Thursday, July 21, 2011

1,500 Jobs Come To An End at United Space Alliance

Photo (Courtesy) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14220423


Posted: 5:39 pm EDT July 21, 2011Updated: 7:23 pm EDT July 21, 2011
BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. -- The jobs of more than 1,500 United Space Alliance employees come to an end on Friday and there are more to follow.

WFTV asked leaders and businesses if life on the Space Coast ends, too.

Some workers are taking early retirement with a pension and others said they are too young for that. They have at least a 20-week severance deal, but with the economy, it's still too early to tell what the end of an era will mean for NASA when 9,000 people are out of a job.

With Atlantis' sonic booms early Thursday morning came the rude awakening many on the Space Coast were dreading.

Patti Walls and Karen Jordan have more than 50 years experience between them working in the space industry, most of that for the United Space Alliance.

On Friday, their work comes to an end. Jordan said she spent a career checking expiration dates on shuttle parts. It's a career that will be hard to duplicate.

"Things have changed a lot since I put a resume together 21 years ago," said Jordan.

The key will be finding jobs for workers, no matter where they are, and fighting for each one.

Last year, the economic commission helped bring in 933 jobs and many were non-space related.

"AAR, Mid-Air, Embraer, these are all companies, that during these tough economic times, have chosen to do business in Brevard County," said Lynda Weathermen, economic development committee.

The focus will be to lure in companies with promises of an intelligent workforce, affordable housing, and a great lifestyle.

The space coast said they have seen this before, like the down time between the last Apollo mission and the shuttle program.

Still, the competition is fierce for jobs, especially for those hoping to stay where they are at.

"We don't want to go elsewhere, and the people that have moved have done so reluctantly," said Jordan.

When Apollo ended, there were about 230,000 people and only 10,000 people moved away.

Now there are more than 500,000 people in the area, and economic forecasters are hoping that exodus rate stays about the same.

Source

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Thirty years of the space shuttle - launch of Atlantis marks the end of the US Space Shuttle Programme

8 July 2011

 Last shuttle launch of Atlantis on 8 July 2011 at 11:29 local time from Kennedy Space Center
Last shuttle launch of Atlantis on 8 July 2011 at 11:29 local time from Kennedy Space Center

The successful launch of the US Space Shuttle Atlantis en route to the International Space Station (ISS) marked the beginning of the final space shuttle mission and the end of the 30-year era of US space shuttle flights. Atlantis lifted off from its launch site, Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on Friday, 8 July 2011 at 11:29 local time (17:29 CEST).

 Crew of the Atlantis STS-135 mission before the launch
Crew of the Atlantis STS-135 mission before the launch

This is the 135th shuttle mission, referred to as STS-135. The Space Transportation System (STS) comprises not just the orbiter, in which the four astronauts, Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Doug Hurley and Mission Specialists Sandra Magnus and Rex Walheim are making their way to mankind's largest outpost in space, but also the external fuel tank and the two solid-propellant boosters.

During the mission, the Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM) will dock with the ISS so the occupants can unload supplies. During this mission, the crew will also perform a space walk to install the Robotic Refueling Mission, designed to demonstrate and evaluate the technologies and techniques needed for robotic satellite refueling. The team of four will also bring more than two tons of equipment back to Earth.

Atlantis' final journey is scheduled to last 12 days and end early on the morning of 20 July 2011 at 07:06 local time (13:06 CEST), when it lands at Kennedy Space Center. US space agency NASA's shuttle missions have taken a total of 356 astronauts into space since the first shuttle mission on Columbia on 12 April 1981. Including this final mission, the shuttles have flown a total of 864,401,219 kilometres, which corresponds to roughly the average distance between Earth and Jupiter. 14 astronauts lost their lives in the Challenger and Columbia accidents on 28 January 1986 and 1 February 2003 respectively.

Astronauts from a total of 16 countries have flown on US shuttle missions, including seven Germans: Ulf Merbold, Reinhard Furrer, Ernst Messerschmid, Ulrich Walter, Gerhard Thiele, Thomas Reiter and Hans Schlegel. The latter was the only German astronaut to fly on Atlantis; he was responsible for and participated in the deployment of Columbus, a European ISS laboratory module designed to carry out research in the environment of space. in February 2008. A dedicated ESA ground control station set up at the DLR site in Oberpfaffenhofen monitored this milestone in European spaceflight.

 A Greek Omega - the STS-135 mission logo
A Greek Omega - the STS-135 mission logo

Gerhard Thiele flew on board space shuttle Endeavour in February 2000. He was Mission Specialist for the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM), which acquired radar remote sensing data about the surface of Earth. "I still remember 11 February 2000 very clearly. We were six astronauts facing a challenging scientific mission. The atmosphere in the cockpit was tense yet cheerful and confident. Those 11 days in space still remind me of the great achievements mankind is capable of." When asked about the significance of the space shuttles for manned space flight, the 58-year-old physicist and former astronaut replied: "Undoubtedly, the shuttle has been used to carry out very successful scientific missions, such as the Hubble missions and SRTM. The shuttles have also played a significant role in the construction of the ISS."

Johann-Dietrich Wörner, Chairman of the Executive Board at the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR), associates the space shuttle with personal moments: "I followed the shuttle era from the very beginning. In the summer of 2005, before being appointed Chairman of DLR, I visited the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC with my family. During our visit, a TV broadcaster asked me how I felt about the first shuttle launch since the Columbia accident. Clearly the TV crew took notice of my tension and, at the same time, fascination with this special mission, called Return to Flight."

 Engineers in the Columbus Control Centre at DLR Oberpfaffenhofen support the final shuttle mission
Engineers in the Columbus Control Centre at DLR Oberpfaffenhofen support the final shuttle mission


Wörner also offers a view into the future of manned spaceflight: "in Europe, we will also depend on Russian Soyuz spacecraft in the future, though it has been contractually agreed that Europe will be able to provide other services like flights for activities such as deploying a research laboratory on the ISS." Thus, a certain influence on the costs is possible. When the shuttle flights end, unmanned space vehicles will be used to supply the ISS with vital cargo. "A few weeks ago, Europe successfully concluded the ATV-2 mission. The Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) was developed in Germany and is constructed here as well. In the next few years, there will be another three ATV missions," the chairman of DLR explains.

The limited opportunities available for transporting material from the ISS back to Earth in the future are also of concern to DLR staff at the Columbus Control Centre in Oberpfaffenhofen. They are planning to use the last shuttle flight primarily to bring back equipment from the European research laboratory. "We will ask the astronauts to load a sample of Columbus coolant and some larger experiment components onto Atlantis for further analysis here on Earth," explains Norbert Porth, Flight Director responsible for STS-135 in the Columbus control centre.


Contact
Elisabeth Mittelbach
DLR - German Aerospace Center

Corporate Communications, Editor Transportation and Space

Tel.: +49 2203 601-3900

Fax: +49 2203 601-3249


Michael Müller
German Aerospace Center

Space Administration
, Communication
Tel.: +49 228 447-385

Fax: +49 228 447-386


Last update: 08/07/2011 18:05:33

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The Pastors Evangelism and Leadership Conference (PELC) 2011 is on the way!!


