Monday, December 06, 2010

Shovel Ready Jobs


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New York's oldest Catholic cathedral wins new honor: St. Patrick's Old Cathedral becomes a basilica

BY Lore Croghan
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Monday, December 6th 2010, 4:00 AM

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/12/06/2010-12-06_new_yorks_oldest_catholic_cathedral_wins_new_honor_st_patricks_old_cathedral_bec.html#ixzz17LMt2v6z
Xanthos for News
Archbishop Timothy Dolan at the inauguation for the basilica of St. Patrick's Old Cathedral.



The city's oldest Catholic cathedral won a new honor yesterday: It's now a basilica.

Pope Benedict directed that St. Patrick's Old Cathedral be designated a basilica - an honor given only to churches of major historic and spiritual significance.

The 201-year-old church in Little Italy was a spiritual home in the 19th Century for Irish immigrants seeking refuge against Protestant persecution. In recent decades, it has welcomed Dominican and Chinese immigrants.

"This is not a museum. This is still a living, breathing, loving, embracing parish," Archbishop Timothy Dolan told a standing-room-only crowd at a solemn vespers service in the old cathedral to celebrate its new status.



For some parishioners, pride and joy were tinged with sadness because its 188-year old school was shuttered last summer.

Xanthos/NewsThe newly-crowned basilica.

"Going to Catholic school gives a good foundation for your faith," said neighborhood resident Elva Ugarte, 70, whose daughter attended the defunct school.

Parishioner Rafael Grullon, 78, called the new designation "a triumph" for his beloved church, which is now led by the Rev. Donald Sokano.

"I have dreamed of this day," said Grulon, of Little Italy.

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Sunday, December 05, 2010

"Wall Street ought to be singing this president praises"


On Sunday December 5, 2010, Senator John Kerry from Massachusetts, told David Gregory the host of Meet The Press, while referring to the current economic conditions during the Obama Administration:
"Wall Street ought to be singing this president praises".

I wonder what song that should be?

Ooh, Ooh, child things are gonna get easier, ooh, ooh child things will brighter... Someday, yeah, we'll get it together and we'll get it all done...

maybe:

My eyes adore you though I never laid a hand on you, my eyes adore you...

or perhaps:

And nobody seems to like him, they can tell what he wants to do, and he never shows his feelings,

But the fool on the hill, Sees the sun going down, And the eyes in his head, See the world spinning 'round.

Ooh, ooh, Round and round and round.



Arsenio.
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Saturday, December 04, 2010

Volcano known as the 'Throat of Fire' erupts in Ecuador

By the CNN Wire StaffDecember 5, 2010 -- Updated 0228 GMT (1028 HKT)


View from Cotalo, Ecuador, of the Tungurahua volcano on Saturday.


(CNN) -- Ecuador's Tungurahua volcano erupted Saturday, sending ash and lava spewing nearly a mile into the sky.

Residents evacuated the area after the country's National Agency of Risk Control issued a "red alert." The warning was later downgraded to orange, as the volcano became less active.

Activity at Tungurahua -- which means "throat of fire" in the native Quechua language -- peaked Saturday between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m., according to the Geological Institute in Quito.

At one point, the ash cloud reached nearly 3 km (1.9 miles) above the volcano's crater, according to the institute, and lava flowed about 2 km from the crater.

The glacier-capped, 16,478-foot (5,023-meter) volcano has erupted periodically since 1999, when increased activity led to the temporary evacuation of the city of Banos at the foot of the volcano. Major eruptions also occurred in August 2006 and February 2008, according to the government's emergency management agency.

Prior to this more recent activity, the last major eruption was between 1916 and 1918. Relatively minor activity continued until 1925, the Smithsonian Institution said on its volcano website.

The volcano is 140 km south of Quito, Ecuador's capital.

CNN's Claudia Dominguez contributed to this report.

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What Does The Bible Teach About A Woman's Role In The Church, Home and Government?

General Conference SDA - Inter-American Division
.Commissioning Ceremony
Commissioning Ceremony
Martinique, Nov. 6, 2010 [Photo: Libna Stevens]

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Pastor David L. Brown, Ph.D.
1996 David L. Brown


In 1963 Betty Freidan s book, The Feminine Mystique, was published and it popped the lid off "Pandoras Box" releasing the Womans Liberation Movement. American culture has not been the same since. Womans lib has touched every facet of American culture and now it is increasingly coming into the evangelical and fundamental church.

This past year my aunt Mildred died. She was one of the almost 4,000 ordained and licensed women in the Assemblies of God.

I was brought up in the United Methodist Church. I remember on more than one occasion having a woman preacher in the pulpit. In fact, there are 4,743 women "clergy" in the ranks of the United Methodists today. One of them pastors the Methodist church in this town.

Our family briefly vacationed in Florida this past winter. We stayed with a retired Christian friend. I had been the assistant pastor of this womans husband back in the early 70s. We attended church with her the Sunday we were there. It was a Southern Baptist Church. I was shocked when a woman got up and preached the sermon. Upon doing some research I find that there are about 1000 ordained Southern Baptist women clergy despite a 1984 Convention resolution stating that the Scripture "excludes women from pastoral leadership." In a September 1993 meeting of the SBC Executive Committee, a measure to expel congregations for ordaining women was rejected unanimously.

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has 2,419 female leaders. In 1979 the United Presbyterian Church, forerunner of the Presbyterian Church U.S.A., adopted a resolution REQUIRING the congregations to elect women elders. This politically correct denomination also voted to ban the ordination of any man who opposed women clergy and gave such men 10 years to change their minds or get out (EP News Service, June 21, 1980).

The United Church of Christ has 1,803 female leaders while the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has 1,358 ordained women.

The Episcopal Church in the United States, which approved women's ordination in 1976, has more than 1,000. The Episcopalians ordained the first Anglican female bishop in 1989. The General Synod of the "mother church" in England endorsed the concept of female priests in 1993. In 1991 Queen Elizabeth paved the way for female priests by appointing a woman as one of her royal chaplains in Scotland.

The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, though more conservative than other Lutheran bodies, is beginning to allow women to preach in regular worship services. A survey showed that about 1,000 LCMS clergymen maintain that the Bible is not opposed to the ordination of women (Christian News, Feb. 13, 1989).

The focus of this study is going to be, What Does The Bible Teach About A Womans Role In The Church? If you read the April 8, 96 issue of Christianity Today you might be convinced woman preachers are OK. Is that true?

I think a good place to begin is to point out the fact that...

THE LORD LOVES WOMEN AS MUCH AS HE DOES MEN

Linda and I recently attended a biblical counseling seminar. One of the topics that Dr. Ed Bulkley was addressing was the biblical chain of command and how it related to men and women. He shared a little statement that may be helpful to you, it was to me -- In soul men and women are equal (Gal. 3:28). In role & function there are differences (Eph 5:23; 1 Tim 2:12).

Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

This verse points out the fact that the spiritual standing of every human being regardless of nationality, class or gender is the same. I like the way one author put it, "the ground is level at the cross. Women matter as much as men..." That is true when our spiritual standing is in focus! And that is clear to see from the life and ministry of Jesus Christ and the apostles.

Jesus taught woman and was ministered to by them --
Luke 10:38-42 Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word. 40 But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me. 41 And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: 42 But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

Jesus was supported financially by women --
Luke 8:3 And Joanna the wife of Chuza Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto him of their substance.

Women were among the first to be saved --
Acts 16:13-15 And on the sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither. 14 And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. 15 And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us.

Lydia was one of the first European converts to Christ.

I refer you back to an earlier quote -- "the ground is level at the cross." There is no difference in the spiritual standing between men and woman. A Christian woman has as much access to God as a man does. God cares about his children regardless of their nationality, race or gender.

THE ROLES OF MEN AND WOMEN ARE DIFFERENT

Though the spiritual standing of men and women are the same before God, he has ordained that men assume the leadership role in the church and home and that women assume the support role. From the dawn of creation men and women were created for different roles, that is clear. Gen 2:18 & 20-24 show that God created Eve from Adam to be his "help meet" (helper or aid).

Genesis 2:21-24 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; 22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. 23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. 24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

Note that the support role of women was established before the fall. (See 1 Cor. 11:7-9 for further support). The role of a wife is to support her husband, to make him successful.

Now, if man had not sinned, he would always have ruled with wisdom and love; if the woman had not sinned, she would always have obeyed with humility and meekness. But both Eve and Adam sinned. Turn to --

Genesis 3:16-17 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. 17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened (obeyed) unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

The first role reversal in the marital relationship came when Eve submitted to the serpent and not God or her husband and when Adam obeyed Eve and not God. As a result God said that the husband would rule over his wife and she was to submit to his headship. The word rule means to govern or to have dominion.

Now, perhaps you are wondering what does this have to do with the church and the womans role in the church.

A WOMANS ROLE IN THE CHURCH

To answer that question we need to look at -- 1 Timothy 2:11-14 Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. 12 But I suffer not (do not allow) a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. 13 For Adam was first formed, then Eve. 14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.

These verses do not leave much to the imagination. First, a woman could and should be a learner. But she is not to teacher or preach the Word to men. That would obviously preclude a woman from being a pastor or deacon. Titus 2:4 clarifies that a woman can teach women and children.

I will conclude todays message by turning your attention to 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 Let your women keep silence (to hold their peace) in the churches: for it is not permitted (given liberty) unto them to speak (preach, speak); but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. 35 And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.

Biblically, a woman can neither be a pastor or deacon in the church. Neither is she to teach the Word to men. Having said that, I want to make it clear that woman are important to the church and do important things. Their ministry is to revolve around support, service and ministry to woman and children.

The woman who fulfills the role God established for her is not inferior but is a Godly woman.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN MEN FAIL TO LEAD?

God has established in His Word that men are to be the leaders in the home, church and society. The Biblical role of women is a support role. But what happens when men fail to fulfill their leadership obligation? There is a very sobering passage of scripture that answers this question, Isaiah 3:1-12. There are two verses in this passage that I want to look at -- Verses 4 & 12 And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them. As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.

These verses indicate that when men fail to lead as they should then women and children will fill the vacuum. When that happens the results are disastrous. God sends judgment when he is disobeyed. There are several biblical examples to support this. Queen Jezebel is one example (1 Kings 18, 19 & 21) of a woman who usurped her husbands authority. She persecuted the prophets of God and put a price on Elijahs head. As for child oppressors, consider for a moment the rule of Manasseh. He was installed as king at age 12. His reign was long and wicked (696-642 B.C.) and the Lord blames him for the downfall of Judah (2 Kings 21:10-16).

