Obama tackles drones, Guantanamo in reset of war on terror

Google – AFP, Stephen Collinson (AFP), 23 May 2013

US President Barack Obama speaks about his administration's drone and

counterterrorism policies, May 23, 2013 (AFP, Saul Loeb)

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama Thursday laid out new guidelines for drone strikes abroad and launched a new bid to close the Guantanamo Bay prison, seeking to rein in a "boundless" US war on terror.

In a major policy speech, Obama said the United States faced a new threat from "diverse" terror franchises and the growing threat of homegrown radicals, after putting Al-Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan on the path to defeat.

"We must define the nature and scope of this struggle, or else it will define us," Obama warned at the National Defense University, seeking to reframe US counter-terrorism posture more than a decade after the September 11 attacks.

"Neither I, nor any President can promise the total defeat of terror ... what we must do -- is dismantle networks that pose a direct danger," Obama said.

a demonstration calling for an end to

targeted killings and indefinite detentions

outside of Fort McNair on May 23, 2013

(AFP, Mandel Ngan)

Specifically, Obama said he would lift a personal moratorium on transferring Guantanamo Bay inmates to unstable Yemen, and said he would appoint a new senior envoy to oversee transfers.

He also called on the Pentagon to designate a site on US soil to hold military tribunals for terror suspects now at Guantanamo Bay, and said Congress must work with him to close a facility that has stained the US image abroad.

"I know the politics are hard. But history will cast a harsh judgment on this aspect of our fight against terrorism, and those of us who fail to end it," Obama said.

"Imagine a future -- ten years from now, or twenty years from now -- when the United States of America is still holding people who have been charged with no crime on a piece of land that is not a part of our country."

The new effort to close Guantanamo, to try to honor a promise that Obama broke in his first White House term, comes with 103 of the remaining 166 inmates on a hunger strike.

In a rare public discussion of the US covert drone program, Obama said that targeting terrorists with unmanned aerial vehicles was a legal, effective and just military tactic.

But he revealed he had signed a new presidential policy directive "insisting on upon clear guidelines, oversight and accountability."

The guidance includes requirements that a target must pose a continuing "imminent" threat to Americans, and says lethal action can be used only if a suspect cannot feasibly be captured, and there is a legal basis for acting.

It also requires the "near certainty that non-combatants will not be injured or killed," according to a White House fact sheet.

The rules for targeting suspects in places like Somalia, Yemen and Pakistan would follow the same criteria as those used for attacks on US citizens who have aligned themselves with foreign terror groups.

a demonstration calling for an end to

 targeted killings and indefinite detentions

 outside of Fort McNair on May 23, 2013

(AFP, Mandel Ngan)

Such criteria however would still give the administration the power to launch strikes against targets seen as plotting "imminent" terror attacks against the United States -- a definition leaving wide latitude for action.

On Wednesday, the administration admitted for the first time that it had killed Yemeni-American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki in a drone strike in Yemen in 2011 -- and three other US citizens also died in anti-terror strikes abroad.

Awlaki's killing prompted a fierce constitutional debate over whether the president has the right to order the death of a US terror suspect without offering due process.

He may also name a new high-level official to manage the closure of the camp and could transfer CIA drone war functions to the Pentagon.

Obama has blamed fierce opposition in Congress for the halting of transfers -- though he imposed his own moratorium on sending inmates home to unstable Yemen.

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An Hour with an Angel with Archangel Michael, December 17, 2012

”.. Lay Down Your Arms

SB: Thank you, Lord. I am going to be asking you about the who, why, what, where, when, how of Ascension, about December 21st. But before I do that there is one question that I have to ask you because I know our listeners and readers want me to. I think they would like to know something about the Newtown tragedy. Was it mind control? Was it the cabal trying to take attention away from Ascension? Was it simply a deranged individual?

Why was it permitted to happen, Lord? It shocked a lot of people.

AAM: It was a tragedy in Newtown, and it was a sacrifice of innocents, both children and adults. And yes, there is divine purpose that comes out of this. Was it a planned action on our part? Absolutely not, that is not the way we operate. It was the action, yes, of a very deranged, ill, dis-eased individual. It was not the act of the cabal. They are in far too deep containment to ever effect such a strike.

Let us talk about the meaning. And the Mother has talked about this also. It is time for all of humanity, east, west, north, south, to come together as one community. And this atrocity, this killing of children needlessly, brings to the forefront what is taking place on your planet.

