1913: When Hitler, Trotsky, Tito, Freud and Stalin all lived in the same place

By Andy Walker, BBC Radio 4, 17 April 2013
A century ago, one section of Vienna played host to Adolf Hitler, Leon Trotsky, Joseph Tito, Sigmund Freud and Joseph Stalin.

In January 1913, a man whose passport bore the name Stavros Papadopoulos disembarked from the Krakow train at Vienna’s North Terminal station.

Of dark complexion, he sported a large peasant’s moustache and carried a very basic wooden suitcase.

“I was sitting at the table,” wrote the man he had come to meet, years later, “when the door opened with a knock and an unknown man entered.

“He was short… thin… his greyish-brown skin covered in pockmarks… I saw nothing in his eyes that resembled friendliness.”

The writer of these lines was a dissident Russian intellectual, the editor of a radical newspaper called Pravda (Truth). His name was Leon Trotsky.

The man he described was not, in fact, Papadopoulos.

He had been born Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili, was known to his friends as Koba and is now remembered as Joseph Stalin.

Trotsky and Stalin were just two of a number of men who lived in central Vienna in 1913 and whose lives were destined to mould, indeed to shatter, much of the 20th century.

It was a disparate group. The two revolutionaries, Stalin and Trotsky, were on the run. Sigmund Freud was already well established.

The psychoanalyst, exalted by followers as the man who opened up the secrets of the mind, lived and practised on the city’s Berggasse.

The young Josip Broz, later to find fame as Yugoslavia’s leader Marshal Tito, worked at the Daimler automobile factory in Wiener Neustadt, a town south of Vienna, and sought employment, money and good times.

Then there was the 24-year-old from the north-west of Austria whose dreams of studying painting at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts had been twice dashed and who now lodged in a doss-house in Meldermannstrasse near the Danube, one Adolf Hitler.

Presiding over all, in the city’s rambling Hofburg Palace was the aged Emperor Franz Joseph, who had reigned since the great year of revolutions, 1848.

Archduke Franz Ferdinand, his designated successor, resided at the nearby Belvedere Palace, eagerly awaiting the throne. His assassination the following year would spark World War I.

Vienna in 1913 was the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which consisted of 15 nations and well over 50 million inhabitants.

“While not exactly a melting pot, Vienna was its own kind of cultural soup, attracting the ambitious from across the empire,” says Dardis McNamee, editor-in-chief of the Vienna Review, Austria’s only English-language monthly, who has lived in the city for 17 years.

“Less than half of the city’s two million residents were native born and about a quarter came from Bohemia (now the western Czech Republic) and Moravia (now the eastern Czech Republic), so that Czech was spoken alongside German in many settings.”

The empire’s subjects spoke a dozen languages, she explains.

“Officers in the Austro-Hungarian Army had to be able to give commands in 11 languages besides German, each of which had an official translation of the National Hymn.”

And this unique melange created its own cultural phenomenon, the Viennese coffee-house. “Cafe culture and the notion of debate and discussion in cafes is very much part of Viennese life now and was then,” explains Charles Emmerson, author of 1913: In Search of the World Before the Great War and a senior research fellow at the foreign policy think-tank Chatham House.

“The Viennese intellectual community was actually quite small and everyone knew each other and… that provided for exchanges across cultural frontiers.”

This, he adds, would favour political dissidents and those on the run.

“You didn’t have a tremendously powerful central state. It was perhaps a little bit sloppy. If you wanted to find a place to hide out in Europe where you could meet lots of other interesting people then Vienna would be a good place to do it.”

Freud’s favourite haunt, the Cafe Landtmann, still stands on the Ring, the renowned boulevard which surrounds the city’s historic Innere Stadt.

Trotsky and Hitler frequented Cafe Central, just a few minutes’ stroll away, where cakes, newspapers, chess and, above all, talk, were the patrons’ passions.

“Part of what made the cafes so important was that ‘everyone’ went,” says MacNamee. “So there was a cross-fertilisation across disciplines and interests, in fact boundaries that later became so rigid in western thought were very fluid.”

Beyond that, she adds, “was the surge of energy from the Jewish intelligentsia, and new industrialist class, made possible following their being granted full citizenship rights by Franz Joseph in 1867, and full access to schools and universities.”

The empire imploded in 1918, while propelling Hitler, Stalin, Trotsky and Tito into careers that would mark world history forever.

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Anti-Aging Secret? It's in Your Diet

By Lylah M. Alphonse, Yahoo! Shine, April 17, 2013
A new study shows that sticking to a “Western-style” diet high in fat, carbs, and sugar may make it more difficult to grow old gracefully and stay in good health.

“The impact of diet on specific age-related diseases has been studied extensively, but few investigations have adopted a more holistic approach to determine the association of diet with overall health at older ages,” the study’s lead investigator, Tasnime Akbaraly, a researcher at France’s national department of health (INSERM), said in a statement. “The ‘Western-type’ diet identified in our cohort is very close to the original ‘Western’ pattern defined in the American population, which has been shown to be associated with higher risk of [musculoskeletal] inflammation.”

The study, which will be published in the May issue of The American Journal of Medicine, examined data from 3,775 men and 1,575 women in the United Kingdom (mean age: 51) gathered between 1985 and 2009 as part of the British Whitehall II cohort study. The researchers were trying to figure out the impact that diet quality and eating habits had in mid-life, hoping to find out which dietary factors would prevent premature death and also promote aging healthily.

They discovered that participants who stuck with the Alternative Healthy Eating Index (AHEI) were more likely to live longer, healthier lives. The AHEI was originally created to provide guidelines intended to combat major chronic conditions, including cardiovascular diseases and diabetes, and those who adhered to those guidelines—eating lots of fresh fruits, vegetables, and fish—had fewer incidents of cardiovascular problems and better physical and mental function by the time they reached middle age.

Participants who consistently chose to eat a “Western-type diet” with lots of fried foods, sugary desserts and sodas, processed foods, red meat, refined grains, condiments, and high-fat dairy products lowered their chances for aging well and being healthy later in life. They were more likely to have cardiovascular and joint problems and a lower chance for “ideal aging,” which the researchers defined as “free of chronic conditions and high performance in physical, mental, and cognitive functioning tests.”

“We showed that following specific dietary recommendations such as the one provided by the AHEI may be useful in reducing the risk of unhealthy aging, while avoidance of the ‘Western-type foods’ might actually improve the possibility of achieving older ages free of chronic diseases and remaining highly functional,” Akbaraly said.

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Private military operatives hired to 'work' the Boston marathon with black backpacks, radiation detectors, tactical gear

This post has been re-designated and can be found at the link The original article below has been tampered with and is difficult to follow as some of the words have been lost. I have recuperated the article and posted it at the above link.  Dennis Edwards http://fightforyourfaith.blogspot.pt/2016/06/questions-about-boston-marathon-bombing.html.

Natural News has now confirmed that at least five private military contractors were operating on scene at the Boston marathon, and that they all carried black backpacks which look very similar to the backpack carrying the pressure cooker bomb (see pictures below).

The mainstream media is completely censoring any mention of these "Craft" operatives, pretending they don't even exist. Only the alternative media is conducting real investigative journalism on these bombings. The mainstream media isn't interested in the truth; they only want to spin the attack into a new way to somehow blame conservative Americans for something they had no part in.

Thanks to the help of researchers posting on 4Chan, plus a bit of our own analysis, we've been able to bring new research to light as you'll see in the photos below.

Who is this guy and what is he holding in his hand?

The following photo was snapped mere moments after the first bomb detonation. Many people are asking, "Who is this guy?" and why is he dressed in combat boots and military BDUs (pants)? More importantly, what is he carrying in his hand?

We were able to get a close-up of the object in his hand: With a bit of research, we were able to confirm this object is an "Inspector Radiation Alert" device that detects the kind of radiation which would be produced in a dirty bomb attack or a nuclear attack: This immediately brings up all sorts of questions, such as: Who hired this guy? Whose side is he on? Why would he anticipate the need for a nuclear radiation detector? What kind of private military operative routinely carries such expensive gadgets? Four more operatives with the exact same uniforms As we browsed through the photos, we located four more private military operatives with the exact same dress: Tan combat boots, tan BDUs, black jackets, black backpacks and tactical communications gear. Here's a picture of three of these men reacting to the explosion. The one in the middle is the same guy in the radiation detector photo, above: There are several things worth noting in this image: 1) All three of the men look surprised, even shocked by the events. This might argue against their prior knowledge of the bombings. 2) The object in the right hand of the man in the middle may resemble a small handgun, but I'm sure it isn't. Why? Because no highly trained private military operative would carry a handgun with a "pincer" grip as appears in the photo. A proper grip on a handgun is far deeper into the palm. This object is most likely the same radiation detector shown above, just captured from a weird angle with a flapping leather case of some sort. 3) The man on the left, an older gentleman, appears to be holding an object in his right hand which seems capable of being actuated with his thumb. 4) The man on the right reveal "The Craft" skull logo on his shirt because his jacket just happened to open up for this photo (see below). Here's a photo comparison of "The Craft" logo on his shirt: Here are two more operatives on the scene, wearing the exact same uniform: If you look at the hat for one of these men, you can clearly see "the Craft" skull logo on his hat: Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle was also a member of The Craft. He was murdered by one of his close friends a few months ago. The appearance of The Craft operatives at the Boston marathon bombing raises new questions about Chris Kyle's death: Here's Chris Kyle on national TV wearing the "Craft" hat: Here's the Craft motto, which says "Violence does solve problems." If you still doubt these are "Craft" operatives, check out

The Craft website where all these images, logos and uniforms are instantly confirmed.

Bomb bag resembles the black backpacks worn by The Craft operatives

Here's where all this gets incredibly spooky: The backpack that carried the pressure cooker bomb looks very similar to the black backpacks worn by The Craft operatives:


Here's another view of the "Craft" skull logo on a training shirt, taken from their own website:



This photo shows The Craft operatives at a trade show. Everybody is wearing the trademark tan combat boots and tan BDUs:



What does it all mean?

First off, let's get the attacks of the moron trolls out of the way -- people who will say these photos are a "conspiracy theory."

How are photos of actual people at the event a conspiracy theory?

They aren't. In real police work, they're called "evidence," and the people in these photos should bepersons of interest.

But they aren't. The entire mainstream media and law enforcement apparatus is now pretending these men don't exist. (Now that's their conspiracy theory!)

We all know, however, that The Craft operatives don't work for free. They aren't a band of volunteers. And that means somebody paid them to be at the event.

Who paid The Craft to be there? And what was their mission?

Why is their existence at the Boston marathon being memory-holed? Why are they not "persons of interest" in the investigation?

Why do they carry radiation detectors? What's in their backpacks? (A ham sandwich?)

The fact that the media refuses to even acknowledge the existence of these private military operatives is quite telling all by itself.

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/039977_The_Craft_Boston_marathon_private_military_contractors.html#ixzz2Qx0zI0e9

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Top 10 most unhealthy foods!

(NaturalNews) The statement "everything causes cancer" has become a popular hyperbole, and one that some people use as rhetorical fodder to excuse their own dietary and lifestyle failures, particularly as they pertain to cancer risk. But the truth of the matter is that many common food items have, indeed, been scientifically shown to increase cancer risk, and some of them substantially. Here are 10 of the most unhealthy, cancer-causing foods that you should never eat again:

1) Genetically-modified organisms (GMOs). It goes without saying that GMOs have no legitimate place in any cancer-free diet, especially now that both GMOs and the chemicals used to grow them have been shown to cause rapid tumor growth. But GMOs are everywhere, including in most food derivatives made from conventional corn, soybeans, and canola. However, you can avoid them by sticking with certified organic, certified non-GMO verified, and locally-grown foods that are produced naturally without biotechnology (http://www.naturalnews.com).

2) Processed meats. Most processed meat products, including lunch meats, bacon, sausage, and hot dogs, contain chemical preservatives that make them appear fresh and appealing, but that can also cause cancer. Both sodium nitrite and sodium nitrate have been linked to significantly increasing the risk of colon and other forms of cancer, so be sure to choose only uncured meat products made without nitrates, and preferably from grass-fed sources (http://www.organicconsumers.org/foodsafety/processedmeat050305.cfm).

3) Microwave popcorn. They might be convenient, but those bags of microwave popcorn are lined with chemicals that are linked to causing not only infertility but also liver, testicular, and pancreatic cancers. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recognizes the perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) in microwave popcorn bag linings as "likely" carcinogenic, and several independent studies have linked the chemical to causing tumors. Similarly, the diacetyl chemical used in the popcorn itself is linked to causing both lung damage and cancer (http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/QAA400701/Microwave-Popcorn-Threat.html).

4) Soda pop. Like processed meats, soda pop has been shown to cause cancer as well. Loaded with sugar, food chemicals, and colorings, soda pop acidifies the body and literally feeds cancer cells. Common soda pop chemicals like caramel color and its derivative 4-methylimidazole (4-MI) have also specifically been linked to causing cancer (http://www.naturalnews.com/031383_caramel_coloring_cola.html).

5) 'Diet' foods, beverages. Even worse than conventional sugar-sweetened soda pop, though, is "diet" soda pop and various other diet beverages and foods. A recent scientific review issued by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) of more than 20 separate research studies found that aspartame, one of the most common artificial sweeteners, causes a range of illnesses including birth defects and cancer. Sucralose (Splenda), saccharin and various other artificial sweeteners have also been linked to causing cancer (http://www.dailymail.co.uk).

6) Refined 'white' flours. Refined flour is a common ingredient in processed foods, but its excess carbohydrate content is a serious cause for concern. A study published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Mile Markers, and Prevention found that regular consumption of refined carbohydrates was linked to a 220 percent increase in breast cancer among women. High-glycemic foods in general have also been shown to rapidly raise blood sugar levels in the body, which directly feeds cancer cell growth and spread (http://www.naturalnews.com/001812_cancer_prevention.html).

7) Refined sugars. The same goes for refined sugars, which tend to rapidly spike insulin levels and feed the growth of cancer cells. Fructose-rich sweeteners like high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) are particularly offensive, as cancer cells have been shown to quickly and easily metabolize them in order to proliferate. And since cookies, cakes, pies, sodas, juices, sauces, cereals, and many other popular, mostly processed, food items are loaded with HFCS and other refined sugars, this helps explain why cancer rates are on the rise these days (http://www.naturalnews.com/038071_cancer_sugar_sweets.html).

8) Conventional apples, grapes, and other 'dirty' fruits. Many people think they are eating healthy when they buy apples, grapes, or strawberries from the store. But unless these fruits are organic or verified to be pesticide-free, they could be a major cancer risk. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) found that up to 98 percent of all conventional produce, and particularly the type found on its "dirty" fruits list, is contaminated with cancer-causing pesticides (http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/list/).

9) Farmed salmon. Farmed salmon is another high-risk cancer food, according to Dr. David Carpenter, Director of the Institute for Health and the Environment at the University of Albany. According to his assessment, farmed salmon not only lacks vitamin D, but it is often contaminated with carcinogenic chemicals, PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), flame retardants, pesticides, and antibiotics (http://www.albany.edu/ihe/salmonstudy/pressrelease.html).

10) Hydrogenated oils. They are commonly used to preserve processed foods and keep them shelf-stable. But hydrogenated oils alter the structure and flexibility of cell membranes throughout the body, which can lead to a host of debilitating diseases such as cancer. Some manufacturers are phasing out the use of hydrogenated oils and replacing them with palm oil and other safer alternatives, but trans fats are still widely used in processed foods (http://www.naturalnews.com/010095_hydrogenated_oils_unhealthy.html).

Sources for this article include:

http://www.care2.com

http://www.naturalnews.com/021808_cancer_prevention.html

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/039970_cancer_junk_food_carcinogens.html#ixzz2Qwy5wvMj

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Dwight E. Eisenhower

“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone.
It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children.
The cost of one modern heavy bomber is this: a modern brick school in more than 30 cities.
It is two electric power plants, each serving a town of 60,000 population.
It is two fine, fully equipped hospitals. It is some 50 miles of concrete highway.
We pay for a single fighter plane with a half-million bushels of wheat.
We pay for a single destroyer with new homes that could have housed more than 8,000 people.
This, I repeat, is the best way of life to be found on the road the world has been taking.
This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron.”

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Ray Cross talks about Science, Evolution and Creation.

http://media.raycross.net/Creation/1suitcases.mp3

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Two Men Who Changed the World!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      By Dennis Edwards:

On February 12th, 1809 two men were born who would change the course of history. Abraham Lincoln was one of them. He once said, “I can see how it is possible for a man to look down upon the earth and be an atheist, but I cannot conceive how he could look up into the heavens and say, there is no God.”[1] He also made a comment about the Bible: “In regards to this great book (the Bible), I have but to say it is the best gift God has given to man. All the good the Savior gave the world was communicated through this book. But for it we could not know right from wrong. All things most desirable for man´s welfare, here, and hereafter, are found portrayed in it.”[2] We all remember Lincoln as President during the American Civil War and his famous Gettysburg address and the emancipation of the slaves.

But born the same day as he, in Shrewsbury, England was another man, who´s life and writings have had a far greater affect on mankind than that of Lincoln. This man once wrote, “If it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive, slight modifications, my theory would absolutely break down.”[3] He also said, “The mystery of the beginning of all things is insolvable by us; and I for one must be content to remain agnostic.”[4] Charles Darwin who´s Origins of the Species has had a greater impact on modern man than perhaps any other idea. His theory has affected every aspect of our thinking including education, psychology, sociology, science, history, political science, economics, philosophy and religion. Charles´ book was published in 1859. In it, he presented his idea of the descent of life from a common ancestor, the idea that all life goes back to a common origin.

                                                                                                                                                              The General Theory of Evolution or “molecules to man” evolution is the idea that life formed spontaneously about 3.5 billion years ago. Slowly by the process of natural selection, together with beneficial mutations, the first living cell eventually evolved into all the different life forms that we see alive today. Darwin was famous for suggesting that natural selection or nature acting upon a living organism would act like a selective breeder.

Even though Edwin Blythe wrote about natural selection earlier in 1831, it is Darwin who has received the credit. The truth is that nature does act upon organisms and cause them to change. For example: look at a pack of wolves. In the pack, some wolves have short hair, some medium and some long. Some wolves have thick hair, some thin and some in between. If the wolves migrate into a colder climate, natures affect on the pack would be to favor those with the longer and thicker hair. The wolves with shorter or thinner hair would be selected against. In time, the shorter/thinner hair wolves would die out, leaving just the long/thicker haired ones. Natural selection is this process and it does happen.

However, Darwin assumed natural selection had creative power. He saw that another “species” could be developed slightly different from the original one. Thus, he postulated that with enough time, millions of years, for example, a completely new animal type could evolve. A bear or a wolf could eventually evolve into a whale given enough time. Time became the master of the plot.

Darwin´s idea, oddly enough, was quite quickly accepted by the religious community. Many churches and religious leaders had already accepted Charles Lyell´s idea of millions of years and the uniformitarian interpretation of geology. James Hutton back in 1788 had published his book The Theory of the Earth reinterpreting the geological column into millions of years instead of the traditional Biblical 6000 years. In 1830 Lyell had published his Principles of Geology convincingly arguing in favor of Hutton´s reinterpretation of the geologic record. Lyell´s mantra was to get Moses out of science.

Up until that time, scientist had generally interpreted the geological evidence in terms of the creation and the flood. Kepler, Newton, Pastuer and Mendel, to name a few, were all creationists. In 1658 Archbishop James Ussher´s Annals of the World had been published and traced the history of the world back to the flood and then to creation on the 23rd of October 4004 BC. The flood was believed to have occurred some 1650 years later in 2350 BC. Most scientists, until the 1800´s, had believed in a rational God who had created a rational world for us to live in. Therefore, by the careful studying of life and of nature, one could discover the how and the why to the way God had done things. As the famous early scientist and astronomer Johann Kepler said about his research, “I was merely thinking God´s thoughts after Him.”[5]

The religious community was already accepting the ideas of millions of years. In 1855, four years before the publishing of Charles book, we find that even the famous evangelist Charles Spurgeon had succumbed to the idea of millions of years. “Can any man tell me when the beginning was? Years ago we thought the beginning of the world was when Adam came upon it. But we have discovered that thousands of years before that God was preparing chaotic matter to make it a fit abode for man, putting races of creatures upon it, who might die and leave behind the marks of his handiwork and marvelous skill, before he tried his hand on man.”[6]

Once you deny the authority of God´s word you are left with believing man´s word over God´s word. Since the Garden of Eden, the enemy´s method has been to try to get God´s people to doubt God´s word. “And the serpent said unto the woman, ´Has God said?´”[7] Doubting the truth of God´s word led to Eve´s and Adam’s ultimate disobedience. By accepting the millions of years of Hutton and Lyell, by accepting Darwin´s General Theory of Evolution, modern man has eaten from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and has been deceived. As Michael Denton Australian biologists and agnostic wrote in his book Evolution: A Theory in Crisis in 1985, “Today it is perhaps the Darwinian view of nature more than any other that is responsible for the agnostic and skeptical outlook of the twentieth century.”[8]

Even though there was no proof in the fossil record in 1859, Charles postulated that later generations would find the missing fossil links to prove his theory. However, the links have never been found.

Scientists know today that neither natural selection nor beneficial mutation can add new genetic information to the genome. Dr. Jonathan Wells, molecular biologist has said, “There is no evidence that DNA can provide the sorts of variation needed for evolution. There is no evidence for beneficial mutations at the level of macroevolution, but there is also no evidence at the level of what is commonly regarded as microevolution.”[9] Therefore, “molecules to man” evolution doesn’t have a mechanism. Rather than reveal the truth to the general public, the evolutionary scientists try to cover up the facts. As they themselves have admitted, “we cannot allow one divine foot in the door.”[10] Even though the scientists know evolution has no mechanism, they hold to the theory because the only other viable possibly is divine creation. To them, creation is intolerable.

But don’t dinosaurs and fossils prove the earth is millions of year’s old, one may ask? All the dinosaur’s bones prove is that dinosaurs once existed and have become extinct. The bones do not come with labels and dates on them. What most people do not understand is that every scientist has preconceived ideas. Scientists are not neutral. Why is there such a difference in opinion between the evolution scientist and creation scientist? Either one can be highly decorated scientifically, yet both will interpret the evidence, the fossils, differently. The reason is they have different mindsets and their mindsets, or belief systems, cause them to interpret fossils or geological events differently.

One might also ask about carbon dating and radiometric dating. Haven´t these proven the earth is millions or even billions of years old? Remember, evidence is always interpreted. Creation scientists have good answers to these questions which we do not have room to discuss now. But there are good logical scientific answers. Remember, science is done by fallible men and women who always start their science with assumptions. Depending on their assumptions, they come up with different conclusions. In his book The Young Earth, Dr. John Morris goes over many of the physical evidences that seem to indicate that the a young earth perspective makes better sense than a "millions of years" perspective.[11]

I believe, we can trust God´s Word, always, over man´s word. Even though you may be intimidated by the scientific jargon and reasoning, God has an answer. Creation scientists and apologetics are doing all they can to get the tools to you so you can answer questions about science, evolution and faith. With a little study and research, you will soon be able to defend the faith, as Peter has admonished us to do. “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts (you´ll need to spend time with the Lord): and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asks you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.”[12] God bless you as you “study to show yourself approved unto God, rightly dividing the word of truth.”[13] Amen!

More information about the creation/evolution debate can be found at these websites: Creation Ministries International at www.creation.com or Answers in Genesis at www.answersingenesis.org or the Institute for Creation Research at www.icr.org or www.creationtoday.org .

Footnotes:

1. Lincoln, Abraham; http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/131220-i-can-see-how-it-might-be-possible-for-a.
2. Lincoln, Abraham; http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/392563-in-regards-to-this-great-book-the-bible-i-have
3. Darwin, Charles; The Origins of the Species, 1859; http://www.bartleby.com/11/6005.html
4. Darwin, Charles; Life and Letters; http://www.millthorpeschool.co.uk/departments/re/Y10%20Powerpoints/Christian%20beliefs%20about%20God.pdf
5. Kepler, Johann; 1571-1630, http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Johannes_Kepler
6. Spurgeon, Charles; C.H. Spurgeon, “Election,” The New Park Street Pulpit 1-from 1855-56 sermons (1990): 318.
7. Genesis 3:1
8. Denton, Dr. Michael; Evolution: A Theory in Crisis; http://www.exampleofgrace.net/evolution-is-a-false-relgion.php
9. Wells, Dr. Jonathan; The Design of Life, 2008; with William Demski..
10. Lewontin, Prof. Richard; Defeating Darwinism by Opening Minds - Page 81, by Philip E. Johnson, 1997.
11. Morris, Dr. John, The Young Earth, Master Books, 2007. or see the following link: http://www.temcat.com/L-4-Topical-Library/Creation/TheYoung-Earth.pdf
12. 1Peter 3:15
13. 2Timothy 2:15

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Pope tells priests to practice what you preach

Associated Press, April 14, 2013
ROME—Pope Francis told priests on Sunday to practice what they preach, saying the church’s credibility was on the line.

During a Mass to formally take possession of one of the Vatican basilicas in Rome, Francis said ordinary Catholics need to “see in our actions what they hear from our lips.”

Francis has made himself an example of a more humble and frugal church by refusing many of the trappings of the papacy, living in the Vatican hotel rather than the Apostolic Palace and wearing a simple white cassock of the papacy rather than fancy vestments and capes for formal occasions that his predecessors wore.

“Inconsistency on the part of pastors and the faithful between what they say and what they do, between word and manner of life, is undermining the church’s credibility,” he said.

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No Longer Duty-Bound

By Steve Hearts

Since the change journey, I have come to experience an immense liberty as I learn to do my duties for God out of true love for Him rather than obligation. I find myself renewed and revolutionized as I switch from focusing on the fulfilling of requirements to simply strengthening my relationship with Jesus.

In times past it was often as though I would do one thing only to “leave the other undone.”1 When it came to fulfilling the required hour and a half to two hours of Word intake, I was like clockwork—intent on proving that not even my blindness could get in the way of this important “duty.” Here, precisely, was where the problem lay. I was duty-bound.

I would come away from my times with the Lord feeling satisfied with myself for having fulfilled my obligation, and judge others who seemed less assiduous about this than I did. Yet when unexpected problems or emergencies occurred, I often found myself freaking out and buckling under the weight, while many of those whom I had judged for their lack of diligence were exhibiting a calm, trusting attitude.

I soon saw that my relationship with the Lord went no further than fulfilling the letter of the law, making it impossible for me to grow and benefit therefrom. I faithfully took in the Word but failed to act on it, thus making it “of none effect” in my life.2 Those I was judging, on the other hand, were truly living and reaping the benefits of the spiritual input they were taking in.

My focus having switched from the fulfillment of requirements to the strengthening of my relationship with the Lord, I now feel I have been set free. No longer being duty-bound enables me to more easily pursue and obtain the benefits that the former requirements were originally meant to bring about.

The tendency to be duty-bound can be traced as far back as my childhood. Back then, I took great pleasure in correcting my peers and siblings and reporting their misdeeds. I was often called a “tattletale.” My mother would remind me time and again, “It’s not your place to correct people.” One of my caretakers told me, “You, with your tattletale attitude, are just as guilty as those whose misdeeds you’re reporting.”

A story tells of a New England farming family, which was expecting a minister to lodge with them and preach in their church the following day. It was a stormy night with heavy snow falling. At the time the minister was expected, a rather elderly gentleman came to the door, asking to know the distance to the nearest town. Being certain that weather conditions would prevent him from going any further, he asked to lodge with the farmer and his family for the night. They agreed, surmising that their expected guest must also have been detained by the elements.

Over supper, the gentleman conversed with his hosts, discovering that they were faithful church-attendees. He then asked if they knew how many commandments there are. They all confidently affirmed that there are ten.

“Are you certain?” asked the gentleman dubiously. “Are there not eleven?”

The guest was berated for his “ignorance” and taken aside for a study with the farmer.

The gentleman left early the next morning, before the family headed for church—supposedly to continue on his journey. Therefore, upon arriving at church, they were all surprised to see none other than the same man heading straight to the pulpit. The title of his sermon surprised them yet further: “The 11th Commandment,” whereupon he read the passage, “A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another.”3 Upon hearing his sermon, his hosts saw that they were the “ignorant” ones.

It then dawned on them that this man was the minister they had been expecting the night before. At the end of the service, they greeted him, apologized profusely for their rudeness, and thanked him for his timely sermon.

Jesus is calling us to more than just duty for Him. He invites us to a relationship with Him. He appreciates our assiduous devotion to the tasks He gives us. But what He desires most from us is love—a love that goes beyond obligation and springs from the depths of the heart.


1 Matthew 23:23.

2 Mark 7:13.

3 John 13:34.

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Tales from Gaza: What is life really like in 'the world's largest outdoor prison'?

Alistair Dawber, The Independent, 13 April 2013
The guide books warn that it’s very unstable and that tourists shouldn’t go there; the Foreign Office tells Brits that there’s a high threat from terrorism—don’t visit any part of the territory, it says, and if you do, there is no ‘our man’ there to help you out.

In truth, it is pretty difficult to get into Gaza anyway. Unless you are a journalist or work for an NGO, the likelihood is that you will get stopped at Israel’s airport-terminal-like border post at Erez, which governs who is allowed to enter the Palestinian territory and, more importantly in Israeli eyes, who is allowed out.

But once you do get permission to go to Gaza, you realise that it is not like anywhere else. After getting the necessary stamps in your passport, you take a long walk through an 800-metre or so long cage, overlooked by Israeli army gun posts and balloons fixed with cameras that keep an eye over what’s going on. Locals call it “the world’s biggest prison”, and it’s not difficult to understand why.

You eventually arrive at the first of two checkpoints, controlled by the Palestinian Authority and the moderate Fatah faction. Fatah doesn’t run Gaza, but since Hamas, which is in charge, does not recognise Israel, it will not inform the Israelis on their side of the border that you are coming back.

To think that Gaza City (the Palestinians refer to both the city and the 10km x 40km territory by the same name) is just a few kilometres from modern-day Israel is remarkable. It is like plenty of other Arab towns, just poorer, and after November’s eight-day war between Hamas and Israel, many buildings in the city centre lie in ruins, like collapsed wedding cakes, after being hit by missiles.

Gaza is about 5,000 years old and one of the world’s oldest cities. In that time it has been both a thriving port and, as it is today, a sprawling mess of refugee camps and poverty. According to the United Nations, 1.5 million people call it home, making Gaza one of the most densely populated areas on the planet. Of the 1.5 million inhabitants, 1.1 million are refugees; those who lived in what is now Israel before 1948 refuse to give up the belief that one day they’ll return to their former homes.

The UN predicts that by 2020, the population will be more than 2 million, and that GDP per capita of about $2,700 by 2015 is less than what people were earning in 1990. Hospitals need an extra 800 beds now and, by 2020, an additional 1,000 doctors and 2,000 nurses.

But why is life in Gaza so difficult? It is not hard to imagine the place as a thriving Mediterranean resort: the white beaches are gorgeous and the seafood—such as the tuna served to us on the beach by the fisherman Rachad al-Hisi—is peerless.

The obvious—if incomplete—answer is the blockade imposed by Israel, which justifies the sanctions on security grounds. Before last year’s war, more than 2,000 rockets from Gaza fell on southern Israel; in the past, militants from Gaza have launched manned attacks from the territory.

In 2006, Hamas, an ideological Islamic and militant organisation that, since its inception, has been committed to the end of Israel, surprisingly won elections in Gaza. The poll, still regarded as probably the most democratic in the history of the Arab world, ushered in international sanctions. The situation deteriorated the following year when a unity government between Hamas and Fatah, which controls the other Palestinian territory, the West Bank, collapsed amid grisly violence that resulted in the deaths of at least 120 people, some publicly executed, others after having been pushed from the top of tall buildings.

Following the battle, Israel and Egypt sealed Gaza on the grounds that Fatah was unable to provide security. Now Israel inspects most of what enters and leaves Gaza, and limits supplies; it is able to determine what materials reach people there, and what does not.

After the eight-day war between Israel and Hamas in November, Gazans report that there has been an increased supply of goods, but Israel, concerned about the prospect of rockets being fired at the south of the country and Tel Aviv, maintains its blockade.

The testimonies over the following pages are a small snapshot into life in Gaza, by people who can rarely get their voices heard.

This is not a scientific study of life in Gaza, more a portrait of interesting individuals we met there. There are many thousands like those we met, and though not suffering famine or the spread of deadly disease, for people in Gaza life is still desperate. The frustration is palpable and in a land that has a violent history, that frustration, mixed with an easy supply of arms and an obvious enemy, is a very dangerous mix indeed.

‘Because of the restrictions, we’re catching fewer fish’—RACHAD AL-HISI, FISHERMAN
Working with his younger colleagues, Rachad al-Hisi had spent the morning making repairs to a tennis-court-size green sardine net spread out on the beach that forms one of the boundaries of Gaza City.

Now 67 years old, al-Hisi has been fishing these waters since 1962. “Gaza is in a geographically bad position for fishing,” he complains. “We’re in the corner of the Mediterranean and the big, expensive fish don’t travel this far—to get them, we’ve got to go further out into the sea.”

For the first 20 years of al-Hisi’s life as a fisherman, that wasn’t a problem. He was able to fish wherever he wanted, and Gaza—one of the world’s oldest cities—was vibrant, with plenty of tourists coming to enjoy the beautiful beaches and keeping the price of the day’s catch high.

But that was then. With 14 children to support at home in Gaza City’s al-Shati or Beach camp for refugees, the one-third of a square mile web of streets and concrete that is home to nearly 90,000 people, life has become significantly more difficult for al-Hisi and Gaza’s other fisherman.

Rachad al-Hisi blames two groups: the Israelis and the Egyptians. When we visited al-Hisi, the Israelis would only allow Gaza’s fishermen to fish six miles from the coastline, a policy that changed to just three miles three weeks ago in response to rockets being fired from the territory into southern Israel during the visit of Barack Obama.

“We can only catch the big fish 10 miles out to sea—so how are we supposed to catch them now? Because of the restrictions we’re catching fewer fish and making less money,” he says. “We are always getting into trouble; because our boats are not fitted with sophisticated navigation equipment, we go after the fish and then all of sudden we’re seven miles out to sea and in trouble.

“But it’s not just the Israelis who are picking us up. The Egyptians also stop us fishing in their waters, but they are taking fish from our waters too. There are species that used to be plentiful here—sea bass, red mullet—we just don’t see them any more. Of course, it’s better to be arrested by the Egyptians rather than the Israelis.”

‘Before the fighting it was dangerous to be a farmer’—SAEED JNEAD, FARMER
We ask Saeed Jnead, a 53-year-old farmer, for an interview as he travels along a dirt track on the back of his donkey-pulled cart about half a mile from the fortified border with Israel. Within minutes, the jovial Mr Jnead has stopped, invited us to his farm for coffee and is surrounded by members of his family on the dusty road, wondering what on Earth we’re doing there.

Farmers, usually growers of olives, dates and citrus fruits, have been among the biggest losers of the isolation of Gaza. The Israeli army prevents them from getting too close to the security wall and in many cases, the farmers have lost large tracts of land.

But Mr Jnead, whose tooth-bereft mouth seems to be forever smiling, is clearly one of life’s optimists. “Life here since the war [the eight-day conflict between Israel and Hamas in November] has improved. Before the fighting, it was very dangerous to be a farmer. Believe me, when one of my sons went off in the donkey cart in the morning, I always worried about whether he would ever come back.”

Mr Jnead’s children, and their prospects in what is often referred to as the world’s largest open prison, is top of his concerns. “I want a peaceful place where my children and their families can be secure in their own land. I’m not talking about tomorrow, but we have to believe in the future, although things do change—you [the UK] used to occupy the United States, but look what’s happened now, look who’s stronger. It may be too late for my life, but that’s what I hope for my sons.”

Mr Jnead’s father planted the fruit trees on the farm in 1956, including the lemon grove where Mr Jnead takes us for a glass of thick Arabic coffee. It is where Mr Jnead has tried to work all his life.

He is someone who has felt the force of the Israeli army—his house was destroyed during what was then one of the regular incursions of 2004. “They came at midnight and in the morning. All of a sudden, my house was gone. I’ve still not had any explanation.”

But Mr Jnead seems to be the kind of person who would forgive all the past problems in favour of a lasting peace deal. “Peace is essential. Without it we will carry on like this, with this terrible life.” Sitting next to his young son, 13-year-old Ashor, who was recently stung on the eye by a bee, Mr Jnead adds: “What will he do with this life? I want him to be a doctor or a lawyer—I have the same aspirations as any parent in the West; but here, like this, what chance does he really have?”

‘We’re not political. Anyone can come to drink our coffee’—RAMADAN MALCHA, CAFÉ OWNER
Sitting in a seafront café just south of Gaza City, you can picture what the place could be like. It has all the natural benefits of a Mediterranean city, and if somehow a lasting peace could be guaranteed, it is not such a stretch to imagine Thomson Holidays offering all-inclusive breaks at luxury resorts there.

Someone who shares this vision, or perhaps more accurately, a version of it, is Ramadan Malcha. He’s the owner of the Estnbool Café, which is situated just off the beach. His establishment, he assures us, is named after the Turkish city.

We meet Malcha after stopping off in the Estnbool. It is a large cavernous place, and it’s not difficult to imagine how this, too, could end up as a popular destination for Brits looking for some cheap summer sun.

That may be a pipe dream, but nonetheless, Malcha says that business is booming: “We’re a cheap place for guys to hang out in and have a coffee, or for families to come at the weekends and have a meal,” he says, giving us his sales patter.

“All sorts of people come in here—we get business meetings, people using the beach and the unemployed who come here to pass the time. We’re not political, anyone’s welcome to come to drink our coffee—even if Ariel Sharon [the former Israeli prime minister] came here, he would be welcome, as long as he bought a coffee, and that wouldn’t cost him more than NIS 5 [5 New Israeli Shekels, about 90p].”

So all’s swell in Gaza, then? Not quite. Malcha Ramadan introduces us to his 19-year-old son, Yassir, who is set to get married in a few weeks’ time. “Of course, the main thing I want for my son is for him to be happy, but aside from that I want him to do better than I have done.

“I want my son to be a doctor, or maybe even a journalist, but that’s very difficult because the education system here is not so great.”

Elsewhere in the Estnbool, 33-year-old Mohammed Molhati has a less sunny outlook than Ramadan. A former construction worker, he has been unemployed for “some time”.

“Why would I blame Israel?” he says. “I blame Hamas and Fatah for their feuding—the only way to sort out Gaza is to dissolve the government, get rid of Hamas, get rid of Fatah and start a new government from the beginning.”

Why is he in the Estnbool that afternoon? “Because there’s nothing else to do.”

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