Hoping Everyone's great today! -I hope you've been having a real good weekend!

Here's your news:


Travel alert issued for U.S. citizens in Europe

(CNN) -- The United States issued a general travel alert for Americans in Europe on Sunday amid concerns that al Qaeda or related groups plan attacks similar to the 2008 massacre in the Indian city of Mumbai.

"U.S. citizens should take every precaution to be aware of their surroundings and to adopt appropriate safety measures to protect themselves when traveling," the notice from the U.S. State Department said. "We continue to work closely with our European allies on the threat from international terrorism, including al Qaeda."

The advisory is not meant to tell Americans to avoid travel, but to take "common-sense precautions" in case of trouble, Undersecretary of State Patrick Kennedy told reporters Sunday.

"If they see unattended packages or hear loud noises or see something beginning to happen that they should quickly move away from them," he said. The warning urges them to be cautious in public places like tourist sites and airports or while riding public transportation, and Americans should know how to contact the U.S. Embassy and consider registering their travel plans there, he said.

In addition, thousands of U.S. troops based in Germany were placed under a curfew Friday night and were ordered not to wear their uniforms off base, according to an order obtained by CNN.

Kennedy said the State Department has issued travel alerts for Europe for "a variety of reasons" in the past, including the recent eruption of a volcano in Iceland that snarled air travel across the continent. But he said he could not recall the last time a continent-wide travel alert was issued for security reasons.

News emerged last week that U.S. intelligence officials were looking at information about a possible "Mumbai-style" attack in cities across Europe, and a British security source said Saturday that intelligence related to such a plot was being looked at very seriously on both sides of the Atlantic.

Mumbai, India's financial hub, was the site of a three-day terror attack in November 2008 that left more than 160 people dead. Ten men launched the carefully planned assault, targeting two major hotels, the historic Victoria Terminus train station and a Jewish cultural center.

Kennedy would not comment on specific intelligence sparking the report, but said it followed a "cumulative" process.

"We have been monitoring this carefully for at least several weeks," he said.

A U.S. official said Saturday that the alert was prompted by the volume of intelligence on possible terror threats, rather than any new intelligence.

At the White House, spokesman Nicholas Shapiro said President Barack Obama "has been following the threat information on a daily basis."

"From the day we became aware of this latest plot, the president made clear we need to do everything possible to disrupt this plot and protect the American people," Shapiro said. Sunday's alert "is responsive to the president's direction that we spare no effort," he said.

A senior administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity said Obama met with members of his national security team Friday night and Saturday morning and received another briefing Sunday morning. The official said European allies are "all in sync" with the United States, "both in terms of our assessment of the threat as well as our shared conviction that governments have an obligation to keep their citizens informed of terrorist threats."

Several European governments said Sunday that they are not raising their already-high alert levels as a result of the latest reports. The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Sunday that the U.S. advisory was "in line with the general recommendations that we have addressed to the French population."

"The indications provided by the U.S. authorities, in particular regarding terrorist threat in Europe are, of course analyzed, cross-referenced and where appropriate included in our national assessment of the threat, which still relies on a series of elements," the ministry said. "The terrorist threat remains high in France, the alert level remains unchanged at level red."

Britain's Foreign and Commonwealth Office changed its travel advisory for British citizens in France and Germany from a "substantial" threat of terrorism to a "high" threat, but the FCO said it does not comment on intelligence matters and thus can't specify whether the change is related to the U.S. travel alert.

Germany's interior ministry said in a statement that the warning for Americans comes in light of recent threats and that Berlin was informed by the U.S. of the decision to issue the alert. Germany will analyze and evaluate the intelligence data coming in but will not be changing its current threat level at this time, according to the statement.

Also, a spokeswoman for Spain's Interior Ministry told CNN that the country will remain at Level 2 alert, which indicates a "high, probable risk" of a terror attack. Spain has remained at this stage since January of this year.

Separately, Italian police told CNN Sunday that they have detained an Algerian national suspected of being a member of al Qaeda. No further information on the arrest was made available.

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Now 'under God' dropped from Gettysburg Address!
Barack Obama twice in recent days has dropped from a quotation from the Declaration of Independence a reference to the "Creator," and now a columnist at First Things has documented how a self-described "leading progressive legal organization" has simply dropped "under God" from the Gettysburg address.

(At this point I would normally ask..."What is this world coming too?!!"
- but we already know.)

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FAITH UNDER FIRE

You can't advertise with us – you're 'Christian'

Mere mention of bookstore's name flagged as too 'offensive, sensitive'

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Posted: October 01, 2010
9:30 pm Eastern

By Drew Zahn
© 2010 WorldNetDaily

A bookstore in Kittanning, Pa., was told its advertisement in a local restaurant's holiday menu was rejected by the ad publisher, simply because the store had the word "Christian" in its name.

Reverend Don Toy, owner of the Christian Book and Gift Store, told the Kittanning Paper that a salesman entered his store and sold him a business-sized, $135 advertisement to run in a special Christmas menu at Garda's Restaurant in nearby Ford City.

But, Toy said, the salesman returned a few hours later and told him, "''We have a problem. I contacted headquarters. Our company has rejected your ad. They told me I have to return your check. We don't take religious advertising. They are exercising the clause in the contract you signed [stating] their right to cancel with you.'"

Specifically, the clause in the contract with Brecht-Pacific Publishing, Incorporated, located in Longview, Wash., states the publisher "reserves the right to refuse, edit or omit any portion of any ad that we think is offensive, sensitive, questionable or otherwise not in good taste."

When Toy asked how his ad violated the clause, the salesman explained it was rejected because of its name.

