Monday, November 26, 2007

...SENDING IN THE CLOWNS---TO PREACH?


Is The Liberal Church Finally Sending in the Clowns to Preach? I Thought They’ve Been There All the Time Already??


Posted by Andrew Clarkson on Friece10be
Fri, 26 Oct 2007 06:51:00 +0000 8, 2006




Can you believe any church would offer clowns in the pulpit? Now I’m not counting Benny Hinn or Mike Murdock, but the real one’s! Is this the churches latest sideshow to bring in the young peope? Is cotten candy going to be available along with peanuts? We’ve already got a couple of ringmasters in Paul and Jan Crouch. What clown uses more make-up than Jan Crouch? I don’t think that’s humanly possible to beat her?

If Rod Parsley can chase the devil up and down the isles of his church I suppose clowns may be an improvement? Someitmes Steve Munsey makes clown like faces but I don’t think he’s really trying to do that. And that hair of his has to be a clown’s wig.

Real clowns in the pulpit. if they’re the quiet kind the sermon will be even shorter than most liberal churches. Maybe they’ll have a horn to wake up the slumbering congregation if the jokes get too bad. One guy that might get jealous over a clown stealing his routines might be Jesse Duplantis. But no one can top his vision of heaven aboard a cable car for that is a real San Francisco Treat! That town loves to have a gay old time.

Send in the clowns? I think we already have!


Source: http://obadiah1317.wordpress.com/2007/10/26/is-the-liberal-church-finally-sending-in-the-clowns-to-preach-i-thought-theyve-been-there-all-the-time-already-2/

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BEWARE OF MEN


Continuing His instruction to His disciples, Jesus said, "Beware of men." They were not to put implicit confidence in those who knew not God, and open to them their counsels; for this would give Satan's agents an advantage. Man's inventions often counterwork God's plans. Those who build the temple of the Lord are to build according to the pattern shown in the mount,--the divine similitude. God is dishonored and the gospel is betrayed when His servants depend on the counsel of men who are not under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Worldly wisdom is foolishness with God. Those who rely upon it will surely err. {DA 354.1}



"They will deliver you up to councils, . . . yea and before governors and kings shall ye be brought for My sake, for a testimony to them and to the Gentiles." Matt. 10:17, 18, R. V. Persecution will spread the light. The servants of Christ will be brought before the great men of the world, who, but for this, might never hear the gospel. The truth has been misrepresented to these men. They have listened to false charges concerning the faith of Christ's disciples. Often their only means of learning its real character is the testimony of those who are brought to trial for their faith. Under examination these are required to answer, and their judges to listen to the testimony borne. God's grace will be dispensed to His servants to meet the emergency. "It shall be given you," says Jesus, "in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you." As the Spirit of God illuminates the minds of His servants, the truth will be presented in its divine power and preciousness. Those who reject the truth will stand to accuse and oppress the disciples. But under loss and suffering, even unto death, the Lord's children are to reveal the meekness of their divine Example. Thus will be seen the contrast between Satan's agents and the representatives of Christ. The Saviour will be lifted up before the rulers and the people. {DA 354.2}



The disciples were not endowed with the courage and fortitude of the martyrs until such grace was needed. Then the Saviour's promise was fulfilled. When Peter and John testified before the Sanhedrin council, men "marveled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus." Acts 4:13. Of Stephen it is written that "all that sat in the council, looking steadfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel." Men "were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake." Acts 6:15, 10. And Paul, writing of his own trial at the court of the Caesars, says, "At my first defense no one took my
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part, but all forsook me. . . . But the Lord stood by me, and strengthened me; that through me the message might be fully proclaimed, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion." 2 Tim. 4:16, 17, R. V.
{DA 354.3}



The servants of Christ were to prepare no set speech to present when brought to trial. Their preparation was to be made day by day in treasuring up the precious truths of God's word, and through prayer strengthening their faith. When they were brought into trial, the Holy Spirit would bring to their remembrance the very truths that would be needed. {DA 355.1}



A daily, earnest striving to know God, and Jesus Christ whom He has sent, would bring power and efficiency to the soul. The knowledge obtained by diligent searching of the Scriptures would be flashed into the memory at the right time. But if any had neglected to acquaint themselves with the words of Christ, if they had never tested the power of His grace in trial, they could not expect that the Holy Spirit would bring His words to their remembrance. They were to serve God daily with undivided affection, and then trust Him. {DA 355.2}



So bitter would be the enmity to the gospel that even the tenderest earthly ties would be disregarded. The disciples of Christ would be betrayed to death by the members of their own households. "Ye shall be hated of all men for My name's sake," He added; "but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved." Mark 13:13. But He bade them not to expose themselves unnecessarily to persecution. He Himself often left one field of labor for another, in order to escape from those who were seeking His life. When He was rejected at Nazareth, and His own townsmen tried to kill Him, He went down to Capernaum, and there the people were astonished at His teaching; "for His word was with power." Luke 4:32. So His servants were not to be discouraged by persecution, but to seek a place where they could still labor for the salvation of souls. {DA 355.3}



The servant is not above his master. The Prince of heaven was called Beelzebub, and His disciples will be misrepresented in like manner. But whatever the danger, Christ's followers must avow their principles. They should scorn concealment. They cannot remain uncommitted until assured of safety in confessing the truth. They are set as watchmen, to warn men of their peril. The truth received from Christ must be imparted to all, freely and openly. Jesus said, "What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops." {DA 355.4}



Jesus Himself never purchased peace by compromise. His heart overflowed with love for the whole human race, but He was never indulgent to their sins. He was too much their friend to remain silent while they were pursuing a course that would ruin their souls,--the souls He had purchased with His own blood. He labored that man should be true to himself, true to his higher and eternal interest. The servants of Christ are called to the same work, and they should beware lest, in seeking to prevent discord, they surrender the truth. They are to "follow after the things which make for peace" (Rom. 14:19); but real peace can never be secured by compromising principle. And no man can be true to principle without exciting opposition. A Christianity that is spiritual will be opposed by the children of disobedience. But Jesus bade His disciples, "Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul." Those who are true to God need not fear the power of men nor the enmity of Satan. In Christ their eternal life is secure. Their only fear should be lest they surrender the truth, and thus betray the trust with which God has honored them. {DA 356.1}



It is Satan's work to fill men's hearts with doubt. He leads them to look upon God as a stern judge. He tempts them to sin, and then to regard themselves as too vile to approach their heavenly Father or to excite His pity. The Lord understands all this. Jesus assures His disciples of God's sympathy for them in their needs and weaknesses. Not a sigh is breathed, not a pain felt, not a grief pierces the soul, but the throb vibrates to the Father's heart. {DA 356.2}



