Marilyn777

Does God Still Speak? Divine Revelation or Active Imagination The Bible is full of stories about God speaking to his people; stories about Moses, Noah, Paul, Job and the prophets to name a few. God spoke and there was no question about the source; no doubt that God was real and that they had come into his presence. What an awesome experience. Ever wish you were there? Through-out history many people have justified their actions by claiming

Humility Being humble is an act of worship. It is a falling before God and recognizing we are not"all that". False humility is accusing God of not being a good gift giver. We call Him a slob at giving good gifts and that is not worship at all. Maybe not directly but we've done it. There has been a lot of false humility around I've done some of it. Someone looks at me and says "You write great stuff" and I start to put it down or say something that turns it away. I don't know how to deal with it and I know I'm supposed to be humble and yet I feel that somewhere they are right and yet it conflicts with my supposing to be humble so I argue with myself and then I get it wrong anyway. The problem is not whether we are good at what we do or not. The problem is that we mistake gifts with the Giver and humility with acceptance of our purpose. Being Humble is not saying that we do a bad job with what is given us to do. Being humble is remembering who the Giver is and where the gift came from. Being humble is receiving the praise of others with grace and then passing the praise we receive to the One who gave us the gift. Being humble is remembering "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" while also remembering that our works are "as filthy rags" on their own. See what I mean? It's who you are connected to that counts. It's not that we are supposed to be bad at what we do or that we are to be good at it and then put it down. We should be the best at what we do and then lift Him up for it. We are supposed to be good at it. Not arrogant, and not full of ourselves, not conceited, not big headed. We are to do our best and then in grace and love remind folks who the giver of such a great gift is. God is it. He is the center, the giver, the supplier. Humility is also using our best to help others, not for self promotion but for other-encouragement. IF we are gonna bless others in God's name then we had better be doing it with excellence. God deserves our best. If we are a doctor or nurse, I don't want an arrogant fool in my face but I do want someone who thinks, lives, breathes medicine and cares deeply about doing their best and doing it right. How much more for the souls of those around us that depend on us to do our best for eternities sake, for God's sake. This is worship. Worship from the heart Worship from the depths of God's gifts placed in our hands Worship that goes beyond the boundaries. True worship. Be humble before our God today but be grateful for what He has placed in our hands. What He calls good we should never call bad. Be teachable See Him as Lord of all Use what He gave us for others Do not hold onto it as if it is all ours These are the true essence of humility.

CHRISTIAN EMBASSY HOSTS 4,000 VISITORS AT 25TH ANNIVERSARY FEAST GATHERING: $10 Million for Economy, 15,000 Hotel Room-Nights PRIME MINISTER SHARON TO APPEAR SUNDAY, OCT. 2, 7:30 PM Toronto, Sept. 29 - Over 4,000 Christians from more than 80 nations will arrive in Jerusalem over the next week to take part in the 25th

Then why did you even post here? I know most of you don't believe that Samhaine(sic) is as evil as some of us think but it is. Those that end up in hell don't believe they are going, some don't even believe that it exists. The fact they don't believe does not change the fact that it does exist. This is not to try to take away fun, just save you some pain. In Love Larry T. Hey Lar I don't think that was spoken in love, do you? Sounded more like a rebuke to me, maybe you should apologise that wasn't very Christian of you. I think she had every right to post here and express her opinion, isn't that what its all about? Maybe next time before you hit the post this message button ask Jesus if that is What He Would Do!! Just a suggestion - in love. If you cannot stand the fire don't come in the kitchen. LT Hey LT No fire here in my kitchen! Besides I've been in some pretty hot kitchens in the past, and I didn't get out of them without God's help! And I don't tend to burn things. But I try 'real' hard to think before I speak. Because once the words are out there you can't take em back. Ya see what I'm saying? 'In Love' Marilyn

Oh my gosh people don't do that here do they? Its a 'Christian' board!

Then why did you even post here? I know most of you don't believe that Samhaine(sic) is as evil as some of us think but it is. Those that end up in hell don't believe they are going, some don't even believe that it exists. The fact they don't believe does not change the fact that it does exist. This is not to try to take away fun, just save you some pain. In Love Larry T. Hey Lar I don't think that was spoken in love, do you? Sounded more like a rebuke to me, maybe you should apologise that wasn't very Christian of you. I think she had every right to post here and express her opinion, isn't that what its all about? Maybe next time before you hit the post this message button ask Jesus if that is What He Would Do!! Just a suggestion - in love.

