Peacock

Obama agenda won't tolerate 'preference for heterosexuality' in other countries Homosexuals, prostitutes, and transgendered people of Central America are about to receive another boost from the Obama administration, which is expanding an HIV program initially launched during the William J. Clinton presidency. But chief among impediments to achieving U.S. policy goals in the region are “conservative gender norms related to sexuality and strong normative preference for heterosexuality,” a revised government planning document says. Organizations that help “Most-at-Risk Populations,” or MARPs, therefore, will be the beneficiaries of this Phase Two initiative, according to the revised Statement of Work detailing the Central America Project for a Sustainable Response to HIV, or PASCA II... [T]hanks to U.S.-taxpayer funded measures such as “condom and lubricant social marketing,” USAID already has helped spark behavior change among MARPs, the document explicitly says. Continue reading at WND... Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2013/12/u-s-slams-other-countries-for-conservative-gender-norms/#ht1I3VAPmVFEDf35.99 Read more at hRead more at http://www.wnd.com/2013/12/u-s-slams-other-countries-for-conservative-gender-norms/#ht1I3VAPmVFEDf35.99

Allegations of corruption, praise for terrorists not obstacles The U.S. government recently awarded a batch of contracts worth up to $300 million to Palestinian construction companies, including a firm targeted in a Palestinian Authority corruption probe. PA Prosecutor-General Ahmed al-Mughni, likewise, survived the investigation, having escaped a car-bomb assassination attempt related to his probe of Tarifi Contracting & Reconstruction Co., other companies and PA officials, the Jerusalem Post reported at the time. The chairman of Tarifi Contracting is H. E. Jamil Al Tarifi, the former PA civil affairs minister. At the time of the investigation, he reportedly co-owned the firm with his brother, Jamal, who currently is not listed on the company roster. Neither man was implicated in the assassination attempt. The Tarifi organization had come under fire for indirectly selling tens of thousands of tons of cement that the Israelis ultimately used in building the West Bank separation wall and settlements there and in Gaza. PA officials also were investigated for failing to collect taxes on the sale and import of the cement, which came from Egypt. Now the Obama administration, through the U.S. Agency for International Development, has awarded indefinite quantity contracts, or IQCs, to the Tarifi Company and five other Palestinian firms, according to procurement documents WND located via routine database research. Continued at WND.com...

Some interesting recent developments in US-funded projects to modernize the West Bank and Gaza, one with the specific goal of diverting tourists away from Israel and into Palestinian lands. USAID Contracts Start Flowing in $750 Million Palestinian Infrastructure Project U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor, Jan. 14, 2012 The first round of Palestinian infrastructure contracts worth upwards of $750 million was awarded this week by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The Infrastructure Needs Project Phase II (Solicitation #RFP294-2010-108), as the USAID endeavor is known, will help the Palestinians build or improve public works initially in the West Bank and, "if conditions permit, in Gaza" at a later time. (Continued) $58 Million USAID Contract to Help Steer Tourists Out of Israel and into West Bank, Gaza U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor, Jan. 7, 2012 A $58 million contract to foster Palestinian economic development -- which includes plans to help steer tourists away from Israel and into the West Bank and Gaza -- was awarded yesterday by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). (Continued)

The proposed Da Nang Airport clean-up project today took another step toward commencing, as the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) alerted potential contractors to a planned

As you struggle to put your children (and/or yourself) through school, ponder this article in today's WorldNetDaily

I hate to admit it, but look at what is going on in the Middle East, with citizens across numerous nations marching on their capitals and saying "Enough is enough!" (though the context of their situations is, of course, much different than what we face here in the US). I know I'm putting myself out on a limb here using that example, but my point is this: where do we draw the line, and how, as Christians, do we differentiate between getting bound up in worldly issues that otherwise should be avoided and the arguably immediate need to resist what may be tantamount to an ongoing series of robberies (or grand larcenies, at the very least) in progress?

If the article US to Infuse Technology and Equipment in Schools -- But Not Where You May Think doesn't get your blood boiling, you need to check your pulse. Even if you do not support public education in our nation, it would seem insane to take our precious tax dollars and send them overseas to support Middle Eastern ministries of education.

AP reports that the Israeli Air Force has destroyed facilities belonging to a primarily Christian-owned TV station in Lebanon, killing at least one employee. While Israel obviously has the right to defend itself, this growing attack on the entirety of Lebanese society is wrong, just plain wrong. It has been committing mass murder over the past week, and even has bombed Christian neighborhoods and now it's attacking media which has been critical of Hezbollah, not supportive. Are we Christians supposed to simply smile, wave an Israeli flag, and say, "Oh, well, after all, they're God's chosen people." http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/110...Television.html

Ladyc that is a good point. There may be some type of government funding for christian ministry, But I have never heard of it. I think if the government started funding it then they would probably want to start telling the preachers what they could and could not preach or say. About like seperation of church and state. It is best that the christian church backs the prison ministry so Gods word can be preached. The extent of this funding remains unclear. Despite the numerous contract solicitations I have discovered, I have not located any contract-award announcements; sometimes the absence of those announcements indicates sloppy bureacratic record-keeping, while other times it's a sign of excessive governmental secrecy and outright evasion of public scrutiny. While it is indeed possible that the various faith-services providers are being legitimately solicited -- and not necessarily placed on the government payroll -- it's clear that our tax dollars are at work to provide resources, staff, and management of these programs... programs that include Wiccan priests/priestesses and the interfaith get-togethers that the federal government is coordinating. Either way, I figured -- apparently correctly -- that my fellow Christians would want to know about the BOP's facilitation of Wiccan rituals and ecumenical events.

