“Study
to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be
ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
(2 Timothy
2:15))
Rightly Dividing
***
***
LIFESITENEWS
Multi-faith committee set up to spread Pope Francis’ claim that God wills ‘diversity of religions’
Dr. Ahmad el-Tayeb, Grand Imam of Al Azhar Al Sharif and Pope Francis visit Sheikh Zayed Mosque on February 4, 2019 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Francois Nel / Getty Images
August 22, 2019
August 22, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – A multi-faith “higher committee” was announced this week to implement the “Human Fraternity” document signed by Pope Francis and a Grand Imam in February that stated, among other things, that a “pluralism and diversity” of religions is “willed by God.”
Prominent members of the committee that has been set up in Abu Dhabi include Pope Francis’ personal secretary Monsignor Yoannis Lahzi Gaid, Bishop Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot, President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, and Judge Mohamed Mahmoud Abdel Salam, Advisor to the Grand Imam.
News of the committee’s formation was announced by Emirates News Agency, the state news agency, on Monday and confirmed by Vatican News, the Holy See’s news website, the following day.
The Committee has been tasked with “developing a framework to ensure the objectives of the global Declaration of Human Fraternity” for World Peace and Living Together are realized.” These objectives include the promotion of the “ideals of tolerance and cooperation,” according to Vatican News. It remains unclear at this point who formed the committee and gave the committee its mission.
Grand Imam of Al Azhar Al Sharif said the formation of the higher committee comes at a time when all peace lovers are required to unite and join the efforts to spread coexistence, brotherhood, and tolerance throughout the world, reported Emirates News Agency in an August 22 report.
The Grand Imam urged the committee members to spread the principles of the “Human Fraternity” document across the world so as to achieve security, coexistence, and peace for everyone, stressing that spreading the principles of the document would contribute to security and stability around the world.
The Declaration has been widely criticized for claiming that a “diversity of religions” is “willed by God,” a statement incompatible with Catholic doctrine. It says: “The pluralism and the diversity of religions, colour, sex, race and language are willed by God in His wisdom, through which He created human beings.”
Critics say this amounts to putting the Catholic faith and its worship of the God of revelation on a same plane with religions that do not worship the true God and deliberate reject Him. It also contradicts the teaching according to which there is no salvation outside of the Catholic Church.
In a direct exchange between Pope Francis and Bishop Athanasius Schneider that took place in March 2019, Pope Francis said that the phrase in question on the diversity of religions meant “the permissive will of God,” giving explicit permission to Bishop Schneider to quote his words.
Following his meeting with Pope Francis, Bishop Schneider told Diane Montagna of LifeSiteNews:
“I tried to go more deeply into the question, at least by quoting the sentence as it reads in the document. The sentence says that as God wills the diversity of sexes, color, race and language, so God wills the diversity of religions. There is an evident comparison between the diversity of religions and the diversity of sexes.
“I mentioned this point to the Holy Father, and he acknowledged that, with this direct comparison, the sentence can be understood erroneously. I stressed in my response to him that the diversity of sexes is not the permissive will of God but is positively willed by God. And the Holy Father acknowledged this and agreed with me that the diversity of the sexes is not a matter of God’s permissive will.
“But when we mention both of these phrases in the same sentence, then the diversity of religions is interpreted as positively willed by God, like the diversity of sexes. The sentence therefore leads to doubt and erroneous interpretations, and so it was my desire, and my request that the Holy Father rectify this. But he said to us bishops: you can say that the phrase in question on the diversity of religions means the permissive will of God.”
This private acknowledgment on the part of Pope Francis was not followed by any public clarification or rectification of the Abu Dhabi Declaration, which as it stands, still contains this troubling assertion that some critics say amounts to material heresy.
Despite this, in mid-March 2019, only a few weeks after Pope Francis’ private conversation with Bishop Schneider, the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue sent out a letter dated February 21, 2019, to Catholic university professors in Rome, asking them to give the Declaration the “widest possible dissemination.”
The letter’s signatory, Bishop Miguel Ayuso Guixot, secretary of the Pontifical Council, asked professors as well as priests and religious active in universities “to facilitate the distribution, the study, and the reception” of the Document.
The creation of a “higher committee” constitutes a further step in the promotion of a gravely problematic document, this time under the form of a joint initiative involving high-ranking members of the Catholic hierarchy and Muslim dignitaries of the prestigious Sunnite university of Al-Azhar in Cairo and others who share its (at least apparent) drive to implement a restructured, relativist type of Islam that also purports to accept a “diversity of religions” as compatible with the will of Allah.
Bishop Miguel Ayuso Guixot, who is now president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Relations, is the higher committee’s most high-ranking Catholic member.
He has a long record of cordial relations with Muslim dignitaries. In January of 2016 – he had not yet been ordained a bishop at the time – Fr. Ayuso Guixot was the only non-Islamic participant at the First Forum of Arab Thinkers in Abu Dhabi on “Interreligious Dialogue and Extremism.” Promoting a “culture of the encounter,” he then encouraged all to pray according to their own traditions.
Also present in the list of members of the new Committee is Monsignor Yoannis Lahzi Gaid, personal secretary of Pope Francis. Mgr Lahzi Gaid is a Coptic Catholic priest who is fluent in Arabic, Italian, French and English and “always on hand,” according to the Emirati press, to translate for the Pope. He was named Second Secretary in April 2014 and was by the Pope’s side during Francis’ visit to the United Arab Emirates last February when the document on Human Fraternity was signed.
Arab members of the Committee include Prof Mohamed Hussein Mahrasawi, President of Al-Azhar University; Judge Mohamed Mahmoud Abdel Salam, Advisor to the Grand Imam; Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of the Department of Culture and Tourism, Abu Dhabi; Dr Sultan Faisal Al Rumaithi, Secretary-General of the Muslim Council of Elders; and Yasser Hareb Al Muhairi, Emirati writer and media personality.
The Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, said that the formation of the committee would “help to implement the shared vision of developing initiatives and ideas to foster tolerance, cooperation and coexistence,” according to the statement published by the Emirates News Agency. “The UAE supports all efforts that promote peace and spread the principles of fraternity and peaceful coexistence worldwide,” he added.
The higher committee has been given a global role, as it will be in charge of preparing “the necessary plans to implement the document,” and will “follow up on its implementation at regional and international levels, and hold meetings with religious leaders, heads of international organizations and others to support and spread the idea behind this historic document.”