:suspect: we shall see!

I haven't seen one moderator or chat admin or George who let their responsibilties go to their head...and I have been here over a year and moderating since February. If anything, they are the most humble and sincere saints of God that I have come across anywhere. I am blessed to be a small part of this ministry and thank God daily. Respectfully I disagree but I do understand your hurt and confusion. May I suggest the following. Lift your heart and eyes to the Lord Jesus Christ and search for the TRUTH through HIM in these matters and all matters for that sake. Read the book of Proverbs and allow the Lord to direct your path and give you understanding. I would quote much of it for you but it is better for the Lord to draw you where He wants. We cannot and will not disclose those things that you refer to. All I can suggest as with everything in life we have to decide who and what we will believe. If you have an issue with a specific "behind the scenes" person, PM them. Just remember...you may not know the entire story and may never until the day Jesus Christ returns for His Bride. Be Blessed, Wayne I fully expected you to respond this way. As they say there are two sides to every story and yours is just one. And you have every right to defend your friends, as I do with mine. So lets just leave it at that. For me a lot of trust that I had for certain people here has now disappeared. But I still have a lot of friends here whom I enjoy talking to so from now on I'm just going to watch what I say and cover myself in prayer. We all make decisions that we have to live with. God Bless Marilyn

Oh please! You don't have a clue as to why these people that were part of the foundation of this board left. Things are happening here behind the scenes that have caused alot of pain and grief for these people. So before you criticize people so freely maybe you should not say anything unless you have all the facts! Good grief I couldn't believe your flippant attitude towards some of the best people that you will ever meet. I really believe we should think it through before we post something because you never know when you are hurting someone!

Unfortunately not everyone on this board is practicing compassion and forgiveness. Some are 'choosing' to walk and act in self instead of in the Lord. And they will answer for that one day. I hope you are listening to that still small voice called your conscience and you will make amens before it goes too far. I think you know who you are. Search your hearts and do the right thing. Alot of people have been hurt for no reason and I really think you need to ask yourselves right now--- "What Would Jesus Do?" Marilyn777 why post this here? if you have something to say to the individual why don't you PM them? This is a forgiveness thread. does your post promote forgiveness? or does it seek to impart blame? All Praise The Ancient Of Days Adstar with all due respect there are alot of of people behind the scenes here that unfortunately have let their responsibilities go to their heads. Some have already left because of the backbiting, gossip and harsh words including the one who started this topic. I think this thread is more then appropriate for posting this. There are some that are posting in this topic that are wolves in sheep's clothing they say one thing publicly and do the opposite behind the scenes. There needs to be some serious soul searching done here before any more leave. People have been hurt needlessly and in some cases beyond repair. Anytime someone is hurt by a brother or sister in Christ is someone that does not represent Christ. There needs to be some atoning done, in some cases its too late but maybe not for anyone. I don't see how you can stand before God with a clean heart when your words were spoken in anger. And it wasn't righteous anger. I am trying to be fair here, but some of you and you know who you are, make it very difficult to see this as a Spirit filled Christian board when some of our dear saints have been asked to leave or have left because of other's unchristian behaviour. I just recommended this board to a friend of mine, but after thinking it through I'm going to have to tell her that maybe this is not the right place for her after-all. If the 'behind the scenes' people cannot admit when they have made a mistake and seek to make things right with their brothers and sisters then how can they be trusted at all. What kind of witness is that to our young brothers and sisters in Lord, and especially those that are seeking the Lord. You can post and council all you like but if you don't walk the talk then maybe you should step down, do some soul searching and some fence mending. Apologies and forgiveness are two of the hardest things a Christian can ask for or receive, but it is a necessary part of the constant pruning the Holy Spirit does as He refines us. And it sure would be an incredible witness to the rest of us here to see that humbleness come forth. Of course these are just my opinions, so do with them as you will. In Jesus Name Marilyn

Unfortunately not everyone on this board is practicing compassion and forgiveness. Some are 'choosing' to walk and act in self instead of in the Lord. And they will answer for that one day. I hope you are listening to that still small voice called your conscience and you will make amens before it goes too far. I think you know who you are. Search your hearts and do the right thing. Alot of people have been hurt for no reason and I really think you need to ask yourselves right now--- "What Would Jesus Do?"

Yod I think thats the most emotion I've ever seen you express, I was beginning to worry about you! :oww: Its usually just one or two word answers. You actually had a paragraph.

