4.4.08
Watchman Report 4/4/08
INSANITY!--Clinton Says She Will Defend Gay Rights
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/351054.aspx
WASHINGTON - Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said she would defend gay rights as president and eliminate disparities for same-sex couples in federal law, including immigration and tax policy.
Clinton said states such as New Jersey and Massachusetts are extending rights to gay couples "and the federal government should recognize that and should extend the same access to federal benefits across the board. I will very much work to achieve that."
Clinton's comments came in an interview with the Philadelphia Gay News that was posted on its Web site Thursday.
Clinton said she and her husband have many gay friends that they socialize with when they get the chance. "I've got friends, literally, around the country that I'm close to. It's part of my life," she said.
She said that when they ask her why they can't get married, she tells them marriage is a state law. She said that fact helped defeat a constitutional amendment to prohibit same-sex weddings that she said would "enshrine discrimination in the Constitution."
"States are really beginning seriously to deal with the whole range of options, including marriage, both under their own state constitutions and under the legislative approach," she said. "I anticipate that there will be a very concerted amount of effort in the next couple of years that will move this important issue forward and different states will take different approaches as they did with marriage over many years and you will see an evolution over time."
Clinton said she opposes a measure that would ban gay marriage in Pennsylvania.
"I would be very distressed if Pennsylvania were to adopt that kind of mean-spirited referendum and I hope it won't happen," she said.
Clinton's Democratic rival Barack Obama and Republican John McCain declined the newspaper's invitation for an interview. The paper criticized Obama and highlighted his refusal to talk by leaving a blank space on the front page where his interview would have appeared.
Clinton also said she would:
- Eliminate her husband's policy of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" that prevents gays from serving openly in the military. Asked if she could do so by a signing order connected to a military appropriations bill, Clinton said she didn't think that is possible but she would look into it and do it if it were legal.
- Be "very strongly outspoken" against foreign governments that execute gays and use financial assistance and other leverage to prevent the killings.
- Support federal domestic partner legislation to extend rights to all same-sex couples.
- Support services for gay youth, including guidance for schools about the discrimination they face.
- Continue to support gay pride celebrations, to the extent that security would allow. "I don't think the Secret Service let Bill walk in a parade when he became president," she said.
Straight or Gay? Court Says Web Site Can't Ask
http://www.newsmax.com/us/gay_court_web_site/2008/04/03/85351.html
SAN FRANCISCO -- A roommate-finding site cannot require users to disclose their sexual orientation, a U.S. appeals court ruled on Thursday, in the latest skirmish over whether anti-discrimination rules apply to the Web.
The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said Roommates.com, which obliges users to list their sexual orientation, was different than Internet sites where people can volunteer or withhold personal information.
To inquire electronically about sexual orientation would not be different from asking people in person or by telephone if they were black or Jewish before conducting business, the panel said in an 8-3 ruling that partly overturns a lower federal court decision.
"If such screening is prohibited when practiced in person or by telephone, we see no reason why Congress would have wanted to make it lawful to profit from it online," 9th Circuit chief judge Alex Kozinski wrote. "Not only does Roommate ask these questions, Roommate makes answering the discriminatory questions a condition of doing business."
Roommates.com says it offers more than 100,000 rental listings on its site across the United States and is owned by Roommate.com LLC.
The court contrasted such requests for information with online search engines such as Google, which could allow people to search for terms such as "white roommate."
'CLOSE CASES'
"Web sites are complicated enterprises, and there will always be close cases where a clever lawyer could argue that something the Web site operator did encouraged the illegality," Kozinski wrote. "Such close cases, we believe, must be resolved in favor of immunity."
"Where it is very clear that the Web site directly participates in developing the alleged illegality -- as it is clear here with respect to Roommate's questions, answers and the resulting profile pages -- immunity will be lost."
A Roommates.com section allowing users to add additional comments of their choosing is immune from liability as outlined in the 1996 Communications Decency Act, the San Francisco-based court found.
Congress "didn't intend to prevent the enforcement of all laws online," the court said. "Rather, it sought to encourage interactive computer services that provide users neutral tools to post content online to police that content without fear that ... they would become liable for every single message posted by third parties on their Web site," it said.
Three judges dissented, saying the court was creating a dangerous precedent and future confusion for Internet firms.
"The majority's unprecedented expansion of liability for Internet service providers threatens to chill the robust development of the Internet that Congress envisioned," Judge Margaret McKeown wrote.
Roommates.com "should be afforded no less protection than Google, Yahoo, or other search engines."
The Fair Housing Council of San Fernando Valley and the Fair Housing Council of San Diego filed suit against the Web site, claiming it violated the Fair Housing Act and various state laws.
NATO OKs Bush's Missile Defense Plan
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/350612.aspx
NATO endorsed President Bush's plan to build a missile defense system in Europe, but decided not to put Ukraine and Georgia on track to join the alliance.
Bush's national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, said the President will make a new pitch for Ukraine and Georgia before he leaves office in January.
"NATO's door must remain open to other nations in Europe that share our love for liberty and demonstrate a commitment to reform and seek to strengthen their ties with the trans-Atlantic community," Bush said in brief remarks at an alliance meeting. "We must give other nations seeking membership a full and fair hearing."
The President expressed regret that NATO also declined to offer full membership at this meeting to Macedonia. The invitation was blocked by Greece, which says the country's name implies a territorial claim to its northern region, also called Macedonia. Albania and Croatia were invited to join the alliance, now currently at 26 members.
