AND THE THIRD ANGEL FOLLOWED THEM, SAYING WITH A LOUD VOICE, IF ANY MAN WORSHIP THE BEAST AND HIS IMAGE, AND RECEIVE HIS MARK IN HIS FOREHEAD, OR IN HIS HAND. *** REVELATION 14:9
Monday, June 10, 2013
The Impending Conflict - The Great Controversy
The Great Controversy: Chapter (36) The Impending Conflict.
Ellen White
Published on Aug 15, 2012
The Great Controversy: Chapter (36) The Impending Conflict.
Audio Recordings
THIS BOOK, READER, IS NOT PUBLISHED TO TELL US THAT THERE IS SIN AND WOE AND MISERY IN THIS WORLD. WE KNOW IT ALL TOO WELL. THIS BOOK IS NOT PUBLISHED TO TELL US THAT THERE IS AN IRRECONCILABLE CONTROVERSY BETWEEN DARKNESS AND LIGHT, SIN AND RIGHTEOUSNESS, WRONG AND RIGHT, DEATH AND LIFE. IN OUR HEART OF HEARTS WE KNOW IT, AND KNOW THAT WE ARE PARTICIPATORS, ACTORS, IN THE CONFLICT.
BUT TO EVERY ONE OF US COMES AT TIMES A LONGING TO KNOW MORE OF THE GREAT CONTROVERSY. HOW DID THE CONTROVERSY BEGIN? OR WAS IT ALWAYS HERE? WHAT ELEMENTS ENTER INTO ITS AWFULLY COMPLEX ASPECT? HOW AM I RELATED TO IT? WHAT IS MY RESPONSIBILITY? I FIND MYSELF IN THIS WORLD BY NO CHOICE OF MY OWN. DOES THAT MEAN TO ME EVIL OR GOOD?
WHAT ARE THE GREAT PRINCIPLES INVOLVED? HOW LONG WILL THE CONTROVERSY CONTINUE? WHAT WILL BE ITS ENDING? WILL THIS EARTH SINK, AS SOME SCIENTISTS SAY, INTO THE DEPTHS OF A SUNLESS, FROZEN, ETERNAL NIGHT? OR IS THERE A BETTER FUTURE?
THE QUESTION COMES CLOSER STILL: HOW MAY THE CONTROVERSY IN MY OWN HEART, THE STRIFE BETWEEN INFLOWING SELFISHNESS AND OUTGOING LOVE, BE SETTLED IN THE VICTORY OF GOOD, AND SETTLED FOREVER? WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY? WHAT HAS GOD TO TEACH US ABOUT THIS ETERNALLY IMPORTANT QUESTION?
IT IS THE AIM OF THIS BOOK, READER, TO HELP THE TROUBLED SOUL TO A RIGHT SOLUTION OF ALL THESE PROBLEMS. IT IS WRITTEN BY ONE WHO HAS TASTED AND FOUND THAT GOD IS GOOD, AND WHO HAS LEARNED IN COMMUNION WITH GOD AND THE STUDY OF HIS WORD THAT THE SECRET OF THE LORD IS WITH THEM THAT FEAR HIM, AND THAT HE WILL SHOW THEM HIS COVENANT.
THAT WE MAY BETTER UNDERSTAND THE PRINCIPLES OF THE ALL-IMPORTANT CONTROVERSY, IN WHICH THE LIFE OF A UNIVERSE IS INVOLVED, THE AUTHOR HAS SET IT BEFORE US IN GREAT, CONCRETE OBJECT LESSONS OF THE LAST TWENTY CENTURIES.
THE BOOK OPENS WITH THE SAD CLOSING SCENES OF JERUSALEM'S HISTORY, THE CITY OF GOD'S CHOSEN, AFTER HER REJECTION OF THE MAN OF CALVARY, WHO CAME TO SAVE. THENCE ONWARD ALONG THE GREAT HIGHWAY OF THE NATIONS, IT POINTS US TO THE PERSECUTIONS OF GOD'S CHILDREN IN THE FIRST CENTURIES; THE GREAT APOSTASY WHICH FOLLOWED IN HIS CHURCH; THE WORLD-AWAKENING OF THE REFORMATION, IN WHICH SOME OF THE GREAT PRINCIPLES OF THE CONTROVERSY ARE CLEARLY MANIFEST; THE AWFUL LESSON OF THE REJECTION OF RIGHT PRINCIPLES BY FRANCE; THE REVIVAL AND EXALTATION OF THE SCRIPTURES, AND THEIR BENEFICENT, LIFE-SAVING INFLUENCE; THE RELIGIOUS AWAKENING OF THE LAST DAYS; THE UNSEALING OF THE RADIANT FOUNTAIN OF GOD'S WORD, WITH ITS WONDERFUL REVELATIONS OF LIGHT AND KNOWLEDGE TO MEET THE BALEFUL UPSPRINGING OF EVERY DELUSION OF DARKNESS.
Published on Aug 15, 2012
The Great Controversy: Chapter (36) The Impending Conflict.
Audio Recordings
THIS BOOK, READER, IS NOT PUBLISHED TO TELL US THAT THERE IS SIN AND WOE AND MISERY IN THIS WORLD. WE KNOW IT ALL TOO WELL. THIS BOOK IS NOT PUBLISHED TO TELL US THAT THERE IS AN IRRECONCILABLE CONTROVERSY BETWEEN DARKNESS AND LIGHT, SIN AND RIGHTEOUSNESS, WRONG AND RIGHT, DEATH AND LIFE. IN OUR HEART OF HEARTS WE KNOW IT, AND KNOW THAT WE ARE PARTICIPATORS, ACTORS, IN THE CONFLICT.
BUT TO EVERY ONE OF US COMES AT TIMES A LONGING TO KNOW MORE OF THE GREAT CONTROVERSY. HOW DID THE CONTROVERSY BEGIN? OR WAS IT ALWAYS HERE? WHAT ELEMENTS ENTER INTO ITS AWFULLY COMPLEX ASPECT? HOW AM I RELATED TO IT? WHAT IS MY RESPONSIBILITY? I FIND MYSELF IN THIS WORLD BY NO CHOICE OF MY OWN. DOES THAT MEAN TO ME EVIL OR GOOD?
WHAT ARE THE GREAT PRINCIPLES INVOLVED? HOW LONG WILL THE CONTROVERSY CONTINUE? WHAT WILL BE ITS ENDING? WILL THIS EARTH SINK, AS SOME SCIENTISTS SAY, INTO THE DEPTHS OF A SUNLESS, FROZEN, ETERNAL NIGHT? OR IS THERE A BETTER FUTURE?
THE QUESTION COMES CLOSER STILL: HOW MAY THE CONTROVERSY IN MY OWN HEART, THE STRIFE BETWEEN INFLOWING SELFISHNESS AND OUTGOING LOVE, BE SETTLED IN THE VICTORY OF GOOD, AND SETTLED FOREVER? WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY? WHAT HAS GOD TO TEACH US ABOUT THIS ETERNALLY IMPORTANT QUESTION?
IT IS THE AIM OF THIS BOOK, READER, TO HELP THE TROUBLED SOUL TO A RIGHT SOLUTION OF ALL THESE PROBLEMS. IT IS WRITTEN BY ONE WHO HAS TASTED AND FOUND THAT GOD IS GOOD, AND WHO HAS LEARNED IN COMMUNION WITH GOD AND THE STUDY OF HIS WORD THAT THE SECRET OF THE LORD IS WITH THEM THAT FEAR HIM, AND THAT HE WILL SHOW THEM HIS COVENANT.
THAT WE MAY BETTER UNDERSTAND THE PRINCIPLES OF THE ALL-IMPORTANT CONTROVERSY, IN WHICH THE LIFE OF A UNIVERSE IS INVOLVED, THE AUTHOR HAS SET IT BEFORE US IN GREAT, CONCRETE OBJECT LESSONS OF THE LAST TWENTY CENTURIES.