Did early Christians dance in church? Was dance ever a part of worship in the apostolic church or throughout the first few centuries? As far as I can tell from my research, dance was not part of worship in the early church. Jewish culture featured dancing at weddings and the Feast of Tabernacles, and of course there are numerous references to David dancing in the Old Testament, but such dancing was spontaneous and celebratory, not liturgical. As a result, early Christians from Jewish backgrounds probably lacked a tradition of dance during formal worship. Dancing only appears in the New Testament in two contexts: Herod's banquet (Mark 6:21-22, with disastrous results for John the Baptist) and the celebration of the Prodigal Son's return (Luke 15:22-27). By contrast, dance played a prominent role in many pagan cults, such as the orgiastic cult of Dionysius. Because early Christians in no way wished to be associated with such rites, they most likely avoided dancing in church, though their intense, sometimes ecstatic worship (see Acts 2:43, 1 Cor. 14:26 for examples) may well have included motions of some sort. Christians avoided social dancing, too, as it was usually associated with drinking and sexual immorality in Roman culture. The church fathers paint a generally bleak view of dancing but do not wholly preclude sacred dance. Clement of Alexandria, writing circa 195, interpreted Old Testament Scriptures in such a way as to excise reference to literal dancing: " 'Praise with the timbrel and the dance.' This refers to the church meditating on the resurrection of the dead in the resounding skin." Commodius, writing around 240, associated dancing with worldliness: "You are rejecting the law when you wish to please the world. You dance in your houses. Instead of psalms, you sing love songs." Cyprian, though, writing about a decade later, makes some distinction between godly and ungodly dance: "The fact that David led the dances in the presence of God is no sanction for faithful Christians to occupy seats in the public theater. For David did not twist his limbs about in obscene movements. He did not depict in his dancing the story of Grecian lust."

It will be conceded that every man's first duty is to God; it will also be conceded, and with strong emphasis, that a Christian's first duty is to God. It then follows, as a matter of course, that it is his duty to carry his Christian code of morals to the polls and vote them. Whenever he shall do that, he will not find himself voting for an unclean man, a dishonest man. Whenever a Christian votes, he votes against God or for Him, and he knows this quite well. God is an issue in every election; He is a candidate in the person of every clean nominee on every ticket; His purity and His approval are there, to be voted for or voted against, and no fealty to party can absolve His servant from his higher and more exacting fealty to Him; He takes precedence of party, duty to Him is above every claim of party. If Christians should vote their duty to God at the polls, they would carry every election, and do it with ease. They would elect every clean candidate in the United States, and defeat every soiled one. Their prodigious power would be quickly realized and recognized, and afterward there would be no unclean candidates upon any ticket, and graft would cease. No church organization can be found in the country that would elect men of foul character to be its shepherd, its treasurer, and superintendent of its Sunday-school. It would be revolted at the idea; it would consider such an election an insult to God. Yet every Christian congregation in the country elects foul men to public office, while quite aware that this also is an open and deliberate insult to God, who can not approve and does not approve the placing of the liberties and the well-being of His children in the hands of infamous men. It is the Christian congregations that are responsible for the filling of our public offices with criminals, for the reason that they could prevent it if they chose to do it. They could prevent it without organizing a league, without framing a platform, without making any speeches or passing any resolutions -- in a word, without concert of any kind. They could accomplish it by each individual resolving to vote for God at the polls -- that is to say, vote for the candidate whom God would approve. Can a man imagine such a thing as God being a Republican or a Democrat, and voting for a criminal or a blackguard merely because party loyalty required it? Then can we imagine that a man can improve upon God's attitude in this matter, and by help of professional politicians invent a better policy? God has no politics but cleanliness and honesty, and it is good enough for men. . If the Christians of America could be persuaded to vote God and a clean ticket, it would bring about a moral revolution that would be incalculably beneficent. It would save the country -- a country whose Christians have betrayed it and are destroying it.

'Saint Bill Clinton' ignites religious rage ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- While Americans have a wide range of views regarding former President Bill Clinton, a Kentucky artist's depiction of the former commander in chief as God himself or a Catholic-style saint is raising those opinions to passionate levels across the nation. The portrait, titled "Saint Clinton," is the creation of Scott Ritcher, a 34-year-old graphic designer who is now marketing T-shirts, posters, magnets, coffee cups, coasters and even lunchboxes with the picture reminiscent of the "Sacred Heart of Jesus" images. "It was one of those creative moments where you're just like, 'Oh, wouldn't this be funny,'" Ritcher told WLKY-TV in Louisville. "It's intended to amuse and entertain people. It's not intended to offend anybody." But offend people it has, as a local Catholic school has already banned the artwork from its campus. With news of the artwork spreading online, comments are finding their way onto Internet messageboards. Among them: "This is the most sickening and revolting thing I've ever seen. It is the basest form of sacrilege

Video on Web Site Shows Beheading of Man ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - A video posted Monday on a Web site showed the beheading of a man identified as American construction contractor Eugene Armstrong. The militant group led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi claimed responsiblity for the slaying and said another hostage - either an American or a Briton - would be killed in 24 hours. In other violence, gunmen in Baghdad assassinated two clerics from a powerful Sunni Muslim group opposed to the U.S. presence in Iraq. U.S. warplanes struck in the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah, killing two people, and a car bomb in the north - the 32nd car bomb in Iraq this month - killed three people. Insurgents attacked a U.S. patrol, killing an American soldier, near Sharqat, 168 miles north of Baghdad. The video of the beheading surfaced soon after the expiration of a 48-hour deadline set earlier by al-Zarqawi's Tawhid and Jihad group for the beheading of the three employees of a construction company abducted Thursday in Baghdad - Armstrong, American Jack Hensley and Briton Kenneth Bigley. A militant whose voice resembled al-Zarqawi read a statement in the video saying the next hostage would be killed in 24 hours unless all Muslim women prisoners are released from U.S. military jails. "You, sister, rejoice. God's soldiers are coming to get you out of your chains and restore your purity by returning you to your mother and father," he said before grabbing the hostage, seated at his feet, and cutting his throat. In Washington, a U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Armstrong's body had been recovered, but the official would provide no information about where or when it had been recovered. The taped beheading appears to be of Armstrong, but the CIA is still reviewing the tape to be sure, the official said. The 9-minute tape, posted on a Web site used by Islamic militants, showed a man seated on the floor, blindfolded and wearing an orange jumpsuit with his hands bound behind his back. Five militants dressed in black stood behind him, four of them armed with assault rifles, with a black Tawhid and Jihad banner on the wall. The militant in the center read out a statement, as the hostage rocked back and forth and side to side where he sat. After finishing, the militant pulled a knife and cut his throat until the head was severed. The victim gasped loudly as blood poured from his neck. His killer held up the head at one point, and placed the head on top of the body "The fate of the first infidel was cutting off the head before your eyes and ears. You have a 24-hour opportunity. Abide by our demand in full and release all the Muslim women, otherwise the head of the other will follow this one," the speaker said. Tawhid and Jihad - Arabic for "Monotheism and Holy War" - has claimed responsibility for at least six hostages, including Armstrong and another American, Nicholas Berg, who was abducted in April. The group has also said it is behind a number of bombings and gun attacks. In a video Saturday setting the 48-hour deadline, the militants demanded the release of female Iraqi prisoners detained by the U.S. military. The military says it is holding two women as security detainees in Iraq, including Dr. Rihab Rashid Taha, a scientist who became known as "Dr. Germ" for helping Iraq make weapons out of anthrax. The militant on the video called President Bush "a dog" and addressed him, saying, "Now, you have people who love death just like you love life. Killing for the sake of God is their best wish, getting to your soldiers and allies are their happiest moments, and cutting the heads of the criminal infidels is implementing the orders of our lord." Armstrong grew up in Hillsdale, Mich., but left the area around 1990. His brother, Frank, still lives there. Armstrong's work in construction took him around the world; he lived in Thailand with his wife before going to Iraq. The other American hostage, Jack Hensley, 48, made his home in Marietta, Ga., with his wife Patty and their 13-year-old daughter. Kidnapped with the Americans was Briton Kenneth Bigley, 62. All three worked for Gulf Services Co. of the United Arab Emirates. Armstrong's slaying came on the heels of the beheading - apparently by another group of Sunni insurgents - of three Kurdish militiamen taken hostage in the north. More than 100 foreigners have been kidnapped in Iraq, some for lucrative ransoms, and at least 26 of them have been executed. At least five other Westerners are currently being held hostage here, including an Iraqi-American man, two female Italian aid workers and two French reporters. Kidnappers released a group of 18 abducted Iraqi National Guard members after renegade Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr called for their release, an al-Sadr aide Nail al-Kabi told The Associated Press. Earlier, U.S. warplanes struck in Fallujah, where they have frequently attacked hideouts of the Tawhid and Jihad. Doctors reported three people killed. The U.S military said the strike hit equipment militants were using to build fortifications in the city and that care was taken that "no innocent civilians" were there at the time. Doctors said the dead were municipal workers using a bulldozer on construction projects near the railway station. In the northern city of Mosul, a car packed with explosives blew up in a residential neighborhood, killing its two passengers and a passer-by, police at Al-Salaam hospital said. Police had been searching for the vehicle, which was reported stolen earlier Monday. It was not immediately known who was behind the gunning-down of two Sunni clerics Sunday night and Monday in Baghdad. The two clerics belonged to the Association of Muslim Scholars, a grouping of conservative clerics that opposes the U.S. presence in Iraq and has emerged as a powerful representative of Iraq's Sunni minority. The association is believed to have contacts with Sunni insurgents, though it denies any links with them. It has interceded often in the past to win the release of foreign hostages, and militant groups have asked the association for a religious ruling on whether kidnappings and killing of hostages are permitted. Gunmen shot and killed Sheik Mohammed Jadoa al-Janabi, a member of the association, as he entered a mosque in Baghdad's predominantly Shiite al-Baya neighborhood to perform noon prayers Monday, the association said. The previous night, gunmen kidnapped Sheik Hazem al-Zeidi and two of his bodyguards as he left a mosque in another largely Shiite neighborhood of Baghdad, Sadr City. Al-Zeidi was killed and the bodyguards were released Monday, the association said. A few clerics from the association have been killed in the past - most recently in February. But the motives in those and the latest slayings have been unclear. There have been tit-for-tat killings of Shiite and Sunni clerics in the past year, widely believed to be motivated by sectarian sentiments. The Sunni minority dominated Iraq for centuries but is now eclipsed by the Shiite majority and the Kurds, and there are resentments from all sides. One of the association's key members, Sheik Ahmed Abdul-Ghafour Al-Samarie, may have angered insurgents by criticizing attacks against Iraqi police that left dozens dead last week. Al-Samarie said the attacks should instead be directed against foreign troops - not Iraqi civilians. The group may have also raised the ire of the militants by failing to act as yet on calls to issue a fatwa, or religious edict, sanctioning the kidnapping of foreigners.

