Monday, January 18, 2010

Man who shot Pope John Paul II freed from Turkish jail

Page last updated at 09:33 GMT, Monday, 18 January 2010


Mehmet Ali Agca has left prison after nearly 30 years behind bars.


The man who tried to kill Pope John Paul II in 1981 has been released from prison in Turkey.

Mehmet Ali Agca served 19 years in an Italian prison for shooting John Paul, and another 10 years in Turkey for the earlier murder of a newspaper editor.

Agca's motives for attempting to kill the Pope remain a mystery, although when he was arrested he said he was acting alone.

In 1983 John Paul announced he had forgiven Agca after meeting him.

There have been long-standing questions about the mental health of Agca, based on his frequent outbursts and statements that he was a new messiah.

In a statement issued on his release, he said: "I proclaim the end of the world. All the world will be destroyed in this century. Every human being will die in this century... I am the Christ eternal."

Turkish media say Agca is now to be taken to a military facility and then to a hospital to be assessed for compulsory military service.

Contradictory statements

Agca, 52, had been a member of a Turkish ultra-nationalist group who fled Turkey after killing a newspaper editor.

He opened fire on Pope John Paul as he was being driven through St Peter's Square in Rome in an open vehicle on May 13 1981.

The Pope was seriously injured in the attack and Agca spent the next 19 years in prison in Italy.

He maintained at first that he was acting alone, but over the years frequently changed his story and gave often contradictory statements.

He had once claimed, for example, that he was under the orders of the Bulgarian secret service.

A trial lasting 22 months was held in Rome during the 1980s about the alleged Bulgarian connection - involvement by the satellite state of the former Soviet Union.

The accused were all acquitted for lack of proof.

One of 'great mysteries'

The BBC's Jonathan Head in Istanbul says that Agca will now have the chance to to clear up one of the great mysteries of the last century - what was it that drove him to attempt the assassination of the most influential Pope of modern times?

Agca's lawyers say he has been offered multi-million dollar deals to tell his story.

Our correspondent says that after all the bizarre statements he has issued from jail, that story - if he tells it - is unlikely to be convincing.

He adds that few people believe he could have acted alone, but that whatever he says now, the real story behind the shooting of the Pope will in all likelihood never be known.

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Bernanke will you tell American people to whom Fed Res lent $2.2 trillion of their dollars?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyl8c91qPbwhttp://



VoiceofAmericans2008

March 3, 2009
Senate Budget Committee Sanders (I-VT) Bernanke Chairman Federal Reserve

In a testy exchange at a hearing before the Senate Budget Committee, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent who usually votes with the Democrats, said he found it "unacceptable" that the central bank risked taxpayer money without detailing where the funds went."My question to you is, will you tell the American people to whom you lent $2.2 trillion of their dollars?" Sanders asked, referring to the size of the Fed's balance sheet.Bernanke responded that the Fed explains the various lending programs on its website, and details the terms and collateral requirements.When Sanders pressed on whether he would name the firms that borrowed from the Fed, the central bank chairman replied, "No," and started to say that doing so risked stigmatizing banks and discouraging them from borrowing from the central bank."Isn't that too bad," Sanders interrupted, cutting off Bernanke's answer. "They took the money but they don't want to be public about the fact that they received it."He said businesses in his state were in trouble and needed loans, but were not permitted to borrow from the Fed."Do you have to be a large, greedy, reckless financial institution to apply for this money?" he asked.Bernanke said the Fed's lending programs were not gifts or subsidies but rather over-collateralized loans. He said the law restricted the types of firms to which the central bank can lend."We have never lost a penny doing it," he said.Sanders responded: "Let me just say this, Mr. Chairman. I have a hard time understanding how you have put $2.2 trillion at risk without making those names available, those institutions public.""We are going to introduce legislation today, by the way, to demand that you do that. It is unacceptable to me that that this goes on," he added. (Reporting by Emily Kaiser, Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
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P.S. Notice the swastika design directly behind the left side of Mr. sanders head. Carving symbol with complex swastika motif. ................. Arsenio.
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Taliban Assault on Kabul


Red Alert Update: Taliban Assault on Kabul

January 18, 2010
The Taliban attack in the Afghan capital of Kabul is reportedly winding down. The assault began around 9:35 a.m. local time Jan. 18 (the day the new cabinet was being sworn in) when reports of rocket fire and explosions were heard in the Afghan capital near several government buildings.

Just 23 minutes later, reports emerged that the Taliban had claimed the attack in a message to Afghan Islamic Press. In the claim, Taliban spokesman Zabihollah Mojahed has said 20 suicide assailants were attacking the Presidential Palace, the Central Bank and the Ministries of Finance, Justice and Mines and Industries. The Serena Hotel, Defense Ministry and Afghan Telecom had also reportedly come under attack.

A little after noon local time, militants began to lay siege on two major shopping centers, including a mall called the Grand Afghan Shopping Center near the Justice Ministry. Eyewitness reported militants carrying rocket-propelled grenades entered the second and third floors of the mall. A vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) reportedly detonated outside one of the shopping centers, killing several security forces.
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Sunday, January 17, 2010

"The Challenge of a New Age"

MY RESPONSE TO:
President Obama's Martin Luther King Day
Speech @ Vermont Ave. Baptist Church
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"The Challenge of a New Age"
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Joshua generation with a Moses heritage?
What?
Talk about phony bologna?
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Not for nothing, but most of the president's speech sounded like a bunch of political rationale, buzzwords, and references to Dr. Martin Luther King.
Yet, (as the president said) on the SABBATH (The Sabbath is actually The 7th day of the week) , president Obama pitched a willing crowd with all his political agenda within 30 minutes. The president sure sounded like he was only talking to African-Americans; Yet, he took a walk down memory lane only mentioning the struggles of the folks in the audience, then attempted to vindicate himself when he stated that he was talking to all Americans.
What a technique?
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There is nothing wrong with admitting the mistakes of the pasts (we can not deny them), but, when you're the president you can't side with just one group of people, one party, one cause, your wish list, etc. Presidents represent the whole populace; Not just your chosen crowd.
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Secondly, the whole intent of this speech was mainly to promote health care overhaul, then Haiti rescue-reconstruction, LGBT rights, sacrifice, patience, and lastly, Martin Luther King; In that order.
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What amazes me is that churches that operate under a 501(c)3 arrangement with the federal government, are not allowed to "legally" preach political concepts like the ones that the president enumerated today on as he stated the SABBATH/Sunday (The 7th Day is the Sabbath).
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In other words the president of the U.S. is above the law! What pastors can't do in their own churches, president Obama can willy-nilly.
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These are some interesting times.
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I thank the Lord Almighty, the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob, and His son Jesus The Christ for discernment. I pray that the Lord will continue to allow me to see things as they are, not as some will have me believe.
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I remember Martin Luther King, he was a great man; But, president Obama does not represent any of the principles that Dr. King stood for, in my opinion. He is a son of a Kenyan, so they say. Pres. Obama is from Hawaii, his ancestors never boycotted any buses, lunch counters, or suffered violence in the segregated south. President Obama has benefited from the struggles of African-Americans, but, he is not one of them; He benefited from their sojourn in an inhospitable at times, nation. Dr. King wanted freedom for his people, a noble cause, and he was a man of God. What does the Black Liberation Movement have to do with Lesbians, Gays, Bi-sexuals, and Transsexuals? Our president is a lawyer with dubious (paradigm shifting) political aims, that quite frankly seem a bit rhetorical, and clearly dictatorial.
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Transparency?
Here we go again: What is is... Semantics 101
Back-room negotiations
with Democrats in Congress and the Senate is transparent?
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Sounds like blatant subversion of the democratic (representative) procedures of our American form of government. And all in the name of passing HEALTH CARE OVERHAUL for "the common good"?
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I see a New Age, alright. But, it's not a welcomed one. It seems to be authoritarian by the way its proponents are forcing it upon all Americans, and the rest of the world.
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Fasten your seat belts...
More rationale on the way.... More platitudes... More pontification...
More new morality...
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May the real God help us all!
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Arsenio.
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Obama's Dr. Martin Luther King tribute at Vermont Ave. Baptist Church. Transcript.



