Thursday, January 15, 2009

Faith without works is dead


14What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?

15If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,

16And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?

17Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

18Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.

19Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.

20But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

21Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?

22Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?

23And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.

24Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.

25Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?

26For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.



James 2:14-26.

For relatives of victims, activism and altered views; Most see the departing president as a disappointment


Copyright 2009 Gannett Company, Inc.
All Rights Reserved

USA TODAY

January 14, 2009 Wednesday
FINAL EDITION

NEWS; Pg. 1A

2175 words


For relatives of victims, activism and altered views;
Most see the departing president as a disappointment

Martha T. Moore


NEW YORK -- Kristen Breitweiser, like many other widows who demanded a government inquiry into the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, wasn't that interested in geopolitics before the day her husband died.

"I was not a very actively engaged American citizen. I was a housewife; I had a little baby; my husband worked on Wall Street," says Breitweiser. In 2000, she had voted for George W. Bush.

As Bush leaves office eight years later, his presidency has been shaped by the attacks that killed Ronald Breitweiser and nearly 3,000 others. Bush's security policies that grew out of the attacks -- the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and efforts to improve intelligence, boost emergency preparedness and control illegal immigration -- have been followed intensely by the families of those killed on 9/11.

Breitweiser and other family members have been key players in persuading the White House and Congress to create the 9/11 Commission, which examined the attacks, and also in ongoing campaigns aimed at improving national security. Other family members have been less public, but their worldviews have been altered forever by 9/11 and Bush's actions afterward.

Like the nation as a whole -- public opinion surveys show nearly 68% of the public disapprove of the job Bush is doing -- many family members give the president harsh reviews. Others offer more understanding.

"His response (was) to rally the nation to come together," says Cathie Ong-Herrera, whose sister Betty was a flight attendant on a Los Angeles-bound jet that hit the World Trade Center on 9/11. "Our country was united. That feeling was very much appreciated. But unfortunately that feeling is gone. Our nation is not ... where it should be."

To Breitweiser, Ong-Herrera and other 9/11 victims' family members, Bush's legacy is shaped largely by how they believe he performed on issues that mean the most to them.

For Bill Doyle, father of Joey, it's rooting out the financing of terrorism.

For Donn Marshall, widower of Shelley, it's the execution of the Iraq war.

For Lynn Faulkner, widower of Wendy, it's Bush's attempt to overhaul immigration.

Here's how some victims' family members see Bush's legacy:

The Jersey girl

"When my husband was killed, it was a huge awakening to me," Breitweiser says.

She was one of four widows -- they called themselves the "Jersey girls" -- who, along with other families, lobbied for the creation of the 9/11 Commission, which said in its report in 2007 that the U.S. government had underestimated the terrorist threat in part because intelligence agencies had not shared information.

Today, Breitweiser has moved from New Jersey to New York and is raising her daughter, who was a toddler when Ronald was killed. Breitweiser also writes political commentary for the Huffington Post website.

"I don't think people are really, really sitting down and digesting the real effects of this presidency," Breitweiser says.

"I don't think I'm stretching that far out of the box to say his administration showed a breathtaking ineptitude in leading this country toward a safer tomorrow," she says.

The war in Iraq and the detainment of foreign terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has made the nation less safe, not more so, she says. With resources drained by the war in Iraq, the administration has not done enough to protect potential terrorist targets such as chemical and nuclear facilities and transportation systems, she says.

Breitweiser criticizes federal prosecutors' track record in terrorism convictions, many of which have been plea bargains.

"In years to come, people are going to get killed in hotels and subways and buses all around the world because of payback" by terrorists, she says. "There are more people in the world today hating Americans because of President Bush's bad decisions. The only thing I can say is that I don't blame just him."

As the economy plunges into recession, "I know it's easy to forget about the war in Iraq and Afghanistan and say, 'It was a mistake and we were lied to' and move on," she says. "But that's a lot of lives that were lost because of this president's bad decision-making."

The negotiator

Mary Fetchet also was new to political activism when she began lobbying alongside Breitweiser for the probe into the 9/11 attacks. Before Fetchet's son Bradley died in the World Trade Center, she was a social worker.

"I really didn't follow politics closely before 9/11," says Fetchet, who heads Voices of September 11th, a family support agency that is creating an online memorial to those killed in the attacks. "I don't know that I had an opinion" about President Bush.

She acquired one when she spent months in Washington lobbying for the commission's creation and then for legislation to implement its recommendations for improving U.S. intelligence.

"It was an uphill battle, working with the administration," she says, citing White House "reluctance" to create the commission. As a result, she is reluctant to give Bush credit for preventing another terrorist incident here.

"Our country's safer than it was post-9/11," she says, "but it was a collective effort of many like-minded people."

The sister

Cathie Ong-Herrera didn't vote for Bush in 2000, but when she was invited by the New York mayor's office to be part of a family honor guard for the president on Sept. 11, 2002, to mark the first anniversary of the attacks, she was pleased.

Even before she knew her sister was on one of the crashed planes, Ong-Herrera had been dismayed by Bush's initial response the day of the attacks. He was reading to schoolchildren in Florida when his chief of staff whispered the news in his ear.

"He appeared as if he didn't know what to do and just kept reading to the children," says Ong-Herrera, who lives in Bakersfield, Calif., and now runs the Betty Ann Ong Foundation, dedicated to children's health.

Even so, Ong-Herrera says she was "very honored to be asked" to be at the Trade Center site when Bush laid a wreath there. Her pleasure turned to hurt when Bush didn't speak to her as he greeted the families.

"When he first came down the ramp and I was watching him, I just felt like, 'Wow, it's going to be OK.' There was power there. Things were going to be OK. But as he walked past me and never said anything or even turned to acknowledge (me), I was kind of like, 'Wow.' ... I was standing right next to him by the wreath there. I never got to talk to him, or shake his hand."

She was disappointed the president would not appear publicly before the 9/11 Commission. Instead, Bush met privately with the panel after initially agreeing to meet only with its leaders.

"Back then, we were still almost lost, looking for information, trying to find information and grasp whatever information we could," Ong-Herrera says.

"It really cast some doubt in my mind as to how willing he was to help the families."

The firefighter

Bush first visited Ground Zero three days after the attacks.

Standing on the mountain of debris, the president put his arm around a retired firefighter, raised a bullhorn and said: "I can hear you, the rest of the world hears you, and the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon."

Lee Ielpi was there. He didn't look up. He was searching for the body of his son, Jonathan, 29, a firefighter.

"We just said, everybody will do what they have to do, but we're going to continue working," he says.

It took three months of digging before Jonathan's body was found. Now Ielpi, himself a retired firefighter, spends his days across the street from the World Trade Center site, at the Tribute WTC Visitor Center, which he helped to found.

Unlike the Ground Zero memorial, still years away from completion, the tribute center has been open since 2006. Among its first visitors: Bush.

"I think he did the best he could under the circumstances," says Ielpi, who voted for Bush twice and supported the invasion of Iraq. "I was in favor, just like Congress was in favor."

Radical Islamic terrorism was a known threat well before Bush took office, Ielpi says, citing the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Africa and the 2000 attack on the USS Cole.

"What did we do after those events? We didn't do too much," he says. "We had missed opportunities to do away with this so-called bin Laden character. We fell back into complacency."

He worries about complacency now, as 9/11 becomes more distant. A young girl came to the center thinking that the destruction of the World Trade Center was simply a plane crash, he says.

"We have people coming to Tribute who don't know about (9/11)," Ielpi says. "I mean that."

He wants schools to have a curriculum on the events of 9/11.

"If we're not teaching our young, if we're not enlightening our young, how do we expect to enlighten anybody else?"

The networker

Bill Doyle also remembers his reaction to Bush's bullhorn talk.

"When he stood on that pile of rubble, I felt good: We're going to get after these people," says Doyle, whose son Joey, 21, died in the collapse of the towers.

Instead, he says, al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden "is still hiding in the mountains" and the U.S. military has been more occupied with the aftermath of its Iraq invasion.

