Tuesday, August 30, 2016
Good Shepherd Worshipers Gather For Vigil Outside Fire-Damaged Church « CBS Philly
Good Shepherd Worshipers Gather For Vigil Outside Fire-Damaged Church « CBS Philly
“We have Seventh Day Adventist, we have Baptist, we have non-denominational, we have Presbyterian, we have fellowship organizations, we are just a diverse group of worshipers right here,” said Reverend Anthony Jenkins.
Homeland eyes special declaration to take charge of elections
Homeland eyes special declaration to take charge of elections:
Even before the FBI identified new cyber attacks on two separate state election boards, the Department of Homeland Security began considering declaring the election a critical infrastructure, giving it the same control over security it has over Wall Street and and the electric power grid. The latest admissions of attacks could speed up that effort possibly including the upcoming presidential election, according to officials. We should carefully consider whether our election system, our election process, is critical infrastructure like the financial sector, like the power grid, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said. There's a vital national interest in our election process, so I do think we need to consider whether it should be considered by my department and others critical infrastructure, he said at media conference earlier this month hosted by the Christian Science Monitor.
Even before the FBI identified new cyber attacks on two separate state election boards, the Department of Homeland Security began considering declaring the election a critical infrastructure, giving it the same control over security it has over Wall Street and and the electric power grid. The latest admissions of attacks could speed up that effort possibly including the upcoming presidential election, according to officials. We should carefully consider whether our election system, our election process, is critical infrastructure like the financial sector, like the power grid, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said. There's a vital national interest in our election process, so I do think we need to consider whether it should be considered by my department and others critical infrastructure, he said at media conference earlier this month hosted by the Christian Science Monitor.
Out of county reader supports Sunday Hunting here
John Dahlia
10 hrs ago
Dear Editor:
While reading the Preston County News & Journal online edition, I came upon a survey regarding Sunday hunting. Sunday hunting on private land only with written permission will be on the November ballot in Preston County. The online survey gave two reasons for voting no on the issue. As an American, I simply cannot believe how anyone who enjoys freedom or respects the Constitution, can vote no.
The first reason given for voting no was that Sunday is a day set aside for rest, family, and religious activities. In my opinion, how I rest on Sunday is my personal decision just the same as mowing a lawn or going out to eat after church. After working six days, I decide how I rest on the land I pay taxes on. For me, rest occurs twenty feet up in a tree with a bow in my hand. You won’t hear me. You won’t see me. Quite simply, it doesn’t affect anyone. It is simply wrong to rob a hard working American of their choice of how to rest on Sunday. For many working Americans, they don’t even have the opportunity to rest on Sunday. I have never had a boss give me a day of rest on Sunday when their is work to be done.
I cannot think of a better bonding activity that hunting with my family after church. It is not a decision to do only one or the other, but both. Sunday hunting and church peacefully co-exist in 44 states and 21 counties in West Virginia, why would it not work in Preston County? Taking my child hunting after church reaffirms God’s message. I choose to see God’s message in the woods. All of the top ten church attendance states have Sunday hunting. To feel that it must be one or the other is a fallacy and conflicts with the First Amendment of the Constitution. Neighboring Maryland has Sunday hunting.
If you do not feel that Sunday hunting is for you, simply don’t participate. However, don’t choose for me what I do on my own land. If you want to make decisions on my land then please pay my taxes. We currently have too much government overreach and prohibiting Sunday hunting only adds to it.
The second reason given is that the other six days are adequate to meet hunter’s needs. This totally disregards the working man.
Having six other days to hunt might be good for the retired man, but what about the working man?
I urge all voters to vote yes this November. Keep hunters, and their wallets, in Preston County on Sunday.
Cory Boothe
Quinwood, Greenbrier County, WV
Editor John Dahlia can be reached at 304-276-1801 or by email at jdahlia@prestonnj.com.
Source
Monday, August 29, 2016
Sunday, August 28, 2016
Festival of Peace. Burkini Crisis. Catholic Vote '16. No Religious Exemption for Vaccines. Jesuit - SDAs
Published on Aug 27, 2016
Subjects Addressed: (1) The seventh part of God’s armor—Watch and Pray for Ourselves and Others. “Watch, Pray, and Work.”
(2) Fear is being used to bring about a one world government and religion, the mingling of Iron and Miry Clay. (11:30)
(3) Pope headed to Assisi to take part in “Festival of Peace” to unite civil leaders, religious leaders, and “nones.” (17:30)
(4) U.S. Catholic leaders and some of Iran's top religious figures issued a joint declaration: "We remain gravely concerned by the spread of extremist ideologies, often fueled by superficial and erroneous readings of religious texts, that negate the inherent worth and dignity of every person, regardless of religious belief," it continued. "We call upon religious and community leaders to confront the spread of such ideologies that induce sectarianism.” (21:25)
(5) “Nicolas Sarkozy Promises Nationwide Ban Of Burkinis If Elected” “The best way to ease tensions is to proscribe any outward signs of religion” in the public space. (27:30)
(6) “The Catholic vote in 2016.” “But they are important because they have voted for the winner of the popular vote in almost every presidential election since Theodore Roosevelt [1901 -1909].” “More than half of all U.S. Catholics (52 percent) would cast a vote for Democrat Hillary Clinton if the election were held today, compared to just 32 percent for Republican Donald J. Trump… Stephen Bannon had accused the Catholic Church of supporting immigration reform only to boost its own membership. I understand why Catholics want as many Hispanics in this country as possible, because the church is dying in this country, right? If it was not for the Hispanics.” (36:08)
(7) A federal judge won’t immediately block a California law that requires all schoolchildren to be vaccinated and is one of the strictest in the nation for eliminating exemptions based on religious and personal beliefs…A lawsuit filed by 17 families and two foundations sought an injunction while the lawsuit works its way through the courts. The law went into effect July 1 and eliminated religious and personal beliefs as reasons for opting out of the state’s mandatory immunizations…The ruling Friday by U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw in San Diego comes as the law faces its first test with the end of summer break. It requires all children be vaccinated before attending private or public schools or day care facilities unless doctors determine medical reasons for not doing so. Sabraw wrote in his ruling that “case law makes clear that States may impose mandatory vaccination requirements without providing for religious or conscientious objections.” Parents have argued the law violated a child’s constitutional right to an education. Those who sued pointed out that 47 states allow either a religious or personal belief exemption from school vaccination mandates. (48:10)
(8) “Dr. Ben Carson: No ‘Philosophical’ or ‘Religious’ Exemptions for Vaccinations.” (56:45)
(9) “Pew: Americans giving up on God, miracles.” A quarter of Americans have no religious ties as no time for church, disapproval at clergy sex scandals and a disbelief are blamed for the lack of faith. About a quarter of Americans are considered a 'religious none,' or people who are not affiliated with any religious group, says Pew Research Center. Of these people, half say they left because of a lack of belief. The majority of this group say they were 'disenchanted' with religion. About one fifth of people say they left because they dislike 'organized religion’. The number of people who left a religious life has gone from 16 percent in 2007 to 23 percent by last year. (1:12:20)
(10) Let the workers grasp the promises of God, saying, "Thou hast promised, 'Ask, and ye shall receive.' I must have this soul converted to Jesus Christ." Solicit prayer for the souls for whom you labor; present them before the church as objects for the supplication. It will be just what the church needs, to have their minds called from their little, petty difficulties, to feel a great burden, a personal interest, for a soul that is ready to perish. Select another and still another soul, daily seeking guidance from God, laying everything before Him in earnest prayer, and working in divine wisdom. As you do this, you will see that God will give the Holy Spirit to convict, and the power of the truth to convert, the soul.” {MM 244.4}.
Zimbabwe threatens to seize farms of party defectors
JOAO SILVA/NEW YORK TIMES
A worker shucked corn on a farm in Zimbabwe that may be seized because its owner opposes the rule of Robert Mugabe.
By Norimitsu Onishi
NEW YORK TIMES AUGUST 27, 2016
BINDURA, Zimbabwe — Dozens of angry young men jumped off a truck in front of Agrippah Mutambara’s gate, shouting obscenities and threatening to seize his 530-acre farm in the name of Zimbabwe’s president. They tried to scale the fence, scattering only when he raised and cocked his gun.
Zimbabwe made international headlines when it started seizing white-owned farms in 2000. But Mutambara is not a white farmer. Far from it, he is a hero of this country’s war of liberation who served as Zimbabwe’s ambassador to three nations over two decades.
But when he defected from President Robert Mugabe’s party to join the opposition a few months ago, he immediately put his farm at risk.
“When it was happening to the whites, we thought we were redressing colonial wrongs,” said Mutambara, 64, who got his farm after it had been seized from a white farmer. “But now we realize it’s also coming back to us. It’s also haunting us.”
Zimbabwe is suffering one of its worst economic crises in years. Banks have run out of cash. The government is struggling to pay its workers.
Public protests, including one in July that shut down the capital and a united show of force by the nation’s biggest opposition figures on Friday, have rattled Mugabe’s government.
Desperately seeking loans, Zimbabwean officials have visited Washington and European capitals in recent months, swallowing years of resentment toward the West to promise economic and political reforms, including ending the history of farm seizures.
Even Mugabe, now 92 years old and increasingly frail, has pledged to compensate white farmers.
But despite the promises, prized farms are at the center of heated political infighting in Zimbabwe. As the battle to succeed Mugabe intensifies, dozens of political figures who have fallen out of favor, like Mutambara, are facing the seizure of their farms.
With the economy in peril and the governing party split in a scramble for power, land is being used as a vital tool in the struggle for control.
“No one is safe,” said Temba Mliswa, 44, who was chairman of the governing party’s chapter in Mashonaland West province before his expulsion from the party in 2014.
Mliswa got a 2,000-acre farm belonging to a white Zimbabwean in 2005. When he took possession, Mliswa said, police officers beat the white farmer and his workers.
But last year, Mliswa said, hundreds of youths sent by the governing party invaded the farm again, destroying property and beating his workers. They eventually left, but one of Mugabe’s ministers recently held a rally in which he threatened to take Mliswa’s farm unless he stopped criticizing the president’s party.
