Mood:  d'oh

Intern in Obama's office linked to indicted fundraiser

CHICAGO -- An intern in Sen. Barack Obama's office last year was recommended by an Illinois Democratic fundraiser later indicted for seeking kickbacks on government deals.

Obama has denied doing any favors for Antoin "Tony" Rezko, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against him. The internship was one of 98 Illinois spots filled from a pool of 350 applicants.

John Aramanda, a 20-year-old student, served in Obama's Capitol Hill office from July 20 to Aug. 26, 2005, and was paid an $804 stipend, Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs told the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times in reports published Sunday.

Gibbs said Rezko recommended the intern to Obama but contended that the internship did not contradict Obama's statements about not doing any favors for Rezko.

"I think that it's fairly obvious that a few-week internship is not anything of benefit to Mr. Rezko or any of his businesses," he said.

The intern's father, Joseph Aramanda, a businessman in the Chicago suburb of Glenview, once served as chief operating officer of a Rezko company and had a long-term business relationship with Rezko, according to court records and business filings.

The intern's father said there was no relationship between the internship and his business with Rezko.

Rezko has pleaded not guilty to charges he plotted to squeeze millions of dollars in kickbacks out of investment firms seeking state business. He also has pleaded not guilty to obtaining a $10.5 million loan from GE Capital through fraud and swindling a group of investors.

Rezko's wife bought a vacant lot next door to Obama on the same day last year that Obama and his wife, Michelle, closed on their home, according to published reports last fall. In January, Obama paid Rezko $104,500 for part of the lot to balance the space between his house and the fence.

Obama, who is weighing a run for president, has said the arrangements were ethical, but he also acknowledged he "misgauged" the implications suggested by his purchase of the additional land.

Messages left Tuesday by The Associated Press for Obama's representatives and Rezko's attorney, Joseph J. Duffy, were not immediately returned.

USA Today ~ Associated Press ** Intern in Obama's office linked to indicted fundraiser
Also at:
Discover The Network.org ** Former Intern in Sen. Obama's Office Linked to Indicted Fundraiser

Posted by yaahoo_ at 3:14 PM EST

Updated: Thursday, 28 December 2006 3:19 PM EST

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Lonely, I'm Mr. Lonely

By Michelle Malkin

I linked to this photo of lonely John Kerry spurned by the troops in Iraq last night via Power Line, but the photo is going viral and it's worth re-posting as a stand-alone.

Thank radio talk show host Scott Hennen for sharing the image. He tells Power Line he'll be talking more about the picture and the story behind it during his guest stint for Sean Hannity today and tomorrow. More background at Ben of Mesopotamia's blog:

On Saturday night, a colleague emailed me and told me to bring my camera, as Senator Kerry was scheduled to give a press conference here in the Palace. At 2100, he entered a conference room wearing his leather flight jacket. Unfortunately, there was no media there, except for the enlisted soldiers from AFTN (Armed Forces Television Network) who had to be there. His aide looked around, saw that this just wasn't happening, and quickly escorted Kerry out before I could take a picture.

Finally, the next morning, Senator Kerry ate chow at the Dining Facility. Normally when a Senator/Representative visits, he is joined by a contingent of soldiers/Marines/airmen from his home state. Despite the fact that the MP unit responsible for Green Zone security is an Army Reserve unit from Massachusetts, not a single soldier went to sit with him. (By contrast, Bill O'Reilly, host of that terrible shoutfest on Fox, had over 400 soldiers waiting in line to meet him on Saturday).

Blackfive has more on Kerry's visit.

Bryan Preston sums it up: "I've never seen a snubbing so richly deserved."

I'm sure the Wall Street Journal will call this another of the blogosphere's "second-order distractions." But the troops think it's newsworthy and snort-worthy. And so do I.

Words have consequences.

***
Speaking of the Wall Street Journal blog-bashers, you really must read/listen to Hugh Hewitt's interview with--and schooling of--WSJ journalism expert, Joseph Rago. It's simply brilliant. Almost as good as the Joel Stein interview.

