Sunday, July 31, 2016
MUSLIMS ATTEND SUNDAY MASS AFTER TERROR KILLING OF FRENCH PRIEST
WORLD NEWS
about 5 hours ago
Muslims attend Sunday Mass after terror killing of French priest
last updated: 31/07/2016
Euronews
Many Muslims attended church in France this Sunday to show compassion for slain priest, Father Jacques Hamel, and solidarity with their Catholic compatriots.
Nowhere was the emotion stronger than in Rouen Cathedral, near Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, where the elderly priest had his throat slit in church, in the name ofISIL.
“It is the same God. It is the house of God,” said one Muslim woman, among at least 100 who attended the Rouen service in a cathedral packed with nearly 2,000 worshippers.
France’s Muslim Council urged those who follow Islam to attend Mass this Sunday.
“It is a symbol. We want the spilled blood of Jacques Hamel to act as cement for more fraternity, more equality and greater ties between the communities,” said Mohammed Karabila, the President of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray mosque.
Nuns held hostage amid Tuesday’s bloodshed and members of Jacques Hamel’s family also attended the service in Rouen.
Muslims nationwide also answered the call to join Catholics at their Sunday Mass.
With the priest’s teenage killers shot dead by police, the investigation is now broadening to see what help they may have had in committing France’s latest terrorist murder.
A cousin of one of the pair, Abdel Malik Petitjean, has now been charged with a terror-related offence.
Prosecutors have said the 30-year-old, identified only as Farid K., was well aware his cousin was about to commit a violent attack, albeit without knowing the time or place.
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Country Living by Ellen G. White
Foreword
Country Living was first published in 1946. Its counsels and warnings have challenged many Seventh-day Adventists to examine carefully the effects of urban living on their lives and to reevaluate where they choose to live. It has highlighted the dangers of involvement with labor unions and other sources of party strife in the cities. At the same time, it has helped those with a burden for city evangelism to consider how best to be inthe world but not of the world.
With the end of time approaching, this instruction is more relevant than ever. A new generation of believers will find these counsels opening horizons to them that they had not envisioned.
The writings of Ellen G. White repeatedly urge the advantages of country living. As conditions in our world build toward the final events, Seventh-day Adventists recall the Lord's instruction about leaving the cities, with their congestion, corruption, and conflicts. The cities do not provide a wholesome environment for Christian families.
Yet the counsels in this booklet also warn against acting rashly. Each person or family should study the instruction, think and pray about it, identify and evaluate the options, and ask God to make His leading clear.
God's people “Desire a better country, that is, an heavenly” (Hebrews 11:16). No place on earth can equal that home that God is preparing for us. Yet we may bring something of the heavenly country's atmosphere into our homes here, especially in rural settings. Thus, we believe that the inspired counsels set forth in this small volume will be appreciated by every Seventh-day Adventist.
The Trustees of the
Ellen G. White Publications
Table of Contents
A Call to Leave the Cities --- 5
Avoiding Labor Conflicts --- 9
An Appeal to Parents --- 12
Occupations in Rural Locations --- 17
Preparing for the Sunday Law Crisis --- 20
Colonizing at Institutional Centers ---21
Guided by God's Providences ---24
Our Institutional Centers to Be Away From Congested Areas --- 28
Emergency Flight in Closing Conflict --- 32
(Down-load booklet in PDF)
Or
Country Living
Narrated by Ralph Martin
Narrated by Ralph Martin
Saturday, July 30, 2016
San Antonio LGBT Chamber of Commerce host active shooter training
BY CAMILLA RAMBALDI
FRIDAY, JULY 29TH 2016
SAN ANTONIO - After the deadly attacks at an Orlando nightclub last month, San Antonio's LGBT Chamber of Commerce teamed up with one organization to provide active shooter training.
“It is not just the disgruntled employee now it is also terrorist attacks,” says Ryan Searles, Espada Services training manager.
Searles is teaching others how to stay safe right here in San Antonio.
“Reinforce security and be prepared for an event like this,” he says.
Manny Cosme, one of the training attendees, says he thinks about the dangers often.
“It is very scary I think it is definitely on the fore front of people's minds.”
Just last weekend, Cosme says he was at a nightclub when the fear came to him.
“There was a moment where I stopped and in the back of my mind it was like oh my gosh this is what happened at that night club a few weeks ago,” explains Cosme.
According to Searles, the biggest factor is being aware of surroundings and to look for exits.
“How do you respond what do you do to get out of the situation and survive it.”
Searles also says it is important to pay attention to signals.
“Avoid is if you can get away from the situation get away from the shooter do so.”
Members of San Antonio’s LGBT Chamber of Commerce say they are beyond thankful for the training Thursday night.
“At least now we can refer to something,” adds Cosme.
SAN ANTONIO - After the deadly attacks at an Orlando nightclub last month, San Antonio's LGBT Chamber of Commerce teamed up with one organization to provide active shooter training.
“It is not just the disgruntled employee now it is also terrorist attacks,” says Ryan Searles, Espada Services training manager.
Searles is teaching others how to stay safe right here in San Antonio.
“Reinforce security and be prepared for an event like this,” he says.
Manny Cosme, one of the training attendees, says he thinks about the dangers often.
“It is very scary I think it is definitely on the fore front of people's minds.”
Just last weekend, Cosme says he was at a nightclub when the fear came to him.
“There was a moment where I stopped and in the back of my mind it was like oh my gosh this is what happened at that night club a few weeks ago,” explains Cosme.
According to Searles, the biggest factor is being aware of surroundings and to look for exits.
“How do you respond what do you do to get out of the situation and survive it.”
Searles also says it is important to pay attention to signals.
“Avoid is if you can get away from the situation get away from the shooter do so.”
Members of San Antonio’s LGBT Chamber of Commerce say they are beyond thankful for the training Thursday night.
“At least now we can refer to something,” adds Cosme.
An After School Satan Club could be coming to your kid’s elementary school
By Katherine Stewart
Education
July 30 at 4:21 PM
Doug Mesner, who goes by the professional name Lucien Greaves, is co-founder and spokesman for the Satanic Temple, a group of political activists who are seeking to establish After School Satan Clubs as a counterpart to fundamentalist Christian Good News Clubs, which they see as an attempt to infiltrate public education and erode the constitutional separation of church and state. (Josh Reynolds/For The Washington Post)
SALEM, Mass. —It’s a hot summer night, and leaders of the Satanic Temple have gathered in the crimson-walled living room of a Victorian manse in this city renowned for its witch trials in the 17th century. They’re watching a sepia-toned video, in which children dance around a maypole, a spider crawls across a clown’s face and eerie, ambient chanting gives way to a backwards, demonic voice-over. The group chuckles with approval.
They’re here plotting to bring their wisdom to the nation’s public elementary school children. They point out that Christian evangelical groups already have infiltrated the lives of America’s children through after-school religious programming in public schools, and they appear determined to give young students a choice: Jesus or Satan.
Doug Mesner, who goes by the professional name Lucien Greaves, is co-founder and spokesman for the Satanic Temple, a group of political activists who are seeking to establish After School Satan Clubs as a counterpart to fundamentalist Christian Good News Clubs, which they see as an attempt to infiltrate public education and erode the constitutional separation of church and state. (Josh Reynolds/For The Washington Post)
SALEM, Mass. —It’s a hot summer night, and leaders of the Satanic Temple have gathered in the crimson-walled living room of a Victorian manse in this city renowned for its witch trials in the 17th century. They’re watching a sepia-toned video, in which children dance around a maypole, a spider crawls across a clown’s face and eerie, ambient chanting gives way to a backwards, demonic voice-over. The group chuckles with approval.
They’re here plotting to bring their wisdom to the nation’s public elementary school children. They point out that Christian evangelical groups already have infiltrated the lives of America’s children through after-school religious programming in public schools, and they appear determined to give young students a choice: Jesus or Satan.
