Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Allegations of Sexual Abuse at Catholic Residential Institutions in the United States



This webpage provides a sample of Catholic residential institutions in the United States where sexual abuse of minors has been alleged or accused clerics have worked. Many aspects of the allegations in these cases will be familiar from the Ryan report on abuse in Irish institutions.

• In Washington State, the Christian Brothers of Ireland settled with two dozen alleged victims in a single residential school.

• In Wisconsin, the director of a school for the deaf admitted to sexually abusing at least 30 boys and may have molested 200 or more.

• In Vermont, church officials settled with 75 men and women alleging physical and sexual abuse of shocking brutality at an orphanage.

• In Kentucky, an order of nuns settled with 45 men and women alleging physical and sexual abuse at another orphanage.

The table currently provides information on 31 residential institutions where 112 priests, brothers, nuns, seminarians, and lay people have been accused of sexually abusing children. In addition, 6 persons who are accused of sexual abuse elsewhere also worked at an institution on our list. For a report on our residential institution project and two institutions in the Boston archdiocese, see A Search For Links Between U.S., Irish Church Abuse, by Deborah Becker, WBUR (8/12/09).

The large numbers of alleged victims, the horrific nature of the abuse, and the advantage taken of entirely vulnerable children in 24-hour care, all link these U.S. cases unmistakably with the Irish situation. Ireland’s system of Catholic residential institutions for children was centralized and state-financed, whereas in the United States, the situation was more diverse. Residential institutions for Native Americans in the Western United States were state-financed but staffed by men and women religious, whereas orphanages and homes for disabled children were run by dioceses and religious orders. Yet there were financial and operational connections between the state and the Catholic institutions.

Almost every diocese had its orphanages, residential schools for the handicapped, and minor seminaries. Both the Irish and American systems endured robustly into the 1980s and in several cases into the 1990s. The Catholic church still operates many U.S. orphanages to this day. In fact, the 2009 edition of the Official Catholic Directory lists 403 orphanages currently operated by the Catholic church in the United States, up from 279 in 1960.In both countries, inspection and supervision were lax to nonexistent, and in the resulting vacuum, children were tortured and raped. In the United States, brutal and depraved regimes often thrived in dioceses run by eminent bishops, and in Vermont, a future bishop is alleged to have abused an orphan at one of the worst institutions.

These institutions were often staffed and operated by international religious orders with shared policies and practices and a global population of priests, brothers, and nuns.It is an urgent question, whether institutional abuse in the United States was similar in scope and depravity to the abuse analyzed in the Ryan report. The sample presented below would suggest that it was. BishopAccountability.org has launched a project to assess the breadth and depth of institutional abuse in the Roman Catholic church in the United States. We urgently request that anyone with articles, documents, or other information contact us at staff@bishop-accountability.org. This database will be updated frequently as our research progresses. It was last updated on September 14, 2009.

The priests, brothers, nuns, and lay people listed in each institution have been accused of abuse there, unless it is noted that they have been accused of abuse elsewhere but not, to our knowledge, at the institution in question. For best printing of this table, click Properties in your Print dialogue box and select Landscape.

BishopAccountability.org is also at work on several projects that are related to our analysis of abuse in Catholic residential institutions in the United States:

We are preparing an enhanced web version of the Ryan report, hyperlinked to allow readers to navigate the report more easily and to access sources that complement the report. One Irish survivor has expressed the hope that the Ryan report will not just gather dust on a shelf. We aim to keep the Ryan report in plain view.

We are compiling a database of Irish priests who were subsequently sent to work in the United States and have been accused of abuse. Irish readers would put Rev. Brendan Smyth, O. Praem., at the top of the list, and American readers will be familiar with the cases of Rev. Oliver F.

O'Grady and Bishop Anthony J. O'Connell. There are many others. We are fortunate to be working on this project with Mr. Joe Rigert, author of An Irish Tragedy, the best account of abuse in the Irish and American churches and the links between them.

Then we will post a database of publicly accused Irish priests, using the same methods we have employed in our database of accused priests in the United States, which contains information on over 3,000 accused priests, brothers, and nuns. The database of Irish priests will depend on allegations published in the media and documented in publicly available court documents, and as such, it will present only part of the total picture. But it will be a start. We have much to learn about the Irish situation, and we are grateful to knowledgeable persons in Ireland who have already contacted us to offer their help.

We invite friends in Ireland to contact us at staff@bishop-accountability.org.

For more information on these projects, see U.S. Watchdog Preparing Report on Child Abuse, by Kevin Cullen, Irish Times, June 20, 2009.


Unable to reproduce table (colums, etc).
Please click on link at end of article to view it.


Note: This table does not state or imply that individuals facing allegations are guilty of a crime or liable for civil claims. The sources cited in the table document allegations. The U.S. legal system presumes that a person accused of or charged with a crime is innocent until proven guilty. Similarly, individuals who may be defendants in civil actions are presumed not to be liable for such claims unless a plaintiff proves otherwise. Admissions of guilt or liability are not typically a part of civil or private settlements.

In the U.S. legal system, all accused persons are presumed innocent until proven guilty. This table is based solely on allegations reported publicly in the media or publicly filed in the courts. BishopAccountability.org, Inc. does not confirm the veracity of any actual allegation, and this table is not a representation of the legal case history of the individuals listed herein.

Please send suggestions for adding documents to staff@bishop-accountability.org.
.
Source:http://www.bishop-accountability.org/institutions/
.

A "Nobel Torsion Message" Over Norway? Part I

By Richard C. Hoagland
© 2009 The Enterprise Mission


On the eve of the President of the United States, Barack Obama, receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway ... a remarkable, almost unbelievable appartition appeared over Norway's northern skies--

And no one ... really ... has a clue.

According to early news reports coming out of Norway, just hours ago ... a vast, rapidly expanding "spiral" suddenly appeared in the pre-dawn skies over its northern-most town, a fishing center called "Tromso" (above). Moments later, a corkscrewing "blue beam" seemed to emmanate from the exact center of the spiral toward the ground ....

Then, as rapidly as this "glowing spiral" and central "beam" appeared ... the bright core of this rapidly rotating spiral abruptly disappeared ... to be immediately replaced by what could only be described as --

A pitch black, rapidly enlarging circle (below) -- looking eerily like "an expanding black hole ..."


Within a few more hours, these extraordinary Norwegian videos and digital images were being picked up by other on-line news services, wire services and internet sites ... all over the world.

Another "indispensable wonder" of the 21st Century Internet ....

Initially, this visually spectacular event was thought by experts looking at those videos and images to be "just another Russian naval missile test"--

Until the Russian Navy denied it was responsible!

But then, in an abrupt public reversal, the Russian Defense Ministry suddenly claimed that this was, indeed, "a Russian rocket launch ...."

This belated (and 180-degree) lagging Russian "admission," unfortunately, has all the appearances of a hastily-ordered cover-up--

Of something "far more interesting" ....

The possible demonstration, on the literal eve of Obama's arrival in Oslo, of a blatantly public "Hyperdimensional/Torsion Physics technology" ... somehow, also connected to President's Obama's imminent acceptance of his Nobel Prize--

In conjunction with a carefully re-scheduled Russian missile test ....

Is it another "coincidence" that, just over the hill from Tromso, lies a high-tech Norwegian "HAARP antenna farm" -- the EISCAT Ramfjordmoen facility (below) -- specifically designed to broadcast powerful beams of microwave energy high into space ... thereby also creating blatant HD/torsion side-effects in the Earth's highly-electrified upper "plasma" atmosphere (ionosphere)? The facility is officially supported by Norway, Sweden, Finland, Japan ... China ... the United Kingdom ... and Germany.


