McCain Downs Obama on National Security
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/378732.aspx
CBNNews.com - MIAMI - Republican John McCain, speaking to a raucous crowd on Cuba's independence day, hammered Democrat Barack Obama for saying he would meet with President Raul Castro and called Obama a "tool of organized labor" for opposing a Latin American trade deal.
For a second day, McCain attacked Obama for saying, in a debate last year, that as president he would meet with the leaders of Cuba, Iran and Venezuela without preconditions.
McCain insisted such a meeting could endanger national security, sounding a theme that is likely to persist until the November general election
The Arizona senator recalled the ridicule President Carter faced in 1979 when he kissed Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev during the signing of an arms treaty.
"Carter went over and kissed Brezhnev, remember?" McCain said Tuesday in Miami. "So it's dangerous; it's dangerous to American national security if you sit down and give respect and prestige to leaders of countries that are bent on your destruction or the destruction of other countries. I won't do it, my friends."
A woman in the audience applauded McCain's position: "For that, believe me, Florida will be yours," Ninoska Perez Castellon told McCain. She is a radio commentator for the anti-Castro station Radio Mambi.
Dozens of people at a town-hall style forum booed as McCain raised the notion of a meeting with Castro, and they gave McCain a standing ovation when he said that, as president, he would pressure Castro to release political prisoners unconditionally, schedule internationally monitored elections, and legalize political parties, unions and free media.
McCain used his trip to Florida to mark Cuban independence day, May 20, saying, "Let us take a moment to pray that Cubans everywhere can one day soon enjoy the liberty for which their forefathers fought."
He expects to do well among Cubans and other Hispanic voters in Florida, a general election battleground, in part because of his more forgiving attitude toward illegal immigrants; he supports a path to citizenship for them, although he says he has concluded the border must be fully secured before the government can resolve the citizenship status of illegal immigrants.
McCain also used his visit as an opportunity to criticize Obama for opposing a free trade deal with Columbia that could benefit Florida's agriculture and manufacturing industries. The pact, blocked by Congress, would eliminate high barriers facing American exports to Columbia. Most Colombian products already enter the U.S. duty-free.
In an interview with local reporters on his campaign bus, McCain said Obama "is a tool of organized labor ... He's been against (trade agreements with) Colombia, South Korea and several others. That's what labor unions want, no free trade agreements."
Later, McCain told his audience Colombia represents a beacon of hope in a region where the Castro brothers and Venezuela's Hugo Chavez are actively trying to stop economic progress and democracy.
Blocking the trade deal won't create U.S. jobs, "but it will divide us from our Colombian partners at a time when they are battling the FARC terrorists and their allied drug cartels," McCain said, referring to the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.
Obama and Democratic rival Hillary Rodham Clinton are scheduled to campaign Wednesday in Florida, underscoring the state's electoral importance.
Change? Not So Much
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,356790,00.html
Is there anything more entertaining than watching a bunch of young Democratic and Republican strategists on television trying to talk intelligently about the former Soviet Union, China back in Nixon’s day or the nature of state sponsors of terrorism? Well, of course there is, but this is a family column so let’s stay on topic.
Now I realize that the majority of these bright young strategists were dropping loads in their diapers back when the Berlin Wall fell, so obviously they weren’t around when the USSR or Mao’s China were in full swing. Mind you, I’m not talking about folks like Bob Beckel or Karl Rove… guys that have been pundificating since Lenin was toodling around the Kremlin. I’m referring to the fresh batch of strategists that have surfaced during the past ten thousand months of this current campaign.
Is it safe to assume that the media is skewing younger these days with their consultants and talking heads in an effort to entice the youthful viewers away from the information superhighway? You betcha’ they are. I love how I sound like Wilfred Brimley when I make statements like that. Look for me soon on cable where I’ll be doing ads for adjustable beds and reverse mortgages.
I bring this up as a result of the latest verbal smackdown between Senator McCain and Senator Obama. The point of contention is whether to negotiate with terrorists, specifically state sponsors of terrorism such as Iran and Syria, as well as terrorist groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas. If you haven’t been following the campaign for the past few days, let me summarize:
Many eons ago, during the early stages of the Democratic campaign season when dinosaurs roamed the earth, Obama mentioned during a debate that, if elected president, he would be willing to hold direct discussions without preconditions with President Ahmadinejad of Iran and by implication, other heads of hostile nations engaged in the support of terrorism. Senator Clinton saw that statement for what it was, a stupid statement, and hammered Obama for being naïve and inexperienced in foreign policy matters.
Interestingly, Democratic Senator Chris Dodd from the fine state of Connecticut (state motto: “Connecticut - The Forgotten New York City Borough”) also implied that Obama’s willingness to meet with terrorist sponsoring states showed naivete and lack of experience. Now that Dodd is out of the race he’s found a way to spin those charges in a positive light. How excellent is political life?
Anyway, at a certain point, likely after they spent a minute or two thinking about it, the good folks in the Obama camp decided he should probably adjust his position on meeting with folks such as Ahmadinejad, Syria’s President Bashar Assad, our old pal Castro and my personal favorite, Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez. So, demonstrating that their campaign is all about change, they changed their position.
Obama struck up a more nuanced pose during the coming months, saying that we should be willing to meet and negotiate with these leaders after they meet certain conditions. In the case of Iran, Obama suggested that the country would first have to halt it’s nuclear ambitions, stop support for terrorists and quit calling Israel a “stinking corpse” before he would enter negotiations with Ahmadinejad. In case you’re wondering, that would be what we call meeting certain conditions. Sooo, we could say those are preconditions.
Apropo of nothing, I just mention it because it’s interesting and takes up another line or two, while Obama was adjusting his policy on discussions with countries supporting terrorism, crazy things were happening elsewhere. Nancy Pelosi covered her head with a scarf, put on her rose colored glasses and traveled over to Syria to talk with President Assad.
I have no way of knowing if they talked about Syria’s support for various terrorist organizations during her visit. However, I do know that shortly after that visit, the well known and very wanted terrorist Imad Mugniyeh was killed in an explosion in an upscale Damascus neighborhood after attending a public event. No one claimed credit for it, so we had no idea where to send the thank you card.
Then we had the road trip by former President Carter out to the Middle East where he met with Hamas leaders. You may well ask what that was all about. Go ahead, ask. Nobody, not even Hamas, knows what the point of that trip might have been. But it resulted in some good press coverage, so that’s nice.
Anyway, back to Obama’s evolving process. To recap, first it was “I’ll meet without preconditions”, then it was “Satisfy the preconditions then I’ll meet”. Simple enough. But then today, we seem to have stepped back on the change train. In today’s New York Times Obama is quoted as saying this week that “demanding that a country meets all your conditions before you meet with them, that’s not a strategy, “ he said. “It’s just naïve, wishful thinking.”
You can see why a simple person such as myself is confused.
This whole issue boiled over during President Bush’s recent trip to Israel. In a speech to the Knesset, President Bush stated that “Some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along. We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared “Lord, if I could only have talked to Hitler, all this might have been avoided. We have an obligation to call this what it is, the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history.”
The Obama camp took umbrage at the President’s comments, calling it a political attack as opposed to a foreign policy statement. Hmm, lemme’ see. The President states during a speech that the U.S. administration doesn’t believe in appeasement despite some who feel otherwise. Sounds like it could be a statement of foreign policy. But if you’re sensitive about your limited experience and how that might play in to the upcoming general election, yeh, I can see how you could construe that as a political attack.
Anyway, Obama’s camp got their knickers in a knot and went on the offensive. First thing they did was to go into the science lab and create one human out of two people, a powerful new political beast called BushMcCain. In what we call showing your cards, they unveiled their clever campaign strategy.
Apparently, from now until the November election, Obama’s camp will work to convince the public that BushMcCain is the Frankenstein monster, sharing one brain and one set of policies. It seems to be working… Obama gave a speech in Oregon the other day to 80,000 acolytes all wielding pitchforks and torches. As an aside, who knew you could find 80,000 swooning liberals in the state of Oregon. What a surprise.
