Catholic Church buries limbo after centuries

Limbo was never part of Church doctrine, even though it was taught to Catholics well into the 20th century
By Philip Pullella
Reuters News Service


VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Roman Catholic Church has effectively buried the concept of limbo, the place where centuries of tradition and teaching held that babies who die without baptism went.

In a long-awaited document, the Church's International Theological Commission said limbo reflected an "unduly restrictive view of salvation."The 41-page document was published on Friday by Origins, the documentary service of the U.S.-based Catholic News Service, which is part of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Pope Benedict, himself a top theologian who before his election in 2005 expressed doubts about limbo, authorized the publication of the document, called "The Hope of Salvation for Infants Who Die Without Being Baptised."

The verdict that limbo could now rest in peace had been expected for years. The document was seen as most likely the final word since limbo was never part of Church doctrine, even though it was taught to Catholics well into the 20th century.

"The conclusion of this study is that there are theological and liturgical reasons to hope that infants who die without baptism may be saved and brought into eternal happiness even if there is not an explicit teaching on this question found in revelation," it said. "There are reasons to hope that God will save these infants precisely because it was not possible (to baptize them)." The Church teaches that baptism removes original sin which stains all souls since the fall from grace in the Garden of Eden.

"NO NEGATION OF BAPTISM"

The document stressed that its conclusions should not be interpreted as questioning original sin or "used to negate the necessity of baptism or delay the conferral of the sacrament." Limbo, which comes from the Latin word meaning "border" or "edge," was considered by medieval theologians to be a state or place reserved for the unbaptized dead, including good people who lived before the coming of Christ.

"People find it increasingly difficult to accept that God is just and merciful if he excludes infants, who have no personal sins, from eternal happiness, whether they are Christian or non-Christian," the document said. It said the study was made all the more pressing because "the number of nonbaptised infants has grown considerably, and therefore the reflection on the possibility of salvation for these infants has become urgent."

The commission's conclusions had been widely expected. In writings before his election as Pope in 2005, the then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger made it clear he believed the concept of limbo should be abandoned because it was "only a theological hypothesis" and "never a defined truth of faith."

In the Divine Comedy, Dante placed virtuous pagans and great classical philosophers, including Plato and Socrates, in limbo. The Catholic Church's official catechism, issued in 1992 after decades of work, dropped the mention of limbo.

Caffeinated soap?????

Reuters News Service

LONDON - Inventors have created a soap infused with caffeine which helps users wake up in the morning.

The soap, called Shower Shock, supplies the caffeine equivalent of two cups of coffee per wash, with the stimulant absorbed naturally through the skin, manufacturers say.

“Tired of waking up and having to wait for your morning java to brew? Are you one of those groggy early morning types that just needs the extra kick?” ask the makers, thinkgeek.com.

Scented with peppermint oil, each bar is designed to provide a stimulant boost within five minutes for a clean buzz.

KNN-"What will they think of next?"

Reflection on Passover 2007

40 Years: A Brief Perspective from the Lands of the Captivity
Ahk Eitai
KNN-Cleveland

Being a relative newcomer to the Kingdom (5 years) it is sometimes difficult for me to fully grasp all that has occurred since the advent of this glorious Kingdom. As I read, reread and later pondered the words of Abba’s Pasakh address (We Made It!) I was again challenged to truly comprehend & appreciate the essence – the true spirit of that message.

Specifically, I was striving to really appreciate the utter impracticality – the sheer impossibility –the colossal improbability of what we have achieved over the last 40 years. Abba classified our trek over the last four decades as “the impossible journey”.

As I was walking in my neighborhood recently one morning the words “impossible journey” were still resonating in my spirit. I began to reflect on the extraordinary history of the Kingdom. As I walked I recalled these words from that Pasakh message:

Forty years ago the journey for the restoration of Yah Yisra’el’s name as Creator in the Genesis began. Forty years ago the historical journey for the Sons, Daughters, Children to establish the long-awaited Kingdom of Yah began. We, now, after forty years have crossed over a major threshold on our prophetic journey.

We have passed over! This season is not likened to any other Pasakh for we have passed over and we are at the point where major psychological and physiological effects begin. We have withstood the onslaught of the adversary; we have overcome the conspiracies, the might of Pharaoh, the plausible lies of the great scholars. To be here, in the Holy Land, this day is to know of a surety (far beyond the expression of Yah Khai!) that truly – Yah Khai!!!

As I continued my walk on that morning I was momentarily distracted by a huge alabaster structure about two hundred yards to my right. It was the newly-constructed Mt. Zion Church built about 3 or 4 years ago. Larry L. Macon is the pastor & founder of this impressive suburban mega-church. Pastor Macon got his start at Holy Trinity Baptist Church which coincidentally is the same church that I taught & preached at for nearly 20 years before coming to the Kingdom! In fact, I was being groomed and positioned for the same type of “success” in the church world that Reverend Macon was now experiencing!

I was about to quickly pass by this massive, multi-million dollar Euro-gentile institution when I decided to walk over and take a closer look. For the last 4 years or so I had driven past it countless times but had never actually seen or even desired to see it up close.

Situated on nearly 4 acres, amid trees and well-manicured suburban greenery Mt. Zion Church is a mammoth (at least 30,000 – 35,000 square feet!) ultra, ultra-modern facility. I strolled up to the expansive entranceway with its multiple glass doors. I peered inside and observed a pristine reception area; the plush carpet, the vaulted ceilings, the massive marble reception desk – at least 20 feet in width! I saw wooden easels holding glossy placards that help patrons navigate through the cavernous layout, announce the various orders of service and feature upcoming events… Impressive!!!

As I continued to gaze on intently I thought, “All of this established on a lie!” Furthermore, I understood immediately that this is only one of thousands of such institutions in this country, all of which being established on the same myth, the same lie. I thought, if I could somehow transport this enormous edifice to Dimona and set it in the Kefar it would easily take up nearly ½ the land space! Impressive!!!

I thought of how easy it would be for the carnal mind to compare this structurally remarkable institution (and others like it) with the comparatively humble institutions of the Kingdom.

At that point I remembered the words of the Father:

“… We are at the point where major psychological and physiological effects begin.”

I realized then that the point in human development when a person begins to experience major psychological and physiological effects is called puberty. It is at this point when adolescents begin to enter into the stages of adulthood. I then began to understand the profound import of Abba’s words. The 40 years of momentous, impossible, improbable, impractical, unlikely achievements were accomplished by adolescents – mere babes!

Mt. Zion Church should be impressive – it actually took over 2,000 years (not just 4 or 5 years) for the adversary to construct it and the thousands of others like it! These represent the pinnacles of accomplishment during the Age of the Gentiles!

“We have withstood the onslaught of the adversary; we have overcome the conspiracies, the might of Pharaoh, the plausible lies of the great scholars.”

It took the adversary 4,000 years to extinguish the Genesis Idea. It took another 2,000 years to completely supplant it. The formulation of the lie, the foundation of the Christian church, took nearly 100 years to construct following the death of Yeshua the Hebrew Messiah.

The various Euro-gentile councils of Nicea (325 AD), of Laodicea (363 AD), of Rome (382 AD), of Hippo (393 AD) and of Carthage (397 AD), etc. laboriously established the flagrant theologies, doctrines & dogmas of the modern church. Out of this the so-called new testament emerged.
It took over 4 centuries (400 years) of brutal captivity to completely conquer the African-Hebraic mind. All of this while the Adamic Family was in the throes of over 4,000 years of protracted degeneracy!