The Final Warning
CHAPTER 38
"I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird." "And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues." Revelation 18:1, 2, 4.
This scripture points forward to a time when the announcement of the fall of Babylon, as made by the second angel of Revelation 14 (verse 8), is to be repeated, with the additional mention of the corruptions which have been entering the various organizations that constitute Babylon, since that message was first given, in the summer of 1844. A terrible condition of the religious world is here described. With every rejection of truth the minds of the people will become darker, their hearts more stubborn, until they are entrenched in an infidel hardihood. In defiance of the warnings which God has given, they will continue to trample upon one of the precepts of the Decalogue, until they are led to persecute those who hold it sacred. Christ is set at nought in the contempt placed upon His word and His people. As the teachings of spiritualism are accepted by the churches, the
604
restraint imposed upon the carnal heart is removed, and the profession of religion will become a cloak to conceal the basest iniquity. A belief in spiritual manifestations opens the door to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, and thus the influence of evil angels will be felt in the churches.
Of Babylon, at the time brought to view in this prophecy, it is declared: "Her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities." Revelation 18:5. She has filled up the measure of her guilt, and destruction is about to fall upon her. But God still has a people in Babylon; and before the visitation of His judgments these faithful ones must be called out, that they partake not of her sins and "receive not of her plagues." Hence the movement symbolized by the angel coming down from heaven, lightening the earth with his glory and crying mightily with a strong voice, announcing the sins of Babylon. In connection with his message the call is heard: "Come out of her, My people." These announcements, uniting with the third angel's message, constitute the final warning to be given to the inhabitants of the earth.
Fearful is the issue to which the world is to be brought. The powers of earth, uniting to war against the commandments of God, will decree that "all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond" (Revelation 13:16), shall conform to the customs of the church by the observance of the false sabbath. All who refuse compliance will be visited with civil penalties, and it will finally be declared that they are deserving of death. On the other hand, the law of God enjoining the Creator's rest day demands obedience and threatens wrath against all who transgress its precepts.
With the issue thus clearly brought before him, whoever shall trample upon God's law to obey a human enactment receives the mark of the beast; he accepts the sign of allegiance to the power which he chooses to obey instead of God. The warning from heaven is: "If any man worship the beast
They are new every morning: Great is thy faithfulness.
I Am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.
2 He hath led me, and brought me into darkness, but not into light.
3 Surely against me is he turned; he turneth his hand against me all the day.
4 My flesh and my skin hath he made old; he hath broken my bones.
5 He hath builded against me, and compassed me with gall and travail.
6 He hath set me in dark places, as they that be dead of old.
7 He hath hedged me about, that I cannot get out: he hath made my chain heavy.
8 Also when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer.
9 He hath inclosed my ways with hewn stone, he hath made my paths crooked.
10 He was unto me as a bear lying in wait, and as a lion in secret places.
11 He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces: he hath made me desolate.
12 He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow.
13 He hath caused the arrows of his quiver to enter into my reins.
14 I was a derision to all my people; and their song all the day.
15 He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath made me drunken with wormwood.
16 He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones, he hath covered me with ashes.
17 And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace: I forgat prosperity.
18 And I said, My strength and my hope is perished from the Lord:
19 Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall.
20 My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me.
21 This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.
22 It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
24 The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.
25 The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.
26 It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.
27 It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.
28 He sitteth alone and keepeth silence, because he hath borne it upon him.
29 He putteth his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope.
30 He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him: he is filled full with reproach.
31 For the Lord will not cast off for ever:
32 But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies.
33 For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men.
34 To crush under his feet all the prisoners of the earth.
35 To turn aside the right of a man before the face of the most High,
36 To subvert a man in his cause, theLord approveth not.
37 Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not?
38 Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not evil and good?
39 Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins?
40 Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord.
41 Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens.
42 We have transgressed and have rebelled: thou hast not pardoned.
43 Thou hast covered with anger, and persecuted us: thou hast slain, thou hast not pitied.
44 Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud, that our prayer should not pass through.
45 Thou hast made us as the offscouring and refuse in the midst of the people.
46 All our enemies have opened their mouths against us.
47 Fear and a snare is come upon us, desolation and destruction.
48 Mine eye runneth down with rivers of water for the destruction of the daughter of my people.
49 Mine eye trickleth down, and ceaseth not, without any intermission.
50 Till the Lord look down, and behold from heaven.
51 Mine eye affecteth mine heart because of all the daughters of my city.
52 Mine enemies chased me sore, like a bird, without cause.
53 They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and cast a stone upon me.
54 Waters flowed over mine head; then I said, I am cut off.
55 I called upon thy name, O Lord, out of the low dungeon.
56 Thou hast heard my voice: hide not thine ear at my breathing, at my cry.
57 Thou drewest near in the day that I called upon thee: thou saidst, Fear not.
58 O Lord, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul; thou hast redeemed my life.
59 O Lord, thou hast seen my wrong: judge thou my cause.
60 Thou hast seen all their vengeance and all their imaginations against me.
61 Thou hast heard their reproach, OLord, and all their imaginations against me;
62 The lips of those that rose up against me, and their device against me all the day.
63 Behold their sitting down, and their rising up; I am their musick.
64 Render unto them a recompence, O Lord, according to the work of their hands.
65 Give them sorrow of heart, thy curse unto them.
66 Persecute and destroy them in anger from under the heavens of theLord.
Lamentations, Chapter 3.
Muslim Blasts Extremists at Friday Prayer With Christians
By ALEX TURNBULL AND ELAINE GANLEY, ASSOCIATED PRESSSAINT-ETIENNE-DU-ROUVRAY, France — Jul 29, 2016, 3:28 PM ET
The Associated Press
Muslim worshippers walk out after the friday prayer at the Yahya Mosque, in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, Normandy, France, Friday, July 29, 2016. Four days after the hostage taking in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, officials and worshippers of the muslim community paid tribute to Priest Jacques Hamel and Christian community. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)
Muslims and Catholics joined in Friday prayers at the mosque in the Normandy town where an elderly priest was slain this week, with one imam chastising the extremists as non-Muslims who are "not part of civilization."
Muslims came from other parts of France for the service shared with Christians.
The killing Tuesday of 85-year-old Rev. Jacques Hamel as he celebrated morning Mass sent shockwaves around France and deeply touched many among the nation's 5 million Muslims. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack, as well as the July 14 truck attack in Nice, where 84 people were killed by a man who plowed his truck down a seaside promenade.
The head of the main Muslim umbrella group, Anouar Kbibech, who attended Friday's gathering, reiterated a call for Muslims to visit churches on Sunday to show solidarity with Christians as they pray. But one imam made a rare direct strike at the killers who claimed to act in the name of Allah.
"You have the wrong civilization, because you are not a part of civilization. You have the wrong humanity, because you are not a part of humanity," said Abdelatif Hmitou. "You have the wrong idea about us (Muslims), and we won't forgive you for this."
"How," he asked, addressing the extremists, "did the idea reach your mind that we might loathe those who helped us ... to pray to Allah in this town? How could you think that, Mr. killer? Mr. criminal?"
He was referring to the help by the Sainte Therese church, which is adjacent to the mosque in the northwestern town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray. The church sold the plot to Muslims for a symbolic sum so they could build a house of worship.
The two 19-year-old attackers were killed Tuesday by police as they left St. Etienne church, where they had held two nuns and an elderly couple hostage as they slit the priest's throat. A third nun escaped and gave the alert. That church has now been sealed shut.
Another 19-year-old was handed preliminary charges on Friday for "criminal terrorist association" after investigators found a video at his home showing one of the slain teens — Abdel Malik Nabil Petitjean — warning of a "violent action" to come, a judicial official said. The discovery was made a day before the church attack when the man was arrested.
While investigators are seeking information on the July 26 church attack, they were also making arrests in the Nov. 13 Paris attacks that killed 130 victims. An Algerian and a Pakistani transferred recently to France from Austria were also handed preliminary charges Friday of "criminal terrorist association," the official said.