Mussels near North Pole hint at warmer Earth -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The blue mussels, which normally favor warmer waters like off France or the eastern United States, were discovered last month off Norway's Svalbard archipelago in waters that are covered with ice most of the year. "The climate is changing fast," said Geir Johnsen, a professor at the Norwegian University for Science and Technology who was among experts who found the bivalves. Mollusks were a "very good indicator that the climate is warming," he said. "It seems like the mussels we found are two to three years old," he told Reuters. Such shellfish have not been recorded off the islands since Viking times 1,000 years ago during another warm period. U.N. scientists say the Arctic is now warming faster than any other region because of human emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases released from burning fossil fuels in cars, factories and power plants. As the white ice and snow melts, it exposes darker ground or water that soaks up heat and so accelerates warming compared to regions further south. By comparison, ice in Antarctica is thicker and acts as a deep freeze resisting global warming. Inuit peoples in Canada, for instance, are seeing robins for the first time and hunters are falling through previously solid sea ice. In Scandinavia, birch trees are moving northwards into previously icy areas used for reindeer herding. The scientists monitoring Svalbard also said they had found seas free of ice further north than for 250 years at one point this summer. "The climate has been warming," said Bjorn Gulliksen, a professor at the University of Svalbard. "The ice limit...has not been as far north since 1751."