A technology which -- with minor engineering effort -- could just as easily be turned into an almost unimaginable "torsion interferometry weapon" of mass destruction ... which, in a stroke, would usher in an even more terrifying "arms race" for the entire world ... if militarily deployed!?


Is this astounding apparition, in fact, a "Nobel message" to Obama ... as the most visible and currently powerful Peace Prize nominee in decades ... to alert him to the necessity of reining in these "even more horrific 'torsion weapons of mass destruction'"--

While there's still time?

A torsion weapons technology which -- if utilized inside the Earth's electrified atmosphere -- would appear just like the mysterious "vortex appartition over Norway" ....

Stay tuned.
.
.
.

Brzezinski Assesses Obama's Foreign Policy


December 14, 2009

Listen to the Story
Talk of the Nation
[17 min 15 sec]





December 14, 2009

President Obama's Nobel Peace Prize has sparked conversation about the his foreign policy aspirations and achievements. Former National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski appraises Obama's first year in the foreign policy arena.


NEAL CONAN, host:

And now, the Opinion Page.

Last week, as he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize, President Obama noted that he is at the beginning rather than the end of his service to the world, and acknowledged that his achievements do not measure up to the likes of Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela.

In Foreign Affairs magazine, former National Security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski agrees that thus far, anyway, President Obama has generated more expectations than strategic breakthroughs, and argues that it's now time for the president to turn to his three biggest challenges: peace in the Middle East, Iran's nuclear ambitions and the war in Afghanistan.

If you'd like to speak with Zbigniew Brzezinski about the foreign policy priorities of the Obama administration, 800-989-8255 is the phone number. The email address: talk@npr.org. And you could join the conversation on our Web site. That's at npr.org. Click on TALK OF THE NATION.

Zbigniew Brzezinski joins us now on the phone from his office here in Washington. Nice to have you back in the program.

Mr. ZBIGNIEW BRZEZINSKI: It's nice to be back with you.

CONAN: And you do give the president credit for what you describe as a comprehensive reconceptualization of U.S. foreign policy. What's he done? How has he reframed things?

Mr. BRZEZINSKI: Well, basically he has recast the way America should approach the world. And I think in doing so, he has also helped enormously to improve America's standing in the world. He, in effect, does re-committed America to collective security and not to unilateral actions. He hasn't disowned the necessity of war sometimes, but he has made it very clear that America should avoid pursuing single, solitary wars without international support.

He has urged a process of reconciliation with the Islamic world. He has articulated the need for greater commitment to the achievement of peace between Israel and the Palestinians. He has committed the United States to an effort to find, if possible, a peaceful solution to the challenge posed by Iran. I could go on and on and on, but basically, all of that cumulatively meant that American foreign policy, was in some fashion, re-linked to the fundamental dynamics of the 21st century.

CONAN: Well, let's take those three great challenges you mentioned, Afghanistan, the Middle East and Iran. And start with the Middle East, doesn't the president - he's demonstrated a commitment and he's certainly donated the time of George Mitchell as special envoy, and now Secretary of State Clinton has gotten involved, as well. Nevertheless, partners there seem to be in short supply.

Mr. BRZEZINSKI: Well, that's quite true, and that's been a fact for a long time. And this is why there hasn't been real progress towards peace. Since the days of almost 30 years ago. of Camp David I. And the reason is a very simple one and one that the president has to face, namely: that left to themselves, for different reasons, neither the Palestinians nor the Israelis can take decisive steps towards peace.

The Palestinians, the bottom line is, they're too divided and it's too weak. The Israelis, the bottom line is they're too strong and also divided. So neither side has any incentive to make the initial concession. It takes, really, active involvement by the United States and within the United States by the president himself to push the peace process forward.

Clinton came close to achieving it, but then he had to leave office and that was that. Obama has to try if he doesn't want things to get worse. Because they get worse, not only our interest in the region will be in great jeopardy, the Palestinians will suffer more, and Israelis in the long run would be profoundly threatened. So there are good reasons for doing more.

CONAN: The president does not seem to have - the one thing the Israelis do seem to be united on is they don't like Barack Obama.

Mr. BRZEZINSKI: Yes, although that's been, you know, exaggerated. I have seen citations to the fact that only four percent like Obama. I have read, just yesterday, much more detailed public opinion polls, and these have now been reported in the American media and also in the Israeli media. And he has the support of about 40 percent of the Israelis. That's not a majority, but it's certainly is hell of a lot more than just four percent.

CONAN: Four percent, which was the previous number we got. Our guest, of course, you recognize the voice, is Zbigniew Brzezinski, councilor for strategic and international studies, professor of American foreign policy at the Paul Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, and his current article on foreign affairs, �From Hope to Audacity Appraising Obama's Foreign Policy;� 800-989-8255. Email us, talk@npr.org.

Charlotte's(ph) on the line from Cedar Rapids.

CHARLOTTE (Caller): Yeah. Hi. Thank you very much for taking my call. Dr. Brzezinski, I know you are a big fan of Obama, but I would like you to comment objectively on the view that he should have declined the peace prize since it is a peace prize and he really is doing the opposite quite a bit. Thank you.

Dr. BRZEZINSKI: Well, I would take issue with you. I do feel that he hasn't yet - and I have been cited on this already on the program - made any real strategic breakthroughs. But redirecting the foreign policy of a great country, re-identifying it with certain broad issues that are of global concern, whether it's strategic, such as the Middle East, or human survival type issues, such as climate control, these are very major accomplishments. So I think he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize for that. The war in Afghanistan�

CHARLOTTE: It's a peace prize.

Dr. BRZEZINSKI: �is something that was�

CHARLOTTE: He's a war leader. He's a warrior.

Dr. BRZEZINSKI: Yeah. Well, he's a leader, a war leader because he inherited the war. The question is how to end that war.

CHARLOTTE: He's escalating it, sir. He's escalating it.

Dr. BRZEZINSKI: Well, if you will let me answer - I'm trying to answer. And the question is how to end that war so that everyone will not be in greater jeopardy. That is the issue. After all, we didn't go in that war because we wanted to be in Afghanistan, but in reaction to the fact that al-Qaida operated from there. And he has tried to narrow the objective down to al-Qaida. And otherwise, he has emphasized that the Afghans have to more or less handle the problems on their own. And I think that's reasonable. It's not perfect, but we don't live in a perfect world.

CONAN: And he also does not see Afghanistan simply as Afghanistan but as the great enormous influence of the country next door in Pakistan which�

Dr. BRZEZINSKI: Exactly. I mean, I could go on and on, but I wanted to answer the lady�

CONAN: Yes.

Dr. BRZEZINSKI: �briefly, because I know that you have quite a few other things you want to talk about.

CONAN: Sure. And let's see if we can get Jeff(ph) to talk about some of them. Jeff is talking - calling us from Portland.

JEFF (Caller): Hello and thank you. What a privilege. I wondered Dr. Brzezinski, now, as we know that China wants the oil that could come from Russia through a pipeline through Afghanistan, as we know that Iran wants to build nuclear energy generation sites, as we know that Afghanistan has a lot of opium poppies, what are the chances that we could work with China, with Russia, with Iran to provide electrification and modernization in western and southern Afghanistan? And what are the chances we can work with pharmaceutical companies around the planet to make a market for the opium in Afghanistan for palliative care among the developing - of the developed world where people are dying in pain? And I'm interested in your response to this possible answer, to issues of Afghanistan including modernization, electrification and an actual market for the opium and working with China, with Russia and with India. Thank you.

Dr. BRZEZINSKI: Well, do I have the next five hours?

