“Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.”
(Romans 11:5)

There Is A Remnant

Dear Friends,

Greetings! What's next? It almost seems that there isn't enough space and time for all the crisis that are happening in the world today. Well, we knew there was a time of trouble coming such as was not since the beginning of the world. However, God's grace is sufficient. His strength is made perfect in weakness.

We are presenting a very interesting article this week called “Karaite Judaism”. If you read and study this article and do additional research on the topic yourself you may be surprised at how it helps to understand Jesus' conflict concerning the Pharisees, then and now.

Here is an interesting quote from Abraham Collier.

“When one studies the Second Temple Era, they are usually overwhelmed by the contradictions, obscurities, and blatant bias that many historians, philosophers, clergymen and rabbis had towards the Jews at that time. Josephus, he is probably the best source for knowledge of this period, states: "...while some men who were not concerned in the affairs themselves have gotten together vain and contradictory stories by hearsay, and have written them down after a sophistical manner; and while those that were there present have given false accounts of things, and this either out of a humor of flattery to the Romans, or of hatred towards the Jews..." (Josephus War. Preface 1 Ch Line 2)

People should take established legend and tradition with a grain of salt. For whosoever is the victor writes the history of the victim!

Contrary to popular opinion, the Pharisee sect was the main enemy of Judaism in the Second Temple era. The Sadducees comprised the majority of all Jews. Additionally, there was a tiny Hellenistic Sadducee sect that controlled the priesthood and conspired with the Pharisees. The Pharisees and Hellenistic Sadducees also collaborated with the Roman Empire in order to obtain religious and political power over the Jews in Palestine at the time.

Regarding the Pharisees, the historian Josephus, himself a Pharisee, stated, 'What I would now explain is this, that the Pharisees have delivered to the people a great many observances by succession from their fathers (not by Yahweh, but by men), which are not written in the laws of Moses; and for that reason it is that the Sadducees reject them, and say that we are to esteem those observances to be obligatory which are in the written word, but are not to observe what are derived from the tradition of our forefathers.' (Josephus Ant. 13 Ch. 10 Par. 6)

Have a great week ahead.

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MailOnline
Shock new bestseller in Norway is... the BIBLE! Secular nation turns to religious reading

New Norwegian translation of the Scriptures sold 120,000 copies in a year

It even overtook popular erotic novel Fifty Shades Of Grey by EL James

Academics cite increased immigration for renewed interest in Christianity

PUBLISHED: 11:58 EST, 7 June 2013 | UPDATED: 02:44 EST, 8 June 2013

A sudden burst of interest in God's word has meant that the Bible has become a best-seller in Norway, overtaking Fifty Shades Of Grey.

In a surprising move in what is one of the most secular nations in Europe, a new Norwegian language version of the Scriptures has become the country's best-selling book.

The country's fascination with God's message has also spread to the stage, with a six-hour play called 'Bibelen,' Norwegian for 'the Bible,' drawing crowds of 16,000 in a three-month run that recently ended at one of Oslo's most prominent theatres.

A new translation of the Bible is now Norway's best-selling book, having overtaken Fifty Shades Of Grey

Officials of the Lutheran Church of Norway say they see the new-found interest in the Bible as proof that it still resonates in a country where only one per cent of the 5m residents regularly attends church.

Author Karl Ove Knausgaard, who helped with the new translation, said the Bible was just as relevant to us today.

He said: 'Thoughts and images from the Bible still have an impact on how we experience reality.'

Norwegian academics said no-one should be surprised by the success of the new edition of the Bible in a nation of taciturn Scandinavians who like to withdraw from city life and spend holidays in remote solitude in the mountains, fjords and forests.

Thorgeir Kolshus, a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Oslo, said: 'Church attendance is a poor measure of the Norwegian state of faith.

'Religion is a very private thing for Norwegians.'

Academics say Norwegians, who enjoy holidays in solitude in the mountains, enjoy contemplative reading

Anne Veiteberg, publishing director of Norway's Bible Society, said increased immigration had probably also been a factor.

More than 258,000 immigrants have settled in the country during the last six years alone, and the Church of Norway estimates that around 60 percent of immigrants are Christian, with the rest Muslim, Buddhist or Hindu.

She said: 'Now that we're exposed to other faiths, Norwegians have gotten more interested in their own faith.'

Released in October 2011 by the Norwegian Bible Society, the new translation replaces a 1978 edition, with the goal of improving readability and accuracy. For example, in the older version, Mary was called a 'virgin.'

In the new translation she is referred to instead as a 'young' woman.

Norway's Bible Society promoted the new translation like a pop fiction novel, stirring anticipation by giving out teasers of biblical stories before its release.

It turned to poets and authors such as Knausgard to make the text sing for a new generation, and packaged it to appeal to various age groups, targeting teenagers with pink leather or denim covers, and adults with more sophisticated covers.

Helga Haugland Byfuglien, presiding bishop for the Church of Norway, said the new version was easier to read.

She said.  'There is no over-interpretation of the text.'

It has sold nearly 160,000 copies and was Norway's best-selling book in 2012, despite increasing secularisation as Norwegians have concentrated on other pursuits than religion.

They skiing, hiking and other outdoor activities, leaving little time other than Christmas or Easter to fill the pews.

Last year, Parliament unanimously decided to end the Lutheran church's status as the official state religion.

But Erik Ulfsby, artistic director at Det Norske Teatret, which staged the 'Bibelen' play, said that even if Norwegians didn't go to church, they still saw the Bible as an important part of their literary heritage.

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Arutz Sheva

PA Arabs Fete 'New Mahdi," Establishment of Calpihate

Thousands of PA Arabs participated in a mass rally in Ramallah earlier this week calling for the establishment of the Muslim Caliphate

By David Lev

First Publish: 6/5/2013,

Thousands of PA Arabs participated in a mass rally in Ramallah earlier this week calling for the establishment of the Muslim Caliphate - the worldwide Islamist government that will "bring the coming of the Mahdi." the Muslim messiah.

The Caliphate is essentially a union of Muslim countries under the spiritual and political leadership of a single individual, the Caliph. It has been an Islamic concept since the days of Muhammad, when it was established by several of his disciples. The office of "official Caliph" has been disputed at times, with rival would-be Caliphs battling each other for the title.

The last official Caliph was Abdülmecid II, who lost the office in the aftermath of the defeat of Ottoman Turkey in World War I. The best-known Caliph in the West was Suleiman the Great, an early Ottoman sultan who, in the 16th  century, conquered most of the Middle East and the Persian Gulf, even conquering parts of Europe, until he was stopped at "the Gates of Vienna."

With many Muslim states politically and religiously divided, and dependent on the West for support, radical Islamists have been pushing for the reestablishment of the Caliphate - this time to be led by the all-powerful Mahdi, who will unite all Muslims and establish Islam as the dominant religion in the world, ruling for several years before the "Day of Judgment". Although the identity of the Mahdi is a secret, many Islamists believe that he is alive now, and several individuals have claimed the title. Many Islamists were said to have believed that Osama Bin-Laden was the Mahdi, or his right-hand man, until he was killed several years ago by U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

The Ramallah rally included many students from Bir-Zeit University, the PA's most prestigious university located north of Jerusalem and a major recipient of economic funding from the EU and the United States. Marchers gathered at a large mosque in El Bireh, a suburb of Ramallah, and marched to Manara Square, a large gathering place in central Ramallah. Speakers at the rally urged believers to "have faith" in the future, to give up their Western ways, and to do more to fulfill the tenets of Islam.

