Mr. President, the Less You Do the Better

By Eric Margolis, September 6, 2014

Washington DC—“We’ve got to stop ISIS… al-Qaida… Syria’s Assad… Hamas… Hezbollah… Taliban… Shebab…the wicked Ruskis in Ukraine… those Yemeni Houthis… Iran… Sudan… Islamists in Libya and Mali… Boko Haram in Nigeria… the Red Chinese in Asia. Oh yes, and defend Latvia and fight the Lord’s Army in Uganda.

That’s the view in Washington where international police fever and growing hysteria over ISIS, the latest Mideast bogeyman, have gripped the nation, as elections near and politicians talk more nonsense than usual.

Listen to Republican windbags and you’d believe the hordes of ISIS are about to put Cleveland to the sword.

My question is: which “we” is going to stop all these malefactors?

To quote Frederick the Great, “he who defends everything, defends nothing.” To which we may add, he who spends on wars everywhere, ends up broke. And he who ignores domestic needs for the sake of imperial glory abroad is cruising for a bruising.

The American Imperium can no longer enforce the international status quo that had given it immense power and wealth since 1945. The Hapsburg Emperor Charles V and poor Louis XVI faced the same problem.

When confronted by complex problems—as the US is now in Iraq and Syria—sometimes the best strategy is to do nothing at all.

But the Obama administration is under growing pressure from the neoconservatives, Republicans and pro-war media to attack Syria and confront Russia in Ukraine.

President Barack Obama just made the surprisingly candid admission that he had not yet developed a strategy for dealing with ISIS in Iraq and Syria. Republicans screamed.

Take your time, Mr. President. Fools charge in where angels fear to tread.

Speaking as an old Mideast hand and veteran war correspondent, I say no plan is a good plan. Washington has made such an awful mess of its foreign policy that inaction is an increasingly attractive option. More little wars will mean the US falling into the trap set by Osama bin Laden.

Who came down from the mountain and said the US must police the globe, from the South China Sea to the jungles of Peru? After losing wars in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Afghanistan, and Iraq, the US should reconsider its overly militarized foreign policy and exaggerated international pretensions. You can’t rule the globe on money borrowed from China and Japan.

More worrying, expanded US naval patrols in the Black Sea are a dangerous provocation. Imagine if Russian naval units sailed into Lake Ontario?

Pushing the European Union into sanctions against Russia has ended up hurting the western powers more than Russia. The EU will now have to bail out its farmers and other exporters whose business in Russia was shut down.

President Putin’s offer nine months ago of a referendum in Ukraine leading to more local autonomy is the sensible way out of this mess. Allowing ISIS to run around in Mesopotamia until the local powers—including Turkey—decide to shut it down is the best strategy for dealing with these upstarts.

US Republican hawks calling for sending US troops back into Iraq and Afghanistan should bear in mind a terrible number: 253,000 former US military veterans suffering grave permanent brain damage from wars in those nations. They will require intensive lifetime medical care. This figure pales compared to the nearly 8,000 US soldiers killed in action.

Bombing Iraq now costs the US $7.5 million daily, or $562 million since June. This is just the opening ante for Nobel Peace Prize winner Barack Obama’s very own Iraq War. George W. Bush’s Iraq War cost well over $1 trillion. This at a time when 44 million Americans rely on food stamps and infrastructure is crumbling all over America.

As they say at the Betty Ford Clinic for drug and alcohol addicts, “just say no.” Or, if Americans really want more jolly little wars around the globe, then raise taxes to pay for them instead of hiding their cost in the national debt.

Americans now face two conflicts in places they can’t even find on the map.

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Former Israeli President Shimon Peres: Pope Francis is only leader respected enough to end today’s wars

By Carol Glatz, Catholic News Service, Sept. 5, 2014

VATICAN CITY—Former Israeli President Shimon Peres asked Pope Francis to head a parallel United Nations called the “United Religions” to counter religious extremism in the world today.

“In the past, most wars were motivated by the idea of nationhood. Today, however, wars are incited above all using religion as an excuse,” Peres told the Catholic magazine, Famiglia Cristiana, ahead of the papal meeting Sept. 4.

Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, confirmed that Peres, who ended his presidential term in July, had requested the meeting and told the pope about his idea.

The pope, however, did not commit himself to the proposal.

“The pope listened” to the idea just as he always does with any peace initiative, “showing his interest, his attention and encouragement,” Father Lombardi said.

But “the pope made no personal commitment” and reminded Peres that the Vatican has the Pontifical Councils for Interreligious Dialogue and for Justice and Peace—two offices “that are suitable” for supporting or following such initiatives, Father Lombardi said.

Pope Francis also met later in the day with Jordan’s Prince El Hassan bin Talal, who, for the past four decades, has worked to promote interfaith understanding and dialogue around the world.

Father Lombardi said that, during the 30-minute meeting, the prince talked about the latest activities and “pressing issues” of the various initiatives supported by his Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies.

Father Lombardi said the pope’s meeting with Peres lasted an unusually long 45 minutes, reflecting the pope’s “esteem and appreciation” for Peres, whom he earlier praised as a “man of peace.”

