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

OBAMA WATCH:Black conservatives conflicted on Obama campaign

WASHINGTON - Black conservative talk show host Armstrong Williams has never voted for a Democrat for president. That could change this year with Barack Obama as the Democratic Party's nominee."I don't necessarily like his policies; I don't like much that he advocates, but for the first time in my life, history thrusts me to really seriously think about it," Williams said. "I can honestly say I have no idea who I'm going to pull that lever for in November. And to me, that's incredible."Just as Obama has touched black Democratic voters, he has engendered conflicting emotions among black Republicans. They revel over the possibility of a black president but wrestle with the thought that the Illinois senator doesn't sit beside them ideologically."Among black conservatives," Williams said, "they tell me privately, it would be very hard to vote against him in November."Perhaps sensing the possibility of such a shift, Republican presidential candidate John McCain has made some efforts to lure black voters. He recently told Essence magazine that he would attend the NAACP's annual convention next month, and he noted that he recently traveled to Selma, Ala., scene of seminal voting rights protests in the 1960s, and "talked about the need to include 'forgotten Americans.'"Still, the Arizona senator has a tall order in winning black votes, no doubt made taller by running against a black opponent. In 2004, blacks chose Democrat John Kerry over President Bush by an 88 percent to 11 percent margin, according to exit polls.J.C. Watts,(picture left) a former Oklahoma congressman who once was part of the GOP House leadership, said he's thinking of voting for Obama. Watts said he's still a Republican, but he criticizes his party for neglecting the black community. Black Republicans, he said, have to concede that while they might not agree with Democrats on issues, at least that party reaches out to them."And Obama highlights that even more," Watts said, adding that he expects Obama to take on issues such as poverty and urban policy. "Republicans often seem indifferent to those things."Likewise, retired Gen. Colin Powell, who became the country's first black secretary of state under President George W. Bush, said both candidates are qualified and that he will not necessarily vote for the Republican."I will vote for the individual I think that brings the best set of tools to the problems of 21st-century America and the 21st-century world regardless of party, regardless of anything else other than the most qualified candidate," Powell said Thursday in Vancouver in comments reported by The Globe and Mail in Toronto.Writer and actor Joseph C. Phillips got so excited about Obama earlier this year that he started calling himself an "Obamacan" — Obama Republican. Phillips, who appeared on "The Cosby Show" as Denise Huxtable's husband, Navy Lt. Martin Kendall, said he has wavered since, but he is still thinking about voting for Obama."I am wondering if this is the time where we get over the hump, where an Obama victory will finally, at long last, move us beyond some of the old conversations about race," Phillips said. "That possibly, just possibly, this great country can finally be forgiven for its original sin, or find some absolution."Yet Phillips, author of the book "He Talk Like a White Boy," realizes the irony of voting for a candidate based on race to get beyond race."We have to not judge him based on his race, but on his desirability as a political candidate," he said. "And based on that, I have a lot of disagreements with him on a lot of issues. I go back and forth."Michael Steele, the Republican former lieutenant governor of Maryland who lost a Senate race there in 2006, said he is proud of Obama as a black man, but that "come November, I will do everything in my power to defeat him." Electing Obama, he said, would not automatically solve the woes of the black community."I think people who try to put this sort of messianic mantle on Barack's nomination are a little bit misguided," he said.John McWhorter, a self-described political moderate who is a senior fellow at the conservative Manhattan Institute and a New York Sun columnist, said Obama's Democratic Party victory "proves that while there still is some racism in the United States, there is not enough to matter in any serious manner. This is a watershed moment.""Obama is probably more to the left than I would prefer on a lot of issues," he adds. "But this issue of getting past race for real is such a wedge issue for me. And he is so intelligent, and I think he would be a perfectly competent president, that I'm for him. I want him to get in because, in a way, it will put me out of a job."James T. Harris, a Milwaukee radio talk show host and public speaker, said he opposes Obama "with love in my heart.""We are of the same generation. He's African American and I'm an American of African descent. We both have lovely wives and beautiful children," Harris said. "Other than that, we've got nothing in common. I hope he loses every state."Moderate Republican Edward Brooke, who blazed his own trail in Massachusetts in 1966 as the first black popularly elected U.S. senator, said he is "extremely proud and confident and joyful" to see Obama ascend. Obama sent Brooke a signed copy of his book, inscribed, "Thank you for paving the way," and Brooke sent his own signed book to Obama, calling the presumed Democratic nominee "a worthy bearer of the torch."Brooke, who now lives in Florida, won't say which candidate will get his endorsement, but he does say that race won't be a factor in his decision."This is the most important election in our history," Brooke said. "And with the world in the condition that it is, I think we've got to get the best person we can get."Williams, the commentator, says his 82-year-old mother, who also hasn't voted for a Democratic presidential candidate, has already made up her mind."She is so proud of Senator Barack Obama, and she has made it clear to all of us that she's voting for him in November," Williams relates. "That is historic. Every time I call her, she asks, 'How's Obama doing?' They feel as if they are a part of this. Because she said, given the history of this country, she never thought she'd ever live to see this moment."

As in the days of Noah...

Chad rebels attack town, EU troops shield refugees

GOZ-BEIDA, Chad-Rebels on the offensive in east Chad on Saturday attacked a town ringed by refugee camps but stayed away from European Union troops protecting thousands of civilians, witnesses and rebel spokesmen said.The attack on Goz-Beida, 70 km (40 miles) by road from Chad's eastern border with Sudan's Darfur region, came on the third day of what rebel forces say is their latest offensive westwards aimed at trying to overthrow President Idriss Deby.
Witnesses reported heavy fighting, in which smoke rose from the town and fire from machineguns and heavy weapons was heard.
A heavily-armed column of rebel vehicles was visible from a hill 12 km (seven miles) away entering Goz-Beida, but then left a few hours later.Goz-Beida is surrounded by United Nations-run camps housing tens of thousands of Sudanese and Chadian refugees. They are being protected by an Irish infantry battalion serving with an EU military force (EUFOR) that deployed in east Chad this year."There has been fighting around our compound in Goz-Beida ... but it's calmed down now," Aimee Ansari, program manager for Oxfam Great Britain at Goz-Beida, told Reuters. No details of casualties were immediately available.Spokesmen for the rebel National Alliance, speaking by phone, said Goz-Beida was under the control of rebel forces and that other insurgent columns were moving westwards. But there was no immediate independent confirmation of these movements.The Irish troops at Goz-Beida took up defensive positions to carry out their mandate to protect civilians and refugees. But no clashes were reported with the rebels, who appeared to have only targeted Chadian government soldiers.
To read more go to:
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL1427267920080614
As in the days of Noah...

Mugabe vows opposition will never rule Zimbabwe

HARARE-President Robert Mugabe vowed on Saturday that the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) would never rule Zimbabwe and that he was prepared to fight to keep them from taking power."We shall never, never accept anything that smells of ... the MDC. These pathetic puppets taking over this country? Let's see. That is not going to happen," he said in a speech at the funeral of a former army general. MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai will face Mugabe in a run-off presidential election on June 27 after winning the first round in March but without the necessary majority. Mugabe's ZANU-PF lost control of parliament in the same round of voting.Tsvangirai, rights groups and Western powers accuse Mugabe of unleashing a brutal campaign, including using police to harass opponents, to win the run-off.Tsvangirai and 11 MDC colleagues were held by police for three hours on Saturday after being taken into custody at a roadblock. He has been detained several times this month.The party's secretary-general, Tendai Biti, arrested on Thursday as he returned to the country, appeared handcuffed before a judge.At a closed hearing, prosecutors said they planned to charge him with "treason and making malicious statements detrimental to the interests of the state", which could carry a death penalty, Biti's lawyer said.Despite ZANU-PF's parliamentary losses, the president, who has ruled since independence from Britain in 1980, has shown little sign of accepting change.
To read more go to:
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL1264166720080614
As in the days of Noah....