The Bible shows us God in His high and holy place, not in a state of inactivity, not in silence and solitude, but surrounded by ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands of holy intelligences, all waiting to do His will. Through channels which we cannot discern He is in active communication with every part of His dominion. But it is in this speck of a world, in the souls that He gave His only-begotten Son to save, that His interest and the interest of all heaven is centered. God is bending from His throne to hear the cry of the oppressed. To every sincere prayer He answers, "Here am I." He uplifts the distressed and downtrodden. In all our afflictions He is afflicted. In every temptation and every trial the angel of His presence is near to deliver. {DA 356.3}



Not even a sparrow falls to the ground without the Father's notice. Satan's hatred against God leads him to hate every object of the Saviour's care. He seeks to mar the handiwork of God, and he delights in destroying
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even the dumb creatures. It is only through God's protecting care that the birds are preserved to gladden us with their songs of joy. But He does not forget even the sparrows. "Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows."
{DA 356.4}



Jesus continues: As you confess Me before men, so I will confess you before God and the holy angels. You are to be My witnesses upon earth, channels through which My grace can flow for the healing of the world. So I will be your representative in heaven. The Father beholds not your faulty character, but He sees you as clothed in My perfection. I am the medium through which Heaven's blessings shall come to you. And everyone who confesses Me by sharing My sacrifice for the lost shall be confessed as a sharer in the glory and joy of the redeemed. {DA 357.1}



He who would confess Christ must have Christ abiding in him. He cannot communicate that which he has not received. The disciples might speak fluently on doctrines, they might repeat the words of Christ Himself; but unless they possessed Christlike meekness and love, they were not confessing Him. A spirit contrary to the spirit of Christ would deny Him, whatever the profession. Men may deny Christ by evilspeaking, by foolish talking, by words that are untruthful or unkind. They may deny Him by shunning life's burdens, by the pursuit of sinful pleasure. They may deny Him by conforming to the world, by uncourteous behavior, by the love of their own opinions, by justifying self, by cherishing doubt, borrowing trouble, and dwelling in darkness. In all these ways they declare that Christ is not in them. And "whosoever shall deny Me before men," He says, "him will I also deny before My Father which is in heaven." {DA 357.2}



The Saviour bade His disciples not to hope that the world's enmity to the gospel would be overcome, and that after a time its opposition would cease. He said, "I came not to send peace, but a sword." This creating of strife is not the effect of the gospel, but the result of opposition to it. Of all persecution the hardest to bear is variance in the home, the estrangement of dearest earthly friends. But Jesus declares, "He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after Me, is not worthy of Me." {DA 357.3}



The mission of Christ's servants is a high honor, and a sacred trust. "He that receiveth you," He says, "receiveth Me, and he that receiveth
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Me receiveth Him that sent Me." No act of kindness shown to them in His name will fail to be recognized and rewarded. And in the same tender recognition He includes the feeblest and lowliest of the family of God: "Whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones"--those who are as children in their faith and their knowledge of Christ--"a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in nowise lose his reward."
{DA 357.4}



Thus the Saviour ended His instruction. In the name of Christ the chosen twelve went out, as He had gone, "to preach the gospel to the poor, . . . to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord." Luke 4:18, 19. {DA 358.1}




The Desire of Ages (1888), Ellen G. White, pp.353-358.


Note: Bolds and Highlights used for emphasis! Blogmaster

QOD CONFERENCE BULLETIN THREE

26 October 2007

QOD conference bulletin three

Sda_crazy_2 By Richard Rice, reflecting on Thursday

If the organizers of the QOD Conference wanted a variety of viewpoints, they certainly got it today, with nine different presentations, two panel discussions, and second evening keynote address, this time from Herbert Douglass.


In the first session after the morning worship by Nik Satelmajer, Julius Nam neatly divided the various reactions to QOD into four groups—pro- and anti-Adventist Evangelicals, and pro- and anti-QOD Adventists. Among the nine observations he made following this division, was the unlikely fact that the first and fourth groups agreed that QOD represented a change in SDA theology, and the second and fourth agreed that it didn’t. Nam also noted the “tactics” of the QOD authors in excluding M L Andreasen from the preparation of the material and “finessing” the EGW material to support a position that significantly shifted the traditional view of Christ’s human nature. Describing himself as “a heart-broken member” of the SDA church, Russell Standish left no doubt about his views of QOD. It represented “compromise,” “alterations” in basic Adventist beliefs, “the destruction of this body of truth,” “this intrusion of rank apostasy,” “rank error,” as well as a misguided attempt to please “those who despised our faith” on the part of those who “suffered from a strange denominational inferiority complex.”

Another Australian, Arthur Patrick took a strikingly different approach. As he sees it, the QOD controversy as it emerged in Australia reflected in part the disillusionment that followed the end of WW2, when people who thought the end of the world was upon them found out it wasn’t. In reaction, some saw in the QOD controversy a sign of prophesied apostasy. Others saw it as a call to reconsider unexamined certainties and rethink SDA identity. Patrick issued a thoughtful appeal to SDAs to open all the QOD material to thoughtful research. Ciro Sepulveda presented the interesting thesis that the QOD discussion reflected to a significant degree demographic and economic transitions. As church members become more sophisticated and affluent, they wanted a “more enlightened theology,” to match the growth of their educational institutions and their movement into respectable society. QOD provides yet another example of the way religious movements change from sect to denomination.

Alberto Timm provided a detailed account of the QOD in Latin America, where a Portuguese translation is just about to appear. Various parts of the book were published in the form of articles. For the most part the continent was spared the controversy that engulfed the book elsewhere. The membership in Latin America is generally respectful of church leadership, and even those who opposed QOD had not even read it. He also noted, to the amusement of the audience, some critics of QOD presented their views to Brazilian SDAs in Spanish, not realizing that Portuguese was their national language.
The afternoon session, “QOD and the Evangelicals,” presented contrasting views of the theological changes represented in QOD. Paul McGraw detailed the vigorous objections of many Evangelicals to the view of Martin and Barnhouse that SDAs, for all their distinctive beliefs, should be considered fellow Christians. For vocal critics like Louis Talbot, E B Jones, and Harold Lindsell, the distinctives of SDAs posed an insuperable obstacle to any such judgment. For all the supposed changes in other areas, these unique beliefs exclude them from the Evangelical fold. Larry Christoffel gave a straightforward affirmation of Evangelical Adventism, with its emphasis on the central themes of Reformation theology—the Trinity, the sinless nature of Christ, the complete substitutionary atonement of the cross, and justification by faith alone, to mention just a few. These common themes call for a closer alliance between Adventists and other members of the larger Evangelical community.