The higher committee will also be the authority in charge of supervising the new “House of Abrahamic Family” whose construction was ordered in February by the Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Saadiyat Island in order to commemorate the “historic visit by Pope Francis and Dr. Ahmad Al Tayeb, Grand Imam of Al Azhar, which culminated with the signing of the Abu Dhabi Declaration that heralds a new era in the history of humanity.”
While the Abu Dhabi document declares that religions must “never incite war, hateful attitudes, hostility and extremism, nor must they incite violence or the shedding of blood,” its writers fail to take into account that Islam was imposed through violence, bloodshed and armed conquest, and that the Koran itself, as well as the Hadiths relating the life, deeds and words of the “Prophet” are full of calls to violence towards non-Muslims.
The whole document is also permeated with the masonic vocabulary of “tolerance” and “fraternity” that rests on the idea that all forms of “dogma” or affirmation of a transcendent truth are to be rejected, while religions accept to submit to the principles of the Enlightenment that allow, at best, for the affirmation of a global “spirituality” manifesting itself through a multiplicity of beliefs and traditions.
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BREITBART
Jesuit Chief: No Country Has the Right to Turn Away Migrants
THOMAS D. WILLIAMS, PH.D.
August 24, 2019
ROME — The superior general of the Jesuits declared this week that no country has the right to turn away migrants, claiming the land belongs to everyone.
“The challenge for a country that receives migrants is not only reception, but integration, which means receiving the contribution that immigrants bring,” said Jesuit Father Arturo Sosa Abascal in an interview with Tempi.it.
“They come to make a contribution, which is greater than what they receive from the host country,” he claimed, seemingly without evidence.
“Italians must remember their own experience,” he continued.
“They came to Latin America, including my country of Venezuela, and they were welcomed; they became part of society in the same way as everyone else, and today they are not considered ‘different’,” he said, drawing a somewhat dubious comparison between the largely legal migration of Italians to South America and Europe’s largely unregulated migrant crisis.
“In Europe we must recognize the contribution that migrants make to the societies that receive them and thank them for it,” the Jesuit added.
Then, in one of his more controversial claims, Father Sosa said that nations have no right to enforce their borders because in the end, the land belongs to everyone.
“Those who live in a given territory have no right to turn away migrants,” he said, “because they have no absolute right to that territory. They do not own it; the goods of the land are for everyone.”
“I do not see a conflict of rights — those of migrants and those of those who already live in the place — but the opportunity for a human dialogue to create a universal fraternity through these movements of populations due to various reasons: wars, persecutions, poverty, the search for a better life,” he said.
“Everyone’s rights are the same. The first is to be recognized as human beings equal to all other human beings,” he said.
Turning to the issue of modern political movements, Father Sosa said that populism is dangerous, alleging it is an authoritarian ideology.
“There are various populisms, as well as sovereignisms, that we find within fundamentalism,” he said, “sovereignism” being a term for belief in independent nation-states.
“Populism conceals various forms of authoritarianism under the blanket of the representation of the people. It takes a great deal of political discernment,” he said, adding that it represents an “ideological form.”
“One thing is a political idea, another is an ideology,” he claimed.
(“And he shall do thus in the strong places of refuge with a strange god, and shall increase his glory: and he shall subject many to them, and shall distribute the land in gifts.” Daniel 11:39)
***
cnsnews.com (“They have proclaimed their sin as Sodom, and made it manifest. Isiah 3:9)
Satanic Temple in Ottawa to Hold First Public Black Mass in Canada
By Michael W. Chapman | August 15, 2019 | 12:31 PM EDT
The Satanic Temple in Ottawa plans to hold what apparently will be the first public Black Mass in Canada's history on Aug. 17.
A Black Mass is an inversion and mockery of the Catholic Mass, where the ritual is performed in reverse, from the end to the beginning, and symbolizes the undoing of Christ's sacrifice on the Cross and the undoing of Satan's defeat.
"Essentially, it involves using traditional symbols and inverting them to create a ritual that is meant to be the opposite of the traditional Mass," Nicolas Marc, the national coordinator of the Satanic Temple, told Global News. In a real Black Mass, a consecrated Communion host is used but Marc told LifeSiteNews that in this ritual a consecrated host would not be used.
The event takes place at The Koven, a heavy metal restaurant/bar with a Satanic atmosphere. Admission is $20, or $15 "with a donation of clean socks" for a charity drive. Pre-registration online is required, no photos or videos are allowed at the Black Mass, and the doors open at 10:00 p.m. (As this story was posted, tickets for the Black Mass reportedly were sold out.)
The ceremony is entitled Libertas in Tenebris, or Freedom in Darkness.
"The Black Mass is a sacrilegious ceremony structured in imitation of the Catholic Mass," according to the National Catholic Register. "Invoking Satan, the ritual is centered around the desecration of the Eucharist, which is generally done by stealing a consecrated host from a Catholic church and using it in a profane sexual ritual or defecating and urinating on it."
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SHEPHERDS HEART
5G Radioactive Rape and Electrocution of All Biological Life on Earth
by Celeste B.
August 28, 2019
Today we are going to look at some of the highlights of the deeper agenda of 5G and WifFi. Each of us is being lured by technology to spend increasing amounts of time on our devices. We are told that we can have it all, the virtual world and the natural world. It is a fabricated lie. This technology, by its design, is highly addictive, and people are choosing technology over human and animal relationships, intimacy, and seeing the beauty of God's creation. One presenter brought a moving eloquently compared life in the Garden of Eden where man and woman lived simply enjoying that God had provided to today's society where it is rare to encounter a person who has any interaction with God's creation. We have grown a lust and greed for technology that supersedes our desire to live. We are being herded like sheep to embrace the anti-Christ and beast system with open arms.
CELLULAR MEMORY
5G penetrates down to your mitochondrion, which provides your whole body with energy. It is a fantastic creation and infinitely resilient. Our cellular memory history can restore and heal back to our original germline design creation and can and is by regenerated in Jesus Christ.
THE POWER WITHIN OUR CELLS
Our mitochondria have an electrical field strength of 30 million volts within their structure! This power is in each of our cells. You have 4,000-5,000 of these in each neuron in your body. Then consider that you have billions of neurons in your body. That is a near-infinite amount of energy available to our bodies. Do the math. Fundamentally we are electromagnetic beings. This structure looks like and obeys the principles of a particle accelerator cyclotron like CERN. Our bodies are not merely glucose (sugar) burning machines for they are exquisite. Unfortunately, our diets next year will reduce to kilocalories that will not provide you with the required energy to you to sustain life. At this time, many will follow in the footsteps of other starving humans to consider and engage in cannibalism.
