Groups plan immigration law protest for Georgia Capitol

By the CNN Wire Staff

March 24, 2011 3:54 p.m. EDT

Atlanta (CNN) -- Two groups against a tough immigration law now before the Georgia legislature say thousands will show up at the state capitol in Atlanta Thursday to protest it.
"Thousands of Georgia immigrants and allies are coming together to say no more to racial profiling and no more to the dangerous and unfair targeting of immigrant communities and communities of color," said Adelina Nicholls, director of the Georgia Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (GLAHR). "It makes no sense that Governor (Nathan) Deal seems intent on supporting legislation that will bankrupt the state -- both morally and financially. We call on him to veto such misguided policy."
In addition to GLAHR, the event is being organized by the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials (GALEO). The folk duo the Indigo Girls, supporters of immigrant rights, will perform.
The bill would turn the state into a "'show me your papers' state," a statement from GALEO said. Opponents say the measure would encourage racial profiling, create second class citizens and would harm the state's economy, particularly the agricultural industry.
The proposed law, known as House Bill 87, has already cleared the Georgia House and is under consideration by the state Senate. Under the measure, Georgia companies would be required to use a federal database called E-Verify to check the documentation of current and prospective employees. That database was created by Congress as a voluntary, discretionary resource.
The bill also criminalizes the transportation of illegal immigrants and allows law enforcement officials to check the legal status of people in custody in certain situations.
The Georgia bill is similar to legislation submitted in South Carolina and Alabama, inspired by Arizona immigration measures that advocates claim will significantly curtail illegal immigration.
Arizona's law requires immigrants to carry their alien registration documents at all times and requires police to question people if there's reason to suspect they're in the United States illegally. It also targets those who hire illegal immigrant laborers or knowingly transport them.

The Obama administration filed a lawsuit to block parts of the controversial law. That prompted Gov. Jan Brewer to sue the federal government for what she called Washington's failure to secure the state's border and enforce immigration laws.

Hispanic population exceeds 50 million, firmly nation's No. 2 group

By Michael Martinez and David Ariosto, CNN

March 24, 2011 4:08 p.m. EDT

The data are expected to show that Hispanics have accounted for more than half the nation's growth since 2000.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• The Hispanic population is now 50.5 million, or 16% of the country
• The white population is 197 million, dropping to 64%
• The black population is 40 million, or nearly 13%
• The Asian population grew 43% to 14.7 million, or about 5%

(CNN) -- The growing Hispanic population in the United States has reached a new milestone, topping 50 million, or 16.3% of the nation, officially solidifying its position as the country's second-largest group, U.S. Census Bureau officials said Thursday.
"Overall, we've learned that our nation's population has become more racially and ethnically diverse over the past 10 years," said Nicholas A. Jones, chief of the bureau's racial statistics branch.
Several trends emerged from the 2010 census, according to Robert M. Groves, director of the Census Bureau, and Marc J. Perry, chief of the population distribution branch.
The country is growing at a smaller rate. Growth is concentrated in metropolitan areas and in the American West and South. The fastest-growing communities are suburbs such as Lincoln, California, outside Sacramento. And standard-bearer cities such as Boston, Baltimore and Milwaukee are no longer in the top 20 for population, replaced by upstarts such as El Paso, Texas, and Charlotte, North Carolina, the officials said.

The most significant trend, however, appeared to be the nation's new count of 50.5 million Latinos, whose massive expansion accounted for more than half of the nation's overall growth of 27.3 million people, to a new overall U.S. population of 308.7 million, officials said.
The Hispanic population grew 43% since 2000, officials said.
In stark contrast, all other populations together grew by only about 5%, officials said. The nation as a whole expanded by 9.7%.
Bureau officials declined Thursday to say how much illegal immigration has spurred growth among Latinos and other minorities, saying the sources of the growth are still being studied.
"Those are actually very excellent questions," said Roberto Ramirez, chief of the bureau's ethnicity and ancestry branch. "We are actually in the middle of the process of investigating that."
D'Vera Cohn, a senior writer at the Pew Research Center in Washington, said the birth rate, rather than immigration, is the primary driving factor in the Latino boom.
Hispanics now account for nearly one-quarter of children under the age of 18, Cohn said.
"Hispanics are a younger population, and there are just more women of a child-bearing age," she said.
Although immigration remains a major contributor to Hispanic population growth, the recent recession and high employment rates may have prompted a tapering off in the rate of foreign-born nationals seeking U.S. residence, analysts said.
Intensified border patrols may have reduced illegal immigration, but those measures "remain at the margins," said William Frey, a demographer at The Brookings Institution.
He added that America's overall undocumented immigrant population -- estimated at between 10 million and 11 million people -- may have even declined in recent years, though accurate numbers are difficult to acquire.
While Latinos are evidence of a growing voting bloc, they may not necessarily spur immigration reform in Congress, which has been paralyzed politically for years on whether to reform immigration laws or roll out additional crackdowns such as a beefed-up border patrol, said one immigrant rights advocate in Arizona.
"We hope these census numbers signal a new era of racial politics in our states, rooted not only in strong economies but also equalities for all people," said Jennifer Allen, executive director of the human rights organization Border Action Network.
Home to the busiest border crossing for illegal immigration, Arizona has been the nation's hotbed for several laws targeting illegal immigrants, including the much-publicized Senate Bill 1070 that is now being challenged on constitutional grounds in federal court because one of its controversial provisions allows racial profiling by police, critics charge.
Several states have tried to pass measures similar to Arizona's, but not with much success, Allen asserted.
The census figures may dampen further immigration crackdowns in Arizona because the new population count "demonstrates the growing importance of Latino voters throughout the state," Allen said.
As the census figures are used for congressional redistricting in states, Latino voters should not be "written off and treated as disposable constituents," she added.
The census data show that while the white population increased by 2.2 million to 196.8 million, its share of the total population dropped to 64% from 69%, officials said.
The Asian population also grew 43%, increasing from 10.2 million in 2000 to 14.7 million in 2010, officials said. Asians now account for about 5% of the nation's population.
The African-American population, which grew by about 4.3 million, is now about 40 million, or 12.6% of the population, a slight increase over 12.3% in 2000, officials said.
Persons reporting "some other race" grew by 3.7 million, to 19 million, or 5.5% of the nation, figures show.
The vast majority of Americans, 97%, reported only one race, with whites as the largest group, accounting for about seven out of 10 Americans.
The remaining 3% of the population reported multiple races, and almost all of them listed exactly two races. White and black was the leading biracial combination, figures show.
"The face of the country is changing," said Jeffrey Passel, demographer at the Pew Hispanic Center.
Demographic data had already been released for all states except New York and Maine and for the District of Columbia.
In fast-growing states where whites and blacks dominated past growth, Hispanics are now the greatest growth engine, Frey said.
The significance of the numbers to the United States is more than just an increase of an ethnicity. Research shows that along with the changing demographics, the country has become more diverse in other ways, Passel said. For instance, there is a substantial mixing of the American population through interracial marriage, he said.
Another change is the concentration of the growing populations.
Previously, the Hispanic population was concentrated in eight or nine states; it is now spread throughout the country, Passel said.
Meanwhile, most of the data released so far show decreases in the population of white children, Frey said.
Minorities will have a greater presence among future generations, he said. For example, in Nevada, 61% of children are minorities, compared with 41% of adults.
In border states like Texas, demographers say, Hispanic populations are expected to surpass non-Hispanic populations within the next decade.
"Without question, we are becoming a Hispanic state," said Texas state demographer Lloyd Potter.
"I live in San Antonio, and there you see Spanish advertisements, television shows and newspapers everywhere," he said.
In cities and towns across the region, there are Spanish-speaking restaurants, retailers and annual festivals.
"It's helpful to be able to speak a little Spanish if you're non-Hispanic," Potter said. "My neighbors don't really speak much English. While my Spanish isn't great, at least we can interact and be neighbors."
But while the labor force may absorb Spanish-only employees, an emerging debate among policy makers asks whether their children face additional challenges in English-speaking schools.
"Education attainment is the single best determinant for a whole variety of social outcomes," said Steven Camarota, director of research at the Center for Immigration Studies in Washington.
Analysts speculate that while population levels swell, comparable growth in education levels may take some time.