Iran says it won't stop nuclear work

Iran rules out nuclear halt despite powers' offer

TEHRAN-Iran again ruled out suspending sensitive nuclear work on Saturday, despite an offer by six world powers of trade and other benefits to try to coax it into stopping activities the West fears are aimed at making bombs.European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana reaffirmed the six powers behind the package wanted Iran to suspend enrichment during talks on the offer -- a precondition the Islamic Republic has repeatedly rejected."The proposals we have made offer substantial opportunities for political, security and economic benefits to Iran and the region," their foreign ministers said in an accompanying letter."We are convinced that it is possible to change the present state of affairs. We hope that Iran's leaders share the same ambitions," they said.The incentives offer agreed by the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany last month is a revised version of one rejected by Iran in 2006.Diplomats have played down prospects for a breakthrough in a dispute that has helped send oil prices to record highs.The United States and its European allies have warned of broader sanctions against Iran if it rejects the proposal and presses ahead with atomic activities which can have both civilian and military uses.Solana said he expected a reply soon from Iran, which says it will not stop a nuclear programme it says is for generating electricity so that the world's fourth-largest oil producer can export more crude and natural gas.

As in the days of Noah....

Is There Any Word in Your Testimony?

The question that I am to pose to you today is a simple one.Is there any Word in your testimony?Jesus paid the price for you sins, your healing, and your well being.It takes accepting the finished work of Calvary and testifying His Word. Testifying His Word is acting on His Word in faith.It isn’t testifying just any words, but THE WORD.(Revelation 12:11)And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
In this scripture, the word power means the ability to activate or enable.You have been given the power to activate or enable life or death.It is in your tongue.And yet I ask again… Is there any Word in your testimony?
(Proverbs 18:21)Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.
This verse just seemed to fit better after the previous verse.(Proverbs 18:20)A man's belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth; and with the increase of his lips shall he be filled.And again, I say…Is there any Word in your testimony?
This next scripture tells us if we don’t doubt in our heart that we can have what we say.Again, I ask…Is there any Word in your testimony?(Mark 11:23)For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
We were promises that if we ask anything according to His Will, we know He will hear it, and we will have it.Once again, I ask…Is there any Word in your testimony? Are you praying His promises? (1 John 5:14)And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us.(1 John 5:15)And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.
Have a great weekend.And by the way, put some WORD in your testimony.
In Him,
Prophetess Frances Lloyd
http://us.mc348.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=footprints@dailygoldenfootprints.com
http://www.dailygoldenfootprints.com/ (Check out this website for new information and new “Footprints” daily!)
As in the days of Noah....

SIGN of the TIMES:Mobile phone addiction: Clinic treats children

Two children are learning to live without their mobile phones after becoming so badly addicted to the technology they were admitted to a mental health clinic....
They were brought in after spending an average of six hours a day on their phones, talking, texting or playing games.Their parents became concerned that the children, aged 12 and 13, were unable to carry out normal activities without their handsets. They were failing at school and deceiving relatives in an attempt to obtain more money for phone cards.However, it may take a year to wean them off the "drug", said Dr Maite Utgès, director of the Child and Youth Mental Health Centre in Lleida, north-east Spain, where they have been treated for the past three months."It is the first time we have used a specific treatment to cure a dependence on the mobile phone," she said."They both showed disturbed behaviour and this exhibited itself in failure at school. They both had serious difficulties leading normal lives."Both children had had their own phones for 18 months and were not controlled by their parents."One paid for their phone by getting money from the grandmother and other family members, without explaining what they were going to do with it," said Dr Utgès.At least two cases of phone addiction have been reported in Britain where young people who were obsessed with their phones and became depressed when the number of incoming calls or messages dropped.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/2121298/Mobile-phone-addiction-Clinic-treats-children.html
As in the days of Noah...

Skynet Military Satellite Launched To Improve Communications Of UK Forces All Over The World

ISLAMIC CRAZE WATCH:Chicago Muslims attack 'blue-eyed devil'

A Northwest Side man was charged with a hate crime and his three adult sons were charged with felony aggravated battery in an alleged attack on a motorist in which racial epithets were shouted, prosecutors said.Mahmoud Alkhazaleh, 53, of the 5500 block of North Mango Avenue also was charged with aggravated battery and vehicle invasion in a June 9 attack on a man who allegedly had honked his horn to prod Alkhazaleh to step out of the path of his truck, according to court documents.Alkhazaleh called the victim a "blue-eyed devil" and an " 'American [expletive]' during a physical attack that included throwing rocks and spitting,"according to court documents. Alkhazaleh has denied using such language and said the incident started when the driver nearly ran him over.Alkhazaleh and his three sons, Ahmad, Ala and Ali, appeared in Bond Court Wednesday in the Cook County Criminal Courts Building.The father was held in lieu of $60,000 bail, while Ala, 27, and Ali, 23, were held in lieu of $40,000 bail and Ahmad, 20, was held in lieu of $35,000 bail. The sons were charged with aggravated battery and vehicle invasion, prosecutors said.The motorist was driving his truck on Mango Avenue on Monday when the elder Alkhazaleh stood in the street blocking the vehicle's path, prosecutors said. The driver honked, but Alkhazaleh did not move. The driver then tried to go around Alkhazaleh but could not pass, and Alkhazaleh allegedly started to strike him and pelt him with rocks, prosecutors said.As the driver tried to call 911 from his cell phone, Alkhazaleh yelled out for three of his sons to join him in the street, prosecutors said. They ran out of the apartment and started to beat the victim, spit on him and throw rocks, prosecutors said.Alkhazaleh, who was released Wednesday night from the Cook County Jail, said he did not use any hate speech during the incident, and claimed the driver started the fight. The whole thing started, he said, when the driver "came up the street, he almost hit me."The two men exchanged words and, he said, the driver called him a "Pakistani [expletive].""I'm not even Pakistani," he said.The father and three sons had returned to their apartment by the time police arrived. Witnesses directed police to the family's home. When the officers knocked on the apartment door, a woman answered and said the men were not home, but the officers could hear interior doors closing and locking inside the apartment, prosecutors said. They entered and found and arrested the men.The men are due back in court June 16 for a hearing.

As in the days of Noah...

