Tuesday, February 03, 2009

Another Obama selection bows out with tax problems


Another Obama selection bows out with tax problems

Associated Press - 2/3/2009 11:00:00 AM

WASHINGTON - Nancy Killefer says she is withdrawing her candidacy for chief performance officer because she doesn't want her tax issue to become a "distraction."

In a letter to President Barack Obama, Killefer said she understands that the duties of chief performance officer are urgent and any delays must be avoided.

She said she was reluctantly withdrawing her name from consideration.

Killefer failed for a year and a half to pay employment taxes on household help. She was the second major Obama administration nominee to withdraw and the third to have tax problems complicate their nomination after Obama announced their selection.

Source: http://www.onenewsnow.com/Headlines/Default.aspx?id=406428

Bill creates detention camps in U.S. for 'emergencies'

Rep. Alcee L. Hastings, D-Fla.

LIFE WITH BIG BROTHER
Bill creates detention camps in U.S. for 'emergencies'
Sweeping, undefined purpose raises worries about military police state
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: February 01, 2009
7:19 pm Eastern

By Jerome R. Corsi
© 2009 WorldNetDaily

Rep. Alcee L. Hastings, D-Fla., has introduced to the House of Representatives a new bill, H.R. 645, calling for the secretary of homeland security to establish no fewer than six national emergency centers for corralling civilians on military installations.

The proposed bill, which has received little mainstream media attention, appears designed to create the type of detention center that those concerned about use of the military in domestic affairs fear could be used as concentration camps for political dissidents, such as occurred in Nazi
Germany .

Heed the warning of a former Hitler Youth who sees America on the same path as pre-Nazi Germany in "Defeating the Totalitarian Lie" from WND Books!

The bill also appears to expand the president's emergency power, much as the executive order signed by President Bush on May 9, 2007, that,
as WND reported, gave the president the authority to declare an emergency and take over the direction of all federal, state, local, territorial and tribal governments without even consulting Congress.

As WND also reported, DHS has awarded a $385 million contract to Houston-based KBR, Halliburton's former engineering and construction subsidiary, to build temporary detention centers on an "as-needed" basis in national emergency situations.

According to the text of the proposed bill, the purpose of the National Emergency Centers is "to provide temporary housing, medical, and humanitarian assistance to individuals and families dislocated due to an emergency or major disaster."

Three additional purposes are specified in the text of the proposed legislation:
  • To provide centralized locations for the purposes of training and ensuring the coordination of federal, state and local first responders;

  • To provide centralized locations to improve the coordination of preparedness, response and recovery efforts of government, private, not-for-profit entities and faith-based organizations;

  • To meet other appropriate needs, as defined by the secretary of homeland security.
The broad specifications of the bill's language, however, contribute to concern that the "national emergency" purpose could be utilized by the secretary of homeland security to include any kind of situation the government wants to contain or otherwise control.

Rep. Hastings created controversy during the 2008 presidential campaign with his provocative comments concerning Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

"If Sarah Palin isn't enough of a reason for you to get over whatever your problem is with Barack Obama, then you damn well had better pay attention," Hastings said, as reported by ABC News. "Anybody toting guns and stripping moose don't care too much about what they do with Jews and blacks. So, you just think this through."

H.R. 645, which seeks to allocate $360 million for developing the emergency centers, has been referred to the House Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure and to the Committee on Armed Services.
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Wisdom is still calling!


20Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets:

21She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying,

22How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?

23Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.

24Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;

25But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:

26I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;

27When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.

28Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:

29For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD:

30They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.

31Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.

32For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.

33But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.

Monday, February 02, 2009

Three's a Charm!



  1. Hurricane Katrina - New Orleans Lousiana 2005

  2. Hurricane Ike - Galveston Texas 2008

  3. Ice Storm - Kentucky (Midwest) 2009

Thousands homeless, without electricity (or heat), multiple deaths,...


Where's the government Bail-Out?


Where's FEMA? 3rd time no show? Three's a Charm!




Arsenio

Sojourner Truth (The Second Advent Doctrines)


The Narrative of Sojourner Truth
Written by Olive Gilbert, based on information provided by Sojourner Truth. 1850

(Excerpt of Narrative)

THE SECOND ADVENT DOCTRINES.

In Hartford and vicinity, she met with several persons who believed in the 'Second Advent' doctrines; or, the immediate personal appearance of Jesus Christ. At first she thought she had never heard of 'Second Advent.' But when it was explained to her, she recollected having once attended Mr. Miller's meeting in New York, where she saw a great many enigmatical pictures hanging on the wall, which she could not understand, and which, being out of the reach of her understanding, failed to interest her. In this section of country, she attended two camp-meetings of the believers in these doctrines-the 'second advent' excitement being then at its greatest height. The last meeting was at Windsor Lock. The people, as a matter of course, eagerly inquired of her concerning her belief, as it regarded their most important tenet. She told them it had not been revealed to her; perhaps, if she could read, she might see it differently. Sometimes, to their eager inquiry, 'Oh, don't you believe the Lord is coming?' she answered, 'I believe the Lord is as near as he can be, and not be it.' With these evasive and non-exciting answers, she kept their minds calm as it respected her unbelief, till she could have an opportunity to hear their views fairly stated, in order to judge more understandingly of this matter, and see if, in her estimation, there was any good ground for expecting an event which was, in the minds of so many, as it were, shaking the very foundations of the universe. She was invited to join them in their religious exercises, and accepted the invitation-praying, and talking in her own peculiar style, and attracting many about her by her singing.

When she had convinced the people that she was a lover of God and his cause, and had gained a good standing with them, so that she could get a hearing among them, she had become quite sure in her own mind that they were laboring under a delusion, and she commenced to use her influence to calm the fears of the people, and pour oil upon the troubled waters. In one part of the grounds, she found a knot of people greatly excited: she mounted a stump and called out, 'Hear! hear!' When the people had gathered around her, as they were in a state to listen to any thing new, she addressed them as 'children,' and asked them why they made such a 'To-do;-are you not commanded to "watch and pray?" You are neither watching nor praying.' And she bade them, with the tones of a kind mother, retire to their tents, and there watch and pray, without noise or tumult, for the Lord would not come to such a scene of confusion; 'the Lord came still and quiet.' She assured them, 'the Lord might come, move all through the camp, and go away again, and they never know it,' in the state they then were.

They seemed glad to seize upon any reason for being less agitated and distressed, and many of them suppressed their noisy terror, and retired to their tents to 'watch and pray;' begging others to do the same, and listen to the advice of the good sister. She felt she had done some good, and then went to listen further to the preachers. They appeared to her to be doing their utmost to agitate and excite the people, who were already too much excited; and when she had listened till her feelings would let her listen silently no longer, she arose and addressed the preachers. The following are specimens of her speech:-

'Here you are talking about being "changed in the twinkling of an eye." If the Lord should come, he'd change you to nothing! for there is nothing to you.

'You seem to be expecting to go to some parlor away up somewhere, and when the wicked have been burnt, you are coming back to walk in triumph over their ashes-this is to be your New Jerusalem!! Now, I can't see any thing so very nice in that, coming back to such a muss as that will be, a world covered with the ashes of the wicked! Besides, if the Lord comes and burns-as you say he will-I am not going away; I am going to stay here and stand the fire, like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego! And Jesus will walk with me through the fire, and keep me from harm. Nothing belonging to God can burn, any more than God himself; such shall have no need to go away to escape the fire! No, I shall remain. Do you tell me that God's children can't stand fire?' And her manner and tone spoke louder than words, saying, 'It is absurd to think so!'

The ministers were taken quite aback at so unexpected an opposer, and one of them, in the kindest possible manner, commenced a discussion with her, by asking her questions, and quoting scripture to her; concluding, finally, that although she had learned nothing of the great doctrine which was so exclusively occupying their minds at the time, she had learned much that man had never taught her.

