PropheZine #58 Tuesday June 2, 1998 Bob Lally Publisher Mimi Nila Senior Editor Kim Koster Asst. Editor Rick Woodcock Asst. Editor Bob Lally...............Welcome Mimi Nila.................Brief Message ARTICLES Phyllis Schlafly.............The China Connection Is the Real Scandal The Winds.............Christians Support Draconian Measure--Return To Dark Ages Andrew Strom...........Co-redemptrix? Light Warriors............Maitreya Update:More 'Crosses Of Light' Sighted PROPHEZINE NEWSBYTES Caroline Davies......................Genocide Of Christians In Southern Sudan Lynn M Stuter .......................Kids killing Kids - Open Letter to Congress Michael Stroh Sac. Bee Staff Writer...Computer ID Gets Personal Submitted by John Terry..............Steve Forbes Memo; Clinton-Gore Awol On Y2k Lee Underwood ..............................F.Y.I. - Israel in the News Terry Denbow (Bible Study)........................How To Fall In Love With The Word ************************************* Hi! Wonderful news: The Lord is blessing Prophezine with sustained growth. This past month saw 22,000 visits and 137,500 hits on the web site. We had visitors from 74 countries and this grows by nearly 3-4 countries per week! Our staff is now at 26 and growing. If you can write HTML code and have some spare time that you can donate to PropheZine, we have many pages that need to be modified in their appearance. I am looking for 10 volunteers. If you would like to join the team please contact Scott Forsyth at sforsyth@uuproductions.com. We have 7 prayer warriors on staff and would welcome more. If you feel led by the Lord to join our team please contact Greg Shambo at gshambo@solve.net. Due to this growth we are considering publishing this Newsletter and the News Bites in Spanish. If you are fluent in Spanish, both reading and writing, and would like to be involved in the editing of the Spanish versions please contact me, Bob Lally, at bobslally@prophezine.com. PropheZine may hold a mini-conference in the Albany, New York (USA) area. The conference would be 1 day with Scott Pearson as the Guest Speaker. Scott has spoken at the International Prophecy Conference for the past 5 years. His audio messages are on the web site. If you are interested in attending this conference please let me know by sending an email to bobslally@prophezine.com. One last item, we recently included 1500 articles on Y2K / the millennium bug from the Dr. Gary North web site. We now have total 17 megabytes of raw text for you to search upon. God Bless! Bob bobslally@prophezine.com ************************************* Hello to everyone, Time is going by so quickly, I cannot believe it is June already. The newsletter is being shortened somewhat since we are sending it out again every two weeks God willing. I certainly have to rely on Him for the time to put this information into your e-mail box. I could never gather all these articles on my own. They come from many sources to me and I would like to ask for your prayers for the diligent and willing servants who work in their "spare" time to keep this letter coming to you. Of course all the glory goes to Him. What a change we are coming to in the next few years. I am sure we would all like to believe tomorrow will be the same as yesterday and next year will be the same as the year before, but it will not. I believe the Lord has some amazing work for us to do. My prayer for all my brothers and sisters in Christ is that you will be like the 5 Virgins who were wise and were ready for the bridegroom. 8And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. 9But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. 10And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. Matthew 25:8-10 May He Bless you and keep you, In His Service, Mimi Nila Mnila@ibm.net ************************************* The China Connection Is the Real Scandal by: Phyllis Schlafly Now we know why the Democrats were so vicious in their attacks on Senator Fred Thompson (R-TN) and Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN). Theirs were the committees that were closing in on the China connection, the scandal that can bring down the Clinton presidency, the scandal that has made Congressmen start to utter the T word (treason). The New York Times played it straight with three front-page news stories above the fold that essentially vindicate Thompson's charge that the Chinese Communist Government tried to influence the 1996 U.S. election with campaign contributions. The rest of the media "did it my way," the liberal way that is, by burying the sensational new evidence unearthed by the Justice Department under redundant and emotional Frank Sinatra obits. Bill Clinton's friend and ubiquitous Democratic fundraiser Johnny Chung has told Federal investigators that he funneled nearly $100,000 from the Communist Chinese military to the Democratic campaign in the summer of 1996. The money was handed to Chung by the daughter of the top commander of China's People's Liberation Army, General Liu Huaqing, who was also one of the top five members of the Chinese Communist Party's ruling Politburo. Chung's liaisons with the Clinton Administration were so cozy that he was able to arrange for the daughter, who goes by the name of Lt. Col. Liu Chaoying, to get a speedy visa and come to America to be photographed with Clinton on July 22. Chung was quite a hustler; he visited Clinton's White House 49 times. After fundraising investigations began last year, the Democratic National Committee returned $366,000 to Chung, which were suspected of being illegal foreign contributions. Chung has pleaded guilty to campaign-related bank and tax fraud. Liu Chaoying is what is called a "princeling," one of the privileged offspring of China's ruling elite. In addition to her title as Lieutenant Colonel in the People's Liberation Army, she is a senior manager and vice president for China Aerospace International Holdings, which is the Hong Kong arm of China Aerospace Corporation, a state-owned jewel in China's military-industrial complex, with interests in satellite technology, rocket launches, and missiles. Johnny Chung told Federal investigators that Col. Liu gave him $300,000, which she said originated with China's military's intelligence arm, and told him to use the money for Democratic campaign contributions. He apparently kept $200,000 for his "businesses." Soon after the picture-taking fundraiser, Col. Liu had Chung open a California branch of Marswell Investing, another of her Hong Kong enterprises, whose chief "business" was parking Chinese money in the United States. She also invested $300,000 in the Chung's facsimile business. The plot thickens. During 1996, U.S. policy dramatically changed for the financial and military benefit of China's military enterprises and two U.S. multinationals, Loral Space and Communications and Hughes Electronics. Loral's CEO, Bernard Schwartz, was the largest single contributor to the 1994 and 1996 Democratic campaigns, giving $275,000 to the Democrats in 1996. The U.S. had previously barred All-American companies from doing business with China Aerospace because it had made illegal missile sales to Pakistan. Col. Liu was assistant to the president of the sanctioned company and her father, General Liu, was in charge of the Chinese Army when China sold missiles to Iran and nuclear equipment to Pakistan, as well as carried on its own maneuvers to threaten Taiwan. The Departments of Defense and State maintained that our satellite technology should be on what is known as the "munitions list," the list of our most sensitive military and intelligence-gathering technology. Defense and State argued that commercial satellites carry technological secrets that can jeopardize "significant military and intelligence interests." Over the protests of Defense and State, Clinton personally reversed our policy and transferred jurisdiction over these exports from the State Department to Commerce Secretary Ron Brown. This let the technology transfer go forward and allowed U.S. civilian communications satellites to be launched by Colonel Liu's China Aerospace. The chronology is interesting. Clinton's decision to approve the rocket and satellite technology transfer was announced on March 14, 1996, but the actual change was delayed until the fall. The campaign contributions arrived in the interim. Another powerful government-owned enterprise that benefited from Clinton's China policy was China International Trade and Investment Corporation. Clinton signed waivers allowing the Chinese to launch four U.S. satellites on the very day that its chairman, Wang Jan (referred to by the press as a "Chinese arms dealer"), attended one of Clinton's now-famous campaign coffees in the White House and later spent some time in Ron Brown's Commerce Department office. The kind of space technology that Clinton has provided to China is just what it needs to make intercontinental ballistic missiles and point them more accurately at the United States. Of course, White House spokesmen assert that all this new evidence is mere coincidence. That argument won't sell. It cries out, not for another special prosecutor, but for Congress to start impeachment proceedings immediately. ------- WWW.EAGLEFORUM.ORG A Phyllis Schlafly column. Eagle Forum's Mission is to enable conservative and pro-family men and women to participate in the process of self-government and public policy making so that America will continue to be a land of individual liberty, respect for family integrity, public and private virtue, and private enterprise. "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint." Isaiah 40:31. Phyllis Schlafly, President Eunie Smith, First Vice President Eagle Forum, P.O. Box 618, Alton, IL 62002, 618-462-5415, 618-462-8909 (fax) ************************************ CONGRESS APPROVES RELIGIOUS MONITORING USING HR 2431 CHRISTIANS SUPPORT DRACONIAN MEASURE--RETURN TO DARK AGES The Winds www.thewinds.org In a move that was generally unrecognized by the American public for its profound implications, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that will establish a religious monitoring office in the White House. On May 14th HR 2431, named "The Freedom from Religious Persecution Act of 1998", was passed by an overwhelming majority of 375 to 41. It was co-sponsored by Republicans and Democrats alike, and the list of groups supporting the measure included an odd assortment of bedfellows from across the religious and political spectrum. The primary supporters of the bill were Christian conservatives and members of the Republican Party. The bill is now in the Senate where it is sponsored by Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) as S-772. Last year Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) introduced House bill HR 2431 "to establish an Office of Religious Persecution Monitoring, to provide for the imposition of sanctions against countries engaged in a pattern of religious persecution, and for other purposes," the bill reads at the top [emphasis supplied]. The Act will establish an Office of Religious Persecution Monitoring (ORPM), the director of which will be appointed by the president within sixty days after enactment. The director will be empowered with sweeping authority to monitor religious groups around the world to decide if they are suffering persecution and to apply economic sanctions against the offending nation, entity or individual. This unprecedented power has led some to refer to the ORPM Director as "the Czar of Religious Monitoring." The ORPM will be unprecedented in both its scope and power. The director will have the authority to levy sanctions at will -- a prerogative once possessed only by Congress because it is an act of war, but now heartily bestowed on the ORPM by Congress. HR 2431 is in effect a "super fast-track" sanction making authority, a carte blanche; granted to an office that will not receive congressional oversight. The ORPM's edicts will not even require the approval of the president, as HR 2431 gives the ORPM authority to declare sanctions and then coordinate their implementation with the Departments of State, Treasury, Commerce, and the Attorney General. The president may waive sanctions for national security reasons, but his oversight and approval are not required. In effect, the ORPM will be quasi-independent, required only to submit a report to Congress once a year. The extent of the ORPM's sanctioning power may be seen in proposed sanctions against the North African nation of Sudan and specifically mandated by HR 2431. The ORPM Director "shall