News, Prophecy and other

[Shammu]

Red Cross Probes Katrina Misconduct, Theft

By LAURIE KELLMAN, Associated Press Writer Fri Mar 24, 6:10 PM ET

WASHINGTON - Pressed by Congress, the American Red Cross said Friday it is investigating claims that volunteers engaged in widespread theft in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

"Any conduct that violates either the law or Red Cross code of conduct is not tolerated," said spokesman Chuck Connor, adding that any criminal wrongdoing uncovered by the group's conduct and ethics office will be turned over to law enforcement officials.

Allegations of wrongdoing go far beyond what the statement said were "inevitable ... departures from standard procedures" after such a catastrophe, according to the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.

Sen. Charles Grassley (news, bio, voting record), R-Iowa, has said volunteers may have committed criminal fraud. The accusations include improperly diverting relief supplies and violating Red Cross rules by using felons as volunteers in the disaster area. Grassley has threatened to rewrite or revoke the organization's charter if it does not overhaul its operations.

In a statement Friday, Grassley said he hopes the Red Cross' investigation will embrace whistleblowers and provide a top-to-bottom review of the group's leadership, oversight and openness.

Especially worrying, Grassley said, was the Red Cross' failure to take seriously the concerns of volunteers reporting the thefts "until I drew attention to them."

"The Red Cross needs to change its mind-set so it addresses volunteers' concerns swiftly and appropriately, regardless of whether a Senate committee chairman is asking questions," Grassley said.

The New York Times reported Friday that more than a dozen Red Cross volunteers described an organization that had few cost controls, little oversight of its inventory and no system of basic background checks for its volunteers.

The volunteers cited little direct evidence of criminal activity, but the magnitude of the missing goods had convinced them that the operations were being manipulated for private gain.

In one case, a kitchen manager swapped 300 prepared meals for parking spaces for Red Cross emergency response vehicles without creating any record of the transaction.

The Red Cross had 235,000 volunteers working in the Katrina disaster area, nearly six times the previous peak of 40,000. The sheer number collapsed the normal vetting process, the volunteers said.

The charity has said it responded to Katrina the best it could in circumstances almost unimaginable, while acknowledging that it stumbled in "technology, logistics and coordination."

That admission was not good enough for Grassley, who said he is set to meet next week with American Red Cross board of governors chairwoman Bonnie McElveen-Hunter.

"I hope to understand better what the timeline is for a complete review and reforms," Grassley said.

The inquiry comes after the Red Cross has seen two presidents resign in a little more than four years. Both resignations came after clashes with the board of governors on the tail of major disasters: Dr. Bernadine Healy stepped down shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks and, more recently, Marsha Evans quit following Hurricane Katrina.

Red Cross Probes Katrina Misconduct, Theft

[Shammu]

Libya's Gaddafi lectures U.S. on democracy

By Claudia Parsons Fri Mar 24, 9:35 AM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi lectured a U.S. audience on democracy on Thursday and said Libya is the only real democracy in the world.

Via a video link, Gaddafi addressed an unprecedented gathering of U.S. and Libyan academics prompted by a thaw in relations since the former pariah state decided in 2003 to abandon nuclear weapons and took responsibility for the 1988 Lockerbie bombing.

He touted Libya's political system as superior to "farcical" and "fake" parliamentary and representative democracies in the West."

"There is no state with a democracy except Libya on the whole planet," Gaddafi said to the conference at Columbia University in New York.

Libya's Jamahiriyah system, under which Libyans can air their views at "people's congresses," is genuine democracy, said Gaddafi, who spoke through a translator and was dressed in purple robes and seated at a desk in front of a map of Africa.

The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency's World Factbook describes Libya's government as: "Jamahiriyah (a state of the masses) in theory, governed by the populace through local councils; in fact, a military dictatorship."

Gaddafi said Libya's new openness would not lead Libyans to covet what they do not have -- on the contrary, he said, the rest of the world would soon be emulating Libya.

"Countries like the United States, India, China, the Russian Federation, are in bad need of this Jamahiriyah system," he said. "This is a savior to them."

Challenged by the U.S. moderator about freedom of speech, Gaddafi said every Libyan was free to express his opinions at the congresses and that was a better forum than a newspaper.

Jon Alterman, director of the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, one of two U.S. moderators, said some of Gaddafi's comments might have sounded jarring to Americans.

