Monday, April 30, 2012
Canada's Digital Currency Revealed In New Commercial
Royal Canadian Mint has announced a contest to design an app about the EVOLUTION OF CURRENCY http://mintchipchallenge.com/
Church Burglaries On The Rise In The U.S
Fox News--There's no honor among thieves -- even when it comes to stealing from churches.
A growing tide of burglaries at houses of worship are signs of both a reeling economy and the end of a social taboo that once protected the money collected to help the poor and the valuables displayed to honor a higher power. In the latest example, police in Longmont, Colo., have formed a task force to investigate 10 break-ins and attempted burglaries at six churches in less than two weeks. And all around the nation, the faithful are finding criminals unfazed by the prospect of burglarizing a sanctuary.
“From a historical standpoint, the sacredness of the church has changed, so to speak, in our society,”
Jeffrey Hawkins, a security consultant who works with churches. told FoxNews.com.
Hawkins, founder and executive director of the now-defunct Christian Security Network, said churches are also more of a potentially lucrative target nowadays. The majority of churches today feature expensive multimedia components like digital soundboards, flat-screen televisions, projectors, computers and more, he said.
And they're easy pickings.
“Churches are soft targets,” said Hawkins, whose organization ceased operations amid funding problems. “If you’re a burglar, and you’re after a flat-screen television or things like that, are you going to break into an office with alarms and locks, or are you going to go down to the church with absolutely zero security? It’s an easy decision.”
String of Marshall Cnty. Church Robberies: MyFoxMEMPHIS.com
The trend of breaking into churches comes as overall crime is actually decreasing.
There were 1,237 incidents of burglaries and thefts of churches in 2009, compared to 1,783 in 2010, an increase of nearly 50 percent, according to statistics compiled by Hawkins’ former organization. The total cost to churches as a result of theft, burglary, robbery, vandalism and arson in 2009 exceeded $6.3 million, Hawkins said.
A growing tide of burglaries at houses of worship are signs of both a reeling economy and the end of a social taboo that once protected the money collected to help the poor and the valuables displayed to honor a higher power. In the latest example, police in Longmont, Colo., have formed a task force to investigate 10 break-ins and attempted burglaries at six churches in less than two weeks. And all around the nation, the faithful are finding criminals unfazed by the prospect of burglarizing a sanctuary.
“From a historical standpoint, the sacredness of the church has changed, so to speak, in our society,”
Jeffrey Hawkins, a security consultant who works with churches. told FoxNews.com.
Hawkins, founder and executive director of the now-defunct Christian Security Network, said churches are also more of a potentially lucrative target nowadays. The majority of churches today feature expensive multimedia components like digital soundboards, flat-screen televisions, projectors, computers and more, he said.
And they're easy pickings.
“Churches are soft targets,” said Hawkins, whose organization ceased operations amid funding problems. “If you’re a burglar, and you’re after a flat-screen television or things like that, are you going to break into an office with alarms and locks, or are you going to go down to the church with absolutely zero security? It’s an easy decision.”
String of Marshall Cnty. Church Robberies: MyFoxMEMPHIS.com
The trend of breaking into churches comes as overall crime is actually decreasing.
There were 1,237 incidents of burglaries and thefts of churches in 2009, compared to 1,783 in 2010, an increase of nearly 50 percent, according to statistics compiled by Hawkins’ former organization. The total cost to churches as a result of theft, burglary, robbery, vandalism and arson in 2009 exceeded $6.3 million, Hawkins said.
Number Of Babies In U.S Born With Drug Withdrawl Triples
CHICAGO – Less than a month old,
Savannah Dannelley scrunches her tiny face into a scowl as a nurse
gently squirts a dose of methadone into her mouth.
The infant is going through drug withdrawal and is being treated with the same narcotic prescribed for her mother to fight addiction to powerful prescription painkillers.
Disturbing new research says the number of U.S. babies born with signs of opiate drug withdrawal has tripled in a decade because of a surge in pregnant women's use of legal and illegal narcotics, including Vicodin, OxyContin and heroin, researchers say. It is the first national study of the problem.
The number of newborns with withdrawal symptoms increased from a little more than 1 per 1,000 babies sent home from the hospital in 2000 to more than 3 per 1,000 in 2009, the study found. More than 13,000 U.S. infants were affected in 2009, the researchers estimated.
The newborns include babies like Savannah, whose mother stopped abusing painkillers and switched to prescription methadone early in pregnancy, and those whose mothers are still abusing legal or illegal drugs.
Weaning infants from these drugs can take weeks or months and often requires a lengthy stay in intensive care units. Hospital charges for treating these newborns soared from $190 million to $720 million between 2000 and 2009, the study found.
The study was released online Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Savannah is hooked up to heart and oxygen monitors in an Oak Lawn, Ill., newborn intensive care unit. In a pink crib, she sleeps fitfully, sometimes cries all night, and has had diarrhea and trouble feeding — typical signs of withdrawal. Some affected babies also have breathing problems, low birth weights and seizures.
It nearly breaks her young mother's heart.
"It's really hard, every day, emotionally and physically," said Aileen Dannelley, 25. "It's really hard when your daughter is born addicted."
Doctors say newborns aren't really addicted — which connotes drug-seeking behavior that babies aren't capable of — but their bodies are dependent on methadone or other opiates because of their mothers' use during pregnancy. Small methadone doses to wean them off these drugs is safer than cutting them off altogether, which can cause dangerous seizures and even death, said Dr. Mark
Brown, chief of pediatrics at Eastern Maine Medical Center.
Newborn drug withdrawal is rampant in Maine, Florida, West Virginia, parts of the Midwest and other sections of the country.
The infant is going through drug withdrawal and is being treated with the same narcotic prescribed for her mother to fight addiction to powerful prescription painkillers.
Disturbing new research says the number of U.S. babies born with signs of opiate drug withdrawal has tripled in a decade because of a surge in pregnant women's use of legal and illegal narcotics, including Vicodin, OxyContin and heroin, researchers say. It is the first national study of the problem.
The number of newborns with withdrawal symptoms increased from a little more than 1 per 1,000 babies sent home from the hospital in 2000 to more than 3 per 1,000 in 2009, the study found. More than 13,000 U.S. infants were affected in 2009, the researchers estimated.
The newborns include babies like Savannah, whose mother stopped abusing painkillers and switched to prescription methadone early in pregnancy, and those whose mothers are still abusing legal or illegal drugs.
Weaning infants from these drugs can take weeks or months and often requires a lengthy stay in intensive care units. Hospital charges for treating these newborns soared from $190 million to $720 million between 2000 and 2009, the study found.
The study was released online Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Savannah is hooked up to heart and oxygen monitors in an Oak Lawn, Ill., newborn intensive care unit. In a pink crib, she sleeps fitfully, sometimes cries all night, and has had diarrhea and trouble feeding — typical signs of withdrawal. Some affected babies also have breathing problems, low birth weights and seizures.
It nearly breaks her young mother's heart.
"It's really hard, every day, emotionally and physically," said Aileen Dannelley, 25. "It's really hard when your daughter is born addicted."
Doctors say newborns aren't really addicted — which connotes drug-seeking behavior that babies aren't capable of — but their bodies are dependent on methadone or other opiates because of their mothers' use during pregnancy. Small methadone doses to wean them off these drugs is safer than cutting them off altogether, which can cause dangerous seizures and even death, said Dr. Mark
Brown, chief of pediatrics at Eastern Maine Medical Center.
Newborn drug withdrawal is rampant in Maine, Florida, West Virginia, parts of the Midwest and other sections of the country.
Air Force No Longer Requiring Bibles On Bases
The U.S. Air Force will no longer require that Bibles be put on its checklist of items in lodging facilities on its bases.
The move comes in response to a complaint from the
Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers that the presence of
the Bibles was "special privilege for Christianity."
The books are placed in Air Force rooms by Gideons at no cost to the government.
The MAAF said their goal is to fight "insensitive
practices that illegally promote religion over non-religion within the
military or unethically discriminate against minority religions or
differing beliefs."
The Blaze reports that after a legal
review, Air Force officials ruled there is no requirement to have Bibles
in the lodging checklist. They added that there were no plans yet to
remove the books from Air Force Inns.
"We continue to review the situation and weigh our
multiple First Amendment responsibilities and obligations," Air Force
Personnel Center spokesman Mike Dickerson said in an email.
Bible supporters say Air Force officials are bowing to political pressure to create a "religion-free" zone.
"They're removing (them) from the checklists, (the
result being that) whoever cleans the rooms is no longer required to
check whether the Bible is in place," Dr. Gordon Klingenschmitt, a
former Navy chaplain, told The Blaze.
"So if somebody steals one of those Bibles or if
they're confiscated by atheist complainers or put in the trash, then
sadly Christian people will not have access to read the Bible at night,"
he said.
At Least 21 Dead In Attacks On Christian Churches In Nigeria
At least 21 people are dead after attacks on
churches in northern Nigeria. No group has claimed responsibility so far
but there's signs the radical Islamic sect Boko Haram may be at work.
These latest attacks appear to be part of a violent
campaign that the sect has waged for several years in the northern part
of the country targeting the government and Nigerian Christians.
Controversial U.S Pastor Burns Q'uran.....Again
Controversial US pastor Terry Jones has burned more copies of the Koran and a depiction of the prophet Mohammed to protest the imprisonment in Iran of a Christian clergyman, The Gainesville Sun reported.
The newspaper said Jones and another pastor, who carried out their protest in front of their church in Gainesville, Florida on Saturday, demanded the release of Christian pastor Youcef Nadarkhani from an Iranian prison.
Jones said Nadarkhani faces execution.
