Pastor Roger, have you heard anything about Bronzesnake?

The last I heard from him was Nov 11th at which time he was still doing the same as the last he posted here.

[The bill now faces reconciliation with the more modest Senate measure that avoided cuts in food stamps and other social programs for the poor.]

 Monday, Nov. 21, 2005 Posted: 7:37:57AM EST

Faith leaders expressed disappointment after the House passed a $50 billion budget bill on Saturday that would hurt hundreds of thousands of America's poor.

 "Woe to you legislators of infamous laws … who refuse justice to the unfortunate, who cheat the poor among my people of their rights, who make widows their prey and rob the orphan," said Jim Wallis, Convener of Sojourners and Call to Renewal, quoting the prophet Isaiah.

A long string of calls and letters to congressmen from religious heads failed to keep House Republican leaders from approving the budget measure in a 217 to 215 vote. The measure would impose new fees on Medicaid recipients, eliminate some agriculture support programs, and raise the bar on eligibility for food stamps.

"We are disappointed that the House made cuts to the Food Stamp Program and are poised to cut taxes for the wealthy," said the Rev. David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World. "Their choice takes food from families struggling to make ends meet and puts more money in the pockets of those who need it the least."

Bread for the World just released its annual hunger report this week, where it illustrated the rise in the number of families participating in the Food Stamp Program since 2000. Half of all Americans will at some point live in a household receiving Food Stamps, according to the report. In 2005, more than 25 million Americans were receiving monthly Food Stamp benefits.

Reacting to the House cuts, Beckmann said, "This is morally wrong and will make Thanksgiving bleaker for hundreds of thousands of hard-working families."

"The faith community is outraged and is drawing a line in the sand against immoral national priorities," said Wallis. "It is time to draw that line more forcefully and more visibly."

The bill now faces reconciliation with the more modest Senate measure that avoided cuts in food stamps and other social programs for the poor.

 USA/SGT Walter J. Rausch & 1st Platoon 101st Airborne Division
November 21, 2005 - The following is a letter sent to the Mother of an American soldier currently serving with the 101st Airborne Division in Iraq. Per his request - via his Mother - we offer it to you. Special thanks to Jack and Carol Ott for getting this to us:

Mom,

Be my voice. I want this message heard. It is mine and my platoon’s to the country. A man I know lost his legs the other night. He is in another company in our battalion. I can no longer be silent after watching the sacrifices made by Iraqis and Americans everyday. Send it to a congressman if you have to. Send it to FOX news if you have to. Let this message be heard please…

My fellow Americans, I have a task for those with the courage and fortitude to take it. I have a message that needs not fall on deaf ears. A vision the blind need to see. I am not a political man nor one with great wisdom. I am just a soldier who finds himself helping rebuild a country that he helped liberate a couple years ago.

I have watched on television how the American public questions why their mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters are fighting and dying in a country 9000 miles away from their own soil. Take the word of a soldier, for that is all I am, that our cause is a noble one. The reason we are here is one worth fighting for. A cause that has been the most costly and sought after cause in our small span of existence on our little planet. Bought in blood and paid for by those brave enough to give the ultimate sacrifice to obtain it. A right that is given to every man, woman, and child I believe by God. I am talking of freedom.

Freedom. One word but yet countless words could never capture it’s true meaning or power. “For those who have fought for it, freedom has a taste the protected will never know.” I read that once and it couldn’t be more true. It’s not the average American’s fault that he or she is “blind and deaf” to the taste of freedom. Most American’s are born into their God given right so it is all they ever know. I was once one of them. I would even dare to say that it isn’t surprising that they take for granted what they have had all their life. My experiences in the military however opened my eyes to the truth.

 Ironically you will find the biggest outcries of opposition to our cause from those who have had no military experience and haven’t had to fight for freedom. I challenge all of those who are daring enough to question such a noble cause to come here for just a month and see it first hand. I have a feeling that many voices would be silenced.

I watched Cindy Sheehan sit on the President’s lawn and say that America isn’t worth dying for. Later she corrected herself and said Iraq isn’t worth dying for. She badmouthed all that her son had fought and died for. I bet he is rolling over in his grave.

Ladies and gentleman I ask you this. What if you lived in a country that wasn’t free? What if someone told you when you could have heat, electricity, and water? What if you had no sewage systems so human waste flowed into the streets? What if someone would kill you for bad-mouthing your government? What if you weren’t allowed to watch TV, connect to the internet, or have cell phones unless under extreme censorship? What if you couldn’t put shoes on your child’s feet?

You need not to have a great understanding of the world but rather common sense to realize that it is our duty as HUMAN BEINGS to free the oppressed. If you lived that way would you not want someone to help you?