Obama's Dr. Martin Luther King tribute at Vermont Ave. Baptist Church. Transcript.
By Lynn Sweeton January 17, 2010 2:50 PM
THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary


For Immediate Release January 17, 2010


REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
IN REMEMBRANCE OF REVEREND DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING

Vermont Avenue Baptist Church
Washington, D.C.


12:00 P.M. EST


THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. Praise be to God. Let me begin by thanking the entire Vermont Avenue Baptist Church family for welcoming our family here today. It feels like a family. Thank you for making us feel that way. (Applause.) To Pastor Wheeler, first lady Wheeler, thank you so much for welcoming us here today. Congratulations on Jordan Denice -- aka Cornelia. (Laughter.)

Michelle and I have been blessed with a new nephew this year as well -- Austin Lucas Robinson. (Applause.) So maybe at the appropriate time we can make introductions. (Laughter.) Now, if Jordan's father is like me, then that will be in about 30 years. (Laughter.) That is a great blessing.

Michelle and Malia and Sasha and I are thrilled to be here today. And I know that sometimes you have to go through a little fuss to have me as a guest speaker. (Laughter.) So let me apologize in advance for all the fuss.

We gather here, on a Sabbath, during a time of profound difficulty for our nation and for our world. In such a time, it soothes the soul to seek out the Divine in a spirit of prayer; to seek solace among a community of believers. But we are not here just to ask the Lord for His blessing. We aren't here just to interpret His Scripture. We're also here to call on the memory of one of His noble servants, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Now, it's fitting that we do so here, within the four walls of Vermont Avenue Baptist Church -- here, in a church that rose like the phoenix from the ashes of the civil war; here in a church formed by freed slaves, whose founding pastor had worn the union blue; here in a church from whose pews congregants set out for marches and from whom choir anthems of freedom were heard; from whose sanctuary King himself would sermonize from time to time.

One of those times was Thursday, December 6, 1956. Pastor, you said you were a little older than me, so were you around at that point? (Laughter.) You were three years old -- okay. (Laughter.) I wasn't born yet. (Laughter.)

On Thursday, December 6, 1956. And before Dr. King had pointed us to the mountaintop, before he told us about his dream in front of the Lincoln Memorial, King came here, as a 27-year-old preacher, to speak on what he called "The Challenge of a New Age." "The Challenge of a New Age." It was a period of triumph, but also uncertainty, for Dr. King and his followers -- because just weeks earlier, the Supreme Court had ordered the desegregation of Montgomery's buses, a hard-wrought, hard-fought victory that would put an end to the 381-day historic boycott down in Montgomery, Alabama.

And yet, as Dr. King rose to take that pulpit, the future still seemed daunting. It wasn't clear what would come next for the movement that Dr. King led. It wasn't clear how we were going to reach the Promised Land. Because segregation was still rife; lynchings still a fact. Yes, the Supreme Court had ruled not only on the Montgomery buses, but also on Brown v. Board of Education. And yet that ruling was defied throughout the South -- by schools and by states; they ignored it with impunity. And here in the nation's capital, the federal government had yet to fully align itself with the laws on its books and the ideals of its founding.

So it's not hard for us, then, to imagine that moment. We can imagine folks coming to this church, happy about the boycott being over. We can also imagine them, though, coming here concerned about their future, sometimes second-guessing strategy, maybe fighting off some creeping doubts, perhaps despairing about whether the movement in which they had placed so many of their hopes -- a movement in which they believed so deeply -- could actually deliver on its promise.

So here we are, more than half a century later, once again facing the challenges of a new age. Here we are, once more marching toward an unknown future, what I call the Joshua generation to their Moses generation -- the great inheritors of progress paid for with sweat and blood, and sometimes life itself.

We've inherited the progress of unjust laws that are now overturned. We take for granted the progress of a ballot being available to anybody who wants to take the time to actually vote. We enjoy the fruits of prejudice and bigotry being lifted -- slowly, sometimes in fits and starts, but irrevocably -- from human hearts. It's that progress that made it possible for me to be here today; for the good people of this country to elect an African American the 44th President of the United States of America.

Reverend Wheeler mentioned the inauguration, last year's election. You know, on the heels of that victory over a year ago, there were some who suggested that somehow we had entered into a post-racial America, all those problems would be solved. There were those who argued that because I had spoke of a need for unity in this country that our nation was somehow entering into a period of post-partisanship. That didn't work out so well. There was a hope shared by many that life would be better from the moment that I swore that oath.

Of course, as we meet here today, one year later, we know the promise of that moment has not yet been fully fulfilled. Because of an era of greed and irresponsibility that sowed the seeds of its own demise, because of persistent economic troubles unaddressed through the generations, because of a banking crisis that brought the financial system to the brink of catastrophe, we are being tested -- in our own lives and as a nation -- as few have been tested before.

Unemployment is at its highest level in more than a quarter of a century. Nowhere is it higher than the African American community. Poverty is on the rise. Home ownership is slipping. Beyond our shores, our sons and daughters are fighting two wars. Closer to home, our Haitian brothers and sisters are in desperate need. Bruised, battered, many people are legitimately feeling doubt, even despair, about the future. Like those who came to this church on that Thursday in 1956, folks are wondering, where do we go from here?

I understand those feelings. I understand the frustration and sometimes anger that so many folks feel as they struggle to stay afloat. I get letters from folks around the country every day; I read 10 a night out of the 40,000 that we receive. And there are stories of hardship and desperation, in some cases, pleading for help: I need a job. I'm about to lose my home. I don't have health care -- it's about to cause my family to be bankrupt. Sometimes you get letters from children: My mama or my daddy have lost their jobs, is there something you can do to help? Ten letters like that a day we read.

So, yes, we're passing through a hard winter. It's the hardest in some time. But let's always remember that, as a people, the American people, we've weathered some hard winters before. This country was founded during some harsh winters. The fishermen, the laborers, the craftsmen who made camp at Valley Forge -- they weathered a hard winter. The slaves and the freedmen who rode an underground railroad, seeking the light of justice under the cover of night -- they weathered a hard winter. The seamstress whose feet were tired, the pastor whose voice echoes through the ages -- they weathered some hard winters. It was for them, as it is for us, difficult, in the dead of winter, to sometimes see spring coming. They, too, sometimes felt their hopes deflate. And yet, each season, the frost melts, the cold recedes, the sun reappears. So it was for earlier generations and so it will be for us.

What we need to do is to just ask what lessons we can learn from those earlier generations about how they sustained themselves during those hard winters, how they persevered and prevailed. Let us in this Joshua generation learn how that Moses generation overcame.

Let me offer a few thoughts on this. First and foremost, they did so by remaining firm in their resolve. Despite being threatened by sniper fire or planted bombs, by shoving and punching and spitting and angry stares, they adhered to that sweet spirit of resistance, the principles of nonviolence that had accounted for their success.

Second, they understood that as much as our government and our political parties had betrayed them in the past -- as much as our nation itself had betrayed its own ideals -- government, if aligned with the interests of its people, can be -- and must be -- a force for good. So they stayed on the Justice Department. They went into the courts. They pressured Congress, they pressured their President. They didn't give up on this country. They didn't give up on government. They didn't somehow say government was the problem; they said, we're going to change government, we're going to make it better. Imperfect as it was, they continued to believe in the promise of democracy; in America's constant ability to remake itself, to perfect this union.

Third, our predecessors were never so consumed with theoretical debates that they couldn't see progress when it came. Sometimes I get a little frustrated when folks just don't want to see that even if we don't get everything, we're getting something. (Applause.) King understood that the desegregation of the Armed Forces didn't end the civil rights movement, because black and white soldiers still couldn't sit together at the same lunch counter when they came home. But he still insisted on the rightness of desegregating the Armed Forces. That was a good first step -- even as he called for more. He didn't suggest that somehow by the signing of the Civil Rights that somehow all discrimination would end. But he also didn't think that we shouldn't sign the Civil Rights Act because it hasn't solved every problem. Let's take a victory, he said, and then keep on marching. Forward steps, large and small, were recognized for what they were -- which was progress.

Fourth, at the core of King's success was an appeal to conscience that touched hearts and opened minds, a commitment to universal ideals -- of freedom, of justice, of equality -- that spoke to all people, not just some people. For King understood that without broad support, any movement for civil rights could not be sustained. That's why he marched with the white auto worker in Detroit. That's why he linked arm with the Mexican farm worker in California, and united people of all colors in the noble quest for freedom.

