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Haitians Turning to Christ, Abandoning Voodoo Practices 2 Years After Devastating Earthquake
This is a major step forward for many Haitians. Please keep the people of Haiti in your prayers as they continue their spiritual growth away from darkness …
By Stoyan Zaimov – “Two years after a devastating earthquake killed an estimated 300,000 people in Haiti, Christianity is fast replacing Voodoo in the lives and practices of the people, a missionary has revealed.
According to the Central Intelligence Agency World Factbook, there is a fusion of beliefs in Haiti – 80 percent of people profess to be Catholic, and another 16 percent are Protestant yet roughly half of the population still practices Voodoo.
However, it is no secret that Christianity has been expanding as a religion in Haiti – and a host of Christian missionaries and charity organizations who flew to the Caribbean nation to help the millions in desperate need have also contributed to a large conversion movement.
One such group, the Haiti Foundation of Hope, a Christian organization addressing the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of the people in the impoverished rural communities of northern Haiti, has built a number of community health programs in local villages and has seen firsthand people giving up their Voodoo beliefs and turning to Christ.
‘The background of the religious belief in Haiti has been Voodoo. This came from Africa, and has been integrated into Catholicism. My experience is that as Haitians have come to know the love of Christ, there has been a huge number of people who have left the Voodoo and turned to Christ,’ Linda Markee told The Christian Post. Markee is the secretary, board and founding member of the Haiti Foundation of Hope and has spent two years living and working in the Caribbean nation.
‘After the earthquake especially, people were turning to the Lord. Every single person that was in Haiti felt the earthquake – it wasn’t just people in Port-au-Prince that felt it. Everyone has been affected by it – most have lost family members. In a country where there is no real decentralization of the government – they all felt it. And I have seen people come to Christ, and have not gone back to Voodoo.'” Read more.
New UN Draft Resolution Gives Syria 15 Days to Comply or Face ‘Additional Measures’ as Uprising Inches Closer to Damascus
While Assad’s regime slowly crumbles, news percolates up through the chaos that the “liberated” city of Zabadani has now become Syria’s “Benghazi”. Yes, that Benghazi …
By Josh Rogin – “The Cable has obtained a copy of the draft resolution on Syria currently being discussed inside the U.N. Security Council. It calls on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to hand over power to his deputy and says additional measures would be taken if he doesn’t comply within 15 days.
U.N. Security Council diplomats are meeting behind closed doors on Friday to discuss what’s being called the Arab-European draft resolution on Syria. The Moroccan ambassador is presenting the draft resolution, which is designed to implement the recommendations of the Arab League transition plan laid out on Jan. 22.
The draft resolution condemns ‘the continued widespread and gross violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms by the Syrian authorities,’ demands that the Syrian government immediately put an end to all human rights violations, and calls on both sides to end attacks and violence immediately.
The resolution then lays out a political roadmap that matches the Arab League initiative intended to pave the way for a transition ‘leading to a democratic, plural political system’ through the formation of a national unity government, the handing over of all presidential authority to Assad’s deputy for a transition period, and then the holding of free and fair elections with international supervision.
Importantly, the draft resolution requests that U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon report on the implementation of the resolution every 15 days and also directs the Security Council ‘to review Syria’s implementation of this resolution [in] 15 days and, in the event that Syria has not complied, to adopt further measures, in consultation with the League of Arab States.'” Read more.
Syrian revolt creeps closer to Damascus – “The suspicion of the young Syrian soldier manning a checkpoint north-east of central Damascus was no surprise. But his words came as a shock. ‘Free army!’he declared, at this road junction in the Damascus suburb of Irbin, just half an hour’s drive from the seat of power of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. ‘We are independent. We are with the people,’ he continued, as a half-dozen of his comrades quickly gathered, one with a rocket propelled grenade launcher over his shoulder. This unexpected meeting with the militarised opposition who style themselves the Free Syrian Army was just the first of a series of striking insights offered by the capital’s restive suburbs into the country’s social faultlines and its dangerous state of flux. Days after the Assad regime vowed to press on with a ‘security solution’ to the 10-month uprising, the conflict’s lethal intensity is easily found in the down at heel communities that ring Damascus.” Read more.
