Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Obama economic advisors fleeing Titanic

finalhowiep...

21-Sep-10 08:18 pm

First Orszag, then Romer, now Summers.

Will the last advisor standing please turn out the lights.

Source

P.S.
So much for the recovery Summers gone!
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The Family: a Secretive Christian Fundamentalist Organization

Aug-14-2010 17:21

By Ralph E. Stone & Judi Iranyi Salem-News.com

"You know Jesus said 'You got to put Him before mother-father-brother sister? Hitler, Lenin, Mao, that's what they taught the kids. Mao even had the kids killing their own mother and father. But it wasn't murder..." - Doug Coe, 'Family' leader


Ivanwald, the unofficial headquarters of the Fellowship





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(SAN FRANCISCO) - There is a secretive group known as “The Family” or “The Fellowship,” one of the most powerful, well-connected Christian fundamentalist movements in the United States. The Family’s membership includes congressmen, corporate leaders, generals, and foreign heads of state.

The Family is anti-labor, anti-gay, and pro-life. It is also anti-communist, but not necessarily a firm believer in democracy. Rather, it favors a totalitarianism for Christ, a sort of Christian theocracy. In foreign policy, it promotes a “soft” U.S. expansionism.

Is the Family a cult, cabal, or a right-wing conspiracy? Whatever it is, we should be concerned that a secretive, privately funded group -- without public scrutiny -- is profoundly influencing U.S. domestic and foreign policy.

Shedding Needed Light

Jeff Sharlet’s publications are the primary source of this article. Sharlet is a an author and journalist, who went undercover at Ivanwald, the Family’s unofficial headquarters in Arlington, Virginia. His experience there plus interviews with insiders and research resulted in articles in Harper’s, Mother Jones, and Salon, and a New York Times bestselling book, "The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power."

Jesus Christ Superstar

Declaring God's covenant with the Jews broken, the Family's core members call themselves “the new chosen.” The Family, of course, possessed a weapon those Jewish leaders lacked: the “total Jesus” of a brotherhood in Christ.“That's what you get with a covenant,” said Doug Coe, leader of the Family, “Jesus plus nothing.”

To Family members Jesus is not some abstract, historical figure. He is here and now and he is an awesome guy, a man’s man. He would have made an excellent athlete. God loves a man who can hit a homerun, throw a touchdown pass, or hit a three-pointer.

The Family opposes labor movements in the U.S. and abroad, and teaches that a laissez-faire, deregulated private economic policy is "God's will.” At the heart of the Family's spiritual advice for its proxies in Congress is the conviction that the market's invisible hand represents the guidance of God. Senator Mark Pryor (D. Ark) remarked that the separation of church and state was a sort of exaggeration. “Jesus did not come to bring peace. Jesus came to take over.” And who are God’s foot soldiers? Family members.

Organization

Besides Ivanwald in Virginia, the group also has a townhouse in Washington, D.C., a former convent (the “C” Street Center). Members can stay at this location at below market rates.

The Family is privately funded and generally practices strict secrecy about its members or activities and as such, avoids publicity and asks its members not to speak about the group; some members have denied that the Family exists.

The Family has operated under many names, some active, and some no longer in existence: National Committee for Christian Leadership, International Christian Leadership, the National Leadership Council, Fellowship House, the Fellowship Foundation, the National Fellowship Council, the International Foundation. These groups are intended to draw attention away from the Family, and to prevent it from becoming “a target for misunderstanding.”

In a document entitled “Our Common Agreement as a Core Group,” members of the Family are instructed to form a “core group,” or a “cell,” which is defined as “a publicly invisible but privately identifiable group of companions.” A document called “Thoughts on a Core Group” explains that “Communists use cells as their basic structure. The mafia operates like this, and the basic unit of the Marine Corps is the four man squad. Hitler, Lenin, and many others understood the power of a small core of people.” The primary purpose of a core group is not to become an “action group,” but an invisible “believing group.” However, activity normally grows out of agreements reached in faith and in prayer around the person of Jesus Christ.

Youth Corps formerly known as Young Life, is a network of Christian youth groups that attract teenagers with parties and sports, and only later steer them to Jesus. Most of the Family members at Ivanwald had been among Young Life's elite, and many had returned to Young Life during their college summers to work as counselors. The goal: “Two hundred national and international world leaders bound together relationally by a mutual love for God and the family.” A document—“Regional Reports, January 3, 2002”—lists some of the nations where Youth Corps programs are in operation: Russia, Ukraine, Romania, India, Pakistan, Uganda, Nepal, Bhutan, Ecuador, Honduras, and Peru.

Prayer Groups

The Family is mostly known for organizing prayer groups throughout the U.S. and around the world, including the Presidential Prayer Breakfast, later renamed the National Prayer Breakfast, which it established in 1953 and which, with congressional sponsorship, it continues to organize every February in Washington, D.C. Each year 3,000 dignitaries, representing scores of nations, pay $425 each to attend. Every sitting United States president since 1953 has attended the event including President Obama who delivered his reamarks at the Prayer Breakfast in February 2009. This is the Family's only publicized gathering.

The National Prayer Breakfast is very ecumenical and in most years merits little press. The breakfast is regarded by the Family as a tool to recruit the powerful attendees into smaller, more frequent prayer meetings, where they can “meet Jesus man to man.”

Regular prayer groups have met in the Pentagon and at the Department of Defense, and the Family has traditionally fostered strong ties with businessmen in the oil and aerospace industries.

The Family does more than praise Jesus and conduct prayer groups. It engages in backroom diplomacy, the full extent of which we may never know. In the process of introducing powerful men to Jesus, the Family has managed to effect a number of behind-the-scenes acts of diplomacy. Uganda is a good example.

The Family converted Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni to its anti-gay brand of Christianity. The Family leader Doug Coe called Museveni their “key man” in Africa. He was once the poster child for African democracy, but lately, under his regime, horrific war crimes have been committed in the Great Lakes region of Uganda, and continuing human rights violations are claiming the lives of millions. Following implementation of one of Africa's most successful anti-AIDS programs, Museveni came under pressure from America to use abstinence instead of condoms. Representative Joseph Pitts (R. Pa), a Family member, wrote this into law, redirecting millions of dollars away from effective sex-education programs. The result was an AIDS rate, once dropping, nearly doubled.

More recently, the Family used its influence and funds through its African outreach programs to support a proposed Ugandan law -- The “Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2009” -- that would impose the death penalty on "repeat offenders" engaging in gay sex. David Bahti, a Ugandan lawmaker and a member of the Family-sponsored the antigay legislation. Uganda already punishes gay intimacy with life in prison. The proposed legislation would penalize anyone who “attempts to commit the offence” with up to seven years in jail. Additionally, a person charged would be forced to undergo an invasive medical examination to determine their HIV status. If the detainee is found to be HIV+, he or she may be executed. Under international pressure, Uganda has backed off a bit on this anti-homosexuality bill.

Members of Congress, who are members of the Family, have taken numerous trips abroad to promote U.S. interests and Family interests. Some of these official trips are paid for by the Family and some by the U.S. governement, thus possibly running afoul of the Open Government Act, which promotes accessibility, accountability, and openness in government

The Family admires strong men. Doug Coe offered Pol Pot and Osama bin Laden as men whose commitment to their causes is to be emulated. Preaching on the meaning of Christ's words, he said, "You know Jesus said 'You got to put Him before mother-father-brother sister? Hitler, Lenin, Mao, that's what they taught the kids. Mao even had the kids killing their own mother and father. But it wasn't murder. It was for building the new nation. The new kingdom."

Membership

The Family maintains a closely guarded database of its associates. It issues no cards and collects no official dues. Members are asked not to speak about the group or its activities. The Family is mostly male and mostly Republican although there are some Democrats. The membership has always consisted mostly of public men. A partial list includes Senators Don Nickles (R.Okla.), Charles Grassley (R. Iowa), Pete Domenici (R. N.Mex.), James Inhofe (R.. Okla.), Bill Nelson (D. Fla.), and Conrad Burns (R.,Mont.) are referred to as “members,” as are Representatives Jim DeMint (R. S.C.), Frank Wolf (R. Va.), and Zach Wamp (R.Tenn.).

