Signs of the Times

[Soldier4Christ]

Beware your children: They might be 'Climate Cops'
Company recruits kids to keep records, bust parents for 'energy crimes'

A new website campaign designed by a British power company recruits children through games, badges and cartoons to enlist as "Climate Cops," actively keeping records on their parents and neighbors for violations of "energy crimes" against the planet.

The "Climate Cops" website encourages children to investigate family and friends and "then build your 'Climate Crime Case File' and report back to your family to make sure they don't commit those crimes again (or else)!" The site also warns children that they "may need to keep a watchful eye" to prevent future violations.

A link on the site for teachers to download free materials for building lesson plans indicates the website is targeting children from ages 7-11.

The so-called crimes children are to watch for are listed on a poster (visible at right) and range from leaving the tap running and failing to use energy-saving light bulbs to running the dryer on a sunny day and putting hot food in the refrigerator.

The website also encourages children to download a series of "Climate Crime Cards" (such as the one pictured below) in which enlisted "Climate Cops" can keep an ongoing record of their family's violation of energy "crimes."

Recruiting children to spy on and keep records of their parents' infractions reminds some of Adolf Hitler's Nazi youth program, only with an environmentalist bent. The author of the blog EU Referendum wrote: "In a system which has echoes of Hitler's Deutsches Jungvolk movement … perhaps successful graduates can work up to becoming block wardens, then street and district 'climate crime Fuehrers,' building a network of spies and informers."

Hitler's youth program, which began in the 1920s and ended in 1945, enlisted children to be trained in the ideals of the Nazi party. Eventually folded into the German Sturmabteilung, also known as the SA or the "brownshirts," the Hitler Youth were given authority over different regions to report and keep records on neighbors, especially Jewish neighbors, as part of Nazi Germany's fear- and propaganda-based social control efforts.

A blogger at Watts Up With That? wrote, "I find this method of indoctrinating school children to normal everyday living being harmful to the earth with the 'climate crime' connotation as distasteful and wrong headed."

"I have no problems with energy conservation, in fact I encourage it," the blogger wrote, "But combining such advice with a 'climate cop' idea is the wrong way to get the message across. Can you imagine what sort of reaction the neighbors will have? … Will the result of this now be hiding your electric dryer behind false walls so the kids and neighbors don't see it?"

The "Climate Cops" website was created by the British power company npower, which has received recognition for investing in community causes through partnerships with youth sports programs, cancer victim support charities and an environmental group called The National Trust.

The website targets children with flashy graphics and cartoon characters. The site's opening video shows cartoon depictions of hurricanes and floods, stating, "Climate change is threatening our world. The more energy we waste the worse it gets. It's time to fight back."

Children who visit the site can then play games, including one game in which "Climate Cops" chase down a gas-guzzling SUV that discharges incandescent light bulbs to slow them and another in which children zap as many energy wasters as they can find before a poor polar bear's iceberg melts.

Those who complete the site's three games receive code numbers that unlock a codeword, enabling visitors to "join the elite cadets and train to become a Climate Cop." The codeword then unlocks a download, where successful "cadets" can print out a "Climate Cop ID".


Mat 10:21  And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.

[Shammu]

The ACLU has stretched and twisted the law to meet their agenda more than long enough. They have niot only blatantly disallowed freedom of speech and freedom of religion for Christians but they have been ardent supporters of terrorists to the point of aiding and abetting. The handcuffs do need to come out but for the ACLU not Christians. I would also vigorously support sending them to another country of their choice without any hesitation.

One thing we need to remember.......

John 15:18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.

[Shammu]

Is U.S. Bioterror Attack Just A Matter of Time?

