Lakeland Revival Going Strong - and Global
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/368558.aspx
Something awesome and powerful has been happening in Lakeland, Fla. every night for the past month: Revival!
Thousands of people have been lining up twice a day, longing for a physical or a spiritual touch from God.
Now, it's spreading to other countries as services are streamed live on the Internet and broadcast globally by GOD-TV.
Scores of sick people have reported being healed after attending the services, where Canadian evangelist Todd Bentley has preached.
"It's historic in the sense that it's a media revival. We're in 214 nations a night. Potential audience of 400 million. We get hundreds of stories a day of people that are around the world getting healed watching the broadcast. It's contagious through media," Bentley said.
It has even motivated some people to catch a flight from across the world to experience the revival for themselves.
John Darnell was in Australia watching the services online. He was so moved by the event, he immediately booked a flight to Florida.
"Absolutely I believe! Miracles happen. God is real. Jesus is alive and the world doesn't know," Darnell told Tampa's CBS affiliate.
The crowds have grown so large that services had to be moved to the Lakeland Civic Center, from Ignited Church where it began.
On some nights, nearly 6,000 people have tried to get inside. They then moved the event to Auburndale Life Church when they could no longer hold the services in the Civic Center.
Now, other pastors and leaders are offering words of encouragement, admonishing Bentley to continue having the revival as long the Lord is moving, according to Charisma Magazine.
"Todd, you need to keep going in these meetings as long as the Lord is moving. I feel that this is a prophetic sign that another wave of revival is coming to North America," John Arnott, who pastored the historic revival at Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship in 1994, wrote a letter to Bentley.
The services have been going seven days a week since the revival broke out April 2. The revival has been extended indefinitely.
School District Oks Religious Expression
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/368559.aspx
Students in a Wisconsin school district can now freely express their religion in assignments, thanks to a victory by the Alliance Defense Fund.
Tomah School district decided Friday to allow religious expression in student artwork, settling a lawsuit that ADF filed against them in March.
The Christian group sued on behalf of a student, identified by his initials A.P., who received a "zero" grade for a drawing of a cross and the phrase "John 3:16 - A sign of love."
A.P.'s art teacher told him the assignment could not be accepted because the school had a policy of not allowing violence, blood, sex and religious beliefs in artwork.
Lori M. Lubinsky, the district's attorney, said the policy had been in place for more than 10 years to keep gang symbols and other "negative expression" out of students' work.
"Tomah art teachers had the best of intentions when they put the original policy in place," Lubinsky said. "They implemented the policy to keep students from being exposed to potentially offensive satanic or gang-related beliefs ... the art teachers did not receive any complaints from students who appreciated the policy."
Other students in A.P.'s school, however, had been allowed to turn in religious items and artwork before, as well as demonic and gory drawings.
ADF attorneys believed that was unfair to A.P., and that the policy in general violated the student's constitutional rights.
"In this case, school officials engaged in an unconstitutional double standard by permitting certain students to submit drawings depicting demon-like creatures while simultaneously prohibiting a drawing that included a cross and Scripture verse." ADF attorney David Cortman said.
The lawsuit claimed that Buddha and Hindu figurines had been displayed in a classroom at A.P.'s school, and that a teacher had repeatedly taught Hindu principles to students.
Cortman called the district's decision a victory. The case should be settled formally in a few weeks.
Students are still not allowed to submit work with gang symbols, violence, blood and sexual content, but they can express their religious beliefs, as long as it satisfies the assignment criteria.
Calif. Man Accused of Targeting Christians in $25M Nationwide Ponzi Scheme
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,354005,00.html
SANTA ANA, Calif. — Federal investigators arrested a man Friday on a charge of wire fraud and alleged he ran a Ponzi scheme that netted more than $25 million by targeting Christian investors nationwide.
Jon G. Ervin, 61, of Mission Viejo, was named Thursday in a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana. A federal magistrate set bail at $1 million during a brief court appearance Friday and Ervin was not immediately released.
Ervin's public defender, Leon Peterson, didn't immediately return a call for comment.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission also filed lawsuits against Ervin and his company, Safevest LLC, on Thursday and obtained federal orders freezing their assets.
According to the criminal complaint, Ervin used Safevest to persuade victims to invest in a fake commodity futures trading program. Investors were told Safevest would use no more than 13 percent of their deposit in hundreds of commodity trades a day on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, with a guarantee of up to 1 percent in returns each day.
Investors could check their returns on a password-protected Web site that was run exclusively by Ervin. The program attracted about 550 investors, officials said.
Investigators alleged, however, that Ervin didn't invest any of the money in commodities trading and instead spent $1 million of the money to invest in a Georgia golf course. He also bought a sport utility vehicle and spent lavishly on air travel, gourmet meals and shopping, said Thom Mrozek, spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office.
Up to 80 percent of investors were churchgoing Christians and many joined the program after being approached by fellow worshippers through a referral system, according to court papers.
Those who referred others in their church would receive a 10 percent "referral fee" from the profits of the new members they solicited; pastors were required to make an initial investment of $5,000, while non-pastors had to put down $25,000, according to federal documents.
Investment materials included the resume of an Arlington, Va., pastor, the Rev. John V. Slye, who was listed as one of the founders of the National Center for Cancer Research and a prominent fundraiser for charities.
The SEC complaint states that Slye was the chief executive and co-owner of Safevest and was a signatory on several accounts, but Mrozek said Slye has not been charged in the criminal case because it's unclear how much he knew about the operation. Investigators have also not determined if all the information on Slye's resume was accurate.
"Basically, what you have here is a scheme that is being orchestrated by Ervin," Mrozek said. "There are people who are wittingly or unwittingly assisting him, and we're still trying to figure out who knew what, and when."
A Web site for Grace Community Church in Arlington, Va., lists a John Slye as pastor. Slye didn't immediately return a message left at his office and did not respond to an e-mail.
Ervin eventually returned about $18 million to investors who grew concerned and asked for their money back, but the rest was never recovered, Mrozek said. Ervin would dodge investors' phone calls or delay returning the money through a series of excuses, the criminal complaint said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Waier, who is prosecuting the case, was traveling and unavailable for comment Friday.
Bush Says Economy is Going to 'Come on.'
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/368401.aspx
WASHINGTON - The economy showed off unexpected signs of resilience Friday as job losses slowed, the dollar gained a bit of muscle for a change and there were even indications that food prices may be easing. The unemployment rate dipped, though that may not last.
