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Ten months before Al Qaeda in 2001 struck a deathblow in the heart lower Manhattan, one of the terrorist group's founding members plunged a sharpened comb through Pepe's left eye and into his brain, blinding the 42-year-old prison guard and causing severe brain injuries that plague him to this day. Pepe told FoxNews.com he worries that sending Mohammed and four of his alleged fellow 9/11 conspirators to New York could compromise the safety of the guards at the MCC prison. Keeping the prisoners in one location, he said, was especially dangerous. Teaming up against Pepe, they beat and blinded him,...

<p>WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Heavily Catholic Poland has joined the Vatican in criticizing a European court ruling against the display of crucifixes in Italian schools.</p> <p>President Lech Kaczynski said his country will never agree to remove crosses from its schools.</p>

Poland Defends Right to Keep Crucifixes in Schools Friday, November 13, 2009 WARSAW, Poland — Heavily Catholic Poland has joined the Vatican in criticizing a European court ruling against the display of crucifixes in Italian schools. Polish President Lech Kaczynski said his country will never agree to remove crosses from its schools. The Nov. 3 ruling by the European Court of Human Rights does not require that Poland remove the crosses that hang in most public schools. It could, however, eventually force a review of the use of religious symbols in government-run school across Europe. The decision touched a nerve...

[translation; excerpt] Crosses in classrooms. President of Poland condems the verdict of The European Court of Human Rights. This week the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg said," The presence of religious symbols in schools is in violation of the freedom of the parents to raise their children according to their own convictions. It is also a violation of the child's freedom of religion". Today, Nov.11, in his official speech at the ceremony of the Poland's Independence Day, the President of the Republic, prof.Lech Kaczynski, strongly condemned the verdict, saying,"  Nobody in Poland will not ever accept that crosses in...

Italians reacted with outrage on Tuesday after a European court ruled that displaying crucifixes in the country's schools violated the principle of secular education. Italy's education minister condemned the judgment by the European Court of Human Rights, saying that the Christian cross was a symbol of the country's Roman Catholic religion and cultural identity. Mariastella Gelmini, a member of the conservative government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, argued that "no one, and certainly not an ideological European court, will succeed in erasing our identity," Other ministers said they were appalled by the ruling, calling it "absurd," "shameful" and "offensive." Generations...

A blue, cross-like design emblazoned on T-shirts at Penn State University has some critics seeing red. The shirts — intended to foster school spirit — sport a vertical blue line down the center with the words "Penn State White Out" emblazoned across the chest, forming a design that some say resembles a cross. The back of the shirt depicts the same blue line obscured by the words, "Don't be intimated … It's just me and 110,000 of my friends." Roughly 30,000 of the shirts have been sold. Penn State says it has received six complaints about the shirt, including one...

Perhaps critical events of the third century may offer a few answers. Secular historical data, backed by biblical writings suggests that up to this point every religious institution honored the Seventh Day Sabbath – except Roman and Hellenistic Pagans. During the mid to latter part of the third century the Christian movement was spreading rapidly across the Roman Empire and Christians began to out number Pagans forcing certain pagan rituals, temples, and synagogues to become obsolete putting them in jeopardy of being destroyed. It was at this critical juncture that The Roman Emperor Constantine The Great, converted from Paganism to...

The Supreme Court joined in a fight between the ACLU and the federal government over a World War I memorial in the shape of a cross. While neither legal team hit the ball over the fence, the majority seems inclined to save this cross in what will be the first religious liberty case of the new Court. On Oct. 7, the Supreme Court heard arguments in Salazar v. Buono. This case is a decade-long fight over the so-called Mojave cross, pitting Obama Solicitor General Elena Kagan against the ACLU’s Peter Eliasberg. (This doesn’t mean Barack Obama necessarily wants to protect...

Question: If a cross rises in the desert and no one knows about it, does it make a sound? -Dana Milbank, WaPo L-R: Rev. Rob Schenck, president of the National Clergy, President Rev. Patrick Mahoney, of the Christian Defense Coalition and Father James Heyd hold a prayer service in front of the Supreme Court building in Washington. Today the high court will hear oral arguments in a case on involving the building of a memorial with a cross by the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) in a remote area within what is now a federal preserve. Mark Wilson-Getty Images Is...

