Christian history returns as Jamestown gag lifted

New guidance lets visitors see settlers' religious focus Persecution 1 Peter 4:12-14 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. WORLDNETDAILY - By Bob Unruh - April 14, 2007 The gag on guides at the historic Jamestown, Va., site preventing them from describing much of the Christian influence at the settlement is being lifted by officials who – after WND publicized the situation – confirmed that records show the "propagation" of Christianity was, in fact, a major goal of the newcomers to the continent. Jamestown is where what later became the United States was introduced to the millennia-old, Christian common law tradition, the first Protestant house of worship, the first Christian conversions and a vision of a republican representative government, and for this year, ongoing events are planned to mark Jamestown's 400th anniversary. But when California Pastor Todd Dubord led a group of 50 visitors through the area, he found that not only were Christian artifacts ignored, when he asked a question about replicas of the Ten Commandments and the Lord's Prayer, "our guide responded … by saying that she was 'unable to speak about the plaques. We are only allowed to say they are religious plaques.'" That now is changing, as documentation from Joseph A. Gutierrez, Jr., senior director of the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, confirms. "The perception that somehow staff is minimizing the Christian religious heritage of the Jamestown settlers, or the role of faith in the colony is a significant concern," he said in a recent memorandum to staff members at the site. "It should be remembered that one of the first actions taken by the English settlers when they came ashore at Cape Henry was to erect a cross, and one of the first actions taken when they arrived at Jamestown was to build a church.' He also said the organization's board had approved "supplemental interpretive program plans for 2007, which included new church-based programs." One of the augmentations is "Tolling of the Bell: Religion at Jamestown" which is being added to the existing church programming, "The Law and the Lord," and "Rule of Law." When historical experts finish their review and staff members are trained, two additional programs, "Jamestown Sermons" and "Origins of the Anglican Faith" are to be added, he said. Further, a new introductory film, "1607: A Nation Takes Root," and new galleries that "trace the central role Christianity played in life in the 17th century" are being developed. "An entire section of the new galleries is devoted to exploring the role of Church and State and includes period items such as a church pew, Bible, and communion silver," he said. "It was only after significant effort that the Foundation was able to secure the second oldest set of church silver in Virginia for display in this section of the galleries. The chalice, dated 1661, and paten, circa 1670, are on long-term loan to the Foundation, and document the importance of the settler's faith," he told staff members. The instructions were released after Dubord had lobbied the site, which involves both private foundations and federal agencies, after his visitors' group was told that religious issues were, essentially, off-limits for guides at the community established in 1607 – 13 years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, Mass. Newly crowned King James I had issued orders to the company to spread Christianity and make money. "While the tour guides at the Jamestown Settlement and Museum were cordial and informative on many points, we were all caught off guard by their unwillingness (yes, unwillingness) to discuss Jamestown's religious roots. As one of the tour guides was leading us through the very heart of the replica of the community, the Anglican Church, we asked if she could speak about the significance of the three religious plaques on the wall in the front of the church: the Lord's Prayer, the Ten Commandments, and the Apostles' Creed (the same are in the Bruton Parish Church in Williamsburg)," Dubord, of Lake Almanor Community Church, had reported earlier. He said the guide reported being able to identify them only as "religious." At the same time Dubord was raising his concerns, Doug Phillips, president of Vision Forum Ministries, was making the same case, in a different manner. His outrage was over the removal of Christianity from virtually every portion of the location's 400th anniversary events, and it prompted him to announce the Jamestown Quadricentennial: A Celebration of America's Providential History for June 11-16. Those events arranged by Vision Forum will include the settlers' Christian heritage, because Phillips said the war over the accuracy of the historical presentations "is one of the most significant battles of our day. It is the battle for our history." "Jamestown's Christian legacy of law and liberty is significant," Phillips told WND. "The vision for settlement at Jamestown was first communicated by a British cartographer and preacher named Richard Hakluyt who hoped the Virginia settlement would be a beacon for religious liberty. The Virginia Charter for 1606, both empowering and governing the Jamestown settlement, was expressly rooted in the Great Commission of Holy Scripture." He said it certainly is good that some of Christianity's significant contributions are being restored at Jamestown, but he said the entire anniversary campaign still lacks anything that could be described as adequate in its recognition of Christianity. "The documents on the websites are horrific and shameful, and events themselves are laced with the most offensive revisionism," he told WND. For 350 years, the celebrations of the Jamestown founding always have included Christianity's role, but this year, it is not only being excluded, but being "corrected," he said. "They are doing the best they can to minimize references to God," he said, citing bookstore offerings that promote "spirit gods" but are a vacuum when it comes to a representation of the historical Christian record. "It's down on western Christendom, up with spirit guides," he said. And when confronted with existing historic markers that reference the Bible and its influence, the contemporary programs answer by saying, "The people of the past were wrong," he said. "The whole thing is rife with revisionist displays, from the movie all the way through the dioramas, they paint the picture of Europeans who came over as elitist barbarians and the savages were noble and advanced," Phillips said. He was especially distressed that such a 400th anniversary is a first – and only – such event for this nation. "I always want to be the first person to say thank you even when my opponents do the right thing," he said. But he said the organizers already have made it clear they want to turn history into pluralism at Jamestown, "meaning every religious bent, except the really historic Christian one, is going to get its day in court." Dubord said he was told via telephone that Jamestown's revisions were being attempted to "better stress" the 1606 Charter notation on the Christian propagation of the Gospel to both site guides and the public. Dubord also had responded to Gutierrez' confirmation of changes that he looked forward to seeing the changes in a return visit that is scheduled in coming weeks. "Most of all, I thank you for conveying to me that, after your meetings with Jamestown curators, historians, and other leaders, you will be modifying the instruction information for Jamestown guides to incorporate the colony's 1606 Charter purpose of 'propagating the Christian Religion,' among, as you said, the four-fold purpose outlined therein," Dubord said. He noted that the 1606 Charter, according to documents at Yale University, said: We, greatly commending, and graciously accepting of, their Desires for the Furtherance of so noble a Work, which may, by the Providence of Almighty God, hereafter tend to the Glory of his Divine Majesty, in propagating of Christian Religion to such People, as yet live in Darkness and miserable Ignorance of the true Knowledge and Worship of God, and may in time bring the Infidels and Savages, living in those parts, to human Civility, and to a settled and quiet Government: Do, by these our Letters Patents, graciously accept of, and agree to, their humble and well-intended Desires. He suggested Christian evangelization also was emphasized as "the highest end of our plantation here" in a daily prayer from Jamestown, as cited in some of Virginia's early documentation: We therefore beseech thee to bless us, and this our plantation. Which we and our nation have begun in thy fear, and for thy glory. We know O Lord, we have the devil and all the gates of hell against us, but if thou O Lord be on our side, we care not who be against us. O therefore vouchsafe to be our God, and let us be a part and portion of thy people, confirm thy covenant of grace and mercy with us, which thou hast made to thy Church in Christ Jesus. And seeing Lord the highest end of our plantation here, is to set up the standard, and display the banner of Jesus Christ, even here where Satan’s throne is Lord, let our labor be blessed in laboring the conversion of the heathen. Adding his endorsement of Dubord's request was U.S. Rep. Virgil Goode Jr., R-Va. "We are overlooking the true facts of our history if we ignore the importance of Christian faith and religion to these early settlers," he said in a letter to Philip Emerson, executive director of the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation. Emerson told Dubord that the experience at Jamestown with his tour group was "surprising" and said the new programming will provide information that earlier was lacking. "Numerous other programs and activities will be taking place this year that reference the role religion played in the establishment of Jamestown," he said. "Jamestown was the beginning of the rich tapestry that is America, and religious faith is a vitally important part of that tapestry…" Dubord's research through archives in the Library of Congress and from various historians shows the Jamestown settlers were commissioned through their Virginia Company not only to advance the company's economic interests, but to spread the teachings of Jesus Christ on orders from King James I, who called for the "propagating of Christian religion to such people as yet live in darkness and miserable ignorance of the true knowledge and worship of God." "Historian Sydney Ahlstrom notes that, 'From 1607-1619 the colony's religious affairs were guided by the Virginia Company, which framed its laws and sent out ministers in the capacity of chaplains,'' Dubord wrote. "Early governmental figures 'met in the choir