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Freeman also had faced the same criminal contempt charge, but also was cleared.

"Make no mistake, there will come a day when the Speaker of this House will be hauled into federal court and threatened with jail because she dares to stand at that podium where you stand tonight and ask the chaplain to start our day with prayer," he said.

The men had faced penalties of up to six months in jail and $5,000 in fines each.

The situation began several years ago when two anonymous students sued with the help of the ACLU over long-standing practices at the school allowing prayer at some events.

Rodgers issued a temporary injunction last January halting the practices.

Charges were brought against her for being at a private banquet held at a Naval base to honor non-instructional school district employees when her husband read a brief blessing prior to the meal, according to reports of the case.

The ACLU alleged that also subjected her to contempt charges.

In her case, Rodgers found that Winkler's husband's prayer at a voluntary gathering outside of school did not violate any court order.

Liberty Counsel founder Mathew D. Staver expressed relief over that victory but frustration over the ACLU's actions.

"The wheels came off the ACLU's steamroller. While we are pleased with the ruling, we are saddened that a wonderful woman had to spend a day in court, with the ACLU's crosshairs aimed at her back. Prayer is neither contemptuous nor criminal. It is outrageous that the ACLU sought civil contempt charges against an outstanding woman whose husband prayed a beautiful prayer at a privately sponsored event held off campus. The ACLU needs to take a good dose of the First Amendment and call us in the morning," he said.

Nearly 400 graduating seniors at Pace, a Santa Rosa County school, stood up at their graduation, according to Staver. Parents, family and friends joined in the recitation, and applauded the students when they were finished, Staver told WND.

"Many of the students also painted crosses on their graduation caps to make a statement of faith," the organization reported.

Staver said class members, furious with the ACLU for hijacking their free speech rights, assembled the plan on their own. As soon as Lay asked everyone to be seated for the graduation ceremony, the graduating seniors remained standing and recited the Lord's Prayer.

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John Byrne
Raw Story
Thu, 17 Sep 2009 09:38 UTC

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Rev. Anthony Martlew L Th.

No doubt you have walked down a street and seen such a sign. Sometimes there is a convenient viewing area for the inquisitive passers-by to stop and view the activity on the other side of the barrier.

Your memories come flooding back, of course. It was the parish church of St. Michael. As a youngster you attended the services with your parents. You also call to mind some of the social events in the church hall. As your mind reflects upon these things, you suddenly realise that those days have gone for ever, your parents have died, and the vicar (what was his name?)

As you view the building site, with mechanical diggers and lorries off-loading materials, you wonder what they are going to put up in its place.

Your attention is directed to the notice board,

"Acquired for clients, Soon to be erected on this site, a 21-storey office block, incorporating a night club. massage parlour, casino and cinema."

Then follow the architect's name, surveyors and main contractors.

Maybe you have guessed by now what all this is leading up to. Yes, you are quite right. This is my roundabout way of saying that all the foregoing is a picture of what is happening to the nation today.

Our leaders, both spiritual and secular, are the appointed demolition contractors. All that made our nation what it was in the past, is being pulled down brick by brick, soon to be replaced by a multi -storey, multi-function, faceless monstrosity Whereas the previous building was dedicated to the glory of God, and those who used it were familiar with, and understood its fundamental purpose, those soon to inhabit the new building know nothing of these things.

The new structure is dedicated to mammon throughout, the staff will be thinking of nothing but quicker profits.Those who frequent its other functions will only be interested in the pursuit of pleasure. Where is the soul in such a structure?

What is so desperately needed there is another kind of profit - a prophet! Our leaders have pulled down the old structure and informed us that it is time to move on, and leave the old ideas and standards behind. "Cool Britannia" waives the rules! Our spiritual leaders have joined with those destroyers of our history, and denigrated the truth of Scripture.

I am reminded of the first verse of Psalm 127:" Except Yahweh build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except Yahweh keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain."

The new buildings and city that are being erected around us, most certainly are not being built by the Lord. I will not bring to your attention all that is wrong with this nation, for I have mentioned such things so many times. It is important, however, that we give this matter some thought from a global viewpoint.

It is very evident when we examine Scripture, that the Lord's Hand is to be seen in all the events of history. Man, in his ignorance, assumes that things merely happen by chance, whether they be wars, or movements of peoples from one side of the globe to the other. However, this is not so haphazard as they imagine.