There is an infinite amount of energy and information in space-time, both being inherent in the Light, which is available and accessed by the cells in our body. If you attempt to calculate the amount of energy in your body, it is practically infinite. Our vulnerability lies when 5G and wireless technology disrupt this perfectly balanced system. We are told that we are genetically weak and defective requiring patented chemicals, dependency upon the allopathic profession, and now integration with AI to keep us alive not the Living God, Creator of all.
WAR AGAINST LIFE
5G is a spiritual and a war against conscious life. One presenter, Sayer Ji, took off his Apple SMART watch off and one of the presenters took monitor evaluated it for EMF radiation. The watch came in at four times a building biology allowance! That radiation is penetrating your skin deep into your organs, causing chaos. The 2.4 GHz range is the same power-possibly stronger is what we use in microwave ovens. Your devices are cooking you. Some of our healthy children are dropping dead from heart conditions in schools who had installed high powered WifFi systems. Other children have become severely disabled. When it was determined that it was the WiFi system, the parents petitioned the school board for an alternative safe solution. They were denied and told that the children must be exposed to WifFi, sick, or healthy. The elite does not allow their children to use cell phones and devices at a young age.
WEATHER AND WIFI
Even if you choose not to have WiFi or devices 24,500 low orbiting satellite, creating a 5G grid system, they are bathing the earth and all life with damaging and lethal doses of radiation to all biological life. Five million watts of radiation will be penetrating, abusing, and raping all life on earth. These satellites in the ionosphere will interfere with the electrical circuit of our planet disrupting our weather during a convergence upheaval during cyclical catastrophism, the collapse of the magnetosphere, and high fluxes of galactic and cosmic rays flooding into our atmosphere penetrating your body and the earth. These events are changing our weather patterns as almost all of you can attest. The low orbiting satellites, in addition to their rape of life, allow 24/4 omnipresent surveillance and disrupt weatherman and forecaster are the ability to accurately predict the violent and chaotic weather because those systems are water-based and are disrupted due to the 5G radiation. Weather data is information that you will need to survive the chaotic weather to come.
RIGHT TO KNOW AND INFORMED CONSENT
According to the regulators, you do not have the right-to-know the dangers of 5G. Twenty-four thousand peer-reviewed, scientific studies demonstrate that 5G is harming all life. We live in a biological experiment, but it was determined decades ago during the Asilomar conferences to remove your right to informed consent. Asilomar was a three conference plan to exterminate life on earth:
1975: Biological altar all life on earth
2010: Weaponize weather through integrated Geo-Engineering
2017: Provide humanity a refuge from destruction in AI
WIFI AND 5G WEAPON SYSTEM
5G and WifFi area beam-like weapon system and the powers that be are making war against you because you are living and they want a post-human era. If you wonder if this is true, check out these Air Force Dosimetry Manuals here and here.
YOU MUST TAKE ACTION
You need to begin layering your protections against a radioactive, highly toxic, life-ending force that is accumulating in your body, your family, and your pets. You are not safe to merely be indoors. You must take protective action. It is not the time to stick your head in the sand because 5G is being deployed. Even if you allow permanent life-ending damage to your body but your spiritual life is also on the line. 5G has the potential to entice you to damnation.
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counterpunch
The Biotech-Industrial Complex Gets Ready to Define What is Human
By STUART A. NEWMAN
AUGUST 16, 2019
Fabricating part-human-part-nonhuman animals, with features of both, seemed like something out of Greek mythology until the late 20th century. New research then on “geeps,” fully developed, viable mixtures of goats and sheep, showed that constructing such “chimeras” was a real possibility. Still, the warning by H.G. Wells, a century before, in his novel “The Island of Dr. Moreau,” that scientific experiments like this could go terribly awry, seemed fantastical. But this will soon change. At the end of July, it was reported that the biologist Juan Carlos Izpisúa Belmonte, director of a laboratory at the Salk Institute in California, produced fetal human-monkey chimeras. He did this in collaboration with researchers in China. And this month the Japanese government is expected to give the go-ahead to scientist Hiromitsu Nakauchi, leader of teams at the University of Tokyo and Stanford University in California, to conduct similar experiments with the goal of bringing human-pig chimeras to full term. These novel forms of life will soon be among us.
Dr. Nakauchi acknowledges that the concerns of Wells and later writers like Aldous Huxley, author of “Brave New World” (1932), which similarly envisioned technologically calibrating degrees of humanness, are not farfetched. The art of getting the human cells to the right places in the composite animals is worse than imperfect, as are most manipulations of embryos. Developmental biology is simply not the kind of science that can guide an engineering program. Will the resulting mice and pigs have human consciousness? How this will be ascertained is not clear, but if they do Dr. Nakauchi assures us he will destroy them and stop the experiments.
The newly approved human-animal chimera procedures are just some of a number of scientifically and ethically questionable techniques that are being soft-pedaled and normalized on a daily basis by panels of experts advised by financially motivated bioentrepreneurs. In 1997, I applied for a patent on such part-human creatures. I had no intention of producing a chimera. But as a biologist whose work requires close tracking of the relevant scientific literature, I knew that part-human organisms could eventually be produced and that we were quickly approaching an era of deconstruction, reconfiguration, and commodification of human biology. The public deserved a heads-up.
The announcement of the chimera patent application in 1998 was met with derision and accusations of bad faith by the then U.S. Patent Commissioner, and some biotechnology executives and scientists as well. The chair of genetics at Harvard Medical School, for example, asserted that “[t]he creation of chimeras is an outlandish undertaking. No one is trying to do it at present, certainly not involving human beings.” A little over two decades later, however, a once grotesque development has been normalized and approved by experts.
In fact, there are numerous cases in the past four decades of interested parties playing down individual risk and potential societal impact of medically related procedures while making inflated promises based on the claimed novelty of the same methods. Advocates from the entrepreneurial side will often advertise prospective cures with oversimplifications that attribute undue power and singular action to favored (often patented) genes. From the scientific side there have been corner cutting in qualifying patients for treatments and misleading characterizations of the nature of and uncertainties around techniques to alter prospective humans.
An egregious example was one motivated by the understandable desire to avoid propagation of mitochondrial disease. It involved the renaming of the methods for transferring one woman’s egg cell nucleus (containing about 20,000 genes) into a second woman’s egg, leading to embryos constructed from cells of three persons. What was, essentially, a type of cloning was rebranded as “replacement of mitochondria” (involving only 23 genes). This procedure was sold on these deceptive terms to the people of the U.K., where it was approved and is now under way.