Two of the non-SDA participants were notable for the differences in their views of the transition that QOD represents in SDA theology. Kenneth Samples, an Evangelical Calvinist who worked for a time with Walter Martin, welcomes the theological changes that QOD embodies, noting that EGW helped the Church toward full-fledged Trinitarianism and an orthodox understanding of the nature of Christ. While noting the differences between traditional, evangelical and liberal SDAs, Samples indicated that Walter Martin regarded the revisionary perspective on SDAm that he encouraged as one of his most important accomplishments. If Samples sees the developments in QOD as a move in the right direction, Donald Dayton, a Wesleyan scholar, takes a different approach. He finds the familiar categories such as conservative, liberal, fundamentalism, and evangelicalism, unhelpful when one takes a close look at the origins and development of religious movements, including SDAm. For him the move away from our roots represents a loss of the distinctive insights that we have to offer the world, and the real driving force behind the SDA ethos (my expression) is eschatology. His paper concludes with this ominous caveat: “I fear that Adventism may sell its heritage for a mess of pottage.”
Herbert Douglass ended the day with a long paper based on the image of clashing tectonic plates, symbols of Calvinism and Arminianism. No summary will do justice to the care with which his presentation was constructed or convey the personal passion with which is was delivered. But he is clearly dismayed at the maneuverings of those who produced QOD in excluding Andreasen from the discussion and manipulating EGW quotations to support unprecedented doctrinal positions, a straightforward example of “fraud.” The greatest tragedy of the whole episode, his view seems to be, was the missed opportunity on the part of the Church to present to Barnhouse and Martin the great controversy perspective that is unique to SDAs and that affects the full range of SDA doctrines, particularly the view of Christ’s humanity and the importance of sanctification.

I’ll have to wrap this up, since I have an early presentation of my own tomorrow morning, but I would like to see more reflection on the nature of theological change at this conference. Religious movements always change over time in lots of ways, beliefs included. But what do these changes represent? Gains or losses? Growth or decay? Refinement or apostasy? When it comes to QOD, opinions obviously vary, widely. But addressing theological change in general might help us to understand just what has been going on for the past fifty years.

SARKOZY IN CHINA AS AIRBUS DEAL SET

Sarkozy in China as Airbus Deal Set

By DAVID LAGUE
Published: November 27, 2007

BEIJING, Nov. 26 — The aircraft maker Airbus and the French nuclear company Areva signed orders worth a combined $26.7 billion here today, in deals that underline the growing value of China as a market for European technology despite mounting tension between Europe and China over trade.

Skip to next paragraph
Francois Mori/Associated Press

French President Nicolas Sarkozy with Chinese President Hu Jintao in Beijing today after Airbus and the nuclear company Areva signed orders worth $26.7 billion.

The deals, signed while President Nicolas Sarkozy of France was on the second day of a three-day visit to China, come as the European Union steps up pressure on Beijing to curb China’s soaring trade surplus with Europe.

European Union monetary officials, including Jean-Claude Trichet, president of the European Central Bank, are expected to press China to allow faster appreciation of its currency, the yuan, when they arrive in Beijing Tuesday for two days of talks with their Chinese counterparts, European officials said.

European trade officials accuse Beijing of keeping the yuan undervalued to boost exports. China’s trade surplus widened 50 percent to $13.9 billion in October compared with the same month last year, according to official Chinese statistics.

The European Union estimates China’s trade surplus is on track to reach $252 billion this year, a 30-percent increase on the figure for 2006.

In a visit that has been dominated by trade, Mr. Sarkozy today called for fairness in the value of the world’s major currencies.

“A great country must have a strong currency,” he told French and Chinese business leaders in a speech, The Associated Press reported.

“China has an important role to play, in consultation with the other players, in not letting the imbalances accumulate to a point where we won’t know how to get rid of them.”

Trade friction is also expected to top the agenda at a summit meeting between the European Union and China in the Chinese capital Wednesday, with European leaders signaling they will urge Beijing to do more to open Chinese markets to foreign goods and services.

The European Union trade commissioner, Peter Mandelson, has warned Beijing that it needs to make progress on lifting investment and trade barriers and protecting intellectual property or face tough measures from Brussels. In remarks that drew a rebuke from Vice Premier Wu Yi, Mr. Mandelson also attacked China’s product safety record today in a speech at an international food safety forum in Beijing.

The deals signed by Airbus and Areva are among the largest for the French companies.

Airbus, the world’s biggest commercial aircraft maker, said it had signed orders to deliver 160 passenger aircraft worth about $14.8 billion to Chinese airlines.

Airbus said it would supply 110 of its A320 passenger jets and 50 of its larger A330 models in a deal that aviation experts say is a timely boost after costly delays in Airbus’s A380 superjumbo and a falling United States dollar have hurt the performance of its parent company, EADS.

Airbus, based in the French city of Toulouse, has so far won orders this year to deliver a record 1,340 aircraft, easily exceeding the previous high of 1,111 in 2005, according to industry analysts citing recent briefings with senior Airbus executives.

Airbus is now closing on its goal of matching Boeing, a rival, in sales in China, the world’s second-biggest market for commercial passenger aircraft behind the United States. Boeing also secured record orders this year. “This is a remarkable golden era for aircraft sales,” said Martin Craigs, president of the aviation industry lobby group, Aerospace Forum Asia, in Hong Kong. “With this deal, Airbus has won orders for almost three times as many aircraft this year as they are going to build.”

Earlier this year Airbus had also signed an agreement to assemble aircraft from 2011 at a new facility in the Chinese port city of Tianjin.

In what it said was the French nuclear industry’s biggest commercial contract, Areva signed deals worth $11.9 billion today to supply two reactors, technology and uranium to China, as the world’s fastest growing major economy strives to reduce its dependence on heavily polluting coal.

The company said it would build two of its third-generation EPR reactors at Taishan in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong under a contract with China Guangdong Nuclear Power Corporation. The Chinese company had agreed to buy 35 per cent of the production of Areva’s uranium mining subsidiary, UraMin, which plans to source the nuclear fuel from its three mines in Africa, Areva executives said.

France and China could also become long-term partners in nuclear fuel processing after Areva signed an agreement today with the China National Nuclear Corporation, to begin a feasibility study into building a spent fuel reprocessing plant in China.

“For us, it looks very promising for the future,” Areva chief executive Anne Lauvergeon said at a news conference in Beijing.

“Areva in this fashion, with its partners, continues its presence in one of the most dynamic markets in the world.”

China has become an important market for the world’s top nuclear reactor builders. Areva, Westinghouse, a unit of Japan’s Toshiba Corp., and Russia’s AtomStroyExport are competing for orders at a time when China is planning to spend $60 billion on new reactors by 2020, according to reports in the official media.

Westinghouse won a $5.3 billion order to build four reactors in July.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/27/business/worldbusiness/27trade.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

PUTIN ACCUSES U.S. of MEDDLING IN RUSSIAN VOTE

Putin accuses U.S. of meddling in Russian vote
Mon Nov 26, 2007 4:18 PM EST143


By Oleg Shchedrov

ST PETERSBURG, Russia (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin accused Washington on Monday of plotting to undermine parliamentary elections on December 2, seen widely as a demonstration of his enduring power in Russia.

Putin, drawing on resurgent nationalist sentiment ahead of Sunday's poll, said Russia must maintain its defenses to discourage others from "poking their snotty noses" in its affairs.