For 32 years Oakwood University has been the December destination for hundreds of pastors and religious leaders from across North America and around the world. We have been challenged by the likes of Charles Bradford, Mark Finley, C.D.Brooks, General Conference President Ted Wilson and Senate Chaplain Barry Black. This year’s lineup of preachers and presenters will include Wesley Knight, Brenda Billingy, Debleaire Snell and a host of others. Our Sunday night keynote address will be given by a PELC favorite, Dr. Henry Wright.

Since the late Evangelist E. E. Cleveland birthed the idea of Evangelism Council, our passion has been the growth and development of local churches and frontline pastors. Each year we explore effective approaches for public and personal evangelism, church growth, and leadership development. This year not only will we offer an amazing collection of workshops, but we are introducing, “Super-Plenaries” that will provide even more time to explore vital issues.

Over the years we have taken up the unique challenge to reach out to ministers of other denominations. Ministers such as Gardner C. Taylor, Floyd Flake, Julius Scruggs and Renita Weems have not only shared our pulpit but they have opened their pulpits to us. The dialogue and fellowship have been fantastic. In that spirit, our special guest this year will be Bishop T. D. Jakes, the Senior Pastor of the Potters House Church in Dallas, Texas.

If last year’s conference is any indication, the Pastors Evangelism and Leadership Conference 2011 will be one you’ll not soon forget. You can expect an encounter with God that will equip you to lead your local church into an explosion of personal and corporate growth. Keep checking this site as over the next few weeks we roll out this years’ conference schedule. We’ll see you there!!


Click here for the Pastoral Evangelism and Leadership Conference Response


Source
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Launch of the European Sunday Alliance!

#140 July-August 2011


Launch of the European Sunday Alliance!


The debate over working in Sundays is back in the news headlines. The European Sunday Alliance held its grand launch day on 20 June 2011 in Brussels at the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC).



Distinguished experts from several EU Member States travelled to Brussels for this event to help raise awareness of the “unique value” of this free time for all citizens in the European Union. There were also some MEPs to grace the occasion with their presence. After many long months of planning, the task for the day was substantial: telling the whole of Europe about the importance of Sunday as a day of rest and of the right to decent working hours. In the morning the European Sunday Alliance’s founding statement was signed by 65 bodies ranging from national Sunday alliances and trade union movements to civil society organisations and religious communities.

An Alliance like the European currency: “Unity in diversity”

“We need time for the collective rituals of society, not just for everyday business like shopping,” declared Luca Jahier, president of the EESC’s Group III, as he opened the conference. “The strength of the Alliance lies in its diversity,” said Fabrice Warneck (Uni Europa) when introducing the European Sunday Alliance. Throughout the day one expert after another expounded the benefits of Sunday as a day of rest.

The programme started with Professor Dr Friedhelm Nachreiner’s presentation of the Deloitte Study, the research commissioned by the European Commission into the evolution of working time organisation. The professor demonstrated convincingly that working on Sunday has harmful effects on individuals that affect their health and safety, and also upset the work- and home-life balance for working people. In support of these arguments several notable scientific studies and confirmed European research results were cited. He ended by saying “Working on Sundays cannot be compensated or made up for by overtime hours or rest days during the week.”

The Churches added their opinions and so did COMECE, co-organiser of the event. Rev. Patrick R Schnabel, pastor of the Evangelical Protestant Church in Germany (EKD) and moderator of the morning discussions, argued in favour of free Sundays as “a huge plus value for every sector and [people in] all situations in life.”

After lunch, Dr Jill Ebrey of the University of Chester explained the importance of the weekend in the historical context of the United Kingdom. At the end of her contribution, she stressed “the weekend remains the time when everybody is free to do whatever they choose.”

In a round table discussion, various national Sunday alliances each had their opportunity to speak, as also did the trade union and civil society organisations (representing families and sports). Maciej Ptaszynki, representing the Polish Chamber of Commerce, a founding declaration signatory, also stated that from the economic point of view “hiring staff willing to work on Sundays involves extra costs because of wage increases and awarding bonuses.”

Special attention paid to voluntary work

“Volunteering is the best example we have of active citizenship,” said Pavel Trantina, chairman of the ECSC’s permanent working group for the European Year of Volunteering 2011. In fact, volunteering involves a wide spectrum of the population and touches every sector (from sport to health). After explaining the importance of volunteering, including its economic and social benefits, Mr Trantina highlighted the link between volunteering and free time. Stephan Dietzen, (EU Office of the European Olympic Committee) added that “volunteering is the cornerstone of sport!”

The event was brought to a close with everyone giving their views on the future of the European Alliance, and a call to action was launched. Actually the European Sunday Alliance does have a political decision-making role in the framework of the European Commission’s revision of the 2003/88/EC Directive. “The Commission has a duty to draw up a proposal to support keeping Sunday free,” declared George Dassis, president of Group II of the EESC.

On another note, with the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty and the introduction of the Citizen’s Initiative, the Alliance should really be mobilising yet more organisations in its efforts to make European institutions aware of its aim to keep Sunday safe as the day of rest in the European Union. Fabrice Warneck summed up by saying “With the strength of its diversity, the Alliance should make the most of this political opportunity!”



Noémie Mandin

Translated from the original French


Source


My observation:
While many of the so-called remnant are uniting with the world, the enemy is decidedly forging ahead with Sunday Laws as prophesied. Read and weep!

A..
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Social Networks and the Arab Spring

14 June 2011


Photo by freeedomania at flickr.com

Fadi Halliso SJ

Syria faces prolonged unrest as the protests that have swept through the Arab world this year continue to provoke an aggressive response from the country’s armed forces. In Egypt and Tunisia, similar protests culminated in the resignations of the presidents of each country, but how and why did these revolutions begin? Syrian Jesuit, Fadi Halliso examines the origins and development of the protest movements in Egypt and Tunisia, focusing particularly on the role played by social networking sites.


Six months ago, the international community was shocked by the news coverage of the beginning of what has come to be known as the Arab Spring. The Arab world has seen a chain of protests against national governments and their regimes, which have been organised largely by activists associated with youth movements. So far, two presidents (Hosni Mubarak in Egypt and Zine el Abidine Ben Ali in Tunisia) have been forced to resign, whilst we are still waiting to see what effect they may have in many other countries like Yemen, Libya, Morocco and Syria.

How has this happened? How and why has a seemingly passive generation of young people now found the strength to rise up against repressive regimes? What role has been played by the internet in general and social networks in particular in these revolutions? By looking individually at the Tunisian and the Egyptian revolutions, exploring their similarities, differences and effects on one another, we can begin to answer such questions.


Tunisia

The Tunisian revolution was in every respect a big surprise. It began in the poor and marginal southern city of Sidi Bouzid as a series of small protests over the now infamous ‘Bouazizi’ incident of December 2010, in which 26-year-old trader Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in a municipal building after complaining of mistreatment by the police. The Sidi Bouzid protests were inflamed by the violent response of the police and protests spread to other cities, where they gained strength and momentum over the following month. Such unprecedented reaction led eventually to President Ben Ali’s resignation, after the army refused to intervene in the social and political struggle or fire on protesters.

The revolution shocked the whole world. The western world was astonished to see a popular uprising in Tunisia, one of its allies in the Arab world, thought for a long time to be well governed. There was a great deal of confusion in European diplomatic circles over the real causes and consequences of what was happening in Tunisia. The French Minister for Foreign and European Affairs, Michèle Alliot-Marie resigned in February 2011 after facing criticism for her stance on and reaction to the unfolding events.