The latest barometers flashed encouraging signs that the economic slowdown may not be as pronounced as some had feared. Still, there's much caution - about housing, credit and other problems.
"Economic or financial conditions could take an unexpected stumble at any time," warned Stephen Stanley, chief economist at RBS Greenwich Capital.
Employers eliminated 20,000 jobs in April - not nearly as many as the 81,000 in March, and the fewest monthly losses so far this year, the Labor Department reported. The unemployment rate dropped to 5 percent, from 5.1 percent.
Stresses were still evident. It was the fourth straight month that employers cut jobs - bringing total losses to 260,000.
Many analysts were bracing for much more carnage. Yet, the new figures "can't be taken as a signal that the economy is out of the recession woods," said Nigel Gault, of Global Insight.
On Wall Street, investors initially responded enthusiastically to the employment news, with the Dow Jones industrial average rising more than 100 points, but the market gave back part of that gain and closed up 48.20 points. Investors were keeping their euphoria in check, especially since stocks had already shot nearly 190 points higher on Thursday.
Still, the tone in the market was clearly more upbeat. Thursday's advance came on a growing sense that the economy isn't as wounded from the credit crisis as many people have feared.
Investors were also reassured by the dollar's show of strength this week. The greenback's latest gains have come on expectations that the Federal Reserve is likely to hold interest rates steady - a trend that makes U.S. assets more attractive to overseas buyers. The U.S. currency rose this week to a five-week high against the euro.
In turn, the dollar's advance has had an impact in the commodities market. Food prices - such as for wheat and soybeans - eased. And while oil did rise Friday, that was because of supply concerns rather than moves in the dollar.
"Things are a little brighter," Ken Mayland, president of ClearView Economics, said of all the developments. "The economy is seen as doing a little bit better" and that's contributing to the stronger dollar and calmer food prices, he said.
Another report out Friday showed orders to U.S. factories rose a bigger-than-expected 1.4 percent in March after two straight months of declines. Higher prices, though, accounted for part of the gain.
Businesses are handing out pink slips as they cope with an economy that is teetering on the edge of a recession, or possibly in one already. A severe housing slump, harder-to-get credit and financial turmoil have forced people and businesses to be more cautious in their spending. And that has hurt the economy.
To help relieve credit problems, the Federal Reserve announced Friday it would boost the availability of short-term loans to commercial banks to $150 billion in May from the $100 billion supplied in April. The goal is to supply a source of cash to squeezed banks so that they'll keep lending.
On the employment front, construction companies, manufacturers, retailers, mortgage brokers and temporary help firms were among those shedding jobs in April. Those losses eclipsed gains elsewhere, including education, health, hotels and motels, bars and restaurants, and the government.
All told, there were 7.6 million people unemployed as of April, up from 6.8 million a year earlier.
Voters are keenly worried about the country's economic problems and so are politicians - in Congress, in the White House and on the campaign trail.
President Bush expressed hope Friday that the economic-stimulus rebates beginning to reach taxpayers this week will help lift activity. "This economy is going to come on. I'm confident it will," Bush said.
Workers with jobs saw scant wage gains.
Average hourly earnings for jobholders rose to $17.88 in April, a tiny 0.1 percent rise from the previous month. Over the past 12 months, wages have grown by 3.4 percent. If the job market weakens in the months ahead, wage growth probably will slow, too, making people even less inclined to spend. That would spell further trouble for the economy.
The new jobs figures come from two different statistical surveys, which can provide - as in Friday's case - a somewhat conflicting picture.
The seasonally adjusted overall civilian unemployment rate - 5 percent in April - is based on a survey of 60,000 households. It showed that 362,000 people said they found employment last month, outpacing the number of new people who couldn't find work. Economists tend to put more stock, however, in the much broader business survey of 400,000 work sites that was used to calculate the job loss figure.
To help bolster the economy, the Fed lowered interest rates on Wednesday, but signaled that its rate-cutting campaign could be drawing to a close.
Fed officials and the Bush administration are hoping that the Fed's aggressive rate cuts since September plus the government's $168 billion stimulus package will lift the country out of its slump in the second half of the year.
Even if that happens, economists predict the unemployment rate will climb higher, hitting 6 percent early next year.
Employers often are reluctant to beef up hiring until they feel certain that a recovery has staying power.
The economy advanced at a snail's pace of just 0.6 percent in the first three months of this year as people and businesses clamped down on their spending. That marked the second quarter in a row of such feeble growth.
"I think we are in a recession," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com. Even thought the employment news was "encouraging ... it is much too premature to signal that the economic coast is clear."
Bush Calls for Approval of Millions in Food Aid
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/368190.aspx
WASHINGTON - President Bush is asking Congress to step in and approve $770 million in international food aid.
Food prices worldwide are up 40 percent since last year.
That means higher prices in America -- and a potentially life or death situation for needy countries overseas.
Higher food prices have been felt here in the U.S. but in some of the poorest nations, it's a crisis with some calling it the first global food crisis since World War II. The U.S. provides more food aid than any other country in the world but the President wants Congress to step to the plate with $770 million more to needy countries.
"The American people are generous people and they're a compassionate people. We believe in the timeless truth`to whom much is given, much is expected," Bush said.
The aid would be in the form of direct shipments of food mostly to African nations.
Here on Capitol Hill, the focus is on rising U.S. food prices.
"We buy this light wheat bread, like this loaf here. We're paying almost $4," said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
Part of the reason is skyrocketing grain prices, but others blame the government because of pushing food-based biofuels like ethanol.
"Why are we putting food in our gas tanks instead of our stomachs?" said Richard Reinwald, owner of Reinwald's Bakery.
But ethanol supporting senators disagree.
"Take one of these kernels here and chew on them. It's not something you can sit down at your table and eat," said Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa.
The crisis has also been brought on by production shortages due to bad weather worldwide, plus increased demand and the declining value of the U.S. dollar.
Bottom line: Consumers are finding new and creative ways to deal with higher prices.
Some will grow their own vegetables, puree their own baby food, or even make their own laundry detergent.
"We make sacrifices. And at the store there are certain things that I would love to buy just for fun. They have just gone up lately and I can't justify getting them anymore," said Christina Pond, a consumer in Arlington, Texas.
Food experts expect high prices to be around at least another few years.
