
"As far as I know, the carrier is now considering carrying back the cargo," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said.
Resistance to Offloading, Shipping Weapons
Although Jiang offered no details, the move appeared to indicate a backdown in the face of refusals by Zimbabwe's neighbors to allow the weapons to be offloaded and shipped through their territories.
The State Department said it had urged countries in southern Africa - notably South Africa, Mozambique, Angola and Namibia - not to allow the ship to dock or unload. It also said it had asked the Chinese government to recall the vessel and not to make further weapons shipments to Zimbabwe until the postelection crisis is resolved.
"Right now clearly is not the time that we would want to see anyone putting additional weapons or additional material into this system when the situation is so unsettled and when we have seen real and visible instances of abuses committed by the security forces," deputy spokesman Tom Casey told reporters.
"We're pleased to see that a number of countries in the region. have decided not to let this ship either dock or offload," he said. Casey added that China had been encouraged in a message delivered by U.S. diplomats in Beijing "to halt this shipment" and "to refrain from making additional shipments."
Zimbabwe Election 'Stolen'
Zimbabwe's government has refused to publish the results of the presidential election held more than three weeks ago, and the opposition says that is part of a ploy to steal the vote. There are reports of increasing violence against the opposition.
China is one of Zimbabwe's main trade partners and allies, and there is no international arms embargo against Zimbabwe. But China's relationship with Mugabe is often pointed to as an example of its willingness to deal with authoritarian regimes in order to secure commodities and markets in Africa.
Although China's global weapons exports are considered tiny in dollar terms, especially compared to the United States, Beijing is a principle exporter of cheap, simple small arms blamed for fueling violence in Sudan and other parts of Africa.
Patrick Craven, spokesman for the South African union congress that had helped lead the campaign against the ship, called it a "historic victory" that he hoped would encourage Zimbabweans and lead to more grassroots campaigns against Mugabe.
"So far the governments have clearly been lagging behind the people," Craven said. "We're hoping now they will wake up."
Nelson Chamisa, a spokesman for opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, said he was awaiting more details on the report the ship may be returning to China without offloading the weapons.
"It would be pleasing to the people of Zimbabwe to note that there has been solidarity on the continent to stop the arming of the (Mugabe) regime at the expense of the people," Chamisa said.
'We Should be Importing Food for the People'
"Instead of importing guns, we should be importing syringes, (AIDS medicine), books for kids. We should be importing food for the people," Chamisa said. "We are not at war. If anything we have to have a war against hunger, poverty, a lack of democracy, dictatorship."
But Mugabe's Deputy Information Minister Bright Matonga said his country had the right to acquire arms from legitimate sources.
"We are not a rebel country," he told The Associated Press.
Also Tuesday, Zimbabwean church leaders issued a joint statement calling for international intervention to help end the country's election crisis, saying people were being tortured, abducted and some murdered in a campaign against opposition supporters.
Church Leaders Calling for Announcement of Election Results
The leaders of all church denominations in Zimbabwe also called for the immediate announcement of results from the March 29 presidential election.
Chamisa, the opposition spokesman, said he had visited a hospital in southeastern Zimbabwe Monday and seen a pregnant woman who had been stabbed. He said he also saw an 85-year-old women whose legs had been broken. He attributed both cases to postelection violence.
Mugabe's officials, though, said such reports could not be confirmed, and said that if there had been postelection violence, the opposition might have been to blame.
"They are saying that we are sponsoring acts of politically motivated violence and anyone will be forgiven for thinking that they are the ones who are fomenting genocide in Zimbabwe," the state-owned Herald newspaper quoted the justice minister, Patrick Chinamasa, as telling reporters Monday.
For the first time in Mugabe's 28-year rule, the opposition defeated his ruling ZANU-PF party in the first count of last month's parliamentary vote.
But electoral officials began recounting ballots Saturday for 23 legislative seats, most won by opposition candidates, and the ZANU-PF party needs just nine seats to reclaim a majority. The state-run Herald newspaper reported Monday that officials need longer than the three days originally planned and could take all week.
Food Prices Squeeze Families, Food Banks
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/356724.aspx
American families, already pinched by soaring energy costs, are taking another big hit to their household budgets as food prices rise at the fastest rate in a decade.
For Karen Sweeney, buying food for her family of five has always been costly. But with food prices going up, feeding her family has become even more of a challenge.
"Our grocery bill has gone up about $100 a month," Sweeney told CBN News.
Sticker Shock
Record-high energy, corn and wheat prices in the past year have led to sticker shock for most people in the grocery aisles.
Ground beef, milk, chicken, apples, tomatoes, lettuce, coffee and orange juice are among the staples that cost more these days, according to the Federal Bureau of Labor.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports overall food prices rose nearly five percent last year. That means a carton of Grade A, large eggs will set you back $2.17. That's an increase of nearly a one dollar since February of 2006. Milk prices have also increased 26 percent.