"It has the word 'Christian' in it," the salesman reportedly said, and it might be considered "offensive" to non-Christians.

"You've got to be kidding!" Toy said. "I have heard about being politically correct, but this was beyond what I could imagine."

Toy told WND that neither the sales representative nor the restaurant owner agreed with the decision, but that the call was made at corporate headquarters.

But when word of the controversy reached those headquarters, Toy told WND, he was contacted.

"A representative called me, wanting to clarify," Toy said. "He explained that someone had misinterpreted the policy banning religious advertising to include a Christian bookstore as well. He said he regretted the error and his company would accept the ad."

The representative further explained that the company had been sued several years ago by a satanic group for rejecting its ads and accepting those from Christian churches. Since then, the company had placed a "stop sign" on any ads that were expressly religious or political.

Ken Brecht, Vice-President of BPPI, told the Kittanning Paper, "We have made a policy not to put things [in our ads] – religious, political, things where people might be bothered by us taking a side – because we have to show all sides. For that reason and because of the issue with Satan worshipping – we are a company that mostly everyone who works for us, we believe, professes to be Christian – we don't want to put Satan worshippers or Satan-worshipping insignias on menus. … That has been our policy not to offend anybody, because we certainly don't find anything about being a Christian offensive.

"A gift shop is welcome to advertise on the menu," he added, "and I apologize for what's happened and how this has taken legs. I think it could have been avoided if somebody would have called and talked to me, but I apologize. It is not what I intended. I have no problem with his book store/gift store being on the menu."

Toy, however, says that an apology and invitation to resubmit the ad wasn't enough to earn back his business.

He told WND that he explained to the representative, "That your staff would even have a problem with the name 'Christian' is a sign of what's going on in this country. For a nation founded on Judeo-Christian principles to have become so PC that someone would worry that the term 'Christian' could be offensive? It's mind-boggling."

The restaurant's owner, Chris Arco, told the Kittanning Paper he too is not satisfied.

"I am trying everything I can do to get out from that [contract]. I am very much not happy," Arco said. "I have never had to worry about an advertiser doing something like this, deeming a local Christian bookstore to not be appropriate. There is nothing wrong with that being placed on the menu."

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A pro-homosexual organization is reporting that the number of "gay" characters on television for the 2010-2011 season has reached a record high 3.9 percent.

But a prominent critic of the "gay" rights movement says the report from the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation marks nothing more than a continuation of a strategy to batter public resistance to homosexuality.

MEDIA MATTERS

'Gays' on television hit record

Expert calls flood of characters attempt to 'brainwash' public on lifestyle

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Posted: October 03, 2010
12:10 am Eastern

By Brian Fitzpatrick
© 2010 WorldNetDaily

Peter LaBarbera

A pro-homosexual organization is reporting that the number of "gay" characters on television for the 2010-2011 season has reached a record high 3.9 percent.

But a prominent critic of the "gay" rights movement says the report from the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation marks nothing more than a continuation of a strategy to batter public resistance to homosexuality.

In a new report, GLAAD notes that on broadcast TV, 23 regular characters, including five lead characters, are homosexual this season, an increase over 18 last season. An additional 14 recurring characters are homosexual.

Homosexual activists routinely vet Hollywood scripts to make sure homosexual characters are portrayed sympathetically.

"After the Ball," published in the late 1980s, lays out a strategy for persuading America to accept homosexuality, using techniques of mass marketing and emotional manipulation.

GLAAD is "the leader in changing hearts and minds to support full equality for the LGBT community," according to its website.

"Brainwashing would be a better term," said LaBarbera.

"The three main techniques in 'After the Ball' are desensitization, jamming and conversion," said LaBarbera.

"Desensitization involves flooding straights with images of homosexuals," said LaBarbera, who proceeded to quote directly from 'After the Ball:' "You can forget about trying right up front to persuade folks that homosexuality is a good thing. But if you can get them to think it's just another thing – meriting no more than a shrug of the shoulders – then your battle for legal and social rights is virtually won."

"Jamming means you make people feel guilty for opposing the homosexual agenda," said LaBarbera. "According to 'After the Ball,' you 'jam' people by portraying homosexuals as innocent victims of bigotry, to make people feel like they are oppressing gays if they oppose the political movement.

"The longterm goal is conversion, where you make people accept and even defend homosexuality," said LaBarbera. "You accomplish this by giving people images of homosexuals that belie the negative stereotypes, and remind you of people you already admire and associate with.

"Television is very effective in applying all of these techniques, because of the emotional impact that comes from its visual images," LaBarbera added. "It's their preferred medium for spreading propaganda. That's why it's so important for them to get more gay characters on TV. According to 'After the Ball,' television is their first choice because, quote, 'its breadth of audience is unparalleled,' and, quote, 'it's the most graphic and intrusive medium for our message.' 'After the Ball' says that TV, quote, 'has a way of getting to even the most resistant viewers.'

"If a Martian sat down and watched TV for a week during this new season, he would conclude that Americans worship sex, not God, that a large segment of the population is homosexual, and that our attention spans are about three seconds," said Robert Knight, senior writer for Coral Ridge Ministries and author of the newly updated book "Fighting for America's Soul."

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BREAKING NEWS ALERT

Obama administration to issue terror warning to Americans in Europe,
senior  intelligence official tells Fox News 

Obama administration issues travel alert for U.S. citizens living in or
traveling to Europe 

Bin Laden behind plot to attack Westerners in Europe,
senior U.S. intel official tells Fox News



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BLESSINGS TO ALL! -Missygirl*