July 28, 2008

The overriding question is whether the U.S. is “ready” for a bioterror attack. The answer could well rely on the “other” question of what bio-agent and what’s the source? In 1991, 40,000 Russian scientists dispersed throughout the World, with knowledge of what the U.S.S.R. was doing in chemical and biological weapons. The question is to whom did they sell their knowledge? Some believe former Soviet scientists sold technology to countries like Iran, Syria, and North Korea. Lurking is the spectre of al-Qaeda, a group that the Pentagon says continues to pursue biological weapons.

Another scenario is an outbreak of a pandemic. How would the U.S. deal with an infectious disease outbreak? The picture, despite reassurances, is not pretty. Until now, the U.S. has experienced two major biological attacks.

In 1984, the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and his followers attempted to take over the town of the Dalles, Oregon by contaminating salad bars in the town. In 2001, there was the as yet unsolved mystery of the anthrax letters that killed five people.

But the question of bioterrorism extends to potential threats against our food supply and our clean water resources. It also extends to the threat of outbreaks of diseases in our animals populations. Here, the concern are diseases that attack animals but that can jump to humans. These are referred to as zoonotic diseases.

Is U.S. Bioterror Attack Just A Matter of Time?

[Shammu]

Seven detained after mall brawl
Police say fight was gang-related
Samuel Spies, Staff WriterComment on this story
RALEIGH - Shoppers strolled peacefully through Triangle Town Center on Sunday after a Saturday night brawl involving hundreds closed the mall early.

It took police officers from three agencies an hour to evacuate the mall and fully restore order after the fight in which seven teens were detained, a 15-year-old was stabbed and a police officer injured.

Raleigh Police Department spokesman Jim Sughrue said the brawl was a gang-related incident and that some of those involved have known gang associations. He declined to say whether those arrested are gang members.

According to Sughrue and arrest warrants, those arrested are:

* Tyrell Eugene Brantley, 18, 1609 E. Lenoir St., charged with inciting a riot and disorderly conduct, $5,000 bond;

* Darryl Anthony Bobbitt, 18, 1411 E. Lenoir St., charged with inciting a riot, second-degree trespassing and resisting an officer, $5,000 bond;

* Christopher James Gamble, 17, 4031 Northstone Drive, Apt. 102, charged with assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury, and inciting a riot, $35,000 bond;

* Laquavis O'Neal Jordan, 16, 1701 E. Lenoir St., charged with inciting a riot; released on $5,000 bond;

* Ricky Ladd Williams, 16, 3321-101 Quail Ridge Road, charged with inciting a riot; engaging in an affray; held on $10,000 bond;

* Javonnie Nicholson, 16, 512 Bradkin Court, charged with inciting a riot, misdemeanor assault on a law enforcement officer, second-degree trespassing, $7,000 bond.

Nicholson is the lone female charged in the fracas. Police also are filing a juvenile petition against an unnamed 15-year-old who was also detained.

In a news release, police said some of the people involved are known to be associated with gangs and that the fight started as a gang-related incident. They didn't, however, name which gangs may have been involved. A bond sheet for Williams says he has a recent conviction for conspiracy to commit armed robbery "with gang conditions."

Sughrue said more arrests are possible if police are able to identify others who were involved.

Four off-duty Raleigh officers were working security at the mall on Saturday when the fight started around 8 p.m. in the upper-level, above the food court. As many as 200 to 300 people were associated with the fracas, police said.

Police described a chaotic scene as more officers rushed to the mall to assist with evacuation of shoppers frightened by the uproar.

The fight spilled outside as police worked to disperse the crowd.

Security closed the mall at 8:40 p.m -- 20 minutes early. Raleigh, Wake County and Highway Patrol officers secured the scene about 9 p.m., according to a police news release.

Gamble was charged with the stabbing of a 15-year-old male in the buttocks with a 5-inch "butterfly" knife during an altercation outside the mall.

The victim was taken to WakeMed Raleigh Campus, and his wounds are not life-threatening, police said.

A Raleigh police officer received a significant laceration on his knee and had to be taken to Duke Health Raleigh Hospital. Sughrue said the officer's injury occurred while he was chasing a suspect, not as the result of an assault. He's expected to recover.

