|
Where is the U.S. in
Bible Prophecy?
Al-Qaida
warns Muslims: Time to get out of U.S.
The new al-Qaida
field commander in Afghanistan is calling for
Muslims to leave the U.S. – particularly
Washington and New York – in anticipation of a
major terror attack to rival Sept. 11, according to
an interview by a Pakistani journalist.
Abu Dawood told Hamid Mir, a reporter who has
covered al-Qaida and met with Osama bin Laden, the
attack is being coordinated by Adnan el-Shukrijumah
and suggests it may involve some form of weapon of
mass destruction smuggled across the Mexican border.
"Our brothers are ready to attack inside
America. We will breach their security again,"
he is quoted as saying. "There is no timeframe
for our attack inside America; we can do it any
time."
As WND has previously reported, el-Shukrijumah is a
trained nuclear technician and accomplished pilot
who has been singled out by bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri
to serve as the field commander for the next
terrorist attack on U.S. soil.
The terrorist was last seen in Mexico, where, on
Nov. 1, 2004, he allegedly hijacked a Piper PA
Pawnee cropduster from Ejido Queretaro near Mexicali
to transport a nuclear weapon and nuclear equipment
into the U.S., according to Paul Williams, a former
FBI consultant and author of "The Dunces of
Doomsday."
"He is an American and a friend of Muhammad
Atta, who led 9/11 attacks five years ago,"
said Dawood. "We call him 'Jaffer al Tayyar' (Jafer
the Pilot); he is very brave and intelligent.
President Bush is aware that brother Adnan has
smuggled deadly materials inside America from the
Mexican border. Bush is silent about him, because he
doesn’t want to panic his people. Sheikh Osama bin
Laden has completed his cycle of warnings. You know,
he is man of his words, he is not a politician; he
always does what he says. If he said it many times
that Americans will see new attacks, they will
definitely see new attacks".
Dawood said he was currently conducting operations
in Afghanistan under the leadership of the Taliban.
He warned of a series of upcoming suicide bombings
there directed against government and coalition
forces during Ramadan.
He is also quoted as saying the next attack in
America will not be conducted by people like Atta.
"We have a different plan for the next
attack," he told Mir. "You will see.
Americans will hardly find out any Muslim names,
after the next attack. Most of our brothers are
living in Western countries, with Jewish and
Christian names, with passports of Western
countries. This time, someone with the name of
Mohamed Atta will not attack inside America, it
would be some David, Richard or Peter."
He said there will be another audio message from bin
Laden aired within the next two weeks.
Mir reportedly interviewed Dawood Sept. 12 at the
tomb of Sultan Mehmud Ghaznawi on the outskirts of
Kabul. Dawood and the al-Qaida leaders who
accompanied him were clean-shaven and dressed as
Western reporters. The al-Qaida commander had
contacted Mir by cell phone to arrange the meeting.
In April 2001, Shukrijumah spent 10 days in Panama,
where he reportedly met with al-Qaida officials to
assist in the planning of 9/11. He also traveled to
Trinidad and Guyana, where virulent al-Qaida cells
have been established. The following month, he
obtained an associate's degree in computer
engineering from Broward Community College.
Following 9/11, el-Shukrijumah was reportedly
singled out by bin Laden and al-Zawahiri to
spearhead the next great attack on America. One plan
was for a nuclear attack that would take place
simultaneously in seven U.S. cities, leaving
millions dead and the richest and most powerful
nation on earth in ashes.
"Muslims should leave America," said
Dawood. "We cannot stop our attack just because
of the American Muslims; they must realize that
American forces are killing innocent Muslims in
Afghanistan and Iraq; we have the right to respond
back, in the same manner, in the enemy's homeland.
The American Muslims are like a human shield for our
enemy; they must leave New York and
Washington."
Mir, the journalist, has reported previously that
al-Qaida has smuggled nuclear weapons and uranium
into the U.S.
"I am saying that Muslims must leave America,
but we can attack America anytime," he said.
"Our cycle of warnings has been completed, now
we have fresh edicts from some prominent Muslim
scholars to destroy our enemy, this is our defending
of Jihad; the enemy has entered in our homes and we
have the right to enter in their homes, they are
killing us, we will kill them."
Full
Article
Back
to Top
Iran
president cements anti-U.S. front with Venezuela
President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad shored up opposition to a U.S. drive to
curb Iran's nuclear program on a visit to Venezuela
on Sunday that cemented an anti-American front with
President Hugo Chavez.
Ahmadinejad's first trip to Venezuela highlighted
Iran's backing for the fellow OPEC country's bid for
a U.N. Security Council seat that Chavez would use
to challenge Washington's campaign for international
sanctions against Tehran.
Chavez, who Washington calls a destabilizing,
anti-democratic force, cast the visit as two
countries jointly defying what he says is the
imperialist aggression of the world's only
superpower.
"Iran is one of the emerging countries of Asia,
the Middle East. Venezuela is one of the emerging
countries of Latin America," he told a
state-owned TV network. "It is a union that
seeks a balance in the world and to save the future
of your children, my children and our
grandchildren."
Buoyed by high oil prices that underpin their
popularity at home and tapping into anti-American
sentiment around the world, both presidents are
awkward foes for the United States.
"Two revolutions are giving each other a
hand," Chavez said at the capital's airport
where he welcomed Ahmadinejad, walking with his arm
across the visitor's shoulders.
Iran established an Islamic republic after a 1979
revolution that ousted a U.S.-backed leader and
Chavez says he is creating his own revolution to
overturn capitalist and U.S. influence in the South
American country.
Iranian-Venezuelan ties have previously focused
almost exclusively on cooperation as major oil
exporters, but the leaders emphasized their new bond
in standing up to America.
Nowadays, we have common goals and interests,"
Ahmadinejad said. "We have to be united ... to
achieve peace and justice."
"I salute all the revolutionaries who oppose
world hegemony," he added in an apparent
reference to the United States.
The presidents did not focus on the nuclear issue,
preferring to stress economic pacts, including a
project to quantify Venezuelan oil reserves.
