Saturday, October 15, 2011

New World Order Uncloaked

New World Order Uncloaked



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NO24XmP1c5E&feature=player_embedded

Jason Bermas presents Invisible Empire: A New World Order. This New World Order must be resisted as it aims to enslave the World. The Vatican’s Third Reich under the military leadership of Adolf Hitler was an early attempt at a Vatican “New World Order”. How do we resist? We go after those who are advocating enslaving the World. People like the leader of the Fourth Reich Joseph Ratzinger, the General of the International Military Order of the Society of Jesus - Adolfo Nicolás, their mole in the U.S. government – Henry Kissinger, their bankers – the Rockefellers, and their puppets – George HW Bush, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Dick Cheney, George W Bush, and Barack Hussein Obama. Organizations like the Council on Foreign Relations, the UN, the WHO, the IMF, the CIA, the Federal Reserve, the DHS, FEMA, the World Bank and NATO.

Short URL: http://presscore.ca/2011/?p=4057



Disclaimer: EndrTimes does not endorse or espouse any of the beliefs or the principles of Infowars or its founder Alex Jones.

Lamp In The Dark:Untold History of the Bible ~ Full Documentary



Uploaded by on Mar 3, 2011

"PLEASE THUMBS UP"~Order DVD @http://www.adullamfilms.com/ALampInTheDark.html

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If you are so inspired, you may support our ministry with your prayers and financial support.

A Lamp in the Dark is an exciting new documentary that unfolds the fascinating "untold" history of the Bible, revealing critical information often overlooked in modern histories. Enter into a world of saints and martyrs battling against spies, assassins and wolves in sheep's clothing.

Throughout the Middle Ages, the Papal Inquisition forbade biblical translation, threatening imprisonment and death to those who disobeyed. Learn the stories of valiant warriors of the faith, such as John Wycliffe, William Tyndale, Martin Luther, the ancient Waldenses, Albigenses and others who hazarded their lives for the sake of sharing the Gospel light with a world drowning in darkness.

Once the common people were able to read the Bible, the world was turned upside down through the Protestant Reformation. The Reformers subdued whole kingdoms by preaching the grace of God, and exposing the unbiblical doctrines of Rome. In response, the Vatican would launch a Counter Reformation to destroy the work of the Reformers, including the bibles they produced.
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ABOUT THE PRODUCTION

A Lamp in the Dark was filmed on locations in England and Belgium, and features never before seen interviews with leading Bible scholars, including David Brown, Roger Oakland, Alan O'Reilly, D.A. Waite and others. Also included are chief curators from the British Library in London, Erasmus House in Belgium, and the William Tyndale Museum in Vilvoorde, where Tyndale himself was burnt at the stake.

This ground-breaking documentary is also filled with rich visual graphics and dramatic re-enactments of key historic events.

Included in this 3 hour DVD:

1) The history of the early Church, with the warnings from Jesus and the Apostles about "grievous wolves" and apostasy.

2) How the Inquisition began for the purpose of silencing Christians and outlawing the Bible.

3) The Bible translations of John Wycliffe and William Tyndale, the Great Bible, the Geneva Bible, and finally the King James Version.

4) The Protestant Reformation and the reasons behind it.

5) Key doctrines confronted by the Reformers (i.e. Indulgences, Inspiration of Scripture, Salvation, Transubstantiation, Veneration of Mary, and Papal claims of authority).

6) The Counter Reformation which began with the founding of the Jesuit Order in 1540.

7) The Vatican's involvement with the Critical Text and their influence over world-wide biblical translation in the 20th century.

A Lamp in the Dark: The Untold History of the Bible
An Adullam Films Production
Executive Producer: John Doerr
Written and Directed by: Christian J. Pinto
Co-Producers: Kimberly Doerr and Meg A. Pinto
DVD Package Design by: John Shaffer
Copyright 2009 Adullam Films LLC
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
*********************************************************************
*Disclaimer-Adullam Films provides no endorsement of the amy2x Channel or the use of its work on the amy2x Channel.
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It is very simple to be saved. Dear Jesus, I admit that I am a sinner, deserving of Hell. Please forgive me of my sins and take me to Heaven when I die. I now believe upon You alone, apart from all self-righteous works and religion, as my personal Savior. Thank you. Amen.

Just take God at His word and claim His salvation by faith. Believe, and you will be saved. No church, no lodge, no good works can save you. Remember, God does the saving. All of it!

God's simple plan of salvation is: You are a sinner. Therefore, unless you believe on Jesus Who died in your place, you will spend eternity in Hell. If you believe on Him as your crucified, buried, and risen Savior, you receive forgiveness for all of your sins and His gift of eternal salvation by faith.

Christ died for your sins. You are a sinner by nature and by choice. Jesus took your sins and charged them to His own record. He went to the cross and paid the penalty for your sins. He says if you're willing to receive Him in faith; He will transfer His payment to your debt, and His righteousness to your sins. He will impute to you His goodness, and impute to His own record your sin; if you in faith will trust Him as your Savior.

