"Am I therefore become your enemy,because I TELL YOU THE TRUTH...?"
(Galatians 4:16)

PERSECUTION WATCH:Chinese House Church Leader Cai Zhuohua Released;Pastor is warned to stop practicing faith outside of government-sanctioned church.

LOS ANGELES-Beijing house church leader Cai Zhuohua, jailed since 2004 for “illegal business practices” by distributing Christian literature, has been released with stern warnings to stop practicing his faith outside of the government-sanctioned church.Bob Fu of China Aid Association (CAA) told Compass that on Thursday (September 13), three days after Cai’s release on September 10, officials of China’s Public Security Bureau (PSB) took the well-known Beijing house church pastor to their offices and tried to intimidate him with threats. “They warned him to be careful-not to be interviewed, to obey the law and not attend religious activities,” Fu said.
Officials from the National Security Bureau-China’s equivalent of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency-on two occasions gave Cai similar warnings before he was released, Fu said. As an ex-convict whom the government is especially interested to control, Fu said, Cai must report to the PSB once a month.Cai is now at home in Beijing with his wife and mother, who leads a church that meets in their house.Deprived of his Bible while in prison, Cai was forced to make soccer balls for the 2008 Beijing Olympics for 10 to 12 hours a day, according to the CAA. Cai’s mother, Fu said, reported that the pastor was well and in good spirits.Cai was sentenced to three years in prison on November 8, 2005 for “illegal business practices” and fined 150,000 yuan (then about US$18,500). His wife, Xiao Yunfei, was sentenced to two years and fined 120,000 yuan, and her brother Xiao Gaowen was given an 18-month sentence and a fine of 100,000 yuan. Both were released after serving out their sentences. Having been arrested on September 11, 2004 at a bus stop by state security officers, Cai had been incarcerated for three years by last September 10 even though he was not convicted until November 2005. At the time of his arrest, authorities found more than 237,000 pieces of printed Christian literature, including Bibles, in a storage room he managed.By law, only the government-sanctioned Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM) church is allowed to print and distribute Bibles in China.The U.S. State Department’s 2007 International Religious Freedom Report, released last week, noted that many unregistered evangelical Protestant groups refuse to register with TSPM due to theological differences, fear of adverse consequences if they reveal names and addresses of church leaders or members, or fear that it will control sermon content.“Many evangelical house church groups also disagreed with the TSPM’s admonitions against proselytism, which they consider a central teaching of Christianity,” the report states.Another house church leader, Zhou Heng in Xinjiang region, was arrested in August on the same charge as Cai, as he was caught receiving three tons of Bibles from another city, according to the CAA.
Crackdown on Christian Literature
Recently Chinese authorities have been trying house church leaders under Article 225 of China’s Criminal Law against “illegal acts in business operation,” according to Fu of the Midland, Texas-based CAA.In 1998, the Supreme People’s Court issued a ruling that allows courts to use Article 225 to imprison anyone who “publishes, prints, copies, or distributes illegal publications.”Cai’s defense lawyers had argued that the books were printed for free distribution throughout house church networks and should not be considered a “profit-making” venture as the government charged.The judge rejected these arguments. Shortly after his conviction, a court clerk visited Cai at the Qinghe detention center and warned him that his sentence would be increased if he “annoyed” the judges with an appeal. Facing heavy pressure, Cai and his family agreed to drop the appeal.After their arrest in September 2004, sources said, Cai and his relatives were tortured during interrogation.CAA reported that the arrest of Zhou Heng on August 3 was not formally approved by Shayibake District People’s Procuratorate of Urumqi city until August 31, when notice was sent to his wife, Chen Jihong, by the Urumqi Municipal Public Security Bureau. CAA said Zhou is being held at Xishan Detention Center.He was arrested after he went to a bus station to pick up three tons of donated Bibles intended for local believers free of charge. If convicted of the charges, he faces a 15-year prison sentence.CAA investigators who spoke with a released inmate who shared a cell with Zhou reported that prison guards and other inmates severely beat Zhou.Also a well-known house church leader, Zhou is manager of a registered bookstore called Yayi Christian Book Room, which is used to sell Christian literature published legally and officially inside China.The bookstore has been forced to close following his arrest.
http://www.opendoorsusa.org/content/view/253/
As in the days of Noah....

Evangelists arise out of a prison as a result of Bible Drive

Uganda-Prisons might be the least-expected place for evangelists to be raised up. But that is exactly what happened in Uganda.Love Packages' Bible drive has been sending magazines and Bibles to a prison ministry in Uganda. Steve Schmidt of Love Packages recently received testimony from a distributor who works with the prison ministry. The distributor told of the great transformations that God is doing through the Bible drive."Some of these men have had such a radical change in their life that many of them had been released before their time-simply because they've had such a change.And now, they're out working in the Kampala, Uganda area and surrounding areas as evangelists,"Schmidt explained.It may be difficult in more fortunate countries to grasp the fact that in some places pastors and Christian colleges don't have a single Bible. The resources that Love Packages receives go toward these places but also to places like the prison ministry.Remembering that God has blessed Christians to be a blessing will help raise up more men like these inmates. Schmidt says,"We have an abundance in our country-more than we could ever possibly use ourselves. And if we'll just put those items in third world countries, there are people all over the world who desperately need those things, who are hungry for those things, and we'll see their lives changed eternally if we'll do that."Schmidt asks you to pray that "we'd come to a better understanding of the need" for Bibles and Christian literature around the world.
Go here to do your part.
Source MNN

As in the days of Noah....

Iranians Flocking to Christian Television

A Christian satellite TV network has reported “spectacular church growth” in Iran and noted the importance of media in strengthening the churches there as well as in reaching out to Muslims.SAT-7 is “receiving a lot of reports on people watching this channel more than almost any other channel in Iran,” Debbie Brink, the network’s executive director, reported recently to Mission Network News (MNN).She said SAT-7 had deliberately chosen not to tackle political issues and focuses instead on the message of hope and peace."I think we attract viewers in these times, because they're looking for an alternative message. They're tired of all the conflict and the war, and they do see opportunities for learning more about God's love, His forgiveness, reconciliation and peace," she stated.In recent years, an increasing number of Muslims throughout the Middle East have converted to Christianity through watching Christian satellite television programming.Satellite TV has emerged as an important and effective evangelism tool to share the Gospel with Muslims in closed Islamic states.Muslims watching the shows have confessed that the message of hope and love is a stark contrast to the oppressive Islamic message conveyed by their government and on Islamic TV programs.“The house church movement has seen spectacular growth,” reported Stefan De Groot, Open Doors Middle East field worker, in a recent report on the growth of Christianity in Iran.“This is not happening just because of dreams and miracles,” he said, as is common among Muslims. “The majority of people now come to faith through the multimedia, and especially satellite-TV. Nobody can control which programs Iranians watch.”SAT-7 is the first Arabic language Christian satellite channel to broadcast successfully in the Middle East and claims a viewership of 8-10 million in the Middle East and North Africa.It also broadcasts 24-hours-a-day in Farsi and Turkish through SAT-7 Pars, which takes its name from the Farsi word that embodies the Persian culture.

As in the days of Noah...

Indian Priest Slams British Clergy for Yoga Ban

After a church’s ban on yoga classes sparked an uproar in the United Kingdom, """a Roman Catholic priest """and school principal in India weighed in, claiming that the British clergy who described yoga as a “sham,” a “false philosophy” and “unchristian” are ignorant about the practice.“They know nothing about yoga,” commented Father John Ferreira, the principal of St. Peter's College in Agra, one of India's oldest educational institutions.{{{“They should first study and experience the benefits of India’s ancient science before commenting,”}}} the 57-year-old priest told the Indo-Asian News Service (IANS) during an interview.A few weeks ago, the Silver Street Baptist Church and St. James’ Anglican Church in England rejected a children’s exercise class because it teaches yoga.(kudos)Although the Baptist church originally granted Louise Woodcock’s Yum Yum Yoga class for toddlers use of its hall for a children’s group activity, the Rev. Simon Farrar withdrew his consent after discovering it was for yoga, according to London’s The Times newspaper.“We are a Christian organization and when we let rooms to people we want them to understand that they must be fully in line with our Christian ethos,” the Baptist priest explained.{{{Catholic principal Ferreira, who claims """"Yoga healed him completely from his sickness since 1981,"""" conducts a half-hour yoga class attended by over 1,500 students, teachers and office assistants everyday.}}}“When I started these yoga exercises a month ago, there were natural reservations and opposition from students as well as parents. But I persisted. Now they all congratulate me because some have stopped suffering from colds and allergies while others are feeling more energetic,” said the priest, who dislikes when students have stooping shoulders, obese or sickly postures.“I want them to walk straight, with chest out, shoulders raised and head held high. At their age they should be a bundle of energy. Unfortunately, parents have no time for their kids and there is nobody around for guidance,” he said, according to IANS. Ferreira said schools need to focus on the body and mind of students, who should maintain a good shape.The Catholic ""leader"" has fervently appealed all schools in the country ""to make yoga mandatory, ""wishing for the practice to be made basic and necessary for studying youths in the country.Meanwhile, in the UK, yoga instructor Woodock has defended her classes, saying that {{they had no religious content at all, and only involved music and movement}}blind guide of blinds.....“I explained to the church that my yoga is a completely nonreligious activity. Some types of adult yoga are based on Hindu and Buddhist meditation but it’s not a part of the religion and there is no dogma involved,” she said.“This is a class for mums and children, which has yoga-inspired moves – but as soon as I mentioned the word yoga, the church staff completely changed their attitude. They have completely misunderstood and are being narrow minded.”They are not being narrowminded....they are just applying what the Bible says....Farrar, however, said yoga “clearly … impinges on the spiritual life of people in a way which we as Christians don’t believe is the same as our ethos.”“If it was just a group of children singing nursery rhymes, there wouldn’t be a problem but she (Woodcock)’s called it yoga and therefore there is a dividing line we’re not prepared to cross,” the Baptist priest added.The Rev. Tim Jones, vicar of St James’, has supported Silver Street’s decision, noting that {{{yoga “has its roots in Hinduism and attempts to use exercises and relaxation techniques to put a person into a calm frame of mind – in touch with some kind of impersonal spiritual reality.“The philosophy of yoga cannot be separated from the practice of it, and any teacher of yoga, even to toddlers, must subscribe to the philosophy,” the Anglican priest asserted.“Yoga may appear harmless or even beneficial, but it is encouraging people to think that there is a way to wholeness of body and mind through human techniques – whereas the only true way to wholeness is by faith in God through Jesus Christ.”}}}
http://www.christianpost.com/article/20070922/29397.htm
PS:Wouldn't had it been awesome if "father"Ferreira would have trusted "JESUS" for his healing....?since he is a "catholic priest" and supposedly a "christian"...??? Ferreira is hell bound as probably most of the people that attend his "yoga classes"
Ain't NO SALVATION in CATHOLICISM.....Only in JesusChrist,thru Jesus Only....
As in the days of Noah....

Virgin Mary, Joseph, and the Baby Jesus Apparition Reported at South Florida Church

“I thought it was really beautiful, the image was so clear,” said one visitor of the image on the cloth.(....sigh....)
http://www.breitbart.tv/?p=5907
As in the days of Noah....

Arrest AhmadJERKejad

Hardliners in the war on Islamic extremist terrorism have long called for it to be treated as a war rather than a law-enforcement issue.Yet by allowing, in Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president of an Axis regime to come to New York and stay on Park Avenue at the Intercontinental Hotel The Barclay, President Bush is signaling that he's less than serious in his approach to a regime he marked, at the outset of his presidency, as evil. Those who recognize the Iranian threat are left with the law-enforcement option. Police Commissioner Kelly, District Attorney Morgenthau, or any enterprising federal prosecutor or G-Man has a perfect opportunity at hand to seize Mr. Ahmadinejad and to hold him as a material witness or even as a suspect. Years ago the Jewish Forward newspaper made a similar argument in respect of the Hafez al-Assad of Syria. It didn't happen, of course, and the Syrian occupation of Lebanon grew worse until the murder of Rafik Harari and the new outbreak of war.An ample American legal record already holds the Iranian government responsible for terrorist attacks by Iranian-sponsored terrorist groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. As our Josh Gerstein reported on April 3, dozens of rulings, many of them by a federal judge in Washington, Royce Lamberth, have found Iran civilly liable for murders; courts have made verdicts against Iran totaling about $6 billion. A December 2003 fact sheet from the Republican Study Committee in the House of Representatives lists at least 52 Americans murdered by Palestinian Arab terrorists since 1993. Many of the victims are New Yorkers, and Iranian funding and training figured in many of the attacks, according to American and Israeli government and non-government reports on terrorist organizations.Mr. Bush himself said earlier this month, "The Iranian regime and its terrorist proxies have demonstrated their willingness to kill Americans." The president said that Hezbollah, which Iran funds with hundreds of millions of dollars a year, is "directly responsible for the murder of hundreds of Americans abroad. It was Hezbollah that was behind the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut that killed 241 Americans. And Saudi Hezbollah was behind the 1996 bombing of Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia that killed 19 Americans, an attack conducted by terrorists who we believe were working with Iranian officials."In June of 2001, a federal grand jury in Virginia handed up an indictment for the Khobar Towers bombing that documented how the bombers were trained, directed, financed, and monitored by Iranian government officials. Mr. Bush has been articulating the importance of keeping terrorist leaders detained at Guantanamo so that they are not free to commit more attacks. Mr. Ahmadinejad has been quite clear about what he intends to do if he is allowed to return to Tehran. On August 2, he told the Jews, via the Iranian news channel IRINN translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute, "They should know that they are nearing the last days of their lives."The August 31 "deadline" set by America and the United Nations for Iran to address its nuclear violations has come and gone. Mr. Bush's partisan critics are still making hay from Osama Bin Laden's escape at Tora Bora. In this instance, the terrorist leader won't be hidden in the mountains of Afghanistan; he'll be in open view at the Intercontinental Hotel in Midtown. America can let him escape back to Iran without bringing him to justice and signal to the world that the talk about a war on terrorism and an axis of evil is all mere talk. Or it can seize Mr. Ahmadinejad, find out what he knows about the murders of dozens of Americans, and demonstrate that those who murder Americans will be held accountable.

As in the days of Noah....

Pakistan police hold four opposition leaders

Pakistani police detained four key opposition figures on Saturday to prevent further protests against President Pervez Musharraf's re-election, police and party officials told AFP.The men support an alliance of pro-democracy parties which has vowed to hold demonstrations against Musharraf's intention to stand for another five-year term in the October 6 polls."These are preventative detentions for the maintenance of public order," a senior police official said on condition of anonymity.One of the men was Javed Hashmi, a leader of exiled former premier Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League, who was freed by the Supreme Court in July after serving three years in jail on sedition charges, he said.The others were Raja Zafur Hafiz Hussain Ahmed and Mia Aslam, both from a coalition of radical Islamic parties, and Raja Zafar ul-Haq, who is from Sharif's movement, the official added."We have detained these people to prevent the holding of a protest rally in front of the Supreme Court, which would invite trouble because of the prevailing security threat," he said."More arrests are likely."Sharif's party condemned the detentions, which follow a series of rallies in several cities across Pakistan against Musharraf's re-election."The police raided their homes, whisked them away and took them to an unknown place," Ahsan Iqbal, a spokesman for Sharif's party, told AFP."This is a blatant violation of their fundamental rights."
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=070922195951.oe3gi71i&show_article=1&catnum=0
As in the days of Noah....

Russian communists say Putin more powerful than Tsar

MOSCOW-The leader of Russia's Communist Party accused President Vladimir Putin on Saturday of piling up vast powers and said the Kremlin's main party represented billionaires rather than ordinary people."He (President Vladimir Putin) has more power today than the Pharaoh of Egypt, the Tsar, and the Soviet Union's General Secretary combined," veteran Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov told a party congress on the outskirts of Moscow."He has four times more power than the quite powerful president of the United States," said Zyuganov, whose party is the country's number two political force with 162,000 members.
Zyuganov said his party, the successor to the all-powerful Soviet Communists, hoped to win at least a fifth of seats in elections this December for the State Duma (lower house of parliament). It currently has just over 10 percent of deputies.The Duma is dominated by United Russia, a party patronized by Putin, which enjoys a two-thirds majority.Zyuganov said he was the only real opponent of the Kremlin and added he was gaining new supporters as voters were getting bored with unfulfilled promises from United Russia, which he said represented the rich, with over 30 billionaires among its Duma members."They (United Russia) have billionaires. We have millions (of supporters) behind us," he added.The December elections will be closely watched as a dress rehearsal for a presidential vote next March.The most recent poll by the independent Yuri Levada Centre showed this week that the Communists could gain 18 percent of seats in December, while United Russia would secure 55 percent.Another pro-Kremlin party, Fair Russia, would get seven percent and the nationalist LDPR, which often votes with the government, would gain 11 percent.The Communists used to dominate the Duma in the 1990s during the turbulent years of Boris Yeltsin's presidency.But as Russia's oil-fuelled economy booms, the Communists face a tough political challenge to win back popularity.The Communists have complained they are not getting a fair share of airtime on television, which is dominated by pro-Kremlin parties. However Putin met Zyuganov this week to discuss the elections and Zyuganov's Saturday speech was aired live on the state television channel Vesti-24.
MOOD LIFTED BY WINS
Zyuganov said the mood in the Communists' camp had been lifted by wins this year in regional elections, which he said had shown that the dominance of United Russia can be broken."In (the east Siberian region of) Krasnoyarsk, where the results usually coincide with the whole country, we had 20-22 percent. And in some regions we had over 30 percent. Let's be guided by these figures...," he told delegates.He also denounced analysts' observations that his electorate was shrinking as it was mostly composed of elderly people."The most educated part of our society is voting today for the Communists. And young people are turning up every day," he said, adding that his goal was to win the undecided votes.On Saturday, Zyuganov again denounced what he termed a "black propaganda" campaign to discredit himself by falsely accusing him of excessive drinking and paying a huge bill for an adult pay TV channel while on holiday in Ukraine. Zyuganov did not run for president in 2004 when Putin was re-elected by more than 70 percent of votes. The outspoken Communist did not say if he would run for president in March 2008, when Putin must step down after two consecutive terms.Putin, who has huge influence over voters because of his very high poll ratings, has yet to say whom he will back.

As in the days of Noah....

Remember, he's President I'm-in-a-jihad

He's coming to New York.I can't believe it.Six years into our "war on terrorism," Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a strategic ally of al-Qaida, is flying into New York to speak at the UN.Much of the controversy over this trip has focused on whether his request to visit Ground Zero should be honored. That, to me, is a distraction from the real issue-should he be allowed to visit New York under any circumstances, and, if he is, what should be done with him when he arrives.My preference would be to let him come, then have he and his entire entourage handcuffed and frog-marched into custody after which they would be transported to Gitmo as enemy combatants. But that's just me.
Let's look at this rationally.

Iran is undeniably a strategic ally of al-Qaida. Even if it weren't, it shares Osama bin Laden's objectives of destroying both Israel and the United States by any means necessary.

Ahmadinejad is the personification of this anti-American and anti-Semitic policy of hatred and violence.

The Iranian president will not be coming alone. He will be accompanied by Iranian intelligence agents whose goal will be to seek out American security vulnerabilities.

They will be flying over New York, the site of an air attack just six years ago, looking out the windows and taking notes.

They will be traveling, presumably without blindfolds, through New York City and surrounding areas, observing bridges and tunnels and other strategic terrorist targets.

Iran commands a terrorist organization bigger in manpower and resources than al-Qaida. It is called Hezbollah. It has attacked targets all over the world.

Ahmadinejad himself is not your run-of-the-mill head of government. He has been a secretive operative for the Iranian regime dating back to the takeover of the U.S. Embassy through a period when he was suspected of personal involvement in foreign assassinations.
He will use his visit to the United Nations and his chats with international reporters to further his objectives of worldwide jihad against the U.S.
His country is currently killing U.S. troops in Iraq with proxy terrorists, bombs and weaponry.
His country is currently killing civilians in Iraq and undermining our efforts at bringing freedom and stability to that part of the world.
His country has been testing missile technology designed only to create massive electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attacks on targets that might very well include the United States – attacks that potentially could kill millions and reduce our nation to a second-rate power overnight.
What am I missing here?
Why are we permitting this?
Why have we permitted it in the past?
Aren't we currently making contingency plans to attack Iran's nuclear installations for fear of what they portend for the future?
This guy is the leader of Iran. He's a terrorist. He is the chief executive of a terrorist nation – probably the leading terrorist nation in the world today.
What kind of a war is this, anyway?
Every day, ordinary, loyal, taxpaying Americans are practically strip-searched in our own airports to make sure they're not terrorists. But next week, we allow one of the world's best-known terrorists to fly into our largest city – and he probably won't even be forced to remove his shoes for inspection!
I don't get it.
It's insanity.
It's a double standard big enough to drive a truck bomb through.
Remember who we're dealing with here – it's President I'm-in-a-jihad. That's his name. That's his modus operandi. That's who he is. That's who he will always be until we deal with him.
I don't want to bomb and kill innocent Iranians in a war looking more and more like it's inevitable.
But I do want to eliminate their evil leaders who keep the Iranian people captive and threaten the civilized world with their twisted evil ideology, money, power and weaponry.
Instead, we treat them like privileged princes with full diplomatic immunity.
Is this any way to run a war?


As in the days of Noah....

Colombia Univ students protest Iran Prez visit

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is traveling to New York to address the UN's General Assembly this week and his trip has already run into controversy. President Ahmadinejad's request to visit Ground Zero was denied by the New York Police Department and now his scheduled address to Columbia University students and faculty as part of the school's World Leaders Forum on Monday has created a furore on campus.A law student Aviva Robbin is one of nearly a 100 students who have united on Facebook and have planned to protest against Ahmadinejad speaking on their campus.''While we do value academic debate and freedom of speech we do not feel that it would be a violation of these values not to have the President of Iran on our campus. He is a known state sponsor of terrorism and he has many human rights violations on his record and by having him here it seems as if Columbia is legitimising what he has to say and endorsing his views in the public opinion,'' said Aviva Robin.

As in the days of Noah....

SIGN of the TIMES:Pot-bellied Jesus ad irks Church

Catholic bishops in Belgium have protested against a TV ad depicting Jesus as a pot-bellied hippy picking up half-naked women in a nightclub.The advertisement is being aired on the country's main TV channel to promote youth channel Plug TV.The Catholic Church says this sort of portrayal of Jesus is disrespectful to believers and that it is wrong to use him for advertising.However, Plug TV denies that the advertisement is blasphemous.
'Number one dad'
The ad shows a long-haired hippy Jesus grooving along as he tries to get into a nightclub and is refused entry by the bouncers.Jesus makes the sign of the cross and sweeps aside the bouncers, shrinking them so they are left in his wake as dwarves.This Plug TV version of Jesus then drinks whisky at the bar and magically turns two brown haired frumpy women into blonde babes wearing bikini tops and red horns.The Jesus character then disappears into a huge limousine with the women but his attention is distracted by an advertisement for Plug TV before he is recalled by God who is standing on a cloud, wearing a T shirt with "Number one dad" written on it.The God figure tells Jesus off for wanting to watch Plug TV as well as everything else - saying "you still want more".The Catholic Church has expressed its disapproval to the TV channel - saying advertising is not the same as journalism and should not share the same concerns about freedom of expression.The Church believes this advertisement "crosses the limits of respectability".Plug TV however argues it is not blasphemous but contains a message about a "laid-back Jesus addressing youth".

As in the days of Noah....

Abdalla: The Amish Threatened His Life

STEUBENVILLE -A police raid on an Amish community was criticized and defended Thursday as talks about the custody of two children continued.Jefferson County Sheriff Fred Abdalla maintains he was simply upholding the law and protecting himself and his staff when he led the raid last week, but community members and a local attorney representing the children’s mother claim the situation should have been handled differently.Abdalla and deputies in the county’s special response team went to the one-room schoolhouse near Bergholz on Sept. 14 to serve custody papers from juvenile court on Wilma Troyer. The papers ordered custody of two children of Wilma and Aiden Troyer to be given to Aiden Troyer. Wilma Troyer would not accept the papers and fled to a farmhouse before the incident ended with the children being turned over to the sheriff for the custody exchange.A hearing that had been scheduled for 9 a.m. Thursday in juvenile court in the county justice center was delayed while the Troyers and their attorneys tried to work out issues in the custody fight. As of noon, the hearing had not begun and negotiations were expected to continue into the afternoon. A few dozen members of the Amish community gathered in the justice center lobby awaiting developments from the closed courtroom.Outside those proceedings, lawyers for Wilma Troyer and Aiden Troyer aired opinions on the handling of the incident by Abdalla and his deputies.Attorney Bryan Felmet, representing Wilma Troyer, said, “There were a hundred other ways to handle this.” He said Abdalla could have contacted him and the papers and custody could have been handled more discreetly.Felmet issued a news release Tuesday stating the Amish community members were frightened by the presence of the SWAT team and its armed officers and truck. He said children have been having trouble sleeping and adults are jumpy when vehicles come down the road.“The sheriff and I have been talking today. We do not agree on a lot of things about the way this was handled by his office,” Felmet said during a break in negotiations.Attorney John Mascio, representing Aiden Troyer, who has taken the two children to be with family in an Amish community in Pennsylvania, said Abdalla’s response was proper given circumstances prior to the raid. The children are aged 21 months and 9 months, Abdalla said.“There were threats by her family against the sheriff’s life,” Mascio said. “There were 2 a.m. phone calls to the sheriff by her brother that are the subject of a case to be heard in Toronto county court in October.”Mascio and Felmet said if the case went before Magistrate Frank Noble on Thursday, the issue to be argued would have been whether Juvenile Judge Sam Kerr acted properly in issuing the custody order.“Courts do not sign orders telling law enforcement to pick up children unless a good reason is given for that to happen,” Mascio said. “The sheriff was simply enforcing the law.”Abdalla told reporters in the justice center lobby he is responsible for the safety of his men, carrying out the order and the safety of people in the community. He also said he had reason not to call Felmet.“Family of his client threatened to kill me, and I told him. (They) called me two more times threatening to kill me,” Abdalla said. “I had no reason to go to him after that.“He issued a two-page press release describing what happened,” Abdalla said of Felmet. “He wasn’t there. It is all based on hearsay.”In his release, Felmet indicated the schoolhouse where Wilma Troyer was teaching had been surrounded by armed officers. Abdalla has said only two members of the special response team got out of the truck at the schoolhouse. The team did surround the farmhouse where Wilma Troyer ran after refusing to accept the custody order. Abdalla said he did threaten to arrest anyone who interfered with him taking custody of the children under the court order.“I did not intend to scare anybody,” Abdalla told reporters.Abdalla said the children in the Amish community had been told the sheriff would shoot them or inject them with needles.“Anyone who knows me knows I will never hurt any child, whether they’re Amish or English,” Abdalla said. Mascio bristled as reporters asked questions about the handling of the case.“This is a child custody case,” he said. “I will not try it in the news media. I am not going to do it.”Wilma Troyer is the daughter of Samuel Mullet, the bishop of the Amish community that formed about 12 years ago in the rural County Road 53 area near Bergholz. Abdalla said he has received letters from around the country with some claiming the community is run like a cult. Several citizens of the area who aren’t Amish community members disputed that statement, saying the community follows typical Amish values, including privacy from interference by the outside world. Those citizens, who were waiting with the Amish group that gathered in the justice center lobby while negotiations continued, declined to be identified.Mullet declined to talk to reporters when asked if he had comment on the case or its handling.
PS:OF ALL the groups of people in the country they go to pick the AMISH as violent....!!!!!There are lots of God haters in the country....Amish are private,and when a SWAT Team goes to their places with guns and all that it's obvious that the children and everybody is gonna be scared.....
ABDALLA wouldn't say the same about a "muslim community" I bet you....Well his last name says it all.....!!!!!

As in the days of Noah...

Climate change may help rainforests

Climate change may lead to lush growth rather than catastrophic tree loss in the Amazonian forests, researchers from the US and Brazil have found. A study, in the journal Science, found that reduced rainfall had led to greener forests, possibly because sunlight levels are higher when there are fewer rainclouds.But scientists cautioned that while the finding raises hopes for the survival of the forests, there are still serious threats. Climate models have suggested that the forests will suffer as the region becomes drier and will release huge quantities of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.Climate models have suggested in the past that the Amazon will suffer enormous die-backs as the region becomes drier and will release huge quantities of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Deforestation is calculated to be one of the main contributors to the rising carbon dioxide levels that are widely held by the scientific community to be causing global warming. The loss of the Amazon would cause enormous quantities of carbon dioxide stored in the vegetation to be released back into the atmosphere, intensifying the warming effect. Researchers identified the greener regions of the Amazon after analysing satelite images and comparing them to rainfall records. The 2005 drought provided them with “a unique opportunity to compare actual forest drought response to expectation”.They said: “Large-scale numerical models that simulate the interactions between changing global climate and terrestrial vegetation predict substantial carbon loss from tropical ecosystems including the drought-induced collapse of the Amazon forest and conversion to savanna.“If drought were to have the expected negative effect on canopy photosynthesis, it should have been especially observable during this period.“The observations of intact forest canopy ‘greenness’ in the drought region, however, are dominated by a sgnificant increase, not a decline.”Growth spurts would be “inconsistent with expectation”, they reported in the journal Science, and concluded the reduced rainfall was more than compensated for by extra sunlight.“These observations suggest that intact Amazon forests may be more resilient than many ecosystem models assume, at least in response to short-term climatic anomolies,” they added.Further studies will be needed to assess the long-term impacts of changing weather patterns on the Amazon and other forest regions from factors including strong el Nino events and long-term climate change.Deforestation from logging, legal and illegal, and fires were cited as other threats to the condition of the Amazon forests, especially as the areas pinponted as being in the steepest decline were those that were “heavily impacted by human activites”.The paper 'Amazon Forests Green-Up During 2005 Drought' was written by Scott R. Saleska, Kamel Didan, Alfredo R. Huete and Humberto R. da Rocha.
As in the days of Noah....

Confessing to 'sins' is booming in America

Americans are flocking to confess their sins as Protestant churches have joined their Catholic counterparts in modernising the sacrament of penance.Thousands of people are attending confession at weekends and just as many are posting their repentance on videos that are played back to congregations or shared on websites such as YouTube.New technology is fuelling the boom, but so is clever marketing by Churches that are portraying confession as a form of self-improvement-always popular with Americans-rather than some sort of punishment. Church leaders also attribute the boom to the fashion for self-analysis peddled by daytime television programmes such as The Jerry Springer Show and to a wider theological trend in which Christians are looking for firmer moral guidance.Some Protestant churches are trying to make confession less forbidding, allowing people to shred their sins in paper shredders, for example.In a shopping mall in Colorado Springs, three Catholic priests are available to hear confessions six days a week in a small office equipped with a box of tissues and the Ten Commandments.The priests say they hear 8,000 confessions a year, according to the Wall Street Journal.The Pope ordered priests to make confession a priority in February, but the changing attitude of Protestant denominations is more surprising.Although some theologians say that Martin Luther opposed private confession to a priest, the Missouri Synod of the Lutheran Church-which has 2.5 million members-voted this summer to revive the ritual after ignoring it for a century.The Catholic Church opposes group confessions and those conducted on the internet but some of its US parishes have had considerable success with special confession events.More than 5,000 people attended a "reconciliation weekend" in Orlando, Florida. A "24 Hours of Grace" penitence open house held by five parishes in Chicago drew 2,500 people. A rotating team of 70 priests listened to their confessions.Bishop Thomas Wenski of Orlando sent out 190,000 pamphlets in March asking local Catholics to confess.He told the Journal: "Every day on Jerry Springer we see people confessing their sins in public and, certainly, the confessional is a lot healthier than that show."Protestant denominations are less averse to using new technology in their confession drives. More than 7,700 people have posted their sins on ivescrewedup.com, a confession website launched by the evangelical Flamingo Road Church in Florida.The XXX Church, an anti-pornography Christian group, videotaped members confessing their use of pornography and put the video on YouTube. It has since been watched 15,000 times.Jordy Acklin, 21, a student who appeared in the video, said: "There's a reason why they talk about confession in the Bible – you're not supposed to keep it inside you. The weight just goes off your shoulders."
As in the days of Noah...

Deaths Associated with HPV Vaccine Start Rolling In, Over 3500 Adverse Affects Reported

TORONTO-As Canada, in large part due to aggressive behind the scenes lobbying, rolls out the not-comprehensively-tested Merck HPV vaccine for girls as young as nine, a look at developments on the vaccine south of the border should cause Canadians serious concern. In the US a similar lobby campaign by the same company launched the mass HPV vaccination of girls beginning in June last year.In just little over a year, the HPV vaccine have been associated with at least five deaths, not to mention thousands of reports of adverse effects, hundreds deemed serious, and many that required hospitalization.Judicial Watch, a US government watchdog, became concerned while noting large donations to key politicians originating from Merck.A freedom of information request from the group in May of this year discovered that during the period from June 8, 2006-when the vaccines received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-to May 2007 there were 1,637 reports of adverse reactions to the HPV vaccine reported to the FDA. Three deaths were related to the vaccine, including one of a 12-year-old. One physician's assistant reported that a female patient "died of a blood clot three hours after getting the Gardasil vaccine." Two other reports, on girls 12 and 19, reported deaths relating to heart problems and/or blood clotting.As of May 11, 2007, the 1,637 adverse vaccination reactions reported to the FDA via the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) included 371 serious reactions.Of the 42 women who received the vaccine while pregnant, 18 experienced side effects ranging from spontaneous abortion to fetal abnormities. Side effects published by Merck & Co. warn the public about potential pain, fever, nausea, dizziness and itching after receiving the vaccine.Indeed, 77% of the adverse reactions reported are typical side effects to vaccinations. But other more serious side effects reported include paralysis, Bells Palsy,Guillain-Barre Syndrome, and seizures.Judicial Watch informed LifeSiteNews.com that a subsequent request for information on adverse reactions to the HPV vaccine, covering the period from May 2007 to September 2007, found that an additional 1800 adverse reactions have been reported, including more deaths.Exactly how many more deaths occurred will be released in the coming days, Judicial Watch's Dee Grothe informed LifeSiteNews.com.The LifeSiteNews.com report on the moneyed lobbying efforts of Merck in the US was reported in February. (see http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/feb/07020204.html )However the Canadian lobby effort by Merck's Canadian affiliate Merck Frosst Canada has been underway using powerful lobbyists with close connections to the politicians who have signed off on massive government funded vaccination programs.The Toronto Star recently reported that Merck Frosst Canada Ltd hired public relations giant Hill & Knowlton to push the immunization strategies using some well-connected lobbyists: Ken Boessenkool, a former senior policy adviser to Prime Minister Stephen Harper; Bob Lopinski, formerly with Premier Dalton McGuinty's office; and Jason Grier, former chief of staff to Health Minister George Smitherman.Harper's Conservative Government approved Merck's HPV vaccine Gardasil in July and later announced a $300 million program to give the vaccine to girls from ages 9-13. That of course is only the beginning of what Merck likely hopes will be a much larger vaccination of all potentially sexually active women in Canada who are not already HPV infected. In August, McGuinty's Ontario Liberals, on the advice of his Health Minister George Smitherman, announced that all Grade 8 girls will have free access to Gardasil.One of the major complaints by physicians is that the HPV vaccination program has been implemented before adequate testing has been completed. Long-term effects of the vaccine remain unknown.Many are asking why the seemingly reckless rush?At least one answer to that question comes from the fact that Merck currently is the sole provider of an HPV vaccine with its Gardasil product.A competing HPV vaccine, Glaxo Smith Kline's Cervarix, is set to hit the market in January 2008.As more children are vaccinated with Gardasil, fewer will be able to later receive the necessary repeat boosters of a competing, incompatible vaccine. Merck is in a race to capture as much of the market as it can, consuming many millions of taxpayer dollars.US sales of Gardasil are expected to reach $1 billion in the first year of its availability.The reports from the FDA Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System detailing the three previous deaths are available here:

The reports detailing all 1637 adverse effects are here:



As in the days of Noah....

Tens of thousands of CCTV cameras, yet 80% of crime unsolved

London has 10,000 crime-fighting CCTV cameras which cost £200 million, figures show today.But an analysis of the publicly funded spy network, which is owned and controlled by local authorities and Transport for London, has cast doubt on its ability to help solve crime.A comparison of the number of cameras in each London borough with the proportion of crimes solved there found that police are no more likely to catch offenders in areas with hundreds of cameras than in those with hardly any.In fact, four out of five of the boroughs with the most cameras have a record of solving crime that is below average.The figures were obtained by the Liberal Democrats on the London Assembly using the Freedom of Information Act.Dee Doocey, the Lib-Dems' policing spokeswoman, said:"These figures suggest there is no link between a high number of CCTV cameras and a better crime clear-up rate."We have estimated that CCTV cameras have cost the taxpayer in the region of £200million in the last 10 years but it's not entirely clear if some of that money would not have been better spent on police officers. "Although CCTV has its place, it is not the only solution in preventing or detecting crime."Too often calls for CCTV cameras come as a knee-jerk reaction. It is time we engaged in an open debate about the role of cameras in London today."
The figures show:
• There are now 10,524 CCTV cameras in 32 London boroughs funded with Home Office grants totalling about £200million.
• Hackney has the most cameras - 1,484 - and has a better-than-average clearup rate of 22.2 per cent.
• Wandsworth has 993 cameras, Tower Hamlets, 824, Greenwich, 747 and Lewisham 730, but police in all four boroughs fail to reach the average 21 per cent crime clear-up rate for London.
• By contrast, boroughs such as Kensington and Chelsea, Sutton and Waltham Forest have fewer than 100 cameras each yet they still have clear-up rates of around 20 per cent.
• Police in Sutton have one of the highest clear-ups with 25 per cent.
• Brent police have the highest clear-up rate, with 25.9 per cent of crimes solved in 2006-07, even though the borough has only 164 cameras.
The figures appear to confirm earlier studies which have thrown doubt on the effectiveness of CCTV cameras.A report by the criminal justice charity Nacro in 2002 concluded that the money spent on cameras would be better used on street lighting, which has been shown to cut crime by up to 20 per cent.Scotland Yard is trying to improve its track record on the use of CCTV and has set up a special unit which collects and circulates CCTV images of criminals.A pilot project is running in Southwark and Lambeth and is expected to be rolled out across the capital.The figures only include state-funded cameras.The true number, once privately run units and CCTV at rail and London Underground stations are taken into account, will be significantly higher.

As in the days of Noah....

BIG BROTHER WATCH:Biometric identity system called 'success' in Iraq

Baghdad-Iraq has turned to a biometrics identification system to prevent the infiltration of insurgents in the Baghdad government.Officials said Baghdad has established a database that has been expanding weekly.Biometrics uses physical or behavioral characteristics to identify people. More than 350,000 sets of fingerprints, photos and retina scans have been deposited in the Iraqi system's database.Officials said Baghdad, with U.S. assistance, has been operating an automated system to screen civilian workers, police and soldiers, as well as to identify criminals in the military and government.{{{"It has been a tremendous success," }}}said U.S. Army Lt. Col. John Velliquette, who runs the fingerprint and retina scanning center in Baghdad's International Zone.{{{"We increase the database by 4,000 to 5,000 each week,"}}} Velliquette said.Officials said the U.S. military has been training Iraqis to operate the biometrics system. They said seven U.S. contractors were mentoring 24 Iraqi government employees to operate the system.By the summer of 2008, Iraq would solely operate the system, linked to Defense Department's Biometric Fusion Center, in Clarksburg, W. Va. Officials said the system has helped secure Baghdad's International Zone, which contains U.S. and Iraqi military and diplomatic headquarters.Officials said the identification system has been used to identify criminals. They said the system helps ensure that only authorized individuals carry firearms. The Iraqi government has issued identification cards to Iraqi police vetted through the biometric program. Officials said Iraqi police officers without a proper biometrics identification card were relieved of their weapons.{{{"The Iraqi people need to have confidence in their police," Velliquette said.}}}
PS:The statements between brakets sound really spooky to me....
All this global surveillance system that will be in the hands of the Antichrist during the Tribulation period is being tested and tried all over the world today....Already many millions are in the database.....!!!!

As in the days of Noah....

Lebanese mourn latest political victim

Another bombing, another funeral. The rituals of Lebanese political life are increasingly dominated by funeral processions. Lebanese parliamentarian Antoine Ghanim was killed in a car bomb on Wednesday.He was the eighth anti-Syrian figure to be killed here in two and a half years.On Friday, hundreds of mourners gathered in the mainly Christian Furn el-Shebak district in East Beirut, the constituency of the murdered politician.As Mr Ghanim's coffin, decked in the Lebanese flag, was carried shoulder-high through the crowds, people from balconies showered the cortege with rice - a traditional Lebanese mourning ritual.The funeral procession and service was also held for two bodyguards, Nouhad Ghoreib and Tony Daou, who were killed alongside Mr Ghanim. "We thought the killing was over," said Charbel Saade, 29, a teacher, holding a Lebanese flag. "But it keeps going on and it needs to stop."As the funeral cortege passed, a few people wept, others cheered, and some jumped as fire crackers exploded from a rooftop.One young boy started dancing to the sound of a brass band, only to be severely reprimanded by his mother.The procession moved to the Sacre Coeur church, where hundreds of mourners joined a host of Lebanese politicians, including Saad Hariri, the son of the murdered former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, attending the funeral service.There was an air of defiance both inside and outside the church.Prominent leaders were cheered as they arrived.During the church service, Mr Ghanem's daughter addressed his killers, saying: "Please allow me to turn to the killer with a potent weapon, please allow me to start with a prayer." The question dividing Lebanon is: who is behind the killings?Those attending the funeral are in little doubt that Syria is responsible for this assassination and the ones before, including the killing of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005.Syria, however, strenuously denies these charges and described the latest attack as a "criminal act" that undermined attempts at Lebanese national reconciliation.But the series of assassinations-for which nobody has been prosecuted-has deepened the spilt between the anti- and pro-Syrian blocs in parliament.Currently, the anti-Syrian bloc is in power.The latest killing comes as Lebanese politicians begin the process of appointing a new president next week. Prime Minister Fouad Sinoria insists that the election will go ahead, but the process faces political and procedural difficulties.The government's position has not been helped by the killings of anti-Syrian parliamentarians, which has reduced its majority. It now only has 68 out of 128 parliamentarians.The political situation here is expected to remain tense.There are reports in Lebanese newspapers that the two sides are going to have a further round of discussions to try and resolve the deadlock.But nobody here thinks that this current political crisis is going to be resolved anytime soon - indeed, it could worsen.Many are wondering who is going to be assassinated next.

As in the days of Noah....

Israel to Syria: Use chem weapons & we'll wipe you off map

Israeli officials vowed to wipe Syria off the map if it is attacked with chemical weapons like one that reportedly exploded in July at a secret Syrian base staffed with Iranian engineers.Politicians in Israel said yesterday they were not picking a fight with their neighbor, but pledged to forcefully retaliate if chemical warheads come screaming across its shared border."We will not attack them first. But if they ever use these weapons against Israel, then we must be clear it will be the end of this evil and brutal dictatorship," Yuval Steinitz, a right-wing member of the Israeli parliament, told the Daily News yesterday.Sparking shock waves across the Middle East was a report in Jane's Defence Weekly about an accidental explosion at a top secret Syrian base in July.Citing Syrian intelligence sources, the report claimed a team of Iranian and Syrian engineers were killed July 26 while trying to arm a Scud-C missile with a mustard gas warhead.Syrian official news agency, SANA, reported that least 15 Syrian military personnel had been "martyred" and 50 others injured in the blast near the northern city of Aleppo on the Turkish border. It claimed the early morning explosion was caused by the high temperatures.The SANA report mentioned nothing of Iranian personnel killed in the mishap.Jane's said dozens of Iranian workers were among those who died when a fire in the missile's engine triggered the explosion and release of a toxic cloud of lethal chemical agents banned under international law.U.S. intelligence sources played down the report saying they've seen no credible evidence chemical weapons were involved in the Syrian accident.

As in the days of Noah....

EGYPT: OFFICIAL REBUFFS U.S. RELIGIOUS FREEDOM REPORT:State Department highlights discrimination against Muslim converts to Christianity.

ISTANBUL-Egypt has denounced a U.S. report on the African nation’s worsening condition of religious freedom.The State Department’s annual International Religious Freedom Report, released on September 14, says that within the past year the Egyptian government’s respect for religious freedom had “declined.”Harsh treatment of converts from Islam to Christianity, ongoing difficulties building churches and official discrimination against the country’s Baha’i minority topped the report’s list of violations.A spokesman for Egypt’s foreign ministry said he regretted “fallacies” in the report, according to semi-official daily al-Ahram on Monday (September 17). He said that the United States had “no right to interfere in the internal affairs of Egypt,” al-Ahram reported.The official did not elaborate on any of the report’s purported mistakes.The U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Religious Freedom noted worsening conditions for Egyptian converts during a press conference on the report’s release last week.“The government of Egypt has denied conversion to Christianity even by people who were born into a Christian family, later converted to Islam and then want to go back,” John Hanford told journalists in Washington, D.C.In April, a Cairo court rejected the right of converts to Islam to return to Christianity, the report says. The decision overturned three years of rulings that had allowed at least 32 “re-conversions” to Christianity.Egypt’s Supreme Administrative Court is due to rule on the appeal of 12 of these former Christians on November 17.At least 200 cases of Christian converts to Islam who now wish to return to their original faith are pending in Egyptian courts, the report states.Much is at stake for would-be converts. The report notes that marriage, divorce, alimony, child custody and burial are based on one’s religion under Egyptian law. Under sharia [Islamic law] as practiced in the country, non-Muslim males must convert to Islam to marry Muslim women, but non-Muslim women need not convert to marry Muslim men,” the report states.A Muslim woman who marries a non-Muslim abroad could be arrested and charged with apostasy on her return to Egypt, according to the 13-page document.In cases where a Christian woman converts to Islam, her husband is given the chance to follow suit. If he refuses, the couple is automatically divorced and the children awarded to the Muslim mother.“The minor children of converts to Islam, and in some cases adult children, may automatically become classified as Muslims in the eyes of the government irrespective of the religion of the other spouse,” the U.S. report notes. It says that the practice is based upon the administration’s interpretation of Islamic law, which dictates “no jurisdiction of a non-Muslim over a Muslim.”Christian twins Mario and Andrew Medhat Ramsis, 13, have brought a case against the government for changing the religious designation on their birth certificates to “Muslim” after their father converted to Islam. Their case is pending before a Cairo court.
Threatened Converts
Conversion away from Islam remains a sensitive issue in majority-Muslim Egypt. Enshrined in the constitution as the basis for the nation’s legislation, Islamic law forbids a Muslim to leave the faith.Ambassador Hanford pointed to problems faced by Muslim-born converts to Christianity at last week’s press conference, mentioning the case of convert Bahaa al-Accad.“We are pleased that one particular case where – where a gentleman was held for 25 months, Bahaa al-Accad, that he was released not long ago, but now his life is under threat,” Hanford said.The former sheikh, 58, had been held without charge, though official interrogations indicated he was suspected of “insulting Islam.”Still living under threat from radical Islamists, al-Accad’s case typifies difficulties faced by converts from Islam to Christianity discussed in the U.S. report.
“The security services reportedly maintain regular and sometimes hostile surveillance of Muslim-born citizens who are suspected of having converted to Christianity,” the report states.
To read more go to:

As in the days of Noah....

Education or Jihad?

DEARBORN, Mich. (Crime Library)Houssein Zorkot, a 26-year-old, third-year medical student at Wayne State University, had recently made plans to start studying surgery at Providence Hospital in nearby Southfield. The soon-to-be medical doctor seemed on track for a promising career. But that changed earlier this month when Dearborn police caught Zorkot in a local park carrying a loaded AK-47 rifle, the close-quarter weapon of choice for terrorists worldwide.The son of Lebanese immigrants, Zorkot had recently traveled to Lebanon for a visit. Like most Americans, he brought back plenty of travel pictures.Among the photos were shots of Zorkot posing in front of Hezbollah recruiting posters, Zorkot standing beneath a giant picture of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, and Zorkot posing in front of a pair of Hezbollah rockets-no doubt aimed in the direction of Israel.Zorkot's Web site (www.Zorkot.org) is a virtual shrine to Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based terrorist group responsible for hundreds of American deaths, including the 1982 murder of 241 U.S. Marines stationed in Beirut.On Saturday, Sept. 8, at about 1:00 p.m., Zorkot bought a semiautomatic AK-47 assault rifle at a local store. Then he posted a message on his Web site. He typed the message beneath a stylized silhouette image of a Hezbollah fighter carrying a flag and climbing a steep slope. The picture is inset with a close-up photograph of a man wearing camouflaged battle gear and aiming a rifle at the camera.Zorkot's message was short and to the point: "The Start of My Personal Jihad (in the US)."
By Chuck Hustmyre

As in the days of Noah....

CULTURE of DEATH:$7.5 million abortion clinic idled

A federal judge has ordered that a newly constructed $7.5 million abortion facility in the Chicago suburb of Aurora must remain idle pending a city investigation into the deception Planned Parenthood used in obtaining permission for the project."The continued closure of this deceitful abortion mill is a victory for the pro-life movement which exposed Planned Parenthood's lies to the city," said Troy Newman, president of Operation Rescue. "But it is especially a victory for the pre-born babies whose innocent lives will not be taken there."As WND reported earlier, Planned Parenthood withheld information from the city about the true plans for the building as it was obtaining various building and zoning permits. For instance, in one meeting during the planning process, officials told the city that the tenant was not yet determined, even though Planned Parenthood owned the site and was planning to launch its abortion services as soon as it could.U.S. District Judge Charles Norgle has refused, in two separate court hearings, to grant a Planned Parenthood demand for an order telling the city to issue a certificate of occupancy that would allow Planned Parenthood to begin its business operations there.In a hearing late this week, he said he would listen to more arguments on the status of the building, for now it must remain unoccupied.Meanwhile, pro-life advocates who have been battling the facility since they discovered Planned Parenthood's plans are using the victory as one launching point for a 40-day campaign of prayer and vigils outside abortion facilities nationwide.David Bereit, the national director of the 40 Days for Life campaign, said vigils will start on Sept. 26 outside abortion facilities in more than 80 cities in 33 states.He said it is the "largest and longest simultaneous pro-life mobilization in American history."The effort is an intensive pro-life campaign that focuses on 40 days of "prayer and fasting, peaceful vigil at abortion facilities, and grassroots educational outreach."According to Bereit's group, Planned Parenthood national president Cecile Richards has admitted in a mass e-mail about the Aurora situation that "more people are protesting this clinic than we've seen in a long time."To be honest," she told supporters. "It's going to take all our efforts to open this clinic.""If it takes all of Planned Parenthood's national efforts to respond to 40 days of prayer, fasting, and peaceful activism in one city, we can only imagine the impact it will have on the entire abortion industry when more than 80 cities join together for 40 Days for Life beginning next week,"Bereit said. "The events in Aurora have inspired unprecedented levels of pro-life activity all across the nation, forming a 'perfect storm' which we believe could mark the beginning of the end of abortion in America."As WND reported earlier, an Aurora lawyer has asked the city to evict Planned Parenthood from the 22,000-square-foot abortion facility because its temporary occupancy permit has expired and "there is no legal right to occupy the current structure in any capacity."The city responded to the letter from lawyer Vincent A. Tessitore with the affirmation that the litigation was continuing. "While this matter is pending … we will maintain the status quo as to occupancy of this site…"Based upon your complaint however, I have assigned an employee to visit the property and ascertain whether or not the property has been opened for business contrary to what was agreed," wrote Alayne Weingartz, corporate counsel for the city.Planned Parenthood had created a front group, called Gemini Office Development, which acted as the developer and owner.In fact, Planned Parenthood officials told a local newspaper they withheld the identity of the owner in order to prevent people from knowing an abortion facility was being installed in their community.
Jill Stanek, a columnist for WND, has been monitoring the dispute, and has reported that opposition appears to be increasing."I was at the PP site in Aurora on Tuesday, September 18, 2007, from approximately 9:00 am until 2:00 pm, and again from 5:30 pm until 8:00 pm. At approximately 12:15 p.m. I observed several persons, male and female entering and exiting the front entrance of the PP facility. I observed tables being set-up in front of the entrance and items being placed on the tables. Some of these items were various pieces of published literature promoting PP's services," wrote a participant in her blog's comment section. "Therefore it seems that Planned Parenthood in Aurora WAS INDEED CONDUCTING BUSINESS BY SOLICITING CLIENTS."A report in the Daily Herald newspaper said Planned Parenthood President Steve Trombley reported that his staff was training and unpacking, and city spokeswoman Carie Anne Ergo said such presence is allowed under a "prestock" approval. But officials did sent a letter to the clinic by the city warning them any activity must be limited to training and equipment setup.Tessitore had told the city earlier that technically Planned Parenthood never should be allowed to occupy the building."The greater issue is the rule of law, well settled in Illinois. If you commit fraud in the permit and planning approval process, those approvals are void and revoked," he said. "In my opinion there is a prima facie case for fraud in the approval process."
He said a logical solution for the situation at hand would be for Planned Parenthood to sell or lease the current structure."Under the letter of the law, the structure simply could not be used by Planned Parenthood," he said."They had their shot, they lied and now they can't go there," Tessitore said.

As in the days of Noah....

NAU WATCH:Mexican official urges North American Union

At a Denver conference on intercontinental trade corridors, a Mexican mayor called for a swift move toward a European Union-style merger of the U.S., Canada and Mexico.Referring to Europe, Evaristo Lenin Perez of Ciudad Acuna-a sister city of Del Rio, Texas-told the Great Plains International Conference, "It's a model we need to follow quickly."Perez later told WND, "If only people know the benefits of opening the borders and working together, improving the quality of life for all, then no one would be opposed to the idea of a North American Union."A spokesman for organizers of the conference-which began Wednesday and concludes today – rejected the Mexican mayor's view. "This is not what the conference is about, it is not about a North American Union," said Joe Kiely, vice president of the Ports-to-Plains Trade Corridor Coalition. "It is about developing infrastructure and economic opportunities in the Great Plains. I am equally surprised the other items were brought up here." Ports-to-Plains describes itself as "a planned, multimodal transportation corridor including a multi-lane divided highway that will facilitate the efficient transportation of goods and services from Mexico, through West Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, and Oklahoma, and ultimately on into Canada and the Pacific Northwest."The conference, held at the Adams Mark Hotel, is promoted as an opportunity to "highlight the efforts of communities and citizens working together to bring the benefits of investment in transportation infrastructure and trade home to the Great Plains region."Asked why he chose the conference to promote the idea of a North American Union, Perez told WND, "It's as good as any place and the right people are here.""This is not a new idea," he said. "In fact when there are border meetings between border governors or border legislatures this is a topic that continually comes up."Perez also affirmed the Ports to Plains Corridor is basically a NAFTA Superhighway and needs to be developed as such."We need to begin by building the infrastructure in the three countries, investing in Mexico, and then we can sell the main idea that Mexicans should stay in Mexico. We just need to create an equal level for all," Perez said.Del Rio, Texas, Mayor Efrain Valdes told conferees he came to build relationships he hopes will last for decades to come."We are all North Americans," he said. "Three countries, but we are all North Americans."Michael Reeves, president of Ports-to-Plains Trade Corridor Coalition, kicked off the conference with brief remarks.Eduardo Arnal, consulate general of Mexico in Denver, later provided numerous statistics documenting the strong economic relationship between Mexico and the U.S."Because of NAFTA, we are partners in the fight against terror and need to help ensure each other's safety," Arnal said.Arnal later discussed with WND the relationship between Mexico and the U.S. and the issue of illegal immigration."The best and only way to stop illegal immigration is for the United States to invest in Mexico," he said. "A fence will not work. It's a simple equation of supply and demand-Mexicans go to the U.S. for work because the demand for their labor and wages is there."Arnal said although Mexico must share responsibility for the immigration issue, it is the U.S. that really needs to step up and begin investing more in Mexico to help bring the country to a level playing field.The Canadian perspective was delivered by Phillippe Taillon, vice consul and trade commissioner of the Canadian Consulate in Denver. Like his Mexican counterpart, Taillon presented statistics on the relationship between the three countries and told the crowd "NAFTA has been hugely profitable for all three countries."He also expressed an interest in continuing to integrate rail, truck and air transportation networks as Canada looks to open new markets from Asia. http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=57762

As in the days of Noah...


Song praises attacks eliciting 'chunks of flesh of Jews':Palestinian music video in Hebrew celebrates putting Israelis 'in black bags'

Hamas, which has a majority in the Palestinian Authority's parliament, broadcast a music video on its Al Aqsa TV channel that showed terrorist attacks against Israeli citizens, accompanied by the lyrics, "In black bags, chunks of flesh of Jews."
Footage of the broadcast, along with a translation, was obtained by the Middle East Media Research Institute.
The program aired Wednesday.
The lyrics to "Hamas - The Apple of My Eye," according to MEMRI, are as follows:
Hamas, Hamas, Hamas the apple of my eye - Hamas
They destroyed the Merkava [tank]the apple of my eye - Hamas
Repeated eight times
A bombing every minute
Soldiers are afraid
A bombing every minute
Soldiers are afraid
In black bags
Chunks of flesh of Jews
repeated five times
In retaliation for Yassin we want Sharon's head
We want Sharon's head
we want Sharon's head!
Hamas, Hamas, Hamas the apple of my eye - Hamas
They destroyed the Merkava [tank]the apple of my eye - Hamas
Repeated five times
the apple of my eye -Hamas
the apple of my eye - Hamas"
Produced by AL-Aqsa TV, 2007"Dedicated to the Arab and Palestinian community in Sweden
The video includes scenes of armed children in military garb conducting drills similar to Hamas terrorists. As WND reported, Hamas has featured such images before.
Celebration of terrorist attacks also is a common feature of Palestinian media.
As WND reported last week, on the sixth anniversary of 9/11, the U.S.-backed Palestinian Authority continued its tradition of celebrating the attacks by publishing cartoons in its official daily that glorify Osama Bin Laden and mock American suffering.
Palestinian Media Watch reported a cartoon in Al Hayat Al Jadida – owned by the PA and controlled by the office of President Mahmoud Abbas – showed the al-Qaida leader making the "V" for victory sign with two fingers in the shape of the burning Twin Towers.
The only text on the cartoon is "Exclusive to Al Hayat Al Jadida," which means it was prepared specifically for the official PA daily, notes PMW.
The Israeli media monitor says the PA's celebration of 9/11 goes back to the day of the attacks in 2001 when the world was shocked by televised scenes of Palestinians rejoicing in the streets.
A December 2005 poll by the Norwegian Institute for Applied International Studies found 65 percent of Palestinians supported al-Qaida actions in the U.S. and Europe.
PS:If Hitler was alive today he would be the head of this Hamas TV.....
As in the days of Noah...