"One of the hard things when you haven't talked to somebody for more than 30 years is we don't really understand how we sound to them and they don't understand how they sound to us," he said. "We obviously have a way to go until we're speaking the same language."

Libya's Gaddafi lectures U.S. on democracy

[nChrist]

Red Cross Probes Katrina Misconduct, Theft

Brothers and Sisters,

This is very upsetting. Many Christians want organizations of complete trust to volunteer time and money to. I know there is no such thing as perfection for such a large operation, but every reasonable effort must be made to guard and restore trust.

The Red Cross and the Salvation Army are the only big organizations that I have supported with my time and money, at least beyond the local level. I also know that many Christians have recommended these huge organizations as worthy to handle large donations. The local branches where I live have a perfect record. I will be watching to see what the Red Cross does to correct this, and I pray that they make it a high priority. If they don't, I feel pretty sure that the Christians I know will switch all of their "other than local" support to the Salvation Army.

Love In Christ,
Tom

John 10:11 NASB  "I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.

[Shammu]

Ex-Stripper Spreads Gospel to Those in Sex Industry
Heather Veitch and volunteers do their evangelizing in strip clubs and online.
By Stephen Clark, Times Staff Writer
March 25, 2006

The phone rang — again — and Heather Veitch answered from her three-bedroom tract home in Riverside. It was yet another radio station, this time from Detroit, and the DJ wanted to hear the tale of the stripper turned evangelist.

"I don't try to change their life," she said of the women she seeks out at strip clubs. "I just want them to have a relationship with God."

The DJ then throws a curveball: Isn't it a sin to strip?

"It is a sin to strip," she answered quickly, adding, "But it's OK to strip for your husband." Veitch then makes an on-air confession. "I strip for my husband," she said with a wide smile, "and I teach women in my church how to do it too."

She has been called the pin-up preacher and porn again. On Thursday she was introduced on evangelist Pat Robertson's "The 700 Club" as a "holy hottie."

Veitch describes herself simply as an evangelist, the head of a trio of missionaries called JC's Girls Girls Girls.

Every month, JC's Girls (for Jesus Christ) and a few female volunteer church members visit strip clubs, where they pay for lap dances. While alone with a stripper in a booth, they forgo the dance and share the Gospel.

In January, JC's Girls went to Las Vegas for the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo, regarded as the nation's largest trade show in the porn business, and handed out more than 200 Bibles wrapped in "Holy Hottie" T-shirts.

Veitch, 31, who was a stripper for four years, founded the outreach ministry last March.

A few months later, she and fellow member Lori Albee launched an edgy website — (link removed) — that trades on the sex appeal of JC's Girls to attract visitors. Against a violet background, provocative appeals appear: "If you are a CHRISTIAN … See us in ACTION."

None of this caused much of a stir until the Daily Telegraph in England published a story on the ministry Dec. 5. The phone has not stopped ringing since then.

Veitch has been profiled in newspapers and on radio and has made the rounds of network and cable television.

She has appeared on tabloid TV, but this week's appearance on "The 700 Club" took her straight into Christian homes. Robertson's show drew an average of 863,000 viewers a day during the 2004-05 television season, Nielsen Media Research said.

And the offers keep pouring in: movies, books, reality shows, more documentaries. Veitch sees a higher purpose in all the publicity. "Every time I go on a radio station," she said, "I'm spreading God's message."

Not everyone agrees.

"I'm a little offended that she would use the Bible in such a sensuous manner," said the Rev. Ray Turner, pastor of Temple Missionary Baptist Church in San Bernardino. He noted that JC's Girls does not urge strippers to leave the sex industry.

"How can you stay in the industry and have a relationship with God?" he asked. "You can't serve two masters at one time."

Turner, however, did praise her efforts. "I commend her for her zeal and desire to reach the lost for Christ," he said.

The Rev. Matt Brown, founder and pastor of the 1,700-member Sandals Church in Riverside, home of JC's Girls, approved a budget of $50,000 for the ministry in January — up from $10,000 in 2005.

"Some people in our church were concerned that some of their offerings and tithes were paying for lap dances," said Brown, 34.

[Shammu]

'Satanic' art in Catholic Church exposed
Documentary links clergy sex abuse with occult imagery
Posted: March 25, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern


© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

Could the Roman Catholic Church's sex abuse crisis be tied to embedded Satanic and occultic imagery in its artwork – some of it hundreds of years old?

That is the seemingly incredible thesis of a new documentary, "Rape of the Soul," made not by anti-Catholic bigots, but by devout followers of the Church.