“They use the land to control you,” Mliswa said.
Zimbabwe’s political uncertainty has weakened the economy, already hit hard by a severe drought and a fall in global commodity prices.
People have been hoarding cash — Zimbabwe adopted the American dollar in 2009 — and taking it out of the country, leaving bank ATMs empty.
Mugabe’s “Look East” campaign, which focused on attracting China as a counterweight to Western influence, has suffered from China’s economic slowdown and recent disagreements over economic policy, though billboards still laud China as Zimbabwe’s “all-weather friend.”
With few other options left, Mugabe’s government has turned to the International Monetary Fund, an organization he vilified in the past as an instrument of colonial domination.
In talks with the fund, the government has agreed to reforms in the hope that it will qualify for loans for the first time since 1999.
The fund has sent positive signals about government steps in areas like curbing the size of the public workforce and cleaning up the banking sector.
But significant hurdles remain. The Zimbabwean government must clear $1.8 billion it owes to the IMF, the World Bank and the African Development Bank. It must also convince the IMF, where a skeptical United States holds the most votes, that it is committed to change.
Resolving the land issue is central to reviving the country’s economy and reestablishing ties with Western governments.
Under a program financed by the European Union and the United Nations, the government has begun mapping the more than 6,000 commercial farms that have been seized.
For the first time, the government recently held a workshop on the compensation of white farmers. But compensation is another matter, and some analysts doubt that will happen while Mugabe is alive.
Beyond pride, settling land ownership could strip Mugabe of an important tool he has wielded over the political class.
Dozens are believed to be facing threats of losing their farms, according to former governing party members and the local news media.
Many were expelled from the governing party, ZANU-PF, in the past year because they were considered close to Joice Mujuru, a former vice president who was once regarded as Mugabe’s likely successor but was purged by Zimbabwe’s powerful first lady, Grace Mugabe.
And for all the talk of compensating white farmers, politically connected Zimbabweans are continuing to grab white-owned farms.
This year, a white Zimbabwean couple were expelled by police officers from their 2,000-acre tobacco farm. The new owner was a Zimbabwean medical doctor living in England; the media uncovered photographs showing the doctor and his wife with Grace Mugabe.
In 2000, two decades after Zimbabwe’s independence, the country’s best farmland remained in the hands of descendants of white settlers. Mugabe’s government forcibly removed white Zimbabweans from their farms, which were supposed to be distributed equitably to black Zimbabweans.
Thousands of poor black farmers suddenly got access to land, often small plots, bringing them into the economy and spreading the profits from crops like tobacco to a much broader share of Zimbabwe’s population.
But high-ranking officials in the governing party received the best farms. Or, like Mutambara, the former ambassador, they were given the best tracts of a large farm, usually with the main farmhouse and farming equipment.
“Contrary to what we had expected, some people because of their position in government have gone on to acquire multiple farms, huge farms,” Mutambara said.
Chinamasa, the finance minister, denied that some members of the political elite were violating the government’s policy by owning more than a single farm. He said members of one family could each own a farm, creating the impression that they owned multiple farms.
“We have a policy that it was one person, one piece of land,” Chinamasa said. “The policy is clear. It’s not a problem.”
But if Mugabe’s government can reward loyalists with prime land, it can also easily take it back, especially with the lack of deeds or long-term leases.
Mliswa said he received his farm when his uncle headed the lands ministry. Once considered Mugabe’s right-hand man, the uncle was also expelled from the governing party in 2014 and now risks losing his farm, too, Mliswa said.
“There was blood spilt on my farm, there was violence, which I really, really, really, really regret,” he said of the seizure of his farm from its white owner in 2005. “I apologize profusely, but it was because of the system I was involved in. I belonged to a party whose culture is violence.”
BINDURA, Zimbabwe — Dozens of angry young men jumped off a truck in front of Agrippah Mutambara’s gate, shouting obscenities and threatening to seize his 530-acre farm in the name of Zimbabwe’s president. They tried to scale the fence, scattering only when he raised and cocked his gun.
Zimbabwe made international headlines when it started seizing white-owned farms in 2000. But Mutambara is not a white farmer. Far from it, he is a hero of this country’s war of liberation who served as Zimbabwe’s ambassador to three nations over two decades.
But when he defected from President Robert Mugabe’s party to join the opposition a few months ago, he immediately put his farm at risk.
“When it was happening to the whites, we thought we were redressing colonial wrongs,” said Mutambara, 64, who got his farm after it had been seized from a white farmer. “But now we realize it’s also coming back to us. It’s also haunting us.”
Zimbabwe is suffering one of its worst economic crises in years. Banks have run out of cash. The government is struggling to pay its workers.
Public protests, including one in July that shut down the capital and a united show of force by the nation’s biggest opposition figures on Friday, have rattled Mugabe’s government.
Desperately seeking loans, Zimbabwean officials have visited Washington and European capitals in recent months, swallowing years of resentment toward the West to promise economic and political reforms, including ending the history of farm seizures.
Even Mugabe, now 92 years old and increasingly frail, has pledged to compensate white farmers.
But despite the promises, prized farms are at the center of heated political infighting in Zimbabwe. As the battle to succeed Mugabe intensifies, dozens of political figures who have fallen out of favor, like Mutambara, are facing the seizure of their farms.
With the economy in peril and the governing party split in a scramble for power, land is being used as a vital tool in the struggle for control.
“No one is safe,” said Temba Mliswa, 44, who was chairman of the governing party’s chapter in Mashonaland West province before his expulsion from the party in 2014.
Mliswa got a 2,000-acre farm belonging to a white Zimbabwean in 2005. When he took possession, Mliswa said, police officers beat the white farmer and his workers.
But last year, Mliswa said, hundreds of youths sent by the governing party invaded the farm again, destroying property and beating his workers. They eventually left, but one of Mugabe’s ministers recently held a rally in which he threatened to take Mliswa’s farm unless he stopped criticizing the president’s party.
“They use the land to control you,” Mliswa said.
Zimbabwe’s political uncertainty has weakened the economy, already hit hard by a severe drought and a fall in global commodity prices.
People have been hoarding cash — Zimbabwe adopted the American dollar in 2009 — and taking it out of the country, leaving bank ATMs empty.
Mugabe’s “Look East” campaign, which focused on attracting China as a counterweight to Western influence, has suffered from China’s economic slowdown and recent disagreements over economic policy, though billboards still laud China as Zimbabwe’s “all-weather friend.”
With few other options left, Mugabe’s government has turned to the International Monetary Fund, an organization he vilified in the past as an instrument of colonial domination.
In talks with the fund, the government has agreed to reforms in the hope that it will qualify for loans for the first time since 1999.
The fund has sent positive signals about government steps in areas like curbing the size of the public workforce and cleaning up the banking sector.
But significant hurdles remain. The Zimbabwean government must clear $1.8 billion it owes to the IMF, the World Bank and the African Development Bank. It must also convince the IMF, where a skeptical United States holds the most votes, that it is committed to change.
Resolving the land issue is central to reviving the country’s economy and reestablishing ties with Western governments.
Under a program financed by the European Union and the United Nations, the government has begun mapping the more than 6,000 commercial farms that have been seized.
For the first time, the government recently held a workshop on the compensation of white farmers. But compensation is another matter, and some analysts doubt that will happen while Mugabe is alive.
Beyond pride, settling land ownership could strip Mugabe of an important tool he has wielded over the political class.
Dozens are believed to be facing threats of losing their farms, according to former governing party members and the local news media.
Many were expelled from the governing party, ZANU-PF, in the past year because they were considered close to Joice Mujuru, a former vice president who was once regarded as Mugabe’s likely successor but was purged by Zimbabwe’s powerful first lady, Grace Mugabe.
And for all the talk of compensating white farmers, politically connected Zimbabweans are continuing to grab white-owned farms.
This year, a white Zimbabwean couple were expelled by police officers from their 2,000-acre tobacco farm. The new owner was a Zimbabwean medical doctor living in England; the media uncovered photographs showing the doctor and his wife with Grace Mugabe.
In 2000, two decades after Zimbabwe’s independence, the country’s best farmland remained in the hands of descendants of white settlers. Mugabe’s government forcibly removed white Zimbabweans from their farms, which were supposed to be distributed equitably to black Zimbabweans.
Thousands of poor black farmers suddenly got access to land, often small plots, bringing them into the economy and spreading the profits from crops like tobacco to a much broader share of Zimbabwe’s population.
But high-ranking officials in the governing party received the best farms. Or, like Mutambara, the former ambassador, they were given the best tracts of a large farm, usually with the main farmhouse and farming equipment.
“Contrary to what we had expected, some people because of their position in government have gone on to acquire multiple farms, huge farms,” Mutambara said.
Chinamasa, the finance minister, denied that some members of the political elite were violating the government’s policy by owning more than a single farm. He said members of one family could each own a farm, creating the impression that they owned multiple farms.
“We have a policy that it was one person, one piece of land,” Chinamasa said. “The policy is clear. It’s not a problem.”
But if Mugabe’s government can reward loyalists with prime land, it can also easily take it back, especially with the lack of deeds or long-term leases.
Mliswa said he received his farm when his uncle headed the lands ministry. Once considered Mugabe’s right-hand man, the uncle was also expelled from the governing party in 2014 and now risks losing his farm, too, Mliswa said.
“There was blood spilt on my farm, there was violence, which I really, really, really, really regret,” he said of the seizure of his farm from its white owner in 2005. “I apologize profusely, but it was because of the system I was involved in. I belonged to a party whose culture is violence.”
The Dalai Lama Speaks About the Mass Brainwashing of Society
SOCIETY & CULTURE
By Waking Times Media
Posted on August 25, 2016
Arjun Walia, Collective-Evolution
Waking Times Media
The 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet is always garnering a lot of attention, and for good reason. Most recently,he told the world that simply praying is not the answer for the incident that occurred in Paris, as well as other similiar atrocities that seem to happen all over the globe. He stated that humans have created this problem, and now we are asking God to solve it, which makes no sense. If we created this mess, we should be the ones to solve it, not God. His comments went viral, resonating with many people around the world who realize that action on a mass scale is required at this time to change the direction in which our planet seems to be headed.