Doyle has been a key information source for 9/11 families by keeping an e-mail list that reaches nearly all of them. The Florida retiree is part of 9/11 Families United to Bankrupt Terrorism, which has filed a lawsuit against banks and charities that allegedly helped fund the attacks.

He believes the Bush administration did not provide full information to the 9/11 Commission, which he calls "a sham," or to a congressional investigation of terrorism financing in 2002.

When the Doyle family received a condolence letter from the president for the loss of their son, they were so angry that Doyle's wife, Camille, tore it up.

Bush "made a sworn promise: The people that did this, we're coming after you," Doyle says. "He didn't keep it."

The defense analyst

Donn Marshall, a Pentagon defense analyst, believes that even before 9/11, the Bush administration wanted to go to war with Saddam Hussein's Iraq. But when his wife, Shelley, who worked for the Defense Intelligence Agency, was killed at the Pentagon, he put faith in the president.

"When a crisis hits, you look to your leader and you hope he has the intelligence and the skills to affect a positive change," says Marshall, who did not vote for Bush. "You give him the benefit of the doubt ... and keep your fingers crossed."

Seven years later, he believes Bush's legacy will be one of "squandered opportunity," failing to address economic conditions overseas that allow terrorists to gain footholds.

"We had the opportunity to ... 'drain the swamp.' You do that by providing economic opportunity and education. If you have a good job, if you have an education to give you prospects for a good job, you're less likely to blow yourself up" in a suicide bombing, Marshall says. "We haven't done that. We've gone around trying to shoot people and trying to torture people."

Marshall doesn't doubt that Bush felt enormous compassion toward him and the other families of those killed. "I think he was totally compassionate," he says. "But that's one thing. And then there's being an effective manager and an effective leader, ... (and) he didn't have it."

The supporter

Bush's legacy "is something I've thought about quite a bit over the last month or two as the (presidential) campaign was going on," Lynn Faulkner says.

"It kind of caused me to be a little reflective on the whole thing, and the part that we played in the (2004) election," Faulkner says.

In 2004, Faulkner and daughter Ashley made an ad for Bush's re-election after the president met Ashley, then 15, at a rally in Lebanon, Ohio, and consoled her for the loss of her mother.

Since then, Ashley has been a White House intern, and her father has become unhappy with some of Bush's policies. When the Faulkners visited Bush in the Oval Office, they spotted an open, "well-used" Bible on the president's desk. That reassured Faulkner the president didn't think he could "do it on his own."

Faulkner, who runs a charitable foundation in Mason, Ohio, credits Bush and the Iraq invasion with preventing more attacks. "The greatest legacy that George Bush will leave with, and will probably serve him fairly well in ... history, is that he and all of the administration and all of the support people have kept us safe for the last 7 1/2 years."

But Bush is not as true to conservative ideals as he had hoped, Faulkner says. Faulkner thinks Bush was "dead wrong" when he proposed changing immigration laws to provide a route to citizenship to those in the country illegally. And with the federal bailout of financial institutions, including government purchase of large stakes in private financial firms, Bush and the country have "abandoned the free-market system in the last three months. We just threw it away."

"I still feel strongly that we supported the best candidate that was available to us in 2004," Faulkner says. "But I'd be lying if I didn't say I'm disappointed."


PHOTO, Color, Todd Plitt, USA TODAY
PHOTO, Color, 2001 photo by Doug Mills, AP
PHOTO, B/W, Faulkner family photo
PHOTO, B/W, Gerald Herbert, AP
PHOTO, B/W, Jay Westcott for USA TODAY

January 14, 2009



Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Cherie Blair to stop by 'Tonight Show'


Published: Jan. 13, 2009 at 7:06 PM


BURBANK, Calif., Jan. 13 (UPI) -- The wife of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has agreed to make an appearance on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," NBC announced.

Cherie Blair is expected to discuss her new memoir, "Speaking for Myself," and to talk about her run-ins with the British press when she drops by the chat show Wednesday.

She is also planning to offer some advice to incoming U.S. first lady Michelle Obama, the U.S. network said.

Actor Ralph Fiennes and musical guest Brett Dennan are to appear on the episode, as well.


Martin Luther King, Jr. birthday


Martin Luther King, Jr. birthday

BY VICTOR G. MIMONI
Wednesday, January 14, 2009 7:05 PM EST


On Monday, January 19, a day before Barack Obama is sworn in as the first African-American President of the United States, the country will mark the 24th observance of Martin Luther King’s birthday.

All post offices, public schools and government buildings will be closed. Metropolitan Transportation Authority trains and buses will run on a weekday schedule, except for limited-stop busses on Staten Island, which will not run. Many businesses will be closed.

Why should we make a holiday for a private citizen?

He was born Michael Luther King on January 15, 1929 to an Atlanta, Georgia couple; Alberta and Michael Luther King, a Baptist minister. Though both had been given the name Martin, the erroneous name found its way into the records - not uncommon among poor people at the time.

The younger King graduated from Morehouse College in 1948, having been appointed assistant pastor to his father at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta.

He married Coretta Scott in June of 1953. On November 17, 1955 their first child was born.

Two weeks later, on December 1, Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus to a white man. King helped organize a bus boycott to protest segregation.

On January 30, 1955 their house was bombed. Shortly afterward he was arrested, the first of some 20 times he was jailed over the next 13 years.

The boycott continued until November, when the U.S. Supreme Court declared segregated buses unconstitutional.

In the year that followed there were eight bombings of black churches, businesses or residences in Montgomery and an unexploded bomb was found on King’s front porch.

But the buses remained integrated.

On August 28, 1963, King helped organize a “March for Jobs and Freedom” on Washington D.C., in part to call for passage of President Kennedy’s civil rights legislation, which was stalled in Congress.

By mid-day, 250,000 people filled the Capitol Mall. King delivered one of the most memorable addresses in American history - his “I Have a Dream” speech.

At the end of 1963, he became the first African-American to be named Time magazine’s “Man of the Year.”

A year later, King became the youngest man ever to win the Nobel Peace Prize and donated the $54,123 award to the civil rights movement.

On April 3, 1968 while supporting a sanitation workers’ strike in Memphis, Tennessee, King delivered his “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech, warning his followers both of the dangers ahead and the promises of freedom and equality.

He concluded in part, “I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land.”

The next evening, while standing on the walkway in front of his motel room, he was shot by a sniper and died within the hour, in the emergency room of Saint Joseph’s Hospital.

He was 39 years old.

In 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed a law making the third Monday in January a federal holiday, starting in 1986.



Bush awards medals to wartime allies


President Bush presents former UK PM Tony Blair with the Medal of Freedom at the White House.


January 14, 2009 -- Updated 0919 GMT (1719 HKT)


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Three former wartime allies were reunited at the White House for one last time on Tuesday when President George W. Bush awarded America's top civilian honor to the former prime ministers of Britain and Australia.


In his last days in office Bush presented Tony Blair and John Howard with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, hailing them as "the sort of guys who look you in the eye, keep their word, and tell the truth." Colombia's President Alvaro Uribe also received the award.

Bush called each of them "a true friend of the United States who met historic challenges with great tenacity and who provides a lasting example of statesmanship at home and abroad."

Blair and Howard were staunch supporters of the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq, sending troops to the country in the face of public opposition to the conflict.

Bush praised Blair's support after the September 11, 2001 attacks and said that under Blair, Great Britain's "might and moral authority" have been well-used in the "war on terror."

"He was there in a moment of trial to affirm the special relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom. And he was there to show America and all nations that he understood the stakes in the war on terror."

He mentioned other accomplishments by Blair, such the Northern Ireland peace process, drawing attention to the suffering in Africa, and serving as the Mideast Quartet envoy.

The awards are controversial, with one UK opposition politician calling them a reward for "the biggest foreign policy disaster in recent history."

Liberal Democrat Shadow Foreign Secretary Edward Davey said: "Tony Blair should be spending next week helping to fix the mess in Gaza, not receiving an award for the biggest foreign policy disaster in recent history and his silence over Guantanamo Bay.

"It is not surprising that this announcement has been left until after Tony Blair has left office and when George Bush is packing his bags. It is simply too controversial to be sold to voters. The political capital built up by Blair's work in Northern Ireland was squandered entirely by the needless war in Iraq."