Deep in the heart of the Mojave National Preserve in California stands a five foot cross carefully disguised in a plywood box. The U.S. Park Service was forced to cover the cross until the Supreme Court decides whether the cross can remain in its place as a monument to fallen soldiers during World War I, or whether it must come down because its presence violates the Constitution. The case is the latest in a recent flurry of challenges to religious symbols placed on public property. The cross was constructed more than 70 years ago by the Veterans of Foreign Wars....

ABERDEEN, Wash. - A man walking from Texas to his hometown in Washington state has had a cross to bear for months. James Strickland says he's been dragging a 12-foot cross from Longview, Texas, to his Aberdeen home since May. The 39-year-old says he was praying about his troubled past when he received a message to start walking on a journey of renewal. He took along the cross, which rolls on wheels with his belongings tied near the bottom.....

General Douglas MacArthur famously noted that "old soldiers never die; they just fade away." Sometimes, though, before they fade away, they get angry. And a case being argued in the Supreme Court Wednesday has veterans seeing red, white, and blue-but mostly red. Unsurprisingly, the case will go to the court courtesy of an ACLU lawsuit. The object at the center of the case is a small, unadorned cross sitting in a remote part of the Mojave Desert Preserve in Southeast California. A veterans' group erected this memorial cross on private land in 1934 to honor the dead of all wars....

A, California -- Driving along a pockmarked road amid rocks and Joshua trees in a lonely southern California desert, religious controversy might be the last thing you'd expect to encounter. And if you don't look too closely, you're likely to zip right past the focus of a hotly contested Supreme Court battle. A federal judge has ordered the Mojave Cross, a war memorial erected by a veterans group 75 years ago, to be covered. It's boxed in plywood. The issue is less about what the cross symbolizes and more about where it sits: In the middle of the Mojave National...

CIMA, California -- Driving along a pockmarked road amid rocks and Joshua trees in a lonely southern California desert, religious controversy might be the last thing you'd expect to encounter. And if you don't look too closely, you're likely to zip right past the focus of a hotly contested Supreme Court battle. A federal judge has ordered the Mojave Cross, a war memorial erected by a veterans group 75 years ago, to be covered. It's boxed in plywood.

Soldiers fight for desert cross By Bill Hess Published/Last Modified on Sunday SIERRA VISTA — “On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,” goes the opening of an old hymn. But for Sgt. Zachary Thomson, a cross on a hill in California’s Mojave Desert has a different meaning. It’s not a religious symbol to the 26-year-old Sierra Vista resident, who is serving with a Military Police unit at Fort Polk, La. It’s a war memorial, put up in 1934 by veterans of World War I, to honor Americans who died in that conflict. But now the memorial is...

Six soldiers dedicated to the preservation of a cross erected atop a hill in the Mojave Desert as a war memorial passed through Sierra Vista on Tuesday on their way to visit the controversial site. The soldiers, all of whom returned from a tour of duty in Iraq two weeks ago, left Fort Polk, La., on Monday and will arrive Thursday at the Mojave Desert Memorial. There, according to Sgt. Zachary Thomson, they will meet up with an estimated 500 veterans, their families and friends to commemorate the lives of slain soldiers by reading off their names, holding a moment...

In 1916 a church asked the Salt Lake City Council to allow them to build a huge cross, "the symbol of Christianity," on Ensign Peak. "We would like to construct it of cement, re-enforced with steel, of sufficient dimensions that it can be readily seen from every part of the city," the request read. That request came from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The cross was to honor the Mormon pioneers. Even though the proposal was approved by the City Council, the monument was never built. Today, there are no crosses on Mormon temples. Yet two are...

Have you ever noticed that every great artist has a trademark signature? Signatures can be an indicator of authenticity. As impressive as some artistic creations may be, there is no artist ever whose work can compare to that of Jesus Christ. Have you ever noticed how intricately things work together. It really is amazing. Collosians 1:17 states "He is before all things, and in him all things hold together." There is no more amazing evidence of this than in the case of laminin. You see laminin is a protein molecule that holds the very cells of our body together. Without...

According to tradition St. Thomas Aquinas once asked St. Bonaventure how he had acquired the deep theological wisdom he displayed in his writings. St. Bonaventure pointed to a crucifix and said that he had learned all he knew from contemplating it.   If there are any prayerful Catholics in our pews with St. Bonaventure's talents or dispositions, they are going to be deprived, for it is nearly impossible to find a crucifix in a Catholic Church in the United States. This became quite clear to me when I visited Mexico. The large crucifixes there, suspended over the main altar,...

