JIHAD WATCH:Mauritania killings may be new Qaeda chapter

ALEG, Mauritania-By a sand-swept road in southern Mauritania a monument to four French tourists shot dead by suspected Islamic militants lies smashed into concrete shards.Like many details surrounding the Christmas Eve shootings, who destroyed the plinth remains a mystery. But its symbolism seems clear: the moderate Muslim culture of this Saharan state has been penetrated by violence.The broad-daylight attack at Aleg was followed days later by the killing of three Mauritanian soldiers and an assault on the Israeli embassy in the capital Nouakchott in early February, both claimed by al Qaeda's North African branch.The attacks, which prompted the cancellation of the Dakar rally, have sown fears of an organized militant cell within pro-Western Mauritania and raised concerns al Qaeda is expanding southward, as U.S. intelligence has long predicted.While neighboring states like Morocco and Algeria have suffered major bombings, Mauritania has largely escaped attack. The exception, an ambush on a desert outpost three years ago which left 15 soldiers dead, was rare enough to leave doubts."Al Qaeda does not exist in Mauritania. We are a peaceful people," said Oumar Thiecoura N'Diaye, deputy mayor of Aleg, shrouded from the wind by a blue turban as he stood next to the plinth's remains. "They must have been bandits who did this."Western governments are taking the threat seriously. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, on a visit to Nouakchott last week, vowed greater security cooperation. Washington, which includes Mauritania in its $500 million Trans-Sahara Counter Terrorism Initiative, has stepped up military aid.A vast, sparsely populated nation of just 1.5 million people on the edge of the Sahara, Mauritania holds significance for Islamists, experts say.

To read more go to:

http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL1111681920080212

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Bush orders clampdown on flights to US:EU officials furious as Washington says it wants extra data on all air passengers

The US administration is pressing the 27 governments of the European Union to sign up for a range of new security measures for transatlantic travel, including allowing armed guards on all flights from Europe to America by US airlines.The demand to put armed air marshals on to the flights is part of a travel clampdown by the Bush administration that officials in Brussels described as "blackmail" and "troublesome", and could see west Europeans and Britons required to have US visas if their governments balk at Washington's requirements.According to a US document being circulated for signature in European capitals, EU states would also need to supply personal data on all air passengers overflying but not landing in the US in order to gain or retain visa-free travel to America, senior EU officials said.And within months the US department of homeland security is to impose a new permit system for Europeans flying to the US, compelling all travellers to apply online for permission to enter the country before booking or buying a ticket, a procedure that will take several days.The data from the US's new electronic transport authorisation system is to be combined with extensive personal passenger details already being provided by EU countries to the US for the "profiling" of potential terrorists and assessment of other security risks. Washington is also asking European airlines to provide personal data on non-travellers - for example family members - who are allowed beyond departure barriers to help elderly, young or ill passengers to board aircraft flying to America, a demand the airlines reject as "absurd".Seven demands tabled by Washington are contained in a 10-page "memorandum of understanding" (MOU) that the US authorities are negotiating or planning to negotiate with all EU governments, according to ministers and diplomats from EU member states and senior officials in Brussels. The Americans have launched their security drive with some of the 12 mainly east European EU countries whose citizens still need visas to enter the US."The Americans are trying to get a beefing up of their visa-waiver programmes. It's all contained in the MOU they want to put to all EU member states," said a diplomat from a west European country. "It's a very delicate problem."As part of a controversial passenger data exchange programme allegedly aimed at combating terrorism, the EU has for the past few months been supplying the American authorities with 19 items of information on every traveller flying from the EU to the US.The new American demands go well beyond what was agreed under that passenger name record (PNR) system and look certain to cause disputes within Europe and between Europe and the US.Brussels is pressing European governments not to sign the bilateral deals with the Americans to avoid weakening the EU bargaining position. But Washington appears close to striking accords on the new travel regime with Greece and the Czech Republic. Both countries have sizeable diaspora communities in America, while their citizens need visas to enter the US. Visa-free travel would be popular in both countries.A senior EU official said the Americans could get "a gung-ho frontrunner" to sign up to the new regime and then use that agreement "as a rod to beat the other member states with". The frontrunner appears to be the Czech Republic. On Wednesday, Richard Barth of the department of homeland security was in Prague to negotiate with the Czech deputy prime minister, Alexandr Vondra,Prague hoped to sign the US memorandum "in the spring", Vondra said. "The EU has done nothing for us on visas," he said. "There was no help, no solidarity in the past. It's in our interest to move ahead. We can't just wait and do nothing. We have to act in the interest of our citizens...."

To read more go to:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/feb/11/usa.theairlineindustry

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ISLAMIC WATCH:Devil May CAIR

Homeland Security: In a new court filing, federal prosecutors describe the Council on American-Islamic Relations as a supporter of terrorists. So why are Democrats still supporting the organization?CAIR boosters on the Hill, where it’s headquartered just three blocks from the Capitol, have known for some time that several people in positions of power within the group have been directly connected to terrorism and have either been prosecuted or thrown out of the country.Yet lawmakers have gone right on singing CAIR praises and doing its bidding. That agenda includes suing John Doe witnesses, censoring critics of Islamism and denying the FBI antiterror tools.These cheerleaders, who include a handful of Republicans (see box), also know by now that CAIR was named an unindicted co-conspirator in a Hamas terror-fundraising case last year. And that FBI wiretaps revealed that CAIR founder, Omar Ahmad, and executive director, Nihad Awad, last decade attended a secret meeting in Philadelphia with Hamas leaders and other terrorist sympathizers.In fact, Ahmad himself was named an unindicted co-conspirator in the terror case, which counts a CAIR founding director among its criminal defendants.But now, in a separate case involving a senior CAIR official who trained to kill American soldiers in jihad, prosecutors are tying CAIR even closer to terror. In court papers filed in December, federal prosecutors described CAIR as not just an apologist or sympathizer, but a supporter of terrorists.“From its founding by Muslim Brotherhood leaders,” the filing states, “CAIR conspired with other affiliates of the Muslim Brotherhood to support terrorists.” The government also cited evidence “the conspirators used deception to conceal from the American public their connections to terrorists.”Perhaps some members of Congress had been fooled by CAIR deception. But now they have no excuse. Now Sen. Barbara Mikulski, who saluted CAIR “important work,” and Sen. Paul Sarbanes, who applauded “CAIR mission,” know better.The criminal briefing should also disabuse Rep. John Conyers, who’s trumpeted CAIR “long and distinguished history.” Rep. John Dingell, who said “my office door is always open” to CAIR, now has an obligation to slam it shut.No red-blooded American lawmaker wants to do anything that would facilitate the support of terrorists, not even Rep. Dennis Kucinich, who’s gushed “CAIR has much to be proud of.”Continued support of CAIR plays right into its hands. Such endorsements are promptly posted on its Web site in an attempt to legitimize itself in the media. It also uses outreach events with the government as a kind of insurance policy against investigation.But CAIR tricks are wearing thin. Now it is resorting to thinly veiled threats, warning presidential candidates to avoid any “anti-Muslim rhetoric” or suffer a backlash at the polls. The group already attacked former GOP hopeful Rudy Giuliani for using the phrase “Islamic terrorism.” Democrats, typically, have taken the hint. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama won’t even describe the enemy as terrorists, let alone Islamic.To continue to embrace CAIR and cater to its demands is the equivalent of legitimizing the Muslim Brotherhood, a group which gave birth to Hamas and al-Qaida...