The “CRISPR” gene modification of embryos is the latest development being dealt with by expert panels. They will be the arbiters of when the technologically inevitable will occur. But any dispassionate consideration of the extreme nature of what these methodologies can produce should shake us into a realization that the public needs to be made aware of what is underway and have their voices heard on what will surely change our concept of human identity.
(“And all the sons of men departed from the ways of the Lord in those days as they multiplied upon the face of the earth with sons and daughters, and they taught one another their evil practices and they continued sinning against the Lord.
The sons of men in those days took from the cattle of the earth, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and taught the mixture of animals of one species with the other, in order therewith to provoke the Lord; and God saw the whole earth and it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted its ways upon earth, all men and all animals.
And Noah found grace in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord chose him and his children to raise up seed from them upon the face of the whole earth.
But as the days of Noe [were,] so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” Jashur 4:16,18,21 Matthew 24, 37)
***
npr
Scientists Attempt Controversial Experiment To Edit DNA In Human Sperm Using CRISPR
August 22, 2019
June Wang, a Weill Cornell Medicine lab technician, views a sample of human sperm. She's preparing to try to edit the DNA in the sample with a gene-editing technique called CRISPR.
Elias Williams for NPR
First it was human embryos. Now scientists are trying to develop another way to modify human DNA that can be passed on to future generations, NPR has learned.
Reproductive biologists at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City are attempting to use the powerful gene-editing technique called CRISPR to alter genes in human sperm. NPR got exclusive access to watch the controversial experiments underway.
The research is aimed at finding new ways to prevent disorders caused by genetic mutations that are passed down from men — including some forms of male infertility. The team is starting with a gene that can increase the risk for breast, ovarian, prostate and other cancers.
The experiments are just starting and have not yet been successful. But the research raises many of the same hopes — and fears — as editing the DNA of human embryos. Nevertheless, the researchers defend the work.
"I think it's important from the scientific point of view to investigate in an ethical manner to be able to learn if it's possible," says Gianpiero Palermo, a professor of embryology in obstetrics and gynecology at Weill Cornell Medicine, who runs the lab where the work is being conducted.
During a recent visit to Palermo's Andrology Laboratory at Weill Cornell's Center for Reproductive Medicine, NPR witnessed an experiment attempting to edit a single gene in sperm.
"If we can wipe out a particular gene, it would be incredible," Palermo says. "Theoretically, in principal, this would be a major, major benefit to society."
Other scientists who are not involved in the research agree. One of the main goals is to try to understand and possibly prevent male infertility caused by genetic mutations.
"Male infertility is a very common condition," says Kyle Orwig, a professor in the department of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. "And there are some diseases that are incredibly devastating to families. And for those diseases, for me, if you could get rid of it, why wouldn't you get rid of it?"
But others say editing DNA in sperm raises the same troubling questions as editing DNA in embryos. Would it ever be safe to make babies that way? Would it open the door to someone someday trying to make "designer babies"? Should scientists be trying to tinker with the human gene pool in ways that could affect generations to come?
"It doesn't matter whether you're manipulating the embryo or you're manipulating the sperm," says Françoise Baylis, a bioethicist at Dalhousie University in Canada, who is advising the World Health Organization about gene editing.
"The concern is what kind of world are you creating as you move down the path to start manipulating human genetics. We're on the cusp of prospective parents controlling the genetics of their offspring," says Baylis, who wrote the forthcoming book Altered Inheritance: CRISPR and the Ethics of Human Genome Editing.
CRISPR enables scientists to make very precise changes in DNA. As a result, many scientists say the technique is revolutionizing scientific research. Doctors have already started using it to try to treat diseases, for example.
But a Chinese scientist stunned the world last year when he announced he had used CRISPR to create the world's first genetically modified babies — twin girls whose DNA he edited when they were embryos to try to protect them from AIDS. The announcement was widely condemned as premature, reckless and unethical.
In addition to concerns that such a step may be unsafe for the resulting babies and future generations, critics say this kind of research is unnecessary because there are other ways to prevent most genetic diseases. Editing sperm, eggs or embryos also raises profound philosophical, moral and ethical questions that need to be addressed first.
"There's reason to worry about undertaking the research before we've asked the question properly whether we would ever actually want to use those techniques," says Ben Hurlbut, a bioethicist at Arizona State University in Tempe. "Once those techniques are developed, it becomes much harder to govern them. If you've done the hard work of developing the recipe, someone else can bake the cake."
Theoretically, editing DNA in human sperm could be somewhat safer than editing DNA in human embryos, because in embryos it's possible to inconsistently edit and miss certain cells, whereas in sperm any changes would be present in every cell of any resulting offspring. But the larger questions remain.
"I know that things can get dangerous and things can get kind of out of hand quickly," says June Wang, a lab technician conducting the experiments in New York. "But on the other hand, I think that CRISPR can do so much. It has a lot of potential."
This particular experiment is targeting a gene known as BRCA2. Mutations in this gene can increase the risk for breast, ovarian, prostate and other cancers.
"I have high hopes that we can have a huge impact," Wang says.
During my tour of the facility to watch the experiment getting underway, Wang escorts me into a small windowless research lab, after punching a keypad on a large door.
I watch as Wang and a colleague snap open the latches on a frosty silver canister, pop off the lid and slide out a small vial. It contains 58 million sperm purchased by a woman for in vitro fertilization and then donated for research after she had completed IVF.
The sperm samples are frozen in liquid nitrogen. After carefully thawing and preparing the sperm, Wang puts millions of sperm on a slide under a microscope to make sure they are healthy.
"It looks really good," she concludes after examining the specimen.
The key challenge to editing DNA in human sperm is finding a way to deliver the microscopic CRISPR gene-editing tool to the DNA. The problem is that DNA is packed very tightly inside the head of each sperm, making it difficult to insert the CRISPR tool. That makes many scientists wonder whether it may even be possible.
"I think it will be very difficult to do," says David Albertini, editor of the Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics and a visiting scientist at Rockefeller University in New York City.
Wang and Palermo acknowledge that it will be a challenge, but they remain hopeful.
"Nobody's tried to do CRISPR on sperm before, so we have to try to figure out the right way to do it," Wang says.
A potential solution involves a process known as electroporation, which involves delivering an electrical shock to cells.
"The hope is that the shock will cause the sperm to kind of loosen up a little bit for just a moment," Wang says. "When the cell loosens up, the CRISPR gene-editing tool will hopefully get inside."
Wang carefully fills a vial with sperm and then drips in a solution containing the CRISPR tool, which in this case has been designed to target BRCA2. She then places the mixture inside the electroporation machine, which will deliver an 1,100-volt shock.
"It's kind of a weird concept," Wang acknowledges. "But it works pretty well."