THE BOOK OPENS WITH THE SAD CLOSING SCENES OF JERUSALEM'S HISTORY, THE CITY OF GOD'S CHOSEN, AFTER HER REJECTION OF THE MAN OF CALVARY, WHO CAME TO SAVE. THENCE ONWARD ALONG THE GREAT HIGHWAY OF THE NATIONS, IT POINTS US TO THE PERSECUTIONS OF GOD'S CHILDREN IN THE FIRST CENTURIES; THE GREAT APOSTASY WHICH FOLLOWED IN HIS CHURCH; THE WORLD-AWAKENING OF THE REFORMATION, IN WHICH SOME OF THE GREAT PRINCIPLES OF THE CONTROVERSY ARE CLEARLY MANIFEST; THE AWFUL LESSON OF THE REJECTION OF RIGHT PRINCIPLES BY FRANCE; THE REVIVAL AND EXALTATION OF THE SCRIPTURES, AND THEIR BENEFICENT, LIFE-SAVING INFLUENCE; THE RELIGIOUS AWAKENING OF THE LAST DAYS; THE UNSEALING OF THE RADIANT FOUNTAIN OF GOD'S WORD, WITH ITS WONDERFUL REVELATIONS OF LIGHT AND KNOWLEDGE TO MEET THE BALEFUL UPSPRINGING OF EVERY DELUSION OF DARKNESS.
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Lawmakers: Americans in the Dark on Gov't Snooping
NBCNEWS.COM
Sunday, Jun 9, 2013 at 3:23 PM
Lawmakers: Americans in the Dark on Gov't Snooping
Revelations this week that the National Security Agency has gathered massive amounts of data from domestic phone records and international Internet communications has outraged civil libertarians, while more hawkish Democrats and Republicans have defended the practices, NBC News reported. The one area on which both sides agree is that Americans don’t know how closely the government is scrutinizing their private conversations in the name of national security, NBC News reported. "I don't think they know a lot of things that the government is doing in our effort [to counter terrorism]," Arizona Sen. John McCain, a Republican defender of the programs said Sunday on CNN. Sen. Mark Udall, a Colo. Democrat and critic of the NSA methods who was aware of the program as a member of the Senate's intelligence panel, said on CNN, "My main concern is Americans don't know the extent to which they are being surveilled." The NSA controversy has renewed debate over how the government should be restricted in its intelligence and national security practices. Get More at NBC News
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Army suspends general for handling of sex assault case
Tom Vanden Brook, USA TODAY10:53 p.m. EDT June 7, 2013
(Photo: U.S. Army)
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Military sexual assaults jumped 35% between 2010 and 2012, Pentagon records show
Senate hearings this week featured severe criticism of the military's response on the issue
Commanders reluctant to give up their ability to overturn jury verdicts
sex
WASHINGTON -- The Army on Friday suspended its top commander in Japan for failing to properly investigate a sexual assault allegation, an action that follows a month of increasing calls in Congress for accountability for a crisis that has affected all the services.
Maj. Gen. Michael Harrison, the commanding general of U.S. Army Japan, was relieved of his duties by Gen. Raymond Odierno, the Army chief of staff. Harrison himself is not accused of sexual misconduct, said Army spokesman George Wright.
The sexual abuse case took place sometime in the last year, Wright said.
The Army also announced that Maj. Gen. James C. Boozer, the former deputy commanding general of United States Army Europe, will serve as the interim commander until the investigation is complete and the issue resolved.
Harrison is one of the highest-ranking officers to be ensnared in the sexual abuse crisis gripping the military. He is a decorated soldier who has served in Afghanistan.
Sen. Claire McCaskill, the Missouri Democrat and member of the Armed Services Committee, has blocked the nomination of Air Force Lt. Gen. Susan Helms to serve as vice commander of the U.S. Space Command because of Helms' decision to overturn a jury conviction in a sexual assault case.
Last month the Army suspended Brig. Gen. Bryan Roberts, the top officer at Fort Jackson in South Carolina, over allegations of assault and adultery.
The military's sexual assault crisis came to the fore last week after a report showed that the estimated incidents of unwanted sexual contact among the ranks had spiked 35% between 2010 and 2012 to 26,000 incidents. A number of salacious scandals cropped up, too: the Air Force officer in charge of sexual abuse prevention at the Pentagon was arrested in Arlington for allegedly groping a woman while he was drunk; a sergeant in charge of similar programs at Fort Hood in Texas is being investigated for running a possible prostitution ring; and the Navy is looking into allegations that three football players at the Naval Academy assaulted a fellow, woman student.
STORY: Service chiefs say they lost focus on sexual assaults
Senate hearings this week produced a torrent of criticism from senators, including McCaskill and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., of the military's treatment of the sexual assault issue. The Armed Services Committee is considering seven bills, while the House Armed Services Committee approved an annual defense authorization bill Thursday that included amendments aimed at tightening regulations concerning sexual harassment and assault.
"Sen. Gillibrand believes holding commanders accountable for failing in their duties on sexual assault crimes is an important and welcome step in the right direction," her spokesman Glen Caplin said Friday night. "But to reverse this crisis, that's not enough. We need systemic reforms that will increase accountability, objectivity and trust in the military justice system by having trained legal professionals handle these cases from the beginning."
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Sunday, June 09, 2013
Meet Edward Snowden: NSA PRISM Whistleblower
LeakSourceNews
Published on Jun 9, 2013
06/09/2013
Edward Snowden, the source behind the Guardian's NSA files talks to Glenn Greenwald in Hong Kong about his motives for the biggest intelligence leak in a generation.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/...
Q&A http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/...
LIVE UPDATES http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/...
____________________
http://LeakSource.wordpress.com
https://twitter.com/LeakSourceNews
Published on Jun 9, 2013
06/09/2013
Edward Snowden, the source behind the Guardian's NSA files talks to Glenn Greenwald in Hong Kong about his motives for the biggest intelligence leak in a generation.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/...
Q&A http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/...
LIVE UPDATES http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/...
____________________
http://LeakSource.wordpress.com
https://twitter.com/LeakSourceNews
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Glenn Greenwald: I have more secrets to reveal
Issues: National Security
June 9, 2013 | 1:03 pm

June 9, 2013 | 1:03 pm
On ABC’s ‘This Week,’ journalist Glenn Greenwald explained that Americans could expect him to reveal more secrets about the government surveillance programs.
Greenwald wrote two bombshell stories last week in the Guardian newspaper – one about the National Security Agency obtaining phone records from Verizon customers and one about the agency’s PRISM program.
“[S]hould we be expecting more revelations from you?” asked Stephanopoulos.
“You should,” Greenwald answered shortly.
Greenwald remained quiet about his sources, reminding Stephanopoulos about the importance of whistle-blowers.
“[E]very time there is a whistle-blower, somebody who exposes government wrongdoing, the tactic of the government is to try and demonize them as a traitor. They risk their careers, and their lives, and their liberty. Because what they were seeing being done in secret, inside the United States government is so alarming, and so pernicious that they simply want one thing,” Greenwald explained. “And that is for the American people, at least to learn about what this massive spying apparatus is, and what the capabilities are, so that we can have an open, honest debate about whether that’s the kind of country that we want to live in.”
Greenwald wrote two bombshell stories last week in the Guardian newspaper – one about the National Security Agency obtaining phone records from Verizon customers and one about the agency’s PRISM program.
“[S]hould we be expecting more revelations from you?” asked Stephanopoulos.
“You should,” Greenwald answered shortly.
Greenwald remained quiet about his sources, reminding Stephanopoulos about the importance of whistle-blowers.