To read more go to:

http://www.plnewsforum.com/index.php/forums/viewthread/29293/

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U.S. Pastor To Be Held For Two Months for Investigation

MOSCOW-A Moscow court has ordered a U.S. pastor to remain in detention for two months while prosecutors investigate him on suspicion of smuggling ammunition into the country, a U.S. Embassy spokeswoman said Sunday.Phillip Miles, a pastor of the Christ Community Church in Conway, South Carolina, was detained at Sheremetyevo Airport on Feb. 3, days after rifle rounds were discovered in his luggage.Miles remained on Sunday in the airport holding cell where he was taken after being detained, the spokeswoman said, speaking on customary condition of anonymity.At Friday’s hearing, the Golovinsky District Court, which has jurisdiction over Sheremetyevo, ordered Miles be moved to a different, “interim facility,” the spokeswoman said. It was unclear when that would happen. “After Friday’s preliminary hearing, Miles remains in detention on charges that may include trafficking, with a potential sentence of a monetary fine or four years imprisonment, and smuggling, with a potential sentence of three to seven years,” the spokeswoman said.Airport officials seized the ammunition when Miles entered Russia on Jan. 29. Officials allowed Miles to continue on his trip to Perm, where he met fellow church members, on the proviso that he check in with them at Sheremetyevo on the way back to the United States.When he did, he was detained on suspicion of smuggling the ammunition, which he admitted he failed to declare, as required by law, according to friends.The bullets were a gift for a pastor in Perm, who was a fellow hunting enthusiast, according to the embassy spokeswoman and Miles’ associates.Neither the law enforcement body that detained Miles nor the location of the court could be established as of Sunday.The embassy spokeswoman did not have immediate access to the information and calls to prosecutors, the Federal Security Service and the Moscow City Court went unanswered. Two lawyers contacted Sunday said authorities’ treatment of Miles was within the law.“If he was unsure, all he had to do was approach a customs official and ask if he should declare the bullets,” Sergei Melnikov, a lawyer who specializes in customs and immigration issues, said on Sunday. “Checking one box on the declarations form could have saved him all this trouble,” Melnikov added.

http://www.sptimes.ru/story/24997

As in the days of Noah....

Bishop:Christians don't go to heaven:Anglican challenges widespread belief, says believers asleep until God returns

A bishop described as "one of the most formidable figures in the world of Christian thought" is now challenging the widely held belief that Christians go to heaven when they die.N.T. "Tom" Wright, the fourth most senior cleric in the Church of England who has been praised for his staunch defense of the literal resurrection of Jesus Christ, has published a new book in which he says people do not ascend to God's dwelling place. Instead, deceased believers are in a sleep-like state until God comes back to Earth."Never at any point do the Gospels or Paul say Jesus has been raised, therefore we are we are all going to heaven," Wright told Time Magazine."I've often heard people say, 'I'm going to heaven soon, and I won't need this stupid body there, thank goodness.' That's a very damaging distortion, all the more so for being unintentional."When asked to explain why he rejects that typical sentiment, he said,"There are several important respects in which it's unsupported by the New Testament. First, the timing. In the Bible we are told that you die, and enter an intermediate state.The Apostle Paul is very clear that Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead already, but that nobody else has yet. Secondly, our physical state. The New Testament says that when Christ does return, the dead will experience a whole new life: not just our soul, but our bodies. And finally, the location. At no point do the resurrection narratives in the four Gospels say, 'Jesus has been raised, therefore we are all going to heaven.' It says that Christ is coming here, to join together the heavens and the Earth in an act of new creation."In the Gospel of John, Jesus himself is quoted as saying, "And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven." (John 3:13) In "Surprised by Hope," published by HarperOne, Wright quotes a children's book by California first lady Maria Shriver titled 'What's Heaven,' which describes it as "a beautiful place where you can sit on soft clouds and talk...If you're good throughout your life, then you get to go there... When your life is finished here on Earth, God sends angels down to take you heaven to be with him."Wright calls that a good example of "what not to say,"explaining the biblical truth"is very,very different. "When asked by Time about the period between death and the resurrection of the dead, Wright said: "We know that we will be with God and with Christ, resting and being refreshed. Paul writes that it will be conscious, but compared with being bodily alive,it will be like being asleep. The Wisdom of Solomon, a Jewish text from about the same time as Jesus, says 'the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God,' and that seems like a poetic way to put the Christian understanding, as well."He continued: "Our culture is very interested in life after death, but the New Testament is much more interested in what I've called the life after life after death – in the ultimate resurrection into the new heavens and the new Earth. Jesus' resurrection marks the beginning of a restoration that he will complete upon his return. Part of this will be the resurrection of all the dead, who will 'awake,' be embodied and participate in the renewal. John Polkinghorne, a physicist and a priest, has put it this way: 'God will download our software onto his hardware until the time he gives us new hardware to run the software again for ourselves.' That gets to two things nicely: that the period after death is a period when we are in God's presence but not active in our own bodies, and also that the more important transformation will be when we are again embodied and administering Christ's kingdom."Wright, whose 2003 book, "The Resurrection of the Son of God," received widespread acclaim in the Christian community, says many people have been confused about what happens at death by Jesus' statement to a thief who was being executed next to him.He explained: "There is Luke 23, where Jesus says to the good thief on the cross, 'Today you will be with me in paradise.' But in Luke, we know first of all that Christ himself will not be resurrected for three days, so 'paradise' cannot be a resurrection. It has to be an intermediate state. And chapters 4 and 5 of Revelation, where there is a vision of worship in heaven that people imagine describes our worship at the end of time. In fact it's describing the worship that's going on right now. If you read the book through, you see that at the end we don't have a description of heaven, but, as I said, of the new heavens and the new Earth joined together."Wright says much of "traditional Christianity" has been influenced by pagan philosophies."Two obvious ones are Dante's great poetry, which sets up a heaven, purgatory and hell immediately after death, and Michelangelo's 'Last Judgment' in the Sistine chapel, which portrays heaven and hell as equal and opposite last destinations. Both had enormous influence on Western culture, so much so that many Christians think that is Christianity," he said.While Wright's view may seem stunning to many of today's Christians, similar views were held by some famous names in the Protestant Reformation.In 1520, Martin Luther blasted Catholic ideas "that the soul is immortal; and all these endless monstrosities in the Roman dunghill of decretals."A decade later, English Bible translator and martyr William Tyndale echoed the idea Christians are completely dead until Jesus returns, as he voiced opposition to "heathen" ideas of people having immortal souls at birth:The true faith putteth [setteth forth] the resurrection, which we be warned to look for every hour. The heathen philosophers, denying that, did put [set forth] that the souls did ever live. And the pope joineth the spiritual doctrine of Christ and the fleshly doctrine of philosophers together; things so contrary that they cannot agree, no more than the Spirit and the flesh do in a Christian man.And because the fleshly-minded pope consenteth unto heathen doctrine, therefore he corrupteth the Scripture to stablish it.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=56071

As in the days of Noah...

END TIMES WEATHER:Record Cold for Northern Minn.: 40 Below

MINNEAPOLIS-It lived up to its name: The temperature in International Falls fell to 40 below zero Monday, just a few days after the northern Minnesota town won a federal trademark making it officially the "Icebox of the Nation."It was so cold that resident Nick McDougall couldn't even get his car trunk lid to close after he got out his charger to kick-start his dead battery.By late morning, the temperature had risen all the way to 18 - below zero."This is about as cold as it gets, this is bad. There's no wind - it's just cold," said McDougall, 48, a worker at The Fisherman, a convenience store and gas station in the town on the Canadian border."People just don't go out, unless you have to go to work."Residents of the area use electric engine block heaters to keep their cars from freezing."You plug in your car, for sure, and you put the car in the garage if you can," McDougall said. His garage is full of other things, so he had to park outside-a "big mistake."The previous record low for Feb. 11 in International Falls was 37 below, set in 1967, said meteorologist Mike Stewart at the weather service in Duluth. The cold was expected, he said: "When the winds finally died off and the skies cleared off, it just dropped."
The temperature also fell to 40 below in Embarrass, 80 miles southeast of International Falls. That's just one degree above the all-time record in Minneapolis, 250 miles to the south, that was set in January 1888, the weather service said.It was also a cold day for the appropriately named town of Winter.The town in northwest Wisconsin chilled to a low of 25 below."I try to stay out of it as much as possible right now," said Winter area resident Bill Warner, 37. "I don't have to go out and do anything today so I am all right. You don't want to be out there too long."Chilly air also spread into the Northeast on Monday and many schools in New York state between Buffalo and Syracuse closed or opened late. Single-digit temperatures plus high wind drove the wind chill factor to nearly 20 below across much of upstate New York.Philadelphia had a "Code Blue" alert in effect, sending outreach crews to coax homeless people into shelters. Monday's low of 10 above zero.Farther south, freezing rain hit southwest Missouri early Monday, making roads hazardous and losing schools. A coating of ice up to an inch thick was expected across much of southern and central Missouri, the weather service said."It's treacherous. If you can stay home this morning, do it," Missouri Highway Patrol Sgt. Dan Bracker said in Springfield.Thousands of West Virginia homes and businesses had no electricity Monday after the state was hit by weekend wind gusts of up to 55 mph. At least nine counties closed schools because of power outages and the cold-the mountain city of Elkins had a low of 6 above.Classes also were canceled Monday for a number of schools in Michigan, which remained in a deep freeze after a weekend of single-digit temperatures and gusty wind. One death was blamed on the weather.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080211/D8UO9P3O1.html

As in the days of Noah....