loft of the Jamestown church as America's first elective assembly.' According to Ahlstrom, their enactments included morality, in which: "immoderate dress was prohibited; and ministers were to reprove the intemperate, publicly if need be. There were fines for swearing, and excommunication and arrest for persistent sinning. Morning and afternoon services were required on Sunday, and neglectful persons were subject to censure. The governor set apart 'glebes,' or lands to support the church and ministers in each of the four parishes into which the colony had been divided. To promote evangelism among the Indians, each town was to educate 'a certain number' of natives and prepare them for college. There was even talk of founding a missionary 'university' at Henrico ... " DuBord wrote in his research that his tour took him to Jamestown Settlement, run by the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation for the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is adjacent to the Historic Jamestown, run by the APVA Preservation Virginia and the National Park Service. DuBord has documented similar efforts to edit Christianity from the historic references at the U.S. Supreme Court and Jefferson's Monticello estate, and also has that research, as well as his Jamestown research, available on his church website. To obtain Pastor Todd DuBord's research on this issue, as well as research into the editing of Christian references at the U.S. Supreme Court and Thomas Jefferson's Monticello estate, visit the Lake Almanor Community Church website. http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55185 FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of religious, environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Mammon: Your Gold and Silver Have Rusted

Mammon Ezekiel 28:16a "By the abundance of your trade You were internally filled with violence,... Psalms 49:12 But man in his pomp will not endure; He is like the beasts that perish. James 5:3 Your gold and your silver have rusted; and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have stored up your treasure! Revelation 18:17a for in one hour such great wealth has been laid waste!'... Proverbs 16:16 How much better it is to get wisdom than gold! And to get understanding is to be chosen above silver. Europe tops US in stock market value FINANCIALTIMES of LONDON - By Tony Tassell - April 2, 2007 Europe has eclipsed the US in stock market value for the first time since the first world war in another sign of the slipping of the global dominance of American capital markets. - - - The rise of the euro against the dollar, growth of east European markets such as Russia and stock market outperformance spurred by improving profitability have seen Europe close a long-held gap with the US. Ian Harnett at Absolute Strategy Research, who identified the move, said this marked a “seismic shift” in markets. The last time Europe eclipsed the US in market capitalisation was likely to have been before the first world war, said Mike Staunton, stock-market historian at London Business School. The shift mirrors a trend in the debt world, where European activity has caught up, and in some cases overtaken the US. - - - - http://www.ft.com/cms/s/bf6a00e4-e14b-11db-bd73-000b5df10621,_i_rssPage=6700d4e4-6714-11da-a650-0000779e2340.html Corporate profits at all-time high FINANCIALTIMES of LONDON - By Chris Giles, Economics Editor - April 3, 2007 Corporate profitability rose to its historically highest level at the end of last year as manufacturing and service sector companies benefited from strong sales growth combined with lower energy prices and subdued wage pressures. Economists said soaring profitability in the fourth quarter augured well for business investment, underpinning the Bank of England’s strong growth forecast for this year. - - - - http://www.ft.com/cms/s/56c494c8-e213-11db-af9e-000b5df10621.html N.J. Pension Fund Endangered by Diverted Billions NEW YORK TIMES - By Mary Williams Walsh - April 4, 2007 In 2005, New Jersey put either $551 million, $56 million or nothing into its pension fund for teachers. All three figures appeared in various state documents — though the state now says that the actual amount was zero. The phantom contribution is just one indication that New Jersey has been diverting billions of dollars from its pension fund for state and local workers into other government purposes over the last 15 years, using a variety of unorthodox transactions authorized by the Legislature and by governors from both political parties. The state has long acknowledged that it has been putting less money into the pension fund than it should. But an analysis of its records by The New York Times shows that in many cases, New Jersey has overstated even what it has claimed to be contributing, sometimes by hundreds of millions of dollars. - - - - http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/04/nyregion/04pension.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin Top investor sees U.S. property crash REUTERS - By Elif Kaban - March 14, 2007 MOSCOW - Commodities investment guru Jim Rogers stepped into the U.S. subprime fray on Wednesday, predicting a real estate crash that would trigger defaults and spread contagion to emerging markets. "You can't believe how bad it's going to get before it gets any better," the prominent U.S. fund manager told Reuters by telephone from New York. "It's going to be a disaster for many people who don't have a clue about what happens when a real estate bubble pops. "It is going to be a huge mess," said Rogers, who has put his $15 million belle epoque mansion on Manhattan's Upper West Side on the market and is planning to move to Asia. Worries about losses in the U.S. mortgage market have sent stock prices falling in Asia and Europe, with shares in financial services companies falling the most. Some investors fear the problems of lenders who make subprime loans to people with weak credit histories are spreading to mainstream financial firms and will worsen the U.S. housing slowdown. "Real estate prices will go down 40-50 percent in bubble areas. There will be massive defaults. This time it'll be worse because we haven't had this kind of speculative buying in U.S. history," Rogers said. "When markets turn from bubble to reality, a lot of people get burned." The fund manager, who co-founded the Quantum Fund with billionaire investor George Soros in the 1970s and has focused on commodities since 1998, said the crisis would spread to emerging markets which he said now faced a prolonged bear run. "When you have a financial crisis, it reverberates in other financial markets, especially in those with speculative excess," he said. "Right now, there is huge speculative excess in emerging markets around the world. There will be a lot of money coming out of emerging markets. "I've sold out of emerging markets except for China," said Rogers, long a prominent China bull. Even in China, the world's fastest expanding economy, Rogers said stocks were overvalued and could go down 30-40 percent. But he added: "China is one of the few countries in the world where I'm willing to sit out a 30-40 percent decline." The last stock market bubble to burst was the dot-com craze which sparked a crash from March 2000 to October 2002. When the last bubble burst in Japan, said Rogers, stock prices went down 85 percent despite the country's high savings rate and huge balance of payment surplus. "This is the end of the liquidity party," said Rogers. "Some emerging markets will go down 80 percent, some will go down 50 percent. Some will most probably collapse." http://www.reuters.com/articlePrint?articleId=USL1470530620070314 U.S. Comptroller: Prescription Drug Bill 'May Be The Most Financially Irresponsible Law In 40 Years'; Bill Will Add $8 Trillion to Long-Term Medicare Obligations DRUDGE REPORT NEWS FLASH - March 1, 2007 That Could Already Bankrupt the U.S. The U.S. government's top accountant says the law that added a prescription drug benefit to Medicare may be the most financially irresponsible legislation passed since the 1960s. U.S. Comptroller General David Walker says Medicare -- barring vast reform to the program and the nation's healthcare system -- is already on course to possibly bankrupt the treasury and adding the prescription bill just makes the situation worse. Walker appears in a Steve Kroft report to be broadcast on 60 MINUTES Sunday, March 4 (7:00-8:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. "The prescription drug bill is probably the most fiscally irresponsible piece of legislation since the 1960s," says Walker, "because we promise way more than we can afford to keep." He argues that the federal government would need to have $8 trillion today, invested at treasury rates, to cover the gap between what the program is expected to take in and what it is expected to cost over the next 75 years Ð and that is in addition to more than $20 trillion that will be needed to pay for other parts of Medicare. "We can't afford to keep the promises we've already made, much less to be piling on top of them," he tells Kroft. The problem is the baby boomers. The 78 million people born between 1946 and 1964 start becoming eligible for Social Security benefits next year. "They'll be eligible for Medicare just three years later and when those boomers start retiring en masse, then that will be a tsunami of spending that could swamp our ship of state if we don't get serious," says Walker. - - - - http://www.drudgereport.com/flash3.htm FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of religious, environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Global Communiqué