Ahmadinejad's two-day stop in Venezuela is
sandwiched between a trip to Cuba for the summit of
Non-Aligned Movement countries, which called on
developing nations to challenge U.S. dominance, and
a visit to the United Nations in New York.
At the world body's general assembly, Ahmadinejad
will lobby for Iran's right to develop nuclear
programs it says are for peaceful power generation
despite Washington's assertion Tehran is trying to
build an atomic weapon.
Chavez will press for a Security Council seat
against a U.S. campaign supporting Venezuela's
rival, Guatemala.
Chavez accused the United States of a smear campaign
against Venezuela and Iran, saying it was spreading
lies that Ahmadinejad's visit was to secure
Venezuela's uranium for its nuclear programs.
"They don't get tired of lying," he said.
Limiting Iran's nuclear programs and curbing the
socialist influence of Cuba ally Chavez are among
Washington's top foreign policy priorities.
But Larry Birns of the Washington-based thinktank,
the Council on Hemispheric Affairs, said the United
States has little to fear from the countries' closer
ties.
Venezuela will keep supplying crucial oil to its
main market, the United States, and if it wins a
rotating U.N. seat, its vote will not be key, said
Birns, who is sympathetic to some of Chavez's anti-U.S.
stances.
"This is a visit that is a statement of
solidarity rather than any plan for action," he
said.
Full
Article
Back
to Top
Military
Orders Suggest Iran Attack On The Horizon
Two recent orders
by the American military have led some observers to
conclude that the U.S. is preparing for an attack on
Iran.
One order was a "Prepare to Deploy"
command sent to a submarine, an Aegis-class cruiser,
two minesweepers and two mine hunters, telling the
ships’ commanders to be ready to move by Oct. 1.
The other was a request from the Chief of Naval
Operations (CNO) for a fresh look at long-standing
U.S. plans to blockade two Iranian oil ports on the
Persian Gulf.
The orders created a buzz within the military
because there are few places in the world where
minesweepers could be significant – chief among
them, the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf,
where about 40 percent of the world’s oil passes
each day.
"Coupled with the CNO’s request for a
blockade review, a deployment of minesweepers to the
west coast of Iran would seem to suggest that a much
discussed – but until now largely theoretical –
prospect has become real: that the U.S. may be
preparing for war with Iran,” according to a
special report in Time magazine.
Full
Article
Back
to Top
Iran
Adopting N. Korean War Strategy In Preparation For
Conflict with U.S.
Iran has adopted
North Korea's war strategy against the United
States.
U.S. intelligence sources said Iran has invested in
the production of North Korean command and control
systems for a missile war against the United States.
The sources said Iranian engineers and military
officers have been training in Pyongyang to wage a
nuclear war against a much stronger opponent.
"Teheran has assessed that the United States is
preparing a massive strike to destroy Iran's nuclear
weapons program," an intelligence source said.
"The Iranians see North Korea as its only ally
in any defensive effort."
Over the last year, the sources said, the Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps has conducted exercises in
both Iran and North Korea to test nuclear war
scenarios. They said about a dozen senior IRGC
engineers attended the North Korean launch of the
Taepo Dong-2 intermediate-range missile in July 2006
Full
Article
Back
to Top
Religious
Revival in the U.S. -- Hope for a Nation? ... or a
Threat?
Does Christianity
pose a threat in America? Apparently it depends on
who you ask: President Bush ... or Rosie O'Donnell.
President Bush says he senses a religious revival
that could be America's Third Great Awakening. In an
interview with Associated Press, National Review
editor Rich Lowry says the president shared that
view with him and other conservative journalists at
a White House meeting on Tuesday.
The nation's First and Second Great Awakenings --
generally considered to have occurred before the
American Revolution (1730s-1770s) and the Civil War
(early 1800s) -- resulted in widespread conversions,
a revival of Christian fervor, and social reforms.
Now here at the beginning of the 21st century,
according to Lowry, the president said the frequency
with which people tell him they are praying for him
makes him think "there's a Third Awakening with
a cultural change" taking place.
"It feels to him as though there is an up-tick
in religiosity out there that possibly might qualify
as the Third Awakening," Lowry shares with AP,
"but he left it to the journalists in the room
to investigate this further and see whether there's
any merit in the idea -- but it's clearly something
he's been thinking about."
The president, says Lowry, "wasn't making a big
deal of this" but pointed out the number people
on rope lines who tell him that they are praying for
him. Bush shared that he did not have people along
the rope line requesting things like a "new
bridge, or how about some more highway money."
But instead, "They're coming to say, 'I'm
coming to tell you, Mr. President, I'm praying for
you.' It's pretty remarkable," Bush said.
Adds Lowry: "He jokingly said maybe it's just
the only people praying for me in America are the
ones who come to my event and shake my hand at a
rope line."
Still, the journalist says Bush rejected "moral
relativism" and insisted that cultures can and
do change. "He got into this idea of the
Awakening by analogizing from the Middle East to our
own culture," he says, "and he was
pointing out [that] our own culture has
changed." And while such change might take
time, it sometimes can happen quite quickly, he
adds. "[President Bush] pointed out ... how the
culture from the 50s to the 60s changed quite
rapidly," Lowry notes.
Now, contrast that with comments on Tuesday by
comedienne Rosie O'Donnell during ABC's The View,
when fellow co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck -- one day
after the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 terror
attacks on the U.S. -- referred to the threat posed
by radical Islam. To which O'Donnell responded:
"Just one second -- radical Christianity is
just as threatening as radical Islam in a country
like America where we have separation of church and
state."
O'Donnell's unprovoked slap at Christianity, which
was met with applause by the studio audience, came
on the heels of her opinion that on September 11,
2001, the United States was not attacked by a
nation; yet "as a result of the attack and the
killing of nearly 3,000 innocent people, we invaded
two countries and killed innocent people in their
countries."
Hasselbeck and the two other co-hosts -- Barbara
Walters and Joy Behar -- appeared shocked by
O'Donnell's comments labeling Christianity as a
threat.
Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research
Council in Washington, DC, notes the contrast
between O'Donnell's remarks and the president's
comments that more people seem to be willing to
share that they are praying for him. "The
president's observations reflect the reality that
Americans see religious revival as the hope for our
nation, rather than a threat," states Perkins.