Actors tell Hollywood 'Enough is Enough':Petition set up to seek respect for Jesus' name

Actress Kathy Griffin's rant at the Emmy awards in which she told Jesus to "suck it" has triggered a petition campaign intended to tell Hollywood "Enough is Enough!"Griffin, the star of the Bravo show "My Life on the D-List," was being honored for the Outstanding Reality Program, overtaking ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" after multiple attempts, when she launched into the tirade.But cast members at the Miracle Theater in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., say they have had all they can stand. "We, as Christian entertainers, do not take it lightly that the name of our Lord and Savior has been mocked, and in response, we took out an ad in USA Today to stand up for Him," the group said.The group purchased a USA Today ad, for almost $100,000, on Sept. 17 to say, "'Enough is Enough!' The name of Jesus Christ should not be mocked, nor should those who love Him be slandered for their beliefs. It is time for people of faith around the country to stand firm against religious slander, bias, and bigotry of all types including Christianity!" "We are the actors, singers, dancers, crew and managers of Miracle Theater in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. We are proud to stand on stage every night and use our God-given talents to portray the life and the love of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We, along with thousands of other Christians in the entertainment industry, know our talents do come from God, and we take offense when His name is battered and bruised by people through the media. Over 2,000 years ago, Jesus was mocked and few stood up for Him. We at The Miracle Theater consider it an honor to stand for Jesus today," the group said.Griffin, at the 59th annual Creative Arts Emmy Awards held recently, said:"I guess hell froze over. A lot of people come up here and thank Jesus for this. He had nothing to do with this. ... Suck it, Jesus! This award is my god now," she said.The statement brought an immediate reaction from Bill Donohue, president of Catholic League. He called it a "vulgar in-your-face brand of hate speech" from a self-described "complete militant atheist." He continued: "Mel Gibson. Michael Richards. Isaiah Washington. Imus. Jerry Lewis. Every time a celebrity offends a segment of the population, he pays a price, in one way or another. The question now is whether Kathy Griffin will pay a similar price for her outburst. And as we have learned, her verbal assault was calculated."The Miracle Theater organization said: "Our attempt is not to throw stones at Ms. Griffin, or anyone else. It is every American's God given right to worship freely and to speak freely. We believe, however, that as Christians, we should not accept her mockery of our Lord quietly! What is shocking to us is how people tend to respond to comments like this about Jesus Christ. It made our heart sick to see people in the audience at the Emmys laughing at Griffin's remarks."The idea for its petition effort, "Million Voices for Christ," came about after many people saw the original ad, and called to express their thanks. The group then purchased a second ad to announce its petition plans."It seemed that many were looking for a way to speak out on the matter. If we together stand up and say, 'Enough is Enough!' we can show the media that there are MILLIONS OF US that love our Lord! With a million signatures, together, we can remind Hollywood that this country was founded on the principles of God's Holy Word," the group said."The message of this petition is simple respect. Our primary objective is to give any person who wants to speak out in support of Christ an outlet to do so," said Russ Hollingsworth, general manager of The Miracle Theater. "There is strength in numbers. One million people speaking up just can't be ignored."He said every American has the right to worship freely and to speak freely. "We believe, however, that as Christians it's time for us to take a stand for our faith and ask for respectful treatment from the media and the entertainment industry."
The petition is on the organization's web page.

As in the days of Noah...

Did Noah's Flood spark global warming?New documentary says temperature rising for last 5,000 years

Yes, global temperatures are rising, says a new video documentary, but it's not because of manmade carbon dioxide gases as former Vice President Al Gore insists.It's because Earth has been warming slowly but surely ever since Noah's Flood 5,000 years ago, says a retired geophysicist and climate researcher in the video.In "Miraculous Messages: From Noah's Flood to the End Times," the latest release from Grizzly Adams Productions, John Baumgardner, who spent 12 years working on a Global Ocean Model at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and was directly involved with climate research, does not dispute the Earth's experience of increasingly warmer temperatures. But he contends the primary cause is not related to man's burning of coal and oil. Baumgardner notes that the Earth has experienced warming and cooling cycles several times since Noah's Flood approximately 5,000 years ago. One such period was from AD 900 to AD 1300."During that time the Vikings colonized Greenland, and abundant farming, grasslands, herds, and even vineyards were present in Greenland," he says. The "Little Ice Age" followed this warm period. In AD 1600, during this period, the Thames River in London froze.With unmistakable evidence of significant variations in global temperature over the past 2,000 years, the current warming is "not out of range," Baumgardner explains. "Current warming actually started in 1800 and accelerated during the 20th century, so now we're about a degree warmer than we were 100 years ago.""Miraculous Messages" looks at additional factors that affect climate cycles. According to Baumgardner, recent research indicates a connection between the amount of solar (magnetic) activity on the sun and the average temperature of the Earth's surface."Currently solar activity is high," he says. "There are fewer cosmic rays reaching into the atmosphere and, as a result, less clouds and higher temperatures."Walt Brown, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel, a mechanical engineer from MIT, and the former chief of science and technology studies at the Air War College, is another scientist featured in "Miraculous Messages." According to Brown, it is inevitable that man contributes to some global warming, "but the amount is probably not large and no one really knows the extent."The documentary explores how Noah built his massive Ark, the number of animals aboard, and where the Ark landed, based on research from scientists in various fields. In addition, "Miraculous Messages" explains in depth how a catastrophic worldwide flood could have happened and the current evidences left behind from this event – 25 mysterious anomalies found on Earth.

As in the days of Noah....

LEWDNESS WATCH:Amsterdam draws curtain on sex industry as red light windows close

Amsterdam is set to lose a large chunk of its red light district, after the forced sale of a third of the buildings currently used for prostitution.With its scantily-clad prostitutes posing in brothel windows and coffee shops oozing the pungent aroma of cannabis smoke, the red light district's seediness has always been part of its attraction. But the district is a magnet for petty criminals and, authorities believe, human traffickers, drug lords and mobsters - who take advantage of the situation to launder money. The move is part of Mayor Job Cohen's efforts to counter that crime."What we do want is to get rid of the underlying criminality," said Cohen.He insisted however that he didn't want to get rid of prostitution entirely, since it is part of the area's history and a major tourist draw for the city.It is understood that the buildings could be turned into luxury apartments and tasteful shopping malls.The NV Stadsgoed housing corporation has purchased 18 buildings with 51 windows, that have traditionally house window prostitutes in Amsterdam's famed red light district, for 25 million Euros.That is around a third of the windows in the red light district, though there are other prostitution zones in the city.NV Stadsgoed will redevelop some or all of the buildings, and because they are not likely to be worth as much as housing or regular commercial real estate, the city has agreed to reimburse the corporation by up to 15 million Euros.Amsterdam has been conducting a crackdown on crime in the city centre for nearly five years, using a 2002 law that forces business operators to disclose detailed accounting in order to have their licenses renewed.The seller in deal, "Fat" Charlie Geerts, was ordered by the city last year to close the windows because the city said he failed to meet standards. But he filed a legal protest and Amsterdam's District Court granted an injunction against closures while he fought the decision.Prostitution is legal in the Netherlands, and coffee shops are licensed to sell small amounts of marijuana.Prostitutes' rights organizations have generally been indifferent to the crackdown, arguing that pimps are the main source of problems, not landlords.

As in the days of Noah....