Thursday, November 14, 2013

How The Sharing Economy Is Changing The Places We Work



by Elise Hu
November 14, 2013 3:08 AM


Listen to the Story
4 min 30 sec




Co-workers at Denver's Galvanize, a tech hub in Colorado's capital. Elise Hu/NPR

This week, we've been reporting on — a term that describes the couch-surfing, car-sharing and community-garden-growing world where so many people are using their existing talents, space or tools. You'll find the stories on this blog and , and we would love to hear your questions about the topic. Just , leave a comment or .

The sharing economy is powering a rise of new entrepreneurs who need a different kind of office space. Co-working spaces that foster certain communities, , in Denver, cater to that changing culture of work. When you walk into it — the first thing you'll see is a well-stocked bar. The second is a coffee shop.



A morning meeting at Galvanize's office bar. Elise Hu/NPR

"Cause coffee fires entrepreneurship, if you will," says Chris Onan, one of the three co-founders of Galvanize.

The 30,000-square-foot space is converted from an old bank note building, and a year after opening it's home to more than 140 tech companies that range from having one person work here occasionally, to teams of 30 that rent semi-permanent suite spaces.

The front, where you find the cafe, is open to the public. The nerve center of the space is an atrium of open workspace, which costs a few hundred dollars a month for membership. The outer rim of the bullpen is lined with glass-enclosed studios where midstage startups rent space next to one another but don't get tied to long-term leases.

"I'm not gonna rent a space for five years. Who knows where I'm gonna be in five years?" says , who heads GoSpotCheck, one of the companies who snagged a glass suite.

As the sharing (or peer) economy became big, more people shunned traditional offices and started their own enterprises, and those enterprises needed space and resources. That's what happened with Holloway.



The main atrium of Galvanize allows freelancers to work or come and go as they please, for a monthly membership fee. Elise Hu/NPR


"We were just a couple of us in a garage beforehand," she says. "We had graduated from my basement to a garage; we were in that garage for about a year. And then we were growing as a team, we were finding the right product market fit, and we needed a better environment to work."

This kind of work environment is now cropping up in cities around the world. Galvanize is not exclusively a co-working space, but a hub for tech-specific companies, since the vision was to create a community for entrepreneurs in the same field. It's also a school for designers and developers. It's the brainchild of Jim Deters.

"I do think the rise of facilities like this [arose] to support these solo-prenuers that don't just want to work in a coffee shop or hotel lobby, or get tired of sitting at home by themselves in their jammies," Deters says. "They want to come and work in inspiring environments to make connections and be part of a community to share ideas and transfer ideas."



Galvanize co-founder Chris Onan holds a cup of Galvanize's signature coffee. Elise Hu/NPR

It was the ideas for technology platforms that make so much of the peer economy possible. So it's fitting that the people founding technology companies led the way to this newer kind of work style.

"I like to talk about the importance of building the connective tissue or the relationships between people in these sort of share-a-beer moment, or share-a-coffee moment, because that's what makes us human, right?" Deters says. "We like to break bread together, we like to socialize together, and work and life are not different for this generation. Work is not just work for these people. It is their life."

"These people" — millennials — are the sons and daughters of baby boomers and now number at least 75 million. By many counts, they outnumber boomers. Denise Cheng, a peer economy researcher with the MIT Center for Civic Media, points out a key reason millennials went full bore into the sharing economy: out of necessity.

"They actually don't have a lot of the same opportunities because right around the time they were born was when a lot of corporate structures started to change, and those benefits started to go away," Cheng says. "I think that one really big thing about the millennial generation is that we are going to have so many different careers over a lifetime. And that fluidity also translates into what our work structure looks like."

That fluidity is working out well — not just for Galvanize's young tech founders — but for employees of existing and established businesses that work out of the space, which include the car service Uber, file-sharing company Box and online audio company Pandora. Pandora's small sales team rents desks overlooking Galvanize's floor of freelancers.

"It was just two of us; we wanted to be part of something greater, with more a vibe to it," says Pandora's Robin May.



The lobby entrance to Galvanize is a bar and a coffee shop. Elise Hu/NPR


The vibe is what the future of work feels like for lots of young entrepreneurs. A place without walls, all kinds of freedom and fueled by coffee and beer.


Source
.

Pope Francis Is ‘Too Liberal’ for Her Holiness, Sarah Palin


By Jodie Gummow




The former vice presidential candidate expressed concern over the Pope’s 'liberal agenda' and of course blamed mainstream media…



November 13, 2013 |



Sarah Palin is at it again with another verbal diatribe – but this time it has been directed at Pope Francis, Raw Story reported.

Last night in an interview with CNN, the former half-term Alaskan governor revealed her religious concerns over the Pope's liberal ideology.

“He’s had some statements that to me sound kind of liberal, has taken me aback, has kind of surprised me,” Palin said.

The out-spoken Republican then proceeded to take a swing at the media saying that she was suspicious of the way it had portrayed the Pope’s message:

“There again, unless I really dig deep into what his messaging is, and do my own homework, I’m not going to just trust what I hear in the media,” the “born again” Christian said.

Pope Francis has come under criticism by many American Catholics for his particularly open-minded comments about a number of social issues, from homosexuality and abortion to contraception. In one of his first interviews, the Pontiff scolded the Church for being "too obsessed" with certain social issues.

Such statements caused outrage amongst conservative religious followers here in the United States – some even labeling the pontiff as a “ self-styled revolutionary” who wants to change the church fundamentally.

It therefore comes as no surprise that Palin, an avid Tea Party movement supporter, whose members have traditionally been opposed to gay marriage and abortion, would be “taken aback” by the Pope’s liberal standpoint.

But, still, really? He's the Pope!



Jodie Gummow is a senior fellow and staff writer at AlterNet.


Source
.

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Humans Can Be Irrational, and Other Economic Insights


Books of The Times

‘The Map and the Territory’ by Alan Greenspan
By BINYAMIN APPELBAUM
Published: October 20, 2013


Alan Greenspan, the former Federal Reserve chairman, writes in his new book, “The Map and the Territory,” that he has been thinking about bubbles since the financial crisis of 2008. Specifically, he has been trying to understand why he and so many other economic forecasters failed to see the housing bubble that caused the crisis.

 

Alan Greenspan





THE MAP AND THE TERRITORY


Risk, Human Nature, and the Future of Forecasting

By Alan Greenspan

Illustrated. 388 pages. The Penguin Press. $36.


The mistake, he writes, is that forecasters treated humans as rational decision makers — a functional fiction that no longer seems functional. But Mr. Greenspan sees a way forward: Humans, he writes, are irrational in predictable ways. What economists like to call “the animal spirits” can be incorporated into economic models.

“I have recently come to appreciate that ‘spirits’ do in fact display ‘consistencies’ that can importantly enhance our ability to identify emerging asset price bubbles in equities, commodities and exchange rates — and even to anticipate the economic consequences of their ultimate collapse and recovery.”

This is promising stuff. It might even make an interesting book. But the subject barely holds Mr. Greenspan’s attention for a single chapter.

The rest of this book is instead devoted to a discursive tour of recent economic history, punctuated by conservative policy prescriptions. He declares that he no longer finds it possible to make economic forecasts because of “governmental restrictions against competition in domestic markets.”

This tour has its attractions. Mr. Greenspan, one of the nation’s most astute economic observers, has a rare talent for framing economic trends. He writes, for example, that as the value of the nation’s economic output has increased since the 1970s, the weight has not. He means this literally: If everything “Made in the U.S.A.” in 2013 was placed on a giant scale, it would weigh about as much as everything “Made in the U.S.A.” in 1977. It’s hard to imagine a more vivid illustration of what it means to say that the United States has shifted toward a “knowledge economy.”

Still, Mr. Greenspan has been talking about the weight of the economy for a few decades now, and much of this book feels similarly familiar.

Accounts of the financial crisis, in particular, have assumed the character of Mr. Potato Head kits. There is a box of standard explanations, and each writer picks the ones he finds most appealing. Mr. Greenspan’s Potato Head is made up of predictable parts: He blames the government for encouraging subprime lending but absolves the Federal Reserve’s policy of low interest rates.

He has not tried to enliven this account with any history of his involvement as Fed chairman from 1987 until 2006. He covered some of that ground in his 2007 memoir, “The Age of Turbulence,” but that book, written before the financial crisis, already seems dated.

In this new book, Mr. Greenspan writes that the crisis could have been entirely prevented by stricter capital standards, which would have limited the unstable reliance of financial institutions on borrowed money. But he does not explain that under his leadership, the Fed played the lead role in creating rules that let banks set their own capital levels, with predictable results.

“The marked increase in risk taking of a decade ago could have been guarded against wholly by increased capital,” he writes. “Regrettably, that did not occur, and the accompanying dangers were not fully appreciated, even in the commercial banking sector.”

The most provocative part of the book is Mr. Greenspan’s assertion that government spending on Social Security, Medicare and other entitlement programs is the reason that the American economy has grown more slowly in recent decades. He writes that taxation of upper-income households is reducing their ability to invest in new ideas and new machines and new buildings. Less investment yields less innovation, slower growth in productivity and less economic growth.

With an economist’s precision, he calculates that this decline in investment has reduced growth since 1965 by 0.21 percentage points a year — “a consequential difference,” he writes, of about $1.1 trillion in lost output.

Americans must choose, he writes: “Do we wish a society of dependence on government or a society based on the self-reliance of individual citizens?”

This is actually an optimistic view about the stagnation of innovation and growth. Robert Gordon, an economist at Northwestern University, has won a wide audience for his view that we’ve simply run out of transformative ideas. Mr. Gordon and other economists also see a wide range of other problems, including an aging population, declining educational achievement and rising income inequality.

Mr. Greenspan is suggesting that the problem can be fixed by throwing money at it.

Yet it is not obvious that the American economy has been suffering from a lack of financing. While Americans saved less, the rest of the world was only too happy to shovel money into the United States. Mr. Greenspan in this same book subscribes to the view that the housing crash was caused in part by an overabundance of foreign investment in the American economy.

Furthermore, taxation cannot be the reason Americans are saving less. The New York Times reported last year that most Americans in 2010 paid a smaller share of income in taxes than households with the same inflation-adjusted incomes paid in 1980. Mr. Greenspan notes that the wealthy are paying more in taxes — but that is only true because they are making more money. Households earning more than $200,000 saw the largest decline in taxation as a share of income.

It’s also worth noting that productivity and growth have sagged most dramatically since President George W. Bush cut taxes in 2001.

Maybe another round of tax cuts would turn things around.

Or maybe we really are just running out of new ideas.



A version of this review appears in print on October 21, 2013, on page C4 of the New York edition with the headline: Humans Can Be Irrational, and Other Economic Insights.



Tea Party Catholic



Samuel Gregg Discusses Tea Party Catholic on The World Over with Raymond Arroyo



Acton Institute


Published on Oct 14, 2013

Samuel Gregg, Acton Institute Director of Research, joins host Raymond Arroyo on the EWTN Network to discuss his latest book, Tea Party Catholic, and to explain the Catholic case for limited government.
.
.

Methodist Pastor Frank Schaefer Faces Trial for Son's Gay Wedding



Nov. 12, 2013
By REENA NINAN


Reena Ninan More from Reena »


Correspondent, ABC News
via Good Morning America





Pastor Under Fire for Officiating Gay Son's Wedding
Next Video California Woman to Become Priest Against Church Wishes




The defrocking of a Methodist pastor for officiating his son's gay wedding would be worth the attention that his upcoming church trial has generated, the pastor's son said.

"This is getting the conversation started to revisit really discriminatory policies," Tim Schaefer, 29, told ABC News. "I think that will have made it worth it."

The fate of Schaefer's father, the Rev. Frank Schaefer, will be decided at a Methodist retreat outside of Philadelphia this Monday, six years after he officiated at Tim's same-sex marriage in Massachusetts.

Schaefer, pastor of Zion United Methodist Church of Iona in South Lebanon Township, told his superiors in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference that he was going to perform at his son's wedding in 2007 and received no warning or reprimand. It was only this April, when a parishioner filed a complaint, that Schaefer was told he would face discipline for violating church doctrine.

Pastor Faces Trial for Son's Gay Wedding

"What is my crime? I blessed two people that loved each other," Schaefer, 51, told ABC News.

The United Methodist Church has had a 40-year policy on gays that accepts them as members in the church but rejects homosexuality as "incompatible with Christian teaching." The church's 1,000-member General Conference last reaffirmed the church's policy on gays at their last in 2012, according to The Associated Press.

Schaefer has declined the church's offer to avoid trial by agreeing not to perform another same-sex marriage.

"Jesus our Lord and Savior never mentioned homosexuality at all and my point is if it is that important of an issue, why didn't he mention it?," Schaefer said.

Ministers Back Colleague at Same-Sex Wedding Ceremony

Tim Schaefer came out to his parents at the age of 17.

"He had cried himself to sleep many times and he knew that this wasn't right because he heard that message from the church," Schaefer said.

"They're your children. They're you're flesh and blood," Schaefer said of Tim, one of his four children, three of whom are gay.

On Saturday in Philadelphia, nearly 50 ministers participated in a same-sex wedding at a Methodist church as a symbol of support for their colleague, Schaefer, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Schaefer, a pastor for nearly 20 years, has also received support from his local church community. A Facebook page called "Stand With Pastor Frank: Support Equality" has nearly 2,000 likes.

The United Methodist Church declined to comment on Schaefer's trial when reached by ABC News.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
.
Source
.

U.S. Catholic bishops ponder politics of Pope Francis before picking new leader



By Nathan Porter - The Washington Times


Monday, November 11, 2013



Cardinal Sean O’Malley, of Boston, speaks at the United States Conference of ... more >




As the world’s Catholics adjust to a very different kind of pope in the Vatican, American Catholics across the political spectrum are watching closely as the country’s Catholic bishops gather this week to select a new U.S. leader.

Liberals have been thrilled by some of the pronouncements from Pope Francis, while conservatives are watching warily as the bishops gather in Baltimore.

Many conservative Catholics argue that the next head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) should maintain the doctrinal standard the Catholic Church has upheld throughout its history — and resist the temptation to adopt a more relative theology.

“The church is not a democracy,” said Judie Brown, president of the Catholic organization American Life League. “We cannot vote on what we want to believe and what we don’t want to believe.”

The conference began Monday, and the election for president will be held Tuesday.

The gathering is being closely watched for clues as to how American bishops are reacting to Francis.

“It is all very polite. But behind the veil of pleasantries, there are real differences, and the USCCB needs to decide if it is going to get on the Pope Francis bandwagon or pursue the kind of culture warrior approach that has too often hijacked the bishops’ stance in the public square these past few years,” liberal Catholic Michael Sean Winters, author of “Left at the Altar,” wrote recently in the National Catholic Reporter.

Church liberals hope the selection of Francis also signals a new direction for American Catholics.

“I hope the approach that Pope Francis has taken is reflected by the hierarchy,” said David Nolan, director of communications at Catholics for Choice. “I think it gives the bishops an opportunity to show that they have listened and heard what Pope Francis has said.”

Mr. Nolan and Catholics for Choice believe that the next USCCB president should place less emphasis on “haranguing” individuals about reproductive rights and their sexual orientation.

Ten candidates are running for president: Archbishop Gregory Aymond of New Orleans, Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia, Bishop Blase Cupich of Spokane, Wash., Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles, Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville, Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore, Archbishop Dennis Schnurr of Cincinnati, Archbishop Allen Vigneron of Detroit, and Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami.

The American bishops heard directly from the pope’s representative Monday.

Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, the apostolic nuncio based in Washington, told the bishops they should not “follow a particular ideology” and should make Roman Catholics feel more welcome in church, according to The Associated Press. He urged the bishops to follow the pope’s example to eschew pomp and pursue a life of simplicity.

“There has to be a noticeable lifestyle characterized by simplicity and holiness of life. This is a sure way to bring our people to an awareness of the truth of our message,” he said.

“The Holy Father wants bishops in tune with their people,” he said. “He made a special point of saying that he wants pastoral bishops, not bishops who profess or follow a particular ideology.”

Though the political arena certainly will play a large role in the presidency of whoever is elected today, many conservative Catholics hope that the next president will find a way to transcend politics and the pressures it can place on faith and doctrine.

“Sadly, most of our leaders find it more appealing to be politically correct than truthful,” said Ms. Brown.

The winner of Tuesday’s secret vote will succeed Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, who opened the convention Monday with his final address as president.

During his three-year presidency, Cardinal Dolan has increased media awareness and helped the church rebound from sex-abuse scandals that caused many to question its legitimacy.

Cardinal Dolan also expressed support for immigration reform. Last week, he sent a letter to members of Congress asking that they address the polarizing issue before the end of the calendar year, according to the Catholic News Service.

“Like him or not, you couldn’t ignore him,” Rocco Palmo, editor of Whispers in the Loggia, a widely read blog on the Roman Catholic Church, told the Baltimore Sun. “He’s a once-in-a-generation leader. It’s like Elvis is leaving the building. Who’s going to take the stage now?”
 

Source: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/nov/11/us-catholic-bishops-ponder-the-politics-of-pope-fr/#ixzz2kSWr0QLo
.

#YolandaPH (Haiyan): Filipinos worldwide heed call to action

#BalikBayan


by Michaela Romulo
Posted on 11/12/2013 5:12 PM | Updated 11/13/2013 1:21 AM



MANILA, Philippines – Filipinos worldwide were shocked by the devastation left behind by Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan). (Read: Aid official: Destruction like the aftermath of a tsunami)

Communication lines broke down in parts of Leyte and Samar. Families in other parts of the Philippines and even outside the country have been unable to communicate with their loved ones in the devestated areas. The waiting game has been agonizing. (READ: #YolandaPH person finder: Looking for friends, relatives, affected areas?)

Relief efforts began as soon as the storm left. The eyes of the world media are on the Philippines. In different areas of the affected region, government agencies, businesses, and NGOs, are trying to focus their efforts on providing relief for the millions left without food, water and proper medicine.

Learning about the storm through international news and social media, Filipinos outside the country have also heeded the call to help. (READ: #ReliefPH: Victims of Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) need your help)

Finding comfort in the community

After watching devastating images of the Visayas broadcast on television and online, Lynza Gonzalez from Houston Texas worried about her sisters and brothers whom she has not heard from since Yolanda swept through the region.

"I'm hoping that they are still alive. I have been calling but nobody answers," Gonzalez told KTRK-TV, Houston's local ABC News affiliate.

Gonzalez is desperate to travel back to the Philippines to find out the fate of her family, but in the meantime all she can do is seek comfort with the Houston Filipino community in organizing relief efforts.

Just a few weeks earlier, the community came together for a fundraiser to benefit victims of the 7.2-magnitude earthquake that hit in October the same region ravaged by the strong winds and storm surges brought by Haiyan. With earthquake victims still trying to get back on their feet, another fundraiser is underway to benefit those affected by the storm.

In San Diego, home to around 150,000 Filipinos, the US chapter of Gawad Kalinga already mobilized relief efforts. Gawad Kalinga is distributing food packs in coordination with the Philippine military to get the aid to victims the quickest way possible.

"There is no clean water anywhere. Water is going to be the key," Tony Olaes, CEO of Gawad Kalinga USA, told NBC San Diego.

Pinoys in Pamplona

Pinoys in Pamplona, Spain, said they felt helpless at first – and then they decided to do something. "When you're far away and you see everything that's happening in the Philippines flooding your Twitter and Facebook newsfeeds, the first thing you feel is helplessness. But then come the posts about relief efforts, and then you ask yourself, 'what can I do from here?'" said Alex Gemperle, a student from the University of Navarra.

Alex and friend Selina Artadi are organizing a benifit party for Haiyan victims at a local bar, Valentinos, this Saturday, November 16. An entrance fee of 5 euros will be charged at the door and all proceeds will be forwarded to the Red Cross' relief efforts in the Philippines.

They planned a party fundraiser at a house, but were surprised when they learned more people than anticipated were attending. Valentinos offered to host the fundraiser for free and help spread the word. Over 500 people have already been invited to attend the event.

According to Gemperle, "The support of the community has been realy touching."

Here is a running list of overseas relief efforts of Filipino organizations and efforts around the world.

USA
Alpha Phi Omega National Service Fraternity, Alpha Kappa Omega, PASA and Soulciety are hosting a typhoon relief drive at California State University East Bay, for the victims. They are collecting monetary donations, non-perishable food items, toiletries and first aid kits. Contact Mason Ignacio mason@pasacsueb.org, Romer Penalosa romer.empath.100@gmail.com, Dalena Tran Dtran233@horizon.csueastbay.edu, or Ryan Medina r.medina724@yahoo.com for inquiries.
The Ugly Kitchen at 103 First Ave. New York, New York is holding a fundraiser on Tuesday November 12 from 5 pm-11 pm. All proceeds will go to the Red Cross Philippines.

Singing in the Rain: Benefit Concert for Philippine Typhoon Victims, organized by the Harvard Philippine Forum at Quincy Dining Hall, is holding a concert on November 15 at 58 Plympton Street, Cambridge. Suggested donation at the door is $5. For those who can't go but would still like to help, you can through their Indiegogo page.

Canada
Celebrity Tributes for Philippine Typhoon Haiyan Victims http://www.luisamarshall.com/celebrity-tributes-philippine-typhoon-haiyan-victims/ Thursday, November 14 at Grand Taj Banquet Hall, Unit 6, 8388 128 St. Surry, BC, V3W 4G2. Tickets are $30.

Singapore
Michael Genove and other overseas Filipino workers in Singapore are holding a relief drive for victims of Typhoon Yolanda. They have donation boxes prepared at 52 Choa Chu Kang North 7 Regent Grove Tower B1, nearest MRT is Yew Tee. Michael may be contacted at +65 81281590.

Spain
Party for a Cause is charging a 5-euro entrance fee per person on November 16, 7 pm onwards at Valentino, Avenida de Bayona 32 Bajo Trasera 31008 Pamplona, Spain. All proceeds will be forwarded to the Philippine Red Cross.

Online
World Food Programme Philippines is accepting donations through their website
For the Ayala Foundation's "Laging Handa Fund," overseas donors can use this online portal for donations.
ShelterBox is an international disaster relief charity that provides emergency shelter and life-saving supplies to families around the world who are affected by disasters. Donations are welcome through its website. Know more about their efforts in the Philippines for victims of Typhoon Yolanda here.
Save the Children is collecting donations through its website. Save the Children has a team on the ground in Tacloban working to respond to this emergency. They are focusing on blankets and mosquito nets for the affected families.
UNICEF is accepting online cash donations through its website.
ANCOP USA Foundation for international donations through this website.
United States residents can make tax-deductable donations through the US Philippines Society.
The Olahay Family from Sweden started an online fundraiser to help recover the homes of the children of San Roque, Tanauan, Leyte. You may support their campaign here.
The Co-operative Development Foundation of Canada is appealing to members of credit unions and cooperatives across Canada for financial support to aid victims of Haiyan. Donations can be made online or by mail to the Cooperative Development Foundation of Canada, 275 Bank Street, Suite 400, Ottawa, Ontario, K2P 2L6. Please indicate that your donation is designated for the Philippines Flood Relief Fund. Tax receipts will be issued for donations over $10.
The National Alliance for Filipino Concerns, an alliance of Filipino organizations and individuals in the United States, is collecting monetary donations for the relief and rehabilitation of typhoon victims. More information can be found in their website.
Give2Asia, a US-based social enterprise that serves as a catalyst for philanthropic investment in Asia, is collecting funds online for the Typhoon Yolanda victims. More details can be found on their website.
Thresher Shark Divers is accepting donations to help the victims of the recent typhoon on Malapascua Island through a fundraising website.
Groupon Philippines is accepting donations through its website.
Streetlight Foundation, a non-profit organization based in Tacloban, Philippines, was directly in the path of the typhoon. You can help by donating by Pay Pal to:help@streetlight.org. Or via bank: 4202 31 56606. IBAN: NO42 4202 31 56606 SWIFT: SPTRNO22

Are there relief efforts going on where you live? Let us know. Email move.ph@rappler.com or comment below. – With reports from Ryan Macasero/Rappler.com


Help the victims of Typhoon Yolanda (international codename: Haiyan). Visit Rappler's list of ongoing relief operations in your area. Tell us about your relief and recovery initiatives, email move.ph@rappler.com or tweet us @moveph.

Visit rappler.com/typhoon-yolanda for the latest updates on Typhoon Yolanda.

More from our typhoon Yolanda coverage:
#ReliefPH: Victims of Typhoon Yolanda need your help
#YolandaPH: Looking for friends, relatives in affected areas?
Help map cell signals in areas affected by Yolanda
TIMELINE: Super Typhoon Yolanda
Worried Pinoys use social media to find loved ones


.

Saturday, November 09, 2013

Putin goes to the Pope: On the agenda, the war in Syria and Middle East’s Christians


11/08/2013 12:56
RUSSIA - VATICAN

by Nina Achmatova

The Russian president "strongly" desired encounter with Francis, which will be held on the afternoon of November 25. Ahead of the leader of the Kremlin, Metropolitan Hilarion , number 2 of the Russian Orthodox Patriarchate, will visit the Vatican .



Moscow (AsiaNews) - The Kremlin is still speaking of a visit still at the preparation phase , but by the Holy See Press Office has officially announced that at 5pm November 25, the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, will make his first official visit to Pope Francis. Putin could meet the Pope in Rome in late November , said presidential spokesman Dmitri Peskov , commenting on the news releases of Italian media, and confirmed by the Vatican, on the private audience between the two leaders on November 25 , the eve of the inter-government summit between Italy and Russia , scheduled the next day in Trieste .

"The possibility of this meeting is being discussed as part of the preparation for the visit of the President to Italy, on 25 and 26 November," Peskov told Interfax . The audience with the Pope according to some media is "strongly desired" by the Russian president , who at the G20 summit in September in St. Petersburg, had explicitly cited the Vatican among states opposed to an external military attack on Syria , which at the time seemed imminent .

A few days beforehand, Pope Francis had written a letter to the head of the Kremlin , who has always supported a diplomatic and political solution to the Syrian crisis, in which he stressed the concern of the Holy See for the possibility of military intervention as loudly demanded by the United States. Peskov said that "it is still too early" to say whether during the meeting at the Vatican will discuss Bergoglio's letter, but certainly there will be the theme of international efforts to end the Syrian conflict and the situation of Christians in Middle East on the table. Issues which currently unite the Holy See and the Patriarchate of Moscow, for its part committed - both economically and diplomatically - to the protection of this minority in the region.

In a recent interview with AsiaNews the same Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Patriarchate , Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk , chairman of the Department for External Relations described work between the two Churches on the theological level as " unsatisfactory ", while at the same time speaking of "effective" work together " on moral values ​​and social issues " , which also includes the defense of traditional values ​​in Europe and the Christian presence in the Middle East. In fact, Hilarion will visit the Vatican ahead of Putin when, on 12 November , he travels to Rome to present the book "Word of God and the word of man," with contributions by the Russian philologist Serghei Averintsev .

The issue of persecuted Christians is not only central to the foreign policy of the Patriarchate , but also that of the Kremlin, increasingly willing to stand as mediator between East and West, calibrating complaints of violence against Christian minorities, with declarations of friendship and support for Muslim leaders. Last month, about 50 thousand Syrian Christians asked for Russian citizenship, with the fear of "being banished from their lands, for the first time since the birth of Christ." The Kremlin has now said it will seriously consider the request. Putin has already had three meetings with the previous Popes : in March 2007, with Benedict XVII and with John Paul II , in June 2000 and November 2003. In February of 2011, it was instead the then head of the Russian state, Dmitri Medvedev, to pay a visit to Pope Ratzinger in the Vatican, two years after the restoration of full diplomatic relations between the two countries.


Source
.

And thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in


12 And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.

13 If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:

14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

Isaiah 58:12-14.
.

How Great Thou Art



Susan Boyle How Great Thou Art (HD Scenic)



murphfishing

Uploaded on Dec 28, 2009

How Great thou Art from the CD I Dreamed A Dream
.
.
.

Mark of the beast: Vatican's Sunday law will be enforced soon!



Mark of the beast: Vatican's Sunday law will be enforced soon! (3)



Habsfan0206

Published on Oct 3, 2013

FAIR USE NOTICE: This video may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes only. This constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law.

Please SHARE!! Please watch the other mark of the beast videos on this channel.

Video 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VfxeC...
Video 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLs5gu...

With the economic upheaval that is currently going on in Europe and in particular in Spain, Italy and Greece, the latter country's creditors have demanded for a 6-day work week with Sunday as the day of rest. This is a harbinger to the soon-coming enforcement of Sunday laws at the request of the Vatican. Should an economic collapse be triggered worldwide, are we then looking at the enforcement of Sunday as the official day of rest, as requested by the Vatican? Bible prophecy says 'yes'.

The Vatican - the first beast of Revelation 13 and the whore of Babylon identified in Revelation 17 - will enforce its mark - Sunday rest - worldwide with the help of the United States. The following link shows that the Vatican wants to enforce its mark - Sunday rest: presentruth.com/2008/07/catholic-church-­enforces-sunday-law-in-europe/

Satan has used and will use governments to force people to break God's commandments. Notice how Daniel refused to break the first commandment and was thrown in the lion's den by king Darius. However, because of his obedience to God's commandments, God protected him.

Satan's masterpiece will be to convince the world -- through the Vatican -- to accept his mark...Sunday rest. Why? He knows that if you break willfully any of the Creator's commandments, you sin (1 John 3:4) and sin leads to death (Romans 6:23), which is the opposite to the gift of eternal life through Christ Jesus. Satan wants you to die along with him since his fate is already known to him! The devil does not want you to have eternal life in Christ's kingdom. So he will use Sunday -- which is already known in today's so-called Christian world -- as his day of rest, and have it enforced, to make people sin and die!

This is what the Vatican says about satan's mark - Sunday:

"Sunday is our MARK of our authority [...] The church is above the Bible, and this transference of Sabbath observance is proof of that fact". — Catholic Record of London, Ontario. Sept. 1, 1923.

NO MATTER WHAT, DO NOT ACCEPT SUNDAY AS YOUR DAY OF REST WHEN SUNDAY LAWS ARE ENFORCED, REGARDLESS OF THE OUTCOME!!

Here's why:

From the King James Bible, Revelation 14:9-11 - 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,

The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:

And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.

NOTE: The mark will be applied IN one's mind where the decision-making process occurs or IN one's hand, which symbolizes work and labor.

The mark of the beast is NOT the RFID chip. The RFID chip will be in all likelihood used in the enforcement of Sunday laws. Regardless, do NOT take the RFID chip. Currently, Sunday laws are being added to nations' constitutions for its future implementation worldwide.

Keep the 7th day Sabbath, which is the Creator's holy day (Isaiah 58:13-14). The Sabbath is to be remembered and kept holy from Friday evening at sunset to Saturday evening at sunset. As it is written in Exodus 20:8-11, Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

If we work on the Sabbath or do our own pleasure or personal business (Isaiah 58:13-14), we sin (1 John 3:4) and sin, if not repented of, leads to death (Romans 6:23). The commandments of the Most High stand forever (Psalm 89:34; Hebrews 10:16). The saints are those who keep the commandments of the Most High and the faith of His Son (Revelation 14:12).

For more information and videos on Christian beliefs and prophecy, please visit www.theseventhdayremnantchurch.org; www.sdrministries.com; www.remnantofgod.org, www.john1429.org, along with cregen124 and NicholasPoGM's YouTube's channels.
.
.

North American National Parks - Visions of Majesty





National Parks of North America - IMAX Travel Documentary



ExploreTravelWorld

Published on Aug 31, 2013


National Parks of North America - IMAX Travel Documentary

By using special cameras and techniques, David Fortney has captured the beauty of these parks in ways never seen before. Fluid, masterful camera work and aerial photography gives you the sensation of soaring over and through the landscape. Join us as we visit some of the most beautiful and majestic places in the world on this tribute to America's Treasure: Our National Parks. Banff - Bryce Canyon - Canadian Rockies - Cascade Range - Colorado Plateau - Death Valley - Denali - Grand Canyon - Grand Teton - Olympic - Yosemite
.
.

P.S. (You might want to turn down the volume because there is a disproportionate amount of perscussion in some segments.) ..

 .

Now I Belong to Jesus






normel sanita

Published on May 24, 2013
.
.

Friday, November 08, 2013

Bob Trefz- The First Angel's Message.






Jesus is going to win

Published on Nov 6, 2013

"And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters." Revelation 14:6,7.

.

Happy Sabbath


Thursday, November 07, 2013

Senate Moves to Final Vote on Workplace Gay-Bias Ban


By JEREMY W. PETERS
Published: November 7, 2013


WASHINGTON — The Senate on Thursday approved a ban on discrimination in the workplace based on sexual orientation and gender identity, voting 64 to 32 in a bipartisan show of support that is rare for any social issue. It was the first time in the institution’s history that it had voted to include gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in the country’s nondiscrimination law.

Related

Bill Advances to Outlaw Discrimination Against Gays (November 5, 2013)


Despite initial wariness among many Republicans about the bill, 10 of them voted with 54 members of the Democratic majority to approve the measure.

But nothing is guaranteed in the House, where Speaker John A. Boehner has repeatedly said he opposes the bill.

The time has come for Congress to pass a federal law that ensures all citizens, regardless of where they live, can go to work not afraid of who they are,” Senator Harry Reid, the majority leader, said on Thursday, noting that a vast majority of Americans already think such a law is in place. “Well, it isn’t already the law,” he added. “Let’s do what the American people think already exists.”

Republicans who voted against the bill, known as the Employment Nondiscrimination Act, were muted in their opposition. The first senator to rise and speak against the bill on the floor all week was Dan Coats of Indiana, who said Thursday morning that religious freedoms were at risk, despite the bill’s broad exemption for religious institutions.

Those exemptions, he said, did not go far enough.

“We can’t pick and choose when to adhere to the Constitution, and when to cast it aside,” Mr. Coats said. “The so-called protections from religious liberty in this bill are vaguely defined and do not extend to all organizations that wish to adhere to their moral or religious beliefs in their hiring practices.”

The bill includes a number of protections for religious entities, some of which were added this week to gain more Republican support. It now contains a provision that says no federal agency or state or local government that accepts money from the federal government can retaliate against religious institutions for not complying. This would include actions like denying them tax-exempt status, grant money, licenses or certifications.

The institutions that are exempt from the bill include churches, synagogues and mosques that are expressly religious in nature. This also would extend to schools or retail stores affiliated directly with churches, but it would not apply to those that have only loose religious affiliations.

Source
.

Swedish cinemas take aim at gender bias with Bechdel test rating


Movies need to pass test that gauges the active presence of women on screen in bid to promote gender equality


Associated Press in Stockholm
theguardian.com, Wednesday 6 November 2013 04.18 EST



Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games, a film that would pass the Bechdel test and gain an A rating. Photograph: Murray Close


You expect movie ratings to tell you whether a film contains nudity, sex, profanity or violence. Now cinemas in Sweden are introducing a new rating to highlight gender bias, or rather the absence of it.

To get an A rating, a movie must pass the so-called Bechdel test, which means it must have at least two named female characters who talk to each other about something other than a man.

"The entire Lord of the Rings trilogy, all Star Wars movies, The Social Network, Pulp Fiction and all but one of the Harry Potter movies fail this test," said Ellen Tejle, the director of Bio Rio, an art-house cinema in Stockholm's trendy Södermalm district.

Bio Rio is one of four Swedish cinemas that launched the new rating last month to draw attention to how few movies pass the Bechdel test. Most filmgoers have reacted positively to the initiative. "For some people it has been an eye-opener," said Tejle.

Beliefs about women's roles in society are influenced by the fact that movie watchers rarely see "a female superhero or a female professor or person who makes it through exciting challenges and masters them", Tejle said, noting that the rating doesn't say anything about the quality of the film. "The goal is to see more female stories and perspectives on cinema screens," he added.

The state-funded Swedish Film Institute supports the initiative, which is starting to catch on. Scandinavian cable TV channel Viasat Film says it will start using the ratings in its film reviews and has scheduled an A-rated "Super Sunday" on 17 November, when it will show only films that pass the test, such as The Hunger Games, The Iron Lady and Savages.

The Bechdel test got its name from American cartoonist Alison Bechdel, who introduced the concept in her comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For in 1985. It has been discussed among feminists and film critics since then, but Tejle hopes the A rating system will help spread awareness among moviegoers about how women are portrayed in films.

In Bio Rio's wood-panelled lobby, students Nikolaj Gula and Vincent Fremont acknowledged that most of their favourite films probably would not get an A rating.

"I guess it does make sense, but to me it would not influence the way I watch films because I'm not so aware about these questions," said Fremont, 29.

The A rating is the latest Swedish move to promote gender equality by addressing how women are portrayed in the public sphere.

Sweden's advertising ombudsman watches out for sexism in that industry and reprimands companies seen as reinforcing gender stereotypes, for example by including skimpily clad women in their adverts for no apparent reason.

Since 2010, the Equalisters project has been trying to boost the number of women appearing as expert commentators in Swedish media through a Facebook page with 44,000 followers. The project has recently expanded to Finland, Norway and Italy.

For some, though, Sweden's focus on gender equality has gone too far.

"If they want different kind of movies they should produce some themselves and not just point fingers at other people," said Tanja Bergkvist, a physicist who writes a blog about Sweden's "gender madness".

The A rating has also been criticised as a blunt tool that does not reveal whether a movie is gender-balanced.

"There are far too many films that pass the Bechdel test that don't help at all in making society more equal or better, and lots of films that don't pass the test but are fantastic at those things," said Swedish film critic Hynek Pallas.

Pallas also criticised the state-funded Swedish Film Institute – the biggest financier of Swedish film – for vocally supporting the project, saying a state institution should not "send out signals about what one should or shouldn't include in a movie".

Research in the US supports the notion that women are under-represented on the screen and that little has changed in the past 60 years.

Of the top 100 US films in 2011, women accounted for 33% of all characters and only 11% of the protagonists, according to a study by the San Diego-based Centre for the Study of Women in Television and Film.

Another study, by the Annenberg Public Policy Centre at the University of Pennsylvania, showed that the ratio of male to female characters in movies has remained at about two to one for at least six decades. That study, which examined 855 top box-office films from 1950-2006, showed female characters were twice as likely to be seen in explicit sexual scenes as males, while male characters were more likely to be seen as violent.

"Apparently Hollywood thinks that films with male characters will do better at the box office. It is also the case that most of the aspects of movie-making – writing, production, direction, and so on – are dominated by men, and so it is not a surprise that the stories we see are those that tend to revolve around men," Amy Bleakley, the study's lead author, said in an email.

Source
.

Public Prayer at Government Meetings



Listen


Thursday, November 7, 2013 - 10:06 a.m.





This Oct. 7, 2013 file photo shows people wait in line to enter the Supreme Court in Washington. The Supreme Court asks God for help before every public session. Now the justices will settle a dispute over prayers in the halls of government. The case before the court involves prayers said at the start of town council meetings in Greece, N.Y., outside of Rochester. It is the court's first legislative prayer case since 1983, when the justices said that an opening prayer is part of the nation's fabric and not a violation of the First Amendment. The federal appeals court in New York held that the town violated the Constitution by opening nearly every meeting over an 11-year span with prayers that stressed Christianity.


(AP Photo/ Evan Vucci, File)


The issue of public prayer has returned to the U. S. Supreme Court. Thirty years ago, the high court settled a case in Nebraska, ruling the state legislature could open its sessions with an invocation. Such prayers are commonplace in public meetings across the country. Yesterday, the justices heard arguments in a new prayer case: Two citizens of an upstate New York town sued to stop officials from opening its board meetings with invocations -- delivered to the assembled audience -- that almost always make reference to Christianity. At issue: whether those prayers represent a religious endorsement. Guest host Tom Gjelten of NPR and his guests discuss the latest case before the Supreme Court.

Guests

Jeffrey Rosen
president and CEO, The National Constitution Center; professor, George Washington University Law School; legal affairs editor, The New Republic; author, "The Supreme Court: The Personalities and Rivalries that Defined America" and co-editor, "Constitution 3.0."


Barry Lynn
executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State and author of "Piety & Politics."


Mark Rienzi
professor of constitutional law at Catholic University of America and senior counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty.


Source
.

Sunday Assembly founders launch 'atheist church' in Nashville


Heidi Hall, The Tennessean 4:11 p.m. EST November 6, 2013



(Photo: LEON NEAL AFP/Getty Images)


A fast-growing, worldwide congregation for atheists called Sunday Assembly picked an unlikely spot to try and launch a new group.

It's Nashville. Where the Southern Baptist Convention is headquartered. Where Christian authors go to avail themselves of a vast publishing network. Where the faithful drive past several churches in their denomination on Sunday to attend just the right one.

But the founders of Sunday Assembly, British comedians Sanderson Jones and Pippa Evans, say they're looking forward to visiting the fledgling group personally Thursday night. In fact, Jones said, he'd even like to learn something about church planting – and there are plenty of experts in Nashville.

"What happened is, we had about three or four people signed up, in fact, in Nashville, and we got a miscommunication and thought there were a lot more people signed up than there were," Jones said. "We thought we'd go for it anyway. Taking cues from the Southern Baptist Convention, we thought we'd have faith and give it a go. Sometimes it's just about getting it started. We don't know how many people will be there, but however many there are, that will be the perfect number."

It's a philosophy that's worked well for Evans and Jones, who launched the first Sunday Assembly — frequently shorthanded in media to "atheist church" — in London less than a year ago and, within weeks, were drawing a capacity crowd. They now head up 30 congregations around the world, with major U.S. locations in New York, Boston and Washington, D.C.

On Oct. 20, Jones and Evans launched an Indiegogo.com campaign aimed at raising 500,000 British pounds, or about $805,000, to reach even more people. It was up to about $42,500 Wednesday morning.

All are welcome at the services, Jones said, but people looking for theological arguments will be disappointed. Sunday Assembly doesn't try to talk people out of their religious notions, just capture the best social parts of church without providing religious doctrine. Members celebrate life with poetry, lectures and songs such as Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'."


Source
.

Hudson River Boat Crash Driver's Blood-Alcohol Nearly Twice Legal Limit: Prosecutors



Thursday, Nov 7, 2013 | Updated 12:47 PM EST





The 35-year-old man who piloted the boat in the Hudson River crash that killed a bride-to-be and her groom's best man in July had a blood-alcohol level that was nearly twice the legal limit, an indictment said Thursday.

Prosecutors had said after the crash that there was probable cause Jojo John was drunk when he plowed the 21-foot Stingray into a construction barge near the Tappan Zee Bridge on July 26, but the blood tests showing a .15 blood-alcohol level had not been revealed until now. The indictment also said cocaine metabolites were found in his system, but those can linger for longer.

The grand jury indictment charges him with 18 counts, including vehicular manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide.

"Drinking and driving is a lethal mix, as it appears to have been in this incident, which left several families shattered," said Rockland County District Attorney Thomas Zugibe.

The crash killed Lindsey Stewart, 30, who was set to be married Aug. 10. Her fiance's best man, 30-year-old Mark Lennon, also died.

A lawyer for John said poor lighting on the barge, not any impairment, caused the crash.

"Any alleged impairment had nothing to do with the casualties," said James Mercante. "One should be able to cross a wide open expanse of river, whether impaired or not impaired, without having poorly lit or unlit barges in the middle of the road, so to speak."

Families of the two people who died have said that the passengers on the boat "had consumed very little alcohol and considered themselves sober."

Stewart's and Lennon's families also said in the statement after the crash, "Compounding our agony is the rush, by some, to cast blame on or even malign the victims."

The New York State Thruway Authority and the Coast Guard have said the barge lighting appeared to be functioning normally and met all regulations.


Source
.

The First Angel's Message: The Everlasting Gospel...



First angel's message: everlasting gospel



Habsfan0206 .

Published on May 7, 2012

Uploaded from a Christian ministry similar to theseventhdayremnantchurch.org.

Revelation 14:6-7 - And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice,

Fear God (keep His commandments), and give glory to him (reflect His character); for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters (Exodus 20:3-11)!

This is a call to humanity to return to the true worship of the Creator. Put your faith in Christ, His Beloved Son in Whom He is well pleased and keep His holy ten commandments, which reflect His love and character (Exodus 20; Revelation 14:12 and 1 John 5:3).

For more videos on Christian beliefs and prophecy, please visit www.john1429.org and NicholasPoGM on YouTube. For more information on Christian beliefs and prophecy, please visit theseventhdayremnantchurch.org, remnantofgod.org as well as cregen124, Christianman0206 and NicholasPoGM's YouTube channels.
.
.

Wednesday, November 06, 2013

Is America Less Moralistic Now, or Has Its Code Just Changed?



The new politics of gambling, marijuana, and other values issues
 
 
Nov 4 2013, 7:00 AM ET

 
Reuters

Are the American people more suspicious than they once were of moralism in public policy? So Ross Douthat argues in a column about legalized gambling and marijuana. The spread of casinos is driven by states seeking revenue and gaming lobbyists pressing their agenda, whereas weed legalization is driven by activists, "influenced by empathy for the terminally ill, and hastened by public exhaustion with the drug war," Douthat writes. "But both have been made possible by the same trend in American attitudes: the rise of a live-and-let-live social libertarianism, the weakening influence of both religious conservatism and liberal communitarianism, the growing suspicion of moralism in public policy."

It's a plausible theory, but the last line about moralism makes me want to quibble. Maybe Americans want public policy to reflect their moral judgments as much as ever, but they no longer regard smoking marijuana or casino gambling—or sodomy, gay marriage, or pornography consumption—as morally suspect. At the same time, maybe jurisdictions are implementing tough new laws in other areas—mandates to recycle, laws against dog-fighting, marital-rape statutes, trans-fat bans—because people still favor codifying their moral beliefs into law. Citizens don't harbor suspicion toward moralism so much as toward parts of traditional morality. On gambling, Gallup finds that 61 percent of Americans regard it as morally acceptable. Even if everyone who found casinos morally unacceptable voted to codify their moral judgment in law it wouldn't be sufficient to win the day.

