Poll Finds McCain Best Commander-in-Chief
http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/McCain_Best_commander/2008/04/08/86281.html
Americans say Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the presumed Republican presidential nominee, would be a better commander-in-chief than the Democratic candidates: Sens. Hillary Clinton (N.Y.) or Barack Obama (Ill.), according to a new poll.
The poll by the Everett Group found that 51 percent of Americans think McCain would be a better commander-in-chief than Clinton, at 32 percent. When asked about Obama and McCain, the survey found that 53 percent favored McCain while 35 percent viewed Obama as a better commander-in-chief.
"A commander-in-chief has to keep America strong at home and around the world, but John McCain seems intent on proving he's the wrong person for the job," said Karen Finney, communications director for the Democratic National Committee.
"In the coming months, the American people will get to know the real John McCain, the 3rd Bush-termer who has not put forward a plan on Iraq other than to say he's willing to keep troops there for 100 years, the McCain that time and time again has gotten the facts on the ground wrong, the McCain who can't say how he would continue to pay for the war or how he would restore balance to America's military and national guard forces," she told Cybercast News Service.
Bernard Finel, a senior fellow with the liberal-leaning American Security Project, said that while the results are not surprising because polls have shown McCain consistently strong on the war on terror, "he hasn't really been challenged by anyone on national security at this juncture."
"I think those numbers will drop off once he gets a direct head-to-head challenge from one of the Democratic candidates," Finel said.
Finel added that it's "hard to disentangle it from other issues."
"Even though people say they trust him more on national security or on terrorism issues, the same polls will show people are favoring Obama or Clinton against him in national polls," he told Cybercast News Service.
Finel noted that the majority of Americans see the economy as the biggest issue in this next election.
"While voters have some broad sense of Senator McCain's personal history, they readily acknowledge that they know little about his positions and record on the issues they care about the most-especially the economy and health care," Finney wrote in a memo.
"When voters hear what Senator McCain has said and done on those issues, they see someone who has a backward looking approach and who is badly out of touch with the realities average people face in their lives today," Finney added.
"No one can be totally prepared for the presidency," Bob Maginnis, a Defense Department analyst, wrote in an op-ed in Human Events.
"Arguably the president's most important role is that of commander-in-chief and Sen. John McCain has demonstrated a treasure chest full of characteristics, experiences and well-considered proposals that suit the position and time," he said.
Maginnis also refuted the DNC's claims that McCain would continue the Bush administration's policies. "McCain promises a number of significant changes," he said.
"He will not limit the counterterrorism efforts to stateless groups operating in safe havens," said Maginnis. "He points out that Iran, the 'world's chief state sponsor of terrorism,' continues its quest for nuclear weapons. He fears an Iran protected by a nuclear arsenal would be even more willing and able to sponsor terrorist attacks."
A Child is a Gift from God, Not a Punishment
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07053.shtml
WASHINGTON -- In recent remarks, Senator Barack Obama (D-Illinois) opined that if one of his daughters should become pregnant as a teen, having the baby would be a punishment. Senator Obama said "I've got two daughters, 9 years old and 6 years old. I am going to teach them first of all about values and morals. But if they make a mistake, I don't want them punished with a baby."
Concerned Women for America (CWA) President Wendy Wright responded, "Stigmatizing the babies conceived by teenagers is not the way to reduce teen pregnancies. Instead, it provides an excuse for aborting them. Regardless of their parentage, all human beings should be treated with respect and dignity. Our society would take a dangerous step backward from the Judeo-Christian belief that we are all created equal if we were to treat one class of humans - those born to teenagers - as a curse. Sen. Obama should clearly recant and not sidestep this issue - no baby is a 'punishment."
Dr. Janice Shaw Crouse, Director and Senior Fellow of CWA's Beverly LaHaye Institute, concurred: "Unfortunately it appears that Senator Obama heard a lot more politics than theology as he listened to the sermons in his church. Scripture unequivocally informs us that children are a gift from God, and while there are serious consequences to having sexual intercourse outside of marriage, a baby is not a punishment meted out for sin. Many a woman has come to understand that despite the circumstances of a baby's conception and birth, her little one is a precious miracle that she loves and cherishes unconditionally."
Crouse added, "One of the attitudinal distortions that results from abortion-on-demand is callousness toward pregnancy, motherhood and babies. We are diminished as a nation when we view babies as anything less than God's gift. Who can doubt that hardened hearts and darkened souls are the fate of those who lose the ability to stand in awe at the miracle of life?"