Iranian President Favors Obama?
http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/Iranian_President_obama_/2008/05/02/92858.html
At a press conference during his visit to New Delhi on Tuesday, April 29, 2008 Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, asked what he thought the result of the U.S. presidential election would be, replied, "We don't interfere in the other countries' affairs but we think that the American nation seek profound changes in their country."
Ahmadinejad's answer was the second reported instance in which a high Iranian official, when asked about the U.S. presidential contest, has used the word "change" or "changes" in his answer.
Experts on Iranian political discourse believe that the officials' choice of words is intended to be a reference to Democratic contender Barack Obama's campaign theme, "Change We Can Believe In," and to thereby signal that relations between Tehran and Washington will improve if Obama is elected. Obama has stated his willingness to meet with Ahmadinejad.
Ahmadinejad went on to say that because of Obama's race, he would not be "allowed" to become president, and that "presidency of a woman in a country that boasts its gunmanship is unlikely." "I think the US presidential campaign is being steered towards a determined direction," he said.
At a Tehran press conference on March 10, 2008, an Iranian reporter asked Seyed Mohammad Ali Hosseini, vice minister of foreign affairs of Iran and spokesman of Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which U.S. presidential candidate Iran would support. Hosseini replied, "Iran would not support any candidates in the U.S. presidential campaign."
He continued, "But the nations of the world are fed up with America's warmongering policies and we demand these change."
Observers in Tehran note that Hosseini has a reputation for choosing his words carefully. An Iranian analyst said, "Hosseini is considered an expert on American affairs. He would not have used the word 'change' unless it was his intention to signal that the Iranian regime prefers that the next U.S. president be Mr. Obama."
Obama's Catholic Advisory Group Draws Fire
http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/Obama_catholic_advisors/2008/05/02/92959.html
Barack Obama says he was "deeply honored to have the support and counsel" of all 26 members of his Catholic National Advisory Council, whom he called "committed Catholic leaders, scholars and advocates," and who dissent from three of their church's key doctrines: abortion, embryonic stem cell research and school vouchers.
He should dump them, says Catholic League president Bill Donohue. "The best advice I can give Sen. Obama about his Catholic National Advisory Council is to dissolve it immediately," Donahue said.
The reason? "Of the 26 Catholic former or current public office holders he has listed as either National Co-Chairs (5), or as members of the National Leadership Committee (21), there is not one who agrees with the Catholic Church on all three major public policy issues."
Those who defy the Catholic Church on two of these issues, abortion and embryonic stem cell research are forbidden to receive Communion as long as they continue to back those procedures, effectively excommunicating themselves.
Donahue explained that on the issue of abortion, which church doctrine condemns, "their record is disgraceful. Consider the scorecard as issued by the most radical pro-abortion organization in the nation, NARAL [formerly the National Abortion Rights League]. Of the two National Co-Chairs who have a NARAL tally, one agrees with the extremist group 65 percent of the time and the other agrees 100 percent of the time. Of the 20 National Leadership Committee members with a NARAL score, 17 have earned a 100 percent rating. Of those who have less than a perfect score, not one is in favor of school vouchers."
While noting that practicing Catholics have every right to be insulted by Obama's advisory group, Donahue asked, "What is the purpose of having an advisory group about matters Catholic when most of its members reject the Catholic position? If Obama wanted input from gay leaders, would he choose those who don't reflect the sentiments of the gay community? In short, to choose Catholic dissidents to advise him about Catholic concerns is mind-boggling."
Donahue concluded, "If these are the best 'committed Catholic leaders, scholars and advocates' Obama can find, then it is evident that he has a 'Wright' problem when it comes to picking Catholic advisors."
Dr. Alveda King: Defund Planned Parenthood
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07142.shtml
ATLANTA -- Dr. Alveda King, Pastoral Associate of Priests for Life and niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., today said that a new study released by Students for Life of America reinforces the call of black leaders to eliminate federal subsidies to Planned Parenthood.
"It's time to let freedom ring for the babies," said Dr. King. "The Students for Life report on Planned Parenthood's targeting of African Americans for abortion spells out why taxpayers should not be forced to contribute to that organization. The government should not be subsidizing racism, but that's exactly what it's doing through Planned Parenthood."
The study examines programs and incidents dating from Planned Parenthood's founding through the most recent scandal of seven Planned Parenthood chapters' willingness to accept donations for the exclusive purpose of aborting black babies.
"Defending human life is part of the civil rights struggle and I and my fellow pro-life African American leaders are not going away," added Dr. King. "We are uniting civil rights and moral rights to fulfill the dream of what my uncle called 'the beloved community.' America needs to know that black leaders do support life. We start where life begins, with the babies, and we will march on until abortion, racism, and all society's ills bow to the truth that we are all one race."
Priests for Life is the nation's largest Catholic pro- life organization dedicated to ending abortion and euthanasia. For more information, visit www.priestsforlife.org.
New York Abortion Clinic Closes; Facility Was Site of 40 Days for Life Vigil
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07139.shtml
WASHINGTON -- "We rejoice with pro-lifers in Rockland County, New York today," said David Bereit, national campaign director of 40 Days for Life, "as they celebrate the closing of an abortion facility that was responsible for ending the lives of untold numbers of innocent unborn children over its many years of operation. The unceasing prayers of these faithful people have been answered."
Abortion Services at 200 East Eckerson Road in New City, N.Y., was one of more than 50 clinics across the nation where 40 Days for Life prayer vigils were conducted this spring. "My family and I visited that particular clinic vigil on a snowy night earlier this year," said Bereit. "My wife and children were photographed alongside a young man who carried a sign reading, 'Nothing is impossible with God.' That is certainly the case here. The prayerful efforts of many pro-lifers over the years have won this victory. We are humbled to know that people participating in the 40 Days for Life campaign may have played a role in the peaceful closure of this abortion center."
Bereit said there are also reports that two Planned Parenthood locations where 40 Days for Life prayer vigils were held have stopped performing abortions. One is in Lincoln, Nebraska and the other is in Council Bluffs, Iowa. In both cases the cessation of abortions was unexpected. "40 Days for Life leaders in both cities are unsure of the reason," said Bereit, "but they suspect it is because no abortionist is available since both facilities previously shared the same abortionist. We also know that in Lincoln, at least one mother decided against abortion after learning Planned Parenthood was no longer providing them. She took that as a sign from God that her baby was meant to live."
