ANGER - FORGIVENESS AT VTS CHO

1-WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS.2-Storms, wind cause damage in 4 states. 3-The Nation's Weather. 4-Gassy blast from prehistoric volcanoes heated Earth. 5-Nationwide blackout strikes Colombia. 6-Hot, dry weather worries fire officials. 7-Cancer deaths set to exceed cardiovascular disease: StatsCan. 8-Hawking flies weightless aboard jet. 9-Iran Will Strike Israel with Thousands of Missiles if Attacked. 10-FM Livni: Security Fence Promotes Future PA State. 11-Netanyahu Promises to Repay Debt to Katif Expellees. 12-Feds threaten Texas over superhighway funds plan. 13-Biblical creationist disputes latest proof for evolution. 14-Virginia Tech campus torn between anger, forgiveness.

EARTHQUAKES

MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.

LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS (USGS)

Update time = Fri Apr 27 12:01 PM EDT

APR 27,07
MAP 3.8 NEVADA
MAP 5.8 BOUGAINVILLE REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
MAP 3.9 GULF OF ALASKA
MAP 5.9 NORTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA
MAP 3.4 NORTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.7 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.7 SOUTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA

APR 26,07
MAP 3.0 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.5 NEAR ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 2.5 NEVADA
MAP 4.1 KAMCHATKA PENINSULA, RUSSIA
MAP 3.7 NORTHERN ALASKA
MAP 5.4 HOKKAIDO, JAPAN REGION
MAP 3.7 VIRGIN ISLANDS REGION
MAP 3.7 ISLAND OF HAWAII, HAWAII
MAP 2.6 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.7 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 4.1 SOUTHERN IRAN
MAP 2.7 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 3.9 OFF THE COAST OF OREGON
MAP 4.9 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 5.6 ATACAMA, CHILE
MAP 5.0 MASBATE REGION, PHILIPPINES
MAP 5.0 MASBATE REGION, PHILIPPINES
MAP 3.3 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 2.6 MAUI REGION, HAWAII
MAP 5.0 VANUATU REGION
MAP 5.4 VANUATU REGION
MAP 4.8 OFFSHORE COQUIMBO, CHILE
MAP 3.1 SOUTH OF ALASKA
MAP 4.9 NEAR THE SOUTH COAST OF MYANMAR
MAP 4.5 SOUTHERN IRAN
MAP 4.5 SOUTHERN IRAN
MAP 5.1 SHIKOKU, JAPAN

STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES

LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

Storms, wind cause damage in 4 states By TOM COYNE, Associated Press Writer APR 27,07

LAPORTE, Ind. - Storms packing winds strong enough to toss a police cruiser over a fence spawned apparent tornadoes that leveled houses and downed power lines in several states. The storms buffeted parts of Indiana, Tennessee, Illinois and Ohio on Thursday. Tornadoes apparently touched down in Tennessee and Illinois, officials in those states said.Debris injured at least seven people in the northeastern Tennessee town of New Tazewell. At least six homes were destroyed, and as many as 400 homes about one in every five homes in Claiborne County lost power, officials said.

Jason Ellis said his family fled their mobile home when the wind started rocking it back and forth.It felt like the top of the house was fixing to come off. I just didn't want to chance it, he said.By Friday morning, electricity was restored to all but about two dozen homes, and roads had already been cleared of fallen limbs, said David Breeding, the county's deputy emergency management director.

About 100 miles to the southwest, a tornado touched down outside Crossville, Tenn., damaging buildings and peeling the roof off an unoccupied trailer, authorities said. No injuries were reported there.The National Weather Service sent teams Friday to both areas to confirm tornadoes.

Authorities said they expected emergency crews would find more damaged homes and buildings on Friday.In Plainfield, Ill., a small tornado tore off parts of a nursing home's roof, flipped over a minivan and damaged several homes but no injuries were reported, authorities said.

In Indiana, a LaPorte County sheriff's department patrol car was tossed over a 3-foot-high fence, said Sheriff Mike Mollenhauer.I don't think I would have believed it unless I'd seen it, he said.In rural Brown County in southwestern Ohio, Donna Young's front porch was blown about 50 feet from her house, she said.It was a nice, railed, country covered porch, she said. The storm came from the south and just picked the porch to take out.