The Iraqi’s pour into the streets to wave at us and when we liberated the cities during the war they gathered in the thousands to cheer, hug and kiss us. It was what the soldier’s in WW2 experienced, yet no one questioned their cause!! Saddam was no better than Hitler! He tortured and killed thousands of innocent people. We are heroes over here, yet American’s badmouth our President for having us here.

Every police station here has a dozen or more memorials for officers that were murdered trying to ensure that their people live free. These are husbands, fathers, and sons killed every day. What if it were your country? What would your choice be? Everything we fight for is worth the blood that may be shed. The media never reports the true HEROISM I witness everyday in the Iraqi’s. Yes there are bad one’s here, but I assure you they are a minuscule percent. Yet they are a number big enough to cause worry in this country’s future.

I have watched brave souls give their all and lose their lives and limbs for this cause. I will no longer stand silent and let the “deaf and blind” be the only voice shouting. Stonewall Jackson once said, “All that I have, all that I am is at the service of the country.” For these brave souls who gave the ultimate sacrifice, including your son Cindy Sheehan, I will shout till I can no longer. These men and women are heroes. Their spirit lives on in their military and they will never be forgotten. They did not die in vain but rather for a cause that is larger than all of us.

My fellow countrymen and women, we are not overseas for our country alone but also another. We are here to spread democracy and freedom to those who KNOW the true taste of it because they fight for it everyday. You can see the desire in their eyes and I am honored to fight alongside them as an Infantryman in the 101st Airborne.

Freedom is not free, but yet it is everyone’s right to have. Ironic isn’t it? That is why we are here. Though you will always have the skeptics, I know that most of our military will agree with this message. Please, at the request of this soldier spread this message to all you know. We are in Operation Iraqi Freedom and that is our goal. It is a cause that I and thousands of others stand ready to pay the ultimate sacrifice for because, Cindy Sheehan, freedom is worth dying for, no matter what country it is! And after the world is free only then can we hope to have peace.

SGT Walter J. Rausch and 1st Platoon
101st Airborne Division (Air Assault)

Russian warhead alters course midflight in test
By Bill Gertz
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Published November 21, 2005
Russia recently conducted a flight test of a new warhead that can change course in midflight, which U.S. and Russian officials are calling part of Moscow's efforts to defeat U.S. missile defenses.
    The warhead was tested Nov. 1 and tracked by U.S. intelligence technical monitors, including satellites, the officials said.
    An analysis of the flight test by U.S. intelligence agencies revealed that it was a further test of a maneuverable warhead that Moscow has been developing for several years in response to U.S. missile defenses.
    The warhead was flight tested on a Russian Topol-M missile, designated by the Pentagon the SS-27, that flew from the Kapustin Yar launch complex in southern Russia near Volgograd.
    The missile booster fired for a shorter-than-usual duration in placing the dummy warhead and re-entry vehicle into space. The warhead then dropped down to a lower trajectory and was able to maneuver.
    Kremlin officials were quoted in Russian press reports as saying the new warhead was designed to thwart the new U.S. missile-defense system of interceptors deployed in Alaska and California.
    U.S. officials confirmed some characteristics of the new missile warhead based on an analysis of the Nov. 1 flight test, which was first reported earlier this month by several Russian news organizations.
    Unlike current ballistic warheads that do not alter their flight paths sharply once they reach space, the new warhead can change course and range while traveling at speeds estimated at about 3 miles per second, the officials said.
    Maneuvering warheads represents a difficult physics challenge because changing course at such high speeds normally would cause a warhead to disintegrate.
    Maneuverability would let a warhead thwart missile defenses, because such countermeasures rely on sensors to project a warhead's flight path and impact point so that an interceptor missile can be guided to the right spot to knock out a warhead.
    Rick Lehner, a spokesman for the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency (MDA), declined to comment on U.S. intelligence assessments of the latest Russian warhead test because data is classified.
    But Mr. Lehner would say that U.S. missile defenses aim to counter a limited number of warheads from a small nuclear power such as North Korea, not a major strike from a nation with hundreds of missiles, such as Russia.
    However, Moscow believes future U.S. defenses, including plans to deploy anti-missile interceptors in Europe or the East Coast of the United States, could be used against Russian strategic missiles.
    Russian President Vladimir Putin said a year ago that the new strategic-missile system "will have no analogues," a reference to the hypersonic warhead.
    Meanwhile, the Pentagon announced yesterday the Navy's Aegis missile-defense system conducted the sixth successful test of an anti-missile interceptor hitting a target warhead.
    It was the first time that a ship-based SM-3 interceptor missile hit a warhead that had been separated from its booster, the MDA said in a statement. The test was carried out near Hawaii from the Aegis-equipped cruiser USS Lake Erie.

