CAIRO (AP) — An 8-year-old Saudi girl has divorced her middle-aged husband after her father forced her to marry him last year in exchange for about $13,000, her lawyer said Thursday. Saudi Arabia has come under increasing criticism at home and abroad for permitting child marriages. The United States, a close ally of the conservative Muslim kingdom, has called child marriage a "clear and unacceptable" violation of human rights.
The girl was allowed to divorce the 50-year-old man who she married in August after an out-of-court settlement had been reached in the case, said her lawyer, Abdulla al-Jeteli. The exact date of the divorce was not immediately known.
A court in the central Oneiza region previously rejected a request by the girl's mother for a divorce and ruled that the girl would have to wait until she reached puberty to file a petition then.
There are no laws in Saudi Arabia defining the minimum age for marriage. Though a woman's consent is legally required, some marriage officials don't seek it.
But there has been a push by Saudi human rights groups to define the age of marriage and put an end to the phenomenon.
One Saudi human rights activist Sohaila Zain al-Abdeen was optimistic that the girl's divorce would help efforts to get a law passed enforcing a minimum marriage age of 18.
"Unfortunately, some fathers trade their daughters," she told The Associated Press. "They are weak people who are sometimes in need of money and forget their roles as parents."
It was not clear if the man received money for the divorce settlement. The man had given the girl's father 50,000 riyals, or about $13,350, as a marriage gift in return for his daughter, the lawyer said.
The 8-year-old girl's marriage was not the only one in the kingdom to receive attention in recent months. Saudi newspapers have highlighted several cases in which young girls were married off to much older men or young boys including a 15-year-old girl whose father, a death-row inmate, married her off to a cell mate.
Saudi Arabia's conservative Muslim clergy have opposed the drive to end child marriages. In January, the kingdom's most senior cleric said it was permissible for 10-year-old girls to marry and those who believe they are too young are doing the girls an injustice.
Click HERE to continue reading this article...
April 30, 2009
8 Year Old Saudi CHILD DIVORCES 50 Year Old Husband! Her Father SOLD Her For $13,000! DISGUSTING The Kingdom's Senior Cleric Said It Was Permissible!
Unemployment Claims RISE To 6.271 MILLION, Another Record Level And The 15th Straight Increase! And The Gov't Wants Us To Believe Everything Is GREAT?
ECONODAYJobless Claims Report
Thursday April 30, 2009
Highlights
A huge jump in continuing claims headlines a mostly negative jobless claims report. Continuing claims in the April 18 week jumped 133,000 to 6.271 million, another record level and the 15th straight increase. A month-to-month comparison, useful for a gauge on the April employment report, shows significant deterioration, up 704,000 from 5.567 million at mid-March.
Now the good news. Initial claims appear to have peaked in March, pointing to similar relief ahead for continuing claims. Initial claims totaled a lower-than-expected 631,000 in the April 25 week with the four-week average at 637,250, well down from a peak near 660,000 at the beginning of the month.
The Labor Department said there are no special factors distorting the data and that the contraction is evenly distributed across jurisdictions. There was no significant reaction to today's 8:30 headlines but today's claims report does point to deeper lows in next week's employment report.
Market Consensus Before Announcement
Initial jobless claims jumped 27,000 in the April 18 week to a slightly higher-than-expected level of 640,000. While this boost is not good, the real trouble was with a surge in continuing claims, which spiked 93,000 to a record 6.137 million (data for the April 11 week). Continuing claims have set 12 straight weekly records, reflecting the mounting number of unemployed.
Please click HERE to continue reading the report...
Dept. of Homeland Security Sets Guidelines For Possible Swine Flu Quarantines! There Is Something EXTREMELY Fishy About This Supposed 'Virus' Outbreak
DHS Sets Guidelines For Possible Swine Flu Quarantines
April 28, 2009 5:12 PM
written by Declan McCullagh
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has sent a memo to some health care providers noting procedures to be followed if the swine flu outbreak eventually makes quarantines necessary.
DHS Assistant Secretary Bridger McGaw circulated the swine flu memo, which was obtained by CBSNews.com, on Monday night. It says: "The Department of Justice has established legal federal authorities pertaining to the implementation of a quarantine and enforcement. Under approval from HHS, the Surgeon General has the authority to issue quarantines."
McGaw appears to have been referring to the section of federal law that allows the Surgeon General to detain and quarantine Americans "reasonably believed to be infected" with a communicable disease. A Centers for Disease Control official said on Tuesday that swine flu deaths in the U.S. are likely.
Federal quarantine authority is limited to diseases listed in presidential executive orders; President Bush added "novel" forms of influenza with the potential to create pandemics in Executive Order 13375. Anyone violating a quarantine order can be punished by a $250,000 fine and a one-year prison term.
A Homeland Security spokesman on Tuesday did not have an immediate response to followup questions about the memo, which said "DHS is consulting closely with the CDC to determine appropriate public health measures."
The memo from McGaw, who is DHS' acting assistant secretary for the private sector, also said: "U.S. Customs and Coast Guard Officers assist in the enforcement of quarantine orders. Other DOJ law enforcement agencies including the U.S. Marshals, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives may also enforce quarantines. Military personnel are not authorized to engage in enforcement."
Click HERE to continue reading this article...
I'm Not Buying It - Something Smells Rotten! OIE Director General Bernard Vallat Described The Virus As A "Cocktail" Of Four Different Strains!
The OIE noted that past epidemics of human influenza epidemics with animal origin had been named after their geographical origin, such as Spanish flu or Asian flu.
"It would be logical to call this disease 'North American influenza'," it suggested.
Vallat said that "no-one, so far" had been able to show how or where the novel strain of virus had brewed.
**************************************************************
Still don't believe me? Here is an excerpt I have taken from a recent CDC press briefing transcript:
"Preliminary testing of viruses from the 1st 2 patients shows that they are very similar. Additional testing is ongoing with the newer isolates. We know so far that the viruses contain genetic pieces from 4 different virus sources. This is unusual. The 1st is our North American swine influenza viruses. North American avian influenza viruses, human influenza viruses, and swine influenza viruses found in Asia and Europe. That particular genetic combination of swine influenza virus segments has not been recognized before in the US or elsewhere."
CDC Research: How many people die from flu each year in the United States?
In 2009, CDC published additional estimates of flu-related deaths comparing different methods, including the methods used in the 2003 JAMA study. The seasons studied included the 1993-94 through the 2002-03 flu seasons [9]. Results from this study showed that during this time period, 36,171 flu-related deaths occurred per year, on average.
April 29, 2009
GDP Down 6.1%, Reflecting Continuing Economic Woes! And Obama's $4 TRILLION Budget Is Based On A 4% GDP Growth Rate! Can Our Government Get Real Here!
