Senate confirms Alito to high court

Politics News Article | Reuters.com:

"WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A sharply divided U.S. Senate on Tuesday confirmed Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court, backing a second conservative nominated by President George W. Bush in his effort to move the nation's highest court to the right.

The largely party-line vote was 58-42 to replace the more moderate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor with Alito, a federal appeals judge since 1990, and came four months after the Senate approved Bush's first Supreme Court nominee, John Roberts, as U.S. chief justice.

Alito is expected to align himself with the court's solidly conservative bloc and could affect the outcome of votes on key social issues such as abortion and civil rights.

Alito arranged to watch the Senate vote at the White House and was to be sworn in at the Supreme Court later in the day. He was expected to attend Bush's State of the Union address to Congress on Tuesday night with fellow justices."

Sweeping anti-abortion laws proposeSweeping anti-abortion laws proposed

United Press International�-�The Washington Times, America's Newspaper:

"Sweeping anti-abortion laws proposed"

Legislators in at least five states are proposing bold anti-abortion measures as the Bush administration reshapes the U.S. Supreme Court, a report said.
With the goal of challenging the Roe vs. Wade ruling that ensured a woman's right to an abortion, lawmakers in Georgia, Indiana, Ohio, South Dakota and Tennessee propose banning all abortions except when the woman's life is in danger, Stateline.org reported.

If enacted, legal experts said the laws would be the first absolute abortion bans since the landmark 1973 ruling.

However, some abortion foes worry that state bans could backfire especially since five pro-Roe justices remain in the Supreme Court. "

It may backfire but to have that many states ready to put forth such measures means the tide is turning.

Britons unconvinced on evolution

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Britons unconvinced on evolution:

"Just under half of Britons accept the theory of evolution as the best description for the development of life, according to an opinion poll.

Furthermore, more than 40% of those questioned believe that creationism or intelligent design (ID) should be taught in school science lessons.

The survey was conducted by Ipsos MORI for the BBC's Horizon series.

Its latest programme, A War on Science, looks into the attempt to introduce ID into science classes in the US.

Over 2,000 participants took part in the survey, and were asked what best described their view of the origin and development of life:

* 22% chose creationism
* 17% opted for intelligent design
* 48% selected evolution theory
* and the rest did not know.

Intelligent design is the concept that certain features of living things are so complex that their existence is better explained by an 'intelligent process' than natural selection."

At least they got the definition of Intelligent Design correct. It is interesting that the program name would be War on Science. Evolutionists do not want to debate science so they set up a straw man argument that it is all a belief or by faith. The ID movement has momentum right now and it has many Darwinists defensive.

Israeli Hints at Preparation to Stop Iran

My Way News: More on Israel and Iran.

"JERUSALEM (AP) - Israel's defense minister hinted Saturday that the Jewish state is preparing for military action to stop Iran's nuclear program, but said international diplomacy must be the first course of action.

'Israel will not be able to accept an Iranian nuclear capability and it must have the capability to defend itself, with all that that implies, and this we are preparing,' Shaul Mofaz said.

His comments at an academic conference stopped short of overtly threatening a military strike but were likely to add to growing tensions with Iran.

Germany's defense minister said in an interview published Saturday that he is hopeful of a diplomatic solution to the impasse over Iran's nuclear program, but argued that 'all options' should remain open."

NBC Drops 'Book of Daniel' From Schedule

BREITBART.COM - NBC Drops 'Book of Daniel' From Schedule:

"The last chapter of the controversial religious drama 'The Book of Daniel' has been written at NBC. Although the network stopped short of saying the low-rated show was canceled, a spokeswoman said Tuesday it has been dropped from the schedule.

The series, which starred Aidan Quinn as an Episcopalian priest with a pill habit who holds regular conversations with Jesus, has a promiscuous son and a daughter who deals marijuana, proved better at drawing criticism than viewers."

Conservative Christian groups condemned the depiction of Jesus as blasphemous, accusing the writers of portraying Christ as tolerant of sin in talks with the priest. Seven NBC affiliates refused to air it.

"The Book of Daniel" drew an audience of 6.9 million on its first night. By its fourth airing, the number had dipped to 5.8 million viewers.

When 89% of Americans believe in God and 34% say they are committed to Jesus what did NBC think the ratings would be on a show that is offensive to Christians? Unless they were not trying to entertain but to influence.

Md. Judge Strikes Down Gay-Marriage Ban

Md. Judge Strikes Down Gay-Marriage Ban - Yahoo! News:

"BALTIMORE - A Baltimore judge struck down a 33-year-old state law against gay marriage Friday, declaring it violates the Maryland Constitution's guarantee of equal rights.
ADVERTISEMENT

Circuit Judge M. Brooke Murdock immediately stayed her order to allow the state to file an appeal with Maryland's highest court, the Court of Appeals. The attorney's general office did so later in the day.

Murdock ruled in favor of 19 gay men and women, rejecting a state argument that the traditional family is ideal for children.

'Although tradition and societal values are important, they cannot be given so much weight that they alone will justify a discriminatory' law, she wrote."

Here we go again with really bad logic from our judges who should know better. All laws could be called traditional or societal values so her argument would apply to almost every law. Why should we honor any law then?

Second, many laws discriminate but for a good cause. Drinking laws discriminate against under age drinkers so should we call that law unconstitutional? We don’t allow sex offenders to run day care centers would be another law that discriminates. There are good reasons some times to single out because it is best for society. This is just another tactic of some to use inflammatory words to make their points emotionally instead of logically.

More from modern day Persia - Ezekiel 38

Middle East Online:

"Iran hits back at veiled Israeli threats of attack


Defence minister says Islamic republic and its allies can put Israel in 'eternal coma like Sharon'.


TEHRAN - Iran's defence minister hit back Wednesday at veiled Israeli threats of an attack, saying Iran and its allies could put the Jewish state 'in an eternal coma' like that of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

'Israel does not have the courage to attack Iran, and if it commits such a big mistake, the defenders of Islamic Iran will put Israel in an eternal coma like Sharon,' Mostafa Mohammad Najjar was quoted as saying by state television."

The slippery slop just got oiled

A giant step backward for women:

"WHEN social conservatives argue that legalizing same-sex marriage could lead to legalized polygamy, same-sex marriage advocates either laugh or sneer. It's a scare tactic, they say. It'll never happen. Last year, however, as Canada legalized same-sex marriage, Prime Minister Paul Martin commissioned a $150,000 study to debunk the polygamy argument. Big mistake: The study confirmed the scare tactic by recommending that Canada repeal its anti-polygamy law.

It also suggested that a legal challenge to Canada's anti-polygamy laws would succeed. 'Why criminalize behavior?' asked Martha Bailey, one of the study's three law-professor authors. 'We don't criminalize adultery.'"

The slippery slop just got oiled. We have seen Holland granting civil unions to polygamous relationships. Here in this article a member of a commision argues that we do not criminalize adultery therefore we should not restrict any type of relationship. This is true but adultery is the breaking of a contract between two people. It is a civil matter not a criminal matter.

Let’s apply that argument to something else and see if it makes sense. People call each other names and we don’t criminalize name calling. Therefore we should not criminalize slander. Why criminalize any behavior then. This is obviously a faulty argument. Just because a some crimes or offences are not prosecuted does not mean we should not prosecute any.

SD Legislature To Consider Abortion Ban

KELOLAND.COM: News

"In the next six weeks, South Dakota lawmakers will decide whether to make abortion a crime.

A bill that would ban abortion in the state will be introduced within the next two days.

The bill will be called the Woman's Health and Life Protection Act. It will ban abortion, but won't prosecute a doctor who performs one to save a woman's life.

And the lawmaker who's introducing the bill says he thinks now is the right time to try and over-turn Roe vs Wade.

Rep. Roger Hunt says, 'Abortion should be banned.'

Those four words will likely lead to many others in the South Dakota House and Senate as lawmakers will decide whether to criminalize abortion in the state. The bill's supporters are using findings from a controversial abortion task force report recently given to the legislature.

Hunt says, 'DNA testing now can establish the unborn child has a separate and distinct personality from the mother. We know a lot more about post-abortion harm to the mother.'

The legislature debated a similar bill two years ago, but Governor Mike Rounds vetoed it because of concerns over some technicalities.

Hunt says, 'We have made those corrections to the bill.'

Sunday, Hunt and other anti-abortion advocates held an event promoting their legislation. They say now is the time to pass it, because other states are considering similar bills and because with new Chief Justice John Roberts, and possibly Samuel Alito, the US Supreme Court is changing."

This is good news that there is momentum in the fight to save lives. Notice that pro-life people are still called anti-abortion advocates. If the press were not so prejudice and would accurately report what happens in an abortion this debate would be over. However, even without this the winds are changing.

No Other Doctrine now On The Air

Today was the debut of our live call in show No Other Doctrine. It airs Saturday mornings at 9 AM (MST) on KNKT 107.1 Albuquerque. I have never done a radio show before so it was a very new and exciting experience for me. We take questions on doctrine, religion and reasons for faith. Steve Reimann is a great co-host to have. He handles all the details that free me up to concentrate on the questions.

I hope and pray that this will turn into something more than just a Bible answer show. It would be terrific if God would allow us to do seminars that would educate Christians in what they believe in a practical way. We would train them and help them memorize pertinent answers to frequent questions people have about Christianity.

Stem cell experts seek rabbit-human embryo

Guardian Unlimited | Science | Stem cell experts seek rabbit-human embryo:

"Stem cell experts seek rabbit-human embryo

Hybrid will hasten research, say scientists
Grey area exposed in regulation procedures

Ian Sample, science correspondent
The Guardian

British scientists are seeking permission to create hybrid embryos in the lab by fusing human cells with rabbit eggs. If granted consent, the team will use the embryos to produce stem cells that carry genetic defects, in the hope that studying them will help understand the complex mechanisms behind incurable human diseases."

The proposal drew strong criticism from opponents to embryo research who yesterday challenged the ethics of the research and branded the work repugnant.

Scientists use eggs in research to create cloned embryos, from which they harvest stem cells. By producing stem cells that carry the genetic defects of diseases, researchers believe they will be able to unravel how a cell's molecular machinery goes wrong, potentially leading to new cures for disease. But the research is progressing slowly, hampered by a severe shortage of "spare" eggs donated by couples undergoing fertility treatment.

Prof Shaw's team will need a licence from the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority before they are allowed to pursue the research. "As with all research involving human embryos, the research team would have to show that the research is both necessary and desirable, and that any embryo created could not be allowed to develop for longer than 14 days or be implanted in a woman," said Dr Chris O'Toole, head of research regulation at the HFEA.

To make a hybrid embryo, a human skin cell would be taken from a person with motor neurone disease and injected into a hollowed-out rabbit egg. The resulting embryo would contain only a tiny amount of rabbit DNA in a microscopic structure that generates energy in the cell. The rest of the DNA would be human. If the experiment is successful, within a week, the egg will have divided to form a tiny ball of a 200 or so cells, from which stem cells could be extracted.

Josephine Quintavalle of the lobby group Comment on Reproductive Ethics said: "There is a lot of innate wisdom in the yuk factor, or repugnance as it is also known. My question is: what will they actually create? It is simplistic or deliberately deceptive to say they are simply making stem cells. In order to obtain stem cells they surely have to go through the blastocyst stage; they have to create a 'something' from which to derive the new cells. What is this something? It must be human to be of any use to researchers."

This is a classic case of the end does not justify the means. Sure it may take longer to get results the right way. The Nazis’ used the same argument to cut open living people to experiment on them. You could learn much more much faster experimenting on the living instead of the dead. Just because you can does not mean you should.

More evidence of Anti-Semitism in Russia

International News Article | Reuters.com

Man knifes worshippers at Moscow synagogue

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A man wielding a knife wounded as many as 10 people in an attack at a synagogue in central Moscow, Russian news agencies reported on Wednesday.

"An unknown man burst into a synagogue on Bolshaya Bronnaya street and started to attack the people gathered there with a knife," Itar-Tass news agency quoted a city police source as saying. Police spokesmen declined to comment on the reports.

"Most people have minor wounds, but a lot of them," the source told Tass, adding that the man was now under arrest.

Jewish leaders blamed racism for the attack, with Russian Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar saying it was part of a growing a fascist "plague" in the country.

"In places where the ideas of fascism are propagandized, in the end without fail they will turn into reality, as happened today in Moscow," he told Interfax by telephone from Jerusalem.

Racist attacks in Russia have soared since the collapse of the Soviet Union, mostly conducted by young men attracted by extreme right-wing views.

"It was evening prayers. I heard cries. I left off praying and saw a man I didn't know running away from me," Interfax quoted the synagogue's rabbi as saying, without giving his name.

He asked what the knifeman was doing. The man replied: "I came here to kill," the rabbi told Interfax.

An Israeli government report has ranked Russia third after France and Britain for instances of anti-Semitic violence. More than a million Jews left for Israel in the last years of the Soviet Union, but around a million remain.

Raelians want disgraced cloning scientist

Digital Chosunilbo (English Edition) : Daily News in English About Korea:

"The U.S. biotech firm Clonaid has sprung to the rescue of the embattled cloning scientist Hwang Woo-sook with an offer to join a research partnership at its secret research facility. Clonaid was founded by the Raelian Movement, a cult-like religious group that maintains humans were created by aliens and claims to have cloned a human being. The company is represented by French scientist Dr. Brigitte Boisselier."

There is little chance that Hwang, who has maintained his opposition to creating fully-grown clones of human beings, will join the firm. Clonaid probably knew this was a long shot and may have made the proposal to promote the religion.

In 2002 Clonaid announced that a girl named Eve was born through cloning somatic cells donated by 30-year-old American woman. At that time, the announcement attracted worldwide attention, but the Raelians refused to produce verifiable proof, ostensibly to protect the girl, so the scientific world believes the claim to be fiction.

Clonaid founder Rael, formerly known as Claude Vorilhon, teaches that a race of aliens called the Elohim created human beings, and Jesus, Buddha and Mohammed were recipients of messages from the aliens.

What is interesting is that Jesus, Buddha and Mohammed all condemned what the Raelians practice. As usual the Raelians use Jesus and the Bible to establish truth claims about their religion but then say the Bible was corrupted over time and cannot be trusted. It is another self defeating argument of a cult.

Is Roe v. Wade already collapsing?

Is Roe v. Wade already collapsing? - The Boston Globe:

"TO KNOW what's at stake in the Supreme Court confirmation hearings, it's best to travel 1,200 miles west from the paneled Senate room to a small nondescript clinic in a Great Plains state."

This is the only clinic in the state and this is the only day in the week when a woman can get an abortion in South Dakota. Today, they'll be treated by one of four doctors flown in from Minneapolis because it's impossible to recruit locally. Today's doctor is Miriam McCreary, a mother of four and grandmother of nine, who graduated from medical school in 1958. At 70, she still knows ''how desperate women are to end their pregnancies."

One clinic, one day, one doctor. This is what it's like in South Dakota right now under Roe v. Wade. It's also like this in North Dakota and Mississippi, and not very different in Arkansas or a dozen other states.

Antiabortion lobbyists here boast that South Dakota is the legislative laboratory for testing and imposing state restrictions. Last year, five new restrictions passed, including one, now being challenged, to force doctors to recite a state-written speech saying that abortion ends the life of ''a whole, separate, unique living human being." This year, the Legislature, which just opened its 35-day session, is being pressed by a state task force to add more mis-informed consent, more delays, more expensive barriers.

It goes without saying that South Dakota is one of seven states with a ''trigger law" ready to ban abortion if Roe is overturned. But something else requires saying: It's possible to add so many burdens onto the back of Roe that it collapses without ever being overturned.

Kate Looby, the thoughtful and energetic state director for Planned Parenthood, puts it simply: Even if Roe is saved, ''we'll end up living in a country in which women theoretically have legalized, safe abortion. But for the women of South Dakota, that won't mean anything." She has had to imagine moving this last clinic over to Minnesota.

What an oxymoron safe abortion is. It is like saying harmless murder. The baby is a complete human inside its mother but separate in identity. We still convict murders of double homicide if they kill a pregnant woman. The only difference between the two is that the child is wanted in the second case.

The Floodgate is opening

OpinionJournal - Taste:

Harem, Scare 'Em
Worrying about polygamy.

"If marriage to a woman civilizes a man--as some would have it--it does not follow that the more women a man marries, the more civilized he becomes. It seems that the opposite is true. Still, the practice of polygamy is spreading world-wide, even in the U.S.

In September, Holland registered its first civil union among three partners. A grander menage �trois has established itself in Belgium (with three wives and 30 children), though without the government's imprimatur so far. Some conservatives, like the Weekly Standard's Stanley Kurtz, decry these developments as another step down the road to gay marriage, since one redefintion of marriage may lead to another. Perhaps so. They are indisputably another step down the road to polygamy.

The idea, floated with ever greater frequency, is that polygamy is nothing objectionable; it is simply another option on our diverse menu of family types. A new HBO series called 'Big Love,' debuting in March, will center on a man married to three women. 'It's everything that every family faces, just times three,' co-creator Mark Olsen told Newsweek. 'The yuck factor disappears and you just see human faces.'"

The floodgate is opening. If you reinterpret marriage to mean something other than between a man and a woman you get everything else. If it can be between two men or two women than why cannot it be between a man and four women? Why cannot it be between a man an anything?

Airline bans Bibles to avoid offending Muslims

WorldNetDaily: Airline bans Bibles to avoid offending Muslims:

"A British airline banned its staff from taking Bibles and wearing crucifixes or St. Christopher medals on flights to Saudi Arabia to avoid offending the country's Muslims.

British Midland International also has told female flight attendants they must walk two paces behind male colleagues and cover themselves from head to foot in a headscarf and robe known as an abaya, the Mirror newspaper of London reported."

Teddy bears or other cuddly toys also are not allowed.

Airline officials, who have sparked outrage, the paper says, explain the Islamic kingdom's strict laws – enforced by religious police – prohibit public practice of Christianity and figures of animals.

BMI spokesman Phil Shepherd said: "In providing air services people want, demand and use, we have an obligation to respect the customs of the destination country."

An airline employee who asked not to be named told the Mirror: "It's outrageous that we must respect their beliefs but they're not prepared to respect ours." The employee said his grandmother gave him a crucifix shortly before she died that he wears at all times. "It's got massive sentimental value and I don't see why I have to remove it," he said.

The airline's staff handbook says: "Prior to disembarking the aircraft all female crew will be required to put on their company issued abaya. It will be issued with the headscarf which must be worn."

The employees' union wants staff members to be able to opt out of the flights, but the airline says the only option is to transfer from overseas staff to domestic flights, which could mean a loss of about $30,000 a year in wages.

Planned Parenthood's new condom key chains 'blasphemous'

DRUDGE REPORT FLASH 2006�: "


Planned Parenthood has launched a line of condom key chains -- key chains that offend 'just about everyone in the country,' claims Jim Sedlak, executive director of American Life League's STOPP International. 'Some are even blasphemous.'

The condom key chains, featuring 28 different designs, are offered for sale on Planned Parenthood of Connecticut's web site. Each chain has a picture or slogan on a plastic holder containing a latex condom.

'Planned Parenthood offends religious people with its key chain that shows a portion of the famous painting from the Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo gave us a beautiful image of Adam stretching out his hand to God, with God's index finger about to touch Adam's index finger,' said Sedlak. 'In Planned Parenthood's blasphemous version, God is handing Adam a condom.

'Planned Parenthood goes on to offend parents with its key chain that shows a caricature of a loudly crying baby,' said Sedlak. 'Planned Parenthood's slogan accompanying the caricature states, 'Condoms are cheaper than diapers.'

In addition, Sedlak said Planned Parenthood offends all patriotic Americans with a series of three key chains. 'The first is a takeoff of the famous 'Uncle Sam Wants You' poster from World War II � in Planned Parenthood's version Uncle Sam is replaced with a condom saying 'I Want You.' The second is an American flag picture with the stars in the field of blue replaced with the words, 'Wear with Pride.' The third is a picture of the Statue of Liberty holding a condom instead of a torch.'

Other condom key chains show just how much sex permeates all Planned Parenthood thinking. There's one that says, 'Earth and condoms, we can't live without them.'"

Wis. Governor Vetoes Abortion-Pain Bill - Yahoo! News

Wis. Governor Vetoes Abortion-Pain Bill - Yahoo! News:

"MADISON, Wis. - Gov. Jim Doyle on Friday vetoed a bill that would have forced doctors to tell women seeking abortions after their fifth month of pregnancy that their fetuses could suffer pain."

Doyle, a Democrat, said there is no evidence conclusively proving when a fetus can feel pain. The Republican-controlled Legislature should not be allowed to decide scientific fact, he said.

"It would be reckless to inject a requirement that doctors communicate unproven science to their patients during an already difficult and sometimes traumatic time," Doyle wrote in his veto message. "This bill intrudes on the doctor-patient relationship ... and contravenes the requirement that doctors provide objective and accurate information to their patients."

Bob Delaporte, a spokesman for Republican Assembly Speaker John Gard accused Doyle of "ignoring the science on this one."

Three other states — Arkansas, Georgia and Minnesota — have similar notification requirements, and federal legislation is pending.

What inconsistency. Most states frown on spanking your child but they protect the right for a mother to kill her child. The only difference is 7 inches of birth canal.

Pain is not the argument. It is not a matter if the child feels pain or not. Would it be right to kill a toddler as long as you sedate them first because they feel no pain? Feeling pain or not feeling pain does not justify the killing of a child.

2 NBC affiliates drop 'anti-Christian' show

WorldNetDaily: 2 NBC affiliates drop 'anti-Christian' show:

Aidan Quinn as Episcopal priest with Garret Dillahunt as "Jesus"

"Amid a protest bolstered by a pro-family group, two NBC affiliates have dropped a new drama featuring a troubled, pill-popping Episcopal priest who is the father of a dysfunctional family.

The American Family Association says it hopes other NBC affiliates will join WTWO in Terre Haute, Ind., and KARK in Little Rock, Ark., in their decisions to not air 'The Book of Daniel.'"

NBC affiliates have received hundreds of phone calls protesting the manner in which Christians and Christianity are depicted.

"We are tired of NBC's anti-Christian bigotry," said Wildmon.

"The Book of Daniel," written by a homosexual, is being promoted as the only show on television in which Jesus appears as a recurring character and the only network prime-time drama series with a regular male "gay" character, a 23-year-old Republican son.

Touted as the riskiest show of the year, it includes a wife who relies on mid-day martinis, a 16-year-old daughter who is a drug dealer and a 16-year-old adopted son who is having sex with the bishop's daughter. At the office, the priest's lesbian secretary is sleeping with his sister-in-law.

Last summer, the show's writer, Jack Kenny, said at the Television Critics Association's press tour he recognized "there are going to be people who have an issue with a gay man writing about Jesus."

"I'm not making fun of Jesus," he said. "I never want to poke fun at religion or at Jesus. These characters are very spiritual people. They believe in God, they believe in Christ as their savior, and I think that's wonderful."

Jack Kenny does not think he is making fun of Jesus or Christians because he is remaking them in his image not the biblical image. This is classic equivocation. He can make this claim because he has redefined the terms. It is a method to avoid the truth however the bible is not up for reinvention.

Warning of 'anti-Semitic tsunami'

BBC NEWS | UK | Warning of 'anti-Semitic tsunami': "

Anti-Semitism is spreading around the world in a kind of tsunami effect, says Chief Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks.

Globalisation had led some people to wrongly see Israel as the cause of all the world's conflicts, he told BBC Radio 4's Sunday Programme."

Holocaust denial and hatred of Jews were circulating widely in best-selling books and prime time TV, he warned.

Islamic militants have used Israel's treatment of Palestinians to rally support for their violent campaigns.

He said conflicts around the globe had begun to have uncomfortable repercussions for some Jewish communities in Europe, the chief rabbi claimed.

"This is all a kind of tsunami of anti-Semitism which is taking place a long way from this country but (of) which Europe seems unaware," he said.

He said that while the Jewish experience of Britain was generally good, British Jews were experiencing a globalised anti-Semitism through satellite television, e-mails and the internet.

He claimed anti-Jewish feeling was on the rise in European countries such as France.

"A number of rabbinical colleagues throughout Europe have been assaulted and attacked on the streets.

This is a logical precursor to the Gog attack on Israel and the rise of the antichrist.

Taliban Behead Teacher for Educating Girls

FOXNews.com - U.S. & World - Taliban Behead Teacher for Educating Girls:

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Taliban militants beheaded a teacher in a central Afghan town while his wife and eight children watched, officials said Wednesday, describing the latest in a string of attacks targeting educators at schools where girls study.

Four men stabbed Malim Abdul Habib eight times late Tuesday before decapitating him in the courtyard of his home in Qalat, said Ali Khail, a spokesman for the provincial government of Zabul, where the attack took place.

The assailants made Habib's wife, four sons and four daughters watch, Khail said. His children were between the ages of 2 and 22. No other family members were hurt.

The insurgents killed Habib, 45, after he refused to go with them to meet their commander, said the victim's cousin, Esanullah, who goes by only one name.

The attackers fled and Habib's wife called the police, Khail said. Police are questioning three people who were guests in the victim's home at the time.

Habib was the headmaster of Shaikh Mathi Baba high school, which is attended by 1,300 boys and girls.

Zabul, a remote and mountainous province populated mainly by Pashtuns and bordering Pakistan, is a hotbed of Taliban militancy. The former Taliban regime prohibited girls from attending school as part of its widely criticized drive to establish what it considered a "pure" Islamic state.

Hundreds of thousands of girls have returned to school since U.S.-led forces ousted the Taliban in 2001.

A UNICEF spokesman said the attacks were "incredibly worrying."

"Militants are clearly trying to intimidate communities and force families not to send their girls to school," Edward Carwardine said. "We hope these incidents will not deter families. ... Fortunately, so far we have not seen a decline in girls attending."

It is just peaceful good natured Islam.

Iranian President Hopes Sharon Perishes

Iranian President Hopes Sharon Perishes - Yahoo! News

Even More . . .

AP Photo: Iran's President-elect Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

TEHRAN, Iran -
Iran's president said Thursday he hoped for the death of Israeli Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon, the latest anti-Israeli comment by a leader who has already provoked international criticism for suggesting that Israel be "wiped off the map."

"Hopefully, the news that the criminal of Sabra and Chatilla has joined his ancestors is final," President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying by the semiofficial Iranian Students News Agency.

Did Jesus Exist? Italian Court to Decide

AOL News - Did Jesus Exist? Italian Court to Decide: "ROME (Jan. 4) - Forget the U.S. debate over intelligent design versus evolution.

An Italian court is tackling Jesus -- and whether the Roman Catholic Church may be breaking the law by teaching that he existed 2,000 years ago.

The case pits against each other two men in their 70s, who are from the same central Italian town and even went to the same seminary school in their teenage years.

The defendant, Enrico Righi, went on to become a priest writing for the parish newspaper. The plaintiff, Luigi Cascioli, became a vocal atheist who, after years of legal wrangling, is set to get his day in court later this month.

'I started this lawsuit because I wanted to deal the final blow against the Church, the bearer of obscurantism and regression,' Cascioli told Reuters.

Cascioli says Righi, and by extension the whole Church, broke two Italian laws. The first is 'Abuso di Credulita Popolare' (Abuse of Popular Belief) meant to protect people against being swindled or conned. The second crime, he says, is 'Sostituzione di Persona,' or impersonation.


'The Church constructed Christ upon the personality of John of Gamala,' Cascioli claimed, referring to the 1st century Jew who fought against the Roman army.

A court in Viterbo will hear from Righi, who has yet to be indicted, at a January 27 preliminary hearing meant to determine whether the case has enough merit to go forward.

'In my book, The Fable of Christ, I present proof Jesus did not exist as a historic figure. He must now refute this by showing proof of Christ's existence,' Cascioli said."

This is just plain silly. I think it is more a publicity stunt to sell more books than anything else. First, the defendant does not have to prove Jesus existed just because someone raises an alternative. Alternatives do not dismiss the previous conclusions.

I can say the moon exists and someone can say that it does not exist. They say it is just reflection of a ball of cheese off of the rings of Saturn and challenge me to prove it is not a ball of cheese. A person can say anything and you would spend your whole life trying to disprove their every false claim. They have the burden of first proving what is know as false.

Second, we have eyewitness testimonies in the writers of the New Testament. Of whom the apostles held their belief even as they were put to death for it. There are plenty of non biblical writers that also testify of Christ or the events surrounding His life. Here is just one of them and you can find many more here.

Tacitus (A.D. c.55-A.D. c.117, Roman historian) mentions "christus" who is Jesus - Annals

"Consequently, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their centre and become popular."

i. Ref. from http://classics.mit.edu/Tacitus/annals.mb.txt

WorldNetDaily: 'Palestinians agree': Wipe Israel off map

WorldNetDaily: 'Palestinians agree': Wipe Israel off map

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (courtesy Radio Netherlands)

Arab leader claims there's consensus Iran's president correct with solution

A senior Palestinian official says Palestinians share the sentiment of Iran's president that Israel should be "wiped off the map," or at the very least, moved to Europe.

The statement from Mahir al-Tahir, representative of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, was reported by the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting News Network.

In November, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad threatened to "wipe Israel off the map."

Then in December, he suggested European nations should give up some of their territory if they believed the World War II-era Holocaust took place, noting, "certain European countries would have the world go with their stand that Hitler killed millions of innocent Jews in furnaces and have passed laws punishing anyone who says anything to the contrary."

"The Islamic world should give up its policy of passivity and deal with the Palestinian issue more actively," he said.

It is becoming obvious what Iran desires to do with its nuclear power.

Iran President: Israel Completed Holocaust

BREITBART.COM - Iran President: Israel Completed Holocaust

By NASSER KARIMI
Associated Press Writer

TEHRAN, Iran

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's hard-line president who has said the Holocaust was a myth, now has charged that European countries sought to complete the genocide by establishing a Jewish state in the midst of Muslim countries.

"Don't you think that continuation of genocide by expelling Jews from Europe was one of their aims in creating a regime of occupiers of Al- Quds (Jerusalem)?" the official Islamic Republic News agency quoted Ahmadinejad as saying Sunday. "Isn't that an important question?"

Ahmadinejad said Europeans had decided to create a "Jewish camp" as the best means for ridding the continent of Jews. He said the camp, Israel, now enjoyed support from the United States and Europe in the slaughter of Muslims.

In October, Ahmadinejad called for Israel to be "wiped off the map."

Last month, Ahmadinejad said the Holocaust, in which Nazi Germany killed six million Jews, was a myth. After global outrage over the comments, he said that Europeans, if they insist the Holocaust occurred, should cede some of their territory for a Jewish state.

He said anti-Semitism had a long history in Europe, while Jews had lived peacefully among Muslims for centuries.

His remarks have been condemned by the White House, Israel, Germany, France and the European Commission, among others. Germany has said the remarks would affect negotiations over Iran's nuclear program.

European negotiators are pushing Iran to move its uranium enrichment facilities to Russia in a compromise solution to a dispute with the United States, which wants to stop Iran from producing nuclear weapons. Talks are set to continue this month.

Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, said the Russian proposal that the two nations enrich uranium in Russian territory could not ignore Iran's right to carry out enrichment at home.

"It's not logical for a country to put the fate of its nation at the disposal of another country even if it's a friend. You can meet part of your fuel needs from abroad," Larijani said on state-run television late Sunday.

"History and experience show that if you don't have technology, you will damage your independence," he said.

Larijani also warned of a "crushing" response if its nuclear and military facilities were attacked by the U.S. or Israel.

"If there is any truth in such talks, Israel will suffer greatly. It's a very small country within our range," he said.

Once again we see the Ezekiel 36-39 scenario forming as Gog (Russia) and Persia (Iran) are pulled into a war with Israel.

Artifacts with links to Bible unearthed�

Artifacts with links to Bible unearthed�-�World�-�The Washington Times, America's Newspaper

JERUSALEM -- Israeli archaeologists, screening tons of rubble scooped out of this ancient city's sacred Temple Mount, have discovered hundreds of artifacts and coins, as well as jewelry, some with biblical links dating back more than three millennia.

Most of the stones and earth originally were taken to an organic garbage dump in nearby Bethany, the New Testament town known in Arabic as Al-Azariya, and could not be retrieved. But a substantial portion was diverted to the Valley of Kidron, mentioned in the Old Testament and located just outside the Old City's massive walls.

This ambitious archaeological project, known as the Temple Mount Antiquities Operation, was started in November 2004, when Muslims excavated the sector north of Solomon's Stables to build the massive underground Marwani Mosque. Its second season, now under way, will last until February.

The Waqf, or Muslim officials who administer the site -- known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary -- helped the Israelis arrange the transfer.

Among the unusual finds extracted by Bar-Ilan University's Gabriel Barkai and his team of students and volunteers is a "bulla," or seal impression, thought to be used to close cloth sacks of silver.

"It bears the name Gedalyahu Ben Immer Ha-Cohen, suggesting that the owner may have been a brother of Pashur Ben Immer, described in the Bible [Jeremiah 20:1] as a priest and temple official," Mr. Barkai said.

That verse says: "Pashur, the son of Immer the priest, who was also chief governor in the House of the Lord, heard that Jeremiah prophesied these things."

Some finds reflect the Temple Mount's unique and dramatic history. An example of this is an iron arrowhead with a shaft used by the Roman legions during the siege of the Second Hebrew Temple 2,000 years ago. Presumably belonging to the 10th Legion, Mr. Barkai said, "it was launched from catapults exclusive to the Roman army."

He told of "scores of coins, many of them Jewish and minted by the Hasmonean and Herodian dynasty." This find might help explain why Jesus Christ drove the money-changers out of the Temple, as described in the New Testament.

Here we have archeological evidence once again proving the Bible correct and accurate.