"A prudent man forseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished."   Proverbs 22:3 and Proverbs 27:12  KJV   Word study on this verse

Russia plans to raise navy presence in Syria: diplomat reuters.com 8/28/8 ["The Russian navy will make more use of Syrian ports as part of increased military presence in the Mediterranean, a Russian diplomat said on Wednesday."]
Thomas L. Friedman: A biblical seven years iht.com 8/28/8 ["...I couldn't help but reflect on how China and America have spent the last seven years: China has been preparing for the Olympics; we Americans have been preparing for Al Qaeda. They've been building better stadiums, subways, airports, roads and parks. And we've been building better metal detectors, armored Humvees and pilotless drones.  ...The rich parts of China, the modern parts of Beijing or Shanghai or Dalian, are now more state of the art than rich America. The buildings are architecturally more interesting, the wireless networks more sophisticated, the roads and trains more efficient and nicer."]
Mainstream Media Admits Anti-Family Bias: NBC to 'Gay' Activists: 'Your Victories Are Our Victories' lifesitenews.com 8/28/8 ["The National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association (NLGJA) just held its annual convention here in Washington D.C., attracting hundreds of journalists - and ringing endorsements - from virtually every major publication and broadcaster in the news media.  In a full-page ad in the convention program, NBC Universal declared it is "proud to support NLGJA," under the bold headline: "YOUR VICTORIES ARE OUR VICTORIES.""]
Pro-life Volunteer Allegedly Assaulted as Group Unfurls "World's Largest" Sign Overlooking Democratic Convention lifesitenews.com 8/28/8 ["The message - claimed by American RTL to be the world's largest sign - initially appeared with three 160-foot tall, bright yellow letters, D-N-C, stacked on top of each other. After those letters appeared on Table Mountain, just west of Denver, American Right to Life unfurled the complete message: Destroys uNborn Children."]
Condi pulls a Solomon: Split Jerusalem in 2 worldnetdaily.com 8/28/8 ["...has been pressing Israel to sign a document by the end of the year that would divide Jerusalem by offering the Palestinians a state in Israel's capital city as well as in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, according to top diplomatic sources involved in the talks."]
Obama speech stage resembles ancient Greek temple reuters.com 8/28/8 ["Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's big speech on Thursday night will be delivered from an elaborate columned stage resembling a miniature Greek temple."]
Bankruptcy filings surge to 1 million - up 29% cnn.com 8/28/8 ["Business filings jumped more than 41% to 33,822 from 23,889 in the year-ago period. Personal filings totaled 934,009, up 28% from last year."]
Bank borrowing from ECB is out of control telegraph.co.uk 8/28/8 ["The European Central Bank has issued the clearest warning to date that it cannot serve as a perpetual crutch for lenders caught off-guard by the severity of the credit crunch.  Not Wellink, the Dutch central bank chief and a major figure on the ECB council, said that banks were becoming addicted to the liquidity window in Frankfurt and were putting the authorities in an invidious position."]
HIV Infections in N.Y. Rising Faster Than U.S. Rate bloomberg.com 8/28/8 ["``The populations that bear the greatest burden nationally - - blacks, for example, and men who have sex with men -- are highly represented in New York City,'' the health department said in its statement. ``Because HIV is more prevalent within those groups, the risk of HIV infection per sexual contact is higher.''"]
Canada requires ship registration in Arctic ap.google.com 8/28/8 ["Global warming has raised the stakes in the scramble for sovereignty in the Arctic because shrinking polar ice could someday open up resource development and new shipping lanes.  The rapid melting of ice has raised speculation that the Northwest Passage linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans could one day become a regular shipping lane. This summer has seen record traffic by cruise ships and pleasure craft in the Arctic."]
 

Billionaire Tim Gill tells DNC delegates his strategy to advance the homosexual cause catholicnewsagency.com 8/27/8 ["Gill, who was introduced at the caucus as one of the nation’s largest funders of LGBT “civil rights initiatives,” reportedly has spent $150 million on LGBT issues. He is the former CEO of the software publishing company Quark, Inc. and is also the founder of the Gill Action Fund, a major backer of homosexual political candidates and causes.  “Every single advance for gay rights has come at the state level,” Gill said, saying the most important thing the Democratic LGBT delegates could do is “go back and support those pro-gay state legislators, and eliminate the anti-gay state legislators.”"]
Merrill, Wachovia Hit With Record Refinancing Bill bloomberg.com 8/27/8 ["Banks, securities firms and lenders have a record $871 billion of bonds maturing through 2009, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co., just as yields are at their most punitive compared with Treasuries. The increase in yields may cost them as much as $23 billion more in annual interest versus a year ago based on Merrill Lynch index data.  Higher refinancing expenses will restrict the ability of banks to borrow in the capital markets and lend, further cutting off credit to consumers and businesses and curbing what is already the slowest growing economy since 2001."]
U.S. heating oil dealers clamp down on unpaid bills ca.reuters.com 8/27/8 [" U.S. heating oil futures have shot up more than 60 percent from the same time last year, from $1.98 per gallon to $3.21.  The data-sharing software, called "OilWell," allows dealers to share information with each other about clients who do not pay their bills on time."]
When All Your Best Employees are Going Broke blogspot.com 8/27/8 ["The combination of skyrocketing food and energy costs, rising medical costs, falling real estate values and stagnant wages is putting increasing numbers of workers in financial distress. A distressed workforce can hardly be a productive workforce, and companies must do whatever it takes to make it physically possible for their employees to function. What can companies do to remedy this situation?"]
More Than 1 Million Stranded by Floods in India foxnews.com 8/27/8 ["Air force helicopters and troops were trying to get food to people in the stricken areas of Bihar state that were inundated by flood waters last week after torrential rains caused the Kosi river in neighboring Nepal to burst its banks.  ...Kumar said more than 1 million people were cut off from the rest of the country because the floods had washed away roads and made railway lines impassable."]
FDIC sees 117 problem banks; most since 2003 guardian.co.uk 8/27/8 [" Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC) Chairman Sheila Bair said on Tuesday she expects more banks to join the agency's watchlist of problem banks, which tallies institutions with financial, operational or managerial weaknesses that threaten their financial viability.  "We don't think the credit cycle has bottomed out yet," Bair told a quarterly news conference, adding that U.S. banks will not return to high levels of earnings anytime soon."]
FDIC says bank profits have fallen by 86 percent ap.google.com 8/27/8 ["Pasadena, Calif.-based IndyMac was taken over by the FDIC on July 11 with about $32 billion in assets and deposits of $19 billion. It was the second-largest financial institution to close in U.S. history, after Continental Illinois National Bank in 1984.  Its failure is expected to cost the federal deposit insurance fund, currently at $53 billion, between $4 billion and $8 billion."]
AL: Jeffco expects to default on bond debt payment Fri. al.com 8/27/8 ["Jefferson County expects to default on its $3.2 billion sewer debt Friday... The forbearance agreement that expires Friday hinged on Gov. Bob Riley calling a special session of the Legislature to consider property and sales taxes, among other revenue increases.  Riley declined to call the session because the plan that a divided commission approved on a 3-2 vote generated intense opposition from lawmakers and the public.  If another extension is not signed, the county will face sharply increased interest, penalties and principal payments on its sewer debt. "]
FDIC gets ready for bank failures statesman.com 8/27/8 ["FDIC officials said they expect the Deposit Insurance Fund, which had $52.8 billion at the end of March, to remain sound.  "The losses would have to be pretty catastrophic" to create a deficit, said Arthur Murton, the FDIC's director of insurance and research. That's because, Murton said, under a federal reform law passed after the S&L crisis, the agency was given more flexibility to raise the deposit insurance rates it charges banks whenever needed."]
Europe sets date when deaths overtake births: 7 years iht.com 8/27/8 ["The findings come in an official EU study, released Tuesday, which concedes for the first time that Europeans will begin their long foreseen demographic decline in just seven years' time - the point at which deaths exceed births.  The report, published by the European Union's statistical agency Eurostat, reveals large variations between the birth rates of member states but paints an overall picture of an aging population.  The document does not explore the reasons for differences in European fertility..."]
Abortion and Morning After Pill Rates Rise in Tandem in Sweden lifesitenews.com 8/27/8 ["The morning-after pill, which functions as an abortifacient, has also become increasingly popular. Recorded uses of it have doubled in Sweden and tripled in Stockholm since it became a non-prescription drug in 2001.  Many advocates of contraception claim that by promoting the use of contraceptives, abortion rates will decrease. However, experience has repeatedly shown that, rather than decreasing abortion rates, widespread contraceptive use increases the number of abortions."]
 