Sharon resigns to form new party
Decision is 'best chance' to give more land to Palestinians, some say
Posted: November 21, 2005
8:49 a.m. Eastern

By Aaron Klein
© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com

JERUSALEM – Sending shock waves through the political arena here, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said today he will leave the ruling Likud party he helped found to start his own party, while asking the president to dissolve parliament and thereby prompting new elections that could see a change in the country's leadership.

Sharon's decision is seen by several senior dovish Israeli lawmakers and Palestinian leaders as Israel's "best chance" at giving the West Bank and the eastern sections of Jerusalem to the Palestinians.

"I am resigning from the party and forming a new one," Sharon wrote in a letter to his current Likud party, several hours after he asked Israeli President Moshe Katsav to dissolve the Knesset and call early elections.

The move comes after Sharon's "national unity coalition" with the Labor party fell apart following the election last week of a new Labor chairman, Amir Peretz, who decided to remove the party from the current government - a decision that left Sharon with less than a majority of parliament's 120 seats.

According to Israeli law, if the prime minister fails to maintain at least 61 seats in his ruling coalition, new elections must be held within 90 days.

The exact date of the elections will be determined in a battle later today in the Knesset that is already heating up. Sharon had wanted Katsav to initiate the dissolution of the parliament, which would set new elections for March 6th and enable the prime minister to reshuffle his cabinet and appoint interim ministers.

But in move that surprised many political watchers here, the Likud chairman announced today he has gathered enough votes for the Knesset to dissolve itself, which would most likely delay elections until the end of March and would disallow Sharon from appointing any new ministers as a reward for joining his soon-to-be-formed party.

The date of new elections could determine the fate of Sharon's political bid. New Israeli parties tend to start strong in the polls but traditionally begin to weaken after a few weeks.

Sources close to Sharon tell WND the Israeli prime minister has been sending urgent messages calling for Katsav to dissolve the parliament before the Knesset can vote today on dissolving itself.

Sharon has named his new party "National Responsibility." He held the its first official meeting with its prospective members in his office today.

Ousted Labor leader and Vice Premier Shimon Peres said he will not leave his party to join with Sharon, but sources close to Peres told WND his decision is not final and that intense negotiations were underway to lure him into Sharon's fold.

"Peres knows his only hope at any future political career lies with Sharon," said a Peres aid.

Sharon's resignation now leaves top Likud leaders Benjamin Netanyahu, a former prime minister, and Uzi Landau, a former cabinet minister, to contend with each other to head the party and run against Sharon in upcoming elections.

Landau told WND, "Sharon's departure presents Likud with the opportunity to return to its true principals, and not those imposed by the prime minister in total opposition to everything Likud stands for."

Likud traditionally opposes unilateral concessions to the Palestinians. Both Landau and Netanyahu resigned their post in protest of Sharon's withdrawal in August from the Gaza Strip.

George Birnbaum, a political strategist and former Netanyahu chief of staff, predicted Netanyahu will head the Likud in new elections.

"With Sharon leaving the Likud, Bibi (Netanyahu) does not have any real opposition within the party that could be considered a 'dangerous' challenge," Birnbaum told WND. "While contenders such Landau and [Likud member] Moshe Feiglin will give Bibi a bit of a race but at the end of the day Likud members see only Bibi as being able to deal with issues such as economic policy, foreign policy and the Palestinians."

Some polls within Lukid have Landau beating Netanyahu.

Meanwhile, dovish Israeli politicians and some Palestinian leaders are lauding Sharon's new party as a "real opportunity" for the "peace camp," and for Israel to give the West Bank and sections of Jerusalem to the Palestinians.

Yossi Beilin, an extreme leftist lawmaker and an architect of the 1993 Oslo Accords, called Sharon's resignation and the formation of a new party "a big victory for supporters of sharing the land. This is a real opportunity for a coalition headed by the peace camp, including former Likud members who understood that for 38 years they have deceived the nation and themselves."

Beilin said he is hopeful Sharon would be reelected and will sign a peace deal with the Palestinians that includes vacating the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem.

Chief Palestinian Negotiator Saeb Erekat told WND the Palestinian Authority "is monitoring the political process in Israel very closely. We believe what is happening is very significant. We hope once a new election takes place, whoever is in power will be willing to go to final status negotiations and make peace with the Palestinians."

Chicago mayor wants 6-day school week
Daley says trip to China inspired idea
Posted: November 21, 2005
1:00 a.m. Eastern


© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com

Inspired by a trip to Communist China, Chicago's Mayor Richard Daley says he wants the city's public schools to move to a six-day school week.

Children, he says, need more time in the classroom, a longer school year and earlier exposure to foreign languages to compete in the global market.