According to the report, the Pentagon urged Jones to reconsider, expressing concern that American soldiers in Afghanistan and elsewhere could be put at greater risk because of the act.
In March 2011, Jones' assistant, pastor Wayne Sapp, burned a copy of the Koran and broadcast the ceremony on the Internet.
The images incited violence in northern Afghanistan, in which at least 12 people were killed.
Later, a man wearing an Afghan border police uniform shot dead two US military personnel.
About 20 people attended Saturday's burning, the paper said. Several Gainesville police officers were stationed across the street from the church.
Moments after the ceremony, the Gainesville fire department issued the church a citation for violating the city's fire ordinances, the paper noted.
Read More From Yahoo News
Secret Service Memo Sent Out To The Red Cross For Evacuation of Chicago During NATO Summit Has Many Worried
CHICAGO (CBS) — As concerns about security grow in the run-up to the NATO summit, it’s becoming difficult to separate myth from reality.
Are there plans in place for a mass evacuation of downtown in the event of riots on May 20-21? A Red Cross memo out of Milwaukee indicates that there is.
Officials there have been asked to make plans to assist residents in the event of a mass exodus.
Chicago officials say the plan didn’t come from them. The U.S. Secret Service isn’t talking.
There also are reports that a heavily armed security team will start making a very public appearance around federal buildings in the Loop this week. Officials with the Chicago NATO host committee were completely in the dark. They had no reports of any such plans.
A source told CBS 2 that security forces in full battle gear would not be seen this week.
As for the Red Cross plan, CBS 2 News has obtained a copy of an e-mail sent to volunteers in the Milwaukee area.
It said the NATO summit “may create unrest or another national security incident. The American Red Cross in southeastern Wisconsin has been asked to place a number of shelters on standby in the event of evacuation of Chicago.”
According to a chapter spokesperson, the evacuation plan is not theirs alone.
“Our direction has come from the City of Chicago and the Secret Service,” she said.
Officials at Chicago’s Office of Emergency Management and Communication said the directive did not come from them.
The U.S. Secret Service did not return calls for comment.
Some downtown residents told CBS 2’s Mike Parker that the news has them on edge.
Brad Klein said it is “very unnerving. I feel a little bit unsafe, just a bit more than a little bit. It doesn’t make me feel like I want to be in the city during the NATO conference.”
An executive with the Service Employees International Union, who trains members in preparation for the summit, thinks such a plan might be “over the top.”
SEIU Local 1 training director Tom Dobry said, “This could be a lot like Y2K – a lot of hype and buildup. People will say, ‘that was it?’ Not a big deal.”
Chicago residents certainly hope that to be true. But one cannot blame them for wondering exactly what’s going on.
One example happened last week, when protest groups revealed the plans for a security zone around the summit meeting site: McCormick Place.
One major expressway (I-55), Lake Shore Drive, and a large chunk of the lakefront will be closed. The security zone will extend several blocks to the west, south and north of McCormick place. That zone will be completely shut down, they say.
Those protesters came directly from a meeting with the Secret Service when those details were released. However, there was not a single confirmation from the feds.
One thing they have confirmed: Commuter trains will run under McCormick Place during the summit, but the Secret Service said in a statement to “expect delays.”
How bad will those delays get? They aren’t saying.
However, the South Shore will be asking riders to take a survey to determine how many people will even bother coming into the city.
Read More From CBS Local
Are there plans in place for a mass evacuation of downtown in the event of riots on May 20-21? A Red Cross memo out of Milwaukee indicates that there is.
Officials there have been asked to make plans to assist residents in the event of a mass exodus.
Chicago officials say the plan didn’t come from them. The U.S. Secret Service isn’t talking.
There also are reports that a heavily armed security team will start making a very public appearance around federal buildings in the Loop this week. Officials with the Chicago NATO host committee were completely in the dark. They had no reports of any such plans.
A source told CBS 2 that security forces in full battle gear would not be seen this week.
As for the Red Cross plan, CBS 2 News has obtained a copy of an e-mail sent to volunteers in the Milwaukee area.
It said the NATO summit “may create unrest or another national security incident. The American Red Cross in southeastern Wisconsin has been asked to place a number of shelters on standby in the event of evacuation of Chicago.”
According to a chapter spokesperson, the evacuation plan is not theirs alone.
“Our direction has come from the City of Chicago and the Secret Service,” she said.
Officials at Chicago’s Office of Emergency Management and Communication said the directive did not come from them.
The U.S. Secret Service did not return calls for comment.
Some downtown residents told CBS 2’s Mike Parker that the news has them on edge.
Brad Klein said it is “very unnerving. I feel a little bit unsafe, just a bit more than a little bit. It doesn’t make me feel like I want to be in the city during the NATO conference.”
An executive with the Service Employees International Union, who trains members in preparation for the summit, thinks such a plan might be “over the top.”
SEIU Local 1 training director Tom Dobry said, “This could be a lot like Y2K – a lot of hype and buildup. People will say, ‘that was it?’ Not a big deal.”
Chicago residents certainly hope that to be true. But one cannot blame them for wondering exactly what’s going on.
One example happened last week, when protest groups revealed the plans for a security zone around the summit meeting site: McCormick Place.
One major expressway (I-55), Lake Shore Drive, and a large chunk of the lakefront will be closed. The security zone will extend several blocks to the west, south and north of McCormick place. That zone will be completely shut down, they say.
Those protesters came directly from a meeting with the Secret Service when those details were released. However, there was not a single confirmation from the feds.
One thing they have confirmed: Commuter trains will run under McCormick Place during the summit, but the Secret Service said in a statement to “expect delays.”
How bad will those delays get? They aren’t saying.
However, the South Shore will be asking riders to take a survey to determine how many people will even bother coming into the city.
Read More From CBS Local
Legal War Promised If IRS Uses Power To Crack Down On Pastors Free Speech
While a group that opposes expressions of Christianity in public forums
wants the IRS to use its formidable power to crack down on what pastors
say, one legal foundation says, “Bring it on,” promising a “legal war”
if churches are attacked on such issues.
Americans United for the Separation of Church and State Executive Director Barry Lynn recently wrote a letter to the IRS demanding help in quashing the speech of a leader in the Roman Catholic Diocese in Peoria, Ill.
The April 19 letter calls a recent homily given by Bishop Daniel Jenky a violation of IRS regulations relating to the tax-exempt status of the church, because Jenky cited atrocities of past governments, specifically naming Hitler and Stalin, and then cited the failings of the Obama administration.
The homily was also reprinted in the Catholic Post, and urged Catholics to stand by their religious convictions, even outside the walls of the church.
“Hitler and Stalin, at their better moments, would just barely tolerate some churches remaining open, but would not tolerate any competition with the state in education, social services, and health care,” he said.
“In clear violation of our First Amendment rights, Barack Obama – with his radical, pro-abortion and extreme secularist agenda, now seems intent on following a similar path,” the homily says.
The homily included the plea, “Now things have come to such a pass in America that this is a battle that we could lose, but before the awesome judgment seat of Almighty God this is not a war where any believing Catholic may remain neutral.”
Jenky even included a dire prediction for the nation if Catholics don’t stand by their convictions.
“This fall, every practicing Catholic must vote, and must vote their Catholic consciences, or by the following fall our Catholic schools, our Catholic hospitals, our Catholic Newman centers, all of our public ministries – only excepting our church buildings – could easily be shut down.
“Because no Catholic institution, under any circumstance, can ever cooperate with the intrinsic evil of killing innocent human life in the womb,” he said.
He was opposing the Obamacare mandate that employers, including schools, hospitals and others, pay for abortions for employees.
American’s United tells the IRS that this homily puts the Catholic bishop afoul of the law, and demands that an investigation of the priest be undertaken.
In the letter to the IRS, AU says in part, “Bishop Jenky compared Obama to Hitler and Stalin and accused him of pursuing policies that will close Catholic institutions.
“Moments later he exhorted members of his flock not to vote for candidates who fail to uphold Catholic values.
“It is impossible to interpret this as anything but a command to vote against Obama,” Lynn said.
The Thomas More Society says that the law and the Bill of Rights is on the bishop’s side, and promises a “free and aggressive legal defense to any religious leaders targeted or victimized for the robust exercise of their free speech rights.”
“The Internal Revenue Service has no legal right to investigate, let alone threaten or penalize the Catholic Diocese of Peoria for illegal ‘electioneering’ after Bishop Daniel Jenky, C.S.C., referred to policies of Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin while delivering a robust, wholly legitimate critique of current federal efforts to quash and curtail religious liberties,” says Thomas Brejcha, president of the Thomas More Society.
“References to egregious, historical mistakes on the part of political leaders of the past in messages to congregations, even in an election year, are fully protected by the First Amendment, whether those messages are delivered from the pulpit or on soap boxes in the public square,” he continued.
“We think the law is very clear,” said Brejcha.
“Well-settled federal law does not prohibit churches and other tax-exempt non-profits from speaking out against government policies at odds with the common good or – as in this case – constitutionally obnoxious.”
“Where would the civil rights movement have been were it not for the courage of those of our religious leaders who spoke truth to power on behalf of the disenfranchised?” Brejcha added.
Read More From World Net Daily
Americans United for the Separation of Church and State Executive Director Barry Lynn recently wrote a letter to the IRS demanding help in quashing the speech of a leader in the Roman Catholic Diocese in Peoria, Ill.
The April 19 letter calls a recent homily given by Bishop Daniel Jenky a violation of IRS regulations relating to the tax-exempt status of the church, because Jenky cited atrocities of past governments, specifically naming Hitler and Stalin, and then cited the failings of the Obama administration.
The homily was also reprinted in the Catholic Post, and urged Catholics to stand by their religious convictions, even outside the walls of the church.