Tests clear way for "Big Bang" experiment uk.reuters.com 8/26/8 ["Recreating a "Big Bang," which most scientists believe is the only explanation of an expanding universe, ought to show how stars and planets came together out of the primeval chaos that followed, the CERN team believes.  Efforts to track it down in a predecessor to the LHC at CERN, and in another experiment in the United States, failed. But scientists are confident that the vast leap in technologies represented by the LHC will make the difference.  Higgs, a 79-year-old Edinburgh University professor who as an atheist angrily rejects the idea of calling the boson the "God particle" -- believes it will show up very quickly once the beams are colliding in the LHC.  "If it doesn't," he said during a visit to CERN earlier this year, "I shall be very, very puzzled.""  Editor: Someone once said it is ironic that intelligence men and women will spend their entire lives trying to prove that intelligent life was not necessary for life to form.]
240 elephants in a tunnel nanowerk.com 8/26/8 ["With an investment of four billion euros, 24 years of planning, development and construction, and around 7,000 employees, the LHC is one of the largest research projects that the world has ever taken on. In the four underground caves that contain the large-scale experiments, physicists want to uncover the secret of why matter exists and how it came about.  ...Why, they ask, is there almost no antimatter in our world, although as much antimatter was created during the Big Bang as matter? And why does matter exist in our universe at all when they should have destroyed each other?  ...the CERN computer center will be engulfed by a data tsunami: the information received per second is equivalent to the text printed in all books in every library worldwide.  ...CERN – where, incidentally, the World Wide Web was invented – has developed a new initiative for this job: the GRID, which distributes computing and memory power to around 70 large participating computer centers."]
Financials drag on market; Dow falls more than 240 ap.google.com 8/26/8 ["Stocks sank in light trading Monday as worries about American International Group Inc. touched off broader concerns that the deterioration of the credit markets will bring more big losses for financial companies.  The major indexes lost about 2 percent. The Dow Jones industrial average fell by nearly 250 points, erasing a gain of about 200 points seen Friday."]
Mexico City abortion law in supreme court battle afp.google.com 8/26/8 ["Mexico's top court on Monday began debate on a bid to reverse a law which allows abortions in the country's capital.  Mexico City's left-wing government last April legalized abortion for women who are up to 12 weeks pregnant."]
Russia Aims to Keep Control of Georgian Port City abcnews.go.com 8/26/8 ["Thousands of Georgians demanded that Russian troops leave the outskirts of this strategic Black Sea port on Saturday and took to the streets in protest, while a top Russian general said his country's forces would keep patrolling the area.  The comments by deputy head of the general staff Col.-Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn, reported by Russian news agencies, showed that despite protests from the United States, France and Britain, Russia was confident enough to occupy whatever part of Georgia it deemed necessary."]
Alabama County's Kids Will Ask Voters to Go Belly Up: Joe Mysak bloomberg.com 8/26/8 ["All that will go on at the local level. A bankruptcy of this magnitude, however, takes the national stage, and damages not only the county but the municipal bond market in general. Jefferson County's bankruptcy is going to get the unwelcome (or, depending on your point of view, welcome) attention that the collapse of the bond insurers and the freeze of the auction-rate securities market failed to attract."]
U.S. and global economies slipping in unison iht.com 8/26/8 ["Only a few months ago, some economists still offered hope that robust expansion could continue in much of the world even as the United States slowed. Foreign investment was expected to keep replenishing American banks still bleeding from their disastrous bets on real estate and to provide money for companies looking to expand. Foreign demand for American goods and services was supposed to continue compensating for waning demand in the United States.  Now, high energy prices, financial systems crippled by fear, and the decline of trading partners have combined to choke growth in many major economies."]
 

Regulators close Kansas bank marketwatch.com 8/25/8 ["State and Federal regulators shut down Columbian Bank and Trust of Topeka, Kan. -- the ninth bank to fail so far this year and the fifth since mid-July."]
Detroit pushes for a $50-billion bailout latimes.com 8/25/8 ["In recent months, the auto industry has been lobbying Congress to back $25 billion in low-interest loans for automakers and suppliers. Now, along with the United Auto Workers union, it's asking for $25 billion more."]
Illegal Immigrants Returning to Mexico in Record Numbers foxnews.com 8/25/8 ["Some say illegal immigrants are leaving because a soft economy has led to fewer jobs, causing many laborers to seek work elsewhere.  Others argue that a tough stance on immigration through law enforcement has spread fear throughout the illegal population."]
Real ID: Connecting The Dots To An International ID newswithviews.com 8/25/8 [By Representative Sam E. Rohrer  "...Most importantly in this standardized process, REAL ID mandates a certain picture quality. A footnote issued by the Department of Homeland Security establishes this quality as compliant with the ICAO Document 9303 biometric format. The global body setting this format, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), is a specialized agency created under the United Nations. Biometric data can be produced from a simple digital photograph of this quality"]
Russia rolls into Georgia, rolls back the clock iht.com 8/25/8 ["This spring, Russian tanks and missiles rolled across the cobblestones of Red Square as soldiers in olive green uniforms goose-stepped and a military band played the revived Soviet anthem. It was the first full-scale military display at the annual Victory Day parade in almost two decades."]
 

Now on the Hallmark aisle: Gay marriage cards ap.google.com 8/23/8 ["Hallmark started offering "coming out" cards last year, and the four designs of same-sex marriage cards are being gradually released this summer and will be widely available by next year. No sales figures were available yet."]
Sharp US money supply contraction points to Wall Street crunch ahead telegraph.co.uk 8/23/8 ["The M3 data measures both cash and a wide range of bank instruments. It tends to provide an early warning signal of major shifts in the economy, although the US Federal Reserve took the controversial decision to stop reporting the statistics in 2005 on the grounds that the modern financial system had rendered the data obsolete."]
Brazilian Homeschool Couple May be Jailed if Their Children Fail Harsh Government Tests lifesitenews.com 8/23/8 ["Although the Nunes family was initially told that the tests the children would be given were to be on mathematics, geography, science, and history, they were told only a week in advance that they would also be tested on Portuguese, English, arts, and physical education, including questions about the history of handball, basketball, soccer, and other sports."]
Neb. 'safe-haven' law allows abandonment of teens ap.google.com8/23/8 ["Nebraska's new "safe-haven" law allowing parents to abandon unwanted children at hospitals with no questions asked is unique in a significant way: It goes beyond babies and potentially permits the abandonment of anyone under 19."]
US envoy: Russia's first Georgia move legitimate ynetnews.com 8/23/8 ["In rare American comment, ambassador to Moscow describes Kremlin's first military response as justified after Russian troops came under attack. Senior Georgian official says Russian forces leaving flashpoint city of Gori"]
 

