Friday, May 25, 2012

Vatican bank chief ousted with no-confidence vote, failed to do job Vatican says


Andrew Medichini/Associated Press - ** FILE ** In this Dec. 21, 2011, file photo, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, head of the Vatican bank I.O.R., leaves after greeting Pope Benedict XVI at the end of a weekly general audience at the Vatican. Gotti Tedeschi was ousted after a no-confidence vote of the Vatican bank I.O.R. governing body on Thursday, May 24, 2012.



By Associated Press, Published: May 24

VATICAN CITY — The president of the Vatican bank has effectively been ousted after receiving a unanimous vote of no-confidence from bank overseers for having leaked documents and failed to do his job at a critical time in the Holy See’s efforts to show financial transparency, the Vatican and officials said.

Ettore Gotti Tedeschi has been a polarizing figure ever since he was named president of the bank, known as the Institute for Religious Works, or IOR, in 2009. He is under investigation for alleged money laundering by Italian magistrates, but the investigation isn’t believed to have factored into the decision since the Vatican considers the probe to be motivated by outside political interests.

The Vatican said in a statement Thursday that the vote was taken because of Gotti Tedeschi’s failure to fulfill the “primary functions of his office.” He himself has told prosecutors that he barely paid attention to the bank’s works, showing up only two days a week while tending to his primary position as head of Spain’s Banco Santander’s Italian unit in Milan.

In addition, Gotti Tedeschi was found to have leaked confidential documents to serve his personal and political interests, according to a person familiar with the Vatican’s investigation. The person requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the matter.

The Vatican is in the midst of a scandal over leaked documents and has begun a criminal investigation into the source of the leaks, as well as appointed a commission of cardinals to get to the bottom of it.

In the statement, the Vatican said the board had grown increasingly concerned about the governance of the bank and that the situation had deteriorated recently.

During a regularly scheduled board meeting Thursday, the five superintendents, who include the former No. 2 at Deutsche Bank, Ronaldo Hermann Schmitz, and Carl Anderson, head of the Knights of Columbus, a major U.S. Catholic fundraising organization, unanimously adopted a no-confidence motion and recommended that Gotti Tedeschi’s mandate be terminated.

His fate isn’t final. On Friday the cardinals who sit on the IOR’s governing council are to meet to consider the board’s decision. While it wasn’t clear if they could ignore the no-confidence vote, the Vatican made clear the search was already on for a replacement.

“The council is now looking forward to search for a new and excellent president who will help the institute rebuild relationships between the institute and the financial community based on mutual respect based on internationally accepted banking standards,” the IOR said.

The no-confidence vote comes at a critical time for the Holy See in its efforts to shed the IOR’s image as a secretive tax haven battered by years of scandal.

The Holy See is heading into a July meeting of Moneyval, a Council of Europe committee that will determine whether it has complied with international norms to fight money laundering and terror financing. Transparency of the IOR’s finances has been one of several criteria that the Moneyval evaluators have investigated.

It wasn’t clear if the timing of Gotti Tedeschi’s ouster was aimed at sending a message to the Moneyval investigators, but just last week the Holy See met with them to discuss the preliminary findings of their report.

Gotti Tedeschi has long painted himself as the symbol of Vatican financial transparency, but the vote Thursday indicated that his primary collaborators on the board had found him to be anything but. He was faulted for not keeping the board of superintendents apprised of the work of the bank, among other failings.

Recently, he raised eyebrows when he made a joke about Hitler, war and economics.

Gotti Tedeschi was a frequent contributor to the Vatican newspaper and went on a very public speaking tour extolling the benefits of a morality-based financial system and citing frequently from the pope’s encyclical on the subject, “Charity in Truth.”

Italian authorities placed Gotti Tedeschi and the IOR’s top manager under investigation in September 2010 and seized €23 ($30 million) from a Vatican bank account at the Rome branch of Credito Artigiano Spa, after the bank informed the Bank of Italy about possible violations of anti-money laundering norms.

Gotti Tedeschi and the Vatican have denied any wrongdoing, calling the investigation a misunderstanding. No charges have been filed, and the money was subsequently released after the Vatican passed a series of measures to combat money laundering and create a financial watchdog authority — key requirements for the Moneyval process.

The Vatican bank was founded in 1942 by Pope Pius XII to manage assets destined for religious or charitable works. Located in a tower just inside the gates of Vatican City, it also manages the pension system for the Vatican’s thousands of employees.

The bank is not open to the public. Depositors are usually limited to Vatican employees, religious orders and people who transfer money for the pope’s charities.

The Vatican bank’s finances have long been shrouded in secrecy. Most famously, it was implicated in a scandal over the collapse of the Banco Ambrosiano in the 1980s in one of Italy’s largest fraud cases. Roberto Calvi, the head of Banco Ambrosiano, was found hanging from Blackfriars Bridge in London in 1982 in circumstances that remain mysterious.

Banco Ambrosiano collapsed following the disappearance of $1.3 billion in loans the bank had made to several dummy companies in Latin America. The Vatican had provided letters of credit for the loans.

While denying any wrongdoing, the Vatican bank agreed to pay $250 million to Ambrosiano’s creditors.

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Follow Nicole Winfield at www.twitter.com/nwinfield






Thursday, May 24, 2012

FBI asking Internet Companies for Wiretap-Friendly Back Door

By | May 8th, 2012

The push to make the internet a controlled space used to spy on citizens, where supposedly “private” information is automatically shared with authorities, might soon reach another threshold. A new report suggests that the FBI is currently discussing with major internet companies such as Microsoft, Facebook, Yahoo and Google to build backdoor accesses to their services to facilitate government surveillance. The FBI is also attempting to convince these companies to support an upcoming law that would allow the outright spying of social networks, VoIP, and Web e-mail providers. The law, like many other similar ones that are being proposed and adopted, is in direct violation with the 4th Amendment, which states: “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”

Of course, those who wrote the Bill of Rights were not expecting the advent of the internet and the storing of information on remote servers. The application of its principles is however nebulous today. However, if those in power truly wished (and if citizens somewhat cared) to preserve the spirit of the Amendment (which was created to protect citizens from government oppression and tyranny) they would have extended the principles of the Fourth Amendment to cyberspace. We are however witnessing the exact opposite: The advent of the internet, of social networks and other technologies appears to be the perfect opportunity for state authorities to deny these historic rights to citizens and to move towards a high tech police state.

