Monday, June 21, 2010

A Bruise on the First Amendment


Editorial

Published: June 21, 2010


Forty-three years ago, when the nation lived in fear of Communist sympathizers and saboteurs, the Supreme Court said that even the need for national defense could not reduce the First Amendment rights of those associating with American Communists.

On Monday, in the first case since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to test free speech against the demands of national security in the age of terrorism, the ideals of an earlier time were eroded and free speech lost. By preserving an extremely vague prohibition on aiding and associating with terrorist groups, the court reduced the First Amendment rights of American citizens.

The case was not about sending money to terrorist organizations or serving as their liaison, activities that are clearly and properly illegal. And it did not stop people from simply saying they support the goals of groups like Hamas or Al Qaeda, as long as they are not actually working with those groups. But it could have a serious impact on lawyers, journalists or academics who represent or study terrorist groups.

The case arose after an American human rights group, the Humanitarian Law Project, challenged the law prohibiting “material support” to terror groups, which was defined in the 2001 Patriot Act to include “expert advice or assistance.” The law project wanted to provide advice to two terrorist groups on how to peacefully resolve their disputes and work with the United Nations. The two groups — the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party — have violent histories and their presence on the State Department’s official list of terrorist groups is not in dispute.

But though the law project was actually trying to reduce the violence of the two groups, the court’s opinion, written by Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. on behalf of five other justices, said that did not matter and ruled the project’s efforts illegal. Even peaceful assistance to a terror group can further terrorism, the chief justice wrote, in part by lending them legitimacy and allowing them to pretend to be negotiating while plotting violence.

In a powerful dissent, Justice Stephen Breyer, also speaking for Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor, swept away those arguments. If providing legitimacy to a terror group was really a crime, he wrote, then it should also be a crime to independently legitimize a terror group through speech, which it is not. Never before, he said, had the court criminalized a form of speech on these kinds of grounds, noting with particular derision the notion that peaceful assistance buys negotiating time for an opponent to achieve bad ends.

The court at least clarified that acts had to be coordinated with terror groups to be illegal, but many forms of assistance may still be a criminal act, including filing a brief against the government in a terror-group lawsuit. Academic researchers doing field work in conflict zones could be arrested for meeting with terror groups and discussing their research, as could journalists who write about the activities and motivations of these groups, or the journalists’ sources. The F.B.I. has questioned people it suspected as being sources for a New York Times article about terrorism, and threatened to arrest them for providing material support.

There remains a reasonable way of resolving these disputes. Justice Breyer proposed a standard that would criminalize this kind of speech or association “only when the defendant knows or intends that those activities will assist the organization’s unlawful terrorist actions.” Because he was unable to persuade a majority on the court, Congress needs to enact this standard into law.

A version of this editorial appeared in print on June 22, 2010, on page A26 of the New York edition.

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Crisis by Design - John Truman Wolfe

Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Crisis by Design John Truman Wolfe on Coast to Coast AM 14 June 2010

The Financial Coup : Coast to Coast AM 14 June 2010


John Truman Wolfe reveals the Root Causes of the Worldwide Economic Crash, why it happened, where it is headed and what you can do about it.
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Author and ex-banker John Truman Wolfe argued that the current world economic crisis is an international coup designed to take down the U.S. dollar and install a global financial machine. He named the Global Monetary Authority (GMA) as a "financial dictator of the planet" and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) in Switzerland-- as the central bank for such entities as the Federal Reserve, Bank of England, and Bank of Japan. In fact, "all 55 central banks on the planet are members of and junior to the Bank of International Settlements," which he described as being above the law.

The idea of the amero replacing the dollar is a "red herring," said Wolfe-- "the global currency that is being rolled out as we speak is the SDR," a fiat currency of the International Monetary Fund. "The simple fact of the matter is that the fiscal economy of the United States has been dished off to a bunch of bankers in Basel, Switzerland," he declared. Their plan is to reduce the size of the US economy and remove the dollar as the world's reserve currency, he continued.

Further, the current crisis in such EU countries as Greece was planned so that the bankers can 'come to the rescue' and push for more international control mechanisms, he said. To counteract the international bankers, Wolfe suggested taking back the printing of money from the Federal Reserve (whom he called "fiscal vampires") and backing US currency with actual products and real estate. He also called for oversight of international banking organizations and their regulations.
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Source: http://geraldcelentechannel.blogspot.com/2010/06/crisis-by-design-john-truman-wolfe.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FAYsl+%28Gerald+Celente+Trends%29&utm_content=My+Yahoo
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Martial Law declared in Chester Pennsylvania by Mayor Wendell N. Butler, Jr.

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fairinfowar — June 20, 2010 — Chester slayings prompt state of emergency in city...Mayor's order: Nobody in public after 9 p.m. without good cause. Police will work long shifts. This is a great example of how we are all living in a Police State under Martial Law. How long will it be before the economy collapses further and Gangs and Cartels force mayors across the country to make similar declarations? This is incremental Martial Law, slow and constant . The Police State is upon us...
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Napolitano: Internet Monitoring Needed to Fight Homegrown Terrorism



Published June 18, 2010
Associated Press


WASHINGTON -- Fighting homegrown terrorism by monitoring Internet communications is a civil liberties trade-off the U.S. government must make to beef up national security, the nation's homeland security chief said Friday.

As terrorists increasingly recruit U.S. citizens, the government needs to constantly balance Americans' civil rights and privacy with the need to keep people safe, said Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

But finding that balance has become more complex as homegrown terrorists have used the Internet to reach out to extremists abroad for inspiration and training. Those contacts have spurred a recent rash of U.S.-based terror plots and incidents.

"The First Amendment protects radical opinions, but we need the legal tools to do things like monitor the recruitment of terrorists via the Internet," Napolitano told a gathering of the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy.

Napolitano's comments suggest an effort by the Obama administration to reach out to its more liberal, Democratic constituencies to assuage fears that terrorist worries will lead to the erosion of civil rights.

The administration has faced a number of civil liberties and privacy challenges in recent months as it has tried to increase airport security by adding full-body scanners, or track suspected terrorists traveling into the United States from other countries.

"Her speech is sign of the maturing of the administration on this issue," said Stewart Baker, former undersecretary for policy with the Department of Homeland Security. "They now appreciate the risks and the trade-offs much more clearly than when they first arrived, and to their credit, they've adjusted their preconceptions."

Underscoring her comments are a number of recent terror attacks over the past year where legal U.S. residents such as Times Square bombing suspect Faisal Shahzad and accused Fort Hood, Texas, shooter Maj. Nidal Hasan, are believed to have been inspired by the Internet postings of violent Islamic extremists.

And the fact that these are U.S. citizens or legal residents raises many legal and constitutional questions.

Napolitano said it is wrong to believe that if security is embraced, liberty is sacrificed.

She added, "We can significantly advance security without having a deleterious impact on individual rights in most instances. At the same time, there are situations where trade-offs are inevitable."

As an example, she noted the struggle to use full-body scanners at airports caused worries that they would invade people's privacy.

The scanners are useful in identifying explosives or other nonmetal weapons that ordinary metal-detectors might miss -- such as the explosives that authorities said were successfully brought on board the Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day by Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. He is accused of trying to detonate a bomb hidden in his underwear, but the explosives failed, and only burned Abdulmutallab.

