Thursday, April 15, 2010
Russia Stops Adoptions To U.S
Click to read full story at Fox News
MOSCOW -- Russia has suspended all adoptions to U.S. families until the two countries can agree on procedures, the Foreign Ministry said Thursday -- a week after an American woman sent her 7-year-old adopted son back to Russia on a plane by himself.
The boy's return -- without supervision or explanation aside from a note he carried from his adoptive mother saying he had psychological problems -- incensed Russian authorities and the public, and prompted aggressive media coverage of foreign adoptions.
A U.S. delegation will visit Moscow "in the next few days" to discuss a possible bilateral adoption agreement, ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said.
"Russia believes that only such an agreement which will contain effective tools for Russian and U.S. officials to monitor the living conditions of adopted Russian children will ensure that recent tragedies in the United States will not be repeated," Nesterenko said in a televised briefing.
The Tennessee woman who sent back her adopted Russian son last Thursday claimed she had been misled by his Russian orphanage about his condition.
Russians were outraged that no charges were filed against her in the United States.
"How can we prosecute a person who abused the rights of a Russian child abroad?" Russia's children's rights ombudsman, Pavel Astakhov, said in a televised interview Wednesday. "If there was an adoption treaty in place, we would have legal means to protect Russian children abroad.
Some 3,000 U.S. applications for adopting Russian children are now pending, according to the Joint Council on International Children's Services, which represents many U.S. agencies engaged in international adoption.
But the numbers have declined sharply in recent years -- with only 1,586 U.S. adoptions from Russia last year, compared with more than 5,800 in 2004.
Russia itself has been a big factor in the drop-off, adoption experts said, citing a perception that many children from Russian orphanages can present special challenges, due to such conditions as fetal alcohol syndrome.
Russian lawmakers for years have nevertheless suggested suspending such adoptions, after other cases of abuse and even killings of Russian children adopted in the United States.
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JMC Ministries shared this story about the woman who put this little boy on a plane and basically did a “return to sender” and abandoned her son. To read the this article click
Russia to put Freeze on Adoptions After U.S woman Returns Adopted Son
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
US: Govt Calls preaching Clear and Present Danger
Evangelist Arrested for Preaching Near Liberty Bell from Repent America on Vimeo.
Click to read full story from World Net Daily
By Bob Unruh
© 2010 WorldNetDaily
Liberty Bell engraving that states: "Proclaim liberty throughout the land unto all the inhabitants thereof."
A panel of judges at the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals today heard arguments that free speech should be allowed on public property at the site of the famous Liberty Bell, which itself quotes from the Bible in stating, "Proclaim liberty throughout the land unto all the inhabitants thereof."
The arguments came in a case involving Michael Marcavage, a minister whose work includes street preaching. He was fined and put on probation for preaching to the public on a sidewalk outside the Liberty Bell center after a trial in which government prosecutors described his message and actions as a "clear and present danger."
The case began in October 2007 when Marcavage, director of the Repent America ministry, was arrested by supervising U.S. Park Ranger Alan Saperstein.
Marcavage ultimately was charged with violating a so-called "verbal permit" and "interfering with agency functions."
It was Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Goldberg during the June 2008 trial who argued Marcavage's peaceful preaching presented a "clear and present danger." Goldberg asked the judge to send a message not only to Marcavage but to anyone who would stand on public property and share their beliefs without government permission.
According to Marcavage, Independence National Historical Park Law Enforcement Specialist Donald Reed recently reaffirmed that free speech activities are banned on any of the public sidewalks surrounding the park that align city streets without first obtaining government permission. Even with a permit, the activities must be confined to a designated "free speech zone."
"In Philadelphia, the birthplace of American freedom, at the site of the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall, freedom is under attack by the very government that was established here to protect it," Marcavage said.
"The blessings of liberty that God bestowed upon our nation continue to be lost while the Gospel of Jesus Christ is silenced," he continued. "If the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals upholds the ruling and finds that the federal government can ban Americans from speaking to others on matters that are important to them in the public forum or without advanced government permission, then this could very well be the final nail in the coffin of our freedoms."
Marcavage told WND that based on their questioning, the three appellate judges – Michael Fisher, Thomas Hardiman and Robert Cowen – appeared to wonder about the prohibition of a Gospel message when other protesters with another message were left untouched. He noted commercial speech also was taking place in the same area where he was arrested.
"We obviously hope that what they revealed through the very hard questioning will be favorable toward freedom," Marcavage told WND.
