The Path Towards Wholeness: This Is What It Means To Be CENTERED And CONNECTED To Your Source

The Path Toward Wholeness

[source: Osho International]

To do a miracle is great, but not great enough. To do a miracle is still to be in the world of the ego. A real greatness is so ordinary that it claims nothing; it is so ordinary that it never tries to prove anything.

Wherever you are, become more centered, become more alert, live more consciously. There is nowhere else to go. Everything that has to happen, has to happen within you, and it is in your hands. You are not a puppet, and your strings are not in anybody else's hands. You are an absolutely free individual. If you decide to remain in illusions, you can remain so for many, many lives. If you decide to get out, a single moment's decision is enough. You can be out of ALL illusions this very moment.

Either you make your energy creative, or it will turn sour and become destructive. Energy is a dangerous thing -- if you have it, you have to use it creatively, otherwise sooner or later you will find it has become destructive. So find something -- whatsoever you like -- to put your energy into. If you want, painting; or if you want, dancing or singing; or if you want to play an instrument, even writing.... Whatsoever you want, find a way in which you can become completely lost. If you can be lost playing a guitar -- good! In those moments when you are lost, your energy will be released in a creative way.

If you cannot be lost in painting, in singing, in dancing, in playing guitar or a flute, in writing, then you will find lower ways of being lost: anger, rage, aggression; these are lower ways to be lost.

When there is no past, when there is no future, only then is there peace. Future means aspirations, achievement, goal, ambition, desire. You cannot be here now, you are always rushing for something, somewhere else. One has to be utterly present to the present, then there is peace. And out of that is renewal of life, because life knows only one time, and that is the present.

The past is death; the future is just a projection of the dead past. What can you think about the future? You think in terms of the past, that's what you know, and you project it--of course in a better way. It is more beautiful, decorated; all the pains have been dropped and only the pleasures have been chosen, but it is the past.

The past is not, the future is not, only the present is. To be in the present is to be ALIVE, optimum -- and that is renewal.

No man is an island, we are all part of a vast continent. There is variety, but that does not make us separate. Variety makes life richer -- part of us is in the Himalayas, a part of us is in the stars, a part of us is in the roses. A part of us is in the bird on the wing, a part of us is in the green of the trees. We are spread all over. To experience it as reality will transform your whole approach towards life, will transform your every act, will transform your very being.

Logic is like a pair of scissors: it cuts, it makes things divided. Mind is a kind of prism -- pass a ray of white light through it and immediately it is divided into seven colors. Pass anything through the mind and it becomes dual. Life and death are not life-and-death, the reality is lifedeath. It should be one word, not two; not even a hyphen in between. Lifedeath is one phenomenon. Lovehate is one phenomenon. Darknesslight is one phenomenon. Negativepositive is one phenomenon. But when you pass this one phenomenon through the mind, the one is divided immediately in two. Lifedeath becomes life and death -- not only divided but death becomes antagonistic to life. They are enemies. Now you can go on trying to make these two meet, and they will never meet.

Kipling is right--"East is East and West is West and never the twain shall meet." Logically, it is true. How can the East meet the West? How can the West meet the East? But existentially it is utter nonsense. They are meeting everywhere.

For example, you are sitting in India. Is it East or is it West? If you are comparing it with London, it is East; but if you are comparing it with Tokyo, it is West. What exactly is it, East or West? At each point East and West are meeting, and Kipling says, "Never the twain shall meet."

The twain are meeting everywhere. No single point is such that East and West are not meeting and no single man is such that East and West are not meeting. It cannot be otherwise; they have to meet -- it is one reality, one sky.

Experiencing The Joy Of Non-Attachment

Detachment
Hakuin and the infant child
[source: Osho International]

Go on feeling something in you that is the same no matter what happens on the periphery. When someone is insulting you, focus yourself to the point where you are just listening to him--not doing anything, not reacting, just listening. He is insulting you. And then someone is praising you--just listen. Insult-praise, honor-dishonor, just listen. Your periphery will get disturbed. Look at that also, don't try to change it. Look at it; remain deep in your center, looking from there. You will have a detachment which is not forced, which is spontaneous, which is natural. And once you have the feeling of the natural detachment, nothing can disturb you.

In a village where the great Zen master Hakuin was living, a girl became pregnant. Her father bullied her for the name of her lover and, in the end, to escape punishment she told him it was Hakuin. The father said no more, but when the time came and the child was born, he at once took the baby to Hakuin and threw it down. "It seems that this is your child," he said, and he piled on every insult and sneer at the disgrace of the affair.

Hakuin only said, "Oh, is that so?" and took the baby in his arms. Wherever he went thereafter, he took the baby, wrapped in the sleeve of his ragged robe. During rainy days and stormy nights he would go out to beg milk from the neighboring houses. Many of his disciples, considering him fallen, turned against him and left. And Hakuin said not a word.

Meantime, the mother found she could not bear the agony of separation from her child. She confessed the name of the real father, and her own father rushed to Hakuin and prostrated himself, begging over and over for forgiveness. Hakuin said only, "Oh, is that so?" and gave him the child back.

For the ordinary man what others say matters too much, because he has nothing of his own. Whatever he thinks he is, is just a collection of opinions of other people. Somebody has said, "You are beautiful," somebody has said, "You are intelligent," and he has been collecting all these. Hence he's always afraid: he should not behave in such a way that he loses his reputation, respectability. He is always afraid of public opinion, what people will say, because all that he knows about himself is what people have said about him. If they take it back, they leave him naked. Then he does not know who he is, ugly, beautiful, intelligent, unintelligent. He has no idea, even vaguely, of his own being; he depends on others.

But the man of meditation has no need of others' opinions. He knows himself, so it does not matter what others say. Even if the whole world says something that goes against his own experience, he will simply laugh. At the most, that can be the only response. But he is not going to take any step to change people's opinion. Who are they? They don't know themselves and they are trying to label him. He will reject labeling. He will simply say, "Whatever I am, I am, and this is the way I am going to be."

U.S. Memorial Day 2011 In Honor Of Our Soldiers Who Gave Their Lives To Defend FREEDOM! GlobalAwareness101 Thanks Our Soldiers For Their Service! ♥

7 Famous Quotes by Kahlil Gibran

Khalil Gibran (January 6, 1883 – April 10, 1931) was a Lebanese American artist, poet, and writer. Born in the town of Bsharri in modern-day Lebanon (then part of Ottoman Syria), as a young man he emigrated with his family to the United States where he studied art and began his literary career. He is chiefly known for his 1923 book The Prophet, a series of philosophical essays written in English prose. An early example of inspirational literature, the book sold well despite a cool critical reception, and became extremely popular in 1960s counterculture. [source: wikipedia]

7 Famous Quotes by Kahlil Gibran

1. Beauty is eternity gazing at itself in a mirror.
   
   
2. Advance, and never halt, for advancing is perfection. Advance and do not fear the thorns in the path, for they draw only corrupt blood.
   
   
3. And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.
   
   
4. Progress lies not in enhancing what is, but in advancing toward what will be.
   
   
5. I prefer to be a dreamer among the humblest, with visions to be realized, than lord among those without dreams and desires.
   
   
6. In the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures. For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.
   