Almighty God has been intervening in the affairs of nations from the earliest times. Our first glimpse of this is seen in Genesis 10:32: "These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations, in their nations: and by these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood."

Then, some 900 years later, we learn: "When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel." - (Deuteronomy 32:8)

Confirmation that all the movements of nations were in the Sovereign Will of Almighty God, and not by mere chance, is given in Deuteronomy 30:20: "That thou mayest love the Lord thy God and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them."

Finally,the New Testament confirms all this early activity in Acts 17:26:"And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;" These texts demonstrate that the Lord is very much involved in the activities, movements and destinies of nations, with particular reference to Israel.

Many other texts also provide evidence that Yahweh has time and time again, throughout history, used individuals for His mighty purposes. Often, such men have evil intent, such as Balaam and Judas Iscariot, and the Holy Spirit directs them to perform some act which will ultimately be to God's glory.

It has been necessary in this article to highlight some of these events, in order to understand what is happening to our nation today. Scripture reveals that, prior to the Lord's return, there will be many signs in the earth and in the heavens - (Matthew 24, Luke 21 and others). The disintegration of our history and culture is an integral part of the events for the last days. Whilst it is painful and distressing to watch helplessly as our Royal house comes under attack and our Established Church crumbles, nevertheless, it is in the Plan and Purpose of Almighty God that it should be so.

Whatever your personal feelings may be, concerning the destructive nature of our temporal and spiritual leaders, they have been placed in their positions of authority by the Sovereign Will of Almighty God. They are carrying out their task of demolition in ignorance that they are fulfilling their appointed destinies, which nothing can alter.

In order that the stage may be set for the new age to follow, all that has gone before must be cleared away. We may grieve as these things come to pass, but rest assured that what the Lord has planned for the future will be a thousand times better than what came before.

"For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, 0 God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him." - (Isaiah 64:4)

The demolition of the present order of things is taking place so that God the Father ... "shall send Jesus Christ (Yahoshua the Messiah), which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began." - (Acts 3:20, 21)

The coming again of Jesus, the Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords, will be a time of "restitution of all things" Remember that at the beginning of this article, we noted that "hard hats" must be worn. Believers at this time need the hard hat that is the "helmet of salvation" for their complete protection, as Paul tells us in Ephesians 6:17: "And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."

Forget the old order, which is now passing away, for at our Lord's coming, all things will be restored to their former glory,as it was when Adam and Eve knew it before their disobedience. The soil, the rivers, and the sea, which we have polluted with our toxic rubbish, will be pure, and living waters shall go out from Jerusalem. (Zechariah 14:8)

"And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be."

Fear not and grieve not for the old world, for the best is yet to come!

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By Sheriff Jim R. Schwiesow, Ret.

September 16, 2009
NewsWithViews.com

"Their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands. Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths. The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace." Isaiah 59: 6-8

History, both secular and Biblical, is replete with examples of recalcitrant sin-laden peoples being inflicted by the Lord God Jehovah with leaders who have decimated and destroyed the masses that they deceivingly purported to represent for good and just reasons. Some of these were black of heart and viciously disposed and others were simply bumbling idiots, either way they led their nations and those who populated them to destruction and ruin.

That this nation is sin-laden and of a collective corruptness of heart is incontrovertible, the mortals that populate it have descended into depravity, deep sexual deviancy, soul-destroying avarice and bestiality of thought. They revel in their wickedness¡¯s and flaunt them before the world. They splatter the airwaves and cyber space with immorality and deviancy. They pipe it into the homes domestically and export it to foreign shores. Only the ignorantly obtuse and the mentally feeble fail to understand the pitiably deficient state of the collective morals of this people and this society, if they are not abject doers of evil they are upholders and enablers of evil. They are as rotten fruit and about to be plucked and eliminated as the affront they are to a righteous and holy God.

The people are paying a high price for their sins and their sins are legion. The sovereign God who rules will not be mocked. No government exists and no individual rules, but what He allows. I am often asked why I do not provide secular solutions to the precarious state of this nation and get on with a movement to throw the bums out. I emphatically re-state what I have written so many times in the past, "There are no secular solutions for a spiritual disease." The bums will not be thrown out they are where they are for a reason, and if they should drop by the wayside they will simply be replaced with those who are equally perverse. All too often I have heard others state that the Lord helps those who help themselves, this is absolutely not biblical. The truth is that the Lord delivers those who do His bidding and who rely on Him in all things.

"Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD." Jeremiah 17:5

A righteous and virtuous people can expect righteous government and virtuous leaders; an unwholesome and iniquitous people can expect the same unwholesomeness from those who rule over them. The last three government administrations amplify that fact. The unholy trio, Clinton, Bush, and Obama have brought this nation and its people to a precipice overlooking an abyss, all were, during their tenure, liars and deceivers and upholders of vice and personal corruption. They have piped a Godless recalcitrant people down a crooked road to an imminent demise.

This nation is divided into three political types - Democrats, Republicans, and Independents. Both Democrats and Republicans are dogmatic slaves to a party line and to specious and strongly held political policies and rigid etched in stone political doctrines. Liberal Democrats in the main have set the course for social deviancy and the moral looseness of the nation. They have instituted infanticide, sexual deviancy, and rampant vice and they enable and support most all-social aberrations that demean the human spirit. They promote sloth and dependence and inveigh against individual liberties that conflict with their political and social dogma. They have infiltrated all echelons of society - most especially the educational system - with their devastatingly erosive and corrosive isms. From the university level down to the lowest elementary grades their doctrinal programs have dulled young minds and inculcated unwise, unsound, and ungodly deviant morals and values in the youth of this nation.

Fortunately the third group - Independents - has traditionally refused to slavishly embrace the political doctrines of either of the two national parties. They have however often shown, in national elections, to possess no more common sense than Republicans or Democrats. Their very real value is that they are far more effective in challenging government abuse and the overstepping of authority by elected and un-elected government officials. Unlike the slaves to the national parties, they will act aggressively and vigorously when either Republican or Democrat political office holders are goring their ox. It was this group of voters that turned the Bush Republicans out of office primarily due to his inaction to, and support of, the millions of illegal foreign interlopers that corrupted the social fabric of the country and bankrupted the treasuries of many state social welfare systems. It is these Independents that have precipitated the sudden and drastic plunge in the personal popularity of Barack Obama and the new lows in support for his policies. He is goring their ox - the national health care system - and they take angry exception to his machinations for National Socialism and all that it stands for.

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Independents had turned to Barack Obama only as a change from the disastrous eight-year tenure of George W. Bush, a man who pushed the economy to the edge of collapse, a man who was instrumental in engaging the nation in two guerilla wars, a type of warfare at which the United States has never shined and a type of warfare that nullifies the great strengths of the American Military and militates for interminable conflict and unending costs in both lives and financial resources. He was also a man who refused to provide for the domestic tranquility by fortification of the borders, and one who was every bit as much of a disaster during his time in office as Barack Obama is today.

Barack Obama¡¯s decline has been rapid and percipient, probably the only thing that has saved him from a more drastic fall in public esteem is an ever worshipful propagandist media and Republicans who, true to form, in their Herculean bent to appease socialist liberals haven¡¯t the statesmanship, the intelligence, or the courage to stand on principle and oppose his Marxist policies.

An adoring liberal-socialist media and the mindless believers in Obama as savior have made much of his alleged brilliance, he is in fact possessed of an entirely normal intellect and is neither brilliant nor possessed of a mentally superior adeptness. He is entirely one-dimensional and incapable of thinking in abstract terms. His guiding light is his spouse who is what Jezebel was to Ahab, a not unintelligent evil spirit behind the throne. Michelle¡¯s undisguised hatred of America and of the Caucasian race guides her thinking and ipso facto that of her husband. There can be no doubt that she was the guiding light responsible for her mate¡¯s Marxist political appointees. Some speculate that Obama is the antichrist I don¡¯t believe it. He hasn¡¯t the cleverness, guile, or the complexity and quickness of mind of an antichrist. But, dear reader he has surrounded himself with those who do and they are, thanks to his guided appointments and the weakness of his political opponents in heading off those appointments, in critical positions at every level of government where they are systematically and incrementally installing a totalitarian Fascist/Marxist system in once was a Constitutional Republic.

If Mr. Obama were to read this writing he would be greatly offended. Not by my allegations of his political intent and Marxist leanings, because he is very transparent in that regard and unashamed of his political bent, but my questioning of his alleged brilliance and his mental adeptness would irritate him immensely, in point of fact it would absolutely infuriate him as he is a complete and perfect Narcissist - a true lover of himself.