Revelation 1:7 BEHOLD, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen. Mexico City to be one, giant Wi-Fi hotspot by 2008: mayor AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE - April 3, 2007 All of Mexico City will be one free, wireless Internet hotspot by 2008, Mayor Marcelo Ebrard announced Monday. The project "will accelerate the technological development of the city," Ebrard said after signing a contract with the Chinese telecoms and networking giant ZTE. The project began as a hook-up for security cameras around the Mexican capital, he said. "Why connect 4,000 cameras with fiber (optic cable) if everyone has wireless?" he said. "If we are going to deploy 4,000 (security) cameras, I want them to be Wi-Fi," Ebrard said. http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=070403060648.3wchbpy3&show_article=1 FCC Testing Web-Over-Airwaves Device ASSOCIATED PRESS - March 27, 2007 WASHINGTON -- The Federal Communications Commission is expected to release findings this summer on whether a new device can deliver high-speed Internet service over unused airwaves without disrupting television programming. - - - The coalition, which includes Microsoft Corp., Google Inc., Dell Inc. and others, wants the agency to open up unlicensed and unused TV spectrum, also known as "white spaces," for broadband Internet service. - - - - http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070327/fcc_internet_device.html?.v=1 Host not found Dissidents must be protected from internet censorship, argues Hari Kunzru in an essay for a PEN anthology, Another Sky. THE GUARDIAN - March 31, 2007 The internet has provided an efficient conduit for people to share all manner of information other people don't want them to, whether those people are government whistle-blowers, child pornographers, political dissidents, intellectual property pirates or terrorists. From the Drudge Report to beheading videos, censorship is being successfully circumvented around the globe. Looked on from the neutral standpoint adopted by network engineers, this is proof of a robust system. Ethical or political judgements about the content of the information flowing through the networks aren't relevant. It's all data. We should celebrate. - - - - Extracted from Another Sky: Writings from Prison around the World in association with English PEN. Published on April 12 http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,2046545,00.html FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of religious, environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

What you don't hear in the news: North American Union

Building the Global Beast The Iron and the Clay Daniel 2:41-43 "In that you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, it will be a divided kingdom; but it will have in it the toughness of iron, inasmuch as you saw the iron mixed with common clay. "As the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of pottery, so some of the kingdom will be strong and part of it will be brittle. "And in that you saw the iron mixed with common clay, they will combine with one another in the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, even as iron does not combine with pottery. Daniel 7:3-8 "And four great beasts were coming up from the sea, different from one another. "The first was like a lion and had the wings of an eagle. I kept looking until its wings were plucked, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man; a human mind also was given to it. "And behold, another beast, a second one, resembling a bear. And it was raised up on one side, and three ribs were in its mouth between its teeth; and thus they said to it, `Arise, devour much meat!' "After this I kept looking, and behold, another one, like a leopard, which had on its back four wings of a bird; the beast also had four heads, and dominion was given to it. "After this I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrifying and extremely strong; and it had large iron teeth. It devoured and crushed and trampled down the remainder with its feet; and it was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns."While I was contemplating the horns, behold, another horn, a little one, came up among them, and three of the first horns were pulled out by the roots before it; and behold, this horn possessed eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth uttering great boasts. EU-style union coming to a continent near you 'Working groups led by DHS should now [be] driven by a single agenda: the SPP' WORLDNETDAILY - March 21, 2007 A memo signed by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff implements a controversial program condemned by critics as a precursor to a European Union-style partnership with Mexico and Canada. The document shows the Security and Prosperity Partnership, or SPP, is being directed at the highest level of the Bush administration, says the public interest group Judicial Watch, which obtained it and other documents through a Freedom of Information Act request. The Sept. 22, 2005, memo describes the agencies within the Department of Homeland Security responsible for executing the security agenda of the SPP. Titled "Implementation Memorandum for the (SPP)," the document says the SPP "has, in addition to identifying a number of new action items, comprehensively rolled up most of our existing homeland security-related policy initiatives with Canada and Mexico, and ongoing action and reporting in the various U.S.-Canada and U.S.-Mexico working groups led by DHS should now be driven by a single agenda: the SPP." "These new records prove the Security and Prosperity Partnership is being directed by officials at the very highest levels of the United States government," said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. Fitton said Americans "should know that the SPP is a core policy initiative for many agencies in our government, including the Department of Homeland Security." The records obtained by Judicial Watch also contain an information paper describing 10 "Prosperity Pillar Working Groups" http://www.judicialwatch.org/archive/2007/dhs06-978spp14mar07_001.pdf and the organization of the "U.S.-Mexico Critical Infrastructure Protection Work Group." Judicial Watch said that unlike previous records produced by other federal agencies, the DHS records are heavily redacted, blocking out names of the U.S., Mexican and Canadian government officials carrying out the partnership's agenda across all three countries. The DHS also released a 10-page chart listing 36 "SPP Security High-Level Working Groups" that include the "Mexico-U.S. Repatriation Technical WG," the "Mexico-U.S. Intelligence and Information Sharing WG," and the "Canada-U.S. Cross Border Crime Forum." In October, as WND reported, about 1,000 documents obtained in a FOIA request to the SPP showed bureaucrats from agencies throughout the Bush administration meeting regularly with their counterparts in the Canadian and Mexican governments to engage in a broad rewriting of U.S. administrative law and regulations. WND first reported the SPP activity last summer, showing the Bush administration had launched extensive working-group activity to implement a trilateral agreement with Mexico and Canada. The groups, working under the North American Free Trade Agreement office in the Department of Commerce, are to implement an agreement signed by President Bush, then-Mexican President Vicente Fox and then-Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin in Waco, Texas, March 23, 2005. The trilateral agreement, signed as a joint declaration not submitted to Congress for review, led to the creation of the SPP. An SPP report to the heads of state of the U.S., Mexico and Canada, -- released June 27, 2005 -- lists some 20 different working groups spanning a wide variety of issues ranging from e-commerce, to aviation policy, to borders and immigration, involving the activity of multiple U.S. government agencies. The working groups have produced a number of memorandums of understanding and trilateral declarations of agreement http://www.spp.gov/report_to_leaders/index.asp?dName=report_to_leaders . http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54796 Commerce chief pushes for 'North American integration' WORLDNETDAILY - By Jerome R. Corsi - March 24, 2007 While the Bush administration insists the controversial Security and Prosperity Partnership http://www.spp.gov/ is just a dialogue with Canada and Mexico, a State Department cable released to WND shows Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez pressing to implement major trilateral initiatives to help "capture the vision of North American integration." The cable was among some 150 pages of State Department SPP documents recently released to WND under a Freedom of Information Act request. Howard Phillips, who has formed a coalition to block development of a "North American Union" and formation of NAFTA superhighways, told WND the document "makes clear that the agenda of SPP is to pursue major economic integration that redefines U.S. businesses into a 'North American' definition." "By leading with economics, SPP is crafting a North American regulatory structure that transforms U.S. regulations by 'harmonizing' them with Mexican and Canadian regulations, all without specific congressional approval," said Phillips, chairman of the Conservative Caucus. The State Department communiqué, dated May 20, 2005, documents a March 13, 2005, meeting between Gutierrez, Mexican Secretary of Economy Fernando Canales and Canadian Privy Council Assistant Secretary Phil Ventura. The meeting was held just prior to the announcement of SPP at the trilateral summit with the country's three leaders in Waco, Texas, March 23, 2005. The cable notes Gutierrez opened the discussion by stressing that the July 23, 2005, "Report to Leaders" needed "to show results" that would be "enduring and create an on-going process." Gutierrez suggested each working group should propose one "big ticket" issue, rather than the "50-60 smaller initiatives" that were then in the SPP "matrix," allowing the "SPP ministers" to capture the attention of the "SPP leaders" with major North American integration goals that were both tangible and important. "This memo gives us an important 'behind the scenes' look at the trilateral bureaucratic process that gave rise to the "Report to Leaders http://www.spp.gov/report_to_leaders/index.asp?dName=report_to_leaders . The 2005 "Report to Leaders" on the SPP website, Phillips noted, resulted from a detailed process of trilateral bureaucratic meetings that led to cabinet-level discussions within the three governments. The end result, he said, was for the report to "focus on the major SPP working group initiatives that could advance the goal of North American integration." Phillips contended a "close reading of the document makes a lie of the SPP 'myth vs. facts' http://www.spp.gov/myths_vs_facts.asp contention that SPP is just a 'dialogue.'" "The document quotes Canada's Ventura as stating that the three countries should prepare a joint document declaring their trilateral intention to 'integrate' a list of industries, including automobiles, pharmaceuticals, textiles, furniture, and steel," he argued. "Ventura said the more 'trilateral integrated' industries that could be listed, the better." - - - - http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54857 Mexico To Get "Sovereign Territory" in Kansas City; America's Heartland CHRISTIAN WORLDVIEW NETWORK - By Phyllis Schlafly - April 4, 2007 Grassroots Americans of all parties and economic classes rose up out of their political apathy a few months ago and forced President Bush to reverse his administration's decision to allow a Middle East government to own America's major ports. But the push for foreign ownership continues: the next port scheduled to