News, Prophecy and other

[nChrist]

Brother Bob,

It looks good. I've just been inspired for a line of ACLU Graphics.   

[Shammu]

Syrians oppose US but love KFC

By Rasha Elass 2 hours, 33 minutes ago

DAMASCUS (Reuters) - The U.S. flag serves as a doormat to an office and nearby merchants announce "we boycott American goods," but some Syrians can't seem to keep away from American fast food at the new KFC fried chicken restaurant.

"I oppose American politics totally, but what does food have to do with it? Politics is one thing, and food is something totally different," Tareq Mashnouk, a 26-year-old fashion designer, told Reuters.

KFC opened its first outlet in Damascus this month, becoming Syria's first fully licensed American food franchise. It belongs to Kuwait Food Co. (Americana), which owns and operates KFC and other American food chains like Pizza Hut and TGI Fridays throughout the Middle East.

Syria has been reforming its socialist economy by allowing more private businesses to open, but some say the timing is wrong for the KFC opening. Similar fast-food outlets have been attacked in the Muslim world and elsewhere as symbols of the United States.

"To be honest we were surprised they opened this American restaurant in the midst of our political situation," said Tareq Farzat, 25, adding that he liked his Chicken Burger Combo and would definitely return to KFC with his friend Kalam.

A businessman welcomed the restaurant's arrival.

"Fast-food franchises are a new thing in Syria and (the opening of KFC) is a good thing," said Firas Safi, owner of Kuwaiti-based food chain Shrimpy.

Syria's political relations with the United States have deteriorated since it opposed the 2003 invasion of
Iraq. Washington has since accused Syria of allowing insurgents to cross its border with Iraq to attack U.S. troops there.

Syria is also in a political showdown with the international community over its alleged role in the February 14, 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri and 22 others in a truck bomb in Beirut.

"SAFE" CHICKEN

The United States recalled its ambassador in protest days after the murder, and mounting international pressure forced Syria to pull its troops out of Lebanon in April after a 29-year military presence.

Interim reports by a  United Nations inquiry have implicated Syrian officials and their Lebanese allies in the crime, although Syria has repeatedly denied any involvement.

The U.N. Security Council has threatened to take unspecified action against Syria if it fails to cooperate with the ongoing investigation. The United States reiterated the same threat last week, re-igniting anti-American feelings.

"I wouldn't go (to KFC) because it has an American brand name and business has a lot to do with politics," said Zakariya Tayyan, 26, a student.

But many others seem pleased with the KFC experience and trust American brands.

"This tastes good, and we'll definitely come back to eat here when we're in the mood for chicken," said a 45-year-old Muslim woman wearing a headscarf.

Besides, as the country worries about bird flu, surely KFC "examines its chicken before cooking it ... I trust KFC chicken more than any rotisserie," said Farzat.

The World Health Organization has said Syria is among countries at risk of bird flu after an outbreak killed four children in neighboring Turkey.

An Americana representative overseeing the restaurant's opening said other chains will open soon, declining to comment further. But politics aside, KFC may not suit all pockets in a country where income is low.

The average college-educated government employee earns about $100 per month, which is the price of five "bargain combo" KFC buckets each filled with 15 chicken pieces, a large order of French fries and coleslaw, five buns and a liter of Pepsi.

"It's expensive," said Farzat, who lives in the wealthy neighborhood where KFC has opened. "I've been to KFC in Dubai and Beirut, but this one is much more expensive compared to local income."

Syrians oppose US but love KFC

[2nd Timothy]

Syrians oppose US but love KFC


I've bee trying to warn you guy, this man is the AC!







 



KFC=666  !!!



ROFL




Seriously though, I did have to laugh when I read....

"I wouldn't go (to KFC) because it has an American brand name and business has a lot to do with politics,"

Surely American fast food joints will be the demise of Syria     What a strange world we live in!

[airIam2worship]

Well, it seems that it is time to offer my free graphic again. 

I made it, and it is FREE. Take it and use it.

BEP's I LOVE this, just one little thing if they can't afford to leave, they should call on their friends, you know which ones, those that have a lot of money. After all that what friends
ROFL

[nChrist]

BEP's I LOVE this, just one little thing if they can't afford to leave, they should call on their friends, you know which ones, those that have a lot of money. After all that what friends
ROFL

Sister Maria,

         AND, we will be glad to pay for the Anti Christ Loony Union to go with them. In fact, we would probably want to pay for their one-way trip FIRST.    I may make some special graphics just for them today.

[airIam2worship]

Sister Maria,

         AND, we will be glad to pay for the Anti Christ Loony Union to go with them. In fact, we would probably want to pay for their one-way trip FIRST.    I may make some special graphics just for them today.

