December 9, 2019

Good Morning Everyone! HAPPY MONDAY! These Pics Always Make Me Crack Up! ♥♥♥ I Hope You All Have A Fantastic Day With A Smile On Your Face, A Song In Your Heart And A Skip In Your Step! ♥♥♥

Posted by Princess Mononoke at 12:12 AM 0 comments

December 8, 2019

USA: FBI Lawyer Under Criminal Investigation For Falsifying A Document Related To Spying On Trump Expressed Hatred For Trump, Gloated He Initiated The Destruction Of The Republic In Messages.

CNN Politics
written by Katelyn Polantz and Evan Perez, CNN
November 22, 2019

Washington (CNN)A former FBI lawyer is under criminal investigation after allegedly altering a document related to 2016 surveillance of a Trump campaign adviser, several people briefed on the matter told CNN.

Yet the situation did not sway an independent Justice Department watchdog from finding the surveillance was valid, sources said.

Still, the possibility of a substantive change to an investigative document is likely to fuel accusations from President Donald Trump and his allies that the FBI committed wrongdoing in its investigation of connections between Russian election meddling and the Trump campaign.

The findings are expected to be part of Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz's review of the FBI's effort to obtain warrants under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act on Carter Page, a former Trump campaign aide. Horowitz will release the report next month.

Horowitz turned over evidence on the allegedly altered document to John Durham, the federal prosecutor appointed early this year by Attorney General William Barr to conduct a broad investigation of intelligence gathered for the Russia probe by the CIA and other agencies, including the FBI. The altered document is also at least one focus of Durham's criminal probe.

It's unknown how significant a role the altered document played in the FBI's investigation of Page. The alterations were significant enough to have shifted the document's meaning and came up during a part of Horowitz's FISA review where details were classified, according to the sources. It did not change Horowitz's finding that the FISA application had a legal basis, The Washington Post first reported.

Some witnesses who have been interviewed in Horowitz's investigation have said they expect the inspector general to find mistakes in the FBI's handling of the FISA process, but that those mistakes do not undermine the premise for the FBI's investigation.

American intelligence agencies and the Justice Department have not swayed from their finding that Russia interfered in the 2016 election by hacking the Democrats and spreading pro-Trump propaganda online. And even former top Trump campaign officials have corroborated special counsel Robert Mueller's finding that the Trump campaign planned some of its strategy around the Russian hacks, and had multiple contacts with Kremlin-linked individuals in 2016.

Horowitz's investigators conducted more than 100 witness interviews in their review. During one of interviews this year, they confronted the witness about the document. The witness admitted to the change, the sources said.

The lawyer, who was a line attorney, is no longer working at the bureau, said a person familiar with the matter. A line attorney is a lower level lawyer within the FBI.

No charges that could reflect the situation have been filed publicly in court.
The Justice Department and inspector general's office declined to comment.

Horowitz report

Horowitz is expected to release his report on December 9 and testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee two days later.

The internal, independent investigator so far, over several reports, has criticized top members of the FBI for their actions leading up to and during the Russia investigation. Those IG reports have looked at situations including former FBI Director James Comey's handling of his personal memos about meetings with the President and former official Peter Strzok's anti-Trump text messages.

A finding of alleged wrongdoing from Horowitz could further fuel Republican criticism and conspiracies about previous investigators' targeting of Trump associates. It could also provide them a political boost at a moment where Democrats' impeachment investigation into Trump's political quid pro quo with Ukraine has battered the President.

The report is said to cover the FBI's approach to foreign surveillance during the Russia investigation, including of warrants used to wiretap Page, who had advised the Trump campaign in 2016. Witnesses are currently reviewing Horowitz's findings.

Horowitz has shared information from his review with Durham, CNN previously reported.

The Justice Department has been tight-lipped on outlining exactly what Durham has been looking at. But the attorney general himself said soon after appointing him that he was concerned officials acted inappropriately as they oversaw the counterintelligence probe of the 2016 Trump campaign.

Barr's embrace of these theories aligns with Trump's chief grievance that he was the victim of a "deep state" spy operation that has clouded his presidency.

The New York Times, CNN and other outlets have reported that Durham's investigation had become a criminal investigation.

UPDATE: This story has been updated to reflect the official is a lawyer who is no longer with the FBI. It has also been updated with information about the impact of the matter under investigation.
The Washington Examiner
written by by Daniel Chaitin and Jerry Dunleavy
November 22, 2019

The FBI lawyer under criminal investigation for allegedly falsifying a document related to the surveillance of a Trump campaign adviser expressed negative opinions of President Trump in messages to colleagues.

Kevin Clinesmith, who was part of special counsel Robert Mueller's team, has been identified as the attorney who could face a criminal charge as part of U.S. Attorney John Durham's expansive criminal inquiry into the origins of the Russia investigation, according to the New York Times.

As part of the Justice Department watchdog's now-completed investigation into alleged surveillance abuses, Clinesmith was found to have altered an email that was used by officials as they prepared an application renewal to present before the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to obtain a warrant to electronically surveil Carter Page, a onetime foreign policy adviser for the Trump campaign.

Clinesmith was an attorney with the FBI’s National Security and Cyber Law Branch and worked under FBI General Counsel James Baker and Deputy General Counsel Trisha Anderson. He had worked on the Clinton email investigation as well as the Trump-Russia probe. Clinesmith was present in the FBI's meeting with Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos in February 2017 in Chicago, Papadopoulos told lawmakers in 2018. An Australian diplomat's tip about Papadopoulos claiming the Russians had damaging information about Hillary Clinton effectively prompted the FBI's counterintelligence investigation into the Trump campaign, called Crossfire Hurricane, in July 2016.

Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz's investigators found Clinesmith falsely asserted he had documentation to back up a claim while in talks with the Justice Department about the factual basis for a FISA warrant application renewal. He then took an email from an official from another agency that contained multiple factual assertions, added material of his own, and gave it to a fellow FBI official who was preparing an affidavit for the Page case. Clinesmith has been described in many media reports as a “low-level attorney,” but Horowitz said he “was the primary FBI attorney assigned to [the Trump-Russia] investigation in early 2017.”

Eagerly anticipated by Trump's allies, Howoritz's report is expected to be released to the public on Dec. 9, the inspector general announced this week. They believe it will reveal an effort to undermine Trump's 2016 campaign in which the FBI misled the FISA court in its reliance on an unverified dossier compiled by British ex-spy Christopher Steele, whose research about Trump and his associates was partially funded by Clinton's 2016 campaign and the Democratic National Committee through the Perkins Coie law firm and Fusion GPS.

The Times, however, reported that the inspector general is expected to criticize top FBI officials but absolve them of abusing their power out of bias against Trump. Democrats, as well as current and former FBI officials, have additionally dismissed allegations of wrongdoing and have raised concerns that information about U.S. intelligence-gathering could be leveraged to discredit Mueller.

Horowitz previously identified Clinesmith as one of the FBI officials who conveyed a bias against Trump in instant messages. Clinesmith was kicked out of Mueller's Russia investigation team in February 2018. Two other FBI officials who were forced out of Mueller's team for similar anti-Trump messages were Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, both of whom have also left the bureau.

In a lengthy instant message exchange between Clinesmith and another FBI employee on Nov. 9, 2016, the day after Trump’s presidential victory, he lamented Trump’s win and worried about the role he played in the investigation into Trump and his campaign.

“My god damned name is all over the legal documents investigating his staff,” Clinesmith said, adding, “So, who knows if that breaks to him what he is going to do?”

A couple weeks later, on Nov. 22, 2016, he said, “Hell no,” when asked by another FBI attorney if he was “rethink[ing] [his] commitment to the Trump administration.”

“Viva le resistance,” Clinesmith added.

In a scathing July 2018 inspector general report on the FBI's Clinton emails investigation, Clinesmith was criticized at least 56 times, listed as "FBI Attorney 2." Clinesmith defended himself, claiming his messages only reflected his personal views. He asserted his opinions did not affect his work.

During a hearing that June with Horowitz, North Carolina Republican Rep. Mark Meadows named Clinesmith as being one of two unnamed lawyers criticized in the inspector general report.

The initial FISA application and three renewals targeting Page required the approval of top members of the FBI, the DOJ, and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, but they were also handled by lower-level officials. The initial warrant application was approved in October 2016, and the final renewal came in June 2017.

Under suspicion of being a Russian agent, Page became a subject of interest in the FBI's counterintelligence investigation, which was later wrapped into Mueller's investigation. Page was never charged with a crime as part of Mueller's investigation, which failed to establish criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin, and denied being an agent for Russia.

Last summer, the DOJ took the unprecedented step of releasing more than 400 redacted pages of top-secret documents on the FISA warrant obtained to wiretap Page after Trump declassified their existence.

“We found instant messages in which FBI Attorney 2 discussed political issues, including three instant message exchanges that raised concerns of potential bias,” Horowitz wrote last year.

The first exchange highlighted by Horowitz occurred on Oct. 28, 2016, just after FBI Director James Comey sent a letter to Congress announcing the reopening of the Clinton email investigation. Clinesmith messaged a total of four FBI employees expressing his frustration, telling two of them, “I mean, I never really liked the Republic anyway.”

“As I have initiated the destruction of the republic ... Would you be so kind as to have a coffee with me this afternoon?” Clinesmith asked a third FBI employee.

And Clinesmith told a fourth FBI employee, “I’m clinging to small pockets of happiness in the dark time of the Republic’s destruction.”

In his attempt to explain these texts to Horowitz in 2018, Clinesmith said he was expressing his annoyance with what he saw as the FBI treating the Clinton email investigation more harshly than the Trump-Russia investigation. He continued to say he didn’t let it impact his work.

“It’s like, in terms of, of, you know, what’s not in here too is like, you know, we, at that point we had investigation, the Russia investigation was ongoing as well. And that information was obviously kept close hold and was not released until March,” Clinesmith said. “So, you know, it, it was just kind of frustration that we weren’t handling both of them the same way with, with that level I guess.”

The second exchange detailed by the inspector general occurred on Nov. 9, 2016, in which he and another FBI official were “devastated” about Trump’s victory over Clinton the day prior, and Clinesmith said he thought the Comey letter to Congress may have helped Trump win, claiming, “We broke the momentum.”

“I am so stressed about what I could have done differently,” Clinesmith said, later adding, “It’s just hard not to feel like the FBI caused some of this. It was razor-thin in some states.”

Clinesmith also trashed Trump and the Republican Party.

“The crazies won finally. This is the Tea Party on steroids. And the GOP is going to be lost, they have to deal with an incumbent in 4 years,” he said. “We have to fight this again. Also, Pence is stupid.”

Clinesmith told Horowitz in 2018, “I wasn’t anywhere near the, the room deciding on these factors. ... It was just kind of like a discussion on how I could have either moved the process along more quickly or more efficiently at a, at a more, at an earlier time, or whatnot.”

The former FBI lawyer also attempted to explain away his third exchange on Nov. 22, 2016, in which he’d referenced “the Resistance.”

“It’s just the, the lines bled through here just in terms of, of my personal, political view in terms of, of what particular preference I have,” Clinesmith told Horowitz. “But, but that doesn’t have any, any leaning on the way that I, I maintain myself as a professional in the FBI.”
Fox News
written by Gregg Re
November 22, 2019

Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz has found evidence that an FBI lawyer manipulated a key investigative document related to the FBI's secretive surveillance of a former Trump campaign adviser -- enough to change the substantive meaning of the document, according to multiple reports.