Considering that top Christian leaders in the UK actually backed the opening of the Sharia Courts there, I guess that this should come as no surprise. The slow suicide continues. CROSS BAN FOR CHURCH SCHOOLGIRL Young Lauren banned from wearing her necklace By Emily Fox A CHURCH of England school has ordered a pupil to remove her necklace with a cross even though children of other faiths can wear religious jewellery.

Moscow.- Russia's Ministry of Justice has adopted a ruling by the Supreme Court that flags with crosses will be considered symbols of extremism, and their display will be banned. The ruling effectively outlaws the flags of Georgia, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, Dominican Republic and Jamaica, as well as those of 15 states within the Russian Federation.

Here’s the church… Where’s the steeple?The inverted Cross atop Central Lutheran Church in Minneapolis dangled from the steeple on Wednesday following a rare downtown twister as the ELCA Churchwide Assembly was in legislative session across the street at the Minneapolis Convention Center.Things that make you go, hmmm…Countless spiritual souls over the ages have commented on seeing God in all things. So, how about manifestations of physical evils found within nature, or, as the American justice system calls them: Acts of God… Perhaps a lesson from the fig tree — re-reading Mark 13: 5-6, 28-29 — occured Wednesday on 3rd...

Although the Supreme Court's term doesn't formally kick off until Oct. 5, justices scheduled arguments in a key campaign finance case for Sept. 9, and are hearing a case early in the fall term regarding a legal fight over a war memorial in the Mojave National Preserve.

Preparing for the future under health care reform, the parent of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois will shed 650 jobs amid the economic downturn that has caused its employer customers to reduce employees and a demand from Congress and President Obama to reduce administrative costs. Chicago-based Health Care Service Corp, which operates Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans in Illinois, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas today confirmed plans to reduce its workforce by about 4 percent across the country. Jobs will be eliminated by the first quarter of 2010.

Here is a video of this past Friday's hate speech by the NY Muslims of RevolutionMuslim.com. This week their spokesperson kindly tells us that the time will come when the cross will be broken and non-Muslims will have no choice but to convert to Islam, as Sharia Law will rule the world.

New York, NY, August 4, 2009 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) called on the U.S. Supreme Court to reject a "sham transaction" and prohibit a prominent religious display on public land. In an amicus brief submitted to the Court in Salazar v. Buono, ADL and a coalition of civil rights groups also emphasized the importance of allowing Americans access to courts to challenge violations of the First Amendment. Marvin D. Nathan, ADL Civil Rights Committee Chair, issued the following statement:

When Cpl. Darron Dale tucked a rosary inside his flak vest, he never imagined the close call that lay ahead. In a firefight with the Taliban in Afghanistan's Helmand province in late July, the M240B machine gunner on Dale's team was shot in the foot. "I'm hit! I'm hit!" the gunner called. Dale bounded forward to take over the gun, as other Marines pulled the wounded comrade to safety. But as Dale moved he was shot three times in his back armored plate. "It threw me to the ground," said Dale, of 3rd Platoon, Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine...

ATLANTA, GA - While U.S. airports often have chapels, many of them no longer display crosses or other symbols that would make them specific to a particular faith. The chapel at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport features a silhouette of a person kneeling and a generic stained-glass window. It also has a library stocking everything from Gideon Bibles to Jewish mystical texts, and a large floor mat provides a cushiony spot to kneel for prayer. A large compass on the chapel floor helps guide Muslims who pray toward Mecca.

Cross roads are places where decisions are made , But are you standing in the light or in the shade ?! For truly without me you remain in the dark , And your defenses are weak not strong as a tree of oak and its bark , For it is under My shade and My Son , That you arrive on Mt. Zion , So tell me my children what will shall it be ?! The will of your flesh or My Tapestry ? For to carry your cross again and again , Leaves you with a bitter end ,...

After WWI many U.S. soldiers moved to the Californian desert to find physical and emotional healing. In 1934, they erected a memorial to honor their fallen comrades, a single white cross, - a symbol used around the world to memorialize those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for their country. The site for the memorial was chosen because at a certain time of day, the sun casts a shadow on the rock which resembles a WWI doughboy. For more than 75 years, the memorial has stood as a reminder that there were those who fought and died for our freedoms. But...