   
7. If you love somebody, let them go, for if they return, they were always yours. And if they don't, they never were.

BONUS

Life without liberty is like a body without spirit.

BONUS BONUS

Knowledge of the self is the mother of all knowledge. So it is incumbent on me to know my self, to know it completely, to know its minutiae, its characteristics, its subtleties, and its very atoms.

Will YOU Finish Strong?

Nick Vujicic has been such an inspiration for me. The world may view him as dis-abled. However, he is more ABLE bodied than most human beings that are supposedly considered able bodied. Please visit his website LifeWithoutLimbs to learn more about his major contributions to the world community.

Be Thankful

Be thankful that you don't already have everything you desire.
If you did, what would there be to look forward to?
Be thankful when you don't know something,
for it gives you the opportunity to learn.

Be thankful for the difficult times.
During those times you grow.
Be thankful for your limitations,
because they give you opportunities for improvement.
Be thankful for each new challenge,
because it will build your strength and character.

Be thankful when you learn from your mistakes. They will teach you valuable lessons.
Be thankful when you're tired and weary,
because it means you've made a difference.

It's easy to be thankful for the good things.
A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who
are also thankful for the setbacks.
Gratitude can turn a negative into a positive.
Find a way to be thankful for your troubles,
and they can become your blessings.

Happy Friday Everybody!!! :)

Mexico Drug Gang Fighting Sets Off Exodus! Almost 2,000 People Have Fled Their Homes In Michoacan!

France24 news

Mexico drug gang fighting sets off exodus: mayor

written by AFP staff

Thursday May 26, 2011

Almost 2,000 people have fled their homes in Mexico's western state of Michoacan due to fighting between local drug gangs and with security forces, a local mayor told AFP Thursday.

Some 1,870 inhabitants of five villages near Buenavista municipality have left their homes since the fighting started four days ago, Buenavista mayor Osvaldo Esquivel Lucatero told AFP by telephone.

The army sent in helicopters to the isolated areas of the western state, where locals reported loud explosions.

"There's now a strong presence of soldiers and marines in the area," a military spokesman said Thursday, on condition of anonymity.

Despite the intensity of the fighting, only one corpse, of an alleged drug gang hitman, has been recovered, along with six guns. Local newspapers reported at least three dead, however.

Authorities set up a refuge for the families in Buenavista, in at least the second exodus due to drug violence in less than a year, after several hundred people fled their homes in Ciudad Mier, northeast Mexico, last November.

The La Familia drug gang dominates Michoacan, but it was unclear whether the clashes were due to infighting within the gang or with other groups, such as the Zetas, which are expanding across Mexico.

Meanwhile, the toll from a major drug gang clash on a highway Wednesday in Nayarit, a Pacific state some 300 miles (500 kilometers) north, rose by one to 29, according to authorities Thursday.

Mexico has seen an explosion in drug-related violence which has left some 37,000 dead, according to media reports, since the government launched a military crackdown on organized crime in 2006.

The US Senate Approves Extension Of The Patriot Act!!! >:/ The Bill Is Now Being RUSHED Through Congress And Will Be FLOWN To Europe For Pres Obama To Sign!

The Hill

Senate OKs extension of Patriot Act

written by Josiah Ryan

Thursday May 26, 2011

The Senate approved a four-year extension of the Patriot Act 72-23 Thursday with strong bipartisan support after a week of contentious debate.

The bill is now being rushed across the Capitol to the House where Republican leadership will attempt to pass it and have it flown to President Obama in Europe before it expires at midnight — an event which some say would cause a dangerous disruption to law enforcement's fight against terrorism.

The road to passage for the bill in the Senate was a treacherous one as a small but vocal contingent of senators from both parties insisted that the legislation be afforded greater consideration, and that a series of amendments opposed by leadership see a floor vote.

"It took me three days of sitting down here filibustering but I am going to get two amendment votes," said Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Thursday afternoon shortly after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) signaled an agreement had finally been struck. "I am very happy and pleased that we came together to get these but I wish we would do more. I wish there were a week's worth of debate."

Prior to the passage of the bill, the Senate overwhelmingly voted to table both of Paul's amendments, one of which would have clarified that the authority to obtain information under the Patriot Act does not pertain to firearms records. The other would have limited the federal government's ability to view individuals' bank records.

Initially, Senate leadership refused to give Paul a vote on his amendments. He in turn threatened to cause the law to lapse seven hours past its expiration date by objecting to any abbreviation of Senate rules that would have demanded, in total, 60-hours of debate on the bill.

The debate on the bill was harsh at times, and tempers flared.

"He is fighting for an amendment to protect the right — not of average citizens, but of terrorists — to cover up their gun purchases," Reid said angrily from the floor on Wednesday.

Paul swiftly responded to Reid's remarks and seemed stunned at the majority leader's accusation.

"I rise to respond to a scurrilous accusation," Paul said. "I have been accused of wanting terrorists to have weapons to attack America."

"That is offensive,”"Paul said. "I find it personally insulting and I think it demeans the body. It demeans the Senate body and the American people."

The Patriot Act renewal legislation would extend the ability of U.S. intelligence authorities to conduct roving wiretaps, gain access to business records and survey "lone-wolf" operators, non-U.S citizens believed to be acting alone to commit terrorist acts.

"Today's extension of the Patriot Act means that our intelligence community, military and law enforcement professionals will continue to have the tools they need to safeguard us from future attacks," McConnell said in a statement. "The invaluable terror-fighting tools under the Patriot Act have kept us safe for nearly a decade, and Americans today should be relieved and reassured to know that these programs will continue."

Obama's G-8 Focus: Saving Vulnerable Economies! UGGGHHH! What About Our Own!

CBS Political Hotsheet

Obama's G-8 focus: Saving vulnerable economies

written by Chip Reid

Thursday May 26, 2011

DEAUVILLE, FRANCE - Last year's G-8 summit focused on digging out of the deepest global economic downturn since the 1930s. This year with a halting economic recovery underway, the G-8 is working on a hodge-podge of issues - from Libya, to missile defense, to keeping the recovery going.

But President Obama is putting a lot of his focus on an issue that didn't even exist last year -- saving the economies of Egypt and Tunisia before their transitions to democracy unravel.

As at past summits, the other leaders all seem to gravitate toward President Obama. A group of locals behind a fence in this heavily fortified resort city went wild when they saw him walking down the street with Russian President Medvedev and French President Sarkozy. Those two stood to the side while President Obama shook dozens of hands, beaming that big smile, and repeating "bonjour!" and "merci!" He's using that clout as "Most Popular Leader" to lobby other leaders to join him in putting together an aid package for Egypt and Tunisia.

He set the stage last Thursday in his speech at the State Department on the Arab Spring: "(W)e do not want a democratic Egypt to be saddled by the debts of its past," the president said. "So we will relieve a democratic Egypt of up to $1 billion in debt." He also proposed a billion dollar in loan guarantees for job creating infrastructure projects. The goal, he said, is to "help them recover from the disruptions of their democratic upheaval."

That upheaval and the joyous celebrations that followed obscured an essential fact of bloody uprisings: they send tourists and foreign investors scurrying to safer places. And in Egypt and Tunisia they have yet to return. Now, with unemployment soaring, anger is mounting in both countries. And if their economies falter, the White House believes it's unlikely their nascent democracy movements can survive.