During the month of protests in nearly all of the major Tunisian cities, the activists used the internet, especially Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, to their advantage. These sites were used not just to rally people to the cause, but also to communicate directly and exchange ideas. Social networking turned out to be a very effective tool in dispensing information and advice that some protesters learned the hard way, on the battlefield – like how to confront the security forces’ tactics as they attempted to disperse the demonstrations, or how to use vinegar and cola to avoid the effects of tear gas bombs.

Both protesters and the government discovered quickly how instrumental the internet is. It wasn’t only a medium used by some young ‘techies’, it was also the only way for the protesters to make their voices heard worldwide, as the national media were controlled and censored by the Tunisian government.So when the government decided to block access to Facebook, Twitter and other social networking websites, it turned out to have an escalating effect rather than a calming one. Demonstrators were outraged by this censorship, the protest movement became bigger and the Tunisian president had to apologise for the censorship decision and promise to reopen all censored websites again. But it was too late for him!


Egypt

Was the Egyptian revolution as much of a surprise as the events in Tunisia? Well, the answer is yes and no at the same time. No, because Egypt has witnessed for many years protests of one form or another around the country. Yes, because no one in Egypt, not even the most enthusiastic revolutionist, would ever have thought that their movement would lead to the stepping down of President Mubarak.

The protests in Egypt began as early as 2005, before the fifth re-election of Mubarak, when a Christian Egyptian called George Ishak formed with some of his colleagues a movement called Kefaya (‘Enough’) to protest against the constitutional articles that placed no limit on the number of terms of office the president could serve. This movement organised some small rallies and drew some Egyptians’ attention to their political rights. Then, in spring 2008, came a strike and protest in the city of Al Mahalla, which provoked an aggressive response from the Egyptian government.

But at the time of this strike, a new, effective tool was being employed by the Egyptian activists: the internet. While the official media presented a one-sided story – the government’s – the world witnessed the emergence of new breed of reporters: the bloggers. Many bloggers knew that the portrayal in the official media of what was happening at Al Mahalla was unfair so they travelled to the city where they stayed during the period of demonstrations and sit-ins and blogged live from the ‘battlefield’. Their work, whether written, photographed or videotaped, was vital in introducing the workers’ cause not only to the rest of the world, but even to the Egyptian public. With their blog posts, they helped the workers to negotiate some of the final terms of their agreement with the government. But this valuable contribution wasn’t in the end risk-free, as one or two of those bloggers were later imprisoned under false accusations.

The events at Al Mahalla did not end in the workers’ favour, but they did focus a spotlight on two young activists: a young man called Ahmed Maher, a 27-year-old then civil engineer and a former activist in the Kefaya movement, and a young woman called Israa Abdul Fattah. Motivated by what they considered to be the unfairness of their government toward the working class, they launched with some of their friends the ‘April 6th Youth Movement’.

The activists of that movement took note of the important role that bloggers played during the strikes and realised how powerful a tool the internet could be. They launched, through Facebook, an invitation for a country-wide general strike on 6 April. Again, a demonstration in Al Mahalla was violently dispersed by Egyptian authorities. Since then, 6 April has become the date of an annual strike, part of its aim being to increase the political involvement of the Egyptian youth. (Inspired by the Egyptian example, a similar movement and strike was organised in Tunisia. The organisers contacted their Egyptian counterparts in the April 6th Movement via Facebook and they shared their experiences.)

Maher and his colleagues soon came across a group called Otpor, a Serbian youth movement which drew on the ideas of an American political thinker, Gene Sharp and had helped to bring down Slobodan Milosevic. ‘The hallmark of Sharp’s work is well-tailored to Mubarak’s Egypt: He argues that nonviolence is a singularly effective way to undermine police states that might cite violent resistance to justify repression in the name of stability.’[1] Some of the April 6th Movement’s members even went to Serbia to meet and learn from members of Otpor.

In summer 2010, Egyptians were shocked by the death of an activist named Khaled Said, which was reported as being as a result of police brutality in response to Said’s online activities: a few days before his death, he published on YouTube a video that shows a high-ranking police officer selling drugs inside a police station. A young Egyptian technician, Google’s Middle East marketing manager, Wael Ghonim[2], launched a Facebook page in response to Said’s death called, ‘We are all Khaled Said’; it garnered the support of thousands of young Egyptians who called for justice in Khaled’s case and challenged what they considered to be the police manipulation of the investigation into his death. Ghonim, along with other activists, used this page to promote his ideas about democracy. He populated the Facebook page with reports of police violence all over the country, and used it to organise ‘silent sit-ins’ in Cairo, Alexandria and other cities. The demonstrators dressed in black clothes as a sign of mourning and promised to repeat such a gathering as many times as it took until justice was served in Khaled’s case. Each sit-in was peaceful, even with the heavy police presence.

After the resignation of President Ben Ali in Tunisia on 14 January 2011, the April 6th Youth Movement in Egypt saw an opportunity to turn its little-noticed annual protest on National Police Day — the 25 January holiday that commemorates a police revolt that was suppressed by the British — into a much bigger event. Ghonim used the Facebook page to mobilise support. The page advertised that if at least 50,000 people committed themselves to turning out that day, the protest would go ahead. More than 100,000 signed up. Activists from many different groups and parties who were now working with the April 6th Movement also covered the streets of Cairo with posters to advertise the protests.[3]

The demonstrations of 25 January were enormous: thousands gathered at Tahrir Square in central Cairo. The organisers used their Facebook pages and groups to rally the people for daily demonstrations and declared the following Friday 28 January, to be the ‘Friday of Rage’ against the regime. The protestors relied on advice from their contacts in Tunisia, Serbia and the ‘Academy of Change’ in Qatar (another group, established by an Egyptian engineer, who follow the ideas of Gene Sharp). They received advice via Facebook and email on how to fight tear gas bombs, how to disturb police armoured vehicles, etc., so they came well prepared for the big demonstrations of that Friday.

The events in both Tunisia and Egypt showed the internet to be a very effective weapon, one that posed a challenge to both governments. In these cases, free access to the internet allowed for the leaking of footage showing the violent and inexcusable acts of the authorities against demonstrators, exposing these authorities to global public opinion and to criticism from human rights organisations. However, censorship or a complete blackout of internet access provoked a turning point in the events; Ghonim claimed that the decision to block all internet and mobile phone access in Egypt on the night of Thursday 27 January was the Egyptian regime’s biggest mistake. This forced thousands of pro-democracy activists who, until that point, had been following the events on their computer screens and mobile phones, to go to Tahrir Square to see what was happening. They had inadvertently escalated the protests.

In the words of Walid Rachid, of the April 6th Youth Movement that helped organise the 25 January protests, ‘Tunis is the force that pushed Egypt, but what Egypt did will be the force that will push the world.’[4]




Fadi Halliso SJ is a scholastic in the Near East Province of the Society of Jesus.



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

[1] David D. Kirkpatrick and David E. Sanger, ‘A Tunisian-Egyptian Link That Shook Arab History’, The New York Times, 13 February 2011.

