Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Obama to Pick James B. Comey, Former Bush Official, to Lead F.B.I.



BREAKING NEWS Wednesday, May 29, 2013 6:16 PM EDT


Obama to Pick James B. Comey, Former Bush Official, to Lead F.B.I.

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James B. Comey
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



James Comey

United States Deputy Attorney General
In office
December 2003 – August 2005
President George W. Bush
Preceded by Larry Thompson
Succeeded by Robert McCallum (Acting)
Personal details
Born December 14, 1960 (age 52)
Yonkers, New York, U.S.
Political party Republican
Alma mater College of William and Mary
University of Chicago


James B. Comey, Jr. (born December 14, 1960) was United States Deputy Attorney General, serving in President George W. Bush's administration. As Deputy Attorney General, Comey was the second-highest ranking official in the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) and ran the day-to-day operations of the Department, serving in that office from December 2003 through August 2005. He was U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York prior to becoming Deputy Attorney General. On May 29, 2013 President Barack Obama announced plans to appoint Comey to replace Robert S. Mueller III as the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

In December 2003, as Deputy Attorney General, Comey appointed the U.S. Attorney in Chicago, close friend and former colleague Patrick Fitzgerald, as Special Counsel to head the CIA leak grand jury investigation after Attorney General John Ashcroft recused himself. In August 2005, Comey left the DOJ and he became General Counsel and Senior Vice President of Lockheed Martin. In 2010, he became General Counsel at Bridgewater Associates. In early 2013, he left Bridgewater to become Senior Research Scholar and Hertog Fellow on National Security Law at Columbia Law School. He also joined the London-based board of directors of HSBC Holdings.

In May 2013, Comey was mentioned by CNN.com as a possible successor to Robert Mueller as FBI Director.


Contents [hide]
1 Early life and education
2 Marriage and family
3 Career, 1985-2005
4 NSA domestic wiretapping investigation
5 After leaving public office
5.1 Testimony before congressional committees
5.2 Supreme Court consideration
6 Notes
7 External links

Early life and education [edit]

Born in Yonkers, New York, Comey grew up in Allendale, New Jersey.[1] He attended Northern Highlands Regional High School in Allendale.[2]

Comey graduated from the College of William and Mary in 1982, majoring in chemistry and religion. His senior thesis analyzed the liberal theologian Reinhold Niebuhr and the conservative televangelist Jerry Falwell, emphasizing their common belief in public action.[3] He received his Juris Doctor (J.D.) from the University of Chicago Law School in 1985.

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Deaths of Witnesses Connected to the assassination of John F. Kennedy



v Primary Sources v



Some writers who have investigated the assassination of John F. Kennedy have claimed that a large number of witnesses to the event have died in mysterious circumstances. The Sunday Times reported that "the odds against these witnesses being dead by February, 1967, were one hundred thousand trillion to one." When the Select Committee on Assassinations questioned the newspaper reporter who wrote the article, he admitted he had made a "careless journalistic mistake".

In his book Crossfire, the author Jim Marrs, provided a list of 103 people who he claims died in mysterious circumstances between 1963 and 1976. In reality, most of these people died of natural causes. Some of these people did die in accidents. Others were murdered or committed suicide. However, these people rarely had information that would have been important in helping investigators discover if there was a conspiracy to kill Kennedy.

The first person to die linked to the case was Karyn Kupcinet. In his book, Forgive My Grief, W. Penn Jonesreports that "a few days before the assassination, Karyn Kupcinet, 23, was trying to place a long distance telephone call from the Los Angeles area. According to reports, the long distance operator heard Miss Kupcinet scream into the telephone that President Kennedy was going to be killed." Karyn's body was discovered on 30th November, 1963. Police estimated that she had been dead for two days. The New York Times reported that she had been strangled. Her actor boyfriend, Andrew Prine was the main suspect but he was never charged with the murder and the crime remains unsolved.

Some researchers claimed that there was a link between the death of Kupcinet and the assassination ofJohn F. Kennedy. It was argued that the conspirators were trying to frighten off her father and journalist, Irv Kupcinet from telling what he knew.

Grant Stockdale, a close friend of John F. Kennedy died on 2nd December, 1963 when he fell (or was pushed) from his office on the thirteenth story of the Dupont Building in Miami. Stockdale did not leave a suicide note but his friend, George Smathers, claimed that he had become depressed as a result of the death of the president. However, it later became known that four days after the assassination Stockdale flew to Washington and talked with Robert Kennedy and Edward Kennedy. On his return Stockdale told several of his friends that "the world was closing in." On 1st December, he spoke to his attorney, William Frates who later recalled: "He started talking. It didn't make much sense. He said something about 'those guys' trying to get him. Then about the assassination."

After the assassination of President Kennedy, Gary Underhill told his friend, Charlene Fitsimmons, that he was convinced that he had been killed by members of the CIA. He also said: "Oswald is a patsy. They set him up. It's too much. The bastards have done something outrageous. They've killed the President! I've been listening and hearing things. I couldn't believe they'd get away with it, but they did!"







Underhill believed there was a connection between Executive Action, Fidel Castro and the death of John F. Kennedy: "They tried it in Cuba and they couldn't get away with it. Right after the Bay of Pigs. But Kennedy wouldn't let them do it. And now he'd gotten wind of this and he was really going to blow the whistle on them. And they killed him!"

Gary Underhill told friends that he feared for his life: "I know who they are. That's the problem. They know I know. That's why I'm here. I can't stay in New York." Underhill was found dead on 8th May 1964. He had been shot in the head and it was officially ruled that he had committed suicide. However, in his book, Destiny Betrayed (1992), James DiEugenio claimed that the bullet entered the right-handed Underhill's head behind the left ear.

There has been a significant number of people who have died who did appear to have important information about the case. This includes several journalists investigating the murder. On 24th November, 1963, Bill Hunter of the Long Beach Press Telegram and Jim Koethe of the Dallas Times Herald interviewed George Senator. Also there was the attorney Tom Howard. Earlier that day Senator and Howard had both visitedJack Ruby in jail. That evening Senator arranged for Koethe, Hunter and Howard to search Ruby's apartment.

