Friday, March 21, 2008

AS THE DAYS OF NOAH




But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,

And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

Matthew 24: 37-39.

PURE IN HEART AND LIFE



Pure in Heart and Life

Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. Matt. 5:8.


Into the city of God there will enter nothing that defiles. All who are to be dwellers there will here have become pure in heart. In one who is learning of Jesus, there will be manifest a growing distaste for careless manners, unseemly language, and coarse thought. When Christ abides in the heart, there will be purity and refinement of thought and manner. {Mar 88.1}

But the words of Jesus . . . have a deeper meaning--not merely pure in the sense in which the world understands purity, free from that which is sensual, pure from lust, but true in the hidden purposes and motives of the soul, free from pride and self-seeking, humble, unselfish, childlike. {Mar 88.2}

Only like can appreciate like. Unless you accept in your own life the principle of self-sacrificing love, which is the principle of His character, you cannot know God. . . . {Mar 88.3}

When Christ shall come in His glory, the wicked cannot endure to behold Him. The light of His presence, which is life to those who love Him, is death to the ungodly. . . . When He shall appear, they will pray to be hidden from the face of Him who died to redeem them. {Mar 88.4}

But to hearts that have become purified through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, all is changed. These can know God. Moses was hid in the cleft of the rock when the glory of the Lord was revealed to him; and it is when we are hid in Christ that we behold the love of God. . . . {Mar 88.5}

By faith we behold Him here and now. In our daily experience we discern His goodness and compassion in the manifestation of His providence. We recognize Him in the character of His Son. . . . The pure in heart see God in a new and endearing relation, as their Redeemer; and while they discern the purity and loveliness of His character, they long to reflect His image. They see Him as a Father longing to embrace a repenting son, and their hearts are filled with joy unspeakable and full of glory. . . . {Mar 88.6}

The pure in heart live as in the visible presence of God during the time He apportions them in this world. And they will also see Him face to face in the future, immortal state, as did Adam when he walked and talked with God in Eden. {Mar 88.7}

Maranatha, Ellen G. White, p.88.

DANIEL'S PRAYER FOR HIS CAPTIVE PEOPLE


3And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:

4And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments;

5We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments:

6Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.

7O LORD, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee.

8O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee.

9To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him;

10Neither have we obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.

11Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him.

12And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem.

13As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth.

14Therefore hath the LORD watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the LORD our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth: for we obeyed not his voice.

15And now, O Lord our God, that hast brought thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gotten thee renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly.

16O LORD, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us.

17Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake.

18O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies.

19O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name. ..... Daniel 9: 3-19.

Thursday, March 20, 2008

ECONOMIC SLIDE

The New York Stock Exchange's bronze bull in New York City.
The New York Stock Exchange's bronze bull in New York City.
(Chris Hondros/Newsmakers/Getty Images)
March 2008

Economic Slide

Economists looking at the Unites States economy are using the word "recession."

Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke has said that the outlook for the US economy in 2008 has worsened.

His comments in Washington come after leading investment banks warned that the US was heading for a recession.

However, Mr Bernanke said the central bank was willing to act in a decisive and timely manner to ensure the economy remained on an even keel. ("Fed boss says 2008 outlook worse," BBC News (www.news.bbc.co.uk), Jan. 11, 2008

When a group of community volunteers rang the bell to signal the close of trading at the New York Stock Exchange last Friday, it brought to a close one of the most tumultuous weeks in global markets since the fall of 2001. On Tuesday, the Dow Jones industrial average, already down 9 percent in 2008 on glum economic news, plummeted nearly 600 points (5 percent) before rallying after the announcement of an emergency three-quarter-point interest-rate cut by the Federal Reserve, the biggest such reduction in 24 years. Wednesday was like Groundhog Day, with the Dow falling more than 3 percent before closing with a gain. ("The U.S. Economy Faces the Guillotine," www.newsweek.com, Feb. 4, 2008 issue)

The Great Global Market Freak-Out of 2008 has everyone asking whether the United States—already on the road to recession—is entering into a protracted period of economic trouble where jobs will be slashed, prices will continue to rise and the dollar will keep falling; and if so, whether the declining U.S. economy will pull the rest of the world down with it. (ibid.)

Inspired Commentary

It appears the current economic troubles have resulted to a large degree from excesses and greed. But Christians don't have to participate individually. And if the situation becomes dire enough, it may trigger prophesied religious developments.

Eating, drinking, and dressing are carried to such excess that they become crimes, and are among the marked sins of the last days, and constitute a sign of Christ's soon coming. Time, money, and strength, which are the Lord's, but which He has entrusted to us, are wasted in needless superfluities of dress, and luxuries for the perverted appetite, which lessen vitality and bring suffering and decay. It is impossible to present our bodies a living sacrifice to God, when they are filled with corruption and disease by our own sinful indulgence. (Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 61)

From:

The Trumpet Herald

Giving the trumpet a certain sound

March 2008

Source: http://www.projectrestore.com/trumpet/tpt2008_03.htm

OSAMA: POPE HELPS ANTI-ISLAM CRUSADE

Bin Laden: Pope helps anti-Islam Crusade

By PAUL SCHEMM, Associated Press Writer

By PAUL SCHEMM, Associated Press Writer

24 minutes ago

Osama bin Laden accused Pope Benedict XVI of helping in a "new Crusade" against Islam and warned of a "severe" reaction to European publications of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad that insulted many Muslims.