BIG BROTHER WATCH:KEEPING AN 'EYE' ON PARK CRIMES:CAMERAS COMING SOON, LIKE IT OR NOT

Big Brother may soon be watching-at your local playground. NYPD and Parks Department officials say it's only a matter of time before parks throughout the city are equipped with crime-fighting surveillance cameras-as many other parts of the city currently are."It's not a matter of if we are going to use the technology but when we are going to use this technology," Deputy Parks Commissioner Kevin Jeffrey said during a recent City Council hearing on park safety.Jeffrey said the key issues are finding funding and the best technology available to guarantee prosecution.The comments came after Council Minority Leader James Oddo (R-SI) said the city is missing opportunities to seriously crack down on park crime by not taking advantage of video-surveillance technology.He said he understands some communities might be against the idea of being recorded in parks,but Staten Islanders overwhelmingly support it.Oddo said if the city wants to conduct a pilot program, three excellent borough locations are Westerleigh Park, Bloomingdale Park and New Dorp Park.
Assistant NYPD Commissioner Susan Petito said cameras are excellent deterrents to crime but could not estimate when she believed cameras would be installed in parks.But not everyone is enamored with the plan."The assumption that cameras will solve all our problems is deeply misguided,"said Donna Lieberman,executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union. "While they might be appropriate in some sections of some parks, there needs to be a commitment to protecting the privacy of individuals on romantic trysts and athletes whose bumbling might be captured on tape."There were 65 felony crimes in the city's 20 largest parks in the third quarter of 2007, compared to 68 in the second quarter, the NYPD says.However, park advocates say the data is flawed because there is so much crime that goes unreported-particularly misdemeanor crimes like illegal dumping.

By RICH CALDER

http://www.nypost.com/seven/02112008/news/regionalnews/keeping_an_eye_on_park_crimes_476766.htm

As in the days of Noah....

Google Earth:Israel'stole Palestinian land':Says Jews drove out Arabs even though town was founded on empty sand dunes

TEL AVIV-An Israeli town is suing Internet giant Google after surprised municipal officials discovered Google Earth, the popular, user-driven satellite map, labels their city as stolen Palestinian land."The label is simply complete nonsense," Yossi Ben-Artzi, a history professor at Israel's Haifa University told Yediot Ahronot, Israel's leading daily."Kiryat Yam was built on sand dunes, and there wasn't any Palestinian village in the area.The lands were bought in 1939 by the Gav Yam construction company."The professor was responding to a criminal complaint filed by the northern Israeli coastal town of Kiryat Yam, which a Google Earth user mapped as stolen by Jews when Israel was founded in 1948.About 600,000 Arabs fled Israel after surrounding Arab countries warned they would destroy the Jewish state in 1948. Some Arabs also were driven out by Jewish forces while they were trying to push back invading Arab armies. At the same time, over 800,000 Jews were expelled or left Arab countries under threat after Israel was founded.The Google Earth user, identified as Palestinian physician Thameen Darby, inserted a note on the map saying Kiryat Yam was built in 1948 at the location of a former Arab town called Ghawarina. Ghawarina, though, is widely thought to be about 10 miles south of Kiryat Yat, in an Arab village currently named Jisr el-Zarka."This is one of the Palestinian localities evacuated and destroyed after the 1948 Arab-Israeli war," Darby posted above Kiryat Yam.Darby's claim is strange since Kiryat Yam was founded in the 1930s and not in 1948, when he claims Jews expelled Arabs from the site.An official Google response e-mailed to WND explained Google Earth is user driven:"Content reflects what people contribute, not what Google believes to be true...While we recognize that some may find the user-generated content objectionable, we are careful to balance the integrity of an open forum with the legal requirements of local governments. If an overlay does not breach our Terms and Conditions and is not in any way illegal, it is our policy not to remove it."A Google spokesman told the Associated Press Darby's posting on the map doesn't violate Google policy and that the Palestinian label would not be removed.
Google marks Temple Mount Palestinian
This is not the first time Google Earth drew controversy alleging pro-Palestinian bias.WND reported last year while Jerusalem serves as Israel's capital, and the Temple Mount is located within Israeli sovereignty, Google Earth divides the city and places the Mount-Judaism's holiest site-within Palestinian territory.Interactive Google Earth maps still mark eastern sections of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount as "occupied territory," set to become part of a future Palestinian state.The United Nations considers eastern sections of Jerusalem, recaptured by Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War, to be "disputed" and not "occupied." The Israeli Knesset officially annexed the entire city of Jerusalem as its capital in 1980."Google Earth is reinforcing lies," Rabbi Chaim Richman, director of the international department at Israel's Temple Institute, told WND."The Muslims have engaged in a systemic campaign to re-write history and erase any traces of Judaism from the Temple Mount in total disregard to all actual archeological and historic evidence," he continued. "Now Google Earth has given in to this campaign." Jerusalem first was divided into eastern and western sections when Jordan invaded and occupied the city and the Temple Mount area in 1947, expelling all Jewish inhabitants. Israel originally built its capital in the western part of the city, while the eastern quarters remained under Jordanian control until Israel regained them in 1967.
'Racist Israel stealing Palestinian water'
Google Earth does not limit its input in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to Jerusalem and Kiryat Yam.The Gaza Strip is labeled by Google Earth as "Israeli occupied," even though the Jewish state withdrew from Gaza in August 2005.TotallyJewish.com, a UK-based Jewish website, pointed out an interactive Google Earth map of an Israeli community in the northern West Bank features integrated user comments implying Jews are stealing water from neighboring Palestinians.A posting on a Google map next to the town of Kiryat Arba, near the ancient city of Hebron, states: "Note the well-tended lawns in a region deprived of water."Clicking on a Web link in the posting brings the user to a site stating, "The principal reason for the water shortage is an unfair distribution of water resources shared by Israel and the Palestinians."The posting decries Israel's purported water-confiscation practices as "illegal" and "racist," even though dozens of major Israeli aquifers, many run by the Jewish National Fund, purify water running through Palestinian cities and return the cleaned water to the Palestinian towns.Comments on other Google Earth images claim Israel plans to divide parts of Bethlehem, even though no such plan exists and the city is already under Palestinian control.Google Earth is also accused of showing falsified images. Visitors to Google Earth who click on an area just outside Jerusalem can view a computer-generated image claiming to depict an Israeli missile factory.Israeli defense officials told WND the "missile factory" is a fabrication.
Terror leader: 'Congratulations to Google Earth'
Mort Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America, accused Google Earth of encouraging terrorism when it allowed Jerusalem and the Temple Mount to be labeled Palestinian."When the Arab terrorists see Google Earth's falsification of geographic realities, they will be appeased and encouraged, because these kinds of lying maps send the message that their disinformation campaigns and their terrorism work," Klein told WND.[[[[[[Indeed, Abu Nasser, second-in-command of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group, said he was "thrilled" by Google Earth's depictions."Congratulations to Google Earth," Abu Nasser told WND."We congratulate Google and the American people in making this very important change in the Middle East. The Al Aqsa Mosque (located on the Temple Mount) is part of Jerusalem, and Jerusalem is part of Palestine. If such a big institution like Google corrected these historical mistakes on maps, maybe we can bring about a change in the depictions of Palestine by the American media, which is controlled by the Zionists."According to Abu Nasser, whose terror group says it is trying to liberate the Al Aqsa Mosque, the Jewish Temple "never existed.""At least not on the area Jews now call the Temple Mount," he said. "Maybe a Temple existed somewhere but not in Jerusalem. The Temple Mount exists only in the imaginations of the Jews and Americans."Abu Nasser's Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades is the declared "military wing" of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party. The Brigades, together with the Islamic Jihad terror group, has taken responsibility for every suicide bombing in Israel the past two years, including an attack in Tel Aviv that killed American teenager Daniel Wultz and nine Israelis.]]]]]]
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=56140

As in the days of Noah....