Michelle Malkin.com ** Lonely, I'm Mr. Lonely

Posted by yaahoo_ at 6:11 PM EST

Updated: Wednesday, 27 December 2006 6:49 PM EST

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Baker sought to cover-up illegal trade with Saddam's Iraq, Israeli charges

Former Secretary of State James Baker was involved in a cover-up of illegal trading by his law firm with the regime of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, according to a former contractor who did work for Mr. Baker’s firm.

Mr. Baker used non-Americans to help acquire funds from Iraq in violation of the United Nations embargo and U.S. law, the former contractor said.

Nir Gouaz, an Israeli security veteran, said that in 1999 Mr. Baker's leading deputy at the law firm of Baker Botts ordered him to destroy all documents that detailed how he obtained from Iraq more than $250 million for a client.

Mr. Baker's firm has denied Mr. Gouaz's account.

But the Israeli said he has documents that could destroy Mr. Baker's reputation. He said he has been angered by Mr. Baker's attempt to press the Bush administration to impose an anti-Israeli policy in an attempt to win Arab cooperation to help stabilize Iraq. Mr. Baker, appointed by President Bush in 2003 as his envoy to recover debts from Iraq, has also co-chaired the Iraq Study Group, which on Dec. 6 issued 79 recommendations on U.S. policy in Iraq.

"When I heard the Baker recommendations, I couldn't stand the hypocrisy," said Mr. Gouaz, president of Caesar Global Securities, who worked for Mr. Baker's law firm in Washington for two years. "In his eyes, the diplomatic vision for the Middle East is actually an economic vision. A person like that wouldn't stop at anything to reap profits and dictate to Israel how to behave."

Mr. Gouaz said he began working for Baker Botts, a leading Washington firm with more than 700 attorneys, in the late 1990s. He was assigned a case by Mr. Baker's aide, Jeffrey Stonerock, to help recover an $880 million Iraqi debt to South Korea's Hyundai Engineering, which completed infrastructure projects in Iraq.

Iraq cited the United Nations’ Oil for Food program, which permitted Baghdad to buy only food and vital requirements, for its failure to pay the debt. The United States also froze Iraqi bank accounts abroad.

Mr. Gouaz said he personally maintained what he termed a "superficial relationship" with Mr. Baker. But he said Mr. Baker was informed on everything that took place regarding international transactions at Baker Botts.

Mr. Gouaz said he was hired because he was discreet and not a U.S. national. He said a U.S. national could have been prosecuted for dealing with the regime of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

"At that point, I thought I was doing work for Hyundai," Mr. Gouaz recalled. "I didn't think deeply about this. I didn't think that James Baker was doing something abnormal. It is very acceptable to sell debts at a very low price. They took me because I was discreet and not American. He [Baker] knew this very well."

In the end, Mr. Gouaz said, he acquired $273 million for Hyundai and helped save the company from bankruptcy. He said Mr. Baker's law firm arranged a meeting with Shaiker Tawfik Fakoury, the president of the Bank of Jordan. In July 2000, Mr. Fakoury purchased the Iraqi government bonds from Hyundai at a discount and resold them to Saddam’s government in exchange for $450 million worth of oil.

Mr. Gouaz said he estimated that Mr. Baker's firm received between 10 and 15 percent. Mr. Gouaz said he received much less, but would not specify. The Israeli said he dealt with everybody from a Chinese liaison to Jordan's royal family to help recover the debt.

The Israeli investigator did not hear from Mr. Baker's office until late 2001, after the al Qaeda suicide strikes on New York and Washington. Mr. Gouaz said Mr. Stonerock asked him to destroy the documents relating to the Hyundai-Iraq deal.

"A month or two after 9/11, I got a phone call from the office of James Baker and they told me 'Remember the deal we did?' I said 'Of course,'" Mr. Gouaz recalled. "He asked 'Do you have any documents from this deal?' I said I don't remember. He said 'If you do, destroy them.'"

