December (Web-only) 2001

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U.S. military to Philippine government: We can help rescue Burnhams
The pressure being put on Washington by family, friends, and supporters of New Tribes missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham may be working. The U.S. military has offered to help rescue the couple from their kidnappers, the militant Muslim Abu Sayyaf Group. When directly asked by Reuters if the U.S. military wants to take action, Philippine presidential spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao told the news agency, "That's the signal we have been getting, but they want to be armed." The problem is that the nation's constitution prohibits armed foreign troops on its soil. "So," says Tiglao, "they will not be participating." But apparently unarmed American troops are in the Zamboanga area where the Burnhams are being held, expanding their training of Philippine troops. The military killed another 11 Abu Sayyaf guerrillas on Friday.

Dembski has designs for new organization Regular CT readers will be very familiar with the work and trials of William A. Dembski, one of the leaders of Intelligent Design studies. Last year, Dembski was fired as head of the Michael Polanyi Center for Complexity, Information, and Design at Baylor University, and the school had several battles over the center itself. Dembski is still a research professor at Baylor, but is now heading the new International Society for Complexity, Information, and Design based in Princeton, New Jersey. He tells UPI that "things have been patched up" at Baylor, but that he still works from home "because the environment is very hostile over there." The new center is launching with essay contests, offering young scholars prizes of $1,000 and $2,000. It will also conduct summer workshops and offer postdoctoral fellowships ...