The rally was sponsored by Ḥizb at-Taḥrir (Party of Liberation), which has its own Mahdi candidate - organization leader Ata Abu Rashta, born in Mandatory Palestine and a long-time resident of a refugee camp near Hevron. Speakers at the rally said that Abu Rashta, as Mahdi, would unify Muslims and establish Sharia law in countries around the world. In addition, the speakers called for unity among all Muslims in order to ensure "victory in Syria," the "liberation of Palestine from the hated Jews," and the "freeing of mankind from the chains of capitalism."

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Karaite Judaism (Edited from longer article.)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Karaism is a Jewish movement characterized by the recognition of the Tanakh [The Tanakh is a name used in Judaism for the canon of the Hebrew Bible] alone as its supreme legal authority in Halakha (Jewish religious law) and theology. It is distinct from mainstream Rabbinic Judaism, which considers the Oral Torah, the legal decisions of the Sanhedrin as codified in the Talmud, and subsequent works to be authoritative interpretations of the Torah. Karaites maintain that all of the divine commandments handed down to Moses by God were recorded in the written Torah, without additional Oral Law or explanation. As a result, Karaite Jews do not accept as binding the written collections of the oral tradition in the Mishnah or Talmud.

When interpreting the Tanakh, Karaites strive to adhere to the plain or most obvious meaning of the text; this is not necessarily the literal meaning, but rather the meaning that would have been naturally understood by the ancient Israelites when the books of the Tanakh were first written. In contrast, Rabbinic Judaism relies on the legal rulings of the Sanhedrin as they are codified in the Mishnah, Talmud, and other sources to indicate the authentic meaning of the Torah. Karaite Judaism holds every interpretation of the Tanakh to the same scrutiny regardless of its source, and teaches that it is the personal responsibility of every individual Jew to study the Torah, and ultimately decide for themselves its correct meaning. Therefore, Karaites may consider arguments made in the Talmud and other works without exalting them above other viewpoints.

According to Rabbi Avraham ben David, in his Sefer HaQabbalah, the Karaite movement crystallized in Baghdad in the Gaonic period (circa 7th - 9th centuries CE), under the Abbasid Caliphate in what is present-day Iraq. This is the view universally accepted among Rabbinic Jews. However, the claim has been made that Karaites were already living in Egypt in the first half of the 7th century, the evidence consisting of a legal document that the Karaite community in Egypt had in its possession until the end of the 19th century, which was said to be stamped by the palm of 'Amr ibn al-'As, the first Islamic governor of Egypt, in which he ordered the leaders of the Rabbanite community not to interfere in the way of life of the Karaites nor with the way they celebrate their holidays. This document was reported to be dated 20 AH (641 CE).

Karaites have always maintained that, while there are some similarities to the Sadducees, there are also differences, and that the ancestors of the Karaites were another group called Benei á¹¢edeq during the Second Temple period.

Karaites were at one time a significant proportion of the Jewish population.Today there is a range of estimates from about 30,000 Karaites with about 25,000 of those in Israel to only 7,000 in Israel though one estimate has had as many as 50,000 Karaites worldwide, over 40,000 of whom have made aliyah (emigrated to Israel) from Arab countries such as Egypt and Iraq.

Origins

Arguments among Jewish sects regarding the validity of the Oral Law can be dated back to the 1st and 2nd centuries BCE. Accordingly, some scholars trace the origin of Karaism to those who rejected the Talmudic tradition as an innovation.

"In the times of John Hyrcanus, and Alexander Janneus his son, sprung up the sect: of the Karaites, in opposition to the Pharisees, who had introduced traditions, and set up the oral law, which these men rejected.

Some claim that Karaism is the original form of Judaism and rabbinic Judaism branched off from it.

9th century

Anan Ben David (c. 715  - 795 or 811?) is widely considered to be a major founder of the Karaite movement. His followers were called Ananites and, like modern Karaites, did not believe the Rabbinic Jewish oral law was divinely inspired.

The Golden Age

In the "Golden Age of Karaism" (900 - 1100) a large number of Karaite works were produced in all parts of the Muslim world. Karaite Jews were able to obtain autonomy from Rabbanite Judaism in the Muslim world and establish their own institutions. Karaites in the Muslim world also obtained high social positions such as tax collectors, doctors, and clerks, and even received special positions in the Egyptian courts.

According to historian Salo Wittmayer Baron, at one time the number of Jews affiliating with Karaism comprised as much as 40 percent of world Jewry, and debates between Rabbanite and Karaite leaders were not uncommon.

Most notable among the opposition to Karaite thought and practice at this time are the writings of Rabbi Saadia Gaon, which eventually led to a permanent split between some Karaite and Rabbanite communities.

The Karaites were and have always been a part of the Jewish people, prayer was in Hebrew, the lineage of Kohanim, Levites, and families of Davidic descent were meticulously preserved, books printed in Hebrew adamantly stated that the Karaites were Jews.

USSR

After the Bolshevik Revolution, atheism became official state policy and Karaite religious schools and places of worship were the very first religious institutions closed by the Soviet government. After that the only information about the Karaites that was allowed to be taught were the Szapszalian doctrines, and the official definition according to Russian law (carried over from Tsarist law) was the erroneous one that the Karaimi were the Turkic descendants of the Khazars and not Jews. Not all European Karaites accepted the Szapszalian doctrines. Some Hakhamim and a small part of the general Karaite population still preserved their Jewish heritage, but most dared not oppose Szapszal openly due to his official standing vis-à-vis the Soviet government.

Beliefs

Karaites believe they observe the original form of Judaism, as prescribed by God in the Tanakh, and do not accept what they consider to be later additions such as the Oral Law of Rabbinic Judaism. They place the ultimate responsibility of interpreting the Tanakh on each individual. Karaism does not reject Biblical interpretation but rather holds every interpretation up to the same objective scrutiny regardless of its source.

Karaites believe in an eternal, one, and incorporeal God, Creator of Universe, who gave the Tanakh to humankind, through Moses and the Prophets. Karaites trust in Divine providence and the majority hope for the coming of the Messiah.

Views on the Mishnah

Karaites do not accept the existence of an Oral Law because:

1. The Mishnah quotes many conflicting opinions.

2. The Mishnah does not go on to say in which opinion the truth lies. Rather, the Mishnah sometimes agrees with neither one nor the other, contradicting both.

3. They argue that the truth of the oral law given to Moses could only be in one opinion, not many opinions.

4. They question why the Mishnah does not solely speak in the name of Moses.

5. The Oral Law is not explicitly mentioned in the Tanakh.

6. When God told Moses to come up to Mount Sinai to receive the Torah He said, "Come up to me into the mountain, and be there: and I will give you tablets of stone, and a law, and commandments that I have written"; (Ex 24:12). The text states the commands are written, and no mention is made of an Oral Law.