"In New York City, Italians once had a much higher high school dropout rate," Camarota said, noting an Italian immigration flux in the United States that spanned the years of 1890 to 1920. "It took them 60 to 70 years to lower those levels and close the socioeconomic gap."

Coalition airstrikes continue Thursday in Tripoli

Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- The coalition air effort to halt the Libyan government's attacks on civilians continued into Thursday for a sixth day, with an airstrike in the Tripoli suburb of Tajura, a government official said.
On Wednesday night, the government reported that military and civilian locations in the neighborhood of Al-Jfara and in the Tagora district of the capital had been struck by "crusading colonial" bombardment.
In response, Joint Task Force Operation Odyssey Dawn Lt. Cmdr. Jim Hoeft said in an e-mail to CNN, "It is not likely that civilians were a part of any airstrike today."
He said coalition forces "have been using all necessary measures to protect the citizens of Libya from the violence and killing inflicted upon them by Colonel Gadhafi."
An opposition activist in Tripoli accused state media of lying about civilian victims of the coalition airstrikes. For example, she said, she was accompanying a cousin to a hospital for medical care when she saw a TV producer asking some people to close their eyes and play dead and others to pretend they were wounded. Some of the "wounded," she said, were soldiers in civilian garb.

 

On Wednesday, government officials invited CNN and other journalists to visit a house in Tripoli that had been damaged in an air raid, but -- after driving around for more than half an hour -- were apparently unable to find it and so returned the journalists to their hotel. The drive revealed a city quieter than normal -- about half the stores were closed.
People appeared apprehensive, anxious. Opponents of Gadhafi were afraid to speak publicly.
In Ajdabiya, parts of the city fell to opposition forces even though Gadhafi's men, who had been pounding the area with artillery and heavy tank bombardments, retained control of the northern and western gates, opposition fighters and witnesses told CNN.
A hospital staffer and opposition fighters said nine people were killed Wednesday in fighting near the northern gate.
So far, the coalition has crippled the Libyan air force, and established a no-fly zone that spans Libya from east to west along its coastline, said U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Gerard Hueber.
Hueber, the chief of staff for U.S. operations said Wednesday that coalition planes had flown 175 sorties over Libya -- 113 of them by U.S. planes. But the coalition had no indication that Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi was complying with a United Nations mandate to stop attacks against civilians.
On Wednesday, troops loyal to Gadhafi terrorized residents of the besieged rebel-held city of Misrata.
One witness said Gadhafi's forces had attacked the city's main hospital, where 400 people -- about half of them patients -- were located. The push began at 8 p.m. (2 p.m. ET), when "heavy tanks for Gadhafi troops start attacking the hospital -- the bombs falling here 20 meters (66 feet) around us," said one person inside the hospital. He said two deaths had occurred "around the hospital."
At one point, shelling occurred without respite for 40 minutes, he said. "Now, fortunately, no more shelling, but the situation is so serious that all the teams here -- the doctors, the patients -- are paralyzed, scared."
He called for international intervention to protect the civilians inside the institution. "Nobody can work here," he said. Ambulances were not able to leave the hospital, which had lost its electricity and was using generator power, he said.
Coalition jets are using smart bombs to target mechanized forces and mobile surface-to-air missile sites and impede supply lines for their "beans and bullets," Hueber said. The targets include Libya's premier 32nd Brigade, commanded by one of Gadhafi's sons and fully engaged in the fighting.
"It's an extremely complex and difficult environment," Hueber said about going after forces in populated areas.

 

"And our primary focus is to interdict those forces before they enter the city ... cut off their lines of communication and cut off their command and control," he said. "There have been no reports of civilian casualties. Our mission here is to protect the civilian populace and we choose our targets and plan our actions with that as our top priority."

Wednesday night's outbreak of violence broke a respite that began earlier in the day with the coalition attacks -- the first calm in a week, Misrata residents reported.
"We would like to express our gratitude to the international community since there were airstrikes this morning," said Mohammed, an opposition spokesman in the city who would identify himself only by his first name.
Gadhafi's forces had been stationed on the outskirts of the city, where they were providing support and supplies to loyalists fighting rebels in Misrata proper.
Earlier in the day, grocery stores and other shops opened in the city, which is located two hours east of Tripoli and has been inaccessible to journalists.
One person inside the hospital told CNN that five more people were killed in the last 24 hours, raising the death toll to at least 95 in the last seven days. A man who died Wednesday morning was shot by a sniper, the person said.
Gen. Abdul Fatah Younis, a former interior minister who quit to lead opposition forces, said rebels have requested weapons from several nations to help the embattled city.
"Misrata is destroyed and they need weapons," Younis told CNN. "We try to send them weapons, but of course they were all light weapons. There were no heavy weapons."
Asked about the situation in Misrata, Deputy National Security Adviser for Strategic Communications Ben Rhodes said, "We're concerned about it, but I think you're actually seeing some indications that the effort of the coalition is ... focused on Misrata and is having an effect there."
The rapid advance of Libyan forces had been halted, particularly their move toward the nation's second-largest city, Benghazi, Rhodes told reporters aboard Air Force One.
Libya's elite forces are drawn from tribes loyal to Gadhafi. Though they comprise no more than 10,000 men, those forces are on the offense, Hueber said. "Those forces are fully-engaged in this conflict, that are attacking those civilian populations," he added.
Though the rebels are in a better position than they were a few days ago, the Gadhafi forces have the upper edge, a U.S. official said. They remain capable of carrying out attacks on the opposition, are relatively well-organized and continue to fight effectively, the official said.
Rhodes predicted the transition of command and control to another entity would be effected in "a matter of days." NATO will likely play a key role in the command and control, he said, adding that he would not describe the conflict as "an open-ended war, a land invasion in Libya."
The international airstrikes against Libyan military positions began over the weekend after Gadhafi defied a United Nations-mandated cease-fire in attacks against civilians. The strikes are intended to help establish a no-fly zone.
Sweden announced Wednesday it has frozen more than $1.53 billion in Libyan assets in response to EU sanctions imposed on the northern African country.
France launched the air campaign in Libya and Britain and the United States followed. Germany is not participating in the military action, though it agrees with the United Nations resolution in principle, and moved Wednesday to ensure that its ships were far removed from the Libyan campaign.
A German navy spokesman said Wednesday that all German ships previously under NATO command in the Mediterranean Sea were reassigned to operate under national command and are returning to previously scheduled port stops in Europe to await further instructions. German crew members of NATO fighter jets were also under German command.
Britain has announced an international meeting for next Tuesday to assess the situation in Libya.
The war was sparked in February by protests demanding an end to Gadhafi's nearly 42-year rule. The Libyan strongman responded with force against civilians, prompting the international community to take action.
However, a Johns Hopkins University professor said the coalition can achieve only so much through aerial strikes.
"We have to understand the limits of what air power can do," Fouad Ajami told CNN's "AC360."
"This is a recipe for a stalemate," he said.
Criticism and questions persist about the international campaign, with no clear answer on who will take over command of the mission and what the exit strategy will be.
U.S. President Barack Obama said the timetable for a transition of military leadership will be coming in days, not weeks.
NATO said Wednesday it will decide shortly what its role in the operation will be. A spokesman added the alliance is well prepared.
"This is the bread and butter of NATO," an official said.
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe has voiced his opposition to NATO taking political leadership over the Libya campaign. He suggested that a commission composed of foreign ministers from the participating states play that role.
Ajami, however, said the Arab world would welcome NATO involvement.
"They know that the calamity is unfolding in Libya, and they know that no help is going to come other than from the West and from the United States."
British Prime Minister David Cameron said Wednesday that Kuwait and Jordan have agreed to provide logistical support to the Libyan effort.
Jordanian government spokesman Taher Edwan told CNN that Jordan's role will be limited to a humanitarian one. "Jordan did not and will not have any military participation in Libya, neither in planes or on the ground at all in Libya," he said.
Qatar has already contributed planes to mission.
The United Arab Emirates said Tuesday it will participate -- but only in providing humanitarian assistance.

Toward that end, the country has sent a ship and two planes with basic relief supplies, the country's news agency said.

U.S. aviators rescued; Gadhafi remains defiant

By the CNN Wire Staff

March 22, 2011 8:37 p.m. EDT

Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- As Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi crowed, "I do not scare," the United States Tuesday got back two crew members whose F-15E fighter jet malfunctioned and said it will be able to hand over command of the coalition that has hammered loyalist military positions over four days.
Meanwhile, fighting raged in Misrata, east of the capital, where a witness claimed Gadhafi has placed snipers on the tops of buildings.
Also Tuesday, the commander of U.S. Naval forces in Europe and Africa said multinational air strikes would continue until Gadhafi complies with a United Nations mandate to stop attacking civilians.
Americans "are going to be satisfied that lives were saved" by the U.S. military action, President Barack Obama said during a visit to El Salvador. He said the timetable for a transition of military leadership will be coming in days, rather than weeks.
Gadhafi vowed Tuesday to emerge victorious in his battle with international forces seeking to impose a no-fly zone in his country and to halt his forces from attacking civilians.
"We will not give up," he said to a crowd of supporters, many of them waving green flags in a speech broadcast on state television. "They will not terrorize us. We are making fun of their rockets. The Libyans are laughing at these rockets. We will defeat them by any method."

 

He said Libyans "are leading the international war against imperialism, against despots and I tell you, I do not scare."

Gadhafi is violating the U.N. Security Council resolution by "continued aggressive actions his forces have taken against the civilian population," U.S. Navy Adm. Samuel Locklear III said.
Locklear also spoke about the U.S. F-15E Strike Eagle that had flown from Aviano air base in Italy to Libya, where the fighter experienced mechanical problems. Both the pilot and the weapons officer ejected and were rescued within hours -- one retrieved by the U.S. military, the other by anti-Gadhafi Libyans.
The aviators, who suffered minor injuries when they landed, were both out of Libya and in U.S. hands, Locklear said.
The U.S. military dispatched a pair of Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft from the amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge, about 100 miles off the coast of Libya, to rescue the downed aviators, said Capt. Richard Ulsh, spokesman for the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit.
But the two men landed in different places when they parachuted, and the U.S. rescue crew was able to pick up only the pilot. He was flown to the Kearsarge, which has extensive medical facilities.
Libyan rebels recovered the second crew member and treated him with "respect and dignity" until coalition forces were able to reach him, Locklear said.
Residents in the area, some of whom witnessed the crash, told CNN they combed farmlands to search for the two Americans. They also expressed their gratitude to coalition members for the United Nations-authorized coalition attack on Libyan air defense targets meant to protect civilians.
Locklear said he would investigate reports villagers were injured when allied forces opened fire during rescue operations.
"The recovery mission from my perspective was executed as I would have expected it to be given the circumstances," he said.
Criticism and questions persist about the Libyan campaign, with no clear answer on who will take over command of the military operation and what the endgame or exit strategy will be. But U.S. officials said the international mission has succeeded in halting Gadhafi's momentum.
Locklear told reporters that initial military strikes by the French, followed by attacks by Britain and the United States, have rendered Gadhafi's long-range air defenses and his air force largely ineffective. And the Libyan opposition's newly formed administration urged the international community to continue enforcing the U.N. charter.
"The interim national council has called on the international community to take all forceful deterrent measures, based on the U.N. charter and international covenants, to help the Libyan people put an end to further crimes against the humanity," the statement from the Transitional National Council said.

 