The view from Damascus: Assad regime is ‘weak’ – “While the Syrian regime pummels away at long-restive cities such as Deraa and Hama, the new focal point for the revolution is none other than Damascus itself. Rebels, composed now of both army defectors and armed civilians, claim to be operating openly in Harasta, Hamowriya, Su’ban, Madaya and Ghouta, kidnapping regime personnel and taking the fight directly to Assad’s most elite (and loyal) army divisions and intelligence bureaus. There’s now even an all-women Free Syrian Army (FSA) brigade. Rebel gains have been impressive enough to percolate into the international news cycle. The ‘liberated’ city of Zabadani, some 20 miles from Damascus, is already being spoken of as Syria’s ‘Benghazi’.” Read more.
Maryland: Muslim Convert Pleads Guilty in US Bomb Plot
We’re “Islamophobes” if we point out the obvious by bringing attention to the fact that this wannabe killer is a Muslim. So I won’t point that out. Maybe he just suffers from a split personality. One for each pony tail. So he’s angry. In other news, have you noticed the following trend lately? …
“WASHINGTON (AFP) – A young Muslim-American man who tried to blow up a US military recruiting station pleaded guilty Thursday and faces 25 years in prison for the scheme, justice officials said.
Antonio Martinez, 22, who changed his name to Muhammad Hussain when he converted to Islam, pleaded guilty to attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction against federal property in connection with a plot to bomb an armed forces recruiting station outside of Baltimore, Maryland, the US Justice Department said in a statement.
‘We are catching dangerous suspects before they strike, and we are investigating them in a way that maximizes the liberty and security of law-abiding citizens,’ US Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod Rosenstein, said in a statement announcing the guilty plea.
‘That is what the American people expect of the Justice Department, and that is what we aim to deliver.’
FBI agents in December 2010 arrested Martinez, a recent convert to Islam whom they said dreamed of jihad, for plotting to carry out a personal strike against US forces.
Martinez was arrested as he attempted to set off what he believed was a car bomb at the military recruitment facility, but which was in fact a government-supplied fake.
The targeted recruitment post is in a shopping center in Catonsville, Maryland, south of Baltimore and a short drive northeast of the capital Washington.” Read more.
State Department Official: President Obama Plans to Accelerate Speed of American Aid to Egypt
Note to Obama: The Muslim Brotherhood is about to control Egypt. The Muslim Brotherhood wants to cancel the peace treaty with Israel and kill all the Jews. Yes, Egypt needs help, Obama, but not that kind of help. If you still insist on giving aid to Egypt, it seems to me that you need help, too …
By Warren Strobel – “(Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama plans to accelerate the pace of American aid to Egypt, a top State Department official said on Wednesday, as the most populous Arab nation reaches a critical stage in its uncertain transition away from autocratic rule.
Undersecretary of State Robert Hormats, part of a U.S. delegation that held unprecedented talks last week with Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, said Washington wanted to provide ‘more immediate benefits’ to Egyptians, who earlier this month conducted their first democratic elections in decades.
‘During this period, we want to be as supportive as we can. This is an historic moment. Egypt’s a country of enormous importance,’ Hormats said.
Under the plan, some non-urgent U.S. aid slated for other countries – he did not name them – would be redirected to Egypt. And funding in the pipeline for long-term programs in Egypt would be shifted to quick-impact projects, he said.
Hormats, speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of the annual World Economic Forum, emphasized that the White House had not made any final decisions, and that he was providing Washington’s “broad thinking” on the subject.
It was unclear whether the total amount of U.S. aid to Egypt would be increased. ‘Whether it’s an increase or whether it’s reprioritizing existing assistance, we’re still working this out,’ Hormats said.
Still, he made clear the United States wants to be seen as doing more to assist a hoped-for democratic evolution in Egypt, where the military still holds ultimate power on the first anniversary of protests that ousted President Hosni Mubarak.” Read more.