The beings of Newtown, Connecticut, and this emotional energy, have acted and do act as a surrogate and a catalyst for the human race to come together and say, “No more,” that the slaughter of innocents is not acceptable in any realm.

And what that means, dear ones, is it is not acceptable through missile or drone strikes, in neighborhoods, in marketplaces and schools, or anywhere else. It is not acceptable for children to be hit by stray bullets, by gang wars or by drug lords, in any country, in any nation, in any civilization. It is not acceptable for children to die of disease, poverty, hunger, and starvation.

So these bright angels, this soul group has sacrificed and acted as a surrogate. Now, I wish to tell you that all of these angels were well out of their body and already in the arms of the Mother prior to their death. She had already gathered them up.

So it is not just for them that you weep. It is for each other. Because what you are seeing, what you are witnessing, is the pain and suffering that violence does to humanity, to families, to friends, to siblings, to parents, to communities, to neighbors, to nations. And it is all of you saying, “No more!”

SB: If I may intervene, what do you say to people who advocate the right to bear arms in America? What does one say to organizations that think that they’ll fall under somebody else’s rule if they give up their rifles?

AAM: Let me say this, and I do not simply say it to Americans, I say it to all nations that carry weapons to destroy families and friends. I say it to all beings that carry guns or weapons. And I am talking about missiles or chemical weapons.

When you live in fear, then what you create is fear. When you live in harmony and community and unity, that is what you create. Understand, the opening of 11/11 and 12/12 was not simply some esoteric exercise. You have been unified.

And as I have asked you, and as most of you are doing, that grid is to grow and inflame and ignite more and more every single hour, every single minute of every day. It was not just an hour-long exercise or a day-long exercise.

How can you live in unity and love and carry weapons, guns, ready to kill someone you don’t like or you don’t care about? And it is particularly dangerous when you have those weapons available to those who are unbalanced.

And we suggest to you that there is no way to safeguard against someone who is in the throes of a psychotic episode. There is no way to prevent them from getting a weapon if in fact they are available. That is a fool’s belief.

So if you expect harm to come to you, then harm will come to you. It is a time of change, and you cannot build Nova Earth with guns, missiles, and chemical weapons. You cannot do it. It is not possible. Not in any universe, not in any realm.

I had thought, this day, that I would come before you with my blue flame of truth. And I would say to you, “I am laying down my sword and shield,” because that is my desire and creation, and that it would be symbolic for you to understand that these are no longer necessary.

I did not begin today by saying that because I am still using my sword to cut some cords of illusion with some of you, and some of you are feeling exceptionally vulnerable right now. And so I want you to know that I’m also shielding you.

But my sword is also the scepter of truth. It is the staff of wisdom. It is the staff that you can lean upon when you are exhausted. Your guns do not serve that purpose.

Lay down your arms. This I ask of you. And more importantly, lay down your fear.

SB: Thank you, Lord. I don’t mean to single out Americans. I’m more referring to the Constitution and the provision that the right to bear arms shall not be interfered with. But thank you. You anticipated my questions on Newtown, so I’ve had all my questions answered. 

"THE BRIDGE OF SWORDS"– Sep  29, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Text version)

Church Whistle-Blowers Join Forces on Abuse

The New York Times, Laurie Goodstein, May 20, 2013

The Rev. James  Connell, in Sheboygan, Wis.,

 is a member of Catholic Whistleblowers.

(Jeffrey Phelps for The New York Times)

They call themselves Catholic Whistleblowers, a newly formed cadre of priests and nuns who say the Roman Catholic Church is still protecting sexual predators.

Although they know they could face repercussions, they have banded together to push the new pope to clean house and the American bishops to enforce the zero-tolerance policies they adopted more than a decade ago.

The group began organizing quietly nine months ago without the knowledge of their superiors or their peers, and plan to make their campaign public this week. Most in the steering group of 12 have blown the whistle on abusers in the past, and three are canon lawyers who once handled abuse cases on the church’s behalf. Four say they were sexually abused as children.

Their aim, they say, is to support both victims and fellow whistle-blowers, and identify shortcomings in church policies. They hope to help not just minors, but also adults who fall prey to clergy who exploit their power for sex. They say that their motivation is to make the church better and safer, and to show the world that there are good priests and nuns in the church.