Of course, King overcame in other ways as well. He remained strategically focused on gaining ground -- his eyes on the prize constantly -- understanding that change would not be easy, understand that change wouldn't come overnight, understanding that there would be setbacks and false starts along the way, but understanding, as he said in 1956, that "we can walk and never get weary, because we know there is a great camp meeting in the promised land of freedom and justice."

And it's because the Moses generation overcame that the trials we face today are very different from the ones that tested us in previous generations. Even after the worst recession in generations, life in America is not even close to being as brutal as it was back then for so many. That's the legacy of Dr. King and his movement. That's our inheritance. Having said that, let there be no doubt the challenges of our new age are serious in their own right, and we must face them as squarely as they faced the challenges they saw.

I know it's been a hard road we've traveled this year to rescue the economy, but the economy is growing again. The job losses have finally slowed, and around the country, there's signs that businesses and families are beginning to rebound. We are making progress.

I know it's been a hard road that we've traveled to reach this point on health reform. I promise you I know. (Laughter.) But under the legislation I will sign into law, insurance companies won't be able to drop you when you get sick, and more than 30 million people -- (applause) -- our fellow Americans will finally have insurance. More than 30 million men and women and children, mothers and fathers, won't be worried about what might happen to them if they get sick. This will be a victory not for Democrats; this will be a victory for dignity and decency, for our common humanity. This will be a victory for the United States of America.

Let's work to change the political system, as imperfect as it is. I know people can feel down about the way things are going sometimes here in Washington. I know it's tempting to give up on the political process. But we've put in place tougher rules on lobbying and ethics and transparency -- tougher rules than any administration in history. It's not enough, but it's progress. Progress is possible. Don't give up on voting. Don't give up on advocacy. Don't give up on activism. There are too many needs to be met, too much work to be done. Like Dr. King said, "We must accept finite disappointment but never lose infinite hope."

Let us broaden our coalition, building a confederation not of liberals or conservatives, not of red states or blue states, but of all Americans who are hurting today, and searching for a better tomorrow. The urgency of the hour demands that we make common cause with all of America's workers -- white, black, brown -- all of whom are being hammered by this recession, all of whom are yearning for that spring to come. It demands that we reach out to those who've been left out in the cold even when the economy is good, even when we're not in recession -- the youth in the inner cities, the youth here in Washington, D.C., people in rural communities who haven't seen prosperity reach them for a very long time. It demands that we fight discrimination, whatever form it may come. That means we fight discrimination against gays and lesbians, and we make common cause to reform our immigration system.

And finally, we have to recognize, as Dr. King did, that progress can't just come from without -- it also has to come from within. And over the past year, for example, we've made meaningful improvements in the field of education. I've got a terrific Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan. He's been working hard with states and working hard with the D.C. school district, and we've insisted on reform, and we've insisted on accountability. We we're putting in more money and we've provided more Pell Grants and more tuition tax credits and simpler financial aid forms. We've done all that, but parents still need to parent. (Applause.) Kids still need to own up to their responsibilities. We still have to set high expectations for our young people. Folks can't simply look to government for all the answers without also looking inside themselves, inside their own homes, for some of the answers.

Progress will only come if we're willing to promote that ethic of hard work, a sense of responsibility, in our own lives. I'm not talking, by the way, just to the African American community. Sometimes when I say these things people assme, well, he's just talking to black people about working hard. No, no, no, no. I'm talking to the American community. Because somewhere along the way, we, as a nation, began to lose touch with some of our core values. You know what I'm talking about. We became enraptured with the false prophets who prophesized an easy path to success, paved with credit cards and home equity loans and get-rich-quick schemes, and the most important thing was to be a celebrity; it doesn't matter what you do, as long as you get on TV. That's everybody.

We forgot what made the bus boycott a success; what made the civil rights movement a success; what made the United States of America a success -- that, in this country, there's no substitute for hard work, no substitute for a job well done, no substitute for being responsible stewards of God's blessings.

What we're called to do, then, is rebuild America from its foundation on up. To reinvest in the essentials that we've neglected for too long -- like health care, like education, like a better energy policy, like basic infrastructure, like scientific research. Our generation is called to buckle down and get back to basics.

We must do so not only for ourselves, but also for our children, and their children. For Jordan and for Austin. That's a sacrifice that falls on us to make. It's a much smaller sacrifice than the Moses generation had to make, but it's still a sacrifice.

Yes, it's hard to transition to a clean energy economy. Sometimes it may be inconvenient, but it's a sacrifice that we have to make. It's hard to be fiscally responsible when we have all these human needs, and we're inheriting enormous deficits and debt, but that's a sacrifice that we're going to have to make. You know, it's easy, after a hard day's work, to just put your kid in front of the TV set -- you're tired, don't want to fuss with them -- instead of reading to them, but that's a sacrifice we must joyfully accept.

Sometimes it's hard to be a good father and good mother. Sometimes it's hard to be a good neighbor, or a good citizen, to give up time in service of others, to give something of ourselves to a cause that's greater than ourselves -- as Michelle and I are urging folks to do tomorrow to honor and celebrate Dr. King. But these are sacrifices that we are called to make. These are sacrifices that our faith calls us to make. Our faith in the future. Our faith in America. Our faith in God.

And on his sermon all those years ago, Dr. King quoted a poet's verse:

Truth forever on the scaffold
Wrong forever on the throne...
And behind the dim unknown stands God
Within the shadows keeping watch above his own.

Even as Dr. King stood in this church, a victory in the past and uncertainty in the future, he trusted God. He trusted that God would make a way. A way for prayers to be answered. A way for our union to be perfected. A way for the arc of the moral universe, no matter how long, to slowly bend towards truth and bend towards freedom, to bend towards justice. He had faith that God would make a way out of no way.

You know, folks ask me sometimes why I look so calm. (Laughter.) They say, all this stuff coming at you, how come you just seem calm? And I have a confession to make here. There are times where I'm not so calm. (Laughter.) Reggie Love knows. My wife knows. There are times when progress seems too slow. There are times when the words that are spoken about me hurt. There are times when the barbs sting. There are times when it feels like all these efforts are for naught, and change is so painfully slow in coming, and I have to confront my own doubts.

But let me tell you -- during those times it's faith that keeps me calm. (Applause.) It's faith that gives me peace. The same faith that leads a single mother to work two jobs to put a roof over her head when she has doubts. The same faith that keeps an unemployed father to keep on submitting job applications even after he's been rejected a hundred times. The same faith that says to a teacher even if the first nine children she's teaching she can't reach, that that 10th one she's going to be able to reach. The same faith that breaks the silence of an earthquake's wake with the sound of prayers and hymns sung by a Haitian community. A faith in things not seen, in better days ahead, in Him who holds the future in the hollow of His hand. A faith that lets us mount up on wings like eagles; lets us run and not be weary; lets us walk and not faint.

So let us hold fast to that faith, as Joshua held fast to the faith of his fathers, and together, we shall overcome the challenges of a new age. (Applause.) Together, we shall seize the promise of this moment. Together, we shall make a way through winter, and we're going to welcome the spring. Through God all things are possible. (Applause.)

May the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King continue to inspire us and ennoble our world and all who inhabit it. And may God bless the United States of America. Thank you very much, everybody. God bless you. (Applause.)

END 12:30 P.M. EST




Source: http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2010/01/obamas_dr_martin_luther_king_t.html



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Pope Continues Global “Green” Crusade for World Government

Pope Continues Global “Green” Crusade for World Government
AIM Column By Cliff Kincaid January 12, 2010


Glenn Beck recently said that he was inundated with messages from people concerned about an Obama executive order giving special rights to the international police organization known as Interpol. But what about the global campaign by the Vatican to establish a "World Political Authority" with "teeth." Don't look for Beck, O'Reilly or anybody else in the media to take on Pope Benedict XVI. It is just too controversial. Commentators who question the Vatican run the risk of being labeled anti-Catholic bigots.

Many Catholics, especially of a conservative persuasion, are embarrassed and troubled by what is happening inside their church. But they are mostly reluctant to say anything publicly. The facts, however, speak for themselves, and they are available on the Vatican's own website in the actual words and statements being uttered by the Pope.