We therefore must understand that the sum total of their accomplishments is not worthy to be compared to even the least of our achievements. The Kingdom is in the early, early stages of its development. And yet, it took Abba a mere 40 years – one tenth of the captivity – less than 1 % of the decline of the Adamic Civilization – to reverse the effects and establish what we see, hear, taste and experience today!

Truly, Yah Khai!!! I am infinitely grateful for Abba Gadol, our great leaders, the faithful saints, the many teachers & scholars of the Kingdom who have contributed to my growth and development in this extraordinary season. I am eagerly looking forward to the advent of the next 40 years! Post Puberty! Eyes have not seen, nor ears heard nor hearts even imagined…

“And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole of heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.”
Dani’el 7: 27

Todah rabbah,
Ahk Eitai BN Aharone

Virginia Tech - the worst massacre in U.S. history

Terror for two hours as gunfire rang out, students waited out the worst massacre in U.S. history
Associated Press

The first crackle of gunfire shattered the Monday morning calm. It was 7:15 a.m. on the campus of Virginia Tech and an epic killing spree had just begun.

Snow was swirling on the windy April day and classes had not yet started when a murderous rampage that would shake the nation started in a coed dormitory, West Ambler Johnston, home to 895 people.

See: Victims in Virginia Tech massacre, Suspect’s writing ‘macabre,’ ‘twisted’, Memories submitted by our readers, Colleges seeking to inform students faster, Shootings draw global condemnation, South Korea ‘in shock’ over shooting, Bomb scares, other threats at schools, School's security response questioned, Witness: Gunman ‘didn't say a single word’, Two hours of terror gripped Virginia Tech, Timeline: How deadly shooting unfolded, A look at Virginia Tech campus, history, Fact file: Deadliest shootings in U.S., Fact file: Deadly college shootings in U.S.

32 dead in Va. Tech shooting rampage

Gunman shot people in a dorm, second building; suspect among dead
Associated Press

BLACKSBURG, Va. - At least 32 people were killed Monday in a shooting rampage on the Virginia Tech campus, police said. They said the gunman was among the dead.

In addition to those killed, officials said at least 28 people were wounded. Virginia Tech Police Chief Wendell Flinchum said the gunman was dead, but that he didn't know how he died.

"Today the university was struck with a tragedy that we consider of monumental proportions," said university President Charles Steger. "The university is shocked and indeed horrified."

Up until Monday, the deadliest campus shooting in U.S. history took place in 1966 at the University of Texas, where Charles Whitman climbed to the 28th-floor observation deck of a clock tower and opened fire. He killed 16 people before he was gunned down by police. In the Columbine High bloodbath near Littleton, Colo., in 1999, two teenagers killed 12 fellow students and a teacher before taking their own lives.

Virginia Tech reported shootings at opposite sides of the 2,600-acre campus, beginning at about 7:15 a.m. local time at West Ambler Johnston, a co-ed residence hall that houses 895 people, and continuing about two hours later at Norris Hall, an engineering building.

At least one student was killed in the dorm and others were killed in the classroom, Flinchum said.

After the shootings, all entrances to the campus were closed. "There's just a lot of commotion. It's hard to tell exactly what's going on," said Jason Anthony Smith, 19, who lives in the dorm. See: MASSACRE ON CAMPUS OF VIRGINIA TECH

Interracial Marriages Surge Across the U.S.

For most of U.S. history, in most communities, such unions were taboo
By DAVID CRARY
Associated Press

NEW YORK (April 14) - The charisma king of the 2008 presidential field. The world's best golfer. The captain of the New York Yankees. Besides superstardom, Barack Obama, Tiger Woods and Derek Jeter have another common bond: Each is the child of an interracial marriage.

For most of U.S. history, in most communities, such unions were taboo.

It was only 40 years ago - on June 12, 1967 - that the U.S. Supreme Court knocked down a Virginia statute barring whites from marrying nonwhites. The decision also overturned similar bans in 15 other states.

Since that landmark Loving v. Virginia ruling, the number of interracial marriages has soared; for example, black-white marriages increased from 65,000 in 1970 to 422,000 in 2005, according to Census Bureau figures. Factoring in all racial combinations, Stanford University sociologist Michael Rosenfeld calculates that more than 7 percent of America's 59 million married couples in 2005 were interracial, compared to less than 2 percent in 1970.

Click here: Top News- Interracial Marriages Surge Across the U.S. - AOL News

Tons of food spoiled as FEMA ran out of space

More than $40 million worth of supplies tossed out, scavenged for re-use
Washington Post

WASHINGTON - As many as 6 million prepared meals stockpiled near potential victims of the 2006 hurricane season spoiled in the Gulf Coast heat last summer when the Federal Emergency Management Agency ran short of warehouse and refrigeration space, according to agency officials.

In all, hundreds of truckloads of food worth more than $40 million are being thrown away or scavenged for unspoiled contents to be offered to domestic hunger-relief groups, FEMA officials said. Most of the meals were commercial versions of the military's Meals Ready to Eat, which were ruined despite being engineered to withstand the demands of desert and jungle climates.

See: Tons of food spoiled as FEMA ran out of space

Shock Jock's Radio Show Dumped by CBS

CBS fired Don Imus from his radio program
Associated Press

NEW YORK (April 12) - CBS fired Don Imus from his radio program Thursday, the finale to a stunning fall for one of the nation's most prominent broadcasters.

Imus initially was given a two-week suspension for calling the Rutgers women's basketball team "nappy-headed hos" on the air last week, but outrage continued to grow and advertisers bolted from his CBS radio show and its MSNBC simulcast.

"There has been much discussion of the effect language like this has on our young people, particularly young women of color trying to make their way in this society," CBS President and Chief Executive Officer Leslie Moonves said in announcing the decision. "That consideration has weighed most heavily on our minds as we made our decision."

Rutgers women's basketball team spokeswoman Stacey Brann said the team did not have an immediate comment on Imus' firing. See: Was CBS Right to Fire Him?

Male Fertility!!!

Revving up his Engine with Fresh Organic Fruits and Vegetables
Dr. Baruch-KNN Staff

At a recent American Society for Reproductive Medicine meeting, new research revealed that eating more fruits and veggies can help men boost their fertility. These new findings indicate that the more produce a man consumes, the healthier his sperm will be. In a study group of infertile men, 83 percent of them were found to be eating less than five servings of fruits and veggies a day. Overall, the men who ate the fewest fruits and veggies had the lowest sperm motility.

"We think that sperm quality is affected by dietary antioxidant intake," said study author Dr. Vivian Lewis, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Rochester in Rochester, N.Y. "Antioxidants, like those found in fruits and vegetables, may help prevent damage to sperm that causes them to become sluggish and lose the ability to fertilize an egg".

In particular, the antioxidants glutathione and cryptoxanthin, which are prevalent in brightly colored produce such as leafy greens, tomatoes, peppers and oranges, were associated with strong, healthy sperm, Lewis said. She recommended that men hoping to father children eat "a variety of fruits and vegetables, at least five servings a day."

The modern day researches continue to confirm what the ancients knew. Focus on giving your body what it needs - it knows how to do the rest.