Here’s an article on these FBI discussions with internet companies.

FBI: We need wiretap-ready Web sites – now

CNET learns the FBI is quietly pushing its plan to force surveillance backdoors on social networks, VoIP, and Web e-mail providers, and that the bureau is asking Internet companies not to oppose a law making those backdoors mandatory.

The FBI is asking Internet companies not to oppose a controversial proposal that would require firms, including Microsoft, Facebook, Yahoo, and Google, to build in backdoors for government surveillance.

In meetings with industry representatives, the White House, and U.S. senators, senior FBI officials argue the dramatic shift in communication from the telephone system to the Internet has made it far more difficult for agents to wiretap Americans suspected of illegal activities, CNET has learned.

The FBI general counsel’s office has drafted a proposed law that the bureau claims is the best solution: requiring that social-networking Web sites and providers of VoIP, instant messaging, and Web e-mail alter their code to ensure their products are wiretap-friendly.

“If you create a service, product, or app that allows a user to communicate, you get the privilege of adding that extra coding,” an industry representative who has reviewed the FBI’s draft legislation told CNET. The requirements apply only if a threshold of a certain number of users is exceeded, according to a second industry representative briefed on it.

The FBI’s proposal would amend a 1994 law, called the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, or CALEA, that currently applies only to telecommunications providers, not Web companies. The Federal Communications Commission extended CALEA in 2004 to apply to broadband networks.

FBI Director Robert Mueller is not asking companies to support the bureau’s CALEA expansion, but instead is “asking what can go in it to minimize impacts,” one participant in the discussions says. That included a scheduled trip this month to the West Coast — which was subsequently postponed — to meet with Internet companies’ CEOs and top lawyers.

A further expansion of CALEA is unlikely to be applauded by tech companies, their customers, or privacy groups. Apple (which distributes iChat and FaceTime) is currently lobbying on the topic, according to disclosure documents filed with Congress two weeks ago. Microsoft (which owns Skype and Hotmail) says its lobbyists are following the topic because it’s “an area of ongoing interest to us.” Google, Yahoo, and Facebook declined to comment.

In February 2011, CNET was the first to report that then-FBI general counsel Valerie Caproni was planning to warn Congress of what the bureau calls its “Going Dark” problem, meaning that its surveillance capabilities may diminish as technology advances. Caproni singled out “Web-based e-mail, social-networking sites, and peer-to-peer communications” as problems that have left the FBI “increasingly unable” to conduct the same kind of wiretapping it could in the past.

In addition to the FBI’s legislative proposal, there are indications that the Federal Communications Commission is considering reinterpreting CALEA to demand that products that allow video or voice chat over the Internet — from Skype to Google Hangouts to Xbox Live — include surveillance backdoors to help the FBI with its “Going Dark” program. CALEA applies to technologies that are a “substantial replacement” for the telephone system.

“We have noticed a massive uptick in the amount of FCC CALEA inquiries and enforcement proceedings within the last year, most of which are intended to address ‘Going Dark’ issues,” says Christopher Canter, lead compliance counsel at the Marashlian and Donahue law firm, which specializes in CALEA. “This generally means that the FCC is laying the groundwork for regulatory action.”

Subsentio, a Colorado-based company that sells CALEA compliance products and worked with the Justice Department when it asked the FCC to extend CALEA seven years ago, says the FBI’s draft legislation was prepared with the compliance costs of Internet companies in mind.

In a statement to CNET, Subsentio President Steve Bock said that the measure provides a “safe harbor” for Internet companies as long as the interception techniques are “‘good enough’ solutions approved by the attorney general.”

Another option that would be permitted, Bock said, is if companies “supply the government with proprietary information to decode information” obtained through a wiretap or other type of lawful interception, rather than “provide a complex system for converting the information into an industry standard format.”

A representative for the FBI told CNET today that: “(There are) significant challenges posed to the FBI in the accomplishment of our diverse mission. These include those that result from the advent of rapidly changing technology. A growing gap exists between the statutory authority of law enforcement to intercept electronic communications pursuant to court order and our practical ability to intercept those communications. The FBI believes that if this gap continues to grow, there is a very real risk of the government ‘going dark,’ resulting in an increased risk to national security and public safety.”

Next steps
The FBI’s legislation, which has been approved by the Department of Justice, is one component of what the bureau has internally called the “National Electronic Surveillance Strategy.” Documents obtained by the Electronic Frontier Foundation show that since 2006, Going Dark has been a worry inside the bureau, which employed 107 full-time equivalent people on the project as of 2009, commissioned a RAND study, and sought extensive technical input from the bureau’s secretive Operational Technology Division in Quantico, Va. The division boasts of developing the “latest and greatest investigative technologies to catch terrorists and criminals.”

But the White House, perhaps less inclined than the bureau to initiate what would likely be a bruising privacy battle, has not sent the FBI’s CALEA amendments to Capitol Hill, even though they were expected last year. (A representative for Sen. Patrick Leahy, head of the Judiciary committee and original author of CALEA, said today that “we have not seen any proposals from the administration.”)

Mueller said in December that the CALEA amendments will be “coordinated through the interagency process,” meaning they would need to receive administration-wide approval.

Stewart Baker, a partner at Steptoe and Johnson who is the former assistant secretary for policy at Homeland Security, said the FBI has “faced difficulty getting its legislative proposals through an administration staffed in large part by people who lived through the CALEA and crypto fights of the Clinton administration, and who are jaundiced about law enforcement regulation of technology — overly jaundiced, in my view.”

On the other hand, as a senator in the 1990s, Vice President Joe Biden introduced a bill at the FBI’s behest that echoes the bureau’s proposal today. Biden’s bill said companies should “ensure that communications systems permit the government to obtain the plain text contents of voice, data, and other communications when appropriately authorized by law.” (Biden’s legislation spurred the public release of PGP, one of the first easy-to-use encryption utilities.)

The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment. An FCC representative referred questions to the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, which declined to comment.

From the FBI’s perspective, expanding CALEA to cover VoIP, Web e-mail, and social networks isn’t expanding wiretapping law: If a court order is required today, one will be required tomorrow as well. Rather, it’s making sure that a wiretap is guaranteed to produce results.

But that nuanced argument could prove radioactive among an Internet community already skeptical of government efforts in the wake of protests over the Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA, in January, and the CISPA data-sharing bill last month. And even if startups or hobbyist projects are exempted if they stay below the user threshold, it’s hardly clear how open-source or free software projects such as Linphone, KPhone, and Zfone — or Nicholas Merrill’s proposal for a privacy-protective Internet provider — will comply.