Bush lauded Howard's plain-speaking style and unpretentiousness and his political tenacity.

"His time in office was marked by great national confidence and prosperity and rising global influence. He won the respect of leaders around the world for his commitment to free markets, cooperation, and the peaceful resolution of differences," Bush said of Howard.

Bush said Howard made remarks in Washington the day before the Sept. 11 attacks in which he "reflected on the many tests that our two countries faced together in the 20th century."

"He spoke with feeling about our shared values as well as our obligation to defend them, and if necessary, fight for them, and be ready to repel those who would seek to take our freedoms away.

"This man who saw the burning Pentagon on September the 11th and who ... comforted the survivors of Bali, never wavered in his commitment to overcoming this great danger to civilization," said Bush, referring to the 2002 attack on the Indonesian island of Bali.

Uribe has battled guerrillas and drug cartels in Colombia, whose government is a bastion of U.S. support in a region where anti-Americanism is growing.

Bush said that when Uribe was a presidential candidate earlier in the decade, Colombia was threatened with becoming a failed state or a narco-state.

"President Uribe's leadership has been resolute and uncompromising. Today in Colombia, homicides are down 40 percent, kidnappings are down more than 80 percent, terror attacks are down by more than 75 percent. The forces of violence are on the defensive, and the people are reclaiming their country," Bush said, praising Uribe's courage and character.

Previous awards have also been controversial. Bush gave former CIA director George Tenet the medal in 2004 despite him being criticized for intelligence failures and the unproven contention that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.

As for Howard, he has been staying at the Blair House, the president's guest house for visiting dignitaries where President-elect Barack Obama had hoped to be now.

Presidents-elect traditionally occupy the Blair House five days before moving into the White House. But Obama had been hoping to move into the house earlier to get his daughters settled in school.


The Bush administration already had events scheduled there and had guests who could not be displaced.

The Obamas checked into the historic Hay-Adams hotel in Washington recently. Obama, who is to be inaugurated on January 20, is to move into the Blair House on January 15.


Judge issues gag order in Alamo custody hearings


Judge issues gag order in Alamo custody hearings

By JON GAMBRELL
Associated Press Writer



TEXARKANA The judge overseeing a custody hearing for 23 children taken from the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries issued a gag order Monday, barring those involved from talking publicly about what is likely the largest child-custody case in Arkansas history.

Miller County Circuit Judge Joe Griffin said lawyers for the state asked for the gag order at the start of what could be a two-week hearing. Griffin said the release of videotaped interviews with children seized from Alamo's Fouke church compound, as well as intense media interest, led him to put the order in place.

Only a court reporter will be allowed to record future hearings about the children, Griffin said.

"The statute says we have confidential hearings," Griffin told reporters Monday afternoon. "If we're just going to open it up to the Internet, we may as well let all of you representatives from the media in the courtroom and take it all down."

State child welfare officials have seized 36 children associated with the ministry of the jailed evangelist, who faces a 10-count federal indictment accusing him of taking young girls across state lines for sex. Alamo previously testified in an earlier court hearing involving children taken from the church, offering details about how he "spiritually" married and divorced women.


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None of the children taken from nine ministry families are believed to be the evangelist's progeny, the judge said. However, state officials have said they seized the children over concerns of physical and sexual abuse at ministry, noting the stories of ex-members about Alamo ordering beatings and taking child "brides."
Alamo has denied having sex with underage girls but says he's an advocate of girls marrying when they reach puberty to avoid living in sin.

As of yet, Griffin said lawyers had not asked for Alamo to testify at this set of hearings. The judge said the witness list likely would include former followers of Alamo, 74, a flamboyant minister whose apocalyptic messages deride Catholicism, the Vatican and the "new world order."

Griffin will decide whether and under what terms parents can be reunited with their children. Another judge previously required parents in the ministry to sever their ties with Alamo before regaining custody of their children.

Before the hearing, a group of family members for the children sat quietly inside of the Texarkana Juvenile Court Center, a cheery undersea mural behind them. One diver rode the back of a shark.

Don Dahme, 66, of Glendora, Calif., said he was the step-grandfather of a 13-year-old boy taken by state officials. His step-grandson was one of 18 taken from vans traveling near Arkansas' border with Texas on Nov. 18.

"They said they were going to a park," Dahme said. He declined to say whether he believed that, as orders allowing for the children's seizure carry no legal weight outside of Arkansas' borders.

His stepdaughter had been with the ministry for 17 years, joining the Alamo church just outside of Los Angeles. They spoke by telephone after nightly church services, but he said contacting her had become more difficult recently.

The last time he saw his stepdaughter, Dahme said she was distraught over the loss of her son and was taking part in a "coffee and water" fast.

"I guess she was all shook up about (them) taking her one son," Dahme said.

Outside of the court, a woman who identified herself as the mother of six children taken held a ratty blouse she said a foster family made her daughter wear. She ran her hands over a hole around the collar.

A gold cross bejeweled in bright costume gems the emblem of the Alamo ministries lay across her chest. The stones represent the 12 people named in the book of Revelation to build the walls of Heaven.

"I sent beautiful clothes for my children to wear and this is what they do," the woman said. "This is how they are treating my children that have never been abused."

Later, several ministry supporters held signs outside of the juvenile court, decrying the way child welfare officials and the FBI "obey the Vatican." Another compared the child seizures to Nazi Germany.

The Alamo supporters filmed themselves protesting and reporters asking questions. State child welfare officials inside the court building peeked around curtains and took cell-phone photographs.

Arkansas State Police and federal agents raided Alamo's compound at Fouke in western Arkansas on Sept. 20, searching for evidence that children there had been molested or filmed having sex. Five days later, FBI agents arrested the evangelist as he left a hotel in Flagstaff, Ariz.

Alamo, convicted of tax evasion charges in 1994, remains jailed without bond.

While Dahme said he had never seen any signs of abuse when visiting with his stepdaughter, he recounted taking a foreign exchange student to an Alamo service. After the service, followers surrounded the student, urging her to join.

Dahme said he quietly told one of the ushers the student was Catholic.

"After the service, they threw me out for like two or three months. I had to write letters and make phone calls and they let me back in," he said. "I probably should have handled the situation a little differently."



Source: http://www.thecabin.net/stories/011409/loc_0114090013.shtml

Bishops speak out against drugs in society


14 January 2009, 7:54 AM

SANTO DOMINGO.-The Dominican Conference of Bishops called on all Christians to evangelize public and private environments where "brazen" activities related to drug trafficking, corruption, tax evasion and the illegal trafficking of persons are taking place.

In their pastoral letter "Paul, the model of a missionary disciple" that will be read next 21 January during the festivity of the Virgin of High Grace, the bishops indicated that businessmen, government officials, members of the institutions charged with public order and the judicial system were part of these environments.

"In many of these places, the sins of the flesh are brazenly exhibited: drug trafficking and corruption; tax evasion and administrative corruption and indifference; the illegal white slave trade and prostitution; the wild sex and abortions, marital infidelity, intra-family violence, pre-matrimonial sex, alcohol, drugs, pornography, crime, child abuse among others."

The conference, headed by Nicholas de Jesus Cardinal Lopez Rodriguez, also attacked religious groups and sects that, in their judgment, create confusion in the population.

"The proliferation of groups and sects that abound in our environments is a fact. They present themselves in the media, creating a state of religious confusion, promising an easy salvation that creates expectations among poorly formed persons that are swept up, separating themselves from the Church and the Sacraments," according to the letter.

In their conclusions, the Catholic pastors point out their worries for the "latest events that have produced scandals in God's people", but that said that on these and other issues, "we will talk as the time comes."



De Diario Libre

John: In The Spirit Of Elijah


5Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:

6And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.



Malachi 4:5,6.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Where's Middle East Envoy Tony Blair?


Middle East envoy for the United Nations, European Union, United States and Russia.