identify and list the persecution facilitating products, goods, and services." This can be anything the director deems "persecution facilitating", including food, medicine and other essentials. Sudanese products may not be exported to the U.S. All financial transactions between the U.S. and Sudanese persons and entities are prohibited. Aircraft owned by U.S. persons and entities cannot land in Sudan and air service agreements are canceled. Investment in Sudan is prohibited and so is the export of computers and related technology. Sudan's assets in the United States will remain frozen. The State Department is directed to pressure other countries to honor U.S. embargoes. All persons violating these sanctions are subject to the penalties set forth in the Trading with the Enemy Act. In essence, the ORPM Director will have unrestricted authority to shut down all trade, air traffic, loans and financial transactions beginning with selectively targeted individuals to a complete embargo of designated countries. While these dictatorial powers appear to be directed at persecuting governments, they equally affect U.S. persons who wish to send money and food to relatives and businessmen who have investments in targeted countries. These sanctions are imposed arbitrarily. Buyers are deprived of necessary goods and sellers are deprived of their livelihood, all without due process of law. While benevolent on its face, this Act is both draconian and unconstitutional. HR 2431 defines two categories of religious persecution. "Category 1 persecution" is committed with the support of government officials or their agents. "Category 2 persecution" is committed without the involvement of government officials or their agents, "but which the government fails to undertake serious and sustained efforts to eliminate." HR 2431 does not define "religion" and its description of "persecution" is somewhat definitive ending with the phrase, "or other forms of torture". While eliminating religious persecution seems to be a good thing, it is wrong for one government to dictate how all others must handle their domestic policies. "Category 2 persecution" reveals the true character of HR 2431. Foreign governments are forced, under the threat of starvation and economic ruin, to become active "change agents" for the United States ORPM -- forced to implement a radical social agenda that will eliminate the various forms of "persecution" occurring within their respective cultures. While China and Vietnam are cited in the Act, special reference is made to "militant Islamic" countries that "persecute" religious minorities -- further evidence that fundamentalist, monotheistic religions and cultures are in the cross hairs of this new bureaucracy. HR 2431 does not make reference to the U.S. Constitution for its authority, but, instead, cites Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 18 of the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. It also makes reference to the United Nations Charter. Section 2, paragraph (2), subparagraph (A) of HR 2431 reads: Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that 'Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance'. What HR 2431 does not mention is that later in this U.N. declaration is the statement that "no one shall be subject to coercion which would impair his freedom to have a religion or belief of his choice." Freedom on the Altar, William Norman Grigg, emphasis supplied). While appearing to guarantee the freedom of religion, this document subtly injects the words "have a religion", suggesting that religious expression in the form of evangelism, proselytizing and condemnation of immorality could be suppressed. It also introduces the premise that the U.N. may define what religious freedom "shall include." This concept is diametrically opposed to the U.S. Constitution which simply recognizes the fact that all men are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights. How Did This Bill Get Passed? It is almost ludicrous to even discuss a bill that proposes to establish a religious monitoring agency in the federal government and cites U.N. documents as its authority. The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution clearly states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," -- in other words, "hands off religion"-- yet, this is precisely what Congress has done. It is a wonder that a bill which so blatantly violates the First Amendment could receive such enthusiastic support from Christian and conservative groups. The inclusion of specific sanctions against Sudan in the bill were one factor that helped pull in Christian support. Reports of the religious persecution of Christians in Sudan's civil war have been circulating among American churches--stories of torture, enslavement and murder. These reports have been fanned by a book entitled In the Lion's Den. This book was published by Freedom House, a Washington-based organization established in 1943 by Wendell Willkie, a proponent of world government and Eleanor Roosevelt. Freedom House is reportedly a front for the Council on Foreign Relations. This is evidenced by the numerous CFR members on its board including Zbigniew Brzezinski, the first Rockefeller appointed Tri-Lateral Commission Chairman and National Security Adviser under President Carter. Freedom House has been among the primary promoters of HR 2431. ("Will Americans Accept Federal Religious Monitoring?" C.E. Carlson, We Hold These Truths, an educational organization). In the Lion's Den reportedly infers that the 1.3 million Sudanese civil war casualties are mostly Christian victims of religious persecution at the hands of an extremist Islamic government. Official demographic data does not support that figure, according to a report by We Hold These Truths. Mr. C.E. Carlson writes, "Freedom House seems to have buried more Christians than ever existed in Southern Sudan ... where most of the killing is said to have occurred." (ibid.) In short, few facts and a case built on emotion is how In the Lion's Den has reportedly helped channel Christian support in favor of HR 2431. It should be noted that President Clinton issued an executive order applying economic sanctions against Sudan last November, and recent news reports have indicated hundreds of thousands of Sudanese people in the South are now on the brink of starvation, and many of them are Christians. WHO IS BEHIND THIS BILL? The person primarily responsible for facilitating the passage of HR 2431 is Mr. Michael J. Horowitz, a Jewish attorney who is a senior fellow at the globalist Hudson Institute in Washington. In an October 16, 1997 memo he sent to Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA), he reveals that he (Horowitz) is the true author of HR 2431. He also reveals that the purpose of the Sudan provisions in HR 2431 is to destroy the Sudanese government and that "covert military aid" was already being used for that purpose. To top everything, he noted that he organized the much hyped November 16th International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church for the purpose of getting HR 2431 passed. (HTML reproduction of Wolf-Horowitz memo obtained from We Hold These Truths). Calling a prayer event to help establish an unconstitutional religious monitoring agency and overthrow an unfriendly government should make one wonder what this whole thing is all about. Christians haven't wondered, however, and they have roundly applauded Horowitz for his endeavors. He is the only non-Christian to be awarded Prison Fellowship's Wilberforce Award (1997). He's been called "a new Jewish prophet." He makes his rounds in Christian circles saying things like, "I am doing this because I am a Jew &emdash; because I ... see eerie parallels between what is happening to Christians today and what happened to my people during much of Europe's history." ("The Suffering Servants: Michael Horowitz Sounds the Alarm", 4-14-97, Prison Fellowship ministry). Christians lapped it up and have fought to get on Horowitz's HR 2431 bandwagon. ...And pile on they have. Lutherans, Southern Baptists, Catholics and Seventh-day Adventists, the Salvation Army, just to name a few. Christian organizations supporting HR 2431 include the Christian Coalition, Pat Robertson's 700 Club, Dr. James Dobson's Focus on the Family, and the Family Research Council. These have united with the Baha'i Faith, Jewish organizations, Arab organizations, Buddhists, and many others in joining hands with the Freedom Foundation and the Hudson Institute -- a globalist's dream come true. (List of supporting groups obtained from Rep. Wolf's website). To add to the subterfuge being employed the Clinton administration mumbled to the press its opposition to the bill because it might "interfere with diplomacy" or something. ("White House Mixed on Religious Bill", Washington Post, 5-12-98). Cabinet officers lobbied against it, if somewhat tepidly. Clinton's opposition was enough to clinch Christian support. The bill had to be good because Clinton was against it. It was the old reverse psychology trick, employed by a president that would just love the power of policing religion along with everything else. IT IS AN OMINOUS SIGN WHEN CHRISTIANS MINDLESSLY EMPLOY GOVERNMENT FORCE May 1st was the National Day of Prayer, and Christian leaders descended on Washington to throw their political weight around. Dr. James Dobson who heads the Focus on the Family ministry threatened to lead a Christian exodus out of the Republican party unless their priorities were addressed -- the foremost of which was the passage of HR 2431. In the March 1998 issue of his magazine Focus on the Family, Dr. Dobson urged his readers to "pray for U.S. Congress as it considers The Freedom from Religious Persecution Act (H.R. 2431)" and remember that "it is crucial that the body of Christ respond to the call expressed in Heb 13:3" which reads, "remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them...." Dr. Dobson's wife Shirley, speaking at a rally in Washington May 1st ironically intoned, "At a time when so many people rely on symbols of power, the National Day of Prayer reminds us to refocus our attention on God." The scripture that formed the theme for this event was Psalm 20:7: "Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God." Statements such as these from the Christian leadership, even as they threaten and plead for the coercive power of federal government sanctions to work on their behalf, could cause one to wonder if Dobson and associates are all brain dead. After HR 2431 passed, Randy Tate, Christian Coalition executive director, said in a statement: "We now call on the Senate to pass this bill and for the President to sign it into law ... religious persecution will not be tolerated, and those recalcitrant regimes which stubbornly continue to oppress and victimize people of faith will be dealt with." (Christian Coalition Press Release). Threatening rhetoric such as this is more reminiscent of a 13th century papal crusade than a plea to spare those persecuted for their faith. This must be what it looks like to "reset our moral compass" as the president of the Christian Coalition has been urging us to do. Attorney Michael Horowitz and Christian leaders alike have downplayed concerns that the ORPM might conduct religious enforcement in the United States. Horowitz claims that the bill "establishes no enforcement mechanism" based on the U.N. documents cited above, and that the bill makes no provision for application in the United States. These assurances are small comfort in light of the "and for other purposes" clause at the top of the bill, and the fact that the U.S. is not specifically excluded from the ORPM's jurisdiction. The bill simply says that the ORPM may apply sanctions wherever persecution is occurring. Religious surveillance is already being conducted in the United States by the United Nations Special Rapporteur of Religious Intolerance. This office was established by the United Nations Commissioner on Human Rights in 1986. On January 28, 1998, the Atlanta Journal Constitution printed a story entitled, EMORY DRAWS U.N. RELIGIOUS OFFICIALS. The U.N. was attending a forum at Emory University concerning religious freedom for Indians living in the southwestern United States. The standard that these officials use while "examining religions" is the UN's 1981 Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and Discrimination Based on Religious Belief." (March 7th letter by Craig T. Miller, published by We Hold These Truths). Whether conducted by the ORPM in the White House