Smile! A new Canadian tool can re-grow teeth say inventors
Jun 28 4:45 PM US/Eastern
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Snaggle-toothed hockey players and sugar lovers may soon rejoice as Canadian scientists said they have created the first device able to re-grow teeth and bones.

The researchers at the University of Alberta in Edmonton filed patents earlier this month in the United States for the tool based on low-intensity pulsed ultrasound technology after testing it on a dozen dental patients in Canada.



"Right now, we plan to use it to fix fractured or diseased teeth, as well as asymmetric jawbones, but it may also help hockey players or children who had their tooth knocked out," Jie Chen, an engineering professor and nano-circuit design expert, told AFP.

Chen helped create the tiny ultrasound machine that gently massages gums and stimulates tooth growth from the root once inserted into a person's mouth, mounted on braces or a removable plastic crown.

The wireless device, smaller than a pea, must be activated for 20 minutes each day for four months to stimulate growth, he said.

It can also stimulate jawbone growth to fix a person's crooked smile and may eventually allow people to grow taller by stimulating bone growth, Chen said.

Tarek El-Bialy, a new member of the university's dentistry faculty, first tested the low-intensity pulsed ultrasound treatment to repair dental tissue in rabbits in the late 1990s.

His research was published in the American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics and later presented at the World Federation of Orthodontics in Paris in September 2005.

With the help of Chen and Ying Tsui, another engineering professor, the initial massive handheld device was shrunk to fit inside a person's mouth.

It is still at the prototype stage, but the trio expects to commercialize it within two years, Chen said.

The bigger version has already received approvals from American and Canadian regulatory bodies, he noted.

PX Viewing Information



PX Viewing Techniques:

This will help many who had hoped to see PX, but have had frustrating results with no sighting.

Equipment:

1. A large no. 10 welder’s lens about 5.25 inches wide, 5 dollars.

2. A small pair of binoculars that does not spread past the welders lens width, with a magnification of approximately 17, 40 dollars.

Warning do not look at the Sun without the specified no. 10 welders lens between the Sun and your binoculars or blindness may result.

Viewing Times:

Sunset, this is the time when the slight angle between the Sun PX is at its maximum.

30-10 minutes before sunset.

Frequency:

You should spend 2 to 5 minutes looking twice a week.

Setting a Base:

Look at the Sun during various time of the day initially, most will see only the Sun, let this be your base.

Lens Flares:

If you want buy 2 lens, the molecular structure of each lens is different and will not produce the same effect in both lens and for good measure hold one end and change the angle of tilt to the binoculars just to be sure.

What will I See?

For most, after some effort the view will be an unimpressive image of a faint ghost like image the size of our Sun to it’s northwest. The spacing is similar the view of the double sunset in the original Star Wars. Though a few lucky viewers will have no doubt at what they are observing.

When I see it what should I do?

A show a friend fast, because for most the image appears only for a few minutes.

What if I what to document this?

Then set up a vigil and put the time and effort into it, only by doing this will you get results, but don’t go public.

After seeing the 12th planet what should I do?

Quietly prepare your family for change, have your location, food and supplies and most of all trust in God. If your efforts are done in the name of good, you will be fine.

Saturday, June 24, 2006

Good news from Iraq: retired Iraqi general says record number of Muslims turning to Christ

By Michael Ireland
Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service

MCLEAN, VIRGINIA (ANS) -- In spite of the continuous spate of bad news coming out of Iraq, unprecedented religious freedom has finally come to Iraq because of U.S. military action there, and more Iraqi Muslims are becoming followers of Jesus Christ today than at any other time in the history of the country.

General Georges Sada

That was the message delivered by retired Iraqi General Georges Sada May 22 at a private dinner just outside of Washington, D.C., and then at McLean Bible Church in northern Virginia where Sada spoke to more than 1,000 people, according to Joel C. Rosenberg, the New York Times bestselling author of The Last Jihad, The Last Days and The Ezekiel Option, with more than one million copies in print.

As a communications strategist, Rosenberg has worked with some of the world’s most influential leaders in business, politics and media, including Steve Forbes, Rush Limbaugh, and former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

In a recent article, Rosenberg said: "Sada and I first met by phone in March when I interviewed him for EPICENTER, the non-fiction book I'm writing about the future of the Middle East. Intrigued by his remarkable personal story, I invited him to come to Washington to share his experiences and perspective with our congregation. It was an extraordinary evening."

Rosenberg says Sada described in detail how Saddam moved stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction to Syria in the summer of 2002, a story that is now being closely analyzed by the CIA, DIA and Congressional intelligence committees.

"He received an emotional ovation when he described how he refused to execute U.S. and British prisoners of war in 1991, despite direct orders by Qusay Hussein, Saddam's son. That move led to his dismissal from the military in February 1991, though -- thank God -- not to his own execution," Rosenberg writes.