Europe joined the United States in voicing concern over a weekend police crackdown on protests by an opposition that says it has been banished from the airwaves and from the streets by the Kremlin.

U.S. President George W. Bush, who hosted Putin at his family's seaside estate for a "lobster summit" in July, said he was "deeply concerned" about the detention of rights activists and political leaders, as well as the force used at rallies.

Putin, who must step down as president early next year, said he saw Washington's hand in a decision by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe's ODIHR monitoring arm to abandon plans to observe the parliamentary election.

"We have information that, once again, this was done on the recommendation of the U.S. State Department," the 55-year-old leader, running as No. 1 on United Russia's slate of candidates, said at a meeting with party activists.

"Their aim is to deprive the elections of legitimacy, that is absolutely clear," Putin said in his home city of St Petersburg.

ODIHR has said Russian obstruction left it with no choice but to cancel the monitoring mission.

U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said that while Washington supported the OSCE's decision, it had not influenced OSCE representatives.

"Our very clear message (to them) was that this is your decision. We don't want to try to influence you one way or another," McCormack told reporters.

He dismissed Putin's sharp language as election rhetoric. Continued ...


Source: http://ca.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2007-11-26T211756Z_01_L26562040_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-RUSSIA-VOTE-COL.XML

PEACE AND POLITICS IN ANNAPOLIS

Peace and Politics in Annapolis

November 26, 2007
Author:

Peace and Politics in Annapolis

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has invested much in the Annapolis talks. (AP Images)

The time may or may not be right, and progress may or may not ensue. But on Monday, for the first time in sixteen years, representatives of the Arab world, Israel, and a host of other interested parties convened under U.S. auspices to talk about peace. President Bush, meeting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert ahead of the November 26 opening dinner, pronounced himself optimistic about the talks. Bush’s address to the conference will be parsed carefully for indications of the final outcome Washington supports on such issues as the fate of Israel’s West Bank settlements, the demand of Palestinians to return to lands lost in 1948 and 1967, and the disputed status of the Golan Heights and Jerusalem.

Since issuing invitations last week, the administration has claimed a victory of sorts in that all invitees decided to attend, even Saudi Arabia, the subject of a public appeal (Al Bawaba) by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to reject the conference. The Saudi foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, tells TIME his country holds out hope for progress, but his attendance should not be misinterpreted as a sign of an impending deal. “It is a very simple equation. Either Israel wants peace or territory. It can't have both.”

Indeed, progress proved harder on concrete issues as the Israeli and Palestinian foreign ministers attempted, right up to the opening of the conference, to reach agreement on a joint declaration meant as a starting point for talks (JPost). Critics seized upon this difficulty as evidence that the Annapolis conference is ill conceived. CFR President Richard N. Haass repeatedly has warned that the time may not be ripe for such an effort, and of the very real cost of failure. “Ripeness has several elements: there must be a formula for the parties involved to adopt, a diplomatic process to get them to that point, and protagonists who are able and willing to make a deal.” Haass sees none of these elements in place. A Philadephia Inquirer analysis looks at the potential pitfalls, violent and otherwise, of impasse in Annapolis.

Territorial issues aside, the political weakness of the summit’s major players also raised eyebrows. The upcoming 2008 presidential election limits the Bush administration’s options, as the quick criticism (TPMCafe) of the Annapolis conference by GOP candidates shows. Suspicions of “legacy” seeking, too, invariably arose. Aaron David Miller, a Middle East expert and adviser to six secretaries of state, says Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice wants a Mideast deal because (BaltSun) “she’s about a year or so away from being judged as a kind of inconsequential secretary of state.”

The position of President Mahmoud Abbas’ government, shorn of the Gaza Strip by the radical Hamas movement last summer, can hardly be described as solid. Abbas issued a statement last Monday which stopped just short of calling for an uprising against Hamas (al-Jazeera), a group whose suicide bombers played a large role in ruining the last serious peace initiative, the Oslo process of the 1990s. In Israel, meanwhile, Olmert faces intense pressure not to make further concessions from his domestic coalition partners. His preconference decision to release some Palestinians held by Israel, and to give twenty-five armored cars to Abbas’ overmatched security forces, were derided (Ynet) by one foe as “lubricating the wheels of terror.”

Through all this, supporters of the summit argue that inaction is not an option. Rice countered those who argue that Abbas and Olmert (and even Bush) lack the political clout needed to move forward, or that the effort is motivated by “legacy” considerations. “There are a lot easier things to do to get a photo op than try to get Israelis and Palestinians to negotiate seriously for the first time in seven years.” Indeed, British analyst Bronwen Maddox suggests the time may be right precisely because all sides feel a sense of “threat and urgency” (Times of London). Haaretz correspondent Bradley Burston, annoyed by the preconference gloom, responded with a contrarian’s wish list: “Nine Reasons Annapolis Will Succeed.”

Source: http://www.cfr.org/publication/14867/peace_and_politics_at_issue_in_annapolis.html?breadcrumb=%2F

FAKE NEWS AND PROPAGANDA: SHAPING OUR REALITY


Fake News and Propaganda: Shaping Our Reality

By Dana Gabriel

http://www.newworldordermustbestopped.com/DanasBlog.html

The mainstream media is dominated by a handful of mega corporations who control what many of us hear, read, and believe. The propaganda masters are censoring and suppressing the truth from the American people. There are many reporters who know the truth but dare not talk or write about it, and what some report they don’t even believe themselves. Those who are courageous enough to stand up to the establishment are often ridiculed, intimidated, and blocked by editors and producers who are acting as gatekeepers to the truth. There have been calls for the arrests and even death of those who criticize the government. You know you have slipped into a fascist dictatorship when those who dissent are treated like traitors, terrorists, and enemies of the state. We are being brainwashed with all the propaganda that we are subjected to in our everyday lives in an effort to control our minds and shift us into massive groupthink. We are being told that we are spreading democracy around the world while our own freedoms are being systematically taken away.

There is a war on the truth, and we are partly to blame as we have lost our respect for genuine news. Dissent is an important ingredient in any free society, yet there is an effort to silence those who criticize the government. Through propaganda, the global elite wish to control our thoughts and perceptions. Just as there is an assault on our personnel freedoms, there is war on the freedom of the press. When journalists are threatened for doing their jobs, the big loser is the free flow of information and ultimately the truth. The Founding Fathers envisioned the press as being independent, reporting the facts and uncovering the truth. Instead, it has become a circus of entertainment and theater mixed in with spin, lies, and disinformation. The Bush administration has been caught paying actors and journalists to appear in and write propaganda pieces. Television stations are using prepackaged news releases produced by corporate and governmental groups without such facts being disclosed. It is clear that we can no longer trust the mainstream media to hold the government accountable.