Consider, for example, Pope Benedict's passionate embrace of the radical environmental movement. The Washington Times on Tuesday ran a front-page photo of the Pope greeting ambassadors to the Vatican during his new year's address to the diplomatic corps. "The Pope denounced the failure of world leaders to agree on a climate change treaty last month," the caption said. It's true. Despite the Climategate scandal that has thrown the man-made global warming theory into disrepute, the Pope is still a believer in the discredited claims being made about the role of man in creating a hotter planet and he is trying to force world leaders to embrace and act on them.

Acting more like a politician than a religious leader, the pope complained about the failure at the Copenhagen conference to come up with a new treaty to punish Western nations, led by the United States, that have used fossil fuels for industrial development. Referring to "the growing concern caused by economic and political resistance to combating the degradation of the environment," he said, "This problem was evident even recently, during the XV Session of the Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change held in Copenhagen from 7 to 18 December last. I trust that in the course of this year, first in Bonn and later in Mexico City, it will be possible to reach an agreement for effectively dealing with this question. The issue is all the more important in that the very future of some nations is at stake, particularly some island states."

The Pope, therefore, is going to use his influence to get a treaty written, passed, and imposed on the world.

The Pope went on to embrace other aspects of the global "progressive" agenda, endorsing the holding of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference in New York in May, so that "concrete decisions will be made towards progressive disarmament, with a view to freeing our planet from nuclear arms." This is Obama's goal as well.

Zero nuclear weapons sounds good in theory, but what does it mean, practically speaking, when the world is confronted by a fanatical regime in Iran determined to acquire them? All that the Pope said about this was, "Concerning Iran, I express my hope that through dialogue and cooperation joint solutions will be found on the national as well as the international level." Not even President Obama treats the Iranian problem with such platitudes. Obama at least talks about sanctions against Iran.

In reality, the Pope's recipe for a nuclear-free world means appeasement of Iran, its acquisition of nuclear weapons, and a more dangerous world with more nuclear weapons.

Strangely, the Pope called for a new global warming treaty but admitted that centralized planning to "save" the environment hasn't worked on the national level. He said, "Twenty years ago, after the fall of the Berlin wall and the collapse of the materialistic and atheistic regimes which had for several decades dominated a part of this continent, was it not easy to assess the great harm which an economic system lacking any reference to the truth about man had done not only to the dignity and freedom of individuals and peoples, but to nature itself, by polluting soil, water and air?"

The Pope was admitting that a communist-style economic system was not only a threat to man but the environment. Yet, he now wants the United Nations to play a central role in policing a new global agreement on the environment and disarming the nations of the world. As dangerous as this may sound, this objective is consistent with his endorsement of a "World Political Authority," a key recommendation from his Caritas in Veritate encyclical.

In that controversial document, the Pope explained that a "World Political Authority" was necessary in order to "manage the global economy; to revive economies hit by the crisis; to avoid any deterioration of the present crisis and the greater imbalances that would result; to bring about integral and timely disarmament, food security and peace; to guarantee the protection of the environment and to regulate migration..."

These shocking statements in favor of what is clearly a world government immediately followed the Pope's recommendation that, in the face of the "unrelenting growth of global interdependence," the United Nations must be reformed so that "the concept of the family of nations can acquire real teeth."

So the Pope wants a strengthened United Nations to constitute a "World Political Authority" that will have the "teeth" to enforce its will on the nations of the world? Will somebody in the media explain why this is not global tyranny? This makes the controversy over Interpol look like peanuts.

Of course, few in the media want to bring up this sensitive subject. After all, the Pope is a religious leader of 1.2 billion Catholics, with 63 million of them here in the U.S. But it's precisely because the Catholic Church is the largest religious body in America that the statements of its leader deserve media scrutiny.

Before he spoke to the diplomats, on the occasion of the World Day of Peace, the Pope issued a January 1, 2010 statement based on the theme, "If You Want to Cultivate Peace, Protect Creation." Again, sounding like Al Gore or Barack Obama, the Pope said that "the threats arising from the neglect--if not downright misuse--of the earth and the natural goods that God has given us" were as troubling as "wars, international and regional conflicts, acts of terrorism, and violations of human rights."

The Pope reiterated that the campaign to pass a new global warming treaty should be part of a broader campaign to remake the global economy. "It should be evident that the ecological crisis cannot be viewed in isolation from other related questions, since it is closely linked to the notion of development itself and our understanding of man in his relationship to others and to the rest of creation," he said. "Prudence would thus dictate a profound, long-term review of our model of development, one which would take into consideration the meaning of the economy and its goals with an eye to correcting its malfunctions and misapplications. The ecological health of the planet calls for this, but it is also demanded by the cultural and moral crisis of humanity whose symptoms have for some time been evident in every part of the world." (emphasis in the original)

Is all of this flowery rhetoric designed to usher in a new socialist international order? Is this what he means by changing the "model of development?"

One problem is that the Pope gives fewer news conferences than Obama. In fact, he gives none. So who in the media has the courage to hold the Vatican accountable for its campaign to help Obama usher us into a New World Order on the basis of nonsense about the environment and nuclear weapons?

Cliff Kincaid is the Editor of the AIM Report and can be reached at cliff.kincaid@aim.org

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Source:http://www.aim.org/aim-column/pope-continues-global-green-crusade-for-world-government/
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EUROPE and the PAPACY



(By) Wim Wiggers



Introduction

Before you lies a new book. It is on Europe, better on the European Union and the Papacy. Europe started as a concept in Greek mythology. Europa, a beautiful princess on the back of a pure white bull - Zeus, who had transformed himself into that bull. This is very significant. In the book of Revelation the last book in the Bible, we see again a woman riding a beast (chapt. 17). This is not just an accident. Greece is symbolized in the Bible as a goat, but their national emblem was also a goat. (See Daniel 8 entire chapter). The same in Daniel 7. We see a lion with wings symbolizing the kingdom of Babylon. There the Ishtar gate was also full with images of lions with wings.

But leaving mythology we concentrate a moment on the papacy. We will
never understand the papacy unless we see the Catholic Church as it is
seen by the Catholic hierarchy. From the Catholic Encyclopedia we have a
thorough explanation that the papacy considers itself being a nation. That
is a very important concept. Being a nation, she has powers. The power of
execution, the power of legislation and the power of judgment. But it is a
nation unlike any other nation. Her laws are church laws. Canon law. The
beginning of canon law were the canons of the big church councils.
Already Constantine the Great gave the bishop a place in the court, to be a
judge, to handle internal church matters.

But the real canon law started with the Justinian Code, where the pope was
considered the head of all bishops and the final judge concerning heresy.
Originally these canons of the councils were in the Civil Code but by and
by there formed itself a whole separate book of law, called canon law.
These laws had to do with thinking, with heresy.

But having laws you need a court. The court of the Catholic Church was
called the Inquisition. And the final court of appeal was “the Holy Office”.
“The duty of the inquisitor, moreover, was distinguished from that of the
ordinary judge by the fact that the task assigned to him was the impossible
one of ascertaining the secret thoughts and opinions of the prisoner.
External acts were to him only of value as indications of believe, to be
accepted or rejected as he might deem them conclusive or illusory ... acts
were beyond his jurisdiction ...”.

In order to find out the inner thoughts and opinions, the judge of the court
had two tools: torture and mental bombardment.

Now the point. How big was that Roman nation State? Sherman says: “As
long as the papal supremacy was recognized, the canon law possessed
unlimited power and formed the basis of the ecclesiastical law of every
country”. Professor Erler from the University of Frankfurt says it his way:
“The meaning of Corpus Juris Canonici is not exhausted by that
representing itself as an internal, autonomous church law. The emphasis
was to be in competition with the secular law of its time. With the papal
code the world received a second Corpus Juris, which at the same time
claimed it was reforming the old Imperial Roman Corpus Juris Civilis for
the time present”. Thus Canon law was first from the Church yet by far
not alone the law for the Church: but world dominion was its demand,
equivalent to the demand of the Church for world dominance.
(Kirchenrecht).

So just as in a nation, you are born under the jurisdiction of the nation. You
cross the border into Germany and in that moment you are under German
jurisdiction. So with the Catholic nation–State. You are born into it and
you cannot escape. The claim is the world; but if you are baptized as a
Christian then, according to Catholic doctrine, you are a subject of that
Church.

So, the Corpus Juris Canonici is the law book not only for the Church it is
law for all the world.

