Sunday, November 18, 2007

Somebody Call the Guiness Book

Late last twelvemonth when his three-year term was coming to an end, Earl Of Warwick Morris, the British Ambassador to Korea, asked his authorities for a one-year extension so that he could remain to see through the presidential election. He will now go forth Korean Peninsula in late January as he wished. He must be pleased with his decision. The Economist magazine have described the presidential race as a "kaleidoscope." A diplomatist at the American Embassy in Capital Of South Korea said in a private meeting recently, "The election political campaign is like a salesroom -- showing anything that tin possibly go on in an election."

John C. Turmel is a perennial campaigner in Canada, and the holder of the Alec Guinness Book of Records lists for the most elections contested and the most elections lost.

Turmel, 56, have so far lost 66 federal and provincial elections in a political calling he began at age 28. But his record, a mere repeat of yearly campaigns, is negligible compared with the Korean presidential race. It is so prevailing with records that the Alec Guinness Book might see gap a new chapter just for the 17th presidential election in Korea.

First, United New Democratic Party flooring leader Kim Hyo-seuk said not long ago that intuitions about Thousand National Party campaigner Spike Lee Myung-bak's engagement in wrong-doings mightiness be suitable for the Alec Guinness Book. So mightiness the opinion party's negative campaigning. Despite their busy schedules, UNDP lawmakers are preoccupied with trying to delve up soil from Lee's past or to slander him.

The GNP's defensive attitudes might also be suitable for the Alec Guinness Book. A record figure of lawyers are now working for the resistance party. The leading listing of legal guns even wowed Kim Kyung-jun, Lee's former concern spouse and the ex-chief of investing house BBK and premier suspect in the BBK scandal. Kim was extradited to Capital Of South Korea last Friday. There is no election in the human race that have no negative campaigning. But there can be nil like the current election in Korean Peninsula that began with mudslinging and have continued with mudslinging as well.

Second, the opinion political party have merged with other political groupings within the broader opinion encampment three times, and founded new political parties or changed its name four modern modern times since May. It have called itself the United Centrist Reform Party, the United Centrist Democratic Party, the United New Democratic Party, and now the United Democratic Party. This must be a new record for how frequently a political party can change its name in such as a short period.

Last month, gross national product president Kang Jae-sup said in mention to the opinion camp's enlisting of shade voters and the illegal usage of President Roh Moo-hyun's name for its primary that such as ugly patterns are suitable for the Alec Guinness Book of Records. So leadership of both the opinion and the resistance encampments have got criticized each other for being suitable for the records book.

Third, polling agencies, which are normally supposed to bring forth mention information about elector trends, have got been turned into election agencies. In August, the gross national product employed sentiment polls to assist find its primary winner, using a 20% expression to convert responses from 5,490 surveyed people into 32,724 ballots.

The United Democratic Party will bring forth a single united candidate, either Chung Dong-young Oregon Rhee In-je, based on the consequences of a opinion poll to be conducted on Friday and Saturday. That do the political party members and delegates only idle spectators. If things maintain going like this, all other election procedures might stop up as mere formalities.

There are more than things that mightiness also be suitable for the Alec Guinness Book -- the frequence of the president's onslaughts on both opinion and resistance candidates, the frequence of a former president's intervention in the political campaign to back up a specific political group, and the entry into the race by a former resistance candidate. There are still 30 years left before the election, and there could be more than records coming. The state of affairs itself is also suitable for the records book.

People wonder at entries in the Alec Guinness Book of Records. Foreigners will wonder at the Korean presidential race. But for Koreans, the presidential election cannot be a joke. Of course, there are brilliant and fantastic entries in the Alec Guinness Book as well. Korean electors should pass down a austere judgement to their politicians who do only ugly ones.

This column was contributed by Joo Yong-joong, from the Chosun Ilbo's National/Politics Desk.

Saturday, November 3, 2007

Giuliani Seen as Sporting Strongest Coattails

While members of United States Congress have got their ain 2008 elections to worry about, they are hardly disinterested witnesses of the presidential race. The personal identity of the Democratic and Republican presidential campaigners is of huge importance to Senate and House campaigners facing serious challenges.

Related (October 31, 2007) (October 29, 2007) (October 26, 2007) (October 22, 2007) (October 20, 2007) (October 12, 2007)


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The up-to-the-minute political news from around the nation.

The individual at the top of the ticket set ups the party's image, orders the national message and can drive turnout — both of their ain protagonists and the resistance — and such as factors can easily do the difference in stopping point Congressional elections.

Given those considerations, there is an interesting development on Washington Hill. Publicly and privately, some senior Republicans are beginning to show the position that former New House Of House Of York City Mayor may be the Republican campaigner who supplies the most aid to Republican Congressional campaigners who necessitate it the most.