I want to make it clear. Gods perfect will is for men to lead in government, in the home and in the church. It is Gods perfect will for women to assume the support roles in the home, church and perhaps the government not the leadership roles. When men are strong and obedient to Gods commands, there is not a serious problem with what the women, particularly when the women are obedient to Gods will. But when men are weak, lazy or cowardly, there are going to be problems. When men are not obeying God and not being spiritually what they are supposed to be, God responds in judgment by allowing a role reversal to take place, that is dominant women and oppressive children.

Thats why there are major problems in homes, churches and government in our day. Thats why the youth crime rate is going ballistic. Thats why women are "wearing the pants" in the family and the church. Thats why more women are being elected to public office.

How Do You Explain Deborah?
Perhaps there are those who are wondering, "If you really believe that men are to be in the leadership roles and women in the support roles, then how do you explain Deborah (Judges 4:4-5)? Why did God make Deborah a judge in Israel?" The answer is not difficult. God's perfect will is for men to lead, but when men will not assume their responsibilities, God uses women. The men in Deborah's day were weak and chicken-hearted. Barak, the captain of the armies of Israel, proves this to be true. He refused to go into battle unless Deborah went with him. Deborah had to remind him that God had said it is time to fight. Deborah had to encourage and challenge him to go. Deborah had to go with him!

"And Barak said unto her, If thou wilt go with me, then I will go: but if thou wilt not go with me, then I will not go" Judges 4:8

Deborah clearly realized that this was neither right nor natural for her to have the leadership position. She even tells Barak it would result in shame upon his name. "And she said, I will surely go with thee; notwithstanding the journey that thou takest shall not be for thine honour; FOR THE LORD SHALL SELL SISERA INTO THE HAND OF A WOMAN..." Judges 4:9.

Obviously it was a period in Israel's history during which God could find no man to do His will, so He used a brave, willing woman.

The root problem in Deborah's day was spiritual apostasy. Where there is spiritual apostasy in a nation, a church, or a home, God sends his judgment by rendering the men powerless against their enemies. He removes discernment and true wisdom from their thinking.

This is exactly what is happening in our nation today. We are under Gods judgment because our leaders are weak and godless. Thats why parents cannot control our little children, and women are in places of leadership where they should not be. It is God's judgment because of the apostate condition of professing Christendom. Just as Israel in Deborah's day was in bondage to their enemies because of their apostasy so America is walking down that same path. Men, we need to get back to the Biblical chain of command --

1 Corinthians 11:3 But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.

Men, we need to be the kind but firm leaders in our homes and churches that God has ordained in His Word. Colossians 3:19 gives husbands an important command -- In doing a word study of the phrase be not bitter I found the idea is, dont treat your wife harshly which makes her bitter. Thats good advice.

HOW CAN WOMEN SERVE CHRIST & HIS CHURCH?

While it is clear that women are not to be preachers, deacons, teachers or spiritual leaders because that would place them in a leadership role over men (1 Tim 2:11-14 & 1 Cor 14:34-35) there are other things that women can and should do.

Women can teach & evangelize other women
Titus 2:3-5 The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; 4 That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, 5 To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.

Mature Christian women are to disciple the younger woman teaching them to exercise self-control (be sober), to be affectionate to their own husbands, to be fond of their children, to be self-restrained in their passions and desires (discreet), modest and focused sexually only on her own husband (chaste), domestic, a stayer at home, upright in character (good), and obedient to her husband.

Further, women can and should minister the word to other women as well. Turn to Acts 21:8-11. In this passage we will see that Philip the evangelist had 4 unmarried daughters that ministered the word of God. Some point to this passage as evidence that women can be preachers, but the context shows differently. Paul and his helpers stayed with Philip and his family. But when God wanted to reveal something to Paul prophetically, he did not use any of Philips daughters. He used a male prophet from another city named Agabus. This shows us that the girls ministry must have been with among other women. Lets read the passage.

And the next day we that were of Paul's company departed, and came unto Caesarea: and we entered into the house of Philip the evangelist, which was one of the seven; and abode with him. 9 And the same man had four daughters, virgins, which did prophesy. 10 And as we tarried there many days, there came down from Judaea a certain prophet, named Agabus. 11 And when he was come unto us, he took Paul's girdle, and bound his own hands and feet, and said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.

Women can assist and serve in the church in a variety of areas
Romans 16:1-2 I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea: 2 That ye receive her in the Lord, as becometh saints, and that ye assist her in whatsoever business she hath need of you: for she hath been a succourer of many, and of myself also.

The word translated servant is the Greek word diakonos (dee-ak'-on-os). It literally means to run on errands; an attendant, a waiter at table or in other serving duties. The word in the masculine gender is diakoneo(s) (dee-ak-on-eh'-o) appears in the New Testament about 68 times and is translated serve, minister, administer every time but 5. Five times the word refers to the office of a deacon that can only be held by men (1 Tim 3:8-13; Acts 6:1-7). I bring this up because there are some who try to say that Phebe held the office of a deacon. She did not. She was a servant, a helper around the church and she succoured (assisted, helped or was hospitable) to many, including Paul.

Turn to 1 Timothy 5:9-10 Let not a widow be taken into the number under threescore years old, having been the wife of one man, 10 Well reported of for good works; if she have brought up children, if she have lodged strangers, if she have washed the saints' feet, if she have relieved the afflicted, if she have diligently followed every good work.

You might wonder why I have turned you to this passage. This passage gives the qualifications for widows that were considered worthy of regular support by the local church. She was to have a history of good works, been a faithful mother, been hospitable to strangers, been willing to serve fellow Christians in menial ways, as well as help those who are in distress. In short, she has a history of diligent labor for the Lord.

Acts 9:36-39 gives us the example of this kind of woman. Her name was Tabitha or Dorcas. She had made clothes for many of the believers. May the Lord raise up many Godly women like Dorcas in this church. Women with a servants heart.

Women can share the gospel in a private context
Priscilla and Aquila shared the Gospel with Apollos privately. It was a team effort but it is clear from the passage that she took part (Acts 18:26). I believe the Bible allows women can share the gospel in a non-public context with a man if the opportunity presents itself as long as 1) it is done with the husbands permission 2) it is done discreetly and 3) as long as she avoids the appearance of evil.

Further, women can be involved in support roles in church or missionary work. Philippians 4:2-4 I beseech Euodias, and beseech Syntyche, that they be of the same mind in the Lord. 3 And I entreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which laboured with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellowlabourers, whose names are in the book of life. 4 Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.

I will conclude by saying I praise the Lord for all the women who follow the Biblical model. May God increase your number. Likewise I praise the Lord for men who are striving to be what they should be spiritually. We need you. We need MORE of you.

E-mail: FirstBaptistChurchOC@gmail.com
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Friday, December 03, 2010

Take 6 Concert Benefits Domestic Violence Ministry

By: Jondra Grier
Date: 12/02/10

In recognition of Domestic Violence Awareness Month and to promote its domestic violence ministry, Mt. Pisgah Church, Miami Gardens, Fla., hosted a benefit concert that featured multiple Grammy Award winning gospel A cappella group, Take 6, on October 30, 2010.

In an effort to bring more awareness to this long-standing issue, Carmen Hope-Thomas and Sandra Brown decided to start a ministry that both educates and assists women caught in a domestic violence situation.

According to the National Centers for Injury Prevention and Control, an estimated 1.3 million women are victims of physical assault by an intimate partner each year.
Multiple Grammy Award winning gospel A cappella group, Take 6, performed a benefit concert at Mt. Pisgah Church on October 30, 2010: Alvin Chea (left), David Thomas, Cedric Dent, Claude McKnight III, Mark Kibble, and Joey Kibble.


The Adventist church is not immune to domestic violence, in fact it is a major issue in the Church. “Incidents of abuse follow trends documented in non-Adventist populations,” said a spokesperson for ‘enditnow,’ the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s global initiative to end domestic violence.

The mission and goal of the domestic violence program is to provide support and referrals to those who are and have been victims of domestic violence.

More than 450 people attended the concert, which was opened by Mt. Pisgah’s praise team — The Levities.

“I have been familiar with their ministry, and so it was just expected. It was a thrilling experience to see them live, and also to interact with the group,” said Kelvin Trocard.
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Here's a radical idea: Let's reinstitute National Day-Off in America.


Dale Kuehne

Sun 07 Nov 2010 12:38:12

We as a nation need to call a time out.

If the rWorld is about improving the quality of our lives, what steps can we take to improve our quality of life?

The simplest and most radical change we can make is to reinstitute a common day off in America. A day where shopping, commerce, is severely restricted and youth sport league play and practice is forbidden.

At this point you might be wondering if I am part of the Christian equivalent to the Taliban, or that the tower in which I dwell is built exclusively of ivory.

Lend me your ears for a minute more.

Presently we reside in a nation where we have scheduled ourselves within an inch of our lives. We don’t have time for ourselves, to say nothing of time for others.

It’s hard to use the phrases “family life” and “quality time” in the same sentence.

In most families both parents work, and it is the exception if they work the same days and hours. Indeed many parents believe they need to work completely different schedules in order that one may be at home, most of the time, to take care of the children.

The numbers of minutes in a day that a nuclear family can all be together are few. The numbers of hours in a week in which they can all be together is fewer.

Scheduling a family event is an ordeal.

Scheduling an event with the extended family has all the ease of leading a camel through the eye of a needle. Quite frankly, if such an event is to take place it will be at Thanksgiving or Christmas, depending on which side of the extended family is chosen.

We live in a nation of people that are scheduled within an inch of their life, some by choice others of financial necessity.

We live in an iWorld where the best many of us can do is schedule appointments with our family members one at a time.

This illustration is the poster child for ways in which the quest to increase standard of living undermines the quality of our lives.

But it doesn’t have to be this way.

The solution is simple: Reinstitute a common day off in America.

By legislating a common day, during which commerce ceases along with all organized sports for children, we each get the opportunity to get our lives back.

What would we lose? 24 hours of commerce a week and the opportunity to drive our kids dozens of miles to their various games and practices.

Who would it hurt?

Not business. Business could eliminate 24 hours of labor overhead without suffering a lose of revenue. People won’t buy less, they will simply alter their shopping patterns

By my calculations, the only people who will be hurt will be those who work part-time, minimum wage jobs without benefits at retail outlets. But with just a little creativity we could use the tax revenue generated by businesses who financially benefit from the 24-hour moratorium to help support and transition those impacted.