TLC’s ‘All American Muslim’ Imam Openly Supports Iran and the Destruction of Israel on US Arabic TV Network
Watch the video below to see this “peace loving” Husham Al Hussein’s true colors shine through. Again. No comment yet from Taqiyya’s Leftist Companions, but I hope they’ll have the courage to say something soon and issue their own Fatwa against “All American Muslim” and this “moderate” Imam. Otherwise, their silence will speak volumes …
Egypt: Muslim Brotherhood Vows to Never Speak or Meet With Israeli Officials
I understand that the Muslim Brotherhood owns the world. I understand that they’ve vowed to never recognize Israel. I understand that they’ve vowed to cancel the peace treaty with Israel. I even understand that they’ve vowed to kill all the Jews. But now they’re vowing to never talk to even one single Israeli official? I’m shocked! …
“The Muslim Brotherhood will not speak or meet with Israeli officials and its stance on Israel is not up for discussion, group spokesperson Mahmoud Ghezlan told London-based Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper.
‘It’s illogical to have dialogue, any dialogue, in light of the Israeli practices against the Arab peoples,’ the paper quoted him as saying in an article published Wednesday.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson Yigal Palmor told Israeli radio that Israel has not ruled out talks.
‘We will be happy to hold dialogues with whoever wants to have dialogue with us,’ Palmor said.
The Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party controls 47 percent of the seats in the newly formed People’s Assembly, but the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces is still running the executive branch of Egypt’s government.
Some fear that Islamists will push for ending the 1979 peace treaty between Egypt and Israel.
Western officials met with several Muslim Brotherhood and Islamist leaders after People’s Assembly elections.
Ghezlan said the group had not received a similar invitation from the Israeli Embassy in Cairo, but that any such request would be rejected.” Source – Egypt Independent.
Canada: Shafia ‘Religion of Peace’ Honor Killing Trial Resumes After Bomb Scare Prompts Delay
Here’s an update to this story. Of course, the police ‘couldn’t say’ if the bomb scare was related to the trial. No, of course not. That’s because it was caused by a disgruntled customer who didn’t get that double-double he ordered at Tim Hortons. It happens all the time …
Update: Guilty! …
“The Shafia family murder trial in Kingston, Ont. resumed Thursday afternoon with increased security after a bomb scare delayed proceedings earlier in the day.
Justice Robert Maranger told the jury to ‘expect the unexpected,’ which was greeted by laughs as they filed back in.
Spectators slowly made their way back into the courtroom for the trial after police implemented tight security procedures.
Maranger told the jury that the Crown would finish its closing arguments Thursday, and he would give his final instructions to the jury Friday.
Earlier Thursday, journalists and spectators who had lined up hours before court was scheduled to begin were suddenly told by police they had to leave.
Police would only say there was a ‘security concern,’ but a source told The Canadian Press that a bomb threat prompted the evacuation.
‘I can neither confirm nor deny in regards to specifically a bomb, but we are just stating at this point in time it is a security concern,’ Const. Steve Koopman told The Canadian Press. ‘As you can see we’re taking it extremely seriously.’
Mohammad Shafia, 58, his wife Tooba Yahya, 42, and their son Hamed, 21, have each pleaded not guilty to four counts of first-degree murder.
They were evacuated from the courthouse Thursday in a police prisoner vehicle.
Koopman couldn’t say if the security threat was directly related to the Shafia trial.
The trio is accused of killing teenage Shafia daughters Zainab, 19, Sahar, 17, and Geeti, 13, as well as Shafia’s first wife in his polygamous marriage.” Read more.
US Outraged as Egypt Bars Americans From Leaving Country, Including Son of Ray LaHood
Maybe if they hadn’t taken a Chevy to the airport things would have turned out differently …
By Patrick Werr and Tom Perry – “(Reuters) – Six Americans working for publicly funded U.S. organizations promoting democracy in Egypt have been barred from leaving the country, provoking angry demands in Washington that Cairo’s new military rulers stop “endangering American lives”.
Among those hit by travel bans – one of those targeted called it ‘de facto detention’ – is a son of U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, as well as other foreign staffers of the International Republican Institute and National Democratic Institute, officials at the two organizations said on Thursday.
The United States said Egypt should reverse them: ‘We are urging the government of Egypt to lift these restrictions immediately and allow these folks to come home as soon as possible,’ State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.
