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We are living in times of great destruction of the world as we know it, earth changes, fires, floods, earthquakes.
Here alone in Australia we sit in horror at the extent of the fires rampage across the country. Unprecedented fires and weather in the history of our existence (well what is on record)
Whilst horrific - the earth we live on has always been full of cyclic changes.
Ancient cities have been discovered under the sea, we are naive to think that the world as we know it will remain the same.
What continents exist now may no longer exist. What coast line exists now is slowly being swallowed up by the ocean.
Volcanic eruptions are changing the face of the planet as are earthquakes - the list is long.
We cannot stop the force of Mother Nature. We live on a planet that has always endured such destruction.
We have pole shifts taking place - all kinds of catastrophic events happening across the Globe. We are but a spit in the ocean to the wide Galaxies that we know of. Yet we think we are precious in some way.
I cannot help but wonder why I was so drawn to create this "Black Winged Goddess" let alone give her the name of Black Winged Goddess. But I was drawn, my soul was pushing me for weeks with a "slight vision" of what I needed to create. It now makes total sense to me why I was so drawn to create The Black Winged Goddess, given the state of our world and humanity.
My soul as always when I listen guides me with powerful messages and reminds me to just 'be' to accept 'what is'.
We may not like the current state of our world but it is what it is and all we can do is stay strong within ourselves and hold the power of 'love' in our hearts despite seeing so much being played out on the planet.
Kali (Hindu) - was known as a deity of the Fearsome Demon destroying Goddess who represents death and rebirth - so her name means "Black One".
We can never truly comprehend or understand the power of mother nature - we have abused her for centuries, taken her for granted and she is a living breathing consciousness so powerful that we dare not go up against here.
In recent years we have seen the influence of the feminine energy on earth which for eons has been dominated by the male energy.
So it makes complete sense to me that we are witness to so much destruction on the planet.
We are witness to the destruction of our societies as we know it, breakdown of families, law, politics.
So much of humanity is at war with the 'system', the injustices, and the lack of balance within our society. The homeless, the abused, the forgotten souls, the mental health issues that seem to have become rampant, the rise of Corporate wealth while humanity is trapped in slavery. We have learnt nothing as a humanity over the past how many hundred years?
In order for rebirth, for new growth, a culling needs to take place - hence the energy of the Black Winged Goddess she is both the Destroyer and the Giver of New Life.
We have elected to be here at this time on the planet - despite the suffering we witness or endure - I know at a higher level it is absolutely necessary for real change to take place.
Our world is a very different place to the one we have known - and whilst we have believed we have had a safe and reasonable planet in which to live, the reality is much Evil has existed and people have been brainwashed to the point of being zombies. There has been so much suppression imposed upon humanity even to the extreme of vaccinations and fluoride to our water supply. All of these chemicals act as suppressants to our brain! It has been a deliberate agenda of the existing power on earth. Their agenda has always been to rule, control and suppress the populous.
Humanity is awakening and with this will be uproar, dis - ease, a culling if you like. It is time for humanity to step out of fear and into their true power which is within each and every one of us.
New growth, new beginnings but not before the dismantling of the old - it has to be this way.
These times we are living through were written in history.
So I have created "The Black Winged Goddess" she is available in different styles, inside a Dome with beautiful etched glass or stand alone. She will rotate or can be static.
She is available on MP in the Stand Alone version (rotating) or can be seen in world at my store.
I hope you enjoy and embrace 'The "Black Winged Goddess' and rather be in fear of her - understand she brings 'New Life" but first the old has to die for the new to be born.
How appropriate for a New Year of 2020 fast approaching.
Interestingly and unconsciously I created 4 of these Black Winged Goddesses.
The year 2020 equates to the number 4 in Numerology.
The #4 represents a Universal energy. (see below for a deeper understanding of the #4)
The # 2 - Is the most feminine and often underestimated when it comes to power and strength. She is always gentle, tactful, diplomatic, forgiving and understanding. She likes to keep peace and likes to avoid confrontation. # 2 is the survivor and extremely resilient force. Her shape looks as though she is bent back on a knee with head bowed in humility and service. However when enough pressure is applied to the # 2 energy. Some would perceive her as weak and powerless due to this servitude shape. However never underestimate the power behind #2 because she represents the power (double) #1 who is the all powerful warrior who will shake and destroy no matter what. So #2 brings the balance but never underestimate the power of 2 Energy.
The #4 Energy in more detail
The 4 is without a doubt masculine, reflecting strength and stability. His chief characteristics are dependability, productivity, punctuality and obedience. He is trustworthy, patient, conventional and a traditionalist.
Tend to be rule followers. 4 is the area of sciences, upholding the law (such as Government and the military). The #4 represents Disciplined, systematic, Dependable, Strong. Loyal
Four is the basis of all solid objects. Four points are used in constructing the simplest solid and thus four is the number symbolizing the way of construction. In many religions, four is seen as the number for earth, and representing the four elements, Air Earth, Water and Fire.
At its extreme 4's can tend to overreact to violence.
So 2020 seems to have more challenges ahead and I suspect we will be seeing more uprising across the planet (#2 energy) with totalitarianism (#4 energy) being played out like never before. Perhaps more of what the world has witnessed in Hong Kong this year.
It is as if the two energies Masculine & Feminine are battling against one another. But at the same time I cannot help but feel and acknowledge UNITY - and this is what I will remain focused upon during the year ahead. We must stand united. We are after all 'one humanity'
We are without doubt living in very challenging times.
May peace be with you!
Taxi
maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Isle%20Of%20Currents/243/2...
When this all first started they cut large swaths of trees we planted back in the 50's. It was supposed to improve the park environment by removing trees that were getting near the end of their like cycle. I didn't buy that then and I don't by it now.
The problem I find with this is they never laid out just exactly how all this was supposed to improve things. if they were trying to make it people friendly, they are not succeeding , but they are destroying the very thing which drew people to the park.
From the very beginning this was supposed to preserve part of the Oak Openings and the types of wild life found their. For the past few years I have seen wildlife diminishing. Some of their actions have not been positive in nature, They have allowed the slaughter of the deer population, removed flora that had insect life dependent on it which has affected other aspects of the wild life in the park. I have seen, or I should say not seen types of insects now that were pretty common 5 to 6 years ago. I don;t think this is a cyclical thing either. I think it all hinges on what they are currently doing.
then you have to look beyond the borders of the Oak Openings park to what they are doing elsewhere. They created a new park in what used to be the Middle grounds. it was an old rail yard ( NYC, BO,) and part of the central union terminal that handled passenger traffic when the railroads passenger service was at it's height. That all declined and fell into disuse when passenger trains fell out of grace as a way to travel. ( back in the 1950's and 1960's ) That was partly to blame on the railroads because freight was more prosperous than hauling people.
The ever so trustworthy city of Toledo tried several schemes to redevelop these areas, but all failed. So they handed the ball off to the metro parks. They built the middle grounds into a small park and I will admit it was an improvement over what existed before.
Now they are trying to improve an area that has been a huge pain in the back side for Toledo. they tore down the old Acme power generating plant and many older buildings creating a huge open area on the east side of the river in downtown Toledo. They tried several schemes to get development started, even getting the Chinese involved. Nothing seemed to work and the land just sat there. Then they turned it into a park and I don't think they were having much success with it. But they did provide a place where the cities criminal population could conduct business. it was in this area where some of Toledo's fine citizens tried to relieve me of my photographic gear.
They are developing the land and are calling it the Glass City Metro Park. They have built an ice skating rink and a hall that can be rented out for occasions like weddings and such. The question is, how long will this be viable ? The Idea sounds good, but you have to consider the surrounding areas. At best you could say they are dangerous. Toledo is following in the footsteps of one of America's most dangerous cities, Detroit !
I as well as some other persons I have talked to are wondering if they are not pillaging the resources of the Oak Openings park to help pay for what could be another farce. Viable for a few years, but in slow decline because of the area it is built in. They may not have much success with this any more than they did with Port Side or any other scheme they have tried in this area. People will not go into the downtown area of Toledo because it's just to dangerous. People from the suburbs will not go into downtown Toledo because of what it has become, The only group that will be there, lives there and they have a tendency to tear down and drive away. it sounds like some more Toledo shuck and jive.
Be my light.
"The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple." psalm 19:7
There are definitely days when the encouragement of faith and peace about things you can't control is not there with you. Today was one of those days. I was not despairing, but certain fears I have came up in a strong way about people that I love and about their relationships with God, not knowing if they would ever come to a strong relationship with their Creator, or be restored in a healing way. And other things tacked onto that began to grow in my mind until I was in tears.
But then there is beauty, and then there is an order in life that I cannot deny is God's hand working. If we despair, we can't give up hope, because the Spirit is there to guide and comfort us. Sometimes we thinking something is terribly complex, and actually it is just simple. Sometimes doing simple things takes a lot of complex workarounds to get there. Divinity school can be a challenge because it is showing me how hard scholars of this world have worked to make the simplest truths unattainable. But there is a way to see and percieve, to hear and understand, and God makes this possible through faith. And that is the mystic moment of our belief, when we do the impossible and put our faith in a God much greater than ourself, than our families or any of our relationships. We put our faith in a God whose hands surround both our little hearts and also the entire world at the same time. This is the God we know, the God of Order, not Chaos.