Bin Laden's new audiotape message raised concerns al-Qaida was plotting new attacks in Europe. Some experts said bin Laden, believed to be in hiding in the rugged Afghan-Pakistan border area, may be unable to organize an attack himself and instead is trying to fan anger and inspire his supporters to violence.

The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said bin Laden's accusation that the pope has played a role in a worldwide campaign against Islam is "baseless." Lombardi said the pope on several occasions has criticized the cartoons, first published in several European newspapers in 2006 and republished by Danish papers in February.

The pope angered many in the Muslim world in 2006, when he cited a medieval text that characterized some of the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad as "evil and inhuman," particularly "his command to spread by the sword the faith."

The pope later said he was "deeply sorry" and stressed the remarks did not reflect his own opinions. He has since led a public campaign for dialogue with Muslims.

Bin Laden's audiotape was posted late Wednesday on a militant Web site that has carried al-Qaida statements in the past and bore the logo of the extremist group's media wing Al-Sahab.

"The response will be what you see and not what you hear and let our mothers bereave us if we do not make victorious our messenger of God," said a voice believed to be bin Laden's, without specifying what action would be taken.

He said the cartoons "came in the framework of a new Crusade in which the Pope of the Vatican has played a large, lengthy role," according to a transcript released by the SITE Institute, a U.S. group that monitors terror messages.

"You went overboard in your unbelief and freed yourselves of the etiquettes of dispute and fighting and went to the extent of publishing these insulting drawings," he said. "This is the greater and more serious tragedy, and reckoning for it will be more severe."

The five-minute message, bin Laden's first this year, came as the Muslim world marks the Prophet Muhammad's birthday on Thursday. It made no mention of the fifth anniversary Wednesday of the U.S.-led invasion in Iraq.

On Feb. 13, Danish newspapers republished one of the cartoons, which shows Muhammad wearing a bomb-shaped turban, to illustrate their commitment to freedom of speech after police said they had uncovered the beginnings of a plot to kill the artist.

Muslims widely saw the cartoons as an insult, depicting the prophet as violent. Islamic law generally opposes any depiction of the prophet, even favorable, for fear it could lead to idolatry.

The original 12 cartoons, first published in a Danish newspaper and then in several papers across Europe, triggered major protests in Muslim countries in 2006.

There have been renewed protests in the last month, though not as large or widespread. A few dozen university students waved banners and chanted slogans against Denmark on Thursday in Islamabad. The students said they had not seen the bin Laden message.

Ben Venzke, the head of IntelCenter, a U.S. group that monitors militant messages, called Wednesday's message a "clear threat against EU member countries and an indicator of a possible upcoming significant attack."

Talat Masood, a retired Pakistani general and security analyst, said bin Laden was likely too isolated to organize an attack. But the al-Qaida leader may be hoping to use anger over the cartoons to inspire violence, he said.

"Even if he has not got the capacity (to launch an attack), he will try to infuse hatred,'" Masood said.

___

Associated Press writers Maamoun Youssef in Cairo, Egypt and Lily Hindy in New York contributed to this report.


Copyright © 2008 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.


Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080320/ap_on_re_mi_ea/bin_laden_message&printer=1;_ylt=AsfG7AgcRIPwtnr4Tj.lSNgUewgF

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

THE ISLAM-CATHOLIC CONNECTION

Total Onslaught - The Islam-Catholic Connection Part 1

Total Onslaught - The Islam-Catholic Connection Part 2

Total Onslaught - The Islam-Catholic Connection Part 3

Total Onslaught - The Islam-Catholic Connection Part 4

Total Onslaught - The Islam-Catholic Connection Part 5

Total Onslaught - The Islam-Catholic Connection Part 6

Total Onslaught - The Islam-Catholic Connection Part 7

Total Onslaught - The Islam-Catholic Connection Part 8

Total Onslaught - The Islam-Catholic Connection Part 9

Total Onslaught - The Islam-Catholic Connection Part 10

Total Onslaught - The Islam-Catholic Connection Part 11

Exodus 35:1 And Moses gathered all the congregation of the children of Israel together, and said unto them, These are the words which the LORD hath commanded, that ye should do them.

Exodus 35:2 Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you an holy day, a Sabbath of rest to the LORD: whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death.

Jesus told us a deceived church is good for nothing but the fire

Jesus also told us his children are destroyed for lack of knowledge.

Look at the state of the church today almost all are worshipping Lucifer on Sun day. Modern church's have being infiltrated by the Catholic Jesuit controlled freemason Priest.

If your church has cast the King James Bible off for one of the post 1611 bibles then you have the blind as your leader. You'll be following them to the pit.

Jesus loves you. Come back to his Sabbath and live = Saturday and come back to his Gospel = one of them being the easiest to find is the Authorized King James Bible.

2 Timothy 3:12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

2 Thessalonians 1:4 So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure:



Show and tell everyone you know about these videos . Post them on your own web site.



Pray for all who are deceived to follow Lucifer calling himself jesus christ

This again is completely against the teachings of the true Jesus Christ our lord and Savoir

Again we can see the Sun emulating our from behind the image of a mary.

A crucifix hangs before a mural depicting the resurrection in the sanctuary at St. Timothy Parish in Mesa.

Clip from the page I accesses this picture from = This photo and all photos on this Web site credited to The Catholic Sun.

What more proof do people need.

Fair use laws allow me to have all these pictures

Click to enlarge as these are Sun disks and you can see the design in this picture and again ...By Ambria Hammel, The Catholic Sun

Sun emanating from behind the image of a Mary

click to enlarge as they are bowing down to a cross with a sun disc in the middle of it.