Representatives Bart Stupak (D. Mich) and Joseph Pitts (R. Pa), who chairs the House Values Action Team, are members. Stupak and Pitts co-authored the Stupak-Ptts Anti-Abortion amendment to the recent House health care legislation.

Senator John Ensign (R. Nev) and South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford are also members. Ensign was a resident at the Family’s Washington, D.C. residence; he recently admitted to an extra-marital affair with an employee. Sanford may possibly be impeached for visiting his secret trip to meet his mistress in Argentina. Ensign and Sanford received guidance from the Family about their affairs and, in the process, shed unwanted light on the Family’s activities.

Former Representative Chip Pickering (R-Miss)., allegedly met at the D.C. residence with his mistress, an executive in the industry for which he then became a lobbyist.

Other former members include Charles Colson (Watergate conspirator); Ed Meese (Attorney General under Ronald Reagan); John Ashcroft (Attorney General under George W. Bush); Robert “Bud” McFarlane (National Security Adviser under Reagan; Iran-Contra conspirator); former senator Absolam Willis Robertson (D. Va; father of Pat Robertson), and former senators Strom Thurmand, Herman Talmadge (D. Ga), John Stennis (D. Ms), all civil rights opponents.

Conclusion

Jeff Sharlet shed needed light on a secretive Christian fundamentalist organization engaged in backroom dealings effecting both domestic and foreign affairs with little or no public accountability. Their activities possibly violate the Open Government Act. Because the Family chose not to register as a lobby group, their domestic and foreign activities are purposely kept secret. At the very least, we as Americans should challenge our elective officials as to their membership in the Family, what they do for the organization, and how the organization shapes their views.

Sharlet warns that Americans will not take the Family seriously and we do so at our peril.

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Salem-News.com writer Ralph E. Stone was born in Massachusetts. He is a graduate of both Middlebury College and Suffolk Law School. We are very fortunate to have this writer's talents in this troubling world; Ralph has an eye for detail that others miss. As is the case with many Salem-News.com writers, Ralph is an American Veteran who served in war. Ralph served his nation after college as a U.S. Army officer during the Vietnam war. After Vietnam, he went on to have a career with the Federal Trade Commission as an Attorney specializing in Consumer and Antitrust Law. Over the years, Ralph has traveled extensively with his wife Judi, taking in data from all over the world, which today adds to his collective knowledge about extremely important subjects like the economy and taxation. You can send Ralph an email at this address stonere@earthlink.net

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Google and the CIA to invest in the future


July 30th, 2010 7:41 pm PT

Ofer Amrami
Santa Ana Technology Examiner

This week Google and the CIA announced a joint venture with an internet company named "Recorded Future". a company that claims it could foresee the future based on analyzing current data - "Minority Report" anyone?...

Having seen the potential of analyzing the ridiculous amounts of data floating out on the web, I do not think the claim brought forth by Christopher Ahlberg, Recorded Future's CEO, is that far fetched. If you can create a database large enough and an engine strong enough and smart enough to correlate the who, what, where and when of everything that is currently happening on the web, you could, to a certain degree, deduct what is happening next.

Smaller version of this technology is already out there in the form of Google Trends and similar data sharing initiatives for the purpose of composing a criminal's possible path are already in place in many counties around the country. It was just a matter of time before someone out there would take it to the next level.

Anyone who watched "Minority Report" or is worried about freedom of speech and privacy would have to ask these questions: What happens when we act on a forecast that was completely wrong? How do you indict someone for a crime they have not yet committed? Are we, in a sense, giving up our freedoms on the web? At what point would this technology be taken over by marketing companies?

All the legalities are yet to be addressed but the technology itself is interesting and would put to the test the concept of artificial intelligence. Can a computer, with enough data fed to it, come up with a plausible guess of the future? And how scared would I be if it was spot on?


Source: http://www.examiner.com/technology-in-santa-ana/google-and-the-cia-to-invest-the-future

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The Millennium Development Goals: In Light of Catholic Social Teaching

September 4, 2009

By D. Brian Scarnecchia, JD Terrence McKeegan, J.D.


Download PDF



This paper considers the United Nations (UN) Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) from the perspective of Catholic social doctrine in three ways. First, it demonstrates the reason why studying the MDGs in light of Catholic social doctrine allows the policymaker to test how well current international development schemes fulfill their fundamental goal of improving human dignity. Second, it briefly summarizes the history of international development, offering a critical analysis of the MDGs’ underlying principles. Third, it takes each of the eight MDGs in turn and considers them in light of the Millennium Development Goals Reports through the years 2005 to 2008, the Holy See’s interventions at the United Nations (UN), and the authors’ own analysis. The paper finds that without some changes to the way the MDGs are now promoted by various UN and other officials, they will not live up to their mandate.

The paper concludes that for international development to succeed it must build community with, not simply for, the poor. We warn that without genuine solidarity with the poor, development aid tends to reinforce class differences. When this happens, wealthy countries are tempted to view developing countries — especially where populations are growing — as a threat to their security and to devise development targets and objectives that promote the national interests of donor nations over the genuine needs and human aspirations of the people in developing countries.
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Source
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Vatican Bank Probe Threatens New Scandal for Beleaguered Pope

David Gibson
Religion Reporter

VATICAN CITY -- The head of the Vatican bank is being investigated on suspicion of money laundering, Italian law enforcement officials said on Tuesday, a bad omen for the Catholic Church as it struggles to overcome the scandal of clergy sexual abuse.

Italian authorities said that besides bank chairman Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, chief executive Paolo Cipriani was also a target of the probe. And Italian prosecutors said they have seized $30 million in Vatican assets held in another Italian bank, Credito Artigiano.

Reports in the Italian press said that investigators suspect influential people who reside here in Italy are using the Vatican bank -- which is housed in a huge stone tower behind the Vatican walls -- as a "screen" to hide fraudulent dealings or evade taxes.



The Vatican responded in a strongly worded statement saying it was "perplexed and astonished" at the investigation and was expressing "the maximum confidence in the president and in the chief executive of the IOR" -- the acronym for the bank's formal Italian name, Instituto per le Opere Religiose, or the Institute for Religious Works.

The IOR, which was created during World War II, manages bank accounts for religious orders and Catholic associations and benefits from Vatican offshore status.

But the Vatican bank is perhaps best known for its role in a sinister scandal in the early 1980s while it was under the direction of the late American archbishop, Paul Marcinkus. (The events inspired a plotline in the "Godfather III" movie.)

The IOR eventually paid out more than $240 million to creditors in connection with its role in the fraudulent bankruptcy of Banco Ambrosiano, then Italy's largest private bank.

News of the investigation is certainly unwelcome press for Pope Benedict XVI, who just returned Sunday night from a four-day visit to Britain during which he met with sexual abuse victims and issued his most forthright apologies yet on the abuse crisis, winning him better-than-expected reviews for what was a challenging trip to the largely secular island nation.

Moreover, bank chairman Gotti Tedeschi, a conservative Italian economist with a sterling reputation, was appointed just a year ago to move the IOR "towards greater transparency and better business practices," as Vatican-watcher John Allen put it.

Both executives are accused of violating legislation passed in 2007 that requires banks to disclose information on financial operations.

The revelations also put the spotlight on Gotti Tedeschi, who was an unusually high-profile appointment for a post where discretion and a low profile had been valued, especially in recent years.

For example, in a speech last September just before his appointment as head of the IOR, Gotti Tedeschi, a daily communicant at Mass, argued that beyond the United States' "debt addiction," a main reason for the financial crisis was that people did not follow the Catholic Church's ban on birth control, which in turn led to "the rejection of life and the suppression of childbirth."

Gotti Tedeschi, 65, likes to say that he has five children, "all from the same mother." As a profile last year by Vatican expert Sandro Magister noted, he worked for years in Milan, Italy's financial capital. "He gets up very early in the morning, like a monk," driving his BMW to work, reading the newspapers in his office, then heading to Mass, "every morning, without fail."

He taught financial ethics at the Milan's Sacred Heart University, and his economic thought seems an unusual mixture of conservative and liberal tendencies.

Gotti Tedeschi cites free-market Catholic champions like Americans Michael Novak and Father Robert Sirico as influences, and he likes the work of Friedrich Hayek, Glenn Beck's favorite economist, as well as the "clash of civilizations" thesis of Samuel Huntington.