In previous articles, both prior to his election and after, I have opined that Barack Hussein Obama is immature, inexperienced, untried, untested and wet behind the ears. He is in fact entirely shallow of character. Nothing he has done in his eight and one-half months in office has served to mitigate that assessment. His love of self dominates his every action and his every desire; he has not an altruistic bone in his body. He seeks always to escape responsibility and risk of failure with a continual exaggeration of his own qualities. To hear him tell it he is superior in every way and his infallibility is beyond question.

In his carefully choreographed public appearances, which are nauseatingly frequent, before selectively combed over hysterically rabid attendees one cannot fail to pick up on Obama¡¯s conceit as he poses, preens, struts, mugs and pontificates. He can see himself in the monitors and his idealized image of himself dominates his performance from beginning to end. He will never admit failure, never accept criticism, and he will never credit those in opposition to his ideas and preferences with any credibility that might detract from his own self-perceived superiority. He is quick to demean his opponents and slow to commend the ideas of others. Like Adolph Hitler he has delusions of grandeur, but unlike Hitler this is attenuated by an insufficiency of superior intelligence and a lack of shrewdness. If the camera operators filming him were to indulge us with close-ups of his mug we would most likely find that Barack Obama has chapped lips from kissing mirrors.

Because of my criticism of those the Lord has chosen to rule over us with Godly direction, but who instead eschew that responsibility and corruptly guide our destinies in spiritually adverse ways, I have been at times accused of being unloving, unkind, and lacking in Christian love and charity. Actually I pay little attention to what the mere mortals who traverse this old globe for a short while think about me. What the Eternal Lord God of all creation thinks is what counts. I direct those who think that piety equates with service to the Lord to make a study of Elijah, a great servant of the Lord God Jehovah and one who was not disposed to beat around the bush in regard to sin, corruption of the soul, and an apostasy of faith in the sovereign God. It was his task, nay his absolute duty, to confront King Ahab and his treacherous wife Jezebel who were worshippers of Baal, despoilers of God¡¯s word, and tyrannical abusers of the people under their control. According to the infallible word of God Elijah confronted both Ahab and Jezebel with their sins and corruption, mocked their false prophets and put four hundred fifty of those prophets to the sword. It is evident that Elijah put God before piety.

Watching the secular media, and the know it all talking heads that they sponsor, trying to pull this nation¡¯s irons out of the fire with words of assurance uttered to inspire confidence is entirely educational in regard to their nescience. Ever onward and ever upward is their motto, but only the most deceived and dedicated liberal clones manage to submerge their inner doubts and one senses in listening to the more knowing spokesmen the fearful trepidation behind their words. They have good reason for that apprehension and dread, this nation collectively appears to be well beyond redemption and the point of return. The end will be swift and it will be sudden.

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"For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double. How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her. And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour is thy judgment come." -Revelation 18:6-10

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This nation will fall, but there is still hope for individuals: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

"He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."

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This is almost overwhelming when you think about it. You MUST read to the end:

Moses and the people were in the desert, but what was he going to do with them?They had to be fed, and feeding 2 or 3 million people requires a lot of food.

According to the Quartermaster General in the Army, it is reported that Moses would have to have had 1,500 tons of food each day. Do you know that to bring that much food each day, two freight trains, each at least a mile long, would be required!

Besides, you must remember, they were out in the desert, so they would have to have firewood to use in cooking the food. This would take 4,000 tons of wood and a few more freight trains, each a mile long, just for one day.

And just think, they were forty years in transit!

And, Oh yes! They would have to have water. If they only had enough to drink and wash a few dishes, it would take 11,000,000 gallons each day and a freight train with tank cars, 1,800 miles long, just to bring the water!

And then another thing!

They had to get across the Red Sea at night. Now, if they went on a narrow path, double file, the line would be 800 miles long and would require 35 days and nights to get through. So there had to be a space in the Red Sea, 3 miles wide so that they could walk 5,000 abreast to get over in one night.

But then, there is another problem - each time they camped at the end of the day, a camp ground two-thirds the size of the State of Rhode Island was required, or a total of 750 square miles long - think of it! This much space for camping.