The FBI’s CALEA amendments could be particularly troublesome for Zfone. Phil Zimmermann, the creator of PGP who became a privacy icon two decades ago after being threatened with criminal prosecution, announced Zfone in 2005 as a way to protect the privacy of VoIP users. Zfone scrambles the entire conversation from end to end.

“I worry about the government mandating backdoors into these kinds of communications,” says Jennifer Lynch, an attorney at the San Francisco-based Electronic Frontier Foundation, which has obtained documents from the FBI relating to its proposed expansion of CALEA.

As CNET was the first to report in 2003, representatives of the FBI’s Electronic Surveillance Technology Section in Chantilly, Va., began quietly lobbying the FCC to force broadband providers to provide more-efficient, standardized surveillance facilities. The FCC approved that requirement a year later, sweeping in Internet phone companies that tie into the existing telecommunications system. It was upheld in 2006 by a federal appeals court.

But the FCC never granted the FBI’s request to rewrite CALEA to cover instant messaging and VoIP programs that are not “managed”–meaning peer-to-peer programs like Apple’s Facetime, iChat/AIM, Gmail’s video chat, and Xbox Live’s in-game chat that do not use the public telephone network.

If there is going to be a CALEA rewrite, “industry would like to see any new legislation include some protections against disclosure of any trade secrets or other confidential information that might be shared with law enforcement, so that they are not released, for example, during open court proceedings,” says Roszel Thomsen, a partner at Thomsen and Burke who represents technology companies and is a member of an FBI study group. He suggests that such language would make it “somewhat easier” for both industry and the police to respond to new technologies.

But industry groups aren’t necessarily going to roll over without a fight. TechAmerica, a trade association that includes representatives of HP, eBay, IBM, Qualcomm, and other tech companies on its board of directors, has been lobbying against a CALEA expansion. Such a law would “represent a sea change in government surveillance law, imposing significant compliance costs on both traditional (think local exchange carriers) and nontraditional (think social media) communications companies,” TechAmerica said in e-mail today.

Ross Schulman, public policy and regulatory counsel at the Computer and Communications Industry Association, adds: “New methods of communication should not be subject to a government green light before they can be used.”

- Source: CNet


Source



Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Google Alerts Users 'Your Computer Appears To Be Infected'


Google has launched an awareness campaign to identify systems compromised with DNSChanger and alert users before the DNS servers are shut down and their PCs can no longer get to websites.

Google launched a new awareness campaign to alert users whose PCs may be compromised with the “DNSChanger” malware. The DNS servers used by the malware will be shut down soon, and infected computers will no longer be able to communicate with the Web, so Google is doing its part to help users clean up and point their PCs to legitimate DNS servers.

In November of last year the United States FBI—in cooperation with Estonian law enforcement—tracked down and arrested the group behind the DNSChanger malware. With millions of infected systems around the world relying on the malicious DNSChanger DNS servers, the FBI chose to continue hosting them as legitimate DNS servers.

However, the FBI isn’t in the business of acting as an Internet Service Provider or DNS host, so as of July 9 the DNSChanger servers will be shut down. There are an estimated 500,000 systems still using those servers for DNS, and those PCs will no longer be able to reach the Web once the FBI pulls the plug.

Google is virtually synonymous with the Web. To many users--particularly the ones who lack the Internet savvy or technical skills to understand the security issues or determine if their PCs have been compromised with DNSChanger--Google is the Web. That gives Google some measure of civic responsibility, and puts it in a unique position to be able to help users out.

A blog post from Google states, “Starting today we’re undertaking an effort to notify roughly half a million people whose computers or home routers are infected with a well-publicized form of malware known as DNSChanger.”

Google will check to see if a PC is using the rogue DNSChanger servers. Systems suspected of being infected will display a message at the top of the Google search results page that says “Your computer appears to be infected.”

The Google blog post explains, “We believe directly messaging affected users on a trusted site and in their preferred language will produce the best possible results.”

The clock is ticking. In about six weeks a half million users may find that their PCs are unable to connect with Web sites. Hopefully, those 500,000 users will conduct a Google search at some point in the next few weeks, and pay heed to the warning from Google.

If you receive a message from Google, or suspect that your PC might be compromised with DNSChanger, check out the DNS Changer Working Group (DCWG) site. It contains a variety of tools to help remove the malware and clean up your system.






Monday, May 21, 2012

I Cry Out Day and Night Before You


Psalm 88
King James Version (KJV)


1 O lord God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee:

2 Let my prayer come before thee: incline thine ear unto my cry;

3 For my soul is full of troubles: and my life draweth nigh unto the grave.

4 I am counted with them that go down into the pit: I am as a man that hath no strength:

5 Free among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, whom thou rememberest no more: and they are cut off from thy hand.

6 Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps.

7 Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves. Selah.

8 Thou hast put away mine acquaintance far from me; thou hast made me an abomination unto them: I am shut up, and I cannot come forth.

9 Mine eye mourneth by reason of affliction: Lord, I have called daily upon thee, I have stretched out my hands unto thee.

10 Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead? shall the dead arise and praise thee? Selah.

11 Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave? or thy faithfulness in destruction?

12 Shall thy wonders be known in the dark? and thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?

13 But unto thee have I cried, O Lord; and in the morning shall my prayer prevent thee.

14 Lord, why castest thou off my soul? why hidest thou thy face from me?

15 I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up: while I suffer thy terrors I am distracted.

16 Thy fierce wrath goeth over me; thy terrors have cut me off.

17 They came round about me daily like water; they compassed me about together.

18 Lover and friend hast thou put far from me, and mine acquaintance into darkness.

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Sunday, May 20, 2012

Biblical Prophecies Unsealed



Uploaded by kytekuttertv on Jan 5, 2011
Check out the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation from the scriptures only standpoint.

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JFK Secret Society Speech



Uploaded by n400ark on Feb 18, 2009
JFK The speech that got him killed

The very word secrecy is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths and to secret proceedings. We decided long ago that the dangers of excessive and unwarranted concealment of pertinent facts far outweighed the dangers which are cited to justify it. Even today, there is little value in opposing the threat of a closed society by imitating its arbitrary restrictions. Even today, there is little value in insuring the survival of our nation if our traditions do not survive with it.