The Nation's Weather By WEATHER UNDERGROUND, For The Associated Press
Fri Apr 27, 5:57 AM ET

Forecasters predicted heavy rain in New England and the Mid-Atlantic, and temperatures were expected to sizzle in southern California.

A few thunderstorms were expected along the East Coast, and heavy rain was forecast for parts of New England and the Mid-Atlantic.Heavy rain was also expected in the eastern Carolinas.In the West, temperatures were expected to be warm, including more than 100 degrees in the deserts of Southern California. Little rain and sunny skies were expected.Temperatures in the Lower 48 states Thursday ranged from a low of 18 degrees at Berlin, N.H., to a high of 103 degrees at Death Valley, Calif.

EARTH DESTROYED WITH THE EARTH

GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

Gassy blast from prehistoric volcanoes heated Earth By Julie Steenhuysen
Thu Apr 26, 3:17 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Ancient volcanoes may have caused a dramatic warming of the Earth's atmosphere that raised sea temperatures and killed off many marine species, resulting in a planetary emergency, U.S. and European scientists said on Thursday. The discovery shows the impact of the release of large amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and may shed light on planetary changes wrought by more recent causes of global warming, the scientists reported in the journal Science.

The giant prehistoric eruptions, they believe, may have been the catalyst that pushed Greenland and northwest Europe apart to create the North Atlantic Ocean.There has been evidence in the marine record of this period of global warming, and evidence in the geologic record of the eruptions at roughly the same time, but until now there has been no direct link between the two,Robert Duncan of Oregon State University, who worked on the study, said in a statement.

Duncan and a team of international scientists said the volcanoes erupted off the coast of Greenland and in the western British Isles about 55 million years ago, spewing carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere.That triggered a 222,000-year period of warming that raised sea surface temperatures by 5 degrees Celsius (9 degrees F) in the tropics and more than 6 degrees Celsius (11 degrees F) in the Arctic and increased the acidity of the oceans.The resulting planetary emergency, as scientists have called it, wiped out 30 percent to 50 percent of the planet's deep sea creatures.We think the first volcanic eruptions began about 61 million years ago and then it took another 5 million years for the mantle to weaken, the continent to thin and the molten material to rise to the surface, Duncan said.

BIRTH OF AN OCEAN

It was like lifting a lid. The plate came apart and gave birth to the North Atlantic Ocean.Scientists made the link between the volcanoes and the warming period, known as the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum, by matching layers of ash in east Greenland with those in marine sediments in the Atlantic Ocean.They think greenhouse gases from lava flows and the heating of organic-rich sediments along the eastern edge of Greenland caused the global warming and changes in ocean chemistry.While these volcanic eruptions caused warming of the atmosphere, they are extremely rare, scientists said.Some more recent volcanoes, such as the eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia, actually cooled the Earth by adding more sulfate aerosols to the upper atmosphere, which reflected sunlight back into space, Dr. Ellie Highwood, senior lecturer in climate physics at the University of Reading in Britain, said in a statement.The type of volcano eruption described here has not been seen over the past 1,000 years, and therefore volcanoes are unlikely to have contributed significantly to recent climate change, Highwood said.

POWER OUTAGE

REVELATION 16:10-11
10 And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain,
11 And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.

THE EU IN THE FUTURE WILL HAVE A BLACKOUT LIKE THIS ONE TODAY.

Nationwide blackout strikes Colombia By JOSHUA GOODMAN, Associated Press Writer
Fri Apr 27, 7:36 PM ET

BOGOTA, Colombia - Colombia's electrical grid collapsed Thursday, causing a nationwide blackout that briefly halted stock trading, trapped people in elevators and left authorities struggling to determine the cause. By midday, power was slowly being restored to homes and companies, and the north of the capital home to many company headquarters was back to normal.President Alvaro Uribe told journalists in the southern city of Cali that the blackout, which began at midmorning, appears to have affected the entire country.Luis Alarcon, manager of state-controlled electricity distributor ISA, issued a statement that the power outage apparently began with an undetermined technical glitch at a substation in Bogota and quickly spread to the rest of the country.Authorities said that 10 people were trapped in elevators during the outage.

He said work crews had re-established power to about 20 percent of the country and hoped to reconnect the rest in a few hours.Bogota's stock exchange resumed trading around noon as power returned.

