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US Church drops gay bishops ban
Jul 14th, 2009
Daily NewsBBC News
Categories: Today's Headlines;Apostasy

Bishops of the Anglican Church in the United States have voted to overturn a three-year moratorium on the election of gay bishops.

The decision seems likely to lead to the Episcopal Church's eventual exit from the worldwide Anglican Communion.

The Communion has been fighting to avoid disintegration since the Episcopal Church consecrated the openly gay bishop Gene Robinson in 2003.

The decision is expected to be confirmed in the next few days.

Archbishop's regret

The election of the Bishop of New Hampshire, the Right Reverend Gene Robinson, created an apparently irreconcilable rift between liberal and traditional Anglicans.

Liberals believe the Bible should be reinterpreted in the light of contemporary wisdom.

Traditionalists insist that it unequivocally outlaws homosexuality.

To avoid expulsion from the Communion, the Episcopal Church agreed a temporary ban on the ordination of gay bishops.

But, impatient for change, its General Convention meeting in Anaheim, California, voted on Monday to end the moratorium.

The Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams - who is head of the 70-million-strong worldwide Anglican Communion - said it "remained to be seen" whether the vote by the House of Deputies - made up of clergy and lay people - would be endorsed by the US Episcopal House of Bishops.

"I regret the fact that there is no will to observe the moratorium in such a significant part of the church in North America," he added.

The BBC's religious affairs correspondent Robert Piggot said the drafters of the motion say it still leaves room for dioceses to exercise restraint, and keep in effect to a moratorium.

But, he said, if it does lead to the election of another gay bishop, the decision will make it all but impossible for the Communion to stay intact.

The crisis could intensify further as the Episcopal Church could be about to end a second moratorium, on the blessing of same-sex relationships in church services.

UK cuts Israel weapons contracts
Jul 14th, 2009
Daily NewsBBC News
Categories: Today's Headlines;Anti-Israel

The UK has revoked five export licences for equipment to the Israeli navy because of actions during Israel's Operation Cast Lead in Gaza this year.

The British Foreign office said the exports would now contravene its criteria for arms sales, but denied that it had imposed a partial embargo.

The UK says it does not sell weapons which might be used for internal repression or external aggression.

Israel says its troops complied fully with international law during missions.

The 22-day operation which ended on 18 January has been widely condemned as disproportionate by critics.

UK sued over Israel arms sales Amnesty details Gaza 'war crimes' Israelis followed law in Gaza

The British government has been challenged by human rights groups and members of the UK parliament over concerns raised by Amnesty International that British-made equipment was used illegally in Gaza.

Amnesty says both Israel and Hamas committed war crimes during the conflict.

In April, the British government issued a statement saying it had not contravened its own guidelines, which it described as "stringent", but said it was was reviewing existing licences.

On Monday, the Foreign Office said in a statement that it had conducted the review, and found "in a small number of cases Israeli action in Cast Lead would result in the export of those goods now contravening the… criteria".

An unnamed Israeli official said five of 35 contracts for naval equipment had been cancelled.

Media reports quoted Israeli officials as saying these all related to the Saar 4.5 gunboat.

The Palestinian Authority wants to give control of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem to the global Islamic community
Jul 14th, 2009
News UpdateJimmy DeYoung
Categories: Jimmy DeYoung News

The Minister of Jerusalem Affairs in the Palestinian Authority(PA) says the PA favors transferring control of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem to the Organization of Islamic Conference made up of the 57 member states of this global Islamic organization.

The PA would accept the management of the Temple Mount by the Saudi based Organization of Islamic Conference whose 57 member states includes Iran and other Islamic members who have called for Israel to be wiped off the face of the earth. The Israeli government officially has the sovereign control of the old city of Jerusalem which includes the Temple Mount, but Israel has given custodial responsibilities to the PA of this site, the most sacred site in all of Judaism.

Jimmy's Prophetic Prospective on the News

The question of control of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem will be the major controversy in the Last Days according to Bible prophecy.

For the PA and the Organization of Islamic Conference to even consider taking control of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, the al Aqsa Mosque as they refer to this site, is beyond imagination in our world today. The Temple Mount is the most sacred piece of real estate in the world to the Jewish people and for the Global Islamic Community to claim sovereign control of this holy site in the heart of the capital city of Israel is considered by the Jewish state to be outrageous.

The ancient Jewish prophet Zechariah wrote 2,500 years ago that what we see happening today would be the case when Jesus Christ returns to the earth to build His Temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Zechariah 12:2 says that Jerusalem will be the center of controversy at this time. Zechariah 1:14-16 reveals that the Messiah, Jesus Christ, will be agressively possessive of Jerusalem, He will be angered by the arrogant security of those who think they control the Temple Mount and Jesus will come and build His Temple on this holy site and rule and reign from that Temple forever.

Any claim by the global Islamic community will be set aside. Bible prophecy will be fulfilled.

The Economy Is Even Worse Than You Think
Jul 14th, 2009
Daily NewsWall Street Journal - MORTIMER ZUCKERMAN
Categories: Today's Headlines;Warning

The average length of unemployment is higher than it's been since government began tracking the data in 1948.

The recent unemployment numbers have undermined confidence that we might be nearing the bottom of the recession. What we can see on the surface is disconcerting enough, but the inside numbers are just as bad.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics preliminary estimate for job losses for June is 467,000, which means 7.2 million people have lost their jobs since the start of the recession. The cumulative job losses over the last six months have been greater than for any other half year period since World War II, including the military demobilization after the war. The job losses are also now equal to the net job gains over the previous nine years, making this the only recession since the Great Depression to wipe out all job growth from the previous expansion.

Solana wants UN to establish 'Palestine'
Jul 14th, 2009
Daily NewsJpost
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel;Anti-Israel

The European Union's top diplomat has called for the United Nations Security Council to push forward and recognize a Palestinian state even without a final-status agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.

According to a Reuters report, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana made the remarks Saturday during a lecture in London, saying that if agreement between the two sides could not be reached, the UN should proffer its own solution to the conflict.

"After a fixed deadline, a UN Security Council resolution should proclaim the adoption of the two-state solution," Solana was quoted as saying, adding that such a move should include resolutions regarding borders, the refugee problem, the issue of Jerusalem and security arrangements.

"It would accept the Palestinian state as a full member of the UN, and set a calendar for implementation. It would mandate the resolution of other remaining territorial disputes and legitimize the end of claims," Solana was quoted by Reuters as saying.

"If the parties are not able to stick to [the timetable], then a solution backed by the international community should be put on the table," he said.

Last month, Solana drew harsh condemnation from Israeli officials after he met with a Hizbullah legislator in Beirut.

The meeting with parliamentarian Hussein Hajj Hassan marked the first time a senior EU diplomat met with the Iranian-backed terror organization.

PM: ‘Right of Return' Means Letting Arabs Destroy Israel
Jul 14th, 2009
Daily NewsArutz Sheva - Gil Ronen
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel;Warning

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Arab countries and the Palestinian Authority must renounce their demand for the “right of return,” which he explained reflects a will to destroy Israel after signing a peace accord with it.

“They must renounce, once and for all, the demand to settle the descendants of the refugees and to take over Israel’s territory piecemeal after obtaining a peace treaty,” Netanyahu warned.

He was speaking at the official state memorial for modern Zionism’s central visionary, Binyamin Zev Herzl, who died 105 years ago. Fifteen members of Herzl’s family attended, as did President Shimon Peres, other dignitaries, soldiers and Jewish and Arab youths.

The Prime Minister added: “I yearn for the day that the Palestinian leaders face their people and say these clear words: ‘We have had enough of this conflict. We, the Palestinians, recognize the right of the Jewish people to a country of its own on this land. We will live beside you in true peace.”

“Once these things are said, a window – even a huge opening – will be opened to peace,” he said.

The "right of return" is a claim made by the Arab nations that Arab residents of Israel who were driven out of their homes in the course of the 1948 Independence War should be allowed to return. But as Michell G. Bard in his work Myths & Facts documents, many Arabs left by choice prefering to adhere to promises of the invading Arab armies that if they evacuated their homes, they would return after the war to their own homes as well as those of their Jewish neighbors:

The beginning of the Arab exodus [from Israe can be traced to the weeks immediately following the announcement of the UN partition resolution. By the end of January 1948, the exodus was so alarming, the Palestine Arab Higher Committee asked neighboring Arab countries to refuse visas to these [Ara refugees and to seal their borders against them.


Contemporary press reports of major battles in which large numbers of Arabs fled conspicuously fail to mention any forcible expulsion by the Jewish forces. The Arabs are usually described as "fleeing" or "evacuating" their homes.

"The Arab States encouraged the Palestine Arabs to leave their homes temporarily in order to be out of the way of the Arab invasion armies," according to the Jordanian newspaper Filastin (February 19, 1949). One refugee quoted in the Jordan newspaper, Ad Difaa (September 6, 1954), said: "The Arab government told us: Get out so that we can get in. So we got out, but they did not get in."

Israel consistently sought a solution to the refugee problem, but could not simply agree to allow all Palestinians to return.

No nation, regardless of past rights and wrongs, could contemplate taking in a fifth-column of such a size. And fifth-column it would be — people nurtured for 20 years [in in hatred of and totally dedicated to its destruction.

The readmission of the refugees would be the equivalent to the admission to the U.S. of nearly 70,000,000 sworn enemies of the nation.Matt Zeiderman contributed to this report

Palestinians: 'Peace' just a means to a darker end
Jul 14th, 2009
Daily NewsIsrael Today
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel;Anti-Israel

Those who believe the land-for-peace process will bring an end to the bloodshed between Arabs and Israelis are deluding themselves, explained a leading member of the ruling Palestinian faction in a televised interview last week.

It seems some Palestinians were becoming worried that increasingly active American involvement would bring the war against Israel to an end before they had a chance to destroy the Jewish state.

Speaking on Palestinian Authority TV, Kifah Radaydeh, deputy head of the Jerusalem chapter of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction, sought to reassure them:

"It has been said that we are negotiating for peace, but our goal has never been peace. Peace is a means; the goal is Palestine."

Radaydeh made clear that by "Palestine" she meant all of the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea by admitting that when the time is right, Fatah will fully rejoin the campaign of violence against Israel.

Radaydeh's is by no means an isolated sentiment. In March, Mohammed Dahlan, a top advisor to Abbas and the former Fatah strongman in charge of Gaza, said on Palestinian Authority TV:

"I want to say for the thousandth time, in my own name and in the name of all of my fellow members of the Fatah movement: We do not demand that the Hamas movement recognize Israel. On the contrary, we demand of the Hamas movement not to recognize Israel, because the Fatah movement does not recognize Israel, even today."

Dahlan went on to explain that the Fatah-ruled Palestinian Authority only pays lip service to recognizing Israel in order to obtain assistance from the international community, both in the form of financial aid and political pressure on Israel.

Despite these very public acknowledgements that Fatah, like Hamas, still seeks Israel's ultimate destruction, the international community continues to insist on painting Abbas and his party as "moderates" and the antithesis of the Islamic radicals that fill Hamas' ranks.

[Translation of the PA TV interviews were provided by Palestinian Media Watch]

PA: No Peace Without Yesha Construction Freeze
Jul 14th, 2009
Daily NewsArutz Sheva - Yahuda Lev Kay
Categories: Today's Headlines;Anti-Israel

Palestinian Authority negotiator Saeb Erekat said Sunday that no discussions between the PA and Israel could begin without a complete construction freeze in Judea and Samaria. Erekat was responding to a call earlier in the morning by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to start peace talks.

“There can be no compromises on construction,” Erekat said. “If Israel is allowed to build 1,000 or 2,000 housing units it will lead the PA and the Arab nations to believe the U.S. government cannot convince the Israeli government to stop building.”

Netanyahu offered during the weekly cabinet meeting to meet with PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. “There is no reason why I should not meet with the chairman of the Palestinian Authority anywhere in Israel in order to get the diplomatic process going,” he said. Netanyahu suggested that the next meeting be held in Be'er Sheva, known as the "capital of the south," since the Cabinet met there this week to show solidarity with the region.

Abbas told an Egyptian newspaper Saturday that peace would only be possible if the PA would receive 100 percent of the territory over the Green Line, the right of Arab refugees to return to Israel, and territorial contiguity between Judea, Samaria, and Gaza.

The PA chairman added that he sent a letter to U.S. President Barack Obama detailing his demands. He asked the American administration to pressure Israel to cease construction in Judea and Samaria and base future negotiations between Israel and the PA on the Saudi Arabia peace initiative, which Israel has repeatedly refused to accept.

NEWS ALERT: American Missionaries Missing, Christians Detained In China
Jul 14th, 2009
Daily NewsWorthy Christian News
Categories: Today's Headlines;Persecution

Two Chinese American missionaries were missing and at least four Christians remained detained Monday, July 13, following a police raid on a church in China's volatile Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region where a riot last week left 184 people dead, Christians said.

Momentum builds toward possible end of this U.S. agency
Jul 14th, 2009
Daily NewsWND - Chelsea Schilling
Categories: Today's Headlines;Warning

Rep. Ron Paul: Congress can revoke central bank's charter 'at any time'

A movement to audit the Federal Reserve – the private institution that virtually controls U.S. interest rates, money supply and other economic influences – is gaining momentum in the House and Senate while the Fed ramps up its efforts to thwart scrutiny of its books.

House Resolution 1207, the Federal Reserve Transparency Act, now has 260 co-sponsors with many members of the House Financial Services Committee – where the bill currently resides – signed on already.

Likewise, Senate Bill 604, Federal Reserve Sunshine Act, orders a complete audit of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and the Federal Reserve Banks before the end of 2010. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vt., has eight co-sponsors and remains in the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs.

As WND reported, members of the Senate recently blocked efforts by Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., to vote on his amendment to a spending bill that provides money for Congress' own budget. DeMint's plan was to add an amendment to the spending bill that would have provided for an audit of the Fed to include information about its funding facilities, market operations and any agreements with foreign banks and governments, DeMint told senators, according to Reuters.

In a July 9 hearing, Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, questioned Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Donald Kohn about the Fed's transparency.

"I think the Federal Reserve has been quite transparent and has become much more transparent under Chairman Bernanke about what we're doing and why we're doing it," Kohn told Paul. "And I think we can retain our independence and your ability to trust what we're doing only by explaining to you what we're doing and why we're doing it."

Paul asked why the Fed cites "public interest" when it refuses to open up the central bank's most sensitive decisions to political scrutiny and release discretely recorded transcripts of its policy meetings in the next five years. Kohn made his case for continued Fed secrecy.

Paul long has opposed the power held by the Federal Reserve and its ability to manipulate the nation's economy. He has launched multiple proposals to get rid of the private banking powerhouse, without significant support.

But in light of the current economic downturn – the government takeover of the banking industry, the government's demands for various auto industry bankruptcies, the government's appointment of a "pay czar" – change apparently is coming.

"To understand how unwise it is to have the Federal Reserve, one must first understand the magnitude of the privileges they have," Paul said. "They have been given the power to create money, by the trillions, and to give it to their friends, under any terms they wish, with little or no meaningful oversight or accountability."

Paul has even said Congress should "reassert its constitutional authority over monetary policy."

"The only accountability the Federal Reserve has is ultimately to Congress, which granted its charter and can revoke it at any time," he wrote. "It is Congress' constitutional duty to protect the value of the money, and they have abdicated this responsibility for far too long. … It is very encouraging to finally see the issue getting some needed exposure and traction. It is regrettable that it took a crisis of this magnitude to get a serious debate on this issue."

Paul's bill would also make the Federal Reserve's funding facilities, including the Primary Dealer Credit Facility, Term Securities Lending Facility, and Term Asset-Backed Securities Lending Facility subject to congressional oversight.

I agree with Rick Warren!
Jul 14th, 2009
CommentaryWND Joseph Farah - Between the Lines
Categories: Commentary;Apostasy;One World Church

Rick Warren told the Islamic Society of North America last week that he is not interested in interfaith dialogue; he's only interested in interfaith projects.

I agree with Rick Warren.

So let's get started. I have a project to suggest. It's very simple. It's very straightforward. I think it's a great starting point for Christian-Muslim action.

Let's get Muslims to stop killing and oppressing Christians and Jews around the world.

That would be the speech I would deliver to a group such as the Islamic Society of North America, a front group for the extremist Muslim Brotherhood, which has incubated and supported terrorist organizations such as al-Qaida and Hamas.

But, then again, it's unlikely ISNA is ever going to invite me to address its national convention. And that's just fine with me.

Nevertheless, I'm serious about my proposition. I really do agree with Rick Warren that "interfaith dialogue" is a waste of time. There are only four kinds of relationship Christians should have with unbelievers, according to the Bible:

• We should pray for them; (Matthew 5:44)
  
  
• We should evangelize them so that they can know the true nature of God and begin a real relationship with Him and have a chance for eternal life; (Mark 16:15)

• Failing that, we should separate ourselves from them for our own protection; (1 Kings 8:53)

• We should rescue believers who fall captive and are forced to live under their yoke of oppression and the threat of death as Abraham did with his nephew Lot; (Genesis 14)

Am I missing anything? Maybe so. But I can't find a single biblical reference that suggests believers should develop public works projects with non-believers. It may sound good. It may tickle the ears. It may seem like it makes sense from a worldly perspective. His Word does not suggest we should, as Rick Warren suggests, attempt to "team tackle" the world's problems with non-believers.

There's simply no biblical precedent for any of this.

For instance, Rick Warren thinks we should work with Muslims to address certain issues. This is what his so-called PEACE plan is about. The issues on which we are supposed to work together are the following:

• spiritual emptiness: How are Christian believers supposed to work with Muslims on spiritual emptiness without getting them to understand repentance and grace? That is the only way spiritual emptiness can be addressed from a biblical perspective. That means evangelism.

• corrupt leadership: The definition of corrupt leadership from a biblical perspective is leadership not adhering to God's Word. How are believers to form a new definition that will be palatable to non-believers and still true to the Bible?

• extreme poverty: Jesus does tell believers to minister to the poor, but I fail to see where he suggests we should do this in conjunction with government programs, non-believers or in the name of other gods.

• pandemic diseases: Is the God we serve not big enough to address problems? Do we need the help of other gods? Is that a biblical principle?

• illiteracy and education: And what are we to teach people? Should we help Muslim nations and Muslim groups to teach their children the Quran? Or do we expect Muslim nations and Muslim groups to permit us to teach their people to read the Bible?

All these ideas sound nice. They sound humane. They sound reasonable. They sound like areas for "common ground."

But, as far as I can see, they have nothing to do with what Jesus taught.

Yes, we are to deal with spiritual emptiness – in the name of Jesus.

Yes, we are to deal with corrupt leadership – in the name of Jesus.

Yes, we are to help the poor – in the name of Jesus.

Yes, we are to cure the sick – in the name of Jesus.

Yes, we are to educate – in the name of Jesus.

As we are told in 2 Corinthians 6:14: "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?"

Cuba Evangelical Pastor Sentenced To Six Years Imprisonment
Jul 14th, 2009
Daily NewsWorthy Christian News
Categories: Today's Headlines;Persecution

There was international concern Tuesday, July 14, over the detention of a Cuban Evangelical pastor, after news emerged he has been sentenced to six years in prison on charges that include "counter-revolutionary conduct and attitudes" as part of what rights investigators called “mounting state hostility towards religious groups

Budget deficit tops $1 trillion for first time
Jul 14th, 2009
Daily NewsYahoo Finance - Martin Crutsinger
Categories: Today's Headlines;Warning

Federal budget deficit tops $1 trillion for first time, could reach $2 trillion by fall

WASHINGTON -- The federal deficit has topped $1 trillion for the first time ever and could grow to nearly $2 trillion by this fall, intensifying fears about higher interest rates, inflation and the strength of the dollar.

The deficit has been widened by the huge sum the government has spent to ease the recession, combined with a sharp decline in tax revenues. The cost of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan also is a major factor.

The soaring deficit is making Chinese and other foreign buyers of U.S. debt nervous, which could make them reluctant lenders down the road. It could also force the Treasury Department to pay higher interest rates to make U.S. debt attractive longer-term.

"These are mind-boggling numbers," said Sung Won Sohn, an economist at the Smith School of Business at California State University. "Our foreign investors from China and elsewhere are starting to have concerns about not only the value of the dollar but how safe their investments will be in the long run."

The Treasury Department said Monday that the deficit in June totaled $94.3 billion, pushing the total since the budget year started in October to $1.09 trillion. The administration forecasts that the deficit for the entire year will hit $1.84 trillion in October.

Government spending is on the rise to address the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression and an unemployment rate that has climbed to 9.5 percent.

Congress already approved a $700 billion financial bailout for banks, automakers and other sectors, and a $787 billion economic stimulus package to try to jump-start a recovery. Outlays through the first nine months of this budget year total $2.67 trillion, up 20.5 percent from the same period a year ago.

There is growing talk among some Obama administration officials that a second round of stimulus may eventually be necessary.

That has many Republicans and deficit hawks worried that the U.S. could be setting itself up for more financial pain down the road if interest rates and inflation surge. They also are raising alarms about additional spending the administration is proposing, including its plan to reform health care.

President Barack Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner have said the U.S. is committed to bringing down the deficits once the economy and financial sector recover. The Obama administration has set a goal of cutting the deficit in half by the end of his first term in office.

In the meantime, the U.S. debt now stands at $11.5 trillion. Interest payments on the debt cost $452 billion last year -- the largest federal spending category after Medicare-Medicaid, Social Security and defense.

The overall debt is now slightly more than 80 percent of the annual output of the entire U.S. economy, as measured by the gross domestic product. During World War II, it briefly rose to 120 percent of GDP.

The debt is largely financed by the sale of Treasury bonds and bills.