Friday, June 14, 2013

Cremation: The New American Way of Death

Thursday, June 13, 2013 | By Josh Sanburn



Lars Tunbjörk—Agence Vu for TIME
A dead body ready for cremation has just been inserted into an eco-friendly Resomator machine. Instead of flames, this stainless steel chamber owned by Bradshaw Funeral and Cremation Services uses a combination of water, potassium hydroxide and heat to break down bodies into peptides, soaps, salts and sugars.





Swedish photographer Lars Tunbjörk has documented frenzied consumerism, the soul-deadening effects of office life and the strange theatrics of U.S. politics, always displaying a sense of humor and a grasp of the absurd that would not be out of place in a George Saunders short story. For our feature on the increasing popularity of cremation around the country, TIME sent Tunbjörk deep into the American heartland to chronicle the goings-on at three separate crematories.

For decades, burial has been by far the most common form of disposition in the United States. Most Americans never gave it a second thought: their grandparents were buried; their great-grandparents were buried—it just made sense that they’d get buried, too, in the family plot, beside their closest relatives.

(Click here to read TIME’s special report on cremation and find out why our changing attitude toward this final rite of passage says everything about the way we live now.)

But today we’re a far different society than we were just a few decades ago. Within the next few years it’s projected that, for the first time, more Americans will get cremated than buried.

Much of the recent rise of cremation’s popularity can be credited to the Great Recession. Cremations can cost as little as a quarter as much as traditional burials. But it’s not just the price tag that makes cremation a popular alternative.

For one, we’re a much more mobile society today. We don’t buy family plots the way we used to because more of us get an education, start a family, get a job and retire far from our birthplaces. When it comes time to find a final resting place, transporting an urn is much easier than dealing with a casket.

Historically, the U.S. has been a majority Christian nation, and Christianity favors burial for a number of reasons. But Americans are becoming increasingly secular and many of us now identify as atheist, agnostic or, even if we consider ourselves religious, aren’t affiliated with a particular faith. That separation from a religion with ties to traditional burial has led to more Americans exploring other options of disposition.

Cremation has also appealed to those looking for a more eco-friendly solution than burial, which involves placing a body filled with embalming fluids on a plot of land that will need to be maintained in perpetuity. And while flame-based cremation is a more environmentally sensitive solution than traditional burial, a new breed of eco-friendly cremations is just starting to become popular. “Green cremations,” which use a mixture of water and potassium hydroxide, are available in a handful of states and are outpacing flame-based cremations in the areas where they’re offered.

The practice of cremation will in all likelihood only grow as we become more mobile, secular and eco-conscious as a society. In fact, in the not too distant future, burial might well be seen as a peculiar option in light of the eminently reasonable, less expensive and environmentally sound method now so widely available—and increasingly embraced.

Click here to read TIME’s special report on cremation and find out why our changing attitude toward this final rite of passage says everything about the way we live now.

Lars Tunbjörk is a photographer based in Stockholm. He previously photographed the 2012 Iowa Caucuses for TIME.

Josh Sanburn is a writer/reporter for TIME in New York. Follow him on Twitter @joshsanburn.



Source

.

Obama slated to name five openly homosexual foreign ambassadors


BY KIRSTEN ANDERSEN

Wed Jun 12, 2013 16:51 EST




WASHINGTON, D.C., June 11, 2013 (LifeSiteNews) – The Obama Administration’s ongoing celebration of homosexual “Pride Month” has seemingly carried over into its ambassadorial nominations.

On monday, the president announced the nomination of Daniel Baer as ambassador to the Vienna-based Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). If confirmed, Baer would be the first open homosexual to serve as ambassador to a multilateral institution.





Next on the list is HBO executive James Costos, who together with his boyfriend, decorator Michael Smith, fundraised over $1 million for President Obama’s re-election. He is expected to be named ambassador to Spain as early as this week.

After that, at least three more homosexuals are slated to be announced as ambassadorial picks, including former Office of Personnel Management director John Berry (Australia), former Democratic National Committee finance chairman and Obama fundraising director Rufus Gifford (Denmark), and hedge fund manager James “Wally” Brewster, a high-dollar Obama fundraiser whose assignment is as yet unknown.

If they are confirmed, the five openly gay ambassadors will join the three already appointed, bringing the total to eight.
Emily Heil of the Washington Post speculated that the rash of homosexual appointments is repayment for the massive role gay activists had in the president’s fundraising efforts, as well as on Election Day. Heil reported that a dozen members of Obama’s national finance team are openly homosexual, and said an argument could be made that gay Americans “handed Obama the election” by voting for him by a three-to-one margin.

While the Administration has yet to send an openly gay ambassador to a country that opposes homosexuality, in the wake of the Benghazi terrorist attack on September 11 of last year, it was widelyspeculated that murdered Libyan Ambassador Christopher Stevens may have been targeted by Muslim extremists because of suspicions he was gay.

In 2011, Ambassador Richard Hoagland outraged Pakistanis by hosting a gay pride celebration at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, provoking protests in the conservative Muslim nation. At the time, a coalition of religious and political leaders, including Pakistan’s largest Islamic party, Jamaat-e-Islami, released a statement condemning the U.S. government’s homosexual advocacy, calling it the “worst social and cultural terrorism against Pakistan.”

Last week, Secretary of State John Kerry released a recorded message to all State Department employees celebrating the month of June as homosexual “Pride Month” and highlighting the department’s role in spreading homosexual acceptance throughout the globe, describing gay advocacy as “central” to the Obama Administration’s efforts overseas.


.

Obama ‘Strongly Objects’ to Religious Liberty Amendment




Posted in Top Stories



Jun 12, 2013


By Todd Starnes

The Obama Administration “strongly objects” to a proposed amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act on Wednesday that would have protected the religious rights of soldiers – including evangelical Christian service members who are facing growing hostility towards their religion.