Next, showing that he’s a student of history, he pointed out that past presidents had engaged in discussions with our adversaries. Obama mentioned JFK talking to Krushchev, Nixon’s famous meetings with Mao and Reagan engaging Gorbachev. Citing these examples, Obama said “I mean, think about it. Iran, Cuba, Venezuela - these countries are tiny compared to the Soviet Union. They don’t pose a serious threat to us the way the Soviet Union posed a threat to us.”
This reference resulted in two things happening. Hugo Chavez, prickly and sensitive at the best of times, took offense at being called “tiny." Secondly, loads of young Democratic and Republican strategists found themselves struggling to explain Obama’s reference to engagement with the Soviet Union and China and how that relates to talking to countries like Iran and Syria. It was like sitting in my old freshman political science class where every kid was armed with the knowledge gained from cramming a chapter the night before.
Here’s the thing. I joined the CIA back when the Soviet Union was the primary threat. We don’t have enough space or time to explain in detail why it’s nonsensical to try and compare the Soviet Union of JFK or Reagan’s era, or China during Mao’s day, with the fragmented, shifting threats posed by adversaries of today such as Iran and Syria. Instead, to avoid a migraine, you need to focus on how the world of diplomacy works.
While the nature of the countries, leaders and threats posed are markedly different, there is a constant that runs through all these cases from a diplomatic standpoint. You always want to leave open some channel of communication. While heads of state meetings should never be offered up unconditionally, you do want to ensure that there is a mechanism for exchanging comments, concerns, demands and requests at a lower level.
Basically, do what the Bush administration has done with Iran over the past few years. They’ve held firm on the idea that negotiations of substance, discussions between the leaders of the two countries, can’t take place unless Iran meets certain conditions. At the same time, communication channels have remained open further down the chain in an effort to affect change. That policy is nothing new… it’s the same gameplan used by administration after administration, including those of JFK, Nixon and Reagan.
By the way, ignoring his statement to the contrary in today’s New York Times, Obama now seems to be settling on a policy that says we should be willing to negotiate with our adversaries assuming they meet certain conditions. He also seems to be saying that he would want to have conversations going on at a lower level about key issues prior to agreeing to direct meetings with the leaders of the states in question. Change? Not so much.
Hope, Obama Style?
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,356654,00.html
As in Biblical times, yesterday just off the shore of the Willamette River, boats dropped anchors to listen to a stirring message of hope from an unlikely source.
Have you seen the pictures? 65,000 people — mostly white — spent their Sunday afternoon in a park in Oregon, on land and water, to be part of the Obama Revolution.
Security officials say another 15,000 loyalists were denied entrance. In reverse fortune to the lonely family of Nazareth, here there was no room in the Inn for the adoring crowds who wanted to witness the birth of a “liberator.
Is this for real?
D.C. veterans roll their eyes. “Rhetoric is easy, Senator. It’s nice to talk about hope, and justice. It’s convenient to promise, ‘not when I get to Washington’…but we know politics from the inside and we know things don’t change that much.”
Which, in turn, incites the perfect comeback by hope-filled Obamaites: “and yours is precisely the kind of old-fogy skepticism we reject.”
Ever since seeing the images of the doting crowds in Oregon, I’ve been thinking about hope — what generates it and what makes it true.
Hope, they say, is assurance of things longed for, faith in things unseen.
That’s all okay when the promises are divine, but I ask myself, in the world of politics, what can give me certainty in things unseen. In other words, what promises can I believe?
I won’t easily forget my brief encounter two years ago with a middle-aged woman in Venezuela. Rosa lived with her much extended and very broken family in a make-shift domicile of scrap metal. This wasn’t the sticks. It was downtown Caracas and immediately across the street from the National Assembly, a government palace.
At first Rosa spoke to me only through the bicycle chain that kept upright the sheet metal that served as an entrance to her home. Her pressing concern was whether I was a fan of the “opposition” — the political alternative to her beloved savior, Hugo Chavez. If I were, I would not get in.
I pleaded partisan ignorance and squeezed through the gate.
What rattled me to the core about Rosa was not her abject poverty (I’ve seen it in many places) or even the fact this poverty took shape directly across the street from a symbol of a very wealthy government (in Washington D. C. this happens too) but rather it was her fierce and absolute trust that the Chavez administration was going to come to her resuce, to single-handedly pull her out of her poverty. And it would happen sometime soon. The family had been in this hell hole for over nine years, and still she was waiting. I pressed for motives with questions like these: “If the government building is right across the street, why do you think they haven’t helped you yet? Do you expect a turn for the good anytime soon?”
Sadly, she didn’t have a lot of answers, but the one she had was just enough to keep her hopes alive: “He talks to us.” “He is on our side.”
Rosa’s social status had not changed with the coming of her political savior, but in contrast to pre-Chavez days, the new political voice, the new message, actually recognized her existence. The people in power knew her pain. Hope was alive.
It is sad to know three years later, Rosa is probably still waiting. Her false hope consists in a fairy-tale ending which depends entirely on the actions of others. With such great trust in a political savior she has no motivation to invest in the future; why send the kids to school, learn a trade, or even cleanup the house? She prefers to wait. Or more likely, that’s all she knows how to do.
But what happens when old actions don’t produce the good results they used to?
What do we do when we can’t keep local gas prices from looking like Europe’s; when there is no easy solution to a war we dislike; when after all these months — years — nobody wants to buy our beautiful house; when our kids ignore the faith we hold dear, when the political party of our youth loses its identity?
It is in moments of despair, like these, when we are tempted by soft voices and quick fixes.
We would like to believe in a political savior who can liberate us, painlessly.
Here’s news, that’s not going to happen. In fact, pain-free progress didn’t even happen when the prophet preaching from the shore was divine, and when the message was spiritual redemption: “Pick up your cross and follow me.” Remember?
In every face of this imperfect world — and especially in politics — real progress always entails hard work, personal responsibility, and sacrifice.
When a candidate tells us HE will change things and that WE should hope in him, then we can know for sure his promises of hope are empty. If he tells us HE will take away from the rich and give to the poor — instead of creating incentives for the poor to better themselves and motivations for the fortunate to be better neighbors — then his promises for justice are empty.
The biggest political and social concerns of our day — the abortion debate, social security, immigration policy, national security, international debt, and education (to name a few) — will not be fixed simply by the changing of the partisan guard, or by any perfect president.
Real solutions to these problems will require major sacrifice on the part of the whole nation. A candidate worthy of hope and worthy of trust will teach us, and lead us, to sacrifice for the common good.
That’s the only kind of change we can believe in.
God bless, Father Jonathan
U.S. Cuts Foreign Oil Dependency
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/378585.aspx
CBNNews.com - For the first time in more than 30 years, the United States is reducing its dependency on foreign oil.
That trend is expected to continue.
Currently, the U.S. receives approximately 60 percent of its oil from other countries. That figure is expected to drop to 50 percent by 2015.
The Financial Times attributes the drop in part, to the increased use of ethanol and more efficient cars.
The government expects fuel efficiency to keep improving, as well as a substantial increase in U.S. biofuel production over the next 20 years.
Oil Continues Record Price Run
Meanwhile, oil spiked at a record high of $129 per barrel, Tuesday, with no signs of stopping its record run.
Concerns about the available oil supply has become the primary reason for the record increases. Even Saudi Arabia's promise last week of an additional 300,000 barrels of crude a day was not able to put the markets at ease.
The latest price surge comes after OPEC's president said his organization won't increase its output before its next meeting in September.
As oil prices reach new heights, so have gasoline and diesel costs.
"Average gasoline prices in the U.S. rose for an eighth straight week and for the 15th time this year, up 1.8 percent or 6.9 cents to a record $3.791 a gallon," noted Stephen Schork. "Gasoline at the pump is averaging 28.5 percent above last year's pace."
Drivers in some areas of the U.S., like California, are paying considerably more. Some motorists there have been shelling out $4 a gallon for weeks now.
Court Finds Paper Money Unfair to Blind
http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/personal-finance/new-bills-blind/
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled Tuesday that paper money puts blind people at a disadvantage.
The decision supported a ruling that could impel a complete redesign of U.S. currency. Possible changes could involve the printing of different sized bills, large numbers for those with poor vision, as well as remaking the bills with raised portions or indentations.