7. The Tanakh reports that the written Torah was both lost and completely forgotten for over 50 years and only rediscovered by the Temple priests (2Ki 22:8; 2Chr 34:15). It is inconceivable that an Oral Law could have been remembered when even the written Law was forgotten.

8. The words of the Mishnah and Talmud are clearly the words of people living in the 2nd - 5th centuries CE, in contrast to the Torah, which is held to be a direct revelation by God through Moses.

9. The Torah states, "You shall not add to the word that I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of YHWH, your God, which I command you." (Deut 4:2) They argue that this excludes the possibility of later interpretation, when that interpretation is viewed as divinely ordained.

10. Joshua 8:34 - 35 states:

After that, he [Joshua] read all the words of the Torah, the Blessing and the Curse, according to all that is written in the Torah scroll. There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded that Joshua failed to read in the presence of the entire assembly of Israel, and the women, and the little ones, and the strangers that walked among them.

Since Joshua read from the Torah every word Moses had written, this implies that Moses had not been given an Oral Law, since Joshua could not have read an Oral Law from the written Torah. Secondly, there could not have been additional commandments outside of the written Torah, since all the commandments that existed could be read from the Torah scroll.

In addition to this, Joshua 1:8 states: This book of the law is not to depart out of your mouth, but you are to meditate on it day and night, so that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it.

Karaite interpretations of the Torah

Theoretically, most historical Karaites would not object to the idea of a body of interpretation of the Torah, along with extensions and development of halakhah. In fact, several hundred such books have been written by various Karaite sages throughout the movement's history, although most are lost today. The disagreement arises over the perceived exaltation of the Talmud and the writings of the Rabbis above the Torah, so that, in the view of Karaites, many traditions and customs are kept that are in contradiction with those expressed in the Torah. This is seen especially by the fact that the Karaites also have their own traditions that have been passed down from their ancestors and religious authorities. This is known as Sevel HaYerushah, which means "the yoke of inheritance." It is kept primarily by traditional Karaites, and any tradition therein is rejected if it contradicts the simple meaning of the Torah. Additionally, these traditions are not forced upon any Karaite Jew or convert to Karaite Judaism.

Those newly entered Karaites who do not have such an inheritance or tradition tend to rely heavily upon just the Torah and those practices mentioned in it, and to adapt Biblical practices to their cultural context. One reason for this lack of tradition is that many modern Karaites spring from the Karaite revival due largely to the revival group known as the World Karaite Movement founded by Nehemia Gordon and Meir Rekhavi in the early 1990s.

Who is a Jew?

Karaite Judaism follows patrilineal descent, meaning a Jew is someone whose father is Jewish, or who has undergone a formal conversion, since all Jewish descent in the Tanakh is traced patrilineally.

However, anyone who formally accepts the God of Israel as his own god, the people of Israel as his own people, and is circumcised (males only), is a fully established member of the people of Israel (Jew); Karaites believe this should be done, after living amongst Karaites and studying the Torah, in the form of a vow before the Beit Din.

Exodus 12:43 - 49
"But every man's servant that is bought for money, when thou hast circumcised him, then shall he eat thereof. A foreigner and an hired servant shall not eat thereof. In one house shall it be eaten; thou shalt not carry forth ought of the flesh abroad out of the house; neither shall ye break a bone thereof. All the congregation of Israel shall keep it.
And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one that is born in the land: for no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof. One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you.”

Ruth 1:16
"And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.”

Esther 8:17
"And in every province, and in every city, whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a good day. And many of the people of the land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews fell upon them.”

Isaiah 56:6 - 7
"Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the Lord, to serve him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant; Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.”

Ezkiel 47:21-23
So shall ye divide this land unto you according to the tribes of Israel. And it shall come to pass, that ye shall divide it by lot for an inheritance unto you, and to the strangers that sojourn among you, which shall beget children among you: and they shall be unto you as born in the country among the children of Israel; they shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel. And it shall come to pass, that in what tribe the stranger sojourneth, there shall ye give him his inheritance, saith the Lord GOD. And the LORD said unto Moses and Aaron, This is the ordinance of the passover: There shall no stranger eat thereof.”

Nehemia Gordon argued that, though modern scholars universally take the pronunciation of YHWH to be YAH-weh, the proper pronunciation is ye-ho-VAH. He claimed that the Masoretes belonged to the group of Karaites who did not pronounce the name and for that reason omitted the middle vowel O (as seen in the earliest complete manuscripts of the Tanakh), "to prevent their fellow Karaites from simply reading the name as it was written". However, Gordon also published an article translated in 1971 from the Hebrew by Hakham Avraham Ben-Rahamiel Qanai, which was a study by Ḥakham Mordekhai Alfandari, according to which the proper and original pronunciation of the Name is "Yihweh". Rather than attempt an uncertain pronunciation of the divine name, some have argued that instead of saying "Adonai" the term YAH should be used based upon its usage in Psalm 68:5.

Writings

Scholarly studies of Karaite writings are still in their infancy, and owe greatly to the Firkovich collections of Karaite manuscripts in the Russian National Library that have become accessible after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The cataloguing efforts of scholars at the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris and in the United States and England is continuing to yield new insights into Karaite literature and thought.

Karaites today

In the early 1950s, the Israeli Chief Rabbinate originally objected to the immigration of Karaite Jews to Israel, and unsuccessfully tried to obstruct it. In 2007, however, Rabbi David Hayim Chelouche, the chief rabbi of Netayana was quoted in The Jerusalem Post as saying, "A Karaite is a Jew. We accept them as Jews and every one of them who wishes to come back [to mainstream Judaism] we accept back.

Karaism in Rabbinic Jewish opinion

Rabbinic Judaism's scholars, such as Maimonides, write that people who deny the divine authority of the Oral Torah are to be considered among the heretics. However, at the same time Maimonides holds (Hilkhot Mamrim 3:3) that most of the Karaites and others who claim to deny the "oral teachings" are not to be held accountable for their errors in the law because they are led into error by their parents and are similar to a tinoq shenishbah (a captive baby), or to one who was forced.

Some recent Ashekenazi Haredi scholars have held that Karaites should be regarded as Gentiles in all respects, though this is not universally accepted. They hasten to add that this opinion is not intended to insult the Karaites, but only to give individual Karaites the option of integrating into mainstream Judaism by way of conversion. In contrast, in 1971 Rav 'Ovadia Yosef, who was then the Rishon LeSiyyon/Chief Rabbi of the Sefaradim and Edot HaMizrah of Israel, proclaimed that Karaites are Jews "LeKhol Davar" (literally, for all purposes) and that it is permissible for Rabbanite Jews to marry with them.

For Karaites, in sum, the rabbinic interpretations in oral law, are only one form of interpretation. They are not divinely ordained, and they are neither binding halakhah nor practical religious law.

Halakhic status as Jews

Rabbi David Hayim Chelouche, the chief rabbi of Netanya is quoted in the Jerusalem Post as saying: "A Karaite is a Jew.

