Cempaka Global Hotspots

#Occupy Disclosure: Archangel Michael on Our Voyage to the Stars

2012-02-03T04:39:00.001+07:00

The 2012 Scenario, by Steve Beckow, February 1, 2012

Thefollowing is a reading between Steve Beckow, his wife D’Arcy, and Archangel Michael, through Linda Dillon,on the upcoming Voyage to the Stars, which represents the people’s disclosureof the ET and UFO presence.

Channeling here

We havewaited for our governments to disclose and they have not done so. We’re nowtaking the process of ET/UFO Disclosure into our own hands.

Above ahundred people will be leaving Saturday, Feb. 4, 2012, to board the Neptune,the mothership of Grener of Ashira, from Neptune, the President of the Intergalactic Council, for a 10-day tour of the fleet and a trip to anotherplanet. We’ll be returned on Feb. 14 (or sooner if people have otherobligations).

Thisreading features some details of the trip. I have not had time to proof it butwill do so as time becomes available. Again thank you to Ellen for such aspeedy transcription.

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LindaDillon Channels Archangel Michael, January 31, 2012

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LindaDillon: This is a reading for … everybody … with Archangel Michael, channeledby Linda Dillon, on 31st of January

ArchangelMichael (AAM) : Greetings, I am Michael.

SteveBeckow (SB) : Greetings, Lord, and I guess you know just how excited we all are.

AAM: Yes,we are too. For the excitement is not limited to the Earth plane and to yourcircle. It is exciting all the way around. And yes, we are here to help, toguide, not to interfere. You have taken us at our word, and you have begun,dear brother, to catalyze the humans. You have stepped into action, and youhave stepped forward with your star brothers and sisters. This is in absolutealignment with the nature of who you are, your mission and purpose. And thereis no better ally than Grener of Ashira of Neptune, for the channel is correct,this one is very serious, and he is not of a frivolous nature.

But he hasbeen the one that has issued the invitation on behalf of this Council to Earthmany years ago, and they have experienced – the entire Intergalactic Councilhas experienced frustration at the unwillingness or inability for the Earthrepresentatives to get greater or broader or more clear participation fromthose upon the planet. So you have jump-started the process, and it is goodbecause what it does also, dear warrior of peace, it becomes a human,grassroots movement to move forward in the understanding.

So thewords and the politics and the charges that have evolved around Disclosurebegin to disintegrate as you prepare to go, yes, as a collective and asindividuals, on this excursion. Yes, on this joy ride. I will be present aswell. So will Jesus/Sananda.

SB: My wifeD’Arcy is giving a victory sign because she’s very eager I think to meet JesusSananda.

AAM: Nomore eager than he is to say hello and hug her back.

SB:Wonderful. Lord, we have a number of questions for you about the trip. And thistape will be posted to the site, and the questions are things like some peoplecan’t come Saturday but they can come Monday. Other people can come for a partof the trip but not the whole trip. Some people have young children. Somepeople are elderly and have medical conditions. Some people are sick but don’twant to miss the trip. And other people have special needs, such as diabetictreatments.

Could youaddress this whole subject of what’s possible and what’s not possible, please?

AAM: Now,yes, we can address this. First of all, we say do not worry about age. Let usbe very specific about that. We do not want anyone coming who is under the ageof majority, whatever that is in a given province, state or country, because wedo not wish to put out or to worry parents. If the child was accompanying theparent, that would be a different situation, but the children are not simply todisappear from their homes. That would cause undo duress. And then it wouldalso alter the spirit and the mood into one of kidnapping and drama, and thatis the last thing that any of us want.

If thereare illnesses, if there is anything from arthritis to diabetes to cancer toAlzheimer’s, to simply what you used to call lumbago, they can come, becausethere will be magnificent healing done. When I have spoken with Grener and withthe channel as well, we have talked about the tune-ups that will be availableto each one of you who choose to step forward during this time.

Now, wehave understood, and certainly Grener has understood, that 10 days is a verylong time in the human realm. That is like an extended vacation for many ofyou, because you do have commitments, and there are heart commitments andresponsibility commitments, and things that you have promised, and things thatyou do not wish to be left undone. If you can only come for a day, we willconsider it, but we will not stop what we are doing in order to, shall we say,pick somebody up. So it is not a certainty, but it is certainly a possibility.

The 10 dayswill not feel like 10 days at all. And for some of you at moments, it will feelthat you have been gone a long time, and then at other moments it will feelthat you’ve only been gone a few minutes, but so much has happened. We are nottrying to shrink time, which the star brothers and sisters are very capable of,jumping time, as you know. But we do not wish to shrink time because what wewant is your conscious minds to also be absorbing not only the joy, thefriendship, the kinship, the return home, but also the information, thetechnology, the gifts that are available. So we do not want to shrink it. So itwill be a feeling of 10 days.

Now, if onehas need to return prematurely, that will be handled and it will be handledwith great grace and very smoothly. That is not an issue. There has also been aquestion that the channel has forgotten, for she has requested to bring herdog. Certain animals will be allowed to come on board, but again, it is aquestion for them, that they be attuned to the energy. Not all dogs, or not allanimals – cats – are attuned to the energy of the star beings. Now, many whohave taken form actually are star beings who have come to simply keep youcompany while you have to journey upon the planet. But, so some animals will bepermitted. It will be selective. We would not encourage you to tell people thatthe door is open for all the animals to come. They will have their turn, do notworry. But that will come later.

Does thatanswer your question?

SB: Yes, itdoes, Lord.

Can yougive our listeners an idea of the agenda or schedule, what they’ll be doing onboard, where they’ll be going, please?

AAM: Well,first and foremost, you simply get – we want to acclimatize all of you. And wewill acclimatize you to the ship. Think of this delegation, and what we havedone is we have tried to attune it to the human experience while leaving enoughof the flavor of the stars that you are not missing anything! So of coursethere will be a welcome home ceremony. There will be great jubilation andcelebration, because you are going to see a number of old friends! Yes, that isthe side benefit of what is taking place.

You willhave the opportunity – and for some of you it will be more interesting andothers less interesting – but you will be exposed to the science ships, thehealing ships – because each of these have bays, and in the healing ships thisis where – or the healing bays, as it were, this is where the attunements andthe healing for those who are not well, or who really need a tune-up and theydon’t even know it, can take place. For some the science will be fascinatingand it will help them remember much of what they have forgotten.

Now when weinclude science, we are also talking about technology. So this is a very broadfield. Some of you will wish to spend days there exploring and talking with thescience officers. Halizar is the chief science officer, and he will makehimself fully available, as well as his crew. So that will be a [function?].But then there will be exploration of ship, of simply having the experience.Yes, ask the channel, she knows of what it is like to live on board ship.

In terms ofsleeping, eating, looking at the stars, visiting, then you will each have theopportunity as well to go on what we call explorer ships. These are smallervessels that go out to do exploration, as sometimes it is within the spherethat you call the planet of Earth, sometimes further away, such as thePleaidean sector. So some of you will choose to take a side trip, as it were,on one of the explorer ships. You will get to play and come to be familiar withthe space bicycles, the small – they are two-man vehicles, although there aresome fours – that we use for very rapid transportation, mostly within theEarth’s atmosphere, either dropping off or picking up.

There is alot more activity on your planet than you have been – and when I say “you,” Imean of course the collective – has been consciously aware of. So that will bea bit of the play. We are trying to make it as fun, as exciting as possible,because when you return the flavor will not only just be wonder, it will beenjoyment, it will be playful, it will be fun, it will be people all over theplanet saying, I want to do that as well! So you are the forerunners, you arethe showers of the way.

There willbe many briefings. Some of them will be – we will use the term “top secret,”and they will be briefings on what is transpiring in the bigger picture andsome of what is transpiring politically, financially, socially upon yourplanet. Because we feel as you return as the emissaries you need to be fullybriefed on the back story. So this will also be part of what you do.

Then we aregoing to move the mothership. We are going to go collectively on a journey. Thedestination has not yet been decided. There are many debates because of coursethere are many cultures involved. You know Grener and the Council, there areover a thousand planets that are represented, and of course everybody thinkstheir planet is the most beautiful and the most worthy of a journey. But itwill probably be in closer proximity to Earth.

So thusfar, that is the agenda that has been developed by the Intergalactic Council intandem with [UFOG?] and the various commands. But we also know that you willbring your agendas along, and we are anxious and open to adding, subtracting,expanding and doing what you want to do as well.

SB: Allright, Lord. Well, that’s … incredibly exciting. I’ll ask a cluster ofquestions here, too, and you can address them as you wish.

Do peoplewho come along need to speak the English language, or is it okay if people ofother languages come as well? That’s one. Now, there are leaders of opinion,such as David Wilcock, Drunvalo Melchizedek, Lisa Renee, Lauren Gorgo – willGrener and his team be inviting those people, or should we be issuing theminvitations? And do we need to bring things like cameras and tape recorders, orwill you supply those?

AAM: Firstof all, it is not necessary to speak English. The facility to speak anylanguage – and by the way the facility to instantaneously imprint, not embed,but simply allow someone, for example, who speaks Lithuanian to understand whatis being said will be accommodated, so – that is not an issue at all. In fact,we welcome a variety of nationalities, because it will help, again, with thereturn. And we will speak about the return in a moment as well, because that isan important piece.

Grenerhimself will invite some of those who you think are opinion leaders, and therewill be several who have been naysayers. But the entire point is that this be ajoyous reunion. So we will only be inviting those who are very eager and ready,whether they know it or not, to have the veil ripped off. So that is how thatwill happen. They will be – some will be slightly surprised and unprepared, butthere’s nothing they really need to bring anyway, other than the running shoes,and we can supply those if necessary!

We havegreat stores upon the ship, you know. So if you forget anything, do not worryabout it. We can take care of everything.

The taperecorders, the I-phones, the I-pads, the computers – it is not that we do nothave supplies that we can share with you. We do not ask you to go out and buyanything. We do not want this journey to be an expense, not one red cent.Unless you want new running shoes, that is a different story. But – I teaseyou, but – no, there is no need. You can bring your own equipment because youhave a familiarity and a comfort level with it, so there is no learning curve.But it is also fun to say, “Look, here on my phone, on my camera, look at mypictures.” And it is a human-made instrument and therefore not so questionableas instruments that we will give you. But either way, we do not want anyone togo out and start buying things. Bring what you have if you wish. But do notworry about it.

SB: Anothercluster of questions. I [ / ] to make a joke about roaming, lord. Do we – canwe call home? That’s one question. Do we need to bring our computers if we wantto keep a diary, or will we be given instruments that will allow us to keep adiary? My wife is very – she’s nudging me and saying she’s very much interestedin shopping! [laugh] And I wouldn’t mind some new clothes myself, including newrunning shoes on the ship. So do we need our own computers, do we need to bringthose with us? Or will we have shipboard instruments?

AAM: Youwill have shipboard instruments. Every apartment…what you would think of as….You will be housed in your own rooms, what we would call apartments, and everyapartment is equipped with what you think of as computers. So if you wish tokeep diaries or make notes or notations to yourselves, that is completelyavailable. And there is no shortage of equipment. Every room has a computer.

SB: Allright, Lord. Well, that’s…I think that is….

AAM: Andyes, you can go shopping!

D’Arcy: Oh,wonderful!

SB: Oh,should we bring our bathing suits?

AAM: Thechannel asked the same thing! And so yes, we can tell you, you can bring yourbathing suits, because there are what you would think of as recreationalfacilities and relaxing facilities for people to take advantage of. And theycan do that either privately or in conjunction with others.

SB:Medications, Lord, should people, say, I think of diabetics, for instance,should they bring their medications?

AAM: They –we would say bring your medications, because it will make you feel better. Itwill make you feel…you are taking a leap of faith, and we know this. So we saybring your medications, but know that upon return you won’t be needing them.

SB: Verygood. All right. Well, that concludes my part of the tape. I’m not goingto turn it over to….

[END]

UFO Mothership

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U.S. expands case against ex-Goldman director Gupta

2012-02-01T05:26:00.001+07:00

Reuters, TueJan 31, 2012

(Reuters) -Federal prosecutors have expanded their insider trading case against formerGoldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) director Rajat Gupta, saying the illegal activitylasted longer and involved more trades than alleged.

An amendedindictment made public on Tuesday expands the period in which Gupta supposedlyprovided illegal tips to former Galleon Group hedge fund founder RajRajaratnam, now serving an 11-year prison term following his insider tradingconviction.

GaryNaftalis, a lawyer for Gupta, did not immediately return a call seekingcomment.

Gupta is aformer worldwide chief at the consulting firm McKinsey & Co, and is themost prominent business executive accused of wrongdoing in a wide-ranginggovernment insider trading probe centered on hedge funds.

Accordingto the amended indictment, Rajaratnam bought at least 350,000 Goldman shares onMarch 12, 2007, soon after the audit committee of Goldman's board, includingGupta, discussed the better-than-expected quarterly results that the bank wouldrelease the next day.

