Canada holds firm in human rights dispute with Saudi Arabia

Yahoo – AFP, August 27, 2018

Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland says her country would "always
stand up for human rights around the world" (AFP Photo/John MACDOUGALL)

Berlin (AFP) - Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland refused to give ground in a dispute with Saudi Arabia on Monday, saying her country would "always stand up for human rights around the world".

While she did not cite the kingdom by name, Freeland told a gathering of German diplomats in Berlin that "Canada will always stand up for human rights around the world, very much including women's rights."

That would hold true "even when we are told to mind our own business, or that matters such as these should only be discussed in private, between leaders, behind closed doors. And even when speaking up brings consequences," she added.

Ottawa and Riyadh are at loggerheads over Canadian criticism of Saudi Arabia's human rights record.

Earlier this month the Saudi government expelled Canada's ambassador, recalled its own envoy and froze all new trade and investments after the North American nation denounced a crackdown on rights activists there.

"We count on and hope for Germany's support" in defending human rights, Freeland added.

US will 'vigorously defend' against Iran court challenge: Pompeo

Yahoo – AFP, August 27, 2018

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo vows a vigorous defense of US sanctions on
Iran before the International Court of Justice in The Hague (AFP Photo/SAUL LOEB)

Washington (AFP) - The United States will "vigorously defend" itself in the International Court of Justice against Iran's challenge to the reimposition of US sanctions, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday.

Iran demanded in The Hague that the top UN court suspend the unilateral US sanctions, which were slapped back on three weeks ago following the US withdrawal from a landmark 2015 nuclear accord with Tehran.

"We will vigorously defend against Iran's meritless claims this week in The Hague," Pompeo said.

He said Iran's filing with the International Court of Justice was "an attempt to interfere with the sovereign rights of the United States to take lawful actions, including re-imposition of sanctions, which are necessary to protect our national security.

"The proceedings instituted by Iran are a misuse of the court," he contended.

In oral arguments in The Hague, Iran's representative Mohsen Mohebi accused Washington of plotting his country's "economic strangulation."

Pompeo countered: "President Trump withdrew from the JCPOA for a simple reason: it failed to guarantee the safety of the American people from the risk created by Iran’s leaders."

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is the name given to the 2015 international agreement under which sanctions on Iran were lifted in return for curbs on its nuclear program.

The reimposition of US sanctions has added to Iran's economic woes, fuelling strikes and protests across the country and political spectrum.

The sanctions target financial transactions and imports of raw materials, cars and aircraft among other things.

Pressure mounts on pope for tougher action on abuse scandals

Yahoo – AFP, Catherine MARCIANO, August 22, 2018

Pope Francis has acknowledged the work being done in some parts of the world
 to protect children, but admitted that the Church had "delayed" in applying
the necessary sanctions (AFP Photo/Vincenzo PINTO)

Vatican City (AFP) - With the Catholic Church rocked by a devastating US report into child sex abuse, Pope Francis has this week sharpened his criticism on the explosive issue -- but he remains under pressure to enact far-reaching changes.

The US grand jury report accused more than 300 "predator" priests in the state of Pennsylvania of abusing more than 1,000 children over seven decades, sparking a fresh bout of soul-searching among senior Catholics across the world.

"The clock is ticking for all of us in Church leadership. Catholics have lost patience with us and civil society has lost confidence in us," Cardinal Sean O'Malley, the archbishop of Boston, who has been advising the pope on the issue, said in a statement last week.

The archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, added: "It is not enough just to say sorry. Structures that permit or facilitate abuse must be broken down and broken down forever.

"Why does this not happen? Why must such a simple affirmation have to be repeated so often?" he said at a weekend mass in the Irish capital.

Martin, who will welcome the pope this weekend on his visit to Ireland -- a country where abuse scandals have dealt profound blows to the Church's credibility -- said he believes the Vatican's commission is too small to be effective.

Amid harrowing details of abuse, the US report directs this scathing comment to the Church hierarchy: "Priests were raping little boys and girls, and the men of God who were responsible for them not only did nothing; they hid it all. For decades."

The report once again puts the spotlight on Pope Francis, who has been criticised for not acting quickly enough to clamp down on the sprawling cases of abuse as well as for a reluctance to distance himself from certain cardinals suspected of omerta.