The court ruled 2-1 in favor of a previous ruling, because the U.S. didn’t make clear why the implementation of these changes would be an “unreasonable burden,” since other countries have altered their currency to accommodate the blind.
Congressmen Fight for CA Homeschooling
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/378764.aspx
CBNNews.com - Some members of Congress are stepping in to help reverse a California court ruling who some say "declared war on homeschooling."
The Liberty Counsel has filed a brief on behalf of 19 congressmen, arguing that parents do have the fundamental right to teach their children how the choose. The brief cites past cases heard by the U.S. Supreme Court that uphold that right.
In February, a California Court of Appeals ruled that parents who lack teaching credentials do not have the constitutional right to homeschool their kids.
The court agreed in March to rehear the case, the same time that the congressmen asked the judges to reverse their ruling. The case is now being heard in district court.
"Parents have a fundamental right to direct the education of their children," said Matthew D. Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel and Dean of Liberty University School of Law. "This right includes the decision to school their children at home. We must assume that parents will act in the best interest of their children and that parents, not the government, know what is best for their children," he continued.
Staver also addressed the success of homeschooling. Homeschooling is legal in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
"Homeschooling has become phenomenally successful," he said. "Homeschooled children routinely out-perform children educated in the public schools. Some of the brightest minds in American history were homeschooled."
Crouse to Testify on Capitol Hill Regarding United Nations Treaty
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07203.shtml
WASHINGTON, (christiansunite.com) -- On Thursday afternoon, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs' Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights and Oversight, will hold a hearing on the U.N.'s Security Resolution 1325. The hearing -- House Resolution 146, sponsored by Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D- Texas) -- states that the United States has obligations regarding several controversial U.N. treaties. Dr. Janice Shaw Crouse, an NGO delegate to the United Nations representing Concerned Women for America (CWA), will give testimony at the hearing which will be held at 2:00 on Thursday, May 15th in Room 2172 of the Rayburn House Office Building.
Crouse said, "The problem is that the United States has not agreed to the obligations of the UN Security Resolution 1325. For instance, we have not ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) or the Convention on the Rights of the Child. We have withdrawn from the International Criminal Court. The United States is not obligated to meet any commitments under these agreements nor do we have any of the obligations that are mentioned in H.Res.146."
Crouse continued, "In the United States equal rights are protected under the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The human rights provisions of the U.N. treaties are already available to citizens in the United States. We emphatically support the human rights of women and girls. The so-called 'Women's Rights' movement and 'gender-mainstreaming' efforts have policy implications far beyond human rights concerns. The issue in regard to the U.N. treaties is a matter of national sovereignty, a matter of quotas and a matter of the specific provisions of the various treaties that would challenge the laws and culture of the United States."
Finally, Crouse said, "The hearing is a way to affirm the U.N.'s so-called 'women's rights' agenda with its emphasis on quotas. The hearing dips a toe into the waters to test whether CEDAW can now be ratified and paves the way for such an action if the November elections are favorable to the leftist agenda."
Concerned Women for America is the nation's largest public policy women's organization.
Families Grieving Children Plan for Summer Compassionate Friends Conference in Nashville
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07202.shtml
OAK BROOK, Illinois, (christiansunite.com) -- Every year in the United States thousands of families go through the traumatic and stressful death of a child. Deep seated pain is etched within them as they struggle to survive what many would believe unsurvivable.
Bereaved family members at all stages in their grief are making plans to journey to Nashville July 18-20 to be with up to 1400 fellow grieving parents, siblings, and grandparents at The Compassionate Friends (TCF) 31st National Conference in Nashville July 18- 20.
"The loss of a child is a devastating experience," says TCF Executive Director Patricia Loder who is a twice bereaved parent and a bereaved sibling. "Our upcoming conference is designed to provide a way for bereaved family members to connect with others who are walking a similar path. This will be a nurturing atmosphere of acceptance, validation, understanding, and hope."
Keynote speakers include Dr. Frank R. Lewis, surviving sibling and author; Bruce Murakami, whose remarkable story about how he has bonded and teamed with the drag racing teen who ended the life of his wife and daughter was made into the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie Crossroads: A Story of Forgiveness; Darrell Scott, whose daughter was the first to die at Columbine, was inspired to start "Rachel's Challenge" in her memory, a program so far presented at more than a thousand high schools designed to inspire kindness and compassion; and Ann Hood bereaved parent and award winning author.
As well as a number of other activities, including a complete sibling program, there will be more than 100 bereavement workshops covering an extensive variety of topics related to the death of a child and the difficult journey that follows.
The conference will incorporate the ninth annual "Walk to Remember," Sunday, July 20 at 8 a.m. up to 1300 persons attending the conference and from the surrounding area, are expected for the event, carrying the names of more than 10,000 children, whose memories are being honored. Anyone who wishes to have a child remembered during the Walk may submit the child's name online at www.tcfwalktoremember.org and volunteers will carry those names during the event, which is also a fundraiser, supporting the organization's many national outreach programs.
In conjunction with the conference, a Professional Outreach Day seminar will be held Thursday, July 17 for nurses, physicians, social workers, counselors, emergency personnel, funeral directors, law enforcement officers, clergy, educators, and all who care for individuals or are interested in providing support for bereaved families after the death of a child. CEU's will be available for many professions.
For more information or to register for the conference, the Walk to Remember, or Professional Outreach Day, visit The Compassionate Friends national website at www.compassionatefriends.org or call the National Office 877-969-0010 toll-free.
The Compassionate Friends is the world's largest self-help bereavement support organization, with more than 600 chapters in the United States including all 50 states, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. TCF has a national presence in more than 30 countries around the world.
New Survey Shows U.S. Religious Giving to Developing Countries at $8.8 Billion
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07201.shtml
WASHINGTON, (christiansunite.com) -- The first national random sample survey of U.S. religious giving from congregations of all denominations to the developing world shows that congregations are giving record amounts in relief and development assistance to poor countries. The pioneering study, combined with other data, found that religious congregations gave $8.8 billion in 2006, according to the recently released 2008 Index of Global Philanthropy.
The Index, published annually by the Hudson Institute's Center for Global Prosperity (CGP), had previously reported religious giving of $5.4 billion for 2005, based on limited available data. The new survey, undertaken by the University of Notre Dame Center for the Study of Religion and Society, in partnership with CGP, was part of a comprehensive Notre Dame congregational survey supported by the John Templeton Foundation. This far- reaching study found that over half of U.S. congregations gave an average of $10,500 to U.S. organizations for relief and development in poor countries. Over thirty percent made donations directly to programs in developing countries as well as volunteering for short-term missions or service trips. The survey specifically excluded support for evangelism, recording expenditures only for such items as food, clothing, and medicines, as well as cash for schools, clinics and small business development.
The Index of Global Philanthropy is the sole comprehensive guide to the sources and magnitude of private philanthropy from foundations, corporations, voluntary organizations, colleges and universities, and religious organizations to the developing world. In addition, the Index measures remittances that migrants send back to their families and home towns. In 2006, these private financial flows were more than four and one-half times U.S. government foreign aid to developing countries. The $8.8 billion from religious congregations alone was over one-third official U.S. government aid of $23.5 billion. "This Index breaks new ground by commissioning the first national survey of congregational giving to the developing world," says Carol Adelman, director of the CGP. "But it's not just about the numbers," says Adelman. "It's about people volunteering their time and expertise to help those less fortunate help themselves."
The Index highlights examples of this religious giving at work - the Christ Presbyterian Church in Madison, Wisconsin, partnering with World Vision to support Rwandan children with shelter and clothing as well as vocational training and other educational opportunities, or the National Christian Foundation which provides advice to local churches on how to deliver their Sunday donations abroad quickly and efficiently. Gretchen McPike from Madison summarizes her family's sponsorship of Clementine Umuhoza, a young Rwandan girl in the World Vision "Church to Community" program: "Instead of just a picture on the side of my refrigerator, she explains, "Clementine became a part of our lives."
For more information and to view the 2008 Index of Global Philanthropy, visit CGP on the Web at www.global-prosperity.org.
TD Jakes calls Christians back to Bible
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/td.jakes.calls.christians.back.to.bible/18906.htm
It is never too late to turn back to the Word of God, according to renowned preacher Bishop TD Jakes.