It alsosaid Rajaratnam sold 180,000 shares of Procter & Gamble Co (PG.N) short onJanuary 29, 2009, after learning details from Gupta, who sat on P&G'sboard, about that company's expected earnings announcement the next day.

Gupta waspreviously accused in October 2011 of tipping Rajaratnam about Goldman'sactivities in September and October 2008, resulting in several trades.

Bothindictments charge Gupta with five counts of securities fraud and one count ofconspiracy.

(ReportingBy Jonathan Stempel, editing by Matthew Lewis)

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Senate clears way for vote on insider-trading ban

2012-01-31T06:56:00.001+07:00

Associated Press, By LARRY MARGASAK, January 30, 2012

WASHINGTON(AP) -- Congress is rushing to make it absolutely clear to everyone that itsmembers are banned from insider stock trading, hoping to improve their saggingimage that has approval ratings at historic lows.

Senatorsmade the first move Monday. Their 93-2 procedural vote cleared the way forSenate passage - possibly later this week - of a bill that would requiredisclosure of stock transactions within 30 days and explicitly prohibit membersof Congress from initiating trades based on non-public information theyacquired in their official capacity. The legislation, at least partly symbolicin nature, is aimed at answering critics who say lawmakers profit frombusinesses where they have special knowledge.

U.S.lawmakers already are subject to the same penalties as other investors who usenon-public information to enrich themselves, though no member of Congress inrecent memory has been charged with insider trading. In 2005, the Securitiesand Exchange Commission and Justice Department investigated then-SenateMajority Leader Bill Frist's sale of stock in his family's hospital company,but no charges were ever brought against the Tennessee Republican.

Voters maybelieve lawmakers paid an annual salary of $174,000 are enriching themselves bymaking investments based on what they learn in Congress. A recent segment ofCBS' "60 Minutes" in November questioned trades by a House committeechairman, the current speaker and his predecessor's husband. Speaker JohnBoehner, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., alldenied wrongdoing. Bachus chairs the Financial Services Committee.

"Membersof Congress are not above the law," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid saidbefore Monday's test vote. "We must play by the same rules every otherAmerican plays by." He said the bill "will clear up any perceptionthat it's acceptable for members of Congress to profit from insidertrading."

A recentWall Street Journal/NBC News poll of registered voters found 56 percent favoredreplacing the entire 535-member Congress. Other polls this year have givenCongress an approval rating between 11 percent and 13 percent, whiledisapproval percentages have ranged from 79 percent to 86 percent.

JosephLieberman, I-Conn. said, "The numbers of people who have a favorableimpression of this body are so low that we're down to close relatives and paidstaff. And I'm not so sure about the paid staff."

Said Sen.Scott Brown, R-Mass., one of the bill's authors: "Beginning today, theSenate is embarking on a mission to help address the deficit of trust with theAmerican people."

The bill isentitled the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act. PresidentBarack Obama endorsed it in his State of the Union speech last week and alsoraised the issue in his radio and Internet address Saturday.

The WhiteHouse said Monday in a statement, "The administration believes thisbipartisan legislation is an important first step to prevent members ofCongress from profiting from their positions and calls for swift passage."

The Senatebill would prohibit lawmakers from tipping off family members or others aboutnon-public information that could influence a stock's price, in addition to theexplicit ban itself, and would require members to disclose stock transactionswithin 30 days. And it would direct the House and Senate ethics committees towrite rules that would make insider trading violators subject to congressionalpunishment.

Otherlegislative branch employees also would be subject to the ban, but only thosewho are required to file annual financial disclosure statements would besubject to the reporting requirement. For 2012, employees making $119,554 ormore are required to file disclosure statements..

Houseleaders hope to pass their version of the bill by the end of February, andMajority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., said he wants to expand the legislation toinclude land deals and other transactions.

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UN chief Ban tells African Union summit to uphold gay rights

2012-01-30T02:39:00.001+07:00

Deutsche Welle, 29 January 2012

African Union leaders gathered
at their new headquarters

Widespreadlegal bans on homosexuality in most African countries have been challenged byUN chief Ban ki-moon at the African Union summit in Addis Ababa. Ban said gayand gender rights must be respected.

UNSecretary General Ban accused many nations of the 54-member African Union ofignoring or "even sanctioning" discrimination based on sexualorientation or gender identity for "too long."

OutgoingAfrican Union chairman Tedoro Obiang Nguema, who is president of EquatorialGuinea, speaking just before Ban delivered his speech, had accused"external powers" of perpetuating their influence.

SouthAfrica is the only country on the continent that legally recognizes gay rightsand same-sex marriage. Late last year, Uganda's parliament re-introduced acontroversial bill that calls for the death penalty for certain homosexualacts.

Blunt talking by UN's Ban in Addis
Ababa

Ban toldsummit leaders, whose two-day agenda is supposed to be focused on intra-Africatrade, that confronting homophobic discrimination was a "challenge."

"But,we must not give up on the ideas of the universal declaration of humanrights," Ban said.

Tunisiareturns to AU fold

Making anactive return to the African Union is post-revolution Tunisia whose newpresident Moncef Marzouki said Tunis was looking to attract investors one yearafter its mass protests that triggered the so-called Arab Spring, also in Egyptand Libya.

Marzoukisaid ousted former ruler Ben Ali had not considered Tunisia as part of thecontinent. "Tunisia had no diplomatic role, especially in Africa. It (had)completely disappeared from the scene."

Tussle forAU leadership

AU leaderson Sunday elected Benin President Thomas Boni Yayi as their new president, toreplace Equatorial Guinea's President Obiang.

Obiang, inhis departing remarks, appeared to accuse former colonial powers ofinterfering. "Africa should not be questioned with regards to democracy,human rights, governance and transparency in public administration," hesaid.

Yayi, aneconomist who has led Benin for six years, acknowledged that he had a"high responsibility" in the one-year rotating job.

"Weshall continue to work hand in glove to ensure that we consolidate all that wehave achieved so far," he said.

Jean Ping (left) is counting on
Francophone support

The AUfaces a string of issues, including war and hunger in Somalia, violence in Nigeria, riots in Senegal and oildisputes between Sudan and the newly formed South Sudan.

Banhighlights Sudanese oil dispute

UN chiefBan, in his speech, urged African leaders to play "a more important role[in] solving regional issues." He highlighted the Sudanese oil dispute andurged South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and Sudanese President Omar al-Bashirto negotiate.

SouthSudan, which was born last July out of a peace deal, recently shut down oilproduction after it accused al-Bashir's Sudan of stealing oil along pipelinesused for export.

Ban said hewas also "deeply concerned" about a humanitarian crisis along Sudan'svolatile border with the south. He also accused Khartoum of blocking access toaid workers.

Tussle forAU's top executive post

Monday's AUdeliberations in the AU's new headquarter complex provided by China will centeron a secret ballot for the top executive job. The current AU commission headJean Ping of Gabon is being challenged by South Africa's Home Affairs MinisterNkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. Ping was first elected in 2008.

SouthAfrica's foreign ministry said it was "optimistic" that Dlamini-Zuma,62, and former wife of President Jacob Zuma, would receive the"necessary" two-third of the votes.

Dlamini-Zumahas the backing of the 15-member Southern African Development Community.Sources say Ping is counting on support of French-speaking AU member nations.

Ping toldthe opening ceremony that prospects for peace were "real" in war-tornSomalia. The AU has a 10,000-strong force protecting Somalia's fragileWestern-backed government from the al Qaeda-linked Shebab militia.

Author: IanP. Johnson (AFP, AP, dpa)

Editor: Nicole Goebel

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"The Akashic System" – Jul 17, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: Religion, The Humanization of God, Benevolent Design, DNA, Akashic Circle, (Old) Souls, Gaia, Indigenous People, Talents, Reincarnation, Genders, Gender Switches, In “between” Gender Change, Gender Confusion, Shift of Human Consciousness, Global Unity,..... etc.) - (Text version)

Dutch pension fund ABP sues Goldman Sachs

2012-01-29T02:53:00.001+07:00

RNW, 28January 2012

(Photo:ANP)

Dutchpension fund ABP is suing US investment bank Goldman Sachs for knowinglyselling it junk mortgages and providing misleading information.

The ABPpension fund for government and education employees is the largest pension fundin the Netherlands and among the three largest in the world. Prior to the 2008US mortgage and bank crisis, ABP invested large sums in bonds linked to USmortgages.

ABP accusesGoldman Sachs of misinforming the pension fund as to the credit worthiness ofthe bonds, which proved to be far riskier than the bank had suggested. Thiseventually caused ABP to suffer significant losses. ABP will not disclose theexact amount of the losses it suffered, a spokesperson announced on Saturday.

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Actress' claim to be gay by choice riles activists

2012-01-28T06:17:00.001+07:00

Associated Press, by Lisa Leff, January 27, 2012

SANFRANCISCO (AP) -- Cynthia Nixon learned the hard way this week that when itcomes to gay civil rights, the personal is always political. Very political.

FILE - Thisis a Tuesday, May 25, 2010 file photo

of actress Cynthia Nixon attending the

Designing Women Awards in New York.

Gay rights activists say actress CynthiaNixon's

insistence she chose to be a lesbian gives fodder

to those who arguegays don't deserve

marriage rights. (AP Photo/Peter Kramer, file)

The actressbest known for portraying fiery lawyer Miranda Hobbes on "Sex and theCity" is up to her perfectly arched eyebrows in controversy since The NewYork Times Magazine published a profile in which she was quoted as saying thatfor her, being gay was a conscious choice. Nixon is engaged to a woman withwhom she has been in a relationship for eight years. Before that, she spent 15years and had two children with a man.

"Iunderstand that for many people it's not, but for me it's a choice, and youdon't get to define my gayness for me," Nixon said while recounting someof the flak gay rights activists previously had given her for treading insimilar territory. "A certain section of our community is very concernedthat it not be seen as a choice, because if it's a choice, then we could optout. I say it doesn't matter if we flew here or we swam here, it matters thatwe are here and we are one group and let us stop trying to make a litmus testfor who is considered gay and who is not."

To say thata certain segment of the gay community "is very concerned that it not beseen as a choice" is an understatement. Gay rights activists have workedhard to combat the idea that people decide to be physically attracted tosame-sex partners any more than they choose to be attracted to opposite-sexones because the question, so far unanswered by science, is often used byreligious conservatives to argue that homosexuality is immoral behavior, not aninherent trait.

Among theactivists most horrified by Nixon's comments was Truth Wins Out founder WayneBesen, whose organization monitors and tries to debunk programs that claim tocure people of same-sex attractions with therapy. Besen said he found theactress' analysis irresponsible and flippant, despite her ample caveats.

"Cynthiadid not put adequate thought into the ramifications of her words, and it isgoing to be used when some kid comes out and their parents force them into someex-gay camp while she's off drinking cocktails at fancy parties," Besensaid. "When people say it's a choice, they are green-lighting an enormousamount of abuse because if it's a choice, people will try to influence andguide young people to what they perceive as the right choice."

Nixon'spublicist did not respond to an e-mail asking if the actress wished to commenton the criticism.

While thebroader gay rights movement recognizes that human sexuality exists on aspectrum, and has found common cause with transgender and bisexual people,Nixon may have unwittingly given aid and comfort to those who want to denysame-sex couples the right to marry, adopt children and secure equal spousalbenefits, said Jennifer Pizer, legal director of the Williams Institute onSexual Orientation and the Law, a pro-gay think tank based at the University ofCalifornia, Los Angeles.

One of thefactors courts consider in determining if a law is unconstitutional is whethermembers of the minority group it targets share an unchangeable or"immutable" trait, Pizer noted. Although the definition of how fixeda characteristic has to be to qualify as immutable still is evolving -religious affiliation, for example, is recognized as grounds for equalprotection - the U.S. Supreme Court still has not included sexual orientationamong the traits "so integral to personhood it's not something thegovernment should require people to change," she said.

"Ifgay people in this country had more confidence that their individual freedomwas going to be respected, then the temperature would lower a bit on theimmutability question because the idea of it being a choice wouldn't seem tostack the deck against their rights," Pizer said.

Nixonstirred the identity politics pot further when she explained in a follow-upinterview with The Daily Beast this week that she purposefully rejectedidentifying herself as bisexual even though her history suggested it was anaccurate term.

"Idon't pull out the "bisexual" word because nobody likes thebisexuals. Everybody likes to dump on the bisexuals," she said. "ButI do completely feel that when I was in relationships with men, I was in loveand in lust with those men. And then I met (her fiance) Christine and I fell inlove and lust with her. I am completely the same person and I was not walkingaround in some kind of fog. I just responded to the people in front of me theway I truly felt."

Althoughscience has not identified either a purely biological or sociological basis forsexual orientation, University of California, Davis psychologist Gregory Herek,an expert on anti-gay prejudice, said Nixon's experience is consistent withresearch showing that women have an easier time moving between opposite andsame-sex partners.