Rosenberg continues; "Just as moving were the stories Sada shared about what God is doing in Iraq today. Such stories are rarely told in the American press, though the Washington Times, to their credit, covered Sada's visit, and ran an excellent front-page story http://www.washtimes.com/national/20060523-124029-4936r.htm on May 23, 2006.

The Kurds in the north of Iraq, for example, are especially receptive to the gospel message and are converting to Christianity "by the hundreds," Sada reported.

One evangelical church recently started in Kurdistan now has more than 800 people worshipping there every week, most of whom are new converts from Islam, Sada told his audience.

Rosenberg adds: "Sada told me that some 5,000 Iraqis have publicly identified themselves as new followers of Christ since Iraq was liberated, and that an estimated eight out of ten Iraqi believers say they converted because Jesus appeared to them in dreams or visions."

Rosenberg writes that in a new and very positive development, Nechirvan Barzani, the prime minister of Kurdistan Regional Government in Irbil, has vowed to protect the ancient Assyrian Christian community there as well as new believers from persecution and violence.

Sada and Dr. Terry Law, president of World Compassion, a Christian relief organization based in Oklahoma, met with Barzani in May.

"I would rather see a Muslim become a Christian than a radical Muslim," Barzani told them, an absolutely remarkable statement by a Muslim leader in a land wracked by sectarian violence,

Rosenberg says that one of the things he found most inspiring was when Sada said that Saddam Hussein's throne room in his main palace in Baghdad had been turned into an evangelical church after the war.

"Once Saddam used that room to order thousands of people to be executed, but now the name of Jesus Christ -- the King of kings and the Lord of lords -- is praised there instead. Sada also said tens of thousands of Bibles were being printed in Iraq. Thousands more are being shipped into Iraq, and Christian programming is now available to Iraqis on satellite television," Rosenberg says.

Rosenberg says Sada, a former air force fighter pilot who once served as a senior military advisor to Saddam Hussein, became the chief spokesman for Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi during the interim government, just after the war. Now he serves as a senior national security advisor to Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and has been helping redesign the new Iraqi military, along with his efforts to strengthen the Christian church in Iraq.

According to Rosenberg, Sada's recent best-selling book, Saddam's Secrets: How an Iraqi General Defied and Survived Saddam Hussein, is "an absolutely fascinating description of how Sada became a follower of Christ, rose through the ranks of the Iraqi Air Force, ended up working so closely with Saddam, and now works for peace and reconciliation in the name of Jesus."

Rosenberg concludes: "Sada concluded the evening with a heart-felt message of thanks to the American people for liberating his country and said all peace-loving people should 'kneel down and thank the [American] mothers and fathers who have sacrificed their sons and daughters for the sake of freedom in Iraq.' He asked for patience as Iraq's fledgling democracy builds a foundation and finds its way. But he also said there is far more good news in Iraq today than is being reported by the national news media."

Why is he taking such risks to share the good news? Rosenberg asked Sada. "There is an Arab proverb which says, 'Don't be a mute Satan,'" he told him. "If you know the truth, you have an obligation to tell everyone."

New Air Force rules:
No religion
Guidelines respond to concerns about pushing of Christianity

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Posted: August 31, 2005
1:00 a.m. Eastern

© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com

New religion guidelines issued by the U.S. Air Force warn commanders against promoting any particular religious faith in official capacity, at events, proceedings or sports events.

According to The New York Times, the new rules serve as a cautionary reminder to commanders to abstain even from discussing or promoting "the idea of religion over nonreligion" and even discourage the recitation of prayers at any Air Force-related events, other than worship services.

Saying the issue is thought to be a highly contentious one for many commanders, the paper quoted portions of the new guidelines, which include approval for the recitation of "a brief nonsectarian prayer" during special ceremonies like promotions, or in "extraordinary circumstances" such as "mass casualties, preparation for imminent combat and natural disasters."

The nation's military air branch developed the new guidelines following a controversy at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., in which some non-Christian students complained they were being "coerced" into faith by Christian cadets.

Lt. Gen. John Rosa, academy superintendent, commissioned a survey that found some pressure was being exerted on cadets according to their religious beliefs, and that half of the survey's respondents said they had heard religious slurs, comments or jokes while at the academy.

"Some students had a feeling that 'If I'm not a Christian, I feel like I'm having Christianity crammed down my throat,'" Rosa said.

The new guidelines, however, apply service-wide, throughout the Air Force, and not just at the service's military academy. The Times reports the new guidelines will be completed later this year when a group of Air Force generals will meet to hear recommendations from commanders and finalize the rules.

"We support free exercise of religion, but we do not push religion," Rabbi Arnold E. Resnicoff, a Navy veteran, told the paper. He said he was hired earlier this year to assist the secretary and chief of staff of the Air Force with writing the guidelines.

The new rules come on the heels of criticism of the academy by a pair of congressional Democrats, Reps. Steve Israel of New York and Lois Capps of California. The Times said both were taking a cautious approach to the new guidelines.

"It's actually a refreshing acknowledgment by the Air Force that it had real problems that needed to be corrected. It's a good step forward," Israel – a member of the House Armed Services Committee – told the paper. According to Congress.org, a legislative site, Israel's profile says he's Jewish and does not list any previous military experience.

The guidelines appear to draw a balance between the Constitution's First Amendment protection of freedom of worship with its limits on government sponsorship of a particular religion.

"Supervisors, commanders and leaders at every level bear a special responsibility to ensure their words and actions cannot reasonably be construed as either official endorsement or disapproval of the decisions of individuals to hold particular religious beliefs or to hold no religious beliefs," say the guidelines.

They also remind commanders to allow cadets the freedom to worship as they please, in terms of religious services, dress, food choices and the observance of holy days.

Resnicoff offered that some commanders may have mistaken the service's encouragement of "spiritual strength as a pillar of leadership" as a license to push their own belief in Christianity with impunity.

In Rosa's survey, one-third of non-Christian respondents said they believed Christian cadets receive preferential treatment – a perception shared by only 10 percent of Christian respondents. But more than half of the non-Christian participants indicated they had "not felt pressure to be involved in religion."

Following the August 2004 survey, the academy instituted a new training program, "Respecting the Spiritual Values of People," to teach the cadets, 90 percent of whom are from Protestant or Catholic backgrounds, tolerance toward non-Christians.

FAITH UNDER FIRE
Chaplain faces punishment for gospel message
Navy officer already subject to court-martial for 'praying in Jesus name'

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Posted: June 28, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern

By Art Moore

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© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

Lt. Gordon James Klingenschmitt
The Navy chaplain who went without food for 18 days to protest the service's prayer policy has submitted a whistleblower complaint to Sen. Hillary Clinton and other lawmakers, charging top naval officials with violating the Constitution by affirming the actions of officers who barred him from praying "in Jesus name" and quoting certain Bible passages during an optional worship service.

Lt. Gordon James Klingenschmitt's complaint to Congress was issued Monday after an admiral and top Navy lawyer capped an 18-month investigation by ruling the chaplain's superior officer, Capt. James R. Carr, had grounds for punishing him.

Military Judge Anita K. Baker, designated by Secretary of the Navy Donald C. Winter, endorsed a decision by Rear Adm. F.R. Ruehe, commander of the Navy's Mid-Atlantic region, to dismiss Klingenschmitt's original complaint as being "without merit."

Ruehe, meanwhile is convening a special court-martial against Klingenschmitt for the chaplain's participation in a March 30 event with former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore in front of the White House. The special court-martial, considered a misdemeanor court, will take place in August or September. The maximum punishment is a reprimand and a fine of up to two-thirds of his annual salary, but Klingenschmitt believes the trial will lead to a review board that could dimiss him from the Navy.

Klingenschmitt, a minister in the Evangelical Episcopal Church – which split from the liberal mainline denomination in the 1990s – says he is being punished by his superiors for praying in Jesus name, in uniform, at the event.

Now, based on Ruehe's ruling, the chaplain says the complaint against him also includes preaching the gospel at an optional service – a memorial for a sailor.

Klingenschmitt said his line-by-line explanation of Romans chapter 8 during the memorial service was the same message given to the sailor before he died from a motorcycle accident.

The sailor responded, the chaplain said, by "dedicating his life to Jesus Christ."

But after the sermon at the service, which "included references to Jesus Christ as the way of salvation," Klingenschmitt said he received complaints from Carr and others, who claimed they were offended by the "exclusive" message.

Klingenschmitt argues the Romans 8 text was approved by the command and attendance at the service was voluntary.

"I was preaching at a memorial service, honoring the Christian faith of the deceased sailor, saying he's in heaven today because of his faith in Jesus Christ," Klingenschmitt said.

The chaplain says the Navy's objection to his preaching contradicts its public statements.

"This proves that for six months senior naval officials have been lying to the public, claiming chaplains are free during optional worship to preach what their denominations preach," Klingenschmitt told WND.

A spokesman for the admiral, Lt. Com. Robert Mehal, did not respond to WND's request for comment.

Klingenschmitt contends the U.S. Code gave him the right to conduct the service according to the manner and forms of the church of which he is a member.