  BEP's they already have a one way ticket to the hottest spot in all of creation, and whether they like it or not GOD made that place too.           

[Shammu]

Indonesia to Buy 12 Russian Submarines

Created: 23.01.2006 16:46 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 16:46 MSK, 5 hours 15 minutes ago

MosNews

Indonesia has expressed its intention to purchase 12 submarines from Russia before 2024.

First Admiral Abdul Malik Yusuf, the chief spokesman for the Indonesian Navy was quoted by RIA-Novosti news agency as saying combat submarines were strategic armaments allowing the country to maintain security in its territorial waters.

The admiral said the Indonesian waters were defenseless against the penetration of foreign ships. In light of this, the Indonesian navy turned to the country’s leadership with a proposal to purchase six Kilo-class submarines worth $1.9 billion from Russia in the next five years. The proposal had not yet been accepted due to insufficient budget funds.

In the recent past, the Indonesian submarine fleet was entirely composed of Soviet-made combat submarines, the agency reminded citing Indonesia’s leading magazine, Tempo.

Indonesia to Buy 12 Russian Submarines

[Shammu]

Iran Threatens Enrichment if It's Referred

By GEORGE JAHN, Associated Press Writer 41 minutes ago

VIENNA, Austria - Iran will immediately retaliate if referred to the U.N. Security Council next week by forging ahead with developing a full-scale uranium enrichment program, a senior envoy said Monday.

The comments by Ali Asghar Soltaniyeh, a senior envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency, reflected Iran's defiance in the face of growing international pressure over its nuclear program. Enrichment can be used in electricity production but it also is needed in making uranium-based nuclear weapons.

Separately, Iran's top nuclear negotiator planned to travel to Moscow on Tuesday for a high-level session as talks intensified surrounding a proposal to have Iran's uranium enriched in Russia, then returned to Iran for use in the country's reactors — a compromise that would provide more oversight and ease tensions.

Ending a 15-month commitment, Iran removed IAEA seals from equipment Jan. 10 and announced it would restart experiments, including what it described as small-scale enrichment — a move that led key European countries to call for an emergency session of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency's board of governors Feb. 2.

The Europeans also began drafting a basic text for a resolution calling for the Security Council to press Tehran to reimpose its total freeze on enrichment and "to extend full and prompt cooperation to the agency" in its investigation of suspect nuclear activities — though it stops short of asking the council to impose sanctions.

Soltaniyeh, in comments to The Associated Press, warned against referral, suggesting such a "hasty decision" would backfire.

Whether Iran's suspension of its full-scale enrichment program remains in effect "depends on the decision of Feb. 2," he said. Asked if that meant Iran would resume efforts to fully develop its nascent enrichment activities if the board votes for referral at that meeting, he said, "yes."

Iran insists its nuclear ambitions do not go beyond wanting to generate fuel, but concerns are growing its main focus is trying to make nuclear weapons — something more than three years of IAEA investigations have failed to prove or disprove.

IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei, meanwhile, rejected a request by the United States and several other member nations for a full report on the agency's investigation into Iran's nuclear program, signaling his resistance to ratcheting up pressure on Tehran.

In a letter dated Friday, Gregory L. Schulte, the chief U.S. representative to the IAEA, asked ElBaradei to prepare a written report on the "status of IAEA efforts to investigate indications of an Iranian nuclear weapons program" and on other activities Washington says are a cover for such a program. Supporting letters from the other countries also asking for a special report were dated Monday.

In a written reply dated Monday, ElBaradei said "a detailed report" would only be available in March, the next scheduled meeting of the IAEA board. Instead, he offered an "update brief" for the Feb. 2 meeting, to be read by a deputy.

The exchange in the letters, which were made available to AP, reflected differences between ElBaradei and the United States and its key allies over the handling of the Iran nuclear issue.

Diplomats close to the agency — who demanded anonymity for divulging confidential information — said the IAEA chief was unhappy about the push for a special board meeting and would have preferred to wait until the scheduled March session, when he hopes to end a more than three-year probe of Iran's nuclear dossier.

Iran repeatedly has said it is willing to offer guarantees that its nuclear program won't be used to manufacture weapons. But it has so far refused to give up what it calls its clear rights under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to enrich uranium and produce nuclear fuel.

In Moscow, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov encouraged Tehran to adopt a position that would help ease tensions.

"We count on discussing with you the so-called nuclear problem, around which the situation is currently being heightened," Lavrov said at the start of a meeting with Deputy Iranian Foreign Minister Mehdi Safari. "We hope that our Iranian friends will choose a position that helps to ease tension and renew negotiations."