Truth is, it's hard for us to get this. We think everything will fall apart. If we are not careful, and if we stay on our own agenda and even to hurt others, we definitely may see things fall apart. But when we are centered on the one who created our lives, the very essence of our souls and our whole beings, the one who says "I am the Light of the World," we can rest assured that God will guide us, even til providence and protection.
May it be so, and may we see and perceive, hear and understand. May we have faith. Amen.
With two days left until the end of the 2028-2029 Quidditch Season at Hogwarts, I'm back to provide some more coverage of this year's Gryffindor team! This triple feature of posters was commissioned by team captain Aleksei Ashworth. The posters today feature Aures "The Hero" Truegarden, Foster "The Claw" Cobris and Jericho "Loki" Rothenberg.
Aures Truegarden is a stable on the team, having played every game as a trustworthy chaser. She's often found telling stories and enjoying fairy tales. When on the pitch, it's like she's the hero of her own story as she does battle against the evil forces of whoever Gryffindor is playing against that day. Truly an enchanting sight.
Foster Cobris is a latecomer to the team, arriving in the second term- but arriving in full power. With an impressive catch time, his seeking has been tied to Gryffindor's recent victory. With flash and flare, this first year is certainly making a name for himself!
Jericho Rothenberg is my own character and you couldn't pay me to write nice things about them here. They're a little idiot and trickster.
Making new cushion covers on a rainy afternoon, using my vintage Singer hand-cranked sewing machine. It purrs and stitches beautifully, and can cope with very thick fabric.
Taken with my Pentax 50 mm f/1.8 SMC DA lens which is also a joy to use.
On Explore July 28th, 2017 currently placed #99. A big thank you to all for your interest and kind comments, which are very much appreciated.
Mamiya C220 + Kodak Portra 400
Kings Cross in Sydney Australia, is one big diversion. The prostitutes are still there, so are the drugs despite numerous clean-up campaigns, but a lot has changed over the years. Long-time residents say the bohemian atmosphere of the sixties and seventies is all but gone. Many artists have been forced out by rising real estate prices and most of the old entertainment venues like Les Girls have closed down. Outlasting them all is a tiny, run down coffee shop called the Piccolo, where you can still catch a whiff of bohemian attitude.
I have always been fascinated by this café as a kid and as a young teenager roaming the cross for anything but sanity I would often wonder in to grab a coffee. The flamboyant owner would smile and was always willing to have a chat. The atmosphere was always smokey and colourful and filled with interesting speak about almost anything.
Vittorio Bianchi has been serving coffee in the piccolo for nearly 45 years and has seen “the cross” change from its bohemian days with its jazz clubs to its dark days where even the young were spared no mercy on the streets of Kings Cross.
During Xmas I wondered back to Sydney and made sure I checked out if the piccolo was still around. It still is and the owner was none to happy to chat as always. He moaned the change that had swept throughout the cross and about a building across the road which used to house barons, a seedy but trustworthy wine bar complete with it’s sticky décor and deep hues, that is soon to be demolished for up market shoeboxes that will forever change the whole urban landscape of that famous street. Viva Gentrification, developers win again..
During this discussion this portrait was born.
edit: this shot was choosen as a finalist in the sydney now competition which i am thrilled about.
I found these youtube videos about the piccolo:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_DzfzVFt8o
Final image from this Scottish Highlands series.
Top image: a piece of the Caledonian native forest near Loch Tulla; almost all (99%) of which has been logged for various reasons or burnt down to create hunting estates over the last 500 years. The barren hillsides of the Scottish highlands are beautiful, but also represent the results of a manmade ecological disaster.
Middle: Possibly the strangest British road sign I've ever seen, there is no pictogram, no instruction, just two lines of conservation poetry. No idea how it got there, but it does feature the "official" 'Transport' typeface.
Bottom: Bà Cottage - despite my best efforts, I cannot find much information regarding this ruined three room building; the Canmore database (the most trustworthy) has precisely two sentences on it. A walker familiar with the area related a long tale to me about how one of the kings of Scotland had been informed that a white hart was in the area and so established the cottage as a hunting lodge so that it could be caught for him to hunt. But I'm afraid that story may be of the "shaggy dog" variety (i.e. looks more than it really is), particularly as the above database reckons this was built in the 19th century when Queen Victoria was around.
Geotag for the road sign. PP adjustments to balance the three images, crop and stitch together.
My obsession to get a wall worthy photo of this tree continues. "Just" a 2-hour drive to get to location.
Intrepid 8x10 MkII
Schneider Kreuznach G-Claron 240mm ƒ9
Nikkor Y52 yellow filter
Shanghai GP3 100
Rodinal 1:50 per MDC
About a dozen head of cattle with a few horses mixed in to my right and behind me.
This sheet has some horizontal streaks, but they were few, somewhat wide, about ⅓ down from the top, and I was able to remove them with the inpainting tool in Affinity Photo 2.
Since there seems to be a mix of good, not so good, and streaky bad sheets of Shanghai GP3 100 in my inventory, my strategy is to just use it. When it's good, it's amazing, so it's worth trying. If a subject is especially important, then I'll use something that is trustworthy.
Quercus douglasii, known as blue oak, is a species of oak endemic to California, common in the Coast Ranges and the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. It is California's most drought-tolerant deciduous oak, and is a dominant species in the blue oak woodland ecosystem. Wikipedia
Despite the complexity and seeming fragmentation of reality, there is a hidden wholeness to be found in the world, and the imagination—supported by right disposition, a holy heart, a willingness to believe—can hold this sense of unity-in-difference together. In short, the inner experience of God is real, and its transformative effect on the mind’s grasp of reality is trustworthy.
-Sophia The Hidden Christ of Thomas Merton, Christopher Pramuk
CSX 4548 West enters Rose Lake, IL with the last remnant of the once busy TV-MAIL fleet on the St. Louis Line. Old names die hard as I007 enters the "North Mail" to pull down to the west end. The side loaders will make short work of emptying the flats and reloading for the nighttime eastbound. I007 is still the only trustworthy afternoon CSX powered train on the St. Louis Line and on this day, a rare pair of EMDs made the appearance. Not to worry, Gevos were back on the job the next day!
2-15-2024
Borexit. Hopefully a good day for the UK. It has to become better after the years of this narcisstic clown and notoric liar, who betrayed Britain as well as the EU. This guy (with his gang) has done lasting damage to my trust and sympathy for British politics, which I had for such a long time But who will follow? Anybody trustworthy´in sight? The Conservative Party seems to have become dominated by selfish career-people. Not to compare to real "right honourable" MP's and PM's long ago... And Labour?...sigh...
photo shamelessly stolen from Marijke B.'s stream. Bedankt, Marijke, for your outstanding collection!
re-edited one of my old photos from the Milwaukee Art Museum.
This is definitely an old one, but it is one of my favorites. The outside lighting captured the reflection in the floor tiling which gave an appearance of the people about to walk into a pool of water. This is from one of the corridors of the Milwaukee Art Museum.
Captured with my old trustworthy original Canon Rebel DSLR.
Listen to the trees, and they say:
"Stand tall and yield.
Be tolerant and flexible.
Be true to yourself.
Stand alone, and stand together.
Be brave.
Be patient.
With time, you will grow."
I Listen to the wind, and it says:
"Breathe.
Take care of yourself --
body, mind, and spirit.
Take time.
Be quiet.
Listen from your heart.
Forgive."
I Listen to the sun, and it says:
"Nurture others.
Let your warmth radiate for others to feel.
Give yourself without expectations."
I Listen to the creek, and it says:
"Relax; go with the flow.
Tend to what's really important,
and let the rest go by.
Keep moving -- don't be hesitant or afraid.
Lighten up -- laugh, giggle."
I Listen to the mountains, and they say:
"Be there.
Be honest.
Be trustworthy.
Do what you say you're going to do.
Be true, genuine, and real.
Speak from the heart.
Don't cheat."
I Listen to the birds, and they say:
"Set yourself free.
Sing."
I Listen to the clouds, and they say:
"Be creative.
Be expressive.
Let your spirit run free.
Let yourself be light and gay,
but let yourself be heavy and sad.
Cry when you feel like it."
I Listen to the sky, and it says:
"Open up.
Let go of the boundaries and barriers
which you have created to protect yourself.
Experience change.
Fly."
I Listen to the flowers and small plants, and they say:
"Be humble.
Be simple.
Respect the beauty of small things.
Respect the beauty of humility and truth.
Let go of perfectionism.
Love yourself as you are; it opens the door to change.
Practice acceptance."
I Listen to the bugs and flying insects, and they say:
"Work.
Be productive.
Use your hands.
Focus on what's in front of you.
Ignore the past; there is only the present."
I Listen to the moon, and it says:
"Love.
Share love.
Make love.
Be romantic -- touch and caress.
Allow yourself to be loved.
Be gentle, kind, and understanding.
Use candles."
I Listen to the stars, and they wink and say:
"Play.
Dance, be silly, have fun."
I Listen to the earth, and it says:
"I am your mother.
I give you life.
Respect all that is around you.
Find beauty in all things -- living and not -- including
yourself; for we are all one -- not separate.
Be especially respectful to the very young and the very old,
for they are both very near God.
Give up the belief that you are a higher form of life;
there is no higher form of life.
We are equal because we are the same.
When you return to me, I will welcome you,
and I will set your spirit free.
Love and nurture your children; cook good food for them,
and hold them very close to you often.
Hold me close to you often as well,
and I will hold you in return; I will support you.
Have faith.