It said trading would be extended for an hour to make up for the suspension. RCN television reported that power had returned to central Bogota, and to parts of the city's northern districts, where many companies have their headquarters.Rosa Ortiz, who runs a cigarette stand at a busy intersection in Bogota, said that with traffic lights knocked out, we've seen a few near accidents, but so far the drivers seem to be adapting to the situation.There was no indication of a terrorist attack, though leftist rebels routinely sabotage electric transmission lines as part of their four-decade old campaign to overthrow the government.Short-lived localized blackouts are a common occurrence in this South American country.

FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS

REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.

Hot, dry weather worries fire officials
Last Updated: Friday, April 27, 2007 | 10:25 AM CT - CBC News

Red River Valley residents have been basking in the warmer-than-normal spring sunshine over the past week but the dry conditions have fire officials concerned.Sunny, warm weather is forecast to remain in much of southern Manitoba for most of the weekend and into next week, sending summer-starved Manitobans to patios and parks in droves.The provincial fire service is urging Manitobans to use caution if their outdoor plans involve fire. The fire hazard is already considered high in some areas, and it could get worse if conditions remain dry.Any burning you're going to do, don't do it, said Tom Mirus, spokesman for Manitoba Conservation's fire program.

If you do burn, you need a permit, either from a rural municipality or a fire department. Be careful with simple things like cigarettes. Just be cautious the grass is there, and it's going to light up quickly.Seventeen fires have already burned in the province this year, all of them in eastern Manitoba and the Interlake and all of them human-caused.Last year at this time, 11 fires were burning.

Good for farmers, so far

Meanwhile, the lack of April showers has given farmers the opportunity to seed earlier than usual. Don Caron, a business development specialist for Manitoba Agriculture in the Starbuck area, described conditions as by no means extremely dry, but on the drier side of normal.Caron said seeding will be wrapped up in early May.It's still too early in the season to worry about the dry conditions, Caron said, but most farmers would welcome rain once seeding is completed.

DISEASES

REVELATION 6:7-8
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse:(CHLORES GREEN) and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword,(WEAPONS) and with hunger,(FAMINE) and with death,(INCURABLE DISEASES) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE).

Cancer deaths set to exceed cardiovascular disease: StatsCan
Last Updated: Friday, April 27, 2007 | 11:46 AM ET - CBC News

Cancer deaths may soon surpass deaths from cardiovascular disease, Statistics Canada said Friday in its report on mortality rates.The two diseases, combined, caused about six out of every 10 Canadian deaths in 2004, the department's health statistics division said in a report called Mortality, Summary of Causes 2004.Both causes of death have been declining over the past 25 years in terms of overall
mortality rates, but the proportion of deaths caused by cardiovascular disease has been falling while the proportion of deaths attributed to cancer has been on the rise.In 1979, cardiovascular diseases were responsible for 47 per cent of all deaths in Canada, but by 2004 this percentage had declined to 32 per cent.The opposite occurred for cancer, Canada's second main cause of death. In 1979, cancer accounted for 23 per cent of all deaths in Canada, but rose to 30 per cent by 2004.The impact of these opposing trends is that the share of deaths due to cancer may soon catch up with, and eventually surpass, the share of deaths due to cardiovascular diseases, the report said. In 2004, 66,947 people died from cancer, up 6.8 per cent from 2000.In contrast, 72,338 died from cardiovascular diseases, a 4.9 per cent decline from 2000.Between 2000 and 2004, male deaths from cardiovascular disease declined at a slightly faster rate, (-5.5 per cent) than female deaths (-4.3 per cent).Female deaths from cancer increased at a slightly faster (8.5 per cent) than male deaths (5.4 per cent) over the five-year period.By 2004, the age-standardized mortality rate for cardiovascular diseases and cancer converged at around 175 deaths for every 100,000 people.The age-standardized mortality rate adjusts for the impact of population aging on death rates.