The amendment was authored by Rep. John Fleming, R-La. It would have “required the Armed Forces to accommodate ‘actions and speech’ reflecting the conscience, moral, principles or religious beliefs of the member.”

The Obama Administration said the amendment would have a “significant adverse effect on good order, discipline, morale, and mission accomplishment.”
“With its statement, the White House is now endorsing military reprimands of members who keep a Bible on their desk or express a religious belief,” Fleming told Fox News. “This administration is aggressively hostile towards religious beliefs that it deems to be politically incorrect.”

Fleming introduced the amendment after a series of high-profile incidents involving attacks on religious liberty within the military- including an Air Force officer who was told to remove a Bible from his desk because it might give the impression he was endorsing a religion.

He said there are other reports of Christian service members and chaplains being punished for their faith.

  • The Air Force censored a video created by a chaplain because it include the word “God.” The Air Force feared the word might offend Muslims and atheists.
  • A service member received a “severe and possibly career-ending reprimand” for expressing his faith’s religious position about homosexuality in a personal religious blog.
  • A senior military official at Fort Campbell sent out a lengthy email officially instructing officers to recognize “the religious right in America” as a “domestic hate group” akin to the KKK and Neo-Nazis because of its opposition to homosexual behavior.
  • A chaplain was relieved of his command over a military chapel because, consistent with DOMA’s definition of marriage, he could not allow same-sex weddings to take place in the chapel.


Last month Coast Guard Rear Admiral William Lee told a National Day of Prayer audience that religious liberty was being threatened by Pentagon lawyers and service members are being told to hide their faith in Christ.

“Leaders like myself are feeling the constraints of rules and regulations and guidance issued by lawyers that put us in a tighter and tighter box regarding our constitutional right to express our religious faith,” he said.

Fleming said the purpose of his amendment is to clarify ambiguities in the Pentagon’s policies.

“The bottom line is the military is bending over backwards to remove – even in the case of chaplains – expressions of faith and conscience,” Fleming said.

Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, called the Obama Administration’s edict a “chilling suppression of religious freedom.”

“The Obama administration has joined forces with those who are attacking the religious freedoms of those who serve in our Armed Services,” Perkins said. “The Administration’s opposition to Rep. Fleming’s religious freedom amendment reveals that this administration has gone beyond accommodating the anti-Christian activists who want to remove any vestige of Christianity from the military, to aiding them by blocking this bipartisan measure.”



.


Supreme Court Set to Rule on Calif. Gay Marriage Ban



June 13, 2013
Andy Goldberg, dpa


U.S. Supreme Court (file photo)



The US Supreme Court is set to issue two rulings by the end of June that could reshape the definition of marriage in the United States as it rules on the constitutionality of a ban on gay marriage in California and a federal law that keeps same-sex couples from receiving benefits.

The issue is one of complex legal issues involving state's rights and freedom from discrimination that could defy the usual balance of liberals and conservatives on the court's roster. It will have a profound effect on the country's millions of same-sex couples and their families who hope to gain the legal, financial and social advantages of being legally wedded.

The court is considering two laws, the federal Defence of Marriage Act (DOMA), passed by Congress in 1996, and California's Proposition 8, passed by voters in 2008, both of which specify that the institution of marriage be reserved for a man and a woman.

DOMA also denies federal benefits, such as social security and tax advantages, to same sex couple who are legally married in the states where they reside.

The top US court will no doubt rely heavily on legal theory to arrive at its decision, but it must decide amid the backdrop of fast changing public attitudes that have transformed the consensus over gay marriage even since California passed its ban on same sex unions four and a half years ago.

Back then the issue was controversial even in liberal california, and the ban passed only with the massive injection of funds by outside conservative groups, which used scare tactics about gay culture to win a narrow majority.

Now it's clear that California has a strong majority in favour of gay marriage, with 58 per cent of voters believing it should be legal, compared with 36 per cent opposed, according to a Los Angeles Times poll published this month. Other states are moving in the same direction.

A recent poll conducted by the Pew Research Center indicated growing acceptance of gay lifestyles. For the first time in Pew polling, just over half of Americans favoured allowing gay men and lesbians to marry legally, while 60 per cent said that homosexuality should be accepted by society rather than discouraged.

The poll indicates how significantly public opinion has changed on the issue in recent years. In 2001, Americans opposed same-sex marriage by a 57 per cent to 35 per cent margin. Now the figures are 51 per cent in favour and 42 per cent opposed.

Politicians are moving along with the tide. While US President Barack Obama's views on the issue during his first term might have been oblique, he is now clearly in favour of gay marriage. In the US Senate, 54 out of 100 members, including two Republicans have said they favour gay marriage.

Nine states - Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, New Hampshire, New York, Massachusetts, Vermont and Washington, as well as Washington, DC, allow same-sex marriages.

Minnesota, Rhode Island and Delaware have approved same-sex marriage legislation, but laws in those states have yet to go into effect. Six other states are considered likely to pass similar laws, but there still are 30 states that have constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage.

Legal experts predict that the court is likely to take a clearer stand on DOMA than on Proposition 8 because it defines marriage as between a man and a woman for purposes of federal law, such as taxes and inheritance.

"I think the court will invalidate that section of DOMA, and it may not even be 5-4," Margaret Russell, a law professor at Santa Clara University in California told dpa, referring to the usual split in the court along ideological lines.

If the federal legislation is struck down, gay couples who are legally married in their states would be eligible for the same tax, social security and other benefits as heterosexual couples.

