God`s World News

NOTE: The next issue of God’s
World News will be dated
January 11. Have a blessed
Christmas season!
God’s World News
December 7, 2004 Volume 20 Number 12 Grades 6-9
A Little
A
Little
Freedom
Freedom
A Little
Freedom
Echoes of oppression muffle
the voice of Ukraine.
Echoes of oppression muffle
Echoes of oppression muffle
the voice
of Ukraine.
the voice of Ukraine.
An elderly woman casts her ballot in
the Ukrainian village of Gvozdov.
Student supporters of opposition presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko protest
against election fraud during a rally in Kiev.
fishy thinking, p. 5
AP Photo
fishy thinking, p. 5
wet dig, p. 6
wet dig, p. 6
A Little Freedom
AP Photo
During
his campaign,
opposition candidate
Viktor Yushchenko was hindered by things like the sudden
loss of electricity at campaign
rallies, blocked roads, and grounded
planes. He called on voters to get
rid of the "gangsters” ruling the
country. His supporters even suspected he was the victim of poisoning when a mysterious illness hit him just before
the runoff.❖
W
hen the Soviet Union disappeared in 1991, most of the
world breathed a sigh of relief. But
there’s something that many people
may have overlooked.
The millions of communists who
ran or supported the Soviet system
did not disappear.
2
NEWS THINK
Editorial by NORM BOMER
they’ve given scant coverage to the
choosing of Ukraine’s new president.
Yasser Arafat was not the elected
leader of a nation. In fact, his
Palestine Liberation Organization
supports terrorists and suicide
bombers.
Ukraine, on the other hand, is
an entire nation of 48 million people just learning about the blessings
of freedom. For decades, they lived
in fear under cruel Soviet dictatorship.
Now that their country is open,
many Christian missionaries are at
work there. If freedom doesn’t last,
their ministry could end.
Of Greater Worth
Echoes of the Past
World news media have drawn
heavy attention to the choosing of a
replacement for the late Palestinian
leader Yasser Arafat. By comparison,
The corrupt Ukrainian presidential campaign has been a vivid
reminder that freedom is always
under attack. It cannot survive any-
God’s World News | TOP STORY | December 7, 2004
where without God’s intervention—
as well as hard work, strength, and
sacrifice. Freedom in Ukraine is
especially small and fragile.
The people of Ukraine haven’t
had much experience with freedom.
Many simply don’t trust it yet.
Under Soviet dictatorship they were
allowed to vote. But there was
always just one candidate for every
office—chosen, of course, by the
Soviet communists.
Though they are now free, many
Ukrainian voters still felt their votes
would be meaningless. They suspected the election would be rigged
by the government—just like it
always used to be.
Opposition
The head of the international
observation team said the Yanukovych victory came with “the
IN THE PHOTO | Victor Yushchenko addresses supporters protesting
the election results in Kiev’s Independence Square.Nearly a quarter of a
million protestors flooded the city.
KIEV, Ukraine—Their names look
similar. Their philosophies do not.
Viktor Yanukovych and Viktor
Yushchenko represent a contrast
even more stark than the contrast
between George W. Bush and John
Kerry. Their differences bring to
mind the differences between
oppression and freedom.
Mr. Yanukovych, Ukraine’s current prime minister, and Mr.
Yushchenko, a former prime minister, tied for the lead in Ukraine’s
October 31 presidential election.
Twenty-two minor candidates drew
enough votes to prevent either
major candidate from garnering
more than 50 percent of the total.
abuse of state resources in favor of
the prime minister” and with “overwhelming media bias in his favor.”
Canadian election monitors noted a
“shocking” number of dirty tricks.
Viktor Yushchenko vowed to
fight back for an accurate vote
count. “People’s votes cannot be
stolen,” he said. But it appeared he
was wrong.
One U.S. missionary family told
us about some of the scary tactics
used by Ukraine’s government.
