Cell Phones Spy on Your Every Move

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How Cell Phones Spy on Your Every Move

Adrian Chen — Most people have a general sense that the cell phone we carry in our pockets record our movement. We've all heard stories of lost hikers being found through their cell signals, after all. But the full extent to which we're tracked by our cell phones is frightening.

A German politician named Malte Spitz recently released six months worth of his location data which had been collected by his phone company, Deutsche Telekom. (He had to sue to get it.) The data reveals that Deutsche Telekom recorded his location more than 35,000 times from August 31st, 2009 to February 28, 2010—or about 78 percent of the time, according to the German newspaper Zeit.

From Zeit:

This profile reveals when Spitz walked down the street, when he took a train, when he was in an airplane. It shows where he was in the cities he visited. It shows when he worked and when he slept, when he could be reached by phone and when was unavailable. It shows when he preferred to talk on his phone and when he preferred to send a text message. It shows which beer gardens he liked to visit in his free time. All in all, it reveals an entire life.

Check out the interactive map Zeit put together, which lets you track Spitz around for six months. (It's in German, but just hit "play.")

This is concerning for anyone uneasy with the idea that their phone company theoretically knows where they are almost every minute their phone is turned on. American phone companies were not forthcoming when asked by the New York Times about how much they track their consumers, or what they do with it. They're probably selling our location to Starbucks to help them plan new stores or something. In China, the government readily disclosed that they were starting to track cell phone users' movements to fight "traffic congestion." Tracking must be the Chinese politburo's favorite cell phone feature.

[Image via Shutterstock; via the New York Times] Read more at gawker.com

 

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Libyan Woman Tries to Tell of Her Rape

Libyan Woman Dragged from Press As She Tries to Tell of Her Rape

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Libyan Woman Dragged from Press As She Tries to Tell of Her Rape

Adrian Chen —

Click to viewThis morning a Libyan woman rushed into the Tripoli hotel where foreign press are staying and told the assembled media she had been raped and beaten by Col. Qaddafi's forces, even as security guards tried to physically prevent her from speaking. After a scuffle where hotel staffers threatened her and the press with knives and call her a traitor, the woman was dragged out of the hotel, stuffed into a car and whisked away. (Foreign press are largely confined to the hotel in Libya.)

A Reuters reporter spoke to the woman, who gave her name as Eman al-Obeidy:

Her face heavily bruised, she said she had been arrested at a checkpoint in Tripoli because she was from the city of Benghazi, bastion of the insurgency against Gaddafi's rule. "They swore at me and they filmed me. I was alone. There was whiskey. I was tied up," she said, weeping and stretching out her arms to show scars. "They peed on me. They violated my honor." Obaidi, who appeared to be in her 30s and was wearing a loose black coat and slippers, said she had been raped by 15 men and held for two days.

At a press conference today, a government official said he suspected the woman was drunk or mentally unstable. Right. Just like all the rebels have been drugged by Al Qaeda. Read more at gawker.com

 

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Transgender Owes Gov 4 Mill 4 Sex Change

Transgender Woman Owes Government $4 Million She Stole for Sex Change

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Transgender Woman Owes Government $4 Million She Stole for Sex Change

Brian Moylan — A judge has ruled that D.B. Karron, a transgender biomedical technician, owes the government $4 million for the $1.4 million in government grants she received to develop computer medical technology but which she used instead for personal purposes.

She put the money toward rent, household goods, food, and a sex change operation for herself and three of her employees. "Trannies are very good in high tech, and that's what I did. It was a medical benefit," she said to explain her actions. Oh, that makes perfect sense.

Along with paying back the money plus penalties, her sentence includes a 15-month prison stay where Karron fell in love with a fellow inmate. Well, at least something good came out this.