be taken over is Kansas City, Missouri. Even though public schools stopped teaching geography a couple of decades ago, most Americans (especially residents of the Show Me state) are surprised to learn that Kansas City (where the only waves are "amber waves of grain") is a port. We are also surprised, and shocked, to discover that Mexico will be running its own inspection facility. The plan, shrouded in secrecy, has been in the works for at least three years, but it is now coming to light because of the diligent use of Missouri's Sunshine law by concerned citizens. Joyce Mucci and Francis Semler forced the release of the emails from Kansas City to Mexico, including one admitting that "The space [in Kansas City] would need to be designated as Mexican sovereign territory." SmartPort spokesmen are now running away from this written admission, blaming "the problems and pressure the media attention has created." However, the stubborn sovereignty issue won't go away; the plan does involve setting up Mexican customs officials in downtown Kansas City. The mechanism for this deal is a "nonprofit" business economic development corporation called Kansas City SmartPort Inc., whose president is Chris J.F. Gutierrez. The deal calls for Kansas City to lease the valuable property at 1447 Liberty Street. As laid out on SmartPort's website, the plan is to enable cheap-labor products made in Communist China to travel in sealed "containers nonstop from the Far East by way of Mexico," through "a ships-to-rail terminal at the port of Lazaro Cardenas in Mexico," then up "the evolving trade corridor" to Kansas City, Missouri, where they would have their first inspection. A Kansas City SmartPort brochure explains further: "Kansas City offers the opportunity for sealed cargo containers to travel to Mexican port cities with virtually no border delays." A key purpose of the project is to take jobs away from U.S. longshoremen in Los Angeles and Long Beach who earn $140,000 a year and replace them with Mexican laborers at $10,000 a year. U.S. truck drivers and railroad workers will likewise be replaced by Mexicans. - - - The last piece in finalizing this project is getting the U.S. State Department to approve the Mexican operation on U.S. soil by signing off on what is called the C-175 document. It has already been approved by U.S. Customs. Meanwhile, NASCO (North America's SuperCorridor Coalition), another non-profit business organization, has taken on the mission of building an "international, integrated and secure, multi-modal transportation system" from Lazaro Cardenas through Kansas City and up to Winnipeg, Canada. This will allow Mexican trucks to haul goods along a 12-lane superhighway through the heartland of the United States. http://www.christianworldviewnetwork.com/article.php/1787/Phyllis_Schlafly Abolition of Electoral College under way Change would give control of White House to handful of states WORLDNETDAILY - By Bob Unruh - April 6, 2007 A movement is sweeping the nation that could eliminate the Electoral College in national elections, and with it much of this country's republican form of government, instead giving unstoppable control over the White House to any coalition the major population centers would choose to create. Maryland's state legislature already has given approval to a proposal that would, in conjunction with other states' efforts, eliminate the college, and similar plans have already been approved by single legislative houses in Hawaii, Colorado and Arizona. In seven more states – Washington, Montana, California, New Mexico, Louisiana, West Virginia and Connecticut – the plans have been endorsed by legislative committees. And in 28 more states the proposals have been introduced while legislative writers in another eight states are working on plans, according to a report from the group called National Popular Vote, which is lobbying for the change. The procedure to elect a president in the United States, although it had happened in the past, became an issue for activists when in 2000 George W. Bush collected fewer popular votes than Al Gore, but because of the concentration of those votes in key states, collected the necessary 270 electoral college votes for the presidency. Electoral college votes are equal to the size of a state's congressional delegation, and are awarded based largely on the winner of the popular vote in those states. However, an analysis of the issue by Wallbuilders, a Christian organization with expertise in historical and constitutional issues, said the argument that the electoral college system is unfair to voters and "individual votes are meaningless" doesn't hold up. "Interestingly, because of the electoral college, the opposite has been true," the group's report said. "As the Florida situation proved, individual votes are tallied – sometimes several times." And it quoted Curtis Gans, of the Committee for the Study of the American Electorate, who said getting rid of the electoral college would reduce political campaigns in the United States to "television advertising" and "tarmac." "There would be virtually no incentive to try to mobilize constituencies, organize specific interests, or devote any resources to such things as voter registration and education. … What we would have is a political system that combines the worst of network television with the worst of the modern campaign," he concluded. Wallbuilders noted that given a direct democracy – one person with one vote and winner-take-all – "candidates would logically spend their campaign courting voters in the most populous urban areas such as Chicago, San Francisco, New York City, Washington, D.C., Miami, Seattle, etc., rather than visiting cities in more rural areas – cities like Wichita, Birmingham, Amarillo, Cheyenne, Springfield, Tulsa, etc." The group said under the electoral college system, "it is possible that a candidate can win the presidency by carrying a majority of only the 11 most densely populated States (California, Texas, Florida, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina and either Georgia or Virginia). However, under a system of direct elections, this number could be reduced to even fewer states, particularly if they happen to be the largest states and could deliver overwhelming margins of victory, such as Washington, D.C., did for Gore by the lopsided 86 to 9 percent margin." In Maryland, the measure is expected to be signed soon by Gov. Martin O'Malley, a Democrat, and it would designate the state's 10 electoral college votes to be awarded to the winner of the national popular vote – no matter who would have collected more votes in the state. There was opposition. A report in the Washington Post noted that Del. Anthony J. O'Donnell, R-Calvert, the House minority leader, wondered if the state's voters are prepared "to allow someone else to determine where Maryland's votes in the electoral college go?" In Arkansas, the House has passed the plan, and in Hawaii it was the state Senate. In Colorado, the state Senate actually became the first state legislative house in the nation to approve the plan. A year ago, California's legislature approved the plan, as did individual legislative houses in Louisiana, New York, Colorado, and Missouri, but the proposals moved no further at that point. But Common Cause, in a website statement, said the change is needed. "The current system for electing our president no longer serves America well. The state-by-state method … divides the country into so-called 'safe' states where voters are all but ignored while the election is determined by a relatively small number of swing voters in 'battleground' states… "When our nation selects a leader that does not have the support of the majority of its citizens, we are a weaker country for it," the group said. Officials say besides the 2000 election, during the elections of 1824, 1876 and 1888, the winner of the popular vote was not the same as the winner of the electoral college vote. That is what the system was designed to do, Wallbuilders said. In Colorado, the plan was carried in the state Senate by Majority Leader Ken Gordon. "It is revolutionary, I admit. It is called democracy. I know some people are concerned. It is a big change … but I believe that if the framers of the Constitution were around now they would favor a woman's right to vote, they would oppose slavery and they would support electing the president by majority vote." But Wallbuilders noted that – along with proposals to have Congress or the state legislatures choose a president – the idea of a national popular vote was discussed by the authors of the Constitution. "This idea was rejected not because the framers distrusted the people but rather because the larger populous states would have much greater influence than the smaller states and therefore the interests of those smaller states could be disregarded or trampled," Wallbuilders said. "Additionally, a nationwide election would encourage regionalism since the more populous areas of the country could form coalitions to elect president after president from their own region. With such regional preferentialism, lasting national unity would be nearly impossible." Wallbuilders said the electoral college specifically was chosen to maintain a republican form of government, as opposed to a strict democracy. And it provides more influence to areas with lesser populations. For the same reason, Congress was set up with representation based on population in the House, and representation based on the states in the Senate. "Consequently, in the Senate, Delaware has the same power as California with each State having two votes; but in the House, Delaware’s single vote often is completely negated by the fifty-two from California. Because of this different source of strength in each body, the votes in those two bodies on the same piece of legislation may be dramatically different. In such a case, before that legislation may become law there must be some compromise — some yielding of the Senate to the will of the population and some yielding of the House to the will of the States," Wallbuilders said. In the 2000 fracas, for example, Gore won the popular vote by carrying concentrated urban areas: he carried only 676 counties, while Bush carried 2,436 counties. The electoral college was set up to recognize both interests, and maintain a balance, Wallbuilders said. Further, the U.S. Constitution forbids America from becoming a democracy, and John Adams noted that, "There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide." http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55064 FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of religious, environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

A god of Electronic Fortresses?