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Obama, Hollande help tilt G8’s balance to stimulus

U.S. President Barack Obama and French President Francois Hollande take time for a photo opportunity at Saturday's G8 summit at Camp David, Md.
Charles Dharapak/Associated Press


KEVIN CARMICHAEL

Globe and Mail Update

Published

Last updated


Economic stimulus is making a comeback.

The most notable thing about the Group of Eight Summit in Maryland on Friday and Saturday was the recognition that austerity isn’t a universal cure for what ails the global economy, especially Europe.

President Barack Obama and France’s newly elected Socialist President, François Hollande, were the rhetorical winners on the weekend.

They successfully watered down the German-led position that the best way to deal with a debt crisis is to quickly pay down debt by shifting the consensus to an acceptance that austerity is a means, not an end. Fiscal consolidation remains a priority, but not at the expense of economic growth, a new emphasis that could reshape governments’ approach to maintaining the recovery from the financial crisis.

“The global economic recovery shows signs of promise, but significant headwinds persist,” the G8 said in a statement. “We commit to take all necessary steps to strengthen and reinvigorate our economies and combat financial stresses, recognizing that the right measures are not the same for each of us.”

The shift reflects the acute state of the European debt crisis, which Mr. Obama characterized on Saturday as a “serious” situation that could upend the global economic recovery. The G8 also said it stood ready to release strategic oil reserves if crude prices surge this summer, but it was the prospect of Europe sinking into a deeper downturn that most worried leaders.

British Prime Minister David Cameron told reporters that he detected a “growing sense of urgency that action needed to be taken” on the euro-zone crisis, Reuters reported. “Contingency plans need to be put in place and the strengthening of banks, governance, firewalls – all of those things need to take place very fast,” Mr. Cameron said.

Europe’s economy is stagnant, struggling to avoid recession amidst double-digit unemployment rates in most countries. Britain, which sits outside the euro zone, nevertheless counts the 17 members of the euro region as some of its main trading partners. Mr. Cameron, too, is fighting off recession. His cause hasn’t been helped by his decision to implement draconian spending cuts.

Germany is a notable exception, and its economic strength has given Chancellor Angela Merkel considerable clout in discussions on dealing with the troubles in the euro zone.

The German formula is simple: sacrifice. Using her country’s own history of fiscal discipline as reinforcement, Ms. Merkel insisted the international rescues of Greece, Ireland and Portugal came with tough budgetary conditions.

Other euro-zone countries, including Italy and Spain, have implemented austerity programs to keep nervous bond traders from driving up their borrowing costs. But these programs were implemented in part because Germany made clear it has little appetite for bankrolling more bailouts.

The apotheosis of austerity came at the Group of 20 Summit in Toronto in 2010, when Prime Minister Stephen Harper orchestrated a group pledge to halve budget deficits by next year.

Mr. Harper insisted Saturday that the Toronto austerity pledge remains valid.

“Fiscal discipline and economic growth go hand in hand,” Mr. Harper said when asked about the G8’s shift to a better balance between cost-cutting and more direct growth measures. “All of our discussions recognized that. Fiscal discipline is not sufficient for economic growth, but it is absolutely necessary. We will not emerge from what is now a debt-driven crisis unless that issue is addressed.”

The cost-cutting measures implemented in Europe since the Toronto summit caused considerable economic pain, and voters are rejecting the medicine.

Mr. Hollande was attending his first international summit after French voters earlier this month rejected Nicolas Sarkozy, who championed austerity. Greece will hold its second election in a month in June after pro- and anti-austerity parties split the vote earlier this month, leaving none with enough support to form a government. The June vote is being characterized as a referendum on Greece’s future as a euro country.

Facing an election of his own in November, the last thing Mr. Obama wants to contend with is a rupture of the euro zone, which at a minimum would shake global financial markets. Under Mr. Obama’s guidance at the Camp David presidential retreat, the G8 took the rare step of referencing an outside country by name, saying the group – the United States, Japan, Germany, Britain, France, Italy, Canada and Russia – desired Greece to stay in the euro zone.

With a debt well in excess of the size of its economy, and German voters resentful of their taxes being used to bailout nations they see as profligate, it’s unlikely the conditions of Greece’s rescue package will change significantly, if at all.

There is nothing binding about a G8 commitment, but countries do use them as political cover back home. European leaders are scheduled to meet in a few days, and it now seems likely that growth initiatives, such as a rumoured infrastructure program, stand a better chance of becoming reality.

“Today we discussed ways [Europe] can promote growth and job creation right now, while still carrying out reforms necessary to stabilize and strengthen their economies for the future,” Mr. Obama said at the end of the summit Saturday.

Ms. Merkel made the point that governments can enhance growth by other means than pumping taxpayers’ money into the economy. She said measures under consideration in Europe include investments in research and development, Internet networks, and infrastructure. “This doesn’t mean stimulus in the traditional sense,” Ms. Merkel said, according to the Associated Press.

There were other hints in the G8 statement about how European leaders will approach debt going forward.

The document said the G8 welcomed Europe’s commitment to fiscal consolidation, assessed on a “structural basis.” A “structural” assessment of budgets subtracts interest payments. The decision to write that into the final statement could reflect recognition that much of the pressure on budgets in Europe is the result of record-high borrowing costs.

G8 leaders also emphasized their pursuit of “bilateral, plurilateral and multilateral” free-trade agreements, suggesting they will seek to lower trade barriers in any way possible, rather than getting hung up on a big global agreement under the World Trade Organization.

The final statement also said efforts to overhaul financial regulations should result in “stronger systems over time while not choking off near-term credit growth,” language bank lobbyists will see as a willingness of by world major financial centres to slow the pace of regulatory reforms.

Source

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Obama wants new banking rules put in place soon

May 19, 2012 12:10 PM


WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama says the big trading loss at JPMorgan Chase shows the need to finally put in place banking rules he signed into law two years ago. He also is calling on Congress to stop trying to weaken the regulations.

The $2 billion loss has renewed calls by Democratic lawmakers for tougher rules on major financial institutions.

"Without Wall Street reform, we could have found ourselves with the taxpayers once again on the hook for Wall Street's mistakes," Obama said in his weekly media address Saturday. He added: "We've got to finish the job of implementing this reform and putting these rules in place."

Obama promoted rules that would require big banks or financial institutions to have more cash on hand to cover losses and that would take away big bonuses and paydays from failed CEOs.