SHARI'AH LAW WATCH:Report:Sharia Courts Already Operating in England

Just as the Archbishop of Canterbury was facing calls to step down for advocating Islamic law be added to the British legal system, reports surfaced that sharia courts already were tackling crime in London, The Daily Mail reported.[[[The Daily Mail reported that teen members of the Somali community in Woolwich were arrested on charges of stabbing another youth, but the victim’s family told police the case would be settled out of court and the suspects were released on bail.At the hearing, the assailants were ordered to pay the victim."All their uncles and their fathers were there," said Aydarus Yusuf, who helped set up the hearing. "So they all put something towards that and apologized for the wrongdoing."]]][[[[[[In Leyton, another Islamic council also said it had been handling cases-more than 7,000 divorces-while sharia courts in the capital were said to have settled hundreds of disputes regarding money.]]]]]]Meanwhile Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams faced widespread condemnation after calling for an “accommodation” with parts of the Islamic legal code and calls to quit.Culture Secretary Andy Burnham described his action as a "recipe for chaos."

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,330193,00.html

As in the days of Noah...

U.S. Navy Intercepts Russian Bombers Flying Near Ships

WASHINGTON-U.S. fighter planes intercepted two Russian bombers flying unusually close to an American aircraft carrier in the western Pacific during the weekend, The Associated Press has learned.A U.S. military official says that one Russian Tupolev 95 buzzed the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz twice, at a low altitude of about 2,000 feet, while another bomber circled about 50 nautical miles out. The official was speaking on condition of anonymity because the reports on the flights were classified as secret.The Saturday incident, which never escalated beyond the flyover, comes amid heightened tensions between the United States and Russia over U.S. plans for a missile defense system based in Poland and the Czech Republic.Such Russian bomber flights were common during the Cold War, but have been rare since.The bombers were among four Russian Tupolev 95s launched from Ukrainka in the middle of the night, including one that Japanese officials say violated their country's airspace over an uninhabited island south of Tokyo.U.S. officials tracked and monitored the bombers as two flew south along the Japanese coast, and two others flew farther east, coming closer to the Nimitz and the guided missile cruiser USS Princeton.As the bombers got about 500 miles out from the U.S. ships, four F/A-18 fighters were launched from the Nimitz, the official said. The fighters intercepted the Russian bombers about 50 miles south of the Nimitz.At least two U.S. fighters trailed the bomber as it came in low over the Nimitz twice, while one or two of the other U.S. fighters followed the second bomber as it circled.The official said there were no verbal communications between the U.S. and the Russians, and the Pentagon has not heard of any protests being filed by the United States. Historically, diplomatic protests were not filed in such incidents because they were so common during the Cold War era.This is the first time Russian Tupolevs have flown over or interacted with a U.S. carrier since 2004.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,330362,00.html
As in the days of Noah....

Iran celebrates revolution day

Iran plans to launch two more rockets into space

Iran is to launch two more rockets into space in the next few months, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced on Monday, after a firing of a rocket earlier this month sparked international concern."Two other rockets will be launched so that we can then send a satellite into space," Ahmadinejad said at a rally in Tehran broadcast live on state television."We home that Iran's first home-produced satellite will be launched in the summer," he added, reiterating a prediction made by other Iranian officials who said the satellite would be launched in May.On February 4, Iran fired a rocket into space to mark the opening of its first space centre, triggering swift condemnation from the United States amid continued tensions over the Iranian nuclear drive.Ahmadinejad hailed the launch of the rocket, named Kavoshgar-1, as a success and for the first time gave some technical details about its launch."The first rocket that was launched had three parts. It was a success," he said in the speech marking the 29th anniversary of the Islamic revolution.He said the first section of the rocket detached after 90 seconds and returned to earth with the help of a parachute while the second entered the earth's atmosphere after 300 seconds."The third section of the rocket, which contained the probe, was sent towards orbit.""The probe is sending information on wind, temperature, pressure to allow the sending of new probes into space," he added.Iran has been pursuing a space programme for several years, and in October 2005 a Russian-made Iranian satellite named Sina-1 was put into orbit by a Russian rocket.But the satellite Iran plans to launch in summer-already named Omid (hope)-would be its first domestically manufactured probe and the first to be launched from Iranian territory.The United States, which has led international efforts to pressure Iran to freeze controversial nuclear activities, has said Tehran's activities in space risked further isolating the Islamic republic."It's unfortunate that they continue to do that because it further isolates the country from the rest of the world," said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino at the time.The new Iranian space centre, located in the remote desert of the northern Semnan province, includes an underground control centre and launch pad which will be used to fire Omid into space.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=080211114616.z25xjjg2&show_article=1

As in the days of Noah....