A month after police raided the Cairo offices of the IRI, NDI and eight other non-governmental organizations, it raises the stakes for Washington, which had already indicated it may review the $1.3 billion it gives the Egyptian military each year if the probe into alleged breaches of local regulations went on.
Some see it as a poor omen for Egypt’s fledgling democracy following last year’s overthrow of Hosni Mubarak.
John McCain, the leading Republican senator who chairs the IRI, voiced ‘alarm and outrage’ at a ‘new and disturbing turn’ which included a travel ban on Sam LaHood, the group’s Egypt director and son of President Barack Obama’s transport chief.
The younger LaHood said he was stopped at Cairo airport on Saturday and prevented from boarding a flight out.
McCain, in a statement referring to Egypt’s ruling military council, said: ‘I call on the Egyptian government and the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces to cease the harassment and unwarranted investigations of American NGOs operating in Egypt.’
‘This crisis has escalated to the point that it now endangers the lives of American citizens and could set back the long-standing partnership between the United States and Egypt.'” Read more.
US Bans Jewish Parliament Member From the US But Allows Hamas and Ahmadinejad
Makes a lot of sense. If you’ve got that lobotomy thing going on …
By Hezki Ezra and Chana Ya’ar -“MK Michael Ben Ari is still being refused a visa to enter the United States – but the lawmaker says Hamas terrorists are allowed to visit.
In an interview with Arutz Sheva’s Hebrew news service, Ben Ari said Wednesday that he is ”still waiting’ for a visa to visit the U.S.’ Ben Ari noted that even after thousands of people were killed in the September 11, 2001 multi-site Al Qaeda terrorist attack on America, ‘The United States allows terrorists to enter its territory.’
The lawmaker contended that ‘It shows something about the country, that what may happen to the next set of Twin Towers is not so important to them.’
The MK said he also asked U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro about the problem with the visa, but that Shapiro replied such things were ‘not his responsibility.’
Shapiro also told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Wednesday that he ‘can’t speculate’ on whether President Barack Obama might consider commuting the sentence of imprisoned spy Jonathan Pollard to time served. MK Meir Sheetrit also asked the ambassador why MK Michael Ben Ari was unable to obtain a visa to enter the U.S., noting that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejaad and Hamas terrorists have been able to do so.” Source – INN.
Flashback: Muslim Brotherhood Gaining Foothold in U.S. Government? – “They were the first modern terrorists and the forerunner of al Qaeda. But these days, the Muslim Brotherhood is becoming mainstream not only in Egypt, but in Washington, D.C. While the final chapter of the so-called Arab Spring has yet to be written, it appears that radical Islamic forces could emerge as the big winners. None more so than the Muslim Brotherhood. In Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Syria and Jordan, the Brotherhood has used unrest to increase its influence. The group is also making inroads closer to home, according to one expert. ‘Their goal is primarily deception, manipulation and intelligence gathering,’ former FBI Special Agent John Guandolo said. Guandolo said Brotherhood operatives have infiltrated the halls of power in Washington, D.C.” Read more.
Egyptian Sheikh: Chevrolet’s Logo Resembles Christian Cross, Issues Fatwa Forbidding Muslims from Buying or Driving Chevys
If the “Cross of Chevrolet” had anything to do with Christianity, then General Motors wouldn’t have needed to be saved by the Federal Government. After all, the Cross is the only thing that can bail us out. No word yet on whether or not a fatwa will be issued against Mercedes-Benz for being pro-Trinitarian. In the meantime, maybe the Sheikh will recommend a Lamborghini for all Muslims. He obviously has no problem with that logo …
By Angie Nassar – “A Salafi sheikh in Egypt has reportedly issued a fatwa that buying [or driving] a Chevrolet vehicle is haram because the American brand’s logo looks like the Christian cross.
In the video below, prominent Egyptian TV presenter Amr Adeeb takes the sheikh’s joke-of-a-fatwa to task, saying, ‘We’ve reached a really strange place with this.’
‘The car’s been around [for a century] and only now did you notice there’s a cross on the car?’