The show-stopping development comes as Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told Fox News that Horowitz's comprehensive report on allegations of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant abuse against former Trump campaign aide Carter Page will be released on Dec. 9. "That's locked," Graham said.


The new evidence concerning the altered document, which pertained to the FBI's FISA court warrant application to surveil Page, is expected to be outlined in Horowitz's upcoming report. CNN first reported the news, which was largely confirmed by The Washington Post.

But the Post, hours after publishing its story, conspicuously removed the portion of its reporting that the FBI employee involved worked "beneath" Peter Strzok, the FBI's since-fired head of counterintelligence. The Post did not offer an explanation for the change, which occurred shortly after midnight. Earlier this week, the DOJ highlighted a slew of anti-Trump text messages sent by Strzok when he was leading the Hillary Clinton email investigation and the probe into the Trump campaign.

"The person under scrutiny has not been identified but is not a high-ranking official — they worked beneath former deputy assistant director Peter Strzok, according to people familiar with the investigation who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss material that has not yet been made public," The Post wrote in its now-deleted paragraph.

The paper eventually added a correction to the bottom of its piece, reading, "Correction: An earlier version of this story erroneously stated that the FBI employee being investigated for altering a document worked underneath former Deputy Assistant Director Peter Strzok. The employee was a low-level lawyer in the Office of General Counsel and did not report to the deputy assistant director."

Nevertheless, Horowitz reportedly found that the FBI employee was involved enough in the FISA process to falsely state that he had "documentation to back up a claim he had made in discussions with the Justice Department about the factual basis" for the FISA warrant application, the Post reported. Then, the FBI employee allegedly "altered an email" to substantiate his inaccurate version of events. The employee has since been forced out of the bureau.

In its initial 2016 FISA warrant application, the FBI flatly called Page "an agent of a foreign power."

Sources told Fox News last month that U.S. Attorney John Durham's separate, ongoing probe into potential FBI and Justice Department misconduct in the run-up to the 2016 election through the spring of 2017 has transitioned into a full-fledged criminal investigation -- and that Horowitz's report will shed light on why Durham's probe has become a criminal inquiry.

Durham has reportedly taken up Horowitz's findings concerning the falsified FISA document, meaning the ex-FBI lawyer who made the changes is now under criminal investigation. The Post indicated, however, that the document was not central to the legality of the FISA warrant obtained against Page.

Republicans have long argued that the FBI's alleged FISA abuses, which came as the bureau aggressively pursued ultimately unsubstantiated claims of criminal links between the Trump team and Russia during the 2016 presidential campaign, were politically motivated. In recent months, a series of unearthed documents has strengthened those claims.

Just nine days before the FBI applied for its first FISA warrant to surveil Page, bureau officials were battling with a senior Justice Department official who had "continued concerns" about the "possible bias" of a source pivotal to the application, according to internal text messages previously obtained by Fox News.

The 2016 messages, sent between Lisa Page and then-FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, also revealed that bureau brass circulated at least two anti-Trump blog articles, including a Lawfare blog post sent shortly after Election Day that called Trump possibly "among the major threats to the security of the country."

Fox News is told the texts were connected to the ultimately successful Page application, which relied in part on information from British ex-spy Christopher Steele – whose anti-Trump views are now well-documented – and cited Page’s suspected Russia ties. In its warrant application, the FBI inaccurately assured the FISA court on numerous occasions that media sources independently corroborated Steele's claims, and did not clearly state that Steele worked for a firm hired by Hillary Clinton's campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC).

Much of the Steele dossier has been proved discredited or unsubstantiated, including the dossier's claims that the Trump campaign was paying hackers in the United States out of a non-existent Russian consulate in Miami, or that ex-Trump lawyer Michael Cohen traveled to Prague to conspire with Russians. Special Counsel Robert Mueller also was unable to substantiate the dossier's claims that Carter Page had received a large payment relating to the sale of a share of Rosneft, a Russian oil giant, or that a lurid blackmail tape involving the president existed.

Despite being accused by the FBI of being a Russian agent in the FISA application, and being secretly surveilled for more than a year, Page has not been charged with any wrongdoing. He has since sued numerous actors -- including the DNC -- for defamation related to claims that he worked with Russia.

"OI [Office of Intelligence] now has a robust explanation re any possible bias of the chs [confidential human source] in the package," Lisa Page wrote to McCabe on Oct. 12, 2016. "Don't know what the holdup is now, other than Stu's continued concerns."

It's unclear whether the confidential source in question was Steele or another individual. "Stu" was an apparent reference to Stuart Evans, then the DOJ's National Security Division deputy assistant attorney general. In one previously unearthed and since-unredacted text message, Strzok texted Page that he was "Currently fighting with Stu for this FISA" in late 2016.

Page is not the only Trump official to allege misconduct by the FBI. Last month, an explosive court filing from Michael Flynn’s legal team alleged that FBI agents manipulated official records of the former national security adviser’s 2017 interview that led to him being charged with lying to investigators. Flynn's attorneys demanded the FBI search its internal "Sentinel" system to find more evidence of allegedly doctored files.

Newly released text messages involving text messages between Strzok and former FBI lawyer Lisa Page revealed that Page -- who was not present for the Flynn interview -- had apparently made "edits" to the so-called "302" witness report in the case, which was key to Flynn's prosecution on a false statements charge. Page told Strzok on February 10, 2017 that she “gave my edits to Bill to put on your desk.”

Horowitz told congressional lawmakers in an October letter that his investigation and ensuing report were nearing their conclusion.

Fox Business published Oct 16, 2018: Fusion GPS co-founder pleads Fifth on the FAKE anti-Trump dossier. FOX News contributor Jason Chaffetz discusses how Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson invoked his Fifth Amendment right not to testify during an appearance before the House Judiciary Committee.