A surveyHerek conducted of gay men, lesbians and bisexuals of both genders bore thisout. Sixteen percent of the lesbians surveyed reported they felt they had had afair amount of choice in their sexual orientations, while only five percent ofthe gay men did. Among bisexuals, the figures were 40 percent for men and 45percent for women.

Whatremains to be teased out, Herek said, is how a representative national sampleof heterosexuals would answer the same question, and what people mean whentheir sexual orientation was a choice or not. Are they talking about theirsexual desires? Acting on those desires? Or simply the identity they choose toshow to the world?

"Thenature vs. nurture debate really is passe," he said. "The debate isnot really an either/or debate in the vast majority of cases, but how much ofeach. We don't know how big a role biology plays and how big a role cultureplays. A possibility not often discussed is it's not the same for everybody."

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by raising taxes, from the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington
September 19, 2011. (Credit: Reuters/Larry Downing)

"The Akashic System" – Jul 17, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: Religion, God, Benevolent Design, DNA, Akashic Circle, (Old) Souls, Gaia, Indigenous People, Talents, Reincarnation, Genders, Gender Switches, In “between” Gender Change, Gender Confusion, Shift of Human Consciousness, Global Unity,..... etc.)

Press freedom under pressure in spite of Arab spring

2012-01-27T16:41:00.001+07:00

RNW, 26January 2012, by RNW News Desk

(Photo: ANP)

Pressfreedom in Syria, Bahrain and Yemen has dropped drastically in the past year.The annual index for press freedom by NGO Reporters Without Borders (RSF) showthat press freedom in Eritrea, North Korea and Turkmenistan continues to be poor- just like in other years. RSF describes these countries as “absolutedictatorships without civil rights”.

Therevolutions in the Arab World have led to significant shifts in the index.Syria fell to de 176th place out of a total of 179 countries. According to RSF,large-scale censorship, violence and manipulation by the regime is makingworking as a journalist in Syria impossible. Bahrain and Yemen, where theopposition parties have been forced into silence, have also dropped in theindex.

Tunisia, thecountry where the Arab spring began, is going in the right direction.Nevertheless, the new democracy cannot be said to have a free and independentpress according to the RSF report. The report is also pessimistic about thesituation in Egypt, where “the military leaders are continuing the dictatorialpractices of ousted president Hosni Mubarak.”

Africa

In Africa,press freedom has increasingly come under pressure in the past year. Eritrea isstill at the bottom of the list, and in Uganda in particular oppression by theregime has increased considerably. RSF is, however, positive about South Sudan,which seceded from Sudan last year. The new country has risen to what the RSFcalls a respectable 111th place.

LatinAmerica

In LatinAmerica, press freedom in Chile has dropped to number 80. According to the RSF,security troops in particular have prevented the freedom of information ofstudent protests. Press freedom in Cuba in 167th place still scores lowest inthe region, Jamaica and Costa Rica are in the highest places in the region.

Worldpowers

There isalso criticism this year of press freedom in the largest world powers. Chinahas dropped into the fifth before last place; the Chinese government hasincreased its control over the press and information and increased censorshipof the internet. The United States fell to 47th place, mostly because of numerousarrests of journalists who reported on the Occupy Wall Street protests.Likewise Russia fell to 142nd place on the list.

The PressFreedom Index is traditionally led by European countries. Finland and Norwayare both at number one, with a Estonia and the Netherlands sharing third place.

The 10 topcountries in the Press Freedom Index:

1. Finlandand Norway

3. Estoniaand the Netherlands

5. Austria

6. Icelandand Luxembourg

8.Switzerland

9. CapeVerde

10. Canadaand Denmark

The 10countries with the least press freedom:

1. Eritrea

2. North Korea

3. Turkmenistan

4. Syria

5. Iran

6. China

7. Bahrain

8. Vietnam

9. Yemen

10. Sudan

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Why Religion Makes Only Some of Us Happy

2012-01-27T04:55:00.002+07:00

Yahoo News,by Stephanie Pappas, LiveScience.com, Jan 26, 2012

Religiouspeople tend to feel better about themselves and their lives, but a new studyfinds that this benefit may only hold in places where everyone else isreligious, too.

Accordingto the new study of almost 200,000 people in 11 European countries, people whoare religious have higher self-esteem and better psychological adjustment thanthe non-religious only in countries where belief in religion is common. In moresecular societies, the religious and the non-religious are equally well-off.

"Theresults suggest that religiosity, albeit a potent force, confers benefits byriding on cultural values," study researcher Jochen Gebauer of HumboldtUniversity in Berlin and colleagues wrote online Jan. 5 in the journalPsychological Science.

Manystudies have shown benefits to religion, from an increase in self-control togreater happiness among the faithful. But where these benefits come from isstill an open question. It could be something related to religion or religiousteachings; alternatively, the social side of religion might play a role. Forexample, a December 2010 study published in the journal American SociologicalReview found that it's the social networks fostered by attending religiousservices that make religious people more satisfied with their lives.

Gebauer andcolleagues wanted to know if larger cultural forces contribute to thewell-being of spiritual sorts. They turned to eDarling, the European version ofdating websites like eHarmony or Match.com.

Users ofeDarling answer a question in their profiles about how important religion is tothem; while setting up their profiles, they also complete psychological surveysasking them how "calm," "cheerful" and "content"they feel, among other measures of happiness, life satisfaction andself-esteem.

Using informationfrom 187,957 daters, the researchers compared each individual's spiritualityand happiness against the backdrop of religiosity in each person's country.(Data on countrywide religiosity came from eDarling and from the Gallup WorldPoll.) They found that religion did indeed contribute to happiness, but only incultures where religion is celebrated.

For example, a believer gets a happinessboost in Turkey, where religion is part of the fabric of daily life and takingpart means you're doing the "right" thing in your culture. But thatsame person wouldn't see any benefit in Sweden, where few people care muchabout religion.

The studyisn't focused on any specific religious denomination, but on religious feelingsin general, the researchers wrote on their eDarling research blog. Nonetheless,the findings suggest that research on religion and happiness in the UnitedStates — where religion is relatively important compared with many othernations — may not apply across all cultures.

You canfollow LiveScience senior writer Stephanie Pappas on Twitter @sipappas. FollowLiveScience for the latest in science news and discoveries on Twitter@livescience and on Facebook.

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"Perceptions of God" – June 6, 2010 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Quantum Teaching, The Fear of God, Near-death Experience, God Becomes Mythology, Worship, Mastery, Intelligent Design, Benevolent Creator,Global Unity.... etc.) (Text version)

“.. For centuries you haven't been able to think past that box of what God must be like. So you create a Human-like God with wars in heaven, angel strife, things that would explain the devil, fallen angels, pearly gates, lists of dos and don'ts, and many rules still based on cultures that are centuries old. You create golden streets and even sexual pleasures as rewards for men (of course) - all Human perspective, pasted upon God. I want to tell you that it's a lot different than that. I want to remind you that there are those who have seen it! Why don't you ask somebody who has had what you would call a near-death experience? …. “

"The Humanization of God" – Jul 16, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: The Humanization of God, Gaia, Benevolent Design, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Guides and Angels, Communication with God, Wars in Heaven ?, The Love of God, (Old) Souls, Global Unity,.... etc.)

“… Do angels exist? Absolutely, but not as you think or have been taught. Are there helpers? Absolutely, but again, not like you think. When angels visited Humans in ancient days and the events were written about by those who were there to witness the experience, I can guarantee it was a lot different than they could express on paper. When an angel appears before a Human, it looks like a swirling ball of energy, sometimes even fire that is not hot and does not consume anything. Angels are not in Human form and never have been. They are multidimensional beings, not in 3D. Yet you want to put skin and wings on them and give them a name! Why? It makes you feel better about them. We understand that…”

“The 2012 Ostiary - Angels Among You” – Dec 30, 2012 (a message from Metatron channelled by Tyberonn)

Congressman Frank to wed same-sex partner in Massachusetts

2012-01-27T04:11:00.002+07:00

Reuters, BOSTON,Thu Jan 26, 2012

Rep. BarneyFrank (D-MA) gestures while speaking at a news conference

announcing that hewould not seek a 17th term in congress next year in

Newton, MassachusettsNovember 28, 2011. (Credit: Reuters/Adam Hunger)

(Reuters) -Barney Frank, a gay 16-term congressman from Massachusetts, plans to marry hispartner, his office said on Thursday.

Frank, 71,who announced his decision to retirement from the House of Representatives latelast year, will marry partner Jim Ready in a ceremony in Massachusetts,spokesman Harry Gural said. Frank is a Democrat.

Massachusettswas the first state to legalize same-sex marriage in 2004.

No otherdetails on the date or location were being released at this time.

Elected tothe House of Representatives in 1980, Frank was one of the first openly gaypoliticians to serve in office at a national level in the United States.

(ReportingBy Lauren Keiper; Editing by Paul Thomsach and Will Dunham)

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President Barack Obama gestures as he talks about cutting the U.S. deficit
by raising taxes, from the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington
September 19, 2011. (Credit: Reuters/Larry Downing)

Warren Buffett and His Secretary Talk Taxes

2012-01-26T06:08:00.000+07:00

ABC News, by Seniboye Tienabeso Jan25, 2012

(Image credit: ABC)

ABC News’Seniboye Tienabeso reports:

In a weekwhen taxes and tax returns have dominated the headlines, billionaire investorWarren Buffett jumped back into the political debate and showed his returnsexclusively to ABC News’ Bianna Golodryga, adding, “I have never had it sogood. … What has happened in recent years, we were told a rising tide wouldlift all boats, but the rising tide has lifted all yachts.”

Buffett’ssecretary since 1993, Debbie Bosanek, sat next to her boss just hours afterbeing invited by the president to the State of the Union address, where thepresident made her the face of tax inequality in America.

Bosanekpays a tax rate of 35.8 percent of income, while Buffett pays a rate at 17.4percent.

“I justfeel like an average citizen. I represent the average citizen who needs avoice,” said Bosanek. “Everybody in our office is paying a higher tax rate thanWarren.”

DuringTuesday night’s State of the Union address, President Obama, for the firsttime, put a minimum percentage figure on the amount of taxes the ultra-richshould pay – 30 percent – an idea that has been referred to as the “Buffettrule.”

“Thequestion is what is fair when you have to raise multi-trillions to fund theUnited States of America,” said Buffett. ”[Raising taxes] will not change my behavior. I have paid all differentkinds of rates and I’ve always been interested in making money. I believe thisshould be a defining issue. Debbie works just as hard as I do and she paystwice the rate I do.”

Buffett, aDemocrat and Obama-supporter, had one question for Mitt Romney: “Do you thinkthe tax system should be perpetuated?”

He doesn’tblame the former Massachusetts governor or any of the ultra-rich for payinglower tax rates than most Americans and challenged Congress to make a change.

“I don’tpay hardly any payroll taxes,” Buffett said. “Gov. Romney hardly pays anypayroll taxes, Newt Gingrich hardly pays any payroll taxes. Debbie pays lots ofpayroll taxes.”

He lashedout at assertions from many Republican leaders that the “Buffett rule” is classwarfare.

“If this isa war, my side has the nuclear bomb,” Buffett said. “We have K Street. … Wehave Wall Street. Debbie doesn’t have anybody. I want a government that isresponsive to the people who got the short straw in life.”

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Romney had Swiss bank account, but now closed

Romney had Swiss bank account, but now closed

2012-01-26T04:53:00.001+07:00

Associated Press, Jan 24, 2012

Latest News

WASHINGTON(AP) -- Advisers to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney areacknowledging that he once had a Swiss bank account but that it was closed in2010 as prepared to enter the race for the White House.

The Swissaccount is listed on Romney's newly released 2010 federal income tax return. Ithad been opened by a Boston lawyer who oversees the Romney family investmentsand a blind trust containing millions of dollars in assets.

Romney'snet worth is estimated at as much as $250 million.

R. BradlfordMalt, the trustee, said Tuesday that he closed the account in early 2010because "it just wasn't worth it." He acknowledged that the accountmight be inconsistent with Romney's political views. Malt has dropped otherinvestments that conflict with Republican Party views.

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Davos Forum’s Global Elite Damaged by Year of Scandals

2012-01-25T06:49:00.001+07:00

Jakarta Globe, Simon Kennedy, January 24, 2012

Employees install a sign for the World Economic Forum on the Congress
Center in Davos, Switzerland, on Monday. Some 1,600 economic and political
leaders, including 40 heads of states and governments, will converge at the chic
ski town for the 42nd edition of the five-day forum that opens today. (AFP Photo)

Relatedarticles

Davos Manis approaching his annual Alpine get-together with humility after spending thepast year getting fired, arrested, belittled and occupied.

When theWorld Economic Forum’s conference gets under way in the Swiss ski resort today,several past stars will be missing from the swirl of policy debates andcocktail parties.

News Corp.chairman Rupert Murdoch is embroiled in a phone hacking scandal. Oswald Gruebelquit as chief executive officer of UBS after a $2.3 billion loss fromunauthorized trading. Philipp Hildebrand left the Swiss National Bank in afuror over his wife’s currency transactions. Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigned asInternational Monetary Fund managing director after sexual-assault charges,later dropped, were filed against him.