West baffled by 2 heads for Russian government iht.com 8/22/8 ["American and European officials say there is no doubt that it is Putin who maintains the real power, making the decisions on how to prosecute and conclude the conflict. But they have felt compelled to follow diplomatic protocol that requires them to focus their negotiating efforts on Medvedev, who succeeded Putin in May to become the head of state."]
Russia can undermine U.S. interests in many arenas iht.com 8/22/8 ["The list of ways a more hostile Russia could cause problems for the United States extends far beyond Syria and the mountains of Georgia. In addition to increased arms sales to other anti-American states like Iran and Venezuela, policymakers and specialists here envision a freeze in cooperation on counterterrorism and nuclear nonproliferation, manipulation of oil and natural gas supplies, pressure against U.S. military bases in Central Asia and the collapse of efforts to extend Cold War-era arms-control treaties."]
NATO ships enter Black Sea for exercises iht.com 8/22/8 ["for what the alliance said were long-planned exercises and routine visits to ports in Romania and Bulgaria."]
Does Evil Exist? newswithviews.com 8/22/8 [By Coach Dave Daubenmire  "Sin is defined as “the transgression of divine law.” Divine means “proceeding from God or a god.” Failure to call sin what it is a denial of God. No God, no sin. That is where the secular left has taken us and where Warren and his acolytes have come on board the wagon. Sin is now a “moral failure.” Morality is open for interpretation. Individuals are no longer responsible for their behavior. The religious left wants the government to pay for the consequences of sinful behavior."]
Obama 'credential' criticized for upside-down flag worldnetdaily.com 8/22/8 ["The "credentials" issued by the Democratic National Convention for fans of Sen. Barack Obama to attend his nomination-acceptance speech next week at Denver's football stadium are raising questions because they apparently have the U.S. flag flying upside down – an international signal of distress."]
Satellites track Mexico kidnap victims with chips reuters.com 8/22/8 ["More people, including a growing number of middle-class Mexicans, are seeking out the tiny chip designed by Xega, a Mexican security firm whose sales jumped 13 percent this year. The company said it had more than 2,000 clients."]
John McCain ProLife? What A Joke newswithviews.com 8/22/8 [By Chuck Baldwin  "John McCain openly embraces embryonic stem cell research. In 2000, he boldly said he did not favor the overturn of Roe v. Wade. John McCain was a member of the infamous "Gang of 14" senators from both parties whose purpose was to oppose pro-life, strict constructionist judges."]
FDA: Irradiating spinach, lettuce OK to kill germs ap.google.com 8/22/8 ["The Food and Drug Administration on Friday will issue a regulation allowing spinach and lettuce sellers to take that extra step, a long-awaited move amid increasing outbreaks from raw produce."]
Brrr! Farmers' Almanac says cold winter ahead news.mainetoday.com 8/22/8 ["Weatherbee's outlook is borne out by e-mail comments that the almanac has received in recent days from readers who have spotted signs of nature that point to a rough winter, Geiger said. The signs range from an abundance of acorns already on the ground to the frequency of fog in August."]
 

Fannie and Freddie shares dive on bailout fears iht.com 8/21/8 ["while the mortgage companies' bonds rallied on the belief that an increasingly likely government bailout would wipe out shareholders but secure their massive debt."]
Petition of 30,000 Canadians Asks Governor General to Rescind Order of Canada to Abortionist lifesitenews.com 8/21/8 ["Adding insult to injury, the Governor General’s office, despite giving assurances that the petition would be officially received at the Governor General’s residence, refused to receive the petitions."]
"One World - One Dream" crossroad.to 8/21/8 [By Berit Kjos  "Communism has always clashed with truth, freedom and integrity, and China's choices illustrate the point. Only by unthinkable compromise can the "free world" find "common ground" with Communist totalitarianism. Yet, countless clues suggest that its masses are now marching blindly toward an illusion of unity, following leaders who willingly trade conviction for compromise. "]
Lithuanian Government Bans EU Pro-Homosexual Tour Truck lifesitenews.com 8/21/8 ["In February of this year Estonia, France, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Republic of Ireland, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the Czech Republic were listed in a memo that detailed those countries' failings in living up to the EU's definitions and directives for "discrimination" legislation."]
Russia rejects UN call to pull out of Georgia telegraph.co.uk 8/21/8 ["The French-drafted Security Council resolution called for Moscow's forces to retreat to positions they held before the conflict that broke out on August 7 after Georgia attemped to reclaim South Ossetia, a rebel province.  But Moscow insists the ceasefire deal brokered last week by Nicolas Sarkozy, the French President, allows for its troops to remain in a buffer zone well inside the Georgian side of the South Ossetian border, and that any UN resolution must reflect this."]
The War in Georgia Is a War for the West wsj.com 8/21/8 [By Mikheil Saakashvili, president of Georgia  "No country of the former Soviet Union has made more progress toward consolidating democracy, eradicating corruption and building an independent foreign policy than Georgia. This is precisely what Russia seeks to crush."]
USDA: Food prices to post biggest rise this year since 1990 usatoday.com 8/21/8 ["Food prices are forecast to rise by 5% to 6% this year, making it the largest annual increase since 1990. Just last month, USDA forecast food prices would climb between 4.5% and 5.5% in 2008."]
 

Large US bank collapse ahead, says ex-IMF economist guardian.co.uk 8/20/8 ["The worst of the global financial crisis is yet to come and a large U.S. bank will fail in the next few months as the world's biggest economy hits further troubles, former IMF chief economist Kenneth Rogoff said on Tuesday."]
Russia warns Ukraine not to interfere at navy base ap.google.com 8/20/8 ["Many Ukrainians worry that after dealing with Georgia, the Russians might set their sights on Ukraine, which like Georgia is a former Soviet republic government that has angered by Moscow by seeking closer ties with the West and membership in the NATO military alliance.  Russia's critics say the conflict in Georgia heralds a new, worrying era in which an increasingly assertive Kremlin has shown itself ready to resort to military force outside its borders in pursuing its goals."]
Iran satellite launch a failure, U.S. officials say washingtonpost.com 8/20/8 ["said Iran appeared to have succeeded in igniting the second stage of its booster rocket and gained data that will help it perfect its launch system. The technology could also be used to develop a rocket capable of carrying nuclear weapons that could strike Europe or China, he said."]
Polish government approves missile deal ap.google.com 8/20/8 ["Moscow says the U.S. installations in Poland will target Russia, but Washington strongly denies that — arguing that the system is designed to protect the U.S. and Europe against threats from countries like Iran, and would in any case be powerless against Russia's arsenal of missiles.  In light of Poland's security concerns, the missile defense deal also provides for Patriot missiles to be placed in Poland."]
Russia 'makes 1 bln dlrs' on Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac bonds: reports afp.google.com 8/20/8 ["The report gave no further details nor an explanation of how the investment had been able to produce a return worth some 670 million euros at a time when Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shares have tumbled on concerns they will have to be bailed out by the US government as a result of the US subprime home-loan collapse."]
More American women choose not to have children iht.com 8/20/8 ["Twenty percent of American women from the ages of 40 to 44 have no children, double the level of 30 years ago, the report says, and women in that age bracket who do have children have fewer than ever - an average of 1.9, compared with the median of 3.1 in 1976."]
Russian Forces Detain Georgian Soldiers at Port nytimes.com 8/20/8 ["...a network of Russian forces took up positions along Georgia’s main highway. Some of the troops who on Monday packed their equipment and said they were ready to leave Gori had unpacked and moved back to checkpoints at the city’s edge.  A large part of the conflict area remained lawless and in need of water and food, several residents remaining in four villages said."]
High borrowing costs defy Fed's interest rate cuts usatoday.com 8/20/8 ["One reason mortgage rates are so high: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are buying far fewer mortgages for their own portfolios. The mortgage giants were major buyers in mortgage markets, and lower demand has pushed yields higher."]
Goodyear to close 92 U.S. stores, cut jobs reuters.com 8/20/8 [""In the current economic condition, people are driving less and it obviously affects every facet of the U.S. auto industry, including how often they replace tires or buy new cars," Goodyear spokesman Keith Price said on Tuesday after the announcement."]
Depression survivors: 'We lived the hard way' jacksonsun.com 8/20/8 [""But I thought those were some wonderful times, and I wouldn't mind going through them again. We didn't know there was a depression because we didn't have any money to begin with."  Smith said his family always had enough to eat. They grew their own fruits and vegetables and hunted and fished."]
Christians Gather on National Mall for ‘Call’ to End Abortion cnsnews.com 8/20/8 ["The number of people on the Mall fell short of the 1 million organizers had hoped for, but thousands showed up to fast, pray and listen to speakers, including former Arkansas Governor and presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, Norma McCorvey – the "Jane Roe" of Roe v. Wade – and a stream of women and men who said abortion had nearly destroyed their lives and relationships."]
States throw out costly electronic voting machines ap.google.com 8/20/8 ["The demise of touch-screen voting has produced a graveyard of expensive corpses: Warehouses stacked with thousands of carefully wrapped voting machines that have been shelved because of doubts about vanishing votes and vulnerability to hackers."]
 