"It is in a safe," he added. "At that moment, I knew that I would have to preserve the documents and even photographs [of meetings]. I gave it to somebody from the Israel Security Agency."

Mr. Gouaz said since then he has felt pressure from Mr. Baker's office. He indicated that since 2002 he began experiencing difficulties with acquiring permits from the U.S. government.

"There were no threats," said Mr. Gouaz, who returned to Israel in 2003. "But I was under lots of pressure after 9/11 to get rid of the documents. They asked me to again sign a secrecy document, which I didn't do. I felt under a lot of pressure regarding anything I did that required approval from the administration."

Mr. Gouaz has allowed outsiders to see some of the documents. They included a copy of a July 11, 2000 letter from Hyundai that thanked Mr. Gouaz for his efforts in collecting money from Iraq, an Iraqi government bond for $11 million and photographs of what Mr. Gouaz said was a signing ceremony in 2000 in which Hyundai's Iraqi government bonds were sold to the Bank of Jordan.

Mr. Stonerock, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel, heads the Korea practice group at Baker Botts and advises non-U.S. clients on U.S. corporate matters. The firm cited Mr. Stonerock's services for Hyundai Motor Co., but did not refer to the Iraqi file.

"Mr. Stonerock's practice concentrates on applying both law and public policy to create value for clients," Baker Botts said on its Web site. "He has brought this dual focus to supporting the Hyundai Motor Company in the site selection for its first U.S. manufacturing facility, representing Korean companies in major international arbitrations as well as patent-infringement litigations, working for major Korean energy companies in projects in several countries, and advising on the impact of U.S. trade policy, nuclear nonproliferation issues, and other U.S. governmental processes and matters."

Mr. Gouaz is certain that Mr. Baker knew of every aspect of the Hyundai-Iraq case. In 2005, Mr. Baker, who counseled the firm's clients for more than 20 years, became a partner in charge of the Washington, D.C. office of Baker Botts.

Over the last year, Mr. Gouaz said, he has been approached by some in the U.S. media to discuss his allegations against Mr. Baker. Mr. Gouaz, who has begun meeting reporters, said he is prepared to present evidence against Mr. Baker in any official U.S. inquiry.

"It could be that I will land in the United States and talk to an investigatory committee," Mr. Gouaz said.

Insight Mag.com ** Baker sought to cover-up illegal trade with Saddam's Iraq, Israeli charges
Related: (The Libtarded) Iraq Study Group: United States Institute of Peace - Cast of Characters

Posted by yaahoo_ at 12:01 AM EST

Updated: Wednesday, 27 December 2006 5:39 PM EST

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Family celebrating birth of tiny miracle baby

By Mary Jimenez

A Shreveport baby born 16 weeks early is only the length of a piece of paper and weighs less than a bottle of water, but Abigale Grace-Ann Dorsey is a fighter.

"She's my little miracle; she's really working hard," said grandmother Debber Dorsey, of her grandchild born at 24 weeks.

Forty weeks is full term.

Born 11 inches and 14.6 ounces, Abigale came into the world during an emergency Cesarean at 11:45 a.m. Dec. 15 at Willis Knighton South.

"She's already a little feisty," said mom Brooke Parkman, who was only able to kiss Abigale's forehead before they whisked the tiny girl away. "She breathed on her own for four days. She was getting tired, so now they have her on a ventilator, but she keeps trying to breath all on her own."

Attending physician neonatologist Bharti Manchandia is hopeful.

"She's stable, very small, and still has a long way to go," Manchandia said. "When a baby is born at that age, everything can be a complex issue. But her skin has held very well. Her kidneys are functioning well and her heart is functioning well. All that is a plus."

If being pushed out into the world early wasn't stressful enough, conditions for baby Abigale in the preceding three weeks of birth were not ideal.