 Missiles rained down Tuesday and anti-aircraft fire pierced the night sky in Tripoli hours before dawn.
The Libyan government took international journalists to a port area that appeared to have been damaged by missile strikes that left craters 15 feet deep. A destroyed mobile rocket launcher system lay smoldering. Several warehouses were hit.
The United States fired 20 Tomahawk cruise missiles into Libya during a 12-hour period, said military spokeswoman Cmdr. Monica Rousselow. A total of 162 Tomahawks have been fired by the United States and Britain since the start Saturday of Operation Odyssey Dawn, which includes enforcement of a no-fly zone. The operation has included 212 U.S. and 124 sorties.
The international operation has targeted air defense sites and command centers, but Gadhafi himself has not been targeted, and there are no plans to kill the leader, said Gen. Carter Ham, the head of U.S. forces in Africa.
"I could see accomplishing the military mission, which has been assigned to me, and the current leader would remain the current leader," he said. "We think we have been very effective in degrading his ability to control his regime forces."
Ham said no Libyan aircraft have been observed flying since the military operations began Saturday. And air attacks have stopped Libyan ground forces from approaching the eastern rebel stronghold of Benghazi.
But fighting raged in Misrata, a city under siege two hours east of Tripoli.
Four children in the same family were among 13 civilians killed in Misrata fighting Tuesday, said Dr. Khaled Mansouri of Misrata Central Hospital. About 30 people were injured, he told CNN.
The death toll from the clashes between Gadhafi forces and rebels in the city stands at 90 over the last five days.
An opposition spokesman who would give only his first name, Mohamed, told CNN the situation in the city is dire and worsening by the hour as Gadhafi forces have taken control of the main street that leads from the city center to a highway that connects Misrata to Tripoli.
Loyalist snipers are on the top of buildings, he said.
The hospital is running out of medical supplies and are turning patients away, he said. "I have seen a man whose broken arm is hanging being discharged because of lack of space," said Mohamed, who said he would not divulge his full name because of concern for his safety. He said the city has been without water and electricity for nine days.
Violence has raged in Libya following protests calling for democracy and demanding an end to Gadhafi's almost 42-year rule. Protesters have been met by force from the Gadhafi regime, and numerous world leaders -- including U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon -- have denounced the killings of civilians by Gadhafi's troops.
The U.N. Security Council passed a resolution Thursday that allows member states "to take all necessary measures to protect civilians under threat of attack in the country ... while excluding a foreign occupation force of any form on any part of Libyan territory." It also imposed a no-fly zone.
Barak Barfi, a research fellow with the New America Foundation, said "it's certainly clear" that the allied coalition has stymied the onslaught of Gadhafi troops against rebels in eastern Libya.
"Before the decision in the U.N. was taken Thursday, it seemed like Gadhafi was going to overrun the opposition in a matter of days," he said.
But "it's unclear if the rebels can form under any type of organized command and move forward now that the airstrikes have taken away Gadhafi's offensive capabilities," Barfi said Tuesday. "It's unclear at this point in time who would take control after Gadhafi leaves. We know that there are really no state institutions in Libya."
A former Gadhafi aide told CNN Tuesday that the Libyan strongman would not go down easily.
Abubaker Saad said Gadhafi has several bunkers deep underground and is likely hiding in one of them.
"As you probably all have noticed that now he is giving all of his statements by phone to the Libyan television," Saad said.
Obama said that once leadership of the military mission in Libya shifts from the United States to the coalition, "it is not going to be our planes maintaining the no-fly zone" and "it is not going to be our ships that are necessarily enforcing the arms embargo."
There has been intense debate among the allies over NATO's role going forward.
The natural choice to coordinate "Operation Odyssey Dawn" would seem to be NATO with its experience leading and coordinating international coalitions, but U.S. and European officials tell CNN that some allies, especially French President Nicolas Sarkozy, are concerned the action in Libya could be perceived negatively as another NATO operation in another Arab country.
Another complication is how to consolidate Arab support. The United States expects additional Arab support for the coalition enforcing the no-fly zone over Libya, a senior administration official told reporters Tuesday.
So far, Qatar is the only Arab country that has contributed planes to mission.

The official said that several Arab states are in the process of finalizing their plans, adding the Obama administration was "confident we will have further concrete contributions of different kinds" for enforcement of the resolution in the next two to three days.

Franklin Graham: Japan disaster could mean end is near

Franklin Graham suggested the earthquake in Japan could be a sign of the end times

By Eric Marrapodi, CNN Belief Blog Co-Editor

The Rev. Franklin Graham says the earthquake and tsunami in Japan could be a sign of the end times. The key word there is could. The founder of the Samaritan's Purse charity told Newsmax on Friday:

What are the signs of [Christ’s] second coming? War and famine and earthquakes … escalating like labor pains. ... Maybe this is it, I don’t know. We should pray and be vigilant. The Bible teaches us Jesus is going to return someday. Many of us we believe that day is sooner rather than later. 

Graham, the son of famed evangelist Billy Graham, is paraphrasing from the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. In Chapter 24, Jesus is leaving the temple in Jerusalem and predicts its destruction. His disciples ask when it will happen, and he answers:

You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains. 

There are several schools of thought in the Christian tradition on this passage. One suggests Jesus is talking about the coming destruction of the temple by the Romans; others view it as a warning sign of the end times.
Throughout the course of Christian history, many have read the words of Jesus into their own time. Graham is certainly not alone in his interpretation of the passage, nor is he outside the mainstream of most Christian traditions by hedging his assertion with "maybe" and "I don't know" instead of giving a definitive, "This is the end!"
The Rev. Tom Stegman says there are many ways to read the passage in Matthew 24. A Jesuit priest and associate professor of New Testament at Boston College, Stegman agrees with Graham that Christians ought to remain vigilant in how they live their lives so they line up with Christ's teaching.
“I don’t question anyone’s motivation. However, the history of interpretation of apocalyptic texts and Jesus' speculation about the end in Mark 13 ought to give us pause in involving ourselves too much in speculation of the end times,” Stegman told CNN.
Darrell Bock, a research professor of New Testament Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary, said the passage is one repeated in Mark and Luke as well. But, Bock said, “Matthew is the clearest when talking about the end because of the way the questions start off the discourse at the beginning of the passage.”
Bock said the text Graham quoted from is layered. Unlike other apocalyptic texts like the Book of Daniel or Revelation, which many Christians believe prophesy the end times in vivid detail, here Jesus has more than one goal.
“I think you have to be careful. Jesus is trying to do two things at once,” Bock said. Jesus is talking about the end times and using these examples “to create in people a responsibility of not knowing when the end will come.”
"[Jesus] is telling [his disciples] to persevere because they don’t know when the end will be," Bock said. “It’s never an attempt to have us calendar out when the end is going to happen.
“I actually think what Graham is doing is raising the accountability issue,” Bock added.
Eddie Gibbs, a professor of church growth at Fuller Theological Seminary, told CNN Graham could represent "a particular segment of the evangelical movement that thinks the end is near."
"My response would be to say the Matthew 24 passage in fact relates to every period of history. There have always been catastrophic earthquakes," Gibbs said.
"The many natural catastrophes that occur are really warning sings to us that life is fragile. I think modern people need that warning. When these awful things happen, it is a reminder that nature is far, far more powerful than our ability to control it."
Gibbs said he does not think the earthquake in Japan augurs the end of the world.
"I would personally regard it as a progressive fulfillment, not that this is a special fulfillment of 'end times.' These catastrophes continue to happen, and I think we need them to shake us out of our comfort zone."
“I think that on Franklin’s side, we do need that reminder today that we live in a finite world,” Gibbs said.
Regardless of Graham's beliefs, his aid organization continues to be on the front lines of disasters around the world.
Last week, Graham's charity shipped 90 tons of relief supplies to Japan. As with many other organizations, working in the hardest-hit areas has brought elevated concerns for safety. Graham told Newsmax:

I’ve told my staff, if any of you are nervous you don’t have go. ... I haven’t had one person back out. There are dangers wherever we go in the world, but as Christians we put faith in God. He’s called us to do this work. He’ll look after us and protect us. It’s not going to stop us from responding and helping. 

reflection

The discussion from wednesday was alright i still think the other reflection was better because not a lot of people talked and the point of every student has a right even though some were different than others. Some people in the class had great points and it's true that teachers and students have a job the teacher to have fun teaching and enjoying showing their students. Students should be motivated to want to learn and they should be happy they can learn because there are a lot of poor kids that would want to have theit spots in life and students should also appreciate it. Hopefully next discussion is better and more students are in the mood to talk including myself. there are also a lot of points that included real life problems.I really look forward to the next discussion.
period 1

U.N. secretary-general condemns reported Syrian rioting deaths

From Caroline Faraj, CNN

March 18, 2011 6:49 p.m. EDT

Syrian General Mohammed Hassan Ali speaks to reporters after security forces dispersed a protest on March 16.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: United States urges Syrian government to allow peaceful demonstrations
• Ban Ki-Moon calls reported killing of demonstrators "unacceptable"
• The unrest occurred in five areas; there were claims of casualties
• Demonstrators demanded freedom and an end to corruption