[2] ‘Wael Ghonim, like many others, was introduced to the informal network of young organisers by the movement that came together around Mohamed ElBaradei, the Nobel Prize-winning diplomat who returned to Egypt a year ago to try to jump-start its moribund political opposition. Mr. Ghonim had little experience in politics but an intense dislike for the abusive Egyptian police, the mainstay of the government’s power. He offered his business savvy to the cause. “I worked in marketing, and I knew that if you build a brand you can get people to trust the brand,” he said.’ (Kirkpatrick and Sanger, ‘A Tunisian-Egyptian Link That Shook Arab History’)

[3] Kirkpatrick and Sanger, ‘A Tunisian-Egyptian Link That Shook Arab History’

[4] Ibid.


Near East Jesuit Province website


Source
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Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Jesuit trained bureaucrats switch posts


Leon Panetta was born in Monterey, California, the son of Carmelina Maria (née Prochilo) and Carmelo Frank Panetta, Italian immigrants from Siderno in Calabria[6] who owned a restaurant in Monterey. He was raised in the Monterey area, and attended Catholic schools San Carlos Grammar School and Carmel Mission School. He continued his education at Monterey High School, a public school where he became involved in student politics, and was a JSA member.[7] As a junior he was Vice President of the Student Body, and became President of the Student Body as a senior.[8]

In 1956, he entered Santa Clara University, and in 1960 he graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. He also received a Juris Doctor in 1963 from the Santa Clara University School of Law, and soon after began practicing law. In 1964, he joined the United States Army as a Second Lieutenant, where he served as an officer in Army Military Intelligence.[9] There he received the Army Commendation Medal, and was discharged in 1966 as a First Lieutenant.[10]

General David Patraeus is the new CIA Director (replacing Leon Panetta):

Petraeus has a Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Military Academy from which he graduated in 1974 as a distinguished cadet (top 5% of his class). He was the General George C. Marshall Award winner as the top graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College class of 1983.[6] He subsequently earned an M.P.A. in 1985 and a Ph.D. in International Relations in 1987 from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. He later served as Assistant Professor of International Relations at the United States Military Academy and also completed a fellowship at Georgetown University.


Robert Gates retired from Secretary of Dept. of Defense post on July 1, 2011.

A native of Wichita, Kansas, Gates attained the rank of Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) and received the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award from the BSA as an adult.[12][13] He graduated from Wichita High School East in 1961, with straight A's.[14] Gates is also a Vigil Honor member within the Order of the Arrow, Scouting's National Honor Society.

Gates then received a scholarship to attend the College of William and Mary, graduating in 1965 with a B.A. in history. At William & Mary, Gates was an active member and president of the Alpha Phi Omega (national service fraternity) chapter and the Young Republicans; he was also the business manager for the William and Mary Review, a literary and art magazine.[15] At his William & Mary graduation ceremony, Gates received the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award naming him the graduate who "has made the greatest contribution to his fellow man." [15]

Gates then pursued an M.A. in history from Indiana University in 1966. Finally, he completed his doctorate in Russian and Soviet history, while working for the CIA, from Georgetown University in 1974. The title of his Georgetown doctoral dissertation is "Soviet Sinology: An Untapped Source for Kremlin Views and Disputes Relating to Contemporary Events in China" and is available from University Microfilms International as document number 7421652. He received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from both William & Mary (1998) and the University of Oklahoma (2011)

Biographical data from WIKIPEDIA.
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Panetta's language not necessarily reflected in official transcript


New Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has the self-confidence and the long Washington experience to call 'em like he sees 'em.

But on his trip to Iraq and Afghanistan earlier this month, his Pentagon aides seemed to want Panetta to call 'em with language a bit less colorful.

So there appeared to be an official plan to sanitize Panetta in both content and style, and maybe zap the occasional damn, hell and beyond.

Aides began to back away from this unofficial policy this week after a journalist group's complaint on Friday.

Journalists have been complaining that some official Department of Defense transcripts are being held back and others are not completely accurate.

Finally, transcripts that in the past that were usually released in a few hours began popping up on the department website late Monday, 10 days after the words had left Panetta's mouth.

The department said it was just following standard procedure of not providing an official transcript of every exchange secretaries have with the troops in the field.

Now change is on the way -- at least in the transcripts.

During his overseas trip, his first to the war zones since leaving the CIA and taking on the defense secretary job, Panetta talked straight.

But there was no transcript released of Panetta referring to delays in a possible Iraqi request for U.S. forces beyond an end-of-the-year withdrawal date. Panetta said, "Damn it, make a -- make a decision."

He seemed to rewrite history when he told U.S. troops why they were in Iraq. "The reason you guys are here is because on 9/11, the United States got attacked," he said. No official transcript was released of this.

And he muddied the withdrawal picture from Afghanistan by saying that 70,000 U.S. troops will remain until the end of 2014, when the Obama administration has pledged withdrawal will be completed. Same story there -- no transcript.

And he told NBC's Jim Miklaszewski he was gonna keep at it.

"You've only been in office a little over a week. Your blunt, plain-spoken style has really stirred -- are we going to hear more of that?" Miklaszewski asked.

"Hey, I'm Italian, what can I tell you?" Panetta said in the Defense Department transcript. But some people say it sounded more like "Hey, I'm Italian, what the frick can I tell you."

The Pentagon Press Association kicked up a fuss about the omissions and changes.

Source

Related

Panetta on stage with a 'hell,' a 'damn' and an unprintable description of Bin Laden

Senate confirms openly gay male judge


A first: Sen. confirms openly gay male judge

Posted on Jul 19, 2011 | by Staff

WASHINGTON (BP)--For the first time in U.S. history, the Senate July 18 confirmed an openly homosexual man to be a federal judge.

With a vote of 80-13, senators confirmed J. Paul Oetken to be a U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of New York. Oetken, though, isn't the first openly homosexual to be confirmed -- just the first male. In 1994, the Senate confirmed U.S. District Judge Deborah Batts, an open lesbian.

Oetken is but the latest homosexual person to be appointed to a federal position by President Obama. Denis Dison, spokesperson for the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, said Obama has appointed more than 200 homosexual persons, included more than 25 that require Senate approval, the Washington Blade newspaper said.

The Senate could act on another openly homosexual person soon. Alison Nathan, an out lesbian who has been nominated to a federal judgeship on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee, the Blade reported.

Obama has also nominated Edward DuMont, an openly homosexual man, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The Judiciary Committee has yet to act on his nomination.

To see how senators votes on Oetken, visit http://1.usa.gov/n77c0Z.

Retired federal judge Vaughn Walker, who issued the ruling overturning California Proposition 8, also was gay, but he was not openly so when confirmed.
--30--
Compiled by Michael Foust, associate editor of Baptist Press.

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"This is the most humble day of my life".

Monday, July 18, 2011

Who's on top now?







Whether you like it or not, history is on our side. We will
bury you!


Nikita Khrushchev



They say that hindsight is twenty twenty. The Cold War ended over 20 years ago. Now it's hard to understand how we got where we are...


So, how did the United States wind up having to rely on Soyuz rockets to reach the International Space Station? Is hitchhiking with the Russians the new normal?


On another note: How did the U.S.A. ever come to depend on the People's Republic of China to guarantee (buy) its debt? How did China become an industrial giant with the support and investment of the United States?



Remember Nixon and Kissinger's Shuttle Diplomacy; Remember Detente? Remember Gorbachev's Perestroika shuffle down Broadway in 1988?



Is it any wonder how we arrived at where we are now?




Arsenio.