Ritual of Exorcism Undergoes a Revival

POCZERNIN, Poland-This wind-swept village is bracing for an invasion of demons, thanks to a priest who believes he can defeat Satan.The Rev. Andrzej Trojanowski, a soft-spoken Pole,[[[plans to build a "spiritual oasis" that will serve as Europe's only center dedicated to performing exorcisms. With the blessing of the local Catholic archbishop and theological support from the Vatican, the center will aid a growing number of Poles possessed by evil forces or the devil himself, he said."This is my task, this is my purpose-I want to help these people," said Trojanowski, who has worked as an exorcist for four years."There is a group of people who cannot get relief through any other practices and who need peace."Exorcism-the church rite of expelling evil spirits from tortured souls-is making a comeback in Catholic regions of Europe.]]][[[ Last July, more than 300 practitioners gathered in the Polish city of Czestochowa for the fourth International Congress of Exorcists.About 70 priests serve as trained exorcists in Poland, about double the number of five years ago. An estimated 300 exorcists are active in Italy. Foremost among them: the Rev. Gabriele Amorth, 82, who performs exorcisms daily in Rome and is dean of Europe's corps of demon-battling priests.]]]"People don't pray anymore, they don't go to church, they don't go to confession. The devil has an easy time of it," Amorth said in an interview. "There's a lot more devil worship, people interested in satanic things and seances, and less in Jesus."[[[Amorth and other priests said the resurgence in exorcisms has been encouraged by the Vatican, which in 1999 formally revised and upheld the rite for the first time in almost 400 years.Although a Vatican official denied reports in December of a campaign to train more exorcists, supporters said informal efforts began under Pope John Paul II-himself an occasional demon chaser-and have accelerated under Pope Benedict XVI. A Catholic university in Rome began offering courses in exorcism in 2005 and has drawn students from around the globe.]]]One of the recruits is the Rev. Wieslaw Jankowski, a priest with the Institute for Studies on the Family, a counseling center outside Warsaw. He said priests at the institute realized they needed an exorcist on staff after encountering an increase in people plagued by evil.Typical cases, he said, include people who turn away from the church and embrace New Age therapies, alternative religions or the occult. Internet addicts and yoga devotees are also at risk, he said."This is a service which is sorely needed," said Jankowski, who holds a doctorate in spiritual theology."The number of people who need help is intensifying right now."Jankowski cited the case of a woman who asked for a divorce days after renewing her wedding vows as part of a marriage counseling program. What was suspicious, he said, was how the wife suddenly developed a passionate hatred for her husband."According to what I could perceive, the devil was present and acting in an obvious way," he said. "How else can you explain how a wife, in the space of a couple of weeks, could come to hate her own husband, a man who is a good person? "Jankowski said that an archbishop granted him the authority last October to perform exorcisms and that he's been busy ever since. As for the afflicted wife? "We're still working with her," he said.Exorcists said the people they help can be in the grip of evil to varying degrees. Only a small fraction, they said, are completely possessed by demons-which can cause them to display inhuman strength, speak in exotic tongues, recoil in the presence of sacred objects or overpower others with a stench.In those cases, the exorcists must confront the devil directly, using the power of the church to order it to abandon its host. More often, however, priests perform what some of them refer to as "soft exorcisms," using prayer to rid people of evil influences that control their lives.Exorcisms remain a touchy subject even among priests who perform them, aware that the rite is associated with medieval witch-burnings and the 1973 Hollywood horror film, "The Exorcist."More recent horror stories have also taken their toll. In Germany, memories are still fresh of a 23-year-old Bavarian woman who died of starvation in 1976 after two priests-thinking she was possessed-subjected her to more than 60 exorcisms. In 2002, a German bishop resigned after a woman accused him of sexually abusing her during an exorcism.Exorcists said they are careful not to treat people suffering from mental illness, and that they regularly consult with psychologists and physicians. At the same time, they said, conventional medical therapy often neglects spiritual ailments."My remedy is based on spiritual means, which cannot be replaced by any pharmaceutical remedies," said Trojanowski, the priest who is overseeing plans for the new exorcism center. "I do not stop at the level of just treating symptoms. I'm very much interested in the soul of a person. As a priest, I keep asking questions a doctor will never ask."Trojanowski is a priest in the northwestern Polish port city of Szczecin. He said that he sees as many as 20 people a week who are under the influence of evil spirits, but that he needs more space to treat them properly. At his exorcism center, he said, people could check in for a few days and receive ministrations.Plans for the center were announced in December after an archbishop gave approval to build it on church land in Poczernin, a village surrounded by cabbage fields about 20 miles outside Szczecin.The news came as a bit of a shock to the villagers, who said they hadn't been consulted and weren't sure they liked the idea of demons coming home to roost."People are worried about the potential for crazy people coming here," said Ksawery Nyks, 50, a longtime resident. He said most people were opposed unless the church could guarantee the exorcism center would have adequate security.Others were more sympathetic. "I don't think it's going to harm us," said Romnalda Banach, 46, who runs a food shop on the muddy street that runs through the heart of the village. "Every person, if he or she needs help, should be able to get it somehow."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/10/AR2008021002435_pf.html

As in the days of Noah....

Reaching 100 is easier than suspected

CHICAGO-Living to 100 is easier than you might think. Surprising new research suggests that even people who develop heart disease or diabetes late in life have a decent shot at reaching the century mark."It has been generally assumed that living to 100 years of age was limited to those who had not developed chronic illness," said Dr. William Hall of the University of Rochester.Hall has a theory for how these people could live to that age. In an editorial in Monday's Archives of Internal Medicine, where the study was published, he writes that it might be thanks to doctors who aggressively treat these older folks' health problems, rather than taking an "ageist" approach that assumes they wouldn't benefit.For the study, Boston University researchers did phone interviews and health assessments of more than 500 women and 200 men who had reached 100. They found that roughly two-thirds of them had avoided significant age-related ailments.But the rest, dubbed "survivors," had developed an age-related disease before reaching 85, including high blood pressure, heart disease or diabetes. Yet many functioned remarkably well-nearly as well as their disease-free peers.Overall, the men were functioning better than the women. Nearly three-fourths of the male survivors could bathe and dress themselves, while only about one-third of the women could.The researchers think that may be because the men had to be in exceptional condition to reach 100. "Women, on the other hand, may be better physically and socially adept at living with chronic and often disabling conditions," wrote lead author Dr. Dellara Terry and her colleagues.Rosa McGee is one of the healthy women in the study who managed to avoid chronic disease. Now 104, the retired cook and seamstress is also strikingly lucid."My living habits are beautiful," McGee said in an interview at her daughter's Chicago apartment. "I don't take any medicines. I don't smoke and I don't drink. Never did anything like that."Until late 2006, when she fell in her St. Louis home, McGee lived alone and took care of herself. Now in Chicago, she is less mobile but still takes walks a few times weekly down the apartment building hallways, with her daughter's help.[[[McGee credits her faith in God for her good health.]]] She also gets lots of medical attention-a doctor and nurse make home visits regularly.Genes surely contributed-McGee's maternal grandparents lived to age 100 and 107.But while genes are important, scientists don't think they tell the whole story about longevity.A second, larger study of men in their 70s found that those who avoided smoking, obesity, inactivity, diabetes and high blood pressure greatly improved their chances of living into their 90s. In fact, they had a 54 percent chance of living that long.Their survival decreased with each risk factor, and those with all five had only a 4 percent chance of living into their 90s, according to Harvard University researchers.Those who managed to avoid lifestyle-related ailments also increased their chances of functioning well physically and mentally two decades later.The study followed 2,357 men for about 25 years or until death, starting in their early 70s. About 40 percent survived to at least age 90. Among survivors, 24 percent had none of the five risk factors."It's not just luck, it's not just genetics. ... It's lifestyle" that seems to make a big difference, said lead author Dr. Laurel Yates of Harvard's Brigham and Women's Hospital.
"It's get your shoes on, get out there, and do some exercise," she said. "These are some things you can do" to increase the chances of a long life.Yates said it's never too late to adopt a healthier lifestyle, though the findings don't address whether waiting until age 70 to stop smoking, lose weight and exercise will increase longevity.Hall noted that the United States has more than 55,000 centenarians, and that Americans 85 and older are the country's fastest-growing group of older adults.He said the new research underscores how important it is for doctors to become adept at treating the oldest of the old, who are "becoming the bread and butter of the clinical practice of internal medicine."
On the Net:
Archives of Internal Medicine:
http://www.archinternmed.com/

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080211/ap_on_he_me/living_longer;_ylt=AhaLSaWBJpabLhfEVcYH4IZI2ocA

As in the days of Noah....

Hamas leaders hiding from Israeli hits

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Hamas leaders in Gaza turned off their cell phones, avoided public appearances and were sleeping in safe houses after Israel threatened Monday to assassinate those responsible for Palestinian rocket attacks on border towns.Defense Minister Ehud Barak warned that Israel could bring down the Hamas regime and he ordered plans for a large ground invasion of Gaza. But he said troops would not move soon, all but admitting that Israel has no quick answer for the rocket barrages and leaving his threats as mostly verbal pressure on Hamas. It was the first time a senior official hinted so strongly that Israel was prepared to overthrow Hamas if the Palestinians didn't do it themselves.Barak told parliament's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that Israel's long-term plan was to weaken Hamas and "under certain circumstances even taking down Hamas," a meeting participant said."I don't see the Palestinians giving Gaza back to Fatah," the party of moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. "Outside developments might bring this about," the participant quoted Barak as saying. He spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting was secret.Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Barak said he ordered the military to prepare for a broad operation in Gaza, but emphasized the offensive would not take place immediately. In the meantime, he said, the army "will operate in every way" to halt the rocket fire on southern Israel.Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman, told a Hamas Web site that Israel would not succeed in bringing down Hamas. "These comments by Barak and (Vice Premier Haim) Ramon confirm that the aim of the current aggression on Gaza isn't about security, it is political, and it aims to try destroy Hamas. But it's a failed war, and it will fail," he said.Hamas leaders weren't taking chances.Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and others haven't been seen in public for days. They were sleeping in safe houses, avoiding crowds and staying out of cars for fear Israel would strike the vehicles from the air, the officials said. They also switched off their cell phones, afraid they could be tracked."We are taking all the precautions. We take the Israeli threats seriously," said Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum.Israel, which is negotiating a peace deal with moderate Palestinians based in the West Bank, has made it clear it has no intention of implementing any accord until Hamas is removed from power in Gaza.Hamas overran the territory in June, expelling forces loyal to Abbas, who is trying to negotiate the peace deal with Israel.Israel has offered amnesty to 52 wanted militants, the Palestinian Cabinet said in a statement Monday. Israeli security officials confirmed that amnesties were offered to militants allied with Abbas, part of a program to boost Abbas' power and prestige to face the threat from Hamas.Ramon, a close ally of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, scaled back hopes for a peace treaty this year. Olmert and Abbas promised President Bush to make efforts to complete the deal, but Ramon said the goal now is a "declaration of principles."Ramon said Hamas' days in control of Gaza were numbered."I believe the combination of (Israeli) steps against Hamas in Gaza will bring an end to the Hamas regime in Gaza," said. It might take a few months, but "the Hamas regime in Gaza will not last," Ramon told reporters in Jerusalem.Israel carried out two attacks in Gaza at nightfall Monday, both sides said. No one was hurt.Pressure has been building on Olmert to take tougher action after an 8-year-old Israeli boy from the southern town of Sderot lost a leg in a Palestinian rocket attack on Saturday. On Monday, protesters from Sderot blocked traffic on a major Tel Aviv highway, demanding that Olmert resign.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080211/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_palestinians;_ylt=ApnNRdn1ArQuvTtINIeo4x2GOrgF