The Bush administration is spending millions, paying off journalists and producing fake news spots to promote their agenda. Some $10 million was spent in a propaganda-like advertising campaign to push President Bush’s Social Security plan. Fake news reports were also put out to promote his Medicare prescription drug program, with production company employees masquerading as reporters. These mock prepackaged reports are distributed to broadcast outlets across the country and inserted into local news casts. They look so authentic that most would mistake it for a real piece of independent journalism, not partisan propaganda politics. They are paying journalists and reporters to further advance the government’s agenda. One of the best examples is commentator Armstrong Williams who was paid $240,000 by the Department of Education to help promote Bush’s No Child Left Behind. Maggie Gallagher also received tens of thousands of dollars from the Department of Health and Human Services to promote Bush’s marriage initiative. The list goes on with the likes of Jeff Gannon, Michael McManus, and Karen Ryan, and these are only a few who were caught. This is not unique to the Bush administration as such practices were also common under President Clinton.

A very recent example of fake news occurred during a FEMA-orchestrated news conference which took place during the recent fires that ravaged Southern California. By all accounts, it had the makings of a real news conference, but the only thing missing was real reporters. Some of FEMA’s employees posed as reporters, asking softball questions that were carried live by some news stations. It turned into a FEMA love fest, an event to showcase the great job they were doing in regards to the fires. It represented a miscarriage of information, and further legitimized the fact that there is a war on the truth. The only reason there was an apology was because FEMA was caught. It turned out to be a big mistake, an error in judgment, and we were told that this was an isolated incident. It has been reported that both the White House and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff were aware of the fake news conference, and would have more than likely given it the green light. This fake news conference can be best described as government-sponsored propaganda. If the intentions were not to deceive, why wasn’t there a disclaimer announced beforehand? We would probably all be amazed by how much propaganda is being passed off as news.

It is through propaganda that our minds are being shaped and molded. A mass conditioning is taking place through the media, television shows, commercials, and video games. It is being used as a tool to control, program, and manipulate our minds through the power of suggestion and repetition. Our values are constantly being shaped and re-shaped, and at times our subconscious minds are unable to distinguish between fact and fiction. Ideas and premises are stored in our memory banks, and when they do become reality, we will have already accepted or at least warmed up to such scenarios. Television, radio and print media dictate to us what is important, what is in fashion, what are the latest trends, what to eat, read, and watch. To many, what they see on TV becomes their reality. There is definitely a correlation between the dumbing down of the population, the moral meltdown, and the amount of television being watched. One need not look any further than reality TV, where we are being desensitized to endless degrading acts on shows like Big Brother. These shows are inundated with sexual content, vulgarity, and humiliating, conniving, and backstabbing acts. Today’s television is destroying our very moral fiber and what is left of our values. When we are subjected to the true reality TV like the Iraqi prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib, where is the outrage? We have become a decadent society and are on the decline, being made to accept things like torture. Many television shows, such as 24, openly advocate torture and it seems as if art is imitating reality. America is the new Rome, and we aren’t that far away from so-called terrorist and other enemies of the state being abused and even killed for our viewing pleasure.

The propaganda masters are experts in the art of building favorable public opinion with their spin, double speak, and talking points. David Rockefeller is quoted as saying, “We are grateful to the Washington Post, the New York Times, Time Magazine, and other great publications whose directors have attended our meetings and respected their promises of discretion for almost forty years. It would have been impossible for us to develop our plan for the world if we had been subjected to the lights of publicity during those years.” Nevertheless, many are now conscious to the fact that the mainstream media is spreading lies and disinformation, and as a result, television news viewership and newspaper circulations are on the decline. Many are turning to the web for their news and entertainment, abandoning television and print altogether. As a result there is a greater effort to further control the Internet and regulate online speech. Nazi Germany and their Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels used many different techniques including ad nauseam, which is the repeating of an idea until it is taken to be the truth. President Bush has said, “see in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over again for the truth to sink in, to catapult the propaganda.”It is quite obvious that those at the top of the power structure and their puppets wish to shape our reality.

Sunday, November 25, 2007

HPV VACCINE - PROFITS BEFORE SAFETY


HPV Vaccine - When Profits Come Before Safety


By Dana Gabriel http://newworldordermustbestopped.com/featuredarticle.html

Gardasil is a vaccine manufactured by Merck & Co., which targets the Human
Papillomavirus (HPV) and was approved by the FDA in June of 2006. It is
administrated in three doses over a six-month period at a cost of between
$360-400 per person, making it one of the most expensive vaccines of all
time. It has been recommended for girls and young women, and there has been
a push by some to make the vaccine mandatory in some states. This would
translate into even more profits. Merck recently reported a 63% rise in net
income for its third quarter. Total vaccine sales went from $555 million to
$1.2 billion, fueled mostly by Gardasil. The vaccine is not a cure for
cervical cancer, and many believe that its benefits have been greatly
exaggerated, leading to a false sense of security. There are some who
believe that the money spent on this expensive vaccine could have been
better spent on pap smears, which can detect pre-cancerous cells. The HPV
vaccine is being marketed as a cancer drug when it is essentially a vaccine
for a sexually transmitted disease. There is now a push towards mandating
every new vaccine that comes out on the market, and it is unclear how long
this particular vaccine's effectiveness will last. Many serious side effects
including deaths have been linked to the HPV vaccine over the last several
months. What is good for Big Pharma isn't necessarily good for our children.


HPV is a virus transmitted through sexual activity that can cause genital
warts and cervical cancer. There are more than 100 different types of HPV,
with 30 strains thought to be associated with cervical cancer. The new
vaccine only prevents infections of four strains of HPV, and it has been due
to more routine pap smears, that there has been a 70% decline in cervical
cancer in the U.S. over the last few decades. Those who do get the virus
don't automatically get cervical cancer with many infections clearing up.
Girls who live a healthy lifestyle have little risk of developing cancer
from HPV and cervical cancer most often develops in older women. It is those
with compromised immune systems, women who don't get regular pap smears,
those with multiple sexual partners, poor nutrition, and poor hygiene who
are most vulnerable. There are many who believe that the vaccine will lead
to more unprotected and underage sex and encourage promiscuity. Most trials
of the vaccine were on adults, and there is no idea on its long-term effects
on young girls. Some have accused Merck of assuming that because its tests
were shown to be safe in older girls, the same would go for the younger
ones. Diane M. Harper, a scientist, physician, professor, and director at
the Gynecologic Cancer Prevention Research Group at Dartmouth Medical School
said, “it's not been tested in little girls for efficacy. At 11, the girls
don't get cervical cancer- they won't know for 25 years if they will get
cervical cancer.” She went on to say, “Giving it to 11 year-olds is a great
big experiment.” The President of Judaical Watch said, “It looks as if an
unproven vaccine with dangerous side effects is being pushed as a miracle
drug.” Gardasil is based on fear-mongering and distortions, with many
adverse effects which threaten our children.


Some have criticized that it took too long to get the HPV vaccine approved
and on the market, and as a result lives were lost. In light of the fact
that there has been some 11 deaths and thousands of adverse reactions
reported, it appears as if more time and care should have be taken. In a
rush to get it out on the market, we are shown another example of putting
profits before safety. Almost immediately after the FDA approved the
vaccine, there was a mad dash by some legislators, no doubt influenced by
Merck lobbyists, to draft bills mandating vaccination programs in some
states. Thanks to Judaical Watch obtaining important data through a Freedom
of Information lawsuit, complications associated with the HPV vaccine were
brought to the public's attention. The FDA had refused to release any
information pertaining to adverse effects, even though some have died as a
result of heart complications and blood clots associated with the vaccine.
Some 25% of all complications reported were of serious nature and include
tingling, numbness, temporary paralysis of the muscles, seizures,
neurological conditions along with others. Some side effects published by
Merck include pain, fever, nausea, dizziness, vomiting, diarrhea, sore
throat, cough, stuffy nose, headaches, toothaches, itching, and swelling
after getting the shot. These aren't quite as serious as the ones that were
left out. There have been many warnings of the dangers of pregnant women
being vaccinated, and almost half who took the HPV vaccine while pregnant
experienced side effects, some as serious as spontaneous abortions and
malformed babies. Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said, “The FDA adverse
event reports on the HPV vaccine read like a catalog of horrors.” These
disturbing side effects will only increase as more and more girls are
vaccinated. In an effort to restore public confidence, both the FDA and
Merck are denying that any of the deaths and serious adverse effects are
linked to Gardasil. There must be a full investigation into the practices of
Merck, the FDA, and the whole pharmaceutical industry. This seems like a
case of Merck manipulating the medical profession, politicians, the media,
and parents in order to achieve more profits.


In early 2007, Texas Governor Rick Perry passed an executive order that
would have required girls 11-12 to take the HPV vaccine, completely
bypassing the legislature and ignoring opposition from parental rights
organizations. It later came out that there were connections between Merck
and some in Perry's office. The Texas legislator blocked Perry's initiative,
with the House voting 135-2 and making their decision veto-proof. Even
before Gardasil was approved, there was an intense lobbying effort to get
states to mandate the vaccine. CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay
Gupta was pimping out the vaccine by doing on-air promotions for Gardasil
eight months before it was approved. It came out that the
organization,“Women in Government,” who have been actively promoting the
vaccine, received financial contributions from Merck. It is also interesting
to note that two of Merck's former biologists were on the FDA panel that
approved Gardasil. Merck's aggressive lobbying efforts and the reports of
thousands of adverse reactions and some deaths associated with the vaccine
created a strong backlash, forcing them to abandon their goal of getting it
mandated in every state. Any forced drugging or inoculations goes well
beyond the state's role. It is a threat to parental authority and interferes
with their rights to make medical decisions for their children.


Currently, 38 states have either passed or are considering legislation to
mandate, fund, or educate the public on the HPV vaccine. Merck's affiliate
Merck Frosst Canada has been busy lobbying the federal and provincial
governments in that country. In July, Prime Minister Stephen Harper's
Conservative Government approved the HPV vaccine and later announced $300
million to be distributed among the provinces for vaccination programs. In
the UK, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation has recommended
that all 12 and 13 year-old girls be given the HPV vaccine, and also
recommenced a catchup program. Germany, France, Italy, Austria, Luxembourg,
Norway along with other countries have also recommended that Gardasil be
given to girls and young women. Despite all the controversy associated with
its new vaccine, Merck is poised to make a killing in profits, pardon the
bad pun.


It now appears as if the FDA's role is to further facilitate and ensure
profits for Big Pharma, and there is a goal of getting new drugs on the
market more quickly and cheaply. This has resulted in less testing for
safety and effectiveness. Do we really want to trust our children's health
and lives with Merck? These are the same guys who have already displayed
their willingness to put profits before safety. In the case of Vioxx, close
to 30.000 people died in the name of greed and neglect. Merck has been
accused of distorting negative disclosures, omitting information, and
cherry-picking from their own research. Many are concerned, and rightfully
so, that their latest cash cow Gardasil hasn't been properly tested, and
there is a misconception by some that the the HPV vaccine will provide full
protection against cervical cancer. Although it was originally marketed for
girls, some are now advising that school-aged boys get the new vaccine as
well, perhaps another attempt to increase profits. No one should be lab rats
or guinea pigs. How many people are going to be sacrificed in the name of
profits for Big Pharma before we all get mad and do something about it?
There is a growing distrust among more and more parents towards vaccines and
a genuine concern that their children are already overloaded with them.
Parents must be better educated in order to make informed decisions, but
ultimately the HPV vaccine is a matter of parental and individual choice,
and in no way should it be mandated by the government.

FOREIGN FIGHTERS IN IRAQ ARE TIED TO U.S. ALLIES

Foreign Fighters in Iraq Are Tied to Allies of U.S.


The Insurgent's Tale Photo

Published: November 22, 2007

BAGHDAD — Saudi Arabia and Libya, both considered allies by the United States in its fight against terrorism, were the source of about 60 percent of the foreign fighters who came to Iraq in the past year to serve as suicide bombers or to facilitate other attacks, according to senior American military officials.

The data come largely from a trove of documents and computers discovered in September, when American forces raided a tent camp in the desert near Sinjar, close to the Syrian border. The raid’s target was an insurgent cell believed to be responsible for smuggling the vast majority of foreign fighters into Iraq.

The most significant discovery was a collection of biographical sketches that listed hometowns and other details for more than 700 fighters brought into Iraq since August 2006.

The records also underscore how the insurgency in Iraq remains both overwhelmingly Iraqi and Sunni. American officials now estimate that the flow of foreign fighters was 80 to 110 per month during the first half of this year and about 60 per month during the summer. The numbers fell sharply in October to no more than 40, partly as a result of the Sinjar raid, the American officials say.

Saudis accounted for the largest number of fighters listed on the records by far — 305, or 41 percent — American intelligence officers found as they combed through documents and computers in the weeks after the raid. The data show that despite increased efforts by Saudi Arabia to clamp down on would-be terrorists since Sept. 11, 2001, when 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi, some Saudi fighters are still getting through.

Libyans accounted for 137 foreign fighters, or 18 percent of the total, the senior American military officials said. They discussed the raid with the stipulation that they not be named because of the delicate nature of the issue.

United States officials have previously offered only rough estimates of the breakdown of foreign fighters inside Iraq. But the trove found in Sinjar is so vast and detailed that American officials believe that the patterns and percentages revealed by it offer for the first time a far more precise account of the personal circumstances of foreign fighters throughout the country.

In contrast to the comparatively small number of foreigners, more than 25,000 inmates are in American detention centers in Iraq. Of those, only about 290, or some 1.2 percent, are foreigners, military officials say.

They contend that all of the detainees either are suspected of insurgent activity or are an “imperative threat” to security. Some American officials also believe that Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, a homegrown insurgent group that claims a loose allegiance to Osama bin Laden, may by itself have as many as 10,000 members in Iraq.

