Friday, May 10, 2013

None Dare Call It Apostasy


NONE DARE CALL IT APOSTASY 


Part one: Dr. John J. Grosboll
Part two: Dr. Ralph Larson

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Friend, the most serious problem of the Laodicean church is not her condition of being lukewarm, spiritually blind, destitute of the righteousness of Christ and unfaithful and unloving as described in Revelation 3: 14- 22. The more serious problem of Laodicea is that she does not know this is her condition. The reason Laodicea does not know this is not because the information concerning her condition is not available. This information has been available for decades. The problem is that a large part of Adventists are living in a state of denial of plain facts. They dare not acknowledge and act on these facts because to do so would involve discomfort (maybe pain) and necessitate earthshaking changes in their lives. It is like when a person is told by his physician that he has cancer— that is a terrible fact to hear, and a common way to respond to it, initially, is to live in a state of denial, especially if one feels good at the moment. To acknowledge the facts would involve a total revision of ones life, future objectives and plans because cancer will shorten one's life if it is not eradicated or conquered.


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Pentagon Began Relationship With Anti-Christian Extremist in 2009



10:00AM EDT 5/9/2013 KEN KLUKOWSKI



Anti-Christian extremist Mikey Weinstein has been meeting with the Obama administration since 2009. (Facebook)

The Obama-Hagel Pentagon is trying to minimize Breitbart News' blockbuster story last week of top brass meeting with anti-Christian extremist Mikey Weinstein, whom we reported calls Christians "monsters" imposing a "rapacious reign of theocratic terror" and who says sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ in the military is an act of "sedition and treason" that must be punished.

The Pentagon sent out an email suggesting its April 23 meeting with Weinstein was a one-time event, saying only, "Weinstein requested, and was granted, a meeting at the Pentagon [on] April 23, with the Air Force Judge Advocate General and others, to include the Deputy Chief of Chaplains, to express his concerns of religious issues in the military."

However, this was not a single meeting. Instead, it was part of a relationship that began one month after Barack Obama was sworn in as president. And it goes much higher up the military food chain than was reported last week: Weinstein met with a four-star general who was the highest-ranking officer in the United States Air Force.

The New York Times reported on March 1, 2009, in a story entitled, "Questions Raised Anew About Religion in Military," that Weinstein met with the Air Force chief of staff, Gen. Norton Schwarz, on Feb. 24, 2009. The story noted this was the first time Weinstein and his Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) had "gotten an audience with a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff."

Weinstein sued the Department of Defense (DoD) during the Bush administration as part of his anti-Christian crusade, so Pentagon top brass knew exactly who he was and what he was about when the new Obama administration met with him in 2009. This means he had been fully vetted when the Obama-Hagel DoD decided to meet with him again on April 23 to discuss how to stop evangelizing (that is, Christian proselytizing) within the military.

The Bush administration fought Weinstein, saying that any instances of senior officers pressuring subordinates on religious matters were "not systematic problems, but isolated instances." And biblical Christians fully object to any coercion, since evangelism is about people embracing the Christian faith wholeheartedly and sincerely, which no person could ever force upon another. It's a matter of the heart, between every human being and their Creator.

By contrast, while the Bush administration fought Weinstein, the Obama administration has embraced this anti-Christian activist.

The New York Times story gives a laundry list of Weinstein and MRFF's grievances against the DoD during the Bush administration, including a "ceremony that began and ended with a Christian prayer ... the appearance of uniformed officers at religious events, [and] displays of crucifixes at military chapels."

The story indicates that "Christian prayers" are prayers offered "in Jesus' name." It goes without saying that whenever anyone prays, they pray according to their own religious faith. (For example, you're not likely to find a Muslim imam offering a Jewish prayer.) It's just as common to hear a Christian mention Jesus in a prayer as it is to find a Muslim invoking the name of Muhammed.

It's also no surprise that troops might wear their uniforms when attending church services. Again, the Constitution does not forbid such things, since those troops have the right to peacefully practice and express their personal faith just like any other American.

But the fact that Weinstein has become an unpaid advisor to the Obama-Hagel Pentagon is evidence of how hostile an environment parts of the DoD are becoming to Christian service members under this administration, and possibly devout adherents of other peaceful faiths as well.

Article I of the Constitution empowers Congress to set the rules of conduct and discipline within the military, and Congress must do so now to protect the rights of our troops to live and share their faith.

Ken Klukowski is director of the Center for Religious Liberty at Family Research Council. This article originally appeared on Breitbart.com.


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Muslim Nations Dominate U.S. Commission’s List of Worst Violators of Religious Freedom in World


May 6, 2013



Washington, D.C. – Muslim nations dominated a new report released by a federal religious freedom commission, which outlines the worst violators of religious freedom around the globe.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom was created under the International Religious Freedom Act, and reports to the President, Secretary of State and Congress regarding the state of religious liberty worldwide, making recommendations of needed improvements.

Out of the top fifteen violators on its 2013 “tier one” list, ten were predominantly Muslim countries: Iran, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Uzbekistan, Egypt, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.

“The government of Iran continues to engage in systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom, including prolonged detention, torture, and executions based primarily or entirely upon the religion of the accused,” the report outlines in its section on Iran.

“Over the past few years, the Iranian government has imposed harsh prison sentences on prominent reformers from the Shi’i majority community, many of whom have been tried on criminal charges of ‘insulting Islam,’ criticizing the Islamic Republic, and publishing materials that allegedly deviate from Islamic standards, for simply exercising their internationally protected rights of freedom of expression and freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief,” it continues. “In early 2010, the Iranian government began convicting and executing reformers and peaceful protestors, including on the charge of moharebeh (waging war against God).”

In its section on Egypt, the report states that Muslims often are not allowed to convert to Christianity, but if they do, they are commonly persecuted for their faith.

“In addition to violence, Christians—who comprise approximately 10-15% of Egypt’s population—face official and societal discrimination,” it explains. “Egyptian-born Muslims who have converted to Christianity cannot reflect their change of religious affiliation on identity documents, and in many cases, these converts also face intense social hostility. In past cases where converts have sued for the right to reflect their new religious affiliation on ID cards, Egyptian courts have ruled that Muslims are forbidden from converting from Islam based on principles of Islamic law because conversion would constitute a disparagement of the official state religion and entice other Muslims to convert.”

The report also discusses concerns with the Muslim sect Boko Haram in Nigeria, which has carried out much violence in the country in order to take the land for Islam and enact Sharia law.

“Boko Haram (a Hausa-language name meaning as ‘western education is a sin’) is an Islamic sect that sees the federal and northern state governments, as well as political and religious elites, as morally corrupt,” it explains. “ While Shari’ah is currently applied in the 12 northern Nigeria states, Boko Haram believes that it has been corrupted by politicians for their own gain. The group has also called on all Christians to leave northern Nigeria.”