GDP Down 6.1%, Reflecting Continuing Economic Woes
Wednesday April 29, 2009 08:38 AM ET
The U.S. economy contracted at a steeper-than-expected pace in the first quarter, weighed down by sharp declines in exports and business inventories, according government data on Wednesday that showed the economy was still deep in recession.
Gross domestic product, which measures total goods and services output within U.S. borders, dropped at a 6.1 percent annual rate, the Commerce Department said, after shrinking 6.3 percent in the fourth quarter.
Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast GDP falling at a 4.9 percent rate in the January-March quarter. Output has declined for three straight quarters for the first time since 1974-1975.
The advance report from the Commerce Department showed business inventories plummeted by a record $103.7 billion in the first quarter, as firms worked to reduce stocks of unsold goods in their warehouses. That sliced 2.79 percentage points from the overall GDP figure. Excluding inventories, GDP contracted 3.4 percent.
However, declining inventories is a positive development as it suggests the inventory correction cycle might be over.
Exports collapsed 30 percent, the biggest decline since 1969, after dropping 23.6 percent in the fourth quarter. The decline in exports knocked off a record 4.06 percentage points from GDP.
Investment by businesses tumbled a record 37.9 percent in the first quarter, while residential investment dived 38 percent, the biggest decline since the second quarter of 1980.
Click HERE to continue reading this article... MUST READ!
Citi, Bank of America May Need More Capital After Stress Tests! They Deceitfully Reported PROFITS Last Week! Will You Quit Trying To Raise The DEAD!
This is a scene from the movie "Young Frankenstein".UPDATE 12-Citi, BofA may need more capital after stress tests
Reporting by Ajay Kamalakaran in Bangalore, Elinor Comlay and Dan Wilchins in New York
Wednesday April 29, 2009
NEW YORK, April 29 (Reuters) - Citigroup Inc (C.N) may have to raise more capital after preliminary results of its stress test from U.S. regulators, people familiar with the matter said, and Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) may need billions more, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The reports on Tuesday triggered a new round of guesswork and analysis on Wall Street as investors tried to figure out which other banks might face pressure to raise capital.
Wells Fargo & Co's (WFC.N) shares fell as much as 5 percent, while Bank of America and Citigroup shares fell as much as 10 percent and 7 percent, respectively.
Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that at least six of the banks that underwent the tests require additional capital, citing people briefed on the matter.
Some of the lenders may need extra cash injections from the government, but most of the capital is likely to come from converting preferred shares to common equity, the people told the agency.
Late on Tuesday, the Journal reported that Citi had asked the U.S. Treasury for permission to pay special bonuses to employees. The bank is also looking into ways to free its energy-trading unit, Phibro, from pay restrictions and is considering a spinoff into an independent hedge fund or bringing in outside investors, the paper reported.
Bank of America may need to raise as much as $70 billion to maintain an acceptable tangible common equity ratio -- a measure of capital strength -- if unemployment rises, analysts at FBR wrote in a report on Tuesday.
Both Citi and Bank of America posted better-than-expected first-quarter results, but analysts have questioned whether the improvement can last given looming credit losses and the surprisingly high trading profits and one-time gains that boosted the results.
Each bank has received $45 billion of capital injections under the U.S. government's Troubled Asset Relief Program, more than any other major bank.
But both banks are also likely to face substantially more consumer credit losses as U.S. unemployment reaches its highest level in a generation. Bank of America averaged more than $600 billion of consumer loans during the first quarter, while Citigroup averaged more than $500 billion.
"Loan losses continue to get worse, charge offs continue to get worse, so of course (banks) need to continue to raise capital," said Jon Fisher, portfolio manager at Fifth Third Asset Management.
The government said that results of the stress tests on the 19 largest U.S. banks would be released next week. The 19 banks tested, which include JPMorgan Chase & Co and Wells Fargo, hold two-thirds of the assets and more than half of the loans in the U.S. banking system.
Please click HERE to continue reading the entire article... MUST READ!
Italian Authorities Have Seized About $300 Million In Assets Of Four Global Banksters! They Have Been Accused Of FRAUD!
Italy Seizes Millions in Assets From Four Banks
written By CLAUDIO GATTI
Published: April 27, 2009
With municipal bond investigations spreading to Europe from the United States, Italian authorities have seized about $300 million in assets of four global banks — JPMorgan Chase, Deutsche Bank, UBS and Depfa — whose officials have been accused of fraud.
The Guardia di Finanza in Milan, the financial police of Italy, took over real estate properties, bank accounts and stock holdings on Monday to assure it could collect from the banks if their officials were found guilty and the banks were held responsible.
The seizures stem from the banks’ handling of a $2.2 billion municipal bond issue and related financial contracts known as swaps that Milan undertook to retire other debt in June 2005. The lead prosecutor accused the bankers of misleading the city and falsely claiming that the deal would generate savings. If all the costs had been properly included, the prosecutor said, the entire deal would have been illegal under a national law that allows restructuring of debt only if it produces a savings.
Alfredo Robledo, the prosecutor in Milan, suspects the banks made $130 million in illicit profits, according to information obtained in a joint investigation by the Italian business newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore and The International Herald Tribune. He is also investigating transactions by the banks with other local Italian governments and the possibility that public officials received kickbacks.
About 35 billion euros ($46 billion) in bonds were issued by local Italian governments over the last decade, mostly by the London units of large banks based in the United States and Europe. A former executive from one of the banks being investigated in Milan said that all of these could be subject to challenge.
Three of the banks are also being investigated over their municipal bond practices in the United States. Officials or former officials of JPMorgan Chase, Deutsche Bank and UBS, along with the institutions themselves, are the subjects of investigations, company filings and documents filed in civil cases show.
In its annual report released last month, JPMorgan Chase acknowledged parallel investigations in the United States by the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission into possible antitrust and securities violations involving derivatives sold to local governments. JPMorgan said it was cooperating with the investigations and had provided documents.
These derivatives, when combined with bond offerings, were presented as ways to raise cash and reduce the long-term cost of debt, but officials claim now that many of the contracts, in the form of swaps, were packed with millions of dollars in fees that were not disclosed.
In his filings to a judge in Italy seeking the asset seizure, Mr. Robledo asserted that the bankers falsely claimed that the deal would save 57.3 million euros.
Click HERE to continue reading this article... MUST READ!
April 28, 2009
10 Inspirational Quotes From Leo Buscaglia!
- Love always creates, it never destroys. In this lie's man's only promise.
- Love is always bestowed as a gift - freely, willingly and without expectation. We don't love to be loved; we love to love.
- We all need each other.
- Don't smother each other. No one can grow in the shade.
- What we call the secret of happiness is no more a secret than our willingness to choose life.
- Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, it only saps today of its joy.
- The fact that I can plant a seed and it becomes a flower, share a bit of knowledge and it becomes another's, smile at someone and receive a smile in return, are to me continual spiritual exercises.