He said it is "absurd" that Americans have to fight for the right to speak freely on a public sidewalk near Independence Hall, where much of the work writing the U.S. Constitution was done, and adjacent to the exhibit of the Liberty Bell, one of the best-known symbols of freedom in the world.
Repent America is an evangelistic organization based in Philadelphia whose leaders "know that there is a literal hell and a lake of fire where the unsaved will burn for all eternity; therefore, we act upon this truth without reservation and GO OUT into the communities of America declaring the Word of God and proclaiming the Good News."
WND reported earlier when Marcavage brought, with the help of private practice attorney C. Scott Shields, a complaint against the government over the speech infringement. That case is on hold while the current case is on appeal.
Marcavage was restricted from preaching even though Komen Breast Cancer walkers were "utilizing the same sidewalk as a forum for expressing their opinions and viewpoints," court records reveal.
"However, Mr. Marcavage was told that he couldn't stand on the … block and express his viewpoint and was instead given a verbal permit to express his viewpoint in another part of the Independence Mall, far away from where the Breast Cancer walkers were expressing their viewpoint," court records said.
6.9 magnitude Earthquake Hits China
BEIJING -- A series of strong earthquakes struck a mountainous Tibetan area of western China on Wednesday, killing at least 400 people and injuring more than 10,000 as houses made of mud and wood collapsed, officials said. Many more people were trapped and the toll was expected to rise.
The largest quake was recorded by the U.S. Geological Survey as magnitude 6.9. In the aftermath, panicked people, many bleeding from their wounds, flooded the streets of a Qinghai province township where most of the homes had been flattened. Students were reportedly buried inside several damaged schools.
Paramilitary police used shovels to dig through the rubble in the town, footage on state television showed. Officials said excavators were not available and with most of the roads leading to the nearest airport damaged, equipment and rescuers would have a hard time reaching the area. Hospitals were overwhelmed, many lacking even the most basic supplies, and doctors were in short supply.
Downed phone lines, strong winds and frequent aftershocks also hindered rescue efforts, said Wu Yong, commander of the local army garrison, who said the death toll "may rise further as lots of houses collapsed."
With many people forced outside, the provincial government said it was rushing 5,000 tents and 100,000 coats and blankets to the mountainous region, at around 13,000 feet (4,000 meters) -high and where night time temperatures plunge below freezing.
Workers were racing to release water from a reservoir in the disaster area where a crack had formed after the quake to prevent a flood, according to the China Earthquake Administration.
The Wednesday quake, which struck at 7:49 a.m. local time (2349 GMT, 7:49 p.m. EDT), was centered on Yushu county, in the southern part of Qinghai, near Tibet, with a population of about 100,000, mostly herders and farmers.
The USGS recorded six temblors in less than three hours, all but one registering 5.0 or higher. The China Earthquake Networks Center measured the largest quake's magnitude at 7.1. Qinghai averages more than five earthquakes a year of at least magnitude 5.0, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. They normally do not cause much damage in the sparsely populated province.
Residents fled as the ground shook, toppling houses made of mud and wood, as well as temples, gas stations, electric poles and the top of a Buddhist pagoda in a park, witnesses and state media said. The quake also triggered landslides, Xinhua said.
"Nearly all the houses made of mud and wood collapsed. There was so much dust in the air, we couldn't see anything," said Ren Yu, general manager of Yushu Hotel in Jiegu, the county's main town. "There was a lot of panic. People were crying on the streets. Some of our staff, who were reunited with their parents, were also in tears."
More than 100 guests of the hotel, which was relatively undamaged, were evacuated to open spaces such as public squares, Ren told The Associated Press by phone. After transporting guests to safety, hotel staff then helped in rescue efforts in other buildings, Ren said.
"We pulled out 70 people, but some of them died on the way to the hospital," Ren said, adding other survivors were put in tents in the hotel yard while they awaited assistance.
The death toll rose to about 400 by afternoon, according to China Central Television. Emergency official Pubucairen, who goes by only one name, was quoted as saying that the number of injured has risen to more than 10,000. The official said rescuers were treating the injured at hospitals, race tracks and sports stadiums.
President Hu Jintao sent a vice premier to supervise rescue efforts and more than 5,000 soldiers, medical workers and other rescuers were mobilized, joining 700 soldiers already on the ground, Xinhua said. A message of sympathy also came from the Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader of the often fervently Buddhist Tibetans who is reviled by Chinese leaders.