Here's the theory: As a well-known New York figure, Mr. Giuliani begins with an contiguous advantage in parts of the Northeast, where Republicans will be defending the seating they didn't lose in 2006 and trying to acquire a few back. And the same moderate Giuliani stances on abortion, cheery rights and other issues that disquieted conservative Republicans play well with the more than than moderate Republicans the political party is going to necessitate in the bluish and violet states.

"There is no inquiry that he assists us in New England and Keystone State and the Rust Belt," said one senior Congressional Republican who did not desire to be identified since he have got to work with all the Republican challengers as well as the eventual nominee.

That functionary and others state Mr. Giuliani is a much easier sell than some of his rivals in states like Connecticut, where Republicans lost two House seating in 2006, and New Jersey, where Democrats have thoughts about ousting a Republican incumbent or two.

One of his top Congressional backers, Representative Simon Peter King of New York, could not hold more. Mr. King said having Mr. Giuliani on the ballot could be a important aid in holding on to Republican seating in his place state and would heighten opportunities of getting back some of the three lost last year. He said it could be even more than of import to have got Mr. Giuliani on the ballot if the Democratic campaigner is Senator , World Health Organization would certainly energize Democratic electors in New York.

"He is going to bring forth a big ballot in Republican districts, which intends Republican officeholders would be in much better shape," said Mr. King, who incidentally is one of those Republican incumbents.

Mr. Giuliani's entreaty to Republicans up for re-election who like to emphasize their moderate certificate was apparent Thursday in the determination by Senator of Gopher State to back him. Mr. Coleman is a indigen New Yorker and a former city manager himself so the necktie is natural. But Mr. Coleman said he believes Mr. Giuliani stand ups the best opportunity of carrying Gopher State -- a state where Democrats have got been making additions in Congressional mental representation -- and perhaps carrying Mr. Coleman along as well.

"We are all impacted by the top of the ticket," said Mr. Coleman. "It is always better not to be swimming against a large tide. It is really of import to me."

Mr. Giuliani's declared angels in United States Congress include Californians who could profit from a more than than moderate societal character as well as House members from Washington, Wolverine State and Pennsylvania.

Former Bay State Governor may have got more Congressional blurbs and is also a well known name in New England. But Mr. Romney have sought to rewrite the moderate record he compiled in the Bay State as he seeks to broaden his entreaty to Republicans countrywide and that, conversely, might not play well with more than middle-of-the-road Northeastern voters. Mr. Romney did draw a new Congressional blurb this week, that of Senator , Republican of New Hampshire. But that confederation was more than of import to Mr. Romney than to Mr. Gregg given the New Hampshire primary.

Democrats profess that Mr. Giuliani could conceivably have got some regional, down-ticket advantages. But they reason that he could be a nett negative since he could deter Republican turnout in more than conservative parts of the Midwest, South and West, hurting Republican campaigners and boosting vulnerable Democrats.

"In some of the most contested areas, Giuliani on the ballot may maintain their people at home," said Representative Saint Christopher Avant Garde Hollen of Maryland, president of the Democratic Congressional Political Campaign Committee. "The portion of the electorate they have got counted on in these stopping point territories may make up one's mind to sit down it out."

Mr. King differences that notion, saying Republicans in conservative territories should not see adequate Giuliani erosion, if any, to impact their races. "They are going to win or lose anyway on their own," he said.

Regardless of how it plays out, it states something about the current state of Congressional Republicans when a grouping that drew its modern personal identity from the conservative South looks for aid from a adult male indelibly linked to New House Of York City.

Thursday, November 1, 2007

Grim Prospects 50 Days Before Presidential Election

The 17th presidential election is just around the corner. Fifty years hence, Koreans must head to the polls and cast of characters their ballots to take their adjacent president. Under normal circumstances, all the presidential campaigners should have got been chosen by now and they should be in the concluding phase of convincing the public of the virtues of their political campaign pledges and the chopine of their several political parties. But so far, we don¡¯t even have got a clear thought of what exactly lies ahead.

During the 2002 election, the opinion political party decided on a presidential campaigner with lone 24 years left until election day. And on the Eve of the presidential election, one of the two presidential campaigners of the opinion party, who had formed a coalition, ended up splitting. It looks like this presidential election is going to be a repetition of the last one. Such events, which would be more than appropriate for a Third World country, have got been happening again and again during Korea¡¯s presidential elections.

Currently in the resistance camp, Spike Lee Hoi-chang is considering whether he should do a 3rd effort at running for president. Spike Spike Lee is believed to be weighing that option because he experiences he must register himself as a pinch hitter, since Thousand National Party presidential campaigner Lee Myung-bak¡¯s command confronts uncertainties. This logic for running for the presidential term is unheard of anywhere in the world. If Spike Lee Hoi-chang had these considerations in mind, he should have got got announced his command before the GNP¡¯s primary and should have been scrutinized. His behaviour is as good as to disdain for the consequences of the GNP¡¯s primary. Judging from his behavior, there is no end to the political aspiration of Lee, who lost the presidential command twice owed to his rival¡¯s failure to accept the party¡¯s primary and internal division.

