All this is being released as our carrier group is playing war games in the Yellow Sea and North Korea has deployed surface to air missiles to threaten our ships and planes in the area.
One wrong move; one mis-spoken word and the world erupts.
"State Department documents released by whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks provided candid views of foreign leaders and sensitive information on terrorism and nuclear proliferation, the New York Times reported on Sunday.
The documents show Saudi donors remain chief financiers of militant groups like al Qaeda and that Chinese government operatives have waged a coordinated campaign of computer sabotage targeting the United States and its allies, according to a review of the WikiLeaks documents published in the Times.
The WikiLeaks documents also show Defense Secretary Robert Gates believes any military strike on Iran would only delay its pursuit of a nuclear weapon by one to three years, the Times reported on its website on Sunday.
The cables also showed that Iran has obtained sophisticated missiles from North Korea capable of hitting western Europe and the United States was concerned that Iran was using those rockets as "building blocks" to build longer-range missiles, the Times said.
The advanced missiles are much more powerful than anything U.S. officials have publicly acknowledged that Iran has in its arsenal, the newspaper said." Yahoo
Does anyone honestly think that there is no connection between these dumps of classified material from WikiLeaks and the pressures being applied by China? Someone, somewhere, somehow is orchestrating all this. To have this many attacks occur by chance at precisely the same time defies reason.
"Aside from being key ingredients for manufacturing a plethora of products, REEs like scandium and promethium, for instance, play key roles in the production of components vital to the U.S. Navy submarine fleet. And more than a dozen other REEs play key roles in other vital segments of the nation’s economy.
Now, more than ever, we need to “REE-assess” (pun intended) our nation’s dependence upon foreign sources of raw materials — from REEs to energy. Failure to do so could doom future generations to speaking Chinese." Bob McCarty
Face it; we've done this to ourselves. We have become completely subservient to China because we've allowed it to take our manufacturing and own our debt. Then we turn around and develop technology that is reliant on raw materials that we have allowed that same country to become the sole supplier of.
So, do you think China holds all the cards here?
All of them except one. We have the option to default and retract. By doing so we take the power from them and turn the rules of the game inside out.
China only has power over us if we accept the rules as they have been established. If we keep playing the old game by the old rules we will lose. So now we have to get out of the game and start another.
And it's going to hurt...a lot. Our standard of living will collapse and life is going to return to the way it was a long time ago. We will once again become an economy based on local suppliers and relationships. American empire will cease. And the rest of the world will have to go it on its own.
But, if we don't do something this drastic we will become slaves to China. Sure, we may get to keep our I-phones and I-pods but we'll be slaves to another and forced to live under rules that we can't imagine in a totalitarian state that would as soon see us dead as see us fed. If you don't think that's possible just look at China today and in the past. That's where we're headed.
So as we go toe to toe with the Chinese in the Yellow Sea keep in mind we're fighting a losing battle in a losing war because we won't accept suffering to keep our liberty.
These are the last days of the American experiment, if we choose them to be.
One wrong move or one bad decision and the world will change instantly. This is a dangerous game we're playing, and to what end?
"North Korea has deployed SA-2 surface-to-air missiles to its west coast near the Yellow Sea border with South Korea as U.S.-led naval drills got underway in a show of force against the North's deadly artillery attack on a South Korean island earlier last week, government sources said Sunday.
"(The missiles) appear to be targeting our fighter jets that fly near the Northern Limit Line (NLL)," the source said on customary condition of anonymity, referring to the Yellow Sea border.
..."The military is preparing for the possibility of further provocations as the North Korean military has deployed firepower near the NLL and is preparing to fire," the source said." Yonhap News
Another blogger I follow has a few thoughts, which I've reposted below, on the current flare up of hostilities in Korea. His blog is called Redneck Reflections and the quoted article can be foundhere.
"No More Task Force Smiths. And we don't have a Ridgeway on the horizon.
If you don't understand those two statements, then I will flatly say you are not in any way ready to think about the Korean peninsula.
We Americans tend not to remember the War in Korea. We do not remember how devastating it was. We don't remember how difficult it was. And we do not understand, by and large, how much of a legacy of hatred it left in it's wake. Most of us are also unaware that that war never concluded--there was a cease fire, by no peace.
I believe that the current round of artillery attacks and navel engagements--don't forget that a few months ago a Republic of Korea ship was torpedoed by the Peoples Republic of Korea--are more related to the internal political climate of North Korea than any real desire to over run or attack South Korea. But I may be wrong. The North Korean Regime is ruthless enough to start a war of murderous intensity for reasons of internal political considerations.
We have treaty obligations to the Republic of Korea in this case.
Don't forget that the Clinton Administration nearly went to war on the Korean peninsula.
This will probably blow over. But if it the North, the South or the US badly miscalculate, it could be a horrible bloody war that makes the Gulf War, the Iraq War, the Afghanistan War or the Viet Nam war look like a Boy Scout game of capture the flag.
Let's hope no one miscalculates--I'd much rather that this didn't escalate into something like the last war in Korea. Let me put this in a broad brush perspective: The slaughter of WWI trench warfare was the result of field fortifications, machine guns and artillery. The state of all three on the Korean Peninsula make the western front in WWI look amateurish. It is the most heavily fortified area in human history, and the experts think the fortifications, with their thousands of troops, will hold much less than 24 hours. In an area where terrain makes armored warfare difficult, whose weather and terrain makes air support difficult.
We would be in the middle of a third generation infantry war, against a foe proven to be willing to accept horrendous casualties.
So even though I expect this is political theater played out with artillery--I also hope and pray that I am correct.
At one point, last time around General LeMay of the Air force seriously proposed nuking the enemy, simply to even up the odds in the field. It was that bad."
I'm glad to find someone else that's taking this thing seriously. My reply to his post follows because it was too long to publish on his site.
And don't forget, just like last time around, China is North Korea's number one ally. Yes, that's right, the same country that, probably, fired a missile off the West coast and partnered with Russia a few days ago to start the process of removing the dollar as the world’s reserve currency. This would be the same China that has made many statements over the last year decrying the feds actions regarding quantitative easing and has said in as many words that they consider these actions an act of war.
Now North Korea has fired once again on the South. Did China force this? It wouldn't have been hard with the enmity between the two Korea's and the mad man that leads the North.
The end result is a carrier task force heading to the Yellow Sea placing itself in harms way. Since America is BROKE and we no longer have any manufacturing capability because we've outsourced it all to China we can't go to war in Korea, for all the reasons you've stated and more. PERIOD!
Without getting its hands dirty China is about to make the point to the entire world that we are no longer the leader and we should no longer be feared or respected. We're about to get our hat handed to us and our asses kicked. Our impotence in the face of North Korean aggression will drive home the point quite nicely, thank you.
That, or we'll go to war in Korea, quickly realize we can't pay for another "police action", begin printing money at an even more obscene pace and collapse under our own hubris and China still wins.
It will take a great statesman to get us out of this one and Obama doesn't fall into that category, not by a long shot. I think those artillery rounds fired across the border in Korea signaled the end of the old order and the beginning of the new.
Buckle up.
You’re right, no more Task Force Smith’s; if the cork pops on this it’ll explode with 60 years of contained rage propelling it, making any sort of delaying action worthless. And the last time we went to war with Korea we had just come off the largest wartime build up of manufacturing in the history of the world with untold tons of material stacked in warehouses ready for use and the capability of producing all we needed. Now we don’t have it and we can’t make it.
And, most importantly, the last time we went to war with Korea they didn’t have nukes.
Rather than Task Force Smith the more appropriate analogy may be the Chosin Reservoir. If this thing escalates, and our response drives the North Koreans back, even momentarily, China will once again enter the picture with troops and equipment. The U.N. forces fought brilliantly at Chosin and managed to get out of the trap, and maybe we’ll do as well this time without going nuclear. Regardless though, just as with Chosin, even if we get out the end result will still be a defeat for us and an embarrassing admission that we can’t beat China which will still serve the goals of the Chinese.
I have to wonder if I’m over thinking this or if the media is just derelict in their duty because, like so many other things, they aren’t covering it. This could be the most important story of the last 75 years.
