Wednesday, April 05, 2017
General Conference Corporation Sues Pathfinder Shirts LLC
31 March 2017 | Jared Wright
The General Conference Corporation of Seventh-day Adventists has sued a small Florida-based company, Pathfinder Shirts, LLC, over what the General Conference says is unauthorized use of the Adventist Church’s trademarks. The General Conference is not seeking monetary damages but seeks to stop Pathfinder Shirts from selling products emblazoned with church logos.
The company’s co-owners, Michael and Karen Lillard, represented by legal firm Watson LLP, have argued that the lawsuit has unfairly singled them out. They further have asserted that the church has failed to self-police its trademarks to such an extent that the marks have lost trademark significance. They filed a counterclaim alleging damages resulting from being barred from attending Pathfinder events and have sought damages from the General Conference.
Converts to Adventism
The Lillards, former Presbyterians, converted to the Seventh-day Adventist faith as a result of Bible studies in the 1980s. They became members in 1982 and got involved in church-related programs, including Pathfinders. They began making Pathfinder items for the club their children attended and soon other churches asked, “Can you do this for us, too?”
They owned a clothing store, Tropic Tees, and sold Pathfinders items on the side, but interest in their Pathfinders-related clothing grew. The Florida Conference of Seventh-day Adventists recommended the Lillards’ services to fledgling Pathfinders clubs and extended them invitations to attend Pathfinders camporees.
The business grew in the late 1980s to include other ministries of the local conference—women’s and men’s ministries, prison ministries, and more. They became Florida Conference’s go-to supplier for clothing and Pathfinder honors and patches. All the while, the Lillards held numerous positions in their local congregation: deacons and elders, Sabbath School teachers, church treasurer, Pathfinders staff, Adventurers directors, music ministry directors, and more. They became members of Adventist Layman’s Services and Industries (ASI), and Karen served on the Florida Conference Executive Committee and the Florida Pathfinders Counsel. In addition to integration with the Florida Conference, Michael Lillard says they received encouragement from Norman Middag, who in the 80s and 90s was youth director for the Florida Conference and went on to start AdventSource.
By the early 90s, the Lillards sold church-related paraphernalia exclusively. They owned Manna Tees Witness Wear, a business with the tagline “Man does not live by bread alone but by every shirt printed with the word of God.” It was literally true; the shirt printing business was and remains their livelihood. They attended and operated vendor booths at General Conference Sessions. They attended North American Division Youth Ministries events and division-wide camporees. Wherever they went, they networked with Pathfinder clubs in needs of pins, patches, clothing, and other items. And everywhere they went, there were many other vendors selling Pathfinder items, they observed.
The Internet provided a platform for expanding their business and selling to Pathfinder clubs outside of North America. They started selling items online through the Pathfindershirts.com website. The Inter-American Division with its growing Adventist membership became a significant portion of the Lillard’s business.
Adventist Health Transfers 110 Years of Walla Walla Hospital Care to Sisters of Providence
April 3, 2017
Stunned physicians, nurses, and staff of the 72-bed acute care Seventh-day Adventist Walla Walla General Hospital in Walla Walla, Washington, were notified at 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. meetings on Monday that their parent organization, Adventist Health, had agreed to transfer their hospital and clinics to the control of the Roman Catholic Providence St. Mary’s Medical Center. Employees were notified that as of July 1, 2017, they would be employed by Providence St. Mary’s Medical Center.
This decision was made by executives in Adventist Health and the Sisters of Providence Health System. Local physicians, providers, and staff said they not been consulted about the decision. Hospital board members were informed of the decision at 7 a.m., and some hospital executives were called at home at 5 a.m. on the day of the announcement, making it clear that this was not a local decision.
Joyce Newmyer, Adventist Health CEO for the Pacific Northwest, used the carefully chosen words that this was “not a sale, but a transfer of control.” She described the change as a “sponsorship or membership substitution.” For the past 110 years, Walla Walla General Hospital (WWGH) has been an Adventist health care institution. In two months time they will join the Sisters of Providence Health System, a Catholic organization.
Concerned watchers speculate that the approximately $60 million indebtedness carried by WWGH was the true cost involved in turning it over to the Providence system. A significant portion of that debt came from a massive cosmetic renovation to the hospital completed in 2013, with new lobbies, dining room and executive offices at an estimated cost of $16 to $18 million. Other indebtedness came from experiments in health care delivery during the 1990’s, when an attempt at managed care led to losses. The Blue Mountain Medical group was purchased by WWGH, then dropped, after which a physician group reinvested in it to make it again profitable. After a coveted Rural Health Clinic Status contributed to the clinic’s financial viability, WWGH again purchased the clinic, which was renamed the Adventist Health Medical Group. This group has shown profitability with outpatient care, though inpatient costs have continued to prevent financial gains.