Senior pastor of megachurch The Potter's House in Dallas, Jakes took thousands of Christians "back to the Bible" during a three-day conference over the weekend, urging believers to realise that now is the time to re-commit to Jesus Christ.
"It is because of the state of this world - natural disasters, personal failures, a sagging economy, injustices, and more - that we need to get back to the Bible," said Jakes, who was dubbed one of the country's 25 most influential evangelicals by Time magazine in 2005. "We need to go back to relying on the real, proven Word of God to draw strength from it, and to use it as our guide for day-to-day living.”
Jakes and other speakers at the weekend event conveyed a message that "now is the time for believers to hang on to God because that is the only way to survival", according to Ann Fields, media relations specialist at The Potter's House.
The messages were delivered at a time when many Christians are abandoning their faith. David Sanford, author of If God Disappears: 9 Faith Wreckers and What to Do About Them, says believers have lost faith in the Bible, the church and Christian beliefs, and now millions of Americans are exiting the church.
Jakes called on believers to return to the Bible.
“For thousands of years, the Bible has proven itself relevant. It is rich in instruction in how to live the peaceful, productive and righteous life that God designed for us. Yet, at times, even Christians have swayed from its teachings. Even we have been distracted by the headlines of this world," he said.
"But it’s never too late to turn back to the only thing that doesn’t change, to the only thing that is dependable and fixed, and that is the Word of God."
Jakes launched the Back to the Bible conference in 1983 in Montgomery, West Virginia, with some 80 people. The annual event began before the highly popular MegaFest, "Woman Thou Are Loosed" and "ManPower" conferences were introduced. Back to the Bible is considered the flagship event that has helped to define Jakes and his ministry.
U.S. Tells Hugo Chavez to Come Clean on FARC Guerillas
http://www.newsmax.com/international/chavez_FARC_Guerillas/2008/05/20/97674.html
Washington on Tuesday called on Caracas to explain its relationship with leftist Colombian rebels, following the discovery of information suggesting that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is actively supporting the guerrillas.
Thomas Shannon, the top US State Department official in charge of Latin America, said that he was "surprised" by the negative reaction from Venezuela and Ecuador to a "neutral" report from Interpol on the authenticity of computer data found on laptops and flash drives captured from rebels with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
Bogota says the email messages and documents found in the 38,000 seized computer files prove close links between the FARC -- which Washington considers a terrorist group -- and the leftist governments in Venezuela and Ecuador.
Some of the data -- which includes email messages describing meetings between guerrilla commanders and top Venezuelan officials including Chavez himself, and allegations that Chavez tried to arm Colombian rebels with help from Belarus -- has been leaked to leading US and Spanish-language media.
Interpol secretary general Ronald Noble said on May 15 the agency's experts did not find any alteration of the data found on the rebel computer hard drives.
"I think the stories that have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, in the Washington Post and (Spain's) El Pais and elsewhere, indicate that there is indeed a relationship between the FARC and Venezuela," said Shannon.
"We look more closely and more carefully as we are trying to understand better the relationship (between Venezuela and the rebels) and its consequences," he said.
"We will certainly urge the government of Venezuela to make clear what the purpose of that relationship is."
Washington wants to know "whether or not this relationship can be used in a positive way to help end a four decade long civil conflict in Colombia, or rather the countries are not prepared to stand with a democratic neighbor."
The computer data was captured when Colombian soldiers attacked a FARC rebel camp in the jungle just inside Ecuador on March 1. The FARC's number two commander, Raul Reyes, was killed in the attack.
Bogota has said the data proves that FARC is "financed and armed by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez."
Chavez has dismissed the Interpol report as a "clown show" that "doesn't deserve serious comment."
EU and PNA deepen ties through re-launching formal cooperation
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2797&Itemid=29
Jerusalem / Alix de Mauny - The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and the European Union (EU) officially re-launched the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) process between the PNA and the EU on the occasion of the meeting of the "Joint Committee", the highest level body bringing together officials from the European Union and the PNA. It was the first such meeting for three years and reflects a deepening of the ties between the EU and the PNA.
Under the chairmanship of H.E. Ambassador Ahmad Soboh, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, 60 participants from PNA ministries, the European Commission and EU Member States convened to exchange their views on political and economic reform and development, energy, trade, environment and social issues as detailed in the ENP Joint Action Plan.
This was the fourth Joint Committee meeting with the PA. The last meeting of the EU-PA Joint Committee took place in May 2005. The political situation in the occupied Palestinian territory during 2006 and 2007 did not allow progress in the bilateral co-operation with the PA within the European Neighbourhood Policy. Today's meeting therefore marked the formal re-launching of the implementation of the EU – PNA Action Plan, and an opportunity to deepen the already close bonds between the people of Europe and the Palestinians.
Although all ENP Action Plans follow the same basic structure, the fact that these are negotiated with partners means that the content of each one is fully differentiated i.e. country-specific, tailor-made for the political, economic and social situation and needs of that country and its relationship with the EU. The plan covers many of the areas that are part of the Palestinian Reform and Development Plan for 2008-2010 (PRDP) presented at the Paris Donors Conference in December 2007.
‘Big Brother’ database for phones and e-mails
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/telecoms/article3965033.ece
A massive government database holding details of every phone call, e-mail and time spent on the internet by the public is being planned as part of the fight against crime and terrorism. Internet service providers (ISPs) and telecoms companies would hand over the records to the Home Office under plans put forward by officials.
The information would be held for at least 12 months and the police and security services would be able to access it if given permission from the courts.
The proposal will raise further alarm about a “Big Brother” society, as it follows plans for vast databases for the ID cards scheme and NHS patients. There will also be concern about the ability of the Government to manage a system holding billions of records. About 57 billion text messages were sent in Britain last year, while an estimated 3 billion e-mails are sent every day.
Home Office officials have discussed the option of the national database with telecommunications companies and ISPs as part of preparations for a data communications Bill to be in November’s Queen’s Speech. But the plan has not been sent to ministers yet.
Industry sources gave warning that a single database would be at greater risk of attack and abuse.
Jonathan Bamford, the assistant Information Commissioner, said: “This would give us serious concerns and may well be a step too far. We are not aware of any justification for the State to hold every UK citizen’s phone and internet records. We have real doubts that such a measure can be justified, or is proportionate or desirable. We have warned before that we are sleepwalking into a surveillance society. Holding large collections of data is always risky - the more data that is collected and stored, the bigger the problem when the data is lost, traded or stolen.”
David Davis, the Shadow Home Secretary, said: “Given [ministers’] appalling record at maintaining the integrity of databases holding people’s sensitive data, this could well be more of a threat to our security, than a support.”
The proposal has emerged as part of plans to implement an EU directive developed after the July 7 bombings to bring uniformity of record-keeping. Since last October telecoms companies have been required to keep records of phone calls and text messages for 12 months. That requirement is to be extended to internet, e-mail and voice-over-internet use and included in a Communications Data Bill.
Police and the security services can access the records with a warrant issued by the courts. Rather than individual companies holding the information, Home Office officials are suggesting the records be handed over to the Government and stored on a huge database.
One of the arguments being put forward in favour of the plan is that it would make it simpler and swifter for law enforcement agencies to retrieve the information instead of having to approach hundreds of service providers. Opponents say that the scope for abuse will be greater if the records are held on one database.
A Home Office spokesman said the Bill was needed to reflect changes in communication that would “increasingly undermine our current capabilities to obtain communications data and use it to protect the public”.
British passports to have EU treaty stickers
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1947576/British-passports-to-have-EU-treaty-stickers.html
British tourists will be asked to put stickers declaring the rights of European Union "nationals" on the back of their passports, it emerged on Sunday.
The European Commission has told the Government that stickers quoting the EU's founding treaty must be distributed to as many people as possible.
By July 1 next year, the quote from Article 20 will appear in every passport issued in the UK but the EU wants the Government to act earlier.
The Foreign Office has welcomed the suggestion and diplomats are exploring how the stickers would look and how they can be distributed.
But the Tories have called the move another attempt to encroach on Britain's consular power and said the Government should tell the EU to back off.