Concerned Women for America is the nation's largest public policy women's organization.
War Vets Gather in Washington
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/353349.aspx
Hundreds of war veterans descended on Capitol Hill Tuesday to make their voices heard.
The group "Vets for Freedom" is made up of soldiers who served in Afghanistan and Iraq.
They came to Washington to persuade Congress on how vital it is to win in Iraq and to make sure they take their cue from the generals on the ground. S
Sen. Joe Lieberman heared their message loud and clear.," he said. "You have stuck with the cause of freedom and as a result we are not only today winning in iraq, we are winning here at home. Do not underestimate the contribution you have made on the political battlefield here at home."
Sen. John McCain also spoke with the veterans.
General Urges Pause in Troop Pullouts
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/353076.aspx
The top U.S. general overseeing the Iraq war recommended a 45-day pause in troop withdrawals once extra forces sent last year have completed their pullout in July.
During a Senate grilling Tuesday, Gen. David Petraeus said a "period of consolidation and evaluation" was needed after all extra combat troops ordered by President Bush last year have completely withdrawn.
"At the end of that period, we will commence a process of assessment to examine the conditions on the ground and, over time, determine when we can make recommendations for further reductions," Petraeus said.
Petraeus did not indicate any timetable for resuming troop reductions after the 45-day suspension. He cautioned that an overly rapid withdrawal might jeopardize recent security gains made by coalition forces.
"This process will be continuous, with recommendations for further reductions made as conditions permit," he added. "This approach does not allow establishment of a set withdrawal timetable. However, it does provide the flexibility those of us on the ground need to preserve the still fragile security gains our troopers have fought so hard a sacrificed so much to achieve."
Petraeus described the security situation in Iraq as improved since he last appeared before Congress in September, but it is still fragile and the gains reversible. He complained of Iranian support for insurgents.
No Prediction on Troop Reductions
Things got a little testy when the committee chairman pressed the general on when troop withdrawals would resume.
When questioned by Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., Petraeus said he could not predict that, or how many U.S. troops would be in Iraq by the end of the year.
There currently are 160,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, according to The Associated Press. The Pentagon has estimated that when the scheduled troop withdrawals are completed in July, 140,000 troops will remain.
Sen. Levin said the Petraeus plan amounted to an open-ended suspension.
"What you've given to your chain of command is a plan which has no end to it," he said.
He then asked Petraeus if he would be able to recommend further troop cuts, when the 45-day evaluation period ends in September.
"It could be right then, or it could be longer," the general answered.
Brief Interruption
During the exchange with Levin, the hearing was briefly interrupted by one protester repeatedly shouting, "Bring them home!"
The protester was removed from the hearing room by two members of the Capitol Police force.
Crocker Agrees with Petraeus' Assessment
Also testifying was Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Baghdad, who agreed with Petraeus' outlook of real, but fragile security gains.
Crocker said a long-term agreement the U.S. is now negotiating with Iraq will give a needed legal framework for the continued presence of U.S. troops.
Crocker said taht the U.S. negotiators want to make sure that the next U.S. president "arrives in office with a stable foundation upon which to base policy decisions."
The three major candidates for president - Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., and Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. - all serve on the panels for which Petraeus is providing testimony.
President Bush has said he intends to accept the recommendations from his Iraq commander.
On Thursday, Bush will make a speech about the progress of the war.
BLASPHEMY! Guru: Jesus a State of Mind, Not God
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/353618.aspx
A new book out by a holistic health guru has some surprising content - not about health, but about Jesus Christ.
Best-selling author Deepak Chopra says Jesus is a state of mind rather than the historical rabbi of Nazareth or the Son of God.
"My book is about Jesus as a state of consciousness," said Chopra, who is considered a pioneer of mind-body alternative medicine. "If I can aspire - maybe not achieve - but aspire to be in that state of mind and if a lot of people were aspiring to be in that state of mind this would be a better world."
Chopra's book, "The Third Jesus: The Christ We Cannot Ignore" - which he calls "a cosmic Christ" - looks at Jesus as a spiritual guide whose teaching embraces all humanity, not just the church built in his name. Chopra argues that Christ speaks to the individual who wants to find God as a personal experience.
"I said to myself, 'Why not write a book that takes Jesus' teachings - and it doesn't matter if you're Christian or not - and learn from this and improve your life,"' he told The Associated Press.