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“Inside Scientology: The Story of America’s Most Secretive Religion” by Janet Reitman


(Houghton Mifflin Harcourt/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) - ‘Inside Scientology: The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion’ by Janet Reitman. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 444 pp. $28.



By Diane Winston, Published: July 14

What if a wedding guest at Cana had tweeted that Jesus didn’t really turn water into wine? Or the children of Israel had IM’ed that they crossed the Red Sea at low tide? Would live data streams shake believers’ faith or simply lead to endless online bickering over who has the true truth? Janet Reitman’s absorbing book on the Church of Scientology identifies the core challenge for new religions: The seams show. It’s the same problem Mormon founder Joseph Smith faced when newspapers reported on his latter-day revelation. Today’s would-be messiahs face a much larger media echo chamber and a much bigger obstacle — globally networked communication that complicates faith, especially when facts suggest that faith may be misplaced.

And the facts Reitman reveals about Scientology are damning. Even if the tradition’s basic practices have helped some people to live fuller lives, the institution itself seems irredeemably corrupt.

Inside Scientology” is a masterful piece of reporting. Reitman, a freelance journalist, supplements Scientologists’ memoirs, founder L. Ron Hubbard’s extensive writings, news reports and declassified online documents with dozens of interviews of former and current church members. She’s one of the few outsiders to have had access to Scientology’s upper echelons and secret sites, a boon granted when she was researching an article for Rolling Stone. Her insights help explain why the movement has intrigued millions since its launch more than 60 years ago.

Reitman’s story starts with Hubbard (1911-1986), a wildly self-assured college dropout who drifted through a series of careers until he tried writing. Gifted with a wild imagination and a strong work ethic, he wrote books in several genres: mysteries, Westerns and adventure tales. When pulp novels did not prove lucrative enough, he moved into the burgeoning field of science fiction. He found his niche in Los Angeles among occultists and fellow fabulists, but after several doomed escapades — including running off with a friend’s lover and life savings — he hit bottom. Refusing psychological help, Hubbard found a way to heal himself. Writing a series of self-assessments, he examined his own psychological state, admitting to lying and exaggeration. Afterwards, he listed his assets: sexual magnetism, magical powers and literary prowess, but foremost an ability to understand others and direct their thinking. Here he found more than a cure; he identified his life’s vocation: “He would use his mind, in other words, to repair his soul. And soon, he would show others how to use their own minds to do exactly the same thing.”

Hubbard outlined his technique in a book, “Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health,” which was published in 1950. His “scientific” alternative to psychotherapy required only a partner, several “auditing” sessions and an investment in his book, which, by the end of the year, had sold more than half-a-million copies. With his newfound wealth, Hubbard extended his organization, but he overspent and overpromised. The fledgling enterprise soon collapsed.

Still confident in his product, Hubbard repackaged the “mental science” of Dianetics as the Church of Scientology. Unlike with other congregations, though, salvation came at a price. Scientologists spent thousands of dollars on auditing sessions to become “clear” and to rise in the ranks.

Between the mid-1950s and mid-’60s, the Church of Scientology looked like many other conservative churches, stressing top-down leadership, strict obedience and traditional sexual morality. But no sooner had Time wondered “Is God Dead?” than Hubbard revamped for the Aquarian Age. Scientology went countercultural, promising a drug-free cosmic high. New members bought the vision and paid upfront for every step on the path.

Reitman cites Scientology’s successive reincarnations as evidence of Hubbard’s marketing genius. But the pay-off of the auditing process — access to the religion’s core beliefs — was compromised by the content of those beliefs: trippy sci-fi fantasies concocted by the aging, paranoid Hubbard. Increasingly isolated in his last years, he ceded control to David Miscavige, one of his young lieutenants. Reitman depicts Miscavige, who has spent his entire life within the organization, as highly adept at intimidation. Lacking Hubbard’s gift for reinventing Scientology to suit the times, Miscavige has focused on buying real estate and recruiting celebrities.

In addition to revealing insider information about Scientology’s leaders and celebrities (read how Tom found Katie), Reitman’s book profiles many less visible church members. Jeff Hawkins, a hippie stoner recruited in the ’60s, eagerly embraced the church’s mission of global transformation. He served 38 years in top management positions — until, he claims, Miscavige turned him out with $500 in severance pay. Natalie Walet, a second-generation Scientologist, says there are problems at headquarters but they don’t diminish the value of Hubbard’s teachings. Although many of her peers were pressured to join Scientology’s managerial elite, Walet told Reitman that she planned to attend law school. She is confident, poised and independent, a living witness to Scientology’s stated principle of self-actualization.

Then there’s Lisa McPherson, who joined the church in 1982 at a co-worker’s suggestion. The wife and child of abusive alcoholics, McPherson needed stability, order and community. Scientology provided all three. But by the mid-’90s she stopped making progress in her auditing sessions. Worried about her large debt to the church and confused by its teachings, she grew increasingly disoriented. After a car accident, McPherson stripped naked, and paramedics brought her to a local hospital. Before she could be evaluated, a team of Scientologists whisked her away. Seventeen days later, emaciated and dehydrated, she died in the church’s care.

McPherson’s death and Scientology’s role in the tragedy became the subject of newspaper articles. In the past, the church had tried to intimidate reporters, or anyone else, who appeared critical of the organization. (Reitman’s account of its campaign against the IRS is riveting.) But as information proliferated online, Scientology’s leaders could not exert the pressure they once wielded clandestinely. Former members started blogs describing their experiences in the church, including their participation in harassment campaigns. Some downloaded church membership files or financial statements; others shared secret doctrines and Hubbard’s private writings.

Reitman benefited from this open environment, but she also will be judged by it. She implies that after more than 30 years in the church Hawkins left of his own accord. Yet in his blog, “Counterfeit Dreams,” Hawkins details a leave-taking that was far from voluntary. Reitman also seems challenged by her stated goal of even-handedness. While she quotes many who say Scientology helped them and others who remain positive about the church, her own bias slips in through unguarded adjectives and value-laden phrases, e.g., “an inner stratum that reeks of authoritarian control.” More substantively, the book could have explained more about the church’s theology. Until I read Lawrence Wright’s recent New Yorker profile “The Apostate: Paul Haggis vs. the Church of Scientology,” I did not realize how and why Scientology exerts such a powerful hold on members. Reitman barely mentions the church’s beliefs, doctrines or rituals.

On balance, however, “Inside Scientology” is a compelling introduction to “America’s most secretive religion,” as the subtitle has it. Even for those who have no interest in parsing when cults become religions or why faith upends fact, Reitman tells a spellbinding story of a larger-than-life personality whose quirks, ticks and charisma shaped America’s newest homegrown religious movement.

Janet Reitman will be live online Monday, July 18 at 11 a.m. ET to take your questions about Scientology.

Diane Winston holds the Knight Chair in Media and Religion at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.

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August 1- 2- 3

Dog Days (Daze) of Summer.



1 Ramadan Starts in N. America on August 1 .
2 August 2: Federal Debt Ceiling Default deadline; Armageddon according to the President and the Democrats.
3 August 3: President Obama's Birthday...

August's 1-2-3...

Time to make the donut? No, it's time to bake the halal birthday cake.