The main focus of their talk was Peres’ idea for a “United Religions” organization and did not touch on current “political issues in any depth” the Vatican spokesman said.

In an exclusive interview with Famiglia Cristiana, the 91-year-old former two-term prime minister of Israel said he wanted to establish an international body representing the world’s major religions, as a moral force able to intervene in conflicts.

Peres said Pope Francis would be the best person to head such a world body because “perhaps for the first time in history, the Holy Father is a leader who’s respected, not just by a lot of people, but also by different religions and their representatives.”

“In fact, perhaps he is the only leader who is truly respected” in the world, said Peres, who was jointly awarded the Nobel Peace prize in 1994 with Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat and Israeli Premier Yitzak Rabin.

Peres said the United Nations and its peacekeepers “do not have the force or the effectiveness of any one of the pope’s homilies, which can draw half a million people just in St. Peter’s Square alone.”

“So given that the United Nations has run its course, what we need is an organization of United Religions,” Peres said, as “the best way to counteract these terrorists who kill in the name of their faith.”

“What we need is an unquestionable moral authority who says out loud, ‘No. God doesn’t want this and doesn’t allow it,’” he said.

Prayer is also an important part of peacemaking, he said; people should not underestimate “the power of the human spirit.”

“We must not become cynical. The human being is much more than being made up of just flesh and blood,” he said.

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O que a fé sabe

M. Fountaine
http://directors.tfionline.com/pt/post/o-que-fe-sabe/
Por mais terrível, devastadora, irreversível ou desesperadora que pareça a situação, diante de um grande revés ou até quando a vida está em risco, continuar confiando em Jesus e se recusar a abrir mão dessa confiança é sinal de grande fé. — E a fé é o que agrada a Deus.

Essa não é uma questão que diz respeito a você e à conquista do que você acha ser o melhor, mas está totalmente relacionada a Jesus e ao que Ele sabe ser o melhor para você e para os outros.

Fé é a substância das coisas que se esperam. Não ficamos à espera de algo que já temos. Fé é a evidência das coisas que se não veem. Não precisamos de nenhuma evidência de que algo que podemos ver é real.

Alguns homens e mulheres na Bíblia que clamaram por milagres parecem, ao primeiro olhar, incrivelmente confiantes e seguros do que deveriam fazer. Ao lado de uma fé assim, aparentemente inabalável, a nossa pode parecer bastante fraca.

Isso acontece porque vemos esses milagres da Bíblia como coisas já acontecidas. Mas tente se colocar no lugar daquelas pessoas quando as situações estavam transcorrendo.

Imagine a impossibilidade que deve ter parecido para elas na ocasião, antes de verem o resultado. Talvez tivessem a mesma perspectiva que temos hoje diante de uma situação aparentemente impossível. Pode ser animador observar sob a ótica das pessoas na ocasião as circunstâncias em que se deram os milagres e o que elas enfrentaram.

Vejamos, por exemplo, os três hebreus que iam ser lançados na fornalha ardente por não se prostrarem e adorarem imagem de ouro de Nabucodonosor. Podemos pensar que eles irradiavam confiança diante do governante do império mundial, certos de que sairiam ilesos da fornalha, mas será que existe a possibilidade de eles também terem travado batalhas contra o temor e se sentirem inseguros quanto ao desfecho da situação?

Daniel, amigo deles, certamente era um homem poderoso e influente que poderia defendê-los e resgatá-los. Na ocasião, porém, ele estava fora, em viagem em outra região. Sadraque, Mesaque e Abednego estavam por conta própria, defendendo o que sabiam ser o certo. A presença deles na corte era vista como uma ameaça ao poder dos conselheiros reais que, provavelmente, foram os responsáveis por atiçar a ira do rei contra os três hebreus.

Sadraque, Mesaque e Abednego declararam com ousadia sua confiança incondicional em Deus. Mas eram humanos e propensos aos mesmos temores que qualquer um de nós diante de um destino tão doloroso e terrível. Imagine a luta interior que travaram ao pensarem na possibilidade de serem jogados na fornalha ardente. Para evitar as chamas impiedosas, teriam de se prostrar diante da imagem do rei.

Fé não é ausência de temor, mas o que vence o temor. Imagino que eles tenham sentido muito medo do que ia acontecer naquele instante, mas sabiam como deviam reagir. Não baseavam a fé na possibilidade de seus corpos se tornarem milagrosamente resistentes ao fogo e ao calor. Pelo menos é o que a sua declaração na Bíblia nos leva a pensar.

Eles disseram: “O nosso Deus, a quem servimos, pode nos livrar da fornalha ardente, e nos livrará da tua mão, ó rei. Mas se não, fique sabendo que não serviremos aos teus deuses nem nos prostraremos diante da imagem de ouro que erigiste.”

Não sabiam o que ia acontecer, mas acreditavam que Deus estava no controle. Depositavam sua fé na certeza de que, independentemente das circunstâncias, Deus tinha um plano e confiavam que Ele cuidaria deles da melhor maneira. Não estavam determinando condições com base no que consideravam melhor para a sua situação. Não disseram ao rei que seus corpos não queimariam. Sabiam que Deus podia fazer qualquer coisa, mas não estavam baseando sua fé na certeza de que Deus os protegeria dentro da fornalha.