Did you know that the federal Bureau of Prisons is using your hard-earned tax dollars to hire a Wiccan priest or priestess, who will provide "spiritual" guidance to practitioners? The priest/priestess will provide these services as part of a federally funded ecumenical "tolerance" program in the nation's prison system. Check out Tax Dollars for Wicca, a recent piece I had written for The Master's Artist. The Master's Artist is "a group of writers striving for excellence in their craft while glorifying God's kingdom and edifying the Body of Christ. Please stop by each day for new musings, insights and opinions about being a child of God and writer."

Wayne, you scare me, as people such as yourself demand blind obedience and a lack of critical thinking when it come to the Bush White House. Here's some food for thought, speaking of the scary Right Wing: I Am A Conservative Christian, And The Religious Right Scares Me, Too By Chuck Baldwin December 15, 2004 For those readers who are unfamiliar with my biography (http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.sketch.html), let me here provide a thumbnail sketch of my conservative bona fides: I attended, graduated, or received degrees from fundamentalist Christian schools such as Midwestern Baptist College in Pontiac, Michigan, Thomas Road Bible Institute (now known as Liberty Bible Institute at Liberty University) in Lynchburg, Virginia, Christian Bible College in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, and Trinity Baptist College in Jacksonville, Florida. I am currently in my thirtieth year as the Senior Pastor of the Crossroad Baptist Church (Independent) in Pensacola, Florida. I was the Executive Director of the Florida Moral Majority in the early 1980's. I was an active member of the local Christian Coalition. I have marched and protested against abortion clinics. I have led several pro-life rallies and even led our church to construct A Memorial To Aborted Babies (http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/abortion_crosses.html). I have conducted small and large (some drawing crowds numbering in the thousands) pro-life, pro-family rallies and meetings in the Pensacola area and in many towns and cities across the state of Florida. When Ronald Reagan was running for President, I helped Dr. Jerry Falwell register more than fifty thousand new conservative voters in my state. I have attended White House functions with former President Reagan and former Vice President George H.W. Bush. I supported and defended Chief Justice Roy Moore and his fight to display a Ten Commandments monument at a pro-Ten Commandments rally in Montgomery, Alabama and even on national television. I am an annual member of the National Rifle Association and a life member of Gun Owners of America. I have been the featured speaker at several pro-Second Amendment rallies. No one can honestly question my commitment to pro-life, pro- family, conservative causes. That being said, the Religious Right, as it now exists, scares me. For one reason, on the whole, the Religious Right has obviously and patently become little more than a propaganda machine for the Republican Party in general and for President G.W. Bush in particular. This is in spite of the fact that both Bush and the Republican Party in Washington, D.C., have routinely ignored and even trampled the very principles which the Religious Right claims to represent. Therefore, no longer does the Religious Right represent conservative, Christian values. Instead, they represent their own self-serving interests at the expense of those values. It also appears painfully obvious to me that in order to sit at the king's table, the Religious Right is willing to compromise any principle, no matter how sacred. As such, it has become a hollow movement. Sadly, the Religious Right is now a movement without a cause, except the cause of advancing the Republican Party. Beyond that, the Religious Right is actively assisting those who would destroy our freedoms. On the whole, the Religious Right comports with those within the Bush administration and within the Republican Party who, in the name of "fighting terrorism," are actually terrorizing constitutional protections of our liberties. The Religious Right offered virtually no resistance to the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, the passage of the Patriot Act, or the recently created position of National Intelligence Director. Neither did the Religious Right offer even a whimper of protest as President Bush and Republicans in Congress created a first-ever national ID card in the new intelligence bill, which eerily has more in common with early Twentieth Century German and Russian intelligence institutions than anything envisioned by America's Founding Fathers. Another disconcerting feature of today's Religious Right is its attempt to Christianize political entities which it supports and to demonize political entities which it opposes. This trend is especially scary. When people are told that they are voting "Christian" by voting for Republican Party candidates, it is being intimated that they are voting non-Christian by voting for any other candidate. This is not only silly on its face, it is downright dangerous! I don't remember anyone saying people voted "Christian" when they elected the outspoken Christian candidate, Jimmy Carter, President. Yet, Carter, in his personal life, demonstrated as much, if not more, Christianity than does George W. Bush. If you recall, Carter even taught Sunday School in a Southern Baptist Church while President. However, in spite of the fact that President Bush and the Republican Party in Washington, D.C., have repeatedly supported copious unchristian (not to mention unconstitutional) programs and policies, Christians act as if Bush and his fellow Republicans have ushered in the Millennial Kingdom. More than that, the Religious Right appears to believe that G.W. Bush is the anointed vicar of Christ. But instead of wearing the garb of a religious leader, he wears the shroud of a politico and a military commander-in-chief. As such, in the minds of the Religious Right, Bush's war in Iraq is a holy crusade. America is fast taking on the shape of the old Holy Roman Empire and President Bush is quickly morphing into a modern day Caesar. The willingness of the Religious Right to give President Bush king-like subservience is easily seen in the way they demonize anyone who dares to oppose him. This is very unnerving. Are we heading for a modern day religious inquisition, this one led not by the Catholic Church but by the Religious Right? Are we witnessing the type of marriage between Church and State that America's founders originally feared? I used to believe that liberals were paranoid for being fearful of conservative Christians gaining political power. Now, I share their trepidation. Of course, the sad truth is, neither George W. Bush nor the Republican Party in Washington, D.C. represents genuine Christian or even conservative principles. If they did, they would take their oaths to the Constitution seriously and then neither liberals nor conservatives would have anything to fear, for the U.S. Constitution protects the rights and freedoms of all men. Unfortunately, when the seed of Bush's unconstitutional policies come to fruition, it will produce large scale fallout economically, socially, and politically. And sadder still will be that, instead of blaming Bush's infidelity to constitutional government and conservative principles, people will blame Christianity and conservatism itself. The result of this miscalculation will doubtless be a massive tide of support for more and greater unconstitutional government, but only under a different name. C Chuck Baldwin NOTE TO THE READER: Chuck Baldwin's commentaries are copyrighted and may be republished, reposted, or emailed providing the person or organization doing so does not charge for subscriptions or advertising and that the column is copied intact and that full credit is given and that Chuck's web site address is included. Editors or Publishers of publications charging for subscriptions or advertising who want to run these columns must contact Chuck Baldwin for permission. Radio or television Talk Show Hosts interested in scheduling an interview with Chuck should contact chuck@chuckbaldwinlive.com. Please visit Chuck's web site at http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com. When responding, please include your name, city and state. And, unless otherwise requested, all respondents will be added to the Chuck Wagon address list. To subscribe to these columns, send a message to majordomo@chuckbaldwinlive.com with the words subscribe chuck-wagon in the body of the message. To unsubscribe put the words unsubscribe chuck-wagon in the body of the message

Nice of you to accuse Sojourners of wanting to "re-interpret the Bible if given the chance." What exactly do you base that on (other than the fact they have a problem with US and British forces killing upwards of 100,000 innocent Iraqi civilians -- mainly women and children -- in the Bush Administration's megalomaniacal Foreverwar Against Evil?) Speaking of claims of no credibility, please review your example of one of SoJo's sponsors -- they sell Blessed Are the Peacemakers shirts & buttons, you say? Oh my goodness, call out the troops! These folks are quoting Jesus Christ and promoting his command to be peaceful! How dare they? By the way, I agree with you that the media's frequent use of the phrase religious right often is employed haphazardly. Then again, considering that so many of our fellow Christians are powerful right-wing Whores of Babylon or their deceived followers, there's good reason to identify various folks as belonging to such a wholesale category of Christians. You say that "this report might even be true but I can't just accept it as such from Sojourners until I've seen them with my own eyes." Perhaps you overlooked it, but the article -- of which I am the author -- contains a link at the end of it which takes your directly to the federal procurement database where I uncovered the "custom Bible" solicitation. Until -- and if -- the US Special Operations Command honors a Freedom of Information Act request that I have submitted, I cannot tell you which Pentagon Passages the new Bibles will contain. Despite this, in the meantime I find it baffling that thus far all responses on this board have taken a "so what"" approach to this latest, obvious attempt by the Bush administration to co-opt, manipulate and distort our Lord's message. It remains to be seen whether the Pentagon-provided text and images simply will show "biblical figures that did work that was similar to their own," as SuperJew inferred. Please, SuperJew, in preparation for what I hope will be the public release of the Special Ops Bibles, please give me a hint where the New Testament Gospels contain examples of such Christ-loving biblical figures. Oh, you found none, except for what possibly will be an exaggerated tie-in by DoD to an allegorical figure in Revelation? Yes, indeed, Doomsday approaches, and American Christians' (right-wing American Christians, that is) unique blending of militarism and nationalism with Faith likely will help usher in those Final Days. Long live King George and his soldiers of Peace!

Is anyone aware that the Dept. of Defense is ordering 10,000 "custom made" Bibles for the US Special Operations Command? The Bibles will contain DoD messages and images, and the International Bible Society is negotiating with the Pentagon to carry out this project. What's wrong with this picture? Click on the below link to read a brief article I wrote on the subject for the current edition of SoJo Mail, the online news update of Sojourners magazine. SoJo