In the ruling, Ruehe argued:

"In all the material Lieutenant Klingenschmitt has submitted as part of this complaint … he has not submitted any document that establishes he was required by his church to preach, on that occasion, the particular message he did. Presumably, if his bishop requires him to preach all the Gospels, and he's not required to deliver that particular message on that particular occasion, he was free to choose to deliver a message at the memorial service that, while being true to his own beliefs, could also have commanded the assent of the vast majority of his audience. Nevertheless, Lieutenant Klingenschmitt chose to deliver a message he knew to be, by his own description, "exclusive."
Klingenschmitt says this is proof Ruehe affirmed Carr for punishing him because of certain Bible verses he quoted during a voluntary service.

The chaplain also points out he, in fact, submitted to Ruehe a letter from his church expressing its' "grave concern" regarding Carr's "well-documented improprieties" toward "one of our priests."

"Our agreement with the Navy, and our understanding of the Navy's agreement with us, is that when we endorse our priest to serve in the military that they will be permitted to conduct public worship according to the manner and forms of the Evangelical Episcopal Church, and provide for the free exercise of religion for service members of diverse religious traditions," wrote Emily A. Grider, the Colorado Springs-based church's registrar.

Ruehe also responded to Klingenschmitt's complaint about another incident involving the content of prayer. Each evening the chaplain says a short prayer over the ship's PA system. Klingenschmitt said Carr censored his prayers, asked him to pray a "Jewish" prayer so as not to offend a Jewish sailor.

Ruehe argued Carr "legitimately sought to ensure evening prayer had the broadest possible appeal."

The Navy, the admiral said, "must be sensitive to the requirements of the Constitution's Establishment Clause which prohibits official government endorsement of sectarian religious beliefs."

Klingenschmitt said he wants Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to overrule Navy Secretary Winter.

"I've asked for a congressional inquiry as to why the secretary of the Navy is now letting commanding officers punish chaplains for their optionally attended sermons," he said.

Not about prayer?

Navy officials have insisted over the past several months it was Klingenschmitt's attendance at the event with Roy Moore – known for his ouster from the Alabama Supreme Court after refusing to remove a Ten Commandments monument – that violated policy, not any specific prayer.

In April, Terri Davis, public affairs officer at Norfolk, Va., where Klingenschmitt is stationed, pointed out the charge involves his allegedly disobeying a "regulation or an order."

"This stems from his appearance, in uniform, at a press conference," the spokeswoman said. "This has absolutely nothing to do with him praying. This has to do with his conduct as an officer and being there in uniform."

Davis pointed out Navy regulations prohibit an officer from appearing in uniform and expressing political or personal views. Klingenschmitt counters that he did not express a political view at the press conference but simply prayed.

The chaplain points to a Feb. 21 Navy policy that states: "Religious elements for a command function, absent extraordinary circumstances, should be non-sectarian in nature."

A command function is an official Navy event outside the traditional chapel or worship-service setting. By punishing Klingenschmitt, the chaplain contends, the Navy is stretching its "command function" requirement to every public event at which a chaplain wears his or her uniform.

Klingenschmitt believes the March 30 event qualified as one appropriate for wearing his uniform since the Navy Uniform Regulation "permits a member of the naval service to wear his or her uniform, without obtaining authorization in advance, incident to attending or participating in a bona fide religious service or observance."

In April, Capt. Lloyd Pyle presented the charge to Klingenschmitt. The chaplain had a choice of accepting a letter of reprimand or insisting on his rights to a court-martial. He has chosen the latter.

Pyle's letter said Klingenschmitt violated the Navy policy by "wrongfully wearing his uniform while attending and participating in a news conference in support of personal views on political and religious issues."

The event was meant to protest against the Navy policy requiring non-sectarian prayers in all but chapel settings.

As WorldNetDaily reported, in January Klingenschmitt received a letter from his commanding officer recommending he not wear his uniform at an earlier White House event, but not prohibiting it.

"If, despite my recommendation, you choose to participate in this [White House] event in uniform, you should limit your participation, while in uniform, to the 'bona fide religious service or observance,'" stated the letter.

In January, then, the chaplain broke his 18-day hunger strike by praying at the White House in uniform, for which he received no discipline.

"They gave me prior, written permission to wear my uniform, so long as I only said prayers," Klingenschmitt explained. "And that's all I did."

Klingenschmitt said Navy personnel contacted the Washington Post Friday as a sort of pre-emptive PR move. The Post published a story about the charges against him Saturday.

The chaplain described the two White House events, saying, "On 7 January, I wore my uniform in front of the White House and I never got punished. But on 30 March, I wore my uniform in front of the White House and I got punished. At both events, all I did was say prayers."

"All I did was say prayers at a press conference," he said. "I did not make any political speeches. The Navy is characterizing the prayers themselves as political speech."

After the February Navy policy came out, Klingenschmitt filed a whistleblower complaint with Winter, which is part of the reason, he claims, the service is punishing him.