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'Earth-Shattering' Events Worry Chertoff

WASHINGTON-Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff's eyes narrow and his voice develops a stern, urgent tone as he reveals America's biggest vulnerability to terrorism."The great weapon they have is persistence and patience, and the one weakness that we have is the tendency to lose patience and become complacent," Chertoff tells WTOP."It strikes me as hard to accept that anybody would believe the threat is over. There is nothing these terrorists are doing or saying that could lead a reasonable person to believe that they have somehow lost interest.Our biggest challenge is making sure we do not drop our guard because time passes."
Chertoff recognizes it has been more than six years since al Qaida launched the Sept. 11 attacks, but some experts say that's how long it took to plan them, suggesting the U.S. may close in on another spectacular attempt by Osama bin Laden to topple the U.S. economy."If you're asking me what keeps me up at night or what I most worry about-in the short term, obviously, you worry about homegrown terrorists or somebody coming in with an explosive device or the kind of act of violence or terror that we've actually seen occasionally carried out in this country by people who are simply nuts or like a Timothy McVeigh."But in the longer run, in terms of something that would really be earth-shattering, the kinds of things I'm worried about are a nuclear or a dirty bomb attack or a nuclear or biological attack. Now I don't believe that the capability to do that is around the corner."What worries him, worries U.S. intelligence officials as well.CIA Director Michael Hayden told the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence last week that al Qaida will continue trying to "acquire chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear materials (CBRN), and would not hesitate to use them in attacks."Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell said at that same hearing that "al-Qaida remains the pre-eminent threat against the United States."Europe is at the top of the list of possible launch points for an attack against the U.S."One of the things we've become concerned about lately is the possibility of Europe becoming a platform for a threat against the United States," Chertoff told the British Broadcasting Company in mid-January.Chertoff tells WTOP he's convinced by evidence from 2007 that the stakes are high."Just look at what's happened in the last year. We had the attacks in Britain. We had the disrupted plot in Germany. We had the arrests in Spain," Chertoff said. "Clearly terrorists and militants are able to operate within Europe."The special travel relationship between the U.S. and Europe is worrisome for Chertoff."We have a visa waiver program with respect to Europe that allows people to come without getting visas. There's an obvious concern that people might seize that as they tried in August 2006 to use Europe as a platform to attack us."And CBRN attacks, which are most likely from an organized al Qaida threat, would require the largest protective investment."I don't believe that the capability to do that is around the corner, but I also think that the preparations that we need to have in place to deal with this threat are going to take a while to build, and we're building them as we speak."But they're not going to be done in six weeks or even six months. So what is important is to stay focused on making the investments now that we will be very grateful for in several years if someone does get their hands on nuclear materials or a biological agent."
To read more go to:
http://www.wtopnews.com/?sid=1342138&nid=251
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EU WATCH:EU treaty adoption puts France 'back in Europe': Sarkozy

PARIS-President Nicolas Sarkozy on Sunday hailed the French parliament's adoption of the European Union's new reform treaty, saying it had restored the country to its rightful place in Europe."This simplified treaty was France's initiative, to pull Europe out of the institutional crisis it was facing," Sarkozy said in a televised address to the nation, three years after rebellious French voters shot down the EU's ill-fated constitution in a referendum.The president, who pledged before his election to restore France's driving role in Europe, played a leading role in drawing up the text, a tailored-down version of the treaty consigned to oblivion by the French and Dutch in 2005."Thanks to this success, for it is a success, France is back in Europe," said the French leader, who is battling a severe slump in the polls as Paris prepares to take over the EU's six-month presidency in July.Both French houses of parliament voted resoundingly this week in favour of the treaty, which was signed in Lisbon in December.
Its ratification will become official on Thursday, February 14, following its publication in the government's official gazette, Sarkozy's office said.France is the fifth EU country-and the first major EU power-to ratify the new treaty, which must be approved in all 27 member states before it can come into force as planned in 2009."Europe now has the framework it needs to get moving again," Sarkozy said.But the president warned that decision-making gridlock was only part of the EU's problem."Now that Europe can make decisions, the problem is knowing what it wants," he said, before repeating his controversial call for European leaders to have a say in fixing monetary policy in the 15-nation eurozone."We must be able to talk about everything just like in any democracy: of our currency which is not a taboo subject, of trade policy, of industrial policy, of reciprocity in competition matters or the excesses of financial capitalism.""Right now, what is at stake is to put politics back in Europe, to not leave Europe in the hands of automatic rules that allow no room for decisions and political responsibility," Sarkozy said.He repeated his insistence that unbridled competition should be "a means to an end, rather than a goal in itself" -- a key change in the text of the Lisbon treaty that sparked protests from some European nations.Like the rejected constitution, the Lisbon treaty proposes a European foreign policy supremo and a permanent president to replace the six-month rotation system.The charter cuts the size of the European Parliament and the number of EU decisions which require unanimous support, thus reducing national vetoes.It also includes a European charter of fundamental human and legal rights, which Britain and Poland have refused to make binding.However it drops all references to an EU flag or anthem which had fanned eurosceptic fears of another step towards a federal Europe.The French president had insisted before his election that any new EU treaty should be adopted by parliament rather than risk a second referendum.His refusal to submit it to popular scrutiny fuelled anger across opposition ranks, but Sarkozy defended his decision as the only way to break the gridlock.France's main opposition Socialists had split over the 2005 EU referendum when a rebel faction defied party leaders to campaign for a "No" vote, and the new treaty re-opened many of the old wounds.A breakaway group of Socialist deputies voted against the treaty, although most finally joined the ruling Union for a Popular Movement and its centrist allies to back the text.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080210/wl_afp/eutreatyfrance_080210203028;_ylt=Ao94779Qv0AURdTChy7dWYeFOrgF

As in the days of Noah....