A fé dos três hebreus estava no amor e no poder de Deus, não nos resultados que consideravam seriam os melhores. Tente se colocar no lugar de pessoas que enfrentaram situações impossíveis como essa. Quais seriam os seus pensamentos numa hora dessas? Quais seriam os seus temores?

Você sabe que, no fim das contas, Deus acertará tudo na próxima vida, mas isso não diminui a luta interior diante da possibilidade de uma situação muito dolorosa ou até da morte, porque sua decisão não diz respeito à próxima vida, mas ao presente.

Vejamos a situação de Moisés. Ali estava ele, às margens do Mar Vermelho, diante do que parecia o fim dele e dos que o seguiam. Atrás dele, temporariamente detidos por uma coluna de fumaça durante o dia e de fogo à noite, encontravam-se os soldados, que não só haviam sofrido com as terríveis pragas lançadas por Moisés, mas também perdido pais, filhos ou irmãos na última praga.

Não estavam apenas cumprindo ordens do Faraó. Queriam vingança e estavam decididos a causar os piores sofrimentos possíveis aos escravos fugitivos, pelos atos de Deus contra o povo egípcio. Imagino que tanto Moisés quanto os filhos de Israel estavam bem cientes disso.

Imagine o medo que possivelmente ameaçou Moisés e os que estavam com ele. Pode ter parecido que o seu Deus os colocara em um beco sem saída. Imagine as dúvidas que devem ter atormentado Moisés. Conseguiram fugir dos egípcios temporariamente, mas não é difícil imaginar que ele tenha sido tentado a temer e duvidar, achando que talvez tivesse interpretado tudo errado e que, por conta disso, todos que o seguiram — homens, mulheres e crianças — seriam mortos.

Não tenho dúvidas de que Moisés buscava desesperadamente a orientação divina, contudo, aquela parecia uma situação impossível. Quem já tinha ouvido falar em separar o mar para as pessoas atravessarem em solo seco? Moisés só precisava seguir as instruções passo a passo, confiando que Deus, de alguma forma, Se manifestaria e lhes daria a vitória.

Imagino que tenha sido amedrontador quando o mar se dividiu e as pessoas passaram correndo pelo leito seco. Imagine aquela multidão se acotovelando, aos trancos e barrancos, tentando atravessar o mar no meio de duas paredes de água cada vez mais altas!

Para onde você iria, se quisesse escapar? Atrás de você delineava-se a silhueta do terrível exército que entrava pelo mesmo leito seco por onde você corria para chegar à outra margem. Em quanto tempo o alcançariam?

Por piores que fossem as perspectivas, Moisés só podia confiar, mesmo parecendo impossível alcançarem a outra margem em segurança. Estavam nas mãos de Deus não importava o que acontecesse.

Jesus deu o exemplo máximo de confiança no Pai até mesmo em Sua morte. Teve medo. A Bíblia diz que Jesus travou uma grande luta no Jardim do Getsêmani, a ponto de suar sangue! A fé não é a ausência de medo, mas a superação do medo com a verdade. É preciso encarar o medo para vencê-lo.

É de dar medo quando você se encontra em uma situação ruim, incapaz de ver uma maneira natural de resolver o dilema. Mas é aí que a fé edificada em Jesus, não em suposições, se manifesta para valer. Para isso, basta continuar acreditando e confiando, independentemente das aparências, como fizeram Sadraque e seus amigos.

É preciso continuar caminhando no solo firme das palavras de Jesus apesar da gravidade das circunstâncias, como fez Moisés, na certeza de que, por pior que seja a situação, por mais improvável que as coisas pareçam, Jesus nos carrega nos braços.

Não sei o que o futuro nos reserva, mas conheço Aquele que sabe.

Você talvez tenha medo da situação que enfrenta. Pode não ver solução. Mas a intervenção divina na sua vida não depende de sua autoconfiança, mas da fé e confiança no poder ilimitado de Deus, no Seu amor e bondade.

Não é preciso acreditar que tudo o que deseja sempre se realizará. Só precisa crer que Deus pode fazer o que for melhor, quando Ele sabe ser melhor e da maneira que Ele quer — se não nesta vida, então na próxima, porque você confia nEle.

A fé sabe do mais importante: Deus nunca o deixará nem o desamparará.

Nenhum de nós conhece o futuro. Muitas vezes, não conseguimos prever se um revés ou uma dificuldade vai durar um minuto, um mês ou o resto da vida. Não podemos edificar nossa fé na expectativa de resultados que fazem sentido para nós. O que a fé sabe é que Jesus não nos deixará sem consolo. Ele nos acompanhará e passará pelo fogo ao nosso lado, como esteve com Sadraque, Mesaque e Abednego. A vitória é nossa aqui graças ao Seu desvelo sobrenatural, ou a alcançaremos no fim da vida, quando chegarmos ao céu. De um jeito ou de outro, não há como perdermos.

Acredite nEle e conte com o melhor. Vale a pena esperar.

Jesus adora quando olhamos para as ondas e ventos das adversidades e, a exemplo de Pedro, dizemos: “Faz-me andar sobre as águas”. Ele estava pronto para mergulhar nos desafios, porque havia visto o poder de Deus em Jesus e estava disposto a se entregar nas mãos dAquele que ele confiava jamais lhe falharia.

Quais desafios você está enfrentando? Que situações impossíveis assombram a sua vida? Você vai pisar nas águas para ir ao encontro de Jesus neste momento, para que o Seu poder se manifeste em sua vida? Dê esse passo de fé, mesmo que por um momento pareça estar afundando. Basta chamar Jesus e, na hora certa, Ele o ajudará a superar o obstáculo, do jeito dEle.

Tradução Hebe Rondon Flandoli.

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Only One Life

http://anchor.tfionline.com/post/only-one-life/
Audio length: 9:38
Download Audio (7.7MB)

Success in this world is a great defeat if it takes you out of God’s will. So many are like the rich young ruler who came running to Jesus—yet he went away sorrowful. They’re such sad cases. Jesus told them to “forsake all, give to the poor, and come follow Me,”1 but they went back sorrowful because of the riches of this life, considering them of more value than the riches of Christ. They chose to “lay up for themselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt and where thieves break through and steal”—instead of laying up for themselves eternal “treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt and where thieves do not break through nor steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”2

Moses forsook this world. He looked beyond this world because he saw Jesus and had an eye on eternity and its great rewards. He counted the riches of Christ greater than the riches of all Egypt.3 The greatest and most powerful and richest nation on the face of the earth in that day couldn’t compare to Christ.

He counted the riches of Christ greater than the riches of this world, “For he had respect unto the recompense of the reward”—far greater than all the riches of this whole world combined and all of its selfish pleasures and selfish interests. So “he chose to suffer affliction with the children of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of this life for a season.”4

Whatever this life and this world have to offer, it’s only for a little while. But salvation, souls, children, and service for the Lord are forever; they are eternal. “For this world passes away and the fashion thereof, but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”5So “love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. For he that loveth the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”6

The one who is willing to seemingly lose is going to be the one who gains. “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.”7 Jesus Himself said, “He that saveth his life shall lose it, but he that loseth his life for My sake and the Gospel’s, the same shall save it.”8

That’s what I call a bargain, to give up the pleasures of sin of this life for a beautiful eternal life in heaven—with all of our friends and family and folks we have won to the Lord forever. What could be better than that? I’d call that a bargain. I call that a cheap price to pay for these eternal rewards and life with the Lord in heaven forever.

“Only one life, ’twill soon be past. Only what’s done for Christ will last.”9 What are you doing? For whom? Will it last forever for Jesus and others? Did you spend today’s precious time for Him and others? How will you answer Him? What will you say? It’s better to die for something than to live—and die—for nothing. Which are you doing? Start living today. There’s only one way—for Jesus.

Even though it costs something in self-sacrifice and personal effort in giving, even persecution and suffering, Jesus Himself promised that if you would suffer with Him, you would also reign with Him.10 Are you going to reign now a little while and pay the price later? Or are you going to suffer a little now and reign forever? “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”11

Are you willing to “deny yourself and take up your cross daily”?12 “Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation” that might lead you astray from the straight and narrow way which leads to a higher crown and greater reward.13 “Forget those things which are behind, and reach forth unto those things which are before. Press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”14 May God help you to be faithful to the end of your days. “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.”15 In Jesus’ name, amen.
-- David Brandt Berg

(Prophecy:) Behold, I come quickly, and My reward is with me and My fan is in My hand. Let every man examine himself according to that which is within him—whether it be of gold and of silver, or of wood, hay or stubble, which shall be burned. Beware lest thou, too, be found to be wanting.16

What a day it will be when you join with Me in My kingdom for evermore. You will have such joy that you have never known, and see such glories that you have never seen, and you will know that it has been worth it all.17 This will be a compensation and a recompense. For eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things that I have laid up for My own, My beloved.18

“For as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee. Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. He that overcometh, and keepeth My works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father in His throne.”19

A Job Well Done

Tho’ harder, rougher grows the way
As we strive onward day by day,
Yet nearer, brighter shines His light
As we near the end of the night.

As ’round the world we work and roam,
Each weary step brings closer home.
For journey’s end will come soon—you’ll see.
There He waits for you and me.

And as He gathers each one in
From this old world of sin,
He’ll welcome home each faithful one
With all His joy for a job well done.20

‘Twill Soon be Past

Only one life, a few brief years,
Each with its burdens, hopes, and fears;
Each with its days I must fulfill,
Living for self or in His will;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.

When this bright world would tempt me sore,
When Satan would a victory score;
When self would seek to have its way,
Then help me, Lord, with joy to say;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Give me, Father, a purpose deep,
In joy or sorrow Thy word to keep;
Faithful and true whate’er the strife,
Pleasing Thee in my daily life;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Oh let my love with fervor burn,
And from the world now let me turn;
Living for Thee, and Thee alone,
Bringing Thee pleasure on Thy throne;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Only one life, yes, only one,
Now let me say, “Thy will be done”;
And when at last I’ll hear the call,
I know I’ll say “‘twas worth it all”;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.
And when I am dying, how happy I’ll be,
If the lamp of my life has been burned out for Thee.
—C. T. Studd

Originally published May 1983. Adapted and republished September 2014.
Read by Simon Peterson.

Footnotes:
1 Matthew 19:21.
2 Matthew 6:19–21.
3 Hebrews 11:26.
4 Hebrews 11:25.
5 1 John 2:17; 2 Corinthians 4:18.
6 1 John 2:15.
7 Jim Elliot, Christian missionary and martyr, 1949.
8 Mark 8:35.
9 From the poem “Only One Life,” by C. T. Studd.
10 2 Timothy 2:12.
11 Romans 8:18.
12 Luke 9:23.
13 Matthew 26:41; 7:14.
14 Philippians 3:13–14.
15 Revelation 2:10.
16 Revelation 22:12; Matthew 3:12; 2 Corinthians 13:5; 1 Corinthians 3:11–15.
17 2 Corinthians 4:17.
18 1 Corinthians 2:9–10.
19 Isaiah 62:5; Revelation 3:11; 2:26; 3:21.
20 Matthew 25:21.

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To Dream the Impossible Dream! - Man of La Mancha

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Breaking: CDC whistleblower (over the effects of mercury in vaccines)Dr. William Thompson in grave danger now

http://jonrappoport.wordpress.com/2014/08/22/breaking-cdc-whistleblower-thompson-in-grave-danger-now/
Breaking: CDC whistleblower Thompson in grave danger now

by Jon Rappoport

August 22, 2014

www.nomorefakenews.com

(Note: All posts related to this story are archived here under #Vaccinegate.)

William W Thompson, PhD…the CDC whistleblower…was escorted off the premises of the CDC campus yesterday afternoon. This is what a source has just told me.

Therefore, the CDC knows Thompson is the whistleblower.

He’s in danger.

I’ve also been told that the Autism Media Channel (autismmediachannel.com), which had posted the video revealing Thompson’s name and outing him, is gone. The site is suddenly gone. (AMC’s documentary video is here on vimeo.com — entitled “CDC Whistleblower revealed”).

Threats of various kinds, at the very least, will now be applied to Thompson. Legal action, perhaps arrest, perhaps worse.

When it comes to vaccines and protecting that empire, the games are very serious. Deadly serious. The gloves come off.

People have to understand this, if Thompson disappears or shows up dead “as a suicide.”

Since Thompson isn’t, as of this moment, stepping forward himself to provide full disclosure on his past actions, and since his name is already out there….the best protection he has is other people.

Other people making his name and his dangerous situation known. That has to happen now.


William W Thompson, PhD — via ‘Google Scholar’ search.

Prior to this morning, Thompson had been standing in the shadows as an anonymous source, admitting that he cooked data to hide a connection between autism and the MMR vaccine.

Now other things are known. In 2007, he published a study on the effects of mercury (thimerosal) on babies and very young children—and he concluded that there were both positive and negative effects, but the effects on both sides were very small.

The study was used by the press and the government to trumpet the idea (the lie) that everybody could rest easy; vaccines containing mercury weren’t harming anyone.

Now, this, too, comes under scrutiny. If Thompson was lying about the MMR vaccine, did he also lie about mercury and its toxic effects? Did he intentionally underplay those effects? Did he cook the data in that study, too?

Thompson has been working at NCIR, the CDC’s National Center for Immunizations and Respiratory Diseases—until yesterday.

NCIR includes, in its mission statement, the following: “prevention of disease, disability, and death through immunization…” In other words, it’s a PR agency that promotes vaccines. Actual science about vaccine dangers would be cut off at the pass.

Thompson is looked at as a threat to this agenda.

His unwillingness to come all the way forward, speak his name, tell the whole truth has boomeranged on him. Predictable.

Psychiatric detention and drugging, threats of lawsuits for violating “confidentiality agreements,” arrest, “you’ll never get a job again,” and “sudden suicide” are all possibilities.

Shining a very bright light on Thompson and his situation is his best hope now.

Jon Rappoport

The author of three explosive collections, THE MATRIX REVEALED, EXIT FROM THE MATRIX, and POWER OUTSIDE THE MATRIX, Jon was a candidate for a US Congressional seat in the 29th District of California. He maintains a consulting practice for private clients, the purpose of which is the expansion of personal creative power. Nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, he has worked as an investigative reporter for 30 years, writing articles on politics, medicine, and health for CBS Healthwatch, LA Weekly, Spin Magazine, Stern, and other newspapers and magazines in the US and Europe. Jon has delivered lectures and seminars on global politics, health, logic, and creative power to audiences around the world. You can sign up for his free emails atwww.nomorefakenews.com

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Suicide kills one person worldwide every 40 seconds, WHO report finds

Sarah Boseley, The Guardian, 4 September 2014

One person in the world dies by suicide every 40 seconds, according to the first ever comprehensive report on the issue from the World Health Organisation, which talks of a massive toll of tragic and preventable deaths.

Suicide rates vary enormously from one country to another around the world—influenced by the cultural, social, religious and economic environments in which people live and sometimes want to stop living. Some of the worst affected countries have more than 40 times more suicides than the least affected areas. But the pressures that cause extreme emotional distress are similar everywhere and there are measures all governments can take to make suicide less likely, says the WHO.

Overall, the Geneva-based UN body estimates that there are at least 800,000 suicides a year. But many countries do not collect good data, there is huge stigma and in a handful of nations suicide is still illegal, so it is highly likely the numbers are an underestimate. Criminalising suicide does not prevent it—India, where it is illegal, has one of the higher suicide rates in the world at almost 21 deaths per 100,000 people against a global average of 11.

Suicide is the second leading cause of death among young people aged 15-29, but otherwise suicide rates increase in people older than 50. It is more common in men than in women, although the disparity is greater in rich countries than in poorer ones. Three-quarters of suicides occur in low- and middle-income countries, with higher numbers in central and eastern Europe and in Asia. North Korea has the very high suicide rate of 39.5 per 100,000 people, but South Korea’s is almost as high, at 36.6. Catholic countries and those with large numbers of Muslims tend to have lower rates because of the opposition to suicide of their religion. People experiencing conflict, abuse and isolation and those suffering discrimination, such as refugees, migrants and those suffering prejudice because of their sexuality are all at increased risk.

For every death, there are many more people who try to kill themselves. Having attempted suicide is the biggest risk factor for dying by suicide at some point in the future. It is a clear cry for help, which governments are urged to pick up on.

Whether it is a mental health crisis, financial desperation, the death of a child or the breakdown of a relationship that triggers the thought of suicide, there is still often an opportunity to stop it, says the WHO.

“Suicidal tendencies are transitory,” said Dr Shekhar Saxena, director of the department of mental health and substance abuse at the WHO and an author of the report. “People who have an intense desire to commit suicide grab the nearest possible means. If you can restrict their access even for a few hours, you can save a lot of lives. People think about it and talk to people and decide not to do it.”

Most suicides take place in the early morning, perhaps after a sleepless night and before there is anybody around to talk to, or late at night when alcohol may play a part. Nearly one third of people who kill themselves use agricultural pesticides. These are usually farmers in low-income rural areas, who may be facing a loan they cannot repay after a bad harvest. They may have pesticide in a bottle on a shelf in the kitchen. WHO is encouraging governments to take steps to make it much harder for people to obtain such toxic substances.

Other measures to prevent people easily getting access to the means of killing themselves have been adopted in other countries. Painkillers can only now be bought over the counter in limited quantities in the UK, for instance. Some bridges have high fences.

The WHO wants all countries to have a national suicide prevention strategy, which must include reducing access to the means of suicide. Also important are responsible reporting of suicides by the media to avoid the risk of inspiring copycat attempts, alcohol policies, care for people suffering from mental and substance use disorders, chronic pain and emotional distress and the training of health workers in assessing and managing suicidal behaviour.

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Não Desanime

compilação

Sejam fortes e corajosos, todos vocês que esperam no Senhor!—Salmo 31:24[1] NVI

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Mantenha os olhos fixos no Céu, na meta, e a vitória no coração. ...Quando o Diabo o tenta a desanimar e desistir, lute! Não lhe dê ouvidos, muito menos se renda. Comece a fazer algo positivo; diga palavras animadoras e de encorajamento.

Quando se sente oprimido ou tem sentimento de culpa, não fique parado, tome uma atitude! Cante, grite, louve o Senhor, cite versículos! Revide o golpe do Diabo! Repreenda-o com a Palavra! Foi o que Jesus fez quando o Diabo o tentou e mentiu para ele no deserto. Ele apenas citou versículos: “Está escrito.”[2] O Diabo bem sabe que é um mentiroso; ele é o pai da mentira,[3] e não resiste à Palavra. “Resisti ao Diabo e ele fugirá de vós.”[4] Ele vai encolher o rabo e bater em retirada.

Vista o capacete da salvação e a couraça da justiça, protegendo-se com o escudo da fé para resistir a todos os dardos inflamados do Maligno; revista-se com a verdade, calce o Evangelho da paz e use a espada do Espírito, que é a Palavra de Deus, e acerte o Diabo no coração.[5] Afugente-o! Avise-o que não tem nada a ver com ele e ele não tem nada a ver com você!

Depois mantenha-se ocupado trabalhando, falando de Jesus e da salvação. Seja positivo. Ajude alguém. Fique tão ocupado com os problemas dos outros que não consiga pensar em si mesmo. Fique tão ocupado ajudando outros a serem felizes que não consiga evitar sentir-se feliz.

Fale de Jesus. Fale da Palavra de Deus. Fale sobre as necessidades das pessoas. Fale de coisas boas e positivas. “Tudo o que é verdadeiro, tudo o que é honesto, tudo o que é justo e puro, tudo o que é amável, se há alguma virtude e algum louvor, nisso pensai.”[6] “Não fale mal de ninguém”—nem de si mesmo.[7]

Guarde a fé. Mantenha os olhos em Jesus. Fique ocupado ajudando alguém que precisa e esqueça de si mesmo. Logicamente você é uma bagunça. Todos nós somos. Quando começamos a olhar para nós mesmos, realmente ficamos desanimados.

Vamos seguir adiante com Deus! Ele é o único que pode ajudá-lo a chegar lá, e o fará se lhe der uma chance. Agarre-se à Palavra e deixe o Senhor agarrar-se a você. Deixe ir e deixe Deus fazer! Existe uma antiga canção que diz: “Ele vai me segurar!” Eu não consigo me firmar sozinho. Só Deus pode ajudar-me. Ele é a minha única esperança.

“Àquele que é poderoso para impedi-los de cair e para apresentá-los diante da sua glória sem mácula e com grande alegria, ao único Deus, nosso Salvador” entregue seus caminhos, sua vida, mente, seus pensamentos e o seu tempo.[8] “Porque sei em quem tenho crido e estou bem certo de que ele é poderoso para guardar o meu depósito até aquele dia.”[9] Só o Senhor pode fazê-lo. Dê-Lhe uma chance. Mantenha os olhos em Jesus. Vamos falar de Jesus! Vamos falar de amor, do amor do Senhor.—David Brandt Berg[10]

*

Adquira o hábito de procurar o positivo na situação, e então manter os olhos nele, em vez de olhar para o lado sombrio.

Não sucumba ao desencorajamento, por mais que reprimido ou incomodado que se sinta. A pessoa desencorajada fica indefesa. Não consegue resistir aos ataques do inimigo sozinha nessa condição, nem prevalecer na intercessão por outros.

Busque as promessas de Deus e diga em voz alta: "Esta promessa é para mim." Se ainda sentir alguma dúvida ou desencorajamento, abra o coração para Deus e peça-Lhe para repreender o adversário que o incomoda sem misericórdia.

Assim que der as costas para todo sinal de desconfiança e desencorajamento, o bem-aventurado Espírito Santo vivificará a sua fé e soprará a força Divina na sua alma. Ah se os olhos conseguissem ver toda a força e poder que lhe são concedidos quando se afasta das hostes das trevas e olha para Deus, sem dar a mínima para as tentativas do seu inimigo de angustiar, deprimir e desencorajar!

Todas as maravilhosas virtudes de Deus estão a favor daquele que crê e que, em nome de Jesus, com uma fé simples e confiança infantil submete-se a Ele e nEle busca auxílio e orientação.—Mrs. Charles E. Cowman[11]

*

“Embora os montes sejam sacudidos e as colinas sejam removidas, ainda assim a minha fidelidade para com você não será abalada, nem a minha aliança de paz será removida", diz o Senhor, que tem compaixão de você.—Isaias 54:10[12] NVI

*

Será que você não sabe?
Nunca ouviu falar?
O Senhor é o Deus eterno, o Criador de toda a terra.
Ele não se cansa nem fica exausto, sua sabedoria é insondável.
Ele fortalece ao cansado e dá grande vigor ao que está sem forças.
Até os jovens se cansam e ficam exaustos, e os moços tropeçam e caem;
mas aqueles que esperam no Senhor renovam as suas forças. Voam bem alto como águias; correm e não ficam exaustos, andam e não se cansam.—Isaias 40:28–31[13] NVI

*

O Senhor firma os passos de um homem, quando a conduta deste o agrada;
ainda que tropece, não cairá, pois o Senhor o toma pela mão.—Salmo 37:23–24[14]NVI

Publicado no Âncora em setembro 2013. Tradução Hebe Rondon Flandoli.


[1] NIV.

[2] Mateus 4:3–10.

[3] João 8:44.

[4] Tiago 4:7.

[5] Efésios 6:10–17.

[6] Filipenses 4:8.

[7] Tito 3:2.

[8] Judas 24–25.

[9] 2 Timóteo 1:12.

[10] Greater Victories (Aurora Production, 2002).

[11] Mananciais no Deserto

[12] NVI.

[13] NIV.

[14] NIV.

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How Unethical Behavior Becomes Habit

By Francesca Gino, Lisa D. Ordóñez and David Welsh, HBR, September 4, 2014

When a former client’s secretary was arrested for embezzlement years before his own crimes were uncovered, Bernie Madoff commented to his own secretary, “Well, you know what happens is, it starts out with you taking a little bit, maybe a few hundred, a few thousand. You get comfortable with that, and before you know it, it snowballs into something big.”

We now know that Madoff’s Ponzi scheme started when he engaged in misreporting to cover relatively small financial losses. Over a 15-year period, the scam grew steadily, eventually ballooning to $65 billion, even as regulators and investors failed to notice the warning signs.

Many of the biggest business scandals of recent years—including the News of the World phone hacking scandal, billions in rogue trading losses at UBS, and the collapse of Enron—have followed a similar pattern: The ethical behavior of those involved eroded over time.

Few of us will ever descend as deeply into crime as Bernard Madoff, yet we all are vulnerable to the same slippery slope. We are likely to begin with small indiscretions such as taking home office supplies, exaggerating mileage statements, or miscategorizing a personal meal in a restaurant as business-related. Nearly three-quarter of the employees who responded to one survey reported that they had observed unethical or illegal behavior by coworkers in the past year.