The benefits?

A nationwide collective sigh of relief, akin to the relief that is felt when a snow, wind or ice storm give us an unplanned day off.

Only we’d get a “snow day” once a week.

We’d get a day set aside for re-creation.

Literally a day where we can be re-created through recreation.

Recreation includes any activity that re-creates us.

Worship

A nap

An extended cup of coffee

Unscheduled time to be with those you love and who love you.

Family time.

Extended family time.

Personal retreats.

Is this possible?

Absolutely. Many countries legislate a common day off.

One example would be the Germans.

Do the Germans do this because they are so religious?

Not now. They do it because it is a terrific idea. It provides enormous personal and social benefit at no cost.

Could we work out the details?

Sure. The devil is not in the details.

The devil is in the chaos we presently call living.

It’s time to call for a time out.

Rev. Dale Kuehne is the author of “Sex and the iWorld. Rethinking relationship beyond the age of Individualism.” He is associate professor of politics and founding director of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College. He serves as pastor of Emmanuel Covenant Church in Nashua, NH and regular ShareWIK.com columnist.
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"These are the most amazing breeds of men...prophets!"

"These are the most amazing breeds of men...prophets! By the very nature of their calling...a prophet is a tragic figure. Because he has his eyes on the majesty and holiness of God, and he has his eyes on the corrupt generation that can’t be moved except God comes and does some miraculous thing; and he’s in torment! He suffers for the people, he suffers with the people, he suffers by the people. These men don’t sleep normally, they don’t eat normally, they don’t think normally. They’ve an utter contempt for materialism. They have no price tag...You’ll never find a prophet swaggering. He carries the burden of God, he knows the heart of God, he knows the mind of God, he has the fear of God, he has the love of God, he’s consumed with the desire to be consumed by God. He’s the total property in his thinking, in his living, in his sleeping, in his everything he’s the property of God." (Leonard Ravenhill - "A Three-Fold Vision")




"Firewood $50 includes delivery"


You've heard the cliche, "Things are rough all over"; And possibly, "It's a jungle out there". However, I believe that at present conditions are worse than many people think. We've been told that the economy is recovering, and at the same time told that it's a jobless recovery; What I saw this afternoon demonstrates that the situation is more dire that tenured politicians and the media may tell us.

As I ran some errands today, my attention was drawn by a sign on a pick-up truck that was parked with the bed facing traffic; The truck bed was full of chopped wood, and there was a hand written sign propped up over the wood that read: "Firewood $50 includes delivery"; As I considered this scene, I noticed there was a man in the driver seat of the truck looking at me with a desperate expression on his face. This scene impressed me deeply; It actually gave me a chill. I put myself in that man's place, and I wondered whether he was trying to sell his wood so that he could buy some food with it. This solemn sight reminds me that the current economic conditions are not as rosy as the powers that be paint it to be. While politicians are busy legislating more taxes, more rules, creating more bureaucracy, while living comfortable lives at the cost of taxpayers, many in this land are wondering where their next meal is coming from. Don't believe the hype!

"THERE BUT BY THE GRACE OF GOD GO I".


"Firewood $50 includes delivery"-----NOTE: This is a scene in FLORIDA.

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FBI Concerned About Barbie Doll With Video Camera


Agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation said they're concerned about a hot-selling Barbie doll this holiday season.

The doll has a video camera concealed in its necklace. The FBI said the doll is perfectly safe if used correctly. However, agents warned child pornography suspects tend to lure children with Barbie dolls and use hidden cameras to produce their videos. Investigators said they're concerned the doll will just make things easier for the criminals.

So far, no incidents involving the new doll have been reported.

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Thursday, December 02, 2010

New Data Show Extent of Fed’s Free Money Programs



Posted on Dec 1, 2010

Wikimedia Commons / Robert Mihaly (CC-BY-SA)
Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke as king of Central Banking.


Thanks to Bernie Sanders and the new financial regulation passed by Congress, we’re learning more about the Federal Reserve’s $3.3 trillion bailout of Wall Street in 2008. It turns out the Fed lent money not just to the likes of Goldman Sachs (which desperately needed it) but also to companies such as Verizon and Toyota, as well as to foreign financial institutions.

Essentially the Fed lent money at almost zero interest to, well, just about everybody.

Bernie Sanders, take it away… —PZS

The Washington Post:

But the extent of the lending to major banks—and the generous terms of some of those deals—heighten the political peril for a central bank that is already under the gun for a wide range of actions, including a recent decision to try to stimulate the economy by buying $600 billion of U.S. bonds.

“The American people are finally learning the incredible and jaw-dropping details of the Fed’s multitrillion-dollar bailout of Wall Street and corporate America,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a longtime Fed critic whose provision in the Wall Street regulatory overhaul required the new disclosures. “Perhaps most surprising is the huge sum that went to bail out foreign private banks and corporations. As a result of this disclosure, other members of Congress and I will be taking a very extensive look at all aspects of how the Federal Reserve functions.”

Related

By eir, December 2 at 1:40 pm Link to this comment
Eliot Spitzer: “The Federal Reserve Is A Ponzi Scheme” (Inside The Fed’s Secret Pile Of Trash With Ratigan, Spitzer & Toure)
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Joe Wäges Interview: Illuminati Primary Source Material

The Illuminati letters to Benjamin Franklin and John Adams - how did that come about? This is a major discovery, and one that earned you immediate respect in the guarded ivory towers of academia. Who’s Kemtenstrauss? And how in the world did you ever get of his trail?

My knowledge of the Illuminati letters to Franklin and Adams came about as a result of my conversations with a very high profile Masonic historian, Reinhard Markner. I had contacted him regarding my discovery of the original “Besser als Horus” (Better than Horus). This brochure was listed as a treatise wherein atheism and materialism are defended, on page 118 of EOS. It turns out to be a Deistical piece that attacks a literal interpretation of the Bible and the nuances of the Catholic faith. The error in description is probably due to a limited understanding of Deism, as it primarily was started in England in the 1730’s. I wanted to know more about the author of this work, and through the course of our conversations, he mentioned that Adams and Franklin had been contacted by the head of the Munich lodge Professor Baader. I wanted to know more about this and he said that the letters themselves had not been located, but were mentioned in Die Korrespondenz des Illuminatenordens on pg. 140. I did about 15 minutes of digging on the internet, and found the letter sent to Franklin listed on the website of the American Philosophical Society under the Franklin papers, in French. Through this discovery we were able to find the Adams letter, as well as Adams’ reply. De Kemtenstrauss it seems was the penname that Baader wrote under. There were three letters sent, one to Adams, one to Franklin, and one to Philadelphia, presumably to the Continental Congress, though I have been unsuccessful in locating it. I have searched the papers of the Continental Congress at the National Archives, the papers of Joseph Reed, the Governor of Pennsylvania, the papers of Samuel Huntington the President of Congress, and the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania. This letter may be lost forever. If the aforementioned letters are any indication, we can be sure that it was identical in body to the other two, as they are nearly identical copies. I purchased copies of the physical letters, and posted them along with a transcription and translation of them. The reason Baader wrote to Adams and Franklin was that they were in Paris, serving as American envoys to France, and they wished to purchase land and protection in the Southern States.


The most interesting part of the letter and the reply, is that Baader has to be assured that in America, rights are not granted to individuals, but are ‘unallienable’ to all men, even to associations – those that are law abiding, that is. Theocratic Bavaria in the decaying Holy Roman Empire, by comparison, seems like another planet. One wonders if Baader could really wrap his head around what America represented. He certainly wanted to find out! Any thoughts? Another thing, Ferdinand Maria Baader (1747-97) wasn’t just an average Illuminatus, as you are aware. He was an early initiate, on the ruling Areopagite council, the founder and Master of the important Illuminati Lodge St. Théodore du Bon Conseil, and one of the few who would later be privy to Weishaupt’s last degree Rex or Man King (Docetist).
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Irish Debt Crisis Forces Collapse of Government

By LANDON THOMAS Jr.
Published: November 22, 2010

DUBLIN — The Irish government faced imminent collapse on Monday, only a day after it signed off on a $100 billion bailout, setting the stage for a new election early next year and injecting the threat of political instability into a European financial crisis that already has markets on edge.



Enda Doran/European Pressphoto Agency
John Gormley, leader of the Green Party, which is leaving Ireland's government once fiscal packages and budgets are passed.


Confronted with high-level defections from his governing coalition, Prime Minister Brian Cowen said he would dissolve the government after passage of the country’s crucial 2011 budget early in December.

His announcement capped a grim day for Ireland, as protesters tried to storm the Parliament building in Dublin.

In agreeing to new elections, Mr. Cowen seemed sure to become the first political casualty of the debt crisis in the 16-member euro zone.

The developments sent a chill through financial markets and political circles in the euro zone, where the severe austerity measures imposed to keep the currency union from fracturing have yet to be tested in general elections.

The impending collapse of the Irish government after an expensive bailout seemed only to reconfirm fears that the financial crisis was far from contained.

Analysts warned that deeply indebted countries like Portugal and Spain that are pushing through unpopular budget cuts may soon face an uncomfortable choice: punishment by financial markets that will hammer any laxity in deficit-cutting with exorbitant interest rates, or by an angry electorate annoyed by prolonged economic hardship.

“It will be the same story with all these countries — Ireland is just ahead of the game,” said Desmond Lachman, a former policy executive from the International Monetary Fund who is now with the American Enterprise Institute in Washington. “They all have a fixed exchange rate and have to make these massive adjustments, so people are asking whether they are on the right path.”

Mr. Cowen’s political skills helped keep him in office as he presided over three consecutive years of a shrinking economy, the biggest bank collapse outside of Iceland and a humiliating bailout. But his hand was forced by a coalition partner, the Green Party, which announced that it would pull out of the government once a series of fiscal packages and budgets were in place next month, and by backbenchers in his own party, Fianna Fail.

“There are occasions when the imperative of serving the national interest transcends other concerns, including party political and personal concerns,” Mr. Cowen said in a statement. “This is one such occasion.”

In his statement, Mr. Cowen said his government would present a four-year plan to reduce the deficit to 3 percent of gross domestic product by 2014, from 32 percent, and preside over the 2011 budget to be voted on Dec. 7.

Passage of the budget, which will call for $8.2 billion in savings, will be the first major hurdle the government faces to ensure receipt of the $100 billion it desperately needs to remain solvent. The Green Party defection came as a shock even to Mr. Cowen, who huddled with its leaders for five hours on Sunday and had no idea they were on the verge of calling for a new election.