At this meeting, she received the address of different persons, residing in various places, with an invitation to visit them. She promised to go soon to Cabotville, and started, shaping her course for that place. She arrived at Springfield one evening at six o'clock, and immediately began to search for a lodging for the night. She walked from six till past nine, and was then on the road from Springfield to Cabotville, before she found any one sufficiently hospitable to give her a night's shelter under their roof. Then a man gave her twenty-five cents, and bade her go to a tavern and stay all night. She did so, returning in the morning to thank him, assuring him she had put his money to its legitimate use. She found a number of the friends she had seen at Windsor when she reached the manufacturing town of Cabotville, (which has lately taken the name of Chicopee,) and with them she spent a pleasant week or more; after which, she left them to visit the Shaker village in Enfield. She now began to think of finding a resting place, at least, for a season; for she had performed quite a long journey, considering she had walked most of the way; and she had a mind to look in upon the Shakers, and see how things were there, and whether there was any opening there for her. But on her way back to Springfield, she called at a house and asked for a piece of bread; her request was granted, and she was kindly invited to tarry all night, as it was getting late, and she would not be able to stay at every house in that vicinity, which invitation she cheerfully accepted. When the man of the house came in, he recollected having seen her at the camp-meeting, and repeated some conversations, by which she recognized him again. He soon proposed having a meeting that evening, went out and notified his friends and neighbors, who came together, and she once more held forth to them in her peculiar style. Through the agency of this meeting, she became acquainted with several people residing in Springfield, to whose houses she was cordially invited, and with whom she spent some pleasant time.

One of these friends, writing of her arrival there, speaks as follows. After saying that she and her people belonged to that class of persons who believed in the second advent doctrines; and that this class, believing also in freedom of speech and action, often found at their meetings many singular people, who did not agree with them in their principal doctrine; and that, being thus prepared to hear new and strange things, 'They listened eagerly to Sojourner, and drank in all she said;'-and also, that she 'soon became a favorite among them; that when she arose to speak in their assemblies, her commanding figure and dignified manner hushed every trifler into silence, and her singular and sometimes uncouth modes of expression never provoked a laugh, but often were the whole audience melted into tears by her touching stories.' She also adds, 'Many were the lessons of wisdom and faith I have delighted to learn from her.' . . . . 'She continued a great favorite in our meetings, both on account of her remarkable gift in prayer, and still more remarkable talent for singing, . . . and the aptness and point of her remarks, frequently illustrated by figures the most original and expressive.

'As we were walking the other day, she said she had often thought what a beautiful world this would be, when we should see every thing right side up. Now, we see every thing topsy-turvy, and all is confusion.' For a person who knows nothing of this fact in the science of optics, this seemed quite a remarkable idea.

'We also loved her for her sincere and ardent piety, her unwavering faith in God, and her contempt of what the world calls fashion, and what we call folly. 'She was in search of a quiet place, where a way-worn traveller might rest. She had heard of Fruitlands, and was inclined to go there; but the friends she found here thought it best for her to visit Northampton. She passed her time, while with us, working wherever her work was needed, and talking where work was not needed. 'She would not receive money for her work, saying she worked for the Lord; and if her wants were supplied, she received it as from the Lord. 'She remained with us till far into winter, when we introduced her at the Northampton Association.' . . . . 'She wrote to me from thence, that she had found the quiet resting place she had so long desired. And she has remained there ever since.'

Source: http://www.africawithin.com/bios/sojourner_narrative.htm#second

656565656


(An Excerpt) This Far by Faith - Sojourner Truth


THE BIRTH OF SOJOURNER TRUTH

While living in New York, Isabella attended the many camp meetings held around the city, and she quickly established herself as a powerful speaker, capable of converting many. In 1843, she was "called in spirit" on the day of Pentecost. The spirit instructed her to leave New York, a "second Sodom," and travel east to lecture under the name Sojourner Truth. This new name signified her role as an itinerant preacher, her preoccupation with truth and justice, and her mission to teach people "to embrace Jesus, and refrain from sin." Sojourner Truth set off on her journey during a period of millennial fervor, with many poised to hear her call to Jesus before the Day of Judgement.

IS GOD GONE?

Sojourner Truth first met the abolitionist Frederick Douglass while she was living at the Northampton Association. Although he admired her speaking ability, Douglass was patronizing of Truth, whom he saw as "uncultured." Years later, however, Truth would use her plain talk to challenge Douglass. At an 1852 meeting in Ohio, Douglass spoke of the need for blacks to seize freedom by force. As he sat down, Truth asked "Is God gone?" Although much exaggerated by Harriet Beecher Stowe and other writers, this exchange made Truth a symbol for faith in nonviolence and God's power to right the wrongs of slavery.

*Bolds and Highlights added.

Source: http://www.pbs.org/thisfarbyfaith/people/sojourner_truth.html

Ain't I a Woman?


Ain't I a Woman?


by Sojourner Truth
1851
Women's Convention, Akron, Ohio


Well, children, where there is so much racket there must be something out of kilter. I think that 'twixt the negroes of the South and the women at the North, all talking about rights, the white men will be in a fix pretty soon. But what's all this here talking about?

That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain't I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain't I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man - when I could get it - and bear the lash as well! And ain't I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain't I a woman?

Then they talk about this thing in the head; what's this they call it? [Member of audience whispers, "intellect."] That's it, honey. What's that got to do with women's rights or negroes' rights? If my cup won't hold but a pint, and yours holds a quart, wouldn't you be mean not to let me have my little half measure full?

Then that little man in black there, he says women can't have as much rights as men, 'cause Christ wasn't a woman! Where did your Christ come from? Where did your Christ come from? From God and a woman! Man had nothing to do with Him.

If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back , and get it right side up again! And now they is asking to do it, the men better let them.

Obliged to you for hearing me, and now old Sojourner ain't got nothing more to say.


'Atlas Shrugged': From Fiction to Fact in 52 Years



JANUARY 9, 2009


By STEPHEN MOORE


Some years ago when I worked at the libertarian Cato Institute, we used to label any new hire who had not yet read "Atlas Shrugged" a "virgin." Being conversant in Ayn Rand's classic novel about the economic carnage caused by big government run amok was practically a job requirement. If only "Atlas" were required reading for every member of Congress and political appointee in the Obama administration. I'm confident that we'd get out of the current financial mess a lot faster.

Many of us who know Rand's work have noticed that with each passing week, and with each successive bailout plan and economic-stimulus scheme out of Washington, our current politicians are committing the very acts of economic lunacy that "Atlas Shrugged" parodied in 1957, when this 1,000-page novel was first published and became an instant hit.

Rand, who had come to America from Soviet Russia with striking insights into totalitarianism and the destructiveness of socialism, was already a celebrity. The left, naturally, hated her. But as recently as 1991, a survey by the Library of Congress and the Book of the Month Club found that readers rated "Atlas" as the second-most influential book in their lives, behind only the Bible.

For the uninitiated, the moral of the story is simply this: Politicians invariably respond to crises -- that in most cases they themselves created -- by spawning new government programs, laws and regulations. These, in turn, generate more havoc and poverty, which inspires the politicians to create more programs . . . and the downward spiral repeats itself until the productive sectors of the economy collapse under the collective weight of taxes and other burdens imposed in the name of fairness, equality and do-goodism.

In the book, these relentless wealth redistributionists and their programs are disparaged as "the looters and their laws." Every new act of government futility and stupidity carries with it a benevolent-sounding title. These include the "Anti-Greed Act" to redistribute income (sounds like Charlie Rangel's promises soak-the-rich tax bill) and the "Equalization of Opportunity Act" to prevent people from starting more than one business (to give other people a chance). My personal favorite, the "Anti Dog-Eat-Dog Act," aims to restrict cut-throat competition between firms and thus slow the wave of business bankruptcies. Why didn't Hank Paulson think of that?

These acts and edicts sound farcical, yes, but no more so than the actual events in Washington, circa 2008. We already have been served up the $700 billion "Emergency Economic Stabilization Act" and the "Auto Industry Financing and Restructuring Act." Now that Barack Obama is in town, he will soon sign into law with great urgency the "American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan." This latest Hail Mary pass will increase the federal budget (which has already expanded by $1.5 trillion in eight years under George Bush) by an additional $1 trillion -- in roughly his first 100 days in office.

The current economic strategy is right out of "Atlas Shrugged": The more incompetent you are in business, the more handouts the politicians will bestow on you. That's the justification for the $2 trillion of subsidies doled out already to keep afloat distressed insurance companies, banks, Wall Street investment houses, and auto companies -- while standing next in line for their share of the booty are real-estate developers, the steel industry, chemical companies, airlines, ethanol producers, construction firms and even catfish farmers. With each successive bailout to "calm the markets," another trillion of national wealth is subsequently lost. Yet, as "Atlas" grimly foretold, we now treat the incompetent who wreck their companies as victims, while those resourceful business owners who manage to make a profit are portrayed as recipients of illegitimate "windfalls."