WSJ 8/15/19: The Justice Department is investigating how a former British intelligence agent, Christopher Steele, came to exert so much influence over the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s erroneous Trump-Russia collusion narrative. Let’s hope the department is also investigating an even more influential man who had even less business manipulating the government: Glenn Simpson, the head of opposition-research firm Fusion GPS.

That’s a pressing question in light of new documents from high-ranking Justice official Bruce Ohr, obtained recently by Judicial Watch. The papers include, among other things, a dozen official FBI interviews (known as 302s) of Mr. Ohr that date from just after the 2016 election through May 2017. The documents suggest Mr. Simpson was the real puppet master of the collusion drama.

More eye-popping in the 302s is the ease with which Mr. Simpson landed meetings with powerful officials, for no apparent purpose other than to peddle unverified accusations against the Trump team. This isn’t a former intelligence officer or government official, or even someone with specialized knowledge of Russia. Mr. Simpson is a private citizen—and one who Mr. Ohr and the FBI knew was providing information to Hillary Clinton’s team (as Mr. Ohr acknowledges in his initial 302). Yet when Mr. Simpson called, officials across Washington hopped to, swallowing the claims that would become the basis of a false hysteria.

Fox News published August 8, 2019: Justice Department releases DOJ Official Bruce Ohr's interview records. Reaction from former DOJ prosecutor Jim Trusty and former deputy assistant attorney general John Yoo.

Fox News published Oct 19, 2018: Nellie Ohr claims spousal privilege in deposition. Former Fusion GPS researcher Nellie Ohr is married to DOJ official Bruce Ohr and that's apparently a big factor in which questions she's answering in her closed-door testimony on Capitol Hill; reaction and analysis from John Yoo, former deputy assistant attorney general under President George W. Bush.

In a January 30, 2016 email exchange sent entirely over unsecure devices, top former FBI officials including General Counsel Jim Baker, Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, Strzok, Page, unidentified individuals from the DOJ’s National Security Division and NSA General Counsel Glenn Gerstell, discuss a draft document with the subject line: “Revised IC Safe Harbor Letter (from [redacted] using [redacted] iPad).”

In a February 5, 2016, email Strzok indicates to Page that at least two, and possibly more, top FBI officials had not been properly “read-in” to top secret, compartmented programs. Those included McCabe and Assistant Director for Counterintelligence Bill Preistap. It is indicated Page needs some read-ins as well.

Posted by Princess Mononoke at 5:02 PM 0 comments

♥♥♥ I Believe In Lแƒฆ√ฦธ Lแƒฆ√ฦธ Lแƒฆ√ฦธ ♥♥♥


Hi everybody. HAPPY SUNDAY! I've been enjoying today taking it easy, relaxing listening to Barbra Streisand albums... IN HEAVEN! ;) Must share this wonderful feeling! :D Enjoy this great uplifting song!

Shift your mood...๐Ÿ’–

I Believe In Love
~ by Barbra Streisand

(Feeling love is feeling good, I believe in love)
Yeah
(Feeling love is feeling good, I believe in love)
Yeah

Feeling love, that's all
That's enough for me

Yet I see, I see faces
Covered up and empty eyed
Empty spaces
Where there used to be a soul inside

Nothing and no one ever gets to you
Seems the wind could blow right through you
Believin' in gods that never knew you
I believe in love

I believe in love
I believe in feelin' good
And that's feelin' love

Now worry
Climbin' up your money tree
You've got to hurry
Monkey do what monkey see

You're on a one-way street and you're speeding
Missin' the signs you ought to be readin'
Passin' things you'll later be needin'
I believe in love, what?

I believe it nobody sold me
Always knew it, nobody told me
I believe in someone to hold me
I believe in love

I believe in love, I do
Yes, I believe in feelin' good
And that's feelin' love, yeah

(Feeling love is feeling good)

Feeling love, that's all
That's enough for me
I won't be, don't wanna be lonely

Sleeping in an empty bed
Shouldn't be only
A place to rest my head

But I don't want to find myself one day
Waking up and looking at Monday
With some what's his name left from Sunday
I believe in love, what?

I believe it nobody sold me
Always knew it, nobody told me
I believe in someone to hold me
I believe in love

I believe in love
I believe in feelin' good
Now everybody should
They believe in feelin' good
Believin' in, believin' in love, LOVE!

Posted by Princess Mononoke at 2:24 PM 0 comments

Don’t Underestimate the Power of Prayer.

I am here to tell you that I have personally witnessed prayer work. I still get blown away when God answers my prayers. God Almighty is very real. Jesus, the living breathing WORD of God is very real. The Holy Spirit, the BREATH of God is very real. I have provided several prayers for you to use. You'll see the list of prayers on the top right side of my blog. I recommend that you print out the prayers so you have access to them at any time. I also recommend reading the Psalms section in the Bible. You'll be guided to read the Psalms that pertain to your situation.

The Word from the Bible is life giving. Why else do you think the Bible is banned in many nations of the world? People actually risk their lives smuggling the Bible into many nations. People also risk their lives smuggling PAGES of the Bible into many nations. People travel far and by foot just to get ONE PAGE of the Bible to keep with them and read. I want you to process that in your head and heart. What we take for granted, they see it as life giving, light giving in the darkness of their nations.

Please understand, this has NOTHING to do with religion. This has NOTHING to do with you attending a Church or joining an organization. The term Body of Christ refers to believers. The Body of Christ as a whole is the Church. We are the Church. It does not pertain to a building.