"She started having problems at 20 weeks," said Dr. Paul Crawford, Parkman's doctor, "then two weeks before birth, her bag broke and she lost her fluid."

The placenta was also bleeding behind it and losing its function as a life support system for the baby.

Doctors didn't give Parkman's baby much more than a 5 percent chance of survival.

"The whole time I just had a feeling that I would know if something was wrong, that somehow she would let me know if she was ready to come out," said Parkman, who has a 6-year-old son, Hunter, which was a textbook pregnancy. "I didn't know why this was happening."

Doctors wanted to allow the pregnancy continue for as long as possible, but at 24 weeks and one day, Abigale begin to show signs she was in severe stress, her heart rate dropped dramatically from 170 to 96 beats per minute.

"It just became more hostile inside the uterus than outside, and we decided it was necessary to deliver," Crawford said.

Parkman said she begin shaking immediately after the decision was made and held hands with Abigale's father, Daniel Dorsey, as their daughter came into the world. At that moment Grace became part of Abigale's name.

"There were people all over praying for us, and I felt like it was the grace of God that brought us through so we added Grace to her name," Parkman said.

Doctors don't expect Abigale to go home before her full term due date of April 5; the very small baby girl still faces day to day challenges. But so far there have only been improvements. Abigale has gained .3 ounces since birth.

Prayer and faith are getting her through, said Parkman, who is looking forward to holding her daughter when she's big enough.

Prayer is important, agrees Manchandia.

"Prayers are probably going to do the best, even though medical technology helps a lot," Manchandia said.

Comments
Shreveport Times ~ Mary Jimenez ** Family celebrating birth of tiny miracle baby

Posted by yaahoo_ at 11:15 PM EST

Updated: Monday, 25 December 2006 11:54 PM EST

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Libtalk Cancelled In Columbus Ohio, WTPG

ANOTHER ONE

Ohio Station Drops 'Progressive' Talk

As yet another station drops liberal talk radio for more successful programming, it seems even Christmas can't put a stop to this increasingly- common format switch.

This time, as WTPG radio in Columbus dumps Franken and Friends, it's an especially significant blow for "progressives", as Air America will be replaced by conservative programming!

Thanks to Ironman and Robert S in Columbus for their tips on this one.

From the Columbus Dispatch, here's the latest on WTPG's fate:

Station’s format to turn right

Tim Feran -- THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Liberal listeners in central Ohio will lose their only radio voice next month when WTPG (1230 AM) drops its format of "progressive talk" and makes a hard right turn.

Out: Al Franken, Stephanie Miller, Ed Schultz and Randi Rhodes.

In: Michael Savage, Laura Ingraham and a mix of sports and consumer shows featuring Jim Rome and Dave Ramsey.

The station will change its call letters to WYTS on Monday; the new format will begin at 9 a.m. Jan. 9.

WYTS will be promoted as "the Talk Station in Central Ohio," said Bruce Collins, program director of Clear Channel Columbus stations WTPG and WTVN (610 AM).

"Whether it’s politics or sports, financial information or general advice, central Ohio listeners will have the opportunity to talk about it on Talk 1230," he said.

Most of the new shows have larger national audiences -- and, therefore, promise higher local ratings and profits -- than any in the previous lineup.

The progressive-talk format, in place at WTPG since September 2004, never took off here despite live broadcasts in Columbus by Franken, Miller and Schultz.

One of the main program suppliers, Air America Radio, filed for bankruptcy reorganization in October. Afterward, some affiliates -- including one in Cincinnati also owned by Clear Channel -- announced plans to drop the progressivetalk format.

In Savage and Ingraham, the station will have hosts familiar with controversy.

Savage was fired from a short-lived weekend TV show on MSNBC after referring to a caller as a "sodomite" and saying he should "get AIDS and die."

Ingraham raised a furor when she criticized reporters covering the Iraq war just two months after ABC anchorman Bob Woodruff and his cameraman were seriously injured.