However, as of 2013, there has been a resurgence in the questioning of the Jewish identity of Karaite's by Israel's chief rabbinate. According to the rabbinate's spokesman, "Israel is a Jewish state and Jews have superior rights. But the Karaites are not Jewish." This has led to protestations from Moshe Firrouz, head of the Karaites' Council of Sages, that "the rabbinate is denying us our religious freedom."

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National Secular Society

Russian parliament passes new blasphemy law as protesters call for secular state

Posted: Wed, 12 Jun 2013

Russia's parliament has overwhelmingly approved a new blasphemy law allowing jail sentences of up to three years for "offending religious feelings", an initiative launched in the wake of the trial against the anti-Kremlin punk band Pussy Riot.

Under the proposed new law, Russian citizens would face a year in jail for "intentional" and "public" displays that cause "offense to religious sensibilities," and up to three years in jail for desecrating religious sites and paraphernalia".

Mikhail Markelov, a member of the ruling United Russia party, said: "We are not talking about the subjective term 'religious offense', which is admittedly difficult to qualify. The law only punishes public acts that obviously go out of their way to insult a religion." She said the new law has been "chiseled to perfection, and reflects the desires of the majority of our society."

The Russian parliament, the Duma, will hear a third and final reading in the next week. If approved, it will then go to President Putin for final approval.

The Duma this week also unanimously passed a federal law banning gay "propaganda" - imposing heavy fines for providing information about homosexuality to people under 18. Together, the two laws are intended to boost the power of the Russian Orthodox Church, which professes total allegiance to the state.

In a recent public address President Vladimir Putin praised the special role that the church plays in the society. "The church incessantly cares about strengthening high moral and ethical ideals and family traditions in society, and the younger generation's upbringing. The church does a lot to solve pressing social problems," said Putin.

International rights groups have called the current situation in Russia the worst human rights climate in the post-Soviet era.

Meanwhile, in the city of Tomsk, protesters have gathered for a rally for a secular state and freedom of conscience.

This rally's co-organiser Andrei Verkhov called for top-ranking officials to adhere to the constitution so that religion is not imposed. "It [the constitution] says that no religion shall enjoy preferences but we can see that the authorities breach the constitution by granting preferences to worshippers," Verkhov said.

Protesters carried signs calling for the abolition of religious subjects in schools.

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WND

NSA WHISTLEBLOWER AFRAID FOR HIS LIFE?

Worries 'massive surveillance machine' he exposed will now be used against him

Published: June 10, 2013

DREW ZAHN
The 29-year-old source behind what the U.K.'s Guardian is reporting as "the biggest intelligence leak in the NSA's history" claims he's risking everything to expose a "massive surveillance machine" he seems to find genuinely terrifying.

"I'm willing to sacrifice all," reported whistleblower Edward Snowden told the Guardian, "because I can't in good conscience allow the U.S. government to destroy privacy, Internet freedom and basic liberties for people around the world with this massive surveillance machine they're secretly building."

The Guardian reports Snowden, a former CIA information technology employee who has since been contracted to work at the National Security Administration offices in Hawaii, copied documents on a massive, NSA surveillance program of U.S. citizens. He contacted the Guardian and Washington Post to blow the whistle on the U.S. government collecting data on phone calls and a separate program, code-named PRISM, that collects the Internet data of foreigners from major Internet companies.

Now, however, Snowden has fled to a hotel in Hong Kong, where he is on the lookout for the very surveillance network he helped expose ... and worse.

"I've left the room maybe a total of three times during my entire stay," Snowden told the Guardian in an exclusive interview.

"He is deeply worried about being spied on," the newspaper reports. "He lines the door of his hotel room with pillows to prevent eavesdropping. He puts a large red hood over his head and laptop when entering his passwords to prevent any hidden cameras from detecting them."

"Yes, I could be rendered by the CIA," Snowden told the newspaper. "I could have people come after me. Or any of the third-party partners. They work closely with a number of other nations. Or they could pay off the Triads. Any of their agents or assets.

"We have got a CIA station just up the road - the consulate here in Hong Kong - and I am sure they are going to be busy for the next week," he said. "And that is a concern I will live with for the rest of my life, however long that happens to be."

Snowden spoke other ominous words as well, especially when the Guardian asked him about the probability he'd end up in prison.

"I could not do this without accepting the risk of prison," he answered. "You can't come up against the world's most powerful intelligence agencies and not accept the risk. If they want to get you, over time they will. ... I do not expect to see home again."

Ominous words aside, Snowden told the Guardian he wants the world more concerned about the government abuses he helped expose.

"I really want the focus to be on these documents and the debate which I hope this will trigger among citizens around the globe about what kind of world we want to live in," Snowden said. "My sole motive is to inform the public as to that which is done in their name and that which is done against them."

The Guardian reports during many hours of interviews with Snowden, he only "became emotional" when he stopped to consider the impact of his actions on his family, many of whom reportedly work for the U.S. government.

"The only thing I fear is the harmful effects on my family, who I won't be able to help any more," he said. "That's what keeps me up at night."

Watch footage of some of the Guardian's interviews with Snowden below:

Canada Free Press

Seriously dangerous times ahead. Deadly times. War, and censorship under the color of authority and under the pretext of of national security

DHS insider: It's about to get very ugly

By Doug Hagmann

Monday, June 10, 2013

Washington, D.C.--Something quite unexpected happened just hours ago, in the dark of night, during a two-day layover in Washington, DC. My son and I are scheduled to take part in a seminar outside of Raleigh, North Carolina this weekend, so we combined our travels to include a side-trip to DC for a business meeting we had previously arranged. It was during this layover that something seemingly ripped from the pages of a spy novel took place.

While I was in the middle of a perfectly good and well needed sleep in the very early hours of this morning, I received a message. I cannot disclose how I received this message, at least not now. The discerning reader will understand why, which, by the way, would make a very interesting story alone. The message was extremely clear and precise. I was to meet my high level DHS insider at a very specific location in Washington, DC, at a time when most 'normal' people, except third-shift workers are still asleep. And, I was to come alone and make certain that I was not being followed, and I was to leave any cell phone or electronic device behind.

Seriously? I thought, as I was still trying to make sense of it all. Is all this really necessary? Is this really happening? I considered waking my son to accompany me, but opted to follow the instructions to the letter. Besides, I thought, he's not the most affable middle-of-the-night person. I left a hastily written but detailed note in my hotel room before my departure in the event something happened. I looked at the digital clock on my rental car (my personal car would never survive our long distance trip). It was 3:20 a.m.

The meeting

I felt like I was part of a spy movie set in our nation's capital. A chill rose up my spine as I waited in the dark of a chilly, misty and foggy pre-dawn morning. I was to meet with my DHS insider source at a time when most of the nation is asleep, at a place I could swear was featured in the movie All the President's Men. No one and I mean no one knows I'm here, I thought, as I could see one of the most recognizable national landmarks in the distance.

My source appeared out of nowhere, or so it seemed, and handed me a cup of coffee with the astute observation that I looked like I needed it. So tell me, I asked impatiently, why do we have to meet at this time, at this location, and under such specific circumstances? 'Because this might be our last meeting,' he stated.

Maybe it was the lack of sleep, the time, the place, or the chill of the misty rain that caused my sense of foreboding. "Explain," I asked in an almost demanding tone. So he did, without mincing words.

