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1. Where is the United States in Prophecy? World faces growing risk of war: US intelligence chief
The world faces a growing risk of conflict over the next 20 to 30 years amid an unprecedented transfer of wealth and power from West to East, according to the US intelligence chief. Michael McConnell, the director of national intelligence, predicted rising demand for scarce supplies of food and fuel, strategic competition over new technologies, and the spread of weapons of mass destruction. "What I'm suggesting -- there's an increased potential for conflict," McConnell said in a speech Thursday to intelligence professionals in Nashville, Tennessee. "During the period of this assessment, out to 2025, the probability for conflict between nations and within nation-state entities will be greater," he said. Conditions for "large casualty terrorist attacks using chemical, biological, or less likely, nuclear materials" also will increase during that period, he said. McConnell described a multi-polar world in 2025 shaped by the rise of China, India and Brazil, whose economies will by then match those of the western industrial states. "In terms of size, speed, and directional flow, the transfer of global wealth and economic power, now underway, as noted from West to East is without precedent in modern history," McConnell said. "China is poised to have more impact on the world over the next 20 years than any other country," he said. India will have either the third or second largest economy and will press to become "one of the significant poles of this new world," he said.................. read more White House ‘very concerned’ about transition attack
White House press secretary Dana Perino warned Thursday that the administration is “very concerned” about the threat of a terror attack during the transition or the early weeks of the Obama administration. “That is something that we're very concerned about,” Perino said. “We've seen that in other countries — Spain, obviously, had that terrible bombing.” Perino said that “we know that Al Qaeda and others try to test a new administration,” echoing Vice President-elect Joe Biden, who caught flack for a similar statement on the campaign trail. Perino added that the Bush administration is “determined” to make sure that "we overlap in terms of our understanding and capabilities so that ... when we hand the baton over to the Obama team, that they have that full range of capabilities and also all the knowledge that they need to help continue to keep us safe.” “I don't know of anything specific,” she added, “but we do know that this is just a heightened period of concern.”.................. read more President of the World?
Barack Obama's election on Tuesday set off international celebrations and ignited a fervor for the United States that has been unseen since the days immediately following the September 11, 2001, terror attacks. To some observers, the international reaction has elevated America's president-elect to an unparalleled post: president of the world. In Kenya, where Obama's father was born, a national holiday was declared on Thursday. In Indonesia, children danced at the school Obama attended when he was a young boy, embracing him as much for what he represents abroad as for the policies he advocates at home. "People from all over Africa, especially in Kenya, where this is a holiday, are feeling that the most powerful person in the world does not have to be a white guy. That's a huge breakthrough for the United States and for humanity," said Walter Russell Mead, the Henry A. Kissinger senior fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy at the Council on Foreign Relations. "This is the fall of the Berlin Wall times ten," Rama Yade, France's junior minister for human rights, told French radio. "On this morning, we all want to be American, so we can take a bite of this dream unfolding before our eyes." "This may be the beginning of a new world. It marks the end of old elites and opens the door for new approaches worldwide," an Israeli man in his mid-50s said in Tel Aviv. Foreign observers, who paid rapt attention during the long election season, are taking a personal stake in the outcome of a vote a world away. Expectations are high for the 47-year-old Obama, who will take over on January 20 amid a financial collapse and who will preside over two wars on his first day in office. "The standing of everybody in the world is going to be affected by what President Obama does or doesn't do," said Mead, noting that all eyes will be looking to the new president for a way out of the global financial crisis................... read more
2. Israel - God's Timepiece 'Peace pact unlikely by year's end'
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Thursday all but conceded that an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal by a year-end deadline is no longer possible, but said it is important for the next US and Israeli leaders to maintain momentum and support for the negotiations. Rice spoke as she arrived for her eighth trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories since the parties set the timeline for reaching an agreement at last November's summit at Annapolis, Maryland. "It is our expectation that the Annapolis process has laid groundwork which should make possible the establishment of a Palestinian state when the political circumstances permit," Rice said. "I think that whatever happens by the end of the year, you've got a firm foundation for quickly moving this forward to conclusion." Although Rice refused to absolutely rule out the chance of an agreement by year's end, her remarks reflect the first time that an official of the Bush administration has publicly not held out hope that the deadline could be met. "We'll see where they are at the end of the year," said Rice, vowing to "work on this with the parties until the day that we leave."................ read more Time for Israel to appoint a king, scholar says
Renowned Israeli biblical scholar and historian David Solomon last week said that conditions in Israel today are ripe for replacing democracy with theocratic monarchy and appointing a king. Speaking to Israel National Radio, Solomon said that the leadership and religious crises currently facing Israel mirror those during the time of the Prophet Samuel. Millennia ago, the people of Israel turned to Samuel to help them replace their form of government with a monarchy in order to alleviate the nation's problems. Just as then, many Israelis today might view a theocratic monarchy as a viable answer to Israel's "disastrous absence of genuine political and spiritual and religious leadership," said Solomon................. read more Will Israel strike at Iran before Obama takes over?
