1. Where is the United States in
Prophecy?
US dependence on space could become Achilles' heel
It does not take much imagination to realize how badly war in space could unfold. An enemy - say, China in a confrontation over Taiwan, or Iran staring down America over the Iranian nuclear program - could knock out the U.S. satellite system in a barrage of antisatellite weapons, instantly paralyzing American troops, planes and ships around the world. Space itself could be polluted for decades to come, rendered unusable. The global economic system would probably collapse, along with air travel and communications. Cellphones would not work. Nor would ATMs and dashboard navigational gizmos. And preventing an accidental nuclear exchange could become much more difficult. "The fallout, if you will, could be tremendous," said Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association in Washington. The consequences of war in space are in fact so cataclysmic that arms control advocates like Kimball would like simply to prohibit the use of weapons beyond the earth's atmosphere. But it may already be too late for that. In the weeks since a U.S. rocket slammed into an out-of-control satellite over the Pacific Ocean, officials and experts have made it clear that the United States, for better or worse, is committed to having the capacity to wage war in space. And that, it seems likely, will prompt others to keep pace. What makes people want to ban war in space is exactly what keeps the Pentagon's war planners busy preparing for it: The United States has become so dependent on space that it has become the country's Achilles' heel.......
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American Foreign Policy - How popular should we be?
The one goal that unites and explains the Democratic approach to foreign policy is this: America must try -- urgently and desperately -- to be more popular in the world. "The world was with us after 9/11," explains Hillary Clinton. "We have so squandered that goodwill and we've got to rebuild it." Barack Obama has said that the "single most important issue" of the current election is picking a leader who can "repair all the damage that's been done to America's reputation overseas." This argument depends on three premises -- all of which are questionable. First, listening to the Democrats, one would assume that America in the Bush era is universally despised. The reality is more complicated. According to the Pew Global Attitudes Project, the United States is very popular in sub-Saharan Africa, where President Bush has just finished a triumphant tour. (People in Kenya, Ivory Coast and Ghana have a more favorable view of America than Americans do.) India and Japan are strongly pro-American. America remains popular in parts of "new Europe" as well as in Mexico, Peru and even Venezuela -- though there has been some erosion in both Latin America and Europe in recent years. Pew's general conclusion is that anti-Americanism has grown "deeper but not wider." And it is deepest in "old Europe" and the broader Middle East..
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6 Signs the U.S. May Be Headed for War in Iran
Is the United States moving toward military action with Iran? The resignation of the top U.S. military commander for the Middle East is setting off alarms that the Bush administration is intent on using military force to stop Iran's moves toward gaining nuclear weapons. In announcing his sudden resignation today following a report on his views in Esquire, Adm. William Fallon didn't directly deny that he differs with President Bush over at least some aspects of the president's policy on Iran. For his part, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said it is "ridiculous" to think that the departure of Fallon -- whose Central Command has been working on contingency plans for strikes on Iran as well as overseeing Iraq -- signals that the United States is planning to go to war with Iran. Fallon's resignation, ending a 41-year Navy career, has reignited the buzz of speculation over what the Bush administration intends to do given that its troubled, sluggish diplomatic effort has failed to slow Iran's nuclear advances. Those activities include the advancing process of uranium enrichment, a key step to producing the material necessary to fuel a bomb, though the Iranians assert the work is to produce nuclear fuel for civilian power reactors, not weapons. Here are six developments that may have Iran as a common thread. And, if it comes to war, they may be seen as clues as to what was planned. None of them is conclusive, and each has a credible non-Iran related explanation......