Chicago moving to 'smart' surveillance cameras ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Cameras are the equivalent of hundreds of sets of eyes," Daley said when he unveiled the new project this month. "They're the next best thing to having police officers stationed at every potential trouble spot." Police specialists here can already monitor live footage from about 2,000 surveillance cameras around the city, so the addition of 250 cameras under the mayor's new plan is not a great jump. The way these cameras will be used, however, is an extraordinary technological leap. Sophisticated new computer programs will immediately alert the police whenever anyone viewed by any of the cameras placed at buildings and other structures considered terrorist targets wanders aimlessly in circles, lingers outside a public building, pulls a car onto the shoulder of a highway, or leaves a package and walks away from it. Images of those people will be highlighted in color at the city's central monitoring station, allowing dispatchers to send police officers to the scene immediately. Officials here designed the system after studying the video surveillance network in London, which became a world leader in this technology during the period when Irish terrorists were active. The Chicago officials also studied systems used in Las Vegas casinos, as well as those used by Army combat units. The system they have devised, they say, will be the most sophisticated in the United States and perhaps the world. "What we're doing is a totally new concept," said Ron Huberman, executive director of the city's office of emergency management and communications. "This is a very innovative way to harness the power of cameras. It's going to take us to a whole new level." Many cities have installed large numbers of surveillance cameras along streets and near important buildings, but as the number of these cameras has grown, it has become impossible to monitor all of them. The software that will be central to Chicago's surveillance system is designed to direct specialists to screens that show anything unusual happening. Huberman, a 32-year-old former police officer who is also what one aide called a "techno geek," said this new system "should produce a significant decrease in crime, and from a homeland security standpoint it should be able to make our city safer." When the system is in place, Huberman said, video images will be instantly available to dispatchers at the city's 911 emergency center, which receives about 18,000 calls each day. Dispatchers will be able to tilt or zoom the cameras, some of which magnify images up to 400 times, in order to watch suspicious people and follow them from one camera's range to another's. A spokesman for the Illinois chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, Edwin C. Yohnka, said the new system was "really a huge expansion of the city's surveillance program." "With the aggressive way these types of surveillance equipment are being marketed and implemented," Yohnka said, "it really does raise questions about what kind of society do we ultimately want, and how intrusive we want law enforcement officials to be in all of our lives." The surveillance network will embrace cameras placed not only by the police department, but also by a variety of city agencies including the transit, housing and aviation authorities. Private companies that maintain their own surveillance of areas around their buildings will also be able to send their video feeds to the central control room that is being built at a fortified city building. The 250 new cameras, along with the new system that dispatchers will use to monitor them, are to be in place by the spring of 2006. A $5.1 million federal grant will be used to pay for the cameras, and the city will add $3.5 million to pay for the computer network that will connect them. This project is a central part of Chicago's response to the threat of terrorism, as well as an effort to reduce the city's crime rate. It also subjects people here to extraordinary levels of surveillance. Anyone walking in public is liable to be almost constantly watched. "The value we gain in public safety far outweighs any perception by the community that this is Big Brother who's watching," Huberman said. "The feedback we're getting is that people welcome this. It makes them feel safer." One community organizer who works in a high-crime neighborhood, Ernest R. Jenkins, chairman of the West Side Association for Community Action, said the 2,000 cameras now in place had reduced crime and were "having an impact, no if's, and's or but's about it." Nonetheless, Jenkins said, some people in Chicago believed the city was trying to "infiltrate people's privacy in the name of terrorist attacks." "I just personally think that it's an invasion of people's privacy," Jenkins said of the new video surveillance project. "A large increase in the utilization of these cameras would oversaturate the market." City officials counter that the cameras will monitor only public spaces. Rather than curb the system's future expansion, they have raised the possibility of placing cameras in commuter and rapid transit cars and on the city's street-sweeping vehicles. "We're not inside your home or your business," Mayor Daley said. "The city owns the sidewalks. We own the streets and we own the alleys."

Airlines Told to Turn Over Passenger Data ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WASHINGTON (AP) - The Transportation Security Administration announced on Tuesday that it will order domestic airlines to turn over personal information about passengers to test a system that will compare their names to those on terrorist watch lists. The system, called Secure Flight, replaces a previous plan that would have checked passenger names against commercial databases and assigned a risk level to each. That plan, which cost $103 million, was abandoned because of privacy concerns and technological issues. The airlines will have 30 days to comment on the proposed order, which Congress gave the TSA authority to issue. Air carriers will then have 10 days to turn over data that it gathered in June, called passenger name records. The amount of data in passenger name records varies by airline, but it typically includes name, flight origin, flight destination, flight time, duration of flight and form of payment. It can also include credit card numbers, address, telephone number and meal requests, which can indicate a person's ethnicity. Justin Oberman, who heads the office that's developing Secure Flight, said he hopes that the program can be implemented by mid to late spring. He said he expects the airlines to cooperate. "We are going to work very closely with them," Oberman said. The TSA will also conduct a limited test in which they'll compare passenger names with information from commercial databases to see if they can be used to detect fraud or identity theft.

