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London Mayor Recommends Ramadan Fast for All
Sep 7th, 2009
Daily NewsArutz Sheva - David Lev
Categories: Today's Headlines

 



I urge people, particularly during Ramadan, to find out more about Islam, increase your understanding and learning, even fast for a day with your Muslim neighbor and break your fast at the local mosque.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has recommended that non-Muslims take the opportunity of the month of Ramadan to fast, along with their Muslim neighbors, in order to promote "understanding between cultures."

Johnson told members of a London mosque that with Muslims so much a part of London life, it would be befitting for non-Muslims to get to know their fellow Londoners' customs and religion better.

"Whether it's in theater, comedy, sports, music or politics, Muslims are challenging the traditional stereotypes and showing that they are, and want to be, a part of the mainstream community," Johnson said. ''That's why I urge people, particularly during Ramadan, to find out more about Islam, increase your understanding and learning, even fast for a day with your Muslim neighbor and break your fast at the local mosque. I would be very surprised if you didn't find that you share more in common than you thought," he said.

'Muslims are at the heart of every aspect of society," he added. "Their contribution is something that all Londoners benefit from. Muslim police officers, doctors, scientists and teachers are an essential part of the fabric of London." There are currently 1.6 million Muslims in Britain, most of whom fast during Ramadan, Muslim community officials told reporters.

Not all Londoners embraced the idea. A local English Democrat leader, Steve Uncles, blasted Johnson's comments, saying that "the indigenous culture of this country is based on Christianity and Paganism. Of course, as an open and tolerant society, if people want to practice other religions, then good luck to them. But the state should not be funding them because otherwise we will lose our culture."

Although perhaps the most original, Johnson's is far from the only effort by Western politicians to honor Ramadan and Muslims. Last week, U.S. President Barack Obama hosted a Ramadan break the fast meal at the White House. "Islam, as we know, is part of America," Obama said during the dinner. "Together we have a responsibility to foster engagement grounded in mutual interest and mutual respect."

A report Saturday said that Egyptian police had arrested 155 people in the southern city of Aswan for not fasting during Ramadan. According to local reports, police have targeted people seen eating or drinking anything during daylight hours. According to one local official, the police campaign is evidence of an increased Muslim fervor among police, while another official said that the local government was trying to appease Islamists, who have increased in popularity in recent months.

There was no word on whether London Mayor Johnson was planning to suggest that Muslims and Christians fast on Yom Kippur in order to better understand their Jewish neighbors.

China Alarmed By U.S. Money Printing
Sep 7th, 2009
Daily NewsThe Telegraph.co.uk - Ambrose Evans-Pritchard,
Categories: Today's Headlines;Warning

The US Federal Reserve's policy of printing money to buy Treasury debt threatens to set off a serious decline of the dollar and compel China to redesign its foreign reserve policy, according to a top member of the Communist hierarchy.

Cheng Siwei, former vice-chairman of the Standing Committee and now head of China's green energy drive, said Beijing was dismayed by the Fed's recourse to "credit easing".

"We hope there will be a change in monetary policy as soon as they have positive growth again," he said at the Ambrosetti Workshop, a policy gathering on Lake Como.

"If they keep printing money to buy bonds it will lead to inflation, and after a year or two the dollar will fall hard. Most of our foreign reserves are in US bonds and this is very difficult to change, so we will diversify incremental reserves into euros, yen, and other currencies," he said.

China's reserves are more than – $2 trillion, the world's largest.

"Gold is definitely an alternative, but when we buy, the price goes up. We have to do it carefully so as not to stimulate the markets," he added.

The comments suggest that China has become the driving force in the gold market and can be counted on to
buy whenever there is a price dip, putting a floor under any correction.

Mr Cheng said the Fed's loose monetary policy was stoking an unstable asset boom in China. "If we raise interest rates, we will be flooded with hot money. We have to wait for them. If they raise, we raise.

"Credit in China is too loose. We have a bubble in the housing market and in stocks so we have to be very careful, because this could fall down."

Mr Cheng said China had learned from the West that it is a mistake for central banks to target retail price inflation and take their eye off assets.

"This is where Greenspan went wrong from 2000 to 2004," he said. "He thought everything was alright because inflation was low, but assets absorbed the liquidity."

Mr Cheng said China had lost 20m jobs as a result of the crisis and advised the West not to over-estimate the role that his country can play in global recovery.

China's task is to switch from export dependency to internal consumption, but that requires a "change in the ideology of the Chinese people" to discourage excess saving. "This is very difficult".

Mr Cheng said the root cause of global imbalances is spending patterns in US (and UK) and China.

"The US spends tomorrow's money today," he said. "We Chinese spend today's money tomorrow. That's why we have this financial crisis."

Yet the consequences are not symmetric.

"He who goes borrowing, goes sorrowing," said Mr Cheng.

It was a quote from US founding father Benjamin Franklin.

Art's Commentary.......This is a very serious warning from China.

A new survey reveals that less than 10 percent of all born again Christians look at the world with a Biblical perspective
Sep 7th, 2009
News UpdateJimmy DeYoung
Categories: Jimmy DeYoung News

George Barna, a pollster with an independent marketing research company, found in a recent survey that only 4% of the overall population of America and 9% of born-again Christians have a biblical world view, suggesting that many of the nation's moral and spiritual challenges are directly attributable to this fact.

For the purposes of the research, a biblical world view was defined as believing that absolute moral truth exists, that such truth is defined by the Bible, and that the Bible is accurate in all of its teachings.

Jimmy's Prophetic Prospective on the News

A biblical world view based upon understanding Bible prophecy is essential for an understanding of the times we live in today.

Let's look at the provision in scripture for a biblical world view. All scripture is God breathed. That means it's inspired and is profitable for doctrine, for correction, and instruction in righteousness, that's II Timothy 3:16. God gave the scriptures to the Jew to preserve and communicate to mankind, Romans 3:1-2. And thus, we have His written Word for us today. Our blessings and understanding comes from God's provision of His heart, His mind, His thoughts in written form, the Bible.

Now, let's look at the priority for studying a biblical world view. The Apostle Paul wrote that we must study the Word of God, a workman that need not be ashamed, relying on God's Word for all of life's questions. We must rightly divide the Word of truth, the Bible, to ascertain its true meaning. These two principles, study and rightly dividing the Word of God, are instruction for the End Times and they come from Paul's exhortation to young Timothy found in II Timothy 2:15.

Finally, let's look at the prophetic scenario of a biblical world view. A study of Bible prophecy reveals the scenario for the Last Days with a seven year period of judgment in our world followed by the return of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, to establish His Kingdom here on earth. However, preceding that seven years of judgment, those who are true born again Christians will be taken out of this world to be with Jesus Christ, that's the Rapture.

Allowing the Bible to form our world view prepares us for these future events and gives us evidence as to how close they may be.