Gospel Singer Timothy Wright dies at 61

By The Associated Press

NEW YORK — The Rev. Timothy Wright, the Grammy-nominated gospel singer and composer known for his up-tempo praise songs and powerful mass choir sound, has died. He was 61.

Wright, who was seriously injured in a car crash that killed his wife and grandson, died early Thursday at the Bronx Veterans Hospital, music agent Will Bogle said.

Timothy Wright was the pastor at Grace Tabernacle Christian Center Church of God in Christ, located in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn. He released more than a dozen gospel recordings, writing many of the songs. His latest album, "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus," came out in 2007.

Article from the Atlanta Journal Consitution

Internet's power makes singing Scot a global star

Susan Boyle - Singer - Britains Got Talent 2009
Uploaded by moovieblog

Not only is this a great vocal performance, but it also provides a teachable moment for us all. The lesson is an old one: "Never judge a book by it's cover". 

Here, 47 Year old Susan Boyle wows the judges with her performance in the auditions for Britains Got Talent, singing I dreamed a dream from Les Miserables.

(The video, as of the time of this posting, now has garnered almost 15 million views. )

---------

April 16, 2009 

Internet's power makes singing Scot a global star 
By BEN McCONVILLE 
Associated Press Writer

BLACKBURN, Scotland — In a week, Susan Boyle has gone from karaoke and her local church choir to global fame and an invitation to the Oprah Winfrey show.

The frumpy 47-year-old, who says she's never been kissed, has gained celebrity fans and millions of admirers — including a fair number of men — since she wowed judges on the TV show "Britain's Got Talent."(enlarge photo) 
Susan Boyle, who's performance on the television show 'Britain's Got Talent' wowed the judges, gives the thumbs up at her home in Blackburn, Scotland, Thursday April 16, 2009. The frumpy 47-year-old, who says she's never been kissed, has gained celebrity fans and millions of admirers - including a fair number of men - since appearing on the show. Her fame has been fueled by new technology, with a clip of her performance viewed more than 12 million times on YouTube.(AP Photo/Andrew Milligan-pa) 


Her fame has been fueled by new technology, with a clip of her performance viewed more than 12 million times on YouTube.

"Susan can't help herself, she just sings whenever she can sing," said Jackie Russell, the manager of the Happy Valley Hotel in Blackburn, Scotland, where Boyle occasionally sings karaoke. "We weren't surprised by her talent, but we were surprised by the reaction around the world."

Until recently, few outside the village of Blackburn had heard of Boyle, who lives in a modest row house that she shared for years with her widowed mother, who died two years ago. In the past few days, she has appeared on TV around the world. Demi Moore is an avowed fan.

"It has been surreal for me," Boyle told The Associated Press on Thursday in Blackburn, 20 miles (30 kilometers) west of Edinburgh. "I'm going to be on 'The Oprah Winfrey Show,' CBS and other American networks

China Dumps Dollars - For Copper!

Are we seeng the beginning of the end of the dollar's dominance as the world's reserve currency? 

Article from the Telegraph (UK):

A 'Copper Standard' for the world's currency system?

Hard money enthusiasts have long watched for signs that China is switching its foreign reserves from US Treasury bonds into gold bullion. They may have been eyeing the wrong metal.

China's State Reserves Bureau (SRB) has instead been buying copper and other industrial metals over recent months on a scale that appears to go beyond the usual rebuilding of stocks for commercial reasons. 

Nobu Su, head of Taiwan's TMT group, which ships commodities to China, said Beijing is trying to extricate itself from dollar dependency as fast as it can.

"China has woken up. The West is a black hole with all this money being printed. The Chinese are buying raw materials because it is a much better way to use their $1.9 trillion of reserves. They get ten times the impact, and can cover their infrastructure for 50 years." 

"The next industrial revolution is going to be led by hybrid cars, and that needs copper. You can see the subtle way that China is moving into 30 or 40 countries with resources," he said. 

The SRB has also been accumulating aluminium, zinc, nickel, and rarer metals such as titanium, indium (thin-film technology), rhodium (catalytic converters) and praseodymium (glass). 

While it makes sense for China to take advantage of last year's commodity crash to restock cheaply, there is clearly more behind the move. "They are definitely buying metals to diversify out of US Treasuries and dollar holdings," said Jim Lennon, head of commodities at Macquarie Bank.

Full article: here

17 Socialists in the House?

Rep. Spencer Bachus, the top Republican on the Financial Services Committee, is raising hackles with his claim that there are 17 Socialists in the House of Representatives. 

My first thought upon reading the article was: "Only 17?? Congressman, you need to revise that number. I suspect it's a whole lot more than that!"

-----

From Politico.com

April 09, 2009:

Rep. Spencer Bachus, the top Republican on the Financial Services Committee, told a hometown crowd in Alabama today he believes there are several socialists in the House.