- Death is a challenge. It tells us not to waste time... It tells us to tell each other right now that we love each other.
- It is paradoxical that many educators and parents still differentiate between a time for learning and a time for play without seeing the vital connection between them.
- The easiest thing to be in the world is you. The most difficult thing to be is what other people want you to be. Don't let them put you in that position.
BONUS
Your talent is God's gift to you. What you do with it is your gift back to God.
You Make Loving FUN! ~ Fleetwood Mac LIVE 1977
I have been relaxing this evening taking a break from all of the NON-SENSE! I was just listening to Fleetwood Mac and had to post this song for ALL of you to ENJOY! This is a great original video of Fleetwood Mac performing this song titled, "You Make Loving Fun" LIVE circa 1977! It is such a great easy going happy song!!! The lyrics were written by Christine Mcvie, the person singing this song.
I received several emails from my regular readers about a message I posted a few weeks ago. I mentioned that I didn't want someone I was in a relationship with to 'need' me. My readers kindly pointed out that they watched Barbra Streisand's special on CBS and she gave a quote stating that we all need each other. I too watched her this past Saturday and heard the same thing. I humbly agree. The human race needs each other to build a strong society and sustain it. The human race needs each other to grow and learn and evolve. The human race needs each other to protect ourselves from Tyrants who's sole intent is control and oppression. I know that no person is an island and I also know that no person can truly LIVE without giving and receiving LOVE. It would be like living without SUNSHINE!
However, when I expressed that I didn't want my life partner to need me, I was thinking about how a pet needs you or a child needs you. A pet or a child is dependent upon you, correct? Of course in retrospect, I see how I could have elaborated more. Co-dependency seems to be common these days and that to me is not a healthy relationship. I do however want love (respect), friendship (confidant) and laughter.
Okay, now I am really tripping out! I went to look up the definition for the word 'confidant' to share with those of you who have never heard it. I came across this GREAT website titled, 'My Personality'. The definition has just blown me away! Why? Because it describes me almost perfectly!!! I think I am a combo of the INFJ 'The Confidant' and the ENFP 'The Advocate'. I am very much a people person and have been an extrovert. I am a sagittarius for heavens sake. However, I am very private when it comes to my home life. Hhmmm... personalities are complex aren't they. Here is what I read:
INFJ - The "Confidant": "INFJs, making up an estimated 1% of all people, are the most rare type (males even more so). They are introspective, caring, sensitive, gentle and complex people that strive for peace and derive satisfaction from helping others. INFJs are highly intuitive, empathetic and dedicated listeners. These traits tend to act as a "tell me what's wrong" sign on their forehead, hence the nicknames Confidant, Counselor or Empath. INFJs are intensely private and deeply committed to their beliefs."
ENFP - The "Advocate": "ENFPs are introspective, values-oriented, inspiring, social and extremely expressive. They actively send their thoughts and ideas out into the world as a way to bring attention to what they feel to be important, which often has to do with ethics and current events. ENFPs are natural advocates, attracting people to themselves and their cause with excellent people skills, warmth, energy and positivity. ENFPs are described as creative, resourceful, assertive, spontaneous, life-loving, charismatic, passionate and experimental."
UPDATE: I just took their darn personality test and here are my results. LOL - I guess this test told me! Personalities are complex...
INTP - The "Engineer": INTPs are logical, individualistic, reserved, and very curious individuals. They focus on ideas, theories and the explanation of how things work. They are especially adept at discussions and debate. They have the ability to focus intently on a subject. They appreciate and respect intelligence in others.
You Make Loving Fun ~ Fleetwood Mac
Sweet wonderful you,
You make me happy with the things you do,
Oh, can it be so,
This feeling follows me wherever I go.
I never did believe in miracles,
But i've a feeling it's time to try.
I never did believe in the ways of magic,
But I'm beginning to wonder why.
Don't, don't break the spell,
It would be different and you know it will,
You, you make loving fun,
And I don't have to tell you you're the only one.
You make loving fun.
You make loving fun.
Cartoon by Michael Ramirez
I was in the mood for a little humor today considering the state of affairs. Michael Ramirez is one of my favorite cartoonist. He won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for his cartoons. He is the Editorial Cartoonist for Investor's Business Daily. Please click HERE to view his other cartoons. LAUGHTER is the best medicine for any ailment!!!A Christian Priest And His Wife Were Stabbed To Death In Indonesia!
Christian priest, wife killed in eastern Indonesia
reported by Associated Press
Tuesday April 28, 2009
JAKARTA, Indonesia - A Christian priest and his wife were stabbed to death in a region of eastern Indonesia that has been wracked by sectarian violence in the past, police said Monday.
The bodies of Frans Koagow, 64, and his wife, Femy Kumendong, 73, were discovered by their grandson in the priest's home on Sulawesi island over the weekend with deep wounds to their heads and necks, said local police chief Aridan Roero.
Authorities have yet to determine a motive, he said, and no suspects have been named.
"We're still investigating," Roero said. "It's too early to say anything."
More than 90 percent of Indonesia's 235 million people are Muslims, but Sulawesi _ the scene of religious clashes that left up to 2,000 people dead from 1998 to 2002 _ has a large Christian population.
Manado, the city where Saturday's twin slayings occurred, has however experienced LITTLE bloodshed in the past.
April 27, 2009
Myanmar's Military Dictator Government Tightened Security As The Political Party Of Detained Pro-Democracy Leader Aung San Suu Kyi Gathered Tuesday!
YANGON, Myanmar – Myanmar's military government tightened security as the political party of detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi gathered Tuesday to discuss next year's planned election.
Attendees at the meeting will consider proposals for the 2010 elections, but might not decide about whether to take part, party spokesman Nyan Win said.
Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy maintains that the polling will take place under a constitution aimed at ensuring the military's domination of politics. The document also has clauses that bar Nobel peace laureate Suu Kyi from office.
The party has repeatedly urged the government to review the military-backed constitution, saying it was "approved by force" in a referendum last year.
About 100 party members from various parts of the country registered at the party headquarters Monday to attend the two-day meeting, Nyan Win said. They include elected candidates of the last general election in 1990 whose results were ANNULLED by the military.
"We will discuss party organizational activities, prevailing political conditions, and the constitution. We will also discuss and exchange views on the elections," Nyan Win said.
Police were deployed near party headquarters Monday while dozens of plainclothes policemen watched the building from across the street and a convoy of four to seven trucks carrying anti-riot police cruised the city.
Myanmar's military, which has held power since 1962, tolerates little dissent. The current junta came to power in 1988 after crushing a nationwide pro-democracy uprising and has stepped up its campaign against opposition politicians and activists ahead of next year's polls.
What Was Once Called Burma Was Changed To Myanmar - Rule By Military Junta (1962-present) Information For Those Of You Not Familiar...