Sun emanating form behind the image of a Mary

Again Sun emanating form behind the image of a Mary - click to enlarge any of these pictures

THIS IS AN EXCERPT

OF:

http://www.abbaswatchman.com/NEWS%20The%20Pope%20is%20the%20Sun%20god.html

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

THE IRAQ WAR IS KILLING OUR ECONOMY

The Iraq War Is Killing Our Economy

Robert Pollin and Heidi Garrett-Peltier, The Nation.

March 18, 2008

Recognizing the costs of the Iraq War is even more crucial now that the economy is facing recession.

There is no longer any doubt that the Iraq War is a moral and strategic disaster for the United States. But what has not yet been fully recognized is that it has also been an economic disaster. To date, the government has spent more than $522 billion on the war, with another $70 billion already allocated for 2008.

With just the amount of the Iraq budget of 2007, $138 billion, the government could instead have provided Medicaid-level health insurance for all 45 million Americans who are uninsured. What's more, we could have added 30,000 elementary and secondary schoolteachers and built 400 schools in which they could teach. And we could have provided basic home weatherization for about 1.6 million existing homes, reducing energy consumption in these homes by 30 percent.

But the economic consequences of Iraq run even deeper than the squandered opportunities for vital public investments. Spending on Iraq is also a job killer. Every $1 billion spent on a combination of education, healthcare, energy conservation and infrastructure investments creates between 50 and 100 percent more jobs than the same money going to Iraq. Taking the 2007 Iraq budget of $138 billion, this means that upward of 1 million jobs were lost because the Bush Administration chose the Iraq sinkhole over public investment.

Recognizing these costs of the Iraq War is even more crucial now that the economy is facing recession. While a recession is probably unavoidable, its length and severity will depend on the effectiveness of the government's stimulus initiatives. By a wide margin, the most effective stimulus is to expand public investment projects, especially at the state and local levels. The least effective fiscal stimulus is the one crafted by the Bush Administration and Congress--mostly to just send out rebate checks to all taxpayers. This is because a high proportion of the new spending encouraged by the rebates will purchase imports rather than financing new jobs in the United States, whereas public investment would concentrate job expansion within the country. Combining this Bush stimulus initiative with the ongoing spending on Iraq will only deepen the severity of the recession.

Is Militarism Necessary for Prosperity?

The government spent an estimated $572 billion on the military in 2007. This amounts to about $1,800 for every resident of the country. That's more than the combined GDPs of Sweden and Thailand, and eight times federal spending on education.

The level of military spending has risen dramatically since 2001, with the increases beginning even before 9/11. As a share of GDP, the military budget rose from 3 percent to 4.4 percent during the first seven years of the Bush presidency. At the current size of the economy, a difference between a military budget at 4.4 rather than 3 percent of GDP amounts to $134 billion.

The largest increases in the military budget during the Bush presidency have been associated with the Iraq War. Indeed, the $138 billion spent on Iraq in 2007 was basically equal to the total increase in military spending that caused the military budget to rise to 4.4 percent of GDP. It is often argued that the military budget is a cornerstone of the economy--that the Pentagon is a major underwriter of important technical innovations as well as a source of millions of decent jobs. At one level these claims are true. When the government spends upward of $600 billion per year of taxpayers' money on anything, it cannot help but generate millions of jobs. Similarly, when it spends a large share of that budget on maintaining and strengthening the most powerful military force in the history of the world, this cannot fail to encourage technical innovations that are somehow connected to the instruments of warfare.

Yet it is also true that channeling hundreds of billions of dollars into areas such as renewable energy and mass transportation would create a hothouse environment supporting new technologies. For example, utilities in Arizona and Nevada are developing plans to build "concentrated" solar power plants, which use the sun to heat a liquid that can drive a turbine. It is estimated that this technology, operating on a large scale, could drive down the costs of solar electricity dramatically, from its current level of about $4 per watt to between $2.50 and $3 per watt in the sunniest regions of the country. At these prices, solar electricity becomes much cheaper than oil-driven power and within range of coal. These and related technologies could advance much more rapidly toward cost competitiveness with coal, oil and nuclear power if they were to receive even a fraction of the subsidies that now support weapons development (as well as the oil industry).

Swords, Plowshares and Jobs

How does it happen that government spending devoted to healthcare, education, environmental sustainability and infrastructure can generate up to twice as many jobs per dollar as spending on militarism?

Three factors play a role in determining the overall job effects of any target of government spending. Let's compare the construction of Camp Victory, the main US military base on the western outskirts of Baghdad, with weatherizing existing homes in New England to increase their energy efficiency. The first factor to consider is the jobs that get created directly by each project. The second is the job creation in the industries that supply products for building the camp or weatherizing the homes. These would include the steel, concrete, weapons and telecommunications industries for building Camp Victory; and lumber, insulation and trucking industries for home weatherization. Finally, new jobs will result when people who are paid to build Camp Victory or weatherize a house spend the money they have earned--a weapons engineer at Camp Victory buying a lawnmower during his vacation leave at home or a construction worker in New England buying a new car.

How does one spending target create more jobs for a given amount of dollars spent? Still considering Camp Victory construction versus New England home weatherization, there are, again, three factors:

1. More jobs but lower-paying jobs. Average pay is lower in the construction industry working on home weatherization in New England than in mounting weapons installations at Camp Victory. So a given pool of money is divided among more employed people.

2. More spending on people, less on machines and supplies. In weatherizing a home, the machinery and supplies costs are relatively low, while the need for construction workers is high. Building a high-tech military base in Baghdad entails enormous investments in steel and sophisticated electronic equipment and relatively less spending for people on the job.

3. More money stays within the US economy. We roughly estimate that US military personnel spend only 43 percent of their income on domestic goods and services, while the overall population spends an average of 83 percent of their income on domestic products and 17 percent on imports.

It is important to know which of these three factors is relatively more important in generating the overall increase in jobs. In particular, it would not necessarily be a favorable development if the overall increase in employment opportunities is mainly just a byproduct of creating lots of low-paying jobs.

In fact, if we were simply to send a rebate to taxpayers for the full amount of the Iraq War budget--i.e., a measure similar to Bush's current stimulus plan--the increased spending on personal consumption would produce lots of what are now bad jobs, in areas such as retail, hotels, restaurants and personal services. Because of this, a transfer of funds from the military to tax rebates and personal consumption increases would produce a 25 percent increase in employment but an 11 percent decline in overall wages and benefits paid to working people.

The opposite is true with education as the spending target. Here, both the total number of jobs created and the average pay are higher than with the military. It's less clear-cut when it comes to healthcare, energy conservation and infrastructure investments. More jobs will be created than with military spending, and the total amount of wages and benefits going to workers will also be significantly higher than with military spending. But the average pay for a healthcare worker or those engaged in mass transit or construction is lower than in the military.

Is it better for overall economic welfare to generate more jobs, even if average wages and benefits are lower? There isn't a single correct answer to this question. It depends on the size of these differences: how many low-paying jobs are being generated, and how bad are these jobs? How many high-quality jobs would be sacrificed through a transition out of the military, where the average pay is relatively high? Indeed, by completely shutting off Iraq War-related spending and transferring the money in equal shares to education, healthcare, energy conservation and infrastructure, average salaries would decline. However, the majority of new jobs created by these peaceful alternatives would command salaries above a reasonable living-wage standard of $16 an hour.

Pushing Unemployment Down

As of January there were 7.6 million people unemployed in a labor force of 154 million, producing an official unemployment rate of 4.9 percent. This was a significant increase over the 4.5 percent unemployment rate in mid-2007, and thus one important sign of a weakening economy. Unemployment is likely to keep rising as the economic slowdown continues.

In our current context, what would be the overall job effects of transferring the entire 2007 Iraq War budget of $138 billion into healthcare, education, energy conservation and infrastructure investments? If we assume that all else would remain equal in the labor market, a net increase (i.e., the total expansion of jobs in public investments minus the reduction in military jobs) in the range of 1 million jobs would therefore reduce the total number of unemployed people to around 6.6 million. The unemployment rate would fall to about 4.3 percent.

This is still an unacceptably high unemployment rate. But if the public-investment-directed spending shift out of Iraq were combined with a stimulus package of roughly the same size as the Iraq War budget--i.e., in the range of the Bush Administration's $150 billion stimulus--the overall impact would be a strong program to fight recession and create decent jobs.

In particular, through this combination of a spending shift out of Iraq and a stimulus program focused on public investment, there is a good chance that unemployment would fall below 4 percent. When unemployment fell below 4 percent in the late 1960s and late 1990s, the high demand for workers led to rising wages and benefits, in particular at the low end of the job market. Poverty fell as a result. Near full employment in the late '60s also brought better working conditions and less job discrimination against minorities.

Of course, we cannot assume that everything about the labor market would stay unchanged after a huge job expansion in healthcare, education, energy conservation and infrastructure investments, while jobs connected with the military contracted. There would no doubt be skill shortages in some areas and labor gluts in others. There would also probably be an increase in inflation that would have to be managed carefully.

These concerns are real. But it is still true that large-scale job creation within the United States is possible as an outgrowth of ending the Iraq War, reallocating the entire Iraq budget to important domestic public investment projects and fighting the recession with further increases in public investments.

What if the Iraq War budget is transferred only partially to domestic public investments? Let's assume, optimistically, that a new Administration takes serious initiatives to end the Iraq War immediately after coming into office next January. This new Administration would almost certainly not have the wherewithal to shut down operations within one year. And even if it could completely end the war within a year, the government should still commit significant funds to war reparations for the Iraqi people.

The job expansion within the United States will decline to the extent that spending of any sort continues in Iraq rather than being transferred into domestic public investments. But even if the net transfer of funds is, say, $100 billion rather than $138 billion, several hundred thousand new domestic jobs would still be created. There is also no reason that the domestic public investment expansion has to mirror the decrease in the Iraq War budget. Any stimulus program initiated over the next few months--either a Bush-style program or one focused on public investment--would entail spending beyond the current Iraq budget levels.

Public Investment and Recession

There's also a strong argument for a stimulus program that emphasizes public investment at the state and local level. State and local government revenues--which primarily finance education, healthcare, public safety and infrastructure--are always badly hit by economic downturns and will be especially strapped as a result of the current recession. State and local government revenues decline when the incomes and property values of their residents fall. Property tax revenues will fall especially sharply as a result of the collapse of housing prices. Moreover, state and local governments, unlike the federal government, cannot run deficits and are forced to maintain balanced budgets, even in a recession. This means that unless the federal government injects new revenue into the state and local budgets, spending on public investments will decline.

Deficit Reduction: The Responsible Alternative?

The federal fiscal deficit in 2007 was $244 billion. Shutting down the Iraq War and using the fiscal savings to cut the deficit would mean a 57 percent deficit reduction.