On California's Prop 8, the waters are murkier because the issue not only relates to gay marriage but also to states' rights to legislate on issues according to local preference. Since even the state of California is not defending the law its voters passed, the most likely scenario is that the gay marriage opponents who appealed the lower court ruling against the ban will be denied standing in the case.

Such a ruling would in effect allow gay marriage to proceed in California once the legal technicalities are sorted out. But it would leave the question open for other states to decide as they see fit - and subject the issue to further legal tussles.

For opponents of gay marriage that would be a victory of sorts, allowing them to institute bans in places where voters oppose the idea.

"The question before this court is whether the Constitution puts a stop to that ongoing democratic debate and answers this question for all 50 states," said Charles Cooper, a lawyer for the Prop 8 supporters in the March court hearings.



For more stories covering politics, please see HispanicBusiness' Politics Channel


Source: Copyright 2013 dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH



Related Stories

First Lesbian Latina Confirmed to Federal Judgeship
Obama: U.S. Has Reached Turning Point on LGBT Community
'The Nance' brings on laughs and tears
9 Hitchcock silent films at the Castro
Kinky Booty! Broadway Dancers Get Nude for Good Cause


.

"It shall be more tolerable in that day for Sodom, than for that city"



1 After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come.

2 Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.

3 Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves.

4 Carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes: and salute no man by the way.

5 And into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this house.

6 And if the son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it: if not, it shall turn to you again.

7 And in the same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give: for the labourer is worthy of his hire. Go not from house to house.

8 And into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you:

9 And heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.

10 But into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you not, go your ways out into the streets of the same, and say,

11 Even the very dust of your city, which cleaveth on us, we do wipe off against you: notwithstanding be ye sure of this, that the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.

12 But I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable in that day for Sodom, than for that city.

13 Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which have been done in you, they had a great while ago repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.

14 But it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment, than for you.

15 And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven, shalt be thrust down to hell.

16 He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me.


17 And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.

18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.

19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

20 Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.


Luke 10:1-20
.

Obama endorses bill to end workplace discrimination for sexual orientation

Jun 13, 2013, 6:07pm EDT UPDATED: Jun 13, 2013, 8:52pm EDT




President Barack Obama cited progress on gay marriage as evidence that passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act is achievable.



Washington Bureau Chief

President Barack Obama endorsed the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, legislation that would bar employers from discriminating against workers based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.

The endorsement came late Thursday afternoon at a White House reception honoring LGBT Pride Month and was warmly received by the crowd. Gay rights groups have been waiting for Obama to throw his weight behind the legislation.

Federal legislation is needed, the president said, because in 34 states you can be fired "because of who you are."

When the bill was re-introduced in the Senate in April, the White House was silent about the legislation.

Today, however, Obama called for prompt action by Congress.

"We need to get that passed," he said. "I want to sign that bill. We need to get it done now."

"I think we make that happen," he said.


.

Thursday, June 13, 2013

LGBT Pride Month Reception at the White House



LGBT Pride Month Reception at the White House


whitehouse


Published on Jun 13, 2013


President Obama delivers remarks at the LGBT Pride Month celebration at the White House. June 13, 2013.


<._.>

THIS IS  a SHAMEFUL DAY IN THE NATION'S, THE WORLD'S HISTORY...
USING THE PRESIDENCY TO PROMOTE THIS DETESTABLE VICE! 
.
So, it's anti-guns and pro-homosexuality?  This is the strangest day ever!  Insanity is the new normal..


.....

BREAKING: Deck collapses at Shuckers Restaurant during Miami Heat game



Posted on Thursday, 06.13.13





An unidentified woman is taken away in an ambulance following the collapse of a deck at Shuckers Bar & Grill in North Bay Village Thursday night. FERNANDO PEINADO / MIAMI HERALD STAFF


MIAMI HERALD STAFF REPORT




A deck behind the popular Shuckers sports bar in North Bay Village collapsed Thursday night, spilling scores of customers watching the Miami Heat vs. San Antonio Spurs game into Biscayne Bay.

Dozens of police and fire-rescue units rushed to the scene after the sudden collapse, which happened about 9:45 [p.m., minutes before the game’s halftime. WSVN-Fox 7 reported that one person was taken to a hospital in critical condition and that four were listed in serious condition.

As helicopters circled over the scene, rescuers carried people from the scene on stretchers, one after another.

Chris Volz, 39, said he was sitting at the western end of the bar, about 10 feet from where the deck gave way. “Everybody’s watching the game. It sounded like a freight train, then everyone was gone. The deck went down like a V.” He said it happened in a split second and that no one had a chance to get away.

He said bartenders were diving into the water to help rescue the patrons. Fire trucks pulled to the water’s edge and extended their ladders over the water to help the patrons climb to safety.

Shuckers, at 1819 79th Street Causeway, lost power when the collapse happened, casting victims and rescuers alike into the dark.

Hernan Reyes, 21, and friend Crystal Infante, 23, were eating and watching then game when the deck, about five feet over the water, collapsed. Infante said the water was shallow enough for them to stand, but it was difficult for them to get out because wood, umbrellas, tables, chairs and other debris currounded them.

“There was a crack, and then we were in the water,” Infante said. “There was just a crack, and then we were in the water....It was really hard to get out, and you coudln’t find anyone.”

By 11 p.m., a triage unit had been set up in the parking lot, and victims were still being removed from the water.. Traffic on the 79th Street Causeway was closed off in both directions.

Police and rescue units from North Bay Village, Miami-Dade County, Miami, Miami Beach and El Portal were on the scene within minutes.

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.