Praying is a very personal experience. When you pray, you are having a one on one experience with God Almighty your Creator and Source of all LIVING things. Praying draws you close to God. I promise, you will feel His presence that will bring tears to your eyes because His love is that intense. When you pray, you are calling down Heaven into your situation. Praying adds Supernatural power 5D to your natural life 3D.

as King David wrote in Psalm 141:2: "Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice."

repeat after me, "I reverse any Islamic, satanic, demonic curse, spell, incantation, hex or vex against me back to the senders head, one thousand fold. In the mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen."

or better yet pray, "I reverse any any evil pronouncement, any curse, spell, incantation, hex or vex against my life (against -fill in the blank) back to the senders head one thousand fold. In the mighty most powerful wonder working name of Jesus Christ. Amen." 
or "by the power and authority vested in me through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, let  any curse, spell, or incantation, hex or vex against me be reverse now back to the senders head one thousand fold. In the mighty most powerful name of Jesus Christ. Amen." (emphasis mine)
written by Priscilla Shirer
[source: Today's Christian Woman]

Rise up from your rut and reclaim your spiritual passion.

Have you ever found yourself in a spiritual rut? I know I have. Life gets busy, church feels like one more thing on your to-do list, and prayer feels both cumbersome and ineffective.

Beyond the fact that life itself can become overwhelming, even sapping your spiritual vitality, there is a more pressing culprit that threatens to marginalize your prayer life: You have an Enemy waging war on your soul.

Make no mistake, this is a war. You are in the fight of your life. A very real Enemy has been strategizing and scheming against you, assaulting you, coming after your emotions, your mind, your future.

But I say Satan’s reign of terror stops here, now. He might keep coming, but he won’t have victory because his power starts failing when we start praying.

The Mystery of Prayer

I’m willing to admit, right up front, that I don’t fully understand this. There’s an undeniable, unknowable, invisible mystery to the power of prayer. That’s why our first reaction to prayer may be to dismiss it, downplay it, or even devalue its critical importance. Prayer, we think, is a good idea in theory—if only it would actually make a difference.

That thinking is what gets us in trouble. When we underestimate the power of prayer, when we think it doesn’t work, when we choose to believe that God won’t answer our prayers or that he isn’t listening, we wave a white flag and invite Satan into our situation.

Believe me when I say that praying is the last thing Satan wants you to do. He will discourage you from doing it. He will dissuade you from it, and he will disarm you by putting a distaste for prayer in your mouth. He wants to see you passionless, prayerless, and powerless. Perfectly quiet. And because prayer is the divinely ordained mechanism that leads you into the power and victory of Christ, Satan knows you’ll remain defeated and undone without it.

The Power of Prayer

Despite what we may or may not understand about prayer, God has deliberately chosen this particular vehicle as the one that drives his activity in his people’s lives. It is the means by which he allows us to partner with him in the fulfilling of his will. He has created prayer as a primary way of putting us into personal contact with him and with his eternal realities, any hour of the day or night.

Prayer is the portal that brings the power of heaven down to earth. It is kryptonite to the Enemy and to all his ploys against you.

When Paul describes our spiritual armor, he includes the belt of truth, the body armor of God’s righteousness, the shoes of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit—the very Word of God. But he doesn’t stop there. “Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere,” Paul says in Ephesians 6:18.

There it is. The fuel that drives everything: prayer.
[source: Got Questions]

Question: "What is the power of prayer?"

Answer: The idea that power is inherent in prayer is a very popular one. According to the Bible, the power of prayer is, quite simply, the power of God, who hears and answers prayer. Consider the following:

1) The Lord God Almighty can do all things; there is nothing impossible for Him (Luke 1:37).

2) The Lord God Almighty invites His people to pray to Him. Prayer to God should be made persistently (Luke 18:1), with thanksgiving (Philippians 4:6), in faith (James 1:5), within the will of God (Matthew 6:10), for the glory of God (John 14:13-14), and from a heart right with God (James 5:16).

3) The Lord God Almighty hears the prayers of His children. He commands us to pray, and He promises to listen when we do. “In my distress I called to the LORD; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears” (Psalm 18:6).

4) The Lord God Almighty answers prayer. “I call on you, O God, for you will answer me” (Psalm 17:6). “The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles” (Psalm 34:17).

Another popular idea is that the amount of faith we have determines whether or not God will answer our prayers. However, sometimes the Lord answers our prayers in spite of our own lack of faith. In Acts 12, the church prays for Peter’s release from prison (v. 5), and God answers their prayer (vv. 7-11). Peter goes to the door of the prayer meeting and knocks, but those who are praying refuse at first to believe that it is really Peter. They prayed he would be released, but they failed to expect an answer to their prayers.

The power of prayer does not flow from us; it is not special words we say or the special way we say them or even how often we say them. The power of prayer is not based on a certain direction we face or a certain position of our bodies. The power of prayer does not come from the use of artifacts or icons or candles or beads. The power of prayer comes from the omnipotent One who hears our prayers and answers them. Prayer places us in contact with Almighty God, and we should expect almighty results, whether or not He chooses to grant our petitions or deny our requests. Whatever the answer to our prayers, the God to whom we pray is the source of the power of prayer, and He can and will answer us, according to His perfect will and timing.


UPDATE 12/8/19 at 3:52pm: Added videos below.

16 minute video: Prayer to clear your environment, destroy all darkness.

8 minute video: Breaking satanic bondage.

Posted by Princess Mononoke at 2:14 PM 0 comments

Dwell in the Shelter of the Most High; Assurance of God’s Protection.

Psalm 91 
New International Version (NIV)
[source: Biblegateway.com]

1 Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”

3 Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. 4 He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

5 You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, 6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.

7 A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.

8 You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.

9 If you say, “The LORD is my refuge,” and you make the Most High your dwelling, 10 no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent.

11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; 12 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

13 You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

14 “Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. 15 He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. 16 With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.”

Posted by Princess Mononoke at 1:56 PM 0 comments

Donkey In The Well... I Love This story! ๐Ÿ˜Š๐Ÿ’–

One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway; it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey.

He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement he quieted down.

A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well. He was astonished at what he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up.

As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and happily trotted off!

MORAL: Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a steppingstone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up.