“The group’s targets include police stations, government buildings, churches, Christians, schools, banks, politicians and Muslim critics,” the report continues. “Due to repeated Boko Haram attacks on churches, the Nigerian government has taken steps to try to protect churches, including stationing police and erecting barriers at church entry points. While this has not stopped all attackers, it has prevented a number of them from reaching their targets, thereby reducing the number of deaths and injuries.”

While the report outlines violence and discrimination against Christians in these countries, it does not focus solely on Christianity. All types of religious inequity, even the persecution of Muslim minority groups and clashes between various religions, are included in the extensive report.

The remaining five countries on the list are China, North Korea, Vietnam, Burma and Eritrea.

Sunday? It's not the day of rest, it's the day of stress: Two thirds now say Sabbath is busiest time of the week



By ANDY DOLAN

PUBLISHED: 18:55 EST, 9 May 2013 | UPDATED: 19:44 EST, 9 May 2013





Many adults now spend their Sundays stressing over chores or arguing

It is usually thought of as a day of rest. But increasingly busy lifestyles mean Sundays are now considered the most stressful day of the week for one third of Britons, according to a new survey.

Mounting domestic chores, work worries and arguments at family get-togethers are all factors which have combined to make the second half of the weekend just as frenetic as a working day for most.

Nearly two thirds of those polled (65 per cent) said they had busier schedules on a Sunday than a weekday - losing out on time to recover from a tiring week at work.

One-in-ten admitted to spending most of the Sabbath worrying about the working week ahead, while 67 per cent said the ‘Sunday blues’ kicked in at some point in the day.

Over half of those polled (51%) believe that Sunday is a day ‘for getting things done’.

The study for TV channel Really found that an average of three hours and 36 minutes is spent completing household tasks such as ironing, washing, grocery shopping and cleaning.

A third of adults (35%), admitted nagging or being nagged by their partners to carry out such chores.

Cooking lunch and seeing wider family still forms the mainstay of Sundays for the vast majority of British adults.

Around two thirds of respondents admit getting together with extended family on at least one Sunday a month, leading to an average of one argument on each occasion But one-in-five of those surveyed said they could spend just three hours in the company of relatives before tensions started to rise.



Gone are the days when the majority of adults would use their Sunday to relax, indulge in their hobbies or read the papers

Over 2000 British adults took part in the Sunday Stress Audit for the channel.

It also found that a third of Britons (34%) admit that they never get a lie in whilst more than half (53%) admit they are so busy we never get time to read the Sunday papers properly.

Clare Laycock, Really’s General Manager, said: ‘It’s clear that the onset of the Sunday blues really does cast a shadow over many people’s weekends.’

Sunday broken down into hours of activity On average we spend:

2 hours preparing and cooking Sunday lunch.

26 minutes eating Sunday lunch.

3 hours and 36 minutes on household chores.

2 hours 25 minutes entertaining and ferrying around children.

TOTAL HOURS: 8hrs 45 minutes



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Pope names Jesuit to lead Oakland diocese



Vatican City, May 3, 2013 / 04:25 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis has appointed Jesuit Father Michael C. Barber the next bishop of the Oakland, California diocese.

Bishop-designate Barber is currently the Director of Spiritual Formation at Saint John’s Seminary in Brighton, Mass. and has been serving in that capacity since 2010.

The announcement of his appointment was made on May 3 by the Holy See’s press office. He will succeed Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone who now leads the Archdiocese of San Francisco.

The bishop-designate entered the Jesuits in 1973 and was ordained a priest in 1985.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and history at Gonzaga University in 1978, completed his theological studies at Regis College at the University of Toronto in 1985, and obtained an ecclesiastical license in dogmatic theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in 1989.

At 59 years-old, Bishop-designate Barber has served in numerous capacities, including as a missionary in Western Samoa, an assistant professor at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, a tutor and chaplain at the University of Oxford, and as chaplain for the U.S. Navy Reserve.

During his time at the Gregorian, he taught dogmatic theology and conducted research on unpublished manuscripts of sermons by Blessed John Henry Newman.

His time as a military chaplain included being called to active duty in 2003 to serve the 6,000 troops in the 4th Marine Air Wing who participated in the invasion of Iraq.

He speaks English, Italian, Spanish and Latin.



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Discovery Church illustrates how power of pulpit can lead pastors to affairs



By Jeff Kunerth, Orlando Sentinel

5:34 p.m. EDT, May 7, 2013



It happened again. Another Orlando-area megachurch pastor is stepping down after admitting to having an affair. Discovery Church Pastor David Loveless' resignation last weekend makes him the third in six months to step down after stepping over the line of adultery — following Summit Church's Isaac Hunter and The Gathering Place's Sam Hinn.

It has nothing to do with anything in the water and all to do with the pressures, adorations and temptations that come from being a high-profile pastor in a large church, say experts and fellow pastors.

"You're a brilliant preacher, you are a wonderful pastoral person in times of crisis, you can raise money, you can administer a staff, you have a vast array of gifts," said David Swanson, senior pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Orlando. "That's a lot for one person to carry."

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That high position of respect and responsibility can elevate a pastor to the point of isolation, Swanson said. Without trusted confidants who can listen to the pastor's own doubts and burdens — and steer him back in line when he wavers — the megachurch pastor can be susceptible to his own impulses.

"Every pastor needs a group of male friends he trusts, who will ask him what is going on in your life, are you walking the talk?" Swanson said.

Sheila Strobel Smith, who has done extensive research on megachurch pastors, said failure often follows the pastor who becomes overwhelmed by the job's demands. In any size church, pastors deal with a multitude of responsibilities and expectations — and that's where the trouble starts.

"The common thread is when a pastor is in a personal vulnerable spot, these things happen. You are reaching out for something, and you make bad decisions," she said.

Those who successfully handle the demands and resist the temptations are deliberate in their spiritual, physical and mental health, Strobel Smith said. They don't neglect their family for their congregation, they cultivate people they can trust and confide in, they follow the "Billy Graham Rule" — never be alone with a woman who is not your wife.

But constructing a life that is healthy, balanced and normal is difficult for ministers whose jobs are by nature taxing, erratic and unpredictable, said James Coffin, executive director of the Interfaith Council of Central Florida.

They feel the success or failure of the church rides on them. Members of the congregation depend on them for advice, guidance, consolation and encouragement at all times — not just Sundays.

"Ministers live this very disjointed style of life," Coffin said.

Coffin said with the pulpit comes power and with power comes ego. Elevated by the congregation as a beloved and admired spiritual leader, the pastor is susceptible to an inflated sense of self.

"It's a self-perpetuating spiral — the more they look at you that way, the more you feel that way. You have that pedestal syndrome," said Coffin, a former Seventh-day Adventist pastor.

So gradually, the man of God falls prey to the mortal flesh — one small temptation at a time.

"I'm sure David Loveless and Isaac Hunter didn't wake up and decide they were going to have affairs today," Swanson said. "It was a thousand little decisions they made that opened that door a little wider each time."