Jack Love, general manager at Triangle Town Center, said the mall is constantly reviewing its security.

He declined to answer specific questions about the fight or discuss mall security practices. "We are a public place, and incidents happen from time to time," Love said.

Heather Tant, who works at a shoe kiosk near the mall's lower food court, said she was working Saturday night when police started arriving.

"A bunch of cops were pouring in here," Tant said. "They were yelling 'get out of the mall.' "

Tant didn't see the fight but was scared, she said. She hurriedly put her cash drawer in the safe and went out to the parking lot.

Occasionally there are fights at Triangle Town Center, said Tant, 18, a Wake Technical Community College student. Groups of young people sometimes get into shouting matches that are broken up by mall security, she said. She was a little skeptical that gangs were roving the mall.

"Just because they dress alike doesn't really mean anything," she said.

Police use two terms to talk about crimes and gangs.

Raleigh police use "gang related" to describe an incident "... to further the purposes of the gang. Examples would include establishing a gang's territory, gaining influence by suppressing another gang, or seeking revenge against another gang."

The other term is "gang involved." Typically people in those incidents are gang members or have significant ties to gang members, but the crimes themselves are not committed on behalf of gangs.

Sughrue, the police spokesman, said the examples above are just illustrations and that he was not at liberty to say what led police to classify the mall fight as "gang related."

[Shammu]

Christians, Muslims Seek 'Common Ground' at Historic Conference

Top Christian and Muslim leaders have convened at Yale University for a historic conference that is expected to promote understanding and peace between Christianity and Islam on an unprecedented level.

Sun, Jul. 27, 2008 Posted: 10:28 AM EDT

Top Christian and Muslim leaders have convened at Yale University for a historic conference that is expected to promote understanding and peace between Christianity and Islam on an unprecedented level.

The conference, “Loving God and Neighbor in Word and Deed: Implications for Muslims and Christians,” will officially be held July 28-31 but leaders from both faiths have initiated dialogue on peace during closed-session workshops since Thursday.

The gathering is a direct response to a letter signed by 138 Muslim leaders last fall that called for peace between Muslims and Christians for the sake of world peace.

The letter, entitled “A Common Word Between Us and You,” urged followers of the two faiths to find “common ground” in the love of God and engage in more sincere discussions on peace rather than simply just “polite ecumenical dialogue” between certain religious leaders.

Yale scholars responded with a statement that pledged more open dialogue to "reshape" the two communities to “genuinely reflect our common love for God and for one another." Some 500 Christian leaders – including prominent Christians including Saddleback pastor Rick Warren, theologian John Stott, National Association of Evangelicals president Leith Anderson – endorsed the Yale statement.

But several withdrew their names from the letter following criticism by respected theologians.

R. Albert Mohler, Jr., president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, disagreed with key points raised in the letter because he felt they compromised the Christian faith. Among them, he said that amid calls for love in a common God, the letter "failed to clearly define the Christian understanding of God as the trinity."

Participants at the "Common Word" conference will explore ways to "rectify distorted perspectives Muslims and Christians have of each other and repair relations between the Middle East and the West," according to the Yale Center for Faith & Culture.

Notable leaders at the event include Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad of Jordan; former Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi of Sudan; Geoff Tunnicliffe, CEO and international director of World Evangelical Alliance; Leith Anderson, president of NAE; and Antonios Kireopoulos of the National Council of Churches. A handful of Jewish leaders will also attend the conference.

On Tuesday, Senator John Kerry is scheduled to give a keynote address.

"Christians and Muslims have gone through periods of good relations and bad relations over the centuries," said Kireopoulos, senior program director for NCC's Faith and Order and Interfaith Relations.

"Recent history has reinforced ill will between the two communities, so this interfaith initiative can make progress toward mutual understanding."

