Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

Top Republican Says White House Hiding Info on Fort Hood
Nov 14th, 2009
Daily NewsThe Hill - Eric Zimmermann
Categories: Today's Headlines;Warning

The ranking Republican on the House intelligence committee on Tuesday night accused the White House of withholding information on the Fort Hood attack.

Rep. Pete Hoekstra (Mich.) said administration officials delayed briefing members of Congress about the alleged gunman, raising "red flags" about what the White House was hiding.

When they withhold information, you always start asking questions," Hoekstra told Fox News. "That's what raises red flags. What do they know that they don't want us to know?"

Hoekstra linked President Barack Obama's handling of Fort Hood to a chain of other GOP criticisms of the president, including the administration's treatment of detainees and an investigation into possible CIA abuse.

"It is a political correctness that is making it unable for us to identify the real threat of homegrown terrorism," he alleged.

Hoekstra warned that "we have similar Hasans" in the country. The Michigan Republican has called for his committee to investigate the incident. Chairman Silvestre Reyes (D-Texas) has so far declined, preferring to wait for the conclusion of the joint FBI-Army investigation.

Obama has ordered a review of all intelligence on Hasan.

Fbi: 10% of U.S. Mosques Preach Jihad
Nov 14th, 2009
Daily Newsnewsmax.com
Categories: Today's Headlines;Warning

Imams preach jihad and extremism in 10 percent of the 2,000 mosques in the United States, the FBI estimates. 

That sums up the problem facing us as we ponder the meaning of Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan’s slayings of 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas. Given his association with a pro-al-Qaida imam in northern Virginia and his preoccupation with radical Islamic Web sites, it’s clear that the radical element of Islam influenced Hasan. 

About a quarter of the Muslims in America ages 18 through 29 believe that suicide bombings can be justified, according to a Pew Research Center poll. Generating those attitudes are imams who preach jihad and hatred in American mosques and postings on the Internet, according to FBI counterterrorism officials interviewed for my book “The Terrorist Watch: Inside the Desperate Race to Stop the Next Attack.” 

Erekat: Pa May Ask U.S. to Recognize State on '67 Borders
Nov 14th, 2009
Daily NewsJpost
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel;Peace Process

The Palestinian Authority is considering asking the UN Security Council to recognize the existence of a Palestinian state along the 1967 lines with its capital in east Jerusalem, top PA negotiator Saeb Erekat told the Palestinian Al-Ayyam newspaper in an interview published Saturday.

Erekat said that, in light of the long-stalled negotiations with Israel, the PA was currently busy enlisting the support of various countries for such a move. The Palestinians have already received the backing of Arab nations, and Erekat said he believed that Russia and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon would also support the call.

The Palestinian negotiator added that in recent meetings with EU and UN officials, responses to the idea had been positive. EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, he noted, was in support of the idea and had voiced it himself at a recent event.

Erekat said that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas would be lobbying for support of the plan in his upcoming visits to South American and European nations.

He noted that he had brought the idea up several times in meetings with US officials, and said that he would continue to do so.

Meanwhile, London-based Asharq Alawsat on Saturday quoted unnamed American officials as saying that the US will not push for peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians if the two sides are not interested in doing so themselves.

The US will not negotiate over negotiations, the officials said. They explained that the Obama administration would rather wait for now than progress on a track that may fail.

The Asharq Alawsat report could not be confirmed by The Jerusalem Post.

Churches Targeted By 'gay' Intimidation Campaign
Nov 14th, 2009
Daily NewsWND - Bob Unruh
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Church;Persecution

Named in IRS complaints for opposing same-sex 'marriage'

Christian churches in Maine whose leaders encouraged support for a referendum that repealed a law allowing same-sex marriage are being targeted in an intimidation campaign urging homosexuals to file complaints against them with the Internal Revenue Service.

A "Maine Marriage Equality" website that lobbied for the same-sex marriage measure is asking its followers to file the complaints.

You are probably already aware of churches that supported and actively promoted a 'YES' vote on Question 1. Please take the time to file an IRS complaint against them. Examples of supporting documentation to include with your complaint are pamphlets or other material created and/or distributed by the church or religious organization, photographs that show attempts to influence legislation (see below), witness statements or recordings of individuals who were aware of the campaign activities, and any other evidence that may prove a church or religious organization attempted to influence the public to vote 'YES' on Question 1.

With your help, we can reaffirm our Constitutional Separation of Church and State and ensure that in the future, nobody's civil rights are stripped away by religious fanatics attempting to force their religion on all of us.

The campaign was launched after a decision by Maine voters, by a 53 percent to 47 percent margin, to restore the definition of marriage to only one man and one woman. State lawmakers had expanded it to include same-sex duos, but voters made Maine the 31st state out of 31 to limit marriage to one man and one woman.

A defense for any churches or church leaders targeted by the complaints, however, already is being assembled.

Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund, said pastors and churches have a right to discuss biblical truths from the pulpit without fear of being punished for their religious beliefs.

"They can encourage their congregations to take a stand for marriage and can directly support legislative issues like Question 1 without running afoul of IRS rules," Stanley said. "Groups that want to redefine marriage are intentionally threatening the tax-exempt status of churches through fear, intimidation, and disinformation to silence their voice.

"ADF will stand with these churches to defend their right to free speech and religious expression against these baseless scare tactics," he said.

Question 1 was the referendum on the Maine ballot Nov. 3 that allowed voters to decide on the state's law that created "same-sex marriage" earlier this year. ADF said since the vote, supporters of homosexual unions "have been encouraging retaliation through the filing of IRS complaints against churches that indicated they supported a yes vote on Question 1."

"This is an all-too-obvious attempt to use the IRS to intimidate pastors and churches as a means of punishment and to get them to be quiet," said Stanley. "We encourage the churches of Maine not to be intimidated and to contact us if they are contacted by the IRS."

The homosexual activists are telling supporters IRS policy allows the withdrawal of church-status recognition if "a substantial part of its activities is attempting to influence legislation (commonly known as lobbying)."

They have provided a link to an organization supporting traditional marriage, suggesting churches that participated be named in the complaints.

An editorial published by the Advocate blamed the churches for the vote.

"No, it's not the fault of homophobes or those religious zealots frightened by their churches. It's the churches themselves and the cowardly government that fails to tell all religious institutions to get out of politics or be taxed," wrote Charles Bouley.

Banning religious groups from politics, however, violates the U.S. Constitution, according to Stanley, who also coordinates the ADF's Pulpit Initiative, a legal effort to challenge IRS regulations imposing restrictions on pastors' speech.

This year, 83 pastors in 30 states and the District of Columbia participated in the second annual Pulpit Freedom Sunday, more than twice the number who participated last year in the project.

Stanley explained forcing politics into the pulpit is not the goal of ADF. He said the intent is for churches to be free to preach how Scripture applies to every area of life, including candidates and elections, if they so choose.

"The IRS shouldn't be making this decision for churches by threatening to revoke their tax-exempt status. To truly protect religious freedom, the government needs to get out of the pulpit," he said.

The censorship for church pastors has been in place since the Johnson Amendment was added to the federal tax code in 1954. However, enforcement has been spotty, and the results have been vague, even though critics of Christian churches contend it limits what they can say from the pulpit.

The IRS has repeatedly launched investigations of churches based on allegations from organizations such as Americans United for Separation of Church and State, whose officials have taken advantage of the vagueness to report church "offenses."

Stanley explained that, contrary to the misunderstanding of many, tax-exempt status is not a "gift" or "subsidy" from the government.

"Churches were completely free to preach about candidates from the day that the Constitution was ratified in 1788 until 1954," explained Stanley. "The real effect of the Johnson Amendment is that pastors are muzzled for fear of investigation by the IRS. Rather than risk confrontation, many pastors have self-censored their speech, afraid to be critical of blatant immorality in government and foregoing opportunities to praise moral government leaders. The participants in Pulpit Freedom Sunday refuse to be intimidated into sacrificing their First Amendment rights."

WND reported when the IRS closed an investigation into a Minnesota pastor's sermons from just before the 2008 election that addressed the moral qualifications of the political candidates.

ADF said Pastor Gus Booth of Warroad Community Church in Warroad, Minn., had preached on moral issues as a part of the ADF's Pulpit Initiative last year.

"Booth originally sent the IRS a copy of a sermon he preached in May 2008 with regard to the primary elections. After participating in the Pulpit Initiative's Pulpit Freedom Sunday Sept. 28, Booth also sent the agency his sermon regarding the general election. After launching an audit of the church in August 2008, the IRS has now stated in a letter that it is closing its examination of the sermons due to a procedural problem," ADF said.

Stanley said it was an example of the IRS applying pressure to churches but refusing to let a case come to court where a ruling could be made.

"Instead of standing and fighting in court, the IRS prefers to run the other way," said Stanley. "ADF would likely have waived any complaint about procedural concerns involved in the investigation stage of the audit in order to reach the merits of the case and clarify the law. Once a federal court has an opportunity to review the Johnson Amendment, we believe it will not take long for the court to strike it down as unconstitutional. Pastors have the right to preach from their pulpits on all issues, including candidates and elections. No pastor should fear the IRS."

'israel Soon to be Larger Than Diaspora' for First Time in 2000 Years
Nov 14th, 2009
Daily Newsjpost.com
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu welcomed a planeload of olim on Tuesday at Ben-Gurion Airport, telling them that "for the first time in 2,000 years, there are going to be more Jews in Israel than outside it." 

Speaking to a terminal full of olim from the United States and Canada, who came with Nefesh B'Nefesh on the organization's 38th chartered aliya flight since the first one in July 2002, Netanyahu noted that Israel's Jewish population was nearing the six million mark. 

It is hard to gauge the number of Jews in the Diaspora. In the largest community - America - the only effective tool is a telephone poll. Nevertheless, Diaspora Jewry is usually estimated at between six and seven million, though some demographers and scholars consider this figure low. 

Netanyahu told the 238 new immigrants that aliya to the State of Israel had given the Jewish people "our ability to control our fate and our destiny." 

In particular, he welcomed the "professionalism in work and the drive to excellence, and the antipathy to bureaucracy" which North American olim bring with them to the Jewish state. He called on the new Israelis to work to make Israel "the most advanced country in the world." 

Tuesday's flight, carried out in conjunction with the Jewish Agency and the Interior and Immigrant Absorption ministries, contained a cross-section of American Jewish society, from religious to secular, from bearded rabbis to 55 young singles slated to join the IDF in the coming weeks. 

The olim were greeted at the airport by scores of singing and dancing well-wishers, including delegations of Israeli youth movements, family members of the immigrants and public figures, ranging from Netanyahu, Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky and MK Uri Orbach to mayors from cities that will be receiving the olim, including Beit Shemesh and Modi'in. 

Nefesh B'Nefesh co-founder Tony Gelbart noted in the ceremony that Israel "is the only country where the prime minister and heads of the government come to meet new immigrants." 

North American aliya is expected to rise in 2009 due to the worldwide economic downturn, possibly passing the 4,000 mark. Nefesh B'Nefesh figures reveal that some 450 young olim will be arriving this year to serve in the IDF. 

Later Tuesday, another 89 Nefesh B'Nefesh olim arrived on a different flight, this time from the UK. 

According to Nefesh B'Nefesh, over 1,000 people from the UK have immigrated to Israel with its assistance since 2006, and this summer alone 150 people are "coming home" with the organization's help. 

"We are extremely excited that aliya from the UK is on the rise - we're expecting 150 to 200 olim from the UK this summer," Nefesh B'Nefesh communications director Yael Katsman said. "Each and every oleh that comes to Israel serves as an inspiration to both people living in Israel as well as Jews living in the Diaspora. We are looking forward to helping more Jews from the UK fulfill their dreams of living in Israel." 

Joshua Miller of London had actually lived in Israel for the past three years while learning in a yeshiva and serving in the IDF. 

Miller, who entered Gaza with the Golani Brigade in Operation Cast Lead earlier this year, told The Jerusalem Post that his arrival seemed "a bit weird as I have been living here for the last three years, but it's still something amazing for me. It's a realization of a dream and it makes everything that I have done even more worth doing." 

Miller's brother Emmanuel, also a recent immigrant, was at Ben-Gurion Airport to welcome his sibling and told the Post, "As olim, my brother and I will be receiving our university education free of charge from the Israeli government. Which other country provides and pays for its immigrants to go to college?" 

Another oleh, Julian Maurer from North Hendon, is moving to Ramat Beit Shemesh with his wife Esther and their children. 

"The most important thing is that my children move to Eretz Yisrael before high school," he said, adding "It's our homeland, people have fought and died for it, and so we have a responsibility to live here, even if that means leaving our comfort zone in England."