Note the story's emphasis on pointing out the controversies behind WTPG's new conservative hosts. How about some background on the self- destructive flaps that helped to kill off Air America's talkers?

Fresh off their station- restoring victory in Madison, one wonders whether we can expect funeral processions and other protests from their fellow- travellers in Ohio. Stay tuned.

Technorati tags: columbus ohio columbus liberal talk radio libtalk air america al franken

The Radio Equalizer ~ Brian Maloney ** Libtalk Cancelled In Columbus Ohio, WTPG
Related: TWO MORE -- Libtalk Dumped In Buffalo, NY and Albany, Oregon

Posted by yaahoo_ at 9:36 PM EST

Updated: Monday, 25 December 2006 10:38 PM EST

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California Anti-Christmas Protestor Sets Himself Alight

FLAMING MAD

Unhinged Protestor Burns Up Over Christmas

What is is about the word "Christmas" that brings out truly unhinged behavior in some people this time of year? From where does this intense level of inner anger emerge?

In Bakersfield, a man was so incensed over a school board's decision to rename winter and spring breaks for Christmas and Easter that he set himself on fire.

From the AP:       Man sets self aflame in Calif. protest

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- A man used flammable liquid to light himself on fire, apparently to protest a San Joaquin Valley school district's decision to change the names of winter and spring breaks to Christmas and Easter vacation.

The man, who was not immediately identified, on Friday also set fire to a Christmas tree, an American flag and a revolutionary flag replica, said Fire Captain Garth Milam.

Seeing the flames, Sheriff's Deputy Lance Ferguson grabbed a fire extinguisher and ran to the man.

Flames were devouring a Christmas tree next to the Liberty Bell, where public events and demonstrations are common.

Beside the tree the man stood with an American flag draped around his shoulders and a red gas can over his head.

Seeing the deputy, the man poured the liquid over his head. He quickly burst into flames when the fumes from the gas met the flames from the tree.

The deputy ordered the man to drop to the ground as he and a parole agent sprayed him with fire extinguishers.

"The man stood there like this," the deputy said with his arms across his chest and his head bent down, "Saying no, no, no."

The man suffered first degree burns on his shoulders and arms, Milam said.

Kern County Sheriff's Deputy John Leyendecker said the man had a sign that read: "(expletive) the religious establishment and KHSD."

Does that seem like a reason to burn up in anger? And who says there's no war on Christmas?

Garoelf: Pete at IHillary Technorati tags: christmas war on christmas bakersfield california

The Radio Equalizer ~ Brian Maloney ** California Anti-Christmas Protestor Sets Himself Alight
Also at: Santa Cruz Sentinel ~ Associated Press ** Man sets self aflame in Calif. protest
Fox News ** California Man Sets Himself, American Flag, Christmas Tree on Fire to Protest Religious Names

 Kick Assiest commentary / editorial  

I'm not sure I would've put the fire out. You know that some lawyer is going to figure out a way to blame the school district and Christmas for this guy's dementia. Here's hoping the school district has a good (is there such a thing?) lawyer.

At least the atheist libtard moron stayed true to the addage: "If you really must burn our flag, please wrap yourself in it first". But I bet this fruitcake waited until he saw a fire extinguisher and slightly caught himself on fire. If he really wanted to make a major statement, he could've fried himself in a far more serious way than first degree burns. Like all lefties, he's probably just a gutless pussy candy-ass, publicity whore.

Related: This Blog *** Long Island school bus driver was told to remove Santa hat
LIBTARD EDUCATION ALERT ~ 'Santa Claus does not exist' - UK school tells stunned kids

Posted by yaahoo_ at 9:28 AM EST

Updated: Sunday, 24 December 2006 11:32 AM EST

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Nagin Admits People Not Returning

NEW ORLEANS -- For months, Mayor Ray Nagin has been saying displaced New Orleanians would return to the city. Today he faced the harsh reality.