The "Common Word" conference at Yale is one of a series of interfaith workshops and events. The other conferences will take place in October (Cambridge University), November (the Vatican), March 2009 (Georgetown University), and October 2009 (Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute, Jordan).

Christians, Muslims Seek 'Common Ground' at Historic Conference

[Shammu]

'N. Korea May Develop Electromagnetic Pulse Weapon System'
7-23-2008

By Michael Ha
Staff Reporter

A top U.S. scientist warned American lawmakers of a possible catastrophic national security scenario: a possible development of Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) weapons by rogue states, including North Korea, and a potential detonation of such a device on American soil.

William Graham, chairman of the U.S. government-sponsored ``Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States," told U.S. lawmakers that the Stalinist state has the required technologies to develop such weapons.

In a testimony to the U.S. House Armed Services Committee this month, the scientist said EMP weapons are ``one of a small number of threats that can hold our society at risk of catastrophic consequences."

Graham told lawmakers that the detonation of such devices over the middle of the continental United States ``has the capability to produce significant damage to critical infrastructures that support the fabric of U.S. society and the ability of the United States and Western nations to project influence and military power."

He warned: ``Several potential adversaries have the capability to attack the United States with a high-altitude nuclear weapon-generated electromagnetic pulse, and others appear to be pursuing efforts to obtain that capability."

What's worse, he noted, is that ``a determined adversary can achieve EMP attack capability without having a high level of sophistication."

``For example, an adversary would not have to have long-range ballistic missiles to conduct an EMP attack against the United States. Such an attack could be launched from a freighter off the U.S. coast using a short- or medium-range missile to loft a nuclear warhead to high altitude."

He said even small nuclear weapons can create massive EMP effects, giving out an intensely fluctuating magnetic field, over wide geographic areas. ``United Nations investigators recently found that the design for an advanced nuclear weapon, miniaturized to fit on ballistic missiles currently in the inventory of Iran, North Korea and other potentially hostile states, was in the possession of Swiss criminals affiliated with the A.Q. Khan nuclear smuggling network."

And because the United States relies heavily on electricity and electronics, the scientist told U.S. lawmakers, ``the impact would be far worse than on a country less advanced technologically," adding that the weapon could cripple the U.S. financial system as well as the system of distribution for food and water and medical care.

'N. Korea May Develop Electromagnetic Pulse Weapon System'

[Barbara]

Hi DreamWeaver,

This bothers me so much. Now, I admit I'm not aware of any real deterrents to these rogue states, and if there is anything in the pipeline I'd love to know, but we still are the strongest country in the world. Shouldn't we be really twisting arms, and exerting alot of pressure on these countries? Couldn't we do the same to them?

This EMP thing sounds so overwhelmingly 'catastrophic', as you wrote. There must be something in our diplomatic arsenal that will convince these people to 'back down' or we'll have to start getting tough! We're getting threats from every direction and I never see or hear any solutions coming from our government. I feel like we're sitting ducks, just waiting for this ultimate disaster to happen. And if it does, then doesn't that render us helpless as far as retaliation?

It's starting to sound like a 'Cuban Missile Crisis' again, but this time there's no one stepping up to bat!

[Soldier4Christ]

The U.S. has known about EMP effects since the middle of the Cold War. EMP protection has been employed by the Military and most government facilities for quite some time. Any EMP attack would have very little if any effect on us in that aspect and retaliation would not be a problem for us due to that. The problem with an EMP attack on the U.S. would be in the infrastructure (power grid) and in civilian electronics. EMP protection is not put on these items due to the great increase in costs.

The problem is that these countries have become emboldened due to the lack of strong action by our country. Not only lack of strong action but actually pandering to them, giving them what they want. It is the very reason that Viet Nam ended in the manner it did. It is also the reason that we are having the problems that we are still today.

It's starting to sound like a 'Cuban Missile Crisis' again, but this time there's no one stepping up to bat!

Exactly. Many claim that the Cold War was over. I don't think so. It was just calmed down to a point that it was no longer news worthy. It has now escalated back up again. As the Cold War has been all along the least little thing can escalate it into a full blown war.

[Barbara]

Pastor Roger, thank you for that explanation.

 I don't mean to belabor the point, but it sounds like the people will become powerless, because we have no safeguards, but the government will not. Is this the scenario? And is that when Marshall Law will set in? Is this what the Iranian president (didn't think I could spell his name right) means when he says they're going to bomb us back into the 1800's?

[Soldier4Christ]

Pastor Roger, thank you for that explanation.

 I don't mean to belabor the point, but it sounds like the people will become powerless, because we have no safeguards, but the government will not. Is this the scenario? And is that when Marshall Law will set in?

It could very possibly be.

Is this what the Iranian president (didn't think I could spell his name right) means when he says they're going to bomb us back into the 1800's?

That is his exact meaning. Madman would have been close enough of a spelling. We all would have known who you meant. 

[Shammu]

Pastor Roger, thank you for that explanation.

 I don't mean to belabor the point, but it sounds like the people will become powerless, because we have no safeguards, but the government will not. Is this the scenario? And is that when Marshall Law will set in?

Think about all the problem there will be in tribulation sister. This could be apart of God's plan.

Is this what the Iranian president (didn't think I could spell his name right) means when he says they're going to bomb us back into the 1800's?

By the way, the easy way to remember Ahmadinejad name is just call him "ImaNutjob". Everyone pretty much knows this is his American name.....

[nChrist]

By the way, the easy way to remember Ahmadinejad name is just call him "ImaNutjob". Everyone pretty much knows this is his American name.....

       That name has meaning and fits him perfectly. Globally, including Iran, that should be his name and we would all know who was being talked about. I just want to know if he's related to Baghdad Bob - the guy reporting huge losses for American troops while Baghdad was falling in the background. Why can't we have stand-up comedians as funny as those two guys?   

[Barbara]

I like it!! ImaNutjob - the English translation is so much more descriptive!

And what's even better...I can spell it!

Thank you, DreamWeaver

[Shammu]

I like it!! ImaNutjob - the English translation is so much more descriptive!

And what's even better...I can spell it!

Thank you, DreamWeaver

Your welcome sister.

[HisDaughter]

I started this thread as kind of a "catch all" when I couldn't figure out where to put a current event or couldn't remember where I saw something of like-topic, which is the case tonight. 
I can't remember where I saw the article about us lifting a ban on immigrants/visititors with HIV.  It may not have even been on this site as I do like to travel around.  When I read that article I was reminded of when I worked in the pharmacy of Seattle's TB clinic and that most of the cases we saw were immigrants and also because of this how TB was making a come back BIG time.
And so my next thought was why would we lift a ban on folks with HIV, another contagious and deadly disease.
Well anyway, I say all that as an into to the following article I guess.


New HIV cases in US underestimated by 40 percent
1 hour, 55 minutes ago
 
ATLANTA - The number of Americans infected by the AIDS virus each year is much higher than the government has been estimating, U.S. health officials reported, acknowledging that their numbers have understated the level of the epidemic.
 
The country had roughly 56,300 new HIV infections in 2006 — about a 40 percent increase from the 40,000 annual estimate used for the past dozen years. The new figure is due to a better blood test and new statistical methods, and not a worsening of the epidemic, officials said.

But it likely will refocus U.S. attention from the effect of AIDS overseas to what the disease is doing to this country, said public health researchers and officials.

"This is the biggest news for public health and HIV/AIDS that we've had in a while," said Julie Scofield, executive director of the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors.

Experts in the field, advocates and a former surgeon general called for more aggressive testing and other prevention efforts, noting that spending on preventing HIV has been flat for seven years.

The revised estimate by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the methodology behind it were to be presented Sunday, the opening day of the international AIDS conference in Mexico City.