Democratic rule ended in 1962 when General Ne Win led a military coup d'état. He ruled for nearly 26 years and pursued policies under the rubric of the Burmese Way to Socialism. Between 1962 and 1974, Burma was ruled by a revolutionary council headed by the general, and almost all aspects of society (business, media, production) were nationalized or brought under government control (including the Boy Scouts). In an effort to consolidate power, General Ne Win and many top generals resigned from the military and took civilian posts and, from 1974, instituted elections in a one party system.
Between 1974 and 1988, Burma was effectively ruled by General Ne Win through the Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP), which from 1964 until 1988 was the sole political party. During this period, Burma became one of the world's most impoverished countries. The Burmese Way to Socialism combined Soviet-style nationalization and central planning with the governmental implementation of superstitious beliefs.[35] Criticism was scathing, such as an article published in a February 1974 issue of Newsweek magazine describing the Burmese Way to Socialism as 'an amalgam of Buddhist and Marxist illogic'.
Almost from the beginning there were sporadic protests against the military rule, many of which were organized by students, and these were almost always violently suppressed by the government. On July 7, 1962 the government broke up demonstrations at Rangoon University killing 15 students. In 1974, the military violently suppressed anti-government protests at the funeral of U Thant. Student protests in 1975, 1976 and 1977 were quickly suppressed by overwhelming force.
A new constitution of the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma was adopted in 1974.
In 1988, unrest over economic mismanagement and political oppression by the government led to widespread pro-democracy demonstrations throughout the country known as the 8888 Uprising. Security forces killed thousands of demonstrators, and General Saw Maung staged a coup d'état and formed the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC). In 1989, SLORC declared martial law after widespread protests. The military government finalized plans for People's Assembly elections on 31 May 1989.
SLORC changed the country's official English name from the "Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma" to the "Union of Myanmar" in 1989.
In May 1990, the government held free elections for the first time in almost 30 years. The National League for Democracy (NLD), the party of Aung San Suu Kyi, won 392 out of a total 489 seats, but the election results were annulled by SLORC, WHICH REFUSED to step down. Led by Than Shwe since 1992, the military regime has made cease-fire agreements with most ethnic guerrilla groups. In 1992, SLORC unveiled plans to create a new constitution through the National Convention, which began 9 January 1993. In 1997, the State Law and Order Restoration Council was renamed the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC).
Myanmar Human Rights Issues
Human rights in Burma are a long-standing concern for the international community and human rights organizations. There is general agreement that the military regime in Burma is one of the world's most repressive and abusive regimes.
Several human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science have reported on human rights abuses by the military government. They have claimed that there is no independent judiciary in Burma. The military government restricts Internet access through software-based censorship that limits the material citizens can access on-line. Forced labour, human trafficking, and child labour are common. The military is also notorious for rampant use of sexual violence as an instrument of control, including systematic rapes and taking of sex slaves as porters for the military. A strong women's pro-democracy movement has formed in exile, largely along the Thai border and in Chiang Mai. There is a growing international movement to defend women's human rights issues.
The Freedom in the World 2004 report by Freedom House notes that "The junta rules by decree, controls the judiciary, suppresses all basic rights, and commits human rights abuses with impunity. Military officers hold all cabinet positions, and active or retired officers hold all top posts in all ministries. Official corruption is reportedly rampant both at the higher and local levels."
Brad Adams, director of Human Rights Watch's Asia division, in a 2004 address described the human rights situation in the country as appalling: "Burma is the textbook example of a police state. Government informants and spies are omnipresent. Average Burmese people are afraid to speak to foreigners except in most superficial of manners for fear of being hauled in later for questioning or worse. There is no freedom of speech, assembly or association."
Further information: Human rights in Burma
Evidence has been gathered suggesting that the Burmese regime has marked certain ethnic minorities such as the Karen for extermination or 'Burmisation'. This, however, has received little attention from the international community since it has been more subtle and indirect than the mass killings in places like Rwanda.
Further information: Internal conflict in Burma
In April 2007, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) identified financial and other restrictions that the military government places on international humanitarian assistance. The GAO report, entitled "Assistance Programs Constrained in Burma", outlined the specific efforts of the government to hinder the humanitarian work of international organizations, including restrictions on the free movement of international staff within the country. The report notes that the regime has tightened its control over assistance work since former Prime Minister Khin Nyunt was purged in October 2004. The military junta passed guidelines in February 2006, which formalized these restrictive policies. According to the report, the guidelines require that programs run by humanitarian groups "enhance and safeguard the national interest" and that international organizations coordinate with state agents and select their Burmese staff from government-prepared lists of individuals. United Nations officials have declared these restrictions unacceptable.
Burma's government spends the least percentage of its GDP on health care of any country in the world, and international donor organizations give less to Burma, per capita, than any other country except India. According to the report named "Preventable Fate", published by Doctors without Borders (also known as MSF, 25,000 Burmese AIDS patients died in 2007, deaths that could largely have been prevented by Anti Retorviral Therapy drugs and proper treatment.
Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari Said Bin Laden 'May Be Dead' - Or Not!? Here We Go Again Contemplating WALDO's Whereabouts!
ISLAMABAD – Pakistan's president said Monday his intelligence agencies believe Osama bin Laden may be dead, but he added there is no proof. Other Pakistani officials and a U.S. counterterrorism official said they thought the al-Qaida chief is alive. U.S. officials said bin Laden is most likely hiding in the mountains along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan, in particular the lawless tribal regions.
"We continue to believe that bin Laden is alive," said the U.S. official, who declined to be named because he was not authorized to discuss the matter on the record.
Reports of bin Laden's death or of near-captures have punctuated his years on the run since the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S., only to be seemingly debunked by periodic audio and video recordings.
The latest recordings emerged in March, in which bin Laden referred to the December-January Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip, calling it a "holocaust," and spoke of the January election of Somalia's U.N.-backed president, calling for him to be overthrown.
In an interview Monday with international media outlets, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari said American officials had told him they do not know where bin Laden is.
"They are much more informed," Zardari said. "They've been actually after him for a longer time. They've got more equipment. They've got more intelligence. ... so they tell us they have no trace at the moment."
Zardari added that his country's intelligence agencies "obviously feel that he does not exist anymore," but he didn't explain how or when they reached that conclusion, and quickly qualified his comment by saying bin Laden "may be dead."
"That's not confirmed. We can't confirm that," he said. "It's still in between fiction and fact."
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, appearing later Monday with his visiting British counterpart at a news conference, seemed surprised when a reporter asked about Zardari's remarks.
"I don't know what are the comments of the president, but at the same time, I must clarify this, that nobody knows about Osama bin Laden," Gilani said. "We don't know about it, whether he is alive or dead."