WORLD TRAVEL AND KNOWLEDGE INCREASED

DANIEL 12:4
4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro,(WORLD TRAVEL,IMMIGRATION) and knowledge shall be
increased.(COMPUTERS MICROCHIPS ETC)

Hawking flies weightless aboard jet By MIKE SCHNEIDER, Associated Press Writer Thu Apr 26, 9:37 PM ET

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Free of his wheelchair and tethered only to heart rate and blood pressure monitors, astrophysicist Stephen Hawking on Thursday fulfilled a dream of floating weightless on a zero-gravity jet, a step he hopes leads to further space adventures. The modified jet carrying Hawking, a handful of his physicians and nurses, and dozens of others first flew up to 24,000 feet over the Atlantic Ocean off Florida. Nurses lifted Hawking and carried him to the front of the jet, where they placed him on his back atop a special foam pillow.The jet then climbed to around 32,000 feet and made a parabolic dive back to 24,000 feet, allowing Hawking and the other passengers to experience weightlessness for about 25 seconds.

Hawking, a mathematics professor at the University of Cambridge who has done groundbreaking work on black holes and the origins of the universe, has the paralyzing disease ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

The 65-year-old was the first person with a disability to experience the flight by Zero Gravity Corp., which has flown about 2,700 people out of Florida since late 2004 and began offering the flights in Las Vegas this week.As you can imagine, I'm very excited, Hawking told reporters before the flight. I have been wheelchair bound for almost four decades. The chance to float free in zero-g will be wonderful.Unable to talk or move his hands and legs, Hawking can only make tiny facial expressions using the muscles around his eyes, eyebrows, cheek and mouth. He uses a computer attached to his wheelchair to talk for him in a synthesized voice by choosing words on a computer screen through an infrared sensor on a headpiece that detects motion in his cheek.He raises an eyebrow to signal yes and tenses his mouth to the side to indicate no.

I want to demonstrate to the public that anybody can participate in this type of weightless experience, Hawking said Thursday.Hawking's personal physicians were on hand to make sure nothing went wrong. The physicist was attached to heart, blood pressure and oxygen-measuring monitors during the flight. Medical equipment sufficient for a mini-intensive care unit also was on board, said Dr. Edwin Chilvers, Hawking's personal physician.I'm anticipating everything to nothing, Chilvers said before the flight.Others on the flight included financial backers of Zero Gravity and passengers who bid a total of $150,000 toward charities to go on the flight.The jet's interior is padded to protect the weightless fliers and equipped with cameras to record their adventure. Normally, the plane conducts 10 to 15 plunges for its passengers, who pay $3,750 for the ride, although that fee was waived for Hawking.

On Hawking's flight, the jet made eight parabolic dives.

We had a wonderful time. It was incredible, far beyond our expectations, said Peter H. Diamandis, the chairman and CEO of Zero Gravity, after he exited the jet with Hawking at his side.As a further safety precaution, Zero Gravity founders Peter H. Diamandis and Byron Lichtenberg, who has flown on the space shuttle, were on either side of Hawking so they could lower him to the ground gently at the end of the parabola. Hawking also took a motion sickness pill as a precaution.

The astrophysicist hopes the zero-gravity flight is a step toward going on a suborbital flight, which may be offered by private space companies by the end of the decade.It's a test to see how well he can handle the g-forces that would be necessary in order to leave the atmosphere, said Sam Blackburn, Hawking's assistant. That is very much one of the major purposes of this flight.On the Net:
Stephen Hawking: http://www.hawking.org.uk/ Zero Gravity Corp.: http://www.gozerog.com

Iran Will Strike Israel with Thousands of Missiles if Attacked ICEJ News April 26th

Iran will attack Israel as well as US interests around the world if attacked over its disputed nuclear program, a senior official was quoted on Thursday by the official IRNA news agency as saying.

Nowhere would be safe for America with (Iran's) long-range missiles ... we can fire tens of thousands of missiles every day, said the Iranian deputy interior minister in security affairs. With long-range missiles Iran can also threaten Israel as America's ally. There is a distinct fear in the West that Iran seeks to create atomic weapons, although Tehran insists its nuclear program is aimed only at generating electricity.

FM Livni: Security Fence Promotes Future PA State
by Hana Levi Julian APR 27,07

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni met Thursday with United Nations Humanitarian Aid Representative Louis Michel to discuss the security fence being built in Judea and Samaria . The barrier appears to be a de factor border complete with passport control checkpoints constructed along with way, rather than a simple security measure. The Olmert government has claimed it is designed to increase security for Jewish communities by blocking terrorists from Palestinian Authority-controlled areas from entering pre-1967 Israel .The Foreign Minister explained to the U.N. envoy that although local Arabs often complain that the fence will hurt their chances to build a state in the area the fence actually promotes their goal. She also said Arabs are using the fence as another excuse to attack Israelis, and
pointed out that every step made by Israel is answered with violence, regardless of which security measure is taken.