.
.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/06/13/3450248/breaking-deck-collapses-at-shuckers.html#storylink=cpy

Building America's secret surveillance state - James Bamford


Column: Building America's secret surveillance state - James Bamford


By James Bamford | Reuters – Wed, Jun 12, 2013





Reuters/Reuters - An illustration picture shows the logo of the U.S. National Security Agency on the display of an iPhone in Berlin, June 7, 2013. REUTERS/Pawel Kopczynski



By James Bamford

(Reuters) - "God we trust," goes an old National Security Agency joke. "All others we monitor.

First, the Guardian reported details on a domestic telephone dragnet in which Verizon was forced to give the NSA details about all domestic, and even local, telephone calls. Then the Guardian and the Washington Post revealed another massive NSA surveillance program, called Prism, that required the country's major Internet companies to secretly pass along data including email, photos, videos, chat services, file transfers, stored data, log-ins and video conferencing.

While the Obama administration and Senate intelligence committee members defend the spying as crucial in its fight against terrorism, this is only the latest chapter in nearly a century of pressure on telecommunications companies to secretly cooperate with NSA and its predecessors. But as stunning technology advances allow more and more personal information to pass across those links, the dangers of the United States turning into a secret surveillance state increase exponentially.

The NSA was so flooded with billions of dollars from post-September 11, 2001 budget increases that it went on a building spree and also expanded its eavesdropping capabilities enormously. Secret rooms were built in giant telecom facilities, such as AT&T's 10-story "switch" in San Francisco. There, mirror copies of incoming data and telephone cables are routed into rooms filled with special hardware and software to filter out email and phone calls for transmission to NSA for analysis.

New spy satellites were launched and new listening posts were built - such as the recently opened operations center near Augusta, Ga. Designed to hold more than 4,000 earphone-clad eavesdroppers, it is the largest electronic spy base in the world.

Meanwhile, at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, where top-secret work was done on the atomic bomb during World War II, the NSA is secretly building the world's fastest and most powerful computer. Designed to run at exaflop speed, executing a million trillion operations per second, it will be able to sift through enormous quantities of data - for example, all the phone numbers dialed in the United States every day.

Today the NSA is the world's largest spy organization, encompassing tens of thousands of employees and occupying a city-size headquarters complex on Fort Meade in Maryland. But in 1920, its earliest predecessor, known as the Black Chamber, fit into a slim townhouse on Manhattan's East 37th Street.

World War One had recently ended, along with official censorship, and the Radio Communication Act of 1912 was again in effect. This legislation guaranteed the secrecy of electronic communications and meted out harsh penalties for any telegraph company employee who divulged the contents of a message. To the Black Chamber, however, the bill represented a large obstacle to be overcome—illegally, if necessary.

So the Black Chamber chief, Herbert O. Yardley, and his boss in Washington, General Marlborough Churchill, head of the Military Intelligence Division, paid a visit to 195 Broadway in downtown Manhattan, headquarters of Western Union. This was the nation's largest telegram company - the email of that day.

The two government officials took the elevator to the 24th floor for a secret meeting with Western Union's president, Newcomb Carlton. Their object was to convince him to grant them secret access to the private communications zapping through his company's wires.

It was easier achieved than Yardley had ever imagined. "After the men had put all our cards on the table," Yardley later described, "President Carlton seemed anxious to do everything he could for us.'"

Time and again over the decades, this pattern has been repeated. The NSA, or a predecessor, secretly entered into agreements with the country's major telecommunications companies and illegally gained access to Americans' private communications.

In a much-cited story, the influential Republican statesman, Henry L. Stimson, was described as deeply offended by the very notion of snooping into people's private communications. As the new secretary of state in 1929, Stimson shut down the Black Chamber with the now immortal phrase, "Gentlemen do not read each other's mail."

But when President Franklin D. Roosevelt later appointed Stimson secretary of war during World War Two, Stimson changed his mind. He wanted to eavesdrop on every possible communication, especially on the Germans and Japanese.

Once the guns of World War Two began falling silent, however, the communications privacy laws again took effect. Thus, Brigadier General W. Preston Corderman, the chief of the Signals Intelligence Service - another pre-NSA iteration — faced the same dilemma Yardley confronted after World War One: a lack of access to the cables flowing into, out of and through the country.

So, once again, deals were made with the major telegraph companies - the Internet providers of the day - to grant the SIS (and later the NSA) secret access to their communications.

Codenamed "Operation Shamrock," agents would arrive at the back door at each telecom headquarters in New York around midnight; pick up all that days telegraph traffic, and bring it to an office masquerading as a television tape processing company. There they would use a machine to duplicate all the computer tapes containing the telegrams, and, hours later, return the original tapes to the company.

The secret agreement lasted for 30 years. It only ended in 1975, when the nation was shocked by a series of stunning intelligence revelations uncovered by a congressional investigation led by Senator Frank Church.

The illegality and vast breadth of this one operation stunned both the left and the right, Republicans as well as Democrats. The parties came together to create a new law to make sure nothing like it could ever happen again. Known as the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the legislation created a secret court, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, to ensure that the NSA only eavesdropped on Americans when there was probable cause to suspect they were involved in serious national security crimes — such as espionage or terrorism.

For more than a quarter-century, the NSA obeyed this law. The intelligence agency turned its giant ears outward — away from the everyday lives of Americans. But that all changed soon after September 11, 2001, when the Bush administration began its warrantless wiretapping program.

Once again, an NSA director sought the secret cooperation of the nation's telecom industry to gain access to its communications channels and links. Again, the companies agreed — despite violating the laws and the privacy of their tens of millions of customers. Eventually, when the operation was discovered, a number of groups brought suit against the companies, Congress passed legislation granting them immunity.

Thus, for roughly 100 years, whenever the government knocked on the telecommunications industry's door and asked them to break the law and turn over millions upon millions of private communications, the telecoms complied. Why not, since they knew that nothing would ever happen to them if they broke the law.