The president said financial institutions that "aren't cheating customers or making risky bets that could damage the whole economy" have nothing to fear from reforms.

"Yes, it discourages big banks and financial institutions from making risky bets with taxpayer-insured money. And it encourages them to do things that actually help the economy — like extending loans to entrepreneurs with good ideas, to middle-class families who want to buy a home, to students who want to pursue higher education," he said.

Though Congress passed the tougher oversight of the financial sector in 2010, the law gave bank regulators time to write the new rules.

One focus of the financial oversight overhaul is a provision that restricts banks' ability to trade for their own profit, a practice known as proprietary trading. It is named for Paul Volcker, a former Federal Reserve chairman. But a draft of the rule has failed to satisfy either banks, which says it would disrupt some of their core functions, or advocates of stronger regulation who say it would have prevented JPMorgan's loss.

In the Republican's weekly address, Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson faulted what he called a "do-nothing Senate" under Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada for the frustrations he said he has felt in his 16 months in Congress.

Noting that the Senate hasn't passed a budget in three years, Johnson said House Republicans have fulfilled their responsibilities by passing a budget but that Senate Democrats have not fulfilled theirs.

This past week, the Senate rejected by a 99-0 vote a budget that Republicans offered up based on an Obama proposal in February. Four other budget plans also were voted down.

___

Online:

Obama address: www.whitehouse.gov

GOP address: www.youtube.com/gopweeklyaddress


Source


Seventh Day Adventist Church hosts spiritual retreat

Inspirational speaker Brenda Walsh was the main speaker at a spiritual retreat held April 28, at St. John’s Lutheran Church and hosted by the Seventh Day Adventist Church of Hot Springs.
Contributed


May 08, 2012 3:30 am

HOT SPRINGS - Nearly 100 ladies gathered at the St. John’s Lutheran Church meeting room on Saturday, April 28, for a spiritual retreat entitled “Passionate Prayer” and hosted by the Hot Springs Seventh Day Adventist Women’s Ministry program.

Brenda Walsh of 3ABN television was the highlight speaker for the day and presented her program with many inspirational stories in intermittent segments throughout the day.

The resulting, amazing stories were the mainstay of her presentation to the guests. She also relayed the subject of prayer and how it could help each attendee in their daily lives no matter how small or intricate the situation might be. Her theme “Pray About Everything” was another interesting part of her presentation.

The program began at 8:30 a.m. with registration. Two musical selections were presented by Becca Rittberger and Leyla Frie. Joanne O’Hare provided musical interludes on the piano to highlight the day.

Not wanting to leave out the men, a vespers service was held in the evening and began with an informal pot luck dinner and more inspirational stories and information given by Brenda Walsh.

The evening was rounded out with a book sale and book signing by Ms. Walsh.




Sebelius Talks Separation of Church and State at Georgetown Ceremony

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius addressed Georgetown University graduates at an awards ceremony Friday despite opposition from conservative Catholics over her invitation.

Although Sebelius did not directly address the controversy surrounding the birth control mandate she helped craft, she cited John F. Kennedy's famous 1960 speech on the separation of church and state.

"In that talk to Protestant ministers, Kennedy talked about his vision of religion and the public square, and said he believed in an America, and I quote, 'where no religious body seeks to impose its will directly or indirectly upon the general populace or the public acts of its officials – and where religious liberty is so indivisible that an act against one church is treated as an act against us all," she recalled.

That "conversation" about the "intersection … of religious freedom with policy decisions" continues, she acknowledged.

Controversy arose earlier this month when it was announced that Sebelius would be delivering the address at a Public Policy Institute awards ceremony. Seen as the key person behind the Obama administration's contraception mandate, which requires religious employers to provide health insurance that covers contraception, sterilization and some abortifacient drugs, many conservatives questioned why she was being allowed to speak at the oldest Catholic and Jesuit university in the country.

The Archdiocese of Washington called the invitation of Sebelius "shocking" and "distressing."

The issue for concern, the archdiocese said Tuesday, was "the selection of a featured speaker whose actions as a public official present the most direct challenge to religious liberty in recent history and the apparent lack of unity with and disregard for the bishops and so many others across the nation who are committed to the defense of freedom of religion."

According to Politico, there were only about 20 protesters demonstrating against Sebelius' speech. One protester also interrupted the HHS secretary near the beginning of her address with shouts about abortion.

Notably, the graduates expressed their support for Sebelius with two standing ovations – when she walked on to the podium and at the end of her speech.

During her speech, Sebelius talked about the difficulty of making public policy choices and recognized that there will always be disagreements.

"Today, there are serious debates underway about the direction of our country – debates about the size and role of government, about America's role as a global economic and military leader, about the moral and economic imperative of providing health care to all our citizens," she said. "People have deeply-held beliefs on all sides of these discussions, and you, as public policy leaders, will be called on to help move these debates forward.

"Contributing to these debates will require more than just the quantitative skills you have learned at Georgetown. It will also require the ethical skills you have honed – the ability to weigh different views, see issues from other points of view, and in the end, follow your own moral compass."

While Georgetown University President John J. DeGioia stated this week that his invitation to Sebelius should neither be viewed as an endorsement of her views nor as a challenge to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (which officially rejected the birth control mandate for its violation of religious freedom), some have accused the university of deliberately taking sides by inviting a pro-choice Catholic to speak at the ceremony. Robert George, director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University, argued that Georgetown had decided to stand against Catholic bishops in the administration's "war" on religion.

"By honoring Secretary Sebelius, they can help to undermine the bishops' credibility and blunt the force of their witness as leaders of the Catholic church. I get it. It's a bold and clever move. Although I find its substance appalling, I can't help but admire its shrewdness," George expressed.

The Cardinal Newman Society, a conservative Catholic organization, also launched a petition highlighting the controversy, called GeorgetownScandal.com.

"It is scandalous and outrageous that America's oldest Catholic and Jesuit university has elected to provide this prestigious platform to a publicly 'pro-choice' Catholic who is most responsible for the Obama administration's effort to restrict the Constitution's first freedom – the right to free exercise of religion – while threatening the survival of many Catholic and other religious colleges and universities, schools, charities, hospitals and other apostolates," a letter on the website, addressed to DeGioia, stated.


Source

Zion, the City of God


1 His foundation is in the holy mountains.

2 The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.

3 Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God. Selah.

4 I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to them that know me: behold Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia; this man was born there.