The Road to Artificial Omniscience and the mark of the beast Daniel 11:38a "But instead he will honor a god of fortresses... Revelation 13:16-17 And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name... Children could be monitored for signs of criminal behaviour THE DAILY MAIL [LONDON] - March 27, 2007 All children could face compulsory checks to discover if they are at risk of turning into criminals, the Prime Minister announced today. The controversial proposal came as part of a wide-ranging review of crime and security policy published by 10 Downing Street. It said the checks could take place at existing important stages in a child's life, such as the move from primary to secondary school. The Government's plan to prevent crime said: "Establish universal checks throughout a child's development to help service providers to identify those most at risk of offending. "These checks should piggyback on existing contact points such as the transition to secondary schools." The document did not outline at what age the checks should begin, nor did it detail whether police or probation officers would be involved in the process. It was also unclear whether the check would involve a personal interview with a child, or if it would simply comprise a review of school and police records. Other proposals set out in the policy review included: - - - • Developing technology could also lead to the introduction of "crowd scanners" able to detect bombs, and the use of "automatic facial recognition" to spot criminals on CCTV images. The review also appeared to advocate further expansion of the DNA database when it suggested including "all suspected offenders who come into contact with the police". Currently anyone arrested for a recordable offence in England and Wales must give a DNA sample - which remains on record even if they are not charged, or are acquitted. Read Full Article http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=444860&in_page_id=1770 Terror Database Has Quadrupled In Four Years THE WASHINGTON POST - By Karen DeYoung - March 25, 2007 Each day, thousands of pieces of intelligence information from around the world -- field reports, captured documents, news from foreign allies and sometimes idle gossip -- arrive in a computer-filled office in McLean, where analysts feed them into the nation's central list of terrorists and terrorism suspects. Called TIDE, for Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment, the list is a storehouse for data about individuals that the intelligence community believes might harm the United States. It is the wellspring for watch lists distributed to airlines, law enforcement, border posts and U.S. consulates, created to close one of the key intelligence gaps revealed after Sept. 11, 2001: the failure of federal agencies to share what they knew about al-Qaeda operatives. But in addressing one problem, TIDE has spawned others. Ballooning from fewer than 100,000 files in 2003 to about 435,000, the growing database threatens to overwhelm the people who manage it. "The single biggest worry that I have is long-term quality control," said Russ Travers, in charge of TIDE at the National Counterterrorism Center in McLean. "Where am I going to be, where is my successor going to be, five years down the road?" TIDE has also created concerns about secrecy, errors and privacy. The list marks the first time foreigners and U.S. citizens are combined in an intelligence database. The bar for inclusion is low, and once someone is on the list, it is virtually impossible to get off it. At any stage, the process can lead to "horror stories" of mixed-up names and unconfirmed information, Travers acknowledged. The watch lists fed by TIDE, used to monitor everyone entering the country or having even a casual encounter with federal, state and local law enforcement, have a higher bar. But they have become a source of irritation -- and potentially more serious consequences -- for many U.S. citizens and visitors. - - - - Read Full Article http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/24/AR2007032400944_pf.html Labour will force everyone to give fingerprints at ID card interview centres British Government Ministers plan to force all adults to attend fingerprint scanning units so their biometric details can go onto an identity card database MATHABA NEWS - March 19, 2007 Patrick Hennessy, the Political Editor of the Sunday Telegraph, revealed that from 2009, everyone will have travel miles at their own expense to attend one of 69 "interview centres", whose locations are revealed today for the first time. "People without their own transport, such as the elderly and the less well off, will be hit hardest by having to make round trips that in some cases will be more than 100 miles. Somebody living in Cambridge would be forced to make a 62-mile round trip to Bury St Edmunds, while people in Blackpool would have to travel 54 miles to Blackburn and back. In Stranraer, residents face a 128-mile round trip to Kilmarnock", Hennessy wrote. "The revelations are the latest blow for the Government's crisis-hit ID card scheme. Ministers claim the scheme, which will see the first cards issued in two years' time, will cost £5.4 billion, although experts at the London School of Economics say the total bill could be £19.3 billion. Biometric passports, which hold similar personal details to ID cards, will be issued later this year. There will then be a two-year period during which people will be able to apply for a passport without also being forced to apply for an ID card." He revealed that from 2010, all passport applicants, even if they are simply renewing their old one, will also have to apply for an identity card. - - - - Read Full Article http://mathaba.net/news/?x=550837 Students at Philadelphia's sixty high schools issued contactless campus ID cards Access, attendance tracking, lunch programs drive the implementation provided by Scholarchip CONTACTLESS NEWS - Andy Williams, Contributing Editor - March 15, 2007 Colleges have been using campus card ID systems for years. But with increasing security concerns, similar products are moving into public schools. One example: Philadelphia, Penn.’s school system where high school students at 60 schools have been provided a contactless ID card needed to gain admission to school property, track attendance, and, in some cases, buy lunch in the cafeteria. - - - Students are encouraged to wear the lanyard-attached badge around their necks, however, many are still simply carrying them on their persons, said Ms. DiLella. "We want them to get used to wearing the cards because they’re going to be used (eventually) for classroom attendance." The smart ID badge is tapped when a student enters school grounds. Attendance is taken in a classroom in the normal fashion and the results are compared with the records generated when the students first enter the school. In addition, the badges can be read by portable, PDA-style readers. So, if a student is in the hallway, the badge can be read by an administrator to determine where the student should be. To accomplish this, the card contains the student’s picture and also his class schedule. Other information can be added, such as any special health needs and whether he’s on free or reduced lunch, which can be read by a POS device in the cafeteria. The next step is implementing electronic attendance at the classroom level. She said some schools would like to put readers in classrooms so students can walk by, thus registering their physical attendance in the class. But that’s not something the district is looking at as a whole because it’s expensive and would require readers in each classroom. "The (first) challenge is making sure teachers have computers," she said. "If a child is marked as tapping in (when he first enters the school) when the teacher gets to her class for the day, it shows he's present." She then manually identifies that the student is in the classroom. If he’s not, a notation is made on the computer. "We opted right now not to have devices hanging on the door," she said. Inevitably, they would be subject to vandalism. "So the teacher will be doing it. This system does help tremendously in finding kids and keeping track of them." - - - - http://www.scholarchip.com/ Read Full Article http://www.contactlessnews.com/library/2007/03/15/students-at-philadelphias-sixty-high-schools-issued-contactless-campus-id-cards/ European retailer embeds RFID chips in shoes IDG NEWS SERVICE - By John Blau - March 2, 2007 San Francisco - One of Europe's largest shoe companies plans to embed wireless chips in shoes sold at hundreds of stores across the continent. Under a deal announced Friday, Checkpoint Systems will provide Reno with RFID (radio frequency identification) tags and store tagging systems. The tagging specialist will deliver wafer-thin RFID chips designed especially for shoes from its Asian production facilities, in addition to systems that allow check-out clerks to quickly and easily deactivate tagged products. By having the tags integrated into it shoes, Reno aims to curb theft for both boxed products and those on display, as well as shoes customers try on in the stores. Reno has been using RFID technology to track product shipments from its factories to its stores for several years but has not yet used the technology to track individual products inside each store. - - - - Read Full Article http://news.yahoo.com/s/infoworld/20070302/tc_infoworld/86485;_ylt=AtUWmI62SiQSlRUWP9p7dEAjtBAF U.S. Can't Account for 600,000 Fugitives ASSOCIATED PRESS - By Beverley Lumpkin – March 26, 2007 WASHINGTON - Teams assigned to make sure foreigners ordered out of the United States actually leave have a backlog of more than 600,000 cases and can't accurately account for the fugitives' whereabouts, the government reported Monday. The report by the Homeland Security Department's inspector general found that the effectiveness of teams assigned to find the fugitives was hampered by "insufficient detention capacity, limitations of an immigration database and inadequate working space." - - - - Read Full Article http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8O400T01&show_article=1 Problem children target defended BBC NEWS – September 3, 2006 -- The minister in charge of a plan to identify potential troublemakers even before birth has defended the move, saying state intervention "can work". Social exclusion minister Hilary Armstrong spoke out as ex-MP Tony Benn likened the plan to "eugenics, the sort of thing Hitler talked about". Ms Armstrong says the government has to intervene earlier to prevent problems developing when children are older. Tony Blair will outline the strategy in a speech in the regions on Tuesday. Alcohol problems The prime minister says it is possible to spot the families whose circumstances made it likely their children would grow up to be a "menace to society". He said teenage mothers and problem families could be forced to take help to head off difficulties. --- Read Full Article http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/5309890.stm Lawmakers Working to Limit RFID Door Cards INFOWORLD - Matt Hines - March 1, 2007 RFID door cards raise security concerns, legislation in the works. There's already an RFID security brouhaha brewing in Washington, and if some people have their way, it won't be the last legal fight waged in the nation's capital over use of the wireless technology. The IT security community is buzzing with interest over a legal spat that broke out on Feb. 27, one day ahead of the start of the Black Hat DC 2007 conference. Officials with Seattle-based IOActive were forced to cancel a planned presentation at the government-themed security trade show in which an expert from the company was to have detailed a technique for hacking data transmitted by HID's popular proximity identification cards used by millions of people nationwide. Chris Paget, IOActive's director of research and development, had planned to show off an RFID "cloning" device that could be used to steal access codes from HID-brand proximity cards, store them, then use the stolen codes to fool an HID card reader. According to show organizers, HID quashed the session by threatening to file a patent infringement suit against IOActive over the use of HID's source code in the demonstration. Despite the Black Hat lecture's cancellation, U.S. lawmakers say the debate over use of similar RFID security technologies in the government space is far from over. IOActive claims that its initial experiment in hacking the HID system was partially spawned by the firm's physical proximity to government IT assets protected by the devices. The security service provider maintains that its offices are located in a building that uses HID's cards for physical access that also houses "components of the nation's critical infrastructure." Such concerns have pushed some lawmakers to introduce new bills seeking to limit the use of RFID-based systems in the government sector. Among those backing legislation is California State Senator Joe Simitian, a Democrat who is currently pushing five related bills in his home state. - - - To help illustrate the seriousness of the situation to his colleagues in California's senate and state assembly, Simitian conducted a test in 2006 through which a security expert was hired to visit the state's capitol building in Sacramento and hack an RFID card system used to gain entry to the building's garage. The cards used in that test were made by Motorola. "We're at the state capitol building in the post-9/11 environment, and we've spent millions to improve security, but in the space of several minutes, someone with a laptop can compromise the badge system," Simitian said in an interview with InfoWorld. "The main problem is that the issues aren't widely understood. That's why we've come back with five bills -- because I want to ensure I get to tell this story in every venue that I can; if we can sit down and explain the issue to people, they get it, but it's a hard, complex technical issue." - - - Simitian said that HID was involved in negotiating the terms of the bill vetoed by Gov. Schwarzenegger but said that the firm still refused to give the legislation its blessing. The lawmaker labeled HID's move to stop the IOActive Black Hat briefing as proof of its "embarrassment" over the ease with which its products can be defeated. As the son of a computer programmer and the recipient of several awards from the IT security industry, including an honor bestowed at the RSA 2007 conference earlier this month, Simitian said he hardly considers himself as conservative when it comes to promoting new technologies. He has a hard time understanding why Schwarzenegger and others have blocked laws that require "practical" security measures for the use of RFID. - - - - Posted by John Dunn Read Full Article http://www.pcworld.com/printable/article/id,129487/printable.html Drones could defend airports USA TODAY - By Mimi Hall - March 26, 2007 The Homeland Security Department and the military this summer will test whether drones flying 65,000 feet above the nation's busiest airports could be used to protect planes from being shot down by terrorists with shoulder-fired missiles. Dubbed "Project Chloe" after a character on Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff's favorite TV show, 24, the anti-missile strategy is the latest to be explored by government leaders looking to thwart potential missile threats at commercial airports. Other methods are being considered, but Homeland Security officials say they may be too costly or impractical. - - - - Read Full Article http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2007-03-22-unmanned-drones_N.htm

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'Gay'-rights bill lets court define church's 'purpose'

'Most sweeping and culturally devastating law in Oregon history, establishing pagan morality' Persecution / A Horde of Judgment Matthew 24:9 "Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. John 3:20 "For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. Ephesians 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. WORLDNETDAILY - By Bob Unruh - April 7, 2007 A plan being shoved down a fast track in the Oregon Legislature would give homosexuals a vast range of new state laws they could use to impose their moral perspective on Christians across the state, according to opponents who fear for their speech and religious expression rights. Senate Bill 2, on its face, is written to enshrine in state law special protections for homosexuals by classifying them as a protected civil rights group. But hundreds of pastors – whose churches include tens of thousands of evangelical Christians – are horrified by what they see advancing virtually without opposition. "Senate Bill 2, in the Oregon House of Representatives, if passed, will limit your free speech rights and rights of conscience; require public schools to teach that homosexual/lesbian/bisexual behavior is 'okay' and 'moral'; impact your rights as a business owner; and put judges in authority on certain church matters," according to David Crowe, of the Christian ministry called Restore America. "This bill is arrogantly, defiantly and deceptively crafted to accomplish a lot more than what it is saying," he told WND. "It definitely adds sexual orientation to the list of protected civil rights groups. "But there is verbiage in the bill and the verbiage has to do with the primary purpose of a church. They're seeking really to gain a foothold for homosexuals into the Christian church with the court's approval," he said. "It's more than the nose of the camel, they want the whole camel in the tent to ruminate around however they would like," he said. "The word we've gotten from attorneys is that of all the bills around the country this is the worst," Crowe said. "The bottom line this is a total effort by the left to subvert our morality, our Judeo-Christian morality and impose on us a morality they consider superior. What it is really is challenging everything we as Christians stand for." The bill would affect churches even though it has a so-called church exemption, he said, because it would require every church operation that isn't directly in support of its primary mission goal to be subject to mandatory homosexual hiring requirements and other restrictions. And it would leave the determination of what is in support of a church's primary mission to be determined by a secular judge. It is possible, for example, that a lesbian could sue a church if not hired to be a pastor's secretary. For Christian business owners, it would require them to hire and promote homosexuals irrespective of the religious beliefs the owner might hold -- or whether the employee agrees with the products, in a Christian bookstore for example. For parents, it means their children in public schools would be subject to the state-sponsored and state-required indoctrination that the homosexual lifestyle choice is moral – even if the parents hold religious beliefs that contradict that. "The law – and this is onerous – has a clause that talks about developing a program of education to change our attitudes," Crowe said. "To change our attitudes? Is it the government's business to change attitudes? But that's precisely what's in the bill." "They want to put into law [their] view of morality, and that's a small minority view of morality. They are seeking to impose that on the rest of us," he said. Nearly 500 Christian pastors from across the state recently gathered with representatives of the Legislature to express their opposition to the proposal, and afterwards issued a statement that the law, if approved, would be "the most sweeping and culturally devastating law in Oregon history, establishing pagan morality under the guise of a 'civil right,' and imposing it upon all Oregonians under the cover of 'law.'" Crowe noted that of the 14 states that have added "sexual orientation" to their protected classes, all except Senate Bill 2 provide clear protection for churches. "Not one includes wording that allows courts to determine the 'primary purpose' of a church, but SB 2 does," he noted. "The majority of our legislators have chosen to believe the lie that those who engage in homosexual activity cannot help themselves, and that they are being unjustly and wrongly discriminated against, when in fact, neither is true," Crowe said. The proposal "clearly opens the door to liberal judges to redefine and decide the 'primary purpose' of a church, and violates the rights of everyone," said Crowe, who recommends people sign a petition to encourage legislators to oppose the plan. The governor had appointed a commission to study the issue, but included only representatives of liberal or "gay" churches, leaving members of 2,500 Bible-believing and teaching churches unrepresented on the panel, he said. Individual leaders from Christian organizations already have begun contacting not only their lawmakers, but Gov. Ted Kulongoski too. A letter from Vernon M. Marks, superintendent of the Oregon Assemblies of God churches, told Kulongoski that the more than 30,000 members of those churches are urging the rejection of the plan. His letter told the governor the bills will: 1. Violate the very moral and ethical foundations of our culture. 2. Restrict the rights of our citizens to make moral distinctions and to speak freely. 3. Disregard fundamental biblical guidelines for the sanctity of traditional family. 4. Promote dysfunctional family structures that will rob the next generation. 5. Ignore the overwhelming vote of Oregonians to preserve traditional marriage. 6. Discriminate against parents raising mentally and physically challenged adult children. 7. Provide special rights for a few and ignore the civil rights of the majority of Oregonians. 8. Discriminate against parental moral values and convictions. 9. Promote behaviors that clearly violate common sense and social stability. 10. Will create a huge strain on Oregonians economically. 11. Will elevate the already taxed judicial system in dealing with lawsuits over these issues. 12. Infringe on the constitutional protection of the free exercise of religion. John Fortmeyer, publisher of the Christian News Northwest reported that the Legislature has given the appearance of allowing public input, but it doesn't appear to impact any decisions. Nick Graham of the Oregon Family Council told him a March hearing on the plan lasted seven hours and had 126 people register to oppose it. Sixty-five supported it. "We had fantastic testimony in opposition, such as from legal firms and executive pastors," Graham said. "But to no avail, that evening, the bill was passed out of committee and sent to the floor of the Senate ... We were given the appearance of public input, but ultimately it meant nothing." "Also, PRAY!" said a message from Marks to the church group's pastors. "This is possibly the most dangerous piece of legislation to come from Oregon's legislature." The Constitution Party said the plan is a "recipe for civil war." "Everyone should read this legislation. It clearly gives those who choose non-traditional sexual behavior preference over those with traditional moral values," said state Chairman Jack Brown. "This legislation will lock religious people inside their church buildings and let perversion occupy the rest of the landscape!" http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55084 FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of religious, environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Texas Senate prayer excludes Christians

Pro-Khomeini imam seeks protection from 'those who have lost the way' A Horde of Judgment Habakkuk 1:2-3 How long, O LORD, will I call for help, and You will not hear? I cry out to You, "violence! "Yet You do not save. Why do You make me see iniquity, and cause me to look on wickedness? Yes, destruction and violence are before me; strife exists and contention arises. 2 John 1:7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist. 1 John 2:22 Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. WORLDNETDAILY – April 5, 2007 A controversial Texas imam who at one point participated in a "tribute to the great Islamic visionary" Ayatollah Khomeini, has offered a prayer to open the state Senate that excluded both Christians and Jews. "Oh, Allah, guide us to the straight path, the path of those whom you have favored, not of those who have earned your wrath or of those who have lost the way," prayed Imam Yusuf Kavakci of the Dallas Central Mosque. Islam, of course, teaches that Jews and Christians both have earned the wrath of Allah by failing to follow Islam, and also have lost the way by following the teachings of the Torah for the Jews or the Bible for Christians. Kavakci concluded "with an Islamic chant that sounded eerily like it was coming over the loudspeakers in Tehran," according to a statement from the U.S. Pastor Council. "Ironically, it was a Jewish Republican, Sen. Florence Shapiro, (available by e-mail at Florence.Shapiro@senate.state.tx.us) who invited the imam to give the prayer that specifically excluded those of her faith as well as Christians." "Imagine if an evangelical Christian pastor prayed in Jesus name, ONLY FOR CHRISTIANS, before the government of Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, etc., during Ramadan," the statement said. The imam introduced what he was going to do: "We will pray by reading from first chapter, opening chapter, Al-Fãtehah, from holy Quran, followed by recitation, traditional way of recitation of text from holy Quran, with an addition." The he prayed: In the name of god, Allah, the beneficent, the merciful. All praise is for Allah, our lord, the lord of the worlds, the compassionate, the merciful, master of the day of judgments. Oh, god, Allah, you alone we worship, and you alone we call on for help. Oh, Allah, guide us to the straight path, the path of those whom you have favored, not of those who have earned your wrath or of those who have lost the way. Our lord, have mercy on us from yourself and guide us in our efforts, strivings, and works." Officials said a recording of the prayer was available at this link by clicking 'You can hear the opening ceremony, including the prayer, here.' "I do believe we should respond to this event to make sure that our governing officials and the citizens of the State of Texas understand the Christian position. Appreciation of diversity in people is not tantamount to acceptance of their gods," said Pastor Ross Cullins, a member of the executive committee for the Houston Area Pastor Council. "This state and nation were established and have been sustained on a foundation of Biblical principles and practices. The only reason to attack the foundation of any structure is to initiate the process which leads to ultimate destruction.” The Dallas-Forth Worth chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations promoted the occasion as a huge step forward. "Don't miss the next milestone event for the Texas Muslim community!' DFW-CAIR's announcement read. "On April 4, 2007, the first Muslim imam will open the Texas Senate with an Islamic prayer." Kavacki, who has served in Dallas area for nearly 20 years, has been seen as a moderate voice among U.S. Muslims, but he has not gone uncriticized for some of his activities. WND reported in 2005 on the nonpartisan Freedom House report documenting Saudi-sponsored hate literature, originating with the government and Saudi-financed sources that reflected "extremist Wahhabi ideology," being disseminated through mosques in the U.S. One of those mosques, according to a critical editorial in the Dallas Morning News, was Kavacki's: "Unfortunately, this kind of thing is not altogether alien to this mosque," it read. "Last spring, it hosted a youth quiz competition, sponsored by two national organizations closely tied to the worldwide Islamist movement. Kids were tested on the work of premier jihad ideologist Sayyid Qutb. "The mosque's imam, Dr. Yusuf Kavakci, has publicly praised two of the world's foremost radical Islamists, Yusuf Qaradawi and Hasan al-Turabi, as exemplary leaders. Dr. Kavakci also sits on the board of the Saudi-backed Islamic Society of North America, described in congressional testimony as a major conduit of Wahhabist teaching. Yet Dr. Kavakci tells The Dallas Morning News he rejects Wahhabist teaching. Something doesn't add up. "Sayyid Qutb is the author of 'Milestones,' the Mein Kampf of the global jihad movement – and it's highly disturbing to learn that Muslim children are being indoctrinated with this foul work of fascist xenophobia, in the United States." In 2004, Kavakci was a guest speaker at a seminar sponsored by Irving, Texas, Muslims paying "tribute to the great Islamic visionary," Ayatollah Khomeini, the leader of Iran's 1979 revolution. Kavakci and others shared the roster with Mohammed Asi, a radical Washington imam whom, according to The Washington Post, U.S. officials suspect of being an Iranian agent. Seminar organizer Imam Shamshad Haider told the Dallas Morning News Khomeini has been unjustly portrayed in the Western media. Earlier Haider had complained on television that Khomeini had been unfairly judged on only one aspect of his personality. Kavakci declined two invitations from the Morning News to explain why he would attended such a conference. WND reported in February that Democrat leaders attending their party's annual winter meeting had Husham Al-Husainy, imam of the Karbalaa Islamic Education Center, a shiite mosque in Dearborn, Mich., deliver the invocation. According Robert Spencer, director of Jihad Watch and author of "The Truth about Muhammad," the assembled Democrats were led in a prayer asking Allah to convert party members to Islam. http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55049 FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of religious, environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

'I'm allergic to modern living'

Techno-Pestilence We live in an electro-magnetic world that has grown increasingly bombarded by every spectrum of radio wave frequency in the last one hundred years. Very little is known as to what effect this has on the delicate balance God built into our world and very little attention has been payed to the fact that the increase in global weather extremes and disease has coincided with this increase in elctro-magnetic background "noise". Well at least in the mainstream that is. The US Military for instance is very aware of the problem and take great measures to protect themselves. This artilce highlights one persons problem that is spreading to many others, some who have no idea what is transpiring. For further info see some the articles from the Lay Institute. BE/\LERT! 'I'm allergic to modern living' THE DAILY MAIL [LONDON] - By Liz Hull - March 22, 2007 For most people talking on a mobile phone, cooking dinner in the microwave or driving in a car is simply part of modern living in 21st century Britain. But completing any such tasks is impossible for Debbie Bird - because she is allergic to modern technology. The 39-year-old is so sensitive to the electromagnetic field (emf) or 'smog' created by computers, mobile phones, microwave ovens and even some cars, that she develops a painful skin rash and her eyelids swell to three times their size if she goes near them. As a consequence, Mrs Bird, a health spa manager, has transformed her home into an EMF-free zone to try and stay healthy. The walls are all covered in special carbon paint, the windows have a protective film on them and she and her husband, Tony, 45, even sleep under a silver-plated mosquito net to deflect the radiowaves. 'I can no longer do things that I used to take for granted,' Mrs Bird said last night. 'My day-to-day life has been seriously affected by EMF. 'I don't own a microwave. I don't use mobile phones at all. I can't even use a cordless phone. We have a plasma screen TV because the old style one gave out gamma rays, which brought on my reaction. 'I can't even get in my friend's BMW. If I do I immediately start getting a headache and my head starts tingling. 'Even shopping is a problem. I can't go in places like Starbucks where there is Wi-Fi broadband and always have to be aware of my environment.' Mrs Bird first realised that she was electro-sensitive when she moved with her husband, a writer and environmental consultant, and their eight-year-old daughter, Antonia, to a new apartment in Bowden, near Altrincham, Greater Manchester. Unbeknown to her, however, her neighbours were all using wireless internet connections and had cordless phones. 'At first I couldn't sleep,' Mrs Bird added. 'Then I started developing a skin reaction. I had a burning sensation down my face, on my forehead and elbows. I looked like I had been severely burnt on my forehead. 