Investigators were reaching across France to unravel the church attack plot. A Syrian refugee was detained on Thursday in the Allier region of central France because a photocopy of his passport was found at the home of one of the attackers killed by police, Adel Kermiche, the official said.
Also being held was a cousin of Kermiche's accomplice, Petitjean, on suspicion he was aware of the attack plan based on information culled from social networks, the judicial official said, speaking on customary condition of anonymity.
A 16-year-old arrested just after the attack remained in custody.
How Kermiche, from northwest Normandy, concocted the attack plot with Petitjean, from Aix-les-Bain in the Alps of eastern France, remained unclear. What is known is that Petitjean arrived in Kermiche's town just three days earlier, apparently staying at his home, according to the judicial official.
Kermiche wore a tracking bracelet after arrests with false ID's trying to go to Syria but had four hours a day of freedom. Petitjean had no criminal record.
Petitjean's identity was made public Thursday based on DNA tests. Anti-terrorist officials came close twice before the attack to identifying him as a threat. Four days before the attack, an alert with a photo of him went out to French police with a note he may be planning an attack — but the photo had no name. He was spotted in Turkey in June, but French authorities were alerted too late and he quickly returned to France.
Outside the mosque a sign read: "Mosque in mourning."
The Rev. Pierre Belhache, in charge of relations with the Muslim community, affirmed to the Muslim and Christian faithful that "we won't let anyone divide us. It is so rich to have these differences but still be together."
———
Elaine Ganley reported from Paris.
Muslims and Catholics joined in Friday prayers at the mosque in the Normandy town where an elderly priest was slain this week, with one imam chastising the extremists as non-Muslims who are "not part of civilization."
Muslims came from other parts of France for the service shared with Christians.
The killing Tuesday of 85-year-old Rev. Jacques Hamel as he celebrated morning Mass sent shockwaves around France and deeply touched many among the nation's 5 million Muslims. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack, as well as the July 14 truck attack in Nice, where 84 people were killed by a man who plowed his truck down a seaside promenade.
The head of the main Muslim umbrella group, Anouar Kbibech, who attended Friday's gathering, reiterated a call for Muslims to visit churches on Sunday to show solidarity with Christians as they pray. But one imam made a rare direct strike at the killers who claimed to act in the name of Allah.
"You have the wrong civilization, because you are not a part of civilization. You have the wrong humanity, because you are not a part of humanity," said Abdelatif Hmitou. "You have the wrong idea about us (Muslims), and we won't forgive you for this."
"How," he asked, addressing the extremists, "did the idea reach your mind that we might loathe those who helped us ... to pray to Allah in this town? How could you think that, Mr. killer? Mr. criminal?"
He was referring to the help by the Sainte Therese church, which is adjacent to the mosque in the northwestern town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray. The church sold the plot to Muslims for a symbolic sum so they could build a house of worship.
The two 19-year-old attackers were killed Tuesday by police as they left St. Etienne church, where they had held two nuns and an elderly couple hostage as they slit the priest's throat. A third nun escaped and gave the alert. That church has now been sealed shut.
Another 19-year-old was handed preliminary charges on Friday for "criminal terrorist association" after investigators found a video at his home showing one of the slain teens — Abdel Malik Nabil Petitjean — warning of a "violent action" to come, a judicial official said. The discovery was made a day before the church attack when the man was arrested.
While investigators are seeking information on the July 26 church attack, they were also making arrests in the Nov. 13 Paris attacks that killed 130 victims. An Algerian and a Pakistani transferred recently to France from Austria were also handed preliminary charges Friday of "criminal terrorist association," the official said.
Investigators were reaching across France to unravel the church attack plot. A Syrian refugee was detained on Thursday in the Allier region of central France because a photocopy of his passport was found at the home of one of the attackers killed by police, Adel Kermiche, the official said.
Also being held was a cousin of Kermiche's accomplice, Petitjean, on suspicion he was aware of the attack plan based on information culled from social networks, the judicial official said, speaking on customary condition of anonymity.
A 16-year-old arrested just after the attack remained in custody.
How Kermiche, from northwest Normandy, concocted the attack plot with Petitjean, from Aix-les-Bain in the Alps of eastern France, remained unclear. What is known is that Petitjean arrived in Kermiche's town just three days earlier, apparently staying at his home, according to the judicial official.
Kermiche wore a tracking bracelet after arrests with false ID's trying to go to Syria but had four hours a day of freedom. Petitjean had no criminal record.
Petitjean's identity was made public Thursday based on DNA tests. Anti-terrorist officials came close twice before the attack to identifying him as a threat. Four days before the attack, an alert with a photo of him went out to French police with a note he may be planning an attack — but the photo had no name. He was spotted in Turkey in June, but French authorities were alerted too late and he quickly returned to France.
Outside the mosque a sign read: "Mosque in mourning."
The Rev. Pierre Belhache, in charge of relations with the Muslim community, affirmed to the Muslim and Christian faithful that "we won't let anyone divide us. It is so rich to have these differences but still be together."
———
Elaine Ganley reported from Paris.
Friday, July 29, 2016
No time off for day of rest, Sunday shoppers
Opinion | Columns
13 hours ago | By Jim Thomas
JIM THOMAS
Is Sunday shopping taboo with you?
Do Sabbath treks to No Frills, Metro or Walmart prick your conscience? Or has the practice become a regular routine?
To find out, I recently visited each of these locations on a Sunday afternoon and was amazed at what I observed. All three stores were extremely busy with shoppers entering and exiting like any Friday or Saturday.
“What’s happening here?” I asked myself. “Does no one adhere to the biblical demand to “remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy” or “on the seventh day thou shalt rest?” Many don’t.
Despite the trend, I can’t bring myself to join the crowd although, at the same time admitting that, on occasions, I’ve visited Mac’s or Shoppers on a Sunday to pick up a bag of milk for wife Jean’s Monday morning Cheerios. But that’s the limit. There are six other days (and nights) in the week to accomplish these duties.
However, there’s no denying the fact I’m out of step with the rest of Stouffville’s populace. The Sabbath has seemingly become just another day in the week for most people. I think it’s sad.
JIM THOMAS
Is Sunday shopping taboo with you?
Do Sabbath treks to No Frills, Metro or Walmart prick your conscience? Or has the practice become a regular routine?
To find out, I recently visited each of these locations on a Sunday afternoon and was amazed at what I observed. All three stores were extremely busy with shoppers entering and exiting like any Friday or Saturday.
“What’s happening here?” I asked myself. “Does no one adhere to the biblical demand to “remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy” or “on the seventh day thou shalt rest?” Many don’t.
Despite the trend, I can’t bring myself to join the crowd although, at the same time admitting that, on occasions, I’ve visited Mac’s or Shoppers on a Sunday to pick up a bag of milk for wife Jean’s Monday morning Cheerios. But that’s the limit. There are six other days (and nights) in the week to accomplish these duties.
However, there’s no denying the fact I’m out of step with the rest of Stouffville’s populace. The Sabbath has seemingly become just another day in the week for most people. I think it’s sad.
Looking back – at age 87
I’m continually looking back – Sunday traditions were different. Would you believe we kids weren’t even allowed to shine our shoes? No way. This task was completed Saturday night.
So were all other forms of so-called unnecessary work. Certainly, cows had to be milked and eggs had to be gathered but these duties were considered essential. Common sense prevailed.
However, many times my dad threatened to haul in an extra load of hay because rain was in the weather forecast. But never did.
“You’ll bring the wrath of God down on this house,” my mother would say. The warning was sufficient to change his mind.
Much the same rigid ruling applied to sports. Pond hockey and back yard baseball were OK but anything of a competitive nature was frowned upon. These restrictions were eased somewhat as we grew older. While my parents enjoyed card games, particularly euchre, these also were forbidden. Attending church and Sunday school were priorities not subject to debate.