On December 8, 1988, under the cover of night, IDF warplanes, helicopters, guided-missile frigates and an elite force of Flotilla 13 naval commandos and Golani Brigade reconnaissance fighters infiltrated Lebanon. Their target was a cave-based headquarters 20 km. south of Beirut, serving the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, headed by Ahmed Jibril. The operation took place one month after US President George H. Bush was voted into office, and a month before he was sworn in, replacing the popular Ronald Reagan, a leader widely viewed as a staunch ally of Israel. Operation Blue and Brown says nothing about the likelihood of an Israeli strike on Iran today. But it does show that IDF operations have been ordered in the interim period between the election of a new American president and his inauguration. And it is this same period in 2008/09 that provides an "attractive date" for Israel to strike Iran's nuclear program, according to historian Benny Morris. In June, Morris wrote an op-ed for The New York Times in which he theorized that Israel would likely strike Iran between November 5 and January 19, the day before Obama is sworn in. Speaking to The Jerusalem Post this week, Morris said he continued to believe that time period was a "reasonable" one for Israeli action. "There is certainly a friendly president in the White House until January 20. There is no certainty over what will happen after that, in which direction the wind will blow.. ................ read more
3. A Revived Roman Empire? Mediterranean Union agrees on Barcelona as headquarters, Arab-Israeli role
Foreign ministers from the new Mediterranean Union have struck a deal for Barcelona to host the forum's headquarters and for Israel and the Arab League to take part side-by-side. The Union's 43 member states held two days of talks in the port of Marseille to end a four-month deadlock on the two contentious issues, which threatened to hamstring the fledgling organisation. "It wasn't supposed to work, and yet it did," said Kouchner, adding: "The essential points were accepted completely and without reservation by all 43 states" in the Union for the Mediterranean. Ministers from the Mediterranean's mainly-Arab southern rim agreed to back the Spanish city of Barcelona's candidacy to host the Union in exchange for the post of secretary-general going to a southern member. They also clinched a deal on granting the Arab League a full-time seat at the forum -- a key demand of Arab members, strongly opposed by Israel which feared the pan-Arab group would try to block its involvement. "The Arabic participation will take place in every meeting with the right to speak at all levels," said Abul Gheit, although it will have no right to vote. Israel agreed to the Arab League's role in exchange for one of five deputy secretary-general posts for an initial three-year period, possibly renewable. Launched at a Paris summit in July, the new union brings together EU members with states from north Africa, the Balkans, the Arab world and Israel in a bid to foster cooperation in one of the world's most volatile regions. ................. read more From Cross to Crescent in Paris - Islam spreads throughout Europe
It's a sight that would shatter most Americans' romanticized image of Paris. Just a 15-minute metro ride from the trendy shops and quaint cafés of the Champs-Elysees, a virtual sea of North and West African Muslims spills out the gates of a neighborhood mosque. Like waves breaking on a beach, their bodies bend in unison as hundreds of men prostrate themselves before Allah. Their prayers are guided by an imam's Arabic incantations. The crowd's prayer rugs cover a city block's worth of sidewalk. Tourists point and take pictures. Some French pedestrians are visibly uncomfortable as they negotiate their way around the assembly. But the scene isn't an aberration. Instead, it's evidence of a trend that's changing the way Southern Baptists view the international mission field: Islam is expanding across Europe. Fueled by immigration and high birthrates, the number of Muslims on the continent has tripled in the past 30 years, making Islam Europe's fastest growing religion. While European Muslims build mosques and win converts, European Christians (excluding evangelicals) are witnessing what's been called a near free-fall decline in church attendance. Tourists make up the overwhelming majority of those crowding Notre Dame in Paris, snapping photos during Mass as if the cathedral was more museum than place of worship. Even more alarming are statistics that only 5 percent of the French own a Bible and 80 percent have never even touched one. The shift is so dramatic that many demographers now believe more people in Europe practice Islam than Christianity. No one knows exactly how many Muslims call Europe home since most European nations don't track ethnicity or religious affiliation in census data. Guesses put the number around 20 million. France accounts for the highest concentration of Muslims in the European Union -- 5 to 6 million, or about 8 percent of the population. Many entered the country as immigrants in guest-worker programs following World War II, but untold numbers have flooded France and other European nations illegally.. ................. read more
4. The Gog/Magog War Putin may return to Kremlin in 2009, extend rule to 2021
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev could resign from his post in 2009 to pave the way for Vladimir Putin to return to the Kremlin, Vedomosti newspaper reported on Thursday, citing an unidentified source close to the Kremlin. Medvedev Wednesday proposed increasing the presidential term to six years from four years, a step the newspaper said was part of a plan drawn up by Vladislav Surkov, who serves as Medvedev's first deputy chief of staff. Under the plan, Medvedev could implement changes to the constitution and unpopular social reforms "so that Putin could return to the Kremlin for a longer period," the newspaper said. "Under this scenario Medvedev could resign early citing changes to the constitution and then presidential elections could take place in 2009," the newspaper said, citing the unidentified source close to the Kremlinl. The paper said Putin, who is currently prime minister, could then rule for two six year terms, so from 2009 to 2021. Investors, already jittery over the impact of the financial crisis on Russia's economic boom, are trying to work out who is really in charge of Russia, the biggest question for those seeking to ascertain political risk.. ................. read more Russia determined to broaden interaction with Islamic world - Medvedev
President Dmitry Medvedev has sent greetings to the fourth meeting of the Russia - Islamic World strategic vision group in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the Kremlin reported on Tuesday. "Russia's developing cooperation with the Islamic states remains highly dynamic. Your Group is playing no small part in this," Medvedev writes. "Russia, a country with observer status in the Organization of the Islamic Conference, intends to abide firmly to its course to expand active interaction with the Islamic world. I think in connection with this, that a broad discussion of the initiative to further develop interregional dialogue, proposed by King Abdallah bin Abd al-Aziz Al Saudi of Saudi Arabia, is of crucial importance, taking into account a significant role the religious factor is playing in international affairs," he said. "I am also convinced, that the implementation of the Russia-proposed idea of forming a consultative council of religions under UN aegis, will help strengthen the moral principles of world politics, facilitate deeper inter-confessional communication and, in a broader context, promote the dialogue of civilizations," the Russian president writes. "The illusion of the uni-polar world is becoming a thing of the past in front of our eyes. Forums like yours can contribute significantly to the search for ways to make the situation in the world healthier and to attain a new level of global partnership," Medvedev said. "I am convinced that Russia's active interaction with the Islamic world will help build a fairer system of international relations, where the factor of force will finally stop playing the role of universal instrument of settling all emerging problems," he said.. ................. read more Russia to deploy missiles on EU border
President Dmitry Medvedev said today that Russia will deploy missiles in territory near Nato member Poland in response to US missile defense plans. In a state of the nation speech, Medvedev also blamed the US for the war in Georgia and the global financial crisis. He said he hoped the US president-elect Barack Obama would act to improve relations with Russia but he did not offer congratulations to the president-elect. The missiles will be deployed to the Russian Baltic Sea territory Kaliningrad, he said, but did not add how many would be used. Equipment to electronically hamper the operation of prospective US missile defense facilities in Poland and the Czech Republic will be deployed, he said. ................. read more
5. Apostate Christianity Christianity and Islam worship the same God, Muhammad & Jesus reveal same truths? Liberal scholars misrepresent their faiths
When 138 senior Muslim scholars and clergy tried to establish the common ground between Islam and Christianity last year, they said the very peace of the world hung on the outcome. On Tuesday, a high-ranking delegation is beginning a rare visit to Rome in an effort to persuade the Pope to endorse what they say are the shared origins and values of the world's two biggest religions. Their letter, A Common Word, cited passages from the Koran which the scholars said showed that Christianity and Islam worship the same God, and require their respective followers to show each other particular friendship. The document examined fundamental doctrine and stressed what it said were key similarities - such as the belief in one God and the requirement for believers to "love their neighbours as themselves". Significantly the letter acknowledged that the Prophet Muhammad was told only the same truths that had already been revealed to Jewish and Christian prophets, including Jesus himself. After a year using the Islamic principle of seeking consensus, the letter has developed into a "manifesto" and is backed by almost 300 leaders from Sunni, Shi'ite, Sufi and other Muslim traditions. The initiative was welcomed promptly by several Christian leaders, including the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams. ................. read more
6. The Rise of Islam U.S. Treasury teaches 'Islamic Finance 101'
The Treasury Department has announced it will teach "Islamic finance" to U.S. banking regulatory agencies, Congress and other parts of the executive branch tomorrow in Washington, D.C. – but critics say it is opening a door to American funding of Islamic extremism. According to its announcement, the "Islamic Finance 101" forum is "designed to help inform the policy community about Islamic financial services, which are an increasingly important part of the global financial industry." Islamic finance is a system of banking consistent with the principles of Shariah, or Islamic law. It is becoming increasingly popular, having reached $800 billion by mid-2007 and growing at more than 15 percent each year. Wall Street now features an Islamic mutual fund and an Islamic index. However, critics claim anti-American terrorists are often financially supported through U.S. investments – creating a system by which the nation funds its own enemy. In his essay, "Financial Jihad: What Americans Need to Know," Vice President Christopher Holden of the Center for Security Policy writes, "America is losing the financial war on terror because Wall Street is embracing a subversive enemy ideology on one hand and providing corporate life support to state sponsors of terrorism on the other hand." Holden refers to Islamic finance, or "Shariah-Compliant Finance" as a "modern-day Trojan horse" infiltrating the U.S. He said it poses a threat to the U.S. because it seeks to legitimize Shariah – a man-made medieval doctrine that regulates every aspect of life for Muslims – and could ultimately change American life and laws. Shariah-compliant finance is becoming a major movement, because American banks and investors are seeking wealth from oil profits in the Middle East. Some advocates claim Islamic finance is socially responsible because it bans investors from funding companies that sell or promote products such as alcohol, tobacco, pornography, gambling and even pork. However, Islamic financial institutions also require all industry participants to adhere to tenets of Shariah law. According to Nasser Suleiman's "Corporate Governance in Islamic Banking, "First and foremost, an Islamic organization must serve God. It must develop a distinctive corporate culture, the main purpose of which is to create a collective morality and spirituality which, when combined with the production of goods and services, sustains growth and the advancement of the Islamic way of life." Three nations that rule 100 percent by Shariah law – Iran, Saudi Arabia and Sudan – hold some of the most horrific human rights records in the world, Holden said. "This strongly suggests that Americans should strenuously resist anything associated with Shariah."................ read more Sharia brings public execution to Somalia
A young woman recently stoned to death in Somalia first pleaded for her life, a witness has told the BBC. "Don't kill me, don't kill me," she said, according to the man who wanted to remain anonymous. A few minutes later, more than 50 men threw stones. Human rights group Amnesty International says the victim was a 13-year-old girl who had been raped. Numerous eye-witnesses say she was forced into a hole, buried up to her neck then pelted with stones until she died in front of more than 1,000 people last week. Amnesty said it had learned she was 13, and that her father had said she was raped by three men. When the family tried to report the rape, the girl was accused of adultery and detained, Amnesty said............... read more
7. Increase in Knowledge/New Technologies Frozen mice cloned - are woolly mammoths next?
Japanese scientists have cloned mice whose bodies were frozen for as long 16 years and said it may be possible to use the technique to resurrect mammoths and other extinct species. Mouse cloning expert Teruhiko Wakayama and colleagues at the Center for Developmental Biology, at Japan's RIKEN research institute in Yokohama, managed to clone the mice even though their cells had burst. "Thus, nuclear transfer techniques could be used to 'resurrect' animals or maintain valuable genomic stocks from tissues frozen for prolonged periods without any cryopreservation," they wrote in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Wakayama's team used the classic nuclear transfer technique to make their mouse clones. This involves taking the nucleus out of an egg cell and replacing it with the nucleus of an ordinary cell from the animal to be cloned. When done with the right chemical or electric trigger, this starts the egg dividing as if it had been fertilized by a sperm. "Cloning animals by nuclear transfer provides an opportunity to preserve endangered mammalian species," they wrote. Many animals have been cloned, starting with sheep, and including pigs, cattle, mice and dogs. Livestock breeders want to use cloning to start elite herds of desirable animals, and doctors want to use cloning technology in human medicine. "There is hope in bringing Ted Williams back, after all," cloning and stem cell expert John Gearhart of the University of Pennsylvania said in an e-mail. The family of Williams, the Boston Red Sox hitter, had his body frozen by cryogenics firm Alcor after he died in 2002. Gearhart was only half-joking and said the study "may now stimulate the small industry of freezing parts of us before we die to bring us back in the future." Mammoths may be the extinct animals that scientists would be most likely to try to clone, as many of the animals have been found preserved in ice.......................... read more Internet black boxes to record every email and website visit
Under Government plans to monitor internet traffic, raw data would be collected and stored by the black boxes before being transferred to a giant central database. The vision was outlined at a meeting between officials from the Home Office and Internet Service Providers earlier this week. It is further evidence of the Government's desire to have the capability to vet every telephone call, email and internet visit made in the UK, which has already provoked an outcry. The proposal is expected to be put out to consultation as part of the new Communications Data Bill early next year. Security and intelligence agencies wanted to use the stored data to help fight serious crime and terrorism. Officials tried to reassure the industry by suggesting that many smaller ISPs would be unaffected by the "black boxes" as these would be installed upstream on the network and hinted that all costs would be met by the Government........................... read more CNN experiments with Hologram reporting
Nearly 71 million viewers watched the United States elect its first African American president, across 14 television networks Tuesday night. And about 13.3 million of them were treated to CNN star Anderson Cooper's historic interview with a hologram of Will.I.Am about the "Yes, We Can" video that the musician made for the Barack Obama election effort, and to Wolf Blitzer chatting with Chief Capitol Hill Hologram Jessica Yellin. She was beamed in from Chicago's Grant Park to talk about whether the crowd gathered there awaiting Obama's victory speech was excited. (They were, viewers learned while they pondered whether a CNN correspondent flickering blue around the edges was any less fair and balanced than a non-flickering CNN correspondent.) The Post's Paul Farhi wondered whether Blitzer could have walked through Yellin, and yesterday asked CNN's senior vice president and Washington bureau chief David Bohrman, who was the guy behind the election-night bells and whistles. Had Blitzer tried to walk through Yellin, besides being the height of rudeness, he would have blacked out, because in Hologram World, two people can't occupy the same space simultaneously, Bohrman assured Farhi. Blitzer couldn't actually see Yellin standing a few feet in front of him, nor could Cooper see Will.I.Am. The two anchors saw their interview subjects via monitors, said Bohrman, who predicted it would be another dozen years before anchors could actually see their hologramterviews on the set. Right now, it's kind of like when your local weatherman points to clouds and low-pressure systems on the map he/she pretends to see but actually can't and is instead looking at the map on a monitor.......................... read more Enjoy surveillance while it is still visible
Measures such as ID cards are a temporary measure before biometric technology becomes ubiquitous; That was the warning from security guru Bruce Schneier this week who claims that surveillance technology will get more sophisticated and, more importantly, smaller and harder to detect. "We live in a very unique time in our society. The cameras are everywhere and you can still see them," said Schneier, BT's chief security technology officer. "Five years ago they weren't everywhere, five years from now you are not going to see them." As well as camera technology becoming less obtrusive, Schneier said that ID checks would also become less obvious and may not even require the obvious cooperation of the individual being checked. "Five years ago there weren't ID checks everywhere," he said. "But five or ten years from now they will happen in the background. It will be an Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chip in your wallet, you won't even know its being checked." Biometric technologies such as face recognition, or systems based on a particular type of mobile phone owned or even clothes, may also be used for identity checks. The increase in background ID checks means that the current debate around national ID cards in the UK is only a short-term issue, according to Schneier. "I know there are debates on ID cards everywhere but in a lot of ways, they are only very temporary. They are only a temporary solution till biometrics takes over," he said.......................... read more Flying car based on Ferrari 'could be reality within two years'
The 'Autovolantor' - based on a £200,000 Ferrari 599 GTB - is being developed by "Moller International". It will have the ability to take off vertically and hover thanks to eight powerful thrusters which direct air down for take off. Vents then tilt so the car can fly forward. The car is expected to be able to do 100mph on the ground and 150mph in the air. The calculated airborne range is 75 miles and ground range is 150 miles. Designer Bruce Calkins says the car features a specially designed hybrid fuel and electric system to power the thrusters, creating as much as 800 horse power. He believes it will be able to fly at altitudes of up to 5,000ft. Mr Calkins said: "The Autovolantor is powered by eight fans mounted in the fuselage of the vehicle. "On the ground these fans push the vehicle around with a firm but not-too-powerful thrust of deflected air. "Small vanes in the exit area of the ducts can direct the air forward or back, or remain in the neutral position for vertical take off and landing. "Once in the air the vehicle manoeuvres like a helicopter, tilting nose down to move forward, rolling right or left for changes in direction. "While maximum altitude could be much higher, the energy to obtain altitudes above 5,000 feet would be significant so we expect it to stay below that height." Moller chose the Ferrari to be the model for the ground-breaking machine because of its distinctive shape. He estimates a cost of around £500,000 per car. ......................... read more
8. Christian Worldview/Issues Internet Addiction? Millions of Americans Admit to Compulsive Internet Use
To many people, constant Internet use is the "new normal," but author Jan Kern challenges this, asserting that too much Internet use is an addiction just like many others. While affirming that "God isn't anti-Internet," Kern argues that God wants more for us, wants us to have a real life and relationships, not just virtual ones. "The Internet can offer a really great experience, and for many people, this is not a problem. Most of us use the Internet for research, news, communication--and fun," said author Jan Kern. "But for some, it can easily become an obsession. Without realizing it, we get sucked into activities that rob us of the amazing identity, resources, and relationships God has in mind for us," she continued. "We can become so drawn in by the virtual satisfaction of our wants and desires that we miss the opportunity to see how God might meet those needs more fully in real life. While experts still debate whether these behaviors constitute an addiction, an organization called the Center for Internet Addiction Recovery estimates that 5-10% of the population has internet addictions, more than half of them sexually-related. And although stopping short of calling the behaviors an addiction, results of a survey by Stanford University's Impulse Control Disorders Clinic suggest there are clear similarities between extreme Internet use and other addictions. In her new book for young adults, Eyes Online: Eyes On Life, Kern introduces readers to Colin, a real person whose teen years were marked by pornography use, obsessive internet gaming, and escape into chat rooms that kept his real life on hold. "People like Colin and others I interviewed have found that along with all the positive experiences, being online has also been a downfall for them - big time," Kern says. "When they're really being honest, they talk about lines they've crossed. Sometimes without even realizing it, they've been consumed by being online with simple activities like e-mail and blogging. But some have also discovered games or activities they can't stop thinking about even when away from the computer. Others have ventured into X-rated sites and found themselves lured by sexual traps that turned into secret addictions." "The problem with Internet obsession is that you can look completely normal and nobody knows you are in so much pain," he said. "That was true for me. When I was obsessed by the Internet in junior high and high school, I was so depressed and nobody ever knew why. They didn't even begin to think it has anything to do with the computer..................... read more Christian fraternities look to make statement on U.S. college campuses