Mahmood Shah, a former security chief in the tribal regions, said he believes bin Laden is alive. "Where, I don't know. If he had died, we would have heard a lot of noise among the militants. From that I'd guess that he is alive," he said.
Ben Venzke, director of IntelCenter, the U.S. contractor that tracks extremist propaganda, said it was unlikely al-Qaida would keep bin Laden's death a secret.
"Bin Laden's death will likely be celebrated by the group and its affiliates as him having achieved martyrdom as opposed to the group seeing it as a crushing and demoralizing blow," Venzke said.
ANOTHER Broken Promise Made To A Group For Their Votes! President Obama Falls Short On Armenian Pledge!
"This group of human wreckage represents tens of thousands when first approached with aid"It was clever, crafty – artful, even – but it was not the truth. For in the end, Barack Obama dishonoured his promise to his American-Armenian voters to call the deliberate mass murder of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Turks in 1915 a genocide. How grateful today's Turkish generals must be.
Genocide is what it was, of course. Mr Obama agreed in January 2008 that "the Armenian genocide is not an allegation... but rather a widely documented fact supported by an overwhelming body of historical evidence. America deserves a leader who speaks truthfully about the Armenian genocide... I intend to be that President." But he was not that President on the anniversary of the start of the genocide at the weekend. Like Presidents Clinton and George Bush, he called the mass killings "great atrocities" and even tried to hedge his bets by using the Armenian phrase "Meds Yeghern" which means the same thing – it's a phrase that elderly Armenians once used about the Nazi-like slaughter – but the Armenian for genocide is "chart". And even that was missing.
Thus once more – after Hilary Clinton's pitiful response to the destruction of Palestinian homes by the Israelis (she called it "unhelpful") – Mr Obama has let down those who believed he would tell the truth about the truth. He didn't even say that Turkey was responsible for the mass slaughter and for sending hundreds of thousands of Armenian women and children on death marches into the desert. "Each year," he said, "we pause to remember the 1.5 million Armenians who were massacred or marched to their death in the final days of the Ottoman Empire." Yes, "massacred" and "marched to their death". But by whom? The genocide – the deliberate extermination of a people – had disappeared, as had the identity of the perpetrators. Mr Obama referred only to "those who tried to destroy" the Armenians.
Instead, he waffled on about "the efforts by Turkey and Armenia to normalise their bilateral relations" – a reference to the appeal of landlocked Armenia appeal to reopen its border with Turkey thanks to Swiss mediation (via another of America's favourite "road maps") – and the hope that Turkish and Armenian relations would grow stronger "as they acknowledge their common history and recognise their common humanity". But the only real improvement in relations has been an Armenian-Turkish football match.
Turkey is still demanding a commission to "investigate" the 1915 killings, a proposal the poverty-stricken Armenian state opposes on the grounds (as Obama, of course, agreed before he became President) that the genocide was a fact, not a matter in dispute. It doesn't have to be "re-proved" with Turkey's permission any more that the Jewish survivors of their own genocide have to "re-prove" the crimes of the Nazis in the face of a reluctant Germany.
Armenian historian and academic Peter Balakian – speaking as he stood by a 1915 mass grave of Armenians in the Syrian desert – was quite frank. "What is creating moral outrage," he said, "is that Turkey is claimed to be trying to have a commission into what happened – when the academic world has already unanimously agreed on the historical record." So much, then, for one-and-a-half-million murdered men, women and children.
Jacques Chirac Former President of France From May 1995 To May 2007 Investigation Completed For Embezzlement of PUBLIC Funds To Finance His CRONIES!
Chirac to be charged in cash for cronies case
By John Lichfield in Paris
Monday, 27 April 2009
France's most popular politician is facing the prospect of legal humiliation by the end of the summer. His new-found place in public affections is unlikely to be damaged. His name is Jacques Chirac.
The retired former president has soared to stratospheric levels of popularity in recent months – well beyond any support that he enjoyed in his four decades in French politics. However, M. Chirac's doubtful past is also catching up with him.
One of two criminal investigations into M. Chirac's alleged embezzlement of public funds to finance his rise to the presidency has been completed, according to judicial sources. Defence lawyers have until early July to ask for further inquiries. Once that period expires, the investigating magistrate, Xavière Simeoni, is expected to recommend that M. Chirac, 76, should be sent for trial.
The case involves the allegedly illegal hiring of political allies and friends as "special staff" of the Paris town hall when M. Chirac was mayor of the capital. Judicial sources say that, under questioning, President Chirac has accepted that he, not his senior advisers, should bear the blame for any illegal hiring. Publicly, he continues to deny any wrong-doing.
In an article in Le Monde in November 2007, on the day that he was formally accused of "embezzling public funds", M. Chirac said: "Never were the funds of the city of Paris used to fulfil ambitions, other than those of Parisians. Never was there any personal enrichment."
On the second point, there is no dispute. He is accused, however, of systematically financing his national political career at the expense of the taxpayers of Paris.
During his dozen years as president, from 1995 to 2007, M. Chirac had immunity from prosecution. Since he left office, two parallel criminal investigations have been grinding slowly forward.
What has been much less predictable is the former president's rise to the top of the political popularity charts in the last three months. In the latest poll for Ifop/Paris-Match, M. Chirac had a 74 per cent "positive" rating, compared to 41 per cent for his former protégé, now estranged, Nicolas Sarkozy. At the nadir of his fortunes, during student protests in 2006, President Chirac's approval rating fell to 29 per cent.
Pollsters and political commentators say that the rediscovered affection for the avuncular, calm M. Chirac is driven mostly by the unpopularity of his nervy and hyperactive successor. The recession, and the often unpresidential behaviour of President Sarkozy, have created an unexpected nostalgia for the once-maligned Chirac era.
Left-wing voters, many of whom regarded the former president as a pariah, are now 66 per cent pro-Chirac. Frédéric Dabi of IFOP said: "The Chirac years are now seen as the time before the economic crisis ... a kind of golden age. He was such a different kind of president that he is reaping the benefit of anti-Sarkozy feeling, especially among the young and on the left."
The culture minister, Christine Albanel, pointed out that it was much easier for a politician to be popular when he no longer had to take decisions. "He was always a likeable man," she said. "Now he's become a kind of universal grandfather."
In retirement, M. Chirac is running his foundation, which champions the developing world and African and Asian art. Part of his time is spent, however, organising his legal defence in the two embezzlement investigations. An attempt to combine them into one mega-inquiry was rejected on appeal last month – a victory for M. Chirac.
Elephant Exodus Reported From Troubled Zimbabwe
HARARE, Zimbabwe – Growing pressure from poaching and human encroachment in Zimbabwe has driven hundreds of elephants to migrate from the country and at least one leopard to stalk an upmarket Harare suburb, conservationists said Monday.
The independent Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force appealed in its latest monthly bulletin for more action — and money — to preserve the troubled nation's wildlife.