Providence Health Care chief executive Elaine Couture noted that there would be $14 million under control of St. Mary’s Medical Center available over the next 24 years “to advance Adventist Health’s mission” in the valley. The conditions of use of this $583,333 a year were not made clear at this time. Nor is the fate of Adventist Health employees who may face reassignments or loss of positions in the merger of the two hospitals.
Long tenured Adventist physicians in Walla Walla had suggested turning the hospital into a day surgery center and developing a strong outpatient program as a future for Adventist medical work in Walla Walla. No one that Adventist Today talked to anticipated that executives from AHS would simply give the hospital and clinics to St Mary’s Medical Center, which for a century has been a religious and medical competitor in providing health care to the residents of Walla Walla and surrounding areas.
Some observers have noted that the high quality of care at both institutions is due to the fact that until now patients had a choice of where to go for care. While this did lead to duplication of services, quality of care was considered excellent for a town of Walla Walla’s size. The town and surrounding county has a population of about 59,000.
What happens with both hospitals and large medical groups under one system is a question a regulator must now evaluate. Some have expressed their feelings that the way this decision was made demonstrates what happens when changes are made by people not directly involved in the communities impacted. It is also true that considerable change is occurring throughout health care systems in the United States.
The Catholic and Adventist faiths are the two largest religions in Walla Walla with roughly equal numbers. Each constitute about 11 percent of the population, with the Adventists being slightly larger than the Catholics in number, according to the United States Census of Religion. For the Adventist faith to be the largest religion in a city is very unusual. Walla Walla may be the largest such community in North America.
Divisive Turkey Referendum Campaign Underway To Give President More Power
World
Divisive Turkey Referendum Campaign Underway To Give President More Power
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April 5, 20174:33 PM ET
Heard on All Things Considered
A referendum campaign to give the Turkish president more power is in full swing, with, "Yes" crowds on the offensive but "No" voters gaining some quiet traction - despite occasional intimidation.
Source
Tuesday, April 04, 2017
Who is Susan Rice, the Obama ally behind the 'unmasking' controversy?
By Miranda Green, CNN
Updated 5:37 PM ET, Tue April 4, 2017
Washington (CNN)Since her time as a national security adviser and former UN ambassador during the Obama administration, Susan Rice had largely been out of the limelight until she was recently thrust into the snowballing White House surveillance controversy.
Rice reportedly attempted on numerous occasions to uncover the identities of President Donald Trump's associates caught on tape incidentally during intelligence surveillance. The report quickly re-opened an unsubstantiated debate on whether the Obama administration previously ordered wiretaps on Trump's phones.
Rice defended her actions Tuesday, telling MSNBC that her requests were "absolutely not for any political purposes, to spy, or anything."
"There were occasions when I would receive a report in which a US person was referred to -- name not provided, just a US person -- and sometimes in that context, in order to understand the importance of the report, and assess its significance, it was necessary to find out, or request the information as to who the US official was," Rice said.
"The notion that some people are trying to suggest, is that by asking for the identity of a person is leaking it, is unequivocally false," Rice added. "There is no connection between unmasking and leaking."
It's not the first time Rice has found herself at the center of a political controversy. A steadfast fixture through both of Obama's presidential terms, she served as the US ambassador to the United Nations and later national security adviser from 2013 to 2017.
Benghazi
At one point Rice had a clear trajectory to succeed Hillary Clinton as secretary of state in 2013, but withdrew her name from consideration following a public outcry over her role in the handling of the Benghazi attacks.
Rice defended her actions Tuesday, telling MSNBC that her requests were "absolutely not for any political purposes, to spy, or anything."
"There were occasions when I would receive a report in which a US person was referred to -- name not provided, just a US person -- and sometimes in that context, in order to understand the importance of the report, and assess its significance, it was necessary to find out, or request the information as to who the US official was," Rice said.
"The notion that some people are trying to suggest, is that by asking for the identity of a person is leaking it, is unequivocally false," Rice added. "There is no connection between unmasking and leaking."
It's not the first time Rice has found herself at the center of a political controversy. A steadfast fixture through both of Obama's presidential terms, she served as the US ambassador to the United Nations and later national security adviser from 2013 to 2017.
Benghazi
At one point Rice had a clear trajectory to succeed Hillary Clinton as secretary of state in 2013, but withdrew her name from consideration following a public outcry over her role in the handling of the Benghazi attacks.