No Reason for Gaza to Become a Terror Nest

Minister Livni also pointed out that there was no reason for Gaza to turn into a terror nest after Israel expelled all Jews from the region in 2005, and that the current situation in which terrorists are revered in Arab society is unacceptable and has to change.

Minister Livni echoed a speech made this week by Israels Ambassador to the United Nations, who said the PA created a prison for its own people in Gaza by turning it into a terror base and launching pad for missiles into Israel .Speaking at a meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday, Ambassador Gillerman reminded world leaders that the PAs charge that Israel has turned Gaza into a massive prison ignores the fact that Israel left every inch of Gaza nearly two years ago.Ambassador Gillerman added that Speaking of the poor Palestinians as victims is a blatant attempt to portray them as poor victims who were imprisoned for parking violations rather than bloody murderers who committed horrifying acts of murder.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Opposes the Fence

Last month, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon took a helicopter tour of the security fence in order to see for himself how and where it is built. He also inspected the route the rest of the fence will take and how it might impact the populations on both sides of the barrier. During the tour, Secretary-General Ban acknowledged that he understood Israels need for the security fence, which had been declared illegal by the United Nations World Court , despite its acceptance with reservations by Israels Supreme Court. Prior to his tour of the barrier and before a meeting scheduled for later in the day with Israeli leaders in Jerusalem however, the U.N. Secretary-General visited the PA-controlled territories in Judea and Samaria with PA officials.

While visiting the Aida community near Bethlehem , Secretary-General Ban commented that the security fence does not serve the peace process between Israel and the PA and said it should be removed.

Jews and Arabs Oppose the Wall

Both Jews and Arabs in Israel and PA territories have fought a non-stop battle against the building of the wall, sometimes in the High Court of Justice and sometimes in the field, at the construction sites themselves.Many politicians on both sides of the political spectrum have charged that the wall is being routed and erected in such a way as to become a de facto border between Israel and a future PA state that benefits no one.Jews have fought the so-called security barrier because many small communities in Judea and Samaria are being left outside the area which is supposed to protect them from terrorism.

Arab farmers have complained they have been cut off from their fields and Arab municipalities have claimed in some cases that the barrier route slices through their villages. Arabs who work in Jewish cities and other communities also say they will be unable to get to their jobs, and for those who can, it will take hours longer to get there, thus jeopardizing their employment.

Environmental Groups Also Oppose the Wall

Environmental groups have also opposed the wall, saying it will disturb and in some cases destroy the delicate ecological balance in key areas around the country. Despite pressure from residents of Judea and environmental groups, however, senior IDF officials have now also decided to push for construction of a security fence in the Judean desert.

Only a physical barrier will protect Jewish communities to the west of the fence from attack, they say. Defense Minister Amir Peretz stopped construction in the area in January, after local residents argued that the fence would harm the environment. Brigadier-General Kobi Barak, who is in charge of construction of the wall, has said he will submit a report to Peretz on the issue in the near future. Some minor changes might be made to make the fence more environmentally friendly, officials said.

Netanyahu Promises to Repay Debt to Katif Expellees
by Hillel Fendel (INN) APR 27,07

Opposition leader MK Binyamin Netanyahu, during a visit to the largest community of former Gush Katif residents, promised to repay the national debt owed to the expellees. Visiting in the pre-fab housing community of Nitzan, just north of Ashkelon, on Wednesday, ex-Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said, The country has a national and moral obligation to these people.

The State sent them to Gush Katif in the first place, and then banished them, causing very terrible suffering... This cannot go on.Netanyahu was greeted enthusiastically by many of the residents, some of whom even chanted slogans in support of his candidacy for Prime Minister when national elections are next held.The present Opposition Leader met with leaders of the former communities, as well as with Lior Kalfa, head of the Katif Residents Committee. Netanyahu was appraised of the State's treatment of the residents over the past 20 months since they were expelled from their homes. Netanyahu said he saw families living in very crowded conditions, with great uncertainty, children with psychological problems, formerly self-supporting families that have been reduced to begging for help.