Is this the best use of the funds released by the Iraq War? Of course, the government cannot run a reckless fiscal policy, no matter how pressing the country's social and environmental needs. But a $244 billion deficit in today's economy is not reckless. It amounts to about 1.8 percent of GDP. This is slightly below the average-sized deficit between 1960 and 2006 of 1.9 percent of GDP. The largest deviation from this long-term average occurred under Ronald Reagan's presidency, when the deficit averaged 4.2 percent of GDP--i.e., more than twice as large as the current deficit as a share of the economy.

The recession and stimulus program will of course produce a large increase in the deficit. Recessions are not the time to focus on deficit reduction. But even if we allowed the deficit to double from its 2007 level--to about $500 billion--its size, as a share of GDP, would still be below the average figure for the entire Reagan presidency, including both the boom and recession years.

We would certainly need to worry about the deficit today, and even more after the recession ends, if it were persistently running at Reagan-era levels. This is because the government would soon be consuming upward of 20 percent of the total federal budget in interest payments, as it did at the end of the Reagan era. This is opposed to the 10 percent of total government spending we now pay to the Japanese and Chinese bondholders, US banks and wealthy private citizens who own the bulk of US government debt. But because the deficit has been at a reasonable level coming into the recession, the primary problem with the Treasury's fiscal stance is not the size of the deficit per se but how the money is being spent--that we are using the money for Iraq and a private consumption-led stimulus rather than public investment.

There are many good reasons government policy should now initiate major commitments to investment in the areas of healthcare, education, environmental sustainability and infrastructure. All these spending areas stand on their own merits. But moving the $138 billion spent on the Iraq War in 2007 into public investments will also increase employment, adding up to 1 million jobs. On top of this, expanding public investment spending is the single most effective tool for fighting the recession.

A great deal is at stake here. The Iraq War has been about death and destruction. Ending the war could be a first serious step toward advancing a viable program for jobs, healthcare, education and a clean-energy economy.

Robert Pollin is professor of economics and co-director of the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) at the University of Massachusetts. Heidi Garrett-Peltier is a PhD candidate in economics at the University of Massachusetts and a research assistant at PERI.


:: Article nr. 42140 sent on 18-mar-2008 19:11 ECT

www.uruknet.info?p=42140

Link: www.alternet.org/waroniraq/79988/?page=entire

:: The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Uruknet .

CIA OPERATIVES ADMIT AL-QAEDA IS A HOAX

Top Ranking CIA Operatives Admit Al-qaeda Is a Complete Fabrication

By Warren P. Strobel, McClatchy Newspapers Mon Mar 10, 7:08 PM ET

discovered at: Yahoonews.com

http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy

WASHINGTON — An exhaustive review of more than 600,000 Iraqi documents that were captured after the 2003 U.S. invasion has found no evidence that Saddam Hussein's regime had any operational links with Osama bin Laden's al Qaida terrorist network.

The Pentagon-sponsored study, scheduled for release later this week, did confirm that Saddam's regime provided some support to other terrorist groups, particularly in the Middle East , U.S. officials told McClatchy . However, his security services were directed primarily against Iraqi exiles, Shiite Muslims, Kurds and others he considered enemies of his regime.

The new study of the Iraqi regime's archives found no documents indicating a "direct operational link" between Hussein's Iraq and al Qaida before the invasion, according to a U.S. official familiar with the report.

He and others spoke to McClatchy on condition of anonymity because the study isn't due to be shared with Congress and released before Wednesday.

President Bush and his aides used Saddam's alleged relationship with al Qaida, along with Iraq's supposed weapons of mass destruction, as arguments for invading Iraq after the September 11, 2001 , terrorist attacks.

Then-Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld claimed in September 2002 that the United States had "bulletproof" evidence of cooperation between the radical Islamist terror group and Saddam's secular dictatorship.

Then-Secretary of State Colin Powell cited multiple linkages between Saddam and al Qaida in a watershed February 2003 speech to the United Nations Security Council to build international support for the invasion. Almost every one of the examples Powell cited turned out to be based on bogus or misinterpreted intelligence.

As recently as last July, Bush tried to tie al Qaida to the ongoing violence in Iraq . "The same people that attacked us on September the 11th is a crowd that is now bombing people, killing innocent men, women and children, many of whom are Muslims," he said.

The new study, entitled "Saddam and Terrorism: Emerging Insights from Captured Iraqi Documents", was essentially completed last year and has been undergoing what one U.S. intelligence official described as a "painful" declassification review.

It was produced by a federally-funded think tank, the Institute for Defense Analyses , under contract to the Norfolk, Va .-based U.S. Joint Forces Command.

Spokesmen for the Joint Forces Command declined to comment until the report is released. One of the report's authors, Kevin Woods , also declined to comment.

The issue of al Qaida in Iraq already has played a role in the 2008 presidential campaign.

Sen. John McCain , the presumptive GOP nominee, mocked Sen. Barack Obama , D-Ill, recently for saying that he'd keep some U.S. troops in Iraq if al Qaida established a base there.

"I have some news. Al Qaida is in Iraq ," McCain told supporters. Obama retorted that, "There was no such thing as al Qaida in Iraq until George Bush and John McCain decided to invade." (In fact, al Qaida in Iraq didn't emerge until 2004, a year after the invasion.)

The new study appears destined to be used by both critics and supporters of Bush's decision to invade Iraq to advance their own familiar arguments.

While the documents reveal no Saddam-al Qaida links, they do show that Saddam and his underlings were willing to use terrorism against enemies of the regime and had ties to regional and global terrorist groups, the officials said.

However, the U.S. intelligence official, who's read the full report, played down the prospect of any major new revelations, saying, "I don't think there's any surprises there."

Saddam, whose regime was relentlessly secular, was wary of Islamic extremist groups such as al Qaida, although like many other Arab leaders, he gave some financial support to Palestinian groups that sponsored terrorism against Israel .

According to the State Department's annual report on global terrorism for 2002— the last before the Iraq invasion— Saddam supported the militant Islamic group Hamas in Gaza , Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command , a radical, Syrian-based terrorist group.

Saddam also hosted Palestinian terrorist Abu Nidal , although the Abu Nidal Organization was more active when he lived in Libya and he was murdered in Baghdad in August 2002 , possibly on Saddam's orders.

An earlier study based on the captured Iraqi documents, released by the Joint Forces Command in March 2006 , found that a militia Saddam formed after the 1991 Persian Gulf war, the Fedayeen Saddam, planned assassinations and bombings against his enemies. Those included Iraqi exiles and opponents in Iraq's Kurdish and Shiite communities.

Other documents indicate that the Fedayeen Saddam opened paramilitary training camps that, starting in 1998, hosted "Arab volunteers" from outside of Iraq . What happened to the non-Iraqi volunteers is unknown, however, according to the earlier study.

The new Pentagon study isn't the first to refute earlier administration contentions about Saddam and al Qaida.

A September 2006 report by the Senate Intelligence Committee concluded that Saddam was "distrustful of al Qaida and viewed Islamic extremists as a threat to his regime, refusing all requests from al Qaida to provide material or operational support."

The Senate report, citing an FBI debriefing of a senior Iraqi spy, Faruq Hijazi , said that Saddam turned down a request for assistance by bin Laden which he made at a 1995 meeting in Sudan with an Iraqi operative.

ON THE WEB:

Earlier report from the Iraqi Perspectives Project:

Source: http://theuniversalseduction.com/articles/top-ranking-cia-operatives-admit-al-qaeda-is-a-complete-fabrication

HILLARY HOPES YOU'VE FORGOTTEN A FEW...

Hillary hopes you've forgotten a few little things . . .

Respectfully,

Jim Newborn, EFHFI
Colonel, US Army Retired

Hillary Clinton has been telling America that she is the most qualified candidate for president based on her "record," which she says includes her eight years in the White House as First Lady - or "co-president" - and her seven years in the Senate. Here is a reminder of what that record includes:

**- As First Lady, Hillary assumed authority over Health Care Reform, a process that cost the taxpayers over $13 million. She told both Bill Bradley and Pat Moynahan, key votes needed to pass her legislation, that she would "demonize "anyone who opposed it. But it was opposed; she couldn't even get it to a votein a Congress controlled by her own party. (And in the next election, her party lost control of both the House and Senate.)

**- Hillary assumed authority over selecting a female Attorney General. Her first two recommendations (Zoe Baird and Kimba Wood) were forced to withdraw their names from consideration, and then she chose Janet Reno. Janet Reno has since been described by Bill himself as "my worst mistake."

** - Hillary recommended Lani Guanier for head of the Civil Rights Commission. When Guanier's radical views became known, her name had to be withdrawn.

**- Hillary recommended her former law partners, Web Hubbell, Vince Foster, and William Kennedy for positions in the Justice Department, White House staff, and the Treasury,respectively. Hubbell was later imprisoned, Foster committed suicide, and Kennedy was forced to resign.

**- Hillary also recommended a close friend of the Clintons, Craig Livingstone, for the position of director of White House security. When Livingstone was investigated for the improper access of up to 900 FBI files of Clinton enemies (Filegate) and the widespread use of drugs by White House staff, both Hillary and her husband denied knowing him. (FBI agent Dennis Sculimbrene Confirmed in a Senate Judiciary Committee in 1996 both the drug use and Hillary's involvement in hiring Livingst one. After that, the FBI closed its White House Liaison Office, after serving seven presidents for over thirty years.)

**- In order to open "slots" in the White House for her friends the Harry Thomasons (to whom millions of dollars in travel contracts could be awarded), Hillary had the entire staff of the White House Travel Office fired; they were reported to the FBI for "gross mismanagement" and their reputations ruined. After a thirty-month investigation, only one, Billy Dale, was charged with a crime - mixing personal money with White House funds when he cashed checks. The jury acquitted him in less than two hours.

**- Another of Hillary's assumed duties was directing the "bimbo eruption squad" and scandal defense: ---- She urged her husband not to settle the Paula Jones lawsuit ---- She refused to release the Whitewater documents, which led to the appointment of Ken Starr as Special Prosecutor After $80 million dollars of taxpayer money was spent, Starr's investigation led to Monica Lewinsky, which led to Bill lying about and later admitting his affairs.

**- Then they had to settle with Paula Jones after all.

**- And Bill lost his law license for lying to the grand jury.

**- And Bill was impeached by the House.

**- And Hillary almost got herself indicted for perjury and obstruction of justice (she avoided it mostly because she repeated, "I do not recall," "I have no recollection," and "I don't know" 56 times under oath).

**- And don't forget her part in Vince Foster's "suicide".

**- Hillary wrote "It Takes a Village," demonstrating her Socialist viewpoint.

**- Hillary decided to seek election to the Senate in a state she had never lived in. Her husband pardoned FALN terrorists in order to get Latino support and the New Square Hassidim to get Jewish support. Hillary also had Bill pardon her brother's clients, for a small fee, to get financial support.