[Image of Karron via ning.com] Read more at gawker.com

 

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High radiation 30 km from Fukushima

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High radiation detected 30 km from Fukushima plant

Radiation levels 40 percent higher than the yearly limit for the general public has been detected just over 30 kilometers from the Fukushima Daiichi power plant. The Science Ministry says a reading of 1.4 millisieverts was taken on Wednesday morning in Namie Town northwest of the plant. The government has not told residents outside the 30-kilometer radius of the plant to evacuate, or even to stay indoors. Someone staying outdoors for 24-hours at that location would exceed the annual limit of one millisievert. The limit is based on a recommendation by the International Commission on Radiological Protection. The science ministry obtained the reading after monitoring 10 locations outside the 30-kilometer zone, following reports that relatively high levels of radiation were found outside that area. Radiation exerts now say the amount of radiation detected does not pose a health risk. But they advise residents in the area to stay alert for any possible rise in radiation levels, because the power plant is not likely to stop releasing radiation any time soon. Read more at www3.nhk.or.jp

 

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Higher level of iodine 131 in seawater

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Higher level of iodine 131 detected in seawater

The Japanese government says radioactive iodine in excess of 1,850 times regulated standards was found in seawater collected near the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant on Saturday. On Friday, iodine 131 at a then-record 1,250 times regulated standards was detected in seawater collected in the same place 330 meters south of a plant water outlet. The nuclear safety agency says there is no immediate threat to people within the 20-kilometer evacuation zone from the nuclear power plant. The agency adds that seawater is dispersed by ocean currents and the contamination level will decline. Read more at www3.nhk.or.jp

 

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Highly radioactive seawater

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Reactors may create highly radioactive seawater

Tokyo Electric Power Company has said it will do its best to learn how water contaminated with radioactive substances leaked from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant following the earthquake on March 11th. The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said on Saturday that iodine 131 in excess of 1,250 times the regulated standard was found in seawater collected 330 meters south of a plant water outlet. The radioactivity level of the water in the turbine building of the No.3 reactor on Thursday was about 10,000 times higher than that in the operating reactor. The power company thinks fuel rods in the reactor may have been breached and radioactive materials leaked. The calculation is based on the detection of short radioactive half life iodine 131. The company is trying to restore the No.2 reactor's cooling function and began injecting fresh water instead of seawater on Saturday, following the same move for the No.1 and No.3 reactors one day earlier. Cooling functions deteriorate when salt from seawater disrupts water circulation in the pipes. It said it hopes to begin injecting fresh water into the spent fuel rod pools from Sunday. It added that it successfully connected interior cables to outside power sources and was able to turn on the lights of the central control room of the No.2 reactor on Saturday evening. But it said it is struggling to continue other work as it is detecting high levels of radioactivity in the plant. Read more at www3.nhk.or.jp

 

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Extreme radiation detected at No.2 react

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Extreme radiation detected at No.2 reactor

Tokyo Electric Power Company says it has detected radioactive materials 10-million-times normal levels in water at the No.2 reactor complex of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. The plant operator, known as TEPCO, says it measured 2.9-billion becquerels of radiation per one cubic centimeter of water from the basement of the turbine building attached to the Number 2 reactor. The level of contamination is about 1,000 times that of the leaked water already found in the basements of the Number 1 and 3 reactor turbine buildings. The company says the latest reading is 10-million times the usual radioactivity of water circulating within a normally operating reactor. TEPCO says the radioactive materials include 2.9-billion becquerels of iodine-134, 13-million becquerels of iodine-131, and 2.3-million becquerels each for cesium 134 and 137. These substances are emitted during nuclear fission inside a reactor core. The company says the extremely contaminated water may stem from a damaged reactor core, and are trying to determine how the leakage occurred. University of Tokyo graduate school professor Naoto Sekimura says the leak may come from the suppression chamber of the Number 2 reactor, which is known to be damaged. The chamber is designed to contain overflows of radioactive substances from the reactor. Read more at www3.nhk.or.jp

 

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Jesuits Settle Abuse Claims for 166 Mill

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Jesuits Settle Abuse Claims for $166 Million

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SEATTLE (AP) — In one of the largest settlements in the Catholic church’s sweeping sex abuse scandal, an order of priests agreed Friday to pay $166.1 million to hundreds of Native Americans and Alaska Natives who were abused at the order’s schools around the Pacific Northwest.