It's 11 a.m. Saturday, and whiskey is flowing at the big houses on fraternity row at the University of Alabama. Guys in ties and baseball caps are laughing and dancing with sorority girls in bright dresses as a band blares away just around the corner. Smack in the middle of that row is the Lambda Sigma Phi house, but things are a lot quieter inside. Parents are helping put out the lunch spread before a Crimson Tide football game and a few members lounge in the den watching TV. A Bible passage decorates the door to the main room. "My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord," it begins. Lambda Sigma Phi is part of a wave of Christian fraternities and sororities that has gained a foothold on U.S. college campuses, sometimes despite the wishes of school administrators. Members get pumped up about prayer, Bible study and service projects, passions they say campus officials should and often do embrace as fresh amid a Greek culture typically seen as centered on hazing, keg parties and little else. Founded in 2001, Lambda Sigma Phi hopes to show other groups at the university what Jesus is all about. "We're almost in a bubble because we're surrounded by all this. That's why we're here on Jefferson Avenue, to minister to these guys," said chapter president Daniel Weaver. "We want to be a light on this campus." Many social fraternities and sororities have Christian tenets in their teachings, and Christian-lifestyle fraternities have existed for generations. Several began about 80 years ago to promote faith-based fellowship during the Roaring Twenties. Greek-letter organizations that promote Christian practices have become more common in recent years with young evangelicals seeking new ways to live out their faith and parents looking for a haven from the drunken daze that often happens in college. At least 210 exist on campuses nationwide from the West Coast to the Deep South, where they are most common. But the groups are also strong in parts of the Midwest and in Southern states along the Atlantic coast.............. read more
9. Other events to watch Financial crisis shifts power to Asia, experts say
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's whirlwind fundraising tour this week in the Gulf States demonstrates the increasing power of sovereign wealth funds and the shift of economic power to Asia, experts said Wednesday. Brown said he was in search of "hundreds of billions of dollars" to alleviate the crisis that has hit his country, along with America, particularly hard. "I think there will be more and more reliance and more of a shift of power toward Asian countries, not only for the oil rich countries, for the Gulf States, it's also true for Singapore, China, Kazakhstan and other countries," said Dan Galai, Professor of Finance at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. "Many countries in Asia will continue to accumulate money in sovereign funds and they will buy ownership in financial institutions that are located in England, Germany, France and the United States." Sovereign wealth funds are state-owned investment funds. They have become increasingly important to troubled financial institutions in the United States and Western Europe, where some banks have lost up to 80 percent or more of their value due to the financial crisis. While these financial institutions will continue to operate in Europe or in the United States, their ownership will increasingly be in the hands of sovereign funds in Asia, Galai said. While the Gulf States are "awash with cash" earned from high oil prices and have reserves that Western countries can draw on, the solution to the crisis does not lie with any one region and will require a fundamental reform of the financial system, said Robin Shepherd, senior fellow and head of the Europe Programme at the London-based Chatham House. For example, the newly elected US President, Barack Obama, and other leaders will have to examine the regulatory environment surrounding the banking system, the way central banks and finance ministries keep track of developments in the financial sector, and reckless lending policies that have contributed to the crisis. "The essential point is that the United States, Britain and Europe are in a dreadful financial mess at the moment; they will look anywhere they can to seek respite, whether in the Gulf States or elsewhere," said Shepherd. "In a globalized economy, all of the players become relevant." ................... read more Russian Muslims to ask for Obama’s support of the UN Religious Council
THead of the Central Muslim Religious Board in Russia Talgat Tajuddin stated the necessity to send the newly elected USA President Barak Obama a request to support a project of establishing a religious council at the UN. Speaking at the Round Table in Moscow, the Mufti explained that the Council’s chief task would be to maintain international security and contribute in protection from terrorism and nuclear threat on a global scale. Russian Muslims suggest that the headquarters should be located in the Holy Land, as according to Tajuddin, Jerusalem is an “abode of peace, a shrine for Christians, Muslims and Jews.” The Board’s Chair also noted that the new President had already shown himself as a believer and a member of the United Church of Christ. Thus, Russian Muslims hope for cooperation with him..................... read more |
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