of the U.N.'s Special Rapporteur of Religious Intolerance, the enforcement of acceptable religious standards is coming to the United States, regardless of Mr. Horowitz's denials and objections. The absence of domestic "enforcement mechanisms" and other technicalities are irrelevant in light of the already flagrant violation of the First Amendment. Oppressive laws always appear benign on their face. When enacted, it will be up to the unscrupulous tyrant in the White House to interpret it, and a scheming anti-Christian bureaucracy to implement it. The federal government's slaughter of the Branch Davidians near Waco, Texas should have convinced anyone that this government is unfit for the job of monitoring and "protecting" religious minorities. Such an act of religious persecution is unprecedented in the United States this century, but the officials responsible have yet to be "sanctioned" and held accountable. While the embers at Mt. Carmel were still smoldering, President Clinton scoffed at the suggestion that Attorney General Janet Reno should resign, "just because some religious fanatics murdered themselves." This is the president that will appoint the "Czar of Religious Monitoring." MALIGNANT DESIGNS Most Christians today are devoid of true spiritual power and understanding. This is why they have succumbed to the common human failing of using force as a means to further their cause. If they truly believed in God, they would ask Him to deliver their persecuted brethren. Instead, they turn to a cruel and despotic regime to enforce their agenda. This is what the church did during the Dark Ages.They ended up killing millions of people and bringing shame on the Christian religion. History now repeats itself. Modern Christians today have succumbed to another human failing -- the misconception that the U.S. government is capable of defending truth and righteousness. It is not. Every bill, every law and regulation, every treaty, every official act is subverted and molded into the internationalist agenda. These internationalists hate Christianity. They are, in effect, anti-Christ. They are bent on the total destruction of the Christian religion. Since Christians have eagerly signed on to HR 2431, they have effectively signed their own death warrant. The Act of oppression meant for "extremist Islamic" countries will come back to haunt them. On April 29th Col. John R. Niemela (USAF- Ret.) faxed a scathing letter to House majority leader Dick Armey that addressed the true motives behind the Clinton administration's phony opposition to HR 2431. He wrote, "Those people who dominate his staff, Talmudic in principle and severely anti-Christian, well understand who designed this bill, who has massaged it over several years, what their principle purpose was in promoting it, and, who they are! And so do you!" Col. Niemela then exposed the true objectives behind HR 2431. "The blueprints that guide this law have been available for years, but most 'blinded' Christians ignore them. Protocol No. 14 of the Elders of Zion demand that no other religion should exist other than theirs, and, the Communist Manifesto No. 19 directs its members to infiltrate churches and replace revealed religion with other forms, discredit the Bible and inject Humanism." Wisconsin Report, 5-7-98). Col. Niemela's assertions are well documented in many sources, including Humanist Erich Fromm's The Sane Society (l955) which predicted that "the theistic concepts are bound to disappear in the future development of humanity....A new religion will develop...the most important feature of such a religion would be its universalistic character...it would embrace the humanistic teachings common to all great religions of the East and of the West...." (Road to Socialism and the New World Order by D.L. Cuddy, Ph.D.). Of course, there will be no room in this new world for true Christianity with its faith in Christ, its fundamental beliefs, and the Protestant principles that put a man's conscience above the authority of the State. Those who rebuke and condemn certain "lifestyle choices" will be regarded as "religious persecutors", as "intolerant" and disruptive of society. Leading occultist Alice Bailey wrote in The Externalisation of the Hierarchy that the builders of the new world order "will develop the new world religion... (and) the new civilization.... They can, however, be delayed by the reactionary types of people, by the ultra-conservative and closed minds [fundamentalists] ....These must all be brought under the power of death." (ibid.) The coming ORPM is a well orchestrated step in that direction. Christians who supported HR 2431 flatter themselves that they have increased their posture and security in the world. They have, instead, cast their lot with the emerging global order and forfeited divine protection. Since they disobeyed the command, "Trust not in oppression", in their day of trouble they will find themselves unable to trust in the One they profess to worship. ************************************ CO-REDEMPTRIX? Andrew Strom, NZ The following two items - one short version, and a longer piece -reveals the efforts of the present pope to redeem the Catholic Church in one final blow from the redemption of Jesus Christ - as if it isn't done thoroughly enough before. Pope to declare Mary Co-Redemptrix on May 31st!? Tue May 26 , 1998 -- There is mounting evidence that Pope John Paul II may declare Mary the Co-Redemptrix, Mediatrix and Advocate of humanity as the fifth official Catholic Marian dogma (article of faith) on Pentecost of 1998! According to Dr. Mark I. Miravalle of the Franciscan University of Steubenville, organizer of the "Vox Populi Mariae Mediatrici" movement, the date for the promulgation of the dogma has definitely been set for May 31, 1998, which was formerly the liturgical feast of Mediatrix of All Graces, which was established by Pope Benedict XV. Catholic lay representatives from all over the world have been called to Rome for the World Congress of Ecclesial Movements, meeting May 27 to 29, immediately prior to the Pentecost festival, and Catholic anticipation is running high that Pope John Paul II may indeed announce Mary to be the Coredemptrix of all humanity to this assembly in St. Peter's Square, perhaps as early as Saturday, the 30th of May. Some 150,000 people are expected to attend, representing 56 Catholic lay movements. Cheryl Marie -------------- Pope may declare Mary 'coredemptrix' By TIM UNSWORTH Special to the National Catholic Reporter At 77 and in uneven health, John Paul II invests virtually every allocution with some mention of his advancing years and of his devotion to Mary, the mother of Jesus. Before he dies, he may decide to use his charism of infallibility to elevate Mary's crown another tier. Reports from Rome, the U.S. Catholic press and even Time magazine suggest the pope will cap his career by infallibly declaring Mary Coredemptrix of Humanity, Mediatrix of All Graces and Advocate for the People of God. Such a move would be the first time since 1950, when the doctrine of the Assumption was promulgated, that a pope has exercised his power of infallibility. It would bring to five the number of Marian definitions since she was declared the Mother of God at the Council of Ephesus in 431. Her perpetual virginity was declared at the third Council of Constantinople 250 years later, in 681. In 1854, the Church defined the Immaculate Conception. The proposed new teaching is certain to raise theological eyebrows. Pius IX had written to and received approval from his fellow bishops before declaring the Immaculate Conception to be an article of faith. Pius XII did the same nearly a century later. A unilateral declaration of Mary as coredemptrix would likely be received with anger, even by bishops prepared to support the pope. Popes have shunned coredemptrix talk for over 50 years. Prior to this, a mixture of devotion and hyperbole combined to bring coredemptrix and its synonyms into the language. Writers such as Alphonsus Liguori and Louis de Montfort and popes from Leo XIII (1878-1903) through Pius XI (1922-1939) used the term freely. Leo devoted 11 of his 60 encyclicals to Mary, but no pope took the definition beyond an accommodated sense. Vatican II pretty much decided not to give Mary any more titles. To declare a Marian dogma now would not only re-introduce the still controversial issue of papal infallibility but also raise ecumenical difficulties. According to Time magazine's religion writer Richard N. Ostling, "Protestants and the Orthodox would go into orbit, feeling Christ has been demeaned as the unique Savior" (Time, June 16)... The proposed teaching may, like the earlier pronouncements on the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption of Mary, be labeled "worthy of credence" but not required, in the sense that Catholics could dissent from the teaching without fear of excommunication. In other words, the phrase "Let the force of anathema be on it" would not be attached as it is to core Catholic teachings. Editor added: "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world." 1John 4:1. "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." 1 Thess. 5:21. "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;" 1 Tim 4:1-2. "For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or [if] ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with [him]." 2 Cor. 11:4 2 Cor. 11:13-15 "For such [are] false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.11:14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.11:15 Therefore [it is] no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works." ************************************ MAITREYA UPDATE: MORE 'CROSSES OF LIGHT' SIGHTED: INVASION: KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE As many of you know who have been TLW subscribers for any length of time, I have been very interested in the agenda of Benjamin Creme and the Lord Maitreya ever since I first discovered who they were in 1983. That was merely one year after the world was shocked by a full page ad placed in a cross section of worldwide newspapers announcing the arrival of the Christ into our present day world. I have included the column MAITREYA UPDATE in nearly every issue since the inception of this publication in Nov. 1991. The Lord Maitreya and his direct influence upon humanity has peaked my interest for especially the last seven years. I have published many articles describing events and various phenomena occurring globally which seem to bear out the fact that Lord Maitreya is much more than a would be Messiah nonchalantly passing through time and space. I have reported on healing waters that have been charged by Maitreya in a least three different locations: Mexico, Germany, and India (All locations of constant, incredible, demonic activity). I have likewise periodically done articles on the strange and attention drawing apparitions of the Aquarian 'crosses of light' also witnessed on many continents of the world. But now this luminous phenomenon has come home to roost right here in the Bible belt of the United States of America in a big way. "Shocked but not surprised"...I know most of you have read these words in many articles featured in TLW in the past, but in this present context of the continual saga of the crosses of light I may even care to emphasize this a bit more. From month to month, I anticipate the arrival of my next issue of Share International for the express purpose of monitoring the events of significance taking place within the confines of the camp of TLM. Most of the time I will find an article of extreme import. However, when I opened up my July/August of SI to page number nine and my eyes fell upon the article entitled Cross Chasers: 19 Hours in Knoxville, by Buddy Piper, and I noticed the picture of the Copper Ridge Baptist Church at the bottom of the page, I immediately recognized that this was going to be no ordinary report. I soon discovered I was not wrong, as with more than a modicum of trepidation and a heightened sense of imminent danger, I began to read the report. My previous fears were quickly realized to their fullest measure. Yes, as I suspected, there is indeed a Baptist church right here in the Bible belt of the good old US of A that has accepted the crosses of light phenomenon in their own windows with open hearts and minds. This is a sad day for the Church in America. The article from Buddy Piper declares: Since reading Benjamin Creme's book, The Reappearance of The Christ and The Masters of Wisdom, in 1981, I have been in 100 per cent agreement with