Daley announced his plan, short on details, at an education conference Saturday.

"We give kids too much time off," he said. "We're supposed to be visionaries. We can't educate our children if we give them two months off."

Daley said when he visited China, he found that children there learn English before they reach the equivalent of 8th grade, spend more days in school each week and don't have a summer break. he said.

School Board President Michael W. Scott said that administrators are researching the initiative.

page two

"The number of U.S. adversaries capable of EMP attack is greater than during the Cold War," said Rep. Roscoe Bartlett. "We may look back with some fondness on the Cold War. We then had only one potential adversary. We knew him quite well."

Bartlett pointed out that Iran has tested launching of a Scud missile from a surface vessel, "a launch mode that could support a national or transnational EMP attack against the United States."

"Iran has conducted tests with its Shahab-3 missile that have been described as failures by the Western media because the missiles did not complete their ballistic trajectories, but were deliberately exploded at high altitude," he said. "This, of course, would be exactly what you would want to do if you were going to use an EMP weapon. Iran described these tests as successful. We said they were a failure because they blew up in flight. They described them as successful. Of course, they would be, if Iran's intent was practicing for an EMP attack."

Bartlett added: "Potential adversaries are aware of the EMP's strategic attack option. Ninety-nine percent of Americans may not know very much about EMP, but I will assure you ... that 100 percent of our potential enemies know all about EMP. I think that the American people need to know about EMP because they need to demand that their government do the prudent thing so that we will be less and less susceptible, less and less at risk to an EMP attack year by year. The threat is not adequately addressed in U.S. national and homeland security programs. Not only is it not adequately addressed; it is usually ignored, not even mentioned, and it certainly needs to be considered."

"Terrorists could steal, purchase, or be provided a nuclear weapon and perform an EMP attack against the United States simply by launching a primitive Scud missile off a freighter near our shores," he said. "We do not need to be thinking about missiles coming over the pole. There are thousands of ships out there, particularly in the North Atlantic shipping lanes, and any one of them could have a Scud missile on board. If you put a canvas over it, we cannot see through the thinnest canvas. We would not know whether it was bailed hay or bananas or a Scud launcher. You cannot see through any cover on ship. Scud missiles can be purchased on the world market today for less than $100,000. Al-Qaida is estimated to own about 80 freighters, so all they need, ... is $100,000, which I am sure they can get, for the missile and a crude nuclear weapon."

Bartlett revealed Russian, Chinese, and Pakistani scientists are working in North Korea and could enable that country to develop an EMP weapon in the near future.

The congressman also raised the question of retaliation – and how an EMP sneak attack could not only go undetected, but that it might be impossible to find out who was responsible after the fact.

"If it were launched from the ocean, we would not know who launched it," he said. "So against whom would we retaliate? Even if we knew who launched it ...if all they have done is to disable our computers, do we respond in kind, or do you incinerate their grandmothers and their babies? This would be a really tough call. Responding in kind might do very little good. There is no other country in the world that has anything like our sophistication in electronic equipment, and no other country in the world is so dependent as we are on our national infrastructure."

Though an EMP attack would not kill people with a blast or with radiation, over time it would likely result in much more death than a nuclear attack on a major city, he said.

A candid, recently declassified Justice Department report explained that terrorism represents a greater threat to the U.S. than any other the nation has faced in its history.

While the deterrence of mutually assured destruction kept an uneasy peace with the Soviet Union throughout the Cold War, policymakers have recognized that a MAD doctrine is futile against a terrorist whose greatest weapon is the suicide attacker and the fact that he has no traceable address for retaliation.

Some answers to this acute problem are in the making through research and development in the U.S. and Israel. Lockheed-Martin is in the process of developing counter-measures and warning systems to find and detect nuclear-armed Scuds, which can be launched from a ship.

David Kier, vice president of Lockheed-Martin’s Protection Division, told UPI earlier this month: "They don’t need international ballistic missiles to attack us. An enemy could put a Scud on a tramp steamer and launch it off the coast."

Lockheed-Martin has already received the first part of a Pentagon budget for a five-year development plan. Some analysts say a detection system is important although it should not be limited to nuclear warheads only and that for the time being the U.S. and other nations under terror threat will have to develop an improved maritime reconnaissance system from the air and from the sea. They also suggest a new strategy to deploy more Coast Guard and naval units on "sentry duties" off the U.S. coast should also be undertaken without delay.

Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin reports today that Chinese military strategists are pushing Beijing to pursue electromagnetic pulse weapons and other exotic, high-tech arms to counter and defeat the more technologically developed and technologically reliant U.S. in a potential showdown in the future.

