News for October 26, 2005

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Iran president wants Israel ‘wiped off the map’ (October 26, 2005) - Iran’s hard-line president called for Israel to be “wiped off the map” and said a new wave of Palestinian attacks will destroy the Jewish state, state-run media reported Wednesday.Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also denounced attempts to recognize Israel or normalize relations with it. “There is no doubt that the new wave (of attacks) in Palestine will wipe off this stigma (Israel) from the face of the Islamic world,” Ahmadinejad told students Wednesday during a Tehran conference called “The World without Zionism.” “Anybody who recognizes Israel will burn in the fire of the Islamic nation’s fury, any (Islamic leader) who recognizes the Zionist regime means he is acknowledging the surrender and defeat of the Islamic world,” Ahmadinejad said. Ahmadinejad also repeated the words of the founder of Iran’s Islamic revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who called for the destruction of Israel. “As the Imam said, Israel must be wiped off the map,” said Ahmadinejad, who came to power in August. Ahmadinejad referred to Israel’s recent withdrawal from the Gaza Strip as a “trick,” saying Gaza is part of the Palestinian territories and the withdrawal was meant to make Islamic states acknowledge Israel.

Syria gets Iranian boost (October 26, 2005) - Western diplomat says Iran made commitment to Syria to provide Iranian technical assistance to facilitate Syria’s chemical warfare program. With the release of the UN International Independent Investigation Commission interim report on 20 October into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri increasing international pressure on Syria, a diplomatic source has said that Damascus is nevertheless pursuing what they describe as “an innovative chemical warfare (CW) program in co-operation with Iran”, Jane’s Defence Weekly newspaper reported Monday. The essence of this co-operation, the source told the newspaper, “is Tehran’s contractual commitment, made to Syria a few months ago, to provide Iranian CW technical assistance to facilitate Syria’s CW program”. Utilizing this assistance, they said, Syria hopes to reach an independent production capability of precursors for producing CW agents, which it has so far been unable to achieve. According to the source, Iran will assist Syria in the planning, establishment and pilot operation of about four or five facilities throughout Syria for the production of precursors for VX and Sarin nerve agents and mustard blister agent. “This project is unprecedented and millions of US dollars have been allocated to implement it,” the source said. “The project includes building major facilities, including advanced equipment to produce tens to hundreds of tons of CW precursors per year that are sufficient for CW industrial manufacturing pilot production,” the source added. more...

Pakistan’s quake death toll rises to 54,000 (October 26, 2005) - The death toll from Pakistan’s massive quake is now 54,000, Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao said on Wednesday, raising the total by more than 800. Sherpao warned that the figure was likely to climb further, firstly because more buildings razed by the October 8 quake are being cleared and secondly because of cold weather in the disaster zone. “With the severe winter approaching in a few weeks, we are racing against time to save people and have asked them to come down from the highlands,” Sherpao told AFP. Around 36,000 of the dead were in Pakistani Kashmir and some 18,000 were in North West Frontier Province, he added. Sherpao added that the number of injured had also increased to 77,000. On Saturday Pakistan’s disaster relief chief Major General Farooq Ahmad Khan said 53,182 people died and 75,146 were injured.

Syrian show: Jews cut Christian throats (October 26, 2005) - A rabbi cuts the throat of a Christian boy, drains his blood into a bowl and then eats blood-baked matzo. A Jewish official plots the destruction of German Jewry with Nazi strongman Adolf Eichmann. A member of the Zionist Agency discusses the “small matter” of Japan, after which scenes of a nuclear attack on Hiroshima are superimposed over the Star of David. All this and so much more can be viewed in “The Diaspora,” a Syrian-produced television series airing this month on Al-Mamnou, an independent Jordanian satellite network, reports Palestinian Media Watch. “Diaspora” presents itself as a historic documentary depicting the Zionist movements that led to the creation of the Jewish state. According to PWM, Jews are shown killing Christian children, plotting the Russian Revolution and the World Wars, encouraging Nazi concentration camps and pressuring America to use atomic weapons against Japan. In one scene, the head of the “Secret Jewish World Government” says, “We have to assist [Adolf] Hitler in the extermination of the Jews because this is the only way to drive the Jews in the countries which haven’t been occupied by Hitler to immigrate to the Promised Land.” Jews are seen toasting the deaths of Jews and Christians during World War II. A Jewish leader is later depicted talking to Eichmann, a Nazi official who oversaw Germany’s death camps during the Holocaust. The leader comments, “Mr. Eichmann, believe me that if we the Zionists were not Jewish, we would have been Nazis. ... You the Nazis consider the Aryan race to belong to the perfect people and the German people as the most perfect. We also consider ourselves a perfect people, and Zionists, the most perfect ones.” more...
Clips of nine scenes from the series, along with the transcripts.