I Listen (Chuck Roper)
Couldn't resist stopping to capture these "longhorns" made of old fuel tanks and milk tanks...good thing they're not real, their fence doesn't seem too trustworthy. HFF!
Previous build: www.flickr.com/photos/vitreolum/14835187677/
The following morning, after the arena fight...
- Cora: I hope you're happy now Aymer. Not only did we risk our lives in the bloody arena, but we didn't even get paid.
- Aymer: He said he'd meet us this morning at the Spanking Troll and pay us. How would I know he won't show up...
- Cora: Ufff, what sort of idiot makes this sort of arrangement? Don't bother answering.
- Aymer: Well, he seemed trustworthy.
- Cora: Right. Look over there near the blacksmith, there's a notice board. Let's check and see if there's some honest work to be had.
- Ayemer: Nooo, you know I'm allergic to honest work!
- Cora: And what do you suggest we do? Follow one of your stupd ideas again? Or steal.
- Aymer: I don't care, honest work's for stupid peasants.
- Cora: We are doing this even if I have to drag you there...
He enjoyed the little reactions he got from Guin, the way her eyes rolled were a sign that he still held the ability to provoke. ...
"My painting all safe and sound, Little Miss Shy?"
"Safe as houses." She turns to face him, and indignance washes away any discomfort. "If I did not prove my daring to you, I'm not sure what else there is to do. Shy... " She snorts. "Dignity. That's different than shyness."
He was looking at the painting she spoke, it was still there and so far she is proving trustworthy. A slow nod was given before his brow perked at her statement. "Nothing to do with dignity. You always have and will have that..."
Lamentation III:
...It’s true, that occasionally even I would glimpse into the light, and even let it shine upon me so that I could be seen by others, but those rare and scattered times were only flickers of moments, and anon I have striven and returned to my trustworthy shadows...
The LL-924 was a trustworthy and longstanding workhorse of the Federation's fleet, but this didn't stop engineers from attempting various modifications. The LL-926 was one such modification to bring the LL-924 more in line with the aerodynamic shaping of the LL-928, while maintaining the essential functionalities and compact size of its parent model.
This is the most standard Neo-Classic Space design I have attempted. The idea was to do a small craft very much in line with the original 1978 models, recreating the aesthetic of design from that era (not just Lego) by avoiding any of the modern curved pieces (excepting the engines of course). The landing gear retracts.
You hear about examples of the human brain processing something in a fraction of a second, and apparently judging the trustworthiness of someone’s face is one of those times.
According to a recently-published NYU study, your brain decides how much it trusts a face in about 33 milliseconds, or 1/30th of a second—quicker than an eye can blink. Jonathan Freeman, who was in charge of the study, says that “the brain automatically responds to a face’s trustworthiness before it is even consciously perceived.”
They study says that prominent cheek bones and high “inner eyebrows” are two of the main trustworthy traits.
Staying home with family during this covid 19 period, makes me reflecting back on different trips I had opportunity to in life.
One of them, to Utah 5 years ago,, time really flies away!
Image made with my old and trustworthy Nikon FE togheter with Carl Zeiss 50mm and home develop Kodak Eastman Double-X.
Arches National Park 2015.04.11
The T1000 is an advanced iteration by Sirius Cyberdine Industries of their popular TR37 tracked rover. Updates include larger size cabin and tracks, a new polymercarbonate bubble windscreen that opens from the bottom to allow easy driver access, updated and more powerful instrumentation inside, a 360-degree multi-wavelength camera, unitized remote antenna, comprehensive communications array that can also be used as a defensive ray in emergency situations, and now all TR1000's come with a helper robot as well. The robot is quite useful when harsh conditions prevent the operators from going outside the unit. Sirius Cyberdine also had the foresight to include advanced personality modules within the helper bots, thus providing companionship to solo operators. Field reports indicate that the bots, while reliable and trustworthy companions, tend to get a bit of snarkiness in their personality chips over long deployments.
_______________________
Happy Febrovery everyone!
This rover is an advance on a rover I built last year, the TR37, seen here: www.flickr.com/photos/125250765@N04/24475833924/in/album-...
Enjoy and thanks for looking!
The ECONOMY AMERICAN Is DANGER, BUSH CONVENES An EXTRAORDINARY SUMMIT To the WHITE HOUSE....
Good evening. This is an extraordinary period for America's economy. Over the past few weeks, many Americans have felt anxiety about their finances and their future. I understand their worry and their frustration. We've seen triple-digit swings in the stock market. Major financial institutions have teetered on the edge of collapse, and some have failed. As uncertainty has grown, many banks have restricted lending, credit markets have frozen, and families and businesses have found it harder to borrow money. We're in the midst of a serious financial crisis, and the federal government is responding with decisive action. We boosted confidence in money market mutual funds and acted to prevent major investors from intentionally driving down stocks for their own personal gain. Most importantly, my administration is working with Congress to address the root cause behind much of the instability in our markets. Financial assets related to home mortgages have lost value during the house decline, and the banks holding these assets have restricted credit. As a result, our entire economy is in danger. So I propose that the federal government reduce the risk posed by these troubled assets and supply urgently needed money so banks and other financial institutions can avoid collapse and resume lending. This rescue effort is not aimed at preserving any individual company or industry. It is aimed at preserving America's overall economy. It will help American consumers and businesses get credit to meet their daily needs and create jobs. And it will help send a signal to markets around the world that America's financial system is back on track. I know many Americans have questions tonight: How did we reach this point in our economy? How will the solution I propose work? And what does this mean for your financial future? These are good questions, and they deserve clear answers. First, how did our economy reach this point? Well, most economists agree that the problems we're witnessing today developed over a long period of time. For more than a decade, a massive amount of money flowed into the United States from investors abroad because our country is an attractive and secure place to do business. This large influx of money to U.S. banks and financial institutions, along with low interest rates, made it easier for Americans to get credit. These developments allowed more families to borrow money for cars, and homes, and college tuition, some for the first time. They allowed more entrepreneurs to get loans to start new businesses and create jobs. Unfortunately, there were also some serious negative consequences, particularly in the housing market. Easy credit, combined with the faulty assumption that home values would continue to rise, led to excesses and bad decisions. Many mortgage lenders approved loans for borrowers without carefully examining their ability to pay. Many borrowers took out loans larger than they could afford, assuming that they could sell or refinance their homes at a higher price later on. Optimism about housing values also led to a boom in home construction. Eventually, the number of new houses exceeded the number of people willing to buy them. And with supply exceeding demand, housing prices fell, and this created a problem. BUSH: Borrowers with adjustable-rate mortgages, who had been planning to sell or refinance their homes at a higher price, were stuck with homes worth less than expected, along with mortgage payments they could not afford. As a result, many mortgage-holders began to default. These widespread defaults had effects far beyond the housing market. See, in today's mortgage industry, home loans are often packaged together and converted into financial products called mortgage-backed securities. These securities were sold to investors around the world. Many investors assumed these securities were trustworthy and asked few questions about their actual value. Two of the leading purchasers of mortgage-backed securities were Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Because these companies were chartered by Congress, many believed they were guaranteed by the federal government. This allowed them to borrow enormous sums of money, fuel the market for questionable investments, and put our financial system at risk. The decline in the housing market set off a domino effect across our economy. When home values declined, borrowers defaulted on their mortgages, and investors holding mortgage-backed securities began to incur serious losses. Before long, these securities became so unreliable that they were not being bought or sold. Investment banks, such as Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers, found themselves saddled with large amounts of assets they could not sell. They ran out of money needed to meet their immediate obligations, and they faced imminent collapse. Other banks found themselves in severe financial trouble. These banks began holding on to their money, and lending dried up, and the gears of the American financial system began grinding to a halt. With the situation becoming more precarious by the day, I faced a choice, to step in with dramatic government action or to stand back and allow the irresponsible actions of some to undermine the financial security of all. I'm a strong believer in free enterprise, so my natural instinct is to oppose government intervention. I believe companies that make bad decisions should be allowed to go out of business. Under normal circumstances, I would have followed this course. But these are not normal circumstances. The market is not functioning properly. There has been a widespread loss of confidence, and major sectors of America's financial system are at risk of shutting down. The government's top economic experts warn that, without immediate action by Congress, America could slip into a financial panic and a distressing scenario would unfold. More banks could fail, including some in your community. The stock market would drop even more, which would reduce the value of your retirement account. The value of your home could plummet. Foreclosures would rise dramatically. And if you own a business or a farm, you would find it harder and more expensive to get credit. More businesses would close their doors, and millions of Americans could lose their jobs. Even if you have good credit history, it would be more difficult for you to get the loans you need to buy a car or send your children to college. And, ultimately, our country could experience a long and painful recession. Fellow citizens, we must not let this happen. I appreciate the work of leaders from both parties in both houses of Congress to address this problem and to make improvements to the proposal my administration sent to them. There is a spirit of cooperation between Democrats and Republicans and between Congress and this administration. In that spirit, I've invited Senators McCain and Obama to join congressional leaders of both parties at the White House tomorrow to help speed our discussions toward a bipartisan bill. I know that an economic rescue package will present a tough vote for many members of Congress. It is difficult to pass a bill that commits so much of the taxpayers' hard-earned money. I