In Zimbabwe's economic meltdown, "humans are encroaching more and more into areas previously reserved for wildlife," the task force said.
As many as 400 elephants have crossed the Zambezi River, which separates Zambia from northern Zimbabwe, in recent months, said Johnny Rodrigues, head of the task force.
Three elephants also roamed into the eastern border city of Mutare this month and state wildlife authorities "want to shoot them before they kill somebody," he said.
The task force and a Zimbabwe animal group received official authority to capture and transport the elephants to Chipinda Pools, believed to be their original home area 125 miles (200 kilometers) to the south.
"The problem is funding for the relocation," Rodrigues said. State game rangers "won't wait much longer before destroying the elephants."
In northern Harare, rangers also wanted to track and kill at least one leopard, which also is suspected of having a cub. Rodrigues said the task force set up drugged, baited traps for predators so they could be returned to the wild, but none has been caught since a guard dog was attacked earlier this month.
Tourism and photographic safaris have dropped sharply during years of political and economic turmoil since the often violent seizures of thousands of white-owned farms began in 2000, disrupting the agriculture-based economy in the former regional breadbasket.
Longtime ruler President Robert Mugabe blames Western sanctions for the economic crisis that has led to acute shortages of food, gasoline and the most basic goods.
Poaching of small animals has intensified, with villagers torching the bush to drive even rodents and rock rabbits into traps for food, conservationists say.
Rodrigues said more animal fencing was needed at wildlife preserves to combat poaching and the escape of animals from their natural habitat after being made skittish by gunfire.
Conservationists already have raised the alarm for Zimbabwe's rare rhinos after a sharp increase in poaching over the past year because of a breakdown of law enforcement in the country.
The head of the state Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, Morris Mtsambiwa, told state media Monday that his nation faced censure from CITES, which regulates trade in endangered species, for the surge in rhino poaching blamed on "well-coordinated local, regional and international syndicates."
He said one rhino poacher, identified as a former Zimbabwean army officer equipped with a heavy caliber rifle, was shot and killed by rangers in southern Zimbabwe last week. The poacher's accomplices escaped.
"Rhino poaching is now becoming a very serious problem for us. We now have to answer serious questions at CITES," he said.
April 26, 2009
Detoxing Your Mind Pt. 3 of 3
This is such an AMAZING message given by Joel Osteen today! I am so happy that somebody posted this message on YouTube so that I could share it with all of my readers. I have typed a transcript of the first 4 minutes of this message for all of my international readers who need to use Babel Fish to translate. Allow this message to inspire you to transform your mind thereby transforming your LIFE! Always remember, YOU ARE a child of the Most High God. YOU ARE God's perfect Creation!
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I told him what I'm telling you. Every morning when you get up up you need to look up toward the heavens and just imagine your heavenly Father smiling down on you. You are His most prized possession. He has you in the palm of His hand. The scripture says God will be a Father to the fatherless.
The reason many people aren't reaching their full potential today is because of this lack of identity. These thoughts that keep playing today, you come from the wrong family or man you didn't even know your father no wonder you can't succeed. NO don't believe those lies. There not on your eating plan, stick with your diet. It's right here, it says I am a child of the Most High God, I may not have had an earthly father but I KNOW I have a heavenly Father. Other people may have said negative things about me, but I know before anybody put a curse on me, God put a blessing on me that's what I'm going to dwell on.
But some of you today are allowing these negative thoughts, negative things people have spoken to poison your future. You need to go back to the root of it and just ask yourself, "Who told me I can't be successful? Who told me I'm not smart enough to go to college? Who told me I can't break this addiction? Who told me my best days are behind me?" I can promise you that didn't come from God.
You need to detox all that garbage. Detox what your ex-husband said about you. Detox what that teacher said you can't do. Detox what that supervisor said you're not going to become. Detox what the critics are saying about your ability. I'm putting you on a new diet today. This diet is going to cleanse you from all the toxins. It's going to free you from all the negativity. All the can't do it, not good enough thoughts. This diet is faith food. When you eat this, it's like Popeye eating a bowl of spinach. It's like Clark Kent going into the phone booth and coming out as SuperMan. For you young people, it's like Miley Cyrus turning into Hannah Montana.
What am I saying? A transformation takes place. When we get rid of the toxic thoughts and we feed our mind what God says about us. This is the way the enemy works, he tries to plant these lies in our mind to infect our thinking. So often we deal with the surface. We're trying to have a good attitude, trying to have a good self-image. But it's like we're constantly struggling, it's always going uphill. Could it be like that rabbit, we're dealing with the symptoms and not dealing with the real issues. Could it be like we're putting a few anti-biotics on it hoping it will get better but the root cause is our thinking is infected in some area.
We want to break the addiction, but that thought keeps telling us, you'll be an alcholic just like your father. We want to make the marriage work, but we hear our thoughts saying, you'll probably get a divorce just like your parents. Or we want to step out in faith and start a new business, we want to take that promotion, but somethings says, you're not able to you remember what the high school counselor told you. Those are lies that have infected our thinking.
The way to get rid of them is to meditate on what God says about you. One scripture says to do it day and night. In other words continually all day long we should have the thoughts playing, I am blessed, I am prosperous, I am forgiven, I am talented, I have the favor of God. When you dwell on thoughts like that those toxins cannot take root. Your mind is being renewed.
Detoxing Your Mind Pt. 2 of 3
This is such an AMAZING message given by Joel Osteen today! I am so happy that somebody posted this message on YouTube so that I could share it with all of my readers. I have typed a transcript of the first 4 minutes of this message for all of my international readers who need to use Babel Fish to translate. Allow this message to inspire you to transform your mind thereby transforming your LIFE! Always remember, YOU ARE a child of the Most High God. YOU ARE God's perfect Creation!
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I remember when I first started ministering a little over 9 years ago, I was so nervous trying to please everybody, hoping they would like me, hoping I could keep it going. One Sunday after I got through speaking I overheard these ladies talking, they were saying, "He's so young. I don't know if he's as good as his father? Do you really believe that he could keep it going?" I thought dear Lord somebody else is thinking just what I'm thinking. That was the last thing that I needed to hear. Those toxic thoughts were trying to take root and keep me from my DESTINY.
I had to dig my heels in and start talking to myself. I looked in the mirror and said, "Joel, you are annointed. You are strong in the Lord. You can do ALL things through Christ. If God before you, who dare be against you." I began to realize it didn't matter what they were saying about me. It didn't matter what they thought. All that really mattered was what God says about me. I found out what they were saying was NOT on my diet. They were NOT a part of my healthy program.