"With shame and repentance, we acknowledge as an ecclesial community that we were not where we should have been, that we did not act in a timely manner, realising the magnitude and the gravity of the damage done to so many lives. We showed no care for the little ones," the pontiff said in his letter earlier this week.

At the end of May, the Argentinian pope wrote a letter to the people of Chile, where an unfolding abuse scandal has sparked an impassioned debate.

This week in an unprecedented letter he addressed all of the globe's 1.3 billion Catholics about the "atrocities" of abuse.

'Excuses aren't enough'

While Francis acknowledged the work being done in some parts of the world to protect children, he admitted that the Church had "delayed" in applying the necessary sanctions.

The pope "did not, however, offer any new specifics" on possible new accountability measures, said American Vatican-watcher John Allen, noting that Francis did not make a single mention of the word "bishop".

Child abuse scandals surrounding the Catholic Church (AFP Photo/Gal ROMA)

"Among great swathes of public opinion, the idea is beginning to gain traction that mea culpas, statements and meetings with victims are not enough any more," according to Marco Politi, an Italian Vatican expert.

"It is now up to Francis to act as supreme legislator" by modifying the Church's canon law, Politi wrote in the Fatto Quotidiano newspaper.

He added that there were already "virtuous examples" in this area in the United States, Britain and Germany.

Journalist Emiliano Fittipaldi, who has carried out several investigations into the workings of the Church, told AFP that Francis could go further.

"The pope could force bishops' conferences to send recent reports of abuse to judicial authorities," he said. "Excuses aren't enough any more."

That is a sentiment echoed by many abuse victims.

"We don't want a trial within the Vatican!" said Francesco Zanardi, leader of an Italian abuse survivors' association.

According to Vatican-focused blog "Il Sismografo," the pope could soon publish specific guidelines for bishops on how to handle abuse claims -- but the Vatican has not confirmed this.

In 2016, Francis instigated a change in canon law which meant bishops could be removed if they were found to be "negligent" in the face of reports of paedophilia.

However, within Church law there is no wider requirement to report cases to the relevant judicial authorities. In certain countries this is a legal obligation but in others, bishops are loath to make it a rule.

Some commentators are also urging the Church to use its response to the crisis to undertake a reconsideration of its stance on celibacy.

In an opinion article published this week in French newspaper Le Monde, French-Canadian writer Nancy Huston appealed to the pontiff to abolish celibacy for priests and recognise the importance of sexuality for human well-being.

But even though Pope Francis said in 2014 that "celibacy is not a dogma", the Vatican does not yet seem ready to take the step of ending the practice.

Related Articles:

Pope faces calls for action over abuse 'shame' in Ireland - New

Jesus and Joseph, UK, May 27, 2018 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - New

VIDEO: Thousands of Argentine Catholics on Friday renounced their membership in the church to protest its opposition to a bill that would have legalized abortion in Pope Francis's homeland, a group said pic.twitter.com/d31cLWrzHt

— AFP news agency (@AFP) August 25, 2018

Pope condemns 'atrocities' of US clerical child abuse

Yahoo – AFP, 20 August 2018

Pope Francis acknowledged failings in the Catholic Church over the child
abuse scandal

Pope Francis condemned Monday the "atrocities" revealed by a far-reaching US report into clerical child sex abuse in the state of Pennsylvania issued last week.

"In recent days, a report was made public which detailed the experiences of at least a thousand survivors... the abuse of power and of conscience at the hands of priests," the pope said in a letter made public by the Vatican.

"Even though it can be said that most of these cases belong to the past, nonetheless as time goes on we have come to know the pain of many of the victims," he said.

"We have realised that these wounds never disappear and that they require us forcefully to condemn these atrocities and join forces in uprooting this culture of death," he added.

A devastating US grand jury report published last week decried a systematic cover-up by the Catholic Church.

The grand jury said that more than 1,000 child victims were identifiable, but that the actual number was "in the thousands".

The report is thought to be the most comprehensive to date into abuse in the US church since The Boston Globe first exposed paedophile priests in Massachusetts in 2002.

Calling for "solidarity" with the victims and a fight against "spiritual corruption", Pope Francis said "no effort to beg pardon and to seek to repair the harm done will ever be sufficient".