NYPD seeks to screen vehicles entering Manhattan ap.google.com 8/19/8 ["Police officials say Operation Sentinel would rely on license-plate readers, radiation detectors and closed-circuit cameras installed at the 16 bridges and four tunnels serving Manhattan. About a million vehicles drive onto the island every day.  ...Operation Sentinel is in just the planning phase."]
California doctors lose gay discrimination case afp.google.com 8/19/8 ["Doctors in California may not discriminate against gay patients on the basis of their religious beliefs, the state's supreme court ruled on Monday."]
Pledging to leave Georgia, Russia instead tightens grip iht.com 8/19/8 ["The Russian military deployed several SS-21 missile launchers and supply vehicles to South Ossetia on Friday, according to American officials familiar with intelligence reports. From the new launching positions north of Tskhinvali, the South Ossetian capital, the missiles can reach much of Georgia, including Tbilisi, the capital.  ...Beyond South Ossetia, the Russian military has taken other steps to raise its profile. In recent days, several Bear-H bombers have carried out training missions over the Black Sea"]
Security officials to scan D.C. area license plates wtop.com 8/19/8 ["Officials from Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia have agreed to install 200 license plate readers on police vehicles, at airports and along roads. The plan announced Friday will be funded by federal homeland security grants for the area."]
Homeschooling Showdown in Brazil: Children to be Tested by Court in Battle Over Educational Rights of Parents lifesitenews.com 8/19/8 ["The outcome could determine the future of homeschooling for countless families who are currently forced to homeschool their children secretly, or submit to the public education system."]
How to Survive (Almost) Anything: 14 Survival Skills nationalgeographic.com 8/19/8 ["After more than three decades of analyzing who lives, who dies, and why, I realized that character, emotion, personality, styles of thinking, and ways of viewing the world had more to do with how well people cope with adversity than any type of equipment or training."]
Curiosity about U.S. Navy buildup in Persian Gulf onenewsnow.com 8/19/8 ["In recent days military sources have revealed that three new American flotillas have arrived in Middle Eastern waters to join two other carrier groups already there. The marshalling of such a vast armada of more than 40 carriers, warships, and submarines has not been seen since just before the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq."]
Back to school: Shaky economy hits kids ap.google.com 8/19/8 ["Nationwide, at least 14 other districts are switching to four-day weeks, and dozens more are considering it, according to a recent survey by the American Association of School Administrators.  About 100 districts made the switch years ago, in many cases because of the 1970s oil crisis.  ...most schools will charge more for lunch, the School Nutrition Association said.  Schools will still not break even."]
 

U.S. export boom helps farms, not factories iht.com 8/18/8 ["...Exports are the bright spot this year in an otherwise bleak American economy. But the world is not suddenly snapping up made-in-America goods like aircraft, machinery and staplers. The great attraction is decidedly low-luster commodities like corn, wheat, ore and scrap metal.  This helps explain why manufacturing jobs are continuing to disappear by the tens of thousands and factories are closing even during a miniboom in exports. While the surge in commodities is a welcome relief, it is an unreliable prop for an industrial power."]
Honeybee deaths reaching crisis point guardian.co.uk 8/18/8 ["The survey by the British Beekeepers' Association (BBKA) revealed that nearly one in three of the UK's 240,000 honeybee hives did not survive this winter and spring.  The losses are higher than the one in five colonies reported dead earlier this year by the government after 10% of hives had been inspected. "]
Six days that broke one country - and reshaped the world order guardian.co.uk 8/18/8 ["Gori and Senaki are not ramshackle relics of the old Red Army of the type that litter the landscape of eastern Europe. "These bases have only recently been upgraded to Nato standard,"  ...The "enormous arsenals" are American-made or American-supplied. American money, know-how, planning, and equipment built these bases as part of Washington's drive to bring Nato membership to a small country that is Russia's underbelly."]
 

Russia: Poland risks attack because of US missiles ap.google.com 8/16/8 [""Poland, by deploying (the system) is exposing itself to a strike — 100 percent," Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn, the deputy chief of staff of Russia's armed forces, was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying.  He noted Russia's military doctrine sanctions the use of nuclear weapons "against the allies of countries having nuclear weapons if they in some way help them." Nogovitsyn said that would include elements of any strategic deterrence system, according to Interfax."]
Georgia-Russia conflict shows EU's energy vulnerability csmonitor.com 8/16/8 ["The Russo-Georgian conflict is the latest in a series of setbacks for Europe's planned Nabucco pipeline – its best hope of weaning itself off Gazprom, which set off alarm bells by cutting crucial gas supplies to the continent in the winters of 2006 and 2008."]
War shows that Putin is running things in Russia apnews.excite.com 8/16/8 ["a prominent Russian sociologist who studies the Russian political elite said Putin is steadily expanding the powers of the prime minister. Many members of the government who used to answer directly to the president, including the defense minister and foreign minister, now take their orders from Putin, said Olga Kryshtanovskaya."]
Russia-Georgia Conflict Offers Glimpse at New World Order wsj.com 8/16/8 ["the troubling strategic reality that is emerging is bigger and starker than just that. The rise of energy prices also is enriching other bad actors, creating a kind of globe-girdling string of well-heeled regional antagonists the U.S. can't ignore."]
 