Iran's top negotiator, Ali Larijani, will meet in Moscow with top Russian officials, including Russia's Security Council head Igor Ivanov, the council's press service said. Ivanov visited Iran last year.

Russia, which has veto power in the U.N. Security Council, has close ties with Tehran and is building Iran's first nuclear power reactor, but has been moving closer to the Western position on Iran and is reluctant to let the issue cause a major rift in its relations with the United States and Europe.

Iran Threatens Enrichment if It's Referred

[Shammu]

Canadians elect a new parliament
Canadians have begun casting votes in a general election with opinion polls pointing to a likely Conservative win for the first time in 12 years.

The second election in 18 months was triggered when Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin lost a confidence vote.

Conservative leader Stephen Harper has pledged to cut taxes and tackle violent crime and corruption.

Polling stations in Newfoundland were first to open as the election unfolded across Canada's six time zones.

Two last-minute opinion suggested the Conservatives would be 10 points ahead of the Liberals - at 37% to 27% - but they also indicated the party would not secure an outright majority in the 308-seat house.

Correspondents say that although the Canadian economy is buoyant, the Liberals have struggled to shake off accusations of corruption.

Click here to see how the Conservatives have fared in previous elections

Voters in 60,000 polling stations will choose from candidates including the Greens, the left-wing New Democratic Party and French-speaking separatist Bloc Quebecois.

The last stations will close at 0300 GMT on Tuesday on the Pacific coast but an indication of the outcome should emerge before then as voting will have already ended in the key provinces of Ontario and Quebec.

'Fight harder'

The political leaders headed across the country over the weekend to try to persuade any undecided voters among the 22.7-million-strong registered electorate.

Mr Harper, 46, told supporters in Winnipeg on Sunday that it was "time for a change, time to move forward, time to get beyond the scandals and investigations and corruption".

Mr Martin, 67, urged his supporters in Vancouver to "dig deeper, go further, to fight harder".

The Liberals have been focusing on economic successes, pointing to eight consecutive budget surpluses.

But the BBC's Lee Carter in Toronto says the corruption scandals that have beset the Liberals in recent years seem to be sticking this time.

The confidence vote was triggered by a public inquiry that found Liberal politicians in Quebec had taken kickbacks in return for government contracts.

Mr Harper's critics say he will destroy social programmes and has extremist views.

However, in contrast to the last election, he has promised Canadians that he will not move the country too far to the right if he is given a mandate.

The momentum appears to be against Mr Martin, our correspondent says, after four consecutive Liberal governments.

Opinion polls even suggest the Conservatives will make inroads in Quebec, a part of the country they have been frozen out of for more than a decade and where separatists had been expected again to make a clean sweep.

Canadians elect a new parliament

Let us pray, for our brothers, and sisters in Canada.

[Shammu]

Jesus Christ's existence going on trial this week

Priest faces lawsuit by atheist to prove Nazarene indeed real
Posted: January 22, 2006
4:22 p.m. Eastern

By Joe Kovacs
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

A small Italian town is expected to be the epicenter of worldwide focus this week as legal proceedings begin in a lawsuit over the existence of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

Viterbo, Italy, north of Rome, is the venue where Rev. Enrico Righi is being sued by his childhood friend, atheist Luigi Cascioli, for deceiving people into thinking Jesus was an actual historical figure.

"This complaint does not wish to contest the freedom of Christians to profess their faith, sanctioned by [article] 19 of the Italian Constitution," says Cascioli, "but wishes to denounce the abuse that the Catholic Church commits by availing itself of its prestige in order to inculcate – as if being real and historical – facts that are really just inventions."

The author of "The Fable of Christ" claims the priest violated local laws against deception when he stated in a 2002 parish gazette "that the historic figure of Jesus was the son of Joseph and Mary (two totally imaginary characters and therefore historically non existing [claims Cascioli]); of having the same Jesus been born in the village of Bethlehem and of having grown up in Nazareth."

Lawyers for Righi are slated to appear in court Friday to discuss preliminary motions on evidence proving the historicity of the man who is now worshipped as God by millions of Christians across the globe.

On his website, Cascioli alleges the person as Jesus is "for the most part based on the figure of John of Gamala, son of Judas, downright descendant of the Asmoneian stock."

Rev. Righi says the existence of Jesus is "unmistakable" due to a wealth of both pagan and Christian evidence pointing to his reality.

"Cascioli maintains that Christ never existed. If he doesn't see the sun at midday, he can't denounce me just because I do. He should denounce all believers!" Righi told the London Times recently.