(CNN) -- The use of lethal force against peaceful demonstrators in Syria was deemed "unacceptable" Friday by the U.N. secretary-general.
Ban Ki-Moon said in a statement that he is "concerned about the reported killing of demonstrators" in Diraa, Syria.
Witnesses said riots erupted Friday in the Middle Eastern nation. It is the latest of a string of Arabic-speaking nations beset with discontent.
The unrest spread through Hims, Diraa, Banyaas, Der Elzour and the capital, Damascus, witnesses said, and there were claims of deaths and injuries, but the assertions could not be independently confirmed.
Calling it "the responsibility of the government to listen to the legitimate aspirations of the people," Ban urged Syrian authorities to refrain from violence and to abide by their international commitments regarding human rights, which guarantee the freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom of the press and the right to peaceful assembly.
His comments were echoed Friday by the United States, which urged the Syrian government to "address the legitimate aspirations" of its people.
"The United States strongly condemns the violence that has taken place in Syria today and calls on the Syrian government to allow demonstrations to take place peacefully. Those responsible for today's violence must be held accountable," said U.S. National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor.
Demonstrators took to the streets to demand freedom and urge an end to corruption, but police surrounded hundreds of them and made arrests.
"Security forces are clearly nervous and did not expect to have demonstrations in five different places at the same time," a witness said.

A Facebook page that called for "Dignity Friday" showed images of clashes between protesters and security personnel.

President Obama, sounding more like a candidate

Washington (CNN) – President Barack Obama channeled his "change" message of the 2008 election in a speech to the Democratic National Committee in Washington, asking the group of supporters "not to lose that spirit that animated us early on."

March 16th, 2011

09:11 PM ET

Washington (CNN) – President Barack Obama channeled his "change" message of the 2008 election in a speech to the Democratic National Committee in Washington, asking the group of supporters "not to lose that spirit that animated us early on."

 

"My hope is that the same spirit that helped change this country in 2008, that that spirit is still in each and every one of you," Obama said Wednesday night.

But he acknowledged that some may become frustrated with the politics in the next election.
“I’m sure that some of you are like Michelle and at some point had to just stop watching cable TV because it was getting too frustrating,” Obama said.
That frustration, he said is why it is important to not just fight the same battles, but to instead change American politics and policies.
Echoing his 2008 mantra, the president said there is "a lot more that we have in common than separates us," and encouraged the group to not take his presidency for granted.
"As time passes, you start taking it for granted that guy named Barack Hussein Obama is president of the United States," Obama said. "I hope that over the next couple of years, as we're seeing a lot of you as I travel around the country, I hope that all of you still feel that sense of excitement and that sense of possibility, because we still have so much more to do."

japan's future in three parts

Editor’s Note: Naotaka Matsukata is a senior policy adviser at Alston and Bird, LLP. He has served as Director of Policy Planning for the United States Trade Representative and Senior Policy Advisor to U.S. Senator Joseph I. Lieberman.
By Naotaka Matsukata – Special to CNN
Japan's history provides some important clues to how Japan will respond in the short, medium, and long term to crisis.  If history is a guide, recovery is certain and the progress will be rapid and eye-opening.
In the short term, this crisis provides an opportunity for Japan to come together politically, formulate agreed-upon policies and lay the foundation for stronger economic growth.

Before the crisis, Prime Minister Naoto Kan’s approval ratings were in the low 30s. The political order was stagnant. Over the past decade, the Japanese government has lost the confidence of the people.
This crisis will likely provide Kan with an opportunity to unify his own political party and the people of Japan. This is a chance for Japan’s government to restore some of the people’s confidence. If the Japanese people return some confidence to their government, it will increase the ability of the political leadership to make hard decisions on issues from immigration to the budget.
In the medium term, look at the U.S.-Japan relationship. For the last five years or more, Japan has been enormously concerned about its place in America’s orbit. The Japanese have asked: “Is the U.S. passing over Japan for China? Is Japan falling as a priority in U.S. foreign policy?”
America’s response to this crisis will be a measuring stick for Japan about U.S. commitment to their country. How closely does the United States cooperate with Japan in responding to the crisis?
In many respects, the relationship between Japan and the U.S. has been kind of like Jekyll and Hyde. On the one hand, you have had  efforts to cooperate on security issues despite clear, detailed problems that have come up time to time. On the economic front, there’s always a lot of friction in terms of the competitiveness of Japanese industries, its industrial policy and various other issues related to market access.
Does America pull back from pressuring Japan on Okinawa issues or other economic issues to let Japan come back and find its footing? What kind of pause takes place now? How much of the humanitarian issue takes center stage?
Over the long term, look at Japan’s international relationships. Japan has always been on the giving side of humanitarian assistance. Now it is on the receiving side. Does this bring Japan a greater awareness of global suffering? Will it make Japan a more integrated member of the global community?
When historians 100 years from now will put this event in the context of Japan's modern history of response and rebuilding after crisis, they will see it as just one more time the people of Japan have come together and made recovery a catalyst for reform and prosperity.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of Naotaka Matsukata.

Senior Democrat Conyers criticizes Obama

By Paul Courson, CNN Senior Producer

March 14, 2011 7:49 p.m. EDT

U.S. Rep. John Conyers, D-Michigan. criticized President Barack Obama on several issues Monday, including American foreign policy.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Conyers says lack of a strong rival is the "only thing that saves" Obama
• Veteran congressman wants to "make him a better president"
• The Michigan Democrat is critical of U.S. foreign policy

Washington (CNN) -- Senior Democrat John Conyers of Michigan criticized Barack Obama Monday, hoping, Conyers said, to "make him a better president."
Citing the troubled job market, rising energy costs, and turmoil in the Middle East, Conyers told reporters at the National Press Club: "We keep getting a longer and longer list of things he wanted to do, wished he could do more about, and is of course having a big problem."
"The only thing that saves him, of course, is that there doesn't seem to be anybody to run against him next year," Conyers said.
After naming prospective challengers Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich, among others, Conyers said he still supports Obama because "the alternative is unthinkable. I just want to make him a better president."
American foreign policy was among the areas the Michigan congressman criticized for what he consider an emphasis on military might over other ways to achieve U.S. goals.
Conyers said, "It is kind of amazing to me that there is still adopted, even in this administration, the attitude that military prowess will settle things down. And they rarely, if ever, do."
He also responded to a question about the recent departure of a ranking State Department official who was critical of how the Pentagon is reportedly treating U.S. Army Pvt. Bradley Manning, a soldier suspected of a role in the WikiLeaks scandal.
"I was not in agreement again with the president saying that he's told Manning's been treated -- his confinement is okay, that he's told everything is alright. I don't think it's all right."
State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley resigned in recent days after remarks indicating he agreed with criticism over Manning's conditions of confinement.

Conyers Monday suggested Crowley's concerns might have a basis. "They may well be accurate, and probably are, but I think he was prepared for what happened."

Japan earthquake: Tsunami hits north-east

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Japan's most powerful earthquake since records began has struck the north-east coast, triggering a massive tsunami.

Cars, ships and buildings were swept away by a wall of water after the 8.9-magnitude tremor, which struck about 400km (250 miles) north-east of Tokyo.
A state of emergency has been declared at a nuclear power plant, where pressure has exceeded normal levels.
Officials say 350 people are dead and about 500 missing, but it is feared the final death toll will be much higher.
In one ward alone in Sendai, a port city in Miyagi prefecture, 200 to 300 bodies were found.

---

In the centre of Tokyo many people are spending the night in their offices. But thousands, perhaps millions, chose to walk home. Train services were suspended.
Even after the most violent earthquake anyone could remember the crowds were orderly and calm. The devastation is further to the north, along the Pacific coast.
There a tsunami triggered by the quake reached 10km (six miles) inland in places carrying houses, buildings, boats and cars with it. In the city of Sendai the police found up to 300 bodies in a single ward. Outside the city in a built-up area a fire blazed across several kilometres.
Japan's ground self-defence forces have been deployed, and the government has asked the US military based in the country for help. The scale of destruction from the biggest quake ever recorded in Japan will become clear only at first light.

The quake was the fifth-largest in the world since 1900 and nearly 8,000 times stronger than the one which devastated Christchurch, New Zealand, last month, said scientists.

Thousands of people living near the Fukushima nuclear power plant have been ordered to evacuate.
Japanese nuclear officials said pressure inside a boiling water reactor at the plant was running much higher than normal after the cooling system failed.
Officials said they might need to deliberately release some radioactive steam to relieve pressure, but that there would be no health risk.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had earlier said the US Air Force had flown emergency coolant to the site.
But US officials later said no coolant had been handed over because the Japanese had decided to handle the situation themselves.
The UN's nuclear agency said four nuclear power plants had shut down safely.
Measured at 8.9 by the US Geological Survey, it struck at 1446 local time (0546 GMT) at a depth of about 24km.

Continue reading the main story

• Japan quake: video reports

The tsunami rolled across the Pacific at 800km/h (500mph) - as fast as a jetliner - before hitting Hawaii and the US West Coast, but there were no reports of major damage from those regions.

Thousands of people were ordered to evacuate coastal areas in the states of California, Oregon and Washington.
The biggest waves of more than 6-7ft (about 2m) were recorded near California's Crescent City, said the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre.
A tsunami warning extended across the Pacific to North and South America, where many other coastal regions were evacuated, but the alert was later lifted in most parts, including the Philippines, Australia and China.
Strong waves hit Japan's Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, damaging dozens of coastal communities.
A 10m wave struck Sendai, deluging farmland and sweeping cars across the airport's runway. Fires broke out in the centre of the city.

National debt: Where the Tea Party is wrong

By Jeanne Sahadi, senior writerMarch 10, 2011: 11:25 AM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- First, let's give the Tea Party props for thinking critically about how much money the government should spend -- energizing the debate about the national debt.
Now for the fact check: Some of the Tea Party arguments for how to address deficits are just plain misguided.

Here are four assertions Tea Partiers make that don't pass the sniff test.
1. To kill debt, cut spending but don't raise taxes: A staple Tea Party promise is to cut spending and keep taxes low.
"[Americans] want spending cuts now, not in ten years. They don't want more job-killing tax increases," Rep. Joe Walsh of Illinois said in a recent statement.

Walsh went on to say that the $100 billion in spending cuts that many in the House GOP wanted to make over the next seven months "is what tackling the deficit looks like."

Not quite.
For starters, the cuts proposed by the House GOP primarily hit non-defense discretionary programs, which make up less than 15% of the total budget
Budget experts on the left and right say successful debt reduction can only occur when spending is cut across all areas of the budget.

And excluding revenue increases from the mix is the equivalent of one hand clapping: ineffective given the size of the country's debt.

Ronald Reagan, often revered as the king of small government and low taxes, signed into law some of the biggest tax cuts in modern history. But Reagan also approved some of the biggest tax increases, too. And he did so to help reduce swelling deficits.

Reagan raised more revenue not by raising tax rates but by making it harder to evade taxes and by reducing the number of tax breaks on the books.
2. We can't move fast enough: For Tea Partiers there's no time like the present to cut spending in the name of fiscal responsibility. But they are coming up against a tough reality.
There is "an unrealistic expectation of how quickly things can change," said Robert Bixby, executive director of the Concord Coalition, a deficit watchdog group. "Some spending can't be shut off that fast, like a faucet."
That's because some spending cuts could affect benefits that people have come to rely on and changes might need to be phased in slowly to give them time to adjust.
3. Never compromise: The Tea Party freshmen succeeded in pushing House GOP leaders to propose deeper cuts for this year than they originally planned. And that pushed the Senate Democrats to agree to make some cuts, but they've rejected the magnitude of cuts in the House GOP bill.

National debt: 'Time for gridlock is over'

"I don't think compromise right now is the option," Rep. Scott DesJarlais, a GOP freshman from Tennessee, said last week. "What we're asking is not unreasonable. People sent us here. There was a referendum. We were sent here to cut spending."

Walsh from Illinois put it more bluntly to Time magazine: "I came here ready to go to war. ... The people didn't send me here to compromise."

Standing one's ground is one thing. Not being willing to negotiate can create a potentially destructive stalemate that perversely could end up worsening the country's fiscal situation. That's because it can divert energy from more important fiscal matters and possibly create bad blood that will make the much bigger debate over long-term debt reduction that much harder to have.

4. Lifting the debt ceiling is a license to spend more: A number of Tea Party lawmakers claim that raising the debt ceiling will just encourage politicians to spend more. Not raising it, they reason, will force Congress to deal with its spending habits.

"I am not in favor of raising the debt ceiling. In the last 10 years we have raised the debt ceiling 10 times. We are just giving the Congress a license to keep on spending," Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann said on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday.

Raise the debt ceiling - or cut $738 billion this year

To the contrary, the need to raise the ceiling reflects previous commitments Congress made to borrow more in the future -- such as the $858 billion tax cut compromise passed in December.

If the ceiling is not raised, that can introduce a host of destabilizing factors that again could make the fiscal situation worse, not better. Among the potential fallout is higher interest rates, which hurt consumers. And if the United States ever defaulted on what it owed, that could rock world markets.

A recent report from the Congressional Research Service noted that if lawmakers didn't raise the ceiling this year, they would need to come up with $738 billion just to meet the country's bills over the next six months. And if they don't raise it by 2012? They'd need to come up with even more.

And all that assumes Congress doesn't commit to any new spending. It just reflects what the country would need to do to meet the old spending commitments on the books

Proposed Texas law to immigrants: Keep out ... or clean my house

By Ruben Navarrette Jr., Special to CNN

March 10, 2011 2:13 p.m. EST

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Ruben Navarrette Jr. says many in U.S. oppose illegal immigration, but they like the cheap labor
• He says law proposed by Texas lawmaker is a tortured attempt to have it both ways
• Navarrette says law has penalties for hiring unless it's for domestic work in private homes
• Navarrette: Americans ignore that immigrants work harder in low-wage jobs than we do

 