'I felt very tired all the time and my eye-lids would swell up to three times their size.' Mrs Bird was referred to a skin specialist, but the problem was so severe the couple decided they had no option but to move to a new home, in nearby Hale, Greater Manchester. They took electromagnetic readings of the property and set about making it safe. The house was completely re-wired, had clear protective film put on the windows and every wall was painted with black carbon paint, which cost £250 per tin, to deflect the harmful rays. All the couple's bedroom curtains are also silver-plated and they sleep under a silver-plated mosquito net, which also protects against radiation. Although the renovation was not cheap, Mrs Bird said it was worth it. Her skin rashes have gone and she no longer has trouble sleeping. Officially in the UK, electro-sensitivity (ES) does not exist as a medical condition. Doctors say there is little scientific evidence to back up a link between EMF and poor health. They claim the symptoms, often attributed to flu or viruses, are psychosomatic. But campaigners disagree. They reckon around 500 people are already being treated for ES and as many as five per cent of the population could be affected. Rod Read, director of Electro-Sensitivity UK, said: 'I have seen hundreds of people who exhibit symptoms they directly attribute to the electrical items around them. 'But it is a politically incorrect illness, the Government or electronic companies don't want people thinking their mobile phones or microwaves are dangerous. 'In the past doctors have dismissed symptoms as something like flu, but the pathology is now established. It has a huge detrimental physical effect and stops people living normal lives.' For more information or free advice contact info.eco.emf@btinternet.com http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=443717&in_page_id=1770 FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of religious, environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Apollyon: UFO Deception Grows

As in the days of Noah Revelation 9:11 They have as king over them, the angel of the abyss; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek he has the name Apollyon France opens secret UFO files covering 50 years AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE - March 22, 2007 France became the first country to open its files on UFOs Thursday when the national space agency unveiled a website documenting more than 1,600 sightings spanning five decades. The online archives, which will be updated as new cases are reported, catalogues in minute detail cases ranging from the easily dismissed to a handful that continue to perplex even hard-nosed scientists. "It is a world first," said Jacques Patenet, the aeronautical engineer who heads the office for the study of "non-identified aerospatial phenomena." Known as OVNIs in French, UFOs have always generated intense interest along with countless conspiracy theories about secretive government cover-ups of findings deemed too sensitive or alarming for public consumption. "Cases such as the lady who reported seeing an object that looked like a flying roll of toilet paper" are clearly not worth investigating, said Patenet. But many others involving multiple sightings -- in at least one case involving thousands of people across France -- and evidence such as burn marks and radar trackings showing flight patterns or accelerations that defy the laws of physics are taken very seriously. A phalanx of beefy security guards formed a barrier in front of the space agency (CNES) headquarters where the announcement was made, "to screen out uninvited UFOlogists," an official explained. Of the 1,600 cases registered since 1954, nearly 25 percent are classified as "type D", meaning that "despite good or very good data and credible witnesses, we are confronted with something we can't explain," Patenet said. On January 8, 1981 outside the town of Trans-en-Provence in southern France, for example, a man working in a field reported hearing a strange whistling sound and seeing a saucer-like object about 2.5 meters (eight feet) in diameter land in his field about 50 meters (yards) away. A dull-zinc grey, the saucer took off, he told police, almost immediately, leaving burn marks. Investigators took photos, and then collected and analyzed samples, and to this day no satisfactory explanation has been made. The nearly 1,000 witness who said they saw flashing lights in the sky on November 5, 1990, by contrast, had simply seen a rocket fragment falling back into earth's atmosphere. Patenet's answer to questions about evidence of life beyond Earth was sure to inflame the suspicions of those convinced the government is holding back: "We do not have the least proof that extra-terrestrials are behind the unexplained phenomena." But then he added: "Nor do we have the least proof that they aren't." The CNES fields between 50 and 100 UFO reports ever year, usually written up by police. Of these, 10 percent are the object of on-site investigations, Patenet said. Other countries collect data more or less systematically about unidentified flying objects, notably in Britain and in the United States, where information can be requested on a case-by-case basis under the Freedom of Information Act. "But we decided to do it the other way around and made everything available to the public," Patenet said. The aim was to make it easier for scientists and other UFO buffs to access the data for research. The website itself -- which crashed host servers hours after it was unveiled due to heavy traffic -- is extremely well organized and complete, even including scanned copies of police reports. To visit the website: www.cnes-geipan.fr. Read Full Article http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=070322143210.oy201j5u&show_article=1 UFO science key to halting climate change: former Canadian defense minister AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE - February 28, 2007 OTTAWA - A former Canadian defense minister is demanding governments worldwide disclose and use secret alien technologies obtained in alleged UFO crashes to stem climate change, a local paper said Wednesday. "I would like to see what (alien) technology there might be that could eliminate the burning of fossil fuels within a generation ... that could be a way to save our planet," Paul Hellyer, 83, told the Ottawa Citizen. Alien spacecrafts would have traveled vast distances to reach Earth, and so must be equipped with advanced propulsion systems or used exceptional fuels, he told the newspaper. Such alien technologies could offer humanity alternatives to fossil fuels, he said, pointing to the enigmatic 1947 incident in Roswell, New Mexico -- which has become a shrine for UFO believers -- as an example of alien contact. "We need to persuade governments to come clean on what they know. Some of us suspect they know quite a lot, and it might be enough to save our planet if applied quickly enough," he said. Hellyer became defense minister in former prime minister Lester Pearson's cabinet in 1963, and oversaw the controversial integration and unification of Canada's army, air force and navy into the Canadian Forces. He shocked Canadians in September 2005 by announcing he once saw a UFO. Read Full Article http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070228/wl_canada_afp/canadaenvironmentkyoto_070228180440 New Mexico voters weigh building world's first spaceport AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE – March 26, 2007 New Mexico hopes to break ground soon on the world's first commercial spaceport, which state elders envision as a 21st-century departure point for thousands of paying space tourists. New Mexico's governor Bill Richardson worked with the southwest desert state's legislature to secure 33 million dollars for the final design of "Spaceport America," the worlds first commercial spaceport. - - - "There are a handful of spaceports that have been announced globally. We view these spaceports as confirmation that a new industry is emerging," officials said in a statement. A 115-million-dollar spaceport is planned near Singapores Changi International Airport in 2009, while developers in the United Arab Emirates are also building a 265 million dollar spaceport in Ras Al-Khaimah. In the United States, work on commercial spaceports is underway in California and Oklahoma, in addition to the New Mexico facility, which needs another 67 million dollars to get up and running and also would have to be licensed by the Federal Aviation Administration. The New Mexico Spaceport would be built on 18,000 acres of desert valley land rented from a handful of local ranchers for 25 years, with option to renew for successive 25-year terms. Homans said the state hopes to be able to keep to an "ambitious schedule" of getting off the ground by late 2009 or early 2010. Billionaire airline magnate Richard Branson's "Virgin Galactic" has signed on as the anchor tenant at Spaceport America. Late last year, the company selected New Mexico as its headquarters and already had invested 250 million dollars in the project. - - - - Read Full Article http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=070326185745.wbe0l851&show_article=1 All I can ask is why? For so long no one cared about the moon or a space program and now it's a race between all the technologically capable nations. I do believe that there is much more going on than we are being led to believe and it falls squarely into a realm most Christians are ill-prepared to deal with. BE/\LERT! Germany preparing for moon mission AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE - March 1, 2007 The German space agency is reportedly preparing for a mission to the moon. The head of the German Space Programme (DLR), Walter Doellinger, told the Financial Times Deutschland that it would be ready by 2013 to send an unmanned space shuttle to orbit the earth's only natural satellite. - - - Italy and Britain are also currently looking at sending unmanned shuttles around the moon. - - - - Read Full Article http://www.breitbart.com/news/2007/03/01/070301191848.0ikzd4dp.html China confirms Moon probe in 2007 BBC NEWS – March 6, 2007 China will launch its first lunar probe this year, and expects to be able to land a man on the Moon within 15 years, a senior space official has confirmed. The Chang'e-1 lunar probe will be launched later this year aboard a Long March 3A rocket. The probe will provide 3D images of the Moon, survey the lunar landscape, study lunar microwaves and estimate the thickness of the Moon's soil. China became the third nation to place a human in space in October 2003. - - - - Read Full Article http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6423323.stm FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of religious, environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.