Remember the five simple rules to be happy:

1. Free your heart from hatred - Forgive.

2. Free your mind from worries - Most never happens.

3. Live simply and appreciate what you have.

4. Give more.

5. Expect less from people but more from God.

Posted by Princess Mononoke at 1:53 PM 0 comments

Blessings in Disguise! God Has A Reason For Everything Don't Fret, Just Trust... This Is A Great Story! Enjoy :)

Blessings in Disguise
The fortunes and misfortunes of a villager
[source: Osho International]

The only problem with sadness, desperateness, anger, hopelessness, anxiety, anguish, misery, is that you want to get rid of them. That's the only barrier. You will have to live with them. You cannot just escape. They are the very situation in which life has to integrate and grow. They are the challenges of life. Accept them. They are blessings in disguise.

A man had a very beautiful horse, and the horse was so rare that even emperors had asked the man to sell it--whatsoever the price--but he refused. Then one morning he found that the horse had been stolen.

The whole village gathered to sympathize, and they said, "How unfortunate! You could have got a fortune--people were offering so much. You were stubborn and you were stupid. Now the horse is stolen."

But the old man laughed; he said, "Don't talk nonsense! Only say that the horse is no more in the stable. Let the future come, then we will see."

And it happened that after fifteen days the horse came back, and not only alone--it brought a dozen wild horses with it from the forest. The whole village gathered, and they said, "The old man was right! His horse is back and has brought twelve beautiful horses with him. Now he can earn as much money as he wants." They went to the man and they said, "Sorry. We could not understand the future and the ways of god, but you are great! You knew something about it; you have some glimpse of the future."

He said, "Nonsense! All that I know now is that the horse has come back with twelve horses--what is going to happen tomorrow, nobody knows."

And the next day it happened that the old man's only son was trying to break in a new horse and he fell, and his legs were broken. The whole town gathered again and they said, "One never knows--you were right; this proved to be a curse. It would have been better that the horse had not come back. Now your son will remain crippled for his whole life."

The old man said, "Don't jump ahead! Just wait and see what happens. Only say this much, that my son has broken his legs--that's all."

It happened after fifteen days that all the young men of the town were forcibly taken away by the government because the country was going to war. Only this old man's son was left, because he was of no use. Everybody gathered--they said, "Our sons are gone! At least you have your son. Maybe he is crippled, but he is here! Our sons are gone, and the enemy is far stronger; they are all going to be murdered. In our old age we will have nobody to look after us, but you at least have your son and maybe he will be cured."

But the old man said, "Say only this much--that your sons have been taken by the government. My son has been left, but there is no conclusion."

Just state the fact! Don't think of anything as a curse or a blessing. Don't interpret it, and suddenly you will see that everything is beautiful.

Posted by Princess Mononoke at 1:49 PM 0 comments

The Man, His Son And The Donkey

The Man, His Son And The Donkey
An Aesop Folktale

Once an old man and his son were walking with their donkey to the fair to sell it. They passed a group of people on the road. A countryman noticed that the donkey was walking alongside them and laughed, “You fools, why don't you let the ass carry you? You're silly!"

The man heard what they said, and put his boy on the donkey while he walked. They had not gone far before another group saw them. One of them said, "How can the young man ride the ass, while the old man walks? That's too much."

Hearing this, the old man ordered the boy to get off, and rode the donkey himself. Soon, they heard voices behind them. There were two women. One of them said to the other, "Why is it that only the father gets to ride the ass? He's torturing the boy."

The man didn't know what to do at first. He thought and thought and finally decided to put his son up in front of him on the donkey.

Soon they reached the town. There too the passers-by began to jeer and point at them. The man stopped and asked them what they were scoffing at. The people said, "How can two heavy people ride on an ass? Aren't you ashamed of yourself for overloading that poor donkey? You're torturing the animal!"

The man and the boy got off. They had to think of what to do all over again. At last they had an idea. They took a long pole and tied the donkey's feet to it. Then they raised the pole to their shoulders and carried the donkey upside down.

The passersby could not stop laughing at the silly pair. Frustrated, the old man threw the donkey into the river, and walked home empty-handed.

The MORAL of this story:

When you try to please everybody, you won't please anybody. Those with no opinion of their own can only follow others, incapable of deciding between right and wrong and achieving nothing in the end.

In other words, just do your thing. Others opinion of you is none of your business. Keep walking on your path and don't let others steal your joy. Remember, they don't pay your bills.

Posted by Princess Mononoke at 1:47 PM 0 comments

USA: Socialist Monopoly Pulled From Target. Truth Hurts. Marxist Don't Want Anything To Hamper Their Recruiters Ability To Perfume Their Bullcrap. Marxism Has Caused Humanity So Much Misery.

PJ Media
written by Tyler O'Neil
Sunday August 25, 2019

Earlier this year, Hasbro released a parody version of the classic board game "Monopoly." The parody "Monopoly: Socialism" pokes fun at the flaws of command-and-control economies and also mocks health food and veganism. The game was released with little fanfare, but last week a college professor tweeted his displeasure at the game, creating a firestorm of controversy. Amid this controversy, "Monopoly: Socialism" disappeared from the Target website, and the company did not respond to multiple requests for comment on the game's availability.

Target had clearly been selling the game online, and it had been available at this link. As late as August 22, "Monopoly: Socialism" was available for purchase.
Here's what that web page looks like now.
Target website screenshot showing "Monopoly: Socialism" no longer available.

Many Target stores carried the game, as one Twitter user reported finding it on the shelves at a Philadelphia location.
Today I have found in a Target in Philadelphia the socialist version of Monopoly. I found it hilarious ?? pic.twitter.com/rKop7QCjw3

— Frank (@fr47123) August 17, 2019
PJ Media reached out repeatedly to Target via email and phone during the day on Friday, asking whether the store decided to stop selling the game, and if so, why. The company did not respond.