"With shame and repentance, we acknowledge as an ecclesial community that we were not where we should have been, that we did not act in a timely manner, realising the magnitude and the gravity of the damage done to so many lives," he said.

The Vatican had already expressed its "shame and sorrow" after the publication of the US report, but Pope Francis's letter on Monday went further.

"No effort must be spared to create a culture able to prevent such situations from happening, but also to prevent the possibility of their being covered up and perpetuated," he said.

Pope Francis ended the letter by exhorting Catholics to "fasting and prayer", in order to "open our ears to the hushed pain felt by children, young people and the disabled".

It's not the first time that Francis, who became pope in 2013, has had to react to the scandal of child abuse within the Church.

At the end of July he accepted the resignation of prominent US cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who has been accused of sexually abusing a teenager nearly five decades ago.

Among senior church members in the US forced to resign for protecting paedophile priests were the late cardinal Bernard Law in Boston and cardinal Roger Mahony in Los Angeles.

The case of cardinal Law was the subject of a huge investigation by the Boston Globe, which won the newspaper a Pulitzer Prize and was subsequently turned into an Oscar-winning film, "Spotlight".

Related Articles:

Pennsylvania report lists more than 300 'predator' priests

Death penalty 'inadmissible' in Catholic teaching update

'Queen of Soul' Aretha Franklin dies at 76

Yahoo – AFP, Jeff Kowalsky, with Jennie Matthew in New York, August 16, 2018

Aretha Franklin's hits spanned the genres, from soul to R&B, gospel and
pop (AFP Photo/Saul LOEB)

Detroit (AFP) - Aretha Franklin, the music icon, legendary singer and "Queen of Soul" loved by millions whose history-making career spanned six decades, died on Thursday, her longtime publicist announced. She was 76.

She influenced generations of female singers with unforgettable hits including "Respect" (1967), "Natural Woman" (1968) and "I Say a Little Prayer" (1968). She passed away at home in Detroit from advanced pancreatic cancer.

The multiple Grammy winner cemented her place in US music history with a powerful, bell-clear voice that stretched over four octaves. In a career crossing generations, her hits spanned soul and R&B, to gospel and pop.

Franklin passed away at 9:50 am (1350 GMT) surrounded by her family and loved ones, her family said in a statement issued by her publicist.

"It is with deep and profound sadness that we announce the passing of Aretha Louise Franklin, the Queen of Soul," the statement said.

"In one of the darkest moments of our lives, we are not able to find the appropriate words to express the pain in our heart.

"We have lost the matriarch and rock of our family. The love she had for her children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and cousins knew no bounds."

The family thanked fans around the world for their "incredible outpouring of love" since it first emerged earlier this week that she was gravely ill.

"We have felt your love for Aretha and it brings us comfort to know that her legacy will live on."

The 18-time Grammy award winner inspired multiple singers during her five-decade career from pop diva Mariah Carey and the late Whitney Houston, to Alicia Keys, Beyonce, Mary J. Blige and the late Amy Winehouse.

Franklin -- who was widely known by only her first name, in true 
diva style -- rose from singing gospel in her father's church to regularly 
topping rhythm and blues and pop charts in the 1960s and 
1970s (AFP Photo/HO)

'National treasure'

In 1987, she became the first woman ever inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2010, Rolling Stone magazine put her at the top of its list of the 100 greatest singers of all time, male or female.

She sang at the inaugurations of presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, singing "My Country 'Tis of Thee" at the investiture of the country's first African-American head of state.

In a heartfelt tribute from the Obamas, the former president and his wife Michelle praised Franklin's "unmatched musicianship," which they said "helped define the American experience."

"Every time she sang, we were all graced with a glimpse of the divine," the Obamas said in a statement. "In her voice, we could feel our history, all of it and in every shade -- our power and our pain, our darkness and our light, our quest for redemption and our hard-won respect. She helped us feel more connected to each other, more hopeful, more human."

"And sometimes she helped us just forget about everything else and dance."

US President Donald Trump called the singer "terrific," saying "she brought joy to millions of lives and her extraordinary legacy will thrive and inspire many generations to come."

Clinton and his wife, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, on Thursday hailed her as "one of America's greatest national treasures."

"For more than 50 years, she stirred our souls. She was elegant, graceful, and utterly uncompromising in her artistry," they said.

Singers and musicians quickly flooded social media in mourning her passing, which came on the same day that fellow US music giant Elvis Presley died at his home in Memphis, the city where Franklin was born, 41 years ago.

Paul McCartney‏ called Franklin an inspiration and "the Queen of our souls," while Diana Ross hailed her "wonderful golden spirit."

US President Barack Obama fist bumps with singer Aretha Franklin, who he said 

"helped define the American experience" (AFP Photo/MARK WILSON)

'Unmatched'

Fellow soul superstar Patti LaBelle praised Franklin as "a rare treasure whose unmatched musical genius helped craft the soundtrack to the lives of so many."

Franklin -- who was widely known by only her first name, in true diva style -- rose from singing gospel in her father's church to regularly topping rhythm and blues and pop charts in the 1960s and 1970s.

Other than "Respect," her powerful cover of the Otis Redding tune that became a feminist anthem and her calling card, Franklin had dozens of Top 40 singles, according to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Other hits include "Day Dreaming" (1972), "Jump to It" (1982), "Freeway of Love" (1985), and "A Rose Is Still A Rose" (1998). A 1986 duet with George Michael, "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)," hit number one in several countries.

Franklin's declining health was first disclosed on the Showbiz 411 website late Sunday by Roger Friedman, a reporter and family friend.

The Detroit News later reported that she was in hospice care, as artists from across the musical spectrum offered well wishes to the singer who lived in Detroit -- the Motor City, home of Motown -- most of her life.

In 2005, Franklin was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom -- the highest award for an American civilian -- by then-president George W. Bush.

In 2010, she suffered serious health problems, but continued to perform until late last year, singing last in November 2017 for the Elton John AIDS Foundation in New York. That same year, Detroit named a street after her.

Predictions – (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)

Kryon.com, June 16, 2018

This live channelling was given in Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, BC, Canada

Lee Carroll

To help the reader, this channelling has been revisited [by Lee and Kryon] to provide even clearer understanding. Sometime information is even added or condensed. Often what happens live has implied energy within it, which carries a kind of communication that the printed page does not. So enjoy this enhanced message given in Nanaimo.

Greetings, dear ones, I am Kryon of Magnetic Service. The threshold that my partner just passed [Lee went into channel] is one you may feel. It's the same voice, but the energy, for those who can feel it, is vastly different. This threshold opens a door. It is a door in what you have called "the field", where there is no time, no space and not an actual "place". It just is. It's here with every single one of you, and that is where I am as well.

Some say, "The field is the other side of the veil." Some say, "The field is a magic place where your soul can go and relax for a little while before it comes back." Some say, "It's God." All of these descriptions are correct, because in this hero's journey that my partner has described today, each of you has that place in the field. So through this door that has been opened with intent, and through something that is happening in this room, a togetherness, a confluence of energy begins. It is something that can be measured - a coherence of thought and heart is starting to meld together where it's safe. It's safe for a few minutes here. This won't last long, this message. But it's a safe place to be.

Some of you have constructed a box around your belief that says, "Bring on the scientists. Get on with this!" [Lee is in a science conference] I know who you are, dear one, as you sit impatiently through this spiritual portion. Then I tell you again that there is just as much love for you as any other Human on this planet. There are as many angelic, if you want to call them that, beautiful soul energies around you as anyone. It doesn't matter how you receive this message, or even if you wanted it. Spirit respects the fact that you have the free choice to examine these things the way you want to. Some of you will say, "Well, I really don't want to go into the full esoteric at the moment." Dear one, you don't have to. But let me ask you this: What if the things I say next start to ring true? What if they are filled with logic? What would it hurt to open your box of belief for just a moment and listen and weigh and examine? Get ready, because you're going to need it, for what I am about to tell you I also told about 300 people earlier in the week [an earlier group meeting].

A few days ago, there was a handshake and that handshake was with the President of the United States and the leader of North Korea. This handshake was something that was far from expected a few months ago. In fact, it's beyond all odds - all odds - that this would ever take place! I want to tell you about this, because you are going to start to understand the mechanics of prediction. The reason? I told you years ago about the potential of the handshake.

"I am a channeller," my partner says. "I channel Kryon," my partner says. But what my partner has really learned to do is to put himself away and dip into the field with purity. This allows him to see differently and contact that who is Kryon, a friend in the field, and then to report to you what's perceived there. Predictions are not magic. Predictions are not future fortune-telling. You can't do that, dear ones; no one can do that. The reason? Because Human nature has free choice. Free choice creates trillions of free decisions daily. There is no "known" future. But there are a vast number of strong potentials based on what free choice is doing at the moment.

I want to take you back to March 2012 in Dallas, Texas. The channellings that I refer to now are documented, printed, available, and ready for you to read and find. [on this very web page] My partner documents them all and places them on his website. Some of you already know that I spoke about two strong potentials in that channeling, which would now seem to be predictions (since they happened). But they weren't. These things were potentials based upon that which was already happening in the field.

The first item: I told you that you would have a new pope soon. Thirteen months later, the planet received one. We told you that new pope would be a wild card in that he would come with unexpected energies. The old pope didn't even die, if you noticed. In fact, he's still with you! Instead, something happened that was beyond expectation, and you heard it from a chair just like the one I'm in now. That's not predicting, dear ones, because that was in the field. It was already something in progress with a potential. Did you hear that? In progress with a potential.

The second thing I told you about was this: There's a 50% chance that the new leader of North Korea, the son, would not follow in the footsteps of his father. I told you there was a 50% chance of this. Then I started itemizing the reasoning why this might make sense, especially to the Korean leader. I then told you it might take a long time if it manifested at all. I told you the problems would be within the old advisors for his father's family. He had to tread slowly and lightly to do something against all odds. This will all come out someday because of the handshake.

Here was the potential or the prediction of what might happen: Those who had the machine guns in the DM zone would drop them, because this North Korean leader would unify the two Koreas. There would be no nuclear weapons in his land and there would be the beginning of abundance for his people. His people and the world would then give him something he had always wanted and was imbued with from birth - the desire for accolades and more accolades. Like his father before him, he was the premier egotist, and this would be the unexpected way to create a world at his feet. That's what I said. Then I said, "Watch for it, but don't be anxious." I talked about that in 2013, and five more times since then. In August 2017, I itemized my advice for him, point by point. The advice that I gave followed the potentials that were there and those were the very points in the handshake this week in June of 2018.

Now, you tell me what happened. "Kryon, you're going to be famous because you predicted these things!" Dear ones, all I did was look into a field that is being shown to you today [by the scientists at the conference]. And all I did was to show you the potentials that were already there. In other words, he was thinking about these things and talking to others behind the scenes about them. No matter what his advisors told him right up to the brink of sending his missiles, he was always thinking that there might be another way that would gain him ultimate fame. Dear ones, this has been in progress since his father died! Therefore, it was in the field, but not a given, dear ones - a potential.

Next, I want to show you the bias of humanity at this time, something I have spoken of many times. This potential of the handshake is amazing, and it has started to be manifested. What should the reaction be to something that deflects the potential of war, or saves thousands lives? Instead of joy or amazement or celebration, Humans go for the reverse: It can't happen. It's a trick. It's a bad deal.

I want you to start reading the reactions of the press. I want you to read the reactions even from the South Koreans. They said, "Well, we know North Koreans, and that's never going to happen. We know who they are, and we know their nature. Because in the past, they never performed what they said they would. So it's a joke." That is a quote from a South Korean. "It's a joke."

What happened to this comment? "Isn't this a beautiful potential? Look at this amazing thing - against all odds!" Now, your free press, the reporting segment of our culture, has decided not only to report it, but to let you know it's probably not going to happen! They say: "Nay. Maybe yes, maybe no. We'll see. We expect the worse." And this continues and continues, and all it shows you is the monstrous bias of the dark side that wants to pull anything good back to what the past gave to you.

In Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey, the hero always believes that they will move toward the goal. They are not steeped in the past, nor are they invested in dark things. Humanity has crossed the threshold into the unknown when it passed 2012, but carries with it the burden of an old, dark Human nature. What would the heroic old soul say about what is taking place? "Let them all spin the dark all they want to, but we got to see something against all odds and it was in the field - in the field! Send them light so they may very well do what the handshake was all about."

Dear ones, it is not naive to expect good things in the future, if you are actively sending light there and shaping a reality that you can actually visualize.

Let me tell you what else is in the field. Two things: These are going to be things that exist now in the field and they are upcoming potentials. The reason I give you these potentials is so if they happen, just like the handshake, you might believe a little more in this process.

There will come a time when Big Pharma will fall over because of a growing higher consciousness of the public. [Applause in the audience] There is a consciousness growing here that begins to have a new respect for each other, so that abuse of women will no longer be tolerated. Things that never happened before will begin happening, like bishops and cardinals resigning. [All 34 bishops in the Catholic Church resigned May 2018 after the new wild card pope called them on their reaction to child abuse for years by their colleagues.] All the things my partner brought today [in the seminar] are actually happening now. Why should some of these drug companies fail? Because there will be a strong reaction from your general public when they realize there are companies that have policies that would keep a Human sick or let him die for money. [Applause in the audience] It would be unconscionable, and the potential grows stronger daily that it's going to happen. The trigger? It's coming. When it does, that industry will be in trouble. Not all pharma is this way, dear ones - understand this - but the ones who are will fall.

I want you to watch Iran. It's not like the isolation of North Korea. It's hooked to a major belief system and to Middle Eastern history. It's hooked to a major person with control, and it is tied into the grand problem of the Middle East and especially Israel. Things will start to change. Watch this. It's in the field. It's being discussed and there are "wild cards" coming.

Let me close with this: I'm going to give you the same concept that I gave those few on their way to the beautiful garden a few days ago [channelling on the way to Butchart Gardens in Vancouver Island]. There are things in your field for you that will save your life unless you look back and say, "Impossible!" Some of you have an old habit where you look at your life and say, "Well, for others, but not for me." Sometimes you pull on your old logic and further say, "Well, it's never happened before, so why should it happen now?" Dear ones, that exactly reflects the earlier teaching of the day. Don't let the past predict your future. If you do, then you are actually creating your own demise.

What is in the field for you? What is it you can see and imagine? Have you heard this question from the scientists this week - not a channeller, but the scientists? Did you hear that the visualization of your health from your consciousness goes inside and is seen by your own cellular structure? Does this science sound like Kryon? Did you hear that the field is there to push it forward? Do you believe in homeopathy? Do you see how it works? For example, you have a tincture that is too small to be recognized by any part of the body as a chemical change, yet the body sees the signal from the tincture and corrects the issue! Dear one, homeopathy is not something unknown on the planet. It's everywhere! So understand this: The principles of homeopathy are NOT homeopathic principles. They are Universal principles of the field.

So, how about consciousness homeopathy? What's the difference between putting a tincture together to create a signal for healing and life extension or putting strong consciousness together that does the same? This is here and already has been proven. It's just means changing the mechanics a little. With the new energy that I have told you is here, and the amount of love that is pouring to you that is greater than ever before because of what you're doing, old soul, this is doable for you. More than doable. It awaits manifestation.

What did you come here for? Perhaps there are issues - I know who's here. Perhaps there are issues that you have been working on a long time? Did you know that in the field, for you, they are already corrected and solved? Did you know that some of the situations you're in, which seem untenable, are solved? The "Woe is me, what am I going to do?" is being heard, dear ones, and is correctable. It's such an elegant solution if you want it. It assigns consciousness the role of a homeopathic remedy, like property. Premise: If you expect it, see it, and claim it, it's real. If you cognize it, it belongs to you. It's there. It has your name on it. But nothing is going to happen unless you rise above the fray of an old consciousness that says, "It can't be." Yes, it can!

With this particular group of old souls, dear ones, I tell you you're here for one reason: You're here to hear the science of consciousness. Every single process and every single chart and every single word you're going to hear supports what I just said to you. Don't even begin to separate the spiritual from the scientific. Your studies into the science of the way things work, are the studies of God, who designed it and made it work. Use your consciousness to go to places you haven't been before, whether you like channeling or not. Understand that there is room for the love of God and science as well. So we say for this weekend, until you hear from me tomorrow evening, "Let the science begin!" [Let the conference continue]

And so it is.

KRYON

Related Article:

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

Canada 'seriously concerned' after Saudis order ambassador's expulsion

Yahoo - AFP, August 6, 2018

Saudi activist Samar Badawi (C) with Hillary Clinton (R), then US Secretary of State,
and Michelle Obama in Washington, DC on March 8, 2012 (AFP Photo/Jewel SAMAD)

Ottawa (AFP) - Canada said Monday it is "seriously concerned" after Saudi Arabia announced it is expelling Ottawa's ambassador and recalling its own envoy in protest over "interference" in its internal affairs.