As always, We Love You and Stay Healthy,
Dr. Baruch and the Staff of Eat The Cure
The Wellness Wednesday Staff
The Wholefood Farmacy Team
http://www.drbaruch.com

Talk show host calls Rutgers women's basketball team "nappy-headed hos"

Host slurred women's hoops squad on-air
BY BRENDAN PRUNTY
Star-Ledger Staff

Radio talk show host Don Imus offered an apology to the Rutgers women's basketball team and the university for comments he made this week on his program.

During Wednesday's show, which airs on WFAN 660-AM and is simulcast on MSNBC, Imus referred to the Rutgers team as "nappy-headed hos." Executive producer Bernard McGuirk used the terms "jigaboos" and "wan nabes," in referring to the team.

Click Here to see complete article: Imus' racist remarks infuriate Rutgers

Over 1,000 people of diverse backgrounds have participated in a health walk

Health walk organized by the Ministry of Health in collaboration with the African Hebrew Development Agency (AHDA), an Israeli based organization at Keta
Ghanadistricts.com

The walk, which was to promote the physical fitness of participants, was also to arouse community consciousness about the need for regular fitness exercises as one of the fundamentals in diseases prevention.

It also formed part of a week’s programme of Regenerative Health and Nutrition Training to promote alternative health care through physical exercise and good nutrition dubbed: "Renew your strength to prevent diseases.

"The 8.5 kilometre walk from the forecourt of the Keta District Assembly premises at 0600 hours went through the main streets of Keta, Dzelukope and Vui, ending at the beach at Tegbi where participants, including health workers, traditional rulers, students and some Israeli nationals underwent drills before retiring for water and fruits.

Mr. Solomon Yaw Fordjour, District Chief Executive of Afram Plains and Mr. Kofi Ahiabor, DCE of Keta took part in the exercise.Mr. Prince Emmanuel Ben-Yehuda, the Project Director of AHDA based in Dimona, Israel, where good health practices were said to have made maternal and child mortality alien to the place in the past 40 years, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that exercising, intake of plant based diets, of fruits and vegetables, drinking of water and eating at the right time are the best means of disease prevention.

He said his association is in the country to assist the Ministry of Health to drum home to the people that most of the diseases in Ghana are preventable if everybody assumed responsibility for his or her own health through disciplined lifestyles rather than relying on hospitals and drugs.Mr. Ben-Yehuda said their presence is to mobilize communities, including the chiefs and health workers to know and lead the way in advancing the regenerative health and nutrition concept in the country.

Mr. Kofi Edusei, Project Manager of the Regenerative and Nutrition Programme (RNP) at the Ministry of Health said the Ministry is shifting health paradigm from the development of hospitals to development of health in homes through good health practices and so limiting the propensity of people becoming sick. See: Ghana Districts

KNN now accepting donations

KNN Staff

Greetings everyone!!! To continue providing you with the latest free updates on World and Kingdom of Yah news, we are now accepting donations. If you are interested in supporting KNN contact Bro. Keymah at keymah777@aol.com to make your donation today!!!!

History of Easter-Part 2

Submitted by MelindaBA
KNN Staff

Easter, a Christian festival, embodies many pre-Christian traditions. Eastre (or "Ostara"), the Anglo-Saxon Teutonic goddess of spring and fertility was often accompanied by a hare when represented. The fertile nature of rabbits and hares is another symbol of new life and the rebirth that occurs during the spring season.

Also, German settlers in America are said to have brought over the tradition of a bunny named "Oschter Haws" who would visit houses on Easter eve, leaving colored eggs for children. Easter eggs were painted different colors to represent the sunlight of spring. Christians later used eggs to symbolize the rebirth of Christ.

Another Easter tradition is the eating of Hot Cross Buns. These cakes were marked by the Saxons to honor Eastre, the fertility goddess. The crosses on the buns are said to represent the moon's quarters, while Christians see the cross as a reference to the crucifixtion.

When is Easter?
According to the New Testament, Christ was crucified on the eve of Passover and shortly afterward rose from the dead. In consequence, the Easter festival commemorated Christ's resurrection. In time, a serious difference over the date of the Easter festival arose among Christians. Those of Jewish origin celebrated the resurrection immediately following the Passover festival, which, according to their Babylonian lunar calendar, fell on the evening of the full moon (the 14th day in the month of Nisan, the first month of the year); by their reckoning, Easter, from year to year, fell on different days of the week.

Christians of Gentile origin, however, wished to commemorate the resurrection on the first day of the week, Sunday; by their method, Easter occurred on the same day of the week, but from year to year it fell on different dates.

Constantine I, Roman emperor, convoked the Council of Nicaea in 325. The council unanimously ruled that the Easter festival should be celebrated throughout the Christian world on the first Sunday after the full moon following the vernal equinox; and that if the full moon should occur on a Sunday and thereby coincide with the Passover festival, Easter should be commemorated on the Sunday following. Coincidence of the feasts of Easter and Passover was thus avoided.

The Council of Nicaea also decided that the calendar date of Easter was to be calculated at Alexandria, then the principal astronomical center of the world. The accurate determination of the date, however, proved an impossible task in view of the limited knowledge of the 4th-century world. The principal astronomical problem involved was the discrepancy, called the epact, between the solar year and the lunar year. The chief calendric problem was a gradually increasing discrepancy between the true astronomical year and the Julian calendar then in use.

For more info see: Passover

They want to kill the almonds

Starting in August or September of 2007 all almonds including organic must be pasteurized
Jackie & Gideon Graff
www.livingnutz.com

Starting in August or September of 2007, raw almonds available in the USA, Canada and Mexico, will no longer be "truly raw" due to a mandate passed by the USDA, FDA and the California Almond Board, announcing that all almonds including organic must be pasteurized.

The problem is the law has been passed with little public input(if any) or notification whatsoever. In addition all pasteurized almonds available in the marketplace will still be labeled as raw almonds. Can this be considered fraudulence or an out right lie? Are you willing to give up your food freedom choices?

The primary reasons for passing this law are two isolated outbreaks of salmonella, in conjunction with conventional almond farms a few years ago. To the best of our knowledge no salmonella outbreaks have EVER been associated with organic almonds.

Within the past 10 years tomatoes, spinach, green onions, peanuts, grapes, melons, lettuce, and sprouts have all been linked to salmonella outbreaks. Does that mean we should eliminate all fresh produce? Absolutely not!!!

Almonds, the heartbeat of all nuts, literally, have been associated with reduced risk of heart disease, a rich source of calcium, magnesium, vitamin E, protein, fiber and antioxidants to name a few . These amazing and life enhancing health benefits, will be devastatingly reduced if not completely eliminated in the pasteurization process. Three of the potential suggested methods of pasteurization are:

-Propylene oxide(PPO) fumigation(propylene oxide was also used as an insecticidal fumigant till 1988 when its registration was terminated. California prop.65 rates PPO as a carcinogen. Cited from www.mbow.org)

-High heat(which degrades the integrity of the nuts and enzyme structure).

-Steam pasteurization (will also further devalue the nutrients, enzyme activity and antioxidants.)

This is a call to all those who care about their health, we need to join forces by bringing this to the attention of everyone from the mass media to the common consumer before it goes any further than almonds! It is our basic right to choose unprocessed foods! We have created a petition that we will present to the California Almond Board, the FDA and the USDA. Go to www.livingnutz.com and click on the almond pasteurization petition link on the front of our page and sign your name as well as your state, town, and zipcode. E-mail us at info@livingnutz.com with any other questions, media relations, ideas or information you may have relevant to this cause.