Shortly after the Arab Spring uprisings began, the National Security Council began compiling extensive research on the history of such protest movements, including those in Eastern Europe. They concluded that an essential element of success is a strong, or at least workable, economy. The President hopes a financial infusion from the international community - including billions from the IMF and other development banks -- will give Egypt and Tunisia a fighting chance.

But it's not just about those two nations. The White House says helping them will also send a signal to other nations in the region with fledgling democracy movements. As White House spokesman Ben Rhodes put it today at a briefing in Deauville:

"(I)t's a program of support for Egypt and Tunisia, but it's also a message to the broader region that 'democracy delivers' -- and if you pursue that path, there's going to be support on the other end."

Top Rwanda Genocide Suspect Bernard Munyagishari Seized In Congo! WooHoo!

Reuters news

Top Rwanda genocide suspect seized in Congo: UN court

written by George Obulutsa

Thursday May 26, 2011

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo have arrested one of the masterminds of Rwanda's 1994 genocide, a United Nations court handling their cases said on Wednesday.

The Tanzania-based International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) said Bernard Munyagishari, a former Hutu militia leader, was wanted on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity, including rape.

"The ICTR Prosecutor, Justice Hassan Bubacar Jallow, announced today the arrest in the DRC of ICTR fugitive Bernard Munyagishari (52), former President of the Interahamwe for Gisenyi, who was arrested in ... Kachanga, North Kivu," the court said in a statement.

Ethnic Hutu militia and soldiers butchered 800,000 minority Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus over 100 days between April and June 1994.

Munyagishari, born in 1959 in Rubavu commune in Gisenyi prefecture, was among those who featured in the U.S. State Department's Rewards for Justice programme, with a reward of up to $5 million for his capture.

The court said he was arrested in an operation involving the Congolese army and the ICTR's tracking unit and was in detention in Goma awaiting transfer to the court in Arusha, Tanzania.

"The Prosecutor hailed the DRC authorities for their cooperation in executing the warrant of arrest despite the hurdles encountered in tracking down the fugitive in difficult terrain," it said.

"The accused is alleged to have recruited, trained and led Interahamwe militiamen in mass killings and rapes of Tutsi women in Gisenyi and beyond, between April and July 1994."

The ICTR said that after his arrest, nine of those it says were most responsible for the slaughter were still at large.

Since its establishment in late 1994, the court has delivered 46 judgements of which eight were acquittals. Another nine cases are on appeal.

Genocide in Darfur

Genocide in Darfur

[source: United Human Rights Council]

Darfur is a region in Sudan the size of France. It is home to about 6 million people from nearly 100 tribes. Some nomads. Some farmers. All Muslims. In 1989, General Omar Bashir took control of Sudan by military coup, which then allowed The National Islamic Front government to inflame regional tensions. In a struggle for political control of the area, weapons poured into Darfur. Conflicts increased between African farmers and many nomadic Arab tribes.

In 2003, two Darfuri rebel movements- the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM)- took up arms against the Sudanese government, complaining about the marginalization of the area and the failure to protect sedentary people from attacks by nomads. The government of Sudan responded by unleashing Arab militias known as Janjaweed, or “devils on horseback”. Sudanese forces and Janjaweed militia attacked hundreds of villages throughout Darfur. Over 400 villages were completely destroyed and millions of civilians were forced to flee their homes.

In the ongoing genocide, African farmers and others in Darfur are being systematically displaced and murdered at the hands of the Janjaweed. The genocide in Darfur has claimed 400,000 lives and displaced over 2,500,000 people. More than one hundred people continue to die each day; five thousand die every month. The Sudanese government disputes these estimates and denies any connection with the Janjaweed.

The Sudanese government appears unwilling to address the human rights crisis in the region and has not taken the necessary steps to restrict the activities of the Janjaweed. In June 2005, the International Criminal Court (ICC) took the first step in ending impunity in Darfur by launching investigations into human rights violations in Darfur. However, the government of Sudan refused to cooperate with the investigations.

On March 4, 2009 Sudanese President Omar al Bashir, became the first sitting president to be indicted by ICC for directing a campaign of mass killing, rape, and pillage against civilians in Darfur. The arrest warrant for Bashir follows arrest warrants issued by the ICC for former Sudanese Minister of State for the Interior Ahmad Harun and Janjaweed militia leader Ali Kushayb. The government of Sudan has not surrendered either suspect to the ICC.

Darfuris today continue to suffer and the innumerable problems facing Sudan cannot be resolved until peace is secured in Darfur. According to UN estimates, 2.7 million Darfuris remain in internally displaced persons camps and over 4.7 million Darfuris rely on humanitarian aid. Resolving the Darfur conflict is critical not just for the people of Darfur, but also for the future of Sudan and the stability of the entire region.

After Abyei Invasion, US Makes Threats!

President Obama is so naive or perhaps I should say stupid to think he could have trusted Omar al-Bashir to cooperate! Sudan's Omar al-Bashir committed GENOCIDE on 400,000 African natives in Darfur who refused to submit to Islam. He committed ETHNIC CLEANSING!

Al-Bashir is already wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of genocide in Darfur and is banned from traveling to countries that have signed the treaty establishing the court. His country is designated as a state sponsor of terror. [AFP 5/26/11]

President Obama proudly declared a few months back that he was going to REMOVE Sudan as a state sponsor of terrorism and REWARD Sudan with a debt relief of $38 billion. Anyone with a half a brain would know that there is NO NEGOTIATING with a brutal dictator and a radical Islamic one at that!

********************************************************

Global Post

After Abyei invasion, US makes threats

written by Tristan McConnell

Tuesday May 24, 2011

Special envoy Princeton Lyman said Khartoum's occupation of the disputed border town of Abyei put in jeopardy debt relief and Sudan's removal from terrorist list.

Princeton Lyman, President Obama’s special envoy on Sudan has been speaking about the U.S. position following Khartoum’s occupation of the disputed town of Abyei at the weekend.

In a press briefing in Washington he said the U.S. might withhold its support for debt relief worth $38 billion and reconsider plans to remove Sudan from its list of State Sponsors of Terrorism as a result of the invasion.

“Our ability to move towards normalization [of relations] is going to be complicated,” he said.

“[The northern army] basically invaded Abyei and they have now taken over most of Abyei,” Lyman said.

He also offered a little insight into the parlous nature of north-south relations revealing that presidents Omar al-Bashir and Salva Kiir, “have not been meeting recently and so far have not been in direct touch” about the latest conflagration in Abyei.

Lyman stressed that Abyei must be “negotiated rather than occupied”.

But there was little sign of this on Tuesday. Khartoum’s defence minister Abdulrahim Mohammed Hussein said, “Abyei will remain a northern town until the population decides on their situation by themselves.”

But the UN saying most of the southern population having already fled the town, leaving Abyei almost solely occupied by northern-aligned communities, such comments are clearly disingenuous.

Hungry And Scared: Sudan Villagers Flee Abyei

AFP news

Hungry and scared: Sudan villagers flee Abyei

written by Staff

Thursday May 26, 2011

MAYEN ABOM, Sudan (AP) — The first group of women and children crept out of the bush just as Sunday Mass was finishing at the small brick church. Feet were swollen from days of walking. Some collapsed from hunger and thirst.

Over the next four days, many other displaced people have followed their footsteps to the grass-hut town of Mayen Abom, a two-day walk from the outer edge of the contested Abyei region. Abyei, a zone about the size of Connecticut that lies between north and south Sudan, ignited in conflict a week ago and many fear it could escalate into a new civil war. Some families were split up while fleeing and some were killed in the north's attack.

Southern Sudan officials and U.S. activists say the government of President Omar al-Bashir is moving thousands of Arab herdsmen south — backed by Sudanese army troops — into Abyei to lay claim to the land before Southern Sudan declares independence on July 9. Southern Sudan President Salva Kiir said Thursday the south would get Abyei back, but that it could take more than a year to do so.

Abyei, which has pockets of oil and abundant grass for northern tribesmen's cattle, has long been the major source of friction between north and south.

Three years ago, hundreds of families arrived in Mayen Abom after northern troops attacked Abyei. When the Rev. Emmanuel Malau heard that northern troops had again invaded Abyei last weekend, he knew villagers were heading his way. Up to 30,000 have fled.

"Sunday was like a funeral mass," he said, as the villagers talked over the looting and burning of their kinsmen's homes to the north. "People arrived very hungry and thirsty. Some collapsed totally."

After Mass, Malau drove slowly along the main road, calling for the fearful to come out. More than 300 children did, and his small church is now a shelter bursting full of people, many of them women and children, who have abandoned their homes and fear for their futures.

Abyei is sometimes referred to as the country's Jerusalem because of its symbolic status and the deeply emotional debate over its control. Both Sudan's north and south claim it as their own.

It was the scene of numerous massacres during the 1983-2005 civil war — atrocities that galvanized the southern-affiliated Ngok Dinka inhabitants to fight their way to prominent positions in the rebel movement that now is Southern Sudan's government.

"It's acquired symbolic importance. It's a place where both countries can vent their frustration at each other," said analyst and author Eddie Thomas. "Of course, that's a very bad thing for the population of Abyei."

One of Abyei's most powerful sons is Luka Biong Deng, who was Sudan's minister of cabinet affairs until he quit his post this week to protest the northern tanks rolling into his homeland.

"The looting, the burning, it is exactly like they were doing in Darfur," he said. "They are sending the army against the poor people."

Deng said he has fond memories of growing up with the Misseriya. But among many in Abyei, those ties are fraying. Some Misseriya have reformed their tribal militia and are occupying Abyei town alongside the northern army, he said. A Misseriya leader says his people are only responding to southern aggression.

"Six months ago, the southerners forced all Arabs to leave their houses in Abyei. All left. They were forced to leave. They storm the houses of the Arabs and tell them, 'Either leave or you will be killed,'" said Mukhtar Babou Nimir, a Misseriya tribal chief.

Kiir, the south's president, said he will not send his forces to retake Abyei, but he promised that the land would end up in southern hands eventually. Nimir feels equally strongly that Abyei will stay in the hands of his northern tribesmen.

"We felt as if our Abyei was lost and returned to us just like when you lose a child and you find it," he said. "Now if southerners return, we will resist and will not leave. We don't want to feel like we are refugees."

Lazaro Sumbeiywo, a retired Kenyan general who helped mediate the north-south peace deal that ended the civil war that killed 2 million people, said the current conflict came about because Abyei did not have a referendum on its own future in January, though the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement stipulated it should.

"If the two parties do not agree, Abyei should be left to be independent," Sumbeiywo said. "In the current state it is poor because the oil has not been explored but if it is explored it can be independent."

Kiir has at least two reasons to refrain from immediate military action to retake Abyei: It could scuttle the peace deal that promised the south its January independence vote and subsequent July 9 separation. And the north has military might that the south does not.

"The north has substantial military assets," noted Lauren Gelfand, the Africa and Middle East editor of Jane's Defence Weekly. "The south has just begun to evolve from a guerrilla army to a state force."

Satellite photos of Abyei show that the northern army is prepared to intensify military operations there and along the contested north-south border, where most of the south's oil lies, said activist John Prendergast of the Enough Project. He accused Khartoum-based Sudanese government of trying to intimidate the south at the negotiating table over border demarcation and the sharing of oil revenues — issues which must still be negotiated following the south's decision in January to secede from Africa's largest country.

Sudan is the third-largest oil producer in Africa, and geologists hope that unexplored territory cut off by the war might hold more deposits. Author and Sudan expert Douglas Johnson said that if the north tries to occupy other border areas near oil fields that it would inflame violence, giving the south justification to make alliances with rebel groups in the western Sudan region of Darfur.

Al-Bashir is already wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of genocide in Darfur and is banned from traveling to countries that have signed the treaty establishing the court. His country is designated as a state sponsor of terror. The U.S. had held out the prospect of normalizing relations and opening talks on debt relief but on Wednesday al-Bashir rejected the overtures, accusing the U.S. of favoring the south.

Many of the new arrivals in Mayen Abom are distraught over missing and dead family members. One 9-year-old girl the priest rescued began screaming at the mention of her missing mother. Thirteen-year-old Ring Akuem had run into the bush when he heard gunfire and walked through the night, arriving in Mayen Abom ravenous with hunger.

"I heard my parents are in a nearby village," Akuem, his dull gaze momentarily brightening, told a reporter.

Nya Piew Arop was at home with her father, husband and five children in a village near Abyei town when she heard the first explosions. As the family fled, they got separated. Arop and her husband later reunited, but her father was killed by the military attack. Her children scattered.

"I don't know who is alive and who is dead," she said.

As darkness creeps over Mayan Abom, families cram inside the church. Malau said services are being held outside for now, under the shade of a giant mahogany tree.

Most of the people, he said, pray to go home.

War Crimes Fugitive Serbian Warlord Ratko Mladic Arrested This Morning! WooHoo! Next Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir Who Was ALSO INDICTED For War Crimes And Crimes Against Humanity!

The Mirror UK

Serbian warlord Mladic arrested

written by Staff

Thursday May 26, 2011

Serbian warlord Ratko Mladic, who is accused of ordering the genocidal massacre of 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys, has been arrested after 16 years on the run.

David Cameron hailed the arrest, warning that it should serve as a lesson to the likes of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

The Prime Minister said the capture of Mladic, who now faces trial at The Hague for crimes including the massacre at Srebrenica, was "excellent news".

The arrest came in an early-morning raid by Serbian security forces on a relative's home in a village 60 miles north-east of capital Belgrade.

Mr Cameron broke off from the G8 summit in France to tell reporters: "This is excellent news because we have to remember this man stands accused of some absolutely horrific crimes.

"People should recognise that it's right that international law has a very long reach and a very long memory, and this should send a signal to all war criminals everywhere. In the end, we will get you."

Mladic was commander of the Bosnian Serb army during the war of 1992-95 and is accused of ordering the bombardment of civilians in Sarajevo and personally leading the Srebrenica massacre.

He was indicted for war crimes including genocide in 1995 and became Europe's most wanted fugitive following the 2008 arrest of Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, who is currently awaiting trial before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).

Mladic remains in custody in Serbia awaiting extradition to The Hague, a process which is expected to take a week.

His arrest was announced by Serbian president Boris Tadic just hours before the arrival in Belgrade of European Union foreign policy chief Baroness Ashton to discuss his country's application for membership of the EU.

Congress: Arrest Mr. Obama

On May 18, 2010 at 5pm a jury of 12 American citizens handed down a verdict against Mr. Barack Obama, Mr. Michael Sovereign and the trustees of Columbia University, finding them GUILTY of ALL 17 counts in the indictment. The indictment covered the charges of sedition, conspiracy, mail and wire fraud to name just a few. Mr. Barack Obama never attended Columbia University.

The C.I.A. Columbia, Obama Sedition and Treason Trial Transcript. Please click HERE to view the trial transcript.

This historic document is the eternal fruit of the labor and sacrifice of some of America’s greatest patriots.

This transcript contains the unabridged truth spoken and witnessed by fellow Americans who did so with their lives and liberties under the threat of death.

You will find contained herein a clear portrait of the most insidious, mysterious and feared man in the history of our Republic.

Please use and view this document as a declaration of liberty from the failure of our government to protect and defend the people called Americans, and the hallowed words of the U.S. Constitution.

God anoint and save this document.

God save and bless America.

In His Royal Service,

Dr. James David Manning

Obama Birth Certificate a Forensic Fraud - Washington Times

If the long form "Certificate of Live Birth" that President Obama released on April 27, 2011 was not a fraudulent document, why did the White House take down that original release from the White House website on April 29, 2011 after all of the obvious forgery was exposed?!?!

Computer didn't exist when President Obama was born in 1961. Everybody on this planet used typewriters. More proof this document was forged. No two letters can be identical when using a typewriter.

Obama "Certificate of Live Birth" 4/27/11 Adobe Illustrator Proves Fraudulent Multiple Layers, OCR, No Optimizing Explained Simply For The Novice User! There's No Denying This Is A Fraud

I would also like to point out that President Obama's latest long form certificate of live birth says his father was from Kenya, East Africa on BHO's birth year of 1961. But Kenya did not exist until December 12, 1963 when this country claimed independence from the United Kingdom. The Republic of Kenya was declared one year later in 1964.

"The Colony and Protectorate of Kenya was part of the British Empire in Africa. It was established when the former East Africa Protectorate was transformed into a British crown colony in 1920. Technically, the "Colony of Kenya" referred to the interior lands, while a ten-mile coastal strip (ostensibly on lease from the Sultan of Zanzibar) was the "Protectorate of Kenya" but the two were controlled as a single administrative unit.

The colony came to an end in 1963 when independence was agreed with the British. After independence the former colony became known as Kenya." [source: wikipedia]

Computer Errors Let An Estimated 450 Violent California Prisoners Go Free!!! UNBELIEVABLE!!! YOU SUCK GOVERNOR BROWN! >:/

The Los Angeles Times

Computer errors let violent California prisoners go free

written by Jack Dolan

Wednesday May 25, 2011 at 6:47pm PST

The revelations come two days after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that California's prisons are dangerously overcrowded and upheld an earlier order that state officials find a way to reduce the 143,335-inmate population by roughly 33,000. (EPA)

Reporting from Sacramento -- Computer errors prompted California prison officials to mistakenly release an estimated 450 inmates with "a high risk for violence" as unsupervised parolees in a program meant to ease overcrowding, according to the state's inspector general.

More than 1,000 additional prisoners presenting a high risk of committing drug crimes, property crimes and other offenses were also let out, officials said.

No attempt was made to return any of the offenders to state lockups or place them on supervised parole, said inspector general spokeswoman Renee Hansen.

All of the prisoners were placed on "non-revocable parole," whose participants are not required to report to parole officers and can be sent back to prison only if caught committing a crime. The program was started in January 2010 for inmates judged to be at very low risk of reoffending, leaving parole agents free to focus on supervising higher-risk parolees.

The revelations come two days after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that California's prisons are dangerously overcrowded and upheld an earlier order that state officials find a way to reduce the 143,335-inmate population by roughly 33,000. The state has two years to comply.

State Sen. Ted Lieu (D-Torrance), a former prosecutor who requested an investigation of the unsupervised-parole program, said the inspector general's report "confirms my worst fears" about it.

Investigators reviewed case files for 200 of the 10,134 former inmates who were on non-revocable parole in July of last year. They found that 31 were not eligible, and nine of those were determined likely to commit violent crimes. The inspector general and corrections officials refused to identify the inmates who were released erroneously. They also would not specify what their original offenses had been.

Using the 15% error rate they found in their sample, investigators estimated that more than 450 violent inmates had been released during the first seven months of the program, the time period they reviewed. Prison officials have disputed the findings, saying they had corrected some of the computer problems discovered by the inspector general. The error rate is now 8%, the inspector general report says.

Gov. Jerry Brown's plan to address overcrowding would shift tens of thousands of low-level offenders from prison to county custody. Counties would also supervise most low-risk parolees, like those in the non-revocable program.

But if the state can't properly identify which inmates qualify for an unsupervised parole program, Lieu said on Wednesday, "how can the public have confidence they can release 33,000 felons safely?"

Under the law that created non-revocable parole, inmates are excluded if they are gang members, have committed sex crimes or violent felonies or have been determined to pose a high risk to reoffend based on an assessment of their records behind bars.

That's where the problems begin, according to the inspector general. The computer program prison officials used to make that assessment does not access an inmate's disciplinary history.

The program also relies on a state Department of Justice system that records arrests but is missing conviction information for nearly half of the state's 16.4 million arrest records, according to the inspector general report.

Lee Seale, a deputy chief of staff for the California prisons, acknowledged that the corrections department's computer system can't access an inmate's disciplinary record. But that information is reviewed manually by a member of his staff before prisoners are released, said spokesman Luis Patino.

Seale agreed that the missing conviction information from the Department of Justice database is a problem. "That presents a serious issue for the entire criminal justice system, every judge, every probation officer, every cop on the street trying to decide whether to arrest someone," Seale said.

In July, a parolee named Javier Joseph Rueda, who had been classified a low-level offender and placed in the non-revocable program, opened fire on two Los Angeles police officers, hitting one in the arm. The police returned fire, killing Rueda.

Prison spokesman Oscar Hidalgo said Rueda had been properly classified. At the time, Hidalgo pointed out that the attack could have taken place even if Rueda had been checking in periodically with a parole agent.

"Supervised parole is not incarceration," Hidalgo said.

Deadly Tornadoes Continue To Plague Midwest! The Storm Season's Death Toll Nears 500 In The South And Midwest.

The Los Angeles Times

Deadly tornadoes continue to plague Midwest

written by Stephen Ceasar, Nicholas Riccardi and Michael Muskal

Wednesday May 25, 2011

Tornadoes hit Oklahoma and Arkansas, resulting in 14 deaths and hampering cleanup and rescue efforts. Severe storms are brewing over eastern Kansas and are expected to roll across Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky. The storm season's death toll nears 500 in the South and Midwest.

Reporting from Joplin, Mo. and Los Angeles— Tornadoes roared through the Midwest on Wednesday, further spreading death and damage and threatening rescue and cleanup efforts in some already hard-hit areas.

