O'Malley launches White House bid, knocks rival Clinton

Yahoo – AFP, Michael Mathes, 30 May 2015

Former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley (R) cheers on the crowd with his

 wife Katie (L), after announcing his intention to seek the 2016 Democratic

 nomination for president, on May 30, 2015, at Fort McHenry in Baltimore,

Maryland (AFP Photo/Paul J. Richards)

Baltimore (AFP) - Former Maryland governor Martin O'Malley, a onetime Hillary Clinton loyalist, launched his White House campaign Saturday, warning the Democratic frontrunner that the presidency was not her "crown" for the taking.

Calling for a revival of an American dream he described as "hanging by a thread," O'Malley highlighted income inequality and pledged to close "a growing gap of injustice" in America should he prevail in his uphill challenge.

He hit out at "powerful, wealthy special interests" that he said have conspired to line pockets of the rich while leaving increasing numbers of Americans behind, despite more than six years with Democrat Barack Obama in the White House.

A campaign sign is seen as former 

Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley 

announces his intention to seek the 2016 

Democratic nomination for president, on

 May 30, 2015, at Fort McHenry in 

Baltimore, Maryland (AFP Photo/

Paul J. Richards)

"Our economic and political system is upside down and backwards and it is time to turn it around," O'Malley told hundreds of supporters in a park overlooking downtown Baltimore.

The 52-year-old is youthful, charismatic, and brings to his campaign executive leadership experience as a two-term Baltimore mayor and two-term state governor.

But he is an unknown to most Americans who live outside the Washington-New York corridor where his political successes have been more broadly recognized.

O'Malley supported Clinton's ill-fated 2008 presidential run, but he signaled Saturday that despite her overwhelming frontrunner status, it would not be a waltz to the nomination for Clinton in 2016.

He took a swipe at the two families that have led the country for much of the past quarter century, saying he knew Wall Street would have no problem accepting another Clinton or Bush in the White House.

"The presidency is not a crown to be passed back and forth... between two royal families," O'Malley boomed, to loud applause.

In the battle for the Democratic presidential nomination, however, the 67-year-old Clinton enjoys a huge lead over her two declared rivals -- liberal independent Senator Bernie Sanders, 73, and now O'Malley.

According to RealClearPolitics.com, O'Malley polls at less than one percent to Clinton's 63.6 percent. Sanders' support is 8.8 percent.

Clinton, who reportedly received a call from O'Malley before his campaign launch, used Twitter to welcome her new rival.

"Welcome to the race, Gov. O'Malley," she tweeted. "Looking forward to discussing strong families and communities."

The narrow Democratic race could not be more different than the stampede of politicians seeking the Republican Party nomination.

Former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley announces his intention

 to seek the 2016 Democratic nomination to run for president, on May 30, 

2015, at Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland (AFP Photo/Paul J. Richards)

Eight candidates are already in the Republican contest and eight more are all but certain to jump in, including Jeb Bush, the son and brother of two former presidents.

'Disappointed' with Hillary

O'Malley, who headed straight to Iowa to campaign in the state that votes first in the nominations process, seeks to tap into a new generation of voters disconnected from the Clintons or Bushes.

They include Baltimore resident and physician Alissa Zingman, 32, who praised the former governor for taking positions on several issues, including opposition to a huge trade accord that Washington is secretly negotiating with 11 other Pacific Rim nations.

"I've been really disappointed with how little I've seen from Hillary," Zingman told AFP at O'Malley's launch, adding that the former top diplomat "doesn't have an excuse" for not weighing in on the trade deal.

O'Malley kicked off his campaign in Baltimore, a city rocked by riots last month.

The violence highlighted aggressive "zero-tolerance" police tactics that O'Malley instituted while he was mayor. The approach lowered the crime rate but led to soaring arrests and accusations of discrimination against Baltimore's inner-city minorities.

"It was a heartbreaking night for all of us," O'Malley said.

"But there is something to be learned from that night, and there is something to be offered to our country from those flames," he said.

A protester walks around with a "Stop Killer Cops" sign as former Maryland 

Governor Martin O'Malley announces his intention to seek the 2016 Democratic

 nomination for president, on May 30, 2015, at Fort McHenry in Baltimore, 

Maryland (AFP Photo/Paul J. Richards)

Opponents to the policing tactics protested near the O'Malley rally, chanting "Black lives matter" and "You are lying!"

Megan Kenny, holding up a sign that read "Stop killer cops," said she opposes O'Malley's candidacy because of the zero-tolerance polices "he designed and implemented."

"Structural racism is alive and it's working, and it needs to be dismantled, and a whole new paradigm needs to be rebuilt," she said.

O'Malley highlighted his successes in areas like education, immigration reform and same-sex marriage.

"We raised the minimum wage," he said. "We achieved top rankings for innovation, entrepreneurship, and minority and women's business development."

He also promised greater attention to climate change, improved conditions for the renewable energy industry and to rebuild American cities as places of "hope, opportunity and justice for all."

US formally drops Cuba from terrorism 'blacklist'

Cuba was placed on list in 1982 but has ‘provided assurances it will not support acts of international terrorism in the future’ yet economic sanctions remain

The Guardian, Alan Yuhas, Friday 29 May 2015

The removal of Cuba from the US terrorism list eliminates an obstacle toward
restoring diplomatic ties between the US and the communist-led Caribbean
island state after 50-year estrangement. Photograph: Desmond Boylan/AP

  

The United States has formally dropped Cuba from its list of state sponsors of terrorism, the US State Department has announced, adding a symbolic punctuation mark to the talks that aim to end decades of antagonism.

The removal of Cuba from the US terrorism list eliminates an obstacle to restoring diplomatic ties between the countries after a 50-year estrangement. Cuban diplomats had urged rescission as a condition of normalizing relations, alongside the restoration of bank services for Cubans in the US.

But the removal will have a limited impact on US economic sanctions, which remain in place under the embargo that has been imposed by Congress for decades.

Rescinding the designation against Cuba is “an important step”, an American official told Reuters, before qualifying that “as a practical matter, most restrictions related to exports and foreign aid will remain due to the comprehensive trade and arms embargo”.

While some businesses and travelers have taken advantage of the relaxed rules surrounding Cuba, major banks and financial institutions remain wary of the legal minefield put in place by the embargo.

“The embargo is still the big 800lb gorilla in the room,” said David Schwartz, chief executive of the Florida International Bankers Association. “Lifting the terror designation is a help to foreign banks that are dealing with Cuba and have had that concern, and this may in their mind ease that burden.

“But although the administration is pushing to the limit of what they can do, to go any further would require lifting the embargo,” he said.

President Barack Obama ordered the State Department in December to review Cuba’s presence on the terror list and report back to him within six months, as part of his administration’s new policy toward the island nation.

When that review was complete, Obama wrote to Congress in April, saying that the Cuban government “has not provided any support for international terrorism” in the past six months, and has “provided assurances that it will not support acts of international terrorism in the future”.

In its statement, the State Department said: “While the United States has significant concerns and disagreements with a wide range of Cuba’s policies and actions, these fall outside the criteria relevant to the rescission of a State Sponsor of Terrorism designation.”

A handful of outspoken congressman, including Florida senator and Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio, immediately denounced rapprochement. Rubio said that to take Cuba off the list would be a “terrible mistake”, but he and allies such as representatives Pete King and Scott Garrett failed to muster congressional resistance against the rescission.

Former Florida governor Jeb Bush agreed with Rubio, his unofficial rival for the Republican 2016 nomination, in calling the move a mistake. “Obama seems more interested in capitulating to our adversaries than in confronting them,” he said

Cuba was placed on the list in 1982 for supporting communist rebels in Latin America and Africa, but the US has not accused the island nation of direct military assistance for a foreign terrorist group in years.

Recent State Department reports have criticized Cuba for offering safe haven to members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, Farc, and the Basque separatist group Eta. Cuba has since distanced itself from Eta, and is currently hosting peace talks between Farc and the Colombian government.

Frank Calzon of the Center for Free Cuba, a pro-democracy group, brought up Farc as well as American fugitives who fled to Cuba in his criticism of the Obama administration. “The president has given up the one leverage he had to obtain fugitives that murdered Americans and who are enjoying the hospitality of the Castro regime,” he said.

“Cuba’s listing as a sponsor of terror was renewed for years under this president. I think it’s shameful that Mr Obama acquiesced to Raúl Castro’s pressure.”

Both the president and Congress were criticized by Joe Connor, an American whose father was killed by a bomb set by Puerto Rican nationalists, one of whom escaped prison to Cuba. “We are truly living in an upside-down society,” Connor said, when “Obama capitulates to the likes of Cuba and then Congress, who is supposed to represent the people, capitulates to Obama.”

But the Cuban-American community has grown increasingly divided by age and politics over relations with the island, as evinced by other groups who voiced support for the removal.

The Washington DC-based Cuba Study Group said it was “pleased” by the rescission from the list. “For years, the arguments justifying Cuba’s continued inclusion [were] becoming more political than factual,” the group said, before urging Congress to lift the embargo.

“While today’s announcement is important and symbolic, the US’s complex web of codified sanctions still create significant obstacles which hinder our ability to assist Cuba’s civil society and thus facilitate peaceful change,” their statement reads.

Younger Cuban Americans have also supported rapprochement with Cuba, forming organizations such as Cuba Now, which supports greater business ties between US and Cuban companies. Ric Herrero, executive director of the group, welcomed the change of Cuba’s status. Conceding “there is much to criticize about the Cuban government’s repressive practices”, he described Cuba’s place on the list as “the result of domestic political calculations rather than factual findings”.

“By lifting the designation, a cloud is lifted that will make it easier for US citizens and American businesses to embrace the new regulatory environment in support of the Cuban people.”

Roots for Hope, a nonprofit led by young people in the Miami area, similarly advocates for greater interaction with Cubans, and has allied with tech companies to build internet infrastructure on the island.

The only countries that will now remain on the US terror list are Iran, Sudan and Syria.

G7 agrees Chinese yuan should be in IMF currency basket

Yahoo - AFP, 29 May 2015

Beijing has been pushing for its currency, the yuan or renminbi, to play a greater
 role in the world financial system and be included in the basket that makes up
 the International Monetary Fund's own "special drawing rights" reserve currency
(AFP Photo/Johannes Eisele)

The Group of Seven countries are in fundamental agreement that the Chinese yuan should be part of the IMF's international basket of reference currencies, but there is no need to rush it, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said Friday.

"There are technical issues and not just technical ones" to sort out, Schaeuble told a news conference concluding a meeting of G7 finance ministers and central bank governors. "We are in full agreement on the goal, but it would not be good to rush it," he added.

Beijing has been pushing for its currency, the yuan or renminbi, to play a greater role in the world financial system and be included in the basket that makes up the International Monetary Fund's own "special drawing rights" reserve currency.

Washington has long claimed that the yuan was manipulated, but the IMF said on Tuesday that the currency is "no longer undervalued".

Dutch king praises special relationship with Canada during state visit

DutchNews.nl, May 28, 2015

The Dutch king and queen pose with Canadian prime minister Stephen
Harper and his wife Laureen. Photo: Reuters

Dutch king Willem-Alexander has spoken of the special relationship between the Netherlands and Canada at a state banquet in his honour hosted by governor general David Johnston. 

The king and queen Maxima are on a three-day visit to Canada. It is the first time Willem-Alexander has been there in 35 years. 

More than one million Canadians have Dutch roots and his own family has strong ties with Canada, the king said. ‘When our national flag was banned in the Netherlands, it was hoisted here, in the democratic heart of Canada,’ the king is quoted as saying by news agency ANP. 

The king also praised the Canadian role in the liberation of the Netherlands. ‘The price Canada paid was high,’ he said. ‘Some 7,600 soldiers died in the struggle for our freedom.’ 

Earlier in the day, the Dutch king and queen met prime minister Stephen Harper and his wife Laureen and laid a wreath at the national war memorial in Ottawa. 

Next week the Dutch royals will visit the US for three days. The programme includes a meeting with president Barak Obama at the White House.

Related Article:

Dutch king reacts to ‘f*** the king’ row

UN reviewing tie-ups with corruption-tainted FIFA

Yahoo – AFP, 28 May 2015

A cloud is seen above the headquarters of international soccer's top body
FIFA, on May 27, 2015 in Zurich (AFP Photo/Fabrice Coffrini)

United Nations (United States) (AFP) - The United Nations is reviewing its partnerships with FIFA following allegations of widespread corruption at football's world governing body, a UN spokesman said Thursday, a day after the scandal erupted.

"We are very much taking a look at the existing partnerships and how the situation evolves," said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric. The UN and FIFA have tie-ups, for example, to promote health, gender equality and for child protection.

The various campaigns and programs between the UN and FIFA, since 1999, also include initiatives designed to help alleviate poverty, further human rights and tackle environmental problems.

"The UN has had a number of different kind of one-time partnerships with FIFA for the World Cup and other events with UN agencies," added Dujarric, cautioning that it was "early days" in the investigation into allegations of huge bribery and graft at FIFA.

He said these partnerships were focused on "ensuring that the UN message of peace... are seen and heard within these major sports events."

Authorities in the US, which is leading the investigation into alleged wrongdoing at FIFA, had not been in contact with the UN, Dujarric added.

Nebraska becomes 19th US state to halt death penalty

Yahoo – AFP, 28 May 2015

Anti-death penalty pamphlets and buttons are seen

 during a protest in front of the US Supreme Court in 

Washington, DC, on June 29, 2013 (AFP Photo/

Nicholas Kamm)

Washington (AFP) - Nebraska lawmakers voted to overturn their governor's veto and abolish the death penalty Wednesday, becoming the nineteenth US state to do so.

The bill was carried by 30 votes to 19, a large enough majority to override the objections of Nebraska's Republican governor, Peter Ricketts, and pass into law.

Nebraska's legislature had previously voted to repeal capital punishment in the state on April 17 and May 20, but Ricketts had vetoed the legislation.

The governor had argued on Tuesday that repealing the death penalty "sends the wrong message" to the "overwhelming" number of Nebraskans who want to see it remain the law of the state.

The 10 people who remained on death row in the state will have their sentences reduced to life in prison. An eleventh person who was sentenced to be executed died of cancer on Tuesday after 30 years in prison.

The state has not executed a death row convict since 1997.

Nebraska is the first conservative state in four decades to abolish the death penalty.

Executions have continued to decline in the United States with several states having abandoned the use of the death penalty without legally doing away with the punishment.

Last year, 80 percent of executions in the United States were concentrated in Texas, Missouri and Florida.

Fifa officials pocketed $150m from 'World Cup of fraud' – US prosecutors

• US attorney general alleges ‘rampant, systemic and deep-rooted’ racket
• Nine current or former officials charged alongside marketing executives

The Guardian, Rupert Neate, New York, Wednesday 27 May 2015

Fifa officials ‘corrupted’ football by accepting millions in bribes, says US attorney general

Fifa corruption arrests: key questions
answered

America’s top prosecutors on Wednesday accused nine senior current or former Fifa officials of “hijacking” international football to run “a World Cup of fraud” to line their pockets by $150m.

Loretta Lynch, the US attorney general, said the Fifa officials had allegedly run a “rampant, systemic and deep-rooted” scheme to “acquire millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks”.

As she announced charges against the nine officials, seven of whom were arrested in dawn raids at a five-star hotel in Switzerland, Lynch said: “They were expected to uphold the rules that keep soccer honest, and protect the integrity of the game. Instead, they corrupted the business of worldwide soccer to serve their interests and enrich themselves.”

Lynch said the nine Fifa officials, including former Fifa vice-president Jack Warner, and five sports marketing executives had run “a 24-year scheme to enrich themselves through the corruption of international soccer”.

She alleged that the bribery and corruption extended from the sale of TV rights to voting for which countries should be awarded the right to hold the World Cup and other tournaments.

“These individuals and organizations engaged in bribery to decide who would televise games; where the games would be held; and who would run the organization overseeing organized soccer worldwide,” Lynch said.

“They corrupted the business of worldwide soccer to serve their interests and enrich themselves. They did this over and over, year after year, tournament after tournament.”

Lynch said she would seek the extradition of the men to the US to stand trial as soon as possible. If found guilty of racketeering, the most serious of the 47 charges, some of the men face up to 20 years in jail.

She refused to comment on whether Sepp Blatter, the current president of Fifa who is seeking re-election for a fifth term on Friday, would be subject to the far-reaching and ongoing investigation.

Lynch said Fifa would need to consider whether the World Cups in Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022, which have long been plagued with allegations of fraud, should go ahead as planned.

Kelly Curries, the acting US attorney for the eastern district of New York, said: “This is the beginning of our effort, not the end. We are looking into individuals and entities in a variety of countries.” There are 25 unnamed co-conspirators mentioned in the indictment, including people linked to the South Africa 2010 World Cup bid committee.

The charges were announced at a press conference in New York on Wednesday hosted by Lynch, who was flanked by senior officials from the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) criminal investigations unit.

Richard Weber, the chief investigator of the IRS criminal investigations unit, said: “This is really the World Cup of fraud and today we are issuing Fifa a red card,” adding: “The fans shouldn’t have to worry about officials corrupting their sport.”

James Comey, the director of the FBI, said the game had been “hijacked by corruption”.

The current or former Fifa officials charged are Eduardo Li, Jeffrey Webb, Eugenio Figueredo, Jack Warner, Julio Rocha, Costas Takkas, Rafael Esquivel, José Maria Marin and Nicolás Leoz. Warner and Leoz were not among those arrested in Switzerland; Leoz resigned as president of the South American Football Confederation in 2013, while Warner stood down from all international football positions in 2011.

Obama to 5-Year-Old Gay Marriage Advocate: 'Couldn't Agree More!'

Yahoo - ABC, Good Morning America, Erin Dooley, 25 May 2015

Obama to 5-Year-Old Gay Marriage Advocate: 'Couldn't Agree More!' (ABC News)

Five-year-old Yasmeen Faruqui didn't feel like doing her homework. She insisted she wanted to write to President Obama instead. And he wrote back.

"Please stop war for our world, instead have a meeting," reads Yasmeen's handwritten note, posted to Twitter by her aunt. "Please give a speech to tell everyone they can marry who they want." 

@POTUS A letter from my 5 year old niece. Right out of the mouths of babes! pic.twitter.com/Q8Sovz8eEL

— Dr Z (@DrFahmida) 22 mei 2015

"Tell your niece I really like her letter. Couldn't agree more!" the commander-in-chief replied Friday on Twitter. It's just the sixth tweet on his new account.

.@DrFahmida tell your niece I really like her letter. Couldn't agree more!

— President Obama (@POTUS) 22 mei 2015

Yasmeen's words were all her own, her mother told ABC News. (After all, only a 5-year-old would note she's "almost six" in a letter to the leader of the free world.)

"I just let her do her thing," Tasha Faruqui said. "Those are absolutely her spontaneous ideas. ... She has a mind of her own!"

Yasmeen, who's set to participate in a family member's same-sex wedding ceremony this fall, was bothered when her playmates insisted "boys can't marry boys."

"I don't think that's wrong," she told her mom.

"She's very much an independent thinker," Yasmeen's aunt, Fahmida Zaman, told ABC. "She attempts to respectfully color outside the lines."

Because her father serves in the Navy, war has always scared Yasmeen. When she heard the president had read her letter, she went through the roof.

"This means the war's going to end! He got the letter," Yasmeen yelled.

When her mother explained that isn't quite how diplomacy works, Yasmeen was still ecstatic: "Now he got my message and he can share my message," she told her mom.

"I think it says a lot about our president, responding to a letter of a 5-year-old. That's pretty remarkable," Zaman said. "It lets her feel like her voice is heard."

Related Article:

"The Energy of the Future" - Dec 7, 2014 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

“… The New 'Message' from Space

Let me tell you what the message is that is being communicated: Unlock to 44 percent! This is the message: The Human race has passed the marker and is ready for the next step in evolution. I am talking about the old soul. You are the ones who will be first to get this message. It is you, and some of your "old soul" children, who are starting to feel and accept this!

Let me tell you in this lesson today that the first thing that this unlocking will begin to create is what we're going to call Akashic acuity. You're going to start remembering, and it's about time. Can you celebrate this? It's about time that when you're born you don't start from scratch, in the dark, and doing everything all over again. Instead, you remember!

I want to talk to some individuals who are listening to this and are in this room. Have your grandchildren had the audacity to tell you who they used to be? Don't raise your hand; I know you're here. They feel it, and they know it, and out of the mouths of these babes come the most profound information that this planet has ever heard! They knew who they were! Some will point their fingers at you and say, “Don't you remember? I was your mum in another life.” That's a bit disconcerting, isn't it?

I want you to remember one of the premises of incarnation, the one that we have given you over and over. You incarnate in family groups. There's a reason for this, so there is comfort and joy. It's so you don't have to learn the energy of each related person, all over again, each time. The energies of the family stay together and you can accomplish more that way. There's always a benevolent reason for these things. Every single attribute of the esoteric system of life, whether it's your grids or reincarnation, is benevolent. Did you hear that? It's a beautiful system, and not random. It's not about judgment; it's not about punishment. It is, instead, about the love of God for you, and what I'm about to tell you is what is changing is energy.

Akashic Acuity

So we have established that you are moving into this new radiation, and we have established that it intersects the sun. The sun blasts your magnetic field with it (via the solar wind) and the magnetic field talks to your DNA. Suddenly, there is the potential some of your DNA is being unlocked. The attributes of unlocking Akashic acuity will help you to remember who you've been. Now, with this remembrance comes energy - not about who you were, but rather it gives you the energy of what you did. I don't mean physically; I mean energetically and mentally. Old souls carry with them experience. When you look into the eyes of a child, you're going to see wisdom just waiting to break out. Dear ones, these children are different. They are not going to go through what you did! They have a whole new set of issues, and most of their issues are trying to navigate the old issues you create for them!

There's something we brought up in a former channelling called the wisdom factor. Now, the wisdom factor is caused by Akashic acuity. After living Human life over and over, you start remembering the wisdom that you have gained through these past lifetimes. You don't necessarily remember who you were, but rather the fact that you were at all and the experiences you had. Imagine a child coming into the planet knowing how to read? Imagine a child coming into the planet knowing not to touch something hot? Where did it come from? You're going to see more of this, and a feeling of "been there, done that".

Akashic acuity is remembrance of experience during past lifetimes. As the child grows, that remembrance becomes pure wisdom. As the child starts to awaken and the pineal opens, something else happens. The grid starts talking to the child through the DNA, and in the grid is also the information from the time capsules we spoke about in past channellings. The time capsules start feeding the planet with increased wisdom and knowledge. You don't have to reincarnate to awaken even further! Akashic acuity means suddenly Humans know more than other children have in the past - much more. …”

Ireland votes 'yes' on same-sex marriage

Ireland has said "yes" to gay marriage, public broadcaster RTE confirmed on Saturday. The "Yes" vote was ahead, with more than 60 percent voting in favor, official figures showed.

Deutsche Welle, 23 May 2015

Out of Ireland's 43 constituencies, 40 have voted "yes," the Irish public broadcaster RTE reported on Saturday.

More than 62 percent voted in favor of legalizing same-se marriage, 37.7 percent voted against the bill.

Strong leads for the "Yes" camp emerged in districts across Dublin, as well as in traditionally conservative rural areas.

But one constituency, Roscommon-South Leitrim, in the middle of the country, saw over 51% of voters there rejecting the marriage referendum proposal - a higher percentage than anywhere else.

Thousands in Dublin to celebrate

Large crowds flocked to central Dublin to celebrate the victory.

The crowds cheered as gay rights icons appeared on the square, including David Norris, whose campaign led to the 1993 decriminalization of homosexuality and Rory O'Neill, whose Panti Bliss drag queen character became the face of the campaign, the news agency Reuters reports.

Leo Varadkar, Ireland's health minister, who has come out as gay said: "People from the [gay] community in Ireland are a minority, but with our parents, our families, or friends and co-workers and colleagues, we're a majority. For me, it wasn't just a referendum. It was more like a social revolution," the news agency AP quotes him as saying.

Reduced impact of Catholic Church

The Catholic Church once controlled virtually every aspect of Irish life but its clout has been vastly reduced by the impact of secularization and a wave of child sex abuse scandals that discredited the clergy.

With the referendum Ireland becomes the 19th country in the world to recognize marriage equality and the 14th in Europe - as well as the first to do so by popular vote. In Germany, same-sex partners have the opportunity to register a partnership, but they do not have the right to marry.

Saturday's referendum results are a stunning triumph for gay rights activists. It was the culmination of a four-decade struggle for gay rights.

ra/ng (AP, Reuters, dpa)

Minister for Health Leo Varadkar pictured in RTE Radio 1 studios today where

he came out publicly on the Miriam O’ Callaghan show. Photograph: Aidan Crawley

Related Articles:

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Irish journalist comes out ahead of referendum on gay marriage

Luxembourg's prime minister first EU leader to marry same-sex partner

US supreme court agrees to hear cases on right to same-sex marriage nationwide

"The Akashic Circle" – 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)

“… 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. …”

"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)

“…  Government

Let us speak of government. We're not speaking of your government, but of any government - the way it works, how it survives, how it has survived, the way it campaigns, and how it elects leaders. It's going to change.

Years ago, I told you, "When everybody can talk to everybody, there can be no secrets." Up to this point on this planet, government has counted on one thing - that the people can't easily talk to each other on a global scale. They have to get their information through government or official channels. Even mass media isn't always free enough, for it reports that which the government reports. Even a free society tends to bias itself according to the bias of the times. However, when you can have Human Beings talking to each other all at once, all over the planet without government control, it all changes, for there is open revelation of truth.

Democracy itself will change and you're going to see it soon. The hold-outs, the few countries I have mentioned in the past, are doomed unless they recalibrate. They're doomed to be the same as they have been and won't be able to exist as they are now with everyone changing around them.

I mentioned North Korea in the past. Give it time. Right now, the young man is under the control of his father's advisors. But when they're gone, you will see something different, should he survive. Don't judge him yet, for he is being controlled.

In government, if you're entire voting base has the ability to talk to itself without restriction and comes up with opinions by itself without restriction, it behooves a politician to be aware and listen to them. This will change what politicians will do. It will change the way things work in government. Don't be surprised when some day a whole nation can vote all at once in a very unusual way. Gone will be the old systems where you used to count on horseback riders to report in from faraway places. Some of you know what I am talking about. Government will change. The systems around you, both dark and light, will change. You're going to start seeing something else, too, so let's change the subject and turn the page. …

US domestic surveillance in limbo after Senate vote

US domestic surveillance programs involving the mass collection of data on private telephone calls face an uncertain future after two votes in the Senate. Debate is to continue later this month.

Deutsche Welle, 23 May 2015

The US Senate rejected legislation early Saturday to reform the way domestic spy agencies collect vast amount of data on Americans' telephone calls, in a blow to President Barack Obama.

The so-called USA Freedom Act, which passed easily in the House of Representatives last week, fell three votes short of the 60 votes necessary for it to advance.

The bill, strongly backed by Obama, would have ended the bulk collection of phone data, replacing it with a more targeted system in which case-by-case authorization would have been given to search records held by phone companies rather than government authorities.

In another vote, the Senate also blocked legislation that would have extended by two months provisions of the USA Patriot Act allowing the mass collection of telephone records. The provisions expire on June 1.

Programs in jeopardy

The votes means further uncertainty on the future of the US surveillance programs, which many Americans see as infringing on their civil liberties, while intelligence agencies consider them as essential in the battle against terrorism.

Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, speaking after the votes, said the Senate would return to Washington on May 31 - cutting short its Memorial Day holiday break by one day - to debate ways of preventing the expiry of the surveillance measures.

"We'll have a week to discuss it. We'll have one day to do it. But we better be ready next Sunday afternoon to prevent the country from being in danger by the total expiration of the program that we're all familiar with," he said.

Snowden's revelations on NSA
activities caused shockwaves
throughout the world

Offers to extend the Patriot Act provisions into the first week of June were also rejected.

"Our forefathers would be aghast" at the amount of spying done on Americans, said Senator Rand Paul, a Republican 2016 presidential candidate who has long-demanded an end to the telephone data dragnet.

The extent of the US domestic surveillance program was revealed in 2013 by former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden, provoking outrage in some quarters that millions of private telephone records were being held.

The Patriot Act was passed in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks in a bid to increase national security.

tj/sms (AP, Reuters, AFP)

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A: NSA bulk phone records collection to end despite USA Freedom Act failure

Kryon Q&A

Question (Sep 21, 2001): Lee, how could Kryon have been so wrong? He said there would be no war, and that all would be good in these end times?

Answer: Questions like this are uncommon, since most who follow the Kryon work know that this is not what Kryon said at all. For clarity, however, and for those who may have only read one book in the series, I wish to summarize what Kryon has told us of our future potentials.

First of all, Kryon told us twelve years ago in Kryon Book One, The End Times, that we had changed the paradigm of the future on earth. We had voided the Armageddon as prophesied, and were headed toward the potential of a new consciousness on the planet… one of great promise. He indicated that the magnetic grid of earth would change to accommodate our new abilities (it did) and he told us that all the wars in these times would be tribal (they seem to be). Then he said that up to one percent of earth’s population might have to leave to accomplish all this (hardly a feel-good fact! - page 97). Do you remember this statement on page 101 regarding the future? “… many will terminate and return with new powers. Also, the transition to this new age of self determination and power will be filled with changes. Things will not remain the same for any of you…” He also gave us a date of 1999 where we might have an unbalanced leader creating chaos (page 23) This could have been Bosnia, or the beginning of what just happened. All of this was given within the first Kryon book, over a decade ago.

Indeed, communism fell over all by itself in the late 1980’s and there was no nuclear war. The time-line for the Armageddon as prophesied, passed, and many were aware that we were headed in a new direction – one that nobody had foreseen.

As the Kryon books unfolded into the new millennium, he gave us a great deal of personal information and methods for finding the divinity within ourselves. He always indicated that peace on earth began with individual work, and gave us invitations to change our DNA. Within the books he told us of the profundity of the 11:11 many times, where Humans had given permission to change the end. Then came Book 8, Passing the Marker. As I have indicated before, Book 8 probably gave us more information about what we are experiencing than any other. He told us that there would be "no more fence sitting." (page 217). This meant that there could be no more "in between" attitudes regarding what was happening on the planet-that the old vs. the new would create this. Many would be "torn off the fence," he said. On Sunday September 30, 2001, both Colin Powell, the United States Secretary of State, and the King of Jordan, HM King Abdullah II, were interviewed at separate times. Both used the phrase, "Getting off the fence."

Kryon also indicated a "pull backwards" of apparent stability and peace, and even predicted the potential of the uprising of Israel in 2000 (page 182). He used the term "spiritual rage" for the first time, as well, and also told us that we were in for a Battle between the old and new. He said, "Don't be shocked and surprised if that war is not over. In fact, in some cases, the battle has just begun!" (page 183).

In August, a few weeks before the tragedy, the channelling in Vancouver was on world unity! Listen to what he said about the United States (to be published shortly in the Sedona Journal of Emergence). “The United States is currently in its greatest learning period.” Then for both Canada and the U.S., he said the following: “…There must be decisions. Things cannot remain the same. Honored are those who understand that changes which are important are afoot. The biggest changes in all of these places will be the old vs. the new. We’re here to tell you that the Human Being who sits here and who reads these words is the one who can change this. It cannot stand as it is. The potential for the most profound creative changes come in the year of the three.” (2001)

I personally feel that hints were given all along regarding the potentials of our 11:11. I received the facts below from many on the Internet who noticed the 11 synchronicity.

• The date of the attack: 9/11 - 9 + 1 + 1 = 11

• September 11th is the 254th day of the year: 2 + 5 + 4 = 11

• After September 11th there are 111 days left to the end of the year.

• 119 is the area code to Iraq/Iran. 1 + 1 + 9 = 11 (reverse of the 911)

• Twin Towers - standing side by side, looks like the number 11

• The first plane to hit the towers was Flight 11

• State of New York - The 11 State added to the Union

• New York City - 11 Letters

• Afghanistan - 11 Letters

• The Pentagon - 11 Letters

• Ramzi Yousef - 11 Letters (convicted or orchestrating the attack on the

WTC in 1993)

• Flight 11 - 92 on board - 9 + 2 = 11

• Flight 77 - 65 on board - 6 + 5 = 11

Coincidence? We must look at the numbers… always. Kryon has told us from

the beginning that the energy of the end times is the “9” and the “11.” This was given in the first book, (Book one), and the last released book (Book eight). It was about completion and permission. It’s now becoming clear what this all means. Remember this, as well: 666 =18 = 9. Could it be that what we are seeing was also prophesied in veiled ways in scripture? Remember that most scripture is written in metaphors. According to Gregg Braden, even the prophet Isaiah told us that we had the ability to change the future. I believe we just have.

Kryon has now indicated that through Human free choice, we have opted to advance the process of creating unity on the planet… that this tragedy will be seen in history as the turning point for planetary change. In this light, therefore, we see a glimpse of how heretofore unthinkable things might happen—that nations might agree to come together and form coalitions to agree on what “civilization on earth” will permit and not permit—that millions may have just been “torn off the fence” through spiritual rage, and that they will have to decide one way or the other what energy they are going to join or not join.

This is what Kryon spoke of time and time again, and it has been published for

all to read. Now that it begins, and is of our own creation and free will, it will allow for that elusive phrase to come about… the eventual creation of “The New Jerusalem.” Kryon also said these words over and over: “As go the Jews, go Earth.” Perhaps we are beginning to see how this all fits?

What’s next? We still have free choice. Suddenly, however, we must decide to either wallow in the old ways, or clean up our earthly act. We have until 2012, according to Kryon. Whatever our energy then, will be our “stamp of intent” for Humanity.

I have said it before: Someday I will go home. When I do, I wish to have a meeting with almost 6,000 of our family who was lost this week. I want to tell them that what they did made a difference for hundreds of millions on earth, for their future children, and for the Universe. Then I want to hug each one and sing a hero’s song… one with lyrics about the 11:11… the day that Humans decided what they really wanted on earth, and took control to create it.

Given in Love

Lee Carroll

* This information was given to Lee in channel personally. He rephrased it with his personal comments for clarity, and for this E-publication.