Saint Peter's Square nativity scene nixes stable for Joseph's workshop
Christmas eve visitors to St. Peter's Square at the Vatican expecting to see a traditional nativity scene will be surprised to find no stable, no manger, no hay, no sheep and definitely no Elvis.
In a move Vatican officials say is meant to "reflect a return to the story of the nativity as told by Matthew," Joseph, Mary and the infant Jesus will be shown in Joseph's Nazareth carpentry workshop and not in the Bethlehem stable.
The presepe, or nativity scene, will feature three rooms, including the workshop, complete with "the typical work tools of a carpenter," a "covered patio" and the "inside of a pub with its hearth," the London Telegraph reported.
Moving the Christmas story 70 miles north from Bethlehem to Nazareth was inspired by Matthew 1:24-25 as rendered in the Catholic Bible translation:
"When Joseph woke up he did what the angel of the Lord had told him to do: he took his wife to his home; he had not had intercourse with her when she gave birth to a son; and he named him Jesus."
The King James Version of the same passage does not translate ...   more »

YAAKOV KATZ and HERB KEINON
Despite international efforts to impose sanctions on Iran, the world does not yet appreciate the gravity of the Iranian nuclear threat, and "one miss" in its assessment has the potential to alter the international community's course of action and enable Iran to turn nuclear, Maj.-Gen. Benny Gantz, the IDF's incoming military attaché to the United States, has told The Jerusalem Post.
Gantz's warning was not referring specifically to the US National Intelligence Estimate, which was released two weeks ago and claimed Iran had stopped its development of a nuclear weapon. It was, however, the first public comment on Iran by a senior member of the IDF General Staff in the wake of the report's publication.
"The world understands [Iran is a problem], since [countries] are holding talks and imposing sanctions... but I am not sure that it understands the severity of the problem and its urgency," Gantz told the Post in an exclusive interview over the weekend at his office at the Kirya General Staff Headquarters in Tel Aviv.
Iran, he said, was a threat not just for Israel but for the entire world.
"Therefore, one miss can put us in a different place and ...   more »

By Elisabeth Rosenthal
ROME: In an "unforeseen and unprecedented" shift, the world food supply is dwindling rapidly and food prices are soaring to historic levels, the top food and agriculture official of the United Nations warned Monday.
The changes created "a very serious risk that fewer people will be able to get food," particularly in the developing world, said Jacques Diouf, head of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.
The agency's food price index rose by more than 40 percent this year, compared with 9 percent the year before - a rate that was already unacceptable, he said. New figures show that the total cost of foodstuffs imported by the neediest countries rose 25 percent, to $107 million, in the last year.
At the same time, reserves of cereals are severely depleted, FAO records show. World wheat stores declined 11 percent this year, to the lowest level since 1980. That corresponds to 12 weeks of the world's total consumption - much less than the average of 18 weeks consumption in storage during the period 2000-2005. There are only 8 weeks of corn left, down from 11 weeks in the earlier period.
Prices of wheat and oilseeds are at record highs, ...   more »

By Jamie Glazov
Frontpage Interviews guest today is Jeffrey M. Epstein, the President of America’s Truth Forum. Mr. Epstein and his organization will be hosting the Exposing the Threat of Islamist Terrorism symposium on February 2, 2008 at the Ranch of the Lonesome Dove in Southlake , Texas .
FP: Jeffrey M. Epstein, welcome to Frontpage Interview.
Epstein: Thank you, Jamie. I sincerely appreciate the opportunity to discuss our mission – that is, educating America to the radical Islamist threat. Never before has our nation been infiltrated to this extent nor have we acquiesced, to this degree, in the face of such a determined and menacing enemy.
FP: Tell us about this symposium coming up. Who will be attending?
Epstein: First off, I’d like to announce that nationally-syndicated talk show host Roger Hedgecock recently joined our team and will be presenting in Dallas . Roger has a clear understanding of the subject matter, shares our concern for national security, and is looking forward to working with the other panelists.
America’s Truth Forum, in association with the Basics Project, produces conferences across the country which provide the public, as well as government agencies, with the opportunity to gather first-hand, fact-based knowledge ...   more »

State lining up to become 28th to limit unions to 1 man, 1 woman
Stacks of petitions ready for delivery to the state of Florida
More than 611,000 petition signatures have been verified by Florida's 67 counties, putting a proposed state constitutional amendment to limit marriage to one man and one woman on the 2008 election ballot.
"Today, the people of Florida have spoken. And they will speak again in November of 2008," said John Stemberger, chairman of the Florida4Marriage organization that supervised the petition effort.
"Their message will be timeless and clear – marriage is the union of one man and one woman," he said.
He said reaching the required number of petition signatures "is the next critical milestone in the effort to protect the institution of marriage in Florida. A super majority of Floridians believe, and the research clearly indicates, that children do best when raised by a mom and a dad."
In earlier elections, 27 other states have approved such amendments, many times replacing statutory language amendment supporters feared could be thrown out by a judge.  
Stemberger noted state officials confirmed that the number of verified signatures had passed the 611,009 that was required, but he ...   more »

'For all practical purposes, this is essentially a Muslim prayer room'
A Japanese garden on the campus of Normandale Community College in Minnesota
A Minnesota community college has "a Muslim place of worship" featuring "a schedule for Islam's five daily prayers," according to a local newspaper columnist who visited the campus.
Tax-supported Normandale Community College in Bloomington, Minn., also has a "sign requesting that shoes be removed" and a barrier that divides men's and women's "prayer spaces," writes Katherine Kersten of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
College officials denied it was anything more than a "meditation" room available for "all faiths."
The description of the facility, however, led one faculty member to tell Kersten the room is "unprecedented" and "goes beyond religious toleration."
"For all practical purposes, this meditation room is essentially a Muslim prayer room," said Chuck Chalberg of Normandale's history faculty.
WND has reported on "accommodations" for Muslims in public institutions, such as schools and airports, and the outrage triggered by the expenditure of public funds on a religion-specific facility.
At Normandale, Kersten reported, an "arrow informed worshippers of the direction of Mecca, and literature urged women to cover their faces."
She reported college officials converted a racquetball court into ...   more »

By Warren Smith
Oprah Winfrey will be letting out all the stops on her XM Satellite Radio program this coming year. Beginning January 1, 2008, “Oprah & Friends” will offer a year-long course on the New Age teachings of A Course in Miracles.1 A lesson a day throughout the year will completely cover the 365 lessons from the Course in Miracles “Workbook.”
For example, Lesson #29 asks you to go through your day affirming that “God is in everything I see.”2 Lesson #61 tells each person to repeat the affirmation “I am the light of the world.”3 Lesson #70 teaches the student to say and believe “My salvation comes from me.”4
By the end of the year, “Oprah & Friends” listeners will have completed all of the lessons laid out in the Course in Miracles Workbook. Those who finish the Course will have a wholly redefined spiritual mindset—a New Age worldview that includes the belief that there is no sin, no evil, no devil, and that God is “in” everyone and everything. A Course in Miracles teaches its students to rethink everything they believe about God and life. The Course Workbook bluntly states: “This is a course in mind training”5 ...   more »