When Rand was writing in the 1950s, one of the pillars of American industrial might was the railroads. In her novel the railroad owner, Dagny Taggart, an enterprising industrialist, has a FedEx-like vision for expansion and first-rate service by rail. But she is continuously badgered, cajoled, taxed, ruled and regulated -- always in the public interest -- into bankruptcy. Sound far-fetched? On the day I sat down to write this ode to "Atlas," a Wall Street Journal headline blared: "Rail Shippers Ask Congress to Regulate Freight Prices."

In one chapter of the book, an entrepreneur invents a new miracle metal -- stronger but lighter than steel. The government immediately appropriates the invention in "the public good." The politicians demand that the metal inventor come to Washington and sign over ownership of his invention or lose everything.

The scene is eerily similar to an event late last year when six bank presidents were summoned by Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson to Washington, and then shuttled into a conference room and told, in effect, that they could not leave until they collectively signed a document handing over percentages of their future profits to the government. The Treasury folks insisted that this shakedown, too, was all in "the public interest."

Ultimately, "Atlas Shrugged" is a celebration of the entrepreneur, the risk taker and the cultivator of wealth through human intellect. Critics dismissed the novel as simple-minded, and even some of Rand's political admirers complained that she lacked compassion. Yet one pertinent warning resounds throughout the book: When profits and wealth and creativity are denigrated in society, they start to disappear -- leaving everyone the poorer.

One memorable moment in "Atlas" occurs near the very end, when the economy has been rendered comatose by all the great economic minds in Washington. Finally, and out of desperation, the politicians come to the heroic businessman John Galt (who has resisted their assault on capitalism) and beg him to help them get the economy back on track. The discussion sounds much like what would happen today:

Galt: "You want me to be Economic Dictator?"

Mr. Thompson: "Yes!"

"And you'll obey any order I give?"

"Implicitly!"

"Then start by abolishing all income taxes."

"Oh no!" screamed Mr. Thompson, leaping to his feet. "We couldn't do that . . . How would we pay government employees?"

"Fire your government employees."

"Oh, no!"

Abolishing the income tax. Now that really would be a genuine economic stimulus. But Mr. Obama and the Democrats in Washington want to do the opposite: to raise the income tax "for purposes of fairness" as Barack Obama puts it.

David Kelley, the president of the Atlas Society, which is dedicated to promoting Rand's ideas, explains that "the older the book gets, the more timely its message." He tells me that there are plans to make "Atlas Shrugged" into a major motion picture -- it is the only classic novel of recent decades that was never made into a movie. "We don't need to make a movie out of the book," Mr. Kelley jokes. "We are living it right now."

Mr. Moore is senior economics writer for The Wall Street Journal editorial page.

Printed in The Wall Street Journal, page W11

Great: Ethics Panel Investigating Rangel 'Virtually Disbanded'

r
Great: Ethics Panel Investigating Rangel 'Virtually Disbanded'


So nice that were living in the age of openness and transparency where everyone will now be, according to Barack Obama, taking responsibility. Well, it's pretty transparent nothing will ever come of the investigation into Charles Rangel, and the Democrats are openly flaunting it.
Nobody's home at the House ethics committee that's supposed to be investigating Rep. Charles Rangel.

The panel created on Sept. 24 to probe the Harlem Democrat's alleged ethical lapses has been virtually disbanded, after meeting only twice in four months on the matter, The Post has learned.

Of the four congressmen named to look into the powerful Ways and Means Committee chairman, only one remains - Alabama Republican Jo Bonner. The three others left the Rangel probe last month when they were "rotated" off the 10-member Committee on Standards of Official Conduct.

The dormant investigation won't be jump-started until three incoming ethics committee members are assigned to the Rangel probe later this month.

Because the committee conducts its work in secret, it is not clear if any progress has been made on the Rangel investigation. In the committee's recently released 100-page report on its work in the 110th Congress, only four paragraphs mention the Rangel probe, listing five alleged ethics breaches and noting that the panel had not been able to complete the investigation.

The panel has already missed Speaker Nancy Pelosi's Jan. 3 deadline for filing a final report on Rangel.

The investigative subcommittee was convened three weeks after a Post exposé reported that the 38-year lawmaker failed to declare rental income on a beachfront villa he owns in the Dominican Republic.

Among other alleged breaches referred to Congress: Rangel's use of four rent-stabilized apartments in Harlem; his use of congressional stationery to solicit donations for an academic center named in his honor at City College; his storage of a vintage Mercedes at a House parking garage; and a $1 million pledge to the Rangel Center from an oil-drilling company that benefited from Rangel-sponsored tax legislation.

Critics say the shuffling of committee members will delay an already lackluster probe.

"It will clearly slow things significantly to bring the new members up to snuff," said Norman Ornstein, a congressional analyst at the American Enterprise Institute.

"The lack of any visible activity, such as interviews with many principals or visits to the Dominican Republic or any progress report, are all discouraging."

The probers should have been required to stay on the investigation to avoid further delays, said Ken Boehm, chairman of the National Legal and Policy Center, an ethics watchdog group.

"Four months after the investigations started, there is no investigative subcommittee, no public hearings, and no sign of any progress whatsoever," he said.
All this from the most (ahem!) ethical Congress ever.


A High Standard



And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the Lord am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine. Lev. 20:26.


I also saw many do not realize what they must be in order to live in the sight of the Lord without a high priest in the sanctuary through the time of trouble. Those who receive the seal of the living God and are protected in the time of trouble must reflect the image of Jesus fully.

I saw that many were neglecting the preparation so needful and were looking to the time of "refreshing" and the "latter rain" to fit them to stand in the day of the Lord and to live in His sight. Oh, how many I saw in the time of trouble without a shelter! They had neglected the needful preparation; therefore they could not receive the refreshing that all must have to fit them to live in the sight of a holy God. Those who . . . fail to purify their souls in obeying the whole truth . . . will come up to the time of the falling of the plagues, and then see that they needed to be hewed and squared for the building. But there will be . . . no Mediator to plead their cause before the Father. Before this time the awfully solemn declaration has gone forth, "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still."

I saw that none could share the "refreshing" unless they obtain the victory over every besetment, over pride, selfishness, love of the world, and over every wrong word and action. We should, therefore, be drawing nearer and nearer to the Lord and be earnestly seeking that preparation necessary to enable us to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord. Let all remember that God is holy and that none but holy beings can ever dwell in His presence.
We are today to watch that we offend not in word or deed. . . . We must today seek God and be determined that we will not rest satisfied without His presence. We should watch and work and pray as though this were the last day that would be granted us. How intensely earnest, then, would be our life. How closely would we follow Jesus in all our words and deeds.


Maranatha, Ellen G. White, p.41

"If any man have ears to hear, let him hear"


If any man have ears to hear, let him hear. Mark 7:16.


31And again, departing from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, he came unto the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis.

32And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech; and they beseech him to put his hand upon him.

33And he took him aside from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spit, and touched his tongue;

34And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened.

35And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain.

36And he charged them that they should tell no man: but the more he charged them, so much the more a great deal they published it;

37And were beyond measure astonished, saying, He hath done all things well: he maketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak.


Mark 7:31-37.

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Sunday, February 01, 2009

Historic inauguration preserves tradition of prayer

[Photo ANN Files]

Historic inauguration preserves tradition of prayer

U.S. Senate chaplain on spirituality of nation's leaders; an Adventist's privilege

January 20, 2009 Washington, D.C., United States

Elizabeth Lechleitner/ANN

As spiritual guide for members of the U.S. Senate, Chaplain Barry C. Black says he's impressed by the level of spirituality present on Capitol Hill. Black will deliver a prayer for the traditional luncheon immediately following today's inaugural ceremonies.

Government officials and United States citizens who have gathered in the nation's Capitol today for the inauguration of president-elect Barack Obama will celebrate many firsts, but they'll also rely on a framework preserved for more than 200 years, bolstered by such standbys as the inaugural prayer, says United States Senate Chaplain Barry C. Black.