"Rape of the Soul" is in theatrical release in major cities, including New York and Los Angeles.

The documentary explores the prevalent use of satanic, sexual, occult and anti-Catholic images in historical and contemporary religious artwork. The film also discusses the mysterious acceptance of the artwork at the highest and most trusted levels of the Catholic Church.

"Rape of the Soul" is rated R because of the disturbing content involving demonic, violent and sexual imagery.

The film, which is being released by Silver Sword International, contends a major cause of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church could be due to prolonged exposure to sexual and satanic images being incorporated into the religious art.

Experts are featured in the film to offer detailed accounts of the subconscious programming effects of the sex and occult images on the human brain and how it promotes sex, Satanism and the occult. Religious education materials, songbooks, children's story books, devotionals and the Sunday Missals all have been found to contain embedded imagery.

The 140-minute film shows a compilation of the events, investigations, discovery and exposure of implanted imagery in religious art. Then it shows the devastating affects of the artwork that is primarily aimed at children and the clergy.

Five experts speak on the different aspects of the artwork, including Michael A. Calace, an Italian director, actor, writer and producer who is also a devout Roman Catholic.

Calace embarked on a mission of "Merging Media with Morality" to create family-oriented films of true life drama for Silver Sword International, his production company. While doing so, he uncovered a series of religious scandals. Calace puts to use his experiences of more than 20 years of expertise to discover a huge amount of offensive images of carefully embedded sexual and occult horror. He explains the techniques used to embed the images, and he presents discoveries from his investigations.

"The deeper I dug, the more I discovered, not just in regard to contemporary art, but works dating back more than 500 years, from some well-known and respected artists. Sex and horror is the fuel that promotes the scandalous behavior in the Church. This is the answer why, and Church leaders don't have to look very far, because the problem is coming from within the Church itself," said Calace of his research.

Click to Visit

Other experts include Wilson Bryan Key, an American recognized internationally for over 30 years of embedded-imagery expertise. He also was a professor at the University of Western Ontario.

Stanley Monteith, another expert in the film, is an author and radio talk show host who has spent more than 30 years researching the causes of America's moral decline. Monteith also has extensively studied the Vatican's history and politics and has interviewed Malachi Martin, the former Jesuit priest on many different occasions.

Marc Oster contributes his expertise in psychology and hypnosis. Judith Reisman, the final expert featured in "Rape of the Soul," is a world-renowned author, who specializes in child psychology and the harmful effects of pornography. She is also president of The Institute for Media Education and author of a U.S. Department of Justice study on juveniles.

"These images, unrecognized by the untrained eye, can be a ticking time-bomb to an individual who is unaware of their presence, especially someone who is already predisposed to deviant sexual behavior," said Reisman.

"Artists from DaVinci to Botticelli have embedded subliminal images into their art for centuries," said Calace. "In this case we found gotcha10es on crucifixes, anarchy symbols, swastikas, demonic faces and in modern works even the word 'sex' encrypted into the images. The works in question include modern artists' work currently on the covers of missalettes and hymnals that at this very moment sit in the pews of churches throughout the U.S. and on children's religious teaching aids."

Calace said, "'Rape of the Soul' was created to heal the many that have suffered from these uninvited violations."

[Shammu]

Arabs to maintain aid to Palestinians: minister
Sat Mar 25, 2006 8:02 AM ET17

 By Jonathan Wright

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Arab leaders will pledge at their annual summit in Sudan to maintain financial support to the Palestinians at the existing level, Palestinian Foreign Minister Nasser al-Kidwa said on Saturday.

Arab states promised last year to give the Palestinians $50 million a month but in practice not all of them have been meeting their commitment.

The need has become more urgent since the militant Islamist movement Hamas won the Palestinian parliamentary election in January. Israel has cut off transfers of tax receipts to the Palestinian Authority and Western donors are reviewing their aid for when a Hamas government takes office.

Speaking after a meeting of Arab foreign ministers to prepare for the summit on Tuesday and Wednesday, Kidwa said: "I am certain that the Arab states will not go back on their previous position on this.

"In the drafts (draft resolutions) there is an affirmation of the need for Arab financial support to continue as it is, to the Palestinian people and the Palestinian Authority," he added.

"I have no doubt about that -- the continuation of Arab support in the same way and to the same amount, and that was something we have always been trying to achieve," he said.

Palestinian Economy Minister Mazen Sonnoqrot said on Friday the Palestinian Authority would tell the summit it needs at least $130 million a month to cover its budget if the West cuts off aid.

But Kidwa did not mention any request for an increase and Algerian Minister of State Abdelaziz Belkhadem told Reuters the Arab governments had not yet agreed to go above their previous commitment.

The foreign ministers, who started a two-day meeting in Khartoum on Saturday, will discuss a draft confirming their old commitment, he added.

"We're eager to make sure that there is at least the minimum (of Arab aid) but there's no increase," he said.

Sonnoqrot said the Palestinian Authority already faced an economic crisis and many government employees had not received their salaries for February.

"We've asked them (the Arab governments) to increase the subsidy to the Palestinian Authority, for those of them that have the means," he told Reuters.

Salaries alone cost the Palestinian Authority $108 million a month, plus $7 million a month in welfare payments and $25 million a month in the running costs of government departments.

Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal said on Wednesday he expected the Arab summit to make specific commitments to help a Hamas government.

But Arab diplomats have also said it is not clear if the Arab leaders will go beyond their old commitment.

Arabs to maintain aid to Palestinians: minister

[Shammu]

Iran's Nuclear Steps Quicken, Diplomats Say
Tehran reportedly is gearing up for uranium enrichment. A split in the Security Council may impede efforts to halt the program.
By Alissa J. Rubin and Maggie Farley, Times Staff Writers
March 25, 2006

VIENNA — With efforts to halt its nuclear program at an impasse, Iran is moving faster than expected and is just days from making the first steps toward enriching uranium, said diplomats who have been briefed on the program.

If engineers encounter no major technical problems, Iran could manufacture enough highly enriched uranium to build a bomb within three years, much more quickly than the common estimate of five to 10 years, the diplomats said.

Iran insists that it is interested only in producing electricity, which requires low-grade enrichment of uranium.

New information about Iran's program came from diplomats representing countries on the United Nations Security Council. They were briefed by senior staff of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which maintains monitors in Iran. The diplomats spoke on condition of anonymity because the briefing was private.

Even as Iran apparently moves forward, diplomatic efforts to persuade it to halt its nuclear work appeared to be faltering in the face of distrust among powerful Security Council members and disagreements over the best strategy.

"We're getting conflicting signals from the United States; it now appears they want to escalate the situation," said a senior diplomat in Vienna. "The Russians see that as a slippery slope."

Officials said Iran was on the verge of feeding uranium gas into centrifuges, the first step toward enrichment. That move is in keeping with Iran's experience level and its previous statements, experts said.

According to one non-Western official who closely follows Iran's progress, engineers at a pilot plant in Natanz are likely to start crucial testing in the next couple of days to ensure that the centrifuges and the pipes connecting them are properly vacuum sealed. They are likely to begin feeding uranium hexafluoride gas into a series of 164 connected centrifuges within about two weeks, the official said.

Diplomats and experts say Iran has forgone usual testing periods for individual centrifuges and small series of linked centrifuges, instead apparently trying to put together as many as possible, as quickly as possible.

They said Iran also was likely to begin assembling more centrifuges in mid-April to put together additional cascades of linked centrifuges. The pilot plant can hold up to six cascades of 164 centrifuges each. It could take many months to complete that work, the diplomats said.

The U.S. and its British, French and German allies believe Iran intends to build nuclear weapons, and must be stopped before learning how to enrich uranium. They view the ability to operate a series of centrifuges as a technological tipping point.

"If you can do one centrifuge, you can do 164," said Emyr Jones Parry, British envoy to the U.N. "If you can do 164, you probably can do many more. That means you have the potential to do full-scale enrichment. If you can do enrichment up to 7%, you can do 80%. If you can do 80%, you can produce a bomb."

Policymakers watching Iran's program are making two separate assessments: a technical one based on Iran's ability to enrich uranium and a political judgment on whether Iran is attempting to make a bomb or merely trying to enrich uranium to a low level for civilian purposes, as Iranian officials insist.

The three-year time frame for Iran to produce a bomb cited by diplomats is the same as an estimate by former nuclear weapons inspector David Albright.

In a paper that will be released Monday by the Institute for Science and International Security, which Albright founded, he and a colleague give a detailed description of how, under a best-case scenario, Iran would be able to manufacture enough highly enriched uranium for a crude nuclear device in three years. Albright cautioned, however, that Iran faces many technical hurdles it might find difficult to overcome.

Gary S. Samore, a former nonproliferation expert at the National Security Council, now at the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, also said it was far more likely that the Iranians would encounter problems and that it could take them four to five years.

If Iran decides to make highly enriched uranium, it would need either to do so clandestinely, or leave the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, which prohibits signatories from producing highly enriched uranium.

The IAEA board of governors reported Iran to the Security Council for failing to respond to requests from inspectors for information about its program, which it kept hidden for 18 years.

All the members of the Security Council agree that Iran should not be permitted to produce a bomb. Under an agreement with Russia and China, the council only began to discuss Tehran's case in mid-March. The next steps are hotly disputed.

The European Union and the Americans want to exert vigorous pressure on Iran. They insist on a reinstatement of a total moratorium on uranium enrichment that Iran had voluntarily put in place in late 2004 while negotiating with the EU. The U.S. and EU are willing to use a U.N. procedure that gives Security Council resolutions the force of law, and to impose sanctions.

The Russians and the Chinese, mindful of the buildup to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq three years ago, fear that taking too hard a line would lead to an escalation of tensions that could result in military action against Iran. They believe that sanctions and other measures might push Iran to abandon the nonproliferation treaty, which keeps international inspectors in the country.

Russia and China would be willing to allow Iran to retain a small cascade of centrifuges for research purposes.

The difference among the permanent Security Council members suggest it could be a long time before they reach a consensus.

"I don't think anyone can predict if there will be serious action in the Security Council," said Stephen G. Rademaker, acting assistant secretary of State for security and nonproliferation, in an interview this week.

The U.S. and its allies face the difficulty of allaying Russian suspicion that reporting Iran to the Security Council was a way to make the case for military action.

"The Russian concern is with the medium- and long-term plan: 'Where's it going?' " said a diplomat from a European Union country. "Even though we say military action is not an option, they have a concern that we're going down a route that ends up in a single place."

The diplomat said the West's counter-argument is that moving ahead in a unified way sends a signal that the five powerful permanent members of the Security Council are united and that Iran needs to listen.

However, getting Russia on board probably will be more difficult after a letter written by John Sawers of the British Foreign Office to his counterparts in the United States, France and German, was leaked this week. The letter touched on several issues, including the need for the U.S. to be involved in a package of incentives for Iran to halt its uranium enrichment, but it also made it clear that the U.S. and its European partners jointly were negotiating a position without consulting the Russians and Chinese.

"Moscow is unlikely to agree to anything devised behind its back and then presented as the sole solution possible," said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei V. Lavrov.

In the meantime, the situation is changing daily as the Iranians move ahead.

"We're getting to the point where this fundamental difference between the U.S. and EU position and that of the Russians is being overtaken by Iran's … putting new facts on the ground," said Mark Fitzpatrick, a nuclear nonproliferation expert at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, who previously worked for the U.S. State Department on nuclear issues. "Iran is closer and closer to enrichment, so the effort to deny them the capability is rapidly failing."

Iran's Nuclear Steps Quicken, Diplomats Say

[Shammu]

Colo. Police Use MySpace to ID Suspects

Sat Mar 25, 6:58 PM ET

BOULDER, Colo. - Detectives used profiles posted on the MySpace social networking Web site to identify six suspects in a rape and robbery that began when a party turned violent, leaving blood "in almost every room of the house," officials said.

Six men were arrested in connection with the Feb. 23 rampage, and a seventh suspect was being sought, Detective Ali Bartley said Friday.

The victim, whose name was withheld, became acquainted with the suspects through MySpace, authorities said.

The group met for a party. "At some point, the victim was no longer aware of what was happening, and she was sexually assaulted," Bartley said.

She knew only their first names but their pictures were posted on MySpace.

"Primarily, we pulled up her friends list. It helped us identify some of the players," said Bartley.

The men face charges ranging from sexual assault to felony theft. Some $40,000 in electronics, jewelry, clothing and other items were taken, authorities said. About $13,000 worth of stolen goods have been recovered.

"There was blood in almost every room of the house," she said. "There were broken pictures and statues. They stole stereo equipment. The media center was bare."

Nicolas Brison, 18, was charged with rape. The five other men ranged in age from 18 to 20. They were charged on March 7 and hearings are set for April 6.

MySpace drew 28 million visitors in December.

Colo. Police Use MySpace to ID Suspects

[Shammu]

Immigration March Draws 500,000 in L.A.

By PETER PRENGAMAN, Associated Press Writer 24 minutes ago

LOS ANGELES - Immigration rights advocates more than 500,000 strong marched in downtown Los Angeles, demanding that Congress abandon attempts to make illegal immigration a felony and to build more walls along the border.

The massive demonstration, by far the biggest of several around the nation in recent days, came as
President Bush prodded Republican congressional leaders to give some illegal immigrants a chance to work legally in the U.S. under certain conditions.

Wearing white shirts to symbolize peace, marchers chanted "Mexico!" "USA!" and "Si se puede," an old Mexican-American civil rights shout that means "Yes, we can." They waved the flags of the U.S., Mexico and other countries, and some wore them as capes.

Saturday's march was among the largest for any cause in recent U.S. history. Police came up with the crowd estimate using aerial photographs and other techniques, police Cmdr. Louis Gray Jr. said.

Other demonstrations drew 50,000 people in Denver and several thousand in Sacramento and Charlotte, N.C.

Many protesters said lawmakers were unfairly targeting immigrants who provide a major labor pool for America's economy.

"Enough is enough of the xenophobic movement," said Norman Martinez, 63, who immigrated from Honduras as a child and marched in Los Angeles. "They are picking on the weakest link in society, which has built this country."

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed legislation that would make it a felony to be in the U.S. illegally, impose new penalties on employers who hire illegal immigrants, require churches to check the legal status of people they help, and erect fences along one-third of the U.S.-Mexican border.

Elger Aloy, 26, of Riverside, a premed student, pushed a stroller with his 8-month-old son at Saturday's Los Angeles march and called the legislation "inhumane."

"Everybody deserves the right to a better life," he said.

The Senate is to begin debating the proposals on Tuesday.

President Bush on Saturday called for legislation that does not force America to choose between being a welcoming society and a lawful one.

"America is a nation of immigrants, and we're also a nation of laws," Bush said in his weekly radio address, discussing an issue that had driven a wedge into his own party.

Bush sides with business leaders who want legislation to let some of the estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants stay in the country and work for a set period of time. Others, including Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, say national security concerns should drive immigration reform.

"They say we are criminals. We are not criminals," said Salvador Hernandez, 43, of Los Angeles, a resident alien who came to the United States illegally from El Salvador 14 years ago and worked as truck driver, painter and day laborer.

Francisco Flores, 27, a wood flooring installer from Santa Clarita who is a former illegal immigrant, said, "We want to work legally, so we can pay our taxes and support the country, our country."

In Denver, police said more than 50,000 people gathered downtown at Civic Center Park next to the Capitol to urge the state Senate to reject a resolution supporting a ballot issue that would deny many government services to illegal immigrants in Colorado.

Elsa Rodriguez, 30, a trained pilot who came to Colorado in 1999 from Mexico to look for work, said she just wants to be considered equal.

"We're like the ancestors who started this country, they came from other countries without documents, too," the Arvada resident. "They call us lazy and dirty, but we just want to come to work. If you see, we have families, too."

Between 5,000 and 7,000 people gathered Saturday in Charlotte, carrying signs with slogans such as "Am I Not a Human Being?" In Sacramento, more than 4,000 people protested immigration legislation at an annual march honoring the late farm labor leader Cesar Chavez.

About 200 people protested outside a town hall-style meeting held by Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., a leading sponsor of the House bill. He defended the legislation, saying he's trying to stop people from exploiting illegal immigrants for cheap labor, drug trafficking and prostitution.

"Those who do that are 21st-century slave masters, just like the 19th-century slave masters that we fought a civil war to get rid of," Sensenbrenner said at the meeting. "Unless we do something about illegal immigration, we're consigning illegal immigrants to be a permanent underclass, and I don't think that's moral."

Since Thursday tens of thousands of people have joined in rallies in cities including Milwaukee, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Atlanta, and staged school walkouts, marches and work stoppages.

The demonstrations are expected to culminate April 10 in a "National Day of Action" organized by labor, immigration, civil rights and religious groups.

Immigration March Draws 500,000 in L.A.

[nChrist]

Dreamweaver Said:

'Satanic' art in Catholic Church exposed
Documentary links clergy sex abuse with occult imagery
Posted: March 25, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern


© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

Could the Roman Catholic Church's sex abuse crisis be tied to embedded Satanic and occultic imagery in its artwork – some of it hundreds of years old?

That is the seemingly incredible thesis of a new documentary, "Rape of the Soul," made not by anti-Catholic bigots, but by devout followers of the Church.

Dreamweaver,

WOW! - Knock me over with a feather. I'm shocked and outraged. In reading the entire article, I don't see a way in the world that Christians can sit quietly and take this. If you put all of this together with the sexual abuse of children by clergy, this is a horrid and UGLY PICTURE!

Worldnet Daily is a reputable Christian News source, so this isn't anything to be taken lightly. If this is completely true and plays out like the article suggests, there will be a MASSIVE UPROAR in this country. TALK ABOUT A POSSIBLE SIGN OF THE END OF THIS AGE - WOW!

[Soldier4Christ]

Dreamweaver,

WOW! - Knock me over with a feather. I'm shocked and outraged. In reading the entire article, I don't see a way in the world that Christians can sit quietly and take this. If you put all of this together with the sexual abuse of children by clergy, this is a horrid and UGLY PICTURE!

Worldnet Daily is a reputable Christian News source, so this isn't anything to be taken lightly. If this is completely true and plays out like the article suggests, there will be a MASSIVE UPROAR in this country. TALK ABOUT A POSSIBLE SIGN OF THE END OF THIS AGE - WOW!

Brothers, this is the way that many churches are going today. We are indeed seeing a great falling away from church doctrines and values by many so called churches.

[Shammu]

Dreamweaver,

WOW! - Knock me over with a feather. I'm shocked and outraged. In reading the entire article, I don't see a way in the world that Christians can sit quietly and take this. If you put all of this together with the sexual abuse of children by clergy, this is a horrid and UGLY PICTURE!

Worldnet Daily is a reputable Christian News source, so this isn't anything to be taken lightly. If this is completely true and plays out like the article suggests, there will be a MASSIVE UPROAR in this country. TALK ABOUT A POSSIBLE SIGN OF THE END OF THIS AGE - WOW!

Brother,

It took some praying on my part to post this news item. Yes you could have knocked me over, with a cotton ball. From my own research, the age is coming to a close. But you already know that.

One question for you brother, have you heard of the age of Gentiles. That began in 606 B.C., I've been doing some research on this. No I'd never heard of it before. So far it has been very instresting. I may make a study of this, as it looks like it relates to whats happening now.

[Shammu]

Karzai under pressure to free Christian
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Under mounting foreign pressure, President Hamid Karzai was grappling Saturday to find a way to free an Afghan man who converted from Islam to Christianity without angering powerful Muslim clerics who have called for him to be killed, officials said. Abdul Rahman is being prosecuted for converting from Islam to Christianity.

Top officials have said Abdul Rahman, who faces a possible death sentence for alleged apostasy, will be released soon, but clerics have questioned Karzai's authority to order his release and have warned of a possible revolt if he tries.

"The Quran is very clear and the words of our prophet are very clear. There can only be one outcome: death," said cleric Khoja Ahmad Sediqi, who is also a member of the Supreme Court. "If Karzai releases him, it will play into the hands of our enemy and there could be an uprising."

Rahman is being prosecuted under Afghanistan's Islamic laws for converting 16 years ago while working as a medical aid worker for an international Christian group helping Afghan refugees in Pakistan.
   
The case has put Karzai in an awkward position.

While the United States, Britain and other countries that prop up his government have demanded Rahman's release, the president would be reluctant to offend Islamic sensibilities at home or alienate religious conservatives who wield considerable power.

A respected cleric in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif, Mohammed Qasim, said, "We don't care if the West drops its support for us. God will look after Afghanistan."

The chief judge overseeing Rahman's trial has asserted the court's independence.

"We will continue with the trial as is my responsibility under the constitution," said Ansarullah Mawlavi Zada, who like most judges in Afghanistan, is also a cleric.

Asked about Rahman's health, the judge said it was "all right."

Authorities have barred journalists from seeing the 41-year-old defendant at a rundown central Kabul detention facility, where prisoners are packed into tiny, overcrowded cells and often rely on food handouts from relatives.

Diplomats have said the Afghan government is searching for a way to drop the case without inflaming tension here. Authorities said Rahman is suspected of being mentally ill and would undergo psychological examinations to see whether he is fit to stand trial.

An official at Karzai's palace said the president and several Cabinet ministers discussed Rahman's case on Saturday, but she declined to comment on the outcome. Hours earlier, another official said Rahman "could be released soon." Both spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media on the matter.

The trial highlights a conflict of values between Afghanistan and its Western backers — notably American Christians who cheered the administration of President George W. Bush when it toppled the oppressive Taliban regime in late 2001.

Bush expressed alarm about the case this week, but Christian lobby groups have urged him to do more.

Legal experts have said that the case against Rahman is based on contradictory laws.

Afghanistan's constitution is based on Shariah law, which states that any Muslim who rejects Islam should be sentenced to death, according to Ahmad Fahim Hakim, deputy chairman of the state-sponsored Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission.

But the constitution adds that "the state shall abide by the ... Universal Declaration of Human Rights." Article 18 of the Declaration guarantees the freedom to worship and to "change" religion or belief.

Karzai under pressure to free Christian

[Shammu]

Voters to deliver Ukraine verdict
Electoral officials prepare ballot papers in Kiev
The vote may be split along pro-Western and pro-Russia lines
Ukrainians are going to the polls, just over a year after huge crowds turned out in the "Orange Revolution" that brought Viktor Yushchenko to power.

But the popularity of Mr Yushchenko has fallen and analysts suggest his party may be beaten into second place.

Reform has been slow, the economy has slumped and the orange team has been split by a power struggle.

The elections are expected to be one of the most democratic ever held in the former Soviet republic.

Forty-five parties will be taking part and almost 2,000 international observers will be monitoring the election.

"This is the first election after the dust settled, so to speak, after the Orange Revolution. And it is really important to see how far the country has come in this time, looking at this election both politically and in terms of how it is organised," said Urdur Gunnarsdottir of the OSCE.

Coalition

The BBC's Helen Fawkes in Kiev says the election will be the first chance for Ukrainians to deliver their verdict on the Orange Revolution at the ballot box.

Flags and campaign tents of the main parties in Kiev
Polls suggest a coalition will be the likely outcome

In 2004, Viktor Yanukovych was declared the winner of the presidential vote, but allegations of widespread vote-rigging sparked the Orange Revolution and the result was later overturned.

However, it appears Mr Yanukovych is on the verge of a comeback.

Opinion polls now predict his pro-Russian party is on course to win the most seats in parliament.

But it is expected that no party will get enough support to form a majority, so a coalition government appears likely.

Voters to deliver Ukraine verdict

[Shammu]

Iran only week or two away from pilot uranium enrichment - diplomats

Sat Mar 25, 4:05 PM ET

VIENNA (AFP) - Iran could be running a 164-centrifuge pilot cascade to enrich uranium by the end of March or beginning of April, diplomats close to the UN nuclear watchdog told AFP.

This comes as the United Nations Security Council is stalled over issuing a statement that would call on Iran to suspend enrichment, which Tehran says is to produce nuclear reactor fuel but can make atom bomb material.

At the pilot cascade in the Iranian city of Natanz, "there is just piping to be finished, then they do vacuum tests, then they would test with inert gas and finally they would put in uranium gas to begin the process," said a diplomat close to the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The diplomat, who asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue, said the cascade might be ready to begin enrichment as quickly as "within a week, maybe a week or two longer."

While the cascade at Natanz is too small to produce weapons-grade highly enriched uranium (HEU), the reported progress "has really raised the anxiety level" about Tehran's nuclear program, a Western diplomat said.

"Iran is closer to mastering centrifuge cascade operations than we expected," the diplomat said.

Nuclear expert David Albright of the Institute for Science and International Security in Washington said Iran could make low-enriched uranium which it could enrich further to bomb grade "a lot quicker."

The Western diplomat said Iran's progress in enrichment "means diplomacy has less time to succeed. Much less time. And yet the Russians are dithering."

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Friday telephoned Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in a new attempt to break a deadlock at the Security Council.

Rice told a news conference in Washington that she and Lavrov, whose country has resisted tough action against Iran, agreed to step up work on a statement aimed at forcing Tehran to renounce any ambitions to develop atomic bombs.

Rice's earlier warned "there can't be any stalling" in dealing with the potential threat of a nuclear-armed Iran.

Iran in mid-February dropped a self-imposed moratorium on enrichment -- meant to show it did not seek nuclear weapons -- by putting uranium hexafluoride gas into single centrifuges in Natanz, followed by 10-centrifuge and a 20-centrifuge cascade.

The next step would be the 164-centrifuge cascade, a research-level operation to learn about techniques used in running thousands of centrifuges.

Iran, which strongly denies it wants nuclear weapons but insists on its right to enrich uranium for fuel, needs more than 50,000 centrifuges to produce enough for up to a dozen atom bombs a year.

Iran only week or two away from pilot uranium enrichment - diplomats