Full
Article
Back
to Top
Israel - God's Timepiece
Arab
leader: Muslims will rule Jerusalem sooner than you
think
Head of the
northern faction of the Islamic Movement Sheikh Raed
Salah said Friday that “soon Jerusalem will be the
capital of the new Muslim caliphate, and the
caliph’s seat will be there.”
Salah addressed an audience of 50,000 attending the
Islamic Movement’s 11th annual rally in Umm al-Fahm.
“Caliph” refers to a leader of the Muslim nation
and in Arabic means the “heir” or
“substitute” of the prophet Muhammad.
Salah noted that history tells of many occasions in
which the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem was occupied
by foreign conquerors, but the occupiers left after
a short time, and thus will also be the fate of the
Israeli occupation.
“The Israeli occupation will leave Jerusalem soon.
It will happen sooner than is thought,” Salah said
at the rally, which was held under the slogan
“Al-Aqsa endangered”.
The former mufti of Jerusalem Ekrima Sabri and the
archbishop of the Greek-Orthodox church who is
considered close to the Palestinian Authority also
spoke at the rally. Secretary General of the Arab
League Amr Musa also sent his blessings to the
assembly.
Full
Article
Back
to Top
Syria
preparing to act on Golan Heights
Syrian Information
Minister Mohsen Bilal said that his country is
losing patience in the matter of the Golan Heights,
and that the Syrians would not wait much longer
before they act.
"Syria has made a strategic choice for peace,
but it will not wait much longer before it
recaptures the Golan Heights," Bilal told
Egyptian newspaper al-Ahram al-Arabi.
"The Syrian people have waited 40 years for the
implementation of the United Nations Security
Council resolutions, but to no avail, and they are
losing their patience," he stated.
"Syria chose peace as a strategic option,
especially after former president Hafez Assad
received a letter from President George Bush that
included the principle of peace in exchange for
territories, a letter that has become known as 'the
Madrid principle.'," he explained. "It's
been 16 years and still we have reached no
results," he added.
In the course of the interview, Bilal was asked
whether he believes that "in wake of the
Israeli war machine's defeat to Hizbullah, Israel is
plotting to hurt Syria in a bid to compensate for
its loss."
Bilal replied: "Common sense, logic, and the
international law – or what is left of them –
say that this won't happen. But madness and
stupidity can lead to this. I hope that common sense
and logic prevail. This is our hope. If not – the
chaos that will erupt will harm everyone."
"in any case, if we are attacked – we will
know how to defend ourselves and how to safeguard
our land, our will, our values and our
dignity," he concluded.
Another menacing message was received from Iran on
Sunday: Commander of the Iranian Navy Admiral Sajjad
Kouchaki said that military industry experts in his
country succeeded in constructing “the most
advanced sea cannon in the world,” according to
Iran’s Fars news agency.
He further claimed that Iran was the third nation in
the world that succeeded in developing such a
weapon, after the United States and Italy. The Fajr
missile can hit underwater targets up to 19 km away
and air targets up to 23,000 feet away
Full
Article
Back
to Top
Rosh
Hashana 5767: Israel's population stands at
6,990,700
On the eve of Rosh
Hashana (the Jewish new year) 5767, the population
of Israel stands at 6,990,700, of them 5,313,800 are
Jewish and 1,377,100 Arabs, the annual statistical
summary of 2005 published on Tuesday by the Central
Bureau of Statistics (CBS) showed.
The population growth rate in 2005 stood at 1.8
percent, roughly the same figure as the previous two
years.
The rate of growth among the Jewish population was
steady at 1.5%, among Muslims 3% (a drop from
previous years that can be mainly attributed to a
lower birth rate), Druze 1.9% and Christians 1.4%.
The population figure is comprised of: 5,313,800
Jews, 1,140,600 Muslims, 146,000 Christians (of them
118,000 Christian Arabs), 115,200 Druze and 272,200
who did not classify a religion.
City slickers
The vast majority of the Israeli population (91%)
lives in cities, of them 28% live in one of the five
largest cities in the country.
The population, according to gender and age
The Israeli population is considered a relatively
"young" population: In Israel, the
percentage of children between ages 0-14 is 28%, as
opposed to 17% on average in other Western
countries. In older groups (65 and up) the gaps
decrease; seniors make up about 10% of the
population in Israel, as opposed to about 15% in
other Western countries.
From a comparison between different religions, it
can be seen that the Jewish population is the
"oldest" population, and the Muslim
population is the "youngest" one - 11.8%
of Jews are 65 and older, as opposed to only 2.8%
among Muslims. The percentage of children between
the ages of 0-14 among Muslims is 42.6%, as opposed
to 25.6% among Jews. The median age among Jews is
30.6, as opposed to 18.6 among Muslims. The main
point of explaining these differences is the high
fertility rate of the Muslim population compared to
the Jewish population.
Ethnicity
In 2005, the number of native Israelis continued to
grow and reached approximately 3.7 million people.
The portion of Israeli-born children has grown
steadily since the establishment of the state. In
1948, approximately 35% of the general Jewish
populace were sabras, as opposed to 65% at the end
of 2005 (of the general Jewish populace and others).
33% of the general Jewish population and others were
of Israeli descent (native Israelis and their
children who were born in Israel).
The largest ethnic group was Europeans/Americans and
their descendants (those born on the continent and
their children who were born in Israel). This group
numbered approximately 2.2 million people at the end
of 2005, making up 39% of the Jewish population and
others.
The group of those of African descent and their
children includes 867,000 people, approximately 15%
of the general Jewish population and others, of
which 105,000 people are Ethiopian.
The smallest ethnic group was the Asian populace,
which included approximately 695,400 at the end of
2005, approximately 12.4% of the general Jewish
population and others. Native Asians immigrated
mostly during the 50s and 60s. Unlike the Europeans
and Africans, Asian immigration has stopped almost
completely.