I hope that the writer at Redneck Reflections is right and this is just another minor blowup along the border. I hope that I'm wrong and this isn't the beginning of the end for America. After all, the writer at Redneck Reflections mentioned WWI which brings to mind the spark that set it all off, theassassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in Sarjevo, the cause of which was a battle over a border.
History has a funny way of repeating itself.
Pray for protection and wisdom. We're one minor incident away from a world gone mad.
UPDATE The Huffington Postis making the case that we're causing major problems for the Chinese by sending our carrier group to the Yellow Sea.
"This weekend's arrival of a U.S. aircraft carrier in the Yellow Sea poses a dilemma for Beijing: Should it protest angrily and aggravate ties with Washington, or quietly accept the presence of a key symbol of American military pre-eminence off Chinese shores?
The USS George Washington, accompanied by escort ships, is to take part in military drills with South Korea following North Korea's shelling of a South Korean island Tuesday that was one of the most serious confrontations since the Korean War a half-century ago.
It's a scenario China has sought to prevent. Only four months ago, Chinese officials and military officers shrilly warned Washington against sending a carrier into the Yellow Sea for an earlier set of exercises. Some said it would escalate tensions after the sinking of a South Korean navy ship blamed on North Korea. Others went further, calling the carrier deployment a threat to Chinese security.
Beijing believes its objections worked. Although Washington never said why, no aircraft carrier sailed into the strategic Yellow Sea, which laps at several Chinese provinces and the Korean peninsula.
This time around, with outrage high over the shelling, the U.S. raising pressure on China to rein in wayward ally North Korea, and a Chinese-American summit in the works, the warship is coming, and Beijing is muffling any criticisms."
...Even if China's reticence holds this time, Beijing is not likely to cede the U.S. Navy carte blanche to range throughout the Yellow Sea.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei has stated that China's stance on U.S. naval action in the Yellow Sea remains unchanged. The politically influential and increasingly vocal military is also likely to keep the pressure on the leadership to take a firm stand.
Any affront to Beijing's authority or intrusion into Chinese territorial waters would inflame the Chinese public and require a government response, said Fang Xiuyu, an analyst on Korean issues at Fudan University's Institute of International Studies in Shanghai.
"We hope that the U.S. can exert restraint and not cross that line," Fang said
The last bit of the article contains the threat that I believe is the core of the issue. This is a set up and we're playing right into it. It would be one thing if the Chinese were still a well peopled but weak nation (one we still couldn't beat in the first go 'round in Korea) but now they hold our economic survival in their hands.
This is a game of chicken on an epic scale and I don't have confidence in our political leadership. I fear that we'll blink first and China will get what it wants.
"A U.S. Border Patrol spokesman says country singer Willie Nelson was charged with marijuana possession after 6 ounces was found aboard his tour bus in Texas.
Patrol spokesman Bill Brooks says the bus pulled into the Sierra Blanca, Texas, checkpoint about 9 a.m. Friday. Brooks says an officer smelled pot when a door was opened and a search turned up marijuana." AP
I'd say it's a given that there's going to be a least a little pot on Willie's bus and if the Border Patrol wants to search they'll find it. I'd go further and say that the Border patrol really doesn't care if Willie's got a little pot on the bus and would just pass him through.
My buddy Ioannes, over atCommentarius de Prognosticis, posted some comments about the Biblical aspects of the recent attacks in South Korea. This put me in mind of some things I've been ruminating over the last few days.
China fires a missile off our west coast (I think this IS the best answer for the sighting of a week or so ago), partners with Russia to forgo the dollar as the world's reserve currency, setting the dollar on course for its final demise, and then has its proxy, North Korea, fire on South Korea, knowing full well our commitment to defend the South and our troop strength at the 38th parallel. The Obama administration has sent a carrier task force into the Yellow Sea in support of the South to participate in military exercises with the South in a purposefully, yet ill conceived, act of aggressive behavior aimed at the North, a state headed by a mad man and controlled by China.
Would you say China has us right where they want us?
What's the next step? Allow war to breakout in Korea and America to become involved? The only way we can prosecute it is to go nuclear immediately because we don't have the financial or industrial resources to prosecute a third world war. But if we go nuclear the war will escalate regardless so what difference will it make?
If we go to war China will destroy us economically, though this seems to be their intent regardless. Of course, they could potentially destroy their own economy too, but my guess is they figure we won't take the chance and if we do, so what? They can withstand financial calamity over the short term because they can continue to produce the worlds goods, in the factories we sent to them. Their people, by and large can't do a thing about it because they'll be shot so they'll meekly continue to slave for the state.
Here in America, on the other hand, society will collapse.
We no longer produce much of anything. Our people are mostly urban with no real ability to survive without a massive energy supply in the form of oil. And when the dollar is no longer the reserve currency and the oil producers want payment in rubles, yuan or gold we will have to get by on what we can produce right here, which ain't all that much.
So if we go to war we'll finance it as long as we can with money created out of thin air by the fed. But with the dollar losing its reserve status that ought to last about a day.
So here, in my humble opinion is what's going on in Korea. We are being put in our place by the worlds largest economic and military power, China. We have ceded our place as the leader of the world and we are about to have our hat handed to us by our new masters.
I could be wrong but I suspect those rounds fired across the border the other day heralded the birthday of the new world order.
So, if I were king what would I do? I'd keep that task force headed towards the Yellow Sea. I would announce to China and Korea that it is arriving to support the complete withdrawal of all American forces from the Korean peninsula. At the same time I would inform them that we will not tolerate any interference and if they want total war they can have it. Or they can let us leave in peace.
I would begin to withdraw all troops from all parts of the world that are not American soil. Sorry guys, you're on your own. America can no longer afford the luxury of empire. I would bring the troops back, keep enough to defend our borders and our country and I would send the rest home. The resources we save from this will be more than adequate to offer at least some minimal level of support to the American people as our economy grinds to a halt and collapses.
Because, just like Europe and the rest of the world we are going to collapse. Better to do it on our own terms than someone else's. People will still starve and die of violent acts during this reset of our entire way of life, but perhaps fewer will suffer if we can control, at least partially, the process of the collapse itself. A controlled burn is better than a wildfire.
We need to join with our friends and allies in our hemisphere to create a new economic system focused on internal trade first, with global trading way down the list. We need to build what we consume right here. BUILD. We have to come to grips with the truth that a service based economy creates nothing of value and thus has no value. We need to become a nation of builders once again. Factories, smelters, mines and farms. Nuke plants for electricity. Rebuild the rail system and learn to rely less on the cars and trucks. Localize our lives. Buy our food from the local farmers and the goods we need from local producers. That way we have what we need to live and the jobs to pay for it.
And toughen up because this new way of life will require a lot from each and every one of us. Cell phones? We'll be lucky to have land lines. Electricity? Maybe for a few here and there that can generate their own or live near a still barely functioning electrical producer. Remember, all those lines and towers, dams and power plants that make up the power grid need to be serviced and that requires oil. Not to mention that the insulation for the wires themselves are made of oil. The little oil we produce ourselves will have to be dedicated to supporting the building of our future power systems, not propping up the old. And it will also be needed for defense.
The common people, which will be most of us, will be living about the same way as our great-great grandfathers did back in the 1880's. Steam engines will make a come back along with kerosene lanterns. Wood stoves for heat in the winter and sweat all summer long. Diseases we thought were gone will return along with a much higher mortality rate. We'll grow most of the food we consume and buy what we can't grow from those that can. Chickens and goats will take the place of BMW's and big screens.
All of this is what those rounds fired across the Korean border have opened the door to. If not them it'll be something else just as insignificant to the average person.
Our lives teeter on the edge of massive and abrupt change. A small spark will light the fire of disintegration and all that we consider permanent will turn to ash and be blown away, gone with the wind.
We are being asked, no, forced to accept controls over our movements, freedoms and privacy that violate both our natural law rights and the guarantee of those same rights in the United States Constitution:
"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." Constitution of the Untied States
These human and individual rights are being violated by the very same government that was instituted to protect them. We've been here before:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness." Declaration of Independence
There's a difference this time though, I believe. This time we're not just fighting a country or a king but instead the powers and principalities that rule the earth. This control that's being imposed upon us is just a part of a larger move towards control that is being driven by the powerful and wealthy to further their goal of dominance over all of mankind. This is part of the eternal battle between God and Satan.