It is not known what the journalists found but on 23rd April 1964, Hunter was shot dead by Creighton Wiggins, a policeman in the pressroom of a Long Beach police station. Wiggins initially claimed that his gun fired when he dropped it and tried to pick it up. In court this was discovered that this was impossible and it was decided that Hunter had been murdered. Wiggins finally admitted he was playing a game of quick draw with his fellow officer. The other officer, Errol F. Greenleaf, testified he had his back turned when the shooting took place. In January 1965, both were convicted and sentenced to three years probation.

Jim Koethe decided to write a book about the assassination of Kennedy. However, he died on 21st September, 1964. It seems that a man broke into his Dallas apartment and killed him by a karate chop to the throat. Tom Howard died of a heart-attack, aged 48, in March, 1965.

On 21st July, 1964, Dr. Mary Sherman was murdered in New Orleans. She had been stabbed in the heart, arm, leg and stomach. Her laboratory was also set on fire. The crime has never been sold. Later Edward T. Haslam published Mary, Ferrie & the Monkey Virus : The Story of an Underground Medical Laboratory. In the book he argued that Sherman was working with David Ferrie. Haslam believed that this Central Intelligence Agency backed research involved disease intelligence gathering and cancer research using laboratory-made biological weapons. Haslam claimed this biological weapon was to be used against Cuba’s Fidel Castro.

Judyth Baker later began giving interviews aboout involvement in an anti-Castro conspiracy. She claims that in 1963 she was recruited by Dr. Canute Michaelson to work with Dr. Alton Ochsner and Dr. Mary Shermanin a CIA secret project. This involved creating the means to insure Fidel Castro developed cancer.

In 1963 Judyth moved to New Orleans where she worked closely with others involved in this plot. This included Lee Harvey Oswald, David Ferrie, Clay Shaw and Guy Bannister. Later she claimed she began an affair with Oswald. The research into this biological weapon was carried out in the homes of Ferrie and Sherman. Oswald role in this conspiracy was to work as a courier. However, the project was abandoned in September, 1963, and Oswald was ordered to Dallas.

Oswald kept in touch with Baker and in November, 1963, he had been forced to join a plot to kill John F. Kennedy. Oswald believed that the conspiracy was being organized by Mafia leader, Carlos Marcello and aCIA agent, David Atlee Phillips. Oswald told her he would do what he could to ensure that Kennedy was not killed. After the assassination of Kennedy and the arrest of Oswald, Baker received a phone-call from David Ferrie warning her that she would be killed if she told anyone about her knowledge of these events.

On 12th October, 1964, Mary Pinchot Meyer was shot dead as she walked along the Chesapeake and Ohio towpath in Georgetown. Henry Wiggins, a car mechanic, was working on a vehicle on Canal Road, when he heard a woman shout out: "Someone help me, someone help me". He then heard two gunshots. Wiggins ran to the edge of the wall overlooking the towpath. He later told police he saw "a black man in a light jacket, dark slacks, and a dark cap standing over the body of a white woman."

Soon afterwards Raymond Crump, a black man, was found not far from the murder scene. He was arrested and charged with Mary's murder. The towpath and the river were searched but no murder weapon was ever found.

The media did not report at the time that Mary Pinchot Meyer had been having an affair with John F. Kennedy. Nor did it reveal that her former husband, Cord Meyer, was a senior figure in CIA's covert operations. As a result, there was little public interest in the case.

During the trial Wiggins was unable to identify Raymond Crump as the man standing over Meyer's body. The prosecution was also handicapped by the fact that the police had been unable to find the murder weapon at the scene of the crime. On 29th July, 1965, Crump was acquitted of murdering Mary Meyer. The case remains unsolved.

In March, 1976, James Truitt gave an interview to the National Enquirer. Truitt told the newspaper that Mary Pinchot Meyer was having an affair with John F. Kennedy. He also claimed that Meyer had told his wife, Ann Truitt, that she was keeping an account of this relationship in her diary. Meyer asked Truitt to take possession of a private diary "if anything ever happened to me".

Ann Truitt was living in Tokyo at the time of the murder. She phoned Ben Bradlee at his home and asked him if he had found the diary. Bradlee, who claimed he was unaware of his sister-in-law's affair with Kennedy, knew nothing about the diary. He later recalled what he did after Truitt's phone-call: "We didn't start looking until the next morning, when Tony and I walked around the corner a few blocks to Mary's house. It was locked, as we had expected, but when we got inside, we found Jim Angleton, and to our complete surprise he told us he, too, was looking for Mary's diary."

James Angleton, CIA counterintelligence chief, admitted that he knew of Mary's relationship with John F. Kennedy and was searching her home looking for her diary and any letters that would reveal details of the affair. According to Ben Bradlee, it was Mary's sister, Antoinette Bradlee, who found the diary and letters a few days later. It was claimed that the diary was in a metal box in Mary's studio. The contents of the box were given to Angleton who claimed he burnt the diary. Angleton later admitted that Mary recorded in her diary that she had taken LSD with Kennedy before "they made love".

Leo Damore claimed in an article that appeared in the New York Post that the reason Angleton and Bradlee were looking for the diary was that: "She (Meyer) had access to the highest levels. She was involved in illegal drug activity. What do you think it would do to the beatification of Kennedy if this woman said, 'It wasn't Camelot, it was Caligula's court'?" Damore also said that a figure close to the CIA had told him that Mary's death had been a professional "hit".

There is another possible reason why both Angleton and Bradlee were searching for documents in Meyer's house. Were they looking for material that Meyer had been collecting on CIA's covert activities?

In 1963 Desmond FitzGerald was in charge of the CIA's Cuban Task Force. In this post he personally organized three different plots to assassinate Fidel Castro. According to Dick Russell, FitzGerald had a meeting in France with a Cuban code-named AM/LASH, finalising a plan to eliminate Castro, at the same time John F. Kennedy was assassinated. FitzGerald died of a heart attack while playing tennis in Virginia on 23rd July, 1967.

Lisa Howard died at East Hampton, Long Island, on 4th July, 1965. It was officially reported that she had committed suicide. Apparently, she had taken one hundred phenobarbitols. It was claimed she was depressed as a result of losing her job and suffering a miscarriage. At first no one associated Howard's death with the Kennedy assassination. However, it has recently emerged that Howard was involved in secret negotiations with Fidel Castro on behalf of John F. Kennedy.