The lone ground why Spike Spike Lee Hoi-chang tin draw this off is because Lee Myung-bak have failed to unite the resistance encampment both psychologically and in substance. Spike Lee Myung-bak have risen to a strategical place powered by the public's want for alteration in Korea¡¯s leadership. But it stays a inquiry just how much clip and energy Spike Lee Myung-bak spent over the last two calendar months trying to unify the resistance camp, and whether he have even thought about how of import such as a consolidative attempt would be for the presidential election.

The opinion camp, meanwhile, is once again banking everything on forming a alliance of presidential candidates. Since the twenty-four hours it nominated Chung Dong-young, the United New Democratic Party have been voicing its desire to constitute A alliance with presidential campaigners Rhee In-je of the Democratic Party or Moon Kook-hyun, a former Yuhan Kimberley executive. Even though it cognizes that such as an enactment decreases the lustre of its ain candidate, the opinion party, which commands a bulk 150 seating in the National Assembly, is desperately seeking to constitute a alliance with a campaigner from a political political political party with less than 1/10 of the seating in parliament and a campaigner who have no political association at all. This cannot go on unless powerful military units are at work behind the scenes. Those powerful military units may be happy that the resistance encampment is splitting, while the opinion encampment is uniting. But the public have completely lost involvement in fielding a alliance of candidates.

This presidential election will make up one's mind the hereafter of Korea, which stand ups at a crossroads. And although that determination lies just in presence of us, the public is still not able to acquire a clear image of who the presidential campaigners are. It is a sad state of affairs.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

A Wind that Blows Hard

We see many things in this life, that gives us a sense of doom, and destruction. Many believe in the Prophecy's of the prophets, and many others still make not. Weather you believe or not, the twenty-four hours is approaching, and coming quickly. We inquire why the people of this planet, believe that life will travel on for eternity, as it is.

There have been warnings from even, the so called scientist, that this human race is being over populated, the seas are rising, and the water ice caps are melting. Famine, flood, sickness, and warfare are ravaging this world, and no 1 believes much about it. The rich are satisfied with their wealth, the mediocre have got nowhere to travel but down, and the lawless are taking as much as they can, sometimes in the name of their god, greed. Can you not see that, this human race is destroying itself, can't you see that, even the things that you see are not what they look to be? The rules of this planet phone call for peace, peace, and there is no peace to be found, only a color of what is given, as peace. It have all been a shadow, a false prophecy, a wind that blows hard, and no 1 can walk forward for all the pressure level that this disgusting wind brings. We warfare in the name of peace, we develop drugs to dull the mind, and we develop other drugs for diseases that make not exist.

We have got become, A People of Dependence.

Dependence upon drugs for our moods, dependance upon the army's, for our safety, and dependance upon false faiths for our spirits, we are doomed if we don't stop, and walk threw the wind of change, the wind of indifference, and the wind of false religion. Suffering unto them that phone call immorality good, and good evil; that put option option darkness for light, and visible visible light for darkness; that put acrimonious for sweet, and sweet for bitter! (Isa 5:20.) World phone calls orgy good, free sexual activity good, war, and struggles good, but they bury to entree the cost of their deception.

The wind of change

The wind of alteration have many stopped in their lives. Change is coming upon all of us. Those that were strong, will go week, the rich, will go poor, the young, will go old, the beautiful, will go bald, and unsightly. Those that spell down into the pit, will not be welcomed, but despised by all.

Have you called upon the winds of your god, and makes he answer? Volition you take a opportunity on your faith, that infinity will be glorious, or make you name upon a Supreme Being that, doesn't answer, doesn't know, and doesn't live, are you sure of your gods?

Those that make not believe in Heaven or Hell, are you sure, make you cognize for a fact that, there is no judgement coming upon all, make you really believe that, the wicked in this life will never be punished, by the separation from God, for all eternity, are you sure?

Are you being carried away by, the wind of indifference. Indifference is; The state in which there is no difference, or in which no moral or physical ground preponderates; as when we talk of the indifference of things in themselves. Unconcerned; feeling no interest,anxiety or attention respecting any thing. It looks to be impossible that a rational beingness should be apathetic to the agency of obtaining eternal happiness.

Do you care, or are you, caught up in a apathetic wind?