As head of the opposition, Netanyahu said, I will do all that I can, together with my colleagues, to help alleviate these problems. I hope and believe that with G-d's help, the citizens of Israel will return us to national leadership, and we will then work to pay back the debt owed to these people once and for all; I personally feel obligated to this goal.It should be noted that the Katif Residents Committee, with the help of MKs Uri Ariel, Avigdor Yitzchaki, and to a lesser extent, MKs Ze'ev Elkin and Amira Dotan, attained this week over a half-billion shekels in improvements to the existing Compensation Law. Amendments include allocations for children under 4 years old, increased compensation for their destroyed homes in Katif, increased benefits for unemployed salaried workers, compensation for small business owners, and more. Netanyahu resigned in August 2005 as Foreign Minister under then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in protest of the Disengagement - but many felt that this move, coming just a week before the expulsion, was too little, too late.

Feds threaten Texas over superhighway funds plan Transportation Department opposes bills delaying NAFTA project April 27, 2007-1:00 a.m. Eastern-By Jerome R. Corsi-2007 WorldNetDaily.com

The Federal Highway Administration has threatened Texas with the loss of federal highway funds if the state continues with its legislative plan for a two-year funding moratorium on construction of the Trans-Texas Corridor. In the 4-page letter, FHWA Chief Counsel James D. Ray advises Michael Behrens, executive director of the Texas Department of Transportation, some of the pending legislative proposals, if signed into law, could affect the State’s eligibility for receiving Federal-aid highway funds.Ray praises Texas for being the nation's leader in developing new transportation facilities through public private partnerships.But the letter expresses concern that the Texas Legislature is nearing passage of a two-year moratorium blocking planned Trans-Texas Corridor toll-road projects.

We do not see the benefit of a moratorium if the State has already committed to legislation for a continuation of the program, Ray wrote, adding, If Texas looses (sic) the initiative it now has, private funds now flowing to Texas will go elsewhere.We stand ready to work with Texas officials to ensure continued compliance with all of the applicable Federal laws and regulations. We wish to make sure that Texas can continue to receive the full benefits available under the Federal-aid Highway Program, he concluded. David Stall, co-founder of the website CorridorWatch.org, alerted WND the federal agency was preparing the letter. During a Wednesday morning teleconference, James Ray, chief counsel and acting deputy director of the FHWA, reportedly told the Trans-Texas Corridor Citizens Advisory Committee that the federal agency was preparing a letter to place the Texas Department of Transportation on notice that the proposed action by the Texas Legislature would jeopardize access to federal highway funds.

The Trans-Texas Corridor Citizens Advisory Committee is a group of citizens organized by the state transportation department to offer advice on projects concerning the Trans-Texas Corridor. The federal agency did not respond to WND requests for comment, but Stall had an opinion. As you might guess, we greatly object to federal interference in state affairs and the attempt to influence public policy at the state level, Stall told WND via e-mail. Stall told WND that Ray's letter was prompted by a request from Texas Rep. Mike Krusee, Williamson County, who sent a note to the FHWA asking for an opinion specifically on HB1892, the House version of the moratorium. Krusee, a Republican, is a long-time supporter of the TTC toll-road project. In November 2006, he was re-elected with barely 50 percent of the vote in a campaign in which his TTC support was contested.

WND has reported previously that two different bills have passed the Texas House and Senate, and both are aimed at imposing a two-year moratorium on all public-private partnerships that would involve construction of new toll roads financed and operated by private foreign investment groups. The large margins by which the moratorium bills have been approved suggest the legislature has the votes to override an anticipated veto by Gov. Rick Perry.

Biblical creationist disputes latest proof for evolution
Allie Martin-OneNewsNow.com-April 26, 2007

A former evolutionist who now heads a biblical creationist ministry says the recent discovery of DNA in a dinosaur bone does not prove evolution, as many scientists have claimed. Recently, scientific journals and secular news sources reported that bits of protein taken from a dinosaur bone provided the first genetic proof that the T-Rex is a distant cousin to the modern chicken.Dr. Grady McMurtry, president of Creation Worldview Ministries, says the discovery offers proof for a young Earth. Now first of all, let's think about this. Most molecular biologists will tell you that DNA could not possibly exist for more than 10,000 years, he notes. So, since evolutionists believe DNA does not last millions of years, he says the discovery of DNA in a dinosaur bone is consistent with the biblical account of creation. Scientists who discovered the DNA are not telling the entire story, McMurtry asserts. If one really looks at the science behind what they found today, evolutionists talk about chimpanzees and humans being ... 99 percent the same genetically, he says, but what they fail to tell the public is that they're only looking at three percent of the total genome.