“[E]very time there is a whistle-blower, somebody who exposes government wrongdoing, the tactic of the government is to try and demonize them as a traitor. They risk their careers, and their lives, and their liberty. Because what they were seeing being done in secret, inside the United States government is so alarming, and so pernicious that they simply want one thing,” Greenwald explained. “And that is for the American people, at least to learn about what this massive spying apparatus is, and what the capabilities are, so that we can have an open, honest debate about whether that’s the kind of country that we want to live in.”
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Update: The Surveillance State on the 3 Big Networks Sunday Programs
I was curious if the three original television networks CBS, NBC, and ABC, would follow up with coverage of this past week's bombshell revelations of the Prism Surveillance program?
I looked in their respective sites for the Sunday Morning programs and this is what I found:
CBS
Open: This is Face the Nation, June 9
Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., and Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., on sexual assault in the military, the NSA phone records revelation and new allegations of abuse within the IRS with Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., and Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, a roundtable with David Sanger, Rajiv Chandrasekaran, Joseph Nye and CBS News correspondent Margaret Brennan. Finally, a look back at the journey of Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich.
Source: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50148547n
NBC
MTP will not air Sun., June 9th, due to NBC’s Coverage of the French Open
Source: http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2013/06/paul-krugman-government-tilting-towards-authoritarian-surveillance-state/
Glenn Greenwald, the reporter for The Guardian who broke stories last week on the National Security Agency’s phone and internet surveillance programs, blasted calls for the prosecution of his sources for leaking classified information, saying they “deserve our praise and gratitude and not imprisonment and prosecution.”
To see the whole ABC This Week program:
Episode 23 47:34 NR
I looked in their respective sites for the Sunday Morning programs and this is what I found:
CBS
Open: This is Face the Nation, June 9
Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., and Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., on sexual assault in the military, the NSA phone records revelation and new allegations of abuse within the IRS with Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., and Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, a roundtable with David Sanger, Rajiv Chandrasekaran, Joseph Nye and CBS News correspondent Margaret Brennan. Finally, a look back at the journey of Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich.
Source: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50148547n
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NBC
MTP will not air Sun., June 9th, due to NBC’s Coverage of the French Open
Source: http://www.today.com/id/3032608/
*MTP = Meet the Press
Out to lunch at a time when government intrusive surveillance demands journalists to do their investigations and report the NEWS, not sports!
Below you can find some of the notable comments made Sunday on “This Week with George Stephanopoulos.” Our powerhouse roundtable guests included ABC News’ George Will; ABC News ABC News political analyst Matthew Dowd; Congressional Progressive Caucus co-chair Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn.; New York Times columnist and Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman; and Fox News anchor Greta Van Susteren.
Out to lunch at a time when government intrusive surveillance demands journalists to do their investigations and report the NEWS, not sports!
NBC as in 30 Rock, as in Rockefeller...
Huntley-Brinkley where have you gone? Fishin'?
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ABCBelow you can find some of the notable comments made Sunday on “This Week with George Stephanopoulos.” Our powerhouse roundtable guests included ABC News’ George Will; ABC News ABC News political analyst Matthew Dowd; Congressional Progressive Caucus co-chair Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn.; New York Times columnist and Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman; and Fox News anchor Greta Van Susteren.
Roundtable I: Privacy vs. Security
Source: http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2013/06/paul-krugman-government-tilting-towards-authoritarian-surveillance-state/
Glenn Greenwald, the reporter for The Guardian who broke stories last week on the National Security Agency’s phone and internet surveillance programs, blasted calls for the prosecution of his sources for leaking classified information, saying they “deserve our praise and gratitude and not imprisonment and prosecution.”
Glenn Greenwald on 'This Week'
To see the whole ABC This Week program:
Episode 23 47:34 NR
This Week 06/09: Glenn Greenwald, Mark Udall on NSA Surveillance Program
Guests: George Will, Matthew Dowd, Paul Krugman, Greta Van Susteren, Keith Ellison
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Guests: George Will, Matthew Dowd, Paul Krugman, Greta Van Susteren, Keith Ellison
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NSA program part of a larger effort to target Internet
By Ken Dilanian, Washington Bureau
June 7, 2013, 11:03 p.m.
WASHINGTON — Operating under secret court orders, the National Security Agency has access to a large segment of U.S. and global Internet traffic, allowing the giant spy agency to intercept specific information for counter-terrorism and foreign intelligence purposes, according to current and former intelligence officials.
News leaks this week revealed a highly classified NSA program code-named PRISM that allows it to mine data from domestic Internet and social media companies under certain circumstances. But PRISM is part of a much larger evolving effort by the intelligence agency to scoop up as much Internet traffic as possible, the officials said.
Most Internet data moves through fiber-optic cables in the United States, and the NSA physically intercepts much of it through equipment installed at telecommunications facilities, or from undersea cables.
A modest proposal for the snoops at the NSA
But two trends have forced the NSA to adapt in recent years. Google and other major U.S.-based Internet providers have built computer server farms and data centers abroad. In addition, an increasing amount of digital traffic, including Google's Gmail service, is encrypted to ensure privacy and to thwart cyber-theft.
The 6-year-old PRISM program appears to be a response to those developments. The agency can access emails, video and other data directly from the companies, U.S. officials said. It's far simpler than tapping computer lines overseas or trying to decrypt emails.
It's "the easy way," a former senior NSA official said. "It's also the complete way. You don't have to worry about missing anything."
U.S. officials denied Friday that the NSA had direct access to Internet company servers or their data streams, challenging published reports on the PRISM program. The officials said the NSA needs a surveillance court order to obtain bulk data, and must notify the companies.
The NSA was chartered to collect foreign intelligence. But as a general matter, surveillance on the Internet makes it difficult to cull Americans from the data stream and only focus on foreigners.
"You can set up a wiretap between Minsk and Pinsk and get Americans," said Stewart Baker, a former NSA general counsel who was not briefed on the PRISM program.
The NSA reportedly seeks to "minimize," or disregard, data on U.S. citizens that it is not authorized to collect. However, the agency has wide leeway under laws passed since Sept. 11, 2001, to target individual Americans if it can convince the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court that there is probable cause to believe the individual has terrorist links.
Under the court orders, Internet companies turn over data that meet so-called validated selectors chosen by the intelligence community. Those could be phone numbers, email addresses or other data that suggest a terrorist tie-in or foreign espionage.
A similar legal structure is used for the giant archive of telephone company records that the NSA has assembled since at least 2007. The trove includes toll records for every local call in the United States, as well as those to or from overseas numbers. But officials said a separate court order is required to utilize the vast database in any given investigation.
If the validated selectors show, for example, that an American is in contact with militants in Pakistan, the NSA could then use a warrant to obtain the American's emails and other digital communications as well as permission to eavesdrop on phone calls.
"If it hits on that person's communication, and I have been in communication with that person, then it's likely that my phone number or email address will be pulled out," the former official said. At some point, the FBI would go back to the surveillance court and seek a more specific warrant.
On Friday, two Democrats who serve on the Senate intelligence committee, Mark Udall of Colorado and Ron Wyden of Oregon, disputed claims by Obama administration officials that collecting Americans' phone records had helped thwart terrorist attacks.
"After years of review, we believe statements that this very broad Patriot Act collection has been a critical tool in protecting the nation do not appear to hold up under close scrutiny," they said in a joint statement.
ken.dilanian@latimes.com
Times staff writer Chris O'Brien in San Francisco contributed to this report.
But two trends have forced the NSA to adapt in recent years. Google and other major U.S.-based Internet providers have built computer server farms and data centers abroad. In addition, an increasing amount of digital traffic, including Google's Gmail service, is encrypted to ensure privacy and to thwart cyber-theft.
The 6-year-old PRISM program appears to be a response to those developments. The agency can access emails, video and other data directly from the companies, U.S. officials said. It's far simpler than tapping computer lines overseas or trying to decrypt emails.
It's "the easy way," a former senior NSA official said. "It's also the complete way. You don't have to worry about missing anything."