U.S. officials, said Napolitano, have worked to institute a number of restrictions on the scanners' use in order to minimize that. The scans cannot be saved or stored on the machines by the operator, and Transportation Security Agency workers can't have phones or cameras that could capture the scan when near the machine.


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A Threat to Catholic Unity


09 June 2010


In the June 18th issue of the Catholic publication Commonweal, the magazine’s editors address a recent “remarkably defensive” letter from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), “Setting the Record Straight,” in which the directors of three of the conference’s initiatives, Pro-Life Activities, Immigration, and Justice, Peace and Human Development, chastise those who vocally dissented from the USCCB’s stand against the health care bill.
Those who broke from the USCCB included Women Religious and the Catholic Health Association, as well as a host of individual Catholic bishops and lay people and, ultimately, Representative Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) and Senator Robert Casey Jr. (D-PA); those who disagreed with the USCCB interpreted the new bill as not expanding government funding for abortion.

Indeed, restrictions on abortion funding exist with regard to Medicaid funding via the annually-renewed Hyde Amendment (1973) and government funding for the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education departments via the Weldon Amendment (2005). Various provider refusal laws, so-called “conscience clauses,” have been enacted since 1973 to limit patient access to morally or religiously “objectionable services” — including the Church Amendment (1973), the Coats Amendment (1996) and the infamous Bush “conscience clause” (2008) — creating a network of laws that shield denominational health care institutions and employees from adhering to patient informed consent. The premise “no federal funding for abortion” is an exaggeration of the Catholic Church — the second largest provider of health care in the US, managing 624 hospitals nationwide — and other “pro-life” organizations and legislators. That the Obama administration’s bill violated such a premise is denied by those who dissented from the USCCB’s position earlier this year.

Write the defiant editors of Commonweal:
What makes the USCCB and its legal and legislative staffs so confident that they alone are competent to understand the new law? Is there a possibility that the USCCB might be wrong? Evidently not. “Making such moral judgments, and providing guidance to Catholics on whether an action by government is moral or immoral, is first of all the task of bishops, not of any other group or individual,” the committee chairmen write. If you disagree with the bishops on highly technical legislative and legal questions, the statement suggests, you are guilty of causing confusion and wounding Catholic unity.

Independence of conscience has long been supported in Catholic doctrine. Catholics for Choice, in a 2008 document, “In Good Conscience,” cite various sources including St. Thomas Aquinas — ignoring an erroneous conscience is a mortal sin — to St. Paul — one’s conscience is primary but should not trump that of others. The Commonweal editors cite their own source: The USCCB’s 2007 statement “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship” in which, “the conference insisted that ‘we bishops do not intend to tell Catholics for whom or against whom to vote,’ and that ‘the responsibility to make choices in political life rests with each individual in light of a properly formed conscience.’” It’s a mandate that is supported by US law regarding “separation of church and state” and the tax-exempt status of churches.

The Commonweal editors conclude:
If the authors of “Setting the Record Straight” wish to seize a “new opportunity for the Catholic community to come together in defense of human life,” they can start by not questioning the motives of those Catholics who disagree with them about how best to interpret the provisions of the new health-insurance law. On questions such as this, disagreement should not be understood as a threat to unity, but as a sign of the church’s intellectual vitality.
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Sunday Enforcement for Creating "the perfect society"

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thelastcrisis — June 14, 2010 — "The Sunday movement is now making its way in darkness. The leaders are concealing the true issue, and many who unite in the movement do not themselves see whither the undercurrent is tending. Its professions are mild and apparently Christian, but when it shall speak it will reveal the spirit of the dragon. It is our duty to do all in our power to avert the threatened danger. We should endeavor to disarm prejudice by placing ourselves in a proper light before the people. We should bring before them the real question at issue, thus interposing the most effectual protest against measures to restrict liberty of conscience." 5T 452

Watch the entire program here:http://fora.tv/2010/03/25/The_Sabbath...
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"Mum and dad belong to us on Sunday"


"Mum and dad belong to us on Sunday"

First European Citizens' initiative for a work-free Sunday in Europe

We need a work-free Sunday in all of Europe,

• because children need a family day, which is protected as a day off-work

• because this brings Europe forward on it's way to become the most child-friendly region in the world

• because according to EU legislation, Sunday is the weekly rest day for children and adolescents

• because schools and public institutions never used to work on Sundays and do not intend to do so in the future - despite of various religious, cultural and ethnical backgrounds

• because studies prove the positive health effects of the work-free free Sunday

• because every person needs spare time - to relax, to be active in civil society, for hobbies and for religion

• because the work-free Sunday is an essential pillar of the European Social Model and a part of the European cultural heritage.
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Source: http://www.free-sunday.eu/en/content/objective
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Sunday, June 20, 2010

Feds to get 'don't pay' list ...... of dead



Last Updated: June 19. 2010 4:42PM

Feds to get 'don't pay' list of dead
Mark S. Smith / Associated Press

Washington -- Here's an idea, Uncle Sam: Stop writing checks to dead people.

The government sent benefit checks to 20,000 departed Americans over three years, totaling more than $180 million -- a remarkable number that provoked the Obama administration to create a governmentwide "do not pay" list as part of its brainstorming for ways to save taxpayer money.

Once the database is up and running, agencies will have to search it before sending out payments. A precheck check, so to speak.

"We're making sure that payments no longer go to the deceased -- it sounds ridiculous even to say it," said Vice President Joe Biden in describing the database.

Also planned for inclusion: contractors who have fallen behind in their payments or, even worse, landed in jail, and companies that have been suspended or otherwise deemed ineligible for government work.

"This stuff seems obvious on its face," Biden said. "The voters will go, 'My God, isn't that happening already?' "

In fact, the Social Security Administration does have what it calls a "Death Master File." But some other agencies don't routinely check it before issuing benefits.

An order signed by President Barack Obama on Friday would centralize the information from numerous sources.

The figures on payments to the deceased come courtesy of the White House Office of Management and Budget, which also says checks went to 14,000 convicted felons, both in jail and still on the lam. The three-year total there: $230 million.


