News, Prophecy and other

[Shammu]

Iran Rebuffs Request to Suspend Enrichment

By ALI AKBAR DAREINI, Associated Press Writer 46 minutes ago

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran rebuffed a request by the U.N. nuclear agency chief in talks Thursday that it suspend uranium enrichment, and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad insisted his country will not retreat "one iota."

The chief, Mohamed ElBaradei, looked much less optimistic after the four hours of talks with Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, than he had when he arrived for the one-day visit and said the time was "ripe" for a political solution to the standoff.

ElBaradei, who is hoping to head off a confrontation between Tehran and the Security Council, put forward the U.N. request for Iran to suspend enrichment until questions over its nuclear program are resolved.

But Larijani indicated suspension was not an option. "Such proposals are not very important ones," he told reporters matter-of-factly while standing next to ElBaradei at a joint news conference after the talks.

Hours earlier, Ahmadinejad said enrichment was a line in the sand from which the Iranians would not retreat.

"We won't hold talks with anyone about the right of the Iranian nation (to enrich uranium), and no one has the right to retreat, even one iota," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying by the official Islamic Republic News Agency.

"Our answer to those who are angry about Iran achieving the full nuclear fuel cycle is just one phrase. We say: 'Be angry at us and die of this anger,'" Ahmadinejad said.

Iran says its nuclear work is solely for peaceful, civilian purposes, but the U.S. and a number of its allies believe it is after a nuclear arsenal.

ElBaradei said the extent of Iran's nuclear program was uncertain: "We have not seen diversion of nuclear material for weapons purposes, but the picture is still hazy and not very clear."

During the 20 years of Iran's nuclear program, "lots of activities went unreported," ElBaradei said.

Higher-level enrichment makes uranium suitable for a nuclear bomb, though Western experts familiar with Iran's program say the country is far from producing weapons-grade uranium.

ElBaradei said that in their talks, Larijani had renewed Iran's commitment "to provide clarity to outstanding issues before I write my report to the (International Atomic Energy Agency) board by the end of this month."

The Security Council has given Iran until April 28 to cease enrichment of uranium. But Iran has rejected the demand and announced Tuesday that, for the first time, it had enriched uranium with 164 centrifuges — a step toward large-scale production.

Representatives of the five permanent Security Council members — the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia — discussed the latest development Thursday morning. The U.S. and Europe are pressing for sanctions, a step Russia and China have so far opposed.

"We want to see what the outcome of the discussions between ElBaradei and the Iranian government is. And when we get information on that, we'll consider what to do next," U.S. Ambassador to the
United Nations, John Bolton, said after the meeting.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said there will "have to be some consequence" for Iran's refusal to suspend uranium enrichment activities.

"There is no doubt that Iran continues to defy the will of the international community despite the fact that the international community very clearly said stop," Rice said.

Undersecretary for Arms Control Robert Joseph rejected Iran's claims that its nuclear program was for peaceful purposes, saying its enrichment "is for a weapons program and that is what we are trying to deal with."

"If it had nuclear weapons, I am sure (Iran) would be even more ambitious in its use of terror to undercut the prospects of peace in the Middle East," Joseph told reporters in Cairo, Egypt.

China said Thursday it was sending its assistant foreign minister to Tehran to convey its concerns about Iran's nuclear program.

Iran's deputy nuclear chief, Mohammad Saeedi, said Wednesday that Iran intends to move toward large-scale uranium enrichment involving 3,000 centrifuges by late 2006, and then expand the program to 54,000 centrifuges.

Saeedi said the 54,000 centrifuges would produce enough enriched uranium to fuel a 1,000-megawatt reactor, such as the one Iran has built with Russian assistance at Bushehr. The reactor is due to come on stream later this year.

Iran's nuclear chief, Gholamreza Aghazadeh, said Wednesday that Iran is prepared to give the West a share of Iran's enrichment facilities to allay fears that the country may divert some product to build weapons.

"The best way to get out of this issue is for countries that have concern to become our partners in Natanz in management, production and technology," he said, referring to the site of Iran's enrichment plant.

"This is a very important confidence-building measure," he said.

Iran Rebuffs Request to Suspend Enrichment

[Shammu]

Pope Calls Judas Double-Crosser in Homily

By DANIELA PETROFF, Associated Press Writer Thu Apr 13, 7:59 PM ET

ROME - Pope Benedict XVI Thursday recounted the Biblical betrayal of Jesus by Judas, calling the apostle a double-crosser for whom "money was more important than communion with Jesus, more important than God and his love."

Benedict's traditional depiction of Judas came during his Holy Thursday homily, a week after the release of an ancient Egyptian Coptic text dubbed the "Gospel of Judas," in which Judas is portrayed not as Jesus' betrayer but as his confidant who was doing his will by handing him over to his enemies to be crucified.

Holy Thursday marks the start of a series of solemn ceremonies in the Catholic Church in which the faithful relive Jesus' suffering, crucifixion and death — and then his resurrection on Easter Sunday.

During the service, the holy father humbly washed the feet of 12 men, re-enacting Jesus' washing of his apostles' feet during the Last Supper and saying the act cleansed the "filth" of mankind.

As a choir's hymn filled St. John Lateran Basilica in Rome, Benedict poured water from a golden vase over each of the men's feet and scrubbed each one dry in an act of humility and service.

In his homily, Benedict said Jesus washed his disciples' feet to purify them so they could join him at the Last Supper, the meal which the faithful believe Jesus shared with his apostles before he was betrayed by his apostle Judas and crucified.

"God comes down and becomes a slave; he washes our feet so we can be at his table," Benedict said. "The bath in which he washes us is his love, ready to confront death. Only love has the purifying force that takes away our filth and elevates us to God."

Benedict's homily adhered to the traditional portrayal of Judas as betraying Jesus.

The "Gospel of Judas" tells a far different tale from the four gospels in the New Testament. It portrays Judas as a favored disciple who was given special knowledge by Jesus — and turned him in at Jesus' request. It portrays Judas as being told spiritual secrets that the other apostles were not.

The Egyptian Coptic text, one of several ancient documents found in the Egyptian desert in 1970, was preserved and translated by a team of scholars. The text was made public last week.

Benedict presided over another Mass dedicated to priests during which he recalled the sacrifice of a cleric slain in Turkey.

Benedict read a letter written by Rev. Andrea Santoro in which the Italian prelate spoke of his willingness to offer his own body for the sake of preaching Catholicism in largely Muslim Turkey.

Santoro, 60, was shot and killed Feb. 5 while he prayed in his parish in the Black Sea city of Trabzon. Witnesses said the killer, a 16-year-old boy, screamed "Allahu Akbar," Arabic for "God is great," before firing two bullets into Santoro's back.

Benedict quoted Santoro as saying in his letter that he had chosen to live in Turkey to be among its people, "lending" his body to Christ to do so.

Santoro's slaying occurred at the height of unrest in the Muslim world over caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad published in Europe. Top church officials have called Santoro a martyr.

Pope Calls Judas Double-Crosser in Homily

[Shammu]

 Pak opposition MP lauds Iranian nation for defying US
Islamabad, April 14, IRNA

Pakistan-Iran
An opposition member in the lower house of Pakistan parliament on Thursday paid tributes to Iran for adopting a courageous stand on its nuclear program, and said other Muslim states should also emulate the Islamic Republic.

During the debate on the Tuesday attack on a religious gathering in Karachi, Sher Mohammad Baloch of Pakistan People's Party condemned the attack and called it a continuation of such acts in Iraq.

He said that as Iran has taken a courageous position on its nuclear program, the other Muslim countries needed to do the same to contain the United States' influence there.

The lawmaker attributed 'Iran becoming a nuclear power' to its courage and diligence and said that the breakthrough on uranium processing has added to the Iranian nation's dignity and respect.

The Iranian nation, he added, has shown its resilience by defying the US and its allies pressure to stop work on its nuclear program.

Pak opposition MP lauds Iranian nation for defying US

[Shammu]

 Syrian PM: Iran's nuclear achievement to benefit world of Islam
Damascus, April 13, IRNA

Iran-Syria-nuclear
Syrian Prime Minister Muhammed Naji al-Otari in a meeting with Iran's Expediency Council (EC) Chairman Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani on Thursday said that Iran's nuclear achievements can benefit the world of Islam.

Al-Otari thanked the Iranian delegation for the visit and expressed contented with Iran's mastering uranium enrichment technology on laboratory scale.

He said there are divergent fields of cooperation between the two states including culture, pilgrimage, tourism, transport, transfer of technology and exchange of information.

The Syrian prime minister added that Iran-Syria joint commission is active and expressed hope mutual ties will further promote within the framework of the commission.

Turning to escalation of US psychological war against the free and independent states, Al-Otari said, "Iran and Syria face common challenges and they can overcome the psychological warfare launched by the West through further exchange of views and cooperation." For his part, Rafsanjani stressed regional cooperation among Islamic countries.

He said by tripartite cooperation, Iran, Syria and Iraq can take effective steps to tackle the problems facing Iraq and at the same time promote mutual relations with each other.

Rafsanjani expressed hope that such a cooperation would be materialized in the near future.

The EC chairman pointed to the numerous pilgrimage attractions of Bab al-Saghir area near Damascus and said that the Iranian Shia Muslims are prepared to turn the area into a big
religious-tourist center and prepare the grounds for attraction of pilgrims from Islamic states.

During the meeting, the Iranian co-chairman of the joint economic commission, Mohammad-Ali Saeedi-Kia, presented a report on the progress made on mutually reached agreements, including the project on production of the Iranian vehicle, Samand.

Syrian PM: Iran's nuclear achievement to benefit world of Islam

[Shammu]

US blocks UN draft pressing Israel to end attacks
Thu Apr 13, 2006 7:48pm ET168

By Irwin Arieff

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States on Thursday blocked a U.N. Security Council statement drafted by Arab nations and aimed at putting pressure on Israel to stop military strikes on Palestinian targets.

U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said the draft, even after three days of intense negotiations, "was disproportionately critical of Israel, and unfairly so, and needlessly so."

But Palestinian U.N. Observer Riyad Mansour accused Washington of "shielding and protecting Israeli activities and aggression against the Palestinian people."

"It was obvious that many of their concerns were accommodated but yet they kept coming back and coming back for additional things. It was obvious they did not want the Security Council to have a position," Mansour said.

Washington does not have formal veto power when it comes to council statements. But it was nonetheless able to block the draft single-handedly because council rules require that statements be unanimous supported by all 15 of its members.

During Thursday's closed-door negotiations, the United States effectively killed the text by seeking amendment after amendment until Qatar, the council's sole Arab member, gave up the fight.

Asked by reporters to confirm that Washington alone had opposed issuing the statement, Bolton responded, "If I were the only holdout, I'd be proud of that fact."

Qatar, acting on behalf of the Arab group at the United Nations, the 57-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference and the Non-Aligned Movement of 112 nations, immediately requested an open council debate on the Middle East, which was scheduled for Monday afternoon.

"I don't see that that meeting is going to be productive, because I don't think the Security Council is an exercise in group therapy," Bolton said.

But Mansour predicted more than 150 U.N., member-nations would address the meeting, to demonstrate that the overwhelming majority of U.N. members were "on the side of justice and international law."

The draft statement, after three days of revisions aimed at toning it down, expressed grave concern both about rocket attacks on Israel launched from Gaza and the escalation of Israeli shelling of Gaza, which Israeli says was meant to end those attacks.

It urged both sides to comply with international law and to refrain from any steps that could escalate the situation.

It called on the Palestinians "to take a clear public stance against violence and to take firm measures to halt rocket attacks and suicide bombings." And it urged renewed action toward creation of a viable Palestinian state living side by side with Israel in peace and security.

Israel has increased deadly airstrikes and shelling of Gaza in what it says is a response to militants firing rockets into Israel. The attacks have intensified since the militant group Hamas, which is sworn to destroy Israel, took over governing the Palestinian territories after winning a January election.

The Jewish state says it is not intentionally targeting civilians and has warned residents to leave parts of northern Gaza from where militants often launch makeshift rockets.

US blocks UN draft pressing Israel to end attacks

[Shammu]

Russia to Host New Round of Talks on Iran

Fri Apr 14, 5:02 AM ET

MOSCOW - Russia will host another round of talks next week with the United States, the European Union and China on Iran's nuclear program, the Foreign Ministry said Friday.

The talks will be held in Moscow on Tuesday, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Krivtsov.

China said Thursday that Cui Tiankai, assistant to Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing, would visit Iran and Russia on April 14-18. Russia and China, which have strong economic ties with Iran, have opposed the U.S. push for international sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program.

U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns will also be in Moscow on Monday for a meeting of political directors of the Group of Eight, the U.S. Embassy said.

Mohamed ElBaradei, the chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency, visited Tehran on Thursday and pushed Iranian officials to suspend uranium enrichment until questions over Tehran's nuclear program have been resolved. But Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran will not retreat "one iota" on its uranium enrichment.

Iran insists on its right to enrich uranium as part of a civilian power generation program, but the United States and others accuse Tehran of covertly pursuing a nuclear weapons bid and demand a halt to all enrichment activities.

Russia to Host New Round of Talks on Iran

[Shammu]

North Korea Vows to Strengthen Nukes

Fri Apr 14, 7:31 AM ET

SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea's No. 2 leader vowed Friday to strengthen the country's "military deterrent force" in response to U.S. "hostile policy," the country's official news agency said.

"It's our legitimate self-defensive right to strengthen our own military deterrent force a thousand hundred times in response to U.S. hostile policy that is becoming ever more vicious," said Kim Yong Nam, the North's ceremonial head of state, considered second only to leader Kim Jong Il, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.

North Korea usually refers to its purported nuclear weapons as "deterrent force."

The comments came after an informal gathering in Tokyo this week of six countries involved in talks to get North Korea to give up its nuclear program failed to produce a breakthrough in the stalled negotiations.

Before leaving Tokyo on Thursday, the North's chief nuclear negotiator, Kim Kye Gwan, made a similar threat, saying the country would use a delay in the nuclear talks to bolster its military "deterrent force."

"It's not bad that the resumption of nuclear talks is delayed. During that period, we will make more deterrent force," he told a news conference.

North Korea has said it has atomic weapons, although the claim has not been verified independently.

North Korea Vows to Strengthen Nukes

[Shammu]

9/11 plotter wants US crushed as 'head of the Israel snake'
From Tom Baldwin in Washington
THE al-Qaeda conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui called the US “the head of the snake” as he justified the September 11 attacks yesterday.

Moussaoui lambasted US support for Israel, which he said was little more than an American colony, in testimony as part of the defence’s attempt to avoid the death penalty.

“You [Americans] are the head of the snake for me. If we want to destroy the Jewish state . . . we have to destroy you first,” he said.

The 37-year-old Frenchman of Moroccan origin has pleaded guilty to conspiracy in connection with the September 11, 2001, attacks. The jury has ruled that he is eligible for the death penalty and must now decide whether he should be executed. Prosecutors this week used film and recordings of the attacks on New York and Washington and testimony from victims’ relatives to back their case for execution.

The defence plans to highlight Moussaoui’s mental health and tough upbringing.

Moussaoui quoted from the Koran which he said called on Muslims to fight for supremacy for Allah. He said that Islam taught that “we have to be the superpower, we have to be above you”.

Gerald Zerkin, for the defence, asked him why he hated the US and Americans.

“For theological reasons and life experience reasons,” he replied. “You are on a crusade, like [President] George W. Bush says. In Europe, they call New York ‘little Israel’,” he replied, attacking the US for being the first, in 1948, to recognise Israel, which he called the “Jewish state of Palestine”.

“There is no difference between the Jewish state of Palestine and Hawaii,” he said.

Asked what his defence theory would be, Moussaoui came up with the scenario in which Americans fighting abroad might be taken hostage, saying that his freedom could be negotiated in exchange. “This could work on even the most revengeful juror,” Moussaoui said.

“Let’s put him in jail, and one day he can save American life.”

He said that he also would tell the jury that martyrdom was a reward and life in prison was a harsher punishment.

The confessed al-Qaeda conspirator accused his court-appointed lawyers of being motivated by a desire for fame and said that they should have sought a different venue from the courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia. He said that its proximity to the Pentagon, which was hit by an airliner in the attacks, would mean that he would be more likely to receive the death penalty. “You have put your vested interest in keeping this case in your hands, above my interest to save my life,” he told Mr Zerkin. He said that his defence team was engaged in “criminal non-assistance”.

His appearance came a day after the prosecution had concluded its case by presenting traumatic evidence from the cockpit voice recorder from United Flight 93, which crashed in a western Pennsylvania field after passengers attempted to retake the plane from the hijackers.

The recording had never previously been played publicly.

Yesterday was the second time that Moussaoui had given testimony — to the despair of his defence team — in the sentencing trial that will decide whether he is sentenced to die by lethal injection or spend the rest of his life in prison.

His decision to take the witness stand in the first phase of his trial is thought to be have helped to convince jurors that he should be held responsible for some of the nearly 3,000 deaths on September 11.

He was in jail in Minnesota at the time of the attacks, but this month the jury ruled that lies told by Moussaoui to federal agents a month before had kept the authorities from identifying and stopping some of the hijackers.

Many observers have compared his first testimony with a suicide bid, but yesterday Moussaoui at least made it clear that he wanted to live. Asked why he had changed his story about his role, he said that he had decided to put his trust in God.

Moussaoui claims that one of his purported hijacking crew members was Richard Reid, the British “shoe bomber”. Reid, 33, who is serving a life sentence for an attempt to detonate homemade explosives on a flight in 2001, has been subpoenaed to appear as a defence witness next week.

Yesterday, Moussaoui said he had wanted an Islamic lawyer and said that the defence strategy of making him look “crazy” would not work.

Some relatives of the September 11 victims have said that they do not want Moussaoui to be executed, including Colleen Kelly, whose brother died in the World Trade Centre. “From the depth of my being, I don’t understand how killing another person will make this any better,” she said recently.
9/11 plotter wants US crushed as 'head of the Israel snake'

[Shammu]

Comedy Central censors Muhammad image
But 'South Park' episode depicts Jesus defecating on Bush, flag
Posted: April 13, 2006
5:54 p.m. Eastern

© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

The Comedy Central television network barred its popular "South Park" series from showing an image of the Islamic prophet Muhammad in last night's episode but allowed a scene in which an image of Jesus Christ defecates on President Bush and the American flag.

Earlier today, conservative weblogs speculated about whether the episode's reference to censorship was part of the edgy cartoon show's gag, but a Comedy Central spokesman told Stephen Spruiell of National Review's Media Blog the network itself made the decision to not show the image.

The network issued a statement, saying: "In light of recent world events, we feel we made the right decision."

In the second of a two-part episode, creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker played on the Danish newspaper's publishing of caricatures of Muhammad, which sparked widespread rioting by Muslims earlier this year who considered it blasphemy.

In last night's episode, "South Park" character Kyle tries to convince a Fox network executive to air, uncensored, an episode of "Family Guy" that includes an image of Muhammad.

"Either it's all OK, or none of it is," Kyle said. "Do the right thing."

A clip can be viewed here, via Michelle Malkin's weblog.

The executive decides at the last second to show "Family Guy" uncut, but when the controversial scene arrives, the screen goes black with the message, "Comedy Central has refused to broadcast an image of Muhammad on their network."

Then comes the images of Christ, Bush and the flag.

The blog TV Squad commented that this scene was "a clever way of saying that everything and everyone is fair game, not just Muhammad."


"South Park" actually depicted Muhammad, without protest, in a 2001 episode.

Last month, outspoken Scientologist Isaac Hayes, an Oscar-winning singer heard by millions in recent years as the "Chef" character on "South Park," quit the cartoon four months after an episode spoofing Scientology.

"There is a place in this world for satire, but there is a time when satire ends and intolerance and bigotry towards religious beliefs of others begins," the 63-year-old soul singer said in a statement.

"Religious beliefs are sacred to people, and at all times should be respected and honored," he continued, never mentioning the Scientology episode, but citing the recent controversy over cartoon depictions of the prophet Muhammad. "As a civil-rights activist of the past 40 years, I cannot support a show that disrespects those beliefs and practices."

The creators, whose show won a prestigious Peabody award last week, struck back with an episode in which Chef appeared to be killed and then have his brains scrambled by the "Super Adventure Club," which turns members into pedophiles.

William Donohue of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights took aim at Parker and Stone for allowing the network to censor their work in last night's episode.

"The ultimate hypocrite is not Comedy Central – that's their decision not to show the image of Muhammad or not – it's Parker and Stone," Donohue said. "Like little whores, they'll sit there and grab the bucks. They'll sit there and they'll whine and they'll take their shot at Jesus. That's their stock in trade."

[Shammu]

Bill Clinton gave Iran bomb plan

N.Y. Times reporter says harebrained scheme
to foil Tehran likely helped advance program
Posted: April 14, 2006
10:50 a.m. Eastern


© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

In his last year of office, President Clinton approved of an unusual scheme to transfer classified data that likely helped Iran advance its nuclear weapons program, according to New York Times reporter James Risen in his new book "State of War."

Risen says the CIA used a double-agent Russian scientist to hand over a blueprint for a nuclear bomb to Iran.

The White House plan actually was to derail the Iranian program by passing on fatal flaws, says Risen, but the deliberate errors were so rudimentary they would have been easily fixed by Russian nuclear scientists, reported the online Post Chronicle, which said the story was recounted last night by radio host and former Justice official Mark Levin.

Risen's book has been in the news for its revelations about the Bush administration's controversial NSA domestic anti-terror surveillance operation.

The Clinton operation, in early 2000, was code named Operation Merlin and "may have been one of the most reckless operations in the modern history of the CIA," Risen writes.

A defector from Russia was to offer Tehran the blueprint for a "firing set," the sophisticated mechanism that triggers a nuclear explosion.

CIA officers told the Russian the Iranians already had that technology and the scheme was to find out the full extent of Tehran's nuclear capability.

But the Russian inserted a note in the package indicating he could help fix the flaws if he were paid the right price.

Iran's announcement Monday that it successfully has enriched uranium was the third major development this year on the way to producing an atomic bomb, leaving only one more step.

That next development – metalizing the enriched uranium to fit it into a warhead – could come as soon as four months from now, says author Jerry Corsi, who has watched the predictions in his book "Atomic Iran" unfold since it was published one year ago.

In a nationally televised speech Monday, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that with the production of enriched uranium, "I formally declare that Iran has joined the club of nuclear countries."

The audience, which included top military commanders and clerics, broke into cheers of "Allahu akbar!" or "Allah is greatest!"

In January, Iran successfully tested a missile with solid fuel, and last week, a U.S. official reported Iran now has ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

Tehran has rejected a demand by the U.N. Security Council to stop all uranium enrichment activity by April 28.

[airIam2worship]

Comedy Central censors Muhammad image
But 'South Park' episode depicts Jesus defecating on Bush, flag
Posted: April 13, 2006
5:54 p.m. Eastern

© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

The Comedy Central television network barred its popular "South Park" series from showing an image of the Islamic prophet Muhammad in last night's episode but allowed a scene in which an image of Jesus Christ defecates on President Bush and the American flag.

Earlier today, conservative weblogs speculated about whether the episode's reference to censorship was part of the edgy cartoon show's gag, but a Comedy Central spokesman told Stephen Spruiell of National Review's Media Blog the network itself made the decision to not show the image.

The network issued a statement, saying: "In light of recent world events, we feel we made the right decision."

In the second of a two-part episode, creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker played on the Danish newspaper's publishing of caricatures of Muhammad, which sparked widespread rioting by Muslims earlier this year who considered it blasphemy.

In last night's episode, "South Park" character Kyle tries to convince a Fox network executive to air, uncensored, an episode of "Family Guy" that includes an image of Muhammad.

"Either it's all OK, or none of it is," Kyle said. "Do the right thing."

A clip can be viewed here, via Michelle Malkin's weblog.

The executive decides at the last second to show "Family Guy" uncut, but when the controversial scene arrives, the screen goes black with the message, "Comedy Central has refused to broadcast an image of Muhammad on their network."

Then comes the images of Christ, Bush and the flag.

The blog TV Squad commented that this scene was "a clever way of saying that everything and everyone is fair game, not just Muhammad."


"South Park" actually depicted Muhammad, without protest, in a 2001 episode.

Last month, outspoken Scientologist Isaac Hayes, an Oscar-winning singer heard by millions in recent years as the "Chef" character on "South Park," quit the cartoon four months after an episode spoofing Scientology.

"There is a place in this world for satire, but there is a time when satire ends and intolerance and bigotry towards religious beliefs of others begins," the 63-year-old soul singer said in a statement.

"Religious beliefs are sacred to people, and at all times should be respected and honored," he continued, never mentioning the Scientology episode, but citing the recent controversy over cartoon depictions of the prophet Muhammad. "As a civil-rights activist of the past 40 years, I cannot support a show that disrespects those beliefs and practices."

The creators, whose show won a prestigious Peabody award last week, struck back with an episode in which Chef appeared to be killed and then have his brains scrambled by the "Super Adventure Club," which turns members into pedophiles.

William Donohue of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights took aim at Parker and Stone for allowing the network to censor their work in last night's episode.

"The ultimate hypocrite is not Comedy Central – that's their decision not to show the image of Muhammad or not – it's Parker and Stone," Donohue said. "Like little whores, they'll sit there and grab the bucks. They'll sit there and they'll whine and they'll take their shot at Jesus. That's their stock in trade."

Brother, this is so disturbing, I am speechless. I have never watched South Park, because I've heard some really bad  things about it, but what I can't understand is what kind of depraved minds would find any humor in this.

[Shammu]

Brother, this is so disturbing, I am speechless. I have never watched South Park, because I've heard some really bad  things about it, but what I can't understand is what kind of depraved minds would find any humor in this.

This is one of Jesus's warning in Matthew 24

Matthew 24:3-4  While He was seated on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately and said, Tell us, when will this take place, and what will be the sign of Your coming and of the end (the completion, the consummation) of the age?  4 Jesus answered them, Be careful that no one misleads you [deceiving you and leading you into error].

[airIam2worship]

Amen Brother, the end is so close, I don't even want to think about how much more depraved and sick minded and evil this world will get if the Lord tarry.

[Shammu]

Amen Brother, the end is so close, I don't even want to think about how much more depraved and sick minded and evil this world will get if the Lord tarry.

Sister, I think is going to get worse, before the Lord calls. Remember His time is different then our time.

[airIam2worship]

Sister, I think is going to get worse, before the Lord calls. Remember His time is different then our time.

You're right about that Brother, I pray more people will come to their senses and receive Jesus as Lord of their lives, while there is yet time. Tomorrow may never come for many, and if the Lord comes before tomorrow, those left behind will really suffer.