After a complaint from one person to the ACLU a Federal judge has ordered a memorial cross atop a hill removed. Watch the youtube video here or click source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeuBB_mOFIA

After researching the situation involving the Veteran’s Memorial Cross located in the Mojave Desert and reviewing the Writ of Certiorari, numbered 08-472, the Board of Directors of the Silver Star Families of America met in regular session on July 6th, 2009.

WAR veteran Ted Kenna made an outstanding contribution to the nation and will be remembered for his courage, Acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard has said. Mr Kenna, Australia's last surviving Victoria Cross winner from World War II, died yesterday, aged 90. His death was a sad day for the nation, Ms Gillard said in a joint statement with Veterans Affairs Minister Alan Griffin. "Ted Kenna was a great Australian," they said, adding his story of bravery in New Guinea in 1945 was "extraordinary". "Private Kenna made an outstanding contribution to the nation and he will be remembered for his courage."...

German blogs, Jihad Watch & Atlas Shrugged are discussing the apparent Christian cross seen worn by Neda in an AP photo.

The Queen is to honour the families of Britain's war dead with a new award in her name. Those who have lost loved ones on the frontline or in terrorist attacks will be presented with the Elizabeth Cross. In a radio message to the armed forces on the British Forces Broadcasting Service the Queen said: 'I greatly hope that the Elizabeth Cross will give further meaning to the nation's debt of gratitude to the families and loved ones of those who have died in the service of our country.'

CoE school bans girl from wearing crucifix - but allows Sikh pupils to wear bangles A school told a child to remove a Christian cross she was wearing even though it lets Sikh children wear bangles as part of their religion. Lauren Grimshaw-Brown was told to take off a necklace with a cross on it because of health and safety fears. But the eight-year-old's furious mother has accused the school of double standards because they allow children following other faiths to wear jewellery on religious grounds. The mother-of-two says Lauren and brother Callan, five, have always worn crosses at St...

COKATO, DELANO, HOWARD LAKE, MONTROSE, WAVERLY, MN – David Valderrama, 29, has carried his large cross more than 1,000 miles since he first began a mission to tell the world, “Jesus loves you.” He recently flew to Minnesota and was spotted Monday, June 29 just east of Howard Lake after walking along Highway 12 through the cities of Delano, Montrose, and Waverly heading towards Howard Lake and Cokato on his way to Litchfield. This is one of many journeys that Valderrama of Tulsa, OK has been on since he began carrying his cross September 2007 from Baltimore, MD to St....

Fear of massacre grips Christian village in Egypt Whenever Muslims are seen “dancing and chanting ‘Come to Jihad’ and the ‘Cross is the enemy of God” outside the homes of grossly outnumbered indigenous Christians, who are further oppressed by the state, massacres become very real possibilities. More on this story. “Fear of Massacre Grips Christian Village in Egypt; Crops Destroyed,” from AINA, June 24: (AINA) — Fears of an impending massacre has gripped the Christian Copts in the village of Ezbet Boshra, El Fashn, which was scene to Muslim mob attacks on Copts on Sunday (AINA 6-22-2009). Egyptian State Security...

Queen Beatrix awarded a Dutch commando the country's highest military medal on Friday for his heroics leading an elite military unit in Afghanistan. Beatrix pinned the Willems Order cross and orange ribbon on Capt. Marco Kroon before slapping him on the left shoulder with her right hand to knight him at a ceremony in The Hague. It was the first time in more than 50 years that the medal has been awarded to an individual soldier. It also can be awarded to entire military units. Beatrix said Kroon showed "courage, discretion and dedication" in leading a commando unit in the...

WASHINGTON, DC (MetroCatholic) - International Christian Concern (www.persecution.org) has learned that radical Muslims running a tea stall beat a Christian man to death for using a cup designated for Muslims on May 9. The young man, Ishtiaq Masih, had ordered tea at a roadside stall in Machharkay village, Punjab, Pakistan, after his bus made a rest stop. When Ishtiaq went to pay for his tea, the owner noticed that he was wearing a necklace with a cross and grabbed him, calling for his employees to bring anything available to beat him for violating a sign posted on the stall warning...