Horace Horton-Parker, a professor of Theology and Religious Studies at Regent University, says Chopra is right that Jesus' teachings can benefit anyone, but individuals who think of Christ as he does are missing out.
"The disconnect between Chopra's approach to 'wisdom' and what Christianity would say about true wisdom, is his basic metaphysical assumption that all is 'consciousness,' and that 'the highest level of consciousness' is synonymous with God," he said. "In (chopra's approach), Jesus is depersonalized and any who attempt to make themselves over in the image of "Jesus as gnosis" are depersonalized as well."
Chopra references the New Testament and Gnostic Gospels to deconstruct church doctrine and conservative Christianity on issues such as war, abortion, women's rights, and homophobia.
"I see blogs every day that are negative and very nasty because this is not a literalist interpretation of Jesus," Chopra said.
He added that he has been fascinated with Jesus and concepts within "The Third Jesus" for some 25 years.
Chopra says his next book will be a fictional account of "Jesus' missing years."
"Where else do you read a story of the Son of God being executed by their own?" he said. "It is dramatic. It's three years of his teaching and it has shaped the world for 2000 years."
Popular Textbook Faces Criticism
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/353604.aspx
WASHINGTON - Talk about a civics lesson: A high-school senior has raised questions about political bias in a popular textbook on U.S. government, and legal scholars and top scientists say the teen's criticism is well-founded.
They say "American Government" by conservatives James Wilson and John Dilulio presents a skewed view of topics from global warming to separation of church and state. The publisher now says it will review the book, as will the College Board, which oversees college-level Advanced Placement courses used in high schools.
Matthew LaClair of Kearny, N.J., recently brought his concerns to the attention of the Center for Inquiry, am Amherst, N.Y., think tank that promotes science and which has issued a scathing report about the textbook.
"I just realized from my own knowledge that some of this stuff in the book is just plain wrong," said LaClair, who is using the book as part of an AP government class at Kearny High School.
The textbook is designed for a college audience, but also is widely used in AP American government courses, said Richard Blake, a spokesman for the publisher, Houghton Mifflin Co. Blake said the company "will be working with the authors to evaluate in detail the criticisms of the Center for Inquiry." Blake said some disputed passages already have been excised from the newest edition of the book.
Both authors are considered conservative. Dilulio, a University of Pennsylvania professor, formerly worked for the Bush administration as director of faith-based initiatives. Wilson is the Ronald Reagan Professor of Public Policy at Pepperdine University. Neither responded immediately to calls seeking comment.
LaClair said he was particularly upset about the book's treatment of global warming. James Hansen, the director of NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, recently heard about LaClair's concerns and has lent him some support.
Hansen has sent Houghton Mifflin a letter stating that the book's discussion on global warming contained "a large number of clearly erroneous statements" that give students "the mistaken impression that the scientific evidence of global warming is doubtful and uncertain."
The edition of the textbook published in 2005, which is in high school classrooms now, states that "science doesn't know whether we are experiencing a dangerous level of global warming or how bad the greenhouse effect is, if it exists at all."
A newer edition published late last year was changed to say, "Science doesn't know how bad the greenhouse effect is."
The authors kept a phrase stating that global warming is "enmeshed in scientific uncertainty."
While there are still some scientists who downplay global warming and the role of burning fossil fuels, the overwhelming majority of climate scientists and peer-reviewed scientific research say human activity is causing climate change. Last year an international collection of hundreds of scientists and government officials unanimously approved wording that said the scientific community had "very high confidence," meaning more than 90 percent likelihood, that global warming is caused by humans.
LaClair also was concerned about the textbook's treatment of U.S. Supreme Court decisions regarding prayer in school. The book shows a picture of kids praying in front of a Virginia high school and states, "The Supreme Court will not let this happen inside a public school." Blake said the photo was cut out of the most recent edition.
The textbook goes on to state that the court has ruled as "unconstitutional every effort to have any form of prayer in public schools, even if it is nonsectarian, voluntary or limited to reading a passage of the Bible."
Those examples are not correct, says Charles Haynes, a religious liberties expert at the First Amendment Center in Washington.
"Students can pray inside a public school in many different ways," Haynes said, adding they can pray alone or in groups before lunch or in religious clubs, for example.