Further Info on Salvation at this Link: http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/how_to_be_saved.html


The Church to Be Sifted



—It is always difficult to hold fast the beginning of our confidence firm unto the end, and the difficulty increases when there are hidden influences constantly at work to bring in another spirit, a counterworking element, on Satan’s side of the question.
In the absence of the persecution there have drifted into our ranks men who appear sound and their Christianity unquestionable, but who, if persecution should arise, would go out from us. In the crisis they would see force in specious reasons that have had an influence on their minds. Satan has prepared various snares to meet varied minds.
When the law of God is made void, the church will be sifted by fiery trials, and a larger proportion than we now anticipate will give heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. Instead of being strengthened when brought into strait places, many prove that they are not living branches of the true Vine, they bear no fruit, and the husbandman taketh them away.—Letter 3, 1890.

Evangelism, p. 360-361.



They despised all my reproof


24Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;

25But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:

26I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;

27When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.

28Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:

29For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD:

30They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.

31Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.

32For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.

33But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.


Proverbs 1:24-33.


Friday, October 14, 2011

For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many


1And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple.

2And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

3And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?

4And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.

5For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
---
11And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.

12And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.

13But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

14And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

15When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)
---
19And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!

20But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:

21For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

22And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.

23Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.

24For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

25Behold, I have told you before.

26Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.

27For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

28For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
---
36But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

Matthew 24


Yeshúa Ha Mashiaj comes back on October (Tishri) 15, 2011



The eternal truth - Yeshúa Ha Mashiaj comes back on October ...


www.laverdadeterna.com/english/ - Argentina


Yeshúa Ha Mashiaj comes back on October (Tishri) 15, 2011. A ministry dedicated to extolling the Biblical truths and share the love of God the Father and His ...


Source: http://www.laverdadeterna.com/english/

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What is the Sabbath?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtsOFaWc5ho&feature=player_embedded

Uploaded by mleonyt on Jun 1, 2008

What is the Lord's Day?

SdAdventist Hymns




Uploaded by NWOISAPROPHECY on Oct 24, 2008

Beautiful songs that bring us close to Jesus who loves you more than anything.

Mexican American Catholic College hosts immigration conference


Oct. 10, 2011
By NCR Staff
Immigration Symposium, Oct. 19-20, 2011, San Antonio, Texas.


The office of Continuing Education for Ministry at MACC -- Mexican American Catholic College in San Antonio, Texas, is holding an important immigration symposium October 19-20 with the title "Violence on the Border: Consequences and Pastoral Responses"

Bishop Daniel Flores, diocese of Brownsville, Texas, will deliver the keynote. Discussion topics include:

•How are communities of faith responding?
•What needs to be done to bring peace to the border?
•The Relationship between violence and immigration.
For more information or to download the program and registration forms:

http://www.maccsa.org/academics_conted_production.php


Source

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KC bishop charged with failure to report child abuse

Finn denies wrongdoing, promises 'vigorous defense'

Oct. 14, 2011
By Joshua J. McElwee

Accountability

Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker speaks at the Oct. 14 press conference. (Zoe Ryan)


Updated. KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Bishop Robert Finn and the Kansas City-St. Joseph, Mo., diocese have been charged with failure to report suspected child abuse.

The charges, filed in Jackson County, Mo., court and announced at a press conference this afternoon, is the first time a U.S. bishop has faced a criminal charge related to clergy sexual misconduct, and the first time a diocese has faced such charges.

In a statement released just before the press conference, the diocese said its counsel had entered a not guilty plea on behalf of the diocese and Finn's counsel had done the same on his behalf.

The charges are class A misdemeanors and carry a maximum penalty of a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Speaking at the press conference this afternoon, Jackson County prosecutor Jean Peters Baker announced the charges and emphasized several times they were about "protecting children" and had "nothing to do with the Catholic faith" in general.

Peters Baker confirmed that Finn and the diocese had been the subject of a Jackson County grand jury investigation and said her office had chosen to use a grand jury to "make sure this was a fair process."

The charges stem from the case of a local priest who has been charged for possession of child pornography. Images of naked children were found on the computer of Fr. Shawn Ratigan in December last year. The Kansas City-St. Joseph diocese learned about the images and removed Ratigan from his parish, but did not report the incident to authorities until May.

Peters Baker said the charges span from Dec. 16, 2010, when the diocese first reviewed questionable images on Ratigan's laptop, and May 11, 2011, when it reported the images to the police. She also said Finn and the diocese had been notified of the charges Oct. 6, but the public announcement was postponed because Finn was out of the country until late last evening.

Finn had been leading a planned pilgrimage of members of the diocese to Rome and Ephesus for the past two weeks.

A knowledgeable source at the diocese told NCR the diocesan chancery was closed today because of a water main break. Though the break was repaired by about 9:30 this morning, chancery personnel were told to take the day off, the same source said.

Ratigan is in jail on charges filed in Clay County, Mo. Media reports have indicated that a grand jury in that county is also investigating the diocese's response in the case, and has heard testimony from Finn and vicar general Msgr. Robert Murphy.

A federal grand jury charged Ratigan in August with 13 counts of production, attempted production and possession of child pornography.

Ratigan's last parish was in Clay County. The diocesan chancery is located in Jackson County.

Responding to a question from the press, Peters Bakers said the diocese could be charged as a whole with failing to report sex abuse as it is an "incorporated entity."

In a separate press statement this afternoon, she also said the fact that the charges are misdemeanors, and not felonies, "should not diminish the significance of the case."