“We’ve dedicated our lives to the church,” the Rev. John Bambrick, a priest in the Diocese of Trenton, said at a meeting of the group last week in New York. “Having sex offenders in ministry is damaging to our ministry.”

The group has sent a letter to Pope Francis asking him to take several significant steps to heal victims and restore the church’s credibility: revoke all oaths of secrecy, open the files on abuse cases, remove from office any bishops who obstructed justice and create an international forum for dialogue between survivors and church leaders.

The Catholic Church in the United States put in place a zero-tolerance policy and a host of prevention programs after the abuse scandal peaked in 2002. Each year the bishops commission an audit of abuse cases, and this year’s survey, released May 9, found the fewest allegations and victims since the audits began in 2004.

But the whistle-blowers’ group contends that vigilance is necessary because some bishops are violating the zero-tolerance policies, and abusive clergy (who now number 6,275, according to the bishops’ count of those accusations that they deem credible) still have access to children. They point to the revelations in the last month that a priest in Newark who was a convicted sex offender restricted by a court order from working with children had been ministering in a Catholic parish in Trenton, taking confessions from children and going on weekend youth retreats.

Several of the whistle-blowers have been vocal about that priest, the Rev. Michael Fugee. Along with some New Jersey politicians, they have called for the resignation of the archbishop of Newark, John J. Myers. They fault Archbishop Myers not only for failing to restrict Father Fugee, but also for appointing him to help direct the education of priests in the archdiocese.

Archbishop Myers’s spokesman said the archbishop was unaware of the priest’s activities, and is cooperating with an investigation by the Bergen County prosecutor. Father Fugee left the ministry, and on Monday was arrested on charges that he violated a judicial order by having contact with minors. The bishop of Trenton, David M. O’Connell, removed another priest and two youth ministers from the parish in Trenton where Father Fugee worked with youth.

The Newark case, as well as the release of personnel records on priests by the Archdioceseof Los Angeles and convictions of church officials in Philadelphia and Kansas City, convinced the whistle-blowers’ group that they have work to do despite the optimistic picture in the bishops’ audits. They do not consider the bishops’ audits credible because they are based on self-reporting.

The group discussed the latest scandal in Newark at a meeting last week in Manhattan. At that meeting, Sister Sally Butler traveled from Brooklyn; Sister Maureen Paul Turlish from Delaware; the Rev. Ronald Lemmert from Peekskill, N.Y.; and Father Bambrick, Msgr. Kenneth E. Lasch and Robert Hoatson, a former priest, came from New Jersey. The Rev. James Connell joined in by speakerphone from Sheboygan, Wis. (The Rev. Thomas P. Doyle — perhaps the church’s most famed whistle-blower — recently joined the group but could not attend.) They had been conducting their weekly meetings by conference calls, and it was only the second time most of them had met face to face.

Each member has a history of standing up publicly on behalf of abuse victims, but until last year most of them did not know of one another. A Catholic laywoman, Anne Barrett Doyle, who lives in Boston, suggested they should meet. She is the co-director of BishopAccountability.org, a Web site and advocacy group that is building a database of documents on clergy abuse cases, and a co-worker, Suzy Nauman, had been keeping a running list of priests and nuns who had helped expose predators or had spoken out.

Last year Ms. Doyle spoke with Father Lemmert about the backlash he experienced after exposing a case in New York, and he later told her that talking about his experiences was “very therapeutic.” The group was initially conceived more as a confidential support group for the whistle-blowers themselves.

“I joined the group,” said Father Lemmert, “because I had been badly ostracized because I blew the whistle. There was no support out there, and this group has been a lifeline.”

Until last week, he intended to keep his involvement in the group under wraps for fear of repercussions. But at the meeting Father Lemmert announced, “I just decided to stand up and be counted.”

The group has evolved to take on a more policy-oriented role, drafting the letter to the new pope with six suggestions for action. They sent the letter in late April to the pope and several Vatican officials, but have not received any response yet.

They expressed varying degrees of optimism about whether Pope Francis will follow through on the goal first articulated by Pope John Paul II that there is no room for sexual abusers in the priesthood. They noted that Pope Francis recently said that all human beings must be protected with “clarity and courage” — especially children, “who are the most vulnerable.”

Monsignor Lasch said to the group, “The pope has asked us to speak with clarity and courage, and that’s what we’ve done with him.” Mr. Hoatson added, “It’s time that clarity and courage are rewarded rather than harassed and dismissed.”