Do you think Moses figured all this out before he left Egypt? I think not!

You see, Moses believed in God. God took care of these things for him.

Now do you think God has any problem taking care of all your needs?

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Posted: September 19, 2009
11:15 pm Eastern

By Drew Zahn
© 2009 WorldNetDaily

A homosexual advocacy initiative claims that over 250 California schools have registered to show their students a curriculum of films that encourages teens to rethink their sexuality, society and even religion.

The curriculum includes videos made by a San Francisco group calling itself "the best in LGBT media," and includes a clip in which a boy "comes out" by wearing his mother's bikini and another that uses Native American spirituality to depict bisexual individuals as "two-spirit" people.

The accompanying discussion guides also encourage students to evaluate their religious traditions based on whether they encourage "choice" in sexuality or "reinforce gender expectations."

The program, called "Youth in Motion: Empowering students through LGBTQ film," is a joint effort between the Gay-Straight Alliance Network and Frameline, which describes itself as a nonprofit organization dedicated to the promotion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender media arts.

The curriculum comes in several packages designed for middle and high school students, including "Gender Matters," which encourages children to think of sexuality outside the male/female dichotomy, and "In the Family," which takes a critical slant on traditional marriage laws.

Each of the curriculum packages includes videos, discussion guides and action points for classroom use some of which are certain to raise eyebrows:

The "Gender Matters" package, for example, includes a film called "Two-Spirit People," which teaches teens that some Native American religions honor individuals who "embody feminine and masculine qualities" as "a third gender, beyond man and woman," capable of being "a conduit between the physical and spiritual world."

"Does your culture, religion or family have any similar coming-of-age rites of passage (quinceañera, bat/bar mitzvah, prom)?" the discussion guide asks. "Do these cultural events encourage gender choice or reinforce gender expectations?"

In the "In the Family" curriculum, students are invited to create coloring books for even younger children based on what they've learned from the videos. The curriculum holds up "Girls Will Be Boys Will Be Girls" as "a cool example of a fabulous gender coloring book."

One group keeping a close eye on how this curriculum will be used is the "Pacific Justice Institute", a legal defense organization specializing in the defense of religious freedom, parental rights and other civil liberties.

Brad Dacus, PJI's president, told Focus on the Family "These pro-homosexual 'tolerance' films, shown to children as young as 12 years old in the seventh grade are a clear breach of parental trust." PJI is encouraging concerned parents to stay informed and to ask their school districts if the films will be shown.

Apparently, PJI's warning stems from the reality that the videos can legally be shown in California schools without informing the parents.

"School districts in California cannot require parental consent for films that include mention of LGBT people or issues," the curriculum's website boasts, "only instruction or materials that explicitly mentions human reproductive organs and their functions fall under consent laws for sex education."

In a statement, however, PJI reminded parents that discover the films are scheduled to be discussed in their children's schools that they have the ability to have their children excused from the discussion.

Furthermore, Dacus said in the statement, "PJI will continue to investigate whether any opt-out laws are being violated by the showing of these films. Any parents whose opt-out requests are denied by their child's school should contact PJI immediately."

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History and current events have been reformatted to fit your screen.

All necessary adjustments have already been made for your convenience.

mold the minds of your children.

Since gaining a foothold on American culture after WWII, 99 percent of today¡¯s American households have at least one TV (66 percent have at least three) and television is now regarded by most as another member of the family. In fact, according to America¡¯s TV pollsters, the A.C. Neilson Co., the number of minutes per week that parents spend in meaningful conversation with their children is 3.5 while the average child spends 1,680 minutes a week watching television. About half of America¡¯s 4-6-year-olds prefer watching TV to interacting with their parents. The percentage of Americans who take their meals in front of the TV is 66; the average amount of time the TV is on each day is 6 hours, 47 minutes. At the American average of four hours per day, 9 years of a 65-year life will be spent "glued to the tube."

Over 4,000 studies have been performed to determine the effects of television on children. The results are not surprising: Retarded growth in major motor skills, lack of proficiency in the 3 Rs and it promotes the development of antisocial behaviors and eating disorders.

According to Neilson, 79 percent of Americans believe that TV violence precipitates real life violence. Upon graduating into the seventh grade, the average child has seen 8,000 murders on TV; 40,000 murders and over 200,000 violent acts upon graduation from high school.