Haynes said students can't disrupt the school or interfere with the rights of others. The court has said the prayer can't be state-sponsored, so a teacher can't lead a prayer and a school can't require it, Haynes said.
Another part of the book that the report criticizes deals with a Supreme Court decision overturning a Texas law banning sexual contact between people of the same sex.
The authors wrote that the Supreme Court decision had a "benefit" and a "cost." The benefit, it said, was to strike down a rarely enforced law that could probably not be passed today, while the cost was to "create the possibility that the court, and not Congress or state legislatures, might decide whether same-sex marriages were legal."
Derek Araujo, the report's author, said that's a matter of opinion and that gay-rights activists, for example, see it differently. "The major problem with this is they describe the costs and benefits of the system in a very political way," he said.
LaClair added that he perceived a bias in the book too.
"All the statements for the most part were trying to lead the reader in one direction and not giving a fair account of everything," he said.
It's not the first time LaClair has raised alarm bells over teaching at his school. A few years ago, he tape recorded a teacher making religious remarks to his students. Many people at the school were upset with LaClair for raising the issue.
"I'm not looking to cause a huge controversy, but I want the students to be taught correct information," LaClair said.
His mother, Debra, says she thinks her son is giving his peers another kind of civics lesson.
"When he sees something that is incorrect, he wants to fix it," she said. "That's him. That's what he does."
White House Highlights Local Impact of Social Entrepreneurship in Africa
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07052.shtml
KIGALI, Rwanda -- The White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives today hosted a conference on Public-Private Partnerships and Economic Development in Kigali, Rwanda, to highlight and expand the growing leadership of faith-based and community organizations in international social enterprise.
White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives Director Jay Hein was joined by His Excellency Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda; Admiral Timothy Ziemer, the President's Malaria Initiative Coordinator; best-selling author and Pastor Rick Warren; and other government, private-sector and nonprofit leaders. Participants explored innovative solutions to addressing human need and further advance the U.S. Government's battle against poverty, disease, and other ills in Rwanda and across Africa. Following President Bush's visit to Rwanda last month, the conference furthered the President's vision for "compassion in action" across Africa and around the globe.
"Today's conference joins public and private leaders from American and Rwanda to leverage their unique strengths and those of faith-based and community organizations," said Jay Hein, Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. "Empowering locally-built solutions and expanding neighbor-to-neighbor service is central to the President's Faith-Based and Community Initiative and is now an integral part of the U.S. Government's efforts to address human need both at home and abroad."
Today's event featured a range of effective partnership models between the U.S. Government, Rwandan Government, non-government organizations, philanthropists and social entrepreneurs to target community needs throughout Rwanda. By engaging multi-sector strategies and building sustainable public-private partnerships, the U.S. Government has redefined its approach to international development and disease prevention in Africa.
For example, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the President Malaria Initiative (PMI) engage unprecedented efforts to combat disease in Rwanda and other developing countries, while helping to build long-term economic stability. These efforts represent large-scale implementation of President Bush's Faith-Based and Community Initiative vision for empowering local solutions to address vexing social challenges.
"I am committed to building strong networks among established community groups and faith-based organizations to protect health and save lives," said Rear Adm. Tim Ziemer, coordinator, U.S. President's Malaria Initiative. "These groups add tremendous value to our efforts because of their ability to reach the grassroots level, their capacity to mobilize significant numbers of volunteers, and draw people who have credibility in their communities."
President Bush launched the Faith-Based and Community Initiative in his first days in office to strengthen and grow the work of faith-based and other non-profit organizations as central partners in what the President calls "a determined attack on need." The Initiative seeks to expand the impact of the nonprofit sector by growing partnerships with government, philanthropists, corporations and other partners to address community problems.
For more information on the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, visit: www.whitehouse.gov/government/fbci
Russian Diplomat Moscow Will Do All It Can to Keep Georgia, Ukraine From Joining NATO
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,348328,00.html
MOSCOW — Russia's foreign minister said Tuesday that Moscow will do all it can to prevent ex-Soviet neighbors Ukraine and Georgia from joining NATO.
Sergey Lavrov warned that the two nations' bids to join the alliance could worsen Moscow's relations with the countries supporting them.
"We will do all we can to prevent Ukraine's and Georgia's accession into NATO and to avoid an inevitable serious exacerbation of our relations with both the alliance and our neighbors," Lavrov said on Ekho Moskvy radio.