Adeeb also notes that the car is not used or presented as a form of religious iconography: ‘Do we hold mass for it? Do we pray for it?’ And his guest chimes in with a comment about the self-centered nature of the fatwa itself: ‘As if the people who came up with the logo were thinking that we want to put this special logo on the car just to piss us [Muslims] off?’
The TV presenter concludes, ‘With all of the problems in Egypt, you’re concerned about the cross?… We’re calling for unity [in the country] and then you come up with [fatwas] like this?’
By the way, there’s actually a few theories going around about the symbolism behind the Chevrolet logo. One common story is that General Motors co-founder William C. Durant copied the design off some wallpaper he saw in a Parisian Hotel. But historian Ken Kaufmann says the logo is actually based on iconography used by the Southern Compressed Coal Company ad for its ‘Coalettes’ logo.
Either way, it’s usually referred to as a bowtie emblem, of which there are many examples in various corporate logos.
Knowledge is power, people. And I’m too annoyed to comment further.” Source – NOW Blog.
Flashback: Somalia: Islamist Group Bans Samosas After Deciding They’re Too ‘Christian’ Because … – “Apparently triangles are not halal in Somalia. These exceptionally deep-thinking Islamists would rather see children starve to death than see them eat a three-sided snack food. It might remind somebody of the Trinity. Finally, I understand my addiction to Doritos. And thank goodness it never snows in Somalia, otherwise Jack Handey bin Laden would have to issue a fatwa against Jack Frost bin Chillin, and we’d never enjoy a White Christmas ever again …” Read more.
British Columbia: Rumbling and Shaking on Vancouver Island Mystifies Residents, Seismologists
By Jeff Bell – “Unusual shaking and rumbling reported around the capital region had people thinking ‘earthquake’ — but, rest assured, there was no seismic event.
Natural Resources Canada responded to public concerns by posting an explanation on its website, saying what was felt could have come from an ‘atmospheric source’, likely sound waves travelling over a long distance.
Taimi Mulder, a seismologist at the Pacific Geoscience Centre in North Saanich, said it received several calls from the public reporting rumbling at about 10:45 a.m. and 2 p.m. Tuesday.
Soundwaves that could create such an event have several possible sources, Mulder said. ‘We just know it wasn’t an earthquake. Jets going at supersonic speed can cause it, a volcano erupting could cause it — anything that puts a loud noise into the atmosphere and generates a soundwave through the atmosphere will do that. It often ends up being the military.’
Another possible explanation is that it was a ‘whistler’, in which a thunderstorm in one hemisphere travels via magnetic-field lines to the opposite hemisphere.” Source – Times Colonist.
Worst Fish-Kill in Recent Times Discovered Off Guyana and Suriname
Demerara Waves – “In what authorities believe is one of the worst fish-kills in recent times, a lot of Curiass is being washed up on the Guyanese and Surinamese foreshores, apparently due to murky Atlantic Ocean waters and the discharge of freshwater into the sea.
The Fisheries Department of the Ministry of Agriculture says mostly dead Cuirass have been sighted since January 9 and the situation peaked on January 20 when a ‘significant’ amount of dead fish was observed on the beaches in the area.
Consultations with Surinamese Fisheries Department officials have revealed that similar occurrences of dead fish have been observed in the vicinity of Nickerie and Coronie during the same period, the ministry here stated.
‘An on the spot observation conducted by the Regional Fisheries Officer revealed that the gills were heavily coated with sling mud and slime. This condition may have resulted in oxygen deprivation to the fish resulting in death,’ Guyana’s Fisheries Department added.
While the observance of dead fish is said to an annual occurrence by local fisherfolk in both countries, Guyana’s Fisheries Department believes that this year’s was ‘noticeably worse’ and may have resulted from one of or a combination of factors.
They include turbidity of the water in the area – caused by excessive rainfall in the general region resulting in excessive cloudiness of the water due to suspended particles from the rivers which flow into the ocean and reduced dissolved oxygen levels. The other major factor could have been a high fresh water discharge – the high discharge of fresh water from the rivers may have disrupted the salinity content of the water in the area which could adversely affect fish in the area.
The University of Guyana’s Biodiversity Centre is expected to conduct tests on samples collected on January 22 to determine the cause of death of the fish. Results will be available several weeks later.” Read more.




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