Mr. Hoatson and Monsignor Lasch founded Road to Recovery, a group that assists abuse victims, but Mr. Hoatson left the priesthood in 2011 after a series of run-ins with Archbishop Myers. He said he has found the recent spotlight trained on the Newark archbishop very encouraging.

The whistle-blowers’ group plans to hold its first news conference this week in New York, and some members are bracing for the reaction. They said they know priests who spoke up and were removed from their parishes, hustled into retirement or declared “unstable” and sent to treatment centers for clergy with substance-abuse problems or sexual addictions.

As for what they hope to accomplish, the whistle-blowers had very different answers.

“That all the children in our church would be safe,” said Father Bambrick.

“That the people who covered up would go to jail,” said Sister Butler.

“That’s not what I’m in this for,” said Monsignor Lasch. “I’m in this for justice and mercy and truth and compassion.”

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Apple 'among largest tax avoiders in US' - Senate committee

BBC News, 21 May 2013

Related Stories

• Google chief defends tax affairs
• Apple taps markets for record $17bn
• Microsoft rapped over tax havens

Apple's Tim Cook will set out proposals
 to simplify corporate tax laws when he
appears at the hearing

Apple has been accused of being "among America's largest tax avoiders" by a Senate committee.

The committee said Apple had used "a complex web of offshore entities" to avoid paying billions of dollars in US income taxes.

Apple chief Tim Cook will go before the panel on Tuesday. In prepared testimony Apple said it did not use tax gimmicks.

The committee said there was no indication it had done anything illegal.

Apple has a cash stockpile of $145bn (£95bn), but the committee said $102bn of this was held offshore.

The company says it is one of the largest taxpayers in the US, having paid $6bn in federal corporate income tax in the 2012 fiscal year.

The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations has been examining "methods employed by multinational corporations to shift profits offshore".

Some large firms in the US have come under fire for their reluctance to repatriate their foreign earnings as they could face a top tax rate of 35%.

US corporation tax is one of the highest in the world at 35%. However, companies typically pay far less, thanks to numerous deductions and exemptions.

'Holy Grail'

In its report into Apple, committee chairman Carl Levin said: "Apple wasn't satisfied with shifting its profits to a low-tax offshore tax haven.

"Apple sought the Holy Grail of tax avoidance. It has created offshore entities holding tens of billions of dollars, while claiming to be tax resident nowhere."

But committee member John McCain said: "Apple claims to be the largest US corporate taxpayer, but by sheer size and scale, it is also among America's largest tax avoiders."

Apple said in its statement: "Apple does not move its intellectual property into offshore tax havens and use it to sell products back into the US in order to avoid US tax.

"It does not use revolving loans from foreign subsidiaries to fund its domestic operations; it does not hold money on a Caribbean island; and it does not have a bank account in the Cayman Islands."

It added that it had "substantial" foreign cash because it sells the majority of its products outside the US, and these foreign earnings were taxed in the jurisdictions where they were earned.

'Dramatic simplification'

The committee has already questioned tech giants Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard over their tax practices.

In September, the committee accused the two firms of using places such as the Cayman Islands, so they do not have to pay US taxes, saying their methods ranged from "egregious to dubious validity". Both companies deny any wrongdoing.

Five of the top 10 companies with the biggest offshore cash balances are in the technology sector.

Apple said it wants to see legislation that "dramatically simplifies" the US corporate tax system.

It believes reform should be "revenue neutral, eliminate all corporate tax expenditures, lower corporate income tax rates, and implement a reasonable tax on foreign earnings that allows free movement of capital back to the US".

It said that, though these changes may increase its own taxes, it would not be opposed to such a result "if it occurs in the context of an overall improvement in efficiency, flexibility and competitiveness".

It said the changes would stimulate job creation in the US, increase domestic investment and promote economic growth.

Apple drew criticism three weeks ago when it sold $17bn in bonds to raise cash to fund payouts to shareholders, rather than repatriating some of its cash reserves, which would be taxed in the US.

The move saved the company an estimated $9.2bn in taxes.

In its prepared testimony, Apple said that the move was in its shareholders' best interests.

'Fair tax' debate

While critics argue that companies shifting their profits overseas is a huge tax avoidance scheme, others want lower rates to encourage firms to invest in the US.

Last week Cisco chief executive John Chambers said his company was likely to invest more overseas if US tax laws were not modified.