There are, of course, small-government libertarians like Ron Paul who insist that the state ought to stay silent on certain matters even if they are in fact immoral. Perhaps that faction has grown in recent years.

What's definitely grown larger is the subset of Americans who not only disagree with the notion that gay marriage or smoking marijuana or watching pornography is immoral, but can't even understand the moral logic of traditionalists.
 
 
  
Reuters


On gay marriage, many would go so far as to say that it is immoral to prohibit same-sex unions. Their determination to moralistically press their advantage is why traditionalists like Rod Dreher now worry that cultural conservatives will be compelled by anti-discrimination law to participate.

Or take health care. Lots of Obamacare advocates insisted during the debate over the legislation that America has a moral imperative to provide coverage to the uninsured, and castigated opponents of the law as immoral people partly culpable for needless deaths.

Then there are areas of policy where the traditional morality of social conservatives squares with the moral beliefs of a substantial faction of reformers. Public opinion hasn't shifted on abortion like it has on gay marriage. On torture, orthodox Catholics and progressives are in substantial moral agreement. The country expresses opposition to pedophilia more moralistically now than ever. And on gun control and immigration reform, would-be reformers have made highly moralistic pitches to the public and are likely to keep doing so.

Traditionalists have seen their ability to control social norms decline precipitously in my lifetime, and given the way they conceive of moral behavior, you can see how, looking around, they'd conclude that moralism is dead.

I'm not so sure. I still see a lot of policy fights framed in highly moralistic language and arguments. And insofar as traditionalists are losing ground, it's often because what they regard as immoral strikes a majority as morally unobjectionable. 
 
 
.

1st Amendment Says Nothing About "State" Religion!





CRUClEFICTION


Published on Nov 3, 2013


New Day Sunday, CNN, 11-3-2013, Amanda Knief, Managing Director and In-House Counsel of American Atheists, Inc..

About the word "thereof":

An overlooked aspect of the free exercise clause is that it looks back to the establishment clause for its definition of "religion". The establishment clause says that Congress may make no law respecting the establishment of religion, while the free exercise clause says that Congress cannot prohibit the free exercise "thereof". Logically, the word "thereof" must have the same content as the object to which it refers. Accordingly, what counts as religion for one clause MUST count as religion for the other. The free exercise clause makes no sense unless the word "religion" is read to encompass more than a church, denomination, or sect. As the free exercise clause pertains to religion generically, the word 'thereof', being placed where it is, clearly signifies that the establishment clause does likewise.
.
.

So, what do you say about Chief Justice John Roberts?



On Monday Afternoon, November 4, 2013, two 'Conservative Radio Talk-Show Hosts' mentioned U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Roberts. ..
While commenting on the ongoing Obamacare - Healtcare.gov fiasco. 

First, Rush Limbaugh asked a female caller what did she think about John Roberts' decision (Obamacare is a Tax)...

Less than an hour later, Sean Hannity also mentioned Supreme Court  Judge John Roberts' decisive decision concerning the Affordable Healthcare Act, when talking to a radio program caller.
 

What a coincidence?

Both, were referring to the nail that sealed the coffin of hope for reversing the oppressive and tyrannical Arbitrary Insurance Requirement.  



BTW:

Are they not aware that the United States Supreme Court is predominantly Catholic?
6 of the 9 Justices are Roman Catholics and the other three are Jews.  Chief Justice John Roberts has 5 other fellow Catholics...

  • Also, The U.S. Catholic Bishops fiercely negotiated - publicly and behind the scenes for the passing of the Obama Administration's HealthCare Bill.
  • Chief Justice Roberts is only fulfilling the Catholic goal of transforming (and subverting) the once Constitutional Republic, 'the land of the free, and home of the brave'... 

P.S.

My point is --- that both these alternative right wing media jocks acknowledge that John Roberts sealed the case and closed the deal.


Yet, as they would say a long time ago... tell it to the Marines...

Arsenio.
.

Vatican launches world survey on modern family life

5 November 2013 Last updated at 10:15 ET

 
Pope Francis has called for an extraordinary synod to discuss the family


Related Stories
Vatican suspends 'bishop of bling'
Pope Francis pledges Vatican reforms
Pope: Church 'must heal wounds'

The Vatican has launched a worldwide survey to find out what Catholics really think about its teaching on marriage and family life.

Pope Francis is calling bishops to Rome next October to discuss possible reform that considers modern social realities.

The questionnaire asks for local views on premarital cohabitation, birth control and gay marriage.

Correspondents say it shows a greater interest in issues previously considered taboo.

"The social and spiritual crisis, so evident in today's world, is becoming a pastoral challenge in the Church's evangelising mission concerning the family," the Vatican survey says.

Analysis


David Willey BBC News, Rome

The questionnaire contains 39 questions couched in non-judgmental terms.

It aims at finding out, for example, what percentage of the Catholic flock is cohabiting with a member of the opposite sex without any intention of seeking the marriage bond.

It asks whether local laws on same-sex civil unions equate this with marriage between a man and a woman.

And it tries to find out what knowledge 21st century Catholics have about the controversial Vatican ban on artificial contraception issued back in 1968.

Since his election, Pope Francis has displayed a much more open attitude than his predecessors towards Church teaching - a position not shared by some of his top advisers.

While he is unlikely to change any basic Church doctrine, the Pope clearly wants to sound out the opinions of grassroots Catholics about new family situations. And this is something of a revolution.

Among the "many new situations requiring the Church's attention and pastoral care", it lists single-parent families, inter-religious unions and divorce. Under pressure

The BBC's David Willey in Rome says Pope Francis is under pressure from Catholics in many countries to take a fresh look at the Church's ban on contraception and its refusal to allow divorced and remarried Catholics to take Communion.

There appears to be a division of opinion on this between the Pope, who has more progressive ideas, and some of his top advisers, our correspondent adds.

The consultation is part of the preparation for the extraordinary meeting of the Synod of Bishops next year, which will focus on the subject of family.

"Concerns which were unheard of until a few years ago have arisen today as a result of different situations, from the widespread practice of cohabitation... to same-sex unions," the questionnaire says.

Pope Francis has signalled greater openness, and has said the Catholic Church is too tied up in "small-minded rules".

In an interview in September, he said the Church was too focused on preaching about abortion, gay people and contraception and needed to become more merciful.

Francis earlier created headlines by saying it was not up to him to judge about the sexual orientation of clergy as long as they were searching for God and had goodwill. 
Source
.