From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20100619/NATION/6190329/1020/rss09#ixzz0rOmRjId0
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After The Flood (Part II)





The entire surface of the earth was changed at the Flood. A third dreadful curse rested upon it in consequence of sin. As the water began to subside, the hills and mountains were surrounded
by a vast, turbid sea, Everywhere were strewn the dead bodies of men and beasts. The Lord would not permit these to remain to decompose and pollute the air, therefore He made of the earth a vast burial ground. A violent wind which was caused to blow for the purpose of drying up the waters, moved them with great force, in some instances even carrying away the tops of the mountains and heaping up trees, rocks, and earth above the bodies of the dead. By the same means the silver and gold, the choice wood and precious stones, which had enriched and adorned the world before the Flood, and which the inhabitants had idolized, were concealed from the sight and search of men, the violent action of the waters piling earth and rocks upon these treasures, and in some cases even forming mountains above them. God saw that the more He enriched and prospered sinful men, the more they would corrupt their ways before Him. The treasures that should have led them to glorify the bountiful Giver had been worshiped, while God had been dishonored and despised. {PP 107.4}

The earth presented an appearance of confusion and desolation impossible to describe. The mountains, once so beautiful in their perfect symmetry, had become broken and irregular. Stones, ledges, and ragged rocks were now scattered upon the surface of the earth. In many places hills and mountains had disappeared, leaving no trace where they once stood; and plains had given place to mountain ranges. These changes were more marked in some places than in others. Where once had been earth's richest treasures of gold, silver, and precious stones, were seen the heaviest marks of the curse. And upon countries that were not inhabited, and those where there had been the least crime, the curse rested more lightly. {PP 108.1}

At this time immense forests were buried. These have since been changed to coal, forming the extensive coal beds that now exist, and also yielding large quantities of oil. The coal and oil frequently ignite and burn beneath the surface of the earth. Thus rocks are heated, limestone is burned, and iron ore melted. The action of the water upon the lime adds fury to the intense heat, and causes earthquakes, volcanoes, and fiery issues. As the fire and water come in contact with ledges of rock and ore, there are heavy explosions underground, which sound like muffled thunder. The air is hot and suffocating. Volcanic eruptions follow; and these often failing to give sufficient vent to the heated elements, the earth itself is convulsed, the ground heaves and swells like the waves of the sea, great fissures appear, and sometimes cities, villages, and burning mountains are swallowed up. These wonderful manifestations will be more and more frequent and terrible just before the second coming of Christ and the end of the world, as signs of its speedy destruction. {PP 108.2}

The depths of the earth are the Lord's arsenal, whence were drawn weapons to be employed in the destruction of the old world. Waters gushing from the earth united with the waters from heaven to accomplish the work of desolation. Since the Flood, fire as well as water has been God's agent to destroy very wicked cities. These judgments are sent that those who lightly regard God's law and trample upon His authority may be led to tremble before His power and to confess His just sovereignty. As men have beheld burning mountains pouring forth fire and flames and torrents of melted ore, drying up rivers, overwhelming populous cities, and everywhere spreading ruin and desolation, the stoutest heart has been filled with terror and infidels and blasphemers have been constrained to acknowledge the infinite power of God. {PP}

Said the prophets of old, referring to scenes like these: "Oh that Thou wouldest rend the heavens, that Thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at Thy presence, as when the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil, to make Thy name known to Thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at Thy presence! When Thou didst terrible things which we looked not for, Thou camest down, the mountains flowed down at Thy presence." Isaiah 64:1-3. "The Lord hath His way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet. He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers." Nahum 1:3, 4. {PP 109.2}

More terrible manifestations than the world has ever yet beheld, will be witnessed at the second advent of Christ. "The mountains quake at Him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at His presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein. Who can stand before His indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of His anger?" Nahum 1:5, 6. "Bow Thy heavens, O Lord, and come down: touch the mountains, and they shall smoke. Cast forth lightning, and scatter them: shoot out Thine arrows, and destroy them." Psalm 144:5, 6.

"I will show wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke." Acts 2:19. "And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great." "And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent." Revelation 16:18, 20, 21. {PP 110.1}

As lightnings from heaven unite with the fire in the earth, the mountains will burn like a furnace, and will pour forth terrific streams of lava, overwhelming gardens and fields, villages and cities. Seething molten masses thrown into the rivers will cause the waters to boil, sending forth massive rocks with indescribable violence and scattering their broken fragments upon the land. Rivers will be dried up. The earth will be convulsed; everywhere there will be dreadful earthquakes and eruptions. {PP 110.2}

Thus God will destroy the wicked from off the earth. But the righteous will be preserved in the midst of these commotions, as Noah was preserved in the ark. God will be their refuge, and under His wings shall they trust. Says the psalmist: "Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the Most High, thy habitation; there shall no evil befall thee." Psalm 91:9, 10. "In the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion: in the secret of His tabernacle shall He hide me." Psalm 27:5. God's promise is, "Because he hath set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known My name." Psalm 91:14. {PP 110.3}

Patriarchs and Prophets, Ellen G. White, pp. 107-110.
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For the pastors are become brutish, and have not sought the LORD


Jeremiah 10

1Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel:

2Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.

3For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.

4They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.

5They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.

6Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O LORD; thou art great, and thy name is great in might.

7Who would not fear thee, O King of nations? for to thee doth it appertain: forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like unto thee.

8But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock is a doctrine of vanities.

9Silver spread into plates is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the workman, and of the hands of the founder: blue and purple is their clothing: they are all the work of cunning men.

10But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation.

11Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens.

12He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion.

13When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens, and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures.

14Every man is brutish in his knowledge: every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.

15They are vanity, and the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.

16The portion of Jacob is not like them: for he is the former of all things; and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: The LORD of hosts is his name.

17Gather up thy wares out of the land, O inhabitant of the fortress.

18For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will sling out the inhabitants of the land at this once, and will distress them, that they may find it so.

19Woe is me for my hurt! my wound is grievous; but I said, Truly this is a grief, and I must bear it.

20My tabernacle is spoiled, and all my cords are broken: my children are gone forth of me, and they are not: there is none to stretch forth my tent any more, and to set up my curtains.

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

22Behold, the noise of the bruit is come, and a great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah desolate, and a den of dragons.

23O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.

24O LORD, correct me, but with judgment; not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing.

25Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not, and upon the families that call not on thy name: for they have eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and have made his habitation desolate.



King James Version (KJV)
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Saturday, June 19, 2010

The Straight Testimony Produces a Shaking


The Straight Testimony Produces a Shaking

I asked the meaning of the shaking I had seen, and was shown that it would be caused by the straight testimony called forth by the counsel of the True Witness to the Laodiceans. This will have its effect upon the heart of the receiver, and will lead him to exalt the standard and pour forth the straight truth. Some will not bear this straight testimony. They will rise up against it, and this will cause a shaking among God's people.--1T 181 (1857).

There are those among us who will make confessions, as did Achan, too late to save themselves.. . . They are not in harmony with right. They despise the straight testimony that reaches the heart, and would rejoice to see everyone silenced who gives reproof.--3T 272 (1873).

The Lord calls for a renewal of the straight testimony borne in years past. He calls for a renewal of spiritual life. The spiritual energies of His people have long been torpid, but there is to be a resurrection from apparent death. By prayer and confession of sin we must clear the King's highway.--8T 297 (1904).

Just a Name--Or a Registered Trademark?

By Sandra Blackmer

Can anyone who says they’re a Seventh-day Adventist use the church name in an official capacity? The General Conference Office of General Counsel—which provides legal counsel on issues such as employment, church assets, and protection of the church’s name—says “No.” Adventist Review features editor Sandra Blackmer talks with general counsel Karnik Doukmetzian and associate general counsel Dionne A. Parker to explore the specifics of this increasingly complex issue.—Editors.

BLACKMER: What exactly does the term “registered trademark” mean?

PARKER: A trademark, registered or otherwise, includes any word, name, symbol, or device—or any combination—used or intended to be used in commerce to identify and distinguish the goods of one manufacturer or seller from goods manufactured or sold by others, and to indicate the source of the goods. For example, the trademark “Adventist” is registered in specific areas such as missionary services, religious observances, education, and health care. So we have protection in those specific areas.

Does the Adventist Church’s registered trademark include just the church logo and the name “Seventh-day Adventist,” or does it involve more than that?

PARKER: The names “Seventh-day Adventist” and “Adventist,” and the church logo, are all registered trademarks. The acronym “SDA” is used with what’s called common-law rights, meaning that the Adventist Church has been using it for a long period of time as a name that identifies our organization. So we have rights with that, as well.

Who has the legal right to use these trademarks?

PARKER: Any entity listed in The Seventh-day Adventist Church Yearbook. This includes the General Conference, divisions, unions, local conferences, local churches and companies, educational institutions, health-care institutions, and so forth. Lay and professional groups, however, must apply to the GC Office of General Counsel for a license to use the name “Seventh-day Adventist” and then wait for approval from administration.

DOUKMETZIAN: One thing to point out is that the General Conference Administrative Committee—the group that gives the ultimate approval for licenses to use the church name—doesn’t issue licenses to use the church logo. That use is restricted to official organizations, which don’t need additional permission.


To put trademark use into perspective, if someone were to take the golden arches of McDonald’s and put them up in a building and open up a business, it wouldn’t be long until McDonald’s would react to that, even if that person used only the logo—the golden arches. On the other side of that coin is the name “Mc-Donald’s.” You can’t open up a hamburger place and call it McDonald’s, although there have been a number of cases in which people have tried. If someone passes themselves off as McDonald’s, it impacts the company brand, its reputation, and the quality of the products McDonald’s is selling.

PARKER: The same is true if somebody tries to pass themselves off as part of the official Seventh-day Adventist Church when, in fact, they’re not.

DOUKMETZIAN: It affects not only doctrinal issues but also charitable donations. If I’m attending a Seventh-day Adventist church, I expect certain rules and procedures to regulate what happens to the money I put into the offering plate. I also know there are specific doctrines held by the Adventist Church. But if there’s another organization that calls itself the Seventh-day Adventist Church but is not part of the organized church, I don’t know where my money is going or how it’s going to be spent. They also may be advocating or following doctrines different from those of the official church. It’s very important to protect the reputation of the church so people know they’re getting what they think they’re getting. The misuse of the church trademarks can cause a lot of confusion for the public.

Such as when a self-supporting but Adventist-run school uses the trademarks?

DOUKMETZIAN: If a self-supporting school were to include the name “Adventist” in its name, they would receive a letter from Dionne saying, “You’re not part of the officially recognized Seventh-day Adventist system; you don’t have the right to use this name. Please cease and desist.” Most people amicably concede at that point.

There are times, though, when we have to go beyond that. Sometimes they ask permission to use the church trademark. At that point Dionne reviews the situation to determine how it would impact the church: What is it they do or advocate, and what are their functions and goals? That information is then forwarded to the General Conference Administrative Committee, and a decision is then made whether to grant them a license to use the trademark and how that mark is to be used.

PARKER: They also have to provide a letter of recommendation from their conference, a statement of their mission and objectives, and affirmation that their board members are members of the church in regular standing.

Are there restrictions as to how and where the church trademarks can be used?

DOUKMETZIAN: They can’t be used to generate profit. And when a registered trademark such as the logo is used, it must be used with the appropriate recognitions. For example, the letter “R” with a circle around it [®] showing that it’s a registered trademark.

But it can be used by appropriate entities on letterhead, Web sites, signs, the sides of conference-owned moving vans?

DOUKMETZIAN: In general, yes.

PARKER: We run into sticky points with ministries that may be supported by the local church. For example, there’s a church that was running a healthful living center, but when the woman working with the program decided to take it over and run it herself, problems arose. When the ministry was under the umbrella of the church, they didn’t need a license agreement. Once it moved away from the church, the church didn’t want the organization to use the church’s trademark anymore. So we had to ask the woman to stop using the trademark, even though in the past she had been able to do so.

DOUKMETZIAN: A church member may feel, “Well, I’m a member of the church, therefore, I should be entitled to use the name ‘Adventist,’” but that’s not necessarily the case. An individual cannot use the name of the church in promoting his or her own business, for example.




How frequently do you deal with a situation in which an individual or a group is using the trademark inappropriately?

DOUKMETZIAN: Almost every day.

PARKER: Right now we probably have more than 60 open issues.

DOUKMETZIAN: Dionne does a regular search—both in corporate name and domain name registrations. We get reports every time someone registers a corporate name or uses a name or a domain name with any of the variations or names that we monitor.

PARKER: We also have a company that provides us with trademark monitoring worldwide, so we keep a pretty good finger on the pulse of what’s going on in terms of using the church’s name. The church’s name is also well-known outside of North America, but trademarks, in general, are not as well-protected in other world regions.

How do you enforce trademark restrictions?

DOUKMETZIAN: More and more governments are putting rules and laws in place to protect trademarks. As the world shrinks and corporations expand around the world, they want to protect their name and reputation so that someone else is not trying to pass themselves off as the corporation. The same thing applies to the church.

We’ve had some high-profile cases 
in which individuals have broken off from the official church and started their own churches using the “Seventh-day Adventist” name, and we’ve had to enforce the church’s rights. At times we’re misunderstood when we go into the court system to enforce that right, but that’s the ultimate step for us, a step we don’t take lightly. We’d much rather resolve these issues well before they get to that point. But if individuals or organizations insist even after we have counseled with them, we need to do the best we can to protect the church’s name from misuse and confusion.

PARKER: Litigation is always a last resort. In the four years I’ve been here we’ve filed three lawsuits; two of them settled almost immediately. We have 
a pretty good track record that speaks loudly to the fact that we really try not to sue people. But at the same time, we’re very firm about making sure we protect the church’s name.

Some people might say, “Why are you spending all that money taking people to court?” How would you respond?

DOUKMETZIAN: If we didn’t, the cost to the church—financial and otherwise—would be much greater.

PARKER: With trademarks, if you don’t protect your rights, you lose them. If we can’t identify ourselves as Seventh-day Adventists and be distinct from the world—which is what we’re supposed to be doing—then we’re going to have a problem. If we call ourselves Seventh-day Adventists and we believe X, but these people over here call themselves Seventh-day Adventists and they believe Y, we’ve lost our identity and created confusion and misunderstanding with the public.

A perfect example of this is the Baptist Church. The Baptists didn’t do anything to protect their name, and pretty much anybody now can start a Baptist church and believe anything they want, and there’s nothing that the National Baptist Convention can do about it because they never made the effort when they should have to protect their name.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

DOUKMETZIAN: I want to emphasize that we follow the Matthew 18 principle. We go to the people who are using the trademarks inappropriately or without authorization and try to reason with them. It’s only when everything else fails that we take the extreme step of taking them to court. It’s not what we want to do; but, ultimately, it’s the last recourse we have. The kind of publicity the church wants is not what we get when a news crew shows up in a courthouse when we’re trying to enforce the church’s right to protect its name. But sometimes we have no other recourse. 

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This article was published June 10, 2010.

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Source: http://www.adventistreview.org/issue.php?issue=2010-1516&page=24
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"Israel" in the Wilderness - Then and Now.




The history of the wilderness life of Israel was chronicled for the benefit of the Israel of God to the close of time. The record of God's dealings with the wanderers of the desert in all their marchings to and fro, in their exposure to hunger, thirst, and weariness, and in the striking manifestations of His power for their relief, is fraught with warning and instruction for His people in all ages. The varied experience of the Hebrews was a school of preparation for their promised home in Canaan. God would have His people in these days review with a humble heart and teachable spirit the trials through which ancient Israel passed, that they may be instructed in their preparation for the heavenly Canaan. {PP 293.1}

Many look back to the Israelites, and marvel at their unbelief and murmuring, feeling that they themselves would not have been so ungrateful; but when their faith is tested, even by little trials, they manifest no more faith or patience than did ancient Israel. When brought into strait places, they murmur at the process by which God has chosen to purify them. Though their present needs are supplied, many are unwilling to trust God for the future, and they are in constant anxiety lest poverty shall come upon them, and their children shall be left to suffer. Some are always anticipating evil or magnifying the difficulties that really exist, so that their eyes are blinded to the many blessings which demand their gratitude. The obstacles they encounter, instead of leading them to seek help from God, the only Source of strength, separate them from Him, because they awaken unrest and repining. {PP 293.2}

Do we well to be thus unbelieving? Why should we be ungrateful and distrustful? Jesus is our friend; all heaven is interested in our welfare; and our anxiety and fear grieve the Holy Spirit of God. We should not indulge in a solicitude that only frets and wears us, but does not help us to bear trials. No place should be given to that distrust of God which leads us to make a preparation against future want the chief pursuit of life, as though our happiness consisted in these earthly things. It is not the will of God that His people should be weighed down with care. But our Lord does not tell us that there are no dangers in our path. He does not propose to take His people out of the world of sin and evil, but He points us to a never-failing refuge. He invites the weary and care-laden, "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest." Lay off the yoke of anxiety and worldly care that you have placed on your own neck, and "take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls." Matthew 11:28, 29. We may find rest and peace in God, casting all our care upon Him; for He careth for us. See 1 Peter 5:7. {PP 294.1}

Says the apostle Paul, "Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God." Hebrews 3:12. In view of all that God has wrought for us, our faith should be strong, active, and enduring. Instead of murmuring and complaining, the language of our hearts should be, "Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits." Psalm 103:1, 2. {PP
. 294.2}
God was not unmindful of the wants of Israel. He said to their leader, "I will rain bread from heaven for you." And directions were given that the people gather a daily supply, with a double amount on the sixth day, that the sacred observance of the Sabbath might be maintained. {PP
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. 294.3} .,,,,,,
Patriarch and Prophets, E. G. White, pp. 293,294.
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South Central Adventist Conference Hires Two Female Pastors


Posted by Luther Blanchard on Jun 17th, 2010

Photo by Bidgee


On Sunday, the South Central Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, headquartered in Nashville Tennessee, made history by hiring their first two female pastors according to a statement on their website. With this action, South Central Conference joins a number of Adventist organizations that hire women as pastors.

Conference President Dana Edmond said in a recent sermon that the conference will hire women in the pastoral role, “Not because it is politically correct, but because the more diverse our staff is the more people we can reach for the Kingdom of God,”

Pastor Lola Moore was assigned to the Oakwood University Seventh-day Adventist Church in Huntsville, Alabama as an assistant pastor. In addition, Pastor Josie Frampton was assigned to the Ephesus Seventh-day Adventist Church in Birmingham, Alabama as an assistant pastor.

While women cannot be ordained as ministers in the Seventh-day Adventist Church, women do serve as pastors and are often “commissioned.”
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Note: Bolds and Highlights added to emphasize the contradictions...
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6 Catholics + 3 Jews = 0 Protestants in Supreme Court

May 20, 2010...4:33 am

ΩΩCNN has an editorial which tries very hard to con us into thinking, the exclusion of all non-Jews and non-Catholics from the Supreme Court doesn’t matter because these guys are all actually Protestants in disguise! Good gods, it is a most excellent disguise! I detect very little sympathy or thinking along previous Court Protestant judges’ lines! Obviously, the charges made by Buchanan has shaken the Zionists to the core so they are on a full throttle attack on him (while keeping him out of the news so he can’t argue back, of course!):

Pat Buchanan Takes On the Kreplach Cabal – Coop’s Corner – CBS News

At this stage of his life, Buchanan reminds me of the proverbial cranky uncle. Every family’s got one. You expect the guy to get worked up over small stuff; but he eventually calms down. Not so, though, with Buchanan, where any change to the culture, post-”Leave It to Beaver,” has been a very big deal. And when it comes to the Jews, the man’s pursued by a dybbuk. He says he’s not an anti-Semite, so I’ll take him at his word. But the controversy keeps making Lazarus-like revivals because well, Buchanan keeps saying obnoxious things.
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Everyone’s got their pet theories about why he keeps goading the Jews. Here’s another….

ΩΩThe media pretends that Ron Paul is also a cranky and rather silly crazy ‘uncle’, too. Anyone who talks about the wrong things is treated in this condescending way. Ho, ho, ho, so what if Jews are a third of the Court? They are smart! They have connections! They have…the power. And of course, the unwritten and unspoken part here is, the Protestants are locked outside of the system and have no power at all. HAHAHA. There! That silly man, talking about this!

ΩΩWell, this sort of mockery may please the owners and editors of many of our publications or TV stations but this is crossing a very, very dangerous line in the sand. Most people are usually rather unaware of the make up of our courts. I have complained about the infiltration of our courts by people who think tyranny or racism is OK. Well, it is taking over, big time and is being turned against the majority of the nation which is one reason why we are also being scolded for being angry about a flood of illegal aliens coming in, too! Or offshoring of all our jobs to Asia.

ΩΩThis is all about both citizenship and sovereignty as well as civil rights. Here is the incredible CNN editorial that is full of arrogance, defiance and outrageous lies: Do 6 Catholics + 3 Jews = 9 Protestants? – Religion – CNN.com Blogs

By Stephen Prothero, CNN Belief Blog contributor

. On Monday morning in USA Today I argued, against bloggers like Beliefnet’s Rod Dreher, that the religious commitments of judges matter. I then called for a more religiously diverse Supreme Court. Why not an agnostic? An evangelical? A Muslim? .

In all these articles, I was doing the math like this: 6 Catholics + 3 Jews = 0 Protestants. I’m no longer sure that’s right. .

Shortly after I filed my USA Today piece, I had a conversation with Nora Rubel, a University of Rochester religion professor and an observant Jew. Professor Rubel said that most Catholics in America think pretty much like most Protestants, so the Supreme Court’s Protestant/Catholic mix doesn’t really matter. I then observed that many Reform Jews are equally Protestantized, which led us to wonder whether the Jewish/Christian mix doesn’t really matter either. .

The Protestant ethos has long ruled American political institutions. The current Congress is 55 percent Protestant, and every president except for John F. Kennedy has been an heir of the Reformation. But Protestantism also colors America’s religious institutions, and not always inside the lines of Protestant denominations. .

Today many U.S. Catholics and Jews think like Protestants. They believe that religion is something we choose as individuals rather than inherit as communities, and they view it primarily in terms of faith rather than practice.



File:Religions of the United States.png – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



ΩΩIf half of Congress is ‘Protestant’ than this is the correct size. Jewish people are less than 2% of the population but a much, much bigger presence in Congress as well as the Supreme Court. No religion gets NO representation at all! Barely any in Congress and none in the courts. The ‘other Christians’ are nearly twice as great as Jews and get zero representation in the Supreme Court, too. Catholics should have only 2 people in the Supreme Court, one person should be an atheist and one seat should go to either a Buddhist, a Jew, or a Muslim or Hindu. They could rotate this position.

ΩΩOf course, this entire editorial is insane. Full of gross lies. For example, NONE of the Catholics on the Supreme Court are even faintly ‘Protestant’ in their thinking: at least two of them are very right wing doctrinaire Opus Dei members, for example. I, for one, could guess that the Founding Fathers feared a Catholic legal system more than any in Europe! The history of Catholic law isn’t a wonderful story about freedom of thought! Far from it!

ΩΩI am not even slightly surprised to see the present Jewish/Catholic court condone torture, denial of our basic freedoms and rights and support of assassinations, killing or spying on once-free US citizens and all the other garbage our top Court now allows. Our Constitution is rapidly being ripped up by this Court and the Protestant ethic is virtually totally gone. Forget about the atheist ethic! This is even harder to detect!

ΩΩI lived for many years deep inside the Jewish community in NYC. I knew not one Jew who believed that their tribal affiliations were a ‘choice’. Far from it. This is the entire business! You are born a Jew! And if your mother isn’t Jewish but your father is, you are NOT a Jew! This was made totally and completely clear to me over and over again! Indeed, modern Israel has actually passed a law saying this!

ΩΩI see no denunciations of these racist Jewish laws coming from the Jews who sit in judgement on our entire country. Far from it! I don’t see the Catholics on the bench denouncing say, the Spanish Inquisition, either! We have had nearly a decade, experimenting with replicating the Catholic Church at Gitmo and prisons holding Muslim religious fighters and not so much a peep from the Catholics how have taken over our legal system along with the Jews!

ΩΩThis all sounds so demented but then, our country just fell off a cliff here: the latest attempt at eliminating representation of half of the country (bribing Congress to do Israel’s bidding is also an example of this) from our own political system will have very, very dire consequences in the next decades. Either we lose our Founding Father’s political vision or we accept the new way of doing business and become a religious and ethnic hell hole with our own government assassinating US citizens for making the wrong speeches (a power the President already has already been tempted to use!) or waging wars while not asking Congress for permission, or other dictatorial desires.

ΩΩOne thing about Protestants: they all hate each other and think each other will go to hell so they are not monolithic like the Catholics, for example. The Jews are united by Zionism and woe to anyone in the Jewish community who defies the right wingers who run Tel Aviv! Zionism has totally corrupted all sense of dignity of the law and the concept of civil rights has totally vanished from the Holy Land, instead, it involves trickery, warping the meaning of words and outright lies, all in the pursuit of winning all the court cases via cheating. Lady Justice, in Israel, isn’t blind, she is wide eyed and totally cruel.

ΩΩThis cruel form of justice is now like a gangrene in our own system. I have, for years, warned that fascism in Israel would infect the US. Respect for our courts will collapse if it ends up being ‘alien’. Imagine, for one minute, if all the Court were Chinese or Koreans! The uproar this would cause would be obvious. By the way, when the Court was all white and Protestant males, blacks and women had a hard, hard time arguing for their own civil rights! But with this new court, there is the same problem: half of the nation wasn’t represented by previous courts but now, half will again, not have any representation at all!

ΩΩThe press is trying very hard to avoid discussing this in an honest way. The Jewish media owners are very pleased with this exclusion of half of the nation (guess why!) so they first tried ignoring it. Then, they moved on to mocking us openly with junk like the CNN editorial. A court of all Jews and all Catholics does equal zero Protestants and they know this. Will they fool half of the nation?

ΩΩThe crazier side of the Protestants think that this is just another step towards the Apocalypse! This is also disgusting and I wonder how people can function living in this sort of despair. Now, let’s look at what happens next: Thailand burns!
http://





ΩΩCities will burn! This is a shot from the Tianamen Square-type event going on tonight in Thailand. The government is getting rid of the irritating demonstrators by moving in and killing them. This has sparked widespread violence and riots and the city is literally burning.

ΩΩIn India, Maoists are fighting as well as religious strife is tearing apart the place and bombs are going off in Afghanistan and our soldiers are going mad and committing suicide or crimes here, there and everywhere. This sort of madness that is gripping us will get worse if sovereign nations begin to fail, one by one.

ΩΩAnd ours will certainly fall apart if we have an unfair or unrepresentative system. People still vote and both the libertarians and the left wing liberals are going after the DNC and GOP gangs and voting them out in primaries. We are lucky, this is going on and not things like what we see overseas or in Mexico! Obama should have noticed the lopsided Supreme Court and thought more carefully about representation but he didn’t because he is led about by the nose by Zionists and thinks the Democrats can operate as a Catholic/Jewish party with a few oddball hanger ons? This is ridiculous.

ΩΩHe could have chosen a black Protestant for the bench but didn’t! And the lockstep voting by blacks for the DNC could vanish very quickly when people realize, they are not even represented by a black Democratic President! The ultimate betrayal! This flubbing of an easy choice shows starkly how badly off kilter our political system has grown. Spitting right in the eye of half of the nation is a stupid idea in a democracy. The problem is, the GOP Presidents did the exact same thing for the exact same corrupt reasons!

ΩΩBush knew very well, his Catholic Opus Dei gang would vote draconian powers to him so he could be a dictator. And Obama appreciates this, too. And god help us, the damn Zionists are overjoyed that the Catholics want dictators to run America! So we lose our democracy, our civil rights and representation all at the same time. Good gods. This will end very badly. The only hope the minority religions have is to run things very smoothly so we don’t notice them stripping us of our civil rights. But they failed badly and a very irritated public will grow immensely irritated when we go bankrupt or have hyperinflation in the future.
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God's Law Made Void in America


It is time for thee, Lord, to work: for they have made void thy law. Ps. 119:126.