** - Then Hillary left the White House, but later had to return $200,000 in White House furniture, china, and artwork she had stolen

**- In the campaign for the Senate, Hillary played the "woman card" by portraying her opponent (Lazio) as a bully picking on her

** - Hillary's husband further protected her by asking the National Archives to withhold from the public until 2012 many records of their time in the White House, including much of Hillary's correspondence and her calendars. (There are ongoing lawsuits to force the release of those records.)

**- As the junior Senator from New York, Hillary has passed no major legislation. She has deferred to the senior Senator (Schumer) to tend to the needs of New Yorkers, even on the hot issue of medical problems of workers involved in the cleanup of Ground Zero after 9/11.

**- Hillary's one notable vote, supporting the plan to invade Iraq, she has since disavowed.

Quite a resume, isn't it?

Sounds more like an organized crime family.

OBAMA'S RELIGIOUS THIRD - DEGREEE

LAST WEEK: It was all over the air waves. That infamous picture of Barack Obama wearing a turban in front of a man wearing a Kufi, or Muslim prayer cap.


THIS WEEK: It's a video showing his longtime pastor Jeremiah Wright, denouncing and condemming the United States.


Contrary to Ms. Geraldine Ferraro's statements: "If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman (of any color), he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is."

---This is the real situation, Ms. Ferraro:
If Obama 'were' all white, instead of 1/2 black, he wouldn't get so much flack.
All these red herrings popping out of the woodwork because he's not wholly WASP, or Italian.
Can America forget her Ante-bellum past? Forget the Jim Crow biases? Apparently, the good-olde boys-n-gals, just can't.



That also includes 'Johnny come lately' northerner, junior Senator from New York, Hillary Clinton; who prides herself of being down with the black folks.
Yet, she won't pass up an opportunity to attack, Barack.
Playing the so-called race card. As they say: Go figure?

First Hillary whined about Barack not getting the same treatment by the media, then her 'slapstick' comedie noire on Saturday Night Live, exaggeration of the same 'trifling' issue. Then, she wanted a do-over of the Democrat Primaries in Michigan and Florida, to get more delegates, since she's behind.

So Obama's weak point has finally been found by the Democrat opponent's campaign strategists: to weaken Baracks credibility they will capitalize on his race, and now his religion.
Great going Hillary and Krewe: "It does take a village".
It take a village idiot, not to see a fraud when it's perpetrated in broad daylight.
And a village of biggots, and gold-olde, run o the mill racists!
The state of New York is really getting their money's worth in your exemplary representation of it.
America is your next village. Good luck.
It will either be thou, Ms. Nemesis Clinton, or Mr. Enigma McCain.

If I were Obama, I'd bow out! And let "les bon temps roulez".

The Illuminati sure picked a fine pair of winners this time!

RUSSIAN CHURCH CRITICIZES KOSOVO'S...


17:50 GMT, Mar 18, 2008

Russian Church criticizes Kosovo's recognition as independent state

     GENEVA.  March 18 (Interfax) - The Moscow Patriarchate believes the
situation surrounding Kosovo's independence declaration involved double
standards in the area of human rights protection.
"Certain countries often use human rights as a tool to promote
their national interests. It is especially visible in the conflict
regions on the planet. The most recent example is the situation in
Kosovo and Metohija," Metropolitan Kirill, the head of the Moscow
Patriarchate's external relations department, said at the 7th session of
the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Tuesday.
Such situations "foment tensions in the world and sow prejudices
regarding human rights," he said.
In building a human rights system in any state, the local
population's cultural and historical traditions should be born in mind,
he said.
"Certain countries are behaving absolutely undemocratically in
considering their human rights enforcement systems universal. Using
direct or indirect methods, they are trying to impose their standards on
other peoples or become the only judges in the human rights area," he
said.
Metropolitan Kirill said relations similar to those between a
teacher and a pupil are unacceptable in these matters.
Source:  http://www.interfax.com/3/375755/news.aspx

Monday, March 17, 2008

PREACHERS AT THE END OF TIME

Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;

And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

2 Timothy 4:2-4.

***

1But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.

2And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.

3And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.

4For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;

5And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;

6And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;

7And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked:

8(For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)

9The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:

10But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.

11Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord.

12But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;

13And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you;

14Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children:

15Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;

16But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man's voice forbad the madness of the prophet.

17These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever.

18For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.

19While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.

20For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.

21For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.

22But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.

2 Peter 2

*******

8Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever:

9That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD:

10Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:

11Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.

12Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon:

13Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant.

14And he shall break it as the breaking of the potters' vessel that is broken in pieces; he shall not spare: so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it a sherd to take fire from the hearth, or to take water withal out of the pit.

15For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.

16But ye said, No; for we will flee upon horses; therefore shall ye flee: and, We will ride upon the swift; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift.

17One thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one; at the rebuke of five shall ye flee: till ye be left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain, and as an ensign on an hill.

18And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.

Isaiah 30:8-18.

The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?

Jeremiah 5:31

21For the pastors are become brutish, and have not sought the LORD: therefore they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be scattered.

Jeremiah 10:21

25There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof.

26Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.

27Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.

28And her prophets have daubed them with untempered morter, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord GOD, when the LORD hath not spoken.

29The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully.

30And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.

Ezekiel 22:25-30

1And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

2Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks?

3Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock.

4The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them.

5And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered.

6My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them.

7Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the LORD;

8As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became meat to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock;

9Therefore, O ye shepherds, hear the word of the LORD;

10Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them.

Ezekiel 34:1-10.

************

Commentary

All the above verses refer to the state in which present day Pastors and Prophets have perverted the word of God, and have given their flocks license to do what ever pleases them; In the meantime these career preachers have provided themselves a lucrative and lavish lifestyle, while pretending to offer everyone (a mandate from God) peace and security. These verses are also indicative of a people who have been led astray, and are happy that way.