(Soundbite of laughter)

Dr. BRZEZINSKI: Because it would take that much time to really answer your fully - you have quite an agenda there. I think the chances are a mix, to be perfectly frank. On some issues, I think we can make more progress, on others less. Some problems are more manageable just by us, other problems require a great deal of international consensus.

So I think we have to parse your agenda in terms of how we can respond on our own and where and on what issues we really have to mount an international consensus. I think once you do that, we'll see that some problems can be addressed immediately, others are longer term duration. But I think your agenda is very sensible. And I think that generally speaking to the extent possible, we are to be pointed that way.

CONAN: Jeff, thanks very much. And let me ask you about - the one we've not focused on at all yet is Iran. And more evidence over the weekend, if more were needed, that Iran appears to be - its nuclear ambitions include nuclear weapons and that's the direction it seems to be going no matter what the international community says or does.

Dr. BRZEZINSKI: Well, we don't know how true this so-called evidence is. As you know, there are a lot of parties that are interested in the United States and Iran not reaching an agreement. So we have to be absolutely certain that this is not a repetition of the Iraq case when there was also a lot of parties that wanted us to go to war with the Iraq and kept insisting that there is evidence that the Iraqis already have nuclear weapons.

I think the picture with Iran is more mixed. I think there are reasons to be suspicious, but we don't have enough reasons to be conclusively convinced that they're actually actively seeking nuclear weapons. The last comprehensive U.S. intelligence assessment concluded that currently, they are not. Secretary Gates recently said that he didn't think that would have any effective nuclear arsenal before 2014.

The head of the Mossad in Israel echoed him so far as that date is concerned. And that leads me to the basic conclusion that if we wanted negotiations to succeed, we have to do two things: One, be patient and not to try to force the issue immediately, because if we do it's a prescription for failure. Secondly, to the extent possible we should be negotiating not just about the nuclear problem, which is a very serious and complex problem, but we should always be negotiating about regional security in which we'd have a common stake and maybe even about financial economic arrangements. If we do that, there's a greater chance of quid pro quos emerging from the different negotiating tables. And I think that's in our interest.

CONAN: Yet, there was the president himself who said, though, he wanted to see substantial progress with Iran by the end of his first year in office or else he would start moving towards more comprehensive sanctions.

Dr. BRZEZINSKI: He wasn't that precise. He says at the end of the first year, he will reassess how much progress there is and then make a decision. And I think he'd be very unwise if he concluded that there is not enough progress, therefore we should abort and move towards sanctions.

Let me give another example. Right now, we have negotiations with the Russians regarding a new START agreement that involves reductions in nuclear weapons. We didn't reach an agreement. And the agreement expired a few days ago. Should we now plunge into a immediate threats against Russia and adoption of sanctions?

CONAN: I don't think anybody would urge that.

Dr. BRZEZINSKI: Okay. Well, let's use that as a measuring stick for how we should negotiate with Iran.

CONAN: We're talking on the Opinion Page this week with Zbigniew Brzezinski who was, of course, national security advisor to President Carter. You're listening to TALK OF THE NATION from NPR News.

And let's go next to - this is Collin(ph). Collin with us from Oakland.

COLLIN (Caller): Hello. Hi. Yes. I think, in my opinion, I'm a citizen of the United States now. And I can say as a citizen that I would really rather our troops not be in Iraq and not be in Afghanistan. I believe Afghanistan and Iraq are completely irrelevant in some way. If our stated goal is to pursue al-Qaida, then it's very puzzling to me why we would stay in Afghanistan since al-Qaida is not a fixed entity and doesn't need any particular place to get along. So my question is, well, if we were to suddenly triumph over Afghanistan, suppress the Taliban entirely, what's next since al-Qaida is supposedly in Pakistan? Do we attack Pakistan next? Do we take over Waziristan? It seems absolutely pointless to me. This is a cover. The pursuit of al-Qaida is a cover for broad strategic aims whether they have to do with oil or sphere of influence or some such, a - the great gain, if you will.

CONAN: Collin, let's Zbigniew Brzezinski respond. And Dr. Brzezinski, as you know, the president has sent a stern warning to Pakistan that if they do not deal with the elements in their country, that are crossing the border to fight in Afghanistan, the United States will and more drone attacks and perhaps and even the soldiers going across the border.

Dr. BRZEZINSKI: Well, he didn't really say that in his speech. He said that he hopes and expects that Pakistan will make a serious effort to deal with the Taliban, in particular with that Taliban which shelters al-Qaida. He doesn't exclude some accommodations also locally with the Taliban. But I think the key issue is that we didn't go in there because of some great gain. We went in there because the Taliban regime in Afghanistan provide a safe haven for al-Qaida, which meant that al-Qaida had a command structure, training camps, other facilities in a large country and could act from it with a relative impunity. That is why there was a danger. And this is why the United States went in.

I think that President Obama now has indicated that he wishes to focus specifically on al-Qaida, making it impossible for - to operate from there. But that he's not planning to engage in some long-term indefinite effort to remake Afghan society, to rebuild it into a modern democracy. Nonetheless, at the same time, he knows that if we just pull out abruptly from Afghanistan, not only will al-Qaida have a prominent position there potentially, but it would strengthen the al-Qaida forces and the Taliban in Pakistan, a country which now has nuclear weapons, and that would potentially greatly maximize the risks. This is the reason why we're engaged. It's nothing that one wishes for. It's nothing the one did voluntarily. But we're really caught by the circumstances created by 9/11, and the very strong unilateral reaction that President Bush undertook and then neglected, because shortly thereafter he sort of got diverted to Iraq.

CONAN: We just have a few seconds with you left, but does not al-Qaida have those same kinds of facilities and structures now in those tribal areas in Pakistan?

Dr. BRZEZINSKI: Well, that's precisely why the danger involves not only Afghanistan but also Pakistan. And this is why we have to work at an outcome that both secures Pakistan but also makes Afghanistan unlikely to offer a safe haven to al-Qaida. Otherwise, we could be facing a much greater danger than the one that arose in 2001.

CONAN: Zbigniew Brzezinski, thanks very much for your time today.

Dr. BRZEZINSKI: Well, it's very good to talk to you. Thank you for having me.

CONAN: Zbigniew Brzezinski, professor of American foreign policy at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, and a former national security advisor, with us today by phone from his office here in Washington.

And this is TALK OF THE NATION from NPR. I'm Neal Conan in Washington.


Source: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121426655

Monday, December 14, 2009

John Locke


Why do so many contemporary "economists" quote John Locke?

Let's investigate who he was:

John Locke (1632-1704)

"Though the familiar use of the Things about us, takes off our Wonder; yet it cures not our Ignorance."
---An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (III. vi. 9)

"...he that will not give just occasion to think that all government in the world is the product only of force and violence, and that men live together by no other rules but that of beasts, where the strongest carries it...must of necessity find another rise of government, another original of political power..."
---from The Second Treatise of Civil Government


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

John Locke was an Oxford scholar, medical researcher and physician, political operative, economist and idealogue for a revolutionary movement, as well as being one of the great philosophers of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century. His monumental Essay Concerning Human Understanding aims to determine the limits of human understanding. Earlier writers such as Chillingworth had argued that human understanding was limited, Locke tries to determine what those limits are. We can, he thinks, know with certainty that God exists. We can also know about morality with the same precision we know about mathematics, because we are the creators of moral and political ideas. In regard to natural substances we can know only the appearances and not the underlying realities which produce those appearances. Still, the atomic hypothesis with its attendant distinction between primary and secondary qualities is the most plausible available hypothesis.


Locke's Two Treatises of Civil Government were published after the Glorious Revolution of 1688 brought William of Orange and Mary to the throne, but they were written in the throes of the Whig revolutionary plots against Charles II in the early 1680s. In this work Locke gives us a theory of natural law and natural rights which he uses to distinguish between legitimate and illegitimate civil governments, and to argue for the legitimacy of revolt against tyrannical governments.

Locke wrote on a variety of other topics Among the most important of these is toleration. Henry VIII had created a Church of England when he broke with Rome. This Church was the official religion of England. Catholics and dissenting Protestants, e.g Quakers, Unitarians and so forth, were subject to legal prosecution. During much of the Restoration period there was debate, negotiation and manuevering to include dissenting Protestants within the Church of England. In a "Letter Concerning Toleration" and several defenses of that letter Locke argues for a separation between church and state.

.
Source: http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/phl302/philosophers/locke.html
.
.
Oxford:

Historic Oxford Tours
Catholic Oxford. This tour aims to introduce the Catholic heritage of the University and city. It ranges from the middle ages through the reformation and ...www.historicoxfordtours.co.uk/ - Cached - Similar

Oxford movement: Definition from Answers.com
The Oxford Movement was a religious revival in the Church of England (1833) that emphasized the church's Catholic heritage in doctrine, polity, and worship. ...www.answers.com/topic/oxford-movement - Cached - Similar
.
Catholic Oxford: This Website
1609 Douay translation of the Bible, prepared mainly by Catholic Oxford scholars working overseas, appears, two years before King James' 'Authorized ...www.catholicoxford.com/ - Cached - Similar
.
Catholic Heritage Participating Institutions Society of Jesus ...
Campion Hall was founded at Oxford in 1896. Many Jesuit missions became parishes ... Holdings of the Society of Jesus accessible through Catholic Heritage ...www.catholic-heritage.net/.../tabid/140/Default.aspx - Cached - Similar
.

More U.S. Christians mix in 'Eastern,' New Age beliefs

Updated 4d 5h ago



By Cathy Lynn Grossman, USA TODAY


Going to church this Sunday? Look around.


The chances are that one in five of the people there find "spiritual energy" in mountains or trees, and one in six believe in the "evil eye," that certain people can cast curses with a look — beliefs your Christian pastor doesn't preach.

In a Catholic church? Chances are that one in five members believe in reincarnation in a way never taught in catechism class — that you'll be reborn in this world again and again.

Elements of Eastern faiths and New Age thinking have been widely adopted by 65% of U.S. adults, including many who call themselves Protestants and Catholics, according to a survey by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life released Wednesday.

FAITH & REASON: Christmas or Hanukkah? Holidays or holy days? Interfaith families make choices

ON THE WEB: Pew's report


Syncretism — mashing up contradictory beliefs like Catholic rocker Madonna's devotion to a Kabbalah-light version of Jewish mysticism — appears on the rise


And, according to the survey's other major finding, devotion to one clear faith is fading.

Of the 72% of Americans who attend religious services at least once a year (excluding holidays, weddings and funerals), 35% say they attend in multiple places, often hop-scotching across denominations.

They are like President Obama, who currently has no home church. He has worshiped at a Baptist church, an Episcopal one, and the non-denominational chapel at Camp David.

"Mixing and matching practices and beliefs is as much the norm as it is the exception," Pew's Alan Cooperman says. "Are they grazing, sampling, just curious? We really don't know."

Even so, says Pew researcher Greg Smith, "these findings all point toward a spiritual and religious openness — not necessarily a lack of seriousness."

Among the findings:

•26% of those who attend religious services say they do so at more than one place occasionally, and an additional 9% roam regularly from their home church for services.

•28% of people who attend church at least weekly say they visit multiple churches outside their own tradition.

•59% of less frequent church attendees say they attend worship at multiple places.

The survey of 2,003 adults Aug. 11-27 has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points. It measures Protestants, Catholics and the unaffiliated; there were not enough people of other faiths surveyed for analysis.

"For an extremely long time, most of us thought belonging or membership or home church was monogamous, even if it was serial monogamy, because we all know about church-switching," says sociologist of religion Scott Thumma, a professor at the Hartford Institute for Religion Research in Hartford, Conn. "Today, the individual rarely finds all their spiritual needs met in one congregation or one religion."

'Rampant confusion'

In the 1980s, Albert Mohler and Julia Jarvis were in graduate school together at Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville.

Today, Mohler is president of the seminary and a leading voice for Baptist orthodoxy. He sees a "rampant confusion" about faith revealed in the Pew findings.

"This is a failure of the pulpit as much as of the pew to be clear about what is and is not compatible with Christianity and belief in salvation only through Christ," Mohler says.

Pew says two in three adults believe in or cite an experience with at least one supernatural phenomenon, including:

•26% find "spiritual energy" in physical things.

•25% believe in astrology.

•24% say people will be reborn in this world again and again.

•23% say yoga is a "spiritual practice."

Mohler calls these "the au courant confusions," attachments to the latest fashionable free-floating beliefs.

"One hundred years ago, it would have been 'spiritualism.' They wouldn't have known what yoga was but might have been attracted to the 'New Thought' of the time," Mohler says.

His former classmate giggles at that. She's an ordained minister in the progressive United Church of Christ and leads the Interfaith Family Project, which meets for weekly worship at a Silver Spring, Md., high school.

Jarvis, of Takoma Park, Md., also studies with Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh and finds a spiritual dimension in yoga.

"I don't do astrology, but my mother, who grew up in Birmingham, Ala., and was a staunch Baptist all her life, looked at her horoscope daily and totally believed it," Jarvis says.

Jarvis says her late mother, like 49% of adults in the Pew survey, also had a moment of "religious or spiritual awakening."

"My mother feared for years that I was no longer saved, but just two days before she died, she had an epiphany," Jarvis says. "She said she was 'told' in a spiritual experience to put aside all religious and political differences and just love each other. That was her blessing to me, and that's what I'm doing."

Regina Roman of Alexandria, Va., calls herself "a very grounded Episcopalian" who's active in her church. But, she says, "I'm also stretching the boundaries of how we are to be here and now in this day, age and culture."

She leads pilgrimages to Egypt, New Mexico and Ireland to help travelers discover the truths and visions in Coptic, Native American and Celtic traditions. Roman celebrated the winter solstice with a home ceremony for guests to delight in the sun's gifts.

"We are all in relationship with the cosmos. We need to honor that," says Roman, who doesn't see herself crossing barriers but rather "coming full circle" with ancient ideas.

"People have always mixed religions, either in ignorance or willfully," says Stephen Prothero, director of the Graduate Division of Religious and Theological Studies at Boston University.

Despite the late Pope John Paul II's warnings to explicitly avoid Buddhist and Hindu practices, Prothero says, "American Catholics are so used to not caring what the official church tells them on birth control, divorce, premarital sex and other points that they don't think they are un-Catholic when they believe and do what they please."

Combating syncretism has troubled popes for centuries, says the Rev. Dan Pattee, chairman of the theology department at Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio.

The problem with borrowing spiritual ideas is that "the life-giving truth becomes compromised as we understand it as Catholics," Pattee says.

The growth of mixing

Prothero sees a similar trend among Protestants, a "resistance to being told what to think."

"Even people who call themselves by denominational tags don't really feel the identity attachment to them as they once did," he says. "And without that identity marker, what's to prevent you from checking out some other church? Nothing much."

Cooperman notes that the new survey is measuring a phenomenon that may have been going on for decades. Also, it does not clearly establish how much is due to interfaith relationships.

A new study from InterfaithFamily.com, which encourages Jewish-Christian couples to raise their children as Jews, looks specifically at the Christmas/Hanukkah season. The findings are not scientific but give an indication that in intermarried couples rearing their children as Jews, most will celebrate Hanukkah — which begins on Friday night this year — at home. Less than 48% will celebrate Christmas, and largely in a secular fashion.

Pew specifically excludes the major holidays and life-cycle events to focus on ordinary worship practices. Its report says the findings on interfaith couples are "complex," in part because people in mixed marriages attend worship less frequently than those with a same-faith spouse.

The faith-mixing trend has been building; other surveys in the past two years have touched on the swirling, unbounded paths of believers:

•Forty-seven percent to 59% of Americans have changed religions at least once, a Pew survey in April found. The top reasons for most: Their spiritual needs weren't being met, or they liked another faith more or changed religious or moral beliefs.

•The percentage of people who call themselves Christian has dropped more than 11% in a generation, and so many people declined any religious label that the "Nones," now 15% of the USA, are the third-largest "religious" group after Catholics and Baptists, according to the American Religious Identification Survey last March.

•Despite Americans' overwhelming allegiance to someone they call God (92%), in Pew's 2008 U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, 70% said "many religions can lead to eternal life," and 68% said "there's more than one true way to interpret the teachings of my religion."

•Most (55%) say a guardian angel has protected them from harm, and 52% believe in prophetic dreams, according to surveys by Baylor University released in 2006 and 2008.

In short, we believe our own experiences are authentic, and no "authority" can say otherwise.

That's a very "Eastern" notion, says Jim Todhunter of Bethesda, Md. Retired after three decades leading United Church of Christ congregations, he has studied in a Hindu ashram in India and practices Zen meditation and Christian contemplative prayer.

"In the Western religions — Judaism, Christianity and Islam — the focus is: 'What do you believe?' There is always a tremendous focus on doctrine and teachings," he says. "In the East, Buddhism and Hinduism in particular, the leading question is, 'Do you know God?' It's much more experience-based."

Either way, he adds, "however you meet God is wonderful."
.
.

The Secret Plan to Pass a Global Tax


The Secret Plan to Pass a Global Tax


AIM Column By Cliff Kincaid December 14, 2009

The global tax is being called “the Robin Hood tax,” in order to convince people that it is somehow designed to take money away from rich people in order to help the poor.

With President Barack Obama attacking "fat cat bankers on Wall Street," left-wing non-governmental organizations (NGOs) see a great opportunity to pass a global tax on financial transactions that could generate at least $700 billion a year from the U.S. and other "rich" countries. They are expecting Obama's support.

The banks are a key target because of the "anger" that already exists against them for their roles in the global financial crisis, says a detailed 13-page memorandum from Max Lawson of the foreign aid group Oxfam.

Calling the global Financial Transactions Tax (FTT) "an idea whose time has come," Lawson says in his memorandum that "politically the time is now" to pass such a tax. "It will take some great campaigning but I think we can do this," he says in a message introducing the memo.

Lawson explains, "The global anger against the bankers; the huge pressure on rich country budgets; the need for money in 2010 to rescue the MDGs [Millennium Development Goals] and from failure; to protect poor countries from the economic crisis; and the need to come up with money for climate change to unlock a global deal. All combine to make a very strong political backdrop."

The MDGs were established by the United Nations to make sure that the U.S. and other Western nations devote 0.7 percent of Gross National Product to official development assistance or foreign aid. As a Senator, Obama had introduced a bill, the Global Poverty Act, to mandate U.S. compliance with the MDGs at an estimated cost of $845 billion.

Lawson, head of development and finance for Oxfam in Britain, has distributed his 13-page memorandum to members of NGOs in the U.S. and other countries. "There is potentially plenty of money here for all of our issues," he tells them.

The global tax is being called "the Robin Hood tax," in order to convince people that it is somehow designed to take money away from rich people in order to help the poor. Another variation on this theme is the claim that the tax is aimed at Wall Street to help Main Street.

In reality, such a tax would affect IRAs, Mutual Funds and pensions by taxing the exchange of financial transactions. It would hand over great sums of money to politicians in the name of bashing the big banks but ordinary Americans and their life savings would be hurt.

As outlined by Lawson, however, the idea is to create the appearance of public support for the plan, ultimately enabling G8 leaders meeting in Canada in June to agree to the global tax and then get acceptance from the G20 leaders meeting afterward.

At the same time, the U.S. Congress is moving ahead with the "Let Wall Street Pay for the Restoration of Main Street Act of 2009" (HR 4191), a financial transactions tax introduced by Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), a leading member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Lawson's document cites support for the tax from Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who endorsed the DeFazio measure during a December 7 news conference and, according to a CNS News report, announced that the bill would have to be made "global" to keep U.S. investors from taking their business overseas and out of taxable reach.

Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) is introducing a similar bill, which has the backing of the AFL-CIO, in the Senate.

An "Open Letter from Economists in Support of Financial Transaction Taxes" has been released and signed by 200 liberal and left-wing economists.

Lawson also cites support for the tax from billionaires George Soros and Warren Buffet and such media organizations and figures as Le Monde, The Mail, The Guardian and Paul Krugman of the New York Times.

President Obama "supported [the idea] during his campaign," Lawson says, but the U.S. Treasury Department under Timothy Geithner has been resisting it.

However, Politico reported on December 3 that Pelosi is now pressuring Geithner to accept the global tax proposal. "Geithner was widely seen as opposing such a levy when it was proposed by Gordon Brown, the British prime minister, at a meeting of G-20 finance ministers last month in Scotland," the publication reported. But after a telephone conversation, "Pelosi told colleagues that the secretary indicated he was more open to some such fee than had been reported," it added.

Some elements of the Lawson plan that are designed to secure passage of the legislation seem modeled on the 1999 "Battle in Seattle," when 5,000 activists marched against the idea of global free markets, producing confrontations with police trying to keep order on the occasion of a meeting of the World Trade Organization. Lawson suggests "two or three global events" and "days of action" where "activists climb up banks" in order to pressure officials to adopt the global tax.

Joseph E. Stiglitz, a cabinet member in the Clinton Administration, claimed in his book, Globalization and Its Discontents, that the "protests at meetings of global financial leaders in Seattle, Prague, Washington, and Genoa..." had put pressure on the international community for more global action to solve the world's problems.

Stiglitz is one of several high-profile figures listed in the Lawson memo as supporting a global financial transactions tax.
In Copenhagen, where governments are now meeting on the so-called "climate change" issue, some of the same leftists have been on display, marching in the streets under the banner of "Climate Justice Action" to demand that the U.S. and other Western nations pay "reparations" and an "ecological debt" to the less developed nations. U.N. reports have put this figure at $24 - $45 trillion.

On the eve of the Copenhagen summit, French President Nicolas Sarkozy joined with Prime Minister Gordon Brown in issuing a statement calling for a global financial transactions tax and other "innovative financing mechanisms" to assist countries fighting climate change.

Other elements of the Lawson plan seem modeled on "anti-poverty" campaigns such as Live Aid and Comic Relief. Live Aid was a rock music concert held on July 13, 1985, in order to raise funds to fight global poverty, while Comic Relief was designed to use comedy and laughter to alert the public to poverty.

In terms of using celebrities and making a big splash in the media, Lawson cites the case of Richard Curtis, a film director and the "creative energy" behind the Make Poverty History campaign, which urges people to wear a white band around their wrists as a "common symbol of the global fight to end poverty."
Lawson says Curtis "is very interested in a short campaign" to press for a Financial Transaction Tax and "is working with colleagues in the advertising industry to work up ideas around a set of creative ideas that could be used by campaigns around the world, based on a Robin Hood Tax.
His hope is to produce a set of materials that would be useful to all, and give the issue a huge global profile. He is also likely to use his media contacts around the world to ensure high profile for the fight for the tax."

The global targets are the G8 and G20 groups of nations because the G20 summit in Pittsburgh in September decided that the G20 would replace the G8 as the leading international body for economic matters. As numerous media organizations have observed, the move signaled a major shift in global politics that has seen the authority and power of the U.S. in global affairs undermined. President Obama went so far at the G20 meeting to agree to a proposal for an International Monetary Fund study of how a global tax could be implemented.

Oxfam, which is spearheading the campaign to get a global tax implemented, is one member of an international coalition of organizations working "to fight poverty and injustice." Its American affiliate receives funding from such entities as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation.

So-called progressives in the U.S. are now openly pressuring the Obama Administration to go along with the proposal. "We need to make this bill [the DeFazio/Harkin approach] a reality in the United States--and then take it worldwide," The Progressive magazine proclaims.

Support can also be expected from the New Rules for Global Finance coalition, which runs the gamut from typical liberal-left groups to religious-oriented organizations.

The main problem with the Lawson scenario is that the truth about massive corruption in the foreign aid business is a matter of public record.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee published a report in 1995 which revealed that the cost of foreign aid provided by the U.S. to the rest of the world since the end of World War II had already reached nearly $2 trillion, with little to show for it in terms of alleviating poverty.

Two excellent books--The Lords of Poverty by Graham Hancock, and The Road to Hell by Michael Maren--exposed massive corruption in the foreign aid business.
.
.

Edmonton Alberta coldest place on earth?

December 14, 2009

Edmonton was the coldest place in North America this morning and the second-frostiest in the world.

Edmonton Sun Dec 14, 2009

By CLARA HO


Duane Maul walks along 128 Avenue near 97 Street Sunday afternoon in a homemade winter coat. Maul said he made the coat out of a three inch deep sheepskin carpet and some bonded leather. "It's good down to -40 C," said Maul. "You won't even feel the cold." Overnight Edmonton hit -46 C, with frigid temperatures continuing throughout the day. (David Bloom/Edmonton Sun)


The Edmonton International Airport saw a record low of -46.1 C and -58.4 C with the windchill, outfreezing even the Arctic.

“The cold high pressure has been moving down from the Arctic over the prairies,” said Environment Canada meteorologist John McIntyre, adding British Columbia and Saskatchewan also experienced plummeting temperatures. “We are right now in the centre of the heaviest, coldest air.”

But the coldest day ever recorded in Edmonton remains unbeaten at -48.3 C with a windchill of -61 C on Jan. 26, 1972.

Today’s frigid temperatures broke the previous record for Dec. 13, which was -36.1 C set in 2008, as well as the record for the coldest day in December, a low of -44.5 C set on Dec. 9, 1977. Cold Lake, Grande Prairie and Whitecourt also had record lows today.

Only Dzalinda, Siberia, appeared to be colder, with a weather station there recording temperatures of -48 C.

The extreme weather was enough to stall some planes at the Edmonton International Airport, said spokeswoman Traci Bednard.

Related
Deep freeze shatters temperature records
Record cold forecast for Copenhagen

“A couple flights had to be diverted to Calgary (Saturday night) where it was warmer,” Bednard said, adding there were a few cancellations and a few delays early this morning.

By 8 a.m., when the temperature improved to -40 C, most planes were able to start operating again, she added.

“We are still asking people to check our website, www.flyeia.com, before heading out to the airport,” Bednard said, adding they can check up-to-date flight statuses on the site.

Meanwhile, within city limits, some Edmonton Transit buses experienced mechanical issues from the cold and had to be replaced. Others were running on average 10 to 15 minutes late, said transit spokeswoman Patricia Dickson.

The LRT system had weather-related problems with the track and had to run on a single track between the McKernan-Belgravia and South Campus stations for several hours. But otherwise, bus and train schedules remained unchanged, she said.

Motorists requiring AMA’s services were faced with 24-hour wait times for tows and 14-hour wait times for other services such as tire changes and boosts, said spokesman Kent Dixon. On an average day, wait times for a tow would be an hour and less than an hour for all other services, he added.

“My No. 1 piece of advice is to plug in your car. It is not an option in this weather,” Dixon said, adding oil starts turning into the consistency of molasses once the mercury dips to -15 C and colder.

If motorists have forgotten to plug in their vehicles overnight and they don’t start up the next morning, Dixon said it’s not too late to plug them in as soon as possible and wait a few hours before trying to start them up again.

“But if you don’t need to travel, stay in,” he said.

The temps made life difficult for Sun photographers. One shooter said his camera froze up in mere moments outside and wouldn’t work again until it was warmed up.

McIntyre said Albertans will soon get a reprieve from the cold when warm, pacific air moves through the province bringing a high of -10 C on Wednesday, a high of -4 C on Thursday, up to a high of -1 C on Friday.
.
Source: http://aftermathnews.wordpress.com/2009/12/14/edmonton-alberta-coldest-place-on-earth/
.

Foreign-Born Internationalists and Globalists

with influence in the U.S.A.








What else do they have in common (besides their ages)?
.

Silvio Berlusconi hospitalised in attack

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4s_hRMib30http://

itnnewsDecember 13, 2009

The Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is hospitalised after an attack in Milan. Follow us on twitter at http://twitter.com/itn_news
/
P.S.....Italy's greatest hits; 'Il Bomsbastico' gets one on the kisser.

.

Houston elects lesbian mayor Annise Parker


Posted: December 14, 2009, 1:21 PM by Ron Nurwisah
Politics

Gay-rights advocates in the U.S. are celebrating the election of Annise Parker as the mayor of Houston, Texas. Parker, a long-time gay activist turned politician took 53% of the vote in America's fourth-largest city. From USA Today:

Saturday's election made Houston the largest city in the USA to choose a gay mayor. Annise Parker's victory came in a state that overwhelmingly voted to outlaw gay marriage four years ago and in a city where voters have rejected offering benefits to the same-sex partners of government employees.

"The fact that an openly gay candidate wins for mayor in the nation's fourth-largest city, in the South, in Texas, shows that when Americans get to know gay people as people, not as stereotypes, their resistance to treating gay people equally reduces," said Evan Wolfson, director of Freedom to Marry, which advocates for legalizing gay marriage.

The Houston Chronicle chalked up her win to her long history in local politics and her grassroots network:

She was the policy wonk, a community activist who had won hard-fought elections for city council and controller and who had been a city official for a dozen years — and who, by the way, happened to be gay. Although she wasn't a particularly exciting candidate, she ran a cohesive, focused campaign that relied on her years-long practice of grass-roots politics and her lengthy experience grappling with neighborhood issues at City Hall. She sought the endorsements of the same heavyweight political groups that swung in behind her opponent, but when the checks went the other way she countered with what turned out to be a more potent coalition of interest groups: liberals and progressives, feminists and gays, civic activists and moderate Republicans, particularly female Republicans.

A number of anti-gay flyers did sully the campaign but many people say that they didn't have much of an impact on the race. From the Advocate:

"This is an important milestone for our country, but it's equally important to know voters in Houston chose Annise even after a flurry of antigay campaigns designed to divide and distract voters," Victory Fund president Chuck Wolfe wrote in an e-mail immediately after Parker's win. "This time the extremists failed. Houstonians rejected their tactics and voted for the most experienced and competent candidate to lead this city forward."


The National Post is now on Facebook. Join our fan community today.

Source: http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/posted/archive/2009/12/14/houston-elects-lesbian-mayor-annise-parker.aspx

.