Monday, April 03, 2017
Sunday, April 02, 2017
Israel-PalestineTrump and the Promised Land
Win McNamee/Getty Images
Published on: March 31, 2017
Chuck Freilich
Paradoxically, Trump may prove to be the President who is willing to exert unprecedented pressure on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Michael Herzog concluded his recent insider analysis of the most recent Israeli-Palestinian peace process failure by warning, “No one really knows when the window for a two-state solution will close, but one day it will. Continued stalemate after three failed attempts to reach a deal accelerates the closing of this window and endangers Israel’s future as a Jewish, democratic state.” He’s right: The two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is on life-support and does not have that much time left before the Palestinians permanently reject themselves out of any state and Israel settles itself out of a Jewish and democratic future. There is no specific deadline, and a few more years will not make a decisive difference, but the two-state solution will be hard-pressed to survive eight or even perhaps four more years of stasis.
So the question is whether (and when) President Trump should attempt to achieve “the ultimate deal.” It is not enough for the U.S. government to want peace; the willingness and political wherewithal to make the agonizing concessions necessary have to exist in both Jerusalem and Ramallah. Today, and for the foreseeable future, they exist in neither.
Paradoxically, Trump may prove to be the President who is willing to exert unprecedented pressure on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Michael Herzog concluded his recent insider analysis of the most recent Israeli-Palestinian peace process failure by warning, “No one really knows when the window for a two-state solution will close, but one day it will. Continued stalemate after three failed attempts to reach a deal accelerates the closing of this window and endangers Israel’s future as a Jewish, democratic state.” He’s right: The two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is on life-support and does not have that much time left before the Palestinians permanently reject themselves out of any state and Israel settles itself out of a Jewish and democratic future. There is no specific deadline, and a few more years will not make a decisive difference, but the two-state solution will be hard-pressed to survive eight or even perhaps four more years of stasis.
So the question is whether (and when) President Trump should attempt to achieve “the ultimate deal.” It is not enough for the U.S. government to want peace; the willingness and political wherewithal to make the agonizing concessions necessary have to exist in both Jerusalem and Ramallah. Today, and for the foreseeable future, they exist in neither.
People are fleeing New York at an alarming rate
By Aaron Short April 1, 2017 | 11:00pm
Shutterstock
More On:population
Residents of Chicago are running for the exits
New York's population dips for the first time in a decade
Ever see 'The Road'? That's your future, biologist says
Andrew Cuomo's 'exodus' denial
More people are leaving the New York region than any other major metropolitan area in the country.
More than 1 million people moved out of the New York area to another part of the country since 2010, a rate of 4.4 percent — the highest negative net migration rate among the nation’s large population centers, US Census records show.
The number of people leaving the region — which includes parts of New Jersey, Connecticut, the lower Hudson Valley and Long Island — in one year swelled from 187,034 in 2015 to 223,423 in 2016, while the number of international immigrants settling in the tri-state area dwindled from 181,551 to 160,324 over the same period, records show.
The nation’s economy is improving, there are more jobs in cheaper places to live, and retirees are choosing to move to warmer climates, experts say.
“The historical trend is that out migration grows when economy is getting better,” said Empire Center for Public Policy research director E.J. McMahon.
“As the economy gets better there are more jobs outside the region and by the same token . . . more people to buy your house if you’re a baby boomer looking to move to Boca Raton or Myrtle Beach.”
The New York metro area remains the most populous in the country with 23.7 million residents.
Americans have been increasingly relocating from the eastern US and the Rust Belt to cities in Florida, Texas, and the Northwest.
The Empire State’s population has fallen for the first time...
The Orlando-Daytona Beach area attracted 217,104 Americans to its shores over the past six years, a growth rate of 7.7 percent.
Denver had the second highest rate of domestic migrants (6.3) followed by Houston (4.7), Dallas-Fort Worth (4.6), and Portland, Ore. (3.9), according to census records compiled by the Empire Center.
The population of the New York region still grew 2.7 percent from 2010 to 2016, thanks to foreign arrivals and births, records show.
New York City, the main driver of the region’s population, is on track to have 8.6 million people by 2020, from a current population of 8.5 million, according to July 2016 records.
But the area’s growth rate is slowing down.
The region’s population rose 0.5 percent from July 2012 to July 2013 but only inched upwards 0.1 percent from July 2015 to July 2016, records show.
Some 422,045 people — or 4.3 percent — have left Chicago since 2010, the second highest negative migration rate after New York’s.
The Message of the Cross
God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. Galatians 6:14.