U.S. officials denied Friday that the NSA had direct access to Internet company servers or their data streams, challenging published reports on the PRISM program. The officials said the NSA needs a surveillance court order to obtain bulk data, and must notify the companies.
The NSA was chartered to collect foreign intelligence. But as a general matter, surveillance on the Internet makes it difficult to cull Americans from the data stream and only focus on foreigners.
"You can set up a wiretap between Minsk and Pinsk and get Americans," said Stewart Baker, a former NSA general counsel who was not briefed on the PRISM program.
The NSA reportedly seeks to "minimize," or disregard, data on U.S. citizens that it is not authorized to collect. However, the agency has wide leeway under laws passed since Sept. 11, 2001, to target individual Americans if it can convince the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court that there is probable cause to believe the individual has terrorist links.
Under the court orders, Internet companies turn over data that meet so-called validated selectors chosen by the intelligence community. Those could be phone numbers, email addresses or other data that suggest a terrorist tie-in or foreign espionage.
A similar legal structure is used for the giant archive of telephone company records that the NSA has assembled since at least 2007. The trove includes toll records for every local call in the United States, as well as those to or from overseas numbers. But officials said a separate court order is required to utilize the vast database in any given investigation.
If the validated selectors show, for example, that an American is in contact with militants in Pakistan, the NSA could then use a warrant to obtain the American's emails and other digital communications as well as permission to eavesdrop on phone calls.
"If it hits on that person's communication, and I have been in communication with that person, then it's likely that my phone number or email address will be pulled out," the former official said. At some point, the FBI would go back to the surveillance court and seek a more specific warrant.
On Friday, two Democrats who serve on the Senate intelligence committee, Mark Udall of Colorado and Ron Wyden of Oregon, disputed claims by Obama administration officials that collecting Americans' phone records had helped thwart terrorist attacks.
"After years of review, we believe statements that this very broad Patriot Act collection has been a critical tool in protecting the nation do not appear to hold up under close scrutiny," they said in a joint statement.
ken.dilanian@latimes.com
Times staff writer Chris O'Brien in San Francisco contributed to this report.
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To Silicon Valley, Prism Doesn't Square
Photograph by Fabian Zapatka/laif/Redux
Google headquarters in Mountainview, Calif.
NSA Spying
To Silicon Valley, Prism Doesn't Square
Protecting Privacy on the Internet
If you’re going to create an Internet super spy system, you might as well give it an intimidating name. A number of years ago, we had Total Information Awareness; now we get Prism. Stay tuned for the Eye of Sauron, arriving in 2016 with extra HTML 7 spook awesomeness.
In this case, the Prism name does seem apt. We don’t know for sure how the government’s technology works, but security experts have long explained that hardcore Internet snooping begins at the fiber lines hitting the U.S. shores. Basically, the overseas Web traffic arrives and then a beam splitter—aka a prism—cleaves off data packets for the National Security Agency’s perusal. There are specialized computing appliances that can sift through the packets, and companies such as Cisco (CSCO) makenetworking equipment that provides the government with the ability to “lawfully intercept” data.
What’s still perplexing engineers throughout Silicon Valley, though, is the contention that companies such asGoogle (GOOG), Facebook (FB), and Apple (AAPL) are helping the NSA in its quest. (The Washington Post, which broke the Prism story, seems to be walking back some of its initial reports of corporate cooperation with Prism.) The technology companies have just about universally denied hearing of a project called Prism and they have refuted the idea that they’ve provided the government with direct access to the servers in their data centers. (Cisco, by the way, was not among the companies mentioned as a supposed Prism participant.)
Facebook, for example, has three data centers and lets reporters visit them fairly regularly. If the NSA had tapped directly into its system, then there should be what’s known as a SCIF, or Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility, inside the data centers. This is a protected place where the NSA would place a specialized snooping computer appliance—a la the computing closets that became famous in the AT&T wiretapping case a few years back. If such a closet exists at Facebook, we haven’t seen it. (Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment on SCIFs.)
Facebook, Google, and other such tech companies are full of twentysomethings who aren’t aren’t exactly known for coloring inside the lines or taking orders from The Man. The idea that a secret tap leading from their servers to the NSA’s massive headquarters in Fort Meade, Md., wouldn’t have been leaked by an offended employee seems implausible.
The NSA slide deck going around also talks about Dropbox “coming soon,” meaning that the ability to snoop on Dropbox files was about to be added to Prism. This is a weird one because Dropbox stores its customers’ files onAmazon.com’s (AMZN) cloud computing service, yet Amazon appears nowhere in the Prism documents. In responding to an e-mail asking if Amazon.com is taking part in Prism, company spokeswoman Mary Osako replied: “Not cooperating.” Dropbox spokeswoman Hilary McQuaide says, “We’ve seen reports that Dropbox might be asked to participate in a government program called Prism. We are not part of any such program and remain committed to protecting our users’ privacy.”
There’s no reason to think Facebook, Apple, and Google aren’t telling the truth. They do provide government intelligence agencies with customer data in accordance with the law—not some direct connection that gives complete access to their servers, but data tailored to parameters provided by the NSA.
So far, government officials have said that Prism spies only on foreigners. And this is feasible. The NSA, for example, can set up its systems to look at traffic coming in from overseas and to ignore, for example, Google accounts tied to a person based in the U.S.
If the NSA’s surveillance targets are U.S. citizens or residents, that request has to be approved by a judge. If they are not, the NSA doesn’t need permission: Data exchanged between foreigners not residing in the U.S. is fair game for intelligence activities. President Barack Obama said as much when he defended Prism as a program that does not apply to American citizens or foreigners within our shores.
If netizens in Sweden or Mongolia didn’t realize that their communications on Skype (MSFT) or Facebook was fair game for NSA snoopers, they do now.
The real question foreigners using those companies’ platforms may want to ask is: “Are there any conditions under which you won’t give U.S. spies my data?” It’s possible the answer is “no.” And whatever limitations the companies do place on their participation with programs such as Prism, the NSA can still get the data as it moves through those fiber optic cables. Facebook requires the use of SSL decryption for all of its users. SSL is extremely difficult to crack, even for world-class code-breakers like the NSA. That means the NSA probably can’t see much when they grab Facebook data. Yahoo! (YHOO) does not require users to use SSL; the company offers it as a privacy option.
If you’re a bad guy doing bad things—or maybe even if you’re not one—you can pretty much bet the NSA would prefer you not opt for the SSL.
Vance is a technology writer for Bloomberg Businessweek in Palo Alto, Calif. Follow him on Twitter @valleyhack.
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Chick-fil-A benefits from being closed on Sunday
usACTIONnews

Uploaded on Jan 13, 2012
CEO Dan Cathy tells Cavuto how being closed Sundays has actually led to increased sales, higher employee morale and other benefits.
Uploaded on Jan 13, 2012
CEO Dan Cathy tells Cavuto how being closed Sundays has actually led to increased sales, higher employee morale and other benefits.
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Biblical principles
Dan Cathy/Chick-fil-A President: @ 0:21 states:
"When we observe Biblical principles, they really do work, they work as well today as they did two thousand years ago".
You can search the Bible from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21, and there is no directive that instructs anybody to rest on Sunday!
The whole world is deceived by men perpetrating this lie, while pretending to be pious; such as this man does here.
They claim piety, and at the same time deny the Lord's Fourth Commandment with their supposed superior wisdom.
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Arsenio
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Celebrate National Internet Safety Month
NOT FOR NOTHING, BUT, DID YOU KNOW IT WAS NATIONAL INTERNET SAFETY MONTH?
Yes, right on time for the PRISMsurprise(oops) leak. Celebrate!
Well, just in case you didn't know here's a delightful story for you:
Get ready to post your party photos on Instagram because The National Cyber Security Alliance is recognizing June as National Internet Safety month.