This was the way of Ontario’s world back then including our big cities. In Toronto, baseball games at the old Fleet St. flats couldn’t begin until 2 p.m. There were no hockey nights on Sundays and all theatres were closed. Open restaurants and coffee shops were few and far between. One could shoot a cannon up and down Yonge Street without striking a single car or pedestrian.
Toronto’s ‘Blue Sunday’ law came under harsh criticism by the daily media, so much so, in 1990, the Retail Business Holiday Act was ruled unconstitutional by the Ontario Supreme Court. A year later, this decision was reversed, then changed again in 1992.
With Markham’s Markville Shopping Centre in full swing, considerable pressure was exerted on Stouffville businesses to follow suit. This resulted in a war of words between a local clothier and shoe retailer. Eventually, both closed up shop.
We’re not even talking about the growing number of malls and businesses that are open on holidays, including next Monday’s Simcoe/Civic holiday.
As an example of how far we’ve come in this regard in the last century, a Sunday Laws pronouncement dated 1911 spelled out the following prohibited commands:
• No work by labourers including mechanics and manufacturers.
• No farm work including seeding, harvesting, fencing and ditching.
• No railway work.
• No building.
• No baking or barbering.
• No sports for financial gain.
• No excursions for hire by train or by steamer.
• No advertising.
• No actions that diminish the public quiet including gambling, tippling or use of profane language.
• No public meetings except in churches.
• No hunting, fishing or shooting in any public places or locations within sight of places of public worship or private residences.
Penalties were posted ranging from $5 to $25.
While downtown Stouffville has little changed, surrounding areas have fallen in line with service demands. That once respected ‘day of rest’ has been set aside, never to return.
The almighty dollar’s in control.
Jim Thomas is a Stouffville resident who has written for area newspapers for more than 65 years.
So were all other forms of so-called unnecessary work. Certainly, cows had to be milked and eggs had to be gathered but these duties were considered essential. Common sense prevailed.
However, many times my dad threatened to haul in an extra load of hay because rain was in the weather forecast. But never did.
“You’ll bring the wrath of God down on this house,” my mother would say. The warning was sufficient to change his mind.
Much the same rigid ruling applied to sports. Pond hockey and back yard baseball were OK but anything of a competitive nature was frowned upon. These restrictions were eased somewhat as we grew older. While my parents enjoyed card games, particularly euchre, these also were forbidden. Attending church and Sunday school were priorities not subject to debate.
This was the way of Ontario’s world back then including our big cities. In Toronto, baseball games at the old Fleet St. flats couldn’t begin until 2 p.m. There were no hockey nights on Sundays and all theatres were closed. Open restaurants and coffee shops were few and far between. One could shoot a cannon up and down Yonge Street without striking a single car or pedestrian.
Toronto’s ‘Blue Sunday’ law came under harsh criticism by the daily media, so much so, in 1990, the Retail Business Holiday Act was ruled unconstitutional by the Ontario Supreme Court. A year later, this decision was reversed, then changed again in 1992.
With Markham’s Markville Shopping Centre in full swing, considerable pressure was exerted on Stouffville businesses to follow suit. This resulted in a war of words between a local clothier and shoe retailer. Eventually, both closed up shop.
We’re not even talking about the growing number of malls and businesses that are open on holidays, including next Monday’s Simcoe/Civic holiday.
As an example of how far we’ve come in this regard in the last century, a Sunday Laws pronouncement dated 1911 spelled out the following prohibited commands:
• No work by labourers including mechanics and manufacturers.
• No farm work including seeding, harvesting, fencing and ditching.
• No railway work.
• No building.
• No baking or barbering.
• No sports for financial gain.
• No excursions for hire by train or by steamer.
• No advertising.
• No actions that diminish the public quiet including gambling, tippling or use of profane language.
• No public meetings except in churches.
• No hunting, fishing or shooting in any public places or locations within sight of places of public worship or private residences.
Penalties were posted ranging from $5 to $25.
While downtown Stouffville has little changed, surrounding areas have fallen in line with service demands. That once respected ‘day of rest’ has been set aside, never to return.
The almighty dollar’s in control.
Jim Thomas is a Stouffville resident who has written for area newspapers for more than 65 years.
The Vatican's Jesuit moment
At the cutting edge
Mar 14th 2013, 18:17 BY B.C.
WHETHER you admire them or fear them, theJesuits have a great mystique. Now that a pope has emerged from the Society of Jesus, for the first time in its five centuries of history, fascination with them is bound to grow. We can all expect to hear a lot of good and bad things about the Jesuits in the days and weeks to come.
So what can be said about them for certain? They are the largest religious order within the Catholic church, with about 18,000 members, of whom 12,000 or so have undergone a long and rigorous training (at least eight years) to become priests. Since its foundation in 1540, by Ignatius of Loyola, and six of his fellow students at the university of Paris, the Society of Jesus has had a reputation for brains, energy and independence.
In different ways, the Jesuits have always been at the outer edge of the Catholic world: delving deeply into foreign languages, cultures and faiths, in the ultimate hope of converting people to Christianity but in a spirit of deep and skilfully applied empathy. They brought the Christian faith to Japan, to Quebec, to the indigenous peoples of South America, always immersing themselves in the local tongue and way of life. If the Western world knows anything about China's greatest philosopher, and calls him by the Latinised name Confucius, it is because of reports sent back by the Jesuit scholar Matteo Ricci, who thought that Christianity and Confucianism were compatible.
From the very start, the Jesuits were powerful and controversial. An early Jesuit mission exercised huge influence in Japan until it was suppresssed after a few decades and Christianity went underground for three centuries. The Jesuits' current leader, or superior-general, is a Spanish Japanologist, Adolfo Nicolás. Call them cultural imperialists if you like, but the Jesuits were nobody's placemen. They were spearheads for Portuguese influence in places ranging from Brazil to Goa to Macau but they didn't always endear themselves to the authorities in Lisbon; in 1759 they were expelled from the Portugese empire. In Latin America, they set up indigenous communities on the banks of the Uruguay and Paraná rivers called "reducciones". One of the stated purposes was to protect people from slavery; it was even claimed that they were bringing to life Plato's vision of an ideal republic.
And even now, the Jesuits are a challenging, contradictory bunch. They include some of Catholicism's sharpest critics of Islam, such as the Egyptian-born Samir Khalil Samir, who has urged the Vatican not to go far in its overtures to Muslims; and some of the church's most sympathetic observers of Islam, such as Thomas Michel who is an avowed admirer of the Turkish-born preacher Fethullah Gulen. A Jesuit who used to live in Syria, Paolo Dall'Oglio, has spoken out in favour of that country's armed opposition: he is the author of a book entitled "In love with Islam, Believing in Jesus". Jacques Dupuis, an influential Belgian-born Jesuit who lived mostly in India and studied Hinduism, was called to order by the Vatican for appearing to question the role of Jesus Christ as a source of absolute truth.
In the West, the Jesuits' huge prestige in the world of education has been overshadowed by child-abuse scandals. Jesuits in the northwestern United States paid out$166m to victims (mainly indigenous) of child abuse in schools. One of the order's best-known American members, the travelling preacher Donald McGuire, was exposed as a serial abuser and sent to jail for 25 years, to the acute embarrassment of senior Jesuits who had failed to respond to complaints.
Some hope that Jesuit energy and brainpower can be deployed in the struggle against child abuse. In Germany it was a Jesuit school director, Klaus Mertes, who made waves in 2010 by exposing the record of abuse at his own and many other Catholic schools.
Whether they use their knowledge responsibly or otherwise, the Jesuits are certainly privy to a lot of sensitive information. I can vouch for that. I once asked the late Miguel Arranz, a Spanish Jesuit who served as Russian interpreter to three popes, whether it was true that a senior Russian bishop, Metropolitan Nikodim of Leningrad, had died during an audience with John Paul I, the Italian pope who reigned for a few weeks in September 1978. And was it true, as rumour had it, that the Russian had dropped dead in the bewildered pope's arms? "In fact, it was my arms he dropped into," the scholar wistfully told me, before confirming that in other respects that the story was accurate.
Navy to Name Ship After Gay Rights Activist Harvey Milk
USNI News
US Navy portrait of then Ens. Harvey Milk.
The Navy is set to name a ship after the gay rights icon and San Francisco politician Harvey Milk, according to a Congressional notification obtained by USNI News.
The July 14, 2016 notification, signed by Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus, indicated he intended to name a planned Military Sealift Command fleet oiler USNSHarvey Milk (T-AO-206). The ship would be the second of the John Lewis-class oilers being built by General Dynamics NASSCO in San Diego, Calif.
The Secretary of the Navy’s office is deferring releasing additional information until the naming announcement, a Navy official told USNI News on Thursday.
Mabus has said the John Lewis-class – named after civil rights activist and congressman Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) – would be named after civil rights leaders.
Other names in the class include former Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren whose court ruled to desegregate U.S. schools, former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, women’s right activist Lucy Stone and abolitionist and women’s rights activist Sojourner Truth.
Mabus has also named ships in the past for other civil rights icons, including the Lewis and Clark-class dry cargo ships USNS Medgar Evers (T-AKE-13) and USNS Cesar Chavez (T-AKE-14).
Milk came from a Navy family and commissioned in the service in 1951. He served as a diving officer in San Diego during the Korean War on the submarine rescue ship Kittiwake until 1955. Milk was honorably discharged from the service as a lieutenant junior grade.
Following his service, Milk was elected to the San Francisco board of supervisors and was the first openly gay California politician to be elected to office. He was killed in office in 1978. When Milk was shot he was wearing his U.S. Navy diver’s belt buckle.
Over the last several years, there have been pushes from California politicians to have a ship named for Milk since the 2011 repeal of the Department of Defense’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” policy.
Naming a ship after Milk, “will further send a green light to all the brave men and women who serve our nation that honesty, acceptance and authenticity are held up among the highest ideals of our military,” said Milk’s nephew Stuart Milk in a statement to San Diego LGBT Weekly in 2012.
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Milk came from a Navy family and commissioned in the service in 1951. He served as a diving officer in San Diego during the Korean War on the submarine rescue ship Kittiwake until 1955. Milk was honorably discharged from the service as a lieutenant junior grade.
Following his service, Milk was elected to the San Francisco board of supervisors and was the first openly gay California politician to be elected to office. He was killed in office in 1978. When Milk was shot he was wearing his U.S. Navy diver’s belt buckle.
Over the last several years, there have been pushes from California politicians to have a ship named for Milk since the 2011 repeal of the Department of Defense’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” policy.
Naming a ship after Milk, “will further send a green light to all the brave men and women who serve our nation that honesty, acceptance and authenticity are held up among the highest ideals of our military,” said Milk’s nephew Stuart Milk in a statement to San Diego LGBT Weekly in 2012.
Related
About Sam LaGrone
Sam LaGrone is the editor of USNI News. He was formerly the U.S. Maritime Correspondent for the Washington D.C. bureau of Jane’s Defence Weekly and Jane’s Navy International. He has covered legislation, acquisition and operations for the Sea Services and spent time underway with the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps and the Canadian Navy.
The Latest: Police: San Diego officer faces long recovery
The Latest: Police: San Diego officer faces long recovery:
SAN DIEGO (AP) — The Latest on the shooting of two police officers in San Diego. (all times local):
SAN DIEGO (AP) — The Latest on the shooting of two police officers in San Diego. (all times local):
We Are in the Day of Atonement
We are in the great day of atonement, when our sins are, by confession and repentance, to go beforehand to judgment. God does not now accept a tame, spiritless testimony from His ministers. Such a testimony would not be present truth. The message for this time must be meat in due season to feed the church of God. But Satan has been
seeking gradually to rob this message of its power, that the people may not be prepared to stand in the day of the Lord.
In 1844 our great High Priest entered the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary, to begin the work of the investigative judgment. The cases of the righteous dead have been passing in review before God. When that work shall be completed, judgment is to be pronounced upon the living. How precious, how important are these solemn moments! Each of us has a case pending in the court of heaven. We are individually to be judged according to the deeds done in the body. In the typical service, when the work of atonement was performed by the high priest in the most holy place of the earthly sanctuary, the people were required to afflict their souls before God, and confess their sins, that they might be atoned for and blotted out. Will any less be required of us in this antitypical day of atonement, when Christ in the sanctuary above is pleading in behalf of His people, and the final, irrevocable decision is to be pronounced upon every case?
What is our condition in this fearful and solemn time? Alas, what pride is prevailing in the church, what hypocrisy, what deception, what love of dress, frivolity, and amusement, what desire for the supremacy! All these sins have clouded the mind, so that eternal things have not been discerned. Shall we not search the Scriptures, that we may know where we are in this world's history? Shall we not become intelligent in regard to the work that is being accomplished for us at this time, and the position that we as sinners should occupy while this work of atonement is going forward? If we have any regard for our souls’ salvation, we must make a decided change. We must seek the Lord with true penitence; we must with deep contrition of soul confess our sins, that they may be blotted out.
We must no longer remain upon the enchanted ground. We are fast approaching the close of our probation. Let every soul inquire, How do I stand before God? We know not how soon our names may be taken into the lips of Christ, and our cases be finally decided. What, oh, what will these decisions be! Shall we be counted with the righteous, or shall we be numbered with the wicked?
Selected Messages Book 1, pp.124-126.
Thursday, July 28, 2016
A new low for Jill Stein
Alex Brandon/Associated Press
Lexington physician Dr. Jill Stein is the presumptive Green Party presidential nominee.
Finally, Jill Stein’s moment has arrived. And boy, is it an ugly one.
The Lexington physician has run for many offices over the years: state rep, secretary of state, and governor (twice). Now, after having been the Green Party’s standard-bearer in 2012 (and winning 0.36% of the vote) she is once again running as the party’s candidate for president.
And this crazy, terrifying election cycle looks like it’ll be Stein’s most successful yet. Though it might be difficult to look at herself in the mirror afterward.
Hoping to draw the Bernie-or-bust folks to her cause, Stein has been in the thick of their protests at this week’s Democratic National Convention in Philly, her pox-on-both-their houses rhetoric a natural fit for heartbroken Sanders devotees disinclined to support Hillary Clinton.
In their view, Clinton is just as bad as Donald Trump — as bad as a man who daily sinks to levels one would have thought impossible, a narcissistic demagogue who invites an unfriendly nation to spy on a former secretary of state (He can always, always go lower, folks!). Some of them hate Clinton as much as some Republicans do, a few of them even taking up the shameful “lock her up” chant.
Jill Stein sees opportunity with Sanders supporters
The Green Party candidate from Lexington hopes to pick up some disheartened supporters of the US senator.
And Stein, seeing her opening, is right in there with them — and anybody else who can advance her candidacy, no matter how hostile they are to the causes for which she has fought her whole life.
“The scary things that Donald Trump says, Hillary Clinton has already done,” she told NPR a few days ago, “whether it’s massively deporting immigrants, whether it’s threatening nuclear warfare . . . ”
Whoa. Criticize the Obama administration’s record on deportations, or Clinton herself as too hawkish, sure. But making the Democrat’s shortcomings in those areas equivalent to those of a guy who wants to build a wall, expel millions, intimidate the press, revive torture, and have the military commit war crimes, is so ridiculous I feel stupid just typing it.
Oh, and did you notice something else, Greens? Trump is a climate change denier.
But apparently, that doesn’t matter. Not to Stein, who made a triumphant appearance inside the convention hall Tuesday to stir things up, an appearance encouraged by a Fox Business personality who seemed to be running the disruption. WGBH reporter Adam Reilly captured the circus on video, asking Stein whether she was concerned that her opposition to Clinton might tip the election to Trump.
She sure wasn’t. The rise of right-wing extremism in this country, Stein said, is being driven by NAFTA, globalization, and the big banks, all promoted by “the Clintons,” she said.
“Putting another Clinton in the White House will fan the flames of this right-wing extremism,” she said. “We have known that for a long time, ever since Nazi Germany.”
Hey, you’re off the hook, Adolf. Neoliberalism, not your unhinged demagoguery, brought us the Third Reich.
This is ridiculous. Stein is encouraging voters to let the perfect be the enemy of the sane.
Sanders fans have every right to be less than happy with Clinton. The primary wasn’t rigged, as some claim, but the hacked DNC e-mails reveal some tawdriness. Though the nominee has moved closer to their positions on a bunch of issues because of Sanders’ pressure, she doesn’t go far enough for them (or for me, on some things).
They also have a right to avoid voting for her — as long as they can make their peace with the fact that doing so makes Trump more likely to be elected.
But Stein can’t honestly argue Trump and Clinton are equally harmful to the causes she holds dear. Doing so advances her own political fortunes at the country’s expense.
Gee, that seems familiar. Maybe if Stein is looking for someone to compare
Source
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What is to prevent the world from becoming a second Sodom?
At the same time anarchy is seeking to sweep away all law, not only divine, but human. The centralizing of wealth and power; the vast combinations for the enriching of the few at the expense of the many; the combinations of the poorer classes for the defense of their interests and claims; the spirit of unrest, of riot and bloodshed; the world-wide dissemination of the same teachings that led to the French Revolution—all are tending to involve the whole world in a struggle similar to that which convulsed France.
Such are the influences to be met by the youth of today. To stand amidst such upheavals they are now to lay the foundations of character.
Such are the influences to be met by the youth of today. To stand amidst such upheavals they are now to lay the foundations of character.
Education (E.G. White), p.228.
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Adventist leaders call the murder in a Normandy Church ‘barbarity in a place of worship’
Leaders of the Seventh-day Adventist Churches in France express solidarity and compassion in light of the brutal killing of Father Jacques Hamel.
July 27, 2016 | Bern, Switzerland | UFA, CD-EUDNews
A priest was killed and another person seriously injured when two members from an Islamic extremist group stormed the Church of Saint-Etienne du Rouvray in Normandy, France, on July 26. The assailants slit the throat of Father Jacques Hamel, who was 85 years old.
In response, the Union of Federations of the Adventist Church in France (UFA) issued the following statement:
"Faced with such a barbarity in a place of worship, the Seventh-day Adventist Church in France, wants to express solidarity and compassion.
When a (Catholic) Church is desecrated, it is the believers who are suffering. Churches and places of worship are spaces of peace, prayer, sharing and refuge.
This escalation of brutality and heinous crimes committed by humans against other human is unjustifiable.
Despite all legitimate feelings of sadness and revolt, we must always continue to fight evil with good, and act for peace. We pray that God may change our hearts and minds.
The Adventist Church encourages its members to respect the dignity of all men, according to the gospel of Jesus Christ."
Source: "Adventist News Network"
Source
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The World Against God's People
July 28
The dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. Revelation 12:17.
Our people have been regarded as too insignificant to be worthy of notice, but a change will come. The Christian world is now making movements which will necessarily bring commandment-keeping people into prominence.
The whole world is to be stirred with enmity against Seventh-day Adventists, because they will not yield homage to the papacy, by honoring Sunday, the institution of this antichristian power. It is the purpose of Satan to cause them to be blotted from the earth, in order that his supremacy of the world may not be disputed.
Every position of truth taken by our people will bear the criticism of the greatest minds; the highest of the world's great men will be brought in contact with truth, and therefore every position we take should be critically examined and tested by the Scriptures. Now we seem to be unnoticed, but this will not always be. Movements are at work to bring us to the front, and if our theories of truth can be picked to pieces by historians or the world's greatest men, it will be done.
We must individually know for ourselves what is truth, and be prepared to give a reason of the hope that we have with meekness and fear, not in a proud, boasting, self-sufficiency, but with the spirit of Christ. We are nearing the time when we shall stand individually alone to answer for our belief.
We shall be attacked on every point; we shall be tried to the utmost. We do not want to hold our faith simply because it was handed down to us by our fathers. Such a faith will not stand the terrible test that is before us. We want to know why we are Seventh-day Adventists, what real reason we have for coming out from the world as a separate and distinct people....
The powers of darkness will open their batteries upon us; and all who are indifferent and careless, who have set their affections on their earthly treasure, and who have not cared to understand God's dealings with His people, will be ready victims. No power but a knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus, will ever make us steadfast; but with this, one may chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight.
Maranatha, p.217.
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Wednesday, July 27, 2016
Assange Timed WikiLeaks Release of Democratic Emails to Harm Hillary Clinton
By CHARLIE SAVAGE
10 hrs ago
WASHINGTON — Six weeks before the anti-secrecy organization WikiLeaks published an archive of hacked Democratic National Committee emails ahead of the Democratic convention, the organization’s founder, Julian Assange, foreshadowed the release — and made it clear that he hoped to harm Hillary Clinton’s chances of winning the presidency.
Mr. Assange’s remarks in a June 12 interviewunderscored that for all the drama of the discord that the disclosures have sown among supporters of Bernie Sanders — and of the unproven speculation that the Russian government provided the hacked data to WikiLeaks in order to help Donald J. Trump — the disclosures are also the latest chapter in the long-running tale of Mr. Assange’s battles with the Obama administration.
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In the interview, Mr. Assange told a British television host, Robert Peston of the ITV network, that his organization had obtained “emails related to Hillary Clinton which are pending publication,” which he pronounced “great.” He also suggested that he not only opposed her candidacy on policy grounds, but also saw her as a personal foe.
At one point, Mr. Peston said: “Plainly, what you are saying, what you are publishing, hurts Hillary Clinton. Would you prefer Trump to be president?”
Mr. Assange replied that what Mr. Trump would do as president was “completely unpredictable.” By contrast, he thought it was predictable that Mrs. Clinton would wield power in two ways he found problematic.
First, citing his “personal perspective,” Mr. Assange accused Mrs. Clinton of having been among those pushing to indict him after WikiLeaks disseminated a quarter of a million diplomatic cables during her tenure as secretary of state.
“We do see her as a bit of a problem for freedom of the press more generally,” Mr. Assange said.
(The cables, along with archives of military documents, were leaked by Pvt. Chelsea Manning, then known as Bradley Manning, who is serving a 35-year prison sentence. WikiLeaks also provided the documents to news outlets, including The New York Times. Despite a criminal investigation into Mr. Assange, he has not been charged; the status of that investigation is murky.)
In addition, Mr. Assange criticized Mrs. Clinton for pushing to intervene in Libya in 2011 when Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi was cracking down on Arab Spring protesters; he said that the result of the NATO air war was Libya’s collapse into anarchy, enabling the Islamic State to flourish.
“She has a long history of being a liberal war hawk, and we presume she is going to proceed” with that approach if elected president, he said.
In February, Mr. Assange said in an essay that a vote for Mrs. Clinton to become president amounted to “a vote for endless, stupid war.”
Efforts to reach Mr. Assange for comment were unsuccessful, and a Clinton campaign spokesman did not respond to an inquiry. In November 2010, when WikiLeaks and its news media partners began publishing the cables, Mrs. Clinton strongly condemned it.
“In addition to endangering particular individuals, disclosures like these tear at the fabric of the proper function of responsible government,” she said then.
Mr. Assange’s remarks last month received only scattered attention, in part because in the interview Mr. Peston appeared to mistakenly assume that WikiLeaks had obtained still-undisclosed emails from the private server Mrs. Clinton had used while secretary of state and kept cutting Mr. Assange off to ask about it.
But it now seems clearer that Mr. Assange was trying to talk about the Democratic National Committee emails.
(The confusion stemmed in part because Mr. Assange said in the interview that WikiLeaks had “published” her State Department emails. But it made a copy of the ones the department posted on its website and made them easier to search.)
Mr. Assange spoke from the Ecuadorean Embassy in London, where he has been holed up for four years. Sweden is seeking his extradition for an investigation into sexual misconduct allegations; his supporters have expressed fear that if he is arrested, he could be sent to the United States and prosecuted for publishing leaked documents.
After the Democratic chairwoman, Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, resigned Monday when Sanders supporters reacted angrily to revelations in the emails that party officials had privately rooted for Mrs. Clinton to win the presidential nomination, Mr. Assange told the news program “Democracy Now!” that he timed their release to coincide with the Democratic convention.
“Often it’s the case that we have to do a lot of exploration and marketing of the material we publish ourselves to get a big political impact for it,” he said. “But in this case, we knew, because of the pending D.N.C., because of the degree of interest in the U.S. election, we didn’t need to establish partnerships with The New York Times or The Washington Post.”
Asked on that program whether the Russian government gave him the emails, Mr. Assange said he never reveals sources but also that “no one knows who our source is.” He also said the Democratic National Committee might have been hacked on multiple occasions by different intruders.
WASHINGTON — Six weeks before the anti-secrecy organization WikiLeaks published an archive of hacked Democratic National Committee emails ahead of the Democratic convention, the organization’s founder, Julian Assange, foreshadowed the release — and made it clear that he hoped to harm Hillary Clinton’s chances of winning the presidency.
Mr. Assange’s remarks in a June 12 interviewunderscored that for all the drama of the discord that the disclosures have sown among supporters of Bernie Sanders — and of the unproven speculation that the Russian government provided the hacked data to WikiLeaks in order to help Donald J. Trump — the disclosures are also the latest chapter in the long-running tale of Mr. Assange’s battles with the Obama administration.
Sign Up For NYT Now's Morning Briefing Newsletter
In the interview, Mr. Assange told a British television host, Robert Peston of the ITV network, that his organization had obtained “emails related to Hillary Clinton which are pending publication,” which he pronounced “great.” He also suggested that he not only opposed her candidacy on policy grounds, but also saw her as a personal foe.
At one point, Mr. Peston said: “Plainly, what you are saying, what you are publishing, hurts Hillary Clinton. Would you prefer Trump to be president?”
Mr. Assange replied that what Mr. Trump would do as president was “completely unpredictable.” By contrast, he thought it was predictable that Mrs. Clinton would wield power in two ways he found problematic.
First, citing his “personal perspective,” Mr. Assange accused Mrs. Clinton of having been among those pushing to indict him after WikiLeaks disseminated a quarter of a million diplomatic cables during her tenure as secretary of state.
“We do see her as a bit of a problem for freedom of the press more generally,” Mr. Assange said.
(The cables, along with archives of military documents, were leaked by Pvt. Chelsea Manning, then known as Bradley Manning, who is serving a 35-year prison sentence. WikiLeaks also provided the documents to news outlets, including The New York Times. Despite a criminal investigation into Mr. Assange, he has not been charged; the status of that investigation is murky.)
In addition, Mr. Assange criticized Mrs. Clinton for pushing to intervene in Libya in 2011 when Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi was cracking down on Arab Spring protesters; he said that the result of the NATO air war was Libya’s collapse into anarchy, enabling the Islamic State to flourish.
“She has a long history of being a liberal war hawk, and we presume she is going to proceed” with that approach if elected president, he said.
In February, Mr. Assange said in an essay that a vote for Mrs. Clinton to become president amounted to “a vote for endless, stupid war.”
Efforts to reach Mr. Assange for comment were unsuccessful, and a Clinton campaign spokesman did not respond to an inquiry. In November 2010, when WikiLeaks and its news media partners began publishing the cables, Mrs. Clinton strongly condemned it.
“In addition to endangering particular individuals, disclosures like these tear at the fabric of the proper function of responsible government,” she said then.
Mr. Assange’s remarks last month received only scattered attention, in part because in the interview Mr. Peston appeared to mistakenly assume that WikiLeaks had obtained still-undisclosed emails from the private server Mrs. Clinton had used while secretary of state and kept cutting Mr. Assange off to ask about it.
But it now seems clearer that Mr. Assange was trying to talk about the Democratic National Committee emails.
(The confusion stemmed in part because Mr. Assange said in the interview that WikiLeaks had “published” her State Department emails. But it made a copy of the ones the department posted on its website and made them easier to search.)
Mr. Assange spoke from the Ecuadorean Embassy in London, where he has been holed up for four years. Sweden is seeking his extradition for an investigation into sexual misconduct allegations; his supporters have expressed fear that if he is arrested, he could be sent to the United States and prosecuted for publishing leaked documents.
After the Democratic chairwoman, Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, resigned Monday when Sanders supporters reacted angrily to revelations in the emails that party officials had privately rooted for Mrs. Clinton to win the presidential nomination, Mr. Assange told the news program “Democracy Now!” that he timed their release to coincide with the Democratic convention.
“Often it’s the case that we have to do a lot of exploration and marketing of the material we publish ourselves to get a big political impact for it,” he said. “But in this case, we knew, because of the pending D.N.C., because of the degree of interest in the U.S. election, we didn’t need to establish partnerships with The New York Times or The Washington Post.”
Asked on that program whether the Russian government gave him the emails, Mr. Assange said he never reveals sources but also that “no one knows who our source is.” He also said the Democratic National Committee might have been hacked on multiple occasions by different intruders.
Source
Eat, Pray, Starve: What Tim Kaine Didn’t Learn During His Time in Honduras
RELIGION
HONDURAS
TIM KAINE
The vice-presidential nominee supports policies that hurt the country that was the “turning point” in his life.
By Greg GrandinTwitter
TODAY 11:18 AM
Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine (AP Photo / Lauren Victoria Burke)
Early in Hillary Clinton’s primary contest against Bernie Sanders, Berta Cáceres, an indigenous environmental leader in Honduras, was murdered by a coup regime that Clinton, as Secretary of State, helped consolidate in power. Apart for one quick statement denying any wrongdoing—“simply nonsense,” a spokesman said of the charges that Clinton was in anyway responsible for Cáceres’s killing—the Clinton campaign largely ignored the issue. As far as I know, the only journalist who asked Clinton directly about Honduras was Juan González, during Clinton’s interview with the editorial board of the New York Daily News. Clinton provided a wordy and vague answer. She admitted that the situation was bad, that activists were being slaughtered, but insisted that at the time she “managed a very difficult situation, without bloodshed, without a civil war, that led to a new election. And I think that was better for the Honduran people.” For the most part, criticism of Clinton on Honduras largely stayed on the margins of the primary process, even as the killing in Honduras continued and evidenced mounted that Washington was once again was funding old-school death squads (see the invaluable investigation by Annie Bird).
Now, having beat back that part of the Democratic rank-and-file that cares about dead feminist activists in small third-world countries, the Clinton campaign has gone full Sun Tzi, turning its Honduran weak point into a strength, or, à la Karl Rove, its vulnerability into a virtue.
In picking Virginia Senator Tim Kaine as her running mate, the campaign has front-and-centered Honduras— as a victim of Clinton’s realpolitik neoliberalism but as a sacred space of healing poverty.
Kaine, a Catholic, spent nine months in Honduras, from 1980 to 1981, in the Jesuit mission in El Progreso, very close to the company towns and plantations of the storied multinational banana company, United Fruit.
The sojourn, Kaine says, changed his life. Honduras “was really the turning point in my life. I was at Harvard Law School and didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life. And I took a year off and worked with Jesuit missionaries in Honduras,” Kaine told CNN’s Candy Crowley. “Every day I think of the lessons I learned from my friends there,” Kaine said elsewhere. The experience, he says, set him on his life’s journey to fight for social justice. Honduras “made him who he is,”said Kaine’s mother, Kathleen.
Obama Opens Doors to More Central American Refugees
July 26, 20165:55 PM ET
RICHARD GONZALES
The Obama administration announced today that it is expanding a program that helps Central American refugees, including minors, to reunite with their families in the United States. The effort is designed to discourage people from leaving their homeland and flooding the southern U.S. border, say administration officials.
The program has three components.
First, it broadens the categories of people eligible to enter the U.S. to include siblings over the age of 21, parents of qualified children, and other "caregivers" when they accompany an unmarried minor child.
Second, with the assistance of a United Nations agency, the U.S. will screen applicants in their country of origin when they apply for refugee status.
Third, the government of Costa Rica has agreed to temporarily host up 200 migrants who are in the greatest need of protection. Administration officials called this a "Protective Transfer Arrangement."
At its core, the new effort signals an acknowledgement by the Obama administration that its program to stem the tide of families and children leaving Central America hasn't worked. The administration currently allows Central American minors to apply to join a parent who has legal status in the U.S.
"Our current efforts to date have been insufficient to address the number of people who may have legitimate refugee claims," said Amy Pope, White House Deputy Homeland Security Adviser.
"There are insufficient pathways for those people to present their claims for adjudication," said Pope, adding that the changes announced today will help insure "a safe and orderly processing" of asylum claims.
But administration officials said they don't know how many people could be eligible for refugee status under the expanded program. Thus far, they said, approximately 9,500 minors have applied to leave Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. According to Alejandro Mayorkas, Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security, 2,880 minors have been approved to reunite with their families in the U.S. and more than 600 already have arrived.
The number of Central American minors crossing the border surged in 2014, eased off in much of 2015, but resumed thereafter. According to the AP, since October 2015, more than 43,000 unaccompanied children have been caught crossing the border.
Tuesday, July 26, 2016
Did slaves really build the White House?
Jen Mills for Metro.co.uk
Tuesday 26 Jul 2016 1:16 pm
The White House (Picture: Getty)
First Lady Michelle Obama made a speech last night when she described waking up every morning ‘in a house built by slaves’.
She said the White House, America’s presidential residence, stood as a symbol of how much life had changed since the 1700s, as a black family now lived there.
Speaking at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, Mrs Obama said:
I wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves.
And I watch my daughters, two beautiful, intelligent, black young women, playing with their dogs on the White House lawn. And because of Hillary Clinton, my daughters and all our sons and daughters now take for granted that a woman can be president of the United States.
Read more: http://metro.co.uk/2016/07/26/did-slaves-really-build-the-white-house-6029823/#ixzz4FYZfHsk4
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Why Pope Francis may not be particularly welcome in Poland
James Macintyre
26 July 2016
Reuters
Pope Francis will be setting off shortly for World Youth Day in Krakow, Poland
On the face of it, Pope Francis's trip to Poland for World Youth Day (WYD), which begins tomorrow, will be a unifying triumph for him, the Church, the 2 million people gathering from 187 countries and for the devoutly Catholic country itself.
Yet beneath the surface, there is a tension between this Pope and a country which has veered towards a hard-right approach to immigration and which still sees John Paul II as "the Pope".
Last October, the ultra-conservative Law and Justice party (PiS) took power. Representatives of the PiS have long been involved in controversies and accusations of racism over the years.
At the same time as Pope Francis was calling on the world to open its arms to refugees amid Europe's worst migration crisis since World War II, Poland refused to take in newcomers because of supposed security risks.
And when on Maundy Thursday this year Francis washed the feet of three Muslim asylum seekers, there were "howls of criticism" and even "hate speech" in Poland, according to Polish media.
Ignacy Dudkiewicz, an editor for the Kontakt magazine told AFP that there was unprecedented online abuse aimed at the Pope following the gesture. "Francis has been dragged through the mud because of his position on refugees," he said.
True, Prime Minister Beata Szydlo released 803,000 Euros in funds for camps in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey just ahead of Francis's arrival. But critics dismissed it as a token move.
"Many here think the pontiff's message of mercy and compassion for refugees and the poor is exaggerated," said Zbigniew Nosowski, editor of the respected Catholic monthly Wiez.
Even Polish bishops failed to mention Pope Francis in their address to the faithful gathering for WYD, while John Paul II was referenced three times.
Dudkiewicz said: "Bishops here formally support the pontiff's message of hosting refugees, but they do so without much conviction."
He added that "the Polish Church is afraid of losing its position, both institutional and financial, he added.
Pawel Boryszewski, a sociologist of religion, said of Pope Francis's famously humble style: "The Polish hierarchy is very worried. A bishop on a bike and in sandals, this doesn't go down well here...Poles don't really know Francis, just like this Argentinian pope doesn't know Poland."
Jaroslaw Makowski, a liberal Polish theologian, said: "I am absolutely convinced the meeting between Francis and the Polish Church will be challenging for both sides. When he was invited to Poland in 2013, he was unknown... But after a few months it became clear he isn't what was expected...but someone who wants to shake up the Church and push it off the path familiar to the Polish Church."
Read more
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Monday, July 25, 2016
Black-clad knifeman goes on rampage at care centre near Tokyo, hacking at least 19 people to death
Black-clad knifeman goes on rampage at care centre near Tokyo, hacking at least 19 people to death: Black-clad knifeman goes on rampage at care centre near Tokyo, hacking at least 19 people to death in gruesome bloodbath
Energy mix in the EU after COP21
Energy mix in the EU after COP21: The time has come to make the Paris Agreement real. Renewables are the clear option in the new energy mix. Even in the face of difficulties, the EU should not be less ambitious.
AIDS2016 pushes faith communities to respond to epidemic’s new challenges
AIDS2016 pushes faith communities to respond to epidemic’s new challenges
A popular march through the streets of Durban, South Africa, demanding better funding for HIV and AIDS treatment during the 2016 International AIDS Conference.
25 July 2016
The 21st International AIDS Conference, which concluded July 22, had its normal dose of science speak, with seminars and workshops ranging from new vaccine trials to the testing of a vaginal ring that appears to dramatically lower the risk of HIV infection in women.
A biennial event, the 2016 Conference drew thousands of scientists, public-policy professionals, persons living with HIV and activists to Durban, South Africa, for the five-day gathering under the theme “Access Equity Rights Now.”
Yet from the very first day, it was clear that science is only part of the solution, because AIDS is more than a simple virus.
In the opening plenary, South African actress Charlize Theron declared, “AIDS does not discriminate on its own. It has no biological preference for black bodies, for women’s bodies, for gay bodies, for youth or for the poor. It doesn’t single out the vulnerable, the oppressed, or the abused. We single out the vulnerable, the oppressed, and the abused. We ignore them. We let them suffer. And then, we leave them to die.”
The role of faith communities
As faith leaders from around the world met before and during the conference to reflect on their own role in fighting the epidemic, they were repeatedly praised for the work they’ve done and then challenged to do more.
In an interfaith gathering on the eve of the conference organized by the World Council of Churches’ Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance (WCC-EAA), a top United Nations official warned the religious community that despite fewer people dying every year from AIDS, the wily virus refuses to go away.
“At the same time we are saving more lives than ever, the AIDS epidemic is coming back, it is rebounding and reemerging everywhere. The difference now to what we saw in the past is that the epidemic is much more selective, it’s affecting the ones you faith leaders care most about, the ones left behind, the last and the least in your societies. This is the modern shape of the AIDS epidemic,” said Luiz Loures, the deputy executive director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and assistant secretary-general of the United Nations.
Loures said the medical and scientific communities need to go beyond traditional approaches as they respond to the new challenges, and faith communities must play a central role.
“It’s not just medicines and what happens in clinical wards and health centers that will solve this crisis. At the end it’s about how we approach people, about ethics, about what brings us together to work for better societies, societies that our children will be proud to live in,” he said.
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