JPMorgan Chase "in a senior advisory capacity
***
Vatican claims Blair will work for peace
The Vatican has said Tony Blair is planning to work for Middle East peace and inter-religious dialogue.The outgoing Prime Minister held a private meeting with Pope Benedict XVI amid rumours that he plans to convert to Catholicism when he leaves Downing Street.A statement from the Vatican did not mention any future conversion, but said there had been a "frank" assessment of the international situation, including Iraq and the future of the European Union.It has been suggested the the American President George W Bush would like Mr Blair to become a Middle East envoy, but Downing Street has refused to comment on those reports.Mr Blair's trip to the Vatican was his last foreign engagement as Prime Minister.He then travelled to Manchester for a special Labour conference, where Gordon Brown becomes Labour leader, marking the start of the handover of power.© Independent Television News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.
ITN June 24, 2007

Hillary Clinton seeks 'smart power'


Today, Hillary Rodham Clinton appeared at a daylong confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as President-elect Barack Obama's choice for secretary of state.
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This is like deja vu all over, again.
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She read a written speech during the hearings, and spoke of what she will attempt to accomplish as Obama's Secretary of State. She actually read a line that stated that the President-elect and I..... Now, does she need to read statements such as what she intends to do, even "the president-elect, and I"? Afterwards, Senator Clinton answered questions posed to her by Senator John Kerry of the Foreign Relations Committee (FCR). That sure sounds a bit like the CFR: The Council on Foreign Relations, the prolific Washington special interest group. Wasn't President-elect Obama in that same (FCR) Committee? Don't they call these letter changes, Anagrams?1
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Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday that she intends to revitalize the mission of diplomacy in American foreign policy, calling for a "smart power" strategy in the Middle East and implicitly criticizing the Bush administration for having downgraded the role of arms control.2
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I wonder if anyone thought of Madeleine Albright when they Hillary Clinton attempting to assume the post that Albright held while Bill Clinton was President. "Impact ’08 wants to ensure that the next President is committed to greater investment in development and diplomacy to build a better, safer world. We hope the Presidential candidates and their advisers are listening.”Madeleine Albright, Secretary of State, 1997-2001 Impact '08 Co-Chair.3
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I couldn't help but notice several instances in which Hillary was at a loss of words, and would stall by using, ummh, ummh, to fill the gaps in between getting her words together. It seems that Politicians can't be candid or spontaneous; If they aren't reading a scripted speech they have to feel their way around direct questions asked of them. What a shame that change really means more of the same.
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If you thought that Hillary's Universal Medical Insurance plans were peculiar; Wait until she starts negotiating in international affairs with this "smart power"? I'll have to wait to see how profound an impact her expertise will cause. Maybe, all the change we'll see is an 'Anagram'.
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Arsenio.
References:

An Inkling of Change on NPR


On NPR (National Public Radio {All Things Considered?}),I just heard openly gay Bishop Gene Robinson, say that during his scheduled Presidential Inauguration prayer at the Lincoln Monument, he will not mention the name of Jesus while conducting the invocation. He went on to say that during his bout with alcoholism within the past three years, he discovered a 12 step program; There, he began to understand the concept of "a god of one's understanding" . That is what he will keep in mind when conducting his prayer for our nation; He said, America has all kinds of believers.


Change.....Yes we can!

Boy, I'm not surprised at the departure from our established moral values, and how far we have come. What lies ahead for this nation is prophetic. Read Revelation!

Arsenio.

The Word Of God Is Powerful


For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Hebrews 4:12

Monday, January 12, 2009

Activists cheer Obama's choice of gay bishop


Activists cheer Obama's choice of gay bishop

4h 43m ago


By Jill Lawrence, USA TODAY


WASHINGTON — Barack Obama's decision to have a prominent gay bishop open his inaugural festivities Sunday at the Lincoln Memorial is the latest in a series of moves that have heartened gay rights advocates smarting over evangelical pastor Rick Warren's prime spot at the swearing-in ceremony next week.
The families accompanying Obama on a train ride here from Philadelphia on Sunday include a lesbian couple. Nancy Sutley, a Los Angeles deputy mayor who is gay, has been named to head the White House Council on Environmental Quality. Gay advocates say they believe more gay appointments are in the offing.

Incoming White House spokesman Robert Gibbs, though he didn't give a time frame, recently told a questioner at www.change.gov that Obama plans to end the "don't ask, don't tell" policy that requires gay members of the military to hide their sexual orientation.

The Rev. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, an early Obama supporter who advises him on gay issues, said he was invited more than two weeks ago to appear at the Lincoln Memorial. The Episcopal bishop said he was not asked in reaction to the furor over Warren, who has compared gay marriage to incest, pedophilia and polygamy.

"They made it very clear with me, and I certainly do believe them, that this was in the works for some time," Robinson told USA TODAY.

FIND MORE STORIES IN: United States California Barack Obama Philadelphia Los Angeles Catholic Church Protestant Proposition Robert Gibbs Human Rights Campaign Lincoln Memorial Episcopal Environmental Quality Rick Warren White House Council Catholic League Export-Import Bank Lesbian Victory Fund
The invitation reflects his relationship with Obama, Robinson said, and "the fact that the president-elect is exactly who he says he is. He wants to include all of America's voices in the future."

Robinson was among the many who criticized Obama's choice of Warren — the best-selling author and pastor of a California mega-church — to open the swearing-in ceremony Jan. 20. He called the move "a slap in the face."

The announcement stunned and angered a community reeling from the success of Proposition 8, a gay marriage ban on the California ballot last fall. Warren, a leader in fights against AIDS and poverty, helped pass the ban.

The news about Robinson, whose name was listed Monday in an inaugural news release about the Sunday program, also provoked anger. Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, said Obama chose a "polarizing person" who "offends Catholics as much as he does Protestants. If that's his idea of inclusion, he can keep it."

Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, told Obama the Warren pick was "a genuine blow" and sign of disrespect. He says Robinson's role is among several reassuring developments, including e-mails he has from the transition team confirming that Fred Hochberg will head the Export-Import Bank and Brian Bond will be deputy director of public liaison. The appointments of the two gay men haven't been announced.

Solmonese predicts that ultimately, "on his own terms and at his own pace," Obama will do more for gay equality than any other president. "There have been moments when it feels like it is a bit of a roller coaster ride," he concedes. "This is the nature of how it's going to be."

Chuck Wolfe is president of the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, which promotes gay and lesbian candidates for administration jobs. He says the early personnel indicators are "heartwarming."

Even before Obama is sworn in, "we're tracking these things," Wolfe says. "There's already something to keep track of. That's remarkable in itself."


Central American, Dominican governments eye joint currency


Central American, Dominican governments eye joint currency


Local - 12 January 2009, 2:11 PM


Santo Domingo.- The Dominican and the Central American governments approved further studies of monetary and financial development, including creating a joint currency and a plan of urgent measures to confront the financial crisis, and creating a credit pool to spur interregional trade.

The measure came after a meeting of the Central American Integration System (SICA), held in December in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, where the leaders gathered for their 33rd meeting.



The Converging Crisis (David Gates)


mp3 Audio:

David Gates - The Converging Crisis-Part 1 -----1:07:09
David Gates - The Converging Crisis-Part 2 -----51:52
David Gates - The Converging Crisis-Part 3 -----58:21



Google Video:

How to Prepare for the Economic Worst


How to Prepare for the Economic Worst
by Gary Kah

It has been a hectic time for both our family and ministry. Ever since September’s financial collapse, we have been receiving phone calls from people wanting to know what to do with their money. They are also very concerned about the direction of our world politically and spiritually. After personally responding to as many requests as possible via phone while traveling, I arrived home to many more requests, questions and calls to return. The Lord prompted me to write this column before any more time passes.

As you know, the economy is continuing to spiral downward. Last month 533,000 jobs were lost – the most in any month since 1974. This will catapult unemployment figures to well over 7% for December, as more than 2 million jobs will have been lost by the end of this year.

Meanwhile, credit remains tight and the US government is out of money. Altogether, there is at least $50 trillion of bad debt from the mortgage crisis still needing to be dealt with. Entire industries are now on the verge of failing, and there seems to be no end in sight.