Americans still refusing to eat their veggies

Less than one-third of adults eat recommended daily servings, survey shows
Associated Press

ATLANTA - Fewer than a third of American adults eat the amount of fruits and vegetables the government recommends, a trend that’s remained steady for more than a decade, health officials said Thursday.

That’s “well below” the government’s goal of getting 75 percent of Americans to eat two servings of fruits and three of vegetables each day by 2010, said Dr. Larry Cohen of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The telephone survey of more than 305,000 adults in 2005 indicates the country is only about halfway toward meeting the goal three years from now.

The federal agency said it doesn’t know why people aren’t eating more veggies or fruits. Cohen said future surveys will ask people what other foods they are eating.

Susan Krause, a clinical dietitian at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey, said people are eating more refined sugars or choosing protein instead of fruits and vegetables.

“There’s so much information out there and people get very confused. When they’re looking at protein, they feel that’s the solution when they’re not looking at long-term health benefits,” she said. “There’s so many fabricated foods now and people are looking at convenience.”

Not only are fruits and vegetables lower-calorie, they also have minerals and fiber that help guard against chronic diseases and cancer, the CDC says. See: Americans still refusing to eat their veggies

Chocolate Jesus exhibit canceled after uproar

Catholics described it as "a sickening display"
Associated Press

NEW YORK - A planned Holy Week exhibition of a nude, anatomically correct chocolate sculpture of Jesus Christ was canceled Friday amid a choir of complaining Catholics that included Cardinal Edward Egan.

The "My Sweet Lord" display was shut down by the hotel that houses the Lab Gallery in midtown Manhattan, said Matt Semler, the gallery's creative director. Semler said he submitted his resignation after officials at the Roger Smith Hotel shut down the show.

The six-foot sculpture was the victim of "a strong-arming from people who haven't seen the show, seen what we're doing," Semler said. "They jumped to conclusions completely contrary to our intentions."

But word of the confectionary Christ infuriated Catholics, including Egan, who described it as "a sickening display."

Bill Donohue, head of the watchdog Catholic League, said it was "one of the worst assaults on Christian sensibilities ever."

"It’s not just the ugliness of the portrayal, but the timing — to choose Holy Week is astounding," he said. See: Chocolate Jesus exhibit cancelled

FDA urges laxer labeling on irradiated foods

Agency proposes admittedly misleading use of term ‘pasteurized’
Associated Press

WASHINGTON - The government proposed Tuesday relaxing its rules on labeling of irradiated foods and suggested it may allow some products zapped with radiation to be called “pasteurized.”

The Food and Drug Administration said the proposed rule would require companies to label irradiated food only when the radiation treatment causes a material change to the product. Examples includes changes to the taste, texture, smell or shelf life of a food, which would be flagged in the new labeling.

The technique kills bacteria but does not cause food to become radioactive. Recent outbreaks of foodborne illness have revived interest in irradiation, even though it is not suitable for all food products. For example, irradiating diced Roma tomatoes makes them mushy, the FDA says. See: FDA urges laxer labeling on irradiated foods

Strength and Courage runs through our veins

Ahk Bacariel and Ahote Kheelkeeyah’s father is honored in Washington D.C. for his service as a Tuskegee Airman
KNN-Dimona

On March 29, the United States honored the Tuskegee Airmen by awarding the group the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian award bestowed by the federal legislature.

A 1925 study by the Army War College titled "The Use of Negro Manpower in War" concluded that African-American "men were cowards and poor technicians and fighters, lacking initiative and resourcefulness." It also called them a "subspecies of the human population."

So the Army Air Corps wasn't expecting much in 1941 when it began training a small group of African-American men to become pilots at Alabama's Tuskegee Institute, a historically black college. What it got was one of the most successful flying squadrons in American military history

Shattering racist stereotypes, they flew more than 15,000 sorties over North Africa and Europe during World War II, destroyed more than 250 enemy aircraft on the ground and 150 in the air, and fiercely protected the American and Allied bombers they escorted on missions.

"We dared not fail," said retired Air Force Lt. Col. Charles W. Dryden, 86, who earned his wings at the Tuskegee program in 1942. "We dared not fail because the white folks could say, `See, we knew they couldn't do it.'"

KNN asked Akote Kheelkeeyah why this historical moment was so special for her. She replied, “The reason this is so special for me because this day vindicates my father’s name and exonerates him as the great man he really was and not what he fell prey to because truly he was preyed on by the adversary.

Racism slavery was a terrible thing for us as a people. However our greatness continued to rise to the top; The elect who were placed with the elite, who grew up in the house of pharaoh.

My father knew and told us we were from the ancient biblical Hebrew Israelites. He was told that as a child by the elders in secret. He was from the royal line. This day I’m so proud to be his daughter. I never knew his greatness. But today in the days of Yah’s Kingdom his greatness is known throughout the earth.

And like Joseph, and like Daniel, he grew up in the house of pharaoh and he paid the price for his son and daughter to be here (in Israel) today.”

Thousands homeless after Solomons tsunami

Waves triggered by undersea quake destroyed villages, killed at least 28
Associated Press

HONIARA, Solomon Islands - Some of the thousands left homeless by a tsunami ventured back into the devastated Solomon Islands town of Gizo Tuesday, picking their way through rickety buildings in search of food and water.

But most were still too scared to leave the hillside, where they have been camped out since a powerful undersea earthquake sent waves up to 30 feet high crashing into the South Pacific country’s islands.

At least 28 people had been confirmed dead in the Solomons from Monday’s tsunami and quake, measured at a revised magnitude of 8.1 by the U.S. Geological Survey. The victims included a bishop and three worshippers killed when a wave hit a church on the island of Simbo and a New Zealand man who drowned trying to save his mother, who remains missing. See: Thousands homeless after tsunami

The Mean Judeans Are Back

KNN-Dimona

Dimona Mean Judeans' pitcher Yaron Ben Israel one-hit the Dawgs, and the team's speedy second stringers stole 10 bases in a 23-1 victory on Tuesday. Ben Israel struck out eight, walked four and gave up a hit to Yigal Rozval. Teens Tahby Ben Israel and Tahor Ben Israel each had three hits for Dimona, while Ovade Ben Israel and Emmanuel Ben Israel each hit inside-the-park-homers.

History of Easter-Part 1

Pagan Origins

Submitted by MelindaBA

KNN Staff

Easter, a Christian festival, embodies many pre-Christian traditions. The origin of its name is unknown. Scholars, however, accepting the derivation proposed by the 8th-century English scholar St. Bede, believe it probably comes from Eastre, the Anglo-Saxon name of a Teutonic goddess of spring and fertility, to whom was dedicated a month corresponding to April. Her festival was celebrated on the day of the vernal equinox; traditions associated with the festival survive in the Easter rabbit, a symbol of fertility, and in colored easter eggs, originally painted with bright colors to represent the sunlight of spring, and used in Easter-egg rolling contests or given as gifts.

Such festivals, and the stories and legends that explain their origin, were common in ancient religions. A Greek legend tells of the return of Persephone, daughter of Demeter, goddess of the earth, from the underworld to the light of day; her return symbolized to the ancient Greeks the resurrection of life in the spring after the desolation of winter. Many ancient peoples shared similar legends. The Phrygians believed that their omnipotent deity went to sleep at the time of the winter solstice, and they performed ceremonies with music and dancing at the spring equinox to awaken him.