Whatever the case, it is now almost certain that a general election will be held early next year.

“The mood in the country is for an election, and the people want a new mandate — that much is clear,” said Joan Burton, deputy leader for the opposition Labour Party.

Ms. Burton, who is also the financial spokeswoman for Labour, said that party leaders would need to see more details on the budget proposed by Mr. Cowen, and that until they did, they were not inclined to recommend it.

But the leader of the Green Party, John Gormley, made clear in a statement that he would not jeopardize the country’s financial bailout by challenging the budget, even though it is likely to call for such harsh measures as a sharp decrease in the minimum wage (currently one of the highest in Europe) and reductions to universal child benefits — payments the country makes to parents with children regardless of their income level.

In capitulating to a chorus of calls for new elections and his resignation, Mr. Cowen said, “The interests of the electorate, of all our people, will not be served by delaying, or worse still casting into doubt, the steps which are necessary to secure our economy and financial stability.”

For Mr. Cowen and his Fianna Fail party, which has been in power since 1997, this represents a stunningly rapid fall from grace — but one that arguably might have occurred sooner. Mr. Cowen, before he became party leader in 2008, was finance minister as the seeds of the Irish real estate boom were being sowed in the early part of this decade.

That he has lasted this long is a testament to his undisputed skills as a cagey political infighter.

But the time for backroom dealing is done in Ireland — as it may well be in other European countries, facing the growing strains of high unemployment and stagnating growth (Portugal and Spain are expected to have no growth this year, while Ireland is hoping for just over 1 percent).

The intervention of the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, while expected, has come as a shock to Irish citizens who are deeply disturbed by the prospect that the fund will force even deeper cuts on a populace battered by recession.

Over the past four days the International Monetary Fund team has been holed up in a luxury hotel in Dublin, trailed by photographers whenever they take the short taxi ride to the Central Bank or the Finance Ministry.

The chief of the team, Ajai Chopra, is referred to in the tabloids as “Ajai the Chopper,” and the hottest-selling clothing item in Dublin is a T-shirt that says, “The I.M.F. took me coat.”

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: November 25, 2010


An article on Tuesday about the imminent collapse of Ireland’s government because of the country’s debt crisis misstated the history of the Fianna Fail party’s dominance of Irish politics since 1987. It ran the country from 1987 to 1994 and from 1997 to the present. It has not “been in power since 1987.”


This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: November 29, 2010


An article on Tuesday about the Irish government’s facing imminent collapse only a day after it had signed off on a $100 billion bailout misstated the position of Moody’s Investors Service regarding Irish debt. Moody’s is considering Ireland’s rating; it has not lowered it.


A version of this article appeared in print on November 23, 2010, on page A1 of the New York edition..
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Wal-Mart vs. The Morons


1. Americans spend $36,000,000 at Wal-Mart Every hour of every day.

2. This works out to $20,928 profit every minute!

3. Wal-Mart will sell more from January 1 to St. Patrick's Day (March
17th) than Target sells all year.

4. Wal-Mart is bigger than Home Depot + Kroger + Target +Sears +
Costco + K-Mart combined.

5. Wal-Mart employs 1.6 million people, is the world's largest private
employer, and most speak English.

6. Wal-Mart is the largest company in the history of the world.

7. Wal-Mart now sells more food than Kroger and Safeway combined, and
keep in mind they did this in only fifteen years.

8. During this same period, 31 big supermarket chains sought bankruptcy.

9. Wal-Mart now sells more food than any other store in the world.

10. Wal-Mart has approx 3,900 stores in the USA of which 1,906 are
Super Centers; this is 1,000 more than it had five years ago.

11. This year 7.2 billion different purchasing experiences will occur
at Wal-Mart stores. (Earth's population is approximately 6.5 Billion.)

12. 90% of all Americans live within fifteen miles of a Wal-Mart.

You may think that I am complaining, but I am really laying the ground
work for suggesting that MAYBE we should hire the guys who run
Wal-Mart to fix the economy.

This should be read and understood by all Americans Democrats,
Republicans, EVERYONE!!

To President Obama and all 535 voting members of the Legislature,

It is now official you are ALL corrupt morons:

a.. The U.S. Postal Service was established in 1775. You have had 234
years to get it right and it is broke.

b.. Social Security was established in 1935. You have had 74 years to
get it right and it is broke.

c.. Fannie Mae was established in 1938. You have had 71 years to get
it right and it is broke.

d.. War on Poverty started in 1964. You have had 45 years to get it
right; $1 trillion of our money is confiscated each year and
transferred to "the poor" and they only want more.

e.. Medicare and Medicaid were established in 1965. You have had 44
years to get it right and they are broke.

f.. Freddie Mac was established in 1970. You have had 39 years to get
it right and it is broke.

g.. The Department of Energy was created in 1977 to lessen our
dependence on foreign oil. It has ballooned to 16,000 employees with a
budget of $24 billion a year and we import more oil than ever before.
You had 32 years to get it right and it is an abysmal failure.

You have FAILED in every "government service" you have shoved down our
throats while overspending our tax dollars.


AND YOU WANT AMERICANS TO BELIEVE YOU CAN BE TRUSTED WITH A
GOVERNMENT-RUN HEALTH CARE SYSTEM ??


Folks, keep this circulating. It is very well stated. Maybe it will
end up in the e-mails of some of our "duly elected' (they never read
anything) and their staff will clue them in on how Americans feel.

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Thanks. J.T.

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Media Ignore Gay Source for WikiLeaks

By Cliff Kincaid November 29, 2010


The issue is not just WikiLeaks and its strange founder Julian Assange but Bradley Manning and those in the Army who turned a blind eye to his alleged insubordination and treason.

As the Senate returns to Washington to debate such matters as the Pentagon’s homosexual exclusion policy, major media coverage of the disclosure of thousands of sensitive U.S. Government cables by WikiLeaks has curiously and conveniently ignored the homosexual orientation and anti-American motivation of the alleged leaker, Pfc. Bradley Manning, now in prison.

The New York Times reported, “The possibility that a large number of diplomatic cables might become public has been discussed in government and media circles since May. That was when, in an online chat, an Army intelligence analyst, Pfc. Bradley Manning, described having downloaded from a military computer system many classified documents, including ‘260,000 State Department cables from embassies and consulates all over the world.’ In an online discussion with Adrian Lamo, a computer hacker, Private Manning said he had delivered the cables and other documents to WikiLeaks.”

This is all true. But what the Times left out of its coverage was that Manning was an open homosexual who flaunted the Pentagon’s homosexual exclusion policy without being punished for his behavior and conduct.

Similarly, The Washington Post ignored the controversial issue of Manning’s sexual orientation. It reported, “Although WikiLeaks has not disclosed the source of the materials, suspicion has centered on Pfc. Bradley Manning, 23, an Army intelligence analyst now in military custody. The military arrested Manning this year, charging him with the downloading and transfer of classified material.” This was it.

Some honest coverage came from International Business Times, which reported, “Manning is openly gay and has been active in gay rights movements.”

But how was this possible if the Pentagon had a policy against gay soldiers?

Jonah Knox, the pseudonym for a noncommissioned officer and analyst in the United States Army Reserves, pointed out in an AIM column that, rather than repeal the Pentagon’s homosexual exclusion policy, the WikiLeaks scandal demonstrates that the policy and regulations need to be tightened up.

Knox wrote that the regulations implementing the policy seemed to be designed to cause confusion. Despite Manning’s flaunting of the law, Knox wrote, “it does not surprise me that the Army may never have investigated Manning for his support of the homosexual agenda, for his frequenting of homosexual events and/or establishments because Department of Defense policy does not seem to allow it. However, Department of Defense and Army regulations did allow the Army to investigate Manning based on his declarations of being a homosexual who despised the Army for not fully embracing the homosexual agenda and not acting quickly enough to repeal DADT.”

So the issue is not just WikiLeaks and its strange founder Julian Assange but Bradley Manning and those in the Army who turned a blind eye to his alleged insubordination and treason.


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

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

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The Catholic Chronicles




The Catholic Chronicles
Edited and compiled by Keith Green

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE CATHOLIC CHRONICLES
A young Catholic believer recently asked me, "What are Protestants still protesting about anyway?" The question caught me off-guard, and at the time I had to answer, "I don't really know . . . nothing, I guess." Well my on-the-spot answer really bothered me, and it started gnawing away at me. What were Martin Luther, the Hugenots, the Anabaptists, the Quakers, and the multitudes of others protesting anyway when they broke away from the Church of Rome? What did they suffer untold persecutions and martyrdoms for? I had to find the answer. . .and when I found it, I knew I had no choice but to share it.

CHRONICLE I: THE HOLY EUCHARIST--EATING THE FLESH OF DEITY
One might wonder why, in a scriptural expose of the doctrines of the Catholic Church, I would choose this subject The Roman Interpretation of the Lord's Supper (more commonly known as "Communion") for the first of the "Catholic Chronicles". Most Protestants (today, Protestants are considered to be members of any church or church-group outside the Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox churches) would expect me to deal with what they might consider the more obvious departures from biblical foundation such as the worship of and prayers to the Virgin Mary, the infallibility of the pope, purgatory and prayers for the dead, the history of the torture and burning of accused "heretics" and such like that and no doubt in future installments we shall look in-depth at each of these.

CHRONICLE II: THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS--JESUS DIES AGAIN
In Chronicle I, we thoroughly examined the doctrine of transubstantiation its history, practice, and real meaning. But we have waited for this second article to answer the question: Why? Why must there be present in the Mass the literal body and blood of Jesus? What purpose does it serve? The answer is found in these startling words: "The sacrifice of the Mass is the same sacrifice of the cross, for there is the same priest, the same victim, and the same offering." ("The Roman Catholic Sacrifice of the Mass" by Bartholomew F. Brewer, Ph.D.) And in the words of Pope Pius IV.

CHRONICLE III: SALVATION ACCORDING TO ROME
". . . the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Rom. 6:23) How blessed it is to know Jesus! His love, His mercy, His righteousness, His forgiveness! He has promised to "cast all our sins into the depths of the sea" (Micah 7:19) and to separate us from our sins "as far as the east is from the west!" (Ps. 103:12). This is the good news! (That's the literal meaning of the word "gospel" good news!) That is what the true church of our God has the privilege of proclaiming: "liberty to the captives!" (Lk. 4:18). The reason I begin this article on the Roman Catholic view of salvation with such rejoicing in my Saviour, is because I have just finished reading a mountain of official (Roman) church literature on the subject, and I can honestly say, I have never had such joy in my heart of hearts about the finished work of Christ. As I scoured each page and read of penance, confession, venial and mortal sins, indulgences, purgatory, etc.