Progress on missile defense was a boost for Bush from the summit. Russia has strongly opposed the plan.
The proposal also advanced with Czech officials announcing an agreement to install a missile tracking site for the system in their country.
NATO leaders were adopting a communique stating that "ballistic missile proliferation poses an increasing threat to allied forces, territory, and populations." It also will recognize "the substantial contribution to the protection of allies ... to be provided by the U.S.-led system," according to senior American officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of the statement's release.
The statement calls on all NATO members to explore ways in which the planned U.S. project, to be based in Poland and the Czech Republic, can be linked with future missile shields elsewhere.
Significantly, the document also calls on Russia to drop its objections to the system and to accept U.S. and NATO offers to cooperate on building it, the officials said.
The backing from NATO and the announcement with the Czechs provides Bush with a powerful leg up in his negotiations with Moscow over the issue.
The plan calls for 10 interceptor missiles based in Poland and a tracking radar site in the Czech Republic.
White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives to Host Conferences in Rwanda and Zambia
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07037.shtml
WASHINGTON -- Next week, the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives will host two White House Conferences in Africa on March 31 and April 4, 2008, highlighting the growing leadership of faith-based and community organizations as partners in health initiatives and international social enterprise. Hosted by Director Jay Hein, accompanied by Admiral Timothy Ziemer, U. S. Malaria Coordinator, these Conferences exploring how the vision for President Bush's Faith-Based and Community Initiative is applied through international initiatives to help Africans more effectively serve their neighbors in need.
In Kigali, Rwanda, on March 31, a White House Conference on Public-Private Partnerships and Economic Development will bring together public and private sector U.S. and African leaders, including His Excellency Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda and best-selling author Rev. Rick Warren, to discuss how governments, private business, non-government organizations, and faith and community-based groups partner to solve problems and build economic opportunity.
In Lusaka, Zambia, on April 4, a White House Conference on African Health Initiatives will also assemble public and private sector U.S. and African leaders, including First Lady of Zambia Maureen Mwanawasa, to discuss the crucial role of faith and community-based organizations to ensure the success of initiatives like the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the President's Malaria Initiative (PMI). Both conferences will highlight partnership opportunities, showcase best practices, and provide training on capacity building and sustainability strategies.
WHO:
Jay Hein, Director, White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives
WHAT:
Interview Opportunities regarding the President's Malaria Initiative and Faith-Based and Community Partnerships in Africa
WHEN:
Various times while in Rwanda and Zambia Sunday, March 30 through Sunday, April 6, 2008
Please contact the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives at 202-456-6708 if you are interested in scheduling an interview with Jay Hein while he is traveling or when he returns.
For more information on the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives Africa Conferences, visit www.whitehouse.gov/government/fbci/.
Abortion Guidelines Shouldn't Worry Docs
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/350779.aspx
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists told CBN News on Thursday that doctors who choose not to perform or refer abortions don't need to worry about that issue affecting their certification.
Wednesday, CBN News reported on new ethical guidelines on abortion that could jepoardize certification for obstetricians and gynecologists.
On March 14, the Bush administration called on the Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology to reject a policy that appeared to link the new guidelines to certification.
But today, the college released a March 26 letter to its fellows to CBN News.
The letter states that "an obstetrician-gynecologist's board certification is not determined or jeopardized by his or her adherence to this Opinion."
American Bible Society Commemorates the Fortieth Anniversary of the Death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07035.shtml
NEW YORK -- The following is a statement by the Rev. Dr. Paul Irwin, President, American Bible Society:
Two score years ago, the voice of a prophet was stilled in our land. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was killed in the midst of calling for America to live up to the true meaning of the concept that all people are created equal. His mission was based squarely on his faith in God and the message of the Bible that God loves all of us in this world, regardless of our ethnicity or where our ancestors lived before they came to these shores.
Dr. King's vision was of a kingdom of peace for all nations of the earth. As it says in the biblical book of Amos (5.24 Contemporary English Version), "Let justice and fairness flow like a river that never runs dry."
The American Bible Society has stood firmly against injustice and racism. And the legacy of agents from the Bible Society in the South, who brought Bibles to African Americans and their churches, serves as a reminder that each of us, in our own ways, can make a difference in enabling the empowerment of all. God's Word calls us to complete the work that needs to be done.
Because we are called to love God and love each other, the dream of Dr. King lives on and his voice continues to rally people to speak for justice, combat racism and to advocate for non-violent change. I pray that this solemn occasion of the death of Dr. King forty years ago will commit us to unity and understanding and to give thanks to God who is the source of the gifts of love, forgiveness, mercy and redemption.
Founded in 1816 and headquartered in New York City, the mission of the American Bible Society is to make the Bible available to every person in a language and format each can understand and afford, so that all people may experience its life-changing message. The American Bible Society Web site is www.Bibles.com.
Town to Display New Age Monument?
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/350979.aspx
The debate over freedom of speech and religion is heading to the U.S. Supreme Court again.
This time, the Court will decide whether a Utah city must allow a New Age religion that promotes pyramids, mummification, and sexual ecstasy to build a monument to its beliefs on public property.
The group, Summum, says if the Ten Commandments are allowed to be displayed in public, so should their monument.
Last year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit determined that the Salt Lake County government in Utah had created a forum by displaying the Ten Commandments, and by doing so, other forms of speech should be allowed.
Instead of allowing Summum to erect its monument, the city of Pleasant Grove removed the Ten Commandments monument.