it's message, as I understand it: Maitreya, the Christ has returned to the world. Recently drawing on my 50 years of experience in broadcasting, I decided to try to help publicize some of the "signs" that Maitreya and the Masters are placing in the world, specifically the crosses of light, to awaken humanity to the truth that he is here. The crosses have appeared around the world, most often in the windows of peoples' homes, exerting a healing influence on the entire community where they exist. With the dedicated help of a network of volunteers around the United States who inform me of manifestations of Maitreya's work, I have become known as the "Cross Chaser" from having appeared on scores of radio and television shows explaining who placed those crosses in windows and why. I recently returned from spending a day in the cross-saturated fundamentalist Copper Ridge Baptist Church of Knoxville Tennessee, USA. That is just a bit of background which explains how this man became so heavily involved in the dissemination of information promoting this crosses of light miraculous deception. He is not the only one who is publicizing this strange occurrence but he is obviously one of it's champions. I find it very hard to believe that a Baptist pastor of a fundamentalist Christian church would succumb to this anti-Scriptural supernatural event but if the rest of this report is true then that is exactly what has taken place. Piper continues I had never heard of a group of crosses appearing in a church; they generally appear in the homes of poor people, shining in a bathroom window. I believed this tiny church might offer an ideal opportunity to put Maitreya's story before the entire United States, especially when Joe Bullard, the minister, said openly and honestly: "I don't know that to say about these crosses. I can hardly keep from believing it's a miracle!" I could hardly wait until morning to call him and confirm his belief. The next part of this story becomes even more incredible as Pastor Joe is contacted by Buddy Piper. Mr. Piper writes: On 6 January, 1996, I called Joe Bullard at his home in Knoxville: "I work with a group of people around the world who follow these sightings. I can tell you who put those crosses in your church and why. Do you want to know? I wish to respect your theological viewpoint. That's why I'm asking if you wish to know." He responded: "I'm trying to learn as much as I can about this. It's a beautiful mystery. Let me tell you a little bit about what happened. I've been in the ministry for 51 years and I decided to relax a bit and take on this small church part-time. It has only 14 members and most of them don't come regularly. One evening last November my wife, Mildred, and I drove by this lovely church as we thought about giving it up. We stopped the car in amazement when a radiant white light seemed to surround the entire building for a short time. We went home wondering what that meant. Could this be a sign that we should stay? We didn't have long to wait for the answer. I say this with no disrespect intended but it should have been a first priority to consult the Lord about this event. Or at the very least the Scriptures. It may be that Pastor Joe has not really learned that much about spiritual deception and the advanced wiles of the Devil which were reportedly manifesting right in their very midst. When we read a little further on in the report we see that he was obviously taken in by the power of this professional deception. The sad saga continues: On 8 November, 1995, the next time I spoke to the congregation, a bright light hit the side of the church and, as we looked out the window, we saw our first cross of light. We could hardly believe it, but as they continue to appear, we know they are real I said: "Keep those church doors open to all people, believers and non-believers alike, because headings will come to many who view them. Watch for that to happen." Joe replied: "Although some of our people don't like the idea of non-members coming here, we just voted to keep the doors open as much as we can. Thirty or forty people a day of all kinds of beliefs are coming to see them. We put a little collection plate out for those who wish to contribute to keep the lights on, but we may not be able to afford to keep the doors open long." Well as we go on with this story it doesn't take much spiritual insight to imagine that this powerful of a satanic manifestation would not die an easy death. As a matter of fact it is now thriving and pulsating with a self-perpetuating life of it's own. The power being demonstrated here at this small Tennessee church should be obvious to any aware observer who has received the Spirit of God and continues to walk with Him on a daily basis. This sadly is not the case here in Knoxville. This should be one of the more obvious manifestations of the demonic to those who are scripturally aware of Jesus' warning of a special last-days deception which would come upon all the world. However this very apparition and manifestation could be seen as a spiritual barometer which tells us the disturbing story of the lack of spiritual discernment within the Body of Christ. As you read the rest of this story keep in mind that these are some of the most unusual and disturbing reports that I have ever read...and I have read quite a few. It seems for all intents and purposes that the full force of the Lord Maitreya's deception has recently and quietly entered the small back door of a non-discerning and spiritually starving Christian church. (This is made even more apparent by the earlier description of this small and vapid congregation. I don't mean to be harsh but if they were studying their Bibles this probably would not have happened. And even if it did someone who knew their authority in Christ would have given this unearthly apparition a sound rebuking. That should have taken care of the problem.) Now lets continue with the story and, if these reports are true (and I have every reason to believe that they are) discover the supernatural events that began to manifest when the grounds of the church were adopted as a proving ground for this spectacular deceiver. The Share International article continues with the sudden rise to media stardom of the little Baptist church and it's pastor in the hills of Tennessee. Buddy Piper makes the arrangements to involve the print and news media. He also makes plans to share the limelight with the clergy man from Copper Ridge Baptist. He encourages him: You can tell them about the crosses and healings that may have taken place and that we believe the crosses were put there by the Christ, as each understands him, as a sign of hope for the future and to heal many people. "You can disagree with me if you feel it's necessary, and I'll respect your right to your viewpoint. We'll work together to try to get as many people as possible to see these crosses...I'll suggest that people come to Knoxville to see the wonderful works of art which God's Representative has created in your church. Only one radio station in the area arranged to do an interview with the two gentlemen corroborators. This was only after someone from the station had gone to the church and seen the crosses of light for themselves, but that was the tiny spark that lit the publicity flame. The interview was scheduled for April 10, 1996. By the time Buddy Piper re-contacted Pastor Joe the churchman had another incredible story to tell. This time it was a personal appearance from Maitreya. Bullard related to the "Cross Chaser": My board members and I have had some strange assurances that something is really going on. One night before people came to see the crosses, we were sitting on one side of the church, when several of us saw a tall man wearing a turban appear on the opposite side of the church and walk slowly toward the wall. He was absolutely perfect in form. Two other people then appeared who had more of a cloudy appearance and they followed him forward. Every couple of steps the last person in line turned slightly toward us and waved in a friendly manner. When they reached the front of the church, they turned around and we expected to see the two followers lead the way back, but the first was again in front of the others followed, as before. When they had made the walk three times, they disappeared. That certainly caught the attention of some of our members. They're still telling everybody about it! Now comes the really frightening part (frightening for those who are caught up in this grave deception). The direct contact made by the minister. Pastor Joe Bullard relates: "And then I got another experience. I had to go to the bathroom one night and on my way back to bed a small cross appeared in the room and I heard a voice say: 'Keep those church doors open and it won't be long till I (or we) will be back.' I said: 'Who are you?' Then the cross and the voice disappeared. I thought I was losing my mind. With conditions the way they are now it may have been better for him if he had. These are no ordinary crosses of light either. They can grow to what appears to be forty feet high and they are reddish gold in color according to Buddy Piper and Pastor Joe. There are a myriad of reports of how viewing these crosses of light have changed the lives of those who have seen them and as the magnitude of this deception increases so do the incidences of supernatural healing. The first one was the healing of a blind man during the pilgrimage of over on thousand people lined up in and outside of the church. Many physical healings have been documented, as well as, marriages and family ties being restored. Even the restoration of faith in a supreme being has come in the lives of a multitude of the pilgrims to this site. (Strangely, they would be better off as unbelievers would than to believe this is a miracle from the God of creation and help to spread this antichrist deception.) They have now received media coverage by some of the most powerful and influential radio and television stations in the area. As of the date of this article, over 35,000 people have visited the site. One deaf child recently declared that he was seeing Jesus in the room at the church...just before he was partially healed. This was soon after an encounter that his mother and her other deaf child had with a man in a local grocery store who told her, "Take your children to the church in Knoxville with the crosses of light." Addicts and drug abusing visitors are also reporting an abatement in their craving for drugs after their encounter with the crosses. Are these miracles from God?? Not if they lead the recipients into a relationship with spirits posing as angels of light who base all they teach on the anti-biblical spirituality espoused by the Lord Maitreya and his followers. And this is exactly what they teach. Conclusion All I can say about this issue is that the people in this Baptist church desperately need to seek the Lord and the Holy Spirit concerning these occurrences and they will quickly discover that this is just one more sign pointing to the soon return of Jesus Christ to the earth. Not the return of the Christ, but the return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who is the same yesterday today and forever. He is not walking around on this earth wearing a turban. As a matter of fact He is not walking around on this earth at all!!! He is at this present time seated at the right hand of the Father awaiting His soon return. (Stephen the martyred disciple, mentioned in the beginning of the Book of Acts, the Holy Scriptures tell us, saw Him at the moment of his death. But there is one who does walk this earth in the name of the Lord whose job it is to deceive ---- and deceive he most assuredly does. Jesus warned us through His Word that there would be those who come in the last days who will call themselves "the Christ". This passage in Matthew chapter 24 should be required reading for all of us who exhibit a strong desire to not be deceived. Our Lord tells us emphatically: Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there, believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that. If it were possible, they should deceive the very elect. (Matt. 24:23) I submit to you that the article you just read more than fulfills my expectations and anticipation for this spiritually dangerous time in which we live. The Lord is coming soon...and it won't be to a small Baptist church in Knoxville, Tennessee. But I do know of someone who would definitely like us to believe that God is visiting His people. Who made that