William Hague, the shadow foreign secretary, above, said: "Once again the EU is desperate to muscle in on passports. Our Government should remind them that British passports are still primarily Britain's business. The danger is that this is all part of a broader Brussels agenda to extend their control over how people are looked after abroad," he said.
"Now it's passports – next it could be visas and embassies."
Article 20 tells EU "citizens" that they have the right to get consular help from the embassy of any other member state. Under legislation published in Brussels last week, it will appear in every passport by July 2009.
Until then, the stickers will be distributed to as many people as possible, using airports, post offices, travel agencies and passport offices.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: "The European Commission suggested member states' passports include additional text to remind EU nationals they can seek consular assistance from other member states where they have no consular representation of their own.
"We welcomed the suggestion as a good way to keep British nationals informed." A cost estimate for the changes has not been calculated, he added.
Exclusive: Jerusalem reproves Paris for talking to Hamas - amid its own indirect contacts
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=5283
DEBKAfile’s Middle East sources point to disturbing policy contradictions in Israel’s handling of the Palestinian Hamas. Ahead of French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner’s arrival Tuesday, May 20, Jerusalem asked France to clarify the contacts made by an emissary with Hamas officials as part of an effort requested by the family to help free the kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilead Shalit.
At the same time, prime minister Ehud Olmert has approved indirect Gaza truce negotiations via Cairo with the Palestinian fundamentalists, who are sworn to destroy the Jewish state and are building up strength for this very goal. The go-ahead was conveyed by Israeli defense minister Ehud Barak to Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and intelligence minister Omar Suleiman when they met in Sharm el-Sheikh Monday, May 19.
Olmert and defense minister Ehud Barak further consented to Cairo accompanying the ceasefire with progress on its initiative for patching up the feud between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, headed by Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas. It was agreed that if the truce held, it would be the key to Hamas-Fatah talks maturing up to the goal of a shared Palestinian government. The Cairo formula would assign ministerial portfolios to a-political technocrats.
Abbas’ condition for going along with the plan is the handover to his presidential guard of responsibility for the reopened Rafah border crossing to Sinai and the southern part of the divided Rafah border town.
Hamas is inclined to buy the plan to attain two immediate objectives:
1. A Palestinian power-sharing regime will free the terrorist rulers of Gaza of responsibility for providing the population’s food, water, fuel and medical care needs. It will pass to the shared government without threatening Hamas’ grip on the Gaza Strip.
2. Hamas will gain a respite to focus fully on its main mission, which is to build an army comparable in size and weaponry to the Lebanese Hizballah’s 40,000-strong militia. In an interview Saturday, May 17, outgoing Israeli Air Force commander, Lt. Gen (res.) Eliezer Shkedi likened Hamas’ missile stockpile to that of Hizballah, stressing it was still growing.
DEBKAfile’s Israel military sources warn therefore that the evolving truce regime will not only lead to the end of Hamas’ isolation and Israel-Egyptian blockade of Gaza, but give its war planners a shot in the arm, space for building up its war machine and time to top up its seizure of Gaza by gaining control of the West Bank.
Another Second Temple quarry uncovered
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1210668678682&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull
For the second time in the past year, archeologists have uncovered a Second Temple Period quarry whose stones were used to build the Western Wall, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced Monday.
The latest archeological discovery was made in the city's Sanhedria neighborhood, located about two kilometers from the Old City of Jerusalem.
The quarry was uncovered during a routine "salvage excavation" carried out by the state-run archeological body over the last several months ahead of the construction of a private house in the religious neighborhood.
The quarry is believed to be one of those used to build the Jerusalem holy site because the size of the stones match those at the Western Wall.
"Most of the stones that were found at the site are similar in size to the smallest stones that are currently visible in the Western Wall, and therefore we assume that the stones from this quarry were used to build these structures," said Dr. Gerald Finkielsztejn, director of the excavation.
The stones were dated by pottery found at the site, he added.
"This is a rather regular quarry except that there are really big stones," Finkielsztejn said.
The largest of the stones found at the quarry measures 0.69 x 0.94 x 1.65 m, while some of the stones were apparently ready for extraction but were left in place.
The quarry was probably abandoned at the time of the Great Revolt against the Romans in 66-70 CE, he said.
Last year, archeologists unearthed an ancient quarry that supplied enormous high quality limestones for the construction of the Temple Mount in an outlying neighborhood of Jerusalem.
Dozens of quarries have previously been found in Jerusalem, but these are the first two that archeologists have uncovered which they believed were used in the construction of the Temple Mount.
A few dozen quarries were likely used in the building of the Temple Mount, said Prof. Amos Kloner, a former Jerusalem district archaeologist at the Israel Antiquities Authority.
He said it was "no surprise" that the first two had been found, and noted that the neighborhood where the latest quarry was found was in itself built on top of a quarry.
Orthodox youth burn New Testaments
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1211288128832
Orthodox Jews set fire to hundreds of copies of the New Testament in a religious Israeli town.
Or Yehuda Deputy Mayor Uzi Aharon said missionaries recently entered a neighborhood in the predominantly religious town of 34,000 in central Israel, distributing hundreds of New Testaments and missionary material.
After receiving complaints, Aharon said, he got into a loudspeaker car last Thursday and drove through the neighborhood, urging people to turn over the material to Jewish religious students who went door to door to collect it.
The books were dumped into a pile and set afire in a lot near a synagogue, he said.
The Israeli Maariv daily reported Tuesday that hundreds of Jewish religious school students took part in the book-burning. But Aharon told The Associated Press that only a few students were present, and that he was not there when the books were torched. Not all of the New Testaments that were collected were burned, but hundreds were, he said.
He said he regretted the burning of the books, but called it a "commandment" to burn materials that urge Jews to convert.
"I certainly don't denounce the burning of the booklets," he said. "I denounce those who distributed the booklets."
Calev Myers, an attorney who represents Messianic Jews, or Jews who accept Jesus as their savior, demanded in an interview with Army Radio that all those involved be put on trial. He estimated there were 10,000 Messianic Jews, who are also known as Jews for Jesus, in Israel.
Police had no immediate comment.
Israeli authorities and Orthodox Jews frown on missionary activity aimed at Jews, though in most cases it is not illegal.
Olmert’s lawyers lose High Court appeal against pre-trial hearing of American donor
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=5286
Justices Eliezer Rivlin, Selim Jubran and Edna Arbel confirmed the Jerusalem district court’s ruling in favor of taking pre-trial testimony from the chief witness in the case against the prime minister, Ehud Olmert. American financier Morris Talansky will therefore testify Sunday, May 25 in the corruption case against Ehud Olmert. Friday, prime minister will submit to another round of police questions.
Exclusive: Hamas turns the heat on in Gaza to support its truce negotiators in Cairo
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=5285
DEBKAfile’s military source counted four armed Hamas assaults on the Gaza-Israel border fence Tuesday, May 20. They were made to press the Palestinian group’s truce terms and demand for 350 jailed terrorists “with blood on their hands” as the price as the price for freeing the kidnapped Israeli solder Gilead Shalit. By afternoon, Israeli forces had fought four Palestinian gangs back from the border fence – one was carrying explosive devices opposite Beeri and two anti-tank missiles further north and south of the Karni crossing. A missile crew was hit by the Israeli air force in the morning. Hamas reports three killed.
In Cairo, Egyptian go-betweens laid out Israel’s terms for a ceasefire deal to the Hamas team from Damascus as presented by defense minister Ehud Barak Monday, May 19, to Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and intelligence minister Gen. Omar Suleiman at Sharm el-Sheik. Israel wants kidnapped soldier Gilead Shalit included in the ceasefire deal. It has offered to include 72 convicted murderers in the list of jailed terrorists for release. Hamas is demanding 350.
Prime minister Ehud Olmert and Barak, after opting for a truce in Gaza rather than an effective military operation against Hamas, are expected to compromise on this question too.
Olmert’s statement at the Sunday, May 18, government session in Jerusalem that the Gaza situation cannot go on and Israel “is very close to the point of a decision” on this issue, is seen by inside sources as an attempt to mislead the public which is demanding that the IDF give Hamas a real thrashing. He hopes the deal will go down more smoothly if Gilead Shalit is freed.