A prayer isn't something to take a red pen to, he says. Unlike speeches, prayers are not "another act in the drama," says Black, a Seventh-day Adventist and former U.S. Navy chaplain. Rather, prayers ought to be reflective and deeply sincere. "I would be very concerned if someone or some committee was standing by to scrutinize what someone had passionately felt compelled to say to God on behalf of the people for a particular occasion," Black says.

Black, who will deliver the invocation for the traditional inaugural luncheon immediately following today's inauguration, says those on Capitol Hill have heard him pray enough -- he opens every session of Senate with a prayer -- to be assured he won't say anything "out in left field."

Plus, Black says, the vetting process for hiring a chaplain or, in the case of Rick Warren and Joseph Lowry -- both of whom are offering prayers during today's inaugural ceremony -- is "sufficiently rigorous that you have confidence that the individual will offer an appropriate prayer."

Black says some might argue that prayer during state events, such as inaugurations, is little more than a formality or tradition -- George Washington initiated the first such prayer after he was sworn in by a chaplain who used the Book of Common Prayer. Others have gone so far as to claim that an inaugural prayer is unconstitutional and violates the separation of church and state.

However, Black says the country's need for prayer is as crucial as ever. "The Framers, despite their commitment to keep church and state separate, recognized the need for a spiritual dimension of government." Black's position itself was established in 1789, at the suggestion of Framers such as Benjamin Franklin, who Black says is credited with saying that it was "highly unlikely" for a nation to rise without God's assistance if a "sparrow cannot fall without [His] notice."

The post of Senate chaplain continued a tradition established during the first Continental Congress in 1774. Today, the chaplain's duties include providing spiritual care and counseling for senators, their families and their staffs, as well as opening each day's session with prayer.

The acknowledgement of God's leading in the rise and fall of nations still echoes in the chambers of the U.S. Congress today, Black says.

"I think what Paul says in Philippians 4 -- 'They're saints in Caesar's household' -- could be said of many working on Capitol Hill," Black says, adding that as many as 35 of the country's 100 senators -- from both sides of the aisle -- regularly attend weekly prayer breakfasts and Bible studies. Among those who attend are Obama and vice president-elect Joseph Biden, both of whom Black says are "very spiritual individuals." The former chief of Navy chaplains say's he's had the opportunity to interact on a regular basis with Obama, whom he considers a friend. The then senator from Illinois provided an endorsement for the back cover of Black's 2006 book, From the Hood to the Hill.

Working on Capitol Hill, "particularly the ponderous, deliberative nature" of the legislative process and the significance of handling that level of responsibility, can be draining, leaving senators "spiritually vulnerable," Black says. "Whatever level of spirituality you bring to the job is doubled, I think, as you discover an intense need to nurture that connection [with God]."

During his years as a spiritual guide to the nation's leaders, Black says he has observed the impossibility of completely separating "the spirituality of an individual from the work that he or she does." Certainly, he adds, in certain circumstances Senators must vote against their personal convictions for the good of their constituents, but "the spirituality that so many of our lawmakers possess permeates them sufficiently enough that it's going to impact their judgment, their worldview and how they go about making decisions."

Black, whose office overlooks the National Mall, says the "awe-inspiring" view contributes to the "sense of wonder" he experiences each time he enters the nation's Capitol.

"I have the opportunity to interact with some of the brightest people I know of, and they're interested in my opinions on the ethical dimensions of the issues they're debating in the chamber. That privilege -- that responsibility -- is sobering, and very, very exciting," Black says.

"Source: Adventist News Network"

Putin Tells Davos That Financial Crisis Is 'Perfect Storm'


"All countries have found themselves in the same boat," Putin told those gathered in Davos.


Putin Tells Davos That Financial Crisis Is 'Perfect Storm'

January 29, 2009


(RFE/RL) -- Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has told the World Economic Forum in Davos that the global financial crisis is a "perfect storm" whose destructive powers have been multiplied.

Putin compared the economic meltdown to the Great Depression of the late 1920s and early '30s, but said the difference this time is that every country in the world has been affected.

"In an era of globalization, the crisis has affected all countries without exception, regardless of their political or economic system," Putin said. "All countries have found themselves in the same boat."

Putin said he did not blame the United States for the crisis, but he reminded his audience that at last year's Davos forum, then-U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the U.S. economy was fundamentally stable.

"I will remind you that only a year ago we heard our American friends talk on this podium about the fundamental stability and unclouded future of the U.S. economy," Putin said. "Today, Wall Street's pride -- investment banks -- have practically ceased to exist. In a matter of one year, they had to acknowledge losses exceeding their profits for a quarter of a century."

He said that fact spoke louder than any criticism could.

Putin warned world leaders against reacting to the crisis by sliding into isolationism "and unrestrained economic selfishness." He brought up the agreement by world leaders at the last G20 summit to refrain from erecting barriers against trade, and said Russia still advocates that position.

Putin also cautioned against allowing the state to intervene in the market, saying it could lead to a concentration of assets "in the hands of the state."

"Another possible mistake is excessive intervention by the state in economic life, the blind belief in the omnipotence of the state," he said. "Yes, the strengthening of its role in the conditions of a crisis is a natural reaction to the failure of [free market mechanisms]. However, instead of improving market mechanisms, there is now a temptation to expand the state's direct involvement in the economy as much as possible. The reverse side of anticrisis measures almost in every country is the concentration of excessive assets in the hands of the state."

'Cooperate Constructively'

The Russian prime minister called on the new U.S. leader, President Barack Obama, to "cooperate constructively" in international affairs and said he wishes the new administration success.

As president of Russia, Putin presided over a huge increase in Russia's defense. Today, he said militarization will not solve the world's problems.

"Militarization does not help resolve the problem but only pushes it back, taking from the economy vast financial and material resources that could be used much better elsewhere," Putin said. "I'm confident that reasonable constraints on military spending along with the strengthening of global security will ultimately yield economic dividends."

He said "multilateral political mechanisms" had failed to end conflicts like 2008's Russia-Georgia war, the attacks in Mumbai, and the recent fighting between Palestinians and Israelis in Gaza.

And he called for a new international legal framework to guarantee energy security. Earlier this month, a dispute with Ukraine interrupted supplies of Russian natural gas to Europe.

Putin said Russia wants to build a new gas pipeline to the Pacific and China that would parallel a new oil pipeline on Russia's Far East coast.



Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/Putin_Tells_Davos_That_Global_Financial_Crisis_Is_Perfect_Storm/1376267.html

Venezuela, at 11th hour, names Feb 2 Chavez holiday


Venezuela, at 11th hour, names Feb 2 Chavez holiday
Sun Feb 1, 2009 9:59pm EST


CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's government, known for spur-of-the-moment decisions, on Sunday created a new national holiday on Feb 2 to commemorate populist President Hugo Chavez's taking power.

The Sunday afternoon announcement came less than 24 hours before the holiday was to begin.

The popular anti-U.S. leader, who on Monday celebrates 10 years of his self-styled socialist revolution, has changed the country's flag, coat of arms, and moved the time zone by half an hour.

Vice President Ramon Carrizalez said on Sunday the day would declared "a day of festivity, because the people have things to celebrate and many things to defend."

Chavez on Monday was to host friendly leaders including Bolivia's Evo Morales and Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega to mark his taking power in 1999, two weeks before a vote to determine if he should be allowed to stay another decade.

The vote would amend the constitution, which he helped rewrite, to remove a provision limiting presidents to two successive terms.

The loquacious leader is famous for showing up hours late to scheduled events, talking for up to eight hours in a single sitting and making major policy announcements in off-the-cuff commentary.

(Reporting by Brian Ellsworth, editing by Alan Elsner)


Tunnels & Open Borders Used To Smuggle Narcotics




TUNNELS & OPEN BORDERS USED TO SMUGGLE NARCOTICS

By Michael CutlerFebruary 1, 2009


NewsWithViews.com

A news release appeared on the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) website. This article could be called a "Good news: Bad news" article.

The good news is that our Border Patrol agents intercepted a significant load of illegal drugs, in this case, ecstasy, from entering the United States. The bad, indeed, disturbing news is that the news release does not make note of who the driver of the vehicle was! Nor is there any mention as to how many other people were in the vehicle with him. All that is noted at the end of the press release is:

Agents stopped the described vehicle leaving this area and with consent from the driver conducted a search of the vehicle and two conspicuous suit cases seen in the rear cargo area. A total of 120,000 tablets of Ecstasy valued at $1,440,000 were discovered inside the suitcases.
“This clearly shows our ability to rapidly respond to simultaneous threats occurring along our border,” commented Chief Bates of the Blaine Sector.

The DEA took custody of the suspects, vehicles and contraband.

As I recall, back in the days when I attended high school we were taught that a good report answered the questions: "Who, What, Where, When, Why and How."

Isn't it interesting that the first question, "Who" was never answered?

The United States Border Patrol used to be a division of the INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service). You would think that any article written by the agency that superceded a component of the INS, CBP, would have considered the identity and nationality of the smugglers caught with such a significant quantity of drugs to be of sufficient importance to have, at least, made mention of this fact!

Ever since the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, the lackluster enforcement of the immigration laws became an even lower priority than it had previously been. This is more than ironic, it is absolutely unacceptable!

The 911 Commission came to the obvious conclusion that it was the laxity of border security to be found at ports of entry (in addition to the land borders that are supposed to separate the United States from Canada and Mexico) that enabled the terrorists to enter our country and carry out their deadly attacks. This was further exacerbated by a lack of integrity within the immigration benefits program by which aliens are accorded resident alien (lawful immigrant) status and even United States citizenship.

On May 5, 2005 I testified before the House Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Claims at a hearing that was entitled:

NEW ''DUAL MISSIONS'' OF THE IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES

You can read the transcript of that hearing here.




I have made the point, repeatedly, that other than both being border agencies, the former U.S. Customs Service and the former Immigration and Naturalization Service had nothing in common. That is why Customs used to be on the chain of command of the Treasury Department while INS had been a division of the Department of Justice.

I had, in fact, advocated (prior to the creation of the DHS) that all of the enforcement divisions of the INS should have been placed under a single command structure to create a seamless enforcement program. I came to refer to this approach as the "Immigration Enforcement Tripod."

Under this arrangement the enforcement of the immigration laws at ports of entry would be conducted by the immigration inspectors, the enforcement of the immigration laws between ports of entry and the critically important enforcement of the immigration laws from within the interior of the United States would have been conducted by the special agents of the INS.

Under the structure of the DHS, enforcement components of the immigration law enforcement program were merged with a number of other agencies and were also divided. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) which deals with the enforcement of customs and immigration laws along with other law enforcement entities such as Secret Service, was separated from the border enforcement program that was moved to CBP.
I have noted on a number of occasions that our government had created a bureaucratic wall that divided the enforcement program that was supposed to create a barrier against those who would enter our country in violation of law and threaten our security and our safety.

As I stated in my testimony at the hearing I noted above:

"It is vital that there be real accountability and real leadership where immigration is concerned. While Customs and Immigration were both border enforcement agencies, the border is where their similarities begin and end. I would, therefore, strongly recommend that the law enforcement officers charged with enforcing the immigration laws have a dedicated chain of command with a budget and training program that focuses on immigration. Certainly they can and should work cooperatively with the former Customs enforcement agents, but they need a separate identity in order to make certain that the current ''Customization'' of immigration law enforcement stops immediately for the security of our Nation. The enforcement of our immigration statutes needs to be the priority, and not an afterthought."

I wish that the failure to mention the identity or at least the nationally or immigration status of those who were involved with the smuggling of more than 2 million dollars worth of ecstasy into our country was an oversight, but I am certain that it was of scant importance to the agencies that are supposed to be involved in the security of our nation's border!

This press release was written by CBP! It would have been hard to understand if a reporter from a newspaper wrote the article and committed this oversight, but it is absolutely unacceptable that CBP would consider that information to be of such insignificance that they did not mention it!

I hope that if the individuals who were arrested were aliens, that CBP at least lodged detainers so that their deportation will be sought when they have served their prison sentences, presuming that they are successfully prosecuted.

If those who were arrested by the Border Patrol are United States citizens, then that should have been stated in the article. The point is that I am concerned that this article makes it appear that no one at CBP cares!

Yesterday I watched a program on the History Channel that detailed the work being done to protect our nation from terrorist attacks. In one telling segment, a remotely controlled aircraft was shown to have the technology to find tunnels that were dug between the United States and Mexico. The technology appeared to be truly amazing, if it works as advertised.

Forgive my cynicism, I have seen far too many "dog and pony" shows that were more about creating illusions than they were about the reality of the situation.

The DHS spokesman who talked about the technology spoke about how the discover of those tunnels would help to prevent weapons of mass destruction and narcotics from making their way into the United States. Incredibly, the DHS representative failed to state what I would have imagined to be the obvious: securing the border would also help to keep the terrorists out of the United States, along with criminals, gang members and illegal aliens whose intentions were to violate our borders and our laws!

On another occasion, I stated that the "shotgun wedding" that paired immigration and customs created a marriage that would never be consummated!

Many of the managers at ICE and within the inspections program at CBP had come from legacy Customs and these people had little experience with, or interest in, enforcing the immigration laws.

Here is yet another place where the new administration can provide us with real "Change we can believe in:"

Make the enforcement of the immigration laws and the security of our nation's borders against the entry of illegal aliens a major priority!

If the goal is to create an economic stimulus to jump start our nation's economy, then it must be understood that the hiring of alien workers creates a two fold problem. It leads to the displacement of American workers who are, already losing their jobs, by the thousands, each and every day.

Additionally, when foreign workers get paid, they tend to send as much of their earnings as possible back to their families in their home countries. This runs contrary to the concept of the economic stimulus program that We the People have been told by the "leaders" of our nation is supposed to pump money into the economy of the United States!

This concept is not rocket science! This does not require an advance degree in accounting or economics to understand. This is common sense!

A couple of years ago, one of the cell phone companies ran a series of commercials in which a guy with a cell phone was seen walking all over the United States making a call on his cell phone and asked, "Can you hear me now?"

It is time that "We the People" called our elected representatives and asked them, "Can you hear us now?!"

Good citizenship does not end at the voting booth but it simply begins there. In order for our representative democracy to represent us, we need to communicate with our elected representatives to let them know in clear and unequivocal terms what we want.

I implore you to get involved!

© 2009 - Michael Cutler - All Rights Reserved

Hands Out For The Bailout


HANDS OUT FOR THE BAILOUT



By Derry Brownfield
February 1, 2009

NewsWithViews.com

Everybody wants in on the act. The banks, the auto industry, even foreign banks think Uncle Sam’s money must grow on a tree somewhere on federal lands here in the U.S. It’s like writing a letter to Santa Claus and waiting for stockings to be filled. $700 billion to the “Troubled Asset Relief Program,” $200 billion to “Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,” $29 billion to “Bear Stearns,” $123 billion for “AIG,” $300 billion for the “Federal Housing Administration Rescue Bill,” $87 billion for “JP Morgan Chase” for financing bad trades made by Lehman Brothers, the Big Three Auto Manufacturers have their hands out, and what about those poor bankers around the world?

We should give or loan the Central Banks of Canada, England, Japan, Denmark, Europe, Norway, Australia, Sweden, Switzerland, Brazil, Mexico, South Korea and Singapore a total of about $750 billion dollars. As I have stated many times, I was one of those unfortunate farmers back in the l980’s that couldn’t pay 20% interest on our farm loans. Farmers who had borrowed more money than their total assets were worth were foreclosed upon and the COMMITTEE FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (CED) said: “this is a good thing.” The CED wrote a Statement on National Agricultural Policy in 1956, saying there were too many farmers and the inefficient ones should be eliminated. The policy statement said: “The movement of people from farms is important to the industrial sectors of the economy as well as to agriculture.” No bailout policy for financially strapped farmers was even considered.

Based on that philosophy, there are already too many banks and these inefficient banks should be allowed to fail, but this isn’t going to happen. Our government through the actions of the Federal Reserve will keep printing fiat dollars, and using the money to bail out failing banks, corporations, or even home owners, until the entire nation fails, due to our “debt money system.”

Unlike our Federal Government, if I personally had the money to bail out a failing corporation or any business that has allowed its executives to do stupid things and make stupid mistakes, I would call a meeting of the shareholders and let them know that if they want this bail-out they must fire those who have allowed the company to get into the financial mess. Oliver Cromwell was an English political leader, who in the 1600’s once told a group: “You have sat here too long for any good you have been doing. Depart, I say, and let us have done with you. In the name of God, go!” They should “GO” without their last month’s salary and get NO benefits for leaving. But, that isn’t the way it works in this modern global society run by socialist politicians. AIG was in the process of receiving $123 billion in handouts and decided to use some of the money to have a BIG party. Public pressure was so great that when it was time to hold another junket the entire staff went incognito. According to reporters for abc15.com (KNXV) “while the company was pleading the federal government for another $40 billion dollars in loans, AIG top executives held a secret gathering at a luxury resort in Phoenix. Reporters photographed the AIG executives on hidden cameras at the Pointe Hilton Squaw Peak Resort, despite apparent efforts by the company to disguise its involvement. AIG made significant efforts to disguise the conference, making sure there were no AIG logos or signs anywhere on the property.”

Even as Chrysler cuts thousands of jobs and seeks federal aid to survive, the company still plans to pay about $30 million in retention bonuses to keep about 40 top executives. The Detroit Free Press reported that at least six Chrysler executives are due to receive bonuses of more than $1 million each to stay through August 2009. The bonus plan includes $1.89 million for manufacturing chief Frank Ewasyshyn, $1.8 million for product development chief Frank Klegon and $l.63 million for Steven Landry, executive vice-president of North American sales. Would tar and feathers be in order, or would handcuffs and jail cells be more appropriate?

You and I as US citizens and taxpayers are not even supposed to know how this money is being used. November 10th, Bloomberg News reported; “The Federal Reserve is refusing to identify the recipients of almost $2 trillion of emergency loans from American taxpayers or the troubled assets the central bank is accepting as collateral. Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said in September they would comply with congressional demands for transparency in a $700 billion bailout of the banking system. Two months later, as the Fed lends far more than that in separate rescue programs that didn’t require approval by Congress, Americans have no idea where their money is going or what securities the banks are pledging in return.”

The fox is in the chicken coop, and our Federal Reserve bankers put him there. The man who was in charge of “risk” at Bear Stearns has been hired by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to “SUPERVISE THE FINANCIAL SAFETY AND SOUNDNESS OF U.S. BANKS.” Michael Alix is now Vice President in the bank supervision group of the New York FED. He spent 12 years working at Bear Stearns, ten of which he was head of “worldwide risk management.” He was named “chief risk officer” in 2006 and held the job when the government helped rescue the bank. This can be compared to a college football coach that never had a winning season, becoming head coach for the Green Bay Packers!

In a NewsWithViews article dated, November 9, Roger Fredinburg summed up my sentiments when he wrote: “The only bailout in the news should be stories of our politicians and their felonious friends being bailed out of jail and smuggled out of the country. As a matter of fact, I think we might consider banishing them and sending them to live on a cold frozen continent more fitting with their cruel, frigid and selfish hearts. I suggest an outdoor nudist colony in Greenland.”

© 2009 Derry Brownfield - All Rights Reserved

For thou shalt worship no other god


Exodus 34


1And the LORD said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first: and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou brakest.

2And be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning unto mount Sinai, and present thyself there to me in the top of the mount.

3And no man shall come up with thee, neither let any man be seen throughout all the mount; neither let the flocks nor herds feed before that mount.

4And he hewed two tables of stone like unto the first; and Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up unto mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, and took in his hand the two tables of stone.

5And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD.

6And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,

7Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.

8And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped.

9And he said, If now I have found grace in thy sight, O LORD, let my LORD, I pray thee, go among us; for it is a stiffnecked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance.

10And he said, Behold, I make a covenant: before all thy people I will do marvels, such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation: and all the people among which thou art shall see the work of the LORD: for it is a terrible thing that I will do with thee.

11Observe thou that which I command thee this day: behold, I drive out before thee the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite.

12Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee:

13But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves:

14For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:

15Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice;

16And thou take of their daughters unto thy sons, and their daughters go a whoring after their gods, and make thy sons go a whoring after their gods.

17Thou shalt make thee no molten gods.

18The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep. Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee, in the time of the month Abib: for in the month Abib thou camest out from Egypt.

19All that openeth the matrix is mine; and every firstling among thy cattle, whether ox or sheep, that is male.

20But the firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb: and if thou redeem him not, then shalt thou break his neck. All the firstborn of thy sons thou shalt redeem. And none shall appear before me empty.

21Six days thou shalt work, but on the seventh day thou shalt rest: in earing time and in harvest thou shalt rest.

22And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year's end.

23Thrice in the year shall all your menchildren appear before the LORD God, the God of Israel.

24For I will cast out the nations before thee, and enlarge thy borders: neither shall any man desire thy land, when thou shalt go up to appear before the LORD thy God thrice in the year.

25Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven; neither shall the sacrifice of the feast of the passover be left unto the morning.

26The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring unto the house of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk.

27And the LORD said unto Moses, Write thou these words: for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel.

28And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.

29And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him.

30And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him.

31And Moses called unto them; and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned unto him: and Moses talked with them.

32And afterward all the children of Israel came nigh: and he gave them in commandment all that the LORD had spoken with him in mount Sinai.

33And till Moses had done speaking with them, he put a vail on his face.

34But when Moses went in before the LORD to speak with him, he took the vail off, until he came out. And he came out, and spake unto the children of Israel that which he was commanded.

35And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face shone: and Moses put the vail upon his face again, until he went in to speak with him.


When You Watch These Ads, They Watch You


When You Watch These Ads, They Watch You
January 31st, 2009

Via: AP:

Watch an advertisement on a video screen in a mall, health club or grocery store and there’s a slim — but growing — chance the ad is watching you too.

Small cameras can now be embedded in the screen or hidden around it, tracking who looks at the screen and for how long. The makers of the tracking systems say the software can determine the viewer’s gender, approximate age range and, in some cases, ethnicity — and can change the ads accordingly.

That could mean razor ads for men, cosmetics ads for women and video-game ads for teens.

And even if the ads don’t shift based on which people are watching, the technology’s ability to determine the viewers’ demographics is golden for advertisers who want to know how effectively they’re reaching their target audience.

While the technology remains in limited use for now, advertising industry analysts say it is finally beginning to live up to its promise. The manufacturers say their systems can accurately determine gender 85 to 90 percent of the time, while accuracy for the other measures continues to be refined.

The concept is reminiscent of the science-fiction movie “Minority Report,” in which Tom Cruise’s character enters a mall and finds that retinal scanners identify him and prompt personalized ads that greet him by name.

But this technology doesn’t go nearly that far. It doesn’t identify people individually — it simply categorizes them by outward appearances.

So a video screen might show a motorcycle ad for a group of men, but switch to a minivan ad when women and children join them, said Vicki Rabenou, the chief measurement officer of Tampa, Fla.-based TruMedia Technologies Inc., one of the leaders in developing the technology.

“This is proactive merchandising,” Rabenou said. “You’re targeting people with smart ads.”

Because the tracking industry is still in its infancy, there isn’t yet consensus on how to refer to the technology. Some call it face reading, face counting, gaze tracking or, more generally, face-based audience measurement.

Whatever it’s called, advertisers are finally ready to try it, said advertising consultant Jack Sullivan, a senior vice president of Starcom USA in Chicago. “I think you’re going to see a lot of movement toward it by the end of this year in the top 10 markets,” he said.

Because face tracking might feel reminiscent of Big Brother, manufacturers are racing to offer reassurances. When the systems capture an image of who’s watching the screen, a computer instantly analyzes it. The systems’ manufacturers insist, however, that nothing is ever stored and no identifying information is ever associated with the pictures. That makes the system less intrusive than a surveillance camera that records what it sees, the developers say.

The idea still worries Lee Tien, a senior staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a civil-liberties group in San Francisco. Tien said it’s not enough to say some system is “not as bad as some other technology,” and argues that cameras that study people contribute to an erosion of privacy.


Man Kills His Wife and Five Children Then Faxes Letter...