The details

"If anyone thinks that what's going on right now with all of this surveillance of American citizens is to fight some sort of foreign enemy, they're delusional. If people think that this 'scandal' can't get any worse, it will, hour by hour, day by day. This has the ability to bring down our national leadership, the administration and other senior elected officials working in collusion with this administration, both Republican and Democrats. People within the NSA, the Department of Justice, and others, they know who they are, need to come forth with the documentation of 'policy and practice' in their possession, disclose what they know, fight what's going on, and just do their job. I have never seen anything like this, ever. The present administration is going after leakers, media sources, anyone and everyone who is even suspected of 'betrayal.' That's what they call it, 'betrayal.' Can you believe the size of their cahones? This administration considers anyone telling the truth about Benghazi, the IRS, hell, you name the issue, 'betrayal,'" he said.

"We know all this already," I stated. He looked at me, giving me a look like I've never seen, and actually pushed his finger into my chest. "You don't know jack," he said, "this is bigger than you can imagine, bigger than anyone can imagine. This administration is collecting names of sources, whistle blowers and their families, names of media sources and everybody they talk to and have talked to, and they already have a huge list. If you're not working for MSNBC or CNN, you're probably on that list. If you are a website owner with a brisk readership and a conservative bent, you're on that list. It's a political dissident list, not an enemy threat list," he stated.

"What's that exactly mean, being on that list, that is," I asked, trying to make sense of it all.

"It means that there will be censorship under the color of authority of anyone in the U.S. who is attempting to expose what's going on in our name. It's about controlling any damning information from reaching epidemic proportions. It's damage control to the extreme. It's about the upcoming censorship of the internet in the name of national security. The plans are already in place. These latest reports about 'spying eyes' have turned this administration and others connected to it into something very, very dangerous. They feel cornered and threatened, and I'm hearing about some plans they have to shut down the flow of information that is implicating them of wrongdoing. Time is short," he stated.

"How are they going to do this? How is it even possible" I asked.

"First, they intend to use the Justice Department to silence journalists like in the Rosen case, but they won't stop there. They will use a host of national security policies, laws, letters, whatever to take out the bigger threats," he stated.

Next, they will use some sort of excuse, an external threat, and I believe it will be a combination of the economic collapse and a Mid-East war that will begin in Syria to throttle the information that is accessible on the Internet. And you know what? People will believe it!"

Based on what I've seen, most of which I should not have seen, the DHS is co-ordinating efforts with other federal agencies to begin to threaten American citizens with incarceration for non-compliance. You know the old talk of color coded lists? Well, this is what they will be using. People exposing the truth about Benghazi, killing the U.S. Dollar, even those questioning Obama?s legal status and eligibility to be President are the current targets. And they've had five long years to get to this point. The ugly truth is that these policies and practices did not start under Obama, but long before. This is about the killing of our Constitutional Republic. The murder of our country and the stripping of our rights. While many have been preoccupied with one issue, few have seen the bigger issue. This is the 'end game,' for all the marbles," he stated.

More to come

"Please," pleaded my source, "get this information out while you can. Tell people what I'm saying, that we don't have much time, that after the latest exposure of spying, Obama, Jarrett, Axelrod, and others, including members of Congress, have put their plans into high gear. This is about the Marxist takeover of America. This is about our country being able to survive another July 4th holiday. This is about a world war about to break out that will kill millions of people, all because of the agenda of this administration."

"They are very dangerous and will do anything and everything to stop the onslaught of negative information that's being reported by the main stream media. But only about one quarter of the real information is being reported. The other three quarters will be the game changer. But first, tell people what I've said. Let them know that more will follow but get this information out right now while the internet is still relatively free. Do it today."

My source provided additional information, but I am abiding by his wish to get this much out. I am writing now to let people know that we are in for seriously dangerous times ahead. Deadly times. War, and censorship under the color of authority and under the pretext of of national security. It's about to get a lot uglier. Stay tuned.

IntelliHub

Egyptian Politicians Caught on LIVE TV Hatching False Flag Plot to Sabotage Ethiopian Dam

Cairo: Top Egyptian politicians were left red- faced after they were caught on live TV hatching plots to sabotage a dam in neighboring Ethiopia during talks with President Mohammed Mursi, leaving viewers stunned.

June 9, 2013

The gaffe happened as an official failed to inform them that they were live on air during talks with Mursi.

"It was initially planned that the national meeting would be recorded and aired the next day, as is usually the case, but due to the importance of the topic it was decided at the last minute to air the meeting live. I forgot to inform the attendees about the changes," presidential aide for political affairs Pakinam El-Sharqawy said via Facebook late yesterday.

El-Sharqawy later apologized for the gaffe but the damage had been done, Ahram Online reported.

Seated around a large table, the politicians thinking this was a closed meeting began to suggest ideas, including spreading of rumours and using underhand means, for ways to stop the dam project.

"We will work on absorbing the shock caused by the Millennium Dam", Mursi said during the meeting, aired by Egypt's state TV, adding that the dam will affect only 8 per cent of the total of Egypt's electricity generation.

Commenting on some experts' predictions that the dam might collapse and pose a danger to Egypt, the president said: "This, of course, will be in Egypt's favour, but we cannot say that (officially)".

Several political figures expressed anger at the mistake because they expressed views they thought would remain secret.

Liberal Ghad Party leader Ayman Nour said he was shocked that the meeting had been screened live without informing the participants.

The most controversial comment was made by him as he suggested that Egypt disseminate rumors that it is seeking advanced aircrafts, the Egypt Independent reported. He said this is an intelligence technique of intimidation.

"It might not be realistic, but it will bring results on the diplomatic path," Nour said.

It was a "big mistake" because sensitive information was being discussed, Nour said later. Younis Makhyoun, chairman of the Salafi Nour Party, said the last chip Egypt has is using its secret services to demolish the dam, describing the project as a declaration of war.

Chairman of the moderate Islamist Wasat Party, Abul Ela Mady, suggested sending army destroyers to the Bab al-Mandab strait and spreading rumours that Egypt is about to strike the dam.

Former information minister Osama Heikal said broadcasting the meeting live was "a farce" that reflects "the state of absurdity Egypt is experiencing".

***

Mail.com

State broadcaster's end a blow to Greek identity

June 12, 2013

Photo: APSupporters stand outside the Greek state television ERT headquarters in Athens, on Wednesday, June 12, 2013. State TV and radio signals were cut early Wednesday, hours after the government closed the Hellenic Broadcasting Corp., ERT, and fired its 2,500 workers. Greece's two largest labor unions called a 24-hour general strike for Thursday amid escalating protests against a decision to close state-run TV and radio that threw the country's conservative-led government into political crisis nearly a year after taking office.

ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- When Nazi troops marched into Greece's nearly deserted capital on April 27, 1941, radio announcer Costas Stavropoulos of the Hellenic Broadcasting Corp. announced the grim news. He urged his countrymen and women not to listen to future Nazi radio transmissions and signed off with the Greek national anthem.

That moment in Greek broadcasting history is indelibly etched into the country's collective memory. It was the only time the state broadcaster -- also known as ERT -- had ceased to operate from its birth three years earlier. That is, until Tuesday, when Prime Minister Antonis Samaras' government shut ERT down and fired its 2,500 employees to prove to Greece's international lenders that he was serious about cutting the country's bloated public sector. Its TV and radio signals went dead early Wednesday.

That decision might just bring down Samaras' conservative-led coalition government, which lambasted the broadcaster for its "incredible waste." Two of the coalition's three parties -- PASOK and Democratic Left -- still want to discuss the possibility of keeping ERT going.

The country's two largest labor unions called a 24-hour general strike for Thursday to protest the closure, and flights from Greece's airports were set to halt for two hours that day. Protesters gathered Wednesday outside the company's headquarters north of Athens for a second day as ERT's journalists defied the closure order and continued a live Internet broadcast.

Journalist unions also launched rolling 24-hour strikes, halting news programs on Greece's privately owned broadcasters, while the government's center-left coalition partners demanded that ERT's closure be reversed.

Like other state-run companies in debt-drowned Greece, ERT over its 75 years was exposed to the kind of notorious political patronage that the country is famous for. As successive governments meted out jobs in exchange for votes, Greece's swelling ranks of public employees helped push it to near-financial ruin and in need of tens of billions in aid starting in 2010 from its 16 eurozone partners.

Despite that, ERT has forged a deep connection with ordinary Greeks, becoming the country's voice at home and to the world, especially in the absence of private broadcasting, which only came about in 1989.

ERT started radio programming in the 1930s and television in the mid-1960s. Though it was widely regarded as reflecting government policy -- it had a channel run by the military during the 1967-74 dictatorship -- the broadcaster was also valued for showcasing regional and cultural content and for covering major sporting events such as the World Cup and the Olympics.

Over the years, ERT became a mainstay of Greek life. At times, it provided the only outlet for entertainment and information to an impoverished nation slowly emerging from a bloody civil war in the late 1940s. It was also the sole link to the homeland for millions of diaspora Greeks around the globe.

***

zengardner.com

The Shift Is On - Magnetic North Pole Now Racing A Mile A Day

Sunday, June 9th, 2013

by Zen Gardner

This is some terrific home research, tracking the movement of the magnetic north pole. It's apparently still picking up speed and according to this researcher should reach Siberia at least within 2 years. He posits that according to experiments he has done, when it reaches the 40 degree latitude a violent shift could be precipitated as it quickly moves to 40 degrees south and re-stabilizes there.

Guess we'll see. And as he says, this accelerating magnetic shift could also be a huge influence on our weird weather patterns, and I'd add especially when compounded with the massive idiotic geoengineering programs they're performing worldwide.

He also speculates that due to a less intense solar cycle the core is heating up which could be contributing to the overall lessening of the magnetic field since heated magnets lose their magnetic properties. While this solar cycle hasn't been what was anticipated it is still in a solar maximum, so it could be that increased solar and otherwise energetic influences such as unseen black hole activity are heating the core, affecting not just the magnetism but some say actually increasing the size of the planet which in turn leads to more seismic activity as well.

Another theory is that the magnetic pull of an approaching large planetoid such as the infamous Niburu or the biblical asteroid Wormwood or another anticipated visitor is the prime driver of these changes.

Guess we'll soon see. Good to keep an eye on all these things. One way or another we're headed for a wild ride on spaceship earth! - Zen

(The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage? Isaiah 24:20)

***

Massive waterspout off the southern coast of France shocks residents

***

The Guardian

Nicaragua waterway to dwarf Panama canal

Chinese firm to build and run $40bn trans-oceanic plan as opponents demand proper scrutiny of environmental impacts

Jonathan Watts, Latin America correspondent

12 June 2013

Lake Cocibolca in Nicaragua, which the new waterway would go through. Photograph: Esteban Felix/AP

Nicaragua's parliament is due to vote on Thursday on one of the biggest infrastructure projects in Latin America's history - a trans-oceanic canal that is to be built and run by a Chinese company.

If it goes ahead, the $40bn (£26bn) scheme, which is twice as expensive as Brazil's Belo Monte dam and likely to be three times longer than the Panama canal, looks set to transform global shipping and jump start the economy of this Central American nation.

As well as the waterway, the draft agreement between Nicaragua and a Hong Kong registered firm -- Nicaraguan Canal Development Investment Co Limited - includes provisions for two free trade zones, an airport and a "dry canal" freight railway.

"This will be the largest project in Latin America in 100 years," Ronald Maclean, the executive fronting the operation in Managua told the Guardian. "If Nicaragua gets to do this, it is going to be a transformational project not only for Nicaragua but for the region."

Given the government's large majority, parliamentary approval is expected to be a formality, but critics warn the plan is being rushed through without adequate scrutiny of the environmental impact, business viability and public well-being.

A one-year viability study is now under way and the operators soon plan to tap international financial markets in New York, London and Tokyo for investment in a scheme that they say will be entirely privately funded. President Daniel Ortega is also said to be promoting the scheme in meetings with ambassadors from Brazil, Saudi Arabia and Canada.

Although hydro-engineering techniques have advanced considerably since the 48-mile (77 km) Panama canal was completed in 1914, the logistical challenge will be enormous. The new canal, which will pass through a much wider stretch of land, is likely to be more than 250km long. It will also be much wider to allow passage by the biggest container ships. The project will be operated by HKDN -- a Hong-Kong based firm set up last year that has established a holding company in the Caiman Islands. It will pay $10m a year for 10 years to the Nicaraguan government.

Bigger benefits are expected in the wider economy. Paul Oquist, secretary of public policies of the presidency of the republic, said the Great Interoceanic canal will allow Nicaragua's GDP to double and employment to triple by 2018.

Legislators have complained that congressional committees had only two days to review a bill that could shape the country for a century.

"Given its complexity, the length of the concession and its importance for all Nicaraguans, this project deserves to be fully discussed and explained, seeking the broadest national consensus," noted the Nicaraguan Foundation for Economic and Social Development, an independent think-tank. "How can we as Nicaraguans be sure that the conditions stipulated in the bill are the best that could have been achieved?"

Details of the possible route have yet to be disclosed, though it is thought likely that it will run through Lake Nicaragua, the most important source of freshwater in the country and a home to sharks and numerous other species.

Jaime Incer, a renowned environmentalist and presidential adviser, urged caution. "There are alternatives for linking one ocean to the other, but there are no alternatives for cleaning a lake after a disaster has happened. We don't have another Lake Nicaragua," he told the Confidencial newspaper.

Indigenous groups also say they have not been adequately consulted.

The operator says it has hired one of the world's leading consultancies, Environmental Resources Management to conduct impact assessments: "HKND Group has committed to develop the project in a manner that conforms with international best practices, delivers significant benefits to Nicaragua and its people, generates local job growth and economic development, honours the local population and heritage of the country, and serves the best interests of Central America and, indeed, the world."

But little is known of the group behind the project, which is headed by Wang Jing, the head of one of China's biggest telecom firms Xinwei. It is unclear whether he has any experience in the field of hydroengineering, shipping or infrastructure, but earlier this year his company signed an agreement with the state-owned China Railway Construction Company, and Jing has met senior leaders in Beijing, including president Xi JInping.