After the sample is in place, Wang presses a button on the machine, which emits a few quiet beeps.
"That is it," she says. "I just zapped all the sperm. Hopefully the CRISPR materials got in there."
She repeats the process two more times and then places the treated sperm samples into an incubator. In 24 hours, she will analyze the samples for any signs the editing worked.
"I'm really hopeful we'll be able to get it. It's just going to be a lot of work, a lot of testing and a long time, just because this hasn't been done before," she says.
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Strange Sounds
Monster Eruption of Shiveluch Volcano Blasts Ash 70,000 Feet in the Sky (Video)
August 27, 2019
Recently, the Kamchatka Peninsula is experiencing an upstick is volcanic activity with the Karymski and Shiveluch volcanoes exploding regularly.
Well, this enhanced activity climaxed over the weekend with a monster Shiveluch volcanic eruption that sent a plume of ash and gas more than 70,000 feet in the sky.
Shivelush volcanic eruption on August 25 2019.
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MailOnline
Italy's Stromboli volcano erupts in 'strong explosion' with lava flows sparking wildfires weeks after another eruption killed a hiker and sent tourists fleeing
The Stromboli volcano, located in southern Italy off the Sicilian coast, erupted in a 'massive' explosion today
It comes after it also erupted in July, releasing hot trapped magma in a powerful explosion that killed a hiker
No casualties or damages were reported, though locals and tourists were both frightened by the explosion
By DANYAL HUSSAIN FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 15:57, 28 August 2019 | UPDATED: 17:07, 28 August 2019
The Stromboli volcano erupted this morning, spewing fiery chunks of lava onto the tiny Italian island and alarming residents and tourist
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FAST COMPANY
Uh-oh: Silicon Valley is building a Chinese-style social credit system
In China, scoring citizens’ behavior is official government policy. U.S. companies are increasingly doing something similar, outside the law.
BY MIKE ELGAN
August 26, 2019
[Images: Rawf8/iStock; zhudifeng/iStock]
Have you heard about China’s social credit system? It’s a technology-enabled, surveillance-based nationwide program designed to nudge citizens toward better behavior. The ultimate goal is to “allow the trustworthy to roam everywhere under heaven while making it hard for the discredited to take a single step,” according to the Chinese government.
In place since 2014, the social credit system is a work in progress that could evolve by next year into a single, nationwide point system for all Chinese citizens, akin to a financial credit score. It aims to punish for transgressions that can include membership in or support for the Falun Gong or Tibetan Buddhism, failure to pay debts, excessive video gaming, criticizing the government, late payments, failing to sweep the sidewalk in front of your store or house, smoking or playing loud music on trains, jaywalking, and other actions deemed illegal or unacceptable by the Chinese government.
It can also award points for charitable donations or even taking one’s own parents to the doctor.
Punishments can be harsh, including bans on leaving the country, using public transportation, checking into hotels, hiring for high-visibility jobs, or acceptance of children to private schools. It can also result in slower internet connections and social stigmatization in the form of registration on a public blacklist.
China’s social credit system has been characterized in one pithy tweet as “authoritarianism, gamified.”
At present, some parts of the social credit system are in force nationwide and others are local and limited (there are 40 or so pilot projects operated by local governments and at least six run by tech giants like Alibaba and Tencent).
Beijing maintains two nationwide lists, called the blacklist and the red list—the former consisting of people who have transgressed, and the latter people who have stayed out of trouble (a “red list” is the Communist version of a white list.) These lists are publicly searchable on a government website called China Credit.
The Chinese government also shares lists with technology platforms. So, for example, if someone criticizes the government on Weibo, their kids might be ineligible for acceptance to an elite school.
Public shaming is also part of China’s social credit system. Pictures of blacklisted people in one city were shown between videos on TikTok in a trial, and the addresses of blacklisted citizens were shown on a map on WeChat.
Some Western press reports imply that the Chinese populace is suffocating in a nationwide Skinner box of oppressive behavioral modification. But some Chinese are unaware that it even exists. And many others actually like the idea. One survey found that 80% of Chinese citizens surveyed either somewhat or strongly approve of social credit system.
IT CAN HAPPEN HERE
Many Westerners are disturbed by what they read about China’s social credit system. But such systems, it turns out, are not unique to China. A parallel system is developing in the United States, in part as the result of Silicon Valley and technology-industry user policies, and in part by surveillance of social media activity by private companies.
Here are some of the elements of America’s growing social credit system.
INSURANCE COMPANIES
The New York State Department of Financial Services announced earlier this year that life insurance companies can base premiums on what they find in your social media posts. That Instagram pic showing you teasing a grizzly bear at Yellowstone with a martini in one hand, a bucket of cheese fries in the other, and a cigarette in your mouth, could cost you. On the other hand, a Facebook post showing you doing yoga might save you money. (Insurance companies have to demonstrate that social media evidence points to risk, and not be based on discrimination of any kind—they can’t use social posts to alter premiums based on race or disability, for example.)
The use of social media is an extension of the lifestyle questions typically asked when applying for life insurance, such as questions about whether you engage in rock climbing or other adventure sports. Saying “no,” but then posting pictures of yourself free-soloing El Capitan, could count as a “yes.”
PATRONSCAN
A company called PatronScan sells three products—kiosk, desktop, and handheld systems—designed to help bar and restaurant owners manage customers. PatronScan is a subsidiary of the Canadian software company Servall Biometrics, and its products are now on sale in the United States, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom.
PatronScan helps spot fake IDs—and troublemakers. When customers arrive at a PatronScan-using bar, their ID is scanned. The company maintains a list of objectionable customers designed to protect venues from people previously removed for “fighting, sexual assault, drugs, theft, and other bad behavior,” according to its website. A “public” list is shared among all PatronScan customers. So someone who’s banned by one bar in the U.S. is potentially banned by all the bars in the U.S., the U.K., and Canada that use the PatronScan system for up to a year. (PatronScan Australia keeps a separate system.)
Judgment about what kind of behavior qualifies for inclusion on a PatronScan list is up to the bar owners and managers. Individual bar owners can ignore the ban, if they like. Data on non-offending customers is deleted in 90 days or less. Also: PatronScan enables bars to keep a “private” list that is not shared with other bars, but on which bad customers can be kept for up to five years.
PatronScan does have an “appeals” process, but it’s up to the company to grant or deny those appeals.
UBER AND AIRBNB
Thanks to the sharing economy, the options for travel have been extended far beyond taxis and hotels. Uber and Airbnb are leaders in providing transportation and accommodation for travelers. But there are many similar ride-sharing and peer-to-peer accommodations companies providing similar services.