This is no big deal for teachers and students living in the virtual school world because they celebrate Internet safety every day. However, for the rest of you, I offer up a few helpful tips to keep you safe online (tips courtesy of the new Social Media course offered by Florida Virtual School).
Tip #1 – Evaluate your sources.
• Cross-check the information. Ensure that you are able to find it in more than one place.
• Locate the copyright. Examine when the information was last updated.
• Seek out the creator of the information. Identify his or her credentials.
• Find clues in the domain. Sites ending in .org, .gov, or .edu are the most credible. Sites ending in .com or .net require additional evaluation.
• Trust your instincts. Information that sounds too good to be true usually is. Would you share this information with others?
• Judge a book by its cover. If a website appears sloppy and unorganized, that’s a clue the information may not be up to par. Proceed with caution.
• Identify traces of bias. Does the author have an agenda? Take bias into account when evaluating and sharing information.
• Understand the context of the story. Without context, there can be no credibility.
• Listen to your gut. If it sounds too good to be true…
Tip #2 – Say no to cyberbullying!
If you or someone you know is dealing with a cyberbully do the following:
• Identify the cause. See if you’re able to talk to the bully face to face to sort the issues out.
• Ignore or block the bully. Don’t give them the attention they want.
• Ask for advice. Students should talk to a trusted adult, parent, or teacher.
• Save the evidence, in case you need to prove you’re being bullied.
• Change contact information, such as your phone number, email address, or screen name.
• Report the bully. Tell a parent, a teacher, or in severe cases, the police.
• Don’t fight back. If you retaliate, you may also be at fault for cyberbullying.
• Think before you type. Never say anything on social media that you wouldn’t be comfortable seeing printed on a 100-foot billboard.
If you or someone you know is being cyberbullied, take a stand. Here’s how you can report it: http://www.cyberbullying.info/resources/report.php
Tip #3 – Consider the content you share.
What you put out there on social media tends to stay put. So it’s wise to think before you post, consider your audience, and avoid any negative off-the-cuff comments.
Pixels aren’t biodegradable. So chances are that embarrassing photo will be hanging around long enough for your future grandchildren to eventually find.
While it’s easy to upload and delete your own posts or photos, it’s nearly impossible to delete what others post about you (unless you’re a password hacker). So think twice about how you interact with others and whom you let interact with you.
Please feel free to share any Internet safety tips you might have.
This is no big deal for teachers and students living in the virtual school world because they celebrate Internet safety every day. However, for the rest of you, I offer up a few helpful tips to keep you safe online (tips courtesy of the new Social Media course offered by Florida Virtual School).
Tip #1 – Evaluate your sources.
• Cross-check the information. Ensure that you are able to find it in more than one place.
• Locate the copyright. Examine when the information was last updated.
• Seek out the creator of the information. Identify his or her credentials.
• Find clues in the domain. Sites ending in .org, .gov, or .edu are the most credible. Sites ending in .com or .net require additional evaluation.
• Trust your instincts. Information that sounds too good to be true usually is. Would you share this information with others?
• Judge a book by its cover. If a website appears sloppy and unorganized, that’s a clue the information may not be up to par. Proceed with caution.
• Identify traces of bias. Does the author have an agenda? Take bias into account when evaluating and sharing information.
• Understand the context of the story. Without context, there can be no credibility.
• Listen to your gut. If it sounds too good to be true…
Tip #2 – Say no to cyberbullying!
If you or someone you know is dealing with a cyberbully do the following:
• Identify the cause. See if you’re able to talk to the bully face to face to sort the issues out.
• Ignore or block the bully. Don’t give them the attention they want.
• Ask for advice. Students should talk to a trusted adult, parent, or teacher.
• Save the evidence, in case you need to prove you’re being bullied.
• Change contact information, such as your phone number, email address, or screen name.
• Report the bully. Tell a parent, a teacher, or in severe cases, the police.
• Don’t fight back. If you retaliate, you may also be at fault for cyberbullying.
• Think before you type. Never say anything on social media that you wouldn’t be comfortable seeing printed on a 100-foot billboard.
If you or someone you know is being cyberbullied, take a stand. Here’s how you can report it: http://www.cyberbullying.info/resources/report.php
Tip #3 – Consider the content you share.
What you put out there on social media tends to stay put. So it’s wise to think before you post, consider your audience, and avoid any negative off-the-cuff comments.
Pixels aren’t biodegradable. So chances are that embarrassing photo will be hanging around long enough for your future grandchildren to eventually find.
While it’s easy to upload and delete your own posts or photos, it’s nearly impossible to delete what others post about you (unless you’re a password hacker). So think twice about how you interact with others and whom you let interact with you.
Please feel free to share any Internet safety tips you might have.
National Cyber Security Alliance and LGBT Technology Partnership Launch Internet Safety Initiative for LGBT Community
New collaboration includes June 13 Twitter chat on LGBT cyber safety issues in honor of Internet Safety Month and LGBT Pride Month
WASHINGTON, May 16, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA), a non-profit public-private partnership focused on helping all digital citizens stay safer and more secure online, today announced a new collaboration initiative with the LGBT Technology Partnership to encourage greater awareness about cybersecurity and safety issues for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender communities.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120911/DC71739LOGO)
The LGBT Technology Partnership works to provide a centralized, national presence for the many LGBT organizations and groups that are impacted by telecommunications, cable and technology policies. The organization also serves as a strong unified voice ensuring that policy implementation at the local, state and federal levels address the unique needs of the LGBT community.
While the NCSA has worked to educate all digital users about staying safe online for over a decade, the organization has increased its focus on more closely targeting specific populations with uniquely tailored awareness messages. This ongoing effort includes working with the LGBT Technology Partnership in creating an LGBT cyber education toolkit with fact sheets, tip sheets and posters that incorporate STOP. THINK. CONNECT. messaging.
The first tip sheet, "What LGBT Communities Should Know About Online Safety" is available athttp://www.staysafeonline.org/stay-safe-online/resources/what-lgbt-communities-should-know-about-online-safety-tip-sheet. Both organizations will also hold a Twitter Chat about LGBT cyber safety issues on June 13th in honor of Internet Safety Month and LGBT Pride Month. For more information, visit www.stopthinkconnect.org/twitterchats. More information about joint NCSA/LGBT Technology Partnership efforts is available at: http://lgbttechpartnership.org/about-us/supporters/.
In addition to collaborating with the National Cyber Security Alliance, the LGBT Technology Partnership has also signed on as an official partner of STOP. THINK. CONNECT., the national cybersecurity education and awareness campaign. To learn more about the STOP. THINK. CONNECT. Partner program, visit: http://www.stopthinkconnect.org/get-involved/partner-program/
"The Internet pervades our daily lives like never before and for specific populations such as the LGBT community, the Web is an integral tool to stay connected," said Michael Kaiser, executive director of the National Cyber Security Alliance. "Everyone with access to the Internet should be well educated about the importance of online safety and we believe that education and awareness is best received when it comes from a trusted a source. Our collaboration with the LGBT Technology Partnership allows for the dissemination of online safety and security practices via an organization with strong ties to their community. Since the LGBT community typically ranks among the earliest adopters of new technologies, it is critical that they have cutting edge information to make them safer and more secure online."
"We are excited about our partnership with National Cyber Security Alliance and developing LGBT specific tips about staying safer online," said Christopher Wood, co-founder of the LGBT Technology Partnership. "The LGBT Technology Partnership's mission is to make sure LGBT communities are aware of the significant benefits but also the underlying challenges that come with the early adoption of new technologies. We are working with organizations like NSCA to make technological experiences safer for all communities."
There is an increased need for ongoing cybersecurity education in LGBT communities through awareness initiatives. Past research has shown that an increased focus on cyber security awareness in the LGBT community is a necessity in a society where:
- 59 percent of gay men and 58 percent of lesbians are more likely to say they rely on technology to help manage their hectic lifestyles ("2012 LGBT Community Survey," Community Marketing Inc.)