McDonald's Restaurants Continue to Promote Homosexuality lifesitenews.com 8/15/8 ["A press release from the American Family Association has given an update on the involvement of McDonald's in the promotion of homosexuality.  "Now we learn that McDonald's sponsors training for homosexuals on how to promote their agenda among corporations from the inside. Out & Equal™ Workplace Advocates is a national organization devoted to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community in the workplace," the press release states."]
Russia: Georgia can 'forget' regaining provinces ap.google.com 8/15/8 ["The foreign minister of Russia said Thursday that Georgia could "forget about" getting back its two breakaway provinces, and the former Soviet republic remained on edge as Russia sent tank columns to search out and destroy Georgian military equipment."]
Conflict in Georgia narrows oil options for West iht.com 8/15/8 ["...energy experts say that the hostilities between Russia and Georgia could threaten American plans to gain access to more of Central Asia's energy resources at a time when booming demand in Asia and tight supplies helped push the price of oil to record highs."]
Cyberattacks on Georgian Web Sites Are Reigniting a Washington Debate wsj.com 8/15/8 ["Among the biggest questions: When is a cyberattack an act of war?"]
In the U.S., banks see more lending pain to come iht.com 8/15/8 ["About 75 percent of U.S. lenders tightened their standards for home buyers, even the best borrowers, in the second quarter. That's a huge majority and up from 60 percent of lenders in the April survey.  And if you want a home equity loan, forget it. About 80 percent of banks have raised their hurdles for making loans."]
New England Journal of Medicine: 'Brain Death' is not Death - Organ Donors are Alive lifesitenews.com 8/15/8 ["In an article that is sure to rock the world of organ donation, the highly respected New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) has backed up the objections of various pro-life groups, as well as some scientists and physicians, to certain types of organ donation which involve the removal of vital organs from patients believed to be dead. The problem, say the authors of the NEJM article, is that in many cases these patients may not be dead at all."]
US foreclosure filings surge 55 percent biz.yahoo.com 8/15/8 ["Nationwide, more than 272,000 homes received at least one foreclosure-related notice in July, up 55 percent from about 175,000 in the same month last year and up 8 percent from June, RealtyTrac Inc. said. That means one in every 464 U.S. households received a foreclosure filing last month."]
Batman The Dark Knight - Should We Fear Imitation of the Joker? lifesitenews.com 8/15/8 ["Seeing the film only a few days after the very disturbing, unexplainable beheading of a passenger on a Canadian bus, I could not help wonder if the perpetrator had seen the Batman film. The description of the killing and decapitation as having been carried out in a calm manner, entirely without emotion, and the killer taking the head of the man and glibly showing it to horrified witnesses, seemed to fit with the Joker's character. Media screen shots of the film showing the Joker holding up his "calling card" (a Joker playing card with a decapitated head dripping blood) added powerfully to the association."]
48% of America's Minors Exposed to R-rated Entertainment: Dartmouth College Study lifesitenews.com 8/15/8 ["Dartmouth researchers found that approximately 22 million of America's young people between the ages of 10 and 14 (12.5%) have viewed one or more restricted films. The most alarming numbers were recorded for the film Scary Movie with an estimated 48% (10 million) of this same age group having viewed the film despite the 'restricted' rating.  The online, family-friendly film reviewing site, Screenit.com, gives "Scary Movie" an "extreme" rating (the highest possible) for sexuality, violence and profanity. "]
Democratic Platform Calls for Homosexuals in the Military cnsnews.com 8/15/8 ["The national platform approved at a Democratic Platform Committee meeting in Pittsburgh on Saturday includes language that calls for repealing the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy implemented by Democratic President Bill Clinton and for allowing homosexuals to serve openly in the military."]
'It's For The Children' newswithviews.com 8/15/8 [By Coach Dave Daubenmire  "If we really loved our children...   If our children were really our future we would teach them..."]
Psst, information tips on the rise from public to FBI usatoday.com 8/15/8 ["Numbers spike with publicity, O'Neill says. An Oprah segment on child predators spurred a flurry of activity. He credits the steady rise this year to growing public interest in news events, such as the upcoming presidential election and the Olympics.  "When you have two candidates talking about terrorism, then you have the public thinking about terrorism again," he says."]
 

Gay Candidate Wins a Colorado Primary nytimes.com 8/14/8 ["Mr. Udall, a Democrat, is running for the Senate, and if Mr. Polis is elected to replace him in November, he would become the third openly gay or lesbian member of Congress.  “I think this sends a signal to young gays and lesbians across the country that they can consider a career in public service and they shouldn’t be scared away from that merely because of their sexual orientation,” said Mr. Polis, who introduced his partner, Marlon Reis, during a raucous victory party on Tuesday night."]
Banks' Subprime Losses Top $500 Billion on Writedowns bloomberg.com 8/14/8 ["The writedowns and credit losses at more than 100 of the world's biggest banks and securities firms rose after UBS AG reported second-quarter earnings today, which included $6 billion of charges on subprime-related assets."]
One Third of New Owners Owe More Than House Is Worth bloomberg.com 8/14/8 ["Almost one-third of U.S. homeowners who bought in the last five years now owe more on their mortgages than their properties are worth, according to Zillow.com, an Internet provider of home valuations.  Second-quarter home prices fell 9.9 percent from a year earlier..."]
Russia May Focus on Pro-U.S. Ukraine After Georgia bloomberg.com 8/14/8 ["Moving to counter any threat, Ukraine President Viktor Yushchenko today restricted the movement of Russia's Black Sea fleet, based in the Ukrainian port of Sevastopol, citing national security. The Foreign Ministry in Moscow denounced the decision as a ``serious, new anti-Russian step.''"]
Before the gunfire, cyberattacks iht.com 8/14/8 ["As it turns out, the July attack may have been a dress rehearsal for an all-out cyberwar once the shooting started between Georgia and Russia. According to Internet technical experts, it was the first time a known cyberattack had coincided with a shooting war."]
Fed holds first auction for 84-day loans ap.google.com 8/14/8 ["The Federal Reserve has auctioned another $25 billion in loans to the nation's banks and given them more time to pay the money back in an effort to combat a serious credit squeeze.  The Fed announced Tuesday that the money would be loaned at a rate of 2.754 percent. In the latest auction, the Fed offered the loans for an extended period of 84 days, rather than the 28-day period for the previous loans."]
Brazil Begins Pro-Homosexual "Diversity" Classes for Grades 1-9 lifesitenews.com 8/14/8 ["In the State of Sao Paulo, the Secretary of Education has announced that, beginning in 2009, students will be taught "the importance of respecting the sexual choice of every individual, destroying the taboos and doubts of the students," according to the state's website."]
Abortion has no Negative Psychological Consequences: American Psychological Association lifesitenews.com 8/14/8 ["The study's conclusions dovetail neatly with the insistence of abortion industry lobbyists that the key issue in abortion is "wantedness." If a woman aborts an unwanted baby, the 90-page study says, the psychological consequences are negligible. It is when a "wanted" child is killed or dies, that a woman experiences subsequent negative mental consequences."]
 

