Dear Friend, In today's edition of InfoQuest*, we'll learn what we can do to protect ourselves, our families, loved ones, and future generations from the abomination of Frankenstein cloning experiments and the effects of war. We'll also be refreshed by reading about how a church rallied to assist others through a prayer chain! CONTENTS: (1) CLONING BAN What YOU can do NOW! (2) PRAYER CHAIN & SNOW It WORKS! (3) CONSERVATIVES AGAINST THE WAR? The UNDER-REPORTED Truth (4) RIDGE ANNOUNCES 'READY CAMPAIGN' IQ* Fills IN The GAPS for YOU! ================================ (1) CLONING BAN The House of Representatives is expected to vote next week on H.R. 534 - a bill that will ban all human cloning. Your legislator needs to hear from you today in support of this bill. The Senate is also considering passage of S. 245, a similar bill that will ban all human cloning - both for scientific experiments and reproduction. Dolly's premature death is a warning to us! It is immoral and unethical to create humans who may be deformed or age more rapidly than normal. This is a line that science must not cross. CONTACT YOUR REPS USING THIS TOOL: http://users.netreach.net/InfoQuest/government.htm#CONGRESS *** Related Articles: (You may have to copy/paste these URLs into your browser bar.) http://thenewamerican.com/tna/2003/01-13-2003/vo19no01_clone.htm http://www.breakpoint.org/Breakpoint/ChannelRoot/TopicsGroup/BioethicsAndLif eIssues/ http://thenewamerican.com/tna/2003/01-13-2003/vo19no01_bush.htm ===================== (2) PRAYER CHAIN & SNOW AgapePress.org NEWS BRIEF 2/20/2003 ...A church's prayer chain has been a lifeline for members trapped by more than four feet of snow in western Maryland. Rev. Sam Wachter had to cancel Sunday services at Lake Ford United Methodist Church and tonight's Bible study is canceled as well as the community digs out from a 52-inch snowfall. Highway crews in western Maryland report drifts up to 30-feet high. Wachter says his church's prayer chain has contacted members who needed groceries, snow removal, or other assistance. He says he and several other church members have been out plowing for days. Wachter adds that they are thanking God for good neighbors and safety. ======================== (3) CONSERVATIVES AGAINST THE WAR? The Hard Line Conservatives Against the War http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/2/192003rck.asp By R. Cort Kirkwood February 19, 2003 (AgapePress) - Among the words used to describe anyone protesting the coming war with Iraq are "anti-capitalist," "Marxist," and "communist," and tops among the people using the description is the portly kingpin of talk radio, Rush Limbaugh. Limbaugh's point is that the kook left dominates the movement against the war in Iraq, bringing with it the usual steamer-trunk of kook issues. He's right about that. Notorious cop-murderer Mumia Abu Jamal, hero of the Hollywood left, is just of the causes for which we see the anti-war protestors hoisting their placards. But Limbaugh and others paint with too wide a brush. Conservatives Oppose the War The Limbaugh conservatives want everyone to believe that all conservatives support the war in Iraq. Thanks to their success peddling that myth, they succeed in peddling the first one; i.e., only commie-pinkos are protesting. It's the 1960s all over again. Perhaps it's lost on the orotund orator of the right, but many conservatives, meaning old Right conservatives, and many of them much smarter than Limbaugh, also oppose this war. Included among them are Pat Buchanan and the libertarian folks at Antiwar.com, as well as many combat veterans and general officers skeptical about this latest project of the warfare state. Like Buchanan, many can't be called "anti-capitalist" (at least in the sense Limbaugh means it) or "Marxists" or "communists." Many were ardent cold warriors when Limbaugh was stuffing his face with Twinkies in grade school. That truth, and Limbaugh's disdain and ridicule for opponents of the war, invites an observation: When Limbaugh had his chance to fight in Vietnam, he ran for the bushes. "Anal cysts," he complained. You wonder how many guys with "anal cysts" are remembered on that black wall in the national capital, and Limbaugh isn't the only conservative chickenhawk clucking like Gen. Patton. Point is, everyone who opposes the war is not a "commie." And not everyone who supports it is a chickenhawk. Why They Oppose It Conservatives, the real conservatives, in my estimation, oppose this war because they oppose war in general. "War is the health of the state," they say, quoting Randolph Bourne. They believe war gives politicians an excuse to expand the state by increasing taxes and decreasing civil liberties. They believe the welfare state grows concomitantly with the warfare state, as the war in Vietnam well proved. The price for the war was that massive and failed welfare program, "The Great Society." If you wonder why so many liberals want war in Iraq, think about that. War is a waste. As more than one writer has observed, war is the least conservative of government enterprises; it is the ultimate big-government program. It is a fabulously wasteful expenditure of the nation's financial resources on a project that employs millions of citizens, either as taxpayers or combatants, to destroy another country. Then the same taxpayers who paid to destroy the country pay to rebuild it. Yet war wastes an even more important treasure than money. It wastes the lives and health of the young. They pay the ultimate price ... with blood. Many conservatives oppose this war. But they can't be heard over the opponents who really are commies, or over chickenhawks shouting the "commie" label. +++ IQ* Note: My friend at work pointed out that, although the Civil War was really fought over States' Rights vs. Federal Control, that if the main reason was to free slaves (note - not the case; if the slaves were freed by the Civil War and given the rights defined in the Declaration of Independence, there would have been no segregation, blacks would have served next to whites in the military before the 1950's, etc.), then it was a total waste, for the following reason: "An American history book I read that was written in 1945 or 1948 suggested that slavery itself was becoming expensive when compared to the very cheap Irish labor flooding the northern states thanks to the Irish famine. The author's take was that purchasing and maintaining a slave was becoming expensive when compared to this new resource of cheap labor. While an Irishman might be killed in a mine - and easily replaced with another cheap hire needing to feed his family - it was comparatively expensive if a slave would die on the job - due to the cost of buying a replacement. For economic reasons, slavery was starting to decline. The book was written by a Father Purcell for use in the Catholic University." In other words, slavery, through "capitalistic" means, would have ended on its own in the USA. Find out more at: http://www.LewRockwell.com Click on "King Lincoln" http://www.fvp.info/reallincoln/TheRealLincoln.asp +++ IQ* Note: Should America Go to War? Get The Facts Here - Why Iraq and not N. Korea or Saudi Arabia? http://www.thenewamerican.com/tna/2002/10-21-2002/vo18no21_war.htm ========================= (4) RIDGE ANNOUNCES 'READY CAMPAIGN' *** IQ* Note: Dear Friend, After you read the following article on Ridge's "Ready Campaign," I implore you to go to this resource to fully prepare yourself and your family in the event of any emergency: http://users.netreach.net/InfoQuest/Civil_Defense.htm Ridge suggests minimal protection (only 3 days of food, etc.). Then, you have to depend on bureaucracies for handouts; as history proves, this does NOT work! Please take the time to read the FREE online book, "Nuclear War Survival Skills," and to take advantage of the links to places where you can purchase emergency food sources, gas masks, water purifiers, etc. *** Ridge Announces 'Ready Campaign' http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,78978,00.html CINCINNATI - Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge on Wednesday launched the "Ready Campaign" - a citizen preparedness effort aimed at teaching Americans what they can do to protect themselves in case of a terror attack, most specifically, he recommended, by being informed. Ridge gave American families several suggestions and advice in order to be prepared, which he said is the best defense against a terrorist attack. "Our message is this: We cannot always predict an attack. We can always prepare. There are simple things you and your family can do to prepare for the unlikely but possible terrorist incident, namely make a kit, make a plan, and be informed," he said at Cincinnati's American Red Cross chapter. Among Ridge's recommendations: prepare a disaster supply kit with a flashlight, batteries, first aid materials and medicines; have a communications plan with family members; stock up on three days worth of nonperishable food and water; and know the different types of responses to different attacks. "An emergency is not the time to plan, it's the time to react. So be informed. Different types of attacks require different responses. The actions you would take in a conventional attack may be counterproductive if you took them in response to a different kind of attack," he said. The Homeland Security Department is also advising people to be aware of their surroundings, particularly since an attack often comes after little warning; be careful when traveling since Americans could be targets of terror; move or leave an area if something seems strange or uncomfortable; know emergency exit routes; and know how to use emergency equipment like fire extinguishers that are often found at peoples' work places. A government official said the campaign goes beyond duct tape and plastic sheets, and all of it can be learned through public service announcements, a toll-free 1-800-BEREADY information line, the Web site www.ready.gov, and brochures. Several private sector partners have also donated advertising services. But, Ridge said, don't scoff at the duct tape. "Oh, and, yes, I have to say: stash away the duct tape. Don't use it, stash it away, and that pre-measured plastic sheeting for future - and I emphasize future use. Experts tell us that a safe room inside your house or inside your apartment can help protect you from airborne contaminants for several hours, and that could be just enough time for that chemical agent to be blown away," he said. The campaign and its recommendations come as Ridge and other homeland security officials consider whether to lower the nation's code orange status back down to yellow - from high to elevated alert status. The nation has been under code orange - the second highest terror alert level - for more than a week and a half after authorities said they were hearing increasing chatter among suspected terrorists they were keeping tabs on and from recent information given by detainees held at Guantanamo Bay. However, one of the detainees was deemed unreliable after he failed a lie detector test. Still authorities said they had information from multiple sources that something was being planned around the time of the hajj, the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca. Ridge said the general public shouldn't be as concerned about the threat level as they have been. "The professionals take a look at that national threat warning and it's a sign to them that they may have to vary or enhance security or preventive measures. The national threat warning is really [for] the security personnel and the law enforcement personnel in this country. But regardless of the threat level, once an individual or family has been prepared, you can be assured you've done everything the country wants you to do regardless of the threat level," he said. A poll of Washington residents conducted by The Washington Post revealed that six in 10 are residents took some type of precautionary measures after the terror alert level rose to code orange, or high alter status. Three in four said they are worried about an attack somewhere in the region and nearly half fear they will personally be a victim. Ridge, however, has said the code would be lowered soon, perhaps relieving some of that anxiety. *** Now, please visit: http://users.netreach.net/InfoQuest/Civil_Defense.htm May God guide you in being prepared. *** Related Article: "The Bible on Self-Defense" http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=25442