I don't believe that this is the "end times" but I do believe it is the beginning of a chastisement from God intended to return us to Him. We must resist by peaceful means these people and governments that seek to enslave us. By doing so we will be resisting Satan himself and following God.
As these machines become more and more part of our everyday lives resistance will become more and more difficult. What if you need to go to court? What about going to the courthouse to pay a traffic ticket? What about just going to the mall or the train station?
"Taking a trip during the holidays isn't the only time that people might get a full-body scan to pass through security. People heading to court to testify, get a restraining order, pay a ticket or answer criminal charges could also face a full-body scan at courthouses.
The U.S. Marshals Service, which is in charge of protecting federal judges nationwide, is exploring their use at federal courthouses. And two state courthouses in Douglas and El Paso counties in Colorado have already deployed full-body scanners that use radio waves to detect all objects on a person, including paper.
A guard in a separate room monitors the gray images with pixelated faces and genital areas, and the images aren't stored on a computer. officials said. All visitors to the Douglas County Courthouse in Castle Rock, Colo., undergo full-body scans, while guards at the El Paso County Judicial Center in Colorado Springs use the scanners during peak hours." AP
What if the simple act of refusal to submit brands you as a terrorist and the powers that be strip you of the rest of your rights on the spot? What if you can be arrested without any of the normal legal impediments to the power of the state. If you are considered a terrorist because you won't submit then you will be made to disappear.
"...According to Mr. Hagmann, he was contacted by a source within the DHS who provided an alarming memo detailing a new administrative directive agreed upon by DHS chief Janet Napolitano and the head of TSA John Pistole. The memo, according to Doug Hagmann, “officially addresses those who are opposed to, or engaged in the disruption of the implementation of the enhanced airport screening procedures as ‘domestic extremists’.”
...The United States government, under complete control and direction of our elected President, is now actively labeling anyone who exercises their 4th amendment Constitutional right which protects against warrantless and unreasonable searches and seizures as, essentially, engaging in terrorism as defined by Section 802 of the USA Patriot Act...
...With the outrage from American travelers and the pressure being put on corporate profits, the President and TSA may eventually change their tune. But if they don’t, then we can expect more intrusive checkpoints from our government in the very near future. Ms. Napolitano has already publicly stated that DHS is looking at other mass transit systems like buses and trains as the next target." SHTF Plan
That can't happen? Look at Chain, Russia and most of the rest of the world. There is no reason that the new world order won't function under the same totalitarian rules. Look at what's already happening here with the TSA. It can happen here and in fact, it has already begun.
"Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced today that the next steps for the naked body scanners involves trains, boats and metros." Gateway Pundit
At some point in the near future every one of us is going to be asked to make a choice whether to submit or to stand against evil. Doing the right thing will have terrible costs but the cost of doing the wrong thing will be eternal damnation.
"...The gradual acceptance of falsehood leads to an external system that concretizes this internal rebellion. While Prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger pointed to how these external dimensions have indeed taken on the form of totalitarianism with the aim to control.
…our age has seen the birth of totalitarian systems and forms of tyranny which would not have been possible in the time before the technological leap forward… Today control can penetrate into the innermost life of individuals, and even the forms of dependence created by the early-warning systems can represent potential threats of oppression. —Cardinal Ratzinger (POPE BENEDICT XVI), Instruction on Christian Freedom and Liberation, n. 14
How many people today accept infringements upon their "rights" for the sake of security (such as submitting to harmful radiation or invasive "enhanced pat downs" at airports)? But St. John warns, it is a false security.
They worshiped the dragon because it gave its authority to the beast; they also worshiped the beast and said, "Who can compare with the beast or who can fight against it?" The beast was given a mouth uttering proud boasts and blasphemies, and it was given authority to act for forty-two months. (Rev 13:4-5)
When people are saying, "Peace and security," then sudden disaster comes upon them, like labor pains upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. (1 Thess 5:3)
And thus we see today how chaos in the economy, in political stability, and international security could very well be paving the way for a new order to arise. If people are hungry and terrorized by civil and international chaos, they will certainly turn to the state to help them. That, of course, is natural and expected. The problem today is that the state no longer recognizes God or His laws as immutable. Moral relativism is rapidly changing the face of politics, the legislature, and consequently, our perception of reality. There is no longer a place for God in the modern world, and that has grave consequences for the future even if short term "solutions" would appear reasonable." Mark Mallett
Must be nice to be a member of the ruling class. The wealthy use private planes and the politicians, at least the chosen ones, get to by-pass all the crap the hoi poloi have to silently suffer through.
Something is going to snap!
"Cabinet secretaries, top congressional leaders and an exclusive group of senior U.S. officials are exempt from toughened new airport screening procedures when they fly commercially with government-approved federal security details.
Aviation security officials would not name those who can skip the controversial screening, but other officials said those VIPs range from top officials like Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and FBI Director Robert Mueller to congressional leaders like incoming House Speaker John Boehner, who avoided security before a recent flight from Washington's Reagan National Airport.
The heightened new security procedures by the Transportation Security Administration, which involve either a scan by a full-body detector or an intimate personal pat-down, have spurred passenger outrage in the lead-up to the Thanksgiving holiday airport crush.
But while passengers have no choice but to submit to either the detector or what some complain is an intrusive pat-down, senior government officials can opt out if they fly accompanied by government security guards approved by the TSA." AP
The world is all a-twitter about the "new" position on condoms mentioned by the Pope in a forthcoming book. The article below is pretty much right down the middle and I think accurately describes the position of Benedict and more importantly, the Church.
"The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, told reporters Tuesday that he asked the pope whether he intended his comments to only apply to male prostitutes. Benedict replied that it really didn't matter, that the important thing was the person in question took into consideration the life of the other, Lombardi said.
"I personally asked the pope if there was a serious, important problem in the choice of the masculine over the feminine," Lombardi said. "He told me no. The problem is this ... It's the first step of taking responsibility, of taking into consideration the risk of the life of another with whom you have a relationship."
"This is if you're a woman, a man, or a transsexual. We're at the same point," Lombardi said.
The pope is not justifying or condoning gay sex or heterosexual sex outside of a marriage. Elsewhere in the book he reaffirms the Vatican opposition to homosexual acts and artificial contraception and reaffirms the inviolability of marriage between man and woman.
But by broadening the condom comments to also apply to women, the pope is saying that condom use in heterosexual relations is the lesser evil than passing HIV onto a partner.
While that concept has long been a tenet of moral theology, the pope's book "Light of the World" _ a series of interviews with a German journalist _ was the first time a pope had ever publicly applied the theory to the scenario of condom use as a way to fight HIV transmission." WTOP News
Both articles make a similar point; condom use by the HIV infected is the "lesser of two evils". Let's apply a bit of logic here. How can the Church, an organization designed to do battle with evil and to deny it a foothold in the world, ever proclaim that any evil is permissible? That is what most of the press would have us believe it has done as evidenced by the headline cited above. Condom use in the case of HIV infection is evil. It may be a lesser evil but it is evil none the less.
The Pope has not changed the Catholic teaching that the use of condoms is evil. In fact, he goes so far as to call it immoral in the interview that is raising all the ruckus. He is only remarking on the intent of the person using them. He is talking about the beginning of an interior conversion.
We can all agree that to try to protect someone else from infection is good. The question is, how does this movement towards the good in action imply a movement towards the good in the soul?
For the answer to this we need to travel all the way back to the Council of Carthage which was held on May 1, 418. It was called to address the heresy of Pelagianism. Out of the nine canons proclaimed there one is particularly important to this discussion:
"Without God's grace it is not merely more difficult, but absolutely impossible to perform good works."
So what does this mean? We are incapable, because of original sin, of doing good, any good, by ourselves. All good comes from God. Human activity without the influence of God's grace is always evil.
Any action that is a good is a good only because the actor is following the promptings of the Holy Spirit. In this regard, the HIV infected person, while still committing an intrinsically evil act if they are having sex outside marriage, is showing, by the use of condoms and if the condoms are being used only to stop the transmission of disease, a recognition that the act they are participating in is evil and disordered and they are making an effort to move to the good. Since this can only happen through the prompting of the Spirit then the use of condoms, in this very narrowly defined instance, could, potentially, be a morally defensible act.
And, I believe from everything I've read, this is what the Pope is talking about. Of course, I haven't seen any mention of Pelagianism yet but then most people have a far more interesting life than I do.
I'll try to write about something a bit more exciting next time.
"Two South Korean soldiers were killed today in an attack by the North Korean regime on an island near the Western sea border.
The AP reported:
South Korea says two marines have been killed and 16 others injured in a North Korean bombardment of a South Korean island near the countries’ disputed western sea border.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said Tuesday that it returned fire and scrambled fighter jets in response. It said the “inhumane” attack on civilian areas violated the 1953 armistice halting the Korean War. The two sides technically remain at war because a peace treaty was never negotiated.
The skirmish came amid high tension over North Korea’s claim that it has a new uranium enrichment facility, and just six weeks after North Korean leader Kim Jong Il unveiled his youngest son Kim Jong Un as his heir apparent."
"Although the U.S. Defense Department and North American Aerospace Defense Command have speculated publicly that the unidentified contrail of a projectile soaring into the skies off the California coast – and recorded by a KCBS television crew – came from a jet and posed no security threat to the U.S., several experts are raising provocative and disturbing questions about the government's official response, reports Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin.
Two governmental military experts with extensive experience working with missiles and computer security systems have examined the television video and conclude the mysterious contrail originating some 30 miles off the coast near Los Angeles did not come from a jet – but rather, they say the exhaust and the billowing plume emanated from a single source nozzle of a missile, probably made in China." World News Daily
"China is North Korea's most important ally; biggest trading partner; and main source of food, arms, and fuel. China has helped sustain Kim Jong-Il's regime and opposed harsh international economic sanctions in the hope of avoiding regime collapse and an uncontrolled influx of refugees across its eight-hundred-mile border with North Korea." CFR
"Unbridled printing of dollars is the biggest risk to the global economy, an adviser to the Chinese central bank said in comments published on Thursday, a day after the Federal Reserve unveiled a new round of monetary easing.
China must set up a firewall via currency policy and capital controls to cushion itself from external shocks, Xia Bin said in a commentary piece in the Financial News, a Chinese-language newspaper managed by the central bank.
"As long as the world exercises no restraint in issuing global currencies such as the dollar -- and this is not easy -- then the occurrence of another crisis is inevitable, as quite a few wise Westerners lament," he said." Reuters
Put all these things together and the statement from Xia Bin, "then the occurrence of another crisis is inevitable" takes on a whole new meaning, doesn't it?
I'm no expert on foreign relations but I have been in a few school yard fights and really there isn't much difference. We're threatening China with the actions of the fed and its quantitative easing. No matter how powerful China has become, in the end they still need us to buy their stuff to keep the machine running. If we keep going down the path we've chosen we'll collapse. And when we go every body else goes with us.
China is firing across our bow and warning us that it won't go meekly into the night. If we continue to threaten their financial interests they will attack us.
So which war do we choose, economic or armies. Or do we surrender to China without firing a shot.
"The Vatican on Sunday rushed to clarify a recent interview by Pope Benedict XVI, in which the pontiff states for the first time that there may be some cases in which the Roman Catholic Church's ban on condoms isn't absolute.
The pope made the comments in a book-length interview over the summer with the German writer Peter Seewald that will be officially released this week. Mr. Seewald asked the pope about criticism of the Vatican's perceived opposition to condom use to fight the spread of HIV-AIDS in Africa.
The pope's response, while carefully couched, has ricocheted around the globe, reigniting one of the most tensely debated issues facing the Roman Catholic Church. To some, the interview signaled a radical shift in the Church's approach to combating the spread of AIDS as well as an unprecedented departure from the Church's long-time practice of condemning any form of condom use." Wall Street Journal
This is the part where wishful thinkers make the mistake of trying to equate the personal opinion and ruminations of the man that sits in the chair of Peter with official Church teaching. They are not the same thing.
As the Pope himself notes in the book:
"It goes without saying that the Pope can have private opinions that are wrong." NC Register
Do some imagine that some subjects are so taboo that they're never mentioned or even discussed at the Vatican and among theologians? Do they believe that this subject isn't debated?
This is barely newsworthy but it is being played up to satisfy a political goal.
This is a quote from the book:
Are you saying, then, that the Catholic Church is actually not opposed in principle to the use of condoms?
She of course does not regard it as a real or moral solution, but, in this or that case, there can be nonetheless, in the intention of reducing the risk of infection, a first step in a movement toward a different way, a more human way, of living sexuality. Catholic World report
Remember that these are the personal opinions of Father Ratzinger, not the official opinions of Pope Benedict XVI, speaking ex cathedra and acting in his official capacity as head of the Roman Catholic Church. Even then, from this vague endorsement of the use of condoms which the Pope refers to as a false and immoral solution, we get this distortion from a priest in Zimbabwe:
"For those focused on battling the scourge of AIDS, the Pope's message that condoms could be used in some limited cases came as a welcome surprise. Father Peter Makome, a Catholic priest in Zimbabwe, said he would spread the news." Yahoo
Has there been some change in Church teaching regarding the use of condoms of which I am not aware? If so, please let me know!
"The big surprise with Pope Benedict's new book is not that he believes the Catholic Church can permit condom use to prevent the spread of AIDS in some circumstances, but that he took so long to say so.
Quotes from a new book of interviews with him made headlines around the world and some commentators went overboard by saying the Roman Catholic Church had made a sudden about-face on birth control and finally caught up with modern society.
A close reading of those quotes shows the pontiff not breaking from past teachings but thinking his way through the issue with logic dating back to the 13th century Saint Thomas Aquinas. He concludes that condom use, while still wrong, can be a lesser evil in certain circumstances.
Many Catholic theologians came to the same conclusion years ago and some priests in Africa privately advise this if the alternative is infection, for example to a woman whose HIV-positive husband demands sex." Alertnet
This at least is an honest assessment of the meaning of the Pope's words. In limited cases, to prevent an even greater evil, the use of condoms may be permissible. The example in the last paragraph perfectly describes such a situation. Rape!
An act committed not for the procreation of life inside the marital bond but as an act of violence and domination over another. Everything about rape is wrong and immoral and the victim should be protected to the extent possible. This doesn't change the fact that if a child is conceived through rape it must be carried to birth because the killing of the innocent child would be murder. But I think the argument could be made that stopping the pregnancy in the first place may be a moral act.
And that's really what we have here; an argument being made by a theologian about theory, not a sea change in Church teaching or policy.
But those opposed to Church teaching will use this to muddy the waters and discredit the Pope and the Church and to confuse the faithful.
I suppose we'll see a bit of damage control from the Vatican over the next few weeks and this will pass.
This is not a simple issue but it isn't hard to understand. As Catholics we must be prepared to explain and defend not only the Church but Her leaders as well.
But sanctify the Lord Christ in your hearts, being ready always to satisfy every one that asketh you a reason of that hope which is in you. 1 Peter 3:15
"St. Louis overtook Camden, N.J., as the nation's most dangerous city in 2009, according to a national study released Sunday.
The study by CQ Press found St. Louis had 2,070.1 violent crimes per 100,000 residents, compared with a national average of 429.4. That helped St. Louis beat out Camden, which topped last year's list and was the most dangerous city for 2003 and 2004." STL Today
I don't know how much credence to place in numbers like these. It seems that stats are manipulated so badly anymore that none of them can be trusted.
Parts of St. Louis are dangerous, others not. That's true of most urban areas. As someone that has lived in or near St. Louis for my entire life I will say that it has become increasingly more dangerous throughout the entire city. Neighborhoods that I used to walk around by myself when I was a little kid are now the scene of nightly mention for shootings on the news. The places my extended family lived have become war zones.
My dad grew up in North St. Louis and my mom on the South Side. When I was a kid the North Side was already rough but the South was still pretty much the same as it had always been, mostly German and Italian working class families that had lived in the same neighborhoods for generations. Now, the whole city has hit hard times as the jobs have disappeared and most of those that could have moved to the County.
St. Louis is different than most places because it's basically an island surrounded by a county that it doesn't belong to. The city and county separated over 100 years ago because the city thought that the county would be a drag on it due to it's rural nature. By doing this the city put a limit on its ability to grow because it has the Mississippi on it eastern border and is surrounded by the county on every other. Over time the county expanded while the city gradually lost businesses and citizens to it.
The city has also suffered from years and years of Democrat control of its government. Like most other urban areas it's been run like a little Marxist fiefdom with all kinds of taxes and controls. The problem for St. Louis has been that the people had an option in the county and a good many of them took it. Businesses went to the county because they had room to expand and the taxes and regulations were way less burdensome. The people followed the jobs and the city languished.
Because of this the numbers in the survey aren't reflective of what it's really like to live in the St. Louis area. The city is more dangerous than the county, sort of. There's parts of the county that I wouldn't want to be in just like certain places in the city. The problem for the city is that because of its compressed nature the stats get skewed. If the city and county were measured as one metropolitan area like most other major cities are I would guess that we'd be way down the list.
Someday I would imagine that the city and county will join. The county is beginning to look more like the city as housing ages and so does the population. The politics in the county have gone more Democrat as big chunks of it, especially in the north and the inner suburban ring, have come to resemble the city because the exodus from the city still continues. A lot of the people that used to live in North County have moved to St. Charles County shifting it to a Republican stronghold as St. Louis County becomes a reliable Democrat base.
The employers continue to move west with the people, further isolating the city. Since it is becoming more and more expensive to commute the working poor in the city are finding it harder to get jobs which is feeding the poverty cycle which in turn is driving the crime.
For years there have been areas of the city that have been restored with much fanfare only to slide back into decline. A few have taken hold but even those are surrounded by blight and decay. It's a shame because the city could be a really nice place to live if you like urban areas. And some still like living there and find that they have no real problems in the neighborhoods they live in. Of course, I've known plenty of people over the years that told me how safe their neighborhoods were until they moved out and viewed them from a distance. I think that we learn to accept as normal things which aren't when we are immersed in them only to see them truthfully once we get out.
I don't go to the city anymore unless I absolutely have to. It's not because I'm worried about getting killed or anything major. It's the little stuff like car break ins and my tools getting stolen that I don't want to deal with. And that's really what most of the crime is. It's petty thievery.
So I guess I wouldn't put too much credence in these stats. St. Louis is a really nice place to live and visit. Of course, the place called St. Louis by the people that live here is way different than the legal meaning or the city. It's an entire metro area that encompasses both sides of the river and parts of two states, urban, suburban and rural areas, poor slums and fabulously wealthy places and everything in between. We've been here since 1754 and it shows. We've been part of Spain, France and America. We were once known as the "Paris of the West".
St. Louis is not just a crime ridden ghetto as the numbers in the survey would suggest. It's a family with problems, none deadly but many serious. More than that, it's home. My family has lived here for over 150 years and I wouldn't be surprised if it isn't still here 150 years from now.
I do believe that we've passed a tipping point sometime in the last ten years or so and now America as we knew it has ceased to exist. The entire world has become one, in fact, if not in appearance. Any freedom you think you have is just an illusion allowed to pacify the people until the time when pacification no longer matters.
And that no man might buy or sell, but he that hath the character, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Revelation 13:17
I'm just wondering how much further we'll let ourselves be pushed.
"If you're in the market for a car, be prepared to prove you are not a terrorist.
The federal government's Red Flags Rule mandates that auto dealers, banks, credit unions and other "creditors" and "financial institutions" take additional steps to prevent identity theft and fraud, beginning Jan. 1. Included in the list of so-called creditors is your family doctor.
Among those steps is determining whether a person applying for financing - or even paying cash for a car - appears on any government watch lists of known or suspected terrorists or terrorist organizations.
As a result, consumers hoping to finance a new or used car, a home or even a major appliance will be required to supply personal information - such as their Social Security number and birth date, as well as the answers to five questions designed to confirm a customer is who they say they are - to the business at the time of the sale. Those questions could include anything from previous addresses and area codes to the names of other members of the consumer's household.
Thomas Garage Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep in St. Clairsville uses a software called Wise Scan ID to simplify the search of public records and the 475-page Office of Foreign Assets Control "Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons" list, commonly referred to as the terror watch list." The Intelligencer
Now we know that the system is in place. How much harder will it be to require national ID cards tied back to it? You want to buy groceries? We need your number. You want to buy medicine? We need your number.
Eventually I would imagine that this same card will become a debit card attached to your bank account. Printed money is about to be removed from the system. The Fed is creating money to fund the national debt. This money isn't printed; it is nothing more than a figure entered on a balance sheet. If they aren't producing physical notes then they will have to do away with them completely to avoid a situation that is essentially a run on the banks.
At some point, assuming the economy doesn't collapse, the new money will enter the system. Because it will devalue the currency it'll take a whole lot more of it to buy our stuff. This means that if people continue to use cash that the cash will have to exist for them to use it. Because it only exists as entries on balance sheets and not as physical notes the physical notes will either have to be printed or done away with entirely. If people start using the fake money created electronically it will have to remain in electronic form.
And that's where this is heading. To buy anything you'll have to posses a government issued debit or credit card that will be tied back to a huge database that includes all your personal information. And this database will be part of a worldwide database that will be sold to the people as necessary to keep us safe from terrorists. This card, attached to that database, will become absolutely vital if one wants to function in society. Without it all the doors will be closed.
Living off the grid will become damned near impossible to do because we'll have to use an economic system that is wholly self sufficient with no way to access even the most basic of everyday needs short of some sort of science fiction/Mad Max existence which will be damned near impossible to hide from the state.
"Sharia law is coming, and so is the Divine chastisement we no longer fear because we no longer believe. Instead we blame everyone and everything for our predicament, which is a consequence of own crisis of belief, fostered and encouraged by the policies of our own shepherds. We’ve become faithless and afraid, hoping to win the approval of our secularist jailors by hiding our Faith and even denying our King. But killing Muslims, bombing their cities, banning burqas, railing against them on TV is not going to change the fact that we’ve dropped the Cross—which is only the reason the Crescent is rising."
The banks are no different than the rest of us with one minor exception - they get to have future generations continue to pay their bills and their powerful allies in the government cover for them and we just have to deal with our problems all by ourselves.
I'm thinking that Wesley Snipes probably would have an observation or two about justice in America today.
One law for them; another for us!
"A federal judge ordered actor Wesley Snipes to surrender to authorities Friday so he can begin serving a three-year prison sentence for tax-related crimes.
U.S. District Court Judge William Terrell Hodges in Ocala, Fla., rejected a request from the actor's attorneys to review Snipes' sentence and grant a new trial. Snipes has been free on bond for more than two years while appealing.
"The defendant Snipes had a fair trial; he has had a full, fair and thorough review of his conviction and sentence. ... The time has come for the judgment to be enforced," the judge wrote in his 16-page decision.
The 48-year-old star of the "Blade" trilogy and Spike Lee's "Jungle Fever" was convicted in 2008 on three misdemeanor counts of willful failure to file his income tax returns." Huffington Post
"The prospect of a public scolding in Washington for Rep. Charles Rangel over ethics violations has drawn both sadness and scorn in his Harlem neighborhood, where he was just re-elected with 81 percent of the vote and remains an icon to residents who say they'll be the ones to decide his political fate.
...Thursday's 9-1 House ethics committee vote to recommend censure for the Democratic lawmaker came days after the same panel convicted him of 11 violations, including failure to pay taxes on rental income from a villa in the Dominican Republic and operating four rent-stabilized apartments in Harlem instead of just one. Censure is the most serious congressional discipline short of expulsion; the full House will probably vote on the recommendation sometime after Thanksgiving." NPR
"Pope Benedict XVI and other church leaders said it was the moral responsibility of nations to guarantee access to health care for all of their citizens, regardless of social and economic status or their ability to pay.
Access to adequate medical attention, the pope said in a written message Nov. 18, was one of the "inalienable rights" of man.
The pope's message was read by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican secretary of state, to participants at the 25th International Conference of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Ministry at the Vatican Nov. 18-19." Catholic News
The full text of the Pope's letter can be foundhere.
Now for the words of Cardinal Bertone, the man that read the letter before the Pontifical Council:.
"Justice requires guaranteed universal access to health care," he said, adding that the provision of minimal levels of medical attention to all is "commonly accepted as a fundamental human right." Catholic News
While the media will try and twist the words of both Benedict and Bertone into something that fits their statist agenda, the Pope is not calling for state run health care of the type that Obama and his party have rammed down our throats. They are not calling for re-distribution of wealth but instead for distributive justice. These two ideas are as remote as night and day.
"Important also in the field of health, integral part of each one's existence and of the common good, is to establish a true distributive justice that guarantees to all, on the basis of objective needs, adequate care."
Distributive justice seeks a leveling of the playing field, not by taking from one to give to the other but by creating a system that prevents any one person or group from gaining too much power and denying rights and opportunity to others. It stresses property rights and the true free market system as a means to an end as opposed to re-distribution (Marxism) which places the state in the role of God himself and forces the people to surrender their "inalienable rights" in the service of the state.
Distributive justice begins with the individual. Re-distributive justice begins with the state.
I agree with the Pope, justice does require access to health care. And I agree that access to health care is a right. And as the Pope states in his letter:
"It is necessary to work with greater commitment at all levels so that the right to health is rendered effective, favoring access to primary health care."
But does this access to health care require that we surrender our basic human rights of property and freedom of employment to the state? Of course not. It requires an interior conversion of the individual soul so that each will accept the responsibility that comes with the rights we posses.
Interestingly, in the examples the Pope uses of charity as it relates to healthcare we find not one single instance of the state being used to force anyone to provide anything. Instead, we find this:
"To bend down as the Good Samaritan to the wounded man abandoned on the side of the road is to fulfill that "greater justice" that Jesus asks of his disciples and acted in his life, because love is the fulfillment of the Law. The Christian community, following in the footsteps of its Lord, has carried out the mandate to go out into the world "to teach and cure the sick" and over the centuries "has strongly realized the service to the sick and suffering as an integral part of its mission" (John Paul II, motu proprio "Dolentium Hominum," No. 1), of witnessing integral salvation, which is health of soul and body."
We find an act of charity that begins with an individual and from him spreads to the entire community. This is antithetical to the top down approach implemented through re-distribution.
The Pope reinforces this with the following statement:
"What is necessary is the joint effort of all, but also necessary and above all is a profound conversion of the interior look. Only if one looks at the world with the look of the Creator, which is a look of love, humanity will learn to be on earth in peace and justice, allocating with equity the earth and its resources to the good of every man and every woman. Because of this, "I hope for [...] the adoption of a model of development founded on the centrality of the human being, on the promotion and sharing of the common good, on responsibility, on the awareness of the necessary change of lifestyles and on prudence, virtue that indicates the actions to be carried out today, in expectation of what might happen tomorrow" (Benedict XVI, Message for the 2010 World Day of Peace, 9)."
Justice begins at home, inside the soul and from there moves into society. Government, because of its role as a protector of our rights (in a perfect world) should guarantee that nothing stands in the way of our choosing to help another. It should promote the idea that we are our brothers keeper and that it is our responsibility to help the poor. To do this it will have to speak the truth about the reasons for the responsibility we must exercise but then it will be forced to discuss God.
So most governments, afraid that their subjects, I mean citizens, may find out that there really is a higher authority than government, will go the way of force, re-distribution and Marxism. Instead of promoting and advancing true distributive charity they will force re-distributive lies upon the people which will lead to less freedom and the loss of the same rights the government is supposed to protect. And let's not forget it will also lead to centralization of all the wealth and power into the hands of the connected few and away from the people.
So I expect the Progressives will have a field day with this letter from the Pope and the majority of the people will never get to hear what the Pope has to say or learn anything about Church teaching on the subject.
They take this part of the Bertone's statement from Catholic News Service:
Governments are obligated, therefore, to adopt the proper legislative, administrative and financial measures to provide such care along with other basic conditions that promote good health, such as food security, water and housing, the cardinal said.
...and use it to advance their Marxist agenda without taking the time or even wanting to understand the 2000 years of philosophy that underlie it.
I have to say though that Bertone seems to almost be twisting the words of the Pope into something they are not intended to be to satisfy an end that seems a bit strange to me. There have been a lot of strange stories that have surrounded Bertone over the years and sometimes I don't understand the things that are said by him.
We are responsible for our Church and it is the duty of the faithful to read and question everything that is said.
Please pray for our leaders that they may be protected from the evil one that works day and night to destroy them.
Will it never end? Now we have another seeming power grab by the federal government that will benefit our "representatives"and their donors at the expense of the average American.
There's so much hyperbole surrounding this thing that to be honest I don't know what's fact, what's fear or what's just plain wrong.
But, just based on how things usually go I'm going to make a stab at describing this thing. We have a situation where there have been, in comparison to the size of the food industry as a whole, just a handful of cases of tainted food over the last few years. Now the hand wringing, namby-pamby safety Nazis on the left side of the spectrum see this as a threat to all that is good and as a clear indication that they need to spring into action to save the children or the whales or something.
Now their boys, and girls, in the Congress see an opportunity. They can play to their base while at the same time writing a little something for the guys that send them the money they need to stay in office so they can keep spending the money they steal from us. So they call up their buddies in big agriculture and ask them if they couldn't give them some ideas on how to improve safety and protect all the little children. Big Ag, always looking for ways to help their fellow man, suggest that maybe some new regulations would be in order.
The problem here, and Big Ag is just beside itself at the absolute ugliness of it, is that to make food safe for the children the new regulations will have to be of such an onerous nature that no food producer without the financial resources of Big Ag will be able to comply. And this means that all those little farmers and processors, the ones that compete with Big Ag and are a constant thorn in its side, well darn it, they'll probably go out of business. And that's really, really a shame.
But at least the children will have safe food to eat.
In the end, regardless of the hysteria about individual rights and the backyard gardener, this is directed towards destroying the competition through regulation and protecting Monsanto's hybrid seed business. They don't care about you or me planting a couple tomatoes. They've got bigger fish to fry.
This isn't to say that this doesn't put the framework in place for legal action against individuals in the future because it does and if that framework exists it will be used against us, eventually. For that reason alone it should scare the hell out of us.
Fortunately, it sounds like it won't make it back through the house before the Republicans take over. Hopefully that'll kill it.
"Senate Bill 510, the Food Safety Modernization Act, has been called "the most dangerous bill in the history of the United States of America." It would grant the U.S. government new authority over the public's right to grow, trade and transport any foods. This would give Big brother the power to regulate the tomato plants in your backyard. It would grant them the power to arrest and imprison people selling cucumbers at farmer's markets. It would criminalize the transporting of organic produce if you don't comply with the authoritarian rules of the federal government.
"It will become the most offensive authority against the cultivation, trade and consumption of food and agricultural products of one's choice. It will be unconstitutional and contrary to natural law or, if you like, the will of God." - Dr. Shiv Chopra, Canada Health whistleblower (http://shivchopra.com/?page_id=2)" Natural News
"Supporters of the local food movement might get what they want in a debate going on in the United States Senate.
Local food advocates are worried that attempts to improve food safety in the U.S. will put small farmers out of business. But a deal has been reached to exempt small farms that sell food locally from the new rules.
Senator John Tester from Montana introduced the amendment. He says government should encourage more people to start up farm businesses.
"If we can get producers to connect up with consumers eyeball to eyeball, that's a positive thing," Tester says. "I don't want to diminish their ability to do this.
"My amendment really protects the ability for farmer markets to flourish and provide food for people locally without shipping it half way around the world and back again."
The legislation is a response to numerous deaths and illnesses in the U.S. caused by contaminated food.
You can read the Tester-Hagan Amendmenthereand the amendment to the amendmenthere.
"Democrats and Republicans who worked together on food safety legislation have signed off on a compromise amendment protecting small farmers, making it more likely the bill could pass as early as this week.
The amendment, sponsored by Sens. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Kay Hagan (D-N.C.), could be rolled into the food safety bill or could be voted up or down separately. Under the amendment, small producers - those selling most of their food directly to consumers, local restaurants and retailers within a 275-mile radius and earning $500,000 or less in annual sales - will continue to be regulated at the state and local level.
"This amendment is a critical change to the food safety legislation and will protect our small producers from excessive government red tape," Hagan said in a statement. "Senator Tester and I worked with our colleagues to ensure this amendment’s inclusion in the final food safety bill, and this protection will benefit small farmers across North Carolina."Changes to the amendment give the Food and Drug Administration the authority to withdraw an exemption from a farm or facility that has been associated with a foodborne illness outbreak. In addition, the distance from a facility or farm that is eligible to be a "qualified end-user" has been reduced from 400 miles to 275 miles, and language clarifying that farmers' market sales are "direct-to-consumer" for FDA’s purposes has been revised." The Hill
So the door opens just a bit and we get a glimpse of the Wizard. The connected, once again, are profiting at the expense of the American citizens and, once again, colluding with government to do it.
It seems that this may finally be the straw that breaks the back. The level of resistance to these scanners is high and there is a threat of backlash next Wednesday asWe Won't Flyorganizes a national opt out day at the nation's major airports. The extent to which this happens will gauge just how strongly the American public feels on this issue.
This is just one more step in beating us down and making us conform. It started with drug testing and has gone from there. Now we can be stopped if we don't wear seat belts, can't smoke in public, are afraid to say things because they may be considered "hate speech". We're slowly being squeezed into a box, making us all the same shape and size, perfect for use on an assembly line but terrible for the exercise of freedom and completely incapable of resistance.
So just say no to these scanners and all the other ways that the powerful force us to conform. If you believe something, say it. Don't worry about political correctness. Do what you want, when you want, as long as it doesn't impact the rights of another.
But when you get the blowback be ready for it. With freedom comes responsibility. Accept it as the cost of being free. Don't run to the government for laws to protect you. Deal with it yourself. The government is like a vampire; if you give it permission to enter your house it will take control of you and most likely destroy you.
We need to stand as individuals, not parts of a collective whole. We can join to work for common goals but we must join as individuals and never allow the group to assume the rights and responsibilities that are meant for the individual alone.
We're built to be different. It is in our individuality that greatness is found. Communist societies seldom create or innovate. They steal from others and try to build upon the fruits of freedom. Marching in line and exercising together in bland gray uniforms every morning may be great for the control of the people but it does nothing to help them advance. It crushes the spirit that is a gift from God.
So if this intrusive scanning pisses you off, SAY SOMETHING!! If the mortgage fraud pisses you off, SAY SOMETHING!! If the rape of our economy by the banks pisses you off, SAY SOMETHING!! If the politicians don't do the right thing, SAY SOMETHING!!
Stop trying to blend into the crowd believing that safety lies in anonymity. Slavery is what you'll find in the crowd. Freedom is outside.
So, as your mom used to say, " Go out and play!"
UPDATE:
It appears that at least one Congressman sees things the same way I do.
"Migration from high-tax states to states with lower taxes and less government spending will dramatically alter the composition of future Congresses, according to a study by Americans for Tax Reform.
Eight states are projected to gain at least one congressional seat under reapportionment following the 2010 Census: Texas (four seats), Florida (two seats), Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, South Carolina, Utah and Washington (one seat each). Their average top state personal income tax rate: 2.8 percent.
By contrast, New York and Ohio are likely to lose two seats each, while Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania will be down one apiece. The average top state personal income tax rate in these loser states: 6.05 percent.
...And, as ATR notes, “in eight of ten losers, workers can be forced to join a union as a condition of employment. In 7 of the 8 gainers, workers are given a choice whether to join or contribute financially to a union.” Washington Examiner
"On Nov. 9 in the pages of the Columbia Tribune, one of the state legislature’s most dependable defenders of trade unionism sent a shot across the bow of the arriving conservative dreadnaught: Don’t think seriously about passing a right-to-work law in Missouri, wrote Sen. Timothy Green, D-St. Louis.
Sen. Green had a list of reasons why unionism is good for the state and the world in general, but I’ll bet the main intent of his literary foray was to remind enthusiastic conservatives of the political torture RTW poses. Green has a point.
It’s likely that in this season of right-wing ascendancy in the Missouri General Assembly, thoughts of finally passing a right-to-work law dance in some heads like visions of sugarplums. Perhaps Sen. Rob Mayer of Dexter, representing the most conservative branch of the state GOP and heir apparent to the coveted position of majority leader, imagines this is the time finally to see RTW succeed in Missouri.
But he and his co-thinkers would be wrong. As Green hints, they would be heading for a brick wall with plenty of brambles along the way." News Tribune
Missouri, especially St. Louis, used to be a union hotbed. We had lots of manufacturing and construction. Most made a pretty good living. The middle class was well populated and all those union jobs supported a whole bunch of small non-union shops, you know, barbers and groceries and the like.
Those days are long gone and they're not coming back. Almost all the jobs that were done by union labor have gone to right-to-work states or overseas to the slave labor in Asia. The jobs aren't coming back unless our political leaders grow a pair and that's not going to happen.
Realistically, we need jobs. Ideally they'd all pay great wages and have great benefits but I'll not hold my breath. We need jobs NOW; just about any kind will do. And the threat of unionism in Missouri stands in the way of many employers even considering our state.
Not to mention that the unions have changed. They're not the looking out for the good of the worker or the company. Their main purpose today seems to be to spread socialism and distrust of our country. They have become world wide organizations embracing Marxism not just in Europe but here, in America. We don't need that in our country, much less our state.
Support economic growth here in Missouri if the issue of Right-to-Work comes up. Let's try to break the union stranglehold and return the jobs we so sorely need to our state.
"1749: Nicolas Appert is born. He will invent the modern food-canning process while trying to help Napoleon conquer Europe.
By 1795, France was in an expansionist mood and quarreling with its neighbors. As the army and navy found themselves increasingly embroiled in foreign entanglements, the realization that an army travels on its stomach began forcefully hitting home. Looking for a way to efficiently provision its troops in the field, the revolutionary government offered a prize of 12,000 francs to whoever could devise a way of doing just that.
Nicolas Appert, an experienced chef living on the outskirts of Paris, took up the challenge. More than a decade later, he had the solution.
Through experimentation, Appert eventually concluded that the best method of preservation was to heat the food to the boiling point of water, then seal it in airtight glass jars.
Appert’s principles were tested successfully by the French navy, which found that everything from meat to vegetables to milk could be preserved at sea using his method." Wired
Appert's invention of canning is one of those little moments in history that we don't think about. In an age where frozen and freeze dried foods, fast food and junk food surround us we forget just how much effort the average person expended every day in the quest to fill his belly just a century ago. Until the modern era most people produced the food they ate on their own land and hunted for the meat they consumed.
Butchering usually happened in the late fall when the weather was cool. It had to because they needed the cold air to help keep the meat from spoiling while it was processed. Meat was either smoked or salted, maybe both, to preserve it. Anything not cured into submission had to be consumed in short order so it wouldn't spoil. Ever wonder why churches always have sausage suppers in the fall?
Vegetables could be dried during the growing season or stored in root cellars. Eggs would be abundant through the spring, summer and fall and become fewer in the winter. Eggs could be stored to with the use of salt.
Are you starting to understand why salt is so valuable?
So what happened was that during the summer diets were heavy on fresh eggs and vegetables with a little meat thrown in and during the winter heavy on cured (salted and smoked) meats and progressively lighter on green veggies. Root crops store well so there would be potatoes, squash and the like from the root cellar.
By late winter many people were down to the last of the salted meats and a few root crops, often living on the edge of starvation. Maybe you've heard of "ramps"? These are the root vegetables that come out of the ground first in early spring. These were highly prized by people because they were the first fresh vegetables available to keep them from dying from scurvy and other diseases that were caused from a pure meat diet.
Maybe now you can see why Mr. Appert's little invention is so important.
The ability to preserve food in it's natural state, more or less, along with the nutrients it provides, over long periods of time is akin to very few other human advances in its effect on our lives. We are healthier and live longer. More importantly, this invention helped to break the bond to the land, allowing the rise of urban centers and the industrialization of the world, bringing with it all the other conveniences we've come to accept as normal.
So, I raise a cold, canned peach to you, M. Appert. and I thank you for your invention. Hopefully some day you'll receive the recognition from a grateful world that you deserve.
"Conservative peer Lord James of Blackheath has said that he was appointed by the Bank of England to "deal with problems" caused by the laundering of IRA money.
Addressing fellow peers late on Monday night Lord James said:
"I have had one of the biggest experiences in the laundering of terrorist money and funny money that anyone has had in the City. I have handled billions of pounds of terrorist money."
Labour peer Baroness Hollis of Heigham asked: "Where did it go to?"
Lord James, a respected corporate troubleshooter, replied: "Not into my pocket. My biggest terrorist client was the IRA and I am pleased to say that I managed to write off more than £1billion of its money.
"I have also had extensive connections with north African terrorists, but that was of a far nastier nature, and I do not want to talk about that because it is still a security issue. I hasten to add that it is no good getting the police in, because I shall immediately call the Bank of England as my defence witness, given that it put me in to deal with these problems."
...The life-peer also told colleagues during Monday's address that a shadowy group has contacted him with an offer to help solve the UK's economic problems.
Lord James claims the group, which he referred to as 'Foundation X', has more gold on hand than all the world's bullion reserves combined. He said the group has offered to give the UK £5bn immediately and another £17bn for schools, hospitals and London's crossrail project.
"I have come to the absolute conclusion that foundation X is completely genuine and sincere and that it directly wishes to make the United Kingdom one of the principal points that it will use to disseminate its extraordinarily great wealth into the world at this present moment, as part of an attempt to seek the recovery of the global economy." Belfast Telegraph
What the hell is this all about? On the surface it sounds like some crazy conspiracy mumbo-jumbo yet the speech is real and documented, both in print and video.
Lord James claims that the Bank of England is involved in laundering money for terrorist operations and that there exists a shadow organization, which he refers to as "Foundation X" that has offered to pay off England's debts, interest free. He claims that this organization controls most of the world's bullion and that it has the resources to do as it claims.
Normally I read this sort of stuff and blow it off because all of the "proof" is generally of the less than transparent kind, the sort you can never really get to the bottom of, lot's of innuendo and cloak and dagger. But this is a respected member of Parliament giving a speech on the floor for everyone to hear. He is either crazy, or a liar, or, and this is what I find so intriguing, he's telling the truth to the best of his ability. If it's the latter, and I suspect it is, we may have just seen a door opened to a world that most of us know nothing about.
Follow the link to theBelfast Telegraphand read the story. I'm curious where this may lead and I think it bears watching.
It would be quite a story if at the very moment the world teeters on the edge of the abyss a savior would come along with the means to save it. The world would turn to that savior and follow him.
Sounds kind'a biblical, doesn't it?
Book of Revelation biblical.
Why is there no uproar in the House as these words are spoken? And if it's all a lie, why doesn't anyone speak up and say so? And where is the coverage of this in the press?
What's going on?
UPDATE
"The UK government will not take up the apparent offer of billions of interest-free pounds from a mysterious organisation called Foundation X, a Treasury spokesperson told ZDNet UK on Friday.
The existence of the offer was detailed on Monday in the House of Lords by Lord James of Blackheath, who said the foundation was willing to pump at least £22bn into government coffers by Christmas. According to the spokesperson, Treasury commercial secretary Lord Sassoon has "looked into Lord James of Blackheath's proposal, and has decided not to pursue the matter any further".
"At no point has Lord Sassoon, or any Treasury officials, held any meetings with Lord James of Blackheath or any organisation that he mentions on this subject," the spokesperson added.
When he detailed the offer on Monday, Lord James began by apologising to Lord Sassoon "because I am about to raise a subject that I should not raise", then said he had been in a two-week discussion with Lords Sassoon and Strathclyde about the matter. He went on to say that neither Lord Sassoon nor Lord Strathclyde — who is the leader of the House of Lords — gave credence to the offer.
Many have suggested Lord James has been taken in by an elaborate scam, perhaps involving the so-called Office of International Treasury Control, but the peer is adamant that this is not the case.
The Treasury's statement appears to contradict Lord James' claim that he has met with Lord Sassoon to discuss Foundation X's offer, although it is not clear how he related the offer if not in some kind of meeting. The line that neither Lord Sassoon nor Treasury officials had met with the foundation itself, though, makes sense, as according to Lord James Foundation X expects to be contacted "only by someone equal to head of state status or someone with an international security rating equal to the top six people in the world" ZD Net
A quick and quiet denial and maybe this will all quietly slip under the waves. Just move along, nothing to see here.
I was talking to my wife yesterday and I told her that the best way to deal with this unlawful intrusion into our lives was to start having people just fly naked or in their underwear and look what I found this morning.
Refuse the scanners and refuse the pat downs. Don't fly unless it's absolutely necessary. This is just one more link in the chain that will bind us all in the near future. If they can strip search us at the airport they can do it at the mall.
"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." The Bill of Rights
While our government is busy creating new rights to benefit the bankers and the unions it runs roughshod over our real rights, the ones we posses as part of our human nature and that are guaranteed in the Constitution.
We are no longer a nation of laws meant to protect our freedom. We have become a nation of laws designed to enslave the people while enriching the connected.
When confronted with evil refuse to cooperate. Just say no.
And pray for guidance and strength because this is just the beginning.
Protests continue to roll across Europe in what I believe is an attempt to destabilize the ECU and forward the goals of the One World Government crowd. And of course, the unions are at the forefront.
"Tens of thousands of people marched in cities across Germany on Saturday to protest against government policies and social inequality, a day before a key meeting of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU).
German union umbrella group DGB, which organized the demonstrations, said nearly 100,000 people had marched in Stuttgart, Dortmund, Nuremberg and Erfurt, voicing their displeasure with Merkel's coalition for offloading the costs of the financial crisis." Reuters
From what I understand theDGBbans membership in the MLPD (Marxist-Leninist Party of Germany) among union members. However, as you can see by the claims from theMLPD website, MLPD says that 84% of its members do in fact belong to the DGB.
So I guess the logical question would be how much involvement the Communist element inside the GDB has had in organizing these riots in Germany? My guess; quite a bit.
Prepare yourself for the same kind of things to happen here. The AFL-CIO, SEIU and other unions with the backing of those that are funding them will move to destabilize America in the near future. Germany, Greece, France and England are just phase one.
"MLPD - a Genuine Workers' Party. Sixty-five per cent of the membership are blue-collar workers and simple white-collar workers. Work in factories and unions constitutes the Party's firm basis. Forty per cent of the members are working in factory Party groups in large industrial firms. Forty-nine per cent are working in residential area Party groups. Eighty-four per cent of Party members are organized in trade unions affiliated to the German Federation of Trade Unions (DGB). Members from the intelligentsia see their future in the alliance for struggle under the leadership of the working class. Party groups are also active at universities and in rural areas." MLPD
"Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that the antichrist was coming, so now many antichrists have appeared. Thus we know this is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not really of our number; if they had been, they would have remained with us. Their desertion shows that none of them was of our number. But you have the anointing that comes from the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. I write to you not because you do not know the truth but because you do, and because every lie is alien to the truth."
1st John 2:18-21
“The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in times of great moral crises maintain their neutrality”
Dante Alighieri
“Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost.”
John Quincy Adams
“Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action.”
George Washington
“If once the people become inattentive to the public affairs, you and I, and Congress and Assemblies, Judges and Governors, shall all become wolves. It seems to be the law of our general nature, in spite of individual exceptions.”
Thomas Jefferson
" I come from a state that raises corn and cotton and cockleburs and Democrats, and frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I am from Missouri. You have got to show me."
Willard Duncan Vandiver
"The issue is, to use a sporting metaphor, whether in the game of life the government shall captain the national team or shall act as referee."
S. Harcourt-Rivington
"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."
Posts