Now, as a result of these new revelations, it appears that the NSA has again gone to Verizon and other telephone companies, as well as many of the giant Internet companies, and obtained secret access to millions, if not billions, of private communications. There are still many questions as to what, if any, legal justification was used.

But unlike with Yardley and the Black Chamber, the dangers today of secret cooperation between the telecom and Internet industry and the NSA are incomparable. Because of technology back then, the only data the government was able to obtain were telegrams — which few average people sent or received.

Today, however, access to someone's telephone records and Internet activity can provide an incredibly intimate window on their life.

Phone data reveals whom they call, where they call, how often they call someone, where they are calling from and how long they speak to each person. Internet data provides e-mail content, Google searches, pictures, and personal and financial details.

We now live in an era when access to someone's email account and web searches can paint a more detailed picture of their life then most personal diaries. Secret agreements between intelligence agencies and communications companies should not be allowed in a democracy. There is too much at risk.

In a dusty corner of Utah, NSA is now completing construction of a mammoth new building, a one-million-square foot data warehouse for storing the billions of communications it is intercepting. If the century-old custom of secret back-room deals between NSA and the telecoms is permitted to continue, all of us may digitally end up there.

Contrary to what Simpson may have asserted, gentlemen (and women) do read each other's mail — at least if they work for the National Security Agency.

And in the future, given NSA's unrestrained push into advanced technologies, the agency may also be able to read your thoughts as well as your mail.

(James Bamford is a Reuters columnist but his opinions are his own.)

(James Bamford writes frequently on intelligence and produces documentaries for PBS. His latest book is "The Shadow Factory: The Ultra-Secret NSA from 9/11 to the Eavesdropping on America.")


.

Sen. Paul: Taxpayer dollars funding 'war against Christianity in the Middle East'



By Alexandra Jaffe - 06/13/13 02:11 PM ET



Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) pitched a conservative audience on a noninterventionist foreign policy on Thursday, advocating against arming Syrian rebels and warning that American tax dollars are funding "a war against Christianity."

“It is clear that American taxpayer dollars are being used to enable a war on Christianity in the Middle East and I believe that must end,” Paul said to a packed luncheon during the three-day Faith and Freedom Conference, an event hosted by the socially conservative Faith and Freedom Coalition.

Paul proposed that foreign aid should be slashed to Egypt, Libya and Pakistan until they meet certain requirements, countries he said are "openly hostile" to Christians.

It's a proposal he's discussed before, but one that's been met with criticism from other members of his party.

On Syria, Paul said he'd continue to oppose arming rebel forces, a position that aligns him with the current status quo and Syrian President Bashar Assad.

“The Senate is attempting to arm the rebel forces in Syria, many of whom are al Qaeda or affiliates. They do so out of a misguided attempt to stop the violence in Syria,” Paul said. “Instead their actions will bring more violence and more persecution of Christians, who have long been protected in Syria.”

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted last month 15-3 to arm certain rebel groups, but it's unclear whether the measure would gain traction on the Senate floor.


Source: http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/305407-paul-taxpayer-dollars-funding-war-against-christianity#ixzz2W84pTnK0

Related:

Paul decries 'war on Christianity'

June 13, 2013 | 1:31 pm


Sen. Rand Paul, R-K.y., condemned persecution of Christians in Muslim countries and called for an end to U.S. aid to such nations. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Speaking at the Faith and Freedom Coalition's Road to Majority conference in Washington, D.C. today, Sen. Rand Paul, R-K.y., condemned persecution of Christians in Muslim countries and called for an end to U.S. aid to such nations.

"It angers me to see my tax dollars supporting regimes that put Christians to death for blasphemy against Islam, countries that put to death Muslims who convert to Christianity, and countries who imprison anyone who marries outside their religion," Paul said.

He cited Asia Bibi, a Christian in Pakistan, who is on death row for drinking from a Muslim co-worker's glass as an example, as well as the plight of Iraq's substantial Christian population in Iraq.

"These countries are not our allies, and no amount of money is going to make them so," Paul said. "It makes no sense. Should we be sending F-16s and tanks to Egypt when (President Mohammed) Morsi says Jews are descendants of apes and pigs?"

Earlier this year, Paul sponsored a measured to restrict foreign aid to Egypt, Libya and Pakistan until they turned over those responsible for the murder of U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens during the Benghazi terrorist attack.

Paul's measure also required those countries to protect U.S. embassies on their soil and in Pakistan's case to release Dr. Shafil Afridi, who helped lead the U.S. to Osama bin Laden.

"How do your leaders respond? 90 % of them voted against my bill that would have put restrictions on this aid," Paul said.

"My bill said that Libya, Egypt, and Pakistan would get no more foreign aid from the U.S. taxpayer unless they turned over the assassins that killed our ambassador, pledged and verified that they can and will protect our embassies, and in the case of Pakistan they must release Dr. Afridi," he added.

"Overwhelmingly, I was voted down. Is it any wonder that Congress has a 10% approval rating? In Egypt, in Pakistan, they burn our flag, so I say not one penny more to countries that burn the American flag!"

aschow@washingtonexaminer.com


.

Walter Veith - König des Nordens (Teil 2) - Sturm aus dem Norden [The King of the North - PART 2 /]



Prof Dr.Walter Veith 03) König des Nordens (Teil 2) - Sturm aus dem Norden 


Jesum Christum

Published on May 6, 2013


(03) König des Nordens (Teil 2)
Eine Auslegung der Prophezeiung in Daniel 11 über den lang anhaltenden Konflikt zwischen Nord- und Südkönig, besonders in seiner letzten Phase seit 1798, die in einen vollständigen Sieg des Nordkönigs mündet. Teil 2 widmet sich auch den Irrlehren über den Antichristus sowie die Rolle des heutigen Israel in der biblischen Prophetie.

