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BURMA: CALLS FOR INTERNATIONAL INTERVENTION AS FEARS OF "SECOND CATASTROPHE" CONTINUE TO GROW
16th MAY, 2008: There are growing calls for international intervention in Burma as the ruling military junta continues to restrict the trickle of foreign aid coming into the country to a trickle.
The death toll from Cyclone Nargis - which cut a swathe of destruction across the Irrawaddy delta on 3rd May - has so far been confirmed at more than 43,000 although it is expected that it could go as high as 128,000. Aid agencies have warned that the death toll could be multiplied by as much as 15 should disease break out.
As many as 2.5 million people have been left destitute in the cyclone’s aftermath and there are reports that as many as 500,000 people are living in makeshift camps in the affected delta region. It’s expected that forecast monsoon conditions will only add to the deteriorating situation.
RELIEF GROUPS WARN OF A "PUBLIC HEALTH CATASTROPHE" IF AID EFFORT IS STIFLED...|
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DEATH TOLL MAY RISE ABOVE 100,000 IN THE AFTERMATH OF CYCLONE NARGIS WHILE MORE THAN A MILLION HAVE BEEN LEFT HOMELESS...|
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SEE A LIST OF ORGANISATIONS RUNNING APPEALS...|
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CHINA UPDATE - DEATH TOLL RISES TO ALMOST 15,000
15th MAY, 2008: The death toll has risen to almost 15,000 following the earthquake in China last Monday with further 26,000 still believed to be buried under rubble.
The 7.9 magnitude earthquake, the strongest earthquake to hit the country in 32 years, struck in south-western Sichuan province on Monday.
Entire towns were flattened in the earthquake and an estimated 10 million people have been affected.
The Chinese Government sent tens of thousands of soldiers the affected area along with helicopters which are being used to reach areas that have been cut off as a result of the earthquake.
- DAVID ADAMS
JAPAN: FORMER YAKUZA LEADER TURNED PASTOR SAYS ANYONE CAN START AFRESH
Tetsuo Nakajima was once a powerful leader in Japan's yakuza, the country's organised crime syndicates. But now the former gangster is a pastor who tells his compatriots that anyone can kick a life of overindulgence and turn over a new leaf.
"What matters in life is who you meet and what to believe in to live," said the Nakajima, the pastor of NAOS International Christ Church, an evangelical denomination, in Tokyo speaking to a group of mainly young people in the Japanese capital.
He started going to church in 1988 for his marriage to a Korean Christian woman and later turned to Jesus. Ten years later, he was invited with another ex-yakuza pastor, the Rev Keisuke Suzuki, to the National Prayer Breakfast with then US president, Bill Clinton.
HISASHI YUKIMOTO, of Ecumenical News International, reports...|
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ESSAY: TURKMENISTAN - WHY CAN'T ALL RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES HAVE PLACES OF WORSHIP?
Religious believers in Turkmenistan don't have freedom. We can be raided as we meet for worship, and be stopped and searched anywhere. But one of the biggest problems we face is not being able to freely maintain public places of worship. You cannot build, buy, or securely rent such property, let alone put up a notice outside saying "This is a place of worship". Officials won't give a place of worship legal status as such - I don't know why. All kinds of obstructions are imposed, whether through rules or just in practice.
Some places of worship do exist. Mosques and Russian Orthodox churches are usually reasonably visible and known as such. Within the capital Ashgabad [Ashgabat] the handful of registered non-Muslim and non-Orthodox religious communities are able to meet quietly for worship, however insecure their arrangements, though not in a formal place of worship. Other faiths - and those of us outside the capital - have it more difficult.
In an essay first published on Forum 18 News, a Turkman Protestant writes about the lack of religious freedom in the Central Asian nation of Turkmenistan... ...|
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ISRAEL: WORLD CHRISTIAN LEADERS URGE PEACE ON 60TH ANNIVERSARY
More than 140 international Christian leaders signed a joint declaration on Israel's 60th anniversary calling for a just peace between Israeli and Palestinians. The declaration was released to the media to coincide with Israel's celebration of the anniversary on 8th May.
"We urge all those working for peace and justice in Israel/Palestine to consider that any lasting solution must be built on the foundation of justice, which is rooted in the very character of God. After all, it is justice that 'will produce lasting peace and security'," they said, quoting from the prophet Isaiah (32:17) in the Bible.
The Christian leaders called on all those working for peace to commit themselves to a "courageous settlement" which would honour both peoples' "shared love for the land, and protect the individual and collective rights of Jews and Palestinians in the Holy Land."
JUDITH SUDILOVSKY, of Ecumenical News International, reports...|
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MV DOULOS: OM SHIP RETURNS TO AUSTRALIA TO SHOW "THE DAY OF MISSION IS NOT OVER"
It’s almost 10 years since OM’s mission ship, the MV Doulos, was in Australia. But later this year the ship - which, having been built two years after the Titanic, is the world’s oldest ocean-going passenger ship - will return to the land downunder in late July for a three month visit aimed at raising awareness about the work it’s involved in.