CHRONICLE IV: WHAT DID VATICAN II REALLY CHANGE?
It is obvious by even this brief glimpse into the doctrines of mortal and venial sins, confession, penance, and purgatory, that the Roman Catholic Church has constructed one of the most unbiblical doctrinal systems that has ever been considered "Christian". The fear, anguish, and religious bondage that such a system of "reward and punishment" creates, has tormented millions of lives for centuries, and continues to prey on those who are ignorant of the biblical way of salvation.



. """


Keith Green



Biography:
Green founded Last Days Ministries with his wife Melody in the late '70s. A reformer trying to purge the church of unbiblical habits, Keith's music was lyrically a mix of Jesus Movement protest and 19th-century evangelistic writings. He died in a plane crash in July 1982.

Source

Washington, D.C.


(DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA)

Washington, the capital of the United States, is situated on the left bank of the Potomac River, 108 miles from its mouth in Chesapeake Bay: latitude (Capitol), N. 38° 53'; longitude, W. 77°. The original district (10 miles sq.) was reduced by the retrocession of Alexandria County to Virginia, in 1846, to the present approximate land area of 60 sq. miles. The population, according to census of 1910, was 331,069, and was classified as wholly urban: the county organization (Washington County, D.C.) was abolished in 1874, and the city of Washington is now coextensive with the District of Columbia. The larger part of the district is built up, and, because of its predominant urban character, whatever farm land exists possesses its chief value as a potential residence property.

The Continental Congress had held its sessions in different places, principally at Philadelphia, and there was no permanent seat of the general government until after the adoption of the Constitution of the United States. The following provision, enumerating the powers of Congress (Sec. 8, Art. I), was included in that instrument: "To exercise exclusive jurisdiction over such District (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular States and acceptance of Congress, become the seat of Government of the Untied States". Various places were proposed, and much warmth of feeling and sectional jealousy were elicited in the debates on the resolutions and bills introduced before Congress on the subject: the States of Maryland and Virginia, in 1788 and 1789, had offered the requisite area, and the "acceptance of Congress", under Acts of 16 July, 1790, and 31 March, 1791, constituted the District of Columbia the seat of the national government. The territory thus selected was determined as to its exact location and boundaries by George Washington: it included within its limits the flourishing boroughs of Georgetown, Montgomery County (Maryland), and Alexandria (Virginia); the rest of the territory was rural. The president was also authorized to appoint three commissioners to lay out and survey a portion of the District for a federal city, to acquire the land, and to provide buildings for the residence of the president, the accommodation of Congress and the use of the government departments. One of the commissioners thus appointed was Daniel Carroll "of Duddington", of the family of Bishop John Carroll, and one of the principal landed proprietors of the District; Mayor Charles Pierre L'Enfant, a French Catholic, was employed to furnish a plan of the city, and to him the credit of its magnificent design is mainly due; James Hoban, a Catholic, won by competition the prize offered for a plan of the president's house, and the "White House" is constructed in accordance with his design. The corner-stone was laid (13 October, 1792) by President Washington, who also officiated at the laying of the corner-stone of the north wing of the Capitol (18 September, 1793): the site which the Capitol occupies was part of the land of Daniel Carroll, and was practically a gift from him to the United States.

The first local authorities of Washington were the president, three commissioners appointed by him, and the Levy Court; the city was incorporated in 1802, with a city council elected by the people, and a mayor appointed by the president. Robert Brent, a Catholic and nephew of Bishop Carroll, was the first mayor, and was annually reappointed by Presidents Jefferson and Madison until 1812; in 1812 the duty of electing the mayor devolved on the council, and from 1820 to 1871 on the people. In 1817 the charters of the corporations of Washington and Georgetown were abolished by Act of Congress; for a brief time the District was assimilated to a territorial form of government, with a board of public works as the most important administrative factor. Since 1878 it has been governed by a board of three commissioners appointed by the president, with the approval of the senate. The District of Columbia is neither a state nor a territory, but a municipal corporation, holding the same relation to the government of the United States that the other municipal corporations do to their own state governments. It has no share in the election of president, nor any district representation in Congress: its inhabitants have no voice in national legislation, and, since 1874, not even any part in local self-government, except by favour of Congress.

Father Andrew White, S.J., "the Apostle of Maryland", was the first priest to visit this region: in 1639 he established a mission at Kittamaquund, a few miles below Washington, and, with solemn ceremony, baptized the tayac, or "Emperor of Piscataway". He also carried the Gospel still nearer to a Washington. The "Annual Letter" for 1641 mentions that the King of the Anacostans was a most promising candidate for baptism. The tribe from which the Anacostia River (eastern branch) is named, dwelt in the immediate neighbourhood, and on the site of the national capital: so that the history of Catholicism in the District is traced back to the earliest days of Lord Baltimore's Colony. As settlements advanced up the country from lower Maryland, a fair proportion of those who acquired land in what is now the District were Catholics. In 1669 "a parcell of land. . .called Rome. . .was layd out of Francis Pope. . .extending to the south of an inlet called Tiber"; this gentleman, "Pope of Rome on the Tiber", was sheriff of Charles County, and, in all probability, a Catholic. The well-known families of Carroll, Digges, Queen, and Young were the possessors of extensive landed estates before the American Revolution. There was no church in the region during the early decades of the eighteenth century, as the public exercise of Catholic worship was prohibited by the laws of Maryland: the faithful depended for spiritual aid on the Jesuit Fathers from White Marsh, Prince George's County, or St. Thomas' Manor, Charles County. Stations were visited and Mass was celebrated in private houses, a room being set aside for the purpose, the neighbours being invited. An interesting collection of vestments, altar furnishings, chalices etc., relics of those stations and memorials of the old Jesuit missions, is preserved in the museum of Georgetown College. The independence of the United States ensured religious liberty, and new era for the Catholic Faith began in Maryland. Father John Carroll, having returned to America in 1774, resided at Rock Creek, from which he made missionary excursions to all the neighbouring region, including what is now the District. In 1784, he has appointed superior of the American Church, and his consecrations at Lulworth Castle, England, in 1790, to the Sea of Baltimore coincided with the selection of Washington as the seat of government. The District of Columbia has always been included in the Diocese of Baltimore. In 1789 Bishop Carroll had already taken steps for the establishment of Georgetown College, where, on 4 May, 1912, a bronze statue to his memory as founder was erected by the Alumni Association, with imposing ceremonies and addresses by the chief justice of the Supreme Court, the rector of the university, the attorney--general representing the president, Cardinal Gibbons, the Ambassador of Austria-Hungary, dean of the Diplomatic Corps, and the speaker of the House of Representatives.

The oldest Catholic Church in the District is Holy Trinity, Georgetown: the original edifice, erected by Father Francis Neale, S.J., is still standing, but is now used as a parochial school. The register of baptisms and marriages, beginning with 1795, has entries of people "living in the Federal City", even after the name of Washington had been officially adopted. The present Trinity Church dates from 1844. St. Patrick's is the parent church of Washington city proper, the land for it having been acquired in 1794 by Father Anthony Caffry; the first church was a one-and-a- half-story frame house. St. Mary's, or Barry's Chapel as it was generally called, was built by a merchant of that name, in 1806, for the accommodation of the workmen at Greanleaf's Point, near the Navy Yard; this chapel disappeared long ago, but its corner-stone was saved, and is now inserted in the outer wall of the Holy Name Chapel, the Church of St. Dominic. Queen's Chapel, in the north-east section, existed in 1816, and perhaps earlier, but was destroyed during the Civil War. In 1805 Father William Matthews became the second pastor of St. Patrick's, and continued in that position for nearly half a century; he was the first native-born American to be raised to the priesthood in the United States. Among his assistants was Father Charles Constantine Pise, chaplain of the United States Senate, 1832-1833, and among his parishioners were: Roger Brooke Taney, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court; Mayor L'Enfant, who drew the plan of the city; James Hoban, the architect of the White House; Robert Brent, the first mayor of Washington; Dr. Ironside, a distinguished convert; and Mayor Thomas Carbery, a brother of Mrs. Ann Mattingly, whose wonderful cure in 1824 was held to be miraculous, Father Matthews being one of the witnesses in the case. The original Catholic inhabitants were mainly Maryland planters, of English descent, and their coloured servants; accessions came from other sources, Irish, German, French, when artisans were required for the construction of public buildings, but the absence of large commercial and industrial activities was a drawback to rapid increase in the general population, and foreign immigration, which has contributed so notably to swell the Catholic statistics of northern and western cities, has had but little effect on Washington.


St. Peter's and St. Matthew's were the first divisions of St. Patrick's, the original parish, which embraced the whole federal district, Georgetown excepted. There are now (1912) twenty-four churches, two of which (St. Augustine's and St. Cyprian's) are for the exclusive use of coloured people. All the congregations are English-speaking, except St. Mary's, which is German. St. Aloysius' and Holy Trinity are in charge of the Jesuit Fathers, and St. Dominic's in charge of the Fathers of St. Dominic. The Apostolic Delegation for the United States was established in 1893, and the successive delegates, Cardinals Satolli, Martinelli, and Falconio, and Archbishop Bonzano, have resided in Washington. The religious freedom guaranteed by the Constitution has been always fully enjoyed; the many representatives of Catholic countries in the Diplomatic Corps and the Catholics prominent in Congress and in the departments are factors for social influence and a restraint upon illiberal legislation. All churches, institutions of public charity, school houses, and cemeteries are exempt from taxation upon all their property not used for business purposes or to secure an income. Subventions, or appropriations to a limited amount, are granted to some of the Catholic charitable institutions. Catholic funeral services have been held in the Capitol occasionally for foreign ministers and members of either house, and Catholic chaplains have officiated in the halls of Congress: a Catholic priest, Father Gabriel Richard, of Detroit, was a delegate from Michigan territory to the House of Representatives. The local sentiment towards the Church has been, in general, one of good- will. When, during the Knownothing craze, a band of bigots secretly took away the memorial slab contributed by Pius IX to the Washington Monument, which was then being built, the better sentiment of the community condemned that act of vandalism: within the shadow of that same completed monument a solemn field Mass was celebrated in 1911, thousands attending it, and amongst them the chief magistrate of the republic. The grandest civic celebration which the capital has witnessed was that of the Columbus Memorial, 8 June, 1912, when, under the auspices of the Catholic Knights of Columbus, a superb monument was dedicated in honour of the Catholic discoverer of America.