Airbnb—a major provider of travel accommodation and tourist activities—bragged in March that it now has more than 6 million listings in its system. That’s why a ban from Airbnb can limit travel options.
Airbnb can disable your account for life for any reason it chooses, and it reserves the right to not tell you the reason. The company’s canned message includes the assertion that “This decision is irreversible and will affect any duplicated or future accounts. Please understand that we are not obligated to provide an explanation for the action taken against your account.” The ban can be based on something the host privately tells Airbnb about something they believe you did while staying at their property. Airbnb’s competitors have similar policies.
It’s now easy to get banned by Uber, too. Whenever you get out of the car after an Uber ride, the app invites you to rate the driver. What many passengers don’t know is that the driver now also gets an invitation to rate you. Under a new policy announced in May: If your average rating is “significantly below average,” Uber will ban you from the service.
You can be banned from communications apps, too. For example, you can be banned on WhatsApp if too many other users block you. You can also get banned for sending spam, threatening messages, trying to hack or reverse-engineer the WhatsApp app, or using the service with an unauthorized app.
WhatsApp is small potatoes in the United States. But in much of the world, it’s the main form of electronic communication. Not being allowed to use WhatsApp in some countries is as punishing as not being allowed to use the telephone system in America.
WHAT’S WRONG WITH SOCIAL CREDIT, ANYWAY?
Nobody likes antisocial, violent, rude, unhealthy, reckless, selfish, or deadbeat behavior. What’s wrong with using new technology to encourage everyone to behave?
The most disturbing attribute of a social credit system is not that it’s invasive, but that it’s extralegal. Crimes are punished outside the legal system, which means no presumption of innocence, no legal representation, no judge, no jury, and often no appeal. In other words, it’s an alternative legal system where the accused have fewer rights.
Social credit systems are an end-run around the pesky complications of the legal system. Unlike China’s government policy, the social credit system emerging in the U.S. is enforced by private companies. If the public objects to how these laws are enforced, it can’t elect new rule-makers.
An increasing number of societal “privileges” related to transportation, accommodations, communications, and the rates we pay for services (like insurance) are either controlled by technology companies or affected by how we use technology services. And Silicon Valley’s rules for being allowed to use their services are getting stricter.
If current trends hold, it’s possible that in the future a majority of misdemeanors and even some felonies will be punished not by Washington, D.C., but by Silicon Valley. It’s a slippery slope away from democracy and toward corporatocracy.
In other words, in the future, law enforcement may be determined less by the Constitution and legal code, and more by end-user license agreements.
***
NATURAL NEWS
Google threatens former employee with FBI agents in attempt to SILENCE whistleblower
By Ethan Huff
August 20, 2019
Natural News) Another former Google employee has bravely come forward to tell all about what he witnessed and experienced while working for this evil tech corporation, which has so deviated from its original “Don’t Be Evil” mission statement that it now sends FBI agents to intimidate employees who fail or refuse to tow the new status quo.
According to Zachary Vorhies, who says a giant “burden (has been) lifted off of my soul” since he became a whistleblower, Google put him in the crosshairs after learning that he had anonymously leaked internal company documents to Project Veritas, which has been publishing bombshell information about all of the fraud, corruption, manipulation, and political meddling that’s taking place at Google.
In an on-the-record interview, Vorhies explained that the final straw for him was when Google decided to sic law enforcement on him under the guise of performing a “wellness check.” Similar to what consumer healthcare technology company Theranos did to one of its whistleblowers, Google went after Vorhies with a vengeance, ultimately driving him out of the company.
“I gave the documents to Project Veritas; I had been collecting the documents for over a year,” Vorhies stated during the interview.
“And the reason why I collected these documents was because I saw something dark and nefarious going on with the company and I realized that they were going to not only tamper with the elections, but use that tampering with the elections to essentially overthrow the United States.”
Similar to the mafia, Google issued a list of “demands” to Vorhies as punishment for telling the truth
As it turns out, Vorhies was instrumental in leaking the “algorithmic unfairness” documents that have since gone viral via Project Veritas, exposing Google as a biased, leftist entity pretending to be a neutral “search engine.”
“These documents were available to every single employee within the company that was full-time,” Vorhies stated about how it all came to fruition. “And so, as a full-time employee at the company, I just searched for some keywords and these documents started to pop up.”
“And so once I started finding one document and started finding keywords for other documents and I would enter that in and continue this cycle until I had a treasure trove and archive of documents that clearly spelled out the system, what they’re attempting to do in very clear language,” he went on to explain.
Not long after these leaks started to go mainstream, Vorhies received a letter from Google that contained a list of “demands.” Much like the mafia, Google ordered Vorhies to comply with its requests, which he did. But he also sent these same documents to the Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division, which has since begun to get the ball rolling at the federal level to hold Google accountable for its many crimes.
In response, Vorhies says law enforcement began showing up at his home and essentially terrorizing him as some type of criminal – all because he dared to go up against the world’s most evil, and perhaps most powerful, tech corporation.
“They got inside the gate, the police, and they started banging on my door,” Vorhies told Project Veritas about how Google retaliates against employees who cross the company in any way.
“And so the police decided that they were going to call in additional forces. They called in the FBI, they called in the SWAT team. And they called in a bomb squad … This is a large way in which [Google tries to] intimidate their employees that go rogue on the company.”
Be sure to read the full details of Vorhies’ interview with Project Veritas at the Project Veritas website.
Sources for this article include:
ProjectVeritas.com
NaturalNews.com
NaturalNews.com
***
The Economic Collapse
Preparing For A Financial Apocalypse: Insiders Are Selling “$600 Million Of Stock Per Day In August”
by Michael Snyder
August 26, 2019
In the U.S., corporate insiders have been selling stocks at an average rate of 600 million dollars per day during the month of August. This kind of wild selling indicates that there is a tremendous amount of fear among corporate insiders right now, and such selling would only make sense if a stock market crash is imminent. And without a doubt, we have already seen volatility return to Wall Street in a major way as our trade war with China has dramatically escalated. Many Americans are hoping that things will start to calm down and that our trade conflict with China can be resolved calmly, because if things take a bad turn many analysts are warning that we could soon be facing the worst financial crisis since 2008. Here is one example…
Remember the brutal sell-off last year when stocks suffered their worst December since the Great Depression? Something worse than that could happen in days, a Nomura analyst said.
Macro and quant strategist Masanari Takada turned heads earlier this month with his bold call for a “Lehman-like” plunge. He’s sticking with this prediction as market sentiment shows no signs of improving, leading him to believe a monster sell-off could arrive this week.