Margaret Myers, director of the China and Latin America programme at the Inter-American Dialogue, said Wang's involvement did not necessarily mean the involvement of the Chinese government.

"The extent to which this project will increase 'China's' influence in the region and on global trade routes is unclear. This would depend on a wide variety of factors, including HKC's connections to the Chinese government and who else, if anyone, decides to invest in the project," she wrote.

The Nicaraguan government was due to be a 51% shareholder in the projects, according to preliminary legislation passed last year. There is no mention of this in the latest bill, but Maclean said there has not been a change.

"I think it involves a gradual transfer from the company to the government over the life of the concession and that eventually the government will own the canal," he said.

Opposition lawmakers said immunity, tax breaks and other preferential treatment for foreign investors in a still-to-be determined project was a violation of nation sovereignty.

The Sandinista Renovation Movement said it would oppose the bill and "any document that gifts a concession, privileges, exonerations and tax exemptions to an unknown company, for an unknown route, for a period of 100 years."

"We are going to hand over the country's sovereignty without knowing where the canal is going to go, how much it is going to cost, its ecological impact or how long its construction is going to last," Independent Liberal party legislator Eliseo Núñez, told La Prensa.

***

Breitbart

REPORT: HOMESCHOOLING GROWING SEVEN TIMES FASTER THAN PUBLIC SCHOOL ENROLLMENT

by DR. SUSAN BERRY

8 Jun 2013 1365

As dissatisfaction with the U.S. public school system grows, apparently so has the appeal of homeschooling. Educational researchers, in fact, are expecting a surge in the number of students educated at home by their parents over the next ten years, as more parents reject public schools.

A recent report in Education News states that, since 1999, the number of children who are homeschooled has increased by 75%. Though homeschooled children represent only 4% of all school-age children nationwide, the number of children whose parents choose to educate them at home rather than a traditional academic setting is growing seven times faster than the number of children enrolling in grades K-12 every year.

As homeschooling has become increasingly popular, common myths that have long been associated with the practice of homeschooling have been debunked.

Any concerns about the quality of education children receive by their parents can be put to rest by the consistently high placement of homeschooled students on standardized assessment exams. Data demonstrates that those who are independently educated generally score between the 65th and 89th percentile on these measures, while those in traditional academic settings average at around the 50th percentile. In addition, achievement gaps between sexes, income levels, or ethnicity--all of which have plagued public schools around the country--do not exist in homeschooling environments.

According to the report:

Recent studies laud homeschoolers' academic success, noting their significantly higher ACT-Composite scores as high schoolers and higher grade point averages as college students. Yet surprisingly, the average expenditure for the education of a homeschooled child, per year, is $500 to $600, compared to an average expenditure of $10,000 per child, per year, for public school students.

The high achievement level of homeschoolers is readily recognized by recruiters from some of the best colleges in the nation. Home-educated children matriculate in colleges and attain a four-year degree at much higher rates than their counterparts from both public and private schools. Schools such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard, Stanford, and Duke Universities all actively recruit homeschoolers.

Similarly, the common myth that homeschoolers "miss out" on so-called "socialization opportunities," often thought to be a vital aspect of traditional academic settings, has proven to be without merit. According to the National Home Education Research Institute survey, homeschoolers tend to be more socially engaged than their peers and demonstrate "healthy social, psychological, and emotional development, and success into adulthood."

From the report:

Based on recent data, researchers such as Dr. Brian Ray (NHERI.org) "expect to observe a notable surge in the number of children being homeschooled in the next 5 to 10 years. The rise would be in terms of both absolute numbers and percentage of the K to 12 student population. This increase would be in part because...[1] a large number of those individuals who were being home educated in the 1990's may begin to homeschool their own school-age children and [2] the continued successes of home-educated students."

***

NaturalNews

Euthanasia for children nears approval by Belgian Parliament; doctors to mass-euthanize children and Alzheimer's patients

by Mike Adams

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

(NaturalNews) A proposed law on the verge of approval by the Belgium parliament would allow children to decide for themselves whether they should be euthanized ("killed") by medical personnel. Currently, Belgian law limits euthanasia to persons 18 and older, but with the rise of autistic children thanks to biopesticides, GMOs and vaccines, nations are increasingly trying to figure out what to do with all these children who have been permanently damaged by the medical and biotech industries.

The answer, of course, is to simply kill them. It's difficult to kill children off under current law without being charged with murder, however. So this proposed new law would allow doctors to decide whether children of any age (yes, even a five-year-old) can, themselves, "consent" to being euthanized without parental consent.

Not surprisingly, the bill was introduced by the socialist party, since socialists tend to hate humanity no matter what country they live in. The proposed legislation calls for, "the law to be extended to minors if they are capable of discernment or affected by an incurable illness or suffering that we cannot alleviate," reports AFP.

That story goes on to report, "Socialist Senator Philippe Mahoux, who helped draft the proposed changes, said there had been cases of adolescents who 'had the capacity to decide' their future."

Because, of course, a six-year-old isn't old enough to drive a car or buy a beer, but they can certainly consent to being killed by the state... especially if they're already a burden on health care costs.

As the law proponents claim, it "marks a turning point in the nation's approach to the rights of young people, some of whom would be able to choose to die if the law were to pass, even while still being legally barred from driving, marrying, voting or drinking liquor until they turned 18," reports IBtimes.com

(Story continues below...)

Alzheimer's patients to also face euthanization under proposed law

But wait, there's more! It's not just children who will be euthanized under this new law, it's also scores of Alzheimer's patients.

"Parliamentarians would also consider extended mercy-killing to people suffering from Alzheimer's-type illnesses," said the socialist senator.

Euthanasia is, of course, the most convenient way for any government to get rid of people it doesn't want to care for. Instead of teaching the public how to prevent and reverse Alzheimer's disease, the government simply passes a new law to murder them all while calling it "compassionate medicine."

The age of mass murder by government is upon us. It won't be long before such laws spread to other nations and are expanded to people with "mental health problems" or even cancer. While in theory the idea of euthanasia may have merit in a strictly limited scope, the truth is that governments are now jumping on the euthanasia bandwagon to provide attempted legal justification for the mass murder of children and senior citizens whom they no longer wish to support with health care expenditures. Save the government from bankruptcy! Have grandma euthanized! (Right alongside little autistic Johnny, too...)

Governments, after all, are ultimately political machines of death and destruction, which explains why all the wars fought in the 20th century were started by governments, not the People. War is simply another way to accomplish the mass killing that the twisted, demented people at the top of every government truly enjoy.

***

MailOnline

Hero dog carries tiny baby to safety after finding her left for dead in roadside rubbish dump

Clever Pui discovers child in plastic bag thrown on top of tip

He gently carries her back to owner's house and she is taken to hospital

She weighed just four pounds but is being nursed back to health

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

PUBLISHED: 8 June 2013

A dog has been hailed a hero for saving the life of a newborn girl who had been slung into a rubbish dump.

The animal, a Thai Bangkaew called Pui, discovered the child inside a plastic bag at the roadside tip in Bangkok.

He carried the bag in his mouth to his owner Gumnerd Thongmak's house and barked loudly to get his attention.