As“OccupyWEF” protesters build igloos under the eye of Swiss security forces, theleaders of this year’s Davos may try to profit from the mistakes of theirpredecessors by embracing transparency and ethics.

CitigroupCEO Vikram Pandit, a co-chairman of the meeting, is calling for the financialindustry to be more open amid panel discussions with such titles as “Is20th-century capitalism failing 21st-century society?”

“Davos Manhas taken on the lessons of recent years and is asking how to do thingsdifferently,” said Richard Edelman, president and chief executive of publicrelations agency Edelman, who is attending the conference. Businesses andpolicy makers are having to “process accurately the vox populi.”

The needfor them to do so is demonstrated by Edelman’s annual poll on trust, releasedon Monday in conjunction with the Davos meeting. Trust in government fell arecord 9 percentage points to 43 percent, while faith in business slid to 53percent from 56 percent.

Thecredibility of CEOs slid 12 points to 38 percent, the largest drop in nineyears, and banks and financial services remained the two least trustedindustries. The online survey questioned a total of 30,600 people in at least25 countries from Oct. 10 to Nov. 30 last year.

“Davos Manis not this caricature of the rich and powerful person,” Klaus Schwab, founderof the forum, said on Monday.

“Davos Manis a person who, as I define it, should be concerned with the present state ofthe world and who should be ready to engage and contribute so that the state ofthe world is improved.”

The term“Davos Man” was created by the late Samuel Huntington, a professor at HarvardUniversity in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to describe those with internationalvisions who view governments’ only use as easing “the elite’s globaloperations.”

The 42ndannual meeting of the World Economic Forum embodies the “1 percent,” to use thephrase popularized by the young protesters who spent more than eight weeksoccupying New York’s Zuccotti Park last year.

Amongscheduled attendees are bank CEOs such as Pandit and Jamie Dimon of JPMorganChase and corporate chiefs Peter Voser of Royal Dutch Shell and Cisco Systems’John Chambers. At least 70 billionaires are to be present, including investorGeorge Soros and Microsoft founder Bill Gates. They will join about 2,600 otherdelegates discussing the world outlook.

The imageof financial, corporate and governmental powers have taken a hit as the“occupy” protests, the Arab Spring uprisings and recent marches in Moscowhighlighted rising unemployment and income inequality, said Tina Fordham,senior global political analyst at Citigroup and a member of the forum’s GlobalAgenda Council. It helps shape the forum’s work.

There is “areduced willingness to tolerate the perceived excess of elites and the oldsocial order, and heightened potential for protests to cause disruption,violence and pressure to alter the legislative agenda,” she said.

Noteveryone has gotten the message. Three years after he used the Davos stage topledge Russia wouldn’t turn toward “isolationism and unbridled economic egoism”and as he seeks to return to the presidency, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin isfacing the biggest protests against his rule in 12 years. They were sparked byalleged fraud in the Dec. 4 parliamentary election, in which his United Russiaparty retained power.

In thefinancial world, Davos Man took a pay cut. Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman, whois scheduled to attend the forum, had his 2011 pay reduced by 25 percent from ayear earlier. Goldman Sachs cut average compensation and benefits expenses 21percent in the same period.

IanBremmer, president of Eurasia, a New York-based investment consultancy, detectsa generational transition. While Murdoch, 80, began posting on Twitter lastmonth, it’s executives less than half his age who will be more alert to the demandsof consumers and to accepting less privacy given the rise of social media, hesaid.

As youngerleaders “start taking a role and grow in influence and importance, then you’llsee a different sensibility in terms of how they interact with the globalpublic,” Bremmer said.

There willbe plenty of room for them.

Murdoch isabsent again. A year ago, he canceled his participation in a panel discussionat the forum as British police stepped up an investigation into phone-hackingallegations by News Corp. newspapers.

News Corp.spokesman Jack Horner said Murdoch was busy this year.

Gruebel,who two years ago was privately huddling in Davos with counterparts to discusshow to reassert their influence with regulators and governments, quit inSeptember after UBS fell victim to a rogue trader.

High-profilelocals are also missing from Davos this year. Hildebrand, who as a studentworked in the resort as a bell boy and limousine driver, is a no-show after heresigned as SNB president this month. His credibility was questioned followingthe disclosure his wife bought $504,000 in the days before the SNB imposed acurrency cap on the franc.

Two formerDavos stars have been incarcerated in the past year. Strauss-Kahn, who as IMFchief used a Davos debate four years ago to push governments to ease fiscalpolicy, is back in Paris after being arrested in New York and charged withattempted rape and sexual assault.

Saifal-Islam Qaddafi, the son of the former Libyan dictator, was named a YoungGlobal Leader at the forum in 2006. He was captured by rebels in November whiletrying to flee to Niger a month after his father was killed in Libya’soverthrow.

Some of thefalls from grace reflect the aftershocks of the recent credit crisis and theresulting pushes for greater income and democratic equality, said NarimanBehravesh, chief economist at Englewood, Colorado-based IHS and a Davosdelegate.

“Severeincome disparity” was cited as one of the greatest threats to global prosperityover the next decade in the forum’s annual review of risks published on Jan.11.

Organizershave made some nods to the emerging theme. The opening panel on capitalism inmodern times will involve Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan and Sharan Burrow,general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation. Later in theweek, the role of business in society will be discussed, as will whether banksare a cure or curse for the world economy.

“The focuson ethics and responsibility and social justice will be much greater this timearound,” said Behravesh.

Bloomberg

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Iraqis condemn U.S. Haditha sentence as insult

2012-01-25T05:36:00.000+07:00

Reuters, byFadhel al-Badrani, FALLUJA, Iraq | Tue Jan 24, 2012

(Reuters) -A three-month jail sentence for a U.S. Marine sergeant accused of leading amassacre of 24 civilians in Haditha is "an insult to all Iraqis," arelative of one of the victims said Tuesday.

Marine Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich

(Reuters)

StaffSergeant Frank Wuterich, 31, pleaded guilty Monday at a military base inCalifornia to dereliction of duty and faces a maximum sentence of three months'confinement, forfeiture of two-thirds of his pay for three months and areduction in rank.

"Thissentence gives us the proof, the solid proof that the Americans don't respecthuman rights," Ali Badr, a Haditha resident and relative of one of thosekilled, said. "This is an insult to the victims and an insult to allIraqis."

The lastAmerican troops pulled out of Iraq in December more than eight years after theU.S.-led invasion that toppled Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003.

The Hadithakillings, along with the abuse of inmates at Abu Ghraib prison and a 2007shooting spree by security contractors in Baghdad, sullied America's imagearound the world.

KhalidSalman, a lawyer for the Haditha victims' relatives, said he could not believethe sentence and had to check that it was true.

"Thisis not a traffic felony," said Salman, who had a cousin killed in themassacre.

Hecriticized the length of time it took to bring the case to justice and vowed toappeal on behalf of the relatives to a U.S. court. He said the verdict"undervalues Muslim blood."

Wuterichwas accused of being the ringleader in a series of November 19, 2005, shootingand grenade attacks that left two dozen civilians dead in Haditha, a city westof Baghdad that was a hotbed of insurgent activity.

His guiltyplea was part of a deal with U.S. military prosecutors in which more seriouscharges of involuntary manslaughter and aggravated assault were dismissed.

Saleemal-Jubouri, the head of the human rights committee in the Iraqi parliament,said: "It (the three-month sentence) is a violation of Iraqis' dignity anddoes not match the size of the crime committed and underestimates the value ofhuman life."

He said thecommittee would convene Wednesday to discuss the sentence and called on theIraqi government to issue a strong condemnation.

In the 2004Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal U.S. troops photographed themselveshumiliating and intimidating detainees.

InSeptember 2007, Blackwater workers shot dead at least 14 Iraqi civilians inBaghdad's Nisour Square, an incident that provoked protests in Iraq andprompted the government to deny the company a licence.

"Thisis a disgraceful sentence for an inhuman crime that lines up with the AbuGhraib scandal and Nisour Square massacre," said Hussein Ali, a40-year-old Baghdad engineer.

"Historywill mention this sentence and will show how the Americans have a black historythat disrespects human blood."

(Reportingby Fahdel al-Badrani; Editing by Jim Loney and Robert Woodward)

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Jewish paper's column catches Secret Service's eye

2012-01-23T06:48:00.003+07:00

CNN News, ByJoe Sterling, January 22, 2012

Andrew Adler's column in the Atlanta Jewish Times seemed to
suggest a "hit" on President Barack Obama.

STORYHIGHLIGHTS

AtlantaJewish Times piece suggests Israel kill U.S. president "to preserveIsrael's existence"
U.S. Jewishgroups slam column; writer reportedly issues apology
"Weare taking the appropriate investigative steps," Secret Service says

Atlanta,Georgia (CNN) -- The U.S. Secret Service is looking into a controversial columnby an Atlanta Jewish newspaper publisher that mulled the assassination of anAmerican president.

AndrewAdler, owner and publisher of the Atlanta Jewish Times, wrote a January 13column about the threat of Iran to Israel. He posed three options for theJewish state to counter the Iranian regime.

One of themcalled for a "hit on a president in order to preserve Israel'sexistence."

"Givethe go-ahead for U.S. based Mossad agents to take out a president deemedunfriendly to Israel in order for the current vice president to take his placeand forcefully dictate that the United States' policy includes its helping theJewish state obliterate its enemies."

U.S. SecretService spokesman George Ogilvie told CNN Saturday, "We are aware of it.We are taking the appropriate investigative steps."

Adler couldnot be reached for comment, but the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, a wire servicefor Jewish newspapers in North America, quoted Adler on Friday as saying"I very much regret it. I wish I hadn't made reference to it at all."

Adler --who said he's gotten a lot of flak for the column -- said he would issue anapology in the next edition of the weekly newspaper, the JTA reported.

The column,titled "What would you do?" doesn't mention President Barack Obama'sname, but U.S. Jewish groups that strongly denounced the column read the wordsas a reference to Obama himself. The column also refers to the administration's"never ending 'Alice in Wonderland' belief that diplomacy is theanswer," an apparent dig at the Obama White House's foreign policy effortsat dialogue with such countries as Iran.

"Thesuggestion by anyone, in this case a Jewish newspaper publisher, that Israelshould consider assassinating President Obama is shocking beyond belief,"said Dov Wilker, director of the American Jewish Committee in Atlanta.

"Whilewe acknowledge Mr. Adler's apology, we are flabbergasted that he could ever saysuch a thing in the first place. How could he even conceive of such a twistedidea?" said Wilker. "Mr. Adler surely owes immediate apologies toPresident Obama, as well as to the State of Israel and his readership, theAtlanta Jewish community."

The WhiteHouse declined to comment Saturday on the column.

Abraham H.Foxman, the national director of the Anti-Defamation League, said Adler's"lack of judgment as a publisher, editor and columnist raises seriousquestions as to whether he's fit to run a newspaper."

"Thereis absolutely no excuse, no justification, no rationalization for this kind ofrhetoric. It doesn't even belong in fiction. These are irresponsible andextremist words. It is outrageous and beyond the pale. An apology cannotpossibly repair the damage.

"Irresponsiblerhetoric metastasizes into more dangerous rhetoric. The ideas expressed in Mr.Adler's column reflect some of the extremist rhetoric that unfortunately exists-- even in some segments of our community -- that maliciously labels PresidentObama as an 'enemy of the Jewish people,'" Foxman said.

SimonWiesenthal Center associate dean Rabbi Abraham Cooper called the remarks"irresponsible and reprehensible" and said they "must bepublicly condemned by Jewish leaders across the ideological and politicalspectrum."

"Wetake small comfort from the apology — what a shanda!" Cooper said, usingthe Yiddish word for something shameful or scandalous.

JTA alsoquoted Opher Aviran, the Israeli consul-general in Atlanta as saying he was"appalled at this deranged and morally repugnant assertion. Wecondemn such calls in the strongest possible terms."

The AtlantaJewish Times, a weekly focused on the Atlanta Jewish community, was founded in1925 as the Southern Israelite.

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Interview with ex-Navy Seal Bill Wood

2012-01-22T05:30:00.001+07:00

See thefull interview here or here

Aninterview with an ex-Navy Seal

who duringthe years 1992-2000 was sent on top secret bombing missions in the Middle East,predominantly in Iraq. Years after the first Gulf War when we were supposedlynot at war with Iraq yet he and Seal Team 9 were targeting Tomahawk Missiles ona monthly basis taking out targets that were increasingly "soft"...involving deaths of hundreds of innocent civilians. Find out how this highlytrained young man and his team were coerced by the military into purposelydestroying villages and creating future terrorists as part of a plan that wouldultimately serve their dark purpose, the war on terror and 911.

And if thatweren't enough, hear how he was trained in Area 51 as a specially gifted groupof highly classified psi spies to see beyond the famous Looking Glasstechnology into the future involving 2012 and beyond.

Groundbreakingin every way.

KerryCassidy

Project Camelot

http://projectcamelot.org

Life Spotted on Venus - Russian Scientist

2012-01-21T23:20:00.001+07:00

RIA Novosti,MOSCOW, January 20 2012

Venus (Leonid Ksanfomaliti/ Solar System Research)

RelatedNews

An articlepublished in the Solar System Research magazine reported Several objectsresembling living beings were detected on photos made by a Russian landingprobe in 1982 during a Venus mission.

LeonidKsanfomaliti pictured at

Russia's Space Research Institute

LeonidKsanfomaliti of the Space Research Institute of Russia’s Academy of Sciencespublished research that analyzed the photos from the Venus mission made by aSoviet landing probe, Venus-13, in 1982.

The photosfeature several objects, which Ksanfomaliti said, resembled “a disk,” “a blackflap” and “a scorpion.” All of them “emerge, fluctuate and disappear,” thescientist said, referring to their changing location on different photos andtraces on the ground.

"Whatif we forget about the current theories about the nonexistence of life onVenus, let’s boldly suggest that the objects’ morphological features wouldallow us to say that they are living,” Solar System Research quotedKsanfomaliti as saying.

No dataproving the existence of life on Venus, where the ground temperature is 464degrees Celsius (867 degrees Fahrenheit), has ever been found.

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Memo FBI: Aliens landed in Roswell

A copy of the 1950 memo that
recounts the discovery of flying saucers
and aliens in New Mexico. The memo has
been published on the FBI website

"Recalibration of Knowledge" – Jan 14, 2012 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: Channelling, God-Creator, Benevolent Design, New Energy, Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Reincarnation, Gaia, Old Energies (Africa,Terrorists, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela ... ), Weather, Rejuvenation, Akash, Nicolas Tesla / Einstein, Cold Fusion, Magnetics, Lemuria, Atomic Structure (Electrons, Particles, Polarity, Self Balancing, Magnetism), Entanglement, "Life is necessary for a Universe to exist and not the other way around", DNA, Humans (Baby getting ready, First Breath, Stem Cells, Embryonic Stem Cells, Rejuvenation), Global Unity, ... etc.) - New !

Atlanta Jewish Times owner says sorry for Obama 'hit' column

2012-01-21T05:43:00.003+07:00

AndrewAdler says he deeply regrets writing a column suggesting Mossad agents shouldconsider 'a hit' on the president if he fails to support Israel

guardian.co.uk,Chris McGreal, Friday 20 January 2012

Andrew Adler said he wrote the column on Obama to get a reaction from
readers. Photograph: Shahar Azran/WireImage

The ownerof a Jewish newspaper in Atlanta has said he deeply regrets writing a columnsuggesting that Israel consider "a hit" on Barack Obama if he standsin the way of the Jewish state defending itself.

AndrewAdler told the Guardian he wrote the column in the weekly Atlanta Jewish Times"to get a reaction" from the paper's readers.

"Theheadline for the column was: 'What would you do?' That's what I wanted tosee," he said. "It's got like a Dr Phil reaction: what were youthinking? I feel really bad it did that."

The columnasks readers to imagine that they are the Israeli prime minister, BinyaminNetanyahu, confronting the threat posed by Hezbollah and Iran's nuclearprogramme while also under pressure from a US president with an "Alice inWonderland" belief in diplomacy over force.

Adler laysout what he says are the three options available to Netanyahu: attack Hezbollahand Hamas; defy the US – which is willing to let "Israel take a lethalbullet" – by striking against Iran's nuclear facilities; or a thirdoption.

"Three,give the go-ahead for US-based Mossad agents to take out a president deemedunfriendly to Israel in order for the current vice-president to take his place,and forcefully dictate that the United States' policy includes its helping theJewish state obliterate its enemies," Adler wrote in a column thatappeared in print by not online.

"Yes,you read "three" correctly. Order a hit on a president in order topreserve Israel's existence. Think about it. If I have thought of this TomClancy-type scenario, don't you think that this almost unfathomable idea hasbeen discussed in Israel's most inner circles?"

Adler wenton to ask: "How far would you go to save a nation comprised of 7 millionlives – Jews, Christians and Arabs alike? You have got to believe, like I do,that all options are on the table."

Adler saidhe understood why readers might interpret his writing as suggesting that Israelis seriously considering assassinating the US president but that is not what hemeant.

"No,no, no. It's unfathomable, unthinkable," he said, adding: "I'mdefinitely pro-Israel to the max."

Adler saidhe intends to repudiate the column in the next edition of the paper.

"I'veput my pen in my mouth," he said. "I'm writing a retraction to thecolumn."

The AtlantaJewish Times was founded in 1925 as the Southern Israelite. Adler bought thepaper three years ago. It has a circulation of several thousand copies a week.

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"The New Paradigm of Reality" Part I/II – Feb 12, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Who/What is Kryon ?, Egypt Uprising, Iran/Persia Uprising, Peace in Middle East without Israel actively involved, Muhammad, "Conceptual" Youth Revolution, "Conceptual" Managed Business, Internet, Social Media, News Media, Google, Bankers, Global Unity,..... etc.)

"The End of History" – Nov 20, 2010 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, Muhammad, Jesus, God, Jews, Arabs, EU, US, Israel, Iran, Russia, Africa, South America, Global Unity,..... etc.) (Text version)

"If an Arab and a Jew can look at one another and see the Akashic lineage and see the one family, there is hope. If they can see that their differences no longer require that they kill one another, then there is a beginning of a change in history. And that's what is happening now. All of humanity, no matter what the spiritual belief, has been guilty of falling into the historic trap of separating instead of unifying. Now it's starting to change. There's a shift happening."

Planning the reprehensible: 70 years since the Wannsee Conference

2012-01-20T06:20:00.001+07:00

Deutsche Welle, 19 January 2012

Wannsee paved the way for death
camps like Auschwitz

AdolfHitler's Nazi government had already started its genocide before 1942, but 70years ago, the Wannsee Conference officially marked the start of the systematicextermination of European Jews by the Third Reich.

It waslunchtime on January 20, 1942 when 15 high-ranking representatives of the Naziregime met in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee.

They hadbeen invited to the noble guest house then belonging to the SS by ReinhardHeydrich, the man in charge of the feared RSHA (Reichssicherheitshauptamt -sometimes translated as "Reich Security Head Office".

The list ofattendees included SS officers, state secretaries and Nazi party officials fromall major state institutions. All the representatives were young (half of themunder 40), well-educated (every other one had a doctorate) and ambitious.

Although obscuredby typically bureaucratic formulations and euphemistic terminology, the day'sagenda was dedicated to the genocide of European Jews.

"Finalsolution"

Heydrich saw the Holocaust
as a career opportunity

Sevendecades later, the popular public conception is that the Wannsee Conference waswhere Hitler's regime established its "final solution to the Jewishquestion," namely to exterminate them en masse.

"Butif you consider how many hundreds of thousands of Soviet Jews were murderedbefore the Wannsee Conference, then this assumption starts looking shaky,"says Humboldt University historian Michael Wildt, Germany's leading expert onthe Nazi era.

Half amillion Jewish people were shot dead in the occupied Soviet territories. Wildtargues that SS units had already started the systematic executions in June1941, more than six months before the Wannsee Conference.

"Thewar against the Soviet Union led to a radical rethink of the previous policiesof persecution; the plan to drive Jews out, to force them into emigration, wasno longer viable," Wildt told Deutsche Welle.

"Dueto military conquest, the National Socialist regime suddenly had millions ofJews within its sphere of influence. As a result, its plans on how to get ridof these Jews became more monstrous, more gigantic."

No formalagreement

The growingmomentum of the murders meant there was little to "decide" at theWannsee Conference. The only known copy of the meeting's minutes (number 16 of30, discovered in 1947) makes no mention of any formal agreement. So what wasthe purpose and meaning of holding a meeting at such an ostentatious villa onBerlin's Lake Wann?

RSHA bossReinhard Heydrich was charged with coordinating the operations of all Germanauthorities participating in the Holocaust. For him, the goals were to informthe attendees about his task, to stipulate that he intended to take the leadand to ensure he received the support of all relevant ministries.

HistorianMichael Wildt therefore believes Heydrich wanted to make it clear to thoseattending the conference that his organization was responsible for what theregime called the "final solution to the Jewish question," and thatthey had already started planning and executing this policy. Looking ahead, heprobably also wanted to secure the cooperation of key German authorities - forinstance the foreign ministry or transport ministry, whose support was neededto arrange rail transportation of the victims.

Nazi officials discussed the 'final solution'
at this villa in Wannsee

ForHeydrich, the policy of genocide and his role coordinating it increased hispower within the Nazi hierarchy. As the first sentence of the WannseeConference minutes states, the main purpose was to officially announceHeydrich's "appointment as the authorized person for the preparation ofthe final solution to the European Jewish question."

Heydrichhad probably been looking forward to this promotion for some time. Back in1936, when Heydrich reached the top of the RHSA at the age of 36, he appearedto have reached a dead-end in his political career. His only direct superiorwas Heinrich Himmler, who was just four years older than Heydrich.

Euphemismsfor extermination

In hisintroductory speech, Heydrich made the meeting's purpose - seeking a coordinatedplan for the industrial extermination of millions of Jews - very clear, albeitwithout ever using words like "kill", "gas" or "shootdead". The 15 attendees were bright young men who no doubt knew themeanings of terms like "resettlement", "special treatment"and "final solution."

Referringto an RHSA-commissioned list showing the numbers of Jews thought to be livingin various countries, Heydrich said Europe "should be combed through fromwest to east."

Someparticipants in the conference later said they did not know what was reallymeant by the final solution terminology. Yet official records show that almostall of the state secretaries were aware of the deportations and exterminations,while the SS representatives themselves were already directly involved in thecrimes.

Very littlewas actually discussed at this "conference," save for one questionthat would prove lethal for millions: When did somebody qualify as a Jew?Detailed discussions focused on the dividing line between being half- and quarter-Jewish,and the best way of dealing with mixedmarriages and their offspring.

Thebureaucrats' cynicism was also shown in their open discussions about thevarious technological means of mass murder. In the end, the participants agreedon the number of potential victims, concluding that a total of 11 million Jewswould be subjected to the Nazi's final solution.

The Nazis killed six million Jews before the end of the Second World War

Devil inthe details

Althoughthere were some conflicting opinions at the Wannsee Conference, disagreementwas limited to organizational details of the plan, not the fundamental issue athand.

Representativesof the foreign ministry requested that deportations should begin in thecountries where they would be easiest to arrange. The state secretary for theThird Reich's interior ministry demanded that so-called Mischlinge (a Germanword for crossbreeds or mongrels) be sterilized instead of deported.

Anotherleading officer spoke out in favor of keeping some Jewish forced labor atfactories crucial to the war effort, while the deputy to the Nazis' generalgovernor in Krakow eagerly requested that the "final solution" beginwith Polish Jews.

Heydrichwas highly satisfied with the results of the Wannsee Conference. At first, hehad expected concerns or even resistance from the ministries, but he actuallyfound general approval for his proposed final solution, as well as a readinessto participate. At the end of the discussion, according to testimony from AdolfEichmann in Jerusalem after the war had ended, the participants were in a greatmood, having closely followed Heydrich's proposals.

Thereprehensible plan, sealed with a celebratory cognac after the meeting, wentahead as planned. Six million Jews were either gassed, shot, hung or otherwisekilled while serving in brutal forced labor camps.

Even if theWannsee Conference had more to do with bureaucratic power games - namelyfurthering Heydrich's career - within a Nazi regime whose position on Jews wasalready crystal clear, its name will forever be connected to the murder ofmillions.

Thesemass-exterminations were not just committed by mastermind Heydrich or the SSfoot-soldiers, but by parts of the German police and military, by thousands ofother public servants and industrial magnates.

Today, the"Villa on the Great Lake Wann," as its name roughly translates intoEnglish, has been made into a national site of memorial and education, lest itsimpact on the early 1940s be forgotten.

Author: Michael Marek / msh

Editor: Sam Edmonds

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Interview with Eustace Mullins 2005

“.. Most Americans would agree that there issomething desperately wrong with the political and judicial system in theUnited States, but as many unsuspecting Americans point fingers at each other(Republicans and Democrats) what they don’t realize is that this suits theZionist purpose. …”

Eustace Mullins - Who Rules Your Rulers? from Ritchy_Niburu_2 on Vimeo.

The Large Families that rule the world

Fed secretly handed out $8 trillion

Goldman Sachs enters £8bn 'parallel pay universe'

2012-01-19T05:33:00.001+07:00

Payout byinvestment bank – equating to £238,000 per employee – provokes anger amongunions

guardian.co.uk,Jill Treanor and Patrick Wintour, Wednesday 18 January 2012

Goldman Sachs chief Lloyd Blankfein blamed global economic turmoil
for a drop in revenues. Photograph: Jim Young/REUTERS

Bankers atGoldman Sachs have been accused of living in a parallel universe after the WallStreet firm announced it had set aside £8bn to pay its staff in 2011 – anaverage of £238,000 each.

Against ahighly charged political backdrop in which the government is pledging to tackletop pay, the potential payments sparked anger among unions and were used as freshammunition by campaigners calling for a tax on financial transactions.

A spokesmanfor the Robin Hood Tax campaign said: "When even in a bad year eachGoldman employee pockets an average of $367,000 – nearly 10 times the averageUK salary – it is proof that banks live in a parallel universe to the rest ofus."

The TUC'sgeneral secretary, Brendan Barber, said: "Goldman Sachs are brazenlydefying their own sliding profits by dishing out pay and top bonuses worth£240,000 a head. This latest example of excessive rewards for mediocrity shouldgive the government the green light to get tough on top pay.

"Ministersshould start by putting workers on remuneration committees and making pay andbonuses exceeding £260,000 liable for corporation tax."

Bankers atGoldman will learn in the coming days about the size their individual bonuses,which the firm insisted were lower than last year.

Thepotential scale of the pay deals was revealed as David Cameron prepared to jointhe growing debate on moral capitalism with a major speech in which he willargue that the Conservative agenda of markets, transparency and mutuality iswell-placed to restore and reform a modern form of popular capitalism.

The speech,which will have echoes of his call for radical capitalism with a conscience atDavos in 2009, is intended to show that his politics and his party's historymean it is better equipped to address capitalism's amorality than socialism.

Among theideas being set out by Cameron are ways to support co-operatives. In what isbeing described as "co-ops in a box", he will set out measures to makeit easier legally to create co-operatives.

Cameronwill say Conservatives instinctively abhor monopolies and protectionism, andregard transparency as the best antidote to bad company behaviour.

The primeminister is not expected to reveal an array of new policies, but is setting outhis views before announcements next Tuesday by the business secretary, VinceCable, on executive pay and proposals to address City short-termism.

Cablereceived a boost on Wednesday for his proposal to give shareholders more powersto throw out executive pay deals from City fund manager Fidelity, whichendorsed his idea for a binding vote on remuneration reports.

Thegovernment's potential intervention on high pay comes as the US banks, all bigemployers in the City, are reporting their results for 2011, when the eurozonecrisis dampened activity and hit profits.

LloydBlankfein, chairman and chief executive of Goldman Sachs, blamed "globalmacroeconomic concerns" for a 26% fall in a full-year revenues to $28.8bn– down 26% – and a near halving in earnings to $4.4bn.

Goldmanused a greater proportion of its revenue (42%) to pay its 33,000 staff in 2011,even after cutting 7% of the workforce – 2,400 roles – during the year.

The totalpayout per staff member of $367,000 – a figure that includes salaries, bonuses,equity awards and benefits – was down 15% on the $430,000 paid the previous year. The actual amount set side to pay staff was down 21% at $12.2bn.

DavidViniar, Goldman's finance director, maintained that "discretionary"bonuses were down "considerably more than revenues" during the year.

The companyrecently disclosed more about its pay deals in the UK as a result of rules setout by the Financial Services Authority requiring firms to publish pay for"code staff" – those taking or managing risk. Regulatory filings forGoldman Sachs Group Holdings (UK) show that it had 95 code staff in 2010 whohad an average pay deal of $6.2m (£4m) in 2010 – and had a further $595mawarded in a one-off mid-year award of shares in 2010.

In hisspeech, Cameron will also argue that the triumph of the City under Labour wasdue to Tony Blair and Gordon Brown's determination to create a form of equalitythrough tax credits funded by the excess profits of the City. He will argue forwhat he sees as a deeper form of social mobility and fairness created through abetter educated and skilled workforce.

A key testfor the speech will be whether he repeats his Davos attack on a "winner takes all culture" that ends up with the poorest half of the world'spopulation owning less than 1% of the world's wealth.

Related Article:

Goldman Sachs forced to reveal pay of top London staff

Keystone XL pipeline: Obama rejects controversial project

2012-01-19T05:08:00.001+07:00

Republicansset up election-year showdown by blasting Obama for decision, saying thousandsof jobs have been lost

guardian.co.uk,Suzanne Goldenberg, US environment correspondent, Wednesday 18 January 2012

John Boehner, surrounded by other House Republicans, decries the state
department's announcement that the US will not proceed with the
controversial Keystone Pipeline. Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA

BarackObama rejected the controversial Keystone tar sands pipeline on Wednesday,making good on a promise not to give in to a Republican ultimatum on theproject.

Theannouncement from the state department – which was expected – was hailed by environmentalistsas a victory.

But it setsup an election-year confrontation over the pipeline, which was to carrycarbon-heavy crude from the tar sands of Alberta across the American heartlandto refineries on the Texas coast.

However,TransCanada, the Canadian company which was seeking to build the pipeline, willbe allowed to re-apply for permission to go ahead with the project.

"TheDepartment's denial of the permit application does not preclude any subsequentpermit application or applications for similar projects," the statedepartment said in a statement said.

Obama, inhis statement, pinned the blame for the decision on the Republicans for tryingto push the administration to an earlier deadline. "The rushed andarbitrary deadline insisted on by congressional Republicans prevented a fullassessment of the pipeline's impact, he said. "This announcement is not ajudgment on the merits of the pipeline, but the arbitrary nature of a deadlinethat prevented the state department from gathering the information necessary toapprove the project and protect the American people."

He saidofficials would continue to explore new pipeline routes

Environmentalgroups immediately hailed the decision as David versus Goliath victory for anunlikely coalition between national activists and Nebraska landowners opposed to the pipeline's route across an ecologically sensitive area known as the SandHills.

Industrygroups – and Republicans – said the decision showed Obama did not care aboutjobs. There was also disappointment from the Canadian government, which hadpushed hard for the pipeline.

As newsspread on Wednesday of a forthcoming announcement, Bill McKibben, theenvironmentalist who galvanised opposition to the pipeline, said:"Assuming that what we're hearing is true, this isn't just the right call,it's the brave call. The knock on Barack Obama from many quarters has been thathe's too conciliatory. But here, in the face of a naked threat from Big Oil toexact 'huge political consequences' he's stood up strong."

DamonMoglen, the climate campaigner of Friends of the Earth, cast the decision as anepic victory. When the project was first proposed, in August 2008, "No onethought we could win," he said

Industrygroups said Obama was squandering a chance to create jobs through pipelineconstruction, and warned he would rue his decision come election day.

"Thispolitical decision offers hard evidence that creating jobs is not a highpriority for this administration," said Tom Donohue, president of theChamber of Commerce, which has pushed hard for the pipeline.

MittRomney, the Republican frontrunner, said the decision showed a "lack ofseriousness" about bringing down unemployment, and that Obama waspandering to his political base.

Republicansin Congress echoed the jobs argument, and said they would try and put forwardnew legislation to push the project forward.

"PresidentObama is about to destroy tens of thousands of American jobs," a spokesmanfor Republican house speaker John Boehner said.

Canadianprime minister Stephen Harper has also pushed hard for the pipeline, tellingthe CBC earlier this week that the administration's earlier delays were madefor "very bad political reasons".

In anextraordinary rant this month, the natural resources minister, Joe Oliver,lashed out at opponents of the pipeline as foreign radicals and jet-settingcelebrities.

However,administration officials argued that Republicans would have to take some of theblame for the cancellation of the project.

The WhiteHouse had warned repeatedly that it would be forced to turn down the nearly1,700 mile pipeline, after Congress voted last month to give the administrationa tight 60-day deadline to render its decision.

White Housespokesman Jay Carney made it clear on Tuesday that Obama would not be stampededinto approving the project. "There was an attempt to short-circut thereview process in a way that does not allow the kind of careful considerationof all the competing criteria here that needs to be done," he said."It's a fallacy to suggest that the president would sign into lawsomething when there isn't even an alternate route identified in Nebraska,"he said.

In anofficial statement, the state department said: "The Department of Staterecommended to President Obama that the presidential permit for the proposedKeystone XL Pipeline be denied and, that at this time, the TransCanada KeystoneXL Pipeline be determined not to serve the national interest."

Thestatement said officials had not had enough time for an adequate review of theproject, given the 21 February deadline set by Congress. The State Departmenthas final authority over the pipeline because it crosses international borderwith Canada.

The statedepartment had earlier delayed a decision for up to a year, saying it needed toreview additional routes through Nebraska.

Thatdecision, which the state department attributed to intense grassrootsopposition from Nebraska, was a political gift to Obama, saving him from makinga decision on a project which had been cast as a choice between jobs or theenvironment.

The state departmentsaid at the time that the review, including a search for alternate routesacross Nebraska, would likely delay a final decision until 2013.

TransCanadahad begun to work with officials in Nebraska on finding a new path around theSand Hills, adding about 100 additional miles to the route. Officials hadindicated earlier they were close to agreeing on a new route.

Butactivists in Nebraska and Washington warned that they would be as ready tofight off a new tar sands pipeline. "If they do reapply, TransCanada willface the same valid public concerns and fierce opposition as the firsttime," said Susan Casey-Lefkowitz, a campaigner for the Natural ResourcesDefence Council in Washington. "If they do reapply, TransCanada will facethe same valid public concerns and fierce opposition as the first time."

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Obama administration to make drug companies disclose money paid to doctors

2012-01-18T06:27:00.001+07:00

The Raw Story, byEric W. Dolan, Monday, January 16, 2012

The Obamaadministration plans to establish new rules requiring pharmaceutical companiesto disclose the payments they make to doctors, according to the New York Times.

The newrules are being issued under the new health care law and will makepharmaceutical companies report money they have given to doctors for research,consulting, speaking, travel and entertainment. The payment data will be madeavailable to the public online.

Companiesthat fail to comply with the new rule could be subject to a penalty up to$10,000 for each payment they fail to report.

The closerelationship between doctors and pharmaceutical companies has been a concernfor years. Drug companies have paid doctors up to $400 an hour to act as keyopinion leaders and some doctors earn more than $25,000 a year in advisoryfees.

Critics saythis encourages doctors to over-prescribe medication and harms public health.

Doctors whotake money from pharmaceutical companies are more willing to prescribemedication despite potential risks, according to an analysis by the Times.

Inaddition, a study published in the American Journal of Public Health founddrugs that pharmaceutical companies marketed most aggressively to doctorstended to offer less benefits and more harm to patients.

“This isnot a random occurrence, but rather a repeating, planned scenario in whichdrugs, discovered with good science for a specific set of patients, aremarketed to a larger population as necessary, beneficial and safer than otheralternatives,” Howard Brody, a professor and director of the Institute for theMedical Humanities at UTMB Health and co-author of the study, explained.

Anotherstudy by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine andUniversity of Chicago failed to find evidence that atypical antipsychoticmedication, a top-selling class of drugs, actually helped most patients. Thestudy was published January 2011 in Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety.

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Iraq detains US contractors

2012-01-17T04:53:00.002+07:00

RT.com, 17January, 2012

US private security contractors securing the site where a roadside bomb
exploded near the Iranian embassy in central Baghdad (AFP Photo /
Ahmad Al-Rubaye)

What is theend result of a nearly-nine year war between Iraq and America? Over 100,000violent deaths, the execution of Saddam Hussein and now the detainment of anundisclosed number of US contractors.

Less than amonth after the last US troops walked out of Iraq, American officials areadmitting that left behind in Baghdad were a number of contractors held by theforeign government, some for as many as three weeks. The number of civiliancontractors detained by Iraqi officials, Doug Brooks of the DC-basedInternational Stability Operations Association tells the New York Times, was inthe “low hundreds,” and although all have been released, it doesn’t rule outthe possibility of future imprisonment of Americans in Iraq.

Following along-anticipated withdrawal promised at the beginning of the Obamaadministration, the transition of US troops out of Iraq is proving to be notwithout complications. Finally in charge of their own country, the Iraqigovernment is turning the tides on the American personnel who have governedoverseas for the last eight-plus years.

America’sembassy in Baghdad houses around 15,000 US-affiliated persons, but now with thewar officially over, Iraq is warning the US and others that they better play bytheir rules if they want to stay,

“Iraqalways welcomes foreigners into the country, but they have to come throughlegally and in a way that respects that Iraq now has sovereignty and controlover its land,” Ali Moussawi, an adviser for Prime Minister Nuri Kamalal-Maliki, tells the Times.

Accordingto the report from the Times, the massive detainment is being waged as Iraqisbegin enforcing their own rules and Americans are no longer apt to use theirown military to put themselves above the local law of the land. The USwithdrawal was almost postponed when Washington plead with Baghdad to allowAmerica to keep its troops in Iraq — and have them granted immunity from Iraqilaw — which was met with rousing opposition and eventually the end of the war.Now that Iraq is back to governing Iraq, they are warning Americans that theymean business.

Followingthe last migration of troops, writes the Times, Iraqi authorities largelystopped the practice of issuing and renewing weapons licenses and otherauthorizations to many Americans working as contractors overseas. What wasleft, as a response, was thousands of Americans in Iraq with expired permits,allowing authorities overseas legitimate reasoning for rounding them up.

In a letterto US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton regarding the incident, theInternational Stability Operations explains the seriousness of the detainment,pleading that “While private organizations are often able to resolve low-leveldisputes and irregularities, this issue is beyond our ability to resolve.”Given that the removal of troops received such widespread support in both theUS and Iraq, however, it might be a moment before Washington steps up and triesto take on their latest challenge.

The Timesreports that most of the detainments have occurred at the Baghdad airport andat other checkpoints around the capital city, where Iraqi authorities haveasked American and other foreign occupants, to provide documentation. When theyare unable to do so, they are then ushered into detainment facilities.

“We have toapply our own rules now,” Latif Rashid, a senior adviser to the Iraqipresident, tells the Times. Rashid adds that tensions between Iraqis andAmerican military contractors have been high for ages, which should not come asa surprise given that US-hired security agents have been blamed for severalhigh-profile incidents that left Iraqi civilians slain.

“The Iraqipublic is not happy with security contractors. They caused a lot of pain,”Rahis tells the Times. “There is a general bad feeling towards the securitycontractors among the Iraqis and that has created bad feelings towards them all.”

Speaking oncondition of anonymity, one US military official tells the Times that thedetainment is “primarily an adjustment of our standard operating procedures aswe adapt our people and they adapt their security forces to the new situation.”

Related Article:

"Healing the Military Energies in our family Tree" – Jun 13, 2011 (Kryon channelled by David Brown)

“ … There’s much violence and anger throughout the world; when we look at the Middle East, we can see that changes are coming there. The West has a lot of power over the Middle East, but that power will begin to dissolve. The Muslim people of this world will begin to have their own power, and their own prosperity, and they will begin to disconnect from the Western World. This disconnection doesn’t have to be violent as violence only happens when somebody hangs onto what doesn’t belong to them....

... What Military Energy means if we use an analogy: it would be like putting grinding paste into the oil of your motor car. Once you release these energies you will begin to feel lighter as you disconnect from this reality, and, you will find it easier and easier to release any other negative emotions. Military Energies are the core of all your problems...."

New Dutch tribunal for financial disputes

2012-01-17T04:06:00.002+07:00

RNW, 16January 2012, By Maike Winters

(Photo: ANP)

The Haguehas acquired another international court to add to its collection of judicialinstitutions: PRIME Finance, an international tribunal for financial disputes.More than 80 judges will rule in international cases involving areas such asinsurance and commercial transactions.

At thelaunch of the new tribunal on Monday in The Hague, Dutch Finance Minister JanKees de Jager remarked:

“It seemsstrange, but no such thing has existed until now. It means there’s now aninstitution which can resolve international financial disputes, some of whichcan be extremely complex. The enormous amount of expertise will ensure itsreputation around the world.”

The casesdealt with will include disputes about complex financial structures orderivates which are often too complicated for ordinary judges.

Publicconfidence

Mr De Jagerand many members of his audience at the launch were grinning. There were even afew financial jokes (“I’m glad I live in a country that still has triple-Astatus.”). Were these perhaps smiles of relief? He continued: “This initiativewill indeed be extremely valuable in helping to restore trust in the financialsector.”

At a timewhen the world is burdened by huge debts, continuing distrust of the bankingsystem and diminishing credit status, it’s hoped that a financial tribunal willrestore a little public confidence.

Arbitration

The fulltitle of the tribunal is the Panel of Recognised International Market ExpertsFinance. “It will operate on the basis of arbitration and mediation.Arbitration means cases can be handled efficiently and quickly, in the space ofa year. In a normal court, cases like these take much longer,” Gerard Meijer,the tribunal’s secretary general, explains.

Parties todisputes will be able to go to the Peace Palace in The Hague and choose from alist of judges. They then wait for a ruling. Mr Meijer:

“It’s aone-shot deal, as we say, so there is no right of appeal. The ruling isactually more binding than that of an ordinary judge. Under the New YorkConvention, the tribunal’s judgements are binding in more than 140 countries.”

Crisis solution?

Unlikeother tribunals, PRIME finance is a market-driven initiative. It will, however,be supported financially by The Hague city council and the ministry of economicaffairs will supply expertise. Instead of nations, commercial parties will seekrulings on disputes. The first clients for the new tribunal have yet to beannounced.

Is this astep towards dealing with the debt crisis? Minister De Jager: “A singleinitiative could never be the solution. It can help, but much more is needed tosort out the debt crisis.”

Related Article:

International financial tribunal opens in The Hague

(Photo: PRIME Finance)

China, Saudi Arabia pledge to promote exchanges, cooperation

2012-01-16T05:33:00.001+07:00

English.news.cn 2012-01-15

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (L) holds talks with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince
Nayef bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Jan. 14, 2012.
(Xinhua/Liu Weibing)

RIYADH,Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- China and Saudi Arabia pledged to work together to furtherexpand all-around exchanges and cooperation as Chinese Premier Wen JiabaoSaturday unfolded his official visit to the Middle East kingdom.

China andSaudi Arabia have treated each other as equals with respect and theircooperation has been fruitful since the establishment of diplomatic ties 22years ago, said Wen while meeting Crown Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.

In recentyears, despite the fact that international and regional situation became evercomplicated and volatile, the two countries have strengthened high-levelexchanges and promoted political mutual trust, said Wen, adding that the twohave always demonstrated mutual understanding and support on issues involvingtheir core interests and of major concern.

The premiersaid the decision to lift bilateral ties to an even higher level has shown thetwo nations' firm commitment to jointly face challenges and protect commoninterests as the world situation is undergoing profound changes.

China wouldlike to work with the Saudi side in deepening exchanges and cooperation invarious aspects so as to benefit the two peoples and promote world peace anddevelopment, Wen added.

He said thetwo sides should expand trade of crude oil and natural gas and energy-relatedcooperation as to deepen their energy partnership.

Wen alsoasked the two countries to promote investment cooperation. The Chinesegovernment encourages well-established Chinese companies to participate inSaudi Arabia's infrastructure construction such as railway, sea ports,electricity and telecommunications, he said.

The twonations could also enhance security and law enforcement cooperation and promotepeople-to-people exchanges in areas like education and sports, as well asbetween the two nations' youths.

Nayef saidSaudi Arabia and China enjoy a time-honored history of exchanges, adding thatthe Saudi people have friendly feelings toward the Chinese people and expect evenbetter bilateral ties.

With jointefforts, bilateral ties have moved forward continuously with remarkableachievements in bilateral cooperation, he said, added that the partnership hasbright prospects.

Nayef saidSaudi Arabia is willing to further boost political mutual trust with China,expand bilateral cooperation in economy and trade, energy, infrastructure,culture, press, and security, promote friendship between the two peoples, andlift bilateral ties to a higher level.

Wen arrivedhere on Saturday evening after a short official visit to Nepal on the same day.

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Kuwait Police Abused Transgender Women: HRW

2012-01-16T05:13:00.001+07:00

Jakarta Globe, January 15,2012

Rasha Moumneh, researcher for the Middle East and North Africa Human
Rights Watch (HRW), speaks during a press conference in Kuwait City on
Sunday, where HRW accused Kuwaiti police of torturing and sexually abusing
transgender women and called on the Gulf state to hold officers accountable.
(AFP Photo)

Relatedarticles

KuwaitCity. Human Rights Watch on Sunday accused Kuwaiti police of torturing andsexually abusing transgender women and called on the Gulf state to holdofficers accountable.

In areport, the New York-based group said that police have been using a “discriminatory”amendment to the penal code passed by parliament in 2007 which arbitrarilycriminalizes “imitating the opposite sex.”

Transgenderwomen are individuals who are born male but identify themselves as female.

Thearbitrary and ill-defined provisions of the law have allowed numerous abuses totake place against them, said the 63-page report based on interviews with 40transgender women, as well as with interior ministry officials, lawyers,doctors, and members of civil society.

Theaccusations were based on the accounts of the 40 victims “all of whom gavealmost a similar story on what they faced,” Rasha Moumneh, HRW’s Middle Eastand North Africa researcher, told a press conference in Kuwait City.

“We havemet with officials from the interior ministry ... and presented the findings tothem but have not yet received any response,” Moumneh said, adding that HumanRights Watch does not know the exact number of transgender women in Kuwait.

Kuwaitipolice have a free rein to determine whether a person’s appearance constitutes“imitating the opposite sex,” without any specific criteria being laid down forthe offence, the report said.

Transgenderwomen reported being arrested even when they were wearing male clothes and thenlater being forced by police to dress in women’s clothing.

In somecases documented by Human Rights Watch, transgender women said police arrestedthem because they had a “soft voice” or “smooth skin.”

“No one —regardless of his or her gender identity — deserves to be arrested on the basisof a vague, arbitrary law and then abused and tortured by police,” Sarah LeahWhitson, HRW’s Middle East director, said in a statement.

“TheKuwaiti government has a duty to protect all of its residents, including groupswho face popular disapproval, from brutal police behavior and the applicationof an unfair law,” the statement said.

Abusesinclude degrading and humiliating treatment, such as being forced to strip andparaded around police stations, being forced to dance for officers, sexualhumiliation, verbal taunts and intimidation, HRW said.

“In severalcases, Human Rights Watch found that police officers took advantage of the lawto blackmail transgender women into sex,” the report said.

Redress forthese violations was difficult for fear of retribution and re-arrest, said therights watchdog.

“HRW callson the Kuwaiti government to repeal the amendment to article 198, criminalizingimitating the opposite sex,” the report said.

Pendingrepeal of the law, the interior ministry should issue a moratorium on arrestsof individuals and the government also should work to protect transgenderindividuals, it said.

Agence France-Presse

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Equality now!

The Jakarta Post | Sat, 12/03/2011

A group of participants march in front of their gay pride flag during the annual

Pride March in Manila, Philippines, Saturday. Lesbians, gays, bisexual and

transgenders called for the urgent need to pass the anti-discrimination bill

and for government protection from hate crimes committed against them.

(AP/Pat Roque)

Occupy Seattle protester Dorli Rainey: 'The media are paying attention' - video

2012-01-15T06:13:00.001+07:00

guardian.co.uk, Patrick Kehoe and Cameron Robertson, Friday 13 January 2012

The Occupymovement spread to more than 950 cities across the world since 1,000 gatheredin September 2011 in Zuccotti Park, New York, to protest against corporategreed and social inequality. Dorli Rainey, 84, explains why she joined anOccupy Seattle protest, where in November a policeman pepper-sprayed her in theface

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DorliRainey: 'There was quite a bit of discussion about police

brutality[afterwards]. That was my first reaction: we have just

gained more people forour movement.'

Photograph: Patrick Kehoe for the Guardian

Eurozone in new crisis as credit agency downgrades nine countries

2012-01-14T08:14:00.001+07:00

S&Paction leads to fall in euro and share prices while European Central Bankforced to buy Italian bonds

guardian.co.uk,Larry Elliott and Phillip Inman, Friday 13 January 2012

France’s loss of its top-rated status leaves Germany as the only other major
economy inside the eurozone with a AAA credit rating.
Photograph: Scott E Barbour/Getty Images

Europe hasbeen plunged into a fresh crisis after France admitted it had been stripped ofits coveted AAA rating in a mass downgrade of nine eurozone countries by thecredit ratings agency S&P.

The agencydowngraded the ratings of Cyprus, Italy, Portugal and Spain by two notches. Italso lowered Austria, France, Malta, Slovakia and Slovenia by one notch.

The agencysaid that its actions on eurozone ratings were "primarily driven byinsufficient policy measures by EU leaders to fully address systemicstresses".

Ahead ofthe announcement share prices plunged, the euro dropped to a 16-month lowagainst the dollar and the European Central Bank was forced to step in to buyItalian bonds after European sources admitted action by the credit ratings agencies was imminent.

Bringing anabrupt end to the uneasy calm that has existed in the eurozone since the turnof the year, the heavily-trailed S&P move rekindled financial marketanxiety about a Greek default and possible break-up of the single currency.

NicolasSarkozy was due to go on national TV to explain the humiliating loss ofFrance's top-rated status, leaving Germany as the only other major economyinside the eurozone with a AAA rating. French finance minister François Baroindownplayed the move, saying it was "not a catastrophe".

The movesfollowed a warning from S&P last month that it was looking hard at thecredit ratings of 15 of the eurozone's 17 members. Germany and the Netherlandswere quick to make it clear they were not on the list of targeted countriescirculated by S&P to European capitals ahead of an announcement that wasexpected to be made after the close of business on Wall Street. Investors piledinto safe haven assets such as the dollar, while the UK was rewarded with evenlower borrowing costs as 10-year bonds slipped below 2%.

Britain isnot at imminent risk of a downgrade, but Berlin sought to soften the blow toFrench pride when a senior German politician close to Angela Merkel said the UKshould have been first in line for a cut in its AAA status on the grounds thatits collective private and public sector debts are the largest in Europe.

MichaelFuchs, deputy leader of the Christian Democrats, said: "This step is outof order. Standard and Poor's must stop playing politics. Why doesn't it act onthe highly indebted United States or highly indebted Britain?"

He added:"If the agency downgrades France, it should also downgrade Britain inorder to be consistent."

The FTSE100 dropped 100 points before recovering late in the day to finish down 26points at 5636 while the Dow Jones in New York fell 120 points to 12350 by afternoontrading.

S&P wasexpected to blame the escalating costs of supporting indebted euro nations forthe downgrade. The vulnerability of banks in the currency club to bad loans inGreece, Portugal and Ireland is also believed to be a key reason for thedowngrades.

The newtechnocratic government in Athens added to the gloom after talks over a secondmajor bailout to rescue the country's finances broke up without an agreement.Officials from the International Monetary Fund, the European Union and the ECBarrive in Athens on Tuesday for talks on a new €130bn bailout package, whichwill be impossible unless Greece first strikes a deal with the banks, insurancecompanies and hedge funds that have lent it money.

The Greekgovernment said talks with its creditors would resume on Wednesday, butanalysts voiced concerns that hedge funds were blocking a deal that involvesthem writing off 50% of their loans.

Germanyconsiders Greece to be the main faultline in the euro crisis and is urgentlyseeking a resolution to talks over a deal, but has insisted Brussels holds outfor a private sector deal. Officials hinted on Friday night that Greece coulddefault on 100% of its loans if the private sector refuses to come back to thenegotiating table and accept a voluntary agreement.

A spokesmanfor the troika said: "We very much hope, however, that Greece, with thesupport of the euro area, will be in a position to re-engage constructivelywith the private sector with a view to finalising a mutually acceptableagreement on a voluntary debt exchange consistent with the October 26/27agreement, in the best interest of both Greece and the euro area."

Unprecedentedaction by the European Central Bank in recent weeks had reassured manyinvestors that policymakers were getting on top of the crisis. The ECB has lentmore than €400bn to eurozone banks to bolster their reserves and prevent arepeat of the 2008 credit crunch.

But theS&P downgrades are likely to undermine these efforts and make foreign bankswary of lending to their counterparts in Europe.

GrahamNeilson, chief investment strategist at Cairn Capital, warned: "This isjust the start. There will be more to come and not just in Europe – there issimply still too much debt and not enough growth in developed economies."

France hasalready shown its anger at the prospect of a downgrade. Central Bank chiefChristian Noyer raised eyebrows in London before Christmas when he said Britain"has more deficits, as much debt, more inflation, less growth thanus".

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The Large Families that rule the world

NASA Produces and Promotes New LENR Video: Nuclear Power Coming Soon To Your Home

2012-01-14T05:26:00.001+07:00

MNISPEL, By Dr. MarkD. Nispel, January 12, 2012

NASA is allin and claiming to “be working on another way of producing energy withefficient nuclear power.” NASA as anorganization apparently suddenly wants to be seen as in the forefront of thisnew thing they see coming. Pretty coolactually.

NASA hasproduced and featured a video presenting LENR as a technology. The video features Dr. Joseph Zawodny, SeniorResearch Scientist at NASA Langley Research Center. The video highlights the potential of havinga LENR nuclear power generation device in your home to provide all the powerneeds of your home as the “easiest” implementation, even though it couldpotentially be used even for transportation and infrastructure. The technology is “clean” producing noionizing radiation or waste.

See thevideo highlight on the right of the NASA technology gateway page here.

The videodirectly is here.

In themeantime, A. Rossi continues to move apace claiming he is working on puttinghis e-cat LENR device intoproduction. He is working with NationalInstruments to complete his design. Heclaims that the first small home units that generate electricity and can heat /cool the home will be in production by the end of 2012 for around $1500 and heplans on producing a million the first year after they get going. See here and here.

Twointeresting notes:

1. The NASAvideo avoids using the term “cold fusion.”

2. The NASAvideo interestingly right toward the end uses an image to represent LENR
somewhat abstractly which it attributes to the US Navy SPAWAR within the video(see lower left).

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German priest admits to 280 instances of child sex abuse

2012-01-13T05:33:00.001+07:00

Deutsche Welle, 12 January 2012

Germany has been rocked by
several clerical abuse scandals

Germany'sCatholic Church has been hit by another case of clerical sexual abuse, with apriest admitting to abusing three boys between the ages of 9 and 15 some 280times since 2004.

A Catholicpriest admitted to a German court on Thursday that he sexually abused threeboys over several years, amounting to a total of 280 cases.

The priest,identified as 46-year-old Andreas L. from the city of Salzgitter in LowerSaxony, confessed to charges of sexually abusing the boys, who ranged from nineto 15 years old. The abuse began in 2004, he said.

Instancesof abuse occurred at a parsonage, on ski vacations, at the parents' home, on atrip to Disneyland in Paris and at a church shortly before Mass.

The priesttold the regional court in Braunschweig that while working as a chaplain in thesame city in 2004, he began a close relationship with a widowed woman. When hewas moved to Salzgitter, the woman's nine-year-old son often spent weekendswith the man, who would take him on short trips away. The abuse occurred onseveral occasions, often three times per weekend.

The suspectsaid it was not his intention to get close to the boy sexually, and that itnever occurred to him that he was harming them.

"I didnot have the impression that he didn't want it," he said.

Pope Benedict XVI expressed 'deep regret'
at a meeting with sex abuse victims in
Germany

When themother began to suspect her son's interactions with the priest wereinappropriately close, she approached the diocese of Hildesheim, the priest'semployer, which forbid further contact with the boy.

Victims twoand three

The twoother boys named as victims by the priest were brothers, and the abuse beganunder similar circumstances. When contact with them was also forbidden, thepriest approached his first victim, then 17, who in turn told his mother aboutthe abuse.

The motherthen went to the authorities, and the suspect was arrested last summer. Thecourt set the maximum sentence for the priest at six and a half years.

A longseries of sexual abuse scandals involving Catholic priests in Germany isbelieved to have contributed to Germans leaving the Church in record numbers.Some 180,000 Germans renounced their Catholicism in 2010, up 40 percent fromthe previous year.

PopeBenedict XVI met with victims of clerical sexual abuse during a visit to hisnative Germany in September, expressing his deep regret. The German CatholicChurch faces some 600 claims for compensation because of abuse, and Berlin hasset up a fund of 100 million euros ($128 million) to pay for the victims'therapy.

Author:Andrew Bowen (Reuters, dpa)

Editor: Andreas Illmer

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US marines accused of war crimes

2012-01-12T17:51:00.000+07:00

Videoposted anonymously on YouTube claims to show American troops in Afghanistanurinating on dead bodies

The Guardian, Chris McGreal in Washington, Thursday 12 January 2012

This videoallegedly shows US troops urinating on bodies of

aliban fighters. Warning:graphic content

US forcesin Afghanistan are facing fresh accusations of war crimes after film emergedwhich appears to show American marines urinating on dead bodies and laughing.

The US military command in Kabul, which was severely embarrassed last year byrevelations that Americans soldiers were running a "kill squad"murdering Afghan civilians, said it would investigate the undated video, andthat if it proved to be authentic, desecration of corpses would be regarded asa serious crime. Despoiling of the dead is illegal under the Geneva conventionsas well as under US military law.

In thegraphic short video, four soldiers in combat gear and carrying weapons are seenacting in unison as they urinate on three bloodied corpses. One of the soldierssighs with relief, another says "yeah" and a third laughs. Oneremarks: "Have a great day, buddy". Another says: "Golden, likea shower".

A fifthsoldier films the incident.

The videowas posted anonymously on Wednesday along with a caption that said: "scoutsniper team 4 with 3rd battalion 2nd marines out of camp lejeune peeing on deadtalibans".

Militaryofficials confirmed that the soldiers appear to be carrying rifles of a kindissued to sniper teams in Afghanistan.

A USdepartment of defence spokesman, Captain John Kirby, told CNN: "Regardlessof the circumstances or who is in the video, this is egregious, disgustingbehaviour. It's hideous. It turned my stomach."

The marinecorps said in a statement: "While we have not yet verified the origin orauthenticity of this video, the actions portrayed are not consistent with ourcore values and are not indicative of the character of the Marines in ourCorps. This matter will be fully investigated."

The promiseof an investigation is unlikely to quiet concern at yet another revelation ofabuses by American forces. Last year, 11 soldiers were convicted over themurders of three Afghan civilians by a "kill squad" and thesubsequent cover up. It was revealed that some of them collected body parts,including fingers and skull parts, as trophies, and posed for photographs overthe corpses of their victims.

The USmilitary has also yet to live down the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib prisonin Iraq, and the use of waterboarding and other torture of alleged terroristsheld at Guantánamo.

The USmarines corps is also under scrutiny after the trial began this week of one ofits soldiers, Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich, charged with the deaths of 24Iraqis during an attack in 2005.

Wuterichwas commanding a group of soldiers who burst into the victims' homes in Hadithaand shot women, children and men in their nightclothes. He is accused ofmanslaughter. Seven other soldiers also charged were either acquitted or hadthe case against them dropped.

A UScongressman compared the killings in Haditha to the infamous My Lai massacre inVietnam.

The Hadithakillings contributed to the Iraqi government's refusal to agree to immunity forUS troops after the formal withdrawal of American forces at the end of lastyear.

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Buffett to GOP: You pay and so will I

2012-01-12T05:20:00.001+07:00

Reuters, Boston, Wed Jan 11, 2012

BerkshireHathaway Chairman Warren Buffett attends a
news conference after the openingceremony of Tungaloy Corp's
new plant in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture November21, 2011.
(Credit: Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon)

(Reuters) -Warren Buffett is willing to put his money where his mouth is, if onlycongressional Republicans would join him.

Thebillionaire investor, in the new issue of Time magazine, says he will donate $1to paying down the national debt for every dollar donated by a Republican inCongress. The only exception is Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell - forwhom Buffett said he would go $3-to-$1.

The ideastems from a New York Times opinion piece Buffett wrote last August in which hesaid the rich ought to pay more taxes. It sparked an instant controversy, withsome Washington conservatives calling on the 81-year-old "Oracle ofOmaha" to voluntarily pay extra.

"Itrestores my faith in human nature to think that there are people who have beenaround Washington all this time and are not yet so cynical as to think thatcan't be solved by voluntary contributions," the Berkshire Hathaway CEOtold Time for an article hitting newsstands on Friday.

He went onto tell the magazine that what the country needed was a system that favoredpeople who were not born investors.

"Weneed a tax system that takes very good care of people who just really aren't aswell adapted to the market system, and to capitalism, but are nevertheless justas good citizens, and are doing things that are of use in society," hesaid.

Buffett,who has raised money for President Barack Obama recently, takes swings atRepublican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich in the Timeinterview as well, criticizing Gingrich's track record and Romney's ties to theprivate equity business.

(ReportingBy Ben Berkowitz; editing by Andre Grenon)

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North Carolina sterilisation victims win compensation

2012-01-12T01:30:00.000+07:00

BBC News, 11January 2012

RelatedStories

America's legacy of sterilization

Elaine Riddick was not told she was
sterilised after giving birth

Victims ofa decades-old sterilisation programme in the US state of North Carolina are toreceive $50,000 each in compensation.

As many as7,600 people were sterilised by the state from 1929 to 1974, often withouttheir knowledge.

About halfa dozen states have apologised for similar programmes, but North Carolina isthe only one to consider financial payment.

The figurewill have to be approved as part of the state's next budget.

Thesterilisation victims were sometimes mentally disabled or institutionalisedpeople.

However, atask force set up by North Carolina found that starting the 1950s the stateincreasingly focussed its programme - which the task force dubbed a"eugenics" programme - on welfare recipients.

This led toa "dramatic rise of sterilisation for African-Americans and women that didnot reside in state institutions".

Dr LauraGerald, the head of the task force, said in a statement that the compensationserved to send the message that "we do not tolerate bureaucracies thattrample on basic human rights".

'Crimeagainst humanity'

NorthCarolina has so far verified 72 sterilisation victims, but about 2,000 areestimated to still be alive.

MelissaHyatt, whose stepfather was sterilised, told the Associated Press that the taskforce "did what was reasonable as far as budgets and economy[allowed]".

America's legacy of sterilisation

"It'snot really about the money," she said. "It's about the suffering andthe pain."

ElaineRiddick said the sterilisation "took away something from me that was sovaluable that I can never get back".

Ms Riddickwas raped at the age of 13 and sterilised in the hospital after giving birth.

Theprocedure was done under the recommendation of a social worker who believed her"feeble-minded".

She hasbeen a fixture at the task force meetings, and told the Associated Press shejust wanted the issue resolved.

"Theycommitted a crime against humanity," Ms Riddick said. "And all I cando is just accept what they said today and go on with my life."

MikeMarion, whose 59-year-old aunt was sterilised at 18 because she was seen asmildly mentally disabled, believes family members of victims who have diedshould be compensated as well. That request was declined by the taskforce.

"Ifyou're going to admit wrong, admit wrong in its whole capacity," Mr Marionsaid. "By offering compensation to only the living, that's taking partialresponsibility."