According to the U-S Census Bureau, Louisiana's population has dropped by two hundred thousand people or five percent over the last year. That's the largest one year migration from an American state since World War Two. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, broken levees and flooding have pushed people into neighboring states.

Nagin says, "to be quite frank with you, I think our repopulation,or recovery is somewhat in a holding pattern right now."

Nagin says the delay in getting money to build is part of the problem. "Until the resources start to flow in much more significant manner it's going to continue to in a holding pattern. And it's unfortunate..and I'm hopeful we will wake up and have a greater sense of the urgency of about getting these dollars to our citizens so that they can make into their homes."

If the trend continues, Louisiana faces the possibility of losing one of it's nine seats in Congress when the census is taken in 2010.

WGNO - ABC26 News ~ Rick Barrett ** Nagin Admits People Not Returning

Being locked up in another state's prison system does tend to make it hard to return!
Having a corrupt idiot for a mayor doesn't help either.

Free Republic has a site with evacuation procedure posted:
"The authority to make the final decisions related to an evacuation rests with the Mayor of New Orleans."

Posted by yaahoo_ at 3:23 AM EST

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Airstrike Kills Taliban Leader, U.S. Military Says

KABUL, Afghanistan -- A top Taliban military commander described as a close associate of Osama bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Omar was killed in an airstrike this week close to the border with Pakistan, the U.S. military said Saturday. A purported Taliban spokesman denied the claim.

Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Osmani was killed Tuesday by a U.S. airstrike while traveling by vehicle in a deserted area in the southern province of Helmand, the U.S. military said. Two associates also were killed, it said.

Osmani, regarded as one of three top associates of Omar, is the highest-ranking Taliban leader that the coalition has claimed to have killed or captured since U.S. forces deployed in Afghanistan to oust the Taliban regime in late 2001 for hosting bin Laden.

There was no immediate confirmation from Afghan officials or visual proof offered to support the American claim. A U.S. spokesman said that ''various sources'' were used to confirm Osmani's identity.

A purported Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousef Ahmadi, denied that Osmani had been killed, saying that the airstrike instead killed Mullah Abdul Zahir, a group commander, and three other Taliban fighters.

''I confirm that Osmani is alive and is in Afghanistan,'' Ahmadi told The Associated Press by phone from an undisclosed location.

U.S. military spokesman Col. Tom Collins said that officials waited four days to announce the news in part so that they could be sure it was Osmani who died in the strike.

The Taliban's chief military commander in southern Afghanistan, Osmani played a ''central role in facilitating terrorist operations'' including roadside bombs, suicide attacks and kidnappings, the U.S. said.

''This guy had been deeply involved in terrorist acts against the people of Afghanistan, NATO and the government,'' Collins said. ''He was a top commander of Taliban operations in the south, and now he's no more.''

The Taliban militia has stepped up attacks this year, particularly in southern Afghanistan, and waged fierce battles with Western and Afghan forces. About 4,000 people have died in the violence, raising fears for the country's future.

Osmani was part of a group of ''co-equals'' at the top of the Taliban leadership chain just under Omar, Collins said. He was also in charge of the Taliban's finances, he said.

Collins said that Osmani had been ''utilizing both sides'' of the Afghan-Pakistan border, and that the U.S. military had been tracking him ''for a while.''

''When the time was right, and we thought we had a good chance of hitting him without causing any harm to civilians, we struck,'' he said.

Though the U.S. said Osmani was an associate of bin Laden, Omar and Afghan insurgent leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, Collins said he didn't know the last time Osmani had contact with any of the three.

During the Taliban regime, Osmani was the corps commander of Kandahar, the militia's seat of power.

More recently, he was regarded as one of the top three Taliban leaders under Omar, along with another senior military commander in the south and southeastern regions, Mullah Dadullah, and influential policymaker Mullah Obaidullah.

In June, a man claiming to be Osmani -- his face was concealed by a black turban -- gave an interview to a Pakistani television network in which he said Omar and bin Laden were alive and well. He claimed to be receiving instructions from Omar.