Iran hosts ‘The World without Zionism’ (October 26, 2005) - Iran’s hard-line president called for Israel to be “wiped off the map” and said a new wave of Palestinian attacks will destroy the Jewish state, state-run media reported Wednesday. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also denounced attempts to recognize Israel or normalize relations with it. “There is no doubt that the new wave (of attacks) in Palestine will wipe off this stigma (Israel) from the face of the Islamic world,” Ahmadinejad told students Wednesdays during a Tehran conference called “The World without Zionism.” “Anybody who recognizes Israel will burn in the fire of the Islamic nation’s fury (while) any (Islamic leader) who recognizes the Zionist regime means he is acknowledging the surrender and defeat of the Islamic world,” Ahmadinejad said. Ahmadinejad also repeated the words of the founder of Iran’s Islamic revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who called for the destruction of Israel. “As the Imam said, Israel must be wiped off the map,” said Ahmadinejad, who came to power in August and replaced Mohammad Khatami, a reformist who advocated inter-civilization dialogue and tried to improve Iran’s relations with the West. Ahmadinejad referred to Israel’s recent withdrawal from the Gaza Strip as a “trick,” saying Gaza is part of the Palestinian territories and the withdrawal was meant to make Islamic states acknowledge Israel.

ACLU targets tiny cross on seal (October 25, 2005) - Proving it does not discriminate against the size of the municipality it will take to court, the American Civil Liberties Union is locked in a legal battle with a small New Mexico town over a tiny cross on its seal – this after last year forcing the County of Los Angeles to remove a cross from its seal. After being threatened with a lawsuit should it continue to use the seal, the city of Tijeras, N.M., – with a population of less than 500 – decided to place itself in a David and Goliath conflict with the ACLU to defend the presence of the cross. In 1973, Tijeras adopted the seal, which was designed to symbolize the history of the town. It includes a conquistador’s helmet and sword, a scroll, a desert plant, a fairly large religious symbol (the Native American zia) and a small Christian cross. “Tiny cross inspectors are not permitted to fret about large non-Christian religious symbols, only undersized Christian ones,” commented columnist John Leo about the case. Since it is such a small town, Tijeras did not have the financial resources to battle the ACLU, so the Alliance Defense Fund, a pro-religious-liberty organization, has agreed to represent the municipality. “The ACLU is once more specifically targeting a cross while it ignores Native American religious symbols,” commented ADF senior counsel Gary McCaleb. “It reveals their desire to target all things Christian, regardless of the fact that the cross in the Tijeras seal is clearly an historic symbol and not an attempt to endorse any particular faith.” Wrote Silas Montgomery, tongue in cheek, in the Arizona Daily Wildcat, referencing the placement of the cross on the seal: “This heinous crime, committed more than 30 years ago, went unpunished until the righteous crusaders from the ACLU took note of it and decided that justice had to be served.” more...

Is this the end of time? (October 25, 2005) - No. But as of today, you have only two shopping months till Christmas. You just have to ask yourself: “Can I get my Christmas shopping done before Jesus comes back?” And if your time is tight, you may want to ask, “What’s really important in life?” Let’s start here: Jesus was born on Dec. 25, right? Well, the neat thing about celebrating Dec. 25 is that it’s such a comprehensive holiday. Since antiquity, it has been designated as the birthday of Baal, Moloch, Dagon, Nimrod, Hercules, Atlas, Mithras, Krishna, Zeus, Osiris, Tammuz, Horus, Apollo, Amon, Ra, Bacchus, and Jupiter. So if there’s anything to these other religions, you’re covered just by decking a few halls and downing a couple of eggnogs. When Jesus came along, He got dumped into that godpile for sake of convenience, and the distortions of Christian history began to stack up like Yule logs. After awhile, you had not only baby Jesus, but holly and mistletoe and one-horse open sleighs and Christmas card lists encased in computers, burping out mailing labels for your friends so you can happily ignore them the other 364 days. The Greek historian Herodotus understood the history-creating process all too well. He wrote, “Very few things happen at the right time, and the rest do not happen at all. The conscientious historian will correct these defects.” So on top of pop mythology, history has been “adjusted” by historians. What then can we do, sitting here near the tail end of history, drowning in thousands of volumes of historical facts? Sadly, many of our best teachers have been lost-in-details historians whose command of the facts is impressive, yet who sometimes reach haywire conclusions. (One thinks of the Ph.D. historians behind the Third Reich and the Soviet Union.) I feel you have three main options: One, select the best of the various schools of historiography. Two, read history blindly and toss into your brain every factoid you find – with little effort to discover patterns or conclusions. Or three, build upon a basic body of knowledge you deem trustworthy, being careful not to junk it up with “stray facts” that simply aren’t true. My suggestion: Start with sacred history! Specifically, the Bible offers the most comprehensive framework of historical interpretation you can find today. And if you are a Christian, it shouldn’t be hard for you to accept the events of Scripture – as self-explained in the Word itself – for an authoritative foundation underneath your understanding of history. more...

Witches see an opportunity in new hate bill (October 25, 2005) - The British government faces new embarrassment over the religious hatred bill with a warning that witches and satanists could use it to trigger police investigations of their critics. The Racial and Religious Hatred Bill, now passing through parliament, has been used by Labour to bolster support among Muslims. Charles Clarke, the home secretary, says the bill is of “vital importance” to protect Muslims and other groups from “religious hatred”. Opponents of the bill — including Rowan Atkinson, the comedian, and Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury — have said that it could be used to censor films, books and television programmes. Last week they warned that it could also be abused by members of religious cults who could complain to the police about anyone who insulted their beliefs. A similar law in Australia was used by a jailed witch to launch a criminal prosecution of the Salvation Army after it criticised witchcraft. Kevin Carlyon, who describes himself as the “high priest of British white witches”, said that British witches were likely to use the laws: “Witches do not roam around naked and hang people up. I am pleased that we will be protected by these new laws from bias or persecution.” Carlyon said that satanist groups were also likely to exploit the legislation: “There are a couple of groups in England and I think they may well use the new act. Some of the satanists are nice as pie, although I don’t support what they do. more...

Israel Renews Gaza Air Strikes After Rocket Firings (October 25, 2005) - The flare-up in violence, which included rare Israeli artillery fire toward militants in Gaza, was one of the most serious since an Israeli pullout last month raised hopes for Middle East peacemaking. A Palestinian woman and her two daughters were wounded in one of the air raids, which destroyed two buildings linked to Islamic Jihad and President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah faction. The army said militants from both groups had used the structures. The army said the air strikes, the first such attacks in about a month, came in response to cross-border rocket barrages by Islamic Jihad militants in Gaza avenging Israel’s killing of one of the group’s top commanders in the West Bank. Israel has often targeted buildings in Gaza that it says were used by militants during more than five years of violence. Israel had said after the rocket salvoes, which caused no casualties, that it would respond to any attacks on its people. Islamic Jihad said the attacks were an “initial response” to the killing of their commander in the West Bank town of Tulkarm. The army said troops targeted the militant and his comrade because they had masterminded past attacks against Israelis and were planning more. Israel has often raided West Bank towns in search of militants during a five-year-old uprising. Abbas said the killing of the Islamic Jihad militant undermined his efforts to maintain calm during an eight-month ceasefire militants declared in March. He also wants to ensure violence does not disrupt a legislative election in January. more...

God beats evolution in new CBS survey (October 25, 2005) - A new poll by CBS News indicates when it comes to the origin of men and women, most Americans reject the theory of evolution and believe they were created by God. According to the survey, “51 percent say God created humans in their present form, and another three in 10 say that while humans evolved, God guided the process. Just 15 percent say humans evolved, and that God was not involved.” Participants were given three options from which to choose about origins:

1. Human beings evolved from less advanced life forms over millions of years, and God did not directly guide this process;
2. Human beings evolved from less advanced life forms over millions of years, but God guided this process;
3. God created human beings in their present form.

The results indicate those most likely to believe in only evolution are liberals (36 percent), those who rarely or never attend church services (25 percent), and those with at least a college degree (24 percent). Most Americans, by a 67-29 percent margin, think it’s possible to believe in both God and evolution. The survey was taken via telephone from a nationwide random sample of 808 adults Oct. 3-5, and has a margin of error of plus or minus four percentage points. more...