Winston Scott was the CIA's station chief in Mexico. Scott retired in 1969 and wrote a memoir about his time in the FBI, OSS and the CIA. He completed the manuscript, It Came To Late, and made plans to discuss the contents of the book with CIA director, Richard Helms, in Washington on 30th April, 1971. Four days before the agreed meeting Scott died of a heart attack.

Michael Scott told Dick Russell that James Angleton took away his father's manuscript. Angleton also confiscated three large cartons of files including a tape-recording of the voice of Lee Harvey Oswald. Michael Scott was also told by a CIA source that his father had not died from natural causes. Scott eventually got his father's manuscript back from the CIA. However, 150 pages were missing. Chapters 13 to 16 were deleted in their entirety. In fact, everything about his life after 1947 had been removed on grounds of national security.

Nancy Carole Tyler worked as secretary to Bobby Baker. At the time of the assassination she was living with Mary Jo Kopechne, who worked for George Smathers (she later became secretary to Robert Kennedy). According to W. Penn Jones Jr, it was Tyler and Kopechne who told Baker that John F. Kennedy planned to replace Lyndon B. Johnson as vice president. Tyler died in a plane crash, near Ocean City, Maryland, on 10th May, 1965. Kopechne was later to die in the car of Edward Kennedy on 18th July, 1969.

Dorothy Kilgallen, a crime reporter of the New York Journal, obtained a private interview with Jack Ruby. She told friends that she had information that would "break the case wide open". Aware of what had happened toBill Hunter and Jim Koethe, she handed her interview notes to her friend Margaret Smith. On 8th November, 1965, Kilgallen, was found dead. It was reported she had committed suicide. Her friend, Margaret Smith, died two days later.

Two of the men that Jim Garrison believed were involved in the conspiracy to kill Kennedy, Guy Bannister(June, 1964), David Ferrie ( February, 1967) and Eladio del Valle (February, 1967) died before they could be brought to court.

Roger D. Craig was on duty in Dallas on 22nd November, 1963. After hearing the firing at President John F. Kennedy he ran towards the Grassy Knoll where he interviewed witnesses to the shooting. About 15 minutes later he saw a man running from the back door of the Texas Book Depository down the slope to Elm Street. He then got into a Nash station wagon.

Craig saw the man again in the office of Captain Will Fitz. It was the recently arrested Lee Harvey Oswald. When Craig told his story about the man being picked up by the station wagon, Oswald replied: "That station wagon belongs to Mrs. Paine... Don't try to tie her into this. She had nothing to do with it."

Craig was also with Seymour Weitzman when the rifle was found on the sixth floor of the Texas Book Depository. He insisted that the rifle was a 7.65 Mauser and not a Mannlicher-Carcano.

Craig became unpopular with senior police officers in Dallas when he testified before the Warren Commission. He insisted he had seen Lee Harvey Oswald get into the station wagon 15 minutes after the shooting. This was ignored by Earl Warren and his team because it showed that at least two people were involved in the assassination. Craig, unlike Seymour Weitzman, refused to change his mind about finding a Mauser rather than a Mannlicher-Carcano in the Texas Book Depository. Craig was fired from the police department in 1967 after he was found to have discussed his evidence with a journalist.

In 1967 Roger D. Craig went to New Orleans and was a prosecution witness at the trial of Clay Shaw. Later that year he was shot at while walking to a car park. The bullet only grazed his head. In 1973 a car forced Craig's car off a mountain road. He was badly injured but he survived the accident. In 1974 he surviving another shooting in Waxahachie, Texas. The following year he was seriously wounded when his car engine exploded. Craig told friends that the Mafia had decided to kill him. Craig was found dead from on 15th May, 1975. It was later decided he had died as a result of self-inflicted gunshot wounds.

When the Select Committee on Intelligence Activities and Select Committee on Assassinations began investigating Kennedy's death in the 1970s the deaths of potential witnesses increased dramatically. This included several criminals with possible links to the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Those who were killed or who died in suspicious circumstances during this period included Malcolm Wallace (1971), Lucien Sarti (1972), Charles Willoughby (1972), Thomas Davis (1973), Richard Cain (1973), Dave Yarras (1974),Sam Giancana (1975), Jimmy Hoffa (1975), Roland Masferrer (1975), Johnny Roselli (1976), George De Mohrenschildt (1977), Charlie Nicoletti (1977) and Carlos Prio (1977).

William Sullivan, the main figure in the FBI involved in the Executive Action project, was shot dead near his home in Sugar Hill, New Hampshire, on 9th November, 1977. Sullivan had been scheduled to testify before the House Select Committee on Assassinations.

Sullivan was one of six top FBI officials who died in a six month period in 1977. Others who were due to appear before the committee who died included Louis Nicholas, special assistant to J. Edgar Hoover and his liaison with the Warren Commission; Alan H. Belmont, special assistant to Hoover; James Cadigan, document expert with access to documents that related to death of John F. Kennedy; J. M. English, former head of FBI Forensic Sciences Laboratory where Oswald's rifle and pistol were tested and Donald Kaylor, FBI fingerprint chemist who examined prints found at the assassination scene.

Several important figures in the Central Intelligence Agency died before they could give evidence to theHouse Select Committee on Assassinations investigations. Sheffield Edwards, the CIA official who attempted to organize the assassination of Fidel Castro, died in July, 1975. William Harvey, head of theZR/RIFLE project, died as a result of complications from heart surgery in June, 1976. William Pawley, who took part in Operation Tilt, died of gunshot wounds in January, 1977. David Morales, who some believe organized the assassination, died aged 53, on 8th May, 1978. Another important figure in CIA covert operations, Thomas Karamessines died of a heart attack on 4th September, 1978.

John Paisley was deputy director of the Office of Strategic Research. On 24th September, 1978, John Paisley, took a trip on his motorized sailboat on Chesapeake Bay. Two days later his boat was found moored in Solomons, Maryland. Paisley's body was found in Maryland's Patuxent River. The body was fixed to diving weights. He had been shot in the head. Police investigators described it as "an execution-type murder". However, officially Paisley's death was recorded as a suicide.