A wind that states you that there is no good, no evil, and no penalty for unrighteousness, don't you care at all? If you state yes, then you are deceived. Your indifference will change when it come ups to yourself or a loved one near you. You will curse word those that injury your family, you will name upon God, to penalize these people for eternity, and you will even name out for the penalty of Hell for them, a Hell that you say, you don't believe in. At one clip in your life, your indifference will turn to shame, and sorrow. There is no such as thing as an atheist, for a so called atheist will become, and doubter when sorrow or catastrophe hits his home. How long volition you let this wind to transport you?

The Wind of False Religion.

This is the wind that causes the most damage, to the heart, and soul, the spirit, and the body. You state that Christians are waiting for a Christ, that hasn't come up back for over 2,000 years, you are the 1s deceived, and in want, and need, of redemption from our gods. Rich Person you said that Our Lord, have got forgotten us, have left us to walk alone? Rich Person you not read the scriptures; "And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers drop asleep, all things go on as they were from the beginning of the creation."(2Pe 3:4.)

Presumptuous incredulity and lawless lust, setting nature and its so-called laws above the Supreme Being of nature and revelation, and arguing from the past continuity of nature's phenomena that there can be no hereafter break to them, was the sinfulness of the antediluvians, and shall be that of the gorgers in the last days.

Where - implying that it ought to have got taken topographic point before this, if ever it was to take place, but that it never will.(JFB.) He hath said in his heart, Supreme Being hath forgotten: he hideth his face; he will never see it. Arise, Type Type O LORD; O God, lift up thine hand: bury not the humble. Why doth the wicked contemn God? he hath said in his heart, Thousand wilt disease not necessitate it. Thousand hast seen it; for thousand beholdest mischief-making and spite, to requite it with thy hand: the mediocre committeth himself unto thee; thousand fine art the assistant of the fatherless. Interruption thousand the arm of the wicked and the wicked man: seek out his evil till thousand happen none.(Psa 10:11-15)

As a dreaming when one awaketh; so, Type O Lord, when thousand awakest, thousand shalt contemn their image. Thus my bosom was grieved, and I was pricked in my reins. So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a animal before thee. Nevertheless I am continually with thee: thousand hast holden me by my right hand. (Psa 73:20-23)

Don't you understand that, Supreme Being is patient with man. Patent enough to wait upon him, to decide, to whom he shall serve? We as Christians dwell by religion alone. We have got seen, heard and make attest of the truth, not of our truth, but of the truth handed down to us by the Holy Place Spirit of God. We are of one body, we neither war, nor fight, against each other, but we dwell to function each other, as Jesus commanded us to do. Many other faiths fight, and even kill each other, for power, and rule, this is a word form of slavery, and containment of ego expression.

Will there be penalty for the wicked when Jesus gets to name Gods Children Home? Yes, for there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Are there a Heaven to gain, and a Perdition to shun? Yes, for Supreme Being is righteous, and all knowing.

Heaven is Gods kingdom, and Perdition is for the disbelievers in Christ. Why is this so? For if, you have got got read Gods word, you should cognize that Jesus Of Nazareth is, Gods Word, in the flesh, for despising, and not believing in Christ, you have actually rejected the word of God, and this volition be punished. Call upon you gods, for deliverance, phone phone call upon your gods, for subsistence, call upon your Gods of winds, are they there, are they able to promise, and then present upon their promises?

Have they protected you, and your belief in them? Volition they salvage you from ageless torture in the lake of fire? Ars.

Friday, October 12, 2007

I Thought I Had A Son, But He Slipped Away

Jeff had so many Operating Under the Influence breakages of the law that he spent too many old age of his immature life behind bars.

"I'm the achromatic sheep of the family," he said one Friday eventide when I visited him in jail. Many of my Friday eves were spent in that ugly visitors' room. But it was deserving it. At least that's what Jeff told me. Helium had no other 1s to name on him except one immature woman, Yonna.

"The remainder of my household made something of themselves, but the bottle got to me over and over again."

However, I learned that his biological father had not paid much attending to anyone in the family. Soon his female parent married again. And again.

"She travels from one also-ran to another, like looking after isolated dogs," Jeff explained.

One jailhouse visit I offered to be his father. He immediately took me up on it. We shook custody on the deal. He was in his late 20s when discovering me as his dad. I felt it to be God's volition and a privilege.

Jeff was winsome, witty and intelligent.

"My grandmother took me to her Christian church when I was a boy." It then spilled out that he learned about Jesus, salvation, hope and love. But grandma's influence faded from his young person when she died. From then on out, it was pretty much whatever faith Jeff grabbed clasp of — which was practically nothing.

Jeff went from occupation to job. But the bottle forever got in the way.

I drove him to the motor vehicle section 1 springtime morning. He expected that he would not acquire his licence back for 8 years. Then all of a sudden Iodine saw his slender framework leaping out of that presence door toward my car. He was ecstatic. Instead of 8 years, he'd acquire his licence in 4. That was something to hearten about, at least Jeff reasoned it that way. In the meantime, he was at the clemency of others' wheels. However, seemingly that was a known fine art to Jeff.

When he got released from jailhouse after his last stint, I collected respective hundred dollars from friends to assist him acquire into a rehab centre in the city. He bunked out with respective other work force on the 2nd floor. His jobs were listed on the kitchen wall. He got his meals, guidance and a warm building.

On Sundays, I picked up Jeff for worship. He joined us in our house church. A grouping of us moved into the house Christian church manner respective old age back, that is, after having spent our lives in a real-life church building. However, the simpleness of a house Christian church — like unto the Early Church — appealed to us more.

We worshiped from house to house on the Lord's Day.

By a miracle, Supreme Being provided Jeff with a house in the city. An aged adult female died, her girl wanted to sell her place quickly, and Jeff got it at a very good price.

Our house Christian church had a house heating for Jeff one Lord'S Day morning time when meeting in his life room for a service. Then from clip to clip I'd steal him a 10 or twenty, sometimes a fifty-dollar measure when I had it. He needed it. After all, he was starting all over once again — out of jailhouse and making it. Further, he said I was his dada and I said he was my son.

One twenty-four hours he protested about my gifts. "But that's what a dada does," I answered. "He assists his boy out."

I had looked forward to a son. I have got two daughters. But I longed for a son. Now Supreme Being brought Jeff along.

Then came Yonna. She was hankering for a adult male large time. Like crazy. Like moving in to Jeff's house. Furthermore, she had wheels.

Early on Jeff testified to receiving Jesus as His Savior. Our family provided him with a new Bible. He was also reading day-to-day from devotional brochures distributed during our worship times.

Jeff had two children — one from one female parent and the other from another mother. The children worshiped with us. As children they too reached out to Jesus' love. The twenty-four hours they did, I noted crying in Jeff's eyes. He was so happy to cognize that his ain children had a new start of soul, far more than than he had when their ages.

Sometimes Jeff needed a drive to a school meeting with his son. Before Yonna moved in, I drove into the city, picked Jeff up and drove him to the meeting. At another clip Jeff had a doctor's assignment at the other end of the city. I drove him to the doctor. At still another clip Jeff had a societal worker's assignment with one of his children. I drove him there, too.

I was putting a batch of statute miles on my van. But I was his dad. He was my son. It was a joy. And I told him so.

Jeff was growing spiritually in the Lord. He was a speedy learner. He picked up scriptural instruction readily. I was very proud of my new son.

But then it was that one twenty-four hours Yonna moved her piece of furniture from her dawdler out in the state to his metropolis house. All of a sudden it was stashed in every corner of every room. Far too much for the space; but it was all there.

When we worshiped on Lord'S Day morns in Jeff's home, Yonna went off somewhere. She never joined in with us. That was sad. But his children worshiped with us. They were more than than apprehensive to larn another narrative about Jesus. At Christmas, our house Christian church presented the children with gifts, particularly the birth scene for under their tree.

On a Lord'S Day morning time when we drove to Freeport for worship followed by a family meal, Jeff announced something in the avant garde upon our return. I had said, "Well, Jeff, how about adjacent Lord'S Day we ran into in your place for worship?"

"We won't be able to ran into in my place any more," he replied simply. No other explanation.

I looked in the rear position mirror to see Jeff seated in the center of his two children, his weaponry around their shoulders. I wondered what my ears had just picked up. But I said nil in reply. I just allow his sentence sink manner down deep.

"We won't be able to ran into in my place any more."

It was Yonna. She had moved in, taken over. So we never met in Jeff's place for worship again.

The adjacent Lord'S Day Iodine told Jeff where we were meeting. He did not show. Nor the adjacent Sunday. It was that quickly that I had a son, then he slipped away.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

The Devil's Assertive Disciple

My married adult female and I stopped in a small town eatery.

There sat an extrovert-type woman in her late sixties. She was loud. She was funny. She was, we learned later, a day-to-day fixture in that peculiar hamlet.

Further, it was not long into jocular conversation with her and others gathered, that we two learned she was "into spirits."

"There are three of us here in the village. We ran into regularly. We hear the liquor talking to us. We speak to them. They steer us. Sometimes we see them."

The adult female was an obvious adherent of the Satan for the Book warns true trusters that such as people communicating with the so-called "spirits" are satanic. In other words, they are not communicating with existent liquor but with the Satan himself.

A recent television docudrama focused on spiritism. It particularly nosed in on mediums. The mediums presented were quite convincing in producing information that squared with the deceased. Book trusters cognize that such as mediums are communicating in fact, not with the deceased, but with the Satan who can supply information concerning the deceased.

In this Pine Tree State eatery, the adult female kept on keeping on. She would reiterate detail. She would move like an revivalist for spiritism, very enthusiastically and with straight-out conviction.

I informed her courteously that I am a Christian curate of the gospel. She was pleased to cognize that, she told the group. She acted as if my biblical alkali was compatible with her spiritism. I did not counter her. I did not experience it needful to make so at that time. However, I was convinced that she herself knew that what she believed was contrary to what I believed.

A twelvemonth passed. The other twenty-four hours my married woman and I returned to the same eatery. There sat the same adult female at the same table—giving forth to any who would listen to her. There were jokes. That was much laughter. There was a friendly feeling to the whole place.

She immediately spied my married woman and I as we walked through the door, so invited us to sit down at her table. We took her up on her invite. Further pleasant conversation continued.

Ten proceedings into the visit, she started in again on her talking to the spirits, receiving messages from them, being directed by them in life decisions.

Then she spoke particularly of a immature chap who was there in the eatery respective years prior.

"All of a sudden Iodine saw him turn his caput over there to the right. I asked him what he saw. He described the adult female he saw. I asked what she looked like and what she was wearing. His verbal description was that of my mother!"

This adult female was totally convinced. She had been seated beside a immature chap who had come up in contact with her asleep parent. That was that. No questions. It was so.

Again, she knew that I am a Christian pastor. That made no difference to her astatine all in pushing on my married woman and me one more than clip the spiritism dimension, that she and two others in the small town ran into regularly to speak with the spirits, and so forth.

As we drove away, returning home, I said to my wife, "Note the assertive witnessing of that spiritist. She was as aggressive as any Moony. As any Jehovah's Witness. As any two Mormon missionaries at the presence door. In fact, she was as evangelistic in her spiritual strong beliefs as any well-known TV evangelist."

It is true.

The spiritist whom we met was all of the above. The devil's adherents are as much at the head of their "gospel" as any New Testament evangelist.

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Women Are 'More Discerning' With Finances

Women are taking a greater involvement in their finances, it have been suggested.

The news come ups as research carried out by Sheilas' Wheels uncovers that females are becoming evermore involved in money direction within the household. According to the coverage company, about two out of five women (41 per cent) take exclusive duty for handling finances, which may include countries such as as public utility bills, recognition card game and personal loans. Meanwhile, 43 per cent of respondents split such as substances equally with their partners. This compares to the 16 per cent who go forth managing the family purse-strings solely to their other half.

Findings from the company also showed that women are becoming savvy when searching for motor insurance. Before picking an insurer, the typical adult female is now disbursement two hours and seven proceedings looking for the right policy. With this figure some 23 proceedings behind the clip taken selecting a Christmastide political party outfit, Sheilas' Wheels asserted that women are starting to impart more than than clip to thought about finances as they make towards fashion.

Commenting on the figures, Jacky Brown, interpreter for Sheilas' Wheels, claimed that "women are becoming more discerning clients - they desire well-priced and good quality auto insurance". Multiple Sclerosis Brown also reported: "In footing of interest, we cognize that manner will always win over finance, but it is interesting that women are now giving serious clip and consideration to their coverage purchases and effectively 'window shopping' policies via company websites and, increasingly, terms comparing sites."

Meanwhile, just over a 3rd (37 per cent) pass less than an hr choosing the coverage cover, although it was suggested that this could be owed to the increasing usage of time-saving terms comparing websites. But with lone one-half of respondents taking the clip to check up on the little black and white of the policy to do certain what they are covered for, many consumers could come up under fiscal pressure level in footing of making refunds on loans and other countries of their finances, if they suddenly happen that having an inadequate policy intends they have got to ran into the cost of fixes to their vehicle.

Research from the company also showed that when researching auto coverage 41 per cent of women inquire their friends on their experiences and recommendations about purchasing cover. Some 24 per cent, meanwhile, visit money websites and read personal finance subdivisions from newspapers.

As a consequence of having a more than than active function in both their family disbursement and selecting auto insurance, a rise figure of women could be more prepared to set their finances in greater form for later life. However, recent research carried out by Prudential have shown that females may be on course of study to develop troubles with money direction in later life. The news come ups as some 60 per cent of women who are currently of working age are not saving into a pension strategy with such as a deficiency of parts significance that they may fight to do payments on personal loans and public utility measures as they acquire older. Gary Shaughnessy, managing manager of retail, life and pensions for the firm, reported: "Women are the underclass when it come ups to pensions."

Friday, September 21, 2007

9-11 - The Evil And The Humanity

The flight from Boston was only two hours into its 6-hour flight to Los Angeles, when it was ordered to make an emergency landing at Hopkins International Airport in Cleveland. Upon landing, it was directed to a remote taxiway, where it was surrounded by a SWAT team and quarantined.

For two hours, federal investigators cautiously talked to Capt. Paul Werner through an open cockpit window. Finally, federal agents boarded the plane and interviewed the passengers and crew.

What Air Traffic Controllers (ATCs) had heard earlier coming from the cockpit, someone shouting "Get out of there," and then a scuffle, made them fear the worst. Minutes later, they had heard a new voice, with a heavy accent: "Ladies and gentlemen, here it's the captain. Please sit down. Keep remaining sitting. We have a bomb aboard."

All who knew Capt. Paul Werner, knew it was not his voice nor his accent. Apparently, hijackers who meant to address the passengers, inadvertently left the communication line to the air traffic controllers open.

This was Delta Flight 1989, one of only three flights to leave Logan International Airport on September 11th, 2001, at 8 a.m. The other two -- American Flight 11 and United Flight 175 -- had already crashed into the World Trade Center.

When Flight 1989 responded promptly to orders to land at Hopkins, controllers realized they had made a mistake. Flight 1989 had been only 25 miles behind United Flight 175. Controllers were communicating with both planes at the same time. What controllers heard was Flight 175 being taken over by hijackers, but somehow they mistook it as coming from Flight 1989.

Only after finally being allowed to disembark at Hopkins, did the passengers realized how lucky they were. The suspicion that their flight might still be in danger upon landing, came from the pilot missing one of the controller's instructions because he was busy maneuvering for an emergency landing. Had he missed several instructions, the plane might have been shot down.

Adding to their sense of good fortune was the realization that they had a 66 percent chance of being one of the planes to fly into the World Trade Center. All three planes leaving Logan at 8 a.m. on 9/11 were Boeing 767s, bound for L.A., and heavy in fuel.

Especially counting their blessings was a couple flying on a company-booked trip. They had instructed the staff to book them on American Flight 11, the flight they usually took to L.A. In the day that it took the travel agent to get beck to them, the price had gone up. So they decided to fly Delta. The wife's words, after the ordeal: " ... we are all shaken by how close a call this was, and humbled by the realization that with all of these coincidences, Someone Above must be looking out for us."

To understand the confusion of air traffic controllers, you have to get some sense of the chaotic, frantic state that prevailed in the skies on 9/11.

In the midst of the 9/11 attacks, FAA leaders declared "ATC Zero" (Air Traffic Control Zero, meaning, clear the radar screens). Normally, ATC Zero is declared when technical problems occur, and aircraft tracking is transferred to another center; but planes keep flying. Clearing the entire U.S. airspace, as was the intent now, which would entail landing close to 50 planes a minute, was an unprecedented order.

This order came at around 9:45 a.m.: Two planes had already hit the Twin Towers, which had not yet collapsed. One plane had already crashed into the Pentagon. Another plane was known to be hijacked, with its destination unclear. And it was believed that as many as eleven planes might have been hijacked.

Not since the days of the Cold War have controllers contemplated or even simulated landings on such a massive scale. The maneuver, then called SCATANA ("security control of air traffic and navigation aids"), entailed clearing U.S. airspace and giving control over to the military in the event of a Soviet attack and the need to shoot down incoming missiles.

On 9/11, with every plane in the sky a potential missile, clearing the skies was intended to see which planes did not respond and needed to be shot down. Final approval to clear the skies came in a phone conversation with Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, who was in a bunker under the White House with Vice President Dick Cheney.

Several hours after Flight 93 crashed in Pennsylvania, close to 4,500 planes had landed without further incident. And, with that, the horrors of 9/11 ended. But the lessons live on.

In addition to revealing shortcomings in our airport security procedures, 9/11 also exposed weaknesses in our military defenses. The failure of NORAD (North American Air Defense Command) to intercept even one of the hijacked planes, seemed like an utter breakdown of their warning and response systems.

NORAD is a bi-national, United States and Canadian, aerospace warning system, which includes warning of attacks on North America and monitoring man-made objects in space. In the two years before 9/11, NORAD conducted exercises simulating hijacked airliners used as weapons. One of the imagined targets was, ironically, the World Trade Center. Another was the Pentagon; but this drill was never run because Defense officials considered it unrealistic.

NORAD's failure on 9/11 stemmed from an antiquated perception of the an "enemy attack." Its system looked outward for threats, not inward. "It was like a doughnut," Maj. Douglas Martin, public affairs officer for NORAD, said. "There was no coverage in the middle." Flights originating in the United States, before 9/11, were not seen as threats by NORAD. Flight irregularities would be detected by an ATC, who would then have to physically pick up a phone and call NORAD.

When the hijackers turned off the planes' transponders, which broadcast identifying signals, looking for a hijacked plane on an ATC's radar screen became like looking for a blip in a haystack.

Since 9/11, many of these deficiencies have been corrected. Hotlines have been set up between ATCs and NORAD command centers, facilitating communication and rapid response. NORAD has installed radar to monitor airspace over the U.S. and has increased its fighter coverage.

In response to the 9/11 attacks, President George W. Bush ordered the TSA (Transportation Security Administration) to expand its Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS) program, which had less than 50 officers on 9/11. It now has thousands, with many more to be hired in coming months.

During 2006, of roughly 10 million flights, TSA officers screened over 700 million passengers, checked over 500 million pieces of luggage, opened over 85 million bags, and found over 13 million prohibited items.

In addition to utilizing scanning devices at airports, the TSA is now enlisting the help of "behavior detection officers." No, they're not cops who make sure you don't slouch in your seat or eat with the wrong spoon or fork. They're officers trained in an interesting discipline that reads facial expressions to identify people with ill intentions.

"Micro-expressions" that identify hidden emotions were first observed about 30 years ago when Paul Ekman, former professor at the University of California, and his colleague Maureen O'Sullivan studied videotapes of people telling lies. This method of sizing up people has been successfully tested by the Israelis, and has already netted drug dealers, terrorism suspects and illegal immigrants. (I don't see why we would need this for illegal immigrants -- we can just watch them run across the border.)

Much has been said and done about the things that went wrong on 9/11. What's been under-reported, though, are the things that went right. Landing thousands of planes in record-time without incident and with minimum panic in the U.S., and the many accounts of selflessness and benevolence at Ground Zero, were inspiring scenarios mimicked in many parts of the globe. Some of the tales of magnanimity have been given little attention.

Delta Flight 15 was over the North Atlantic, about 5 hours out of Frankfurt, on the morning of 9/11. One crew member (we'll call him Jim), who finally sat down to rest, was suddenly told to report to the cockpit.

Once in the cockpit, Jim found a somber looking crew. The captain handed Jim a message from Atlanta, their destination, addressed to their flight: "All airways over the Continental US are closed. Land ASAP at the nearest airport, advise your destination."

For a dispatcher to tell you to land as soon as possible without suggesting an airport, Jim knew that had to be serious. The nearest airport was 400 miles away, in Gander, on the island of New Foundland, Canada.

A request was made to the Canadian ATCs to land in Gander. The immediate approval seemed rather unusual. As they prepared for an emergency landing, a little info trickled in, giving the crew the impression that planes were being hijacked all over the U.S. and flown into building. They would later find out, in small spurts, the true nature of the terrorist attacks.

As they touched down in Gander, population around 11,000, at 12:30 pm, there were already 20 planes from all over the world on the ground. Within an hour or so, there were a total 53 planes -- and the population of Gander suddenly grew by about 9,000.

Flight 15 finally deplaned 11 am the next morning. They were driven away by a slew of school buses. Crew were taken to small hotels, passengers were housed separately.

Only after resuming their flight to Atlanta, 2 days later, did Jim (who reported this story) and the rest of the crew find out what the passengers had experienced.

Gander and the surrounding small communities, within a 50 mile radius, had closed all high schools, meeting halls, lodges, and large gathering places. They were all converted into mass lodging areas with cots, mats, sleeping bags and pillows. All high school students were REQUIRED to volunteer taking care of the "guests."

Flight 15's 218 passengers ended up in a high school in a town called Lewisporte, about 28 miles from Gander. If a woman wanted a women-only facility, it was arranged. Families were kept together. The elderly were taken to private homes.

Male and female doctors stayed on call with the crowd. Phone call and email capabilities were provided once a day. They were given excursion trips; boat cruises on lakes and harbors, and sightseeing of local forests.

Bakeries stayed open to make fresh bread. Food was prepared by all the residents and brought to the school. Some passengers were driven to and fed at eateries of their choice. They were all given tokens to the local Laundromats, since their luggage was still on the plane. Every single need of theirs was met.

Passengers were crying while telling their stories. They were all on first name basis and exchanging phone numbers, addresses, and email addresses. It was almost a party atmosphere, as if they'd just been on a cruise,

Then, in an unusual move, one of the passengers was given permission to speak over the PA system.

He reminded everyone about what they had just gone through. He reminded them of the hospitality they had received at the hands of total strangers. He said he would like to do something in return.

He continued, he was going to set up a Trust Fund under the name of DELTA 15 to provide a scholarship for the continued education of the high school students of Lewisporte. He asked for donations.

He received donations from crew members as well as passengers. When it was all totalled, it came out to roughly $15,000 (an interesting number for Flight 15). The gentleman who started all this turned out to be an MD from North Carolina. He promised to match the total donations.

The events of 9/11 may have been tragic. But from those ashes came many inspiring accounts of magnanimous humanitarianism, which should serve to give more meaning to the lives lost.

Are we safer today than we were before 9/11? The fact that six years have gone by without a recurrence, says we are. But terrorists sometimes seem to evolve commensurate with safeguards intended to thwart their efforts. Vigilance is probably our best bet. And praying more than they do, just may do the rest.

by Josh Greenberger
from shopndrop.com