Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Should Israel Embrace Glenn Beck?



Tuesday, 23 Aug 2011 11:08 AM

By Alan Dershowitz

All decent people, whether on the left or the right, should support Israel’s right to exist as the democratic nation state of the Jewish people.

All decent people should support Israel’s right to defend its civilians from terrorist attacks. All reasonable people should favor a just peace that assures Israel’s ability to thrive in a dangerous neighborhood and to defend its borders.

These issues should not divide decent people along ideological or political lines. Israel’s existence and right to defend itself should be bipartisan issues, not only in the United States, but in all democratic countries of the world.

The reality, however, is very different. The Jewish state is demonized by the hard left in America, by virtually the entire left in much of Europe, and by most of the left and right in Ireland, Norway, and Sweden. Its right to exist is denied by a high proportion of Arabs and Muslims, and most of the Arab and Muslim nations do not have diplomatic relations with Israel.

In many circles, anti-Zionism easily morphs into anti-Semitism, and in some countries Jews are afraid to walk the streets wearing any clothing or symbols that identify them as Jewish.

The general assembly of the United Nations has become the world’s new Der Sturmer, whose podium hosts, and many of whose audience members cheer, virulent anti-Semites such as Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Defenders of Israel, even those critical of some of Israel’s policies, are banned from speaking at universities, are attacked personally by the hard-left media and are treated as pariahs by their academic colleagues.

It is against this sad and increasingly dangerous background that one must evaluate Glenn Beck’s visit to Israel. I disagree with much of Beck’s politics and with virtually all of his conspiracy theorizing. Yet I admire his courage in putting his body in the line of fire. I believe him when he says:

If the world goes down the road of dehumanizing Jews again, “then count me a Jew and come for me first.”

At a time when old friends and allies who should be supporting the Jewish state are abandoning it in droves, Beck’s willingness to stand up for Israel must be accepted with gratitude. I, for one, do not question his motives. I believe they are genuine.

One need not accept all of Beck’s positions on Israel — and I certainly do not — in order to agree with him that support of Israel is one of the great moral issues of the 21st century.

Those who thoughtlessly attack Israel no matter what it does and thoughtlessly defend Israel’s enemies regardless of what they do, are making peace far more difficult. They incentivize terrorism by Israel’s enemies and disincentivize compromise on all sides.

I will wait to hear precisely what Glenn Beck says during his visit to Israel before I evaluate it. Just as I feel free to criticize the Israeli government when I think it is wrong, I certainly feel free to criticize defenders of Israel when I think they are wrong. But I will not prejudge Beck until he is given a full opportunity to express his views.

I certainly admire Beck’s decision to go to Israel far more than the decision of so many so-called artists and intellectuals who call for a boycott against the Jewish state without even bothering to go there and see for themselves.

I welcome the support of religious Christians who love Israel for religious reasons. I abhor the ignorant and misguided efforts of other Christians, such as Jimmy Carter and Desmond Tutu, who misuse their faith against the Jewish state.

I hope that more Christians will follow in Beck’s footsteps and take the time to visit Israel. They will see Christianity thriving in Israel while at the same time being dismantled and destroyed in Lebanon, in Gaza, in Egypt, and in other areas in which Islamic fundamentalists have taken over.

Christian religious sites are preserved in Jerusalem and other areas under Israeli control. When the Jordanian government controlled parts of Jerusalem, it destroyed many historic religious sites sacred to both Jews and Christians.

Nation states are entitled to engage in Realpolitik so long as they do so within the limits of acceptable morality. Realpolitik requires accepting support from, and sometimes giving support to, nations and people who are not in complete agreement over policies.

Consider Nelson Mandela’s alliances with some of most brutal dictatorships (Libya, Cuba, Syria) and supporters of terrorism (P.L.O., Iran) while he was engaged in his just struggle against the evils of apartheid.

I do not recall the left condemning Mandela for doing what he had to do. But the same left was unforgiving in Israel when it was forced to make some strategic military deals with South Africa, while strongly opposing its apartheid policies.

I do not mean to compare dictatorial, terrorist, or apartheid regimes with Glenn Beck, only to make the point that the Jewish state is often subjected to a double standard when it comes to the support it receives or gives.

Many Israelis will welcome Glenn Beck’s support. Some will oppose it. Others will wish his views were more consistent with their own. This is as it should be in a democracy.

The fact is that Israel is the only country in the Middle East that would allow Glenn Beck to express his views, without censoring them or even knowing in advance what he was going to say. This too is as it should be in a democracy.

Source
Link

Hurricane IRENE Public Advisory


000
WTNT34 KNHC 231450
TCPAT4

BULLETIN
HURRICANE IRENE ADVISORY NUMBER 13
NWS NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL AL092011
1100 AM EDT TUE AUG 23 2011

...IRENE APPROACHING THE TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS...


SUMMARY OF 1100 AM EDT...1500 UTC...INFORMATION
-----------------------------------------------
LOCATION...20.5N 71.0W
ABOUT 70 MI...110 KM S OF GRAND TURK ISLAND
ABOUT 50 MI...85 KM NNW OF PUERTO PLATA DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS...100 MPH...160 KM/H
PRESENT MOVEMENT...WNW OR 295 DEGREES AT 12 MPH...19 KM/H
MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE...980 MB...28.94 INCHES


WATCHES AND WARNINGS
--------------------
CHANGES IN WATCHES AND WARNINGS WITH THIS ADVISORY...

THE GOVERNMENT OF THE BAHAMAS HAS CHANGED THE HURRICANE WATCH FOR
THE NORTHWESTERN BAHAMAS TO A HURRICANE WARNING.

THE GOVERNMENT OF THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC HAS CHANGED THE HURRICANE
WARNING ALONG THE NORTH COAST OF THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC TO A
TROPICAL STORM WARNING.

THE TROPICAL STORM WARNING FOR HAITI SOUTH OF LE MOLE ST.
NICHOLAS HAS BEEN DISCONTINUED.

SUMMARY OF WATCHES AND WARNINGS IN EFFECT...

A HURRICANE WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR...
* TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS
* THE SOUTHEASTERN...CENTRAL...AND NORTHWESTERN BAHAMAS

A HURRICANE WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR...
* NORTH COAST OF HAITI FROM LE MOLE ST. NICHOLAS EASTWARD TO THE
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC BORDER

A TROPICAL STORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR...
* NORTH COAST OF THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC FROM CABO ENGANO WESTWARD TO
THE HAITI BORDER
* NORTH COAST OF HAITI FROM LE MOLE ST. NICHOLAS EASTWARD TO THE
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC BORDER

FOR STORM INFORMATION SPECIFIC TO YOUR AREA...PLEASE MONITOR
PRODUCTS ISSUED BY YOUR NATIONAL METEOROLOGICAL SERVICE.