"Now that the grand jury investigation has resulted in this indictment, my office will pursue this case vigorously because it is about protecting children," wrote the prosecutor. "I want to ensure there are no future failures to report resulting in other unsuspecting victims."

The diocesan statement this afternoon said that "Bishop Finn denies any criminal wrongdoing." In it Finn also wrote that he asked for "the prayerful support and unity of our priests, our people, the parishes, and the Catholic institutions."

"With deep faith, we will weather this storm and never cease to fulfill our mission, even in moments of adversity,” said Finn.

The Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests immediately released a statement responding to today's announcement, saying the charges were a "good start", but that "others on the church payroll also concealed crimes, misled parishioners and endangered kids."

"We are grateful to every person who shared information with the grand jury," wrote Barabara Dorris, SNAP's outreach director.

"At the same time, however, we believe there are still dozens of other current and former church employees who could and should step forward with their information about clergy sex crimes and cover ups.

Peters Baker said the next court appearance for Finn and the diocese is scheduled for Dec. 15.

Ratigan, 45, who is held on $200,000 bond, has pleaded not guilty.

A diocesan-sponsored study of its handling of the Ratigan case released last month found that "individuals in positions of authority reacted to events in ways that could have jeopardized the safety of children in diocesan parishes, school, and families."

The 138-page report, conducted by former U.S. attorney Todd Graves, also said that "Diocesan leaders failed to follow their own policies and procedures" for responding to reports of sexual misconduct.

At today's press conference, members of the press were handed the official indictment sheet from the grand jury charging Finn and the diocese. Among the witnesses listed as having given testimony before the grand jury is Julie Hess, the principal of the elementary school attached to the parish where Ratigan served.

A year before Ratigan's arrest, Hess hand-delivered to Murphy a letter warning that parents and staff members there were concerned about "significant red flags" about Ratigan's behavior and were worried he "fit the profile of a child predator."

In testimony given to the Graves report, Finn states that he "cannot recall" whether he received a written report on that letter prior to this May, and can only "specifically recall" three items from Murphy's verbal report to him on the subject.

Speaking by phone this afternoon, an attorney who has filed numerous cases against Finn and the diocese for cases of sexual abuse said announcement of the charges was "historic."

"It's an important step for establishing accountability," said Rebecca Randles, whose firm last week filed a formal complaint alleging the diocese broke a 2008 settlement between the diocese and 47 victims of sexual abuse in its failure to report the Ratigan case to police.

"You hope that the ripple effect keeps rippling outward so that other bishops will look out and say 'I have to take every possible step to make sure that my sheep, the sheep of my flock, are being kept safe,'" said Randles.

"My hope is that this will be the proverbial shot across the bow where they say 'Wait a minute, this can't be business as usual. We can't just rely on policies. We have to actually look at these as humans and do what's right with regard to them."

In the diocese statement, Finn pointed to the diocese's July appointment of an ombudsman to receive reports of claims of sex abuse and a five point plan outlined by him in June to show that the diocese has responded to claims it has not responded to the Ratigan case.

"Today, the Jackson County Prosecutor issued these charges against me personally and against the Diocese of Kansas City-St Joseph," wrote Finn. "For our part, we will meet these announcements with a steady resolve and a vigorous defense.”

[Joshua McElwee is an NCR staff writer. His e-mail address is jmcelwee@ncronline.org.]


Source
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What is the Lord's Resistance Army?

Members of the Lord's Resistance Army stand guard in November 2008.

October 14th, 2011
03:17 PM ET


The Lord's Resistance Army, formed in the late 1980s, is a sectarian military and religious group that operates in northern Uganda and South Sudan. It has committed numerous abuses and atrocities such as abducting, raping, maiming and killing civilians, including women and children, according to globalsecurity.org. Its members are known for hacking off the lips and ears of their victims, looting villages and burning huts, and stealing clothes and medicine from the communities they terrorize, CNN has reported.

On Friday, President Barack Obama announced that he is sending about 100 U.S. troops to Africa to help hunt down the group's leaders.

The Lord's Resistance Army has sought to overthrow the Ugandan government and has contributed to instability across the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan.

It is led by Joseph Kony, who professes to have spiritual powers. He is often "underrated" as a leader, according to a 2011 Jane's report on the group. Kony has claimed to be possessed by spirits who dictate the group's strategy. Jane's notes that the tactic has served him well, enabling him to speak to followers who have mixed beliefs. By portraying himself as a medium with supernatural abilities, his authority becomes harder to question within the ranks.

U.S. military personnel will advise regional forces working to target Kony and other senior leaders. The president said the troops will not engage Kony's forces "unless necessary for self-defense."

The Lord's Resistance Army is sophisticated and less like the ragtag group of fighters it is sometimes portrayed as, Jane's says. It has benefited from the military experience of former Ugandan military officers and years of combat in Sudan.

International aid convoys and non-government organizations operating in the region have been threatened by the Lord's Resistance Army, according to numerous reports. Human Rights Watch, in a letter released in May, urged the U.S. government to step up its effort to protect people from the group.

Source
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11th Annual Wall Street Summit to Discuss Latino Role in US Economy

By Andrea Marcela Madambashi | Christian Post Correspondent


The New America Alliance (NAA) has announced the 11th Annual Wall Street Summit to take place in New York City from October 26-28. The event will gather CEOs, entrepreneurs, top business leaders and other thought-leaders to discuss American Latino participation in the nation's economy.