The settlement between more than 450 victims and the Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus also calls for a written apology to the victims and disclosure of documents to them, including their personal medical records.

The Jesuit province owns Gonzaga University, known for its successful basketball program, but the settlement does not include assets from that institution or any other school controlled by the order.

“It’s a day of reckoning and justice,” said Clarita Vargas, 51, who said she and her two sisters were abused by the head of St. Mary’s Mission and School, a former Jesuit-run Indian boarding school on the Colville Indian Reservation near Omak, Wash., in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

The abuse began when they were as young as 6 or 7, she said. “My spirit was wounded, and this makes it feel better.”

The province ran village and reservation schools in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Alaska. The claims are from victims who were students at schools in all five states. Nearly all the victims are American Indian or Alaska Native.

The Very Rev. Patrick Lee, speaking for the Oregon Province, said the organization would not comment on the settlement announcement because the bankruptcy proceedings are ongoing, “as well as out of respect for the judicial process and all involved.”

He said the province was hoping to conclude the bankruptcy process as quickly as possible.

The province previously settled another 200 claims. Then the organization filed for bankruptcy in 2009, claiming the payments depleted its treasury. But victims argued the province remained wealthy because it controls and owns Gonzaga University, Gonzaga Preparatory School, Seattle University and other schools and properties.

Many of the abuses happened in remote villages and on reservations. The order was accused of using those areas as dumping grounds for problem priests.

California attorney John Manley, who represented some of the abuse victims, said the Jesuits knowingly put molesters in a position to abuse children.

“It wasn’t an accident. The evidence showed they did it on purpose and it was rape,” Manley said.

Manley said he was certain not all the victims have come forward and believes the pattern of abuse among Catholic priests continues.

Both the order and its insurers are paying into the settlement. About $6 million of the settlement is being set aside for future claims.

Attorney Blaine Tamaki said the priest who molested Vargas and about 100 other children has not been charged with a crime because the statute of limitations in Washington state is so restrictive. A bill before the state’s 2011 Legislature would remove that statute of limitations.

Although the victims’ attorneys initially cited the wealth of the Jesuit colleges and prep schools in the region, they did not pursue that argument during the bankruptcy negotiations, so the settlement does not includes such institutions as Gonzaga University in Spokane.

The settlement is believed to be the Catholic Church’s third-largest in the sex abuse cases, behind the Los Angeles Diocese, which agreed to pay $660 million to 508 victims, and the San Diego Diocese, which agreed to pay $198 million to 144 victims, according to the website BishopAccountability.org.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2011/03/25/us/AP-US-Jesuits-Sex-Abuse.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss Read more at reform-network.net

 

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US Falsely Stating Vatican Position

US Accused of Falsely Stating Vatican Position to Win Votes for Resolution

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US Accused of Falsely Stating Vatican Position to Win Votes for Resolution

By Terrence McKeegan, J.D.