Arsenio
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Fla. teen Tyler Hadley killed parents with hammer, posted party info on Facebook, say cops

July 18, 2011 5:17 PM


Tyler Hadley
(Credit: Personal Photo)

(CBS/WPEC) PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - Police say Florida teen Tyler Hadley "brutally and mercilessly" beat his parents to death with a hammer and then threw a house party via Facebook invites while their bodies remained in a locked bedroom.

Hadley was arrested and charged with counts of first-degree murder and is being held without bond. Police say he will be charged as an adult.

Port St. Lucie police spokesman Tom Nichols said police were dispatched to the scene at 4:20 a.m. Sunday on a tip that the 17-year-old had murdered his parents and the bodies remained inside the house, reports CBS affiliate WPEC.

Police arrived and were greeted by a "nervous and panicky" Hadley and evidence of a house party, said police Capt. Don Kryak. Hadley reportedly told police that his parents were out of town. After Hadley was transported to police headquarters for questioning and a search warrant obtained, police found behind the locked master bedroom door the bodies of Blake, 54, and Mary-Jo Hadley, 47, Tyler's parents. The bodies were partially buried under household items with a hammer between them.

Police believe the hammer was the murder weapon. The parents' bodies had wounds to the head and torso.

"It was a merciless killing," Kryak said, describing the injuries as "brutal."

Police believe the mother was killed first, then the father and the bodies were then dragged into the master bedroom. Kryak said the bodies were only partially hidden under linens, books, picture frames and towels.

Police say the party was held Saturday night beginning about 9 p.m. and 40 to 60 people attended. An invite was posted to Hadley's friends on Facebook about 1 p.m. Saturday. It's not clear how the anonymous tipster came to suspect the bodies of Hadley's parents were in the home.

Blake Hadley has been identified as an employee at the St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant. Mary-Jo Hadley was an elementary school teacher in the St. Lucie County school system with 24 years of experience. She had worked the last six years at at Village Green Environmental Studies School, the school district reported.

Police say Tyler Hadley dropped out of classes at St. Lucie West Centennial High School and had apparently attempted diploma completion programs at two other schools.

Court documents show the Hadleys were being sued in St. Lucie County for $15,000 after Tyler Hadley allegedly struck and injured a child pedestrian in June 2010 while driving a car registered to his father. The suit was filed in May.

An autopsy on the parents' bodies is scheduled.

Police are asking anyone who attended the party to contact them as part of the investigation at 772-871-5000.

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Saturday, July 16, 2011

And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars...


7And they asked him, saying, Master, but when shall these things be? and what sign will there be when these things shall come to pass?

8And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them.

9But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by.

10Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:

11And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

12But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name's sake.

13And it shall turn to you for a testimony.

14Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer:

15For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist.

16And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death.

17And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake.

18But there shall not an hair of your head perish.

19In your patience possess ye your souls.

20And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.

21Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto.

22For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.

23But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people.

24And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.

25And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;

26Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

27And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

28And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.

Luke 21: 7-28.
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Friday, July 15, 2011

“Fast and Furious” Scandal Making Cops, Citizens Furious Fast


By: Jim Kouri CPP July 14, 2011


When the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee released a report — “The Department of Justice’s Operation Fast and Furious: Accounts of ATF Agents” (pdf) — it infuriated law enforcement officers and American citizens across the country.

One police commander in New Jersey told Law Enforcement Examiner, “We need to get to the bottom of this renegade operation fast. I am furious that our government actually contributed to the killing of two American law enforcement officers — one in the U.S., the other in Mexico.”

The (at times) shocking report includes testimony from four Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) agents offering firsthand accounts about the controversial Operation Fast and Furious that allowed suspects to walk away with illegally purchased guns.

The gunrunners reportedly smuggled the weapons into Mexico and the agents, who were supposed to conduct surveillance, lost track of the suspected gun smugglers and the weapons which are believed to still be in the hands of Mexican drug cartel members.

“This is a prime example of an administration that is clueless in running a law enforcement operation,” said former intelligence officer and police detective Mike Snopes.

“[Attorney General Eric] Holder and his minions are being deceptive in this case claiming they were unaware of the operation,” said Snopes.

Two of the approximately 2,000 guns that ATF let criminals walk away with were found at the murder scene of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry in December 2010.

“ATF agents have shared chilling accounts of being ordered to stand down as criminals in Arizona walked away with guns headed for Mexican drug cartels,” said Rep. Darrell Issa, chairman of the House committee investigating the government snafu.

“With the clinical precision of a lab experiment, the Justice Department kept records of weapons they let walk and the crime scenes where they next appeared. To the agents’ shock, preventing loss of life was not the primary concern,” said Congressman Issa.

“These agents have risked their lives working for the ATF and they’ve risked their careers by coming forward to speak the truth about a dangerous strategy that was doomed from the start,” Senator Chuck Grassley said.

“Th[is] report shows the street agents’ perspective on this risky policy to let guns walk. It should help people who are wondering what really happened during Operation Fast and Furious understand why we are continuing to investigate.”

“Transparency appears to be in short supply in the Obama Administration these days. I know that dozens of FOIA requests go unanswered and investigators seeking information usually must watch the ‘Washington two-step’ before seeing any progress made on their requests for information,” said political strategist and attorney Mike Baker.

According to Baker, highlights of the Congressional report include:

The supervisor of Operation Fast and Furious was “jovial, if not, not giddy but just delighted about” walked guns showing up at crime scenes in Mexico according to an ATF agent.
•Another ATF agent told the committee about a prediction he made a year ago that “someone was going to die” and that the gun-walking operation would be the subject of a Congressional investigation.
The shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords created a “state of panic” within the group conducting the operation as they initially feared a “walked” gun might have been used.
•One Operation Fast and Furious Agent: “I cannot see anyone who has one iota of concern for human life being okay with this …”
•An ATF agent predicted to committee investigators that more deaths will occur as a result of Operation Fast and Furious.
•Multiple agents told the committee that continued assertions by Department of Justice Officials that guns were not knowingly “walked” and that DOJ tried to stop their transport to Mexico are clearly untruthful.

While President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder denied knowledge of the operation, according to law enforcement sources, the rationale for the operation that went awry was that Attorney General Holder and his staff at the Justice Department wanted to show proof of his, and other Obama administration officials’, statements that the majority of firearms used by Mexican drug cartels originated in the United States and are smuggled into that drug war-torn country.

“The aim is to use the violence and death south of the border to take away Americans’ Second Amendment rights to own and bear arms,” said former police officer Edie Aguino.

In addition, investigation into this and other actions by President Barack Obama, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and the U.S. Department of Justice show that they knowingly distort figures to hide from federal lawmakers, state political leaders, and the American people the rampant corruption in this nation’s immigration court system as well, according to a Beltway watchdog group.

Adding insult to injury, U.S. taxpayers finance the enormous number of court appeals filed by illegal immigrants — through their taxpayer financed legal counsel deported — for criminal convictions and fraudulent marriages.

The suspected pervasive corruption allows deportable aliens to evade hearings without consequences and permits more than 1 million removal orders to be ignored by the Obama Administration, say officials with Judicial Watch, a public-interest group that investigates public and political corruption.

From 2000 to 2007, Americans doled out $30 million for aliens’ court costs, according to a new report from a former immigration court judge — Mark H. Metcalf — in south Florida, considered a hotbed within the immigration system.