This canon law is based in Catholic theology. According to Catholic
doctrine society is an ongoing process of the incarnation:
“One person, Christ, having two natures, human and divine. The two
natures, not mixed, not separated, not changed, not divided. So society is,
Church and State not mixed, not divided, not separated, not changed”. Das
Erwachen der katholischen Kirche im Anfang des XIX Jahrhunderts. Dr. J.
Pascher, pg. 36.


Through Catholic Canon law the Catholic Church wants on the basis of
Catholic theology to rule the world. This is considered as the rule of Christ.
This is not separate from the State, not mixed with the State, not divided
from the State, and the Church will not become civil. It remains a church.
Wholly. But at the same time she is a nation – State in her own estimation.
In the Middle Ages this was a reality. It had its beginning with the
Justinian Code and ended in the Republic of Rome in 1798.


The next thing to review is the role of the papacy back into her original
position as a nation State with her laws and courts. In fact, it began within
the decade of 1920, in the Catholic Student Movement. One of the books
studied was “Europe and the Faith” by H. Belloc.

Belloc was convinced that Europe was: the Faith is Europe. Europe was
Europe because of the Catholic Church. He wrote: “... the truth that
Europe and the Catholic Church were and are one thing”.

According to Catholic reasoning, if this is really true, than Europe must be
reshaped, re-evangelized, it has to be re-born. Then the Second World War
passed and a new era began. Some of the people of the Catholic Student
Movement started a unification.

The pope in retrospect talking about the future of Europe says “persons
who after the example and manner of many so called “Fathers of Europe”
can be builders of tomorrow’s European society, establishing it on a firm
spiritual foundation. ( Apostolic Exhortation on Europe).

But we ask who are the “Fathers of Europe”? One thing is evident: Robert
Schuman, Jean Monnet, Konrad Adenauer and Alcide De Gasperi. And the
Church is considering to beatify them. It seems that Robert Schuman is
now in the process of beatification.

These “Fathers” of Europe gave according to the pope a good example to
those who should bring Europe onto a firm spiritual foundation.
14
The pope is convinced that he has to offer Europe the most precious gift,
“Faith in Jesus Christ”. He is very determined to unite Church and State.
The pope wants us to see everything by a Catholic candle. If you want to
know the real point you should consider: “The Church’s concern for
Europe is born of her very nature and mission. Down the centuries the
Church has been closely linked to our continent ...” It could be called back
to the future.

In order to understand where we are it would be well to consider Germany
in the years just before the Second World War. Pacelli, the later Pope Pius
XII, was as nuntius busy to get canon law into a concordat with Hitler.
Pacelly succeeded. First of all, it was a treaty “between tow
authoritarians”, as Cornwell remarked. The price was the complete
surrender of all Catholic societies. No Catholic soccer club, no youth club,
no political party. It created a complete political vacuum.

We may think that canon law has no priority. We could be wrong. In
Catholic circles the doctrine of the Church is the main doctrine. The
Church is visible in canon law. But only two authoritarians will agree.
Liberal democracy will not do it.

And here is the danger. Europe is authoritarian. Treaties and regulations
are made behind closed doors. There is no open government. Light is only
when we live in a political glasshouse. The light comes form outside, from
the press, from the parliament, but here is no critical press. There is no
powerful parliament. We are delivered to secrecy.

Let us take one example: The European Arrest Warrant. The German
Parliament was against it. It was considered very bad law. That is what
Siegfried Kauder said in the Bundestag, the German Parliament.
He called the Arrest Warrant TOHUWABOHU, that means “without form,
and void”. See Genesis 1:1-2, in Hebrew and English.

In the Netherlands, the “Standing Committee” which counsels the
government was very critical. The German “Verfassungsgericht” - the
Constitutional Court, had very critical notes. In Italy a judge wrote a paper.
His name is Carlo Alberto Agnoli. The title is “The European Arrest
Warrant. The shortest way to Tyranny”.




Read the book on line @ http://www.temcat.com/06-HiddenHistory/EU-Papacy.pdf
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Obama to give church talk, stump in Massachusetts

The Associated Press Sunday, January 17, 2010; 5:22 AM

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama will attend church services with his wife, Michelle, and speak to the congregation about helping the people of Haiti.

Later Sunday, the president flies to Massachusetts to campaign for Democratic candidate Martha Coakley who's in a tight Senate race with Republican Scott Brown. Obama and other party leaders are concerned that Democrats could lose a key 60th vote in the Senate if Coakley doesn't win the race to succeed the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy. It takes 60 votes to stop a filibuster.
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Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/17/AR2010011700535.html
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Heaven's Estimate of Children


Chap. Forty-Eight


Children Are the Purchase of Christ's Blood.-- Christ placed such a high estimate upon your children that He gave His life for them. Treat them as the purchase of His blood. Patiently and firmly train them for Him. Discipline with love and forbearance. As you do this, they will become a crown of rejoicing to you and will shine as lights in the world.

The youngest child that loves and fears God is greater in His sight than the most talented and learned man who neglects the great salvation. The youth who consecrate their hearts and lives to God have, in so doing, placed themselves in connection with the Fountain of all wisdom and excellence.

"Of Such Is the Kingdom of Heaven."--The soul of the little child that believes in Christ is as precious in His sight as are the angels about His throne. They are to be brought to Christ and trained for Christ. They are to be guided in the path of obedience, not indulged in appetite or vanity.

If we would but learn the wonderful lessons which Jesus sought to teach His disciples from a little child, how many things that now seem insurmountable difficulties would wholly disappear! When the disciples came to Jesus, saying, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? . . . Jesus called a little child unto Him, and set him in the midst of them, and said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven."

God's Property Entrusted to Parents.--Children derive life and being from their parents, and yet it is through the creative power of God that your children have life, for God is the Life-giver. Let it be remembered that children are not to be treated as though they were our own personal property. Children are the heritage of the Lord, and the plan of redemption includes their salvation as well as ours. They have been entrusted to parents in order that they might be brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, that they might be qualified to do their work in time and eternity.

Mothers, deal gently with your little ones. Christ was once a little child. For His sake honor the children. Look upon them as a sacred charge, not to be indulged, petted, and idolized, but to be taught to live pure, noble lives. They are God's property; He loves them, and calls upon you to co-operate with Him in helping them to form perfect characters.

If you would meet God in peace, feed His flock now with spiritual food; for every child has the possibility of attaining unto eternal life. Children and youth are God's peculiar treasure.

The youth need to be impressed with the truth that their endowments are not their own. Strength, time, intellect, are but lent treasures. They belong to God, and it should be the resolve of every youth to put them to the highest use. He is a branch, from which God expects fruit; a steward, whose capital must yield increase; a light, to illuminate the world's darkness. Every youth, every child, has a work to do for the honor of God and the uplifting of humanity.

The Path to Heaven Is Suited to Children's Capacity.
--I saw that Jesus knows our infirmities and has Himself shared our experience in all things but in sin; therefore He has prepared for us a path suited to our strength and capacity and, like Jacob, has marched softly and in evenness with the children as they were able to endure, that He might entertain us by the comfort of His company and be to us a perpetual guide. He does not despise, neglect, or leave behind the children of the flock. He has not bidden us move forward and leave them. He has not traveled so hastily as to leave us with our children behind. Oh, no; but He has evened the path to life, even for children. And parents are required in His name to lead them along the narrow way. God has appointed us a path suited to the strength and capacity of children.


The Adventist Home (1952), E. G. White, pp. 279-282.
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Saturday, January 16, 2010

Reports: Blackwater is "protecting" in Haiti

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Reports: Blackwater is "protecting" in Haiti

By GottaLaff

For those readers who aren't on Twitter, this comes to us via Jeremy Scahill:


Nice. Good. This should go a long way to improve their image. Why not just send Karl Rove out to defend President Obama's policies while they're at it?

And these thugs are on the government payroll why again? Oh, wait. I know. Our military is stretched tighter than Joan River's face.

Meanwhile, on his web site, Jeremy reports the welcome news that Jan Schakowsky is preparing legislation to ban Blackwater:


Schakowsky says Blackwater has “severely damaged the credibility and security of our military and harmed our relationship with other governments” [...]As multiple scandals involving Blackwater continue to emerge almost daily, Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence is preparing to introduce legislation aimed at ending the US government’s relationship with Blackwater and other armed contracting companies.