At least 14 deaths have been reported in recent days in Oklahoma and Arkansas, and the death toll in Joplin, Mo., stood at about 122 from the single deadliest tornado since the National Weather Service began keeping records in 1950.

Severe storms began brewing Wednesday afternoon over eastern Kansas and were expected to roll across Missouri, southern Illinois, southern Indiana and Kentucky, said Greg Carbin, a meteorologist with the National Storm Prediction Center. Joplin is expected to be spared the brunt of the storms but should receive some heavy showers throughout the day, Carbin said.

At least two weak tornadoes were reported on Wednesday near Kansas City, Mo., according to the National Weather Service. Illinois and Indiana were under tornado watches. As the storm plows through the midsection of the nation, tornadoes are possible from Ohio to Tennessee, officials said.

A tornado was reported south of Chicago and hundreds of flights delayed at O'Hare International Airport, according to the Chicago Tribune. The twister in Kankakee County, about 60 miles south of Chicago, damaged silos, trees and roofs of several buildings, said Pembroke Fire Protection District Chief Mark Baines. No major injuries were reported.

At O'Hare International Airport, about 550 flights had been canceled as of 10:30 a.m. local time due to rain and low visibility, according to the Chicago Department of Aviation. There were delays of up to three hours. Midway Airport was experiencing delays of 45 minutes or more and some cancellations.

Oklahoma seemed to be the worst hit in the current wave of storms, with at least eight reported deaths and 70 injuries in Oklahoma City and its environs. One of those killed was a 15-month-old boy. Valerie Thomerson, mayor of Piedmont, Okla., told Fox News that officials were looking for at least one toddler.

At least six deaths were reported in Kansas and Arkansas. Authorities were investigating reports of a death in Texas.

The new wave of tornadoes threatens to make this already difficult storm season a record-breaker in the Midwest and the South. So far, the death toll is about 500, close to the record of 519 set in 1953.

The tornado that hit Joplin ranks as the deadliest single twister since the National Weather Service began keeping records in 1950. The death toll there was at 122 with 750 people hurt and thousands of structures destroyed.

"We are still in a search-and-rescue mode," Mark Rohr, Joplin's city manager, told reporters. "I want to emphasize that."

Nerves are fraying in this city of about 50,000 hit by a tornado at 6 p.m. Sunday. National Weather Service officials said the storm was an EF5, carrying winds of more than 200 miles an hour.

The battering has taken toll on the city's psyche as well as its terrain.

At about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday night, the tornado sirens sounded, and there was a sudden stampede in the hallways of Joplin's Hilton Garden Inn.

Normally tornado sirens here produce shrugs. People are accustomed to warnings of twisters. But the hotel now is full of people whose houses were pulverized in the deadly tornado that unexpectedly tore through the center of town Sunday.

No one was taking any chances.

Guests and workers alike huddled in a service hallway on the first floor. People found plastic chairs for the elderly. Faces were drawn. Smart phones came out, and people began watching the storm inch toward town.

One prepubescent boy began trembling. His father tried to reassure him. "You're going to go through a lot of these in your life," the man said.

Red Cross Responds to Deadly Midwest Tornadoes: PLEASE HELP! No Amount Is Too Small ♥

PLEASE DONATE to the Red Cross

Red Cross News

Red Cross Responds to Deadly Midwest Tornadoes

written by Staff

Tuesday May 24, 2011

May 24 — The American Red Cross is providing shelter and services to hundreds of people whose lives have been devastated by the most recent round of tornadoes in the Midwest states, including Missouri, Minnesota and Oklahoma.

“Our thoughts and sympathies are with those who lost loved ones or have suffered through these deadly storms,” said Charley Shimanski, senior vice president, Red Cross Disaster Services. “The Red Cross already has people on the ground to help in these communities, and we have more on the way today.”

The American Red Cross opened a shelter in hard-hit Joplin, Missouri, shortly after the tornado struck on Sunday. That shelter, located at Missouri Southern State University, had approximately 110 people on Sunday night and can hold up to 1,000 people. The Red Cross is working with local officials in Joplin to arrange transportation to help get people to shelters and if necessary, identify additional shelter locations.

The Red Cross also opened a shelter in Minneapolis, where 200 people spent the night following the tornadoes there.

Currently, hundreds of relief supplies are being moved from Red Cross warehouses to Joplin and other affected areas. These supplies include comfort kits, tarps, coolers, rakes and other cleanup supplies. The Red Cross is also sending in additional staff, concentrating particularly on trained health and mental health workers.

Red Cross emergency response vehicles are already responding in Missouri, helping to transport supplies to the shelter. More vehicles are headed to the area today. In addition, a Red Cross emergency communications vehicle is being sent in due to damage sustained on area infrastructure.

The Red Cross encourages people to register on the Red Cross Safe and Well website to let loved ones know they are safe by visiting http://www.redcross.org/ or calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767). From a smart phone, visit www.redcross.org/safeandwell and click on the “List Yourself as Safe and Well” or “Search for Friends and Family” link.

People in the affected areas can list themselves as “safe and well” on the Safe and Well site. Friends and family outside the disaster area can then search for messages from their loved ones by using a pre-disaster phone number or complete address. Safe and Well also enables disaster survivors to update their Facebook and Twitter status through the website.

As the Red Cross responds in the Midwest, it continues its relief operations across the South in response to April’s tornadoes and the continued flooding along the Mississippi River. This spring, more than half of the country has been affected by damaging weather, disrupting people’s lives from North Dakota to the East Coast. Since March 31, Red Cross disaster workers have provided thousands of overnight stays in shelters, distributed thousands of cleanup and comfort kits and served more than 1.8 million meals and snacks.

The Red Cross is able to respond quickly when emergencies happen with the help of corporations who are members of the organization’s Annual Disaster Giving Program (ADGP). ADGP members pledge donations on an ongoing basis to allow the Red Cross to pre-position supplies and be ready to take immediate action when disasters occur.

Members of the American Red Cross Annual Disaster Giving Program are 3M, Altria, Aon, Cisco Foundation, ConAgra Foods, Costco Wholesale Corporation, Darden Restaurants, Inc., Dr Pepper Snapple Group, FedEx Corporation, GE Foundation, The Home Depot Foundation, John Deere Foundation, Kimberly-Clark Corporation, Kraft Foods, Lowe’s Companies, Inc., Merck, Morgan Stanley, Nationwide Insurance Foundation, Northrop Grumman, Ryder Charitable Foundation, Southwest Airlines, State Farm, State Street Foundation, Target, The TJX Companies, Inc., UnitedHealthcare, UPS and Walmart.

The Red Cross depends on financial donations to help in times of disaster. Those who want to help people affected by disasters like tornadoes, floods and wildfires, as well as countless crises at home and around the world, can make a donation to support American Red Cross Disaster Relief. This gift enables the Red Cross to prepare for and provide shelter, food, emotional support and other assistance in response to disasters. Visit http://www.redcross.org/ or call 1-800-RED-CROSS; people can also text the word “REDCROSS” to 90999 to make a $10 donation. Contributions may also be sent to local American Red Cross chapters or to the American Red Cross, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, DC 20013.

Iceland Whaling Delayed! YAAAAY!

World Against Whaling

Iceland Whaling Delayed

written by Staff

Wednesday May 11, 2011

Annoucement of job losses at Iceland’s main whaling company highlights general demise in barbaric trade.

WDCS (the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society) has learned that Iceland's fin whale hunt is to be postponed indefinitely and a number of workers at the Hvalur whaling company will lose their jobs in a move which reflects the slow demise of the industry in Iceland.

According to reports emerging from Iceland, Kristjan Loftsson, CEO of the Hvalur made the announcement to a group of about 30 staff yesterday following his return from a recent visit to Japan.

Gunnlaugur Fjólar Gunnlaugsson, Hvalur’s foreman, told Icelandic news media in an interview that a decision on whether to go ahead with the hunt in August or September would be made later this summer.

Loftsson indicated that two of the whale processing companies in Japan with which he works had sustained major damage following the recent earthquake there. In addition, the market has also collapsed and therefore, according to the company, it would not be feasible to start hunting for the foreseeable future. The fin whaling season opened on June 26th in 2010.

Iceland’s whale meat sales to Japan had been facing a tough time since exports began in 2008, and had fallen short of the profits predicted. Quality issues with the Icelandic whale meat, and a waning interest in the product among Japanese consumers meant that prices for Icelandic fin whale meat were set at low rates, described as a “loss leader” by the industry in its effort to try and build a market in Japan.

In the past two years, Hvalur killed 273 endangered fin whales, earning the censure of both governments and environmental groups.

Kate O’Connell, WDCS anti-whaling campaigner said, "It is too soon to claim victory, and Iceland's whales still face the threat of harpoons. In 2007, Iceland declared that it was ending commercial whaling, only to come back with a vengeance in 2009, targeting more whales and increasing exports. We must remain vigilant, and not let the whalers lull the world into a false sense that all is well."

WDCS calls on the public to become even more engaged and to send the clear signal to Iceland's whaling and fishing communities that this so-called temporary halt isn't enough. All whaling and trade in whale products must be officially banned.

WDCS began a wide-ranging consumer campaign against Iceland in 2010, advising buyers, "Dont buy your fish from whalers". A significant number of retailers and supermarkets have joined the campaign, which has spread from the UK to the US and Europe.

Among the supporters is lead UK seafood supplier Findus, which had agreed to mark the Hvalur-linked Icelandic seafood company HB Grandi as unacceptable across its supply chain. Mike Mitchell, current CSR Director, at Youngs Seafood Ltd UK. (part of Findus Group) had told WDCS that "We understand that many people in the UK have serious concerns over the practice of commercial whaling. We make every effort to ensure that our commercial activities do not directly support businesses which carry out or profit from commercial whaling activities." WDCS has also been leading efforts in the US to urge the Obama Administration to impose sanctions on Iceland for its whaling and trade in whale products in defiance of IWC and CITES bans.

Icelands's illegal Whale Trade

World Against Whaling

Icelands's illegal Whale Trade

written by Staff

Friday May 6, 2011

Iceland’s defiance of international trade agreements seems to have reached new heights following the discovery by WDCS - Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society - that in March 2011, the country exported 289,134 kilos of “other frozen whale products” to Japan, almost double the previous largest single shipment of this kind since Iceland resumed international shipments of whale products in 2008 and a move that raises questions of commercial opportunism.

Previously the largest shipment of whale products was 149,192 kilos (April 2010). The latest export not only snubs the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) ban on international trade in whale products but, coming in the aftermath of the Japanese earthquake, this particular shipment also brings into question the motives of exporters.

Iceland’s whale meat sales to Japan had been facing a tough time since exports began in 2008, and had fallen short of the profits predicted by both the whaling industry and then Minister of Fisheries Einar K. Guðfinnsson. Quality issues with the Icelandic whale meat, and a waning interest in the product among Japanese consumers meant that prices for Icelandic fin whale meat were set at low rates, described as a “loss leader” by the industry in its effort to try and build a market in Japan.

The 290 tonne March shipment was valued at an FOB rate of ISK 463 820 820 (2,814,755.76 EUR/US$4,144,816.48/GBP2,514,198.04 GBP).

“Were the whale products donated by Iceland’s whaling industry?’ asks Fisher. “If not, one has to wonder if Iceland’s whalers are trying to take advantage of the tragedy in Japan to build a market for a product that up until now has been a very hard sell.”

The release of the March export data comes only a week after both Iceland and Japan resumed commercial whaling on minke whales. Iceland’s hunt for endangered fin whales is expected to begin sometime in late June.

A Message On Transformation By Paula White

This is an AWESOME message about transformation given by Pastor Paula White. Allow it to encourage you today! ♥

My Daily Prayer... ♥

I would like to share two of my daily prayer's with you. The first is one I received from Paula White Ministries 5 years ago. While the second is one that I personalized for myself. You are welcome to use these prayers. Soon your spirit will personalize one for you. You shall know the Truth when you seek God's face daily. I don't mean in the traditional sense. I mean spending time getting to know Him. You can start by talking with Him like you would a friend. He will guide you on your spiritual path as you grow closer and closer to Him. Allow God's LIGHT to permeate every fiber of your being and transform you from the inside out. "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be TRANSFORMED by the renewing of your mind." [Romans 12:2] This has nothing to do with religion. This is about God, your Heavenly Father wanting to have a "personal" relationship with you. ♥

The Power Of Prayer from Paula White Ministries

Dear Heavenly Father, I give You praise for my life and all that is in it. You are my Creator, my Provider, my Comforter and I worship You from the depths of my soul. My desire is to know You... to truly know You in an intimate way. Please grant me a mind filled with Spiritual wisdom and a heart that continues to long for You.

This is my prayer personalized...

Thank you God for loving me unconditionally. Thank you God for never giving up on me. Thank you God for always believing in me. Thank you God for taking care of all of my needs. I am an instrument of Your will LORD, use me for Your greater good. I am ready, willing and able to effect change on Your behalf. Awaken Your Spirit within me LORD. Lend me Your strength, Your courage and Your wisdom. I will continue to abide in Your WORD as your WORD continues to abide in me. You are my ROCK and my foundation! Your presence makes me feel unspeakable love and joy. Direct my steps LORD and connect me to the right people that are in line with Your will for my life. I will continue to Trust and Believe in You LORD. I love you. In Yahshua's precious name, AMEN!

I go on to pray, Jesus (Yahshua) please cleanse my spirit from all impurities, please purify me Lord, wash me in Your blood, cover me and protect me against all evil. Please fill my spirit with Your love, Your peace and Your joy. Lend me Your strength, courage and wisdom. AMEN!

God's Divine favor surrounds me like a shield! Amen. ♥

Greetings From James, A Servant Of God

Greetings From James, A Servant Of God

James 1 Amplified Bible

1 JAMES, A servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes scattered abroad [among the Gentiles in the dispersion]: Greetings (rejoice)! 2 Consider it wholly joyful, my brethren, whenever you are enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort or fall into various temptations.

3 Be assured and understand that the trial and proving of your faith bring out endurance and steadfastness and patience. 4 But let endurance and steadfastness and patience have full play and do a thorough work, so that you may be [people] perfectly and fully developed [with no defects], lacking in nothing.