George Washington cherished the hope that the capital would become the home of a great national seat of learning. Although that hope has not yet been realized, in the sense of a university endowed by the Government and under governmental control and patronage, yet Washington is well supplied with institutions for higher education, offers extraordinary advantages for scientific and literary labour and research, and possesses an unparalleled educational equipment in the great scientific collections and libraries of the Government. By authority of Congress, all such facilities for research and information are made accessible to students of institutions of higher learning in the District. This provision applies to the Library of Congress, the National Museum, the Patent Office, the Bureau of Education, the Bureau of Ethnology, the Army Medical Museum, the Department of Agriculture, the Fish Commission, the Botanical Gardens, the Coast and Geodetic Survey, the Geological Survey, the Naval Observatory, several hospitals and other departments supplies with special libraries, laboratories, and equipment for research. The Library of Congress contains 1,100,000 volumes; Surgeon-General's Office, 140,639: National Museum, 16,000; Museum of Hygiene, 10,5000; Bureau of Ethnology, 5000; Bureau of Education, 30,000; Department of Agriculture, 25,000. The Law Library of the United States Capitol contains over 100,000 volumes, and is free to students seven hours daily. Washington presents advantages for the study of American jurisprudence which are unequaled elsewhere, and must always remain so. Congress, the Court of Claims, the Supreme Court of the United States, and the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia are in session during several months of each scholastic year, and, with the executive departments, the Patent, Pension, and General Land Offices, furnish advantages for professional study nowhere else enjoyed. There are six law and three medical schools in the city.

Georgetown University, founded in 1789, and the Catholic University of America, canonically instituted by Pope Leo XIII in 1887, offer in their various departments numerous courses in the arts and sciences to men who desire a complete general and liberal education, or who aim at a professional career. The Catholic University has 52 professors, and schools of the sacred science of law, of philosophy, of letters, and sciences. It has affiliated colleges and communities of the Dominican and Franciscan Orders, of the Sulpician, Paulist, Marist, and Holy Cross Congregations, and a Polish house of studies. Georgetown University, besides the collegiate department, includes schools of law, medicine, and dentistry; attached to the medical school is a hospital, in charge of the Sisters of St. Francis, with a training school for nurses; the law school has (1911-1912) 959 students, the largest registration of any law school in the United States. the total number of students in the university is 1445. For female education, the Academy of the Visitation, Georgetown, and Trinity College, Brookland, are institutions of high standing. A summer school, under the auspices of the Catholic University, was successfully inaugurated in 1911., for the members of Catholic teaching orders of women. Besides these are: Gonzaga College, directed by the Jesuits; St. John's College, by the Christian Brothers; the Visitation Academy of Washington; the Immaculate Academy of the Sisters of Providence; academies and high schools, directed by the Sisters of the Holy Cross, Sisters of Charity, Sisters of Notre-Dame, Sisters of the Third Order of St. Dominic, and the Oblate Sisters of Providence (for coloured children). Over 4000 pupils attend the parochial schools.

The eleemosynary and benefit institution include St. Ann's Infant Asylum, and orphan asylum for little boys, another for girls, St. Rose's Technical School, and Providence Hospital (all in care of the Sisters of Charity). The Sisters of Mercy conduct a home for self-supporting girls. The houses of the Good Shepherd, the Little Sisters of the Poor, and the Bon Secours provide for their special objects of care and charity. Conferences of St. Vincent de Paul exist in nearly all parishes. The Christ Child Society, having for its object to provide for all the needs of child life among the destitute, has its headquarters in Washington, with branches in several other cities; the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions has its office here; the Apostolic Mission House was established in 1902 near the Catholic University. It is difficult to determine the exact number of Catholics in Washington, but it has been estimated to be 30 per cent of the entire population.


Source: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15558a.htm (Catholic Encyclopedia)

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Wednesday, December 01, 2010

What Cooked the World's Economy?


It wasn't your overdue mortgage.

By James Lieber Wednesday, Jan 28 2009



Details
James Lieber is a lawyer whose books on business and politics include Friendly Takeover (Penguin) and Rats in the Grain (Basic Books). This is his fifth article for the Voice.




It's 2009. You're laid off, furloughed, foreclosed on, or you know someone who is. You wonder where you'll fit into the grim new semi-socialistic post-post-industrial economy colloquially known as "this mess."

You're astonished and possibly ashamed that mutant financial instruments dreamed up in your great country have spawned worldwide misery. You can't comprehend, much less trim, the amount of bailout money parachuting into the laps of incompetents, hoarders, and miscreants. It's been a tough century so far: 9/11, Iraq, and now this. At least we have a bright new president. He'll give you a job painting a bridge. You may need it to keep body and soul together.

The basic story line so far is that we are all to blame, including homeowners who bit off more than they could chew, lenders who wrote absurd adjustable-rate mortgages, and greedy investment bankers.

Credit derivatives also figure heavily in the plot. Apologists say that these became so complicated that even Wall Street couldn't understand them and that they created "an unacceptable level of risk." Then these blowhards tell us that the bailout will pump hundreds of billions of dollars into the credit arteries and save the patient, which is the world's financial system. It will take time-maybe a year or so-but if everyone hangs in there, we'll be all right. No structural damage has been done, and all's well that ends well.

Sorry, but that's drivel. In fact, what we are living through is the worst financial scandal in history. It dwarfs 1929, Ponzi's scheme, Teapot Dome, the South Sea Bubble, tulip bulbs, you name it. Bernie Madoff? He's peanuts.

Credit derivatives-those securities that few have ever seen-are one reason why this crisis is so different from 1929.

Derivatives weren't initially evil. They began as insurance policies on large loans. A bank that wished to lend money to a big, but shaky, venture, like what Ford or GM have become, could hedge its bet by buying a credit derivative to cover losses if the debtor defaulted. Derivatives weren't cheap, but in the era of globalization and declining American competitiveness, they were prudent. Interestingly, the company that put the basic hardware and software together for pricing and clearing derivatives was Bloomberg. It was quite expensive for a financial institution-say, a bank-to get a Bloomberg machine and receive the specialized training required to certify analysts who would figure out the terms of the insurance. These Bloomberg terminals, originally called Market Masters, were first installed at Merrill Lynch in the late 1980s.

Subsequently, thousands of units have been placed in trading and financial institutions; they became the cornerstone of Michael Bloomberg's wealth, marrying his skills as a securities trader and an electrical engineer.

It's an open question when or if he or his company knew how they would be misused over time to devastate the world's economy.


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Fast-forward to the early years of the Clinton administration. After an initial surge of regulatory behavior in favor of fair markets, especially in antitrust, that sort of behavior was abandoned, and free markets triumphed. The result was a morass of white-collar sociopathy at Archer Daniels Midland, Enron, and WorldCom, and in a host of markets ranging from oil to vitamins.

This was the beginning of the heyday of hedge funds. Unregulated investment houses were originally based on the questionable but legal practice of short-selling-selling a financial instrument you don't own in hopes of buying it back later at a lower price. That way, you hedge your bets: You cover your investment in a company in case a company's stock price falls.

But hedge funds later diversified their practices beyond that easy definition. These funds acquired a good deal of popular mystique. They made scads of money. Their notoriously high entry fees-up to 5 percent of the investment, plus as much as 36 percent of profits-served as barriers to all but the richest investors, who gave fortunes to the funds to play with. The funds boasted of having genius analysts and fabulous proprietary algorithms. Few could discern what they really did, but the returns, for those who could buy in, often seemed magical.

But it wasn't magic. It amounted to the return of the age-old scam called "bucket shops." Also sometimes known as "boiler rooms," bucket shops emerged after the Civil War. Usually, they were storefronts where people came to bet on stocks without owning them. Unlike their customers, the shops actually owned blocks of stock. If customers were betting that a stock would go up, the shops would sell it and the price would plunge; if bettors were bearish, the shops would buy. In this way, they cleaned out their customers. Frenetic bucket-shop activity caused the Panic of 1907. By 1909, New York had banned bucket shops, and every other state soon followed.

In the mid-'90s, though, the credit-derivatives industry was hitting its stride and argued vehemently for exclusion from all state and federal anti-bucket-shop regulations. On the side of the industry were Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, and his deputy, Lawrence Summers. Holding the fort for the regulators was Brooksley Born, who headed the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The three financial titans ridiculed the virtually unknown and cloutless, but brilliant and prophetic Born, who warned that unrestricted derivatives trading would "threaten our regulated markets, or indeed, our economy, without any federal agency knowing about it." Warren Buffett also weighed in against deregulation.


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Worldly Slavery Or Spiritual Freedom!


Last Trumpet Ministries, PO Box 806, Beaver Dam, WI 53916
Fax: 920-887-2626 Internet: http://www.lasttrumpetministries.org/

Worldly Slavery Or Spiritual Freedom!

"Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit."

Psalms 51:10-12


"For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God."

Romans 8:18-21


"Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage."

Galatians 5:1


"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed."

John 8:32-36



In this issue of the Last Trumpet Newsletter, we will once again examine the current events of our time and how they relate to the personal freedom and liberty of the American people and the rest of the world in these last days. The United States has a rich heritage of freedom and has been known throughout its short history as the "land of the free and the home of the brave." Yet, the freedom which we've enjoyed for so many years is slowly being taken from us, little by little in a gradual manner, difficult to detect by a preoccupied and distracted population.

We live in a constantly changing world. Every year we see new rules and regulations used to burden and entangle the citizens of the United States. There are literally dozens of taxes that we are forced to pay among other fees, surcharges, permits, and licenses. My father always used to define a free man as "one who is able to enjoy the fruits of his labor." Therefore, if you're paying sixty percent of your income for various taxes, you are really sixty percent slave and forty percent free. If you think this isn't true, just try not paying your taxes for a while and see how long it takes for you to be sent to prison.

In like manner, if you work hard for much of your life and eventually pay off the mortgage on your real estate, you might think that you finally own your home. Yet, if you fail to pay your property taxes, your home will be taken away from you despite the fulfillment of your obligations to the bank or financial institution which issued your mortgage. As if that's not bad enough, if the state decides it wants your property, the authorities can come along and force you to sell it to them based on the law of eminent domain.

The government even considers your minor children to be their property. If at any time the state deems you an unfit parent, they can send a social worker over to collect your child or children, and there's very little you can do about it except to try to regain custody in a court of law.