also understand the frustration of responsible Americans who pay their mortgages on time, file their tax returns every April 15th, and are reluctant to pay the cost of excesses on Wall Street. But given the situation we are facing, not passing a bill now would cost these Americans much more later. Many Americans are asking, how would a rescue plan work? After much discussion, there's now widespread agreement on the principles such a plan would include. It would remove the risk posed by the troubled assets, including mortgage-backed securities, now clogging the financial system. This would free banks to resume the flow of credit to American families and businesses. Any rescue plan should also be designed to ensure that taxpayers are protected. It should welcome the participation of financial institutions, large and small. It should make certain that failed executives do not receive a windfall from your tax dollars. BUSH: It should establish a bipartisan board to oversee the plan's implementation, and it should be enacted as soon as possible. In close consultation with Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, and SEC Chairman Chris Cox, I announced a plan on Friday. First, the plan is big enough to solve a serious problem. Under our proposal, the federal government would put up to $700 billion taxpayer dollars on the line to purchase troubled assets that are clogging the financial system. In the short term, this will free up banks to resume the flow of credit to American families and businesses, and this will help our economy grow. Second, as markets have lost confidence in mortgage-backed securities, their prices have dropped sharply, yet the value of many of these assets will likely be higher than their current price, because the vast majority of Americans will ultimately pay off their mortgages. The government is the one institution with the patience and resources to buy these assets at their current low prices and hold them until markets return to normal. And when that happens, money will flow back to the Treasury as these assets are sold, and we expect that much, if not all, of the tax dollars we invest will be paid back. The final question is, what does this mean for your economic future? Well, the primary steps -- purpose of the steps I've outlined tonight is to safeguard the financial security of American workers, and families, and small businesses. The federal government also continues to enforce laws and regulations protecting your money. The Treasury Department recently offered government insurance for money market mutual funds. And through the FDIC, every savings account, checking account, and certificate of deposit is insured by the federal government for up to $100,000. The FDIC has been in existence for 75 years, and no one has ever lost a penny on an insured deposit, and this will not change. Once this crisis is resolved, there will be time to update our financial regulatory structures. Our 21st-century global economy remains regulated largely by outdated 20th-century laws. Recently, we've seen how one company can grow so large that its failure jeopardizes the entire financial system. Earlier this year, Secretary Paulson proposed a blueprint that would modernize our financial regulations. For example, the Federal Reserve would be authorized to take a closer look at the operations of companies across the financial spectrum and ensure that their practices do not threaten overall financial stability. There are other good ideas, and members of Congress should consider them. As they do, they must ensure that efforts to regulate Wall Street do not end up hampering our economy's ability to grow. In the long run, Americans have good reason to be confident in our economic strength. Despite corrections in the marketplace and instances of abuse, democratic capitalism is the best system ever devised. It has unleashed the talents and the productivity and entrepreneurial spirit of our citizens. It has made this country the best place in the world to invest and do business. And it gives our economy the flexibility and resilience to absorb shocks, adjust, and bounce back. Our economy is facing a moment of great challenge, but we've overcome tough challenges before, and we will overcome this one. I know that Americans sometimes get discouraged by the tone in Washington and the seemingly endless partisan struggles, yet history has shown that, in times of real trial, elected officials rise to the occasion. And together we will show the world once again what kind of country America is: a nation that tackles problems head on, where leaders come together to meet great tests, and where people of every background can work hard, develop their talents, and realize their dreams. Thank you for listening. May God bless you.
One of the 12 points of the boy Scout Law. While they are simplisitc and slightly cheesy, they aren't really a bad set of words to try to live life by. Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courtious, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean, and Reverent.
A Scout is Trustworthy.
A Scout tells the truth. He is honest, and he keeps his promises. People can depend on him.
Il. Title- ( - sang sur mains - ) Mike Mullen having a nice steak dinner with a 'clear conscience' ... ( On top of dead Afghani civilians & dead soldiers.. Egomaniac.. ) Yes Wikileaks shared this piece inspired by them & their work: twitter.com/wikileaks/status/21824111844 it & the entire Wikileaks series is not- for sale.
At some point there may be an exhibition with funds going towards WL & Bradley Manning.
But for now none of the pieces in the series are commercially available or for sale to private individuals.
They do have free use by Wikileaks however.
More work to be posted soon.
Dimensions: 18" x 24.5" acid free paper, acrylics, gouache & ebony pencil
"Mr. Assange can say whatever he likes about the greater good he thinks he and his source are doing, but the truth is they might already have on their hands the blood of some young soldier or that of an Afghan family," Mullen said."
www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/07/29/pentagon-wikileaks-bl...
MMm no- Mullen..How can we end these wars ASAP- & STOP you from getting any MORE blood on YOUR hands..
( News from Wikileaks Twitter feed, 8 - 19 - 2012: "In fact, being from another planet, he might even have picked up on something that most Americans would be unlikely to notice -- that, with only slight alterations, Mullen’s blistering comment about Assange could be applied remarkably well to Mullen himself. “Chairman Mullen,” that Martian might have responded, “can say whatever he likes about the greater good he thinks he is doing, but the truth is he already has on his hands the blood of some young soldiers and that of many Afghan families.” "
www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/08/06/opinion/main6748239.shtml )
War Diary - wardiary.wikileaks.org/ Timeline: wartimeline.haineault.com/
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Mullen#2007_Senate_testimon...
& from the Pentagon- "“We want whatever they have returned to us and we want whatever copies they have expunged… We demand that they do the right thing. If doing the right thing is not good enough for them, then we will figure out what alternatives we have to compel them to do the right thing." mashable.com/2010/08/05/pentagon-wikileaks-demand/
The NERVE.. -
Wikileaks - "What we didn't hear from the Pentagon last week: "killing all those innocent people is bad. Sorry. We will stop that" Thursday, August 05, 2010
YES.
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"Thousands of children and adults had been killed and the US could have announced a broad inquiry into these killings, "but he decided to treat these issues with contempt''.
He said: "This behaviour is unacceptable. We will continue to expose abuses by this administration and others."" - www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/30/us-military-wikileak...
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( From Wikileaks twitter- Aug 19 2010 _ ) -
Wikileaks vs the Pentagon: Phony Fingerpointing
Tom Engelhardt:: Who Really Has Blood On Their Hands?
"Consider the following statement offered by Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at a news conference last week. He was discussing Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks as well as the person who has taken responsibility for the vast, still ongoing Afghan War document dump at that site. "Mr. Assange,” Mullen commented, “can say whatever he likes about the greater good he thinks he and his source are doing, but the truth is they might already have on their hands the blood of some young soldier or that of an Afghan family.”
Now, if you were the proverbial fair-minded visitor from Mars (who in school civics texts of my childhood always seemed to land on Main Street, U.S.A., to survey the wonders of our American system), you might be a bit taken aback by Mullen’s statement. After all, one of the revelations in the trove of leaked documents Assange put online had to do with how much blood from innocent Afghan civilians was already on American hands.
The British Guardian was one of three publications given early access to the leaked archive, and it began its main article this way: “A huge cache of secret U.S. military files today provides a devastating portrait of the failing war in Afghanistan, revealing how coalition forces have killed hundreds of civilians in unreported incidents. They range from the shootings of individual innocents to the often massive loss of life from air strikes...” Or as the paper added in a piece headlined “Secret CIA paramilitaries’ role in civilian deaths”: “Behind the military jargon, the war logs are littered with accounts of civilian tragedies.
The 144 entries in the logs recording some of these so-called ‘blue on white’ events, cover a wide spectrum of day-by-day assaults on Afghans, with hundreds of casualties.” Or as it also reported, when exploring documents related to Task Force 373, an “undisclosed ‘black’ unit” of U.S. special operations forces focused on assassinating Taliban and al-Qaeda “senior officials”: “The logs reveal that TF 373 has also killed civilian men, women, and children and even Afghan police officers who have strayed into its path.”
Admittedly, the events recorded in the Wikileaks archive took place between 2004 and the end of 2009, and so don’t cover the last six months of the Obama administration’s across-the-board surge in Afghanistan. Then again, Admiral Mullen became chairman of the Joint Chiefs in October 2007, and so has been at the helm of the American war machine for more than two of the years in question.
He was, for example, chairman in July 2008, when an American plane or planes took out an Afghan bridal party -- 70 to 90 strong and made up mostly of women -- on a road near the Pakistani border. They were "escorting the bride to meet her groom as local tradition dictates." The bride, whose name we don’t know, died, as did at least 27 other members of the party, including children. Mullen was similarly chairman in August 2008 when a memorial service for a tribal leader in the village of Azizabad in Afghanistan’s Herat Province was hit by repeated U.S. air strikes that killed at least 90 civilians, including perhaps 15 women and up to 60 children. Among the dead were 76 members of one extended family, headed by Reza Khan, a "wealthy businessman with construction and security contracts with the nearby American base at Shindand airport."
Mullen was still chairman in April 2009 when members of the family of Awal Khan, an Afghan army artillery commander on duty elsewhere, were killed in a U.S.-led raid in Khost province in eastern Afghanistan. Among them were his "schoolteacher wife, a 17-year-old daughter named Nadia, a 15-year-old son, Aimal, and his brother, employed by a government department.” Another daughter was wounded and the pregnant wife of Khan's cousin was shot five times in the abdomen.