Stay pluged in to KNN for Part 2.

As the EU turns 50, Pope says it's on path to oblivion

Europe 'ignoring Christian roots' says Benedict XVI
by Ian Traynor in Berlin
The Guardian

European leaders celebrated the EU's 50th birthday, with Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, telling the prime ministers or presidents of 27 countries that modern Europe was a dream come true.

But the birthday party summit for the EU - staged with rock concerts, Beethoven, beer and cake in brilliant sunshine in Berlin - was soured by the German Pope, Benedict XVI, who delivered a profoundly pessimistic verdict on Europe at 50, declaring that the continent could be heading for extinction.

Angry that a "Berlin Declaration" unveiled yesterday listing the EU's achievements and challenges on its 50th birthday contained no reference to the continent's Christian roots, Pope Benedict said that Europe could "not be built by ignoring its people's identities".

In his remarks to bishops gathered for ceremonies in Rome to mark the signing of the treaty that founded the EU in 1957, the Pope declared that the reluctance of women in Europe to have babies and Europe's failure to regenerate itself was putting the continent on the path to oblivion. "From a demographic standpoint ... Europe seems set on a path that could lead it to take leave of history," he warned. Europe was "losing faith in its own future".

Birthrates are at historic lows in many EU countries, most notably in strongly Roman Catholic countries such as Poland, Italy and Spain. According to UN projections, the population of the EU could shrink by 50m within a few decades. See Complete Article: As the EU turns 50, Pope says it's on path to oblivion

Frankenfoods vs. Organics

Genetically Modified Foods: Boon or Boondoggle?
U.S. regulators say they're safe, but critics aren't convinced
By Karen Pallarito
HealthDay Reporter

(HealthDay News) -- When you bite into an apple, you pretty much know what you're getting. The same can't be said for many packaged foods, which often contain ingredients that have been "genetically modified."

Corn and soybeans, along with cotton and canola, are among the most common genetically modified (GM) crops in the United States. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, an estimated 61 percent of the corn and 89 percent of the soybeans planted in 2006 were biotech varieties.

While the bulk of GM crops are destined to become animal feed, some of the bounty ends up in kitchens, restaurants and vending machines.

"Most of the processed foods that we eat -- cookies, chips, sodas, crackers -- all of those will contain some ingredients that are derived from corn or soybeans," said Michael Fernandez, executive director of the Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology, a nonpartisan source of information on agricultural biotechnology.

It's estimated, he added, that as much as 70 percent of processed foods contain an ingredient that has been genetically engineered. These ingredients include corn syrup, soy protein, canola oil, cottonseed oil and lecithin, a food additive derived from soy.

Genetically modified crops, first introduced for commercial production in 1996, take advantage of modern biotechnology. Scientists can select a desirable gene from one living organism and splice it into another. The gene for Bacillus thuringiensis, a toxin commonly used as an insecticide, for example, can be inserted into a plant to increase its resistance to diseases caused by insects. Other genetic modifications can boost a crop's resistance to a particular virus, say, or herbicide.

"They're now putting human genes into rice, for example, trying to produce pharmaceutical drugs," said Ronnie Cummins, national director of the Organic Consumers Association, an advocacy group of organic consumers and businesses. "They have put petunia genes into soybeans to make them [resist] a powerful herbicide," he added.

But could these combinations, which never occur spontaneously in nature, pose a threat to human health? See: Frankenfoods vs. organics

Why don't we talk about hell any more, asks the Pope

Fire and brimstone is part of the pontiff's push for a back-to-basics Catholicism
Tom Kington in Rome
The Guardian

For centuries it has been one of the Catholic Church's favourite topics. But the Pope has given a fresh reminder to his flock that Hell is hell and bemoaned the fact that it rarely gets talked about these days.

The 79-year old pontiff used a Mass in the gritty Fidene suburb of Rome to put damnation back on the agenda. "Jesus came to tell us everyone is wanted in paradise, and that hell, about which little gets said today, exists and is eternal for those who shut their hearts to his love," Pope Benedict warned the congregation on Sunday.

The talk of fire and brimstone stopped there, as Pope Benedict failed to elaborate on what lay ahead for the sinner in the afterlife, adding only that "our real enemy is the attachment to sin, which can bring about the failure of our existence".

But the tough talk was typical of the Pope's conservative stance and an increasingly back-to-basics view of religion and society that has spilled over into political debate in Italy and beyond.

He warmed up this year with stern criticism of Italian politicians for considering a law giving rights to homosexual couples, attacks which have created serious rifts within the government of Romano Prodi. The Vatican then asked the UN this month to adjust the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights to give doctors and nurses the right to boycott abortions and the manipulation of human embryos.

On Sunday, the Pope upset the EU's 50th birthday party by suggesting that plummeting birth rates on the continent could send the continent to oblivion.

Although short on details about hell, the Pope has never gone so far as to dismiss the existence of the devil.

In The Ratzinger Report, a book-length interview published when he was the prefect of the congregation for the doctrine of the faith, Pope Benedict says the devil is "a puzzling but real, personal and not merely symbolic presence. He is a powerful reality, a baneful superhuman freedom directed against God's freedom."

The Pope has not gone as far as John Milton, who depicted Satan "chained on a burning lake" in hell in Paradise Lost. If Pope Benedict has declined to paint a picture of hell, one expert said, believers should not let their imagination get away from them either.

"Forty to 50 years ago priests were depicting hell along the lines of the famous sermon in James Joyce's Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man," said Michael Paul Gallagher, dean of theology at the Gregorian University in Rome. "However, the talk of devils with forks tended merely to foster fear in a way unfaithful to the gospels themselves."

"But it is a terrifying freedom to live a refusal of love and to live only for oneself. Hell is better seen as a state of self-separation from God or self-exclusion from love, rather than as God's punishment. We can opt to live that way here on Earth and terrifyingly we can choose it for ever," he added.

"Sartre said hell is other people, to which TS Eliot replied hell is oneself. But they both agreed that hell can begin on Earth."

God the Black Man and Truth

The book that started it all
KNN-DC

Hailed as the "decoder to the Bible", this seminal work by Ben Ammi, renowned Hebraic Scholar and Spiritual Leader of the African Hebrew Israelites of Jerusalem, is the first part of the acclaimed Resurrection Trilogy. In God the Black Man and Truth, Ben Ammi clearly and thoroughly explores the numerous spiritual, social, political, economic and health ills that are plaguing Black people around the globe and links them unquestionably to our failed relationship with God. Scriptural and prophetic analysis is brought to bear on the crumbling family structure, the sad state of the ecosystem... But far more than just analysis, Ben Ammi offers the Redemptive Plan of God -- tested and true solutions to the state of the world today and its people in simple and direct language.

If you have not read it get one today. If you have read it re-read it. Place your order now. Go to: http://www.kingdomofyah.com

Britain to use donor eggs for stem cell research

Women will be compensated up to $500 for costs related to donation
Associated Press

LONDON - The British government on Wednesday approved plans to allow women to donate eggs for stem cell and cloning research, and said they will also be entitled to compensation for costs incurred.

Women undergoing fertility treatment will receive a discount if they donate eggs, authorities said, while others will receive up to 250 pounds (about $500 U.S.) for each fertilization cycle to cover costs such as travel or lost work time.