><
.
.
(English)

.

273 - The King of the North - PART 2 / Repairing the Breach - Walter Veith

OfficialADTVChannel


Published on Dec 3, 2012


http://amazingdiscoveries.tv/media/11...

Part 2 is a study of the king of the south that pushes against Catholicism at the time of the end, but it also investigates the intrigues of setting up the conditions for the final victory of the king of the north. The secret intrigues of Napoleon, the setting up of a false system of worship, and a counterfeit theology regarding the antichrist, the dispensationalist view, and the creation of the Jewish state and Zionism are all discussed. Viewers will be surprised to discover the origin of the Jews and the state of Israel. This DVD concludes the study of Daniel 11 and prepares the way for the modern fulfillment of these prophecies.

.

3MIN News June 13, 2013: X-Ray Andromeda, Sunspots/CHs Incoming






Suspicious0bservers


Published on Jun 13, 2013


How to Watch the Sun
http://youtu.be/ld5ecZuHECA

Donations Optional: http://tiny.cc/f195ww orhttps://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr...

Original music by Nemes1s
http://www.suspicious0bservers.org/shop/ [Get NEMES1S Music!]
http://www.soundclick.com/nemes1s

Animations and Visual Effects by Xaviar Thunders [Check him out on YouTube]

Donations Optional: http://tiny.cc/f195ww orhttps://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr...
0bserver Shop: http://www.cafepress.com/s0s

TODAY's New LINKS:
Andromeda X-Rays: http://chandra.si.edu/photo/2013/m31/

Radio Anomaly: http://iridl.ldeo.columbia.edu/maproo...
Shakemap, PrincetonUniv: http://global.shakemovie.princeton.ed...
US TEC: http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/ustec/images...
US Windmap http://hint.fm/wind/
US Severe Weather: http://www.weather.com/news/tornado-c...
UK/EU MET Office: http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/e...
NOAA: http://www.weather.gov/forecastmaps
EU Weather Alerts: http://www.meteoalarm.eu
US Weather Warnings: http://www.weather.gov
India: http://202.54.31.51/nowcast/http://www.imd.gov.in/section/nhac/dy...http://www.imd.gov.in/section/satmet/...

The REAL Climate Changer: http://youtu.be/_yy3YJBOw_o
Ice Age Soon? http://youtu.be/UuYTcnN7TQk
An Unlikely but Relevant Risk - The Solar Killshot:http://youtu.be/X0KJ_dxp170

REPEAT LINKS:

WORLD WEATHER:
NDBC Buoys: http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/
Tropical Storms: http://www.wunderground.com/tropical/
HurricaneZone Satellite Images:http://www.hurricanezone.net/westpaci...
Weather Channel: http://www.weather.com/
NOAA Environmental Visualization Laboratory:http://www.nnvl.noaa.gov/Default.php
Pressure Maps: http://www.woweather.com/cgi-bin/expe...
Satellite Maps: http://www.woweather.com/cgi-app/sate...
Forecast Maps: http://www.woweather.com/weather/maps...
EL DORADO WORLD WEATHER MAP:http://www.eldoradocountyweather.com/...
TORCON: http://www.weather.com/news/tornado-t... [Tornado Forecast for the day]
HURRICANE TRACKER: http://www.weather.com/weather/hurric...

US WEATHER:
Precipitation Totals: http://www.cocorahs.org/ViewData/List...
GOES Satellites: http://rsd.gsfc.nasa.gov/goes/
THE WINDMAP: http://hint.fm/wind/
Severe Weather Threats: http://www.weather.com/news/weather-s...
Canada Weather Office Satellite Composites:http://www.weatheroffice.gc.ca/satell...
Temperature Delta: http://www.intellicast.com/National/T...
Records/Extremes: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/extremes/rec...

SPACEWEATHER:
Spaceweather: http://spaceweather.com
SOHO Solar Wind: http://umtof.umd.edu/pm/
HAARP Data Meters: http://www.haarp.alaska.edu/haarp/dat...
Planetary Orbital Diagram - Ceres1 JPL:http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr...
SDO: http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/data/
Helioviewer: http://www.helioviewer.org/
SOHO: http://sohodata.nascom.nasa.gov/cgi-b...
Stereo: http://stereo.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/i...
SOLARIMG: http://solarimg.org/artis/
iSWA: http://iswa.gsfc.nasa.gov/iswa/iSWA.html
NASA ENLIL SPIRAL: http://iswa.gsfc.nasa.gov:8080/IswaSy...
NOAA ENLIL SPIRAL: http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/wsa-enlil/
GOES Xray: http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/sxi/goes15/i...
Gamma Ray Bursts: http://grb.sonoma.edu/
BARTOL Cosmic Rays: http://neutronm.bartol.udel.edu//spac...
ISWA: http://iswa.ccmc.gsfc.nasa.gov:8080/I...
NOAA Sunspot Classifications:http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/ftpdir/lates...
GONG: http://gong2.nso.edu/dailyimages/
GONG Magnetic Maps: http://gong.nso.edu/data/magmap/ondem...


MISC Links:
JAPAN Radiation Map: http://jciv.iidj.net/map/
RADIATION Network: http://radiationnetwork.com/
LISS: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/monitoring...
QUAKES LIST FULL: http://www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/s...
RSOE: http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/index2.php [That cool alert map I use]
Moon: http://www.fourmilab.ch/earthview/pac...


.