The largest country of origin continues to be the
former Soviet Union, including its Asiatic
republics. The population from the former Soviet
Union numbers 1.177 million people (of whom 242,000
were born in Israel). The second-largest country of
origin is Morocco, the population from which numbers
approximately 492,000 people (of whom 337,000 were
born in Israel). Approximately 239,000 are of Iraqi
descent (of whom 170,000 were born in Israel), some
228,000 are Romanian (of whom 122,000 were born in
Israel), and approximately 210,000 are Polish (of
whom 150,000 were born in Israel).
Immigration
In 2005, 21,000 immigrants arrived in Israel,
similar to the number of immigrants who arrived in
2004.
In 2005, 9,400 immigrants were from the former
Soviet Union, making up 44% of all immigrants. This
is the second year running since the wave of
immigration from the former Soviet Union began (in
1990) in which immigrants from the former Soviet
Union make up less than 50% of all immigrants.
In 2005, 3,600 immigrants arrived from Ethiopia,
similar to 2004.
2,500 immigrants came from France - an increase of
25% compared to the previous year. 2,000 immigrants
came from the United States - an increase of 5%
compared to 2004.
The contribution of immigration to the annual
population growth stands at less than 9%, whereas in
1990-1991, its contribution was 75-80%.
Full
Article
Back
to Top
A Revived Roman Empire?
Popular
opinion backs EU foreign minister post
A majority of EU
citizens are in favour of having a single EU foreign
minister for the bloc, the results of a new survey
have shown.
Conducted by the German Marshall Fund in June across
several member states including France, Germany, the
UK and Italy, the survey showed that 65 percent of
respondents would like to see the post created.
The same survey shows that European support for US
leadership in world affairs has dropped
significantly (from 64% to 37%) since the 9/11
terrorist attacks in New York and Washington five
years ago.
On a similar note, European disapproval of US
president George W. Bush's handling of international
affairs has risen strongly from 56 percent to 77
percent - with the French, Germans and Spanish
proving to be the most critical with an 85 percent
disapproval rate.
Full
Article
Back
to Top
The Gog/Magog War
Putin:
Russia’s Next Czar?
The people of
Russia are facing a stark reversal of their
democratic rights.
It's a retreat from democracy that comes just 15
years after Boris Yelstin's standoff with the Soviet
Union from a tank turret in Moscow that marks the
collapse of Communism in Russia.
In a nation conditioned by centuries of czarist rule
and decades of Communist control, Russians seem
satisfied with the pace of democratic progress:
"It's much better than it was before. There are
a lot of privileges. Now there is food in the
supermarkets."
"We have so many changes that it justifies
what's going on now. Putin's priority is order, but
changes are never smooth in a transition to
democracy."
But Western observers say that the tide of freedom
turned in 1999 when Boris Yeltsin handed the
presidency to Putin, his handpicked successor and a
former agent with the Soviet Secret Police.
Joel Rosenberg is a political analyst and author of
the book Epicenter, from the moment Vladimir Putin
rose to power, he says, he began building up the
military and alliances with anti-Western,
authoritarian regimes.
The ex-kgb colonel, Rosenberg says, has become the
"anti-Democrat- in-chief."
"Freedom is getting in Putin's way. Putin wants
to be the new czar of Russia,” said Rosenberg.
“He is not interested in a democracy. He is
rolling back freedoms. His goal is to be a czar and
to rebuild the Russian empire."
Raised in St. Petersburg, the home of Peter the
Great and the Russian czars, Putin has stated that
Russia should be a free and democratic society, but
one based on Russian traditions, "not Western
ideals."
As president, Putin restored some traditions of the
past Soviet tyranny, reviving the Communist flag as
a military symbol. He also restored the Soviet
national anthem.
In a speech last year, Putin called the collapse of
the Soviet Union "the greatest catastrophe of
the 20th century."
Rosenberg said, "Now a speech like that gives
you a window into his soul. And his world view is
that Russia needs tough Stalinistic leadership and
needs to rebuild the Russian empire."
In 2004, putin’s Kremlin abolished direct
elections for the nation's regional governors. The
now presidentially-appointed governors could move to
amend Russia's constitution, allowing Putin to run
for a third term in 2008.
That's sparked speculation that Putin could cling to
power long after his term expires, signaling the end
of democracy and the rise of a new Russian emperor.
“Now if the governors are directly elected by the
people there's a lesser chance he'll continue in
power,” Rosenberg said. “If he appoints them,
then he controls them. That's where I see we'll see
a real crisis emerging over the next 18 months, if
Putin decides to stay in office.”
Beyond that, Rosenberg says the trend toward a new
Russian empire is one the rest of the world, and
particularly the United States, cannot ignore.
“When you watch the anti-democracy move he's
making in Russia and the alliances he's building
with Islamic countries like Iran, you begin to see
how that world view is playing out, and this is what
President Bush and the American government right now
have to confront.”
Since taking office, Putin has consolidated Moscow's
grip on political speech, the economy, religion, and
the press.
In a state takeover of major Russian oil companies,
some suspect that the Kremlin engineered the
sentencing of oil tycoon Mikhail Khodor-Kovsky to
nine years in a Siberian jail.
Russia's leaders deny any muzzling of independent
media. But Putin supporters have controlling
interests in the nation's main newspapers, radio,
and television channels. The state also is
tightening control over the religious community.
A new state department report on religious freedoms
cites Russia for its poor protection of religious
minorities.
Though the Russian Orthodox church enjoys favor with
Putin officials, many religious groups report a rise
in harassment, persecution, and threats. Too often
ignored by officials.
Igor Nikitin, of the Association of Christian
Churches of Russia, said, "The government can
protect our human rights, can protect us as citizens
of Russia, but it's not been happening so far.”
Churches are now required to register and file
cumbersome reports, under a new law that clamps down
on non-governmental organizations, or ngos.
“It's become quite a problem for all of us,”
Nikitin said. “It's not just requiring groups to
register with the government, it's controlling
everything, all that NGOs are doing."
Churches and ngos are now seen as subversive agents
that undermine the Putin regime. One example is the
Orange Revolution that was, in part, religiously
motivated, and led Ukraine’s breakaway from
Russia’s sphere of influence.
“They also say they're spies from the West. That's
why they want to increase control over the NGOs and
their operations. That also gives them the right to
close a non-government organization for no
particular reason,” said author Anna Parechkevova.