Along with the bad debt resulting from ill-advised home loans, the US government is now in debt over $10 trillion. If one adds state and municipal debt along with troubled consumer loans into this mix the numbers become even more staggering. The only way America could climb out of the current mess and remain a somewhat free nation is if government spending were immediately cut by about one-third. This would require the complete elimination of numerous government programs, agencies and departments. If President-elect Obama made such a move, we could be back to “normal” in 20-30 years. However, this is unlikely to happen since powerful forces are at work that want to bring our country to its knees.

At the risk of sounding too conspiratorial I truly believe that the mortgage crisis and high oil prices were engineered to intentionally create the conditions we are currently facing. A few weeks ago a respected group of mostly European economic and financial analysts (called LEAP 2020) warned that the US government will default some time in 2009. I hope they are wrong, but they have been spot-on in other forecasts they’ve issued in the last two years. If they are correct, a new global order could be closer than we think.

The collapse of another major sector of our economy, such as the auto industry, could set off an irreversible chain of events. If such a failure were allowed to occur, the potential exists for our unemployment rate to soar past 10% by next summer. The ripple effects would impact virtually every American while dismantling the industrial base critical for our national defense.

All that would be needed is a major domestic act of terror or a flare-up in Mideast tensions, and the financial scales would tip. The recent terrorist assault on Mumbai’s Taj Mahal Hotel may unfortunately be a sign of bigger things to come. (For me this act of terror hit close to home. During my time with the government, I stayed at “the Taj” on two occasions and still remember its layout and the location of the restaurant where many of the innocent people were killed.) We can expect more of the same as the pressure to enter a new world order is turned up.

The goal is to make our situation appear so hopeless that people, especially Americans and Israelis, will finally be willing to relinquish their national sovereignty and merge into a global economic/political system that promises peace and stability. Some colleagues believe that the next step for America will be a new currency based on a regional economic union between Canada, Mexico and the United States. Others believe preparations are so far along that this intermediate step could be bypassed and the North American countries be merged directly into a world government and forced to accept a single global currency along with the other nations of the world. I believe only the Lord knows exactly how events will unfold and how soon they will occur.

The uncertainty is causing normally stable people to be anxious at a level I have not witnessed during my lifetime. Many people are genuinely scared and don’t know what to do. They call or write us hoping to receive sound advice.

Although my professional background is in economics and international business, I have been hesitant to tell people what to do with their finances, as everyone’s circumstances are different. However, because so many of you have asked, I will give you an example of what I would do if I had significant money to invest.

First and foremost, I would get out of debt. But if I had cash left to invest after doing so, here is what I would do with it. I would keep 5% of my money on hand in the form of cash. This would be for short-term purchases of groceries, gas, and day-to-day items in case a banking holiday is declared where banks would shut down for a few days or weeks before introducing a new currency. All other investments would be geared toward off-setting the affects of a currency revaluation that would likely occur if the dollar is replaced with a new, probably regional currency (like the proposed amero).

One should plan to remain in such investments until the new currency is introduced and any revaluation of the “old” US dollar has taken place. This could be several months to several years. After this transition has occurred, some or all of these investments could be traded back in for the new currency. By temporarily putting our dollars into items more likely to hold their value it would help off-set any losses that might occur with a revaluation. For example, if we would eventually be given only one amero for every five dollars, then it would have been better if we had put our dollars into gold or franks and then sell them off in exchange for the new currency once it comes out.

This is how I would invest my remaining 95 percent. I would put 10% of my money into silver coins that could be used to barter for goods and services. Silver is currently trading at around $9-$10 an ounce, which is a decent buy. Another 25% would be put into a combination of gold and platinum, which should continue to trade in the $500 - $1,000 range for the near future – possibly going significantly higher if the crisis intensifies. I would also consider putting 25% into Swiss franks or a combination of other stable foreign currencies. All such purchases would depend to some degree on whether prices are favorable at the time one considers the purchase. Also, the percentages of what I invest in would be conditional on the amount of wealth I have. Someone with a million dollars, for example, would invest differently than someone with $10,000. I am basing my scenario on what I would do with $100,000.

I would invest the remaining 35% in survival related items. I would purchase a few acres of land with available firewood and a fresh spring that could also be used for growing food. Good land would be invaluable if hard times come. Also, it would be important to be able to maintain electric power in order to live comfortably. I am aware of a New Jersey company that is getting very close to putting special low cost/high efficiency home power generators on the market, utilizing break-through technology. These would power one’s entire home without requiring exorbitant energy. We are keeping our eyes on this.

The irony is that we as a family are unable to do most of the above because we do not have the funds. We have put most of our energy and resources into informing and challenging the body of Christ and are therefore completely at the Lord’s mercy. We try to make wise decisions with what we have and trust Him to provide the rest. This is not a bad place to be!

While Christians should be prudent and plan wisely as God directs, I have noticed these last few months that some believers may be too concerned with their finances and not concerned enough about maturing in their walk with Jesus. Our desire is that everyone reading this letter would expend at least as much energy pursuing the Lord and His will as they do on financial planning. Any financial decisions should be made only after fervently seeking the Lord’s guidance and in accordance with His overall purpose for your life. I cannot emphasize this enough.

During this season, as we reflect on God’s greatest gift, let us remember that God is good and merciful and full of hope for those who seek Him. Even in difficult times when everything seems to be spinning out of control God is still on the throne, reigning over the affairs of men. Nothing happens without His knowledge.

At the end of this age, when Jesus returns, He will right the wrongs and bring justice for those who have remained faithful to Him. May this truth and the eternal hope we have in Him brighten your path in the days ahead.

--Matthew 1:21, Romans 6:23, I John 2:15-17, 28


En Route to Global Occupation




High-ranking government liaison Gary Kah warns that national sovereignty will soon be a thing of the past. Political forces around the world are now cooperating in unprecedented fashion to achieve their goal of uniting the people of this planet under a New World Order.

Because of his background in government, Gary Kah was invited to join the WCPA (World Constitution and Parliament Association), overseeing the planning and implementation of the one world government. For the skeptical observer, the material in this book "should serve as ample evidence that the drive to create a one world government is for real," including reproductions of the original WCPA documents.

The author further demonstrates that there is an ominous cooperation between the globalists, who are promoting the one world government, and the burgeoning New Age groups, who are promoting a new religion. If our countrymen do not begin to resist this global government, sovereign nations will cease to exist and a single global economic system will be established.

Source: http://www.eaec.org/bookstore/books/en_route.htm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(more on book)


CONTENTS
Introduction
Part I
Chapter 1: Global Economics
Chapter 2: Global Politics
Chapter 3: America's Shadow Government
Chapter 4: The New Age Movement
Chapter 5: Freemasonry -- The Hidden Catalyst
Chapter 6: The Secret Teachings of the New World Order
Chapter 7: The Coming World Crisis

Part II
World Constitution and Parliament Association Exhibits

Source: http://www.weyrich.com/book_reviews/global_occupation.html

Be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the LORD.


Isaiah 52

1Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.

2Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.

3For thus saith the LORD, Ye have sold yourselves for nought; and ye shall be redeemed without money.

4For thus saith the Lord GOD, My people went down aforetime into Egypt to sojourn there; and the Assyrian oppressed them without cause.

5Now therefore, what have I here, saith the LORD, that my people is taken away for nought? they that rule over them make them to howl, saith the LORD; and my name continually every day is blasphemed.

6Therefore my people shall know my name: therefore they shall know in that day that I am he that doth speak: behold, it is I.

7How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!

8Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the LORD shall bring again Zion.

9Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for the LORD hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem.

10The LORD hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.

11Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the LORD.

12For ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight: for the LORD will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your reward.

13Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.

14As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:

15So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.


Sunday, January 11, 2009

Israel's Gaza war extends into psychological realm

AP – In this Saturday, Jan. 3, 2009 file photo, leaflets dropped by Israeli planes are seen falling above …


Israel's Gaza war extends into psychological realm

By PAUL SCHEMM, Associated Press Writer Paul Schemm, Associated Press Writer – Sun Jan 11, 4:02 pm ET


JERUSALEM – At first it didn't seem unusual when the faces of the Hamas leadership turned up on the group's TV network. But then they were shot down, one by one, while a message warned that Hamas' time was running out.