Hero: Thai dog Pui is patted by Red Cross staff after discovering a newly born baby in a rubbish dump in Bangkok and carrying her in a plastic bag to safety

Nurses care for the tiny child, who weighed just four pounds. The authorities are trying to track down her mother

Mr Gumnerd's niece, Sudarat, 12, then opened the bag and found the tiny baby inside and she was rushed to hospital.

Doctors said the child was born prematurely and only weighed four pounds.

Her parents are still being tracked down by authorities, while medical staff continue to care for her. She is said to be in good condition.

'It's lucky that Little Pui found the baby. It was a surprise to us, since Little Pui never brought anything home, only barking at strangers when he's out and about,' said Poomrat Thongmak, Sudarat's mother.

As of this morning, there are five families that have contacted authorities in hopes of adopting the baby. All families happen to be dog owners.

Residents of the area said Pui regularly roams the neighborhood and is a bit of a community watchdog. - - The heroic actions of the dog saw him awarded a leather collar and a medal from the Tha Rua district Red Cross.

Mr Gumnerd was given the equivalent of about £200 in cash for his pet's actions.

***

Natural News

McDonald's closing all restaurants in Bolivia as nation rejects fast food

Lance Devon -

- June 13, 2013

McDonald's happy image and its golden arches aren't the gateway to bliss in Bolivia. This South American country isn't falling for the barrage of advertising and fast food cooking methods that so easily engulf countries like the United States. Bolivians simply don't trust food prepared in such little time. The quick and easy, mass production method of fast food actually turns Bolivians off altogether. Sixty percent of Bolivians are an indigenous population who generally don't find it worth their health or money to step foot in a McDonald's. Despite its economically friendly fast food prices, McDonald's couldn't coax enough of the indigenous population of Bolivia to eat their BigMacs, McNuggets or McRibs.

One indigenous woman, Esther Choque, waiting for a bus to arrive outside a McDonald's restaurant, said, "The closest I ever came was one day when a rain shower fell and I climbed the steps to keep dry by the door. Then they came out and shooed me away. They said I was dirtying the place. Why would I care if McDonald's leaves [Bolivia]?"

Fast food chain remained for a decade, despite losses every year

The eight remaining McDonald's fast food shops that stuck it out in the Bolivian city's of La Paz, Cochabamba, and Santa Cruz de la Sierra, had reportedly operated on losses every year for a decade. The McDonald's franchise had been persistent over that time, flexing its franchise's deep pockets to continue business in Bolivia.

Any small business operating in the red for that long would have folded and left the area in less than half that time. Even as persistent as McDonald's was in gaining influence there, it couldn't continue operating in the red. After 14 years of presence in the country, their extensive network couldn't hold up the Bolivian chain. Store after store shut down as Bolivia rejected the McDonald's fast food agenda. Soon enough, they kissed the last McDonald's goodbye.

Deep cultural rejection

The McDonald's impact and its departure from Bolivia was so lasting and important, that marketing managers immediately filmed a documentary called, "Why McDonalds's went broke in Bolivia."

Featuring, cooks, nutritionist, historians, and educators, this documentary breaks down the disgusting reality of how McDonald's food is prepared and why Bolivians reject the whole fast food philosophy of eating.

The rejection isn't necessarily based on the taste or the type of food McDonald's prepared. The rejection of the fast food system stemmed from Bolivian's mindset of how meals are to be properly prepared. Bolivians more so respect their bodies, valuing the quality of what goes into their stomach. The time it takes for fast food to be prepared throws up a warning flag in their minds. Where other cultures see no risk, eating McDonald's every week; Bolivians feel that it just isn't worth the health risk. Bolivians seek well prepared, local meals, and want to know that their food was prepared the right way.

This self respect helps Bolivians avoid processed "restructured meat technology," often used by fast food joints like McDonald's.

The McRib: 70 ingredients all restructured into one

Did you know that the McRib is processed with 70 different ingredients which include azodicarbonamide, a flour-bleaching agent often used in producing foamed plastics? McRib's are basically "restructured meat technology" containing a mixture of tripe, heart, and scalded stomach. Proteins are extracted from this muscle mixture and they bind the pork trimmings together so they can be molded in a factory. The McRib is really just a molded blob of restructured meat, advertised and sold like fresh ribs. There's nothing real about it, the preparation or the substance. In fact, McRibs really came about because of a chicken shortage. The restructured meat technology approach kept the McRib on the menu, despite the shortage, and the profits continued rolling in.

This is the very disgusting idea that the Bolivians have rejected in their country.

The Bolivian rejection of McDonald's has set a proper example for the rest of the world to follow.

Sources for this article include:

http://www.hispanicallyspeakingnews.com

http://www.globalresearch.ca

http://www.theblaze.com

http://www.trueactivist.com/mcdonalds-goes-belly-up-in-bolivia/

***

Natural Society

10 Quick Reasons You Gotta Love Chocolate

by Christina Sarich

June 7th, 2013

Many people may not know it, but there are actually numerous health benefits of chocolate. The real, unadulterated form of chocolate, derived from the Theobroma cacao tree, is a heaven-sent super food that can keep us healthy even as we indulge in its delectable taste. Many overly processed chocolates are full of refined sugar and saturated fatty acids, but the real stuff is packed full of plant derived flavanols, full of antioxidants, anti-inflammatory constituents and health-boosting ingredients that do all sorts of amazing things for our bodies and minds.

Take for example, the following 10 benefits to heart:

In a 9-year study conducted by the Swedes, it was found that people who consumed chocolate just 1 to 3 times per month had a 26% lower risk of developing heart failure. If you normally give your sweetheart chocolate, consider making it dark chocolate to provide an extra bit of love to the heart muscle.

A meta-analysis published recently in Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews found that those who consume chocolate experience a reduction in blood pressure.

Chocolate increases communication between opiate receptors in the brain as well as supports the production of dopamine, two hormones that increase happiness and contribute to feelings of elation.

Real chocolate, or cocoa, is associated with decreased low-density lipoprotein levels and increased high-density lipoprotein levels. These are important for carrying cholesterol to the liver.

Chocolate has more than 300 identifiable chemical compounds that can provide amazing health benefits for the whole body.

Eating chocolate releases the same hormones that our bodies make when we are in love: Phenylethylamine (PEAs).

Raw cacao contains N-acylethanolamines that are believed to temporarily increase the levels of anandamide in the brain and enzyme inhibitors that slow its breakdown. This means we feel more relaxed when we eat chocolate.

Eating chocolate increases our endorphins, the body's natural pain killers.

Raw cacao consumption can help with weight loss as it eradicates sweet cravings. The abundance of antioxidants can also help keep our metabolism running smoothly. An article in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry says you can enjoy cacao several times a week to boost weight loss.

Cacao can be enjoyed in raw form as a powder, as cacao nibs, or as a dark chocolate bar minus the refined sugar and unhealthy fats. You can mix a little cacao with honey and cinnamon over low heat on the stove for a delicious sweet treat, with the combined health benefits of all three foods for a vitamin-packed dessert.

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Until next week...keep on believing.
Almondtree Productions

“Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”
(Psalm 16:11)