A Soldier's Crossroads of Faith, Freedom
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/423726.aspx
CBNNews.com - Jerry Boykin spent more than 36 years in the Army. Much of that time was spent in the super-secret world of special operations. But Boykin's very public profession of faith in Christ played a role in bringing his decorated career to an end.
Now that he's retired, Boykin has written a book about the controversy and a career filled with incredible stories that he shared with CBN News.
Heroic Beginnings
The small, quiet campus of Hampden-Sydney College in central Virginia provides a stark contrast to the places where Boykin used to make a living.
In the late 70s, Boykin was among a handful of soldiers who survived the torturous screening process to become an original member of the Army's elite Delta Force.
He was part of the mission that attempted to rescue 53 Americans held hostage in the U.S. embassy in Tehran - a mission that was called off when two of their aircraft collided in the desert.
"What I remember most is looking at a burning wreckage of two aircraft - a helicopter and a fixed-wing aircraft - and realizing that 45 men were trapped inside that burning wreckage, sitting on fuel bladders and knowing they had no chance of survival," Boykin recalled. "And then doing the only thing that I could do and that was to call on the name of the Jesus Christ and ask him to spare those men. And He did."
The men escaped before fire destroyed both aircraft.
Lessons learned from that mission led to a high-profile success story nine-years later: the rescue of American Kurt Muse who was being held hostage in a Panamanian prison.
"No matter where I am Kurt calls me on the 20th of December and just says 'Thanks, it's the anniversary of my rescue.' What a wonderful guy he is," Boykins said.
Blackhawk Down
Boykin commanded Delta Force during the battle of Mogadishu depicted in the movie Blackhawk Down.
Eighteen American troops were killed and many others were wounded that day Somalia.
In his book, Never Surrender, Boykin writes about witnessing his men being returned to base.
An excerpt from the book reads, "A cascade of blood as wide as the truck spilled out like a waterfall. I heard my men's blood splashing down on the ground. My stomach rolled and tears closed my throat. The medics began separating the living from the dead."
"That was a... difficult time," Boykin recalled. "I found myself saying there is no God or this never would've happened.
Boykin explained that although he'd been a believer for 23 years at that point, he "had a crisis in faith. And as a result of seeing that and feeling the pain of it I literally said there is no God."
Later Boykin would be wounded himself and recover only to discover that someone, writing an anonymous letter, had accused him of botching the Somalia operation.
But following a six-month investigation, Boykin was exonerated and promoted to brigadier general.
He says a lot of prayer and time alone with God allowed him to survive his crisis of faith.
"I can't say that I've totally healed from that experience," Boykin said. "I will carry that forever. Having said that, I've moved on, I moved beyond it."
September 11, 2001
Boykin would face another tough battle after 9/11 - not on a far-away battlefield, but here at home.
The secular media got wind of speeches he delivered to about 30 churches.
Boykin spoke about his faith, the war on terror and the enemy America faces.
"This is my own personal belief, but one of the most fundamental reasons that they hate us is - (a) we are a nation of believers and (b) because we support Israel," he said.
The media interpreted Boykin's remarks to mean the war on terror was a battle between Christianity and Islam.
Boykin said he had no regrets about his remarks.
"No, I don't regret it all, no. Let me look you in the eye and tell you when all of that broke and the media went after me with such a vengeance, it became overpowering," he said. "And I will just tell you, going back to the title of the book, there were days that I just said, 'I'm ready to quit.'"
But Boykin says God told him not to quit. A Pentagon investigation criticized the general for delivering the speeches in uniform - but all but cleared of him of wrongdoing.
Still the very public controversy meant that he wouldn't receive a fourth star.
Boykin is retired now and teaching college classes. He's also warning Christians to be aware of the danger the world faces.
"I am not anti any religion because I spent too much of my life supporting and defending the right to worship," he said. "But I think, as Christians, we need to recognize that evil manifests itself in many ways and many forms and this radical Islam is one of those pure manifestations of pure evil."
It is an evil that Boykin says can't be defeated just on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan.
He believes Christians have a role to play in engaging in spiritual warfare against the enemy.
In the end, he believes the war on terror is a battle of world views.
McCain Says Obama Wants to Forfeit War in Iraq
http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/mccain_dhl/2008/08/07/120019.html
LIMA, Ohio -- Republican presidential candidate John McCain, who has contended that Barack Obama is willing to lose in Iraq to win the election, on Thursday said his rival would forfeit the war as part of an agenda that also promotes big government and high taxes.
McCain told those gathered for a town hall meeting that Obama is a talented orator with an agenda that could be boiled down to simple policies the Arizona Republican opposes.
"Government is too big, he wants to grow it. Taxes are to high, he wants to raise them," McCain said. "Congress spends too much and he proposes more. We need more energy and he's against producing it. We're finally winning in Iraq, and he wants to forfeit."
McCain's criticism came before he was to travel to Wilmington to discuss possible job losses, as many as 8,000, from the proposed closure of a DHL shipping site, the result of a corporate merger aided by his campaign manager during his work as a lobbyist.
In 2003, McCain campaign manager Rick Davis lobbied Congress to accept a proposal by German-owned DHL to buy Airborne Express, which kept its domestic hub in Wilmington in southwest Ohio.
In announcing a restructuring plan in May, DHL said it planned to hire United Parcel Service to move some of its air packages, sending them through an airport in Louisville, Ky., and putting the Wilmington Air Park out of business.
Davis took a leave of absence from his lobbying practice to work for McCain, a self-styled reformer who asked his campaign staff to disclose all previous lobbying ties and make certain they were no longer registered as lobbyists or foreign agents.
The economy and job losses are important issues in Ohio, a critical swing state that gave President Bush the electoral votes needed for re-election in 2004.
McCain campaign spokesman Brian Rogers said Wednesday that Davis had not worked with DHL since 2005, long before DHL announced plans to move its work out of Wilmington. The companies merged in 2003.
"At the time of the merger, no one anticipated an impact on jobs in Wilmington," Rogers said.
McCain, as chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, had a role in the deal, too. He urged then-Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Ted Stevens to abandon proposed legislation that would have prohibited foreign-owned carriers from flying U.S. military equipment or troops, which Airborne Express said was aimed at torpedoing its merger with DHL.
Rogers said McCain opposed the bill because it could have hurt the military's airlift capabilities in a time of war.
The DHL-Airborne deal ultimately went through, despite opposition from competitors UPS and FedEx, which argued that it would violate a ban on foreign control of domestic airlines. DHL is the U.S.-based shipping unit of German postal service Deutsche Post AG.
On Wednesday, Sen. Sherrod Brown, an Ohio Democrat and Obama supporter, called on McCain and Davis to use their past ties to DHL to urge the company not to move jobs out of Wilmington.
"John McCain through this whole thing has said zero about his connection to DHL," Brown said. "We need their help. I'm accusing them of indifference."
A task force of local and federal elected officials as well as business and labor leaders has been working to save the jobs.
"This is worthy of every presidential candidate's attention," Wilmington Mayor David Raizk said. "Whether it's a vote-changing issue or not, I think it might be a little too early to tell. It's a matter of making sure our situation here stays on the front burner."
During a campaign visit last month, Obama discussed the situation with Raizk and other officials and pledged to help if elected.
In a statement Wednesday, Ohio Republican Sen. George Voinovich called the situation "one of the worst job catastrophes that any community in this nation is facing" and said the involvement of both McCain and Obama indicated it merited global attention.
"We are going to need some involvement by the German government," Voinovich said.
DHL declined to comment.
Ohio is a general election battleground state, and rural southwest Ohio, where Wilmington is located, is a Republican stronghold. In 2004, Clinton County _ which includes Wilmington _ voted for Bush over Democrat John Kerry by more than 2-to-1, even though Bush narrowly won the state.
EXCLUSIVE: Potential McCain VP: Revamp Party Image
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/423932.aspx
CBNNews.com - WASHINGTON - Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty is widely speculated to be among Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain's top pick for vice president.
Pawlenty spoke exclusively with CBN News White House Correspondent Melissa Charbonneau after his Washington, D.C., address to the National Press Club, Wednesday.
Gov. Pawlenty called on the GOP to expand the party by reaching out "Sam's Club Republicans," whom he described as Reagan Democrats who share GOP values.
Tim Pawlenty: Sam's Club Republicans is a metaphor for those people who don't necessarily have a lot of money to spend, or more money to spend, but they want to get better value. So, to translate that into government, it's more effective government, but at a better price, and so looking for ways to say, how can we deliver services better, delivering more value to our customers?
And so a signature issues, for example, would be energy. How are we going to hold down, or at least contain energy prices, hopefully making them better over time? How do we deliver more value to our citizens with that kind of issue?
Melissa Charbonneau: Now are these Republicans who feel disenfranchised? You mentioned that, or are they Reagan Democrats who've been voting Democrat for years?
TP: I think it's a re-branding or an updating of the label of Reagan Democrats. These are folks who might be either bouncing back and forth between parties. Or may be conservative Democrats, or unaffiliated. But they've got some basic bread-and-butter concerns like, how am I going to pay for the gas in my car or the heat in my house? How am I going to get my family health care insurance? And, are my children going to get a good education? Because that's so important in these times. And I think Republicans can gain support by speaking to those bread-and-butter issues in ways that are clear understandable and meaningful.
MC: You talked about that evangelical vote and the upcoming evangelical generation, how they're not monolithic, not one big bloc, and Republicans can't take them for granted and should work to earn their support. Is it possible to earn the support of these, to grow the party with Sam's Club Republicans, and not offend or run the evangelical voters?
TP: Oh absolutely. The Sam's Club Republicans concept speaks to economic values, but it does not exclude. In fact, I think it embraces all of the social and cultural values that are so important to the Republican party as well, and that includes things like the value of family. People go to Sam's Club, in part, not just because they are small business owners, but also because they have large families - and family is important, and family budgets are important.
And so, I think appreciation for marriage, appreciation for traditional marriage, appreciation and respect for life -- those values and others that are so near and dear to the evangelical community are not inconsistent. In fact, they are consistent, in my view, with Sam's Club Republicans.
MC: In the past, evanglicals have seemed to vote in a bloc. Do you think it's splitting up, because some are splitting off into environmental issues, global AIDS, and poverty, and some may be sticking to issues of abortion, and traditional marriage, that kind of thing?
TP: I think it's also just the generational change. I think we're going through a generational change in the faces and voices of the evangelical movement. And there's a little bit of baton passing going on, and so as that happens, and as the next generation of leaders emerge, they're going to want to put their own kind of stamp and agenda together.
But it's really an agenda, from an evangelical standpoint, that's biblically based. And I don't really think it's one or two things. It's really, what are the values that we want as a culture, as a society, as a country, in terms of how we treat each other economically? What kind of respect we have for our traditional values like marriage and life and down the road. But also, increasingly, concerns about, well, if God gave us this planet, are we being good stewards of it? That's not inconsistent with, you know, a kind of Creator-care perspective, and one, I think, Republicans should be very, very mindful of.
TP: It's not just one thing. I don't think there are many voters who are going to say, 'I'm only going to vote because of climate or the environment.' I think if you are an evangelical concerned about these issues, you're also going to be concerned about a number of other issues that I think Republicans can do well.
And increasingly, you're seeing Republicans and conservatives engage on energy, and conservation, and the environment. So I think our prospects are actually improving in that regard, not declining.
Obama’s Muslim Connection Won’t Go Away
http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/obama_muslim_connection/2008/08/07/119942.html
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s ties to Islam is a story line that is not going away, according to a recent analysis by the Project for Excellence in Journalism.
“Rumors that Barack Obama was a secret Muslim whose patriotism was questionable first appeared on blogs and in e-mail messages,” PJE noted.
“In March, the rumors began to show up in the press, though only minimally.”
PJE’s News Coverage Index found that media reports about these rumors accounted for 0.4 percent of the “campaign newshole” from mid-March to mid-April.
But coverage has steadily increased since then, and accounted for 3.8 percent of the campaign news from mid-June to mid-July.
Obama has denied he is a Muslim or ever was a practicing Muslim.
The basis of the “rumor” germinates with Obama’s father, who was a Muslim, though Obama claims he was non-practicing. Adding to the mix is Obama’s full name, Barack Hussein Obama, which is an Arabic name.
Obama’s biological father disappeared from his son’s life soon after he was born and returned to his native Kenya.
Obama’s Kansas-born mother and her second husband, an Indonesian who was also a Muslim, moved from Hawaii to Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital, in 1967. Obama lived there from ages 6 to 10.
Reports dating back as far as early 2007 held that Obama was educated at a radical Islamic school in Indonesia.
Press accounts revealed that in fact, Obama first attended a Catholic school for almost three years. However, his mother registered him in the school as a Muslim.
Some press reports indicated that Obama attended a radical madrasa, a school for radical Islamics. But that story was found to be untrue.
In the wake of that controversy, the Los Angeles Times sent a reporter to Jakarta to ferret out the truth.
The Times report, published on March 16, 2008, revealed:
• A close boyhood friend of Obama, Zulfin Adi, said Barack "was a Muslim. He went to the mosque."
• Obama's first-grade teacher at a Catholic school, Israella Dharmawan, said: "Barry (Barack's nickname) was Muslim. He was registered as a Muslim because his father was Muslim."
• In the third grade, Obama transferred to a public school, where he was also registered as a Muslim. At the school, Muslim students attended weekly religion lessons about Islam.
Some of these details have been confirmed by Obama himself. In his autobiography, "Dreams From My Father," Obama mentions studying the Koran and describes the public school as "a Muslim school."
Earlier this year, Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs claimed: "Senator Obama has never been a Muslim, was not raised a Muslim, and is a committed Christian."
But the facts suggest that statement is not exactly true.
Middle East Forum director Daniel Pipes wrote on FrontPageMag.com that his research led him to conclude that "Obama was born a Muslim to a non-practicing Muslim father and for some years had a reasonably Muslim upbringing under the auspices of his Indonesian stepfather."
After the Los Angeles Times conducted its own investigation, Gibbs amended his previous statement on behalf of Obama, telling the Los Angeles Times: "Obama has never been a practicing Muslim," the key word being "practicing."
After the Los Angeles Times report, Obama’s hometown newspaper, the Chicago Tribune, came to his rescue, publishing its own story about Obama’s Indonesian years less than two weeks after the Times report.
The Tribune said they had re-interviewed Obama’s boyhood friend Adi. He told the Tribune he was not sure Obama had been a practicing Muslim. The Tribune also claimed it conducted “interviews with dozens of former classmates, teachers, neighbors and friends” — all who indicated that Obama “was not a regular practicing Muslim when he was in Indonesia.'"
Despite heated denials — perhaps fueled by his attendance at Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakan’s Million Man March — doubts linger about Obama’s religious status.
For example, The New Yorker magazine’s recent controversial cover depicting Obama in traditional Muslim clothing — sandals, robe and turban – reflects those doubts.
The PJE’s News Coverage Index examines about four dozen news outlets to determine what is being covered and what is not.
Many of the news accounts surrounding this story have reported stories debunking the belief that Obama was or still is a Muslim. Nevertheless, a recent poll by the Pew Research Center found that 12 percent of respondents believed the candidate is a Muslim.
Poll results released in mid-July by Newsweek magazine showed that 26 percent of respondents believe Obama was sworn in as a U.S. senator on a Koran, 26 percent believe he was raised as a Muslim, and 39 percent believe he attended an Islamic school as a child growing up in Indonesia.
While rebuffing reports of his ties to Islam, Obama has insisted there is “nothing wrong” with being a Muslim.
But any perceived link between Obama and Islam could be detrimental to his campaign, polls show.
A survey by Fox News/Opinion Dynamics conducted when Mitt Romney, a Mormon, was a Republican presidential candidate found that 32 percent of voters said they would be less likely to vote for a presidential candidate who is Mormon — while 45 percent said they would be less likely to vote for a Muslim.
And a poll by the Pew Research Center disclosed that 35 percent of Americans have an unfavorable view of Muslims.
Obama’s Liaison Linked to Radical Imam
http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/obama_liaison_asbahi/2008/08/07/119889.html
The Arab-American and Muslim-American outreach coordinator for Barack Obama's campaign has resigned following disclosures about his past association with a radical Muslim cleric.
Mazen Asbahi, an associate with the Chicago law firm Schiff Hardin, quit on Monday, saying he did not want to be a distraction to the Obama campaign.
For several weeks in 2000, Asbahi served on the board of an Islamic investment fund. Also serving on the board at that time was Jamal Said, an imam at a Chicago-area mosque known for his radical views, The Jerusalem Post reported.
The Justice Department named Said as an unindicted co-conspirator in the racketeering trial last year of several alleged Hamas fundraisers. The case ended in a mistrial.
Asbahi’s link to Said was first disclosed by an Internet newsletter last week.
Asbahi said in his resignation letter: “In 2000, I agreed to serve as a member of the board of trustees of the Dow Jones Islamic Index Fund. I served on that board for only a few weeks before resigning as soon as I became aware of public allegations against another member of the board.
"Since concerns have been raised about that brief time, I am stepping down from the volunteer role I recently agreed to take on with the Obama campaign as Arab-American and Muslim-American outreach coordinator in order to avoid distracting from Barack Obama's message of change.”
Asbahi joined the campaign at the end of Obama's recent Middle East and European trip.
His resignation demonstrates "the difficulty of charting the waters of Islamophopia in this election cycle," Ahmed Rehab, executive director of the Chicago Council of American-Islamic Relations, told The Chicago Sun-Times, which noted:
“Obama, a Christian whose middle name is Hussein — and whose father and stepfather have Muslim roots — is continuing to wrestle with false rumors that he is a Muslim.”
Federal Officers to Obama: We’re No Terrorists
http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/federal_officers_obama/2008/08/07/120002.html
The president of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association has sent a blistering letter to Barack Obama castigating him for a remark he made that the organization says equates its members with “terrorists.”
Speaking at the National Council of La Raza convention in San Diego on July 13, Obama told the largely Hispanic audience that the nation’s immigration system "isn't working." According to Obama, the problem with the system is that "communities are terrorized by ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] immigration raids" and "nursing mothers are torn from their babies."
The letter from the Association’s National President Art Gordon states: “On behalf of the 26,000 members of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association (FLEOA), I take great exception to your disparaging remark, ‘…communities are terrorized by ICE immigration raids.’
“While the dedicated men and women of ICE endeavor to carry out their dangerous and noble missions, you somehow felt compelled to characterize their efforts as something akin to terrorizing…
“It’s one thing to remark intelligently on the need for immigration reform, but it’s quite another to berate ICE law enforcement officers who are risking their lives to enforce the laws passed by Congress.”
Charging that Obama and his fellow members of Congress have not passed any “meaningful legislations” on immigration reform, Gordon goes on to say: “Your bi-partisan fumble should not translate into labeling our members as terrorists by implication…
“ICE employs patriotic men and women who are outstanding law enforcement officers, not rampaging home-wreckers.”
Gordon concludes by inviting Obama to meet with FLEOA officers, saying he would come away with an understanding “that those carrying the ICE shield are heroes, and not terrorists.”
Sen. Clinton Wants Her Delegates Heard
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/424475.aspx
CBNNews.com - Sen. Hillary Clinton wants her delegates to be heard at the upcoming Democratic convention.
Many of Clinton's supporters say her name should be placed into nomination for a vote on the convention floor.
Barack Obama has more delegates than Clinton and would win that vote.
But as new video from a California fundraiser shows, Clinton is still fighting for her delegates to have a roll.
"I happen to believe that we will come out stronger if people feel that their voices were heard and their views were respected. I think that is a very big part of how we actually come out unified," Clinton said.
"We do not want any Democrat either in the hall or in the stadium or at home walking away saying, 'Well, you know, I'm just not satisfied, I'm not happy.' Because, I mean, that's what I'm trying to avoid," she added.
After that video appeared online, Senators Clinton and Obama issued a rare joint statement saying everyone's voices will be heard.
Obama Fatigue? Poll Shows Voters Tired
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/424537.aspx
CBNNews.com - With three months to go before Election Day, nearly half of voters say they're tired of hearing about Sen. Barack Obama.
That's according to a new poll by the non partisan Pew Research Center. The study found that two thirds of Republicans, half of Independents, and a third of Democrats felt that way.
Researchers say Obama has dominated political news coverage for much of the year. And by a slight margin, people say that, recently, they have a less favorable rather than more favorable view of the Democratic nominee.
Meanwhile, almost four out of 10 people say they've heard too little about Republican candidate John McCain.
Nearly half of Republicans, four out of 10 Independents and a quarter of Democrats would like to hear more about the Arizona senator.
But Obama's ads seem to be having a favorable impact.
Almost 40 percent of those who are aware of Obama's commercials say they are mostly positive messages about the candidate. Only 13 percent characterize them as negative messages about McCain.
However, more than 30 percent see McCain's ads as negative messages about his opponent, with less than 20 percent describing them as positive ads.
Obama a Threat to Marriage Defense Act?
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/423743.aspx
CBNNews.com - If Barack Obama becomes President, he could join with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to try and repeal the Defense of Marriage Act.
It's a federal law that prevents states from being forced to recognize same sex marriages performed in other states.
Obama openly calls for the repeal of DOMA, and has labeled it "an abhorrent law."
And at a recent news conference, Pelosi said she would support the repeal of DOMA if Obama becomes President.
Pelosi, who represents San Francisco, has always opposed the law. She was one of the few lawmakers to vote against it in 1996.
Obama used to support DOMA, but says he turned against it after hearing from homosexual friends who say the law has been hurtful to them.
Knights of Columbus: ‘No’ to Abortion Candidates
http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/knights_of_columbus/2008/08/07/120056.html
The head of the Knights of Columbus, the most influential Catholic lay organization, has urged U.S. Catholics not to vote for any political candidate who is pro-choice on abortion.
“Supreme Knight” Carl Anderson addressed the leadership and more than 1,000 members of the Knights and their families at the organization’s 126th Annual Convention in Quebec on Tuesday.
Speaking after greetings to the Knights were heard from the Pope, via the Cardinal Secretary of State, and the presidents of the United States, Mexico, and the Philippines, Anderson called on Catholics to “shine a bright line of separation between themselves and all those politicians who defend the abortion regime of Roe v. Wade.”
Anderson said: “Imagine if this year millions of Catholic voters simply say ‘no’ — no to every candidate of every political party who supports abortion.”
Continuing his sharply worded comments, Anderson declared: “It’s time we stop accommodating pro-abortion politicians, and it’s time we start demanding that they accommodate us. What candidate or political party can withstand the loss of millions of Catholic voters in this election or the next?”
He added: “If we stand together and demand better from our politicians, we can transform politics. And if we truly hope for a culture of life and a civilization of love, then we must first think, and then act, in new ways.”
Anderson's speech was broadcast live throughout Canada and the United States on the Catholic television network, and worldwide on EWTN radio and television.
If American Catholics heed Anderson’s call in large numbers, it could have a huge effect on the November elections at all levels — there are an estimated 40 million Catholic voters in the U.S.
In fact, there are indications that Catholics already are turning against pro-choice presidential candidate Barack Obama and toward pro-life candidate John McCain.
A Zogby phone poll in mid-July showed that Catholics favored Obama by 11 percentage points, but a new poll now has McCain ahead among Catholics by 15 percentage points.
Pelosi Shrugs Off Continued House GOP Protests Over Energy
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,398868,00.html
WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she is not impressed by Republican efforts at reducing energy prices, or their attempts to publicize them.
Several GOP House lawmakers this week have taken the chamber by storm as Congress is officially on a five-week break and Democrats are out of town. The show continued Wednesday, its fourth day, with an appearance by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
The GOP members say it is to bring attention to Democrats' blocking a vote on offshore oil drilling legislation, an issue Republicans say would be a winner if it actually made it to a vote.
But Pelosi said Democratic initiatives, which don't include offshore drilling, are the answer to the country's high energy prices.
"The facts are clear," Pelosi wrote Tuesday in a letter to House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio. The Democratic-led Congress "has repeatedly brought forth proposals to increase domestic supply, reduce the price at the pump, protect American consumers and businesses and promote renewable energy and conservation.
"To date, Democrats have brought forward 13 major initiatives to accomplish the above goals and each time a majority of House Republicans have voted against these proposals."
Pelosi refuted oil drilling as a solution, citing an Energy Department statistic that oil and gas production on the Outer Continental Shelf would not begin until 2017, even if the ban were lifted immediately. She also said price changes would be minimal through 2030.
Mentioning the group of House members still in Washington, D.C. — whom she referred to as "a very small band of your colleagues" — she said voters back home "deserve to know why their representatives in Congress have failed to support serious, responsible proposals."
In her letter, Pelosi did not mention any specific areas on which Democrats and Republicans might find common ground, although she again pushed for the release of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, a measure Republicans blocked before Congress broke for recess in July.
If the letter weren't clear enough, Pelosi released a top-10 list of "questions for the House GOP on Energy," also drawing in John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee.
For instance, Question No. 5. asks: "Senator McCain missed two critical votes in the Senate to promote renewable and conservation. The American people have a right to know why he is putting the interests of Big Oil ahead of American consumers. Why is that?"
Pelosi also suggested Congress repeal tax breaks for oil companies in light of recent record profits.
"If House Republicans are for 'all of the above,' why do you oppose efforts to protect consumers like price gouging and holding OPEC accountable for price fixing?" reads Question No. 6.
Pelosi laid blame at Republican feet for not ensuring "we wouldn't reach the energy crisis we're in now" while they were in the majority in Congress, and asked for support for ending "undue speculation in the oil market" — a measure that met its demise in the Senate.
Pelosi vouched for a larger low-income heating assistance program and a renewable electricity standard, both of which are unpopular among Republicans.
Making a cameo appearance Wednesday, Gingrich, who led another Republican revolt in the mid-1990s that sparked a government shutdown, joined the protest over energy prices.
Gingrich said Democrats are making a mistake by blocking Republican proposals for new domestic oil drilling, including in coastal areas off Georgia.
In a press conference with current GOP lawmakers just off the House floor, he acknowledged that his party is "fighting uphill" in November's congressional elections. But inaction on high gas prices could change that, he said.
"The more that (Pelosi and Senate leader Harry Reid) are clearly the anti-energy obstacles, the harder it is for Democrats back home to get re-elected," he said, dismissing government estimates that offshore drilling would have a negligible impact on gas prices. "If the Democrats don't find a way to pass a big energy bill, I think they're in extraordinary trouble."
Several Georgia lawmakers such as Reps. Lynn Westmoreland, Tom Price and Phil Gingrey helped lead the Republican protest earlier in the week but have since flown home.
But the protests aren't over yet. At least one lawmaker was touting his plans to come back next week.
"Once again Speaker Pelosi and Democrat leaders of Congress have broken trust with the American people and shown themselves to be completely indifferent to reality," said Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., about his ire over the lack of a drilling bill. "I look forward to joining my colleagues who are choosing to stand firm and demand a fair vote on energy legislation on behalf of the American people."
Gingrich's appearance Wednesday drew questions about his leadership over another Republican revolt in 1995 in which the party was widely blamed for a monthlong, holiday-season government shutdown during a budget standoff with former President Bill Clinton.
He said this time Democrats may have to decide whether to shut down Congress to avoid a drilling vote.
Gingrich, who led the House from 1995 to 1999, addressed a throng of reporters at a press conference but said he would not speak on the floor because he is no longer a member. An advocacy group he formed last fall, American Solutions for Winning the Future, has collected some 1.4 million signatures on an online petition calling for new U.S. oil drilling, he said.
In opposing offshore drilling, many Democrats point to Energy Department projections that it would have a minimal impact on gas prices through at least 2030. They argue that the U.S. must begin moving away from fossil fuels toward homegrown technologies.
Church/state wall beginning to crumble?
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/0808/colorado_ruling.php3?printer_friendly
In a legal slugfest waged in Denver last month, a Christian university traded punches with the State of Colorado — and won by a knockout.
The Jews were paying very close attention.
On July 23, the 10th US Circuit Court of Appeals, reversing a lower court decision, ruled that the state's denial of financial aid to students enrolled in the Lakewood-based Colorado Christian University was unconstitutional.
For five years, the state has denied stipends from the College Opportunity Fund to students enrolled at CCU on the basis that the evangelical Christian university meets the criteria of "pervasively sectarian."
Testimony at the just-concluded trial left little doubt that CCU — whose president is former US Senator Bill Armstrong — does indeed have a strongly religious flavor. Students are required to regularly attend chapel services or face possible fines. Faculty members are required to take an oath of belief in the Bible.
However, based partly on testimony from members of the Colorado Commission on Higher Education, which administers the financial aid, the appellate ruling found the phrase "pervasively sectarian" to be excessively vague.
The court also found that since state aid is made available to such Colorado schools as Regis University and the University of Denver — institutions run by Roman Catholic and Methodist bodies respectively — the denial of funds to CCU is discriminatory.
Thus, the court wrote, Colorado "discriminates among religions without constitutional justification."
Although the case itself focused exclusively on a Christian school, the precedent established by the Circuit Court ruling immediately caught the notice of regional and national Jewish organizations, where reactions varied widely.
On one side, Jewish organizations which support a liberal interpretation of the constitutional separation of church and state wasted no time decrying the decision as a serious breach in that metaphorical wall of separation.
Nationally, the American Jewish Congress, which organized an amicus (or "friend of the court") brief in favor of the state's position in the case, used strong language in a press release issued just hours after the decision.
"The decision," it read, "is part of what is no less than a constitutional counter-revolution."
On the other hand, Jewish schools and universities which potentially stand to benefit from the now-authorized government largesse — and which might also have previously been classified as "pervasively sectarian" because of their Orthodox religiosity — applauded the ruling and took the opportunity to offer their own interpretation of constitutional law concerning religion.
The Colorado spokespersons for the American Jewish Committee and Anti-Defamation League were crystal clear in their condemnations of the ruling.
"It's a problem," said Gale Kahn, AJC area director. "Colorado Christian University is a Christian college, a pervasively sectarian institution, and to say that it's similar to any other institution of higher education is incorrect.
"[CCU] is a religious institution where the teachers have to take a Christian oath," Kahn said. "Pervasively sectarian means that every aspect of that school is Christian. At DU and Regis, they have a liberal arts component that's not religious. They are not pervasively or predominantly Christian. But at CCU religion permeates every aspect of that school.
"Certainly, we don't want to subsidize any religious activity. We're not happy when any taxpayer dollars are used to fund religious activity, and this college is a pervasively and obviously religious institution."
Bruce DeBoskey, regional ADL director, echoed those concerns. "ADL is deeply troubled by this ruling and we're fearful for what it will lead to in terms of the continual breaking down of this wall of separation of church and state," he told the Intermountain Jewish News.
"This was a serious setback for religious liberty in Colorado. Obviously, the separation of church and state is a concept which exists in order to ensure religious liberty. To have government money in this case going to help fund a pervasively theologically oriented school, such as Colorado Christian, the wall separating church and state is no longer in existence."
Even granting that Colorado's definition of "pervasively sectarian" might be vague, DeBoskey said it's not reasonable to dispute that Colorado Christian University is a very religious institution.
"In this school you're required to take specific religion classes, not just comparative religion. You're required to go to chapel. Faculty members are required to sign an oath of belief. This is not a nonsectarian school, it's a sectarian school promoting a particular theological belief system."
DeBoskey stressed that specific definitions and semantics are really not the issue in this case.
"Wherever you draw a line, somebody is going to fall on one side, and somebody else on the other," he said. "There is a standard at which a school has to fall on one side or fall onto another side. In this case we have a school which no one can question is pervasively theologically oriented. That's not a religious liberty. That's not like a Regis, for example, a Jesuit school, where you don't have to take any religious courses in order to get a degree."
The fact that CCU is a Christian school "doesn't matter," DeBoskey said.
"This decision may well have very important ramifications on people of all faiths. The Constitution preserves religious liberty from majority to minority religions, and ultimately when religious liberty is eroded it hurts all faiths because it gives the government a greater opportunity to say which religions can be practiced and what can be taught. That's dangerous both for majority and minority faiths. This is stuff that worries us at ADL very, very much."
There is, of course, a Jewish perspective to this issue that is diametrically opposed to that supported by AJC and ADL.
Rabbi Isaac Wasserman, dean of Yeshiva Toras Chaim — an Orthodox school for men at both the high school and collegiate level — welcomed last week's ruling itself and the long-term precedent he hopes it sets.
"I'm certainly excited and very pleased that the state scholarships for university students might be made available. We do have college level students, a group of them, and they might be able to benefit from this."
Yeshiva Toras Chaim currently has eight students enrolled in college level studies, six of whom are married, Rabbi Wasserman said. All of them live in Denver, but the rabbi has not yet looked into whether they would be eligible for the state scholarships that were affected by the ruling.
The rabbi anticipates that the students' ages, taxpayer status, and their parents' permanent place of residence will probably have to be factored into their eligibility.
Rabbi Wasserman, however, is absolutely clear in his view that the court decision does not violate constitutional church-state separation guidelines, since he firmly believes that most secular advocates of church-state separation have a grossly overbroad definition of that separation.
The writers of the American constitution, the rabbi said, were thinking in an 18th-century context in which any number of European governments were literally controlled by religious institutions, especially the Catholic Church.
A more relevant 21st-century interpretation, in Rabbi Wasserman's opinion, would be to regard the line of separation as "no intrusion" — meaning no intrusion of government into religious institutions — and "no influence" — meaning no influence of religion on the affairs of government.
"They're taking it much too far," the rabbi said of Jewish organizations who oppose such rulings, "and they really have no interest in their Jewish continuity.
"The only ones who are against it are those who don't want us to show up and be Jewish. They are the totally secular who are not interested in furthering . . . Jewish life."
His view of "religious liberty," therefore, is radically different from those who see the proverbial line of separation in more absolute terms.
"We have a democratic country that allows us the freedom to practice our religion," Rabbi Wasserman said, "and by pushing the idea of separation of church and state they are negating the great opportunity which the United States has given to religious institutions."
The only other Jewish educational institution in Colorado that might be affected by the ruling is Denver's Beth Jacob High School. Although chartered as a high school, a number of its junior and senior students take courses for college credit, through a joint Beth Jacob-UCD project.
Some of his students, said dean Rabbi Myer Schwab, have earned as many as 40 college credits before their high school graduation.
Although Rabbi Schwab admitted that he currently knows nothing about the potential impact of the recent court ruling on his school, "I'd love to hear about it.
"If we would be eligible for the funds, the need is here, so we would definitely be interested in looking further into it."
The State of Colorado has yet to announce whether it will appeal the ruling in the Court of Appeals. The next stop on the process would be for the state to file for an "en blanc" rehearing of the case before the full Court of Appeals. (The ruling was made by a three-judge panel).
The next, and final, destination would be the US Supreme Court, if the nation's highest court decides to hear it.
Both the ADL and AJC are strongly urging Colorado to appeal the decision.
"I'm curious whether the state is going to appeal," Kahn said this week. "We would be happy for that to happen."
Either in the course of that appeal, or perhaps legislatively, Kahn agrees that the state of Colorado will have to draw a clearer line on the definition of "pervasively sectarian," even though in the case of CCU she thinks it's already abundantly clear.
As for the ADL, which had filed an amicus brief in the case that was just overturned, DeBoskey said that a decision hasn't yet been made whether to do the same if another appeal is filed, "but I would predict that this will be the case."
DeBoskey refused to be pinned down when asked to predict the future fate of the case.
"Having practiced law for 25 years, I've long ago given up the practice of predicting what courts will do," he said. "I can only tell you that the opponents are very aggressive in their attack on the wall and are having some success in current day courts. It underscores the importance of our judicial system protecting our precious liberties."
Kahn, for her part, is doubtful that any appeal will reverse the ruling. Her conversations with national AJC officials in the wake of the Denver ruling have made her pessimistic about where the case may be headed.
"They don't think that if it went to the full court, or to the US Supreme Court, that we would win," she said.
Church Security Solutions Launches Conference Series in Response to Increased Church Violence http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07468.shtml
SALEM, Or., (christiansunite.com) -- Today more than ever the church is experiencing security threats that go beyond sexual predators, bookkeepers embezzling funds or car break-ins in the parking lot. This new dimension in security threats is exemplified by Sunday's church shooting in Tennessee where two adults were killed and eight additional adults shot in the presence of their children. The Colorado church shootings in December of last year and when a domestic dispute found its way into a church picnic in Los Angeles, again leading to an innocent person being shot. Our prayers and thoughts go out to these victims and their families.
Churches are open and accessible for their fellowship, yet those who have a sole intention of doing harm have an easy access into the church. How do Churches prepare and plan for this violent phenomena?
Church Security Solutions, LLC. (CSS) is an experienced firm providing comprehensive answers for the church. CSS is staffed with professional leaders in their disciplines that are adept at bringing their experience to the church in a very tactful manner. CSS works with both small and large churches, from those that have advanced security but desire fine tuning to those who have nothing more than a desire to create a more secure environment in their fellowship
CSS has a desire to minister to all churches by providing training in security to churches that may not have the resources for private consulting. CSS is offering regional one-day conferences across the nation. Over the next year CSS will visit major metropolitan areas with a conference dedicated to giving pastors, elders, Directors of Security and lay volunteers practical, hands-on tools that can be taken back to the church and applied to any size fellowship. These conferences are packed with the latest information whether you don't know where to begin or you are well on your way to top notch security. Attendees will gain valuable resources and materials they can reference and implement immediately, from hard security such as close circuit monitoring to and electronic access control to the softer security such as volunteer security team development and threat assessment. Attendees will also learn how to control and manage a critical incident should one occur in your Church.
CSS has selected Portland, Oregon as the site of its launch for the 2008-2009 Security Conference Tour. You will not want to miss Keynote Speaker, Pastor Doug Newcomb of Faith Bible Church of Denver, Colorado. This is the site of the first fatal shooting at the YWAM Dormitory in December. Pastor Newcomb will share "Lessons Learned" in the tense hours that followed the 1:00am phone call from law enforcement informing him of the tragic incident.
Make plans to attend this first conference, August 14th, 2008, 9:00am-4:00pm at Rolling Hills Community Church, Tualatin, Oregon. Lunch will be provided. Register online at www.churchsecuritysolutions.com The cost for this all day conference is $199.00, a small price to pay for your church's security!
Contact Rick Anderson, 503.949.8862
Church Security Solutions, LLC
5276 Southbend Drive. SE
Salem, Oregon 97306
Or on the web @ info@churchsecuritysoutions.com
Tiller Motion for Expanded Jury Denied, Trial Date Set
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07469.shtml
WICHITA, Kansas, (christiansunite.com) -- Judge Clark Owens denied a motion filed by attorneys for abortionist George R. Tiller that challenged the constitutionality of the state statute mandating a jury of six for misdemeanor cases.
Tiller had asked for a jury of twelve to hear his 19 misdemeanor charges of illegal late-term abortions.
"We appreciate Judge Owen's ruling that Tiller will have to have a jury of six, like every other person who faces misdemeanor charges in the State of Kansas. Maybe some day Tiller will understand that he is not above the law nor is he entitled to special privileges," said Operation Rescue spokesperson Cheryl Sullenger, who was present at the hearing.
The jury pool will be sent a special juror questionnaire at least four weeks ahead of trial. Judge Owens agreed to the request, usually reserved for capital murder cases, because of the complex issues involved in Tiller's case and because of the high emotions and strongly held opinions that surround the abortion issue.
A trial date was set for March 16, 2009.
"If I had not been in court and heard the scheduling conflicts for myself, I would have thought that the March 16 trial date was absolutely outrageous. As it is, I am disappointed that justice will have to wait for March while Tiller's abortion business continues to place the lives of viable babies at risk," said Sullenger.
Judge Owens set a deadline for defense motions to be filed by September 15, ordering the State to respond to those motions by October 17.
Tiller's attorneys indicated that they will file motions that will challenge the way former attorney General Phill Kline obtained the medical records on which the charges against their client was based. That and other motions, they said, would require testimony and about a week to present. A hearing date has been set for November 17 for the hearing of that and possibly other motions.
"Tiller has lost his last two motions, and I suspect, since the Kansas Supreme Court set guidelines that permitted the Attorney General's office to obtain the abortion records in the first place, any motion challenging those records will also fail," said Sullenger.
Yesterday, Judge Owens released a 35-page opinion upholding the constitutionality of the Kansas ban on post-viability abortions and denying Tiller's motion to dismiss the case.
About Operation Rescue
Operation Rescue is one of the leading pro-life Christian activist organizations in the nation. Operation Rescue recently made headlines when it bought and closed an abortion clinic in Wichita, Kansas and has become the voice of the pro-life activist movement in America. Its activities are on the cutting edge of the abortion issue, taking direct action to restore legal personhood to the pre-born and stop abortion in obedience to biblical mandates.
Texas Executes Immigrant After Winning Court Fight
http://www.newsmax.com/us/texas_execution/2008/08/07/120090.html
HUNTSVILLE, Texas -- An illegal immigrant who claimed his treaty rights were violated when he was arrested for a robbery and murder has been executed in Texas.
The execution came Thursday evening after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the appeal of Heliberto Chi. It was the second case of its kind this week in Texas.
His lawyers argued he should have been told he could get legal aid from the Honduran consulate after being arrested.
The arguments used by Chi's lawyers were similar to those used unsuccessfully Tuesday by lawyers for Jose Medellin. The Mexican immigrant was executed this week for participating in a rape and murder of two Houston teens.
Men: Former NFL All-Pro Wide Receiver Wants to be Your Spiritual Coach
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07472.shtml
IRONDALE, Alabama, (christiansunite.com) -- Danny Abramowicz, former NFL all-pro wide receiver and coach, has created a television show with EWTN Global Catholic Network called "Crossing the Goal," which uses a sports show format to encourage men to get into spiritual shape.
"On this show, we talk to men about the things that are happening in their lives right now and we challenge them to do something about it," said Abramowicz, who played for the New Orleans Saints and the 49ers. "Guys respond to a challenge. The Lord will help them, but they have to admit that something is not right in their life."
Abramowicz - who ranked, in varying years, in the Top 10 for receptions, receiving yards, and touchdowns - admits that he is a former party boy whose life once revolved around his ego and booze. He says he and his three co-hosts - Peter Herbeck, vice-president of Renewal Ministries; Curtis Martin, founder of Fellowship of Catholic University Students; and professional broadcaster Brian Patrick - provide real solutions to the spiritual challenges men face.
Segments include "The Kickoff," where the problem of the day is quickly presented; "The Game Plan," where two team members lay out the facts men need to know; "The Red Zone," where the team talks about how they've dealt with the problem in their own lives, and "The End Zone," where each team member gives the audience a take-away for the week.
Plans also call for a website, where viewers can interact with the hosts.
Abramowicz has high hopes for this show.
"The economy is tough," he said. "Men don't think of the Lord when things are rockin' and rollin'. When things start turning bad, that's when we need to be available to the men."
"Crossing the Goal" will air 6:30 p.m. ET Sundays beginning Aug. 31, and will re-air 9 p.m. ET Fridays and 6:30 a.m. ET Mondays.
EWTN Global Catholic Network, in its 27th year, is available in over 148 million television households in more than 140 countries and territories. With its direct broadcast satellite television and radio services, AM & FM radio networks, worldwide short-wave radio station, Internet website www.ewtn.com and publishing arm, EWTN, is the largest religious media network in the world.
Port chaplains: Bringing Christ's love to the world's seafarers
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/port.chaplains.bringing.christs.love.to.the.worlds.seafarers/21162.htm
Seafaring remains one of the most dangerous occupations but beyond the very worst that mother nature can do, being at sea for months on end can take a different kind of toll on the men and women who work the world’s ships.
“Seafarers are lonely, they feel isolated,” says the Rev Howard Drysdale, who works as a port chaplain in Scotland’s busiest port, Aberdeen, with the interdenominational ministry Sailors’ Society.
Around 90 per cent of the goods imported into the UK each year arrive by ship, but with modern ports being far more removed from towns and cities, the hard reality of a life spent at can be easily missed.
The average seafarer spends six to nine months, sometimes even a year at sea, often with no means to communicate with their families.
Their needs when they arrive in port can be as varied as the weather out at sea, meaning that the port chaplains have to be ready for anything.
“A typical day? I’m not sure we have such a thing as a typical day!” says the Rev Andrew Huckett, a port chaplain in Southampton with the Anglican seafaring ministry, Mission to Seafarers. “Seafarers have many different problems. They have no social security, they don’t have free healthcare. It can be anything.”
At the port chaplain’s centre, seafarers will find free access to the internet, phone cards, DVDs, a fresh stock of reading material and that all important sympathetic ear from the port chaplains.
In times of greater need, port chaplains may be called upon to help seafarers who have found themselves on the wrong side of the law, in hospital, or in jail. Very often, it is the port chaplain who will visit them until they are out again. And when seafarers die unexpectedly, port chaplains are there to break the news to family members.
Whatever the need, port chaplains are used to being called upon at times of crisis.
“You have to be very flexible because no two days are the same. No two gangways are ever the same. You never know what you will meet at the other end of the gangway,” says Drysdale.
With ships sometimes docked for only a few hours, it is vital that the port chaplains gain the trust of the seafarers in a very short space of time.
“The seafarer doesn’t have lot of time when in port and he has to know who to trust,” says the Rev David Potterton, Principle Chaplain with Sailors’ Society. “One of the things that the chaplains enjoy is a trusted status because we are seen to be men and women of faith. Even for the Muslim, that has real currency with them and they respect that.”
That trust has been built up over many years of Christ-like service to seafarers of all faiths in ports across the world. Some locals see the docked ships as an opportunity to make some money by going onboard to sell their goods and wares, but chaplains are different. Their primary concern is the spiritual and physical well-being of the seafarers.
“Everyone’s trying to get something from the seafarers. But we are trying to give something to them,” says Drysdale.
Potterton adds: “Most go onto ships selling things but we go onto the ships and we don’t sell anything and that just opens up so many opportunities. It is a genuine expression that we are there for the seafarers.”
Sometimes the challenges seafarers face are related to the ship itself. Whilst most of the 40,000 vessels sailing the world’s seas today are operated by reputable companies to high standards, there are still some ships sailing that are not seaworthy.
“Sadly ships do sink, and lives are lost, but seafarers are willing to take the risk because they need the money,” says Potterton.
Occasionally, ships can be held up or arrested over shoddy paperwork or substandard conditions and at such times, it is not uncommon for crews to find themselves having to fight for their wages. The port chaplains are often called upon to negotiate with port authorities and trade unions to ensure the welfare of the seafarers takes first, not second, place.
In reality, most seafarers are supporting not only their own family, but also their extended family, including the families of their brothers and sisters, and their aging parents.
“The seafarers often feel they’ve got to go back to sea, because they have to pay for their children’s education and they want best for their children. Going to sea is seen as a way of delivering the best but the reality is that the seafarer often doesn’t get the best deal out of it,” says Potterton.
The greatest need of the seafarers, however, is spiritual. Long periods away from home mean that family breakdown is common, and whilst alcohol abuse may be a caricature, Potterton says it is still an issue.
“They may be men and they may appear to be very hard men but they have hearts too,” he says.
On a religious level, a Christian seafarer can find life at sea challenging if they are the only believer onboard, but the greatest difficulty lies in not being able to go to church for months at a time.
The chaplains are on hand to pray with seafarers, both onboard and in their well-equipped seafaring centres. They also run worship services and provide New Testaments (because they are lighter than a complete Bible) as well as daily Bible reading notes to help tide the seafarers over during the next few months at sea.
“It’s a challenge to live out your faith at the best of times but working in the international, multi-faith shipping industry can make it even harder,” says Huckett.
“You have to put your heart into it. You have to see them as your parishioners.”
Drysdale echoes his sentiments: “My church is the seafarers.”
Neither are seafarers under any illusions about their fragility when up against the power of nature’s raw elements.
“Seafarers are more religiously aware than the people working shore-side,” says Huckett. “Being out at sea most of the time, they have a different perspective and time to think things over.”
It is not unusual, therefore, for seafarers to ask chaplains to pray with or for them or to simply ask questions about their faith.
“We actually want to create a hunger for Christ and in meeting with us and receiving the care that we give creates a hunger,” says Potterton. “They may not eat a full meal the first time but in time…”
The key is to be sensitive, says Huckett.
“If they ask questions about my faith I tell them, but we are careful not to thrust it down anybody’s throats. It’s the quickest way to lose a person – if they think you’ve got an agenda.”
Instead, it is about allowing the seafarers to meet Jesus through first serving.
“There is a caricature about what a Christian is and what we believe, that we are just judgemental, bigoted. But we have no agenda and I think they appreciate that,” he said. “The joy for us is that we can show a side of Christ that people don’t really see.”
Referring to the scene in the Bible in which Jesus asks the blind Nicodemus what he would like the Lord to do for him, he adds, “It’s a Nicodemus moment. I would like you to tell me what I can do for you. That’s not the view of the church that most people have.”
11 Charged in Massive Credit Card Fraud Case
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,398141,00.html
NEW YORK — The Department of Justice announced Tuesday the indictment of 11 people whom they say stole millions of credit and debit card numbers from major retailers in the nation's largest case of identity theft.
The 11 people — including three Americans — allegedly targeted such retailers as TJX Companies, BJs Wholesale Club, OfficeMax, Boston Market, Barnes & Noble, Sports Authority, Forever 21 and DSW.
"This is the single largest and most complex identity theft case ever charged in this country," Attorney General Michael Mukasey said at a hastily planned press conference in Boston Tuesday.
Mukasey called the total dollar amount of the alleged theft "impossible to quantify at this point." U.S. Attorney Michael J. Sullivan said that while most of the victims were in the United States, officials still haven't identified all the people who had a card number stolen.
"I suspect that a lot of people are unaware that their identifying information has been compromised," he said.
Named as the alleged ringleader in the indictment is Albert "Segvec" Gonzalez, of Miami, who had worked as a confidential informant for the Secret Service.
He has been charged with computer fraud, wire fraud, access device fraud, aggravated identity theft and conspiracy for his role in the scheme and faces the possiblilty of life imprisonment.
"The Boston indictment alleges that Gonzales and his co-conspirators stole over 40 million credit and debit card numbers making this the largest credit card fraud and identity theft scheme ever identified, investigated and prosecuted in the United States," U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts Michael Sullivan said Tuesday.
Also named in the indictments are Christopher Scott and Damon Patrick Toey, also of Miami.
Investigators say Gonzalez and his cohorts were able to tap into computer networks using a technique called "war driving."
"War driving is simply driving around in a car with a laptop computer looking for accessible wireless computer networks," Sullivan said.
Once they found a retailer's network, officials alleged the men would hack into the system and install "sniffer programs," which would relay sensitive credit card information back to the men.
"This allowed the defendants to remotely capture sensitive information such as the card numbers, passwords and account information," Sullivan said.
Those named in the indictment allegedly sold the information to criminals abroad and in the U.S., or encrypt blank credit cards to withdraw money from ATMs, officials said.
Federal officials discovered Gonzalez was involved in the scheme after he began working for the Secret Service as an informant. He is in custody.
Indictments were unsealed Tuesday in San Diego against Maksym "Maksik" Yastremskiy of Kharkov, Ukraine, and Aleksandr "Jonny Hell" Suvorov of Sillamae, Estonia. The indictments charge them with crimes related to the sale of the stolen credit card data.
Furthermore, indictments against Hung-Ming Chiu and Zhi Zhi Wang, both of China, and a person known only by the online nickname "Delpiero" were also unsealed in San Diego.
The heist was a black eye for retailers like TJX. The company, which initially disclosed the data breach in January 2007, said a few months later that at least 45.7 million cards were exposed to possible fraud in a breach of its computer systems that began in July 2005.
Court filings by some banks that sued TJX put the number of cards affected at more than 100 million, based on estimates by officials with Visa and MasterCard, who were deposed in the suit.
In May, TJX said it won support from Mastercard-issuing banks for a settlement that will pay them as much as $24 million to cover costs from the data breach.
A similar agreement reached last November with Visa-card issuing banks also was overwhelmingly approved.
That agreement set aside as much as $40.9 million to help banks cover costs including replacing customers payment cards and covering fraudulent charges.
Federal officials urged those who think they may have been affected by the ID theft scheme to contact their bank.
Italy ratifies Lisbon Treaty
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/07/31/europe/EU-Italy-EU-Treaty.php
ROME: Italy's parliament has unanimously ratified the European Union reform treaty.
The lower house gave its approval to the Lisbon Treaty on Thursday. The Senate had already approved it.
The treaty would reshape EU institutions and powers, and streamline decision-making within the 27-nation bloc. But the treaty's future has been in doubt since Ireland rejected it in a June referendum. The treaty cannot become law unless every EU member says yes.
So far, it has been adopted by 23 EU members. But the Jan. 1 deadline for overall ratification seems unlikely to be met unless Ireland holds another vote or somehow waves the treaty through.
In addition to Ireland, the Czech Republic, Poland and Sweden have not ratified it yet.
Two and a half cheers for the Mediterranean Union
http://www.europeanvoice.com/article/2008/07/2127/two-and-a-half-cheers-for-the-mediterranean-union/61866.aspx
Despite himself, the French president pulled off the re-launch of the Barcelona Process. Now we need to make it fly.
Maybe it is time to be a bit more generous to French President Nicolas Sarkozy and look at the outcome of what he does rather than the way that he does it.
The original launch of the Mediterranean Union almost sank the whole enterprise. Appearing to speak without giving the issue much thought, Sarkozy initially proposed a club of European and mostly Arab states along the Mediterranean’s shore. It would have been in essence a French-run enterprise that the rest of Europe would have paid for. This did not go down well, particularly with the Germans.
There was also a strong suspicion that the French were trying to find a way to buy off Turkey with a relationship falling well short of European Union membership.
An idea, grounded
So the auguries for an attempt to revitalise Europe’s relationship with its Mediterranean partners were not good. But by the time of the grand Paris summit in July to send the new club on its way, the initial suspicions had largely been overcome. Sarkozy bowed to his European critics and enjoyed a diplomatic triumph. We shall soon see whether there is substance to the initiative, or whether it is just a coat of fresh paint on an old and tired idea.
The original Barcelona Process, launched in 1995, was an excellent scheme. Intended to provide an economic and political backdrop to peace-making through confidence-building in the Middle East, it was an admirable recognition of Europe’s historical, commercial, cultural, and political ties with its neighbours to the south of the sea which has brought us all together over the years.
There were aspirations for a free-trade area by 2010. There were pledges of political integration based on shared values. There were people-to-people links. There was a forum where Israelis and their long-term Arab foes could sit together and discuss other matters than the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. There was a development budget. And there were meetings. So many meetings.
The effort was far from worthless. Development projects were funded through grants or cheap loans, and these have probably played at least some part in increasing the attractiveness of the Maghreb and the Mashraq to foreign investors. There was some lowering of agricultural and other tariffs by the EU. Dialogue on political reform, and euros to support it, helped further the process in some countries, notably Morocco and Jordan. There was some co-operation on common problems like drugs and illegal immigration.
But, as a significant component of Europe’s policy toward its most crucial neighbours, the successes of the Barcelona Process were modest: a great idea on the launch pad had difficulty getting off the ground.
How to make the idea fly
So Sarkozy deserves at least two and a half cheers for trying to revitalise it. But if the Mediterranean Union is to achieve more than was managed in its first manifestation, a number of things will need to happen.
First, Europe is better at talking about free-trade areas than delivering free trade. For example, there are still too many barriers to agricultural trade between the North and the South. And guess which country leads the opposition to any significant opening up of European agriculture. Step forward, France, and take a bow.
Second, however slow we have been in opening up a real Mediterranean market, the barriers to freer trade between Arab League countries are just as great.
Third, it was excellent that in Paris Sarkozy began the process of bringing Syria in out of the diplomatic cold. We must also hope that his attempts to act as a peace-broker between West Bank Palestinians and Israel are blessed with success.
But the truth is that Europe, for all the gallant efforts of Javier Solana, has been absent from serious politics in the Middle East. We have not dared to cross America. A largely non-existent European policy toward the region has been dictated by the absentee monopolists of policy in Washington.
Europe should get more seriously involved, even at the risk of occasionally irritating America, which may be less likely to happen once the Bush administration is history. For a start, we should recognise that there will be no political settlement in Palestine without including Hamas. What would incredibly have been former British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s first visit to Gaza in his first year of peace-making had to be cancelled recently because of security concerns. Enough said.
Finally, Europe has to decide how serious it is about all the admirable stuff in the Barcelona Process on pluralism, civil society, the rule of law, and democracy.
Is Europe serious that a shared concept of human rights should be one of the foundations of our Mediterranean partnership? If so, what are we in Europe proposing to do about it? If this is just blah-blah, better not say it. We discredit ourselves and important principles when we say things that we do not mean.
Assilah Festival looks at the alliances between civilisations
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2008/08/06/feature-03
To bridge differences and counter the "clash of civilisations" concept, Morocco's International Assilah Cultural Festival began Sunday under a unifying theme. This year, the 30-year-old event is called "The Alliance of Civilisations".
The thirtieth International Assilah Cultural Festival kicked off on Sunday (August 3rd) with the involvement of major figures from the worlds of politics, diplomacy, culture and the arts. Over the last three decades, the event has helped strengthen cultural dialogue, exchange and solidarity and celebrated the values of peace and tolerance.
This year's festival, held August 3rd-6th, was organised around the theme, "The Alliance of Civilisations". King Mohammed VI addressed a message to participants at the event's opening, calling on the Assilah Forum Foundation "to work towards an in-depth study of the Arab-African and Ibero-Latin American civilisations and to arrive at an exhaustive assessment of the different elements which they comprise".
The monarch said these studies will provide a "launch pad for... the emergence of a foundation to promote the Alliance of Civilisations through in-depth comparative study".
Speakers were unanimous in stressing the relevance of the chosen theme, highlighting the importance of the "Alliance of Civilisations" initiative launched by the United Nations in 2004 to promote dialogue between cultures and to encourage better interaction between civilisations and peoples. They called young people the "true architects" of this Alliance, and advocated university exchange programmes and online international student networks.
"In Morocco, the Alliance of Civilisations is nothing new. It is rooted in our memory, our history, our traditions. National progress and values reflect Morocco’s ability to favour coming together rather than breaking apart, synthesis rather than exclusion, alliances rather than clashes," said royal advisor André Azoulay.
Meanwhile, Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero stressed the importance of the UN Alliance of Civilisations initiative in bridging gaps between cultures and beliefs.
"These chasms arise from political motives, and have nothing to do with any impossibility of co-existence, contrary to the claims of those who support the clash of civilisations," he said in a written address presented by Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos.
Enrique V. Iglesias, President of the Ibero-American Co-operation Secretariat, stressed the importance of capitalising on cultural diversity, which enriches identities and ensures that human rights and dignity are respected.
Culture Minister Touria Jabrane pointed out the importance of seizing opportunities offered by the Assilah cultural Moussem as a place for reflection, to strengthen dialogue and exchanges.
Former minister of Foreign Affairs and Secretary General of the Assilah Forum Foundation, Mohamed Benaissa said Morocco's Assilah Festival is a free space for intercultural and civilisational dialogue.
In addition to the high-powered debates and forums, the programme offers art exhibitions, workshops and concerts.
Olmert pushes ahead on Palestinian, Syrian peace tracks
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0807/p04s02-wome.html
Jerusalem - Despite Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's decision to resign, the peace process continues on several tracks.
Israel agreed on Wednesday to free scores of Palestinian prisoners this month as a gesture to President Mahmoud Abbas. Separately, a senior Syrian official told Reuters that indirect talks between Syria and Israel will continue.
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said between 120 and 150 prisoners, and possibly more, would be released on Aug. 25. Israel has roughly 11,000 Palestinians in custody.
"The Israeli side will be releasing Palestinian prisoners towards the end of August as a sign of good faith and a confidence-building measure towards the Palestinians," Mr. Olmert's spokesman, Mark Regev, said after Olmert and Mr. Abbas met in Jerusalem.
Mr. Erekat said Abbas wanted any release to include long-serving prisoners, women, and children, as well as political leaders, a reference to Marwan Barghouti, who is seen as a possible successor as Palestinian president.
Israeli sources said that releasing Mr. Barghouti was an option. The Hamas Islamist group, which controls the Gaza Strip, has included Barghouti, as well as Hamas leaders and hundreds of other prisoners on its list of Palestinians it wants freed in exchange for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, captured in a cross-border raid two years ago.
Some Israeli officials see the release of Barghouti to Abbas as preferable to freeing him to Hamas in a deal over Corporal Shalit that Egypt is trying to broker.
Israel freed 429 Palestinians as a gesture to Abbas after the resumption of peace negotiations in November at a conference in Annapolis, Md.
At their meeting Wednesday, Olmert and Abbas discussed how to press ahead with the peace talks that had set a goal of reaching a Palestinian statehood agreement by the end of 2008. Olmert has vowed to press ahead with talks with Abbas and indirect negotiations with Syria until he leaves office.
The Syrian talks have made progress but not enough to move to face-to-face talks as favored by the Jewish state, a senior Syrian official said Wednesday. "If the talks had not progressed then they would have been stopped," said Buthaina Shaaban, who was recently promoted to adviser to President Bashar al-Assad.
A fourth round of talks between Israel and Syria took place last week. The fifth round is expected later this month.
Olmert, Abbas hold Mideast peace talks
http://www.metimes.com/Politics/2008/08/06/olmert_abbas_hold_mideast_peace_talks/afp/
JERUSALEM (AFP) Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Wednesday, a week after the premier's announcement he would resign cast a cloud over peace negotiations.
The two were holding talks over a working lunch, Olmert's office said.
The meeting was the first since the embattled Olmert's surprise announcement last week that he would step down after his centrist Kadima party holds an election to chose a new leader on September 17.
The premier has been the target of six corruption probes and had for months faced mounting calls to resign from across the political spectrum, including from crucial coalition allies.
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat has said the two men will discuss key issues in the peace process, Israeli checkpoints and closures in the occupied West Bank, and the fate of thousands of Palestinian prisoners.
Erakat said Abbas would follow up on an earlier request that Israel release several prominent Palestinian prisoners, including Marwan Barghuti, a popular leader in Abbas's Fatah party seen as a leading contender to succeed him.
Barghuti, a West Bank leader considered to have masterminded the second Palestinian uprising in 2000, was jailed in 2004 and is serving five life sentences for his role in deadly attacks.
Abbas also wants Israel to release prominent leaders from other factions, including parliament speaker Aziz Dweik from the Islamist Hamas movement, and Ahmed Saadat, the leader of the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
Olmert and Abbas have met roughly twice a month since talks were formally revived at an international conference hosted by US President George W. Bush in November in which they vowed to reach a peace deal by the end of this year.
The future of the talks, which have made little visible progress since they were relaunched, has grown murkier in the wake of Olmert's announcement.
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who has been heading the Israeli negotiating team, is running neck and neck in opinion polls for the Kadima leadership with Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz, a hawkish former general seen as less invested in the peace talks.
Announcing his candidacy at a Jerusalem rally on Tuesday night, Mofaz vowed to "preserve united Jerusalem as Israel's eternal capital."
The fate of the Holy City is one of the most contentious issues in the US-backed talks, with the Palestinians demanding Arab east Jerusalem, seized by Israel in the 1967 war, as their future capital.
But in a subsequent interview with Israel's left-leaning Haaretz newspaper Mofaz vowed to advance peace talks with the Palestinians should he become prime minister, saying he would personally supervise them.
"It won't happen in two days and maybe not in a year, but there will be results," he told the paper.
Israeli ex-Gaza communities mark third anniversary of their expulsion
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=5492
In 50 ceremonies up and down the country, some 8,500 members of Gaza’s former 21 communities and many sympathizers from Israel and abroad marked the third anniversary of their forcible evacuation. More than 80 percent are still living in temporary accommodation, many still jobless. The Knesset has set up a state commission to inquire into the government’s failed handling of the Gush Katif evacuees.
Several thousand families gathered at the Kissufim crossing Wednesday, Aug. 6, vowing to return to their old homes one day.
Since the Sharon government ordered the withdrawal of Israeli military bases and the eviction of those communities in the summer of 2005, the Gaza Strip has become a stronghold of the Palestinian Hamas, which together with its allies subjected the neighboring Israeli towns and villages to daily missile and rocket attacks until a fragile ceasefire went into effect a month ago. Two ruined synagogues in the former Nevei Dekalim have become launch pads for rockets against Israeli towns and a Hamas training base.
Egypt’s guarantee to curb the weapons smuggling to Gaza Strip as part of the ceasefire deal has not held up. Israeli intelligence officials report four tons of explosives, extended-range missiles and rockets, mortar shells, heavy machine guns and other weapons have reached the Hamas army through the Sinai tunnels in recent weeks.
Iran’s vaunted 300-km range sea missile is non-existent
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=5493
DEBKAfile’s military sources discount the claim by Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps commander Maj. Gen. Ali Jafari that Iran had test-fired a new naval weapon that could destroy any vessel within a 300-km range.
Jafari boasted to reporters Mon. Aug. 4: “Today the IRGC has the capability to target the enemies’ targets with a wide range of missiles and in a few minutes in case of any attack.”
Responding to a question, Jafari said: “The Strait of Hormuz is an important and strategic strait. … Considering its proximity to our shores, it is completely within the range of our weapons and shutting the strait for an unlimited time is easily possible. There are no limits for us in this regard.”
Wednesday, an American spokesman commented that closure of the Strait, through which 40 percent of the world’s oil passes, would hurt Iran most of all because its own oil exports and refined fuel products imports would be blocked.
Western intelligence sources were skeptical about the IRGC commander’s boast of a sophisticated sea missile as “propaganda fantasy” and unfounded. If Iran has such a weapon, they said, why don’t they exhibit it?
Jafari said the missiles were test fired as scheduled but admitted “unprofessional photography made the tests seem bogus.”
DEBKAfile’s military sources have confirmed after checking the story out that Moscow is withholding a consignment of advanced S-300 anti-air missile batteries promised Iran and will not send them out in the near future.
Sources in Washington, Moscow and Tel Aviv recently claimed that deliveries were due in early September, which would have seriously impeded a possible Israel Air Force strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities.
U.S.: Further 'Punitive' Steps Against Iran Needed
http://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/iran_nuclear_program/2008/08/07/119904.html
ABOARD AIRFORCE ONE — The White House said on Wednesday it believed world powers had to take further "punitive" measures against Iran because Tehran gave no concrete reply to their demand that it freeze its nuclear activities.
The U.S. comments came hours ahead of a conference call with senior officials from China, Russia, France, Germany and Britain to decide how to proceed.
The major powers say they fear Tehran wants to build an atomic bomb. But Iran, the world's fourth-largest oil producer, insists it is only seeking to master nuclear technology to generate electricity.
"In the absence of a positive response to the generous offer that we provided for in our extended package, we think that the allies will have no choice but to take further measures that would be punitive," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said aboard Air Force One.
Iran's one-page letter handed to European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana on Tuesday gave no firm reply to an offer from the major powers to refrain from more U.N. penalties if Iran freezes expansion of its nuclear work. Iran instead promised a "clear response" at an unspecified date.
"I think that the Iranians have long stalled on responding to the allies, so I think the most important thing we can do is let the political directors have their conference call and decide on their next steps," said Perino, traveling with U.S. President George W. Bush in Asia.
"QUESTION IS CLEAR"
The letter from Tehran said, "Iran is ready to provide a 'clear response' to your proposal at the earliest possibility, while simultaneously expecting to receive your 'clear response' to our questions and ambiguities as well."
Referring to the letter, Perino said, "We don't have the decent and responsive statement from the Iranians."
French Foreign Ministry spokesman Romain Nadal agreed, saying Iran has not answered the most basic question.
"The question posed is clear and calls for a simple answer: does Iran accept the "freeze for freeze" offer to launch negotiations? It does not require further clarification," Nadal told reporters in Paris.
"We regret that Iran has once again chosen not to answer clearly despite all the efforts the six have made these past weeks to offer a framework for negotiations," he added.
A spokesman for Germany's foreign minister told a news conference that officials would use the conference call later on Wednesday to jointly analyze and evaluate the letter.
"The German government believes it is important to maintain the unity between the EU3 (Germany, France and Britain) plus 3 (United States, China and Russia) and that this unity is an important recipe for the success of our policy towards Iran."
SANCTIONS
Tehran has repeatedly refused to halt its atomic work, prompting the U.N. Security Council to impose three rounds of penalties on Iran since 2006. The United States also maintains its own sanctions against Iran.
Diplomats cautioned it would be difficult to pass a fourth round of Security Council sanctions against Iran because of reluctance from Russia and China, as well as Germany.
The major powers have said formal talks on the incentives could only start once Iran suspends uranium enrichment, the part of the program that most worries the West because it has military and civilian uses.
The head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards said this week his country could easily close the Strait of Hormuz, a key Gulf shipping route, if it were attacked over its nuclear program -- prompting a warning from the United States that such a move would be a "self-defeating exercise".
Israeli cabinet minister Shaul Mofaz, a frontrunner to succeed Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, denounced his native Iran on Wednesday as "the root of all evil" and said its nuclear program constituted a threat to world peace.
He urged the West to impose stiffer sanctions to pressure Iran to stop its nuclear program. Israel is widely believed to have assembled the Middle East's only nuclear arsenal.
Time to Break Out of Diplomatic Impasse with Iran
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,399041,00.html
As yet another deadline passed and Tehran again refused to suspend its uranium enrichment, the real response came in the form of naval missile tests, and threats to close the Strait of Hormuz for an ''unlimited period.''
Although this futile exercise of offering concessions and negotiations to convince the ayatollahs to abandon their nuclear ambitions is not news, it serves as yet another demonstration of how Tehran is feeding off the West’s weakness and greed.
Last week, to set the record straight, again, in case anyone doubted its nuclear determination, the mullahs’ Supreme Leader Ali Khamene'i said that "Taking one step back in the face of the arrogant (powers) will lead them to take one step forward.'' He added that "The horizon is bright for us and we know what we are doing and where we are going... The way to reach that point is not to stand still but to go forward."
The July 19, 2008 nuclear talks in Geneva, where a senior U.S. official, William Burns was for the first time present, was meant to jump-start a new robust approach to send a decisive signal to Tehran that the five permanent members of the Security Council and Germany mean business. They offered a package of incentives and a two week deadline for Tehran to comply. As expected, Tehran is nowhere near compliance.
Tehran’s two-pronged approach aims to buy time while dissuading the international community from adopting more punitive measures. On the one hand, there is hoopla intended to feign a genuine interest in negotiations, while on the other there is a flurry of inflammatory statements and belligerent actions.
Let’s take Monday, for example, when Tehran announced that its top nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, was holding talks with EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana; meanwhile Mohammad Ali Jafari, Commander-in-Chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), boasted that "Closing the Strait of Hormuz for an unlimited period of time would be very easy." He told the state-run Fars news agency that "The Guards have recently tested a naval weapon, and I can say with certainty that the enemy's ships would not be safe within a range of 300 kilometers.''
On Tuesday, August 05, deliberately missing its deadline by three days, Tehran delivered its letter replying to an offer by major powers over its nuclear program. The reply was delivered to EU foreign policy Chief Javier Solana earlier in the day. A European source said that the Iranian authorities "say there will be a response but that clarification is needed on certain points of the offer." The response was "more obfuscation and delays" by Tehran, according to an unidentified U.S. official. Tehran clearly hit the ball back as yet another way to gain time.
Tehran's response, again, left the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany with no choice but to agree on Wednesday to begin considering new sanctions on Iran. But Tehran has already bought two and a half months of precious time since it defied the UN Security Council Resolution 1803 by its deadline on June 5. Since 2003, the European Union has pandered to Tehran’s strategic goals. Bedazzled by lucrative trade offers, the EU has promoted the naive premise that with the right amount of incentives, the ayatollahs would eventually back down on their nuclear weapons program.
Last month the German newspaper Siegener Zeitung reported that SPG Steiner-Prematechnik-Gastec will build three plants in Iran that turn gas to liquid fuels, after Germany's Export Control Office gave its approval in February for a $157 million gas deal with Iran. In recent days Berlin has been talking tough, but its refusal to use its tremendous economic leverage detracts from a unified policy in response to Tehran’s continued breach of three UN Security Council resolutions demanding immediate enrichment suspension.
Tehran can be expected to continue to do its utmost to sow division and paralysis in the ranks of the group of 5+1. The mullahs have had some success, dangling the prospects of negotiations and lucrative deals, counter-poised with threats of belligerent action. They must be stopped now.
The Europeans have yet to grasp the apocalyptic prospect of a theocratic regime, armed with nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, prone to terrorism, and hell bent on establishing the rule of God on earth. This prospect cannot be wished away or bought off. As Khamenei pointed out, his regime has to go forward, or it will fall. For Tehran, nuclear prowess in not a matter of national or technological pride; it is a matter of survival.
Contrary to what the ayatollahs and their trans-Atlantic advocates want us to believe, the world is not doomed to choose between bad and worse - Tehran’s trap of endless ''negotiations'' while it continues to enrich, or military confrontation. There is a way out of this impasse. The resilience of the anti-regime protests and unrest, despite a drastic rise in suppressive measures, is a tell-tale sign of extensive opposition to the regime simmering just beneath the surface. The ayatollahs are so fearful that in recent months the IRGC, the regime’s rear guard, has gone through an unprecedented reorganization to ready itself to put down ''internal threats.''
The democratic opposition has been handicapped by the shackling of the formidable organization leading the movement, the People’s Mojahedin (PMOI/MEK). The next round of sanctions must be toughened to reflect Tehran’s defiance and the dire threat posed by the ayatollahs. More importantly, according to some leading European experts, these sanctions must be augmented by empowering the democratic opposition in Iran. Not doing so in amounts to postponing, if not removing, the prospect of a non-nuclear, peaceful Iran.
That is exactly why in recent weeks hundreds of parliamentarians from Britain, France, and Italy have come together to voice their support for democratic change in Iran and for removing the stigma of terrorism from Iran’s main opposition. They see the highest security interests of Europe served through emergence of a democratic, secular, and non-nuclear government in Iran, and they see the Iranian opposition as indispensable to such a prospect.
U.S., Iraq Close to Deal on Troop Withdrawal
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/424569.aspx
CBNNews.com - BAGHDAD - Iraq and the U.S. are near an agreement on all American combat troops leaving Iraq by October 2010, with the last soldiers out three years after that, two Iraqi officials told The Associated Press on Thursday. U.S. officials, however, insisted no dates had been agreed.
The End of 2010
The proposed agreement calls for Americans to hand over parts of Baghdad's Green Zone - where the U.S. Embassy is located - to the Iraqis by the end of 2008. It would also remove U.S. forces from Iraqi cities by June 30, 2009, according to the two senior officials, both close to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and familiar with the negotiations.
The officials, who spoke separately on condition of anonymity because the talks are ongoing, said all U.S. combat troops would leave Iraq by October 2010, with the remaining support personnel gone "around 2013." The schedule could be amended if both sides agree - a face-saving escape clause that would extend the presence of U.S. forces if security conditions warrant it.
U.S. acceptance - even tentatively - of a specific timeline would represent a dramatic reversal of American policy in place since the war began in March 2003.
Deal Not Final
Both Iraqi and American officials agreed that the deal is not final and that a major unresolved issue is the U.S. demand for immunity for U.S. soldiers from prosecution under Iraqi law.
Throughout the conflict, President Bush steadfastly refused to accept any timetable for bringing U.S. troops home. Last month, however, Bush and al-Maliki agreed to set a "general time horizon" for ending the U.S. mission.
Bush's shift to a timeline was seen as a move to speed agreement on a security pact governing the U.S. military presence in Iraq after the U.N. mandate expires at the end of the year.
Iraq's Shiite-led government has been holding firm for some sort of withdrawal schedule - a move the Iraqis said was essential to win parliamentary approval.
The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad declined to comment on details of the talks. Embassy spokeswoman Mirembe Nangtongo said the negotiations were taking place "in a constructive spirit" based on respect for Iraqi sovereignty.
Negotiations Not Finished
In Washington, U.S. officials acknowledged that some progress has been made on the timelines for troop withdrawals but that the immunity issue remained a huge problem. One senior U.S. official close to the discussion said no dates have been agreed upon.
They spoke on condition of anonymity because the negotiations have not been finished.
But the Iraqis insisted the dates had been settled preliminarily between the two sides, although they acknowledged that nothing is final until the entire negotiations have been completed.
One Iraqi official said persuading the Americans to accept a timetable was a "key achievement" of the talks and that the government would seek parliamentary ratification as soon as the deal is signed.
But differences over immunity could scuttle the whole deal, the Iraqis said. One of the officials described immunity as a "minefield" and said each side was sticking by its position.
One official said U.S. negotiator David Satterfield told him that immunity for soldiers was a "red line" for the United States. The official said he replied that issue was "a red line for us too."
The official said the Iraqis were willing to grant immunity for actions committed on American bases and during combat operations - but not a blanket exemption from Iraqi law.
Detainees Must be Ready for Handover
The Iraqis also want American forces hand over any Iraqi they detain. The U.S. insists that detainees must be "ready" for handover, which the Iraqi officials assume means the Americans want to interrogate them first.
As the talks drag on, American officials said the Bush administration is losing patience with the Iraqis over the negotiations, which both sides had hoped to wrap up by the end of July.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and al-Maliki had a long and "very difficult" phone conversation about the situation on Wednesday during which she pressed the Iraqi leader for more flexibility particularly on immunity, one U.S. senior official said.
"The sovereignty issue is very big for the Iraqis and we understand that. But we are losing patience," the official said. "The process needs to get moving and get moving quickly."
The official could not say how long the call lasted but said it was "not brief" and "tense at times."
In London, Britain's defense ministry said it is also in talks with Iraq's government over the role of British troops after the U.N. mandate runs out. Prime Minister Gordon Brown recently said that early next year Britain will reduce its troops in Iraq, now at about 4,100, and that Britain's role in the country will change fundamentally.
Iraq's position in the U.S. talks hardened after a series of Iraqi military successes against Shiite and Sunni extremists in Basra, Baghdad, Mosul and other major cities and after the rise in world oil prices flooded the country with petrodollars.
Iraqi Government's Confidence High
As the government's confidence rose, Iraqi officials believed they were in a strong negotiating position - especially with the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Sen. Barack Obama, pledging to remove all combat forces within his first 16 months in office if security conditions allow.
Standing firm against the Americans also enhances al-Maliki's nationalist credentials, enabling him to appeal for support from Iraqis long opposed to the U.S. presence.
On Thursday, a spokesman for Muqtada al-Sadr said the Shiite cleric will call on his fighters to maintain a cease-fire against American troops - but may lift the order if the security agreement fails to contain a timetable for a U.S. withdrawal.
The statement by Sheik Salah al-Obeidi came as al-Sadr planned to spell out details of a formula to reorganize his Mahdi Army militia by separating it into an unarmed cultural organization and elite fighting cells.
The announcement is expected during weekly Islamic prayer services on Friday.
"This move is meant to offer an incentive for the foreign forces to withdraw," al-Obeidi said. "The special cells of fighters will not strike against foreign forces until the situation becomes clear vis-a-vis the Iraq-U.S. agreement on the presence of American forces here."
Several cease-fires by al-Sadr have been key to a sharp decline in violence over the past year. But American officials still consider his militiamen a threat and have backed the Iraqi military in operations to try to oust them from their power bases in Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq.
Iraqi Cleric Links Truce to U.S. Withdrawal Timetable
http://www.newsmax.com/international/iraq/2008/08/07/119902.html
BAGHDAD — Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr will call on his fighters to maintain a cease-fire against American troops but may lift the order if a planned Iraq-U.S. security agreement lacks a timetable for the withdrawal of American forces, a spokesman said Thursday.
The statement by Sheik Salah al-Obeidi comes as al-Sadr plans to reveal details of a formula to reorganize his Mahdi Army militia by separating it into an unarmed cultural organization and elite fighting cells.
The announcement is expected during weekly Islamic prayer services on Friday.
Several cease-fires by al-Sadr have been key to a sharp decline in violence over the past year, but American officials still consider his militiamen a threat and have backed the Iraqi military in operations to try to oust them from their power bases in Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq.
Al-Sadr's move appears to be an extension of plans he announced in June aimed at asserting more control over the militia by dividing it into a group of experienced members who would be exclusively authorized to fight and others who would focus on social, religious and community work.
But the cleric also apparently has decided to link the reorganization to ongoing U.S.-Iraqi negotiations over a long-term agreement that would extend the American presence in Iraq after a U.N. mandate expires at the end of the year. The White House's original goal was to have it completed by the end of July.
"This move is meant to offer an incentive for the foreign forces to withdraw," al-Obeidi said. "The special cells of fighters will not strike against foreign forces until the situation becomes clear vis-a-vis the Iraq-U.S. agreement on the presence of American forces here."
The new cultural group will be called Momahidoun, or "those who pave the way" in Arabic, in reference to the Mahdi, or so-called Hidden Imam, who disappeared as a child in the ninth century. Shiites believe he will return one day to bring justice to Earth.
It will replace the Mahdi Army, but elite cells of fighters will be created that could resume targeting U.S.-led foreign forces under strict guidelines, such as not harming Iraqis or infrastructure, said al-Obeidi, the al-Sadr spokesman.
The U.S. military cautiously welcomed the reorganization plan, saying it appeared to be an effort to help the Iraqi people. Residents in some Baghdad neighborhoods, however, said American troops were removing neighborhood fliers from al-Sadr's offices saying "a new organization will be established soon."
"The proof is always in the actions and not just the words," military spokesman Col. Jerry O'Hara said in an e-mailed statement.
Sporadic attacks have continued despite the cease-fires by al-Sadr, who is believed to be in Iran, raising questions about how much control he maintains over his militiamen. American commanders have consistently said they aren't targeting al-Sadr's followers but rather Iranian-backed breakaway factions.
Two U.S. soldiers were killed Monday by an armor-piercing roadside bomb known as an explosively formed penetrator, which the military believes is supplied by Iran to Shiite militia fighters. Iran denies it is supporting violence in Iraq.
On Thursday, a roadside bomb killed eight Bedouins, including three women and two children, on a remote desert highway west of Nasiriyah frequently used by U.S. and Iraqi troops, a police official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to release the information.
Nasiriyah, about 200 miles southeast of Baghdad, is in a Shiite area that has been the site of fierce infighting between rival Shiite factions but has been relatively peaceful since a cease-fire declaration by al-Sadr.
Gunmen also killed a senior member of the Sunni Iraqi Islamic Party, Mahmoud Younis Fathi, and a colleague as they were driving to work in the northern city of Mosul, according to the group.
Elsewhere in Mosul, three Iraqi policemen were killed when a booby-trapped wooden cart exploded after they arrived to collect a body that had been left on the street beside it, police said.
Report: Coalition Seeks to Impeach Pakistani President Musharraf
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,399144,00.html
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistan's ruling coalition on Thursday announced it will seek the impeachment of President Pervez Musharraf, cranking up pressure on the U.S.-backed former general to resign.
Ruling party chief Asif Ali Zardari said the decision is "good news for democracy" in Pakistan.
Announcing a joint coalition statement after two days of talks, he also said the four provincial assemblies should immediately move motions demanding Musharraf take a vote of confidence from lawmakers.
"The coalition further decided that it will immediately initiate impeachment proceedings. The coalition leadership will present a charge sheet against Gen. Musharraf," Zardari told a news conference, along side leaders of the other coalition parties.
Nawaz Sharif, who was ousted as prime minister in Musharraf's 1999 coup and is leader of the second largest coalition party, said, "I agree with what Mr. Zardari has said."
Despite his unpopularity in Pakistan, Musharraf so far has resisted calls to step down and insisted he will serve out his current five-year term after he was elected in a contentious parliamentary vote in October.
He dominated Pakistan for eight years but ceded control of the powerful army last year and has been sidelined in government since the coalition parties trounced his allies in parliamentary elections in February.
Impeaching a president requires a two-thirds majority support of lawmakers in both houses of Parliament. Musharraf loyalists maintain the coalition would struggle to muster it, but Zardari expressed confidence they would succeed.
"We are optimistic that we will succeed," Zardari said. "We hope that 90 percent of the lawmakers will support us."
Tariq Azeem, a spokesman for the main pro-Musharraf opposition party, said it would oppose any impeachment of the president.
"We have backed him and voted [for] him so we are duty-bound to support him. ... We will impose impeachment."
He said there were more pressing issues facing the nation, including "runaway inflation" and sharp hikes in food prices.
Azeem said he did not think the ruling coalition had the numbers in Parliament to impeach Musharraf but conceded "things could go either way."
The ruling coalition has a comfortable majority in the National Assembly, or lower house, but Musharraf's supporters retain about half the seats in the Senate, or upper house.
Thousands of new radios let India's believers hear Gospel message
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/thousands.of.new.radios.let.indias.believers.hear.gospel.message/21175.htm
International Gospel radio network Trans World Radio has doubled the goal it set earlier this year to distribute 2,000 radios to believers in India.
The enthusiastic response to their campaign has allowed them to send 4,000 radios that can be used by their owners to hear the Gospel.
TWR will distribute the radios through an indigenous network of evangelistic house groups across India as part of the Radio Homes project. Members of these small groups come together to listen to and discuss Bible teaching over the radio with the support of a local coordinator.
TWR has seen huge success in its mission work in India. In a previous project spanning the last two decades, TWR planted 650 churches, each one with around a hundred members. All of the churches grew up out of listener groups set up by TWR workers in villages with no previous Christian witness.
"Thanks to the support of listeners in the UK we hope to carry on spreading the Gospel in the most unreached, unchurched areas of the world," the ministry said.
Trans World Radio broadcasts Christian programmes in more than 70 countries and 225 languages each week.
Religion in China
http://www.khouse.org/articles/2008/802
When the Communist forces of Mao Zedong took over China in 1949, they attempted to eliminate all religion, which they referred to as “an opium of the mind.” The Communist government was atheistic; thus, all expressions of Theism were adamantly opposed.
Again, during the Cultural Revolution of the sixties and seventies, there was a concerted effort to “end all religions.” Finally, with no success in destroying religion in China, the Communist Party adopted a different approach—rather than trying to destroy religion, they would control it.
They recognized five religions as legitimate forms of religious expression. These included Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Catholicism and Protestantism (the Christian religion was divided by the authorities into Catholic and Protestant groups).
From this attempt to centralize, register and control all religions, a movement developed within the Christian religion, called the “Three-Self Patriotic Christian Movement.” This movement is known for its: 1) Self-Administration; 2) Self-Support; and, 3) Self-Propagation, thus it is commonly referred to as the “Three-Self Church.”
Due to the Communist perception of “hostile elements from abroad,” meaning interference by foreigners in the internal affairs of China, the Communist Party again cracked down on religion in a further attempt to gain control. They did this by forcing state registration of all churches and state funding for churches.
The Communists refer to those Christians who refuse to register or comply with these regulations and controls as “separatists, underground or house churches.” This results in greater tension between the central government and the “house churches,” as well as between registered churches and the non-registered “house churches.”
Further restrictions were placed upon Christians, including: 1) Where they could officially worship; 2) Who would be al-lowed to worship—with the restriction that only those over 18 years of age could participate; and, 3) The restriction of the official teachings of the churches, etc.
There are freedoms granted by the government to the registered Three-Self churches that are not bestowed upon the non-registered house churches—some of which are: 1) To worship and minister within the confines of their approved buildings; 2) To have their own government-approved and salaried leaders; 3) To maintain seminaries; and, 4) To print Bibles for the exclusive distribution by the Three-Self churches.
The Three-Self churches and the house churches are also of-ten in conflict with one another over governmental registration. The Three-Self churches adhere to the belief that Christians should submit to governmental authority that God has ordained over them.
The house churches just as sincerely believe that their higher authority is God and when there is a conflict between the government and God’s authority, they must be obedient to the Lord. The government often capitalizes on this disagreement between the Three-Self churches and house churches by encouraging conflict between the two groups in order to pres-sure the house churches to register.
According to the best available statistics, there are approximately 12 million registered believers in the official State churches and estimated 100+ million non-registered believers in the house churches.
Also contributing to the tension between the government and house churches is the phenomenon of the numerical growth of the “house churches” that is estimated to be approximately 30,000 new converts every day in China, which is ten times the number of new believers on the Day of Pentecost!
This is of special concern to the Communists, since Christianity now outnumbers their Party membership, which presently has only about 70 million adherents.
The house church believers also face other persecutors be-sides the government and government churches, and that is from cults within China, especially the “Eastern Lighting Cult” that is wreaking havoc on some of the house churches in re-mote and rural areas of China. This movement is especially acute among these believers because of a lack of Biblical instruction and training. There continues to be a growing need in China for many more teachers to equip and train the phenomenal number of new Christian converts.
There are encouraging signs today of these two groups of believers, registered and non-registered, working more cooperatively together. They cannot organizationally work together, but they can recognize the unity in the Spirit between the groups and thus work together in the Spirit within the limitation of governmental restrictions.
In June 2007, in an attempt to “clean house” before the Olympics in August 2008, the central government began an-other concerted effort to force the house churches to register. Many believers, especially among the leadership, have been arrested and “taken off the streets,” just in case they might cause trouble by demonstrating and making the government “lose face” with the thousands of foreign visitors participating in the Olympics and the worldwide press coverage of these events.
Also, many foreigners are being expelled from the country who are suspected of doing missionary-type activities in China. In fact, this is the greatest expulsion of foreigners since the 1950s, when all foreign missionaries were expelled.
Of great concern to the Chinese house church believers is what the government will do after the 2008 Olympics: Will there be a continued effort to force house churches to register or will they slack off enforcement after the spotlight of the Olympics is over?
Some type of confrontation seems to be in the making, but what the outcome will be only God in His infinite wisdom knows. Whatever the outcome, these persecuted believers need our earnest encouragement and prayers.
As the house church believers often request, “Please do not pray for persecution to cease, but rather pray that we will have boldness in the midst of persecution!”
Bush Calls for Greater Freedoms in China
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/424209.aspx
CBNNews.com - President Bush delivered some strong words for China ahead of the Beijing Olympic Games.
He called for greater political and spiritual freedoms for the Chinese to tap their full potential.
And China's government had a strong response: Mind your own business.
Anticipation is growing as the clock counts down to the start of the Summer Olympic Games.
And with police already cracking down on human rights demonstrations throughout Beijing, President Bush cautiously but sternly added fuel to the fire.
"The United States believe the people of China deserve the fundamental liberty that is the natural right of all human beings," President Bush said.
Just hours before landing in China, President Bush said America stands firmly opposed to the Chinese government detaining political dissidents, human rights advocates, and religious activists - and he called on the Communist regime to end the repression.
"We speak out for a free press, freedom of assembly and labor rights, not to antagonize China's leaders, but because trusting its people with greater freedom is the only way for China to develop its full potential," the President said.
The President also issued a rebuke on authoritarian regimes in North Korea and Myanmar also known as Burma. But the majority of his speech was reserved for China.
U.S.-Chinese relations are complex. China is the world's most populous nation with over a billion people and has the second largest economy.
It's also a huge trading partner with the U.S. and a key ally in nuclear non-proliferation talks with Iran and North Korea.
The President gave the speech walking a fine line between voicing the concern of China's many critics with respect to the host of this year's games.
On Thursday, China responded saying outsiders should not interfere with the country's internal affairs.
Ending on a positive tone, Bush assured change will come but on China's own terms.
"It'll be clear for all to see that those who aspire to speak their conscience and worship their God are no threat to the people of China."
Beijing Christian Book Store Owner Shi Weihan's Condition Deteriorating in Prison
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07471.shtml
BEIJING, (christiansunite.com) -- According to sources, CAA has learned that Beijing book store owner and House Church Leader, Mr. Shi Weihan, has been suffering a deterioration in health since his imprisonment four months ago. Poor prison conditions and refusal of diabetes medication have contributed to Shi's poor health.
Shi has lost more than 10 kg in body weight amidst the constant physical and psychological torture employed by prison officials. Recently Shi was coerced to sign and recognize a confession convicting him of "engaging in the printing and distribution of a large number of illegal publications."
The charges stem from Shi's printing of Bibles and Christian literature which were sold at his Beijing Christian bookstore, but were deemed "illegal" by Beijing authorities because the books were not printed by the TSPM church.
Pastor Bob Fu, The president of China Aid Association strongly condemns the PSB of Beijing, citing the hypocrisy and contradictory nature of the Chinese Government's pledge of religious freedom amidst the upcoming Olympic Games. Mr. Fu calls on the international media to continue to pay close attention to this incident, and provide support and help to Mr. Shi Weihan's family in this time of need.
The host of the Olympic Games, which signify honor and freedom amongst world citizens, has continued to mock the world community by pledging to uphold religious freedom while simultaneously persecuting its own citizens for their personal beliefs.
To voice your concern over this matter contact:
Municipal Government Departments
Information Office
Bldg 10, Fahuananli, Chongwen
Tel:01186-6715-2383
www.Beijing.org.cn
Legislative Office
2 Zhengyi Lu, Dongcheng District
Tel: 01186-6512-2146
www.bjfzb.gov.cn
China's Anti-Corruption hotline- reporting of corrupt Government officials (within China) -12388
Chinese Government Plans a Browse Through Foreign Journalists' Internet History
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07470.shtml
WASHINGTON, (christiansunite.com) -- China is backtracking on its assurances of open access to foreign journalists during the Olympic Games. Hotel documents cited by U.S. Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) reveal that all the major hotel chains serving the 2008 Summer Olympics have been ordered to install monitoring software by China's Public Security Bureau, and that Olympic reporters' access to certain websites is being restricted.
One document said, "In order to ensure the smooth opening of Olympic in Beijing and the Expo in Shanghai in 2010, safeguard the security of Internet network and the information thereon in the hotels... it is required that your company install and run the Security Management System."
According to the Los Angeles Times, the Public Security Bureau's order to the hotels says that failure to comply could result in financial penalties, suspension of access to the Internet or the loss of a license to operate a hotel in China.
The government routinely blocks Internet access for the Chinese public, but in bidding for the Games seven years ago, China said the news media would have "complete freedom to report." Senior International Olympic Committee members overseeing the Games said they'd received assurances from Chinese officials that Internet censorship would be lifted for journalists during the Games.
IRD Director of Religious Liberty Programs Faith J.H. McDonnell commented,
"Apparently not satisfied with the suppression of their own citizens, the Chinese government is now going out of its way to spy on and control the foreign press.
"Prior to being awarded the 2008 Olympic Games, China made numerous promises about free journalistic access, sensitivity to human rights, and an increasingly open country. Not only have these promises been broken, China has actually used the Games as an excuse to intensify its paranoid control.
"Under the guise of Olympic security, the Chinese government has cracked down on journalists, house churches and persecuted minorities. These are all peaceful groups that pose no serious threat to the safety of the Olympic Games." www.TheIRD.org
Chinese Islamic Group Threatens Attack at Beijing Olympics
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,399422,00.html
BEIJING, China — An Islamic group that has threatened to attack the Summer Games released a new video claiming the communist regime's alleged mistreatment of Muslims justifies holy war, a U.S. group that monitors militant communications said Thursday.
In the video, a representative of the Turkistan Islamic Party accuses China of forcing Muslims into atheism and destroying Islamic schools, according to the SITE Institute. SITE says the group issued the video on Wednesday.
The representative says China's birth control program has forced abortions upon Muslim women. He also reiterated threats against the Olympics made in a previous video last month and urged Muslims to stay away from the games.
News of the video came just hours after U.S. President George W. Bush landed in Beijing for a three day visit to attend the games opening ceremony and some sports events.
The video was in the Turkic language of the Uighurs, a largely Muslim minority in western China with a long history of tense relations with the government.
The Turkistan Islamic Party is believed to be based across the border in Pakistan, where security experts say it has received training from Al Qaeda.
Last month, the group issued videotaped threats and claimed responsibility for a series of recent bus bombings in China. The latest video, which was apparently produced on Aug. 1, features graphics similar to ones used earlier: "a burning Olympics logo and an explosion imposed over one of the venues," said the Washington-based IntelCenter, another extremist monitoring group.
Ben Venzke of IntelCenter said his group expected the Turkistan Islamic Party to release another message, and he thought the group would continue making threats after the games begin.
"I think what they're doing is they're trying to capitalize on the buildup to the games," he said.
Terrorism analysts and Chinese authorities have said that with more than 100,000 soldiers and police guarding Beijing and other Olympic co-host cities, terrorists were more likely to attack less-protected areas.
On Monday, assailants killed 16 border police and wounded 16 others in the Xinjiang city of Kashgar when they rammed a stolen truck into the group before tossing homemade bombs and stabbing them.
Olympic athletes: faith more important than gold medals
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/olympic.athletes.faith.more.important.than.gold.medals/21172.htm
It takes years of sweat, pain and determination to qualify for the Olympics, but some of the world’s top athletes heading to Beijing want the world to know there is something more important than winning gold medals, and that is a relationship with God.
Allyson Felix, three-time US Outdoor 200m champion and 2004 Olympic silver medallist; Brian Clay, 2004 Olympic decathlon silver medalist; and Ryan Hall, 2008 Olympic marathon runner, are just some of the Olympians competing in the 2008 Beijing Games who are sharing the importance of their Christian faith with fans.
Through the Web Site BeyondTheUltimate.org, sponsored by the ministry Athletes in Action, these elite sportsmen and women share their personal stories about their ultimate goal in life.
“My faith is definitely the most important aspect of my life,” wrote Felix on her page in BeyondTheUltimate.org. “I was nowhere close to the perfect child. I had my share of difficult times along with some disappointing choices that I made, but thankfully God never stops loving me.”
Felix, whose father is a seminary professor, said after she runs she hopes people can see Christ-like characters in her.
Her favourite verse is Philippians 4:6-7, which reads: "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
“That verse always [encourages] my heart when I am dealing with any kind of pressure, and throughout the struggles of life my faith calms my heart,” Felix said.
She added that a person needs to have passion and a reason for doing things.
“[T]here really has to be a purpose there. I think that’s what drives success,” Felix shared. “I know my talent is from God. And that’s my purpose: to run to glorify Him.”
Likewise, Olympic marathon runner Ryan Hall reflected on the peace he found in Christ that is independent of his running performance. Hall’s Olympic dream began in eighth grade when he set out on a 15-mile run around town. From that point on, he said his sense of worth and joy was “totally dependent” on how he ran.
“The result was frustration, worry, depression and discontentment with life,” Hall recalled. “However, when I’m following Christ closely, there’s a contentment and satisfaction in my life that is far greater and longer-enduring than any good race I’ve ever run."
Fellow Olympian Brian Clay also says his faith helps him understand that “winning isn’t everything”.
As these US Christian athletes prepare to compete in the Beijing Games, which kick off on Friday, the watchdog group Open Doors is calling on churches and Christians back home to host prayer events during the Games for the persecuted Christians in the country.
“Unfortunately, there has been a crackdown on house church leaders in wake of the start of the Olympics,” said the head of Open Doors USA Carl Moeller. “Please join me in praying for all those in prison. It’s a travesty that hundreds of Christians sit in prisons while the Chinese government pats itself on the back for its hosting of the Games.”
The US Commission on International Religious Freedom recently reported that nearly 700 Protestant leaders from unregistered churches have been placed into custody in the past year.
BeyondtheUltimate.org was originally developed in partnership with Athletes in Action, the sports ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ, as a platform for Super Bowl coaches Tony Dungy, Lovie Smith and their players to share the important role that faith in Jesus Christ has played in their lives. The website has since expanded to reach sports fans beyond football.
SAT-7 explores how Christian athletes survive victory and defeat
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/sat7.explores.how.christian.athletes.survive.victory.and.defeat/21174.htm
Just in time for the 2008 summer Olympics, SAT-7 will be airing a new documentary in Arabic, Farsi and Turkish in which six Olympic athletes discuss their greatest challenges and victories.
The documentary, entitled “Struggle and Triumph”, is produced by Athletes in Action and profiles six different Olympians from sports ranging from long distance running and sprinting, to swimming and badminton.
The athletes range from a gold medal winner, to several silver medallists, and also includes competitors who did not win an Olympic medal but vividly demonstrate how someone can be victorious in surmounting overwhelming odds.
Dieudonne Disi is a world class distance runner from Rwanda. In the 2004 Olympics he came in 17th place in the 10,000 meter race, but other runners probably had no idea that he had already run the race of his life.
Disi recalls what happens the day he escaped a murderous rampage in his village during the Rwandan genocide.
“On my last day with my father there were eight people in the family, my father and mother and my brothers and sisters. He said we are all going to die. He wanted to pray a prayer to prepare to go to heaven. My family started to pray, but I went outside. I heard the rebels knock on the door. It opened, they said something to my family…it was ‘death, death!’ In the end everyone within 400 metres was killed.”
Still, Disi found the inner strength to go on with his life, “I used to pray every day, but when my family was killed I stopped praying. For many years I did not pray. A few years later I was asking myself, ‘Where was my family that had prayed now?’
"I was confident that my family and friends who perished were in heaven. I realised that if I was ever going to see my family again, I needed to start praying again.
"In the Bible it says there is only one way to heaven, through Jesus Christ. If you want to get to heaven it has to be through Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the way to heaven and the way to God.”
Disi’s story is just one of the emotionally powerful interviews included in the film. Stories like these are important to tell in the Middle East and North Africa, says SAT-7 Acquisitions Manager George Makeen.
“Athletes in the Arab world are stars and people really look up to them," he said. "The model of Christianity in this region is often that Christianity is only for the weak, for those who are simple and have no other options. So it’s important, especially for young people in this area, to see athletes who are famous and successful and are still followers of Christ.”
On the web: www.sat7.org
Christian protesters removed from Tiananmen Square
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/christian.protesters.removed.from.tiananmen.square/21173.htm
On the eve of the Beijing Olympics, three American Christian activists were removed from the city’s Tiananmen Square on Thursday after protesting restrictions on religious freedom in China.
Plainclothes security officials interrupted the three campaigners, who included the director of the US-based Christian Defense Coalition, Patrick Mahoney, as they held a news conference and prayer vigil in front of the Mao Zedong Memorial Hall.
Mahoney told reporters gathered for the press conference, “We have come here today to speak out against the human rights abuses of the Chinese Government. We have come here today to be a voice to those who are in prison because of their religious beliefs.”
Chinese officials grabbed at microphones and put their hands up in front of cameras to stop their removal being filmed, reports Reuters news agency.
Fellow campaigner Brandi Swindell, founder and director of Generation Life, shouted to reporters as she was being dragged away, “We are here to pray peacefully.”
The police had broken off a protest by the group on Wednesday against China’s forced abortion policy but allowed them to leave the square, made famous by the put down of pro-democracy demonstrations in 1989. Later on Thursday, a group of Dutch Christians singing songs and handing out balloons was also told by police to move on, reports Reuters.
Speaking in Bangkok on Thursday night, US President George W Bush chided the Chinese Government for its poor track record on human rights.
“America stands in firm opposition to China’s detention of political dissidents, human rights advocates and religious activists,” he said.
Earlier this week, China Aid Association, a support group for the persecuted church in China, accused the Chinese Government of being “hypocritical” for using the Olympics to showcase the country’s huge economic development in recent years whilst cracking down on religious and political freedom.
As China pulls out all the stops to ensure the Olympics project the communist country as a world leader, human rights and political activists are using the Games to attack the policies of the Chinese Government with equal fervour.
On Wednesday, two American and two British protesters defied the tight security around the National Stadium to unfurl pro-Tibet banners from two lampposts. Late Wednesday night and early Thursday morning, at least two women were detained by police after they criticised the Chinese Government for taking over their family home as part of a major redevelopment of the area around Tiananmen Square for the Olympic Games.
Meanwhile, persecution watchdogs like CAA, Open Doors and Release International say that arrests and detentions of house church members have only intensified in the months leading up to the Games.
Release International and Open Doors have called on Christians the world over to pray for members of the unofficial house church movement over the period of the Olympics.
“Release is inviting Christians to stand with the persecuted Church in China. We want people to intercede for freedom of worship and Christian revival in this vast communist nation – to see the Kingdom of God extended in China,” said the head of Release, Andy Dipper.
Release has put together 31 days of prayer which Christians can use to help guide their prayers:
Day 1
The Sichuan earthquake in May caused the death of some 69,195 people. Despite the scale of the tragedy, the Chinese government refused to allow house churches to send donations to the relief effort. And some house church members were even arrested for trying to help in the quake zone. Please pray that the Chinese government will change its hostile attitude towards these Christians and let them engage in charity work.
Day 2
The Chinese authorities appear to be waging a concerted campaign of persecution against the ethnic minority Uyghur Christians of Xinjiang province, north-west China. Most Uyghurs are Muslim. Several Christians have been arrested on suspicion of separatist sympathies or leaking state secrets recently, including Alimjan Yimit. In May a judge sent Alimjan’s case back to the Public Security Bureau due to insufficient evidence – but Alimjan remains in detention. Pray for Alimjan’s swift release.
Day 3
On 2 July 2008, house church leader and Christian rights activist Hua Huiqi was evicted from his rented home in Beijing. Officials broke into the apartment with a hammer and threw the family, including Hua’s 90-year-old father, into the street with their furniture. Hua’s brother suffered serious injury to his eye when officers beat him. The government is rumoured to want to detain Hua during the Olympic Games: he was jailed for six months last year. Pray for a new home for Hua’s family and for their safety.
Day 4
Shuang Shuying, the elderly mother of Beijing house church leader Hua Huiqi, is serving two years in jail – apparently because the authorities want to force Hua to give up his human rights and church work. She was accused of ‘damaging government property’ when she protested over being arrested with her son last year. Her health is frail: pray that God will uphold and strengthen her and make her a powerful witness for Christ in jail.
• Release International continues to campaign for Shuang Shuying’s release. To join the campaign, view the Release one-minute video alert at: www.releaseinternational.org/current and pass it on to friends.
Day 5
In January 2008, Beijing bookstore owner and house church leader Shi Weihan was arrested on suspicion of printing illegal Christian materials. He has been illegally held in a detention centre in Beijing for nearly five months without formal charge or trial. Shi’s family members have not been allowed to visit him or send him the medication he needs for severe diabetes. Pray for Shi’s release. Ask God to keep him in good health and to comfort his family.
Day 6
Thank God for the powerful witness of a house church in Beijing whose members’ homes were raided recently by officials. Despite their ill-treatment, Christians pronounced a blessing over officials and shook their hands after the raid. Pray that this powerful Christian witness will touch the hearts of these officers and open their eyes to their own brutality.
Day 7
In June 2008, senior house church leader Zhang Mingxuan was detained for several hours – to prevent him from meeting with an EU official in Beijing. Officials closed down his orphanage early this year; Zhang’s family have been forced to move home more than ten times since Christmas. The government reportedly wants to move the family out of Beijing. Pray for strength and courage for Pastor Zhang, his family and four orphans living with them. Ask God to provide them with a permanent home.
Day 8
In the last year Chinese police have detained some 600 Christians and sentenced 38 of them to more than a year in prison. Please pray that the Lord will grant His strength, His comfort and His wisdom to those in prison for their faith. Pray that they will remain faithful and be salt and light to their fellow prisoners.
Day 9
In May, the government held a conference on ‘administering Christian gatherings’ in Beijing. Recently, many house churches have had Sunday services interrupted by local policemen, and some landlords have been forced to stop renting out their property to Christians for worship meetings. Please pray that house churches in Beijing will find new places to worship. Pray that their leaders’ hearts will be on fire for God, despite regular harassment.
Day 10
Government leaders from across the globe are attending the Beijing Olympics. Please pray that these senior politicians will urge the Chinese government to improve its religious rights record, particularly in its dealings with the unregistered house church movement.
Day 11
Liu Huiwen from Gansu province is serving 18 months in jail for handing out Christian leaflets at a Muslim wedding in April 2007 and so ‘insulting ethnic minorities’. He is said to be suffering bullying and abuse in a prison full of Muslims. Pray for Liu and his family: his wife Miao Hui Lian has been under police surveillance since she complained about Liu’s ill-treatment.
Day 12
Despite the authorities’ determination to keep a tight rein on house churches in Beijing, the Olympic Village will have a prayer centre for athletes. Please pray that Christian athletes will be bold in sharing their testimonies and the gospel with their fellow Chinese athletes and others involved in the Games.
Day 13
Even a year ago, there were rumours that government agents had infiltrated every house church in Beijing to keep watch on their activities and, presumably, root out pastors considered to be ‘troublemakers’. This news must have bred distrust between house church members, with suspicion focused especially on newcomers. Pray that God’s Holy Spirit would help unite His family in churches which have been under intense pressure for months.
Day 14
Many poorly built school buildings collapsed during the Sichuan earthquake in May, killing many pupils. Due to China’s one-child policy, many parents lost their only child in the tragedy. Some held silent protests outside courtrooms, calling for justice, but were beaten by police or even arrested. Ask the Lord to use His people to bring comfort, friendship and hope to the bereaved.
Day 15
Many Christians in Beijing are volunteering to help in the smooth running of the Olympics, because they have a heart to share the gospel through their service. Please pray that God will give them courage and wisdom to share their faith.
Day 16
Daniel Ng and his wife are Australian citizens who own a large company in China. Since August 2007, they have been barred from leaving the country and their assets have been frozen. Their firm was shut down by the authorities amid allegations of illegal religious activities – based on the fact that the company has a Christian ethos. Please pray for God’s protection for Daniel and his wife. Pray too that the Lord will raise up more Christian business leaders to bring His light into the business community.
Day 17
In May 2008, a prominent house church leader from the Uyghur community, Luo Yuanqi, was detained in Xinjiang province on charges of ‘inciting separatism’. He has been badly abused in custody. Pray for physical and spiritual healing for Luo and ask God to bless his ministry.
Day 18
It is illegal in China to share the gospel with people under the age of 18. Many churches do not have an active Sunday School programme and some do not recognise the importance of children’s ministry. On 28 February, 2008, 11 children in Xinjiang were detained for a day when they were caught attending a children’s Bible study. Pray that more churches will catch the vision for teaching children to grow up following Christ.
Day 19
Many churches had property and land confiscated by the communist regime in the 1950s – and many congregations are still pressing for this property to be returned. The Chinese authorities have resisted this. In Fanzhi, Shanxi, a pastor and several other Christians were injured recently when they remonstrated with builders redeveloping land which had belonged to them before the government seized it. Pray for justice to be done for these churches’ sake.
Day 20
The Chinese administration under President Hu Jintao has the stated aim of creating a ‘harmonious society’. Please pray that Hu Jintao and his ministers will be more open-minded about Christians and recognise the contribution they already make to social harmony by being good citizens.
Day 21
Chinese constitutional law grants citizens the right of religious freedom, yet many house church members do not know how to summon this right in defending themselves against allegations of ‘illegal’ religious activity. Christian lawyers are starting to educate Christians about their constitutional rights and have helped bring several successful lawsuits as a result. Ask God to protect these Christian lawyers and their families as they undertake this high-risk work.
Day 22
China has been fiercely criticised over its harsh repatriation policy for North Korean refugees found in its territories. North Koreans repatriated from China – about 4,000 a year – are reported to face brutal treatment as defectors, even execution. Pray that China will recognise the brutality of the Pyongyang regime and scrap its repatriation policy.
• Release has just launched a new petition urging China to end its policy of repatriating North Korean refugees. The petition can be downloaded at: www.releaseinternational.org/current
Day 23
Missionaries to China have done much to build her church and spread the gospel. The Beijing Olympics will bring more than 500,000 foreigners into China. Pray that among these visitors will be some who are called to work with the church in China and extend God’s kingdom in the nation.
Day 24
Against a backdrop of persecution and suffering, misunderstanding and lack of communication have sometimes conspired to cause rifts between different Chinese house church movements. Please pray for unity between these movements. Pray that church leaders will work together to spread the gospel.
Day 25
Pastor Zhang Zhongxin was sentenced to two years at a labour camp in Shandong province recently for belonging to an ‘evil cult’. He had a varied ministry, which ranged from training to preaching, over a wide geographical area. Pray that Pastor Zhang will be able to continue his ministry during his detention.
Day 26
College students who turn to Christ on campus face worldly pressures once they step out into the workplace – particularly during China’s economic downturn this year. There is an urgent need for church workers to disciple these new Christians and keep in touch with them as they leave campus. Pray that God will raise up good and faithful servants to minister to these young people.
Day 27
Some house church leaders are misinterpreting the Bible and leaving their families behind to serve the Lord. They want to respond to China’s urgent need for Christian ministers – but they may pay a heavy personal price: family breakdown. Pray that church leaders in China will find the right balance between family priorities and spreading the good news.
Day 28
Cai Zhuohua, a house church pastor from Beijing, was jailed between 2004 and 2007 for distributing Bibles for free in poor areas where people could not access Bibles or could not afford them. The Chinese government recently held an exhibition in the US to try to prove that China not only has sufficient Bibles but is a major exporter of them. Pray that God will provide sufficient Bibles to meet the needs of believers in China.
Day 29
Jiang Zongxiu, 34, was beaten to death in 2004 for carrying Scriptures: she left behind an eight-year-old son. Her family is still waiting for justice: Jiang’s body has not been returned to her family and her attackers have not been punished. Pray that Jiang’s family will be comforted by the love of Christ and will see justice done.
Day 30
Despite its recent economic downturn, China is the world’s fastest-growing economy – a position which carries considerable political clout. Pray that, while much of the international community courts this emerging superpower, nations of influence will continue to put pressure on Beijing to clean up its human rights record.
Day 31
The Beijing Olympics have inspired churches and believers all over the world to pray for China. Pray that this prayer campaign will gather momentum and that the Lord will bring revival to the nation of China.
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