"I prefer to have the majority of my employees here in America. That's the right decision for us, but if we can't bring our cash back, we're going to grow dramatically faster overseas in terms of job placements," he told CNBC.

"I think this is something our country has to fix."

The US is not the only country trying to ensure companies pay their "fair share" of taxes.

UK Prime Minister David Cameron has called for countries to work together to clamp down on tax avoidance.

In the UK, Google, Starbucks and Amazon are among several large companies to face criticism over the amount of corporation tax they pay.

Despite making sales of hundreds of millions of pounds, they reported small profits or even losses in the UK after shifting their earnings to overseas operations.

The row led coffee chain Starbucks to agree to pay more UK corporation tax.

On Sunday, Google's executive chairman Eric Schmidt defended his company, saying it had "always aspired to do the right thing", but added that "international tax law could almost certainly benefit from reform".

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Offshore Secrets

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Leaks reveal secrets of the rich who hide cash offshore

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Obama praises Myanmar reform but warns on Muslims

Google – AFP, Shaun Tandon and Stephen Collinson (AFP), 20 May 2013 

US President Barack Obama shakes hands with President Thein Sein of

 Myanmar (L) in Washington on May 20, 2013 (AFP, Saul Loeb)

WASHINGTON — US President Barack Obama on Monday saluted Myanmar President Thein Sein for his leadership in pushing through startling political reforms, but warned ethnic violence against Muslims must stop.

As his guest became the first leader of his country in almost 50 years to visit the White House, Obama praised Myanmar's journey away from brutal junta rule and promised Washington would offer more political and economic support.

Seated with Thein Sein in the Oval Office, Obama said previously tortured US-Myanmar relations had eased because of "the leadership that President Sein has shown in moving Myanmar down a path of both political and economic reform."

Obama repeatedly used the word "Myanmar", rather than Burma. The former is the name introduced during military rule, and which is slowly being used more frequently by US officials as a courtesy to the reforming government.

The US president said that Thein Sein had made "genuine efforts" to solve the intricate ethnic wars that have long torn at Myanmar's unity, but spoke out on the plight of Rohingya Muslim minority.

He expressed "deep concern about communal violence that has been directed against Muslim communities inside Myanmar.

"The displacement of people, the violence directed towards them needs to stop," Obama said.

Thein Sein told reporters through a translator that his country had "many challenges," and was grateful for Obama's policy of engagement towards Myanmar which he said had helped the reform process.

"For democracy to flourish in our country, we will have to move forward, and we will have to undertake political reforms and economic reforms," he said.

The visit went ahead even though critics say Obama's invitation was premature and takes pressure off Myanmar to address abuses such as recent anti-Muslim violence to which security forces allegedly turned a blind eye.

Thein Sein, who took office as a nominal civilian in 2011, surprised even cynics by freeing hundreds of political prisoners, easing censorship and letting long-detained opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyi enter parliament.

The most critical test of reform will come in 2015, when Myanmar is scheduled to hold elections -- testing whether the military and its allies would be willing to cede power, potentially to Suu Kyi.

In an interview with the Washington Post published Monday, Thein Sein would not take a position on whether the Nobel laureate would be allowed to stand -- saying the future direction of reform was up to parliament.

But he is also not budging on the constitution's allocation of 25 percent of seats in parliament to the armed forces, saying that the military had preserved Myanmar's independence.

Thein Sein told the Post that the armed forces would "always have a special place" in government and life in Myanmar.

The army seized control of the country then known as Burma in 1962, ushering in decades of isolation. Military ruler Ne Win in 1966 was the last leader to visit the White House, where he met president Lyndon Johnson.

Obama has made Myanmar a key priority and visited in November. To some, Myanmar represents the biggest success from his pledge in his 2009 inaugural address to reach out to US foes if they "unclench" their fists.

In recent weeks, the United States ended sweeping restrictions on visas, and top trade official Demetrios Marantis visited Myanmar to start discussions on economic measures such as offering duty-free access for certain products.

But in a signal ahead of Thein Sein's visit, Representative Joe Crowley, who has long been active on Myanmar, introduced legislation to extend for one year a ban on trade in the country's gems -- a key money-maker for the military.

Crowley, a member of Obama's Democratic Party from New York, said he was "very concerned" about human rights violations in Myanmar, including "brutal attacks" in recent months against the Muslim minority.

A recent Human Rights Watch report accused Myanmar of a "campaign of ethnic cleansing" against the Rohingya, who are not even considered citizens of the predominantly Buddhist nation.