A time is coming when the law of God is, in a special sense, to be made void in our land [the United States]. The rulers of our nation will, by legislative enactments, enforce the Sunday law, and thus God's people will be brought into great peril. When our nation, in its legislative councils, shall enact laws to bind the consciences of men in regard to their religious privileges, enforcing Sunday observance, and bringing oppressive power to bear against those who keep the seventh-day Sabbath, the law of God will, to all intents and purposes, be made void in our land. {Mar 179.1}

When the land which the Lord provided as an asylum for His people, that they might worship Him according to the dictates of their own consciences, the land over which for long years the shield of Omnipotence has been spread, the land which God has favored by making it the depository of the pure religion of Christ--when that land shall, through its legislators, abjure the principles of Protestantism, and give countenance to Romish apostasy in tampering with God's law--it is then that the final work of the man of sin will be revealed. Protestants will throw their whole influence and strength on the side of the Papacy; by a national act enforcing the false sabbath, they will give life and vigor to the corrupt faith of Rome, reviving her tyranny and oppression of conscience. Then it will be time for God to work in mighty power for the vindication of His truth. {Mar 179.2}

The prophet says: "I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen. . . . And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities." When do her sins reach unto heaven? When the law of God is finally made void by legislation. Then the extremity of God's people is His opportunity to show who is the governor of heaven and earth. As a Satanic power is stirring up the elements from beneath, God will send light and power to His people, that the message of truth may be proclaimed to all the world. {Mar 179.3}


Maranatha, E. G. White, p.179.
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Friday, June 18, 2010

Adventist elected secretary of UN NGO committee to promote religious liberty

UN member states should stand behind commitment to freedom of belief, Standish says

17 Jun 2010, New York, United States
ANN staff



James D. Standish, director of United Nations relations for the Adventist world church, was elected secretary of the UN non-governmental Committee on Freedom of Religion and Belief this month. [photo: Ansel Oliver/ANN]

A Seventh-day Adventist religious liberty advocate was elected secretary of the United Nations non-governmental Committee on Freedom of Religion or Belief earlier this month.

As secretary, James D. Standish, director of UN relations for the Adventist world church, will coordinate with non-governmental organizations to promote and protect freedom of belief.

Standish's appointment recognizes the Adventist Church's leading role in advocating religious liberty, church Public Affairs and Religious Liberty leaders said.

"It's an honor to be trusted with this responsibility," Standish said. "The United Nations can be a tool to advance the cause of religious freedom."

Rather than using the position solely to defend against proposals that might threaten or limit religious liberty, Standish said he hopes to "go back on the offensive," pushing UN member states to "stand up for the values they claim to embrace."

Standish, an attorney, previously served the Adventist Church as its representative to the United States government and as executive director of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, an agency of the U.S. government.
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"Source: Adventist News Network"
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Source: http://news.adventist.org/2010/06/standish.html
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Appointment of New President of Hartland Institute


May 4, 2010

Appointment of New President of Hartland Institute

At the bi-annual meeting of the Board of Directors held on Sunday, May 2, Norbert Restrepo, Jr. was elected the new President of Hartland Institute by unanimous vote. Brother Restrepo, age 40, has been the Director of Las Delicias Institute located in Armenia, Colombia, South America, for the past 14 years.

For some years, the founding president of Hartland Institute, Colin Standish, has encouraged the Board of Directors to choose, under the Lord’s direction, the next president of Hartland Institute. The process of selection began in 2009. Nine individuals were nominated and eventually, four nominees, after much prayer, agreed to be considered. At the board meeting, all candidates were interviewed. There was deep seeking of the Lord for divine guidance of the minds of the board members.

When the consideration was narrowed to 3 nominees, the board invited students and staff to come together for earnest prayer. This was a solemn prayer session, where groups of students, staff, and board members sought for God’s plain direction. How those prayers were answered! Some stayed to continue praying as board members earnestly continued their deliberations. The board members were fully aware that God alone knew whom He had ordained to be the President. When the final vote was taken by secret ballot, the Holy Spirit had brought the 18 Board members present into one mind. It is hard to explain the sacred joy we experienced.

There will be a period of time before Brother Restrepo assumes the Presidency, when he, his dedicated wife Ivonne, and two daughters, Ivonne Alejandra, age 13, and Nelsy Giovana, age 2, will be able to move here. We will keep you updated in the future.

Some may be interested in Dr. Standish’s plans for the future. In his own words, “As long as the Lord gives me strength and opportunities, I will continue to teach, preach, and seek to warn and enlighten God’s people and those who are in darkness. I will do all I can to hold up the hands of Brother Restrepo and his family, and pray for God’s guidance in his leadership. I am deeply honored to have as my successor a man of God.”

The constituency and the Board have given Dr. Standish the title of President Emeritus. While he, his wife Cheryl, and daughter Alexandra will continue to live on campus, he and Cheryl will remain on the staff and will represent Hartland around the world.

May God bless Hartland’s partners worldwide.

J. H. Shin
Secretary of the Corporation
May 3, 2010

P.S. Please feel free to share this good news with anyone who might be interested in God’s leading here at Hartland.
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Adventists Celebrate International Day Festival on Saturday


Uncategorized — posted by jeff kunerth on June, 2 2010 10:11 AM

The Orlando Central Seventh-day Adventist Church is hosting an International Day Festival on Saturday, June, 5, featuring a parade of more than 25 countries. The day of celebrating cultural diversity will include an international food court, music and messages of hope around the theme of “United in Love.”

Participants and spectators are encouraged to dress in traditional cultural attire.

The festival is from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Adentist church, 624 N. Broadway Ave., Orlando.

For more inforatnion, contact the church office at 407-841-7510 or visit the church website at http://www.orlandocentralchurch.org/.
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Source: http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/features-the-religion-world/2010/06/02/adventists-celebrate-international-day-festival-on-saturday/
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La Sierra Removed From Michigan Conference Approved Seventh-Day Adventist Universities

Posted by Luther Blanchard on May 27th, 2010

spectrummagazine.com and EducateTruth.Com are reporting that the Michigan Conference of Seventh-day Adventists executive committee has voted to remove La Sierra University from its “list of Adventist Colleges and Universities which qualify for employee subsidy” on Tuesday. Both websites have published a letter by Jay Gallimore, president of the Michigan Conference that was emailed to them by a Michigan Conference employee.

Adventist conference employees receive a subsidy when their children attend Adventist institutions, thus this removal would mean that children of the Michigan Conference will no longer receive this subsidy when attending La Sierra.

Some teachers at La Sierra, an Adventist institution, have been accused of teaching evolution which some leaders believe is contrary to the principles of the church. Evangelist David Asscherick wrote an email to General Conference Leadership protesting the teaching of Evolution at La Sierra in 2009 which started a lot of the agitation over the issue.

“With sorrow we feel it is our spiritual responsibility to notify Michigan Conference members that we do not believe that La Sierra can currently be trusted to be supportive of Seventh-day Adventist spiritual values especially in reference to faith in the biblical understanding of creation, and thus the authority of Scripture in the life and practice of the believer,” said the statement from Gallimore.

The statement defended Adventist Higher Education, but felt that all Adventist Education should be based in “the principles of Scripture and the Spirit of Prophecy.” The Spirit of Prophecy is seen by many Adventists as including the writings of the Adventist prophet Ellen Gould White.

Finally, the statement called for the upcoming 2010 General Conference session to support fundamental belief number 6 which calls for a “literal, recent, six-day Creation” by requiring all Seventh-day Adventist colleges and universities to support and defend “creation science,” which according to the statement is “seven ordinary, literal, historic, consecutive, contiguous twenty-four hour days of divine creation and rest as described in Genesis.”
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Possibly Related Posts



Adventist General Conference Is More Than Business

Seventh-day church accepts guns for amnesty


Posted on Thu, 06/03/2010 - 11:22 in Local News




(CNS): With only one week to go until the RCIPS gun amnesty ends, Pastors from the local mission of the Seventh-day Adventist church have joined forces with the service for the final push and said they are willing to accept illegal weapons from people afraid to go to the police. The Pastors will then in turn hand the weapons over to the RCIPS as part of the ‘no questions asked’ amnesty. Hoping to encourage those who are still reluctant, for whatever reason, to hand over illegal, unlicensed or unwanted, guns and ammunition at a police station, the pastors have said people can come to the church instead.

Pastors have also volunteered to work with RCIPS Area Commanders throughout the Cayman Islands to tell their congregations and communities how they can help cut gun crime in Cayman by taking part in the last few days of the amnesty.
“We are delighted to welcome the Seventh-day Adventist Church as a key partner in the gun amnesty,” said Detective Superintendent Marlon Bodden. “While we have always made it clear that the main drop off locations for surrendering guns and ammunition are the four main police stations on the islands, we want people to feel that they have choices. We have urged them to contact teachers, pastors, doctors, in fact anyone they trust to ask their help in surrendering the guns.”

The senior cop said the poice wanted to use every means possible to get guns off the streets and cut gun crime in the Cayman Islands. “That’s why we are grateful to the church for this very public display of support,” DS Bodden added.

Police officers have been working with the Pastors to ensure that the health and safety issues associated with handling firearms have been addressed.

“Of course it’s important to us that the Pastors feel comfortable accepting the guns – that’s why officers from our Uniform Support Group have provided advice about the safe handling of weapons,” DS Bodden explained. “The Pastors will merely take possession of the guns and immediately contact the police. Our officers will then make the guns safe before transporting them back to the station as part of the amnesty.”

Pastor Al Powell, of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, said the clergy’s goal was to help in the fight against crime. “All of our Pastors in the Seventh-day Adventist Church have discussed and agreed to help with this vital and important task – helping our community to be a safer place. Our overall objective is to assist in any way we can to reduce and fight crime - keeping our island as safe as possible,” he said.

“While we recognize the awesome responsibility, we will in no way act, or be police; we are simply facilitators in this process and are available to help those within the community that know or have developed trust in our ministers. Ingrained in our teaching is to be good law abiding citizens.”

The pastor said the church would be praying that the effort will be successful.

“We have at least one church/office in every district so please use the telephone directory to contact us. Anyone requiring additional information should call the central office at 9492647 or 9498167 and ask to speak with a Pastor. We are committed that anyone who chooses to use this option will remain anonymous. We congratulate the Police Commissioner, Detective Superintendent Marlon Bodden and their team for this noble endeavour,” Pastor Powell added.

The month long gun amnesty began on 10 May and will conclude on 10 June 2010. The amnesty operates 7 days a week from 7.00 a.m. until 7.00 p.m. Anyone with information about gun crime should contact their local police station, call the RCIPS confidential tip-line 949-7777, or call Crime Stoppers 800-8477 (TIPS).
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Note: Bolds and Highlights added.
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P.S. Just had to add this correct comment from the article...
Dont need to have church in
Submitted by Twyla Vargas (not verified) on Sun, 06/06/2010 - 13:53.
Dont need to have church in doors every Sunday Night; What about having OPEN AIR CHURCH revival services on Sunday Nights (or Saturday mornings) in suspected areas where suspected criminals hangout, with an alter (Altar) call for "GUNS" Jesus is calling, Those who are weary come home. We never can tell, someone may hear thIs call.
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Thursday, June 17, 2010

Bilderbuggers


Posted by Stephen Gardner in categories EU Insider on June 9th, 2010


Journalists love the Bilderberg group because it has an air of secrecy and conspiracy. In fact, rather than anything very substantial, it seems to be largely a vanity project – people who think themselves very important gathering in an air of secrecy and conspiracy. Last week in the Commission’s press room there were questions about the possible attendance of José Manuel Barroso.

Barroso was not there at the June 3-6 meeting in Sitges, Spain. Three of his colleagues were however: Joaquín Almunia, Karel de Gucht and Neelie Kroes. At least that is what the Bilderberg website says – the group is getting a little less secretive it seems.

For all the secrecy and conspiracy (and public expense of getting the Spanish police out to guard the venue, though apparently Bilderberg refunds any such costs incurred), judging from the list of participants, Bilderberg seems to be a gathering of rather second division VIPs. Almunia, de Gucht and Kroes got to rub shoulders with a number of company CEOs, some journalists, and luminaries such as premier of British Columbia Gordon Campbell, president of Austria Heinz Fischer and Greek finance minister George Papaconstantinou. Er, isn’t rubbing shoulders with these people what the Commissioners do every day anyway? Admittedly there were more important attendees, such as Bill Gates and famous war criminal (according to Christopher Hitchens) Henry Kissenger. Spanish PM Zapatero was there as well.

And of course Bilderberg is chaired by former EU Commissioner and the man who allegedly secretly runs Belgium, Etienne Davignon.

Bilderberg justifies its secrecy by stating that participants all attend in a personal capacity and it is therefore not a public event. So no doubt the Commissioners that attended all did so on unpaid days off, and travelled and accommodated themselves for the event at their own expense.
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We’re All Peripheral Now

June 15, 2010, 11:33 AM GMT

By David Cottle

Whenever capital markets think they can at last settle down to concentrate on something else: mildly positive economic data, perhaps, or the crucifixion of BP, the euro-zone’s sovereign-debt hydra grows another head and lumbers back center stage.

Look at U.S. equity markets. They were doing OK on Monday until Moody’s announced its latest robust hack at Greece’s credit ratings. Such a move had been fairly well flagged but, even so, coming after Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria chairman Francisco Gonzalez gloomily said most Spanish companies and banks are suffering from a credit freeze, it was more than enough to send investors scurrying for the exits.



AFP/Getty Images
A car passes by the Bank for International Settlements on May 10, 2010 in Basel.
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Now they have the latest quarterly review from the Bank for International Settlements to chew over, too, and it’s unlikely to have them hurrying back into the fray.

As is its wont, the BIS has been looking at who in struggling, so-called ‘peripheral’ nations of the euro zone owes what to whom. And, surprise surprise, it tells us:

“Euro-area banks were particularly exposed to the residents of Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain, accounting for almost two thirds of all BIS reporting banks’ exposures to these countries.”

Within the euro area, French and German banks, apparently, have the largest exposures ($493 billion and $465 billion, respectively) while, without, banks headquartered in the United Kingdom had larger claims on Ireland ($230 billion) than banks based in any other country.

Just to pile mess on top of mess, Spanish banks were the ones with the highest level of exposure to the residents of Portugal ($110 billion).

These data are particularly interesting and well timed. Leaders in Europe’s relatively prudent ‘core’ are conducting their own heated internal debates over the extent to which the profligate periphery ought to be bailed out with their voters’ hard-earned funds and reputations. The idea of blank checks to Greece, Spain and all isn’t one that resonates much with the German people by all accounts; it’s hard to imagine the French are any more keen. Both have problems enough of their own, anyway, highlighted most recently by this morning’ s dismal ZEW sentiment survey out of Germany.

But, alas, the BIS’ numbers blur the over-used distinction between ‘periphery’ and ‘core’ almost to the point of invisibility. For the latter, it may well be a case of ‘bail out the debtors; the banks you save may be your own.’
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Source: http://blogs.wsj.com/source/2010/06/15/were-all-peripheral-now/
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