Sheila Jackson-Lee and Roscoe Bartlett SDA Politicians in the U.S. Congress

Sheila Jackson-Lee



Member of the U.S. House of Representativesfrom Texas's 18th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 1995
Preceded by
Craig Washington
Member of the Houston City Council from the At-large #4 District
In officeJanuary 2, 1990 – January 3, 1995
Preceded by
Anthony Hall
Succeeded by
John Peavy
Born
January 12, 1950 (1950-01-12) (age 59)Queens, New York
Political party
Democratic
Spouse(s)
Dr. Elwyn C. Lee
Residence
Houston, Texas
Alma mater
Yale UniversityUniversity of Virginia Law School
Profession
attorney
Religion
Seventh Day Adventist
Website
jacksonlee.house.gov

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheila_Jackson-Lee

.
.

Roscoe Bartlett

Member of the U.S. House of Representativesfrom Maryland's 6th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 1993
Preceded by
Beverly Byron
Born
June 3, 1926 (1926-06-03) (age 83)Moreland, Kentucky
Political party
Republican
Spouse(s)
Ellen Louise Bartlett
Residence
Frederick, Maryland
Alma mater
Washington Adventist University, University of Maryland, College Park
Occupation
College professor, farmer
Religion
Seventh-day Adventist
.
.

M.T.A. Proposes Severe Service Cuts; 2 Subway Lines May Be Eliminated


December 14, 2009, 11:44 am — Updated: 2:22 pm -->

M.T.A. Proposes Severe Service Cuts; 2 Subway Lines May Be Eliminated
By MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM


Updated, 1:03 p.m. Longer waits on subway platforms. More crowded buses and trains. No more discounts for New York City students.
One way or another, nearly every bus, subway and commuter train rider will be affected by the newly austere budget released on Monday by the beleaguered Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which is struggling to address a sudden and unexpected financial shortfall of nearly $400 million.

Starting mid-year, fewer subway trains would run in the middle of the day, late at night and on weekends. Two lines, the W and Z, would stop running altogether, and service on the M and G lines would be reduced. Several stations in Lower Manhattan would be closed overnight, and dozens of bus lines throughout the boroughs would see a reduction or elimination in service.
Next year’s shortfall for the agency came out to $383 million, after sharp drops in state funding and tax revenues. The problems were compounded last week when a State Supreme Court judge upheld an arbitration ruling awarding 11.5 percent raises to transit workers over the next three years.

The $383 million shortfall is slightly less pessimistic than initially thought. A spokesman for the authority, Jeremy Soffin, said on Monday that revenue from a state payroll tax is now projected to fall $100 million below estimates; the state had predicted a $200 million shortfall.

The budget plan, which does not include a fare increase for 2010, was approved by the authority’s Finance Committee on Monday; it will go before the full board on Wednesday.
Under the plan, hundreds of thousands of students who currently receive free or discounted fares on the city’s transit system will lose half of their discount in September 2010, with the rest swept away by September 2011. Costs for the student-discount program were once split among the state, city and transportation authority, but contributions from Albany and City Hall have flatlined since the mid-1990s.

Handicapped riders who are now picked up at home and driven to destinations throughout the city would no longer be able to use the so-called door-to-door service under the plan. Instead, the authority would transport disabled riders to handicapped-accessible subway and bus stops, which is the minimum service required by federal law.

Scott Stringer, the Manhattan borough president, sharply denounced the cuts to student discounts. “The fact that you would jeopardize free MetroCards for children to go to school, and put their parents in harm’s way, is something so inexcusable, I had to come here today and tell you, just stop,” Mr. Stringer said in an angry speech before the committee meeting.

And Gene Russianoff, the longtime riders’ advocate, told the authority’s board members that they would lose credibility with the riding public if the cuts were approved. “Riders have every reason to be as mad as hell,” he said.
.
Related:
.

Copenhagen climate summit negotiations 'suspended'

Oxfam activists dressed as polar bears dance at the entrance to the main hall at the UN Climate Change Conference 2009 in Copenhagen December 14, 2009. Photo (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/article/slideshow/idUSGEE5BB07F20091214#a=5
.
.
Page last updated at 13:47 GMT, Monday, 14 December 2009


By Richard Black
Environment correspondent, BBC News website, Copenhagen


Negotiations at the UN climate summit have been suspended after developing countries withdrew their co-operation.

Delegations were angry at what they saw as moves by the Danish host government to sideline talks on more emission cuts under the Kyoto Protocol.

As news spread around the conference centre, activists chanted "We stand with Africa - Kyoto targets now".

Informal talks continue, and the UN climate convention head said the formal agenda should resume in the afternoon.

The countries which have suspended co-operation are those which make up the G77-China bloc of 130 nations. These range from wealthy countries such as South Korea, to some of the poorest states in the world.

The G77-China bloc speaks for developing countries in the climate change negotiation process.

Blocs representing poor countries vulnerable to climate change have been adamant that rich nations must commit to emission cuts beyond 2012 under the Kyoto Protocol.

But the EU and the developed world in general has promoted the idea of an entirely new agreement, replacing the protocol.

Developing countries fear they would lose many of the gains they made when the Kyoto agreement was signed in 1997.

CLIMATE CHANGE GLOSSARY
Suggest additions
Glossary in full


They point out that the Kyoto Protocol is the only international legally binding instrument that has curbed carbon emissions, and also that it contains functioning mechanisms for bringing development benefits to poor countries such as money for investment in clean energy projects.

Previously during this meeting - formally called the Conference of the Parties (COP) 15 - developing countries have accused the Danish chairs of ignoring their concerns.

"The president of the COP (Danish climate minister Connie Hedegaard) is absolutely committed to violate any democratic processes," said G77 chief negotiator Lumumba Di-Aping as he explained the latest development.

Last week, the Pacific island nation of Tuvalu forced a suspension after insisting that proposals to amend the UN climate convention and Kyoto Protocol be debated in full.

'Losing time'

At a news conference earlier in the day, UK Climate Secretary Ed Miliband said that for the developed world to commit to further cuts under the Kyoto Protocol would be "irresponsible for the climate".

Developing countries split on CO2

He said it would leave some of the world's biggest emitters without targets for cutting emissions.

Many developing countries have been arguing for a "twin track" approach, whereby countries with existing targets under the Kyoto Protocol (all developed nations except the US) stay under that umbrella, with the US and major developing economies making their carbon pledges under a new protocol.

Kim Carstensen, director of the global climate initiative with environment group WWF, said that much more movement was needed on the Kyoto Protocol negotiations here.

"The point is being made very loudly that African countries and the wider G77 bloc will not accept non-action on the Kyoto Protocol, and they're really afraid that a deal has been stitched up behind their backs," he told BBC News.

While understanding the G77 position, he said the suspension could affect progress towards a deal.

"We're losing time, and that's a serious matter; because for every minute we lose on one issue, the chances of getting to the bottom of the next issue diminish."

The Danish government has yet to make any formal response; but Australian Climate Minister Penny Wong described the suspension as "regrettable".

Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the UN climate change convention, predicted that the negotiations would get back on track in the early afternoon.

"The vast majority of countries here want to see the continuation of the Kyoto Protocol," he said.

"I'm not aware that any countries are trying to block anything."

An African bloc walkout during prepatory talks in Barcelona in November proved unpopular with other developing countries, in particular some small island nations.

Richard.Black-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk




.

Tiger Stripes (strikes) out!


President Obama gives himself a B-plus grade


Posted on December 13, 2009 at 11:05 PM

Updated today at 7:07 AM


WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is giving himself "a good solid B-plus" grade for his first year in office.

In an interview with Oprah Winfrey that aired Sunday night, the president claimed progress on economic and international fronts.

Obama says the only thing that stands in the way of giving himself a better grade is the fact that some elements of his agenda — health care reform and putting more Americans to work — remain undone.