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2. Israel - God's Timepiece
Preparing to Rebuild The Temple - Temple Institute prepares linen garments for descendents of Aaron
For the first time in 1,938 years the linen garments of the lay priests are being produced in preparation for the rebuilding of the Holy Temple and the renewal of the Divine service. The last priestly garments to have been worn were those worn by the priests who were martyred by the Roman legions who brutally invaded and destroyed the Holy Temple on the ninth day of the month of Av, in the year 70 AD. The Temple Institute has spared no effort in procuring the necessary materials for the performing of this Torah commandment, and once again has enlisted 21st century technology in order to do so in a manner befitting the Torah injunction that these priestly garments be "both dignified and beautiful". (Exodus 28:40) Specially prepared flaxen thread , wound into six-ply strands, according to the Torah prescribed requirement, , has been imported from India. These individual spools of thread are presently being spun into larger 1.7 meter long spindles in order to accommodate the next step: the weaving of bolts of fabric 1.7 meters wide. In addition, before every step of the manufacturing process, a special statement of intent must be uttered in Hebrew: "L'shem mitzvat assei assiyat bigdei hakehuna: for the sake of the positive commandment to make the priestly garments." Each set of priestly garments will be tailored to fit its individual purchaser. The garments being created are not museum pieces or collector's items. Their cost is 2,500 shekel, (approximately $695). They will be sold only to true descendants of the High Priest Aharon, who aspire to be fully prepared for the day when they can once again perform the Divine service in the Holy Temple, may we merit to rebuild it soon! Incredibly, this is our first public announcement of the production of the priestly garments and we have already registered our first orders. A second production run is already being planned to accommodate the anticipated demand.......
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Intelligence report predicts grave dangers to Israeli security in the coming year
The annual intelligence report submitted to the Israeli government Sunday, March 9, predicted grave dangers to Israeli security in the coming year. However, even in the short term, DEBKAfile’s military and Middle East sources report the Israeli army, police and security forces are on guard for stormy events in the second half of March. To bring reluctant Arab rulers to the Damascus Arab League summit on the 29th, Syria has quietly slipped the word that the contentious Lebanese issue will be left off the agenda. Deliberations would be confined to the Gaza crisis. The Saudis were therefore persuaded to accept the Syrian invitation on March 9 after several refusals. Israeli intelligence has warned that in the interim Hamas and Jihad Islami would make every effort to ignite the Gaza front in order to unite the Arab rulers behind a dramatic Arab resolution in support of the Palestinian Islamists. This tactic would transfer the Gaza issue’s center of gravity from Cairo, which is brokering a Hamas-Israel ceasefire deal, to radical Damascus. Egged on by Syria and Iran, Hamas keeps on stalling this track and raising its demands. Most of all, the coming Arab League summit will for the first time host an Iranian head of state. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will be seated beside Syrian president Bashar Assad as guest of honor to parade the Tehran-Damascus axis’ pre-eminent role in Arab Middle East affairs, with Iran setting the pace........
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Syria 'intensely' arming itself to place all of Israel within firing range
Syria is in the midst of "intensely" arming itself, placing into position rockets and missiles capable of striking the entire Jewish state, according to an assessment presented to the Knesset today by multiple Israeli security agencies. The announcement follows a WND exclusive report last month quoting security officials stating Syria, aided by Russia and Iran, has been furiously acquiring rockets and missiles, including projectiles capable of hitting any point in Israel. The assessment came after Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced last week negotiations between the Jewish state and Syria should be seriously considered it if would bring an end to Syrian-sponsored terrorism and Damascus' "involvement in the axis of evil." The negotiations would aim for some sort of Israeli evacuation from the Golan Heights strategic, mountainous territory looking down on Israeli and Syrian population centers twice used by Damascus to launch ground invasions into the Jewish state. Syria openly provides refuge to Palestinian terror leaders, including the chiefs of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and has been accused of shipping weapons to Hezbollah. Damascus is also accused of supporting the insurgency against U.S. troops in Iraq..........