In 2007 he signed a 13-point manifesto spearheaded by the former leader of Italy's Radical Party which proposed a 20 percent "flat tax," tax credits for health care and education and tax exemption for overtime work, among other things.

Yet he also helped Pope Benedict on his social justice encyclical, "Caritas in Veritate" (Charity in Truth), which has been blasted by conservatives in America for its critiques of capitalism and the financial system. And he believes in "the superiority of a capitalism inspired by Christian morality," and specifically a Catholic morality.

In fact, in his 2004 book, "Money and Paradise: The Global Economy and the Catholic World," Gotti Tedeschi argued that capitalism was born in Italy -- "the home of Catholicism" -- in the 13th century as a result of the writings of Franciscan theologians, and at a time "when Protestantism, to which Max Weber's famous thesis attributes the birth of the 'spirit of capitalism,' was yet to arrive."

Protestantism, he said, was arguably responsible for "defects" in capitalism, such as profiteering and a laissez-faire dedication to "the law of the strongest."

Source
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P.S.
1. Highlights added for emphasis.
2. Signore Ettore Gotti Tedeschi bears a striking resemblance to another financial wizard - Bernie-to Madoff-i.
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The Irish Massacre of Protestants, 1641



The end of October was chosen as the time to put their plan into action. Rents and taxes were paid in Ireland on November 1 which meant that the rents would still be in the hands of the tenants and his crops would be housed. The high winds at the fall of the year made communication with England difficult and in 1641 these winds were exceptionally wild. They felt that a blow struck simultaneously and fiercely over the whole North, without a note of warning, might crush the settlers and their religion at once and forever. Priests were used to spread the word and organize the assault.

The order relayed by the priests was that on the same day, the Irish people were to rise and dispose of the settlers and their families. Directions were given to drive them from their houses: strip them--man, woman and child--of their property, strip them even of their clothes on their backs, to take such chances of life as the elements would allow, in the late autumn amidst sleet and rain, without food or covering. The plan also included an assault and seizure of Dublin Castle as it held arms for nine thousand men in its cellars. News of this part of the plan leaked out and was ultimately stopped but the attack on the settlers went ahead as planned.

On the morning of October 23, 1641 there appeared, before the houses of the settlers and their tenants, gangs of armed Irish, who demanded instant possession, on being admitted, ejected the entire families, and stripped most of them to the skin. Many resisted and were killed; many, the young vigorous men especially, who could save their own lives by flight, sought shelter for their women and little ones in the houses of their Irish neighbors, with whom they had lived in intimacy

The priests, however told them it was held a mortal sin to give relief or protection to the settlers. These helpless ones were often betrayed or murdered by their hosts, although there were a few exceptions, as in the case of the Blair and Crawford families who were saved by the brave warning of a dear Irish servant girl.

(Thousands of us are alive today because of that one act of kindness!)

Naked men flying for their lives, carried the alarm to Londonderry, Coleraine and Carrickfergus, and the inhabitants there had time to close their gates.

Within the next two weeks, with the exception of the places mentioned above, every town, village, fort or private house belonging to a Protestant in six northern counties and in Down and Monaghan was in the hands of the Irish insurgents, while the roads were covered with bands of miserable, fugitives dragging themselves either toward Dublin, or Londonderry, or Carrickfergus. In the wildest of remembered winters the shivering fugitives were goaded along the highways stark naked and foodless. If some found a few rags to throw about them, they were instantly torn away. If others, in modesty, twisted straw ropes round their waists, the straw was set on fire. Many were buried alive.

Those who died first were never buried, but were left to be devoured by dogs, and rats and swine. Some were driven into rivers and drowned, some hanged, some mutilated, some ripped with knives.

The priests told the people "that Protestants were worse than dogs, they were devils and served the devil, and the killing of them was a meritorious act."

They flung babies into boiling pots, or tossed them into the ditches to the pigs. They plucked out grown men’s eyes, turned them adrift to wander, and starved them to death. The towns could not hold the numbers which flocked into them, and the plague came to add to the general horrors. In Coleraine, in four months, six thousand are said to have died of the pestilence alone. The following extract comes from Henry Jones’ Remonstrance of Diverse Remarkable Proceedings Concerning the Church and Kingdom of Ireland (1641). Published as a petition to Parliament on the eve of the English Civil War, it contains a digest of atrocities committed by Irish Catholic rebels against Protestant settlers

This rebellion – which sought to revise the structure of politics in Ireland was marked by incredible levels of violence against Protestant noncombatants. The author, Henry Jones, was a Protestant minister and an assistant to a Protestant bishop in Ireland. His early career is something of a mystery, however, he apparently lost substantial property when Irish rebels rose in his home county. He therefore spent much of his later career trying to preserve the memory of Irish Protestant “martyrs” killed during the 1641 Rebellion. The Remonstrance, from which this excerpt is taken, was intended to help raise charity from English Protestants. The poor despoiled and distressed ministers of the gospel in Ireland, with the widows and orphans of such, humbly represent their lamentable condition, Showing that by the instigation of popish priests, friars, and Jesuits, with other firebrands and incendiaries of the state; partly such of them as have been resident in this kingdom of Ireland before, party flocking in from foreign parts, of late in multitudes more than ordinary, and chiefly by such of them as resorted hither out of the kingdom of Ireland.

And out of that ancient and known hatred the Church of Rome beareth to the reformed religion; as also by reason of the surfit of that freedom and indulgence, which through God’s forbearance for our trial, they of the popish faction have hitherto enjoyed in this kingdom. There hath been beyond all parallel of former ages, a most bloody and antichristian combination and plot hatched, by well nigh the whole romish sect, by way of combination from part foreign, with those at home, against this our church and state; thereby intending the utter extirpation of the reformed religion, and the professors of it.

Upon view of which, it doth evidently appear that in the present most dangerous design against this kingdom, the popish faction therein hath been confederate with foreign states, if we may rely upon the report made thereof by the conspirators themselves, and their adherents here, whereof the follow examinations are full. It being confessed that they had their commission for what they did from beyond the seas. That from Spain they did expect an army before Easter next…. From France also they look for aid. Being in all this further encouraged by bulls from Rome, some of these rebels requiring to the Pope’s use, and in his name…. In all which respects, and in allusion to that league in France, they terming themselves the Catholic Army, and the ground of their war the Catholic cause.

And as we find the hearts of these men in their tongues, so in their actions, doing what they profess; and being in both beyond all measure profane and heathenish in their impious words and behaviors towards God, and the holy scriptures, religion and the places of God’s public worship. Blaspheming our God, bidding his servants, whom they had first stripped naked, to go to their Protestant God and let him give them clothes. Breaking into churches, burning pulpits, pews, and all belonging thereunto, with extreme violence, and expression of hatred to religion and triumphing also in their impiety.

Professing, that not one Protestant should be left in the kingdom: dragging some professors through the streets by the hair of the head, into the church, where stripping, whipping, and cruelly using them, they added these taunting words: “If you come tomorrow, you shall hear the like sermon.” How have our sacred book of holy scriptures been used? God’s book hath been, O horrible! Cast into and tumbled in the kennel, thence taken up and dashed in the faces of some Protestants, with these words:

“I know you a good lesson, this is and excellent one; come tomorrow and you shall have as good.” They have torn it in pieces, kicked it up and down, treading it under foot with leaping thereon, they causing a bagpipe to play the while; laying also the leaves in the kennel, leaping and trampling thereupon, saying a plague on it… hoping within three weeks all the Bibles in Ireland should be so used, or worse, and that none should be left in the kingdom.

But what pen can set forth, what tongue express, whose eye can read, ear hear, or heart, without melting, consider the cruelties, more than barbarous, daily exercised upon up by those inhumane, blood sucking tigers! Stripping quite naked men, women and children, even children sucking upon the breast, whereby multitudes of all sorts in the extremity of that cold season of frost and snow have perished. Women being dragged up and down naked, women in child bed thence drawn out and cast into prison… a child of 14 years of age taken from his mother, in her sight cast into a bog pit and held under water while he was drowned.

The forcing of 40 or 50 Protestants to renounced their profession, and then cutting all their throats. What should we speak of these murders, their hanging, half-hanging… and delighting in the tortures of the miserable? Of which their aforesaid many and barbarous cruelties, each day doth afford us variety of new instances. This city of Dublin being the common receptacle for these miserable sufferers. Here are many thousands of poor people, sometimes of good respects and estates, now in want and sickness, whereof many daily die, notwithstanding the great care of those tender hearted Protestants without whom all of them had before now perished.

In all which, as our sufferings are general, the hatred of the popish enemy being expressed to the whole nation, and to all the professors of the truth. So chief in and above all others do we find it with the deadliest venom spit against the persons of us the ministers of the gospel, towards whom their rage is without bounds.

Source
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Merkel says developing world need better governance


Published: 21 Sep 10 17:27 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/politics/20100921-29961.html

German Chancellor Angela Merkel told a UN summit on Tuesday that developing nations needed better governance and urged them to take more responsibility for building up their economies to combat poverty.

She also said the United Nations had to accept that efforts to eliminate poverty and hunger had fallen short of the Millennium Development Goals set a decade ago.

Germany is the world's third largest aid donor and Merkel said there should be more "results-based financing" to poorer nations who have demanded greater financial aid from the industrialised world at the summit.

"There is one thing we have to accept. The primary responsibility for development lies with the governments of the developing countries," Merkel said.

"It is in their hands whether aid can be effective. Therefore, support to good governance is as important as aid itself."

Merkel insisted that development assistance "can, apart from emergency situations, only be a contribution to national resources, never a substitute for them.

"Development aid cannot continue indefinitely. The task therefore is to use limited resources as effectively as possible. This can only work through good governance which taps that country's potential."

The German chancellor also called for greater efforts to promote a market economy and small businesses.

"Without self-sustaining economic growth, developing countries will find the road out of poverty and hunger to steep to climb."

Merkel also made a new plea for reform of the United Nations, to back Germany's case for a place on the UN Security Council.

"It is up to us, the member states of the United Nations to make the UN fit for the challenges of this century," she said, highlighting Germany's role as the third biggest contributor to the UN budget.

"For that reason Germany will continue to work resolutely for UN reform," she insisted.

Earlier on Tuesday, German Development Minister Dirk Niebel admitted that Germany was behind on its development goals, but said the country should be realistic about foreign aid funding following the global financial crisis.

“We are momentarily not within the plan, that is right,” the pro-business Free Democrat told broadcaster Deutschlandfunk, adding that the measuring rod should be adjusted.

This year Germany has managed to give just 0.4 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP), but would maintain its goal to reach 0.7 percent by 2015, he said.

“Only I don’t believe it is sensible or realistic to finance it all with tax revenue,” he told the broadcaster, pointing to the government coalition’s contract, which had included plans to us half of its revenue from CO2 emissions trading credits for development aid.

Niebel also said the country should mobilise funding from private businesses and organisations.

His comments followed Green party parliamentary leader Jürgen Trittin’s accusation that Chancellor Angela Merkel was failing to deliver on her development promises.

AFP/DAPD/DPA/ka/mry

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Obama rejects criticism that he's been too hard on Wall Street

The president acknowledges that measures taken to stabilize the economy haven't worked as fast as hoped but says he has 'absolutely not' vilified or enacted policies harmful to the business community.


September 20, 2010

By Michael A. Memoli, Tribune Washington Bureau

Stephen J Boitano / CNBC via Getty Images



President Obama sought to challenge critics who say his administration has been hostile to businesses, arguing in a televised forum Monday that measures he has taken to stabilize the economy have boosted the private sector.

During an event styled as a town-hall meeting on business news channel CNBC, the president acknowledged that the economic recovery was not proceeding as quickly as he would like. But he said he has "absolutely not" vilified or enacted policies harmful to the business community.

"As a consequence of reckless decisions that had been made, the economy was on the verge of collapse. Those same businesses now are profitable; the financial markets are stabilized," he said. "The only thing that we've said is that we've got to make sure that we're not doing some of the same things that we were doing in the past that got into this mess in the first place."

While some have accused him of being hostile to Wall Street, Obama said a "big chunk" of the nation "feels like I've been too soft on Wall Street."

"It's very hard to find evidence of anything we've done that's designed to squash business as opposed to promote business," he said. "What I've tried to do is just try to be practical."

Even as he pointed to a new report marking the official end of the recession, Obama acknowledged the "understandable" frustration of many who feel the economy has barely improved.

"The hole was so deep that a lot of people out there are still hurting, and probably some folks here in the audience are still having a tough time," he said. "So the question then becomes, what can we now put in place to make sure that the trend lines continue in a positive direction, as opposed to going back in the negative direction?"

Part of that discussion included the debate over Bush-era tax cuts. Obama tread familiar ground, saying he would only support extending relief for the middle class. He did not answer specifically whether he would rule out a compromise to allow tax cuts to sunset only on those earning more than $1 million.

During the hour-long event, Obama offered rare commentary on the "tea party" movement. America, he said, has "a noble tradition of being helpfully skeptical about government," but that activists this year have been "misidentifying sort of who the culprits are." Today's federal government is actually "less intrusive" than it was during Ronald Reagan's presidency, he said.

He also challenged candidates running on a tea party-favored platform of smaller government to be specific about what they would do if elected.

"It's not enough just to say, 'Get control of spending.' I think it's important for you to say, 'You know, I'm willing to cut veterans' benefits,' or, 'I'm willing to cut Medicare or Social Security benefits,' or, 'I'm willing to see these taxes go up.'"

Republicans criticized the president for what they said was a PR campaign that misrepresents his failed record.

"The president's insistence on raising taxes for small businesses is only further proof that Democrats will never let good, pro-growth economic policies get in the way of the liberal dogma that has resulted in record-breaking deficits and sustained high unemployment," Republican National Committee Chairman Michael S. Steele said in a statement.

On other topics, Obama said he has not made any determinations about personnel going forward, and praised his economic team as doing an "outstanding job." Asked about any "course correction" coming, he only talked of working to elevate the level of debate between the parties.

"It's not just a matter of implementing good policies, but also setting a better tone so that everybody feels like we can start cooperating again instead of going at loggerheads all the time," he said.

Monday's event comes as Obama is set to spend much of his week focused on foreign policy. He will travel to New York on Wednesday to attend the United Nations General Assembly, and will speak to the body on Thursday.



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Monday, September 20, 2010

With No Apologies


excerpts from the book
With No Apologies
The Personal and Political Memoirs of United States Senator Barry M. Goldwater, 1979