The eggs would be used to create cloned embryos, with the hope of extracting stem cells. Because stem cells have the potential to become any cell in the body, scientists believe studying them could lead to cures for numerous diseases, including Parkinson's, Alzheimer's or motor neurone diseases. See Complete Article: Britain OKs donor eggs for studies

By the Numbers: Blacks Still Lag Behind Whites

by James Parks
AFL-CIO Weblog

The pictures from New Orleans, after Hurricane Katrina, graphically showed the gaping hole between the haves and the have-nots in this country, especially those have-nots who are African American.

Now the newly released State of Black America 2006: The Opportunity Compact produced by the National Urban League tells the story in stark numbers:

The median net worth of the average black family ($6,166) is less than one-tenth of that of the average white family ($67,000). The gap is due largely to the difference in home ownership and income. African Americans own 50 percent of their homes while whites own more than 70 percent. Blacks also are denied mortgages at a higher rate than similarly qualified whites.

The black unemployment rate is twice as high as it is for whites.

Blacks are four times more likely to depend on public transportation systems than whites.

Blacks have less access to health care and a far lower rate of health insurance coverage than whites.

Black males are more likely to get longer sentences than white males for convictions for the same crime.

Unfortunately, the initial flurry of concern and attention to poverty and injustice [after Katrina] has given way to the status quo of neglect, domestic budget cuts, insensitivity and short-sighted policy priorities, said Marc Morial, president of the Urban League and former mayor of New Orleans.

The report, issued annually, uses an equality index that measures disparities between African Americans and whites in economics, education, health, social justice and civic engagement. A rating below 1.0 means blacks are worse off than whites and above 1.0 means they are better off than whites. Overall, the index this year is 0.73, the same as last year, meaning blacks made no economic progress compared with whites in 2005.

But the report notes its possible to close the equality gap and recommends many measures strongly advocated by the union movement. Among them: Increasing the minimum wage and redirecting money that’s now funneled into tax cuts for the wealthy into a new Child Poverty Elimination Fund universal affordable health care.

Such programs would benefit not just the poor but all Americans, Morial said: Poverty, the racial divide, and social injustice do not impact only those who suffer most visibly; they tear apart the fabric of our nation in ways that damage and diminish us all. Alleviating poverty and injustice is a responsibility we must never forget.

The Sudden Disappearance of Honeybees

By Louise McCoy
Epoch Times New York Staff

A tragedy, noticeably starting as many as six years ago, has suddenly escalated since October 2006. What was noticed six years ago was the steady disappearance in numbers of our natural pollinators—those insects, birds, and bats that cause our flowers to become fruits. Since October 2006 a massive disappearance of honeybees on an unprecedented scale has occurred. One Midwestern beekeeper, who had 13,000 healthy hives as of November 2006, has now lost 96 percent of his bees, and is facing bankruptcy...

Genetically modified plants have herbicidal and insecticidal genes that have been found transmitted to the gut bacteria of young bees that haven't left the hive, according to a German study. Because viruses are used to transmit genes from one organism to another, this has led to an unnatural open door between species through which genes can slip....

In United States there are 130 million acres of genetically modified crops, which make it possible to use lots of herbicide without killing the crops. There are also plants with insecticidal genes that attract bees. Bees work ceaselessly to supply us with about 14 billion dollars worth of food. Someone estimated that about one third of what we eat is made possible by bees. Fans, helicopters, and other methods have been unsatisfactory substitutes for pollination. See: The Sudden Disappearance of Honeybees

Irradiate fruits and vegetables?

Dateline NBC takes a look at the food safety issues that caused the recent E. coli outbreak — and puts irradiation technology to the test
By Victoria Corderi
Correspondent
NBC News


What would make two grown men eat spinach laced with E. coli?

That’s the question Dateline NBC set out to answer six months after an E. coli spinach outbreak killed four people and sickened more than 200 in 26 states.

The men who were willing to eat the E. coli-laced spinach work for SADEX Corporation in Sioux City, Iowa, one of only three irradiation plants in the country. The Food and Drug Administration approved the use of irradiation on meat in 1999, and some think it's time to use it on fruit and vegetables as well. See Complete Article: Food: Is irradiation the answer?


KNN-Definition: Irradiation - exposure to radiation (as X rays or alpha particles) : the application of radiation (as X rays or gamma rays) for therapeutic purposes or for sterilization (as of food); also : partial or complete sterilization by irradiation.

Most Say America is in Moral Decline

CBN News

CBNNews.com - Most Americans say the country is in a moral decline and the media is to blame.

A new survey by the Culture and Media Institute finds that people believe it will be hard to change America's moral decline unless the entertainment and news media stop promoting "secular values and undermining orthodox faith."

About 74 percent of all Americans believe the nation is in moral decline and that a "culture war" is happening in the country. Sixty-four percent say the news and entertainment media are a major influence in that decline.

The survey finds Americans are largely split into three camps: the faithful, the secular progressives, and the independents.

While more than half of Americans say they believe biblical principles are authoritative, only 36 percent, including those considered faithful, say people should live by God's Word. Forty-five percent say they take a pragmatic approach to life, combining God's principles with their own. Fifteen percent said they would ignore God's principles when they conflict with their own.

On sexual issues, 90 percent of those considered faithful, said that sex among teens is "always wrong," while only 33 percent of progressives think so. Fifty-four percent of secular progressives say that it "depends on the situation," and 11 percent said it is "never wrong." Of those considered independent, three percent said teen sex is "never wrong," while 65 percent say that it is "always wrong."

Still, all three groups considered the media a bad influence on America's morality.

Want to boost your brainpower? Get moving

Working out may help you grow new brain cells, small study shows
Reuters News Service

WASHINGTON - Exercise boosts brainpower by building new brain cells in a brain region linked with memory and memory loss, U.S. researchers reported on Monday.

Tests on mice showed they grew new brain cells in a brain region called the dentate gyrus, a part of the hippocampus that is known to be affected in the age-related memory decline that begins around age 30 for most humans.

The researchers used magnetic resonance imaging scans to help document the process in mice — and then used MRIs to look at the brains of people before and after exercise.

They found the same patterns, which suggests that people also grow new brain cells when they exercise.

“No previous research has systematically examined the different regions of the hippocampus and identified which region is most affected by exercise,” Dr. Scott Small, a neurologist at Columbia University Medical Center in New York who led the study, said in a statement. See: Exercise gives a boost to brain cells

African Hebrew Development Agency Promotes Healthy Pregnancies in Ghana

Titbit's of sound and safe delivery
Ghana News Agency
by Audrey Dekalu

Accra, GNA - Spotlessness should be the catch phrase of every woman carrying a baby in her womb. It is not costly to her health and that of her unborn baby. In fact she is not better off without it. Cleanliness is also a special glow that gives a pregnant woman the freshness and beauty she must enjoy during the pre-natal and post-natal periods.

A relaxed and positive mind is another added value to pregnancy. She must not cultivate rigid and other negative emotions that would affect her unborn baby.

Meditation should be the key. A pregnant woman should recite positive affirmations and pray without ceasing.She must also be careful of what she observes around her and maintain a healthy and balance diet.

"Regenerative Health and Nutrition" project being implemented by the Ministry of Health on pilot basis and made available to the Ghana News Agency observed that during the pre-natal period, there is an increase in the hormone level that causes more oil and perspiration to be released as well as vaginal secretions. The project, supported by the African Hebrew Development Agency from Dimona in Israel, is also to introduce plant-based nutrition for pregnant women.