They had asked us to pray for
safety during the campaign.
They also sent us two letters
from a 19-year-old Ukrainian
girl—a Christian friend of theirs.
CHATROOM
As required by law, a runoff election was held in late November.
President Leonid Kuchma, a former Soviet factory boss, had handpicked Prime Minister Yanukovych,
an ex-convict, to be his successor.
Mr. Yanukovych’s Soviet-style philosophy favors stronger ties with
Russia. He was endorsed by
Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Opposition candidate Yushchenko leans toward Western-style
democracy and closer ties with the
West.
In the initial election and the
runoff, Mr. Yanukovych was
accused of using government-controlled media, police, and courts—
as well as bribery and threats to
hijack the election. The independent Kyiv Post called him “the boss
man with the big guns” and
accused him of “corrupt and dishonest power.”
President Bush called on
President Kuchma to conduct the
runoff election “free of fraud and
manipulation.” His appeal was
seemingly in vain. Foreign election
monitors reported heavy vote rigging.
Exit polls taken by U.S. and
other foreign observers showed Mr.
Yushchenko winning by a comfortable margin. The government’s
heavily guarded Central Election
Commission, however, declared
Prime Minister
15
Yanukovych the
winner.❖
“These elections are extremely dirty
and evil,” she wrote. “Pray for
Ukraine, so that hope doesn’t die.
Please pray that God doesn’t let a
bandit become leader of Ukraine.”
erased from U.S. public life. The
percentage of Americans openly
hostile to God’s word is greater
than ever.
What will keep America’s great
freedom from becoming a twin to
Ukraine’s little freedom?
Division
The apparently phony election
victory of Prime Minster Yanukovych is a reminder to Christians
everywhere: Godless leaders can be
expected to be godless.
The recent U.S. presidential election involved more direct attacks
against the Christian faith than in
any previous election. There was
also “overwhelming media bias”
against biblical values.
Respect for God is rapidly being
LITHUANIA
BELARUS
RUSSIA
POLAND
UKRAINE
OVAKIA
UNGARY
G
ments to preserve American
freedom?
MOLDOVA
BULGARIA
Our Hope
That last question is the wrong
question. The right question begins
with “Who.”
Our hope is not in human
leaders. Our hope is in God.
Without righteousness in government, freedom fails.
Both Americans and Ukrainians
must know that.❖
■
» Why do you think American elections ■» What are some necessary requireare generally fair and accurate?
YUGOSLAVIA
ROMANIA
■
» What happens to the spread of the
gospel in countries that lose their
freedom?
Read: Proverbs 11:21 | Proverbs 14:31-34 | Proverbs 11:11 | Proverbs 16:19 | Proverbs 10:2
December 7, 2004 | TOP STORY | God’s World News
3
IN THE NEWS
A Growing
Persecution
AP Photo
IN THE PHOTO | Iraqis gather
inside a Baghdad church that was
bombed during Ramadan.
BAGHDAD, Iraq—Ramadan is sup-
posed to be a month of Islamic
worship, contemplation, and daytime fasting. This year, it was also a
month of intensified threats and
attacks against Christians.
“They say you have to cover
your hair or we will kill you,” says
Ameera Dawoud, a 30-year-old
Christian woman in the northern
city of Mosul. “I’m terrified, very
scared.”
A wave of violence against
Christians began in August with
four churches in Baghdad and one
in Mosul blown up by car bombs.
Five more Baghdad churches were
bombed at the beginning of
Ramadan in October, and more
followed.
Many Christian women began
receiving anonymous telephone
death threats and threatening notes
slipped under their doors. They
were warned to dress like devout
Muslims during Ramadan.
Since the escalation of perse-
Quick!
IN THE PHOTO | The X-43A
flashes into the history books.
LOS ANGELES, California—It is small
but mighty. Mighty fast, that is.
