In China, the Patriotic Church is composed as a Catholic organization that supports the Chinese Communist Party. Now, some leftists in Venezuela have established the Reformed Catholic Church to promote the socialist propaganda of President Hugo Chavez. But religious leaders in the country are criticizing the newly-found church.

Mayor Gavin Newsom of San Francisco has taken his first public step toward seeking higher office by filing papers to form an exploratory committee for a potential California gubernatorial bid in 2010.

Steps need to be taken to make certain that using biofuels to fight climate change does not cause a surge in food prices, a Great Britain government report on food policy said on Monday.

The Guardian Unlimited UK quotes the report as reading, “some biofuels can potentially play an important role in tackling climate change, but we must ensure that they are sustainable and that they do not distort food markets.”

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is still not ready to respond to a Gulf Coast natural disaster similar to Hurricane Katrina despite its success in flooded Midwestern states.

The Houston Chronicle reports, “that’s the conclusion if an independent disaster researcher and key Texas officials who have monitored FEMA’s far-flung responses to flooding across Wisconsin, Iowa, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri over the past few weeks.”

Former U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms, a North Carolina Republican, who became a champion for conservatives, died Friday at 86-years-old, the Jesse Helms Center announced.

According to CNN, “Helms once said his job was to derail the freight train of liberalism. Conservatives admired him for his opposition to abortion and what he called, ‘indecent art’ …”

Last night, Murphy Martin died at approximately 10 minutes before 11:00 p.m. That was about an hour shy of what would have been his 83^rd birthday.

Mr. Martin had been a Dallas media icon for about four decades. He was an anchorman for Channel 8, WFAA-TV, a Dallas-affiliate of the ABC TV Network, for many years. He was also the voice of the Dallas Cowboys in Texas Stadium for 24 years.

He had been suffering from heart problems recently and was living in retirement.

A funeral service, which has not yet been announced, is expected to be arranged for Monday. Murphy Martin is survived by his wife, Joyce Martin.

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