A NATO summit in Bucharest last week has failed to grant Ukraine and Georgia a roadmap to membership despite strong support from the United States. Germany, France and some other alliance members opposed the move, fearing it would strain ties with Moscow. NATO, however, has promised to incorporate both nations in the future.
Lavrov denounced the alliance expansion plans as rooted in Cold War logic. "This is enlargement in the spirit of that very Cold War logic, the spirit of bloc confrontation, and the spirit of bloc absorption of territories," he said.
Lavrov pointed at divisions in Ukraine over the NATO's membership bid and emphasized that Georgia's breakaway provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia denounced the move.
Russia's President Vladimir Putin has vowed to broaden Russian support for Abkhazia and South Ossetia and warned Georgia and the West against the use of force or pressure to bring them back under central government control.
The Kremlin-controlled parliament last month urged the government to consider recognizing the independence claims of the two separatist provinces, which broke from government control in early 1990s wars.
Putin, however, has stopped short of saying Russia would recognize their independence — a move that would severely damage ties with the West and could spark a war with Georgia. He gave no indication that Russia would abandon its official acceptance of Georgia's territorial integrity.
On Tuesday, Georgian officials strongly criticized a letter sent by Russia's Justice Ministry to Abkhazian authorities regarding prisoners' transfer. Georgia's Foreign Ministry denounced the letter as part of Russia's "destructive policy" and "creeping annexation of a sovereign state."
Know Thy Enemy - The Battle against Islam
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/353111.aspx
JERUSALEM, Israel - Princeton scholar and best-selling author Bernard Lewis is considered by many to be the foremost authority on Islam in the world.
While he was in Jerusalem recently, Lewis gave an exclusive interview to CBN News Bureau Chief Chris Mitchell.
In his 90-plus years on Earth, Lewis has learned to take the long view of history. And in doing so, he has a warning for America and the West.
"The main message that I'm trying to communicate is that we are engaged in a struggle, comparable with the two great struggles of the twentieth century, against Nazism and Bolshevism," he said. "And it would improve our chances of winning if we understood who they are and who we are, and what it's all about.
Lewis says the struggle is between Islam and Christendom - two world views.
They both contend that theirs is the one true faith.
And while millions of secularists in America and Europe fail to see that they're actually involved in such a conflict, the nature of the fight is crystal clear for radical Islamists such as Osama bin Laden.
Lewis said, "Where you have two religions of the same self-perception, the same sense of mission, the same historical background in the same geographical area, conflict was inevitable."
That conflict, according to Lewis, "has been going on for more than 14 centuries: Crusade and counter-crusade, Jihad and counter-Jihad, conquest and re-conquest, sometimes one side winning and sometimes the other side winning."
An Age Old Battle
When bin Laden and his fellow radicals drove the Soviet Union out of Afghanistan in the early 1980s, people in the West saw a U.S. victory in the Cold War. But the Islamists saw it as the defeat of one of two major Christian powers.
"And now the only obstacle that remains for the worldwide triumph of Islam is the United States. So that is the next target and that is very clear," Lewis said.
Many Americans compare the war against radical Islam in Iraq and elsewhere with the Vietnam War. But Lewis says - that's the wrong way to look at it.
"The difference is that the Vietnamese did not follow us here except perhaps as refugees seeking asylum. These people will, and they were already here before this happened."
"If you look at their writings -- particularly at those of Osama bin Laden, but not only his -- it is perfectly clear that they see this as the final phase in the cosmic struggle between the true believers, the unbelievers and the misbelievers," Lewis said.
So, what are the stakes?
Lewis said, "The survival of our civilization."
Iran Continues Weapons Program
http://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/Iran_Continues_Weapons_/2008/04/08/86376.html
The French daily Le Monde has obtained documents showing that Iran has pursued a nuclear weapons program after 2003, contrary to the American National Intelligence Estimate report in December that Tehran had halted its weapons program.
The main document is a 2004 letter written by engineer Mahdi Khaniki, Iran’s former ambassador to Syria, to the vice president of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI).
In the letter Khaniki noted that inspectors with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had demanded to see contracts for the purchase of spare parts used in the development of centrifuges, which can be used to enrich uranium to weapons grade.
Khaniki wrote that at meeting held on January 31, 2004, the chief negotiator of the Iranian nuclear program at the time “decided that these contracts should be prepared in accordance to the AEOI's wishes, so they would be ready to be delivered to the IAEA…
“Portions of these contracts, which this writer viewed at the Ministry of Defense, were crossed out with black lines and the quantities did not appear; therefore, it seems that these contracts will raise more questions than those which [normally] should be submitted to the Agency [IAEA]."