You can read the whole thing, including Schakowsky's letter, here.

And good for her.

That's long overdue.If you need some background on who these criminals are, read my Blackwater for Dummeez primer here.
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Posted by GottaLaff at 2:45 PM
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Mind-reading systems could change air security

Jan 8, 6:22 AM (ET)

By MICHAEL TARM

CHICAGO (AP) - A would-be terrorist tries to board a plane, bent on mass murder. As he walks through a security checkpoint, fidgeting and glancing around, a network of high-tech machines analyzes his body language and reads his mind.

Screeners pull him aside.

Tragedy is averted.

As far-fetched as that sounds, systems that aim to get inside an evildoer's head are among the proposals floated by security experts thinking beyond the X-ray machines and metal detectors used on millions of passengers and bags each year.

On Thursday, in the wake of the Christmas Day bombing attempt over Detroit, President Barack Obama called on Homeland Security and the Energy Department to develop better screening technology, warning: "In the never-ending race to protect our country, we have to stay one step ahead of a nimble adversary."

The ideas that have been offered by security experts for staying one step ahead include highly sophisticated sensors, more intensive interrogations of travelers by screeners trained in human behavior, and a lifting of the U.S. prohibitions against profiling.

Some of the more unusual ideas are already being tested. Some aren't being given any serious consideration. Many raise troubling questions about civil liberties. All are costly.

"Regulators need to accept that the current approach is outdated," said Philip Baum, editor of the London-based magazine Aviation Security International. "It may have responded to the threats of the 1960s, but it doesn't respond to the threats of the 21st century."

Here's a look at some of the ideas that could shape the future of airline security:

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MIND READERS

The aim of one company that blends high technology and behavioral psychology is hinted at in its name, WeCU - as in "We See You."

The system that Israeli-based WeCU Technologies has devised and is testing in Israel projects images onto airport screens, such as symbols associated with a certain terrorist group or some other image only a would-be terrorist would recognize, said company CEO Ehud Givon.

The logic is that people can't help reacting, even if only subtly, to familiar images that suddenly appear in unfamiliar places. If you strolled through an airport and saw a picture of your mother, Givon explained, you couldn't help but respond.

The reaction could be a darting of the eyes, an increased heartbeat, a nervous twitch or faster breathing, he said.

The WeCU system would use humans to do some of the observing but would rely mostly on hidden cameras or sensors that can detect a slight rise in body temperature and heart rate. Far more sensitive devices under development that can take such measurements from a distance would be incorporated later.

If the sensors picked up a suspicious reaction, the traveler could be pulled out of line for further screening.

"One by one, you can screen out from the flow of people those with specific malicious intent," Givon said.

Some critics have expressed horror at the approach, calling it Orwellian and akin to "brain fingerprinting."

For civil libertarians, attempting to read a person's thoughts comes uncomfortably close to the future world depicted in the movie "Minority Report," where a policeman played by Tom Cruise targets people for "pre-crimes," or merely thinking about breaking the law.

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LIE DETECTORS

One system being studied by Homeland Security is called the Future Attribute Screening Technology, or FAST, and works like a souped-up polygraph.

It would subject people pulled aside for additional screening to a battery of tests, including scans of facial movements and pupil dilation, for signs of deception. Small platforms similar to the balancing boards used in the Nintendo Wii would help detect fidgeting.

At a public demonstration of the system in Boston last year, project manager Robert Burns explained that people who harbor ill will display involuntary physiological reactions that others - such as those who are stressed out for ordinary reasons, such as being late for a plane - don't.

The system could be made to work passively, scanning people as they walk through a security line, according to Burns.

Field testing of the system, which will cost around $20 million to develop, could begin in 2011, The Boston Globe said in a story about the demonstration. Addressing one concern of civil libertarians, Burns said the technology would delete data after each screening.

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THE ISRAELI MODEL

Some say the U.S. should take a page from Israel's book on security.

At Israeli airports, widely considered the most secure in the world, travelers are subjected to probing personal questions as screeners look them straight in the eye for signs of deception. Searches are meticulous, with screeners often scrutinizing every item in a bag, unfolding socks, squeezing toothpaste and flipping through books.

"All must look to Israel and learn from them. This is not a post-911 thing for them. They've been doing this since 1956," said Michael Goldberg, president of New York-based IDO Security Inc., which developed a device that can scan shoes while they are still on people's feet.

Israel also employs profiling: At Ben-Gurion Airport, Jewish Israelis typically pass through smoothly, while others may be taken aside for closer interrogation or even strip searches. Another distinquishing feature of Israeli airports is that they rely on concentric security rings that start miles from terminal buildings.

Rafi Ron, the former security director at Israel's famously tight Ben Gurion International Airport who now is a consultant for Boston's Logan International Airport, says U.S. airports also need to be careful not to overcommit to securing passenger entry points at airports, forgetting about the rest of the field.

"Don't invest all your efforts on the front door and leave the back door open," said Ron.

While many experts agree the United States could adopt some Israeli methods, few believe the overall model would work here, in part because of the sheer number of U.S. airports - more than 400, versus half a dozen in Israel.

Also, the painstaking searches and interrogations would create delays that could bring U.S. air traffic to a standstill. And many Americans would find the often intrusive and intimidating Israeli approach repugnant.

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PROFILING

Some argue that policies against profiling undermine security.

Baum, who is also managing director of Green Light Limited, a London-based aviation security company, agrees profiling based on race and religion is counterproductive and should be avoided. But he argues that a reluctance to distinguish travelers on other grounds - such as their general appearance or their mannerisms - is not only foolhardy but dangerous.

"When you see a typical family - dressed like a family, acts like a family, interacts with each other like a family ... when their passport details match - then let's get them through," he said. "Stop wasting time that would be much better spent screening the people that we've get more concerns about."

U.S. authorities prohibit profiling of passengers based on ethnicity, religion or national origin. Current procedures call for travelers to be randomly pulled out of line for further screening.

Scrutinizing 80-year-old grandmothers or students because they might be carrying school scissors can defy common sense, Baum said.

"We need to use the human brain - which is the best technology of them all," he said.

But any move to relax prohibitions against profiling in the U.S. would surely trigger fierce resistance, including legal challenges by privacy advocates.

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PRIVATIZATION

What if security were left to somebody other than the federal government?

Jim Harper, director of information policy studies at the Washington-based Cato Institute, a free-market-oriented think tank, says airlines should be allowed take charge of security at airports.

Especially since 9/11, the trend has been toward standardizing security procedures to ensure all airports follow the best practices. But Harper argues that decentralizing the responsibility would result in a mix of approaches - thereby making it harder for terrorists to use a single template in planning attacks.

"Passengers, too, prefer a uniform experience," he said. "But that's not necessarily the best security. It's better if sometimes we take your laptop out, sometimes we'll pat you down. Those are things that will really drive a terrorist batty - as if they're not batty already."

Harper concedes that privatizing airport security is probably wishful thinking, and the idea has not gotten any traction. He acknowledges it would be difficult to allay fears of gaping security holes if it were left to each airline or airport owner to decide its own approach.

---

AP writers Glen Johnson in Boston and Josef Federman in Jerusalem also contributed to this report.
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Source:http://apnews.myway.com/article/20100108/D9D3HB101.html
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Thousands From Terror-Sponsoring Nations Entering U.S. on 'Diversity Visas'

Updated January 07, 2010

Thousands From Terror-Sponsoring Nations Entering U.S. on 'Diversity Visas'
By Joseph Abrams
- FOXNews.com

In the wake of the botched Christmas Day terror attack, members of Congress are worried that extremists could use the State Department's diversity visa lottery as a means of getting to the U.S.


The State Department is planning to welcome thousands of immigrants from terror-watch list countries into the United States this year through a "diversity visa" lottery -- a giant legal loophole some lawmakers say is a "serious national security threat" that has gone unchecked for years.

Ostensibly designed to increase ethnic diversity among immigrants, the program invites in thousands of poorly educated laborers with few job skills -- and that's only the beginning of its problems, according to lawmakers and government investigations.

"There are a lot of holes in this program in terms of security and in terms of fraud," said Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., who has written legislation aimed at killing the lottery.

Now, in the wake of the botched Christmas Day terror attack that emerged from Nigeria and Yemen, members of Congress are worried the system could be vulnerable to radicals looking to "play" the visa lottery as a means of reaching the U.S.