Michigan Family of Slain U.S. Contractor in Iraq Prays for Other Hostages ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A video posted Monday on a Web site showed the decapitation of a man identified as contractor Eugene Armstrong. Armstrong and two other construction workers, American Jack Hensley and Briton Kenneth Bigley, were abducted Thursday. "This is what we did not want to hear," Armstrong's family said in a statement. The militant group led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi claimed responsibility for the slaying of Armstrong and said another hostage - either an American or a Briton - would be killed in 24 hours. In the statement Monday, Cyndi Armstrong, a cousin by marriage, remembered Armstrong, known as Jack, as "a good guy" who "didn't like to stay in one place. He loved to travel." She said his family was praying for Hensley, Bigley and their families. Armstrong's cousin, Rick Gamber, said on NBC's "Today Show" Tuesday that Armstrong was trying to do good in Iraq but had mentioned the danger and "knew that he was being watched." "I would just hope that people would realize this isn't something that there should be retaliation for," Gamber said. "Our family feels a great deal of grief. We hope the criminals are brought to justice, but we certainly don't want people to overreact and do something foolish." Armstrong's brother Frank received a call Thursday from the FBI to identify his 52-year-old brother on an earlier videotape from the kidnappers, according to the Detroit Free Press. "It's been hard for me and my family," Frank Armstrong told the newspaper Monday from his home in Osseo, near Hillsdale. During a prayer vigil, two ministers addressed a crowd in front of the courthouse on the small city's main street. Yellow ribbons adorned the building's bannister and trees around it, and many in the crowd carried American flags. Donna Mackay did not know Armstrong or his family, but tears shone in her eyes as she explained that she and two friends had organized the prayer vigil before they learned of the hostage's death. "We wanted to show the family we support them," said Mackay, 53. Across the street from the court, homemade banners consoled: "Our prayers are with you," and "Our nation mourns your loss." The vigil featured hymns such as "Amazing Grace," patriotic songs and the Pledge of Allegiance. "He was a member of our community. It's such a tragedy, so shocking. How can we ever understand why anybody would do this?" said Jan Tesch, 59. Armstrong grew up in Hillsdale, about 100 miles southwest of Detroit, but left the area around 1990. His construction work took him around the world; he lived in Thailand with his wife before going to Iraq. Gamber said his cousin had also worked on construction projects in Angola and Bosnia. "I don't know that he ever had second thoughts about it," Gamber said. "I think certainly those of us in the family would have much preferred that Jack had this out of his system and had stayed away from there, but he's somebody who once he committed himself to do something wasn't someone to turn back on it." In Marietta, Ga., home of the other American held, friends and neighbors were seen approaching the Hensley home Monday and giving notes to a police officer posted outside. Two children, schoolmates of the Hensleys' daughter, Sara, arrived in the afternoon with a stack of cards and messages. Many of the cards were from members of the Pine Mountain Middle School band and orchestra, said one of the children, 13-year-old Alex Davis. He said Sara was a band member. One of the cards, written in blue marker on computer paper, read, "Sara I'm sorry your dad went overseas but trust in God he will watch over you." Speaking on CNN's "NewsNight With Aaron Brown," Patty Hensley, wife of Jack Hensley, said she was "devastated" to hear of Armstrong's death: "He was one of my husband's best friends and best co-workers and I know his family is terribly devastated at this point." "I'm making another attempt at pleading with these captors to please open communications with us again so that we can perhaps come to some agreement on what it is exactly they want and perhaps how those needs can be met," she said.

al Qaeda is moving ahead with plans for a major, "spectacular" attack -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. intelligence agencies concluded recently that al Qaeda -- fearing its credibility is on the line -- is moving ahead with plans for a major, "spectacular" attack, despite disruptions of some operations by recent arrests in Britain and Pakistan. Officials said recent intelligence assessments of the group, which is blamed for the September 11 attacks, state that an attack is coming and that the danger will remain high until the Nov. 2 elections and last until Inauguration Day on Jan. 20. "They [al Qaeda] think their credibility is on the line because there hasn't been a major attack since 9/11," said one official familiar with intelligence reports on the group. A second official said: "There isn't reason to believe that the recent arrests have disrupted their plans." Authorities in Pakistan and Britain recently arrested key al Qaeda leaders, but the group uses tight "compartmentation" of its operations. The process, used by intelligence services, keeps information about operations within small "cells" of terrorists to protect secrecy. Thus, details of the possible attack remain murky, but analysts say it is planned to be bigger and deadlier than the September 11 attacks, which killed 3,000 people. Potential targets include the White House, Pentagon, U.S. Capitol and congressional buildings, as well as landmarks and business centers in New York, the officials said. The officials said that there is no specific information about targets. Intelligence officials say a key figure in al Qaeda's North American operations is Adnan Shukrijumah, who is being sought by the FBI for the past several years. One official said Shukrijumah recently was seen in Mexico and earlier had been in Canada near a university with a nuclear reactor, leading to concerns that he was seeking radioactive material for a radiological bomb. The Mexican newspaper Proceso, quoting Mexican officials, reported earlier this month that Shukrijumah was being sought in northeastern Mexico after being tracked to Sonora in August. Acting CIA Director John McLaughlin told a Senate hearing last month that al Qaeda's ability to keep its operations secret is a "strategic weapon." Mr. McLaughlin told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the group "compartments secrets down to a handful of people in a cave somewhere." "It's very well-documented in the 9/11 report how few people knew about that," he said Aug. 17. "They use secrecy as a strategic weapon. It's a strategic weapon for them because it asymmetrically works against us because we don't keep secrets very well." Several key arrests of al Qaeda members were made over the past several months in Britain and Pakistan. One major intelligence "break" was the arrest in June of Musaad Aruchi, who was captured in Karachi. Aruchi was a senior al Qaeda member who provided information that led to other key arrests within weeks. The arrest of Aruchi, a nephew of September 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, provided U.S. and Pakistani intelligence and security officials with information that led to further arrests, including that of Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, a Tanzanian linked by U.S. intelligence to the August 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Along with Ghailani, U.S. and Pakistani authorities also arrested another al Qaeda member, Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan, a Pakistani, who was picked up in Lahore on July 13. Khan was seized along with a laptop computer that had information on al Qaeda planning and operations. The computer did not contain specific information about plans for a major attack in the United States, but the information did lead to the raising of the national terrorism alert levels in Washington and New York. Eisa al-Hindi, an al Qaeda leader in Britain, was arrested after the arrest of Khan. Al-Hindi was arrested in London Aug. 3 along with 12 other suspected al Qaeda members.

Heinz Kerry: Hurricane Victims Should Just 'Go Naked' ---------------------------------------------------------------- Teresa Heinz Kerry, wife of Democratic presidential nominee John F. Kerry, commented Wednesday about victims of Hurricane Ivan in a visit to the Caribbean community in Brooklyn. Heinz Kerry observed the efforts by the people there to assist Caribbean families who were ravaged by the damaging winds of rain from the hurricane. She even interacted with the Haitian vendors speaking in French and met with many of the volunteers who were loading the food and clothes for the Caribbean islands. The Kerry campaign donated water, blankets, and some emergency medical kits to send to the victims. "I think it's important we help all the kids we can," Heinz Kerry said at a local market. Tens of thousands of families were completely devastated by Hurricane Ivan as it came through the Caribbean islands last week, including leaving 60 percent of the population of Granada homeless and without food or water. Responding to this, Heinz Kerry shared her opinion that the Caribbean needs water and food more than they need clothing. "Clothing is wonderful, but let them go naked for a while, at least the kids," Heinz Kerry exclaimed. "Water is necessary, and then generators, and then food, and then clothes." As reported by Talon News last Friday, Heinz Kerry characterized opponents of Kerry's $900 billion universal health care plan as "idiots." "Only an idiot wouldn't like this," Heinz Kerry stated last week. ( I am not accepting any ketchup jokes at this time) :oww:

Sick doesn't even begin to cover it Cajun! We are talking the pit of hell here, but its just a sign of the times. Wickness and debuchery rule the world.

A few years ago here in Ontario Canada we had a very hot summer, some women decided to go topless. They were arrested. That began a summer of protests and marches and court battles finally I believe it was in February or March the courts decided that it was completely legal for women in Ontario to go topless. I must say the majority of men were kicking up their heels in glee when the ruling came down. But since it has now become legal the excitement had worn off, the media is gone and I have yet to see any woman on the beaches here actually go topless. So was it worth all the marches and protests in the end. I say no, just a waste of taxpayers money.

IMO Nugent is one sick puppy! I'd take Hank a million times over the Nug. (Oh good grief did I really say that about Hank! :x: ) But I'd much rather have the CANDY!! :oww: