News, Prophecy and other

[Shammu]

 Defense minister: Iran ready for joint military exercises with regional states
Bandar Abbas, April 6, IRNA

Iran-Defense Minister-War Game
Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammad- Najjar said on Thursday that the most significant message of the recently conducted 'Holy Prophet (PBUH)' war game was 'peace and friendship' for the neighboring states.

The Iranian armed forces are ready to conduct any joint military war games with any of the Persian Gulf littoral states to remove any probable misunderstanding and concern, said the minister.

Iran is ready to sign non-aggression pact with the Persian Gulf states to prevent trans-regional powers from misusing current situation in the region, said the minister.

Iran has successfully test-fired ten missiles, including underwater missile, super-modern flying boat, land-to-sea missile, and a powerful torpedo, during its week-long "Great Prophet" war games that started in the Persian Gulf waters Friday, he said.

"The mass production of the tested weapons have been finalized and we are ready to test fire some other new sophisticated weapons in the near future," said the minister.

Highlighting Iran's capabilities for production of all types of sophisticated defensive weapons, he said in defense sector sanction is meaningless and Iran by relying on its talented youth is ready to meet the needs of its armed forces, pointed out the minister.

Combatants from the navy and air force of the Islamic Republic Army and the Islamic Revolution's Guards Corps, missile units of the air force and Basij (voluntary) took part in the joint wargame.

Some 17,000 combatants along with 1,500 gunboats, jet fighters, and choppers took part in the wargame.

Defense minister: Iran ready for joint military exercises with regional states

[Shammu]

 Safavi: Peace, security in Persian Gulf will safeguard all
Bandar Abbas, Hormuzgan prov., April 6, IRNA

Iran-War Game-Safavi
IRGC Commander Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi said on Thursday that restoration of peace and security to the Persian Gulf region will safeguard all states whose industries and existence depend on energy sources of the region.

Speaking to IRNA on the last day of Holy Prophet (PBUH) war game, he said "We hope the trans-regional powers have got the message of the war game."
Iran is ready to defend the country's independence and interests but this should not be interpreted as any threats against other countries of the region, he said.

The security of the Persian Gulf and Iran are intertwined and insecurity in the country would also threaten trans-regional powers, Safavi said.

Expressing satisfaction with the results of the war game, he said "We achieved all our goals which is manifestation of our national strength and capability of our armed forces."
Iran has successfully test-fired ten missiles, including underwater missile, super-modern flying boat, land-to-sea missile, and a powerful torpedo, during its week-long "Great Prophet" war games which started in the Persian Gulf waters Friday.

Some 17,000 combatants together with 1,500 gunboats, various types of jet fighters, bombers and choppers took part in the wargame.

During the wargame various telecommunication, reconnaissance and electronic operations were conducted against hypothetical enemies.

The seven-day Holy Prophet (PBUH) wargame ended today.

Safavi: Peace, security in Persian Gulf will safeguard all

[Shammu]

Two Koreas to Resume High-Level Talks

Thu Apr 6, 9:29 PM ET

SEOUL, South Korea - South Korea and North Korea have agreed to restart their suspended high-level talks this month in Pyongyang, the Unification Ministry said Friday.

"North Korea sent a message Thursday to us to propose to hold talks in April 21-24 and we agreed to the North's proposal in a reply message today," a ministry spokesman Yang Chang-seok told The Associated Press.

The Cabinet-level talks were originally scheduled to start last week in the North Korean capital, but the communist nation delayed them in a protest over weeklong military exercises involving South Korea and the United States that ended last Friday.

The North had suggested talks resume on an unspecified April date when it postponed the meeting.

North Korea usually reacted angrily to the drills, which Pyongyang says are a rehearsal for an invasion of the communist country. South Korea and the United States dismiss the North's assertion, saying they are defensive exercises.

The two divided Koreas have held 17 rounds of the Cabinet-level talks — the highest-level regular dialogue channel between the two Koreas — since the first-ever inter-Korean summit in 2000.

The bilateral relations warmed significantly after the summit, but tensions persist over North Korea's nuclear ambitions. The two sides are still technically in a state of conflict because the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.

Two Koreas to Resume High-Level Talks

My note; The kings of the east...........