NY Times ~ Associated Press ** Airstrike Kills Taliban Leader, U.S. Military Says
Also at: Reuters AlertNet ** US says kills top Taliban leader
UK Telegraph ** Taliban leader reported killed in US air strike
Kuwait News Agency ** Key Taliban commander killed in Afghanistan

Posted by yaahoo_ at 9:27 AM EST

Updated: Saturday, 23 December 2006 10:06 AM EST

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FAITH UNDER FIRE

Christian teen recovering from attack by Islamists

Voice of Martyrs helping with medical, emotional cataclysm

In many ways Noviana Malewa is like any other teen-aged Christian girl in Indonesia. But it is her eyes -- which reveal a sadness and strength far beyond her years -- that are different, and give evidence of the emotional and mental trauma of her own experience with radical Islam, a new report concludes.

That, and the machete chop scar that runs from her cheek bone across her face down onto her neck, says the report from Voice of the Martyrs.

As WND has reported, Noviana and three of her friends were walking on a school path Oct 29, 2005, when they were assaulted by radical Islamic jihadists wielding machetes. Noviana was the only survivor, and suffered the massive slash across her face and neck; the other three girls were decapitated.

VOMedical, a division of the outreach to persecuted Christians worldwide that deals with medical issues, eventually was able to arrange transportation for Noviana to a hospital in Surabaya, and officials are planning to continue follow-up physical treatment.

"Though Noviana's physical scars are beginning to heal, she still struggles with the emotional and mental scars from witnessing the brutal murder of her three friends. Yet, she remains steadfast in her faith," the group confirmed in its report.

Noviana and her friends had been taking a small footpath on their way to their Christian high school in Poso, Indonesia, when radical Islamists dressed all in black jumped suddenly from the jungle and began slashing the girls with machetes.

VOM reports that Noviana fought back as she was struck, then fell to the ground and rolled down into a ravine. Above, she heard her friends screaming.

Just as she was about to lose hope, a van of soldiers appeared and the attackers fled. The soldiers then took her to a hospital.

But she had to be hidden in a Christian village and guarded by police because her testimony was needed in court, and the radical Muslims who had killed her friends still were hunting her. At that point it was too dangerous even to leave her in a hospital, but after months of negotiations to guarantee her safety, arrangements were made for her to be in the Surabaya hospital, VOM said.

She's had successful surgery and VOM is working on continuing care, officials said. She suffered from an involuntary tick in her eye and another near her mouth because of the nerve damage from the slash, and she also suffered other nerve damage and a dislocated jaw.

Earlier reports said daily massages are being used to stimulate nerve repair and skin salves must be given daily. Plastic surgery also was obtained to reduce the scarring.

Authorities said Theresia Morangke, 15, Yarni Sambue, 15, and Alfita Poliwo, 17, were killed in the attack. Their heads were found in bags on the steps of a church and along a road, carrying a message, "We will murder 100 more Christian teenagers and their heads will be presented as presents."

The Pakistan Christian Post reported that Noviana recalled streaming with blood.

"All I could do was pray to Jesus for his help,' she said.

According to a subsequent report in The Jakarta Post, the Islamic suspects in the deaths have confessed to the fatal attack. Authorities reported that the suspects have ties to Noordin Top, who is considered a key leader of the Al-Qaida-linked group Jamaah Islamiyah.

There also have been reports that the defendants told authorities they planned the murders as a "gift" to mark the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

VOM is a non-profit, interdenominational ministry working worldwide to help Christians who are persecuted for their faith, and to educate the world about that persecution. Its headquarters are in Bartlesville, Okla., and it has 30 affiliated international offices.

It was launched by the late Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand, who started smuggling Russian Gospels into Russia in 1947, just months before Richard was abducted and imprisoned in Romania where he was tortured for his refusal to recant Christianity.

He eventually was released in 1964 and the next year he testified about the persecution of Christians before the U.S. Senate's Internal Security Subcommittee, stripping to the waist to show the deep torture wound scars on his body.

The group that later was renamed The Voice of the Martyrs was organized in 1967, when his book, "Tortured for Christ," was released.

World Net Daily.com ** Christian teen recovering from attack by Islamists

Posted by yaahoo_ at 2:22 AM EST

Updated: Saturday, 23 December 2006 2:41 AM EST

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The UN is not just dysfunctional -

it's a criminal enterprise

It gives validity to zealots and bigots, a voice to international terrorists, and helps to keep tyrannical dictators in power.

CAMBRIDGE, ENGLAND -- It is reasonable that honest, compassionate people seek a means for governments to air their differences.

It is also reasonable that honest, compassionate people should desire some way to voluntarily pool resources to provide charitable aid to those who are starving or are victims of natural disaster. Indeed, this is the image of the United Nations that has been sold to the world since its inception.

It is not, however, the reality.

The UN gives validity to zealots and bigots. It helps to keep tyrannical dictators in power. It gives a voice to international terrorists.

Delay. Negotiate. Recommend. Study. Reconsider. Do nothing. This is the game the UN has played in nearly every international crisis. It is the reason North Korea remains a threat after 50 years. And it is the reason why a terrorist nation such as Syria can be given a seat on the UN's Human Rights Council.

The UN is buried under scandals. It has Oil-for-Food scandals. Smuggling scandals. And theft scandals.

UN peacekeeping missions - with their record of rob, rape,and pillage - can actually bring fear to the local citizens they are supposed to protect.

Who has the power to oversee and control its actions? The people don't vote on UN actions. The media has little access behind the scenes. Who audits the accounting books?

UN supporters admit such problems, and they call for "reform." But to them, reform doesn't mean plugging holes in UN spending or clearing up scandals. Instead, it means global governance.

Since its inception, the UN's advocacy has amounted to a desire to eradicate the sovereignty of nations - while imposing what it calls "world-mindedness."

A 1949 UNESCO document said, "...nationalism [is] the major obstacle to the development of world-mindedness."

Therein lies the UN's true goal. And that belies its public image of being simply a place where nations may come to air their differences and act responsibly.

Instead, the UN works to gain power for itself in order to become independent and supreme over its member nations.

To do that, it needs the power to tax. On Sept. 19, plans were approved by several nations to create a global tax, mostly through airline tickets to help pay for the treatment of AIDS. There are several other tax schemes on the UN wish list. If the UN gains the power to tax, it will become a monster free of its chains. And, of course, the UN wants its own military. It already has its own court.

Imagine a world run by the justice of China, with the economics of Cuba, and the military might of the United States. Such is the world of the future under UN global governance.

A glance at recent history shows that the UN is irrelevant as a body to deliver world peace.

Using images of dire environmental emergencies, life-threatening diseases, or starving children, the UN promotes an agenda that seeks to redistribute the world's wealth.

Nowhere is there mentioned in a single UN document that I have read an advocacy for the right to own private property. And it is a fact that the inability to own private property creates poverty. It is also a fact that confiscation of private property never helps to eradicate poverty.

It is bad economic policy. Yet that is the UN's only solution to the massive suffering throughout the world. Take it from one source to give to another. And that, I contend, is the very root of the suffering - not the solution.

The UN is not "dysfunctional" as some "reformists" have claimed. It is a criminal enterprise in which no moral nation should ever participate, let alone perpetuate.

• Tom DeWeese is president of the American Policy Center, a nonprofit in Warrenton, Va., dedicated to free enterprise.
Christian Science Monitor ~ Tom DeWeese ** The UN is not just dysfunctional - it's a criminal enterprise

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Hot Air ~ Allahpundit ** Time for the semi-annual “UN peacekeepers raping kids” post

Posted by yaahoo_ at 6:55 PM EST

Updated: Sunday, 24 December 2006 6:21 AM EST

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