- 27 percent of gay men (mainly 18-29 year olds) and 18 percent of lesbians are early adopters of new technology products within their peer lifestyle networks ("2012 LGBT Community Survey," Community Marketing Inc.)
- Smartphone ownership among gay and lesbian consumers is almost a third more than the national average, with 87 percent LGBT smartphone owners compared to a 62 percent national average of smartphone owners ("2012 LGBT Community Survey," Community Marketing Inc.)
For more details about the new partnership or LGBT cyber education materials, visit: www.staysafeonline.org.
About The National Cyber Security Alliance
The National Cyber Security Alliance is a non-profit organization. Through collaboration with the government, corporate, non-profit and academic sectors, the mission of the NCSA is to educate and empower a digital citizenry to use the Internet securely and safely protecting themselves and the technology they use and the digital assets we all share. NCSA board members include: ADP, AT&T, Bank of America, Comcast, EMC Corporation, ESET, Facebook, Google, Intel, McAfee, Microsoft, PayPal, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), Symantec, Trend Micro, Verizon and Visa. Visit www.staysafeonline.orgfor more information and join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/staysafeonline.
About LGBT Technology Partnership
About LGBT Technology Partnership
The LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender) Technology Partnership encourages the continued early adoption and use of cutting-edge, new and emerging technologies by providing information, education and strategic outreach for LGBT communities. We are a national, nonpartisan group of LGBT organizations and high technology companies whose mission is to engage with critical technology and public policy leaders for strategic discussion at all levels. The Partnership ensures that cable, telecommunications and high technology issues of specific concern to LGBT communities are addressed in public policy conversations. Visit www.LGBTTechPartnership.org for additional information, follow us on Twitter @LGBTTech and like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/LGBTTechPartnership. For press inquiries please call +1.703.594.9391 or visitwww.LGBTTechPartnership.org/contact-us/press.
SOURCE National Cyber Security Alliance
RELATED LINKS
http://www.staysafeonline.org
SOURCE National Cyber Security Alliance
RELATED LINKS
http://www.staysafeonline.org
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Intelligence chief defends Internet spying program
LARA JAKES, Associated Press, By LARA JAKES and JIM KUHNHENN, Associated Press
Updated 5:19 pm, Saturday, June 8, 2013
President Barack Obama pauses while speaking in San Jose, Calif. , Friday, June 7, 2013. The president defended his government's secret surveillance, saying Congress has repeatedly authorized the collection of America's phone records and U.S. internet use. Photo: Evan Vucci
WASHINGTON (AP) — Eager to quell a domestic furor over U.S. spying, the nation's top intelligence official stressed Saturday that a previously undisclosed program for tapping into Internet usage is authorized by Congress, falls under strict supervision of a secret court and cannot intentionally target a U.S. citizen. He decried the revelation of that and another intelligence-gathering program as reckless.
For the second time in three days, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper took the rare step of declassifying some details of an intelligence program to respond to media reports about counterterrorism techniques employed by the government.
"Disclosing information about the specific methods the government uses to collect communications can obviously give our enemies a 'playbook' of how to avoid detection," he said in a statement.
Clapper said the data collection under the program, first unveiled by the newspapers The Washington Post and The Guardian, was with the approval of the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Court and with the knowledge of Internet service providers. He emphasized that the government does not act unilaterally to obtain that data from the servers of those providers.
Clapper's reaction came a day after President Barack Obama defended the counterterrorism methods and said Americans need to "make some choices" in balancing privacy and security. But the president's response and Clapper's unusual public stance underscore the nerve touched by the disclosures and the sensitivity of the Obama administration to any suggestion that it is trampling on the civil liberties of Americans.
Late Thursday, Clapper declassified some details of a phone records collection program employed by the National Security Agency that aims to obtain from phone companies on an "ongoing, daily basis" the records of its customers' calls. Clapper said that under that court-supervised program, only a small fraction of the records collected ever get examined because most are unrelated to any inquiries into terrorism activities.
His statement and declassification Saturday addressed the Internet scouring program, code-named PRISM, that allowed the NSA and FBI to tap directly into the servers of major U.S. Internet companies such as Google, Apple, Microsoft, Facebook and AOL. Like the phone-records program, PRISM was approved by a judge in a secret court order. Unlike that program, however, PRISM allowed the government to seize actual conversations: emails, video chats, instant messages and more.
Clapper said the program, authorized in the USA Patriot Act, has been in place since 2008, the last year of the George W. Bush administration, and "has proven vital to keeping the nation and our allies safe.
"It continues to be one of our most important tools for the protection of the nation's security," he said.
Among the previously classified information about the Internet data collection that Clapper revealed:
—It is an internal government computer system that allows the government to collect foreign intelligence information from electronic communication service providers under court supervision.
—The government does not unilaterally obtain information from the servers of U.S. electronic communication service providers. It requires approval from a FISA Court judge and is conducted with the knowledge of the provider and service providers supply information when they are legally required to do so.
—The program seeks foreign intelligence information concerning foreign targets located outside the United States.
—The government cannot target anyone under the program unless there is an "appropriate, and documented, foreign intelligence purpose" for the acquisition. Those purposes include prevention of terrorism, hostile cyber activities or nuclear proliferation. The foreign target must be reasonably believed to be outside the United States. It cannot intentionally target any U.S. citizen or any person known to be in the U.S.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/news/politics/article/Intelligence-chief-defends-Internet-spying-program-4588451.php#ixzz2Vg7dV6sa
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P.S.
I want to comment on a statement made by James Clapper the Director of National Intelligence:
the nation's top intelligence official stressed Saturday that a previously undisclosed program for tapping into Internet usage is authorized by Congress, falls under strict supervision of a secret court and cannot intentionally target a U.S citizen.
There are aspects of the statements above that I disagree with, but I will focus on the SECRET COURT.
A secret court can covertly justify the wanton monitoring of an American, yet a known terrorist (according to this administration) should be tried in public in a New York City Court? That is really a bizarre logic that makes no kind of sense to me.
And frankly, any one with a limited intelligence can see this blatant double standard from a mile away.
A.L.
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Obama Fundraiser Just 3 Miles From College Shooting
Here's a story from the Ripley's Believe it or Not department:
SANTA MONICA (CBSLA.com) — President Obama Friday attended a fundraising event in Santa Monica, just blocks away from a shooting on the campus of Santa Monica College
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Shots were fired just three miles from Obama’s event.
Read more: http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2013/06/07/president-obama-to-make-brief-visit-to-santa-monica-for-luncheon-fundraiser/
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Related:
SANTA MONICA (CBSLA.com) — President Obama Friday attended a fundraising event in Santa Monica, just blocks away from a shooting on the campus of Santa Monica College
Shots were fired just three miles from Obama’s event.
Read more: http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2013/06/07/president-obama-to-make-brief-visit-to-santa-monica-for-luncheon-fundraiser/
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Related:
Synchronicity?
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Santa Monica gunman had past mental issues, police sources say
A gunman who killed four in a rampage before being killed by police at Santa Monica College was emotionally troubled and heavily armed, police sources say.
Students are escorted onto the campus of Santa Monica College on Saturday to get cars and belongings left behind when they evacuated during the shooting. (Anne Cusack, Los Angeles Times / June 8, 2013)
Shooting victim was 'part of the Santa Monica College family'
By Richard A. Serrano, Los Angeles Times
June 8, 2013, 10:18 p.m.
A gunman's rampage that left four victims dead in Santa Monica on Friday was a premeditated act by an emotionally troubled person who armed himself with high-powered weapons and may have had up to 1,300 rounds of ammunition, law enforcement sources said Saturday.
Authorities have not officially named the gunman who was killed by police. But law enforcement sources in Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles identified him as John Zawahri, 23.