"I'm having to travel a little bit further on milk for a cheaper price," Sweeney explained. "I buy more at a time, so I don't have to make the extra trip as often."
Sweeney has been successful in finding several ways to trim the fat from her food budget. CBN News asked her how she is saving money by baking her own bread.
"I bake bread about every four days," she said. "I make four loaves and we store them. It's healthier for us and more cost effective. It's roughly around $1.00 to $1.25 per loaf of whole grain bread," she continued.
More Turn to Food Banks
As food prices continue to rise, more and more people are turning to local food banks to help feed their families.
"Some people just don't have the money to put out for food and what it is costing in this day and time," said Gene Wiggins, a food bank client.
Lolethia Jones is a volunteer at her church's food pantry, which receives groceries from the local food bank.
"You have a husband and wife working, but the work is reduced. And when you have three and four children and you're working part time and your husband's hours have been cut short, there's a real need," she told CBN News. "The vegetables and fresh produce, and the canned goods and the bread - can't leave the bread out - it's just been a blessing to them."
America's Harvest, the nation's food bank network, distributes nearly two billion pounds of food and grocery products to food banks across the country. Its client load increased by 20 percent in the fourth quarter of last year.
Clark Mandigo is the Chief Operation Officer of the Food Bank of Southeastern Virginia.
"This past year, we saw a significant increase," Mandigo said. "A lot of that had to do with gas prices, which affect everything on down the line. This year we've seen the number of requests go up, because those prices continue to rise and folks are having a harder time. A lot of people we were not seeing before are coming to food pantries and our partner agencies," he explained.
Food banks all over the country are feeling the pinch.
"We are having to purchase more food," Mandigo said. "That is something every food bank is faced with now, because of the dwindling supply of donated goods."
Some industry observers say higher food prices are here to stay. If so, consumers won't be the only ones needing help with food.
"We're going to have to get very creative with how we feed not only our community, but the world as well," Mandigo said. "It is going to be a long process for all of us."
Getting Hot Over Global Warming
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/361462.aspx
WASHINGTON -- As we come to yet another Earth Day (Tuesday, April 22) one of the main debates is whether global warming is a global catastrophe racing towards us, or a scare that may cost us trillions of dollars in unnecessary costs fighting it.
Fact - or Science Fiction?
Several hundred people gathered on Capitol Hill this Monday at an event sponsored by Americans for Prosperity or AFP. It was for those who harbor any doubts that the global warming scare is fact.
"There clearly is not a scientific consensus," Event organizer AFP's Annie Patnaude told CBN News,
But Al Gore in his Oscar-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth asserted that serious scientists all believe in man-caused global warming.
He talked about a study of 928 articles written on the topic in a leading scientific journal.
He said "You know the number of those who disagreed with the scientific consensus that we're causing global warming and it's a serious problem? Out of the 928 - zero."
Still, there is a fight about whether the world's even getting warmer. Former European Parliament official Richard North and journalist Christopher Booker have written a book about scares like global warming titled "Scared to Death."
North stated, "We have a policy line trying to reduce global warming when the reality is for 10 years we've had no warming."
But Dan Cronin of the Environmental Defense Fund said, "Nine of the 10 hottest years on record have happened since 1995."
A Global 'Warning'
If global warming is happening at the rates asserted by Gore and like-minded people, his documentary and others paint a dire picture of mass melting at the poles someday flooding Earth's coasts.
This line is from the History Channel's "A Global Warning?" -- "The ice sheets will melt and many of the planet's coastal cities could be under four feet of water by the year 2100."
Gore said the wild weather we're seeing today will go even more haywire, causing "all kinds of catastrophes like a nature hike through the Book of Revelations."
Cronin of the Environmental Defense Fund sees global warming causing horrible costs in a number of ways.
"Increased spread of diseases, increased rates of asthma.when you do have storms, they're going to be much stronger, much more violent.it's going to dramatically affect precipitation levels, which is key to farmers," Cronin said.
The documentary "A Global Warning?" foresees the continued killing off of some 5,000 species a year, as has been happening for awhile now.
As the narrator put it, "Some scientists believe another mass extinction is already underway: an apocalypse caused by human activity."
He also spoke of millions of refugees fleeing drought and famine in some countries, huge flooding that's wiped other countries off the map.
"Many fear the mass exodus will trigger wars with nations battling for what little land and resources are left," he said.
The Real Cost of the Warming Debate
But the Capitol Hill event sponsored by Americans for Prosperity was an opportunity for the global warming doubters to ask, "Is this scare real? What will fighting it cost?"
It was called the Hot Air Tour kick-off, and AFP will use a real hot air balloon as a focal point in a number of American cities to rally around and protest the possible costs of what AFP calls "global warming hysteria."
Why a hot air balloon? As organizer Patnaude said, "Americans deserve to know the truth, the real cost of all the hot air in this debate."