If you want to see for yourself what kids are watching these days, just check out the Saturday morning cartoons. You will be shocked. Children represent a marketplace and inventing new ways to deepen their dysfunction has immediate commercial value¡ªand longterm value for the state. Children who grow up in front of the TV and learn to arrange their lives around TV will grow up to be adults who get their entertainment, news and information from it. "Millions of Americans are so hooked on television that they fit the criteria of substance abuse," said Professor Robert Kubey of Rutgers University.

He bases his observation on the fact that people habitually use TV as a sedative, watch indiscriminately just to be watching, have no control over their desire to watch, experience anger for watching too much and feel miserable when they are prevented from watching.

FOX News military analyst Bob Maginnis, who is also a military advisor with the Pentagon Media Operations Group, explained that FOX intentionally presented stories about the Iraq war in such a way that Americans would become addicted to watching, see that the world was in chaos and make them feel as if they are "helpless to do anything but watch it happen."

In 2004, Cornell University conducted a revealing study that found 44 percent of Americans believed that Muslims¡¯ civil liberties should be restricted in the wake of 9/11. The interesting point of the Cornell study was that people who rely on network television for their news were more likely to be fearful of another terrorist attack and were, therefore, more likely to support restricting Muslims¡¯ civil liberties.

Big Brother¡¯s objectives are being advanced through television. There are 4,000 studies, comments from Big Brother¡¯s minions and an entire nation of molded minds to prove it.

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Oct 6 12:47 PM US/Eastern

The next world war could take place in cyberspace, the UN telecommunications agency chief warned Tuesday as experts called for action to stamp out cyber attacks.

"The next world war could happen in cyberspace and that would be a catastrophe. We have to make sure that all countries understand that in that war, there is no such thing as a superpower," Hamadoun Toure said.

"Loss of vital networks would quickly cripple any nation, and none is immune to cyberattack," added the secretary-general of the International Telecommunications Union during the ITU's Telecom World 2009 fair in Geneva.

Toure said countries have become "critically dependent" on technology for commerce, finance, health care, emergency services and food distribution.

"The best way to win a war is to avoid it in the first place," he stressed.

As the Internet becomes more linked with daily lives, cyberattacks and crimes have also increased in frequency, experts said.

Such attacks include the use of "phishing" tools to get hold of passwords to commit fraud, or attempts by hackers to bring down secure networks.

Individual countries have started to respond by bolstering their defences.

US Secretary for Homeland Security Janet Napolitano said Thursday that she has received the green light to hire up to 1,000 cybersecurity experts to ramp up the United States' defenses against cyber threats.

South Korea has also announced plans to train 3,000 "cyber sheriffs" by next year to protect businesses after a spate of attacks on state and private websites.

Warning of the magnitude of cybercrimes and attacks, Carlos Solari, Alcatel-Lucent's vice-president on central quality, security and reliability, told a forum here that breaches in e-commerce are now already running to "hundreds of billions."

But one of the most prominent victims in recent years has been the small Baltic state of Estonia, which has staked some of its post Cold War development on new technology.

In 2007 a spate of cyber attacks forced the closure of government websites and disrupted leading businesses.

Estonian Minister for Economic Affairs and Communications Juhan Parts said in Geneva that "adequate international cooperation" was essential.

"Because if something happens on cyberspace... it's a border crossing issue. We have to have horizontal cooperation globally," he added.

To this end, several countries have joined forces in the International Multilateral Partnership against Cyber Threats (IMPACT), set up this year to "proactively track and defend against cyberthreats."

Some 37 ITU member states have signed up, while another 15 nations are holding advanced discussions, said the ITU.

Experts say that a major problem is that the current software and web infrastructure has the same weaknesses as those produced two decades ago.

"The real problem is that we're putting on the market software that is as vulnerable as it was 20 years ago," said Cristine Hoepers, general manager at Brazilian National Computer Emergency Response Team.

"If you see the vulnerabilities that are being exploited today, they are still the same," she underlined.

She suggested that professionals needed to be trained to "design something more resilient."

"Universities are not teaching students to think about that. We need to change the workforce, we need to go to the universities..., we need to start educating our professionals," she said.

Pointing out the infrastructure weakness, Carlos Moreira, who founded and runs the Swiss information security firm Wisekey, said legislation is needed to bring cybersecurity up to international standards.