With chilling forecasts like that being thrown around on a regular basis these days, it is understandable that corporate insiders would be tempted to get out of the market, and right now they are racing for the exits at a pace that is absolutely breathtaking. The following comes from CNN…
Corporate insiders have sold an average of $600 million of stock per day in August, according to TrimTabs Investment Research, which tracks stock market liquidity.
August is on track to be the fifth month of the year in which insider selling tops $10 billion. The only other times that has happened was 2006 and 2007, the period before the last bear market in stocks, TrimTabs said.
In other words, the last time we saw corporate insiders dump stocks like this was just before the last financial crisis.
Clearly, many among the elite are preparing for the worst. They can see financial disaster looming on the horizon, and they are getting out of the market while the getting is still good.
On the other hand, there are multitudes of Americans out there that are completely convinced that President Trump will be able to successfully navigate us through any storms that may be ahead.
When Barack Obama was in the White House, national interest in prepping soared to all-time highs, but since Trump entered the White House things have completely reversed. The following comes from Business Insider…
But since President Trump took office in 2016, prepping has taken a dive nationwide. There are fewer prepper conventions held across the US, and several prepper business owners who spoke with Business Insider (as well as Mills), say the prepping community is not as active as it was three years ago. It’s an indication of how Trump relieves many of the worst fears of his voters, including conservative preppers.
“It definitely seems to be cycling with the White House,” prepper and inventor Mikhail Merkurieff, who builds and sells prepping and camping tools including stoves, cooking utensils, and portable shelters, told Business Insider.
With a Republican in the White House, many conservatives simply do not see any reason to prep anymore, and so things are completely different than they were about four or five years ago. Many former preppers seem to believe that having Trump in the Oval Office means that “we don’t have to worry about anything”…
Rick Austin, who organizes a popular “Prepper Camp” in the hills of North Carolina every year, which is attended by roughly 1,400 worst-case-scenario preparers hoping to beef up their skills, also noted a downturn.
“Businesses are down because people have kind of gone, ‘Oh, you know, Trump’s in office, we don’t have to worry about anything,'” he said while milking his goats from an “undisclosed location” in the Appalachian Mountains.
So we are witnessing something extremely strange right now.
Corporate insiders and the Wall Street elite are feverishly preparing as if a “perfect storm” was about to strike, but meanwhile millions upon millions of hardcore conservatives feel completely relaxed because they feel like Trump has everything under control.
And President Trump did cause quite a turnaround in the financial markets on Monday when he told the press that China had called and had requested a return to the negotiating table…
“China called last night our top trade people and said. ‘Let’s get back to the table,’ so we will be getting back to the table and I think they want to do something. They have been hurt very badly but they understand this is the right thing to do and I have great respect for it. This is a very positive development for the world,” Trump said.
Subsequently, however, the Chinese denied that such a call had taken place…
In Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said he was not aware that a phone call between the two sides had taken place. And Hu Xijin, editor-in-chief of Chinese state-run newspaper the Global Times, denied that negotiators had held the phone calls Trump described.
“China didn’t change its position. China won’t cave to U.S. pressure,” said Hu, who is widely seen as a mouthpiece for Beijing’s messaging.
We shall see where things go from here.
It would certainly be a step in the right direction if the two sides start talking again, and the Chinese have definitely expressed a desire to avoid any further escalations…
In response, Chinese Vice Premier Liu He told a state-controlled newspaper on Monday that “China is willing to resolve its trade dispute with the United States through calm negotiations and resolutely opposes the escalation of the conflict,” Reuters first reported, citing a transcript of his remarks provided by the Chinese government. Liu is China’s top trade negotiator.
Speaking at a technology conference in China, Liu added: “We believe that the escalation of the trade war is not beneficial for China, the United States, nor to the interests of the people of the world.”
But with a presidential election looming about a year away, the Chinese are simply not going to accept any deal that is appreciably different from what they expect that they could get from Joe Biden or Elizabeth Warren.
And it is also very unlikely that President Trump will cave in and give the Chinese what they want. So ultimately we will see episodes of hope on Wall Street on the days when it looks like the two sides may start talking again, but there won’t be a deal any time soon.
Many people believe that we are living during one of the most critical moments in U.S. history, and we haven’t seen this sort of fear in the financial markets in a long time.
At this moment, corporate insiders are dumping stocks as if “the everything bubble” was about to burst in a major way. And if those corporate insiders are correct, millions upon millions of other Americans will be completely and utterly unprepared for what is about to happen.
***
(Start at the 52:12 mark.)
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RT
World’s 1st crypto banks get licenses in Switzerland
Published time: 29 Aug, 2019 11:13
The logo of Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA. File photo © Reuters /Ruben Sprich
The Swiss financial regulator has granted capital market and securities dealer licenses to two blockchain companies, set to become the world’s first crypto banks.
The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) has issued licenses to Zug-based SEBA Crypto AG and Zurich-headquartered Sygnum AG earlier this week, making them the first companies registered in Switzerland as broker-dealers with a blockchain focus. The companies will be able to issue, store, trade, and manage digital assets – namely bitcoin and ethereum – as well as convert fiat currencies such as Swiss francs, US dollars, and euros into the two cryptocurrencies.
They also plan to offer their investors custody, brokerage and tokenization services for their digital assets. Both companies, however, have yet to fulfil certain “secondary criteria” demanded by FINMA to become fully-operational Swiss banks. These criteria have not been disclosed to the public.
“We have been approached over the past few months by many parties who hold a lot of cryptocurrencies and look for a fully regulated bank. One of their biggest challenges is to find banking specialists to connect them to the real world, to pay their taxes, their employees’ salary,” Sygnum co-founder Mathias Imbach told Bloomberg, explaining the motivation for establishing a crypto bank. Sygnum, which is also headquartered in Singapore, now plans to apply for a banking license in the island nation as well.
“Being awarded the banking and securities dealer license from FINMA is a significant milestone, and an important step towards the institutionalization of the digital asset economy,” Manuel Krieger, CEO of Sygnum Switzerland said, as cited by Swissinfo.
In a separate move, FINMA, which oversees Switzerland’s financial system, this week issued new guidance on anti-money laundering (AML) requirements for blockchain-based companies, banning FINMA-supervised companies from dealing with unverified clients. In the guidance published on its website, the regulator stated that: “…Institutions supervised by FINMA […] send cryptocurrencies or other tokens to external wallets belonging to their own customers whose identity has already been verified and are only allowed to receive cryptocurrencies or tokens from such customers. [They] are thus not permitted to receive tokens from customers of other institutions or to send tokens to such customers.”