Nick Kapur, an historian of Japan and East Asia who teaches at Rutgers University, first drew attention to the game on Twitter.

"I bought a copy of Hasbro's mean-spirited and woefully ill-informed 'MONOPOLY: SOCIALISM' board game so you don't have to - a thread," he began.
The truth is "mean spirited" and has the nerve to call it "woefully ill-informed. Wow. He's woefully ill-informed. (emphasis mine)
Kapur illustrated one hilarious aspect of the game: it includes a community fund, which helps users pay the difference if they don't have enough money to pay for something. The catch? The fund is constantly running out of money, so players have to contribute to it. Sound familiar?
Conservatives have rightly mocked the confused Kapur on this. "Wah, wah, wah. Maybe they're making fun of socialism because it's bad," National Review's Kat Timpf — and my fellow Hillsdale College grad — said on Fox & Friends Friday morning. "We've seen [socialism] kind of not work in the past, so I feel like it might be fair game to make fun of it. ... I also don't understand how people are getting so upset about a game."

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) illustrated the historic failures of socialism by suggesting different editions of "Monopoly: Socialism."

"We could do the Venezuela edition: start out (in 1950) with the 4th highest GDP per capital in the world: end starving in the street with massive shortages of food & medicine," he wrote. "We could do the Cuba edition: start (in the 1950s) as the world’s top sugar producer; end up earning $25 per month and risking your life to put your children in rafts seeking freedom."
"We could do the Russia/USSR edition: the 'old timey' playing pieces are all the tech the common people are allowed. When Yeltzin toured a TX supermarket in 1989, he told his comrades that if their people—who faced breadlines—saw the choices in the US 'there would be revolution,'" he added. "We could do the East Germany edition: you build a wall across your living room; put all the food, technology & prosperity on one side; erect machine guns on the wall; and shoot anybody who tries to get to the West."

Yet it seems all the attention may have spooked Target, so Target shoppers can no longer purchase the game online.

Target became known for its liberal politics in 2016, when the company opened its restrooms and changing rooms to people of the opposite sex who claim to identify as transgender. Critics warned that this would make women vulnerable to voyeurs in bathrooms and changing rooms, and that fear was borne out many times. More than 1 million pledged to boycott Target, and both foot traffic and the company's stock price took a dive.

Sadly, it appears Target may not be alone in pulling back from "Monopoly: Socialism." The game is not available on Hasbro's own website store.

Hasbro also released a "Monopoly" version mocking millennials in November, and both that and the socialism version have received tepid sales, according to The New York Post.

Yet it seems Target is trying to prevent customers from buying "Monopoly: Socialism," which seems a bad move. With all this attention on the game, Target could make some good money by continuing to sell it. Instead, it seems the company has decided to protect socialism.
UPDATE 12/8/19 at 6:34pm: Added tweets below.

Posted by Princess Mononoke at 1:29 PM 0 comments

Ethical Dilemma

Ethical Dilemma

You are driving down the road in your car on a wild, stormy night, when you pass by a bus stop and you see three people waiting for the bus:

1. An old lady who looks as if she is about to die.
2. An old friend who once saved your life.
3. The perfect partner you have been dreaming about.

Which one would you choose to offer a ride to, knowing that there could only be one passenger in your car.

Think before you continue reading. This is a moral/ethical dilemma that was once actually used as part of a job application. You could pick up the old lady, because she is going to die, and thus you should save her first. Or you could take the old friend because he once saved your life, and this would be the perfect chance to pay him back. However , you may never be able to find your perfect mate again.

The candidate who was hired (out of 200 applicants) had no trouble coming up with his answer. He simply answered:

"I would give the car keys to my old friend and let him take the lady to the hospital. I would stay behind and wait for the bus with the partner of my dreams."

Sometimes, we gain more if we are able to give up our stubborn thought limitations. Never forget to "Think outside of the Box."

Posted by Princess Mononoke at 1:07 PM 0 comments

Question Everything With BOLDNESS!


"I am not among those who fear the people. They, and not the rich, are our dependence for continued freedom. And to preserve their independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. We must make our election between economy and liberty, or profusion and servitude."

~ by Thomas Jefferson
one of America's Founding Fathers
and author of our Declaration of Independence

Posted by Princess Mononoke at 1:05 PM 0 comments

December 5, 2019

USA: Los Angeles County Homeless Services Agency Chief Is Stepping Down. Los Angeles Is Beginning To Look Like Slums. Graffiti Vandalism And Homeless Camps Everywhere On The Streets. It's Not Safe.

The Supreme Court meets THIS FRIDAY, December 6, 2019. This decision affects us all. They will consider for the first time whether the Constitution gives homeless people a right to sleep on the sidewalk. 

Alexandra Datig published Nov 6, 2019: Daily Ledger Shows #SaveLA Video, Announces Homeless Veterans Rally in Recall Garcetti Effort.
Los Angeles Times
written by Doug Smith, and Benjamin Oreskes
Monday December 2, 2019

In a major change for the team tasked with addressing rising homelessness in the region, Peter Lynn announced Monday that he is stepping down as head of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority.

Chief Program Officer Heidi Marston will fill in as interim director during a national search for a replacement when Lynn officially leaves at the end of this month.

“Boy, these have felt like some long five years,” he said in an interview last week. “I mean I have really enjoyed this, this role and this gig and I have also felt quite a lot of wear and tear from it.”

Lynn has long been the face of bad news on the homelessness crisis in Los Angeles. As executive director of the city-county agency that conducts the count of those without permanent shelter, he presented the results to elected officials and the public each year.

Homelessness has increased a total of 33% during Lynn’s tenure, precipitating a public reaction that has produced millions of dollars of new tax revenue but also growing frustration with the lack of visible results.