The 12-foot-long X-43A “scramjet” has shattered the world speed
record for a plane with an air-breathing engine. In an unmanned test
flight off the Southern California
4
AP Photo
coast, it hit better than Mach 9.6.
In drag strip language, that’s
close to 7000 miles per hour.
“We made aviation history,” says
NASA’s Hyper-X program manager
Vince Rausch. “We’ve done it right
around 10 times the speed of
sound.”
The flight was the third and last
God’s World News | TOP STORY | December 7, 2004
cution, 15,000 Christians have
fled the country. “Most of my
friends have left,” says Ameera.
And, she says, her parents have
stopped going to church for fear
of attack.
“We can’t go outside wearing any
cross anymore,” says Audet Abdal
of Baghdad. She believes Christians
are attacked because radical
Muslims “think they are punishing
America, because Americans are
Christians.”❖
of the $230-million project. The
first test in 2001 failed when the
X-43A’s booster rocket veered off
course. In March of this year, a
second X-43A reached nearly 5000
miles per hour.
The third test plane was carried
to 40,000 feet by a B-52, then
blasted up to 110,000 by a Pegasus
rocket. There it separated and
flashed across the sky on its own.
Scramjet technology requires no
heavy oxygen tanks needed for
rocket power. The lightweight
X-43A scoops outside air and rams
it into the engine. Conventional jet
engines depend on heavy steel turbines to force oxygen into their
engines.
Scramjet engines will probably
first be used in military planes.
They would, for example, enable
bombers to reach faraway targets
very quickly.❖
Friend
Defense
Boring
AP Photo
NORFOLK, Virginia—Was the Creator
of fish sinning when he ate them
and fed them to others? When
people reject him, they come up
with some worse-than-fishy
answers to that question.
PETA has done it again.
PETA, People for the Ethical
Treatment of Animals, has come
up with the claim that fishing is
cruel and eating fish is unethical.
Fish are, says PETA, intelligent
and sensitive.
“Fish are so misunderstood,”
says 24-year-old Karin Robertson,
head of PETA’s new Fish Empathy
Project. She calls them “fascinating
individuals” that are “incredibly
abused” by humans. So this
month, the animal rights group is
launching a campaign of protests
at seafood restaurants across the
country. ❖
Zurich, Switzerland, to Milan,
Italy, is gorgeous. It’s also fairly
long and slow—because the Alps
happen to be right in the way.
That is going to change.
No, the Alps are not moving.
Neither is Zurich nor Milan. But
the Swiss Transport Ministry is
moving as fast as it can—boring a
36-mile tunnel right through the
mountains. The St. Gotthard tunnel will be the longest rail tunnel
in the world.
Like Boston’s Big Dig (see page
6), Switzerland’s mega-project is
over budget and five or six years
late. It is already $2 billion past the
originally stated cost of $10.7 billion.
When finished in 2015 or 2016,
it will carry trains right under the
7500-foot-high St. Gotthard
massif, cutting travel time between
Zurich and Milan in half. It will
also reduce the glut of trucks on
AP Photo
GENEVA, Switzerland—The trip from
Swiss highways. Tunnel trains will
carry trucks as well as passengers.
A further grandiose project is
also on Swiss drawing boards.
Planners want to build a $40-million underground station halfway
between Zurich and Milan. From
there, passengers would be able to
take an elevator up through 2600
feet of solid rock to enjoy spectacular mountain views in the Surselva
Valley.
The 21-mile Loetschberg Basis
tunnel is also being dug between
Bern (the Swiss capital) and
Milan.❖
‘toons for Today
IN THE PHOTO | Karin
Robertson poses with PETA’s “fish are
friends”symbol at group headquarters in
Norfolk.With her is Bruce Friedrich,
PETA’s director of vegan outreach.
IN THE PHOTO | A Swiss
construction worker watches a tunnelboring machine deep beneath the Alps.
December 7, 2004 | TOP STORY | God’s World News
5
AP Photos
Red Ink/Muddy Water
Harbor.
Now,
however,
the Big
IN THE PHOTO | Workers clear water from the tunnel
Dig shows
after the September gusher.
signs of
drowning
BOSTON, Massachusetts—The Big
in something other than red ink.
Dig was originally supposed to
Millions of gallons of water are
cost $2.6 billion. It ended
leaking into the tunnel sysup costing $12 billion
tem.
more than that.
In September, a
Now the $14.6
wall panel in one
billion cost is
of the tunnels
going up again.
sprang an 8-inch
The last segleak. Interstate
ment of the mas93 northbound
sive tunnel project
was flooded and
finally opened less
had to be blocked
than a year ago—five
off. That created a
years late. It routes
traffic jam ten miles long.
Interstate highways under downExperts now say there are areas
town Boston and under Boston
of concrete that were done
6
God’s World News | TOP STORY | December 7, 2004
improperly. Evidence has also
been found that contractors
knew it at the time and didn’t
report it. Massachusetts Attorney
General Tom Reilly says his
office may file a lawsuit against
them.
Since the September leak,
inspectors have discovered hundreds of smaller leaks. There are
probably many more. Finding
them and fixing them could take
more than a decade.
The contractors say not to
worry, “the tunnel is structurally
sound.” Many drivers, however,
wonder if the contractors’ reassurances are structurally sound.
The leaks, says Governor Mitt
Romney, are “just one more
example of a long list of blunders.”❖
• K N O W K N E W S • A Heavy Beat
» People can auction just about
■
anything on the Web site eBay—
because people will buy just about anything.
One recent auction went too far though—
and eBay shut it down. Bidders had already
offered up to $22,000.Were they driven by
superstition or simply by uncontrollable
hunger? The item for sale was a partiallyeaten cheese sandwich that Diana Duyser had
kept on her night stand for ten years. She said
she saw a Virgin Mary shape in the bread.
» Here, Sam! Here, Ginger! Sound
■
familiar? Shhhh! You won’t want to call your
dog too loudly, if Reinaldo Santos e Silva has
his way. Mr. Silva, a member of Brazil’s congress, has introduced a bill to outlaw the use
of people names for pets. He says a kid can
get depressed when finding out that he
shares a name with an animal. Under the
proposed law, anyone giving a human name
to a pet could be fined or sentenced to community service.
» Speaking of kids and animals,
■
here’s a problem that really does exist.
Names may be harmless.Idolatry isn’t.Sacred
rhesus monkeys at a Hindu temple in Gauhati,
India, have been attacking children at the rate
of about 100 attacks a week—sometimes
drawing blood. Like other Hindu temples
across India, Kamakhya temple swarms with
about 2000 of the nasty critters.The pagan
worshipers feed and protect them as messengers of their monkey god, Hanuman.What’s
the message?
» When Palestinian leader Yasser
■
Arafat died last month, politicians and
newspaper columnists around the world profusely praised the former winner of the Nobel
Peace Prize.That says a lot about such people
and the Nobel organization too.As father of
modern terrorism,Yasser Arafat’s idea of peace
was blowing airliners out of the sky, machinegunning innocent tourists, slaughtering
Olympic athletes, bombing schools and
restaurants.He was responsible for murdering
hundreds of innocent people.Who paid him
for it? He left behind a fortune of $4 billion.
I
’ll give you 69 guesses why
Takeru Kobayashi looks so beat.
Takeru is a 24-year-old junk
food junkie from Nagano, Japan.
This picture was taken in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Takeru looks beat but not
beaten. In fact, he beat 13 other
junk food junkies in a contest just before this picture
was taken.
It was sponsored by the
Krystal fast food company.
And the winner was the
person who could eat the
most Krystal hamburgers in
eight minutes.
The 14 finalists were all pretty
good at it. They were finalists out
of 1743 people who entered the
World Hamburger Eating Contest
sponsored by Krystal.
In case you don’t know, Krystal
hamburgers are little square ones
measuring 2 1/2 inches per side.
Anyway, you already know who
AP Photo
won. And you probably
already know how many
Takeru ate.
You might imagine that it
would take a huge person to
down 69 burgers in eight minutes
(or even eight hours). But, no,
Takeru Kobayashi weighs only
130 pounds.
Well, wait a minute. Let’s see.
Two ounces times 69. Takeru
Kobayashi weighs only 138 and
2/3 pounds plus the weight of
that $10,000 first prize in his
pocket.❖
FOTOFILE
AP Photos
Will you teach us
how to do cool
tricks like your
rabbits do?
December 7, 2004 | TOP STORY | God’s World News
7
WORDBRAIN
PROFESSOR
pollywog
You may say tadpole if you want to.
But those of us who are more sophisticated in the ways of mud puddles will
use the term “pollywog.”
Please join us. Go first class. You can
wash the mud off later.
You do, of course know what a tadpole is.
That word goes clear back to the Middle
English language (about 800 years ago). It was
made from the words tadde, meaning “toad,”
and pol, meaning “head.”
The word taddepol meant simply “toad head.”
The idea was that a tadpole is a toad that has
almost nothing but a head in its larval stage. Of
course, a tadpole does have a wiggly tail too.
But it is mostly head.
The word tadpole, by the way, is also used
for a frog larva. You
really can’t tell which is
which until it becomes
an adult or you somehow get it to confess
sooner. Anyway, why am I
spending so much time on
this inferior word? I guess
it’s just to tune you up for
the great “pollywog.”
Like “tadpole,” this word also
comes from Middle English. The word polwygle
came from that same word for “head” (pol) and
from wiglen, which meant “wiggle.” Instead of
“toad head” polwygle meant “wiggle head.” You
can see why.
All that is good news. That’s because you can
use the word “pollywog” for either a toad larva
or a frog larva, since they are both wiggle heads.
Not only is it more accurate, it’s safer. You do
not have to force a confession just to find out if
you’re dealing with a toad head or a frog head. ❖
DEAR EDITOR
»
■ I do not believe what the anti-war
group says about the SOA. We should
be glad of what the military is doing
for us, because it protects us and our
rights. The metal detectors should
have been put back.
— ABIGAIL ADVINCULA
Friendswood, Texas
■
» I enjoyed “Security and Reason.” I
live in Columbus. It would be a lot
safer with the use of metal detectors.
— KALLEN BIERLY
Columbus, Georgia
■
» Thank you for “The Greatest of
These.” Abortion is just cruel murder. If a mother does not want her
baby, there are plenty of loving parents who do.
— ISAIAH NELSON
■
» I believe that the electoral college
(“Beyond the Ballot”) is not right. If
you vote for the candidate who loses
in your state, your vote will not have
really counted.
— JONATHAN MOONEN
Beaufort, South Carolina
— In any electoral system people vote
for candidates who lose.
— THE EDITOR
■
» I am glad that snowmobiling is
not banned from Yellowstone. As
long as the snowmobiles aren’t disturbing wildlife too much, it would
be wrong not to let people explore
God’s creation in their own way.
— ANNA DUGARIN
Northampton, Massachusetts
Stanley, North Carolina
We appreciate hearing from you. Send your letters to: Dear Editor, Top Story,
God’s World News, PO Box 20001, Asheville, NC 28802-8201. Send e-mail to
[email protected]. Please include the name of your hometown.
Each of these words appears in
color somewhere in this week’s
issue. Which meaning best fits
its use in the story?
1. garnering
a) acquiring b) grooming
c) soliciting
2. empathy
a) compassion b) rescue
c) promotion
3. conventional
a) outdated b) standard c) commercial
4. massif
a) cliff b) peak c) mountain cluster
5. glut
a) overabundance b) growth
c) necessity
6. grandiose
a) renowned b) expensive
c) impressive
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