“Hitler and Stalin, at their better moments, would just barely tolerate some churches remaining open, but would not tolerate any competition with the state in education, social services, and health care,” he said.
“In clear violation of our First Amendment rights, Barack Obama – with his radical, pro-abortion and extreme secularist agenda, now seems intent on following a similar path,” the homily says.
The homily included the plea, “Now things have come to such a pass in America that this is a battle that we could lose, but before the awesome judgment seat of Almighty God this is not a war where any believing Catholic may remain neutral.”
Jenky even included a dire prediction for the nation if Catholics don’t stand by their convictions.
“This fall, every practicing Catholic must vote, and must vote their Catholic consciences, or by the following fall our Catholic schools, our Catholic hospitals, our Catholic Newman centers, all of our public ministries – only excepting our church buildings – could easily be shut down.
“Because no Catholic institution, under any circumstance, can ever cooperate with the intrinsic evil of killing innocent human life in the womb,” he said.
He was opposing the Obamacare mandate that employers, including schools, hospitals and others, pay for abortions for employees.
American’s United tells the IRS that this homily puts the Catholic bishop afoul of the law, and demands that an investigation of the priest be undertaken.
In the letter to the IRS, AU says in part, “Bishop Jenky compared Obama to Hitler and Stalin and accused him of pursuing policies that will close Catholic institutions.
“Moments later he exhorted members of his flock not to vote for candidates who fail to uphold Catholic values.
“It is impossible to interpret this as anything but a command to vote against Obama,” Lynn said.
The Thomas More Society says that the law and the Bill of Rights is on the bishop’s side, and promises a “free and aggressive legal defense to any religious leaders targeted or victimized for the robust exercise of their free speech rights.”
“The Internal Revenue Service has no legal right to investigate, let alone threaten or penalize the Catholic Diocese of Peoria for illegal ‘electioneering’ after Bishop Daniel Jenky, C.S.C., referred to policies of Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin while delivering a robust, wholly legitimate critique of current federal efforts to quash and curtail religious liberties,” says Thomas Brejcha, president of the Thomas More Society.
“References to egregious, historical mistakes on the part of political leaders of the past in messages to congregations, even in an election year, are fully protected by the First Amendment, whether those messages are delivered from the pulpit or on soap boxes in the public square,” he continued.
“We think the law is very clear,” said Brejcha.
“Well-settled federal law does not prohibit churches and other tax-exempt non-profits from speaking out against government policies at odds with the common good or – as in this case – constitutionally obnoxious.”
“Where would the civil rights movement have been were it not for the courage of those of our religious leaders who spoke truth to power on behalf of the disenfranchised?” Brejcha added.
Read More From World Net Daily
Prison Fellowship Founder Chuck Colson's Memorial Service Set For May 16th
Christian Post--Chuck Colson, the late Prison Fellowship founder, will be buried privately at Quantico National Cemetery in Virginia in the coming days, but the public is invited to attend a memorial service that will be held at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., on May 16.
The memorial service to mourn the loss and celebrate the life of Colson will be held at 10 a.m., according to the Colson Center for Christian Worldview, one of the two ministries the evangelical leader founded.Seating will be limited and reserved for those who respond to formal invitations, the Colson Center said. Others will be seated on a first-come, first-served basis. The event will also be streamed live at nationalcathedral.org.
The 80-year-old Southern Baptist, who served as an aide to former President Richard Nixon and was convicted for his role in the Watergate scandal in 1974, died April 21 after struggling with an intracerebral hemorrhage.
Colson became a committed Christian while the Watergate charges were still pending against him and after a friend gave him a copy of the C.S. Lewis book Mere Christianity. His conversion led him to plead guilty to obstruction of justice while a judge was considering dismissing the case against him. He served seven months of a one- to three-year prison sentence.
The Colson family has requested that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Charles Colson Legacy Fund to "further Chuck's work, bringing God's light into a dark world, making – as Chuck always says – 'the invisible Kingdom visible' to God's great glory."
Colson founded Prison Fellowship in 1976 and it now operates in 113 countries around the globe. Colson personally visited 600 prisons in the U.S. and 40 other countries over the last four decades of his life. The Colson Center, meanwhile, helps Christians to embrace and live out a Christian worldview.
Read More From Christian Post
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Eternal Flame News: World News Effecting Christians
Breaking News of The Day
Newt Gingrich Drops Out Of Presidential Election. Romney and Obama go head to head
Volcano To Possibly erupt in Mexico citizens on alert for evacuations
More investigations into Secret Service Prostitute Scandal
News Of The Week
EMERGENCY: Russian Stock Market Micex Closed Indefinitely & Entire Cabinet of The Netherlands Resigned Over Budget Issues
http://www.eternalflamenews.blogspot.com/2012/04/emergency-russian-stock-mark...
Why is North Korea threatening to conduct a nuclear test? (+video)
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2012/0425/Why-is-North-Korea-thre...
First Lady Hails Free-Contraception Mandate: 'We Made History'
http://cnsnews.com/news/article/first-lady-hails-free-contraception-mandate-w...
Joel Osteen: Mormon Romney Is Christian; Obama Is Too
http://www.christianpost.com/news/joel-osteen-mormon-romney-is-christian-obam...
UK Slides Back Into Recession in First Double Dip Since 1970s
http://www.cnbc.com/id/47169446
Discount coupon company promoting porn, says MIM Sending Subscribers On Trip To Porn Studio For Tours
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Business/Default.aspx?id=1584544
Outrage as Egypt plans 'farewell intercourse law' so husbands can have sex with DEAD wives up to six hours after their death
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2135434/Outrage-Egypt-plans-farewell-...
Friday, April 27, 2012
Pastor Wants Christians To Take Back The Rainbow And Restore It's Biblical Symbol
Christian Post--A Washington pastor fed up with the "hijacking" of the symbol of God's covenant of peace created after what the Bible calls the great flood, wants to rouse Christians from their apathetic slumber and "take back the rainbow" from those using the symbol to push against biblical standards, especially the institution of marriage.
In the Book of Genesis, God makes a promise with Noah to never again flood the earth. As a sign of that vow, God creates a rainbow, explaining in chapter nine, verse 13 (NIV): "I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth."The rainbow, God tells Noah, stands as a reminder of His "covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind" to never again bring a flood to destroy all life.
That symbol of God's promise has since been "liquidated of its meaning," according to Dr. Kenneth L. Hutcherson, Senior Pastor and Co-Founder of Antioch Bible Church in Redmond, Wash.
Hutcherson, in collaboration with Antioch's Bible school director Pastor James Hansen, says in an online commentary titled "Take Back the Rainbow," that Christians have surrendered entirely too much to the world, especially in regard to the issues of marriage and homosexuality. The fact that the rainbow, with its covenantal significance, has especially been co-opted by "the homosexual movement" is particularly troubling to Hutcherson.
"Rainbows used to mean something very different than they do today," the pastors write on Antioch's website. "It used to be understood as the sign God put in the sky to remind us that even when He's angry about sin, He'd never again destroy the earth with a global flood. But of course, that's not what most people associate a rainbow with today."
Read More from Christian Post
Dying Couple Reunited Through The Help Of Local News Station
LORAIN, Ohio — A dying man’s last wish is to be with his seriously ill wife, yet it appeared they might never see each other again. The couple’s son refused to accept that and contacted the FOX 8 Call For Action department.
Read More From Fox 8
first-century artifacts found within an ancient Jerusalem tomb are the earliest representations of Christianity ever found, researchers say.
Fox News--Long-unrecognized lettering confirms that first-century artifacts
found within an ancient Jerusalem tomb are the earliest representations
of Christianity ever found, researchers say.
Two Hebrew scholars who examined photographs showing the inside of the tomb agree that markings on an ossuary — a box made to hold human remains — are stylized letters that spell out the name of Jonah, the researchers said Thursday (April 19). Jonah was the Old Testament prophet whose story of being swallowed by a great fish was embraced by the early followers of Jesus.
The tomb, located 6.5 feet (2 meters) below an apartment building in the East Talpiot neighborhood of Jerusalem, was discovered in 1981 but resealed after Orthodox Jewish groups opposed its excavation.
Two decades later, the group got license to enter the tomb, which has been dated to before A.D. 70.
Researchers led by James Tabor of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte did not enter the tomb themselves but instead used a remote camera to explore it. Their analysis of the images was reported Feb. 28 in the journal The Bible and Interpretation.
The Hebrew scholars' translation of the stylized letters on the ossuary have yet to be published.
Troubled tomb
On one of the ossuaries was an inscription depicting "divine Jehovah," and a second had a picture that appeared to be a fish with a stick figure in its mouth, said to represent Jonah. If they fully understand these drawings, the researchers said, then they have found the oldest Christian artifacts, the earliest Christian art and the first evidence of faith in Jesus' resurrection. Similar depictions of Jonah were used by later Christian groups and became an important expression of the faith in later centuries.
When the tomb and its contents were first disclosed, many biblical
scholars offered alternate interpretations of the iconography and
disputed the tomb's connections to Christianity. They said the image is
more likely a funerary monument and not a fish at all. [Religious Mysteries: 8 Alleged Relics of Jesus]
Hebrew hint
After the initial announcement, the team continued to examine the images from their robot scout. Strange markings inside the fish head stood out to the researchers, and they called upon James Charlesworth, a Hebrew script scholar from the Princeton Theological Seminary.
The researchers said Charlesworth confirmed their interpretation of the marks: The lines that make up what they thought was a stick figure could also be viewed as four Hebrew letters. The script is similar to that from the Dead Sea Scrolls and seems to spell out "YONAH," the Hebrew name of Jonah.
"This discovery by Professor Charlesworth is quite remarkable and had been overlooked in our initial analysis," Tabor said in a statement. "The engraver has apparently rather ingeniously combined what we took to be the stick figure of Jonah with the four Hebrew letters spelling out his name."
Two Hebrew scholars who examined photographs showing the inside of the tomb agree that markings on an ossuary — a box made to hold human remains — are stylized letters that spell out the name of Jonah, the researchers said Thursday (April 19). Jonah was the Old Testament prophet whose story of being swallowed by a great fish was embraced by the early followers of Jesus.
The tomb, located 6.5 feet (2 meters) below an apartment building in the East Talpiot neighborhood of Jerusalem, was discovered in 1981 but resealed after Orthodox Jewish groups opposed its excavation.
Two decades later, the group got license to enter the tomb, which has been dated to before A.D. 70.
Researchers led by James Tabor of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte did not enter the tomb themselves but instead used a remote camera to explore it. Their analysis of the images was reported Feb. 28 in the journal The Bible and Interpretation.
The Hebrew scholars' translation of the stylized letters on the ossuary have yet to be published.
Troubled tomb
On one of the ossuaries was an inscription depicting "divine Jehovah," and a second had a picture that appeared to be a fish with a stick figure in its mouth, said to represent Jonah. If they fully understand these drawings, the researchers said, then they have found the oldest Christian artifacts, the earliest Christian art and the first evidence of faith in Jesus' resurrection. Similar depictions of Jonah were used by later Christian groups and became an important expression of the faith in later centuries.
'The engraver has rather ingeniously combined the stick figure of Jonah with the Hebrew letters spelling out his name.'- James Tabor, University of North Carolina
Hebrew hint
After the initial announcement, the team continued to examine the images from their robot scout. Strange markings inside the fish head stood out to the researchers, and they called upon James Charlesworth, a Hebrew script scholar from the Princeton Theological Seminary.
The researchers said Charlesworth confirmed their interpretation of the marks: The lines that make up what they thought was a stick figure could also be viewed as four Hebrew letters. The script is similar to that from the Dead Sea Scrolls and seems to spell out "YONAH," the Hebrew name of Jonah.
"This discovery by Professor Charlesworth is quite remarkable and had been overlooked in our initial analysis," Tabor said in a statement. "The engraver has apparently rather ingeniously combined what we took to be the stick figure of Jonah with the four Hebrew letters spelling out his name."
Obama To Trademark "GI Bill" In Effort To Protect Veterans From Being Swindled By Fraudulent Marketing Practices Of Colleges
FORT STEWART, Ga. – The Obama
administration wants to trademark the term "GI Bill" in an effort to
shield veterans and military families from being swindled or misled by
schools that target their federal education benefits.
President Barack Obama is signing a wide-ranging order on Friday that partially addresses growing complaints about fraudulent marketing and recruiting practices aimed at military families eligible for federal education aid under the GI Bill.
First, the president and first lady Michelle Obama paid tribute to fallen soldiers, walking slowly hand in hand along the Fort Stewart Warriors Walk, a wide path lined with 441 memorial trees. The base of each tree bore a granite marker with a soldier's name.
The president and his wife then were to speak to troops at this Army post in Georgia, where Obama will sign an executive order mandating several new education protections for military service members
Though there is little the federal government can do to shut down diploma mills, the new protections would make it harder for post-secondary and technical schools to misrepresent themselves to military students.
The main target of the White House action is for-profit colleges and universities that market heavily to military families because of the easy availability of federal money under the GI Bill.
Some post-secondary schools target current and former military service members using deceptive military-themed websites that appear to be government-run or connected to the GI Bill benefit system, administration officials said.
The financial regulation overhaul that Obama signed in 2010 included the creation of a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau with specific authority to protect members of the military from predatory financial practices.
The law set up an Office of Service Member Affairs to help members of the military and their families "make better informed decisions regarding consumer financial products and services."
Bills pending in Congress, largely backed by Democrats and unlikely to become law soon, would do many of the same things Obama was ordering Friday.
Obama's order will also set a new gauge that potential students can use to calculate how much a school will really cost in tuition and fees. Schools are asked to voluntarily participate in the "Know Before You Owe" system this school year and would be required to do so next year.
President Barack Obama is signing a wide-ranging order on Friday that partially addresses growing complaints about fraudulent marketing and recruiting practices aimed at military families eligible for federal education aid under the GI Bill.
First, the president and first lady Michelle Obama paid tribute to fallen soldiers, walking slowly hand in hand along the Fort Stewart Warriors Walk, a wide path lined with 441 memorial trees. The base of each tree bore a granite marker with a soldier's name.
The president and his wife then were to speak to troops at this Army post in Georgia, where Obama will sign an executive order mandating several new education protections for military service members
Though there is little the federal government can do to shut down diploma mills, the new protections would make it harder for post-secondary and technical schools to misrepresent themselves to military students.
The main target of the White House action is for-profit colleges and universities that market heavily to military families because of the easy availability of federal money under the GI Bill.
Some post-secondary schools target current and former military service members using deceptive military-themed websites that appear to be government-run or connected to the GI Bill benefit system, administration officials said.
The financial regulation overhaul that Obama signed in 2010 included the creation of a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau with specific authority to protect members of the military from predatory financial practices.
The law set up an Office of Service Member Affairs to help members of the military and their families "make better informed decisions regarding consumer financial products and services."
Bills pending in Congress, largely backed by Democrats and unlikely to become law soon, would do many of the same things Obama was ordering Friday.
Obama's order will also set a new gauge that potential students can use to calculate how much a school will really cost in tuition and fees. Schools are asked to voluntarily participate in the "Know Before You Owe" system this school year and would be required to do so next year.
U.S Transportation Secretary Seeks Nation Wide Ban Of Cellphones While Driving
SAN ANTONIO, April 26 (Reuters) - U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood called on Thursday for a federal law to ban talking on a cell phone or texting while driving any type of vehicle on any road in the country.
Tough federal legislation is the only way to deal with what he called a "national epidemic," he said at a distracted-driving summit in San Antonio, Texas, that drew doctors, advocates and government officials.
LaHood said it is important for the police to have "the opportunity to write tickets when people are foolishly thinking they can drive safely or use a cell phone and text and drive."
LaHood has previously criticized behind-the-wheel use of cell phones and other devices, but calling for a federal law prohibiting the practice takes his effort to a new level.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that 3,000 fatal traffic accidents nationwide last year were the result of distracted driving. Using a cell phone while driving delays reaction time the same amount as having a blood alcohol concentration of .08, the legal limit, the highway agency said.
But Gary Biller, president of the National Motorists Association, said laws banning specific actions like talking on a phone or texting are not necessary because those actions are already covered by existing distracted-driving laws. It would be more productive, he said, to invest resources in campaigns that discourage inattentive driving in general.
"It shouldn't matter if the driver is distracted by a conversation with another vehicle passenger, tuning the radio, eating a snack, or talking on a cell phone," Biller said in a statement. "Existing laws cover all those distractions and more."
LaHood said, however, he was not as concerned about people who eat, apply makeup, or perform other distracting activities in cars because "not everyone does that."
"But everyone has a cell phone and too many of us think it is OK to talk on our phones while we are driving," he said at the summit, sponsored by insurance company USAA, the Texas Department of Transportation and Shriners Hospitals for Children.
LaHood was joined by people who have been hurt in accidents caused by motorists talking on cell phones, including children in wheelchairs who were paralyzed. Such accidents are "100 percent preventable," he said.
He compared the situation facing the United States today with the problem of drunk driving 20-30 years ago.
"It used to be that if an officer pulled you over for drunk driving, he would pat you on the back, maybe call you a cab or take you home, but he wouldn't arrest you," LaHood said. "Now that has changed, and the same enforcement can work for people who talk on cell phones while driving."
Thirty-eight states have laws restricting or outlawing the use of electronic devices while driving, LaHood said.
Read More From Reuters
Wycliffe Bible Translators To Review Bible Translation That Removed Father, Son, & Holy Spirit After Complaints
Critics argue that using words like “Messiah” instead of “Son” and “Lord” instead of “Father” badly distorts the doctrine, in which God is said to be one being in three persons.
“If you remove ‘son,’ you have to remove ‘father,’ and if you remove those, the whole thread of the scriptures from Genesis to Revelation is unraveled,” said the Rev. Georges Houssney, the president of Horizons International, a Christian organization that works extensively with Muslims and himself a translator of the Bible into Arabic.
Orlando, Fla.-based Wycliffe Bible Translators argues the translations have never been about avoiding controversy, but choosing words that most accurately reflect the Gospels: Some concepts relating God to family members don’t make sense in some cultures, so the language needs to reflect that.
“People are saying we’re trying to do translation work that’s not offensive to Muslims, and that’s just not true,” Wycliffe CEO Bob Creson said. “We are committed to the accurate translation of God’s word. That is our highest value.”
Translating the collection of ancient documents assembled together as the Bible has never been easy.
Disputes over biblical language date from the early centuries of Christianity when the original Hebrew and
Greek texts were brought to new countries, to making the Shakespearean language of the King James Version more understandable to modern readers.
Last month, Wycliffe agreed to an independent review of its policies by the World Evangelical Alliance, which plans to appoint a panel of experts to determine whether Wycliffe and affiliated groups are improperly replacing the terms “Son of God” and “God the Father.”
The decision comes after a growing number of critics decried the materials as attempts to avoid controversy that fundamentally altered Christian theology. The dispute moved from Internet forums and online petitions to concern from large Christian bodies. The Assemblies of God — one of the largest Pentecostal fellowships, with more than 60 million members in affiliated churches worldwide — announced it would review its longstanding relationship with Wycliffe.
Read More from Washington Post
Thursday, April 26, 2012
JMC LIVE Preview 4-28-12 Canada Moves Closer To Cashless Society
JMC Ministries/Jeremy Caverley gives a preview of what he and Miranda will be covering this week on JMC LIVE Saturday at 9p.m.EST. http://www.jmclive.com
E.F.N Preview 4-27-12 Russia Stock Market Shut Down Indefinitely
JMC Ministries/Jeremy Caverley, Shares a preview of Eternal Flame News Show for 4-27-12 and just some of the news that happened this week that they will be sharing at www.jmclive.com
Michelle Obama Boasts About Health Care Mandate Saying "We Made History"
(CNSNews.com) – First Lady Michelle Obama boasted at a
campaign event in Omaha, Neb. on Tuesday that "we made history" when the
president's health care proposal was enacted and the administration
issued a regulation mandating that insurance companies provide women
with free contraceptives.
"Two years ago, we made history together by finally passing health reform," said Mrs. Obama. "And because we passed this law, insurance companies will now have to cover basic preventive care--things like prenatal care, mammograms, contraception--at no extra cost."
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) finalized the "preventive services" regulation in January and it will take effect for most employers on Aug. 1. The regulation mandates that nearly all health insurance plans in the United States must provide women with sterilizations and all
FDA-approved contraceptives (including those that can induce abortions) without any fees or co-pay.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and many Catholic leaders in the United States have voiced strong opposition to the mandate because they say it would force Catholics--whose church teaches that sterilization, contraception and abortion are wrong--to act against their consciences and the teachings of their faith. In comments submitted to the Department of Health and Human
Services, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops called the regulation an "unprecedented attack" on religious liberty and asked the administration to rescind it in its entirety.
A number of Catholic institutions, including Ave Maria University, Belmont Abbey College, and EWTN, have sued the administration over the regulation arguing that it violates their First Amendment right to the free exercise of religion.
Read More From CNS News
"Two years ago, we made history together by finally passing health reform," said Mrs. Obama. "And because we passed this law, insurance companies will now have to cover basic preventive care--things like prenatal care, mammograms, contraception--at no extra cost."
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) finalized the "preventive services" regulation in January and it will take effect for most employers on Aug. 1. The regulation mandates that nearly all health insurance plans in the United States must provide women with sterilizations and all
FDA-approved contraceptives (including those that can induce abortions) without any fees or co-pay.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and many Catholic leaders in the United States have voiced strong opposition to the mandate because they say it would force Catholics--whose church teaches that sterilization, contraception and abortion are wrong--to act against their consciences and the teachings of their faith. In comments submitted to the Department of Health and Human
Services, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops called the regulation an "unprecedented attack" on religious liberty and asked the administration to rescind it in its entirety.
A number of Catholic institutions, including Ave Maria University, Belmont Abbey College, and EWTN, have sued the administration over the regulation arguing that it violates their First Amendment right to the free exercise of religion.
Read More From CNS News
Census Bureau Says Less Than 50% Of U.S Households Are Lead By Married Couples
(CNSNews.com) – For the first time ever, the percentage of
married households fell below 50 percent, according to the Census
Bureau, which released a brief Wednesday about families and households
from the results of the 2010 Census.
The percentage of married households fell to 48.4 in 2010, down from 55.2 percent in 1990 and 51.7 percent in 2000.
“The 48 percent of husband-and-wife households in 2010 was the first time since at least 1940 that this has fallen below 50 percent,” said Daphne Lofquist, Statistician for the Fertility and Family Statistics Branch for the Census Bureau.
The Census Bureau did not start keeping detailed statistics about the marital status of householders until 1940.
The new data was released during a conference call briefing with reporters on the “2010 Census Brief: Households and Families.” (See full presentation here.)
All other household categories saw an increase: female householder with other family members living (11.6 in 1990, 13.1 in 2010); male householder with other family living (3.4 in 1990, 5.0 in 2010); two or more people in non-family households (5.2 in 1990, 6.8 in 2010); and one-person households (24.6 in 1990, 26.7 in 2010).
The Census Bureau also re-released data on same-sex households first issued last fall, indicating the total number of same-sex unmarried partner households to be 0.6 percent -- 646,464 out of the total 116,716,292 households.
Read More from CNS News
The percentage of married households fell to 48.4 in 2010, down from 55.2 percent in 1990 and 51.7 percent in 2000.
“The 48 percent of husband-and-wife households in 2010 was the first time since at least 1940 that this has fallen below 50 percent,” said Daphne Lofquist, Statistician for the Fertility and Family Statistics Branch for the Census Bureau.
The Census Bureau did not start keeping detailed statistics about the marital status of householders until 1940.
The new data was released during a conference call briefing with reporters on the “2010 Census Brief: Households and Families.” (See full presentation here.)
All other household categories saw an increase: female householder with other family members living (11.6 in 1990, 13.1 in 2010); male householder with other family living (3.4 in 1990, 5.0 in 2010); two or more people in non-family households (5.2 in 1990, 6.8 in 2010); and one-person households (24.6 in 1990, 26.7 in 2010).
The Census Bureau also re-released data on same-sex households first issued last fall, indicating the total number of same-sex unmarried partner households to be 0.6 percent -- 646,464 out of the total 116,716,292 households.
Read More from CNS News
New Horror Film Shows The Dangers Of Pornography
One News Now--Onslaught Media's Harmless is a story of a father and husband and his battle with pornography. Producer and director Rich Praytor tells OneNewsNow this film is not graphic, but it is a scary and entertaining movie that will drive home a point.
"You know what we've found is people learn their morals and values through film, television and music," he offers. "That's where kids learn it; that's where they learn between right and wrong because it's the mass media. It's out there all the time. And so we're just looking to have just another option that people can watch and that they can learn about how dangerous pornography can be."
Praytor says his crew creatively gets the point across without actually showing pornographic material. Ironically, he believes the film will get a PG-13 rating, "just because of the faith-based content in there. We don't really show anything [and] there is no language issue or anything like that; there's just scary stuff. [And] with Hollywood today, anything with the word 'God' in it, they'll automatically put a PG or a PG-13 [rating] because of religious content, which is fine."
Harmless will be out in limited theaters this fall and be available on DVD next year.
Read More from One News Now
"Coed Showers" Could Be Coming To A Schools And Churches
World Net Daily--Homosexual activists are demanding cities across Kansas add sexual
orientation and “gender identity” to their protected classes, a move
attorneys warn could hit even churches and other faith-based groups.
The “coed shower” plans have been around for several years, with the infamous battle in Montgomery County, Md., several years ago in which officials adopted special provisions for those who choose an alternative sexual lifestyle then manipulated election rules so that voters were not allowed to express their opinion on the law at the ballot box.
Word on the latest effort comes from Liberty Counsel Action, which says Kansas is the “latest battleground” over “granting special rights to homosexuals and cross-dressers.”
“Human Relations Commissions and/or homosexual activist groups in Lawrence, Hutchinson, Salina, Wichita and Pittsburg have asked their respective city councils to add ‘sexual orientation’ and ‘gender identity’ to protected classes,” Liberty Counsel Action reported.
Lawrence passed the ordinance and the Hutchinson city council will vote May 1, the group said.
The organization noted, “If the Hutchinson city measure passes, places of worship that rent out to the general public would be required to rent out their building for homosexual marriages or drag queen parties.”
Specifically, Hutchinson’s proposal provides that “religious based groups, non-profit institutions controlled by religious associations or societies and non-profit private clubs that are not open to the public are exempt…. [but not] if any of these groups open their services to the general public.”
Under the recommended changes, an employer, landlord or business owner would be deprived of the ability to make decisions based on his or her own religious faith. People would be allowed to choose a restroom or shower based on their “gender identity,” which may or may not be linked to their “birth sex.”
The proposal states “not allowing individuals to use a restroom or other gender-segregated facility consistent with their gender identity or gender expression” would be “discriminatory conduct.”
Read More From World Net Daily
The “coed shower” plans have been around for several years, with the infamous battle in Montgomery County, Md., several years ago in which officials adopted special provisions for those who choose an alternative sexual lifestyle then manipulated election rules so that voters were not allowed to express their opinion on the law at the ballot box.
Word on the latest effort comes from Liberty Counsel Action, which says Kansas is the “latest battleground” over “granting special rights to homosexuals and cross-dressers.”
“Human Relations Commissions and/or homosexual activist groups in Lawrence, Hutchinson, Salina, Wichita and Pittsburg have asked their respective city councils to add ‘sexual orientation’ and ‘gender identity’ to protected classes,” Liberty Counsel Action reported.
Lawrence passed the ordinance and the Hutchinson city council will vote May 1, the group said.
The organization noted, “If the Hutchinson city measure passes, places of worship that rent out to the general public would be required to rent out their building for homosexual marriages or drag queen parties.”
Specifically, Hutchinson’s proposal provides that “religious based groups, non-profit institutions controlled by religious associations or societies and non-profit private clubs that are not open to the public are exempt…. [but not] if any of these groups open their services to the general public.”
Under the recommended changes, an employer, landlord or business owner would be deprived of the ability to make decisions based on his or her own religious faith. People would be allowed to choose a restroom or shower based on their “gender identity,” which may or may not be linked to their “birth sex.”
The proposal states “not allowing individuals to use a restroom or other gender-segregated facility consistent with their gender identity or gender expression” would be “discriminatory conduct.”
Read More From World Net Daily
Non Profit Organization Samaritan's Purse Helping Refugee's In South Sudan
VP of Programs Ken Isaacs explains the dire situation, and what we are doing to help. Please pray and click "share" to spread the prayer request. To get involved go to - http://www.samaritanspurse.org
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Mega Church Pastor Joel Osteen Says Mormon Presidential Candidate Romney Is A Christian, And So Is Obama
Christian Post--Joel Osteen, the popular megachurch pastor from Houston, appeared Tuesday afternoon on CNN's "The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer" and said that he considers both presumed GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney, a Mormon, and President Obama to be Christians.
Osteen, when asked about Romney's faith, said the former Massachusetts governor is indeed a Christian – which is a similar statement to the one he made in January."When I hear Mitt Romney say that he believes that Jesus is the Son of God – that he's the Christ, raised from the dead, that he's his Savior – that's good enough for me," said Osteen.
The Texas pastor did say that the Mormon faith was "not traditional Christianity," but that Mormonism still falls under the umbrella of Christian tenets. "Mormonism is a little different, but I still see them as brothers in Christ," said Osteen.
Many Christians do not consider Mormons to be Christians because they do not hold orthodox beliefs on core doctrines such as original sin, grace, the inerrancy of the Bible, and the understanding of the Trinity is different.
Osteen was also asked about President Obama's faith. Osteen said he has spent time with Obama and has no doubt that he is a Christian.
"I believe with all my heart that he's a Christian, as he says he is," Osteen stated.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Texas pastor served as guest chaplain for the U.S. House of Representatives at the request of Rep. Shelia Jackson Lee (D-Texas).
Lee, the often fiery congresswoman known for championing liberal causes, called Osteen a "humble spirit," and praised him for leading the "largest and most growing church in American history."
Read More From Christian Post
Despite Iran's Declaration To Not Want A Nuclear Bomb, Indications From Within Iran Show War Preparations
World Net Daily--Despite the recent declaration by Iran that it does not want a
nuclear bomb and statements by regime officials that they are willing to
negotiate over the nuclear issue, indications from within Iran signal
massive preparation for an all-out war as part of its destiny.
Nine years ago a Revolutionary Guards arm, the Holy Defense, published a book, “The Last Six Months,” in which it describes the conditions needed in the last six months prior to the reappearance of the last Islamic messiah. The book was distributed in the hundreds of thousands to all Guards, Basij and army bases throughout the country.
Islam’s Shiites believe their 12th Imam, Mahdi, will reappear at the end of times and kill all the infidels, raising the flag of Islam in all four corners of the world.
The book admonishes the military forces that they must be prepared to do their duties during those six months and that there will be many signs to help the faithful to understand the transition, which will center on Iran.
The book, which relies on Islamic hadiths by the Prophet Mohammad and his descendants from centuries ago, describes the 9/11 attacks and the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq as signs that the time is near. But it also prophesies much more significant signs that would launch the six-month time frame for the reappearance of Mahdi: an attack on Syria and then an attack on Iran.
Both those events are looking increasingly likely as Syria’s Bashar al-Assad continues to murder his own people and Iran continues its quest for nuclear weapons.
Mahdi will only reappear, Shiites believe, when Israel is destroyed and the U.S. is brought to its knees; two-thirds of the world’s population will die in a nuclear exchange, and with this chaos and havoc engulfing the earth, the “coming” will unfold.
Read More From World Net Daily
Nine years ago a Revolutionary Guards arm, the Holy Defense, published a book, “The Last Six Months,” in which it describes the conditions needed in the last six months prior to the reappearance of the last Islamic messiah. The book was distributed in the hundreds of thousands to all Guards, Basij and army bases throughout the country.
Islam’s Shiites believe their 12th Imam, Mahdi, will reappear at the end of times and kill all the infidels, raising the flag of Islam in all four corners of the world.
The book admonishes the military forces that they must be prepared to do their duties during those six months and that there will be many signs to help the faithful to understand the transition, which will center on Iran.
The book, which relies on Islamic hadiths by the Prophet Mohammad and his descendants from centuries ago, describes the 9/11 attacks and the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq as signs that the time is near. But it also prophesies much more significant signs that would launch the six-month time frame for the reappearance of Mahdi: an attack on Syria and then an attack on Iran.
Both those events are looking increasingly likely as Syria’s Bashar al-Assad continues to murder his own people and Iran continues its quest for nuclear weapons.
Mahdi will only reappear, Shiites believe, when Israel is destroyed and the U.S. is brought to its knees; two-thirds of the world’s population will die in a nuclear exchange, and with this chaos and havoc engulfing the earth, the “coming” will unfold.
Read More From World Net Daily
UK In 2nd Recession First Time Since 1970's
CNBC--Britain's economy slid into its second
recession since the financial crisis after official data unexpectedly
showed a fall in output in the first three months of 2012, piling
pressure on Prime Minister David Cameron's embattled coalition
government.
The
Office for National Statistics said Britain's gross domestic product
fell 0.2 percent in the first quarter of 2012 after contracting by 0.3
percent at the end of 2011, confounding forecasts for 0.1 percent
growth.
Most
economists had expected Britain's $2.4 trillion economy to eke out
modest growth in the early 2012, but these forecasts were upset by the
biggest fall in construction output in three years coupled with anaemic
service sector growth and a fall in industrial output.
Wednesday's
figures will be a deep blow for Britain's Conservative / Liberal
Democrat coalition, which has slid in opinion polls since a poorly
received annual budget statement in March and risks embarrassment at
local elections on May 3.
The government is also under pressure over revelations about its close relationship with media tycoon Rupert Murdoch.
The
government desperately needs growth to achieve its overriding goal of
eliminating Britain's large budget deficit over the next five years.
Britain's
economy contracted by 7.1 percent during its 2008-2009 recession and
recovery since has been slow, with headwinds from the euro zone debt
crisis, government spending cuts, high inflation and a damaged banking
sector.
Wednesday's
data showed that output was still 4.3 percent below its peak in the
first quarter of 2008, and the economy has only grown by 0.4 percent
since the government came to power in the second quarter of 2010.
Output
in Britain's service sector - which makes up more than three quarters
of GDP - rose by just 0.1 percent in the first quarter after falling 0.1
percent in Q4 2011, kept down by a fall in output in the large business
services and finance sector.
Industrial
output was 0.4 percent lower, while construction - which accounts for
less than 8 percent of GDP - contracted by 3.0 percent, the biggest fall
since Q1 2009.
Britain's Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts growth of 0.8 percent this year.
Wednesday's data shows that first quarter output was no higher than a year earlier.
The
Bank of England has warned that there is a risk of another contraction
in the second quarter of 2012, due to an extra public holiday.
But
unlike during the previous two quarters, it does not appear keen to
provide further monetary stimulus through quantitative easing asset
purchases, due to above-target inflation which looks stickier than
before.
Coupon Company Offering "Daily Deals" To Porn Company's Studio As Reward To Their Subscribers
ONE NEWS NOW--Morality in Media is calling for a nationwide boycott of a coupon business for offering discounts on tours of a porn studio.
Groupon, an Internet-based "daily deal" company, is offering subscribers discounted coupons for employee-led, 60-minute walking tours through a porn company's studio in San Francisco. Dawn Hawkins, executive director of Morality in Media, says her group is asking people to contact Groupon and urge it to stop supporting the porn studio Kink. Groupon, she says, should know better.
"They're just stooping to an all-time low of associating with porn companies," she laments.
What is coming out of the porn organization is dangerous, according to Hawkins. "It is extremely violent and degrading, humiliating especially to women," she describes. "The website [for Kink] advertises that they specialize in torture pornography." That company describes itself as a leader in "bondage and BDSM videos."
Hawkins says thousands have already pledged to boycott Groupon, but the company has responded to Morality in Media's inquiry by stating that the porn company gives to local youth charities so they feel Kink is an "active, good community citizen."
"Really the only way to get [Groupon] to listen is if they lose enough customers to realize that this is a big deal and that their largest customer base does not put up with the humiliation of women," states the MIM spokeswoman.
Read More From One News Now
Groupon, an Internet-based "daily deal" company, is offering subscribers discounted coupons for employee-led, 60-minute walking tours through a porn company's studio in San Francisco. Dawn Hawkins, executive director of Morality in Media, says her group is asking people to contact Groupon and urge it to stop supporting the porn studio Kink. Groupon, she says, should know better.
"They're just stooping to an all-time low of associating with porn companies," she laments.
What is coming out of the porn organization is dangerous, according to Hawkins. "It is extremely violent and degrading, humiliating especially to women," she describes. "The website [for Kink] advertises that they specialize in torture pornography." That company describes itself as a leader in "bondage and BDSM videos."
Hawkins says thousands have already pledged to boycott Groupon, but the company has responded to Morality in Media's inquiry by stating that the porn company gives to local youth charities so they feel Kink is an "active, good community citizen."
"Really the only way to get [Groupon] to listen is if they lose enough customers to realize that this is a big deal and that their largest customer base does not put up with the humiliation of women," states the MIM spokeswoman.
Read More From One News Now
1,183,700 Violent Crimes Committed at U.S Public Schools
(CNSNews.com) - The Department of Education and the Department of Justice
say that 1,183,700 violent crimes were committed at American public
schools during the 2009-2010 school year, but that only 303,900 of
these violent crimes were reported to the police.
By this government estimate, 879,800 violent crimes committed at U.S. public schools in the 2009-2010 school year were not reported to police.
These statistics are part of a report—“Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2011”—published jointly on Feb. 22 by the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS).
As defined by the report, “violent crimes” included rape, sexual battery other than rape, physical attack or fight with or without a weapon, threat of physical attack with or without a weapon, and robbery with or without a weapon.
The Department of Education and the Department of Justice based their school-crime estimates on the School Survey on Crime and Safety which surveyed a representative sample of about 2,600 public schools around the country.
At each school, the principal or another top administrator completed the survey. The NCES then extrapolated from the sample to estimate the full number of crimes committed at the nation’s public schools--as well as the full number of crimes committed at public schools that were actually reported to the police. The survey specifically asked school administrators about both the number of crimes occurring at their schools during the year and the number actually reported to police.
The definition of “at school” in the survey included “activities that happen in school buildings, on school grounds, on school buses, and at places that hold school-sponsored events or activities.” The crimes in question could have “occurred before, during, or after normal school hours, or when school activities or events were in session.”
Overall, as reported in Table 6.1 of the report, 1,876,900 crimes of various types were committed at public schools in 2009-2010, but only 689,100 of these crimes were reported to the police.
Of the 1,876,900 crimes committed at public schools, 1,183,700 were violent crimes--and of these 1,183,700 violent crimes only 303,900 were reported to police.
While 73.8 percent of the nation’s public schools were the scene of a violent crime or crimes during the 2009-2010 school year, only about 39.9 percent of the public schools actually reported a violent crime to the police.
Many of the violent crimes that occurred at public schools were classified as physical attacks or fights without a weapon (there were 725,300 of these of which 194,200 were reported to the police) or threats of a physical attack without a weapon (there were 405,900 of these of which 86,200 were reported to the police).
However, even what the report called “serious violent incidents” that occurred at schools—which were defined as rape or attempted rape, sexual battery other than rape, physical attack or fight with a weapon, threat of physical attack with a weapon, robbery with a weapon, and robbery without a weapon—often were not reported to the police.
Of the 52,500 “serious violent incidents” the study estimated occurred at public schools in 2009-2010, only 23,500 were reported to police.
According to the report, an estimated 600 rapes occurred at public schools, but only about 500 rapes were reported to the police. About 3,600 sexual batteries other than rape occurred at public schools, but only but only about 2,200 were reported to the police. About 14,300 physical attacks or fights with a weapon occurred, but only about 4,400 were reported to police. About 19,200 threats of a physical attack with a weapon occurred, but only about 7,400 were reported to police.
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By this government estimate, 879,800 violent crimes committed at U.S. public schools in the 2009-2010 school year were not reported to police.
These statistics are part of a report—“Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2011”—published jointly on Feb. 22 by the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS).
As defined by the report, “violent crimes” included rape, sexual battery other than rape, physical attack or fight with or without a weapon, threat of physical attack with or without a weapon, and robbery with or without a weapon.
The Department of Education and the Department of Justice based their school-crime estimates on the School Survey on Crime and Safety which surveyed a representative sample of about 2,600 public schools around the country.
At each school, the principal or another top administrator completed the survey. The NCES then extrapolated from the sample to estimate the full number of crimes committed at the nation’s public schools--as well as the full number of crimes committed at public schools that were actually reported to the police. The survey specifically asked school administrators about both the number of crimes occurring at their schools during the year and the number actually reported to police.
The definition of “at school” in the survey included “activities that happen in school buildings, on school grounds, on school buses, and at places that hold school-sponsored events or activities.” The crimes in question could have “occurred before, during, or after normal school hours, or when school activities or events were in session.”
Overall, as reported in Table 6.1 of the report, 1,876,900 crimes of various types were committed at public schools in 2009-2010, but only 689,100 of these crimes were reported to the police.
Of the 1,876,900 crimes committed at public schools, 1,183,700 were violent crimes--and of these 1,183,700 violent crimes only 303,900 were reported to police.
While 73.8 percent of the nation’s public schools were the scene of a violent crime or crimes during the 2009-2010 school year, only about 39.9 percent of the public schools actually reported a violent crime to the police.
Many of the violent crimes that occurred at public schools were classified as physical attacks or fights without a weapon (there were 725,300 of these of which 194,200 were reported to the police) or threats of a physical attack without a weapon (there were 405,900 of these of which 86,200 were reported to the police).
However, even what the report called “serious violent incidents” that occurred at schools—which were defined as rape or attempted rape, sexual battery other than rape, physical attack or fight with a weapon, threat of physical attack with a weapon, robbery with a weapon, and robbery without a weapon—often were not reported to the police.
Of the 52,500 “serious violent incidents” the study estimated occurred at public schools in 2009-2010, only 23,500 were reported to police.
According to the report, an estimated 600 rapes occurred at public schools, but only about 500 rapes were reported to the police. About 3,600 sexual batteries other than rape occurred at public schools, but only but only about 2,200 were reported to the police. About 14,300 physical attacks or fights with a weapon occurred, but only about 4,400 were reported to police. About 19,200 threats of a physical attack with a weapon occurred, but only about 7,400 were reported to police.
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Former Girl Scout Helping To Save Unborn Babies One Cookie At At Time
Charisma News--Recently a pro-life
health-care clinic opened next door to Boise, Idaho’s Planned
Parenthood, giving pregnant women an alternative to the abortion
provider.
Now those in
Boise who object to the Girl Scouts of America’s partnership with
Planned Parenthood have a pro-life alternative to Girl Scout cookies.
That came about
when 10-year-old Grace Swanke, who loved selling cookies in Boise for
the Girl Scouts, found out about her organization’s involvement with the
abortion provider. The little pro-life home-school student couldn’t
abide that.
The Swankes held a family meeting to discuss what Grace should do to address the issue.
“She clearly stated, ‘Maybe I shouldn’t be a Girl Scout anymore,’” her father, John Swanke, told CBN News.
“And at that
point we asked her, ‘Well, what are the things about Girl Scouts you
like doing?’ And No. 1 was selling cookies,” he said.
Grace’s mother, Mary Swanke, then made a key statement about cookie-selling.
“I just mentioned to her, ‘Well, you could always do it for a good reason,’” she said.
Grace decided immediately that she wanted to start selling cookies for pro-life causes. Last year, she sold some 80 boxes and made hundreds of dollars, which ended up going to the Knights of Columbus.
They used the money to help buy an ultrasound machine for that Boise pro-life clinic, Stanton Health Care.
Then a few months
ago, Grace and her family saw Stanton staffers do a live ultrasound
demonstration on pregnant women. The girl fell in love with the
life-saving work of Stanton as she watched the little unborn babies
dance about on the ultrasound screen.
And she loved that Stanton bought the building next door to Idaho’s biggest Planned Parenthood.
“They’re trying to stop abortions right next to the largest center,” she said admiringly.
So this year,
Grace decided to make Stanton the recipient of whatever money she raises
from her “Cookies for Life.” So far, that’s approximately $3,300.
Unfortunately, it
would take selling many more cookies than Grace could bake on her own
to earn that kind of money, so she’s learned to reach out to her large
network of home school and Catholic friends and their moms.
She told CBN News she’ll put out the word, saying “Hey, we’re baking a thousand cookies. Can you come help?”
When CBN News
visited Grace, she and roughly 20 friends and moms had completely taken
over the kitchen and dining hall in a Boise Catholic church. The ovens
were jammed with hundreds of baking cookies.
Tables all around
the dining hall were covered with thousands of cookies on massive
cookie sheets. Girls were loading them as fast they could into large
colorful boxes marked “Cookies for Life,” or they were busy mashing down
dough into cookies that were next in line for the ovens.
Grace’s mother, Mary, came to help, standing next to her industrious daughter in the middle of this controlled mayhem.
CBN News asked Grace’s mom what she thought of all her daughter has put together.
“Of course I’m
very proud of her,” Mary said, and broke into tears, swooping her
daughter up into her arms, but making sure not to get cookie dough in
Grace’s hair.
Then Brandi
Swindell, founder of the Stanton Health Care clinic, came into the
dining hall to hear for the first time about that $3,300 Grace and her
friends are donating to Stanton.
She gasped and exclaimed, “No way! Are you serious? That’s a lot of money.”
Grace received yet another bear hug.
Swindell mentioned that a majority of Americans oppose abortion.
“This emerging
generation is more pro-life. And they’re not just the leaders of
tomorrow. They can actually be the leaders of today,” Swindell said of
today’s youth. ”And Grace is an example of that.”
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Winter Jam Shatters Records as World’s No. 1 Tour
The
Winter Jam Tour Spectacular, Christian music’s biggest tour, has
shattered its own record to become the No. 1 tour in the world (during
the first quarter) for the second consecutive year.
According to Pollstar’s
2012 Worldwide First Quarter Ticket Sales Charts - Top 100 Tours,
Winter Jam outpaced attendance for all other tours, including Cirque du
Soleil’s “Michael Jackson: The Immortal,” Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters, The
Black Keys, Jason Aldean and Brad Paisley, among others.“For 17 years, each Winter Jam Tour has had its own unique personality, made so by not only the artists on stage, but by the entire team of people who made each night happen,” said Eddie Carswell, Winter Jam creator and founding member of Grammy-nominated NewSong, Winter Jam’s host.
Winter Jam, headlined by Grammy-nominated alternative rockers Skillet, sold out in 32 of the 47 cities it visited. The tour, which ended April 1, surpassed last year’s record attendance by more than 10,000, playing to a total of nearly 535,000 people.
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Monday, April 23, 2012
GROUPON selling tours of TORTURE PORN studio for second time. - HELP STOP THIS
http://bit.ly/HSEzLt www.WarOnIllegalPornography.com WILL YOU EMAIL GROUPON EXECUTIVES AND ASK THEM TO STOP SELLING COUPONS TO EXPLOIT WOMEN??
2012 GPA Redistribution Petition & Video Contest - Carthage College
Carthage College students Danielle Cleveland, Matt Holmes, Caitlyn Stenerson, Chelsea Shields, and Peter Leaman present their entry in YAF's 4th Annual GPA Redistribution Petition & Video Contest!
EMERGENCY: Russian Stock Market Micex Closed Indefinitely & Entire Cabinet of The Netherlands Resigned Over Budget Issues
This is not a drill – the Russian Stock Market has closed indefinitely, and reports are that the Russian Government has declared it an Emergency. In other news, the entire cabinet of The Netherlands resigned this morning because they could not come to an accord over budget and austerity issues…
IMAGE below from: http://rts.micex.ru/n610/?nt=0
Yes, this is the Russian stock market.
From Bloomberg:
"Russian stocks sank the most in more than two weeks as commodities slid after data showed China’s manufacturing contracted for a sixth month. The benchmark Micex suspended trading, citing problems with the way deals are displayed.
The Micex Index (VTBMICX) of 30 shares lost 2.4 percent to 1,469.07 by 6:09 p.m. in Moscow, poised for its biggest one-day loss since April 4. OAO GMK Norilsk Nickel, the world’s biggest producer of the metal, sank 3.1 percent. VTB Group, Russia’s second largest lender, retreated 3.7 percent. Oil producers OAO Tatneft and OAO Rosneft, fell 3.3 percent and 3 percent, respectively."
Entire Netherlands Cabinet Resigns
From the WSJ:
"Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and his cabinet have resigned after failing to reach agreement on reducing the country's budget to meet European guidelines, the Dutch government information service said Monday.
The information service said that Mr. Rutte had met with Queen Beatrix and she had accepted his resignation, asking him to tend to pressing matters of state with a caretaker government for the time being. Mr. Rutte is due to address parliament Tuesday afternoon to discuss interim budget cuts and schedule new elections.
Talks over measures to slash the government's budget deficit collapsed over the weekend after seven weeks of negotiations, raising questions about the future commitment of one of the euro zone's foremost proponents of fiscal stringency to a German-led austerity agenda.
The Netherlands has been a key ally of Germany and one of the most vociferous supporters of austerity since Greece's debt problems initiated the euro-zone's debt crisis more than two years ago. But its economy is performing poorly and is expected to shrink this year, widening its budget deficit and making it one of the worst-performing in the euro zone.
The talks collapsed after the right-wing Freedom Party pulled out of talks with Mr. Rutte's center-right liberal party. The negotiations had been aimed at cutting the budget deficit to 3% of gross domestic product next year, in line with European Union rules, from a forecast 4.6%"
Related Articles:
Eurozone Crash, Dutch Government Collapse, Czech on the Verge of Collapse and Russian Stock Market HaltedMicex Group
Russia Stocks Sink Most in 2 Weeks on China; Micex Halts Trading
Russia’s MICEX-RTS exchange suspends stocks trading
Canada Moves Closer to Cashless Society With Digital MintChip Currency
As free market-based digital currencies like Bitcoin and e-gold continue to gain traction around the world, the government of Canada responded with the “MintChip,” an electronic payment system touted by authorities as “better than cash” and the “evolution of currency.” Critics of the scheme, however, were not so enthusiastic about the accelerating march toward a cashless society.
The Royal Canadian Mint announced the controversial scheme online earlier this month. And it is even hosting a contest to get application developers — “North America’s best brain power,” it said in a video — on board in highlighting the supposed “potential benefits.” Winners in the competition will receive prizes from a stash of about $50,000 in real money from the public’s gold holdings.
Essentially, the scheme will allow users to make small transactions using “digital currency” through cell phones and other mobile devices, supposedly anonymously — for now. It will start small, but proponents hope to eventually phase out coins and even small-denomination bills.
“MintChip can be characterized as an evolution of physical money, with the benefits of being electronic,” the Mint claimed on its website advertising the contest, touting the possibility of giving children their allowances electronically. Apparently it is “so simple” that even a child could use it.
"Money as we know it is fine for today, but tomorrow is a different story," the promotional video claims. "Ever since the beginning of time, people have been buying and selling and using whatever currency was available. But today's digital economy is changing faster than ever, and currency has to change, too. It is.”
Last month, Canada already took a baby step toward eradicating cash by killing the penny. Like in the U.S., the one-cent coin now costs more to produce than its face value. But instead of sparking a much-needed debate about why that is — reckless inflation caused by central bankers — Canadians were prodded into debating whether cash in any denomination should exist at all. Apparently more than half of the population would not mind switching over to digital currency instead.
Cashless Controversy:
Analysts of various persuasions have been celebrating the idea of killing cash, with allies in much of the establishment press heralding its supposed inevitability. Indeed, in recent years, physical currency — anonymous, untraceable, and simple — has come under a barrage of attacks by advocates of increased government control.
Supporters of a “cashless society” claim it would reduce robberies and make it harder for the “black market” to function. “Paper money is really the currency of crime: drugs, prostitution and the big kahuna of tax evasion,” claimed David Wolman, a proponent of a cashless society who recently published the book The End of Money.
Privacy and security activists, however, warned that the implications of the continued march toward a “cashless society" could be troubling — to say the least. Imagine a system that could track every transaction that takes place, for example. Or consider the wide range of issues already plaguing the world of digital cash: identity theft, hacking, cybercrime, credit card fraud, and much more.
Some Christians, citing a passage in the Book of Revelation, have expressed concerns about the accelerating trend as well. Scripture (Revelation 13:17) says: “And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.” More than a few Bible scholars and theologians have found recent developments troubling in light of biblical prophecy.
Pragmatists, meanwhile, pointed to a wide array of non-ideological potential problems with abolishing cash. An electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack, for instance, could shut down the entire electrical grid and the “cashless” system that depends on it. Solar events, problems in the power grid, and natural disasters like hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, and more could also devastate the system, rendering commerce close to impossible. So could hackers or cyberwarriors working for a hostile power.
Cashless Society: Coming soon?
While Canada has dominated the “cashless” headlines in recent weeks, Sweden has gone further down the road toward abolishing cash than any other nation on earth. According to media reports citing the Bank for International Settlements, physical currency makes up just 3 percent of the nation’s total supply. By contrast, the average in the Eurozone is about 9 percent.
Italy, meanwhile, has banned large cash transactions. And if the new, unelected “Prime Minister” — a Bilderberg leader who seized power last year in what critics called a “coup d’état” orchestrated by bankers and the European Union — the limit on non-digital transactions could be reduced to less than $1,500.
In the U.S., the increasingly paranoid federal government has been distributing propaganda leaflets teaching merchants and others that cash should be considered suspicious — possibly even an indication of terrorism. Critics ridiculed and attacked the fliers, distributed by various federal agencies, but the troubling trend toward official demonization of cash is only escalating.
"We're evolving towards a cashless society but I do think cash will continue to play a role in society for a period of time yet. Patterns are changing substantially and people are increasingly using alternatives to cash," said Royal Bank of Canada executive Vice President Wayne Bossert, noting that the role of cash would further diminish over time. "Alternate payment solutions are going to accelerate the movement towards a cashless society though I'm not convinced we'll get there overnight.
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Couple Celebrates 83 Years of Love
PARIS (AP) — At ages 17 and 19, Eunice and Lloyd Ford were married in secret late one night by a Baptist preacher in west Paris.
Eunice, aided by her aunt, left her parent’s home under the pretense of going to a show in town, but instead met up with her love, Lloyd, and eloped.
That was the night of April 9, 1929.
Lloyd, 102, and Eunice, 100, recently celebrated their 83rd wedding anniversary.
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EXPOSED: Third of 10-year-olds Have Seen Hardcore Porn Study Shows
A 'guinea pig’ generation of children is growing up addicted to hardcore internet pornography, MPs were warned last night.
Four out of five 16-year-old boys and girls regularly access porn online while one in three ten-year-olds has seen explicit material, a disturbing cross-party report reveals.
It also cites figures showing that more than a quarter of young patients being treated at a leading private clinic are receiving help for addiction to online pornography.
Disturbing: The cross-party report reveals four out of five 16-year-olds regularly access porn websites
There are fears that the rise of internet pornography is leaving teenagers unable to maintain normal relationships and even increasing their susceptibility to grooming by sexual abusers.
Yesterday the backbench Tory behind the study, Claire Perry, demanded that internet providers offer parents a simple way of filtering out adult content.
Even very young children can accidentally stumble across pornography, the report for the Independent Parliamentary Inquiry into Online Child Protection said.
David Cameron told MPs yesterday that he had called technology firms together to offer a ‘choice of blocking all adult and age-restricted content on their home internet’.
But the Prime Minister has been left frustrated by the unwillingness of the major internet service providers to force new customers to ‘opt in’ to adult content as opposed to the current system of ‘opting out’ by installing their own filters.
And Tory MP Andrea Leadsom revealed that her own son had told her that ‘handing around very hardcore porn on memory sticks is absolutely rife at his school’. The mother of three fears regulators are ignorant about the availability of porn through internet-ready TVs, calling the internet a modern-day ‘Wild West’.
Over 60 per cent of 11 to 16-year-olds have internet access in their own rooms, compared with 30 per cent six years before. Alarmingly, 41 per cent of seven to ten-year-olds can access the internet from their own rooms, more than a fourfold increase on previous figures.
SCIFI Comes To Life:Chip lets smartphones see through walls, clothes
Researchers at a Texas university have designed a chip that could give smartphones the long-envied ability of comic book her Superman to see through walls, clothes or other objects.
A team at University of Texas at Dallas tuned a small, inexpensive microchip to discern a "terahertz" band of the electromagnetic spectrum.The design works with chips made using Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor technology behind processors commonly found in personal computers, smartphones, televisions and videogame consoles.
"CMOS is affordable and can be used to make lots of chips," electrical engineering professor Kenneth O said in a statement Friday.
"The combination of CMOS and terahertz means you could put this chip and a transmitter on the back of a cell phone, turning it into a device carried in your pocket that can see through objects."
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