In addition, local 40 Days for Life leaders are reporting that a number of children saved from abortion during 40 Days for Life campaigns have now been born. "In just the past few days, we've heard from 40 Days for Life groups in Greenville, South Carolina; Providence, Rhode Island and Sacramento, California," said Bereit. "The births of these children are among the most awesome blessings people have witnessed because of the prayerful outreach of 40 Days for Life. As we talk with more people around the country, we're confident we will hear more such stories of God's action in our midst."
40 Days for Life is a community-based campaign that features 40 days of prayer and fasting, constant peaceful vigil outside an abortion facility and intense public outreach. Plans are now under way for another round of concurrent 40 Days for Life campaigns this fall. These events will be conducted from September 24 through November 2. For more information, go to www.40daysforlife.com.
LaBarbera Calls for 'Breaking the Silence' on the Health Risks of Homosexual Behavior
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07140.shtml
NAPERVILLE, Ill. -- Americans For Truth (AFTAH) President Peter LaBarbera today called on schools, the media and opinion-makers to "break the silence" regarding the serious health risks of homosexual behavior, and said Americans deserve an official government investigation into the matter.
"Today, thousands of schools across the country are encouraging the homosexual activist 'Day of Silence,' and doing it in the name of protecting students' safety," LaBarbera said. "While schools can and must protect every child from harassment and abuse, it is contradictory to promote homosexuality in the name of 'safety' because the evidence is so overwhelming that same-sex behavior is a serious health risk -- especially for males."
AFTAH has joined a coalition of pro-family organizations encouraging parents to pull their children out of schools that endorse the "Day of Silence" or allow students not to participate in classroom activities.
"How many government-funded studies have there been on the dangers of smoking?" LaBarbera said. "Yet homosexual men similarly are dying prematurely due to risky, unnatural same-sex practices -- but taxpayer-funded public schools are promoting this lifestyle to students through propagandistic exercises like the 'Day of Silence.'"
LaBarbera pointed to the Food and Drug Administration's explanation of why homosexual men are banned from donating blood as evidence of the dangers of homosexual sex. The FDA reports:
Men who have had sex with men since 1977 have an HIV prevalence ... 60 times higher than the general population, 800 times higher than first time blood donors and 8,000 times higher than repeat blood donors .... Men who have sex with men also have an increased risk of having other infections that can be transmitted to others by blood transfusion. For example, infection with the Hepatitis B virus is about 5- 6 times more common and Hepatitis C virus infections are about 2 times more common in men who have sex with other men than in the general population. Additionally, men who have sex with men have an increased incidence and prevalence of Human Herpes Virus-8 [which] causes a cancer called Kaposi's sarcoma in immunocompromised individuals.
"Educators profess to be concerned with guiding young people into making healthy choices," LaBarbera said. "By celebrating homosexual, bisexual and 'transgendered' lifestyles in the guise of 'safety,' they are putting innocent children at risk instead."
U.N.'s World Food Program Cried Poverty While Sitting on Cash Stockpile of More Than $1.22 Billion
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,353944,00.html
Just weeks before it announced the onset of a global food crisis and the urgent need for donors to provide at least $775 million in additional funding, the World Food Program was sitting on a cash and near-cash stockpile of more than $1.22 billion.
The startling figure is contained in the latest audited statements of the WFP, which were endorsed by the WFP’s executive director, Josette Sheeran, on March 31, just a month before Sheeran announced at an international aid conference on April 22 that a "silent tsunami" in rising food prices demanded the huge infusion of cash for the WFP’s latest budget.
In a May 1 International Herald Tribune op-ed, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon further declared that the WFP had just "$18 million cash in hand" in the wake of its appeal for emergency funding.
The audited statements are due to be presented to the annual Rome meeting of the WFP’s supervisory executive board in June.
The $1.22 billion figure, tallied as of Dec. 31, represents an increase of nearly $400 million over the WFP’s cash reserves a year earlier, as laid out in a report to the WFP’s governing executive board in June 2007.
The cash stockpile was in addition to pledges for an additional $1.33 billion, all of which left the organization with more than $2 billion in anticipated cash and reserves just before it made its most recent urgent appeal.
In all, the auditors declared, the WFP had added an additional $91 million in cash assets over the 12-month period, leaving the U.N.’s emergency food supplier with roughly the same reserve assets it held in 2005.
Ever since the WFP announced the looming crisis of food aid for the world’s poorest people — based largely on dramatic international hikes in food costs — the World Food Program and other U.N. spokesmen, including Ban, have been steadily ratcheting up the tab required to top off the WFP’s budget to meet 2008 needs.
Initially, Sheeran announced that some $500 million was needed, though she added that would not fully fund such things as school food programs for some 20 million hungry youngsters. By the time of the aid conference, attended largely by U.N. agencies and World Bank representatives, the needed funding had risen to $775 million.
By the time the conference ended, Ban had put the shortfall at roughly $1 billion.
Ban also announced that a U.N. task force dealing with the food crisis would need as much as $1.6 billion in additional funding for seed programs and other means of expanding the global food supply.
On Thursday, President George W. Bush called on Congress to add $770 million in new international food aid to some $350 million in new aid he disclosed after the WFP announced the "silent tsunami" crisis.
Update:
Hours after FOX News’ publication of this story, WFP acknowledged the $1.22 billion in cash reserves, which it said “represents between three and four months of WFP's annual operating revenue.
"Of that $1.22 billion, more than 90 percent is either committed to ongoing food needs, or comprises mandatory reserve requirements necessary for prudent financial management of an organization of its size (i.e. unfunded liabilities for pensions),” Brenda Barton, WFP’s deputy director of communications and public policy strategy e-mailed FOX News.
“This system of cash management is akin to that of a family who has $2,000 in the bank, of which the majority is committed for mortgage, car payment and groceries," she wrote.
Barton also declared that the $800 million figure cited by FOX News is incorrect. "At the end of 2006 the equivalent cash and short term investment fund was $1.12 billion.” The cash reserve currently stands at $1.115 billion, WFP said.
Interest on the reserves, Barton said, are “plowed back” into WFP projects. She emphasized that the reserves, “ which allow for cash flow in critical situations, have been approved by donor governments.”
Charlemagne Prize 2008: Angela Merkel
http://www.aachen.de/EN/sb/pr_az/karls_pr/99einstieg_karlspreis.html
German Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel is the Charlemagne Prize laureate of 2008. This has been announced by Aachen Mayor Dr. Jürgen Linden and Prof. Dr. Walter Eversheim, spokesman of the Charlemagne Prize Board of Directors. The prize will be awarded on 1 May, Ascension Day.
