FLORIDA COULD ISSUE JESUS,CROSS NUMBER PLATES IF LAW MAKERS PASS A BILL IN THE LEGISLATURE

TALLAHASSEE -- If you want Jesus on your license plate, the Florida Senate is looking out for you.
Religious specialty plates offered by Sen. Ronda Storms, R-Valrico, and Sen. Gary Siplin, D-Orlando, made it onto a bill Friday even though many members had not seen images of those plates and none were produced for the debate.
Siplin didn't mince words when asked what his ''Trinity'' plate looks like, saying: ``It has a picture of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.''
It, along with a ''Preserving the Past'' plate offered by Siplin, would benefit the Toomey Foundation for the Natural Sciences.
Storms' ''I Believe'' plate would benefit Faith in Teaching, an Orlando company that funds faith-based programs at schools. The design features a cross over a stained-glass window.
Several members had concerns about approving plates they had not seen. And one questioned using religious symbols at all.
''The issue is whether the state of Florida ought to be producing license plates with religious images on them,'' said Sen. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton, ``and I don't believe that we should.''
Before the day was over, the Anti-Defamation League and the ACLU registered opposition, and across the hall in the House, proposals for the same plates were withdrawn from legislation.
Florida has more than 100 specialty plates with several new ones proposed this year.
Coming Monday: a push to eliminate all specialty plates within two years in favor of specialty stickers sold for use on standard Florida license plates. It's the idea of Sen. Victor Crist, R-Tampa, who said it will save the state money, generate more revenue for charities and most importantly, help ``law enforcement clearly and swiftly identify a Florida license plate.''
''What this does is it lets automobile owners have choice 1 and 2, both options, and to generate more money for the charities involved,'' Crist said. ``It's a win-win situation.''
Crist doesn't have a prototype of his idea but said there would be two spots on each plate for maybe 2-inch-square stickers, in the bottom right and left corners.
So, if you are a University of Florida graduate who loves manatees, you can support both on your tag.
But those options would come too late for Friday's debate in the Senate, where Sen. Larcenia Bullard, D-Miami, invoked the devil to make her point: ``What if someone comes next year and decides to vote on something that has the devil on it, and horns, horns on each side. I know that people are called the devil, but if the symbol of a devil is on it, I would not vote for that.''
After a not-so-simple vote (two voice votes, a voided roll call vote, two quorum calls and finally one that counted), the amendment with Siplin's tag was adopted 22-13. Storms' tag passed on a voice vote.
For his part, Siplin said FAMU has a snake on its plate and the University of Miami has an ibis, ``so I think we should have an opportunity for every citizen around the state to be able to purchase a license plate of their choice.''
Siplin wasn't bothered by the opposition, saying, ``If you don't like that particular license plate, you're not forced to buy it.''

CARBOARD VILLAGE BECOMES 'HOME' TO 200 CHRISTIAN STUDENTS

Around 200 students at a Christian university in Indiana are spending four days this week living in a cardboard village to experience and highlight the plight of the world’s homeless population.
Since Monday and until this Thursday, the scores of Taylor University students will be abstaining from technology and showers while wearing the same clothes and living on a diet of rice and beans, according to Dr. Michael Jessup, a sociology professor at the Upland, Ind., institution.
“To truly understand poverty, social injustice, and oppression is wisdom, and provides a window into the heart of God,” explained Jessup ahead of this week’s Social Justice Week ‘09.
"I want our students to realize that social justice week is not just something we do for fun, not something we add to the gospel, but a biblical mandate," he told the school’s news service. "As Christians, we are required to love justice, encourage the oppressed, demonstrate love to our neighbor, and preach the good news to the poor."
Since 2007, Taylor University has been holding its "Social Justice Week," a five-day, campus-wide experience with multiple activities designed to engage the Taylor community in the exploration of critical societal issues.
Other events scheduled for this week include nightly speakers and a poverty simulation designed to help participants grasp the challenges facing low-income families.