According to the journalist, Victor Marchetti, Paisley was a close friend of Yuri Nosenko. Marchetti also claimed that Paisley knew a great deal about the assassination of John F. Kennedy and was murdered during the House Select Committee on Assassinations investigation because he was "about to blow the whistle".


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Puerto Rico Governor Signs Gay Rights Measure




Wednesday, 29 May 2013 11:23 AM


Puerto Rico's governor has signed a bill that prohibits employment discrimination based on gender or sexual orientation.

Alejandro Garcia Padilla said Wednesday that he met his obligations as a Christian by signing the bill and congratulated legislators on approving the proposal.

The original measure would have also banned discrimination in commercial transactions, property rentals, public transportation and other circumstances. Those clauses were removed after heavy opposition by religious groups.

Most government agencies in the U.S. territory already have anti-discriminatory policies, but human rights activists say they are often not enforced.

Garcia also signed a separate bill that extends a domestic violence law to gay couples.



Source: http://www.newsmax.com/US/Puerto-Rico-gay-sign-governor/2013/05/29/id/506878#ixzz2UhxKEwTh 

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Tipping Point - Bob Trefz



Has Barack Obama brought America to It's "Tipping Point"?   Bob Trefz

MrPioneerlight2011 


Published on May 21, 2013

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Jesuit Wars



(Jesuit Wars - pt.1)

NEW POPE, FRANCIS I - Who are the Jesuits?



Adrian McQueen

Published on Mar 22, 2013

The Jesuits are a priestly militia who aren't that known in our modern culture. In our digital age, truth seekers are obsssessed with secret societies, where the Papacy and its loyal soldiers the Jesuits, Knights of Malta and Opus Dei have been overlooked, making their work of global control a lot easier. Respectable books on them are either out of print, or in some arrchive which most of the public won't have access to. The Jesuits are experts at covering their tracks and they have played a key role and have been behind many of the bloodiest wars and assasinations in almost five hundred years - The Spanish Armada (1588), The Gunpowder Plot (1605), The Thirty Years War (1618-1648), American Civil War (1861-1865), World War I (1914-1918) and World War II (1940-1945) and many modern wars in both Vietnam & Argentina. With the election of a Jesuit Pope what might you think is in store for the world?
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JESUIT WARS pt.2



Adrian McQueen

Published on Mar 28, 2013

The world has been duped into believing that the so-called "War on Terror" is to benefit humanity when it has only wiped out and continues to diminish cherished freedoms. The fight we are pursuing to keep our cherished liberties is a continuation of the struggles men had during and after the Reformation against the Papacy and its most loyal soldiers, the Jesuits and if we don't understand the history, we will definitely repeat it.

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Financial Scandals: The Hidden Wealth of the Catholic Church

By Anna Catherin Loll and Peter Wensierski


Photo Gallery: The Hidden Wealth of the Catholic Church

The Catholic Church is currently being shaken by a number of financial scandals, not only in Franconia but also in Augsburg, another Bavarian city, where Bishop Walter Mixa's dip into funds from a foundation that runs children's homes recently made headlines.

More than €40 million have gone missing in the Diocese of Magdeburg in eastern Germany, €5 million have disappeared in Limburg near Frankfurt, and it was recently discovered that a senior priest in the Diocese of Münster had 30 secret bank accounts. And while parishes throughout Germany are cutting jobs and funds for community work, many bishops are still living on the high horse. A brand-new residence? An ostentatious home for their retirement? Restoration of a Marian column to the tune of €120,000? None of these expenditures presents a problem to high-ranking church officials from Trier in the west to Passau in the southeastern corner of Bavaria, whose coffers are brimming with cash.


Read more.
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Boston church official pleads not guilty to racketeering, extortion, conspiracy charges




Published May 28, 2013

Associated Press


BOSTON – A Boston church official who claimed in an autobiography that he was a leg-breaker for reputed gangster James "Whitey" Bulger has pleaded not guilty to charges that he looted the church's assets.

Edward MacKenzie Jr. is the former director of operations at the Boston Society of the New Jerusalem Church, whose members belong to the Swedenborgian denomination.

MacKenzie was arrested last week after a grand jury indicted him on charges including racketeering and extortion.

Federal authorities say MacKenzie looted the church of its considerable financial assets through fraud, deceit, extortion, theft and bribery.

MacKenzie pleaded not guilty Tuesday to all 14 charges against him. Each count carries a maximum 20-year sentence.

His bail hearing was postponed until June 26 after a new defense attorney requested more time.



Source: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/05/28/boston-church-official-pleads-not-guilty-to-racketeering-extortion-conspiracy/#ixzz2UcvQ8Qkb
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Boy Scout Oath



Boy Scout Oath 

(or Promise)

On my honor, I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight.

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Scout Law


A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly,
courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty,
brave, clean, and reverent.


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California lawmakers seek vote on Boy Scouts' tax-exemption bill





Boy Scouts of America National Commissioner Tico Perez, right, speaks to reporters in Grapevine, Texas, after the organization voted to allow openly gay youths to serve as Scouts. At left is Scouts' President Wayne Perry. (Tony Gutierrez / Associated Press / May 23, 2013)



By Patrick McGreevy

May 28, 2013, 9:13 a.m.



The decision last week by the Boy Scouts of America to allow openly gay youths as Scouts was welcomed by California lawmakers, but some are still pressing for a vote on a proposal that could strip the group of its tax-exempt status.

The national council for the organization voted Thursday to change its policy on youth membership, but it is maintaining a ban on openly gay adult leaders.

State Sen. Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) said he is continuing to pursue legislation that would remove an exemption from state taxes from any nonprofit youth groups that discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or religious affiliation.

The Youth Equality Act will continue to move forward to ensure that discrimination in any form does not exist -- not in our state, not on our dime,” Lara said in a statement.

The action by the Boy Scouts is “a step in the right direction,” he added. “However, since this policy does not include all members of the BSA, it falls short of a truly inclusive policy.”

SB 323 has been approved by the Senate Governance and Finance Committee and could come up for a vote of the full California Senate this week.

Some members of the state Assembly also signaled they are not satisfied by the Boy Scouts' decision.