The three key outstanding questions are:
1. The number of jailed Palestinian murderers to be traded for Shalit.
2. How and what stage Israel lifts its blockade on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. This will entail throwing open all the enclave’s border crossings at some point as part of the reciprocal ceasefire package.
3. Egyptian leaders have promised to do their best to close down the smuggling of Palestinian arms and terrorists trained in Iran in order to strengthen the ceasefire. But to date, these assurances have never held up for long.
Egyptian official: Israel has accepted Gaza cease-fire
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1211288130518&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
A senior Egyptian official said on Tuesday night that Israel had accepted in principle a proposal for a truce in the Gaza Strip, according to the official MENA news agency.
"Israeli leaders [have informed us] of their support for and understanding of the Egyptian proposals for a truce," the news agency quoted the unidentified official as saying.
It added that Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman had relayed the news to a Hamas delegation from Gaza earlier in the day.
Israeli officials declined to confirm the report.
"As far as we are concerned, we can only indicate that contacts are continuing," said Mark Regev, spokesman for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
Meanwhile, kidnapped IDF soldier Cpl. Gilad Schalit's father, Noam, told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday that Olmert had personally promised in a telephone conversation that his son would be included in any agreement or arrangement reached with Hamas.
But the call, he said, took place last week.
"We are still waiting," he said.
In his talks with Suleiman and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak over a Gaza cease-fire proposal on Monday, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Israel was prepared to accept a cease-fire that included expediting the negotiations for Schalit's release.
According to the Israeli proposal, the first stage would include a cessation of hostilities, and then a lifting of the siege on Gaza - by opening the crossings - in exchange for advancement in efforts to free Schalit. Defense officials said Barak also asked that Schalit be transferred to Egypt for safekeeping until the completion of the negotiations.
Defense officials said that if Hamas accepted Israel's two-stage cease-fire proposal, a truce in Gaza would go into effect before the end of the week.
In Gaza on Tuesday, two people were killed in separate IAF strikes. In the first attack, the army said, aircraft fired at a group of Palestinians firing rockets in the northeast Gaza Strip. Palestinian doctors said a boy, 13, was killed and another youth was seriously wounded.
In the second strike, aircraft fired at Palestinians who were placing bombs along the security fence in central Gaza, the army said. Palestinian doctors said one man, 32, was killed. His identity was not immediately known.
Earlier in the day, two Kassam rockets were fired into Israel.
On Monday night, a 20-year-old Palestinian terrorist wearing an explosive belt was killed by soldiers at the Hawara checkpoint south of Nablus, the IDF said.
The army said soldiers manning the roadblockCpl. Michal Ya'akov had become suspicious when the man approached the checkpoint and set off the metal detector. The soldiers then ordered the man to keep still. However, when the man slowly moved his hands in the direction of an explosive belt, the troops shot him, the army said.
Analysis: Osama bin Laden attacks Hizballah’s Nasrallah and Shiite Iran
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=5284
Examination of the full text of the al Qaeda leader’s second audio-taped message in three days, aired On May 18, shows him exploiting the Palestinian issue to fan the flames of the Sunni-Shiite dispute raging in Iraq and Lebanon - and carry it over to the Gaza Strip.
His 22-minute diatribe calls Arab leaders “agents of crusaders,” and “wolves,” who have stopped taking instructions from Islam and take them from the United States. The only Arab leader bin Laden singles out by name is Hizballah’s secretary general Hassan Nasrallah.
He says: He claimed [in starting the 2006 Lebanon War] that he had enough resources, such as money and combatants, to fight Israel. “But the truth is the opposite.” Al Qaeda’s leader asks: “If he were honest and had enough resources, why then did he not support the fight to liberate Palestinian?”
Bin Laden also attacked Nasrallah for allowing the deployment of UN peacekeepers in South Lebanon “to protect the Jews.”
The Sunni terrorist chief went on to lambast Shiite Iran for its efforts to dominate the Middle East.
The message, released to mark Israel’s 60th anniversary, pandered to anger in the Arab world over US president George W. Bush’s fulsome praise of Israel. He called on Muslims to ignore the Islamic prohibition against raising arms against fellow Muslims, pointing to the kings and leaders who “sacrificed Palestine and al Aqsa to keep their crowns.” They have decided that peace with the Zionists is their strategic option, “so damn their decision,” bin Laden said.
DEBKAfile’s terror experts note that, without saying so, Osama bin Laden has fetched up in for the first time in the same corner as the United States, Israel and Sunni Arab governments in opposing Iran’s attempts to dominate Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.
Report: U.S. Will Attack Iran
http://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/Report_US_to_Attack_iran/2008/05/20/97545.html
Israel’s Army Radio is reporting that President Bush intends to launch a military strike against Iran before the end of his term.
The Army Radio, a network operated by the Israeli Defense Forces, quoted a government source in Jerusalem. The source disclosed that a senior official close to Bush said in a closed meeting that Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney believed military action against Iran was now called for.
Bush concluded a trip to Israel last week, where he said, "The objective of the United States must be to . . . support our strongest ally and friend in the Middle East.”
The Radio report, which was quoted by the Jerusalem Post, disclosed that the recent turmoil in Lebanon, where the Iranian-backed group Hezbollah had seized virtual control of the country, was encouraging an American attack.
Hezbollah’s aggression in Lebanon is seen as evidence of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s growing influence, and the U.S. official said that in Bush’s view, “the disease must be treated, not its symptoms,” according to the Post.
The White House on Tuesday denied the Army Radio report, saying in a statement: “As the president has said, no president of the United States should ever take options off the table, but our preference and our actions for dealing with this matter remain through peaceful diplomatic means. Nothing has changed in that regard.”
However, numerous signs point to a U.S. strike on Iran in the near future:
A leading member of America’s Jewish community told Newsmax in April that a military strike on Iran was likely and that Vice President Cheney’s March trip through the Middle East came in preparation for the U.S. attack.
The Air Force recently declared the B-2 bomber fleet — a critical weapons system in any U.S. attack on Iran — as airworthy again. The Air Force had halted B-2 flights after a February crash in Guam. As Newsmax reported, the Air Force has refitted its stealth bombers to carry 30,000-pound “bunker buster” bombs, needed to destroy Iran’s hardened nuclear facilities.
A second U.S. aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, joined the carrier USS Harry S. Truman in the Persian Gulf in May, carrying far more weaponry and ammunition than on previous deployments.
Israel is gearing up for war. In April, it conducted its largest homeland military exercises ever. The Jewish-American source said Israel is “preparing for heavy casualties,” expecting to be the target of Iranian retribution following the U.S. attack.
Saudi Arabia is taking steps to prepare for possible radioactive contamination from U.S. destruction of Iran’s nuclear facilities. The Saudi government reportedly approved nuclear fallout preparations a day after Cheney met with the kingdom’s highest-ranking officials.
The USS Ross, an Aegis-class destroyer, has taken up station off the coast of Lebanon. Military observers speculate it is there to help defend Israel from missile attacks.
Adm. Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at a recent Pentagon briefing that the Iranians are systematically importing and training Shiite militia fighters, who slip back across the Iraqi border to kill American troops.
And Israeli intelligence has predicted that Iran will acquire its first nuclear device
White House Denies Report that Bush Plans to Attack Iran
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,356782,00.html
WASHINGTON — The White House on Tuesday denied a published report in Israel that said President Bush intends to attack Iran before the end of his term in January.
A story in the Jerusalem Post quoted a "senior official" there as saying that Bush plans to attack Iran in the coming months. The story says the unidentified official claimed that a "senior member" of Bush's traveling entourage made the statement about attacking Iran in a closed meeting. Bush was in Israel last week.
The article also says the unnamed Bush official said that Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney "were of the opinion that military action were called for."
"An article in today's Jerusalem Post about the president's position on Iran that quotes unnamed sources — quoting unnamed sources — is not worth the paper it's written on," White House press secretary Dana Perino said in a statement.
"Let me respond by reaffirming the policy of the administration: We, along with our international allies who want peace in the Middle East, remain opposed to Iran's ambitions to obtain a nuclear weapon," Perino said. "To that end, we are working to bring tough diplomatic and economic pressure on the Iranians to get them to change their behavior and to halt their uranium enrichment program."
Perino said the "president of the United States should never take options off the table, but our preference and our actions for dealing with this matter remain through peaceful diplomatic means. Nothing has changed in that regard."