Author Christopher Booker said the acknowledged expert on global warming costs is Yale professor William Nordhaus, who has added up the numbers. Booker stated, "If all Al Gore's recommendations in that notorious movie were implemented, Nordhaus came out with a figure of $34 trillion."
The Congressional Budget Office did the numbers on the main anti-global warming bill the Senate's considering, the Lieberman-Warner bill.
"They actually costed that out as an over trillion dollar tax hike," Patnaude stated.
And consumers will be paying more out in the market.
Patnaude said, "A recent study by the American Council on Capital Formation revealed that by 2030 we could be looking at a 144 percent increase in gasoline costs."
But the Environmental Defense Fund's Cronin has his own number that he said came from an independent study done at the Massachusetts Institute for Technology, which figured the cost to fight global warming will be just $20 a year for the average American family.
Cronin opined, "$20 to avoid the flooding, to avoid the drought, to avoid all the problems we could face with global warming is I think something most Americans are happily willing to pay."
But Patnaude said the cost will be more than just financial. For instance, she said, "The California Energy Commission recently actually proposed putting a radio control in home thermostats so that the state could insure that individuals were not using too much energy. The fact that this proposal was even suggested is absolutely outrageous."
The Benefit of Global Warming
North warned those trying to quell global warming could actually be fighting a good thing. He stated, "Warming periods have always coincided with maximum prosperity."
North and Booker both asserted food grows better in warmer times. With the world for the first time in memory now consuming in a year all the food it can grow in a year, North stated, "If we actually don't get global warming, the world is in very, very serious trouble."
Cronin said that theory is full of holes. "You're going to have long periods of drought where it doesn't rain at all and plants don't get the water they need to grow," he said.
As bigger, more violent storms strike the hard, dry ground, Cronin said, "Because the water won't be able to seep into the ground, the ground won't be able to absorb it, plants won't get the nutrients they need and a lot of them will be washed away by the flooding. So you're going to see crop levels diminish because of that."
Cronin asserted if he's right about global warming and opponents are wrong, "There's going to be a lot more, stronger hurricanes, there's going to be a lot of farmers hurt by drought, there's going to be a lot of public health problems. I don't think it's something we can gamble on."
North and Booker smile all this away, saying global warming is caused by scientific confusion and it will likely be a short-term scare. As Booker put it, "Now the joy of most of the scares we've written about is that they've gone right through the cycle to the point where people have seen that there was a confusion."
These British authors told CBN News that it reminds them of the Y2K scare of 1999.
Booker recalled, "Media, businessmen, politicians, all saying that it's going to cost $300 billion to fix, and otherwise airliners would plunge from the sky and cities would be turned into havoc. Dead on midnight between 1999 and 2000 the scare suddenly was pricked like a balloon."
But Cronin said even if everyone goes all out to fight global warming, and it turns out they hugely over-reacted, they'll still be happy.
He paraphrased former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who said people in such a case would look back and say, "We've created new industries with new jobs, we've created biofuels and we've helped break our addiction to foreign oil, and we've left our kids a cleaner planet. Those are all pretty good things."
Jason Beghe: Scientology a 'Con'
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,352069,00.html
When actor Jason Beghe finally explained Scientology to pal David Duchovny, they fell down laughing.
This is one of the many revelations that come out of Beghe’s seven-part video with Mark Bunker on vimeo.com.
Last week, we brought you actor Jason Beghe’s stunning statements about leaving Scientology. They were part of a three-minute teaser video. After 13 years and a million bucks, Beghe finally decided the cult was “dangerous” and left. By that time, he was estranged from family and friends.
Now Jason’s full video interview with Bunker is available at vimeo.com. And this is what he says: The Scientology process of getting clear is, in Jason’s words, a con.
“You believe it, you invest your time and money.” It’s the getting out that’s painful, Jason says, because people don’t want to believe they’ve been conned. “You can’t be a fool, that’s too much to confront.”
But it’s the story about Duchovny, his childhood friend, that really stands out.
“In ninth grade I met this kid, my best friend. ... He came to my class and I said, ‘You and I are going to be friends.’ [That’s] David Duchovny. My best friend. Our relationship was aversely affected [by being in Scientology]. He was very cool but he wasn’t into it. I think his wife … I perceived that she [didn’t like it]. And they were right. He was called a 1-1-SP. It affected our relationship.
“One of the first people I went to see [when I left Scientology] was David. I went over to his house, and we were walking around. We talked about it a little bit. He doesn’t watch 'South Park' and doesn’t know about all this stuff. I explained OT to him,” Beghe said of the high level you can pay to attain in the sect.
“I started explaining to him about Xenu and the loyal officers” — a basic story from L. Ron Hubbard’s science fiction. “I couldn’t get a third of the way through the story, and we had our faces on the floor. We were laughing so hard. I mean you couldn’t even talk. It’s so retarded.”
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