DISCUSSION AND 48-HOUR OUTLOOK
------------------------------
AT 1100 AM EDT...1500 UTC...THE CENTER OF HURRICANE IRENE WAS
LOCATED BY AN AIR FORCE RESERVE HURRICANE HUNTER AIRCRAFT NEAR
LATITUDE 20.5 NORTH...LONGITUDE 71.0 WEST. IRENE IS MOVING TOWARD
THE WEST-NORTHWEST NEAR 12 MPH...19 KM/H. THIS GENERAL MOTION IS
EXPECTED TO CONTINUE THROUGH TONIGHT...FOLLOWED BY A TURN TOWARD
THE NORTHWEST ON WEDNESDAY. ON THE FORECAST TRACK...THE CORE OF
IRENE WILL MOVE NEAR OR OVER THE TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS AND THE
SOUTHEASTERN BAHAMAS TONIGHT...BE NEAR THE CENTRAL BAHAMAS EARLY
WEDNESDAY...AND NEAR OR OVER THE NORTHWESTERN BAHAMAS ON THURSDAY.

MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 100 MPH...160 KM/H...WITH HIGHER
GUSTS. IRENE IS A CATEGORY TWO HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON
HURRICANE WIND SCALE. STRENGTHENING IS FORECAST DURING THE NEXT
48 HOURS...AND IRENE COULD BECOME A MAJOR HURRICANE BY WEDNESDAY.

HURRICANE FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 50 MILES...85 KM...FROM
THE CENTER...AND TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 205
MILES...335 KM.

ESTIMATED MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE IS 980 MB...28.94 INCHES.


HAZARDS AFFECTING LAND
----------------------
WIND...TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE OVER NORTHERN
PORTIONS OF THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON. TROPICAL
STORM CONDITIONS ARE SPREADING OVER THE SOUTHEASTERN BAHAMAS AND
THE TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS WITH HURRICANE CONDITIONS EXPECTED
BY THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS ARE
FORECAST TO REACH THE CENTRAL BAHAMAS LATE TONIGHT WITH HURRICANE
CONDITIONS EXPECTED BY WEDNESDAY. TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS ARE
EXPECTED IN THE NORTHWESTERN BAHAMAS BY LATE WEDNESDAY...WITH
HURRICANE CONDITIONS EXPECTED BY THURSDAY.

STORM SURGE...AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS STORM SURGE WILL RAISE WATER
LEVELS BY AS MUCH AS 9 TO 13 FEET ABOVE NORMAL TIDE LEVELS OVER THE
BAHAMAS AND THE TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS...NEAR AND TO THE NORTH OF
THE CENTER OF IRENE. A STORM SURGE WILL ALSO RAISE WATER LEVELS BY
AS MUCH AS 2 TO 4 FEET ABOVE NORMAL TIDE LEVELS ALONG THE NORTH
COAST OF HAITI AND THE ENTIRE COAST OF THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. NEAR
THE COAST...THE SURGE WILL BE ACCOMPANIED BY LARGE AND DANGEROUS
WAVES.

RAINFALL...IRENE IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE ADDITIONAL RAINFALL
ACCUMULATIONS OF 1 TO 3 INCHES ACROSS PUERTO RICO. RAINFALL
AMOUNTS OF 4 TO 8 INCHES ARE EXPECTED OVER NORTHERN HISPANIOLA...
WITH ISOLATED MAXIMUM AMOUNTS OF UP TO 15 INCHES POSSIBLE OVER
HIGHER TERRAIN. THESE RAINS COULD CAUSE LIFE-THREATENING FLASH
FLOODS AND MUDSLIDES IN AREAS OF STEEP TERRAIN. RAINFALL
ACCUMULATIONS OF 5 TO 10 INCHES ARE EXPECTED IN THE SOUTHEASTERN
AND CENTRAL BAHAMAS...AND THE TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS.


NEXT ADVISORY
-------------
NEXT INTERMEDIATE ADVISORY...200 PM EDT.
NEXT COMPLETE ADVISORY...500 PM EDT.

$$
FORECASTER BROWN/BLAKE

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCPAT4+shtml/231450.shtml
.

QE III? Q.E. 3?


NOW they want more stimulus from the FED; which is neither Federal or has a reserve. They are saying they want to GOOSE the Economy.
Doesn't that sound like an awful thing to do? More of the same? When it hasn't worked in the recent past?
It seems the media personnel are parroting this ridiculous concept.
Yeah, let's Goose it, so it can lay golden eggs again...

Arsenio.
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Therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me


16And it came to pass at the end of seven days, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

17Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.

18When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.

19Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.

20Again, When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumbling-block before him, he shall die: because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand.

21Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul.

Ezekiel 3:16-21.
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Monday, August 22, 2011

Globalist Richard Haas Calls for NATO Occupation of Libya

Monday, August 22, 2011

Globalist Richard Haas Calls for NATO Occupation of Libya
Or, "How the Devil Pays"

By Tony Cartalucci

The Financial Times has featured an editorial penned by Council on Foreign Relations president Richard Haas titled, "Libya Now Needs Boots on the Ground," where the arch globalist states that Libya's rebels are in no way capable of rebuilding Libya properly and will require an "international force" to maintain order. Haas breathtakingly admits that the NATO intervention to "protect civilians" was in fact a political intervention designed to bring about regime change. With NATO leading the offensive against Tripoli, a relatively calm city until now, the alleged cause of "protecting civilians" rings hollower than ever.


Photo: One of the founding fathers of Al Qaeda, Robert Gates (left) and CFR president Richard Haas (right).

Haas goes on to explain that NATO's "success" is what requires this international assistance in the predictable form of an occupation force to deal with looting, "die-hard regime supporters," and tribal war. Haas also implores Obama to reconsider his decision to rule out American boots on the ground and to do so quickly.

Of course, NATO didn't just spend the last 5 months conducting 7,000+ airstrikes on Libya to "protect civilians" and then ride off into the sunset. This was a war of conquest from the very beginning, with globalists openly declaring it would determine the "primacy of international law" over the nation-state. In fact, the initial uprising itself was gestated in Washington and London where opposition leaders were provided resources and safe-havens to conduct their sedition, with globalist stooges like Ibrahim Sahad literally sitting in front of the White House calling for NATO to bomb his homeland. NATO, its members, particularly the US, UK, and France, and the globalist corporate-financiers behind them, fully intend to rebuild Libya according to their own aspirations shoehorned into a national consensus imposed upon the Libyan people under the guise of "democracy" and "civil society." We are watching a modern empire expand its boundaries into yet another sovereign nation.


Readers may remember an April 2011 article titled "Libyan Rebels Fighting the Globalists' War" with the ever increasingly appropriate subtitle, "How the Devil Pays." In it a caption attempts to sum up Libya's future by stating, "if these rebels really think the West is going to hand them Libya and its riches, they have another thing coming. The Neo-Con arm of the globalist agenda is already seeding the ground to deal with "extremists" coming to power after the "Arab Spring" runs its course. That means Libya's oil & future will be left in the hands of NATO troops, not the Libyan people."