When Ukraine voters rejected the Putin-backed
candidate in favor of a pro-Western Democrat, Russia
cut off the country's winter supply of oil.
Rosenberg said, “It was punishment. Putin was
sending a message: 'Don't mess with the Kremlin. If
you get in our way, we have ways to deal with
it.'”
Putin's democratic reversal hasn't seemed to get in
his way or hurt his popularity. His approval ratings
are soaring at 59 percent.
The Bush administration has chastised Putin for
backsliding on democracy and amassing personal
power. But critics say it will take more than words
to stop Russia's retreat from democracy and return
to the path of freedom.
Full
Article
Back
to Top
Russia
successfully test launches intercontinental
ballistic missile from submarine
Russia successfully
test-launched an intercontinental ballistic missile
from a nuclear-powered submarine from the area of
the North Pole, The Associated Press reported Sunday
citing the country’s defense minister. The nuclear
submarine K-84 launched the missile Saturday, and
all three test warheads hit their target, a testing
range in the Archangelsk region on the Barents Sea,
Sergei Ivanov reported to President Vladimir Putin
in televised comments.
“The launch was successful,” he said, adding
that it had been challenging: “Aiming from the
North Pole, where the concepts of latitude and
longitude are relative, makes this launch
difficult.” Ivanov suggested it was the first time
a test-launch from the area had been conducted by
the Russian military in 11 years.
He spoke days after an unsuccessful test of a new
sea-based intercontinental ballistic missile. An
experimental Bulava missile launched from a
submerged nuclear submarine in the White Sea on
Thursday veered off its designated flight path and
fell into the sea, according to the Defense
Ministry.
Following that failure, Ivanov urged quick action to
prevent the failure from derailing plans for
commissioning a new class of submarines and said
sea-based nuclear missiles should remain an
important component of Russia’s nuclear deterrent,
Russian news agencies reported.
On Sunday, Ivanov told Putin — and the nation, as
his comments were prominently featured on state-run
television — that Russia has eight nuclear-armed
submarines on duty at sea.
Putin and Ivanov, who is also vice-premier and seen
as a possible presidential candidate in 2008, have
repeatedly stressed that Russia will maintain enough
nuclear weapons to provide for its security.
Ivanov said Saturday’s test-launch was part of
“serious exercises of the sea-based strategic
nuclear forces” that ended Sunday. He also said
that another submarine, in the Pacific Ocean,
test-fired an ICBM on Sunday, and that two of its
test warheads hit the targeted range, Russia news
agencies reported.
Full
Article
Back
to Top
Increase in Knowledge/New
Technologies
Surveillance
Cameras That Watch And Talk To You?
Big Brother is not
only watching you - now he's barking orders too.
Britain's first 'talking' CCTV cameras have arrived,
publicly berating bad behaviour and shaming
offenders into acting more responsibly.
The system allows control room operators who spot
any anti-social acts - from dropping litter to
late-night brawls - to send out a verbal warning:
'We are watching you'.
Middlesbrough has fitted loudspeakers on seven of
its 158 cameras in an experiment already being
hailed as a success. Jack Bonner, who manages the
system, said: 'It is one hell of a deterrent. It's
one thing to know that there are CCTV cameras about,
but it's quite another when they loudly point out
what you have just done wrong.
'Most people are so ashamed and embarrassed at being
caught they quickly slink off without further
trouble.
'There was one incident when two men started
fighting outside a nightclub. One of the control
room operators warned them over the loudspeakers and
they looked up, startled, stopped fighting and
scarpered in opposite directions.
'This isn't about keeping tabs on people, it's about
making the streets safer for the law-abiding
majority and helping to change the attitudes of
those who cause trouble. It challenges unacceptable
behaviour and makes people think twice.'
The Mail on Sunday watched as a cyclist riding
through a pedestrian area was ordered to stop.
'Would the young man on the bike please get off and
walk as he is riding in a pedestrian area,' came the
command.
The surprised youth stopped, and looked about. A
look of horror spread across his face as he realised
the voice was referring to him.
He dismounted and wheeled his bike through the
crowded streets, as instructed.
Law-abiding shopper Karen Margery, 40, was shocked
to hear the speakers spring into action as she
walked past them.
Afterwards she said: 'It's quite scary to realise
that your every move could be monitored - it really
is like Big Brother.
'But Middlesbrough does have a big problem with
anti-social behaviour, so it is very reassuring.'
The scheme has been introduced by Middlesbrough
mayor Ray Mallon, a former police superintendent who
was dubbed Robocop for pioneering the zero-tolerance
approach to crime.
He believes the talking cameras will dramatically
cut not just anti-social behaviour, but violent
crime, too.
And if the city centre scheme proves a success, it
will be extended into residential areas.
The control room operators have been given strict
guidelines about what commands they can give.
Yelling 'Oi you, stop that', is not permitted.
Instead, their instructions make the following
suggestions: 'Warning - you are being monitored by
CCTV - Warning - you are in an alcohol-free zone,
please refrain from drinking'; and Warning - your
behaviour is being monitored by CCTV. It is being
recorded and the police are attending.'
Mr Bonner said: 'We always make the requests polite,
and if the offender obeys, the operator adds 'thank
you'. We think that's a nice finishing touch.
'It would appear that the offenders are the only
ones who find the audio cameras intrusive. The vast
majority of people welcome these cameras.
'Put it this way, we never have requests to remove
them.'
Full
Article
Back
to Top
Insurers
Study Implanting RFID Chips in Patients
Hackensack
University Medical Center and Horizon Blue Cross
Blue Shield of New Jersey are recruiting volunteers
to have an RFID device implanted under the skin.
The chips, made by VeriChip Corporation, will
contain a 16-digit identifying number that can be
used to bring up medical and family contact
information stored electronically in a database.
The chips will be tested in patients with chronic
conditions who are more likely to need care in
hospital emergency rooms.
In the two-year trial, the insurance company will
pay about $200 for the chips to be implanted, plus
$80 a month for a subscription fee, according to
reports in the RFID Journal.
Horizon will then assess whether the devices lower
health care costs by reducing duplicate lab tests,
drug interactions or misdiagnoses.