God has given me a message for His people.... You have been bought with a price, and all that you have and are is to be used to the glory of God and for the good of your fellow men. Christ died on the cross to save the world from perishing in sin. He asks your co-operation in this work. You are to be His helping hand. With earnest, unwearying effort you are to seek to save the lost....
The transforming power of Christ's grace molds the one who gives himself to God's service.... No longer can he be indifferent to the souls perishing around him.... He realizes that every part of his being belongs to Christ, who has redeemed him from the slavery of sin; that every moment of his future has been bought with the precious lifeblood of God's only-begotten Son.
Have you so deep an appreciation of the sacrifice made on Calvary that you are willing to make every other interest subordinate to the work of saving souls? The same intensity of desire to save sinners that marked the life of the Saviour marks the life of His true follower. The Christian has no desire to live for self. He delights to consecrate all that he has and is to the Master's service. He is moved by an inexpressible desire to win souls to Christ....
How can I best glorify Him whose I am by creation and by redemption? This is to be the question that we are to ask ourselves. With anxious solicitude the one who is truly converted seeks to rescue those who are still in Satan's power....
We have now only a little time in which to prepare for eternity.... People need the truth, and by earnest, faithful effort it is to be communicated to them. Souls are to be sought for, prayed for, labored for....
Upon us rests the weighty responsibility of warning the world of its coming doom.... God calls upon His church to arise and clothe herself with power. Immortal crowns are to be won; the kingdom of heaven is to be gained; the world, perishing in ignorance, is to be enlightened.
Maranatha, p. 100.
Fake News: The Unravelling of US Empire From Within
By Prof. John McMurtry
Global Research, March 27, 2017
Region: USA
Theme: Intelligence, Media Disinformation
In-depth Report: FAKE INTELLIGENCE
Setting the Stage of the Press-President War
US ruling ideology and Washington power have become unstuck as never before. A war of opposing certitudes and denunciations is waged day to day between the long-ruling US corporate media and the White House. Both continuously proclaim ringing recriminations of the other’s ‘fake news’. Over months they both portray each other as malevolent liars.
US bully pulpits are now beyond show disagreements and successful media inquisitions of the past. Slanderous accusations long confined to vilifying the designated Enemy have crept into accusations of the President himself. ‘The Russians are coming’ is returning as the final recourse of smear to stop deviations from the global program of hugely profitable enemy hate and perpetual preparations for foreign war.
The ruling big lies of the US money party and corporate globalization have divided into opposing camps. The Press and the President denounce each other non-stop on the public stage, while US dark state agents take sides behind the scenes.
Fake news is the medium of battle.
US ruling ideology and Washington power have become unstuck as never before. A war of opposing certitudes and denunciations is waged day to day between the long-ruling US corporate media and the White House. Both continuously proclaim ringing recriminations of the other’s ‘fake news’. Over months they both portray each other as malevolent liars.
US bully pulpits are now beyond show disagreements and successful media inquisitions of the past. Slanderous accusations long confined to vilifying the designated Enemy have crept into accusations of the President himself. ‘The Russians are coming’ is returning as the final recourse of smear to stop deviations from the global program of hugely profitable enemy hate and perpetual preparations for foreign war.
The ruling big lies of the US money party and corporate globalization have divided into opposing camps. The Press and the President denounce each other non-stop on the public stage, while US dark state agents take sides behind the scenes.
Fake news is the medium of battle.
Saturday, April 01, 2017
Noah's Time and Ours
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES
November 27, 1884
Noah's Time and Ours
By Mrs. E. G. White
In the days of Noah “God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” “The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.” This is an accurate description of the generation that perished in the waters of the flood; for it was written by inspiration.
“God saw that the wickedness of man was great,” and that the “earth was filled with violence.” Lawlessness was rife. God had given men his commandments as a rule of life; but the fear of God had well-nigh died out of their hearts. His law was transgressed, and almost every conceivable sin was the result. The wickedness of men was open and daring, and the cries of the oppressed reached to Heaven. Justice was trampled in the dust. The strong not only disregarded the rights of the weak, but forced them to commit deeds of violence and crime.
The same characteristics prevail in our day. Crimes as grievous, as black and terrible, are perpetrated. How many men in high positions, who have been honored as men of talent and integrity, have proved themselves unworthy to be trusted. How many such persons have been detected in fraud, bribery, theft, and even murder. Take up the secular papers, and read the accounts of murder. Many of these crimes are so cold-blooded and causeless that it seems as though men kill one another merely from impulse or for amusement. And these atrocities have become of such common occurrence that they hardly elicit a comment or awaken surprise. They are looked upon as a matter of course, as evils that must be endured.