5 If any of you is deficient in wisdom, let him ask of the giving God [Who gives] to everyone liberally and ungrudgingly, without reproaching or faultfinding, and it will be given him. 6 Only it must be in faith that he asks with no wavering (no hesitating, no doubting). For the one who wavers (hesitates, doubts) is like the billowing surge out at sea that is blown hither and thither and tossed by the wind.

7 For truly, let not such a person imagine that he will receive anything [he asks for] from the Lord, 8 [For being as he is] a man of two minds (hesitating, dubious, irresolute), [he is] unstable and unreliable and uncertain about everything [he thinks, feels, decides].

9 Let the brother in humble circumstances glory in his elevation [as a Christian, called to the true riches and to be an heir of God], 10 And the rich [person ought to glory] in being humbled [by being shown his human frailty], because like the flower of the grass he will pass away.

11 For the sun comes up with a scorching heat and parches the grass; its flower falls off and its beauty fades away. Even so will the rich man wither and die in the midst of his pursuits. 12 Blessed (happy, to be envied) is the man who is patient under trial and stands up under temptation, for when he has stood the test and been approved, he will receive [the victor's] crown of life which God has promised to those who love Him.

13 Let no one say when he is tempted, I am tempted from God; for God is incapable of being tempted by [what is] evil and He Himself tempts no one. 14 But every person is tempted when he is drawn away, enticed and baited by his own evil desire (lust, passions).

15 Then the evil desire, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is fully matured, brings forth death. 16 Do not be misled, my beloved brethren.

17 Every good gift and every perfect (free, large, full) gift is from above; it comes down from the Father of all [that gives] light, in [the shining of] Whom there can be no variation [rising or setting] or shadow cast by His turning [as in an eclipse]. 18 And it was of His own [free] will that He gave us birth [as sons] by [His] Word of Truth, so that we should be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures [a sample of what He created to be consecrated to Himself].

19 Understand [this], my beloved brethren. Let every man be quick to hear [a ready listener], slow to speak, slow to take offense and to get angry. 20 For man's anger does not promote the righteousness God [wishes and requires].

21 So get rid of all uncleanness and the rampant outgrowth of wickedness, and in a humble (gentle, modest) spirit receive and welcome the Word which implanted and rooted [in your hearts] contains the power to save your souls. 22 But be doers of the Word [obey the message], and not merely listeners to it, betraying yourselves [into deception by reasoning contrary to the Truth].

23 For if anyone only listens to the Word without obeying it and being a doer of it, he is like a man who looks carefully at his [own] natural face in a mirror; 24 For he thoughtfully observes himself, and then goes off and promptly forgets what he was like.

25 But he who looks carefully into the faultless law, the [law] of liberty, and is faithful to it and perseveres in looking into it, being not a heedless listener who forgets but an active doer [who obeys], he shall be blessed in his doing (his life of obedience). 26 If anyone thinks himself to be religious (piously observant of the external duties of his faith) and does not bridle his tongue but deludes his own heart, this person's religious service is worthless (futile, barren).

27 External religious worship [religion as it is expressed in outward acts] that is pure and unblemished in the sight of God the Father is this: to visit and help and care for the orphans and widows in their affliction and need, and to keep oneself unspotted and uncontaminated from the world.

Psalm 37: Do Not Fret But Put ALL Of Your Trust And Faith In The LORD!

A Psalm of David

Psalm 37 Amplified Bible

1 FRET NOT yourself because of evildoers, neither be envious against those who work unrighteousness (that which is not upright or in right standing with God). 2 For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.

3 Trust (lean on, rely on, and be confident) in the Lord and do good; so shall you dwell in the land and feed surely on His faithfulness, and truly you shall be fed. 4 Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He will give you the desires and secret petitions of your heart.

5 Commit your way to the Lord [roll and repose each care of your load on Him]; trust (lean on, rely on, and be confident) also in Him and He will bring it to pass. 6 And He will make your uprightness and right standing with God go forth as the light, and your justice and right as [the shining sun of] the noonday.

7 Be still and rest in the Lord; wait for Him and patiently lean yourself upon Him; fret not yourself because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked devices to pass. 8 Cease from anger and forsake wrath; fret not yourself--it tends only to evildoing.

9 For evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait and hope and look for the Lord [in the end] shall inherit the earth. 10 For yet a little while, and the evildoers will be no more; though you look with care where they used to be, they will not be found.

11 But the meek [in the end] shall inherit the earth and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. 12 The wicked plot against the [uncompromisingly] righteous (the upright in right standing with God); they gnash at them with their teeth.

13 The Lord laughs at [the wicked], for He sees that their own day [of defeat] is coming. 14 The wicked draw the sword and bend their bows to cast down the poor and needy, to slay those who walk uprightly (blameless in conduct and in conversation).

15 The swords [of the wicked] shall enter their own hearts, and their bows shall be broken. 16 Better is the little that the [uncompromisingly] righteous have than the abundance [of possessions] of many who are wrong and wicked.

17 For the arms of the wicked shall be broken, but the Lord upholds the [consistently] righteous. 18 The Lord knows the days of the upright and blameless, and their heritage will abide forever.

19 They shall not be put to shame in the time of evil; and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied. 20 But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs [that is consumed in smoke] and as the glory of the pastures. They shall vanish; like smoke shall they consume away.

21 The wicked borrow and pay not again [for they may be unable], but the [uncompromisingly] righteous deal kindly and give [for they are able]. 22 For such as are blessed of God shall [in the end] inherit the earth, but they that are cursed of Him shall be cut off.

23 The steps of a [good] man are directed and established by the Lord when He delights in his way [and He busies Himself with his every step]. 24 Though he falls, he shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord grasps his hand in support and upholds him.

25 I have been young and now am old, yet have I not seen the [uncompromisingly] righteous forsaken or their seed begging bread. 26 All day long they are merciful and deal graciously; they lend, and their offspring are blessed.

27 Depart from evil and do good; and you will dwell forever [securely]. 28 For the Lord delights in justice and forsakes not His saints; they are preserved forever, but the offspring of the wicked [in time] shall be cut off.

29[Then] the [consistently] righteous shall inherit the land and dwell upon it forever. 30 The mouth of the [uncompromisingly] righteous utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks with justice.

31 The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide. 32 The wicked lie in wait for the [uncompromisingly] righteous and seek to put them to death.

33 The Lord will not leave them in their hands, or [suffer them to] condemn them when they are judged. 34 Wait for and expect the Lord and keep and heed His way, and He will exalt you to inherit the land; [in the end] when the wicked are cut off, you shall see it.

35 I have seen a wicked man in great power and spreading himself like a green tree in its native soil, 36 Yet he passed away, and behold, he was not; yes, I sought and inquired for him, but he could not be found.

37 Mark the blameless man and behold the upright, for there is a happy end for the man of peace. 38 As for transgressors, they shall be destroyed together; in the end the wicked shall be cut off.

39 But the salvation of the [consistently] righteous is of the Lord; He is their Refuge and secure Stronghold in the time of trouble. 40 And the Lord helps them and delivers them; He delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they trust and take refuge in Him.