According to their Web site, the Summum religion says they are "not interested in the removal of the Ten Commandments from government property. Rather, Summum wishes to erect its own monument next to the Ten Commandments. Summum wishes to exercise its right to freedom of speech."
Jay Sekulow with the American Center for Law and Justice says this case before the Supreme Court is extremely significant.
"We're delighted that the Supreme Court agreed to take this critical case," said Sekulow, whose group is representing Pleasant Grove.
The city will argue that "mayhem" would result if every city, county, or state is forced to allow "alternatives" to be set up alongside government-sponsored monuments.
"If you were to allow this kind of rationale, the government. Can you imagine if a group wanted to post a 'statue of tyranny'?" Sekulow asked.
Summum, a religion based on Gnostic Christianity and Egyptian customs, is considered a new age religion that started in 1975 by a former Mormon.
They claim to know the seven secrets of the universe, or the "Seven Aphorisms," that lead to personal ascension -- "psychokinesis" -- the idea that the mind is the universe, "correspondence," "vibration," "opposition," "rhythm," "cause and effect" and "gender." These are the tenets Summum wishes to memorialize in a public forum.
They also mummify followers when they die.
Wyo. Lawsuit Alleges Prison Mealtime Violates Muslim Inmates' Freedom of Religion
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,346291,00.html
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit Thursday claiming that a Wyoming State Penitentiary policy restricting prisoners' mealtimes violates the constitutional rights of two Muslim inmates.
The ACLU filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court on behalf of Joseph Miller and Hurie Purdiman Jr., two inmates serving time at the penitentiary in Rawlins.
At issue is an alleged "20-minute rule" requiring inmates to eat their meals within 20 minutes after the food is delivered to a cell or common dining area, the lawsuit said. The lawsuit seeks for the inmates to be exempted from the rule because it forces them to choose between eating and practicing their religion.
Miller and Purdiman claim that meals have arrived at the same time of day that they're practicing prayers according to their Muslim faith. On other occasions, meals arrived during a period of religious fasting and then were confiscated before the fast ended at sunset.
"If someone has started their prayer, unless they're willing to interrupt their prayer and leave at that moment, they forgo their meal because (the guards) won't go back and open their cell doors," said Jennifer Horvath, staff attorney for Wyoming Chapter of the ACLU. "It's not unreasonable to ask for some extra time to finish their meals. They have a right to practice their religion, and the prison has been treating it as a privilege."
The lawsuit names Robert Lampert, director of the Department of Corrections, and Michael Murphy, warden of the Wyoming State Penitentiary. It claims the prison's policy violates the First Amendment and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000.
Lampert said he hadn't seen the lawsuit and couldn't comment directly on its claims. But he said the prison has measures in place to accommodate inmates' religious or health needs.
He said trays and utensils are generally collected less than 30 minutes from when they were delivered to inmates so the dishes can be washed in time for the next meal.
"If an inmate has a medical reason that requires additional time to consume their meal, we take that into account, or if it's for a religious purpose, we accommodate those needs," Lampert said. "I think those issues are pretty well addressed through our policy, but I'll look and see what actual lawsuit alleges."
Horvath said Miller and Purdiman tried to resolve the issue by following the Department of Corrections grievance procedure. Negotiations stretching more than 18 months failed to bring a resolution, she said.
Purdiman is serving a six- to nine-year sentence for robbery, according to the prison's records department. Details on Miller's criminal record were not immediately available Thursday evening.
Call to halt spread of mosques
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/call.to.halt.spread.of.mosques/17672.htm
Former magistrate and regular commentator on Premier Christian Radio, Alison Ruoff, made a strong call in favour of halting the construction of new mosques as a way of protecting Christians freedoms in the UK.
"Halting the building of mosques in the United Kingdom is about preserving precious freedoms - both here and abroad," she told the station.
Ms Ruoff pointed to the severe persecution faced by Christians in majority-Muslim countries such as Indonesia and Pakistan where churches are being burned down and pastors and Christians murdered. “If people in those countries were to convert from Islam to Christianity, the punishment is death,” she said.
She added that the UK needed to hold onto its Christian freedoms.
"We need to look at what is going on in the UK. We are still a predominantly Christian country, that was hard won by people giving up their lives hundreds of years ago and we need to hold onto it,” she told the station.
"As a still predominantly Christian nation we must guard our hard won Christian freedoms dearly. Many Muslims have come to this country in search of just this and to escape the tyrannical oppression of living under Sharia law.”
She referred to the recent assertion by the Bishop of Rochester, the Pakistan-born Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, that some largely Muslim areas of Britain are turning into no-go areas for people of other faiths.
"Christian freedoms are priceless but if we allow more and more mosques to be built then we run the risk of creating purely Islamic areas which will surely become 'no-go' areas for a non-Muslim,” she said.
The debate over Islam’s place in British society flared up recently when the Archbishop of Canterbury suggested earlier in the year that the incorporation of some aspects of Sharia law into the British legal system was “unavoidable”.
Plans to build a giant mosque next to the site of the 2012 Olympic Games in London have also brought to the surface inter-religious tensions. The proposals, backed by the controversial Tablighi Jamaat group, have met strong opposition from a number of Christians, particularly the leader of the Christian People’s Alliance, Cllr Alan Craig.
The Councillor, who defended Bishop Nazir-Ali’s ‘no-go areas’ comments, has repeatedly raised concerns as part of his bid for London Mayor that the area around the mosque will become an enclave for Islamic extremists.
Ms Ruoff continued, "Struggling Christians in Islamic countries cannot understand our foolishness and indeed foolhardiness.