Pg. 128:
"The CFR is the American branch of a society which originated in England. Internationalist in viewpoint, the CFR, along with the Atlantic Union Movement and the Atlantic Council of the United States, believes national boundaries should be obliterated and one-world rule established."
Pg. 277:
"In its September 1, 1961 issue, the Christian Science Monitor described the Council on Foreign Relations as "probably one of the most influential, semipublic organizations in the field of foreign policy." The Monitor said, 'The CFR is composed of 1,400 of the most elite names in the world of government, labor, business, finance, communication, the foundations, and the academies. It has staffed almost every key position of every administration since that of FDR.'"
Pg. 277 - 278:
"In September 1939, two members of the Council on Foreign Relations, Hamilton Fish Armstrong and Walter H. Mallory, visited the State Department to offer the council's services. They proposed to do research and make recommendations for the department without formal assignment or responsibility, particularly in four areas - security armaments, economic and financial problems, political problems, and territorial problems The Rockefeller Foundation agreed to finance the operation of this plan.
From that day forward, the Council on Foreign Relations has placed its members in policy-making positions with the federal government, not limited to the State Department Since 1944, every Secretary of State, with the exception of James F. Byrnes, has been a member of the CFR. Almost without exception the members of the CFR are united by a congeniality of birth, economic status, and educational background."
Pg. 278:
"I believe that the Council on Foreign Relations and its ancillary elitist groups are indifferent to communism. They have no ideological anchors. In their pursuit of a new world order, they are prepared to deal without prejudice with a communist state, a socialist state, a democratic state, a monarchy, an oligarchy - its all the same to them."
Pg. 278:
"Rear Admiral Chester Ward, USN (Retd.), who was a member of the CFR for sixteen years, has written, 'The most powerful clique in these elitist groups have one objective in common - they want to bring about the surrender of the sovereignty and the national independence of the United States.'"
Pg. 279:
"When we change presidents, it is understood to mean that the voters are ordering a change in national policy. Since 1945 three different Republicans have occupied the White House for a period of sixteen years. Four Democrats have held this most powerful post for seventeen years. With the exception of the first seven years of the Eisenhower administration, there has been no appreciable change in foreign or domestic policy direction."
Pg. 279:
"When a new President comes on board, there is a great turnover in personnel but no change in policy. Example: During the Nixon years Henry Kissinger, CFR member and Nelson Rockefeller's protégé, was in charge of foreign policy. When Jimmy Carter was elected, Kissinger was replaced by Zbigniew Brzezinski, CFR member and David Rockefeller's protégé."
Pg. 280:
"The implications in Governor Rockefeller's presentation have become concrete proposals advanced by David Rockefeller's newest international cabal, the Trilateral Commission. Whereas the Council on Foreign Relations is distinctly national in membership, the Trilateral Commission is international. Representation is allocated equally to Western Europe, Japan, and the United States. It is intended to be the vehicle for multinational consolidation of the commercial and banking interests by seizing control of the political government of the United States."
Pg. 280:
"Zbigniew Brzezinski and David Rockefeller screened and selected every individual who was invited to participate in shaping and administering the proposed New World Order. In the late 1950s, Brzezinski, an accepted member of the inner circle of academics, asserting the need for global strategies, was openly anti-communist. By 1964, he had modified his criticism of communism."
Pg. 280-281:
"The Trilateral Organization created by David Rockefeller was a surrogate -- its members selected by Rockefeller, its purposes defined by Rockefeller, its funding supplied by Rockefeller Whether or not the approximately 200 individuals selected for membership on the commission represent the "best brains in the world" is an arguable proposition.
Examination of the membership roster establishes beyond question that all those invited to join were members of the "power elite," enlisted with great skill and singleness of purpose from the banking, commercial, political, and communications sectors."
Pg. 281:
"Most Americans have no real understanding of the operation of the international moneylenders. The bankers want it that way. We recognize in a hazy sort of way that the Rothschilds and the Warburgs of Europe and the houses of J. P. Morgan, Kuhn, Loeb and Company, Schiff, Lehman and Rockefeller possess and control vast wealth. How they acquire this vast financial power and employ if is a mystery to most of us.
International bankers make money by extending credit to governments. The greater the debt of the political state, the larger the interest returned to the lenders. The national banks of Europe are actually owned and controlled by private interests."
Pg. 282:
"The accounts of the Federal Reserve System have never been audited. It operates outside the control of Congress and through its Board of Governors manipulates the credit of the United States."
Pg. 284:
"In my view, the Trilateral Commission represents a skillful, coordinated effort to seize control and consolidate the four centers of power -- political, monetary, intellectual, and ecclesiastical. All this is to be done in the interest of creating a more peaceful, more productive world community. Throughout my public life and in these pages I have refrained from judging other men's motives. I have no hesitancy about judging their wisdom and the results of the actions taken."
Pg. 285:
"What the Trilaterals truly intend is the creation of a worldwide economic power superior to the political government of the nation-states involved. They believe the abundant materialism they propose to create will overwhelm existing differences. As managers and creators of the system, they will rule the future."
Pg. 286:
"David Rockefeller and Zbigniew Brzezinski found Jimmy Carter their ideal candidate. They helped him win the nomination and the presidency. To accomplish this purpose, they mobilized the money power of the Wall Street bankers, the intellectual influence of the academic community-which is subservient to the wealth of the great tax-free foundations -- and the media controllers represented in the membership of the CFR and the Trilateral."
Pg. 299:
"We have arrived at our present position of peril in the world and at home because our leaders have refused to tell us the truth ... unless we, who profess to believe in freedom, wake up, the world is headed for a period of slavery."



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It's REALLY the economy stupid



aaafund | August 24, 2008
James Carville's exclusive interview with Asian American Action Fund

What is Global Hand?


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But me ye have not always


For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have not always. ......Mark 14:7

ADRA and Millennium Development Goals





Kara Watkins/ADRA International

Residents of Totogalpa, a small Nicaraguan farming community skirting the country's northern border with Honduras, plant tomatoes, green peppers, zucchini and other non-traditional crops. These days, the robust agricultural region is known for its high-quality produce, but it wasn't long ago that drastic climate swings left it desolate. Then an Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) project helped Totogalpan farmers overcome their dependence on locally grown grains by equipping them with the tools, training and resources to diversify their crops.

The project is one of many that fall under the United Nation's first Millennium Development Goal: eradicate extreme poverty and hunger. Initiated in 2002, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) challenge nations to achieve measurable improvement in alleviating poverty and other crucial humanitarian issues by the year 2015. From its beginnings in 1956, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) has operated under the mission of giving humanitarian aid and development assistance to all those in need. Today, ADRA continues its mission, working alongside the worldwide humanitarian community to fulfill the MDGs.

ADRA is also active in working toward the UN's 7 other Millennium Development Goals.

Achieve universal primary education

ADRA has always emphasized education as the foundation for success, developing projects that provide both children and adults -- especially girls and women -- with the opportunity to attend school to learn the basics of reading, writing, and math, and perhaps a marketable job skill.

In Lima, ADRA Peru provides tuition for vocational training and psychological support to impoverished street kids ages 14 to 18 -- an often forgotten age group. Most teens in the program have had troubled childhoods. They now live in shelters with other teens who grew up on the streets or left home because of domestic or sexual abuse or other family problems.

Once finished with the nine to twelve month vocational courses, which include several months of practical training, the young people are equipped to find jobs or even open their own businesses. More importantly, they are prepared to embrace a more hopeful future.

Promote gender equality and empower women

ADRA Peru is promoting gender equality with a project to strengthen women's rights in the region of Ayacucho. The project works with local women in the region, educating them about their rights, building their capacity, and increasing their representation as decision-making citizens at all levels of society. In addition, the project supports civil society organizations and promotes women's economic participation.

Also in South America, female heads of household and women who have been displaced by civil war in Colombia are becoming empowered through vocational training and personal development classes provided by ADRA.

Women make up nearly half of Colombia's internationally displaced population, and ADRA Colombia has helped hundreds achieve financial independence by offering hands-on training in tailoring and cosmetology. The women also participate in health education, women's rights, and personal development classes designed to improve their quality of life and self-esteem.

Reduce child mortality

ADRA Cambodia is helping to reduce child mortality by creating "Child Friendly Villages." The multi-year project is improving the quality of health and reducing the morbidity and mortality of more than 22,500 women of reproductive age and more than 17,400 children under five in the Baray-Santuk district of the Kampong Thom province of Cambodia.

A village-level initiative, the project trains and empowers village leaders, volunteers, and traditional birth attendants, who then teach local women of child-bearing age about proper nutrition, birth spacing, breast-feeding, and pre-natal, labor and delivery, and post-natal care -- all important factors affecting infant and child health.

Addressing the most common health problems affecting village mothers and children, the project also ensures villagers have access to clean water and sanitation, provides education classes in health, hygiene, and sanitation, and coordinates community-based nutrition activities. In addition, women learn how to grow home gardens that improve household nutrition and provide a source of income, and attend literacy classes to help build knowledge and improve family livelihoods.

Improve maternal health

ADRA Nepal reports that one woman in Nepal dies every two hours due to preventable pregnancy-related causes. Contributing factors include inadequate health care facilities and trained health care staff, lack of equipment and pharmaceuticals, and cultural and geographical barriers.

In response, ADRA Nepal has launched the Safe Motherhood Innovation Project (SMIP). The SMIP project reduces maternal mortality and morbidity rates through training maternal health care staff, improving access and quality of maternal health services, increasing community awareness of Safe Motherhood issues, and establishing an active maternal health network.

Funded by the European Commission through ADRA Germany, the project will directly benefit nearly 270,000 women ages 15 to 49 living in Nepal's Eastern Development Region. The project will also directly benefit 3,610 female community health volunteers, 979 traditional birth attendants, and hundreds of other health care workers.

Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases

HIV/AIDS

Since 1985, ADRA has implemented successful HIV and AIDS projects that have reached more than 10 million people worldwide. In February 2004, ADRA's Training of Trainers (TOT) program began training hundreds of religious leaders, teachers, and healthcare workers in hospitals and schools to counsel people infected or affected by HIV. The TOT program has already reached more than 220,000 people directly and more than 1,000,000 indirectly.

The trainers provide counseling to community members on a continuous, voluntary basis. Along with offering HIV and AIDS awareness and education to reduce HIV infections, TOT participants provide counseling and support services that help improve the quality of life, increase access to medical care, empower, encourage social wellbeing, and preserve the rights of vulnerable groups in their communities, such as women and people living with AIDS.

Malaria

Almost six million cases of malaria are reported per year in Mozambique, where the disease is a major cause of death. Malaria also contributes to the high level of poverty throughout the southeastern African country by reducing productivity, especially in rural areas.

ADRA Mozambique is fighting malaria at the grassroots level with the Together Against Malaria (TAM) project. Funded through President Bush's Malaria Initiative by a grant worth nearly $2 million, TAM is an interfaith project that will reach more than 1.5 million Mozambicans.

"TAM represents an integral partnership between ADRA, the Inter-Religious Campaign, the Washington National Cathedral's Center for Global Justice and Reconciliation, the Mozambique Ministry of Health, and the United States government," explains Darcy de Leon, country director for ADRA Mozambique.

The project is training more than 250 faith leaders from ten distinct religions to provide health education, train other individuals, and mobilize their unique faith communities to work together in fighting the spread of malaria.

Ensure environmental sustainability

ADRA's humanitarian and development efforts also take environmental sustainability into consideration. Natural resource management is a vital component of ADRA's initiatives to improve food source sustainability throughout the world.

With ADRA's help, communities learn to grow food with water-saving agricultural methods and irrigation systems, manage seedling nurseries, replant forests, build living fences, protect watersheds, and clear agricultural land responsibly. In the process, communities reestablish damaged environments, improve soil quality, grow diet-enriching fruits, vegetables, and nuts, and create stable, marketable sources of income.

ADRA also utilizes "green" technology, installing solar powered wells in Namibia and wind-powered wells in Somalia, both of which provide vulnerable communities with low-cost, reliable, environmentally friendly water supplies. Using innovative straw-bale technology, ADRA China has built hundreds of energy-efficient homes and schools.

Build a global partnership for development

Successfully meeting MDGs 1 through 7 hinges upon the partnership and accountability of rich and poor countries, governments, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) such as ADRA. In every country where it works, ADRA's efforts are made more effective through its cooperative relationships with partner organizations and collaborations with a variety of government and NGO partners at all levels: community, regional, state and provincial, national, and international, including the United Nations.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) oversees the Millennium Development Goals and monitors their progress. More information about the MDGs can be found on the UNDP Web site at www.undp.org/mdg.

For more information about ADRA and its worldwide development activities, visit http://www.adra.org/.

Source

Saturday, September 18, 2010

The kings of the earth have committed fornication with her

For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. VV
The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing,..


Queen Elizabeth II and Pope Benedict XVI leaves to meet school children outside the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the Queen's official residence in Scotland, on September 16, 2010 in Edinburgh, United Kingdom. Pope Benedict XVI is conducting the first state visit to the UK by a Pontiff. During the four day visit Pope Benedict will celebrate mass, conduct a prayer vigil as well as beatify Cardinal Newman at an open air mass in Cofton Park. His Holiness will meet The Queen as well as political and religious representatives. (September 15, 2010 - Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Europe)
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Pope Meets Abuse Victims As Thousands Protest London Visit

Updated: 1 hour 17 minutes ago

Hugh Collins
Contributor

AOL News (Sept. 18) -- Pope Benedict XVI met with five victims of priestly child abuse as part of his official trip to Britain, while thousands marched the streets of London in protest against his visit.

Benedict prayed with the victims and said that the Catholic Church is "continuing to implement effective measures to safeguard young people," according to a statement from the Vatican (http://cnsblog.wordpress.com/).

"He was moved by what (the victims) had to say and expressed his deep sorrow and shame over what victims and their families had suffered," the Vatican said.


Carl Court, AFP / Getty Images
Demonstrators gather in London Saturday for what would become the biggest protest of Pope Benedict XVI in his five-year papacy. The Catholic sex abuse scandal has clouded the pontiff's visit to Britain.


Earlier in the day, Benedict offered one of his strongest apologies for the actions of priests who sexually abused children. Speaking at Mass in Westminster Cathedral, Benedict referred to the priests' actions as "unspeakable crimes."

"I think of the immense suffering caused by the abuse of children, especially within the Church and by her ministers," Benedict said. "I express my deep sorrow to the innocent victims of these unspeakable crimes, along with my hope that the power of Christ's grace, his sacrifice of reconciliation, will bring deep healing and peace to their lives."

In previous visits to Australia and the United States, Benedict has also met with victims and apologized for sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests, The Wall Street Journal said.

The meeting with the victims took place at the Vatican's embassy to the United Kingdom. Bill Kilgallon, chairman of the National Catholic Safeguarding Commission, the church group that organized the meeting, told The Associated Press that the victims might not speak with the media.

On Friday, the pope addressed British dignitaries including former Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Margaret Thatcher in a speech at Westminster, thanking them for the official invitation and praising British political and legal traditions. Prime Minister David Cameron was not present, as he was attending his father's funeral.

Hostility towards Benedict has been strong during this visit. Protesters took to the streets today, denouncing the pope's stance on birth control and the behavior of the Catholic Church in regards to the sexual abuse of children.

Protesters carried signs saying, "The pope is wrong – put a condom on," and "Pope protects pedophile priests." Organizers said they expected about 10,000 people in the march.

The protesters gathered in London's Hyde Park, while a crowd of Catholics rallied outside Westminster Cathedral.

Even before Benedict arrived earlier this week, notable figures such as comedian Stephen Fry and author Philip Pullman said that he should be not be allowed to visit the UK as a head of state, citing the Vatican's positions on birth control, abortion and gay rights.

Benedict's words of contrition received a cool reception from representatives of the victims of priestly child abuse



"We don't need a pope who is sad about crimes. We need a pope who will prevent crimes," Peter Isely of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said in a statement, according to the AP. "And his words prevent nothing."

Margaret McGuckin, who was abused in the Sisters of Nazareth Orphanage in Belfast, took a more positive line in an interview with BBC News.

"I feel hopeful, I feel he knows he's hearing the outcry of the people here," McGuckin said.

Still, even McGuckin said she wished that the pope had gone further in discussing the role of the Catholic Church in covering up child abuse and protecting the perpetrators.

"He should have said about admitting the cover-up that they were responsible for and that it did go right up to the hierarchy," McGuckin said.

There was greater enthusiasm for Benedict's words among the faithful gathered at Westminster Cathedral.

"It was very important that he apologized for the abuse that has taken place," Ann Maria Hayden told The Daily Telegraph. "It showed a lot of humility on his part."

This is the pope's first visit to the UK. As part of his packed itinerary, Benedict has met with members of the royal family, spoken with the Archbishop of Canterbury and addressed the country's elite at Westminster Hall.

Six men are still being held in connection with an alleged plot against the pope. Police arrested the suspects on Friday, acting on a tip.

The men are all North Africans, including at least one Algerian. Police searched eight homes this morning, but offered no more details on the case, Reuters reported.

Benedict drew fierce criticism Friday when he appeared to link atheism with the horrors of Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. Speaking to members of the royal family in a speech in Edinburgh, Scotland, the pope, who was a member of the Hitler Youth, spoke of Nazism as a form of extreme atheism, and urged respect for "traditional values."

He sounded the same note in a short, philosophical speech at Westminster Hall Friday, warning against the "marginalization" of Christianity.

"There are those who would advocate that the voice of religion be silenced, or at least relegated to the purely private sphere," Benedict said Friday. "I cannot but voice my concern at the increasing marginalization of religion, particularly of Christianity, that is taking place in some quarters, even in nations which place a great emphasis on tolerance."

Benedict again emphasized the importance of religion in informing political life, saying that relying on reason alone contributed to 20th century totalitarianism and the historical slave trade.

The pope's visit will continue Sunday, when he is due to fly to Birmingham, the second-largest city in the UK, to beatify Cardinal John Henry Newman, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Newman was a 19th century writer and theologian who converted from Anglicism to Catholicism.

Source: http://www.aolnews.com/world/article/pope-meets-with-abuse-victims-as-thousands-denounce-his-visit/19639278?icid=main%7Chtmlws-main-n%7Cdl1%7Csec1_lnk1%7C171396
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The Dreams of SDA's: A Great and Terrible Storm is Coming




The Dreams of SDA's
A Great and Terrible Storm is Coming
A Storm of persecution

The first part and main body of this paper is a newsletter by SDA Danny Vierra of http://www.modernmanna.org/. Read it first and then we will see some revealing comments by Ellen White and in Revelation on the same topic.

______________________________________________________________________________

A STORM IS COMING
Relentless in its Fury

Greetings!

I received a very interesting email this week from Dr. Diane Barnett, a physician who works at Uchee Pines. It is very sobering to say the least. The letter tells of a number of people who have had dreams about a coming storm that is relentless in its fury.

But before I share Dr. Diane's letter (she has given me permission to share it with you), please read carefully the following quote from the Spirit of Prophecy: "This is the day of the Lord's preparation. He says: "Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. The great work from which the mind should not be diverted, is the consideration of our safety in the sight of God. The storm is coming, relentless in its fury. Are we prepared to meet it? Are our feet on the Rock of Ages? Are we one with Christ, as he is one with the Father?" RH, Dec. 27, 1898.


Now here is the letter from Dr. Diane Barnett:

I recently had a dream that when I related it to others I found that they too, had a dream about a storm. May the seriousness and soberness of the hour be with us.

On Tuesday, August 3rd, I had a dream before awakening in the morning. I was walking outside to go into a building with my family. It was a clear day and one of my brothers was racing and playing around on the way in, making me laugh. As we got inside to a certain room, I felt wind blowing in. I knew that the room would never get warm unless the opening to the room was closed. My father and I went to go close it and saw that the main doors into the building were wide open. At that point I realized that the building was made of wood and was much like a barn. As we approached the doors, I saw that a tremendous storm was on us. The atmosphere of laughter was turned into crisis. All was dark and things were whirling every direction with winds of hurricane strength. We were struggling to close the doors as the strength of the winds were so strong that we could barely pull them. I heard a dog scream in the destruction of the winds just before waking.

As soon as I awoke I felt that the storm was the final crisis of the earth and that it is "near, even at the doors." I realized that all earthly buildings (spiritual and temporal) would be destroyed in such winds. I felt desperate to have the fullness of God's grace, His protection. I felt anxious to know that I had oil in my lamp. I have been praying for direction regarding certain decisions I must make, and I felt this dream was to help me know what to do. I felt it was significant as it was in the exact same manner as two previous dreams I had regarding my daughter's cancer: At 4:00 in the morning, short, succinct, and memorable.

I felt I had to tell someone of the dream so not to lose the impact. I called Winnie in Bermuda to tell her, and we had a prayer for help to get ready. Then when I got to work, Lisa was in my office.

"Lisa, I have to tell you about the dream I had this morning." After relating to her my dream, she said to me: "That's strange. I had a dream last night about a storm, too. In my dream I was standing outside of a large white building. Before me was a river and there were people all over the place playing and going about whatever business they had. Several of us were standing next to the white building, and though I was with them I had a sense that I really should be in the building. Very soon a warning was given to all of us that a really bad storm was coming and that we should seek shelter. Since I was standing close to the entrance of this large white building I thought that I'd stay outside just long enough to see the storm approach. I have always enjoyed storms so I didn't feel intimidated. But quite unexpected the storm blew in on a sunshiny day and all were so surprised that it was hard to maintain our footing. A large stocky man came out of nowhere and grabbed my arm and dragged me to safety inside the building rebuking me for being outside. People were screaming and all was crazy outside, but inside everything was peaceful and restful. And immediately I had the sense that this place was for only those who kept the health message and lived in unity with God. Many did not come inside though there was space for everyone. At that point, I woke up.

She did not think her dream was anything significant until she heard my dream. Hearing her dream also brought greater impact regarding my dream.

Later on Thursday of that week we were having devotions for medical conference. I shared my dream as well as Lisa's. One of the students then said that Nicky had also had a dream about a storm. When Nicky came in we asked her to share her dream.

She dreamed that there was a tsunami. Hundreds of people were being pulled out to the ocean and drowning. She was striving with all her energy to save an unknown person. She had to grab hold of the person and pull with all her strength to get the person to shore. There was a stairway with a banister coming out of the ocean. She put the person in front of her so that she could prevent the wave from crashing on the person. She got a hold of the banister with one hand, and with the other held onto the person. It took great effort to keep the person from being pulled out with the under-tow.

The next day, Friday morning, I had a phone conversation with a patient's mother in England. She told me that she and her husband were convicted that they needed to move back out to the countryside. They had moved closer to the city for convenience because of her husband's work. But the children were now totally unruly after being in public school.

I told her it was not only an option, but a directive from God as we are at the end of time. I then related my dream, as well as Lisa's and Nicky's. With amazement she then told me: "Dr. Diane, I had a dream about a storm six weeks ago. It was flooding and people were drowning everywhere. My concern was for my 5 children. I was desperately looking for all of them to make sure they were safe."

I had a lecture to give to our lifestyle guests at Uchee Pines that morning. As I finished my talk on cancer, I told them that I believed we were at the end of time. I related all the dreams about a storm to them, now four in number.

The following week on Monday afternoon I was seeing patients. I was visiting with our 15 year-old guest and her mother. Sydni left the room for a fever treatment while I finished discussing plans with her mother. June related to me how thankful she was to be able to come to Uchee Pines. She had struggled with weight issues for over 24 years unsuccessfully. What she had learned here at Uchee led her to a full commitment, and with God's grace, she and her husband would follow God's plan as a family.

I then asked her if she heard my lecture on Friday when I told about the storm dreams, especially Lisa's with the building that was for people that kept the Health Message.
"Dr. Diane, I almost fell out of my chair when you told those dreams. Sydni had a dream last week about a storm. I went and found her to ask her about the dream, but all she could tell me was that it was a horrible storm and she was so afraid."

The import of these messages seemed to be growing in weight. I had to tell everyone. I went to the executive office and asked Brother Champen if I could tell him something. "Well, I don't know. Is it good or bad?" he asked. "Yes!" was my answer.

I then related all the above stories. When I finished, he remarked that "this is very sobering, and we are not ready. We are too busy."

I then went to my office to get ready to go home. A young woman from off-campus came in to visit. "Chrissy, I have to tell you something."

"Oh no. Do I need to sit down?" she asked. "No," I said, "you need to kneel down."
After I told her all of the dreams, she said to me, "Dr. Diane, I had two dreams last week about tidal waves. But there was a big wall by the shore and as long as we stood on the wall we were safe."

On Tuesday, Dr. Karla Boutet's told me of an experience (not a dream) that she had while at camp meeting at Camp Alamosa. It was a nice day and she decided to take the kids out on the lake in the paddle boat. As they paddled down the lake a little way, a woman stepped out on her porch and yelled out to them, "A storm is coming." Karla turned and asked her if she knew when it was coming. Others turned and headed for shore, encouraging her to head for shore as well. Just as they reached the dock the storm burst upon them. She felt impressed that this was as the storm coming upon the earth and that she should not ask "when" but to head for shore and be ready for the storm in shelter.

I continue to share this series of dreams because the seriousness grows as I hear from others that they, too, have had a dream or an experience of a storm.

August 14th after church on Sabbath I shared the stories with the Hargreaves. Teresa tells me that in the last week she woke in the morning with the song "Shelter in the Time of Storm" on her mind and she couldn't get it out of her mind.

She She said that was unusual for her; she never awakens with a song on her mind like that. She even told her parents about it as it seemed so out of the ordinary.
Later that day I had some friends over to the house. When I begin to share with them the story of the storm dreams, Jane interrupts me about three dreams into the story. About 4 weeks ago she had a dream about a storm wave. Joella's family, her own family, and her church family come to a house that they had never been to before but they feel like they know it. Someone suddenly shouts: "There's a big wave coming." "I walk to the front door and I see a huge wave, so huge it looks like it could hit the moon. I am afraid because I am thinking that no one is going to survive this, no one here underneath this roof. I stand watching it and as it gets closer it turns into monuments, like the red rock monuments of our land. I turned from looking out the door and saw that everyone in the room was in deep prayer. It seems like their prayers are what turned the waves into monuments. I felt impressed not to disturb them and went to the back of the house. I then felt at peace, not afraid. It felt like God was there."

"When this dream occurred, I was going through very difficult trials at that time here at UP. I felt out of place and I wanted to go home. As I woke up from this dream, I felt assurance that I was doing the right thing getting the training here at UP because the storm is coming and that this is what I need to go back home and get my people ready."

August 27, 2010: In the last week, four more people have told me of a dream they have had in the last 2 months pertaining to being in a storm, mostly a tidal wave or tsunami. Amy Pershin had a dream of a tidal wave. She knew it was coming and the Lord said: "Just hold on." She felt herself under water temporarily with the Lord again saying, "Just hold on." She came out from under the water and felt the peace and security in the Lord. Mary Jane Lewis, Tatiana Meinhart, and Garrison Haywood all had a dream of a storm and I will add the details of these after they give them to me.

September 2, 2010: Sean Bryant told me today that he dreamed he was in a house and a tremendous and frightening storm was outside. All of the events Christ said would happen before His coming were happening, one right after another in quick succession. He said he knew they would happen quickly, but he didn't know it would be that quick. He saw fire coming out of the sky. He looked outside and saw a black cloud the size of a man's fist, growing as it came closer. He could see that it was the Lord coming but it dissipated before reaching him. He awoke feeling the great need to be ready now for the Lord's coming.

I feel very sure that the Lord is giving the message of urgency and the imminence of the hour.
When we as doctors have a patient that is approaching the end of their life, we tell them that "they need to get his/her affairs in order ... Is your will made?" I believe the Lord is telling us that we are at the end of life here on earth. It is time to get our affairs in order. Our living will needs to be in place.

Isaiah 26:20 says: "Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast."
Matthew 7:24-27 says: "Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it."

(signed) Dr. Diane Barnett


We know natural disasters are increasing on the earth and will get worse as we get closer to the Second Coming of Christ. But these dreams speak to my heart of another storm soon coming when everything that can be shaken will be shaken: "We are in the shaking time, the time when everything that can be shaken will be shaken. The Lord will not excuse those who know the truth if they do not in word and deed obey His commands. If we make no effort to win souls to Christ we shall be held responsible for the work we might have done, but did not do because of our spiritual indolence. Those who belong to the Lord's kingdom must work earnestly for the saving of souls. They must do their part to bind up the law and seal it among the disciples." CM 12.

"The time is coming when we cannot sell at any price. The decree will soon go forth prohibiting men to buy or sell of any man save him that hath the mark of the beast. We came near having this realized in California a short time since, but this was only the threatening of the blowing of the four winds. As yet they are held by the four angels. We are not just ready. There is a work yet to be done, and then the angels will be bidden to let go, that the four winds may blow upon the earth.

"In the last great conflict in the controversy with Satan those who are loyal to God will see every earthly support cut off. Because they refuse to break His law in obedience to earthly powers they will be forbidden to buy or sell. LDE 148.

"Now is the time to prepare. The seal of God will never be placed upon the forehead of an impure man or woman. It will never be placed upon the forehead of the ambitious, world-loving man or woman. It will never be placed upon the forehead of men or women of false tongues or deceitful hearts. All who receive the seal must be without spot before God--candidates for heaven. Go forward, my brethren and sisters. I can only write briefly upon these points at this time, merely calling your attention to the necessity of preparation. Search the Scriptures for yourselves, that you may understand the fearful solemnity of the present hour." CCh 334 - The Coming Crisis.

May we all make preparation while the door of the Ark is still open!

A Watchman on the Walls of Zion,
Danny Vierra

http://www.modernmanna.org/

END OF VIERRA NEWSLETTER

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Now let’s take a look at a testimony from two men regarding a startling comment made by Ellen White in 1908.
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Bro. Will Ross now deceased was a personal friend of mine for about 45 years. In our church fellowship we very often spent Sabbath afternoons discussing his experience in the message, and his conversations with Mrs. Ellen G. White.

About 1908, while living in Loma Linda near Sister White, he frequently accompanied her in her walks, and would discuss the message and future events. On one of these occasions, while waiting at the railroad depot, in company with Sister McInterfer and Elder D. E. Robinson, her granddaughter's husband, Sister White related to the three of them about the storm of persecution that was to come upon Seventh-day Adventists. Brother Will related it to me as follows:

"Sister White told us as we three stood there on the depot platform, that a terrible storm of persecution was coming like a windstorm that blew down every standing object. There was not a Seventh-day Adventist to be seen. They, like the disciples, forsook Christ and fled. All who had sought positions were never seen again.

"After the storm there was a calm, then the Adventists arose like a great flock of sheep, but there were no shepherds. They all waited in earnest prayer for help and wisdom, and the Lord answered by helping them to choose leaders from among them who had never sought positions before. They prayed earnestly for the Holy Spirit which was poured out upon them making them fully ready for service. They then went forth 'fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners,' to give this message to the world. "I was astonished, and asked if that applied to Loma Linda, as we were looking in that direction. Sister White replied to my question by stating that it applied to the entire denominational world. It so stunned me that I did not ask any more questions." --- Will Ross, Boulder, Colorado.

In the year 1943 when Elder D. E. Robinson was visiting the churches in Colorado, I was serving on the platform the Sabbath that Elder Robinson visited the Boulder Church, having with him the large Bible which Sister White held in her hand and leafing through during one of her visions.
At the close of the service Brother Ross spoke with Elder Robinson about when he, Sister Mcinterfer and Sister White were standing on the depot platform visiting together, and Sister White related to him about the terrible storm of persecution that was coming to Seventh-day Adventists. Elder Robinson replied, "Yes, Brother, Ross, I remember it."

So I documented this reply January 15, 1946, not wishing to forget this important narration related to me by Brother Ross. I frequently discussed it with him in later years, and his statement never varied. - [signed] Elmer M. Johnson.

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So first we saw the newsletter by Danny Vierra which related testimonies of recent dreams by numerous SDA’s concerning great storms that are coming. The individuals who had the dreams related these storms to storms of persecution. Then next we saw this comment by EGW that a great storm is coming. Here we have both sources complimenting each other concerning the storms of persecution.

These storms may be events surrounding the enforcement of the Sunday Laws that are coming soon. Great disasters will be in the land, natural disasters and also perhaps an economic collapse. Then perhaps some tremendous events also will take place, causing the world to assume that God is angry with the inhabitants of planet Earth. Sabbath keepers will be pointed out as the cause of pain and suffering that has been inflicted through the various disasters. All-out rage and contempt will be directed toward those who keep the Sabbath of the Ten Commandments. It is only through earnest prayer and humility that the Holy Spirit will come to our aid and enable us to survive this great and terrible storm.

What does the Bible say about these storms?

The recent dreams that were featured in Danny Vierra's newsletter, and written by Dr. Diane Barnett, contain mainly storms with water that threaten the lives of God's people. They seem to symbolize storms of persecution.

Notice here in Revelation 12:15-17, these verses seem to fit together as one unit, in light of these recent dreams:

“15 And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. 16 And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. 17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. “

Verse 15 may be referencing this flood of persecution that is coming soon, aimed at God's faithful people. Verse 14 ended in 1798. In verse 17, this war has not taken place yet, but will happen after 1798, after we receive the Spirit of Prophecy or the testimony of Jesus Christ, so after 1844. We have not yet seen this war, because it is a future war that we are about to see. It is a flood of persecution that is coming, such as a war against those that “keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”

Notice also Revelation 7:1 “ And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. And I heard the number of them which were sealed: [and there were] sealed an hundred [and] forty [and] four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.”

Winds of strife and persecution are coming but the 144,000 will make it through the storm. (Doug Batchelor thinks this group is made up of faithful SDA’s) A storm of persecution is coming along with the Mark of the Beast Showdown applying the pressure on us.

At this same time we see the economy about collapse as many are saying could happen. An article recently appeared in the Wall Street Journal saying we are in an economic depression. Natural disasters are increasing too. Perhaps a great disaster will occur and the pope or Satan personating Christ will point out Sabbath keepers as the cause of such. A great storm will then begin to blow across the earth.

Let us all draw nearer to the Lord in these closing hours
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Source: http://www.seventh-day.org/dreams.htm