Southern Baptists denounce Scouts for allowing gay members

A story from the 'the stones cry out' department:

Top News



Southern Baptists pass Resolution 6 during the annual Southern Baptist Convention.




mk/bg/Bill Greenblatt UPI
License photo


Published: June 13, 2013 at 7:17 AMBy VERONICA LINARES, UPI.com


Southern Baptists passed a resolution Wednesday denouncing the Boy Scouts of America for allowing openly gay youth.

Resolution 6 was passed during The Southern Baptist Convention which is currently holding its annual meeting in Houston, TX.

Only one man reportedly opposed the bill claiming that scouts already opposed sexual activity among the boys and adding that children who say they're gay need to be counseled and not cast out.

"I don't think we'd kick such a boy out of our Sunday schools," Charlie Dale, a representative from Indian Springs First Baptist Church in Alabama said. "I don't think we should hold the Boy Scouts to a standard we would not put on our churches. Such a boy needs our love. Let's show them what real Biblical manhood is about and love them."

Dale allegedly received some applause by the audience, but they crowd was more excited to cheer for speakers who supported the resolution and those who asked for even stricter rules.

"Resolution 6 has passed," Southern Baptist Convention President Fred Luter, Jr. said. "Overwhelmingly."

The Southern Baptist Convention is an international organizing body for Southern Baptist Churches.  Boy Scouts of America ranks Baptist sixth for the number of Scouts sponsored



Source: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Blog/2013/06/13/Southern-Baptists-denounce-Scouts-for-allowing-gay-members/4361371122267/#ixzz2W6l0rjNt

.

Viewership Drops


Liberty for Safety?


They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.

Benjamin Franklin



.

Medgar Evers’ Murder: 50 Years Later



By Kate Bubacz
Jun 12, 2013 6:00am

It has been 50 years since the shocking slaying of Medgar Evers. The civil rights activist and NAACP field secretary fought for equality on many levels, from organizing voter drives and protests against discrimination, to calling for legal investigations into school segregation and the lynching of Emmett Till.

Evers was returning from a meeting when he was gunned down by a white supremacist in the driveway of his Mississippi home. His death, coming just hours after a speech on civil rights by President John F. Kennedy, sparked a national outpouring of mourning and outrage.


Civil Rights Activist and NAACP Field Secretary Medgar Evers poses for a portrait circa 1960 in Jackson, Miss. (Michael Ochs Archive/Getty Images)



Medgar Evers being interviewed by CBS Reports producer William ‘Bill’ Peters. The segment titled ‘Testament of a Murdered Man,’ conducted in the summer of 1962, was originally broadcast on June 12, 1963. (Getty Images)


Deputy Chief J.L. Ray (r) arrests Roy Wilkins (l), executive secretary of the NAACP, and Medgar Evers (c), NAACP field secretary who are picketing outside of a Woolworth’s department store in Jackson on June 1, 1963. (Bettmann/Corbis)


The hole in upper right of picture was made by a 30-30 caliber bullet which mortally wounded Medgar Evers, state field secretary for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in Jackson, Miss., on June 12, 1963. A bullet passed through Evers into the window, which reflects the car where Evers was when he was shot in the back. (AP Photo)




White policemen wear hardhats and carry double-barrelled shotguns as they block mourners demonstrating at the funeral of slain civil rights activist Medgar Evers, Jackson, June 15, 1963. (Express Newspapers/Getty Images)


In this June 15, 1963, file photo, mourners march to the Jackson, Miss., funeral home following services for slain civil rights leader Medgar Evers. (AP Photo)


In this June 26, 1963, file photo, attendees at a memorial service for Medgar Evers sing a hymn at the Boston Commons in Boston.(AP Photo)

Mourners file past the open casket of Medgar Evers in Jackson, Miss., prior to funeral services for the slain integration leader. (AP Photo)


Charles Evers comforts his brother’s wife, Myrlie, at the funeral of her husband, slain civil rights leader Medgar Evers. (Flip Schulke/CORBIS)


In this June 13, 1963, file photo, Myrlie Louise Evers, widow of civil rights activist Medgar Evers, leans down to kiss her late husband’s forehead.(AP Photo)


Mourners stand solemnly beside the casket of civil rights leader Medgar Evers at the Meridian train station. A WWII veteran, he was buried with full honors in Arlington Cemetary. (Flip Schulke/CORBIS)

Byron De La Beckwith was arrested for murder within weeks of Evers’ shooting. His first trial ended with a divided jury. With the persistence of Myrlie Evers, Beckwith was convicted and jailed in 1994.



Myrlie Evers recounts the conversation husband Medgar Evers had with her before his assassination on Good Morning America here.


,

The Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution


AMENDMENT IV

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

.
.

How Raytheon software tracks you online - video



In this video obtained by the Guardian, Raytheon's 'principal investigator' Brian Urch explains how the Rapid Information Overlay Technology (Riot) software uses photographs on social networks. These images sometimes contain latitude and longitude details – automatically embedded by smartphones within so-called 'exif header data'. Riot pulls out this information, analysing not only the photographs posted by individuals, but also the location where these images were taken


Source
. ...

.

I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee


Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. ..- Hebrews 13:5 (King James Version)

.

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Men who will stand for the right


The greatest want of the world is the want of men—men who will not be bought or sold, men who in their inmost souls are true and honest, men who do not fear to call sin by its right name, men whose conscience is as true to duty as the needle to the pole, men who will stand for the right though the heavens fall.
- Education, p. 57
.

New York City: Scaffold Collapses On Hearst Tower In Midtown



CBS New York Live Stream
.
Scaffold hangs with two window washers on 45Th Floor
.
The Hearst Building @ 57th Street and 8th Ave.
.
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/live-video/

Update: Both window washers have been rescued at approx 4:15 PM.

More photos: 




......