[Shammu]

9/11 victims share heartache with Moussaoui jury

From Phil Hirschkorn
CNN

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (CNN) -- Jim Smith recalled for the jury meeting his wife, Moira, a fellow police officer and Brooklynite, at a midtown bar frequented by New York's finest. They hit it off, despite differences that may have hopelessly embittered some New Yorkers.

"She took my Yankee hat off and tossed it across the room. She was a Mets fan," Smith told the jury at the death penalty trial of Zacarias Moussaoui, 37, who has admitted to conspiring with al Qaeda to hijack and crash planes into U.S. landmarks.

Prosecutors are hoping the personal anecdotes of people who lost loved ones during the September 11 attacks will sway jurors, and Smith's was one of five heart-wrenching victim-impact tales they heard Thursday.

The Smiths married in 1998 and had a daughter, Patricia, prompting Moira Smith, 38, to transfer from her narcotics street squad assignment to something tamer, community policing, Smith said.

But when a passenger jet ripped into the World Trade Center's north tower on September 11, 2001, Moira Smith and her unit were quickly on the scene helping people evacuate.

A photograph of Moira Smith escorting a bloodied businessman who had been working in the south tower provided a picture of her last moments. Moira Smith was killed minutes later when the south tower collapsed as she tried to save a woman suffering from an asthma attack on the third floor.

Holding back tears, Smith tried to explain how the loss affects Patricia, now 6, who was shown in a 2002 picture wearing a red dress and her mother's medal of honor.

"The loss to Patricia, I can't begin to explain," he said. "I tell her, her mom was a hero, and she died trying to save others."
Fallen firefighter

Fireman Dan Suhr was a fan of the three Fs.

"All about fun, all about family and all about the Fire Department," fellow firefighter and friend Tony Sanseviro told the jury.

Suhr and his wife, Nancy, were childhood sweethearts with a 2-year-old daughter, Briana, and they owned a pizzeria, appropriately dubbed NAD (Nancy and Dan). They were "the king and queen of the prom," Sanseviro said.

On September 11, 2001, Suhr and his squad were deployed to the World Trade Center, and Suhr insisted that he not drive because the driver must stay with the fire engine.

"He knew what he was doing. He knew he was going into the building," Sanseviro said.

But Suhr didn't get far. As he approached the flaming towers, a man leapt from atop one of the buildings and came crashing down on him, knocking him unconscious. Bleeding profusely, Suhr later died at a nearby hospital.

Sanseviro, who said he suffers from survivor's guilt, has retired from the Fire Department. "You kind of lose your will to live," he said.

Despite his anguish, he has taken the loss far better than Nancy Suhr -- it was only last year that she stopped wearing black every day, he said.
Adventurous flight attendant

When Mike and Bobbie Low first learned of the attacks on the World Trade Center, they were terrified for their daughter, Sara, an American Airlines flight attendant.

"We knew she was flying that day," Mike Low said, but when he and Bobbie called the airline employee hot line, they were told she wasn't on Flight 11, the Boeing 767 that slammed into the north tower.

"We experienced elation," Mike Low said.

But that elation quickly turned to devastation, as the couple learned that Sara Low was one of the nine flight attendants on board the plane. It turned out that the person with whom they had spoken earlier was looking at the passenger manifest rather than the one for employees.

Mike Low said his family is now frozen in time. He tosses and turns at night, replaying the horrific images of the terrorist attacks, and Bobbie Low rarely leaves the house, where Sara Low's bedroom has been turned into a shrine for her ashes and airline uniform.

"It was a home of happiness and dreams, but now it's her sanctuary," Mike Low said. "Nine-eleven thoughts are just pervasive. They're always there."
Happy dentist

Arranged marriages are rarely fodder for true love, but Chandra Kalahasthi said his sister Prasanna had found bliss in her marriage to Pendyala "Vamsi" Vamsikrishna.

A 30-year-old software engineer, Vamsikrishna was supposed to return to Los Angeles, California, from a business trip in Boston, Massachusetts, on September 9, but his work kept him in Boston an extra day.

On the morning of September 11, Vamsikrishna phoned his wife and left her a message: He would be home in time for lunch.