Folks, there's nothing we have today that couldn't be taken away tomorrow. However, we serve an Almighty God, and ultimately He is in control. No one can take your spiritual freedom that you have with the Lord Jesus Christ. No one can take away your prayers. No one can take away your treasures in Heaven. No one can take away the Scriptures hidden in your heart. If you have not yet dedicated your life to Jesus Christ, I encourage you to do so now. Repent of your sins, give your heart to God, and you will have salvation, liberty, freedom, and a peace that passes all understanding.

A Diluted Money Supply!

In a move that has sparked anger around the world and has caused economists to express concern over the possibility of inflation spiraling out of control in the United States, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke recently made the decision to pump $600 billion into the U.S. economy through the purchase of treasury bonds. (1) This procedure, which is known as "quantitative easing," will lower the overall value of the U.S. dollar while theoretically providing banks with more money to extend credit and make loans to companies and consumers.

The real goal of the Federal Reserve, however, is to raise the rate of inflation in the United States. Finance experts are divided over whether or not this is a good idea with some saying America needs a little inflation to shake Americans loose from their money. Others predict the Federal Reserve will lose control of inflation, which will cause the cost of goods and services to spike immensely. Al Niemi, the dean at Southern Methodist University Cox School of Business in Dallas, Texas, has this to say, "American households lost $14 trillion in their net worth in the recession because of the drastic fall in home prices and the decline in the value of their 401(k)s. Households are not spending because they are scared and trying to replenish some of their losses. Companies are not hiring because people are not spending." (2) Kyle Bass, chief investment officer at Hayman Advisors LP, stated, "Unfortunately, the debt of the United States is going to grow north of 90 percent of GDP this year. The interest expense is growing exponentially. We're going to have a much, much greater problem down the road. And unfortunately down the road is not that far away." He later went on to say, "In my household, when I spend twice what I make, I have to dial my spending back. But in this crazy world that we live in, when the U.S. is spending $3.6 trillion a year and we're only bringing in $2.2 [trillion], we decide to spend more and fund it by printing money." (3)

Numerous officials around the world were quick to criticize this latest round of quantitative easing. Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai said, "They owe us some explanation. I've seen much concern about the impact of this policy on financial stability in other countries." (4) German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble stated while addressing a conference, "With all due respect, U.S. policy is clueless. (The problem) is not a shortage of liquidity. It's not that the Americans haven't pumped enough liquidity into the market, and now to say let's pump more into the market is not going to solve their problems." (5) Officials from France, South Africa, and other countries around the world have also voiced their displeasure.

Meanwhile, the cost of many commodities, such as grain and cotton, have been rising as well as the cost of precious metals. In fact, the price of gold rose above $1400 per ounce for the first time ever in early November 2010. In regard to the record-setting price of gold, IG Markets CEO Dan Cook said, "People are really concerned again and so I think we're seeing safe-haven buying. Whether you're holding dollars or euros or whatever you're holding, gold is that on kind of go-to product, a commodity as well as a currency of trade. Nobody seems to be that willing to sell out of it." (6)

The Growing Threat Of Bankruptcy!

Things aren't looking good for the United States' economy. The federal budget deficit for 2010 exceeded one trillion dollars for the second straight year. (7) The U.S. national debt has risen over three trillion dollars since Obama took office in 2009. (8) Now former chairman and CEO of BB&T, the nation's tenth largest bank, John Allison has stated that the bankruptcy of the United States is a "mathematical certainty" unless drastic action is taken. Mr. Allison told CNS News in an interview published on November 4, 2010, "If you run the numbers, on all those numbers that you just talked about, which I think are accurate, very accurate, in 20 or 25 years, the United States goes bankrupt. It's a mathematic certainty." He further went on to say, "Now countries don't go bankrupt the way companies do. They don't file bankruptcy. They usually hyper-inflate. They print a bunch of paper money, or they become Third World economies like Argentina -- unless we change direction. So, we absolutely have to change direction." (9)

The bankruptcy of the United States would likely have a gigantic impact on the global economy. In fact, the economies from the various countries around the world are so intertwined, and they interact with each other so much that such a catastrophe could very easily bankrupt other nations as well. The simultaneous collapse of multiple major world economies would fit nicely into Satan's plans for a one-world government. After all, it would facilitate the need for a new global currency, which would almost certainly be a cashless monetary system. There has already been some chatter about a new global currency, and it was French President Nicolas Sarkozy who stated in October 2010, "We must have the courage to imagine together, through coordination, how we can create the basis for a new international monetary system." (10)

There are many financially troubled countries in the world right now, particularly in Europe. While some of the nations in the European Union lie on the verge of insolvency, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has suggested that instead of intervening with bailouts (as was done previously), they should just allow countries to go bankrupt. (11) Without financial intervention it shouldn't take long for the nations' economies to fail. Greece's debt is predicted to hit 150% of their gross domestic product, or GDP, by 2013. (12)

In an effort to stave off financial collapse, the British government announced a new austerity program in October 2010. The program will result in cuts to welfare benefits, a raising of the retirement age, and a loss of 490,000 public-sector jobs. Britain's top finance minister, George Osborne stated, "Today is the day when Britain steps back from the brink. It's a hard road but it leads to a better future." (13)

I know the economic data we see these days is troubling. I am sure that many of you who are reading this newsletter are suffering from financial hardships. I want to remind you all that God is a very present help in trouble, and He does answer prayer. If you need a job, if you're having trouble making your house payment, or if there are any other financial hardships you're struggling with, I encourage you to cry out to God and seek His guidance. Our prayer teams here at Last Trumpet Ministries would be more than happy to lift you up in prayer as well; so do not feel shy about sending us your prayer requests!

The Call For Globalization!

One of the reasons the United States is in so much trouble today is because of the expansion of economic globalization. It has resulted in an ever-growing trade deficit with countries such as China while they siphon off massive amounts of wealth from the United States and use it to prop up their own economy. The United States continues to import massive amounts of Chinese goods while exporting far, far less. This has had a devastating impact on the amount of U.S. debt while causing factories all over America to shut down as the manufacturing sector shrinks to ever smaller levels as time goes by.

During his recent visit to Mumbai, Barack Obama called for new partnerships with India as he unabashedly promoted what he deems to be the benefits of globalization. Speaking at a meeting in Mumbai, Obama said, "I do think that one of the challenges that we are going to face in the U.S. at a time when we are still recovering from the financial crisis is, how do we respond to some of the challenges of globalization? The fact of the matter is that for most of my lifetime - and I'll turn fifty next year - the U.S. was such an enormously dominant economic power, we were such a large market, our industry, our technology, our manufacturing was so significant that we always met the rest of the world economically on our terms. And now because of the incredible rise of India and China and Brazil and other countries, the U.S. remains the largest economy and the largest market, but there is real competition." Obama further went on to say, "There is going to be a tug-of-war within the U.S. between those who see globalization as a threat and those who accept we live in an open integrated world, which has challenges and opportunities." (14)

In another interesting twist, European Union president Herman Van Rompuy recently made the statement, "In every member state, there are people who believe their country can survive alone in the globalized world. It is more than an illusion - it is a lie." (15) We are seeing outright attacks by world leaders criticizing those who wish their countries to maintain their sovereignty. One can't help but wonder how long it will be until they try to unite the entire world as one nation under the control of an antichrist beast system.

Privacy - On The Verge Of Extinction!

These days I often come across news stories so unbelievable that my first thought is, "This can't possibly be true." And yet the facts are there, plain as day in mainstream news sources. The truth is our privacy has been attacked for so long that we now have very little left. Some of the things now popping up in the news sound very much like science fiction.

The government in the United Kingdom has announced plans to store every email sent and every website visited by Britons. The UK's Strategic Defence and Security Review stated, "We will introduce a programme to preserve the ability of the security, intelligence, and law enforcement agencies to obtain communication data and to intercept communications within the appropriate legal framework. This programme is required to keep up with changing technology and to maintain capabilities that are vital to the work these agencies do to protect the public." (16)

It came to light last month that the Obama Administration is devising new legislation that would require all Internet service providers to build in back doors to their networks and allow the government easy access for surveillance. If passed, the government would be able to track all of your Internet communications - including Facebook, Twitter, and Skype. (17) There were also reports in October that indicated the U.S. military is working on a system which can scan billions of emails to identify potential threats to national security. The $35 million project was announced by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, which was the group responsible for inventing the Internet. DARPA claimed in a recent statement, "Each time we see an incident like a soldier in good mental health becoming homicidal or suicidal or an innocent bystander becoming malicious, we wonder why we didn't see it coming. When we look through the evidence after the fact, we often find a trail, sometimes even an 'obvious' one. The question is: Can we pick up the trail before the fact, giving us time to intervene and prevent an incident." The project is called "Anomaly Detection at Multiple Scales" or ADAMS. (18) Bruce Schneier, an author of books on security technology, lambasted DARPA's new program. "This is what a police state does -- everyone watching what everyone does and the police watching your every move. And what we learn from history is that police states never work. It is never safer," said Schneier during a CNN interview. (19)

Officials in Europe are now testing a brand new traffic camera in Finland. The camera is so advanced that it can not only check to see if motorists are speeding, but it also knows if the driver has insurance, is wearing a seatbelt, or is driving too closely to other vehicles. The camera can take pictures from up to 150 feet away, and it is linked via satellite to police departments so that prosecutions can begin within seconds of a detected violation. Plans are underway to deploy these advanced traffic cameras all over Europe beginning in 2013. (20)

As the world begins to close in around us and more of privacy is taken, it is starting to feel like the only privacy remaining exists in the confines of our own minds. After all, no one can read our thoughts. However, a team of scientists at the California Institute of Technology are now working on technology that would possibly enable them to read and record a person's dreams and thoughts. Lead scientist, Dr. Moran Cerf stated, "We would like to read people's dreams. It would be wonderful to read people's minds when they cannot communicate, such as people in comas." (21) As wonderful as it would be to communicate with coma patients, it is plainly obvious that such technology could be used for nefarious purposes. Will we someday live in a world where not even our thoughts are private?

The Continued Rise Of Islam!

As more and more stories surface about the torture and cruelty brought about at the hand of Islamic "extremists," we continue to see politicians mollycoddling Islamic officials and touting Islam as a great and peaceful religion. Yet devout Muslims are some of the most volatile people on earth. All you have to do is insult their prophet Mohammad or draw his picture and you'll be guilty of "blasphemy," which is considered a crime punishable by death under Sharia law.