5 And of Zion it shall be said, This and that man was born in her: and the highest himself shall establish her.

6 The Lord shall count, when he writeth up the people, that this man was born there. Selah.

7 As well the singers as the players on instruments shall be there: all my springs are in thee.

Psalm 87
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Friday, May 18, 2012

Religious freedom festival in Indonesia recognizes government, faith leaders

May. 15, 2012 Manado, North Sulawesi, Indonesia
Gay Tuballes-Deles/ANN staff

A recent festival of religious freedom cements the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Indonesia as a leading proponent of free expression of religion in the country.

Some 2,000 people gathered at the Aula Mapalus Kantor Gubernur Sulawesi Utara auditorium in Manado on May 5 to recognize the combined efforts of government and faith groups in preserving freedom of belief in the Southeast Asian country.


Faith representatives receive recognition for their efforts in promoting freedom of belief in Indonesia at the Second Festival of Religious Freedom, sponsored by the Adventist Church in Manado this month. Religious groups share a climate of tolerance and respect in the North Sulawesi city. [photo: Jonathan Catolico]


Interest in religious liberty has grown in Indonesia since the Adventist Church first held a festival of religious freedom in Jakarta two years ago, church religious liberty advocates said.

Faith representatives at this month’s festival commended the Adventist Church for organizing a festival that offers appreciation to government and faith leaders who advocate free expression of religious belief.

“We thank the Seventh-day Adventist Church for leading out in expressing our thanks to God and to the government for the religious freedom that we are enjoying in Indonesia, particularly here in North Sulawesi,” said J. Pangaila, leader of the Pentecostal Church in Indonesia.

Deputy Governor of North Sulawesi Roy Roring echoed Pangaila’s appreciation.

Muslim leader Tamzil Permata said, “We are committed to live peacefully together, Christians and non-Christians alike.”

Holding a public event organized by the Adventist Church demonstrated the positive relationship the church has promoted among faith groups in Manado, said East Indonesia Union Conference President Noldy Sakul, who organized the festival. Religious groups represented at the event included Hinduism, Confucianism, Buddhism, Islam and Christianity.

Indonesia is a predominantly Muslim country with a Protestant Christian population of 6 percent. In 2006, reports of violence between faith communities surfaced, including the vandalism of church property and forcible closure of churches.

Since then, the Indonesian government has made “positive efforts to unite religious groups and foster and attitude of toleration and respect,” according to the Religious Freedom World Report. The publication, released by the Adventist world church’s department of Public Affairs and Religious Liberty, also notes that “fanaticism” and “deep-rooted violence” remain.

“You may not be affected today as you still enjoy [religious] freedom, but tomorrow it may not be the same story,” PARL director John Graz told the audience in Manado. He added that religious freedom is essential to “peace, unity and prosperity for the people of Indonesia and the government.”





The Lord's Day Alliance of the U.S.

What We Do

Among three prominent offerings, the Lord’s Day Alliance hosts an annual conference/symposium, promotes an annual sermon competition, and produces publications and other materials on the general topic of a Sunday/sabbath.

The flagship publication of the Lord’s Day Alliance is Sunday magazine which is published twice each year.

Annual Conference/Symposium
Each year the Lord’s Day Alliance selects a topic–most recently chosen as a way to develop an understanding of one of the other nine commandments as related to the Sabbath commandments–and produces a conference/symposium centered on that topic. The 2008 conference was held at Boston University’s School of Theology in partnership with the Boston Theological Institute and its nine, now ten, member schools. The 2009 conference was held at, and co-hosted by, Wheaton College.

The 2010 conference/symposium involved a partnership with Fuller Theological Seminary around the theme Just Peacemaking and 21st Century Discipleship. This event was co-hosted by the new Institute for Just Peacemaking at Fuller which is led by pre-eminent Christian ethicist Glen H. Stassen. In the forthcoming Spring 2011 edition of Sunday, full coverage of this event will be provided.

Jack P. and Doris T. Lowndes Sermon Competition

Sunday Magazine


Posted February 2, 2011 by ldausa





Pope: Secularism can not destroy the human search for God

05/11/2011 14:15

VATICAN

Continuing his reflections on prayer during the general audience, Benedict XVI says that " 'Digital man just like the caveman, looks for religious ways to overcome his limitations" Praying is an inner attitude before a series of practices and formulas, a way of being before God. "


Vatican City (AsiaNews) - In this age of relativism and secularism, in which "God seems to disappear from the horizon of some people or become a reality to which we remain indifferent," but at the same time one in which we are witnessing a religious reawakening, of the "need for spirituality," which shows how the prediction of those who, since the Enlightenment, heralded the demise of religions and praised an absolute reason, detached from faith, a reason that would dispel the darkness of religious dogmatism and would dissolve the world of the sacred, restoring to man his freedom, his dignity and his independence from God has failed". "The experience of the last century, with the two tragic world wars has undermined that progress which the autonomous reason, man without God seemed to guarantee".

In a continuing series of reflections, which started last week and are dedicated to prayer, Benedict XVI spoke today to 30 thousand people in St. Peter's Square for the general audience about how "prayer and religious meaning are part man throughout history "that" there was no great civilization from times immemorial to the present day, which was not religious "digital man just like the caveman, looks for religious ways to overcome his limitations”.

Man, in short, is religious in nature "because" the Creator's image is imprinted in his being and he feels the need to find a light to give answers to questions about the profound sense of reality; answers he can not find in himself, in progress or in empirical science. " "Besides, life without a transcendent horizon be without perfect meaning and happiness', for which we all yearn, naturally projected towards the future, a future yet to be fulfilled."

The Pope, in this regard recalled that the Vatican II document, Nostra Aetate, "said in the various religions man is looking for the answers to the enigma of the human condition:" the nature of man - who am I? - The meaning and purpose of our lives, good and evil, the origin and purpose of sorrow, The path to true happiness, death, trial and punishment after death, and finally the last unutterable mystery which engulfs our being, where do we come from and what are we striving towards". Man "no matter how much he is deceived and still deludes himself today, experiences first hand that he is not enough for himself."

Man "carries a thirst for infinity, a longing for eternity, a search of beauty, a desire for love, a need for light and truth, which lead him to the Absolute, man bears a desire for God". This "attraction to God, that God himself has placed in man is the soul of prayer, which then takes on many forms and modalities according to history, time, the moment, grace and even the sin of each of us" .