“This is progress, but not enough,” said Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley). “BSA rules still prevent an adult, even an adult who achieved the rank of Eagle Scout, from being a Scout leader solely because that person is gay.”


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How did 'patriot' become a dirty word?



By John Avlon, CNN Contributor
May 28, 2013 -- Updated 1035 GMT (1835 HKT)


Lois Lerner is sworn in before testifying to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Wednesday, May 22, in Washington. As the Internal Revenue Service director of exempt organizations, Lerner headed the division involved in targeting conservative groups. She invoked her constitutional right against self-incrimination and refused to answer questions from the congressional committee.





STORY HIGHLIGHTS
John Avlon: It's telling and sad that IRS workers were on lookout for "patriot" groups
"Patriot" is a word whose meaning has been corrupted by extremists, he says
Avlon: Past decade has seen exploding number of "patriot" paramilitary groups


Editor's note: John Avlon, a CNN contributor and senior political columnist for Newsweek and The Daily Beast, is the author of "Independent Nation" and "Wingnuts." He won the National Society of Newspaper Columnists' award for best online column in 2012.


New York (CNN) -- On Memorial Day, we honor those patriots who gave "the last full measure of devotion" -- in Abraham Lincoln's words -- and died defending our freedom and union.

But this Memorial Day is partly clouded by the resurgence of partisan scandal in Washington. At the IRS, employees filtered through the exploding number of tax exemption applications by politically associated organizations by being on the lookout for groups that had the name "Tea Party" and "Patriot" in their name. This was improper, illegal, unethical and outrageous.

But hold on -- when did the word "patriot" become a partisan pejorative? How did such a bipartisan positive word get identified as a sign of hyperpartisan politics?


John Avlon

It's actually an interesting story.

Over the past few years, you might have noticed more than few political fundraising e-mails addressing you as "Fellow Patriot." They ain't from the ACLU. They tend to be from conservative activist groups, and there is more than a little self-congratulation in their tribal identifier.

The idea, of course, is that their fellow travelers on the right side of the aisle are the "real" patriots -- related to Sarah Palin's "Real Americans" -- defenders of a political faith and traditional way of life under attack by liberals, Democrats, demographics and above all, President Barack Obama.

The fact that many of these self-styled superpatriots seem to hate their twice-elected president is itself a sign of just how dumb the false dualities that dominate our politics can be.


IRS official Lerner placed on leave

President Obama hopes to reset agenda

Lerner: 'I have not done anything wrong'


But it's nothing new. Like so many themes in our politics, there are echoes of the past in our present debates. Going back to at least the virulently anti-Catholic "Know-Nothing" Party of the 1800s, conservative populists have always styled themselves as superpatriots whose commitment to our country outpaces their neighbors and especially our country's newest arrivals.

There has always been an anxiety -- most recently articulated by Pat Buchanan and Anne Coulter -- that immigration will change the complexion and cultural character of our country. It has always been ultimately exposed as xenophobia poising as patriotism.

Three of my grandparents arrived to the United States more or less a century ago from Southern Europe, and they were derided as "garlic eaters" and far worse by some earlier immigrants, but welcomed with open arms by many more. Their achievement of the American Dream is why I proudly count myself as an almost cheesy patriot of the Norman Rockwell variety.

But history teaches us to be wary of people who lord their patriotism over others and use it to divide rather than unite.

The precursors to some of today's more cultish conservative groups emerged during post-war anxiety about the legitimate threat of communism and the McCarthy-ite excesses that flowed out of that era's right wing politics. The us-against-them, "enemy within" rhetoric of the John Birch Society endures today in the polemics of Glenn Beck, Alex Jones and others.

The early growth of self-styled paramilitary groups began in the early 1960s during the presidency of John F. Kennedy -- a committed Cold Warrior, but not incidentally a Catholic and a Democrat.

The "Minutemen" were one such group who thrived off survivalist drills and a supposed plan to "confiscate all private firearms by the end of 1965."

We hear similar strains of fearmongering today in the attempts to block the universal gun background check bill. Notably, the Minutemen's founder, Robert Bolivar DePugh, briefly tried to form a political party called -- you guessed it -- The Patriot Party. They fell into some discredit when DePugh's followers were implicated in a half-baked plot to attack the United Nations.

At the time, former President Dwight Eisenhower, a Republican, felt compelled to weigh in by saying, "I don't think the United States needs Super-Patriots. ... We need patriotism, honestly practiced by all of us and we don't need these people [who pretend to be] more patriotic than you or anybody else."

Ike's advice was good then and now.

He had the credibility that comes from leading our troops in World War II. Nobody with half a brain was going to accuse him of being anything less than a full-fledged patriot (which didn't stop the founder of the John Birch Society from accusing him of being a Soviet agent just as Obama is called a Muslim Marxist by some today.)

Over the past decade, we've seen the explosive growth of paramilitary style "patriot" groups -- to more than 1,000 according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. This dynamic definitely didn't help the word "patriot" recover its bipartisan bona fides. Neither did the impulse of some on the far left since the late 1960s to denigrate patriotism and military service as signs of what they call American imperialism.

The fact that the word "patriot" was used as a filter by IRS workers is a sign of the persistence of culture wars in our politics, perhaps more prevalent now than ever because of the rise of partisan media.

It is a deep breach of the trust that the IRS has struggled to rebuild since the audit scandals of the Nixon administration. And it is a particular irony that the completely inappropriate partisan filter they used will no doubt actually impede investigations of what might ultimately be revealed to be a more widespread scandal -- the illegal abuse of tax-free status by partisan political groups. But the damage has been done.

When the word "patriot" becomes a pejorative, it is a sign of how much our shared civic faith has been denigrated by the rise of hyperpartisan politics.

The very emotion that should unite us all as Americans is too often used as a wedge to divide us. On this Memorial Day, that's worth reflection and a determination to do better as one small way of honoring those whose sacrifice makes all our bitter political battles seem small and self-indulgent.


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Tuesday, May 28, 2013

High winds level homes after reported tornado sightings in Michigan


current goes east conus infrared color enhanced image
Photo (Courtesy) NOAA http://www.goes.noaa.gov/ECIR1.html


Published May 29, 2013

Associated Press


GOODRICH, Mich. – Severe thunderstorms pushed across Michigan's Lower Peninsula on Tuesday night, leading to several funnel cloud sightings, including a tornado that landed near Goodrich High School southeast of Flint, the National Weather Service said. No injuries were immediately reported.

The weather service didn't directly link damage to Tuesday night's tornado sightings in southern Genesee County but said high winds in the same severe thunderstorm system heavily damaged several homes. It said winds toppled numerous trees and power lines.

A funnel cloud was sighted about 10 p.m. near Goodrich, touching down near the high school, the weather service said. A half-hour earlier, it said, winds knocked down a home about 5 miles south of Swartz Creek, roughly 15 miles to the west of Goodrich.

Genesee County's emergency center referred a request for information to Sheriff Robert Pickell, who was out surveying damage Tuesday night. A message was left for him.

The storm also caused damage in the northern part of the county, MLive.com reported.

"It was crazy," said James Roberts of Mount Morris Township, which is about 15 miles northwest of where the tornado touched down in Goodrich. He said he and his family were watching the storm on the porch when winds started gusting. He quickly shuffled everyone to the home's basement. "We had no warning," Roberts said, adding that they never heard a siren go off.

Roberts said his home sustained minimal damage, but others further east were hit more heavily.


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It's Relentless

The struggle continues unabated; 24 hours around the clock without ceasing! 

Since the relentless competition (meticulous scanning) continues I thought it appropriate to re-post this:


SUNDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2012

Sunnyvale, California gaining on Mountain View

A couple of months ago, I pointed out that according to the Live Traffic Feed on this blog, Mountain View, California was the most frequent visitor:



Apparently, an individual or an operation at Sunnyvale, California has taken the challenge and is on track to overtake Mountain View, California as the CONSTANT VISITOR on EndrTimes. Congratulations to that party! Keep up the good work.


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The Truth about Mystery Babylon



MYSTERY BABYLON Documentary - (what they do not want you to know)



XmassIsALie 


Published on Mar 13, 2013


"Come out of her" It's not a casual suggestion. It's a command, not just to Christians, but to all the people of the earth. Come out of it or perish in it. It is a choice everyone must make, and it is a choice that will determine your eternal destiny... or perhaps indicate what you have chosen. (Either way, the results are the same)

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US Embassy employee shot in Venezuela: police


Posted on Tuesday, 05.28.13



BY FABIOLA SANCHEZ
ASSOCIATED PRESS




CARACAS, Venezuela -- A Venezuelan police official says a military attaché at the U.S. Embassy has been injured in a shooting.

The official says that Roberto Ezequiel Rosas was shot in the right leg during an argument when he was leaving a night club in the Chacao district of Caracas. She says he was taken to a local hospital. His condition was not immediately clear.

The official spoke Tuesday on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to release the information publicly.

Embassy officials didn't immediately answer requests for comment.

Crime is a serious problem for Venezuela, which has one of the world's highest murder rates.

Venezuela's government expelled two U.S. military attaches in March for allegedly talking to members of the country's armed forces. Washington responded by ejecting two Venezuelan diplomats.


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Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/05/28/3420663/us-embassy-employee-shot-in-venezuela.html#storylink=cpy

2016 - Obama's America




Wikipedia:

2016: Obama's America is a 2012 documentary by conservative author and commentator Dinesh D'Souza. The film was produced by Gerald R. Molen. D'Souza and John Sullivan co-directed and co-wrote the film, which is based on D'Souza's book The Roots of Obama's Rage (2010). Through interviews and reenactments, the film compares the similarities of the lives of D'Souza and President Barack Obama as D'Souza presents his theory of how early influences on Obama are affecting the decisions he makes as president. The film has grossed over $33.45 million in the United States, making it the fourth highest-grossing documentary (domestically) since 1982.[1][3]

Reviewers from Time,[4] Variety,[5] The New York Times[6] and others have expressed the view that the film is politically partisan, and unlikely to sway undecided voters or Obama supporters.[7] As of 12 March 2013, the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes has the film listed with a 26% rating;[8] it has however been well received in conservative circles.[2][9] Some sources have also praised the film's production values.[9][5][10]
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Lucifer's Telescope - Bob Trefz



The New Jesuit Pope Prepares to Welcome Lucifer As Christ!! Bob Trefz


MrPioneerlight2011


Sermon Entitled..."Lucifer's Telescope": Satan is now preparing for his appearance, with the groundwork laid by the Jesuits holding him up as the alien savior of humanity. A powerful look into what is coming--first of all, from the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy, then from the Jesuit astronomers involved in VATT and LUCIFER. we lay the foundation for truth from the world, and distinguish between truth and error--from the foundations of papal thought and plans, to Biblical foundations. It is all here expounded...

 For more information please see our website: www.exposingdeceptions.org

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Parents can prevent teens' substance use despite doubts



Cathy Payne, USA TODAY
6 a.m. EDT May 25, 2013



(Photo: Thad Allender, Lawrence (Kan.) Journal-World, via AP)



STORY HIGHLIGHTS
22.3% of parents think what they say has little influence
9.1% of parents did not talk to their kids about dangers of drugs
Conversations can mature as children get older



More than one in five parents of teens think what they say has little influence on whether their child uses alcohol, illicit substances or tobacco, according to a report out Friday.

The report, from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), says nearly one in 10 parents (9.1%) said they did not talk to their kids ages 12 through 17 about the dangers of using alcohol, tobacco or other drugs in the past year.

The findings are based on SAMHSA's National Survey on Drug Use and Health, an annual nationwide survey of 67,500 Americans ages 12 and older.

National surveys show that teens who believe their parents would strongly disapprove of them using substances were less likely to try them than their peers were, says Peter Delany, director of the Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality at the SAMHSA.

"Any time is a good time to talk to your kids when you have a chance," Delany says. "But if you haven't started talking to your kids, before school gets out is an especially good time.

"In the summer months, especially around holiday weekends, kids are more likely to get involved with substances," Delany says. Kids may have more access to substances when they are out of school and at holiday parties, he adds.

"Parents need to initiate age-appropriate conversations about these issues with their children at all stages of their development in order to help ensure that their children make the right decisions," SAMHSA administrator Pamela Hyde says.

Conversations about alcohol can change as children get older, says Robert Lindsey, president and CEO of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD.)

"Early on, it may be very basic information," he says. "As kids get older, we need to talk about the impact on health, academics, relationships, driving and the dangers of alcohol and prescription drugs." It is also important to talk about family history and genetic predisposition to alcoholism, he adds.

Lindsey says parents should listen to their kids and be mindful of their own non-verbal communication as well: "Children learn as much from watching what you do as from what you say."

For more information: SAMHSA has a guide Navigating the Teen Years: A Parent's Handbook for Raising Healthy Teens, and the NCADD's website has general guidelines for talking with kids about alcohol and drugs.


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Families, schools and non-Gender conforming kids



10-year-old Ryan is one of a growing number of children forcing families and schools to adjust to "gender variant" students. Ryan's parents allowed her to be interviewed on the condition that their last name and town not be included. (May 28)


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Ayaan Hirsi Ali: The Problem of Muslim Leadership


OPINION
May 27, 2013, 6:40 p.m. ET

Another Islamist terror attack, another round of assurances that it had nothing to do with the religion of peace.



By AYAAN HIRSI ALI

I've seen this before. A Muslim terrorist slays a non-Muslim citizen in the West, and representatives of the Muslim community rush to dissociate themselves and their faith from the horror. After British soldier Lee Rigby was hacked to death last week in Woolwich in south London, Julie Siddiqi, representing the Islamic Society of Britain, quickly stepped before the microphones to attest that all good Muslims were "sickened" by the attack, "just like everyone else."

This happens every time. Muslim men wearing suits and ties, or women wearing stylish headscarves, are sent out to reassure the world that these attacks have no place in real Islam, that they are aberrations and corruptions of the true faith.

But then what to make of Omar Bakri? He too claims to speak for the true faith, though he was unavailable for cameras in England last week because the Islamist group he founded, Al-Muhajiroun, was banned in Britain in 2010. Instead, he talked to the media from Tripoli in northern Lebanon, where he now lives. Michael Adebolajo—the accused Woolwich killer who was seen on a video at the scene of the murder, talking to the camera while displaying his bloody hands and a meat cleaver—was Bakri's student a decade ago, before his group was banned. "A quiet man, very shy, asking lots of questions about Islam," Bakri recalled last week. The teacher was impressed to see in the grisly video how far his shy disciple had come, "standing firm, courageous, brave. Not running away."

Bakri also told the press: "The Prophet said an infidel and his killer will not meet in Hell. That's a beautiful saying. May God reward [Adebolajo] for his actions . . . I don't see it as a crime as far as Islam is concerned."

The question requiring an answer at this moment in history is clear: Which group of leaders really speaks for Islam? The officially approved spokesmen for the "Muslim community"? Or the manic street preachers of political Islam, who indoctrinate, encourage and train the killers—and then bless their bloodshed?


Islamic Society of Britain/Reuters
Julie Siddiqi, executive director of the Islamic Society of Britain; Omar Bakri, a radical Muslim cleric barred from Britain.



In America, too, the question is pressing. Who speaks for Islam? The Council on American-Islamic Relations, America's largest Muslim civil-liberties advocacy organization? Or one of the many Web-based jihadists who have stepped in to take the place of the late Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-born al Qaeda recruiter?

Some refuse even to admit that this is the question on everyone's mind. Amazingly, given the litany of Islamist attacks—from the 9/11 nightmare in America and the London bombings of July 7, 2005, to the slayings at Fort Hood in Texas in 2009, at the Boston Marathon last month and now Woolwich—some continue to deny any link between Islam and terrorism. This week, BBC political editor Nick Robinson had to apologize for saying on the air, as the news in Woolwich broke, that the men who murdered Lee Rigby were "of Muslim appearance."

Memo to the BBC: The killers were shouting "Allahu akbar" as they struck. Yet when complaints rained down on the BBC about Mr. Robinson's word choice, he felt obliged to atone. One can only wonder at people who can be so exquisitely sensitive in protecting Islam's reputation yet so utterly desensitized to a hideous murder explicitly committed in the name of Islam.

In the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing and the Woolwich murder, it was good to hear expressions of horror and sympathy from Islamic spokesmen, but something more is desperately required: genuine recognition of the problem with Islam.

Muslim leaders should ask themselves what exactly their relationship is to a political movement that encourages young men to kill and maim on religious grounds. Think of the Tsarnaev brothers and the way they justified the mayhem they caused in Boston. Ponder carefully the words last week of Michael Adebolajo, his hands splashed with blood: "We swear by almighty Allah we will never stop fighting you. The only reason we have done this is because Muslims are dying every day."

My friend, the Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh, was murdered in 2004 for having been insufficiently reverent toward Islam. In the courtroom, the killer looked at Theo's mother and said to her: "I must confess honestly that I do not empathize with you. I do not feel your pain. . . . I cannot empathize with you because you are an unbeliever."

And yet, after nearly a decade of similar rhetoric from Islamists around the world, last week the Guardian newspaper could still run a headline quoting a Muslim Londoner: "These poor idiots have nothing to do with Islam." Really? Nothing?

Of course, the overwhelming majority of Muslims are not terrorists or sympathetic to terrorists. Equating all Muslims with terrorism is stupid and wrong. But acknowledging that there is a link between Islam and terror is appropriate and necessary.

On both sides of the Atlantic, politicians, academics and the media have shown incredible patience as the drumbeat of Islamist terror attacks continues. When President Obama gave his first statement about the Boston bombings, he didn't mention Islam at all. This week, Prime Minister David Cameron and London Mayor Boris Johnson have repeated the reassuring statements of the Muslim leaders to the effect that Lee Rigby's murder has nothing to do with Islam.

But many ordinary people hear such statements and scratch their heads in bewilderment. A murderer kills a young father while yelling "Allahu akbar" and it's got nothing to do with Islam?

I don't blame Western leaders. They are doing their best to keep the lid on what could become a meltdown of trust between majority populations and Muslim minority communities.

But I do blame Muslim leaders. It is time they came up with more credible talking points. Their communities have a serious problem. Young people, some of whom are not born into the faith, are being fired up by preachers using basic Islamic scripture and mobilized to wage jihad by radical imams who represent themselves as legitimate Muslim clergymen.

I wonder what would happen if Muslim leaders like Julie Siddiqi started a public and persistent campaign to discredit these Islamist advocates of mayhem and murder. Not just uttering the usual laments after another horrifying attack, but making a constant, high-profile effort to show the world that the preachers of hate are illegitimate. After the next zealot has killed the next victim of political Islam, claims about the "religion of peace" would ring truer.

Ms. Hirsi Ali is the author of "Nomad: My Journey from Islam to America" (Free Press, 2010). She is a fellow at the Belfer Center of Harvard's Kennedy School and a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.


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Inside McCain's secret trip to Syria



The Situation Room|Added on May 27, 2013

Mouaz Moustafa, who helped plan McCain's trip to Syria, discusses details of the trip with CNN's Wolf Blitzer.

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Monday, May 27, 2013

US F-15 Fighter Crashes in Pacific off Okinawa


US F-15 Fighter Crashes in Pacific off Okinawa




TOKYO May 28, 2013 (AP)



A U.S. Air Force F-15 fighter crashed off the southern Japan island of Okinawa early Tuesday after the aircraft developed problems in flight. The pilot ejected and was recovered safely.

The F-15, flying out of Kadena Air Base, went down in the Pacific about 115 kilometers (70 miles) east of Okinawa, the military said in a statement.

Lt. Col. David Honchul, the chief spokesman for the U.S. Forces, Japan, said the pilot was recovered safely after a search by U.S. and Japanese rescue crews. After he ejected from the plane the pilot remained in contact with the rescuers.

The cause was under investigation. The pilot's name has not been released.

The U.S. military has about 50,000 troops based in Japan, about half of them on Okinawa. Kadena Air Base is one of the largest U.S. airbases in the Asia-Pacific region. The F-15 was attached to Kadena's 18th Wing.

Vatican Rising (Texe Marrs)





TyrannosaurusRadio


Uploaded on Nov 9, 2011


Another amazing film by Tex Marrs. This time he journeys to the vatican to exposed jesuits, perverts, satanists and the rest.

truthseekertimes.ca

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Cusp of Revolution - Bob Trefz



Is America on the Cusp Of Revolution? Bob Trefz


MrPioneerlight2011


Published on May 26, 2013

For More Information Please See our Website:
www.exposingdeceptions.org

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Archdiocese Pays for Health Plan That Covers Birth Control



By SHARON OTTERMAN
Published: May 26, 2013

The Archdiocese of New York has previously acknowledged that some local Catholic institutions offer health insurance plans that include contraceptive drugs to comply with state law; now, it is also acknowledging that the archdiocese’s own money is used to pay for a union health plan that covers contraception and even abortion for workers at its affiliated nursing homes and clinics.

“We provide the services under protest,” said Joseph Zwilling, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of New York.


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Cruise ship diverted to Bahamas port after fire



By Marlena Baldacci and Jason Hanna, CNN
updated 1:04 PM EDT, Mon May 27, 2013



The Grandeur of the Seas was damaged in an overnight fire.


STORY HIGHLIGHTS
NEW: Ship was on seven-day trip; CEO headed to Bahamas to meet guests
A fire began on Grandeur of the Seas about 2:50 a.m. with 2,224 guests and 796 crew aboard
Two faintings and a sprained ankle reported but no medical emergencies, company says
The ship was diverted from CocoCay to Freeport, both in the Bahamas



(CNN) -- A Royal Caribbean International ship was diverted to a Bahamas port Monday after an early morning fire sent guests to the decks with life jackets under the night sky.

The Grandeur of the Seas cruise ship, under its own power but escorted by the U.S. Coast Guard, arrived in Freeport hours after the fire, which the company said began in a mooring area about 2:50 a.m. and was extinguished just before 5 a.m.

The ship, with 2,224 guests and 796 crew members, initially was headed to CocoCay, Bahamas, but was redirected to Freeport for evaluation, Royal Caribbean said.

Two guests were treated after fainting, and medical staff also responded to reports of high blood pressure and an ankle sprain, Royal Caribbean said.

Royal Caribbean spokeswoman Cynthia Martinez said she didn't have further information about the medical reports, "but the ship has told us that there are no medical emergencies onboard."

Video captured by passengers Danielle Miller and Katie Coleman shows guests gathered on a deck, wearing orange life jackets.

"We're on deck right now, 3 a.m., in our life jackets. Not a drill, not a joke," a narrator in Miller's video says.

The fire started on the aft mooring deck and spread to the fourth deck at the crew lounge area before it was extinguished, Coast Guard spokeswoman Marilyn Fajardo said. Information on the fire's cause wasn't available, she said.

The ship arrived at Freeport about 10:15 a.m., Royal Caribbean said. Throughout, the power, propulsion and communications systems were uninterrupted, the company said.

Cruise passengers get bill of rights

"In an abundance of caution, the captain deemed it necessary to muster all guests at their assembly stations during the incident," the company said in a news release. "All ... guests and ... crew have been accounted for, and guests have since been allowed to return to most staterooms and public areas.'

Passengers will be able to get off the ship at Freeport if they choose, Martinez said. The company's president and CEO, Adam Goldstein, and other Royal Caribbean officials were heading to Freeport on Monday morning to meet guests, she said.

Grandeur of the Seas departed Baltimore, Maryland, on Friday for a seven-day trip with scheduled port calls to Port Canaveral, Florida; CocoCay; and Nassau in the Bahamas, the company said.

CocoCay is Royal Caribbean's "private island paradise" in the Bahamas, according to its website.

The 916-foot-long ship was launched in December 1996 and refurbished in May 2012, the company said.

A number of cruise ship incidents have made headlines in the past year and a half.

In January 2012, 32 people died when the Costa Concordia capsized off Italy's coast.

In February this year, an engine room fire left the Carnival Triumph adrift in the Gulf of Mexico, with passengers reporting overflowing toilets and human waste running down the walls in some parts of the ship.

On a March cruise, the Carnival Dream lost power and some toilets stopped working. And this month, authorities say, a man and a woman on the Carnival Spirit fell overboard off Australia's coast; they are presumed dead.

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