The Church Undivided




Benedict’s Quest to Bring Christians Back Together


By Victor Gaetan
May/June 2013



Pope Benedict XVI made reaching out to other faiths and promoting Christian unity hallmarks of his tenure. Pope Francis will continue this work, not only because he has a history of facilitating religious dialogue, but also because global Catholicism requires it.

VICTOR GAETAN is International Correspondent for the National Catholic Register.




Mass appeal: Pope Benedict with the archbishop of Constantinople, December 2006 (Reuters / Osservatore Romano)

In terms of budget, personnel, and global reach, the Roman Catholic Church rivals the United Nations, and as far as having a track record of promoting tolerance and peace without resorting to force, it has no equal among states.
Over Christianity’s 2,000-year history, its message of love, charity, and self-sacrifice has kept the religion popular and influential, even in the face of relentless attacks. The Soviet Union, for example, shut down churches and waged an aggressive antireligion campaign, but Christianity has outlasted communism.

Christianity is mending a number of internal, long-standing ruptures as well. In the eleventh century, the faith splintered into the Western Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. The sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation further damaged Christian unity. Today, however, global Christianity is poised to heal these rifts and emerge stronger than ever.

This project was made possible by Pope Benedict XVI, who retired in February, and will now be carried out by his successor, Pope Francis. When Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger became Pope Benedict in 2005, few expected him to accomplish much in the way of outreach and bridge building. In his previous position as the designated protector of church doctrine, Ratzinger had proved himself to be a strict traditionalist; in the run-up to his selection as pope, The Washington Post described him as “the guardian of orthodoxy.”

Yet Benedict’s authority as a renowned theologian and the happenstance of his German birth made him an unusually successful advocate for Christian unity. Indeed, Benedict did more during his eight-year reign to overcome the Great Schism of 1054 and the Protestant Reformation, and to promote interfaith dialogue, than any of his predecessors, including Pope John Paul II. In the process, he helped distinguish the Vatican’s worldview from Washington’s in important ways and paved the way for improved cooperation among Christians of various denominations on religious, moral, and political issues worldwide. Francis will undoubtedly continue this effort. In his native Argentina, he championed interfaith cooperation and dialogue.

A CHURCH DIVIDED CANNOT STAND

-------------------------------------
This is a premium article
You must be a logged in Foreign Affairs subscriber to continue reading. If you wish to continue reading this article please subscribe , or activate your online account to get full online access.

.

Daughter Hunts Down Father’s Killer 26 Years Later













06/11/2013 PIX11.
.
26 years after her father’s death, Joselyn Martinez was able to help the NYPD track down her father’s killer.
.
.
.

Pope Confirms 'Gay Lobby' at Work at Vatican






By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press
VATICAN CITY June 12, 2013 (AP)




Pope Francis lamented that a "gay lobby" was at work at the Vatican in private remarks to the leadership of a key Latin American church group — a stunning acknowledgment that appears to confirm earlier reports about corruption and dysfunction in the Holy See.

The Latin American and Caribbean Confederation of Religious — the regional organization for priests and nuns of religious orders — confirmed Tuesday that its leaders had written a synthesis of Francis' remarks after their June 6 audience. The group, known by its Spanish acronym CLAR, said it was greatly distressed that the document had been published and apologized to the pope.

In the document, Francis is quoted as saying that while there were many holy people in the Vatican, there was also corruption: "The 'gay lobby' is mentioned, and it is true, it is there ... We need to see what we can do ..." the synthesis reads.

The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said Tuesday the audience was private and that as a result he had nothing to say.

In the days leading up to Pope Benedict XVI's Feb. 28 resignation, Italian media were rife with reports of a "gay lobby" influencing papal decision-making and Vatican policy through blackmail, and suggestions that the scandal had led in part to Benedict's decision to resign.





The unsourced reports, in the Rome daily La Repubblica and the news magazine Panorama, said details of the scandal were laid out in the secret dossier prepared for Benedict by three trusted cardinals who investigated the leaks of papal documents last year. Benedict left the dossier for Francis.

At the time, the Vatican denounced the reporting as defamatory, "unverified, unverifiable or completely false."

Francis' remarks on the matter, as reported by the CLAR leadership, were published Tuesday in Spanish on the progressive Chilean-based website "Reflection and Liberation" and picked up and translated by the blog Rorate Caeli, which is read in Vatican circles.

In the synthesis, Francis was quoted as being remarkably forthcoming about his administrative shortcomings, saying he was relying on the group of eight cardinals he appointed to lead a reform of the Vatican bureaucracy.

The document quoted him as saying: "I am very disorganized, I have never been good at this. But the cardinals of the commission will move it forward."

In its statement, CLAR said no recording had been made of Francis' remarks but that the members of its leadership team — a half-dozen men and women — together wrote a synthesis of the points he had made for their own personal use.

"It's clear that based on this one cannot attribute with certainty to the Holy Father singular expressions in the text, but just the general sense," the statement said.

———

Text of the CLAR synthesis is at http://www.reflexionyliberacion.cl/articulo/2729/papa-francisco-dialoga-como-un-hermano-mas-con-la-clar.html

Text of the CLAR apology is at http://www.clar.org/clar/index.php?module=Contenido&func=viewpub&tid=2&pid=659

———

Follow Nicole Winfield at www.twitter.com/nwinfield


Source
.

Make Mine Freedom (1948)





Survive2Day


Uploaded on Mar 23, 2011


Public Domain film from the 1948 reminding us why we are in such a mess today. We have given up our freedoms to satisfy our desire for immediate gratification.

Thanks to Bix Weir of GATA and Road To Roota for making us aware of this video.

FAIR USE NOTICE
This video may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.

.

P.S.  I rubber stamp everything in the video, except the Sunday Morning line.
.
.
.