visitation? Any guesses?? More on this story in the next issue of TLW. Watch and pray. Amen The previous article was taken from a recent copy of the Light Warrior newsletter. To order your subscription and/or view a list of back issues LIGHT WARRIOR PRESS,LTD PO Box 368 Sterling Heights, MI 48311 - USA Ph/Fax (810) 566-7799 ************************************ +++++++++++++++++++++++++ PROPHEZINE NEWSBYTES Genocide Of Christians In Southern Sudan Baroness Accuses Sudan Of Genocide By Caroline Davies May 26, 1998 BARONESS Caroline Cox, a human rights and aid charity leader, condemned the Islamic- backed Sudanese government yesterday for the "genocide" of Dinka tribespeople. Returning from the Bahr el Ghazal province in southern Sudan, she said she had seen hundreds of corpses strewn in villages that had been raided within the past few weeks. She feared that the number of dead could rise to thousands. She said on her return to London yesterday: "The international community should react with outrage, and demand that the government of Sudan stops attacking innocent civilians, and that it immediately opens up all of its airstrips to aid organisations and human rights monitors." Lady Cox, who is president of Christian Solidarity Worldwide, said the scenes were the worst atrocities she had ever witnessed in her travels around the world. She said: "The government promised these people food, and gave them bullets. I have criticised the Sudanese government for much of what they have done; for the way the military have been set against civilians, for their policy of encouraging slavery, for their use of the politics of hunger in closing off airstrips to aid organisations. "But now they have surpassed themselves. Added to that catalogue of condemnation is the systematic, cynical, brutal policy of slaughter and destruction, which I think add up to the genocide of the Dinka people. And the fact that they can do this simultaneously while basking in the approval that has been given to them by the international community for opening up some airstrips which should never have been closed, is appalling." Lady Cox said the international community should step up pressure on the Sudanese leadership, possibly through sanctions, to allow human rights monitors and aid organisations into the embattled country to prevent them "exploiting the politics of hunger". She had seen hundreds of corpses of people killed by fundamentalists armed and funded by the Islamic government in Khartoum. "The stench of death was overpowering. The scale of killing is beyond anything I've seen on previous visits. The widespread systematic destruction, the devastation, the massacre . . . really, genocide is an overworked word, and one I never use without meaning it. But I mean it". She spent five days on foot in the area around Aweng, which was raided on May 10. The scale of atrocity, she said, went far beyond the usual northern Sudanese raids into the south for slaves and cattle, hallmark of the 15-year civil war between the Islamic north and Christian and Animist south. "The area had just been overridden by hordes of government soldiers, supported by the mujahadeen and the murahaleen, an Arabised raiding tribe. They were armed by the government with Kalashnikov rifles, they came in vehicles mounted with machine guns, with camels and horses and donkeys for their loot, and swept into these villages. "The devastation was there for us to see. They attacked the market at Abiel Dau, outside Aweng. They surrounded it, and killed everyone they could. I have seen the corpses. In one morning alone 120 bodies have been found. Hundreds more are missing. "Those that they have been able to bury have been put together in graves. But some are in the swamps - the corpses just lying there. A lot are in the River Lol, just floating. There are women and children, and people who have tried to escape to the bush, but were followed, hunted down and slaughtered. I just came across corpse after corpse, still all with their bracelets and bangles on, the remnants of their personalities, of their humanity. "Among the human corpses are corpses of their cattle, the ones the raiders could not drive north, so they shot them. I could not take in the ultimate barbarity and cruelty of it. And the extent of it. It was just a place of death, of raw, calculated death with intent." Raids by government-backed Arab marauders on Dinka villages in the south are common. Cattle are taken, crops razed and woman and children taken as slaves to the north, where they can be bought back by their families. >From the extent of the killing in Bahr el Ghazal - where 350,000 are at risk from starvation - Lady Cox is convinced that the Sudanese government has turned to systematic massacre in its holy war with the south. Local chiefs, she said, emphasised that the offensives were calculated to coincide with the Government's ostensible humanitarian gestures, while evicting the Dinka from fertile lands, redrawing the boundaries and renaming villages and rivers in Arabic. Survivors have been driven towards the swamps, where they have camped on small grassy islands, with no food, drinking water, or protection from malaria-carrying mosquitos. "It's hell on earth," said Lady Cox, 60. Many had lost relatives, some killed, others abducted. "Pages and pages of names and ages of women and children taken from each village were handed to me." They will be forced to return to the villages when the rainy season sets in, in the next few weeks. "But I went through village after village and they are completely burnt to the ground. There is no harvest, no crops, no shelter, no livestock for them to go back to. Their future is desperate". She had been braced to expect evidence of famine, but had "not prepared myself for this. It's not known, I had no idea about the extent of the slaughter". In one village she saw evidence that the men had been tied up and thrown alive into a burning hut. "You could see the charred bones." She had been told that two women and a child and been tied up and had their throats slit - "killed like goats". A four year-old boy was found in the market 10 days after the raid. He had been hiding, terrified and alone, after his mother was shot. "He was malnourished, dehydrated, naked, and terribly traumatised by what he had seen. He had been hiding in terror since May 10. The way he just hung, hung, hung on to the person who found him - I will never forget. "Another grandfather, terribly dignified, terribly upright, was left with four little grandchildren after his daughter was abducted. "What can I do?' he asked me. 'They've burnt everything. I only have tamarind seeds to feed them and I have not a thing with which to buy back their mother." Christian Solidarity Worldwide is an interndenominational human rights organsiation for religious liberty helping persecuted Christians and other suffering repression, victimised children and victims of disaster. Board of Management The Baroness Cox (President) David Atkinson MP (Life Vice President) Mervyn Thomas (Chairman) Telephone 44 181 942 8810 www.csiuk.org Csiuk@clara.net +++++++++++++++++++++++++ Saturday, May 23, 1998 14:14:42 From: Lynn M Stuter The following was emailed to all Washington state Senators and Representatives. It is time we started speaking the truth and standing by it. It is time to hold our elected representatives accountable. Lynn S. In the last year there have been a number of incidents in which children have killed teachers and students on school grounds. This has happened in Washington, Kentucky, Mississippi, Arkansas, Pennsylvania and Oregon that I am aware of. On the same day that the Springfield, Oregon, incident happened, a Washington youth stepped off a school bus in a district north of Seattle, then shot himself through the head. In a two year time frame, in the Moses Lake [Central Washington] area, a youth killed his teacher and three other students; the cousin of one of his victims killed his mother, sister, and himself; and four youths killed an elderly couple because one youth had a grudge to satisfy. Why wasn't this happening six years ago, ten years ago? The commonality in all of these incidents is Goals 2000. Far fetched you say--not hardly. At the time of the Moses Lake incident, I told several legislators that unless and until the matter of what these kids were being exposed to in the classroom was addressed at the state level, this was going to keep right on happening--and time, sadly, has borne that out. Education reform is not about educating for intelligence, it is about process, it is about modifying and changing a child's behavior to produce the wanted society, the wanted workforce of the 21st Century. The techniques being utilized are techniques that should only be used by clinically trained and clinically licensed medical personnel and then only under certain circumstances. The use of these techniques by teachers in a classroom setting constitutes medical malpractice and the result is kids who are powder kegs waiting to go off--kids who take guns to school and murder teachers and classmates. As I told legislators at the time of the Moses Lake killings--you are only going to twist some minds so far before they will snap. Minds are snapping. I have a curriculum, obtained via the Nine Mile Falls School District, entitled "Language Circles." In the front of the book, it instructs the teacher in the methods of creating conflict in the child to attain the wanted behavioral change. I obtained the curriculum via a mother whose child was being exposed to this curriculum. The child was having nightmares!!!! When I looked at the curriculum, I could fully understand why. The curriculum is sordid, sadistic, masochistic. When the parent --the wife of a minister--complained to the teacher, the teacher told the parent that she (the teacher) hoped the parent wasn't "imposing her moral values on the child." To give you some idea of what the curriculum included, the following is an outline of one story from this curriculum: The young boy, Fles, escapes from the "establishment" in which he resides, to the "nature" beyond. He plays in a stream and accidentally breaks the mask covering his face. He has been told that if he sees his face, he will die, so he curls up on the bank, waiting to die. When he doesn't, he realizes how beautiful his face is, and that the mask isn't necessary and races back to the "establishment" to tell everyone they don't need to wear their masks. The final paragraph of the story reads, "'Please,' he cried, but they didn't hear. A tear ran down his cheek. He didn't struggle as the gray synthetic bag dropped over his body." Can you imagine the effect of this story on the mind of young child forced to read it by a teacher? Can you comprehend the debilitating effect of such a story on a young mind? Yet children are being exposed to stories such as this, even ones worse, on a daily basis in the classroom under education reform. Another prime example is "The Giver" in which the child is exposed to graphic infanticide, sadism, masochism and a warped sense of reality. As you may or may not recall, a copy of "Rage" by Stephen King (under a pseudo name) was found by the bed of the boy who killed the teacher and three students at Frontier Junior High in Moses Lake. What do you expect when kids are being exposed, on a daily basis, not to mind expanding works of literary accomplishment, but to mind numbing and mind altering garbage, most of which is sadistic, masochistic and sordid? This material isn't what parents are shown on "curriculum night," it is supplemental teaching materials that most parents aren't even aware exists. The Future of Washington Schools Project survey shows that 86% of all parents haven't a clue what education reform is about. These parents haven't a clue that teachers are no longer teaching from textbooks!! Parents still believe that teachers have the same moral standards and principles as they [parents] do; they trust that the teachers are the "experts." In too many instances, that trust is blind to what teachers are doing--the teachers are simply doing what they have been told to do, and they don't stop to think about what they really are doing. Yes, parents have a responsibility to know what their child is being taught, but exactly when has the debate on education reform ever taken place? Who from the state has taken the time to truly be honest with parents about the realities of education reform and when has that happened? The fact of the matter is that it hasn't. Parents have purposely been kept in the dark because most don't have the time to do the research that a few grassroots activists have done. They are too busy trying to pay the excessive taxes being burdened on families to support the programs destroying families and children!!!!! Couple these curriculums with the DARE program that teaches children that taking a gun to school is a "choice" that the child must make. It doesn't say, "Guns kill." It doesn't say, "Guns don't belong at school." It doesn't say taking a gun to school is wrong. It says taking a gun to school is a choice, and if you choose to do it, it's okay because you choose to do it. What do you expect? You don't tell a child that such is a choice. You tell him that it isn't a choice. Children must have limits. If they aren't given those limits, they will seek those limits--even if such is destructive to themselves and others!! Moral relativism, values clarification and nondirective education are destructive, pure and simple. As I have stated repeatedly, unless and until our legislators are willing to stop sticking their collective heads in the sand and start addressing the realities of what children are being exposed to in the classroom on a daily basis, the killings are going to continue. You can continue to blame the problem on children's access to guns (the media bent), but children have always had access to guns. It was not until the last ten years in which children have been immersed in behaviorally modifying techniques in the classroom that this problem has occurred. While these techniques have been perfected in classrooms over the last thirty years, children have not been immersed in them to the extent they are now being immersed under "Goals 2000" and "School to Work". Lynn M. Stuter +++++++++++++++++++++++++ Human Bar Codes Date: Tue, 02 Jun 1998 06:57:03 -0800 THE SACRAMENTO BEE Computer ID gets personal: Verifying identities goes high tech with scanning of human 'bar codes' By Michael Stroh Bee Staff Writer (Published June 1, 1998) Imagine if your house were smart enough to unlock the front door at the sound of your voice. Or your office PC only logged you onto the Internet after first recognizing your face. In short: What if machines could scan and identify us like soup cans in a grocery store so we never had to carry another key or recall another arcane PIN number ever again (hmmm . . . was it my husband's birthday or my poodle's age?). Once stock props for James Bond flicks, the technology to identify people by the pits and freckles of the iris, the whorl and arch of the fingerprint, or the timbre of their voice -- a technology known as "biometrics" -- is not just possible, "it's here," said Ed Howard, executive director of the Center for Law in the Public Interest in Los Angeles. "It's science fact, not science fiction." Today dozens of companies in the United States are developing biometric devices. Last year biometric firms worldwide sold roughly $140 million worth of equipment -- $33 million for uses outside law enforcement. Some analysts predict the worldwide biometrics industry could balloon to as much as $1 billion by 2001. "In the Information Age, security is becoming more and more important; people are looking for better ways to protect their data. Biometrics can do that," said Erik Bowman, a biometrics industry analyst with CardTech/SecurTech in Bethesda, Md. The technology is taking off, experts say, because it allows companies and government agencies to identify people much more surely than with Social Security numbers, mothers' maiden names and other common methods used today. "These have become so widely available, and so widely compromised, that they're no longer useful for really definitive identification," said John Stafford of the California Bankers Association. "Someone can steal a Social Security card or driver's license, but they cannot take your fingerprint or your retina." Consider: The Immigration and Naturalization Service in January installed face-recognition technology on the California-Mexico border at Otay Mesa. Now commuters who don't want to spend hours waiting to cross the busy border can pay a yearly fee of $129 to zoom through a special lane that scans their faces. BMW is working on a car with built-in fingerprint recognition that requires the owner's finger to start the engine. MasterCard is experimenting with fingerprint scanners as a replacement for the traditional signature to seal a purchase. At the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, athletes had to spread their hand over a hand geometry reader to check in. A similar device is used in the San Francisco International Airport to access secure areas. Despite its high-tech image, biometrics has a long history. The ancient Chinese studied finger images, trying to unlock the secret of the swirls. But it wasn't until the 1880s -- when British anthropologist Sir Francis Galton first calculated mathematically that no two people could have the same fingerprint pattern -- that biometrics found practical application. Soon after the discovery, British police started to use prints to ID criminals. As the use of biometrics today moves beyond fingerprinting criminals and into personal identification, some say the technology raises troubling legal and ethical questions. The human retina, for example, can reveal whether a person has certain diseases such as diabetes, causing some to fear a biometric retina scanner could be misused by insurance companies or employers to discriminate. Critics also wonder who will have access to the digital storehouse of retinas or fingerprints kept by companies, and what would happen if this human bar code data were sold or traded, much the way magazines sell subscription lists to junk mail companies today? "It scares the dickens out of me," said Beth Givens of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse in San Diego. Lawmakers are only now beginning to wrestle with these questions. The House Domestic and International Monetary Policy Subcommittee last month held a hearing on biometrics to bring legislators up to speed on the technology. Meanwhile, Assemblyman Kevin Murray, D-Los Angeles, is pushing a bill -- the first of its kind in the country -- that would attempt to build walls around biometric data and prevent it from being misused. The bill, AB 50, would make illegal the sale of voice, fingerprint and retina databases to third parties. It would also prohibit the use of such information in discriminatory practices. If the bill passes, a bank, for example, couldn't stick face-recognition bank machines only in branches located in poor neighborhoods. The bill, slated to be heard June 9 in the Senate Public Safety Committee, has the unlikely backing of both the California Bankers Association and the nonprofit Center for Law in the Public Interest. "We can't let the genie out of the bottle," said Howard, the executive director with the Center for Law in the Public Interest. "We can't let an industry emerge with a profit motive to sell this kind of information to as many people as possible." Those in the biometric industry argue that many fears surrounding biometric devices are unfounded. Retina scanners are not designed to diagnose illness. Even databases of hand or face scans would be worthless to third-party companies. The reason: Most devices don't even store a person's entire fingerprint or retina image, just its digital shorthand, the key areas needed to differentiate one person from another. "It's more a public relations issue the industry has to deal with," said Bowman, the industry analyst. Still, those in the industry do admit that biometrics is by no means foolproof. A hacker, for instance, might be able to pilfer a data base of, say, fingerprints and use this to access a secured computer system. Biometrics is susceptible to other, more mundane, problems too. A finger can accidentally be burned, scarred or amputated, making fingerprint or hand scanners unreliable, if not useless. People grow beards and have plastic surgery, which may throw off face recognition technology. A stressful day may cause the voice to waiver enough to confuse a voice recognition reader. Companies that make biometric devices have thought through these problems -- and even the most macabre fraud scenarios. To prevent desperate criminals from trying to cut off somebody's finger to gain access to a secure computer or bank vault, fingerprint scanners made by Mytec Technologies of Toronto, Canada, also measure skin temperature to determine whether somebody's finger is alive or dead. Miros Inc. of Wellesley, Mass., has programmed its face-recognition device to differentiate between a two-dimensional photograph of a person and the real McCoy. (Although company officials have said the technology might confuse identical twins.) Meanwhile, researchers are even now trying to come up with more ironclad biometric devices, many of which are even more outlandish than those being made today. They're trying to cook up ways to recognize us by the distinct pattern of veins in our hands or heat distribution under the skin of our faces. One day, experts say, it may even be possible for machines to do what only our loved ones and blood hounds are capable of today: to ID us by our scent. "This is all 'Brave New World' stuff," said Givens. www.sacbee.com +++++++++++++++++++++++++ TO: MEMBERS OF CONGRESS AND BUSINESS AND CONSERVATIVE LEADERS FROM: STEVE FORBES, HONORARY CHAIRMAN AMERICANS FOR HOPE, GROWTH AND OPPORTUNITY SUBJECT: STEVE FORBES MEMO; CLINTON-GORE AWOL ON Y2K Bridgewater, New Jersey, May 15, 1998--/Y2K WIRE/ --The Year 2000 (Y2K) computer crisis is now upon us and the federal government is even more woefully unprepared than the rest of society. The implications are ominous. Medicare, the IRS, the Federal Aviation Administration and other basic agencies are operating on utterly out-of-date technology. It doesn't take much imagination to see how dreadfully wrong things could go. Some Y2K problems have surfaced already; more will surface soon. Most states begin their fiscal 2000 years on July 1, 1999; the federal government, on October 1, 1999. "There is very little realization that there will be a disruption," Sherry Burns, director of the Central Intelligence Agency's office studying the Year 2000 problem, told Reuters. "As you start getting out into the population, I think most people are again assuming that things are going to operate the way they always have. That is not going to be the case." "There is no way we're going to fix 100% of all the computer systems around the world in time," warned Edward Yardeni, chief economist with Deutsche Morgan Grenfell, in an April interview with the technology magazine, FORBES ASAP. "My analogy is the 1973-74 recession. Just the way a disruption in the supply of oil caused a global recession, a disruption in the flow of information, especially if it is critically important information, might similarly disrupt global economic activity and produce a recession." The federal government's Y2K compliance efforts recently received a "D-minus" grade by the House Subcommittee on Government Management, Information and Technology, chaired by Representative Steve Horn of California. What has the Administration's technology point man, Vice President Al Gore, been doing for the past five years? -- Only 63% of the 7,850 federal computer systems deemed "mission critical" that is, vital to protecting U.S. national security, health, safety, education, transportation, and financial and emergency management will be ready on January 1, 2000. -- Five Cabinet-level departments (Defense, Education, Transportation, Labor and State) received "F" grades. Only 24% of Defense's mission-critical systems have been fixed to date. Only 36% are expected to by fixed by January 1, 2000. At this rate, Defense's mission-critical systems won't be completely fixed until 2009. -- "The impact of [Year 2000 computer] failures could be widespread, costly, and potentially disruptive to military operations worldwide," concluded a chilling April 1998 General Accounting Office report. "In an August 1997 operational exercise, the Global Command Control System failed testing when the date was rolled over to the year 2000. GCCS is deployed at 700 sites worldwide and is used to generate a common operating picture of the battlefield for planning, executing, and managing military operations. The U.S., and its allies*would be unable to orchestrate a Desert Storm-type engagement in the year 2000 if the problem is not corrected." Serious problems face the private sector, too. According to March surveys by the Information Technology Association of America and The Y2K Group: -- 94% of information technology managers see the Y2K computer issue as a "crisis"; -- 44% of American companies have already experienced Y2K computer problems; -- 83% of U.S. Y2K transition project managers expect the Dow Jones Industrial Average to fall by at least 20% as the crisis begins to unfold; At its core, this is not a technology crisis; it is a leadership crisis. We have the technology to fix or replace every computer and software program affected by Y2K, though it will be expensive. Technical corrections are estimated to cost between $300 billion and $600 billion globally. Litigation, lost business and bankruptcies could drive the costs over $1 trillion. Distracted by scandals and side-tracked by questionable crises like global warming, the Clinton-Gore Administration is failing to insure that vital government computers will be fixed in time. Nor are they impressing the American public and foreign governments with the urgency of this crisis. Why such silence? Are they trying to limit public concern until after the mid-term elections? The stakes are too high for such partisan political games. With the Clinton-Gore Administration AWOL, Congress must urgently fill this leadership vacuum. Increase defense funding to speed up compliance. Create Y2K compliance penalties and incentives for key federal agencies. Require the Federal Emergency Management Agency (which itself received a "D-minus" grade for Y2K compliance) to develop contingency plans for major disruptions in vital services. Move fast. Time is short. Contact: Joel Rosenberg Communications Director (703) 925-9281 http://www.ahgo.org/ +++++++++++++++++++++++++ F.Y.I. Israel in the News Week Ending: May 30, 1998/5 Sivan 5758 ================= "You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh sabbath; then you shall present a new grain offering to the L rd." Leviticus 23.16 ================== SHAVUOT THE FESTIVAL OF WEEKS: Shavuot, will take place this year between sunset on Saturday, May 30, and sunset on Sunday, May 31. It is a legal holiday in Israel. Shavuot marks the giving of the Torah (the Five Books of Moses) at Mt. Sinai, seven weeks after the exodus of the Jewish people from Egypt. Indeed, Shavuot literally means "weeks" and is celebrated seven weeks after Passover. The celebration of Shavuot is specified in Leviticus 23.15 21 and Deuteronomy 16:10. In Jerusalem, there is a widespread custom of going to the Western Wall which will be exceptionally crowded for the morning prayers. Shavuot prayers at the Wall are often accompanied by dancing and singing. The Shavuot morning prayers are marked by hymns and special scriptural readings, including the Book of Ruth. In ancient times, Shavuot marked the end of the barley harvest, and the beginning of the wheat harvest. Jewish farmers brought their first fruits to the Temple in Jerusalem (Deuteronomy 26:1 11), where special sacrifices were offered (Numbers 28:26 31). (Government Press Office) PRE HOLIDAY TENSIONS IN SHECHEM: Arabs in Shechem prevented some 30 Yeshiva students from entering Yeshivat Od Yosef Chai Thursday, and then attacked them with stones. The Palestinian Authority (PA/PLO) police assisted the Israel Defense Force (IDF) soldiers in attempting to restore peace, and the soldiers dispersed the attackers with tear gas. The reason for the controversy: The Arabs refused to allow the students to bring in the extra equipment they needed for the Shavuot holiday. After intense talks, during which time no one was allowed in or out of the Yeshiva, the army agreed to reduce the number of yeshiva students and family members who would be allowed to spend the holiday there from 100 to 50. (Arutz Sheva) VIOLENCE ON JERUSALEM DAY: Violence broke out between Jewish demonstrators and PA/PLO security guards at the PA/PLO headquarters in the Orient House in Jerusalem. The guards attacked demonstrators of the Yerushalim Shelanu (Our Jerusalem) [ourjrlm@mail.netvision.net.il] movement, grabbing and attempting to burn their Israeli flags. The Temple Mount and Land of Israel Faithful Movement (www.templemountfaithful.org), on their way to the Temple Mount, joined the demonstration and burned a black coffin on which was written, "The Oslo agreements and the 'Palestinian' state of terrorists". [The Orient House operates as a Foreign Ministry and HQ for the PA/PLO, in contravention of the Oslo accords, which outlaw any official PA/PLO activity in the capital. ed] Palestinian Arabs also threw stones at worshipers in Rachel's Tomb in Beit Lechem (Bethlehem). The police did not allow the Temple Mount Faithful to enter the Temple Mount Sunday. Gershon Solomon, founder and leader of the group, said, "We have lost the Temple Mount. Exactly 31 years after we heard, 'The Temple Mount is in our hands,' the situation is that it is not in our hands. Feisal Husseini [PA/PLO Minister of Jerusalem Affairs] orders the Israel Police to close off the Mount, and it is closed. We simply allow our sovereignty to disintegrate, and this is a terrible disgrace for the Jewish people." The group also carried a Trojan horse to symbolize that the PA/PLO are like a Trojan horse in the midst of the land of Israel. Meanwhile, at the Jubilee Parade, 22,000 marchers made their way from the Jaffa Gate through the city to Sacher Park. An estimated 150,000 spectators cheered along the route. In response to the celebrations, PA/PLO leader Yasser Arafat said: "According to the [peace] agreements, east Jerusalem, holy Jerusalem, is part of our occupied territory." [According to Article V, Section 3 of the Declaration of Principles, discussion of the status of Jerusalem will not take place until the permanent status negotiations/refer to: http://www.israel.mfa.gov.il/peace/dop.html] The festivities were also attended by several leading American politicians, including House Speaker Newt Gingrich, which further incited the wrath of Palestinians. (Arutz Sheva, TMF, MED, BBC) ISLAMIC CONNECTION TO JERUSALEM WEAK: Former Israeli Ambassador to Egypt Moshe Sasson, an expert on Islamic affairs, explained the exact nature of Islam's connection to Jerusalem: "We must differentiate between the holiness of the city and the holiness of sites within the city. The Caliph Abd El Malik, when he moved his center of power from Damascus to Jerusalem, sought to build up the importance of Jerusalem as an Islamic center, and built the mosques there. The Al Aqsa mosque was built 61 years after Mohammed's death. Jerusalem is not mentioned even once in the Koran (it is mentioned 667 times in the Bible), and the Al Aqsa mosque is mentioned only once and even that is not a reference to the mosque of today. In verse 1 of chapter 17, the Koran states that Allah transported Mohammed from Mecca to Al Aqsa; but this cannot be referring to the mosque in Jerusalem, because when Mohammed was alive, there were no mosques there. Rather, it refers to the 'end' (aktsa, in Arabic) of the sky." Sasson said that in Islam, there is a differentiation between political sovereignty and religious significance: "None of the holy cities in Islam are political capitals. " Sasson said that the holiness of Jerusalem to Islam can therefore not be an issue when discussing its future political status. (Arutz Sheva) ON THE NORTHERN FRONT: An Israeli patrol was attacked with explosives before midnight Wednesday in the western sector of the Security Zone, killing two IDF soldiers and wounding three others. The Hizb'Allah terrorist organization claimed responsibility for the murders. According to security sources, some residents of the Security Zone may have collaborated with the Hizb'Allah gunmen who planted and detonated the bomb. Earlier, two Israeli helicopters raided suspected Hizb'Allah targets north of the Security Zone. IDF and soldiers from the South Lebanese Army (SLA) engaged in a protracted exchange of fire with Hizb'Allah terrorists in southern Lebanon for much of Tuesday, Ha'aretz reported. During the course of the exchange, Hizb'Allah fired mortar shells on Israeli territory near the border fence in Israel's north. The shells fell in the Galilee panhandle and the western Galilee; the second time in 24 hours that shells were fired into Israel. In response, the IDF used artillery, fighter planes and helicopters against the Hizb'Allah positions. On Wednesday, the Monitoring Group for the Grapes of Wrath Understandings found Lebanon guilty of violating the Understandings in two incidents which involved the firing by terrorists from Barachite and Hadatta villages. These attacks consisted of over 50 mortar bombs fired from the center of Barachite and Hadatta villages. Further, the Committee concluded that Lebanon violated the understandings in that two Mortar bombs fell on Israeli territory. The Committee concluded that two incidents of SLA fire into Lebanese villages were in violation of the Understandings but added that the firing was in response to extensive attacks committed by Hizb'Allah from within those same villages. It now appears, after US intervention, that Syria is willing to discuss the Israeli proposals for a withdrawal from Lebanon. This is because the US has received hints that Iran would be willing to take part in an arrangement on this matter, and that Iran guarantees to be responsible for Hizb'Allah's activities after an Israeli withdrawal. (AFP, Israel Line, ICEJ, IDF Spokesman, Arutz Sheva) FUND FOR YESHA: The Knesset Finance Committee approved Wednesday the allocation of NIS 130 million ($35.7 million) for religious schools and Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria. Moshe Yogev, treasurer of the Amanah settlement organization, stated that NIS 35 million ($9.6 million) were earmarked for the construction of three new by pass roads: from Tekoa (near Gush Etzion) to Jerusalem; a road by passing El Aroub (in Gush Etzion), and one to by pass Bitouniyah (in the Ram'Allah area). An additional NIS 18 million ($4.9 million) will be provided for the regional councils in Judea and Samaria. ARAB LEADERS CALL FOR SUMMIT: The Egyptian Foreign Minister, Amr Moussa, has held talks in Saudi Arabia with Crown Prince Abdullah. Details of the talks were not immediately available, but correspondents say they are part of intense diplomatic efforts to convene an Arab summit to discuss the deadlocked Middle East peace process. Arafat has been touring the region to garner support for the proposal. A statement issued in the United Arab Emirates, where Arafat held talks with President Sheikh Zayed Ibn Sultan Al Nahyan, said the two leaders agreed on the need for an emergency summit to restore Arab solidarity. The Saudi crown prince was to meet on Saturday with President Hafez al Assad of Syria and will meet on Sunday with King Hussein of Jordan. The summit is expected to be held next week in Damascus. The Egyptian daily al Ahram said on Thursday said that the proposed Arab mini summit will include the PA/PLO, Morocco, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt. (In what is supposed to be negotiations between two parties Israel and the PA/PLO it is, in reality, Israel against the US, Britain, Switzerland, France, the EU, UN and the entire (almost) Arab world ed) (BBC, ArabicNews) PA/PLO COUNCIL DELAYS NO CONFIDENCE VOTE: The Palestinian Council on Saturday delayed a no confidence vote in Arafat's government, giving it at least two weeks to respond to charges of corruption and inaction. The council is the PA/PLO's first democratically chosen body. Arafat has largely ignored the council, and lawmakers are demanding he start enforcing their laws, replace some of his Cabinet ministers and submit the 1998 budget for council approval. Last week, 28 legislators including several members of Arafat's own Fatah faction signed a petition in favor of holding a no confidence vote. If the confidence motion passes, it would force Arafat to make changes in his Cabinet but would not affect his position. (AP) IRAN TO PROVIDE MONTHLY FUNDING TO HAMAS: A detailed agreement has been signed between Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and Iran. According to the French Arabic language newspaper Alouten al Araby, the agreement specifies that Iran will provide Hamas with at least $15 million every month. Hamas will undertake to act against both the PA/PLO and Israel, with the purpose of destroying the Oslo process. Iran will help Hamas carry out terrorist activities abroad, and a Palestinian "Hizb'Allah" along the lines of the Lebanese Hizb'Allah will be formed. In other news, after his recent visit to Arab countries, it is reported by Yediot Aharonot that Yassin will receive a total contribution of $50 million for Hamas. The money was pledged by host governments, Islamic organizations and individual Hamas supporters. During his tour, Yassin issued hostile statements including a call to fight Israel "until the liberation of Palestine". Meanwhile, senior defense officials and IDF commanders met Thursday to discuss whether or not Israel would allow Yassin to return to the Gaza Strip following his fund raising trip abroad. One senior IDF officer said Yassin had deceived Israeli and PA/PLO officials by using his medical condition to gain permission to go abroad and then embarking on a fund raising tour. A decision is expected in the coming days, defense sources said. Yassin said Tuesday he expected Israel to be eliminated and a Palestinian state to be established early in the first quarter of the 21st century. The 61 year old wheelchair bound cleric was freed by Israel last October after serving eight years of a life prison sentence for attacks against Israel attacks by Hamas. (Arutz Sheva, Israel Line, Jerusalem Post) PM NETANYAHU IN CHINA: Prime Minister Netanyahu said on Tuesday that Chinese leaders gave him an "absolute commitment" that they are not providing Iran with nuclear weapons technology and will not in the future, Ha'aretz reported. China also emphasized that it does not provide Iran with materials that could be used to produce nerve gas. However, in another story, according to US sources, China has recently transferred about 1,000 tons of specialty steel to Iran amid suspicions that it is being used, at least in part, for Teheran's missile program, Ha'aretz reported. US intelligence discovered the shipment after it had already arrived in Iran, the sources said. Two months ago, Azerbaijani authorities, tipped off by US intelligence, intercepted the transfer of 22 tons of stainless Russian steel along their border with Iran. U.S. officials said they believe the steel could be used to make fuel tanks for Scud missiles. (Israel Line) PA SMUGGLING WEAPONS VIA SINAI TUNNELS: The PA/PLO is obtaining weapons illegally smuggled from the Sinai via tunnels as well as locally produced arms, some of which have been used in clashes with Israeli troops, a very senior military source said Sunday. This may include anything from Katyusha rockets, Stinger shoulder fired anti aircraft missiles and anti tank weapons. Under the interim agreements, all weapons brought into PA/PLO areas must be registered by Israel. The PA/PLO is prohibited from manufacturing grenades and heavy munitions. The source said the Palestinians are already producing Uzi submachine guns and grenades in secret workshops in Gaza. (Jerusalem Post) GOLAN R.E. FOR SALE: The Golan Regional Council has begun a campaign to bring more residents to the region. 380 houses are being offered for sale in 14 communities, both religious and secular. Some of the houses are being sold for as little as NIS 170,000 ($46,670) for 70 square meters (760 sq. ft.), and NIS 400,700 ($110,000) for houses twice as big. Some 17,000 Jews presently live in the Golan Heights. Meanwhile, Syria has condemned Israel's plan to settle more people in the Golan. Damascus charged that the Israeli government was closing off all roads to peace in the Middle East. The Syrian newspaper Tishrin charged that PM Netanyahu has succeeded in destroying the peace process because the US government has not taken a tough stance against him. (Arutz Sheva, Kol Yisrael) HEBRON DAY: On Sunday Hebron and Kiryat Arba celebrated the 31st anniversary of the liberation of Hebron during the Six Day War in 1967. A parade of Kiryat Arba Hebron youth marched from the Ramat Mamre neighborhood in Kiryat Arba through the main Kiryat Arba neighborhoods, to Ma'arat HaMachpela in Hebron. In the evening special outdoor festivities were hosted in Kiryat Arba. Meanwhile, Attorney General Eliyakim Rubinstein and Chief Prosecutor Edna Arbel visited Hebron on Thursday. They were hosted and escorted by the Hebron Police Force and toured the three Jewish neighborhoods and Ma'arat HaMachpela. Their visit continued the dialogue started several weeks ago at a meeting between Hebron leaders and the AG at his office in Jerusalem. They received explanations from Hebron's Noam Arnon, Orit Struk and Avraham ben Yosef as well as police officers and other security forces. A group of Hebron women and children staged a small demonstration outside Beit Hadassah, protesting continued harassment of Hebron's Jewish population by the prosecutor's office. One Hebron man whose weapon was confiscated for no apparent reason, father of a very large family, tried speaking with Rubenstein, but was effectively ignored. The Hebron community has demanded that the discriminatory law enforcement rules applied to residents of Hebron and Yesha be annulled. The AG has promised to 'make minor revisions' but refuses to totally void them. (Hebron Press Office) SURVEY: AMERICAN JEWS SUPPORT GOVERNMENT: An American survey has found that the majority of American Jews support Prime Minister Netanyahu's policies. Despite what is conveyed by the Israeli press, the survey showed that 56% support Netanyahu and his policies, while 34% are against it. Also, 69% are in favor of American pressure on Arafat and they don't believe that he is fighting terror. (Arutz Sheva) JEWISH ORGANIZATIONS INITIATE CLASS ACTION AGAINST SWISS CENTRAL BANK: US lawyer Michael Hausfeld said Wednesday that he intends to file a class action suit against the Swiss central bank, demanding the restitution of looted property which it received from Nazi Germany. The large Jewish organizations are behind the lawsuit. Hausfeld was speaking following the publication of the Bergier Commission report, which stated that the Swiss National Bank bought gold from Germany valued at nearly $4 billion in real terms, most of which was looted. It also stated that gold valued at $1.4 million bought by the bank, was looted from victims of the Nazis, mainly from Holocaust victims. According to Hausfeld the lawsuit will probably be filed within a week, and 80,000 potential claimants have registered in his office over these past months. Hausfeld said that the law suit will be filed on behalf of 7 11 million people, demanding that the bank return all property in its possession which does not belong to it. He did not specify the amount of money stated in the law suit. US Undersecretary of State Stuart Eizenstat was to publish Friday the second part of the US government report on trading in German gold during the Second World War. The report is supposed to focus on other countries, excluding Switzerland, which purchased the stolen gold, mainly via Bern. (Globes) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FYI - Israel In The News "For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest" Isaiah 62:1 'F.Y.I.' may be reproduced & distributed in any form. Please give proper credit. Send comments to Lee Underwood at: fyi@tzemach.org (Do not send subscription requests here) Web site: http://www.tzemach.org/fyi To subscribe/unsubscribe, send request to: fyi-list-request@tzemach.org For subscriptions, in the subject area, enter: subscribe (Do not enter anything else) To unsubscribe, in the subject area, enter: unsubscribe (Do not enter anything else) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ +++++++++++++++++++++++++ How To Fall In Love With The Word By Terry Denbow " Thy word is very pure, therefore Thy servant loves it." Ps. 119:140 How we long for someone to be genuine and honest; someone you can trust. That person would be honorable and forthright. How we marvel at gold that is 24kt. or the cheesecake that doesn't skimp but is the richest and creamiest. How we enjoy well made clothes and the innocence of a small child, or the beauty of real jewels. Their pureness cannot compare with the purity of God's word. It is infallible and transparent. Nothing is shady or has an ulterior motive. It is pure through and through. Purer than what the eye can see, the genuine thing, exalted above God's own name. And loving the Word is loving Jesus. (KJV) " I will worship toward the holy temple, praise Thy name for Thy lovingkindness and for Thy truth; for Thou hast magnified Thy word above all Thy name." Ps. 138:2 The Jews were not even allowed to speak His name because it was too holy and He has exalted His word above His name. How to fall in love with the Word 1. Recognize your need There is already an attraction there promoted by the Lord Himself; because the Bible says that no one seeks after God. (Ro. 3:11) Therefore any love we have at all for God is from Him. "By this love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this love, not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation (satisfaction) for our sins." I John 4:9&10 Catch this because it is important. We did not seek God; or love God. It was never us reaching up for God but God reaching down to us. Humbling huh? We did not see our need, He showed us our need. He called, He wooed us because of His great love for us. In view of that, the obvious is to pray for more love for Him and His word. 2. Study the Word "Great are the works of the Lord; they are studied by all who delight in them." Ps. 111:2 Your walk with God will be less than fulfilling if you are not studying His word. It will only be 2 dimensional and your relationship with the Lord will be distant. When you love someone you spend time with them so you can get to know them. The Bible contains the very words from God's own mouth! God the creator of all things!! God my Savior, God my Father. Do you really want to be doing all the talking all the time? There are so few who listen and He has so much to say. (listen) (wisdom is speaking "Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at my doorposts." Proverbs 8:34 "Guard your steps as you go to the house of God, and draw near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools; for they do not know they are doing evil." Ecc. 5:1 "And she had a sister called Mary, who moreover was listening to the Lord's word, seated at His feet." Luke 10:39 3. Pour out your heart to Him There is a time to pray; all the time. This sounds very contradictory from what I just shared. Just talking all the time or just listening all the time is not what God wants. He wants a relationship, conversation. (conversation-informal, familiar talk) Familiar talk with Someone you can become familiar with. Conversation also means 1st you talk then they talk. Not just 1 person doing all the talking or listening. Familiar conversation also means sharing everything not just the big stuff. Praying means talking, being in communication with God all the time. Sharing your broken heart or your smallest joy. "In the morning, O Lord, Thou wilt hear my voice; in the morning I will order my prayer to Thee and eagerly watch." Ps 5:3 "I rise before dawn and cry for help; I wait for Thy words." Ps. 119:147 If you are not in the habit of acknowledging God in everything you do, practice talking to Him. Chances are if you are not talking to Him, you're listening to the devil. Jesus is everything. Focus all your energy, mind and strength on Him. The more you give yourself to Him, the more in love with him you'll become. The more you'll want to die to please Him, the more you'll hunger and thirst for more of His word. Christ likens us as to His bride. The bride: "Like an apple tree among the forest, so is my beloved among the young men. In his shade I took great delight and sat down, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. He has brought me to his banquet hall, and his banner over me is love. Sustain me with raisin cakes, refresh me with apples, because I am lovesick." S of S 2:3-5 The bridegroom: "How beautiful you are, my darling, how beautiful you are! Your eyes are like doves behind your veil; Your hair is like a flock of goats that have descended from Mount Gilead. Your teeth are like a flock of newly shorn ewes which have come up from their washing, all of which bear twins, and not one among them has lost her young. Your lips are like a scarlet thread, and your mouth is lovely. Your temples are like a slice of pomegranate behind your veil." S of S 4:1-3 "You are all together beautiful my darling, and there is no blemish in you. Come with me from Lebanon, by bride, may you come with me from Lebanon." S of S 4:7 and part of 8 (read more of this if you can) He looks upon us with longing and as if we were sinless. He's waiting, calling us with open arms to come away with Him. Your Sister in Christ, Terry Denbow BibleBabe@eee.org