About four out of every five detainees in American detention centers are Sunni Arab, even though Sunni Arabs make up just one-fifth of Iraq’s population. All of the foreign fighters listed on the materials found near Sinjar, excluding two from France, also came from countries that are predominantly Sunni.

Over the years, the Syrian border has been the principal entry point into Iraq for foreign insurgents, officials say. Many had come through Anbar Province, in west-central Iraq. But with the Sunni tribal revolt against extremist militants that began last year in Anbar, Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia and other jihadists concentrated their smuggling efforts on the area north of the Euphrates River along the Syrian border, the officials said.

The officials added that, based on the captured documents and other intelligence, they believe that the Sinjar cell that was raided in September was responsible for the smuggling of foreign fighters along a stretch of the border from Qaim, in Anbar, almost to the border with Turkey, a length of nearly 200 miles. They said that was why they were confident that the cell was responsible for such a large portion of the incoming foreign fighters.

American military and diplomatic officials who discussed the flow of fighters from Saudi Arabia were careful to draw a distinction between the Saudi government and the charities and individuals who they said encouraged young Saudi men to fight in Iraq. After United States officials put pressure on Saudi leaders in the summer, the Saudi government took some steps that have begun to curb the flow of fighters, the officials said.

Yet the senior American military officials said they also believed that Saudi citizens provided the majority of financing for Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia. “They don’t want to see the Shias come to dominate in Iraq,” one American official said.

The Sinjar materials showed that 291 fighters, or about 39 percent, came from North African nations during the period beginning in August 2006. That is far higher than previous military estimates of 10 to 13 percent from North Africa. The largest foreign fighter hometown was Darnah, Libya, which supplied 50 fighters.

For years American officials included Libya on the list of state sponsors of terrorism. But last year the United States removed it from that list and re-established full diplomatic relations, citing what Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice described as Libya’s “continued commitment to its renunciation of terrorism and the excellent cooperation” it has provided in the antiterrorism fight.

Also striking among the Sinjar materials were the smaller numbers from other countries that had been thought to be major suppliers of foreign fighters. As recently as the summer, American officials estimated that 20 percent came from Syria and Lebanon. But there were no Lebanese listed among the Sinjar trove, and only 56 Syrians, or 8 percent of the total.

American officials have accused Iran, the largest Shiite nation in the Middle East, of sending powerful bombs to Iraq and of supporting and financing Shiite militias that attack American troops. They also contend that top Iranian leaders support efforts to arm Shiite fighters.

But whatever aid Iran provides to militias inside Iraq does not seem to extend to supplying actual combatants: Only 11 Iranians are in American detention, United States officials say.

After the raid on the Sinjar cell, the number of suicide bombings in Iraq fell to 16 in October — half the number seen during the summer months and down sharply from a peak of 59 in March. American military officials believe that perhaps 90 percent of such bombings are carried out by foreign fighters. They also believe that about half of the foreign fighters who come to Iraq become suicide bombers.

“We cut the head off, but the tail is still left,” warned one of the senior American military officials, discussing the aftermath of the Sinjar raid. “Regeneration is completely within the realm of possibility.”

The documents indicate that each foreigner brought about $1,000 with him, used mostly to finance operations of the smuggling cell. Saudis brought more money per person than fighters from other nations, the American officials said.

Among the Saudi fighters described in the materials, 45 had come from Riyadh, 38 from Mecca, 20 from Buraidah and the surrounding area, 15 from Jawf and Sakakah, 13 from Jidda, and 12 from Medina.

American officials publicly expressed anger over the summer at Saudi policies that were destabilizing Iraq. Sunni tribal sheiks in Iraq who risked their lives to fight extremist militants also faulted Saudi clerics.

“The bad imams tell the young people to go to Iraq and fight the American Army, because if you kill them or they kill you, you will go to paradise,” Sheik Adnan Khames Jamiel, a leader of the Albu Alwan tribe in Ramadi, said in an interview.

One senior American diplomat said the Saudi government had “taken important steps to interdict individuals, particularly military-aged males with one-way tickets.” He said those efforts had helped cause an “appreciable decrease in the flow of foreign terrorists and suicide bombers.” But he added that still more work remained “to cut off malign financing from private sources within the kingdom.”

American officials cite a government program on Saudi television in which a would-be suicide bomber who survived his attack urges others not to travel to Iraq. The officials were also encouraged in October when the grand mufti of Saudi Arabia, Sheik Abdulaziz al-Asheik, condemned “mischievous parties” who send young Saudis abroad to carry out “heinous acts which have no association with Islam whatsoever.”

Armed with information from the raid, American officials say they have used military, law enforcement and diplomatic channels to put pressure on the countries named as homes to large numbers of fighters. They have also shared information with these countries on 300 more men who the records showed were being recruited to fight in Iraq.

Surrounded by desolate prairie and desert, Sinjar has long been a way station for foreign fighters. The insurgent cell raided by American troops was believed to have been smuggling up to 90 percent of all foreign fighters into Iraq, military officials say.

The raid happened in the predawn hours of Sept. 11, when American forces acting on a tip surrounded some tents six miles from the Syrian border. A fierce firefight killed six men outside, and two more were killed when one of them detonated a suicide vest inside a tent, military officials said. All were leaders of the insurgent smuggling cell, including one prominent Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia commander known as Muthanna, they said.

In addition to $18,000 in cash and assorted weapons, troops found five terabytes of data that included detailed questionnaires filled out by incoming fighters. Background information on more than 900 fighters was found, or about 750 after eliminating duplicates and questionnaires that were mostly incomplete.

According to the rosters found in the raid, the third-largest source of foreign fighters was Yemen, with 68. There were 64 from Algeria, 50 from Morocco, 38 from Tunisia, 14 from Jordan, 6 from Turkey and 2 from Egypt.

Most of the fighters smuggled by the cell were believed to have flown into Damascus Airport, and the rest came into Syria overland through Jordan, the officials said.

In some cases, one senior American military official said, Syrian authorities captured fighters and released them after determining they were not a threat to the Syrian government. Syria has made some recent efforts to turn back or detain suspected foreign fighters bound for Iraq, he said, adding, “The key word is ‘some.’”

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/22/world/middleeast/22fighters.html?ei=5070&en=852f9709fcd7fbb1&ex=1196398800&emc=eta1&pagewanted=all

IN LATIN, GREEK, AND HEBREW!

Is it true that the words of the Apocalypse in the 13th Chapter, 18th verse refer to the Pope?

The words referred to are these "Here is wisdom. He that hath understanding, let him count the number of the beast. For it is a the number of a man: and the number of him is six hundred sixty-six." The title of the Pope in Rome is Vicarius Filii Dei. This is inscribed on his mitre[*]; and if you take the letters of his title which represent Latin numerals (printed large) and add them together they come to 666.

