HAPPY EARTHDAY TO ALL

GROUP UNITES MUSLIMS, CHRISTIAN FOR PEACE

CWN.org - KAUSWAGAN, Philippines In the southern Philippines, the military is fighting a group of Muslim rebels. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front wants parts of the island of Mindanao declared a Muslim enclave. In the midst of the violence, a Muslim village that used to be a haven for the rebels is now sowing peace. Before the year 2000, no christian could enter Delabayan. Now, Christians and Muslims shake hands in the name of peace in the village that used to be a haven for the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. The Muslim residents hated all Christians, especially after soldiers burned down their houses in an all out war against the MILF. Read more

Young students like Jasmin Moner had to stop going to school when their families were displaced. "I saw soldiers fire their guns. Pregnant women give birth and did not have food, no water," she remembered. "What was worse is that even if we were not the enemy, Christians looked down on us. They turned away from me." Good Arises Out of Bad But something good came out of this for the residents of Delabayan. The Christian organization, Project I.S.L.A.M., acronym for I Sincerely Love All Muslims, helped the Muslim villagers rebuild their houses and their lives. Pastor Lad is Project I.S.L.A.M.'s dedicated worker in Delabayan. "Our desire is to help the Muslims, to reach out to them in love and by doing so bring reconciliation between the Christians and the Muslims," he said. War Draws Delabayan's People Closer A few months ago, nearby villages were being evacuated because of heavy fighting between the military and MILF rebels in their area. That's when a special bond between the Christians and the Muslims. "We valued our Christian brothers coming here in the tension brought about by the atrocities by the MILF telling me the Christian community are praying for us," Sultan Kamlon Moner said. "Also, the Muslims here were praying for our Christian brothers." Moner strongly believes that their children should be educated. This is why he is very grateful for the free college education that the youth in receive through Project I.S.L.A.M. Learning to Love His daughter, Jasmin was one of its scholars and is now working as a social worker in a Christian school. "This is now my passion to help the people who helped me," Jasmin said. "I realized that if Christian people can help Muslims then why can't Muslims help the Christians. I also want to show Christian children that Muslims can be their friends." Because of Jasmine's success, her brother Margani who was a MILF rebel for several years, decided to leave the renegade group and join mainstream society. He is now a scholar of Project I.S.L.A.M-- a sophomore taking up criminology. "It was in a youth camp of Project I.S.L.A.M. that I learned to forgive my Christian brothers," Margani said. "I chose this course because I want to help maintain the peace and order in our community." Through the years of sporadic fighting between Muslim rebels and Christian soldiers, the village has significantly been spared. And Project I.S.L.A.M. is a sign of hope that people, regardless of culture and religion, still long for peace.

THIS IS A GOOD NEWS FOR US ALL CHRISTIANS... source: CBN-700 CLUB

**IS CHANGE? REALLY ON THE WAY?**

Finally the moment that is been waiting by most people all over the world is over, the oath taking ceremony of the President Elect now President Barack Hussein Obama. Despite of the freezing weather millions of people come to witness the said unforgettable moment in the National Mall in Washington DC. Many people almost have teary eyed including me while I'm sitting in front of my TV. after the speech of the President. Everybody have new hope of "change" specially in our present economic condition. But what kind of CHANGE the president will bring to the country? No body knows.. We will see in the coming days. But of course we always hope for the best CHANGE. Let's support our President. **(PS. Apology for my last post, about charice pempengco, she sing during the pre-inaugural show in remembering of Martin Luther King Jr birthday celebration.)

**PRESIDENT OBAMA INAUGURATION**

Everybody are very excited in the coming inauguration on Tuesday. Everybody are looking forward for the CHANGE that the new president promised during the campaign. Many people want to witness the most awaiting moment of our new President Barack Obama and his family. But not only that, we as Filipino, we must be very proud also because our very own CHARICE PEMPENGCO are one of the millions who are invited in the said event. And she will be the one to sing "GOD BLESS AMERICA" .

**MIRACLE IN HUDSON RIVER*

We just got home after surviving the freezing weather in Chicago. My husband called my father in law in NYC. This is our regular routine, everyday we call my parents in law. Dad mentioned about the tragedy that happened on the Hudson River. We never heard about it while out on the road. So after my husband talked with his father for a bit, he hang up the phone and I ask him what it was all about? He explained to me what my Dad told him. So I browsed the whole story and they believe that one of the main reasons for the crashed plane is the number of birds which made the aircraft engines stall. From what I remember we passed the Hudson River during our civil wedding in NYC. I always ask my husband to go there for a walk. And I can't believe that it was happened. Thank God everybody is safe and there is no fatalities. Here are some pictures of

the tragedy. click HERE for the whole story.

**HUSBAND LAST GIFT TO HIS WIFE**

DANBURY, Conn. – On the day that Donald Peters died, he unknowingly provided financial security for his wife of 59 years and their family. Peters bought two Connecticut Lottery tickets at a local 7-Eleven store on Nov. 1 as part of a 20-year tradition he shared with his wife Charlotte. Later that day, the 79-year-old retired hat factory worker suffered a fatal heart attack while working in his yard in Danbury. On Friday, his widow cashed in one of the tickets: a $10 million winner which, in her grief over her husband's death, she had put aside and almost discarded before recently checking the numbers. "I'm numb," Charlotte Peters, 78, said at Connecticut Lottery headquarters in Rocky Hill. Donald Peters usually bought the tickets for 10 weeks at a stretch, so the winning ticket he bought Nov. 1 for the Dec. 2 drawing was among several that Charlotte Peters put aside as she, their three children and two grandchildren coped with his sudden death. "I was in the grocery store and I had it checked and they told me I was a winner," she said. "I had no idea how much it was." She said she thought she had won $6 million but was surprised to learn from lottery officials she'd won $10 million. Charlotte Peters has 60 days to decide whether to take a $6 million pre-tax lump sum payment or stretch the winnings into 21 yearly payments of almost $477,300 each. She does not yet know what she will do with the money. "I've always wanted a Corvette, but I don't think I'll buy one. I'll stick to a small car. I might go to Mohegan Sun," she said, referring to the casino in Connecticut. "I'm going to go home and sit and think." The Peters children think their father would have appreciated the irony. "He'd be very mad, he just passed away and she won a lot of money," said Brian Peters, one of the couple's three children. "He'd say, 'Figures!'"

**SHOES FOR PRES. BUSH?**

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – An Iraqi reporter called visiting U.S. President George W. Bush a "dog" in Arabic on Sunday and threw his shoes at him during a news conference in Baghdad. Iraqi security officers and U.S. secret service agents leapt at the man and dragged him struggling and screaming out of the room where Bush was giving a news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. The shoes missed their target about 15 feet (4.5 metres) away. One sailed over Bush's head as he stood next to Maliki and smacked into the wall behind him. Bush smiled uncomfortably and Maliki looked strained. "It doesn't bother me," Bush said, urging everyone to calm down as a ruckus broke out in the conference room. When asked about the incident shortly after, Bush made light of it. "I didn't feel the least threatened by it," he said. Other Iraqi journalists apologised on behalf of their colleague, a television journalist. Bush arrived in Baghdad earlier on Sunday on a farewell visit before he leaves office in January. The U.S.-led invasion in 2003 to topple Saddam Hussein triggered years of sectarian bloodshed and insurgency in Iraq, killing tens of thousands.

**WHERE LIFE CAN'T HIDE**

December 12,2008

-- It was a dying on a scale never seen before or since on Earth. The slaughter was everywhere; the fertile ocean and balmy supercontinent Pangea were transformed into killing fields, littered with the bodies of ancient animals. By the time the dust had settled on the Permian-Triassic mass extinction 250 million years ago, 90 percent of life on the planet had been snuffed out. Now a new theory suggests the catastrophe was set in motion 15 million years earlier, deep in the Earth. On the edge of the molten outer core, a plume of super-hot material began rising through the mantle, upsetting convection in the core and throwing the planet's magnetic field into disarray. The weakening of Earth's magnetic field exposed the surface to a shower of cosmic radiation, says Yukio Isozaki of the University of Tokyo. He believes the radiation broke nitrogen in the atmosphere into ions that acted as seeds for clouds enshrouding the planet.