GAY AGENDA WATCH:Ireland's first lady accused of hate crime;Condemnation of homosexuality 'worrying,' says 'gay' activist

Iris Robinson, considered Ireland's first lady as the wife of First Minister Peter Robinson, has been accused of "hate crimes" and is facing both a police investigation and the possibility of a civil complaint, according to reports.A report in An Phoblacht, an online political weekly in Ireland, said Robinson had been invited onto the BBC Radio Ulster's "The Stephen Nolan Show" to talk about a recent physical assault on a homosexual by a team of thugs described by the reporter as "gay-bashing."She condemned the violence, then described homosexuality as "disgusting, nauseous, shamefully wicked and vile," and said, "It's an abomination."Now, the report said, a government agency has confirmed it is investigating complaints that have been filed against her, and one homosexual activist said he's contacted a lawyer about the situation.The reports said complaints against Robinson have been lodged by Andrew Muir, vice-chair of the Gay and Lesbian Across Down, as well as John O'Doherty, a member of the South Belfast District Policing Partnership."O'Doherty described Iris Robinson’s comments as 'amazing' and warned that such views could lead to further attacks against gay and lesbian people. 'People like Mrs. Robinson need to learn that their comments have consequences,'" the report said.Robinson is the elected member of parliament for Strangford, the report said, and serves as the chairman of Stormont's Health, Social Services and Public Safety Committee.On the radio program, Robinson said, "Homosexuality is not natural. My Christian beliefs tell me that it is an abomination and that is very clear. It is an offense to God, and offensive act and something God abhors."The report said she continued, "I am clearly not saying that I want people to thrash the living daylights out of a homosexual."She went on to urge homosexuals to seek psychiatric counseling, because of the success of various programs that offer to help them re-focus their sexual lifestyles."I have a lovely psychiatrist who works with my in my office trying to turn homosexuals away from what they are engaged in," she said. "I'm happy to put any homosexuals in touch with this gentleman. I have met people who have turned around and become heterosexual. They are married and having families."The report said she was describing one of her health policy advisers, Paul Miller.The report said Miller is a consultant working with the Mater Hospital in Belfast, and he reported he is trying to help "people who had a conflict between their religious identity and their sexual identity."The comments from both Robinson and Miller were condemned immediately by the Royal College of Psychiatrists, which holds "lesbian, gay and bisexual people should be regarded as valued members of society who have exactly the same rights and responsibilities as others."Such "discrimination" they experience by having to hear opinions such as those held by Robinson, the report said, makes them worry.The An Phoblacht report called the statements "homophobic" but also quoted other officials noting that the nation does have a freedom of speech, and it appears no laws were broken.On the This Is London news site, Muir was quoted saying police, "were reluctant to pursue the matter until I told them it was covered by the hate crimes legislation and I would not be leaving until they took a statement from me."At a website promoting secularism, officials also noted that Robert Toner, from Poleglass, had written to the Equality Commission over the statements, and had enlisted the help of a solicitor to pursue a legal challenge.The website said Toner was "worried" about the impact of the statements."It is very, very hurtful to think that someone says I need psychiatric help because I am gay," he told the website.WND previously has reported on the advance of such complaints against people expressing a biblical perspective on homosexuality in Canada. There, a human rights tribunal recently ordered a Christian pastor never again to express moral opposition to homosexuality. The decision in the penalty phase of the quasi-judicial proceedings run by the Alberta Human Rights Tribunal order evangelical pastor Stephen Boisson never again to express his biblical perspective of homosexuality. He also was ordered to apologize for his beliefs.Allegations of such "hate" crimes also have begun developing in the United States, and in one case, a New Mexico state commission even fined a Christian photographer for refusing to take pictures of a same-sex 'marriage" ceremony.
PS:What gay activists comsider "gay bashing" is actually the TRUTH.....
As in the days of Noah...

OBAMA WATCH:Gorelick touted as possible attorney general for Obama;Reno's deputy accused of treating terror suspects as mere criminals

NEW YORK-A panel of Democratic Party legal heavyweights speculated Jamie Gorelick,(picture left) former deputy attorney general in the Clinton administration, could be appointed attorney general if Barack Obama were elected president.In a panel chaired by Elena Kagan, dean and professor of law at Harvard Law School, Gorelick charged on the opening plenary panel of the American Constitution's Society two-day meeting in Washington that the Bush administration had politicized the operation of the Justice Department.Gorelick said that if she were appointed attorney general in an Obama administration, her first job would be to "fix" the Department of Justice."The Justice Department only functions well if the career lawyers have a voice and are actively consulted," Gorelick told the 700 attendees. "In the old order, if the White House wanted to know if something was lawful, it would call the Justice Department, and there would be a lot of discussion within the Justice Department at the attorney general's office. The legal opinion would be the product of the Justice Department's work."Later, Gorelick acknowledged the attorney general had to be close ideologically to the president in order to represent the administration's legal positions both to the public and through the office of solicitor general.Gorelick was appointed by then-Senate Democratic Party minority leader Tom Daschle to serve on the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, commonly known as the 9/11 commission.As WND reported in 2004, her participation as commissioner became controversial when Attorney General John Aschroft pinned blame on her for issuing a 1995 memo that established a "wall" between the criminal and intelligence divisions, hindering the ability of the U.S. government to detect the Sept. 11 plot.Ashcroft contended the document by Gorelick [pdf file] helped establish the "single greatest structural cause" for 9/11, which was "the wall that segregated criminal investigators and intelligence agents."The American Constitution Society is holding a two day national convention in Washington, D.C., that began yesterday titled, "Revitalizing Our Democracy: Progress and Possibilities."The ACS describes itself as "one of the nation's leading progressive legal organizations," which positions it on the political left.In the conference brochure, the ACS notes the group is organized to counter the influence of the "activist conservative leading movement," countering this conservative "new orthodoxy, which threatens to dominate our courts and law," thereby inflicting "a grave injustice to the American vision." Several other panelists at the event yesterday openly expressed their partisan hope for Obama's election to the presidency.Greg Craig, former special legal counsel to President Clinton and head of Clinton's legal defense against impeachment, also used the panel as an opportunity to attack the Bush administration's management of the Justice Department.Introduced as one of Obama's top legal advisers, Craig drew a contrast with Bush, arguing a President Obama "would actually enjoy the law," a comment that drew laughter from an apparently pro-Democratic Party audience."A President Obama would be very inclusive, not just with people in the academic community who disagree with his position, but on the Hill," Craig said. "As president, Barack Obama will be able to attract high qualified people who serve in the Justice Department for the right reasons. Under a President Obama, we will also see an enormous amount of legal talent attracted back to the White House – people who are ethical, experienced and pragmatic, not there just to pursue ideological questions."Another panelist, Wade Henderson, president of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, was also strongly critical of the Bush administration.
"The Bush administration has left the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department in shambles because of the political manipulation within the department and from the White House," said Henderson, who previously was the Washington bureau director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, or NAACP."As a result, we have diminished respect within the Civil Rights Division for career lawyers and for the rule of law," he said.John Podesta, former chief of staff to President Clinton, spoke after Henderson on the panel."Under Attorney General Alberto Gonzales we saw the politicization of hiring and firing of U.S. attorneys," Podesta said. "Even with the kinds of cases selected for pursuit under Gonzales, we saw a partisan tilt in what got allocations of resources. I hope Barack Obama is elected president, and I believe a President Obama will make a commitment to selecting an attorney general who gives impartial, straight advice and will make a pledge that partisan politics will not play a role."
Podesta also claimed that as Vice President Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby "pushed people around in the Justice Department."Henderson received enthusiastic audience reaction when he began discussing "the day Obama gives his acceptance speech."Henderson playfully corrected himself, clarifying he was discussing Obama's acceptance speech at the upcoming Democratic National Convention in Denver, not an inaugural speech after being elected president."Barack Obama will give his acceptance speech in Denver 45 years to the day after Martin Luther King gave his 'I Have a Dream' speech at the Lincoln Memorial in 1963," he pointed out. "This is a watershed election – the first time we have an African-American nominee for president, and on the Republican side we have a Vietnam War hero who had the courage to stand up to his own party and support immigration rights."
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=67068
As in the days of Noah...