“They are under enormous opposition in Islamic countries and I believe that as a Christian nation we should be doing all we possibly can to help and protect them.
“It must start with the withholding of planning permission in this country. We have enough mosques already."
She warned, "If we don't withhold planning permission to build more mosques in the UK, these Islamic countries will have no reason to listen to our pleas to stop Christian persecution.
A Premier spokesperson urged Christians to listen to the whole interview before drawing any conclusions on Ms Ruoff’s comments.
"It's essential to hear all elements of this issue, and not immediately jump to the conclusion that Christians are calling for a blind nationwide ban on mosques,” the spokesperson said.
"I would ask that Alison Ruoff's opinions as broadcast on Premier Christian Radio are listened to in full before drawing any conclusions."
Ayatollahs’ Quest for Nuclear Weapons
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,346091,00.html
For the past seven years, the war on terrorism has been the focal point of U.S. foreign policy. Questions on how that policy should or could have been pursued arouse strident debate, but there is no disagreement about the urgency of the threat. Nor is there any dispute that the worst-case scenario would be a nuclear-armed state-sponsor of terrorism. So it is no surprise that there has been no let up in the international scrutiny of the Iranian regime, a documented state-sponsor of terror that candidly declares “nuclear capability is our undeniable right.” Of late, however, there have been questions about what the ayatollahs are doing, and when they are doing it.
CIA Director Michael Hayden on Sunday became the third major Bush administration official to assert that Iran has been pursuing a nuclear weapons program all along. Echoing statements made by President Bush and Vice President Cheney, Hayden told NBC's Meet the Press: “Why would the Iranians be willing to pay the international tariff they appear willing to pay for what they're doing now if they did not have, at a minimum… the desire to keep the option open to develop a nuclear weapon and, perhaps even more so, that they've already decided to do that?”
Critics were quick to point to December's National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), which declared with “high confidence” that “in fall 2003, Tehran halted its nuclear weapons program.” But the director of National Intelligence, Vice Adm. Mike McConnell, appeared to disavow the NIE conclusion in congressional testimony in early February. McConnell said the wording of an unclassified version of the Estimate released to the public had been careless. “So if I'd had until now to think about it, I probably would have changed a thing or two.”
Apparently, the Brits would have changed a thing or two, as well. On March 5, the British government joined in the fray. A senior British diplomat claimed there was no serious evidence that Iran's efforts to build a nuclear weapon had halted: "I haven't seen any intelligence that gives me even medium confidence that these programmes haven't resumed. It's an uncertain picture." His comments appeared to reflect the findings of an independent British assessment of intelligence on Iran's nuclear program, completed after the American assessment was published.
For one thing, the NIE's authors noted that in deciding whether Iran was in fact pursuing a nuclear weapons program, they did not consider the uranium conversion and enrichment activities Iran declared to be for “civilian purposes.” That is almost laughable. Tehran's entire modus operandi is concealment, via shell companies or “civilian” enrichment projects.
In a news conference in Brussels on February 20, Mohammad Mohaddessin, the Chairman of the NCRI's Foreign Affairs Committee, announced that in April 2007, the Iranian regime's nuclear project had entered a new phase. A command and control center, known as Mojdeh site, had been established to head up the drive to complete a nuclear bomb. Many of the activities at the site are disguised as part of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps'(IRGC) Malek Ashtar University.
Plenty of other information indicates that ayatollahs' regime has in fact expedited its nuclear weapons activities, and that the IRGC has assumed command of a much larger segment of the nuclear drive. As the NCRI revealed, the Mojdeh site in Tehran, houses a vast research and development facility where scientists are experimenting with neutron initiators and triggers for an atomic bomb; casting and machining of uranium metals; and researching fissile material needed for the production of a bomb, among others activities. At Khojir, a Defense Ministry site 72 miles southeast of Tehran, researchers are working on building a nuclear warhead. None of these activities is necessary for nuclear power generation. In his latest speech at the NATO leaders' summit in the Romanian capital on April 2nd, President Bush reiterated that "Iran is pursuing technology that could be used to produce nuclear weapons."
The reasons why become obvious in the context of the ayatollahs' overall domestic and foreign policies. On March 14, engineered parliamentary elections handed the reins of power to the most militant, suppressive faction. The politico-military faction represented by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps top brass and veteran commanders took control, as all pretences at “reformist vs. hardliners” were thrown out the window. The day after, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad described the vote as "safeguarding the right to acquire nuclear energy with exemplary prowess."
Meanwhile, on the western border with Iraq, intelligence reports reveal another escalation in the terrorist meddling of the ayatollahs, again spearheaded by the IRGC. Primarily carried out through the IRGC's notorious Qods Force, the political-military buildup by Tehran's mullahs is targeting not just the south, but the heart of Iraq, via a new command and control HQ at Kermanshah.
Last year, of course, the IRGC was “specially designated global terrorists” — the first time a branch of a national military has been deemed as such by the White House.
In this context, the IRGC's predominant role in the nuclear drive puts to rest any of Tehran's excuses about a “civilian” nuclear program. Its rise to unprecedented power in virtually all aspects of the regime does away with any pretences of civil society. The mullahs are building the bomb, as quickly as possible, as part of a broader militarization of their entire regime. Lacking domestic support (most seats were won by a vote of less than 10 percent of eligible voters, even according to inflated official figures), the clerical regime must bolster itself somehow. If Tehran joins the nuclear club, it will become a powerhouse in the region, making it much harder to discourage from international terrorism and domestic repression. A nuclear bomb will also bolster the morale of the hated IRGC, the key means to the repressive regime's staying power.