I started feeding my mind FAITH, dwelling on things like I'm equipped, I'm empowered, I am well able to fulfill my DESTINY. What was I doing? I was starving those toxic thoughts and I let the seed of God's Word take root in my heart. God's Word is alive and full of POWER. If you'll get your thinking lined up with God's thinking, there is NOTHING you won't be able to do. You may feel nervous, but God will give you confidence. You may feel weak, but God will give you strength. When you don't see a way, God will make a way. When you need a break, God will give you favor. When people are talking about you, God will be your vindicator. When you fall down, God will pick you up. When it looks like it's over, God will give you another chance.
Learn to feed your minds these thoughts of FAITH, these thoughts of VICTORY! If I had made the mistake dwelling on those toxic thoughts, I don't believe I would be standing here today. Some of you right now have a recording playing over and over in your mind of all of the negative things people have said about you. You're in a very critical place. If you continue to dwell on those lies, that can keep you from your destiny.
The choice is NOT up to God, it's up to YOU! Who are you going to get in agreement with? What God says about you or what people say? People will tell you what you can't do, what you're not going to become. You may even feel like somebody has cursed your future. But here is the good news, before anyone could put a curse on you, God put a blessing on you! Before you were even formed in your mother's womb, before you were born, before one negative thing was spoken over you, God looked at you and said, "YOU are My child and YOU are blessed." And understand, what God blesses CANNOT be curse. If you'll get in agreement with God, you'll see His blessing begin to chase you down.
I had a lady tell me the other day that she came from a very negative environment. The people that raised her were constantly putting her down. She didn't feel like she measured up to her sister. She couldn't seem to keep a good relationship. She never got any good breaks. She finally said, "Joel my life has been one disappointment after another. I think these people have literally cursed my future" I told her what I'm telling you. Before anyone could curse you, God put a blessing on you. It doesn't matter what they said about you. It doesn't matter how they tried to make you feel. The blessing ALWAYS overrides the curse.
You need to get in agreement with God and start shaking that off. Just say thanks but NO THANKS that's not on my diet! I know who I am, I am a child of the Most High God. I am blessed and I cannot be cursed. I am wearing my crown of favor. I've been equipped with everything I need to succeed. When you start thinking like that those toxic thoughts cannot take root.
Detoxing Your Mind Pt. 1 of 3
This is such an AMAZING message given by Joel Osteen today! I am so happy that somebody posted this message on YouTube so that I could share it with all of my readers. I have typed a transcript of the first 7 minutes of this message for all of my international readers who need to use Babel Fish to translate. Allow this message to inspire you to transform your mind thereby transforming your LIFE! Always remember, YOU ARE a child of the Most High God. YOU ARE God's perfect Creation!
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I want to talk to you today about detoxing your mind. We hear a lot about detoxing our physical bodies and how there can be chemicals in the food that are harmful, bacteria can build up, even pesticides in the air. Many people don't realize it, but their bodies are full of these these harmful toxins. That's what is causing them to feel bad. Most experts will recommend that you go through a DEEP cleansing. Where you put yourself on a fast, you eat a certain diet, staying away from everything harmful and overtime you can rid yourself of those toxins and begin to feel much better.
In the same way there all kinds of toxins that can build up in our mind. When we go around dwelling on the wrong thoughts. Thinking about what we can't do and how somebody hurt us and how we'll never get ahead. Those thoughts are toxic thoughts. Toxic thoughts left alone become like toxic waste. It will eventually contaminate our whole life. It affects our self image. It affects our attitude, our level of confidence. It becomes a part of who we are.
That's why it says in Proverbs 4:23 'Above all else, guard your heart, for it affects everything you do'. The writer is saying making guarding your mind a priority. Put this at the top of your to-do list. Because if your mind gets polluted, your whole life is going to be polluted. You probably know people right now that are bitter, cynical, they always expect the worse, they have a sour attitude. Why is that? They've allowed these toxic thoughts to take root. Now they've become strongholds that are poisoning their future.
What's the solution? They need to go through a detoxification. Not a physical cleansing, but a mental cleansing. The only way they are going to get free, the only way they are going to get back to the way God made them to be, is to detox their mind. Some of you today need to detox the bitterness, detox low self-esteem, detox the negative words spoken over you, detox condemnation from past mistakes.
How do we detox? You make a decision you are not going to dwell on it anymore. You have to starve those toxins. Everytime you dwell on a negative thought, that condemnation, that bitterness, that low self-esteem, you are feeding it you are giving it new life you are making it stronger. When those thoughts come saying, you are never going to get well you heard what the doctor said or you're never going to be happy you've been through too much you're never going to accomplish your dreams.
Instead of dwelling on it, just turn it around and say NO I'm NOT going there. I'm NOT dwelling on who hurt me. I'm NOT dwelling on my past mistakes. I'm NOT dwelling on what I don't have. I'm going to dwell on what God says about me and God says I'm forgiven. God says He'll pay me back double for every unfair thing that has happened. God says my BEST days are still out in front of me. If you'll ignore the toxic thoughts and keep your mind filled with thoughts of faith, thoughts of victory, those toxic thoughts will get weaker and weaker and before long they won't have any affect on you.
Beatrice "Bea" Arthur (May 13,1922–April 25,2009)
I grew up watching the Golden Girls. I never get tired of the re-runs. I always find myself cracking up as if I was watching an episode for the first time. I always feel comforted when the I hear the opening song "Thank you for being a friend". This series is timeless.
Well I'm posting this video for those of you who have never heard about the Golden Girls. I just heard the sad news that Beatrice 'Bea' Arthur passed away yesterday. Bea, thank YOU for being a friend that touched so many people with the characters you portrayed on television. You will be terribly missed.
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Beatrice "Bea" Arthur (May 13, 1922 – April 25, 2009) was an American comedienne, actress, and singer. In a career spanning seven decades, Arthur achieved success as the title character, Maude Findlay, on the 1970s sitcom Maude, and as Dorothy Zbornak on the 1980s sitcom The Golden Girls; she won Emmys for both roles.
April 25, 2009
God Is In Control by Joel Osteen p. 3 of 3
This is the final 10 minute's of Pastor Joel Osteen's message titled, "God is in Control". This is such an amazing message! Enjoy!
God Is In Control by Joel Osteen p. 2 of 3
This is a 10 minute continuation of Pastor Joel Osteen's message titled, "God is in Control". This is such an amazing message. I have typed a transcript of ONLY 4 minutes of this message below for those of you who can not listen to this video or have to use Babel Fish to translate. If you have the time I recommend you listen to the remainder of this message. Enjoy!
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Here is the key - Everyday you live with faith and expectancy! That means you are one day closer to seeing it coming to pass! If it doesn't happen today, your attitude should be no big deal I know it will may tomorrow, if it doesn't happen tomorrow it may happen the next day. But whenever it does or doesn't happen it's NOT going to steal my JOY! I'm not going to live frustrated, I KNOW God is in control and the exact RIGHT TIME it's going to come to pass and in the meantime, I'm going to relax and just enjoy my life. You see you've got to BELIEVE God is in control. BELIEVE God is working behind the scenes in your life.