The shock Saudi move, announced by the foreign ministry on Twitter, came in response to Ottawa's vigorous demands that jailed human rights activists be released.

"We are seriously concerned by these media reports and are seeking greater clarity on the recent statement from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia," said Marie-Pier Baril, a Canadian foreign ministry spokeswoman.

"Canada will always stand up for the protection of human rights, very much including women's rights, and freedom of expression around the world. Our government will never hesitate to promote these values and believes that this dialogue is critical to international diplomacy."

The kingdom earlier said it had declared Canadian Ambassador Denis Horak persona non grata and given him 24 hours to leave the country, and that it was recalling its ambassador from Ottawa for consultations.

The ministry also announced "the freezing of all new trade and investment transactions with Canada while retaining its right to take further action."

"The Canadian position is an overt and blatant interference in the internal affairs of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia," the Saudi foreign ministry tweeted.

Canada last week said it was "gravely concerned" over a new wave of arrests of women and human rights campaigners in the kingdom, including award-winning gender rights activist Samar Badawi.

"We urge the Saudi authorities to immediately release them and all other peaceful #humanrights activists," the foreign ministry tweeted on Friday.

Death penalty 'inadmissible' in Catholic teaching update

Yahoo – AFP, 2 August 2018

Francis has long opposed capital punishment, saying in June 2016 that "it doesn't
give justice to victims, but it feeds vengeance" and arguing that the biblical
commandment "thou shall not kill" applies equally to the innocent and the guilty

Pope Francis has declared the death penalty "inadmissible" in an update of Catholic believers' most important guide to Church teaching, the catechism, the Vatican said Thursday.

"The Church teaches, in the light of the Gospel, that 'the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person'," the new text states.

Francis approved the change to the catechism, which covers a wide range of moral and social issues, during a meeting in May with the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Church's doctrinal watchdog.

The update also says the Church will "work with determination" for the abolition of the death penalty worldwide.

"Recourse to the death penalty on the part of legitimate authority, following a fair trial, was long considered an appropriate response to the gravity of certain crimes and an acceptable, albeit extreme, means of safeguarding the common good," the new text says.

"Today, however, there is an increasing awareness that the dignity of the person is not lost even after the commission of very serious crimes."

The Catholic Church has steadily hardened its opposition to capital punishment in recent decades, with Francis's calls for its abolition echoing similar pleas from his predecessors Benedict XVI and John Paul II.

The 1992 text of the catechism says authorities should take appropriate measures in the interest of the common good without excluding the use of the death penalty in extremely grave cases.

More than two-thirds of the world's countrys have abolished or suspended judicial 

killings. The United States is the most developed country where it is still used. Shown 

here in a Texas museum is "Old Sparky", the electric chair discontinued in 1965

'Inhuman remedy'

More recent updates said factors justifying capital punishment have become rare if not practically inexistent.

Francis has long opposed the death penalty, saying that the execution of a human being is fundamentally against the teachings of Christ because, by definition, it excludes the possibility of redemption.

Speaking in October last year, he acknowledged that the Vatican itself had historically had "recourse to the extreme and inhuman remedy" of judicial execution, but said past doctrinal errors should be put aside.

"It doesn't give justice to victims, but it feeds vengeance," he said in June 2016, arguing that the biblical commandment "thou shall not kill" applies to the innocent as well as the guilty.

Francis has also called for an "international consensus" on the abolition of capital punishment.

"Modern society has the ability to punish crimes effectively without definitively taking away the possibility of redemption for those who commit them," he said.

More than two-thirds of the world's countries -- including most predominantly Catholic countries -- have abolished or suspended judicial killings.

Francis has long opposed capital punishment, saying in June 2016 that "it doesn't give justice to victims, but it feeds vengeance" and arguing that the biblical commandment "thou shall not kill" applies equally to the innocent and the guilty

More than two-thirds of the world's countrys have abolished or suspended judicial killings. The United States is the most developed country where it is still used. Shown here in a Texas museum is "Old Sparky", the electric chair discontinued in 1965.