The article continues:

"While the dichotomy of Western politics is merely for public consumption, what each camp states publicly can be put together as a composite giving us a clearer picture of the overall globalist agenda. Neo-Conservative war monger Daniel Pipes, a PNAC signatory, CFR member, and co-conspirator in many of the darkest chapters of recent American history, was recently sharing his "doubts" over the final result of the "Arab Spring." He believes that ultimately extremists will prevail in many cases and only complicate US relations with certain countries.

Of course, Pipes most likely didn't miss the memo and is fully aware that the "Arab Spring" is a US funded gambit, one his fellow "Neo-Cons" lining the National Endowment for Democracy and the fraudulent Freedom House are admittedly involved in. At the very least, he must have picked up the New York Times and read as much. So what exactly is Pipes trying to tell us? He is saying that as soon as the Libyan rebels secure Libya, or the Muslim Brotherhood takes hold of Syria, or Yemen, or wins out in a co-opted counterrevolution against International Crisis Group stooge Mohamed ElBaradei in Egypt, the blinders Western propagandists seem to be wearing will suddenly drop and point out that indeed the globalists have installed extremists "by accident."

To rectify this, Libyan rebels will be betrayed just as quickly as Qaddafi was. They will be removed from power, and replaced by Western stooges protected by NATO ground troops, conveniently already being put on the ground in Libya, and will stay there permanently. The globalist "Neo-Con" think tank Foreign Policy Initiative has stated, "The best way to reduce the potential dangers posed by extremist infiltration is for the United States and its allies to remain engaged in Libya."

This engagement most likely will take the shape of the other unending "engagements" in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the years of cross-border raids into Pakistan. The oil money that once built water ways, public housing, and farms from Benghazi to Tripoli, will be funneled directly out of the country and into the corporate-financier's accounts. The corporate-financier oligarchs will have taken yet another nation-state down with the help of its own gullible population, and for their gullibility, they will pay for the rest of their lives, as will their children and their children's children.

To understand the full scope of the global corporate-financier oligarchy's designs toward any given nation, we must simply look back at the brazen admissions made over the intended future stemming from the outright military conquest of Iraq and Paul Bremer's (CFR) planned economic reformation of the broken nation. The Economist enumerates the "economic liberalization" of Iraq in a piece titled "Let's all go to the yard sale: If it all works out, Iraq will be a capitalist's dream:"

1. 100% ownership of Iraqi assets.
2. Full repatriation of profits.
3. Equal legal standing with local firms.
4. Foreign banks allowed to operate or buy into local banks.
5. Income and corporate taxes capped at 15%.
6. Universal tariffs slashed to 5%.

Anyone who would willfully make a deal with such people must have their discernment called into question. As Hugo Chavez of Venezuela said of Hosni Mubarak's decades of appeasing the globalists and his eventual ousting from power at the hands of US funded, trained, and supported protesters, "that's how the devil pays." Indeed it is, and it is an instructive lesson for others including the rebels of Benghazi to consider as they attempt to make their own deals with the globalists today."

And indeed, as NATO rushes through to the finish line with a spectacular display of mass-murder and mayhem in Libya, and with the rebels dancing in the streets as NATO warplanes roar overhead, the time is soon approaching for Benghazi to pay back the West for their "help."

As pundits in the duplicitous corporate media feign ignorance over the future of Libya, as if it is truly in the hands of the Libyan people as Obama cartoonishly portrayed in his latest teleprompter reading, the self-proclaimed "Transitional National Council" leader Gibril Elqarfally gave us cyrstal clear picture of Libya's future - one inspired by globalization. In a May 12, 2011 talk before the Brookings Institution, he claimed “what’s taking place is a natural product of the globalizational process that started in the mid-80′s.”

Elwarfally talks about a “new global cultural paradigm,” “new global values,” common values, shared by many “young people.” These young people, he says, are calling for human dignity, democracy, and inclusion at all levels of national government, repeating verbatim statements coming from geopolitical meddler Zbigniew Brzezinski and the myriad of US-funded NGOs that promote these “new global values.”
Photo: Libyan rebel leader Gibril Elqarfally stands before the Fortune 500-funded Brookings Institution openly declaring fealty to the globalist agenda of interdependency and subservience to a Wall Street-London international order.

....


When asked by an audience member what Libya will look like in 2025, it turns out conveniently he was part of a study by Libyan professors and “Libyan practitioners” in 2007-2008 titled “Libya: Vision 2025.” Not surprisingly, this project was conducted with input from the IMF and involved Libya’s placement within the “global scene.” Elwarfally laments that Libya’s oil reserves are limited and that the solution is a transition to a service economy. He also claims Vision 2025′s conclusion included an education shift, turning Libya into “a lake” to develop the skills of Africans to serve the needs of the European Union.

Surely Africans are eager to once again be in the service of wealthy Europeans, who at one point owned tremendous swaths of their continent, some tycoons naming entire nations after themselves in the ultimate expression of imperial megalomania. Elwarfally, a man educated in Pittsburgh, and apparently a lifelong fan of globalization, stuns us with his frank comments and his disturbing vision for the future of not only Libya, but the role it will play in directing Africa’s efforts and resources toward American and European corporate-financier interests.

While Qaddafi's comments are dismissed out of hand, a recent message sent to his followers amidst fighting in Tripoli declared, "the traitors are paving the way for the occupation forces to be deployed in Tripoli." It seems no truer words have ever been spoken and the Libyan people, including the rebels, will have no one but themselves to blame if they allow such a way to be paved.

Source


Yemen group calls for Islamic state

Desmond Shephard | 21 August 2011


Yemeni group calls for one unified Islamic state.

CAIRO: A Yemeni Islamic group has called for the implementation of the Sharia, or Islamic law, across the Islamic world, at a recent conference.

Hizb-ut-Tahrir, an Islamist group in Yemen, called at their “One Nation, One State and One Flag” conference for the country to establish and Islamic state in order to unify all Muslims under the banner of Islam.

According to reports, a number of protesters in the country joined in the call to push for the new governance and end the government of Ali Abdallah Saleh, who has cracked down on pro-change protesters over the past 7 months.

The group announced that they hope to “uproot all current regimes separating the Muslim lands, and replace them with an Islamic government,” which they say will “put into operation the laws of Islam rather than that of man-made laws.”

The pronouncement is not likely to have much sticking ground, experts say, pointing to numerous calls over the years from similar groups calling for one unified Islamic government from Morocco to Iraq.

“What we are seeing is people simply trying to voice opinions and gain support among certain groups in these countries,” said one security expert.

BM


ShortURL: http://goo.gl/KvU1k

Source
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Consequences of Gaddafi’s fall are going to be dramatic

Kudashkina Ekaterina Aug 22, 2011 10:22 Moscow Time


Muammar Gaddafi. Photo: EPA

Download (audio) http://english.ruvr.ru/data/2011/08/19/1255398954/BP%2019_08_11_Mokheifi.MP3

Interview with Dr. Mansouria Mokhefi, head of Middle East and North Africa Studies at the IFRI, the Institute of Foreign Affairs studies in Paris, France.