The Destructive Progress Of Mankind!
Volume XXXVI Issue IV April 2017
Last Trumpet Ministries, PO Box 806, Beaver Dam, WI 53916
Phone: 920-887-2626 Internet: http://www.lasttrumpetministries.org
The Destructive Progress Of Mankind!
"Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee."
Psalm 139:7-12
"He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds. He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names. Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite."
Psalm 147:3-5
"And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth."
Revelation 19:6
"How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit."
Isaiah 14:12-15
In this issue of the Last Trumpet Newsletter, we will consider numerous pressing matters in this modern age, including rapidly advancing technology and the destructive progress of mankind. The world we live in today is quite different from the world as we knew it just twenty years ago. In today's world, a majority of people in the United States and other advanced countries are carrying smartphones, which provide consumers with a constant link to the Internet nearly everywhere they go. Small children, even toddlers, are sometimes given tablet computers to play with. Many public schools no longer use paper books, but instead they force children to use electronic devices to access their educational materials. A growing array of household devices are also connected to the Internet, including thermostats, televisions, and even light bulbs. According to a report by The Economic Times, Internet-enabled light bulbs, which are sometimes called "smart lights," are expected to grow in popularity over the course of the next five to ten years. "The next generation of changes (in lighting) that people will adopt will be intelligent, smart lights, which are IoT (Internet of things) devices in the next five to ten years," said Harshvardhan Chitale of Philips Lighting in India. (1) New automobiles, too, often offer Internet connectivity as a feature. According to a Computerworld Magazine article, 89 percent of newly manufactured cars will feature an Internet connection by the year 2024. (2)
Referendum can put Sunday sales whispers to rest
Published 3:00am Saturday, April 1, 2017
Troy City Council members are quietly exploring the possibility of allowing Sunday sales of alcohol, a decision that could mean significant changes for businesses and tourism.
The proposal is still in its earliest stages. Council members are seeking legislative approval to hold a citywide referendum on the issue, asking voters quite simply: do you or don’t you approve of Sunday alcohol sales?
If the referendum is passed, the council members would be tasked with setting parameters for those sales through local ordinances, all of which would presumably pass through a lengthy process involving ample time for public input. And we suspect there would be plenty of passionate public input.
Proponents cite the economic advantages of allowing restaurants and businesses to sell beer, wine or alcohol with meals – a move that would increase profits and profitability. They cite the realities that neighboring cities – such as Montgomery – already allow patrons to purchase alcohol, and allowing the same in Troy levels the playing field and potentially keeps more revenue – and sales tax proceeds – here.
Troy City Council members are quietly exploring the possibility of allowing Sunday sales of alcohol, a decision that could mean significant changes for businesses and tourism.
The proposal is still in its earliest stages. Council members are seeking legislative approval to hold a citywide referendum on the issue, asking voters quite simply: do you or don’t you approve of Sunday alcohol sales?
If the referendum is passed, the council members would be tasked with setting parameters for those sales through local ordinances, all of which would presumably pass through a lengthy process involving ample time for public input. And we suspect there would be plenty of passionate public input.
Proponents cite the economic advantages of allowing restaurants and businesses to sell beer, wine or alcohol with meals – a move that would increase profits and profitability. They cite the realities that neighboring cities – such as Montgomery – already allow patrons to purchase alcohol, and allowing the same in Troy levels the playing field and potentially keeps more revenue – and sales tax proceeds – here.
Father Sosa on the appointment and leftist Jesuit priests
Note: The following is a Google Translate rendition of an article written in Polish.
La Repubblica / s / crowd. Marta Żyśko
31.03.2017 9:11
(Fig. Youtube.com)
General of the Jesuits gave an interview in which he did not avoid questions about what has shaped one of the most important people in the Church today - Pope Francis and I are a product of history - said Father Arturo Sosa Abascal.
- we learned to read the Gospel in a different way. We passed a large path that is welcomed because it reflects the Church, which takes over the fate of neighbors, which is between them, and speak the language of ordinary people - the general said in an interview published by the Peruvian La Repubblica.
Appointment of Jesuits
General of the Jesuits on the question of the appointment of the Jesuits pointed out that "we all live in a wounded society: in some cases in a state of war, in other racial or religious discrimination in other social inequality. Latin America is still a continent where most social inequality and improving economy does not guarantee its reduction. " Father Sosa also added that "we are just a grain of sand, but despite this we have to act, we - people of faith, to bring reconciliation, which implies forgiveness, mercy and justice."
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