In a word, if they are not stopped, we are looking at a nuclear-armed state-sponsor of terrorism. That is a scary prospect. Washington needs to recognize this fact, with finality, and implement a shift in policy. The restrictions and embargoes currently in place are a good start, but Washington also needs to put the ayatollahs on notice that a nuclear-armed Tehran is not an acceptable option. The right policy would heighten international pressure and sanctions on the Iranian regime, while recognizing that there is deep, widespread popular hostility to the ayatollahs. The Rt. Hon. Lord David Charles Waddington, former home secretary of the United Kingdom under Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, wrote in the Washington Times this week that the U.S. would "do well to look at the MEK, which has the means and the will to bring about change in Iran, as a solution to this entire crisis."
Saudis, Turkey May Go Nuclear if Iran Does
http://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/Saudis_Turkey_Nuclear/2008/04/03/85136.html
WASHINGTON — Saudi Arabia most likely would develop nuclear weapons if Iran acquires them, according to a report to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
High-level American diplomats in Riyadh with excellent access to Saudi decision-makers said an Iranian nuclear weapon frightens the Saudis "to their core" and would compel the Saudis to seek nuclear weapons, the report said. The American diplomats were not identified.
Turkey also would come under pressure to follow suit if Iran builds nuclear weapons in the next decade, said the report prepared by a committee staff member after interviewing hundreds of individuals in Washington and the Middle East last July through December.
While Turkey and Iran do not see themselves as adversaries, Turkey believes a power balance between them is the primary reason for a peaceful relationship, the report said.
Egypt most likely would choose not to respond by pursuing its own nuclear weapons program, said the report prepared in late February and obtained Wednesday. The impact on relations with Israel and the United States were cited as the primary reasons.
A U.S. intelligence estimate late last year said Iran worked on nuclear weapons programs until 2003 before abandoning them. However, the intelligence analysts also reported Iran was continuing to enrich uranium, a key weapons component, and possessed the capacity to produce nuclear weapons if it decided to do so.
Sen. Richard G. Lugar, R-Ind., the senior Republican on the committee, directed staff member Bradley Bowman to conduct the study.
Among its conclusions, the report said demands for nuclear energy and for matching Iran's nuclear progress virtually guarantees that three or four Middle Eastern countries will generate nuclear power by 2025.
And this, in turn, will reduce the obstacles to acquiring nuclear weapons, the report said.
The spread of nuclear weapons in the Middle East could reduce regional security and endanger U.S. interests, the report said.
In the next two or three years, the United States must take steps to restore Arab and Turkish confidence in U.S. security guarantees, the report concluded.
Otherwise, it said, "the future Middle East landscape may include a number of nuclear-armed or nuclear weapons-capable states vying for influence in a notoriously unstable region."
Diplomats: Iran Assembling Centrifuges
http://www.newsmax.com/international/nuclear_iran/2008/04/03/85305.html
VIENNA, Austria -- Iran has assembled hundreds of advanced machines reflecting a possible intention to speed up uranium enrichment, diplomats have told The Associated Press.
One diplomat said more than 300 of the centrifuges have been linked up in two separate units in Iran's underground enrichment plant and a third was being assembled. He said the machines apparently are more advanced than the thousands already running underground, suggesting they could be the sophisticated IR-2 centrifuge that Tehran recently acknowledged testing.
But a senior diplomat said that while the new work appeared to include advanced centrifuges, they were not IR-2s. He added that it was unclear whether the machines were above or below ground.
The location is significant, since the aboveground site at Natanz is for experimental work and the underground facility is the working enrichment plant.
A third diplomat _ who like the other two closely follows Iran's nuclear program _ confirmed that Iran had started linking up advanced centrifuges in a configuration used for enrichment. But he said all remained above ground and none of the machines were running.
Uranium enrichment can produce both fuel for power plants and the fissile core of nuclear warheads. Tehran insists its nuclear program is intended only to produce energy, but there is growing international concern that it could lead to the development of weapons.
Two of the diplomats spoke to the AP earlier this week and the third Thursday. All are linked to the Vienna-based International Agency for Atomic Energy, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, but asked for anonymity because their information was confidential.
Their reports underlined Iran's determination to push ahead with its enrichment program despite U.N. Security Council sanctions. One of the diplomats said officials in Tehran would likely detail the new centrifuge work on April 8, which Iran has designated National Nuclear Technology Day.
Preliminary assembly is only a first step in the complex enrichment process; in comments to the AP earlier this year, Ali Ashgar Soltanieh, Iran's chief delegate to the IAEA, acknowledged that his country's uranium enrichment program was experiencing "ups and downs." It appeared to be the first time Iran admitted its enrichment activities were facing difficulties.
It was unclear whether the linkups of the more advanced centrifuges would ever be used to churn out enriched uranium or whether they were only experimental configurations.
"Something new is definitely going on," said former U.N. nuclear inspector David Albright, whose Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security tracks countries under nuclear suspicion.
Albright said that with information contradictory on the type of centrifuge, it was difficult to speculate on the significance of the new work.
In comments to the AP earlier this week, the first diplomat said two linkups or "cascades" of 176 centrifuges each had recently been assembled and a third was in the process of being put together.
The workhorse of Iran's enrichment program is the P-1 centrifuge which is run in cascades of 164 machines. But Iranian officials confirmed in February that they had started using the IR-2 centrifuge that can churn out enriched uranium at more than double the rate.