But his jet, American Airlines Flight 11, would never return to the West Coast.

Kalahasthi flew from India to the United States to comfort his sister, who had sunk into a deep depression, her brother said. She constantly played the tape of her husband's last message.

A month after the attacks, Kalahasthi left Los Angeles on a business trip, and his sister hanged herself from an exercise machine in her house.

He fought back his anguish Thursday as he read to the jury his sister's suicide note.

"I am sorry I am hurting you," she wrote. "I loved Vamsi too much."
An American dreamer

Tu Ho Nguyen and her husband, Khang, left Vietnam for the United States in 1981. After becoming American citizens, the two were married on July 4, 1993.

"The birth of America," Nguyen said. "Coming to the United States was our great gift."

Nguyen recalled for the jury how her husband, an electrical engineer at the Pentagon, ran out of their Fairfax, Virginia, home on September 11, 2001, to hear their son, An, say "bye bye, daddy" from the departing school bus.

It would be the last time An saw his dad.

Khang Nguyen, 41, died when American Airlines Flight 77 slammed into the Pentagon, and An has had a difficult time with the loss, said Tu Ho Nguyen, who is rearing the boy by herself.

"He told me he wants to be an astronaut, so he can go to space and look for his daddy."

911 victims share heartache with Moussaoui jury

[Shammu]

CBS Accused of Giving Embryo Adoption Short Shrift

By Mary Rettig
April 6, 2006

(AgapePress) - The director of the National Embryo Donation Center (NEDC) says a CBS News program pushed a political agenda on its recent piece on leftover embryos. He says the network did a disservice to the public when it aired "A Surplus of Embryos."

The segment aired during a February installment of 60 Minutes, the long-time popular Sunday evening program on the CBS network. The NEDC's Dr. Jeff Keenan says a couple who was using the Center to get pregnant was interviewed by CBS staff, and that the original premise of the segment was good.

According to Keenan, the staff that interviewed him and the couple -- Christy and Shannon Bomar -- informed them the piece was to be about what to do with leftover embryos. He says that turned out not to be the case.

"[T]he story basically ended up leaving the listener with the impression ... that there are 400,000 embryos in cryopreservation, they're slowly dying, and they should be used for embryonic stem-cell research -- except that President Bush won't allow that," Keenan points out.

The NEDC director says when the final editing of the segment was done, there was nothing left of the Bomars' interviews. Keenan finds that particularly disappointing because 60 Minutes chose to air neither the Bomars' embryo transfer nor the result of the transfer: Christy Bomar's pregnancy.

Mrs. Bomar expressed her dissatisfaction with the CBS segment in a press release from the NEDC. "Embryo adoption was not shown [in the segment] as a good option for couples who wanted to grow a family," she explained. "If people knew about the procedure and the option to adopt embryos, there would be more children born from embryo adoption."

The NEDC asserts it was a "grave injustice" to the public not to air this type of viable option for couples with fertility problems or couples with extra embryos. "Unfortunately," says Keenan, "the final editing under the direction of the producers and Leslie Stahl at CBS transformed the story to one that almost ignored the option of embryo adoption and basically changed the story into an indictment of President Bush and his administration."

Keenan adds that if CBS had its facts straight, it would have known that President Bush has been the only president to allow federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research.

[Shammu]

Pennsylvania Official Charged With Using Position to Push Homosexual Agenda

By Allie Martin
April 6, 2006

(AgapePress) - The American Family Association of Pennsylvania (AFA of PA) is accusing the Human Relations Commission in that state of overstepping its stated purpose and goals to promote pro-homosexual causes.

The pro-family group charges that Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission Chairman Stephen Glassman has been using his position to promote homosexuality as a normal lifestyle. Glassman, who is homosexual, is accused of encouraging municipalities to go beyond the law to extend special rights to individuals based solely on sexual orientation.

Diane Gramley, president of the AFA of PA, says Glassman should not be allowed to go outside the boundaries of the Commission's stated agenda, as she feels he has done lately. "He's been very active in opposing our marriage protection amendment," she notes, for example.

Also, only a couple of weeks ago, Glassman actually addressed a group of ten homosexual groups in the Lebanon Valley College, Gramley points out. "Those homosexual groups, of course, are working against passage of our marriage protection amendment," she says, "and Steve Glassman was there in his official capacity as chairman of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission."

Glassman is "using his position as the chairman of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission as a bully pulpit to change policies in Pennsylvania that are not mandated by the law," the pro-family leader contends, "and it's not in the mission statement of the Commission."

She feels this is an abuse of office that calls for official censure.

Gramley believes Pennsylvania Governor Edward Rendell should intervene on behalf of state taxpayers by putting Glassman's pro-homosexual advocacy in check. She is asking Rendell to rein in the Human Relations Commission chairman's use of the agency in efforts to normalize homosexuality and derail the proposed marriage protection amendment.

[Shammu]

Pro-Family Leader Calls California's Pro-Homosexual Textbook Bill 'Outrageous'

By Jenni Parker
April 6, 2006

(AgapePress) - A pro-homosexual bill that pro-family forces are describing as one of the most outrageous pieces of legislation to come through the California legislature this year has been approved by the state's Senate Judiciary Committee.

Senate Bill 1437 would require California schools' textbooks to highlight the positive contributions of homosexual and transgender individuals to society and would prevent school textbooks, teaching materials, school-sponsored activities, and instruction from reflecting adversely upon persons based on their sexual orientation or actual or perceived gender.

If SB 1437 passes, the bill could potentially require gender-neutral bathrooms in the state's schools. It could also result in a mandate to remove all references to "husband" and "wife" or "mom and dad" as the norm from all school textbooks.

In a Christian Newswire report, Capitol Resource Institute (CRI) executive director Karen England explained why she feels the bill is so outrageous. The California Senate legislation is "the most extreme effort thus far to transform our public schools into institutions that disregard all notions of the traditional family unit," she observed.

This legislation "seeks to eliminate all 'stereotypes' of the traditional family so that young children are brainwashed into believing that families with mom and dads are irrelevant," England said. "Under SB 1437 school districts would likely be prohibited from having a 'prom king and queen' because that would show bias based on gender and sexual orientation."

Also, the CRI spokeswoman points out, since school-sponsored activities include everything from cheerleading and sports to school social events, the bill would also likely force school districts to do away with dress codes and to accommodate transsexuals on girl-specific or boy-specific athletic teams.

CRI is committed to opposing any legislation that uses children as "social experiments" even as it tramples upon long-standing traditional family values. If passed, SB 1437 promises to exercise broad and sweeping impact on California schools and to adversely affect children and families, England warns.

This legislation "disregards the religious and moral convictions of students," the CRI executive director adds. If it becomes law across the state of California, she predicts that it will result in reverse discrimination as well.

[Shammu]

Proliferation of Public Profanity a Cultural -- and Spiritual -- Problem

By Tim Wildmon
April 6, 2006

(AgapePress) - Perhaps you saw the same survey I saw the other day about Americans and public profanity. It said that we the people are cursing more frequently and using words that were once considered taboo in public. I was probably 12 years old when I first heard the "f" word used by a neighborhood kid. I even asked my parents what it meant because I had no idea. Talk about an awkward moment for a parent. Today, however, you frequently hear words such as this out in the open.

A few weeks back I was on an airplane and the 25-year-old male a few seats over was yaking on his cell phone, letting everyone in on his business that none of us cared about. About every 60 seconds he felt the need to use the "f" word. I don't know if that made him feel more adult or what. Later in the airport waiting on a connecting flight, there was a lady, about 50, talking loudly on her cell phone. I heard her twice use the "f" word in what sounded like a casual conversation. Then while I walked at a local park earlier this week some teenage boys were playing basketball. One of them called another one a "mf" just as casual as you please. They were not in a fight, they were just talking to one another.

Raw profanity has become an acceptable part of popular culture today.

Rap music -- the most popular music among young people today -- is filled with gutter language. They play it loudly in their cars. Movies and television programs use hard profanity on a regular basis. In a way, we have become desensitized to it. This has been the goal of Hollywood for many years. There was a time before the mid-60s when foul language was not used on television, in movies or popular music.

But today many people mock you if you complain about public profanity. They say it's just the way people talk today and the language one uses doesn't matter. My question then is, why use words like "f" and "mf" and "gd" in public if language doesn't matter? Why didn't the teenage boy on the basketball court just say, "Give me the ball, John," instead of "Give me the ball 'mf'?" Why did certain words come out of the young man's mouth and not others? I contend most people who use foul language intentionally do so because they understand the words themselves represent rebellion against societal norms -- or what used to be societal norms. Otherwise, why use that kind of language? It's an attention grabber. Then, after using profanity for a long period of time, it does become second nature -- just the way people talk.

For the Christian, foul language is forbidden by the Bible. That is why using profanity in public was considered unacceptable before we became a post-Christian culture. Christian values and morals are now considered passé or "old-fashioned" to many Americans – especially the younger generation, sad to say.

In the New Testament book of Ephesians, the apostle Paul gives these instructions to followers of Jesus: "Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

"But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people. Nor should there by any obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving" (Ephesians 5:1-4).

In Ephesians 4:29 Paul says: "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen."

What I take from this is that we shouldn't tear down people personally. So, in the spirit of that biblical command, I don't desire to attack anyone. If we have criticism of someone, we can do so without attacking that person himself -- and do so with the purpose of achieving a positive resolution to the problem. We can talk about an offense without mounting a personal attack on the one who has offended.

Even though we know the standard, still, we are human and we often fail to live up to those standards. But the occasional slip is not what I am talking about. I wish it were. What I am talking about is a serious profanity problem in the general population. Sadly, I doubt we can reverse this trend. As I stated earlier, in many respects our American society has rejected the Christian moral value system. So this really is the way people talk to each other if they don't care what God thinks about the words that come out of their mouths. To them -- to us in our current cultural context -- it doesn't seem to matter. But according to God's Word, words still matter.

[Shammu]

India Bank Strike Affects Millions

13 minutes ago

NEW DELHI - Striking employees at India's largest commercial bank rejected a government appeal Friday to call off their walkout as tens of millions of people were left without access to cash.

Nearly all 210,000 employees of the state-owned State Bank of India went on an indefinite strike Monday demanding higher pensions. None of the bank's more than 9,000 branches have opened since.

Tens of millions of Indians use the State Bank, which serves 30 percent of the country's bank customers, and holds up to 19 percent of the country's total deposits.

Salaries of most Indian government employees are paid through the bank, causing a cash crunch for millions of households. More than 5 million salary checks are pending with the bank, officials said.

"I haven't been able to deposit my daughter's school fees. I hope the school realizes the problem," said Shakuntala Gupta, a government employee.

But worst-affected are poor depositors and pensioners.

"I have not been able to get my pension payment this month," said Bhairav Singh, a retired army officer.

On Friday, the bank employees' union rejected an appeal from the finance minister to return to work. Employees are demanding pensions equal to 50 percent of their final salaries, compared with the current flat ceiling of 4,250 rupees (US$95) a month.

"Our only demand is to increase the ceiling on the pension. But the government has not come up with any assurance. The strike will continue," said V.K. Gupta, the vice president of the employees' union.

A.K. Purwar, the bank's chairman, urged his employees to come back to work.

"Please come back," he said in an interview on the NDTV news television channel. "The losses are huge. They run into billions of rupees (dollars) every day."

India Bank Strike Affects Millions

[Shammu]

Gorbachev: Soviet Union 'should have been preserved'

Thu Apr 6, 7:04 AM ET

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, 75, defends Russian President Vladimir Putin and has a cynical view of U.S. motives in dealing with Russia. USA TODAY editorial writer Louise Branson, co-author of Gorbachev: Heretic in the Kremlin, sat down last week with the man whosereforms precipitated the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union. To mark the 20th anniversary of his reforms, Gorbachev has written a new book, To Understand Perestroika. The interview, conducted at The Carnegie Abbey Club near Newport, R.I., was edited for length and clarity.


Question:In 1985, as the new Soviet leader, you gave a televised address that was nothing like the stiff speeches of past leaders. You talked in a conversational way and addressed real problems. The change in style and substance was something amazing for the country and the world. How did you view that speech?

Answer: Actually, I watched myself on TV and I was amazed ... at quite a few things. But very frankly, that was my style. At that time I had been in politics for 30 years. ... But certainly when I became leader, people were paying more attention to what I said. About a hundred times, a thousand times more attention.

Q: In that speech, you likened the country and the communist system to a house that just needed some repairs. Why this approach?

A: On the eve of my election, (Foreign Minister Andrei) Gromyko and I agreed that changes were necessary and that those would be difficult changes. Past attempts at change had turned into a kind of dead end. Nothing happened. We understood from the very start that changes were inevitable, that they would be difficult and, as I said to Gromyko, we have to start and have to take a risk. And he agreed with me.

Q:Did you understand how far the changes you were making would go or how difficult they would turn out to be?

A: Initially, we were under illusions that we could make the system work. But as early as the fall of 1986, all of us had to start shedding those illusions. We had talked of perestroika (restructuring) but nothing was changing. ... But change was not easy. Even new politicians resisted change because they were used to central planning. By 1988 we decided we needed political reform: free elections, the separation of powers, a multiparty system, recognition of market economics as a necessary tool to modernize our society and to create incentives within the economic system. The first elections were, I believe, a great success. But the nomenklatura (the former privileged class) understood that democracy was something that did not work for them, so they began to demand that power be returned to the Communist Party. All of their attempts to try to change the course failed. That's why, in 1991, they arrested me and attempted a coup.

Q:Outside Russia, you are widely seen as a great historical figure for starting the country on the path to democracy. But you are not popular in Russia. Why?

A: That situation is changing. But you are right in the sense that people had been expecting perestroika would just mean a reallocation of wealth. But perestroika was about democracy, free elections, initiative, enterprise. Some people at that moment became real entrepreneurs and took advantage of the changes. But most are only just now beginning to do so. The people who said the pace of change was too rapid were probably right. A country like Russia cannot be quickly changed. It is one thing to say something from the podium, but to implement it takes decades. These changes will take 20-25 years.

Q:Many Russians criticize you because in their opinion, you gave away the Soviet empire and weakened Russian power. Is this characterization accurate?

A: The Soviet Union could have been preserved and should have been preserved. ... I wanted to decentralize the Soviet Union and give the maximum amount of rights to the republics as guaranteed under the constitution, while preserving in the center the most important functions such as defense, diplomacy, coordination. That was it.

Q:But it didn't work.

A: Well historically, not everything works. Let's look at the history of any state, including the USA. Did they succeed in everything? No!

Q:You opened up Russia to democracy and a market economy. But President (Vladimir) Putin seems to be rolling everything back, seizing the independent media and even imprisoning an oil tycoon who was a rival. How do you view his presidency?

A: Putin inherited a terrible situation from (former leader Boris) Yeltsin. With Yeltsin, the Soviet Union broke apart, the country was totally mismanaged, the constitution was not respected by the regions of Russia. The army, education and health systems collapsed. People in the West quietly applauded, dancing with and around Yeltsin. I conclude therefore that we should not pay too much attention to what the West is saying. Putin has now stabilized the country. What he has done is not perfect. But Russia needs stability as a foundation for continuing to modernize.

Q:Are the criticisms from the USA and other Western countries not justified?

A: Perhaps they would just like to keep Russia down as long as possible. The United States wants to continue as the sole superpower that is in charge of the world, and that is why it doesn't want Russia to rise. But this is a mistake. Even the Europeans are afraid. They all speak against Russia, saying we must defend democracy in Russia. But let me assure you there will be no authoritarian regime in Russia. ... In some places in Russia, some authoritarian steps have to be taken. But all of this is in order to keep Russia moving along the lines of democracy. ...
President Bush in a recent speech said the USA will continue to engage Russia. This is very important. We want a partnership and cooperation with the United States and perhaps even to become an ally with the United States. This is not just my opinion; this is the opinion at the highest level of the Russian government.

Q:Do you feel that such an opportunity was lost at the end of the Cold War?

A: Yes, I believe that. ... We are paying a price for the lag in world politics. We are paying the price for all these new geopolitical games, for all of this infighting for spheres of influence and for choosing very often force as a method, as a tool, we are paying a very high price for all of these mistakes.

Q:How do you see the Iraq war and beyond?

A: The very moment that I heard the news of the invasion of Iraq, I was in Japan. I said I believe this is a major political mistake, and I still believe that. ... The geopolitics of the world have changed for the worst. The situation in the Middle East has become more complicated. Wherever you look, things have become worse because of the invasion of Iraq.

Q:When you were a student, you thought about becoming an actor. Why study law instead?

A: In high school, I was in an amateur drama, but that is something that is quite normal and regular at that age. ... Law was a difficult choice because at that time I liked mathematics and physics and still have great interest in them. But I was very active in public life. I became a member of the Communist Party when I was in 10th grade. I believed in communism, I believed in (former premier Joseph) Stalin, I was head of the Komsomol (youth) organization, and ultimately I took the decision that I would go to the law department.

Q:I was sorry to hear about the death (in 1999) of your wife, Raisa, who was seen as a positive role model for Russian women. Your daughter (who was with Gorbachev) looks very much like her.

A: Thank you. Irina is very helpful; she is helping me a great deal. And probably that is why I was able to cope with this blow, with this very, very big blow. She is irreplaceable.

Gorbachev: Soviet Union 'should have been preserved'

[Soldier4Christ]

            ROFL!!

Brothers, I think that I want one of those 7 foot turkeys. It probably wouldn't be much good for eating, but I want to train it to be a guard turkey. 

LOL .................   I know I sure wouldn't want to cross it's path.

[Soldier4Christ]

Here's a preliminary article on that supposed missing link fossil.


Gone fishin’ for a missing link? (A preliminary response)

Throughout the day today (Thursday) and late yesterday, the secular press worldwide has been buzzing (and in the case of the New York Times and its front-page story, gloating … as the paper is slamming creationists over this) about a report in the journal Nature1 that a fossil had been found in the Arctic that supposedly proves that land animals evolved from fish.

The discovery of the fossil “Tiktaalik” has been one of the most-widely picked up pro-evolution media stories since the (in)famous 1996 claim—eventually shown to be false—that life had been found in a meteorite from Mars. Some paleontologists are even claiming that Tiktaalik has the potential to become another Archaeopteryx for any evolutionist wanting to cite an ironclad example of a transitional form.2

The reports say that the skeletons (supposedly 375 million years old and up to nine feet long) have fish characteristics such as fins and a gill, but also characteristics that, according to the Times, “anticipate the emergence of land animals—and is thus a predecessor of amphibians, reptiles and dinosaurs … .” 3 The word “anticipate” is one of the cautionary words being used about this creature, and when you read other tentative wording (e.g., the use of the word “may” in the headline “Fossil may link fish, land animal” 4), then the find is not as firm as evolutionists would lead you to believe.

Here are the anti-creation excerpts from the NY Times page one article (as it appeared on their website3 on the evening of April 5—since then there have been a few modificatons to the article, one of which is mentioned below) about this new fossil. The paper has clearly gone out of its way to allege that creationists might now be running scared because of this discovery:

   1. “ … the fossils are widely seen by scientists as a powerful rebuttal to religious creationists, who hold a literal biblical view on the origins and development of life.”
   2. “While Dr. Shubin’s team played down the fossil’s significance in the raging debate over Darwinian theory, which is opposed mainly by some conservative Christians in the United States, other scientists were not so reticent. They said this should undercut the creationists’ argument that there is no evidence in the fossil record of one kind of creature becoming another kind.”
   3. “One creationist site on the Web [a site other than AiG’s] declares that ‘there are no transitional forms,’ adding: ‘For example, not a single fossil with part fins part feet has been found. And this is true between every major plant and animal kind.’”
   4. [Quoting an evolutionist] “What more do we need from the fossil record to show that the creationists are flatly wrong?”

By the way, for America’s so-called “newspaper of record” to argue against a particular viewpoint like creation / intelligent design without publishing a comment from a leading creationist or ID organization makes this Times article completely unbalanced. [Editors’ note: as of the evening of April 5 there was not a creationist quote, but it has been brought to our attention that a quote from Dr. Duane Gish of ICR has been added to the web article (along with a few other modifications); the quote by Dr. Gish is also in the April 6 print version.]