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Defense official: Hizbullah ready to fight Israel
The Hizbullah organization has completed its military and logistic preparations for a confrontation with Israel, a senior defense official told Ynet on Monday evening, based on recent intelligence assessments. Hizbullah's preparations reinforce the intelligence estimate that a conflict in northern Israel is closer than a wide-scale conflict in the Gaza Strip. This may be one of the reasons why the IDF is not rushing into a comprehensive operation in Gaza. Senior defense establishment officials, including Defense Minister Ehud Barak, admitted several months ago that in terms of Hizbullah's missile arsenal, the group has closed the gaps created after the Second Lebanon War. According to the defense establishment, Hizbullah's plans focus both on the activity in southern Lebanon and in the Bekaa Valley. Another estimate is that Hizbullah has decided to carry out a terror attack in response to the assassination of the group's senior official Imad Mugniyah in Damascus. Although there is no evidence that Israel was involved in the killing, the organization will seek to respond at the first opportunity it gets..........
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'Lost Tribe of Israel' couples marry in Jerusalem
Eighteen couples from a group of hundreds who recently moved here from India believing they are one of the "lost tribes" of Israel have been married in a massive, emotional ceremony, fulfilling for many a lifelong dream of starting a life in what they consider their homeland."For the first time, 18 B'nei Menashe couples – equal to chai ['life' in Hebrew numerical equivalent] – married in a joint ceremony under the wedding canopy in Jerusalem. This symbolizes their successful absorption into Jewish and Israeli society, and we wish the couples a lot of joy and success," said Michael Freund, chairman of Shavei Israel, a Jerusalem-based immigrant organization working with the "lost" Jews. Shavei hopes to bring to the Jewish state the remaining 7,000 Indian citizens who believe they are the Bnei Menashe, the descendants of Manasseh, one of biblical patriarch Joseph's two sons and a grandson of Jacob, the man whose name was changed to Israel. The tribe lives in the two Indian states of Mizoram and Manipur, to which they claim to have been exiled from Israel more than 2,700 years ago by the Assyrian empire. According to Bnei Menashe oral tradition, the tribe was exiled from Israel and pushed to the east, eventually settling in the border regions of China and India, where most remain today. Most kept customs similar to Jewish tradition, including observing Shabbat, keeping the laws of Kosher, practicing circumcision on the eighth day of a baby boy's life and observing laws of family purity..........
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3.
A Revived Roman Empire?
Israel in favor of Sarkozy’s plan for launch of Mediterranean Union July 13
Israeli President Shimon Peres on Wednesday expressed his support for French President Nicolas Sarkozy's plans for the creation of a Mediterranean Union to promote trade and cooperation. "I support 100 percent the plan," Peres, who is on a five-day state visit to France, said in an interview with French radio Europe 1. "The entire Israeli government is in favour of Sarkozy’s initiative of course," he added. "North Europe countries, the Maghreb countries in the south and the Arab countries in the middle, why not cooperate on what is possiblre?," he asked, recalling that Europe started with a union on coal and steel. A summit meeting between the EU countries and Mediterranean countries, including Israel, is scheduled to take place on 13 July in Paris when France takes over the six-month EU presidency. Ahead of a EU summit meeting at the end of this week, France and Germany settled their differences over President Sarkozy's plan to create the EU-Mediterranean new forum.
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5.
Apostate Christianity
Methodist Church to decide what to do with
'transgendered' clergy
An official with the Institute on Religion and Democracy says it's time for the United Methodist Church to tackle the issue of whether having a sex-change operation is appropriate for a minister. Last year, United Methodist Church (UMC) officials announced that Drew Phoenix would be able to continue in his position at a Baltimore area church. For years, Phoenix was known as Minister Ann Gordon, until she had a sex-change operation and became Drew Phoenix. Church officials are aware of at least two other former pastors who had sex-change operations. Mark Tooley with the Institute on Religion and Democracy says the issue will have to be addressed. "The church does not have any official stance on sex-change operations or transsexuality," states Tooley. "And so ... the church needs to adopt an official stance -- because we have had a couple of instances of Methodist clergy who have had sex-change operations that have become public knowledge." Tooley says the question that will be debated in an upcoming meeting of the UMC is whether gender is determined by God as a "fixed state," or whether gender -- "as many of those on the liberal side assert," he says -- is self-determined. The General Council of the UMC meets next month in Texas, and delegates will draft church policy for the next four years......