The February announcement was the first official confirmation by Tehran after officials at the IAEA reported that Iran was using 10 of the new IR-2 centrifuges to produce small amounts of enriched material.
Ten centrifuges are too few to produce enriched uranium in the quantities needed for an industrial-scale energy or weapons program and far below the 3,000 older P-1 centrifuges in Iran's underground enrichment plant in the central town of Natanz.
Although a U.S. intelligence summary late last year concluded that Tehran stopped working on direct nuclear weapons programs in 2003, enrichment is of concern because it can produce weapons grade uranium for the core of warheads.
The IAEA highlighted the "new-generation centrifuges" in its February report on Iran but did not provide details on their operation.
New Anti-Conversion Bill Passed in Rajasthan, India
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07038.shtml
On March 20, the governing Bharatiya Janata Party in Rajasthan state passed a new "anti-conversion" bill that has stricter provisions than the previous bill that was passed in 2006.
The new bill states that a society or trust found to be "contemplating" the use of money for converting people can have its registration canceled. Christians fear that this stipulation will provide the pretext for numerous complaints against Christian organizations.
The bill also dictates that any person who intends to convert must send a notice to the government at least 30 days in advance or face a fine of up to 1,000 rupees (CAD $25).
Christians Join to Pray for China
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/351008.aspx
Christian groups around the world are launching a global call to prayer for China during the Olympics.
The Religious Liberty Partnership and other groups, including Voice of the Martyr and Open Doors International, are taking part in the campaign they call "The Zurich Statement."
"These organizations see it as a historical occasion to pray for China," said Johan Candalin, Executive Director of World Evangelical Alliance's Religious Liberty Commission. "It's not a political project (but) purely a spiritual project."
The groups say they recognize China's potential as a force for peace, and their statement acknowledges improvements made in the country.
"There is still a very long way to go, and religious freedom is something very alien to many Christians in China. However, Christians all over the world have been praying for their Chinese family for many years, and I believe we are beginning to see the impact of those prayers today," Mervyn Thomas, Chairman of the RLP leadership team, said.
There are approximately 70 million Christians in China, where house church pastors say they need good leadership training.
"They even want to send out many young pastors to the U.S. or to Europe to get that academic theological training to be able to lead the growing church," Candalin explained.
China Criticized
Meanwhile, China is facing criticism after sentencing a civil rights activist who campaigned for religious freedom to prison for more than three years.
In the last month, more than 1,000 have been arrested or turned themselves in as a result of pro-Democracy rallies in the country.
China Slams Media Coverage of Tibet
http://www.newsmax.com/international/us_china_tibet_media/2008/04/03/85328.html
NEW YORK -- Chinese officials accused the Western media Thursday of misleading the public about Tibetan protests last month, complaining of "distorted reports and coverage."
The comments come amid widespread criticism of China's media restrictions during its crackdown on the largest anti-government protests in Tibet in almost two decades.
"The incident to a large degree has not been accurately covered or reported in the media here," Weilin Kuang, deputy consul-general of the Chinese consulate in New York, told reporters at a press conference.
"There have been some misleading reports and comments, there have been some distorted facts and wrong conclusions, wrong judgments," Kuang added.
Aside from a brief, tightly-managed government tour given to a group of Western journalists, foreign media has been banned from Tibet and some surrounding areas since the protests. At the same time, China has maintained its state control over news circulating within China.
Officials from the Chinese consulate in New York said Thursday that when security improved, journalists would be invited back. The Chinese government also announced that they hoped to reopen the region to tourists and media before May.
Kuang singled out CNN and British Broadcasting Corp., claiming that certain photos posted to the organizations' Web sites had been cropped purposely to make the Chinese crackdown after the protests last month appear worse than it was.
"People are angry _ not only people in China, but also some Chinese communities here in this country are very angry about CNN about their coverage of Tibet, and also BBC," said Kuang.
CNN insists it has reported impartially, and said in a statement last month that it refutes allegations that it "distorts its coverage of the events in Tibet to portray either side in a more favorable light."
In a blog by Jon Williams, the BBC's World News Editor, Williams acknowledged a mistake in one Tibet photo caption, but insisted that "to suggest that this is part of an orchestrated campaign is unfair. The BBC has no agenda _ our job is to report all sides of the story."
Chinese officials have put the death toll at 22 during the crackdown following the protests in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, but Tibetan exiles say nearly 140 people were killed.
Ben Stein's Controversial Film Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed Tops the Blogosphere
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07036.shtml
LOS ANGELES -- According to Technoranati's BlogPulse which surveys the hottest topics and sites in the world of blogs, a site featuring Ben Stein's controversial new film Expelled is the #1 blog on the net.
The web traffic spiked when P.Z. Meyers, a biology professor at the University of Minnesota, Morris, attempted to sneak into a private, invitation-only screening of Ben Stein's highly controversial upcoming movie, EXPELLED: No Intelligence Allowed (www.expelledthemovie.com). But Myers, who is an outspoken atheist and author of the science blog "Pharyngula" got caught and has used his blog to bitterly complain about not being allowed to see the film before its release.
Myers, who was interviewed in Expelled, has apparently been asking supporters to sneak into the private screenings which are being conducted by marketing company Motive Entertainment (www.motivemarketing.biz; which handled grassroots marketing for blockbusters The Passion of the Christ and Chronicles of Narnia) for various leaders as part of the grass roots marketing of the film.