Merkel is awarded the prize "in tribute to her outstanding contribution to overcoming the crisis of the EU and in recognition of decisions pointing the way to the advancement of the European unification process". The citation adds that the Board is honouring "a convinced European for her pioneering contribution to the European basic treaty, her negotiating style – integrative, accenting the human side, at the same time decisive and purposeful – for her wise diplomacy and her active dedication to the deepening of European integration".
Prof. Dr. Eversheim described Merkel as a European of outstanding merit, able to inspire the hearts of many people in Europe, especially the youth, for Europe once more. "She has led the European Idea out of the depths it was in". Aachen Mayor Linden pointed to her championing not only of Europe but also of human rights and the climate alliance. She was, he added, a politician who was different from many members of the political caste. As a scientist she had a different approach and was endowed with special analytical ability. "She is unequivocal, clear and purposeful, possesses great negotiating skill and shows human warmth. That is indeed a new style and approach."
Angela Merkel is the fourth woman – following Simone Veil, Gro Harlem Brundtland and Queen Beatrix – to be awarded the Charlemagne Prize. The last German laureate was the then President of Germany, Roman Herzog, in 1997. Last year's laureate was Dr. Javier Solana Madariaga.
The Charlemagne Prize carries a token cash award of 5000 Euro. Besides the certificate, a medal is conferred bearing on the front the oldest extant Aachen city seal dating from the 12th century and showing Charlemagne enthroned; the reverse is inscribed with a dedication to the laureate.
RPT-Mideast conflict must not hinder Med Union-Sarkozy
http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnAMA053500.html
TUNIS - French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Wednesday the Israeli-Palestinian conflict must not be allowed to obstruct his planned Union for the Mediterranean, which he said would "change the world".
Sarkozy aims to launch the new grouping of 27 European Union countries and their southern neighbours in Paris on July 13.
He was forced to scale back plans for a full EU-style "Mediterranean Union" after fierce resistance from Germany, which feared it would split the EU and siphon off common funds.
Last month, EU leaders agreed to a limited form of union involving a regular summit between EU and Mediterranean leaders, with a joint presidency and a small secretariat.
Syria, Libya and some other Arab countries also appear lukewarm over the project as it might suggest an indirect normalisation of their relations with Israel without any settlement of the Palestinian conflict.
"I know that, inside the project of the Union for the Mediterranean, there is the issue of Israel and the issue of Palestine," Sarkozy said.
"I'm fully aware that all this is in the background ... but this should not stop us acting. It should encourage us to act."
He was addressing university students at the end of a three-day visit to Tunisia to boost cooperation on trade, nuclear energy and migration between the two countries.
"Failure ... would mean taking a terrible responsibility towards our children and all future generations," said Sarkozy, adding that the new Union "will change the world".
He dismissed fears that the plan would tie EU states into an unwanted political corset, saying the new grouping would allow some states to work closely together and others to stay on the sidelines.
"Everyone should stay calm. No one is imposing anything," he said.
Javier SOLANA, EU High Representative for the CFSP, voices concern at the Israeli raids on two orphanages in Hebron
http://www.consilium.europa.eu/ueDocs/cms_Data/docs/pressdata/EN/declarations/100229.pdf
Javier SOLANA, EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), voiced his concern today following the raid by the Israeli Defence Forces on two orphanages in Hebron. Mr SOLANA said he was very concerned about the incident in Hebron last night when the Israeli Defence Forces raided and looted two orphanages run by the Islamic Charitable Society and threatened to close them. He urged the Israeli authorities not to close the orphanages and thereby leave 240 children homeless. These comments are attributable to Cristina Gallach, Spokeswoman for Javier Solana, EU HR for the CFSP.
Israeli Messianic Jews Win Citizenship Victory
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07143.shtml
The Voice of the Martyrs welcomes the ruling of Israel's Supreme Court on April 16 that ruled that Messianic Jews have the same rights regarding automatic citizenship as Jews who do not believe in Jesus as the Messiah.
The case was brought to the court by twelve Messianic Jewish believer s who were denied citizenship because they were part of the Messianic Jewish community. This ruling is likely to have a significant impact on Israel's Messianic Jewish community although the ruling would not cover all Messianic Jews.
The ruling specifically addresses the rights of those whose Jewish descent is from their father's side (i.e. those who were not Jews previously by religious definition but were descendants of Jews).
Thank God for this legal victory. Pray for the continued witness of those in Israel who follow Jesus as Messiah.
For more information on the situation facing Christians in Israel, go to www.persecution.net/country/israel.htm. To view a video report on this story, go to www.cbn.com:80/CBNnews/358897.aspx. Other stories can also be viewed on www.persecution.tv.
Gaza mother and children not killed by Israeli fire, video shows
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=5233
The Palestinian mother and four children who died in the middle of clashes in the Gaza town of Beit Hanoun April 28 were killed in secondary blasts from explosives carried by four Palestinian gunmen near their home. A video clip released by the Israeli army spokesman Friday, May 2, taken by a drone overhead, shows that the Israeli air force only hit the gunmen. The explosives they were carrying were powerful enough to killed Miyasar Abu Meatak and four children and destroy their home. The probe conducted by Col. Shai Alkilai ruled out the Palestinian accusation that they died as a result of Israeli fire. The spokesman regretted the deaths of innocent people but laid the blame on Hamas which mounted attacks out of populated areas.
'Olmert to be interrogated on Friday'
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1209626989493&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
The Prime Minister's Office confirmed Thursday night that police investigators will question Prime Minister Ehud Olmert for an hour on Friday morning.
"The prime minister intends to cooperate fully with the law enforcement officers, as he has done in the past, and he is convinced that when the truth is revealed within the framework of the police investigation, the suspicions against him will be dispelled," the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement.
Olmert's office did not specify which of the three investigations open against him was involved in the surprise questioning.
According to a Channel 2 report on Thursday night, the hastily-scheduled interrogation by the National Fraud Squad was made possible after police received special authorization from Attorney-General Menahem Mazuz to summon Olmert within 48 hours.
Two criminal investigations and a preliminary police probe are currently open against the prime minister.
In April 2007, Mazuz approved a criminal investigation into allegations that Olmert received favorable terms for the purchase of his home in Jerusalem's Rehov Cremieux in return for helping the contractor who sold it to him.