The veteran jurist says the nation’s immigration courts, which are operated by the DOJ, are ruled by deception and disorder and are at the heart of a system that nurtures scandal. About 250 overwhelmed judges preside over hundreds of thousands of cases annually and rarely are their deportation orders enforced, according to Judicial Watch.

Even after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, 50% of all aliens who were free pending trial disappeared, according to figures provided in the judge’s report. Between 2005 and 2006 the number of aliens who failed to appear at their court hearing grew to 59%.

The Government Accountability Office’s report on visa holders states that up to four million aliens remain in the country illegally once their visas expire.

Further, officials at Judicial watch revealed that the DOJ deceptively reported the figure as “only” 39% by combining aliens who were free pending trial with those in custody who were forced by authorities to appear in court. That allowed the so-called bail-jumpers to appear as a smaller part of a bigger overall figure.

The GAO told Congress that immigration courts rule in favor of aliens only 20% of the time when in fact its 60% and that aliens appeal deportation orders in only 8% of cases when the figure is actually 98%. Many more examples are included in the judge’s report, which refers to the DOJ’s findings and statistics as a sham.

“Accuracy, credibility, relevance, and timeliness elude this agency and the flow of believable statistics to the public,” it says. Judge Metcalf suggested that Congress order its investigative arm, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct an in-depth probe.

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420 million yen stolen from ATMs near Fukushima nuclear plant


Some 420 million yen was stolen from ATMs near the crisis-hit Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant between the onset of the nuclear disaster and the end of June, National Police Agency (NPA) figures have shown.

Figures released by the NPA on July 14 showed thieves broke into convenience stores within the 20-kilometer evacuation zone around the plant 25 times during the period, stealing roughly 420 million yen from ATMs in the stores. There were also 106 cases of vacant houses being burglarized.

Access to the zone was restricted by the government on April 22. Police stepped up checkpoints and other control measures from early April, and the NPA believes that most of the burglaries occurred between the onset of the nuclear disaster and the end of March.

Convenience store ATM burglaries also occurred in areas outside the 20-kilometer zone where residents evacuated due to tsunami damage. As of the end of June, there were 14 confirmed cases in Miyagi Prefecture in which some 165 million yen was stolen, four cases in Fukushima Prefecture in which 57 million yen was taken, and two cases in Iwate Prefecture in which thieves took 27 million yen.

Operators of convenience stores in the disaster area have been collecting money from abandoned ATMs at the request of police. So far, they have collected around 3 billion yen from 192 locations.

Senior NPA officials say that the burglaries are dying down. Overall crime from March to June in the three prefectures was down compared to last year.


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Moderate quake jolts Japan's Kanto region

English.news.cn 2011-07-15 20:10:59


TOKYO, July 15 (Xinhua) -- A moderate quake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.5 jolted Japan's Kanto region at 9:01 p.m. Friday, said the Japan Meteorological Agency.

The focus of the quake was located at a depth of 60 km to the south of Ibaraki Prefecture, some 100 km north of Tokyo, where the jolt was strongly felt.

The agency said the quake caused no concern of tsunami, and there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.


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Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Christian broadcaster sued in child-sex case

Pastor affiliated with southern Illinois network accused of abusing teen in 2001

By Manya A. Brachear, Tribune reporter

8:03 p.m. CDT, June 20, 2011

An international Christian radio and television network based in West Frankfort in southern Illinois and the brother of the network's founder were named in a federal child-sex-abuse lawsuit filed in Chicago on Monday.

Three Angels Broadcasting Network, or 3ABN, and the Rev. Tommy Shelton, the brother of the network's founder Danny Shelton, were named in the complaint filed by plaintiff Alex Walker, of Mattoon.

Walker, now 25, alleges that Tommy Shelton sexually abused him when he worked as a production assistant at 3ABN in 2001. Walker's lawyer, Jeff Herman, of Miami, said Shelton commuted to 3ABN from his home in Kentucky for the purpose of abusing Walker, which Herman believes makes the civil suit a federal case.

Television Networks The suit accuses 3ABN of negligence, claiming leaders were aware of the threat Shelton posed to children.

In statement released by 3ABN, the network said Shelton had no reason to come into contact with Walker, who was closely supervised by Walker's older brother.

"3ABN does not believe that the claims against it have any merit," the statement said. "We intend to vigorously defend the good name of our organization."

Walker said he originally met Shelton in 1997 during a two-month visit to Virginia, where Shelton served as a pastor. Shelton now faces criminal charges in Virginia's Fairfax County tied to Walker's and another man's abuse allegations.

According to the civil suit filed Monday, Shelton, a pastor ordained by the Church of God, was suspended by that denomination in 1985 apparently after sexual abuse allegations against him surfaced. He continued to work for Ezra Church of God until the early 1990s.

Shortly after leaving, he started working a variety of jobs for 3ABN, the suit says, eventually moving to Virginia.

After Walker's brother married Shelton's daughter, he said, he visited the couple and Shelton in Virginia in 1997. Walker said Shelton abused him on bike rides behind the church where he worked during a two-month time period.

In 2001, Walker said his brother got him a part-time job in the production department of 3ABN in West Frankfort, where Shelton then worked. The abuse continued for a year, according to the suit.

In 2008, Walker went to law enforcement in Virginia, where there is no statute of limitations on sexual abuse allegations. Herman said they would report the allegations in Illinois to federal authorities.

The 3ABN network is affiliated with the Seventh-day Adventist Church. A Seventh-day Adventist group called Save-3ABN has created a website demanding transparency and accountability from the network. It has posted numerous letters and documents that indicate the network was aware of allegations against Shelton decades ago.

In response, the network has sued the group for defamation of character and trademark infringement.

"It's against our faith to lie," said Bob Pickle, one of the defendants in that lawsuit. "It's against our faith to molest children. The idea of no accountability has the potential for making my faith look bad."

mbrachear@tribune.com

Twitter @TribSeeker

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U.S. should be nation under God that keeps the Sabbath


June 26, 2011



The Rev. Robert Barron, priest and theology professor, University of St. Mary of the Lake in Mundelein and author of the blog Word on Fire

One wonders whom the producers of the U.S. Open broadcast were trying to impress or not to offend when they excised the words "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance. Of course, by not offending, they managed to do violence to the words of the pledge.


The just-concluded U.S. Open was won by Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy in convincing fashion indeed. Wielding one of the most impressive swings in golf, McIlroy absolutely dominated the field, winning by the eight strokes over his nearest competitor and posting the lowest score ever in the one hundred and eleven year history of that storied tournament.

But an interesting controversy distracted some attention from McIlroy’s big day. NBC commenced its coverage of the final round with a patriotic montage of flags, soldiers, and salutes (the tournament was played at the Congressional Country Club just north of Washington D.C.).

The voiceover was of a group of school kids reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. We heard “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation…indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

Strangely, inexplicably, the phrase “under God” was excised. NBC was flooded, almost immediately, with protests from around the country, and Dan Hicks, the anchor for the golf coverage, was compelled to issue an apology, even if it was one of those less than convincing “we apologize to anyone who might have been small-minded to have been offended…”

One wonders whom the producers of the U.S. Open broadcast were trying to impress or not to offend. I guess it must have been atheist and agnostic golf fans, for I can’t imagine people of any religious denomination who would have been outraged at the mention of God.

