Americans get an 'F' in religion

50% of high school seniors think Sodom and Gomorrah were married
By Cathy Lynn Grossman, USA TODAY

Sometimes dumb sounds cute: Sixty percent of Americans can't name five of the Ten Commandments, and 50% of high school seniors think Sodom and Gomorrah were married.

Stephen Prothero, chairman of the religion department at Boston University, isn't laughing. Americans' deep ignorance of world religions — their own, their neighbors' or the combatants in Iraq, Darfur or Kashmir — is dangerous, he says.

"We're impoverished by ignorance," says the Rev. Joan Brown Campbell, former general secretary of the National Council of Churches. "You can't draw on the resources of faith if you only have an emotional understanding, not a sense of the texts and teachings."

But if people don't know Sodom and Gomorrah were two cities destroyed for their sinful ways, Campbell blames Sunday schools that "trivialized religious education. If we want people to have serious knowledge, we have to get serious about teaching our own faith."

TEST YOUR BIBLICAL LITERACY: Americans get an 'F' in religion

And he shall think to change times and laws

Daylight savings time to change this year
KNN News

The U.S. Energy Policy Act of 2005, passed by the U.S. Congress July, 2005, extended Daylight Saving Time (DST) in the U.S. by approximately four weeks. As a result, beginning in 2007, DST will start three weeks earlier on March 11, 2007, and end one week later on November 4, 2007, resulting in a new DST period that is four weeks longer than previously observed.

The Joy of Living Live 2nd Anniversary !!

It’s been a busy and exciting year for "The Joy of Living Live"
KNN News

February 2007 marks the 2nd year anniversary of The Joy of Live cookbook. The Joy of Living Live has touched the lives of thousands of individuals all over the world. We’ve brought Joy to more than 12 countries…and still going. Here are some of the highlights:

Health lectures, food demonstrations, raw food preparation classes, book signings and radio interviews during our U.S. Tour in Atlanta, GA; Capital Heights, MD; Baltimore, MD; Brooklyn NY; Detroit, MI; Richmond, VA; Washington, DC; and West Hollywood, CA.

Book signing in Atlanta, GA at health event featuring David Wolfe sponsored by The Women of Wellness and Soul Vegetarian Restaurant.

Book signing in Brooklyn, NY at health lecture by Dr. Llaila Afrika.

Book signing in West Hollywood, CA at health lecture featuring Dr. Gabriel Cousens sponsored by MOA and the world-famous Bodhi Tree bookstore.

Health lectures, book signings, raw food displays and “Pot Blessings” (better than “luck”) in Israel, Northeast Africa.

Health lecture in the Village of Peace in Dimona, Israel featuring Paul Nison.

“20 Simple Ways to Improve Your Health” lecture and “Live Cake” demonstration at a health event in Birmingham in the United Kingdom.

Joy recipes are being used to improve the health of people in Jamaica, St. Croix, Ghana, Benin, South Africa, Congo, Ethiopia, Israel, India, and United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, and the United States.

Many thanks and blessings to all of you who made this possible. We look forward to many new and exciting projects for this up-coming year.

The Joy of Living Live: A Raw Food Journey by Zakhah has over 100 delicious, international raw and living foods recipes. It features testimonies from long-time raw foodists including Dick Gregory, Dr. Llaila Afrika, Aris LaTham, Karyn Calabrese. Joy features information on simple ways to improve your health, transitioning to raw, organic foods, food combining, herbs and spices, sprouting, gourmet food preparation, fasting, detoxification, exercise, prayer and meditation, holistic dental care and more.

Visit our website at: http://www.joyoflivinglive.com

The brothers in Mississippi are ready to grow

KNN-Cleveland

Under the leadership of Nasik Rham and Ahk Eliyahu - The brotherhood in Mississippi has 40 acres of land and is preparing to grow a variety of organic food this year. Ahk Keymah recently visited Mississippi to talk with the brothers about this years growing season.

Last year they produced sweet-delicious watermelons, which were displayed at last years Brotherhood Conference in Texas. They also grew truckloads of greens. Some of which were shipped to our southern missions. In addition to these crops, tomatoes, soybeans, corn, and many other items were planted. They had so many tomatoes last year that they did not know what to do with all of them.

Akh Moshey told KNN that; “Many of the crops that we planted last year were also eaten by dear”. This year the brothers have installed 6 foot fencing all around the farmland. Ahk Yoseff from Mississippi has been heading up this effort.

As a community effort they also provide fresh produce for the local elderly in their community. “Everybody wants and needs wholesome food grown without all of those harmful pesticides,” said Ahk Eliyahu, Head of the Mississippi Mission.

The brothers expect to start planting in the next few weeks. They will be producing a variety of food this year, especially foods that can be dried and stored in case of a national disaster. We will not soon forget the lessons learned from hurricane Katrina.

Any questions regarding our farm in Mississippi should be directed to our Southern Prince – Nasik Rham. Yah Khai!!!!

Scores killed as strong quake shakes Indonesia

At least 70 confirmed dead; official says toll expected to rise
Associated Press

PADANG, Indonesia - A powerful earthquake crumpled houses across a large swath of western Indonesia on Tuesday, killing at least 70 people and injuring hundreds, authorities said, predicting that the toll would rise.

The magnitude 6.3 quake struck on Sumatra island and was felt as far away as neighboring Malaysia and Singapore, where some tall buildings were evacuated. It was followed by several strong aftershocks.

"Women were crying out in terror. We all just fled as quickly as we could," said Alpion, a welder in the seaside town of Padang who uses a single name. Along with thousands of others, he was running to higher ground, fearing a tsunami that never came. See: Indonesia quake kills at least 70

Childhood obesity can trigger early puberty

Study: Girls who gain weight through age 6 develop breasts by age 9
Reuters News Service

CHICAGO - Childhood obesity in the United States appears to be causing girls to reach puberty at an earlier age, for reasons that are not clear, a study said on Monday.

The report from the University of Michigan’s Mott Children’s Hospital said a multiyear study following a group of 354 girls found that those who were fatter at age 3 and who gained weight during the next three years reached puberty, as defined by breast development, by age 9.

“Our finding that increased body fatness is associated with the earlier onset of puberty provides additional evidence that growing rates of obesity among children in this country may be contributing to the trend of early maturation in girls,” said Dr. Joyce Lee, the lead author.

“Previous studies had found that girls who have earlier puberty tend to have higher body mass index, but it was unclear whether puberty led to the weight gain or weight gain led to the earlier onset of puberty,” she added.

“Our study offers evidence that it is the latter,” Lee said.

Earlier studies have found that U.S. girls are reaching puberty earlier than was the case 30 years ago, a time span during which rates of childhood obesity also increased, the study said. In the study girls were classified as at risk for being overweight if their body mass index (a measurement of weight related to age and height) was between the 85th and 95th percentiles, and defined as overweight if the measurement was greater than the 95th percentile.

The researchers said that 168 of the girls were classified as being “in puberty” by the age of 9 and nearly two dozen reported having their first menstrual period by two years later. Higher body mass index scores at all ages had a “strong association with earlier onset of puberty, the authors said.

The study was published in Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics. “Earlier onset of puberty in girls has been associated with a number of adverse outcomes, including psychiatric disorders and deficits in psychosocial functioning, earlier initiation of alcohol use, sexual intercourse and teenage pregnancy and increased rates of adult obesity and reproductive cancers,” the study said.