Prayer is an experience in every religion and culture, it is not tied to a particular context, rather it is inscribed in the hearts of every person and every civilization.

Prayer is an attitude, before being a series of practices and formulas, a way of being in front of God before being an act of worship or pronunciation of words. " It has its centre in the depths of the person and is not easily decipherable, and, for the same reason, may be subject to misunderstanding and mystification. In this sense we can understand the words: praying is difficult" because "In fact, prayer, is the place par excellence for gratuitous tension toward the Unseen, the Unexpected and the Ineffable. Therefore, 'the experience of prayer is a challenge to all, a 'grace' to be invoked, a gift from Him to which we turn". In this "looking at Another, in this going beyond is the essence of prayer as an experience of a reality that goes beyond the sensible and the contingent." "But only God that is revealed does the human search find fulfilment. Prayer is openness and elevation of the heart to God, it becomes a personal relationship with him. " And God continues to call man to the first mysterious meeting in prayer. " As the Catechism says: "This loving step of the faithful God, always comes first in prayer, the first step is always an answer."

Let us learn - the Pope concluded – to spend greater time before God, the God who has revealed himself in Jesus Christ, let us learn to recognize in the silence, deep within ourselves the voice that calls us and leads us to the depth of our existence, the source of life, the source of salvation for us to go beyond the limit of our lives and open ourselves to the extent of God, to a relationship with He who is infinite love".



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Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Spanish Bank Costs May Be Expensive But Manageable - Irish Minister

May 16, 2012, 6:29 a.m. ET


DUBLIN (Dow Jones)--The problems of Spain's banks will be resolved, but the recapitalization bill could be "expensive", Irish Finance Minister Michael Noonan said Wednesday.

"There is an awful lot of concern about the Spanish banking system but the new Spanish government is dealing with it quickly," he said. "My sense is there will be recapitalization requirements made which will be an expensive enough project, but I think it's relatively do-able."

Talking at a Bloomberg investment conference, the finance minister said parallels had been drawn between Irish and Spanish banks because the lenders in both countries had loaned large amounts to construction.

Turning to Greece, he said there is no pressure from the European Union on Greece to leave the euro. But it was now in Greece's "own hands" to decide its future, he said, characterizing the country's current problems a crisis for its democracy, not one of its economic system.

"It's not guaranteed that Greece is going to leave the euro," he said.

Ireland is immune from Greek market turmoil because the economic ties between the countries were weak, Noonan added.

-By Eamon Quinn, Dow Jones Newswires, +35 31 676 2189; eamon.quinn@dowjones.com





Conference “Towards a Sustainable Economic Order”


Conference “Towards a Sustainable Economic Order”

COMECE and CEC-KEK both look for a profound reflection of the European Integration process based on a search for the common good and the human dignity. We are also convinced that the roots of the financial and economical crisis are not purely to be found in the economical sphere but also ethics and spirituality have their say in this crisis.

To deepen this reflection we are glad to invite you for an evening debate on this topic.

Wednesday 23 May 2012, 20:00
Secretariat of COMECE, 19 Square de Meeûs – 1050 Bruxelles
The Contribution of Spirituality and Ethics: “Towards a Sustainable Economic Order”

Interpretation ENGLISH-FRENCH
Evening debate between
H.E. Mgr André-Joseph Léonard
Archbishop of the diocese of Bruxelles-Malines (Belgium)
&
Edy Korthals Altes
Ambassador Emeritus of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
Chaired by H.E. Mgr Adrianus van Luyn
Bishop Emeritus of the diocese of Rotterdam (The Netherlands)
Former President of COMECE

The debate will be followed by questions from 2 young people:
Ms Kristine Jansone (EWCE) and Ms Marie-Caroline Leroux (WYA)
and an open discussion with the audience


Please register by 22 May here:
23.05.2012,

Attendance





Boxer Manny Pacquiao comes out against same-sex marriage just after President Obama supports it

International boxing star voices opinon opposing gay marriage

BY DANIEL O'LEARY / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Published: Wednesday, May 16, 2012, 1:48 AM
Updated: Wednesday, May 16, 2012, 1:57 AM


Beloved boxing star Manny Pacquiao (l.) and President Barack Obama have very different views on same-sex marriage.

President Barack Obama came out in favor of same-sex marriage last week, but he won't be able to count on support from boxing champion Manny Pacquiao.

The immensely popular boxer - and the first-ever to win titles in eight different weight classes - contradicted the President's views on same-sex marriage in a recent interview.

Speaking with the National Conservative Examiner and asked about the President's stance, Pacquiao was quoted as saying that "God only expects man and woman to be together and to be legally married, only if they so are in love with each other."

Last Wednesday, President Obama said of he and the First Lady, in an interview with ABC: "We are both practicing Christians, and obviously this position may be considered to put us at odds with the views of others, but, you know, when we think about our faith, the thing at root that we think about is, not only Christ sacrificing Himself on our behalf, but it's also the golden rule, you know, treat others the way you would want to be treated."

Pacquiao also went to his personal religious beliefs to illustrate his stance on the issue:

"God's words first... obey God's law first before considering the laws of man," he told the Examiner. "It should not be of the same sex so as to adulterate the altar of matrimony, like in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah of Old."

The charismatic fighter is a devout Catholic - and a Congressman in his homeland of the Philippines. His stance on same-sex marriage seems to be in line with his voting record in his home country - as he opposed a law last year that would make contraception accessible to most Filipinos and call for mandatory sex education.

The Pac-Man - long considered the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world - is listed at No. 4 on Forbes' list of most influential athletes in the world. His next fight is slated for June 9 against Timothy Bradley while boxing fans have long awaited a bout between Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr.




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


Ezekiel 3
King James Version (KJV)


1 Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel.

2 So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll.

3 And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness.

4 And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them.

5 For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech and of an hard language, but to the house of Israel;

6 Not to many people of a strange speech and of an hard language, whose words thou canst not understand. Surely, had I sent thee to them, they would have hearkened unto thee.

7 But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel are impudent and hardhearted.

8 Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads.

9 As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead: fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.

10 Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, all my words that I shall speak unto thee receive in thine heart, and hear with thine ears.

11 And go, get thee to them of the captivity, unto the children of thy people, and speak unto them, and tell them, Thus saith the Lord God; whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear.

12 Then the spirit took me up, and I heard behind me a voice of a great rushing, saying, Blessed be the glory of the Lord from his place.