Mullen remained chairman when, in November 2009, two relatives of Majidullah Qarar, the spokesman for the Minister of Agriculture, were shot down in cold blood in Ghazni City in a Special Operations night raid; as he was -- and here we move beyond the Wikileaks time frame -- when, in February 2010, U.S. Special Forces troops in helicopters struck a convoy of mini-buses, killing up to 27 civilians, including women and children; as he also was when, in that same month, in a special operations night raid, two pregnant women and a teenage girl, as well as a police officer and his brother, were shot to death in their home in a village near Gardez, the capital of Paktia province. After which, the soldiers reportedly dug the bullets out of the bodies, washed the wounds with alcohol, and tried to cover the incident up. He was no less chairman late last month when residents of a small town in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan claimed that a NATO missile attack had killed 52 civilians, an incident that, like just about every other one mentioned above and so many more, was initially denied by U.S. and NATO spokespeople and is now being “investigated.” "
www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/08/06/opinion/main6748239.shtml
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"What is interesting is who is responsible for the killings.
Of the 1,325 civilian deaths recorded by the Afghan human rights group, 23 per cent were attributed to Nato or Afghan government forces. The Taliban and their allies were responsible for 68 per cent of the deaths.
The UN study claimed the civilian death toll was slightly lower at 1,271 with anti-government forces blamed for 76 per cent of the casualties.
Chronicling precise figures is extremely difficult because most parts of the country are inaccessible.
Crucially, both studies suggested that the proportion of deaths attributed to Nato and Afghan government forces were down compared to last year because of fewer air strikes.
This is important because clumsy air strikes on innocent villages and unfair raids on their houses has been driving a lot of Afghans to pick up arms on behalf of insurgents."
by, Hamida Ghafour
More: www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100811/OP...
& -
"My countrymen called me a prostitute
(Filed: 26/10/2004)
Fourteen months ago, Hamida Ghafour went to Afghanistan to cover her native countrys postwar reconstruction for this newspaper. But, as a westernised Afghan, her homecoming wasnt as welcoming as she had hoped"
www.afghanistan.org/news_detail.asp?17220
I am skeptical about agendas.. It can be confusing, this is why for better or worse one must have THE FACTS - it would have been better if we had them from the START.
Without facts no one cares what we do- or who we kill, because we simply don't have ANY concept of how a decade long war is going..
“The government is engaging in selective prosecution to ensure that employees keep their mouths shut,” says Stephen Khon, a lawyer specializing in whistleblowing cases. “All of a sudden the whistleblower becomes public enemy number one. There is no proportionality.” www.alternet.org/world/147778/how_the_military_destroys_t...
This- - you MUST watch-- It's of Afghani's asking for peace & for us to leave- "Wikileaks Assange, stand freely for love & we in Afg will stand with you.." From: www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9E_nXiPj9g
US war crimes: soldiers speak out. - www.youtube.com/watch?v=tj6s1V0Dpuw
From Wikileaks Twitter- "UNAMA Human Rights Unit issued recommendations in the report including:
• The Taliban should withdraw all orders and statements calling for the killing of civilians; and, the Taliban and other AGEs should end the use of IEDs and suicide attacks, comply with international humanitarian law, cease acts of intimidation and killing including assassination, execution and abduction, fully respect citizens’ freedom of movement and stop using civilians as human shields.
• International military forces should make more transparent their investigation and reporting on civilian casualties including on accountability; maintain and strengthen directives restricting aerial attacks and the use of night raids; coordinate investigation and reporting of civilian casualties with the Afghan Government to improve protection and accountability; improve compensation processes; and, improve transparency around any harm to civilians caused by Special Forces operations.
• The Afghan Government should create a public body to lead its response to major civilian casualty incidents and its interaction with international military forces and other key actors, ensure investigations include forensic components, ensure transparent and timely compensation to victims; and, improve accountability including discipline or prosecution for any Afghan National Security Forces personnel who unlawfully cause death or injury to civilians or otherwise violate the rights of Afghan citizens."
unama.unmissions.org/Default.aspx?tabid=1741&ctl=Deta...
From Wikileaks Twitter- CBC
"A bomb is found tucked into a school typewriter. Insurgents dressed in military uniforms attack an education chief. School guards are tied up while the building is bombed to smithereens. Teachers and students at an all-girls high school are poisoned through the drinking water."
"School attacks
Year Number of attacks against schools
2005 98
2006 220
2007 236
2008 348
2009 610
Source: UNICEF. Data for 2008 and 2009 are from the UN Country Task Force on Children, and previous years are from the Ministry of Education."
"Education for children up in Afghanistan since 2002- .
"Nine years ago, about 100,000 students were enrolled in schools. The figure now stands at more than seven million students, one-third of whom are girls, according to the Afghanistan Ministry of Education.
"It's one of those sectors where we've seen radical and dramatic progress since 2002," notes Rowell.
"No one knows where the country is going … but education is a beacon of success."
Read more: www.cbc.ca/world/story/2010/08/06/f-afghanistan-education...
& www.cbc.ca/news/interactives/database-afghan-war-logs/
""
"New Petition Gains Prominent Signatures: “Defend WikiLeaks – End the Secret Wars” - Sign: seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/64042
"One of the most difficult tasks men can perform, however much others may despise it, is the invention of good games and it cannot be done by men out of touch with their instinctive selves." - Jung.
Treating Soldier Stress: www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,2008931_2172992,00...
"Afghan War Diary
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Afghan War Diary (also called The War Logs) is a collection of internal U.S. military logs of the War in Afghanistan published by Wikileaks on 25 July 2010.
The logs consist of 91,731 documents, covering the period between January 2004 and December 2009. Most of the documents were classified as "secret", which The New York Times called "a relatively low level of classification".
As of 28 July 2010, only 75,000 of the documents have been released to the public, a move which Wikileaks says is "part of a harm minimization process demanded by [the] source". Prior to releasing the initial 75,000 documents, Wikileaks made the logs available to The Guardian, The New York Times and Der Spiegel in its German and English on-line edition which published reports per previous agreement on that same day, July 25, 2010."
&
"In June 2010, Guardian journalist Nick Davies and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange established that the US army had built a huge database with six years of sensitive military intelligence material, to which many thousands of US soldiers had access and some of them had been able to download copies, and WikiLeaks had one copy which it proposed to publish online, via a series of uncensorable global servers.
Wikileaks describes itself as "a multi-jurisdictional public service designed to protect whistleblowers, journalists and activists who have sensitive materials to communicate to the public."
In an interview with the U.K.'s Channel 4, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange said that "we have a stated commitment to a particular kind of process and objective, and that commitment is to get censored material out and never to take it down." He contrasted the group with other media outlets by saying that "other journalists try to verify sources. We don't do that, we verify documents. We don't care where it came from." He denied that the group has an inherent bias against the Afghanistan War, saying that "We don't have a view about whether the war should continue or stop – we do have a view that it should be prosecuted as humanely as possible." However, he also said that he believes the leaked information will turn world public opinion to think more negatively of the war."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghan_War_Diary
"War has become a luxury that only small nations can afford." -
Hannah Arendt
"The leak of tens of thousands of Afghanistan war-related documents tells us more than the sum total of many official communiqués about the war. On balance, more disclosure is a good thing, but the leaking of raw military intelligence is a special case that requires a careful, rather than a cavalier, approach.
There is not enough information about the war, and much official information is misleading. In Canada, the federal government's quarterly reports contain a few updates based on its goals in Kandahar, but little else that informs. The government has already shown itself to be an unreliable source on issues relating to Afghan detainees.
The situation is now too dangerous for the most trustworthy chroniclers – journalists, UN personnel – to go outside NATO-protected areas.
So reliable, independent information is lacking. The circumstances in this war make such information even more necessary."
www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/editorials/we-neede...
"Instead, many eyes will now pore over this data from many different directions, looking for patterns and attempting to eliminate the noise, disinformation and fog of war.
Many will look to it to criticise and condemn the US presence in Afghanistan, but if those on the other side – those who support such military incursions – have any sense, they too will use it to understand better the war in which they find themselves and adapt their counsel to fit more accurately the facts on the ground.
That’s the benefit, usually, of an open society. We get to triangulate on the truth by gathering facts in the public space, then providing them to all sides to chew over. We use this against our own illusions and those of more closed societies who can only view the world through one narrow perspective.": www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2010/0730/1224275801...
( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_ecology )
"The first phase was chilling, in part because the banter of the soldiers was so far beyond the boundaries of civilian discourse. “Just fuckin’, once you get on ’em, just open ’em up,” one of them said. The crew members of the Apache came upon about a dozen men ambling down a street, a block or so from American troops, and reported that five or six of the men were armed with AK-47s; as the Apache maneuvered into position to fire at them, the crew saw one of the Reuters journalists, who were mixed in among the other men, and mistook a long-lensed camera for an RPG. The Apaches fired on the men for twenty-five seconds, killing nearly all of them instantly."
Read more www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/06/07/100607fa_fact_khat...
"With the release of the WikiLeaks documents, Arab media may finally feel vindicated, as Western media finally start to give greater prominence to civilian casualties." newamericamedia.org/2010/07/wikileaks-documents-validate-...
"Wikileaks confirmed: A plan to kill American geologist with poison beer
The Wikileaks documents contain a claim that Pakistan and Afghanistan insurgents were working to poison alcoholic drinks in Afghanistan. While that's unproven, one US adviser in Afghanistan tells the Monitor he was almost poisoned that way in 2007." : www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-South-Central/2010/0728/Wiki...
"This is duplicitous only if you close your eyes to the Pakistani reality, which the Americans never did. There was ample evidence, as the WikiLeaks show, of covert ISI ties to the Taliban. The Americans knew they couldn't break those ties. They settled for what support Pakistan could give them while constantly pressing them harder and harder until genuine fears in Washington emerged that Pakistan could destabilize altogether. Since a stable Pakistan is more important to the United States than a victory in Afghanistan—which it wasn't going to get anyway—the United States released pressure and increased aid. If Pakistan collapsed, then India would be the sole regional power, not something the United States wants."
www.billoreilly.com/site/rd?satype=13&said=12&url...
"How to read the Afghanistan war logs: video tutorial
David Leigh, the Guardian's investigations editor, explains the online tools we have created to help you understand the secret US military files on the war in Afghanistan": www.guardian.co.uk/world/datablog/video/2010/jul/25/afgha...
"Jonathan Foreman, writing for the right of center National Review's Corner blog, hopes the documents will force America to deal with the possible deceptions being made by ally Pakistan. "It is possible that the publication of documents that provide actual evidence — rather than rumors — of the role of ISI personnel in Taliban planning, logistics, and strategy will give the West greater leverage in dealing with Islamabad and might force Pakistan’s political elite to confront the reality of the ISI’s secret activities. If so, that would be a silver lining to what is otherwise a military disaster abetted by the U.S. and British media."
www.nbclosangeles.com/news/politics/NATL-The-Importance-o...
"The real significance of the Afghan war diaries lies in what Wikileaks represents as a movement, as an evolution in journalism. One analyst has called it the emergence of open source journalism. Julian Assange makes it possible for anybody anywhere in the world to submit secret documents for publication." www.thehindu.com/opinion/columns/Sevanti_Ninan/article541...
A War Without End: www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,708314,00.html
"Julian Assange on the Afghanistan war logs: 'They show the true nature of this war'
Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, explains why he decided to publish thousands of secret US military files on the war in Afghanistan Afghanistan war logs expose truth of occupation": www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2010/jul/25/julian-assange...
The history of US leaks: www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-10769495
Freedom of Information Act: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_Information_Act_(United_...
"A long-delayed Afghanistan war funding bill, stripped of billions for teachers and black farmers, is back before the House and walking now into the storm over the Internet leak of battlefield reports stirring old doubts about U.S. policy and relations with Pakistan.": www.politico.com/news/stories/0710/40254.html & www.politico.com/news/stories/0710/40251.html
This is a large study/drawing, Assange/Wikileakers of the organization Wikileaks ( wikileaks.org ) uses 'matches from sources' to disclose US gov secrecy ( behind large black curtains ) & to also finally bring some much needed attention & closure to some of these revelations ( set ablaze ).
This ongoing series is dedicated to everyone who has needlessly had their lives destroyed, been injured or die in this almost past decade of war. For the sources, journalists & average citizens who risk their lives to inform us.
Reuters reporters Namir Eldeen, Saeed Chmagh & the good samaritan ( father ) who died trying to save them & of course his two surviving small children who will forever be impacted by the brutality of war for decades to come.
Please help Private Bradley Manning- www.bradleymanning.org/
"One surprising consequence of the war in Iraq is the surrender of postmodernism to a victorious modernism. This has been largely overlooked in North America.
In reaction to the U.S. intervention in Iraq, Jacques Derrida, a famous postmodernist, signed on as co-author of an article drafted by the German philosopher Jürgen Habermas, previously an opponent of his, in an unmistakable endorsement of modernist Enlightenment principles. Derrida, the apostle of deconstructionism, is now advocating some decidedly constructive and Eurocentric activism.
The article appeared simultaneously in two newspapers on May 31, in German in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung as "After the War: The Rebirth of Europe," and in French in Libération, less triumphantly, as "A Plea for a Common Foreign Policy: The demonstrations of Feb. 15 against the war in Iraq designed a new European public space."
Other famous intellectuals joined in with supportive newspaper articles of their own: Umberto Eco (of The Name of the Rose) and Gianni Vattimo in Italy and an American philosopher, Richard Rorty. This provoked much discussion in Europe, but only a few comments so far in North America, the Boston Globe and the Village Voice being rare exceptions.
This week in Montreal, there was an anti-globalization riot in which windows were broken in protest against a World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting. But the Habermas-Derrida declaration praises the WTO and even the International Monetary Fund as part of Weltinnenpolitik: maddeningly hard to translate, but something like "global domestic policy" or "external internal policy."
Yet it is not much of a stretch to claim the young anti-globalists as disciples of postmodernism and Derrida, who has hitherto been a foe of "logocentrism" (putting reason at the centre), "phallologocentrism" (reason is an erect male organ and, as such, damnably central) and Eurocentrism (the old, old West is the homeland of all of the above).
Derrida added a note to the article, observing most people would recognize Habermas's style and thinking in the piece, and that he hadn't had time to write a separate piece. But notwithstanding his "past confrontations" with Habermas (Derrida had objected to being called a "Judaistic mystic," for one thing), he agreed with the article he had signed, which calls for new European responsibilities "beyond all Eurocentrism" and the strengthening of international law and international institutions."
More: www.16beavergroup.org/mtarchive/archives/000361.php
"In early 2003, both Habermas and Derrida were very active in opposing the coming Iraq War, and called for in a manifesto that later became the book Old Europe, New Europe, Core Europe for a tighter union of the states of the European Union in order to provide a power capable of opposing American foreign policy. Derrida wrote a foreword expressing his unqualified subscription to Habermas's declaration of February 2003, "February 15, or, What Binds Europeans Together: Plea for a Common Foreign Policy, Beginning in Core Europe,” in Old Europe, New Europe, Core Europe which was a reaction to the Bush administration demands upon European nations for support for the coming Iraq War[25]. Habermas has offered further context for this declaration in an interview."
More: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%c3%bcrgen_Habermas#Habermas_and_D...
Habermas: ”The asymmetry between the concentrated destructive power of the electronically controlled clusters of elegant and versatile missiles in the air and the archaic ferocity of the swarms of bearded warriors outfitted with Kalashnikovs on the ground remains a morally obscene sight
I consider Bush' s decision to call for a "war against terrorism" a serious mistake, both normatively and pragmatically. Normatively, he is elevating these criminals to the status of war enemies; and pragmatically, one cannot lead a war against a "network" if the term "war" is to retain any definite meaning.”
Derrida: “To say it all too quickly and in passing, to amplify and clarify just a bit what I said earlier about an absolute threat whose origin is anonymous and not related to any state, such "terrorist" attacks already no longer need planes, bombs, or kamikazes: it is enough to infiltrate a strategically important computer system and introduce a virus or some other disruptive element to paralyze the economic, military, and political resources of an entire country or continent. And this can be attempted from just about anywhere on earth, at very little expense and with minimal means. The relationship between earth, terra territory, and terror has changed, and it is necessary to know that this is because of knowledge, that is, because of technoscience.
It is technoscience that blurs the distinction between war and terrorism. In this regard, when compared to the possibilities for destruction and chaotic disorder that are in reserve, for the future, in the computerized networks of the world, "September 11" is still part of the archaic theater of violence aimed at striking the imagination. One will be able to do even worse tomorrow, invisibly, in silence, more quickly and without any bloodshed, by attacking the computer and informational networks on which the entire life (social, economic, military, and so on) of a "great nation," of the greatest power on earth, depends.”
www.16beavergroup.org/mtarchive/archives/000361.php
I am incredibly- delighted at all the vital discussions about the war & US gov that are FINALLY taking place- & on a mass scale- as a result of this leak .. Simply miraculous..
FREEDOM & PEACE ( transparency, diplomacy & the evolution of such ) FOR ALL WAR NATIONS.
( WARNING - links ( after excerpt ) are NOT for sensitive viewers- ) "Wikileaks have released over 150 supressed images. This is the tip of the iceberg, keep looking, keep publishing.In the last week Wikileaks has released over 150 censored photos and videos of the Tibet uprising and has called on bloggers around the world to help drive the footage through the Chinese internet censorship regime — the so called “Great Firewall of China”The transparency group’s move comes as a response to the the Chinese Public Security Bureau’s carte-blanche censorship of youtube, the BBC, CNN, the Guardian and other sites carrying video footage of the Tibetan people’s recent heroic stand against the inhumane Chinese occupation of Tibet."
fortuzero.wordpress.com/2008/03/31/tibet-western-media-sa...
file.wikileaks.org/file/tibet-protest-photos/index.html
FREE TIBET!!!!!!!!!!!!
Also other dire & serious issues ( out of countless ) - that expose corruption by corporations & gov's:
"A documentary about intensive pig farming due to be screened at the Guardian Hay festival on Sunday is facing a legal threat from one of the companies it investigates. Pig Business criticises the practices of the world's largest pork processor, Smithfield Foods, claiming it is responsible for environmental pollution and health problems among residents near its factories."
www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/may/29/pig-business-document...
"In an investigation broadcast on BBC Radio 5 on November 14, 2004,[79] it was reported that the site is still contaminated with 'thousands' of metric tons of toxic chemicals, including benzene hexachloride and mercury, held in open containers or loose on the ground. A sample of drinking water from a well near the site had levels of contamination 500 times higher than the maximum limits recommended by the World Health Organization.[80]
In 2009, a day before the 25th anniversary of the disaster, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), a Delhi based pollution monitoring lab, released latest tests from a study showing that groundwater in areas even three km from the factory up to 38.6 times more pesticides than Indian standards."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhopal_disaster
-
The Blue Mask - Lou Reed - www.goear.com/listen/9960779/the-blue-mask-lou-reed ( & O Superman ) www.goear.com/listen/02cf55d/o-superman-(for-massenet)-la...
