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Mugabe asks for poll recount as stalemate deepens
HARARE-Zimbabwe sunk deeper into political stalemate on Sunday, with the opposition going to court to get election results released and President Robert Mugabe's ruling party asking for a delay and recount.Tensions between the two sides have risen sharply since the elections last weekend, fueled by opposition suspicions Mugabe's ZANU-PF is preparing to rig the outcome of the hotly contested March 29 presidential poll.The stakes were raised on Saturday when Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, declared victory over Mugabe in the presidential race and accused the veteran 84-year-old leader of "preparing a war on the people".Mugabe's supporters struck back hours later when state media reported that ZANU-PF had asked election officials to defer release of the presidential poll results and conduct a recount and audit of all materials, including ballots, used in it.The ruling party cited "revelations of errors and miscalculations" as the basis for its request, according to a report in the state-run Sunday Mail. The High Court in Harare is scheduled on Sunday to hear Tsvangirai's application to have the results issued immediately, His MDC supporters say they will show the former union leader won an absolute majority of the votes.Independent observers, however, say the MDC leader outpolled Mugabe but did not win enough votes to avoid a run-off.Top ZANU-PF officials have endorsed Mugabe for the second ballot, putting to rest speculation that they might ask him to concede defeat.To read more go to:
As in the days of Noah.....
Egypt braces for general strike
CAIRO, Egypt-Egypt's Interior Ministry warned Egyptians on Saturday against interfering with traffic or keeping public servants from going to work ahead of a general strike being called by textile workers and activists.Egypt's largest state-owned textile factory, Mahalla al-Kobra, has called for a strike Sunday over low wages and rising prices. Democracy activists are trying to turn it into a nationwide action at a time of rising discontent over economic conditions."The ministry's agencies will take the necessary and immediate firm measures against any attempt to demonstrate, block traffic or hinder public services-or inciting any of these acts," the statement said.The ministry went on to condemn the "illegitimate groups" calling for the strike and assured the people that on Sunday, government services will be operating as normal.Strikes and demonstrations are illegal in Egypt under emergency law. Limited demonstrations became possible in the aftermath of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and American pressure on the region to democratize and ahead of Egyptian presidential elections in 2005.In 2006, however, security services no longer allowed even limited street protests.In its statement, the ministry assured that there was "no prevention of freedom of expression, just that such actions must come through legitimate channels and the qualified unions and professional associations according to the law."Al-Azhar, the nation's highest Sunni Islamic institution, whose head is appointed by the government, has also come out against the strike."Any delay of work is considered harmful to the citizens' and state's interest and will exacerbate the problem," Sheik Abdel-Fattah Allam, a senior official at the institution, said in the early Sunday edition of the state-owned daily Al-Gomhuria.In recent days, anti-government groups have been sending mobile phone messages and e-mails urging people across the country to hold protests, stay home from work, avoid shopping, wear black clothes and hang the Egyptian flag from windows and balconies in a show of support for the strikers.The country's most powerful opposition movement, the Muslim Brotherhood, threw its support behind the strikers Thursday, raising government fears that the movements seeks to position itself to be the political vehicle for the economic discontent.The government quickly announced a ban on political rallies inside mosques, hoping to blunt protests. Mubarak also lifted import duties on some foodstuffs in an effort to soften economic complaints brought on by a near doubling of prices because of international and local influences.Nearly 40 percent of Egyptians live near or below the poverty line of $2 a day.The strike calls were the first major attempt by opposition groups to turn the past year's labor unrest and the rising anger over the economy into a wider political protest against the government, only two days before key elections for local councils Tuesday.As in the days of Noah....
US, Russia in tense swansong summit
SOCHI, Russia-Vladimir Putin and George W. Bush hold their final summit here Sunday trying to put an amicable face on tense US-Russia ties yet unable to bridge wide gaps on European security and other issues.Bush arrived in this Russian Black Sea resort late Saturday and was given a tour by Putin of models of planned 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics sites before the two retired to Putin's seaside residence for an informal, private dinner.The ambiance at the dinner, also attended by Russian president-elect Dmitry Medvedev, was described afterwards by White House spokeswoman Dana Perino as "warm, very comfortable, easygoing."But Bush and Putin were to get down to more serious talks starting at 0600 GMT on Sunday that were expected to touch on their differences over US missile shield plans, NATO expansion, arms treaties and other contentious issues.Officials from both countries have said that a "strategic framework" document, a joint statement aimed at defining a path forward in US-Russian relations, would be issued at the Sochi talks.But even as Bush was on his way to Russia from Croatia, where he lauded that country's accession to NATO after generations of Kremlin domination, the White House downplayed talk of a US-Russia breakthrough on the missile defence plan."We're going to have to do more work after Sochi," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters aboard Bush's plane."No one has said that everything would be finalised and everyone would be satisfied," she added.Putin leaves office next month with Bush doing the same eight months later and observers say both leaders would like their relationship to be remembered for more than just the US-Russian disputes that have risen during their terms.Those disputes however show little sign of being resolved anytime soon, although there have been some indications of movement on the missile defence split that US officials have said they hope Russia will acknowledge at the Sochi talks.The US missile plan foresees installing nine interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar in the Czech Republic to guard against missile attacks from "rogue states" like Iran.Russia counters that Iran poses no missile threat to the United States and says it views the shield as a threat to its own security.The United States says it has made "forward-leaning" concessions to assuage Russia's concerns that include, for example, giving Russian liaison officers access to system sites in Poland and the Czech Republic."The Russians said that these were useful and important," US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told reporters last week on the sideslines of the NATO summit in Bucharest."We hope that we can move beyond that to an understanding that we will all have an interest in cooperation on missile defence" during the Bush-Putin meeting in Sochi, she said.Russia has also warned that NATO membership for ex-Soviet Ukraine and Georgia would be a "serious strategic mistake" that Moscow would take as a direct threat and that would undermine wider European security.Putin was credited with a big diplomatic coup last week when the NATO summit refused to put Ukraine and Georgia on a formal track for alliance membership, as Moscow wished, despite vigorous pleas from Bush.But no sooner was that decision announced then 26-nation alliance said it had no doubt that the two states would be taken in later, irking Putin enough that he held an unscheduled news conference at the NATO summit.In addition to his swansong meeting with Putin, Bush was also scheduled to hold talks with Medvedev, who takes office on May 7.Medvedev, Putin's hand-picked successor, has signalled that he plans no major departures from the Putin policy line-a point he has underscored with plans to make Putin his first prime minister.As in the days of Noah.....
IF THE ROOT BE HOLY SO ARE THE BRANCHES
"For I speak to you Gentiles,inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles,I magnify mine office:
If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh,and might save some of them.
For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world,what shall the receiving of them be,but life from the dead?
For if the firstfruit be holy,the lump is also holy:and if the root be holy,so are the branches.
And if some of the branches be broken off,and thou,being a wild olive tree,wert grafted in among them,and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;
Boast not against the branches.But if thou boast,thou bearest not the root,but the root thee.
Thou wilt say then,The branches were broken off,that I might be grafted in.
Well;because of unbelief they were broken off,and thou standest by faith.Be not highminded,but fear:
For if God spared not the natural branches,take heed lest he also spare not thee.
Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God:on them which fell,severity;but toward thee,goodness,if thou continue in his goodness:otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.
And they also,if they abide not still in unbelief,shall be grafted in:for God is able to graft them in again.
For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature,and wert grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree:how much more shall these,which be the natural branches,be grafted into their own olive tree?"
Romans 11:13-24
If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh,and might save some of them.
For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world,what shall the receiving of them be,but life from the dead?
For if the firstfruit be holy,the lump is also holy:and if the root be holy,so are the branches.
And if some of the branches be broken off,and thou,being a wild olive tree,wert grafted in among them,and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;
Boast not against the branches.But if thou boast,thou bearest not the root,but the root thee.
Thou wilt say then,The branches were broken off,that I might be grafted in.
Well;because of unbelief they were broken off,and thou standest by faith.Be not highminded,but fear:
For if God spared not the natural branches,take heed lest he also spare not thee.
Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God:on them which fell,severity;but toward thee,goodness,if thou continue in his goodness:otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.
And they also,if they abide not still in unbelief,shall be grafted in:for God is able to graft them in again.
For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature,and wert grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree:how much more shall these,which be the natural branches,be grafted into their own olive tree?"
Romans 11:13-24
China insists torch will go through Tibet
BEIJING-China's top official in Tibet, rejecting a demand of activists around the world, has insisted that the Beijing Olympics torch relay will pass through the Himalayan region as planned.Zhang Qingli, the most senior Chinese Communist Party official in Tibet, told local leaders that Beijing was in no mood to listen to the demands of demonstrators calling for the route to be changed.In a statement on the Tibet government website Sunday, Zhang said Tibet was determined to play its part in a successful Olympics by hosting the torch relay on June 19 and 20 and overseeing the flame's ascent of Mount Everest in May.He urged the people to "deepen their drive to complete the glorious, important and arduous task" of having the torch pass through Tibet.Zhang was quoted by the official Xinhua news agency as saying that officials needed to keep a "clear head" in the struggle against the so-called "Dalai clique," which he said was far from over.China blames Tibet's exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama for protests that began in Tibet's capital, Lhasa, on March 10, and then escalated into rioting in the city four days later.Protests also spread to many other areas of western China with Tibetan populations.China says Tibetan rioters have killed 20 people. But Tibet's government in exile Saturday raised to more than 150 the number of Tibetans it said were killed in China's crackdown on the demonstrations.Indicating the protests were continuing, Xinhua reported police fired warning shots at "rioters" in Garze county, Sichuan province, on Thursday after the protesters seriously injured a local official.But Tibetan activist groups said police fired directly into the protesters, killing at least eight.The unrest has triggered worldwide protests over the Beijing Olympics, with pro-Tibet activists demanding that the torch relay be diverted from Tibet.The Olympic torch is scheduled to make an ascent of Everest, the world's highest peak, in May. In June it is to travel through Lhasa.The relay has already run into trouble after beginning its journey around the world, which concludes with the opening ceremony of the Games in the Chinese capital on August 8.Protesters disrupted the torch lighting ceremony last month in Greece and have staged demonstrations at various points along the route so far.Later Sunday the torch was to be carried through London, where more protests were expected. Further demonstrations are planned when the relay travels to Paris on Monday and then on to San Francisco on Wednesday.Pro-Tibet protesters have been joined by human rights groups which accuse Beijing of cracking down on individual freedoms in the run-up to the Olympics in order to silence critics of the regime.They cite the jailing of dissidents including AIDS activist Hu Jia, sentenced to three and a half years in prison on Thursday for subversion. His crimes include talking and writing about communist party corruption, freedom and human rights.Rights group Amnesty International said last week that human rights in China had suffered as a direct result of Beijing being awarded the right to host the Games. China promised to improve human rights in its campaign to win the Games.Various rights groups have called for heads of state to boycott the August 8 opening ceremony, a proposal which has yet to be ruled out by some leaders, including French President Nicolas Sarkozy.International Olympic Committee (IOC) head Jacques Rogge has said he believes there is no "real momentum" for a boycott although individual leaders were entitled to make up their own minds.Rogge said that human rights and other issues will be on the agenda when the IOC's executive board meets in Beijing on Thursday and Friday.
As in the days of Noah....
Conflict escalates at polygamist retreat
ELDORADO, Texas - Sect leaders at a polygamist compound in West Texas refused Saturday to let authorities search a temple for a teenage girl whose report of abuse led to the raid, and authorities said they were preparing "for the worst."If no agreement is reached with sect leaders, authorities will forcibly remove the sect's followers "as peaceably as possible," Allison Palmer, a prosecutor in Tom Green County, told the San Angelo Standard-Times.Medical workers are being sent "in case this were to a go in a way that no one wants," Palmer said. Law enforcers are "preparing for the worst," she said."Within the religion that we have encountered, their place of worship is very special to them," Palmer said. "It appears to be of great concern to them if a person from outside their congregation even attempts to step inside their place of worship."A search warrant authorized troopers to enter the retreat, run by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. They are looking for evidence of a marriage between the girl and a 50-year-old man.Court documents the girl had a baby eight months ago, when she was 15.State welfare officials on Friday removed 52 girls from the compound. Marleigh Meisner, a spokeswoman for Child Protective Services, said another 131 residents were removed overnight. By Saturday afternoon, 137 children and 46 women were being housed and interviewed at local community centers."They seem to be doing fine," Meisner told The AP.Investigators remained inside the compound looking for additional children, she said.The whereabouts of the 16-year-old mother who sparked the investigation are unknown, Meisner said. State troopers who raided the religious retreat were looking for the girl, her baby girl and 50-year-old Dale Barlow.Under Texas law, girls younger than 16 cannot marry, even with parental approval.Officials in Texas declined to comment Saturday on whether they had found Barlow, citing a gag order, but the man's probation officer told The Salt Lake Tribune that he was in Arizona."He said the authorities had called him (in Colorado City, Ariz.) and some girl had accused him of assaulting her and he didn't even know who she was," said Bill Loader, a probation officer in Arizona.Barlow was sentenced to jail time last year after pleading no contest to conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor. He was also ordered to register as a sex offender for three years while he is on probation.His lawyer in that case, Bruce Griffen, said he had not spoken to Barlow in a year.The search warrant instructed officers to look for marriage records or other evidence linking her to the man and the baby. The warrant authorized the seizure of computer drives, CDs, DVDs or photos.Those inside the retreat did not respond to requests for comment.The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints broke away from the Mormon church after the latter disavowed polygamy more than a century ago.The compound sits down a narrow paved road and behind a hill that shields it almost entirely from view in town. Only the 80-foot-high, gleaming white temple can be seen on the horizon. Authorities blocked access to the gate, keeping onlookers miles away.The 1,700-acre property had been an exotic game ranch. It is surrounded by dusty, wind-swept land where sheep are raised and mohair produced. Eldorado (pronounced el-dor-AY'-do) is a two-stoplight town of fewer than 2,000 people and located nearly 200 miles northwest of San Antonio. It consists of a cluster of government buildings, a couple churches and a few blocks of houses.State officials said they did not know how many people lived at the retreat, although local officials estimated about 150 two years ago.The FLDS has been led by Warren Jeffs since his father died in 2002. In November, Jeffs was sentenced to two consecutive sentences of five years to life in prison in Utah for being an accomplice to the rape of a 14-year-old girl who wed her cousin in an arranged marriage in 2001.In Arizona, Jeffs is charged as an accomplice with four counts each of incest and sexual conduct with a minor stemming from two arranged marriages between teenage girls and their older male relatives. He is jailed in Kingman, Ariz., awaiting trial.http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080406/ap_on_re_us/polygamist_retreat;_ylt=Aok7DaHX5bUmqeqViiUaL.Ws0NUE
As in the days of Noah....
Australian Planes Targeted in Laser Attacks
Australian terror experts are investigating a series of recent laser-pointer attacks on airplanes after several reportedly linked incidents to determine whether they were carried out by an organized group, reports showed.The laser pointers, which easily can be found and bought online, vary in color, price and range, with some able to project their beams at objects miles away.Government officials also are considering a ban on the lasers after pilots of six planes made emergency complaints of the distracting light being shone into the cockpits and had to alter their flight paths into Sydney when they were targeted in a "cluster attack" last Friday.The planes changed their flight paths into Kingsford Smith airport after pilots were targeted by four green lasers around 10:30 p.m. local time.Authorities said it was a co-ordinated attack lasting 15 minutes.The laser beams appeared to have originated from the Bexley area in southwestern Sydney.The attack was described by an Air Services Australia spokesman as "the worst attack in our experience."NSW Police Minister David Campbell on Sunday said he was considering a ban on the laser pointers."There are some penalties that police can impose now, but we're looking to make these items a prohibited weapon in certain circumstances which would lead to substantial fines and possible jail terms," he said on Macquarie Radio.The Civil Aviation Safety Authority supported the ban, saying it would bring NSW into line with other states.CASA spokesman Peter Gibson said laser attacks on pilots were increasing in number, with five to six reported in Australia each week."Western Australia only announced in the last couple of weeks that they were going to make it a prohibited weapon, Victoria has already done that," Gibson said."Progressively, the law is cracking down on this, which is, from an aviation industry point of view, very welcome."I think it sends a clear message to members of the public who might be contemplating this stupid act, that not only is stupid but taken very seriously by the law," he said.Click here to view video.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,346852,00.html
As in the days of Noah....
Iranian Group to Produce Film in Response to Dutch Anti-Koran Film
Stung by a Dutch lawmaker's graphic documentary depicting barbaric acts carried out in the name of Islam and the Koran, an Iranian film organization says it is producing a counter-documentary, "Beyond Fitna."[[[[[[[[[[Iran's FARS news agency reports the film focuses on "orders given to worldwide Christians in the (distorted) version of the Bible for stoking violence, committing genocide, attacking others, beheading and burning women and children who have been taken into captivity. "]]]]]]]]]]]??????The Iranian film announcement comes a week after far-right Dutch politician Geert Wilders released his 17-minute film, "Fitna" in the Web.The release of "Fitna" on March 27 sparked noisy protests from Islamic groups and leaders-some threatening Wilders with death-and the United Nations and several nations called for the removal of the film from video Web sites such as Google and YouTube.FARS reports the film makers also will include segments on FOX News' Bill O'Reilly.PS:There is no telling what they're gonna incvlude in the film.....may be is like the one they made about Jesus where he looks like a hippie from the 60's....
Some muslims cannot stand the TRUTH.....
As in the days of Noah....
Ecuador says CIA controls part of its intelligence
QUITO-Ecuador's president accused the CIA on Saturday of controlling many of his country's spy agencies, in comments that could fray ties with Washington and drag it into Ecuador's feud with neighboring Colombia.President Rafael Correa has fired a top intelligence officer and plans to overhaul spy agencies for belatedly informing him about links between Colombian rebels and an Ecuadorian who died in Colombia's raid inside Ecuador last month that sparked a regional crisis."Many of our intelligence agencies have been taken over by the CIA," the leftist leader said during his weekly radio show."Through the CIA, information found here was passed to Colombia to improve their position" in the dispute.Correa also charged the United States with financing some officers in the Ecuadorian spy agencies.U.S. Embassy spokesman in Quito Arnaldo Arbesu declined to comment on the charges but said, "We are always willing to work with the Ecuadorian government in any type of issue."Correa, whose popularity has rebounded for his handling of the dispute and is an ally of U.S. foe Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, is a critic of U.S. foreign policy in Latin America.He has called President George W. Bush worse than Satan, and once vowed to cut off his own arm before renewing a lease that allows U.S. troops to use a key anti-drug air base.The March 1 raid, which killed a Colombian rebel leader and more than 20 other people, raised the threat of war after Ecuador and Venezuela briefly sent troops to their borders with Colombia. Nerves quickly calmed during a regional meeting a week later.To read more go to:
As in the days of Noah...
LAND FULL of VIOLENCE:Sri Lankan minister killed in blast
COLOMBO-Sri Lanka's highways minister and at least nine other people were killed on Sunday by a blast near Colombo that was blamed on Tamil Tiger rebels, a security official said."Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle(picture left on a white shirt) is dead from the explosion," Laksman Hulugalla, director general of the media centre for national security, told Reuters.The military said 10 people were killed and 25 injured by the explosion in the western district of Gampaha, where Fernandopulle was attending a public function.Military officials said they suspected that Tamil Tigers were responsible for the blast in the town of Weliveriya, 30 km (19 miles) from the capital, Colombo.The attack came as the Sri Lankan military presses on with an offensive to retake the Tigers' northern stronghold. Nearly 60 rebels were killed in two days of gunbattles along the northern frontier, the government said earlier this week.The Tigers have been fighting for an independent state in the north and east of the war-scarred island in a 25-year civil war that has killed an estimated 70,000 people.In January the government called off a tattered 2002 ceasefire, accusing the rebels of using it to regroup and re-arm, and vowed to fight them militarily.http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSCOL31340720080406
As in the days of Noah....
SIGN of the TIMES:Families in meltdown, judge says
A senior family court judge has hit out at the government over what he says is an "epidemic" of family failure that will have "catastrophic" effects.In a speech, Mr Justice Coleridge, a Family Division judge for England and Wales, warned the results could be as destructive as global warming.He said ministers are not doing enough about a "meltdown" in family life.The government defended its record on the family and said most children were "safe, healthy, and achieve well".In a speech in Brighton to lawyers from Resolution, formerly the Solicitors' Family Law Association, the judge warned of a "cancerous" increase in broken families and said the government must take "comprehensive action". The judge said those who witnessed the goings-on inside family courts would be aware of it being a "never ending carnival of human misery - a ceaseless river of human distress".Using very strong language, Mr Justice Coleridge warned of a bleak future if the UK did not address the problems he described.He said "the effects of family breakdown" would, within the next 20 years, be "as marked and as destructive as the effects of global warming"."We are experiencing a period of family meltdown whose effects will be as catastrophic as the meltdown of the ice caps," said the judge, who added that its effects pose "as big a threat to the future of our society as terrorism, street crime or drugs".Mr Justice Coleridge said the collapse of family life is at a scale and severity that would have been unimaginable even 10 years ago.'Broken' families
"What is certain is that almost all of society's social ills can be traced directly to the collapse of the family life," he said.However, Mr Justice Coleridge, who heads family courts in the south west of England, did not criticise single parents directly."I am not saying every broken family produces dysfunctional children but I am saying that almost every dysfunctional child is the product of a broken family."What is government doing to recognise and face up to the emerging situation? The answer is: very little and nothing like enough."It is fiddling whilst Rome burns."
Mr Justice Coleridge outlined a number of recommendations to improve the societal ills he described.The suggestions included placing family justice at the top of the political agenda; allocating more staffing and money to family issues; better funding for contact centres to aid family cohesion; and extensive reforms of the laws relating to divorce, cohabitation and financial relief.On the issue of legal reforms, Mr Justice Coleridge said divorce law and those relating to financial orders were "last properly reformed two generations ago, in the mid-60s, when society was altogether different."The current laws are not suited to modern social mores of the way we live now."
'Challenging circumstances'
A spokeswoman for the Department for Children, Families and Schools said: "Most children and young people in England today are safe, healthy, and achieve well."She added: "We do not agree that there has been a breakdown in the family - 70% of families are headed by a married couple.
"And a recent BBC poll suggests that three-quarters of people in Britain are optimistic about the future of their families, 24% higher than when the same question was asked in 1964."The spokeswoman said the Children's Plan put children and families at the centre of everything the government did.Meanwhile, more than £250m was being spent developing local services for parents in England, focusing on those in "challenging circumstances".David Laws, the Liberal Democrat spokesman for children, schools and families, said the judge was highlighting trends dating back at least 20 years."This government is not the source of the family breakdown problem but policies such as the operation of tax credits have made it more difficult for some families to bring up children in stable, two-parent households," he said.
As in the days of Noah....
SALVATION IS COME UNTO THE GENTILES....
"What then?Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for;but the election hath obtained it,and the rest were blinded.
(According as it is written,God hath given them the spirit of slumber,eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;)unto this day.
And David saith,Let their table be made a snare,and a trap,and a stumblingblock,and a recompence unto them:
Let their eyes be darkened,that they may not see,and bow down their back alway.
I say then,Have they stumbled that they should fall?God forbid:but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles,for to provoke them to jealousy.
Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world,and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles;how much more their fulness?"
Romans 11:7-12
(According as it is written,God hath given them the spirit of slumber,eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;)unto this day.
And David saith,Let their table be made a snare,and a trap,and a stumblingblock,and a recompence unto them:
Let their eyes be darkened,that they may not see,and bow down their back alway.
I say then,Have they stumbled that they should fall?God forbid:but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles,for to provoke them to jealousy.
Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world,and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles;how much more their fulness?"
Romans 11:7-12
FOOD CRISIS WATCH:Food prices drive India inflation
Inflation in India has hit a three-year high as a result of spiralling food and energy costs, official figures show.India's wholesale price index, released weekly, hit 7% for the year up to 22 March, the highest since December 2004.The government has been taking steps to control prices, banning exports of non-basmati rice and scrapping import duties on cooking oils and maize.Economists said the data could trigger a rise in interest rates this month, earlier than many had expected.India's Economic Times says the government is considering a price ceiling on commodities if all other measures fail to bring down inflation - a law last used in the 1970s.In India, the wholesale price index, which measures inflation at the "factory gate", is more closely watched than the consumer price index because it tracks a wider range of goods.The consumer price index reflects shop and market prices."Inflation is beyond anybody's expectations and I expect further firefighting measures from the government," said D K Joshi, principal economist at Crisil."One can forget lowering of interest rates for some time to come."Record prices of rice, wheat and other foodstuff, along with the sky-high oil price, have fanned inflation worldwide.This has prompted many governments to impose price controls and curb exports of essential goods.India has raised the cost of borrowing nine times since October 2004.Growth is expected to slow this coming financial year to about 8%, its weakest rate of expansion since 2005, but still a robust rate of growth.In the year ending 31 March 2008, the economy grew 8.7%.As in the days of Noah....
Islamic fighters seize Somalia town
Clashes between Islamist fighters and Ethiopian-backed government forces in Somalia this week killed dozens of people, as a militia group took over two towns and attempted to seize a third, according to journalist sources."A large number" of al-Shaabab fighters took over a village north of Mogadishu on Friday, Shabelle Media Network reported, citing Sheikh Isaaq Cadow, a local clan chief.The U.S. State Department describes al-Shaabab-also known as the Mujahedeen Youth Movement-as "a violent and brutal extremist group with a number of members affiliated with al Qaeda."The State Department said, "Many of its senior leaders are believed to have trained and fought with al Qaeda in Afghanistan."The al-Shaabab fighters declared themselves the rulers of the Biyo Ade village and said they had imposed sharia, or Islamic law, Shabelle Media said.Al-Shaabab is an extremist splinter group of the Islamic Courts Union, which seized control of Somalia and its capital, Mogadishu, two years ago before being deposed in Ethiopia's December 2006 invasion.The United States accuses the Islamic Courts Union of harboring suspected al Qaeda figures and did not protest Ethiopia's invasion. U.S. officials recently designated al-Shaabab as a terrorist group, saying it has ties to al Qaeda.Al-Shaabab fighters killed 22 government soldiers Tuesday as they wrested control of a central Somali town, local journalist Ahmed Abdulle, who witnessed the fighting, told CNN.One Islamist fighter was killed in the fierce fighting, and eight civilians were wounded, Abdulle said.The Islamists initially attacked a police station in Buulo Burte on Tuesday, surprising the government forces, he said.The al-Shaabab fighters also captured four armed government vehicles during the fighting.
However, the Islamists controlled the town only briefly, and withdrew on Wednesday ahead of the return of the Ethiopian-backed government forces, who arrived in eight military vehicles. The Islamists moved back into to the town once more on Thursday afternoon, when the government forces left. The government forces returned later that day, and the al-Shaabab fighters retreated for a final time.Witnesses said they spotted a prominent member of the al-Shaabab forces near the village later Thursday. More than 30 armed vehicles were guarding him, they said.In another central Somali town, Adaado, al-Shaabab forces battled Ethiopian-backed Somali forces for six hours on Thursday, in fighting that left 17 people dead, including three civilians.The Islamist fighters destroyed two military tanks and captured eight other military vehicles from government forces stationed in Adaado, before forcing them to withdraw to a nearby town and across the Ethiopian border.Fighting between al-Shaabab and government forces also was reported in the nearby town of Jalalaqsi, but CNN could not confirm those reports.Islamist fighters in Somalia appear to be making a comeback in recent weeks.Previously, Islamic Courts Union remnants staged only intermittent attacks across Somalia, including launching grenades in the capital Mogadishu. But recently, the Islamist fighters have become more brazen, carrying out attacks in daylight and seizing control of towns in southern and central Somalia.Asked about reports that Islamist fighters seized control of a town outside Mogadishu earlier this week, State Department spokesman Tom Casey did not seem too concerned."What we've seen recently is patterns where extremists will, in fact, go into an individual village or location temporarily, conduct activities there, but not sustain that or hold it in any meaningful way," he said during a briefing Monday.Casey called on Somalia's transitional government and its international supporters "to make sure that the threat that's posed by these extremist elements doesn't expand any further." http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/04/04/somalia.al.qaeda/index.html
As in the days of Noah....
The Irony of Intolerance
I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.John 14:6
I am a Christian fundamentalist, meaning, for one thing, that I believe in the declaration by Jesus Christ in John 14:6. I believe His claim to be absolute truth. Compared to other belief systems, this is an exclusionary statement. It divides people. Either you subscribe to it, or you don’t. There is no in between. No gray area. The Scriptures contain many other similar quotes from Jesus. For example, in John 3:3 He says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” And in Luke 13:3, He says, “No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” Christian fundamentalists like me take these words literally. Jesus wasn’t talking metaphorically. He wasn’t talking in parables, as He often did when teaching. In these declarations, He meant what He said and said what He meant. In recent years there has been a plethora of books proclaiming the “dangers” of Christian fundamentalism. Some have reached the best-seller list, e.g. American Theocracy: The Peril and Politics of Radical Religion, Oil, and Borrowed Money in the 21st Century by Kevin Phillips; Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism by Michelle Goldberg; American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War On America by Chris Hedges; and The Theocons: Secular America Under Siege by Damon Linker. Christopher Hitchens, arguably today’s leading spokesman for atheism, has a new book titled God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything. To give these folks their due, they are intelligent thinkers. They and many others like them represent the intellectual power of the secular left and they have significant influence in the world of academia, the mainstream national media, and the arts and entertainment industry. The common theme in these books and among the secular left is that people like Tim Wildmon are a clear and present danger to other Americans who do not agree with my fundamentalist Christian beliefs. Three pejorative words are often used to describe us: The Religious Right. In the secular leftist view, people like me have a political agenda to take over the country and subject non-believers – through the power of government – to our particular religious dogma. Often these people will say that we represent the Christian version of the Taliban. Obviously, the idea of a group of people gaining control of government and using it to force others to obey their particular religious beliefs scares many Americans. It would scare me, if I thought it were a real possibility. Now there may be people in this country who would like to do this, but trust me, none of the Christian fundamentalists I know have any desire to force their religious creeds on other Americans who choose to believe differently. The secular leftist thinkers become intellectually dishonest when they mislead people into accepting the lie that just because fundamentalist Christians are active and engaged in championing Biblical morality in the political process, that activity somehow equates to theocracy. Consider abortion, perhaps the most divisive social issues of our time. Christian fundamentalists believe that human life begins at conception and should be protected by government. So we work through the legal and the political systems to elect representatives who share this view. This is how the American process works. All we do is participate the same way other groups do. We have no desire to send an atheist to prison because he doesn’t confess John 14:6.If you argue that religious people should be excluded from public debate because their beliefs motivate their political activity, then you would have say the American civil rights movement was illegitimate. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a Christian minister, led the movement to pursuade government to impose a particular belief on America that all men are equal in the eyes of God. It was a movement that found it’s deepest conviction in Christianity.
WE CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALISTS ARE BECOMING OUTCASTS IN AMERICA. BECAUSE WE ARE UNWILLING TO GO ALONG WITH THE IDEA THAT ALL ROADS LEAD TO GOD, WE ARE LABELED INTOLERANT.
WE ARE UNWILLING TO SAY THAT ALL LIFESTYLES ARE MORALLY EQUAL, THEREFORE WE ARE BIGOTS.
WE BELIEVE EACH PERSON MUST REPENT OF PERSONAL SIN AND ACCEPT JESUS CHRIST AS SAVIOR TO GO TO HEAVEN SO WE ARE LABELED FASCISTS.
IT’S UNFAIR, BUT IT IS REALITY.
THE SECULAR LEFTISTS WHO SUBSCRIBE TO SECULAR HUMANISM AND MORAL RELATIVISM MAY FREELY PUSH THEIR AGENDA, BUT THEY WILL NOT TOLERATE CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALISM.
AND WE’RE INTOLERANT?
NOW ISN’T THAT AN IRONY......
By Tim Wildmon, AFA president - AFA Journal
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Journal/commentary.aspx?id=73951
As in the days of Noah....
GAY WATCH:Little by little: Ted Kennedy continues to push for homosexual cause
Pro-family activist Matt Barber says some Democrats in Congress are grudgingly accepting the reality that Americans still aren't ready to accept the "insanity" of laws granting special protections to people who are confused about their gender.Senator Ted Kennedy tells Associated Press he expects an uphill battle in his quest to get 60 Senate votes in favor of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, otherwise known as ENDA. The bill, which passed the House last November, would ban alleged "workplace discrimination" against individuals based on their sexual orientation. Oddly, the liberal senator has drawn fire from transsexuals and cross-dressers for not including additional special protections in the bill for people based on their "gender identity and expression."Senator Kennedy (D-Massachusetts) says those transgender protections may be approved next year if the Democrats gain more seats in Congress and take back the White House. Matt Barber, policy director for cultural issues at Concerned Women for America, says he never thought he would see Kennedy angering the transgender lobby but is thankful he has for the moment. "Apparently Ted Kennedy is at least smart enough to recognize that most Americans are still not ready for women to be forced to share public restrooms, locker rooms, and shower facilities with gender-confused men who like to wear dresses," Barber points out. Barber says Kennedy is not being overly optimistic but will continue to fight for the homosexual cause. "If we have a liberal-controlled White House, Senate, and House, there is a good possibility that this could become a reality. And I think Ted Kennedy's position here really represents the larger homosexual lobby's strategy for the past several decades, and that is to gain these special rights and privileges and to foist their agenda on the rest of America incrementally," Barber contends. Transgender activists plan to hold a rally April 15 in front of the Capitol and demand "gender identity and expression" protections in the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=74775
As in the days of Noah...
Tenn. public schools can offer Bible courses
Tennessee's attorney general says the state's public schools can offer classes on the Bible as long as the lessons don't endorse a particular religion.The opinion released Tuesday also says a pending legislative bill that would allow the state to create a nonsectarian Bible elective curriculum is constitutional.Four Tennessee counties currently offer such classes as a special course that counts as an elective. Such courses are designed to look at the Bible's impact on literature, art, and politics.The bill's sponsor says he requested the opinion in hopes of gaining support for the idea that academic, nonreligious Bible classes have a place in public classrooms. Neither chamber has taken any action on the bill, which would have to be approved by the state board of education if it passed.http://www.onenewsnow.com/Education/Default.aspx?id=74695
As in the days of Noah...
Kansas governor signs funeral picketing law
Governor Kathleen Sebelius has signed legislation to replace a funeral-picketing law invalidated last month by the Kansas Supreme Court.Kansas is the home state of Fred Phelps, whose followers regularly protest services for U.S. soldiers killed in combat. His Westboro Baptist Church maintains that U.S. combat deaths are God's punishment for the nation's tolerance of homosexuality.The new law, which goes into effect next Thursday, says protesters cannot be within 150 feet of a funeral one hour before, during, or two hours after a service ends.Shirley Phelps-Roper, the church's attorney and Fred Phelps's daughter, says Westboro's protesters already stay more than 150 feet away.PS:Awesome news....!!!!!!!!
As in the days of Noah...
GAY WATCH:HOMOSEXUAL LEADER CALLS AIDS: “A GAY DISEASE”
The head of a major homosexual group admitted for the first time that HIV/AIDS is “a gay disease,” but added that he believed victory for the full range of the homosexual agenda was inevitable.Matt Foreman (picture left), executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF, http://www.thetaskforce.org/), the nation’s oldest gay rights group, made the statements at the organization’s national conference in February. Foreman’s controversial statement about AIDS surprised even many of the conference attendees.He told them, “Folks, with 70% of the people in this country living with HIV being gay or bi(sexual), we cannot deny that HIV is a gay disease. We have to own that and face up to that.” That simple admission sparked a flurry of commentary from pro-family groups like AFA and Focus on the Family. For example, Gary Glenn, president of AFA of Michigan, said in a press release: “Despite medical data identifying homosexual activity among males as by far the largest single source of HIV infection in the U.S., homosexual activists have routinely condemned conservative and public health organizations for characterizing the disease as being predominantly associated with and spread by homosexual behavior.” Glenn added that “Foreman should also publicly accept responsibility for professionally promoting a lifestyle that’s medically associated with a dramatically higher risk of domestic violence, mental illness, substance abuse, eating disorders, life-threatening diseases such as AIDS, cancer, and hepatitis, and premature death by up to 20 years.” Homosexual activist Sean Kosofsky, director of policy for the Triangle Foundation, a gay lobby group that frequently tangles with Glenn, struck back at the AFA chapter president. “Gary Glenn is certainly no Christian and has no compassion for his fellow man and should be ashamed of himself for using these comments to further marginalize gay people,” Kosofsky said. “Leave it to Gary to manipulate and distract people with this kind of ugly bigotry.” Other homosexual activists, however, seemed to agree with Foreman’s initial statement at the conference. For example, Sean Strub, founder of POZ magazine, which targets those who are living with HIV, said, “What Matt Foreman meant was we as a gay community have to take more responsibility for the epidemic. Too much of the [gay] community has relegated the epidemic as some other community’s concern.” In a follow-up interview, however, Foreman implied that gay men are not responsible for getting AIDS. “I don’t blame our community for the fact that MSM [men who have sex with men] still account for nearly three quarters of men living with HIV,” Foreman said. “I hold our government accountable” for failing to deal effectively with the AIDS crisis.Success of gay movement ‘inevitable’ In his NGLTF speech Foreman left no doubt that he believes that ultimate success for the homosexual movement is a done deal. “I know – now more than ever – winning complete equality isn’t only possible, it’s inevitable and you’re going to make that happen,” he said. Foreman boasted about the continued success of gay activism. Pointing to one example, he said more and more cities and states were passing laws adding sexual orientation to nondiscrimination statutes. “Look at our progress in the percentage of the U.S. population covered by a law that protects people from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation – 0% in 1970, 4% in 1980, 12% in 1990, 28% in 2000 and today 52% – over half the U.S. population now has these protections,” he said. The success of wealthy, gay rights activists like Jon Stryker and Tim Gill, who have successfully targeted for removal candidates who refuse to accept the gay agenda (See AFA Journal, 5/07.), was a highlight of Foreman’s speech. These activists, he said, have “helped fund campaigns to take out bigots and elect pro-LGBT candidates. All of this was done over the well-funded, homophobic attack machine of America’s anti-gay industry.” The entire litany of gay demands was aired out during the speech, from legalizing same-sex marriage to allowing homosexuals to serve in the military. But that came as no surprise to AFA Chairman Don Wildmon.“AFA remains committed to the fight against the homosexual agenda precisely because we have seen, for the last 30 years or more, the determination of this community to radically alter our culture,” he said. He encouraged AFA supporters to pay particular attention to AFA Journal stories, AFA Action Alerts and articles on OneNewsNow.com, in order to stay informed and participate in combating this movement. “Matt Foreman thinks the success of the gay agenda is inevitable,” Wildmon said. “And it will be if Christian people sit back and do nothing.”BY ED VITAGLIANO - AFA Journal
As in the days of Noah....
THERE IS A REMNANT ACCORDING TO THE ELECTION OF GRACE
"I say then,Hath God cast away his people?God forbid.For I also am an Israelite,of the seed of Abraham,of the tribe of Benjamin.
God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew.Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias?how he maketh intercession to God against Israel saying,
Lord,they have killed thy prophets,and digged down thine altars;and I am left alone,and they seek my life.
But what saith the answer of God unto him?I have reserved to myself seven thousand men,who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal.
Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.
And if by grace,then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace.But if it be of works,then it is no more grace:otherwise work is no more work."
Romans 11:1-6
God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew.Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias?how he maketh intercession to God against Israel saying,
Lord,they have killed thy prophets,and digged down thine altars;and I am left alone,and they seek my life.
But what saith the answer of God unto him?I have reserved to myself seven thousand men,who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal.
Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.
And if by grace,then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace.But if it be of works,then it is no more grace:otherwise work is no more work."
Romans 11:1-6
Radical Islam’s plan for world domination
In January 2002, Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was kidnapped by Muslim radicals in Pakistan. A few days later, the 38-year-old journalist was beheaded. In a Wall Street Journal op-ed piece in January 2008, Judea Pearl, a UCLA computer science professor and the father of Daniel, noted the implacable nature of such Muslim radicals. Pearl said, “The shocking element in Danny’s murder was that he was killed, not for what he wrote or planned to write, but for what he represented-America, modernity,openness,pluralism,curiosity, dialogue, fairness, objectivity, freedom of inquiry, truth and respect for all people.” Across the globe Islam appears to be mutating into a more virulent and aggressive strain, confronting the West with a radical ideology that is demanding submission to Allah-or else.Dominance in stages Historian Daniel Pipes, an author, columnist and founder of the Middle East Forum (http://www.meforum.org/), believes that the radical Islam facing the West today arose in the last century. “In the course of the 20th century, a new form of Islam arose, one that now had great appeal and power,” he said. “Militant Islam (or Islamism – same thing) goes back to Egypt in the 1920s, when an organization called the Muslim Brethren [or Brotherhood] first emerged, though there are other strains as well, including an Iranian one, largely formulated by Ayatollah Khomeini, and a Saudi one, to which the Taliban in Afghanistan and Osama Bin Laden both belong.” According to Clifford D. May, president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a policy institute focusing on terrorism, “The Islamists stress that Islam ‘was once a winner’s religion.’” It began small and became a world power in less than 400 years. But for the last several hundred years, Muslim nations have been dominated by Western powers. “What went wrong? To Islamists, it is an article of faith … that Muslims lost ground because they strayed from the road of righteousness, the path trod by the Prophet Muhammad and his companions,” May said. “They allowed themselves to be seduced and corrupted by the West and its vices – materialism, individualism, and lasciviousness among them.” The only way to return Islam to world dominance is, well, for Islam to dominate the world again. According to Samir Khalil Samir, a Jesuit professor of Oriental studies at the University of Saint Joseph in Beirut, Lebanon, the Islamist plan involves three phases, which are all intended to work concurrently. The first stage is to reform Muslim countries which have compromised with the West, to “turn Muslim countries into Islamic states governed by sharia [Islamic] law.” Next, Samir said, is the intention to “Islamize Christians living in Muslim countries. This is happening wherever there are radical Muslims, in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, Iraq...We saw this happen in Iraq in the past year, where some neighborhoods in Baghdad have become micro-caliphates in which Christians are told to convert to Islam or pay the Jizya (protection money), and accept second-class status.” Finally comes “the conversion of Europe. … This is carried out first and foremost by working with young, European-born Muslims through imams teaching radical ideologies in mosques, prisons, bookstores.” Such teachings go hand-in-hand with strident critiques of decadent Western culture.The Islamist ‘strong narrative’ This explanation of Islam’s troubles and the plan for its return to past glory is, according to May, the “strong narrative” that attracts new recruits to the cause. It is similar, he believes, to the “narrative” used by Adolph Hitler to gain support from the German people for his own goals. Just as Hitler blamed the Jews and others for the problems of the nation, so Islamists blame Jews and corrupt Western ideals for the problems of the Ummah, the worldwide Muslim community. Part of the appeal of this movement for Muslims is that Islamofascists declare themselves to be the true heirs of the message of the Prophet Muhammad. “Today jihadists are making recruits among peaceful Muslims worldwide by appealing to the teachings of the Quran and Muhammad, and on that basis portraying themselves as the exponents of ‘pure Islam,’” said Robert Spencer, director of Jihad Watch and author of Religion of Peace? Why Christianity Is and Islam Isn’t. “They claim they have rediscovered, as a popular jihadist pamphlet termed it, ‘the forgotten obligation’ of jihad.” Jihad is an Arabic word meaning “struggle,” and can refer to either the internal struggle against unrighteousness or the external struggle against unbelievers – including “holy war.” British jihadist Sheikh Abu Hamza al-Masri, currently in prison, summarized the goal of this holy war: “Allah is the only one that must be worshipped on Earth, and the only way to guarantee this is to control all the land masses, air, and sea and give Islam the proper channel to be heard by the people.” Spencer said the West had better take note of what is happening throughout the Muslim world. “We fool ourselves when we imagine that the problem is a localized ‘Islamic fundamentalism,’ a ‘hijacking’ of an originally peaceful religion, such that the great majority of its adherents not only do not participate in religiously sanctioned violence, but also actively disapprove of it on grounds derived from the religion itself. In reality, active jihadists, while a minority among Muslims, base their actions in Islamic theology and are in the ascendancy throughout the Islamic world.”Can the West defend itself? Many in the West have misunderstood Islamist anger, believing that older theories about social unrest – often involving root causes such as poverty or alienation – hold the key to peace with Muslim radicals. “From the ayatollahs to the freelance jihadists, there are, in the end, no ‘root causes’ – or not ones that can be negotiated by troop withdrawals from Iraq or the flag-raising ceremony for a Palestinian state,” said Mark Steyn in his book, America Alone: The End of the World As We Know It. Time and again, radical Muslims make it clear that this holy war is not an attempt to correct social inequalities. For example, after jihadists blew up a French oil tanker off Yemen in 2002, Steyn insisted that France should have been the last nation to get hit, seeing as that country had pretty much opposed all aspects of the War on Terror. But that wasn’t really the point. A spokesman for the Islamic Army of Aden said, “We would have preferred to hit a U.S. frigate, but no problem because they are all infidels.” “No problem. They are all infidels,” Steyn repeated. “When people make certain statements and their acts conform to those statements I tend to take them at their word. As Hussein Massawi, former leader of Hezbollah, neatly put it, ‘We are not fighting so that you will offer us something. We are fighting to eliminate you.’” The stakes are that high, said Steyn: “It is absurd: how can the most advanced society in human history fall to a bunch of ignorant death cultists? Well, who do you think advanced societies do fall to? Something worse, something barbarous, something that’s prepared to fight when you’re not.”BY ED VITAGLIANO - AFA Journal
As in the days of Noah....
BIG BROTHER WATCH:Couple Sues Google Over "Street View";Pittsburgh pair claims privacy invaded by posting of home photo
A Pittsburgh couple is suing Google for invasion of privacy, claiming that the web giant's popular "Street View" mapping feature has made a photo of their home available to online searchers. Aaron and Christine Boring accuse Google of an "intentional and/or grossly reckless invasion" of their seclusion and privacy since they live on a street that is "clearly marked with a 'Private Road' sign," according to a lawsuit the couple filed this week in Allegheny County's Court of Common Pleas. A copy of the April 2 complaint can be found below. According to the Borings, they purchased their Oakridge Lane home in late-2006 for "a considerable sum of money," noting that a "major component of their purchase decision was a desire for privacy." But when Pittsburgh was added last October to the roster of cities covered by Google's "Street View" feature, the Borings allege, their "private information was made known to the public," causing them "mental suffering" and diminishing the value of their home (which cost the couple $163,000, according to property records). The Borings are seeking in excess of $25,000 in damages and want a court order directing Google to destroy images of their home. Click here for some photos of the Boring property, which is now even easier to locate via Google Maps, since the plaintiffs included their home address on the lawsuit's first page. And while they are litigating, perhaps the Borings should consider suing Allegheny County's Office of Property Assessments, which includes a photo of their home (which was built in 1916 and sits on 1.82 acres) on its web site. Here's a screen grab. (8 pages) http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2008/0404081google1.htmlAs in the days of Noah...
Iran to boost nuclear capacity despite pressure
TEHRAN-Iran said on Saturday it would press ahead with plans to expand its nuclear program, after diplomats in Vienna said Tehran was installing advanced centrifuges in its key uranium enrichment plant.The government spokesman also rejected any idea of halting work the United States suspects is aimed at building nuclear bombs in return for trade, technology and other benefits. Speaking a few days before the Islamic Republic's annual National Nuclear Technology Day on April 8, Gholamhossein Elham said he hoped for "good news" on that day but did not elaborate.The world's fourth-largest oil producer says it needs to produce nuclear fuel for a planned network of power plants to satisfy soaring electricity demand."The trend of advancing nuclear capacity until reaching the production of nuclear fuel and building nuclear power plants to produce 20,000 megawatts of electricity will continue," Elham said.On Thursday, diplomats told Reuters Iran has begun installing advanced uranium enrichment centrifuges in its Natanz enrichment complex, accelerating activity that could give it the means to make atom bombs in future if it chose to.Iran has been hit with three sets of United Nations sanctions for hiding the program until 2003, failing to prove to inspectors since then that it is wholly peaceful and refusing to suspend the disputed program.Enriched uranium can be used as fuel in nuclear power plants or, if refined much further, provide material for weapons.To read more go to:
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSDAH52983420080405
As in the days of Noah...
Tsvangirai says Mugabe preparing violence
HARARE-Zimbabwe's opposition on Saturday accused President Robert Mugabe of deploying militias for a war to reverse the result of last weekend's election.Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai said Mugabe was "preparing a war on the people" and deploying loyal forces, including liberation war veterans, ahead of a presidential runoff vote."Militants are being rehabilitated," Tsvangirai told a press conference, adding that the central bank was printing money "for the finance of violence".The MDC says it won last weekend's presidential vote.Official results show the MDC won a parallel vote in which Mugabe's ZANU-PF lost control of parliament for the first time-the biggest defeat of Mugabe's 28-year rule.ZANU-PF and independent projections show Tsvangirai being forced into a presidential runoff after failing to win an absolute majority."The circumstances have changed, ZANU-PF has threatened, has deployed militias, has deployed war veterans," Tsvangirai said."It is unfair...for President Mugabe to even hint at a runoff.Violence will be the new weapon to reverse the people's will. We won this election without the need for a runoff."
To read more go to:
As in the days of Noah....
BIG BROTHER WATCH:Government stakes claim to every newborn's DNA;'We now are considered guinea pigs, instead of human beings with rights'
[[[An Orwellian plan that has state and federal governments staking claim to the ownership of every newborn's DNA in perpetuity is advancing under the radar of most privacy rights activists, but would turn the United States' citizenry into a huge pool of subjects for involuntary scientific experimentation, according to one organization alarmed over the issue."We now are considered guinea pigs, as opposed to human beings with rights," Twila Brase, president of the the Citizens' Council on Health Care, a Minnesota-based organization familiar with the progress in that state.She warned ultimately, such DNA databases could spark the next wave of demands for eugenics, the concept of improving the human race through the control of various inherited traits.]]] Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood, advocated eugenics to cull people she considered unfit from the population.In 1921, she said eugenics is "the most adequate and thorough avenue to the solution of racial, political and social problems," and she later lamented "the ever increasing, unceasingly spawning class of human beings who never should have been born at all."Lawmakers in Minnesota recently endorsed a proposal that would exempt stockpiles of DNA information already collected from every newborn from any sort of consent requirements.That means researchers could utilize the DNA of more than 780,000 Minnesota children for any sort of research project whatsover, Brase said."The Senate just voted to strip citizens of parental rights, privacy rights, patient rights and DNA property rights. They voted to make every citizen a research subject of the state government, starting at birth," she said."They voted to let the government create genetic profiles of every citizen without their consent."The result will be that every newborn's DNA will be collected at birth, "warehoused in a state genomic biobank, and given away to genetic researchers without parent consent-or in adulthood, without the individual's consent. Already, the health department reports that 42, 210 children have been subjected to genetic research without their consent," Brase told WND.She said although her organization works with Minnesota issues, similar laws or rules and regulations already are in use across the nation.The National Conference of State Legislatures, in fact, lists for all 50 states as well as the District of Columbia the various statutes or regulatory provisions under which newborns' DNA is being collected. Such programs are offered as "screening" requirements to detect treatable illnesses. They vary as to exactly what tests are done, but the Health Resources and Services Administration has requested a report that would "include a recommendation for a uniform panel of conditions."Further, Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., is on record proposing a plan that would turn the program into a consolidated nationwide effort."Fortunately," he said at the time, "some newborn screening occurs in every state but fewer than half of the states, including Connecticut, actually tests for all disorders that are detectable. … This legislation will provide resources for states to expand their newborn screening programs…"Dodd's plan would provide millions of dollars for educating and training health care professionals in "relevant technologies," and set up standards for updating tests and maintaining the quality of test results.So what's the big deal about looking into DNA to hunt for various disease possibilities.Nothing, said Brase, if that's where the hunt would end.However, she said, "researchers already are looking for genes related to violence, crime and different behaviors."
"This isn't just about diabetes, asthma and cancer," she said. "It's also about behavioral issues."
"In England they decided they should have doctors looking for problem children, and have those children reported, and their DNA taken in case they would become criminals," she said.In fact, published reports in the UK note that senior police forensics experts believe genetic samples should be studied, because it may be possible to identify potential criminals as young as age 5.