Several of the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing, said Zawahri had struggled with his parents' bitter divorce. He also had a history of mental issues, the sources said, but they could not be more specific.
Santa Monica police said Saturday that the department had dealt with the gunman in connection with an incident in 2006 but would not provide details because he was a juvenile at the time.
Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks also said officers had previously gone to the Yorkshire Avenue home where the rampage began.
Just before noon Friday, the home was set on fire, and authorities found the gunman's father, Samir Zawahri, 55, and brother, Chris, 25, dead, sources said.
Seabrooks said the gunman was "connected" with Santa Monica College in 2010 but did not say whether he was a student.
Police said the rampage lasted about 10 minutes, with the gunman cutting a sharp, bloody path through normally quiet streets. It ended when Zawahri, who'd been firing a semiautomatic rifle, was shot on the campus.
"Any time someone puts on a vest of some sort, comes out with a bag full of loaded magazines … has a handgun and has a semiautomatic rifle, carjacks folks, goes to a college, kills more people and has to be killed at the hands of police," Seabrooks said, "… that's premeditated."
A close friend of the family, who asked not to be identified, said that Zawahri struggled with mental health problems. "John had a fascination with guns," said the friend. "We were all worried about it."
The friend said Zawahri didn't have a job and that "everyone is wondering where he got the money for the weapons."
Details on the gunman and his victims weren't available Saturday, partly because the shooter's mother, identified by the sources as Randa Abdou, was said to be out of the country and had not been reached by police.
As investigators fanned out across Santa Monica, surveying multiple crime scenes, a picture of the gunman's fractured and troubled family emerged.
Zawahri's parents had been divorced for years, neighbors said. Court records show two divorce filings. One was filed in 1993, by Samir Zawahri. Another, noting domestic violence, was filed by Abdou in 1998.
The family moved into a Santa Monica home in the 2000 block of Yorkshire Avenue about two decades ago, neighbors said. After the couple split up, Abdou eventually settled into an apartment about two miles away with son Chris. John had remained with his father.
Mykel Denis, who lives in Abdou's apartment complex, described her as a pleasant woman of Lebanese descent who lived with an "angry" son whose voice boomed when he became upset. Denis said he would often hear the man through the walls "yelling, screaming and cursing," and that often the loud outburst occurred when the man was home alone.
Another neighbor, Beverly Meadow, described Abdou as a slight woman who moved into the second-floor apartment next door about five years ago. Abdou, she said, was on a one-month vacation in Lebanon and due back in Los Angeles sometime next week.
"She's a lovely woman," Meadows said. "Petite, sweet, quiet, brunet and classy — with a crazy kid."
A few miles away, Abdou's co-workers at the Rose Cafe in Venice — one of two waitressing jobs she holds — struggled Saturday to cope with the shootings.
"All I can think about are Randa's loving ways," said fellow waitress Nicole Derseweh, 30, tears in her eyes. "She's playful and funny, and always singing Top 40 tunes.... I never saw her cry. She never talked about her kids."
Co-workers said Abdou's best friend, a fellow waitress, was among several students studying for year-end exams at Santa Monica College when the gunman opened fire on them.
The friend escaped unharmed. But she confided to co-workers that she was planning to seek grief counseling.
According to police, Zawahri, dressed in black fatigues and carrying a long semiautomatic rifle, had walked down the block shortly after setting his father's home on fire and shot a sedan, wounding the female driver. Then he carjacked a Mazda hatchback driven by Laura Sisk, 41.
Sisk said Zawahri said little other than giving her directions and telling her to keep calm. "You're going to drive me to Santa Monica College and let me out," he said.
Near Pico and Cloverfield boulevards, the gunman briefly stepped out of Sisk's car and fired at a Santa Monica city bus, strafing it front to back, shattering windows and sending passengers diving to the floor for cover. A woman sitting in a back row was grazed in the head by a bullet.
Getting back into the car, he told Sisk, "Go! Go! Go!"
At a parking lot near the college he fired at a red Ford Explorer driven by Carlos Franco, a 68-year-old groundskeeper at the college, who was with his daughter.
Franco died at the scene. His daughter, 26-year-old Marcela, who had signed up to take summer classes at the college, was also shot. She was in critical condition at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center on Saturday and was not expected to survive.
Allowing Sisk to drive away, Zawahri ran on to the sprawling campus. He encountered police and exchanged gunfire with them.
It was outside the school's library that Zawahri shot a middle-aged student. She died later at a local hospital. Neither college officials nor the police would give her name. She was described as a white student in her 50s.
Zawahri went into the library and fired a fusillade of rounds as students dove for cover and hid in nearby rooms.
Seabrooks, the Santa Monica chief, said Saturday several students hid in an adjacent room, blocking the door and surviving after the gunman shot at them through the wall.
Eventually, Zawahri found himself face to face with city and campus police, who wounded him, Seabrooks said.
After police carried him outside, he died on the sidewalk. He'd entered the campus armed not only with the semiautomatic assault rifle, but with a large bag that contained up to 20 magazines, and a .44-caliber revolver.
Seabrooks said Zawahri had brought up to 1,300 rounds of ammunition with him.
Police are still searching for what may have triggered the rampage. Seabrooks said the gunman would have turned 24 on Saturday.
richard.serrano
@latimes.com
louis.sahagun
@latimes.com
kurt.streeter@latimes.com
Times staff writers Scott Glover, Andrew Blankstein, Marisa Gerber, Ruben Vives, Anh Do, Laura J. Nelson, Angel Jennings and Christine Mai-Duc contributed to this report.
By Richard A. Serrano, Los Angeles Times
June 8, 2013, 10:18 p.m.
A gunman's rampage that left four victims dead in Santa Monica on Friday was a premeditated act by an emotionally troubled person who armed himself with high-powered weapons and may have had up to 1,300 rounds of ammunition, law enforcement sources said Saturday.
Authorities have not officially named the gunman who was killed by police. But law enforcement sources in Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles identified him as John Zawahri, 23.
Several of the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing, said Zawahri had struggled with his parents' bitter divorce. He also had a history of mental issues, the sources said, but they could not be more specific.
Santa Monica police said Saturday that the department had dealt with the gunman in connection with an incident in 2006 but would not provide details because he was a juvenile at the time.
Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks also said officers had previously gone to the Yorkshire Avenue home where the rampage began.
Just before noon Friday, the home was set on fire, and authorities found the gunman's father, Samir Zawahri, 55, and brother, Chris, 25, dead, sources said.
Seabrooks said the gunman was "connected" with Santa Monica College in 2010 but did not say whether he was a student.
Police said the rampage lasted about 10 minutes, with the gunman cutting a sharp, bloody path through normally quiet streets. It ended when Zawahri, who'd been firing a semiautomatic rifle, was shot on the campus.
"Any time someone puts on a vest of some sort, comes out with a bag full of loaded magazines … has a handgun and has a semiautomatic rifle, carjacks folks, goes to a college, kills more people and has to be killed at the hands of police," Seabrooks said, "… that's premeditated."
A close friend of the family, who asked not to be identified, said that Zawahri struggled with mental health problems. "John had a fascination with guns," said the friend. "We were all worried about it."
The friend said Zawahri didn't have a job and that "everyone is wondering where he got the money for the weapons."
Details on the gunman and his victims weren't available Saturday, partly because the shooter's mother, identified by the sources as Randa Abdou, was said to be out of the country and had not been reached by police.
As investigators fanned out across Santa Monica, surveying multiple crime scenes, a picture of the gunman's fractured and troubled family emerged.
Zawahri's parents had been divorced for years, neighbors said. Court records show two divorce filings. One was filed in 1993, by Samir Zawahri. Another, noting domestic violence, was filed by Abdou in 1998.