13 I heard also the noise of the wings of the living creatures that touched one another, and the noise of the wheels over against them, and a noise of a great rushing.

14 So the spirit lifted me up, and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the Lord was strong upon me.

15 Then I came to them of the captivity at Telabib, that dwelt by the river of Chebar, and I sat where they sat, and remained there astonished among them seven days.

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

17 Son 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.

18 When 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.

19 Yet 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.

20 Again, 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.

21 Nevertheless 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.

22 And the hand of the Lord was there upon me; and he said unto me, Arise, go forth into the plain, and I will there talk with thee.

23 Then I arose, and went forth into the plain: and, behold, the glory of the Lord stood there, as the glory which I saw by the river of Chebar: and I fell on my face.

24 Then the spirit entered into me, and set me upon my feet, and spake with me, and said unto me, Go, shut thyself within thine house.

25 But thou, O son of man, behold, they shall put bands upon thee, and shall bind thee with them, and thou shalt not go out among them:

26 And I will make thy tongue cleave to the roof of thy mouth, that thou shalt be dumb, and shalt not be to them a reprover: for they are a rebellious house.

27 But when I speak with thee, I will open thy mouth, and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; He that heareth, let him hear; and he that forbeareth, let him forbear: for they are a rebellious house.

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Sunday, May 13, 2012

How has Afghanistan come to be at the top of the headlines?



The world's most remote and least developed country has in the last few years taken over the news headlines in the United States. EveR since the mysterious attacks on New York City and Washington D.C. on September 11, 2011, the United States declared war on a shape shifting, ambiguous entity called Al Qaeda, and on a ragtag militia called the Taliban; Supposedly these "two groups" were responsible for the September 11th Attacks. Ever since the re-establishment of "order" in Iraq, and the neutralization of Al Qaeda in Iraq; the attention has now changed to Afghanistan and the focus again to the TALIBAN.




So, we are back to where 'the war on Terror' began; back to the future.

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UK report: Dalai Lama fears poison plot by fake believers

Alex Domanski / Reuters
Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama greets a woman in Germany in August.








By Gil Aegerter, msnbc.com

The Dalai Lama says he fears that Chinese agents might send fake devotees to poison him, the Sunday Telegraph reports.

According to the UK newspaper, the Tibetan Buddhist leader said he had received reports from inside Tibet warning that Chinese agents had trained Tibetan women to administer the poison. The Dalai Lama said the women supposedly would have poison in their hair or head scarves and when he touched them to give a blessing, it would be passed to him.

He said that his aides couldn't confirm there was such a plot but that on advice of Indian security officials he was living with increased security in his temple grounds in Dharamsala in the Himalayan foothills, according to the Sunday Telegraph.

The report did not specify if the supposed Chinese agents were from China's government or some other group.

The report comes at a time of heightened tension between Tibetans and Chinese authorities.

Tenzin Gyatso, 76, is the 14th Dalai Lama. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989. He recently won the $1.7 million Templeton Prize for his work linking science and wider questions of faith and religion -- and plans to give the money away when it's awarded on Monday in London.









The pope: “Enough of this ephemeral culture”



05/13/2012



Benedict XVI greets the Italian prime minister, Mario Monti



The pontiff makes an appeal in Arezzo: “Let us beat the crisis by sharing resources and changing lifestyles”giacomo galeazziarezzo


Benedict XVI has made an appeal in Arezzo to beat the crisis by changing our lifestyles. On the helicopter ramp, the pope greeted prime minister Monti and (in a move that breaks with customary protocol) his wife Elsa, then during the homily of the mass said in Il Prato park, he called for a new effort to beat "an ephemeral culture which has disappointed many and determined a profound spiritual crisis". The pontiff’s advice for tackling this material and spiritual crisis was that one should not give way to “materialistic ideologies” but return to the teaching of values. In the name of values, of solidarity, dignity and life, the pope asked that everything be done to fight “an ephemeral culture which has disappointed many and determined a profound spiritual crisis".


"Within the context of the Church in Italy, committed [in the past decade] to the theme of education,” he said later in his homily, “we must ask, especially in this region where the Renaissance was born, what vision of Man are we proposing to the new generations… This land was the birthplace of great Renaissance personalities, from Petrarch to Vasari,” he said, “and played an active role in affirming that concept of Man which left its mark on the history of Europe, drawing strength from Christian values. In recent times, too, the ideal heritage of your city has been expressed by some of its most illustrious children – through their university research and other institutions – where they have elaborated the concept of civitas defining it in terms of the Christian ideal [of the era of the city-state to] the people of our time… Be ferment in society, be present as Christians, be active and coherent." Among the distinctive values of the Church in Arezzo, he said during the Parco del Prato mass, "are solidarity, attention to the weak, respect for the dignity of all". The pope also mentioned the "hospitality" that citizens of Arezzo have shown for centuries and their “solidarity” towards the poor and weak. Benedict XVI said mass alongside Tuscany’s bishops and before beginning the service he listened to the greeting of mayor Giuseppe Fanfani and bishop Riccardo Fontana, both of which referred to the economic crisis that is affecting society in Arezzo. The bishop also mentioned the issue of immigrants. "I know about your Church’s commitment to promoting Christian life,” said the pope in his homily. “Be ferment in society, be present as Christians, be active and coherent. With its centuries-old history, the city of Arezzo,” he stressed, “summarises significant expressions of culture and values.”


The pope mentioned many saints that hailed from this area, including Donato, a bishop who was committed to “uniting” peoples, and Pope Gregory X, committed to "reforming the Church" and to an attempt to heal the Schism with the Eastern church, apart from anything else, with the Council of Lyon. With the example of these and other saints and famous figures from Arezzo, Benedict XVI drew encouraging words for the local Church to be present in society. He often returned to the issue of “hospitality”, “solidarity”, “care of the weak” and of respect for the dignity of all. Even if “severely struck by the economic crisis”, let us continue to protect “the weaker members of society”, let us identify "quick and effective solutions" especially for the young, who have been hit hardest. The crisis can be beaten by sharing “resources” and changing “lifestyles”. “Of course,” said Benedict XVI, “this area has also been severely struck by the economic crisis. The complexity of the problems make it difficult to find quick and effective solutions to come out of the present situation, which affects the weakest elements especially and greatly worries young people.” He then went on to say: “Since the remotest times, attention to others has moved the Church to show concrete signs of solidarity with those in need, sharing resources and promoting simpler lifestyles."


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