Just to remind you that the coalition, the Western countries, NATO intervening in North Africa and in Libya had one objective – to have Gaddafi out of Libya. They have to readjust this objective because, obviously, they could not reach it after five months of fighting in Libya and I am not sure that they are really adamant about Gaddafi leaving Libya. This is one thing from the western perspective of NATO countries intervening there. Now, the prime minister is calling for a dialog. Yes, you are absolutely right to ask the question – what kind of dialog, how real could this dialog be, because right now, after five months of this civil war, we have an insurrection which has been supported, financed, armed, encouraged, directed by NATO against the part of the Libyan population that we have never talked about and I mean the people who are still supporting Gaddafi, people who are still loyal to him, people who do not want him to go. I do not see what kind of dialog we can have between these two parties ‑ insurrectionists on one side and the people who are supporting Gaddafi and who do not want him to go. Now, have we until now heard or seen any inclination from Gaddafi that he could leave? None and we know that he has a special personality, that he identifies himself totally to his country, that nothing seems to be foreseeable for him on the side of Libya, so your question about Gaddafi leaving – I cannot see him leave for the reasons I just mentioned. What could be the outcome? Obviously and finally with all the support that we have been getting the rebels are getting closer and closer to the capital. Before talking about the outcome after the victory I think we should first reflect on what is going to happen in Tripoli because once again, as I said and I keep stressing it, there are people who do not want these rebels to lead the country, who are still loyal to Gaddafi, who are against this intervention, and so on, and so forth. Once they get into Tripoli and defeat the loyal army and dismantle the government, then we will have to face new war leaders of Libya and first to figure out who they are really because we do not know.

Do you remember several weeks ago Mr. Gaddafi’s son seemed to have proposed something that looked at least like a legitimate solution to carry out the election?

He offered, yes, but the other part dismissed every offer from Gaddafi because, as I said earlier in this interview, their only aim, their only objective was to get rid of Gaddafi. Actually, I suspect that there has been no reflection, no analysis, no vision about what could be the outcome besides just getting rid of Gaddafi. So, that is why they dismissed everything that could have been leading to the beginning of negotiations or something like that. But now, after five months of the stalemate that we have been witnessing, maybe the solution can come from both parts. I was calling for dialog, for negotiations that involving the international community or a part of it. Africa is very involved in this; the African countries, especially the close neighbors are very concerned by this whole situation. Let me remind you also that there is a major neighbor in the area that is the only military power – I am talking about Algeria which has been very upset by the recent developments of the past five months in Libya, with the country with which it has a very long border and border that is a matter of concern. So, with so many countries having their interest at stake in this solution it could be a part of political negotiations.

The lack of viable strategy might actually result in the country just falling into parts.

No, I don’t share this very pessimistic opinion and I hope that we will not see this country disintegrating, but we cannot avoid seeing many problems. I do not think that any Western countries would let Libya disintegrate and I think that even the rebels with their own agenda will try to keep the country with any means the way it is now because, of course, we talked the past months about partition. I suspect that the consequences of Gaddafi’s fall are going to be dramatic for the African countries and for the whole power balance of the region.

Could you expand a little bit on that? Dramatic in which sense?

I think that economically it is going to be a disaster for the regional African countries that have been totally helped by Gaddafi, that were sustained the economy with his help and most of investments in those countries are in a way personal investments or business investments which means that they can fall with Gaddafi disappearing from Libya and the countries I am talking about cannot sustain themselves without the Libyan support to their economy. You know that Gaddafi has been in a way given up on his efforts and offers to create many unions with the Arab countries, he was very disappointed and for the past decades he really concentrated all his diplomacy in Africa and, as I said, economically he was very involved. So, economically it is going to be a disaster: the new leaders will not keep the same diplomacy, they will have another agenda and they are not very pleased with some positions that the African countries took concerning this conflict, I mean – they were not for the rebels. Secondly, I mentioned Algeria; I think with all the structural, economic, social problems Algeria is confronting with it remains the major power in the region, the only military force in the area and we should not disregard that Algeria will not allow the disintegration that we talked about or even having the Islamist power at its door. So, Algeria is looking very attentively at the situation because the whole security of the region is at stake. And, of course, I have not mentioned all the benefits that al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb have been taking from this situation and everybody knows that they have been benefiting from the weapons that have been given to the rebels that are probably a part of the action inside Libya and in any case building, reinforcing their parties outside Libya in the whole region and Algeria would not tolerate this.

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Global Approach to Migration: Caritas Europa quoted in Commission's Summary of Stakeholder Responses

"Migrants should have the opportunity to enter the EU for work, and return if needed or desired. However, if migrants are within the EU and express this need or desire, assisted return and reintegration should be offered, as part of a coherent policy," says Caritas Europa in EC's report.



Brussels, 12 August 2011 - Caritas Europa’s responses to the European Commission’s Public Consultation on the Global Approach to Migration (GAM) were highly appreciated by the Commission. Caritas Europa is explicitly quoted in the EC’s Summary of Stakeholder responses, published on 22 June 2011.

Caritas Europa’s response to EC’s questionnaire was drafted with contributions from around ten Member Organisations (MOs). In its responses, Caritas Europa emphasised the importance of full rights for migrants and suggested that migrants in a secure situation, legally, socially and emotionally, are able to better participate and contribute to a receiving society. Thirdly, migrants should be able to travel between and reside in the country of origin and the destination country without limitations or fear of losing residence and social rights, which is how Caritas Europa understands “circular migration”. Such approach would increase migrants’ potential to invest in their home countries.

In the Summary of Stakeholder responses, Caritas Europa is quoted twice. First in Box 2, on page 5, where CE stated on the future of GAM’s priorities:


"The GAM should not become a more strategic, long-term policy framework. It should rather be integrated in a strategic, long-term policy framework for the EU’s internal and external policies, clearly expressing and respecting the EU’s commitment to Policy Coherence for Development. Such approach would also reflect the right order of priorities: development oriented policy rather than migration management or security oriented policy. In a true commitment to development, ensuring growth in developing countries needs to be given an equal attention to the priority of achieving the Europe 2020 goals".


Secondly, in Box 8, on page 16, Caritas Europa is quoted on Migration and Development:


"Contributing to ensuring policy coherence between migration and development policies, for the benefit of development, should be the main concern/target of EU action in this area. And again, all action should respect the fundamental principle of protecting migrants’ rights. Facilitating transfer of pension rights and social security benefits would contribute to respecting this fundamental principle. Migrants should have the opportunity to enter the EU for work, and return if needed or desired. However, if migrants are within the EU and express this need or desire, assisted return and reintegration should be offered, as part of a coherent policy. Diaspora communities and individual migrants are agents of development. There is certainly a need for innovative ways to stimulate Diaspora communities to invest in job creating activities in countries of origin. Giving long term residence permit with the possibility to travel freely between country of residence and of origin encourages a dynamic process of circular migration and creates an enabling environment for migrants to invest in their country of origin."



For more information, please contact:

Thorfinnur Ómarsson
Communications Officer
tomarsson@caritas-europa.org
+32 (0)473 34 13 93
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The Track of Romanism


By John Grosboll

If we are going to be part of the church at the end, we must be faithful in helping to give the Three Angel's Messages to all the world. The Three Angels’ Messages are going to triumph, and the people that are teaching and preaching them will triumph with them.

Seventh-day Adventists were raised up by God to take a three-fold message to the entire world. This is the reason that we are here.

In this article we will study the Second Angels' Message. "And another angel followed saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication." Revelation 14:8. What are the defining points of Babylon?


Read more
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Sunday, August 21, 2011

Tropical Storm Irene nearing hurricane strength and Puerto Rico





Tropical Storm Irene Sunday Update (Added: August 21, 2011)
Storm Team 2 Meteorologist Joey Sovine discusses the latest on Tropical Storm Irene (more)

By: Joey Sovine
Published: August 20, 2011
Updated: August 21, 2011 - 10:53 PM


Tropical Storm Irene continues to grow stronger as it approaches the Puerto Rico.

As of 11 PM, Irene is currently located 50 miles east of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Tropical storm conditions are beginning to spread across eastern Puerto Rico.

Irene has maximum sustained winds of 70 mph and is moving to the west-northwest at 15 mph.

Hurricane Warnings are in effect for Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.

A Hurricane Watch is up for the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Central Bahamas.

There is a possibility that Irene could make a landfall either in the Gulf coast, Florida or Southeast coast by Friday or Saturday.

All residents of the South Carolina coastline are urged to closely monitor the progress of Irene over the next several days.

The exact track of this storm will play a huge role in what kind of impacts are felt across the Lowcountry.

Stay with Storm Team 2 for the latest!

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False Shepherds


Is it safe to attend any church,
no matter what is being taught?
Illustration — Morgue File



I have been shown that the false shepherds were drunk, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink. The truth of God is sealed up to them; they cannot read it. When they are interrogated as to what the seventh-day Sabbath is, whether or not it is the true Sabbath of the Bible, they lead the mind to fables. I saw that these prophets were like the foxes of the desert. They have not gone up into the gaps, they have not made up the hedge that the people of God may stand in the battle in the day of the Lord. When the minds of any get stirred up, and they begin to inquire of these false shepherds about the truth, they take the easiest and best manner to effect their object and quiet the minds of the inquiring ones, even changing their own position to do it. Light has shone on many of these shepherds, but they would not acknowledge it and have changed their position a number of times to evade the truth and get away from the conclusions that they must come to if they continued in their former position. The power of truth tore up their foundation, but instead of yielding to it they would get up another platform that they were not satisfied with themselves.

I saw that many of these shepherds had denied the past teachings of God; they had denied and rejected the glorious truths which they once zealously advocated and had covered themselves with mesmerism and all kinds of delusions. I saw that they were drunken with error and were leading on their flock to death. Many of the opposers of God's truth devise mischief in their heads upon their beds, and in the day they carry out their wicked devices to put down the truth and to [124] get something new to interest the people and divert their minds from the precious, all-important truth.

I saw that the priests who are leading on their flock to death are soon to be arrested in their dreadful career. The plagues of God are coming, but it will not be sufficient for the false shepherds to be tormented with one or two of these plagues. God's hand at that time will be stretched out still in wrath and justice and will not be brought to Himself again until His purposes are fully accomplished, and the hireling priests are led to worship at the feet of the saints, and to acknowledge that God has loved them because they held fast the truth and kept God's commandments, and until all the unrighteous ones are destroyed from the earth.

The different parties of professed Advent believers have each a little truth, but God has given all these truths to His children who are being prepared for the day of God. He has also given them truths that none of these parties know, neither will they understand. Things which are sealed up to them, the Lord has opened to those who will see and are ready to understand. If God has any new light to communicate, He will let His chosen and beloved understand it, without their going to have their minds enlightened by hearing those who are in darkness and error.

I was shown the necessity of those who believe that we are having the last message of mercy, being separate from those who are daily imbibing new errors
. I saw that neither young nor old should attend their meetings; for it is wrong to thus encourage them while they teach error that is a deadly poison to the soul and teach for doctrines the commandments of men. The influence of such gatherings is not good. If God has delivered us from such darkness and error, we should stand fast in the liberty wherewith He has set us free [125] and rejoice in the truth. God is displeased with us when we go to listen to error, without being obliged to go; for unless He sends us to those meetings where error is forced home to the people by the power of the will, He will not keep us. The angels cease their watchful care over us, and we are left to the buffetings of the enemy, to be darkened and weakened by him and the power of his evil angels; and the light around us becomes contaminated with the darkness.

I saw that we have no time to throw away in listening to fables. Our minds should not be thus diverted, but should be occupied with the present truth, and seeking wisdom that we may obtain a more thorough knowledge of our position, that with meekness we may be able to give a reason of our hope from the Scriptures. While false doctrines and dangerous errors are pressed upon the mind, it cannot be dwelling upon the truth which is to fit and prepare the house of Israel to stand in the day of the Lord.


Early Writings, pp.123-125.
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The Super (Please Re-lease Me)




The Super
Originally aired 01.05.2007

VAct Three. Please Re-lease Me.

A man we're calling "Dennis" inherits his father's job as a landlord of a big apartment building. His dad had warned him that bad tenants could drive even a good man to become heartless, but Dennis vowed that would never happen to him. He's tested on this point when he tries to help a couple that falls behind in their rent. He sets up a payment plan for them, teaches them how to make a budget, helps them with their personal problems. For six years, he stops himself from kicking them out. (17 minutes)




This American Life, with Ira Glass on WBEZ, is produced by Chicago Public Radio and distributed by Public Radio International.


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Saturday, August 20, 2011

Levin calls for integration of Obama vacation spot Martha’s Vineyard

Published: 1:54 PM 08/20/2011 Updated: 1:58 PM 08/20/2011

By Jeff Poor - The Daily Caller

http://dailycaller.com/2011/08/20/levin-calls-for-integration-of-obama-vacation-spot-marthas-vineyard/#ooid=9zc3dxMjqBJaUhOG8Yl4CUj8Qrp3Hc1L

Although a lot has been said about the timing of President Barack Obama’s vacation to Martha’s Vineyard, not much has been said about the spot itself, other than criticism about the tone deafness of a president vacationing at a haven for the well-to-do while so many Americans are struggling financially.

On his Friday radio program, radio talk show host Mark Levin took a look at the racial make-up of the Obama vacation spot and likened it to the left-leaning MSNBC cable news network.

“But what about on Martha’s Vineyard?” Levin said. “I’m just asking. Doesn’t Martha’s Vineyard kind of reflect the racial make-up of the host on MSNBC, or as we affectionately call them ‘MSLSD’ because they all seem like they’re on some kind of a drug kick? I’m not saying they are. I’m saying they seem like it.”

Levin criticized the spot because of the lack of economic diversity as well – a place where the rich go, but the average American can’t likely afford.

“How about the diversity on Martha’s Vineyard?” he continued. “There’s a reason people go to this island where there’s a lot of rich people. I’m not against islands with rich people but I thought you liberals were. This island with rich people, where the average Joe or Jane can’t get there, can’t afford it – there’s a reason why he finds that so attractive, where that’s where he wants to go for his vacation. The guy says one thing and he does another. He talks about how we should live and he lives a completely different way.”

The Levin proposal: The integration of Martha’s Vineyard – once he overcomes the logistical obstacles.

“We need to figure out how to integrate Martha’s Vineyard,” Levin said. “We can’t have busing obviously because buses don’t drive on water. How about these water taxis? Can we do that, Mr. Producer – back and forth every day? Why not? Maybe I’ll lead a movement – the movement to integrate the island of Martha’s Vineyard. There should be more than millionaires and billionaires of the Caucasian persuasion there. Maybe all the hosts there at the ‘MSLSD’ – maybe they’ll join this in this effort.”

One other conclusion Levin made was that the tea party, which is often maligned for its lack of racial diversity, is more diverse than Martha’s Vineyard.

“Do you realize there’s more minorities in the tea party movement than there are on Martha’s Vineyard?” he said. “It’s true – there’s more minorities in the tea party movement than there are among the hosts on ‘MSLSD.’ It’s true.”

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Related:

Obama keeps low profile on the Vineyard


08/19/2011 6:18 PM

EDGARTOWN -- If his comings and goings yesterday are any indication, President Barack Obama will be keeping a very low profile during his Martha’s Vineyard vacation.


On Day 1 of the first family’s nine-day stay on the island, Obama remained mostly out of sight, not emerging from Blue Heron Farm until 12:15 p.m., when his motorcade headed into Vineyard Haven and a visit to Bunch of Grapes Book Store. (Daughters Sasha and Malia walked out with a bag containing, among other books, David Gessner’s “My Green Manifesto: Down the Charles River in Pursuit of a New Environmentalism,” which we recommended Obama read in our column this week.)


But it was later, at the Vineyard Golf Course in Edgartown, where the president’s recalcitrance was most evident. Approaching the eighth tee in a golf cart with friend and frequent golfing buddy Eric Whitaker, the president noticed three TV cameras and a Globe photographer across the street. Rather than stop and be photographed teeing off, the president skipped the hole.


Nor did the president show up at “Voices for Obama,” a fundraiser for his re-election campaign held the night before. The commander in chief was, in fact, just arriving at his deluxe Chilmark digs as 300 supporters - each of whom paid $100 - were filing into Union Chapel in Oak Bluffs. The event, organized by Northampton attorney Tom Lesser with an assist from Art Buchwald’s daughter-in-law Tamara, included talks by Pulitzer Prize winning novelist Geraldine Brooks, Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz, and former White House counsel Greg Craig, among others.


Brooks, a longtime islander, acknowledged that she’s been disappointed with the president at times, but nonetheless supports him. She recalled knocking on doors for Obama in sub-zero temperatures - on her wedding anniversary, no less - before the New Hampshire primary in 2008. On at least one occasion, Brooks said, a Granite State resident answered the door and she could see an assault rifle lying on the couch.


Craig tried to strike a conciliatory tone, saying he didn’t wish to be “mean-spirited” by pointing out what a Republican administration would do in the White House, but he pointed out what a Republican adminstration would do in the White House.


Afterward, it was off to the Oak Bluffs abode of Ron and Judy Davenport, founders of Pittsburgh-based Sheridan Broadcasting, where 170 guests, each of whom contributed between $500 and $2,500, wined and dined. While Democrats like to call themselves the big-tent party, they could have used a larger awning on this night.


“We were sold out,” Lesser said afterward. “There was a huge buzz and rush for tickets.”


Vineyard wedding planner Patrie Grace handled the arrangements, and the party was catered by Jaime Hamlin of Vineyard Haven, who’s done menus for former President Bill Clinton’s birthday parties on the island. (For this event, she served grilled chicken, rice, local greens from Tabor House Farm, and desserts by Barbara Weniger, owner of Lexington-based Lakota Bakery.)


Guest included Joel Buchwald and Tamara, “A Nightmare on Elm Street” director Wes Craven, John Hancock’s Carol Fulp, philanthropist Barbara Lee, former Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston CEO Linda Whitlock, GenNx360 Capital Partners’s Lloyd Trotter, Wheelock president Jackie Jenkins-Scott, attorney Gordon Litwin, Levi-Strauss chairwoman Mimi Haas, and Harvard professor Bob Mnookin.


Organizers held out hope that Obama might make an appearance, but it was not to be.


“My personal belief was that he wasn’t going to make it,” said Lesser. “It might have been different if it was his second, third, or fourth night on the Vineyard.”


Asked about the optics of Obama vacationing on Martha’s Vineyard while the economy is reeling, Lesser said the president is never on vacation.


“And we all do a better job when we have time to some think,” said Lesser, “and this is his time to think.”


The president’s visit is definitely snarling traffic on the island, but it does not seem not be interrupting people’s vacations: David Letterman looked mighty relaxed as he exited the Katama General Store with a newspaper. The “Late Show” host waved to passersby, jumped into his Jeep, and drove off.


Amid all the henna tattoos, tempura, and maple-sweetened lemonade at the Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Fair, it was the blazing heat - not the president - people were talking about yesterday. His shirt drenched with sweat as he stood next to a wood-burning stove cooking pizzas, Eric Hutchinson, managing partner of Flatbreads, said he emptied a keg of root beer by midday. “We’re getting beat up, to be honest,” said Hutchinson, “but it’s all good.”

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Magnitude 7.5 quake hits Vanuatu in Pacific: USGS

WASHINGTON Sat Aug 20, 2011 1:37pm EDT

(Reuters) - A powerful magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck off the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu, the U.S. Geological Survey reported Saturday.

It said the quake, which struck at 3:55 a.m. local time on Sunday (12:55 p.m. EDT on Saturday), was centered 38 miles southwest of the town of Port-Vila and was quite shallow, at a depth of 25.2 miles.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the major quake had not triggered a Pacific-wide tsunami but said: "Earthquakes of this size sometimes generate local tsunamis that can be destructive along coasts located within a hundred kilometers (80 miles) of the earthquake epicenter."

There was no immediate information of any damage or casualties, but when on land quakes of this magnitude can cause widespread and heavy damage.

The quake was followed by a weaker aftershock of magnitude 5.9 some 20 minutes later.

LinkThe Vanuatu archipelago is located on the so-called "Ring of Fire," one of the most seismically active regions in the world. Port-Vila is the capital of Vanuatu and has an estimated population of 40,000 people.

(Reporting by Sandra Maler, Editing by Vicki Allen)
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How Great Thou Art



Uploaded by stack45ny on Aug 9, 2009

Christian Hymns playlist: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=BD1B04EAC0152F4B

The history begins with Mr. Carl Gustaf Boberg (1859-1940), a Swedish pastor, editor, and member of the Swedish parliament. He was enjoying a walk when a thunderstorm appeared out of no where. A severe wind began to blow. After the storm was over, Mr. Boberg looked out over the clear bay. He then heard a church bell in the distance. And the words to How Great Thou Art begin to form in his heart; O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder consider all the worlds Thy hands hath made.

This poem titled O Store Gud (O Great God) was published in 1891 in Witness of the Truth, the weekly newspaper that Boberg edited. It was later translated in German. In 1927 it was published in a Russian version of the German text.

The song was translated by Stuart K. Hine, the English missionary to Ukraine. He found some version of the Russian text and sang it at an evangelistic meeting with his wife. He then translated the first three stanzas into English which was sung at an evangelistic meeting in England during World War One. He published the first three verses (in English and Russian) in 1949 in Grace and Peace, a Russian evangelistic paper which he edited. He later wrote the fourth verse as a triumphant message of life eternal.

He said: When we reach that heavenly home, we will fully understand the greatness of God, and will bow in humble adoration, saying to Him, O Lord my God, how great thou art. May we all live in such a way that we will be ready when Jesus Christ appears to receive the saints. Our heavenly home awaits us, all of those who have received Christ in obedience.

Dr. J. Edwin Orr of Fuller Theological Seminary is said to have brought the hymn to America after hearing it in India. Dr. Cyrus Nelson of Gospel Light Publications copyrighted and published the song.

It was sung by George Beverly Shea at the London Crusade of the Billy Graham evangelistic team in 1954. He later sang it during a revival in New York at a Billy Graham Crusade. This caused the hymn to receive new attention in Sweden and America and be published in several songbooks.

Give God all praise, glory, and honor for who He is, the Creator of the universe.

Lyrics

O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

When through the woods, and forest glades I wander,
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees.
When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur
And see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

And when I think, that God, His Son not sparing;
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation,
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.
Then I shall bow, in humble adoration,
And then proclaim: "My God, how great Thou art!"

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

Notable performers of the hymn are George Beverly Shea, Elvis Presley, Carrie Underwood, Vince Gill, Charlie Daniels the Blackwood Brothers Quartet, Tennessee Ernie Ford, and Roy Rogers whose inspiring rendition of the song appeared on the otherwise secular album Back in Baby's Arms. A rendition by The Statler Brothers from the album Holy Bible New Testament hit number 39 on the Hot Country Songs charts.

It's been used on major television programs, in major motion pictures, and has been named as the favorite Gospel song of at least three United States' presidents.

The hymn was the title track of Elvis Presley's second gospel LP. Presley won a Grammy Award for "Best Sacred Performance" and for "Best Inspirational Performance" for his album Recorded on Stage in Memphis Tennessee.

Carrie Underwood sang it with Vince Gill, televised on CBS. The the song hit #1 in iTunes Top Gospel Song.

Jamaica: ASI Inter-America opens its 11th annual convention

Inter-American Division > Communication Department
Libna Stevens
Aug 19, 2011




August 19, 2011 - Ocho Rios, Jamaica...Libna Stevens/IAD

image by Nigel Coke/IAD
The group Ecclesia from the Braeton Adventist Church in Jamaica performs one of their various cultural numbers during the opening ceremony of Inter-America's 11th ASI annual convention in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, Aug. 17, 2011.

Inter-America began its 11th annual convention of the Adventist Laymen's and Services Industries (ASI) streamed online on August 17, from Ocho Rios, Jamaica. Local government officials and regional church leaders welcomed the nearly 300 delegates and hundreds more Seventh-day Adventists to the West Indies island event.

Sharing Christ in the marketplace, networking and becoming better businessmen and professionals is one of the main goals of the convention, organizers said. Dozens of seminars on professional development and business management and more are schedule before the end of the convention tomorrow.

The Honorable Shahine Robinson, Minister of State from the North-East St. Ann's and Member of Parliament representing the Office of the Prime Minister, lauded the church for its contribution to the betterment of the country and the importance the church has played through church programs and institutions throughout Jamaica.

"Today the church faces the greatest challenge," said Robinson. "The primary crisis is not only economic or political challenges but we are facing a moral one because of the absence of Christ in the home."

Robinson challenged Adventist businesses and professionals to continue to build society, explore solutions to economic challenges and spread the message of hope to those in need.

Highlights of the opening ceremony included a march by a large pathfinder a folkloric performance, a parade of flags from each ASI chapter represented at the convention, a musical concert, and a spiritual message by Dr. Elie Henry, executive secretary of the church in Inter-America.

"Hope is one thing needed in our time," said Dr. Henry as he highlighted his message with the Messengers of Hope theme of the convention. "Hope is vital, it is critical for our everyday survival in life and it is the kind of hope found in the Scriptures that God describes us to have. A hope which carries an attitude of confidence, expectation and trust."

Henry encouraged the delegation to spread hope as they share it in their businesses in commitment to the mission of the church.

Featured in this year's convention include a special donation by ASI chapter members to St. Ann Bay's General Hospital, as well as the election of a new ASI president and officers as well.

To watch the worship service live from Jamaica on
August 20, 2011, beginning at 11:00 a.m. Jamaica Time or 12:00 noon Eastern Daylight Time
click here

or go to our Official IAD Facebook Page under Live Video Channel menu link here

To view a photo gallery of the event visit our flickr account at http://www.flickr.com/photos/interamerica



image by Abel Marquez/IAD
Dr. Elie Henry, executive secretary of the church in Inter-America spoke to ASI-Inter-American delegates during this year's convention opening on Aug. 17, in Ocho Rios, Jamaica . Dr. Henry challenged delegates to further commit to sharing hope in their bu

[Source: © 2002-2006 Inter American Division, Inc.]

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Wilson Issues Call to Evangelism, Faithfulness at ASI Meeting


‘FINISH STRONG’ -- In order to “finish strong” – words that were the theme of the ASI event – General Conference president Pastor Ted N.C. Wilson said Seventh-day Adventists need to know “who we are,” and identify the movement’s special role. He made his comments August 6 during the 2011 ASI Convention in Sacramento, California. [Photo: James Bokovoy]

Great Controversy Project,’ Urban Evangelism, Medical Missionary work stressed

BY MARK A. KELLNER, News Editor

The General Conference president called on Adventists to: guard against
“mystical beliefs and practices” that could remove practitioners from sound doctrine; avoid “mystical forms of prayer” that could lead to occult practices; be careful in the selection of worship music and styles; and “avoid” having non-Adventists as “major spiritual speakers” in churches and/or large meetings, instead seeking “humble, Bible-centered Seventh-day Adventist speakers.”


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"Lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears"


Isaiah 6

1In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the LORD sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.

2Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.

3And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.

4And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.

5Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.

6Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:

7And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.

8Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.

9And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.

10Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.


11Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate,

12And the LORD have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land.

13But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.
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Babylon The Great and Globalism



Uploaded by TRUTHABOUTSUNDAY on Mar 27, 2011

Babylon the Great and Globalism exposes the threat to liberty of all freedom made when an apostate power supplants the word of God for the traditions of men. The Messiah spoke out against the false leaders of his day and we as his followers must do the same.

VATIS' means 'DIVINER' in Latin
'CAN' means 'SERPENT' in Latin
http://www.truthaboutsundayworship.com/mysterybabylon.htm
http://www.truthaboutsundayworship.com/earlyprotestantism.htm

On the Vatican crest is a serpent-dragon with wings. See link:

Vaticanus then is a combination of Vatic + anus which mean "the prophetic hill or mountain", which can be rephrased as the hill or mountain of prophecy. On the back of their coins is the inscription: "CITTÁ DEL VATICANO", which means City of Prophecy.
Source(s):http://www.aloha.net/~mikesch/vatican.htm
http://gracehead.com/index.php/2008/04/21/the_vatican_of_babylon_religion_a_c...

Revelation Chapter 17
A woman arrayed in purple and scarlet, with a golden cup in her hand, sits on a scarlet beast
1 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: 2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. 3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. 4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: 5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. 6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns. 8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. 9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. 10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. 11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. 12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. 13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.

The victory of the Lamb
14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful. 15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. 16 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. 17 For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. 18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

Rev 17:1-18 (KJV)

FOR THOSE WITH EYES TO SEE AND EARS TO HEAR. LET HIM HEAR WHAT THE SPIRIT SPEAKETH UNTO THE CHURCH. FLEE FROM BABYLON, COME OUT OF HER MY PEOPLE THAT YOU BE NOT PARTAKERS OF HER SINS AND THAT HE RECEIVE NOT HER PLAGUES.

Friday, August 19, 2011

Sin of Abortion to be Absolved by Madrid Priests During Papal Visit

The Christian Post > Fri, Aug. 19 2011 04:09 PM EDT

Sin of Abortion to be Absolved by Madrid Priests During Papal Visit

By Vincent Funaro | Christian Post Contributor


(Reuters/Susana Vera)
Pope Benedict XVI waves as he leaves after participating in the Way of the Cross ceremony with young people as part of the World Youth Day festivities in central Madrid, August 19, 2011. Pope Benedict denounced economic structures that put profits ahead of people on Thursday at the start of a trip to recession-hit Spain where the costs of the pontiff's visit have sparked violent protests.

Priests in Madrid have been given the authority to grant absolution to women who confess to having an abortion and allow them back into the Church. The authority has reportedly been granted during the pope’s visit to Spain’s capital city, according to CNN.

The Vatican usually only permits certain priests the power to grant absolution of the sin of abortion and to lift excommunications, but it has now been given to all priests in Madrid, according to a Vatican spokesman.

“All the priests that are administering the sacrament of confession during World Youth Day have the general authority to give absolution from the penalty of excommunication for abortion if someone comes to confession….if someone has this need,” said Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi to CNN, referring to the event that that brought Pope Benedict XVI to Madrid for a four-day visit.

The announcement came via the archdiocese’s website and was given by Madrid Archbishop Antonio Maria Rouco Varela. He stated this authority was extended to more priests in the hope that “all of the faithful who attend the celebrations of the 26th World Youth Day in Madrid can more easily attain the fruits of divine grace, that the doors to a new life open for them.”

The Church has 200 confessional booths set up in a Madrid park for priests to hear confessions in.

Varela said to CNN that the Roman Catholic Church “has conferred to all the priests legitimately approved to hear sacramental confessions, who are in the archdiocese of Madrid during August 15 to 22, the delegated power to remit during the sacrament of penance the excommunication… corresponding to the sin abortion, to the faithful who are truly sorry, imposing at the same time a convenient penance.”

The Vatican often extends authority to priests to absolve believers of certain sins and lift excommunications during big papal events, according to Lombardi. He also stated that any woman who belongs to the Church, and knows that abortion is a sin, automatically gets excommunicated if they abort a child.

“This is not only for women,” Lombardi said. “If a man has given the pressure on the women to do an abortion then he’s guilty in the same way.”

This authority is only extended to priests who are in the Madrid archdiocese for World Youth Day festivities, according to a spokesman for the Catholic Church in Spain.

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Knights of Columbus head challenges youth to save religious freedom

By David Kerr
Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson speaks at World Youth Day / Credit: Knights of Columbus

.- The Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus told young pilgrims in Madrid that the right to practice their faith could be kept or lost in the future, depending on their public witness and awareness.

“What are you going to do about it? Because I think you’ll have longer time to do something about it than I will,” he said, addressing over 1,000 pilgrims at World Youth Day 2011.

The Catholic fraternal and charitable organization's leader said the tone of Christians' public witness would be central to preserving religious liberty.

What “(w)e have to do is show people by the way we live our life that Christianity doesn’t frustrate human happiness – that Christianity actually promotes human happiness,” he observed.

The Supreme Knight was taking part in a panel discussion along with Denver Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, Law Professor Helen Alvare of George Mason University, Father Thomas Rosica of Canada's Salt and Light Media, and Pablo Barrosa, producer of the upcoming film “Cristiada.”

Their venue was the Love and Life Center at Madrid’s Palacio de Desportes, a hub for English-speaking pilgrims this week.

“Religious liberty goes to the center of what it means to be a person,” said Anderson, echoing the teaching of the Second Vatican Council. “It is foundational. It is at the very heart of the human person because it involves the human conscience.”

The Supreme Knight explained that the free exercise of religion was also at the heart of the United States Constitution. He went on to discuss what motivates modern attacks on this central human right.

He pinpointed the influence of three 19th century thinkers who attacked faith from different angles: Karl Marx, the Communist thinker who dubbed religion “the opium of the people;” Friedrich Nietzsche, the German philosopher who called Christianity “a slave religion;” and Sigmund Freud, the psychologist who labeled religion “an infantile delusion.”

The impact of these anti-religious attitudes, he observed, was now being widely felt in contemporary Western societies. There, he noted, opponents of the Christian faith, and religion in general, often believe they are removing an obstacle to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

Religion, in other words, is being lumped in with a number of practices that harm society.

“What do you do with someone who promotes slavery, promotes drug abuse or promotes insanity?” asked Anderson, explaining this point of view. “Do you protect their right their liberty to do this? Or do you attempt by all sorts of means to push these people to the side, to marginalize them?”

Anderson told his young listeners that they must show the opponents of religion, and religious freedom, that their view of the Christian faith is wrong. They should see instead that “people who follow the truth of Jesus Christ celebrate life and live joyful lives.”

“So if we are to protect our religious liberty,” he concluded, we have be a people who practice and manifest our religious faith, and do so in ways that make people realize its value and its truth and the contribution it makes to society.”

Virginia resident Joe Duca, 19, left inspired by Anderson's advice.

“What really struck is the idea that we must combat our culture with beauty and that will lead people to truth more so than posturing and political ideas,” he told CNA as he left the seminar.

Duca said many modern people seemed stuck in a “selfish” and “loveless” way of living. He was struck by Anderson's message, and the need to witness through selfless love.

It is our job to fight … not with anger, but by showing our fellow Christians – and particularly our fellow youth – the love we all want, and that it’s in Christ Jesus.”

Charlene Broad, a 19-year-old pilgrim from Canberra, Australia, agreed.

“It was a great, inspiring talk. I’m studying journalism, so it has given me hope for the future to impact upon the world by just telling the truth.”

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