China to overtake US as largest manufacturer ft.com 8/12/8 ["is set to overtake the US next year as the world’s largest producer of manufactured goods, four years earlier than expected, as a result of the rapidly weakening US economy."]
Federal Reserve finds deepening credit crisis ap.google.com 8/12/8 ["The new survey, conducted in early July, found that about 75 percent of the banks surveyed indicated they had tightened their lending standards for prime mortgages. That was up from about 60 percent of banks who said they were tightening lending standards for prime mortgages in the previous survey."]
Russia Jets Bomb Georgia Oil Pipeline nysun.com 8/12/8 ["Georgia is a crucial link in a three-country energy corridor, vital to western Europe's oil and gas supply. The pounds $3.8 billion pipeline is the only major conduit for Central Asian resources not under Russian control."]
Russia opens new front, drives deeper into Georgia ap.google.com 8/12/8 ["Georgia's president said his country had been sliced in half with the capture of a critical highway crossroads near the central city of Gori, and Russian warplanes launched new air raids across the country."]
US military surprised by speed, timing of Russia military action afp.google.com 8/12/8 ["But the official said there was no obvious buildup of Russian forces along the border that signaled an intention to invade. "Once it did happen they were able to get the forces quickly and it was just a matter of taking the roads in. So it's not as though they were building up forces on the border, waiting," the official said."]
Eritrea: Christian Students Shut Into Shipping Containers compassdirect.org 8/12/8 ["The eight male students from the Sawa Defense Training Centre in Sawa, near Eritrea’s border with Sudan, were incarcerated after military authorities confiscated more than 1,500 personal Bibles from new students arriving for the 2008-2009 academic year.  The eight students objected when military officials began burning the Bibles. "]
U.S. Court of Appeals Upholds First-Amendment Right to Distribute Religious Materials lifesitenews.com 8/12/8 ["Granite City, Ill. ordinance restricting distribution of pro-Life handbills found unconstitutional"]
Germany Declares War on Home-Schoolers cbn.com 8/12/8 ["After an international uproar, Melissa was returned to her family. But other home-schooling families face even worse persecution. More and more parents are being sent to prison. Heavy fines are leaving home-schooling families destitute. And more and more children have been taken into state custody.  ...German home-schooler Heiko Krautter told us he would be sinning to put his children in a state school.  He said, "These things in the school, the official state school, they destroy the children. And we teach the children in the things of God. And the people in the official school teach the children in other things, against God.""  Editor: Why isn't that the conviction of American Christian parents?]
Wachovia boosts loss to $9.11 bln, cuts more jobs guardian.co.uk 8/12/8 ["... increased its previously reported second-quarter loss to $9.11 billion to cover costs to settle a probe of auction-rate securities sales, and said it will cut more jobs as the housing market deteriorates. The fourth-largest U.S. bank is now reporting a loss of $4.31 per share, up from the $8.86 billion, or $4.20 a share, it reported on July 22"]
FDIC Fund Strained by Bank Failures May Lift Premiums bloomberg.com 8/12/8 ["The failure of IndyMac Bancorp Inc. and seven other banks this year may erase as much as 17 percent of a government insurance fund and raise premiums for all banks..."]
 

Russia pursues retreating Georgian troops iht.com 8/11/8 ["Russian tanks and troops moved through the separatist enclave of South Ossetia and advanced on the city of Gori in central Georgia on Sunday night, for the first time directly assaulting a Georgian city with ground forces after three days of heavy fighting, Georgian officials said."]
For U.S., bigger issues require Russian help iht.com 8/11/8 ["While the United States considers Georgia its strongest ally in the bloc of former Soviet countries, Washington needs Russia too much on big issues like Iran to risk it all to defend Georgia."  Editor:  I believe this discrepancy will grow until the US literally becomes a mute point on the international stage, probably after economic collapse in our land, thus enabling Russia and Persia (Iran), et al to move against Israel.]
DHS stays mum on new 'Cyber Security' center news.cnet.com 8/11/8 ["The Bush administration's newly created National Cyber Security Center remains shrouded in secrecy, with officials refusing to release information about its budget, what contractors will run it, and how its mission relates to Internet surveillance."]
Paulson says won't stay at Treasury past January reuters.com 8/11/8 ["in an interview aired on Sunday he had no interest in staying in his post beyond January when a new administration takes office."]
When Pessimism Prevails, It's Time to Get Rich finance.yahoo.com 8/11/8 [By Robert Kiyosaki  "Am I optimistic for the long-term? Absolutely not. I still believe we're due for the mother of all market crashes, and that the U.S. economy is running on borrowed time -- and I do mean borrowed. I think most baby boomers are in serious financial trouble, and that oil will climb above $200 a barrel. Inflation will also increase, causing more pain for the poor and middle class.  The Fed is flooding the market with nearly a trillion dollars of liquidity, which is why I believe gold under $1,200 an ounce and silver under $30 an ounce are bargains."  Editor: Great financial writer - I've read several of his earlier books.  Good reads on your concept of assets.  However, for this article, it is interesting that he sees basically the collapse of our economy, yet he does not also realize the associated disorder and chaos that accompanies it.  His analysis on the financial situation is straight on, though.  Stay away from stocks, etc., though.]
UBS counts the cost of subprime after 'annus horribilis' afp.google.com 8/11/8 ["But the bank's woes are far from behind it, and certainly not in the key American market.  Just on Friday, UBS agreed to buy back 18.6 billion dollars' worth of stressed securities in a deal with US authorities.  UBS said it would endure a pre-tax charge of around 900 million dollars related to its settlement. Analysts say other banks are also likely to undergo financial hits from the buybacks."]
Credit crisis triggers unprecedented response msnbc.msn.com 8/11/8 ["...the Great Depression was the last time financial markets were hammered by such a variety of factors. "But we did not even have credit cards in the 1930s; there were no such thing as student loans," he added.  The breadth and speed of events have sent federal officials scrambling to plug leaks in the financial system. In the process, the government has bound taxpayers to the fate of a wide variety of banks and borrowers and could ultimately be responsible for losses in the tens of billions of dollars or more, according to estimates by congressional reports and interviews with regulators."]
Noah Floated His Whole Stock newswithviews.com 8/11/8 [By Betty Freauf  " McGee was firmly convinced that if God’s people today would give out His Word and live lives that would commend the gospel, He would make their witness effective. There are many pastors in our day who are so afraid they will lose the crowd that they do anything to attract people to their church. They’ll send spies into other churches that seem to attract crowds to emulate them. But God has never asked us to compromise. "]
In Beijing, Bush balances diplomacy, faith and the Olympics iht.com 8/11/8 ["He also thanked Hu for helping to arrange a visit to services at the Beijing Kuanjie Protestant Christian Church, one of the relatively small number of officially registered institutions, which he attended with his wife, Laura, and their daughter Barbara.  Before the visit, aides had considered visiting an unauthorized "house church," but the Chinese authorities had objected, and the White House opted not to press the matter."]
Who's Guiding The Olympic Vision? newswithviews.com 8/11/8 [By Berit Kjos  "The new acropolis is here! It's making a difference! For whenever groups of people tune their hearts to a shared experience, their personal values tend to change and blend -- be it ever so slightly each time. Change agents in churches as well as in government, community organizations, the UN, or the Olympic Committee are counting on it! Whether true or false, enticing stories and visual images can plant transformational suggestions in the collective mind."]
 