Sharia is the set of laws which governs Islam, and these laws insist that all Muslims must follow and obey them. The specifics of Sharia law can vary depending on which faction of Islam is under consideration. For example, the Sunni and Shia Muslims do not have identical laws. However, these laws are always very strict and very oppressive. One such example of Sharia in action was the recent conviction of a Christian mother of five for the "crime" of blasphemy. Asia Bibi was sentenced to hang by Judge Naveed Iqbal after Muslim women reported her to a local cleric for making derogatory remarks about Mohammad. (22) Here let it be noted that the Islamic group known as the Islamic State of Iraq has recently declared that all of the Christians in their country are "legitimate targets." They claimed in a statement, "All Christian centers, organizations and institutions, leaders and followers, are legitimate targets for the mujahideen [holy warriors.]" (23)

On November 2, 2010, the state of Oklahoma passed Question 755 by a margin of 70%. The referendum was designed to effectively ban Sharia Law from ever taking hold in Oklahoma. An excerpt of the measure reads as follows, "This measure amends the State Constitution. It changes a section that deals with the courts of this state. It would amend Article 7, Section 1. It makes courts rely on federal and state law when deciding cases. It forbids courts from considering or using international law. It forbids courts from considering or using Sharia Law." (24) After the measure passed by an overwhelming majority of votes, a Muslim activist from Oklahoma City, named Muneer Awad, filed a lawsuit against it. On November 9, 2010, the Wall Street Journal reported that Chief Judge Vicki Miles-LaGrange issued a temporary restraining order against the measure until she can determine whether or not Question 755 violates the U.S. Constitution. (25) I find it ridiculous that a temporary restraining order was issued, and I pray to God the measure will be enforced. Sharia Law has no right to exist in the United States. It should be banned in every state.

Incidentally, Islam has become extremely widespread in Europe. In fact, the name "Mohammad" (or its variants) is now the most popular boys' name in Britain, having been giving to 7,549 newborn boys in 2009. (26)

China - A Rising Superpower!

China has been expanding in many different ways over the last few decades. Its economy has grown, its military has expanded, its technology has progressed, and its oppressive tactics against Chinese citizens is an ever-constant part of life. Why is it that the United States of America's largest trade partner is a communist nation? And why is the fact that the Chinese government is communist so often seemingly swept under the rug? We seldom hear them called the "Red Chinese" anymore.

Although I've never been there, I have a feeling that China is not a very pleasant place to live. Information is highly guarded and access to the Internet is stifled by a national firewall controlled by the government. Many Chinese people are employed in what amounts to sweatshop labor, working long hours for little pay at factories producing goods destined for the United States. And if those factors weren't bad enough, they have a strict one child per family policy. Of course, they sometimes allow wealthy or influential families to have more than one child if they can afford to pay the fines. However, if a family cannot afford to pay the fines for having more than one child, the mother is often forced to have an abortion.

I have a report in front of me from October 2010 detailing the gruesome account of a forced abortion upon a Chinese woman who was eight months pregnant. Twelve government officials stormed into the home of Xiao Aiying and began kicking and hitting her in the stomach, presumably to try and force a miscarriage. After a while they dragged her kicking and screaming to the hospital where the woman was forcefully restrained. They then injected the woman with a drug to kill her baby. The woman's husband, Luo Yanquan, is quoted as stating, "They held her hands behind her back and pushed her head against the wall and kicked her in the stomach. I don't know if they were trying to give her a miscarriage. Our ten-year-old daughter has been excited about having a little brother or sister but I don't know how I can explain to her what has happened." (27)

Concern has been growing over what has been perceived as Chinese "bullying" by some nations. Now the United States is making plans with Australia to share a military base there to allow the United States easier access to the region. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates attempted to downplay the idea that China had anything to do with the collaboration with Australia. "It's more about our relationship with the rest of Asia than it is about China," Gates said. However, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton didn't shy away from mentioning China. "We want to see China's rise be successful, bring benefits to the Chinese people but to take on greater responsibility and a rules-based approach towards all of its neighbors," Clinton told reporters. (28)

Hillary Clinton's choice of words, "China's rise," are interesting. Perhaps she wants the rise of an oppressive communist baby-killing nation, which forces thirteen million abortions a year, to be successful, but I assure you that God is looking down in displeasure, and they will be judged for their wickedness someday.

Threats From Iran And North Korea!

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has angered much of the world in recent months with his belligerent tone and inflammatory speeches. Now experts tell us that Iran is getting closer and closer to having nuclear weapons. Mark Fitzpatrick, director of the Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Program, is very concerned. Speaking of Iran he stated, "It has produced a stockpile of 3,000 kilograms of low-enriched uranium, which serves no civilian purpose today because Iran receives the fuel for the Bushehr reactor from Russia, and Iran has no capability to take the low-enriched uranium and produce fuel. So what's the purpose?" Fitzpatrick further stated, "I think actually if it gets to the point of having a nuclear weapon, there will be a war."

North Korea already has nuclear weapons, and according to a report by the United Nations, they have been exporting banned nuclear and missile technology to Iran, Syria, and Myanmar. The report states, "The Panel of Experts has reviewed several government assessments, reporters of the International Atomic Energy Agency, research papers and media reports indicting continuing involvement of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in nuclear and ballistic missile related activities in certain countries, including the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Syrian Arab Republic, and Myanmar (Burma)." (30) According to an Associated Press report, North Korea has now threatened to strengthen their "war deterrent force" by a thousand-fold as long as they believe a U.S. military threat exists. (31) It's also worth noting that one of North Korea's key allies is China.

In closing, I know there are many more things I could write about if not for the space limitations of this newsletter. The volcano in Mount Merapi, Indonesia, has erupted numerous times, resulting in a devastating loss of life and damages estimated in the tens of millions of dollars. (32) Haiti has had an extremely difficult year, contending not only with a massive earthquake early on, but hurricanes also and an outbreak of cholera that has affected thousands of people and has claimed many hundreds of lives so far. (33) We're seeing alarming headlines such as "Global Food Crisis Forecast As Prices Reach Record Highs" (34) and "Food Price Fears As U.S. Warns On Crop Yields." (35) As usual, the earth continues to quake and shake every single day.

Yet, for all the trouble in the world we can abide safely and secure in a spiritual haven with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. It was the Psalmist who wrote in Psalm 27:5, "For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock." If you want true freedom, give all your burdens, problems, and cares of this life to Jesus. Give Him your sin and let go of it. For to be free from sin is to be free from death. And that is the greatest freedom you could ever have.

I wish to sincerely thank all of you for your outpouring of love, support, and encouragement over these last few months. I still miss my father tremendously and deeply wish he was writing these newsletters instead of me. I had the honor of assisting my father with the publication of over 140 newsletters before the Lord took him home. As we move forward, we at Last Trumpet Ministries will continue to work hard for God as we seek to do His perfect will and provide a timely and accurate report of the current events in the United States and the world in these last days. Thank you to all who have sent news clippings, reports and other resources. Although I am unable to use each one in the newsletter, I do read them all. This December issue of the Last Trumpet Newsletter will be the last newsletter of 2010. Please remember to send us your completed renewal form at your earliest convenience so we can ensure you do not miss a single issue in 2011. If you have any prayer requests, please do not hesitate to send them our way. Our teams of intercessors will give each request individual attention and bring your petitions before the throne of the Almighty. Grace and peace be unto you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Samuel David Meyer

Acknowledgements
01. Associated Press, November 5, 2010, By Paul Wiseman, Washington, D.C.
02. Dallas Morning News, November 10, 2010, By Cheryl Hall, http://dallasnews.com/.
03. Ibid.
04. Reuters News Service, November 5, 2010, By Glenn Somerville and Zhou Xin, Washington D.C./Beijing, China.
05. Ibid.
06. Associated Press, November 8, 2010, By Sandy Shore.
07. Associated Press, October 15, 2010, By Martin Crutsinger, Washington D.C.
08. CBS News, October 18, 2010, By Mark Knoller, http://cbsnews.com/.
09. CNS News, November 4, 2010, By Terence P. Jeffery, http://cnsnews.com/.
10. Reuters News Service, October 23, 2010, By Stephanie Nebehay, Montreux, Switzerland.
11. Associated Press, October 28, 2010, By Gabriele Steinhauser, Brussels, Belgium.
12. Ibid.
13. New York Times, October 21, 2010, By New York Times, London, UK.
14. The Times of India, November 8, 2010, By The Times of India, Mumbai, India.
15. The Daily Mail, November 11, 2010, By Daniel Martin, http://dailymail.co.uk/.
16. The Telegraph, October 20, 2010, By Tom Whitehead, http://telegraph.co.uk/.
17. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, November 2, 2010, By Ced Kurtz.
18. CNN, October 27, 2010, By Charley Keyes, http://cnn.com/.
19. Ibid.
20. The Daily Mail, November 3, 2010, By Luke Salkeld, http://dailymail.co.uk/.
21. The Daily Mail, October 28, 2010, By Daily Mail Reporter, http://dailymail.co.uk/.
22. AFP, November 11, 2010, By Waqar Hussain, Lahore, Pakistan.
23. The Christian Science Monitor, November 3, 2010, By Taylor Barnes, http://csmonitor.com/. 24. Balletopedia, http://www.ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/Oklahoma_%22Sharia_Law_Amendment%22,_State_Question_755_(2010)
25. The Wall Street Journal, November 9, 2010, By Jess Bravin, jess.bravin@wsj.com.
26. The Daily Mail, October 28, 2010, By Jack Doyle, http://dailymail.co.uk/.
27. The Daily Mail, October 22, 2010, By Peter Simpson, http://dailymail.co.uk/.
28. Associated Press, November 7, 2010, By Anne Gearan and Matthew Lee, Melbourne, Australia.
29. Hurriyet Daily News, October, 25, 2010, By Aras Coskuntuncel, Istanbul, Turkey.
30. Fox News, November 10, 2010, By Fox News, United Nations.
31. Associated Press, October 16, 2010, By Kwang-Tae Kim, Seoul, South Korea.
32. Associated Press, November 12, By Slamet Riyadi, Mount Merapi, Indonesia.
33. The Guardian, November 12, 2010, By Rory Carroll, Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
34. The Guardian, October 25, 2010, By John Vidal, http://guardian.co.uk/.
35. Financial Times, November 9, 2010, By Gregory Meyer, Jack Farchy, and Javiar Blas, http://ft.com/.

http://lasttrumpetministries.org/

Special Note: A new tribute website for Pastor David J. Meyer can now be accessed at http://pastormeyer.org/ .

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