"If we have a primary means of identifying people before they offend, then in the long-term the benefits of targeting younger people are extremely large," Gary Pugh, director of forensics at Scotland Yard, was quoted saying. "You could argue the younger the better. Criminologists say some people will grow out of crime; others won't. We have to find who are possibly going to be the biggest threat to society."The UK database already has 4.5 million genetic samples and reportedly is the largest in Europe, but activists want to expand it. Pugh said that it is not possible right now to demand everyone provide a DNA sample but only because of the costs and logistics.One published report cited the Institute for Public Policy Research, which is suggesting children from 5-12 in the UK be targeted with cognitive behavioral therapy, and Pugh has suggested adding the children in primary schools, even if they have not offended, to the database.There, Chris Davis of the National Primary Headteachers' Association warned the move could be seen "as a step towards a police state."But Pugh said the UK's annual cost of $26 billion from violent crime makes it well worth the effort.Brase said such efforts to study traits and gene factors and classify people would be just the beginning. What could happen through subsequent programs to address such conditions, she wondered."Not all research is great," she said. "There is research that is highly objectionable into the genetic propensities of an individual. Not all research should be hailed as wonderful initiatives."It can identify some tendencies for potential problems, and that is one of its downfalls, Brase said."It lends itself to be the beginning of discrimination and prejudice," she said. "People can look at data about you and make assessments ultimately of who you are."Further, the invasion of privacy is huge. DNA is the most intimate identifier that exists, she said."This, however, says our DNA is not ours but the government's," she said. "It says our values, our ethics, belief systems have to be [subjected] to the interests of the government."Right now various states obtain DNA under different plans and keep the information for varying time periods. In Minnesota, the legislature is working on legal authorization for the state government to take it without consent, keep it forever, and use it for whatever purposes the state desires – all without obtaining consent or even letting people know. A mandatory sample of a newborn's DNA also pulls back the veil on information about the parents as well, Brase told WND."It's like they're collecting information on the whole family," she said.The Heartland Regional Genetics and Newborn Screening is one of the organizations that advocates more screening and research.It proclaims in its vision statement a desire to see newborns screened for 200 conditions. It also forecasts "every student … with an individual program for education based on confidential interpretation of their family medical history, their brain imaging, their genetic predictors of best learning methods…"Further, every individual should share information about "personal and family health histories" as well as "gene tests for recessive conditions and drug metabolism" with the "other parent of their future children."Still further, it seeks "ecogenetic research that could improve health, lessen disability, and lower costs for sickness."[[[[[[[["They want to test every child for 200 conditions, take the child's history and a brain image, and genetics, and come up with a plan for that child," Brase said. "They want to learn their weaknesses and defects."Nobody including and especially the government should be allowed to create such extensive profiles," she said.The next step is obvious: The government, with information about potential health weaknesses, could say to couples, "We don't want your expensive children,"]]]]]]]] Brase said."I think people have forgotten about eugenics. The fact of the matter is that the eugenicists have not gone away. Newborn genetic testing is the entry into the 21st Century version of eugenics," she said.[[[[[[[[[["This is in every state, but nobody is talking about it. Parents have no idea this is happening," she said.]]]]]]]]]]]
http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=60643
As in the days of Noah....
Main street parade to honor Muhammad:Binghamton, N.Y., grants permit for Milad-un-Nabi event
[[[[[[Muslim leaders at an encampment in the Catskill Mountains called "Islamberg"have been granted a permit by the city of Binghamton, N.Y., to hold a parade Saturday in honor of Muhammad's birthday.The holiday, called Milad-un-Nabi, will be celebrated by a group of families who live at the nearby property owned by Muslims of the Americas Inc.]]]]]]]The city has scheduled the parade for 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the downtown area, including its main street. A report in the local Press & Sun-Bulletin said the celebration previously held on the group's own property this year is being expanded.[[["We're trying to do an interfaith thing, we're reach out to the community to do a program based on unity," Maryam Rahim, a spokeswoman, told the newspaper. "We haven't been very well known. ...We want everyone to come out and celebrate, may ask questions."]]]]]???????City spokesman Andrew Block said the group secured the appropriate permits to hold the celebration, and the city will close down one lane of the downtown's main street for the parade.Other events will be held in front of the old Broome County courthouse, officials said.Rahim told the paper some Muslims claim the celebration is not important, but others classify it alongside Eid-ul-Fitr, the observance that concludes the month of Ramadan for Muslims.The newspaper said Muslims of the Americas was formed in the 1980s when several families migrated from New York City to make a new start. There now is a mosque and a private school on the land.[[[[[[[[[[However, others describe the location as a training facility for the Pakistani terrorist group Jamaat ul Fuqra.As WND reported, a covert visit to the encampment found neighboring residents deeply concerned about military-style training taking place there but frustrated by the lack of attention from federal authorities.The visit was conducted by the Northeast Intelligence Network, which worked with an Internet blogger, "CP," to publish an report.The neighbors interviewed, who asked not to be identified, said in the report compiled only two years ago they feared retaliation if they were to make a report to law enforcement officials."We see children – small children run around over there when they should be in school," one neighbor said. "We hear bursts of gunfire all of the time, and we know that there is military-like training going on there. Those people are armed and dangerous."The resident said his household gets "nothing but menacing looks from the people who go in and out of the camp, and sometimes they yell at us to mind our own business when we are just driving by.""We don't even dare to slow down when we drive by," the resident said. "They own this mountain and they know it, and there is nothing we can do about it but move, and we can't even do that. Who wants to buy property next to that?"]]]]]]]]]]{{{{{{{{{{{Jamaat ul-Fuqra, or "community of the impoverished," was formed by Pakistani cleric Sheikh Mubarak Ali Gilani in New York in 1980. Gilani, who refers to himself as "the sixth Sultan Ul Faqr," has stated his objective is to "purify" Islam through violence.Gilani also is the founder of a village in South Carolina called "Holy Islamville.""Try to walk down the street where their community (Islamberg) is and you will be greeted by a man armed with a rifle. I have witnessed this on more than one occasion (even prior to 9/11) on Roods Creek Road when passing by slowly as I headed out to the Cannonsville reservoir," said a nearby resident who also asked for anonymity.Fox News previously reported the compound has remained shrouded in mystery and fear, partly because it sits near the huge reservoir system that provides New York City with most of its drinking water.The report said New York State police authorities confirmed they've had the group on file for years."They are training for war, either for war here in this country or against our troops," said one neighbor.Jamaat ul-Fuqra itself openly recruits through various social service organizations in the U.S., including the prison system. Members live in compounds where they agree to abide by the laws of Jamaat ul-Fuqra, which are considered to be above local, state and federal authority.An investigation of the group by the Colorado Attorney General's office in the early 1980s found several of the communities operate covert paramilitary training compounds, including one in a mountainous area near Buena Vista, Colo.Muslims of the Americas Inc., a tax-exempt organization, has been directly linked by court documents to Jamaat ul-Fuqra. The organization operates communes of primarily black, American-born Muslims throughout the U.S. The investigation confirmed members commonly use aliases and intentional spelling variations of their names and routinely deny the existence of Jamaat ul-Fuqra.U.S. authorities have probed the group for charges ranging from links to al-Qaida to laundering and funneling money into Pakistan for terrorist activities. The organization supports various terrorist groups operating in Pakistan and Kashmir, and Gilani himself is linked directly to Hamas and Hezbollah. Throughout the 1980s, JF was responsible for a number of terrorist acts across the U.S., including numerous fire-bombings.Gilani was at one time in Pakistani custody for the abduction of American journalist Daniel Pearl. Intelligence sources have determined Pearl was attempting to meet with Gilani in the days before he disappeared in Karachi. Intelligence sources also suggest a link between Jamaat ul Fuqra and Richard Reid, the infamous "shoe bomber" who attempted to ignite explosives aboard a Paris-to-Miami passenger flight Dec. 22, 2001.}}}}}}}}}}}
http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=60653
PS:When is people in America gonna WAKE UP....???????????????We've been slowly and silently invaded by these radicals elements for years and they're living in our own backyards now......!!!!!!!!!!
As in the days of Noah.....
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