The US Campaign for Burma, an advocacy group that plans protests against Thein Sein, said the United States should have retracted or at least frozen gestures toward Myanmar as a condition to stop abuse of the Rohingya.

"President Obama is sending the message that crimes against humanity by state forces against ethnic and religious minorities in Burma will be ignored by his administration," said Jennifer Quigley, the group's executive director.

Angry JP Morgan shareholders seek to strip Jamie Dimon of chairmanship

US banking giant facing revolt by dissidents in wake of $6bn London Whale trading loss last year

guardian.co.uk, Dominic Rushe in New York,  Sunday 19 May 2013

Jamie Dimon, chairman, president and chief executive officer of JP Morgan
Chase. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

JP Morgan faces an angry shareholder revolt this week as investors attempt to strip boss Jamie Dimon of the chairmanship of the banking giant.

The revolt in the wake of last year's $6.2bn (£4bn) London Whale trading loss has been aggravated by a decision to cut off dissident shareholders' access to voting information ahead of the bank's annual meeting on Tuesday.

Last year a proposal to split Dimon's roles as chairman and chief executive gained 40% of the vote.

But that vote came before the magnitude of the incident was clear and ahead of regulatory and internal reports that have been highly critical of the failures of oversight at the bank.

A vote to strip Dimon of the chairman's job, while not binding, would be a heavy blow and there have been reports that he has considered resigning if he does not keep both titles.

Shareholders also intend to vote against the reelection of several other directors over their role in the trading fiasco.

Last year's vote was sponsored by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) pension fund.

This year support for the vote has grown and AFSCME has been joined by employee retirement plans for New York city and the state of Connecticut, as well as the UK's Hermes fund managers.

The split has the backing of major investors and the influential advisory firms Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass, Lewis & Company.

But Dimon has fans too. The T Rowe Price group, one of the firm's top 10 investors, has publicly backed Dimon ahead of the meeting, an unusual move for a large shareholder.

Prof Peter Henning of Wayne State University in Detroit said he expected the roles would not be split. He said the bank's financial returns had been exemplary, though "hubris" had clearly played a part in the London losses.

"There are good reasons why the roles should be split that have nothing to do with the Whale. This shouldn't be a referendum on Dimon," he said.

"The problem is that there is no guarantee that an independent chair would give any greater degree of oversight."

But Prof Charles Elson, corporate governance expert at the University of Delaware, said it was clear the roles should be split.

"The chairman of the board is there to monitor the CEO. A good CEO recognises that," he said. "Titles have meaning."

Last week the split's backers were denied access to a running tally of how the vote was going.

Broadridge, the firm that collated the votes, was asked to restrict access by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, Wall Street's main lobby group. As the banks are its clients, Broadridge said it was contractually obliged to comply.

The split's supporters argue JP Morgan has been handed an unfair advantage in the final stages of the fight. Large index funds, for example, often wait until the last 48 hours to cast their vote.

The Council of Institutional Investors, whose members manage $3tn of assets in total, is now lobbying for the Securities and Exchange Commission to review the situation.

Shares of JP Morgan Chase have been broadly flat since December 2006, when Dimon assumed the chairmanship.

But the bank has significantly outperformed its peers and Dimon is credited with steering the bank through the credit crisis with aplomb.

Dimon initially dismissed the Whale losses as a "tempest in a teapot" but the losses rattled Washington and led Barack Obama to push for tighter regulation of Wall Street. Dimon's thinking on the situation seems to have evolved too.

In April he told shareholders the loss was the "stupidest and most embarrassing situation I have ever been part of".

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Ascension is Not Distant But Very Current and Underway – Mar 12, 2013 (Archangel Michael channeled by Linda Dillon)

“… SB: Well, that is very helpful. Could you, in the time that’s remaining, could you tell us a little bit about the continuing impact and success of containment? Perhaps as specific and detailed an account as you can give us?

AAM: You know when we place people in containment — and I use the word people because in this situation we are talking about very specific human beings, as you know. And I would not be averse to going down the list, if you wish. But I also wish to re-emphasize what we have said before, is that containment is something that is done very rarely and with great consideration. And the reason is it does not remove free will but it literally contains free will.

The beings that have been put in what you can think of, and we know that you are aware that there are various levels of containment, but think of the most epic, and they are basically in light boxes, and that light and love is penetrating them completely and fully, and they will not be released until they have been fully penetrated.

