United Nations Declaration (Articles 1 - 30):

Article 1: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Article 2: Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.

Incoming UN chief names three women to top posts

Incoming UN chief names three women to top posts
Nigerian Minister of the Environment Amina Mohammed, seen in 2015, will be the UN's number two official (AFP Photo/Mireya ACIERTO)

Sustainable Development
"A Summary" – Apr 2, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Religion, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Intelligent/Benevolent Design, EU, South America, 5 Currencies, Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Middle East, Internet, Israel, Dictators, Palestine, US, Japan (Quake/Tsunami Disasters , People, Society ...), Nuclear Power Revealed, Hydro Power, Geothermal Power, Moon, Financial Institutes (Recession, Realign integrity values ..) , China, North Korea, Global Unity,..... etc.) -
"The Timing of the Great Shift" – Mar 21, 2009 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

“ … Here is another one. A change in what Human nature will allow for government. "Careful, Kryon, don't talk about politics. You'll get in trouble." I won't get in trouble. I'm going to tell you to watch for leadership that cares about you. "You mean politics is going to change?" It already has. It's beginning. Watch for it. You're going to see a total phase-out of old energy dictatorships eventually. The potential is that you're going to see that before 2013. They're going to fall over, you know, because the energy of the population will not sustain an old energy leader ..."
"Update on Current Events" – Jul 23, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: The Humanization of God, Gaia, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Benevolent Design, Financial Institutes (Recession, System to Change ...), Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Nuclear Power Revealed, Geothermal Power, Hydro Power, Drinking Water from Seawater, No need for Oil as Much, Middle East in Peace, Persia/Iran Uprising, Muhammad, Israel, DNA, Two Dictators to fall soon, Africa, China, (Old) Souls, Species to go, Whales to Humans, Global Unity,..... etc.)
(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 Declaration of Human Freedom

Archangel Michael (Via Steve Beckow), Feb. 19, 2011

Every being is a divine and eternal soul living in a temporal body. Every being was alive before birth and will live after death.

Every soul enters into physical life for the purpose of experience and education, that it may, in the course of many lifetimes, learn its true identity as a fragment of the Divine.

Life itself is a constant process of spiritual evolution and unfoldment, based on free choice, that continues until such time as we realize our true nature and return to the Divine from which we came.

No soul enters life to serve another, except by choice, but to serve its own purpose and that of the Divine from which it came.

All life is governed by natural and universal laws which precede and outweigh the laws of humanity. These laws, such as the law of karma, the law of attraction, and the law of free will, are decreed by God to order existence and assist each person to achieve life’s purpose.

No government can or should survive that derives its existence from the enforced submission of its people or that denies its people their basic rights and freedoms.

Life is a movement from one existence to another, in varied venues throughout the universe and in other universes and dimensions of existence. We are not alone in the universe but share it with other civilizations, most of them peace-loving, many of whom are more advanced than we are, some of whom can be seen with our eyes and some of whom cannot.

The evidence of our five senses is not the final arbiter of existence. Humans are spiritual as well as physical entities and the spiritual side of life transcends the physical. God is a Spirit and the final touchstone of God’s Truth is not physical but spiritual. The Truth is to be found within.

God is one and, because of this, souls are one. They form a unity. They are meant to live in peace and harmony together in a “common unity” or community. The use of force to settle affairs runs contrary to natural law. Every person should have the right to conduct his or her own affairs without force, as long as his or her choices do not harm another.

No person shall be forced into marriage against his or her will. No woman shall be forced to bear or not bear children, against her will. No person shall be forced to hold or not hold views or worship in a manner contrary to his or her choice. Nothing vital to existence shall be withheld from another if it is within the community’s power to give.

Every person shall retain the ability to think, speak, and act as they choose, as long as they not harm another. Every person has the right to choose, study and practice the education and career of their choice without interference, provided they not harm another.

No one has the right to kill another. No one has the right to steal from another. No one has the right to force himself or herself upon another in any way.

Any government that harms its citizens, deprives them of their property or rights without their consent, or makes offensive war upon its neighbors, no matter how it misrepresents the situation, has lost its legitimacy. No government may govern without the consent of its people. All governments are tasked with seeing to the wellbeing of their citizens. Any government which forces its citizens to see to its own wellbeing without attending to theirs has lost its legitimacy.

Men and women are meant to live fulfilling lives, free of want, wherever they wish and under the conditions they desire, providing their choices do not harm another and are humanly attainable.

Children are meant to live lives under the beneficent protection of all, free of exploitation, with unhindered access to the necessities of life, education, and health care.

All forms of exploitation, oppression, and persecution run counter to universal and natural law. All disagreements are meant to be resolved amicably.

Any human law that runs counter to natural and universal law is invalid and should not survive. The enactment or enforcement of human law that runs counter to natural and universal law brings consequences that cannot be escaped, in this life or another. While one may escape temporal justice, one does not escape divine justice.

All outcomes are to the greater glory of God and to God do we look for the fulfillment of our needs and for love, peace, and wisdom. So let it be. Aum/Amen.


Pope Francis arrives for historic first US visit

Pope Francis arrives for historic first US visit
Pope Francis laughs alongside US President Barack Obama upon arrival at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, on September 22, 2015, on the start of a 3-day trip to Washington (AFP Photo/Saul Loeb)


Today's doodle in the U.S. celebrates Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I have a dream" speech on its 50th anniversary (28 Aug 2013)

'Love is love': Obama lauds gay marriage activists in hailing 'a victory for America'

'Love is love': Obama lauds gay marriage activists in hailing 'a victory for America'
The White House released this image, of the building colored like the rainbow flag, on Facebook following the supreme court’s ruling. Photograph: Facebook

Same-sex marriage around the world

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it), Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse), Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

… The Shift in Human Nature

You're starting to see integrity change. Awareness recalibrates integrity, and the Human Being who would sit there and take advantage of another Human Being in an old energy would never do it in a new energy. The reason? It will become intuitive, so this is a shift in Human Nature as well, for in the past you have assumed that people take advantage of people first and integrity comes later. That's just ordinary Human nature.

In the past, Human nature expressed within governments worked like this: If you were stronger than the other one, you simply conquered them. If you were strong, it was an invitation to conquer. If you were weak, it was an invitation to be conquered. No one even thought about it. It was the way of things. The bigger you could have your armies, the better they would do when you sent them out to conquer. That's not how you think today. Did you notice?

Any country that thinks this way today will not survive, for humanity has discovered that the world goes far better by putting things together instead of tearing them apart. The new energy puts the weak and strong together in ways that make sense and that have integrity. Take a look at what happened to some of the businesses in this great land (USA). Up to 30 years ago, when you started realizing some of them didn't have integrity, you eliminated them. What happened to the tobacco companies when you realized they were knowingly addicting your children? Today, they still sell their products to less-aware countries, but that will also change.

What did you do a few years ago when you realized that your bankers were actually selling you homes that they knew you couldn't pay for later? They were walking away, smiling greedily, not thinking about the heartbreak that was to follow when a life's dream would be lost. Dear American, you are in a recession. However, this is like when you prune a tree and cut back the branches. When the tree grows back, you've got control and the branches will grow bigger and stronger than they were before, without the greed factor. Then, if you don't like the way it grows back, you'll prune it again! I tell you this because awareness is now in control of big money. It's right before your eyes, what you're doing. But fear often rules. …

Merkel says Turkey media crackdown 'highly alarming'

Merkel says Turkey media crackdown 'highly alarming'
Reporters Without Borders labels Erdogan as 'enemy of press freedom'

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Sunday, August 31, 2014

Chile navy officer makes history by announcing he is gay

Yahoo – AFP, Patricia Luna, 28 Aug 2014

Chilean Navy officer Mauricio Ruiz, pictured during a press conference in
Santiago, on August 27, 2014 (AFP Photo/Claudio Reyes)

Santiago (AFP) - A navy officer became the first member of the Chilean military to reveal he is gay -- a groundbreaking admission in this conservative Catholic country.

"There is nothing better than being yourself," a shy-looking Mauricio Ruiz, 24, told a press conference on Wednesday.

He said he had already told his superiors because he was tired of leading a double life, then decided to go completely public by speaking to the media.

Mauricio Ruiz (L) and his boyfriend Jorge
 Velasquez pose for photos after a press
 conference in Santiago, on August 27, 
2014 (AFP Photo/Claudio Reyes)
Chile is a highly conservative country, where even divorce was not allowed until 2004, and discrimination against suspected gays in the military and society in general have been common. A law governing same sex unions is being debated.

"For me it is important to take this step, because to be repressed is to not accept what you are, and that made me unhappy," Ruiz said.

Gays can have a tough time in Chile.

The violent death of a young gay man named Daniel Zamudio at the hands of alleged neo-Nazis prompted a 2012 law that punished people who discriminated against others because of their race, sexual orientation or social status.

Gay rights groups welcomed Ruiz's announcement.

"He took a pioneering decision, worthy of brave people who take the first step," said Oscar Rementeria, spokesman for the Homosexual Integration and Liberation Movement.

Ruiz said his partner initially did not want him to come out because he feared for Ruiz's safety. The partner stood beside him at the press conference.

In the end, the reaction was not as adverse as he expected, Ruiz said.

"I don't know what I was afraid of," he said.

Related Articles:

Pope Francis: Who am I to judge gay people?


"The Akashic Circle" – Jul 17, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: Religion, The Humanization of GodBenevolent 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)

“… Gender Switching

Old souls, let me tell you something. If you are old enough, and many of you are, you have been everything. Do you hear me? All of you. You have been both genders. All of you have been what I will call between genders, and that means that all of you have had gender switches. Do you know what happens when it's time for you to switch a gender? We have discussed it before. You'll have dozens of lifetimes as the same gender. You're used to it. It's comfortable. You cannot conceive of being anything else, yet now it's time to change. It takes approximately three lifetimes for you to get used to it, and in those three lifetimes, you will have what I call "gender confusion."

It isn't confusion at all. It's absolutely normal, yet society often will see it as abnormal. I'm sitting here telling you you've all been through it. All of you. That's what old souls do. It's part of the system. …”

Friday, August 29, 2014

Push to ordain Mormon women leads to excommunication

BBC News, By Jane Little, Washington, 26 August 2014

Kate Kelly shows a digital copy of the letter which informed her of her
excommunication

Kate Kelly stands frozen at an empty intersection in Salt Lake City. There is no traffic coming in either direction.

"I need to wait for the signal," she says, "I'm obedient, I'm a Mormon." She laughs, her eyes twinkling behind her thick, retro-style glasses.

But if Ms Kelly thinks she's an obedient Mormon, her Church leadership does not. She was excommunicated in June for founding a campaign to ordain women to the priesthood.

"You know, normally excommunication in our Church is for really grave sins like murder and child abuse," she says. "I was excommunicated for stating a fact, which is that men and women are not equal in our Church."

In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS) - which claims a membership of 15 million worldwide - any male from the age of 12 and "in good standing" can join the priesthood. No female can.

In April 500 supporters marched in Salt Lake City to support Ordain Women

Unlike other churches, including the Church of England which last month agreed to allow women priests to be promoted to bishop, the LDS Church does not have a professional priesthood. It operates what it calls a "lay" clergy - male members take turns to fulfil the roles.

Take the bishop of Ms Kelly's former ward in Virginia - the man who excommunicated her. He is a lawyer for ExxonMobil.

She is also a lawyer, a human rights lawyer, and she sounds like one as she dissects the process her bishop and other male leaders followed to remove her from the Mormon faith.

"We're talking about an Inquisition," she says. "The men who punished me think they are kicking me out of heaven."

The 33-year-old clearly does not agree, and she is unrepentant for founding the web-based group, Ordain Women, where several hundred men and women have posted their profiles in support.

While there have been earlier calls for the ordination of Mormon women, Ms Kelly's group posed a new challenge, using the web and modern, political methods to agitate for change. That prompted the Church leadership to take tough action.

Mike Otterson, the managing director of public affairs for the LDS, says he will not speak specifically about Ms Kelly's case, but he insists that the excommunication process is always fair, conducted locally, and decided only after careful consideration.

"We often refer to these proceedings as courts of love," he says.

"We show a great deal of patience, because ultimately, frankly, there's a soul at stake here and we're concerned about that."

He insists that women already have a lot of responsibility in the Church, including the right to preach from the pulpit, but that most women do not seek the priesthood.

Ms Kelly was excommunicated for apostasy. Dictionaries define an apostate as someone who renounces their faith. But in Mormonism questioning church teaching and, "especially encouraging other people to take the same position," says Mike Otterson, will qualify someone as an "apostate".

Ordain Women has an executive board, who met here after Ms Kelly was
excommunicated

Ms Kelly says the charge of apostasy was "completely absurd" and she is appealing against the decision.

Having faced persecution after its founding in the 19th Century, the LDS Church continued to encounter hostility and suspicion, and is still sensitive to criticism.

Kate Kelly has crossed a red line, says Kathleen Flake, a professor of Mormon studies at the University of Virginia. Mormonism functions as a family, she says.

"And if the family's going to fight, it's very disloyal to have that fight outside the family."

The male hierarchy speaks of a Church that is led by divine revelation and follows the Bible. Jesus and the apostles were male, and Jesus did not ordain women. Full stop.

But those on the side of women's ordination - a small but vocal minority - insist that the leadership at the top has changed its position on one critical issue before.

The exclusion of black men from the priesthood is a long and painful chapter in Mormon history. The leadership changed that in 1978, after what they described as a revelation from God, and more than a decade after the passage of the Civil Rights Act.

So, if God can change his mind about black people, why, asks Kate Kelly, can he not do so with women?

Kate Kelly led the march in support of ordaining women

"It's a red herring," says Mike Otterson. He says that the Church leadership had put out statements before 1978 indicating that the ban on black male priests was temporary, based on comments made by the early leader, Brigham Young, among others.

"There is no such condition you can cite in relation to women's ordination. It is simply not on the agenda for the Church," he says.

Gender differences are clearly defined in Mormonism and central to the theology. The Church teaches that families will stick together in the afterlife. Men will inherit planets. Women will help populate them.

And while the practice of polygamy was dropped in 1890, the concept remains in the afterlife. A man can be married or "sealed" to more than one woman after death, but not the other way around.

If the religion is so patriarchal, why does Kate Kelly want to return to the fold? She could join a more liberal offshoot, the Community of Christ, which ordains women. Or she could leave religion altogether.

"Mormonism is my spiritual home," she says.

"And if I see that my home needs renovations I invest in making it a better place."

The Church of Jesus Christ and Latter-Day Saints was founded in 1830
and is now based in Utah

Related Articles:


Presbyterian Church Votes To Allow Gay Marriages


"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration LecturesGod / CreatorReligions/Spiritual systems  (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it),  Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse),  Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) (Text version)

“… I gave you a channelling years ago when Pope John Paul was alive. John Paul loved Mary, the mother. Had John Paul survived another 10 years, he would have done what the next Pope [The one after the current one, Benedict XVI] will do, and that is to bring women into the Church. This Pope you have now [Benedict XVI] won't be here long.* The next Pope will be the one who has to change the rules, should he survive. If he doesn't, it will be the one after that.

There it a large struggle within the Church, even right now, and great dissention, for it knows that it is not giving what humanity wants. The doctrine is not current to the puzzles of life. The answer will be to create a better balance between the feminine and masculine, and the new Pope, or the one after that, will try to allow women to be in the higher echelon of the Church structure to assist the priests.

It will be suggested to let women participate in services, doing things women did not do before. This graduates them within church law to an equality with priests, but doesn't actually let them become priests just yet. However, don't be surprised if this begins in another way, and instead gives priests the ability to marry. This will bring the feminine into the church in other ways. It will eventually happen and has to happen. If it does not, it will be the end of the Catholic Church, for humanity will not sustain a spiritual belief system that is out of balance with the love of God and also out of balance with intuitive Human awareness.  …”

Thursday, August 28, 2014

Arizona gun range reviewing policies after nine-year-old kills instructor

Arizona Last Stop gun range, where visitors can shoot machine guns, considering changes including raising age limit

theguardian.comLauren Gambino in New York, Wednesday 27 August 2014

Shooting instructor Charles Vacca stands next to the nine-year-old girl, in this still
image taken from the video. Photograph: Mohave County Sheriff Office/Reuters

The manager of an Arizona shooting range where a nine-year-old girl accidentally shot and killed her instructor with an Uzi said he has trained children as young as five on the use of firearms but the range’s policies on minors is currently under review.

Sam Scarmardo, a manager at the Arizona Last Stop gun range, told the Guardian that the range is reviewing the incident, and is considering policy changes, including raising the age limit and imposing a height and weight requirement.

“We train kids as young as 5 years old on the use of single shot .22 rifles in our youth safety classes,” he said. “In 13 years we’ve never handed out a Bandaid to anyone let alone have something like this happen” he said.

Mohave County Sheriff’s deputies said Charles Vacca, 39, of Lake Havasu City, Arizona, was shot at least once in the head on Monday while training the girl how to fire the gun. He was airlifted to a nearby hospital in Nevada where he died from his injuries on Monday night.

Scarmardo said Vacca, who served in the Army, had worked at the Last Stop gun range for a year and a half. The girl, whose name has not been released, was visiting the range with her parents from New Jersey.

Scarmardo would not comment or confirm specific details of the incident. He would not talk about the range’s current policy on minors firing guns, but said it followed the law and was in step with other shooting ranges in the area. Some packages listed on the Last Stop website require children to be at least eight years old and stipulate that minors under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian at all times.

Arizona law prohibits minors from possessing a firearm unless they are accompanied by a parent, guardian or an instructor, among other exceptions. Deputies said the nine-year-old girl was at the shooting range with her parents.

While the incident is under investigation, Scarmardo said children are currently prohibited from shooting at the range.

The Mohave County Sheriff’s office released a video of the incident apparently captured on a phone by the girl’s parents, which it provided to the Guardian.

The video shows a raven-haired girl wearing hot pink shorts and ear muffs gripping the Uzi in her hands as she takes aim at a silhouette target. Before she shoots, Vacca adjusts her stance, and places one of his hands under the gun and the other behind the girl’s back. She fires once, hitting the dirt beside the target.

“Alright!” Vacca says cheerfully. Then he switches the settings from “single-shot” to “fully automatic”, and shouts: “Alright. Full auto.” She fires several rounds rapidly, and the video cuts.

Investigators said that when the girl pulled the trigger on the automatic Uzi, the recoil sent the gun over her head. Vacca was shot at least once in the head. It is unclear how many shots were fired. The sheriff’s office said in an email to the Guardian that they are not providing any more information than has already been released at this time.

The sheriff’s office said deputies responded to the incident around 10am on Monday. Vacca was airlifted to a medical center in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he died from injuries later that night. Scarmardo said Vacca’s wife was by his side at the hospital.

Based on the video, no charges will be filed against the shooting range, Mohave County Sheriff’s office spokeswoman Trish Carter said in the email.

Carter said the incident is being viewed as an industrial accident, and so the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is conducting an investigation. She said the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has been notified.

The autopsy will be performed by the Clark County Medical Examiner’s Office in Nevada.

Arizona Last Stop is a roughly 30-acre property in the Mohave desert, located off the stretch of highway between Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon Skywalk. The location is meant to create a “Desert Storm” atmosphere for shooters, its website said on Tuesday.

At the range, shooters can choose their firearm among a range of fully automatic machine guns and specialty weapons. The website boasts: “At our range, you can shoot FULL auto on our machine guns. Let ‘em Rip!”

Scarmardo, the manager, said the employees at the range are tight-knit, and are very upset by the loss of their colleague.

“He was a great guy. He was like a brother,” Scarmardo said. “Everybody loved Charlie and everybody is going to miss him.”

A criminologist shows an "Uzi" submachine gun at the Criminology
 Laboratory on May 28, 2008 in Ciudad Juarez, north Mexico
(AFP Photo/Alfredo Estrella)


Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Palestinians celebrate 'open-ended' Gaza ceasefire

Thousands of Palestinians have taken to the streets of the Gaza Strip to celebrate the news of a truce meant to end weeks of fighting. Palestinian militant groups have sought to frame the truce as a victory over Israel.

Deutsche Welle, 26 Aug 2014


The latest ceasefire agreed between Israel and the Palestinians came into force at 7 p.m. local time (16:00 UTC). Shortly after it came into effect, thousands took to the streets of the coastal territory to celebrate the apparent end of 50 days of fighting that claimed more than 2,000 Palestinian lives, most of whom were civilians.

Correspondents reported that the loudspeakers of mosques blared out chants normally reserved for Muslim holidays.

Even as the announcement of the truce was being made, the sound of Israeli air strikes could be heard in Gaza, and Israeli media reported that rocket fire from the Palestinian territory had continued after the ceasefire was meant to take effect.

The news of the ceasefire was first announced by Hamas and another Palestinian militant group, Islamic Jihad, which described it as an "open-ended" truce, and including an agreement by Israel to ease its seven-year-old blockade of the territory to allow essential supplies and construction material to enter.

It was some time later that the Egyptian mediators who helped broker the ceasefire made the announcement that deal was official.

Israeli confirmation

Still later came confirmation from Israel.

"We have accepted once again the Egyptian ceasefire proposals, which call for a cessation of all hostilities," the DPA news agency cited an unnamed Israeli official as saying. AFP quoted an unnamed senior Israeli official who described the truce as being "unconditional and unlimited in time."

Despite the fact that more than 2,000 Gaza residents were killed in the Israeli offensive aimed at stopping militant rocket attacks on the Jewish state, Hamas sought to frame the truce as a victory over Israel.

"Our armed resistance achieved what the Arab armies had failed to achieve," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said, adding that "this besieged weak people defeated the strongest ... army in the Middle East and destroyed the enemy's power of deterrence and the legend of the army that can never be defeated."

In addition to those killed, the past seven weeks of violence saw more than 17,000 residences destroyed in Gaza, leaving 100,000 Palestinians homeless, according to United Nations estimates.

On the Israeli side, 68 people have been killed, all but four of whom were soldiers.
Despite the ceasefire agreement, many issues are still to be resolved between the two sides. The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that indirect peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians were "to continue within the space of a month."

pfd/jr (dpa, AP, AFP, Reuters)


Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Al Sharpton at Michael Brown funeral: 'Something is wrong in America'

Funeral for unarmed black teenager shot dead by police concluded with powerful eulogy by civil rights campaigner

theguardian.com, Lauren Gambino, Monday 25 August 2014

 ‘No community in America would tolerate an 18-year-old boy laying in the
 street for four-and-a-half hours and we won’t tolerate it either,’ Sharpton
said. Photo: Reuters

The funeral of Michael Brown, the unarmed black teenager shot dead by a white police officer, concluded on Monday with a powerful eulogy by the veteran civil rights campaigner, the Rev Al Sharpton, who declared the response to the killing demonstrated that “something is wrong in America”.

“Michael Brown must be remembered for more than disturbances,” Sharpton said to the thousands of mourners who filled Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church in St Louis. “He must be remembered for: ‘This was when they started changing what was going on.’ This is one of those moments. And this young man, for whatever reason, has appealed to all of us.”

To cheers from the crowd, Sharpton repeated his criticism of the riots that marred the aftermath of Brown’s deaths, saying of the teenager’s parents: “They had to break their mourning to ask folks to stop looting and rioting ... Can you imagine? They have to stop mourning to get you to control your anger.

“Like you more angry than they are. Like you don’t understand that Michael Brown does not want to be remembered for a riot. He wants to be remembered as the one who made America deal with how we going to police in the United States.”

He went on to criticise the militarisation of police forces in the US: “America is going to have to come to terms when there’s something wrong, that we have money to give military equipment to police forces, when we don’t have money for training, and money for public education and ... our children.

Brown died after being shot at least six times by Darren Wilson. The shooting exposed a racial fault, unleashing decades of tensions, and leading to days of protests and unrest.

“This afternoon Lesley and Michael Sr will have to do something that is out of order. They will have to lay their son to rest ... We should not sit here today and act like we’re watching something that is in order.” Sharpton said.

The crowd – mostly African-American– began lining up two hours before the funeral was due to begin. Some wore t-shirts that read “Hands up, Don’t Shoot’ and ‘No Justice, No Peace’ – rallying cries from the protests. Many donned red ribbons, bandannas or clothing to show solidarity with the family.

Mourners included family, friends, politicians, activists, celebrities and civil rights leaders, among them, Jesse Jackson, Martin Luther King III, Spike Lee and Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri. At the church, a large bouquet of red roses and a St Louis Cardinals baseball cap adorned Brown’s closed casket.

As speakers read psalms and eulogized her son who they called “Big Mike” and “Mike Mike”, Brown’s mother Lesley McSpadden listened on intently from the front pew, rocking back and forth in her seat.

“No community in America would tolerate an 18-year-old boy laying in the street for four-and-a-half hours and we won’t tolerate it either,” Sharpton said.

Monday, August 25, 2014

Hillary Clinton 'gung-ho' and a 'war hawk', says Rand Paul

Republican senator and leading anti-interventionist predicts ‘transformational election’ if Democrats nominate Clinton

theguardian.com, Associated Press, Sunday 24 August 2014

Senator Rand Paul. Photograph: Molly Riley/AP

Calling Hillary Clinton “a war hawk,” Senator Rand Paul says that if the former secretary of state seeks the presidency, some voters will worry that she will get the US involved in another Middle East war.

Paul is a leading anti-interventionist in the GOP and is considering running for president. Last year he opposed President Obama’s call for military action in Syria.

In an interview that aired Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press, Paul predicted a “transformational election” if the Democrats nominate “a war hawk like Hillary Clinton.”

“I think that’s what scares the Democrats the most, is that in a general election, were I to run, there’s gonna be a lot of independents and even some Democrats who say, ‘You know what? We are tired of war,’” Paul said. “We’re worried that Hillary Clinton will get us involved in another Middle Eastern war, because she’s so gung-ho.”

As a senator in 2002, Clinton voted in favor of giving President George W Bush the broad authority to invade Iraq. She has said over the years that she regrets that vote, and in her new book Hard Choices wrote that “I wasn’t alone in getting it wrong. But I still got it wrong. Plain and simple.”

On the events that unfolded in Ferguson, Missouri, after the police shooting of an unarmed black teenager, Paul said he found the war-like images disturbing.

“When I see things like that, and I see, like, a warzone, and I see bazookas and tanks and all of this stuff in American city, it offends me, because many of these people, some are rioting, and they need to be arrested,” he said. “If you’re committing a crime, arrest people. But if you’re standing up, and you wanna voice dissent, you know, it is really what America is about, is being able to dissent.”

Paul also suggested that race might not be a factor in the events in Ferguson and linked the unrest to the war on drugs.

“Let’s say you’re African American and you live there, let’s say none of this has to do with race. It might not, but the belief — if you’re African American and you live in Ferguson, the belief is, you see people in prison and they’re mostly black and brown, that somehow it is racial, even if the thoughts that were going on at that time had nothing to do with race.

“So it’s a very good chance that had this had nothing to do with race, but because of all of the arrest and the way people were arrested, that everybody perceives it as, ‘My goodness, the police are out to get us,’ you know? And so that’s why you have to change the whole war on drugs. It’s not just this one instance.”

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

“…5 - Integrity That May Surprise…

The Unthinkable… Politics, A Review

Humans will begin to search for integrity and fairness and it's going to happen in the places you never expect. I said this last week, so this is a review. There'll come a time when you will demand this of your politics - fairness and integrity. So when the candidates start calling each other names, you will turn your back on them and they won't get any votes. They're going to get the point real fast, don't you think? How about that?

Let me give you another potential. This country that I sit in right now [USA] will set the mold for that particular attribute. I have no clock. Watch for the youngsters to set this in motion, and they will, for they are the voters of tomorrow and they do not want the energy of today. To some of them, it's so abominable they won't even register to vote in this energy. You're going to see this soon. That was number five.. ..."


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

“…  8 - The End of War

The last one is the best. For thousands of years on this planet, Human Beings have warred with each other. If you take a look at the reasons they warred with each other, you will quickly see there aren't any good ones - land, resources, greed. Those are not reasons. That is a description of old energy. Those are not reasons. Reasons would be perhaps defense against an aggressor. But what if there is no longer the consciousness of the aggressor?

When I appeared in my partner's life more than 20 years ago, I said to him privately that the first messages we're going to give will be unbelievable. There would be laughter. We told him that Human nature and consciousness itself would change, and that the seeds of peace would be planted and there would come a time where there is no more war. Indeed, the laughter was great because humans look at history and they see patterns based on an absolute energy called Human Nature. "Impossible! There always has to be war. There always has been. Therefore, there always will be." This is you, in a box, in a black and white potential, where you can only see the black and white of what is and the black and white of what has been. You have no idea the shades of color that are there in your consciousness and the beauty of the love of God.

North Korea is on the edge of change, as we told you it might be. What did this require? The death of the old energy, and I want you to watch this take place. The advisors of the young leader are going to do their best to pull him back into an old energy. This free choice of his will be far different than his father, for he sees some color. Watch for these things. They'll take longer than you want, but it is the beginning of the beginning.

You'll see a fresh unification of South America sooner than not, for what is going to take place potentially this year in Venezuela. You'll see Iran changing. We have no clock. These are the potentials. These can change with free choice. These are not prophecies. This is a reality shift, dear ones, so number eight becomes the propensity not to war again. This is what Humans are going to want. This is what governments are going to want. There is a wisdom factor that will begin to happen on the planet that is grander than what you think is possible. For when you look at government, what do you think about? You see dysfunction, and there is an axiom that says the more people that try to do something together, the worse it gets. It all settles to the lowest common denominator. I'm telling you even those things are going to become old energy concepts. Instead, you're going to watch wisdom become the top potential.

I have no clock. I cannot tell you when. I can just tell you it is in the works, and there will be the seeds of it for you to observe soon - right now, in every single of the eight categories I showed you.

There are those who will say, "Well, Kryon, you're doing a lot more predictions than you used to." I want to tell you what's going on, dear one. I am not predicting anything. I am just telling you what's already there in the potential soup of your reality. That's what Humans are doing on this planet, and for those who believe this communication, you should breathe a sigh of relief and say, "It's about time." ….”

Sunday, August 24, 2014

Holocaust survivors condemn Israel's Gaza 'genocide'

BBC News, 23 August 2014

Israel's actions in Gaza have generated heated debate in parts of the US

Mid-East crisis

More than 300 Jewish survivors of the Holocaust and descendants of survivors have issued a public statement condemning Israel's "genocide" of the Palestinian people in Gaza.

The statement was released by the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network and was placed as an advertisement in the New York Times.

It calls for the blockade of Gaza to be lifted and Israel to be boycotted.

The signatories expressed alarm at the "colonization of historic Palestine".

It condemns the "racist dehumanisation of Palestinians in Israeli society, which has reached fever pitch".


The statement was released as a response to an advertisement criticising Hamas written by Nobel prize-winning author Elie Wiesel and published in many newspapers

"As Jewish survivors and descendants of survivors and victims of the Nazi genocide we unequivocally condemn the massacre of Palestinians in Gaza and the ongoing occupation and colonization of historic Palestine," the statement says.

"We further condemn the United States for providing Israel with the funding to carry out the attack, and Western states more generally for using their diplomatic muscle to protect Israel from condemnation.

"Genocide begins with the silence of the world."

The statement goes on to call for an economic, cultural and academic boycott of Israel.

Organisers say that the statement was drafted as a response to an advertisement written by Nobel prize-winning author Elie Wiesel and published in many newspapers which accused Hamas of "child sacrifice" and behaving like Nazis.

More than 2,090 Palestinians - mostly civilians - and 67 Israelis have been killed in recent weeks.

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Saturday, August 23, 2014

Israeli aircraft bomb Gaza as Hamas backs ICC bid

The war between Israel and Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip has entered a 47th day, with Israeli air strikes countering Hamas rocket fire. Meanwhile, Hamas says it has backed a Palestinian bid to join the ICC.

Deutsche Welle, 23 Aug 2014


Israeli aircraft bombed the Gaza Strip on Saturday, killing five Palestinians from the same family, as the conflict in the Palestinian enclave entered its 47th day.

Gaza health officials said the five people, including two children, were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a house in Al-Zawayda in central Gaza. The Israeli military said it had carried out more than 20 aerial attacks on Gaza on Saturday.

Palestianian militants fired at least three rockets or mortar rounds into southern Israel, the Israeli military said.

Eighty-one Palestinians and a four-year-old Israeli boy have been killed since truce talks collapsed on Tuesday following nine days of calm.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday that the army would retaliate harshly for the killing of the boy, who was hit by shrapnel that tore through his home in the kibbutz Nahal Oz in southern Israel. He was the first Israeli child killed since the current conflict began on July 8.

Growing casualties

At least 2,097 Palestinians have died since the violence erupted, 70 percent of them civilians, according to the United Nations. On the Israeli side, 68 people have died, all but four of them soldiers.


No resumption of the indirect negotiations, brokered by Egypt, has been announced. The two sides failed to reach agreement on core demands, with Hamas demanding that Israel lift an eight-year blockade on Gaza, and Israel calling for Hamas' complete disarmament.

Hamas 'supports ICC bid'

Meanwhile, Hamas has reportedly signed a proposal for the Palestinians to apply to join the International Criminal Court (ICC).

"Hamas signed the document which (Palestinian) President (Mahmoud Abbas) put forth as a condition that all factions aprove, before he goes to sign the Rome Statute, which paves the way for Palestine's membership in the International Criminal Court," Hamas deputy leader Mussa Abu Marzuq wrote on his Facebook page.

Joining the ICC would expose both Hamas and Israel to war crimes investigations, with both sides accusing each other of atrocities since the outbreak of the latest war.

President Abbas has debated for months whether to join the court. The step would transform his relations with Israel from tense to openly hostile.

Abbas had said that he would only go ahead with the bid if Hamas supported it, but it is still no clear whether he will do so.

Israel opposes involving the ICC, arguing that Israel and the Palestinian sould deal with any issues directly.

The ICC, based in The Hague in the Netherlands, opened its doors in 2003 as the first independent court in the world set up to try the worst crimes, including genocide and war crimes.

Bridging the divide between young Israelis and Palestinians

While bombs are killing people back home, a group of young Israelis and Palestinians are in Germany trying to make sense of it all and come up with a solution for peace.

Deutsche Welle, 22 Aug 2014


It is a difficult beginning. Israelis and Palestinians fill the conference room near the German city of Bonn with crying and arguing, accusations and reproach. Sitting together seems impossible, unbearable. Yet when those participating in the two-week event start to talk about the fates of their families, the lines that divide them begin to fade.

The some 50 Israelis and Palestinians communicate in Arabic and Hebrew, with translators on hand to help express the intensity of their experiences and feelings.

"You hear tough stories, and its really touching when other people have empathy," Palestinian Suad said. Sitting across from her is Amit, an Israeli who increasingly realizes how little the two sides know about each other.

"I don't believe our media, it is too much a part of the conflict," she said. Like others here, she wants to form her own, comprehensive picture of the situation, to have the chance to speak "directly" with those deemed to be the enemy.

The participants get to know each
other while they are in Germany
Back home, Amit and Suad only live 20 minutes apart. But they are, in fact, worlds apart. Amit lives in Jerusalem, Suad in the Palestinian territories, and to cross the border she needs special permit. Now they are both in Germany, in a building near the city of Bonn with others like them.

Private initiative

The event is organized by the Committee for Basic Rights and Democracy, a group run by peace activists and funded exclusively by private donors. They have been facilitating meetings between young Palestinians and Israelis far from the scene of the conflict since 2002.

Their idea is to offer participants the opportunity to forget their prejudices and learn that people on both sides share the same basic yearnings and feelings. The association covers all costs, but relies on partner organizations such as "Breaking Borders" to use word of mouth to find potential participants in the conflict region.

All told, some 2000 young adults, including many students, have so far been able to travel to Germany to meet others like them and share their stories. Against the backdrop of the current Gaza conflict, many of those in Germany now told their relatives and friends back home that they were going to a holiday camp. For many, the truth is simply too sensitive.

White lies

Barbara Esser, one of the organizers of the "Holiday from War" project, understands the reasons for these white lies.

"It is not acceptable where they come from," she said. "Anyone who attempts to make contact with the other side is deemed a traitor." She recalls one Israeli who wanted to be friends with a Palestinian on Facebook but didn't know if he could without upsetting his friends.

"Anyone who attempts to make contact
 with the other side is deemed a traitor,"
Esser said
At the heart of the program is a mutual willingness to listen. Esser says it is not about forcing friendships, but creating understanding and tolerance. They use role play to stage peace negotiations and come up with suggestions for solutions to the Middle East conflict.

Amit describes the experience as a chance to dream. "Positive visions of the future help generate hope and to believe in the goal." But very few participants believe the conflict will be solved by a younger generation.

The basic problem

During their discussions, Israelis and Palestinians pinpoint the basic hurdle to progress. It is the fear of having to make too many concessions and ultimately being the losers. There is a broad base of agreement on the importance of overcoming that feeling.

Suad is positive about the work they are doing together and sees how it can break down barriers. "Even the right-wing conservatives on both sides have started to change their thinking," she said.

Some 50 young Israelis and Palestinians share their experiences and feelings

Whenever things get particularly tense, and those in charge show participants how they are slipping back into old patterns of thought, both Israelis and Palestinians are surprised.

Ultimately the ice breaks whenever there is a chance for people to get to know each other better. Apart from playing games and going on trips, there are designated evenings devoted to the presentation of the different cultures.

After cooking and eating together, there is often music, and then Israelis and Palestinians even dance together. No photos are taken, for fear that they could be misunderstood. There is a meeting of the ways here, and although participants agree that they did not have a holiday from war, they did lay the groundwork for talking about the possibility of working together.

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“… What have we told you about the bridge? Actually, not much except that in crossing the bridge, the old energy ones were not going to like it. Old energy does not want you to escape! Old energy doesn't want you to cross the bridge because it can't cross. Did you know that? It can't cross. The old paradigms of Human nature that you've known all of these millenniums have to stay on the old side of the bridge. It cannot cross, for the bridge rejects all that is not in love, compassion and light. Those things that are dark, including Human nature of the past, will not be able to go. But the ones I speak to right now are already on the bridge. That was your design, old soul, and those are the words that are ringing in your ears to this day and the ones given at the wind of birth, that this might happen in your lifetime. So what's going to happen next?

Swords

Let us talk about the swords: When you hear the word sword, the first thing that occurs to you is battle. The Bridge of Swords is a battle and we told you that as well. Swords are metaphoric and they mean many things, so let us describe the things we mean them to say to you.

Number one: They are indeed a weapon in a battle. There is a battle coming. "Kryon, does that mean there's going to be a war?" Potentially, yes. Right now we will tell you that the Middle East cooks itself. You've noticed, haven't you? What do you know about the Middle East, dear one? Let's start examining things for a moment. What energy did you grow up in? What was the energy of the Middle East? In the '40s, what was the energy? With the establishment of the state of Israel, you built a wall of hate, both sides. The wall was so thick that the children of both sides were taught to hate one another as soon as they were able to understand the language. They were told who their enemies were. Now, where were you then?


Some of you weren't here yet. By the time you arrived, in your youth, were you aware of the Middle East? Not particularly. "What's the hatred about?" you might ask. What if I told you it's about a family feud? Two sons of a Jewish master are involved. One founded the Arabs and one remained a Jew. They don't want to hear this, but they are all Jews. (Don't tell them this.)


If you look at the lineage, it's pretty obvious and yet it's a complete and total set-up for either solution or war. The set-up would have this world ending in a conflagration that would have been brought about by this hatred. That's in the prophecy of Nostradamus and your scripture, but it is no longer the prophecy of the planet. Yet the hatred still exists. The hatred is as great today as it was then, but where was all the terrorism 40 years ago? It was isolated.


Those in Israel and Palestine and surrounding areas took the brunt of it, but now it's seemingly everywhere - and you're worried. Why would this be? The answer is that the old energy was happy to have this hatred contained, for it would keep it going and never involve outsiders. Outsiders tend to bring unwanted light to the party. Suddenly, the whole earth is involved and can see the entire scenario before them. The old guard wants war, just like all the eons before them. The ones on the bridge are holding the light and showing the earth how to cross. Even many younger ones in Israel and Palestine and Iran are holding light! It's all around the old guard and they are furious, for they are losing the "battle of hatred." …