Even as Israel's armor and foot soldiers push into the Gaza Strip in an effort to stop militants from launching rockets into Israel, the war is also being waged with psychological operations designed to sap morale on both sides.

Over at Islamic Jihad's Voice of Jerusalem radio station in Gaza City, broadcaster Kamal Abu Nasser said that at least once an hour, the Israeli military also breaks into his signal and broadcasts messages blaming Hamas for everyone's problems.

Hamas, for its part, said it has broadcast messages on Israeli military walkie talkies threatening to kidnap and kill Israeli soldiers. The army said it had no information on such transmissions.

The fate of Sgt. Gilad Schalit, who was captured by Hamas-linked militants in 2006 and whose whereabouts remain unknown, is repeatedly evoked in broadcasts and statements by Hamas, which has several times has threatened to nab more Israeli soldiers. Hamas tried to spread rumors that it had captured several. At least one actual attempt failed, the military said.

Israeli military spokesman Brig. Gen. Ilan Tal said he would not comment on Israel's psychological operations.

"If we're talking about psychological warfare, we have to learn from what Hamas is doing," he said. "We expect Hamas to intensify and increase those sort of rumors (of kidnappings) as the situation gets more critical."

Hamas' ruses extend into the battlefield as they try to combat Israel's overwhelming military advantage.

Military spokesman Maj. Avital Leibovich told The Associated Press that Israel's forces have found Gaza's neighborhoods to be riddled with booby traps, including mannequins placed at apartment entrances and rigged to explode when the soldiers approach.

Israel's army formed a psychological operations unit three years ago, though its initial efforts in the 2006 Lebanon war were largely restricted to drawing satirical cartoons of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and dropping them as leaflets over southern Lebanon.

More chilling at the time for Beirut residents, however, were the strange phone calls they received during the war telling them that their woes were due to Hezbollah and they should turn against the guerrillas.

That particular technique has reappeared in the current Gaza onslaught, with phone calls and leaflets telling Gazans that their problems were due to Hamas. The leaflets include a phone number and e-mail address to call in tips about the whereabouts of militant leaders and weapons caches.

Ephraim Kam, the deputy director of Tel Aviv University's Institute of National Security Studies, said the role of psychological operations loomed large in this offensive, more so than in the past.

"I think we did this in former wars, but in this case we had a lot of time, relatively speaking, and so much more emphasis was given to psychological warfare," Kam said.

Lacking resources, Hamas' psychological efforts have been largely restricted to the propaganda broadcasts on its own Al Aqsa TV channel, including Hebrew language messages asking Israelis to "choose between a peace that gives us back our rights or a war that will smash you down."

There have also been reports of threatening text messages sent to the inhabitants of Israel's southern towns telling them to hide underground because Hamas is coming for them.

The biggest weapon in Hamas' psychological arsenal is also its best known actual weapon — the homemade rockets it sends on erratic paths into southern Israeli towns. During the conflict, militants have also used longer-range Grad rockets, hitting cities that used to be out of range.

The thousands of rockets have only killed only a handful of Israelis, yet life across Israel's south has been paralyzed.

The greatest disinformation coup of the conflict so far, however, came right at the beginning of the offensive when Israeli bombers caught hundreds of Hamas security men inside their compounds.

The day before a massive Israeli airstrike, Israeli military radio channels broadcast talk of a "lull" and pulled troops back from the border.

Israeli defense officials now say it was a psychological warfare tactic or a "con" to lure Hamas fighters out of hiding.

___

Associated Press writers Ian Deitch in Jerusalem, Ben Hubbard in Ramallah and Ibrahim Barzak in Gaza City contributed to this report.



Catholics Demand Removal of Oregon Billboard Branding Pope as the Anti-Christ


1) Catholics Demand Removal of Oregon Billboard Branding Pope as the Anti-Christ:
A Public Debate Over "Hate Speech," Free Expression
AA News
29 Jul 01 >>>> (2001)<<<<

Larry Weathers, a barber in the town of Talent, Oregon has some pretty
strong feelings when it comes to religion and especially the Vatican.

Weathers is a member of the Rogue Valley Historical Seventh-day Adventists,
a congregation of about 40 which is considered a "renegade" by the larger
Adventist denomination. The church distributes a 94-page book, "The
National Sunday Law," that claims to reveal the identity of the Anti-
Christ, a shadowy figure and proxy for the devil who will walk the earth
during the last days prior to the Second Coming of Jesus. "The pope is the
antichrist," says Mr. Weathers, and he is so sure of this that he has
purchased space on a high-profile advertising billboard proclaiming the
same. The colorful sign sits along Interstate 5 outside of Medford,
Oregon.

Roman Catholics and the Archdiocese of Portland, are furious, and they are
demanding removal of the billboard which Weathers legally rented from
Outdoor Media Dimensions.

"It's a deliberately and gratuitously offensive statement that singles out
Catholics for contempt," Rev. Liam Cary of the Sacred Heart Catholic
Church in Medford declared. "It's not in someone's back yard. It's right
there, in your face, on a public road."

So are crosses and other religious iconography on church buildings,
though, along with outdoor ads promoting prayer and religious belief. The
Oregon billboard has ignited a spirited debate over free expression and
"hate speech," especially when it is directed against a religious
institution.

"What's to stop someone from putting an anti-Jewish billboard up or an
anti-black or anti-Hispanic billboard up?" Cary mused in an interview with
the Mail Tribune newspaper. "I'm sure there would be a great uproar in
Medford. But if it's anti-Catholic, why do we tolerate it?"

Weathers defends the billboard, and the tome which claims to unmask the
pesky Anti-Christ. "The book outlines who the anti-Christ is," he said.
"Anti means in the place of Christ. A lot of people think it means against
Christ. Any pope that holds that office becomes the person on Earth that
represents Christ."

Underneath the words "The POPE Is The ANTICHRIST" the billboard invites
people to visit http://www.anti-christ666.com, a amateurish web site which
asks, "Do you REALLY know the TRUTH about the Anti-Chris or the number 666?
With SOOOOOO many theories floating around, WHAT is the absolute info that
is un-refutable?" Surfers can then sign up for the free reading material
which presumably will reveal a potpourri of theological and eschatological
truths.

The sign has sparked a debate over free expression and "hate speech,"
especially since a powerful religious figure is being attacked. The
Portland-based Catholic Sentinel newspaper said that the billboard
"presages the start of a new West Coast campaign to discredit the Catholic
Church." It quoted one Sacred Heart Parish member, Kathy Morgan: "As a
Catholic, I do find the billboard offensive, but it also just makes us in
southern Oregon look like idiots. It makes us look like a bunch of
hicks..."

Dominican priest Gerald Buckley told the Sentinel that the billboard was "a
disgrace," and urged its removal. "We get e-mail and letters from people
traveling from California who see this sign just as they come into the
state. Can you imagine putting something up like that about the Jews or
Martin Luther King?" he asked.

Church Working Against Free Expression?

The Portland Archdiocese has called for removal of the sign, focusing its
wrath not only on Larry Weathers but the billboard rental company, Outdoor
Media Dimensions. Bud Brunch, director of communications for the
Archdiocese, told World Net Daily that, "This is not a First Amendment
issue; it's not a free-speech issue." He suggested, "It's a matter of what
kind of advertising that a media outlet will accept," and added that a
public billboard -- a device used to promote everything from brand name
products to organizations and even religious messages -- is "not a media
outlet you can turn off like a car radio."

A prepared statement from Outdoor Media read, "The content expressed on
billboards leased by Outdoor Media Dimensions does not in any way express
the opinion or beliefs of our company or staff."

An attorney for the firm, Alan Herson, told the Mail Tribune, "The person
who bought space from the billboard people has the right to free speech
like all Americans do. If the Archdiocese doesn't like it, rather than
censorship, they should print their own speech and buy a billboard. That's
the American way. Your newspaper (The Mail Tribune) quotes anti-Semitic
statements regularly, and nobody is calling for an end to your newspaper."