Actually, he says there are exactly 17 socialists in the House of Representatives. according to the Birmingham News:

But he said he is worried that he is being steered too far by the Congress: "Some of the men and women I work with in Congress are socialists." 

Asked to clarify his comments after the breakfast speech at the Trussville Civic Center, Bachus said 17 members of the U.S. House are socialists. 

Searching the POLITICO style book and the official U.S. House listings, we don't see a category for socialists -- just a lot of Ds and Rs next to lawmaker names. And Bachus didn't name names of the socialist 17.

Original article here. 

Bishop Weeks plots spiritual comeback

Disgraced minister Thomas Wesley Weeks is making a comeback. Personlly, I wish him the best. Hopefully he's got his act together this time. 

-------------

From the Atlanta Journal Constitution:

By D. AILEEN DODD
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Friday, April 10, 2009

A repentant reverend will belt out the Easter sermon Sunday, preaching salvation, while reflecting on the resurrection of Jesus — and his own.

Bishop Thomas W. Weeks III, the charismatic Pentecostal pastor whose whirlwind romance to national evangelist Juanita Bynum ended in violence and divorce, is on the road to redemption and restoration.
The judgmental whisperers that once populated prayer circles at the grand Global Destiny Worldwide in Duluth have long gone. Weeks now has a loyal following and a new modest church.

Weeks’ tribulations — his felony prosecution for assaulting Bynum, his eviction from his multi-million dollar church headquarters and his messy divorce — are accepted by his members as chapters in his survival story.

“None of us are perfect,” said Pamela Taylor, a member since 2006 who used to commute from Douglasville to attend services. “I have grown since I have been a part of this church. I trust the bishop. “

Weeks’ likens his plight to the Biblical figure Job, a prosperous man who was stripped of his wealth, property and good name when his faith was tested by God.

“Many thought Job went astray,” said Weeks. “They only recognized that he didn’t after God blessed him double for his trouble. I am being blessed that way… “

On Easter, Weeks is expecting a full house at 2710 Peachtree Industrial Blvd., a sanctuary converted from an old muffler repair shop. It’s 8,000 square feet, about 10 percent the size of his former church campus, but there is a marquee outside with Weeks’ name in big black letters. He calls the place “The Prophet’s House.”

Full article: here

Obama and the Coming Global Government

Joseph Farah's article on WorldNetDaily.com begs a simple question: Why is there little or no media attention being paid to Barack Obama's call for a global regime? 

Here is the quote, made in Prague on April 5th, 2009 : "All nations must come together to build a stronger, global regime. That’s why we must stand shoulder to shoulder to pressure the North Koreans to change course."

The Random House dictionary defines regime as:

1. a mode or system of rule or government: a dictatorial regime. 
2. a ruling or prevailing system. 
3. a government in power. 
4. the period during which a particular government or ruling system is in power.

Thus, in this context, the meaning is fairly straightforward -- a global regime is a global system of government. These words are as significant as President George Bush's words in 1991 calling for a New World Order.

"Now, we can see a new world coming into view – a world in which there is the very real prospect of a New World Order." 

Yet, Obama calls for a "stronger global regime", and the media is strangely silent. It just shows again that we can't wait for the media to be our watchdog. The fact is, they'll emphasize what they want to emphasize, and ignore what they want to ignore. We have to pay attention ourselves to what's going on. 

I fully expect to hear more globalist/New World Order talk in the coming years from Obama and his administration. 

Hugo Chavez in China Touts 'New World Order'

So now we have another world leader promoting the idea of a New World Order. This time, its Hugo Chavez of Venezuela.

There are some who for a long time viewed the whole "New World Order" topic as just something touted by "prophecy nuts" and conspriracy theorists. However, more and more we're seeing that the idea is one being embraced by leaders all around the world. It's only a matter of time before it comes to fruition. Indeed, the economic collapse we're seeing now is a part of the process, because in order for there to be a new world order there has to be a collapse or dismantling of the present world order, which is exactly what we're seeing now.

Dark days are ahead, but I'm reminded of Jesus's words in Luke 21:6-36.

34 “But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. 35 For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36 Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

--------------------------

APRIL 8, 2009,
Associated Press

BEIJING --Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says his two-day visit to Beijing this week is part of the creation of a "new world order."

The frequent U.S. critic told reporters that power in the world is shifting from America to countries such as Iran, Japan and China.

"We are creating a new world, a balanced world. A new world order, a multipolar world," Mr. Chavez said on arriving in China the evening before a scheduled Wednesday meeting with China's president and Communist Party leader Hu Jintao.

"The unipolar world has collapsed. The power of the U.S. empire has collapsed," he said. "Everyday, the new poles of world power are becoming stronger. Beijing, Tokyo, Tehran .. It's moving toward the East and toward the South."

Full Article here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123917904370300585.html