WATCH THIS SHOCKING VIDEO : TALIBAN GUNMEN EXECUTING A COUPLE WHOM THEY REPEATEDLY SHOT FOR THE ALLEGED CRIME OF ADULTERY : PRAY & MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Their deaths were squalid, riddled with bullets in a field near their home by Taliban gunmen as the execution was captured on a mobile telephone.
In footage which is being watched with horror by Pakistanis, the couple try to flee when they realise what is about to happen. But a gunman casually shoots the man and then the woman in the back with a burst of gunfire, leaving them bleeding in the dirt.
Moments later, when others in the execution party shout out that they are still alive, he returns to coldly finish them with a few more rounds.
Their "crime" was an alleged affair in their remote mountain village controlled by militants in an area that was only recently under the government's sway. It was the kind of barbarity that has become increasingly familiar across Pakistan as the Taliban tide has spread.
But this time, with black-turbaned gunmen almost at the gates of Islamabad, the rare footage has shown urban Pakistanis what could now await them.
Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff, has warned that Islamic extremists could take over the nation.
In the past few days the footage has circulated among Pakistanis who usually show little interest in the rough ways of the distant frontier regions.
They have now started to wake up to the fear that al-Qaeda-linked rebels from the frontier could take over their nation.
The killings happened in Hangu district, in North West Frontier Province, about two hours drive from the regional capital Peshawar. The punishment was administered by a local group of the Pakistani Taliban, the Islamic militia which has swept across the NWFP towards the capital Islamabad.
Last week, the Taliban had reached within 60 miles of Islamabad, in Buner district. Their takeover sparked panic in the West, which was already appalled by a peace deal that the government had signed this month with Taliban in adjacent the Swat valley.
In an extraordinary move, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, called on the people of Pakistan to defy their government, saying they "need to speak out forcefully against a policy that is ceding more and more territory to the insurgents".
The Taliban had agreed a withdrawal, in the last couple of days, to their stronghold of Swat. That will scarcely make the government and elite in the capital Islamabad feel much safer, as Swat is only 100 miles from them.
"The Taliban are steady and confident, the government is weak and faltering," said Pervez Hoodbhoy, a professor at Islamabad's Quaid-e-Azam University and one of Pakistan's leading intellectuals.
"A Taliban victory will enslave our women, destroy Pakistan's rich historical and cultural heritage, make education and science impossible, and make the lives of its citizens impossibly difficult. Some are already contemplating an exodus."
Pakistan today stands on a knife-edge, threatened with anarchy. The desperate deal signed with the Taliban in Swat looks set to fall apart. The result will almost certainly be violence. An army convoy heading into Swat on Saturday morning was stopped by the Taliban and forced to turn back, in a naked display of their power.
They seem to have been only emboldened by the peace agreement. Many believe that a bloody military operation now looks inevitable,
For those in areas falling under Taliban control, their harsh rule is terrifying.
An SOS text message sent out on Friday by a terrified local resident, in an area of Swat called Bahrain, says that the Taliban have established total control. Asking not be named for fear of reprisal, he said that they have set up check posts at the entrance to Bahrain, from where they kidnap those they want, including young women.
"They've even warned the local schools to close the girl classes or face dire consequences. Yet the government says its writ is in Swat."
Another Swat resident said: "Every day I see armed Taliban move around freely. At the time of prayer, if they see anyone in his shop or walking about, they whip him with a stick."
The Pakistani Taliban, a copy of the Afghan extremist movement, have long controlled the tribal area along the Afghan border, which is a sanctuary for militants, including al-Qaeda. But it is their march into the heart of the country that has horrified ordinary Pakistanis, and the wider world. And the threat comes not just from the Taliban to the west. Islamic extremists, who are not part of the Taliban, are already entrenched in Islamabad and across the Punjab, the most populous province, seemingly ready to surface when their moment comes.
Islamabad's defences are being hurriedly fortified, with paramilitary troops stationed on the Margalla Hills, which overlook the city from the West. In the capital, there are thousands of followers of the radical Red Mosque, where there are now open calls for Islamic revolution at the weekly Friday prayers.
"The Taliban will not stop at Swat. They will come towards Islamabad," said Hasan Askari Rizvi, a military analyst based in Lahore. "If the army is to take action against them, it is going to be a really bloody battle. And then civil government will be knocked out."
"Extremist groups based in Islamabad will move from within and they (Taliban) will build pressure from outside."
The footage Pakistanis have been watching shows them what they could expect.
A local journalist was invited to witness the execution, who filmed it with his mobile phone for a Pakistani channel, Dawn News. The Sunday Telegraph is showing the footage in the West for the first time.
There were no names for the two victims.
"Using the media is part of their (the Taliban's) psychological warfare," said Imtiaz Gul, chairman of Centre for Research and Security Studies, an independent think tank in Islamabad. "This way, they inject fear into the minds of people who might oppose them, keeping the majority silent."
After the couple were shot, the family were told to take their bodies away for burial. The punishment was administered by a local group of the Pakistani Taliban linked to warlord Baitullah Mehsud.

10 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT SWINE FLU : SWINE FLU IS SPREADING TO DIFFERENT COUNTRIES : PRAY & MAKE A DIFFERENCE

WASHINGTON: While there have been a number of outbreaks of the new strain of swine flu, there also have emerged a whole gamut of misinformation.
Now, scientists have elaborated exactly what one needs to know about this new epidemic.

Infectious disease expert Charles Ericsson, M.D., professor of internal medicine and director of Travel Medicine at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston, has answered some questions regarding swine flu, which are as follows:

1. How do symptoms of swine flu differ from other types of flu?

None, really, although this flu might include gastrointestinal symptoms (diarrhea and vomiting), as well as the usual respiratory symptoms. The basic symptoms for swine flu are similar to the seasonal flu we are vaccinated for each year, which may include, fever, sore throat, cough, stuffy nose, chills, headache and body aches, fatigue.

2. Is there medication for this?

Yes, Tamiflu or Relenza have shown to be effective against these recently reported strains of swine flu. Altogether, there are four anti-viral drugs that we commonly use to treat various strains of flu.

3. Is there a vaccine?

Not yet, but the CDC has this current strain of virus and will consider whether to add it to next year's flu vaccine as time goes on.

4. Can I catch it from pigs?

No. This strain is one that is communicable through human-to-human contact. It is a mutated form of a swine virus.

5. Can I catch it from eating pork?

Absolutely not! Swine flu is not transmitted by food. It is not a so-called foodborne illness. Bacon, ham and other pork products are safe to eat, assuming they are prepared properly. An internal temperature of 160 degrees for cooked meat will kill any bacteria or virus. Swine flu is transmitted by airborne droplets from an infected person's sneeze or cough; or from germs on hands, or germ-laden surfaces. Eating pork will not give you swine flu any more than eating chicken will give you bird flu.

6. How does it cross from a pig to a human?

The swine virus mutates so that it can infect humans and be spread by humans.

7. Can it kill me?

Deaths have been reported from the Mexico City outbreak. So far the cases in the US have been mild and there have been no deaths as yet. But, like seasonal flu, there is the potential for serious outcomes.

8. How is it different from avian (bird) flu?

Avian flu so far has had difficulty infecting humans unless they are exposed intensely to birds, because the virus has not mutated in a way that makes it transmissible by humans to other humans. This virus has origins genetically from both pigs and birds, and the big difference from the avian flu is that this swine virus can be transmitted readily from human to human.

9. What if I'm on a plane? Should I wear a mask?

Not necessary. The air on a plane is filtered. Transmission might occur if someone sitting close to you coughs or sneezes on you. The newer designs of aircraft airflow keep the air in a top-down flow, not forced air from front to back. However, if you do have a respiratory illness, it might be best not to travel.

10. Other than hand washing and covering my mouth if I sneeze or cough, what can I do to take care of myself and others?

If you are ill, stay home. Control your sneezes and coughs. If you cough into your hand, remember the virus could be live on your hand at least for a few minutes, so wash your hands before touching anyone else. If you get symptoms suggesting the flu, call your doctor, who can call in a prescription for medication to treat the flu. Resist going to the doctor's office or a hospital ER for influenza symptoms unless you are seriously ill. You do not want to spread the disease to others. "There is a huge difference between preparedness and paranoia. Although we're dealing with a new strain of flu, a set of universally applicable preventive measures exist that can be employed right away by everyone to help stop the spread of this disease," said Dr. Robert Emery, occupational health expert at the UT School of Public Health at Houston.

DELHI RECORDS HOTTEST APRIL IN FIFTY YEARS; PRAY & MAKE A DIFFERENCE...

NEW DELHI : The mercury on Wednesday soared upwards in the national capital, touching a fifty-year high of 43.5 degrees Celsius in the month of April, forcing most people in the city to remain indoors.

Wednesday's maximum was five degrees above normal at this time of the year. The mercury rose 1.3 degrees from Tuesday's 42.2 deg Celsius, the Met Department said. This is the first time in 50 years that the mercury soared up to touch 43.5 degree Celsius in April.

In 1958, the maximum had climbed up to 43.8 degrees Celsius in April. The all-time record for maximum temperature in this month was recorded on April 29, 1941 when the mercury touched 45.6 degrees Celsius.

The minimum was recorded at 24.4 degrees Celsius, one degree above normal, the Met Department said. The weatherman predicted no relief for residents from the scorching sun on Thursday and said the mercury is likely to remain at 43 degrees and minimum rising to 27 degrees Celsius. "There is no thunder shower activity and dry winds from deserts are blowing into the city," B P Yadav, Director of India Meteorological Department, said. The weatherman has also warned of heat wave conditions in Delhi in the coming days.