NEW YORK, March 23 (C-FAM) The US Department of State is telling Latin American delegations to the United Nations that the Vatican has changed its position on a sexual orientation declaration that was just released at the Human Rights Council in Geneva, according to diplomatic sources in New York. According to these sources, an official in Western Hemisphere Affairs at the US State Department has held a series of meetings with Latin American delegations telling them the Vatican now supports the declaration calling for “sexual orientation and gender identity” to be new categories of non-discrimination in international law. However, a high ranking source at the Holy See says these assertions are false and that the Holy See opposes the declaration being considered in Geneva. When contacted, the official at the State Department confirmed the meetings took place but denied that any of the Latin American diplomats were told that the Holy See backed the declaration. Instead they were only told that the Holy See was against violence against all individuals including those based on their sexual orientation. One source told the Friday Fax, “Several Latin American delegations have now thrown their support behind the declaration after incorrectly believing the Holy See supports it.” The declaration on “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” was introduced yesterday at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.  The declaration, which was not voted on, draws upon similar declarations issued by EU-led coalitions at the UN General Assembly in 2008 and the Human Rights Council in 2006.  However, the most recent declaration takes the principles further by calling for these principles to be taken up by all human rights mechanisms, as well as calling for an end to “stigmatization” on any grounds. “Human sexuality, like any voluntary activity, possesses a moral dimension,” said Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, on behalf of the Holy See. “It is an activity which puts the individual will at the service of a finality; it is not an “identity”. In other words, it comes from the action and not from the being, even though some tendencies or “sexual orientations” may have deep roots in the personality. Denying the moral dimension of sexuality leads to denying the freedom of the person in this matter, and undermines ultimately his/her ontological dignity,” said Tomasi. The declaration was signed by 85 countries, almost twenty more than the number who signed onto the 2008 General Assembly joint statement.  Three counter statements were made at the Human Rights Council, one by Pakistan on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Countries, one by Nigeria on behalf of the African Group, and one by the Russian Federation. In their statement in support of the “sexual orientation” declaration, the US stated that it was proud to join in support of “LGBT rights”, which the delegate likened to the struggle for democracy in parts of the world, including the Middle East.  In a press release issued today, the US touted its role in securing 20 additional countries to sign onto this year’s declaration, who had not signed onto the 2008 or 2006 statements. Read more at www.c-fam.org

 

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The Vatican in Rome announced its Counter Reformation to convince the Protestants of their error, and until the 18th Century, when Rome admitted defeat, it is said ten million people from both sides were killed.

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The Alpha and Omega of War

Kenneth G. Ramey Salem-News.com

Today These United States are confronted with two instances of apparent tyranny, one by a determined Republican Party of God, and another by the tyrant of Libya, Kadhafi whose forty two years of tyranny is coming to an end.

Courtesy: presstv.ir

(PASO ROBLES, Calif.) - The force used against Libya so far seems to have exceeded the plan for NATO to intervene to protect the Libyan people from the threats of Kadhafi who said he would show no mercy toward them as adversaries to his tyrannical rule.

Indeed, he released his personal military against his people both on land and in the air to the extent that France, Britain and the U.S. felt compelled to act in the people’s defense. They even consulted with leaders of the Arab League which agreed to be a party to the plan, as did other nations, within limits.

The U.N.’s Security Council and NATO’s command for the area were advised and Resolution #1973 was drawn up outlining the extent to which the Coalition could go to succeed in its purpose. It was loosely defined and allowed for the establishment of a “No Fly Zone” sufficient to prevent the military from attacking Libyan people while allowing for judgment on the part of the solicitors as to what they thought was proper.

The Intervention began with a bang, but without invasion, that made quite an impression on the world stage. French, U.S. and U.K. aircraft swept the skies and attacked a Kadhafi column moving on rebels well outside Tripoli; U.S. missiles pounded defensive works along the whole Mediterranean length of Libya while planes did their part from the air with precision. It appears the Libyan military is in a box and holed up in Tripoli. Later reports suggest otherwise, but Kadhafi is silent, at least for the time being.

The force used against Libya is being greeted both pro and con by members of Congress. Those who see the conduct thus far as an act of war feel strongly that President Obama should have taken up the matter with Congress which alone has the right to declare War, but the instigator nations surely must see it as more like a spanking by the International Community against a repugnant child. There aren’t many Republicans who would disagree, not because they think of themselves as a good parent, but because they are members of the Party of God whose religion justifies such conduct in the interest of defeating evil, and God knows, Kadhafi is an evil man. It naturally follows that as followers of their faith, they of the country they serve, can do no evil. The trouble with that is other religions, such as Islam and its followers are just as adamant in the righteousness of their faith in Mohammed as are Christians in Jesus.

It can be argued that Jesus was called the Son of God for one of two reasons; first, Jehovah of the Old Testament was the first God of the Religions of the Book, and Christianity built upon the Old Testament to create its New Testament upon that of Judaism’s first.

Christians were first a cult within Judaism, and the brains behind the rise of Christianity, who referred to themselves as God, or Lord of their new religion for which Jesus was trained as the essential man expected to die for the cause. Jesus would be worthy of being called Son only after he committed fully to Christian dogma (philosophy) as he did on the Mount of Olives (“not mine, but thy will be done”) an act ever after referred to as his spiritual ascension into Heaven. Having committed himself to die, he was anointed for burial which earned for him the titles of Christ, the Son of God, and King of the Jews, before he was presented before Pilate who released him to the Jews who crucified Him, as presumably every well-informed Christian knows. The God of Christianity is its philosophy; Jesus as Christ was the essential man who became the symbol for the Christian Church; the One God of All Nations.

Islam’s Koran became the last of the Books in the 7th Century A.D. when Islam proclaimed Mohammed the Last Prophet of God after Jesus who is worshipped as a prophet in his own right: but not God. As the Last Prophet, Mohammed and Islam presumed to override Christianity’s claim of Rome’s Primacy, later contradicted by Orthodox and Protestant Christians too.

It is easy enough to see why and how the world has been turned topsy-turvy ever since. The obvious solution to this dilemma is for all to admit that Diversity ought to be associated with Unity, but those who devoutly believe in what they have been taught, are impervious to the Truth which alone can get the parts together to form a homogeneous Oneness. Until they can be, we just have to live with the situation as best we are able, a division based on common principles of Good and Evil as determined by the leaders of each segment to suit themselves. It is this distinction that is the cause of Wars over which logic and reason find it impossible to deal.

Significantly, only Orthodox Christianity has avoided the witch craze and remains pure to the fundamentals of its Christian Faith. The witch-hunt was begun by the Roman Church which used the Inquisition to enforce its will of absolute conformity to dogma upon those who were baptized into the Church as early as the day of their birth. Eventually the number of persons who objected at a later age grew, and those whose objections were manifested, were tried as witches who, if convicted by the Inquisition, were either burned at the stake of an artificial hell, or were reduced to the level of reprobate, an existence barely above that of death, often to the third generation of families for the sins of their fathers. The heat of this pent up rage, found release beginning in the 15th century.

The Renaissance preceded the Reformation by several centuries during which wealth increased selectively among traders and the Church in particular, which contributed to its artistic grandeur and the beauty of it architecture and accouterments, but also to its failings which about 1525 led to a break in the ranks. Erasmus of Rotterdam was a priest who wrote his In Praise of Folly regaling [to entertain or amuse somebody, especially by telling stories] his audiences with tales of Rome’s foolishness. In the early 1520s Martin Luther was struggling with his own faith and, contrary to it developed a new credo he called Justification by Faith [the Christian belief that the grace of God absolves people from all sin]. Erasmus’ work has ever since been said to be the egg that Martin Luther hatched. As a result of them, the Reformation Movement was energized. Neither intended that their work should contribute to the Movement, but once begun, there was no stopping it.

The Vatican in Rome announced its Counter Reformation to convince the Protestants of their error, and until the 18th Century, when Rome admitted defeat, it is said ten million people from both sides were killed. Rome activated the Inquisition in its cause, and the Protestants constructed its own courts in response using the same tactics as did Rome against defectors from its ranks. And so it was that Protestants were imbued with the witch concept that was carried forward into the New World by 121 Pilgrims who arrived at Plymouth, Mass. in 1621 from Rotterdam aboard the Mayflower. Members killed their last witch in America early in the 18th Century, the same century our Constitution was written, and the Founders decided that the State should separate itself from Religious tyranny.

Today These United States are confronted with two instances of apparent tyranny, one by a determined Republican Party of God, and another by the tyrant of Libya, Kadhafi whose forty two years of tyranny is coming to an end. The Republican Party of God is tyrannous because it wants to regain control of the Government by any and all means at its disposal. As make believe Christians they would control our nation by returning it to the level of Roman Christianity, the model from which American Protestants escaped.

Republican Aspirants to seats in Congress; even the Presidency, is based on beliefs in Jesus as God and the Republican Party of God whose guiding light consists of Evangelists’ as its Holy See. It is they who protested against John McCain’s choice for running mate and insisted he settle for their choice of Sarah Palin from Wasilla, AK, who was of the Pentecostal cult and Governor of Alaska. Her qualifications left much to be desired, but if they could not control McCain (should he be elected President) clearly they would be able to groom and control Sarah Palin should John die in office and she become President. I mention this to show who really is in control of the Party of God, keeping in mind that Jesus was a prop that became the symbol of Christianity: Jesus is not God. The Book of Isaiah confirms it.

Geo. W. Bush was taught to believe, and accepted that “When God (Jesus) is in His Heaven all’s Right with the World.” But then what an awakening, and how he must have wondered about the truth of his Presidency when he flew over New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. He never seemed quite the same afterward, as he accepted resignations from key personnel. The Rev. Rod Parsley of Cincinnati was the probable voice that got America to invade Iraq when he preached that it was God’s will that, “American Christians destroy Islam.” Here is the Alpha and the Omega of the two Geo, W Bush Administrations. I believe he left office a disillusioned man. But the Holy See remains to direct its illogical Republican Campaign against President Obama and his Administration, and in defense of those who speak honestly about Russ Limbaugh and Fox News and who are forced to apologize.

Karl Rove is back to guide the political tracings of those who are suspected of being of value to the Holy See which guides the Party of God as the Vatican does The Church of Rome in its quest for overall dominance. Karl seems not to favor the radicals of the Tea Party mold, preferring to stick with the older gang of legislators. However, he and the Holy See may have to live and deal with their inheritance in spite of themselves.

I can think of several instances when Presidents went beyond their authority for the benefit of the nation. The Louisiana Purchase is a standout, the acquisition of Florida from Spain, and the Mexican American War in 1846-48 that moved our western boundary to the Pacific Ocean. The Civil War is a chapter of its own, but Alaska was bought by Secretary of the Interior, Seward (Seward’s folly) when Russia quit its otter post, Ft. Ross, north of the Golden Gate and somewhat above the mouth of the Russian River.

The American war with Spain was declared in 1898 with the public intention to free Cuba from Spain, but the U.S. Navy sailed West and took the Philippines, and other Pacific Island Territories from Spain as well to give the U. S. a footprint and influence in Asia. At first the Filipinos felt they were being freed from Spanish Rule by the Americans, but when the truth was known they fought us viciously just as did Iraqis one hundred years later. 72,000 were committed to defeating them. The War for the Philippines became known as the Forgotten War which ended in 1912 when the insurgent chief was captured and it was agreed to let America have a Navel Base in Manila in return for giving the Islands back to the Filipinos. The Iraq war is a virtual copy of this war, and will be confirmed if the U.S. wants and gets air bases there too as it got a naval base in the Philippines.

And, just this year Lindsay Graham, Senator from South Carolina has said publicly that “the U. S. ought to have an enduring presence in Afghanistan with Military Air Bases” [to influence the Middle East as well?] WWI and WWII were defensive Wars fought primarily in Europe and on the seas for the good of mankind, Japan completed the Axis (of evil) along with Italy’s (Mussolini) and Germany (Hitler’s Third Reich) that ended in 1944. In 1917 the Communist Revolution in Russia created a new form of religion that inspired its form of government an infected other nations after the World Wars, and continues its influence in some parts yet. It spred to North Korea in the 1950s and to Vietnam in the70s where two more Wars were fought with great loss of life by the United States to stop its spread. Vietnam has since rebuilt and become a member of the world community in good standing. No Korea is communist yet. China became the largest nation to embrace Communism, but Russia, under Khrushchev. finally decided to quit the Cold War and cooperates with the U.S. in a variety of ways. It is enough to make one wonder why any war should be fought. The U.S. still has 50,000 troops in Iraq, for what reason is uncertain, but for peaceful purposes as far as is known. They are to leave in their entirety by the end of 2012 presumably, but as with everything associated with Iraq it is probably safe to assume President Obama has something up his sleeve. He may feel he has to produce something to show for the cost to America for Bush’s War, and if the result is equal to the result of the Forgotten War it greatly copied, we should soon know the truth. Lindsay Graham, Senator from South Carolina, has already planted the seed of what the U.S. should obtain from Afghanistan, which implies that every War is expected to produce for America a gain in its influence in the world, as surely they always have. When Graham says The United States should have “an enduring presence in Afghanistan” he wants Military Air Bases to be built there, for what purpose, unless to keep an eye on Iran and more of the Middle East? And now suddenly, most of the Arab Nations of North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula are testing their kings ability to hold onto their rule as tyrants or benevolent despots. A whole new area is opening to the influence of Democracy, and Europe and The U.S. can hardly be disappointed. Naturally, they would prefer that the transitions be peaceful and generated from within. They might be if it weren’t for more radical elements who are now trying Israel’s patience to divert Arab attention by attempting to change the subject. Libya and Kadhafi pose difficulties which NATO nations are reluctant to ignore. Kadhafi has threatened to “show no mercy” toward his people who rebel against him and his tyrannous rule in a reaction that appears more organic than imposed from without.

There is a natural tendency in man to come to the aid of those who suffer be it animal or man. And when catastrophe strikes as Nature seems to be doing so much recently, it is natural that man ask, why? I don’t know why the Middle East is erupting currently in a rash of uprisings against the status quo anymore than I understand completely the cause of volcanic eruptions, earthquakes or tsunamis that have killed tens of thousands of innocent peoples of this world, but I do know this: To know God is to understand Nature, not the words of those whose purpose is to control our minds. The Church and Evangelists may pretend to know, but they don’t, because to them Jesus as a personal God, not a universal and natural phenomenon. Their words do not compute with the force of nature.

What amazes, however, is how the peoples of one Arab nation after another have chosen to be free from their king, benevolent despot, or tyrant in favor of Democracy. Apparently, it is a wave whose time has come, and a swell of human emotion that is moving with the power of a tsunami.

Kadahfi can’t resist its force by “showing no mercy’ to the rebels of his regime in Libya, where the regard of other nations refuse to allow the slaughter. This is why Britain, France the U.S., and the U.N. Security Council and NATO have entered the fray, in defense of a defenseless people. Seems only right, all things considered.

This Intervention is nothing at all like a War; Iraq and Afghanistan are Wars. Both have contributed immensely to the reduction of America’s reputation and its economy. The Iraq War began as a deception by Evangelists (Rod Parsley and misguided others who constitute The Republican Holy See) convinced the President that God [Jesus} was on their side. Big Mistake, as GWB learned as he flew over New Orleans in the wake of Katrina for which he was ill prepared.

“Trust, but verify,” is a perfect euphemism for “Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.” The GOP didn’t! Here in a nutshell is a history of recent world politics and the changes that most recently are affecting the Middle East.

Kenneth G. Ramey is a member of Salem-News.com's original team of writers, he generates provocative articles on the subject of religion and world affairs. We are pleased that Ken's "lone wolf" presence as a writer in the world has been replaced by a spot on our team of writers at Salem-News.com. Raised in Minnesota and California during the dark years of the Great American Depression, Ken is well suited to talk about the powerful forces in the world that give all of us hope and tragedy and everything in between. You can write to Ken at: darken1@sbcglobal.net Read more at www.salem-news.com

 

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