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6.
The Rise of Islam
Iran Schoolbooks Teach Jihad, Martyrdom, Study Shows
When third grade school children in Iran turn to page 113 of their textbook "Let's Read," they find a passage that says, "At that time, the Israeli officer pounded (three-year-old) Muhammad's head with the rifle's stock and his warm blood sprinkled upon his (six-year-old brother) Khaled's hands." The Iranian textbook was published in 2004, before the controversial Mahmoud Ahmadinejad became president of Iran in 2005. In another third-grade text, "Gifts of Heavan," an illustration of a monster wearing the Star of David is seen going through a tidy Muslim town leaving garbage everywhere. While those examples could seem shocking to some, it gets worse, said Arnon Groiss, director of research at the Center for Monitoring the Impact of Peace, who recently completed a study of 115 Iranian school textbooks. "Indoctrination is less felt in the lower grades and increases in the higher grades," Groiss said. The books are part of an overall indoctrination effort aimed at school children. This effort includes rewritten Iranian history and the inclusion of Jihadist political views in science and geography texts, he said. The seventh grade text "Islamic Culture and Religious Instruction," which refers to the West and Israel as the "Arrogant Ones," tells students that war is unavoidable and victory is guaranteed "in order to continue with all our power our revolution against the Arrogant Ones and the oppressors." An eighth grade text says the "army of Islam would make the Arrogant Ones fall in holy Jihad and heavy attack." "This is a form of child abuse rejected by all civilized countries," said Groiss, who for 30 years was an Arab-language journalist and is currently deputy director at Israel Broadcasting Authorities Arabic Radio. "This pictures a regime bent on global war to the point of self-destruction."......
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7. Increase in Knowledge/New Technologies
Britain makes camera that "sees" under clothes
A British company has developed a camera that can detect weapons, drugs or explosives hidden under people's clothes from up to 25 meters away in what could be a breakthrough for the security industry. The T5000 camera, created by a company called ThruVision, uses what it calls "passive imaging technology" to identify objects by the natural electromagnetic rays -- known as Terahertz or T-rays -- that they emit. The high-powered camera can detect hidden objects from up to 80 feet away and is effective even when people are moving. It does not reveal physical body details and the screening is harmless, the company says. The technology, which has military and civilian applications and could be used in crowded airports, shopping malls or sporting events, will be unveiled at a scientific development exhibition sponsored by Britain's Home Office on March 12-13. "Acts of terrorism have shaken the world in recent years and security precautions have been tightened globally," said Clive Beattie, the chief executive of
ThruVision
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From Second Life to the Star Trek holodeck — virtual reality is
bringing users closer to interacting with holograms
Today’s video games and online virtual worlds give users the freedom to create characters in the digital domain that look and seem more human than ever before. But despite having your hair, your height, and your hazel eyes, your avatar is still little more than just a pretty face. A group of researchers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is working to change that by engineering characters with the capacity to have beliefs and to reason about the beliefs of others. The characters will be able to predict and manipulate the behavior of even human players, with whom they will directly interact in the real, physical world, according to the team....
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Coming Soon: Nothing Between You and Your Machine
It has been more than two decades since Scotty tried to use a computer mouse as a microphone to control a Macintosh in “Star Trek IV.” Since then, personal computer users have continued to live under the tyranny of the mice, windows, icons and pull-down menus originally invented at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center in the 1970s and popularized by Apple and Microsoft in the next decade. Last year, however, the arrival of the Nintendo Wii and the Apple iPhone began to break down the logjam in technological innovation for the way humans interact with computers. Both devices extend the idea of directly controlling objects on the screen and blending that ability with visually compelling physics software that brings computer screens to life in new, immersive ways. With a Wii, a wave of the hand can slam a tennis ball in cyberspace; with the iPhone, a flick of a finger can slide a photograph across the screen like paper on a table. The idea of directly manipulating information on a computer screen is almost as old computer graphics terminals, going back at least to 1963, to Ivan Sutherland’s Sketchpad drawing system he created at M.I.T. for his Ph.D. thesis. Since then, a thriving scientific and engineering discipline has sprung up around systems that bridge what was originally called the man-machine interface.
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8. Christian Worldview/Issues
Plagiarizing sermons from the internet becomes growing problem
Young Catholic priests who download sermons from the internet to save themselves the trouble of writing their own have been told that they could be prosecuted for plagiarism. The warning was issued by a leading Polish priest, and has been taken up by Catholic newspapers around the world. Father Wieslaw Przyczyna claims that, on many Saturday evenings, there is a surge of visitors to websites offering ready-made sermons. He believes that the users are internet-savvy young priests who cannot be bothered to compose their own work in time for Sunday service. The trend has even been picked up by parishioners who download the same sermons and take them to church so that they can follow the priest's words. "Unfortunately, the practice has become common here. People realise priests are often not speaking for themselves but merely reading someone else's sermon. "Owners of sermon websites have noticed increased use on Saturday nights, suggesting some priests are trying to rescue themselves at the last moment by finding a text to read out at the next day's Mass."......
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Recycle or go to Hell, warns Vatican
Failing to recycle plastic bags could find you spending eternity in Hell, the Vatican said after drawing up a list of seven deadly sins for our times. The seven, which include polluting the environment, were announced by Monsignor Gianfranco Girotti, a close ally of the Pope and the head of the Apostolic Penitentiary, one of the Roman Curia's main court. The "sins of yesteryear" - sloth, envy, gluttony, greed, lust, wrath and pride - have a "rather individualistic dimension", he told the Osservatore Romano, the official Vatican newspaper. The new seven deadly, or mortal, sins are designed to make worshippers realise that their vices have an effect on others as well. "The sins of today have a social resonance as well as an individual one," said Mgr Girotti. "In effect, it is more important than ever to pay attention to your sins." According to Roman Catholic doctrine, mortal sins are a "grave violation of God's law" and bring about "eternal death" if unrepented by the act of confession. They are far more serious than venial sins, which impede a soul's progress in the exercise of virtue and moral good. Mgr Girotti said genetic modification, carrying out experiments on humans, polluting the environment, causing social injustice, causing poverty, becoming obscenely wealthy and taking drugs were all mortal sins.......
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Cowboy churches round up the faithful
Pastor Shorty likes to keep his sermons short and simple because that's the cowboy way and his is a cowboy church. "We're not into religion. We're not into ritual. We're just here to worship the Lord," says Glen "Shorty" Huffman of the 50 or so faithful filing into a converted metal barn outside Kersey on a Monday evening. "You can come here straight from the field with manure on your boots or tractor grease on your jeans. There are people here who would never grace the door of a conventional church." Jesus would approve of the informal, "come as you are," approach, Huffman says. And the relaxed style, he says, goes a long way to explain why cowboy churches — also known as Western Heritage churches — number 550 nationwide and are on the rise......
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Scholars continue to debate location of Ark of Covenant
The Ark is believed to have disappeared from the temple in Jerusalem around that time. In the ensuing 2,500 years, many treasure seekers have risked their lives and fortunes trying to locate it. And many claims have been made about the location of arguably the most important religious artifact in history. "The most dominant theory has to do with the St. Mary of Zion Church in Aksum, Ethiopia," said Beatrice Lawrence, an instructor at Hebrew Union College Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles. "The theories abound, but there is no evidence to support any theory over the other." Grant R. Jeffrey, author of "The New Temple and the Second Coming" said Jewish writings and the Ethiopian Royal Chronicles indicate a replica of the Ark was made before the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem. The original, they say, was hidden in Ethiopia until 1991, when it was transported to Israel. The Temple Institute, a group of orthodox rabbis in Jerusalem dedicated to rebuilding the temple, claim the Ark is safely stored in a hidden chamber under the Temple Mount complex, according to the institute's Web site. Meanwhile, the Sanhedrin Court, the only religious body authorized to determine the temple's correct location, reconvened in 2005. And renowned biblical archaeologist Vendyl Jones, who claims to be the inspiration for the fictional Indiana Jones, is trying to raise $88,000 to return to Qumran to remove 40 stones blocking entrance to an inner cave where he believes the Ark and other temple treasures are located. If the Ark is found and authenticated, biblical scholars say, it would be one of the most important archaeological discoveries in history. "I suppose if they found it, it would be on par with something like the discovery of the treasures of King Tut," said William M. Schniedewind, a professor of biblical studies and northwest Semitic languages at the University of California, Los Angeles.......
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Parents urged to boycott homosexual indoctrination at schools
What if homosexual rights advocates staged a huge promotional event and no one came to see it? That's exactly what a coalition of organizations is proposing for April 25, this year's "Day of Silence," which is sponsored in public schools across the nation. "It's outrageous that our neighborhood schools would allow homosexual activism to intrude into the classroom," said Buddy Smith of the American Family Association, one of a long list of organizations asking parents to keep their students home from school on that day. "'Day of Silence' is about coercing students to repudiate traditional morality. It's time for Christian parents to draw the line – if your children will be exposed to this DOS propaganda in their school, then keep them home for the day," he said. The pro-family coalition said the event "is designed to pressure students to regard homosexual, bisexual, and transgender behavior as normal and worthy." It said the teaching environment is disrupted by the event because some students "and even some teachers" remain silent through the school day. "Protesters wear T-shirts and hand out 'speaking cards' protesting alleged injustice, harassment, prejudice, and discrimination toward 'LGBT' people and their 'allies,'" the coalition said. Linda Harvey, a spokeswoman for Mission America, told WND, "It's incredibly important that parents be very aware because things are quickly getting to a bizarre level." A parent in Massachusetts was jailed when he objected to his kindergarten son being presented with a public school district book advocating homosexuality, and in California, lawmakers have written a law requiring teachers to present only positive representations of such alternative lifestyle choices. Such events only "honor" such alternative lifestyles, she said.......
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Evangelicals Putting New Twist on Lent, Confession and Communion
Evangelicals observing Lent? Fasting, and giving up chocolate and favorite pastimes like watching TV during the 40 days before Easter are practices many evangelical Protestants have long rejected as too Catholic and unbiblical. But Lent -- a time of inner cleansing and reflection upon Jesus Christ's sufferings before his resurrection -- is one of many ancient church practices being embraced by an increasing number of evangelicals, sometimes with a modern twist. The National Community Church, which has three locations in the District and one in Arlington County, updated the Lenten fast by adding a Web component: a 40-day blog, where participants from as far away as Australia, Korea and Mexico discuss their spiritual cleansing. This increasing connection with Christianity's classical traditions goes beyond Lent. Some evangelical churches offer confession and weekly communion. They distribute ashes on Ash Wednesday and light Advent calendars at Christmastime. Others have formed monastic communities, such as Casa Chirilagua in Alexandria, modeled on the monasteries that arose in Christianity's early years. This represents a "major sea change in evangelical life," according to D.H. Williams, professor of patristics and historical theology at Baylor University. "Evangelicalism is coming to point where the early church has become the newest staple of its diet." Experts say most who have taken on such practices have grown disillusioned with the contemporary, shopping-center feel of the megachurches embraced by baby boomers, with their casually dressed ministers and rock-band praise music. Instead, evangelicals -- many of them young -- are adopting a trend that has come to be known as "worship renewal" or "ancient-future worship." Those familiar with the trend say it is practiced mostly by small, avant-garde evangelical churches, though not always. But there are plenty of critics who reject the practices as "mystical spirituality" that don't belong in evangelical Christianity. "It is the same style of meditation that is basically being performed by Eastern religion practitioners," said Deborah Dumbowski, who with her husband, Dave, started an Oregon publishing house, Web site and e-newsletter to oppose the incorporation of such elements into evangelical worship. "It's being presented as Christianity, and we're saying this isn't Christianity -- not according to what the Bible
says." Defenders, however, refute that devotees of such practices are straying from bedrock evangelical beliefs. "They're still in love with their Bible. They're still in love with their God. They still see the Bible as their primary authority," said Chris Armstrong, associate professor of church history at Bethel Seminary in St. Paul, Minn., who has studied the trend. "But their experience is one of churches that look too much like the rest of the world -- a little bit too much like malls or rock concerts.".....