Here's how it works: to avoid getting stuck with 3.5 million others on a visa waiting list, hundreds of thousands of people put their names into the separate diversity lottery, which rewards countries that typically see low levels of immigration to the U.S. Immediate family are allowed to join lottery winners.

Countries like China, where lots of immigrants originate, are excluded.

Then a computer in Kentucky picks names at random from the qualified applicants, who need only a high school degree or two years at a job that requires two years of experience. The program accounts for about 10 percent of all immigrant visas each year.

Included in the lottery are all four countries the U.S considers state sponsors of terror -- Iran, Sudan, Cuba, and Syria -- and 13 of the 14 nations that are coming under special monitoring from the Transportation Security Administration as founts of terrorism. Pakistan is excluded because, like China, it sends over tens of thousands of immigrants each year and doesn't need to be in the lottery.

Among the winners for 2010 are:

Nigeria: 6,006
Iran: 2,773
Algeria: 1,957
Sudan: 1,084
Afghanistan: 345
Cuba: 298
Somalia: 229
Lebanon: 181
Libya: 152
Iraq: 142
Saudi Arabia: 104
Syria: 98
Yemen: 72

Though Umar Farouk Abdulmattallab, the 23-year-old Nigerian accused of trying to blow up an airliner on Christmas Day, used a tourist visa -- not a diversity visa -- to enter the country, Goodlatte said he worries that Al Qaeda members will game the system. He fears they will submit the names of young acolytes from Saudi Arabia or Yemen who have clean records and could gain entry to the U.S. to wreak havoc. More than 1,000 such visas have been granted to Yemenis in the past decade alone.

"You can take young people out of the madrassas that have no record of any activity with a terrorist organization but are loyal followers of Usama bin Laden," he said.

The State Department's Office of the Inspector General recommended in a 2003 report that terror-sponsoring nations be removed from the diversity visa program.

"OIG believes that this program contains significant vulnerabilities to national security as hostile intelligence officers, criminals and terrorists attempt to use it to enter the United States as permanent residents," the office's deputy inspector testified to Congress in 2004.

A separate report filed by the Government Accountability Office also faulted the program for being susceptible to widespread fraud. A cottage industry has emerged abroad to cater to the lottery, and it regularly bilks people out of massive amounts of money and even coerces some into marriage to keep their diversity visas.

But State Department officials told FoxNews.com that they have a powerful security protocol in place to protect the system -- a point underscored in their rebuttal to the GAO report.

"We do not see the DV (diversity visa) program as uniquely vulnerable," when it comes to state sponsors of terrorism, they said, because of careful vetting that includes "two types of biometric checks and name checks."

They acknowledged that fraud occurs in the lottery, with one official saying, "It is a sad reality that all visa categories encounter sham marriages, suspect identities, fraudulent documents, use of agents and unlikely stories" -- but they cited an "impressive array" of strategies they use to tackle fraud.

The program hasn't been without its cost: one beneficiary, whose wife received a diversity lottery visa, killed two people at Los Angeles International Airport in a 2002 shooting spree at the El Al ticket counter, an act the government labeled terrorism.

Still, the lottery has some staunch defenders, including Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, who is sponsoring an amendment that would double the number of diversity visas to 110,000 a year. Because of State Department enforcement and lack of interest, not all of the 55,000 visas offered each year are taken by winners of the lottery.

Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., argued that the program allows many immigrants to come and make lives for themselves in the U.S., including soccer phenom Freddy Adu, who formerly played for D.C. United.

"The Diversity Visa Program is the chance for many people of color around the world to immigrate to the United States and pursue the same American dream that many of the ancestors of the members [of Congress] here were able to pursue," Conyers said in congressional debate in 2007.

Yet the name of the game hasn't always been diversity, and some experts argue that the program itself is racist for using ethnic criteria for immigration.

Prominent Irish- and Italian-American lawmakers, including Sen. Ted Kennedy, crafted the law in 1988 as a way to confer legal status on immigrants from their countries of ancestry.

"If you look at the legislative history of it, it has nothing to do with diversity," said Anne Law, a professor of political science at DePaul University. Offering citizenship to hundreds of thousands of poorly educated illegal immigrants from Ireland and Italy was a hard sell to the public, she said, so congressmen used "diversity rhetoric" to mask ethnic pork-barrel politics.

"They were trying to tap into multiculturalism, so they thought, 'Let's jump on that bandwagon,'" she said. Government officials say the program offered 40 percent of its visas to the Irish in its early years.

Though legislation concerning the lottery has stalled in Congress, lawmakers who are seeking to end its funding say it has offered few advantages in its 21 years, even as it swells the ranks of poorly educated workers at a time of financial troubles in the United States.

"Why on Earth do we have a program that gives green cards to people for no reason whatsoever?" asked Goodlatte. "They have their names pulled out of a hat -- they have no job skills, no family -- [yet] they get to the front of the line."
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Source:http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/01/07/thousands-terror-sponsoring-nations-entering-diversity-visas/
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Jesus Warns of Jerusalem’s Fall and His Return



Luke 21 - Jesus Warns of Jerusalem’s Fall and His Return

A. A widow’s sacrificial gift.

1. (1-2) Jesus observes the widow’s giving.

And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites.

a. He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites: This poor widow must have been a welcome sight to a weary Jesus, who endured a storm of questions from His enemies.

i. Jesus looks at us when we give. He notices how much we give, but is far more interested in what that amount says about our hearts than anything else.

b. Two mites: According to Poole’s calculations, the value of a mite can be determined like this: a denarii is one day’s wage, and equals six meahs; one meah equals two pondions; one pondion equals two issarines; one issarine equals eight mites. When you figure it all out, two mites is 1% of a denarii - 1% of a day’s wage.

c. She gave two mites, not just one. The widow might have kept one coin for herself, and who would blame her if she did? Giving one meant giving half of all her money. But in giving two mites, her giving has a certain recklessness about it.

2. (3-4) Jesus assesses the widow’s gift.

So He said, "Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had."

a. This poor widow has put in more than all: Jesus did not say that she put in more than any one of them. He said that she put in more than all of them - all of them put together! How could it possibly be said that she put in more than all? Because all the others gave out of their abundance; she gave sacrificially, out of her poverty.

b. This means that the poor man can serve and please God just as much as a rich man. It doesn’t matter if you are poor in influence, in gifts, or in money; if you sacrificially give to God what you have, He sees it and is pleased.

c. Jesus had just criticized the scribes as those who devour widow’s houses (Luke 20:47). Now a lone widow makes a spectacular contribution - had her house been devoured by a scribe?

3. What, in God’s eyes, determines the value of a gift?

a. Remember that God does not need our money - it is our privilege to give to Him; giving is necessary for our sake, not for God’s sake.

b. A gift’s value is determined by the spirit in which it is given. God doesn’t want grudgingly given money, or guilt money - God loves the cheerful giver.

c. The value of a gift is determined by what it cost the giver; this is what made the widow’s gift so valuable. David refused to give God that which cost me nothing (2 Samuel 24:24).

B. Jesus speaks of future events.

1. (5-6) Jesus makes an amazing prediction concerning the temple.

Then, as some spoke of the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and donations, He said, "These things which you see; the days will come in which not one stone shall be left upon another that shall not be thrown down."

a. As some spoke of the temple: This temple was originally rebuilt by Zerubbabel and Ezra (Ezra 6:15), but greatly expanded and improved by Herod. It was the center of Jewish life for almost a thousand years - so much so, that it was customary to swear by the temple (Matthew 23:16), and speaking against the temple could be considered blasphemy (Acts 6:13).

i. After Herod, the temple was huge - nearly 500 yards long and 400 yards wide. Herod’s rebuilding work started in 19 b.c., and was only completed in 63 a.d., taking more than eighty years. It was finished only seven years before it was destroyed.

b. How it was adorned with beautiful stones and donations: The temple wasn’t just big, it was also beautiful. The Jewish historian Josephus says that the temple was covered on the outside with gold plates, that were so brilliant that when the sun shone on them, it was blinding to look at. Where there was no gold, there were blocks of marble of such a pure white that strangers, from a distance, thought there was snow on the temple.

i. As great as the temple was, Jesus never hesitated to claim that He was greater than the temple (Matthew 12:5). For man Jews of that day, the temple had become an idol - it subtly began to mean more to the people than God Himself did. God has a habit of destroying our idols.

ii. Good things can become the worst idols; and sometimes God sours even good things that we have allowed to become our idols

c. Not one stone shall be left upon another that shall not be thrown down: Some 40 years after Jesus said this, there was a widespread Jewish revolution against the Romans in Palestine, and they enjoyed many early successes. But ultimately, Rome crushed the rebels; Jerusalem was leveled, including the temple - just as Jesus said.

i. It is said that at the fall of Jerusalem, the last surviving Jews of the city fled to the temple, because it was the strongest, most secure building in the city. Roman soldiers surrounded it, and one drunken soldier started a fire that soon engulfed the whole building. Ornate gold detail work in the roof melted down in the cracks between the stone walls of the temple, and to retrieve the gold, the Roman commander ordered that the temple be dismantled stone by stone. The destruction was so complete that today, they have true difficulty learning exactly where the temple was.