Obama's use of 'Joshua Generation' challenged:'Generation Joshua' used, trademarked by homeschoolers years ago

The plans by the presidential campaign of Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., a longtime supporter of abortions throughout pregnancy, to launch a major "Joshua Generation Project" to reach out to young Christian evangelicals and Catholics may have run into a glitch.It seems the term "Generation Joshua" already is trademarked by the Home School Legal Defense Association, the world's premier advocacy organization for homeschooling parents and students.The Obama campaign project first was reported by David Brody on CBN News, who said the campaign would launch sometime in June."The Joshua Generation project will be the Obama campaign's outreach to young people of faith," the report said."There's unprecedented energy and excitement for Obama among young evangelicals and Catholics. The Joshua Generation project will tap into that excitement and provide young people of faith opportunities to stand up for their values and move the campaign forward."Slow down, J. Michael Smith, the president of the HSLDA, said this week."About June 7, the Home School Legal Defense Association learned that Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign may be planning to unveil a major new program to attract younger evangelicals and Catholics, using the name the 'Joshua Generation Project' or the 'Joshua Generation,' he said in a prepared statement."HSLDA is the owner of two federal trademark registrations, GENERATION JOSHUA® and GENERATION JOSHUA & Design®. Both trademarks were registered with the U.S. Patent ® Trademark Office in 2006 for use with 'education services, namely conducting programs in the field of civic involvement and providing training for youth in the field of performing civic activity,'" he said.The media office at Obama's Chicago headquarters declined to return a telephone request today from WND seeking a comment on the apparent conflict, or their plans for their own campaign.The CBN report noted that the "Obama campaign understands that the issue of abortion is a problem for some voters of faith." But the report said they view the "Joshua" program plans as a way to broaden the discussion on values, and cite issues of poverty, climate change, the war on terror and others on which evangelicals may agree with Obama.HSLDA chief Michael Farris told Roll Call that the outreach, if using the Joshua moniker, "is an improper invasion of our trademark and we've retained legal counsel to notify the Obama campaign to stop this."The HSLDA's website offers, "Generation Joshua is designed for Christian youth between the ages of 11 and 19 who want to become a force in the civil and political arenas.""It's impossible to miss this, as web savvy as they are," Farris, who also wrote a 2005 book called, "The Joshua Generation: Restoring the Heritage of Christian Leadership," told Roll Call.The government lists "Generation Joshua" as being registered on Feb. 28, 2006, to the Home School Legal Defense Association, a nonprofit based in Purcellville, Va.In a statement on the issue, Smith said the HSLDA registrations are a matter of public record."HSLDA has used these two trademarks continuously since 2003 for various services related to engaging young people, particularly within the Christian community, in civic involvement," the statement said."After hearing of this possible use of the name 'Joshua Generation' by Obama for America, HSLDA's legal counsel promptly sent a letter to the campaign. This letter provided additional notice of HSLDA's federal trademark registrations, explaining that the similarity of the 'Joshua Generation Project' name – as used with the proposed activities of the Obama for America campaign – is likely to cause confusion with HSLDA's GENERATION JOSHUA® marks. HSLDA also requested that the campaign promptly refrain from using the 'Joshua Generation Project' name or any other name that is confusingly similar to HSLDA's GENERATION JOSHUA® trademarks. This letter provided several days for the Obama for America campaign to appropriately process and respond to this request."Columnist Cal Thomas wrote about the issue, explaining the significance is that in the biblical account of the Israelites' escape from slavery in Egypt, Moses led them to the edge of the Promised Land, but Joshua led them into that region."Apparently, if we have enough faith in Obama, he will lead us all into a new America, but if we vote for John McCain, we will demonstrate a lack of faith (in Obama) and die in the political badlands," Thomas said.Besides the apparent conflict between Obama's support for abortion and Christian beliefs, Thomas said there are other legitimate questions that remain unanswered by the Obama campaign regarding the senator's claim to be a Christian."Obama has declared himself a committed Christian. He can call himself anything he likes, but there are certain markers among the evangelicals he is courting that one must meet in order to qualify for that label," Thomas said.He cites Obama's expressed belief in "many paths to the same place.""There is a clear requirement for one to qualify as a Christian and Obama doesn't meet that requirement. One cannot deny central tenets of the Christian faith, including the deity and uniqueness of Christ as the sole mediator between God and man and be a Christian. Such people do have a label applied to them in Scripture. They are called 'false prophets,'" Thomas wrote.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=67003
PS:AMEN to the last sentence by Thomas...
As in the days of Noah...

OBAMA WATCH:Is He Telling The Truth???

Obama anti-smear site: 'He was never a Muslim':But contemporaries, records indicate candidate once 'quite religious in Islam'




