ETERNAL FLAME NEWS: Apr 7, 2011

Thursday, April 7, 2011

EFN EXCLUSIVE! Alan Davis of Stop The Madness blog-2012 Budget Debate

It’s sad to see the budget debate go on as it has, not because the debate is bad, but because it should have been over some time ago. The real debate is over whom the American Public should trust. That was easily addressed shortly after the White House OMB released the 2012 budget. There were three keys:

- Social Security

- Budget Assumptions

- Budget Performance

If the media had properly addressed those three items the debate would have been over a long time ago.

Social Security: The beginning of the year the Progressives put together an aggressive campaign to “Save Social Security”. The first I knew about it was Feb. 20th when I watched Sen. Durbin on Meet the Press claim that Social Security wasn’t part of the budget, didn’t add a penny to the deficit and was sound for decades. I’ve seen others repeat it. Sen. Reid and others held a Save Social Security rally on Monday, March 28th.

I had already downloaded the Summary tables from the WH OMB website so I knew it wasn’t true. You can find Social Security in the WH OMB budget on page 176 Table S-4 and they project it will add $1 trillion to the deficit over the next 10 years.

Budget Assumptions: Any budget’s projections are dependent on the assumptions they are based on. That’s why I used to get my Board’s approval of assumptions the month before I presented the overall budget for approval. That’s why I go to the assumptions first, before looking at the projections. They appear on page 202 Table S-13. This year I immediately saw a problem. I saw the WH OMB using some pretty amazing assumptions for inflation (Consumer Price Index, percent change, year to year). They projected a drop in inflation this year (from 1.6% to 1.3%) despite showing us in a recovery? They showed an average inflation of 2.0% and a maximum inflation of 2.1% for the next 10 years. Those numbers can’t be supported by historical trending which shows inflation typically falling into a range of 3.5% to 4.0%. And we should exceed all their projections THIS YEAR!

Why would they understate inflation? Compounding and interest rates! Lower inflation rates compound to much lower inflation factors for the last five years of the budget understating the size of deficits. And lower inflation rate assumptions means lower interest rate assumptions can be used. A 1% understatement of interest rates means a $200 billion understatement of Net Interest Expense projection for a single year with average debt of $20 trillion. The budget projections include several years with higher debt than that.

Budget Performance: Having studied the history of the US Budget (surpluses and deficits) by party in control of Congress, I know that the last budget passed by Democrats to finish with a surplus was the 1969 budget. They are 0 for 29 since then. And their voting record on things like Balanced Budget Amendments, etc. is dismal.

So we’re left with a case of Democrats:

- Lying (about Social Security impact on the budget)

- Playing games (with the assumptions to make the budget look better)

- Voting against fiscal discipline

That’s how easy it is to prove to the American People that Democrats can’t be trusted on the budget. Why the media hasn’t already pointed this out is beyond me. But now maybe they will!

Alan R. Davis
Private Citizen
Stop The Madness

"The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave."

Patrick Henry

Glenn Beck Stepping Down From Fox News TV Spot

FOX News and Glenn Beck announced Wednesday that they will team to produce a slate of projects for FOX News Channel and FOX News' digital properties.

Beck will "transition off of his daily program, the third highest rated in all of cable news, later this year" to pursue the new opportunities, FOX News said in a press release announcing the agreement.

“Glenn Beck is a powerful communicator, a creative entrepreneur and a true success by anybody’s standards. I look forward to continuing to work with him," Roger Ailes, Chairman and CEO of FOX News, said in the release.

Joel Cheatwood, SVP/Development at FOX News, will be joining Beck's production company, Mercury Radio Arts.

“I truly believe that America owes a lot to Roger Ailes and FOX News," Beck said in the release. "I cannot repay Roger for the lessons I’ve learned and will continue to learn from him and I look forward to starting this new phase of our partnership."

"Glenn Beck" began airing on FOX News in 2009 and has been one of the top rated programs on cable, averaging over 2.2 million total viewers during its run.

About Mercury Radio Arts

Mercury Radio Arts is Glenn Beck’s fully integrated multi-media production company. Mercury produces or co-produces all Glenn Beck related properties including The Glenn Beck Program, America’s third highest-rated radio show, Beck’s New York Times bestselling books, his live stage-show business, destination website GlennBeck.com, and news and information service TheBlaze.com. Founded in 2002, Mercury has a full time staff of 50 employees and is based in New York, NY.

End Times Prophecy! Miracle Planet Shows What an Asteroid Impact Looks Like via Simulation

Brazil: Gunman Kills 11 and self At Rio De Janeiro School

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - A Brazilian gunman fatally shot 11 children at a Rio de Janeiro school before killing himself, police said on Thursday, shocking the South American nation that has never seen such an incident before.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff wept when commenting on the incident during a speech to business leaders and requested a moment of silence for the victims.

"This type of crime is not characteristic of (our) country and therefore we are all ... united in repudiating this act of violence," Rousseff said.

The attack by the 24-year-old Welington de Oliveira is Brazil's first serial shooting at a school in Brazil, which has never had an attack similar to incidents in the United States, including the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre and the 1999 Columbine high school shooting in Colorado.

"We have to show solidarity and support for the families of the children (killed by) that psychopath, that animal," said Rio de Janeiro Governor Sergio Cabral in a press conference at the school in the Rio neighborhood of Realengo.

Oliveira was a former student at the school but his motive was not clear. Police said he did not have a criminal record.

Rio de Janeiro military police said Oliveira entered the school carrying two guns and a suicide note. He told officials he was there to deliver a speech and then opened fire on students. Eighteen people were wounded, several of them seriously.

Several of the 13 wounded children fleeing to the street called a police patrol, which rushed to the school and exchanged gunfire before Oliveira killed himself.

Read More From WGN TV

Postcard Arrives At Fairfield Ohio Address 49 Years Late

FAIRFIELD, Ohio -- Fairfield residents said Wednesday they are curious as to how a postcard from Little Rock, Ark., ended up in a pizzeria almost 50 years after it was sent.Debbie Fink, the one who found the mysterious postcard stuck in between mailers at the Donato's Pizzeria on 770 Nilles Road in Fairfield, said the postcard came from "Donald" without a last name."He (Donald) said, 'Arrived this morning, everything going fine,'" Fink said.The post card was dated 1962, with a 3-cent stamp and no zip code, Fink said."The mailman didn't say anything, didn't question it and just put it in the mailbox behind Donato's," Fink said.Jim Fink, Donato's general manager, said the address where the post card was sent has been a pizzeria since the late 1980s."I believe that a franchisee named Dave Olson built the (pizzeria)," Jim Fink said.Debbie Fink said she found out a Mr. and Mrs. Walter Foto lived at the site of the pizzeria in 1962."I would love to know the history and find out what went on. I'd love to find them (the Fotos) and give them their postcard," Debbie Fink said.For now, the Finks said the postcard remains the talk of the pizzeria's patrons.

Read More From WLWT

Afghanistan Protests Rage On Over Florida Burning Of Qu'ran

John Piper Compares Florida Qu'ran BurningTo Crucifying Jesus

By Michelle A. Vu|Christian Post Reporter
Highly respected evangelical pastor John Piper made a startling yet insightful comment Tuesday when he compared the burning of the Islamic holy book to crucifying Christ.

His comment comes amid reports that at least 24 people have died, including seven United Nations employees, in Afghanistan since Friday over the burning of the Quran by a fringe Florida pastor in March.

To help explain Muslims’ violent rage over the Quran burning, Piper cited the writing of U.K. scholar Andrew Walls, founder of the Center for the Study of Christianity in the Non-Western World, in his book The Cross-Cultural Process in Christian History.

In the book, Walls highlighted that a difference between Islam and Christianity is that one is readily translatable while the other resists translation.

“Islamic absolutes are fixed in a particular language, and in the conditions of a particular period of human history. The divine Word is the Quran, fixed in heaven forever in Arabic, the language of original revelation,” wrote Walls. “For Christians, however, the divine Word is translatable, infinitely translatable.”

“Much misunderstanding between Christians and Muslims has arisen from the assumption that the Quran is for Muslims what the Bible is for Christians,” wrote Walls, who was one of the first scholars to study the global church shift away from the West. “It would be truer to say that the Quran is for Muslims what Christ is for Christians.”

Piper caught this last line and concluded that the parallel between Christianity and Islam is not of Christ to Muslim prophet Muhammad and the Quran to the Bible. Rather, the Quran parallels Christ.

“The giving of the Quran is in Islam what the incarnation of Christ is to Christianity,” asserted Piper in a blog posting on the Desiring God website. “If this is so, then Quran-burning is parallel to Christ-crucifying.”

Afghanistan's current Quran-related violence was sparked when Florida pastor Terry Jones and preacher Wayne Sapp put the Islamic holy book on a mock trial on March 20 and found it “guilty of causing murder, rape and terrorism.” As punishment, the Quran was burned.

Changes To Virgina Adoption Policies Could Force Christian Organizations To Place Children With Homosexual Families

Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow - 4/7/2011 3:50:00 AM
A question has been raised about whether Christian adoption organizations in Virginia will be required to place children with homosexuals.

The possible change recently arose when Virginia Delegate Bob Marshall sent a letter to Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli concerning the policies.

"There are some regulations that are left over from our previous governor that have been proposed [and] have a very difficult and onerous non-discrimination policy, particularly for private adoption agencies," explains Victoria Cobb, head of The Family Foundation of Virginia. "This policy includes things like they can't discriminate on religious grounds or sexual orientation."

She adds that the policy is one that no pro-family organization could support.

"We found out about it, contacted the administration [and] feel comfortable that this administration is not going to support those regulations," The Family Foundation president reports. "So there's been a lot of public comment, and we expect that those regulations will, in fact, be changed."

The process could take up to two years, but Delegate Marshall has already questioned whether the Virginia Department of Social Services has the authority to implement the proposal in a state that has repeatedly refused to add sexual orientation to its anti-discrimination law.

Missionaries Create Alphabet Bible For West African Language

April 5, 2011 12:05 AM
By LAURA BOWDEN YANG, CORRESPONDENT

After 15 years living among the Buem people in Ghana, in 1996 Andy Ring's work was finally complete.

With help from villagers, his wife, Kate, and a team in the U.S., the Daytona Beach native successfully created an alphabet for the Lelemi language and translated the Bible's New Testament into Lelemi -- the first book ever written in that West African language. All that was left was a celebration for the book's dedication.

"The first person to meet me outside the doors as they ushered us out the back, singing and dancing in celebration, was a man from over the mountain. ... He said, 'The chief of (my) people has asked me to come and ask you, what about our language?' " Ring recalled.

"In fact, there were three men there, all from different languages, who had been sent by their communities to say, 'What about writing our language?' "

So the Rings stayed in Africa for 15 more years.

Back in America now, the Rings are still involved in Bible translations through Wycliffe Bible Translators. On March 31, Andy Ring was a guest speaker during a Wycliffe banquet at Sunset Harbor Yacht Club in Daytona Beach.

Every year, Wycliffe offers free banquets throughout the country where translators share their experiences, according to Don Skekel, who serves with Wycliffe Associates. He called Andy Ring "one of the top half a dozen speakers that we use" because of his communication skills and field experience.

"He has translated one New Testament, he and Kate, and has since trained four other language groups to do their own translation work. And that is completed, and now he is working with a group of about 10 or 12 languages in Nigeria to do the same," Skekel said.

Japan: Tsunami Warning Cancelled After 7.0 Earthquake Hits Offshore Thursday

TOKYO – Japan's meteorological agency says it has lifted a tsunami warning for the northeastern coast 90 minutes after a 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck offshore.

The quake hit about 11:30 p.m. Thursday Japan time. It has rattled nerves nearly a month after the devastating earthquake and tsunami that flattened the northeastern coast.

Announcers on Japan's public broadcaster NHK had told residents in the northeast to move to higher ground away from the shore.

The warning was for the same area devastated by last month's tsunami, which is believed to have killed some 25,000 people and has sparked an ongoing crisis at a nuclear power plant.

Officials at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant say there was no immediate sign the aftershock caused new problems.

ACLU Wants American Women To Incorporate Their Uteruses To Fight Against Anti-Abortion Laws

Caroline May - The Daily Caller – Wed Apr 6, 2:34 pm ET

So much for encouraging female entrepreneurship, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Florida is trying to get women to incorporate their uteri … or is it uteruses?

The Florida ACLU is hoping its push will get women to take control of their reproductive health and keep politicians from taking their abortion rights.

“Businesses get special treatment these days,” the group said. “If lawmakers and other politicians see your uterus and your body as a business, maybe they’ll work to get government out of the uterus regulation business as they do for every other company.”

Abortion advocates say that social conservatives in Florida are attempting to usurp women’s reproductive rights and that applying business terms to body parts will somehow help stop Republicans’ pro-life effort.

“The point is that Republicans are always talking about deregulation and big government” said ACLU ally Democratic state Rep. Scott Randolph in a floor debate in the Florida House of Representatives. “But I say their philosophy is small government for the big guy and big government for the little guy. And so, if my wife’s uterus was incorporated or my friend’s bedroom was incorporated, maybe the Republicans would be talking about deregulating.”

Taking the analogy and running, the executive director of the ACLU of Florida Howard Simon echoed Randolph.

“The Florida Legislature — and extreme social conservatives across the country — are taking rules and regulation off of businesses and adding them to uteruses,” he said.

The ACLU has even launched a website that allows women to sign up, incorporate their uterus and get updates on the abortion battles underway in the state capitol.

5 Year Old Who Cried Cause He Couldn't Be Govenor Of New Jersey Gets Wish For A Day

Wed Apr 6, 11:55 am ET
The 5-year-old boy who became an instant celebrity after a YouTube video surfaced of him crying because he was "too small" to be governor of New Jersey is about to get his wish.

Per the Associated Press, Gov. Chris Christie will sign a proclamation Wednesday naming Jesse Koczon the state's honorary governor for the day.

The video, which was shot in November 2009, shows Koczon weeping after his parents took him and his twin brother, Brandon, with them as they voted in New Jersey's gubernatorial election.

When Koczon's mother, Dawn, asks her son why he's so upset, Koczon, who was 4 at the time, grows visibly verklempt. "Cause I want to be governor, and I can't!" he weeps. Asked why, Koczon answers, "Because I'm too small!"