That is why that decision is not made casually. It is much more invasive than even you are imagining. So, it is something we do with great respect, yes, even for what you would think of as the darkest players. When we contain them, it is done with a great deal of respect.

Now, those who have been in key positions, leadership positions, are being kept in those containers of light not just until the darkness has fled or been cleansed, but the plan on our side is that they are being kept in that realm until they are extraordinary light beings. So, it is almost as if when they re-emerge you will barely recognize them.

Now, you say, “But, Lord, we are still witnessing some terrible atrocities on our planet.” And as the Prince of Peace and the Warrior of Peace, I am very aware of that. But I also suggest to you that some of those people that you see are almost like puppet shells, and the true person is in a light chamber.

Is it being successful? Yes. Now, there are some who have been released from their containment, and they have chosen to come forward to make… to fulfill their mission and purposes. And they were ready to do that. Yes, the Pope was a good example of that. Then there are… there are others, particularly within the financial world, who are returning to put things to rights.

Yes, Jamie Dimon is one of those beings.

SB: Is Queen Elizabeth in containment, Lord?

AAM: She is re-emerging.

Tar sands exploitation would mean game over for climate, warns leading scientist

Prof James Hansen rebukes oil firms and Canadian government over stance on exploiting fossil fuel, which he says would make climate problem unsolvable

The Guardian, Damian Carrington, Sunday 19 May 2013

Prof James Hansen accused the Canadian government of acting as
salesmen for major oil companies. Photograph: Murdo Macleod

Major international oil companies are buying off governments, according to the world's most prominent climate scientist, Prof James Hansen. During a visit to London, he accused the Canadian government of acting as its tar sands' salesman and "holding a club" over the UK and European nations to accept its "dirty" oil.

"Oil from tar sands makes sense only for a small number of people who are making a lot of money from that product," he said in an interview with the Guardian. "It doesn't make sense for the rest of the people on the planet. We are getting close to the dangerous level of carbon in the atmosphere and if we add on to that unconventional fossil fuels, which have a tremendous amount of carbon, then the climate problem becomes unsolvable."

Hansen met ministers in the UK government, which the Guardian previously revealed has secretly supported Canada's position at the very highest level.

Canada's natural resources minister, Joe Oliver, has also visited London recently to campaign against current EU proposals to penalise oil from Alberta's tar sands as highly polluting. "Canada can offer energy security and economic stability to the world," he said. Oliver also publicly threatened a trade war via the World Trade Organisation if the EU action went ahead: "Canada will not hesitate to defend its interests."

The lobbying for and against tar sands has intensified on both sides of the Atlantic as the EU moves forward on its proposals, which Canada fears could set a global precedent, and President Barack Obama considers approving the Keystone XL pipeline to transport tar sands oil from Canada to the US gulf coast refineries and ports. Canada's president, Stephen Harper, was met by protesters when he visited New York last week to tell audiences that KXL "absolutely needs to go ahead".

Canada's tar sands are the third biggest oil reserve in the world, but separating the oil from the rock is very energy intensive and causes three to four times more carbon emissions per barrel than conventional oil. Hansen argues that it would be "game over" for the climate if tar sands were fully exploited, given that existing conventional oil and gas is certain to be burned.

"To leave our children with a manageable situation, we need to leave the unconventional fuel in the ground," he said. Canada's ministers were "acting as salesmen for those people who will gain from the profits of that industry," he said. "But I don't think they are looking after the rights and wellbeing of the population as a whole."

"The thing we are facing overall is that the fossil fuel industry has so much money that they are buying off governments," Hansen said. "Our democracies are seriously handicapped by the money that is driving decisions in Washington and other capitals."

The EU aims to penalise oil sources with higher carbon footprints, as part of a drive to reduce the carbon emissions from transport called the fuel quality directive. But Canada, supported by the UK, is fiercely opposed: "We are not saying they should not move to reduce emissions," said Oliver. "But the proposed implementation of the FQD [fuel quality directive] is discriminatory to oil sands and not based on scientific facts." However, Europe's commissioner for climate action, Connie Hedegaard, said the FQD was "nothing more, nothing less" than accurate labelling and putting a fair price on pollution.

Hansen, who informed the US Congress of the danger of global warming in 1988, has caused controversy before by saying the "CEOs of fossil fuel companies should be tried for high crimes against humanity" and calling coal-fired power plants "factories of death". In April, he stepped down from his Nasa position after 46 years to spend more time communicating the risks of climate change and to work on legal challenges to governments.