Horizon will invite patients with conditions like
diabetes and heart disease to participate and hopes
to enroll about 300 volunteers.
Though non-implanted devices, like bracelets or dog
tags, could also provide the identifying numbers,
chip proponents said that the implanted tags are
less likely to be removed or damaged and that
scanning for implants will take less time than
looking for other means of identification.
Earlier this year, four hospitals in Puerto Rico
announced plans to implant chips in patients with
Alzheimer's Disease and other memory problems.
VeriChip has given several New Jersey
hospitals—Beth Israel, Clara Maass, Columbus,
Hackensack, Kimball, Newark, Ocean and PBI
Regional—equipment to read the chips and access
the company's database.
Across the country, about 100 hospitals have the
appropriate scanning equipment, according to
VeriChip.
The chip, about the size of a grain of rice, was
approved by the FDA as a medical device in 2004.
But critics, including the authors of SpyChips,
argue against the technology, citing everything from
loss of privacy to signs of the apocalypse.
Once implanted, people cannot control who reads the
identifying number from the chip, and critics worry
the chips could be used to track people's movements
and behavior.
That ability is limited, however, because the chips
can only be read from a distance of a few
centimeters.
However, VeriChip itself has said that the chips
could be used to control access to secure areas. And
news reports state that the Department of Homeland
Security has considered using the chips to track
people.
According to the New Jersey study, patients will be
able to approve information that is stored in the
database that medical workers would access using the
chip.
Critics also argue against the chips on technical
grounds, saying that they could be useless if
computers crash, too many radio signals confuse
readers, and even that the chips are vulnerable to
viruses.
However, some health IT advocates have come out
strongly in favor of the chips. CIO of Harvard
Medical School John Halamka had one implanted last
year.
Full
Article
Back
to Top
Meet
the forerunner of a generation of talking robots
George, who is 39,
single and light-hearted, is looking for friends on
the Internet. He has gifts -- the ability to speak
in 40 languages and with 2,000 people at the same
time.
And one quirk: he doesn't really exist.
George is a piece of software, arguably the best of
the speaking "chatbots" or talking robots,
and he's recently received the Loebner prize in
Britain, a scientific award recognising the machines
best capable of matching the most realistic human
dialogues with their own.
Seven years after being invented, George evolved a
few months ago into what experts call an avatar,
gaining a physical image, a voice and voice
recognition software.
One can now have an oral discussion with him over
the Internet -- "face to face".
George appears on the website www.jabberwacky.com
and takes the form of a thin, bald man with yellow
glasses who wears a white turtleneck sweater.
He can smile, laugh, sulk and bang his fist on his
virtual table. He can turn on the charm and wax
romantic. But he can also turn coarse at times.
It isn't as if George only learned good manners.
All that he knows, he has accumulated in some 10
million conversations online, and he has not
forgotten a single word.
"The machine borrows the intelligence and the
words of the people it talks with, and little by
little learns how to place responses in the correct
context of a conversation," Rollo Carpenter, an
expert in artificial intelligence and the person who
conceived of George, explained to AFP.
George has one goal: to make friends on the
Internet. He is talkative and persevering. He can
re-start lackadaisical conversations ad infinitum
and for good reason: the more he speaks, the more
relevant his remarks become.
"The percentage of correct answers rises
constantly, as the database increases,"
Carpenter said. "The more that is added, the
more he is able to distinguish between several
choices of answers."
The first chatbot, albeit a basic version, was
created in the 1980s, but there are now a growing
number of them on the Internet with names ranging
from Billy and Alice to Chomskybot and the John
Lennon Artificial Intelligence Project, an attempt
to recreate the personality of the late Beatle.
A selection can be found http://www.botspot.com/pages/chatbots.html
But George's inventors say he is the forerunner of a
coming generation of talking robots which inventors
and marketing experts hope will unlock vast
commercial possibilities.
Icogno, Carpenter's company, is talking with
marketing experts who say avatars will soon be able
to suggest customers' purchases at supermarkets,
using their previous purchases to determine tastes
and interests.
Another possibility being considered in the medium
term: call centres, where just one avatar could
respond to telephone calls from millions of
customers at the same time.
Celebrities may also want to program George's more
advanced descendants to make imitations of
themselves for their fans, marketing experts
forecast.
Another suggestion is the concept of "visual
pets", proposed by Tim Child, a partner at
Icogno, while for a younger audience there are plans
to create teddy bears able to speak with their
owners.
The avatars could also be used as video game
partners, or play the role of historical characters
to illustrate lessons in class.
Is George the pioneer of a generation of avatars to
be used by childrens' teachers? Carpenter thinks so,
insisting "the interactive process is the best
means of learning".
Full
Article
Back
to Top
Christian
Worldview/Issues
NBC,
Madonna Set To Mock The Crucifixion of Christ
Following the lead of Rosie O'Donnell and ABC, NBC
has decided to join in the bashing of Christians by
airing a Madonna special in November. A specific
date has not been released.
In the show, Madonna, wearing a fake crown of
thorns, descends on a suspended mirrored, disco
ball-type cross. When some Christian leaders
complained about the mockery, NBC ignored their
concerns.
Making mockery of the crucifixion of Christ has been
a trademark of Madonna for many years. In 1989 she
had a video for the hit song "Like A
Prayer." The video featured burning crosses,
statues crying blood and Madonna--representing
Jesus--freeing a saint from his sexual repression by
seducing him. This is the same Madonna who once
said, "Crucifixes are sexy because there's a
naked man on them."
Kevin Reilly, an executive at NBC, said Madonna
considered the scene mocking the crucifixion of
Christ the highlight of her show. "We (NBC)
viewed it and didn't see it as being
inappropriate." Madonna considers mocking the
crucifixion of Jesus the highlight of her show and
NBC agrees.
Full
Article
Back
to Top
Bible
clubs spreading across school campuses
A dozen hands shot
up in a before-school Bible club meeting Wednesday
at McAuliffe Elementary School when leader Bob Heath
asked if anyone wanted prayer.
"If it's important to you, it's important to
God," Heath told about 70 kindergarten through
fifth-grade students.