Among his examples are the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, thought by scholars to be the most important non-Christian source on the issue. One of his passages of "Jewish Antiquities," a work completed in A.D. 93, mentions the execution in A.D. 62 of "the brother of Jesus the so-called Christ, James by name."

Cascioli declares he is not intent on having the matter be decided by a court of law, saying, "I wrote to [Righi] an open letter, stating that I would withdraw the lawsuit if he were capable of supplying proof, just one proof, of the historical existence of Jesus."

Cascioli has since turned to Archbishop Giacomo Biffi of Bologna, Italy, to avoid the appearance of picking on a poor, local cleric.

In an open letter to the archbishop, Cascioli writes: "In the certainty that you are fully aware of how much more damaging any further silence, the silence of a bishop would be for the Church, than that of a lowly country parish priest, I have nothing else to do, but wait for your proof of the existence of Jesus, called The Christ. Proof that, besides satisfying your two diocesan followers and relieving don Enrico Righi of his legal obligations, would spare the Church a probable catastrophe."

Jesus Christ's existence going on trial this week

My note; I can see the ACLU using this, no matter the out come. So they may futher, their own doctrine.

[Shammu]

Jan. 23, 2006

Venezuela vice president to US Senator McCain: 'Go to hell'

CHRISTOPHER TOOTHAKER
The Associated Press
ADVERTISEMENT

CARACAS, Venezuela - Venezuela's vice president said today that U.S. Sen. John McCain "can go to hell" for suggesting that "wackos" run the South American country.

Jose Vicente Rangel was reacting to McCain's statement on Sunday that America must explore alternative energy sources to avoid depending on Iran or by "wackos" in Venezuela - apparently a reference to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

"It looks like they have nothing else to do in the United States," Rangel said, adding that the Americans have "so many problems, 40 million poor people, 30 million drug users, and an American senator is paying attention to us. He can go to hell."

McCain, a potential Republican presidential contender in 2008, said recent actions by Chavez and by Iran's leaders make it clear that the United States will be vulnerable as long as it remains dependent on foreign energy.

"We've got to get quickly on a track to energy independence from foreign oil, and that means, among other things, going back to nuclear power," the Arizona senator said on Fox News Sunday. "We better understand the vulnerabilities that our economy, and our very lives, have when we're dependent on Iranian mullahs and wackos in Venezuela."

Despite political differences between Caracas and Washington, the United States remains the top buyer of oil from Venezuela, the world's No.5 exporter.

Chavez has repeatedly accused the United States of conspiring to topple his government, an allegation U.S. officials deny.

The Venezuelan leader says his government would halt oil exports to the United States if Washington ever attempted to invade this South American nation.

Venezuela vice president to US Senator McCain: 'Go to hell'

[Shammu]

Another nuke exercise in Charleston
Defense Dept. to hold second anti-terror drill
Posted: January 23, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern


© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

The Defense Department has scheduled a second major, three-day exercise to combat nuclear terrorism in the Charleston, S.C. area.

The goal is not prevention, but coping with the catastrophic results of a terrorist nuclear attack on a major U.S. port city.

The military's Joint Task Force-Civil Support, headquartered at Ft. Monroe, Va., will host the three-day drill for commanders and representatives of other federal agencies that would be involved in managing the consequences of a 10-megaton nuclear blast, enough to inflict mass causalities and devastation on an American city.

Like last summer's exercise, the Jan. 31 to Feb. 2 drill is centered around a hypothetical blast that affects nearly half a million people across a 900-square mile section of tidewater South Carolina. The scenario assumes 10,000 fatalities and more than 30,000 injuries.

Officials from the Department of Homeland Security, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency and senior Coast Guard brass will be on hand.

Though the target of the attack is Charleston, no part of the exercise will actually take place there. Maj. Gen. Bruce Davis, the task force's commander, will oversee the exercise from Fort Monroe.

Joint Task Force-Civil Support – part of U.S. Northern Command, which oversees the Defense Department's domestic military activity – is a standing joint task force composed of active, reserve and National Guard members from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard, as well as civilian personnel.

Last summer, a similar exercise, "Sudden Respond '05," was led by Virginia's Fort Monroe-based Joint Task Force-Civil Support. It, too, was designed to simulate a nuclear terrorist attack that the highest U.S. officials, including President Bush, have said is the No. 1 threat facing the nation.

Organizers say the nuclear drills should not frighten civilians but instead encourage them to learn how to protect themselves if such an attack – which some officials have referred to as inevitable – should occur.

The drill is strikingly similar to a scenario detailed by Graham Allison, former Pentagon assistant secretary for plans and policy and current Harvard professor, in his book, "Nuclear Terrorism: The Ultimate Preventable Catastrophe."