When confronted at the screening by Myers' friend Richard Dawkins, a prominent atheist who is himself featured in the film, as to why Myers was "expelled" from the screening, producer Mark Mathis replied that the producers were eager for Myers to screen the film but only after he had paid $10 to watch it with the rest of America after it releases on April 18th.
Mathis saw rich irony in Myers' discontent with being "expelled" from Expelled: "It was amazing to see the reaction of Myers, Richard Dawkins and their friends when one of them wasn't allowed to screen a film. Yet these men applaud the fact that throughout the nation, professors are fired from their jobs and permanently excluded from their profession for questioning Darwinism."
"We can't wait for all Americans, including our friend P.Z. Myers, to see the film when it opens on April 18th," noted executive producer Logan Craft of Premise Media. "We'll even throw in some free popcorn for P.Z. if he'll tell us which theater he'll be attending."
"I hope PZ's experience has helped him see the light. He's distraught because he could not see a movie," noted Mathis. "What if he wasn't allowed to teach on a college campus or was denied tenure? Maybe he'll think twice before he starts demanding more professors be blacklisted and expelled simply because they question the adequacy of Darwin's theory."
Ben Stein's Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed opens nationwide on April 18th. Learn more at www.ExpelledTheMovie.com and www.GetExpelled.com.
Hybrid embryos cross the line, say Churches
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/hybrid.embryos.cross.the.line.say.churches/17670.htm
Churches have expressed their regret after researchers at the University of Newcastle announced this week that they had created human-animal hybrid embryos.
University of Newcastle researcher Lyle Armstrong was given the green light to create the embryos by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority in January, in a move that angered Catholics.
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales said in a statement on Wednesday, “It does seem extraordinary that the HFEA should have granted a license before there has been a full public and parliamentary debate.
“There must be a thorough public discussion about the serious ethical issues raised by the possibility of creating human-animal hybrid embryos.”
The Church of Scotland said in a statement on Wednesday, meanwhile, that it “regrets” the creation of the “admixed embryos”, which were generated by removing the nucleus of a cow egg and replacing it with human DNA.
In its 2006 and 2007 General Assemblies, the Church of Scotland stressed its opposition to the creation of animal-human embryos and instead urged the Government to encourage research into stem cells derived from adult tissues and placental cord blood, and to work to find therapeutic solutions which avoid embryo use.
The Church of Scotland also previously stated that the creation of human-animal hybrids is a “line which should not be crossed”. In light of their creation by the University of Newcastle, the Church added, “That this line appears to have been traversed is a matter of grave concern to the Church.”
John Burn, head of the Institute of Human Genetics at Newcastle University, defended the creation of the hybrid embryos, saying in a statement that they would “open the door to a better understanding of disease processes without having to use precious human eggs”.
Last month, the head of the Catholic Church in Scotland, Cardinal Keith O’Brien, faced fierce criticism after he likened research into the creation of hybrid embryos to “experiments of Frankenstein proportion”.
In his Easter sermon, the Cardinal also denounced the Human Embryology and Fertilisation Bill as a “monstrous attack on human rights, human dignity and human life”. According to a survey of 1,005 people conducted for the Catholic Church in Scotland, two-thirds of voters support the Cardinal’s position.
The Church of Scotland added that it was “especially regrettable” that the Bill, currently passing through Parliament, would enshrine research into human-animal embryos in the law books.
The Church also expressed its “unease” over what it believes is the misrepresentation of the debate over embryos as one of “scientists versus the church”.
“This false dichotomy, and the emotive terms sometimes deployed, are to be regretted,” it said.
Supporters claim that denying such experiments would delay cures for terminal illnesses. The Church dismissed such claims, however, as “irresponsible and unjustified”.
It concluded, “The Church welcomes vigorous and informed debate, and reiterates its view that all scientific endeavour must be properly ethically informed.”
Junk Science: Bush Beats Gore on Climate?
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,345969,00.html
George Bush appears to have beaten Al Gore again.
In the very same week that Gore launched a $300 million public relations campaign to convince Americans that "together we can solve the climate crisis," prominent climate alarmist Tom Wigley essentially endorsed President Bush’s approach to global warming while criticizing that of Gore’s co-Nobelist, the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC.
In an article entitled "Dangerous Assumptions" published in Nature on April 3, Wigley writes that the technology challenge presented by the goal of stabilizing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations "has been seriously underestimated by the IPCC, diverting attention from policies that could directly stimulate technological innovation."
Wigley, even though he is a lead author of the most recent IPCC report, describes that document as relying on "unrealistic" and "unachievable" CO2 emissions scenarios — even for the present decade. For the period 2000-2010, the IPCC assumes that energy and fossil fuel efficiency is increasing.
But Wigley points out that in recent years energy and fossil fuel efficiency have decreased, reversing the trend of previous decades. One reason for this phenomenon, says Wigley, is the economic transformation occurring in the world, particularly in Asia.
Whereas the IPCC assumes in its emissions scenarios that CO2 emissions in Asia are increasing by 2.6 percent to 4.8 percent annually, China’s emissions actually are increasing at a rate of 11 percent to 13 percent annually.
"Because of these dramatic changes in the global economy, it is likely that we have only just begun to experience the surge in global energy use associated with rapid development. Such trends are in stark contrast to the optimism of the near-future IPCC projections and seem unlikely to alter course soon," Wigley writes.
As a consequence, "enormous advances in energy technology will be needed to stabilize atmospheric CO2 concentrations at acceptable levels," he concludes. Wigley faults the IPCC for assuming these technological advances will occur spontaneously as opposed to creating the conditions for innovation to occur.