Evolutionists failed to report that they only used a small amount of the dinosaur DNA for comparison, that they're only looking at three percent of all the DNA, the scientist contends. And media journalists, he says, often do not check the facts, as most journalists today are not good reporters. They're not investigative reporters even though they will claim to be investigative reporters.

The fact of the matter is that for many reporters, evolution is what they were taught; this is what they believe, McMurtry asserts. So when they get something, they immediately want to accept it and number two write about it as if they had checked into it, and they haven't, he says. So these people are simply into a political agenda.According to the Bible's account in Genesis, Chapter One, dinosaurs were created on day five and day six of creation week and lived with man until the Flood of Noah, McMurtry points out. After the Flood, he says dinosaurs were at a disadvantage for survival and most dinosaur species became extinct during the next several hundred years.American Family News Network

Virginia Tech campus torn between anger, forgiveness
Some say they feel sorry for shooter April 27, 2007
BY SUE LINDSEY - ASSOCIATED PRESS

BLACKSBURG, Va. /Kelly White and her two children visited the semicircle of memorials on the Virginia Tech campus, leaving 32 pink tulips one for each victim in last week's massacre. They also placed a tulip on the stone for gunman Seung-Hui Cho.Forgiveness is part of being freed from anger, said White, a Blacksburg resident with relatives who attended the school. I try to teach my children that God loves everyone.Cho killed 32 people in the worst shooting in modern U.S. history. But there has been surprisingly little outrage directed toward him around campus. He is memorialized alongside his victims, and students preach forgiveness and talk about him like a troubled family member.Caroline Merrey, 22, jumped to safety out a classroom window in the building where Cho killed 30 people and himself. She said she was angry with Cho, but she also feels sorry for him.

I don't know how I can be feeling both of those things at the same time, but I do, she said.Campus leaders, experts and those touched by the tragedy say there are several reasons for the spirit of forgiveness. Many people are too overcome by grief to think about anything else. That Cho killed himself provided enough retribution, some say. Others say the forgiveness is rooted in the strong Christian values of the area.

A rock and a hard place

After a student organization placed the stone memorials in a semicircle last week on the main campus lawn, senior Katelynn Johnson added one for Cho. Johnson said she told almost no one about it because she feared a backlash.

She came forward after someone took it away, because she said she was outraged by the brief removal of the rock.I believe his life had value, no matter what he did, she said.After the first stone for Cho was removed, someone else placed a new one there. The appearance and disappearance of the stone reflects the community's struggle to come to terms with the massacre.Virginia Tech has not included Cho in its memorial services for the 32 victims. A bell chimed 33 times Monday on the campus lawn, but university officials said the first chime was to start the ceremony.

The university so far has had no contact with Cho's family and does not plan to award him a posthumous degree as it will the students he killed, spokesman Mark Owczarski said.The Rev. Scott Russell, an Episcopal minister at Virginia Tech, said he talked to some students who said they feel they need to acknowledge Cho's death because the family deserves compassion.

But he said many others aren't able to forgive.The lack of visible anger also may mean people have not yet reached that stage of grief, said Melissa Brymer, director of terrorism-disaster programs at the UCLA-Duke National Center for Child Traumatic Stress. It's so early on that people are worried about the injured getting healthy, keeping their spirits high, encouraging them, she said Thursday.

Guided by religion

Other mass killers have drawn more anger. For instance, those at Columbine High School were vilified after their rampage. But at Virginia Tech, religion may have guided the response.Jeff Highfield, Virginia Tech campus director for Campus Crusade for Christ, said the students he has been working with are angry and frustrated, but they're able to understand that he must have been hurting and confused in some way and made a horrible decision.The greatest evidence of the forgiveness may be the semicircle of stones. The new stone for Cho is unmarked and slightly apart. But it is adorned with flowers, candles, beads in maroon and orange and a flag.In a letter that lay on Cho's stone Thursday, Erica said she wished she could have helped him:Even though my eyes are tired of crying;Even though my campus, my home will never be the same ...I forgive you.And I love you.