2. (7) His listeners ask about the events connected with the temple’s destruction.

So they asked Him, saying, "Teacher, but when will these things be? And what sign will there be when these things are about to take place?"

a. Teacher, but when will these things be? Jesus will tell them about the fate of the temple, but also about the fate of the whole world.

b. "Most divines think that God in the destruction of Jerusalem intended to give a specimen of the general conflagration, and ruin of the world at the last day; so as the signs of the same kind with those seen before Jerusalem was destroyed, shall be seen before the great and terrible day of our Lord’s coming to judge the world." (Poole)

3. (8) To walk in these dangerous times, do not follow false leaders.

And He said: "Take heed that you not be deceived. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He,’ and, ‘The time has drawn near.’ Therefore do not go after them."

a. For many will come in My name: Jesus knew that many would arise more than willing to assume the role of political messiah for Israel. One striking example of this was a man named Bar Kokhba, who 100 years after Jesus was considered by many Jews to be the Messiah. He started a widespread revolution against the Romans and enjoyed early success, but was soon crushed.

b. Therefore do not go after them: These people who rejected Jesus when He came to them as Messiah ended up falling for false messiahs who led them into nothing but death and destruction. If we don’t stand on the truth, we may fall for anything.

4. (9-11) To walk in these dangerous times, do not be frightened by catastrophes commonly associated with the end times.

"But when you hear of wars and commotions, do not be terrified; for these things must come to pass first, but the end will not come immediately." Then He said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven."

a. When you hear of wars and commotions, do not be terrified: All these things preceded the destruction of Jerusalem. Were there wars? The Romans were frequently at war with the Jews, the Samaritans, the Syrians, and others during this period. Were there earthquakes? Historians tell us of great earthquakes in the Roman Empire before Jerusalem was destroyed. Were there famines? Acts 11:28 tells of one in this period. Were there fearful sights? Pompeii blew its top just seven years before Jerusalem was destroyed. Were there signs in the heavens? Not long before Jerusalem was destroyed, a comet that looked like a sword hung over the city by night for a year.

b. Yet, Jesus also speaks of general conditions that will precede His second coming. The world has seen incredible catastrophe since the time of Jesus. Even in our century we have seen genocide on an unimaginable scale, world wide war, and whole continents given over to disease and famine; yet these things in themselves are not the signs of Jesus’ coming.

5. (12-15) To walk in these dangerous times, do not worry about your legal defense when you are persecuted and face charges because of your Christian witness.

"But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons. You will be brought before kings and rulers for My name’s sake. But it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony. Therefore settle it in your hearts not to meditate beforehand on what you will answer; for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist."

a. You will be brought before kings and rulers for My name’s sake: Our greatest occasions for testimony come when we are "on trial" before others, either in a formal or an informal sense. We can trust Jesus that He will do as He promised: give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist.

6. (16-19) To walk in these dangerous times, when all others turn against you, persevere and take a firm stand.

"You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But not a hair of your head shall be lost. By your patience possess your souls."

a. By your patience possess your souls: The word for patience here is the great Greek word hupomone. It speaks of a strong endurance, not a passive waiting. Our souls will be kept by the strong endurance that the Lord works into us.

7. (20-24a) To walk in these dangerous times, flee Jerusalem when armies begin to surround it.

"But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her. For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people. And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations."

a. But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies: Most Jews expected the Messiah to return in glory when hostile Gentile armies surrounded Jerusalem. When the Romans circled the city in 70 a.d., there was a sense of rejoicing among many of the Jews.

b. Let those who are in Judea: However, Christians in Jerusalem knew what Jesus had said and they obeyed Him, fleeing across the Jordan River to a city named Pella. No Christians perished in the fall of Jerusalem.

c. For these are the days of vengeance: But 1.1 million Jews were killed; and another 97,000 were taken captive in one of the worst calamities ever to strike the Jewish people. Jesus warned them to avoid it.

i. When the Romans were done with Jerusalem in 70 a.d., not a single Jew was left alive in the city. The Romans eventually renamed the city Aelia Capitolina, and for many years would not allow a Jew to even enter what was formerly known as Jerusalem, except on one day a year - the anniversary of the fall of the city and the destruction of the temple, when Jews were invited to come and mourn bitterly.

ii. Truly Jesus meant it when He said these are the days of vengeance. This is why He wept over Jerusalem in 19:41-44, because He could see the massive devastation that was coming upon this city He loved - and why He warned all who would listen how they could flee from the coming destruction.

8. (24b) Jerusalem will be trampled by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are over.

"And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled."

a. Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles: The Israelis took possession of Jerusalem in 1968, but the holy mount is still Arab property, under Arab rule. As far as God is concerned, the most important piece of real estate in Jerusalem - and prophetically speaking, the most important in the world - is still trampled by Gentiles.

b. Until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled: What happens when the times of the Gentiles are over? Then, His particular dealings with Israel begin again, and the last seven-year period of Daniel 9 begins. The calamities described in following verses will come in this period.

9. (25-28) When the final period of calamity hits the world, look up - your redemption is on the way.

"And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of heaven will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near."

a. Signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity: This kind of total chaos and calamity is described in horrific detail in Revelation 6, 8-9, and 15-18. All this will culminate in the dramatic, spectacular return of Jesus, coming with His church to this earth.

b. Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near: The things that will begin to happen are described in Luke 21:25-27. Jesus assures believers who are on the earth at that time to be ready, because the time of great tribulation they are experiencing will not last forever, but Jesus will return in glory soon.

10. (29-33) When you see these signs (spoken of in Luke 21:25-26), you know that the end is very near.

Then He spoke to them a parable: "Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. When they are already budding, you see and know for yourselves that summer is now near. So you also, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near. Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away."

a. Look at the fig tree: The fig tree is just one example of a tree that buds before summer; no special reference to Israel seems to be intended (and all the trees). The idea is that when a fig tree buds, there is an inevitable result - summer is near, and fruit is coming. In the same way, when these signs are seen, the coming of Jesus in glory, with His church, to this world will inevitably follow.

i. The generation that sees those signs will also see the very end. God will not prolong the Great Tribulation forever.

b. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away: No mere man could truthfully say this. Jesus claims that His words are the very words of God - and they are.

11. (34-38) How to live in the last days.

"But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man." And in the daytime He was teaching in the temple, but at night He went out and stayed on the mountain called Olivet. Then early in the morning all the people came to Him in the temple to hear Him.

a. We must take heed because there are certain things that will make one unprepared - carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life. Each of these things can make us unprepared for the day of Jesus’ return.

i. Carousing literally refers to the hangover that comes after a time of intoxication.

b. Watch therefore: We must watch. Anyone who watches will never be caught in a snare - our failure to watch keeps us from being ready.

c. We must pray always, that we may be found worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass. The good news in Jesus is that we don’t have to go through this calamity that is coming. He will take as many as are ready before this calamity begins.

i. Regarding the destruction of Jerusalem, those who listened to and obeyed Jesus escaped the horrible destruction that came upon the city.

ii. Regarding the far greater destruction that is coming upon the whole earth, those who listen to and obey Jesus can escape the horrible destruction that will come.*

© 2000 David Guzik - No distribution beyond personal use without permission
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* Yes they will escape; But not in a secret rapture! (Swoosh, out of here)

They will be protected by mighty angels until the Lord returns to Earth when "all" humanity will see Him making His triumphant return in the skies surrounded by millions of angels.
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