The church, though, seems willing to sacrifice the principle of free
expression in order to protect its own public image. The Diocesan
newspaper noted that "Three years ago, the local Catholic vicariate (sic)
even agreed to a conscious policy to remain mum (about the sign) not
wanting to hurt the cause of an unrelated lawsuit that would press
billboard companies to get state permits."
Added Jon Legg, identified as a committee member of the Archdiocese of
Portland group, "We don't want to get into a big flap on religion. We
don't want the billboard people to have freedom of speech and religion as a
defense." (Quoted in The Catholic Sentinel, July 27, 2001 "Spruced-up
billboard marks beginning of new 'pope-is-Antichrist' campaign.")

"I do not believe hate messages should fall under the aegis of freedom of
speech," declared Mary Jo Tully, chancellor of the archdiocese. "Hate
messages are simply unacceptable no matter at whom they are directed."

A Theme Since The Protestant Reformation

Billboards, books and other materials suggesting a relationship between the
Roman Catholic Church and the Anti-Christ are not new. Indeed, the Church
of Rome was condemned during the Protestant Reformation by figures like
Thomas Muentzer and Martin Luther as a sinful institution debauched by
privilege, wealth and arbitrary rule. That theme has lived on in many
Protestant quarters, often incorporated into a wider narrative about the
Apocalypse and the coming of the Anti-Christ. Before the end of the world,
say some believers, Satan will establish a fraudulent church -- identified
by some as the Catholic religion -- to begin a campaign of persecution
against "true Christians."

According to the Sentinel, Mr. Weathers presumably is receiving "tens of
thousands of dollars" for his anti-pope billboard campaign from an
individual "out of state with deep pockets." He is also part of a "loose
association" of "renegade" Seventh-day Adventists which are linked to
businessman Danny Vierra. Vierra heads Modern Manna Ministries in Lodi,
California, and peddles a combination of health food products and Bible
prophecy materials. His radio show, "Healthline," airs on stations
throughout the country.

The Oregon fracas also represents a global "turf war" between established
denominations, including the Catholic Church, and energized Protestant
fundamentalist and evangelical ministries many of which are aggressively
proselytizing in the U.S. and elsewhere. For instance, the Rogue Valley
group of which Mr. Weathers is a member has connections to Printed Page
Ministries of Troy, Montana. run by a former Portland car salesman named
Les Balsiger. Balsiger is publisher of "The Protestant," and is planning
on opening a training school for Adventist activists in Eastern Europe.
Another figure in the anti-Catholic Adventist movement is Raphael Perez, a
Florida preacher who is working with Balsiger to expand their respective
ministries. Perez is even involved in a court fight with the Seventh-Day
Adventist church over his use of the word "Adventist."

As for the billboard outside of Medford, Oregon and other anti-Catholic
advertisements, the Seventh-day Adventist Church denies any responsibility.
A spokesperson told the Catholic Sentinel, "Billboards attacking the pope,
and by implication the Catholic Church, are not associated with any
ministry sponsored or approved by the Seventh-day Adventist church. The
group calling themselves SDA Remnant Ministries (Rogue Valley) ... chooses
its form of theology and ministry outside of that which is approved by the
Seventh-day Adventist organization."

A broader question has less to do with doctrinal minutiae, though, than
with free expression. The Portland Archdiocese is supporting efforts to
have the state essentially use its licensing power to censor billboards
that may deal with controversial themes -- in this case, statements
unfavorable to one of the state's most powerful religious groups. The
assertion that attacking religion in any form is a type of "hate speech"
has also become more prevalent in the debate over free expression. It
seems that along with commercial advocacy for products like liquor and
cigarettes, salacious musical lyrics, or anything having to do with the
risque, opinions critical of religion may soon no longer find protection
under the mantle of the First Amendment.


Saturday, January 10, 2009

Catholics Rule Congress, But Others Catching Up

(Note: Roman Fasces on both sides of the U.S. Flag)



Catholics Rule Congress, But Others Catching Up

Wednesday, December 31, 2008 9:23 AM

By: Rick Pedraza


Protestants, who account for more than half of the upcoming 111th Congress at 54 percent, are losing ground quickly to other religious affiliations that make up today's diverse American population, according to a recently published study by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.


Using data for Congress from Congressional Quarterly, the Pew study shows Catholics to be the single largest religious group, accounting for 30 percent of lawmakers who will take office on Jan. 6.


Protestants, collectively, are broken into more than a dozen denominations, including Baptists, Methodists, and Presbyterians. They constitute 51.3 percent of the U.S. adult population, compared with 24 percent of all the U.S. population who profess to be Catholic.


The study, entitled “Faith on the Hill,” shows the 111th Congress to be the most diverse in more than half a century and finds that Catholics, Jews, and Mormons are among religious groups better represented in Congress than in the nation as a whole.


Baptists, who account for 17 percent of the American population, make up 12 percent of the new Congress, followed by Jews (8 percent of Congress; 2 percent of the population), Methodists (11 percent of Congress; 6 percent of the population), Presbyterians (8 percent of Congress; 3 percent of the population), Anglicans/Episcopalians (7 percent of Congress; 3 percent of the population), Lutherans (4.5 percent of Congress; 3 percent of the population), Mormons 3 percent of Congress; 2 percent of the population), and Orthodox Christians (1 percent of Congress; 0.6 percent of the population).


Members of the new Congress from religions making up less than 1 percent of the American population will include two Buddhists and two Muslims, but no Hindus or Jehovah's Witnesses, the study shows.


Among congressional leaders, three are Catholics (Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.; House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio; and Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin, D-Ill.), three are Baptists (House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md.; Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.; and Senate President Pro Tempore Robert Byrd, D-W.Va.), one is Methodist (House Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C.), one is Jewish (House Minority Whip Eric Cantor, R-Va.), one is Mormon (Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.), and one is Presbyterian (Senate Minority Whip Joh Kyl, R-Ariz.)


© 2008 Newsmax. All rights reserved.




Another Massacre in the On-going Israeli-Palestinian Conflict


Thursday, January 1, 2009

Another Massacre in the On-going Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

by Rodrigue Tremblay


“The liberty we prize is not America's gift to the world, it is God's gift to humanity.”

George W. Bush, State of the Union speech, January 28, 2003 (N.B.: Bush's primary speechwriter at the time was a theologian: Michael Gerson.)



“When it comes to the Israeli-Arab conflict, the terms of debate are so influenced by organized Jewish groups like AIPAC that to be critical of Israel is to deny oneself the ability to succeed in American politics.”

Henry Siegman, former head of the American Jewish Congress



“I don't think there is such a thing as an independent Israel doing anything, because I think no matter what they do its our [American] money, its our weapons, and they're not going to do it without us approving it and if they get into trouble we're going to bail them out, so there is no separation between the two.”

Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX), Dec. 28, 2008



“The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.”

Albert Einstein (1879-1955) Physicist and Professor, Nobel Prize 1921



The year 2008 was not a very good year by any account, either financially or politically. Chaos and immorality have prevailed.



Indeed, this was a year when fools and criminals in power proved again that we live in a very immoral world. First case in point: the insane Georgia-Russia war in which hundreds of people died because of the decisions of a few hotheads. Second case in point: the savage bombing of the Gaza Strip by Israeli warplanes, after the government of Israel had imposed a military blockade of the Palestinian territory. Here again, the world more or less stood still as fools, criminals and accomplices allowed for the killing of people on both sides.



The Israeli attacks that began on Saturday December 27, 2008, are most reminiscent of what the government of Israel did to Lebanon during the summer of 2006. Both are examples of disproportionate retaliation to thoughtless provocations.



Indeed, the use by the government of Israel of sophisticated American-made F-16 jets, AH-64 Apache helicopters and devastating US-supplied GBU-39 smart bombs to target numerous dwellings in Gaza Strip sites—with civilians making up an overwhelming majority of the more than 300 victims—is an immoral act. Bombing a city can only create a humanitarian catastrophe and it should not be allowed in any circumstance.



With these planned-in-advance Christmas-New Year period attacks, when the world's political attention is the weakest, Israel is punishing the entire population of the Gaza Strip (1.5 million people) for the irresponsible behavior of a small group of fanatical Hamas leaders.



But, no matter how this is phrased, nothing justifies collective punishment, an illegal doctrine used by the Israeli government time and again against the Palestinians while the world stands still.