Swanson says he has built safeguards around himself because the cost of betraying the principles of the faith is the loss of trust. Pastors who sin cause harm not only to themselves, their families and their congregations, but to the perception of clergy as hypocritical, he said.

Because of what has happened to Loveless, Hunter and Hinn, Swanson said he is writing a piece for the next edition of his church newsletter to reassure his congregation that this won't happen to him.

"I have been careful to lead in a particular way," Swanson said, "because those who lead are held to a higher standard."

Rick Warren, pastor of the megachurch Saddleback Church in California, has addressed the cost of ministerial misbehavior and offered strategies for other clergy.

At the top of his list is, "Never consider yourself above temptation." Also high on the list is "Remind yourself regularly of the damaging consequences of moral failure."

"Sit down and watch the confession of Jimmy Swaggart," he writes. "It's high drama, probably the most dramatic church service you'll see. You see how sin destroyed a congregation."

jkunerth@tribune.com or 407-420-5392



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New York City considers allowing non-citizens to vote


By Jessica Chasmar


The Washington Times

Thursday, May 9, 2013



** FILE ** New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. (Associated Press) more >

STORY TOPICS

Daniel Dromm
Michael Bloomberg



New York City could soon become the first major city to allow non-citizens to vote in its municipal elections, as city council hearings on the proposal begin today.

According to Talking Points Memo, the proposal appears to have a veto-proof majority in the Council — enough to overcome opposition by Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

“It’s going to be huge and just imagine the implications that are involved here,” Councilman Daniel Dromm, one of the co-sponsors of “Voting By Non-Citizen Residents,” told TPM Wednesday.

The proposal would allow immigrants lawfully residing in the city for six months or longer to vote provided they meet all the other current requirements for voter registration in New York State, TPM reports. The bill specifies that they are not permitted to vote in state or federal elections.

“This is extremely important, because it’s based on the founding principle of this country and that was, ‘No Taxation Without Representation.’ All of the people who would be included in this and would be allowed to vote are paying taxes, they’ve contributed to society,” Mr. Dromm added.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg opposes the legislation, but TPM points out that it may not be enough. It currently has the support of 34 of the Council’s 51 members, exactly the amount needed to override a veto.

“I’m optimistic both with the committee and on the floor and I would hope that we could pass this by the end of the year,” Mr. Dromm said.


Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/may/9/new-york-city-considers-allowing-non-citizens-vote/#ixzz2SrexBUgp

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Report warned Boston Marathon was vulnerable to terrorism


A regional intelligence agency told police days before the attack that extremists could potentially target the event. Police complain at a congressional hearing that federal officials didn't tell them more about the suspects.




Photos of the bombing victims and the officer shot to death at MIT are on display at a congressional hearing, during which local police complained that federal officials hadn't told them more about the suspects. (Michael Reynolds / European Pressphoto Agency / May 9, 2013)




By Brian Bennett and Richard A. Serrano, Washington Bureau

May 9, 2013, 8:46 p.m.



WASHINGTON — Five days before two bombs tore through crowds at the Boston Marathon, an intelligence report identified the finish line as an "area of increased vulnerability" and warned Boston police that homegrown extremists could use "small-scale bombings" to attack spectators and runners at the event.

The 18-page report, similar to others sent to police and first responders before major events in the Boston area, was written by the Boston Regional Intelligence Center, which is funded in part by the Department of Homeland Security and helps disseminate intelligence information to local police and first responders.

The assessment noted that there was "no credible, specific information indicating an imminent threat" to the race.

"The FBI has not identified any specific lone offender or extremist group who pose a threat to the Boston Marathon," the report said.

In the aftermath of the bombing, who in law enforcement knew what and when have become significant points of contention.

Even as federal officials pointed to the warning as evidence they had done their jobs, Boston and Massachusetts state police officials complained at a congressional hearing Thursday that the FBI had not told them about an earlier investigation involving Tamerlan Tsarnaev, one of two brothers accused of carrying out the April 15 attacks that left three dead and more than 260 injured.

Since the blasts, the FBI has acknowledged that agents interviewed Tsarnaev in 2011 but determined that he did not pose a threat. Customs agents were aware that Tsarnaev, 26, had traveled to Russia in 2012, but decided that he didn't require additional questioning when he returned to the U.S. later that year.

Boston police officials and members of Congress expressed frustration during the hearing that the FBI and other agencies hadn't shared more widely what they knew about the Tsarnaevs.

"We would have liked to have known," Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis told the House Homeland Security Committee during the first of a series of hearings investigating the attacks. Davis testified that he did not learn about the Tsarnaevs until more than three days after the bombings, after Tamerlan Tsarnaev had been killed in a police shootout and his 19-year-old brother, Dzhokhar, was on the run.

But Davis said he was uncertain what his intelligence officers would have made of Tamerlan Tsarnaev's 2012 trip to Dagestan, Russia, noting that the FBI had interviewed him but found nothing suspicious and that Russian officials did not tell the FBI why they were interested in him.

"We would certainly have looked at the information," Davis said. "We would certainly have talked to the individual." But he added: "I can't say I would have come to a different conclusion" than the FBI.

Federal officials defended their actions and suggested local law enforcement agencies had not fully followed up on possible threats.

The Homeland Security threat assessment was dated April 10 and included a map of the Boylston Street finish line area.

Two officials read parts of it to a Times reporter.

"The possibility exists that [homegrown violent extremists] could attempt an attack by using simple improvised explosive devices or small-arms tactics against easily accessible low-security targets," said the report by the Boston Regional Intelligence Center, which comprises federal and local law enforcement authorities.

The finish line was the area targeted by the bombers. Both suspects were spotted on surveillance cameras.

Massachusetts authorities dismissed the center's warning as routine and lacking specifics.

"The assessment about start and finish lines being potential targets was considered and reflected in security plans for the event, as they have been every year," David Procopio, a spokesman for the Massachusetts State Police, said in a statement. The wording in the report is "standard language" and "based on common sense and accumulated expertise in event security" and not on any specific threat, Procopio said.

"It is akin to saying, in general terms, that airplanes are an attractive target to terrorists," he said.

Richard DesLauriers, special agent in charge of the FBI's Boston office, said local officials, as members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force there, had access to the information about the brothers, as did the FBI. They all had access to law enforcement's Guardian Threat Tracking System to review intelligence data, he said.

"Boston [terrorism task force] members, including representatives from the Boston Police Department , were provided instruction on using Guardian, including suggestions on methods for proactively reviewing and establishing customized searches, which would allow them to be fully informed of all [task force] activity that may affect Boston and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts," DesLauriers said.

He added that in 2011 alone, the Boston task force conducted "approximately 1,000 assessments, including the assessment of Tamerlan Tsarnaev, which was documented in the Guardian database."

But Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said, "The idea that the feds have this information and it's not shared with the state and locals defies why we created the Homeland Security Department in the first place."

The 70 so-called fusion centers like the Boston Regional Intelligence Center were created after the Sept. 11 commission insisted in 2002 that federal, state and local law enforcement agencies needed to cooperate more in counter-terrorism and to analyze potential terrorist activity detected by police.

During a break in the hearing, Police Commissioner Davis was asked about the warning of a possible terrorism incident near the finish line.

He said investigators were conducting a thorough review of all they knew before the bombing and what occurred after.

"A lot has to play itself out yet," he said. "Everything has to be reviewed."

brian.bennett@latimes.com

richard.serrano@latimes.com


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Thursday, May 09, 2013

Extortion 17 to Benghazi to Obama (Navy SEAL Team VI Families @ National Press Club)



Extortion 17 to Benghazi to Obama



theunitedwest

Uploaded on May 8, 2013


Thursday 10:00 AM, National Press Club, Washington, DC:

Navy SEAL Team VI Families to reveal governments culpability in death of their sons in the fatal helicopter crash in Afghanistan following the successful raid on bin Laden's compound.

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Navy SEAL Team VI Families




May 9, 2013 10:00 AM
News conferences

Location: Holeman Lounge


NAVY SEAL TEAM VI FAMILIES TO REVEAL GOVERNMENT’S CULPABILITY IN DEATH OF THEIR SONS IN FATAL HELICOPTER CRASH IN AFGHANISTAN FOLLOWING SUCCESSFUL RAID ON BIN LADEN’S COMPOUND

(Washington, D.C.). Three families of Navy SEAL Team VI special forces servicemen, along with one family of an Army National Guardsman, will appear at a press conference on May 9, 2013, to disclose never before revealed information about how and why their sons along with 26 others died in a fatal helicopter crash in Afghanistan on August 6, 2011, just a few months after the successful raid on the compound of Osama Bin Laden that resulted in the master terrorist's death.

Accompanying the families of these dead Navy SEAL Team VI special operations servicemen will be retired military experts verifying their accounts of how and why the government is as much responsible for the deaths of their sons as is the Taliban.

The areas of inquiry at the press conference will include but not be limited to:

1. How President Obama and Vice President Biden, having disclosed on May 4, 2011, that Navy Seal Team VI carried out the successful raid on Bin Laden’s compound resulting in the master terrorist’s death, put a retaliatory target on the backs of the fallen heroes.
2. How and why high-level military officials sent these Navy SEAL Team VI heroes into battle without special operations aviation and proper air support.
3. How and why middle-level military brass carries out too many ill-prepared missions to boost their standing with top-level military brass and the Commander-in-Chief in order that they can be promoted.
4. How the military restricts special operations servicemen and others from engaging in timely return fire when fired upon by the Taliban and other terrorist groups and interests, thus jeopardizing the servicemen’s lives.
5. How and why the denial of requested pre-assault fire may have contributed to the shoot down of the Navy SEAL Team VI helicopter and the death of these special operations servicemen.
6. How Afghani forces accompanying the Navy SEAL Team VI servicemen on the helicopter were not properly vetted and how they possibly disclosed classified information to the Taliban about the mission, resulting in the shoot down of the helicopter.
7. How military brass, while prohibiting any mention of a Judeo-Christian God, invited a Muslim cleric to the funeral for the fallen Navy SEAL Team VI heroes who disparaged in Arabic the memory of these servicemen by damning them as infidels to Allah. A video of the Muslim cleric’s “prayer” will be shown with a certified translation.

"This press conference takes on special significance given that our government has over the last twelve years since September 11th committed brave American servicemen to wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that, in large part as a result of politics, were poorly conceived of and implemented, resulting in the deaths of thousands and the maiming of tens of thousands of our brave heroes. To make matters even worse, America has effectively lost these wars," stated Larry Klayman, legal counsel for the families.

For more information contact Freedom Watch at daj142182@gmail.com or Tel: (424) 274-2579.


FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS EVENT,
PLEASE CONTACT:

Dina James

424-274-2579

daj142182@gmail.com



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Families of slain SEAL Team 6 to blame government for deaths of servicemen


GOVERNMENT TOPICS

MAY 9, 2013




A Pakistani shepherd in Abbottabad walks past the hideout of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, who was killed in a U.S.-led ground operation.
Credits: Aamir Qureshi/AFP/Getty Images


Republican newsletter

Three families of Navy SEAL Team Six servicemen, along with the family of an Army National Guardsman, plan to appear at a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, May 9, to "disclose never before revealed information about how and why their sons along with 26 others died in a fatal helicopter crash in Afghanistan" on August 6, 2011, a few months after the raid on the compound that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden, The Blaze reported.

RELATED TOPICS
Government Topics
SEAL Team 6
Barack Obama
Military
War on Terror
Osama bin Laden


Thirty-eight people, including seven Afghans and an interpreter, died when the helicopter carrying 25 members of SEAL Team Six and five other Americans, crashed.

According to a press release put out by the families, retired military experts will also appear to explain "how and why the government is as much responsible for the deaths of their sons as is the Taliban."


Out of touch -- Rebuke of Clinton and Obama from the heart of a mother



The press release says that areas of inquiry include, but are not limited to:

How President Obama and Vice President Biden, having disclosed on May 4, 2011, that Navy SEAL Team VI carried out the successful raid on Bin Laden’s compound resulting in the master terrorist’s death, put a retaliatory target on the backs of the fallen heroes.

How and why high-level military officials sent these Navy SEAL Team VI heroes into battle without special operations aviation and proper air support.

How and why middle-level military brass carries out too many ill-prepared missions to boost their standing with top-level military brass and the Commander-in-Chief in order that they can be promoted.

How the military restricts special operations servicemen and others from engaging in timely return fire when fired upon by the Taliban and other terrorist groups and interests, thus jeopardizing the servicemen’s lives.
How and why the denial of requested pre-assault fire may have contributed to the shoot down of the Navy SEAL Team VI helicopter and the death of these special operations servicemen.

How Afghani forces accompanying the Navy SEAL Team VI servicemen on the helicopter were not properly vetted and how they possibly disclosed classified information to the Taliban about the mission, resulting in the shoot down of the helicopter.

How military brass, while prohibiting any mention of a Judeo-Christian God, invited a Muslim cleric to the funeral for the fallen Navy SEAL Team VI heroes who disparaged in Arabic the memory of these servicemen by damning them as infidels to Allah. A video of the Muslim cleric’s “prayer” will be shown with a certified translation.

According to Jason Howerton, the press conference "has not been highly publicized."

“This press conference takes on special significance given that our government has over the last twelve years since September 11th committed brave American servicemen to wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that, in large part as a result of politics, were poorly conceived of and implemented, resulting in the deaths of thousands and the maiming of tens of thousands of our brave heroes. To make matters even worse, America has effectively lost these wars,” said Larry Klayman, legal counsel for the families.

The press conference also comes on the heels of a House hearing on the Benghazi terror attack that left Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans dead.

Video of one mother's reaction to Obama's campaign ad "One Chance" can be seen here.


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Billboard depicting the Virgin Mary and a Revelations verse angers local Catholics




Posted: 05/04/2013


By: Angela Cruz


WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - A controversial billboard at the intersection of Southern Boulevard and Jog Road in West Palm Beach has upset local Catholics.

Judy Carbo, a Catholic from Stuart, said she did a double take when she drove by the billboard, which shows an image of the Virgin Mary, with a Bible verse, Revelations 16:14.

"My heart nearly broke, and I had to pull back around and come look at the sign up close," said Carbo. "It blatantly gives a derogatory image of our lady and the Catholic faith."

Alison Valus, a Catholic from Jupiter, said combining an image of the Virgin Mary with that particular Bible verse, which mentions demonic spirits, is inflammatory against her religion.

"Stuff like this is very misleading, and it's hurtful," said Valus.

Reverend James Molgano with St. Martin de Porres Catholic Church said the message is offensive because it uses sacred scripture against Mary.

"To use the inherent Word of God against her, against the church, is blasphemous," said Molgano.

The number on the billboard goes to an answering machine for the Eternal Gospel Ministry. The message said the organization is closed on weekends.

Meantime, she is concerned that the billboard sends the wrong message to thousands of drivers every day.

"You want to advertise your faith, that is your right as a citizen, but not by bashing somebody else's," said Carbo. " Especially with misinformation."


Sourcehttp://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/region_c_palm_beach_county/west_palm_beach/billboard-depicting-the-virgin-mary-and-a-revelations-verse-angers-local-catholics#ixzz2Snj3XqY1

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Conference of Secretaries of Christian World Communions


Conference of Secretaries of Christian World Communions

The annual Conference of Secretaries of World Christian Communions brings together representatives from diverse Christian traditions to discuss their work and fellowship together. As general secretaries, participants are often the global face of a particular Christian theological tradition. Participating communions include the following: the Anglican Communion, Baptist World Alliance, Disciples Ecumenical Consultative Council, Ecumenical Patriarchate (Eastern Orthodox), General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, International Old Catholic Bishops' Conference, Lutheran World Federation, Mennonite World Conference, Moravian Church Worldwide Unity Board, Moscow Patriarchate (Eastern Orthodox), Pentecostals, Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (Catholic Church), Reformed Ecumenical Council, The Salvation Army, Friends World Committee for Consultation, World Alliance of Reformed Churches, World Convention of Churches of Christ, World Evangelical Alliance, and the World Methodist Council. A representative from the World Council of Churches is often present, as well.



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Flashback


World Church: Christian World Communions Meet, Elect Leaders




Nov. 09, 2004 Buenos Aires, Argentina


ANN Staff
Dr. John R. Graz, public affairs and religious liberty director for the Seventh-day Adventist Church world headquarters. [Photo ANN Staff]




John R. Graz, Public Affairs and Religious Liberty director for the Seventh-day Adventist Church, was re-elected secretary general of the Conference of Secretaries of Christian World Communions, or CS/CWC. The group represents 2 billion Christians from a variety of denominations globally. Dr. Setri Nyomi of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Ghana, and executive secretary of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, was elected CS/CWC president at the Oct. 23 to 28 conference.

Since 1957, the CS/CWCs have met annually for an informal exchange of ideas and information. Graz was among several Christian leaders who met with Argentinian officials including Alberto Fernández, chief of the cabinet; Oscazr Parrilli, general secretary of the Presidency; and José Cardoso, general director of the National Registry of Religions. Presentations were made to the group by representatives of the ecumenical community: the Baptists, Pentecostals, Anglicans and the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Graz’s election continues a 34-year run of Adventist Church representatives participating in the world organization. Last year he succeeded Dr. Bert B. Beach, director for Interchurch Relations for the Adventist world church, in that position.

“The meeting was important because our [local church] president was invited to introduce the work of the Adventist Church in Argentina,” Graz noted. “During that meeting we heard several lectures about the religious and social situation in Argentina and how the various Christian churches live together. We also had a government report on church and state relations,” he added.

The substance of those reports, Graz said, is that while the Roman Catholic Church is the official church of the country, other churches are not discriminated against.


Source: © 2013, Adventist News Network

Sourcehttp://news.adventist.org/en/archive/articles/2004/11/09/world-church-christian-world-communions-meet-elect-leaders

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Caught in Methodism’s Split Over Same-Sex Marriage




Christopher Capozziello for The New York Times

“I actually wasn’t thinking of this as an act of civil disobedience or church disobedience. I was thinking of it as a response to my son,” said the Rev. Dr. Thomas W. Ogletree of officiating his son’s marriage to another man.



By SHARON OTTERMAN
Published: May 5, 2013


NEW HAVEN — It started out as a deeply personal act, that of a father officiating at the wedding of his son.

But it was soon condemned as a public display of ecclesiastical disobedience, because the father, the Rev. Dr. Thomas W. Ogletree, is a minister in the United Methodist Church, which does not allow its clergy to perform same-sex weddings.

Dr. Ogletree, 79, is now facing a possible canonical trial for his action, accused by several New York United Methodist ministers of violating church rules. While he would not be the first United Methodist minister to face discipline for performing a same-sex wedding, he could well be the one with the highest profile. He is a retired dean of Yale Divinity School, a veteran of the nation’s civil rights struggles and a scholar of the very type of ethical issues he is now confronting.

“Sometimes, when what is officially the law is wrong, you try to get the law changed,” Dr. Ogletree, a native of Birmingham, Ala., said in a courtly Southern drawl over a recent lunch at Yale, where he remains an emeritus professor of theological ethics. “But if you can’t, you break it.”

For Dr. Ogletree, the issues are not just academic. He has fully accepted, he said, that two of his five children are gay. His daughter married her partner in Massachusetts, in a non-Methodist ceremony. So when his son asked him last year to officiate at the wedding, he said yes.

“I was inspired,” Dr. Ogletree said. “I actually wasn’t thinking of this as an act of civil disobedience or church disobedience. I was thinking of it as a response to my son.”

The wedding of Thomas Rimbey Ogletree and Nicholas W. Haddad, held on Oct. 20, 2012, at the Yale Club in New York, incorporated readings from Scripture and the Massachusetts court decision legalizing same-sex marriages. A wedding announcement in The New York Times prompted several conservative Methodist ministers to file a complaint against Dr. Ogletree with the local bishop.

“This ceremony is a chargeable offense” under the rules of the church, wrote the ministers, led by the Rev. Randall C. Paige, pastor of Christ Church in Port Jefferson Station, N.Y.

In late January, Mr. Paige and Dr. Ogletree, accuser and accused, met face-to-face in an effort to resolve the dispute without a church trial. Mr. Paige, who declined to be interviewed for this article, citing the confidentiality of the proceedings, asked that Dr. Ogletree apologize and promise never to perform such a ceremony again. He refused.

“I said, this is an unjust law,” he recalled telling Mr. Paige. “Dr. King broke the law. Jesus of Nazareth broke the law; he drove the money changers out of the temple. So you mean you should never break any law, no matter how unjust it is?”

But ministers like Mr. Paige believe breaking church law is not the right way to bring about change, said the Rev. Thomas A. Lambrecht, the vice-president of Good News, a traditionalist Methodist group. “Reverend Ogletree is acting in a way that is injurious to the church, because it fosters confusion in the church about what we stand for,” he said. “And it undermines the whole covenant of accountability that we share with each other as pastors.”

The United Methodist Church is the third-largest Christian denomination in the country
. Its clergy members pledge to follow the church’s laws as contained in its rule book, the Book of Discipline. The rules can only be amended via votes by clergy and laity that take place every four years.

Like many Christian denominations, the United Methodist Church has struggled over issues of gay rights. In 1972, the denomination added a line to its rule book declaring the practice of homosexuality “incompatible with Christian teaching.” It bars the ordination of “self-avowed practicing homosexuals” as clergy, and prohibits clergy from officiating at same-sex unions. But it also calls homosexuals “persons of sacred worth,” and welcomes them as members. “We try to be nuanced about it,” Mr. Lambrecht said. “Although we disapprove of the practice of homosexuality, we believe that people who are gay or lesbian are loved and valued by God and worthy of the church’s ministry and welcome to participate in churches.”

The result is contradictory, Dr. Ogletree said. “The church’s official motto is open minds, open hearts, open doors, even though our rules on same-sex marriage contradict that claim,” he said.

Professor Ogletree is now working with Methodists in New Directions, a New York group that is part of a growing movement to change the church’s rules. More than 1,100 United Methodist clergy members — of about 45,000 in the nation — have expressed a willingness to perform same-sex ceremonies, even if it means they may face suspension or censure. But the issue is creating a deep rift with the church’s evangelical, conservative wing, which is being bolstered by the spread of the 12-million-member denomination internationally into Africa and Asia.


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A version of this article appeared in print on May 6, 2013, on page A16 of the New York edition with the headline: Caught in Methodism’s Split Over Same-Sex Marriage.

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Pastor Invites You To Come Worship At New Beach Bar Church


May 7, 2013

By Oretha Winston, Lead Editor



Jack Kale has decided that he can lead his congregation on his own.

The bond is so strong that the associate pastor of Worship at the Water, which meets Sunday mornings at Flounders Chowder and Ale House on Pensacola Beach, passed up a raise and declined an order from the bishop of the United Methodist Church Alabama West Florida Conference to lead one of the 15 largest churches in the conference.

He said that after talking with his wife a reassignment was not an option.

“I don’t ever want to move into a church-owned property I go by the biblical model … the early Hebrew people moved around and didn’t have a temple.

Jack Kale, 39, turned in his ordained minister credentials and split with the United Methodist Church, in which he was reared and served 18 years — the past four serving and growing the Gulf Breeze church’s Worship at the Water congregation from fewer than 100 faithful to about 500.

Watch the below invitation for a Mother’s Day Service!

 

 Now, that’s a sun-filled Sunday!


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Through Google's eyes




BY DEBORAH L. O'MARA
CREATED: MAY 8, 2013



What end-users want from integrators



Photo: Deborah O'Mara

Is Google working on driverless cars?




Photo: Deborah O'Mara

Google's Robert Bastida at PSA-TEC 2013 gave insights into working with end users.


PSA-TEC 2013 continues to take systems integration companies into the future—including working with end-users from companies such as Google.

Google’s Robert Bastida, regional safety and security manager, gave insights into the massive Mountain View, California-based company and its idiosyncrasies, including bikes campus-wide and a life-sized T. Rex skeleton and offbeat perks at the location referred to as the Googleplex in his keynote session: “What Integrator’s Need to Know: An End-User’s Perspective.”

Bastida has logged 23 years on the end-user side of the business, and just prior to starting with Google worked in a similar capacity for Oracle. He said he sees that the security systems integration business is rapidly changing. “End users today want everything integrated,” he said. Bastida’s first task when he joined Google was to build out the access control system for the corporate headquarters.

“Speed in responding to RFPs and of course speed of service is critical to the end user. The days of global contracts are dead. The people of PSA have a tremendous opportunity to get in on these contracts. If you have a small integration business and have all the necessary certifications, we want to do business with you,” Bastida said.

He reasoned that smaller integration companies, like many of those in PSA Security Network, are more responsive to the end-user customer.

“We are also looking for new solutions for integrations. But most often systems integrators come see us when there is a need. I think it should be the other way around. You should be calling companies and end users and telling them what you have and how you can help them. You should be calling them with new solutions and that isn’t happening right now. When you start doing that you will be the integrator of choice,” he said.

Bastida also focused on the future of security and technology. He said that people are a critical component—brain trust—for Google and should also be for systems integrators. “Today’s systems are so sophisticated that who you hire is extremely important. You should be hiring application engineers and database engineers and people certified in certain technologies. If you want to be the integrator of choice you have to have those folks on staff. I can’t stress that enough.”

In his parting words, Bastida said the company is looking at a new program for driverless cars, that will be programmed to destinations, currently working with the California Department of Transportation on that endeavor. As far as access control, he said that the ‘Dick Tracy’ type of technology sophistication is on its way. “That’s where it’s all going and you are going to play a role in that. Instead of an access control card or using the phone to gain entrance there will be a chip on your glasses that will let you in. Those are some of the things we play with at Google.”


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Yahoo’s Mayer Plans Search Revamp to Narrow Google Lead



Bloomberg News


By Douglas MacMillan

May 08, 2013


Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) Chief Executive Officer Marissa Mayer plans to unveil tools for Internet search, including making it easier to find information on mobile devices, stepping up efforts to nab share from Google Inc (GOOG).

“We’ve got some really cool things in the pipeline, which we’ll be announcing and rolling out over the coming months,” Laurie Mann, senior vice president of search, said in his first interview since being promoted to the post in February.

Some of the upgrades are being developed in tandem with Yahoo’s search partner, Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), while other improvements will be unique to Yahoo, he said.

Mayer, CEO since July, is seeking to revive growth at Yahoo through increased competition with Google in the $19.8 billion market for search-related advertising. She’s also striving to make the most of the partnership with Microsoft after earlier unsuccessful attempts to unravel the pact, which hasn’t lived up to the company’s expectations, people with knowledge of the matter said yesterday.

Yahoo climbed 1.3 percent to $26.40 as of 12:50 p.m. in New York. The stock has climbed 67 since Mayer took the helm, through yesterday, compared with 20 percent for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.

Before joining Yahoo, Mayer helped build Google into the world’s most popular search engine. The company commanded 73 percent of U.S. search-ad revenue in 2012, her last year at Google, according to EMarketer Inc.

‘Getting Search Right’

“As someone who works with Marissa literally every day, there is nothing more important to her than getting search right,” said Mann, a 10-year veteran of Yahoo. “She knows search better than pretty much anyone in the industry.”

Mann leads a group of hundreds of workers at Yahoo’s Sunnyvale, California headquarters as well as remote offices focused on creating new ways for users to access search results and search-based advertisements served up by Microsoft’s Bing search engine. The group is increasingly investing in tools for performing searches on smartphones and tablet computers, he said.

“We’d be kind of foolish to not be thinking a lot about mobile,” Mann said. “Yahoo is dramatically increasing the people in the company working on mobile, and search is no different.”

Mann declined to comment on Mayer’s attempt to end the partnership with Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft, or provide more details about search products in development.

Google Advances

“We have an alliance that we’re actively working on together,” said Adam Sohn, a spokesman for Redmond, Washington- based Microsoft. “There’s real momentum in our ad platform and the product quality share.”

Gaining ground against Google has been a challenge so far. Yahoo’s share of search has fallen since 2009, when then-CEO Carol Bartz decided Yahoo would rely on Microsoft for search technology. Yahoo’s share of U.S. searches shrank to 12 percent in March from 14 percent a year earlier, according to researcher ComScore Inc. (SCOR) Google claimed 67 percent of all searches in March, followed by Microsoft’s 17 percent.

The tie-up with Microsoft has resulted in lower-than- expected revenue per search, and Microsoft has attempted to make up for the shortfalls with revenue guarantees that last through March 2014. The partners continue to work together to take market share away from Google, Mann said.

“As with anything, more would be better, and we are continuing to work with them to keep things rolling,” he said.

Qi Lu

Mann said he frequently travels to Microsoft’s headquarters to meet with Qi Lu, his former colleague, who joined Microsoft in 2008 to run the company’s online services.

Mayer’s inability to negotiate an end to the agreement means Yahoo will probably be bound to Microsoft at least until 2015, when either side may choose to terminate the deal.

In a May 8 interview at the Wired Business Conference, Mayer said she compares Yahoo’s opportunity in search with that of a winemaker who buys grapes from another grower.

“You can be a winemaker because you grow your own grapes, or you can be a winemaker because you do them in a certain style,” she said. “Most of the innovation on search will happen in terms of the user interface.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Douglas MacMillan in San Francisco at dmacmillan3@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Tom Giles at tgiles5@bloomberg.net


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Woe to those who call evil good and good evil



1 Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:

2 And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.

3 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.

4 What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?

5 And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down:

6 And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.

7 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.

8 Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth!

9 In mine ears said the Lord of hosts, Of a truth many houses shall be desolate, even great and fair, without inhabitant.

10 Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and the seed of an homer shall yield an ephah.

11 Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them!

12 And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the Lord, neither consider the operation of his hands.

13 Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst.

14 Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.

15 And the mean man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled:

16 But the Lord of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness.

17 Then shall the lambs feed after their manner, and the waste places of the fat ones shall strangers eat.

18 Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope:

19 That say, Let him make speed, and hasten his work, that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it!

20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

21 Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!

22 Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink:

23 Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!

24 Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of theLord of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

25 Therefore is the anger of the Lord kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them: and the hills did tremble, and their carcases were torn in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

26 And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss unto them from the end of the earth: and, behold, they shall come with speed swiftly:

27 None shall be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken:

28 Whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent, their horses' hoofs shall be counted like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind:

29 Their roaring shall be like a lion, they shall roar like young lions: yea, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey, and shall carry it away safe, and none shall deliver it.

30 And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea: and if one look unto the land, behold darkness and sorrow, and the light is darkened in the heavens thereof.

Isaiah Chapter 5


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Bills against gay bias on move in Harrisburg




State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe (R., Butler). (Michael Matza / Staff Photographer)



Story Highlights
Bills to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation have gone nowhere in the last decade.
Companion bills in the House and Senate have attracted a record number of cosponsors.
They would ban discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.



AMY WORDEN, INQUIRER HARRISBURG BUREAU
POSTED
: Wednesday, May 8, 2013, 6:09 AM



HARRISBURG - Perennial fixtures on the legislative calendar, bills to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation have gone nowhere in the last decade.

This time, the tables may be turning. Companion bills in the House and Senate have attracted a record number of cosponsors, among them the General Assembly's first two openly gay lawmakers, while a new poll shows solid majority support across the state for such a ban.

The bills, introduced Tuesday with 102 cosponsors including both Republicans and Democrats, would ban discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity or expression in employment, housing, credit, and public accommodations.

State Rep. Dan Frankel (D., Allegheny) said the ban was needed to end "the last vestige of legal discrimination in Pennsylvania - discrimination based on an individual's sexual orientation or gender identity or expression." Laws already ban discrimination based on race, religion, or gender.

As if to remind people that Pennsylvania's social conservatives are alive and well, Rep. Daryl Metcalfe (R., Butler) - in whose committee the antidiscrimination bill would be considered - reintroduced a bill of his own Tuesday: a constitutional "marriage protection" amendment.

"The definition of marriage as 'the union of one man and one woman,' defended and upheld by this legislation, is the traditional definition of marriage that has been recognized and accepted throughout history and the world for centuries," said Metcalfe, who sponsored a similar bill that passed the House in 2006. "Neither homosexual special interests gathered under the immoral umbrella of the ACLU, nor the Obama administration's Department of Justice or any activist court should decide this critical issue for our commonwealth."

The amendment would have to pass in two consecutive legislative sessions and be approved by a voter referendum. Thirty-one states have approved similar amendments.

Emboldened gay-rights supporters lashed out at Metcalfe's bill and issued a news release pointing to its shorter list of cosponsors - 27, all Republicans. "The 'marriage amendment' is unneeded and unwanted, and more legislators are realizing this," Frankel contended.

For his part, Metcalfe vowed to defeat the antidiscrimination bill in his committee. "I think it's shocking that people want to force government to recognize through policy their sexual desires and put it into law," he said.

A recent Susquehanna Poll found growing statewide support - over 60 percent - for the antibias measures contained in the bill.

At a news conference attended by at least 20 legislators, union representatives, and faith and business leaders, Rep. Brian K. Sims (D., Phila.) called the bill's introduction historic. Sims is one of the state's first two openly gay lawmakers. The other, Rep. Mike Fleck (R., Huntingdon), attended but did not speak.

"As a gay man, I know firsthand how important these protections are and how fundamental they are to the safety and security that so many Pennsylvanians take for granted," Sims said. "As a legislator, I see every day how the commonwealth is failing in its promise to treat all people with dignity, respect, and equality under the law."


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Wednesday, May 08, 2013

Heavy Rain Causes Flooding Across Tri-State Area Wednesday

1010 WINS' John Montone Gets Stuck In Flood, Finds Himself Part Of The Story

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 May 8, 2013 1:02 PM

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – New York City got what appears to be a record-breaking soaking Wednesday morning.

According to CBS 2, New York City received 2.39 inches of rain in the early-morning drenching. That’s almost double what we received for all of April, which brought us just 1.31 inches of rain.

It appears to have broken the previous record for this date, set in 1886, when the Big Apple got 2.33 inches.

Photos: Heavy Rains Cause Flooding Around Tri-State

The National Weather Service will clarify whether the record was officially broken later today.

The worst of the rain passed through New York City this morning. Scattered showers were expected throughout the rest of the day, with pop-up thunderstorms possible.

CHECK: Radar | Forecast & Alerts | Traffic & Transit | Listen: 1010 WINS | WCBS 880

Excessive runoff from the heavy rainfall caused some flooding on highways, streets, underpasses and other low-lying areas.

An American Eagle jet from Detroit landed safely at LaGuardia Airport after reporting that it had been struck twice by lightning, the Federal Aviation Administration said. No one was injured.

1010 WINS’ reporter John Montone found himself becoming part of the story when his vehicle got stuck in a flooded street in Jersey City.



John Montone’s vehicle got stuck in the water during heavy rain May 8, 2013. (credit: John Montone/1010 WINS)

“I tried to get out to push the car, and as I’m sure a lot of people have experienced, the water came rushing in on me,” Montone said. “I stayed with the car, tried to get a tow, AAA informed me they didn’t want their trucks getting stuck in the water.”

John Montone Gets Stuck In Flood
1010 WINS  play

In Hoboken, cars that attempted to driver under two separate underpasses near Newark Avenue got stuck. One quick-thinking pedestrian hitched a ride on a big-rig to escape the flooding, CBS 2′s Elise Finch reported.

The flagship Apple store at 59th Street and 5th Avenue apparently got partially flooded. Photos from its subterranean level show what appears to be significant water damage to part of the ceiling and a large puddle on the ground.




The Apple store was partially flooded following heavy rain on May 8, 2013. (credit: Errol Rappaport)


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Clash Erupts at Benghazi Hearing


POLITICS
Updated May 8, 2013, 1:15 p.m. ET


By SIOBHAN HUGHES

WASHINGTON—House Republicans and Democrats clashed Wednesday at a congressional hearing featuring three State Department officials, who are testifying about what happened before, during and after the fatal attacks last year on a U.S. diplomatic outpost in Benghazi, Libya.



Associated Press
Eric Nordstrom, the former chief security officer for the American diplomatic outpost in Libya, answera questions in October 2012.


House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R., Calif.) opened the hearing by complaining that the Obama administration had ignored congressional inquiries—a claim top State Department officials have flatly said is wrong. He also said that the two men who headed an independent board that reviewed what went wrong in Benghazi had declined to testify.

Rep. Elijah Cummings (D., Md.), the committee's top Democrat, challenged an impression left by Republicans that a military team could have gotten to Benghazi before the second attack on the consulate compound, and that the second attack might have been stopped if a fighter jet had been sent.

"Our committee has a fundamental obligation to conduct responsible oversight," Mr. Cummings said. "What we have seen over the past two weeks is a full-scale media campaign that is not designed to investigate what happened in a responsible and bipartisan way, but rather a launch of unfounded accusations to smear public officials."



More Covearge
WATCH: Live stream of the hearing
Gregory Hicks' Testimony: How the Benghazi Attack Unfolded
Testimony: Thompson | Hicks | Nordstrom
State Department report
Senate report from US Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Text of the House GOP report

Earlier
GOP Report Slams Obama Administration on Benghazi (4/23/2013)
Senate Report Widens Fault for Benghazi Failures (12/30/2012)
Four at State Department Removed After Libya Report (12/19/12)
State Department Faulted in Libya Attack(12/19/12)



Mark Thompson, the deputy coordinator for operations at the State Department, said he was at his desk when the first reports arrived indicating an attack in Benghazi. He said he decided that the U.S. needed to activate a group called the Foreign Emergency Support Team, and notified the White House, but was told that meetings had already taken place that determined the team wasn't "in the menu of options."

Mr. Thompson said he thought that it was important to "act now" because "you don't know what's going to happen in two hours."

The State Department has said that the team, based in the U.S., wouldn't have arrived in Libya in time to make any difference. Daniel Benjamin, the head of counterterrorism at the time of the September attacks, has said that the question of whether to deploy the team was posed early, and the State Department made the correct decision against sending it.

Gregory Hicks, the former deputy chief of mission in Libya, began his testimony with a chronology of the attacks from his viewpoint. Last month, he told congressional investigators that the U.S. might have prevented a second attack that killed two Central Intelligence Agency contractors if the military had been able to get a fighter jet to Benghazi as soon as possible, according to a partial transcript of an April interview released by House Republicans.

The Pentagon has repeatedly said that planes couldn't have arrived in time. A State Department Accountability Review Board report released in December found that "there simply was not enough time for armed U.S. military assets to have made a difference."

A third witness, Eric Nordstrom, the former chief security officer for the American diplomatic outpost in Libya, said in prepared testimony that the Benghazi compound failed to meet security standards, even though it faced some of the gravest security threats. In his prepared testimony, he also asked why a review board investigating the attacks didn't expand its probe to cover decisions made higher up the chain of command.

Democrats see the hearing as a politically motivated effort to keep alive an eight-month-old story and drag in former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a possible 2016 Democratic presidential contender.

A State Department official said Tuesday that the department already has a "tough assessment" from an Accountability Review Board convened by Mrs. Clinton. The board faulted a "lack of proactive senior leadership" for security arrangements in Benghazi and said physical security was "profoundly weak."

Republicans are convinced that more digging will show that the Obama administration put politics before security in Benghazi. Republicans say that they themselves aren't motivated by politics but by a desire to seek justice for U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and the three other Americans killed in the attacks. They included an information officer and the two CIA contractors.

The hearing is a prelude to at least two more that Republicans hope to use to keep a spotlight on the attacks.

Mr. Nordstrom, who was in charge of security in Libya until shortly before the attacks, said in prepared testimony that the review board's process seemed professional but left some things unexamined.

Mr. Nordstrom, according to this prepared remarks, also said that he told officials in February 2012 that he wouldn't support occupancy of the diplomatic compound in Benghazi until security upgrades had been completed. He will say that senior State Department decision makers "determined that funding would not be provided," and will ask who waived requirements that embassy facilities meet security standards.



Real-time Washington News and Insight


Witness Hicks: How the Benghazi Attack Unfolded

Gregory Hicks, the former deputy chief of mission in Libya, on Wednesday testified to a House committee about the night of the attacks at the Benghazi facility and how the U.S. reacted. Here is a partial transcript.

Who's Who: The Benghazi Hearing Witnesses

Seib & Wessel: What We're Reading Wednesday


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