Man Kills His Wife and Five Children Then Faxes Letter to TV Station that Concludes with Masonic Code Phrase; Kills Himself Minutes Before Police Arrive


January 28th, 2009

The whole case is strange, but here are the factors that I’ve noted so far:

The 911 Call

The station called police after receiving the fax, and a police dispatch center also received a call from a man who stated, “I just returned home and my whole family’s been shot.”

Masonic Reference in Note

“Oh Lord my God is there no hope for a widow’s son!”

Is There No Help for the Widow’s Son? An Underground Presidential Address by Reed C. Durham:

As predicted after the flood, a great king, named Solomon, came to power and desired to build a sacred house for the in-dwelling of the divine presence.

Solomon and his builders, the Masons, while building and excavating for the temple at Mt. Moriah, discovered the cavern and the sacred treasure.

After three attempts to obtain the treasure, they were finally successful. Those Masons were very rejoiceful upon receiving these preserved Mysteries.

But. three wicked men intervened and committed a horrible crime. They attempted to force one of the Masons, one of the faithful Masons who had discovered the treasure. Hiram Abif; or Hiram, the widow’s son, to reveal the hiding (place) and the contents of the hidden treasure.

He would not reveal his knowledge and therefore they killed him.

While being slain, Hiram. with uplifted hands, cried out, “Oh Lord, My God, is there no help for the widow’s son?” This has since become a general Masonic distress call.

Below, take a look at the Kaiser Permanente corporate logo, placed above a Mormon Sun Stone, which is a Masonic symbol:
Twins

What are the odds that one company (Kaiser Permanente) would be involved with two profoundly freakish stories involving twins at the same time?

Besides the Lupoe situation, there’s, Birth of Octuplets Rattles Fertility Experts:

Even as the birth of octuplets at Kaiser Permanente Bellflower Medical Center drew attention and applause from around the country, questions arose Tuesday about whether the mother’s doctors did enough to prevent such a risky pregnancy.

The chances that the eight babies born Monday were conceived naturally are infinitesimal, infertility specialists and doctors in maternal-fetal medicine say. Today’s reproductive experts have the tools and the know-how to avoid such high-risk pregnancies — and often try desperately to do so.

“When we see something like this in the general fertility world, it gives us the heebie-jeebies,” said Michael Tucker, a clinical embryologist in Atlanta and a leading researcher in infertility treatment. Tucker added that in his opinion, “if a medical practitioner had anything to do with it, there’s some degree of inappropriate medical therapy there.”

“You should have blown your brains out.”

That’s an interesting thing for a manager to say to an employee.

Timeline

Look at the timeline of the shootings. The first shots are heard Monday evening, but police do not show up until the next morning, after Lupoe faxes his letter and gets on the phone.
It was unclear whether Lupoe killed his family before or after the 8:25 a.m. phone calls, but neighbors reported hearing shots at about 5:30p.m. Monday and 7:30a.m. Tuesday.

Coroner’s official Ed Winter said the children might have been shot as early as 4 to 5 p.m. Monday.

Here are the related stories.

Via: Huffington Post:

A man fatally shot his wife, five young children and himself Tuesday after he faxed a note to a TV station claiming the couple had just been fired from their hospital jobs and together planned the killings as an escape for the whole family. “Why leave our children in someone else’s hands,” Ervin Lupoe wrote in a letter posted late Tuesday on the KABC-TV Web site.

The station called police after receiving the fax, and a police dispatch center also received a call from a man who stated, “I just returned home and my whole family’s been shot.”

Officers rushed to the home in Wilmington, a small community between the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, about 8:30 a.m., apparently within minutes of the killings. Officers could still smell the gunshot residue in the air.

Although the fax asserted that Ana Lupoe planning the killings of the whole family, police Lt. John Romero said Ervin Lupoe was the suspect. A revolver was found next to his body.

Ana Lupoe’s body was found in an upstairs bedroom with the bodies of the couple’s twin 2-year-old boys. The bodies of an 8-year-old girl and twin 5-year-old girls were found alongside Ervin Lupoe’s in another bedroom.

All were shot in the head, coroner’s Assistant Chief Ed Winter said.

It was the fifth mass death of a Southern California family by murder or suicide in a year. Police urged those facing tough economic times to get help rather than resort to violence.

“Today our worst fear was realized,” said Deputy Chief Kenneth Garner. “It’s just not a solution. There’s just so many ways you find alternatives to doing something so horrific and drastic as this.”

Ervin Lupoe removed three of the children from school about a week and a half ago, saying the family was moving to Kansas, the principal told KCAL-TV. Crescent Heights Elementary School Principal Cherise Pounders-Caver said nothing seemed to be troubling Lupoe at that time; she did not ask why the family was moving.

Kaiser Permanente Medical Center West Los Angeles released a statement confirming both Lupoe and his wife had worked there; both were medical technicians.

“We are deeply saddened to hear of the deaths of the Lupoe family,” it said in a statement.

In his letter, Ervin Lupoe claimed he and his wife both had been fired and that she suggested they kill themselves and their children, too. Police described the fax but did not release details.

The letter indicated that Lupoe and his wife had been under investigation for misrepresenting their employment to an outside agency in order to obtain childcare. He claimed that an administrator told the couple on Dec. 23: “You should not even had bothered to come to work today you should have blown your brains out.”

The couple complained to the human resources department and eventually were offered an apology but two days later the Lupoes were fired, according to the letter.

“They did nothing to the manager who stated such and did not attempt to assist us in the matter, knowing we have no job and five children under 8 years with no place to go. So here we are,” the note said.

At the bottom of the note, Lupoe wrote, “Oh lord, my God, is there no hope for a widow’s son?”

The Kaiser Permanente statement made no comment on the claims in Lupoe’s fax.

“It looks like they might have had grounds for his termination … it wasn’t that he was laid off as a result of the economic situation,” police Capt. Billy Hayes said.

Lupoe’s fax identified his children as Brittney, 8; 5-year-old twins Jaszmin and Jassely; and twins Benjamin and Christian, ages 2 years and 4 months.

Winter said the children were ages 2 to 8 but his agency would not release the names. He said that although the father’s family had been notified, relatives of the rest of the family had not been located.

The two-story home, much larger than its one-story neighbors, sits in front of a railroad track in Wilmington, a small community about 18 miles south of downtown. A children’s playset stood in the backyard.

On his Facebook page, Lupoe posted photographs of a daughter at karate class, and of a fancy tub and wash basins in an apparently remodeled bathroom.

Retired truck driver Jaime Solache, who lives a few doors down, said many of these newer, larger homes in the neighborhood had gone into foreclosure. The Lupoe house, which has a sign hanging above the driveway reading “The Lupoe’s Pad,” is about 6 years old, Solache said.

News of the killings sent shivers through the community, and several neighbors came to the yellow police tape to watch a steady procession of officials enter and leave the home.

“This area right here is quiet, calm,” said Armando Chacon, who lives one block north. “People like to sit out at weekends and barbecue. Other than this, no problems at all.”

In 1994, Lupoe was charged with carrying a concealed firearm but it was either dismissed or not prosecuted, court documents show.

Lupoe got a state license to work as a security guard in 1989 and a permit to carry a gun as a security guard in 1993 but both expired in 2007, said Russ Heimerich, a spokesman for the state Bureau of Security and Investigative Services.

Bob Pierce, a Long Beach attorney who represented the Lupoes in an auto accident, said the case did not involve any serious injuries and the family was expected to receive “well below $10,000,” he said.

Lupoe called Monday to find out when the money might be coming, Pierce said. Pierce told him that it might be another week or two “and he said ‘no problem.’”

The region has been shook by several recent mass murders.

On Dec. 24, a man dressed up as Santa Claus invaded a Christmas Eve party and killed his ex-wife and eight of her relatives. The man later killed himself.

In October, an unemployed financial manager despairing over extreme money problems shot and killed his wife, three children, mother-in-law and himself in their home in the Porter Ranch area of the San Fernando Valley.

In June, five members of a Turkish-American family, clad in black, were found dead in an upscale home in San Clemente. Investigators say it was apparently a suicide pact but the reason is a mystery.

More: Ervin Antonio Lupoe’s Murder-Suicide Note (Redacted)

Here is a redacted text of the letter sent to KABC-TV by Ervin Lupoe, who is believed to have killed his wife and five children at their home in Wilmington. A redacted copy of the letter was posted on the KABC-TV Web site.

“To whom it may concern:

“To start off about this tragic story, my name is Ervin Lupoe, my wife Ana Lupoe, my eldest daughter Brittney Lupoe-8yrs, my twin daughters Jaszmin, Jassely-5yrs, my twin boys Benjamin, Christian 2yrs 4mo.

“We worked at Kiaser (sic) Permanente West Los Angeles. My wife as a mammo. Tech. damn fine one ask everyone including the physicians. My new position as a Special procedural tech. My position was a fight to get, in fact had to file a grievance with the union for discrimination and HIPPA violations, then another administrator had to correct the DA (redacted) regarding the union procedures, the ADA who did this is, I truly believe is the reason, well not the whole reason, but added kindling to the fire, why we are dead, (redacted).

“Well my wife and I were being investigated for misrepresentation of our employment to an outside agency for the benefit to ourselves’s, childcare. When after we had our initial interview on Dec. 19th. It seems our fat with the company had been decided on Dec. 22nd, yet on the 23rd, I was told by my administrator, (redacted) that, `You should not even had bothered to come to work today you should have blown your brains out.’ After such admonishment from my administrator, assuming there had been a decision reached, I contacted my union rep. who stated goto HR and inform them of the incident, and to the union reps. knowledge there was no decision made.

“(redacted) the HR person handling our matter stated that there was no decision reached as of yet and that an outside agency was handling the matter. (redacted) stated to me that she had spoken to (redacted) and (redacted) concerning the statement made, but (redacted) completely denied making such a comment. I produced the names of the employees, and (redacted) reached me two days later stating (redacted) thought about the matter and did state (redacted) made the comment. Then (redacted) asked me how I would accept (redacted) apology, but not to answer just yet, think about it a couple days and let (redacted) know. I left the office and two days later my wife and I were terminated. Our administrator also stated that we would not be eligible for unemployment, my wife applied anyway.

“We returned Kiaser (sic) Permanente’s property prior to leaving the facility, yet the company could not provide us with our license’s so that we may look for other employment. I let the (redacted) of the facility know what was occurring yet she stated there was nothing she could do but refer us the HR or our union rep. We were told by (redacted) that we should have received our license’s as they were mailed, yet we did not and when we attempted to reach her concerning the matter and unable to reach her, again we reached the assistant administrator of the facility who again stated the same to contact HR. We stated we have attempter (sic) but there was know response. Then when (redacted) reached us, she stated don’t contact (redacted) … any more concerning any problems.

“So after a horrendous ordeal my wife felt it better to end our lives and why leave our children in someone’s else’s hands, in addition it seems Kiaser Permanente want’s us to kill ourselves and take our family with us. They did nothing to the manager who stated such, and did not attempt to assist us in the matter, knowing we have no job and 5 children under 8 years with no place to go. So here we are.

“Ervin Lupoe

“(Handwritten:) Oh Lord my God is there no hope for a widow’s son!”

Saturday, January 31, 2009

New Religion for a New World



New Religion for a New World


By Lorin Smith


Founder of Christian Research Projects


2002


Two developments have become obvious to observers of the rapidly changing geo-political landscape. We have entered a time of accelerated global transformation, and religion will play a major role in how this new world order will be configured. In short, a new world calls for the creation of a new world religion.


In the construction of this new world order, Christianity will face ideological challenges to the central tenets of its faith unlike anything it has experienced in the previous the previous two millennia. In this new world, all religions must be recognized and acknowledged as legitimate pathways to God. Religious exclusivity, absolutism and dogmatism will be viewed as potential threats to world peace and survival.


Hans Kung, director of the institute of Ecumenical Research at the University of Tubingen, makes this point emphatically in his book, Global Responsibility: In Search of a New World Ethic:



"All the religions of the world today have to recognize their share in responsibility for world peace. And therefore one cannot repeat often enough the thesis for which I have found growing acceptance all over the world: there can ‘be no peace among the nations without peace among the religions. In short, there can be no world peace without religious peace.”


At the 1999 annual meeting of The World Economic Forum, an international think-tank of political, business and academic leaders held in Davos, Switzerland, Dominic Peccoud, Advisor for Socio-Religious Affairs at the International Labour Office (ILO) in Geneva, speaking on the topic “Religion as a Global Phenomenon for the New Millennium,” asserted, “Fundamentalism is a worldwide threat.” The way it has to be countered, he maintained, is to change the view that salvation depends on playing by certain religious rules: everyone is saved.”


Denys Teundroup, Honorary President of the European Buddhist Union, speaking at the same Forum, claimed: “The world is fed up with dogmatic religion but starving for spirituality.”


The Prime Minister of Spain, Jose Maria Aznar shared his vision for a new world order that is free from the threat of religious fundamentalism in the September 21 edition of The Financial Times.



“Our system of values respects all ideas and beliefs. However, we cannot confuse this respect with conferring legitimacy on fanaticisms that prevent us from living together in a civilized manner...We must all contribute to building a system of peace and security without divisions: a system that is today more feasible than at any time in the past. Combating terrorism demands a stronger global order based upon respect for all beliefs."


Andrew Sullivan, writing in the October 7, 2001 edition of The New York Times Magazine, in an article entitled, “This Is A Religious War”, had this to say: “It seems as if there is something inherent in religious monotheism that lends itself to terrorist temptation.” By linking a belief in monotheism to inherent terrorist tendencies, he and other influential reporters make it easier to single out certain groups for espousing beliefs that are seen to be disruptive to world peace and security.


Leaders of transnational corporations also see the value of supporting a global ethic that counters the rise of religious fundamentalism in the new millennium. Reacting to claims that globalization devalues the dignity of the human personality by treating people primarily as commodities to be exploited -- and challenged by the inability of individual nation states to solve the myriad of socio-economic, health and environmental woes with which they are confronted -- both business and political leaders are anxious to forge closer ties with their religious counterparts to work for more equitable and humane solutions. After all, free trade fueled by globalization works best in a secure and peaceful world uninhibited by religious wars and conflicts.


As Patricia Mische, president emeritus of Global Education Associates, in a paper entitled “A World Order Focus for the Role of Religion," explains: "Up until now, antireligious dialogue has focused primarily on developing greater peace and understanding between people from diverse religious traditions, and also, in some cases, on promoting values of peace, social justice, human rights, and ecological integrity. There has not been much focus on the contribution of religions to the development of a more humane world order or more effective global systems. In a period of increasing globalization, such a focus becomes ever more urgent."


At this year’s annual meeting of The World Economic Forum, religious leaders in attendance expressed their desire to work more closely with their business and political counterparts in the building of a just and equitable world order.



"We enthusiastically endorse the project of initiating and continuing dialogue in order to create a framework that integrates leaders of religion, business, politics and civil society. Let us join forces to seize this opportunity.”


However, Alan Morrison, who heads Diakrisis International, a Christian apologetics ministry based in France, in analyzing these current trends, observes:



“What we have here is world governance and world religion beginning to come together in a common utopian purpose to establish a global order without the Christ of the Bible and without the missionary encumbrance of Christian evangelism. The purported reason behind these gatherings is the establishment of peace on Earth," Morrison points out, "but the real intention is the eradication of the Christian gospel."


Since Christianity is essentially evangelistic, there is bound to be an inevitable conflict between the Christian who takes seriously the claims of Jesus Christ that "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, no man comes unto the Father but through Me." (John 14:6) and those who believe that all religions are equally legitimate pathways to God.


In a world that is becoming increasingly globalized by the blending together of economies, peoples, laws, cultures, religions and social ethics, these types of dogmatic religious assertions will not be tolerated.


On the other hand, the misguided rhetoric and tactics of the religious right is about to bear its bitter fruit with its dominionist and "Kingdom Now" theology playing right into the hands of the architects of this new world order.


Suffering from the proverbial “head in the sand, don’t confuse me with the facts” approach to reality, especially when it upsets their comfort-zone, many are completely oblivious to the global developments that will profoundly affect the practice of their faith.


Jesus said to the Jews of his day: “You can discern the face of the sky, how is it that you cannot discern the signs of the times?” We are truly living in the times of prophetic fulfillment as we watch these global events unfold.



Source:http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/2002/lorin-smith-9-11.htm