San Diego (CNN) -- A lot of Americans don't like illegal immigration. But what they like even less is the idea of having to live without the labor provided by illegal immigrants.
There you have the great contradiction that lies at the heart of the U.S. immigration debate -- one that must be confronted and reconciled if it is ever going to be resolved.
Speaking of solutions, I heard a whopper a while back. I had just given a speech to a group of retirees in a well-to-do town near San Diego. After complaining that Mexican immigrants were hurting the quality of life and changing the culture, a woman suggested a high-speed rail that could, every morning, carry men and women from Tijuana, Mexico, 20 miles into San Diego County, where they would work as nannies, housekeepers and gardeners in wealthy neighborhoods before boarding the train at dusk to head back into Mexico.
It was a goofy and obscene idea. But I was glad to hear it because it illustrates clearly how some Americans see Mexico as a giant temp agency that exists to make their lives easier.
Now, a Texas state representative offers more clarity. Republican Debbie Riddle has proposed a bill that creates harsh punishments for those who hire illegal immigrants. House Bill 1202 calls for up to two years in prison and up to $10,000 in fines.
So far, so good. We'll never stop illegal immigration until we start tackling it at the root by going after U.S. employers.
But wait. There's a loophole in Riddle's bill: The person doing the hiring has to be acting "intentionally, knowingly or recklessly." That's too many adverbs for me. You'll note that hiring an illegal immigrant is already a federal offense under the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act, but one of the reasons that the law's employer sanctions are rarely enforced is because -- under the statute -- an employer has to act "knowingly," and that's hard for a prosecutor to prove.
So, for 25 years, employers caught red-handed hiring illegal immigrants have claimed not to know what they were doing.
And, in the provision of Riddle's proposal that is causing the most outrage, there is also an odd exemption: The person hiring an illegal immigrant is in the clear if he or she is doing so "for the purpose of obtaining labor or other work to be performed exclusively or primarily at a single-family residence."
Come again? So people who own businesses -- restaurants, homeowners, hotels, farms, construction firms, etc -- can't hire illegal immigrants, but homeowners, housewives or soccer dads can hire as many as they like.
Why the exemption? Riddle has said it's only fair since -- unlike businesses -- homeowners don't have access to E-Verify, the controversial U.S. government-run database that supposedly helps employers determine whether prospective employees are legally eligible to work in the United States.
But even some Texas Republicans insist there is another reason: reality. One of them told CNN that if the law passed without the exemption, "a large segment of the Texas population would end up in prison."
And why is that? It's because America is addicted to the same illegal immigrants about whom Americans love to complain.
It's as if the United States has two neon signs on the U.S.-Mexico border: "Keep Out" and "Help Wanted." Americans can't decide what they want to protect more -- the border or their standard of living. Usually, the latter wins out.
Our national schizophrenia must be awfully confusing to the immigrants themselves. At the border, they see walls, agents, floodlights and barbed wire. But an hour's drive north, as they wait in front of a neighborhood big-box store, they see a much different sight -- homeowners and soccer moms rushing to the curb to pick up two or three of them at a time to do the kind of household chores that our teenagers used to do before the precious little darlings discovered they were the center of the universe and too good to dirty their hands with such tasks.
That reminds me. Let's have a word about illegal immigrant labor. The myth persists that the only reason Americans hire illegal immigrants is because the undocumented will work for lower wages than American workers demand to do the same jobs. It's a popular narrative because it makes U.S. natives seem almost noble, as if they won't let themselves be exploited.
But, in truth, it's only half the reason that illegal immigrants are in such great demand in the United States. There is also the little-discussed fact that they're dependable and work hard, qualities that many Americans have unfortunately long since abandoned.
Talk to the friend of mine in Austin, Texas, who needed to hire a few guys to build a fence. He called three or four handymen who either never got back to him or promised to show up but didn't. And then he settled on immigrant labor. Don't ask him if the workers were undocumented. I don't think he knows because, like millions of Americans, he doesn't want to know.

Arizona shooting suspect arraigned on additional charges

By Michael Martinez and Ted Rowlands, CNN

March 9, 2011 7:46 p.m. EST

Tuscon shooting suspect in court

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: A federal judge sets a May 25 competency hearing for Jared Lee Loughner
• The judge enters "not guilty" pleas on Loughner's behalf
• Loughner faces 49 charges related to a mass shooting in Tucson
• Authorities file a motion to force Loughner to submit a handwriting sample

Tucson, Arizona (CNN) -- A federal judge Wednesday entered "not guilty" pleas on behalf of Jared Lee Loughner, the Arizona man accused of fatally shooting six people and wounding 13 others, including U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.
Judge Larry Burns also scheduled a May 25 competency hearing for Loughner, and attorneys on both sides will be allowed to hire their own experts to evaluate Loughner's competency to stand trial.
Prosecutors sought the competency hearing, saying that Loughner had believed the FBI was bugging him, had extreme animosity toward the government, and was even hearing voices.
Loughner's public defenders didn't want such a hearing, saying it would be premature and could interfere with their ability to develop a relationship with Loughner.
But the judge said his review of materials relating to Loughner left him concerned.
"We can't do anything until I'm assured that Mr. Loughner is on board and able to assist" in his own defense, the judge ruled.
Last Thursday, a federal grand jury returned a new indictment against Loughner in which he is charged on 49 counts -- including murder and attempted murder -- related to the shooting outside a Tucson supermarket in January.
Loughner, 22, entered the courtroom with a slight grin, the first time he's appeared in a Tucson courtroom. His bald head is now showing growing hair.
When a clerk asked if his name was Jared Lee Loughner, he responded: "Yes, it is."

RELATED TOPICS

• Gabrielle Giffords

The judge entered the "not guilty" pleas for Loughner at his attorneys' request. Loughner waived the reading of all 49 charges against him.
In response to motions, the judge ordered prosecutors to release grand jury materials to the defense, but said Loughner's attorneys cannot reproduce the documents or leave copies with Loughner.
Burns also ordered the release of findings from authorities' search of Loughner's parents' home in Tucson, as requested by two Arizona media outlets. Last month, the judge sided with prosecutors in withholding the information because the investigation was ongoing and a grand jury was still preparing an indictment.
But with a new indictment now issued, the judge said it is time to unseal the documents relating to what was found in the Loughner family home.
"The active investigation is over," the judge said. "Ninety percent of the information in the warrant domain is already in the public light."
He added, "There is something mystic and suspicious in not releasing this type of information."
Burns said he will delay ruling on a motion filed by prosecutors Monday to force Loughner to submit a handwriting sample -- a request that he, thus far, has refused.
The government wants the sample to compare with handwritten notes found in Loughner's residence that include mentions of Giffords "as well as references to guns and bullets," according to a court document. It says he has resisted such requests to date, "arguing that the court lacks authority" to force him to provide a sample.
"There being no other avenue to obtain the defendant's handwriting exemplar, the government now seeks an order to compel," prosecutors wrote in the motion.
Burns said he wants to discuss some material collected by bureau of prisons on Loughner since he was arrested.
Prosecutors said they want the court to review the materials, to see if they should be able to see it. But Loughner's public defenders said they want time to review the matter and prepare arguments in writing.
As the hearing unfolded and the judge made his decisions, Loughner sat still.
The full courtroom included about 20 family members of victims and seven people supporting Loughner, including a woman who dabbed her eyes with tissue.
Among the spectators were Bill Badger, one of two men who jumped on Loughner and subdued him during the shooting, and shooting victim Susan Hileman. Also attending was Mavy Stoddard, who was wounded in the attack and whose husband, Dorwan, a retired construction worker, died trying to shield his wife from the bullets.
Loughner's family members declined to comment as they left the courthouse.
Tucson attorney Michael Piccarreta, who appeared in court on behalf of slain federal Judge John Roll and his family, was asked by reporters afterward what he thought of seeing Loughner face-to-face.
Responded Piccarreta: "He's just another defendant."
Loughner was earlier indicted on three counts of attempted murder, including one alleging that he tried to kill Giffords with a Glock semiautomatic handgun during the event she was hosting for constituents.
Giffords, who was shot in the head, is undergoing rehabilitation at a medical facility in Houston.
The new indictment supersedes the earlier one. It adds murder charges connected to the deaths of Roll, a federal district judge, and Gabriel M. Zimmerman, a staff member for Giffords.
Loughner also faces charges in the deaths of Dorothy J. Morris, Phyllis C. Schneck, Dorwan C. Stoddard, and a child, referred to in the indictment as C-T G. Nine-year-old Christina-Taylor Green was among those killed in the shooting.
Autopsy reports released Monday showed that Zimmerman, Schneck and Stoddard suffered fatal head wounds, while the three others were shot in the chest.