“The purpose of the visit is to raise missionary awareness among the church’s young people: to let them know that the day of mission is not over; that they don’t just have to go on three week short-term missions but they can go longer,” says Sam Scott, director of recruitment and training at OM Australia.
“We want to...preach the Gospel and raise awareness of OM throughout Australia because a lot of people have heard of the Doulos but they don’t know that the parent organisation is OM.”
DAVID ADAMS speaks to OM's Sam Scott about the mission organisation and the return of the MV Doulos to Australia later this year...|
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YOUR SAY SPECIAL: WHAT ARE YOU THANKFUL FOR?
The National Day of Thanksgiving - officially held on 10th May - represents an opportunity for all Australians to give thanks - both to God and to their fellow citizens.
Given it's followed by Mothers' Day this year, the day particularly celebrates the contribution of mothers and all those people throughout our respective communities who nurture, train, teach, mentor or care for babies, children and youth - workers and volunteers in babies and children's homes, foster carers, child care and pre-school staff , staff and volunteers working in youth shelters, school teachers and chaplains, youth workers, sporting team coaches and administrators.
So, why not tell the world what you have to be thankful for?...|
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Sight spoke to a couple of people who participated in last year's National Day of Thanksgiving... |
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SIGHT-SEEING: "NO CHILDREN ALLOWED. PETS ARE WELCOME."
My two-year-old-son, who usually receives a lot of attention here in Tokyo because of his blue eyes and blonde hair, was recently upstaged by a pet dog, dressed in a pink dress, sitting in a pram. As we stood side-by-side, my son was ignored as passers by only had eyes for the dog in the pram.
It is not uncommon for little girls to “play mothers” and dress up the family dog or cat in dolls clothes, push the pet around in a pram and treat it like a baby. But an adult man or woman doing the same thing might raise questions about their mental well-being, that is unless they live in Japan.
One of the biggest things I’ve noticed since living in Japan, is the number of pet-owners who treat their dogs as they would their own children, nurturing them with love and affection. I had seen this on a lesser scale in Australia, but in a city with more than 12 million people, everything is magnified in Tokyo. I soon became aware of the number of stores for dogs and dog owners, with merchandise ranging from the usual pet related products to designer clothes and diamond collars for the beloved pooch.
CORAL VASS takes a look at why so many Japanese are splurging on their pets...|
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OPEN BOOK: PAUL's CORINTHIAN 'CHAUVINISM'
The first 16 verses of 1 Corinthians 11 are enough to weird anybody out. That’s where Paul says husbands are the “head” of their wives, that women were made for men, that women should cover their heads in church because of angels, and so on.
This passage comes so completely out of left field that you have to laugh to keep from going nuts. So I think nowadays we just ignore it. I, at least, never see any veiled women in church. And I’ve never claimed to be the head of my wife. (Who even talks like that anyway?)
Some of my friends have become so frustrated with Paul that they wish he had kept his mouth shut. Part of it has to do with the fact that we were raised in Paul-o-centric churches: lots of theological theory, not much real-life practice.
But then we went off to college and met some professors who reintroduced us to the Gospels. That, I think, was when my friends started to get annoyed.
In the first of a four part series, MICAH TILLMAN takes a deeper look at the first 16 verses of 1 Corinithians 11...|
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NEW TO SIGHT! COMIC REVIEWS
IRON MAN KICKS GOALS - AND NOT JUST AT THE BOX OFFICE!
Ol' Shellhead's box office haul at the cinemas means that everyone now knows who he is. And that's a good thing. Of all of Marvel's ever-expanding stable of characters Tony Stark's metallic alter ego has always just slipped through the public consciousness, despite numerous cartoon adventures through the years since his 1963 debut in Tales of Suspense #39.
Thanks to director Jon Favreau's insistence on casting Robert Downey Jr and staying true to the source material, Iron Man is now cooler than he's ever been, and Marvel is wisely making the most of the spotlight. Invincible Iron Man has just been launched as his second ongoing title and director Favreau, in conjunction with artist Adi Granov - whose designs inspired the look of the movie costume, have teamed up again on this four issue mini-series. Both new series have already sold out, with second printings available next month.
KRIS BATHER finds Iron Man's graphics superb... |
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LIFESTYLE
TRENDSPOTTER: THE "GUERRILLA GARDENERS"
They come in the dead of night armed with the implements of their trade; single-minded in their effort to accomplish their illicit mission. They’re the “guerrilla gardeners”, a secret army of people working in cities around the globe to bring a touch of beauty to the lost wastelands of our modern metropolises. “In the case of guerrilla gardening, the soldiers are planters, the weapons are shovels, and the mission is to transform an abandoned lot into a thing of beauty,” writes David Tracey, Canadian-based author of the book Guerrilla Gardening: A Manualfesto. One of the earliest examples of guerilla gardening took place in Britain in the mid-1600s when groups known as the Diggers planted vegetables and crops on public land. The idea was resurrected in the UK in the 1970s and in recent years has again gained impetus
DAVID
ADAMS reports on an underground gardening trend...|
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DAVID ADAMS speaks to international aid consultant CHRIS PIPER about Zimbabwe, Afghanistan and the global food crisis... | more... |
INDIAN CHURCHES CONDEMN 'COMMERCIALISATION' OF FAITH
Indian church leaders attending a once-every-four-years meeting of the National Council of Churches in India in Shillong have spoken out against what they describe as the growing commercialisation of the Christian faith.
"Churches too are caught in the trap of seeing people primarily as individual customers, and the Christian faith becomes a product to be marketed," lamented Bishop Dinesh Kumar Sahu, general secretary of the National Council of Churches in India, a grouping of Orthodox and Protestant churches.
ANTO AKKARA reports for Ecumenical News International... | more... |
THEY SAID IT
"The authorities of the country need to open up to an international relief effort. There aren't enough boats, trucks, helicopters in the country to run the relief effort of the scale we need. It's urgent that the authorities do open themselves up."
- Richard Horsey, a spokesman for U.N. humanitarian operations, speaking in reference to the crisis in Burma in the wake of Cyclone Nargis (as quoted in The Wall Street Journal Online on12th May, 2008). For previous 'They said it'...| more...
|
DID YOU KNOW?
THE
STATISTIC
Amount the average Australian smoker spends on cigarettes in their lifetime:
About $300,000
Source: Dr Ross Philpot, Medical Journal of Australia (as reported on www.abc.net.au)... |
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• Indigenous Australians still dying younger... |
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• Amnesty calls for "veil of secrecy" to be lifted on executions... |
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• One in 25 Australians had diabetes in 2004-05, says report... |
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FORUMS THIS WEEK
SIGHTPOLL
Should Australian ban or introduce a checkout levy on plastic bags?
THE 'BIG IDEA'
Hundreds of ideas came out of the Federal Government's 2020 Summit on the weekend addressing a plethora of issues confronting Australian society. Which idea stood out to you? And what's your big idea to make Australia a better place?
NEWS - QUENTIN BRYCE AUSTRALIA'S NEXT GOVERNOR-GENERAL
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has announced Queenslander Quentin Bryce will be Australia's next governor-general. The former sex discrimination commissioner will be the first woman to hold the post in its 107 year history. What are your thoughts?
Click
here to go
to the forums to have your say...
Following are some classic sayings or pieces of advice that I have heard or that people have been kind enough to share with me.
‘A human being fully alive’ - Someone once said that the glory of God is a human being fully alive. That’s what I want to be - the man God created me to be, as fully alive as I ever can be in this current world.
NILS VON KALM'S blog on faith, life and how it all might fit together...|
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STRANGESIGHTS:
MR AND MRS HAVE LEFT THE BUILDING, SHAKESPEARE GOES 'YOOF' AND 'CREM CAM' LAUNCHED...
Children are using less formal words in their spoken language than they were 30 years ago with honorifics like Mr and Mrs no longer making the cut and mum and dad replacing mother and father.
DAVID
ADAMS writes about the odder side of life...|
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Sight's
trial podcast is now available to download online. The first of what we
hope will become a monthly feature, the podcast features discussions on
The Da Vinci Code, giving donations as presents, Wow! featuring
Switchfoot and a "live" cooking demonstration by "celebrity
chef" Jamie Crookiver.
• Grammy Award winners in the Gospel categories;
• Delirious? set to release final album with Stew Smith as drummer;
• Hillsong United to release iHeart Revolution : With Hearts As One project; and
• Newsboys win honors, ready for Rezfest... |
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YOU AT SIGHT!
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It’s almost 10 years since OM’s mission ship, the MV Doulos, was in Australia. But later this year the ship - which, having been built two years after the Titanic, is the world’s oldest ocean-going passenger ship - will return to the land downunder in late July for a three month visit aimed at raising awareness about the work it’s involved in.
The National Day of Thanksgiving - officially held on 10th May - represents an opportunity for all Australians to give thanks - both to God and to their fellow citizens. 
The first 
Ol' Shellhead's box office haul at the cinemas means that everyone now knows who he is. And that's a good thing. Of all of Marvel's ever-expanding stable of characters Tony Stark's metallic alter ego has always just slipped through the public consciousness, despite numerous cartoon adventures through the years since his 1963 debut in Tales of Suspense #39.
They come in the dead of night armed with the implements of their trade; single-minded in their effort to accomplish their illicit mission. They’re the “guerrilla gardeners”, a secret army of people working in cities around the globe to bring a touch of beauty to the lost wastelands of our modern metropolises. “In the case of guerrilla gardening, the soldiers are planters, the weapons are shovels, and the mission is to transform an abandoned lot into a thing of beauty,” writes 