JERUSALEM – In an effort to combat what it calls Internet smears, Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign yesterday launched a website with the stated aimed of setting the record straight.One of the main issues addressed by Obama's "Fight the Smears" site is the contention the Illinois senators was once a Muslim."Senator Obama has never been a Muslim, was not raised as a Muslim, and is a committed Christian,"(hahaha...what a lie!!!!) states the site.But as WND reported, public records in Indonesia listed Obama as a Muslim during his early years, and a number of childhood friends claimed to the media Obama was once a mosque-attending Muslim.Obama's campaign has several times wavered in response to reporters queries regarding the issue of Obama's childhood faith.Commenting on a recent Los Angeles Times report quoting a childhood friend stating Obama prayed in a mosque – something the presidential candidate said he never did – Obama's campaign released a statement explaining the senator "has never been a practicing Muslim."The issue of Obama's personal faith has dogged the candidate amid multiple scandals involving his now former Chicago church and several spiritual advisers.The issue re-emerged in recent months following conflicting media accounts of Obama's enrollment as a Muslim during elementary school in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation. Widely distributed reports have noted that in January 1968, Obama was registered as a Muslim at Jakarta's Roman Catholic Franciscus Assisi Primary School under the name Barry Soetoro. He was listed as an Indonesian citizen whose stepfather, listed on school documents as "L Soetoro Ma," worked for the topography department of the Indonesian Army.Catholic schools in Indonesia routinely accept non-Catholic students but exempt them from studying religion. Obama's school documents, though, wrongly list him as being Indonesian.After attending the Assisi Primary School, Obama was enrolled – also as a Muslim, according to documents – in the Besuki Primary School, a public school in Jakarta.The Loatze blog, run by an American expatriate in Southeast Asia who visited the Besuki school, noted, "All Indonesian students are required to study religion at school, and a young 'Barry Soetoro,' being a Muslim, would have been required to study Islam daily in school. He would have been taught to read and write Arabic, to recite his prayers properly, to read and recite from the Quran and to study the laws of Islam."Indeed, the Israel Insider online magazine points out that in Obama's autobiography, "Dreams From My Father," he acknowledges studying the Quran and describes the public school as "a Muslim school.""In the Muslim school, the teacher wrote to tell mother I made faces during Quranic studies," wrote Obama.The Indonesian media have been flooded with accounts of Obama's childhood Islamic studies, some describing him as a religious Muslim.Speaking to the country's Kaltim Post, Tine Hahiyary, who was principal of Obama's school while he was enrolled there, said she recalls he studied the Quran in Arabic."At that time, I was not Barry's teacher, but he is still in my memory" claimed Tine, who is 80 years old.The Kaltim Post says Obama's teacher, named Hendri, died."I remember that he studied 'mengaji (recitation of the Quran)," Tine said, according to an English translation by Loatze.Mengaji, or the act of reading the Quran with its correct Arabic punctuation, is usually taught to more religious pupils and is not known as a secular study.Also, Loatze documented the Indonesian daily Banjarmasin Post caught up with Rony Amir, an Obama classmate and Muslim, who describe Obama as "previously quite religious in Islam.""We previously often asked him to the prayer room close to the house. If he was wearing a sarong (waist fabric worn for religious or casual occasions) he looked funny," Amir said.The Los Angeles Times, which sent a reporter to Jakarta, quoted Zulfin Adi, who identified himself as among Obama's closest childhood friends, stating the presidential candidate prayed in a mosque, something Obama's campaign claimed he never did."We prayed, but not really seriously, just following actions done by older people in the mosque. But as kids, we loved to meet our friends and went to the mosque together and played," said Adi.
Friday prayers
Aside from the new site to fight purported smears, Obama's official campaign site has a page titled "Obama has never been a Muslim, and is a committed Christian." The page states, "Obama never prayed in a mosque. He has never been a Muslim, was not raised a Muslim, and is a committed Christian who attends the United Church of Christ."But the campaign changed its tune when it issued its "practicing Muslim" clarification to the L.A. Times.An article in March by the Chicago Tribune apparently disputes Adi's statements to the L.A. paper. The Tribune caught up with Obama's declared childhood friend, who now describes himself as only knowing Obama for a few months in 1970 when his family moved to the neighborhood. Adi said he was unsure about his recollections of Obama.But the Tribune found Obama did attend mosque."Interviews with dozens of former classmates, teachers, neighbors and friends show that Obama was not a regular practicing Muslim when he was in Indonesia," states the Tribune article.It quotes the presidential candidate's former neighbors and 3rd grade teacher recalling Obama "occasionally followed his stepfather to the mosque for Friday prayers."Daniel Pipes, director of the Middle East Forum, notes the Tribune article – cited by liberal blogs as refuting claims Obama is Muslim – actually implies Obama was an irregularly practicing Muslim and twice confirms Obama attended mosque services.In a free-ranging interview with the New York Times, Obama described the Muslim call to prayer as "one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset."The Times' Nicholos Kristof wrote Obama recited, "with a first-class Arabic accent," the opening lines of the Muslim call to prayer.The first few lines of the call to prayer state:
"Allah is Supreme! Allah is Supreme!Allah is Supreme! Allah is Supreme!I witness that there is no god but AllahI witness that there is no god but AllahI witness that Muhammad is his prophet... "
Some attention also has been paid to Obama's paternal side of the family. His father, described in some reports as an atheist, polygamist and alcoholic, was buried in Kenya as a Muslim. Obama Sr., also named Barack Obama, had three sons with another woman who reportedly all are Muslim.Obama's brother Roy is described as a practicing Muslim.Writing in a chapter of his book describing his 1992 wedding, the presidential candidate stated: "The person who made me proudest of all was Roy. Actually, now we call him Abongo, his Luo name, for two years ago he decided to reassert his African heritage. He converted to Islam, and has sworn off pork and tobacco and alcohol."Still, Obama says he was raised by his Christian mother and repeatedly has labeled as "smears" several reports attempting to paint him as a Muslim."Let's make clear what the facts are: I am a Christian. I have been sworn in with a Bible. I pledge allegiance to the American flag and lead the Pledge of Allegiance sometimes in the United States Senate when I'm presiding," he told the UK's Times Online earlier this year.Meanwhile, Obama's new anti-smear website also denies claims by bloggers and commentators of the existence of a tape in which Obama's wife Michelle is said to rail against "whitey." Other issues addressed by the site include claims Obama is hiding his birth certificate or that he won't recite the Pledge of Allegiance."The Obama campaign isn't going to let dishonest smears spread across the Internet unanswered," Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor said."Whenever challenged with these lies we will aggressively push back with the truth and help our supporters debunk the false rumors floating around the Internet. This website is an action center that allows supporters to upload their address books and send emails to all of their friends. It's not enough to just know the truth, we have to be pro-active and fight back," Vietor said.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=66981

PS:It's interesting that what is the "truth" for the Obama Camp turn to be BIG FAT LIES to the rest of us!!!!OBAMA is a LIAR and just wants to be president so bad.....
He forgets the fact that most of America is not STUPID and cannot be FOOLED
As in the days of Noah...

Taliban militants attack prison, all the Taliban prisoners escaped.

US freezes Kuwait charity assets over Al-Qaeda ties

The United States Treasury Department on Friday froze the assets of a Kuwait-based charity for allegedly supporting and funding Al-Qaeda, the government said in a statement.The decision applies to the Kuwaiti headquarters of the Revival of Islamic Heritage Society (RIHS), and specifically to any assets the group holds under US jurisdiction.It also bars US persons from any transactions with the group."RIHS has used charity and humanitarian assistance as cover to fund terrorist activity and harm innocent civilians, often in poor and impoverished regions," said Stuart Levey, under secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.The US government applied similar measures to RIHS offices in Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2002 "based on evidence of their support for Al-Qaeda," the Treasury statement said."At that time, there was no evidence that the Kuwait-based RIHS headquarters knew that RIHS-Afghanistan and RIHS-Pakistan were financing Al-Qaeda. Since that time, however, evidence has mounted implicating RIHS-HQ in terrorism support activity."The US government said that the group's senior leadership, which managed daily activities, was "aware of both legitimate and illegitimate uses of RIHS funds."RIHS offices have also been closed or raided over suspicions of terror ties by the governments of Albania, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Cambodia, and Russia.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=080614014719.btg6n6pd&show_article=1&catnum=0
As in the days of Noah...

''Disturbing'' textbooks: Islamic Saudi Academy in Virginia


This is not a suprise coming from our "friends" in Saudi Arabia. They were told by the U.S. government to make their textbooks more "infidel" friendly. Sure, right.
More here:
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/021366.php
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=7cc_1213402465
As in the days of Noah....

UNICEF Partners With Islamic Charity Linked to Terror Groups

An Islamic charity with ties to Al Qaeda and the Taliban is now collaborating with an unlikely new partner: UNICEF, the United Nations’ Children’s Fund.UNICEF has signed a “memorandum of understanding” with the International Islamic Relief Organization (IIRO), a Saudi charity of massive scope that keeps branches in more than 20 countries and has over 100 offices worldwide. According to UNICEF, it will be teaming with the charity’s domestic Saudi branch to “promote children’s rights, health, equality and education,” in the oil-rich kingdom-but the organization has been doing more than just charity work.The U.S. Treasury Department has designated the IIRO’s branches in the Philippines and Indonesia as terrorist entities for funding and supporting terrorist groups that have killed hundreds in East Asia. The Philippine branch was founded by Usama bin Laden’s brother-in-law, Muhammad Jamal Khalifah, and has long had ties to Al Qaeda.The U.N. itself says that both the Indonesian and Philippine branches of IIRO are tied to Al Qaeda and the Taliban, and has singled them out for an asset freeze, arms embargo and travel ban on members of the groups.But that hasn’t stopped the U.N. from recognizing the Saudi office as a legitimate relief group, nor has it stopped UNICEF-or other U.N. agencies-from working with it in the past.According to Chris de Bono, UNICEF’s chief of media, “UNICEF does not and will not engage with” the two East Asian branches. Its new partnership is with the main Saudi branch only, and UNICEF will coordinate relief primarily for children living within Saudi Arabia, de Bono said.The U.S. government also noted the distinction between the head office and the international branches.“We are monitoring the situation closely, but we also understand the difference between the IIRO main headquarters and its branches,” Carolyn Vadino, deputy spokeswoman for the U.S. mission to the U.N., wrote in an e-mail to FOX News.“It is the two branches in question that are designated and have ties to terrorists and at this time we have been assured that they are separate entities,” Vadino wrote.But some critics are not convinced the distinction is so clear.“We have to look a lot harder at whether or not an organization that’s headquartered in one country is really disconnected from operations which bear the same name in other countries and are referred to as branches,” said Anne Bayefsky, senior editor of Eye on the U.N., a watchdog group.According to the Treasury Department, the head of the IIRO’s Eastern Province branch has been directly funding the two terror-tied branches-straight from his office in Saudi Arabia.Abd Al Hamid Sulaiman Al-Mujil, who runs the Eastern Province branch, has been called the “million dollar man” for his support of Islamic militant groups, and the Treasury Department says he has provided donor funds directly to Al Qaeda.According to UNICEF, there isn’t yet a financial relationship with the IIRO, but joint programs launched in the future could change that. That has some critics worried about a potential for money to make its way into the wrong hands.“The risks involved in funding terror are sufficiently great that UNICEF officials and other U.N. officials who accredit this organization are called upon to assure themselves that there are no ties,” said Bayefsky.The IIRO's Indonesia branch was discovered by FOX News to still be operating despite being on the U.N.’s own terror list. Questions to the Indonesian mission to the U.N. have gone unanswered.And while UNICEF’s Gulf-area office vetted the Saudi charity’s domestic office in June, it would not confirm whether it had investigated the Eastern Province branch or its sources of financing.Bayefsky told FOXNews.com that even such vetting might not be enough.“One has to remind oneself over and over again that the United Nations has no definition of terrorism,” she said. “It’s very hard to investigate and object to links to terrorist groups when you don’t know what terrorism is."

As in the days of Noah...

QUAKEWATCH:Powerful quake with magnitude 7 jolts northeastern Japan

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SIGNS and MORE SIGNS:Researchers confirm age of "Methuselah" tree

JERUSALEM-Israeli researchers who grew a sapling from a date seed found at the ancient fortress Masada said on Thursday the seed was about 2,000 years old and may help restore a species of biblical trees.Carbon dating confirmed that the seed -- named Methuselah after the oldest person in the bible -- was the oldest ever brought back to life, Sarah Sallon, a researcher at the Hadassah Medical Centre in Jerusalem, reported in the journal Science.The seed came from the Judean date palm, a species that once flourished in the Jordan River Valley and has been extinct for centuries, Sallon said. It was one of a group discovered at Masada, a winter palace overlooking the Dead Sea built by King Herod in the 1st century BC.The fortress was used by hundreds of Jewish insurgents in a revolt against Roman rule that erupted in 67 AD."It has survived and flourished," Sallon said. Previous attempts to grow plants from ancient seeds failed after a few days.Since the seed was first germinated a few years ago, Sallon said there had been some doubt whether it was really 2,000 years old, like the others found at the site."At first we couldn't break off pieces of the seed for carbon dating," Sallon said in a telephone interview. "But when we moved the plant to a larger pot, we found fragments of the the seed on the roots, which we were able to carbon date."This showed the tree is about 2,000-years-old and preliminary genetic studies suggest it may share about half of its genetic code with modern dates, Sallon said.If the tree, which now stands about 1.5 metres (5 feet) tall, is female, it might be able to help restore the species which once formed thick forests throughout the Jordan River Valley, she said.The Judean date palm was also believed to provide a natural remedy for numerous ailments ranging from heart problems to constipation, something Sallon said she wants to test with further research if the tree is female and bears fruit."People would take the fruit and make it into a drink or tablet and take it as medicine," Sallon said.
As in the days of Noah...

PESTILENCE WATCH:Mexico, parts of Florida eyed as salmonella source

LOS ANGELES-The source of the Salmonella that has sickened hundreds of people through tainted tomatoes may be in Mexico and South and Central Florida, U.S. investigators said on Friday.Health officials said all indications pointed to a single geographic region as the source of the outbreak, which has sickened 228 people in 23 states.David Acheson, associate commissioner for foods at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said on a conference call that nine people who became ill with Salmonella had eaten at two different outlets of the same restaurant chain. He declined to name the chain or the location of the restaurants. "That represents a small cluster within this outbreak," he said.The outbreak has been disastrous for the U.S. tomato industry, which produced $1.28 billion of the fruit last year.The FDA has linked the outbreak to raw round, plum and Roma tomatoes, and has issued a list of states and countries whose tomatoes are not associated with the outbreak.California, Georgia, New York, Canada, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic are among tomato producers on the safe list. The FDA also has cleared counties in North Florida, whose tomatoes were not widely available at the time of the outbreak.
The FDA said investigators were focusing on South and Central Florida and Mexico because they were the biggest producers at the time.The Mexican government says its tomatoes are being unjustly targeted and notes that the uncommon Salmonella Saintpaul bacteria identified in the outbreak has never been found in Mexico.
To read more go to:
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JIHAD WATCH:Hamas says deadly Gaza blast was an accident

GAZA-Hamas's military wing said on Friday an explosion that killed eight Palestinians in the Gaza Strip was an accident that occurred as militants prepared to carry out a bomb attack.Hamas initially blamed Thursday's explosion on an Israeli air strike, but the Israeli military denied involvement.The blast flattened the two-storey house of Hamas bomb-maker Ahmed Hamouda in the northern town of Beit Lahiya, killing six Hamas fighters, a four-month-old girl and a civilian. One of the six men died of his wounds on Friday.Hamas said Hamouda was not killed in the explosion."An error occurred and led to the explosion and they were martyred," said Abu Ubaida, a spokesman for the Izz El-Deen al-Qassam Brigade, Hamas's armed wing, saying the exact cause was unclear because all those involved were killed.The brigade said in a statement the militants were putting the final touches to what they called a "special jihadi mission".Hamas fired about 20 rockets at Israel shortly after the explosion in Beit Lahiya, an area frequently used by militants to launch rockets into the Jewish state.The Israeli army killed five militants in two other operations in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, bringing the number of Palestinian dead to 13.Egypt is trying to broker a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Hamas but progress has been stalled by disagreement over the scope of the deal.
To read more go to:
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL139141220080613
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Egypt begins mass deportations of Eritreans: Amnesty

CAIRO-Egypt has deported 400 Eritrean asylum seekers back to Asmara and plans to forcibly return 1,200 more who are being held in detention in Egypt, putting them at serious risk of torture, Amnesty International said on Friday.The London-based human rights group said a first batch of 200 asylum seekers was flown back to Eritrea on Wednesday on a special Egyptair flight after being denied access for months to representatives from the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR.Another 200 were flown to the Horn of Africa nation on Thursday night, and more flights appeared to have been scheduled to deport the remaining Eritreans, Amnesty said."Most asylum seekers returned to Eritrea are likely to be arbitrarily detained incommunicado in inhumane conditions from weeks to years ... They will be at serious risk of torture or other ill-treatment," Amnesty said."The asylum seekers knew they were being deported and started to beg the security forces not to deport them, and even threatened to kill themselves," Amnesty activist Mohamed Lotfy said, adding that women and children were among those deported.UNHCR said Egypt had cut off its access to detained Eritrean migrants in February, leaving it unable to assess any asylum claims. UNHCR was also unable to confirm any had been deported.But UNHCR said it was concerned for the fate of up to 1,600 mainly Eritrean migrants it believed were being held who had been caught slipping into the country either by land from Sudan or directly from Eritrea via the Red Sea."We remain seriously concerned about the situation, again, because the group includes women and children, said Abeer Etefa, a spokeswoman for UNHCR in Cairo. "Our office continues to request access."
To read more go to:
As in the days of Noah....

Intelligent people 'less likely to believe in God': People with higher IQs are less likely to believe in God, according to a new study

Professor Richard Lynn, emeritus professor of psychology at Ulster University, said many more members of the "intellectual elite" considered themselves atheists than the national average.A decline in religious observance over the last century was directly linked to a rise in average intelligence, he claimed.But the conclusions - in a paper for the academic journal Intelligence - have been branded "simplistic" by critics. Professor Lynn, who has provoked controversy in the past with research linking intelligence to race and sex, said university academics were less likely to believe in God than almost anyone else.A survey of Royal Society fellows found that only 3.3 per cent believed in God - at a time when 68.5 per cent of the general UK population described themselves as believers.A separate poll in the 90s found only seven per cent of members of the American National Academy of Sciences believed in God.Professor Lynn said most primary school children believed in God, but as they entered adolescence - and their intelligence increased - many started to have doubts.He told Times Higher Education magazine: "Why should fewer academics believe in God than the general population? I believe it is simply a matter of the IQ. Academics have higher IQs than the general population. Several Gallup poll studies of the general population have shown that those with higher IQs tend not to believe in God."He said religious belief had declined across 137 developed nations in the 20th century at the same time as people became more intelligent.But Professor Gordon Lynch, director of the Centre for Religion and Contemporary Society at Birkbeck College, London, said it failed to take account of a complex range of social, economic and historical factors."Linking religious belief and intelligence in this way could reflect a dangerous trend, developing a simplistic characterisation of religion as primitive, which - while we are trying to deal with very complex issues of religious and cultural pluralism - is perhaps not the most helpful response," he said.Dr Alistair McFadyen, senior lecturer in Christian theology at Leeds University, said the conclusion had "a slight tinge of Western cultural imperialism as well as an anti-religious sentiment".Dr David Hardman, principal lecturer in learning development at London Metropolitan University, said: "It is very difficult to conduct true experiments that would explicate a causal relationship between IQ and religious belief. Nonetheless, there is evidence from other domains that higher levels of intelligence are associated with a greater ability - or perhaps willingness - to question and overturn strongly felt institutions."
By Graeme Paton, Education Editor
PS:Then we could infer that "intelligent intellectual elite" are more likely to end up in hell after death than the more "unlearned" bunch that actually believe in God....Here at home we must be an "interesting exception"to this research...cause we are college graduates that are still involved in post graduate activities...At any rate....I rather stay with the "unlearned bunch"for the sake of my soul..........
As in the days of Noah...

ENVIRO WATCH:Global Warming and the Price of a Gallon of Gas

You may want to give credit where credit is due to Al Gore and his global warming campaign the next time you fill your car with gasoline, because there is a direct connection between Global Warming and four dollar a gallon gas.It is shocking, but true, to learn that the entire Global Warming frenzy is based on the environmentalist’s attack on fossil fuels, particularly gasoline.All this big time science, international meetings, thick research papers, dire threats for the future; all of it, comes down to their claim that the carbon dioxide in the exhaust from your car and in the smoke stacks from our power plants is destroying the climate of planet Earth.What an amazing fraud; what a scam.The future of our civilization lies in the balance.That’s the battle cry of the High Priest of Global Warming Al Gore and his fellow, agenda driven disciples as they predict a calamitous outcome from anthropogenic global warming.According to Mr. Gore the polar ice caps will collapse and melt and sea levels will rise 20 feet inundating the coastal cities making 100 million of us refugees. Vice President Gore tells us numerous Pacific islands will be totally submerged and uninhabitable. He tells us global warming will disrupt the circulation of the ocean waters, dramatically changing climates, throwing the world food supply into chaos. He tells us global warming will turn hurricanes into super storms, produce droughts, wipe out the polar bears and result in bleaching of coral reefs. He tells us tropical diseases will spread to mid latitudes and heat waves will kill tens of thousands. He preaches to us that we must change our lives and eliminate fossil fuels or face the dire consequences. The future of our civilization is in the balance.With a preacher’s zeal, Mr. Gore sets out to strike terror into us and our children and make us feel we are all complicit in the potential demise of the planet.Here is my rebuttal.There is no significant man made global warming.There has not been any in the past, there is none now and there is no reason to fear any in the future.The climate of Earth is changing.It has always changed.But mankind’s activities have not overwhelmed or significantly modified the natural forces.Through all history,Earth has shifted between two basic climate regimes: ice ages and what paleoclimatologists call “Interglacial periods”.For the past 10 thousand years the Earth has been in an interglacial period.That might well be called nature’s global warming because what happens during an interglacial period is the Earth warms up, the glaciers melt and life flourishes. Clearly from our point of view, an interglacial period is greatly preferred to the deadly rigors of an ice age.Mr. Gore and his crowd would have us believe that the activities of man have overwhelmed nature during this interglacial period and are producing an unprecedented, out of control warming.Well, it is simply not happening.Worldwide there was a significant natural warming trend in the 1980’s and 1990’s as a Solar cycle peaked with lots of sunspots and solar flares.That ended in 1998 and now the Sun has gone quiet with fewer and fewer Sun spots, and the global temperatures have gone into decline.Earth has cooled for almost ten straight years. So, I ask Al Gore, where’s the global warming?The cooling trend is so strong that recently the head of the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change had to acknowledge it.He speculated that nature has temporarily overwhelmed mankind’s warming and it may be ten years or so before the warming returns.Oh, really.We are supposed to be in a panic about man-made global warming and the whole thing takes a ten year break because of the lack of Sun spots.If this weren’t so serious, it would be laughable.Now allow me to talk a little about the science behind the global warming frenzy. I have dug through thousands of pages of research papers, including the voluminous documents published by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.I have worked my way through complicated math and complex theories. Here’s the bottom line: the entire global warming scientific case is based on the increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from the use of fossil fuels.They don’t have any other issue.Carbon Dioxide, that’s it.Hello Al Gore; Hello UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.Your science is flawed; your hypothesis is wrong; your data is manipulated. And, may I add, your scare tactics are deplorable.The Earth does not have a fever....
by John Coleman
To read more go to:
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FOOD CRISIS:Floods could reduce corn supplies, raise prices

NEW YORK-Floods that have inundated the Midwest could reduce world corn supplies and drive food prices higher at a time when Americans are already stretching their grocery budgets and people in poor countries have rioted over rising food costs.The U.S. government will report later this month on how many acres of corn were lost to floodwaters. But farmers and agriculture experts already say the toll appears grim, with thousands of acres probably destroyed in the region that grows most of the world's corn."It's not a very good picture at all. We're looking at possibly a good reduction in acres if a lot of this crop remains underwater," said Chad Hart, an agriculture economist at Iowa State University. "There's still hope, but it wanes with each rainstorm."The disaster has drawn comparisons to the 1993 floods that displaced thousands of people and wiped away vast swaths of the heartland's agriculture. At the time, about 18 bushels per acre of corn were destroyed, "and everybody is reporting that this year is worse," said Jason Ward, grains analyst at North Star Commodity in Minneapolis.The most recent floods have sent corn prices soaring past $7 a bushel for the first time, up from about $4 a year ago. Prices shot to a record for a seventh straight day Friday, climbing as high as $7.37 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade.Floodwaters also hurt soybean crops, sending prices to near all-time highs. Wheat, oats, rice and other food commodities were damaged, too.And corn prices could jump further if floodwaters don't recede soon, experts say."We've got some major price volatility ahead the weaker this crop gets," Hart said.In Iowa, the country's top corn producer, about 9 percent of the anticipated crop either hasn't been planted because farmers can't get into their fields, or it needs to be replanted because it's waterlogged, said Roger Elmore, a corn expert at Iowa State.That's about 1.2 million acres of corn - almost 1.5 percent of the country's anticipated harvest - that may produce only a fraction of its potential yield. Rain continued falling in much of Iowa on Friday, and it's already late to be planting corn."It's Noah's Ark-like conditions out there ... and if you replant now you're going to get much lower yields," said Vic Lespinasse of grainanalyst.com in Chicago.Corn prices have shot up more than 80 percent in the last year because of rising energy prices and surging global demand for biofuel and livestock feed. But excessive rainfall in the Midwest has pushed prices up nearly 20 percent in the last month alone. Climbing commodity prices worldwide have hit Americans in their wallets and touched off riots in Haiti, Senegal, Egypt and other poor countries.A weak corn crop could only make things worse. Livestock owners will probably have to slaughter more cattle, hogs and chickens to offset the rising cost of corn-based animal feed, leading to more expensive beef, pork, chicken, eggs and dairy products.Other livestock owners may switch to cheaper feed made from barely or wheat, adding to already high demand for those grains."In some cases, hog and cattle farmers are seeing feed prices double," said Iowa corn farmer Russell Meade, who also sells hay for livestock. "Those guys are going to be put in a financial squeeze."It's the same gloomy story for U.S. ethanol producers, who are already being threatened by high corn prices and political pressure to roll back or eliminate federal subsidies.Citigroup analyst David Driscoll this week advised investors to sell shares of publicly traded ethanol producers such as VeraSun Energy Corp. (VSE) and BioFuel Energy Corp. (BIOF), driving their shares sharply down.Many smaller ethanol producers might have to idle plants until corn prices fall, said Michael Swanson, an economist for Wells Fargo & Company.Ethanol makers are spending almost as much for their raw material as they're getting for their finished product."If you're going to lose more money by actually doing your thing, you're better off not doing your thing," Swanson said. "The question is, do you have enough cash to tide you over? A lot of these guys don't."Farmers were expected to plant 86 million acres of corn in 2008 - an 8 percent drop from last year. After the flooding began, the Department of Agriculture reduced its projected corn harvest to 11.7 billion bushels, a 10 percent drop from last year.On June 30, the USDA will release an updated estimate on the size of the 2008 corn crop, and many expect it to be significantly smaller than the initial numbers.John Olsson's farm in central Illinois has been pelted by one steady rain after another. The storms kept him out his fields and washed away fertilizer."I don't think we've had two five-day periods all spring without some type of rain," the 46-year-old farmer said from his home near New Berlin, Ill., about 90 miles northeast of St. Louis. "It's like death by a thousand cuts."
Most of his 650 acres appears to have water damage, meaning it will likely produce less corn. "There's no way we're going to have a crop like we've had the last few years," he said.Others are holding out hope, noting that there's still plenty of corn that hasn't been flooded. Corn can survive underwater for a few days if it doesn't get too hot."We still need to evaluate how many acres are really gone and really not," said Ken McCauley, a Kansas farmer and chairman of the National Corn Growers Association. "Agriculture is really good at bouncing back, and things aren't always as bad as they seem."
By STEVENSON JACOBS
As in the days of Noah...

Calif. wildfires destroy homes, force evacuations

PARADISE, Calif.-Strong, erratic winds that had been complicating efforts to fight wildfires in Northern California calmed down Friday, but firefighters were still struggling to get the upper hand on one stubborn fire that scorched more than 31 square miles and threatened 4,600 structures.The weather reprieve was predicted to be brief, as winds were expected to pick up later Friday and possibly push the flames closer to Paradise, a town of about 30,000 residents some 90 miles north of Sacramento.The blaze already had destroyed at least 20 homes. Authorities on Thursday had closed all roads to Paradise and ordered 9,000 people to leave.One elderly woman, whose identity was not immediately released, suffered a heart attack during the evacuation and died, said Ruben Grijalva, director of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.Cal Fire spokesman Joshpae White was observing the fire Thursday when it closed in. At one point, he said he was forced to drive through a wall of flames."It looked like a million blowtorches across the road," White said. "We were taking significant heat. The heat was so intense, the windshield began cracking."In recent days, hot temperatures, steady winds and tinder-dry vegetation have fueled a series of destructive blazes in the northern heartland of California.To the south of Paradise, a fire in the Santa Cruz mountains threatened homes.Nine hundred firefighters caught a break Friday as cooler temperatures and increased cloud cover helped them gain some ground on the 1 square mile blaze.More than 1,500 residents of Bonny Doon, a heavily forested town about 10 miles northwest of Santa Cruz, have been told to leave since the fire broke out Wednesday afternoon. Among them was James Eason, 28, who lives with his quadriplegic father in a yurt, a nearly uninsulated wooden-framed structure covered in canvas."It's stressful and frustrating. It makes you anxious not knowing if you're going to have a place to go back to," James Eason said. "All of a sudden, with the fire, the yurt doesn't seem so bad. We've started to like it a whole lot."Another wildfire had charred more than 29 square miles in the Los Padres National Forest in Monterey County. It was nearly 40 percent contained by Friday.In southeastern Colorado, a fire that started on a military training site jumped the Purgatoire River, a natural fire break, and was threatening eight nearby ranches. Nearly 250 firefighters were battling the blaze in the remote and rugged country. It had burned over 65 square miles and was not controlled at all, with gusting winds hampering efforts for containment. Across the country, authorities in North Carolina issued an air quality advisory for Raleigh, Chapel Hill and Durham through Friday after smoke from a wildfire burning in a wildlife refuge drifted westward. The lightning-sparked blaze has burned more than 60 square miles in and around the Pocosin Lakes Wildlife Refuge, and was only 40 percent contained.Authorities say without a massive rainstorm, firefighters can do little to extinguish the blaze and put an end to the smoky weather.
On the Net:
Find fire information at and:
http://www.oes.ca.gov/http://cdfdata.fire.ca.gov/incidents/incidents_current
By DON THOMPSON
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080613/D919E0I00.html
As in the days of Noah...

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