The family moved into a Santa Monica home in the 2000 block of Yorkshire Avenue about two decades ago, neighbors said. After the couple split up, Abdou eventually settled into an apartment about two miles away with son Chris. John had remained with his father.
Mykel Denis, who lives in Abdou's apartment complex, described her as a pleasant woman of Lebanese descent who lived with an "angry" son whose voice boomed when he became upset. Denis said he would often hear the man through the walls "yelling, screaming and cursing," and that often the loud outburst occurred when the man was home alone.
Another neighbor, Beverly Meadow, described Abdou as a slight woman who moved into the second-floor apartment next door about five years ago. Abdou, she said, was on a one-month vacation in Lebanon and due back in Los Angeles sometime next week.
"She's a lovely woman," Meadows said. "Petite, sweet, quiet, brunet and classy — with a crazy kid."
A few miles away, Abdou's co-workers at the Rose Cafe in Venice — one of two waitressing jobs she holds — struggled Saturday to cope with the shootings.
"All I can think about are Randa's loving ways," said fellow waitress Nicole Derseweh, 30, tears in her eyes. "She's playful and funny, and always singing Top 40 tunes.... I never saw her cry. She never talked about her kids."
Co-workers said Abdou's best friend, a fellow waitress, was among several students studying for year-end exams at Santa Monica College when the gunman opened fire on them.
The friend escaped unharmed. But she confided to co-workers that she was planning to seek grief counseling.
According to police, Zawahri, dressed in black fatigues and carrying a long semiautomatic rifle, had walked down the block shortly after setting his father's home on fire and shot a sedan, wounding the female driver. Then he carjacked a Mazda hatchback driven by Laura Sisk, 41.
Sisk said Zawahri said little other than giving her directions and telling her to keep calm. "You're going to drive me to Santa Monica College and let me out," he said.
Near Pico and Cloverfield boulevards, the gunman briefly stepped out of Sisk's car and fired at a Santa Monica city bus, strafing it front to back, shattering windows and sending passengers diving to the floor for cover. A woman sitting in a back row was grazed in the head by a bullet.
Getting back into the car, he told Sisk, "Go! Go! Go!"
At a parking lot near the college he fired at a red Ford Explorer driven by Carlos Franco, a 68-year-old groundskeeper at the college, who was with his daughter.
Franco died at the scene. His daughter, 26-year-old Marcela, who had signed up to take summer classes at the college, was also shot. She was in critical condition at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center on Saturday and was not expected to survive.
Allowing Sisk to drive away, Zawahri ran on to the sprawling campus. He encountered police and exchanged gunfire with them.
It was outside the school's library that Zawahri shot a middle-aged student. She died later at a local hospital. Neither college officials nor the police would give her name. She was described as a white student in her 50s.
Zawahri went into the library and fired a fusillade of rounds as students dove for cover and hid in nearby rooms.
Seabrooks, the Santa Monica chief, said Saturday several students hid in an adjacent room, blocking the door and surviving after the gunman shot at them through the wall.
Eventually, Zawahri found himself face to face with city and campus police, who wounded him, Seabrooks said.
After police carried him outside, he died on the sidewalk. He'd entered the campus armed not only with the semiautomatic assault rifle, but with a large bag that contained up to 20 magazines, and a .44-caliber revolver.
Seabrooks said Zawahri had brought up to 1,300 rounds of ammunition with him.
Police are still searching for what may have triggered the rampage. Seabrooks said the gunman would have turned 24 on Saturday.
richard.serrano
@latimes.com
louis.sahagun
@latimes.com
kurt.streeter@latimes.com
Times staff writers Scott Glover, Andrew Blankstein, Marisa Gerber, Ruben Vives, Anh Do, Laura J. Nelson, Angel Jennings and Christine Mai-Duc contributed to this report.
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Saturday, June 08, 2013
Sons of God, Daughters of Men?
damianplus
Uploaded on Nov 26, 2009
Sons of God, Daughters of Men?
Genesis 6 verse 1, Now it came to pass when men began to multiply on the face of the earth and daughters were born to them, that the Sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were beautiful. And they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose. And the Lord said, My Spirit should not strive with man forever for he is indeed flesh, yet his days shall be 120 years.
First, lets identify the Sons of God.
Now if we let the Bible interpret itself, you notice for one thing that when Luke does the chronology of Jesus in Luke chapter 3 (38) and he says, And Enos was the son of Seth, who was the son of Adam, who was the son of God. Adam is called the son of God. Then you go to 1 John chapter 3 verse 1 and it says, Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us that we should be called sons of God. All right so here its telling us two times the sons of God are people; but theyre committed people, people committed to the Lord.
After Cain killed Abel, Adam and Eve had another son named Seth. And Seth, it says, feared the Lord. Seth and his descendents were children of God. Cain was carnal Enos. That means he was a mortal man. He did not have everlasting life. As long as they remained separate, the truth of God was preserved; but when the sons of God began to marry the children of Seth began to intermarry with the daughters of Cain then that distinction, that holiness, it evaporated. Thats why the next verse says God said My Spirit will not always strive with man. Hes got 120 years before the flood. And so the sons of God were the descendents of Seth that were true to the Lord. They still offered sacrifice to God. The daughters of men were the daughters of Cains descendents who had not the knowledge of God preserved.
Matthew 22: 30For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.
We are created in the image of God, Angels were not.
Job 1: 6Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.
Satan came to represent planet earth because he assumed dominion once Adam and Eve sinned against God by following him.
Revelation 12:12 Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.
Where in the Bible did it say that the giants or mighty men, were not human men? Anak, Goliath were giant MEN!
Only God creates species of life, all evidences from the Bible and science prove that species do not cross breed to form a new species or creature. God is not a God of confusion, but of order, and He is the one who creates creatures and the different species of them to procreate after their own kind.
Genesis 1: 11And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.
12And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
Sin has greatly deformed man, both in length of years and assumedly stature.
Uploaded on Nov 26, 2009
Sons of God, Daughters of Men?
Genesis 6 verse 1, Now it came to pass when men began to multiply on the face of the earth and daughters were born to them, that the Sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were beautiful. And they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose. And the Lord said, My Spirit should not strive with man forever for he is indeed flesh, yet his days shall be 120 years.
First, lets identify the Sons of God.
Now if we let the Bible interpret itself, you notice for one thing that when Luke does the chronology of Jesus in Luke chapter 3 (38) and he says, And Enos was the son of Seth, who was the son of Adam, who was the son of God. Adam is called the son of God. Then you go to 1 John chapter 3 verse 1 and it says, Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us that we should be called sons of God. All right so here its telling us two times the sons of God are people; but theyre committed people, people committed to the Lord.
After Cain killed Abel, Adam and Eve had another son named Seth. And Seth, it says, feared the Lord. Seth and his descendents were children of God. Cain was carnal Enos. That means he was a mortal man. He did not have everlasting life. As long as they remained separate, the truth of God was preserved; but when the sons of God began to marry the children of Seth began to intermarry with the daughters of Cain then that distinction, that holiness, it evaporated. Thats why the next verse says God said My Spirit will not always strive with man. Hes got 120 years before the flood. And so the sons of God were the descendents of Seth that were true to the Lord. They still offered sacrifice to God. The daughters of men were the daughters of Cains descendents who had not the knowledge of God preserved.
Matthew 22: 30For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.
We are created in the image of God, Angels were not.
Job 1: 6Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.
Satan came to represent planet earth because he assumed dominion once Adam and Eve sinned against God by following him.
Revelation 12:12 Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.
Where in the Bible did it say that the giants or mighty men, were not human men? Anak, Goliath were giant MEN!
Only God creates species of life, all evidences from the Bible and science prove that species do not cross breed to form a new species or creature. God is not a God of confusion, but of order, and He is the one who creates creatures and the different species of them to procreate after their own kind.
Genesis 1: 11And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.
12And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
Sin has greatly deformed man, both in length of years and assumedly stature.
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