Olympic Games begin in Beijing iht.com 8/9/8 [""The historic moment we have long awaited is arriving," President Hu Jintao said earlier Friday at a luncheon with visiting heads of state, including President George W. Bush. "The world has never needed mutual understanding, mutual toleration and mutual cooperation as much as it does today.""]
Secret EU security draft risks uproar with call to pool policing and give US personal data guardian.co.uk 8/9/8 ["The 53-page report drafted by the Future Group of interior and justice ministers from six EU member states - Germany, France, Sweden, Portugal, Slovenia, and the Czech Republic -argues Europe will need to integrate much of its policing, intelligence-gathering, and policy-making if it is to tackle terrorism, organised crime, and legal and illegal immigration."]
Legislature Passes Bill for "Gay Day" Celebrations in California Public Schools lifesitenews.com 8/9/8 ["...unless Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoes the legislation.  ...The bill will require all public schools to "conduct suitable commemorative exercises" in commemoration of the anti-religious, homosexualist agenda of the late San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk."]
Putin Says `War Has Started,' Georgia Claims Invasion bloomberg.com 8/9/8 ["Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said ``war has started'' over the breakaway region of South Ossetia as Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili accused its neighbor of a ``well-planned invasion.''"]
'2 US aircraft carriers headed for Gulf' jpost.com 8/9/8 ["...according to the Kuwaiti newspaper Kuwait Times.  Kuwait began finalizing its "emergency war plan" on being told the vessels were bound for the region.  The US Navy would neither confirm nor deny that carriers were en route. US Fifth Fleet Combined Maritime Command located in Bahrain said it could not comment due to what a spokesman termed "force-protection policy." "]
U.S. Department of Health Backing Down on Controversial Freedom of Conscience Regulation lifesitenews.com 8/9/8 ["A U.S. Department Health and Human Services proposed regulation that would protect freedom of conscience for pro-life physicians and pharmacists will likely be rewritten to reflect pro-abortion demands."]
Obama Pledges ‘Total Equality’ for Same-Sex Families cnsnews.com 8/9/8 ["In an Aug. 1 letter to a Boston-based homosexual rights group, the Family Equality Council, Obama specifically pledged to use the presidency to overturn DOMA – and pledged his support for homosexual “families” and efforts to totally redefine marriage."]
The Global Ambition of Rick Warren time.com 8/9/8 ["A shift away from "sin issues" — like abortion and gay marriage — is reflected in Warren's approach to his coming sit-downs with the candidates. He says he is more interested in questions that he feels are "uniting," such as "poverty, HIV/AIDS, climate change and human rights," and still more in civics-class topics like the candidates' understanding of the role of the Constitution. There will be no "Christian religion test," Warren insists. "I want what's good for everybody, not just what's good for me. Who's the best for the nation right now?""]
Homeschooling OK – even in California worldnetdaily.com 8/9/8 ["An appeals court in California has ruled that state law does permit homeschooling "as a species of private school education" but that statutory permission for parents to teach their own children could be "overridden in order to protect the safety of a child who has been declared dependent.""]
AL: Residents tell Jefferson County commissioners to file for bankruptcy al.com 8/9/8 [" Jefferson County now is faced with the possibility of filing for bankruptcy, which would become the largest municipal bankruptcy filing in the nation's history.  ...Jefferson County sold bonds to raise about $3.2 billion to pay for improvements to its sewer system, but now is in danger of defaulting on the debt. "]
Airlines to cut 60m seats for Christmas telegraph.co.uk 8/9/8 ["the equivalent of one in every 14 seats, in response to high oil prices and the global credit crisis, according to the Official Airline Guide (OAG). Reduced availability is almost certain to force up ticket prices.  ...Routes will be scrapped at 275 airports around the world and 3,500 fewer planes will be needed, according to the OAG.  While Europe will suffer the loss of 5.5m seats, America will be worst hit, with a reduction of about 20m. "]
Fannie Mae loses $2.3B in quarter as defaults rise ap.google.com 8/9/8 ["Fannie Mae is making bold cutbacks that will send shock waves through the mortgage market, after posting a quarterly loss Friday that was three-times larger than Wall Street expected."]
RBS falls into huge loss after subprime hit afp.google.com 8/9/8 ["The Royal Bank of Scotland revealed an 11.4-billion-dollar hit from the US subprime crisis on Friday, and a resulting half-year loss among the biggest in British banking history.  RBS, the second-biggest British bank..."]
Prices for some drugs skyrocket usatoday.com 8/9/8 ["The number of brand-name drugs with increases of 100% or more could double this year from four years ago, researchers from the University of Minnesota say. Many of the drugs are older products that treat fairly rare, but often serious or even life-threatening, conditions."]
 

A Peculiar People newswithviews.com 8/8/8 [By Coach Dave Daubenmire  "It is so hard to recognize a Christian any more. For the most part we are a bunch of Chameleons, we Christians."]
Foremost UK Gay Activist Admits there is No Gay Gene lifesitenews.com 8/8/8 ["The "gay gene" theory has been used by gay activists "to deny choice, to make it appear that homosexuals cannot help it, and to argue that any criticism of the gay lifestyle is as silly as criticism of being left-handed or red-haired."  "And this has been a deliberate strategy by homosexual activists. They have done a very good job to convince a gullible public that homosexuals are born that way and cannot change.""]
Peter G. Peterson Foundation pgpf.org 8/8/8 [David Walker]
E.P.A. Won’t Ease Requirements for Ethanol in Gas nytimes.com 8/8/8 ["The Environmental Protection Agency rejected on Thursday a request to cut the quota for the use of ethanol in cars, concluding, for the time being, that the goal of reducing the nation’s reliance on oil trumps any effect on food prices from making fuel from corn."]
 

China cracks down to clean Christians out of Beijing worldnetdaily.com 8/7/8 ["Burton told WND that in most cases, the Beijing Public Security Bureau uses the same terror-raid tactics to stifle free associations of Christians in what the government calls the "unregistered church": Police storm a building where a house church is meeting, arrest the pastor, disband the members and warn them not to meet again.  Those arrested in the raids are charged with "participation in evil cults" or "disrupting social order," Burton reports."]
Freddie Mac's rising losses bode ill for US housing crisis afp.google.com 8/7/8 ["a shocking loss in the second quarter that bodes ill for the US taxpayer after the government's huge rescue package.  ...loss of 821 million dollars, with the loss per share at 1.63 dollars, more than triple most analysts' forecasts of 53 cents per share."]
AIG loses $5 billion iht.com 8/7/8 ["After excluding one-time items, the loss was 51 cents a share — much worse than the 63-cent gain that analysts were anticipating."]
Senator Suing God Urges Judge to Proceed abcnews.go.com 8/7/8 ["A senator for 38 years, Chambers skips morning prayers during the legislative session and often criticizes Christians. He is being pushed out of the Legislature by term limits."]
 

Canadian Same-sex "Marriage" Forces Spousal Insurance Coverage in New York lifesitenews.com 8/6/8 ["Last week, a New York lesbian woman won a lawsuit forcing her insurance company to provide her "spouse," who she "married" in Canada, with insurance coverage."]
U.S. spending obligations surge csmonitor.com 8/6/8 ["Moreover, last week the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) projected the US budget deficit for the next fiscal year to be $482 billion, the largest deficit in US history in nominal terms.  ...pass an economic package, including stimulus checks for most American families. If that plan had not been passed, the projected deficit for the current fiscal year would be $117 billion lower than the estimated $389 billion"]
Planned Layoffs Jumped 26 Percent in July: Survey newsmax.com 8/6/8 ["Planned layoffs at U.S. companies totaled 103,312 in July, compared with June's 81,755, employment consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc said.  Announced job cuts at U.S. companies last month were the second highest total so far in 2008, more than double the 42,897 a year earlier..."]
State: Just in case, we'll take your gun worldnetdaily.com 8/6/8 ["A new report to the Connecticut state legislature shows police have used the state's unique gun seizure law to confiscate more than 1,700 firearms from citizens based on suspicion that the gun owners might harm themselves or others.  ...The vast majority of cases, however, begin when a person – usually a spouse or live-in, according to the OLR report – file a complaint."]
Hundreds of banks will fail, Roubini tells Barron's reuters.com 8/6/8 ["The United States is in the second inning of a recession that will last for at least 18 months and help kill off hundreds of banks, influential economist and New York University Professor Nouriel Roubini told Barron's in Sunday's edition.   Taxpayers will pay a big price for helping bail out the rest of the financial services industry as well, Roubini said -- at least $1 trillion and more likely $2 trillion.  The banks will become insolvent because of mounting losses as a result of the housing bust and because they have only written down their subprime loans so far, he said. Still in front of them are their consumer-credit losses"]
Companies Tap Pension Plans To Fund Executive Benefits wsj.com 8/6/8 ["...shows how it works and reveals that the maneuver, besides being a dubious use of tax law, risks harming regular workers. It can drain assets from pension plans and make them more likely to fail. Now, with the current bear market in stocks weakening many pension plans, this practice could put more in jeopardy."]
 