FINMA added that it will not allow the passing of tokens from unregulated wallets and will demand AML information for all parties.
***
MailOnline
Defiant Boris Johnson throws down the gauntlet to 'rabble alliance' after asking Queen to suspend Parliament in dramatic move - as Remainers say they WILL launch plot to stop No Deal next week
Boris Johnson will suspend Parliament until October 14 when a new Queen's Speech will take place
The Prime Minister proposed his plan to the Queen this morning and it was formally approved this afternoon
Jacob Rees-Mogg, Commons Leader, flew to Balmoral in Scotland to present plan to monarch in person
Move means the House of Commons will be suspended at some point in the week beginning September 9
Proroguing Parliament will reduce the amount of time available for MPs to try to stop No Deal Brexit
Mr Johnson's decision increases the possibility of Jeremy Corbyn calling a no confidence vote next week
In the aftermath it emerged Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson will announce tomorrow she will step down
Corbyn demanded a meeting with the Queen and Speaker John Bercow called it a 'constitutional outrage'
By JACK MAIDMENT, DEPUTY POLITICAL EDITOR and JOEL ADAMS FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 15:32, 28 August 2019 | UPDATED: 02:28, 29 August 2019
Demonstrators waving EU flags and shouting 'stop the coup' brought traffic to a standstill in central London this evening
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RT
Brexit has opened old wounds in Ireland — and anti-British sentiment is back
Published time: 23 Aug, 2019 08:23 Edited time: 23 Aug, 2019 12:56
File photo © REUTERS / Cathal McNaughton
Anti-British sentiment in Ireland was never healed completely, but in the twenty years since the peace process and the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, it had sunk so low as to be almost negligible. Then came Brexit.
Britain’s decision to ditch the European Union and strike out alone has unleashed what feels like a new wave of anti-British sentiment on this island. The same is true in reverse. Anti-Irish feeling appears to be on the rise in Britain, too — and how could it not be? The Brexit dilemma, with which the Irish are inextricably entwined, have dominated the British (and to a lesser extent, Irish) national psyches for three years.
Growing up in Dublin post-northern Troubles, you were seen as almost a bit odd if you still harbored outright bad feeling toward the Brits. Now, it’s not a bit odd to hear people complain about the “audacity” of the British, to the effect of: “The cheek of them, who do they think they are?”
There are no cold hard numbers demonstrating in statistical terms this rising animosity between the inhabitants of these isles — but it’s the kind of thing you can see and feel in society; on front page headlines and in daily interactions, on and offline. It’s there, bubbling away. If a wound is deep enough, it doesn’t take much to crack it open again.
For many Britons, Ireland is viewed as a post-colonial upstart that should know its place. Indeed, Ireland should “know its place” were reportedly the exact words used by one anonymous Tory, quoted by the BBC last year — a comment which had hackles raised in Dublin.
On the other hand, for many Irish, Britain is viewed as the erstwhile colonizer, quick to resort to bullying to get what it wants (or current colonizer, depending on how nationalistic one is about the northern six counties).
The Irish Times recently asked Irish expats living in Britain if they had noticed any rise in anti-Irish sentiment. While some said no, many noted an uptick. One woman, who has taken the decision to relocate back to Ireland, told the newspaper it felt like being “back in the late 1980s” when being abused for your Irishness was “commonplace” in Britain.
These anecdotes are not surprising, coming as they do at a time when an undercurrent of anti-Irish feeling has been running through the pages of Britain’s right-wing media and Brexit hardliners have been spewing all sorts of ahistorical nonsense into the mainstream.
When Tory MP Priti Patel (now home secretary) pondered using the specter of food shortages in Ireland as leverage to force Dublin to concede on the issue of the backstop, it brought forth a kind of dormant Irish rage. Twitter was teeming with comments about the Great Famine of the 1840s for days.
Things only got worse when Northern Ireland’s former and notoriously inept Secretary of State claimed killings of Irish Catholics by British soldiers during the Troubles were "not crimes.”
Before that, we had David Davis (it seems like a lifetime ago that he was in charge of Brexit, doesn’t it?) referring to the “internal border” with “southern Ireland” — implying that somehow the Republic belonged to London.
Let’s not forget Brexit Party MEP Ann Widdecombe, who had the nerve to compare Britain’s exit from the EU to "oppressed" peoples and "slaves" rising up against their masters and colonizers.
Comments from Irish politicians have taken on a surprisingly sharp tone in response to all this. This week, deputy PM Simon Coveney warned that Ireland would not be “steam-rolled” or bound by “red lines” drawn by any British prime minister.
In the fantasy version of events, our relationship with Britain had healed through deep reconciliation and true understanding of our shared traumatic history. The real version is somewhat different: With the passage of time and a few grand gestures, we essentially decided to sweep the past under the rug.
Brexit swiped that rug right out from under everyone.
None of this is by any means to suggest that all Britons feel this way about Ireland or lack an understanding of the past. It is also not to suggest that many in Ireland don’t understand some of the legitimate grievances that the British had with Brussels which contributed to their decision to leave the EU. Many of us, this writer included, do.
Brexit has undoubtedly done damage to British-Irish relationship, but frustrated as one might be in times of uncertainty, it’s best to resist any temptation to tar all with the same brush. The worst of the nastiness, as always, is perpetuated by hardliners on both sides.
It might seem endless, but at some point in the future this Brexit debacle will be in the rearview mirror — and we’ll need to dust it off and carry on.
By Danielle Ryan
CHRISMANEWS
Christian Olympic Gold Medalist Simone Biles Makes History With 'Hardest Move in the World'
By Jenny Rose Spaudo
August 13, 2019
Simone Biles (YouTube/NBC Sports)
Christian gymnast Simone Biles won gold in the 2016 Olympics, and she continues to shatter records.
During the U.S. Gymnastics Championships, Biles became the first woman to hit a triple double. Her double back flip with three twists is "the hardest move in the world," Biles tells The New York Times.
She also became the first person to do a double-twisting, double somersault dismount off the balance beam.
Her impressive performance won her a gold medal for the floor, vault and beam during the championships.
NBC Sports tweeted a video of the incredible moment:
Two years ago, Biles competed on Dancing With the Stars and chose to waltz to Chris Tomlin's worship song "Good, Good Father."
Biles was adopted by her grandparents in 2000 because her mother was addicted to drugs. Her powerful waltz and testimony went viral on YouTube.
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Until
next week...keep on believing.
Almondtree Productions
“These
that have turned the world upside down are come hither also.”
(Acts 17:6)