A Labour minister has sparked controversy by claiming that an alternative symbol is needed for the Red Cross because of the logo's supposed links to the Crusades. Foreign Office minister Chris Bryant said that the historic emblem risked undermining the work of the humanitarian organisation. His intervention came as MPs debated the adoption of the 'red crystal' - a diamond

ANN ARBOR, MI – The Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, announced today that it has filed a friend of the court brief opposing the ACLU’s campaign to tear down another war memorial cross.At issue is a small cross originally erected on Sunrise Rock in 1934 by the Veterans of Foreign Wars in memory of the dead of all wars.  The cross is located in California’s Mojave Desert, in a remote area where the only visible signs of human activity are off-road vehicles and trail hikers.  The ACLU succeeded in its...

This simple but powerfully symbolic Cross is in the Mojave Desert. It's been there for 75 years. That is, until some guy from Oregon decided that he didn't like it there since it's on Federal land. That person called the ACLU. The ACLU has managed to legally cover the Cross. The Veterans want it back - out in the open. Watch the Video here. Fortunately, there's a great Legal Team on the side of the Vets. We can only hope for the best. 

JERUSALEM – Palestinian Christians in a normally quiet village are reeling from a series of grave desecrations this week that they say are indicative of intimidation tactics from the town's growing Muslim population. "Christians don't feel free anymore. Our way of life is changing while the Muslim population grows," a local Christian told WND. The Christian would only give his first name, Anis, for fear of Muslim retaliation if he speaks out. He pointed out there are several other Anis's in his village, Jisna, which is located near the West Bank city of Ramallah. This week, 70 Christian grave sites...

Some see it as the universal symbol of sacrifice in World War I, others see it as the undisputed sign of Christianity, but it will be up to the Supreme Court to make a final determination as to whether a 7-foot cross remains standing in a California desert to memorialize war veterans. The cross was first erected in 1934 in what is now the federally protected Mojave Desert Preserve by a group of veterans whose doctors advised them that the desert heat would help them recover from shell shock. Veterans today say this war memorial and others like it across...

...but it will be up to the Supreme Court to make a final determination as to whether a 7-foot cross remains standing in a California desert to memorialize war veterans. The cross was first erected in 1934 in what is now the federally protected Mojave Desert Preserve by a group of veterans...w Veterans today say this war memorial and others like it across the country that use religious symbols are under attack by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)...>p> But the civil liberties group says the cross is offensive to Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim and other non-Christian veterans.... "If the plaintiff...

Christian fears for NHS hospital job after refusing to remove her crucifix over 'infection fear' By DAILY MAIL REPORTER 23rd May 2009 A Christian hospital worker fears for her job after refusing to take off a crucifix which 'could harbour infection', it emerged today. Helen Slatter, 43, says she will not choose between her faith and her job after the NHS claimed the jewellery could spread disease or even be used as a weapon. Gloucestershire Royal Hospital explained today that health and safety rules applied to everyone and the regulations had nothing to do with religion. The blood collector -...

A medal personally established by the Queen is being withdrawn after it was deemed offensive to Muslims and Hindus. The honour - known as The Trinity Cross of the Order of Trinity - has been ruled unlawful and too Christian. It has been awarded to 62 distinguished residents of the former colony of Trinidad and Tobago over more than 40 years, including cricketers Brian Lara and Garfield Sobers, novelist V.S. Naipaul and many diplomats and politicians. But groups representing the Caribbean islands' Muslim and Hindu communities - which account for around a third of their 1.3million-strong population - had argued...

Note: The following text is a quote: May 8, 2009 UK bans cross-shaped medal as offensive to Muslims and Hindus When in Muslim countries, non-Muslims must conform their behavior to Muslim sensibilities. In non-Muslim countries, non-Muslims must conform their behavior to Muslim sensibilities. Got it? It is a pity that the prevailing multiculturalist fog is such that the Hindus joined this initiative. They may ultimately find their allies in this struggle turning on them. Cultural Abdication Alert from Absurd Britannia: "Queen's medal of honour scrapped... because it's too Christian for Muslims and Hindus," from the Daily Mail, May 8 (thanks...

A medal established by the Queen is being withdrawn after it was declared unlawful and offensive to Muslims and Hindus. The cross-shaped honour - The Trinity Cross of the Order of Trinity - has been handed to distinguished members of the former colony of Trinidad and Tobago. The Christian name and cross are now being replaced with the Order of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago - a circular medal featuring a sun, stars, water and a map of the islands. The Privy Council, made up of 12 law lords, ruled the merit decoration was unlawful because it discriminates against...