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9. Other Events
To Watch
Farmers struggle to keep up with world food demand
Whatever Dennis Miller decides to plant this year on his farm, the world needs. Wheat prices have doubled in the past six months. Corn is on a tear. Barley, sunflower seeds, canola and soybeans are all up sharply. "For once, there's great reason to be optimistic," Miller said. But the prices that have renewed Miller's faith in farming are causing pain far and wide. A tailor in Lagos named Abel Ojuku said recently that he had been forced to cut back on the bread that he and his family love. "If you wanted to buy three loaves, now you buy one," Ojuku said. Everywhere, the cost of food is rising sharply. Whether the world is in for a long period of continued increases has become one of the most urgent issues in economics. Many factors are contributing to the rise, but the biggest is runaway demand. In recent years, the world's developing economies have been growing at about 7 percent a year, an unusually rapid rate by historical standards. The high growth rate means hundreds of millions of people are, for the first time, getting access to the basics of life, including better diets. That jump in demand is helping to drive the prices of agricultural commodities up. Farmers the world over are producing flat-out. American agricultural exports are expected to increase 23 percent this year to $101 billion, a record. The world's grain stockpiles have fallen to the lowest levels in decades. "Everyone wants to eat like an American on this globe," said Daniel Basse of AgResource, a consultancy in Chicago. "But if they do, we're going to need another two or three globes to grow it all." A similar patter prevailed for a time in the 1990s, but this time investors are betting, as they buy and sell contracts for future delivery of food commodities, that scarcity and high prices will last for years. If that happens, it is likely to present big problems for managing the American economy......
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Welcome to the new Babylon - Empires in the Desert
For 3,881 years, the Great Pyramid of Giza was the tallest structure ever built. The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World had a lot to live up to even then. The Great Pyramid and its cohorts remain something to see: a feat of strength and wealth shouting to the world, “Look at me!” Well, there’s a new Pharaoh in town, and he’s building the world’s tallest buildings on the backs of foreign workers and foreign cash, just like old times. The Middle East once again holds the distinction of being home to the tallest structure on earth. Dubai alone has more than 270 high-rises and is in the midst of constructing an additional 339. Furthermore, 330 high-rise construction projects have already been approved. In fact, by 2015, Dubai will have more buildings of 100-plus floors than any other city in the world. As mind-boggling as that sounds, Pharaoh’s only just begun. The top 10 tallest buildings are a cumulative 4,918 feet. That’s not even counting Dubai’s newest skyscraper, Burj Dubai. That one, to be completed this year, is expected to be more than 2,000 feet. The Burj Dubai alone will be more than the height of four Great Pyramids… more than all the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, stacked on top of each other. Remember, too, that the Great Pyramid took 20 years to build. The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus took six times that -- well over a century. In contrast, the mighty Burj Dubai will be completed on December 30, 2008 -- less than four years from the time they broke ground. Indeed, the Pharaohs live again.......
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