The scriptures says in I Thessolonians 2:13, God is effectually at work in those who BELIEVE. Notice His POWER is activated ONLY when we BELIEVE! God can work on your behalf your whole lifetime and you'll never really get the full benefit of it because you didn't BELIEVE. Sure you may get a break here or there. But when you really BELIEVE, when you get up every day expecting good things, you're going to see more of God's favor. You're going to see what He's been doing behind the scenes.
Even when we have problems, even when things come against us, we have to BELIEVE that God already has the answer. In other words, that problem is no surprise to God. That child that won't do right, that financial difficulty, being lonely. That doesn't have God baffled. God already has the answer. He knows the end from the beginning. God knows every trial we're ever going to face in the future. He knows every difficulty we're ever going to go through. The good news is God already has the solution. He has already made a way of escape. That tells me we don't have to live life worried. We don't have to go around all stressed out. God has it ALL under control. When we're tempted to get negative and go around complaining, no we need to just turn it around. Our attitude should be I KNOW God is working on this problem. I KNOW He is in the process of changing things, getting the right people lined up, softening the right hearts and I BELIEVE God is not only going to bring me out, but He's is going to bring me out better off than I was before.
When we have this kind of attitude, it takes all the pressure off of us. We can relax and enjoy our lives. We KNOW God is in control. We KNOW as long as we BELIEVE God is all the while working for our good. It's good to look back over your life and see the things that had to be God. I know a young lady that met her husband on the side of the road. She had a flat tire one day out here on the freeway during rush hour and he stop to help change it. They got to talking, they ended up dating and today they're happily married. Think about the chances of all that coming together. That had to be the hand of God. God was saying to that young lady, it's your due season, you've been faithful, you've passed the test. Now let me show you what I've been doing behind the scenes all these years. Had that young man move from another city, gave him the right job, had him coming down the freeway at the exact right time. ONLY God can orchestrate that. Let's learn to trust Him. Let's take the pressure off of ourselves and start BELIEVING that God is in control of our lives.
God is in Control by Joel Osteen p. 1 of 3
This is a 10 minute podcast of Pastor Joel Osteen's message titled, "God is in Control". I have typed a transcript of ONLY 4 minutes of this message below for those of you who can not listen to this video or have to use Babel Fish to translate. If you have the time I recommend you listen to the remainder of this message. Enjoy!
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I want to talk to you today about believing that God is in control of your life. Too many people go around worried and upset. They are always trying to figure everything out. How am I going to get out of this problem? How can I change my child? When am I ever going to get married? Why won't my dreams come to pass? Their mind is constantly going 90 miles per hour. But that is NOT the way God wants us to live. When we TRUST in Him. When we really believe that He is in control we are at REST. There is a PEACE deep down on the inside we know that everything is going to be alright.
Many times the reason we lose our peace, the reason we worry is because we don't see anything happening. Everything is looking the same month after month, year after year. But we have to understand God IS working behind the scenes in our lives. He has already pre-arranged a bright future for each one of us. If the curtain were pulled back to where you can see in this un-seen realm, you would see God fighting your battles for you. Getting everything arranged in your favor. You would see how God was going to open this door for you and bring this opportunity across your path and solve this other problem.
I'm convinced if we could really see how God is orchestrating everything behind the scenes we wouldn't worry. We wouldn't live stressed out anymore. The fact is we all have difficulties, we all have things in life that can steal our joy and steal our peace. But we have to learn to turn it over to God and say God I'm trusting you I believe that YOU are in control, even though I may not see anything happening, I believe that YOU are working in my life. I believe even right now that you are going before me making my crooked places straight. I believe that you are going to cause me to be at the right place at the right time. Some of you are living so uptight, trying to figure everything out, trying to solve every problem. But this would take off so much pressure off of you.
You would enjoy your life so much more if you could just learn to relinquish control and start really believing that God is really directing your steps. The scriptures says here in Phillipians 2:13 For it is God who is all the while at work in you. Notice God doesn't work sometimes and then go take a 2 or 3 year break and then come back and work a little more. God is constantly at work in your life. That means even right now. You may not be able to see it, but God is arranging things in your favor. He is getting the right people lined up to come to across your path. He is even looking years down the road and getting everything perfectly in order, lining up solutions to problems you haven't even had. He's already got the right spouse for you, the right spouse for your children. He's got the right opportunities, the right doors he is going to open. God is constantly working behind the scenes in our lives.
April 24, 2009
Happy Birthday Barbra Streisand!
Today is Barbra Streisand's BIRTHDAY!
For those of you who don't know... I am a HUGE Barbra Streisand fan! For others like me, she will be performing LIVE in Concert on CBS tomorrow night, Saturday at 8pm. Click HERE to be directed to the CBS Streisand webpage. This is a great video compilation created by BarbraWay to Barbra's song titled, "You'll Never Know" on DailyMotion!
Barbra Streisand's NEW DVD release!!!
April 23, 2009
President Obama Signed H.R. 1388 - The Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education (GIVE) Act Into LAW!
Obama law ties public service to college aid
written by Ann Sanner, Associated Press
Wednesday, April 22, 2009 04:00 PDT Washington
A president who credits community service with giving him direction in life opened that opportunity to tens of thousands more Americans on Tuesday.
President Obama signed a $5.7 billion national service bill that triples the size of the AmeriCorps service program over the next eight years and expands ways for students to earn money for college by helping those in their neighborhoods.
"What this legislation does, then, is to help harness this patriotism and connect deeds to needs," said Obama, a former community organizer in Chicago.
"It creates opportunities to serve for students, seniors and everyone in between," he said. "And it is just the beginning of a sustained, collaborative and focused effort to involve our greatest resource - our citizens - in the work of remaking this nation."
Joining Obama was Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., who has been battling brain cancer. Kennedy championed the legislation with Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah.
Kennedy told the audience that included former President Bill Clinton, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former first lady Rosalynn Carter that Obama's efforts echoed those of his late brother, President John F. Kennedy.
"Today, another young president has challenged another generation to give back to their nation," Kennedy said, citing his brother's advocacy for the Peace Corps.
The service law expands ways for students and seniors to earn money for college through their volunteer work. It aims to foster and fulfill people's desire to make a difference, such as by mentoring children, cleaning up parks or buildings and weatherizing homes for the poor.
"I'm asking you to help change history's course, put your shoulder up against the wheel," Obama said. "And if you do, I promise you your life will be richer, our country will be stronger, and someday, years from now, you may remember it as the moment when your own story and the American story converged, when they came together, and we met the challenges of our new century."
Afterward, Obama and first lady Michelle Obama joined Clinton to plant trees at a national park site along the Anacostia River in northeast Washington.