The event has been described by the CEO of the Alliance, Maria del Pilar Avila, as a celebration of the spirit of the American Latino community, and an opportunity to continue to identify the path for further advancement.

“The goal of the Wall Street Summit is to equip the nation's business leaders with the knowledge and network to access and address the growing importance and increasing impact of the American Latino community on the U.S. economy," NAA states in its webpage.

Key stakeholders in government and Corporate America are confirmed to have deep discussions on the critical issues facing the American Latino business community.

Distinguished Speakers will include, Cesar Conde, Univision Networks president; Jamie Dimon, CEO & Chairman of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and the Honorable Carlos Gutierrez, 35th United States Secretary of Commerce.

Participants will have the opportunity to learn and engage in several topics such as: expanding the influence and participation of American Latinos In public and private financial institutions; Latino control of capital and access to capital markets, diversity in foundation and non-profit boardrooms, and identifying new market opportunities.

Last year the Summit attendants examined the state of the U.S. economy from the position of the American Latino community around the theme, "Economy in Transformation: Our Proactive Solutions to Our Nation's Needs."
“The importance of coming together to discuss the economic state of the American Latino community and develop strategies for progress has never been greater,” said The Honorable Roel C. Campos, former U.S. Securities & Exchange Commissioner, Partner in Charge at Cooley LLP about last year’s event, according to Hispanic Tips.

“The American economy is experiencing a historic transformation and organizations such as the NAA have a strategic role in guiding decision-makers to ensure that Latino businesses are positioned to capture new opportunities, and promoting Latino wealth-building, political participation and educational attainment,” Campos added.

Other Prominent participants at the Summit will include, the Honorable William J. Clinton, 42nd President of the United States; the Honorable Hillary Clinton, U.S. Secretary of State; the Honorable Ken Salazar, U.S. Secretary of the Interior; Jamie Dimon, Chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co; Indra K. Nooyi, Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo and Randall Stephenson, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President, AT&T.


Source


Canary Island Eruption Emerges Under Water



October 14, 2011


Two separate ocean floor fissures, and stains on the water, have been observed near El Hierro's coast.




Months of volcanic tremors on Spain’s Canary Island of El Hierro appear to be associated with two undersea eruptions that began about two miles off the island’s southeastern coast.
The country’s National Geographic Institute told reporters that dead fish were seen floating on the ocean surface above where the eruption emerged.

The institute’s scientists said they were not yet able to determine if the eruptions, at a depth of about 1,500 feet, were spewing lava or gas.

It now appears unlikely that the more than 9,000 tremors that have jolted El Hierro since July 17 will lead to another eruption on the island.

People who had left their homes over volcanic fears returned home, and officials announced they were going to reopen the islands’ most important road tunnel, which had been closed as a precautionary measure.

The island's only eruption in recorded history was in 1793, when it rumbled for about one month with flows of lava.




The Wicked Slay Each Other



I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord God: every man's sword shall be against his brother
. Eze. 38:21.


The wicked are filled with regret, not because of their sinful neglect of God and their fellow men, but because God has conquered. They lament that the result is what it is; but they do not repent of their wickedness. They would leave no means untried to conquer if they could. . . .

Ministers and people see that they have not sustained the right relation to God. They see that they have rebelled against the Author of all just and righteous law. The setting aside of the divine precepts gave rise to thousands of springs of evil, discord, hatred, iniquity, until the earth became one vast field of strife, one sink of corruption. This is the view that now appears to those who rejected truth and chose to cherish error. No language can express the longing which the disobedient and disloyal feel for that which they have lost forever--eternal life. Men whom the world has worshiped for their talents and eloquence now see these things in their true light. They realize what they have forfeited by transgression, and they fall at the feet of those whose fidelity they have despised and derided, and confess that God has loved them.

The people see that they have been deluded. They accuse one another of having led them to destruction; but all unite in heaping their bitterest condemnation upon the ministers. Unfaithful pastors have prophesied smooth things; they have led their hearers to make void the law of God and to persecute those who would keep it holy. Now, in their despair, these teachers confess before the world their work of deception. The multitudes are filled with fury. "We are lost!" they cry, "and you are the cause of our ruin"; and they turn upon the false shepherds. The very ones that once admired them most will pronounce the most dreadful curses upon them. The very hands that once crowned them with laurels will be raised for their destruction. The swords which were to slay God's people are now employed to destroy their enemies. Everywhere there is strife and bloodshed.


Maranatha, p.295


Thursday, October 13, 2011

Who’s behind the Wall St. protests?

AIM Newswire — October 13, 2011


NEW YORK (Reuters) – Anti-Wall Street protesters say the rich are getting richer while average Americans suffer, but the group that started it all may have benefited indirectly from the largesse of one of the world’s richest men.



There has been much speculation over who is financing the disparate protest, which has spread to cities across America and lasted nearly four weeks. One name that keeps coming up is investor George Soros, who in September debuted in the top 10 list of wealthiest Americans. Conservative critics contend the movement is a Trojan horse for a secret Soros agenda.

Soros and the protesters deny any connection. But Reuters did find indirect financial links between Soros and Adbusters, an anti-capitalist group in Canada which started the protests with an inventive marketing campaign aimed at sparking an Arab Spring type uprising against Wall Street. Moreover, Soros and the protesters share some ideological ground.

“I can understand their sentiment,” Soros told reporters last week at the United Nations about the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations, which are expected to spur solidarity marches globally on Saturday.

Pressed further for his views on the movement and the protesters, Soros refused to be drawn in. But conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh summed up the speculation when he told his listeners last week, “George Soros money is behind this.”

Soros, 81, is No. 7 on the Forbes 400 list with a fortune of $22 billion, which has ballooned in recent years as he deftly responded to financial market turmoil. He has pledged to give away all his wealth, half of it while he earns it and the rest when he dies.

Like the protesters, Soros is no fan of the 2008 bank bailouts and subsequent government purchase of the toxic sub-prime mortgage assets they amassed in the property bubble.

The protesters say the Wall Street bank bailouts in 2008 left banks enjoying huge profits while average Americans suffered under high unemployment and job insecurity with little help from Washington. They contend that the richest 1 percent of Americans have amassed vast fortunes while being taxed at a lower rate than most people.

BANKING LIFE SUPPORT

Soros in 2009 wrote in an editorial that the purchase of toxic bank assets would, “provide artificial life support for the banks at considerable expense to the taxpayer.”

He urged the Obama administration to take bolder action, either by recapitalizing or nationalizing the banks and forcing them to lend at attractive rates. His advice went unheeded.

The Hungarian-American was an early supporter of the 2008 election campaign of Barack Obama, who will seek a second term as president in the November, 2012, election. He has long backed liberal causes – the Open Society Institute, the foreign policy think tank Council on Foreign Relations and Human Rights Watch.

According to disclosure documents from 2007-2009, Soros’ Open Society gave grants of $3.5 million to the Tides Center, a San Francisco-based group that acts almost like a clearing house for other donors, directing their contributions to liberal non-profit groups. Among others the Tides Center has partnered with are the Ford Foundation and the Gates Foundation.

Disclosure documents also show Tides, which declined comment, gave Adbusters grants of $185,000 from 2001-2010, including nearly $26,000 between 2007-2009.

Aides to Soros say any connection is tenuous and that Soros has never heard of Adbusters. Soros himself declined comment.`The Vancouver-based group, which publishes a magazine and runs such campaigns as “Digital Detox Week” and “Buy Nothing Day,” says it wants to “change the way corporations wield power” and its goal is “to topple existing power structures.”

SLOW START

Adbusters, whose magazine has a circulation of 120,000 and which is known for its spoofs of popular advertisements, came up with the Occupy Wall Street idea after Arab Spring protests toppled governments in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia, said Kalle Lasn, 69, Adbusters co-founder.

“It came out of these brainstorming sessions we have at Adbusters,” Lasn told Reuters, adding they began promoting it online on July 13. “We were inspired by what happened in Tunisia and Egypt and we had this feeling that America was ripe for a Tahrir moment.”

“We felt there was a real rage building up in America, and we thought that we would like to create a spark which would give expression for this rage.”

Lasn said Adbusters is 95 percent funded by subscribers paying for the magazine. “George Soros’s ideas are quite good, many of them. I wish he would give Adbusters some money, we sorely need it,” he said. “He’s never given us a penny.”

Other support for Occupy Wall Street has come from online funding website Kickstarter, where more than $75,000 has been pledged, deliveries of food and from cash dropped in a bucket at the park. Liberal film maker Michael Moore has also pledged to donate money.

The protests began in earnest on September 17, triggered by an Adbusters campaign featuring a provocative poster showing a ballerina dancing atop the famous bronze bull in New York’s financial district as a crowd of protesters wearing gas masks approach behind her.

Dressed in anarchist black, the battle-ready mob is shrouded in a fog suggestive of tear gas or fires burning. Some are wearing gas masks, others wielding sticks. The poster’s message seems to be a heady combination of sexuality, violence, excitement and adventure.

Former carpenter Robert Daros, 23, saw that poster in a cafe in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Having lost his work as a carpenter after Florida’s speculative construction boom collapsed in a heap of sub-prime mortgage foreclosures, he quit his job as a bartender and traveled to New York City with just a sleeping bag and the hope of joining the protest movement.

Daros was one of the first people to arrive on Wall Street for the so-called occupation on September 17, when protesters marched and tried to camp on Wall Street only to be driven off by police to Zuccotti Park – two acres of concrete without a blade of grass near the rising One World Trade Center.

“When I was a carpenter, I lost my job because the financier of my project was arrested for corporate fraud,” said Daros, who was wearing a red arm band to show he was helping out in the medic section of the Occupy Wall Street camp.

Since its obscure beginnings, the campaign has drawn global media attention in places as far-flung as Iran and China. The Times of London, however, was not alone when it called the protests “Passionate but Pointless.”

Adbusters’ co-founder Lasn dismisses that, reeling off specific demands: a tax on the richest 1 percent, a tax on currency trades and a tax on all financial transactions.

“Down the road, there will be crystal clear demands coming out of this movement,” he said. “But this first phase of the movement is messy and leaderless and demandless.”

“I think it was perfect the way it happened.”


Source

Growing Concern Over the NYPD's Counterterrorism Methods


By Scott Stewart October 13, 2011

In response to the 9/11 attacks, the New York Police Department (NYPD) established its own Counter-Terrorism Bureau and revamped its Intelligence Division. Since that time, its methods have gone largely unchallenged and have been generally popular with New Yorkers, who expect the department to take measures to prevent future attacks.

Preventing terrorist attacks requires a much different operational model than arresting individuals responsible for such attacks, and the NYPD has served as a leader in developing new, proactive approaches to police counterterrorism. However, it has been more than 10 years since the 9/11 attacks, and the NYPD is now is facing growing concern over its counterterrorism activities. There is always an uneasy equilibrium between security and civil rights, and while the balance tilted toward security in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, it now appears to be shifting back.

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Wednesday, October 12, 2011

La Sierra University Board of Trustees Removes Three Members

11 October 2011 ALEXANDER CARPENTER

According to Larry Becker, Executive Director, University Relations:

La Sierra University’s Board of Trustees has acted to remove Kathryn Proffitt, Marta Tooma, and Carla Lidner Baum as members of the board. The board acted, pursuant to the university’s bylaws, after determining the three members’ failed to operate within board processes. The action is effective immediately.


Profit and Baum have served as Board members since 2006. Tooma was elected to Board membership in 2008.

These are three of the four board members who signed on to the "Joint Proposal of individual Faculty and Trustees."

Rather than theology or science, this seems to be about process. Not only were these individuals working outside of the structure of their own board but they bypassed the school's administrative framework and had their "proposal" published in international Adventist media. As detailed in thepress release:

The La Sierra University Board of Trustees expressed its concern to the officers of the North American Division over the precipitous action taken to publicize the "Joint Proposal" without adequate prior consultation with the La Sierra University administration and board, especially in light of the ongoing discussions with Adventist Accrediting Association and Western Association of Schools and Colleges over issues of university governance and institutional autonomy.

In fact, in this statement, LSU actually affirms "the conceptual framework outlined in the 'Joint Proposal'" and adds that it "is not inconsistent with faculty efforts." The problem is that a few of the institution's trustees "failed to recognize normal and established governance protocols." This trumping of regular process is particularly damaging in light of the university's "ongoing discussions with Adventist Accrediting Association and Western Association of Schools and Colleges over issues of university governance and institutional autonomy."


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700 Pastors Study Together

« October 2011 « Union News
700 Pastors Study Together

By Gerry Chudleigh
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Photo by Gerry Chudleigh
Chris Oberg, senior pastor of the La Sierra University church, speaks at the closing session of the 2011 Pacific Union Ministerial Council.


Dan Jackson, president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in North America, speaks at the Pacific Union Ministerial Council.

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Preachers aren’t noted for traveling long distances to listen to other preachers preach, but in August, nearly 700 Seventh-day Adventist pastors from Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada and Utah met in Ontario, Calif., for two days of studying, singing, praying — and listening enthusiastically to other preachers preach.

The Pacific Union Conference Ministerial Council, held every five years in conjunction with the union constituency session, featured five general presentations and 14 seminars.

In his keynote address Monday evening, Dan Jackson, North American Division president, urged pastors to rediscover their passion for ministry and evangelism. Tuesday morning and evening, Rogelio Paquini and Carlton Byrd (respectively) urged pastors to “Reach Out” and “Do Something.”

Tuesday noon, Jon Paulien, dean of the School of Religion at Loma Linda University, presented a scholarly study on the meaning of “Remnant” in the Bible. Paulien discussed the historical remnant, the faithful remnant and the eschatological (end-time) remnant, pointing out that in the Bible, the final remnant (which is still in the future) is “bigger and more international and unpredictable” than the other biblical remnants.

The workshops were held Tuesday morning and repeated in the afternoon. The largest number of pastors attended the seminars on “Words of Delight: The Blessing of Biblical Preaching” by John Brunt, Kendra Haloviak Valentine, Leo Ranzolin and John Webster; “Is It All Righteousness by Faith” by Young-Chun Kim; “Contemporary Evangelism for the 21st Century” by Carylton Byrd; and "The Power of Willpower," by Arlene Taylor.

In the final presentation Wednesday morning, La Sierra University senior pastor Chris Oberg spoke on Jesus’ parable of the wheat and the tares (“Who Needs to Hear This Parable?”). “The church urgently needs pastors and leaders and congregations who hear the words of Jesus: the wheat and tares grow together until harvest. Yes, there is contamination in the field. But ours in not to purify the neighborhood. Attempting to purify will make matter worse. In the end, God will handle the contamination in the field, a field which belongs to God. Until then, ours is to point people to Jesus.”

As the result of generous donations, every local church pastor in the union was presented a free copy of the Andrews University Study Bible. "Wow! This is great," said one pastor, with his new Bible in hand. "I have been given a lot of little things at church events, but never something this useful."

The event closed with the Pacific Union Prayer Team asking God's blessing on every pastor, their families and their congregations.


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Only the Church?

by La Sierra University Church
7 months ago: Sun, Feb 27, 2011 10:32am EST (Eastern Standard Time)

Only the Church? from La Sierra University Church on Vimeo.


Pastor Chris Oberg preaches during Church@9:30, February 26, 2011, "Only the Church?" 1 Corinthians 13:1-13.


Speaking Engagements for Danny Vierra



October 14-16
Bible Explorations Retreat
Terra Bella, CA 93270
Phone: 559.535.5441

October 22-23
Sunnyvale SDA Church
653 West Fremont Avenue
Sunnyvale, CA 94087
Phone: 408.732.4080

November 5-6
Visalia SDA Bilingual Church
315 N. Conyer Street
Visalia, CA 93291
Phone: 559.359.6722

November 13-22
BellaVita 10-Day Therapeutic
Detox Program & Health
Minister Training



The Thunder of Justice and Mary


The world is ready and ripe for this almost overpowering deception. In fact, the December, 1996, issue of Life magazine featured, on its front cover, a picture of a statue of Mary and the caption: "Two thousand years after the Nativity, the mother of Jesus is more BELOVED, POWERFUL, and CONTROVERSIAL than ever. The Mystery of MARY." The ending of this article was especially of interest to me. It stated: "Mary...might lead to an ecumenical reunion of Christian churches. It might lead to a closer understanding of the teenage girl who gave birth in Bethlehem 2000 years ago. We could come to know Mary...

"Can we ask this simple girl to guide what has become not a cult but a huge and passionate congregation, a movement requiring a hero, a worldwide flock that has long demanded more of her? That has demanded, in some instances, that she deliver her message herself? I wonder: If Mary became merely human--if people could truly touch Mary--would Mary be enough?"

Please beware, friends, of the expositors of this type of thinking, who also refer to Mary as "Co-Redeemer, Mediator, and Advocate." First of all, nowhere in the Bible is there any reference to the Virgin Mary as being man's "Co-redeemer."



American Catholicism: Time Magazine ’49 – ’53

While enjoying the sunshine and companionship of my brothers here in the Jesuit School of Theology I’m actually enrolled in a few classes as well. One of them is a provocative course on the transformation that occurred in the religious life and culture of the American Catholic Church around the second Vatican Council. I say provocative because our professor has the dozen or so of us reading various magazines from the years before, during, and after the council in order to get a plurality of perspectives on the Church in our country during these years. I have to say that it’s been fascinating for me. Just the style of writing alone (not mention the crazy advertisements!) can make the hours of wading through yellowed pages worthwhile. Anyway, I thought that this kind of thing might be interesting for us here at Whosoever as well. This week’s post is my effort to summarize what is happening in the American Catholic Church through the perspective of Time Magazine between the years 1949-53. I found it incredible. Hope the same is true for you.

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Time Magazine, founded in 1923, has had from its founding the oddly contemporary habit of conveying the news through the people who made it. News of the Catholic Church in United States during the years 1949 to 1953 is no exception to this policy as it is Catholic individuals, especially their particular charismatic quirks, who draw attention. Through these figures familiar tropes emerge: the sickly young boy who studies hard and grows into an imposing (yet kind) cleric clad in scarlet and ermine, the builder Bishop, the erudite yet worldly scholar-priest, the Catholic sports hero. It’s through these persons that a typology of the concerns of American Catholicism during these years might be developed. Any number of such themes might be picked out. Amongst the most important, however, must be listed: Protestantism, anti-Communism, authority, evangelism, and the effort at being considered American.

Perhaps the most telling of these themes is the last listed: being an American. Time’s style during these years, especially in its almost-overwhelming use of long quotations, allows Catholic leaders to speak for themselves about their concern to be considered Americans, especially when such an identity was under attack. An example of such an attack can be seen in what was commonly called “the Blanshard book,” but was formally titled American Freedom and Catholic Power, by Manhattan Lawyer-Journalist Paul Blanshard. The book is described as “a well-organized polemic against the Roman Catholic Church… written from an aggressively secular point of view.” It especially enraged Catholics for its familiar picture of a “totalitarian Vatican out to undermine U.S. democracy.”

Blanshard was not alone during these years in his anti-Catholic arguments, however, as the detailed descriptions of a debate between one Dr. Bowie and renowned Jesuit scholar John Courtney Murray. Bowie argued that the “clearly stated Roman Catholic purpose ‘to make America Catholic,’ if it succeeded, would jeopardize the religious and civil liberties which have been the glory of Protestant countries and of Protestant culture.” He summed up his charges with the quip: “We do not want political dictatorship, and we do not want ecclesiastical dictatorship either.” Murray, however, was not to be out-quipped in this instance. “To put the matter… in psychological terms” he replied, “it seems that hostility to the Catholic Church is profoundly lodged in the Protestant collective unconscious, in consequence perhaps of some natal trauma . . . For here is the old enemy, at which alone Protestantism knows how to strike. Against other enemies – the real ones today – its arm is somewhat palsied.”

The Catholic-Protestant cultural divide is not only depicted via a conflict of ideas, however. Indeed, a wildly amusing story of a Lutheran family who enrolled their children in public school in Johnsburg, Illinois only to find the school staffed by nuns and priests summarizes the depth of this cultural divide. The mother of the family was shocked to find that her children’s report cards bore grades in “religious training” and were stamped with the heading “Diocese of Rockford.” “It seems to me,” she said, “that it’s part of America that a public school is one thing and a parochial school is another. When nuns are the teachers in a public school and the atmosphere is all Catholic, then that’s getting the idea of America all mixed up.”

While divisions between these two cultures is prevalent, frequent mention is also made of efforts toward ecumenism. This is especially seen in the establishment of such organizations as The World Organization for Brotherhood, a group viewed as a counterpart to the national conferences of Christians and Jews which the had sprung up after the second world war. As is Time’s bent, the story of ecumenism is often told through people. In this context, Jesuit Father, and longtime head of America Magazine, John LaFarge looms large. He is depicted as having the “peculiar gift” of the ability to “get along with his opposite numbers in other religions,” and is much lauded for his cooperation with other religious groups working for social justice. “Union between men of different beliefs on the great basic truths of morality and religion,” he is quoted as saying, “I consider our principal defense in the ideological field today.” Oddly, alongside such praise for ecumenism can also be seen evidence of something like envy for what is seen as Catholic clarity and certainty. In a March 1951 article on Most Rev. Henry Knox Sherrill (“The No. I Protestant churchman in the U.S.” and President of the National Council of Churches) the unity of the “Roman Church” is opposed multiple times to the “quandaries” that divide Protestant denominations.

Another common theme which can be culled from Time’s pages is the praise the Church receives for her staunch stand against communism. Such a stand is evidenced in even controversial choices, such as that taken by Cardinal Spellman of New York in 1949 against unions. In March of that year Cardinal Spellman rode at the head of a long line of 100 black-clad seminarians through the lines of striking Catholic grave-diggers. When asked about his choice the Cardinal replied: “I admit to the accusation of strikebreaker, and I am proud of it. If stopping a strike like this isn’t a thing of honor, then I don’t know what honor is.” Although it is the Cardinal who is presented as the actor (even the hero) in the situation, Time does note some discord within what may have seemed to outsiders as the monolithic unity of the Church by quoting the head of the (Catholic) trade union, who denounces any association with Communism by replying: “With all reverence and respect for the cardinal, it is more important to recognize the right of workers to organize and bargain collectively in unions of their own choosing, and to pay the living a just wage, than to bury the dead.”

Another lens through which we can see Catholics being presented as both quintessentially American yet oddly distinctive is through the lens of sport. Time picks up and comments on an American Ecclesiastical Review article on the disjunction between Canon Law and Catholic participation in boxing (or shall we say “pugilism”), provocatively noting the oddity of the Church looking down on boxing while noting that such prizefighting luminaries as Jake LaMotta and Gene Tunney are Catholics. And, of course, it wouldn’t Catholic sports if Notre Dame Football weren’t involved. An article focusing on halfback Johnny Lattner is exemplary, especially in the quotes chosen to distinguish Notre Dame from other (less successful and perhaps therefore less American, and even less holy) programs. Lattner is quoted describing his arrival onto campus as a Freshman in distinctly Catholic language. “I came down that driveway” he said, “and I saw that golden dome with the statue of our Blessed Mother all lighted up, and it was one of the biggest thrills of my life. I got kind of choked up, and I was awful glad I came here.” And Lattner again: “The first night, they showed the movie Knute Rockne—All American [and I got] kind of choked up” all over again. “I mean I got a big bang out of it. I was ready to kill anybody who said a word against Notre Dame. I still am.”

The picture painted here, through Time Magazine’s lens, is of a confident, charismatic Church on the move. A Church strong, hierarchical and unified, striving to be American by any means possible (especially through condemnation of Communism), proudly distinct and beginning to reach out to possible ecumenical partners. As I read all of this I found myself filled with an odd mixture of nostalgia (for their unity and confidence of identity) and uncomfortability (maybe it was just a bristling against some perhaps misdirected authority and etc.). I find it fascinating to watch our story unfold in these pages – so in a few days I’ll put up something on the Church between ’54 and ’58 as found in the pages of America Magazine.

Prayers all.

PG, SJ


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Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Canaries volcano prompts evacuation


2011-10-11 22:49


Valverde - An underwater volcanic eruption has prompted the authorities to evacuate about 500 people from a village on Spain's El Hierro island in the Canaries, officials said on Tuesday.

The eruption was detected on Monday 5km from the island at a depth of between 500 and 1 200m beneath the sea.

Experts had said the eruption would not be felt on the island.

But seismic activity now pointed to the risk of another eruption closer to the coast, said the director general of the Canaries' emergency commission, Juan Manuel Santana.

As a result, the regional government will relocate the roughly 500 people living in La Restinga, which is the closest residential area to the eruption, he told a news conference.

"An eruption in shallower waters would produce a greater risk because of the greater interaction of the water with the magma," he warned.

"We must continue to follow how the phenomenon develops, what we are putting in place is simply a preventative measure."

Village residents will probably be transferred to facilities at a football field further inland, the regional government of the Canaries said in a statement.

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero met with several ministers, including Defence Minister Carmen Chacon, and volcano experts later on Tuesday to analyse the situation, his office said.

The regional government of the archipelago on Monday issued a "yellow" volcanic eruption alert - the second level on a scale of four - after the island was hit by a 4.3-magnitude quake.

El Hierro, which means iron in Spanish, is the smallest of Spain's Canary Islands, located in the Atlantic off the coast of Morocco. It is home to some 11 000 people.

The last volcanic eruption on the Canary Islands was on nearby La Palma in 1971.




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