In October of that year, Mazuz opened a second criminal investigation into allegations of cronyism while Olmert led an investment center operated by the Industry, Trade and Labor Ministry; political appointments by Olmert via the Small and Medium Business Authority; and political appointments by Olmert throughout the Industry, Trade and Labor Ministry.
The third probe is examining the decision by the Investment Center to grant an "approved industry" status to Silicat Industries, Inc., which was represented by Olmert's former law partner and close friend, Uri Messer - a decision that saved the company $11 million as well as entitling it to a series of government benefits.
Palestinian Cells Unite under Egyptian Plan
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/368131.aspx
CAIRO - Representatives of 12 Palestinian terror cells have accepted Egypt's plan for a tahadiyeh (temporary calm) with Israel.
Just before Egypt announced the Palestinian consensus, they released a senior commander of the Izz al-Din Kassam Brigades, the "armed" wing of Hamas, 35-year-old Ramzi Hamid, who had spent four years in an Egyptian prison.
According to Hamas, Hamid's release was a reward for accepting Egypt's temporary truce.
"This initiative is part of a larger plan designed to create a suitable atmosphere to lift the siege and end the state of division among the Palestinians," an Egyptian official said.
"The tahadiyeh will be implemented in phases. It will begin in the Gaza Strip and at a later stage will be applied to the West Bank ," the official said.
Hamas terror chief Ismail Haniyeh welcomed the agreement between Egypt and the 12 Palestinian groups.
"We wish to express our deep gratitude for President Hosni Mubarak and General Intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman for their efforts to halt the aggression against our people," Haniyeh said. "We emphasize the need to comply with the Palestinian stance and fulfill our demands of lifting the siege and reopening the border crossings," he said.
Islamic Jihad did not accept the proposal but said it would not "violate or hinder it."
Ziad Nakhalah, who led the Islamic Jihad delegation to Cairo, said his group reserves the right to retaliate against any Israeli counter-terror operations in the West Bank (Judea and Samaria).
"We can give legitimacy to Israel's crimes against our people in the West Bank," Nakhalah said.
Muhammad al-Baba of the Popular Resistance Committees said Egypt agreed to pressure Israel to cease its operations in the West Bank.
"The Egyptians promised to put pressure on Israel to refrain from provoking us by launching attacks in the West Bank," he said. "Otherwise, we have the right to respond to Israel's aggressive actions."
In the past, the Palestinians used periods of calm to rearm and re-supply weaponry in preparation for a new wave of terror attacks.
Exclusive: Palestinian Hamas takes over Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood, looms over Egyptian Delta
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=5236
DEBKAfile’s Middle East sources disclose a signal victory in Hamas’ expansionist drive Friday, May 2, when its members scooped up 28 of the 50 seats of Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood Shura Council in a secret ballot.
Hamam Said, 64, a Palestinian Hamas operative from the West Bank town of Jenin, was elected the movement’s General Guide by a single vote. Until 2005, Said, a trusted follower of Damascus-based hard-line Hamas chief, Khaled Meshaal, was a leader of the Jordanian Sawailah crime gang, which doubles as an extremist Islamist militia.
Jordan’s King Abdullah II sent his secret services to prevent Hamas sweeping the Muslim Brotherhood, which like its Egyptian branch is banned, but they failed.
Jordanian and Israeli counter-terror officers say the Palestinian Hamas takeover of the kingdom’s largest movement is potentially more destabilizing in regional terms than its victory in the Palestinian Authority’s 2006 election. It the short term, it presents hazards to Jordan’s internal security and could create new flashpoints on the long Jordanian-Israeli frontier.
DEBKAfile’s counter-terror sources report several arrests by Egypt’s security forces in Cairo, the central Delta town of Tanta and El Arish, northern Sinai, of fundamentalists suspected of founding a joint Hamas-Muslim Brotherhood armed cell at Tanta, Egypt’s fifth largest city, 94 km north of Cairo. Among them was Dr. Abd al-Farmawi, a lecturer at Al Azhar University’s local branch.
This was the first Brotherhood bid in half a century to branch out into military activism with the help of Hamas’ military wing.
The election of a Palestinian leader from Jenin by Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood took place the day before several hundred American-trained Palestinian Authority security police were to be deployed in the same West Bank town.
The Olmert government agreed to their deployment to show US secretary of State Condoleezza Rice when she arrives Saturday, May 3, that Israel is meeting the Mahmoud Abbas-Salam Fayyad administration in Ramallah halfway.
Neither Israeli nor American leaders counted on Hamas’ move on Jordan, or took into account that the word of Hamam Said, the Hamas terrorist, will carry more weight in the terrorist stronghold of Jenin and the West Bank at large than the PA’s police force.
World Powers Agree on Incentives for Iran on Nuclear Program
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,354022,00.html
LONDON — World powers agreed Friday to try again to lure Iran to the nuclear bargaining table with a repackaged set of carrots to accompany the stick of U.N. sanctions.
Diplomats said the offer contained no major new enticements, but was meant to remind the clerical regime that talking is still an option.
The central terms of a 2006 compromise stand: Iran could trade away worrisome elements of its nuclear program for economic and political incentives and the possibility of a better relationship with archrival Washington. Iran turned down that invitation, saying it came with insulting strings attached, and Western diplomats were hard-pressed to say why the response would be any different today.
The United Nations Security Council has imposed three sets of mild financial and other sanctions on Iran as a cost of spurning the offer.
The strategy session on Iran was part of diplomatic meetings on the Mideast and Kosovo attended by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other leaders. Much of the talk revolved around prospects for a political settlement between Israel and the Palestinians, a goal for President Bush before he leaves office in less than a year.
On Iran, details of the amended offer being made by the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany were not revealed, and the precise text is still a work in progress.
The catch for Iran remains: It would have to shelve its program to enrich uranium before negotiations over possible rewards begin. Enriched uranium can be used for either nuclear power or weapons.
"We very much hope that they will recognize the seriousness and the sincerity with which we've approached this issue," British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said following a meeting of senior diplomats from all six nations.
Miliband did not give Tehran a deadline to respond or say what the group would do if Iran rejects the package again.
The group's offer represents the latest Western-led attempt to head off any ambitions Iran may have to build a nuclear weapon. Iran insists its nuclear program is intended only to produce energy that might help the oil exporting giant relieve internal demand for electricity, but doubters say Iran could use the aboveboard program as cover to build a bomb.