Christian Singer Song writer Jennifer Knapp Announces She Is Gay
This is just a piece of an interview that Jennifer did with ADVOCATE.com. It is very sad that some who call themselves Christians are living their lives against the teachings of the bible and believe that there is nothing wrong with it. Then in turn spreading this false teaching that God accepts anything that you do and it is not a sin to just live your life as you choose with no consequences. But there are.....
Monday, April 12, 2010
Jews Honor Holocaust Victims and the tragic death of Poland’s President
click to read original article from Fox News
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Thousand of young Jews and Holocaust survivors are marching at the former Nazi death camp of Auschwitz to remember those who perished in the Holocaust and honor Poland's late president.
Some 10,000 people from around the world are walking between the Auschwitz and Birkenau sections of the death camp where the Nazis killed more than 1 million people, mostly Jews, during World War II.
Many marchers are wearing black armbands, and black ribbons top their white-and-blue Israeli flags, in memory of Poland's President Lech Kaczynski and his wife Maria who were killed Saturday with other top officials en route to WWII-era observances in western Russia.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Reports of of Anti-Semitic incidents against Jews doubled last year
Click to read original article from Fox News
JERUSALEM (AP) — Violent attacks against Jews worldwide more than doubled last year, fueled by a Muslim backlash in Europe in the aftermath of Israel's invasion of Gaza, according to a report released Sunday.
The Tel Aviv University study reported 1,129 anti-Semitic incidents last year, ranging from vandalism and arson against Jewish targets to beatings of Jews. The figure, up from 559 incidents the previous year, was the highest since the survey began more than 20 years ago.
The steepest increase in anti-Semitic violence occurred in Western Europe, especially Britain and France, where protests and anger by Muslim residents boiled over after Israel's invasion of Gaza in December 2008, said the report, compiled by the university's Stephen Roth Institute for the Study of Contemporary Anti-Semitism and Racism.
The Israeli invasion, launched in response to years of Palestinian rocket attacks, killed some 1,400 Palestinians, including hundreds of civilians, according to local officials and human rights groups. Thirteen Israelis also died in the fighting.
Dina Porat, the report's editor, said protests against the war often led to incitement, which in turn erupted into physical violence. "The political goals are imbued with anti-Jewish sentiment, equations of Jews to Nazis," she said.
She said the study tracked only instances of physical violence against Jewish targets. "Verbal violence is violence of course, but we don't count it. Violence we regard as physical, and here we have clear indications."
For the first time in the report's history, incidents carried out by Muslims eclipsed those by right-wing extremists in cases where the perpetrator was identified, the report said.
Incidents in Britain shot up to 374 from 112 in 2008, and to 195 from 50 in France.
The United States registered only a slight increase, according to the study.
Moshe Kantor, president of the European Jewish Congress, which sponsors the report, said that the rise of anti-Semitic sentiment in Western Europe can be blamed on forces outside the region.
"This new phenomenon is financed and organized by pro-Islamic, pro-terrorist organizations and states," Kantor said.
The university issued its report on the eve of Israel's annual memorial day for the 6 million Jews killed in the Nazi Holocaust.
West Virginia Coal Mine Tragedy of 2010
COMFORT, W.Va. (AP) — Time stopped five days ago for the families of 29 coal miners killed in the devastating explosion at Upper Big Branch mine.
As thousands waited, hoping for any word someone might have survived Monday's blast, life in coal country chugged on, men trudging underground day and night to fill the trucks and trains that haul away coal around the clock.
Mining is a way of life here. So is death.
Just miles from where families gathered to wait for news, a peddler of mining gear did brisk business and tired miners covered in coal dust picked up pizzas at the end of their shifts. In the quiet, humble neighborhoods that hug the Big Coal River, the work never stopped.
"When the World Trade Center was bombed, the world didn't shut down," said James Lipford, 38, a miner from Seth who was driving to the V-Mart convenience store early Saturday when he heard the last four bodies had been found deep inside Massey Energy Co.'s mine in Montcoal.
He knew three of those killed and worried all week, but never thought about quitting. After all, he says, coal company shareholders still expect profits. Homeowners expect to be able to turn on their lights with electricity generated by coal. His family expects him to bring home a paycheck so they can buy groceries.
"We go with a heavy heart," he said, "but you have to go."
It was the worst U.S. coal mining disaster since 1970, when an explosion killed 38 in Hyden, Ky.
Seven bodies were pulled from Upper Big Branch immediately after Monday's blast, but dangerous gases forced rescue crews out and it took days for them to get back in. They hoped four miners they had not accounted for might somehow have made it to a refuge chamber stocked with food, water and oxygen, but word came early Saturday that all had been found dead.
Crews realized late Friday they had walked past the four bodies that first day, but could not see them because the air was so smoky and dusty. The massive blast left the inside of the mine a mess of twisted tracks, boulders and debris. Two other miners were injured and one remains hospitalized.
Twenty-eight of those killed worked for Virginia-based Massey and one was a contract worker for the company, which has been under scrutiny since the explosion for a string of safety violations at the mine. CEO Don Blankenship, who was with the families when they learned the miners were dead, has strongly defended the company's record and disputed accusations from miners that he puts coal profits ahead of safety.
Officials have not said what caused the blast, though they believe high levels of methane gas may have played a role. Massey has been repeatedly cited and fined for problems with the system that vents methane and for allowing combustible dust to build up.
President Barack Obama said Saturday that steps must be taken to make sure such an explosion does not happen again.
"We cannot bring back the men we lost," he said in a statement. "What we can do, in their memory, is thoroughly investigate this tragedy and demand accountability."
A team of federal investigators will arrive Monday, but for now the focus is on burying the dead and removing the remaining bodies, a grim process that started Saturday.
A complete list of victims has not been released, but most of the names are public knowledge. In the hollows studded with blooming redbuds, everybody knows everybody, and word spreads fast.
Four funerals were held Friday, with more scheduled for the weekend. Nearly two dozen will follow in the weeks ahead.
At Jarrell's General Merchandise in Dry Creek, clerk Lavon Collins thought about her friends and neighbors and the three dead men she knew, all from the small communities along Clear Fork Road.
"You'll never, ever forget, but you have to go on," Collins said.
Rock Creek barber Mark Aliff came into Jarrell's to buy spray paint and nails so he could add to the hundreds of handmade signs supporting the miners that dot yards, porches and fences across the valley. He knew some of the victims, too, young men whose hair he has cut for nearly 25 years.
"I watched them grow into the coal miners they were today," said Aliff, who woke to blaring ambulance sirens around midnight Friday and nudged his wife awake.
"They got somebody out alive and they were getting him an ambulance is what I was hoping," he said, his voice trailing off.
Aliff hauled the red paint to his shop to write a message aimed at not just the miners' families, but the larger family of the coalfields.
"It's going to say 'God Bless Our Coal Miners and Families' to include everybody else that's not a coal miner but has a friend or somebody that's in the mines," he said. "I want to include everyone."
Here, mining and logging are the most reliable and lucrative ways to earn a living. Coal mining pays well and the work is relatively stable, an attractive option for young men not interested in college.
"A lot of people look at mining as a job for the uneducated, for the impoverished," said Jonathan Word, 21, whose great-grandfather died in a mining explosion decades ago. "But it's just a job, and they've got to support themselves."
Rob Lemon, who works at a mine up the road from Upper Big Branch, thinks about the risks every day. This week has made him think about his wife and daughters, and how it would be for them to live through a disaster like this, waiting a week to learn whether he had lived or died.
"It reminds you of how dangerous it is and it can be," Lemon said. "But we still all have a job to do."
In Whitesville, there is only one restaurant amid the boarded-up stores. And two funeral homes.
Just about everyone in town has a story about a miner who narrowly escaped death underground.
Sticking to the semblance of a routine helps them cope with the latest tragedy.
Click to read full article from Fox News
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JMC Ministries Response
Written by Miranda Caverley
As the great Granddaughter of a Coal Mine worker, my heart goes out to all who lost loved ones in this tragedy.
My Great Grandpa worked in the coal mine for years and barely made enough money to provide for his family. He stood over 6 feet tall but due to the constant bending and being hunched over working in the mines he eventually became permanently hunched over. My Great Grandpa was a coal mine worker, a preacher and a wonderful man of God. He worked hard just like these men still do to provide Americans electricity and necessities of life. This is one of the most dangerous jobs in our Country and day after day these people go to work in spite of the health risks and the dangers to provide for their families and also for us the U.S citizens.
Let us not forget what has happened not only this past week but all the other mining tragedies that have happened through out the years. They should NOT Be forgotten.
We salute you and thank you the U.S Coal Miner. May God Bless you and keep you safe.
Westboro Baptist Church Is A Cult Spreading a Message of Hate
Click to read original article at Christian News Wire
CHARLESTON, W.V., April 9 /Christian Newswire/ -- On Thursday, April 8, the Westboro Baptist Church showed up in Charleston, West Virginia to protest. They said the Upper Big Branch Coal Mine accident happened because God is punishing America for homosexuality.
One flier said, "God hates WV! The dead miners are in Hell!" Signs proclaimed: "America Is Doomed," "Thank God for Dead Miners," "God Hates Your Tears," "God Hates West Virginia" and "God Hates You."
The Westboro Baptist Church is a cult and is not an evangelical church. They are a cult because they say they speak for God and they do not -- they are false prophets.
It is good to protest on various issues, including homosexuality. However, it is not good to say that God is saying something when He is not.
Whenever people speak, the message must line up with the Bible. We know that the Bible speaks against homosexuality. This is not even a debate.
However, the problem with the Westboro cult is that they personalize their messages against innocent individual soldiers or miners who were just doing their jobs.
Westboro uses the word 'hate' too loosely. They do not talk about forgiveness. Frankly, we are all doomed without the forgiveness of the Lord, even if we are not practicing some big sin.
The innocent miners and soldiers probably do not endorse homosexuality, however, Westboro vilifies them. Also, the miners and soldiers may be fellow Christians.
Steve McConkey, ChristianInvestigator.com President, says "There are definite judgments coming on the United States if we do not repent, especially in regards to America allowing abortion to run rampant. However, the Westboro cult does not speak for God as they individualize their false prophecies against innocent people. If they want to protest homosexuality, go to cities that promote homosexuality, but stay away from innocent victims."
The Westboro Baptist Church has the right to free speech despite their hate-filled speech. They are being used by Satan to make Christians look like false prophets. Also, they give ammunition for anti-Christian forces who are trying to limit Christian free speech.
ChristianInvestigator.com is the new name for UndergroundNews.us. ChristianInvestigator.com, a branch of 4 WINDS, is a news and apologetics ministry located in Madison, Wisconsin. Steve McConkey is the President and works with Olympic track and field athletes.
ChristianInvestigator.com was started for athletes, but the vast number of readers are now non-athletes.
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JMC Ministries Response
This so called “church” only has one purpose: to harass people and spread hate, and it isn’t just adults doing this these people even get young children to participate in picketing U.S soldiers funerals and now with the West Virginia Coal Mine Tragedy.
They even went as far as suing one Fallen Soldiers father after they picketed his funeral forcing the father to pay their court costs because the Father Tried Suing this “church” for what they did at his sons funeral.
Jesus never sat out on streets or went to peoples funerals and said they burn in hell. Or even that He God hates West Virginia, or even the soldiers that have lost their lives for the freedom those people use so wrongly to spread their hate speech. NO Jesus never did this. He came and showed love, compassion and forgiveness.
This is clearly an example of what Jesus called as false prophets and false teachings. We must pray for these people and the children that are caught up in this hate and damnation judgment of others pray they find the truth because the TRUTH sets us free.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
7 year old boy Returns Stolen Money
Click to read original Story from Fox 59
RICHMOND, IN - A seven year-old boy found a folder full of stolen money cashed from security checks at a local non-profit agency. He knew he couldn't keep it, he said it was the right thing to return the money to its rightful owners.
A seven year-old boy made a huge discovery on the side of Interstate 70 in Richmond. Gregory Payne III, who lives in Catlettsburg, Kentucky was visiting his grandmother in Richmond, Ind. for spring break when he noticed something beyond her backyard.
He said he was cleaning, when he spotted folders beyond the fence near the interstate.
"I thought it was somebody's homework," said Payne.
Inside the folders he found documents and $1400 in cash.
"What would be the right thing to do?" his mother asked.
Gregory told his mom he felt he should return the money. The folders had been stolen from a safe at the non-profit Achieva Resources just a few blocks away. Achieva provides assisted living for the developmentally disabled and helps children with disabilities.
"I would have loved to have kept it but I wanted to do the right thing," said the soft spoken young man.
"The first thing I thought was a seven year-old old boy to be that honest it was amazing," said Dan Stewart, CEO of Achieva.
The money had just been cashed from eight of the disabled residents social security checks. Stewart said some of the money had been deposited in the bank but the cash was meant for spending money for things like food and clothing.
Achieva held a special celebration to thank Gregory for his selfless act returning the money and gave him a $100 reward.
His mom, Stephanie Mann, was extremely proud.
"These people really have very little, so to take anything away from them was so sad, but to be able to give it back was even sweeter," said Stephanie Mann.
Her son clearly felt good about his decision.
Gregory's lesson: "Always do the right thing."
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