We understand the rationale: Such attacks are designed to coerce the Islamist Hamas government, (which seized power in Gaza less than two years ago in replacement of the Fatah government of the Palestinian Authority), to stop firing rockets in the direction of Israeli border cities and refrain from launching suicide attacks inside Israel.



Since Hamas doesn't have one percent of the military capability that Israel has, its attacks on Israeli cities would appear to be most foolish and irresponsible. Indeed, there is no doubt that bombing Israeli cities is a terrorist act. But sadly, in this action-reaction drama, one has to keep in mind that Hamas' attacks on Israeli cities came after an Israeli military cross-border raid in Gaza in early November and after years of an illegal blockade of Gaza by Israel. That is the reason why both sides pretend they are attacking the other side in self-defense in this on-going drama.



Nevertheless, even though the Hamas government seems to be run by defiant leaders who have launched rocket attacks against Israeli cities and targeted Israeli civilians, this does not excuse the Israeli government's disproportionate reaction in indiscriminately bombing a heavily populated territory with warplanes and attack helicopters. All this demonstrates how the world is lacking a moral compass and institutions capable of implementing rules of law and justice. Meanwhile, the law of the jungle continues to reign and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict persists.



The neocon-controlled U.S. government of George W. Bush, contrary to most other governments, has refused to ask for an immediate stop to the Israeli attacks. It is therefore an active accomplice in the carnage and it cannot escape its responsibility and involvement.



As a matter of fact, anybody who remains silent while these barbarian acts are being committed becomes ipso facto an accomplice. This applies to most everyone at different degrees, the most responsible being those in authority.



____________________________________________________

Rodrigue Tremblay is professor emeritus of economics at the University of Montreal and can be reached at: rodrigue.tremblay@ yahoo.com.

He is the author of the book 'The New American Empire'.

Visit his blog site at www.thenewamericanempire.com/blog.

Author's Website: www.thenewamericanempire.com/

Check Dr. Tremblay's coming book "The Code for Global Ethics" at: www.TheCodeForGlobalEthics.com/

_____________________________________

Posted, Thursday, January 1, 2009, at 5:30 am



http://www.TheNewAmericanEmpire.com/tremblay=1106

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Source: http://www.thenewamericanempire.com/blog

"One President at a time"


mmmhm, and another thing...........Economic Stimulus....mmmhm.......

The Church, Walking With The World


1

The Church and the World walked far apart

On the changing shore of time-

The World was singing a giddy song,

And the Church a hymn sublime.

"Come, give me your hand," said the merry World,

"And walk with me, this way!”

But the good Church hid her. Snowy hands

And solemnly answered, "Nay,

I will not give you my hand,” she said,

“And I will not walk with you;

Your way is the way of eternal death;

And your words are all untrue.”

2

“Nay, walk with me but a little space,”

Said the World with a kindly air;

"The road I walk is a pleasant road,

And the sun shines always there;

Your path is narrow and thorny and rough,

While mine is flowery and smooth;

Your lot is sad with, reproach and toil,

While in rounds of joy I move.

The sky to me is always blue,­

No want, no toil I know;

The sky above you is always dark,

Your lot is a lot of woe.

My way, you can see, is a broad fair one,

And my gate is high and wide;

There is room enough for you and for me,

And we'll travel side by side."

3

Half shyly the Church approached the world

­And gave him her hand of snow;

And the old World grasped, it and walked along,

And whispered in accents low,

"Your dress is too simple to please my taste;

I have gold and pearls to wear,

Rich velvets and silks for your graceful form,

And diamonds to deck your hair.”

The Church looked down at her plain white robes,

And then at the dazzling World,

And blushed as she saw his handsome lip

With a smile contemptuous curled.

4

"I will change my dress for a costlier one,

Said the Church with a smile of grace;

Then her pure white garments drifted away,

And the World gave in their place,

Beautiful satins, and fashionable silks,

And roses and gems and pearls;

While over her forehead her bright hair fell

Crisped in a thousand curls.

5

"Your house is too plain,” said the proud old World,

"I will build you one like mine;

With walls of marble and towers of gold,

And furniture ever so fine.”

He built her a costly and beautiful house;

Most splendid it was to behold;

Her sons and her beautiful daughters dwelt there

Gleaming in purple and gold;

Rich fairs and shows in the halls were held ,

­And the World and his children were there,

Laughter and music and feasting were heard

In the place that was meant for prayer.

There were cushioned seats for the rich and gay,

To sit in their pomp and pride;

But the poor who were clad in shabby array,

Sat meekly down outside.

6

"Your preachers are all too old and plain,"

Said the gay World with a sneer

"They frighten my children with dreadful tales,

Which I like not for them to hear.

They warn of judgments- and fire and pain,

Of doom of the darkest night,

And speak of a place that should not be,

Mentioned to ears polite.

I mil send you some of a better stamp;

More brilliant and gay and fast,

Who will show how men may live as they list,

And then get to heaven at last.

The Father is merciful, great, and good,

Tender, loving and kind,

Do you think He would take one child to heaven!­

And leave another behind?”

So she sent for pleasing and gay divines,

Deemed gifted and great and learned,

And the plain old men who had preached the cross

Were out of her pulpits turned.

7

Then Mammon came in supporting the Church,

And rented a prominent pew;

And preaching and singing and floral display

Proclaimed a gospel new.

Then fair and festival, frolics untold

Were held in the place of prayer,

And maidens, bewitching as sirens of old,

With worldly graces rare,

Thought up the very cunningest tricks,

Untrammeled by gospel or laws,

To beguile, and amuse, and win from the World

Some help for the righteous cause.

8

The angel of mercy flew over the Church,

And whispered, “I know thy sin!"

Then the Church looked sad and earnestly longed

To gather her children in.

But some were out at the midnight ball,

And some were at the play;

And some were drinking in gay saloons,

So she quietly turned away.

Then said the World in soothing tones,

"Your children mean no harm,

Merely indulging in innocent sports."

So she leaned on his proffered arm,

And smiled, and chatted, and gathered flowers,

And walked along with the World.

While countless millions of precious souls

O'er the fearful brink were hurled.

9

“You give too much to the poor,” said the World,

"Far more than you ought to do.

Though the poor need shelter, food, and clothes,

Why should that trouble you?

And afar to the heathen in foreign lands

Your thoughts need never roam-

The Father of mercies will care for them.

Let charity stay at home.

Go, take your money and buy rich robes,

And horses and carriages fine;

Roses, and jewels, and dainty food,

And rarest and costliest wine;

My children just dote on all these things,

And if you their love would win,

You must do as they do, and walk in the way­

That they are walking in.

10

So the Church drew tightly the strings of her purse,

And gracefully lowered her head,

And simpered, "I've given too much away,

I will do, Sir, as you have said."

So the poor were turned from her door in scorn;

She heard not the orphan's cry;

She drew her beautiful robes aside

As the widows went weeping by.

Her missions treasuries beggarly pled,

And Jesus commands were vain,

As half the millions for whom He died

Had never heard of His name.

11

Then they of the Church and they of the World

Walked onward hand and heart,

And only the Master, who knoweth all,

Could tell the two apart.

Then the Church sat down at her ease, and said,

“I am rich and in goods increased;­

I have need of nothing and naught to do

But to laugh and dance and feast."

The sly World heard it and laughed in his Sleeve,

And mockingly said, aside--

"The Church has fallen, the beautiful Church;_

And her shame is her boast and her pride."

12

The angel drew near to the mercy seat,

And whispered in sighs her name;

Then the loud anthems of rapture were hushed,

And heads were covered with shame;

And a voice was heard at last by the Church,

From Him who sat on the throne,

"I know thy works, and how thou hast said

“I am rich” but thou hast not known

That thou art poor and naked and blind,

With pride and with ruin enthralled.­

The intended bride of a heavenly groom

Is companion of the World.

Go, humble thy heart and confess thy sin,

Let shame now cover thy face,

Or else--alas--I must cast thee out,

And blot thy name from its place.



Matilda C. Edwards


Source: http://www.temcat.com/Garden-Insp/church_&_world.htm