The Bush administration has been the chief advocate for U.N. sanctions against Iran, over the reservations of veto-holding members Russia and China. European allies have also appeared frustrated both by Iran's lack of interest and U.S. zeal to push the regime harder.
As a condition of winning approval for the latest punishments last month, the United States agreed to revisit the list of rewards. Rice has said she doubts Iran is interested, no matter what.
"I don't see any evidence that the Iranians appear to be interested in that track, and that doesn't leave us with any options" apart from sanctions, Rice told reporters Thursday.
European diplomats had said they hoped to sweeten the offer a bit, but Miliband did not characterize it that way. He called the new offer an update. Western diplomatic officials later said the offer restates but does not improve the original offer. They spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the offer not yet presented.
The incentives offered in 2006 included an offer by the United States to provide Iran with peaceful nuclear technology, lift some sanctions and conduct direct negotiations with Tehran.
Earlier Friday, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad emerged discouraged following a meeting with donors to the Palestinian cause and Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. He warned that peace talks could collapse unless Israel takes a more conciliatory approach and ends Jewish housing expansion on disputed ground. Israel has not complied with any of the obligations set out at the U.S.-backed peace conference in Annapolis, Md., late last year, Fayyad said.
"Unless that changes, the political process is being stripped of its meaning," Fayyad said.
But he said Israel had refused to take steps that would allow normal economic activity in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The remarks came after the Middle East peace Quartet — the U.S., Russia, the European Union and the United Nations — urged Israel to cease all settlement activity in the West Bank. The diplomats called for more negotiations in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
U.S. diplomats scolded Arab states for lagging on promises of financial aid for the moderate Palestinian leadership in the West Bank. Only three Arab nations — Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Algeria — have paid up on pledges made last year, the State Department said.
Fayyad said the Palestinian Authority needed roughly $1 billion to meet its obligations for the second half of this year.
Honor Killings on the Rise in Iraq
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/368356.aspx
Honor killings are on the rise in Iraq -- when families kill their women for violations of Islamic law.
London's Independent newspaper reports in the town of Basra alone, at least 15 women a month are murdered for breaching Muslim dress codes.
Beheadings, rapes, beatings and marriages of girls as young as nine are also on the rise.
One desperate father whose daughter was killed for falling in love with someone outside her tribe said, "I couldn't protect her because I got threats from my brother and the whole tribe.
"They insisted they were gong to kill us all. I want those who committed this act to be punished but so far they have not. They are free."
Russia sends extra troops to Georgian rebel region
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/russia.sends.extra.troops.to.georgian.rebel.region/18509.htm
Russia said on Thursday an extra contingent of its troops had begun arriving in Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia, a move Tbilisi said was an illegal act of military aggression.
Russia announced this week it was deploying hundreds of additional peacekeeping troops to the tiny sliver of land of the Black Sea to counter what it said were Georgian plans for an attack on Moscow-backed separatists in the region.
Georgia summoned Russia's ambassador to protest against the deployment and said it had raised tensions in the region, where separatists fought a war against Georgian forces in the 1990s.
Russia's defence ministry said the contingent would remain within the 3,000 limit allowed under a United Nations-brokered ceasefire agreement signed in 1994.
Russian state television broadcast footage of a column of Russian army trucks and armoured vehicles driving through Sukhumi, Abkhazia's main city.
"The contingent is completing the concentration of units in their deployment locations," Russia's RIA news agency quoted the defence ministry as saying in a statement.
"The Russian peacekeepers have begun equipping arms stores, vehicle parks and field kitchens. Operations are under way to guard the deployment points and fit out command points and communications systems."
Diplomats have said Russia is sending about 1,200 extra troops to the region, though officials in Moscow have not given a figure for the scale of the re-enforcement.
"We are extremely concerned with Russia's decision to increase its military presence in Abkhazia," David Bakradze, a Georgian presidential special envoy, told journalists in Tbilisi.
"Under international law, the deployment of any military force without the consent of the sovereign country is clearly defined as an act of aggression. Therefore what we face today is an act of Russian military aggression in Abkhazia."
TENSIONS
Western diplomats say Moscow's recent steps have escalated tensions in the volatile region and say it would now take only a small spark to ignite a new round of fighting. The Caucasus region is a key transit route for energy supplies to the West.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the United States was "very concerned" about Russia's deployment and said she would raise the issue when she meets Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in London on Friday.
"It is extremely important that Russia respect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Georgia. Abkhazia and South Ossetia are integral parts of Georgia. They are not lands that are somehow disconnected from the Georgian state," Rice told reporters as she flew to London.
"I have talked to both Georgians and Russians to say let's not let any of this get out of hand," she added.
A semi-tropical strip of land on the Black Sea coast, Abkhazia used to be the playground of the Soviet elite. It was left devastated by the fighting between separatist forces and Georgian troops during the 1990s.
It is recognised internationally as part of Georgia but has run its own affairs, with support from neighbouring Russia, since the fighting ended.
Ex-Soviet Georgia, which has angered Moscow by seeking NATO membership and is a vital energy transit route, says the Russian peacekeepers side with the separatists and is lobbying for them to be replaced with a multinational force.
It has denied any plans to attack Abkhazia. Russian generals say their peacekeepers prevent an ethnic bloodbath in the region.
The deployment followed an announcement by Moscow that it was intensifying ties with the separatists and allegations from Tbilisi that Russia had shot down a Georgian spy drone. Moscow denied the allegation.
Most of Abkhazia's population, who are ethnically distinct from Georgians, say they were forcibly absorbed into Georgia under Soviet rule and want to exercise their right to self-determination.
Georgia argues that the majority of Abkhazia's pre-war population want to remain part of Georgia, but they were forced to flee and have since been living as refugees.
Attorney Met with Jailed Beijing Christian Businessman Shi Weihan for the First Time
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07141.shtml
CHINA -- On the morning of Wednesday, the attorney of Mr. Shi Weihan, the leader of a Beijing house church who was released without a conviction and who was again arrested and persecuted on March 19, was finally able to meet his client Mr. Shi after long negotiations. Before this, Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau had always refused to let the attorney get involved in his case and they even refused to tell the family and the attorney the location where Mr. Shi was detained. At the time of the arrest, the police claimed that Shi Weihan was a "dangerous religious element."
Mr. Shi Weihan is being detained at Beijing Municipal Detention Center and it is now over a month since he was detained there. As he has chronic diabetes, his health condition makes people concerned. During the meeting, Mr. Shi's talk was interrupted by the guards on several occasions and he received a warning. The attorney saw Mr. Shi's health condition was very poor and there were symptoms of a serious allergy for which no known reasons were given. He badly needs medical treatment. However, the detention center authorities refused to provide the most basic humanitarian treatment or even provide medications. According to the conversation with Mr. Shi, the police interrogation mainly focuses on what relationship he has with the US. They are trying to avoid admitting that this is a typical case of religious persecution.
Bob Fu, head of China Aid Association, thinks that this is another case of brazen trampling on religious freedom and basic human rights by the Chinese government as the Olympic Games draw near. It shows that China doesn't have fear or unsettled conscience in the face of the international community and denunciation. We hope the relevant authorities of Beijing will not try to bring any fabricated charges related to state security on Shi Weihan, an influential house church leader.
China Builds Secret Nuclear Submarine Base in South China Sea
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,353961,00.html
China has secretly built an underground nuclear submarine base in the South China Sea, posing a new threat to powers in the region — a development the Pentagon says it has known about for at least two years.
Satellite photos of the base obtained by FOX News show a large harbor and massive tunnels that defense experts say could shelter many nuclear subs.
The Defense Department has estimated that by 2010 China will have five operational 094-class nuclear submarines capable of carrying 12 nuclear missiles each, according to the Daily Telegraph.
According to the Defense Department, China has 57 attack submarines, but these satellite pictures suggest their 094-class nuclear submarine may already be available.
“It’s very significant to have further visual evidence of the kinds of military build-up that they’ve been engaged in for some time,” said Stephen Yates, a senior fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council.
Photos of the base were taken on November 28 by DigitalGlobe’s QuickBird satellite, and first appeared in the military journal Jane’s Intelligence Review.
The secret base, known as Sanya, is located on the southern tip of Hainan Island in the South China Sea. Defense experts say the harbor feeds into waters so deep that the submarines could launch without having to surface, making it difficult to detect them from the sky.
That may pose a threat to U.S. naval dominance in the region, and to the nations just hundreds of miles from Hainan’s shores.
“It really is a point of force projection out into the South China Sea, and the South China Sea is a very, very important waterway critical to energy security,” said Yates.
The Pentagon has known about the secret submarine base for more than two years. It first showed up in press reports in 2007 and was mentioned in the Defense Department’s report to Congress on China’s military power last year.
When Defense Secretary Robert Gates visited China last November, he was given a tour of the Forbidden City — but not given answers about China’s growing military budget, which increased officially by 17 percent last year, making it Asia’s fastest growing military.
Calls to the Chinese Embassy seeking comment on the revelation were not returned.
Science-Fiction Writers Help Government Prepare for Attacks of the Future
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,353979,00.html
Imagine an attack by a swarm of armed micromachines ... or a bioweapon small enough to fit in a suitcase and deadly enough to destroy the human race.
It's the stuff of Hollywood storylines, but to the U.S. government such plots are potentially very real and very dangerous. So the government has turned to an unlikely source for help in identifying these threats: science-fiction writers.
Sci-fi writers were envisioning nightmarish scenarios like these well before the technology emerged to make them possible. Now the government is hoping their imagination will help protect against whatever may come next.
Some leading science-fiction writers and computer designers have formed SIGMA, the creation of prolific author Arlan Andrews, and they're offering their time — and minds — free of charge. Their only incentive is keeping America safe.
Since the end of the Cold War, “any given spot is in more danger than before,” said Andrews, who was a White House Science fellow under George H. W. Bush. “More than 200,000 Americans are putting their lives at risk. If we were too afraid to accept responsibility for our ideas, we would be too wimpy and not American.”
I recently had the opportunity to sit in on a Department of Homeland Security meeting with SIGMA in Los Angeles.
SIGMA — it takes its name from the Greek letter used as a summation symbol in mathematics — is similar in concept to the JASON group, a team of physicists, biologists and chemists that has advised the country since World War II.
Originally a group of 10, SIGMA has swelled to include 35 members. Most have Ph.D.s and all are popular writers and designers in their own right.
These sci-fi writers are particularly adept at envisioning new technologies and planning against “disruptive technology,” according to Andrews. He said he would pit his group “against any other in the world.”
Those in the know in government clearly agree, since SIGMA members have long consulted with agencies like the Homeland Security and Defense Departments, DARPA, Sandia Labs, NASA and the CIA. Some current members are employed by NASA and the Navy; one is a director at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
So just what have these guys been thinking up?
Andrews recently proposed “intelligent bullets” that could correct their own course and loiter in the air before landing. Designed to suit current weapons, these bullets could contain explosives or even video equipment and be useful in urban operations. Instead of relying on distant video feeds from unmanned aerial vehicles, soldiers could fire short bursts into the air that would transmit decrypted, de-spun video straight to their goggles.
To help shore up border security in an emergency, one SIGMA member suggested a plan for C130 planes to fire pointed telephone poles, equipped with sensors and hooked up electronically, into the ground every half mile.
Another idea they developed to help patrol large borders was to disperse millions of tiny sensors the size of maple seeds with half-inch-long transmitters. The sensors would then transmit to a tower if people passed by.
SIGMA has also considered how to mitigate and prevent damage caused by natural disasters. Greg Bear, writer of bestsellers such as “Quantico,” has been looking at how to prevent plant pathogens from wiping out crops in Florida.
They also floated a plan to defuse the devastating power of hurricanes by spraying aerosolized dry ice into a storm to cool it down. To alert authorities to escalating water levels, members proposed designing dikes with sensors that could rapidly feed back data and hasten emergency response.
There are even plans to create a virtual world that could test current security planning in computer models of major cities — like a "Second Life" or "World of Warcraft" for terror activity. Designed using supercomputers, these virtual cities and countries would match the real ones in incredible detail.
Once inside those computer-constructed cities, SIGMA would operate as a "red team," whose job would be to work like terrorists and move around a virtual Baghdad, Fallujah or even New York, launching attacks in order to test the consequences.
That could be invaluable, as sci-fi writers have been notably prescient in envisioning unorthodox technologies. Sci-fi writers anticipated critical military advances like stealth technology, artificial intelligence, communications satellites and the laser, Andrews said.
So even as real terrorists are exploiting Second Life and other virtual-world games for recruitment, planning and financing, SIGMA is turning the tables to give the United States a home court advantage in the fight for the future.
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