It focuses on exercises during pregnancy, including deep relaxation techniques that are beneficial to management of pain in labour thereby improving the health of expectant mothers during the pre-natal period. These decrease the chances of complicated labour and delivery and facilitate the delivery of a healthy infant. See Complete Article: Health News of Thursday, 8 March 2007

SHANA TOVAH - HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!

KNN Staff

"This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you." - Exodus 12:2

Today is the beginning of the Hebraic New Year. On Behalf of KNN and it’s Staff we would like to wish all of you a blessed Shana Tovah – Happy New Year.

We would also like to thank all of you for “Plugging In” to KNN this past year. Last year we had over 11,000 visitors to the KNN blog site from all over the World. This coming year promises to be even better that last year. Thank-you again for all of your support. Keep on “Plugging In” to KNN-Your One Stop Kingdom News Source!!!!!

Feel free to tell us what this New Year means to you. What would you like to do better this year? What would you like to perfect this year? Place you comments in the comment section below….Your words of inspiration may be a help to someone else.

Also feel free to add your special Shana Tovah Greetings to your friends and family. Seasons Greetings!!! Yah Khai!!!!

Michael Baisden to host our own Dr. Baruch

Listen to the Michael Baisden Show Weds. March 21st at 5:00 p.m. EST as he hosts "Our Very Own" Dr. Baruch, founder of Everlasting Life and CEO of Eat The Cure. The Michael Baisden is local in 52 different markets and reaches millions of listeners both on the radio and internet.

For more information contact Dr. Baruch at getwell@drbaruch.com or by phone at (240) 744-0437. Also visit: www.drbaruch.com

Drinking water can lower risk for coronary heart disease

By Dr. Baruch

In 1999, nearly 530,000 people died from coronary heart disease. More than half of them had no previous symptoms of heart disease. Drinking high levels of water can significantly reduce the risk of coronary heart disease, say researchers at Loma Linda University.

In a press conference held Thursday, April 25, the results of a study to be published in the American Journal of Epidemiology (Vol. 155, No.9) reveal that drinking high amounts of plain water is as important as exercise, diet, or not smoking in preventing coronary heart disease.

“Basically, not drinking enough water can be as harmful to your heart as smoking,” warns Jacqueline Chan, DrPH, principle investigator and lead author of the article. Dr. Chan and Synnove Knutsen, MD, PhD , second author, chair of epidemiology department, found that California Seventh-day Adventists who drink five or more glasses of plain water a day have a much lower risk of fatal coronary heart disease compared to those who drink less than two glasses per day.

The study, “Water, Other Fluids, and Fatal Coronary Heart Disease,”indicates that whole blood viscosity, plasma viscosity, hematocrit, and fibrinogen which are considered independent risk factors for coronary heart disease, can be elevated by dehydration. The water study is part of the original Adventist Health Study, which began in 1973. Both researchers are also co-investigators for the new Adventist Health Study.

The results from this study show that by drinking more plain water, healthy people—without any history of heart disease, stroke, or diabetes—reduced their risk of dying from a heart attack by half or more. This is as much or more than if they had adopted any other well-known preventive measure, including stopping smoking and lowering cholesterol levels, increasing exercise or maintaining ideal weight.

While not as glamorous, the degree of benefit from drinking plain water surpasses that of drinking a moderate amount of alcohol intake and aspirin with none of the adverse side effects (social or physiological). Because drinking more plain water is a simple life stylechange that anybody can do, this simple practice has the potential of saving tens of thousands of lives each year with minimal cost.

Neither total fluid intake, nor intake of other fluids combined showed this reduced risk. Instead, for women, high intake (5 or more glasses aday) of other fluids showed a greatly increased risk of coronary heart disease. “People need to be made aware that there is a difference, at least for heart health, whether they get their fluids from plain water or from sodas,” says Dr. Chan.

According to Dr. Chan, this is the first study to record the association between high water intake and reduced risk of coronary heart disease. “This study needs to be replicated, and if similar results are found,then this would be the cheapest and simplest method of preventing coronary heart disease that could be imagined,”adds Gary Fraser, MD,PhD, cardiologist at the LLU Heart Institute, and principal investigator for the new Adventist Health Study.

For more information, pleasecall (240) 744-0437 or visit the website www.drbaruch.com.

U.S. swamped with passport requests

Associated Press-Yahoo News
Submitted from Dimona by Ahtur Yatsiliel

Thirteen-year-old Eli Rogatz applied months ago for a passport so that he could fly to Israel with his family for his bar mitzvah. To his family's great relief, it finally came through on Friday, with just days to spare. "Given what else is being spent, we want to make sure he's there," Mitch Rogatz, a book publisher from the Chicago suburb of Glencoe, grumbled as he camped out in a federal office building for at least four hours, waiting for the passport.

Similar waiting games are being played out at passport processing sites across the country as the State Department wades through an unprecedented crush of passport applications. They are pouring in at more than 1 million per month.

Passport requests usually shoot up this time of year ahead of the busy spring and summer travel season. But the department has been really swamped since the government in late January started requiring U.S. airline passengers — including children — to show a passport upon their return from Mexico, Canada or the Caribbean.

Passport applications filed between October and March are up 44 percent from the same period a year ago, the department told lawmakers this week. In February alone, applications were up 25 percent.

Because of the glut, it could take 10 weeks instead of the usual six to process routine applications, according to the department. And expedited requests, which cost an extra $60 on top of the normal $97 fee, could take four weeks instead of two.

The State Department said it is working overtime to handle the load and hopes to have an additional 400 passport adjudicators by the end of next year.

That is little solace to travelers like Lisa Purdum, a newlywed from Yardley, Pa., who was told her husband's passport would not arrive until weeks after their planned April 2 honeymoon to Mexico. Worse, her birth certificate, which accompanied her own passport application, was reported missing, she said.

She was one of dozens of people waiting in a line that spilled into the lobby in Philadelphia's regional passport office Friday. "My husband's is a month behind and mine is missing altogether and our honeymoon is in two weeks, and I'm either losing half my money or all of my money," she said. People who had not received their passports two weeks before their trips were generally told to go to one of 14 big-city passport offices across the country. There, they were mostly confronted with long lines and no guarantee they would leave with a passport.

Jackie Moore drove overnight from Columbus, Ohio, to Chicago, hoping to pick up a passport for her 8-year-old grandson. The family had a 6 a.m. flight Saturday for a vacation in the Dominican Republic, and the boy was the only one whose passport had not arrived.

"My little grandson is going to be heartbroken if we don't get him on this plane," she said.
The line curled around the block outside the passport office in downtown Miami, where 29-year-old Qandeel Sakrani stood with her husband and their two young daughters, hoping to get a passport so she could travel to Pakistan next month. "I haven't seen my parents in 18 months, and I haven't seen the rest of my family for five years," she said.

Lawndale, Calif., accountant Emilia Moreno sent in an application to renew her passport four weeks ago, only to discover there were no records it ever got there. The 48-year-old woman spent most of the week fighting for an appointment with the passport agency in Los Angeles so she would be able to travel to Italy and France for vacation on Wednesday.

"My employer already told me she's going to buy me a pizza, for me to think that I'm in Italy," she said. For others, it may already be too late. Judith Jones was supposed to fly to Jamaica on Friday for a vacation with friends. Instead, she spent a second day in line in Chicago, trying to track down her passport.