The meeting began at 8 a.m. with games and worship
songs.
Heath got the boisterous group settled down quietly
on the floor before beginning a short message.
"When you give your life to Jesus, he comes to
live inside of you, and something amazing
happens," he said. "When we're full of
him, we're full of the love of God."
The club was dismissed at 8:40 a.m. after a
half-banana snack.
McAuliffe's Bible club is one of 39 such clubs
getting under way this fall at Tulsa-area public
schools under the leadership of Kids for Christ USA,
which Heath founded five years ago.
They are in Tulsa, Jenks, Union, Broken Arrow and
Bixby schools. Five more clubs are being organized.
Another dozen clubs have been started in California,
Kansas, Massachusetts and other states.
About 1,200 students attend the clubs weekly, Heath
said, and approximately 9,600 children have made
some type of decision to "follow Christ"
at clubs since he started in 2001.
Heath said the clubs are needed because in many of
the schools, a majority of the students do not have
a home church.
A recent study suggested only 25 percent of the
85,000 teens in the Tulsa area are in church
regularly, he said.
"The clubs are an incredible way to reach
kids," he said.
Heath is sometimes asked how he can "get away
with" holding Bible clubs in public schools.
"We follow the guidelines and stay within the
law," he said.
The Equal Access Act of 1985 and court rulings have
held that if schools allow any student clubs, they
have to allow Bible clubs, he said, and that to deny
a club because it is religious would be to show
hostility, not neutrality, toward religion.
Not all educators understand that, he said.
One Tulsa-area school he would not identify would
not allow a Bible club after three requests over a
three-year period, and relented only through the
efforts of a "pit bull parent" and the
mention of a lawsuit.
In a school in Brookfield, Mass., he said, the
Americans United for the Separation of Church and
State first resisted a Kids for Christ USA Bible
club in a school, and later agreed the club had a
legal right to be there.
Heath said the law opens the door not only for
Christian clubs, but also for any other religious
organizations.
"I don't agree with Islam, but I defend their
right to free expression," he said.
Jeremy Leaming, spokesman for Americans United for
the Separation of Church and State, said the Equal
Access Act allows public schools to permit student
organizations to hold Bible clubs.
"If a school allows other student organizations
to have clubs, it cannot bar religious groups from
doing so," he said.
"Public school officials have to make sure that
they're doing nothing that appears to promote them,
or give them special privileges," he said.
If a school rejects a secular humanist club or a gay
rights club and allows a Bible club, "then they
have a problem," he said.
McAuliffe Principal Kim Whiteley said Union Public
Schools allows all groups to use the facility before
and after school.
John Hamill, director of public information at Tulsa
Public Schools, said it is "perfectly
permissible" for Bible clubs to meet in school
buildings, before school, after school or during
lunch hours. Decisions about posting fliers or
making announcements about the clubs are made at the
school level, he said.
Tulsa Public School board policy allows use of
buildings for educational, political, literary,
cultural, religious, scientific, civic or
recreational purposes that are beneficial to young
people, the community or the district, and that are
acceptable to the superintendent or a designee.
It forbids meetings promoting "subversive
teachings and doctrines contrary to the spirit of
American institutions" or activities
"violating the patterns of good taste, manners
or morals."
Each Kids for Christ USA club has parent and student
sponsors in the school where the club meets. Heath
himself and his son are the sponsors of the
McAuliffe club. A network of parents, churches and
church children's ministers helps conduct the clubs.
Kids for Christ USA is supported by private
donations. Involved parents often help with treats
and prizes at their individual schools. The ministry
was recently incorporated and is preparing its first
required 501(c)(3) filing, Heath said. Before that,
it operated under the legal authority of a church.
Heath works full time on the project, but has yet to
draw a full salary.
Trojans for Christ was an inspiration for Kids for
Christ USA.
Heath said he spoke at the Jenks club years ago, and
said to himself, "Someone needs to do this on a
bigger scale."
He started the club at McAuliffe Elementary in
January 2001, after a parent asked him to, and other
clubs grew from there.
His goal is to establish the program in the Tulsa
area and then see it expand to every school in the
United States.
Full
Article
Back
to Top
New
Fox Unit to Produce Christian Films
The company that
brought TV viewers racy and irreverent programs such
as "Nip/Tuck," "Temptation
Island" and "The Simpsons" has found
religion.
In the biggest commitment of its sort by a Hollywood
studio, News Corp.'s Fox Filmed Entertainment is
expected to unveil plans today to capture the
gargantuan Christian audience that made "The
Passion of the Christ" a global phenomenon.
The home entertainment division of Rupert Murdoch's
movie studio plans to produce as many as a dozen
films a year under a banner called FoxFaith. At
least six of those films will be released in
theaters under an agreement with two of the nation's
largest chains, AMC Theatres and Carmike Cinemas.
The first theatrical release, called "Love's
Abiding Joy," is scheduled to hit the big
screen Oct. 6. The movie, which cost about $2
million to make, is based on the fourth installment
of Christian novelist Janette Oke's popular series,
"Love Comes Softly."
"A segment of the market is starving for this
type of content," said Simon Swart, general
manager of Fox's U.S. home entertainment unit.
"We want to push the production value, not
videotape sermons or proselytize."
Hollywood has made religious-themed movies for years
including such memorable titles as "The Ten
Commandments" and "The Greatest Story Ever
Told." But FoxFaith will target evangelical
Christians who often have shunned popular
entertainment as offensive.
Fox might seem an unlikely studio to pioneer a
religious label, given its history as a purveyor of
salacious TV programming. Yet people in the
Christian community say the company has gained
credibility as the voice for conservative America
through its Fox News Channel.
Still, courting evangelical Christians can be
tricky. "If this is something Fox is doing only
to exploit the audience — or if it's something
they don't believe in or are doing cynically —
then there could be problems," said Brandon
Gray, president of Box Office Mojo, a box-office
reporting service. "There isn't a huge turnout
for these films unless they speak to what
Christianity is all about. People want a guide to
life and Hollywood has ignored that by saying
nothing or dwelling on vices."