Intertwined with the Paris attacks are the realities of war, and there is a great piece written on the Dalai Lama’s website regarding the mass brainwashing of human beings. This is something we touch upon regularly on our website, especially when it comes to incidents of terrorism and war, along with the creation of these groups who are carrying out these attacks all over the world. He writes:
Saturday, August 27, 2016
Italy holds state funeral for quake victims
Vatican Radio
The voice of the Pope and the Church in dialogue with the World
Church \ Church in Europe
Bishop Giovanni D'Ercole incenses the caskets of some of the victims of the earthquake that struck central Italy on Wednesday. The Bishop offered a Requiem Mass for all victims of the earthquake, as Italy observed a national day of mourning. - AFP
27/08/2016 15:06
(Vatican Radio) A state funeral was held on Saturday in the town of Ascoli Piceno in Italy for some of the victims of an earthquake that devastated three nearby towns earlier this week, killing at least 290 people.
The Requiem Mass was celebrated by Bishop Giovanni D'Ercole in a community gym where 35 caskets were laid out.
Listen to Christopher Wells' report:
Weeping relatives hugged each other and reached out to touch the simple wooden coffins at the funeral held on Saturday for some of the 290 people killed in the earthquake.
Amongst the 35 coffins laid out in a sports hall were small caskets holding the bodies of an 18-month-old baby and a nine-year-old girl, two of the 21 children who are known to have died when the quake hit central Italy early on Wednesday.
“Don’t be afraid to bewail your suffering, we have seen so much suffering. But I ask you not to lose your courage,” Bishop Giovanni D’Ercole said in a homily in the hall, which was packed with grieving families and the nation’s top politicians. “Only together can we rebuild our houses and churches. Above all, together we can give life back to our communities,” he said, speaking in front of a dusty crucifix salvaged from one of dozens of churches devastated by the quake.
Even as the Requiem Mass was being held, rescuers kept searching through the rubble of the worst hit town, Amatrice, although they acknowledged they had little hope of finding any more survivors from Italy’s worst earthquake in seven years.
Nine more bodies were recovered from the town on Saturday, including three corpses that were pulled overnight from the crumpled Hotel Roma, bringing the death toll in Amatrice alone to 230 residents and tourists.
Love for God and Man
Those who have genuine love for God will manifest an earnest desire to know His will and to do it. Says the apostle John, whose epistles treat so fully upon love, “This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments” (1 John 5:3). The child who loves his parents will show that love by willing obedience; but the selfish, ungrateful child seeks to do as little as possible for his parents, while he at the same time desires to enjoy all the privileges granted to the obedient and faithful. The same difference is seen among those who profess to be children of God. Many who know that they are the objects of His love and care, and who desire to receive His blessing, take no delight in doing His will. They regard God’s claims upon them as an unpleasant restraint, His commandments as a grievous yoke. But he who is truly seeking for holiness of heart and life delights in the law of God, and mourns only that he falls so far short of meeting its requirements.
We are commanded to love one another as Christ has loved us. He has manifested His love by laying down His life to redeem us. The beloved disciple says that we should be willing to lay down our lives for the brethren. For “every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him” (verse 1). If we love Christ, we shall love those who resemble Him in life and character. And not only so, but we shall love those who have “no hope,” and are “without God in the world” (Eph. 2:12). It was to save sinners that Christ left His home in heaven and came to earth to suffer and to die. For this He toiled and agonized and prayed, until, heartbroken and deserted by those He came to save, He poured out His life on Calvary.
The Sanctified Life, pp. 81,82.
Be Eyes to the Blind; Feet to the Lame
August 27
Pure Religion Defined
I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame. Job 29:15
Watch carefully, prayerfully, conscientiously, lest the mind become so engrossed with many important business transactions that true godliness is overlooked and love is quenched from the soul, notwithstanding the great and pitiful need of your being God's helping hand to the blind and to all others who are unfortunate. The most friendless demand the most attention. Use your time and strength in learning to be “fervent in spirit,” to deal justly, and to love mercy, “serving the Lord.” Remember that Christ says, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me.”
God requires His people to be far more pitiful and considerate of the unfortunate than they are.... God requires that the same consideration which should be given to the widow and fatherless be given to the blind and to those suffering under the affliction of other physical infirmities. Disinterested benevolence is very rare in this age of the world.... It is strange that professed Christian men should disregard the plain, positive teachings of the Word of God and feel no compunction of conscience. God places upon them the responsibility of caring for the unfortunate, the blind, the lame, the widow, and the fatherless; but many make no effort to regard it.
There is a great work to be done in our world, and as we approach the close of earth's history, it does not lessen in the least degree; but when the perfect love of God is in the heart, wonderful things will be done.
My Life Today, p. 243.
Friday, August 26, 2016
Thursday, August 25, 2016
Nod for Easter Sunday trading law gives councils power to decide (Video)
THOMAS MANCH 09:50, August 26 2016
DAVID WHITE FAIRFAX MEDIA
David Tua speaks out against Easter Trading
The Government has handed councils the power to decide if shops can open on Easter Sunday ending a decades-long parliamentary impasse and after a dozen previous attempts.
After an insult-laden debate in the house, in which one MP was kicked out, the bill passed by a narrow majority of 62 votes to 59.
The campaign against the legislation, which brought former boxer David Tua into Parliament to weigh in on the matter, failed to knock it out of the ring.
RNZ
Pressure is mounting on the National party to allow its MPs to cast a conscience vote on Easter trading legislation for its final reading, rather than be forced to toe the party line.
National MPs opted to back the bill along party lines, leading to impassioned pleas from the opposition for them to ignore orders and cross the floor to vote according to their conscience.
READ MORE:
* David Tua wants knockout blow for Easter Sunday trading law
* Former All Blacks take on Government over Easter Sunday opening hours law change
* Opinion: John Key playing loose with the facts on Easter Sunday trading law
* Working group a better option than law to fix Easter Trading confusion: Union
* Shops should open whenever they like - Retail NZ
Labour MP Sue Moroney was booted out of the house, for the first time, for calling Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse "gutless".
Deputy Speaker Chester Borrows asked Moroney to withdraw her comments, which she did, only to reiterate her point.
She said National MPs were "hypocritical", attending church in their electorates, only to come to the House and vote the other way.
Labour MP Iain Lees-Galloway backed Moroney in a fiery speech, calling upon National MPs to "get some guts".
"The Government ... is passing the buck on an issue, which is fundamental to the role of the New Zealand Parliament.
IAIN MCGREGOR/FAIRFAX NZ
John Key did not allow National MPs to have a free vote on the Easter Sunday trading law which has just passed the House.
"This legislation is shambolic, it is going to create inconsistencies around the country," Lees-Galloway said.
Both Labour and Green MPs argued it was unrealistic for employees, especially women working in retail, to take a personal grievance against an employer who insisted they work.
"They have no idea what it means to try and say no to your boss," Green spokesperson for workplace relations Denise Roche said.
But National MPs said the law would "give power back to the local community".
Jami-Lee Ross said it was "a process issue that should be given to local authorities".
Employee rights were built into the bill, he said.
Ross accused Labour of "awful tactics", using ethnic and religious rhetoric in their protest against the bill.
Simon O'Connor said the party's members had not been whipped into a unified vote on the bill.
He said that was little difference to the opposition, who all voted against the law at its second reading.
'I'll keep fighting'
David Tua was at Parliament for the vote, hitting out at National for denying their MPs a conscience vote.
He was disappointed the bill passed, but said he would now carry on his fight to local government.
"It's a good fight, we've got to keep fighting, you know, it's not the end of it.
"You know when there are things that are dear to your heart you've got to fight for them," he said.
Tua, a devout Christian, said Easter Sunday was one of the most important days for his faith and a chance for all Kiwis to enjoy a rest and spend time with their families.
Another sporting heavyweight, former All Black Michael Jones, had already urged Pacific MPs to vote against the law, saying it would stop people from spending the day with their church and families.
"If the Government's reforms go ahead many New Zealanders will miss out on the opportunity to spend Easter Sunday with their church, their communities and their families.
"Our community doesn't want the Government interfering with Easter Sunday. We want to keep Sunday special."
Source
Saudis and Extremism: ‘Both the Arsonists and the Firefighters’
Muslim pilgrims surrounding the Kaaba, the black cube at the center of Islam’s holiest mosque in Mecca. The Saudis’ export of Wahhabism has special cachet because the country is the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad.
A. ABBAS / MAGNUM PHOTOS
Critics see Saudi Arabia’s export of a rigid strain of Islam as contributing to terrorism, but the kingdom’s influence depends greatly on local conditions.
By SCOTT SHANE
AUGUST 25, 2016
WASHINGTON — Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump don’t agree on much, but Saudi Arabia may be an exception. She has deplored Saudi Arabia’s support for “radical schools and mosques around the world that have set too many young people on a path towards extremism.” He has called the Saudis “the world’s biggest funders of terrorism.”
The first American diplomat to serve as envoy to Muslim communities around the world visited 80 countries and concluded that the Saudi influence was destroying tolerant Islamic traditions. “If the Saudis do not cease what they are doing,” the official, Farah Pandith, wrote last year, “there must be diplomatic, cultural and economic consequences.”
And hardly a week passes without a television pundit or a newspaper columnist blaming Saudi Arabia for jihadist violence. On HBO, Bill Maher calls Saudi teachings “medieval,” adding an epithet. In The Washington Post, Fareed Zakaria writes that the Saudis have “created a monster in the world of Islam.”
The idea has become a commonplace: that Saudi Arabia’s export of the rigid, bigoted, patriarchal, fundamentalist strain of Islam known as Wahhabism has fueled global extremism and contributed to terrorism. As the Islamic State projects its menacing calls for violence into the West, directing or inspiring terrorist attacks in country after country, an old debate over Saudi influence on Islam has taken on new relevance.
Is the world today a more divided, dangerous and violent place because of the cumulative effect of five decades of oil-financed proselytizing from the historical heart of the Muslim world? Or is Saudi Arabia, which has often supported Western-friendly autocrats over Islamists, merely a convenient scapegoat for extremism and terrorism with many complex causes — the United States’s own actions among them?
Those questions are deeply contentious, partly because of the contradictory impulses of the Saudi state.
Wednesday, August 24, 2016
Zika risk sends tourists packing
Posted Yesterday at 7:56 PM
Updated at 12:21 PM
As would-be vacationers avoid Florida and the Caribbean, other destinations promote themselves – subtly – as safe alternatives.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Miami-Dade mosquito control inspector Yasser "Jazz" Compagines sprays a chemical mist into a storm drain Tuesday as a tour vessel passes by in Miami Beach. Bermuda, among other places, is seeing an uptick in visitors. Associated Press/Alan Diaz
NEW YORK — With government officials now warning pregnant women to avoid Miami Beach in addition to Puerto Rico, some sun seekers are desperately scrambling for a Zika-free vacation.
And that has left other tourist destinations to capitalize – quietly.
Travel experts say families worried about Zika are now looking to Arizona and Southern California to get some sun, along with cooler weather locales such as New England and Canada.
The Zika virus is transmitted by mosquitoes or through sex with an infected person. In pregnant women, a Zika infection can cause severe birth defects, including microcephaly, where babies are born with a dangerously small head. In others, it can lead to Guillain-Barre, which can cause temporary paralysis and in rare instances, death. That was the case earlier this month of a man between 35 and 45 years old who died in Puerto Rico after being infected.
Given that background, many would-be vacationers don’t want to take the risk.
Jen LeFante and her husband, Chris, are expecting their first child in March. The New Jersey couple had wanted to escape to Puerto Rico or the Florida Keys for some relaxation before the baby arrives.
“But it seems like every travel destination we picked is on the Zika list,” she says.
Instead, they are doing a number of smaller, driving trips including ones to upstate New York and Vermont.
“I’d much rather be on a beach,” LeFante said.
Bermuda has seen several groups move meetings and conventions there from Caribbean islands, according to Glenn Jones, director of public and stakeholder relations at the Bermuda Tourism Authority.
“That’s been a welcome and unexpected boost to our business this summer,” Jones said.
However, the island nation off the coast of the Carolinas has been careful about how it handles the situation. Educating tourists who ask about the absence of Zika is fine, but don’t expect a marketing campaign around it.
“There is a delicate balance there,” Jones says. “We don’t proactively seek to capitalize on this.”
Ingrid Kessler takes a vacation every few years with 10 family members, spanning three generations. This year’s adventure was planned for Riviera Maya in Mexico. But with two members of the group at child-bearing age – and older members with compromised immune systems – that plan was scrapped because of Zika. Canada’s Banff National Park was briefly considered as an alternative but the group wanted beach time and the chance to go scuba diving. So Bermuda won out.
Such travel shifts worry tourism officials in destinations with Zika.
Miami is the first spot on the U.S. mainland where the virus has been transmitted by mosquito bites. It has a lot at risk. More than 15.5 million people made overnight visits to Miami and nearby beaches in 2015, with an impact of $24.4 billion on the local economy, according to figures from the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Some of that business is likely to go elsewhere.
Visitors’ bureaus in some other destinations either said they didn’t have proof of a Zika connection to their growth or were hesitant to speak about the bump, fearing that they might be perceived as gloating in somebody else’s misery. But clues to the shift have surfaced, including in regulatory filings of publicly traded companies.
James Murren, CEO of MGM Resorts International, said on a recent earnings call that Las Vegas was benefiting as vacationers book away from Florida.
“As sad as that situation is in Florida, I certainly don’t want to benefit from it as a result of that, but I can say that we’re seeing a pickup in air traffic and in driving traffic even in the last couple of months,” Murren said.
It’s too early to estimate the economic toll of Zika. There are added health costs, the loss of business and the lack of travel. The 2002 and 2003 outbreak ofSARS, severe acute respiratory syndrome, was estimated by the World Bank to have cost the global economy $54 billion.
The affected destinations aren’t sitting still. Some are rejiggering marketing campaigns, hoping to attract new audiences.
Ingrid Rivera Rocafort, executive director of the Puerto Rico Tourism Co., said the island is ramping up advertising efforts to lure baby boomers, retirees and gay and lesbian travelers.
Magazines including Travel and Leisure and Conde Nast Traveler have been offering “Zika-Free Destination” guides, offering alternative destinations. They include Bermuda, San Diego, Palm Springs, Hawaii, Arizona, and Charleston, South Carolina.
And not every destination has to be warm-weather.
“When travelers tell me they want a place that’s Zika-free, terrorist-free and affordable, I suggest Canada,” said Wendy Perrin, a travel expert who offers advice on WendyPerrin.com.
Those who really want to head to Latin America are planning trips to places that are at higher elevations where mosquitoes don’t live, such as Machu Picchu in Peru, Mexico City and Bogota, Colombia, Perrin said.
Perrin notes that mosquitoes have been spreading diseases like malaria, dengue fever and yellow fever for centuries, many of them deadlier than Zika.
“Obviously, people who are pregnant, or trying to be, should avoid Zika-affected areas,” she said. “But the rest of us should be careful not to focus so much on avoiding Zika that we choose a destination that puts our health at greater risk, whether from mosquitoes carrying other diseases or from another cause such as tainted water.”
NEW YORK — With government officials now warning pregnant women to avoid Miami Beach in addition to Puerto Rico, some sun seekers are desperately scrambling for a Zika-free vacation.
And that has left other tourist destinations to capitalize – quietly.
Travel experts say families worried about Zika are now looking to Arizona and Southern California to get some sun, along with cooler weather locales such as New England and Canada.
The Zika virus is transmitted by mosquitoes or through sex with an infected person. In pregnant women, a Zika infection can cause severe birth defects, including microcephaly, where babies are born with a dangerously small head. In others, it can lead to Guillain-Barre, which can cause temporary paralysis and in rare instances, death. That was the case earlier this month of a man between 35 and 45 years old who died in Puerto Rico after being infected.
Given that background, many would-be vacationers don’t want to take the risk.
Jen LeFante and her husband, Chris, are expecting their first child in March. The New Jersey couple had wanted to escape to Puerto Rico or the Florida Keys for some relaxation before the baby arrives.
“But it seems like every travel destination we picked is on the Zika list,” she says.
Instead, they are doing a number of smaller, driving trips including ones to upstate New York and Vermont.
“I’d much rather be on a beach,” LeFante said.
Bermuda has seen several groups move meetings and conventions there from Caribbean islands, according to Glenn Jones, director of public and stakeholder relations at the Bermuda Tourism Authority.
“That’s been a welcome and unexpected boost to our business this summer,” Jones said.
However, the island nation off the coast of the Carolinas has been careful about how it handles the situation. Educating tourists who ask about the absence of Zika is fine, but don’t expect a marketing campaign around it.
“There is a delicate balance there,” Jones says. “We don’t proactively seek to capitalize on this.”
Ingrid Kessler takes a vacation every few years with 10 family members, spanning three generations. This year’s adventure was planned for Riviera Maya in Mexico. But with two members of the group at child-bearing age – and older members with compromised immune systems – that plan was scrapped because of Zika. Canada’s Banff National Park was briefly considered as an alternative but the group wanted beach time and the chance to go scuba diving. So Bermuda won out.
Such travel shifts worry tourism officials in destinations with Zika.
Miami is the first spot on the U.S. mainland where the virus has been transmitted by mosquito bites. It has a lot at risk. More than 15.5 million people made overnight visits to Miami and nearby beaches in 2015, with an impact of $24.4 billion on the local economy, according to figures from the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Some of that business is likely to go elsewhere.
Visitors’ bureaus in some other destinations either said they didn’t have proof of a Zika connection to their growth or were hesitant to speak about the bump, fearing that they might be perceived as gloating in somebody else’s misery. But clues to the shift have surfaced, including in regulatory filings of publicly traded companies.
James Murren, CEO of MGM Resorts International, said on a recent earnings call that Las Vegas was benefiting as vacationers book away from Florida.
“As sad as that situation is in Florida, I certainly don’t want to benefit from it as a result of that, but I can say that we’re seeing a pickup in air traffic and in driving traffic even in the last couple of months,” Murren said.
It’s too early to estimate the economic toll of Zika. There are added health costs, the loss of business and the lack of travel. The 2002 and 2003 outbreak ofSARS, severe acute respiratory syndrome, was estimated by the World Bank to have cost the global economy $54 billion.
The affected destinations aren’t sitting still. Some are rejiggering marketing campaigns, hoping to attract new audiences.
Ingrid Rivera Rocafort, executive director of the Puerto Rico Tourism Co., said the island is ramping up advertising efforts to lure baby boomers, retirees and gay and lesbian travelers.
Magazines including Travel and Leisure and Conde Nast Traveler have been offering “Zika-Free Destination” guides, offering alternative destinations. They include Bermuda, San Diego, Palm Springs, Hawaii, Arizona, and Charleston, South Carolina.
And not every destination has to be warm-weather.
“When travelers tell me they want a place that’s Zika-free, terrorist-free and affordable, I suggest Canada,” said Wendy Perrin, a travel expert who offers advice on WendyPerrin.com.
Those who really want to head to Latin America are planning trips to places that are at higher elevations where mosquitoes don’t live, such as Machu Picchu in Peru, Mexico City and Bogota, Colombia, Perrin said.
Perrin notes that mosquitoes have been spreading diseases like malaria, dengue fever and yellow fever for centuries, many of them deadlier than Zika.
“Obviously, people who are pregnant, or trying to be, should avoid Zika-affected areas,” she said. “But the rest of us should be careful not to focus so much on avoiding Zika that we choose a destination that puts our health at greater risk, whether from mosquitoes carrying other diseases or from another cause such as tainted water.”
Catholic Order disowns honours awards to Caribbean leaders
Published on August 23, 2016
Screenshot of the “real” Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George website at constantinianorder.org
By Caribbean News Now contributor
MADRID, Spain -- In a press statement on Saturday, the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George, a Catholic institution based in Spain, disowned what it described as the purported exchanges of decorations between the Constantinian Order and certain Caribbean states, which have been extensively reported in recent weeks by Caribbean News Nowand Britain’s Mail on Sunday newspaper.
The Order’s grand chancellor also disavowed any links with British public relations consultant Anthony Bailey and his “dear friend” Baroness Patricia Scotland, the Commonwealth secretary general.
Scotland has been accused of trying to win support from Commonwealth heads of government during her campaign for the post of secretary general with offers of bogus honours and charitable donations from the Constantinian Order, of which she was purportedly a prominent member.
Those honoured included the prime minister and president of Dominica, who later officially nominated Scotland as their country's candidate for the top Commonwealth post, despite the fact she has not lived there since she was two years old.
“Three articles published in The Mail on Sunday and other online journals have commented on the purported exchanges of decorations between the Constantinian Order and certain Caribbean states. These articles have also referred to Sir /Mr Anthony Bailey, OBE, as having ‘revived’ the Order in the UK, as being the Order’s delegate and as having been responsible for these exchanges. The grand chancery of the Order wishes to make it clear that the Order has never exchanged decorations with any state, that Sir / Mr Anthony Bailey is not now, nor has ever been an officer of the Order or a member thereof, and nor has Baroness Scotland, also referred to in these articles,” the Order said in its statement.
The Order purportedly revived in the UK by Bailey is described on its website as the “Delegation for Great Britain and Ireland”; however, in a follow up email, Guy Stair Sainty, vice-grand chancellor of the Order, said it has no connection with Bailey, his business activities or the order of which he is described as "delegate".
Screenshot of Anthony Bailey’s “revived” Constantinian Order website at constantinian.uk.org, self-described as the “Delegation for Great Britain and Ireland”. Standing fifth from right next to Bailey is the Governor General of Antigua and Barbuda, Sir Rodney Williams
Sainty explained that the Constantinian Order concentrates primarily on its Catholic mission and never "exchanges" it's membership with anyone for any reason, since the would be contrary to the statutes and character of the Order as a Catholic, chivalric, confraternal institution.
Sainty explained that the Constantinian Order concentrates primarily on its Catholic mission and never "exchanges" it's membership with anyone for any reason, since the would be contrary to the statutes and character of the Order as a Catholic, chivalric, confraternal institution.
“Neither are we interested in expensive entertainments nor in constant publicity, which is why we have not issued any public statement until now, when the good name of our Order has repeatedly been the subject of so much critical commentary,” he added.
Sainty went on to note that the grant of awards for "’interfaith’ services or whatever” to the likes of President Assad of Syria and former President Saleh of Yemen and various state officials in other countries, including the Caribbean, has no worth.
“The self-evident conflict of interest between Mr Bailey's role as a businessman apparently acting on behalf of states for fees, yet exchanging decorations of this controversial Constantinian Order … and then claiming awards in return would appear to be entirely contrary to the spirit of this ancient Catholic institution,” he said.
Following allegations that Bailey used promises of donations and unofficial Constantinian Order honours to obtain a knighthood in Antigua and Barbuda, Prime Minister Gaston Browne has indicated that the knighthood awarded to Bailey is now under “review”. Two of Bailey’s friends who were knighted with him in Antigua have already had their honours revoked pending an investigation.
Browne said that all three knighthoods had been arranged prior to his Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP) coming to power in June 2014.
“By the time we came to office, this was a fait accompli and we honoured the arrangements without any knowledge of the prior discussions,” he said.
Browne is understood to have referred the matter to the local Honours Committee but the governor general, Sir Rodney Williams, who chairs the committee, asked that the review be deferred and, some three months later, little or no action appears to have been taken.
Williams is said to have been the beneficiary of “wining and dining” in London and a paid trip to Rome in November last year to meet the pope at the expense of the Constantinian Order “delegation” and/or Bailey. Williams is married to Sandra Scotland-Williams, a cousin of Baroness Scotland.
Sainty said that the information regarding the status of the Constantinian Order was sent to the governor-general of Antigua and Barbuda on July 11, 2016, to assist him in his review of the awards.
Meanwhile, after allegations surfaced that Bailey also obtained a knighthood from Grenada in similar circumstances, The Mail on Sunday reported over the weekend that this honour is to be rescinded after questions of its legality were raised.
Bailey had reportedly arranged four knighthoods for himself and his cronies in one day from the country, despite only two being allowed per year by law.
Following a cabinet meeting last Tuesday, Grenadian foreign minister Nickolas Steele announced that the award had been rescinded following “legal evaluation and interpretation”.
Bailey was given the knighthood last year, apparently in exchange for promised donations and reciprocal honours from his unrecognised “delegation” of the Constantinian Order.
This award followed meetings between Bailey, Baroness Scotland and the prime minister of Grenada, Dr Keith Mitchell, during which investment on the island was promised.
(L-R): Baroness Patricia Scotland; Grenada Prime Minister, Dr Keith Mitchell; and Anthony Bailey
Tuesday, August 23, 2016
Venezuelans are going hungry. But the country’s Olympians will get free housing and cash.
WorldViews
August 22
August 22
As a young man, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro played electric guitar, not sports. But like the men who mentored him, Cuba’s Fidel Castro and the late Hugo Chávez, he views the country’s Olympic achievements as a validation of his economic and social policies. Also, he is fond of wearing track suits in the colors of the national flag.
It’s perhaps understandable, then, that Maduro was in a generous mood Monday when he welcomed home the 87 members of his country’s Olympic team with the announcement that they would all receive free houses and cash.
To be sure, plenty of Olympic athletes around the world reap material rewards from their governments and sponsors for their athletic feats. But in Venezuela, a country where you can spend more time waiting in a supermarket line than it takes to run a marathon, cash is perhaps the last thing the government has to give away.
Amid economic hard times, Venezuelans turn to city farming
Play Video1:53
Facing a national food crisis, Venezuela's pumpkin-growing socialist president is exhorting compatriots to grow fruit and vegetables on balconies and roofs and in barracks across the country. (Reuters)
Maduro called it an “extra incentive” for the country’s athletes, who also learned they would not have to worry about the country’s rapidly depreciating currency, the bolívar. The athletes and their coaches will receive the cash in U.S. dollars, Maduro said, without specifying how much their rewards would be.
For Maduro, the Rio Games have provided a much needed national distraction from months of unrelenting bad news about the economy.
Venezuela faces a 10 percent economic contraction this year and is considered the world’s leader in inflation. Maduro’s gesture came on the same day economists announced that the cost of basic goods last month had increased 773 percent since July 2015.
Maduro ordered a 50 percent increase in the minimum wage last month, but the latest studies show that salaries still fall far short of the amount needed to obtain basic household goods and food. The government’s slow-footed economic interventions are being outpaced by Venezuela’s Olympic-level inflation.
Despite facing the oil-exporting country’s worst crisis in history, the Venezuelan president said he has also ordered a 50 percent increase in spending on high-performance athletics in preparation for the 2020 Tokyo Summer Games, a move that would benefit more than 1,000 Venezuelan Olympic hopefuls.
Venezuela’s most decorated Olympian, triple jumper Yulimar Rojas, received a car earlier this year from Maduro. She won silver in Rio, “thanks to the Bolivarian revolution, our commander Chávez and the athletic revolution,” Maduro said.
The “Bolivarian revolution” refers broadly to the socialist-inspired system implemented by Chávez from his inauguration as president in 1999 to his death in 2013.
One of the most visible members of the country’s Olympic team, fencing competitor and former sports minister Alejandra Benítez, 36, wore symbolic tributes to Chávez on her uniform and recorded pro-government videos from Rio. She appeared at Maduro’s side during Monday’s ceremony.
The Venezuelan team also won a bronze medal in boxing, and another bronze in BMX cycling. The country finished 65th in Olympic rankings, tied with Bulgaria.
Source
Magnitude 6.4 quake hits Italy near Perugia: USGS
world
PUBLISHED: 9:55 AM, AUGUST 24, 2016
A strong 6.4 magnitude quake struck central Italy early on Wednesday near the city of Perugia, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
The quake, located 47 miles (76 km) southeast of Perugia, occurred at 3:36 a.m. (0936 ET) and was felt as far as Rome. It was very shallow, only 6.2 miles (10 km) deep, the USGS said. REUTER
Monday, August 22, 2016
"A House for All Believers" to Open in Jerusalem
By JNS August 14, 2016 , 8:30 am
“Through wisdom is a house builded; and by understanding it is established.” Proverbs 24:3 (The Israel Bible™)
“Amen – A House of Prayer For All Believers” will open in September in Jerusalem. (Screenshot: Mekudeshet)
A new interfaith and spiritual gathering of Christians, Jews and Muslims will take place in Jerusalem this September.
“Amen-A House of Prayer For All Believers”, part of the 2016 Mekudeshet Festival from September 4-23, is an initiative created by the Jerusalem Season of Culture, an annual festival in Jerusalem, to bring together the world’s three major faiths “who share a belief in one God and a boundless love for Jerusalem to dialogue, study, sing and pray together in one temporary house of worship,” said a press release.
Artists, actors, musicians and media figures from around the world are expected to participate in the event.
We will study, argue – yes, this is also allowed – and pray – together and alone. We will see if it is possible, despite all the corporeal difficulties and earthly obstacles, to create a new reality,” said Mekudeshet Artistic Director Itay Mautner.
For a month, representatives from all three religions will offer a series of discussions at the Jerusalem Music Center, with options to pray three different times per day in Arabic, Hebrew and Coptic.
“It is nothing short of a miracle that between four walls, we will inaugurate a temporary home for the three religions that share Jerusalem and for all those who wish to dwell under the wings of the Almighty,” said Mautner.
Italian prosecutors claim monsignor murdered by relic-obsessed priest
Published August 22, 2016 FoxNews.com
Monsignor Giuseppe Rocco is pictured here in an undated photo. (Centro Culturale )
Prosecutors in northern Italy are blaming the mysterious murder of a 92-year-old priest on the cleric who read him his last rites -- claiming the younger priest decided to kill after he was caught stealing relics.
Monsignor Giuseppe Rocco was found strangled on the floor of his room in Cleric’s House in Trieste on April 25, 2014 -- with a broken bone sticking out of his neck and blood under his body.
Two years later, prosecutors are claiming the murderer is 52-year-old Father Paolo Piccoli -- the priest called to give Rocco his last rites after a housekeeper discovered his body on the floor.
In the weeks before his murder, Rocco had reported the theft of a set of religiously significant statuettes from his cell, news.com.au reported. Then other items suddenly disappearred: the Madonna, horse and ship figurines.
Rocco suspected housemate Father Piccoli — once accused of stealing relics from another parish — as the culprit and alerted church authorities, who then sent Piccoli a warning letter over the alleged theft.
Local media reports that Piccoli had a fetish for sacred objects -- and court documents claim he ran huge debts on his father’s account in order to dress up in authentic priestly vestments as a boy, according to news.com.au.
Piccoli denies any involvement in Rocco's death, telling investigators there were many other people inside the residence the night Rocco was killed.
But Italian police say they were able to link the two spots of blood found under Rocco's body to Piccoli, according to local media reports.
When interrogated, Piccoli allegedly told police that he had a condition that weakened his skin and caused open sores. The blood on Rocco, he claimed, must have gotten there while he was administering last rites.
Rocco was found at 7:30 a.m. on April 25, 2014, by the housekeeper, Eleanora Dibitonto, who had come to make sure the elderly monsignor was awake for morning mass.
Upon finding Rocco fully dressed on the floor, she called an ambulance and asked Piccoli to give him his last rites. Paramedics immediately notified police after seeing the body, and the cause of death was ruled suffocation by strangulation.
Prosecutors allege that Piccoli confronted Rocco about the theft accusation on the morning of April 25. The two men argued, prosecutors claim, before Piccoli strangled Rocco and left him on the floor of his cell-like room.
Piccoli faces aggravated murder charges in the case. In December, a secular court will determine whether to put him on trial, according to Italian media reports.
Source
Judge Halts Obama Administration's Transgender-Student Rules Nationwide
By Evie Blad on August 22, 2016 10:32 AM
A Texas federal judge issued a nationwide order late Sunday, temporarily halting application of the Obama administration's guidance on transgender students while a 13-state legal challenge on the issue, led by Texas, is decided.
The case is one of a number of legal challenges related to the May guidance, in which the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice said that, under Title IX, public schools must allow transgender students to use single-sex restrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender identity, even if it differs from their sex at birth. A related case, brought by a transgender Virginia student, may be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court.
U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor sided with Texas and 12 other state plaintiffs in his order for a temporary injunction, which bars the federal agencies from enforcing the guidance and from from initiating civil rights investigations in schools based on their interpretation that Title IX's discrimination protections apply to gender identity until he makes final judgment on the case.
The case centers largely on whether the federal agencies followed the proper process for rule making. The state plaintiffs argued that, under the Administrative Procedures Act, the departments were required to provide opportunity for notice and comment before setting a rule. But the federal agencies argued that they were merely interpreting an existing regulation. Previously, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Virginia took the Obama Administration's side, citing precedent and arguing that it was proper to defer to the federal interpretation of the law.
But the Texas court found "that the plain meaning of the term sex as used in [a regulation relating to sex-segregated school restrooms] when it was enacted by DOE following passage of Title IX meant the biological and anatomical differences between male and female students as determined at their birth" and not the gender students identify with.
O'Connor ruled that a temporary injunction was appropriate in the multi-state case, one of two that are currently before federal courts.
"The Court concludes Plaintiffs have established that the failure to grant an injunction will place them in the position of either maintaining their current policies in the face of the federal government's view that they are violating the law, or changing them to comply with the Guidelines and cede their authority over this issue," O'Connor wrote.
A spokesperson for the Education Department directed questions on the ruling to the Department of Justice.
"The department is disappointed in the court's decision, and we are reviewing our options," a Justice Department spokesperson said in a statement.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and organizations advocating for transgender students also responded to the decision Monday.
Secret Societies and Confederacies
As we near the close of time, there will be greater and still greater external parade of heathen power; heathen deities will manifest their signal power, and will exhibit themselves before the cities of the world, and this delineation has already begun to be fulfilled. By a variety of images the Lord Jesus represented to John the wicked character and seductive influence of those who have been distinguished for their persecution of God's people. All need wisdom carefully to search out the mystery of iniquity that figures so largely in the winding up of this earth's history. God's presentation of the detestable works of the inhabitants of the ruling powers of the world who bind themselves into secret societies and confederacies, not honoring the law of God, should enable the people who have the light of truth to keep clear of all these evils. More and more will all false religionists of the world manifest their evil doings; for there are but two parties, those who keep the commandments of God and those who war against God's holy law.--Ms 139, 1903, pp. 5, 6. ("The Message in Revelation," October 23, 1903.) Released June 21, 1978.
Manuscript Releases,Volume Eight, p. 322.
Sunday, August 21, 2016
Saturday, August 20, 2016
Thursday, August 18, 2016
NYC’s municipal ID program a big hit with immigrants and natives alike, de Blasio boasts
NYC’s municipal ID program a big hit with immigrants and natives alike, de Blasio boasts
ERIN DURKIN AUG 18, 2016 11:57 AM
More than 863,000 New Yorkers have snagged one of the city's municipal ID cards since the program launched a year and a half ago, data released Thursday show.
Mayor de Blasio touted the results in his weekly appearance on the Brian Lehrer show, saying the card has proved vastly popular with both immigrants and native New Yorkers.
More than half of card holders — 52% — use the IDNYC as their primary form of ID, a number that jumps to 67% among immigrants, according to the city's survey.
"It's very helpful for undocumented folks, and that was one of the prime motivations, to show respect and embrace for almost half a million people who are our neighbors and happen to be undocumented," de Blasio said on the radio show. "But we found it's very valuable for a lot of other people too."
Even Pope Francis has an IDNYC, which he received when he visited the city last September.
In the survey, 24% of card holders said the IDNYC is the only form of identification they have. Among immigrants, the number was 36%.
Most participants — 58% across the board and 70% of immigrants — have used the card as a form of ID at some point.
The IDs, which are free, can be used to get free one-year memberships to around 40 museums and cultural institutions, and offer discounts on things like movie tickets and prescription drugs.
The city found that 52% of people with cards have used them to get a membership to visit a cultural spot, a number that jumps to 67% among seniors. And 400,000 memberships have been redeemed.
De Blasio said beyond the practical benefits, many report it increases their feeling of belonging.
More than 863,000 New Yorkers have snagged one of the city's municipal ID cards since the program launched a year and a half ago, data released Thursday show.
Mayor de Blasio touted the results in his weekly appearance on the Brian Lehrer show, saying the card has proved vastly popular with both immigrants and native New Yorkers.
More than half of card holders — 52% — use the IDNYC as their primary form of ID, a number that jumps to 67% among immigrants, according to the city's survey.
"It's very helpful for undocumented folks, and that was one of the prime motivations, to show respect and embrace for almost half a million people who are our neighbors and happen to be undocumented," de Blasio said on the radio show. "But we found it's very valuable for a lot of other people too."
Even Pope Francis has an IDNYC, which he received when he visited the city last September.
In the survey, 24% of card holders said the IDNYC is the only form of identification they have. Among immigrants, the number was 36%.
Most participants — 58% across the board and 70% of immigrants — have used the card as a form of ID at some point.
The IDs, which are free, can be used to get free one-year memberships to around 40 museums and cultural institutions, and offer discounts on things like movie tickets and prescription drugs.
The city found that 52% of people with cards have used them to get a membership to visit a cultural spot, a number that jumps to 67% among seniors. And 400,000 memberships have been redeemed.
De Blasio said beyond the practical benefits, many report it increases their feeling of belonging.
De Blasio signed the IDNYC bill in 2014, kickstarting the program.
IMAGE BY: JESSE WARD/FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
"It also says New York belongs to you, New York embraces you, you are a New Yorker. There's even some folks who have gotten it simply because they like the fact that it is a badge of honor as a New Yorker to have it," he said. "It says, 'I am a New Yorker,' and that means so much to a lot of people."
While about 12% of participants said they'd used the card to open a bank account, the program has hit some roadblocks because most major banks won't accept it as a primary form of ID. About a dozen smaller banks do accept it.
"I don't buy it, and I am disappointed," de Blasio said of banks' argument the ID isn't secure enough. "We're going to push them very hard across the board, big and small banks, to accept this."
Another 12% of people have used the card when asked for ID by the NYPD, 24% to get into their child's school, 26% for doctor's offices and hospitals, and 35% to get into a private building.
The ID also allows transgender people to choose which gender to have listed on the card, and 44% of transgender applicants said that was a significant reason they got one.
But applicants are not allowed to use a name other than their legal one, which has caused some headaches.
A transgender woman named Diana who called into the Lehrer show said because her social security card had a different name, she was treated like a "criminal" by program staff.
"I found the experience so unpleasant," she said.
De Blasio said that shouldn't happen. "It's not right of them, it's not what we want, it's not what we believe in," he said.
"It also says New York belongs to you, New York embraces you, you are a New Yorker. There's even some folks who have gotten it simply because they like the fact that it is a badge of honor as a New Yorker to have it," he said. "It says, 'I am a New Yorker,' and that means so much to a lot of people."
While about 12% of participants said they'd used the card to open a bank account, the program has hit some roadblocks because most major banks won't accept it as a primary form of ID. About a dozen smaller banks do accept it.
"I don't buy it, and I am disappointed," de Blasio said of banks' argument the ID isn't secure enough. "We're going to push them very hard across the board, big and small banks, to accept this."
Another 12% of people have used the card when asked for ID by the NYPD, 24% to get into their child's school, 26% for doctor's offices and hospitals, and 35% to get into a private building.
The ID also allows transgender people to choose which gender to have listed on the card, and 44% of transgender applicants said that was a significant reason they got one.
But applicants are not allowed to use a name other than their legal one, which has caused some headaches.
A transgender woman named Diana who called into the Lehrer show said because her social security card had a different name, she was treated like a "criminal" by program staff.
"I found the experience so unpleasant," she said.
De Blasio said that shouldn't happen. "It's not right of them, it's not what we want, it's not what we believe in," he said.
Wednesday, August 17, 2016
Rest on the Sabbath, at least in the spirit of the catechism
Spirituality
Father Kenneth Doyle
By Father Kenneth Doyle • Catholic News Service • Posted August 16, 2016
Q. I write to ask for guidelines on the Third Commandment — keeping holy the Lord’s day. I do not consider some of the things that I do to be work — cooking, for example, minor cleanups, mowing, trimming, weeding. Does the church look upon all chores as work? I find it very hard not to do some of the things that need to be done around the house.
I am thankful that God did give us this commandment, for I certainly do look upon Sunday as a day of rest — to spend with family when possible and to simply enjoy the day.
My husband (who is not a Catholic) is a business owner who can work from home. He is in a very challenging situation right now, without sufficient staff. On Sundays, he puts in a good six to eight hours of office work before he rests — otherwise the remainder of the week’s schedule would be overwhelming. (Chestertown, New York)
A. I credit you for your sincere desire to set Sunday aside as a special day, which honors the fact that even the God of all creation rested on the Sabbath. You have captured the spirit of the Catechism of the Catholic Church that says, “Sunday is a time for reflection, silence, cultivation of the mind and meditation which furthers the growth of the Christian interior life” (No. 2186).
Basic household maintenance is exempted from the prohibition against “servile work” on that day; doing the dishes, preparing a meal and what you describe as “minor cleanups” are certainly permitted. A modest amount of gardening or lawn cultivation can be recreational and surely not “servile.” What the Sabbath command means to avoid is unnecessary shopping or heavy housekeeping that could be deferred.
Employment needs or economic circumstances may prevent one from observing the Sabbath rest, and this the catechism envisions and exempts. Your husband’s current challenge, in my mind, fits in here.
I would hope, though, that his circumstance will only be temporary; while I don’t know his religious history or principles, wisely does the catechism note, “The faithful should see to it that legitimate excuses do not lead to habits prejudicial to religion, family life and health” (No. 2185).
I might point out that, among American males, there can be a slavish addiction to Sunday televised sports, doing damage to the Sabbath goals of family time, reflection and rest.
And finally, nowhere does your question mention Sunday Mass, which must always be the central feature of a Catholic’s Sabbath observance. For 2,000 years, followers of Jesus have come together as a family of faith to celebrate the day of Christ’s resurrection and to be nourished by his body and blood.
Q. I am grateful for the work you do with your question-and-answer column. Your responses reflect both wisdom and patience. And this prompts me to ask the following: What are some of the things in today’s parish or church that you find exciting? Or, to put it another way, what are some changes that you have been happy to see over your years in the ministry? (Virginia Beach, Virginia)
A. Normally I would not choose to answer an open-ended question like this one. Readers, I believe, are more interested in factual answers than in my musings. But since I have just celebrated my 50th anniversary of ordination, I welcome this chance to share a few thoughts about those years.
Space constraints limit me to two developments that I view as great blessings in Catholic life. First is the broader involvement of laypeople in the work of the church.
When I was ordained a half-century ago, many parishes had two lay organizations: a rosary society, which consisted of several women who offered prayers for the parish and helped out with church decorations; and a Holy Name Society, men who would make a yearly retreat and sponsor an annual parish smoker.
In the parish from which I just retired, there are now more than 400 lay parishioners who help with the work of the church — lay catechists; lectors and extraordinary ministers of holy Communion; those who visit and take Communion to shut-ins, patients in hospitals and residents of nursing homes; men and women who staff a parish food pantry and host homeless families overnight in a parish facility, etc.
The other is the 2013 election of Francis as pope. As the editor of Time magazine put it, “He has not changed the words, but he’s changed the music.” Whereas many may have associated the church in the past with rules and prohibitions, some of those same people now link the church first of all with help to the poor, mercy and forgiveness.
***
Questions may be sent to Father Kenneth Doyle at askfatherdoyle@gmail.com and 40 Hopewell St. Albany, N.Y. 12208.
Source
.
Tuesday, August 16, 2016
MI6 are the Lords of the Drug Trade
August 15, 2016
MI6 are the Lords of the Drug Trade
by James Casbolt
from JamesCasbolt Website
It may be a revelation to many people that the global drug trade is controlled and run by the intelligence agencies. In this global drug trade British intelligence reigns supreme.
As intelligence insiders know MI-5 and MI-6 control many of the other intelligence agencies in the world (CIA, MOSSAD etc) in a vast web of intrigue and corruption that has its global power base in the city of London, the square mile. My name is James Casbolt, and I worked for MI-6 in ‘black ops’ cocaine trafficking with the IRA and MOSSAD in London and Brighton between 1995 and 1999.
My father Peter Casbolt was also MI-6 and worked with the CIA and mafia in Rome, trafficking cocaine into Britain. My experience was that the distinctions of all these groups became blurred until in the end we were all one international group working together for the same goals. We were puppets who had our strings pulled by global puppet masters based in the city of London. Most levels of the intelligence agencies are not loyal to the people of the country they are based in and see themselves as ‘super national’.
It had been proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that the CIA has been bringing in most of the drugs into America for the last fifty years (see ex LAPD officer Michael Rupert’s ‘From the wilderness’ website for proof).
The CIA operates under orders from British intelligence and was created by British intelligence in 1947.
The CIA today is still loyal to the international bankers based in the city of London and the global elite aristocratic families like the Rothschild’s and the Windsor’s. Since it was first started, MI-6 has always brought drugs into Britain. They do not bring ‘some’ of the drugs into Britain but I would estimate MI-6 bring in around ninety percent of the drugs in.
They do this by pulling the strings of many organized crime and terrorist groups and these groups like the IRA are full of MI-6 agents.
MI-6 bring in heroin from the middle east, cocaine from south America and cannabis from morocco as well as other places. British intelligence also designed and created the drug LSD in the 1950’s through places like the Tavistock Institute in London. By the 1960’s MI-5, MI-6 and the CIA were using LSD as a weapon against the angry protestors of the sixties and turned them into ‘flower children’ who were too tripped out to organize a revolution.
Dr Timothy Leary the LSD guru of the sixties was a CIA puppet. Funds and drugs for Leary’s research came from the CIA and Leary says that Cord Meyer, the CIA agent in charge of funding the sixties LSD counter culture has “helped me to understand my political cultural role more clearly”.
In 1998, I was sent 3000 LSD doses on blotting paper by MI-5 with pictures of the European union flag on them. The MI-5 man who sent them told my father this was a government ‘signature’ and this LSD was called ‘Europa’.
This global drugs trade controlled by British intelligence is worth at least 500 billion a year. This is more than the global oil trade and the economy in Britain and America is totally dependent on this drug money. Mafia crime boss John Gotti exposed the situation when asked in court if he was involved in drug trafficking.
He replied “No we can’t compete with the government”.
I believe this was only a half truth because the mafia and the CIA are the same group at the upper levels. In Britain, the MI-6 drug money is laundered through the Bank of England, Barclays Bank and other household name companies. The drug money is passed from account to account until its origins are lost in a huge web of transactions.
The drug money comes out ‘cleaner’ but not totally clean. Diamonds are then bought with this money from the corrupt diamond business families like the Oppenheimers.
These diamonds are then sold and the drug money is clean. MI-6 and the CIA are also responsible for the crack cocaine epidemic in Britain and America. In 1978, MI-6 and the CIA were in south America researching the effects of the natives smoking ‘basuco’ cocaine paste. This has the same effect as crack cocaine. They saw that the strength and addiction potential was far greater than ordinary cocaine and created crack cocaine from the basuco formula.
MI-6 and the CIA then flooded Britain and America with crack.
Two years later, in 1980, Britain and America were starting to see the first signs of the crack cocaine epidemic on the streets. On august 23, 1987, in a rural community south of Little Rock in America, two teenage boys named Kevin Ives and Don Henry were murdered and dismembered after witnessing a CIA cocaine drop that was part of a CIA drug trafficking operation based at a small airport in Mena, Arkansas.
Bill Clinton was the governor of Arkansas at the time. Bill Clinton was involved with the CIA at this time and $100 million worth of cocaine was coming through the Mena, Arkansas airport each month.
For proof see the books ‘Compromise’ and ‘Dope Inc’.
On my father’s international MI-6 drug runs, whatever fell off the back of the lorry so to speak he would keep and we would sell it in Britain. As long as my father was meeting the speedboats from Morocco in the Costa del Sol and then moving the lorry loads of cannabis through their MI-6, IRA lorry business into Britain every month, British intelligence were happy.
As long as my father was moving shipments of cocaine out of Rome every month, MI5 and MI6 were happy. If my father kept a bit to sell himself no one cared because there was enough drugs and money to go round in this £500 billion a year global drugs trade. The ones who were really paying were the people addicted. Who were paying with suffering.
But karma always catches up and both myself and my father became addicted to heroin in later years and my father died addicted, and poor in prison under very strange circumstances. Today, I am clean and drug-free and wish to help stop the untold suffering this global drugs trade causes.
The intelligence agencies have always used addictive drugs as a weapon against the masses to bring in their long term plan for a one world government, a one world police force designed to be NATO and a micro chipped population known as the New World Order. As the population is in a drug or alcohol-induced trance watching ‘Coronation Street’, the new world order is being crept in behind them.
To properly expose this global intelligence run drugs trade we need to expose the key players in this area:Tibor Rosenbaum, a MOSSAD agent and head of the Geneva based Banque du Credit international. This bank was the forerunner to the notorious Bank of Credit and Commerce international (BCCI) which is a major intelligence drug money laundering bank. ‘Life’ magazine exposed Rosenbaum’s bank as a money launderer for the Meyer Lanksky American organized crime family and Tibor Rosenbaum funded and supported ‘Permindex’ the MI6 assassination unit which was at the heart of the John F. Kennedy assassination.
Robert Vesco, sponsored by the Swiss branch of the Rothchilds and part of the American connection to the Medellin drug cartel in Colombia.
Sir Francis de Guingand, former head of British intelligence, now living in south Africa (and every head of MI5 and MI6 has been involved in the drug world before and after him).
Henry Keswick, chairman of Jardine Matheson which is one of the biggest drug trafficking operations in the world. His brother John Keswick is chairman of the bank of England.
Sir Martin Wakefield Jacomb, Bank of England director from 1987 to 1995, Barclays Bank Deputy Chairman in 1985, Telegraph newspapers director in 1986 (This is the reason why this can of worms doesn’t get out in the mainstream media. The people who are perpetrating these crimes control most of the mainstream media. In America former director of the CIA William Casey was, before his death in 1987, head of the council of the media network ABC. Many insiders refer to ABC as ‘The CIA network.)
George Bush, Snr, former President and former head of the CIA and America’s leading drug baron who has fronted more wars on drugs than any other president. Which in reality is just a method to eliminate competition. A whole book could be written on George Bush’s involvement in the global drug trade but it is well-covered in the book ‘Dark Alliance’ by investigative journalist Gary Webb.
Gary Webb was found dead with two gunshot wounds to the back of his head with a revolver. The case was declared a ‘suicide’. You figure that out. Gary Webb as well as myself and other investigators, found that much of this ‘black ops’ drug money is being used to fund projects classified above top secret.
These projects include the building and maintaining of deep level underground bases in,Dulce in New Mexico
Pine Gap in Australia
Snowy mountains in Australia
The Nyala range in Africa
west of Kindu in Africa
next to the Libyan border in Egypt
Mount Blanc in Switzerland
Narvik in Scandinavia
Gottland island in Sweden,
…and many other places around the world (more about these underground bases in my next issue).
The information on this global drugs trade run by the intelligence agencies desperately needs to get out on a large scale.
Any information, comments or feedback to help me with my work would be greatly welcomed.
It may be a revelation to many people that the global drug trade is controlled and run by the intelligence agencies. In this global drug trade British intelligence reigns supreme.
As intelligence insiders know MI-5 and MI-6 control many of the other intelligence agencies in the world (CIA, MOSSAD etc) in a vast web of intrigue and corruption that has its global power base in the city of London, the square mile. My name is James Casbolt, and I worked for MI-6 in ‘black ops’ cocaine trafficking with the IRA and MOSSAD in London and Brighton between 1995 and 1999.
My father Peter Casbolt was also MI-6 and worked with the CIA and mafia in Rome, trafficking cocaine into Britain. My experience was that the distinctions of all these groups became blurred until in the end we were all one international group working together for the same goals. We were puppets who had our strings pulled by global puppet masters based in the city of London. Most levels of the intelligence agencies are not loyal to the people of the country they are based in and see themselves as ‘super national’.
It had been proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that the CIA has been bringing in most of the drugs into America for the last fifty years (see ex LAPD officer Michael Rupert’s ‘From the wilderness’ website for proof).
The CIA operates under orders from British intelligence and was created by British intelligence in 1947.
The CIA today is still loyal to the international bankers based in the city of London and the global elite aristocratic families like the Rothschild’s and the Windsor’s. Since it was first started, MI-6 has always brought drugs into Britain. They do not bring ‘some’ of the drugs into Britain but I would estimate MI-6 bring in around ninety percent of the drugs in.
They do this by pulling the strings of many organized crime and terrorist groups and these groups like the IRA are full of MI-6 agents.
MI-6 bring in heroin from the middle east, cocaine from south America and cannabis from morocco as well as other places. British intelligence also designed and created the drug LSD in the 1950’s through places like the Tavistock Institute in London. By the 1960’s MI-5, MI-6 and the CIA were using LSD as a weapon against the angry protestors of the sixties and turned them into ‘flower children’ who were too tripped out to organize a revolution.
Dr Timothy Leary the LSD guru of the sixties was a CIA puppet. Funds and drugs for Leary’s research came from the CIA and Leary says that Cord Meyer, the CIA agent in charge of funding the sixties LSD counter culture has “helped me to understand my political cultural role more clearly”.
In 1998, I was sent 3000 LSD doses on blotting paper by MI-5 with pictures of the European union flag on them. The MI-5 man who sent them told my father this was a government ‘signature’ and this LSD was called ‘Europa’.
This global drugs trade controlled by British intelligence is worth at least 500 billion a year. This is more than the global oil trade and the economy in Britain and America is totally dependent on this drug money. Mafia crime boss John Gotti exposed the situation when asked in court if he was involved in drug trafficking.
He replied “No we can’t compete with the government”.
I believe this was only a half truth because the mafia and the CIA are the same group at the upper levels. In Britain, the MI-6 drug money is laundered through the Bank of England, Barclays Bank and other household name companies. The drug money is passed from account to account until its origins are lost in a huge web of transactions.
The drug money comes out ‘cleaner’ but not totally clean. Diamonds are then bought with this money from the corrupt diamond business families like the Oppenheimers.
These diamonds are then sold and the drug money is clean. MI-6 and the CIA are also responsible for the crack cocaine epidemic in Britain and America. In 1978, MI-6 and the CIA were in south America researching the effects of the natives smoking ‘basuco’ cocaine paste. This has the same effect as crack cocaine. They saw that the strength and addiction potential was far greater than ordinary cocaine and created crack cocaine from the basuco formula.
MI-6 and the CIA then flooded Britain and America with crack.
Two years later, in 1980, Britain and America were starting to see the first signs of the crack cocaine epidemic on the streets. On august 23, 1987, in a rural community south of Little Rock in America, two teenage boys named Kevin Ives and Don Henry were murdered and dismembered after witnessing a CIA cocaine drop that was part of a CIA drug trafficking operation based at a small airport in Mena, Arkansas.
Bill Clinton was the governor of Arkansas at the time. Bill Clinton was involved with the CIA at this time and $100 million worth of cocaine was coming through the Mena, Arkansas airport each month.
For proof see the books ‘Compromise’ and ‘Dope Inc’.
On my father’s international MI-6 drug runs, whatever fell off the back of the lorry so to speak he would keep and we would sell it in Britain. As long as my father was meeting the speedboats from Morocco in the Costa del Sol and then moving the lorry loads of cannabis through their MI-6, IRA lorry business into Britain every month, British intelligence were happy.
As long as my father was moving shipments of cocaine out of Rome every month, MI5 and MI6 were happy. If my father kept a bit to sell himself no one cared because there was enough drugs and money to go round in this £500 billion a year global drugs trade. The ones who were really paying were the people addicted. Who were paying with suffering.
But karma always catches up and both myself and my father became addicted to heroin in later years and my father died addicted, and poor in prison under very strange circumstances. Today, I am clean and drug-free and wish to help stop the untold suffering this global drugs trade causes.
The intelligence agencies have always used addictive drugs as a weapon against the masses to bring in their long term plan for a one world government, a one world police force designed to be NATO and a micro chipped population known as the New World Order. As the population is in a drug or alcohol-induced trance watching ‘Coronation Street’, the new world order is being crept in behind them.
To properly expose this global intelligence run drugs trade we need to expose the key players in this area:Tibor Rosenbaum, a MOSSAD agent and head of the Geneva based Banque du Credit international. This bank was the forerunner to the notorious Bank of Credit and Commerce international (BCCI) which is a major intelligence drug money laundering bank. ‘Life’ magazine exposed Rosenbaum’s bank as a money launderer for the Meyer Lanksky American organized crime family and Tibor Rosenbaum funded and supported ‘Permindex’ the MI6 assassination unit which was at the heart of the John F. Kennedy assassination.
Robert Vesco, sponsored by the Swiss branch of the Rothchilds and part of the American connection to the Medellin drug cartel in Colombia.
Sir Francis de Guingand, former head of British intelligence, now living in south Africa (and every head of MI5 and MI6 has been involved in the drug world before and after him).
Henry Keswick, chairman of Jardine Matheson which is one of the biggest drug trafficking operations in the world. His brother John Keswick is chairman of the bank of England.
Sir Martin Wakefield Jacomb, Bank of England director from 1987 to 1995, Barclays Bank Deputy Chairman in 1985, Telegraph newspapers director in 1986 (This is the reason why this can of worms doesn’t get out in the mainstream media. The people who are perpetrating these crimes control most of the mainstream media. In America former director of the CIA William Casey was, before his death in 1987, head of the council of the media network ABC. Many insiders refer to ABC as ‘The CIA network.)
George Bush, Snr, former President and former head of the CIA and America’s leading drug baron who has fronted more wars on drugs than any other president. Which in reality is just a method to eliminate competition. A whole book could be written on George Bush’s involvement in the global drug trade but it is well-covered in the book ‘Dark Alliance’ by investigative journalist Gary Webb.
Gary Webb was found dead with two gunshot wounds to the back of his head with a revolver. The case was declared a ‘suicide’. You figure that out. Gary Webb as well as myself and other investigators, found that much of this ‘black ops’ drug money is being used to fund projects classified above top secret.
These projects include the building and maintaining of deep level underground bases in,Dulce in New Mexico
Pine Gap in Australia
Snowy mountains in Australia
The Nyala range in Africa
west of Kindu in Africa
next to the Libyan border in Egypt
Mount Blanc in Switzerland
Narvik in Scandinavia
Gottland island in Sweden,
…and many other places around the world (more about these underground bases in my next issue).
The information on this global drugs trade run by the intelligence agencies desperately needs to get out on a large scale.
Any information, comments or feedback to help me with my work would be greatly welcomed.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)