"This would've caused severe cooling and a drop in sea level" as the cool temperatures allowed massive ice sheets to accumulate on the continents, Isozaki said. "If you check the rock record at that time, tropical coral reefs die first. Then you start to see fauna from mid latitudes move into the tropics. It all points to cooling." The superplume disrupted the magnetic field and put a strain on creatures living on the surface, but it was only the beginning. Five million years later it reached the surface, Isozaki said, and the hot material punched through the crust, erupting as three successive supervolcanoes.

**STORM**

CONCORD, N.H. – An ice storm knocked out power to more than a million homes and businesses in New England and upstate New York on Friday, and authorities say it could take days for all of them to get service back. The storm brought rain, freezing rain, sleet and snow through the night, and in some areas, including hard-hit New Hampshire, the miserable mix was continuing Friday. The governors of Massachusetts and New Hampshire declared states of emergency Friday morning, and schools were closed and travel disrupted across the region. New Hampshire's court system canceled all hearings and trials for the day. "I urge all New Hampshire citizens to take sensible precautions and heed all warnings from public officials," Gov. John Lynch said. Fire departments were responding to reports of transformer explosions, wires and utility poles down and trees falling on homes. Utility crews were so busy dealing with public safety hazards like live power lines that they weren't immediately able to begin restoration efforts. Utilities reported 392,000 homes and businesses without power in New Hampshire, including 300,000 served by the state's largest utility, Public Service Company of New Hampshire. The outages there far surpassed the infamous ice storm of 1998, when some residents spent more than a week in the dark. In Hampstead, N.H., Mark Cegelis, 36, said things were hectic at his neighborhood gas station, which was jammed with people trying to get gas for home generators. "It's kind of lawless out there right now. There's a lot of people very frustrated, stacking up at the gas stations. It's pretty ugly." He bought 21 gallons for himself and tried to deliver some to some friends in Derry but couldn't get there because of downed trees blocking roads. So his friends came to him instead, and were expected to hunker down until power was restored. Gov. Deval Patrick's emergency declaration in Massachusetts would enable the governor to take further steps, such as mobilizing the National Guard, if needed as the day wore on, officials said. At a midmorning news conference, Patrick said 350,000 customers across the state were without power — and the number had risen 150,000 homes in just an hour. He said it would be "ambitious" to think power would be restored by Monday. "This is not going to be a couple of hours," Patrick said. "It's likely to be several days." In eastern New York, particularly around Albany, the state capital, outages at National Grid and other utilities brought the total in the state to more than 235,000. "Trees were down on all the roads," said Miguel Figueroa, 28, as he waited for coffee at a Starbucks in Colonie, N.Y. "... I couldn't even get on the Thruway today."

**PRES. OBAMA GOOD GESTURE***

CHICAGO – President-elect Barack Obama and his wife took their daughters to work at a food bank on the day before Thanksgiving, saying they wanted to show the girls the meaning of the holiday, especially when so many people are struggling. Ten-year-old Malia and 7-year-old Sasha joined their parents to shake hands and give holiday wishes to hundreds of people who had been lined up for hours at the food bank on Chicago's south side. Sasha wore a pink stocking hat over her pigtails and Malia had on a purple striped hat as the family handed out wrapped chickens to the needy in the chilly outdoor courtyard. Those seeking food on Wednesday at St. Columbanus also received boxes with potatoes, oranges, fresh bread, peanut butter, canned goods, oatmeal, spaghetti and coffee. The president-elect, dressed casually in a leather jacket, black scarf and khaki pants, was in a jovial mood, calling out "happy thanksgiving" and telling everyone "you can call me Barack." He told reporters that he wants the girls "to learn the importance of how fortunate they are, and to make sure they're giving back." The soon-to-be first lady said the Obamas wanted to give their children "an understanding of what giving and Thanksgiving is all about." The Obama family's activities in the courtyard quickly drew the attention of schoolchildren whose windows overlooked the courtyard. They put up a sign against the glass that read: "We love our prez" and screamed when the president-elect waved to them. Obama then turned to his wife and suggested they go visit the kids. Secret Service agents, looking surprised, disappeared inside the building to accommodate his request. Minutes later, hundreds of children were brought down to the school auditorium, and Obama loped onstage as they screamed and cheered. "I just wanted to come by and wish everybody a happy Thanksgiving," he said. He then asked the children what they would be eating for Thanksgiving dinner. Turkey? Stuffing? Green beans? Sweet potato pie? SO GUYS how about you? What you have on Thanksgiving Day Dinner...