Members of Congress were unmoved Tuesday by the allegation. Senators used a lengthy congressional hearing with Defense Secretary Robert Gates to discuss instead whether the U.S. should establish a direct dialogue with Tehran.
When asked to comment on the Jerusalem Post report, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said: "You're talking about an allegation without a source that has been denied by the president. I think we can leave it at that."
Iran Allows Solana to Visit Tehran to Deliver Nuclear Proposals
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601116&sid=aN3XDPdJt4.4&refer=africa
May 20 (Bloomberg) -- Iran has agreed to a trip by European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana to deliver a package of incentives aimed at persuading the country to suspend uranium enrichment, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said.
Mottaki didn't say when Solana will arrive in Tehran with the latest proposals for Iran's nuclear program from the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany, according to the state-run Fars news agency.
The U.S., the U.K., France, Russia and China, which have veto power at the UN Security Council, were joined by Germany on May 2 in revising an incentive plan developed in 2006. Measures in the initial package included an offer to provide Iran with enriched uranium for power stations in exchange for suspension of its own enrichment efforts. The enhancements to the package haven't been made public.
Iran says its nuclear program is needed to produce fuel for power stations, while the U.S. and its allies allege the project is being used as cover for the development of an atomic weapon. Enriched uranium can be used to generate electricity or to make nuclear warheads.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on May 13 that he won't put Iran's ``right'' to carry out uranium enrichment on its own soil ``up for negotiations.'' Iran is a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
U.N. Nuke Watchdog Accuses Iran of Stonewalling Atomic Arms Probe
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,356786,00.html
VIENNA, Austria — Iran has stymied the latest U.N. attempts to probe allegations that it tried to make nuclear arms, dismissing U.S. and other intelligence purportedly proving such efforts as bogus, diplomats told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
The International Atomic Energy Agency — the U.N. nuclear watchdog — will acknowledge its failure to make headway in its efforts to follow up on the allegations in a report to be presented as early as Friday to its 35-nation board, said the diplomats.
IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei was hopeful a month ago in announcing Iran's agreement to review the intelligence collected by the agency, just a few weeks after Tehran declared the books closed on any attempt to look into its alleged nuclear arms programs.
"By the end of May we will be in a position to get the explanation and clarification from Iran" about the allegations, he said back then, describing Tehran's apparent change of heart as a "positive step."
But two diplomats who are familiar with the course of the investigations said that Iran had rejected the evidence presented by agency officials as falsified.
The diplomats, who demanded anonymity because their information is confidential, said Iranian officials insisted during the monthlong probe that all of the nation's nuclear activities — including nearly two decades of clandestine work discovered only six years ago — was peaceful.
That, said one of the diplomats, amounted to maintaining a disappointing status quo. The Islamic Republic, in rejecting the allegations before agreeing to review the evidence a month ago, had also said any intelligence from the U.S. and other IAEA board nations purporting to prove the contrary was fabricated.
As expected, the report, which will serve as the platform for debate on Iran during the IAEA's June board meeting, will also confirm that Tehran continues to defy three sets of U.N. Security Council sanctions and continues to enrich uranium.
Still, said the diplomats, the confidential report will also note that the enrichment program has not been greatly expanded, despite pronouncements to the contrary by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
In announcing major progress in Iran's push for nuclear power, Ahmadinejad said last month that his nation's scientists were putting 6,000 new uranium enriching centrifuges into place, about twice the existing number, and testing a new type that works five times faster.
But one of the diplomats said the report will say that the rate of expansion has been much below that touted by Ahmadinejad.
He and other diplomats close to the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency have said Iran has exaggerated its progress and has had problems operating the 3,000 centrifuges already in place. Additionally, the diplomat speculated Tuesday that the Iranian government might be holding back on a quick build-up of its enrichment capabilities because it hopes it can come to terms with the U.S. administration that will succeed President George W. Bush, known for his hard-line Iran policies.
Iran insists its enrichment program is meant only to generate nuclear power. But because of its past clandestine activities, including some that could have applications for weapons research, the international community is concerned that Tehran wants to enrich uranium to weapons grade, suitable for the fissile core of nuclear weapons.
Iran is known to have a little more than 3,000 centrifuges operating at its underground nuclear facility in Natanz. That 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 over time.
In the enrichment process, uranium gas is pumped into a series of centrifuges called "cascades." The gas is spun at supersonic speeds to remove impurities. Enriching at a low level produces nuclear fuel, but at a higher level it can produce the material for a warhead.
Iran has said it plans to move toward large-scale uranium enrichment that ultimately will involve 54,000 centrifuges.
Al-Qaeda leader in Iraq sentenced to death over slain archbishop
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/alqaeda.leader.in.iraq.sentenced.to.death.over.slain.archbishop/18902.htm
The Iraqi Government says that a leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq is to be executed for the death of a Chaldean Catholic archbishop.
Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said that Al-Qaeda leader Ahmed Ali Ahmed, also known as Abu Omar, was sentenced on Sunday by the Iraqi Central Criminal Court, reports the Associated Press.
Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho, the second-most senior Catholic cleric in Iraq, was found in a shallow grave not long after he was abducted as he left a Mass in the northern city of Mosul.
His abduction was the latest in a string of attacks on Iraq’s tiny Christian community in the past year, and has thrown their future into further uncertainty. Many Christians in the country feel the attack was part of a deliberate drive on the part of extremist Muslims to drive Christians out of Iraq.
Father Emanuel Youkhana of Christian Aid Program Nohadra Iraq said at the time of the Archbishop’s death that he expected more Christian families would now flee Mosul.
“Within the last two or three months, the church is attacked and then the bishop is kidnapped, so how can people save their confidence?
He added: “There are some Muslims that want to put Christians out of Mosul. So through these criminals, they try to intimidate the relationship between Muslims and Christians.”
Chaldean Catholics are an Eastern-rite denomination and make up the largest group among Iraq’s less than 1 million Christians.
Quake Victims Cling to the Word of God
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/378109.aspx
MIANYANG, SICHUAN PROVINCE, China - Sunday morning, In the city of Mianyang, close to the epicenter of the quake, a chorus of praise rises to the heavens.
Members of one the city's largest churches sings "All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name!"
Nearly 12,000 people died in Mianyang.
Thousands more are still buried in the rubble of collapsed buildings.
It is the name of Jesus that many here are clinging to this morning.
"Our church is also suffering. Many of our members have lost their homes and loved ones in the earthquake," John Chao, pastor of Mianyang Three Self Church said. "So many churches in this region were also destroyed."
While the search and rescue continues across this province, Mianyang has turned into a massive refugee camp for survivors.
And today, tens of thousands have literally found home in this open-air stadium, one of four in this particular region. As we've spent time talking to these individuals they say they have no idea what comes next."
"When the earthquake happened, I didn't even have time to put on my shoes. I grabbed my daughter and ran out of the house. She is all I have left. I have nothing else--- no home, no money. I don't know how to start my life again."
With the help of Operation Blessing, Pastor Chao is able to reach out to this hurting community.
Following the Sunday service, Chao and a team from Operation Blessing China delivered much-needed tents to a group of survivors from last week's powerful earthquake.
Dong Shao Ju's family got two of those tents. They are from Beichuan, a county close to the epicenter.
"I was so scared in my heart, I could see people running everywhere, and homes were crumbling right in front of my eyes," earthquake survivor Dong Shao Ju explained.
She and 25 other extended family members managed to escape. But others weren't so fortunate. Several of her cousins, uncles and aunts were killed. Her home was destroyed.
"We cannot even think about the future," she said. "We are just trying to think about today, how we can survive."
For now, Ju is grateful for this small, but much appreciated act of kindness, from people half-way around the world.
I cannot find the words to express my gratitude to those people who I will probably never meet who are helping us feel a little better today," he said.
"Our partnership with Operation Blessing is a great example of how the Body of Christ should work together to meet the needs of the people here," Chao said. "It is a testimony to our faith and to the power of love. Even before the earthquake, OB and my church did several outreaches to the community and so people know about our vital relationship."
Pastor Chao and Operation Blessing are looking to take that partnership to new levels in the coming weeks and months as the country faces the enormous task of housing and caring for the hundreds of thousands of people left homeless by the earthquake.
Churches Raided, Leaders Arrested and Bible School Closed in China
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07204.shtml
(christiansunite.com) - In several locations throughout China, churches were raided and several Christians were detained in recent weeks, according to reports from China Aid Association received on May 8, 12 and 14.
On May 3, four house church leaders -- Ms. Qioa Lei (24), Ms. Wang Qin (24), Mr. Cao Guanggen and Mr. Gin -- were arrested and detained in Yantun village, Shandong province. Lei and Qin were accused of being "evil cult members." Also in Shandong, on May 8, Pastor Zhang Yongliang and his parents were detained on charges of "obstructing justice" when members of the Public Security Bureau (PSB) raided a meeting of over 30 church leaders in Qingahou city, labeling it as an "illegal gathering."
On May 9, Pastor Dong Yatao, one of the leaders of the Beijing City Revival Church, was arrested by PSB members while he was on his way to obtain a shipment of Bibles. He was detained on charges of "receiving illegally printed Bibles and religious literature." That same day, a worship service at Shouwang Church in Beijing was interrupted by police officials who declared the meeting an "illegal gathering." They ordered the church to stop its activities and forced congregants to leave the premises.
On May 12, a house church meeting in the city of Qiqihaer, Heilongjiang province was raided by security officials who claimed it was an "illegal gathering" and distributed papers stating its official closure.
On May 14, a Bible school located in the city of Sanhe, Hebei province was raided by approximately 30 security officers. Three computer hard disks were taken, and the more than 100 students from various provinces in China enrolled in the school were ordered to return to their hometowns.
Pray for the release of those detained. Pray that God will give those in prison opportunity to share the Gospel (Colossians 4:2,3). Ask God to provide wisdom and guidance to leaders of the churches and the Bible school facing government opposition (Hebrews 10:23-25).
For more information on the persecution facing Christians in China, go to www.persecution.net/country/china.htm.
Shouwang House Church Raided by Beijing Government Officials. Major Beijing House Church Leader Detained
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07200.shtml
BEIJING, (christiansunite.com) -- CAA's Beijing investigators have learned that after a May 2 incident when police in Sichuan raided and harassed the Autumn Rain Church of Chengdu during a retreat meeting, the police and officials from religion administration agencies suddenly raided Shouwang House Church in Beijing in the name of stopping an "illegal gathering" and ordered the church to stop meeting.
CAA has also learned that two weeks ago, police and officials from religion administration agencies in Beijing tried to abolish, by force, a united prayer meeting organized by members of a house church in Beijing. On May 9, a major house church leader, Pastor Dong Yutao, was arrested and placed under criminal detention by Beijing PSB officials for allegedly "receiving illegally printed Bibles and Religious Literature." Only Bibles printed and distributed by TSPM churches are allowed by Government officials. Pastor Dong is one of 4 leaders of the Beijing City Revival Church, one of the largest house churches in Beijing. He was arrested while on his way to obtain a shipment of Bibles. Attorney Zhang Xingshui, of Beijing Jing Ding Law Firm will represent pastor Dong in court.
At about 2 p.m. on May 11, 2008, a worship service at Shouwang Church in Beijing was going on in normal order inside the Huajie Building near the Third Ring Road in Beijing when uniformed policemen and unidentified plain-clothed detectives waiting at the main hall and the side hall suddenly broke into the main building where the worship was taking place. A plain-clothed law enforcement officer showed his work identification at Haidian District Office for Administration of Ethnic Religious Affairs of Beijing and ordered the church to stop its activities. Officials ordered the members to leave the premises, claiming that the activity was an "illegal gathering". The church has 3 services, all of which were raided in the same fashion by PSB officials.
Seven police officials from Haidian District Branch of Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau and 20 to 30 employees from Haidian District Office for Administration of Ethnic Religious Affairs of Beijing were involved in the house church raid. Shouwang Church has conducted Sunday worship in the rented office building at Huajia Building for over two years and hadn't suffered such interference from the government before.
The Beijing House Church Raid is yet another example of the Chinese government's intensification of its administration and control on various religious activities and gatherings before the Olympic Games.
Retired Professor Accused of Providing Military Data to Chinese
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,356807,00.html
A 70-year-old retired professor has been charged with plotting to defraud the U.S. Air Force and illegally disclose restricted data about military drones to foreign nationals, including persons in China.
A federal grand jury in Tennessee returned a 18-count indictment Tuesday charging J. Reece Roth, a professor emeritus at the University of Tennessee, as well as Atmospheric Glow Technologies, or AGT, a Knoxville, Tenn.-based technology company.
The indictment accuses Roth and AGT of conspiring between January 2004 to May 2006 to convey information about an Air Force contract to foreign nationals, including a citizen of China who was attending the University of Tennessee as a graduate research assistant.
Prosecutors also say Roth traveled to China in May 2006 with multiple documents related to the contract to build the drones, and he is accused of electronic transmission of a military document containing restricted data to a person in China.
The investigation was conducted by the FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Air Force and the Department of Commerce's Office of Export Enforcement, with the cooperation of the University of Tennessee.
"Whenever restricted U.S. military data is illegally disclosed to foreign nationals, America's security is put at risk. Today's indictment demonstrates just how seriously we view such violations," Assistant Attorney General Patrick Rowan said.
Roth, who lives in Knoxville, faces maximum penalties of 5-20 years in prison and fines of up to $1 million for each count.
Taiwan Inaugurates New President
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/378198.aspx
CBNNews.com - TAIPEI, Taiwan - Nationalist Party leader Ma Ying-jeou took office as Taiwan's president Tuesday, promising to seek greater economic cooperation with rival China and ease nearly six decades of tensions.
The inauguration of the 57-year-old Ma represents a clear break from the eight-year presidency of Chen Shui-bian, whose confrontational pro-independence policies often led to friction with Beijing - and with the United States, Taiwan's most important foreign partner.
Vice president Vincent Siew, 69, was sworn in shortly after Ma, together with Premier Liu Chao-shiuan and his Cabinet.
In contrast to the independence bent of Chen's Democratic Progressive Party, Ma's Nationalists have never formally renounced a desire for eventual unification with China, from which Taiwan split amid civil war in 1949.
Fifty-nine years after their split, China still claims Taiwan as part of its territory, and has repeatedly threatened to attack if the island makes its de facto independence permanent.
In a break with his party's old guard, the 57-year-old Ma has vowed not to negotiate with Beijing about unification during his term of office, which can stretch to 2016, assuming he is re-elected to a second four-year term.
Last week in an interview with The Associated Press, Ma raised the bar even higher, saying it was highly unlikely that unification talks would be held "within our lifetimes."
Rather than politics, Ma's major emphasis has been seeking to tie Taiwan's powerful but laggard high-tech economy more closely to China's white-hot economic boom.
He has proposed beginning direct commercial flights across the 100-mile-wide Taiwan Strait and opening Taiwan's doors to a massive influx of Chinese tourists.
He has also promised to work toward a peace treaty with Beijing, but has kept its prospective contents close to his vest.
One of Ma's major considerations appears to be the widespread Taiwanese bias in favor of more commercial deals with China, as long as they don't pave the way for formal political union.
While Beijing has abandoned communism in all but name, it remains an authoritarian state, whose lack of political freedoms trouble Taiwanese, now well into their second decade of a freewheeling democracy.
Ma is by no means a charismatic figure; he calms rather than inspires. But he is widely known as honest and thoughtful.
A former mayor of Taipei whose father also was a Nationalist Party official, Ma studied law in Taiwan and later in the United States, receiving a degree from Harvard Law School in 1981.
Ma's deliberateness is reflected in his handling of the delicate relationship with China.
Underscoring his go-slow approach, he appointed former Chen ally Lai Hsin-yuan to the key position of China affairs coordinator, saying he wanted to achieve the widest possible consensus in managing Taiwan's relationship with Beijing.
Political scientist Chao Chun-shan, of Tamkang University, said as pragmatic leaders, Ma and Chinese President Hu Jintao may usher in an era of detente.
"We cannot put aside the political disputes for good, but this is not the time to resolve them yet," Chao said. "The priority is to stabilize relations."
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