Le Monde, citing sources close to an intelligence service, reported that this letter was part of "Project 13," a program allegedly aimed at deceiving the IAEA inspectors.
According to the Middle East Times, Iranian experts “believe this letter represents clear evidence of the involvement of the Iranian defense ministry in the nuclear program, and confirms the efforts of the Iranians to conceal” this connection.
Iran Begins Installing More Centrifuges
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/353138.aspx
TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran has begun installing 6,000 new centrifuges at its uranium enrichment plant in Natanz, state television quoted President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as saying Tuesday.
The U.S. immediately criticized the announcement as an example of Iran's continued defiance of international demands that it suspend uranium enrichment, which can produce fuel for a nuclear reactor or fissile material for a weapon.
"Today's announcement reflects the Iranian leadership's continuing violation of international obligations and refusal to address international concerns," said Gregory Schulte, the U.S. representative to the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency.
Iran already has about 3,000 centrifuges operating at its underground nuclear facility in Natanz, and the U.N. has passed three sets of sanctions against Iran for its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment. Tehran insists its nuclear program is focused on the peaceful production of energy, not the development of weapons as claimed by the U.S. and many of its allies.
"Iran has not only failed to suspend enrichment, but has chosen to ignore the will of the international community by announcing the installation of new centrifuges," said a spokesman for Britain's Foreign Office on condition of anonymity in line with policy.
"This is despite the fact that Iran's enrichment program has no apparent civilian purpose, and shows that Iran is making no effort to restore international confidence in its intentions," he said.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Iran's uranium enrichment effort is "dangerous" and continued sanctions may be necessary against Tehran.
Ahmadinejad made Tuesday's announcement as he toured the Natanz facility in central Iran.
"The president announced the start of the phase of installing 6,000 new centrifuges in Natanz," state television reported.
State television also quoted Ahmadinejad as saying that "we have reached new achievements" in Natanz that he would announce later Tuesday.
The president's trip was scheduled to coincide with Iran's National Day of Nuclear Technology, marking the second anniversary of Iran's first enrichment of uranium.
Ahmadinejad is widely expected to confirm for the first time Tuesday that Iran has installed hundreds of more sophisticated centrifuges that can enrich uranium faster.
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.
Diplomats in Vienna told The Associated Press on Thursday that Iran has assembled hundreds of advanced centrifuges at Natanz.
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.
But a senior diplomat said that while the new work appeared to include advanced centrifuges, they were not IR-2s.
Both diplomats are linked to the IAEA and asked for anonymity because their information was confidential.
A total of 3,000 centrifuges is the commonly accepted figure for a nuclear enrichment program that is past the experimental stage and can be used as a platform for a full industrial-scale program that could churn out enough enriched material for dozens of nuclear weapons.
Iran says it plans to move toward large-scale uranium enrichment that ultimately will involve 54,000 centrifuges.
Jewish Group Angry Over Banned New York Radio Ad
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,348291,00.html
A Jewish advocacy group is steaming after a classical radio station in New York refused to run an ad that described the daily threat of missile attacks facing Israelis in the Gaza border city of Sderot.
WQXR, which is owned by The New York Times, decided not to run the 60-spot from the American Jewish Committee because it was out of the bounds of acceptability and could alarm the station's American listeners.
AJC Executive Director David Harris issued a lengthy statement on the group's Web site decrying the decision as an attempt to "silence" the group's viewpoint.
Harris complained the station's managers wanted acknowledgment of Israel's own military actions in the ad. He wrote, "In other words ... the only way to broadcast the plight of Sderot's residents over the airwaves is to equate Israel's right of self-defense with Hamas' and Islamic Jihad's right to strike Israel at will."
He continued: "I can only imagine what would have been the response had we done a spot during the London blitz. Would it have been turned down as well, perhaps on the grounds that we failed to refer to reciprocal British military actions against Nazi Germany?"
Harris said he's done a weekly 60-second radio spot broadcast nationally for the past seven years on the CBS Radio network, and that earlier this year tried to expand through WQXR.
The latest ad stirring controversy starts with Harris describing the countdown to a missile attack in Sderot, on the border of the Gaza Strip.
"Fifteen seconds. Imagine you had 15 seconds to find shelter from an incoming missile. Fifteen seconds to locate your children, help an elderly relative, assist a disabled person to find shelter. That's all the residents of Sderot and neighboring Israeli towns have," he says. "Day or night, the sirens go on. Fifteen seconds later, the missiles, fired from Hamas-controlled Gaza, hit. They could hit a home, a school, a hospital. Their aim is to kill and wound and demoralize. Imagine yourself in that situation."
The ad ends with a countdown as Harris says, "The time to seek shelter has ended. The missiles hit." He then asks listeners to visit his group's Web site.
Catherine Mathis, senior vice president of corporate communications for The New York Times, said in a statement that the radio station ran eight other AJC ads read by Harris over the past three months, but that his March 31 ad about the missile attacks went too far.
"This specific ad was rejected for several reasons. Primary among them was the concern that the message does not make clear that the potential target of the missile is not our listening area and, as a consequence, runs the risk of raising anxiety in a misleading way," she said.
Seven Year Old Girl Discerns what Wal-Mart Execs Apparently Do Not
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07050.shtml
NEW YORK -- On Monday, March 31, Robert Peters, President of MIM, took a phone call from a mother in North Carolina, who later emailed her account in writing (told in part here):
"While visiting a new Super Wal-Mart last week, my 7- year-old daughter handed my mom (her grandmother) Sports Illustrated (SI) magazine's 2008 'Swimsuit Edition.' She said, 'Look Grandma, this woman isn't wearing a bathing suit top!' My mom then went to a Wal-Mart employee and told her what happened stating that this should have never be on a shelf where children can be exposed to it. The woman agreed and went immediately and removed all the magazines from the shelf.
"Today, we returned to the same Wal-Mart to see if the magazines were still gone. They were not. Wal-Mart had put the magazines back out on the magazine rack at the very same location as before, exposing children of all ages to the cover on the SI magazine (not to mention what is inside of the magazine)...Later, a manager was introduced to me. After explaining to him what happened last week and then just today, I asked him if there was anything he could do about this...He said...he would have to put the magazines back on the shelf because SI rented space...SI was not considered pornographic, and that this issue is being displayed all over the nation. He told me to call 1-800-WALMART and log a complaint."
Robert Peters, President of Morality in Media, had the following comments:
"In my opinion, SI's Swimsuit Edition 2008 is 'soft-core pornography.' With Playboy magazine, we have full nudity; with the Swimsuit Edition, partial nudity. Otherwise, there is no difference that I can see.
"Surely Wal-Mart executives must realize that males don't purchase the Swimsuit Edition to view art or to choose bathing suits for their wives or girl friends. In the first place, some models aren't wearing anything at all; many aren't wearing anything 'on top;' and most would be arrested in many localities if they appeared in a public place in the 'attire' (or lack thereof) provided them by Sports Illustrated.
"State or local public indecency laws typically prohibit individuals from appearing in a public place, like Wal- Mart or a public beach, while in a state of 'nudity,' typically defined to mean: 'the showing of the human genitals, pubic area, anus, anal cleft, or any part of the female breast below a horizontal line across the top of the areola with less than a fully opaque covering.' Many state and local harmful-to-minors sale and display laws also define nudity in this manner. Neither type of law uses the term 'pornographic.'
"Rather than trying to discern whether a magazine depicting naked or semi-naked models is 'pornographic,' Wal-Mart would be better advised to be on the lookout for magazines with 'models' that aren't wearing any or enough clothes. That way they will also see what a child can readily see, namely, models with little or no clothes on, like the emperor of old."
"Wal-Mart can then much-better decide whether to put the magazines behind blinder racks or to not sell them to minors or to not sell them at all.
The North Carolina mother is available for interviews (contact MIM). She also has a complaint about the SI website, which advertises its "SI KIDS" section almost next door to its indecent SWIMSUIT section.
MinistryWatch.com Calls on Copeland and Dollar to Comply With Senate Demands for Information
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07049.shtml
The Senate Finance Committee announced today that two of the six televangelists who have been asked for information continue to refuse to comply, almost five months after the original request went out from Sen. Charles Grassley.
Atlanta-based Creflo Dollar has failed to provide any information to Sen. Grassley and Sen. Max Baucus, who joined Grassley in his call for financial transparency. Texas-based Kenneth Copeland has turned over some documents, but is nowhere near full compliance, according to a Grassley spokesperson.
"It is truly unconscionable that these ministries have failed to comply," said Rusty Leonard, founder of MinistryWatch.com, a group that advocates for the rights of donors. "First of all, what Senators Grassley and Baucus are asking for is nothing more than what these ministries should be disclosing as a matter of course," Leonard said. "But for five months to go by without even an attempt at compliance - as is the case with Creflo Dollar - is a true slap in the face both to the Senate Finance Committee and, tragically, to their own donors."
According to Grassley's office, four of the ministries are either in substantial compliance with the requests, or have taken significant steps toward compliance. Joyce Meyer Ministries has complied with all requests, and Benny Hinn has made significant progress in complying. Eddie Long and Paula and Randy White, who had been non-compliant, have taken significant new steps toward compliance, according to Grassley's office.
"The fact that Sen. Baucus and Sen. Grassley worked together to on this new March 31 compliance deadline seems to have made a difference," said Leonard. "Now the non-complying ministries know that Grassley and Baucus together could, without a vote of the additional members of the committee, issue subpoenas."
Leonard added, though, that "it would be unfortunate if these Christian ministries were to have their non- compliance be their testimony to the world, rather than open and transparent dealings with both their donors and the Senate Finance Committee. The cloud of suspicion raised by this non-compliance affects not only the public's perception of these ministries, but also undermines the reputations of the many ministries that do voluntarily inform their donors and others of their financial activities."
Greater San Francisco Ad Club Awards Silver ADDY to Digital Praise
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07051.shtml
FREMONT, California -- Digital Praise Inc, the leader in Christian-themed, family-friendly entertainment software, today announced that its integrated advertising campaign for Dance Praise 2 -the ReMix has earned a 2007-2008 Silver ADDY award from the Greater San Francisco Ad Club. The award was presented to Digital Praise marketing consultants Diana James-Cairns and Jan Swanberg at the Ad Club's ADDY Awards event Thursday, March 20 at the Nob Hill Masonic Center and Theatre.
Digital Praise won the Silver ADDY in the "Mixed Media (Cross Platform) Campaign" category. Comprised of print ads, online banner ads, a Web site, brochure, email blasts, product packaging and more, the campaign promoted the release of Dance Praise 2 - the ReMix, a redesigned version of the company's hugely popular dance arcade game for the PC. To create the various campaign elements, James-Cairns and Swanberg worked closely with Isaacson Design of Brookdale, CA.
The ADDY awards, a property of the American Advertising Federation (AAF), is the world's largest and perhaps best-known advertising competition. Each chapter of the AAF, including the Greater San Francisco Ad Club, stages ADDY contests at the local level, with winners moving on to compete at the district and national levels. Because San Francisco is known as one of America's most creative advertising agency markets, winning in the Bay area presents an especially difficult challenge for award entrants.
"Digital Praise has often raised the bar for entertainment and creativity in its game products. It's extremely exciting to see its marketing communications reaching the same level of excellence," said Tom Bean, President and CEO of Digital Praise, Inc. "This ADDY award reflects our commitment to make Digital Praise a leader among not just among Christian entertainment software companies, but within the larger computer game industry."
Digital Praise's mixed media campaign for Dance Praise 2 -the ReMix is themed, "Let the Spirit MOVE You!" The campaign features high-energy graphics that communicate the excitement and fun of the game, which challenges players to match an onscreen display of scrolling arrows paced to the music.
Digital Praise's Dance Praise products have garnered numerous awards for their playability, exercise benefits and uplifting themes. Among the many honors earned by the Dance Praise franchise are three iParenting Outstanding Product awards, two Parents' Choice "Recommended" awards, a Children's Technology Review Editor's Choice award, a Family Choice award, the Adding Wisdom award, Christianity Today's #1 Children's Album of the Year, and a People's Choice Award from the Christian Game Developers Conference.
About Digital Praise, Inc.
Digital Praise is an independent developer and publisher of family-friendly entertainment software for personal computers and other devices. The company produces and publishes faith-based and mainstream titles for families looking to enjoy interactive entertainment software with principled character- building themes and "just good clean fun." Digital Praise products have achieved top recognition from leading children's gaming and advocacy groups including Parents Choice, iParenting Media, the National Parenting Center, The Dove Foundation, Dr. Toy and Plain Games. For more information, visit www.digitalpraise.com.
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