So between George Bush and Al Gore, whose approach to the climate controversy is more consistent with Wigley’s recommendation?
In "An Inconvenient Truth," Al Gore preached to us about downsizing our lifestyles. He wants us to take colder showers, hang our clothes outside to dry, avoid driving, use less heating and air conditioning and generally reduce our standard of living.
On his public relations campaign’s Web site, Gore urges the shuttering of coal-fired power plants, which provide 50 percent of U.S. electricity needs; the adoption of so-called "clean energy technologies" such as cost-inefficient solar and wind power and hybrid cars; energy efficiency, which only would reduce energy use by marginal amounts; and government mandates for not-ready-for-prime-time taxpayer-subsidized alternative energy sources.
In the "Clean Energy Economy" section of his Web site, Gore even calls for more sidewalks and bike paths — hardly a technological innovation that will provide measurably more energy with less emissions. In contrast, President Bush since 2005 has promoted technological development in the form of the Asian-Pacific Partnership for Clean Development and Climate Change.
In this non-U.N. group, Australia, Canada, China, India, Japan, Republic of Korea and the United States have agreed to work together and with private-sector partners to meet goals for energy security, national air-pollution reduction and climate change in ways that promote sustainable economic growth and poverty reduction.
President Bush also may have advanced the technology ball in another, more subtle, way.
The Department of Energy recently pulled out of FutureGen, a public-private partnership to build a first-of-its-kind coal-fueled, near-zero emissions power plant. The ostensible reason for the federal pullout was the increasing cost of the $1.5 billion plant, most of which was to be borne by the government.
But it very well may be that FutureGen was sacrificed as part of a Bush administration effort to pressure Congress to take affirmative action on nuclear power, a true technological solution for concerns about atmospheric CO2. Finally, and much to his credit, President Bush (so far) has avoided the sort of futile mandatory clampdown on CO2 emissions supported by Gore but that Wigley realizes will be impossible to implement without halting vital economic growth.
You almost have to feel bad for Al Gore — being outsmarted on his own home turf by George Bush. But there still might be time for Gore to set things right.
Just last week the U.N.’s World Food Program launched an "extraordinary emergency appeal" for donations of at least $500 million in the next four weeks to avoid rationing food aid in response to the spiraling cost of food — a problem brought about in part by Gore’s climate alarmism, which helped spur the lurch to biofuels such as corn-based ethanol.
British billionaire Richard Branson, for example, credits Gore for pushing him to make a $3 billion pledge in 2006 to replace fossil fuels with biofuels.
While campaigning in 2006 for Democratic senatorial candidate Amy Klobuchar, Gore asked, "What is so complicated about choosing fuel that comes from Minnesota farmers rather than from the Middle East?" while simultaneously asserting that Klobuchar would "provide leadership in the fight against global warming."
So, Al Gore, rather than wasting $300 million on a public relations campaign to promote an unrealistic and impractical approach to the dubious problem of manmade climate change, why not donate that money to the U.N. and help prevent real people from starving today?
U.S. Armed Forces Go Eco-Friendly
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,346190,00.html
The Armed Forces are going green.
The Army and Air Force are developing technology to turn trash into gas — and therefore cash — for the Department of Defense, the largest consumer of energy in the United States.
According to Pentagon figures, the Defense Department spent $13.6 billion for energy in 2006. It uses 340,000 barrels of oil a day, or 1.5 percent of the total energy consumed in the U.S.
Pentagon officials consider that dependency on oil — much of it produced abroad — not only a huge expense, but a national security risk as well.
The Armed Forces use 1.2 million barrels of oil each month in Iraq alone, and former CIA director James Woolsey, an energy adviser to the Pentagon, has estimated that it costs the U.S. $100 for every gallon, when the cost of maintaining supply lines and security is taken into account.
In December 2005, then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld directed his department to “do all it can” to save energy. He set up a task force headed by his deputy, Gordon England, and former Defense and Energy Secretary James Schlesinger.
The Air Force took the lead, winning an Environmental Protection Agency “Green Power” award in 2006 as one of the top 25 purchasers of green power.
It has since won four more energy awards, and is now the leading purchaser and user of wind energy in the United States.
Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada is powered by the largest solar-power array in the Americas — saving the government an estimated $1 million a year.
Dyess, Minot, and Fairchild Air Force bases purchase 100 percent of their electricity from renewable sources of energy.
Airmen and their families have been using biomass fuel at Hill Air Force Base in Utah since 2004, thanks to a 1.3 megawatt landfill gas project. In other words, they are creating gas from the air base’s trash.
But saving money isn't the only reason for going green. Maj. Gen. Richard Zilmer noted that 70 percent of U.S. military vehicles traveling on roads in Iraq's volatile Anbar province were oil tankers providing fuel for the troops, easy targets for roadside bombs. He requested that the Pentagon send generators that could convert trash into fuel to generate electricity, so that fewer oil trucks would be on the road.
Defense Life Sciences, based in McLean, Va., was given a contract to come up with a solution. It teamed with a group of researchers at Purdue University and developed two 4-ton “tactical bio-refineries” that they are preparing to send to Iraq next month. Each can run for 20 hours on a ton of trash — enough electricity to power a small village.
Organic garbage is fed into a reactor, in which it is fermented into ethanol. Then plastic, cardboard and other paper items are burned to create propane or methane. These elements are then combusted in a modified diesel engine to power a 60 kilowatt generator.
The prototype costs $1 million and is now ready to be tested in a war zone.
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