This is the deplorable state of the Protestant Churches (now called Evangelicals) as mentioned in the previous Bible verses. What I notice is that selectively the media and their interest groups will soon record all Church Sermons and dissect them for any negative criticism of the Government, the War, etc. Prepare for the ultimate in hypocrisy. Yet, they will continue to preach their mamby-pamby prosperity gospel, sin and be saved, celebrate-sing and swing, and the Jesus paid it all alibi, while fornicating, lying , cheating and stealing. It's alright. If you're born again. If you're saved. And the Churches continue to be planted, founded on gibberish, and worldly agendas, teaching for doctrines, doctrines of men. But, some will be scrutinized....What a farce?

Lastly, I want to point out that I heard the infamous sound byte; Pastor Jeremiah Wright, actually cursed in church. Something I consider to be abominable in itself. Now will every other candidate submit a recorded sermon of their 'Sunday Services', so we can decide who is OK, and who is not? The mish-mash of half-truths, and deceptions that pass for Churchianity have been exposed by this case. Can and will, all Church Sermons now be monitored to see if any other blasphemous, subversive statements are pronounced from the pulpit? I can now clearly see the end. The end of the separation of Church and State. However, who will decide what's right, or righteous? Home Land Security? The National Security Agency? The FBI?

If the civilian preachers can't do their jobs properly, will we now have government guidelines, or schools?

Who will head these schools, the Jesuits of Georgetown University?

Blogman,

Maranatha.

CBS'S BARRY PETERSEN JESUIT PLUG

Tonight on CBS Evening News, Barry Petersen said:
"AS THE JESUITS SAY; IF YOU GET THEM WHEN THEY'RE YOUNG, YOU'LL HAVE THEM FOR LIFE".
.
.
Blogman says:
That's it get'em hooked young! Dupe 'em, while they're young and innocent!
.
In the light of all the child abuse scandals that the Catholic priesthood has been accused of in America; Is it sensitive (politically correct) to apply that euphemism in this case? Think, think think!
***
In a story covering the American attempt to expose the Mainland Chinese to 'America's Favorite Pastime', Baseball; While appearing with some cheerful young chinese boys in baseball uniforms, while some wore 'red' kerchiefs around their necks, at a ball park; Petersen approached the camera and stated the above comment.
.
Was this a freudian slip, or was it visual Broadcast version of Muzak, intended to desynthesize the viewing public of the pervasive Jesuit manipulation of the media, and of virtually all aspects of life today?
This is yet another salvo of the continuing struggle for the complete domination of our Protestant Republic.
A day does not go by without a plug or a pitch from the holy see. Yesterday, on CBS Evening News, Sunday-March 16, 2008, it was a comment about Ratzinger's statements about the violence in Iraq.
Has our country finally, lock, stock and barrell, "wondered after the Beast"?
Since when are we all Catholics, and are interested in the platitudes of the Bishop of Rome ?
Or the tactics of Jesuits; necessitating a day by day diary of their rumblings and rationales???
Why Columbia Broadcasting System, Why?
Are we (CBS) finally that much in our (Catholic) element that we can now push through blatanly our Catholic One World Government Agenda? Please inform me.
I've been watching yous-guys for a while, and only recently have noticed this unabashed escalation of Catholicity. Where does it end?
When the airwaves, and the goverment are completely an arm of the Vatican?
Therefore, implementing roman catholic views, solely, and exclusively? You know I'm really curious.
.
As the Jesuits say: "The ends, justify the means".
You CBS, are the Means, please justify where it ends?
.
Was 1984 just a book? Or the pivotal year? The long awaited synthesis?
.
Blogman.
***
Here's the enigmatic report:

Sending America's Favorite Pastime To Asia

With The Dodgers And The Padres Playing In Beijing, Will China Fall In Love With Baseball?



Baseball, a sport that was once popular in China, is now being re-introduced to Beijing students. (CBS)



(CBS) Baseball: It's the sound, the hot dogs, the peanuts, the souvenirs ... of the complete all-American pastime.

Except, this is China, where Major League Baseball wants into the world's largest market even though almost no one here has even seen a baseball game, CBS News correspondent Barry Petersen reports.

"It's very exciting," one Chinese fan says.

Baseball was once popular here.

Even Mao had baseball teams in his army, as training for throwing grenades. But then he banned capitalist things like baseball.

Today, with only a handful of obscure Chinese teams, the biggest hurdle is teaching a whole nation the love of the game.

"There is a certain rhythm, there is a certain poetry and it takes time, there is no question it takes time to really understand and get into it," said Los Angeles Dodgers coach Joe Torre.

It was the Jesuits who said, if you get them when they are young, you will have them for life. Obviously that's part of the marketing strategy of Major League Baseball in China.

They organized baseball programs for thousands of school kids. But it's tough.

I knew what a home run way, says 8-year-old Xinwei, but I forgot.

The kids there can't name one American player … but ask about basketball?

China's Yao Ming of the Houston Rockets is a hometown hero, and a symbol of what 20 years of marketing has done for America's NBA in Asia.

With games on TV and the government building 800,000 multi-purpose courts in rural China.

"During the day, actually, you can dry your crops there," said Tim Chen, the CEO of NBA China. "At night people get together there, social activity, watch movies. Then later you can play basketball there."

But don't underestimate how fast they can learn about American teams.

Or how making it to the big leagues can become a little boy's dream ... no matter where he was born.