On the ABC special "Christmas at the White House," Obama told Winfrey that "the biggest burden on me right now is that economic growth has happened, but job growth has not happened."

He sees as a plus the fact that the United States is pulling out of Iraq and says the U.S. is on the correct path in Afghanistan.


Source: http://www.wfaa.com/news/national/79186747.html
.
P.S.
He sure is over-confident about his accomplishments!
The question is: What grade do Americans give him?
.

Ecofeminism, ecology key topics for women’s conference


“Adventist Women and the Earth: A Response to Ecofeminism” will take place at the La Sierra University Church. The conference will feature talks, workshops, panels, a film screening, prayer labyrinth and community outreach activities. Keynote speaker and theologian Rosemary Radford Ruether will deliver an address April 25 titled “Ecofeminism and Theology: A Comparative Perspective.”


April 21, 2009
By Darla Martin Tucker

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – ( http://www.lasierra.edu/ ) What responsibilities do women, particularly Seventh-day Adventist women, have toward safeguarding planet Earth? What connection do religious beliefs have with stewardship of the earth? And how can women and men show respect for God’s creation through conservation?

These and other issues will be addressed this weekend during the conference, “Adventist Women and the Earth: A Response to Ecofeminism.” The series of talks, workshops and outreach activities will take place April 24 – 26 at La Sierra University Church, 4937 Sierra Vista Ave., Riverside.

The conference is open to all who wish to attend. Admission is free. For more information call 951-785-2470 or visit http://adventistwomenearth.wordpress.com/ . The “Adventist Women and the Earth” weekend event serves as the annual Young Women and the Word Conference organized by La Sierra University’s Women’s Resource Center. La Sierra University is an institution of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

The weekend kicks off with a 7:45 p.m. program on April 24 titled “Where Does the Accent Go?” presented by LSU Master’s of Divinity student Jared Wright. The following day’s lineup includes talks by educators Maritza Duran and Somer Penington. They will speak respectively at 8:30 a.m. and at 9:30 a.m. with talks titled “Resurrection and New Life” and “I Came For the Wildflowers, and All I Got was a Snake.” At 11 a.m., Chris Oberg, La Sierra University Church senior pastor will give a talk titled “Going Green is Going Home,” a presentation that addresses reasons to care for the earth despite certain religious views predicting Earth’s demise.

At 2 p.m., conference keynote speaker Rosemary Radford Ruether will give an address titled “Ecofeminism and Theology: A Comparative Perspective.” “The talk defines different meanings of the term ecofeminism and discusses why I choose the third view and compares ecofeminist views of Vandana Shiva of India and Ivone Gebara of Brazil,” Ruether said.

Ruether is a Claremont Graduate University visiting professor of feminist theology and a noted theologian whose books include “Sexism and God-Talk” and “Integrating Ecofeminism, Globalization, and World Religions.” She has held a long career as a scholar, teacher and activist in the Roman Catholic Church and is known as a groundbreaking figure in Christian feminist theology.

The afternoon’s offerings will include workshops and panel discussions on ecology and its relation to art, religion, gender and spirituality. Students will give presentations on the earth and feminism and on ‘bright green’ environmentalism.

“Adventist Women and the Earth” aims to address our responsibility to the earth, to explore connections with gender justice, and to examine religious beliefs as they underpin individual and collective stewardship,” said Trisha Famisaran, an LSU alumna, Claremont Graduate University doctoral student and Women’s Resource Center board member. She will lead the conference’s paper presentations by La Sierra students Felisa Samarin-Meier and Ana Cristina Lee Escudero. The students’ presentations are respectively titled “Differentiating Feminine and Feminist,” and “The Earth is My Mother.”

“We hope to lead out and show how young Adventist women care about the earth and women and challenge others not only to recognize this problem but to actively create and practice solutions that respect the dignity and value of God’s creations,” Famisaran said.

Conference attendees will have the opportunity to walk a 45-foot-by-24-foot prayer labyrinth in Sierra Vista Chapel, watch the natural history feature film “Earth” at 7:30 p.m. at Edwards Corona Crossings Stadium theater on Saturday evening, and participate in beautification and cleanup outreach projects on Sunday morning. The latter outreach activities will include cleaning, plant trimming and landscaping at a homeless shelter. Conference organizers are seeking donations of cleaning supplies, flowerpots, gardening supplies, plants and flowers for this project.

“The conference is including community projects because we feel that it is important to engage in practices beyond discussion and theory,” Famisaran said. “Conservation is a very important aspect of ecofeminism because it calls us to recognize a different relationship between humans and the environment, a relationship of interconnection and recognizing the intrinsic value of all things. The particular community projects that we have organized offer a small glimpse of what conservation is and gives participants the opportunity to provide a service to the community.”


Following is a schedule of events, speakers and participants.


Fri., April 24
7:45 p.m. – Vesper program, “Where Does the Accent Go?” presented by Jared Wright, LSU graduate divinity student.

Sat., April 25
- 8:30 a.m. - Maritza Duran, Orangewood Adventist Academy vice principal, will speak on “Resurrection and New Life.”
- 9:30 a.m. - Somer Penington, Redlands Adventist Academy chaplain will discuss the Global Issues Experience prayer labyrinth and give a talk titled “I Came For the Wildflowers, and All I Got was a Snake.”
- 11 a.m. – Chris Oberg, La Sierra University Church senior pastor will give a talk titled “Going Green is Going Home.”

- Lunch break - Attendees will provide their own lunch.

- 2 p.m. – Keynote speaker and Claremont Graduate University theologian Rosemary Radford Ruether will give a talk titled “Ecofeminism and Theology: A Comparative Perspective.”

Afternoon Workshops and Panels

3 p.m. - Ecology, Religion and Gender Panel, with Ruether; John B. Cobb Jr., professor, award-winning author and co-director of The Center for Process Studies at the Claremont School of Theology; Sheryll Prinz-McMillan, executive director of the Christian Counseling Center in Redlands and a pioneer of Adventist women’s writings on ecofeminism; and Warren Trenchard, La Sierra University provost and professor of New Testament and Early Christian Literature. La Sierra Associate Professor of Religious and Theological Studies Ginger Hanks-Harwood will moderate the panel.

4:15 and 5:15 p.m., Breakout Sessions
- Conservation, led by Wendy Walters, LSU alumna and senior biologist at environmental and land use planning firm, LSA Associates Inc.
- Art and Ecology workshop, led by Beatriz Mejia-Krumbiein, LSU art department chair, with Ann Isolde, visual artist and feminist art movement participant; and France White, Roman Catholic nun, artist, teacher and peace educator.
- Spirituality and Ecology: Fostering Awareness, led by Hanks-Harwood.
- Presentation of Student Papers, led by Famisaran.
- Eco-Dome: Building a Bright Green Future, led by John Razzouk, former La Sierra Students In Free Enterprise president and members of SIFE’s Environmental Sustainability Team. They will discuss the SIFE team’s environmentally friendly projects including construction of demonstration eco-domes on La Sierra’s campus. The structures are made primarily of earth and mixed with such elements as cement, barbed wire and polyurethane tubing. The team will also talk about simple solutions to a brighter, greener future.

7:30 p.m. – Film screening: “Earth” (Rated: G), Edwards Corona Crossings Stadium 18, 2650 Tuscany St., Corona. Tickets available for purchase at the theater.

Sun., April 26
- 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. Outreach projects.


PR Contact: Larry Becker
Executive Director of University Relations
La Sierra University
Riverside, California
951.785.2460 (voice)
.
.
.
.
*P.S. This is a conference University where your SDA daughters or sisters can get a New Age Ecologically viable ecumenical/feminist education.....
Arsenio.
.