"It's supposed to be a girls' trip. The girls are there, but I'm not yet," said the 41-year-old from Griffith, Ind. About 12 million passport applications were processed in 2006, and as many as 17 million are expected this year, according to the State Department said. Some 74 million Americans have valid passports.

St. Louis Wellness Center is your "One-Stop" shop for health

Fisher Wellness Center helps you get healthy and stay well

KNN-St. Louis

Welcome to the Fisher Wellness Center. At FWC we will assist you in your lifestyle change through awareness and education. We offer holistic dental services, massage therapy, colon therapy, and a comprehensive 30 day Wellness program. Come and browse our books, natural cleaning products and nutritional supplements.

The mouth is the window into the health of the body just as the eyes are the window into the soul. Oral Health is Health! Infection and bacteria in the mouth travel through tubes via the bloodstream to other areas of the body. The body delivers nutrients and oxygen via the blood into the root the tooth. The tooth extracts the nourishment and passes some of the fluid into the tubules through dentin into the enamel. A weakened immune system increases susceptibility to other diseases like Heart Disease. Heart Disease and Cancer, two of the biggest killers in the U.S. can be profoundly influenced by the food we eat.

In 400 BC, Hippocrates said “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food: Current scientific evidence supports a diet rich in fruits and vegetables for producing amazing health benefits.

The sad truth is that 90% of Americans do not near nearly enough fruits and vegetables to protect them from disease, and the same is true for children. Prevention should start as soon as a baby is born, not after they receive their “wake up” call. The Standard American Diet (SAD) is extremely unhealthy. The American diet is high in fat, processed foods, refined sugars, salt, preservatives, and chemicals. As a result of this nutrient less diet, we see an increase in degenerative diseases. This way of living (dying) is killing us. This is not a coincidence!

Making the transition will not be easy but it is necessary. Many special interests are betting you will continue down the same path of diet, disease, and death.
Billions of dollars are spent annually to condition you into thinking disease and death is normal. What we require is someone to teach us how to return to the proper diet and lifestyle that will lead to longevity and quality of life.

We recommend to all of our patients they increase their intake of raw fruits and vegetables. If they are unable to eat the recommended five to nine servings per day, we suggest a product called Juice Plus+. Juice Plus contains seventeen servings of fresh, raw, fruits, vegetables and grains that have been juiced, dried and placed in a capsule or chewable form.

Call our office today! Take your health and the health of your family in your own hands. Let us help you get healthy and stay well.

To make an appointment or for any questions contact:

Perdita Jay Fisher, DMD

11634 W. Florissant Avenue

Florissant, Mo. 63033

314-837-9777

Male Birth Control Pill

"The Pill" for men may soon be a reality
Male pill breakthrough
BBC News

Scientists have developed an easy-to-use contraceptive pill and hormone patch for men. A three-month course of the pill used in combination with the hormone patch reduces the number of active sperm to zero.

However, once men stop taking the pill patch their sperm counts return to normal. The success of clinical trials using the method brings an easy-to-take male contraceptive pill one step closer, researchers have said. Family planning specialists said the research was a significant advance.

They said a male pill would offer men more choice and provide a clear alternative to vasectomies.

See: BBC - Health - Mens health - The male contraceptive pill

At last! Scientists develop male pill - Men's Health - MSNBC.com ...

Designing Your Baby

The technology is in place to order up a child’s physical traits or intellect. The issue is how far we want to take it.
By Scott McCredie for MSN Health & Fitness

It started a decade ago with Dolly the Scottish sheep, the world’s first cloned mammal. Then a year later came Lucy the Canadian mouse, the first mammal with artificially implanted genes that could be inherited by her offspring. Since then, the world has expressed a mixture of confusion, horror and optimism at the potential of genetic engineering to prevent diseases in humans and “enhance” physical or cognitive traits.

So where does this technology stand? Are we any closer to creating so-called “designer babies”?

The technology already exists today for screening out embryos with “lethal” genes, without adding to or changing the genes of a future child. The technique used for this is called pre-implantation genetic diagnosis. Like in vitro fertilization (for infertile couples), it involves removing several eggs from a woman, fertilizing them with the husband’s sperm, and allowing the embryos to grow to several cells each. Then one cell is extracted from each and genetically analyzed. As scientists continue to unravel the code of the human genome, genes associated with other diseases and other traits will be identified. See Complete Article: Designer babies

The Hebrew Israelite Community

A phenomenon in a land full of phenomena
Source: Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs Website

(Note: this article was written on Sept. 29, 2006)


A phenomenon in a land full of phenomena is the story of the Hebrew Israelite Community in Dimona, Israel. Labeled over the years as “the Black Hebrews,” community members began arriving in Israel in 1969. Led by Ben Ammi Ben-Israel, they came from the United States via Liberia stating they are descendants of the tribe of Judah. In the nearly 40 years since, the community has moved from being unknown, to become kibbutz Shomrei Hashalom (Guardians of Peace), one of the largest urban kibbutzim in Israel. They presently number about 2000 in Dimona, with additional families in Arad, Mitzpe Ramon and the Tiberias area.

As with other communal settlements, the Hebrew Israelites maintain an ordered structure, with Ben Ammi sitting at the head of a council of 12 princes, who oversee the spiritual development of the kibbutz. Another 12 “ministers,” or the community management council, officiate the daily affairs in economics, education, sports and recreation, information and more. The community priesthood officiates weddings, Sabbath services and circumcisions for male children on the 8th day (according to Hebraic law). The Hebrews derive their income from their ever-popular music groups, as well as a soy foods product factory, specializing in the production of tofu, soy milk and ice cream. They also produce a varied line of cultural clothing from natural fibers which they market primarily abroad.

The community has become most noted for its healthy holistic lifestyle. All members are vegans, eating no meat, dairy products nor foods with chemical additives. Adult members exercise three times a week and are advised to have at least one full-body massage each month for its health benefits. They do not smoke or drink alcohol, except for naturally fermented wines they produce themselves. The health practices and organic agriculture program of the community have drawn visitors from around the world, especially government officials from Africa.

Today, community spokespersons are effective contributors to the national public relations effort, speaking to audiences on behalf of the State of Israel. The road to this position was not a simple one. Shortly after their arrival, the Chief Rabbinate decided not to recognize community members as Jews according to the Law of Return as they desired. For years the question of their status was a lingering issue. Legal status came about in May 1990 with first B/1 visas, followed by temporary residency a year later. That status was extended until August 2003 when the Ministry of Interior granted them permanent residency.

Since then, their activity and visibility have grown. Presently, more than 100 of their youth are serving in the Israeli Defense Forces in regular units; they operate a vegan eatery in Tel Aviv; their musicians perform across Israel and around the world, touring the US, Europe and Africa either solely with their own members or as a parts of other Israeli groups. They have created their own music genre which they call Songs of Deliverance producing CDs.

In sports they have represented the nation at home and in Europe in track and field and national softball events, including the Maccabiah games. Their students have represented Israel in international academic competitions. Twice they have represented Israel in Eurovision, the international music competition.

In February 2005 in conjunction with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the civil rights organization established by civil rights icon, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the Hebrews opened the Dr. Martin Luther King/SCLC – Ben Ammi Institute for a New Humanity, a conflict resolution center in Dimona to teach holistic non-violence and reconciliation to families, communities, faiths and nations. Their story is a testimony of the great growth and maturity of the State of Israel and its people.

See: Hebrew Israelites