Inflation Takes Steam Out of Rise in Spending nytimes.com 8/5/8 ["Consumers spent more in June, but only because the things they bought cost more."]
Troops patrolling Italian cities news.bbc.co.uk 8/5/8 ["Italian troops have begun patrolling cities as part of a government campaign to combat crime and boost security.  Some 3,000 soldiers will be deployed over the next week in major cities including Milan, Rome and Naples. "]
Greenspan warns governments may have to bail out more banks afp.google.com 8/5/8 ["Greenspan also extolled the virtues of globalisation, describing it as having been "at the root of the past decade's unprecedented surge in world economic activity.""]
U.N. grants status to homosexual-rights groups worldnetdaily.com 8/5/8 ["recently accorded two homosexual-rights groups "consultative status," raising opposition from pro-family advocates who see the move as a weakening of national sovereignty that could result in lowering the age of consent for homosexual sex.  U.N. watchdogs also cite homosexual-rights groups' historical alignment with organizations advocating pedophilia."]
Housing Lenders Fear Bigger Wave of Loan Defaults nytimes.com 8/5/8 ["Homeowners with good credit are falling behind on their payments in growing numbers, even as the problems with mortgages made to people with weak, or subprime, credit are showing their first, tentative signs of leveling off after two years of spiraling defaults."]
UNFPA's Annual Report Focuses on "Reproductive Health," Meaning Abortion lifenews.com 8/5/8 ["The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) recently released its annual report for 2007, touting principally the organization’s work in the field of “sexual and reproductive health.”  The radical nature of the document is revealed in the number of times certain issues are mentioned. In a 36 page document "reproductive health" or "reproductive rights", which are used as euphemisms for abortion, are mentioned 80 times. "]
 

Televangelists Snicker All The Way To The Banks newswithviews.com 8/4/8 [By Marsha West  "After a rambling, free-ranging talk about the worsening economy and the price of gas, he told us that he would give us all two things to help us get through perilous times. The first was a list of 7 Bible promises, as he called them, that he had printed up on a card. The mixture of truth and error was very evident here."]
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn dies at 89 iht.com 8/4/8 [""Gulag" was a monumental account and analysis of the Soviet labor camp system, a chain of prisons that by Solzhenitsyn's calculation some 60 million people had entered during the 20th century. The book led to his expulsion from his native land. George Kennan, the American diplomat, described it as "the greatest and most powerful single indictment of a political regime ever to be leveled in modern times.""]
Stressed banks borrow record amount from Fed reuters.com 8/4/8 ["Secondary credit the Fed extended, which is usually taken out by banks in need of emergency cash, rose to $89 million in the latest week, from $34 million the week before. Although these numbers are still very small compared with primary credit, "What that tells you is that there's an increasing number of banks that the Fed is classifying as 'unsound' or inadequately capitalized," Low said."]
Total Borrowings of Depository Institutions from the Federal Reserve stlouisfed.org 8/4/8 [""]
Small Florida bank is 8th U.S. failure this year reuters.com 8/4/8 ["The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp said First Priority Bank had $259 million in assets and $227 million in deposits and its failure will cost the federal fund that insures deposits an estimated $72 million."]
More than 56,000 in U.S. infected with AIDS each year reuters.com 8/4/8 ["The CDC stressed that actual infection rates have not risen but said better methods of measuring newly diagnosed infections and extrapolating these to the general population led to the higher estimates."]
 

D.C. State Board of Education Approves New Restrictive Homeschool Regulations lifesitenews.com 8/2/8 ["Among other things, the new regulations require annual notification of a parent's intent to homeschool on a form to be developed by the OSSE, maintenance of a portfolio of schoolwork, and up to two annual portfolio reviews by the OSSE to determine whether a homeschool program, in OSSE's opinion, is providing "regular, thorough instruction" in the required subjects."]
S&P cuts U.S. automakers' ratings further into junk status mercurynews.com 8/2/8 [" "We believe sharply lower U.S. light-vehicle demand and the recent dramatic shift in demand away from large pickup trucks and SUVs amid higher gas prices will complicate the turnaround efforts of all three automakers and reduce their currently adequate liquidity considerably over the next year and a half," S&P Credit Analyst Robert Schulz said in a statement."]
 

America – A Seething Cauldron! lasttrumpetministries.org 8/1/8 [By Pastor David Meyer  "We live in a nation that accepts every kind of idol, religion, sexual orientation, perversion, gambling, abortion, and other unmentionable evils. Truly, our erstwhile great nation of the United States has become a pot of scum. This is the way God described backslidden Israel, and they didn’t like hearing it either."]
"Dark knight" of hollywood's soul christiantelegraph.com 8/1/8 ["It's not because "Dark Knight" is graphically violent (violence has become the sine qua non of action films), but because it's sickeningly sadistic and nihilistic to the point of howling-at-the-moon madness.  ...Heath Ledger was so messed up by his performance (getting into the Joker's character) that he suffered from insomnia. Ledger used six different prescription medications, including the elephant-gun painkiller Oxycotin and anti-depressants like Valium and Xanax. He ended up dying of an overdose in January."]
Toying with Death crossroad.to 8/1/8 [By Berit Kjos  ""Are we training our children to kill?" asked Lieutenant Colonel David Grossman, an expert in the field of killology. For many years, he has "traveled the world training medical, law enforcement, and U.S. military personnel about the realities of warfare." He contends that point-and-shoot video games actually train young players to accurately shoot and kill human targets in spite of their natural, God-given resistance. His statistics validate his frightening conclusions..."]
Thousands laid off in California news.bbc.co.uk 8/1/8 ["Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California has moved to end a budget crisis by sacking 22,000 state workers and ordering pay cuts for 200,000."]
Bush signs sweeping housing bill iht.com 8/1/8 ["To accommodate the rescue plan for the mortgage companies, the bill raises the national debt ceiling to $10.6 trillion, an increase of $800 billion. The bill also creates significant liabilities and risks for taxpayers, that are virtually impossible to calculate."]
Official spending outpaces revenue usatoday.com 8/1/8 ["State and local government spending has been rising three times as fast as revenue amid warnings from governors that their finances are nearing crisis stage.  As many Americans face stagnant wages, high gas prices and job uncertainty, new government figures show that state and local governments boosted spending 7.8% in the second quarter compared with 2007 while revenue rose 2.5%."]
India Learns from Uganda: New AIDS Strategy Rejects Failed UN Approach - Will Focus on Abstinence, Fidelity lifesitenews.com 8/1/8 ["One of the only national programs ever to effectively combat HIV/AIDS was the Ugandan ABC program, which focused on abstinence and being faithful to one partner. Now the Indian national AIDS committee is adopting this same approach in their effort to curb HIV/AIDS rates. A spokesperson for India's National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) told the media yesterday that sex-education taught to students will focus on abstinence and fidelity, not condoms and 'safer sex.'"]
Bush Administration Announces Restructuring of Intelligence Agencies washingtonpost.com 8/1/8 [""]