VICARIVSFILIIDEI
5110015150115001

Add these together and the result will be 666.1

666 in Greek

In accordance with their proper guematria, the ancient Greeks generally made a correspondence between the Beast, the Roman Empire, its princes and his Church. Irenæus (Irenee, 130-202 after J.-c.) was the first to make such an association, in its work "Against Heresies", book 5, chapter 30, paragraph 3. 2

LATEINOS=666
λατεινος
30+1+300+5+10+50+70+200
Lateinos = Roman Kingdom (latin)
In the book "The two Babylones", Alexandre Hyslop recalls that
the Romans believed that they were downward from the god-child of the sun
that they called Lateinos and this god was also identified with Saturn
or Stur in babylonian - the hidden god, the god of the mysteries.
Let us note that the chaldean value of Stur is 666 (S=60, T=400, U=6 et R=200).


ITALIKAEKKLESIA=666
ιταλικαεκκληςια
10+300+1+30+10+20+1+5+20+20+30+8+200+10+1
Italika Ekklesia = Italian Church (Roman), in Greek

HELATINEBASILEIA=666
nulηλατινηβαςιλεια
-+8+30+1+300+10+50+8+2+1+200+10+30+5+10+1
He Latine Basileia = The Latin kingdom (Roman), in Greek
ATTEIN=666
αττειν
1+300+300+5+10+50
Attein = Beast, in Greek
TEITAN=666
τειταν
300+5+10+300+1+50
Teitan = Titanic in English, Titan in French
Sheitan in chaldean
Titan is the satellite of the planet Saturn.
Sheitan / Teitan=other name of Satan in antiquity
and in the satannic worship of modern Kurdistan.
The alphanumeric value 666 of Teitan was
discovered initially by Irenee (130-202) in the 2nd century.
The Greek authors Hesiode and Homere treat about the
Teitans, designation of all the malicious gods of
the Tartar or the hell.

666

The Hebrew word ROMITH, which means "Roman Kingdom," also adds up to "666" when the letters are tallied. The Catholic system is well identified as one of Satan’s kingdoms.

It surely is significant that through all the changing centuries from ancient Babylon to modern Babylon, the power that has corrupted the truth of God is branded with the number 666! When Babylon is mentioned in God’s Word, the number 6 is strangely prominent. Nebuchadnezzar’s image of gold, for example was 60 cubits high and 6 cubits wide. And there were 6 different musical instruments in his "band" when the loyal Hebrews refused to worship that symbol of Babylonian greatness described in Daniel 3. In chapter 4 the "tree" that represented Babylonian power is mentioned just 6 times. Belshazzar met his doom while praising the gods of "gold," "silver," "brass," "iron," "wood," and "stone"—6 in all (Daniel 5:4). In the Revelation the name Babylon occurs just 6 times. In Lucifer’s defiance of God in Isaiah 14:13-14, the personal pronoun "I" or "my" is used 6 times. Also, in the story of the building of the tower of Babel or Babylon, the personal pronoun "us" or "we" is used just 6 times.

Anciently the Jews believed there was "a doom upon the number 6, even when it stood alone. Triple it; you obtain three mysterious sixes following one another, 666; and we have represented a potency of evil than which there can be none greater, a direfulness of fate than which there can be none worse." William Milligan, in The Expositor’s Bible, vol. 6, p. 890.

To the Jew, 6 was the number of unrest or the number of man, who was created on the sixth day; 7 was the number of perfection; and 8 the number of victory. If a number was tripled, it indicated the eternity of the thing symbolized; for example, 666 meant eternal unrest; 777, eternal perfection; 888, eternal victory.

Thus, he phren, "the natural mind" - 8, 500, 100, 8, 50 - equals 666, the number of perpetual unrest. (King Solomon found it so in his experience, for his annual income was 666 talents of gold, a fabulous income but wholly unsatisfying to the heart! See 1 Kings 10:14; Ecclesiastes 2:8-11,17.) Stauros, the "cross" - 6, 1, 400, 100, 70, 200 - equals 777, the number of eternal perfection. So the apostle Paul found it. See Galatians 6:14.3

^

Yet, Jesus Christ, the Son of God when He was crucified had written on His Cross:

In Latin, Greek and Hebrew.

And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS.

This title then read many of the Jews: for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin.

Then said the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews; but that he said, I am King of the Jews.

Pilate answered, What I have written I have written. ........John 19:19-22.

*******

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

1.http://www.aloha.net/~mikesch/666.htm

2.http://www.chez.com/cosmos2000/Numbers/666_Ancients.html

3.http://www.shasta.com/tempest/seventhunders/666themark.htm

Blogmaster

THE LAND OF THE FREE-TO-TORTURE

The land of the free-to-torture

Watertorture By James Coffin, senior pastor of the Markham Woods church.

This appeared in the Orlando Sentinel today.

I would have never believed it possible had you told me in the fall of 1959 -- the beginning of my formal education -- that in the year 2007 I'd be reading a rash of newspaper headlines about a U.S. attorney general-designate's uncertainty concerning what constitutes torture.

Or, worse still, that a Democrat-controlled Senate would confirm him despite his uncertainties.

Now don't get me wrong. In 1959, I wasn't some kind of child prodigy with deep political and moral insights. Not at all. I was just a run-of-the-mill American kid experiencing school for the first time.

That year, on the day after Labor Day, I not only placed my hand over my heart and pledged allegiance to "one nation under God," but I also learned how to seek shelter under my desk should the Russians start dropping bombs. That day I was introduced to a world of good government versus bad government. And it made an impression.

Over the next few years I learned a lot as I moved through the eight grades and two rooms of that little country schoolhouse.

I learned the significance of the ubiquitous fallout-shelter symbols I'd seen in the basements of public buildings. I learned about the stored provisions that would sustain us should the Russians launch a nuclear attack.

I learned about the evils of godless, oppressive, coercive communism and the merits of democracy and capitalism and a nation willing to base its actions on the Judeo-Christian ethic.

I learned those lessons well. But increasingly I wrestle with the disquieting possibility that my government no longer shares the ideals and the vision I had instilled in me so effectively as a child.

In class, we studied the history of our government -- a government "of the people, by the people and for the people."

In class, we learned that all humans "are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights." We learned about due process -- even for bad guys. We learned about the presumption of innocence. We learned that it was better to have a standard so high that the occasional guilty person goes free rather than to risk punishing the innocent.

In those country-schoolhouse classes, we repeatedly contrasted the virtues of the U.S. form of government with the obvious shortfalls of many other governments. We took pride in the role the United States had played in bringing about worldwide improvements through such documents as the Geneva Conventions.

We learned that there are some actions to which Americans won't stoop simply because the actions are wrong -- categorically. They violate self-evident, unalienable human rights -- no matter how advantageous they might be in the short term.

Was it all just propaganda? Whistling in the dark? Wishful thinking?

Or do some of our nation's major players need a refresher course in a little country schoolhouse in the Midwest?

If you care about this issue and what to magnify your moral voice, check out the National Religious Campaign Against Torture.

Source: http://spectrummagazine.typepad.com/the_spectrum_blog/