LAND FULL of VIOLENCE:East Timor president shot in rebel attack, airlifted to Australia

DILI-East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta was shot and seriously wounded Monday by rebel soldiers in an assassination attempt that plunged the fledgling nation into a fresh crisis.The Nobel peace laureate was airlifted to Australia for emergency treatment after being shot in a dawn gunbattle at his residence in which rebel leader Alfredo Reinado was killed, said Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao.Gunmen also targeted the home of Gusmao himself in coordinated attacks that prompted a state of emergency in the fragile nation, where international forces remain on patrol after being deployed amid unrest in 2006.After exploratory surgery at an Australian military hospital in Dili, 58-year-old Ramos-Horta was rushed to the Australian city of Darwin for emergency medical treatment."I am hopeful for his full recovery," Royal Darwin Hospital general manager Len Notaras said after seeing Ramos-Horta, adding that he had been struck by up to three bullets. "The fact that he is in a stable condition is a good sign that we should see some reasonable outcomes for him...He's not fighting for his life but his injuries are extremely serious," the doctor told AFP."The next 24 to 48 hours will be a critical time for all of us."Ramos-Horta suffered two bullet wounds to the upper chest and one to the abdomen, Notaras said, adding that the president was heavily sedated but not on life support."He is in the process of recovery and is out of danger," parliamentary speaker Fernando de Araujo said while on a visit to Lisbon.Gusmao declared that a state of emergency would be in force nationwide for at least 48 hours, with a curfew beginning at 8:00 pm (1100 GMT) and people to be banned from conducting meetings or rallies.The declaration must still be formally approved by the acting head of state, first deputy speaker of the national parliament Vicente Guterres, but the curfew appeared to have come into force.An AFP correspondent said streets were deserted, shops and kiosks shuttered barring a few hotels, and Portuguese troops on patrol on several roads.Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said his government would send "substantial" reinforcements to boost the 800-strong troop contingent already in East Timor working with 1,700 UN police to help stabilise the situation."This government will stand resolutely with the democratically-elected government of East Timor at this time of crisis," Rudd told reporters in Canberra, adding that he would visit the impoverished nation later in the week.New Zealand Defence Minister Phil Goff said his country also had troops on stand-by to head to Dili if needed.United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he was "shocked and dismayed" over the attack, urged the nation's one million people to remain calm.Gusmao vowed to restore stability in a press briefing broadcast live on television and radio."The state will not tolerate any armed organisations or groups aiming at bringing down this state," said Gusmao, who served as president following independence in 2002 until Ramos-Horta was elected last year.He confirmed that rebel leader Reinado had died at the home of Ramos-Horta. The president and rebel had met previously for negotiations on his surrender."In the exchange of shots, Alfredo Reinado and one of his men fell on the spot and they have been taken to the morgue for autopsies," Gusmao said.Reinado emerged as a key figure in the 2006 unrest involving factions of the military and police that led to the deaths of at least 37 people and displaced more than 150,000 others.He was arrested on charges of illegal weapons distribution, desertion and attempted murder. He had however escaped from jail and eluded security forces since then.Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told reporters that such acts of violence "cannot be justified" and said he was praying for his counterpart's recovery.The Indonesian military commander of the border region said he had requested that security be tightened to prevent the escape of rebels into Indonesia.Indonesia invaded East Timor in 1975 and ruled the former Portuguese colony brutally until 1999, when the United Nations took charge and the East Timorese voted overwhelmingly in favour of breaking away.Ramos-Horta was the troubled nation's international voice during the two decades of occupation and his efforts to bring peace to his homeland earned him a 1996 Nobel Peace Prize.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080211/wl_asia_afp/timorunrest_080211151034

As in the days of Noah....

Russia forgives 12-billion-dollar Iraq debt

MOSCOW-Russia on Monday forgave nearly all the 12.9-billion-dollar debt owed it by Iraq and voiced hopes of increased Russian investment in the war-torn country, news agencies quoted Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin as saying.The amount forgiven-12 billion dollars (8.2 billion euros)-came to 93 percent of the mainly Soviet-era debt owed by Baghdad to Moscow, Interfax news agency reported.The debt is being written off in stages, with the process probably completed next year, Kudrin was quoted as saying by Interfax.The remaining 900 million dollars (618 million euros) will be restructured over a 17 year period, Kudrin said.The deal was signed during a visit by Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari.The Iraqi foreign minister and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, earlier signed an accord on economic cooperation.Lavrov said he hoped for "an energetic impulse to trade relations between the two countries" and said "Russia is counting on launching promising joint projects, above all in the oil-gas sphere and in the area of energy generation," ITAR-TASS reported.Kudrin was quoted as saying that Moscow was ready to invest some four billion dollars in Iraq."We are interested in the complete restoration of Iraq's economy...many Russian businesses are ready to work on the Iraqi market."An example, Kudrin said, was Lukoil which in 1997 signed a multi-billion dollar contract to develop the huge West Qurna 2 field but had to leave Iraq after falling out with the government of Saddam Hussein.Lukoil is looking to return to Iraq but last year the Iraqi oil minister warned that the Russian company would not get special favours in any bidding process.Iraq's new oil law allows the revision of all Saddam-era contracts.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080211/ts_afp/russiairaqpublicdebteconomy;_ylt=ArCKkaqnhIY4tCzrKkQ4d9us0NUE

As in the days of Noah....

TERROR WATCH:Pentagon charges Sept.11 suspects

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon on Monday charged six Guantanamo Bay detainees with murder and war crimes for the Sept. 11 terror attacks. Officials sought the death penalty in the unprecedented military tribunal case that has been clouded by revelations the key suspect suffered interrogation tactics that critics call torture.The son of a Sept. 11 victim said he was relieved by the development and hoped it would bring justice. Critics said the trial would be a sham.Brig. Gen. Thomas W. Hartmann, the legal adviser to the tribunal system, announced that 169 charges had been sworn against six men "alleged to be responsible for the planning and execution of the attacks" in 2001 that killed nearly 3,000 people."These charges allege a long-term, highly sophisticated, organized plan by al-Qaida to attack the United States of America," Hartmann told a Pentagon press conference.Officials said they'll seek the death penalty and hope to try all six together. That would make it the first capital trial under the terrorism-era military tribunal system.Hartmann said the six include Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the attacks in which hijackers flew planes into buildings in New York and Washington. Another hijacked plane crashed in the fields of western Pennsylvania.The other five men being charged are: Mohammed al-Qahtani, who officials have labeled the 20th hijacker; Ramzi Binalshibh, said to have been the main intermediary between the hijackers and al-Qaida leaders; Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali, known as Ammar al-Baluchi, a nephew and lieutenant of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed; al-Baluchi's assistant, Mustafa Ahmad al-Hawsawi; and Waleed bin Attash, a detainee known as Khallad, who investigators say selected and trained some of the 19 hijackers.Dominic J. Puopolo Jr., whose mother, Sonia Morales Puopolo, was a passenger aboard one of the downed airliners, said he was relieved but had mixed feelings."There's a feeling that we have to rehash this again and it will be in the media and bring back some very painful memories," he said. "On the other hand, the worst of the worst are going to be held accountable for their actions."Asked what impact it will have on the case that Mohammed was subjected to waterboarding by CIA interrogators, Hartmann said it will be up to the tribunal judge to determine what evidence is allowed.Al-Qahtani also has alleged torture and last fall recanted a confession he said he made after he was beaten, abused and humiliated at Guantanamo. Officials have acknowledged that he was subjected to harsh treatment at the prison authorized by former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.The Center for Constitutional Rights, which represents al-Qahtani, called the tribunals "a perversion of justice" and "morally reprehensible system."
Prosecutors have been working for years to assemble the case against suspects in the attacks that prompted the Bush administration to launch the global war on terror.The men would be tried in the military tribunal system that was set up by the administration shortly after the start of the counterterror war. That system has been widely criticized for its rules on legal representation for suspects, hearings behind closed doors and past allegations of inmate abuse at Guantanamo.Original rules allowed the military to exclude defendants from their own trials, permitted statements made under torture, and forbade appeal to an independent court; but the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the system in 2006 and a revised plan set up after Congress enacted a new law has included some additional rights.Defense lawyers still criticize the system for its secrecy.But Hartmann said Monday that the defendants will get the same rights as U.S. soldiers tried under the military justice system including the right to remain silent, call witnesses, and know the evidence against them. Appeals can go all the way to the Supreme Court.He called the charges sworn Monday "only allegations" and said the accused will remain innocent until proven guilty.The decision to seek the death penalty also is likely to draw criticism from the international community. A number of countries, including U.S. allies, have said they would object to the use of capital punishment for their nationals held at Guantanamo.The U.S. government unsuccessfully sought the death penalty in its only civilian trial of charges related to Sept. 11. In that case, Zacarias Moussaoui, who was behind bars in Minnesota on 9/11, was sentenced to life in prison.Glenn Sulmasy, a national security fellow at Harvard and a supporter of military commissions, acknowledged the tribunal system's early problems created cynicism and skepticism, particularly among international observers."We have to recognize this is new. It's a hybrid war, a hybrid warrior and we need a hybrid court," Sulmasy said. "To be overly critical is unfortunate and unnecessary for the international community."He noted the terrorism trial could stretch into the next president's administration and said it's also possible the Supreme Court will again strike down the military commissions law and force yet another change.The military tribunal system requires that a panel of 12 unanimously find a defendant guilty for capital punishment cases, Hartmann said.Officials plan to hold the trial in a specially constructed court at Guantanamo that will allow lawyers, journalists and some others to be present, but leave relatives of Sept. 11 victims and others to watch the trial through closed-circuit broadcasts.Asked where an execution might take place, Hartmann said:"We are a long way from determining the details of the death penalty.And when that time comes, if it should ever come at all, we will follow the law at that time and the procedures that are in place at that time."
Mohammed was among 15 so-called "high-value detainees" who were held at length by the CIA in secret overseas prisons-some subjected to what critics call torture-before being handed over to the military in 2006.Last week, for the first time, the administration acknowledged that Mohammed was among three suspects who were waterboarded. CIA Director Michael Hayden said the tactic was used, in part, because of widespread belief among U.S. intelligence officials that more catastrophic attacks were imminent.Waterboarding involves strapping a person down and pouring water over the suspect's cloth-covered face to create the sensation of drowning. It has been traced back hundreds of years, to the Spanish Inquisition, and is condemned by nations around the world.In Guantanamo Bay hearings that have been criticized as unfair, Mohammed in March confessed to the 9/11 attack, the beheading of American journalist Daniel Pearl and a chilling string of other terror plots."I was responsible for the 9/11 operation from A to Z," Mohammed said in a statement read during the session, according to hearing transcripts later released by the Pentagon.Under the tribunal system, the charges are forwarded to the convening authority, who can refer some or all of them for trial.It could be months or longer before trials begin for the defendants.With the appeals process, it would likely be some time after any convictions before executions would be possible.White House press secretary Dana Perino said Monday that President Bush and the White House had no role in the decision to seek the death penalty for the six charged."Obviously 9-11 was a defining moment in our history, and a defining moment in the global war on terror," Perino said. "And this judicial process is the next step in that story. The president is sure that the military is going to follow through in a way that the Congress said they should."
On the Net:
Defense Department charges http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Feb2008/d20080211chargesheet.pdf

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080211/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_sept_11_trial;_ylt=Avk28rWZSgDS9iXhPAhZug2s0NUE

As in the days of Noah....

A RESPONSE to a COMMENT on the Previous POST on DECEPTION

A reader-Jim-stopped by yesterday and left a comment on the previous post:DECEPTION WATCH:Portrait of Christianity in the Next 1,000 Years and so this morning I decided to address it in the best way possible.
Jim wrote:"Maybe it would help if you read the article in the Willow magazine. The article was an abridged version of an essay written by Kevin Kelly at www.fermiproject.com. A little research also shows the Kevin Kelly lives in Pacifica, California, so I seriously doubt that he even attends Willow Creek. In essence, the WCA did exactly what the Christian Post did in abridging the Willow article, so why not make wild accusations about the Christian Post?"
Well,I still have to hear back from the Christian Post people,to see if the CP in fact "abridged" the article on Kevin Kelly...So as soon as I hear from them I will post it,so we all know if its true or not.

Jim also wrote:"While I hope Christ is returningsoon and I ready to go today, I also am well aware that every generation since Christ's death and resurrection has expected Him to return in their generation, so until that time comes, I plan to keep looking for opportunities toshare the Gospel message both through words and actions."
I dont know why is it that people think that for those of us that are looking for His Return,are just sat like sack of potatoes at Church,singing songs and being merry totally detached from the reality of this world and wicked culture in which we are all inmersed in.....Just waiting for the Trumpet to sound and fly away.....totally careless about the millions that are perishing today with no hope and no salvation and going to hell......!!!!!
For those of us that believe in the Blessed Hope that the Bible talks about in Titus 2:11-13:
"For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works."
....then looking for His Return for the Church,is then an ACTIVE WAITING...
It is a waiting in which you do His Will everyday and that includes preaching the Gospel to the lost...!!!
So I fear that the perception Jim has about all those of us who believe in a soon to occur rapture of the Church is wrong....

He also points the fact that many generations have come and gone waiting for His Return....then Jim....how much more we should do what the Scripture says above....?I think we coincide in this point,even though it sounded at the beginning of his sentence,that he was saying what many have said....:"Where is the promise of His Coming.....?"

Jim also points:"My take on the article is that Willow is saying that as Christians we should be concerned about where culture is headed TODAY and how to best present the Gospel message TODAY to our future/younger generations. I may just be another "blind" Willow Creek Christian, but I hear weekly messages about sin and the need of repentance for our salvation, so I don't understand your implication the sin and hell are not taught. (The www.willowcreek.com website does have an online version of the willow magazine, if you would care to read the article there.) "

Well I think here is where we deeply disagree with Jim....First of all Im concerned too about where the "culture of today" as he puts it is headed...Yes,it's a fact that is wicked and it will get worse,according to what the Bible declares.
When he mentions that he "may be just another blind Willow Creek Christian"....well him and God knows it...I dont know cause I dont know him...BUT(and here is where we disagree) there is a big chance that he may be one...and I will tell you why...
Willow Creek is a huge non profit association -according to their website-"....with more than 12,000 Member Churches from 90 denominations and 45 countries. These churches, and others we serve, represent a wide variety of sizes, denominations, and backgrounds, and are ministering in literally every corner of the world."

So as you see is difficult for me to know about Jim's faith,cause I don't know in what he really believes in...Idont know what "denomination or non denomination church"he attends,so i dont know what he believes.I tried looking for a statement of faith of some kind for the Willw Creek association,and I couldnt find none....May be in part because of the different 90 denominations that are part of it....
I dont know....The point is that I found in my own state and city a bunch of churches that belong to this association and that gives me a glimpse of what this association is all about,and yes some of this churches ,here locally,are living in DECEPTION.It really shocked me to see some churches we know in the list,some others it didnt surprise me at all.

So I pray that Jim is not one of those type of believers...
I havent read the whole article that Jim kindldy invites me to read,but I will later today,and Ill let you all know about that and also about the Christian Post reply to my email.

It is an unfortunate fact that I have to face with comments and emails from airate "christians" mostly about issues like this,where they spill their anger and dont leave a name or email for me to reply.
That's fine....
What is not fine is that DECEPTION is RAMPANT in many churches,ministries and associations and "believers"dont seem to care much to find out the TRUTH,and WHAT GOD THINKS about the church they are attending as much as believe that they are fine and everything is alright....

Unlike Jim,I wouldn't defend my "association of churches" so blindly,knowing that we are living at the very ENd of the end times and that there is a big chance that those that I am defending have already wandered from the faith long time ago and are teaching,preaching and doing things that are not correct,truthful and biblical....

For christians in this time and hour is NOT a time to get offended,when somebody makes a comment that challenges our system of beliefs or our behaviour or our pastor or church belief and ways... but to self check ourselves IF we are still walking in the Light and Truth of the Scriptures or if we are SCATTERING...

I bless Jim and his family.
And the many that like him have sent comments or emails that were extremely hateful(this is not Jims case)
Surprisingly the best interchanges I had thru email,has been with muslims or ex muslims living in the Middle East....
The worst of all from a Roman Catholic that literally threatened me,an email full of hatred...the kind of hatred that would make you wonder if that person would literally hurt you physically...yeah....that bad....

Anyways...I welcome comments and emails anytime.
I pray the Lord will bless you all that know the TRUTH and are walking with Jesus today
And for those that dont know HIM yet,I invite you to know the resurrected Saviour the Bible talks about.He loves you more than anybody here on earth could...
Don't gamble with your soul...!!!!Eternity is a LONG TIME....Where you will spend it is your choice today.....

God Bless You

As in the days of Noah....