And though it might not be immediately apparent, this is no small thing. The claim that we are a nation “under God” is an affirmation that we stand opposed to tyrannies of all stripes. What creates a tyrant is the assumption that he and his policies are beyond criticism, because his will is the criterion of truth.

Political rulers are, in fact, under God, because God is the ultimate criterion of truth and justice; and there is, therefore, a limit to what any political figure can, with moral rectitude, legislate or command. When God is denied, political power knows no limit—even if that power rests in a legislature or in the will of “the people”—and therefore tyranny becomes almost inevitable.

If you doubt me, take a look at the massively dysfunctional regimes of the last century—Hitler’s, Stalin’s, Mao’s, Pol Pot’s—which were predicated upon the formal and explicit exclusion of God from the public conversation.

One of the most significant contributions of the Bible to politics is precisely the placing of kings “under God.” Israelite kings were not like Egyptian Pharoahs or Babylonian divine-rulers—absolute in judgment and godlike in sovereignty. Rather, they ruled at the pleasure of God and according to God’s purposes, and accordingly, when they ran counter to the divine will, they were placed, quite properly, under judgment.

Take a look at the bitter denunciations of wicked kings in Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos, Ezekiel, Daniel, and John the Baptist. The prophets, speaking for God, excoriated Israel’s leaders for their idolatry and their indifference to the suffering of the weak and the poor. It is precisely this Biblical intuition that shaped the thinking of the political philosophers of the 18th century, who put in place the whole set of checks and balances to which we have become accustomed.

The bottom line is this: when the true God is marginalized, someone else or something else—the army, the press, the government, a single leader—plays the role of God, and that is dangerous indeed. I want ours to be a nation under God, not primarily out of pious considerations, but for my own safety’s sake!

This is just one of the many frightening faces of an ideological secularism that we have allowed, increasingly, to dominate public life in America. Curiously, about midway through the final round of the U.S. Open, Johnny Miller, the always entertaining color commentator for NBC Golf, inadvertently suggested one reason for this dominance.

A colleague asked Johnny why Ken Venturi, who won the Open at the Congressional Club in 1964, had played two rounds on Saturday in the blazing Washington heat. Miller explained that, in those days, golfers didn’t play on Sunday for it was the Sabbath day.
His simple answer brought me back to my own childhood, when Sunday did indeed have a distinctive texture: businesses were closed, sporting activities were suspended, almost everyone went to church. The honoring of the Sabbath—stipulated in the third of the Ten Commandments—is a way to remind ourselves of the Lordship of God and hence it is a supremely effective means to hallow the country.

It is sad that we have largely lost any sense of Sunday’s difference: it is now more or less another weekend day off. It’s sad yes, but if my argument above is right, it’s also more than a little frightening.


Posted at 09:51:04 AM

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Monday, July 11, 2011

How Trains 'Railroaded' The American Economy

First In A Three-Part Series

Listen to the Story
Morning Edition
[7 min 49 sec]


Hulton Archive/Getty Images
In Railroaded, Richard White describes how transcontinental rail companies shaped the American economy as they built tracks across the U.S. Above, a Union Pacific Rail Road locomotive, pictured in Utah, circa 1894.



July 11, 2011
Much of America as we know it evolved in the 19th century, as we'll explore in a series of three conversations this week with writers who seek out new ways to understand old events.

There's no shortage of intrepid tales about the advent of the American rail system: Starting in the 1860s, rail companies built one track after another, across mountains and deserts, from the Midwest to California. Brilliant engineering combined with the muscle of immigrant labor unified America — or so the story goes.

But that's not the story Richard White tells in his new book Railroaded: The Transcontinentals and the Making of Modern America. White describes how the rail corporations shaped the U.S. economy as we know it today — and not entirely for the better.

"They bring about a great deal of political controversy and corruption," White tells NPR's Steve Inskeep. "They yield environmental damage, they are conceptually grand, and in practice, they really amount to being disasters in many respects."




Railroaded: The Transcontinentals and the Making of Modern America
By Richard White
Hardcover, 660 pages
W.W. Norton & Co.
List Price: $35
Read An Excerpt


Interview Highlights
On the railroad's legacy of corruption

"It establishes a kind of networking between politics and business that persists to this day. Essentially for me, corruption is quite simple: It's the trading of public favors for private goods, and that's what happens repeatedly with the railroads and the federal government."

On the transcontinental railroads being on a whole new scale

"This is the invention of the modern corporation. This is why railroads are so feared: It's the first time that Americans come face to face with a new way of organizing the economy on a scale that they had never seen before. The result of this is not just going to be political corruption but, they think, an intervention into the economic lives of ordinary Americans that frightens them."

On the Western railroads, which, more than the Eastern railroads, relied almost entirely on government funding

"Western railroads, particularly the transcontinental railroads, would not have been built without public subsidies, without the granting of land and, more important than that, loans from the federal government ... because there is no business [in the West at that time,] there is absolutely no reason to build [railroads] except for political reasons and the hope that business will come.



Henry Guttmann/Getty Images
A poster advertises the opening of Union Pacific's Platte Valley rail route in May 1869: "Omaha through to San Francisco, in less than four days, avoiding the dangers of the sea!"


Henry Guttmann/Getty Images A poster advertises the opening of Union Pacific's Platte Valley rail route in May 1869: "Omaha through to San Francisco, in less than four days, avoiding the dangers of the sea!"

"What we're talking about is 1,500 or more miles between the Missouri River and California, in which there are virtually no Anglo-Americans. Most railroad men look at this, including [railroad magnate Cornelius] Vanderbilt, and they want nothing to do with it."

On why the story of Grenville Dodge — the Civil War veteran and engineer who is said to have discovered the Union Pacific's key pass through the mountains — is presented somewhat less heroically in Railroaded

"He's an impressive guy and certainly he tells wonderful stories — including the story of finding that pass. I'm not the first one to point out that that pass shows up nowhere in his contemporary accounts. It's not in his diaries, it's not in his letters — it's a story that he makes up later. And that's what Grenville Dodge is very good at: making up wonderful stories about Grenville Dodge, which is not to say he's not a competent engineer.

"The problem with Grenville Dodge is that he is surprisingly competent at times, and at times he represents the worst of the gilded age. He is corrupt, he's a politician, he will go out and become a lobbyist for the Union Pacific and for the Texas Pacific. What he is is very adroit at finding ways in which he can get public favors for private railroads."

On Grenville Dodge inventing some corporate lobbying techniques — manufacturing "grass roots" support that is actually "AstroTurf"


J. White

Richard White is a professor of American history at Stanford University — an institution founded by one of the railroad tycoons he writes about in the book.


J. White Richard White is a professor of American history at Stanford University — an institution founded by one of the railroad tycoons he writes about in the book.

"What he realizes is that lobbyists themselves have limited ability to gain what they want if they operate only in Washington, D.C. They have to appear to be channeling real public desire for whatever it is they're advocating. So what Dodge does is go back out and organize publicity campaigns, so he makes it appear that what Union Pacific wants and the Texas Pacific wants is what local people want. But all of this uproar of popular opinion has really been organized by Grenville Dodge. ... This is AstroTurf."

On both despising and admiring historical figures like Dodge

"It's easy when you're writing about these people to despise them, but it's also tempting to admire them. They are inventing, in many ways, our modern world. This is the first time that they're seeing many of these things — and they see them fresher than we do. ... They're making it up as they go along, and I learned an awful lot from watching them do it."

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