If convicted, Loughner could face a death sentence, U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke said last week, although prosecutors have not said whether they will seek the death penalty.

Opposition denies exit deal talks with Gadhafi

By the CNN Wire Staff

March 8, 2011 6:47 p.m. EST

Rebels: Gadhafi wants a deal

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: Obama and Cameron discuss Libya
• The U.S. State Department says departure would not exempt Gadhafi
• Deadly fighting occurs in Zawiya, a doctor says
• The World Food Programme gets tons of food into Libya

Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- Libyan opposition members denied Tuesday that they have been negotiating an exit deal with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, rejecting an assertion made earlier in the day by an opposition official.
Speaking to reporters, members of the Libyan National Transitional Council said there have been no such talks. Council spokesman Abdel Hafez Ghoga also denied reports that the opposition would promise not to pursue Gadhafi for crimes if he steps down within three days.
Earlier, a member of an opposition group called the February 17 Coalition said Gadhafi was trying to strike a deal with opposition leaders, saying he would step down as Libya's leader if they would guarantee him safe passage out of the country and promise that neither he nor his family would face prosecution.
The coalition member, Amal Bugaigis, said the opposition submitted counteroffers, which included a stipulation that Gadhafi had to immediately concede he is not the ruler of Libya.

 

Gallery: Rebellion in Libya

 

 

 

Inside the mind of Saif Gadhafi

Gadhafi was expected to meet Tuesday with reporters at a hotel in Tripoli. The transistional council's 31 members represent most areas of Libya and focus on organizing a governmental structure for a post-Gadhafi Libya.
The Libyan opposition is composed not of a single monolithic group, but of various groups and individuals around the country whose shared goal is to see the 68-year-old ruler ousted.
Gadhafi's regime, meanwhile, also denied having entered into negotiations with the rebels. Musa Ibrahim, a government spokesman, called reports of such negotiations "lies."
In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said any departure from Libya of Gadhafi would not exempt him, his family or others from responsibility for their actions. "We are going to hold him accountable," Crowley said.
U.S. President Barack Obama discussed Libya on Tuesday with British Prime Minister David Cameron, the White House said in a statement.
"They agreed that the common objective in Libya must be an immediate end to brutality and violence; the departure of Gadhafi from power as quickly as possible; and a transition that meets the Libyan peoples' aspirations for freedom, dignity, and a representative government," it said.
Both leaders agreed to go ahead with planning responses, "including surveillance, humanitarian assistance, enforcement of the arms embargo, and a no-fly zone."
The unrest in Libya, which has spiraled into a civil war, entered its fourth week Tuesday.
Fighting continued in Zawiya, despite government assertions that its forces controlled the city, a doctor told CNN after leaving the city in the morning. Two fellow doctors were fatally shot in the main square by pro-Gadhafi forces, the doctor said. Wounded civilians were being shot by members of the military, the doctor added.
Military casualties were being taken out of the city by ambulance, he said.

 

 

 

 

RELATED TOPICS

• Ban Ki-moon
• Libya
• War and Conflict

Though CNN was not able to witness the fighting and could not independently confirm reports of what was happening there, CNN's Nic Robertson got close enough to the city center to hear the fighting and to see that tanks had moved closer to rebel areas and were involved in the fighting.
Opposition officials accused Gadhafi of bombing water reserves in Ras Lanuf, the site of intense fighting in recent days.
Rebels have seized several cities and the army has fought fiercely to reclaim some of them.
Death toll estimates have ranged from more than 1,000 to as many as 2,000.
"Both the Libyan government and opposition forces need to allow unhindered access for aid organizations to assist civilians," Bill Frelick, refugee program director at Human Rights Watch, said Tuesday. "People living in areas of heavy fighting in western Libya are now in dire need of medical aid and other assistance."
The U.N. World Food Programme said Tuesday a convoy of trucks entered Libya headed for Benghazi, the rebel stronghold in eastern Libya. "A convoy of trucks carrying 70 metric tons of high-energy, fortified date bars crossed the Egyptian border last night on its way to Benghazi. This would be the first delivery of food assistance from a U.N. agency to enter the country," the organization said in a statement.
Plans for more food deliveries are being made, and tons of food have been delivered to the Egyptian border to help feed refugees, the organization said.
This is part of a $39.2 million emergency operation designed to help feed more than one million people in Libya, Egypt and Tunisia over three months, the group said.
Late Monday, the Gulf Cooperation Council said Libya had rejected its offer of humanitarian aid. The council is composed of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
As reports continue to emerge of the government's use of force against civilians, the international community has been left pondering strategies on how to end the violence.
Three members of the U.N. Security Council -- France, Britain and the United States -- were working Monday on a possible resolution that would include language on a no-fly zone over Libya, diplomatic sources at the United Nations said. And the Gulf Cooperation Council said Monday night they supported such an action.
The Organization of the Islamic Conference, which represents 56 member states, said Tuesday that it wants the United Nations to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya.
But any kind of military intervention could face sharp criticism from Russia and China, two permanent members of the council that wield veto power.
The U.S. ambassador to Libya, Gene Cretz, has met in Rome, Italy, and Cairo, Egypt, with Libyan opposition figures to get a sense of what is happening in the country, Crowley of the State Department said. He did not give names. Crowley said there have been meetings and phone conversations with members of the National Transitional Council and others.
The State Department also spoke Friday with Libyan Foreign Minister Musa Kusa in a brief conversation in which each side gave its view, Crowley said.
NATO said it has begun round-the-clock surveillance flights near Libya.
With no clear end to the clashes in sight, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed a new special envoy to Libya to discuss the crisis with officials in Tripoli.
The fighting has sparked the flight of Libyans and foreigners out of Libya, with nations across the globe scrambling to help people leave.
About 200,000 people have fled Libya with nearly equal numbers going to Tunisia and Egypt, the U.N. refugee agency has said.
But 15,000 to 17,000 people are still at a refugee camp near the Libya-Tunisia border. Most of them are from Bangladesh, the U.N. refugee agency said.
A man who said he was trapped in Misrata, a city east of Tripoli that has seen heavy clashes, said the rebels were running out of weapons -- but will continue to fight.

"Maybe tomorrow I'll still be alive, I don't know. I have nothing to lose," the man said. "Nobody believes he will be alive tomorrow. Nobody knows. We need support."