No creationist to our knowledge has yet done a careful analysis on this fossil. Until one of our scientists or an adjunct AiG researcher has conducted a careful study, we will not issue a conclusive statement.
Preliminary thoughts

For the moment, here are some of our thoughts.

There is the coelacanth fish, found in the same geological system (Devonian it is called) as this Tiktaalik discovery, that also has lobe fins. These lobe fins were once thought to enable the coelacanth to walk on the ocean floor (in fact it was, like “Tiklaalik,” once considered by evolutionists to be a type of transitional form). Later, it was determined that the coelacanth fins were used for better maneuvering through the water, and not for walking. The new creature uncovered in the Arctic might be something similar.

Also, there are other creatures (e.g., the Panderichthys) that are thought to be fish and yet appear to be similar in lobe and fin structure to Tiktaalik. In addition, the bones for Panderichthys, Tiktaalik and the coelacanth are imbedded in the muscle, and are not attached to the axial skeleton, which you would find in a reptile or amphibian (and which would be necessary for weight-bearing appendages).

As we often state on this website, keep in mind that evolutionists and creationists have the same facts (e.g., fossils), but interpret the facts uncovered today differently in regard to the past. Because evolutionists want to discover transitional forms, when they find a very old fish with leg-bone-like bones in its fins, they want to interpret this as evidence that it is some sort of transitional creature. However, other fish seem to have the same sort of structure as stated above, and these bones are not constructed as one would expect for weight-bearing legs. It may be just another example of the wonderful design of our Creator God.

All they have actually found is a fish that is another example of a lobe-finned fish (one of which still lives today—the coelacanth) that has bones similar in position to those seen in the arm and wrist of land-walking creatures—except these structures support fins with rays in them, not digits like fingers and toes (and as has been stated, they are NOT connected to the axial skeleton).

We will, however, continue to use words like “might” and “appear” until AiG can gain better access to the researchers’ findings and also study fossil fish that are similar to Tiktaalik. It is vital that we gather as much data as we can. At some time, we might discover (as was the case when closer examination revealed there really was no evidence of life on that Mars meteorite) that this fossil discovery has an alternative/better interpretation of the evidence.

For the moment, we can confidently state that evolutionists have no examples of mutations or evolutionary processes that can lead to an increase in genetic information in a creature that would, for example, develop the appendage of a land animal from the fin of a fish (as would be required by molecules-to-man evolution). Evolution is stopped in its tracks at this point.

This website has consistently demonstrated that fossil creatures are essentially the same (stasis), or have degenerated (lost information, the opposite of what evolution requires). This is predicted in the creation model (animals reproducing “after their kind”; Genesis 1:24–25). Also, creationists have shown that the evidence found in the fossil record is highly consistent with catastrophism (i.e., a worldwide flood such as the Flood of Noah in the book of Genesis).

Please visit this site periodically for possible updates on this newest of evolutionary claims.
References and notes

   1. Here is the link to Nature’s abstract about this find: <www.nature.com/nature/journal/v440/n7085/abs/nature04639.html>, Return to text.
   2. Archaeopteryx is a fossil bird, but because it had some reptile-like features, it has often been showcased as exhibit A when an evolutionist wants to rebut a creationist who says that transitional forms are non-existent in the fossil record. Read our article about the Archaeopteryx bird, Archaeopteryx (unlike Archaeoraptor) is NOT a hoax—it is a true bird, not a “missing link”

      Feathers are extremely complex structures and so are reptilian scales, and both are very different from each other. No creature has been found in the fossil record that shows something intermediate between a scale and a feather, which molecules-to-man evolution would require.

      By the way, not all evolutionists consider Archaeopteryx to be transitional. Return to text.
   3. The New York Times article can be found at: Fossil Called Missing Link From Sea to Land Animals. Return to text.
   4. In AiG–USA’s hometown newspaper, The Cincinnati Enquirer, April 6, 2006, p. A4. Return to text.

[JudgeNot]

Darwin's Grandpa
 

[Soldier4Christ]

LOL   ..........       only in his dreams.

[airIam2worship]

Darwin's Grandpa
 

What an ugly creature.