“The safest road to Hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts,” wrote C. S. Lewis. Our research backs up both Lewis’s intuition and the anecdotal evidence: People often start their misconduct with small transgressions and then slide down a slippery slope.

Two of us (Dave, Lisa, and our team) found that people who are faced with growing opportunities to behave unethically are much more likely to rationalize this conduct than those who are presented with an abrupt change. We predicted that if we could get people to cheat a little in one round, they might be willing to cheat a bit more in another round, and finally cheat “big” in a third round.

This is precisely what we found: When given a series of problem-solving tasks, 50% of our subjects cheated to earn $.25 per problem in the first round, and 60% cheated to earn $2.50 per problem in the final round. However, the people in the abrupt change group who could not cheat during the first two rounds were much less willing to cheat big for $2.50 per problem during the final round (only about 30% did).

This suggests that employees might look at their slightly exaggerated mileage statements as “rounding up.” But rationalizing minor indiscretions inevitably influences how they view progressively worse behaviors and may lead them to commit bigger offenses (e.g., billing their employers for personal travel expenses) that they initially would not have considered.

To make matters worse, people are more likely to overlook the unethical behavior of others when it deteriorates gradually over time. For example, one of us (Francesca) found, with colleague Max Bazerman, that people who played the role of auditors in a simulated auditing task were much less likely to report those who gradually inflated their numbers over time than those who made more abrupt changes all at once, even though the level of inflation was eventually the same.

Unfortunately, the assumption that unethical workplace behavior is the product of a few bad apples has blinded many organizations to the fact that we all can be negatively influenced by situational forces, even when we care a great deal about honesty. Yet approaches to warding off the slippery-slope problem need not to be drastic. In their book Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness, Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein illustrate how a small and unobtrusive nudge in the right direction can lead people to eat better, save more for retirement, and conserve energy.

Our research similarly indicates that ethical nudges can help people avoid the types of indiscretions that might start them down the slippery slope. For example, in a study conducted with a major U.S. insurance company, Francesca and colleagues found that customers who signed the statement “I promise that the information I am providing is true” prior to reporting their annual mileage—that is, at the top of the page—were significantly more honest in their reporting compared to those who reported first and signed at the bottom of the page.

In a different study, Dave and Lisa found that even subconsciously exposing people to ethical content increased their moral awareness and prompted more ethical decisions. Perhaps with this in mind, some organizations have incorporated ethical nudges into images, symbols, stories, and slogans. For example, the University of Arizona’s Eller College of Management recently created posters featuring the image of a fire alarm to call attention to cheating. And at International Paper, employees are given a wallet card with a set of ethics-related questions to consider when making business decisions.

When moral standards are unclear or unenforced, it’s easy for employees to feel emboldened to engage in questionable behaviors that are readily rationalized. Environments that nudge employees in the right direction, and managers who immediately identify and address problems, can stop ethical breaches before they spiral out of control.

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Ready for landing: Mexico City airport expansion could make it one of largest in world

By Tim Johnson, McClatchy, September 3, 2014

MEXICO CITY—President Enrique Peña Nieto announced plans Tuesday to build a new airport in Mexico City that can handle four times the traffic of the existing one, the second busiest in Latin America.

The new airport will have six runways and is projected to cost $9.1 billion.

President Peña Nieto said the airport “will be the biggest infrastructure project in our country in many years and even one of the biggest in the world.”

It will be built on vacant federal land to the east of Benito Juarez International Airport, which handled about 31.5 million passengers last year.

Peña Nieto, in a 90-minute annual address to the nation, said Mexico couldn’t keep “postponing a solution” to the overcrowding at the capital airport, which regularly exceeds its operating capacity.

The bottlenecks at the airport “restrict movement around the country, limit Mexico’s ties to the world, put a brake on trade and investment, and create delays for users,” Peña Nieto said.

When engineers finished work on the existing airport in 1952, the capital had only 3 million residents. Since then, the metropolis has swollen to more than 20 million inhabitants, partially engulfing the airport, which occupies a dry lake bed.

A second terminal was added in 2007, but only two runways serve both terminals and they can’t be used simultaneously. The airport, which is Latin America’s second busiest, after Sao Paulo’s Guarulhos International Airport, has surpassed the 340,000 annual takeoffs and landings experts say it’s capable of handling, hitting 389,226 last year.

That means aircraft take off and land at a pace of nearly one per minute during peak periods. The airport is less than three miles from the capital’s main square, and the standard landing approach has jetliners skimming over the city.

An annual report given by Peña Nieto’s government to Congress on Monday didn’t say how long it would take to build the new airport, which will arise on some 12,500 acres of mostly vacant land around the largely dry Lake Texcoco that’s contiguous to the current facility. [The new airport will be near the site where the Mexican government attempted to build a new airport in 2002. It failed after local farmers, wielding machetes, launched protests over the expropriation of their land for the new airport.]

Once built out to a capacity of 120 million passengers a year, the new airport could be one of the largest in the world, depending on the pace of growth at busy airports in places such as Chicago, Dubai, Beijing and Atlanta. Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, the world’s busiest, handled 94.4 million passengers last year.

The Mexico City airport handles a third of air passengers in Mexico and more than half of all airfreight.

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