How terror Scuds
pose threat to U.S.
Intelligence sources say seaborne attack could wreak mayhem, cripple economy

WASHINGTON – Most of the U.S. civilian population, military bases and nuclear-weapons assembly plants are within range of missile attacks by terrorists or rogue nations using merchant ships as launching platforms, warn counter-terror experts.

Both the U.S. military and foreign military forces – including Iran's – have tested missile launches from non-military vessels.

At the top of the risk list is the Russian-made Scud family of missiles, all too often found on the weapons' black market, and, according to counter-terror analysts, undoubtedly on the minds of terror organizations such as al-Qaida, which is known to have shown interest in the Scud maritime option.

A bird's eye view of U.S. coastlines reveals more than 75 percent of the nation’s population, about 290 million people, resides along thousands of miles of shores and up to 200 miles inland.

According to information from the Pentagon and from independent sources, three-quarters of U.S. military assets, from naval bases to nuclear-weapons assembly plants, are within these coastlines, posing highly tempting targets, not only for possibly enemy rogue nations such as North Korea and Iran, but also for global jihadi planners, G2 Bulletin reports.

Sources in the maritime industry say there were about 130,000 merchant ships registered in 195 countries at the beginning of 2005. This huge transport system, crisscrossing the world’s oceans, with many visiting U.S. ports or sailing close to the U.S. coastline, has been described by counter-terror analysts as a major concern to national security.

Undetected merchant vessels have for years been landing thousands of illegal immigrants on Canadian and U.S. shores, proving time and again the vulnerability of North America's coastlines.

Terrorists, who by definition do not respect any law or international agreement, naturally disregard international maritime laws. For them the sea, or a country’s territorial waters, is an open avenue for terrorist actions, although so far having been used only in a few localized instances, such as Palestinian terrorist landings of on the Israeli coastline and the October 2000 case of the USS Cole in Yemen.

In 2004, the Israeli navy intercepted and seized in the Red Sea the Karin-A, a weapons-carrying vessel sailing from Iran, purchased by the Palestine Liberation Organization. This event demonstrates how terror groups can purchase a cargo ship and how easy it is to load it with any type of weapons and explosives and possibly be used even as a huge floating suicide bomb.

However, the option of a Scud-carrying ship seems to pose the more imminent threat. Scud missiles were sold by the Soviets to many countries including Sudan and Egypt, and following the disintegration of the Soviet Union hundreds of these missiles were left unguarded in dilapidated military junkyards. North Korea developed its own Scud version and has supplied the missile to several countries, as was discovered in 2002 when Spanish and U.S. naval units intercepted a North Korean cargo ship carrying a shipment of Scuds en route to Yemen. This dangerous load was later released by the U.S. and apparently reached its initial destination. Some reports indicate the same vessel may have been involved in other delivery missions to unspecific purchasers.

The U.S. military has tested Scuds fired from naval platforms as part of a test for anti-missile systems. Similar tests were conducted by North Korea and Iran.

According to military analysts, should a 700-kilometer-range Scud-D be fired from the ocean toward a U.S. target it will not matter much whether the aiming and guiding mechanisms are of high quality. In reality a missile launched from a cargo ship, in the correct elevation and direction, can hit a densely populated urban environment as deep as 200 miles inland from the coastal strips. It would be irrelevant, they say, to the terrorists whether such a projectile hits New York City or Newark, N.J. in the east, or inside the 200-mile land stretch from the coast of Los Angeles in the west. The effect of such an attack, even with a conventional warhead, would be enormous, including a devastating blow to the morale of the population. Should any type of weapon of mass destruction be used, whether nuclear waste, chemical or biological substances, total havoc could ensue. Events in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina were well studied by terrorists who can now visualize the horrific results in an urban center struck with a Scud, especially one carrying a weapon of mass destruction, G2 Bulletin reports.

Another even more terrifying component of the threat from the sea is the possibility of a rogue nation or terrorist group successfully firing a Scud armed with a nuclear weapon and timed for detonation above a U.S. population center.

As G2 Bulletin and WND reported exclusively earlier this year, government officials are increasingly concerned about the threat of this kind of an electro-magnetic pulse attack that could cripple cities and entire regions of the U.S. by knocking out electrical grids and computer technology.

EMP attacks are generated when a nuclear weapon is detonated at altitudes above a few dozen kilometers above the Earth's surface. The explosion, of even a small nuclear warhead, would produce a set of electromagnetic pulses that interact with the Earth's atmosphere and the Earth's magnetic field.

G2 Bulletin and WND first reported the shocking findings of the U.S. EMP commission that rogue nations, such as Iran and North Korea, have the capability of launching an undetected, catastrophic EMP attack on the U.S. – and are actively developing plans.

"These electromagnetic pulses propagate from the burst point of the nuclear weapon to the line of sight on the Earth's horizon, potentially covering a vast geographic region in doing so simultaneously, moreover, at the speed of light," said Dr. Lowell Wood, acting chairman of the commission appointed by Congress to study the threat. "For example, a nuclear weapon detonated at an altitude of 400 kilometers over the central United States would cover, with its primary electromagnetic pulse, the entire continent of the United States and parts of Canada and Mexico."

The commission, in its work over a period of several years, found that EMP is one of a small number of threats that has the potential to hold American society seriously at risk and that might also result in the defeat of U.S. military forces.

"The electromagnetic field pulses produced by weapons designed and deployed with the intent to produce EMP have a high likelihood of damaging electrical power systems, electronics and information systems upon which any reasonably advanced society, most specifically including our own, depend vitally," Wood said. "Their effects on systems and infrastructures dependent on electricity and electronics could be sufficiently ruinous as to qualify as catastrophic to the American nation."

The commission concluded in its report to Congress earlier this year: "EMP is one of a small number of threats that may hold at risk the continued existence of today's U.S. civil society.''

cont'd page two

Gingrich sees Iran threat
to U.S. like Nazi Germany
Ex-speaker latest official to raise alarm on threat of nuclear EMP attack by Tehran
Posted: November 20, 2005
10:50 p.m. Eastern

By Joseph Farah
© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com

WASHINGTON – The threat posed to the national security of the United States by Iran was likened only to the one posed by Nazi Germany in the 1930s, by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who suggested Tehran could be planning for a pre-emptive nuclear electromagnetic pulse attack on America that would turn a third or more of the country "back to a 19th century level of development."

Gingrich made the stunning statements, which echo warning of other congressional leaders and national security experts, in testimony before a subcommittee of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee last week.

He said the "extraordinary challenge that the current regime in Iran poses to the safety of the United States" requires "extraordinary measures to meet it."

"Not since the failure of the League of Nations in the 1930s to confront the aggression of the dictatorships in Japan, Italy and Germany have we seen the willful avoidance of reality which is now underway with regard to Iran," said Gingrich. "There are lessons to be learned from the 1930s and those lessons apply directly to the current government of Iran."

Gingrich pointed with alarm at a report first published in G2 Bulletin that Iran had tested the firing of ballistic missiles from a merchant ship in which warheads were detonated in midair over the Caspian Sea rather than at a land or sea target. National security experts and scientists commissioned by Congress to study the threat of electromagnetic pulse attacks on the U.S. concluded that Iran was preparing for just such a scenario. So does Gingrich.

"In short, a country with a track record of carrying out its murderous ideology may soon have the capability to deliver on its publicly declared and unambiguously stated intentions to inflict mortal harm on the United States on a massive scale," warned Gingrich last Tuesday at the hearing of the Federal Financial Management, Government Information and International Security Subcommittee chaired by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla. "A nuclear tipped intermediate-range Iranian missile launched from a merchant ship off the coast of the United States could do just that. That, or Iran could simply supply its terrorist handmaidens with a small scale nuclear device to use against U.S. targets here at home or abroad."

The threat is compounded by recent disclosures by the International Atomic Energy Agency that Iran is in "non-compliance" with its treaty obligations against developing nuclear weapons.

Gingrich concluded that:

    * Iran is the most dangerous regime in the world and the "single most urgent threat to American national security."

    * The threat can only be understood in the context of "The Long War Against the Irreconcilable Wing of Islam, which is a worldwide war in which the United States and its allies are unavoidably engaged, and in which the U.S. has active campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan."

    * The U.S. cannot be held hostage or rendered impotent by delays of international bureaucracies in dealing with the threat posed by Iran.

    * One key to preventing or degrading the Iranian nuclear threat is persuading Russia to stop helping Tehran.

    * The U.S. has no option but to seek regime change in Iran.

Gingrich said there are reasons to believe Iran "is testing the capability to launch a surprise attack on the United States from a merchant ship of our coasts."

"An attack by a single Iranian nuclear missile could have a catastrophic impact on the United States by causing an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) over a portion of the country," he said. "Such an attack could quickly turn a third or more of the United States back to a 19th century level of development. Electrical transformers and switching stations would fall. Without electricity, hospitals would fails, water and sewage services would fail, gas stations would be unable to provide petroleum, trucks would not be able to distribute food supplies, and essential services would rapidly disintegrate."

Gingrich said "this is not idle speculation, but taken from the consensus findings of nine distinguished scientists who authored the Report of the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack, which was delivered to the Congress on June 22, 2004, the same day the 9-11 commission report was published."

Gingrich pointed out that such a sneak attack – especially if launched from a merchant ship at sea – could have the added benefit of deniability by Iran.

"Contemplating an EMP threat makes more troubling reports that certain Iranian missile tests resulted in missiles that have detonated in flight at or near apogee, which the Iranian press has reported as successful events," explained Gingrich. "Normally, it would be expected that the ability to target specific locations would be the standard for success for ballistic tests. However, if the ability to launch an EMP attack was being tested, detonation at apogee would be the measure of testing success. As noted by the EMP commission, a country with limited nuclear capabilities and few choices as to delivery platforms has only a few options to deliver a deadly blow. An EMP attack would be on such strategy."

Today, Iranian lawmakers approved a bill requiring the government to block inspections of atomic facilities if the International Atomic Energy Agency refers Iran to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions.

When the bill becomes law, it will strengthen the government's hand in resisting international pressure to permanently abandon uranium enrichment, a process that can produce fuel for either nuclear reactors or nuclear bombs.

Iran resumed uranium-reprocessing activities a step before enrichment at its Isfahan Uranium Conversion Facility in August.

Last week, WND and G2 Bulletin reported most of the U.S. civilian population, military bases and nuclear-weapons assembly plants are within range of missile attacks by terrorists or rogue nations using merchant ships as launching platforms – an increasing concern by counter-terrorism and national security experts.

G2 Bulletin and WND first reported the shocking findings of the U.S. EMP commission that rogue nations, such as Iran and North Korea, have the capability of launching an undetected, catastrophic EMP attack on the U.S. – and are actively developing plans.

"These electromagnetic pulses propagate from the burst point of the nuclear weapon to the line of sight on the Earth's horizon, potentially covering a vast geographic region in doing so simultaneously, moreover, at the speed of light," said Dr. Lowell Wood, acting chairman of the commission appointed by Congress to study the threat. "For example, a nuclear weapon detonated at an altitude of 400 kilometers over the central United States would cover, with its primary electromagnetic pulse, the entire continent of the United States and parts of Canada and Mexico."

The commission, in its work over a period of several years, found that EMP is one of a small number of threats that has the potential to hold American society seriously at risk and that might also result in the defeat of U.S. military forces.

"The electromagnetic field pulses produced by weapons designed and deployed with the intent to produce EMP have a high likelihood of damaging electrical power systems, electronics and information systems upon which any reasonably advanced society, most specifically including our own, depend vitally," Wood said. "Their effects on systems and infrastructures dependent on electricity and electronics could be sufficiently ruinous as to qualify as catastrophic to the American nation."

The commission concluded in its report to Congress earlier this year: "EMP is one of a small number of threats that may hold at risk the continued existence of today's U.S. civil society.''

  Exhorting One Another

By: Jeff Lappano

”But exhort one another daily, while it is called today, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.” (Hebrews 3:13)

Hey Jeff-
Could you write on exhortation, I have hard time doing that... ~Iz

As brothers and Sisters in the Lord. it is our duty to exhort one another. But what does it mean to exhort one another? Of course when we think of exhortation, we think of encouragement. Yes, of course we’re to encourage one another. As we all run our different races, we need those on the side cheering us on. However, there is more to this thing called exhortation. In dealing with the gifts of the spirit, Paul tells us that not only is exhortation a gift of the spirit in Romans 12, but also prophecy is for the edification or exhortation of the church. In his call to Jeremiah, God details what prophecy is, both of the Old Testament, and New Testament. “To root out and to pull down, to destroy and to throw down, to build and to plant.” (Jeremiah1:10).

Exhortation isn’t always fun and games. Exhortation is used to build us up to be better. Have you ever seen demolition crews use dynamite to take out old casinos in Las Vegas? Why are they taking down the old casinos? Most likely to build way better ones. Those built in the beginning of “Sin City” aren’t as great as the ones that developers are building today. They tear down the old to build bigger and better. Now, don’t go gambling but understand that this is an example of what exhortation is.  

Yes, sometimes exhortation is fun and a great encouragement; but sometimes exhorting someone may include dealing with them about something in their life that they need to get rid of. As in everything in the actions of a Believer, this to must be done out of love. If you are going to confront someone about something in order to tear it down to build a better them, you must make sure your doing it with love. Again, as a child of God, you must exhort one another. This isn’t just for the pastors and other leaders of the church but for every Believer, both old and young.

Finally I just want to remind you if you have a Sunday Special request you would like me to write about, let me know. Unfortunately, I can’t read minds, but I can read the message board as well as my email.  Be blessed always in Jesus name.

 Greatest Calling of All

  By: Andy Ketterer

The Apostle Paul, the Prophet Isaiah, King David, Moses and Noah are some people that come to mind when I think of people that had "great" callings in the Lord. Their lives were full of action and victory. The accomplished so much for God. They were awesome instruments of God!!

The crossing of the Red Sea, the Flood, slaying a giant with a sling and professing of the coming Messiah are indeed great events. But these events are not what made these men great. Although the Lord called these men to take part in these events, they had a greater calling than this. This calling was much more difficult to achieve.

If you were to preach to 10,000 people per week, it would not be the greatest accomplishment you could do as a Christian. If you were to become a multibillionaire and dedicated your life helping the poor and needy, it would not be the greatest accomplishment you could do. To live your life as Christ would, no matter your rank in the church or financial status, is by far the greatest thing you can accomplish!! And it is the most difficult.

The greatest tool you have to witness to others of Christ is your life. You are a witness of Christ to your teachers and peers by the way you conduct yourself in school. You are a witness of Christ to your boss and coworkers by the way you perform at work. You are a witness to your family by the way you conduct yourself in everyday life. Handing out tracts and giving Bible studies is meaningless and pointless if you do not live your life as a Christian, a Christlike person. People make note of the things you say, but they are studying the life you live.

Take a few minutes, prayerfully consider what kind of witness you are to those around you. Prayerfully consider the relationship you have with Christ. The greatest glory God can receive is if you live a Godly life. This is the greatest calling of all. May God bless you richly!!

Thank You!

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.  Psalm 118:1


Last week I received this beautiful Thank You card.  Inside of the card it says, "Your ministry is such a blessing because you have a wonderful way of bringing others into His presence.  Thank you for your music ministry."  It really made me feel good that someone took the time to go and buy this card and send it to me to say "Thank You."  Sometimes people forget to say "Thank You" when someone does something nice for them.

One time there were ten people who were very sick with a terrible disease called leprosy.  When Jesus saw them, He touched them and they were healed.  They were so happy that they ran up and down the streets singing and dancing.  One of them stopped and went back to tell Jesus, "Thank You."  Jesus said to him, "Weren't there ten who were healed?  Where are the other nine?"  Only one out of the ten said, "Thank You."

God does so much for us!  Every day he provides everything we need: food, clothing, and a place to live.  Do we ever forget to say, "Thank You?"   Let's stop right now and say "Thank You" and ask Him to help us remember to thank Him every day.

Dear Lord, you give us everything we need, but we often forget to say "Thank You."  We thank you now, and ask you to help us to remember to give thanks every day for all that you give us.  Amen.

The Waiting Place

"Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to everyone: 'Watch!' " Mark 13:35-37 (NIV)

I have heard that if you live to be seventy years old, you will spend three years of your life just waiting. Waiting in line at the grocery store, waiting in the doctor's office, waiting for lunch to be ready, waiting for recess time at school.

In his book, "Oh, the Places You'll Go," Dr. Seuss talks about a place called "the waiting place." He describes it as a useless place where people are just waiting.

    Waiting for a train to go
    or a bus to come, or a plane to go
    or the mail to come, or the rain to go
    or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow
    or waiting around for a Yes or No
    or waiting for their hair to grow.
    Everyone is just waiting.

I don't particularly like waiting, do you? I don't like it, but I don't know of any way to avoid it. We all have to spend some time in this "waiting place" that Dr. Seuss talks about, but I don't think it has to be a useless place. While we are waiting, life goes on, and we must make good use of our time. What can we do? Well, we could read a good book or call a friend on the cell phone. We could make a list of things we need to do today or, we could even study for our weekly spelling test. Well, maybe that's going a bit too far, but there are many things we can do besides just waiting.

Today is the first Sunday of Advent. Advent means "to come." Do you know what's coming? Of course, Christmas is coming. This is an exciting time, but it may also be a difficult time of waiting -- especially for children. Waiting for the day when you can open the gifts that you see under the tree. What can we do to make this time of waiting for Christmas more than just a useless time in the waiting place? Well, we can think about the true meaning of Christmas. We can think about Jesus and his love. We can think about giving instead of receiving. We can enjoy all of beautiful music and the decorations of the season. When we do those things, we will find joy in the waiting place.

We are waiting for Christmas, but we are also waiting for something else. We are waiting for Jesus' return. He told us that he would come again and he told us to watch and be ready for him. What should we do while we are waiting? We should worship and praise him, love and serve him, and share his love with others. When we are doing those things, we will be ready for his return, and we will find joy in the waiting place.

Heavenly Father, as we spend time in this waiting place, we look forward with great joy to the celebration of Jesus' birth and to the day when he comes again. Amen.

That office space is perfect for this person:




I think they fell asleep on the job so the works mates decided to finish the job they started.

Hi Workin4Him,

I, too, must agree with your husband. If you live close as you say then there is no reason that you shouldn't work on building a relationship throughout the year. It is difficult to do so when one lives 3 hrs away and makes it easier to visit that far away only on holidays.