Hansen has started a science programme at Columbia University, the first task of which is to produce a report to support suits filed again the US federal government and several state governments. It is being pursued by the Our Children's Trust charity and is based on a trust principle recognised in US law.

"We maintain that the atmosphere and climate are held in trust by the present generations for the future generations and we do not have the right to destroy that asset," Hansen said. "Therefore the courts should require the government to give a plan as to how they are going to ensure that we still have that asset to pass on to the next generation."

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This Election Will Clear the Way for Obama  – Nov 5, 2012 (Archangel Michael channeled by Linda Dillon)

".... GW: Wonderful. Thank you again, Michael.

Maybe a question I’d like to kind of know personally, for me, a geopolitical question about Canada, is Canadian Prime Minister Harper in containment? Can we expect a shift in his actions, or will events have to occur to bring a change in governance?

AAM: Harper is in middle containment. He is not in severe containment, but he is in mid-containment. And so there will be a change of heart there as well, and a change of heart in the rigorous nature of his policies. ...."

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"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version) 

“…  4 - Energy (again)

The natural resources of the planet are finite and will not support the continuation of what you've been doing. We've been saying this for a decade. Watch for increased science and increased funding for alternate ways of creating electricity (finally). Watch for the very companies who have the most to lose being the ones who fund it. It is the beginning of a full realization that a change of thinking is at hand. You can take things from Gaia that are energy, instead of physical resources. We speak yet again about geothermal, about tidal, about wind. Again, we plead with you not to over-engineer this. For one of the things that Human Beings do in a technological age is to over-engineer simple things. Look at nuclear - the most over-engineered and expensive steam engine in existence!

Your current ideas of capturing energy from tidal and wave motion don't have to be technical marvels. Think paddle wheel on a pier with waves, which will create energy in both directions [waves coming and going] tied to a generator that can power dozens of neighborhoods, not full cities. Think simple and decentralize the idea of utilities. The same goes for wind and geothermal. Think of utilities for groups of homes in a cluster. You won't have a grid failure if there is no grid. This is the way of the future, and you'll be more inclined to have it sooner than later if you do this, and it won't cost as much….”

"2013 - What Now ?" – Jan 6, 2013 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Text version)

“… New ideas are things you never thought of. These ideas will be given to you so you will have answers to the most profound questions that your societies have had since you were born. Inventions will bring clean water to every Human on the planet, cheaply and everywhere. Inventions will give you power, cheaply and everywhere. These ideas will wipe out all of the reasons you now have for pollution, and when you look back on it, you'll go, "This solution was always there. Why didn't we think of that? Why didn't we do this sooner?" Because it wasn't time and you were not ready. You hadn't planted the seeds and you were still battling the old energy, deciding whether you were going to terminate yourselves before 2012. Now you didn't…. and now you didn't.

It's funny, what you ponder about, and what your sociologists consider the "great current problems of mankind", for your new ideas will simply eliminate the very concepts of the questions just as they did in the past. Do you remember? Two hundred years ago, the predictions of sociologists said that you would run out of food, since there wasn't enough land to sustain a greater population. Then you discovered crop rotation and fertilizer. Suddenly, each plot of land could produce many times what it could before. Do you remember the predictions that you would run out of wood to heat your homes? Probably not. That was before electricity. It goes on and on.

So today's puzzles are just as quaint, as you will see. (1)How do you strengthen the power grids of your great nations so that they are not vulnerable to failure or don't require massive infrastructure improvement expenditures? Because cold is coming, and you are going to need more power. (2) What can you do about pollution? (3) What about world overpopulation? Some experts will tell you that a pandemic will be the answer; nature [Gaia] will kill off about one-third of the earth's population. The best minds of the century ponder these puzzles and tell you that you are headed for real problems. You have heard these things all your life.

Let me ask you this. (1) What if you could eliminate the power grid altogether? You can and will. (2) What if pollution-creating sources simply go away, due to new ideas and invention, and the environment starts to self-correct? (3) Overpopulation? You assume that humanity will continue to have children at an exponential rate since they are stupid and can't help themselves. This, dear ones, is a consciousness and education issue, and that is going to change. Imagine a zero growth attribute of many countries - something that will be common. Did you notice that some of your children today are actually starting to ponder if they should have any children at all? What a concept! ….”