Over the last four years, 20th Century Fox Home
Entertainment has quietly built a network to
mobilize evangelical Christian moviegoers in an era
of diminishing box-office returns. The network
includes 90,000 congregations and a database of more
than 14 million mainly evangelical households.
FoxFaith films, to be based on Christian
bestsellers, will have small budgets of less than $5
million each, compared with the $60-million average.
The movies each will be backed by $5-million
marketing campaigns. Although that is skimpy
compared with the $36 million Hollywood spends to
market the average movie, the budget is significant
for targeting a niche audience, especially one as
fervent as many evangelical Christians.
For instance, "The Passion" grossed $612
million worldwide, thanks in part to its appeal to
Christians. Another spiritual odyssey, "The
Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the
Wardrobe," took in $745 million globally. Most
recently, Christians came out for this summer's
controversial "The Da Vinci Code," which
has brought in $754 million worldwide.
Other studios also are beginning to dip an oar into
Christian waters. New Line Cinema's "The
Nativity Story," scheduled to be released in
December, tells the story of Mary and Joseph seeking
shelter to give birth to Jesus. Legendary Pictures,
which has a multi-film deal with Warner Bros., is
planning to make a movie version of John Milton's
epic 17th century poem about the fall of man,
"Paradise Lost."
Fox seems to be getting a warm reception from the
Christian community. "It is extremely
satisfying to be taken seriously," said Nancy
Neutzling, vice president of marketing for Word
Distribution, FoxFaith's distributor to Christian
retailers. "It's like we have arrived."
Fox saw an opportunity to tap into the Christian
market four years ago through Ralph Winter, the
producer behind the studio's "X-Men"
franchise. During a visit to the set of "The
Planet of the Apes," Swart introduced Winter,
the executive producer, to a representative from a
major retailer, who asked whether he would make more
movies like "Left Behind," a Christian
apocalyptic thriller released in 2001.
The conversation led Winter, a Christian, to
co-produce for Fox's home entertainment division the
supernatural Christian thriller "The Hangman's
Curse," based on the Frank Peretti novel.
Released on a limited basis in fall 2003, the movie
flopped at the box office but did well on DVD.
The experience taught Jeff Yordy, vice president of
marketing for FoxFaith, a valuable lesson about the
Christian audience when an avalanche of letters
flooded his office from Christians protesting a
Bible study companion to the film.
"We got 10,000 letters from ministers telling
me I was not interpreting the scripture
correctly," recalled Yordy, a Christian.
"You have to take a broader perspective so
everybody can interpret based on their own
faith."
But what really propelled the idea of devoting a
label to Christian titles was Mel Gibson's "The
Passion of the Christ." The film's success
stunned Hollywood and confirmed Fox executives'
hunches about the Christian market.
Although 20th Century Fox passed on distributing
"The Passion," fearing a firestorm of
controversy, its home entertainment division, which
acquired the domestic home video rights, has sold
more than 15 million units on DVD. Fox Home
Entertainment continued to acquire and distribute
Christian videos such as "Mother Teresa"
and the documentary "Beyond the Gates of
Splendor."
Last year, the studio developed a FoxFaith website
and since has sold more than 30 million faith-based
DVD titles to Christian retailers. FoxFaith has
brought in about $200 million over the last year,
which is equivalent to the box-office sales of Fox
Searchlight, the studio's specialty film division.
Both Fox units share some portion of their revenue
with partners.
In preparation for its theatrical debut, FoxFaith
partnered with the Dove Foundation, a nonprofit
organization that monitors "wholesome"
family entertainment. Dove agreed to place its seal
of approval on some FoxFaith films.
In February, Yordy unveiled the FoxFaith logo at the
National Religious Broadcasters convention in
Nashville, bringing the normally skeptical crowd to
its feet. Seeing the label on the big screen
formalized the commitment from Fox, Yordy said.
Three years earlier, the idea of launching a
Christian label at Fox was considered a joke, but
Yordy said the use of humor helped win the
convention-goers' trust this time around.
"The approach we took was … 'At Fox, you may
know us for our quality family programming,' "
Yordy said he told the audience, against a backdrop
of video clips from Paris Hilton's "The Simple
Life" and the reality show "Temptation
Island."
"The room just died laughing," he said.
"I said to them, 'That is exactly what you
expect from Fox. But that is not what we at FoxFaith
are.' "
Full
Article
Back
to Top
Other Events to Watch
Security
Council divided on successor to Kofi Annan - Muslim
frontrunner?
The United Nations
Security Council is struggling to agree on a
high-profile successor to Kofi Annan, the Secretary
General, who will step down at the end of the year.
With time running out and after months of lobbying
and inconclusive consultations, the council is due
to restart the selection process with a vote on
Thursday.
Choosing a strong secretary general who enjoys broad
support is crucial for the future of the UN, whose
reputation has been battered by the Iraq war, the
failure of peacekeeping operations and a United
States-inspired campaign to undermine Annan.
There are five men in the running at present --
although more candidates are expected to emerge --
of whom Prince Zeid Ra'ad Zeid al-Hussein of Jordan
has emerged as one of the favourites, according to
diplomats based at the UN and in Western capitals.
"Everyone likes him. He is young, appealing,
knows the UN system but is not part of it. That is
crucial because the Americans said they do not want
another insider," a diplomat close to the race
said on Monday.
Zeid has played up this advantage, telling
Associated Press: "We believe there is
considerable scope to be given by the Security
Council and the general assembly to a Muslim
candidate who is familiar with the UN but not of the
UN."
He is reported to have the backing of John Bolton,
US ambassador to the UN, and the United Kingdom
government, which has indicated it is likely to
support him.
Other frontrunners are Ban Ki-moon, the South Korean
Foreign Minister, and Shashi Tharoor, a UN
under-secretary of state, from India.
Although the US and Britain do not normally field
candidates, there is potentially a wild card in the
contest: the Fijian Foreign Minister, Kaliopate
Tavola, has recommended a British Conservative
Euro-MP, Nirj Deva. But diplomats at the UN say the
Euro MP, who has joint British-Sri Lankan
citizenship, has no chance of winning. A Western
diplomat said: "I cannot imagine this is going
to prosper."< |