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Measuring Spiritual Progress – (http://www.thatchristianwebsite.com/articles/progress.html)Our society is fascinated with measuring things. As early as kindergarten, children are taught to use a ruler and think about measures. Physicians measure height, weight, circumferences, blood pressure, pulse, temperature, blood counts, and more. Sports organizations measure kicks, throws, shots, jumps, running speeds, arm and leg strength, and scores. Humans are also fascinated with measurements in the weather: humidity, highs and lows, dew points, rainfall, and wind speed and direction. In business all kinds of things are measured: sales, quotas, employment, terminations, production, etc. And let’s not even get started on how many things the...

WASHINGTON, July 9, 2009 – A key measurement of success in Afghanistan will be the attitude of Afghans affected by U.S.-led operations, the military’s second-ranking military officer said today. Marine Corps Gen. James E. Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the counterinsurgency mission in Afghanistan elevates the civilian population as a main determinant of success or failure, much as it did in Iraq. “I believe personally that one of our key metrics for success will be over the next few months to see whether or not there is a shift...

BAGHDAD — Gauging the progress of security, reconstruction and governance efforts in Iraq is a challenge unto itself, U.S. officials said Tuesday. While in Baghdad senior U.S., Iraqi and Coalition leaders discussed signs of improved security in the capital’s Adhamiyah district, in Washington Pentagon officials stressed the importance of recognizing that security conditions in Iraq vary widely by region. On Sunday, the Baghdad provincial chairman, accompanied by the deputy chief of mission for the U.S. Embassy and the deputy commanding general for Multi-National Division – Baghdad, visited the recently cleared district of Adhamiyah for the first time since the start...

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, June 27, 2006) - The 2006 Gallup poll results on public confidence are in and the military is again at the top of the list. Seventy-three percent of Americans polled from June 1-4, 2006, said they have a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in the military, according to Gallup poll writer Lydia Saad. After the terrorist attacks Sept. 11, 2001, military confidence soared 13 percent above the previous year. In that 2002 poll, 79 percent of respondents said they had a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in the military. The...

SACRAMENTO - California has been offered $1.7 million in training, laboratory tests and technical support from the federal government to help measure levels of toxic chemicals in state residents. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's offer came in response to a request by U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, for a federal commitment to biomonitoring in California, the Breast Cancer Fund said Monday. The Oakland Tribune published a series of stories in March on the increasing amounts of manmade chemicals and environmental toxins showing up in humans. The paper spent $17,000 to test a Berkeley family and found...