A month after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Allison wrote, the Central Intelligence Agency presented Bush with a report that al-Qaida had smuggled a 10-kiloton nuclear bomb into New York City. The president, according to the book, dispatched Nuclear Emergency Support Teams of scientists and engineers to New York to search for the weapon, which was never found.

Allison described the devastation that a 10-kiloton nuclear bomb would visit on Manhattan, were it detonated in the middle of historic Times Square: some 1 million people would die almost immediately.

"The resulting fireball and blast wave would destroy instantaneously the theater district, the New York Times building, Grand Central Terminal, and every other structure within a third of a mile to the point of detonation," he wrote. "The ensuring firestorm would engulf Rockefeller Center, Carnegie Hall, the Empire State Building, and Madison Square Garden, leaving a landscape resembling the World Trade Center site. From the United Nations headquarters on the East River and the Lincoln Tunnel under the Hudson River, to the Metropolitan Museum in the eighties and the Flatiron Building in the twenties, structures would remind one of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Office Building following the Oklahoma City Bombing."

As WND has reported, for more than 10 years, Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida has planned to use nuclear weapons in a terrorist attack on the U.S. The plan is dubbed "American Hiroshima." In fact, as first reported in Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin, captured al-Qaida operatives and documents suggest the weapons have already been smuggled into the country.

Another nuke exercise in Charleston

[Shammu]

And here we go.....................

Agca 'writing a new Bible'
Published: 22 January 2006

ISTANBUL: Mehmet Ali Agca, the man who tried to kill pope John Paul II, was "writing a new bible" when he was rearrested on Friday under government "threats and pressure", his brother said yesterday as he led a protest outside the prison holding him.

"Is justice a toy of the media?" asked one of the placards gotcha98 Agca and a group of supporters waved outside the Kartal prison, where the former right-wing hitman was taken Friday night after just eight days of freedom.

Agca's release was widely criticised by the media, which yesterday was near unanimous in hailing the decision to send him back to jail.

Agca was freed on January 12 after 19 years in Italian prisons for his attempt on John Paul II's life and five and a half in Turkish prisons for an earlier murder and two robberies.

His early release based on sentence reductions and amendments to the penal code was overturned by the High Court of Appeals, acting under instructions from the justice ministry, which said his jail time had been miscalculated.

"Judges and prosecutors are under heavy threats and pressure," gotcha98 Agca told reporters outside the prison. "They are under pressure from their own ministry.

"The Turkish people will never allow Mehmet Ali Agca to die in jail," he said.

"The Vatican has proclaimed my brother the messiah. My brother is the messiah, he is the mahdi (the Muslim messiah).

"Believe it or not, he has dedicated his life and his ideal to his country and to his nation," gotcha98 Agca said, adding that his brother's attorney would take legal action against the Appeals Court decision.

Lawyer Mustafa Demirbag told the NTV news channel that he would also file a formal complaint against Justice Minister Cemil Cicek, who ordered the review.

The Supreme Court's decision to return Agca to prison shows the country's legal system works and is able to correct its errors, Cicek said yesterday.

"My brother was very happy to have been set free," gotcha98 Agca said. "He was not expecting this decision. He was writing a new Bible."

Some angry, some jubilant, Turkish newspapers agreed that Agca's return to jail was a good thing.

"Back where he belongs," headlined the liberal Milliyet, whose emblematic editor Abdi Ipekci was murdered by Agca in 1979, two years before he shot and wounded John Paul II in Rome's St Peter's Square.

"Scandal in spades", bannered the popular Aksam.

The miscalculation of sentence reductions made Turkey "the laughing stock of the world", Aksam wrote, "and to boot, we gave the killer centrestage." "Eight days of vacation, eight more years in jail," headlined the popular Vatan; "Forward, march - back to the hole," was the banner in the mass selling Hurriyet, while the liberal Radikal wrote: "Killer fails to flee."

Agca, who fled a Turkish prison while awaiting trial for the Ipekci murder and resurfaced, gun in hand, outside the Vatican on May 13, 1981, was pardoned by Italy in 2000 and extradited to Turkey.

Agca 'writing a new Bible'

[Soldier4Christ]

Jesus Christ's existence going on trial this week

My note; I can see the ACLU using this, no matter the out come. So they may futher, their own doctrine.

Brother I see this being used by more than just the ACLU. It will be used by many against Christians especially if the plaintif wins the suit.

[Shammu]

Brother I see this being used by more than just the ACLU. It will be used by many against Christians especially if the plaintif wins the suit.

So do I but, I see the ACLU / CAIR jumping on the band wagon first.