Current Volcanic Activity (October 26, 2005) - This is a good listing of volcanoes worldwide and their current status and eruption history. more...

Israeli Government Representatives Commission Christians to be Watchmen over the Holy Land (October 26, 2005) - I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night… (Isaiah 62:6). The Jerusalem Watchman prayer update reports on an historical event of biblical proportions last Thursday, when high-ranking Israeli government representatives presided over the very first “Watchmen Commissioning” of Christian pilgrims. The article goes on to state: Deputy Mayor Yigal Amedi and Knesset Member (MK) Dr. Yuri Shtern joined religious leaders in recognizing nearly 100 Christians gathered at the Wall, for their dedication and support for the nation of Israel. Many of those recognized were also commissioned - under the sanctioning of the city of Jerusalem - as official “Watchmen on the Wall.” “These watchmen are a new breed of Christians,” Robert Stearns said from the ceremonies in Jerusalem last week. “With the full weight of the government of the city of Jerusalem behind us, we are witnessing the fulfillment, in a new dimension, of ancient biblical prophecies.” The newly-commissioned representatives are members of Watchmen on the Wall, a program organized by Eagles’ Wings, which trains believers to be informed intercessors and articulate ambassadors by completing both the required training curriculum and a “prayer pilgrimage” to the Holy Land. These semi-annual pilgrimages bring to life not only the Biblical roots of Christianity, but also the current situations in the land that need our united prayer. more...

Prayer Alert: New Pro-Life Polish President Won Election on  “Moral Renewal” Campaign; Now Poland Given Notice for Violating EU “Human Rights” (October 26, 2005) - New EU resolution, if passed, will also oust other Pro-Life countries as “intolerant.” Evidently, the clear victory of Christian conservative, Lech Kaczynski, as Poland’s new president, is not sitting well with an EU commission. The commission appears to be afraid that Kaczynski’s pro-life and capital punishment (for the worst murders) stance -- as well as his promise to bring moral “renewal” to his country, by which he ran his successful campaign -- will not be in keeping with EU policies. Among other things, Kaczynski is also criticized by the commission for seeking a ban on a gay rights march when he was mayor of Warsaw. The feared election of Kaczynski thus caused Poland to be issued a “blunt warning” recently, due to the fact, claims the EU, that his “human rights” record is contrary to the union’s basic values. Apparently, if the new Polish President doesn’t tow the EU line, Poland may lose their EU membership. Says reporter Stephen Castle, politicians have been alarmed by the statements of the president-elect, and are hoping he and his party will be reined in when in office. more...

UK Prof Testifies That Scientists Have “Observed Biological Systems and Inferred That a ‘Designer’ Must Exist” (October 25, 2005) - U.K. academic, Steve Fuller, a professor of sociology at the University of Warwick, testified before a U.S. federal court yesterday that the theory of Intelligent Design is a valid scientific theory because it has been used to describe biological phenomena. According to a report in the Guardian, Professor Fuller, the author of An Intelligent Person’s Guide to Intelligent Design Theory, said the scientific community was slow to accept minority views, but argued that introducing intelligent design might inspire students to help develop the theory. “It seems to me in many respects the cards are stacked against radical, innovative views getting a fair hearing in science these days,” he said. Reporter Sam Jones also noted that, citing the work of Michael Behe, a leading advocate of intelligent design and a previous witness at the trial, Prof Fuller said scientists have observed biological systems and inferred that a “designer” must exist. more...

Militant Islam Creeping Through Russian Caucasus (October 25, 2005) - A dripping and cavernous tunnel, three miles through the belly of the mountain and lighted only by a spindly strand of dim bulbs, marks the entrance to the land of deep gorges and outlaw villages of the Caucasus range. Emerging in the bright daylight on the other side is like entering another world, a Russia that is not Russia. Road signs every few feet are bright green with Arabic script: “There is no god but God, and Muhammad is his prophet.” Several dozen signs bear the words of a legendary Caucasian warrior: “He who thinks about consequences is not a hero.” Since the 19th century, Russia has tried to tame the 650 miles of snowy peaks and fertile lowland slopes between the Caspian and Black seas. Today, the Caucasus wars seeping out of Chechnya through the surrounding, predominantly Muslim republics are increasingly being waged under a banner of militant Islam. This creeping Islamic revolution, analysts suggest, is the latest outcome of the Kremlin’s failure to adopt a coherent policy for combating religious extremism in a nation with 23 million Muslims. more...