Since AIDS surfaced in 1981, health officials have struggled to estimate how many people are infected each year. It can take a decade or more for an infection to cause symptoms and illness.

One expert likened the new estimate to adding a good speedometer to a car. Scientists had a good general idea of where the epidemic was going; this provides a better understanding of how fast it's moving right now.

"This puts a key part of the dashboard in place," said the expert, David Holtgrave of Johns Hopkins University.

Judging by the new calculations, officials believe annual HIV infections have been hovering around 55,000 for several years.

"This is the most reliable estimate we've had since the beginning of the epidemic," said Dr. Julie Gerberding, the CDC's director. She said other countries may adopt the agency's methodology.

According to current estimates, around 1.1 million Americans are living with the AIDS virus. Officials plan to update that number with the new calculations but don't think it will change dramatically, a CDC spokeswoman said.

The new infection estimate is based on a blood test that for the first time can tell how recently an HIV infection occurred.

Past tests could detect only the presence of HIV, so determining which year an infection took place was guesswork — guesswork upon which the old 40,000 estimate was based.

The new estimate relies on blood tests from 22 states where health officials have been using a new HIV testing method that can distinguish infections that occurred within the past five months from those that were older.

The improved science will allow more real-time monitoring of HIV infections. Now, CDC officials say, the estimate will likely be updated every year.

Yearly estimates allow better recognition of trends in the U.S. epidemic. For example, the new report found that infections are falling among heterosexuals and injection drug users.

Some experts celebrated that finding, saying it's a tribute to prevention efforts, including nearly 200 syringe exchange programs now operating in 36 states despite a federal ban on funding for such projects.

But they also lamented the CDC's finding that infections continue to increase in gay and bisexual men, who accounted for more than half of HIV infections in 2006. Also, more than a third of those with HIV are younger than 30.

Some advocates say that suggests a need for more prevention efforts, particularly targeting younger gay and bisexual men.

For years, AIDS was considered a terrifying death sentence, and since 1981, more than half a million Americans have died. But medicines that became available in the 1990s turned it into a manageable chronic condition for many Americans, and attention shifted to Africa and other parts of the world.

Last week, President Bush signed a $48 billion global AIDS bill to continue a program that he called "the largest commitment by any nation to combat a single disease in human history."

But some advocates complain that CDC's annual spending on HIV prevention in the United States has been held to roughly $700 million since 2001, while costs have risen. (That's about 3 percent of what the federal government spends on AIDS; much of the rest is on medicines, health care and research.)

The new estimate is "evidence of a failure by government and society to do what it takes to control the epidemic," said Julie Davids, executive director of the Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization Project.

Whether more funding comes or not, the revised estimate clearly is a "wake-up call to scale things up," said Dr. Kevin Fenton, who oversees CDC's prevention efforts for HIV/AIDS.

Some said more attention needs to focus on prevention among blacks, who account for nearly half of annual HIV infections, according to the new CDC report.

A recent report by the Black AIDS Institute concluded that if black Americans were their own nation, they would rank 16th in the world in the number of people living with HIV.

"We have been inadequately funding this epidemic all along. We need to step it up," said former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher, who is now an administrator at Atlanta's Morehouse School of Medicine.

The new estimate has been anticipated for a long time. The CDC began working on the new methods nearly seven years ago.

Late last year, advocates said they had heard the figure was about 55,000 and pressed the CDC to release it. Agency officials declined, saying they were submitting their research for medical journal review.

"These are extremely complicated statistical methods," and CDC officials wanted the work to be thoroughly reviewed by outside experts, Gerberding said. The CDC's findings are being published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Until 1992, the number of diagnosed AIDS cases was used to predict how many people were newly infected each year. That method produced an estimate of 40,000 to 80,000. More recently, the CDC focused on infections among men who have sex with men, who account for about half of new HIV diagnoses.