Lynn told The Times that his decision to leave the $242,000-a-year job was partly motivated by a nearly two-month medical absence after an August auto accident left him with a debilitating concussion. The time away allowed him to see things from a new perspective, he said.

Stephanie Klasky-Gamer, president and chief executive of LA Family Housing, a services provider and homeless housing developer, said she is “really disappointed” that Lynn is resigning.

“I totally appreciate and understand why he is making a decision to step down. It is a really challenging position to be in,” she said. “He’s never lost sight of the humanity of why we were doing our work.”

Elise Buik, president and chief executive officer of United Way of Greater Los Angeles, said Lynn “has dedicated his life to this work, and L.A. County is a better place because of it.”

He led the effort to “build up the coordinated and integrated approach we’ve always needed,” she said. “He also helped drive the conversation about how racism is intertwined with homelessness, and he elevated our housing affordability crisis as the key headwind that we face.”

In Lynn’s most recent presentation to announce the 12% countywide increase in homelessness in 2019, for instance, he took pains to explain that even as shelter and housing programs were taking thousands of people off the streets, a crisis of housing affordability was pushing even more out of their homes.

Lynn said he has been trying to shift the public conversation from the “personal characteristics of the people who are homeless ... to structural factors, like housing affordability, like lack of access to mental health, like lack of access to substance use treatment.”

Despite that, Lynn said he primarily considered himself an administrator. In a non-political job atop an agency created in 1993 by Los Angeles city and county to manage mostly federal homeless funds, his biggest challenge was pulling together a homeless services system sprawling across the county and 88 city governments.

Elected officials complimented Lynn’s work on homelessness and acknowledged the challenge of this post.

“Peter’s leadership of LAHSA came at a time when Angelenos took historic action and made generational investments in confronting the homelessness crisis,” Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said in a statement. “He served for five years, with dedication, in one of the toughest jobs — and I thank him for all he did to bring more resources to our most vulnerable neighbors.”

County Supervisor Janice Hahn echoed this sentiment.

“Peter led LAHSA through an historic expansion, from a relatively small agency managing shelters, to a multimillion-dollar organization implementing both the county and cities’ homelessness strategies,” she said in a statement. “He welcomed the challenge and his leadership of the agency was important, necessary and appreciated.”

Some officials, though, say this is an opportune moment to rethink the structure of this agency in an effort to give it more power over things like land use and policy planning.

“I believe it is time for LAHSA to take a very different direction,” L.A. City Councilman Paul Krekorian said Monday. “If that can be achieved through dynamic new leadership, so be it. If instead it must be done through extensive restructuring of the agency, then this is the time to do it.”

The chair of the authority’s commission, Sarah Dusseault, who was appointed this past summer, recently told The Times that she thinks it’s time to start considering how to create an entity where the lines of authority are more clearly delineated.

Lynn took the job in December 2014, after serving as Section 8 administrator with the Los Angeles Housing Authority. He inherited a nascent project called the “coordinated entry system,” which was designed to match people on the street with appropriate shelter or housing as it became available.

That system, developed by United Way as a pilot program, had to be expanded to work with hundreds of homeless and housing agencies across the county. In 2015, under Lynn’s leadership, the homeless services authority produced its first data analysis projecting how many housing units and shelter beds would be needed to serve the county’s homeless population — then about 44,000 people.

That data analysis provided the foundation for two local tax measures. In 2016, Los Angeles city voters approved Proposition HHH to authorize $1.2 BILLION in housing construction bonds, and in 2017, county voters approved Measure H, a sales tax increase for homeless services.

The resulting flood of new money put Lynn in the unusual position of needing to more than triple his staff as the homeless authority hired hundreds of outreach workers, contract administrators and data analysts.

“I don’t think any of us would have expected in December of 2014 that we would have this enormous support from the voters to turn out and put these resources behind these initiatives,” he said.

Lynn said he plans to stay in the homeless field, but would like to be involved in initiatives that he sees as crucial but beyond the scope of the agency, among them mental illness and substance abuse treatment, as well as reentry programs.

“I think America, in general, provides really poor funding ... for mental health, substance use treatment,” he said. “And I will say, people are really suffering for that.”

He said he also plans to advocate for new housing models to address affordability.

“To the extent that we cannot get deep subsidies,” Lynn said, “we need to think about housing stock types that will be deeply affordable.”

Jennifer Barbosa published Sept 25, 2019: Adam Schiff's Dirty Secrets: Part 1. Jennifer Barbosa For Congress. California's 28th District www.Barbosa2020.com
Opponent blasts Rep Adam Schiff for failing his California constituents

Nov. 25, 2019 - 2:18 - Self-described Conservative Independent candidate Jennifer Barbosa makes her case to take Rep. Adam Schiff's 28th congressional district seat in California. www.Barbosa2020.com
Democrat U.S. Representative Adam Schiff 28th Congressional District he's responsible for:

The communities in the 28th Congressional district include: Angelino Heights, Atwater Village, Burbank, East Hollywood, Echo Park, Elysian Valley, Franklin Hills, Glendale, Griffith Park, Hollywood, Hollywood Hills, La Canada-Flintridge, La Crescenta, Los Feliz, Montrose, Mount Olympus, Pasadena, Shadow Hills, Silver Lake, Sunland, Tujunga, Verdugo City and West Hollywood.

ERIC EARLY FOR CONGRESS published Aug 7, 2019: Eric Early welcomes you to Adam Schiff’s homelessness. Welcome to Adam Schiff’s Los Angeles. While he obsesses and lies to us about Russia Collusion that never existed, he completely ignores the growing homelessness epidemic in our District. ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ www.EricEarly.com

ERIC EARLY FOR CONGRESS published Aug 6, 2019: Republican candidate Eric Early announces bid to take Democrat Rep Adam Schiff’s 28th congressional district seat in California.
www.EricEarly.com

Posted by Princess Mononoke at 11:52 PM 0 comments

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