In Iraq, key US ally falls from grace. Thursday, US forces raid the Baghdad house of Ahmed Chalabi, who loomed large in the decision to invade Iraq. [Christian Science Monitor | Top Stories]

Central Intelligence Agitation. Hey, does it seem interesting to anyone else that the CIA has been the source on several stories that seem to reflect negatively on Rumsfeld, the Pentagon and the administration? Think maybe they're tired of being scapegoated by the Pentagon and then fed [electablog]

Are You a Potential Terrorist?. A Florida company that helped the government launch Matrix also provided the feds with the names of 120,000 people who, according to its statistics, were likely terrorists. [Wired News]

The following is an E-Mail Ministry message. 

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THE FOUR CANDLES

The Four Candles burned slowly.
Their Ambiance was so soft you could hear them speak...

The first candle said, "I Am Peace, but these days, nobody wants to keep
me lit."

Then Peace's flame slowly diminishes and goes out completely.

The second candle says, "I Am Faith, but these days, I am no longer
indispensable."

Then Faith's flame slowly diminishes and goes out completely.

Sadly the third candle spoke, "I Am Love and I haven't the strength to
stay lit any longer."

"People put me aside and don't understand my importance. They even
forget to love those who are nearest to them."

And waiting no longer, Love goes out completely.

Suddenly...

A child enters the room and sees the three candles no longer burning.

The child begins to cry, "Why are you not burning? You are supposed to
stay lit until the end."

Then the Fourth Candle spoke gently to the little boy, "Don't be afraid,
for I Am Hope, and while I still burn, we can re-light the other candles."

With Shining eyes the child took the Candle of Hope and lit the other
three candles.

Never let the Flame of Hope go out of your life.

With Hope, no matter how bad things look and are...Peace, Faith and Love
can Shine Brightly in our lives.

-- Author Unknown

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To learn more about E-Mail Ministry and read previous messages, visit
our web site at: http://www.emailministry.org

The Big Three Fear That Toyota Is Becoming the Big One. Toyota may not quite be the world's largest automaker, based on vehicle sales, but it is firmly buckled in the industry's driver's seat. By Danny Hakim. [New York Times: Business]

A Guilty Plea Over Insider Trading at Enron. The former corporate secretary of Enron, Paula Rieker, pleaded guilty to insider trading on Wednesday. By Bloomberg News. [New York Times: Business]

2 Airlines See Damage From Fuel Costs. By Reuters. By Reuters. [New York Times: Business]

Oil and Gasoline Futures Soar on U.S. Report on Inventory. By Bloomberg News. By Bloomberg News. [New York Times: Business]

On Arab TV, Gaza Strife Dims Trial. The images out of Gaza were so violent that the guilty plea of Specialist Sivits received only secondary coverage on the main Arab satellite channels. By Ian Fisher. [New York Times: Business]

Wisdom and Bad Friends

Proverbs 2:1-15

 

2 My child, you must follow

and treasure my teachings

and my instructions.

2 Keep in tune with wisdom

and think what it means

to have common sense.

3 Beg as loud as you can

for good common sense.

4 Search for wisdom

as you would search for silver

or hidden treasure.

5 Then you will understand

what it means to respect

and to know the Lord God.

6 All wisdom comes from the Lord,

and so do common sense

and understanding.

7 God gives helpful advice

to everyone who obeys him

and protects all of those

who live as they should.

8 God sees that justice is done,

and he watches over everyone

who is faithful to him.

9 With wisdom you will learn

what is right

and honest and fair.

10 Wisdom will control your mind,

and you will be pleased

with knowledge.

11 Sound judgment and good sense

will watch over you.

12 Wisdom will protect you

from evil schemes

and from those liars

13 who turned from doing good

to live in the darkness.

14 Most of all they enjoy

being mean and deceitful.

15 They are dishonest themselves,

and all they do is crooked.

Take Every Thought Captive
by John Paul Jackson

Every day, we make a series of choices. Some are trivial, such as what shirt to wear, while others determine success or failure in our lives. Scripture clearly reveals that we are who we are, and we are where we are because of various choices we have made. We make choices�and then our choices make us!

Over the years, I have taught many times about the �Law of Focus.� That spiritual law simply says that �what you focus on, you make room for.� It sounds simple, but its effects are enormous. The Law of Focus is certainly evident in the issue of our decision-making skills.

From the atmosphere of our thought life, we make various decisions. Therefore, what we �focus on� causes an atmosphere of thoughts to surround us which influences the decision we are about to make.

Our focus can come from the books we read, movies we see, songs we listen to, and even the conversations we have. All of these form the spiritual, or in some cases soulish, atmosphere from which our choices are made.

The old adage, �garbage in, garbage out� deeply applies to our thought life. Those thoughts form the basis for the choices we made, we are making, or we are about to make. Errant focus produces an errant atmosphere of thinking, and results in errant choices. The Bible calls this atmosphere �darkened thinking� or �darkened understanding.� Darkened thinking comes from living in an atmosphere that lacks light and results in tainted spiritual perspectives. Tainted perspectives will always result in tainted decisions that can create devastating consequences.

Conversely, �enlightened thinking� comes from moving within the eternal light of God�s Kingdom. True enlightened thinking can only come from God, and occurs when His presence is the central focus of our thoughts. If we live in the atmosphere of God�s light, we will automatically think differently about what we observe.

As God becomes our focus, we make room for His thoughts to illuminate our understanding. The chain continues: our thoughts come from what we make room for. Our thoughts then determine our choices, and those choices determine our destiny. Thus, it is what is inside our hearts that makes all the difference, and the difference is made when we �choose� what goes on inside our minds. We must build God�s Kingdom within our thought life.

Repeated cycles in our lives are the result of wrong choices, no matter how good or justified they seemed at the time. No wonder the Apostle Paul exhorted us to take every thought captive and to be renewed in the spirit of our mind�thinking about things that are good, kind, lovely, holy, pure, just, virtuous, and praiseworthy!

When we enter into this higher level of Kingdom thinking, we can receive the deep things of God (1 Corinthians 2:20-14). We will have the ability to know the mysteries of life. We will be able to think in spiritual terms and on a spiritual plane that we could not before. Therefore, we can experience transformation as we clothe ourselves with a brand new understanding �which is continually being renewed as you learn more and more about Christ, who created this new nature within you� (Colossians 3:10, NLT).

God will move mountains to create the opportunity for you to walk in His perfect will. It is up to you to be ready to choose the opportunities He has chosen for you.

http://streamsministries.com

Yahoo! News - Six Sigma Is No Longer Enough
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&;cid=568&ncid=749&e=3&u=/nm/20040515/bs_nm/column_lifting_dc

Sat May 15, 9:08 AM ET

By Michael Flaherty

"Six Sigma will get you to parity, but not ahead of your competition," said Michael Hammer, founder of Hammer and Co., a management education firm.. "It's for fixing problems, not for innovation

Summary:

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Impatient investors and demanding industry analysts are pushing Corporate America's best-known efficiency program deeper into history.

The program, known as Six Sigma, still retains a loyal, if not cult-like following among executives and some of their staff, who earn black belts and green belts as they study its methods.

But in an era when a new product is old news in two fiscal quarters, critics of Six Sigma say companies need to move beyond the 20-year-old method in order to compete.

"Six Sigma does not create innovation," said Corporate strategist Jay Desai, who helped implement Six Sigma at conglomerate General Electric Co. (NYSE:GE - news).

That's not to say Six Sigma will ever go away.

Its methods are a virtual religion at GE, where Six Sigma is said to have saved the company billions of dollars over the years.

Dow Chemical Co. (NYSE:DOW - news), the largest U.S. maker of chemicals, swears by the program.

And Heavy equipment maker Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - news) said it reaped $500 million through Six Sigma in 2002.

But the days of investors favoring slow and steady growth are waning.

Investors want top-line growth fueled by new products.

"If Lucent applies Six Sigma, they die," Desai said, pointing to Lucent Technologies Inc. (NYSE:LU - news), one of the world's largest makers of telecommunications equipment that has recovered after ringing up $30 billion in cumulative losses during the technology downturn.

"Six Sigma is not a solution for new products or a break-through strategy," said Desai, who now runs the Institute of Global Competitiveness, a management think-tank.

Still, Six Sigma is in place at several of the world's top companies and has led to many profit turnarounds.

"We will continue to rely on our Six Sigma culture to ensure we are growing profitably," said Caterpillar Chairman and CEO Jim Owens in a statement.

Owens added that "virtually all" company employees are involved with the program and that Caterpillar boasts 2,700 trained Six Sigma black belts.

Six Sigma Academy, a Scottsdale, Arizona training organization, has taught 10,000 people in 20 countries and 6 continents in the methods of Six Sigma, according to its Web site.

"What we've seen is an expansion to mid-size companies, small companies and even private companies," said Abraham.

Six Sigma won't go away and indeed its followers have seen positive results, said Larry Keeley, president of Doblin Inc., an innovation strategy firm.

It's this focus on the bottom line that hinders Six Sigma disciples, said Michael Hammer, founder of Hammer and Co., a management education firm.

---

Summarized by Copernic Summarizer

 

Smarty Jones Proves Superior in the Preakness. Smarty Jones did not just win the Preakness. He ran away with it and is now just a victory away from becoming the 12th winner of racing's Triple Crown. By Bill Finley. [New York Times: Sports]