Lou Reed The Blue Mask
Lyrics:
They tied his arms behind
his back to teach him how to
swim They put
blood in his coffee and milk
in his gin They stood over the
soldier in
the midst of the squalor
There was war in his body and
it caused his
brain to holler
Make the sacrifice
mutilate my face
If you need someone to kill
I'm a man without a will
Wash the razor in the rain
Let me luxuriate in pain
Please don't set me free
Death means a lot to me
The pain was lean and it made
him scream he knew he was alive
They put a
pin through the nipples on his chest
He thought he was a saint
I've made love to my mother,
killed my father and my brother
What am I
to do
When a sin goes too far, it's
like a runaway car It cannot
be controlled
Spit upon his face and scream
There's no Oedipus today
This is no play you're thinking you
are in What will you say
Take the blue mask down from my face and
look me in the eye I get a
thrill from punishment
I've always been that way
I loathe and despise repentance
You are permanently stained
Your weakness buys indifference
and indiscretion in the streets
Dirty's what you are and clean is what
you're not You deserve to be
soundly beat
Make the sacrifice
Take it all the way
There's no won't high enough
To stop this desperate day
Don't take death away
Cut the finger at the joint
Cut the stallion at his mount
And stuff it in his mouth
---
-
"He who joyfully marches to music rank and file, has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would surely suffice. This disgrace to civilization should be done away with at once. Heroism at command, how violently I hate all this, how despicable and ignoble war is; I would rather be torn to shreds than be a part of so base an action. It is my conviction that killing under the cloak of war is nothing but an act of murder. "
Albert Einstein
IMAGINE THE HAPPINESS & GREAT WORK AHEAD OF US WE COULD HAVE AT THE END OF THE WARS!!!!!!!!!
www.goear.com/listen/48d6016/hora-de-la-mehedinti-romania...
NO MORE WAR & FREEDOM FOR ALL WAR NATIONS!!!!!!!!!
Peace.
The seeker might aim to hide too, make sure the person you are waiting for is trustworthy, if not there will be no one looking for you.
-Jasmine Kiyani
Life's highest and best lesson
(J.R. Miller, "The Story of Joseph, Practical Lessons") LISTEN to audio! Download audio
(You will find it helpful to listen to the audio above, as you read the text below.)
We read that Joseph bore himself so congenially and did his work so well, and was so capable, so true, so trustworthy--that Potiphar "left all that he owned under Joseph's care; he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate." Genesis 39:6. Joseph would never have won such a success . . .
if he had given up to discouragement,
if he had brooded over his wrongs,
if he had sulked and complained,
if he had spent his time in vain regrets or in vindictive feelings.
We should learn the lesson, and it is worth learning--for it is life's highest and best lesson.
The problem of life is to keep the heart warm and kindly amid all injustice and wrong; to keep the spirit brave and cheerful in the midst of all that is hard in life's circumstances and conditions; to be true, and right, and strong in all moral purpose and deed--however others may act toward us.
Our inner life should not be affected by our external experiences. Right is right, no matter what others around us may do. We must be true--no matter if all the world is false, even false to us. We must be unselfish and loving, though even our nearest friends prove selfish and cruel to us. We must keep our spirit strong, cheerful and hopeful--though adversities and misfortunes seem to leave us nothing of the fruit of all our labors.
In a word, we are to live victoriously, truly, nobly, sweetly, cheerfully, joyfully--in spite of whatever may be uncongenial in our condition!
This is the lesson of all Christian life. We should not let the outside darkness into our soul. We should seek to be delivered from all morbidness and all unwholesomeness. We should not allow anything to crush us.
Remember, your task in living is to keep sweet; to keep your heart gentle, brave, strong, loving, full of hope--under the worst that the years can bring you of injustice, hardship, suffering, and trial.
~ ~ ~ ~
Something to ponder:
J.R. Miller: As the summer sunbeams enter into the flowers, and reappear in their lovely hues and sweet fragrance--so does Christ enter into the lives of His redeemed people, and permeate and transform them, until they become like Him in spirit, in character, in disposition, in every feature.
"Until Christ is formed in you." Galatians 4:19
"Christ in you, the hope of glory." Colossians 1:27
Being as human as everyone else I have a great deal to strive for and learn. It is easy to have a list of things to accomplish but not as easy to actually accomplish successfully completing that list and believe me I am still very much trying and it is no easy feat. My heart is always there, but sometimes my actions do not always present the best of me, so I have to go back and start again. I promise you that I have every good intention to be a
BETTER person.
Thank you for your kind visit. Have a wonderful and beautiful day! ❤️ ❤️ ❤️
Addy is totally trustworthy around the usual cat temptations - well, except for mohair doll wigs and teeny doll shoes :D
Bello has been limping so right now, he and Britt are seperated unless they can stay calm. Hopefully it goes away but if it persists for a week, guess he gets a vet visit. >_>
Decided Bello was trustworthy without his kennel. He's been sleeping out of his kennel for probably three weeks and when we leave the house we just make sure he has no access to the bedrooms and give him free roam of the house with Britt. As long as he has toys he hasn't been a problem.
With the abscense of his kennel it brings room for my chair by the window again. <3 Which Britt and I are happy about. Britt loves to watch from it. And I find it quite comfortable. Even though it takes up more room then the kennel I think Britt and I are both quite happy. Plus all my blankets live on it, so they are back too.
this is the photo that was selected for the cover of spacing magazine's 7th issue. as I mentioned eariler, we rented 2 tilt-shift EF TS-E lenses (24mm and 90mm) to get the miniature effect for the city hall but unfortunately none of them were wide enough to give us the view we wanted (due to my camera's non full-frame sensor, I should have rented a Canon 5D or 1Ds too)
so I had to use my trustworthy EF-S 10-22 lens instead and then create the miniature/shallow depth-of-field in photoshop.
I still haven't seen the print myself, but will get it tonight at the launch party. if you can't make it tonight, you can also pick it up in local stores.
Though it can be challenging and misunderstood by others it’s ok to choose to honor your reality in healthy ways. Often in our culture the focus is placed on things like the beauty, the finding good in harm, the pushing through at all costs, the glamour, the neat and tidy, the so-called “resilience” that trauma produces, the positive, the “blessings” of pain, suffering and mistreatment, or the happy ending. It’s ok and even healthy for you to recognize the aspects that can go unnoticed—things like rest, grace for yourself, truth, the deep, extremely difficult yet rewarding internal work, repairing and retraining your brain and thought processes one tiny, thoughtful step at a time, just breathing when even that seems like too much to handle, choosing to fight for life when you’d rather just quit trying to survive, or working to open yourself up to trustworthy people. It’s important to remember, recognize and even celebrate all the “behind the scenes” work that gives life that produces the beautiful, blooming growth over time.
#NotetoSelf
[image created on 5-24-2023]
I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own; if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, be realistic, remember the limitations of being human.
It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me is true
I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself. If you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.
I want to know if you can see Beauty even when it is not pretty every day. And if you can source your own life from its presence.
I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand at the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, ‘Yes.’
It doesn’t interest me to know where you live or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone and do what needs to be done to feed the children.
It doesn’t interest me who you know or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand in the centre of the fire with me and not shrink back.
It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all else falls away.
I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.
by Oriah Mountain Dreamer
Rolling upgrade on ex-Northern Pacific rails, this Rock Island transfer will pass under the Chicago & Northwestern’s Chicago mainline in a moment as photographed from the Lafayette Boulevard bridge just south of Westminster Junction in St. Paul, MN on 06-23-1973. Rock Island 256 leads, a product of General Electric in 1966. Ex-Union Pacific F9BM was acquired in early 1972 and this example lasted until December of 1974. Trailing was a trustworthy GP40 built in April 1970 which moved on to the Union Pacific in 1980.
Nikon D1, Carl Zeiss Luminar 25mm f2.5, Metz 32CT4, ReyGay Flash Diffuser
+ looks great at large!
+ this is composed of 4 images stitched using PS CS2
+ the Ruby Red objects on the image are jewels made of either Ruby or Saphire. There are 17 functional jewels on my Swiss pocket watch.
+ this has been my trustworthy mechanical watch for years and counting...
--------------------------------
Update: 26 July 2014
+ uploaded hi-res file
September 11 (9/11) Memorial Service, Santa Monica Firehouse No.1, Santa Monica, California
1 Timothy 1:12
I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service.
I got a call from Todd R while driving home about a supposed quartet of SD40-2s coming up the Staples Sub.
Given it was April 1, I was a little skeptical but Todd is trustworthy so I raced home to get the camera.
I elected to stop at a spot I'd tried once before and waited. Sure enough, it was legit as FOUR SD40-2s came roaring west through town.
I raced west to get them again at MP 67, got screwed by two traffic lights and eventually the clouds, still worth it.
Toto, we're not in 2017 anymore...
Together - sometimes it’s necessary to borrow hope from someone else who is authentic and trustworthy when my hope seems lost.
What a gift it is to truly be together in the presence of another person, connected in a healthy, meaningful, mindful, validating, authentic, caring way, to be seen and accepted in a healing way.
_________________
As I look through some photos I’ve taken I noticed a few that I categorized and called “together” (it seems perhaps this has become a new, naturally occurring photo project)—they were photos of two dandelions or two leaves together at various stages of growth or decay. This reminded me of moments with a few people who are of incredible support to me, moments when I was not alone (feeling and/or being alone has often been my experience throughout my life and something I’d often been drawn to capture—the feeling of “alone”) and what a gift it is to truly be together in each other’s presence, connected in a healthy, meaningful, mindful, validating, authentic, caring way, to be seen and accepted in a healing way (which I believe also has some similarities to relationship with God) though it can be scary and overwhelming because it’s so unfamiliar to me. I’ve been thinking about this a lot as I look at, share a few of the “together” photos and notice and capture more “together” sightings I encounter. And it has taken me a significant amount of time to even been able to try to put the meaning I see in the photos into words because it is a very deep, foreign experience for me and I didn’t really have the words for it.
[image created on 4-27-2023]
New International Version (1984 Edition)
Revelation Chapter 22
The River of Life
1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever. 6 The angel said to me, "These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place."
Jesus Is Coming
7 "Behold, I am coming soon! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy in this book."
8 I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing them to me. 9 But he said to me, "Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers the prophets and of all who keep the words of this book. WORSHIP GOD"
10 Then he told me, "Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, because the time is near. 11 Let him who does wrong continue to do wrong; let him who is vile continue to be vile; let him who does right continue to do right; and let him who is holy continue to be holy."
12 "Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
14 "Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. 15 Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
16 "I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star."
17 The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.
18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. 19 And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.
20 He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming soon."
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God's people. Amen.
----------------------------- JESUS ✝️ SAVES-------------------------------
SALVATION THROUGH FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST - ALONE!
12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."
❤️❤️ IT'S ALL JESUS AND NONE OF OURSELVES! ❤️❤️
16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the SALVATION of everyone WHO BELIEVES: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 17 For in the gospel a RIGHTEOUSNESS FROM GOD IS REVEALED, a righteousness that is by FAITH FROM FIRST TO LAST, just as it is written: "THE RIGHTEOUS WILL LIVE BY FAITH." (Romans 1:16-17)
16 KNOW that a man is NOT justified by observing the law, but by FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be JUSTIFIED BY FAITH in CHRIST and NOT by observing the law, BECAUSE BY OBSERVING THE LAW NO ONE WILL BE JUSTIFIED. (Galatians 2:16)
1. Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2. BY THIS GOSPEL YOU ARE SAVED, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
3. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4. that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5. and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. 6. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8. and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
9. For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them--yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 11. Whether, then, it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed. (1 Corinthians 15:1-11)
7. Therefore Jesus said again, "I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. 8. All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9. I am the gate; whoever enters through me WILL BE SAVED. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10. The thief comes only to STEAL and KILL and DESTROY; I have come that they may have LIFE, and have it to the FULL. (John 10:7-10)
1 Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. 2 For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. 3 Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. 4 Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.
5 Moses describes in this way the righteousness that is by the law: "The man who does these things will live by them." 6 But the righteousness that is by faith says: "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?'" (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 "or 'Who will descend into the deep?'" (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart," that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: 9 That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. 11 As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame." 12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile--the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." (Romans 10:1-13)
Jesus came to bring spiritual LIFE to the spiritually dead and set the captives FREE! FREE from RELIGION, ERROR and outright LIES, so WE might serve THE LIVING GOD! In SPIRIT and in TRUTH!
So you'll KNOW, and not think you're to bad for God to love. The Christian LIFE isn't about how good WE are, because NONE of us are! It's about how GOOD JESUS IS! Because JESUS LOVES US, so much he died in our place and took the punishment for all of our sins on himself. The wages of sin is DEATH, and Jesus took the death WE so richly deserved for us and died in our place. The good news is, there's no more punishment for sin left. WE, you and I were all born forgive as a result of the crucifixion of God himself on the cross that took away the sins of the whole world. All we have to do is believe it, and put your Faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ. That my friends is REAL UNCONDITIONAL LOVE! YOU ARE LOVED. ❤️ ✝️ ❤️
For the best Biblical teaching in the last 2 centuries! Please listen to and down load these FREE audio files that were created with YOU in mind. It's ALL FREE, if you like it, please share it with others. ❤️
archive.org/details/PeopleToPeopleByBobGeorgeFREE-ARCHIVE...
CLICK ON THE LETTER "L" TO ENLARGE.
My THANK'S to all Flickr friends who fave and/or commented on my photos, I very much appreciate it! ❤️
© All Rights reserved no publication or copying without permission from the author.
Just like many other Christian brothers and sisters, I eagerly long for the second coming of the Lord Jesus . We abide by the following passage from the Bible: “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:17). For this reason, we foolishly look up to the skies longing for the day that Jesus will return and take us up into the clouds so that we can be with the Lord. However, after so many years have passed, the four blood moons have already appeared; earthquakes, famines, plagues and war and all sorts of other disasters are becoming more and more intense. The prophecies of the Lord’s second coming have basically been fulfilled. However, we still have not seen one Christian raptured into heaven. I cannot help but think, “Why does the Lord not come to receive us? The Lord is trustworthy. The Lord promised that He would take us into the heavenly kingdom in the last days. The Lord’s promise certainly will be accomplished and fulfilled. I do not doubt this at all. Yet, how come up until now, we still have not been raptured by the Lord into heaven? Could it be that there are some problems with our longing?”
You Might Also Like：christian testimonies
Trust: a firm belief in the reliability, truth, or ability of someone or something.
Humans have a natural disposition to trust and to judge trustworthiness. This can be traced to the neurobiological structure and activity of a human brain. Some studies indicate that trust can be altered e.g. by the application of oxytocin.
Oxytocin (not to be confused with OxyContin, the painkiller at the centre of the opioid epidemic) has been called the “love chemical,” the “hug hormone,” the “elixir of trust,” and even the “moral molecule,” among other monikers.
There is a lot of hype out there,the snake-oil salesmanship rampant in a shady industry of sprays, balms, and elixirs claiming to harness the power of oxytocin to win friends, lovers, and clients.
The intense interest in oxytocin has been a double-edged sword. While science tries to sort out the nuances of what the hormone does and how, the popular press and the public have run wild with the concept of a feel-good hormone that could seemingly right society’s wrongs.
As studies continue some people wait in hope and some of us wonder why you would need a "chemical additive" to make friends.
(in my opinion messing with your brain's chemistry is a risky business).
I set up my camera to shoot timelapse near here, and retrieved it at 3:45 AM. As I was walking back to our vehicle, I noticed a strange, bright light in the sky. At first I thought it was a comet, but it was changing shape and moving. I told the telescope operator to get out of the car and look, and we stared at it for several seconds before he suggested that I take photos. As quickly as I could, I re-set up my camera and snapped a few photos of the morphing, glowing cloud in the sky. I may post some later... Our best guess is that it was an ICBM launch, and the gasses were sufficiently high enough to catch the sunlight.
After the glow dissipated, I noticed how brightly the Milky Way was shining above Subaru. We walked back to it, and I took several images. Miraculously, a meteor streaked through this image.
This is just a preliminary edit (nearly straight off the camera, with just white balance and contrast tweaks in ACR) and likely will change. I'm currently waiting for breakfast after staying up all night, so my eyes probably aren't trustworthy right now...
Tech info: Canon 5D Mk. II, Rokinon 24mm f/1.4 at f/2.0, ISO 6400, 20 seconds.
It is Christmas 2021 This year through Christmas songs of praise by our carolers in Old Town, Paprihaven celebrates the Lord Jesus Christ coming to take our form to save the lost.
🎵 O come, all ye faithful,
Joyful and triumphant,
O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem.
Come and behold Him,
Born the King of Angels;
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord. 🎶
God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
🎵 O Lord, You are my God;
I will exalt You, I will give thanks to Your name;
For You have worked wonders,
Plans formed long ago, with perfect faithfulness.
The faithful, those who have been giving faith by God, are joyful in that their Savior has freed them from the guilt and shame of their sin, and triumphant in that their Savior has freed them from the penalty. Taking our sin upon Himself, the Lord Jesus Christ also took the punishment, the wrath of the Father, so that those faithful would never have to see it. Indeed, we can only be faithful because God was first faithful to love and save us.
🎵 O Sing, choirs of angels,
Sing in exultation,
Sing all that hear in heaven God's holy word.
Give to our Father glory in the Highest;
For He alone is worthy,
For He alone is worthy,
For He alone is worthy,
Christ the Lord. 🎶
11 Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice,
“Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.”
And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying,
“To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.”
And the four living creatures kept saying, “Amen.” And the elders fell down and worshiped.
Christ Jesus, God the Son, who willingly set aside His divine prerogative to become flesh of our flesh and bone of our bone, all in order to die as one of us to save us. It was the only reason He came.
It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.
All Hail! Lord, we greet Thee,
Born this happy morning,
O Jesus! for evermore be Thy name adored.
Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing;
We'll give You all the glory,
We'll give You all the glory,
We'll give You all the glory,
Christ the Lord. 🎶
And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Taking our form, God in human flesh, Jesus fulfilled all of the law and prophecy that had come before. He was the Word made flesh. He perfectly lived, demonstrated, and epitomized all of God's perfect instruction and truth.
_________________________
Paprihaven's Seven Songs of Christmas! We hope that you will be able to rejoice in having Christ Jesus as your Savior this season!
1 Corinthians 1:9
Isaiah 25:1
Revelation 5:11-14
1 Timothy 1:15
John 1:14
"O Come All Ye Faithful" Danny Gokey
Previous Paprihaven Christmas Series!
2015:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/23653029120/
2016:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/31484893530/
2017:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/39290257241/
2018:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/44592748250/
2019:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/49254147916/
2020: